#he didn’t really do much in vol 1
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extremely popular opinion: caleb mclaughlin fucking SLAYED in volume 2
#he didn’t really do much in vol 1#but then in vol 2 he really just pulled up there with sadie sink and was like LET’S MAKE THESE BITCHES CRY#caleb mclaughlin#he’s so underrated#istg#stranger things#stranger things 4#stranger things s4#stranger things volume 1#stranger things vol 1#stranger things vol 2#stranger things volume 2#lucas sinclair#sadie sink#max mayfield#stranger things spoilers
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Middle of the Night
"In the middle of the night, I'm wide awake, I crave your taste. All night long 'til morning comes. I'm getting what is mine, you gon' get yours"
a/n: inspired by the comic Red Hood and the Outlaws VOL.1 Dark Trinity, I just read it and couldn’t get this idea outta my head
warning: MINORS DNI 18+, phone sex, first time saying ‘i love you’, Jason Todd is a warning all of his own
Jason Todd who stays up late in his little makeshift “bat cave” doing research on the next crime lord he’s about to take down but tonight he can’t focus
He knows he should be neck deep in his work not have his head in the clouds but all he can think about is you. How your home all alone in bed without him, probably sleeping in one of his shirts or that night gown he likes-
“Get a grip” he says shaking his head to clear his thoughts
It almost works for a second… almost
The next thing he knows, amongst the cheap takeout containers, his phone is going off, it’s a text from you.
Speak of the Devil
‘You busy?’ it says
He looks at the time, it’s a little past 4am. Christ what were you still doing up, didn’t you have work in the morning?
Just as the thought bubble popped up as he started to text back his phone goes off again, this time you’re FaceTiming him.
“Shouldn’t you be asleep by now?” He answers the phone with a wince. That came out a little harsher than he meant it.
“Can’t sleep.” You mumbled a reply adjusting your bonnet.
“Didja try?” He asked with a raised brow knowing you probably didn’t
“Missed you too much” you fake pouted “aaaand I may have been out with some friends earlier”
“Aaah so this is a booty call” he teased with a smug look on his face. Your cheeks darkened with a blush
“Shut up it is not! I really missed you!”
“Suuuuure” he continued
“Ass” you chewed you bottom lip as you readjusted the camera so that you were sitting on your bed hands free crisscrossed. When you moved he got a peak of your panties underneath the shirt which he realized was his.
“So what time did you get home?” he asked as he tried to focus on the computer screen in front of him but found his gaze drifting back to you on his phone
“Oh like three hours ago, me and the gang just went out to a club” you said nonchalantly
“You take your knife with you?” he asked with a serious tone
“Yes Jay and I wasn’t alone.” you rolled your eyes before propping your chin on your fist.
“Doesn’t matter you know how shitty Gotham can-“
“I know I know but I’m not worried” you interrupted him with a small smile
“Oh? You’re not huh?” he asked raising his eyebrow propping his phone up on his desk so he could mimic you propping his head on his fist.
“Nah see my guy watches out for me.” you smile sheepishly as you began to play with the hem of the shirt that was a little too big on you
“Oh yeah? And who’s this guy? Anyone I know?”
“You might’ve heard of him, he goes by Red Hood.” You bat your eyelashes at him
“Yeah I’ve heard of him” he smirks leaning back in his chair.
“He’s a pretty big guy and he’s super strong and handsome and-“
“Yeah alright I get it, enough.” Jason rolled his eyes turning his gaze back to his computer screen.
“You never let me compliment you.” you pout
“Change the subject.” he warns turning his gaze back to you, the look in his eyes showing that he meant what he said.
“So what’re you wearing?” you ask outta the blue, tucking your bonnet behind your ear.
“Really?” Jason deadpans as he almost chokes on his drink
“Yeah really.” you laughed
“You can see what I’m wearing” he said gesturing to his outfit with a serious face but the look in his eyes told you that he was messing with you. He wanted to hear you say what you wanted from him but you'd be damned if you gave him that kinda satisfaction
“Don’t be an ass Jay.”
“Fiiiine… I’m wearing a t-shirt and jeans.”
“Ooo sexy whatchu got on underneath?” you wolf whistle cartoonishly as you wiggled you eyebrows at him. Jason snorted.
“Are we really doing this mama?”
“Get into yuh!” you sang into the phone
“Why don’t you tell me what you’re wearing.” he said raising his brow at you suggestively
“Just one of your shirts. It smells like you.” you smile and show off what your wearing accidently flashing him your panties again
“Yeah? You miss me that much huh?”
“Always” you sigh longingly as you gaze at him lovingly. He started to do the same before he caught himself. He honestly didn't know what you saw in him to be looking at him like that all the time.
Fabric rustling on the other side of the phone broke him outta his thoughts and brought his attention back to you just as you began to pull at his shirt.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting more comfortable” you said as you pull off his shirt revealing your bare chest to him
“Fuck, you’re killing me.” he swallows thickly
“Let’s hope not.” you chuckle as the panties were the next thing to go
"God you're so pretty baby" Jason watched you as you spread you folds and began touching yourself.
"So are you." you sighed running you other hands up and down your chest teasing your hardening nipples as you went.
Jason groaned running a hand down his face as he watched, his voice was rough and you knew he wanted to be there with you. Looking back up at the phone you watched as he unbuttons his jeans and pulls them down a little letting his dick spring free from his boxers
“You’re so fucking pretty” you cooed biting your lip as you watch him take his shirt off, your fingers rubbing fast little circles around your clit. Jason rolled his eyes briefly
“Keep going and I’ll take care of you all you want when I get home.” He groans in your ear as he begins to stroke himself, already impossibly hard and sensitive after watching you. He knew he wasn’t going to last long and by the looks of it neither were you.
“You’re—fuck—doin’ so good for me. so good, baby.”
You watched as his hand moved up and down his dick, his thumb coming around occasionally to circle the bright red tip, his hips stuttering as he thought about your hands instead of his. How you’d praise him, and tell him how good he looked while you jerked him off.
You grip the pillows beneath you, needing something to ground yourself as the pleasure starts building.
“Fuck, Jay, I’m almost—”
“Look at me,” he groaned moving his hand a little faster as he watched your fingers move even quicker, before they disappeared inside of your tight hole, your palm taking up the reigns and rubbing against your clit applying just the right amount of pressure as you fingered yourself
“Need you inside of me so bad.” you cried out, he needed it too, listening to you was going to be the death of him. The sounds you were making were enough to send him over the edge alone.
“Cum with me” Jason growled, hips arching slightly off the chair he was sat at
You did as he said, closing your eyes and listening to him panting through the phone as your orgasms washed over you both.
No one said anything for a while, the only sound filling the room was heavy breathing as you both came down from your collective high.
A yawn escaped your lips before either of you had a chance to say anything
Jason chuckled “Sleepy finally?”
“A little but I can stay up a bit longer if you want” you yawned again as you adjusted your self in bed pulling the covers over you.
“Nah it’s ok I got some work to finish up here then I’ll be home soon” Jason said tucking himself in and buttoning his pants back up.
“Alright baby”
“Get some sleep princess.” He said going back to looking at his computer screens
“G’night love you.” your voice slurred
Jason froze before shooting his gaze back to you on the phone
“Did you just-“ his heart pounded in his chest louder than it had all night long, there was no way you just casually let it slipped that you loved him for the first time, nah he had to have misheard you.
Before he could ask if you were serious just now the sound of your soft snores greets his ears as he watched you doze off causing a smile to rest on his face
Love you too baby
#jason todd#jason todd x reader#jason todd imagine#red hood x reader#red hood#jason todd smut#red hood smut#jason todd x black!reader#jason todd x y/n#red hood x black!reader#red hood imagine#red hood and the outlaws#Spotify
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I want to come clean and say I’m in the camp of fans who believe Mike is still oblivious to Will’s feelings...
I agreed with a lot of the skepticism initially after Vol. 2 premiered, but I also have reasoning that might give fans some insight into why it wasn’t that difficult for me to believe Mike was still clueless, even before it was officially confirmed.
For those that aren’t aware, early on in the promotion circuit for season 4, Finn himself stated repeatedly in interviews that he thinks Mike is oblivious to Will’s feelings. And since it was something he mentioned more than once, it’s likely he was advised to say this specifically, or at least given permission to.
And after Vol. 2 was released, the Duffer Brothers themselves finally came out to confirm that Mike is indeed still oblivious.
And one specific pushback I did agree with at first, was the fact that there’s this recurring theme of Mike always being really perceptive to Will’s feelings, but Vol. 2 especially seems to have contradicted this.
Even in Vol. 1, we get a few hints that Mike might still be perceptive to Will, ie. “-You were rolling your eyes, you were moping, barely talking! You basically sabotaged the whole day! ”
This is such an interesting slip-up on Mike’s end, because it means that all those times we saw Will doing these exact things in that episode, from what it looked like initially, Mike wasn’t even looking at Will. But now, we know that Mike was indeed paying attention, it’s just that the show itself wasn’t willing to make us aware of this fact until Mike himself admitted it. We also know that although Mike appeared to be smiley and happy that whole day, he also just admitted here that Will being visibly unhappy sabotaged his ability to enjoy the day. Which means Mike wasn’t really feeling smiley and happy deep down, but he was acting as if he was.
Basically, we’re not getting the whole picture, because the show isn’t willing to give us Mike’s full perspective.
Also, the time that Will catches Mike looking at him in the junkyard is just one of the many moments which the audience can chop up to Will being the one who is looking and staring longingly at Mike, because we've got a lot of moments like that this season. But I would argue this is another slip-up on Mike’s end, which fits into this concept of what the earlier slip-up reveals. Which is this idea that Mike might also be looking at Will when Will isn't looking. And the way Mike reacts here, does arguably give this impression that he’s been caught, which is why he haphazardly rushes back to digging like nothing happened.
And I think getting these little hints gave Bylers hope that Mike is still paying attention to Will, which in turn made the scene of them in the van feel out of place almost? Like if Mike is still so perceptive, even with them being so distant, then why the hell didn’t he notice Will crying beside him??
But what we’re conveniently forgetting is a concept Vol. 1 introduced to us, and it’s something we already saw hints of during the events of season 3, which is that Mike has this tendency to worry too much about El, only to lose Will in the process.
And in season 4, we are quite literally witnessing one of El’s most worrisome experiences to date. Not only that, but her and Mike just had a big fight and Mike still feels indebted to her and responsible for her, at this time when she presumably needs him the most. And so he is yet again, too worried about El and is in turn of course losing Will in the process.
But I also think the explanation for why this scene might have went down exactly the way it did, is actually quite simple.
Which is that, I don’t think they expected Noah to pop off like that...
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the intention was for it to be this very emotional scene, but I highly doubt the emotion Noah ended up pulling off in that specific take, was something they expected to be so overwhelming. And so once they got that take and eventually looked at it among the others, I can’t imagine them considering any other option besides this one for the final-cut, even if it meant not choosing a take where Finn came off slightly more believably oblivious.
Another thing fans are aren’t considering, is the fact that Will crying in front of Mike isn’t exactly a rare occurrence. Will cries pretty often in front of Mike, whether he’s happy or sad, and Mike never seems to mind. I can think of at least 2 other occasions this season alone where Will has had visible tears in his eyes in front of Mike and each time Mike didn't really pry or push Will into telling him the exact reason for why he was crying.
So, although it’s possible Mike saw Will teary eyed or heard a sniffle or something of that nature in a split moment, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily out of character for him to not question the specifics for why Will is crying, as this is normal Will behavior. Will cries and Mike sits there beside him and that’s always been enough, at least it used to be.
Now, when it comes to the van scene, try to think about all their other scenes in Vol. 1 and how we interpreted them, and then try to apply that same logic here.
When they reunited for the first time at the airport, Mike couldn’t hug Will, even though Will was excited and moving in to hug him. This means that something internally was going on with Mike that, in his mind, had more to do with himself and his own feelings, and not any presumed feelings Will could have for him .
Then (In the Closet) at Rink-O-Mania, Mike says “We’re friends. We’re friends!” And it was surprisingly easy for a lot of Bylers to read between the lines here.
Which is that Mike is practically jumping to defend himself, even though Will wasn’t even implying anything, he was just asking Mike honestly why they’d stopped doing best friend things together.
The problem is, Mike doesn’t read doing those things with Will as best friend things, at least not anymore.
We saw him have no problem hugging any of the other party-members, only Will exclusively was an issue for him. Which proves that he believes doing these friend-like things with Will specifically to be inappropriate in some cases, things he shouldn’t be doing with Will, but his girlfriend. This is why BECAUSE SHE'S MY GIRLFRIEND, WILL and WE’RE FRIENDS X2, feels like a call out to himself!
So how does this all effect the way I interpreted the van scene?
Well, this scene starts with Will joking about them playing D&D and Nintendo for the rest of their lives.
And Mike seems... somber about this.
I’m not sure how the rest of Bylers interpret Mike’s reaction here, but if this post hasn’t made it clear already, it is now canon confirmed that Mike is oblivious to Will’s feelings, which means Mike’s reaction here cannot have anything to do with any assumptions he may have about Will’s potential feelings for him!!
That’s why I would interpret this scene as Mike himself mourning the fact that him and Will are not an option. He genuinely believes it’s not possible for him to live out this reality with Will, a reality he put in our heads back in s3 by the way. So he’s mourning this loss of what could have been, but never will be.
Without many of us realizing it, we’ve seen this repeated scenario all season. Where Mike is having these doubts about him and El, trying to find any and all reasons for them to not be together, and he’s voicing these doubts directly to Will for some clarity.
And instead of Will agreeing with him, Will pushes Mike even closer to El each time, and he does it in ways where his words somehow also relate exactly to not only how he himself is feeling, but how Mike is feeling as well, without either of them even realizing what’s happening.
When Will says, “What if they don’t like the truth,” Will is talking about himself and his own feelings for Mike, which he assumes are unrequited, and so it’s a truth he believes Mike will not like.
Mike hears this and he is thinking about how telling El that he doesn’t love her in the way she wants him to, is a truth she won’t like.
And especially in this moment in the van, when Will makes this comment, we see it trigger Mike into going into yet another spiel about how him and El are anything but fate.
And AGAIN, instead of agreeing or trying to find at least some semblance of truth to what Mike could be saying here, Will tries instead to find a way to give Mike hope for him and El. And he uses his painting to do it.
I think Mike initially did in fact assume that this painting was for a girl Will liked, just as El had mentioned in her letter, which would explain Mike’s awkward mention of it at the airport.
But now, maybe it’s not so hard for Mike to believe that El was lying about this too, even if for a surprise, considering the events of this season and the last, which is that Mike and El do sort of have a track record for lying to each other.
Whereas Will, never lies to Mike. So in Mike’s eyes, if this is what Will is saying happened, then it’s what happened. Period.
That’s also why it’s so unbelievably hard for Will to lie to Mike in the first place here. He literally has to look away as he says this, because he can’t face Mike, knowing he is going to believe everything he says.
This is Will's first lie and his first I love you to Mike.
I believe a big part of Mike is also distracted by relief in this moment, because he has been scared of losing Will, who he is now finding out is technically still gifting him artwork, albeit not directly from him, technically from El, but still!
I just want to drive home this reminder, yet again, that it's now confirmed Mike has no idea Will has feelings for him, which means the only thing that could possibly explain all of this behavior, is that Mike secretly has feelings for Will himself and is under the assumption that those feelings are unrequited.
This fits into the true explanation for why Mike can’t tell El he loves her in the first place, because he relates a lot to these extreme emotions she seems to have for him, but he just doesn’t have those feelings for her, he has them for Will.
And for a long time, Mike felt it would be wrong to her and himself to take this step if he didn’t mean it in the way she did.
This is why he grew so distant from Will and it’s why he’s kind of always had to pick between the two of them, ever since they’ve both been in his life simultaneously.
Mike's gotten used to associating his relationship with El getting more serious, to losing Will. And that has not changed.
And when it comes to Will’s speech, Mike is yet AGAIN, as he has been all season, getting something out of it separate from what Will intends, with both Mike and Will assuming they are on their own in having these unrequited feelings.
This behavior has been such a common trend for Mike this season, and so I don’t see why fans aren’t more in tune with his response being like this. Where he goes from emotional and captivated with Will’s words, and right back to grappling with the fact that he has to accept that it’s El who loves him this way, not Will, and that he just needs to get over it and move on.
El is a literal superhero. If Mike can't love her that way, then what the hell is wrong with him? He's having a hard time accepting why he can't love her, but...
Just like Will, Mike is also using El in place of Will to make himself understand this situation better.
What Will Says: You’re scared of losing her?
What Mike Hears: You’re scared of losing me?
Then Will goes into his monologue, perfectly describing how Mike has been feeling and acting towards Will, because if anyone has been mean to anyone this season, IT WAS MIKE TO WILL!!
And although Mike is interpreting Will's words in this way that highlights his own feelings for Will, more-so than El's, and his expressions throughout do give this impression, that doesn’t necessarily mean Mike thinks Will and him are on the same page.
Again, Mike assumes his feelings are unrequited, so he’s mostly distracted by hiding his own feelings, while having to confront the reality of his situation. He must accept the fact that Will is just trying to help him realize that it's El who feels all these things for him.
Mike needed Will’s explicit support and approval and constant praise, up until the very last second, in order to tell El he loved her. None of this was for Will’s sake, but for his own.
BECAUSE MIKE WAS PIGGYBACKING OFF OF HIS FEELINGS FOR WILL IN ORDER TO SAVE EL!
But honestly, I think the most obvious proof of all for why Mike is still clearly oblivious to Will feelings, is that Mike has had no reaction whatsoever to this revelation if that’s the case.
No sympathy or acknowledgement or anything that could resemble how he should react to his best friend technically coming out as gay to him, even going as far as to admit he loves him...
I don’t care how bad his internalized homophobia is, if Mike Wheeler has feelings for Will Byers, which he thinks are unreciprocated, only to find out that they aren’t, he’s going to lose his shit.
He’s going to quite literally revert to a version of himself he has repressed for a long time, a version that loves Will wholeheartedly.
AKA the true Michael Wheeler we all seem to be missing lately.
I do think that in season 5, when Mike inevitably finds out the truth (most likely from El), and becomes aware of Will’s feelings, all those things that were slip-ups or hidden in the subtext up until this point, wont be so hidden anymore.
All we can hope for now, is that when Will inevitably finds out Mike returns his feelings, that it's not too late...
#byler#stranger things#stranger things spoilers#byler evidence#byler st4#byler proof#byler season 4#byler tumblr#byler is real#will byers#mike wheeler#noah schnapp#finn wolfhard#duffer brothers
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You're So Timeless | Vol. 1
Steve Rogers x Reader
Fandom: MCU
Summary: In 1943, Steve Rogers was visited by his soulmate. He fell hard. Problem is, she was from the future and didn’t stick around for long. Now, in the twenty-first century, he finally found her again, except this version of her hasn’t met him yet and won’t know he’s her soulmate for another year.
Note: So this is a combination of my other two Steve Rogers soulmate AU fics, but lengthened and fleshed out into a full fic. I was literally possessed to write this. I have no other explanation. I really like how it came out. I gave this one chapter headings (I am also going to post it to Ao3) and yes some are Taylor Swift titles. Sorry about that. It takes place roughly around the time Civil War would, but we have managed to avoid the war this time around. I also moved some other characters up the timeline because I think they’re neat and I said so. Without further ado, please enjoy my new Magnum Opus.
Also Tumblr made me split it into two parts. Part 2 linked HERE and also at the end of the post.
Warnings: Canon-typical violence/injuries, soulmate au, tons of mutual pining, kind of a slowburn but in reverse. Light angst, but a happy ending.
Word Count: 38.7k total (I am not sorry)
Reader Is: Enhanced (forcefields), 24 years old, female
The End
Time.
It was a fickle thing. In the blink of an eye, a year had passed. A mere twelve months earlier, you had been living a different life. The only life you had been responsible for was your own. And your plants, but…they never seemed to last that long under your care. Now, everything was different.
It was the day before your birthday. Your twenty-fifth birthday, which, in the world you lived in, meant that tomorrow, a name would appear on your wrist, the name of your soulmate. It had been stressing you out all day, the weight of tomorrow and everything it meant.
It was late, and you were exhausted from a day of overthinking. The longer you stayed up, the longer you delayed the inevitable reveal, and thinking about it too much made you nervous, so you just decided to get to sleep sooner than later.
It was once you were just about to climb into bed that there was a knock at your door.
“It’s open!” You called. The door opened slowly, revealing Steve, who was leaning in your doorway, arms crossed, that pensive look in his blue eyes. “Oh, hey.”
“Hi.” He chuckled. He seemed nervous, although you weren’t sure why.
“Everything alright, Steve?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I actually came in here to check on you. Wanda said you were…quiet.”
“Yeah, you could say that.” You hugged your arms around your frame and bit your lip, looking up at the super soldier standing in front of you. “Just…I don’t know. I’ve been looking forward to tomorrow for my entire life, but…now that it’s here, I’m so scared.”
“Hey, come here.” He said, pulling you to him, strong arms wrapped around you, as if he could protect you from the future itself.
“I don’t know what to do…”
“(Y/N), whoever they are, they are incredibly, incredibly lucky. You don’t need to worry about anything. It’ll all work out. It always does.” He said it like he was certain. Like somehow he knew what would happen in the morning when suddenly your life was turned on its head and you had to venture out to find your other half.
Since you’d met him, Steve wore a leather band around his wrist, covering his soulmate’s name. You’d figured he must have met them in the forties and…maybe they hadn’t made it long enough to see him come out of the ice. But you didn’t ask about it. You never dared to put that question into words. He’d been through enough heartbreak already.
“What if they don’t like me…?”
He scoffed, holding you tighter. “That’s impossible. They’re going to love you. So much. I promise.”
“And…and we’ll still be f-friends?”
Steve pulled away, looking down at you, a hand very carefully touching your cheek. “Of course we will still be friends. Nothing is ever going to change that. I promise.”
You nodded, a tear slipping down your cheek. “Good. Thank you, Steve. For everything.”
He gently wiped the tear away, the pad of his thumb warm. Once he was sure you were okay, he let go, looking at you with that knowing sparkle in his eye once more. He took a little extra time to look at the shirt you were wearing, the Star Wars tee you’d had since high school. “See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.” You agreed.
“And happy birthday, (Y/N).”
We’ll Meet Again
“Ma’am? Are you alright? Ma’am?” The voice sounded far away. You were pretty sure you were still dreaming. You opened your eyes slowly and immediately became aware of the pounding pain in your head.
“Ow, oh my God.” You reached up and felt there, but it didn’t feel like you were bleeding or anything.
“Ma’am?”
You froze for a second, slowly looking up at the figure standing above you, confusion written all over his familiar features. It took you a long moment to put the pieces together. You were on a porch somewhere in what appeared to be New York, but it was…different. A lot different than the parts of the city you knew. Alright, it had to be a dream.
You looked up at the man standing above you and did a double-take. But no, it was him. It was a tiny, frail version of Steve. Your eyebrows furrowed and you sat up slowly, staring at him for a long moment before whispering, “Steve?”
His mouth opened and then shut again and he made a face of confusion, like he was trying to place where he knew you from, but he didn’t know you yet, and wouldn’t know you for several more years, to say the least. “Do I know you?”
“It’s complicated.” You exhaled. “Can we go inside? You’re going to need to sit down for this.”
Dumbfounded, Steve nodded and you stood up from the porch, only to find that he was at your eye level when you did. Weird. He led you into the small apartment and you looked around. It was quaint. There was an easel in the corner of the room and…Bucky Barnes sitting on the couch? You stared at him for a good, long moment, a shiver running down your spine.
“Who’s the dame?” He read your shirt. “What is Star…Wars…?”
“About to find that out myself.” He chuckled, leading you into the living room. “Buck, could you give us a minute?”
“I’ll be in the kitchen.” Bucky got up and walked to the other half of their tiny two-bedroom.
You sat down on the couch and so did he. The silence was thick. You thought for several moments. You weren’t quite sure how you had ended up in the 1940s. You looked down at your hands and it was then that your gaze finally landed on the writing on your wrist. And then everything made sense.
“What’s the date today?”
“It’s July 4th, why?”
“July 4th…” You whispered. “What, 1943?”
You could see the wheels turning behind his eyes before he replied, “Yes ma’am.”
“Well, happy birthday, first of all. And second of all…” You held up your wrist so he could read it. Steve’s eyes went wide and he stared at the three words written neatly on your skin in his own handwriting.
Steven Grant Rogers.
“You’re my…” He looked at you for a long time, his eyes wide. He hastily undid the cuff around his wrist and held it out to you, your own name written there. He ran a finger across the letters, as if to prove they were really there.
“I’m your soulmate.” You said certainly.
It hit you like a truck, then. The weird look on your Steve’s face, the way he was so certain that everything would work out. It was because he had already lived through this. And that meant that in all the time he’d known you, he’d been hiding his mark not because his soulmate had died, but instead because you were his soulmate and you didn’t know it yet.
Your entire year of friendship, of memories, of roadtrips and missions and movie marathons…he had known the whole time. And that look in his eyes wasn’t just his protective side coming out. It was love. It had been love the whole time.
Oh.
Steve exhaled a long, shaking breath, really taking you in. Once again, he had a million stars in his eyes. He let out a whispered, “Wow,” as tears began to form.
You came back down to earth. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” He chuckled, sniffling as a tear ran down his cheek. “I’ve just, I’ve got a lot of…health problems, so I wasn’t sure if I’d ever…meet you. And you’re here and you’re great and I just…I’m sorry.”
That brought tears to your eyes. “Oh, Steve…” You pulled him into your arms and he didn’t hesitate to surrender to your embrace, his arms wrapping tight around you and holding you close, head nestled into the crook of your neck. “Just breathe. It’s okay. I’m right here. I’ve got you.”
Always.
He took your advice, doing his best to avoid an asthma attack on what was shaping up to be the best day of his life. Once he finally caught his breath, he pulled away to look at your face again. “I have to ask…How did you know?”
“I don’t know if you can tell from these clothes,” you motioned down to the t-shirt and sweatpants you were wearing, “but I’m not from around here, exactly.”
“I kind of thought so, but I didn’t want to be rude.” He smiled softly. “Um, where are you from, then?”
“I’m from the future. Like…a while from now. It’s hard to explain why or how, and I’m not really sure how I got here, to be honest, but I’m glad I am.” You sighed, thumb grazing his cheek, wiping away his tears. He crooned at your touch. “I don’t know how long we have before I have to go back.”
“Am I there? Where you’re from?”
“You are. It’s complicated. We’re really good friends and…when I get back, I’m sure we’ll probably be even more than that.” You smiled, shaking your head. “I can’t believe I didn’t put the pieces together sooner.”
“(Y/N)?” Steve asked, trying out your name for the first time.
“Yeah?”
“Let me take you out today, show you a good time here before you have to go back.” He took your hand and carefully laced his fingers through your own, testing the weight of it, the feel of it.
You smiled. “I’d like that.”
“Not to eavesdrop, lovebirds — congratulations, by the way — but if you’re going to take her out, we’re going to need to find her some clothes that aren’t so…‘not from around here.’” Bucky leaned in the doorway.
“Yeah, I thought the same thing.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll call one of my girls and we’ll get her squared away. Sit tight.”
“Thanks, Bucky.” You said, chuckling when his eyes widened after you addressed him by name. “I know you, too. From the, uh, future.”
“Weird…” Bucky decided.
“Long story?” Steve asked, studying the look on your face.
“Very.” You agreed. After staring at him for another long moment, you pulled him back into your arms again, exhaling a long breath before whispering, “Steve, I’m so glad it’s you…”
***
“Wow.” You stared at yourself in the mirror, studying the way Bucky’s, ahem, lady friend, had curled your hair, done your makeup. You did a little twirl and relished in the way the skirt of your dress twirled. It was navy blue, short ruffled sleeves with a flared skirt and buttons down the front. “I think it suits me.”
“I agree. Blue is a good color on you.” Steve was sitting in a chair at the edge of the room, absolutely enamored as he watched you. “Although, I’m sure they’re all good colors on you, doll.”
You felt the heat rise to your cheeks. “Thanks.”
“I mean it.” He stood up and walked to you, slipping one of his hands into each of yours and staring into your eyes, looking at the way you looked standing next to him in his reflection. His soulmate. The kind of girl people write poems about. “You look great.”
“I don’t look out of place?”
“No one is gonna think you’re a time traveler. Well, unless you tell them.” Bucky said. “Maybe don’t do that anymore.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t planning on it.” You chuckled and gave Steve’s hands a squeeze. “Where to first, soulmate?”
His cheeks reddened as soon as you said the word. “Well, I was thinking we could go to my favorite little diner down the street to grab something for lunch, and then maybe we could take a walk through the park, catch a movie, and then go out for drinks tonight?”
“What, you aren’t gonna take her dancing?” Bucky teased, ruffling Steve’s hair under a large hand. “Show the girl a good time?”
“I would if I didn’t have two left feet.” Steve chuckled, a sheepish smile on his face. He looked at you, waiting for some kind of response. “How does that sound?”
“It sounds like a great time, Steve.”
He smiled. “Good.”
The two of you left the apartment not long after that, and walked side by side towards the diner. Your hands were swinging in the space between you and your hand brushed Steve’s once, twice, a third time, and then you slipped your hand into his, intertwining your fingers.
You caught him smile out of the corner of your eye. “Is this okay?”
“Yeah, of course it’s okay.” He grinned and chuckled to himself. “You can hold my hand as much as you want, doll.”
When the two of you finally got to the diner, a little bell rang over your heads and you got seated at a booth by the window. The two of you ordered drinks and you skimmed the menu while you waited.
“So, tell me about yourself.” You said, resting your chin against your fist and looking over at Steve. You studied the way his blue, blue eyes flicked up to your own and the blush that covered his cheeks shortly thereafter.
“You probably know a lot of it already.” He chuckled. “Unless we don’t talk a lot?”
“We talk quite a bit, but I still want to know about this you. Here and now.”
“I like art. Drawing and painting and stuff.” He said. “I haven’t had time to do much lately, but I’d like to get back into it.”
“See, that I didn’t know.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I didn’t know you were into art.”
“I could, uh, show you sometime.” He offered.
“I’d like that.” You smiled. “What else?”
“I like to read. I like going to Dodgers games with Bucky. One time he took me to Coney Island. I don’t like rollercoasters, but I liked playing the games. He wasted three whole dollars trying to win a teddy bear for a redhead named Dot.”
“Three whole dollars…” You chuckled. “Well you don’t have to worry about the rollercoasters too much, I can’t go upside down without throwing up.”
“That makes two of us. Enough about me, tell me about you.” Steve nudged, his hand slowly moving towards yours. “How do we know each other? When did we meet?”
“We’re…coworkers, I guess you could say. We met about a year back and now we live in the same building? I’m sorry for being so vague, I just—”
“Don’t want to give it away, yeah, I get it.” He nodded, understandingly.
“You took me under your wing as soon as I moved in and really made me feel welcome. You’re the one that brought me onto the team, actually.” You took a sip of your drink. “We’ve been through a lot together already, and I’m sure it’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
“Mmm…” Steve nodded. “I know I just met you, but I’m really glad you and I are close. Well, will be close.” He paused before chuckling and shaking his head. “There’s still some little voice in the back of my head telling me all of this is just some amazing dream.”
“That doesn’t even begin to cover it.” You chuckled, tucking a piece of curled hair back behind your ear. “I’ve…I’ve had a crush on you forever, Steve. I can’t believe this is happening.”
He stared at you, almost dumbfounded. “O-on me?”
“Yeah.” You agreed. You’d forgotten, you supposed, that Steve had had this phase, the self-depreciation, the insecurity. Your Steve, when complimented, was shy, sure, but you knew he understood what people were talking about. This Steve didn’t see it that way. Not yet. But it would be your job to use your one day with him to change that, to make your soulmate see that he was worthy of love, even self-love. “Yeah, of course on you, Steve. I can’t believe I get to have you.”
His cheeks reddened and he finally took the leap, taking your hand across the table, thumb grazing your knuckles with care. His blue eyes sparkled. “Funny. I was gonna say the same thing about you.”
***
Once the two of you were finished up at the diner, you took a walk through the park. It was gorgeous out, a bright, sunny, warm summer afternoon. Several couples were strolling down the paths, hand in hand, and you were one of them, your hand held tight in Steve’s, his thumb gently stroking the back of yours.
You went to the theater and caught a movie together. Luckily enough, they were showing the Wizard of Oz. Your current situation had you feeling like Dorothy in more ways than one. The movie had only come out four years earlier, which was definitely strange. Not to mention the fact that the tickets were only twenty-five cents, the popcorn a mere ten cents.
And then, once the movie was over and the sun was setting, you went to a bar, where Steve ordered each of you a drink. You took a sip of yours, something sweet, and smiled at him across the table.
“So, how’s your day been, birthday boy?” You asked coyly.
“The best I’ve had so far,” he replied, his eyes sparkling. The sparkle faded, however, when his expression grew somber. He hesitated, but then asked, “Okay, I have to know…How long do I have to wait to see you again?”
You exhaled a long sigh, biting your lip. If you told him the truth, he might ask questions you couldn’t tell him the answers to. And besides, the real answer would require some math. You didn’t know the specifics.
“I’ll be honest, Steve, it’s…it’s a pretty long time.” You thought for a long moment before continuing, “I…I can’t really tell you why. It’s all really complicated, and if I tell you too much, it might not happen the way it’s supposed to.”
“Oh…” Steve nodded and took a sip of his drink. Once he set down the glass, he reached across the table and took your hand. “Well, however long it is,” he looked straight into your eyes and a chill ran down your spine, “It’ll be worth it. Every second. I promise.”
You could have cried. “I hope so.”
“There you two are! I was wondering which bar you’d wandered into!” Bucky was, apparently, already slightly intoxicated as he approached you and Steve with a date of his own. “How was your day on the town, lovebirds?”
“Spectacular.” You replied. “I wish there was more time to soak it in.”
“New York sure is something, huh?” Bucky’s date asked, giggling innocently. If only she knew the half of it.
“Yeah, you could say that.” You laughed and tucked a piece of hair behind your ear.
“You guys wanna sit with us?” Steve asked.
“If you don’t mind too much, punk.” Bucky grinned.
Steve got up and switched sides of the booth so he was sitting next to you instead of across from you. You slid your hand into his, intertwining your fingers. He smiled, chuckling softly to himself as he gave your hand a squeeze.
“Did you give the lady her dance, Rogers?” Bucky asked, smirking.
“Not yet.” Steve chuckled. “We’ll see. The asthma makes it a bit difficult sometimes.”
“Never seems to stop you from getting into fights.” Bucky muttered, causing Steve’s cheeks to flush.
“Just wait until the band plays something slow,” Bucky’s date pointed out.
“There you go!” Bucky raised his glass to his lips. “Great idea, Maggie.”
“Glad to be of service.”
And so, the four of you chatted until the band started to play something sweet and slow. Steve looked at you for approval and you nodded. He led you out onto the floor with the other couples.
Steve blushed, flustered, and he looked at you before saying, “I don’t know how to do this.”
“It’s easy.” You promised, guiding one of his hands to your waist and holding the other. “That’s it. And then we just move to the music. You can twirl me around if you feel so inclined.”
“Alright.” He chuckled, swaying in time with you. “Hey, uh, (Y/N), I need you to know…I had a really, really great time today. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted in a soulmate and I’m so excited to spend the rest of my life with you someday, however far away that someday is.”
“I’m glad I met your expectations.” You smiled, tugging him a bit closer.
“No, you exceeded them. You’re better than anything I could have imagined. I’m so lucky.” He paused, and his expression fell a little. “I know I’m a lot. I have a lot of problems and they might complicate things sometimes, but…”
“Steve, you’re perfect.” You shook your head and leaned forward, resting your forehead against his. “The universe gave you to me for a reason and I’m so, so glad it did. You’re amazing. I can’t think of anyone better to spend the rest of my life with.”
He was quiet for a moment before whispering, “Can I please kiss you, doll?”
You leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips, the music swelling around you as you guided his hands to your waist, cupping his cheeks to hold him close to you. When the moment had passed, you rested your nose against his, meeting his eyes and inhaling his scent, committing this version of him to memory before he was reduced to just that, a memory.
“Steve Rogers, I am so sorry you will not hear me say these words until after I go back tomorrow, but I love you. I have loved you for a very long time. And I know I will love you for the rest of my life.”
You spent the rest of the night together. Twirling across the dancefloor, talking, soaking each other in. But when you reached the front porch of the townhouse, Steve looked back down the steps to find you’d disappeared, leaving him with nothing but the memory of your lips, your laugh, your smile.
“You gonna be alright?” Bucky asked, a hand on his shoulder.
“I don’t know.” He replied, words swallowed up by the sounds of the night. “Just give me a minute, pal.”
Bucky nodded, solemn. “Take all the time you need.”
The Beginning
Steve remembered the day you’d met—for the second time, though he didn’t realize it right away—like it was tattooed on his brain. It was a few years after he’d come out of the ice and he had taken Tony’s advice to get out more, which had led him to the local mall.
It had been an uneventful day. He strolled around the perimeter, taking in the storefronts, studying the fashion, browsing the menu of a pretzel place, reading the posters on the exterior of the movie theater, the things that were coming out in the coming months. Nothing interested him in particular. He didn’t really care for war movies.
After a few quiet hours, his peaceful walk was interrupted by screams, people running away at top speed, which, of course, caused him to spring into action, assessing the situation. He ran towards the source of the chaos, scanning, scanning, until his eyes landed on the attacker, a guy with a flamethrower, aimed at a teenage theater employee. Steve hurdled over a trash can, moving people out of the way, directing them to safety and trying to put himself between himself and the mallgoers, but before he could, you did, hands out in front of you and what seemed to be an invisible shield poised there, redirecting the flames and protecting the movie theater employee that had nearly been caught in the crossfire.
A quick flick of your wrist knocked the attacker’s gun out of his hands and it slid across the floor to Steve’s feet. He chucked it into the fountain without a second thought, where it fizzled pathetically. The guy lunged at you with heavy metal gauntlets, and you dodged the first swing but caught the second in the face, falling backwards. When you landed, however ungracefully, you sent a blast of energy at the guy, knocking him over a plant and sprawling onto the tile floor.
While the guy was on the ground, Steve tackled him, wrenching the gauntlets off of his hands and chucking them away, too. Soon, the police arrived, apprehending the guy while mall security comforted the distressed mall patrons, ushering them to safety and medical attention.
You sat on a bench after, breathing heavy, a cut on your forehead. Steve walked over, interested in this superpowered rescuer, someone who wasn’t yet on the Avengers’ radar, but would most definitely be on the news the next day if the sheer amount of phone footage recorded was any indication.
“Are you alright, ma’am?” He asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just glad everyone is okay.” You told him, meeting his eyes.
He finally got a good look at you and froze, looking bewildered. A deer in headlights. “You’re…”
There you are, doll. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.
It was you. Of course it was you. Since the moment he’d been unfrozen, he’d been looking for you. His soulmate. The girl from the future that popped in on his twenty-fifth birthday, turned his whole life on its head, and then left without warning, hours after their first kiss. Back when he was five-foot-nothing with asthma and more medical conditions than he could even remember.
Back before he was anything.
And you’d loved him anyway. You’d given him the day of a lifetime and hope for not only a future, but for love. That someone could love him for him despite it all.
“I know.” You knew? “I…I don’t know what it is or…why I can do it. I’ve been like this since college.”
Your powers, you meant. You thought he was talking about your powers and not your name, which was burning a hole into his wrist beneath the thick leather band keeping it hidden.
“Right. Well, it’s…” He sighed, gathering his words, hiding the elation and pain behind a warm smile. “It’s a good thing you were here. I don’t have my shield on me.”
“Mine is built in.” You chuckled.
“You, uh…have a cut. On your forehead.”
“Oh, do I?” You reached up and found it with your fingers and they came away a bit bloody. “Shit.”
“Come on.” He offered you his hand and you took it, letting him lead you over to the counter of the theater. “Hi, do you have a first aid kit we could borrow?”
“Yeah, of course.” The girl at the counter said, rushing to grab it.
Steve patched you up with gentle hands, off in a corner on your own, in the room the theater used for birthday parties. Staring up at him, you finally realized the obvious. This was Captain America. And he was using a careful finger to spread a triple antibiotic ointment on your cut.
Play it cool, (Y/N).
“Do you do this often? The hero thing?” Steve asked, trying to sound somewhat indifferent. He couldn’t be, though. Not entirely. Not when it came to you.
“No.” You shrugged. “Haven’t had much opportunity, thankfully. I mean…I’d like to, I just didn’t know how to…get into it, I guess. Any email I sent to Stark or S.H.I.E.L.D. or whatever would end up on a slush pile.”
“Well, I’ve got some connections. If you’re seriously considering it. I can’t say I recommend it, but…Obviously you’ve got that protective instinct and you seem to work well under pressure.”
“I don’t know about that. My heart is about to leap out of my chest.” You admitted, laughing as he carefully laid a Bandaid over the cut, closing the kit.
“That makes two of us.”
“Well, if you think I’m really cut out for it…I’d love to help.”
***
It was three days later that Nick Fury got in touch with you. You thought it was a scam call at first, but no one else would possibly have the info about you that he did. That was S.H.I.E.L.D. for you, you supposed.
You packed up your apartment, your boxes of books, your old journals, your clothes and makeup, your life, and hopped in the jet that was waiting for you at the meeting place. Inside was a pilot with flaming red hair, Natasha Romanoff. The Black Widow. It was hard not to get a little starstruck.
She helped you load your things into the jet, let you settle into the copilot seat, and then you took off, soaring away from your old life and towards your new one, the mysterious, magnificent facility tucked into upstate New York, that iconic A emblazoned on the front of the building.
“Steve said you’re telekinetic. That’s cool.” She complimented with a smirk.
“Yeah, I’ve got force-field stuff. I don’t know what else, exactly.”
“Oh, we’ll figure all that out. Banner already has a list of tests he wants to run. Nothing too intense. I made him promise not to give you the lab rat treatment too soon.”
“Reassuring.” You chuckled.
“Wanda’s been decorating your room all day. It’s not often we get new blood.”
“I appreciate it. I can’t wait to meet everyone.”
“They can’t wait to meet you.”
The jet landed a little under an hour later and Natasha helped you haul boxes towards the front door, where Steve was waiting. It was like time slowed, that look in his eyes, glistening little stars.
“Come on, Rogers, these boxes aren’t going to move themselves.” Nat waved him over, snapping both of you out of your trance.
“Right, right.” He jogged over. “Is there anything heavy?”
“That one.” You pointed. “It’s got my candles in it.”
“On it.”
You grabbed a few tote bags, slinging your computer bag over your shoulder. A few others came out to help, Clint and Wanda namely, the latter of whom used her shimmering red powers to speed the process along. Were you any more confident in your own powers, you would do the same, but you hadn’t had much opportunity to use them yet, and you didn’t want to drop anything fragile on your first day.
You started unpacking the essentials, your smart speaker, your laptop, some books and your favorite candle. You put some clothes in the dresser, hung some up in the large sliding closet in the wall. Upon further examination, you had your own bathroom, too, which was nice. There was a wall tapestry with sunflowers on it, and several little knickknacks. Wanda’s loving touch.
Someone cleared their throat and you turned to find Steve there, arms crossed, leaning in the doorway.
“Hi there, um, just checking in. Figured you might want a tour when you got settled in. No rush, of course.”
“I would love a tour. I can already tell I’m gonna get lost in this place.”
He grinned. “Not on my watch. Come on. I’ll show you around.”
Steve walked with you through the office spaces, the computer labs, Bruce’s lab, Tony’s. Tony was in the city, but Bruce was home and introduced himself with a dad joke about the Hulk and a warm handshake. You saw the training facility, a giant room with floor to ceiling windows, a wall of mirrors, practice dummies, landing mats, and plenty of sparring weapons. There was, separately, a fully furnished gym, and then the basics, a large, modern kitchen, living areas and lounges, study spaces, a library, a party room with a bar, and a very fancy coffee machine.
You could see yourself making a home here.
Steve walked you back to the hallway where all the bedrooms were. “If you need anything or have any questions, my room is just down the hall on the left. Wanda is next door. Dinner is at six.”
“Six o’clock it is. Thank you, Cap.”
“You can call me Steve.”
“Steve.” You nodded, slowly accepting the fact that you were now on a first name basis with Captain America. “And you can call me (Y/N).”
“Nice to meet you, (Y/N).” He said, some twinge of nostalgia at the end of his words. You turned back into your room to get some more unpacking done and Steve walked back down the hall, taking a deep breath and looking up at the ceiling, doing his best to hold in his tears.
…Ready For It?
You spent the first few days in your room for the most part, unpacking but also hiding, if you were honest. You met Vision. He seemed nice. He also had the ability to phase through walls, apparently. Still no sign of Thor, but you weren’t holding your breath. You were sure he was a busy guy.
Sam Wilson introduced himself with the same offer everyone else had so far, to let them know if you needed anything. You appreciated it.
And then, finally, there was Tony, whose dry humor came across immediately. He sized you up, drilling questions about where you went to college, what you majored in, what your top three movies from the 1980s were. You were pretty sure he liked you, but you didn’t think he trusted you. And that was okay. You knew that was something you’d have to earn around there.
“No soulmark yet, kid?” He asked, eyeing up your bare wrist.
“Not yet.” You confirmed.
“That makes you what, twenty-three? Twenty-four?”
“Twenty-four. As of last month, actually.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “Well that’s exciting. I’m sure you’re counting down the days.”
“More or less.” You chuckled, catching Steve watching you out of the corner of your eye. He did that a lot, you noticed.
Before Tony could come up with some witty comeback, the lights flashed red, accompanied by a loud siren.
“Vis? What’s going on?” Tony asked as Vision walked into the room, his sophisticated sweater melting into the uniform you’d seen on the news, red and green with a golden cape.
“There seems to be a stir at the local fairgrounds. Tremors and gunshots. Hostages.”
“Alright, let’s go pay them a visit then.” Tony pressed a button on his watch and transformed into Iron Man in front of your very eyes. “You can stay here or come with us. Up to you. But suit up fast. We’re out in five.”
You stood there for a moment, waiting for the shock to wear off, but the sirens definitely weren’t helping.
“Stick with me.” Steve instructed, voice calm, confident.
“Okay.” You nodded, following after him, towards the hangar where they kept the jets.
Natasha was standing at a locker, pulling her catsuit on with impressive speed, Clint beside her, loading a quiver with arrows, checking his bow.
“Nat, can you get her ready?”
“Baby’s first mission?” She asked, impressed.
You nodded, waiting for orders.
“Well, it should be an easy one, from the sound of it. Here, put this on. We’ll get you your own gear in the next few weeks.”
She chucked you an extra suit and you did your best to shimmy into it. Surprisingly, you could actually move in it. There were holsters, but you weren’t gun trained, so you figured it was best to leave that to the professionals. Instead, you followed the others onto the jet, hoping your forcefields and blossoming battle instincts would be enough to protect you out there.
***
The fair had devolved quickly into madness. There was fire, screaming, running, and gunshots. You flinched at the onslaught of it, but followed the others out anyway, listening to the voice in your earpiece, Steve’s voice, as he issued orders. You were put on civilian evacuation with Sam while the others engaged with the attackers. Six of them.
You did your job diligently, ushering people to a safe distance while law enforcement arrived. Until one of the attackers engaged with you, however, mistaking you for a civilian. Something snapped. In an instant your flight instinct vanished, replaced with the need to fight. He punched at you and you countered, sweeping a leg under him and then using a forcefield to knock him into the cornfield.
One of them launched a bazooka at Tony while he wasn’t looking, and without a thought, you trapped the explosive in a bubble, forcing it into the air where it exploded harmlessly, away from everyone.
And when the dust settled, the rest of the team turned to look at you, sharing looks with each other.
“Thanks for the save, kid. I owe you one.” Tony complimented, clapping you on the back on his way into the jet. “Let’s get something to eat. I’m starving.”
Your heart raced with the adrenaline of battle, the feeling of a job well done. Steve gave you a thumbs-up, a proud grin. His risk had paid off. You weren’t a total failure.
“You doin’ okay?” He asked, slinging his shield onto his back.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” You replied, letting the energy fizzle back into your palms.
He watched with interest at the faint crackles of blue that made up your powers. “You did good out there.”
You felt your cheeks flush. “Thanks, I—"
“Alright new girl, were are we stopping for food?” Natasha asked, slinging an arm around your shoulders.
“I get to pick?” You asked with a laugh.
“And don’t be afraid to pick something fancy. It’s Tony’s treat.” Clint added, walking with the rest of you onto the jet. You strapped in while the others tried their darndest to influence your pick, bickering like siblings. Like your family.
Yeah, you could get used to this.
Waypoint
Your training started shortly after that first mission. Bruce took all your vitals, measured them before, during, and after use of your powers. He recorded said powers with every device known to man until he had your ability down to a science. He had a hunch they were of cosmic origin, but you had no idea when you could have possible come in contact with something like that.
Next came a uniform. At the moment, it was a dark indigo color, something similar to navy blue, but leaning a bit more purple. The chest area was left blank, Tony claiming he’d add a symbol once his graphic design team came up with something. He did add some accents up the arms and down the legs, thin, light blue lines that matched the color of your powers.
Natasha and Clint gave you a few crash courses on weapons and your aim left a bit to be desired, but your hand-eye coordination wasn’t bad. Sam put you on a modified military workout regimen to get in shape, get your stamina up with the rest of the team.
You practiced making forcefields, seeing how big you could make them, how small, how much force they could endure before they broke. Natasha shot some bullets at them, and your fields caught them, allowing you to kill their momentum and drop them harmlessly to the ground. They could withstand some electricity, but not Wanda’s powers. And they held against Steve’s superstrength, but not for long. Still, a few hits from a supersoldier was more than most could endure, so it would buy you some time in the field.
Eventually, you moved on from just forcefields and started learning to move objects. It turned out, you were not limited to bubbles. You could create platforms underneath things. This evolved into creating platforms underneath people, that they could jump on, or ride on top of while you moved them.
You practiced using them for transport too, but it was harder standing on them while controlling them, especially if you tried to jump from platform to platform. It was a bit like patting your head and rubbing your tummy, and it would take a lot of practice.
There weren’t many missions, and the ones that popped up, you didn’t get sent on. They were high level things, and while your powers were improving, and very quickly, Bruce was always quick to reassure you, you weren’t ready for covert ops yet, especially ones that had been months in the making.
Every time Steve got sent off, he left with that sad little half-smile of his, the one where he pressed his lips together, eyes glittering like a lake under moonlight. He’d give you some words of comfort, usually dealing with how short the mission was supposed to be. It didn’t often make you feel better.
Bruce stayed behind with you, most times. More like all of the times. Code Greens, as they were called, were seldom necessary, and besides, as they had learned with Wanda back during the Ultron days, Bruce could be a liability if someone else got in his head. But it was nice not being completely alone in the big empty facility.
“He always looks so sad when he leaves.” You noted, sipping from a mug of warm tea. Steve had left only moments before, the last member of the team that was shipping out.
Bruce thought about it for a moment. “Does he?”
“Oh. I don’t know. Maybe I don’t know him that well.” You shrugged, the sounds of Animal Crossing resonating from the TV.
“You know, he has, lately. He didn’t used to.” Bruce noted.
“Weird.”
“Uh-huh.” He replied absentmindedly. “So explain to me this game?”
“Okay, so you move to this island and have to spend all your money paying off debt to this raccoon…”
It was in another training session that there was a malfunction. A shock grenade went off dangerously close to Sam. Before you could even process what you were doing, your hand shot out, a bright, pulsating star crackling in front of him, another, second star on the other side of the room. Steve assessed the situation and used the shield to knock Sam into the star, neutralizing the grenade right after. There was a bright flash and Sam appeared on the other side of the room, tumbling out of the second star.
You froze, curling your fingers and closing both of them. There was a slight pinch in your shoulder, near the base of your neck. The others all stared.
“Wait, what was that?” Bruce asked over the intercom.
“You did that?” Steve asked, motioning to Sam as he walked over.
“I think so.”
“What was that?”
Natasha asked, looking you up and down. Sam stared at you like you’d sprouted a third eye.
“I don’t know.”
“Do it again.” Bruce insisted. “Hang on, I’m coming in there.”
The door from the observation room opened and Bruce joined the rest of you in the circle that was steadily forming, all of them watching you, waiting.
“I don’t know, it was just like…” You focused on that feeling again, the desperation to get Sam the hell away from that grenade, and as though you were punching a hole through reality, it opened in the center of the circle, an eight-pointed star, bobbing and ebbing and flowing, made of the light blue energy you were so familiar with.
Carefully, you opened another one, ten feet in the air above the first. Clint shrugged and chucked a tennis ball into it. Sure enough, it popped up to the second one, before falling down through the first one again. This continued until eventually you closed the bottom one, letting the tennis ball bounce harmlessly across the floor.
“Well shit.”
“Waypoints.” Bruce said, deep in thought. “Teleportation. This…this opens up a lot of doors.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” Steve murmured.
“Hey, that’s kind of cool. Waypoint.” Clint said, drawing attention to it. “What do you think?”
“What, like as a codename?” You asked, weighing it as an option.
“I like it.” Sam grinned. “Waypoint.”
“Waypoint.” You repeated, trying it out. Hi, I’m Waypoint. I’m an Avenger.
It sounded silly, but it was getting more official by the day. There was, of course, only one way to make it official official, and that was with one of Tony Stark’s famed parties…
Wonderstruck
You let out a sigh, staring at your reflection in the mirror. It was the night of the big party. Your first, as an Avenger, and the official induction of what Tony was deeming the second class of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Sam: the Falcon, Wanda: the Scarlet Witch, Vision, and You: Waypoint.
He’d gotten you a dress to wear, one that matched your uniform. It was long, sleek, that navy blue/indigo color. It glittered like stars and moved like a dream. And in the middle of it, poised at the base of the sweetheart neckline, was the eight-pointed star that Tony had turned into your symbol.
Your hair and makeup were done, and all that was left was the zipper.
Someone knocked on the door.
“It’s open!” You called, expecting Natasha or Wanda. Instead, it was Steve, who, when he saw you were unzipped, pulled the door almost all the way closed and shielded his eyes with his hand.
“Sorry! I’ll leave—”
“Wait, actually, could you help me zip this up? I can’t reach.”
Steve nodded, slowly lowering his hand and entering the room. He closed the door behind him to give you some privacy. He was dressed in a sharp black suit with a blue tie. His lapel pin looked like a tiny version of his shield.
“Wow…” He murmured, taking you in. “You look great, (Y/N).”
“You think so? I’m not sure blue is really my color…”
He scoffed. “It most certainly is.” He swept the hair off of your shoulder, meeting your eyes in the reflection in the mirror as he gently pulled the zipper higher until it was secure in place. “In more ways than one.”
“Yeah, guess so.” You agreed, nervous energy crackling around your fingers, blue as ever. You dispelled it, snapping out of it.
Steve looked at the two of you in the mirror for a long time before turning towards the door again. Halfway there, though, he turned back around, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a flat velvet box. “This is, um…for you.”
“Oh! Thank you.” You reached for it, heart racing. Inside was a necklace, its pendant a silver star with eight points. In the center, an aquamarine gem. You gasped, looking at it. It was beautiful, delicate. “Steve, this is beautiful. Thank you so much.”
“It’s the least I could do.” He said, offering his hand. “May I?”
“Please.” You said, handing him the necklace and moving your hair out of the way. He did the clasp behind your neck. It settled between your collarbones.
“There. Now it’s official.” He whispered.
“Almost.”
“Almost.” Steve agreed, offering you his elbow. “Right this way.”
You looped your arm through his, letting him lead you out into the initial murmurs of the party. What Natasha dubbed the “extended family” had shown up. Rhodey, Maria Hill, Nick Fury, Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts, and, of course, Thor.
He was a sight, that was for sure. He towered over everyone else at 6’5”, arms the size of tree trunks. It was a bit intimidating to say the very least.
“Rogers!” Thor bellowed.
“Thor! I didn’t think you were coming.”
He grinned. “I never miss a feast.” His eyes fell on you. “And you must be this new team member Banner spoke of.”
“I’m (Y/N). It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“The honor is mine.”
“Here.” Natasha handed you a champagne flute. She eyed up your necklace. “That’s cute.”
“Steve gave it to me.”
She quirked an eyebrow and looked up at the supersoldier, who still had your arm. “Steve has good taste.”
“Steve had help.” He admitted, smiling sheepishly.
“I’d get you one too, Rogers, but Thor has the strong stuff.” Natasha said, patting his other arm while you took a sip of the champagne. It was sweet, tangy. “God’s favorite boy scout has trouble getting drunk.”
“My tolerance is too good.”
“I think we just need to get you a Four Loko. Or two.”
“A what?” Steve asked.
“It’s like four drinks in one can. They’re insane. I tried in college, but tapped out halfway through.”
He considered it for a moment, letting out a laugh. “See, that just might work.”
Tony wandered around the lounge, greeting everyone. He looked you up and down. “You look beautiful, Portal Girl.”
You internally chuckled. The others had advised you not to feed his ego when he used his nicknames. “Thank you, Tony.”
“And you’re also here, Rogers.”
“Tony.” Steve nodded.
“You her date tonight?” He asked, motioning to your joint arms.
“Oh. Yeah, I suppose I am.” Steve agreed, not budging. Neither were you.
“Well, I hope you’ve taken some dance lessons since last time, Rogers. I’m sure (Y/N) wouldn’t want to have her feet walked all over.”
Steve chuckled and rolled his eyes as Tony moved onto his next targets. Sam emerged, looking very sharp in a red suit. Even Vision had dressed up for the occasion, Wanda beside him wearing an elegant red dress. The two of them talked and laughed on the other side of the room and you smiled. You could tell when you moved in that he cared about her.
You wondered if robots could have soulmates, too. If any android had a soul, surely it was Vision. Maybe you’d ask him about it sometime.
Once all of the expected guests were accounted for, Tony did the briefest ceremony in the history of ceremonies, introducing you all to the few members of the press he had allowed to come. You spent the beginning of the evening shaking hands, networking, and then once the strangers left, the real party started.
Nat switched you to something a lot stronger to champagne, and she was running the bar, so it was easy to get refills. Clint and Thor were arm wrestling on one of the tables which was…hilarious, admittedly.
Steve found you after a few hours apart. “Hey, will you be my partner?”
“Sure, for what?”
He laughed, loosening up quite a bit with Thor’s Asgardian mead in his system. “Sam and Bruce are trying to teach me how to play Beer Ball or something.”
“Beer Pong?”
“That one, yeah.” He nodded. “Winners play Clint and Nat.”
“That checks out.” You chuckled. “Yeah, I’m game. I haven’t played since college, though.”
“I haven’t played ever so I’m sure you’re a step ahead of me anyway.”
“We’ll see about that. Your physics skills are pretty good, what with the shield and all.” You complimented, earning that charming smile of his. “We might just give them a run for their money.”
“Enough flirting, kids, get over here.” Bruce grinned as he finished lining up the cups.
“You know how to play Beer Pong?” You asked, plucking a ping pong ball off of the table and fiddling with it.
“Kid, I have seven PhDs. I have played my share of Beer Pong.” Bruce admitted.
You couldn’t help but smile at that. It was nice to see the Avengers loosen up like this, have a good time together, really truly bond.
You gave Steve the basic rundown of the rules: no elbows past the edge of the table, balls back, stoplight, island, and that if you let Sam and Bruce get too many cups, you and Steve would get “schwaisted” as the kids said, or, at the very least, you would. Steve would probably be fine.
“Ladies first.” Sam said, giving you the second ping pong ball, one of which, you handed to Steve.
“You’re gonna regret that.” You said, rubbing the ball between your hands before perfectly bouncing it into the cup at the front of the pyramid. “Your turn, Steve.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” He said, sinking the ball into the same cup. “I believe that’s three cups, gentlemen.”
Sam’s jaw dropped. He shared a look with Bruce. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”
“You’re telling me.” Bruce chuckled, retrieving the ping pong ball and rolling it back. He started drinking the contents of the first cup, leaving the other two to Sam. “Alright, do your worst.”
Needless to say, you wiped the floor with the other two. Barely even gave them a chance. Which is why it was only fair that Clint and Natasha kicked the absolute shit out of the two of you.
You struggled to down your third cup, which is why when you reached for the fourth, Steve shook his head and took it from you, only offering a wink when you opened your mouth to protest.
“Hey! Steve, it’s supposed to be five each.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, she already finished hers.” Steve shrugged, chugging another like it was water. “Right, (Y/N)?”
“Yeah absolutely. What he said.” You shrugged.
You helped clean up the mess a bit after the game was over, rounding up empty cups, wiping down the table, and then washing your hands as Tony switched the music to something upbeat, dancing music.
“Come on, let’s dance.” Steve urged, clearly toeing the line between tipsy and drunk. He reached out for your hand and you couldn’t resist. You didn’t even try.
You let him lead you out to the middle of the room, where Wanda and Vision were already dancing together and looking adorable doing it.
“I thought you couldn’t dance.” You laughed as he spun you around to the music.
“I’m a quick learner.” He whispered, mouth against your ear.
You swore your entire body flushed red, but you let your feet lead you through the dance. Steve took both of your hands, swinging you out and then back in, spinning you around. You blamed the alcohol on what happened next. Your heel caught on the fabric of your dress and you fell over the back of one of the couches, tugging Steve down with you.
He laughed, using an arm to push himself off of you, hovering, eyes soft. “Sorry.”
“It’s my fault. You’ve got me falling for you, Rogers.” You murmured, gazing up at him through your eyelashes.
You said it as a joke, a quip, but there was some truth in it. More than some. It had been a magical, magical night. And if it weren’t for the leather cuff on his wrist, you could see yourself spending the rest of your life with him.
Steve closed his eyes, smiling and sitting up, helping you upright again. “I’ll go get us some water.”
You sighed and sat back against the couch, heart hammering in your chest.
Natasha perched on the armrest, looking down at you. “What was that?”
“Not sure. I think I fumbled the bag. If…if there even was a bag I guess.” You chuckled, shrugging.
“No, there is something there. I can see it.” Natasha said, thinking as she nursed a glass of wine. “Hmmm…”
Steve stood in the kitchen, getting two glasses of filtered water from the fridge. He exhaled a deep sigh, leaning against it. He replayed the moment in his head over and over. The look in your eyes, the way your necklace glimmered in the light, the sound of your voice, the flush of your cheeks. You were catching feelings for him, that much was clear. He wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
Steve Rogers, I am so sorry you will not hear me say these words until after I go back tomorrow, but I love you. I have loved you for a very long time. And I know I will love you for the rest of my life.
Maybe it was a good thing, he reasoned, thinking back on his first night with you all those years ago. But you still couldn’t know why. Not yet.
It was going to kill him to keep it a secret for ten more months.
Timeless
Sherbert rays of the sunrise lit the training room, filling it with a warm orange glow. You were sitting on the floor, stretching your legs while you listened to music. That was another thing on the growing list of skills that had improved during your stint as an Avenger: your flexibility.
Suddenly, Steve was standing over you, saying something you couldn’t hear due to the noise cancelling headphones over your ears.
You slid one off, looking up at him. “Good morning.”
“Morning. You’re here early.”
“Couldn’t sleep.” You shrugged, reaching for your other leg.
“Sorry to hear that. Wanna talk about it?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I think I drank too much caffeine before bed last night. Learned my lesson. No caffeine after six.”
“That’s a good rule. Mind if I stretch with you?” He asked.
“I don’t mind.” You tossed your headphones onto your workout bag and connected your phone to the Bluetooth speakers, putting on some music you could both listen to.
“I recognize her. This girl’s voice.”
“Taylor Swift.”
“Ah. Yes, her. I keep hearing about her.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.” You laughed. “Have you liked any of her songs so far?”
“I don’t know if I could name one for you, to be honest.” He listened to the song that was playing. “This one’s not bad, though.”
“I’ll send you some recommendations. There are some I think you’d really vibe with.”
He smiled. “I’d really like that.”
The others came in not long after, did their warm-ups, and then Steve briefed everyone on the plan for their training session, one in which everyone would swap weapons, practice using each other’s things in case they ever had to in battle if one of their teammates got disarmed.
You started with Clint. He showed you the absolute basics of archery, how to pull back the bow, how to notch an arrow, how to aim, taking into account distance. You fired a few arrows into a target and did okay, you supposed, but you would need some practice if you wanted to actually get good at it. Years of it, realistically.
Natasha showed you how to use her electric batons, which were fun, but did intimidate you a little. You definitely did not want to end up on the wrong end of those things.
And then, inevitably, you were standing in front of Steve. He offered you his shield, which on its own seemed daunting. You held it for a second, assessing the weight of it. It was noticeably lighter than you thought it would be.
“Woah.”
“Yeah. People always expect it to be heavier.” He said, a hand resting on his hip as he watched you hold it. It looked so right in your hands, he decided. “It’s good for a lot of things, but first…” Carefully, he helped you put your arm through the straps on the back of it, holding it in front of your body in its primary and most famous purpose.
You let out a sigh, shaking your head. “This is so crazy.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah, you have no idea.” You chuckled, waving it around a bit.
“You keep looking at it like it’s Thor’s hammer or something.” He teased.
“Feels like it.”
“Well the good news is, this thing is not password protected by some Asgardian magic words. The bad news is, that means the bad guys can pick it up, too.” Steve said, gently positioning your body in an offensive stance, nudging a foot with his own, switching your arms around. “You can use it to bash somebody head on, or you can angle it a bit to get a more direct blow. It will take the force of most things. I…I actually kind of don’t know the limits. Hasn’t failed me yet. The paint does come off from time to time, though, so don’t worry about that.”
“Okay, wow.” You nodded. “Good to know.”
“I trust you with it.” He said, eyes meeting yours.
You smiled, heart racing. “I’m honored.”
He showed you a few other tricks, and then training wrapped up for the day, everyone grabbing some water, taking a shower, or making plans for lunch. Once you walked off with Wanda, Nat cornered Steve.
“What was that?” She asked, that catlike grin on her face.
“What was what?”
“I saw it, you know, the way you looked at her. I think you’ve got a soft spot.”
“Yeah, well, I did rope her into all this. Can’t say I don’t feel responsible for her.” He dodged expertly, weaving through Natasha’s mental gymnastics with skill and precision, or so he thought.
“Uh-huh sure. Well, she, Wanda, and I are going antiquing this afternoon. You should come. After all, you know quite a bit about vintage valuables.”
He laughed. “Hey!”
She walked off, smiling to herself. Steve thought about it for all of four seconds before he decided he would tag along. He hadn’t been to an antique shop in this century, so he couldn’t imagine the kinds of things they had there now. He might even learn a thing or two.
***
After a quick lunch, Steve did decide to tag along. It wound up being him, Vision, and the girls, which he certainly didn’t mind.
You and Wanda were buzzing with excitement, Natasha looking on and following behind with Steve. Vision lingered, studying everything, picking things up to get a closer look. He had projected a human disguise over himself, something Steve didn’t know he could even do, but it seemed to work. No one had batted an eye at him since they stepped foot in the shop.
“This place is…huge.” Steve said, glancing down the hall of the seemingly endless store.
“Biggest one in the state.” You chimed. “It’s the whole city block.”
“There’s a basement, too. And a second floor.” Natasha informed him, patting his arm. “This is gonna be an all day kinda thing.”
“Oh undoubtedly.” He said, setting down the teacup in his hands, a petite, floral thing.
You sifted through a box of records, picking up the soundtrack of the Muppets Movie.
“Is that a frog?”
“This is Kermit thee Frog, show some respect.” You laughed, putting the record in your basket.
“Kermit?” Steve asked again, seeming genuine.
“Oh I forgot you missed the Muppets, oh my god.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t sound familiar.”
“We need to fix that as soon as possible.” You told him. “Can’t have you missing out on cultural icons like Gonzo and Miss Piggy.”
“Okay now you’re making things up.” He chuckled, shuffling through the records as well. You showed him a few good ones and he added them to his basket, saying something about how he’s been meaning to use his new record player.
Wanda browsed some vintage rings, picking out a few, and Natasha rifled through a rack of vintage dresses, most of them from the forties and fifties from the look of it. Nat held up a navy blue one, silky, with short ruffled sleeves and buttons down the front. Steve froze, looking at it. For a moment, it looked just a little too familiar. Like the dress you had worn that night.
Eventually Nat put the dress back. You hadn’t seen it. You were distracted by a shelf of VHS tapes, looking for the old Barbie movies, whatever those were. Wanda was with you, on the next shelf over, calling out movie names when she found something cool.
Steve wandered off on his own, looking around at the different trinkets and toys, old letterman jackets and jewelry, dishes that may or may not contain lead. Finally, he came upon a little room full of art, paintings and photographs, handmade pottery.
Time stood still.
He stared at the large painting on the wall, oil on canvas. Two star-crossed lovers dancing in a bar in Brooklyn, a little guy with a dream, dancing with the most beautiful girl in the world, twirling in her dark blue dress. His heart raced. He never thought he’d see this painting again.
It had been his last painting before leaving for Camp Lehigh, the last painting he did before his life and body changed forever. He’d used the last of his paints to make it, every color mixed with care to get the exact color of your hair, your eyes, your lips, all from memory.
And it was here in front of him. When he had been presumed dead, it must have been sold off. He didn’t really have anyone left it could go to.
In that moment, he wasn’t Captain America. Standing in his shoes was that little guy from Brooklyn.
“Woah.” You murmured, suddenly right next to him. “It’s beautiful.”
“Yeah, it…it is.” He agreed, looking away from it. He didn’t want you to get too close of a look at it. However, that didn’t stop you from walking forward to inspect it closer.
“‘Soulmates.’ Artist unknown.” You read from the plaque. “Oh, it’s from the 40s. 1943. Does it look familiar?”
“Yeah, actually. Bucky liked that bar.” Steve said, pointing to the details of the interior. “It’s a little place in Brooklyn, called Val’s. Well, it was I guess. I don’t know if it’s still open anymore.”
Your eyes lingered on the woman’s face, on the man’s. You didn’t say anything about how they looked, about the uncanny resemblance to yourself and Steve. Instead, you sighed. “Someday, I want to be that in love with someone.”
He just about cried. But instead, he gathered his words, put a hand on your shoulder, and told you with confidence, “You will be.”
***
Hours later, when you were all shopped out and you’d checked out with your things, Steve stayed at the counter while the rest of you went to the car.
“Hey, um, that painting in the art room. The soulmates in the bar. I’m interested in buying it. Would it be possible to have it held here for a while, though?”
“Oh I’m sure we could arrange something,” said the old man at the counter with a smile and a nod. He started writing out the purchase form.
Steve glanced back towards where it was, that fragment of his soul he didn’t think he’d ever see again. He knew the fact that he’d stumbled upon it was nothing short of fate.
Wildest Dreams
It had been Tony’s idea. Of course it had. It always was, wasn’t it? He’d insisted that all the members of the team who hadn’t yet been exposed to Wanda’s mind manipulation should be, just in case there was a misfire during combat and one of you got caught in the crossfire. It would be important to see how each of you reacted, the kinds of things you saw so you’d be able to snap out of it.
Theoretically, of course.
This left Natasha, Steve, Thor, Bruce, and Tony out, as they’d already had their fun with Wanda’s magic. The rest of you, however, were waiting for your turn.
Wanda felt conflicted about it. She didn’t want to hurt her friends on accident, let alone on purpose, but Tony was insistent, and he had some of the others on his side. Namely, Rhodey, who had been hanging out more and more, and Clint, who’d had his experience with a different kind of mind control shortly before the Battle of New York.
It was part of why he’d volunteered to go first. Once he came to, he gave you a thumbs-up, shaking it off and walking over to Natasha.
“You sure you’re good?” She checked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. No big deal. Who’s next?”
Sam looked at you and the despondent look on your face before volunteering himself to go next. Rhodey went in solidarity, despite being too busy with his government responsibilities to be a full-time member of the team. And then it was your turn. You stood next to Wanda. She offered an apologetic smile before red crackled around her fingertips and it hit you.
For the first few seconds, you were fine. You felt tingly. You blinked a few times and your eyes felt weird. No doubt, your eyes were red, like the others’ turned when they were under the influence of Wanda’s powers.
“Hey, (Y/N), you okay?” Steve asked, voice urgent.
“Think so.” You replied, mouth full of cotton. It felt like that time in college someone had given you an edible that was too strong. The first and last time you’d ever gotten high. Like you were sinking and melting. Your legs buckled and Steve surged forward, catching you before you hit the floor, gently lowering you into a comfortable position. “Hey, you’re pretty strong…” You murmured, head lolling onto his shoulder.
The others all looked at each other. Clint dragged over a bean bag and Steve gently lowered you onto it, adjusting it so you’d be comfortable.
“She’ll be okay, Steve.” Natasha reassured him, the guilt in his eyes palpable, yet still not explained. Not entirely. She had a sneaking suspicion whatever it was had something to do with the name written on his wrist, the name he wouldn’t show anyone. Not her, not Nick Fury, not even Sam.
“Yeah, I know.” He nodded, slowly taking a step back. His eyes didn’t leave you. He had to force himself to look away. “I, um…I have to go…There’s a…” Steve motioned towards the door before leaving the room, while you sat there, catatonic, off in your own little world.
***
“Hey, (Y/N), you okay?” Steve asked, his voice close. “That was a long nap. Forget to set your alarm?”
You opened your eyes and you were laying down on the couch. Steve was standing at the island in the kitchen, cooking something. It smelled good. Really good. He was wearing a button-up, sleeves rolled to his elbows, still wearing his slacks from work. He had music playing from the record player, your vast collection of hits from decades of music, and he was still hooked on 40s jazz. You supposed you couldn’t blame him.
“You cooking?”
“Mmhmm.” He nodded. “Come over here and get a taste.”
You followed, out to the kitchen. He set down his wooden spoon and swiftly intercepted you, pulling you up onto the countertop, kissing you deeply, a hand running through your hair. Your hand came up to frame his cheek. He was growing a bit of a beard these days. You liked it, thought it suited him.
You sighed against his lips and then pulled away to look at him. He grabbed your wrist, pressing a long kiss to your soulmark. Three simple words. Steven Grant Rogers.
“I love you, doll.” His words cut through you, eyes tender and sincere. “Always have.”
But this wasn’t your Steve. And it wasn’t your reality, given away by the slightest tinge of red in his irises.
It wasn’t real. And neither was the glimmering wedding ring around your finger.
***
You blinked awake, the power dispersing from your head, leaving you shockingly sober. And hungry. That familiar sting was back, right between your neck and shoulder. You wondered how long it’d been.
Clint was in the room with you. So was Sam. Natasha was gone. Wanda too, surprisingly. As was Steve.
You got chills even thinking about him, the phantom of the wedding ring still clinging to your finger.
“You alright?” Sam asked, making eye contact with you first.
“Yeah, I’m good. How long…?”
“Three minutes. New record.” Clint said with a grin.
“Oh.” No wonder it had felt so short. Part of you wanted it to last longer.
“We’re sending Rhodey to get some food, if you’re hungry.” Sam said.
“Where from?”
“The golden arches.”
“I could go for some nuggies.” You admitted. “A McFlurry, perchance.”
Clint laughed. “How did I know you would say that?”
In the kitchen, Steve stood, hands on the counter, mug of coffee steaming in front of him, untouched. He stared at the cupboard door.
“That must be one interesting cupboard. You’ve been standing there for like five whole minutes.”
“It’s only been three.” Steve said, glancing at the clock.
“And the fact that you know down to the exact minute is why I’m so intrigued.” Natasha chimed, tilting her head. “What is going on with her? I have never seen you look at anyone like that in the entire time I’ve known you. Is she…what, the kid of an old friend? Grandkid?”
“It’s nothing, Natasha. She’s the newest member of the team, I’m just worried—”
“Steve.” She said, cutting him off, that look in her eye. “If you want to get all defensive about it, fine. Keep your secrets.” She sighed. “But if you need someone, I’m here. Whatever it is, you don’t have to carry it alone.”
Steve let out a long sigh, weighing his options. It was something to the tune of eight months until your birthday. That was still a long time. A lot of time for that secret to slip through the cracks and, potentially, break the timeline. The Butterfly Effect was something he had researched extensively. Your future together was something he wasn’t willing to risk.
No, it was too important that you stay in the dark, even if that meant keeping his friends in the dark, too.
“Thanks. I appreciate it. But I’m fine, really. It’s nothing.”
“Uh-huh.” She nodded unconvinced. “Well, she’s out of it. Clint just texted. She wants twenty chicken nuggets and an Oreo McFlurry.”
The relief was immediate. You were okay. He could only wonder what you had seen in there, and why it had been so quick. The others had been under for upwards of ten minutes. You’d only been down three. “Well good. I’ll let Rhodey know.”
Invisible String
It was late. A few weeks after your tussle with the Scarlet Witch, if you could even call it that. You could tell Wanda felt guilty about the whole thing, but it wasn’t her fault. If anything it was Tony’s. Sure, the exercise had prepared you for a worst case scenario, but it had also dug a very awkward gap between you and Steve. You could barely even look at him without wanting to burst into tears.
He had his soulmate, whoever they were. You really needed to let it go.
You walked down to the kitchen to get a cold drink, but there was already someone sitting at the table. Steve, sitting there, hand resting on his chin, papers spread out in front of him. There was a picture you recognized as Bucky Barnes.
You’d heard whispers of him around the Compound from time to time. Steve’s best friend turned Hydra assassin, brainwashed for decades and now, rogue, out there somewhere. Sam always seemed to be looking for the guy. Natasha and Clint, too. And there had never been any sign of him. Well, until now, it seemed.
On the TV, Star Wars was playing. Empire Strikes Back. Steve looked up at it every so often.
“Star Wars?” You asked.
He chuckled and nodded. “Yeah.”
“Your first time?”
“No. They were the first things I watched when I was out of the ice. I like them a lot. The hope, the Force, the Jedi stuff, the music.” He shrugged. “They’re good.”
“Who’s your favorite?”
Steve smiled, sheepish. “Han Solo.”
“And here I thought you’d say Luke Skywalker.”
“He’s great, too. You like Star Wars?”
“Yeah, I used to be obsessed with them in high school. Haven’t seen them in a while, though. I’m something of a Leia girl myself.”
“That makes a lot of sense.”
“Does it?”
“Oh yeah.” He nodded. “You’ve got that spark.”
“What order did you watch them in?”
“Nat made me watch the originals first.” He confessed. “I like the prequels, though. Well, two of the prequels. Phantom Menace is…”
“Oh yeah. You’re not alone in that.” You laughed softly. “You know, I never really pegged you as a sci-fi nerd.”
“Yeah, well, someone I really care about seemed to like them a whole lot, so I knew I had to check them out.” He shrugged. “What are you doing up so late?”
“Getting a drink. What are you doing up so late?”
He looked down at the papers and then back up at you. “Oh. Yeah, this is just…Trying to get some stuff figured out.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” You offered.
He thought about it for a long moment, letting out a little sigh before nodding. That was the only reassurance you needed before grabbing a can of soda from the fridge and plopping down into the seat next to him.
“They found him. Clint and Natasha. They think he’s hiding out in Kentucky somewhere.” Steve said. He shook his head. “He saved my life a few years ago. After all the brainwashing, he still pulled me out of the water. I don’t know how much of him is still him, but…”
“But it’s worth a try.” You reasoned. “Obviously he’s been through a lot, but he must be pretty strong to have made it through everything.”
“I don’t know when I’m going. They haven’t narrowed it down all the way. And Tony doesn’t want me to even go at all.”
“Tony is full of shit.”
He laughed. “Yeah…”
“If you want to go, you should go. And if you need me, I’m there. You shouldn’t have to do it alone.”
He met your eyes with a sobering gaze. “You mean it?”
“Yeah, of course.” You agreed. “When, uh, when I was in the eighth grade, my class took a trip down to DC. There’s a Captain America exhibit in the Air and Space Museum, it had just opened. We learned about you and Bucky. How close you were, what happened. There are videos of me just crying uncontrollably there, learning about it. They had to take me outside, get me some water. I couldn’t go back in. I don’t even know why. Something about it…”
“About me?” Steve whispered.
“That’s embarrassing. I shouldn’t have told you that.” You chuckled, shaking your head.
“It’s not embarrassing. It’s sweet.” Steve said, reaching for your hand on the table. You let him take it, fingers curling.
“So when you found me that day, I guess I always knew it would lead to something like this. A stroke of fate, or something.” You admitted. “Some part of me knew that you would mean something to me someday. I guess I never thought we would be friends.”
“How old were you?”
“God, this would have been like ten years ago at this point. I was like fourteen or something. I was twenty-one when they found you in the ice. It was all over the news my sophomore year of college, kind of right when I was figuring my powers out, actually. And then everything was all over the news and I…went into hiding more or less, hoping it wouldn’t be me on the TV next.”
“Until the mall?”
“Yeah. But I couldn’t just…let it happen, you know? It was like some part of me knew that I had these powers for a reason, and that if I didn’t stop it, who would? I didn’t know you were there, obviously, but, I think even if I had, I still would have jumped in.”
He smiled softly, eyes earnest. He gave your hand a squeeze. “Well I’m really glad you did, for the record. I think we’re all a little better off because of it.”
There was a moment of quiet. “Steve?”
“Yeah?”
“How old are you?”
“Oh, um…I’m ninety-eight.”
You chuckled. “No, like how old are you really?”
Steve took a breath. No one ever asked him that. No one really cared about that. No one except you, it seemed. “I’m not sure. I’d have to do some math. I think I’m twenty-eight maybe. Twenty-nine.”
“Thought so.” You smiled. “Well, Steve, whenever you get it figured out, say the word and I’ll suit up. We’ll bring him home.”
Out of the Woods
The next mission you were sent on wasn’t to bring back Bucky. Not yet. Instead, you were on the team that got deployed into a rainforest to break up a rogue Hydra base. It was warm, almost too warm for your uniform, but you were grateful for the coverage, especially when they started shooting.
You ran down the makeshift path, evading enemies and throwing up forcefields to stop them in their tracks. Thor was in town, so he was zipping around through the trees with his hammer, the force of it bringing some down every once in a while.
“On your six.” Steve reported through the comms. You dodged out of the way and sure enough, a Hydra agent tumbled ahead, tripped by a small field you cast at his feet. A few of Natasha’s bullets took care of that.
“Thanks.” You replied.
“Don’t mention it. I could actually use some backup. I’m in the building. There’s more of them than I thought there would be.”
“I’m on my way.” You reported, changing directions and sprinting towards the building housing the Hydra base. What they were doing here, you had no clue, but Bruce theorized it had something to do with a meteor that had landed out that way a few months prior. They were probably harvesting whatever materials had been inside it.
You kicked down the door. Steve had six guys on him, two of which he disposed of quickly. You made a portal beneath one guy, sending him falling down a flight of stairs with the second portal you opened.
The other three guys went down quickly enough, only for a guy in a giant mech armor to come crashing through the interior wall. He shot and Steve jumped in front of you, taking a hit to the neck. A tiny syringe filled with shimmering purple liquid.
“Fuck! Steve!” You ran to him, but that didn’t take care of the large problem looming behind you. Seeing red, you made another portal at the feet of the robot, opened it in the ceiling, and cut it off as it was halfway through, destroying it in a flash of sparks and shredded metal. It shut down, giving you time to get to Steve.
He was sitting against the wall, head slumped to the side. You took the syringe out of his neck, tucking it into a pouch on your belt for testing. If this thing was poison, you’d need Bruce to start whipping up an antidote as soon as possible.
“Steve, hey, stay with me.” You touched his face, trying to wake him.
At your touch, he blinked a few times, drowsy. He gave you a crooked smile. “Heyyy, there you are.”
“Come on, we’ve gotta get you back to the jet.” You told him, pulling him to his feet, but he slumped in your arms like dead weight. You had been working out since you’d been recruited, but he was still heavy. “You’ve gotta work with me, big guy.”
“They used to call me little guy.” He murmured, sounding drunk. “Back in Brooklyn.”
“I’m sure they did.” You slung his arm around your shoulders and started hauling ass out of the building. A few agents shot at you, trying to hit you while you were distracted with carrying Steve to safety, but they forgot you were the one Avenger whose specialty was defense.
You lit a forcefield in your left hand, using its faint blue light to guide the two of you through the dim hallways. It slowed all the bullets to a stop, causing them to drop to the floor harmlessly. There was something kind of poetic about it, you supposed. Steve was so famous for that shield of his, but now you were the shield, protecting him.
“Did you guys find anything in there?” Clint asked.
“The good news is, we cleared most of it out. Bad news is, Steve got shot with something. I’m bringing him back to the ship now. I don’t know what it was but he’s acting really drunk.”
“Tranq darts seem to have that effect on him, yeah.” Bruce explained. “Bring him back here and I’ll make sure it wasn’t laced with something else.”
“On it.”
You lugged Steve along, stopping to rest and readjust against a wall for a second.
“Thank you for takin’ care of me even when I don’t feel so good.” He said, leaning his full weight against you.
“Of course, Steve. I’ve got ya.” You pulled his arm around your shoulders again. “You would do the same for any of us.”
He smiled, face impossibly close to yours. “Oh, I’d do anything for you, (Y/N).”
You knew it was probably just the drugs talking but you’d be lying if you said it didn’t do something to you when he said it anyway.
Once you were outside, you opened a waypoint in front of the two of you, the second portal in front of the jet, and then stepped through, closing it behind you. Bruce opened the door and helped you haul Steve inside, onto the cot of the makeshift mobile infirmary.
You handed Bruce the empty vial.
“Thank you for remembering. Thor always breaks these and then I have to do bloodwork to figure out what was in them.” He chuckled.
“He’s very smash first, ask questions later.”
“No wonder he and Hulk get along so well.” Bruce joked. “Alright, get back out there. I’ll make sure he’s alright.”
“Thank you.”
“Be careful out there.” Steve advised, eyes half-lidded. “They have guns.”
“I’ll be extra careful, alright? I promise.” You met his eyes and he smiled immediately. Once you were sure he was okay, you stepped out of the jet again, getting back to help the others.
***
When you got back, you were nursing a bullet wound. They’d gotten you in the arm. It wasn’t too bad, though, the bleeding had almost stopped. Natasha went straight for the med kit when you two stepped foot on the jet, motioning you over to the stool.
Steve was there, still on the cot. He stared as Nat started cleaning your wound. “Wait, you got hurt?”
“I’m okay. It’s not that bad.”
He nodded and reached for your hand. “I’m really glad you’re alright, doll. Had me worried sick.”
Doll. You replayed the word in your mind. Steve had called you a lot of things in the past few months, but never once had he used that somewhat outdated term of endearment. You liked it, though.
You met Natasha’s eyes and she smirked while the supersoldier held your hand.
Sam walked in next, eyeing up the scene unfolding in front of him. “Woah, what’d I miss? Feels like I missed several chapters.”
“Steve is drunk.” Clint explained, counting his remaining arrows.
“Tranq dart. He’s fine. Just needs to ride it out for a few hours. He should be back to normal by the time we get home.” Bruce explained as he put away his tablet.
“You feeling alright, buddy?” Sam walked over and put a hand on Steve’s other arm. “You’re holding (Y/N)’s hand kinda tight there.”
“Huh?” Steve asked, directing his eyes to your joint hands. He let go. “Oh. Sorry.”
“It’s okay, Steve.” You reassured him.
The others trickled in slowly until everyone was accounted for, the base destroyed, the Hydra operatives in SHIELD custody for questioning. Fury and his team would handle it from there. You couldn’t help but play the mission over and over in your head.
Never had you used a waypoint to split something in half. But something had clicked in you when Steve was hurt. You’d never felt like that before, like part of your soul itself was being ripped out. He meant more to you than you cared to admit, especially when your fate was tied elsewhere.
Still, your new ability needed training. It was a dangerous skill to have, and if you didn’t hone it properly, you could end up doing some serious damage on accident.
Come Find Me in the Future
It was the night before you and a select group of the team were heading out to find and recover Bucky. Clint had finally gotten a hit on him. But if he had, that meant others could be after him, too. People that wanted him back. Badly.
You were nervous about it for that reason. You weren’t sure why the rest of you hadn’t already left, to be honest. You didn’t want to race with Hydra. It wasn’t one you were sure you’d win.
To stave off the feeling of dread, you had commandeered the living room TV and popped in Howl’s Moving Castle. You were nursing a mug of chamomile tea in your hands, playing games on your Switch.
You were near the end of the movie, at the part where Sophie was whisked to the past, when Steve walked into the room, in his pajamas, a tank top and a pair of plaid pants.
“Hey, Steve.”
“Hey. You’re up late. Big mission tomorrow.”
“Yeah, it’s almost over.” You told him. “Drinking my sleepy tea as we speak.”
“Sleepy tea?”
“Chamomile mint. It’s good. There’s some over by the Keurig if you want any.”
“Thanks.” He smiled, walking over. “What’s this?”
“Howl’s Moving Castle. One of my favorites.” You told him.
“What’s it about?”
“That is a complicated question.” You laughed. “I’d have to start it over, I think.”
“Another time, maybe.” He chuckled, crossing his arms.
Steve watched as Sophie got sucked back through the wormhole to the present.
She called out “I know how to help you now! Find me in the future!”
He perked up. “Wait, she…there’s time travel?”
“Yeah, she gets pulled into the past for a bit and tells him to find her and then years later, the first words he says to her are ‘There you are, sweetheart. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.’ It’s really sweet.”
“They’re soulmates?”
“They are.” You nodded.
“Does that happen? Often?” Steve asked, hung up on it. “In real life?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve never heard of that happening before.” You shook your head. “I don’t think anyone would believe it, even if it did. Happens a lot in fiction, though.”
“Oh. Cool.” Steve nodded. He met your eyes and then looked down at his lap, tongue flitting across his pink lips. “I, uh, wanted to apologize.”
You furrowed your eyebrows. “For what?”
“The mission last week. I, uh…I said some things and, uh…I just, I’d hate to make you uncomfortable. I’m sorry if I did.”
“You didn’t.” You assured him. “No apology necessary. You were drugged. I probably would have said worse, to be honest.”
He smiled. “Okay. Cool. Thanks. And thank you for agreeing to come tomorrow. We could really use the help.”
“Of course. I’ve got your back, always.” You told him, earning another one of those earnest, lovesick smiles. “Anywho, I finished that playlist for you. The Taylor Swift one. I can make you a more general one with different songs, but…figured that was a decent starting place.”
“Great, yeah, thank you.” He nodded, looking at his phone as it pinged with the notification you had sent it to him. “I’ll give it a listen.”
“Let me know what you think.”
“Oh I will.” He chuckled to himself. “Really, thank you. I appreciate it. And um, have a good night. See you tomorrow.”
“Bright and early.” You saluted.
He nodded before repeating, “Bright and early.”
Bygones
Bright and early was an understatement. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon when your alarm went off. You groaned, rolled over and silenced your screaming phone, forcing yourself to sit up so you didn’t drift back off.
Today was too important for that.
Instead, you got up, brushed your hair, and went out to the kitchen, where Vision had whipped up a full breakfast for everyone going out. It was you, Steve, Nat, Wanda, and Sam. A small team, but enough firepower to bring him back without overwhelming and/or scaring him off.
“Morning.” Steve said, eyes landing on you the moment you walked into the room.
“Morning.”
“Coffee?” He offered, pushing a cup of your favorite iced coffee over to you. You couldn’t lie, you were impressed.
“Thanks.” You grinned, taking a long sip to kickstart your morning. You loaded a plate up with eggs, sausage, bacon, and toast, plus a little side of hashbrowns, thanking Vision thoroughly.
“It is my pleasure, (Y/N). As someone who does not require sleep, it would be rude of me to let you all starve so early in the day.”
“(Y/N), you got him listening to Taylor Swift?” Sam asked, eyes drilling into you.
You laughed. “Uh, yeah. What about it? She’s a cultural icon, do you want him left out of the loop?”
“Hey, I’m not complaining.” Steve shrugged, sipping on his coffee.
“Of course you’re not.” Natasha chuckled, words warbled by her own cup. You noticed the way her lips pursed. If you weren’t mistaken, you’d say she was nervous. About what, you couldn’t tell. She seldom got nervous. Or at least, she seldom let it show. But it was definitely there.
Wanda was the last into the kitchen, already fully put together. She gave the chef her thanks with a warm smile and sparkling eyes. You couldn’t help but smile. Those two, beyond a shadow of a doubt, were absolutely made for each other. You wondered what her wrist would have to say about it when the time came.
Once everyone had eaten, those who weren’t suited up got ready, locked and loaded for a tense mission. You’d have Clint on the coms here, doing recon from a drone. The rest of you loaded up onto the jet, strapping in.
Nat and Sam hopped into the cockpit. Wanda sat next to you, Steve across the aisle, his eyes meeting yours every so often.
“It’ll be alright.” You said, trying to dispel his nerves.
He nodded, but didn’t reply, just giving a short nod and staring at the holographic map on the wall as you approached closer and closer. You could see that little guy from Brooklyn peeking through the eyes of the supersoldier sitting across from you, nervous about his best friend.
You unbuckled just before you landed, walking across the jet to strap on your weapons. The others did the same, arming themselves. Nat was going to keep the jet warm for a speedy exit, the look in her eyes still unreadable. The rest of you got ready for war.
It was an abandoned warehouse, large garage door, broken windows, slanted roof with a hole in it. Definitely not the most secure of places. According to Clint’s drone, Bucky was in the back room.
“Waypoint, I need you out here ready to get us a quick escape.”
“Got it.” You nodded, positioning yourself within eyeshot of the warehouse and the jet so you could make a portal either way.
“Wanda, Sam, you’re with me.” Steve instructed, taking a minute to breathe, to think. “He’s gonna be ready to run. We have to talk him out of it.”
“Uh, Cap. Might wanna work a little faster. There’s another plane incoming. About three minutes out.”
“Alright.” Steve nodded, taking off his helmet and slinging his shield onto his back. He led the other two into the building.
For a heartwrenching two minutes, you didn’t hear anything. And then you heard a plane. And then gunshots.
“(Y/N), now!” Steve instructed.
You did as you were told, opening the waypoint in the warehouse, another just outside. Nat had picked the jet up off of the ground, firing at the one Hydra had brought. She took another shot, damaging the wing and causing it to go down.
“Shit, wait—!”
There was a flash of light and you expected it to be Steve that came through first. Maybe Bucky, even. Instead, it was a grenade. And a split second later, it exploded, knocking you unconscious.
***
Steve stood over you, horrified. Thanks to your suit, the damage didn’t seem too bad. But you had blood and soot caked on your face, the ends of your hair singed.
It was his fault. He had told you to open the Waypoint, only for a Hydra agent to toss a grenade right through it.
He all but collapsed to his knees, collecting you in his arms. Bucky was on the jet already, Sam, too. Only he and Wanda were outside with you.
“(Y/N), come on. Open those eyes for me.” He pleaded, voice soft, eyes aching with tears. “Hey, come on. Please…”
“We should get her back to the jet.” Wanda goaded softly, a hand on Steve’s arm.
“Yeah.” Steve nodded, a tear slipping down his cheek. He scooped you off of the ground, an arm beneath your legs, the other around your back. Your arms hung down, limp. Your head rested heavily against his shoulder, eyes closed.
By the time Steve walked up the ramp, Nat already had the infirmary cot down, ready to go. Bucky watched, eyes intense. He looked up when Steve approached, eyes falling on you. They widened when he got a look at you.
“Woah, is that…?”
“Yeah.” Steve nodded. “It is.”
Natasha helped him get you situated in the cot, wrapping the cuff around your arm that would measure your vitals. With everyone accounted for, Sam closed the door, lifting the jet into the air.
“I’ve got Banner on the line.” Natasha told him.
“Good.” Steve’s eyes didn’t leave you for a second, watching as the breaths entered and left your lungs. “Tell him to get the infirmary ready for her.”
“Already on it, Cap. She’ll be okay. Her vitals look…well they look good, all things considered.” Bruce relayed. “Just get back here as fast as you can.”
***
As soon as the jet landed, Steve unhooked you from the vitals monitor and collected you in his arms, carrying you to the gurney Bruce had ready, walking with him as he wheeled you towards the infirmary. Bruce insisted he needed some time and sent Steve away, taking a piece of his heart with him.
Vision checked over Bucky, giving him the okay almost immediately before going to help Bruce in the infirmary.
Steve sat at the table, Bucky sitting down to join him. The others gave them a minute alone.
“Hey, pal.” Steve exhaled, trying to force a smile. “Glad you’re here.”
“Me too.” He agreed. “Thanks for coming to get me.”
“Of course.” Steve nodded. “I’m with you—”
“Til the end of the line.” Bucky smiled, eyes soft. His irises flicked towards the infirmary and back. “You wanna talk about it?”
Steve let out a sigh, the wall finally coming down and more tears slipping down his cheeks. “It’s my fault, it’s all my fault. She’s—”
“She’s gonna be fine. I promise you.” Bucky’s hand grabbed onto Steve’s wrist, the covered one. The one with her name etched onto it. “She has to be. Has she…does she know yet?”
“No one does. Just me. And you.” Steve confessed. He wiped his thumb under his eye. “So you’re right. She has to pull through.”
Steve held onto that spark of hope for the coming hours. He showed Bucky to the room that had been prepared for him, but Sam offered to give him a tour of the place, knowing their friend was in a fragile mental state.
Eventually, Vision found him and told him he could enter the infirmary. Bruce had finished treating you. When Steve walked in and saw you, still unconscious, laying on that bed, he choked on more sobs. The bruising on your face was pretty severe. You were hooked up to several monitors, an IV. Supposedly, your injuries were not too extreme, but you had a cracked rib and would need time to heal before you could do any missions or training.
Hours later, Nat found Steve in there, wringing his hands, tears in his eyes. He fiddled with the cuff around his wrist. The playlist you’d made for him played softly from a speaker in the corner of the room. Timeless. As if he wasn’t already crying enough.
“She’s gonna be okay, Steve. Bruce thinks she might wake up soon.” Nat comforted, sitting in the chair next to him. She put a hand on his shoulder, confused by her friend’s sudden mood. Members of the team had been injured before and sure, he checked on them, but he never reacted like this.
“I know, I just…” He shook his head. “I’m worried about her is all. It’s…kinda my fault this happened.”
Nat pressed her lips together, tilting her head. “This seems like a little more than that. You wanna tell me what’s really going on?”
He wanted to hold onto his secret. He did. But he was feeling fragile, vulnerable. It couldn’t hurt to have just one more person on his side. “I can, just…not here.” Steve nodded, leading her out of the room, out of your earshot, if you could even hear him while you were out, but still in sight thanks to the soundproof windows.
Nat’s hands settled on her hips, waiting for an answer. Instead, Steve took the cuff off of his wrist and held it out to her, letting her read the letters that had been etched there for the better part of a century.
Her jaw dropped. She stammered, arms crossing. She met his eyes and when she saw the sadness there, the guilt and longing, her expression softened.
“I should have told her. A long time ago, I should have told her but I can’t. In six months, on her twenty-fifth, she’s going back in time to 1943 to meet me on mine. And it…didn’t seem like she knew until she was already there.”
“So you’ve just been holding it in this whole time?” Natasha asked. “You’ve been in love with her…”
“Since the forties, yeah.” Steve nodded. “My great lost love, as Tony likes to call her when he rags on the band I wear.”
“Does he know?”
“No. Just you. And Bucky.” Steve amended. “He was there when she…”
“Right. Weird.” Natasha let out a long sigh, looking through the window. Her fingers reached for her own cuff. She hesitated, but pulled it off, holding her soulmark out to him. “Fair is fair.”
Steve stared at the letters for a long time, realization slowly filling his eyes. The name on her wrist was none other than James Buchannan Barnes. “Oh my God.”
“I didn’t know how to tell you until all the dust settled, but it just settled, so…” She shrugged, putting the cuff back on. “I’ll figure out how to tell him, too, if he doesn’t know already.”
“Buck’s mark was grayed out back then. We thought…well, we didn’t know what it meant.” Steve said, shaking his head. It was the reason Bucky had dated around so much back then. He’d figured if he just found someone else, his mark would change and he wouldn’t have to be alone. Never could he have guessed what it actually meant, that his soulmate wouldn’t be born for another forty or so years. “And then he lost his arm…”
“Yeah, that part I did know.” She smirked. “Well, I’ll keep an eye on her. Let you know if she says anything you need to hear.”
“She probably thinks my soulmate is dead, too. Everyone else does.”
“Ironic.”
“No kidding.” Steve sighed, gazing longingly through the window.
“We’ll get you through it, Steve. You’ve waited seventy years. Six months is nothing.”
“Yeah. I’m gonna sit with her for a while. I don’t want her to wake up alone.”
He slinked back into the infirmary and sat in the chair beside your bed, watching your steady breaths and listening to the beeping of the heart monitor. Natasha watched him through the window, feeling lighter and heavier at the same time. Nevertheless, she was glad they had talked. At least now, they could be there for each other.
Vol. 2 Here
Tags: @cap-lu20
#steve rogers x reader#steve rogers soulmate au#steve rogers imagine#captain america x reader#captain america imagine#marvel#mcu#avengers
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Just the progression of rocket and y/ns relationshio throughout the movies? Like their relationship in vol1, 2, infinity war, endgame, holiday special maybe? and then vol 3?
Vol 1 :
You and rocket aren’t the closest automatically, I imagine rocket being very sarcastic towards you as he normally is with everyone else. I imagine rocket would find you attractive right away though, and would not shy away from nicknames like doll. He’d do it in a teasing way though, to not make it the most noticeable that he’s perhaps interested in you. However if you are like him and happen to be animalistic, he is noticeably a little different in terms of his sarcasm and he’s more likely to grow a soft spot for you quickly. However, you form a close bond after you comfort him in his drunken state, when he calls himself a monster. You have no reason to be so kind to him, after everything he’s done since the two of you met, so it strikes a cord in him. From on that point he’s noticeably softer and he might even start to gain feelings that are a little deeper than just initial “oh they’re hot” his feelings only growing deeper when you comfort him when he thought he lost groot. Again, doing something out of kindness when you don’t have to.
Vol 2 :
The two of you are close friends at this point, you’ve helped him raise groot. All of them had, but you especially. Nowadays, you often talk to him while he’s tinkering with random things. You become mad at him for stealing batteries, which leads to you joining quill and the others on his dad journey. You two separate for the first time since knowing eachother, and rocket is left to self reflect on himself (thanks to yondu). He’s able to realize he’s been pushing people away or acting like he doesn’t care for them, he even does so with you. Yondu tells him, if he really loves you, he should show it. I imagine he stopped acting like he didn’t care for groot after watching him almost die, so I imagine that when he sees you again, after that point no longer pretends he doesn’t care for you. He ends up confessing he cares for you deeply, and while his confession is obviously romantic, you take it as platonic. He does this right before you try to save quill, and you’re still persistent even after his confession, so he’s forced to tase you. After that though, the two of you do finally make up and he properly apologizes to you.
I am groot:
The two of you have an unspoken relationship. You two are very much like parents to groot at this point, and groot makes this very aware to the both of you. You don’t think much of it, as it makes sense since you’ve helped rocket so much in taking care of groot. However there seems to be an unspoken tension that gets even stronger because of what he’s told you both, called you both. Rocket is not only more aware of his feelings, he’s more aware that groot knows. Rocket knows he should do something about his feelings, but he stays silent.
Infinity war:
While he is once again sad to see the two of you separate again, it’s for the fate of the universe. You decide to stay with the morons in order to keep them safe, and rocket understands. It’s in your nature to be selfless and that you’d want to keep your family safe. Also, the fact rocket and groot are gonna be with the god of thunder certainly helps you feel more secure in the fact he and groot will be fine. Rocket casually demands a hug goodbye from you, growing more comfortable at this point for his feelings towards you without saying anything outright. Your relationship always seemed very friendly, but this time it feels more intimate and romantic, despite the fact neither of you have made your feelings aware to one another.
Endgame:
The two of you find solace in one another after the loss of your family. You end up dating over the course of the 5 years you two spent on earth together. After all the grief and pain, it’s something rocket simply could not keep to himself anymore. Especially since, he truly wants you to know he loves and cares for you, deeply. He thought for a moment you were gone too, before you came to earth along with nebula and Tony. He has made the effort since then for you to realize how much he cares. The two of you seperate, you deciding to help Tony, Steve, and others go back in time. Rocket bids you farewell, giving you a nice hug and a kiss. You two reunite after all is said and done, happy to see one another in one piece, as well as your family.
Holiday special:
Your relationship is a newfound development by the other guardians at this point, but mantis still manages to find you two adorable whilst everyone else is kinda offput by it at the moment. Not in a bad way, it’s just kinda new to them. You spend a lot of your time together this day, and eventually helping mantis set up Christmas for Peter. You gave eachother special gifts to one another, you granted him a special weapon designed by the people of wakanda, a weapon that can turn into any weapon at will. And what he got you? A necklace you loved that he broke… forever ago. He’s very embarrassed about his gift in comparison to yours, but you were still happy with it. Oh, and Peter was in a funny mood that day, so he even set up a mistletoe for you two to kiss under.
Vol 3.
Since you spend most of it praying your beloved isn’t dead, you don’t exactly interact with him specifically … very much. You go through hell and back just to make sure he comes alive okay, and he does. You embrace eachother the second you see eachother again, a very different embrace than any other hug you two gave one another. A mutual agreement that you’re both glad rockets alive. You fight together (albeit you’re a little protective of him), and after everything’s said and done, rocket is the captain. You’re still by his side, but now you’re following orders. In the past you would’ve made fun of him for suggesting he was captain, but now, it just feels right.
#rocket the raccoon x reader#rocket raccoon x reader#rocket racoon x reader#rocket x reader#mcu x y/n#mcu x you#mcu x reader#marvel x y/n#marvel x you#marvel x reader
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UNSPOKEN FEELINGS → steve harrington
Fandom: Stranger Things
Pairing: Steve Harrington x reader
Words: 2,473
Warnings: none (?) spoilers for season 4 vol. 1, in case you haven’t watched it, i guess
Summary: The reader is Dustin’s older sister; she most likely wasn’t around for the events of season one and maybe even two, seeing as she used to live with her father out of town. But, once she moved back in and met Steve, they became friends and before she could notice it, she had grown much more complicated feelings for him. And after all the craziness they’ve been through with Vecna, maybe it’s time to find out if he feels the same....or if fate wanted Steve and Nancy together again.
A/N: this is set after the events of season 4; since vol. 2 hasn’t been released yet, let’s pretend all is well and no one died in it. also, i wrote this at 3 am, so please bear with me lol
if you’d like, listen to this while reading.
---------
Fate didn’t seem to like you very much.
There had been a thousand things happening at once; Vecna, the Upside Down, Joyce and her family moving out...and then there was your feelings towards Steve.
For a while, you thought it was stupid; your younger brother Dustin idolized the guy, and you ended up spending a great deal of time with him and Robin, so it was only natural to have a little crush on Steve Harrington. He was nice, good-looking, funny... But that innocent feeling grew. And grew. And then grew a little more.
And when he was dragged into the Watergate, you almost felt fisical pain thinking about living in a world without Steve.
There was only one word that could describe that feeling: love. And now it was too late to ignore it.
Now that you were all back at the real world, Hawkins was holding some sort of festival — you were not sure why, but it was a small town kinda thing — and you and your friends were trying to have a normal moment after all the chaos you had just been through. The silly excuse to dress up and go out to dance was greatly appreciated, thank you very much.
During the last fight, your arm ended up broken; reason why you were now wearing a cast, but it didn’t really bother you all that much. It was a small price to pay. Max almost died; your arm would heal.
But that night, when a smiling Steve asked you to dance, you suspected it was because he didn’t want you to feel left out because of your arm — it would obviously get in the way of a normal dancing stance. But Steve was sweet enough not to mind; he took your right hand in his (you ignored the butterflies in your stomach) and placed his other hand on your waist (ignoring, keep ignoring them,Y/N!), carefully avoiding to touch your left arm as you moved to the rhythm of whatever song was being played.
There was a nice, warm feeling building up inside of you....until he brought up Robin and Eddie's opinions on Nancy's actions. They were certain her feelings for Steve were coming back, judging by the way she wasted no second on risking her life for him, or staring at him whenever she thought no one was looking. Her relationship with Jonathan was also not in its best moment.
Maybe her feelings for Steve never really left. First love is a complicated thing.
“So...what do you think?” Steve asked, trying to sound nonchalant, but you caught a hint of tension in his voice. Of course he would ask for your advice; of course.
What the hell am I supposed to say?
Your brain doesn’t normally function half as well around Steve under normal circumstances, but now that you were literally in his arms...did he really expect some sort of plausible answer?
“I don’t know...I think-” you began, but just as the words left your mouth, your eyes instinctively fell down on Nancy’s bright smile across the room and you stopped mid-sentence; she was wearing a beautiful blue dress, her hair carefully done up, and while you observed her talking to her brother, Mike, you suddenly realized that you couldn't possibly see a reason why Steve would not love her still. You had only been around her for the last few days and she had already managed to make you like her, care about her... hell, you could consider her a friend after all you had been through together, with Vecna and all that. You had actually come to admire her, no matter how hard you tried to dislike her at first, thanks to your unspoken feelings for Steve.
And of course they were right. Robin and Eddie, they were right. Deep down, you knew that Steve loved her back as well. He always did; he just didn’t know that, or didn’t want to acknowledge the fact out loud. Why else would all those dates of his never work out? Why else would he get so eager to protect her at all times?
Realization hit you in a moment...well, more like a second. And you knew. You knew that no matter the extent of your feelings for Steve, no matter how Dustin claimed there was evidence he liked you back, no matter all the sleepless nights you spent thinking what could happen if you confessed to him...you knew that it wasn't your place to stand between Steve and Nancy.
"I think she really, really cares about you, and you should...." you paused, feeling tears threatening to form as your mouth seemed to fail at getting the words out. Luckily, the music and the voices were more than enough to mask any sign of sadness in your voice. Steve, fortunately, wasn't looking at your face at that point; he didn’t seem to be looking at anything in particular.
You cleared your throat and forced the words out. "She is right over there and this is the perfect opportunity for you to ask her to dance, Steve."
Over Steve's shoulder, you spotted Dustin eyeing you both dancing with hopeful eyes, moving his upper body absentmindedly to the rhythm of the music from his seat, a big smile appearing on his face as he caught you looking back at him, if only for a moment. You slowly shook your head no; his smile was quickly replaced by a confused expression, and you forced a smile of your own in a pathetic attempt to calm him down.
Steve looked at you right this instant, his expression showing something you couldn't quite read — surprise? Shock?
"Go ahead, ask her," you encouraged, keeping the same fake smile on your face and hoping it was enough to reassure him, cause it was most likely the best you could come up with at the moment. "I'll go...to the bathroom."
"But I'm-"
At this point, you both had stopped moving, and you decided to step back. It could have been your imagination, but you got the feeling that his hand seemed hesitant to let yours go until the last moment, when you were out of his reach and turned away.
You walked fast, moving carefully around all the couples on the dance floor; but, contrary to what you told him, your feet didn't get you towards the bathroom. The bathroom would have people in it. Happy people. And you would eventually have to get out of there and risk seeing Steve and Nancy making up and God knows what else on your way out.
No. You walked towards the exit, the doors that led to the hallways and to the back doors of the school, where no one would be.
You sat on the ground, seeing as there was nowhere else to sit, listening to the heavy rain that muffled most sounds coming from inside the building, and tried not to think too much over what you had just done. One could almost forget that there was a party going on at all; the storm was picking up fast, and sometimes a lonely thunder would paint the sky a shade of light blue.
At least the scenery fitted well with your current situation.
When your face got wet though, the rain was not to blame. You were luckily sheltered from it in your little spot on the ground. But your heart? There was no way to shelter it from those feelings.
A lonely tear slid down your cheek; you looked up at the sky, absentmindedly, trying to justify to yourself why on God's green Earth you where crying over something like that.
You looked down at your own arm. It seemed stupid — petty, even — to be crying over something so little as an unrequited love after all the things you and your friends at Hawkins had been through...but you couldn't stop. And so you allowed yourself to cry, because...
Why should I not? After all I’ve been through, why can’t I have one normal emotion for a person my age, instead of fear, anger, or despair?
You would eventually get over it.
Steve loved Nancy. Big Deal. You never expected him to love you back. Not really. It was hurting right now because you thought maybe, just maybe, after everything that went on with Vecna and all the pain you all had to endure, you'd be given a period of happiness and peace to make up for all the tragedy — perhaps the universe itself would grant such a blessing. But so be it. Maybe you could go back to living with your father, away from Hawkins for a time...
And that's when the doors slammed open once again, startling you, and through them Steve Harrington stepped out, his gentle brown eyes instantly finding the mess you were at the moment, sitting on the floor.
Boy, did the universe hate you.
You hurriedly wiped away your tears, desperately trying to hide the fact that you've been crying. Somewhere in your mind you registered the shock on his face becoming worry, and you looked straight ahead, thinking of ways this could go better than you making a fool out of yourself in front of him of all people.
Steve didn't say anything at first — he looked out of place, not sure where to put his own hands or where exactly to look at. You pressed your eyes closed, letting your head rest against the cold wall behind you, kinda wishing he would just disappear — maybe he was just your mind playing tricks on you...
"What are you doing on the floor?"
Nope, you couldn’t be that lucky.
"Just go, please," normally, you would have a snarky comeback to his question, but right now you couldn't find it in yourself to answer in that way.
Steve took a deep, audible breath. You still didn't open your eyes.
But you felt it when he sat down next to you, careful not to bump into your broken arm, though it hardly hurt anymore.
"Steve, please."
"You were crying," it was not a question.
How cliche could you be? Although you'd never stopped to think about it, Steve was probably your best friend, you were in love with him, and now there was a hundred percent chance he had put two and two together and figured out why you were crying as well.
And even so, you blurted out the first lie your tired mind could muster, because that’s how you could keep yourself from panicking completely. "My arm hurts."
What, obviously, didn’t convince him.
"Liar."
"Can we just talk tomorrow?"
"You're really rude, you know that?"
You finally looked at him. His eyes were already on you, and you struggled to think clearly with how close you two where... but then you grasped a new feeling inside you: anger, and you held on to it.
"Excuse me?"
You could stand the thought of being rejected. Everybody was rejected at least once in their life, and you were no stranger to the feeling; you just didn't want anyone to witness the aftermath of it firsthand, let alone the person who rejected you, and yet here he were, making the task of putting your feelings for him behind you incredibly difficult.
"We were dancing and you just stormed off mid-song,” he said, matter-of-factly.
"I didn't storm off-" you felt exhasperation getting the better of you, messing up each and every thought you tried to put into words. "You asked me about....I told you to go and dance with her, so I got out of your-"
"I was dancing with you!", great, now the screaming contest was about to begin.
"Yes, but you wanted to be dancing with her!"
"OH, so now you know everything I want?"
"I know the obvious!"
He scoffed, but when he spoke again, his tone was so calm and his voice was so low that you couldn’t tell if Steve was certain he wanted to be heard. "Oh no, you absolutely don't."
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You know, for someone really, really smart, sometimes you read it all wrong.”
A few seconds passed by without both of you saying anything; you looking at him, him looking down at the ground, mindlessly playing with a dry leaf he must have found nearby on the floor...and then it hit you. What he was implying. What he was trying to make you believe, that is. Was he really too kind to let someone down?
“Oh my God, no,” you let out a bitter chuckle, trying to get up, which proved to be more of an challenge with only one good arm available than you antecipated. “No, no, you're not doing this.”
Steve seemed to panic as he watched you moving to stand up, and he quickly grabbed your wrist — the one that wasn't on a cast. “Wait, where are you going?”
For a second, you looked down at where he was holding you in place, stunned, then back at his face, catching Steve looking back at you with some sort of conflict passing behind his brown eyes. “Let go.”
And then he too got up, still nowhere near inclined to let go of your arm.
“I can't.”
"What do you mean, you can't? Of course you can. Just let go of me and I’ll go home, and you can go back inside and we can pretend this never happened-", you tried to yank your wrist free, but Steve didn't let go; instead, he took a step closer...and suddenly you were close enough for a kiss, and all the butterflies came back, and there was this scene playing inside your head where one of you slowly leaned in and...
You stared down at your feet, feeling tears once again welling up in your eyes. "Please don't do this."
"Don't do what?" you weren't looking at his face, but he sounded genuinely confused, maybe even worried.
"Pretend you like me."
"I do like you."
"Not in that way," you took a step back, and this time around he let your arm go. The words began leaving your mouth even before your brain could register it. "Look, whatever it is that Dustin asked you to do, or whatever you feel you owe him, or me, you don't. It's not your fault I lo-"
You froze mid-sentence. And there it was, those words anyone smart dreaded to say to the wrong person, on the tip of your tongue...and the worst part was that you didn’t even knew you were about to say them until it was to late to act like it didnt happen.
Steve was giving you a stunned look, uncertain, and when he shifted closer, you moved a step back. "Y/N-"
“I’ll just go home.”
A/N: part 2 is now OUT! Read here. ♥
#steve harrington#steve harrington x reader#stranger things#stranger things drabble#stranger things oneshot#xreader#oneshot#eddie munson#steve harrington oneshot#steve x reader#steve x nancy#nancy wheeler#st4#dustin henderson#angst
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BnHA Volume 35 - A Brief Reaction Journey
hello! so as mentioned in my last post, I’ve started catching up with the BnHA manga again FINALLY after almost two years, and have made it through a fair number of chapters so far! and since I’m not sure how long it will take me to actually post the corresponding liveblogs, I figured I’d make a couple of posts in the meantime to sort of preview my reaction journey thus far with some good old-fashioned OUT-OF-CONTEXT BULLET POINTS taken from my ramblings. originally I was going to make a single post for all 25 chapters I’ve read so far (up to 367), but I quickly realized that was waaaaay too ambitious lol. so for now it’s just this one, and I’ll put up the vol. 36 post probably tomorrow afternoon.
spoiler warning: just fyi, this post will obviously feature spoilers for chapters 342-350*, BUT it will also include some stray spoilers from chapters 362 and 403 as well, so just a heads up for that if you aren’t fully caught up!
*chapters 340 and 341 are not included because I've already posted full reaction posts for each one here and here, respectively.
Chapter 342
Endeavor being taller than Jeanist just feels so WRONG to me regardless of whether or not it is factually accurate. does this mean All Might is also taller than Jeanist?? I don’t want to live in a world where Best Jeanist has secretly been a perfectly normal sized person this entire time. someone please lie to me and tell me that he is tall
many thanks to Kacchan for inserting this small bit of levity into this scene which was otherwise well on its way to sending me into a SPIRAL OF FEELINGS, and in fact still is whenever I look at that panel of Deku with Eri and Kouta, and also that GODDAMN HUG WHERE HE AND INKO ARE BOTH CLEARLY AND PAINFULLY AWARE THAT THEY MIGHT NEVER SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN, AND IN THAT MOMENT THEY’RE JUST TRYING TO HOLD THE OTHER AS TIGHTLY AS PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE, AND SHE’S PRAYING TO WHATEVER DEITY IS OUT THERE THAT HE’LL COME BACK SAFE AND WHOLE, AND HE’S PRAYING THAT HIS MOM WILL BE ALL RIGHT EVEN IF HE DOESN’T COME BACK, AND NOT ALLOWING HIMSELF TO THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH HE ALREADY MISSES HER, BECAUSE HE CAN’T THINK LIKE THAT ANY MORE, BECAUSE THIS BOY IS FULLY GROWN NOW BECAUSE HE HAD TO BE, BECAUSE HE HAD NO CHOICE, AND I’M BOTH SO PROUD AND SO FUCKING SAD ABOUT IT AND I JUST NEED A MINUTE HERE ACTUALLY, OKAY!! OR FIVE MINUTES!!
LMAO WHAT AN AUSPICIOUS AND NOT-AT-ALL OMINOUSLY FOREBODING NAME. “hmmm what should we name our new class 1-A fortress?” “hmm well I was thinking maybe Troy, after the legendary city with the famously impenetrable walls, which to the best of my knowledge were never breached, or at least that’s what I assume since I never finished reading The Iliad! :) :) :) ...wait, why are you all looking at me like that. they didn’t actually breach them, right? guys? what happened to Troy? GUYS?”
I’m actually so proud of Deku because he’s come such a long way from the days when the mere CONCEPT of even TALKING to a girl was enough to floor him lol. but also I’m legit cracking up at he way he tried to segue into random small talk in the middle of the goddamn apocalypse. gotta be smooth about it!! casual!! you can tell how casual they are because both of them are suddenly struck by the inexplicable urge to fuss with their hair!!
Horikoshi really said “FUCK YOUR SQUADS!! ...but if we had a Todosquad this is who would be in it I guess”
my god. between this and the OchaDeku conversation the villains truly do not stand a chance do they? and they don’t even know how screwed they are yet. REDEMPTION IS COMING!! IT’S KNOCKING ON THE DOOR, TRICK OR TREAT, Y’ALL READY FOR THIS
Chapter 343
so we’re opening with everyone’s favorite Guy With An Old Wad Of Chewing Gum For A Face, AFO!
did this son of a bitch kill Nao’s dad and steal his sexy lie-detector quirk??
sob AFO is all “can I have your son’s cell phone number please” and they’re all “SURE”
bonsoir little Yuuga
do. ...do you not actually know. was this meeting not prearranged. “why are you here Aoyama?” “why are you here, Deku?” truly, why are any of us here??
I’m sitting here trying to play the “guess which parts of this dialogue are real vs fake” game and coming up completely stumped on every single sentence
so Yuuga’s all “can you believe that even though the city of Musutafu is basically down to just U.A., a Dollar Tree, a couple of crumbling park benches, and one very determined Starbucks, we somehow still have functioning courts and lawyers?” I actually can’t believe that at all tbh. you’re telling me “it’s the fucking apocalypse” is still not a good enough excuse to get out of jury duty
damn, Aoyama out here with the trash talk and the ON YOUR LEFT?!
MONOMA??!?!?!?!
Chapter 344
“Eraser’s” plan, indeed. you dare say that right to Kaminari’s face
SHINSOU!!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!?!?
HEYA YOURSELF YOU HANDSOME KNAVE!! LOOK AT YOU!! fucking loving the costume my dude! pretty please tell us your hero name to go along with it. is it MindCraft. I think your hero name should be MindCraft. don’t look at me like that Shinsou we need more punny hero names in the world
“yes well you see, I couldn’t do it, so I learned how to do it.” great story Shinsou
the way he’s rubbing the back of his neck there. are we gonna get some real Monoma character development at long last. feels like it’s long overdue and I am thrilled. he’s such a great character and I feel like we’ve only barely scratched the surface of who he actually is as a person and as a hero
THE UNEXPECTED VLAD KING MENTORSHIP WITH THE ARM AROUND THE SHOULDERS?? he really needed that support. outwardly he’s always made a big show of wanting his turn in the spotlight and begrudging class A for stealing the scene at every turn. but how much of that is really just an act. some of it? most of it? maybe even close to all of it? because right now he suddenly seems so small and young here and really wishing he wasn’t in this unenviable position of being one of the many World’s Last Hopes who are all way too fucking young
did Mirko’s giant robot hand just grow into an EVEN GIANTER giant robot hand??
long beautiful flowing mermaid hair. sorry what was I saying I kind of spaced out there for a sec
YES, AFO, ALL OF THIS TO SPLIT YOU UP YOU STUPID MUSH HEAD. MAYBE IF YOU EVER ACTUALLY FINISHED A MANGA IN YOUR GODDAMN LIFE YOU’D KNOW HOW A FINAL BATTLE IS SUPPOSED TO BE CONSTRUCTED. YOU MOLDY AVOCADO
Chapter 345
“no you don’t understand, we have so many sixteen-year-olds whose coattails we’re all hanging onto. we have sixteen-year-olds who can take over people’s minds. sixteen-year-olds who can create portals to warp you halfway around the world in an instant. and let’s not forget the sixteen-year-olds who can act their damn asses off. we have the best sixteen-year-olds in the world. our sixteen-year-olds are so much better than yours you fucking losers”
Deku I swear. if I’m about to discover that the reason you weren’t there to stop Kacchan from being literally, actually, canonically murdered is because your distracted ass got yoinked into the void by some no-name villain chucklefuck, I’m gonna...
don’t listen to him Aoyama you were magnificent. you were my favorite in all of the stage plays
BUT IS PHASE TWO SUPPOSED TO INVOLVE DEKU IN ANY WAY THOUGH??? HELLO??? IS ANYONE LISTENING TO ME??? I’M FROM THE FUTURE AND THIS IS URGENT, PLEASE
“I fucked up Ochako, I fucked up so bad” omfg Deku
she doesn’t want to hurt you Deku she just wants to shower you in love. in her own special way. by stabbing you a lot
anyway have fun on this... tropical island??? I guess?? Kacchan will just have to hold down the fort in the meantime. which I’m sure will go absolutely fine
Chapter 346
“th-th-this is really bad, right?” yes Tamaki, yes it is. you’re stuck here on the Super Mega Ultra Radical Gnarly Cracked-Out Wonder Stage with Shigaraki Fucking Tomura and at least two of you are about to die and I’M NOT OKAY
so now we’re also getting this hilarious insight into the inner workings of the Mega Ultra Tremendous Stupendous Incredible Sky Coffin and it is truly, truly phenomenal
Horikoshi stop taking my sarcastic jibes and owning them completely challenge!! all the best sixteen-year-olds. all the finest greatest Hyper Ultra Sparkle Glimmer Wonder Battle Stages
this is genuinely one of the boldest lampshading efforts I have ever seen in fiction you guys
“yes, we acknowledge that this does indeed seem impossible to have pulled off, BUT have you considered that, fucking quirks though???? AND THAT THEY ARE, AS THE KIDS SAY, WILD??”
Chapter 347
lmao they’re shouting at Monoma accusingly and he’s all “I’M HAVEN’T BLINKED AT ALL YOU GUYS I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO TELL YOU”
don’t mind him, he’s just out here growing out his hideously malformed hands and fingers endlessly from every part of his body, normally, as one does. nothing quirk-related about it. anyone could do this if they simply exercise and maintain a balanced diet. this 100% is not a quirk y’all it’s just essential oils
SUDDEN MONOMA FEELS DELIVERED TO MY DOORSTEP???
awwww. the way he’s almost panicked, frantically wondering if he somehow fucked the quirk up and desperate for Aizawa to believe him that he’s trying his best. and Aizawa quick to reassure him. this kid is so desperate for approval. and unapologetically careening his way onto my top ten character list, welcome dear boy
so that’s that. see you in two years Deku. his last words spoken out loud to Kacchan were, and I quote, “wha --”
Aizawa is so hopelessly impossibly hot at all times and I don’t know how the universe can handle his existence. he’s even doing it without activating his quirk now. no ponytails or anything. just an eyepatch and a dream
don’t mind me, I’m just out here doing literal algebra to figure out how long it would take Deku to get back here if he traveled at the same speed as All Might did in chapter 90 (30 seconds per 5km, apparently). about 20 minutes, give or take. well shit. hopefully he’s a little faster than Kamino-era All Might was, especially since he can fly and has that Fa Jin shit too. or maybe Rody can fly him lmao. or S&S’s hot fighter pilot boyfriend
“what’d Sensei say, Deku?” “he said no, looks like I gotta uber. can I borrow your credit card, I promise I will venmo you back”
unfortunately for Deku he does not realize he’s accidentally gotten himself caught up in what will undoubtedly end up being the most erotic and bisexual of the various final battles
can’t believe Deku has like 6 love interests and out of all of them, Toga is the first one who actually asks him out. good for you girl. gotta shoot your shot
Chapter 348
FELLAS IS IT GAY TO BREAK OUT INTO TERRIFIED BEN DAY DOTS BECAUSE A GIRL EXPRESSED HER CARNAL INTEREST IN YOU????
anyway so since Deku apparently doesn’t understand how romance works either, he’s trying his best to give an actual response by recontextualizing all of this in terms of the one big thing he does understand: All Might
you’re telling me you never wanted to stab All Might to death and then turn into him?? wow I just can’t believe it
but also... okay lol. so I was thinking about this sarcastically, but was then struck by the very unironic thought that there sorta kinda is someone whom Deku does, both consciously and subconsciously, try to be like, and who he also kinda does apparently share the same heart and mind as. at least if chapter 403 is anything to go by lol. soooooooo. huh
god damn it Toga. absolutely none of what you’ve said or done here has been even the SLIGHTEST BIT reasonable. you can’t just tell someone you want to stab them and be their girlfriend. and if and when they try to let you down easy by responding with the MOST THOUGHTFUL AND GENTLE REJECTION ANYONE COULD EVER POSSIBLY MAKE UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, because they’re actually the WORLD’S NICEST MAN, you can’t just respond by doing whatever it is you’re presumably about to do, which I’m guessing is gonna be really violent and unhinged
so Ochako is all “ever since we fought last time I’ve been thinking about you a lot!” and Toga is all “are you serious, YOU broke up with ME bitch” and now she’s standing behind her with a knife
“she’s the least predictable of our opponents” YEAH NO KIDDING LOL
“everyone knows that Toga is actually Ochako’s villain, like ffs Deku you haven’t even interacted with her since the Provisional Exam arc.” Deku they’re 100% right and you’re looking more and more the fool with each passing second
well all right lol. twenty minutes to get back to Musutafu. let’s just hope he doesn’t run into any traffic on the way
Chapter 349
what the fuck is OFA Dos’s quirk exactly and are we ever gonna get to it before I literally die of old age. at this point there’s gotta be a reason why he’s not using it, right?? so what’s the deal there? does he still somehow not know how? is it too dangerous? and I really need to know why II has the Bakugou gauntlets. tell me this isn’t one of the things we’re still waiting on answers for two years down the line because I swear to god I will cry
anyway so Deku’s saying he’s doing his best but he’s still “too slow”. WELL THEN MAYBE IT’S THAT TIME?? DEKU?? WHAT DO YOU SAY
NO FUCKING WAY LOL, CAN IT REALLY BE THAT EASY??!
OH WHAT THE FUCK, FUCK YOU NOT!CCHAN LOL YOU’RE JUST HERE TO COCKBLOCK HIM?
fuck. so has he used it since then?? is he gonna use it finally now that Kacchan’s alive and well again?? oh my god I need to shut up and stop asking questions and just keep reading. fuck
wow so Dabi’s literally just burning the All Might statue while he stalls for time trying to figure out how to beat his OP little brother who was literally engineered to be better than him sob. out of all the villains he’s probably the most screwed right now isn’t he
starting to get an inkling Dabi’s not happy that he doesn’t actually get to fight Endeavor. getting some subtle hints here and there that he might actually be upset about that
apparently wanting to fight Dabi and stop him from helping to destroy the world makes Shouto a pawn. wake up Shouto. stop being such a sheep, Shouto. can’t you see that saving the world is exactly what Endeavor wants you to do???!
this is just going to be seventeen chapters of Dabi talking about nonsense while they both stand around progressively getting hotter both literally and metaphorically isn’t it
Chapter 350
OH SNAP. [SLAMS HAND ON TABLE] HERE WE GO. IT’S FINALLY THAT TIME
well, well, well. to the surprise of absolutely no one. the real one who was responsible for everything this whole time
but I just have to pause real quick before we continue. because it absolutely cannot be a coincidence that AFO just happened to be there once again. just waiting in the shadows to magically swoop in the minute disaster strikes. and so, just like with baby Tenko, this immediately makes me suspect that Touya burning himself alive was not in fact a training accident at all. which is something I did not expect, and which, just. fuck, fuck, FUCK AFO. fuck this guy.
looks like the children's ward of a hospital?? wait, what??
how the fuck is he still so adorable. when exactly did the transition take place between adorable and sexily unhinged. right now Todoroki Touya still looks to be the absolute most adorable child on the planet
I miscalculated. I was not emotionally prepared to handle this chapter right now. I should not have clicked
really love to see that Touya didn’t just cave right away. wouldn’t have felt right, ngl. just doesn’t fit in with what we know about his character
oh shit wait we’re cutting back to Dabi talking to Shouto and he says he did come back home??
fucking why. goddammit what the hell. why is this the saddest fucking thing I’ve ever read. LOVE HIM!! SOMEONE!! ANYONE!! just love him, please. literally all he has ever wanted!!
JESUS. I HATE THIS. I am so upset right now. out of all of the horrific and traumatic and terrible, awful things that have happened to BnHA characters in their flashbacks, the thing that hits me the most out of all of them is this one image of a sixteen-year-old boy standing before an altar, with his family very much alive and standing RIGHT FUCKING THERE IN THE NEXT ROOM, and yet somehow feeling more alone than he’s ever been. so alone he literally gives up all hope in this one moment. my god I feel all of it and it’s so fucking devastating I keep having to stop typing so I don’t completely break down sobbing
well damn. after a rush of 15 and 13-page chapters, which were all admittedly appreciated by me in my race to catch up to Light Fades to Rain before this coming Friday, Horikoshi finishes up the volume with one hell of a 17 page finale. once again the Tododrama delivers. this was fucking phenomenal
#bnha#boku no hero academia#bnha vol. 35#way too many characters to tag so I am not gonna bother!#bnha spoilers#mha spoilers#bnha manga spoilers#makeste reads bnha#lotta 'calm before the storm' chapters in this one#also I was kinda disappointed by the cover of this volume ngl#but at least monoma and shinsou got their little moment on the back#vol. 36 post should be up tomorrow#vol. 37 post to follow once I finish the rest of those chapters#and then I'll start posting the actual recaps again probably in a couple of weeks or so#once I finish catching up
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Thoughts [heavy spoilers below]
not in any particular order, just my thoughts mushed in one post ;)
1. Gotg Vol. 3 was an emotional rollercoaster. I cried and laughed a lot. I did more crying though ;)
2. The guardians are my comfort family. It’s sad to think that we’ll never see them again like this anymore but at the same time, nothing is impossible. I’m also quite interested in seeing the “new” guardian team in action as well.
3. It really seems like Marvel really hates me and my ships in the MCU. First pepperony, palmerstrange, then fosterson, and now starmora? Ok. Ok. I see how it is. I love how they feed us with the romances + the crumbs, and then end them like it was nothing 🫠
4. I don’t know what to think about Adam Warlock. I thought they’d do more with his character but he ended up being a sort of comic relief and that was all. Although perhaps being in the new guardians team and showing up in other movies/shows could change that.
5. Rocket’s backstory was heartwrenching and really had me bawling almost the entire movie. The guardians doing everything they can to save him, like this is the found family I love so much. Not to mention how Peter was crying over Rocket when he was dying like why the additional emotional damage? PAY FOR MY THERAPY MARVEL
- Rocket & Lylla were so damn adorable and I literally gasped out loud when THAT* happened. Rocket, Lylla, Teefs, and Floor were just 😩💕 They all deserved sm better.
6. The many times Peter mentioned that Rocket was his best friend was just so sweet and made me “aww” a lot while clutching my heart and breaking down. Then there’s Drax: “second best friend.” HAHAHAHA 😂😂😂
7. NATHAN FILLIONNNNNNNNNNN (cue my Castle binge a few months ago and having a total nathan fillion/castle phase)
8. Gamora & Nebula’s way of communicating with grunts has me rolling on the floor but also it’s soooooo like them too.
9. The High Evolutionary. Tbf, idk how to really feel about him as the antagonist/villain in the movie. I despised what he did to Rocket and everyone else but other than that I didn’t really care about him. When Rocket took off his mask though and we see what he looked like underneath it? Ick. The one right thing he did was wearing it LMAO
10. THE AMONG US SPACESUITS HAHA
11. Kraglin finally coming in clutch with Yondu’s arrow. I miss Yondu ;;-;; and Krgalin with Cosmo. Cosmo is a good dog <3
12. “You were everything to me.” “I bet we were fun // Like you wouldn’t believe it.” Catch me sobbing till the end of time. My clown a** really thought I’d get my endgame, as if I never learned from my other ships 🤡 Granted, I think they left their relationship on the more open side by the end of the movie, a possibility that could happen in the future, so I won’t be give up. Ever. Because 2014 Gamora, by the end, can acknowledge and perhaps see why Peter and 2018 Gamora were in love. She even said “we,” and I think that’s enough hope for me as is. Including how they were standing back-to-back, the way it was filmed. In general, Chris & Zoe have rlly good chemistry (petition to have them be in a rom-com together). And although I was a bit disappointed with the way things were left out and what wasn’t done, I can see why it’s like that. Doesn’t make it feel much better though. 😭 One day, I’ll write up all the reasons why I love Starmora and how I never recovered and will never forgive them for what happened to Gamora in Infinity War. Other than that... live laugh love Starmora, my precious star-crossed lovers who deserved better. 😃❤️
+
“what were you programming?” “self destruction code” and then proceeds to stare at each other while smiling. I. AM. NOT. OK.
13. I LIVED for the Nebula + Drax + Mantis dynamic in the movie. We love you Drax, even if you’re invisible sometimes + love the way Mantis was arguing with Nebula and being like “I love Drax even though he’s stupid” LOL 😂 and Nebula saying that Drax is not the destroyer but meant to be a father. I shed tears. Also, Nebula crying when she knew Rocket was ok 🥲
14. Peter yeeting that guy out of the ship was hilarious af but such peak Quill behavior, and the way he and Groot tag-teamed was just 😘🤌
15. The only thing that I disliked about the movie was not the movie itself but the soundtrack. Nothing beats the first movie’s soundtrack. The second had a few that I liked but with the third movie.... there really weren’t any until they brought back ‘Come and Get Your Love’ at the end. Iconic really, how the movies started with it and ended with it.
16. “I love you guys.” When I tell ya’ll I lost it when Groot said that.
17. “The legendary Star-Lord will return.” WHAT DOES THAT MEAN???? ARE WE GETTING A SOLO STAR-LORD SERIES OR MOVIE???? It would be amazing if he did, he’s literally my second favorite character in the MCU. I literally broke down seeing him floating in space like that, bout to end it all if they killed him off but thankfully they didn’t 😊 Give mah boi some more love ❤️
also
GIMME ANOTHER GUARDIANS MOVIE BECAUSE I NEED MY FOUND FAMILY BACK ASAP
18. I miss them all sm and I just literally finished the movie a few hours ago. Someone send help.
19. Thank you Marvel, for the 100th time, for not killing any of the guardians off. I haven’t been this grateful to Marvel since like ever. When promotions for the movie were coming, there were so many “dropped” hints of one or two of the guardians dying in the movie, like the red flags were everywhere. But no, they did the opposite and I’m forever thankful <333
Overall, it was an A M A Z I N G movie. GOTG movies never disappoint me, they’re my second favorite movie trilogy in the MCU for a reason (besides the Iron Man movies ofc). I think the movie was able to do a send-off of all the characters very well by the end, with essentially all their storylines wrapped up in a quite wholesome and hopeful ending. Despite them not being in a team in official capacity anymore, it doesn’t mean it can’t happen sometime in the future. Never lose hope. The whole cast and James Gunn were amazing and really made the movies and characters what they are. I have plenty more to say, but for now this is it.
"You Said It Yourself, B****. We're The Guardians Of The Galaxy."
#guardians of the galaxy vol 3#gotg 3#gotg vol 3 spoilers#gotg vol 3#guardians of the galaxy vol 3 spoilers#guardians of the galaxy#marvel#mcu#star lord#gamora#starmora#nebula#mantis#rocket#groot#drax#this turned out longer than i thought but oh well#i will now proceed to rewatch the other two gotg movies :)))#because i have not recovered from the third
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DIABOLIK LOVERS ZERO Animate Tokuten Drama CD “A Vampire’s Late Night Snack Terror” [Ayato ver.]
Original title: 夜更かしヴァンパイアの食テロ飯 [アヤト編]
Source: Diabolik Lovers ZERO Vol. 1 Animate Tokuten CD
Audio: Here
Seiyuu: Midorikawa Hikaru
Translator’s note: I’m pretty sure that all of us already knew beforehand that Ayato’s late-night snack would be takoyaki. I’m starting to think that he could probably go longer without drinking blood, than go without eating takoyaki. Which makes me wonder which person at Rejet came up with his favorite food because it is a little random. While takoyaki is definitely eaten in Japan, I feel like it’s mostly a festival food and not something people actually eat all that often or cook at home most of the time. Then again, all of the boys have really random favorite foods...The only one ‘fitting’ ones being Azusa (likes the pain of the heat) and Carla (fancy food for a fancy boy).
Ayato stumbles into the kitchen.
“Ugh...Uu...Uhn...”
*Rustle rustle*
You rush over to Ayato’s side to support him.
“Ah...Chichinashi, is that you? So you were awake...? I’m afraid it might be over for me...I’ll go absolutely insane at this point!”
You ask him what is wrong.
“Two weeks...I haven’t eaten any takoyaki for a whole two weeks...!!”
You blink in confusion.
“You know...! I’m sure you remember how our takoyaki grill got wrecked two weeks ago as well, right!? I will never forgive Subaru for being responsible for it...But you know, that’s not all! Laito is partially to blame as well for provokin’ him, as well as Kanato for throwing a tantrum. Even Reiji can be held responsible for not stoppin’ him in time...! And Shuu too...Ah, well, he was asleep at the time but I’m just so pissed off, all of them are at fault! ...Right!?”
You frown.
“Say...You agree with me, don’t you? ...As a result, I can’t enjoy my late-night takoyaki! Of course the store selling them just happens to be on vacation right now...But what am I supposed to do!?”
You offer to make him some.
“Haah...!? You can make them? Even without a takoyaki grill?”
You nod.
*Rustle*
“Really!? Way to go, Chichinashi! In that case, let’s get straight to it!”
*TIMESKIP*
*Clatter clatter*
“You’ve got a bunch of things laid out but...Can you make takoyaki with this?”
*Thud*
You ask for his help.
“Che...Guess I have no other choice. I’ll lend you a hand for once. So...What do we have to do?”
*Thud*
“Flour? Let me see...Oh well, whatever. They’re all the same, right?”
Ayato pours in what he believes to be flour as you try to stop him.
“Ah? What’s wrong?”
You explain.
“Potato starch? They’re both powders, so don’t sweat the details.”
He continues to pour in different ingredients.
“I poured in a whole bunch of everything! This should be enough, right?”
You tell him off.
“Oh shut up. ‘You’re using the wrong powder’ ‘The measurements are wrong’, stop telling me what to do!”
You sigh and tell him that you won’t be able to make takoyaki like this.
“...Fine! I’ll follow your intructions...Come on, give me a different bowl. And the flour as well.”
Ayato tries again.
*Rustle rustle*
“Five tablespoons of flour you said, right? One...two...”
He puts in five tablespoons.
“I guess this should do.”
You give him the next instructions.
“The eggs go in next? One egg then thin it out to the right consistency with some water...”
*Crack*
*Pshh*
“Like this? Anyway...How are things going over on your end?”
*Chop chop chop*
“Heeh...Judging from the ingredients, you’ve made pretty smooth progress. Chopped up green onions and pickled ginger and...Oi...Didn’t you go a little overboard with the amount of boiled octopus?”
You tell him that having a little extra won’t hurt.
“I mean, having some extra never hurts...That’s obvious but...You’re the one who said that the exact measurements are important, right? Don’t you think the tentacles will stick out of the takoyaki if you try to put too much inside?”
You try to defend your case.
“I don’t understand which measurements are important and which ones aren’t...You really like to push your opinion about the strangest things, huh? ...Oh well, whatever. What do I have to do with this?”
You explain.
“Oh, I see! I gotta dump everything except the octopus inside the bowl, right? Leave the mixing up to me! I’m good at this sorta thing!”
Ayato starts whisking the batter aggressively.
*Cling cling cling*
“Hm, hm, hm...!”
*Cling cling*
“Heh! How’s that?”
*Sparkle*
You seem impressed.
“It’s been mixed to perfection, no? I don’t think you’ll find anyone else who’d do as good of a job as me!”
You tell him that he did great.
“That’s it? Praise me some more! I did an amazing job after all!”
*Clap clap clap*
“Right? As to be expected of me! I’m starting to really get into the groove now! What should I do next?”
*Cling cling*
“...Hah? Hey...That’s the rectangular frying pan we use to make tamagoyaki (1) Why did you get it out?”
You explain while turning on the stove.
“Haah!? You’re going to make them in there? Even though it’s rectangular? It isn’t real takoyaki unless it’s round! You deceived me, didn’t you!?”
You promise that it will turn out fine.
“It’s not ‘fine’ at all! ...Ah! I can’t believe you dumped all of the batter in there! You’re putting on way too much octopus as well! ...You’ll start folding it from underneath? ...No matter how you look at it, that’s just a stuffed omelette. I’m seriously going to have to eat this?”
*TIMESKIP*
*Dun dun*
“...The non-round takoyaki is done. Even though you put takoyaki sauce and mayonaise on top, it doesn’t look like the real deal at all.”
You cut it up into pieces.
“Wait, oi! If you cut it up like that, it’ll only look even more square! ...Honestly, you might as well call it okonomiyaki (2) at this point.”
You urge him to give it a try.
“Haah...Fine, fine. I just have to give it a try, right? Geez...”
Ayato takes a chance.
*Nom nom*
“...!! ...It’s delicious! It actually tastes like proper takoyaki! Also...even though the exterior is cripy, the inside is soft and fluffy! There’s several thin layers of batter stacked on top because you rolled it up like an omelette. It really hits you with that punch of savoriness! Also, when you bite into it...”
*Chomp*
“The texture is out of this world because of all the octopus stuffed inside! ...Mmh! Coming from you, this is pretty impressive! Come on, I’ll let you have some as well. ...Say ‘ahn’ー”
You tell him it’s fine.
“What? Who cares if you already ate something before going to bed. Besides, don’t think I haven’t realized...You’ve been dying to try some this whole time, haven’t you? You won’t sound very convincing if you try to deny it when you’ve got that yearning look in your eyes. Just give in to your own desires. Come on... ‘Aahn’ー”
*Chomp*
“Hehe! So you did want some after all! You look hella ugly while stuffing your face like that.”
You freak out.
“I’m joking. Come on, hurry up and swallow it. I’m in a good mood tonight, so I wouldn’t mind sharing some more with you.”
You raise a brow.
“Yeah! I finally got to enjoy some takoyaki after a long time! So this is your reward! Besides...cooking together was kinda fun.”
You smile.
“Why do you seem so happy? Come on...Let’s hurry up and finish this before somebody finds us. What happened here tonight will stay between us.”
ーー THE END ーー
Translation notes
(1) Tamagoyaki is a Japanese rolled omelette. It’s traditinoally made into a rectangular pan.
(2) Okonomiyaki is a savory pancake made on the spot on a hot grill. You get the raw batter and several ingredients (meats/vegetables/etc.) to put inside and you can customize it to your own liking.
#diabolik lovers#dialovers#ayato sakamaki#diabolik lovers translation#diabolik lovers drama cd#diabolik lovers zero#drama cd
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okay, delusional theory time. i finally had some strength to rewatch these heartbreaking scenes and look at them from maybe a different angle.
what if, the same way will’s monologue wasn’t about el, the things mike said right before will showed him the painting weren’t about el either.
the way he starts talking about losing.. el. it’s so similar to how in vol. 1 he was worried about losing will, and how hawkins didn’t feel the same without him there.
he begins with “after this is all over.” meaning.. when they will part ways again? will + el back to cali? mike back to hawkins?
he feels that [el] wouldn’t need him anymore.. what if it’s because he thinks [el] finds someone else?..
these are the words that el wrote in her letter. tbh we don’t know how true they are, since el has been lying pretty much about everything else in the letter. but they are still words that mike read and maybe thought about a lot.
more under cut:
and then this:
“i mean, she’s special. she was born special. maybe i was one of the first people to realize that.”
idk this thinking about el is just weird.. “born special”, does he mean she had powers since being born? and how was mike “one of the first people to realize that?” i think they all knew since they saw her she’s different.. special.
what if he is talking about someone else. someone that made him feel special too, since the day they met.
(superMAN huh, he could have compare her to a superwoman, or supergirl)
now with this in mind.. i feel, mike could have interpreted will’s monologue was actually about will, but it still left him confused what to do.
will said “like you’re scared of losing her” - which if mike could have read into the actual meaning, he connected it to how he is actually scared of losing will
if we can see that will is actually talking about himself, there’s a chance mike was thinking of will too. and i will believe that until s5 tells me otherwise ♥
then there’s the whole mike monologue in ep 9. and honestly, first of all. mike only starts once will said he has to
which is almost a continuation of will mentioning how mike is the leader, and the other will follow what he has to say (at least, that’s what Will believes in)
so he speaks
but again, what if he’s not talking exactly about el. but someone else he finds dear but can’t exactly say it directly to him
none of mike’s acting really make sense unless he does have feelings for will and can’t share them, is afraid of losing him.
he still gave weird looks to will in vol. 2, but also admires his painting and finds it incredible, loves listening to him, and he can actually open up to him.
mike and will are actually almost the only ones that had some longer two way meaningful conversations this s4. and were interrupted almost each time. 3 times in vol 1 (in jonathan’s room, then in will’s room, then on top of the car.), and in vol. 2 it was one long emotional monologue in ep 8, and then a short one in the hopper cabin in ep 9, where they were interrupted again.
now, i know i said i can’t defend mike like that again, but i feel it would be such a loss of a character if they really made him only straight and unable to properly communicate his feelings to his straight girlfriend. that’s just not good writing, it’s boring, lazy, overdone. especially since we have seen him being much more open towards himself around eddie at the beginning of s4, and multiple times around will.
so why take all that back just when he’s around el again, does he have to pretend because he can’t be himself? does he still have something to hide? it would still explain most of his behavior if he does have feelings for will.
his only two way proper moment with el was interrupted by argyle and the pineapple pizza. he was about to say something to their earlier fight in 4x3. a fight he described to will as something they can’t come back from.
the way will told him to say those words to el, i feel mike did say in a roundabout way 1. what el wanted to hear, and 2. what he does feel, but in a way they should properly talk about. bc it still could be (should be) platonic.
i guess that’s all i wanted to put together. once again, im reaching but am i? this definitely feels the only way to make sense of the mess that’s been s4 vol. 2 for me. i dont know if i can trust the duffers to write a good s5 with this mess. but we will have to see i guess.
<3
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Beyond Led Zeppelin - interview to JPJ
(by Guitar.com - Jan. 1, 2010 - x)
Zooma is very experimental and takes your musicianship to a different level. How did you develop the chops to do something so free-flowing? Were you listening to lots of jazz?
No, it’s always been there. I’ve always listened to lots of jazz. At the time when Zeppelin started, I was always listening to jazz and rhythm and blues and classical music. The only rock I listened to was Jimi Hendrix. So, I actually came to rock late. I listen to everything constantly — everything from rhythm and blues, drum and bass techno, Latin music, salsa, meringue, and some rock n roll. Bass-wise I keep listening.
Does that allow you to constantly grow as a player?
In composition and playing, everything at a basic level is about questions and answers. You have musical questions and you have to get the answers, which is basically what composition is about. How does the piece start and then what happens? You’ll get a musical idea, then you have to realize it. And in the realization it’s just about those questions and answers. How does it finish? What will make it interesting after we’ve done one thing for a while? All music has the same questions and answers. It doesn’t matter what kind of music it is, whether its pigmy music or Mongolian stuff. It’s still, how do you make a musical idea, how do you make a tension release? And everything you listen to can come in use as reference material for your own questions, for your own music. Listen to as much as you can because there’s something absolutely everywhere to be found.
A lot of people listen to blues, jazz, country, world music, whatever, but they can’t combine the different techniques.
Most people gravitate towards music they like. If youre a blues player, you only play the blues. So listen to everything else and then play the blues. You’ll find that you start playing the blues in a different way.
How do you feel about what your former bandmates have done with their respective careers? Page and Plant did Zeppelin songs together for a while, and now Page is doing Zep stuff with the Black Crowes. Do you think maybe they’re not expanding their vocabulary and reaching out the way you have?
No, they’re not reaching out the way I have, because I’m me and they’re them. I haven’t heard Page and the Black Crowes. He could be playing a whole load of blues for all I know. I heard Page and Plant’s 'Walking into Clarksdale', and was disappointed that there wasn’t more Page on it. I like to hear lots of Page. But they’re doing what they’re doing. They ain’t bothering me.
Do you keep in touch with them?
Sure. There’s lots of Zeppelin things we attend to. We attend releases.
Atlantic released 'The Best of Led Zeppelin, Volume 2' earlier. Did that concern you?
Well of course it concerned me. I wasn’t very happy about that, but it was a democratic process, just two to one and I was the one. But the BBC Sessions I was very happy with. To me that was very valuable. It was great to hear the band in a well recorded situation, because normally when I heard the live stuff I was either standing right next to Page or it’s a horrible bootleg. So, to be able to sit back and not do anything and be able to hear all that he’s playing, that was a treat for me.
Why didn’t you want the 'Best of Vol. 2' to be released?
It’s been done before. I couldn’t see why, you know? I mean, the first remaster, the box set, was good because Atlantic went through the original Zeppelin release campaign kind of quick and didn’t really spend too much time with it. In fact, when we were collecting stuff for the box set, we found that some of the masters they used were actually second and third generation, and they put them on CD. They sounded really dull. They didn’t seem to have any life. So, the chance to remaster them, to bring them to life again was valid. But I couldn’t really see the point of the Greatest Hits records that came out last year. We were always against Greatest Hits album traditionally from the word go. It may have been a hang back to the fact that in the days when we started, you had singles bands, you had pop bands, and then you had albums bands. They were completely different things. So, I just didn’t see the point and I said so. But as I said, it was democratic and they thought differently.
How and why did you put 'Zooma' together?
Basically, I wanted to play live again. And of course, I needed something to play. I tend to need motivation to do a project. I’m not somebody who would just write things for no reason at all. I’ll work on a project and I’ll commit myself to it. But if I’m not actually working on it, then I’m just as happy to sit down and play instruments and not write anything. So, I need motivation but I didn’t want to join a band. If you’ve been in the best band in the world, what do you do? I knew that if I did an album, I’d be obligated to promote it. So, I knew I couldn’t just go, "Oh well, I’ve done the album. That’s it." I knew that it would force me on the road, which was what I wanted to do originally. So, I trapped myself into it. But it was really a positive experience.
So, what possessed you to say, "Man, it’s time to get out there live again"?
It’s funny, Diamanda Galas [who I recorded the album 'Sporting Life' with in 1994] said to me that she’d done collaborations with composers and various people. And she just said, "I realized one day that if I’m going to put this much effort into my music then I think it should be my own." And I took those words to heart. I figured I’d worked on everybody else’s records since 1963. It’s about time. And I’m fortunate to be in the position I’m in. I had my own studio. I don’t have to work to eat. Maybe it’s a mid-life crisis, who knows?
So, playing with Diamanda was what inspired it?
Yeah, I think so. And writing material for Diamanda. She got me playing steel guitar, so I could have a voice on stage. Cause I always used to play steel guitar in hotels and she saw it in the studio and had never heard one before. So I started playing, and she immediately wrote a song. And we put it on the album. People were like, "Wow, this is new, different."
How did that collaboration come together? How did you know her? Did you know her from years back?
I knew her from her work. I had one record by her at that time, 'Wild Women with Steak Knives', wonderfully titled. And the voice was just like, Whoa! A mutual friend said she’d be interested in doing a rock record and he thought that I’d work well together with her. I like the idea because I wasn’t into normal songs. She called them homicidal love songs. It was a case not so much of, "My baby’s left me, I’m going to throw myself out the window." It was, "My baby’s left me, I’m going to throw him out the window." I found her whole approach quite refreshing. And we hit it off immediately. We’ve both done lounge gigs, believe it or not, in our time. We used to do The Lady is a Tramp in soundcheck, which worried a few people. Nobody knew what to make of that. And we also found that we knew the entire Motown songbook. And we’d sit sown and play Stop In The Name Of Love. We had respect for each other as musicians.
Why was it a one time thing?
Well, she has a serious career. She follows what seems to be good at the time. And it was, because it led me to this.
#john paul jones#jonesy#led zeppelin#robert plant#planty#jimmy page#pagey#john bonham#bonzo#60s#70s#70s rock#70s music#rock music#ourshadowstallerthanoursoul
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It would appear I am indeed one of the very few optimistic (delusional?) Bylers left.
Not saying that if you feel hopeless and need to move on, that you can't. A lot of you have been through this before with other shows. Again and again. You’re tired and fed-up and you have every right to be.
Technically, Season 5 won't be out for another 2+ years anyways, which means the best thing for everyone regardless is to get whatever we need off our chests now and then to just go on a hiatus for the foreseeable future.
When it comes to how I feel about Vol. 2, there were definitely at least a few good moments. If this season has anything going for it, it’s the emotional value. This is without a doubt the most I’ve cried ever while watching the show. One scene in particular that had me on the floor was the scene with Will and El reuniting and hugging. And of course the scene with Will and Mike in the van (DAMN YOU NOAH SCHNAPP FOR MAKING ME SOB SO HARD ALL DAY THAT I GOT A MIGRAINE!)
But yes, I am a Byler. So you could say I was a bit disappointed in that department.
And yet still, I think my take on the later part of season 4 is much different from the majority.
Because personally, I don’t think that what played out in Vol. 2 means that Byler is dead. If anything, I believe it to be more endgame than I did before (well, at least in comparison to pre-s4. There’s no denying pre-Vol. 2 confidence levels remain unmatched. Truly the best era for the Byler fandom to date).
I think my main issue is, like so many of us on here, I thought it was guaranteed we would get to see Mike become aware of Will’s feelings.
Alas, we did not.
And to be totally clear, without this revelation, Byler can’t go anywhere.
Neither forwards, nor technically backwards.
This means the baiting game is not over. Which as bad as it sounds, is why I’m still so optimistic…
Now, if they had made Will’s feelings obvious to Mike, or even the fact that Will is gay as being obvious to Mike, but STILL had Mike behave the way he did in Vol. 2, now THAT would have sucked. It would have been canon rejection on Mike’s end.
But we didn’t even get rejection from Mike.
Instead, we got Will coming off as a hardcore M*leven shipper in Mike's eyes, all while the audience was getting the exact opposite interpretation of this situation; that Will is helplessly in love with Mike.
Will is able to voice the extent of his love, albeit through advice to Mike about his own situation with El, in a way that no one else on the show has been able to. Most of the other characters need a bunch of bystanders to make them realize their feelings and push them in that direction. But Will, he doesn’t need someone holding his hand along the way, telling him what the right thing to do or say is. His love isn’t something he needs to really think about in order to understand it. It just is.
(Which is SO fucking ironic when you think about how Mike always needs help with figuring out his feelings for El and even sounds like he’s reading off a script when he’s trying to explain himself to her. Whereas with Will, s2 monologue teas, it’s the most natural thing Mike’s ever done. Unscripted, straight from the heart… And both Vol. 1-2 continued to drive home this concept, so maybe jot that down..)
It’s just that, unfortunately, in Will’s eyes, Mike will never return this love, which means his only option is to let Mike go. If supporting Mike and El’s relationship means putting himself dead last in every respect, so that his best friend and his sister can be happy, Will is going to do just that.
But as far as Mike knows, Will holds no romantic feelings for him. I mean after all, Will is guiding Mike literally every step of the way to confessing his love to El, and that doesn't sound like the behavior of someone who’s in love with you, now does it?
So why would Mike, throw everything on the line, including the survival of their family and friends in Hawkins by not simply just telling his gf he loves her? All while El is right there loving him and needing his love to fight (presumably), with Will beside him literally rooting for him to do just that? This is very obviously the only option in Mike’s eyes.
Which is ironic, because in a way, I think that Mike has truly never seen him and Will as an option, just like Will, but for an entirely different reason.
Mike views his feelings for Will as childish, something he will grow out of, or at least should have by now.
“We’re not kids anymore. What did you think, really? That we were never going to get girlfriends? That we were just going to sit in my basement and play games for the rest of our lives?”
If Mike can’t love El, then how can he possibly love any women? She’s special. She’s a superhero. He HAS to love her, right? It’s the best option he could ever possibly have. Well, at least considering…
But what happens when suddenly, he comes to the realization that him and Will ARE an option? And that the only thing ever stopping them was himself and his inability to just be honest with everyone and himself?
I think the truth is, there’s a reason that they’re holding off on this revelation for Mike.
It will be a catalyst. It will change everything.
Now, how exactly do you think Mike is going to react to this? The fact that Will was in love with him this whole time and he had no idea?
Honestly, I think he’s going to react horribly, but not for the reason everyone assumes.
Because I would argue that, if Mike was going to react badly with disgust or even just let Will down nicely to confirm it’s indeed unrequited, then the Duffer’s would have just given this revelation up by now. But they haven’t.
Once Mike finds out that Will is (probably always will be) in love with him, and that instead of telling him, Will used his love to help Mike get closer to El, even when Mike himself was having doubts over and over? That Will went as far as to lie about the painting he worked so hard on for Mike in order to rekindle their dying friendship, to instead insinuate it was commission from El, to give Mike that final push he needed to even have the courage to tell El he loved her? That all the moments like this that they shared as of late, was really just Will talking about himself? That the only reason he was able to tell El he loved her in the first place, was because he was so moved by Will’s love for him??
This is going to break Mike.
And let’s be real here, two episodes would not have done this revelation justice.
So now, just knowing the direction they went for Vol. 2, as well as coming to terms with it, I have reached the conclusion that, despite how bleak things seem now, ‘maybe all of this is happening for a reason’ (s2 Mike Wheeler, we miss u).
Which brings me to the other most important piece of the puzzle, which is that, arguably, El needs to be the one who ends things once and for all.
The general audience has been given the impression El is head over heels in love with Mike, and so of course they were rooting for Mike to get on with it and just tell her he loved her.
But that’s the interesting part. He finally did tell her, but her reaction in the aftermath was not something a lot of fans expected.
It seems that she’s distancing herself from Mike, a fact that Will acknowledges to Mike later at Hopper’s cabin, with Mike genuinely confused because he thought he did the one thing he had to do.
He told her he loved her. Which makes everything alright now, right?
But maybe it doesn’t.
Maybe the reminder we got, of that speech from Max to El, about how she didn’t need Mike or Hopper or ANY man to know her worth, was foreshadowing for what honestly needs to happen in order for El to really process and realize her own true feelings about Mike.
Because, although I do believe El genuinely thought she loved Mike, is it possible that Mike was not only having doubts about saying it because of the reasons he argued, or even because of some repressed feelings for Will, but also because El hadn’t given him what he needed to truly believe she loved him.
Mike, like a lot of people, doesn’t need to hear “I love you” to believe that someone loves him.
“I didn’t say it.”
“You didn’t have to.”
He wants something more meaningful, or more specifically, something along the lines of the speech Will gave to him in the van.
Will’s confession disguised as El’s, was what Mike needed to finally say I love you to El...
Something I think we also got caught up in, is this idea that the Duffer’s were just going to drop M*leven and throw in Byler, with everything else going on, while they still have a whole ass season to promote for another 3+ years, and to their mostly 80’s loving homophobic audience. If Byler is going to happen, it’s going to be the definition of slow-burn and endgame. That’s literally the only way.
This puzzle is complex, which sucks if you want all the answers now, because we’re just not going to get them. If they give up all their moves, then what is the point of telling the story at all?
Other pieces of the puzzle include things that arguably still need to happen before Byler can, even regardless of the constraints they have as show-runners who run the biggest show on Netflix’s dying platform.
Things like Will and El’s love for each other as brother and sister. Considering all the fans that said Will hates El because he didn’t stand up to her bullies or that he’s a home-wrecker who just wants to get with her boyfriend, is why I do think they needed to debunk these insinuations within the narrative. And boy oh boy did they deliver on that front. Will is the most selfless son of a bitch on the planet, who loves his best friend and his sister so much. They made that very clear. And you can see that despite a few homophobes here and there, the general audience's reaction to Will in Vol 2 is sympathy and to Mike it's confusion and betrayal...
Hmm, making El realize she doesn't even love Mike, after making Will's unrequited feelings for Mike more clear, after making Mike behave like an IDIOT this entire time juggling these two relationships, only for him to become aware of whats going on, and to clearly be in love with Will?
Sounds like a good way to set up Byler to an audience that might not have humored it before...
And like I said, with how important I do think it was for this to happen in order for them to go the Byler route, is why I don’t necessarily see this approach as a bad thing. We even got the Will and El hug in 4x08, which maybe it’s just because Noah and Millie are so close, but I would easily rank that on my top most well-earned moments in the whole show.
We NEEDED that. Especially in terms of what is likely to come in season 5 with Byler endgame...
Also, yes the Will angst sucked and it's just trauma porn at this point. I’m not going to deny that fully. I agree with pretty much all of the criticism in regards to how they chose to do certain things when they didn't necessarily have to, but I also simultaneously am able to understand that it again, maybe this is all happening for a reason. If they are indeed going to have Will play a big role in the final season, than them forgetting his birthday, Mike being oblivious and all this other shit he's been through combined, sets up a really arc for him next season, not even necessarily a villain one, but all of this pain has the potential to lead to a happy ending. And I'm being full serious.
Like we have Finn Wolfhard saying the ending of Stranger Things will be like the ending of Schitt’s Creek??? That it will end at it's highest point. The last episode of Schitt’s Creek is literally a happily ever after gay wedding, there's no other way to interpret that…
We also know that a lot of ideas for the last seasons were planned from the beginning, with David Harbour saying that he knew the ending way back in s2 and that it's beautiful and has been the intended plan all along. That there's easter eggs that will have us going 'WOW this is what we've been watching the whole time'? That it's wonderful?
If you’re the level of Byler truther that believes they were somewhat planned all along from the beginning, then you would also know that if they plan a happy ending for Mike and Will, then they would have no problem killing us this painfully in the beginning of the end, because they know we’ll be the ones cheering on by the actual end, and it'll be the homophobes who are pissed and stuck with this result forever as endgame.
I’m just saying, don’t be surprised when s5 gets closer and we actually see them promoting Byler… like a lot. And we actually start getting in canon hints at scenes with El herself even trying to get them together.
Groveling Mike Wheeler era?
Will finding a potential new love interest and Mike pining/jealous?
Come ONNN! You guys are way more delusional than you’re giving yourselves credit for and I urge you to join me!!!
#byler#stranger things#stranger things 4#stranger things 5?#stranger things spoilers#stranger things theory#stranger things meta#byler evidence#byler season 4#byler proof#byler nation#byler better be canon#be gay make byler canon#mike x will#byler tumblr#byler st4#mike wheeler#will byers#noah schnapp#finn wolfhard#duffer brothers
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Hello! I hope this finds you well!
I wanna tell you that your Rocket x Readers bring me so much comfort and that your writing is great!
I was listening to “Awesome Mix Vol. 1” and I came to the song “Fooled around and fell in love”, and I was wondering if I could make a request of Reader working on something (it could be a new weapon, or a little gadget, anything you choose) and she is listening to her brothers mix tap and that song is playing in the background and Rocket sees her working and singing along while swaying along to the song. Rocket and Reader have unspoken feelings for each other, and maybe they have an unspoken confession to singing this together near the end.
I thought this was a really cute idea, and I’m sorry if I didn’t explain it well enough. I also understand if you don’t want to do this.
But I wish you a good day/night/evening!
just watched Gotg and now im PUMPED
it is a personal hc of mine that rocket can sing beautifully given that mr bradley cooper can sing (he sang with lady gaga)
Some Unsung Thing
It was a slow day on Knowhere, things were finally starting to fall into place and everyone finding their roles on the old sentient head.
It was a slow morning, Rocket awoke to soft sunny weather shining through his curtains, rolling onto his back in no rush.
Mornings were his favorite, laying around in soft blankets, music playing quietly and a comforting silence he had come to really enjoy.
When his hunger got too much, he got to leisurely head downstairs and have breakfast with Groot and Cosmo.
But his favorite part of the day was just before noon, deep in the Milano's ship workspace. Quill had quite generously given the ship to you, his younger sister and most recent member to the Guardians family.
Without wasting a second, you had taken over the complete under carriage and turning it into your own personal "man cave" as you liked to call it.
It became an unspoken thing between you two, Rocket coming in to visit and you both simply tinkering in silence. You both had an appreciation for music and machines and found the company quite enjoyable.
His boots clunked down the metal stairs, echoing off the walls of his old home. He heard you before he saw you, humming and tapping your feet to the music playing from the back wall.
Stopping just outside the door he forced the smile off his face before leaning in and knocking on the door frame. Crossing his arms and leaning against the metal he gave you a curt nod, thankful he couldn't blush when you lifted your head and smiled.
No words needed to be said as you continued on your current project and Rocket went over to his respective table, moving around some loose odds and end to make you think he was working.
His pocket knife sat in the midst of the mess, his alibi for the last few weeks as to why he had been spending so much time in here.
At first it was an accident that he met you down here, he needed a tool to fix the dumb thing and caught you adding to your own blasters.
He was going to grab the tool and leave, but you insisted he stayed, after all, it had been his home only a few months ago.
Now Rocket thanked every morning that had you in it. You were so bright and optimistic, and smart and sarcastic.
You were intoxicating.
Rocket knew very early on that he cared about you, after all, you were his best friends sister, but there was always something more. Something he could never figure out. It drove him insane, he wanted to spend every moment of every day with you, but in your presence he stuttered and felt hot and couldn't keep his wits about him.
Which is what lead him here, now unable to say anything of actual value for a conversation, only looking at you through a reflection of sheet metal behind his table.
Gods, you were beautiful. Which is surprising given your brother.
Your hair in a loose bun, strands falling down around your ears and in front of your eyes. Your cute little focused pout, the way you angrily huff when you couldn't get the parts into the right places.
Flipping his knife between his fingers, he took a deep breath. He had to do something about this, he couldn't stand it...this deep ache in his chest whenever you were around.
As if the Milano were on his side, the next song was one of Peter's favorites. Fooled around and Fell in Love.
Rocket had heard it before, Quill played it a lot when he was in a sappy mood. But today it was different.
And in a cruel twist of fate, you started to sing along, tapping your foot on the ground and softly swaying in your chair. You weren't the best singer, but the way you smiled at the words, the way your eyes lit up made it all worth the while.
Rocket wasn't apposed to singing, alone at least, he'd done it in the shower dozens of times, but now the words were begging to be sung.
What were you doing to him? He slumped, finally sitting down on his stool, preparing to fake working.
He sighed, feeling his nerves get the better of him. Getting out one of his screwdrivers and untwisting the bolt on his pocket knife.
Around the middle of the song, you dropped the welder, it rolled off the table to the floor. You stopped your singing to bend down and get it, at the same time the song hit its instrumental part.
Rocket felt himself start to sweat, feeling a sudden burst of courage. The song continued and before he fully knew what was going on, he started to sing.
It was soft and quiet like yours had been, and he heard you stop your own words to listen to him. He saw your smile in the metallic reflection and his heart leapt as you started to sing along with him.
He didn't know what it meant, or what would happen next, but for the first time he truly felt happy and free from his feelings. He knew in that moment he didn't care what his future held so long as you were there.
The song ended and he inhaled sharply, hands loosely holding his pocket knife and screwdriver. He heart was pounding against his chest, he forced his eyes up into the reflective wall.
He gasped seeing you staring right back at him.
"Wanna do a duet?"
He laughed. He did, he really did.
#guardians of the galaxy#guardians of the galaxy headcannons#guardians of the galaxy imagine#gotg#gotg headcannons#gotg imagines#guardians of the galaxy vol 2#guardians of the galaxy vol 2 headcannons#guardians of the galaxy vol 2 imagine#gotg2#gotg2 imagine#gotg2 headcannons#guardians of the galaxy vol 3#gotg3#rocket raccoon#rocket raccoon imagines#rocket racoon headcannons#rocket racoon x reader#it is my works#thanks for the ask!
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Too Much Love Will Kill You Vol.1 Chapter 2
Summary: The boys taking the injured bounty hunter back to the Marauder to take care of her.
word count: 1134
Author's note: I know it took me long to update and I'm so sorry for that. Also I really hope I didn't make the boys OOC.
P. S.: There will be longer chapters later.
MASTERLIST
3rd person POV
By the time they got back to the Marauder the woman was unconscious. She lost too much blood, which Tech did not forget to repeat several times, and probably had concussion.
"That's a nasty cut for sure" rasped the sniper when Tech cut the woman's shirt around the injury.
"Could be worse" said Tech without looking up, trying to clean the wound. "It seems to have missed the vital organs. As soon as I can stop the bleeding, I just need to stitch it up, add some bacta gel and hook up an IV. She should be fine" he mumbled, and his brothers couldn't decide if he was talking to them or himself. "…in a rotation or two."
"Two rotations?" Hunter looked wide-eyed at his brother. He hadn't changed his mind about helping Hel, but he wasn't at all sure they could stay on Coruscant for two rotations without being given some mission that would require them to leave the planet. And they couldn't possibly take the unconscious bounty hunter with them.
“She lost a lot of blood and until she wakes up, I can't be sure she doesn't have a concussion. So yes, two rotations” he answered applying bacta on her already stitched up injury. His little brother worked fast Hunter had to give him that.
After Tech get the IV done, they didn’t know what to do. All four of them just stood next to Hunter’s bunk where the woman, Hel, was lying. Her fiery red hair was sticking to her forehead with sweat from the fight, her light pink skin looking even paler than before. Her wiry body was covered in blood, some was hers some her opponents. They couldn’t help but stare at her, they felt like cadets again not much more than a year ago when they first saw a woman who wasn’t one of the long-necks or General Shaak Ti. Hel was undoubtedly a beautiful woman, radiating danger and confidence, deadly as they could see with their own eyes, still beautiful. But it wasn't just her dark, almost black eyes, pale pink skin, mischievous smile that captured their attention. Hunter had felt it in the bar, but he just couldn't point his finger on what it was that attracted him to her.
“When will she wake up?” Wrecker’s deep voice broke the silence.
“Hard to say, maybe faster than we would expect” Tech replied while tapping away on his datapad. “That’s interesting…”
“Want to share it with the class?” asked Crosshair on a sarcastic tone, chewing on a toothpick.
“Just running some tests on her blood. It seems like she is a half breed, one human parent and a… zeltron. Zeltron’s have incredible metabolism, also a second liver which more than helpful if you want to consume a lot of alcohol… Oh…”
“Do we have to pull everything out of you with pliers?” Crosshair was losing what little patience he had left. Tech just rolled his eyes behind his goggles and continued reading without a word to his brother.
“They all produced potent pheromones. I don’t know in her case how strong those can be, given she is only half zeltron, but if we consider that Hunter almost lost his head when she got to the bar…”
“I did not!” protested the Sargent which made Crosshair snicker and Wrecker chuckle. “I didn’t!” he repeated louder but he couldn’t help getting all flustered, the sniper would even bet that Hunter was blushing.
“I said almost.” and Tech considered the matter closed. “All in all, and based on the biological data of her species, she should recover quickly.”
“So, she will wake up soon!” Wrecker looked more than delighted by these news.
“She might, yes. But still, she…”
“Should we restrain her?” came the question from the sniper and all three of his brothers looked at him with a shocked expression on their faces.
“What? Why?” Wrecker was shouting, then looked at Hel and continued a bit quieter, not like he could wake her. “Why would we do that?”
“She is a bounty hunter” he pointed out. “It could be a trap or something.”
“And which plan includes almost dying?” Hunter asked folding his arms in front of his chest.
“Almost all of ours?” Crosshair shot back and Hunter let out a sigh.
“He has a point.” Tech interjected watching the woman in front of him, as if she was about to launch herself at him at any moment. “I mean… You saw her. She is…competent… I mean, really good at killing.”
“We are not restraining anyone.” said Hunter after thinking for a while. “If she attacks us, we will deal with her. I don’t think she would be any real danger in her condition.”
“Don’t want me not to say I-told-you-so if she will be at our throats as soon as she wakes up.” Crosshair throw his toothpick to the ground and with one last unreadable glance at the woman he walked towards the cockpit.
As soon as Hunter opened his mouth to try and dispel Tech’s doubts about her slitting their throats in their sleep, their comms started beeping.
Hel’s POV
I woke up with which I thought was the worst headache of my life. My head was pounding and spinning, I felt like I was hit by a speeder that didn’t even try to slow down before slammed at me with full force. It took me more than a minute or two before the memories slowly came back. The bar and the bounty that didn’t show up, Hunter and his brothers, the trandoshan and his friends, Noelhas and his crew… I was bleeding and then…
Where am I? I tried to sit up as fast as I could but the pain that pierced my side made me take more cautious approach. I held my breath as I slowly sat up and looked around. I was on a ship that wasn’t mine that was fore sure, the low rumbling and vibration suggested that we were flying. But where? Why? I carefully stood up and tried to suppress every sound that tried to escape from the pain. I felt... Weird something was off but I wasn't vigilant enough to figure out what it was. I came to the conclusion that it was just the blood loss and my pounding head playing tricks on me.
I went in search of my hosts but not before I looked for something I could use as a weapon if necessary. Under one of the four bunks laid a not-so-well-hidden vibro-blade, I bent down suppressing a moan of pain and took the blade into my left hand. I was almost fully upright when I heard the unmistakable sound of a rifle being cocked.
“I told them we should have restrained you.”
tags: @techs-stitches @lokigirlszendaya @savebytheodoresnonjosestuff
Please tell me is you want to be tagged!
#too much love will kill you#tbb wrecker#tbb hunter#tbb crosshair#tbb tech#the bad batch fanfiction#the bad batch x oc#the bad batch hunter#the bad batch tech#the bad batch crosshair#the bad batch wrecker#the bad batch fic#star wars fic
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Let’s just take a moment to talk about how Steve and Nancy surprise each other in season 4. I think Steve already understood that Nancy has leadership qualities and is brave and perhaps a bit reckless when she pointed a gun at his face to protect him in season 1, so I don’t think he’s at all surprised to see her lead the group or come up with great ideas. But she showed more tenderness toward him than he seemed to expect, beginning when she tells him to “be careful” as he jumps into Lover’s Lake. There’s small smile he gives her and a slight glance of confusion, too, as if he didn’t expect her to make any connection with him. The second moment is when she bandages his wounds, and they cling to each other during that earthquake. And the last is when she jumps in to save him (as Eddie eventually points out she was the first the group to do so). That unexpected warmth and attention she shows him is in part why Steve opens up to her in Vol. 2.
Nancy, in turn, is shocked by Steve’s bravery, which is when she begins to show him this warmth. At the end of season 2, we see the beginnings of babysitter!Steve, while Nancy goes off with Jonathan and the Byers. The expectation is that Steve and the kids will be away from danger, but eventually, Billy interrupts everything, sending Steve on a course to protect but also lead the kids right into danger to help Will. Nancy sees none of this, nor does she see when Steve takes on more than the babysitting role in season 3.
So when Nancy and Steve met up again in s4, she assigns Steve to the same duties she last saw him have in season 2: Babysitting/protecting, and excludes him from her big plans because she doesn’t think he’ll fit or maybe that he’s up to it. The Steve she knew who avoided risk is much different than Steve now. So when he says he’s “always the goddamn babysitter,” it’s a reference to him having grown out of that role that he’s been placed in once again both at the trailer park and when Nancy wants to team up with Robin to go to visit Victor. That dynamic changes when he volunteers to jump into the lake, and from then on, he takes on a more central role in the action up to the very end, which is in part why Nancy then defends his abilities to lead In her last conversation with Jonathan. It’s just a really fascinating arc if you actually watch it in the context of these characters’ stories.
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Trigun Maximum Vol. 10 Part 1
I… don’t want to read this again… I can’t. I am still scarred. You’d think it’d be easier reading this the second time… But instead it got worse. I am bawling preemptively.
Trigun Ultimate: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4
Trigun Maximum: 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 9.1, 9.2, You are here!
01: Delusion
(Me, when I think: Maybe it won’t happen this time)
The frontpage shows Razlo. And yes, he is pretty delusional if he thinks that Chapel needs or wants him at his side. But the chapter starts with the following.
Not from your teachings, that much is clear. Who is the delusional one here? Wolfwood, who stands up against Chapel or Chapel who doesn’t understand why Wolfwood persists?
Wolfwood is a protector, it is the core of his being. He cannot stand down. Not when the thing that he protects is on the line, especially against an abuser like Chapel. But, as a consequence, Wolfwood’s life seems more and more negligible against his want to protect.
The sentence that is so important but is so judgemental, too. While Vash saw who Wolfwood is behind the mask from the beginning, he was also still too wrapped up to truly understand how and why Wolfwood acts the way he does. This is an echo of Rem, not really understood. Her ideals live on in Vash, even though he twisted them so much.
But now, since shit has hit the fan, Wolfwood only can hope. There is nothing else left.
Wolfwood cannot change the outcome of the whole world, but he can change this outcome. He has already laid his hope for the future in Vash’ hands. That’s why he freed him from the ark. That’s why he endured months on the ark, while being forced to commit mass murder. Wolfwood still has no hope for himself, there exists no future for Wolfwood in his mind, it never did, but he believes in Vash and he believes that there is A future. It is still sad, but it shows how far Wolfwood has grown. (Wolfwood is such a Millennial, before Millennials were even a real thing. But it kinda fits, since Nightow lived through the Lost Decades that started like 5 years before Trigun started to run)
Wolfwood does not believe in the world, in the good of man or anything. He believes in his friend. He trusts in Vash. He openly says that he doesn’t know if Vash would win against Knives. He just hopes. Through all of the developments that Wolfwood went through, this is one of the biggest. Wolfwood who has learned by experience that there is no reason for hope, that things will always go to shit, has nothing left to give, only hope.
Like he hasn’t forsaken Wolfwood… But this was never about Vash forsaking Wolfwood. Wolfwood chose to leave Vash to not be a burden to him. Wolfwood will get a stark reminder, soon, how much he erred in his importance to Vash.
Through all of this, Wolfwood still does not see himself as redeemable. Or as someone not worth any kind of grace. Having been so intensely self reliant and independent, he just can’t. His feelings go against his knowledge and in the end, a human is a being that goes by its emotion, not its logic. How do you go against such mindset, when you do not have the opportunity or skills to recognise it?
I think that is the delusion in question. A.) It does matter, B.) Vash will be there soon and C.) Wolfwood did not have to do it.
There may even be some hope in Wolfwood that Vash has followed him, since he didn’t take the deadly dose of the vials yet, but I am not sure about that one. Many ways to interpret that.
Razlo is shown as someone incredibly unlikeable here. He enjoys torturing Wolfwood. He is monstrous. We know behind that lies the reason why Razlo exists, being the one who attacks so no one can hurt Livio. But he is more than just that, he is a person. I think he enjoys fighting and Wolfwood is one of the first people who didn’t just flatout die on him. A predator that is finally able to stretch his muscles.
I feel a bit cheated. Why focus on that he has three vials, if it is not three more, but two more vials that will kill him? In my first read through, my hope for Wolfwood’s survival was based on this.
This is the reason why I have these two headcannons, that there is 1. Just a finite amount of vials you can take as a whole (five it seems. Wolfwood took one after the ark and one in this fight) and 2. That taking vials back to back amplifies their effect for the better and worse. The vials were a spontaneous edition. While Nightow excels at writing humans, his worldbuilding goes more by vibes. Which (not meant as an insult) sometimes makes things a bit hazy and uncertain. As someone who really likes clear rules, this can be annoying for me personally. Which again, is not meant as an insult, but my personal likes.
Your Divine Retribution? Hey, everyone! Chapel is God!
For all the conflicting signs of Chapel switching between a weird care for Wolfwood’s survival to him sadistically hurting him for his betrayal to then putting Livio/Razlo down for their skill to then again warning Wolfwood for his life it finally boils down to his true face and his true reasons.
And back to the chapter title “Delusion”. Chapel is the delusional person. He is almighty, he has complete control over his pupils, he is their God, he owns them in body and mind. Wolfwood not only defying him, but nearly killing him, is the reality he cannot accept. The slave has not to rise up against its master. But Wolfwood did. Because Chapel never owned him. Wolfwood's existence is the burning example that Chapel is not someone godlike and that’s why he has to be erased in the worst way possible. So Chapel’s world is right again.
02: Sworn Friend
On my first read, I thought Razlo wanted to save Wolfwood somehow by buying time. But Razlo hasn’t that in himself, that’s something for future Razlo to develop. Razlo wanted to fight with an equal, someone he can rough up without immediately losing him. Maybe he wished for an equal, too, since they are both pupils of Chapel. He may be dependent on Chapel, but I cannot imagine that he gets much emotional bonding time with that old hoot.
Dude, you are seeing the red flags, but are unable to understand them as such.
Chapel did not take L/R in after Wolfwood left, but before! He is walking here! Chapel taught them as pupils at the same time, but kept them separate (or took Livio in after Wolfwood became his pupil, but still while Wolfwood was in training).
From this I get that Livio/Razlo is kinda ousted from the EoM, since he murdered some of their people. They may have spared his life, but revoked his position. Didn’t Legato mention that there was some kind of infighting going on? But… wait, since Chapel is walking here… That would have been at least 2,8 years ago. So… put a maybe to my assumption. Maybe it is a long ongoing internal war?
Razlo… Nooooooo…Explains why Razlo is so loyal to Chapel. Livio, I am sure, would have broken away sooner, if it wasn’t for Razlo wanting to stay. Razlo wants to be needed above anything else. I think Livio, too. Being needed means security. If they are needed they have a place to stay there. They won’t be thrown away. That’s what it comes back to for Livio and thus Razlo, that is their biggest fear. But that has opened both of them up to the abuse of Chapel.
Little sidenote, all of this combined, Chapel’s sign of care for his pupil, his theatrical sacrifice and the resulting hold he gained onto Razlo, is so interesting in comparison to how Wolfwood loves Livio. Wolfwood is dying right now in the desperate attempt to free Livio. But it is a gift and not something contractual. Livio/Razlo need continuous security, that they are needed and thus have a place under/with their benefactor. But Wolfwood cannot offer any further security. He can only offer his future. Razlo does not understand that, Livio maybe, but it needs to reach him first. (Also, how ironic, that Wolfwood is able to give so much freely and openly out of love to his peers, but cannot accept any of this for himself.)
They force them out so they can slaughter them before Wolfwood’s eyes. Why am I reminded of war crimes?
I love how ready Miss Melanie is to protect the kids with her live. And the kiddos’ reaction? It totally fits bratty kids. The scene is incredibly heartwarming and sad at the same time. The kids stay with Miss Melanie. Her tears show her desperation/frustration, but I’d like to imagine that she is also touched by this.
Wolfwood’s worst nightmare. He fears that they are afraid of him, that he is truly just a monster. That the one place that took him in and was his paradise is forever closed to him for what he has done to keep them safe.
And for a second, it looks like it is true. At least from his perspective. Miss Melanie recognises him and she pales. But her shock is not because of who Wolfwood has become, but because she realises how much he sacrificed for them. I cannot even imagine the feeling a mother would have seeing her child in such a state, realising that it has been alone the whole time, carrying such a burden without ever coming home to rest.
Chapel is laughing, because he truly believes that Miss Melanie would judge Wolfwood like Wolfwood judges himself. He truly believes that Wolfwood is not loved. Chapel is Wolfwood’s self hatred personified.
And until Miss Melanie speaks, he truly can revel in his victory. What he couldn’t do himself, the rejection by Wolfwood’s home does it. But she speaks.
She doesn’t judge him, though. As much as I criticise Miss Melanie for the parentification of Wolfwood, I know that she has been way over her head, trying to take care and feed so many poor kids. She hadn’t had the resources to help Wolfwood. But she loved him as one of her own and cared for him as much as she could. Not every abuse or neglect comes from bad people. Sometimes even not from people at all, but from the society these people live in.
Trauma and neglect are such a big part of this story. But they are all so different. I think it is interesting how the emotional neglect coming from the mother figures Rem and Miss Melanie is both accidental/ due to circumstances (and now that I think about this, both chose motherhood! They did not fall pregnant. They are not blood related, but they stepped up for these kids because there was no one else who would do it.). Rem did not have the abilities to suddenly mother those two aliens and was mentally unwell. Worse, she lived in an unsafe environment for the twins, so she had no one who she could ask for help. Miss Melanie on the other hand has the emotional ability that Rem lacked, but she is so overworked to care for all the kids that Wolfwood slipped through and she could never reach him. But it is also her that made him believe in something good in this world, something worth protecting. But I am babbling again.
Miss Melanie reprimands Wolfwood. But not for his work, but for bottling up his pain, for not relying on his family that loved him. He did all that to protect them, but in the end the very same action ended up hurting them. Because they want to be there for him. And he rejected that and that rejection hurts. As a caretaker it must feel so shitty to know that your warden did not trust you enough to come and ask for help. Especially since Wolfwood endured this pain for them.
Miss Melanie is thankful, too. No wonder that the orphanage is Wolfwood’s paradise. He is loved and welcomed there. What he does for them is seen and appreciated.
But even that does not reach Wolfwood, he cannot give himself the saving grace. Wolfwood cannot see what he does for them, he only sees what he could not do.
Yeah. But you didn’t want to be a burden, did ya? I read a sentence in a comic that goes like this: “I hope you learn one day to be less convenient.” And I wish that for Wolfwood. But since we are at Vol.10, we know it is too late for that.
Aww, didn’t this work up to your expectations? Boohoo, they really do love and accept Wolfwood, how could they? Poor Chapel, who would have thought that there are good people all around? (sarcasm)
But it is also here that Wolfwood throws the rest of his self-preservation away.
Wolfwood truly has made a friend.
This is for me the moment they truly become equal. Through all of their travels it has been Vash who was the one who decided on where to go, often without telling Wolfwood anything about where and why. (I grew iffy with that and I still am somewhat iffy, because it read as pure avoidance of Knives. Thanks to @/revenantghost I remembered that Vash had reasons to go here and there, getting a new arm etc. but it still comes back to: Vash decided where to go without consulting or even speaking to Wolfwood) Not only that, Vash tried to slip away from Wolfwood, like on Home. Here, the roles are reversed. Vash followed Wolfwood who slipped away. Wolfwood decided what is important to him and followed that. And Wolfwood has become important enough for Vash that Vash is not only not avoiding the connection between them anymore, but he is actively seeking it out. Nightow said a possible love prospect needed to be very patient with Vash. Wolfwood has been patient the whole time. (Kinda, he blew up and grumbled and still followed Vash’ whims.)
#trigunbookclub#trigun bookclub#Trigun Maximum Vol.10.1#Trigun maximum#Fuckity it will be at least a three parter#I am in agony#trigun
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