#if i missed anyone.. bls feel free to shoot me in the head | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

seoschangbin · 4 years

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Hi hi, it’s ya gal Rachel! To start off, this isn't really a follow forever but more of a mushy love fest. I was going to do this back in October when my blog hit 2 years but then with everything that happened... 😞✌ figured it wasn’t the best time! But since it’s the new year, I just wanted to spread some love to start off the decade, especially towards all the lovely people who have made my 2019 a little bit happier ♡ Thank you to everyone for making this such a fun & amazing year; thank you for supporting my gifs & graphics and interacting with me; overall, thank you for making Tumblr fun again! So to all my moots and followers, I’m wishing you all a very happy and wonderful 2020!

I wanted to take some time as well to write some messages to all my mutuals - seeing you guys on my dash + all your work (if you’re a cc) is such a joy and I admire all of you very very much! Thank you for putting in the time to making gifs/graphics/fic/etc. and I hope you won’t mind if I gush about you a little, even if we’ve never spoken hehe! Under the cut in alphabetic order.. she’s a long one sorry!

@00hj | karen!! angel!! first of all, everything u make is just the cleanest cutest thing ever, i truly want your brain!.. u are such an incredibly talented gfx creator and i get heart palpitations every time i see ur work!! i adore u so much n ur tags are also so full of sweetness n purity and 😞💕 i just want to give u a hug!! + the way u always say hi to ccs in ur tags when u rb their stuff. cute!! pure!!

@01degree | joanna!! first of all... thank u for filling my dash with so many groups, some of which i almost never get to see 😌💕 ur brain being multi af like me.. chefs kiss! also! you make such clean and nice gifs please don’t ever doubt that laskjd!! 2020 joanna stops saying her gifs suck! idk how u make them so clean but legends only! bls remember to be kind to yourself this year! 💕

@1095 | nicolle!! i haven’t seen you around recently but i hope everything is okay and you’re doing well! i have to say that your graphics are absolutely INSANE i don’t know how you do it!! the colours.. how it all comes together.. amazing! ur career as a graphic designer will be a good one 😌👍 secondly your urls are always so cute nd nice!! and thirdly back to number 1.. i just love everything you make so so much bls come back to us 😖

@3noracha | falak.. ur the fandom’s gem.. the sharpening on ur gifs takes my breath away everytime + the colouring.. omg chef’s kiss!! i didn’t know you before you came back earlier this year but i’m so so glad you did come back bc u are so full of love 😳💗 you make the cutest graphics as well and are just radiate so much positivity 💞

@bamgchan | henri! still my confident car selfie king!! so glad i found you through sagey.. i love all your content (ur graphics.. always so well put together!) and the way you interact with people is so full of energy and positivity and i adore that! i hope 2020 treats you well 🥰

@banghans | ollie!! all of ur content.. ur gifs! amazing.. wonderful.. iconic thank you for providing so much hq content for the rest of us peasants 😌💕 your love for chan and jisung is also so pure n cute when u rave abt it 💞 bls stop being so hard on yourself and i love reading about how you’re always striving to be better to yourself! i hope 2020 is a good year for you 💖

@binnieseason | emily.. a loss for binnie stans that you’re gone 😔 anyways i hope to see you back sometime because you make such nice gifs + the colouring on them.. so pretty and clean.. how to be you! i hope things are okay with you and that you’ve been well!

@cb-97s | miss li! y/a novel protagonist herself!! li you’re a burst of sunshine in my day and i love chatting w u! your love for chan.. too pure 😭 every time i talk to you i’m like.. dang.. she’s real.. ppl get to see her for real! might force u to meet me irl 🤷‍♀️ also queen of gfx.. always so clean.. 😍 i know it’s been a stressful year for you but i hope 2020 brings you happiness and love 💞 love u!

@changbeanie | hi ruby! ur graphics are always so intricate n pretty + the colouring on ur gifs.. so pretty 😭💖 thank you for providing like 90% of the changbin content nd keeping me well-fed 🥰 ur always so sweet to ur anons as well and are just a lil ray of sunshine ☀️

@changbinie | jo.. what even is there to say abt u.. still can’t believe i got u into skz.. CAN’T!!! thanks for suffering w me and dealin w me wakin u to talk abt middies.. + changbin arms.. i love u a little i think (?)

@channie | hi fishy! ur one of the very first skz blogs i ever followed back in 2017.. we ancient 😌🤙 i know you’re not too active anymore but all of your gifs have like. the prettiest colouring ever idk how you do it! i hope you’ll come back to us

@elfminho | min! i love the way u tag skz in your tags.. so cute 😭 star boy!!! cute 😭 ur gifs are also lovely as well 🥰 i think ur one of the first skz blogs i followed when i starting using this blog again n i’m glad i found ur blog bc i adore u 💞

@glowsvt | grace.. my little baby! i wish i could just !! get into ur brain how lovely nd wonderful of a human you are.. have more confidence in yourself! 😣 you make wonderful graphics.. ur style! cute! and you have such a sweet and good heart!! i love when you ramble about things and always appreciate how you take the time to reach out to me despite how busy you are 💕 thank you for being a real-life angel, i hope 2020 is good and kind to you 🙇‍♀️💞

@hanjisungz | britt!!! nerd squad let’s go!! you’re such an angel, the way you treat everyone who talks to you with so much kindness and positivity makes me want to cry!! ur truly just the cutest sunbeam and just such lovely lovely human!! thank u for puttin up with my late replies and how boring i am 😭 i also adore your gifs and icons.. which you know.. but always.. chefs kiss to them!

@huiracha | marie... first of all skz AND ptg? great, amazing, fantastic combination... galaxy brain 💞 secondly, u make such SUCH nice gifs 😭 ur prob one of my fav skz ccs and all ur pretty chan comp sets.. always look forward to them! thank u for also bringing me ptg content i never see enough of them 💕

@hwang-hyunjin | agnes!! ur topaz settings r always insane and they make your gifs look amazing!! + the colouring u do is always so beautiful!! the combo rly makes ur gifs so distinctive nd pretty💞 ur edits too!! just lovely 🥰 also the fact that we’re also moots on our mx blogs.. amazing.. i love a staybebe!!

@hyunjins | godleigh???? still one of my fav gifmakers ever!! perfect colouring.. sharpening.. best brain! 💞 rmbr ur skz x prince series... still think abt it sometimes.. wish i could be half as brilliant as u! i’m so glad we started talking bc u are incredibly funny and fun to talk to and i love witnessing ur breakdowns even though they’re probably way funnier to me than they should be 😭 love that u vibe w me and we can be mean together 😭 thank u for giving me this url 😭 thank u for being my friend, u truly are like. half the reason i enjoy being on this blog 😭 you’re wonderful and i love u a lot! sorry for clowning u sometimes! i hope everything sorts itself out soon bc u deserve some peace nd happiness 😩 and i wish u nothing but the best for this year and hope that the next year will be filled with good things 💖

@ifbin | mikaela.... u know i could talk abt you forever right???? ur graphics.. bro 😭 literally my fav gfx ever on this site.. u have such a vibrant + clean style it’s so sexy 😭 literally am in love with everything u make.. every time i see it i’m like 😳💖 also you’re such a sweetheart in your tags i can’t with you... spare friendship miss 💍

@jeonginz | bri! honestly.. i think you’re my oldest mutual from when we first started our blogs during survival era #ogs? 😳 when i found out you were nctmark... mind blown... anyways all your content is AMAZING even though u dont make as much for skz anymore msdg but ur dedication to all ur sideblogs.. galaxy brain 😌

@jinlix | kelly...!! still gazing at u across the river i love love love u!! how to purchase friendship? ur just the purest snowflake and a wonderful person with the cutest tags... ur love for hyunjin.. CUTE 💞 all your graphics are so pretty and clean as well.. dragonlix gfx never forgotten.. 😳 and you’re rly just a little angel!! 💞

@kim-woojins | emma, i know that you’re gone and closed pretty much but if you come back to this! just wanted to let you know that you were my fav woojin cc and i hope you’ll consider coming back someday 💖 your gifs.. always amazing! plus, you’re such a kind person and i hope everything is okay with you and things have settled a bit! sending you lots of love 💕

@kittylixie | moon.. honestly one day i just started seeing ur content everywhere.. ur gifs are so clean and pretty and just! mwah! you’re always so quick to gif as well i don’t know how you to do it! all the stuff you choose to gif as well.. best moments 💖

@kmwoojins | sagey.... still don’t really know how i came to be following you! 😩 but i’m so happy i am because you are so pure and sweet and i adore adore adore you!! 💞 love how welcoming and lovely you are as a human and still laugh every time i think about how shocked you are about jo and i... 😌 anyways i adore your graphics and you, thank you for just being such a lovely human, you were a wonderful part of my year 💖

@leeminho-s | hi lia! i know we only became moots recently but all your gifs.. so pretty 😳 and we never have enough minho content.. thank you for providing 😫 i’m sorry i don’t know much about you yet but i just wanted to say i admire your gifs so much and hope you have a wonderful start to the new year!

@minknows | hi thien! first of all.. your name.. so lovely 😳 secondly.. the colouring on your gifs is always so pretty and good 😭❤ the sharpening too.. 😔 just!! chefs kiss to it all, would take a class on how to gif from you 🙇‍♀️

@nochous | dez!! we haven’t interacted much on this sb of mine but hehe i loved our convo on my sf9 blog.. still always thinkin abt you calling kun daddy 😭 you’re such a fun person to talk to and i hope everything is okay with you since you’ve gone on a semi-hiatus! i hope we’ll have another chance to talk soon, sending you some good energy for 2020 💗

@prodskz | hi neha! i feel like you took a hiatus sometime this year (??) where i didn’t see you on much but i’m happy to see you a little more active on here now!! u provide such nice content + for some reason i rly rly love your icon 😭💗

@realstraykids | miss em.. secret santa FATED us 😔💕 anyways i adore you, we are the core of fantastay culture and this will forever unite us 😌 i’m vibrating at the thought of their comeback 😖 ANYWAYS you are such a friendly and lovely person and i enjoyed getting to talk with u so much over the past couple of weeks 💖 you’re one of my fav gifmakers honestly your mv aesthetics swap.. as i said.. 😭 amazing iconic showstopping! + the colouring on all your gifs.. so pretty 😭

@seungminhos | to quote you. you are far too funny to be a gifmaker 😣 but then who would provide all the good seungmin content.. 😞 you’re such a force of nature on my dash and i love reading all your thoughts bc you are Funny.. and your love for seungmin + how you always want the best for him is pure!! our sporadic interactions too.. always enjoy them 💕 even though i know you’re stressed about being on here sometimes, i want you to know that you’re wonderful and i appreciate all you do to bring more seungmin on our dashes 💗 pls stop threatening to delete your blog, i would be devastated 😫

@seungminsmile | aurora!! the one time i was about to have a seungmin breakdown and went to you... hehe you’re such a cutie and very grounded person (imo!!) and you make the cutest little graphics.. the little doodles.. how do you do that!! 😳 and now that you’re making gifs.. Queen! i hope your first semester went well! 💕

@seunie | hello nia!! i know we are still new moots but you are such a pure soul.. just ur blog title.. angel! you radiate so much love and sweetness 💞 your gifs are always so vibrant + colourful as well and bring a bit of colour onto my dash just like you! hopefully we can speak in the coming year, i wish you the very best! 🥰

@skzbffie | rayana... all ur gifs... bro.... how to start a rayana religion... amazing 😍 ur gifs are always so clean + i can recognize them by the subtitle font you use.. u always choose the best moments to gif honestly how to be u! honestly ur tags are fun to read too don’t judge me i am just an admirer and fan of u 😭

@skznta | miss sierra! idk how to put it into words but you... goddess of goodness? you truly radiate so much positivity and happiness and it makes me so.. uwu (for lack of better words).. you’re so so cute over all your love for science and i’m glad we got to bond over that! the way you’re always striving to learn more + improve yourself.. u inspire me 😳 you are also an incredible cc and thank you for bringing so much joy into the fandom and my life!! i feel very grateful to have gotten to know you a little this year 💞

@thechanboys | jem.. u are a GEM... 😭 the way i got u for secret santa i’ll never get over it!! you are just such sunshine and so fun to talk to and 😳💞 if u ever wanna abandon bin for me.. 😌 my fav number one chan/bin stan..! i’m so happy you got into skz this year and i’m gonna try my hardest to get you into some other groups hehe 🤧 anyways, you are incredible, lovely, wonderful, amazing i love u jem!! 💖

@tinyjisung | bea! honestly.. we are moots on like 3(?) blogs our multi selves.. galaxy brain... i know ur more active on ur ateez blog but i wanted to write abt you here anyways because I CAN! 😌 but i love all that good san content you provide + you just seem like a very calm n fun person 💕

@virgolix | nina. you’re such a cute person filled with love and you just spread so much positivity and good energy! you treat everyone with so much kindness and it’s so nice to see 💖 and if i can rave about your gifs for a minute... they are unreal 😫 the sharpening.. colouring.. always so amazingly clean + pretty + vibrant!

@wonstal | hi hi! okay.. i adore all your content, you have the cutest colouring ever!! + topaz settings.. so pretty 😖💞 even though we started off as moots on my mx blog, i’m so glad you got into skz and ateez + will be on your sweet merry way to sf9 soon 🤞 i’m glad we’ve just started chatting a bit because you seem super fun and i’m excited to get to know you better! i hope 2020 treats you well darling 💖

@yongbells | iana.. hope everything is okay with you always and sending you lots of love! i miss seeing you on here but i hope you’re taking good care of yourself 💗 also.. gfx queen... 😖 you’re SUCH a ray of sunshine.. the way you always tell people how much you love their creations is so kind and all of your own gfx are some of the most beautiful things ever 💖 we are so blessed to have you in this fandom 😩

#rachel.txt #oh man.. this took me a while to write but i hope u guys are oke w my messages 😭#i adore u all v v much and sending u all warm wishes for the new year + new decade!!#thank u all for making this my fav sideblog #+ to my followers i love u all and wish u the best year yet as well 💖#if i missed anyone.. bls feel free to shoot me in the head #if we're moots + ur not here i missed u bc i am an idiot. bls dm me immediately so i can tell u how much i love u

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thedistantstorm · 4 years

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Dawning Delights 10: Dawning Surprise Pt. 1

Summary: Hawthorne invites her newfound family in the Tower to experience a City-Style Dawning with the family that took her in years ago. The holiday is not without it’s charm, or aggravation, and certainly has plenty of surprises in store. A season-inspired, trope-tastic story about a family forged by something greater than blood, finding reasons to enjoy the season - and cherish each other. Main Post

Pairings: Hawthorne/Zavala, Sloane/Amanda, Devrim/Marc

Zavala rolls over as the sun’s light begins to brighten the horizon, bright eyes opening without the pressing of his Ghost for once. And, as if sensing his gaze upon her, Suraya shifts down into the blankets he’s displaced in the movement. No conscious thought dictates how his Light responds to her, but it does: a warm, comfortable tangle that’s not quite Arc, Solar, or Void in particular. She presses herself into his embrace without so much as opening an eye or twitching in an attempt to wake.

Today is the day.

He smiles into her short hair, sliding his hand down her arm to loosely take her hand in his. A sluggish swipe of her fingers, aiming to soothe, convinces him to close his eyes once more. He has time, for once, to enjoy this quiet, peaceful moment. So he does.

Until the even, deep breaths of his partner lull him back to sleep.

More than anything, Amanda wants to be excited for this.

And she is excited for this. For a lot of reasons.

It’s like a family gathering, but a fusion of her strange version of normal and the kind of normal she's dreamed about. She gets to spend the night at Marc’s place tonight, to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of the other with her found family. It's a balm against the yucky feelings that come, the thoughts of people she's lost, the family that has passed on without her.

But, this time of year is just hard. She misses her parents and Cayde, and in a different way she misses Sloane. Sloane knows she struggles. And it's for that reason, as Amanda sits in the Hangar, arms crossed, waiting for this delivery Ikora insisted could not wait, that Sloane is messaging her back with nearly no delay.

Bitterly, Amanda bites back the thought of asking her why she can't just be there, if she's going to be free for most of the day. She knows Sloane takes her duty seriously, Amanda admires that about the Titans in her life.

It just sucks, sometimes.

She scoffs loudly into the empty Hangar. Everyone in Tower Control is squirreled up in one of the offices, and of course, Amanda is the only one on the ground in the Hangar so there's not even anyone to shoot the shit with and distract her.

Just Sloane telling her that whatever Ikora needs her to receive certainly must be important.

She types back a snarky, "She's lucky I'm not drunk off my ass on your Dawning Present, making me come down here at first light."

Sloane's reply is a steady, insistent, "It's nine in the morning. That's a late start."

"I know," She keys back, grousing, "But I either sleep til noon or I wake up at 04:00. You know me."

The next time her tablet beeps she can hear the warm sound of the Deputy Commander's voice in her mind, a simple response. "I know."

Amanda tries to wrap that comforting tone around herself like a blanket, to let it ease her grumpy irritability. It works, for a bit. But the cold is bothering her leg, and without the traffic (thrusters sending jets of warm air through the half-open space) it will never warm up, and she'd really like this to be over sooner rather than later.

Luckily enough, a cargo ship docks and unloads rather quickly, its crew staying with the city swapping out with a new team headed out despite the holiday. At least she wasn't one of them, she thought, watching a broad-shouldered woman with a dark tinted visor head toward the Tower proper. One of the techs unloaded a crate - not too large, still manageable - onto her workbench.

"That the package for Ikora?" She drawls to the tech.

"Yes ma'am."

She gives him a mock salute, never quite getting with the military's formalities, even when she served. "Thank ya kindly. Now get on outta here, I'm sure y'got better places to be."

The tech nods. "Happy Dawning."

Amanda's already hefting the crate into her arms, intent on getting out of this Tower before noon. Ikora is the hurry up and wait type - Warlocks - and Amanda has places to be. "Happy Dawnin'," She calls over her shoulder, and despite the fact that she's rethinking how manageable this crate is (she's sure it's full of books now and she's not particularly thrilled about it), the sentiment is heartfelt. Genuine.

Across the Tower, however, Ikora is livid. She understands that people want to go home to their families, she's… looking forward (and she can all but feel the enthusiastic encouragement radiating from Ophiuchus at such a thought) to her plans, too.

But!

The delivery was supposed to happen at approximately noon. They knew better, everything was on a strict timeline. Zavala and Suraya weren't due at the Kay household until around noon, and she had to keep Amanda occupied until at least one. To give everything a chance to happen naturally. To do it right, no interruptions.

And, Zavala insisted, to give Suraya a moment to process, good or bad - Ikora scoffs at that, she doesn't understand why he has it in his head that she'd even consider refusing him - all the emotions that will certainly overwhelm her.

So when Amanda drops the crate, unimpressed, at her feet at a quarter past ten in the morning, Ikora blinks in surprise before channeling her fury into sedate composure. It’s not Amanda’s fault.

"It's early."

"Yeah," Amanda barks "It's a good thing yer not busy, then," She continues, annoyed, gesturing to the Bazaar. It's empty. Even the Ramen Shop is closed. “I’m gonna go. I was originally supposed to meet Zavala and Hawthorne earlier so it works out.” She waves, not bothering to wait for a response. “See ya tonight,” She calls, turning away.

“Wait!”

Most lazy mornings, for them, are defined by the time of day alone. Suraya would take an extra hour to lay in bed - even against his advice that she should rise and get ready for the day - when he came home at dawn, or he’d force himself awake early when she came back from a civic emergency, as cool and radiant as the streaks of light that would soon become the dawn.

This is far slower than usual. Where normally he’d have her bare and panting beneath him from teasing touches, he hasn’t stopped touching her face. Fingers trail across her jaw, and while it’s not terribly erotic, the effect it has on her is beginning to bleed into exactly that.

First, however, she pulls back - it’s more like pushing her head further into the pillows - to look up at him, her own fingers finding his jaw, meeting his gaze. It’s heavy. Serious but not sad, almost dazed. “Are you okay?” She asks, her features flickering with concern.

Blinking in surprise, he nods. His fingers trail down her neck, across her sternum, the backs of his knuckles pressing ever so slightly into the warm skin above the neckline of her shirt. Over her heart.

“I love you,” She whispers, cutting through whatever thoughts are running through his head. “I’m excited to share this with you.”

His lips quirk up, showing her the slightest hint of his teeth. For a man who smiles mostly with his eyes, she cherishes these moments in which she can see his unveiled expressions in their entirety. But then, his eyes slide shut, and instead of seeing his emotions, she can very nearly feel them. The Light is funny like that, like an extension of self, molding to his will. She gasps against it, the way his hands seem to pulse - electric, expressive - and lend to his feelings. This is not the playful Arc energy he pulls out to reduce her to a sobbing mess when she’s wound up and bratty. This is pure emotion. Deep-seated, unadulterated feelings channeled into a current that translates into the hair on the back of her neck standing on end when he hauls her against him as though she is weightless, thanks to the pads of his fingers sliding down the skin beside her spine.

She pushes up against the hand that’s covering her heart, away from the one he’s wrapped around her back and she’s kissing him back. It’s not the same as two Guardians sharing their Light in some kind of intimate feedback loop, but she hears the broken gasp, the half-buried sound in the back of his throat and it reaffirms what she knows. This is no battle for superiority. Their differences are what balance them, what brings them to even ground. He is attracted to her as she is, for her simple humanity, and the complex feelings she can inspire without showering him in the Traveler's gifts.

They take their time. After all, they have plenty of it, with only abstract plans during their well-deserved reprieve. Suraya misses the pale white blink of a notification on her tablet nearly an hour later when Zavala rises, a question in his gaze as he tilts it towards the shower. She's too busy, abandoning the sheets to follow with a grin.

The message goes unanswered.

In their younger years, or at least his, Devrim thinks, stretching his back, Marc never used to get up before ten in the morning. Even when they were having a dinner party. He'd stay up until dawn preparing the night before if he had to, though he'd eventually got it down to a science (having a child does wonders for developing time management skills).

Now, Devrim reaches for the other side of the bed - such a far cry from a patched up cot in a secluded nook - to find it cool and can't help but smile to himself. The clock reads half eight. It's late for him but still early.

The hardwood floors betray the weight of his husband's footsteps. "Planning to sleep the day away, darling?" Marc asks, arms crossed as he leans in the doorway.

"You'd come wake me eventually, I'm sure," He lilts back.

Marc nods, words clearly failing him. It spurs Devrim into action, pulling back the blankets and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He doesn't bother to slide his feet into the slippers waiting for him, instead opening his arms to pull his husband in. Letting Marc rest his head on his shoulder, breathe deep to smell sleep and yesterday's cologne on the skin of his neck, Devrim exhales contentedly.

"I've missed this, Marc," He says, and it's meant to sound adoring and sweet, not emotionally compromising as if he's at the end of his rope.

But, to his credit, his husband laughs, and the rumble of his chest against Devrim's soothes him. "I know," Marc agrees. "We're going to do this more often from now on."

"Abusing your new powers already?"

"Please, I've always had some pull," He leans back, fingers cradling the scruff on Devrim's jaw. "Now," He presses a kiss to his lover's nose (as there are rules about kisses before brushing teeth), "Wash up. I'll make breakfast and put the kettle on."

The word leaves Ikora's lips like a whip-crack, harsh and serious. It strikes the shipwright like lightning. She recoils, visibly, as though she’s going to be struck.

"What's wrong?"

"I-" Ophiuchus appears beside her, shell orbiting his small body in momentary concern, "I think I should bring them something, and I'm not sure what."

Amanda's eyes narrow in suspicion. "Ikora, you have a bottle of that fancy dessert wine behind you."

"It's for someone else."

"It's not. That's Marc's favorite."

Ophiuchus rolls his optic obnoxiously and Ikora gives him a scathing glare for it, as if encouraging him to do better than that.

"She's nervous about later?" Ophiuchus tries. He can feel Ikora's wrath, but the Warlock doesn't contradict him. It's not like she had any quick lies available that didn't nearly lead into the truth.

"Uh… huh," The younger woman's arms cross. She doesn't buy it, that's obvious. "What the heck is goin' on?"

"Nothing," Ikora lies, too fast and very obviously. "It's just-"

"Just?" Amanda holds out her hands as if expecting an answer to drop from the sky and into them. When it doesn't, she produces her tablet from a pocket near her bionic knee and sends out a message.

"What are you doing?" Ikora asks.

"Askin' Hawthorne what the heck is goin' on around here. Why can't-"

Ikora sends a panicked glance to Ophiuchus who dips in a nod and disappears without a sound.

"You know I can just call her-"

"No!"

Amanda shakes her head. "What's the big deal? You're acting really weird and honestly, it's kinda freakin' me out. I planned everything with them. Marc won't mind if I come by early, I'll-"

"Amanda." Saladin's deep voice is soft but commands attention. "Stop pushing her. I'll take you for brunch, we can go over together, afterward."

Amanda looks between the two of them, Warlock, Titan, then back again. "You're kidding me."

Saladin, unlike Ikora, does not betray a single emotion on his face, his eyes hard - always eased a bit when it comes to her, but she's always been treated like the Tower's collective kid. Amanda knows he isn't kidding.

But she's also not the fourteen year old girl she was when he'd distract her with ice cream or an errant wolf cub smuggled inside the walls to keep her out of trouble. Smiling far too wide, Amanda nods. Ikora catches on just as the Shipwright opens her mouth, and if Amanda were looking at her, she'd see the comical widening of her golden brown eyes.

"Okay. We can go to breakfast," She gives Ikora a challenging look before turning her beach-glass gaze upon the last Iron Lord. "But only if we invite Shaxx, too."

Ikora closes her eyes and counts to ten in three dead languages before she opens them again. Saladin is still staring Amanda down, and to her credit, Holliday hasn't budged.

"Alright," Saladin acquiesces. "We'll invite him."

She staggers backwards, in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes," He confirms gruffly. Though subdued, his aggravation is palpable. "Now go get him before I change my mind."

Scampering off, Amanda leaves the two of them to go get the Crucible Handler for what will likely be the most uncomfortable meal in history.

Saladin is eyeing her with an unreadable expression and Ikora sighs. "My attendance is mandatory, isn't it?"

"You're a sharp ally," Saladin answers.

"It's a yes, then," Ikora retorts.

After a few silent moments, Ophiuchus appears beside her, drifting in a relieved sway. "All taken care of. She was already filtering both their messages, no harm done."

"Good. We're about to go to brunch with Amanda and Saladin-"

"Oh, I cannot wait to find out what little secrets we've been keeping!" Shaxx bellows from the courtyard, disrupting some innocent pigeons roosting on the railings.

"And Shaxx?" Ophiuchus betrays both shock and concern.

His Guardian doesn't blame him. They don't have to look at Saladin to feel him scowling.

Suraya lets herself in, Zavala hot on her heels. He pulls the door shut behind them while she removes her boots and jacket, hanging the latter on a hook. It's warm, the sound of the fireplace in the next room over is quaint and comfortable, and the house is wreathed in warm lights and tasteful Dawning decor.

"Dad," She calls, loud, when Marc doesn't come to the door like she expects, "We're here!"

Turning to Zavala, who doesn't appear flummoxed, she comments at a lower volume, "That's funny, he must be in the kitchen or something."

Zavala hums, non-committal, and Suraya wanders down the hall that runs parallel to the kitchen and into the heart of her family's home.

"Dad? This isn't funny," She says, pausing a beat. Still no answer. "Dad!"

The sound of footsteps at the end of the short hall stops her in her tracks.

"Do calm down, Suraya, I'm right-"

Though she has her back to him, Zavala knows the expression she's making; Can see how her shoulders rise in surprise, elbows angled out. Knows that she's clasped her hands over her chest in surprise at the sound of his voice.

Zavala knows how much she wanted this. She could blame it on the City or on him, for reawakening long-abandoned wants and needs, but he wants her to have this. She deserves to have everything.

Her lips move, words failing her for only a second, and then, far differently from before, hinging on a sob, she cries, "Dad?"

For being a self proclaimed old man, Devrim doesn't falter when she launches herself at him, grunting only at the impact of his fully-grown child tackling him in a hug that sways at the start like a dance.

It evolves into a tighter, closer embrace, and the scant sounds of sobbing.

"Oh, don't cry, darling," Devrim tuts, rearing back to brush away her tears. It does nothing for his own state, to see her so unguarded, in a way she hasn't been with him in years. He clears his throat when he feels it constrict. "You're liable to make an old man join you."

Between shaky breaths she ducks her head, admitting, "I've just wanted this for so long," To the collar of his shirt.

Marc peeks from the kitchen, swiping a hand across his cheek to erase a tear from sight before nodding to their other guest. He slips from sight.

"Alright you two," Marc chirps, sunny and bright, the only man Devrim has ever encountered who can laugh and cry all while speaking in complete sentences. "I'm feeling left out."

Three steps is all it takes for their unit to be completed and whole for the first time in nearly two decades. It sets Suraya off anew to have both her parents embracing her without having to court fear that came with sneaking into a City that cast her out, or the anxiety that always bubbled up because she was selfishly endangering her family.

They stay that way, until a timer beeps in the kitchen and Marc scuttles off after whatever he’s preparing for the evening's events. This time tomorrow, he’ll have the kitchen on lockdown, preparing a huge feast, but tonight is a far more casual affair.

Devrim pulls back from her finally, looking at her expectantly. “How?” She asks, the initial shock finally starting to wear off.

“You know how,” Devrim answers, voice dipping lower, eyes flicking to the doorway down the hall, closer to the door that leads to a spacious living room. “I believe he meant to give us privacy.”

“He’s a good man,” Suraya whispers.

“He is.” He pats her cheek once and nods towards the way she’d came. “Perhaps you should see if he’d like a drink?” Her lips part into a smile, and he chuckles, unable to help it. “Off you go,” He says, nudging her on.

Marc creeps quietly from the kitchen. He’s waving his hands in a frantic combination of nerves and excitement, and Devrim gives him an expectant nod. A quiet shimmer happens above their heads. “The other door is cracked,” Zavala’s Ghost says, regal and elegant in her delivery, but also jittery and hyper, like a hummingbird. “Shall we?”

#destiny fanfiction #commander zavala #suraya hawthorne #devrim kay #marc (destiny)#zavala x hawthorne #marc x devrim #amanda holliday #ikora rey #Deputy Commander Sloane #destiny dawning

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arealcrow-archive · 5 years

Text

he’s a demon, he’s a devil, he’s a doll

Neo-Noir au with micah, brief appearance by steel, but mostly sidesteps flirt and do crimes together. fuck cops and fuck hollow ground. thanks @iseektheholygrail for letting me borrow jasper for this.

Twenty more minutes and we would’ve been fine. Twenty more minutes and we would’ve been long gone. Always better to be lucky than good, and tonight it looks like I’m neither.

ao3, 2.9k words

Los Diablos. A rainy Friday in November. 2020.

I’ve got no good reason to be here. That’s not to say I don’t have any reason at all to be here, just none that are good. No, tonight I’m here on strictly business. A job, and a big one. One that should set us up nicely for a while, give me the space to lay low while I live big.

Well. Maybe it’s not all strictly business. I’ve been to this bar every Friday night for over a month, making myself look like a regular. Sat at quiet spot at the bar for a few hours each week, sipping whiskey sours and taking note of security rotations. Chatted up bartenders, played cards in the back. I got real friendly, but never too personal. It’s an extensive casing of a joint, granted, but the payoff’s worth it. That, and the view.

5 weeks earlier

This isn’t the first casing I’ve done. Though espionage isn’t exactly one of my specialties, I’ve got the eye for details we need here. If only I could stay focused on the task at hand, and not the details of the bartender with the soft eyes. He’d caught my attention the second I’d walked in. Of course he did. How could he not, with an indecipherable set to his lips and warm glint to his eyes?

I can’t help but wonder what he would look like smiling at me. Laughing at a well timed joke. Moaning. I have to shake that thought from my head before it takes root, like a kid worried that his face will get stuck in the expression he’s making. Getting distracted before I find what I came here for would be a rookie mistake.

Maybe I lingered on the idea too long, or maybe it was just too vivid. Maybe I just can’t help myself around tall, dark, handsome men. I should’ve been paying better attention to who was at the table with me. Multitasking is supposed to be something I’m good at. This was a challenge I just wasn’t up to, feeling those grey eyes on my back the whole time I was playing poker.

Or maybe it was that I couldn’t read him. Not a single stray thought or feeling off him. Shields that strong meant he was one of two things; epileptic, or someone else with some kind of telepathic gift.

I guess it doesn’t matter the reason, I ended up at the bar either way. If I had to make a guess, I’d say that’s where the job went wrong. Curiosity always kills the cat. Worse things could’ve happened, though. I could’ve missed the chance to learn his name.

“Jasper,” he tells me when I ask, and I can tell he’s not lying. No, that habitual downturn to his lips shifts. It’s not quite a smile, but close enough to leave me wanting me more.

“Jasper,” I say back. Let his name roll off my tongue as my eyes slide down him. Maybe that’s a little too forward, but he doesn’t seem to mind. “Like the stone. Pretty. It’s fitting.”

He doesn’t blush like I want him to, but that’s not a surprise. I don’t need him to react to smell the blood in the water between us. “Though, I bet with a face like yours, you get told how pretty you are on a nightly basis.”

That gets me a small, polite laugh. The laugh of someone who’s hoping you’re at least going to tip them well. That’s fair.

“It happens. Every now and then, sure.” No smile, yet, he still just looks amused. And suspicious. That’s also fair, in an establishment brimming with the wrong kind of folks.

“So modest,” I wink at him, and take a sip of my drink. It’s strong. “What’s a civilized kid like you doing in a den of thieves like this?”

“Making a living.” That felt pointed.

“That makes two of us,” I let an easy smile slip across my mouth, hoping my eyes don’t give away too much of the heat starting to itch at the back of my thoughts. It’s distracting, so distracting. I’m supposed to be casing the damn joint, not pining over eyes like fog rolling into the bay in the early morning.

I can feel eyes on my back again, and a glance over my shoulder confirms they’re not the kind I want. A tall man, one I’d been playing poker with earlier. He’d been watching me like a hawk then, too; for different reasons than I thought, it seems.

“Someone caught your eye?” Jasper asks me, noticing my distraction.

“No one more than you,” I shoot back, turning back to face him fully despite the burning holes in the back of my head. It’s not a lie, and it’s what finally gets me a smile. Seems like I might have caught him off guard with that one.

“I think I’ve caught someone else’s eye, though. And not in the fun way.” I don’t know what compels me to tell him this. Sure, a handsome face always puts me at ease but this is a different kind of comfort. Feels dangerous.

With a resigned sigh, I pull out enough cash to cover my bill with a generous tip. It’s a little early to call it a night, but better safe than sorry this time around. I’ve got nothing good to report back yet, nothing worth blowing my cover for.

“Don’t be a stranger, kid.”

3 weeks earlier

There’s a whiskey sour waiting on the bar for me when I sit down. I try not to put too much stock into the warm feeling of familiarity seeping into my gut, have to remind myself I barely know this man.

“Evening, Micah.”

“Evenin’, doll. Thanks,” I tip my drink at him in acknowledgement before taking a sip. Maybe I shouldn’t have told him my real name. It’s too late to worry about it now.

Scanning the rest of the floor from my perch at the bar, it’s not hard to tell that something isn’t quite right tonight. Friday nights here are usually packed, the perfect environment for me to just slip into the crowd and blend. It looks like a weeknight. There’s people, The Gold Cat is never completely dead, but they’re scattered and mostly keeping to themselves. There’s not a single kingpin’s man to be spotted, and so nothing much for me to do tonight.

“Is somethin’ going on tonight, Jas? This place feels like a ghost town,” I finally ask him when my cup is empty. If I can’t get much work done, I may as well have a little fun with my night.

“Nope. Nothing that I’ve heard about.” From his tone, I suspect it’s safe to assume he hears about most things that happen relating to this bar.

“So that means you’d be free after you finish your shift then? Have time for some dinner and dancing?”

He takes a second to respond; I caught him off guard. But he doesn’t look surprised, so he must have seen this coming. I doubt he knew how impatient I’d be, though.

“I’ve still got another two hours,” he eventually settles on saying.

“That wasn’t a no. I’ve got time.”

His eyes slowly rake over me, appraising, judging. Deciding if I’m worth this time probably. Trying not to fidget under the inspection, I give him a cheesy smile. He laughs at that, and I think I can see a light pink flush rising in his cheeks. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking.

“Alright. Fine,” he says, nodding.

The grin on my face goes from put-on to genuine and beaming. I’m trying not to look excited, I’m not some kid in a candy shop. It has been too long since I’ve properly taken someone out, though, and I’d be lying if the prospect of spending real time with Jasper wasn’t making my blood quicken. Christ. I wonder if he’ll let me take him home. Maybe not home. To somewhere more private, anyway.

2 weeks earlier

“So, of all the gin joints and dives in the city, how’d you end up at this one?”

It was something I wanted to ask him for a few weeks now, but had never found a convenient way to bring it up. I should’ve asked before we had dinner. Before I brought him home that night, exposed more than one weakness. If he was here because he was actually working for the kingpin, like a good number of servers at The Cat, I may have just gotten in bed with the enemy.

His nonchalant shrug in response helps to relieve my tension, but the suspicion stays firmly rooted.

“They paid the best here. Flexible hours and good security don’t hurt.”

I spend too long searching his words for any hidden meaning. Any signs of danger. A lie, or a half-truth. He notices.

“I didn’t know who owned the place until I bought it.” He gets straight to the point with it. I haven’t said anything about it, but working here he has to know the kingpin has enemies. He continues more quietly, leaning forward so I’m the only one close enough to hear him. “I’m not going to tell anyone what you’re doing here. Not tryna’ get you killed after just one date.”

Never able to focus on business, I follow down that rabbit hole. “‘Just one date’? Sounds like you’re expecting a second.”

“Maybe I am. Depends.”

“On what?”

“If you’re busy after this. If you’d like to be.”

“I certainly would like to be.”

Jasper glances over at the clock and then back to me. He hasn’t stepped back and we’re still entirely too close, voices intimately quiet.

“Well. We can leave whenever you’re done. I’m finished as of three minutes ago. Maybe we skip the wining and dining tonight?”

My eyebrows stretch towards my hairline, surprise written clearly on my face and smugness slowly revealed on his. I feel outplayed; he’s got a better poker face by far.

“Uh, yeah. Yes. Definitely, absolutely. I’m, I’m done.” I’m tripping over my words, struggling to catch up now that Jasper’s taken the lead. I’ve only got a short moment to collect myself as he instructs me to wait for him there at the bar.

That’s all the time it takes for someone to slide into the seat next to me. It’s a tall, dark haired man I’d played poker with a few weeks prior. He’s got a sharp look to him tonight, the air between us already rife with tension.

“You’re a new face around here,” his tone is conversation, his expression is not.

“Relatively,” I shrug, making sure to give nothing hostile back. Playing dumb rarely fails for me. “Y’all don’t get a lot of fresh blood in here?”

“As much as any place. You just happen to be my type.” The wink he gives me is dead eyed, a threat. He’s just going through the motions of flirting, diverting the eye of any onlookers from the threat he’s making out in the open. It’s like a well planned magic trick, premeditated.

“I’m just passing through.”

I can see Jasper round a corner, now changed out of his work clothes into something more casual. I’m trying to diffuse, but that’s never something I’ve been good at. Escalation is more my speed. He’s eyeing the situation carefully as he approaches, with a look on his face like he’s got a plan. I don’t like hedging my bets on an unknown element, but in my experience two heads are always better than one.

“Ready to go, babe?” I try and keep my jaw from dropping at the term of endearment. The fondness is likely put on for the man next to me, and judging by the look of barely restrained surprise on his face it’s effective. Not that I’m doing a much better job hiding my own shock.

“Yeah. Let’s ankle.” I slide out of my seat at the bar and comfortably into place next to Jasper, wrapping an arm around his waist for good measure. If he’s made the decision that he’s going to be my cover, then I’m going to run with it.

Despite my arm around him, he’s still leading, guiding me towards a door I’ve never been through. It takes us out to a back alley, and my mental map of the building gets a little more complete.

Present day.

I’m halfway through my second drink of the night when the shouting starts.

The commotion actually starts when a set of cops in full gear kick down the doors, but I’m distracted enough asking Jasper inane questions that a dramatic entrance doesn’t catch my attention. In a bar full of criminals it’s on sight with the pigs, so of course a fight breaks out instantly. The sirens outside are on in a matter of minutes.

It only takes a quick shared glance between myself and Jasper, a jerk of my head in the vague direction of a back exit, and we’re moving. It’s easy for the two of us to fall into a wordless partnership, feels natural as breathing. This is where I’m most comfortable anyway, in a crisis, in a crowd, with someone to back me up. Even if the situation isn’t ideal.

Twenty more minutes and we would’ve been fine. Twenty more minutes and we would’ve been long gone. Always better to be lucky than good, and tonight it looks like I’m neither. We get about thirty seconds of respite after we make it out the back door before a figure in the shadows clears their throat. I should have seen him as soon as we’d walked out the door, it’s a silhouette I would recognize with my eyes closed.

“Micah Raziel. Word on the street is you’ve been telling a lot of tales for a dead man.”

“You don’t sound surprised. If you’re not here to confront me about that, you’re here for something else.

“This city’s gone to hell in a handbasket,” Investigator, formerly Detective, Steel says, stepping into the light. The years of injustice weighing on his shoulders are clear in his words, but clearer in his tired eyes, the grey starting to creep into his hair. He looks different, I’d expected that, but now how much older he looks. I can’t imagine what he sees when he looks at me, now. Seven years is a long time.

“Los Diablos has nothing left to lose, and everything to hide. That raid going on in there is just a show, something to keep the public from being suspicious about Hollow Ground having bought out the entire damned police force by now.”

Wei Chen’s always had a suspicious streak a mile wide. It’s what made him a fantastic detective. It’s also what got him kicked out the force after Commissioner Hood’s untimely death. He took the best detective in the force with him when he left, and it wasn’t long before two rookies, fed up with the system, followed them. He didn’t bring any of them with him tonight, to my surprise.

I’m not sure if I’m relieved or disappointed that Ortega isn’t here. It’s hard to guess whether Chen has told him yet that I’m not as dead as the papers made me out to be. Probably not, or he would have found me by now. Ricardo always found his target. Always got his man.

“And I’m guessing you want to do something about that? You never could just let it go, Steel.”

“We’re already doing something about it. We need help now. You and I both know Hollow Ground’s been using his paid off cops to take down his rivals, your lot must be coming up on his hit list.”

It’s true. It’s why we were trying this job, try and hit him before he hit us. I dare a glance back to Jasper, guilt creeping into my conscience. He doesn’t look bothered, much less surprised, but that’s par for the course. I’m going to owe him some explanations after this.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” I say back slowly. “What kind of help?”

“Your kind of help,” crime, “To cover the bases we can’t.” His jaw is tense, I doubt this was an easy decision to come to. He’s been aware of the fact that I’m not dead long enough to track what I’m doing, there must have been a reason he didn’t follow up on it until now. Maybe he knew the danger he’d risk putting himself, and his colleagues, in.

“I haven’t told anyone about you yet, or that I’m here.” I slowly raise my eyebrows at that, the shock growing as he steps out of the shadows and extends a metallic hand out towards me. As far as I remember, that hand was still fleshy last time I saw him. That was years ago, and time slows for no man. The lines of it are etched into both of our faces.

There’s a business card held between those fingers, startlingly bare of information except for an address and a phone number.

“Ortega will be there. A week from now, 7 pm sharp.” Chen says as I stare down at it. He says it like it should entice me to show up, not make me question stopping to have this conversation in the first place even more.

“It’s your choice. That’s all we can do for this city. Choose.”

#fallen hero: rebirth #fhr #sidestep #wei chen #steel fhr #micah raziel #jasper colt #neo noir au #AHHHHHHHHHHHH #this is the longest thing ive ever written for fun #i will put more plot in the second chapter i swear i just needed to learn how to fucking writing in this style first

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