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hrtthrbromanov · 3 years

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Bucky’s Rudolph

Summary: You seem to know about what Bucky needs more than he does, and you’ll go out of your way to prove that. Or: You get Bucky a dog for Christmas.

Warnings: Fluff, language

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“Please, Buck. It’ll be good for the both of you.”

“You’re kidding. You have to be absolutely out of your goddamn mind to even suggest getting a dog to me.”

You groan, letting your head fall back on the couch cushion behind you. You’d been egging him on about this for weeks, and now that it was getting closer to Christmas, you’d been more than insistent. You’d even gone as far as to deny him of sex, and that didn’t go over well for either of you.

“This is the last time I'm telling you, doll. We are not getting a damn dog.”

You knew he was serious, but you also knew that once a dog was in front of him, he’d never leave it alone. Just last week Sam had brought his boxer to the compound, and Bucky had fallen in love instantly. It made you a little jealous, honestly. But you knew better than anyone that he needs a little distraction like that. Something he could get up to trouble with. Maybe even a buddy to go on his runs with him, because god knows you weren’t.

“Okay, okay. I get it. Just trying to help.” You sigh, deciding to stop the pestering for now. He looks over to you, reaching over to grab your hand. You put on an exaggerated pout, hoping he might buy it. Instead he rolls his eyes and stands up, walking toward the front door.

You turn quickly in your spot on the couch to look at him as he opens the door. He gives you a look, as if he was warning you or something, and called over to you, “I’m going out with Steve for a little while. Please, for the love of god, don’t do anything stupid.”

You scoff as he shuts the door behind him. You were hurt, truthfully. You knew for a fact that whatever he and Steve got up to had to be ten times dumber than what you did on your own. Besides, you had never done anything dumb in your life. You’d show him that.

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The little bell chimed as you opened the door. You were greeted by the welcoming sounds of the yips and mewls of cats and dogs. You nodded to the woman behind the front desk, signing your name on the sign-in sheet, and helping yourself to the back where the animals were kept. You cooed at the dogs whining for your attention, smiling out of pure adoration of them all. Now you were upset with yourself for coming alone, because it was going to be hard to just choose one.

“Aren’t you a handsome boy.” You stop in front of a cage containing a red-nose Pitbull. Funnily enough, his name was Rudolph. He pressed his face up to the front of the cage, huffing and puffing his way to you. You sigh, dropping to your knees in front of him, pushing your hand through to pet him.

Bucky was going to kill you, you knew that much, but you also knew you couldn’t leave without Rudolph. You’d calmly explain to him that you coincidentally found him on the street, and that you simply couldn’t leave him out in the cold. He’d understand.

He was just afraid, and you understood that, you really did. He was afraid that if it turned out he couldn’t take care of a dog, then he wouldn’t be able to take care of you. He was a family man at heart, and you’d show him that that was the farthest thing from the truth, even if you had to take it slowly.

After some time of reassuring yourself this was the right thing to do, you made your way back up to the front desk with confidence, ready to bring Rudolph home. As soon as you sat down to do the paperwork, your phone rang. The lady behind the counter threw you a concerned look as you groaned, bringing the phone up to your ear.

“Hey… Bucky.” You hoped - no, prayed he didn’t hear the cringe in your voice, and the sound of frantic barking in the background.

“Hey, babydoll. I’m almost home, and I was gonna stop and grab us a bite to eat. What sounds good?”

Your eyes widen as you search your brain for an answer, not wanting him to go home to find you gone. He would be smart enough to put the pieces together, and it’d be worse that way.

“Um, you know that Italian place on 83rd? Their fettuccine sounds so good right now.”

You can practically hear the cogs turning in his head as he tries to remember just what you were talking about, and you knew he’d remembered when he let out a long sigh.

“You mean that place that takes 45 minutes just to take your damn order? Alright, doll, but-”

“Great, thanks. Bye, love you!” Ending the call as quickly as you can, you shut your phone off to prevent any further distractions. You turned your attention back to the paperwork, breezing through it to get it done and over with.

You returned the finished papers to the front desk, and this time the lady led you back herself. You made your way over to Rudolph, excitedly bouncing up and down on the balls of your heels, waiting for her to bring him out.

She opened the cage door, and out came Rudolph, jumping with joy. The lady placed the lead over his head and you grabbed it from her, nearly getting knocked down when he jumped up on you, sniffing you with vigor.

“Oh, yeah. He’s gonna love you.”

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“This way boy, come on.” You lead Rudolph through the hallway of your apartment complex, trying to get him to focus on getting to your room on time. He was currently trying to bite at your shoestrings, as you tripped down the hall.

“Yeah, Sam. She’s just not here. Well, no I haven't tried calling her yet I thought I call you first because- Because you’re supposed to know everything, asshole!”

You froze. Shit! He’s home. You thought, tugging on the dog to keep him from rounding the corner. You pressed yourself up against the wall to stop yourself from being seen, but just as you were about to peek around the corner, your phone rang.

Oh, fuck. Maybe if I just ignore it he’ll go away. Coincidences happen all the time, right?

“Baby? Is that you?”

I guess not.

You make your way around to face him, head hung in shame and leash dangling from your hands. You could hear the audible gasp Bucky let out when he saw the big, jolly dog. “You did not.” he mumbled in disbelief. Before you could answer, Rudolph bounded up to him, jumping into his arms. “Hey, buddy. Did she kidnap you? Hey, don’t sniff there.”

“I'm not a kidnapper, Bucky!” You huff, stomping. “I just, uh, found him somewhere. Yeah. His name is Rudolph.” You tried to explain, but he wasn’t listening. He was too busy talking to his new pal. A small smile crept up on your face.

“Rudolph, huh? Well aren’t you just a sweetheart. Not as tough as you look. Guess that makes two of us.” He giggled. Actually giggled, and your heart melted. “Come on, let's get you two trouble makers inside.” He finally looked to you, nodding for you to come on. He opened your door and in went Rudolph, excitedly sniffing everything in his sight. Before you could go in after him, though, Bucky stopped you.

“Thank you, trouble.” He wrapped his arms around your waist, resting his hands inside your jean pockets, pulling you into him. He looked up, and just so happens, all thanks to a gag gift from Tony, a mistletoe dangled from your doorway.

You leaned in, kissing him slowly until a smile broke out against his lips. “Told you I wouldn’t do anything dumb.” And you didn’t.

#bucky barnes #bucky x reader fluff #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #fluff #fluffy #bucky barnes x yn #bucky barnes x reader fluff #avengers #avengers fluff #dogs #bucky and dogs #christmas bucky #sam wilson #tony stark

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florenceandthemachine · 4 years

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that original lifeline

chapter 2/4 - “you don’t have to be a ghost” - 2.4k

in which Buck doesn’t know how to leave Eddie alone, and Eddie doesn’t know if he wants him to.

read on AO3

“So, how do I know I’m not hallucinating?”

Half a week after being blown up in his own fire truck, nearing the end of his mandated ‘vacation’, and Eddie had just wrapped up one of the better weekends of his entire life. Yes, he was aware of the irony, but any weekend where he got to spend the entire weekend with Chris was a plus in his book. Legos, video games, breakfast food for all three meals, it was literally the kind of weekend that he had absolutely dreamed of when he became a father.

Or, at least, when he resumed being a father after running away to Afghanistan, but that was a whole other can of works that he was bottling up processing in a completely healthy way.

After, though.

After, Eddie had made it all of one day with Chris being in school before he had completely lost his mind. Something about being cooped up in home, speaking to a being that only he could see, without even a hint of human interaction, just didn’t sit right with him.

(Of course, that might have been because the most interaction he had with his team was the occasional text from Hen, but he could work through that hurt later.)

“You really think you’re hallucinating?” Buck’s smile was infectious, more teasing than Eddie would have initially liked, but it was becoming harder and harder to think of Buck as a nuisance instead of a guest. Even now, perched outside of some little pretentious health shop in the heart of LA, Eddie felt more at home with Buck than he had with a stranger before in his life.

Well... Buck wasn’t exactly a stranger, Eddie had to remind himself. After all, they had known one another for most of Eddie’s life.

“Alright, I’ll tell you what. This morning, while Chris was getting, he put two Spider-Man comics into his backpack.”

“That doesn’t prove anything. The kid loves Spider-Man.”

“And an Aquaman comic.”

“Okay, no. No son of mine would betray Marvel for DC.”

Buck smirked, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know, man. If I’m right, then not only are you stuck with a very much not hallucination, but your son is a traitor.”

Eddie laughed, readjusting the earbud in his ear, nails drumming a pattern out on the back of his phone. He had realized, quickly, that when they were out in public, all he had needed was an earbud in one ear and his phone out—that was all he needed to make the change from ‘crazy person talking to an invisible man’ to ‘another asshole in Los Angeles on his Bluetooth’.

He could deal with that—it was always better to be the asshole than to be the crazy person, even though Los Angeles was filled with both. Buck, to his credit, was being incredibly patient with Eddie’s quirks, seemingly realizing that most of them came from Buck’s presence in the first place; not to mention his inability to leave Eddie, for lack of a better term, the fuck alone.

(Seriously. Eddie had come out of the shower that morning to find Buck sitting on the bathroom counter. The noise he made was decidedly not manly.)

“Look, I’m not saying that I don’t believe you—“

“Okay, sure, lie to the angel, I’m sure that’s going to work out well for you.”

“—anyway, it’s just... why me? Out of everyone on this planet, why am I one of the lucky few that wound up with a... with a Buck?” Eddie finished, easily trampling over Buck’s objections, smiling as Buck knocked their ankles together beneath the table.

“Wish I could tell you, Eds.” Buck started, shrugging. “You’re my third or fourth human, all I know is that I get the assignment, I come, I go. I’m like a stray cat.”

Eddie actually snorted, swallowing another mouthful of lukewarm, carrot and spinach and mango concoction. “You’re a stray cat that I can only see, that literally lifted a fire truck off of the lower half of my body.”

Buck, at least, had the decency to look chagrined. “I’m... a very strong stray cat?”

Eddie would not give in and bang his head against the stupid little juice bar table. He would not.

“I’m serious, Eddie. The only information I get is that you’re my charge, and I’m your angel,” no, Eddie certainly did not enjoy the way he felt, feeling like he was someone’s anything, “and after that fire truck incident, I’m not sure if the universe is testing you, or if it’s testing me, but either way, you shouldn’t be bearing the brunt of all this.”

Eddie frowned, tapping their ankles together once again, shaking his head. “Buck, if I remember correctly, you’ve been the one saving me, so run that up the flagpole.”

Smiling again, Buck nodded, pushing a hand through his hair. “Well, I’ll just tell Athena that, I’m sure she’ll love it.”

“Athena?”

“Oh yeah! She’s kind of like, my boss, you’d love her! She’s the reason I’m still hanging around here, she thinks something big is coming.” Buck said, lighting up, even as Eddie choked on his sludge.

“Your boss.”

“Yeah!”

“Heaven... has a hierarchy.”

“Oh, god no.” Buck said with a laugh, shifting in his seat, leaning closer in toward Eddie—like anyone else would hear him. “You know, I’ve never told a mortal this before. Hell, I’ve never even appeared to a mortal before.” he started, and Eddie found himself leaning in closer, mirroring Buck’s motions easily.

“Where I’m from, it’s not all fluffy clouds and harps and halos and shit like everyone thinks. Athena is like your captain—she gives us our assignments, she helps the guardians grow, she keeps us out of trouble. Us guardians, we’re… well, we’re souls that had our time on earth cut short. So, we spend our time with others, we get to see the world, we get to... well, we get to help the people who really deserve help.” Buck says with a grin, and Eddie feels his cheeks heating up as Buck’s leg rests against his, a dull, warm weight, pressed through the fabric of his jeans.

“Something big, huh? I just don’t get it, Buck. I’ve been around people that are in more dangerous situations than I am, every day. What makes me so special that I get the extraterrestrial guardian?”

Buck laughed, the sound catching Eddie off guard so badly that he didn’t even have time to hide his smile. “Well, ignoring the fact that you just called me an alien…”

“Okay, fair.”

“Eddie, you’re the first human that's ever been able to see me, ever. You may not think it’s a lot, but… well, I think you’re pretty special.”

And, well. Eddie couldn’t give a response to that if he wanted to, cheeks an embarrassing shade of pink. Thankfully, Buck seemed to take the cue to move on, knocking their ankles together easily as he stood up from his chair.

“Now, come on. Chris is off of school in about twenty minutes, what say you go surprise him?”

After being with the 118 for almost a year, taking a week off of work was straight up weird. Somehow, though, going back to work was actually weirder.

It was easy enough for Eddie to sink back into his regular habits—teasing Chim, buddying up to Hen, causing Bobby a few more grey hairs, but now it felt like everything had been moved a half an inch to the left. He teased Bosko, and he was looking over her shoulder to see if Buck got the joke. Kind asked about Chris, and he shared a fond look with Buck before he beamed at him and went on about his latest accomplishments. He spent some time in the gym, and he couldn’t help the pleased look on his face when he caught Buck staring at him.

The siren rang. Eddie geared up. They pulled out. Buck, inexplicably, rode shotgun, watching Eddie and watching anything but, and Eddie felt happy, happier than he could remember being in a long, long time.

Six hours and four calls into his first shift back with the 118, and he felt alive again.

(The last call they had received was the ever-classic cat in a tree. Eddie had drawn the short stick and got hoisted up to retrieve the tabby, and Buck had sat on the rung right below him, making kissy noises at the cat and cooing at Eddie. Eddie could still feel his cheeks burning.)

He felt alive—even if he could feel Hen staring at him once in a while, painfully perceptive as always.

“So, Eddie, you have a good week off?”

Eddie sighed, knowing full well that Hen wasn’t just asking about his week off, but he knew well enough to play along. “I did, Hen, thanks. Got to spend some time with Chris, got to spend some time around the house, got to get some sun, not that any of that is why you’re asking.”

“What? I have a vested interest in your wellbeing, Edmundo Diaz, that’s what friends are for.” She said, raising a brow as he flopped down on the couch. “So that’s all? Just you and Chris hanging out? No one else?”

Eddie actually felt his heart seize in his chest, and a quick look over to Buck showed the same level of panic on his face that Eddie was feeling in the very core of his being. “Hen, what are you getting at?”

“I’m just saying…” Hen started, sitting with him on the couch, crossing her legs. “I know that look, Eddie. You haven’t looked like that since your first date with what’s her name, Ana? Chris’ teacher?”

Eddie groaned, hiding his head in his hands. “Don’t remind me.”

“Just an observation. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you met someone with all that luxurious time off.” Hen said, nudging their shoulders together, and Eddie’s head snapped back up to full attention, face bright red as he looked to Hen, and then back to Buck, who was suspiciously silent.

And hell, Eddie was a good liar, he really was, but Hen looked so sincerely happy for him, and Buck wasn’t exactly waving his arms so Eddie decided to test the waters. “I… didn’t meet anyone. Not in the way that you think, anyway. We, um. We just kind of connected at one of those shitty juice bars.”

“Oooh, okay, what’s her name?” Hen was immediately hooked—equal parts nosy and honestly excited friend, Eddie knew, which was why it was so easy to talk to her about things like this.

Eddie swallowed, fiddling with the hem of his teeshirt. “His name is Buck. We spent some time talking, and we just… we really clicked. He’s smart, and he’s kind of protective, and he told me he loves kids, so…”

If Hen was shocked, she didn’t show it, more than her brows raising an inch or so while she nodded her head. “Alright, Buck at the shitty juice bar. Did he give you his number?”

“No, actually, I gave him mine.”

Hen may have been nosy, but the way her face lit up was pure excited best friend, and Eddie let himself smile back at her as she punched his shoulder. “That is what I’m talking about! Damn, Eddie, look at you, taking the first steps. I’m proud of you!”

Eddie groaned as Hen pulled him into a hug, but he took the moment to look at Buck again—still suspiciously silent, but the corners of his mouth were definitely upturned, and Eddie couldn’t help the relief that washed over his body.

The last thing he wanted was his big fucking mouth ruining whatever tentative relationship he and Buck had built over the past few weeks.

“You gave me your number, huh?”

Eddie wasn’t sure what he was more thankful for—the fact that he got to have an active (dare he say fun) first day back at work, or the fact that it wound down with little incident after back to back to back calls. Well, no, right now he was thankful that he was stopped at a stop light when Buck said that so he wasn’t tempted to veer into oncoming traffic out of sheer embarrassment. “Well, it seemed like an easier, less psychotic answer than telling her that you literally lifted a firetruck off of me.”

Buck laughed and Eddie felt himself warming at the sound, turning the wheel as he took off, another comfortable silence falling between them.

“Eddie, you know I won’t be hanging around forever, right? My job is to protect you, and once the universe decides to cut you a break, I’ll… I’ll have to move on.”

Eddie felt his smile fall into something softer as Buck looked out the window, humming thoughtfully, shrugging his shoulder as he pulled into the driveway. “Yeah, I’m aware. But while you are here… no reason we can’t be friendly outside a shitty juice bar, right?”

Tracking Buck’s movement as they slid out of the car, Eddie leaned back against the drivers door of his truck, once again tickled by the thought of Buck riding shotgun with him.

“Well, I… like being friendly with you too, Ed—“

“Dad!”

Eddie immediately snapped his head to the door, grinning as Chris came down the patio stairs, instantly stooping down to pull his kid into his arms, swinging Chris around in an easy hug before setting him back down on his feet. Chris started to ramble on about his day as Eddie pulled his things out from the back seat, pulling duffle bags over his shoulders and papers beneath his arms. He shared an easy smile with Buck as he straightened up, looking back down to Chris as he started to trail off.

“Dad, are you gonna introduce me to your friend?”

Eddie turned on his heel, trying to see if anyone else had come up to the front door while he was standing there, but no, it was just he and Chris, and…

…and Buck, who was now taking Chris’ hand, with a shocked smile on his face.

His son was shaking hands with his guardian angel. His guardian angel, who no one—other than Eddie—was supposed to see.

“I’m Chris. Do you work with my dad?”

What the fuck.

#eddie diaz #evan buckley #guardianangel!buck #buddie #buddiefic #911 #fluff and filler #chris diaz #Eddie doesn't know how to be alone #buck doesn't want him to be alone

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the-omni-princess · 5 years

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Blood Bound [Chapter Six]

Author: @the-omni-princess

Pairing: Vampire!Bucky x Witch!Reader

Summary: Vampires and witches have been known enemies since the dark ages. Backstabbing, secrets, and magic turned supernatural brethren again each other. As a natural-born witch, you grew up on these stories, your own monsters under your bed. What happens when one of those sworn enemies claims that you are his blood mate, the vampire equivalent of a true mate? Will you give in to this man out of time? Or destroy him for the sake of your Coven?

Word Count: 3.7K

Warnings: fluff, angst, first time meetings, minor character death, minor injuries, near death, vampire stuff, blood, sacrifices, cursing, mature talk, sex talk (I think this is all the warnings if I missed something please let me know)

A/N:

Also, how do people like the “previously on” bit? Should I just erase it? Stop using it? (I don’t use the previously for word counts)

Also, AHHHHH my fav chapter so far, finally enough build-up TO DO SOEMTHIGN

[Series Masterlist] [My Masterlist] [Playlist Inspired by the Series]

----

Previously…

“Holy shit, I died in the Salem Witch Trials,” your voice rang out throughout the room. Bucky squeezed your hands gently, and you let him act as your tether to the mortal whelm. “We were killed by the very Council that had sworn to protect all witches, and you were saved by the vampires we were told by them to fear.”

“Well, this is just getting deeper and deeper. Before you know it, you’ll be telling me the Coven to the North died because they found out the Council has been killing Naturals.” Tony quipped from the side of the room.

The room froze, taking in the statement. “Well, it would explain a lot,” you murmured. “They were getting powerful, and dominant witches who don’t need as much energy to have magic aren’t easy to control.” That was the last connecting dot. The darkness in the distance wasn’t just some mythical monster. It was the very same man that stood in your living room and drank your tea just an hour ago.

“But all of that leads to the question of, where are Nebula and Gamora? Their bodies weren’t found with the Mountain Coven.” Maria rubbed behind Sasha’s ears, enjoying the cat’s insistent purring as she curled up on her lap.

“Mountains… Oh shit, if the Council is going to start investigating the Mountains, I need to warn Steve and Sam. Our hotel is right at the base of the mountains, the Council will blame us first.” Bucky’s grip on your hand faltered, nervously tapping his foot.

“That’s less than an hour away right? Go, bring them here.” It was a simple solution, and yet you had multiple people against it.

“We are not housing the bloodsuckers, y/n. No damn way.” Carol stood, puffing up her chest. It was most likely unconscious, as she tried to assert dominance, but you weren’t buying that.

“Listen, you trust me, I trust Bucky, Bucky trusts these two. The Council will murder them for even being in the vicinity of the Coven’s murders. Please, we have to. They’re his family.” Your hands started to spark, your emotions rising as you tried to plead with your sisters.

Most of them were not going to be happy about housing vampires, so you tried one last thing. “We have to be different than the Council.” That had Wanda and Maria turning away, Maria focusing solely on the cat, and Wanda finding the book she held open very interesting. Natasha and Pepper both were proud of you standing up for your Blood Mate, though the later still thought you were insane.

Carol had calmed down, enough that she saw your hands sparking, to which Bucky had no issue with. The usual burning sparks didn’t affect him as he gladly held onto you. That wasn’t supposed to happen. But at this point, it was going to join a long list of ‘things that were supposed to be impossible,’ right under reincarnation. She sighed softly, running her hand through her short hair before placing both hands in her overall pockets. “Fine. But I still don’t trust them.” She warned, narrowing her eyes at him.

Despite the literal death looks, Bucky beamed a goofy smile, elated to earn the, though hesitant, trust of your Coven. Looking up at him, your heart melted. Seeing his crystal clue eyes sparkle as he smiled made you wonder why the Council even started to hate Vampires in the first place. “Go. I’ll be here, waiting.”

“I’ll be just a minute. Promise, Sweetling,” he grinned, a peak of his fangs showing in his smile as he leaned slightly down and kissed your temple before rushing off.

“Okay, well how can I hate him if he’s that adorable?” Tony whined, wanting the attention he was currently lacking.

“You literally wanted to kill him twenty minutes ago, Tones,” you gave him a pointed look.

He simply shrugged, “That’s before he was calling you sweet names. I’m only protecting you, kid.”

You shot him an appreciative smile before pulling the book Wanda had shown you closer. God, that drawing did look like you. Charcoal with yellow aging lines in the paper, a few smudges, but it most definitely looked like you but in a pilgrim dress, complete with a bonnet covering your hair. While you grazed through the surrounding paragraphs, Bucky had arrived again, this time flanked by two very nervous looking vampires.

Now set on edge, the entire Coven was tense, staring down the newcomers. You stepped forward, giving them a small smile and stretching out your hand towards them. “Hello, welcome to my home, I’m y/n.”

The two new vamps gave each other a look before the darker-skinned man stepped forward. He took your hand and bowed, locking eyes with you as he kissed your knuckles. “A pleasure to meet you, miss. I’m Sam, and the blonde idiot behind me is Steve,” he smiled warmly, a hint of fangs peaking behind his lips.

You blinked a few times, unsure how to react before Bucky thankfully took over. “Okay, okay, we get it, you have good manners. Hands off my girl, or I’ll get the silver,” he growled playfully, taking your hand from Sam and pulling you against his chest protectively. You blushed, tugging yourself away while giving him a glare before looking towards the two new vampires, unsure how to explain the insanity that was currently your life.

The blonde, Steve, took a step forward, hands in his pocket as he assessed you with a once over. “So, you’re the infamous Theodosia?” He wondered aloud.

Sparks lit up behind your eyes for a split second, “Is there a problem with that?” You challenged, squaring your shoulders and standing a little straighter, chin a little higher. You wouldn’t admit it, but Steve was intimidating; tall, broad shoulders and the knowledge that human killing fangs were just beneath those plush lips gave him a darker aura. Yet you had a strong feeling he was just as much of a puppy dog as Bucky was so you didn’t let your fear show.

Steve smirked faintly, relaxing, “None at all. Just curious is all. I’ve always wondered about the woman Buck would talk about in his sleep.” Bucky went red at the statement, glaring daggers at his packmate.

You couldn’t help but laugh, smiling warmly. “Well, make yourself at home. Look out for Tony, he bites. If you need me, I’ll be looking for more spells for memory loss, or information on the Council, or on Soul Bindings,” you turned, Tony growling at the two, picking up a new book and plopping down on the windowsill. You frowned, quickly scanning through the pages, most of the Coven either joining you in looking for more information or in Carol’s case, practically interrogating Steve and Sam.

Bucky sat beside you, and you, not wanting to get distracted, kept flipping through pages while biting your lip. He slowly leaned his head against your shoulder, “You look cute when you're worried,” he murmured.

You couldn’t stop the smile from appearing on your face, “Well, I am worried. I’m hoping for some sort of improving memories spell. I want to remember you. Fully. Not just glimpses of the life we used to share.” You sighed softly, closing one book to open another. “I don’t want you to forget me again,” you admitted in a soft voice. It was selfish, after all, he didn’t choose to be turned, and yet, you were horrified this was all some joke. That you were being too trusting, or that it was all too good to be true, or, worse, there was something bigger and darker hiding in the shadows about to strike.

“I’m scared I’ll forget you too,” he admitted softly. Pausing between pages, the library now mostly empty, only Natasha quietly flipping through pages on the sofa, it felt more intimate. “I’m terrified. I just found you, I’m finally remembering again, and yet, I’m immortal. I’m just going to lose you again.”

Turning towards him, you tilted his chin up before cupping his cheek. His eyes fluttered closed as he leaned against your touch. “I’m not going anywhere, James. We’ll figure this out, I promise.” He nodded faintly, losing himself to your touch, smiling warmly. “You don’t want to turn me, do you?” You questioned lightly.

“God no. I wouldn’t wish this curse upon my worst enemy. I want you to live a long healthy, normal life.” He quickly responded.

“Alright, relax vampy, it was only a question,” you teased.

Comfortable silence surrounded you two, content in simply existing beside each other. You ran your hand through his hair tenderly, letting him lean against you as you skimmed pages. Hours passed like this, quiet and searching, satisfied in the small moments. You didn’t learn much, not enough information was being written about Naturals, and even less so about Soul Bound Naturals, but you got the jest. Powerful alone and lethal together. Threatening one tended to make the other go wild. Hurting one hurt the other. They were each other’s greatest strength and worst weakness. You also had read up on vampire history, learning a bit more about your current nap buddy. Speaking of, you were also fairly sure Bucky had fallen asleep against you, not that you minded much. You realized this morning he must not have fed in a while, and he must be drained. You absentmindedly started thinking of how to bring up the subject of feeding to him.

A sharp crash in the other room had both of you jumping to your feet. You must have dozed off, the book you were reading was on the ground, and your hair mused. Sharing a look, the two of you rushed to the sound, keeping pressed to the walls.

A Council Member, Jack Rollins, stood there, a dagger pressed against Maria’s throat. You froze in the doorway, just out of sight, pressing your hand against Bucky, pushing him back through the door. Rollins was surrounded by the Coven, each with eyes burning straight into the man before them. Tony had his fangs bared, Sam and Steve beside him, fangs also bared, eyes red. Maria herself looked almost bored, rolling her eyes at the man’s threats, despite the blade against her throat.

“This isn’t that difficult, just give us the girl and her little Leech and we can get this over with. She’s a traitor who worked with bloodsuckers to kill the Mountain Coven, last chance. Turn her in.” He warned, a sick smile on his face as the dagger dug into Maria’s throat, making her whimper softly as the knife dug deeper, a trickle of blood dripping down her neck.

“She’s not here, just leave Maria alone!” Wanda’s eyes glowed red, hands swirling in burgundy, the Coven beside her, each witch faintly glowing in power, standing their ground.

“It’s either her or this little witch,” the man snarled, taking a step back and dragging Maria by her hair.

“Stay here, please,” you begged Bucky.

He gave you a glare, whisper yelling a response. “Fuck no, I can’t just-“

“Bucky, please. They’ll need you to figure out the memories, I can handle him.” You insisted, eyes boring into him, pleading for him to understand.

He finally nodded, albeit, hesitantly. “Please stay safe, Little Witch,” he murmured, tucking a stray piece of hair behind your ear. The air was tense, his face only centimeters away from yours, and if Maria wasn’t about to get her throat slit in the other room, you would probably have had enough guts to kiss him. And yet, Maria needed you. Your Coven needed you.

Taking a step into the room, you let your electricity crawl up your spine, down your palms, the sparks gathering everyone’s attention. “Hey asshole, I’m right here. Let her go and get out of my house.” The sparks turned hot blue, your eyes most likely reflected the same color.

He simply laughed, tugging Maria against his chest as a human shield. “Where’s your little Blood Sucker? Got rid of you that easy? Eh, whatever, doesn’t matter. Let’s go, Natural.”

You swallowed against the bile in your throat. Him saying that out loud send a wave of anxiety through your body. “Let. Her. Go.” You countered.

He tossed a pair of cuffs at you, and you caught them easily, making sure they didn’t fall to the ground. “Wear those first.”

“Cuffs? Kinky, but I’m seriously not interested in you like that. Sorry, Darlin’”

“They’re power dampeners. Either put them on and come with me, or witchy savior here will be a reenactment of the Red Wedding,” he responded, growing frustrated.

Seeing no choice, and pointedly ignoring your sisters, you put the cuffs on, the sparks from your body dying out with a fizzle. Your coven had protected you since you were little, it was time to take responsibility. It was time to protect them. It was an easy decision really, you would die for your sisters without a second thought. “All cuffed up, my safe word is Pumpernickle. Now, let my sister go.”

He simply replied with a wicked smirk, the silver dagger moving away from Maria as he tossed her aside. Rough calloused hands grabbed onto you, the knife now lodged against your throat. “Sorry, not into knife play, darlin’” you snarled, squirming in his grip.

“God, do you ever shut up?!” He scowled, clearly getting more agitated.

“Nope, and you didn’t bring a gag so you're out of luck!” You ignored the faint burn of the dagger as it turned into your neck.

“Hush, unless you want your coven to know what the inside of your throat looks like,” he growled into your ear, fear shooting through your body. Nat took a step forward, gripping her own knives. “Take another step and she won’t be the only witch I kill tonight,” he warned. “Let’s go, fight and I’ll just pick one of them,” he nodded towards the vampires. He dragged you backward and at the last moment, Natasha took another careful step forward.

Time seemed to slow as you watched in horror. Rollins threw the knife, with absolute precision. It hurled towards Natasha, and yet a blur intersected its path towards its target. Bucky fell to the ground, the silver dagger buried in his chest, graphite grey veins and skin starting to grow outwards from the wound. Silver could kill vampires.

You cried out, a feral screech clawing from your throat as you let your emotions consume you. Electricity crackled, and you abruptly realized the cuffs around your wrists were broken and smoking on the ground at your feet. Agony shot through your chest as you leaped forward, kneeling beside Bucky.

“No, no, no, no. Why would you do that, you absolute idiot!” You cried out, tugging him into your body protectively, your hands struggling to find purchase near the blade. His own body was unaffected by the electricity sparking in your hands as you lost control. Vampires didn’t bleed, but they could turn ashen and die. And as Bucky started to turn grey, his veins turning lead, you realized this could be it. He would die trying to protect your Coven from the people who took you from him in the first place.

“I know what it’s like to lose family, y/n…” He gulped faintly, words starting to slur as he pulled the dagger out, tossing it aside. “Losing your Coven would devastate you. I couldn’t let you live like that.” He tenderly pushed a curl of hair behind your ear before running his thumb across your cheekbone.

Your vision blurred, practically sobbing as you held his hand closer to your face. “But I can’t lose you when we just found each other again. James, please,” you pleaded, your hands starting to tremble. Agonizing anguish started to fill your chest, and you felt like you couldn’t breathe. You tried to keep calm, tried to think of ways to fix this.

“You always were the stronger one, Theo. I promised to keep you safe, and yet you protected yourself. You’re strong, Little Witch. You’ll move on just fine without me,” His voice was getting weaker, and you were vaguely aware of Nat trying to calm you with her powers from across the room, and the fact that where Rollins was standing there was only a pile of ash and scorch marks on the carpet.

“But I don’t want to. Bucky, please,” you pleaded, hot wet tears streaming your cheeks. “Not without you.” You were most definitely shaking now, grief clouding your mind. “I haven’t told you that I’m falling in love with you. This lifetime, right here, right now. My goofy and mischievous, tenderhearted vampire.” You murmured, his cool hand pressed against your cheek. The words echoed in your ears. Vampire. “James?”

Your voice was meek, and his hand twitched, weak in your arms as he replied. “Yes, Little Witch?”

“Fed from me,” you whispered.

“I can’t use you like that…” he groaned softly, the grey veins climbing his neck. “I might not be able to stop, Y/n,” he warned.

You nodded, sniffling softly. “I trust you, Bucky. The ultimate trust, right? I trust you to stop, and even if you don’t…” The words were unspoken but were understood between the two of you. ‘I would die for you.’

“Okay, Sweetling,” he conceded, body too weak to fight your stubbornness.

You raised your wrist to his mouth, “All yours, Angel Eyes,” you whispered softly. He kissed your pulse point, sending a shiver down your spine. For a starving and dying vampire, he showed an immense amount of restraint and control. The artery in his neck turned light grey, the strain shown in his features. You glanced at your coven sisters, all of which were showing a variety of reactions. Mostly surprise you would do this, but Nat and you locked eyes. She could always feel your emotions the best out of the entire coven, and now all she felt was desperation and hope, yet she also felt an unspoken emotion. Love.

Looking back down at Bucky as he bared his fangs, he looked up at you before sinking them into your wrist, his vampire instincts taking over as he slowly drank from your lifeline. The coloring returned to his face, grey lines and skin disappearing completely. But he kept drinking, practically growling into your arm as his eyes flashed red before closing them, concentrated in what he was doing. You ran your free hand through his hair weakly as black spots filled your vision. “I love you, Bucky,” you murmured incoherently just as the black abyss pulled you into unconsciousness. An overwhelming sense of calm filling you.

---

Soft, enchanting humming pulled you into the world of the living. The velvet cushioning of your favorite blanket was wrapped around you, a cool arm draped across your waist, your face pressed into a chilled body. Even groggy you realized exactly who it was, and you didn’t hesitate to nuzzle deeper into his arms.

“James,” you murmured, your voice sounded raspy, wrecked. You most unquestionably noticed the satisfying feeling in your chest, as if being wrapped in his arms was the only place on Earth you belonged in.

“I’m sorry, Little Witch. I should have stopped sooner,” he whispered softly. You noticed he was playing with the ends of your hair, twirling the curls around his finger.

“I told you,” you managed to speak in a small voice, “I trusted you to stop. Even if you didn’t, I made that choice.”

He chuckled faintly, “Thought Tony was going to murder me, definitely looked ready to. Natasha stopped him, said you felt at peace.” He sighed as he pulled away gently, tilting your chin up to lock eyes with him. You absentmindedly noticed you were alone in your room, laying on top of the covers of your bed, contentedly cuddled close. “You were ready to die to save me.”

“You were dying to save my Coven sister.” You let your eyes close as you leaned against his touch, your own hands pressed against his chest. “I would blame it on my emotions, but I would do it again without hesitation.” You smiled faintly into his touch, kissing his palm that rested against your cheek. “My Angel Eyes.”

Your eyes fluttered open, everything felt at ease with him here. You caught him glancing down at your lips, making your smile widen. “Bucky?” He hummed in response as you leaned your forehead against his. “Please kiss me.”

His responding smile set your heart on fire. “As you wish, Sweetling,” he murmured, closing the distance and kissing you. He held your face in his hands tenderly, his own soft lips perfectly slotting against your own. You leaned forward as you deepened the kiss, running your tongue along his bottom lip. He groaned softly in response, pushing forward as he took control of the kiss, which sent a warm spark down your spine. His breathing hitched, and beneath your fingertips, you felt a small thump. You both froze, eyes widening as you pulled away.

“Did… Did your heart just beat?” you murmured softly, trying not to notice how his lips were starting to get kiss swollen.

He nodded, eyes just as wide as yours. “I thought I imagined that.”

You shook your head, the words of one of the Binding books coming back to you. “Bound are each other’s strengths and weaknesses. A heartbeat is a weakness for a vamp.” You tried to reason.

He chuckled, “And here I thought I was going to reason that you’re my life and found your way back to me.”

Blushing, you couldn’t stop the smile from lighting up your features. You also finally realized you were all alone, the house quiet. “How long was I out?”

“A few hours. Everyone went to Pepper’s house. Wanda said something about giving us space.” He shrugged, still busy thinking about the implications of a heartbeat. Was he becoming alive again?

“Hey, Bucky?” You whispered softly.

“Yeah?”

“Kiss me again.” He obliged, closing the distance to kiss you again. He was the one to deepen the kiss first, gentle yet dominating, demanding your full attention. You got lost in his touch, pressed against him as his hand around your waist pulled you tighter against him. “James,” you practically purred against his lips.

He groaned softly, smirking. “I love it when you say my name.” His lips brushed against yours, easily pulling your mouth back on his.

“Then I’ll keep saying it, Angel Eyes,” you murmured, pulling far enough off of him to run a hand through his fluffed up and mused hair. He groaned softly, making you grin as you lightly traced your fingertips against his scalp. “I want to remember, Bucky. Help me remember and I help you remember? All of it? From the beginning? I know a witch from another Coven who can help us.”

He leaned his forehead against yours, lips brushing past yours as he nodded. “All of it, Sweetling. From the beginning. And Theo?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you too.”

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thesouthernpansy · 3 years

Text

sacred geometry (5/?)

stanford pines/bill cipher

ford arrived at backupsmore university ready to put his head down and get lost in his classwork. his new roommate seemed to have come prepared to haul him back out, again.

that, and eat uncooked blocks of ramen.

somehow, that isn’t even the weirdest thing happening on campus, and the prospect of strange new mysteries and stranger new friends has ford feeling almost glad to be here.

it’s a college au, let’s crack some books

(here on ao3)

Observable time seems to contract around Ford through the course of his cursory morning routine, the necessary human inanities stretching out dim and red and slow like light on the lip of a black hole. Ford's thoughts spaghettify desperately around it, spinning away into stringy, unrecognizable particulate. He scratches shampoo into his scalp and tries to let that speak louder than the event horizon of the buzzing in his ears.

In the end, somehow, Ford still makes it to his first class of the day with seconds to spare. Fiddleford has a seat saved for him, but there isn't time to give him more than a grateful nod before the professor arrives.

“Late night?” Fiddleford asks under his breath, brows raised. There's a very specific innocence to his tone that gets Ford's hackles up immediately.

“I overslept,” he snaps in response, neither confirming nor denying Fiddleford's insinuations, which goes unnoticed by neither of them.

Fiddleford makes a little noise of assent, like he understands, and lets the matter drop.

Thankfully, even afterwards he has no opportunity to grill Ford on his assumptions. His next class is one clear across campus that he always rather literally needs to run to, some elective he's been cagey about since the beginning of the semester, and it isn't that Ford doesn't want to know what it is, but every time it comes up he gets the impression that Fiddleford wouldn't actually tell him even if he did ask, which puts a cold unexpected damper on his curiosity. The weight of the mutual unspoken hangs over their parting like guilt.

Ford doesn't have time for that; he has Intermediate Newtonian Mechanics in twenty minutes. It's Obscure Linear Algebra after that, then a meeting with Professor Neilson, then a sprint back to his dorm room to retrieve supplies for the tutoring session he'd forgotten about promising to one of last semester's TAs. All the while Ford feels out-of-focus, like he's watching himself through a pair of cloudy poorly-cut lenses. Professor Neilson suggests he cut back a little on his independent studies and get some more sleep; the TA asks if he's “hungover or something”. Ford tries and fails and tries again not to think about the circumstances of his morning, his patience and concentration hapless casualties in the fruitless mental crossfire that ensues.

By the time he makes it to Warbleheim, Ford is nursing an oppressive headache and half a dozen very credible reasons why he has to bow out of the evening's plans. Bill is already out front, mid-conversation with two figures that Ford doesn't recognize. He looks over as Ford approaches, the flat line of his mouth deepening for just a flash before it breaks open into a grin.

“Well, well, well, speak of what the cat dragged in! That punctuality of yours is no joke, huh, Fordsy?”

“Did I come at a bad time?” Ford notes now the tension he's walked into, the hunched, scolded postures of Bill's friends.

“You came exactly when you were supposed to,” says Bill tightly. “We're the ones running long here, right, guys?”

Bill's friends nod sheepishly, glancing between themselves and back to Bill again.

“Sorry,” says one of them finally, knuckling the side of what sounds like a very congested nose. He's bowlegged and stocky and somehow gives off the impression of having an underbite and overbite at the same time. The other stoops over him anxiously with his hands pressed together, broad boney face marred by a grimace and a large port-wine birthmark on an even larger forehead.

“Sorry doesn't help us, does it, Teeth?” asks Bill pleasantly. Not waiting for an answer, he turns to take Ford's arm and pull him closer. “Fordsy, these party animals are Teeth and Keyhole; boys, say hi to my good friend Stanford Pines.”

The two muster a meek “Hi” in obedient response.

“It's, uh, a pleasure to meet you,” says Ford, feeling awkward.

“We've heard a lot about you,” says Teeth gamely.

“Oh? I, uh,” says Ford lamely, because what comes immediately to mind is “I haven't heard anything about you,” and even he can tell that sounds hostile, gloating and jealous and by all accounts wholly uncalled for. The urge is still there, though, worsening as Keyhole looks him up and down like he's a toddler on the verge of a tantrum.

“I still think you should take one of us with you.” Keyhole jabs his chin in Bill's direction, stuffs his fists down into the front pockets of his hooded sweatshirt.

Bill leans forward to pat Keyhole firmly on the cheek, teeth bared. “Buck up, there, buddy! Jealousy's ugly, and you don't need any help on that front.”

From this angle all Ford can see of Bill's face is the taut set of his jaw. Keyhole looks up at him miserably, for all their being at a relative height with one another. Bill cocks his head to one side, holds out his hand, and waits.

Reluctantly, Keyhole pulls one fist out of his pocket and opens it. A soft clink, and a cluttered ring of keys plunks into Bill's waiting palm.

“Ha! That wasn't so hard, now, was it? You'd think I was asking for your bones or something, jeez.” Bill gives the keys an enthusiastic jingle in his friends' direction. “All right, boys, you scamper on home, now, Fordsy and I will take it from here.”

Teeth sticks an elbow in Keyhole's side, and the two exchange a glance. After a beat, Keyhole shrugs and shakes his head.

“Sure, see you later, Bill.”

“Good luck,” Teeth adds.

“Luck is for suckers!” replies Bill brightly.

“It was nice to meet you,” says Ford.

Before either of them can respond, Bill leans into the space between them, tugs at Ford's tie. “You'll meet again, IQ, time's a ticking!”

Ford gives a final wave and follows where Bill leads.

They end up at the back entrance by the concert hall's loading dock. Humming, Bill flips through his newly acquired keys to one that's been marked with a piece of gaffer's tape; the lock clicks in compliance, and the door opens into the dark maze of Warbleheim's backstage. Stacked risers and scrap plywood rest along the far wall by the stage manager's desk, itself cluttered with the nubs of old pencils and playbills weighted down by a bulky black plastic headset. Around them loom the ceiling-high cages protecting the valuable AV and recording equipment the hall lends out across campus, microphones and reel-to-reels and plastic-wrapped wheels of tape, video cameras and thick snakes of cable and the treacherous, loose-wheeled carts meant to transport the lot, somehow, safe and whole to its destination.

For how alien it seems in the quiet dark, Ford isn't unfamiliar with the space; Fiddleford puts a little extra in his pockets every now and then on the back of Backupsmore's collection of outdated tech, and Warbleheim's lighting systems in particular are reliable only in their schedulistic breakdowns. Ford has tagged along on a few of Fiddleford's trips to repair the deteriorating rigs, and even come out here in his friend's stead, once or twice. Last time it had been during a piano major's midterm presentation, which had been cut short by an implosion in the balcony speaker system. No one had bothered questioning his identity when he showed up, and Ford had spent the afternoon crouched overhead while the performance resumed. Even if the music hadn't been terribly memorable, Ford had found himself impressed by the instrument itself, an unexpectedly beautiful black baby grand that Warbleheim's bored-looking techs had swaddled in a padded covering and wheeled away immediately afterwards.

Is that why they're here? Why Bill had wanted to make sure they came alone? Maybe if you're good I'll play for you sometime, he remembers with a rush of heat. Ford thinks of the two of them out on the stage or tucked into a cramped storage room, shoulder to shoulder on a single piano bench, Bill's fingers on the keys, on Ford's wrist, under the sleeve—

“I know what you're thinking,” Bill says, and Ford's throat clamps shut.

“You do?”

“Mm-hmm!” Bill stoops to rustle though a battered cardboard box, pulling out a single light-bulb, which he waves in Ford's direction. It tinkles lightly, clearly blown out. “And you're right, Fordsy, why would I bring you all this way just for a game of chess?”

“Atmosphere?” suggests Ford, trying not to think about it.

Bill smirks, glancing sideways at Ford in a way that...doesn't help.

“'Atmosphere', he says. Joke away, you're gonna need that sense of humor in a second cos oh boy, do I have some devastating news for you. You ready?”

“What are you talking about?” Dread and curiosity rise in equal measure at the back of Ford's throat.

By now their route has brought them to another locked door, heavy-looking metal with a faded plaque bolted to it.

No Admittance Beyond This Point – Authorized Employees Only

Bill grins. “We,” he says, swiftly unlocking the door and pushing it open to an unlit stairwell. “aren't here to play chess.”

Ford hesitates. “What are we here to do?”

Bill tugs his jacket sleeve, reeling him onward. “C'mon, trust me!”

The stairs go down into a series of dim concrete tunnels below the concert hall. Thin rusted pipes run the length of the walls, hissing steam at their joints. Every now and then they pass rooms that appear to be intended for maintenance or long-term storage; the massive grey cylinders and copper pipes of Warbleheim's boiler system, thick stonelike slabs of block insulation, tangled heaps of music stands, the gutted carcass of an old spotlight. Eventually the rooms become rarer, their contents stranger; huge panes of leaded stained glass, shelves lined with jars of murky yellowish liquid, torn slips of paper that upon closer inspection turn out to be playing cards, just the joker, taken from hundreds of different decks of various shapes, colors, and languages. Before them the tunnels stretch on, but Ford is convinced he and Bill must be well past the footprint of the building they'd started in by now.

“What is all this?” he asks finally. “How far do these tunnels go?”

“Farther than you'd think,” replies Bill.

“Do they go across campus? Is this, do they connect to other buildings?”

“Two other buildings,” confirms Bill meaningfully, jangling the light-bulb he's still carrying for emphasis.

Understanding hits Ford square in the chest. “Beta Delta Theta and the financial aid office.”

“And that's a bingo for the man in the front row!”

“You found, I, this is incredible, do the tunnels follow the exact trajectory of the ley lines?” The confirmation sings through his veins, he has to—he needs his journal, where's his map? “Does this mean the founders of Backupsmore knew about them when this place was built? Or, the walls changed from concrete to stone three turns back, did you see that? Were parts of the tunnels were already here? Were the founders somehow influenced by the energy in the area to build here?” He shakes out the map, scrawls several quick notes in his journal's key.

Bill laughs. “Slow down, IQ, you're gonna pull something in that big brain of yours.”

The momentum of Ford's joyful excitement all but deafens him to the statement. “How many times have you been down here? How much have you explored? Would you describe anything you've seen as 'illustratively unusual'?”

“You really are a force of nature, huh, Fordsy. Let's see!” Bill ticks off on his fingers, “Twice, not including today, as much as I could get into, and I'm trying to show you.”

“As much as you could get to, are there parts of the tunnels that are inaccessible? Are they blocked off, or collapsed? Have you, wait.” Bill's words finally sink in, and Ford pauses. “Trying to show me what?”

“What we're here to do.” The duh is unspoken. “And we're close, now.”

Ford stands slowly, gathering his papers, unable to take his eyes off Bill. He thinks, with an abrupt, exhilarated sort of acceptance, that he wants nothing more right now than to hold Bill's hand and run.

“Okay,” he says.

They go.

#gravity falls #billford #bill cipher #stanford pines #my fic

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mychemicalrachel · 4 years

Text

Finally, Finally

Buck x Eddie.

My take on Abby coming back.

Part 2/3.

Part One here

Word count; 1653

Also on Ao3

Part Two: Buck

Buck is up to his elbows in green goo. It’s a mix of glue and some sort of solution and food coloring and he’s not even sure what else at this point. As he tries to pull away, it sucks him closer. Christopher laughs from where he’s sitting on the counter to Buck’s right.

They’d been attempting to make slime. It was a simple enough recipe Buck had found online and once they realized the bowl was too small, they’d plugged up the kitchen sink and… well from there, it had only grown and now Buck was in danger of being sucked right down the drain along with the slime if the stopper happened to come loose.

Of course, it was in the midst of this mess that a knock came from the door.

“Uhh…” Buck looked up at Chris, then over to Eddie, standing on his son’s other side, and grimaced. “Can you get that?”

Eddie was already pulling away from the counter, a fond smile on his face. “You better figure out how to get that junk off before it dries in your arm hair.”

This sets Christopher off into another set of giggles, dramatically leaning away when Buck reaches a slime covered hand toward him.

“Your hands should be in here, too,” Buck tells him. “Why am I the only one covered in slime?”

Christopher reaches out tentatively and presses a single finger into the slime before jerking it back.

“Here,” Buck motions for Chris’s hand with a wiggle of his own fingers. The slime makes a webbing like ducks feet, clinging to his skin. “Come here.”

A small open-palmed hand is outstretched to him and Buck carefully places a glob of the goo in the center. He watches as Christopher’s face scrunches up, his nose wrinkling and lips grinning, as he squishes it between little fingers.

“Gross, right?”

Christopher beams and repeats, “Gross.”

“Buck?”

He attempts to twist around, catching sight of Eddie standing there. And next to him, a startlingly familiar flash of pale red hair. His mouth goes dry and the smile slides like slime from his face, landing in the sink with his hands.

His mouth moves on its own accord, reacting on instinct before his brain has a chance to catch up. “Abby.”

Something like a smile twitches on her lips. Her hands wring together in front of her. She looks out of place, he realizes, in his new apartment; a piece of some other life slotted uncomfortably into this new one.

A second, or maybe minutes, hours, pass in silence. If Buck blinks he thinks maybe she’ll be gone. He closes and opens his eyes, but she’s still there.

Eddie steps forward, shoulder jostling Buck’s, like he’s waking him from a dream.

“How about we get you washed up?” But Eddie doesn’t wait for an answer as he swipes Christopher off the counter, setting him on the floor.

“Uh--” Buck says and raises his eyebrows at Eddie. It says a lot; please don’t. Help. Seriously, I’m glued to the kitchen sink. Don’t just leave me here.

Eddie flips on the water for him and offers nothing more than a quiet shrug and a half-hearted pat on the shoulder before following Christopher to the bathroom.

As he focuses on scrubbing the slime off his arms, he sees Abby from the corner of his eye moving a bit closer. She makes a wide arch around him like she’s cornering a frightened cat. He pretends not to notice.

“Here,” she says, and squeezes some Dawn into his open palm.

“Thanks,” he means to say, but instead says, “Why are you here?”

He focuses twice as hard on the slime. He watches as it dissolves and disappears in green swirls down the drain. His hands are clean but he keeps scrubbing so he has something to do.

“We should talk,” Abby says.

Buck snorts. “You broke up with me already.” He tries not to sound bitter and fails. As much as he thought-- knew-- he was over her, having Abby suddenly reappear in his life is offsetting. It puts her in control, and Buck hates the feeling of vulnerability that leaves him with.

Just barely loud enough to be heard over the running water, Abby sighs. He used to know that sound, inside and out. Her breathing was his own personal Ambu bag, giving him life when he felt like he was suffocating.

Now, the sound is just that; breathing. Empty air that dissipates around him.

“I’m getting married.”

Whatever he expected her to say, it wasn’t that.

From the look of surprise on her own face, he supposes that wasn’t quite what Abby expected to say either.

He turns off the water, wipes his hands on his jeans, and waits. For what, he isn’t sure.

More words, maybe. An explanation.

Or maybe he’s waiting for the feeling of betrayal, of anger or pain, to curl up in his stomach. But instead, there’s nothing.

“Hey, Buck?” Eddie has reappeared in the kitchen and just past him, he can see Christopher gathering his bag in the living room. “We’re gonna head out.”

Buck frowns. “What? No, I told Chris I’d order pizza tonight.”

Eddie nods slowly, his gaze sliding shamelessly to Abby for a second before once more settling on Buck. “Don’t worry about it. You can make it up to us tomorrow. You two probably want to talk.”

He wants to argue, but the look on Eddie’s face is set. Christopher comes into the room with his backpack slung over one shoulder. He hands it to his dad before moving to wrap his arms around Buck’s waist. “Bye Buck,” he says.

He brushes a hand through Christopher’s hair and sighs. “Bye, buddy. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” Chris echoes back.

Eddie offers a nod and a small wave before following Chris to the door. Just before they disappear, Christopher’s voice filters back to them. “Love you, Buck.”

Without a seconds thought, Buck calls, “Love you, too, Chris.”

The door closes and Buck has nowhere to look other than Abby.

“He’s cute,” she says.

Buck nods, deciding it’s the right thing to do. “Yeah. He’s a pretty great kid.”

Abby’s smile turns wry. “I meant the dad.”

He supposes that’s true, too. “He gets that a lot.”

This isn’t how it’s supposed to work, Buck thinks. He and Abby used to be perfect together, flawless, two pieces of a puzzle that fit together seamlessly. It’s not supposed to be awkward. And yet here they are, unable to look directly at each other without uncomfortably shifting their gaze away.

“I’m sorry to just show up like this.”

“You could have called,” Buck says, and then immediately flinches away from his own words. “Not that it isn’t great to see you. Just… a warning would have been nice, I guess.”

“You’re right,” Abby concedes. She can’t seem to find what to do with her hands. They flutter helplessly at her sides, butterflies held by strings to her arms. “I wanted to see you, though. It was probably selfish, but I didn’t know if you would want to see me.”

Buck laughs. “So you made sure I couldn’t say no.” He shakes his head. He tries to play the scenario out in his mind-- he imagines his phone ringing, seeing her name flash across the screen. It would have given him pause, he thinks, but he also thinks he would answer. It reminds him of the days before everything fell apart between them, when it was just two disconnected voices through a phone. It’s as honest as he can be when he says, “I would have said yes, Abby. It is good to see you again.”

She visibly deflates, as if Buck had just lifted a weight from her shoulders. “You have every right to be mad at me.”

It takes a moment for him to inventory his own feelings. The initial shock at seeing her has worn off, leaving in its place a sense of contentedness. If he feels deep enough, he can reach the points of entry. It’s a vague sort of happiness that he always felt around her, even when things between them had first started. But… different.

So in total honesty, Buck says, “I’m not mad. I never was.” He opens the fridge and pulls out two beers, popping one open and holding it out to Abby. A peace offering. She takes it. “I was sad,” he continues, gripping the neck of his own bottle. He doesn’t open it yet. “Alone, unsure. But never mad.”

“I never should have made you feel that way.” Abby stares into her beer for a long time. “I loved you, Buck. I really did. That was one thing I was never uncertain about. But I needed time, and space, to figure myself out.”

“Did you,” he asks, “figure yourself out?

Abby nods. “I did.”

“And you’re married?”

“Engaged,” she corrects, because the distinction is important. He notices that she’s not yet wearing a ring. “I needed to get closure with you before I can really move on and be happy. That’s why I’m here.”

Buck chuckles. “You want my blessing?”

Abby smiles. “I want your friendship.”

For a long time after Abby left, that’s the thing he missed most. Not the sex or the dates. Just being friends, knowing that she was always there for him. It took awhile before he filled that hole in himself, that gaping cavity that she once had her home in.

They didn’t fit the same, he thought, but other things melded together to fill that void. Having his sister back in his life. Spending time with Chris.

Eddie.

After nearly two years, Buck doesn’t feel that empty space anymore, not as much as he used to. Sometimes there’s a distant ache in his chest when he sees something and his first instinct is still to tell Abby about it, but it’s a dull sort of pain now. Something that resounds fondly instead of painfully.

Buck steps forward and sets his beer down on the counter. “We’ll always be friends, Abby.”

And as Abby sighs, it’s as if her relief fills the entire room. He breathes it in, letting it wash over and under his skin.

Closure, he thinks, is a hell of a drug.

#finally finally #buck x eddie #buddie #my fics #911 #evan buckley #eddie diaz #Christopher diaz #part two #i like this chapter more than i liked the first #but the first was just a short little thing #next part is eddie #please read my stuff #i need validation

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purified-zone · 4 years

Text

AI Dungeon Crossing: Scoot Horizons

Bold text is what I entered.

Regular text was generated by the artificial intelligence.

6) Custom: Enter a prompt:

> Your name is Scoot and you are a duck villager from Animal Crossing. You are moving into a new town and about to lease a new home from Tom Nook, the leader of the town's Resident Services. You like to say "Zip Zoom!" a lot, and have already made friends with the local gorilla villager, Louie.

You hope that your new life will be filled with plenty of adventures!

> You open your door and breathe in the fresh air of a new day, full of bugs to catch and fish to reel in. You turn to your left and wave hi to your neighbor, Moe the cat. He sits in the grass, gazing up lazily at the sky. "Clouds look very yummy today, myawn!" he says. You clap your little duck hands together as you go for a stroll.

Moe looks over his shoulder at you, but doesn't seem to mind. Then he turns back to watch the clouds. The sun shines down on him through the trees, making him glow redder than usual. It seems like it would be a good time for a nap...

> You pass by Resident Services and squat down on the ground and have a sandwich.

You take a deep breath and stretch out your arms so they're comfortable. A big bag of chips falls from above, landing on your head. You pick it up and eat it while watching the birds fly past overhead. Suddenly, Moe comes running over to you."Hey, buddy! I found this cool bug on the road!" He points to a small insect crawling along the side of the road. You nod and look around. There isn't much else to do here except sit in a chair or lie down in your own bed and wait for tomorrow.

> You take out your bug-catching net and get ready to catch the bug!

You stand up and grab your net, which has a handle on one end. You swing it over your head and catch the bug in its mouth. It squirms in your hand as you hold it there, waiting for Moe to come back.

> You quack at Moe! "Hey!" you say. "I caught the bug! It was a cicada!" Moe claps excitedly for you. Other villagers nearby clap too! "That's right, buddy! Cicadas are really cute and tiny!" They all clap their hands and run over to you.

Moe runs off to tell someone else, leaving you alone with your bug. You put the bug into your pocket and begin to think about what kind of animal you'd want to be if you could choose again. You don't know, but maybe a squirrel? Maybe even an owl? Or perhaps a snake?

> You wonder if there are even any Snake villagers, aside from the bunny villager named Snake.

You walk down the street, wondering where all these people are coming from. In fact, you can't find anyone. The only thing that makes sense is that they must be in another town entirely. But why would anyone leave their home town just to live somewhere else?

> You think to yourself, "No, they can't have left town." Everyone must have gone to an event today, maybe they're waiting for you! You check your calendar on your proprietary NookPhone.

It looks like tomorrow is the day of the festival. You've been meaning to go ever since you got it, but now that you're thinking about it more, you realize that you haven't actually done anything with it yet.

> Everyone must be getting ready for the Fishing festival. C.J. the fisherman beaver is setting up at the nearby lake, all the missing people clearly visible in the festival tents talking about their favorite fish to catch.

The festival is going to start soon, so you need to hurry up and get some things together before then. You head back to your house and open the door. A couple of deer trot past, a cat walks by, and several birds chirp outside.

> You wave at your animal neighbors and head inside. It's time to lift some of your weights (as a jock duck you are very interested in exercise). Afterwards you decide it's time to hit the hay until the big festival tomorrow.

As you enter your room, you see that it is indeed empty. There is no one here except for the bed and a bookcase. You look around the room and notice that there are no pictures or paintings anywhere. Nothing to remind you of when you were younger either...

> You your duck eyes get a bit watery as you think about home, the homesickness finally hitting you. You decide to call up your fellow jock friend Louie for some advice.

"Hey Louie!" You say, "I'm really tired and I want to sleep right now."

"Hm?" He says, "What do you mean?

> You between quacks you say to your gorilla friend Louie, "I'm feeling very homesick. What do you think I should do?"

Louie smiles, "Well if you feel that way, then you should stay here at my place tonight. We'll watch TV and talk about our favorite shows." You nod eagerly, "Really?" "Of course," he replies.

> When you arrive at Louie's house, you find out that blue cat Moe is already there in front of Louie's TV, lazily munching on week-old pizza. He waves to you with a buck-toothed grin. "We're watching Turnip Your Expectations, myawn!"

Your ears perk up, "Turnip Your Expectations?" You ask. "Yeah! That's the new show where they play old songs and turn them into new ones!" Moe beams. "That sounds pretty fun..." You reply, not quite believing your ears. "It is, but we have to go to bed now, myawful sleepy!"

Moe complains. With a sigh of relief, you sit down on the couch and close your eyes.

You awaken from your nap to a loud noise coming from downstairs.

> You investigate the noise! What is going on?

A large truck has just crashed through the wall of your neighbor's house. The whole thing looks like a scene from an action movie. A man stands in front of the broken window, holding a shotgun in his hands.

> it's Doomguy!

The next moment, a huge explosion occurs outside. You hear the sound of glass breaking and even see pieces flying everywhere. The truck itself doesn't seem to be damaged at all though. It seems that this is a set piece from some sort of video game.

> You hurry over to wake up Moe, who is still peacefully sound asleep on the couch in the same room where the truck chaotically crashed through the wall. No one was hurt, and nothing but the wall was destroyed. The only sign of chaos near Moe is the half-eaten pizza on his face.

You run over to Moe, who is still happily sleeping on the couch. "Moe? Are you awake?" You shout. He opens his eyes and sees you standing before him. He immediately sits up and hugs you tightly.

> You "Woah there Moe," you quack confusedly. "You want to slow down there a bit?" Doomguy looks uncomfortable.

Doomguy looks down at himself and rubs his arms. "Oh... I'm sorry, did you say something?" "No, it's fine," You reassure him. "Well goodnight my friend." Doomguy turns around and walks away towards the door of the trailer park.

#long post #animal crossing #ai dungeon

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feelinomni · 5 years

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Trail of knives

The sound of her blood dripping is like music to me. Drip… Drip. it's echo resonating across the empty apartment. A symphony of drips, drops, and echos. Her name was Michelle Ruby. She was a detective in the NYPD, a good one too, almost caught that school shooter. Her Manhattan apartment sits bloodstained and empty now.

I open my duffel bag and remove my hunter’s knife from it, the familiar handlebar feels comfortable in my hand. After running through the procedure in my head, I remind myself that my objective is to conceal her identity. Now I have only two teeth left to work on. I hear a creak and the sound of keys clinking together. Poking my head out the door, I see the door ajar and muddy footprints leading to the kitchen. Uh oh.

Dropping the hunting knife on the floor, I zip up the duffel bag and quickly, but silently make my way to the window in the back of the apartment. Opening the window I look down, it's about a one-story drop. Looking back I can see that their shadow is approaching the room with the body. I drop the duffel bag below and look up for a second. The cool night breeze brushes up against my face. Gathering all my will, I crawl out of the window and begin my descent. It isn't that hard to climb down, I just need to avoid windows.

I drop down to the ground after my ¨perilous” climb and start looking for my duffel bag. From my view at the window, it should´ve landed somewhere near these bushes. Ah, there it is. Grabbing it I begin my way towards the safehouse.

___________

¨ The victim's name was Michelle Ruby,” the autopsy tech stated eagerly, “stabbed in the spine, the knife was found at the scene, still bloody. Andrews dusted for prints, belonged to an Amanda Logan. ¨

¨Alright, thank you, Mr. Powell.¨ I acknowledged, still flipping through the case file, ¨anything else?¨

¨Yes, the vic`s mandible and all the teeth were removed.¨ he added, adjusting his lab coat, ¨thank you agent Mackenzie.¨

¨No problem.¨ I concluded. Walking out of the room.

Okay, so the prints found at this scene are the same as the ones found at the other scenes. The other scenes also had the same style as this one, except at the others the knife was in the victim's eye socket. Something must´ve spooked her. I'll talk to the victim`s daughter, see if she knows anything.

“So, Grace. What time did you get home?¨ I inquired, leaning forward.

¨Around midnight, um I was with my friends and we were watching a movie. After that I went to pick up some chips and dip, then I came home, put them in the kitchen and went to find my mom,¨ she managed. ¨then...then I..¨ she added, her eyes brimming with tears.

¨ That is all I need, thank you for your time, and I´m very sorry for your loss.¨ I concluded.

___________

That was close. I shouldn't have left the knife behind.

This safehouse is the definition of redneck. Stuffed heads of deer, wolves, and various fauna lined the wood log walls. You would think that a hunter with a southern accent would walk in and ask, ¨whats cookin,¨ with an animal carcass slung across his shoulder.

That isn't who walks in though. To be exact, the ones who walk in are twenty officers with guns, twelve fully armed FBI men, one detective, and a partridge in a pear tree. Literally. They have a bomb labeled, ¨partridge in a pear tree.¨ Five bucks say that I can´t get out of this.

They are taking me to the main FBI building, for a ¨proper investigation,¨ which means they are going to get ahold on every piece of ID, DNA, and prints they can get without killing me, interview me, and then lock me in a high-security prison with a plush cat for the rest of my days.

I have been sitting in this interrogation room for three hours, thirty-two minutes, and forty seconds accordion to the clock above the one-way glass, where some agent is looking at me. May as well entertain them.

_______________

Why is she making faces at me? This woman is wanted in all fifty states, under two names in a few. In fifteen years she will sit in the electric chair and be shocked to death, and yet she is smiling at me. No wonder the other agents on her case say she is insane. Three and a half hours is enough time to stew. Time to interview, hey, that rhymes!

“You were found in a safe house less than a mile from the scene where your prints were on the hunter's knife that killed Michelle ruby, a detective in the NYPD.” I accused, “Michelle Ruby also fit the general description of all of your past victims, she was slaughtered in a similar fashion as all of your past victims. We have all the evidence we need, if you confess, it’ll look better and you might get a slightly reduced sentence.”

“No. No, I won’t confess,” Amanda states firmly, “because if I do I will leave this building in a prison outfit and shackles, if I don’t, then I will leave either in a body bag or a free woman.”

“ Oh, and how will you leave this building a ‘free woman’?” I sarcastically inquired, using air quotes.

“ With your help of course, silly!” She giggled, “also I have about twenty agents working for me in this building, two of them are in that room behind you.”

“ Sure, and how exactly do you know that?”

“Because, they showed themselves about four minutes ago, also this interview isn’t being filmed.”

“Oh.” I finished. So, if this isn’t filmed, and what she said is true, then screw it, she's cute, and the system is corrupted anyway. “How do you want to get out of here?”

“You have access to all the floors in this building. Correct?” she asked

“Yes,” I replied

“Good. To get out of this building we need to first get to the back entrance, from where we need to commandeer a van, meander around the city until every corner of it has seen the car we steal,” she instructed. “can you do that?”

“Yes, I’m Louise by the way.”

“Alright Louise lets go,” she added with a smile.

__________________

Holy guacamole she is pretty. And she is joining me in the serial killer business. Awesome! Still, we need to actually escape. Let’s do this. Opening the door she holds my hands behind my back and pushes me through the hall to the elevator, once we got to the elevator and the door closed…

“ This elevator will take us to the second floor, from here we’ll take the emergency exit stairs to the back entrance” she updated, loosening her grip on my wrists.

“Okay, do you have a van lined up?” I asked, turning around to face her.

“Yes,” she responded, “ I talked to my buddy in equipment, he has one lined up for us.”

“Okay,” I concluded turning around and putting my hands behind my back.

Amanda takes them and we turn to face the door. Walking out a man bumps into us, he is on my side, but Louise doesn’t know that.

“Agent, where are you going?” he inquires.

“The suspect has to be taken to a high-security prison ASAP,” Louise replied sharply

“I can take her off your hands if you want?” he pressed

“No, I am the primary on this case, I will do it.” Louise insisted. I shook my head at him, letting him know he can leave it alone.

“Alright,” he sighed, admitting defeat and walking away.

With the exit right in front of us, we make a beam line towards it, pushing through people as fast as we can. Finally, we reach the exit. Opening the door we step outside to see a van waiting for us.

She guides me towards the door and opens it for me, I climb in. the van is covered in FBI logos, merchandise, and fake weaponry. Sure. totally discreet. Oh well, better than nothing.

“Is this thirty-sixth street?” Louise asked me impatiently.

“No, this is thirty-fifth, the next one is thirty-sixth,” I informed, leaning back in my seat and putting my feet up on the dash.

“Why do have to go through the whole city?” Louise asked

“ So the cameras have a hard time tracking our route,” I reminded her, “ and after this, we head for the border, Towards British Columbia.”

“Alright.”

____________

“Psst, hey! We’re here, we’re at the border!” I whisper-shouted to Amanda, who lay sleeping in the passenger seat.

“Huh, what?” she asked groggily, sitting up in her seat

“We’re here, we’re at the border,” I repeated, leaning over towards Amanda.

“Oh, okay, I’ll get the fake passports,” she stated absentmindedly, ruffling through the duffel bag.

“You brought fake passports?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Cool.”

So it turns out that Canada is huge. Getting from Ontario to Manitoba took an entire day. Only stopping for gas and bathroom breaks. At least the other states, no, provinces are smaller.

We finally made it. The safehouse in BC. the entire trip from the Ontario borders to this safehouse took three.freaking.days, I don’t think I’ll ever sit down again.

____________

Louise and I have lived here for six months, we are settled in and have become bored. I think its time to start choosing a victim with her.

“So I was thinking, Tamera Kelly, forty-three years old, blonde, dirty cop.” I proposed, showing Louise a picture.

“How about Monica Jones, thirty-two, brunette, convicted felon” she offered, handing the file back to me.

“How about those jerks that wouldn’t stop playing their horrible rap music at the gas station in Winnipeg?” I suggested jokingly.

“Actually yeah, that would be nice,” she affirmed

“I’ll get my gun, you grab the garbage bags and the bleach?” I offered

“Sure. don’t forget the knives and ammo too.” she reminded

“Will do. Meet back in twenty?”

“Yep.”

#writing #school project #school #gay #lesbian #suspense #dark #murder #serial killer #original #story #short story #macab

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grayson-dolans-dangly-earring · 7 years

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It Started With A Treehouse (G.D.)

I havent written any Grayson smut in forever soooooo here take this garbage lmao

@scuteedolans @dangly-feather-earring-dolan @pinksnapbackbullshit

Ethan, Grayson, and I had been inseparable for our entire lives. We grew up as neighbors, the twins ran into my backyard and climbed into my tree house scaring the hell out of me when we were five years old and the rest is pretty much history. Our parents became friends, we went on vacations together, we were babysat together, and we got along great so we basically grew up in each other’s pockets. As we got older the twins grew like weeds and bulked up quite a bit. There was no denying that they were handsome young men, I just wasn’t attracted to either of them. Or so I thought.

As time went on, I realized a little part of me always loved Grayson a little bit more than Ethan. I always gave in to him, whether it be where we went to eat or what game we played. All he had to do was look up at me through the thick fringe of his eyelashes with those big hazel puppy dog eyes and my resolve would crumble in an instant. His face would split into a beautiful grin, flashing his brilliant white teeth, and I’d melt. Of course, to his face I would scoff and pretend to be irritated but I was never really upset. I don’t think I ever could be.

It was late on Saturday night, and my phone rang with a text message.

*Group Chat*

G: hey sluts, movie night?

E: first off, rude. second, no.

Me: why not E? hot date tonight?! Lmaooooo

G: yeah right, Y/N. maybe with his left hand.

Me: EW

E: HEY LISTEN I COULD GET A DATE IF I WANTED ONE

G: suuuuuure ya could buddy.

E: I don’t see you on many dates dear brother so….

Me: OH SICK BURN BABY

G: you two are the worst

E: aww ya sad now?

Me: yeah gray, ya gonna cry?

G: fuck offfffff. Is anyone coming to watch this fucking movie with me or what????

E: I already said no, dingus. I’m sleeping at Aaron’s house tonight

G: so you DO have a hot date!

Me: don’t let things get too sexy tonight E!

E: you are both monsters.

Me: gray I’m in for a movie if you want. As long as its nothing that sucks.

G: do my choices ever suck?????

Me: um remember the 4th of july with the twizzlers and half a bottle of fireball???

G: I MEANT MY MOVIE CHOICES NOT MY LIFE CHOICES Y/N.

Me: mhmmmmmm

G: I came out to have a good time and im honestly feeling so attacked right now.

E: gray that was lame

Me: you are LITERALLY a living meme

G: yeah but you love me baby!

E: I don’t!

Me: yeah yeah whatever I’ll be over in 5

G: YAY!

I put my phone in my pocket before I slipped my shoes on. I called out to my mother to let her know where I was going on my way out the door. I walked across the driveway and into the Dolan’s front yard. I didn’t bother knocking and I just walked inside. I knew everyone else was gone because the only car in the driveway was Grayson’s. That’s when reality hit. I was alone with him in this big house. Why the fuck was it so hard to breathe all of a sudden? I needed to relax and act normal. I could not let my minor crush come bubbling to the surface right this very second.

“GRAYSON BAILEY DOLAN WHERE YOU AT?!” I shouted from the front hallway. “I’M IN HERE!” I heard him yell in response from the living room. I grinned and started running. When I hit the living room I dove over the arm of the couch and tackled Grayson onto the cushions. “Y/N what the hell girl?! Are you tryin to kill me?” He said while laughing. His laughter shook my body as I was still on top of him. “You know I like to make an entrance.” I said while climbing off of him. I flopped onto the couch next to him with my feet in his lap. “Go ahead G, fire it up!” He chuckled while pressing play on the remote.

About an hour into the movie, I started to get tired and uncomfortable because of the way I was sitting. Grayson’s large hand wrapped around my ankle. Still staring at the screen, he said “Stop squirming.” My heartbeat quickened just a little and I let out a fake irritated sigh. He patted his thigh and said “Come on.” I smiled a little and rearranged myself so my head was resting in his lap. Grayson knew this was my favorite way to lay but he also knew I always fell asleep like this too. Sure enough he started stroking my hair and in a matter of minutes I was asleep.

About an hour later I started to wake up but Grayson was still stroking my hair so I didn’t open my eyes. Call me selfish but it was soothing and I didn’t want him to stop. I cracked one eye open and his phone was close enough to my face that I could read his texts. Now I didn’t want to spy but teasing Gray was kinda my favorite thing and if there was something funny in his texts I could use against him, you can bet your ass I would. He was texting Ethan and the hand that wasn’t stroking my hair, was flying over his keyboard. It took all of my strength not to shiver while reading his conversation.

G: e I need help

E: whats up bro?

G: im freaking out. Y/N’s head is in my lap

E: dude this isn’t new. she does that all the time

G: e you KNOW this is different. You know how I feel about her!

E: yeah and that’s why I went to Aarons! Man up!

G: I don’t know what to do! God damn it I want to touch her so bad

E: okay well don’t be weird about it. Just like touch her arm or something idk man!

G: ethan you have no idea what she does to me I cant fucking breathe rn

E: well im going to leave you to it FIGURE IT OUT BUD!

G: ETHAN NO

G: ETHAN I SWEAR TO GOD

G: FUCK

He clicked the power button on his phone and threw it onto the other side of the couch, and his head dropped back, a sigh escaping his lips. Now that I knew he wanted me just as bad as I wanted him, I pulled the courage from inside of me and decided that I was going to make the move to go further. I pretended to still be asleep and I rolled over so my face was inches from his toned stomach. I could hear him gasp above me and I bit back a grin. I stretched out like a cat as his hand ran down my spine. I slowly dragged my hand over the growing bulge in Grayson’s jeans. A groan spilled from his lips and I could feel his body tense up. I slowly blinked my eyes open and grinned up at him. “Are you sure sweetheart? Because if we do this, you gotta be sure.” He asked quietly. I could see the hope shining in his eyes and a shy grin appeared on his face as I nodded.

As soon as he had confirmation that I was okay with this, a fire ignited in his eyes and his hand traveled down between my thighs. He began rubbing small tight circles over my clit through my leggings. All reasonable thought flew out of my head at the feeling of his fingers on my most sensitive area. My hips bucked against his hand and moans spilled from my lips. “These need to come off.” Grayson said, pulling at my pants. I stood up and removed my leggings, feeling exposed. “C’mere baby.” He said, grabbing my hips and pulling me into his lap.

Grayson tucked his head into my neck and nipped at the sensitive skin. My hips began to grind down onto his thick thigh and I couldn’t control my sighs as my clit rubbed against the denim of his jeans. At this point I was so turned on I couldn’t see straight. “Fuck baby. You like riding my thigh? Does that feel good?” Grayson growled, his hands guiding my hips back and forth on his leg. “Yes! Hngg-oh my god Grayson!” I whined out. One of his hands left my hip and snaked down to rub me through my panties. He pushed them to the side and sank 2 thick fingers into me. I gasped at the intrusion and he grinned me, knowing exactly what he was doing to me. I tipped my head down and sealed my lips with his. He pumped his fingers in and out of my dripping center and my mouth fell open. He slipped his tongue into my mouth and I could feel that heat coiling in my belly.

Grayson withdrew his fingers from my pussy and brought them up to my mouth. I sucked his index finger into my mouth, wrapping my tongue around the thick digits. I looked into his eyes as I continued sucking and he let out a low hiss.

“That’s it. Enough fucking around.” He growled as he flipped me onto my back. Grayson stood up and unbuckled his pants, yanking them down along with his boxers. He pushed my knees apart and settled between my thighs. “Please Grayson. I need you.” I whined, on the brink of tears. “Shh don’t cry baby. Daddy knows what you need.” He whispered, lining his length up with my entrance. He pushed into me slowly, giving me time to adjust to his size.

Grayson pulled out almost all the way and slammed back in, an animalistic sound ripping out of my throat. He began thrusting into me at a near punishing pace and I couldn’t contain the sounds spilling from my lips. “Please Daddy! God you feel so good! I can’t hold on!” I screamed. “Yeah that’s right baby. Tell me how good you feel. Tell me how much you need my cock.” Grayson grunted into my ear, his warm breathe fanning over my heated skin. “Ugh-Gray you feel so good inside me. Your cock is the best I’ve ever had! I’m gonna come!” I whimpered in response.

His hand gently tightened around my throat, beginning to cut off my air supply. He kept thrusting quickly, his face twisting and contorting as he chased his release. His hand kept tightening around my throat and the air was getting thinner and thinner. The lack of oxygen made my blood feel like it was boiling and my clit was throbbing. Just as my vision started to darken Grayson removed his hand and used it to rub my clit in tight circles as I sucked in a huge breath. The sudden intake of oxygen mixed with his touches threw me right over the edge as I exploded around him. “FUCK!” Grayson shouted into the empty room as my pussy continued to flutter around him. After another half dozen powerful thrusts he stilled inside me as his orgasm washed over him. After he spilled his seed inside me, he collapsed on top of me, his head on my chest.

“Wow. Y/N do you know how I’ve wanted this? How long I’ve wanted you?” He whispered into my damp skin. I ran my fingers through his messy hair and whispered back “I’m guessing, as long as I’ve wanted you?” He was quiet before responding. “Y/N please don’t tell me this was a one time thing? I want you to be mine. Like, forever ya know?” Grayson said, lifting his head to look me in the eyes. I cradled his face in my hand. “I’ve been yours since you and your idiot brother stormed my treehouse when we were five years old Grayson Bailey Dolan. I’m not going anywhere.”

#me #mine #dolan twins fanfic #grayson imagine #grayson x reader #grayson dolan #ethan dolan #ethan imagine #dolan twins #dolantuesday #the dolan twins #4ou #4ou tour #dolan twins smut #smut

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swlbarnes · 7 years

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Invisible - Bucky Barnes x Reader

Okay so you guys apparently love newt scamander as much as I do which is great but I don’t actually have any newt oneshots on hand atm and i’m super duper busy so have this funny bucky oneshot instead that I just posted on my wattpad the other day

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When you were 10 years old, your hometown was attacked. Aliens rained down from the skies and destroyed everyone and everything in their path and you narrowly escaped them by making a run for it and "luckily," you found a group of people who knew what they were doing. The only problem was, they knew what they were doing because they had planned it all.

You were soon shoved into the dark world of HYDRA, where you spent all of your time either in a cell or on a lab table. You were one of many that were brought to the labs that day, but you're also one of the few to survive. You had been injected with so many serums and put through so many tests that you weren't quite sure if there was any scrap of your old self left. At the young age of 16 you were sent off to begin your missions. Your brain fought against your body when you took your first shot, your true mind fighting and screaming and pounding inside of your skull. It drove you to the brink of insanity in a single day, and that's when the mind wipes started.

You were curled up in your cell, shivering and clutching at the roots of your hair as the pain radiated through your skull. You let out loud animal-like screams with each pulse of pain, which the HYDRA agents could not allow. They grabbed you by the arms and dragged you, kicking and screaming, to the chair. You were strapped in, and the process began.

Every mission after that with HYDRA was immediately followed by a mind wipe. Your conscience was far too strong to withstand the acts that they put you through for too long. And just like that, you became the perfect soldier. A ruthless, heartless killing machine that could take down a target without a second thought. You never really had a code name, the agents simply called you Project 270. They once had a full on debate about what your code name could be, but you never remembered that, of course.

Your life was a constant cycle of death and destruction, followed by a swift and painful memory wipe that would leave you broken and alone again and again. Your mind wasn't too loud anymore, it was too quiet. Your thoughts were virtually nonexistent, and even in your state as a puppet for HYDRA, you knew this was wrong. You knew that you weren't supposed to feel this way. You were going insane again, this time from the constant silence plaguing your mind.

Boy were you missing that silence. You sat on a large leather couch in the Avengers Tower, hands clamped over your ears as Tony ran around the house singing horrendously and blasting random songs through the speakers. Your face was steely and intense as you stared at the wall in front of you. He suddenly slid across the floor in his socks, directly in front of your face as he played air guitar to the solo blasting through the tower. A low growl rumbled out of your chest, and you launched yourself at the man. Tony let out a high pitched scream as you both fell to the ground.

"If you butcher one more song, then I swear to god I'll put one of Clint's arrows through your eye," you seethed, knowing your face was bright red with anger. Tony's eyes were wide as you glared down at him.

"FROSTYYYY! COME GET YOUR ATTACK DOG PARTNER OFF OF ME!" He yelled, smirking as you smacked his shoulder with a huff. Bucky's footsteps followed quickly after, finally reaching the room.

Bucky's urgent eyes found you two on the floor, and he sighed in exasperation as he realized the situation. You were sat on top of Tony, arms crossed over your chest. Bucky's muscles relaxed, and he ambled over to you slowly. "Tony, you can't do that to me. I thought you were serious, you almost gave me a heart attack," he muttered, kneeling down next to the two of you. You gave him a sad smile as you realized that he was afraid that you were having flashbacks to your HYDRA days again. He returned the smile before looking at Tony. "So what did you do this time, Stark?"

"I didn't do anything! I was just singing and dancing and they got all feisty!" Tony replied innocently. Bucky raised an eyebrow.

"Is that what you were doing? I thought you were torturing a cat or something. You might need a little work, buddy." Bucky patted Tony's shoulder in false sympathy before turning to you and smiling again. "C'mon, let's get out of here." With that he stood, holding his hand out to you. You took it and he helped to pull you up. He dusted off your shirt, turning and leading you by the hand out of the room.

"What's your plan?" he asked once you were out of earshot of Tony. You grinned, swinging your hands back and forth and basking in the feeling of the cool metal or his hand against your skin.

"I was thinking we could bust out the secret weapon for this one," you replied simply, tracing the lines on his arm as you walked down the hallway and to your shared room in the tower. He looked down at you with a loving smile, yet the concern was obvious in his eyes.

"(Y/N), are you sure? You've worked hard to keep that a secret. Are you sure you want everyone to know?" His voice was soft and he stopped walking, turning to you instead. You turned to look at him as well, laughing lightly.

"I know I have. Trust me, I know. I don't think I've ever tried so hard to keep a secret in my life. But I think it's time, you know? I've been on the team for two years now, I'm really getting the hang of normal life again, and I haven't had an episode in six months. I'm better, Buck. And I trust them. They deserve to know." Your voice was almost a whisper, looking into his deep blue eyes. He gave you a small, proud smile and pulled you into a hug, planting a kiss in your hair. You wrapped your arms around his waist and buried your face in his chest. "Plus it would scare the utter crap out of Tony, and that's something I want to see."

He pulled back with a smirk, placing his hands on your shoulders. "Then let's do this."

It was two days later, and everything was prepared. You got up as early as you could stand, knowing you could never get up before Tony. You opened your closet door as Bucky sat up groggily on the bed behind you. You pushed every article of clothing out of the way, digging around until you found the old dusty box in the back of the small space. Your hands grabbed onto the edges and pulled it out, opening the flaps and sucking in a breath as you laid eyes on the suit that you planned to put away for good. You sat on the ground staring at it for a moment, trying to slow your heart rate to its normal pace.

"Hey..." Bucky's voice came from behind you. "Listen, you don't have to do this, okay? I understand if it's too much, it can wait. We can come up with something else to do that'll scare Tony, you don't have to do this again." He sat down on your left (eyebrow wiggle) and rubbed your back soothingly.

You shook your head. "It's now or never." He smiled and nodded, getting up and walking over to his nightstand to look through some papers. You changed quickly, Bucky facing away from you and obviously itching to turn and see if you're okay. "You can turn around now, Buck." He turned and looked at you. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to speak, only to close it once more with a gulp. You looked at the ground, face reddening with each passing second.

"W-wow... I-I don't really... know what to say... I just- wow..." He stuttered, making it very obvious that he was maintaining eye contact with you the entire time. You couldn't help but roll your eyes, looking down at the skin tight suit and adjusting the belt. It was solid black and very similar to the uniforms given out to SHIELD agents. The biggest difference between your suit and theirs was the capabilities. Their suits were just for general stealth and to maximize agility and flexibility. Yours was more than that: it had the ability to go invisible just as you did.

The serums that HYDRA injected you with over the years were more than useless alone, but as they mixed together within your bloodstream, the chemicals built up into a cross of the super soldier serum and an invisibility serum. The biggest issue with your abilities was that you weren't able to make objects invisible, so you were useless with normal clothing on. HYDRA developed the suit to allow you to use your abilities in the field. It wasn't something that you were particularly proud of, but you wanted to change that.

"Is that a good wow or a bad wow?"

"Good wow! Definitely good wow. Wow." You raised an eyebrow at your boyfriend, smiling.

"You're drooling, pretty boy," you teased. He snapped out of his state of shock and scowled at you. He looked down at the box, eyebrows furrowing when his eyes landed on the black mask inside. It was like his old mask, made to cover your nose and mouth. Bucky shook his head, grabbing the mask and tossing it in the trash. You grinned and he smiled back.

"No more of that. Let's go scare ourselves an Iron Man."

Turns out, scaring Tony isn't as hard as you thought. You allowed yourself to go invisible for the first time in a while, your skin tingling as it disappeared from sight. You tiptoed into the lab as Tony tinkered with an old suit hand. It sparked, causing him to jump back and mutter a string of curse words. You had to hold back your laughter as you made your way behind him, running your fingers along some of the items on his desk before finally knocking down a cup of pencils.

Tony's head shot up, eyes widening as they searched the room. "Pietro, if that was you, I swear to god I'll put hair dye in your shampoo!" He called, turning around to see behind him. You grinned, walking around him and letting your shoes scuff against the ground as you began breathing loud enough for him to hear. A breath caught in Tony's throat, his muscles tensing as he stayed completely still.

At that moment, Bucky walked in with a stack of papers in hand. His hair was messed up and he rubbed his eyes as if he was still trying to wake up. You knew he was completely awake, but Tony was smart. He knew that Bucky was able to sleep nowadays, and he would never get up this early and actually be completely awake. Bucky looked up, brushing a hand through his hair as he made his way over to Tony.

"Hey, Stark, I completely forgot about this mission report for the undercover op in Romania last week, and Fury was wanting it today. Could you help me out?" He muttered, rubbing his eyes as he held up the papers. There were a few lazy scribbles scrawled across the pages, but it was obviously far from finished.

"O-oh, yeah, whatever, sure," Tony stuttered, picking up his pencil cup and putting everything back inside. He set the bionic hand off to the side, swiveling his chair around to look at Bucky. Bucky pulled up his own chair, setting the forms down on the desk. "Okay, so what do you have so far?" You could tell that Tony was shaking off you previous actions, so you got ready to do a bit more.

"Well, I have the drop off point and the time of the drop off, along with a kinda sorta outline of the original plan. Do you think I need to elaborate on that any more?" Bucky pointed at each item on the paper, and Tony leaned forward to read it.

"I mean, you can, but it doesn't mean Fury will actually read i-"

You dropped a handful of bolts onto the ground, letting them hit the ground slowly. Both men looked in your direction at the sudden noise.

"What was that?" Bucky asked, false confusion lacing his words. Tony's face was horrified as he pointed at the bolts on the ground.

"That. How did those... There's no way those could fall like that, they were five feet away on a table!" His voice slowly got higher and higher in volume, and it took everything in your being to keep from letting out a chuckle. Bucky seemed to be having the same issue as he visibly fought to wipe the smile off of his face.

"Well, obviously that's not true, because there they are on the ground!" Bucky pointed out the obvious, taking a step towards the bolts spread out across the floor and gesturing to them with a wave of his hand. Tony scoffed.

"Shut it, frosty! I know where I put those bolts, and I put them right in the middle of that table over there!" The billionaire exclaimed. He ran a nervous hand through his hair, and his eyes darted around the room as he leaned towards Bucky. Bucky leaned in as well, prepared to listen. "Bucky... I think this place is haunted..."

You slapped a hand over your mouth to suppress your laughter, and it much to your surprise Bucky was able to maintain a straight face as he looked at Tony with a serious gaze. "I think you're right," Bucky agreed quietly. "So, what do we do?"

It was getting harder and harder each second to keep up your little charade. This had taken a turn that neither of you had expected, and at this point everything was improv. You knew you couldn't keep this up much longer, and when the time finally came that a snort of laughter escaped your nose, Tony whirled around on his heels faster than you could register it.

"What was that?" He shouted, reaching out and snatching a large metal pole from the table in front of him. Bucky raised an eyebrow from behind him, a small smirk on his face.

"I think it was the ghost..." The metal armed super soldier whispered. Tony's face paled, and he gripped the pole tighter and tighter until the skin on his knuckles threatened to tear.

You tip toed around the pair and walked up next to Bucky. You waved your hand near him to cast a slight breeze in his direction. His eyes flickered in your direction, and you carefully placed your hand on his arm to let him know you were there. His lips curved upwards ever so slightly, but he remained silent.

You took one more step towards Tony, carefully leaning in and placing your lips right next to his ear. "Tony..." You whispered softly, your breath barely ghosting over his ear. The engineer let out a petrified screech and swung his arm behind him in retaliation. You jumped back just in time to feel the wind from his swing rushing past you.

You and Bucky both could no longer keep up the charade. The two of you threw your heads back as bouts of laughter took over your bodies. Tony froze in place, his eyes shifting around the room warily.

"Wait, wh-what?" He stuttered out in disbelief. Bucky began to compose himself and wiped a finger underneath his eye to catch a falling tear.

"You're not haunted, Tony," he told the man in amusement. Tony's brows furrowed, and Bucky looked over in your direction. "Alright, the gig is up. Come on out, doll," he called to you.

You focused on making yourself visible once again, and slowly you began to appear once more. Tony's eyes grew wide in realization, and his jaw dropped with shock.

"No," he muttered. "No, that's not possible!" He was shouting now, and he hurriedly rushed forwards to inspect your suit. He snatched your arm from your side and scanned over the fabric for answers. "How did you do that?"

You rolled your eyes and tugged your arm out of Stark's grasp. "Well, it wasn't the suit, so give that back," you scolded. He blinked up at you and took a step back.

"Sorry, it's just... Invisibility isn't possible! Even from a superhuman standpoint, it's scientifically impossible for you to be able to be invisible. You would go completely blind! The light reflecting off of objects can't hit your eyes!" He rambled, waving his hands around wildly. Truthfully, you had never seen the genius billionaire so frazzled. It simply wasn't like him to be this way.

You crossed your arms over your chest and shrugged. "That's what I thought, but here I am," you commented passively.

Tony continued to stare at you in awe for a few silent moments. Bucky shifted his gaze back and forth between the two of you, ready to step in just in case Tony got defensive over the discovery this information.

Surprisingly for the both of you, Tony straightened up moments later. He cleared his throat and turned on his heel to walk back to his lab station. "Good to know you've got something on your side then, kid," he replied in a nonchalant tone. You huffed and rolled your eyes, knowing that this wasn't anything close to what was happening in his mind at that moment.

Bucky chuckled and made his way to your side, taking your hand in his own and leading you towards the door. You both stopped and turned when Tony called your name.

"Yes?" You acknowledged.

"Would you mind if I did some tests on your little super suit to figure out how it works?" This was more of a statement than a question in his mind, but you were still reluctant to agree.

You let out a chuckle. "I'll think about it."

With that being said, both you and Bucky made your way into the kitchen to eat breakfast and watch the sun rise. You made a few comments about how cheesy your situation was, what with watching the sunrise together and all, but you truthfully could never be happier.

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes imagine #bucky x reader #marvel #captain america

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stevenuniversallyreviews · 7 years

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Episode 47*: Political Power

“We'll face the night together, and we'll survive.”

Political Power is a strange beast. On the one hand, it’s a return to Steven hanging around Beach City, which he hasn’t done much of post-Lion 3. On the other hand, it’s an intense Homeworld Arc episode that transitions us to the finale. And on a mysterious third hand, it’s a crucial episode in Steven’s personal arc, containing a life-changing epiphany. Oh, and it’s also funny!

Let’s start with that last bit, because humor greases the gears for these three major elements to work in harmony. Mayor Dewey may drive around with a giant head that endlessly shouts his title, but the man himself is hardly as bombastic as fellow agents of comic relief like Onion or Ronaldo. A big part of that is voice actor Joel Hodgson, the comedy legend behind Mystery Science Theater 3000. Have you ever watched a funny video review of a bad movie? Or by extension, a bad television show, or a bad game? Literally any filmed comedic review of any bad media? There’s a good chance you have Joel Hodgson to thank somewhere down the line of that reviewer’s influences.

Hodgson imbues lines like “Car wash kid” and “Let’s all scream for...ice cream” with just the right inflection and timing to make them shine, and Political Power gives him plenty of room to flex. But beyond Dewey’s great delivery, he stumbles upon some of my favorite situational humor of the first season. In particular, I love his exasperated declaration that Beach City is a “magnet for disaster”, and the reveal that his entire career hinges on distracting its citizens. Awareness of the Crystal Gems’ exploits has always been ambiguous on this show: as I put it all the way back in my Beach Party review, this is a world where magic is unusual, but not unheard of. Even then, characters are either uninvested in the details or, in the case of Ronaldo, failing to see how strange incidents correlate with the Gems. But Bill Dewey is smarter than he looks and acts, and when a crisis hits, he immediately deduces that the Gems are the source.

At his core, Dewey does want to help. But he’s a normal guy in a magical world (not unlike previous episode focus Greg) and at a certain point all you can do is hand out glowsticks and hope for the best. This isn’t to say he’s flawless, as his inner politician laces his most well-intentioned actions with self-aggrandizing pins. Moreover, his Band-Aid of a plan is vastly inferior to helping his citizens prepare for a major emergency, but—and this is one of the few times you’ll hear me use this excuse—hey, it’s a kid’s show. You’re allowed to have well-meaning but exaggeratedly dopey adults in this medium without the foundation of reality crumbling apart, so long as it’s true to the character.

Making Dewey a parallel to the Gems is a masterstroke: I don’t think anyone in their wildest dreams would’ve associated the two before this episode. Even here, we see Dewey’s freakout as comedic while the Gems’ freakout is dramatic. But both lie about the truth to protect people, and neither is correct to do so, a conclusion Steven comes to midsentence as he protects Dewey from the wrath of Nanefua’s mob (did I mention Nanefua finally returns?).

This is a pivotal revelation. Steven has always felt left out from what the Gems are doing, and his growing competence has lent a dramatic edge to this exclusion, but before now we’ve never seen him seriously stop and consider why. We may learn from Future Vision that Garnet, and by extension Amethyst and Pearl, keep him at a distance to protect him, but he’s too busy losing his grip about his many imminent dooms to realize it. With Peridot coming and the Gems going into overdrive, something had to give, and this was it. Now that Steven has an idea of why he’s in the dark, he can work through it and actually contribute to the team.

It’s no coincidence that this episode is immediately followed by The Return, where Greg provides another major revelation about the Gems that doesn’t come from the Gems themselves. Our heroines are too set in their ways to change without prompting, so Steven needs these external sources, like Dewey and Greg, to start the process of real communication. And I love that once it gets rolling, the Gems don’t hold back. They admit that they’re outclassed, and that they’re scared. This is similar to Pearl’s admission that the Gems don’t know what’s going on in Marble Madness, but coming clean about how this affects their emotions is a big step.

As a hangout episode...again, Nanefua’s back, and that’s all we need for a successful Beach City outing. But beyond any sane fan’s favorite citizen, we get Onion threatening with a bat, Pop Fryman getting real about his sons, and Suitcase Sam in all his eyepatched glory. There isn’t as much interaction as in previous civilian episodes, but then again, this isn’t just a civilian episode.

I love that we jump between the humans and the Gems instead of focusing entirely on one or the other. A standout sequence is Steven eavesdropping below his deck, showing only the Gems’ feet as he gets hears snippets of information and spots the Quartizine Trio hiding under a tarp. We have time to stew on this, as well as their about-face when they notice he’s around, when we get back to Beach City proper. But we’re already stewing on what’s going to happen come sundown. By offering twice the tension, Political Power ramps us up from the end of The Message to the beginning of the finale.

Tension and comedy go hand in hand; one of the most popular theories of humor, the Relief Theory, posits that the basis of humor comes from relieving a situation’s tension. There have been a few instances of this in Steven Universe before: think the endings of Rose’s Room and Mirror Gem, which close a nail-biting sequence with a goofy joke. Political Power takes a different approach: it’s funny, sure, but it isn’t trying to defuse the looming danger of Homeworld. One needn’t look further than the closing credits, which to this point have always included a version of “Love Like You,” but here contains crescendoing static.

Bad things are coming to Steven Universe. Bad people are in power in our universe. But if we devote ourselves to the love and truth of a healthy family and community, the light will return one day.

Fusion Vision!

Nanefua’s particular disdain for Mayor Dewey pays off in a major way for both characters in Dewey Wins, the distant retort to Dewey’s perspective on politics. Mayor Pizza is also far more effective at implementing emergency plans with the power of her Nanaphone, as seen in Reunited.

I’ve never been to this…how do you say…school?

For the first time, but not the last, Hilary Florido’s High School AU is the only promo art we get. This is me not complaining about that.

I guess you could read it that way…

Obviously this episode looks a bit different after Shirt Club, but honestly I think the biggest change is the lack of time between Steven Hangs Out episodes more than its examination of the Deweys. Without Shirt Club, this is the first time Steven’s mulled around Beach City since Watermelon Steven, not counting fusions.

Not to be a broken record on preferring the aired version, but I feel that Shirt Club works way better after we’ve gotten to know the Deweys more in Political Power and Joy Ride. We only get a glimpse of Buck here, and focusing on the pair separately lets us better understand how they might clash when put together.

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

Political Power does pretty much everything right, but in the end, it’s still a set-up episode that struggles to stand on its own. Even if Steven learns something big, the tone doesn’t treat it as that much of a deal compared to other climaxes, because there’s bigger fish to fry. It makes it into “Love ‘em” by a hair, but it still makes it!

Top Ten

Steven and the Stevens

Mirror Gem

Lion 3: Straight to Video

Alone Together

Rose’s Scabbard

Coach Steven

Giant Woman

Winter Forecast

On the Run

Warp Tour

Love ‘em

Laser Light Cannon

Bubble Buddies

Tiger Millionaire

Lion 2: The Movie

Rose’s Room

An Indirect Kiss

Ocean Gem

Space Race

Garnet’s Universe

The Test

Future Vision

Maximum Capacity

Marble Madness

Political Power

Like ‘em

Gem Glow

Frybo

Arcade Mania

So Many Birthdays

Lars and the Cool Kids

Onion Trade

Steven the Sword Fighter

Beach Party

Monster Buddies

Keep Beach City Weird

Watermelon Steven

The Message

Enh

Cheeseburger Backpack

Together Breakfast

Cat Fingers

Serious Steven

Steven’s Lion

Joking Victim

Secret Team

No Thanks!

4. Horror Club 3. Fusion Cuisine 2. House Guest 1. Island Adventure

#political power #steven universe #su #steven universally #review

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