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meltwonu · 3 years

Text

| 🍒 CH-CH-CHERRY BOMB! 🍒 | [CHAPTER 15]

pairing; dom!seungcheol x camgirl!reader

this chapter’s notes; camshow, softdom!seungcheol, blowjob, cum swallowing, restraints/blindfold, daddy!kink, dirty talk, v little hair pulling, orgasm control, squirting, sex toys 😗💕 hope y’all are having a good weekend! As you can see, with this chapter comes the decided amount of chapters 😭 which means! cherry bomb ends on jan. 1st! 😭😭😭 I’m sad about it but!! excited to start the new year with some new projects too!! and I promise it won't be the last of this au either (I'll upload and talk abt a new schedule when it gets closer to time)💕💕 Thank you, as always, for your support with Cherry Bomb and I’m glad some of us have had pavlovian responses when we hear the term now LOOOL😩💕 Enjoy ch15 and have a great weekend! see u tomorrow for the last intro post! 💕🍒

chapters; 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - x - x - x - x - x

Seungcheol takes it as a blessing that he doesn’t work on the weekends.

You do your camshow on Friday and upload prerecorded content on Saturday which leaves two whole days of relaxation that the two of you enjoy.

But Monday comes quicker than you anticipate and Seungcheol drops you off to work before he heads back to the roller rink; ignoring the multitudes of texts it seems Jeongguk is sending.

I’ll be at work in 30 minutes, he thinks.

“I’ll be back to pick you up after work, baby!”

You nod back, blowing Seungcheol a kiss through the window before you turn to leave.

Seungcheol’s phone rings 3 more times, brows furrowed.

‘It can wait.’

“Hyung, we’re in trouble… Maybe?”

Jeongguk’s big puppy eyes stare back at the older male and he can already feel the blood draining from his face at the potential reasons that the younger male would even say that. “Um… is---is this pertaining to why you tried calling like 14 times?” Jeongguk nods, tugging on Seungcheol’s shirt and pulling him in closer.

“Before you say anything… Namjoon-hyung didn’t find out, did he?”

“Find out about what?”

“That I… cam… I don’t want to get fired because I--”

Jeongguk rolls his eyes, “Listen, I’m gonna be real, I don’t think he cares. The problem is… remember that dude that came in? A couple weeks ago. Lookin’ for a job.”

Seungcheol nods slowly; trying to remember the male’s name. “Seok--something, right?” Jeongguk nods.

“Apparently, he came back, and at the right time too. Namjoon hired his ass on the spot and he starts tomorrow. I heard from Seokjin.” Confusion crosses Seungcheol’s features as he stares and waits for Jeongguk to continue. “... And? How is that trouble for us?”

Jeongguk lets out an over dramatic sigh, hands on Seungcheol’s shoulders. “Nevermind, I forgot you’re making bank on those videos. I was gonna say, we might get a pay cut! Or maybe Joon-hyung’s trying to replace us but I guess that’s not a ‘you’ problem.”

Seungcheol laughs under his breath, shaking his head before patting Jeongguk’s hands.

“You’ll be okay. I don’t think anyone is coming for your concession stand job.”

The next day when Seungcheol makes it to work, he can’t help but have a weird feeling in his gut.

Much like the time when he first met Jun, there’s an indescribable feeling bubbling up in his body that he can’t seem to shake off once he arrives at the roller rink and the sight of Jeongguk with the new employee doesn’t help to settle the feeling at all.

Just before he can make his escape, the younger male waves him over; a cheery smile plastered on his face when Seungcheol starts walking over.

“Hyung! It’s the new employee!”

So much for panicking about being replaced, Jeongguk.

Seungcheol smiles at the other male, introducing himself swiftly before extending a hand to shake. “Ah! I remember you! I’m Seokmin! I’m the same age as Jeongguk!” Seungcheol’s lips part as he nods in understanding; that had been why Jeongguk seemed so okay with it all of a sudden.

Seokmin’s eyes form crescents when he smiles and Seungcheol takes a second to do a once over of the other male; noting the pins tacked to his denim jacket. His eyes hone in on a specific one, narrowing once he realized what it was.

It’d been a while ago now, but when you’d hit 5k subscribers to your camming channel, you had made only three of the same pin, which you had raffled and only gave to three winners.

By nature, Seungcheol was one of them, and the other two were ‘xcaliburDK’ and ‘gentleman_josh95’. Seungcheol could deduce from usernames alone that this wasn’t ‘Josh’ so it only left one option left; albeit Seokmin didn’t add up to the username either.

“Hyung? Hyung, are you okay? You’re spacing out.” Jeongguk waves a hand in the elder’s face as Seungcheol shakes himself from his thoughts.

He’d just have to figure it out later.

Although, he can already feel the groan spilling from his lips.

Why was everyone popping up now?

When he picks you up from work, later that afternoon, he can already tell something is off about you too.

You slink into the passenger’s seat of his car, quiet and a little jittery. “You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He comments, watching as you fumble with the seatbelt.

“Yeah it’s just… Can we talk about it when we get home? I think I’m still recovering from the weird experience I had earlier.”

Nodding, Seungcheol reaches over, placing his palm in yours in a means of comforting you; even just a little.

“Guess we both have had weird days, huh?”

You can’t thank Seungcheol enough for how patient he is.

He doesn’t say a word in the car and lets you have your quiet, cool down time before you get home.

But when the lock slides into place and you finally plop down onto the bed, you know it’s finally time to have the talk that you knew was brewing.

“I met another one of my regulars at the diner today.” You mumble; beating Seungcheol to the punch of him asking.

“Weird, I think I ran into one of your regulars at the roller rink today too. He works there now, by the way.”

The two of you share an awkward laugh as Seungcheol lays down next to you; neither of you bothering to change out of your outside clothes as you bask in the oddly similar occurrences. “Wouldn’t happen to be ‘universe_WZ’ would it? He came by the diner earlier, ‘just passing through town’ he said. It was so weird though, y’know? Him and Jun kinda got along ‘cause apparently they’re born in the same year.” You smile at the memory, despite how odd it was at first. “He was quiet and Jun is very much not. I think he bailed earlier than he wanted ‘cause his ear was getting talked off. But he asked me for an autograph on the way out and some old lady stared at me. It was just… a little weird.”

Seungcheol laughs; somewhat glad that your experience hadn’t been as bad as he was expecting.

“How ‘bout you, ‘Cheol? What was that about him working with you?”

The male groans, sliding a hand down his features. “It was… somethin’ else.” You turn on your side to face him, raising a brow.

“Couldn’t be that bad, could it?”

Seungcheol laughs, but only in the way he knows that the next words out of his mouth will sound ridiculous, even to you.

“I’m not going to say who it is because I don’t want you to be extra weirded out. He’s an okay guy, very diligent about his work. But let’s just say I caught a glimpse of his wallpaper, which was you by the way. And when I asked him, ‘hey, is that your girlfriend?’, the fucker lied and said yes!”

It takes a second before you’re letting out a boisterous laugh; tears springing to your eyes at the hilarious encounter Seungcheol had experienced.

“You’re not mad!?” He comments, eyes wide as saucers as he watches you curl up in laughter. “I thought you’d be mad!” You wipe a tear from your eye, catching your breath before you turn back to Seungcheol who watches you in confusion.

“No way, that’s fuckin’ hilarious! And let’s be real, probably not the first time someone’s lied about me being their girlfriend, right? But I--he doesn’t know, does he? That you’re… y’know, ‘dom.cheol’?” Seungcheol blushes, cheeks blooming a pale pink when he thinks about it.

Would his voice be enough to give it away?

“I don’t… know? He didn’t say anything but neither did I, honestly. It was just… weird. And now I work with him so that’ll be fun. Can’t wait for him to tell me how cute his girlfriend is.” He grumbles.

“Awww, is widdol Swungcheol jealous?” You blink cutely back at him; a teasing smirk on your lips when you see him narrowing his eyes back at you.

“Watch it, brat. You know I can punish you at any time, right?”

“Try me, then~”

Seungcheol mentally logs into his brain and waits until your Wednesday show before he makes a move.

He brings his favorite silk ties from his closet and places them on the bed while you get changed; a sly smirk on his face.

“‘Okay, ‘Cheol I’m--whoa.” You bite your lip when you step out and see the array of ties and the vibrator already sitting on the bed. “Um… I take it that these are part of the show tonight?” You end with a shy giggle; body already warm at the way Seungcheol looks at you.

“Mmhmm. For the ‘lil jealous comment you made. What was it that you said? ‘Try me, then’?” He grins in a way that you know you’re screwed and you saunter up to him in hopes of maybe pacifying him a little.

“Too late to say that I take it back?”

“Waaaay too late, baby. Now, let’s get started.”

chwenon has donated $50

sleepy_wonu has donated $100

artist8hao has donated $75

artist8hao: she’s so pretty with her hands tied behind her back like that

angelhan: shibari next time???

universe_WZ: she’d be so pretty all tied up

universe_WZ: rly nice seeing u btw ;)

therealchan99: where tf are all of u seeing her!?!?? I need to go out more im lackin bro

alphagyu97: its the way u walk into every set up for me

Seungcheol chuckles under his breath, reading the comments with his hand tangled in your hair and your arms tied behind your back as you work your mouth up and down on his cock.

Before the show had even started, he had quickly rearranged the setup so that the camera was angled down towards the space in front of the bed instead of where it usually faced which was on top of the bed. You were a little confused at first when he had nodded and told you to start your camshow from the rug placed underneath you but it soon made sense when he had tied your arms behind your back and made you suck him off with your knees digging into the rug and a silk tie tied into a bow around your eyes to prevent you from seeing.

“Shibari, huh? Ooh, wouldn’t it be a treat for your viewers if you did a show where you were all tied up? I’d have to start it for you, or maybe they’d like to watch the process and see how quickly I can get you to fall apart.” Seungcheol pauses; hips canting up slightly into your mouth as you swallow and gag around him. “We can make it an extra long camshow… Maybe a pay-per-view situation. They can watch you squirm and cum all night long while I keep a vibrator pressed against your clit until your cute body is trembling.”

Your eyes roll to the back of your head even if Seungcheol can’t see it and you moan around his cock when you feel him throbbing in your mouth.

The sound of donations and comments is all you can go off of with your back towards the camera and your vision taken away; noting that the viewers must’ve liked the idea.

j__min has donated $150

j__min: popping in to say if u need help buying ropes, i know a guy ;)

alphagyu97: wait is this rly happening

alphagyu97: i’ll clear my schedule gentleman_josh95: yea same

xcaliburDK: i just started a new job i cant have any sick days plz… at least reupload it for me 😭😭

Seungcheol smirks when he reads that particular comment; fingertips massaging your skull when he hears you whining. “I know, baby. You wanna be fucked, huh? It isn’t nice being teased, right? So now you know how I feel~” In a blink of an eye, ‘xcaliburDK’s comment is buried and Seungcheol is thankful that you didn’t see it. He’d just have to keep it a secret for now while he played along and listened to what else Seokmin had to say about his so-called ‘girlfriend’.

You rub your thighs together; already feeling the slickness on them from how wet you already were and how long you’d been teasing and sucking his cock.

“Fuck, I could cum down your pretty ‘lil throat and then make you work for my cock. Drag your punishment out even longer than your viewers would see.” You moan around his cock in response and Seungcheol can only take it as a whiny ‘no’ before he’s pulling you off of him by the hair; soft sputters and coughs spilling from your wet lips as you catch your breath.

“But I think you’ve earned your orgasm, hmm? What do you say, princess?”

Your throat feels hoarse and your body feel obscenely hot at the way Seungcheol doesn’t seem to want to take off your restraints just yet. “Y-yes, daddy I--I want to c-cum… pl--please.”

tangerine_kwan: ahhh shes so cute

tangerine_kwan: petition for baby pink ties next time i think they suit her

sleepy_wonu: if that shibari show is happening, yes

“We’ll talk about it later, although I don’t think she’ll be opposed to it~” You furrow your brows; wondering what Seungcheok was referring to.

You’d ask later.

“D-daddy…?”

Seungcheol tugs you slightly by your hair, urging you up as you slowly stand on shaky legs. You let him take the reins as he unties your arms and repositions you until you’re bent over the edge of the bed; left leg folded atop the bedsheets while your right leg keeps you upright. He keeps your blindfold on but lets you keep your arms loose; which you find out fairly quickly, is for good reason.

The buzzing of the vibrator makes you bite your bottom lip and soon enough, Seungcheol places the toy in your clammy hand.

“You’re gonna slide your hand under your body and keep that vibrator pressed against your clit while I fuck you. And you’re not allowed to cum unless I say so. Am I understood, baby?” You feel Seungcheol teasing you as he slides his cock through your soaking folds before circling the tip around your entrance.

“I expect a response when I ask you a question, sweetheart.”

“Y--yes, daddy, I--ah!”

Seungcheol grins as he slides his cock into your tight cunt; watching as you slowly sandwich your arm between your body and the bed sheets to place the vibrator against your clit. You cry out, a mess of sharp whines and jumbled words spilling off your lips with the combination of Seungcheol’s thrusts and the vibrations on your clit.

“Ngh, d--daddy! Fuck me m-more!”

Your other hand digs into the sheets, fingers tight around the fabric as Seungcheol fucks you from behind. He knows your body like the back of his hand and he quickly already has you on the verge of an orgasm despite only having started fucking you, moments prior.

“Don’t cum, princess~” Teasingly, he alternates from quick snaps of his hips that have his cock slamming into your g-spot to slow thrusts that have you remembering every groove and vein of his cock when he pulls out. And when he fucks you like this, it’s easy to forget the camera was even on and that people were watching; if not for the constant pinging of comments and donations that mix in with your moans, Seungcheol’s harsh breaths and the sound of the vibrator against your clit.

hoshi_tiger_xx: hmm but shes obv being punished and we all kno good girls dont get creampies

therealchan99: ur right,,, where should he cum then?

kitty_junjun: my votes on her tits

kitty_junjun has donated $75

sleepy_wonu: maybe all over her back and then post the pics in the private room

xcaliburDK: or raffle them!! I want them

chwenon: ooo cum in her mouth but dont let her swallow

chwenon: then u can raffle those pics or sth

Neither you nor Seungcheol are even paying attention to the comments that fly past on the screen and the only thing Seungcheol even turns slightly for, is to check to make sure he’s still properly out of frame.

He can already feel you tightening up around him and with the vibrator on your clit, he knows for a fact you won’t last much longer before you’re cumming.

“Hmm, princess, I can feel you getting so tight around me. Bet you wanna cum already, huh?”

“D-daddy, I dunno, ah, how--how much longer I can h-hold off…” You mumble; already feeling the tension in your body ready to snap at any second.

“Be a good girl. I said you earned your orgasm but you need to be patient.” You nod to the best of your ability; head feeling heavy and fuzzy as you try to stave off your orgasm for a little longer. “Y--yes, daddy…” He slows down his thrusts in order to help you a little and the soft praises that fall from his lips have the warmth blooming in your chest.

But it doesn’t last long because despite Seungcheol’s valiant efforts, you’re already too close to cumming to stop yourself when you feel the pressure building up too fast.

“Oh, d-daddy, I---I can’t, I---I can’t, I have, ah, to---to c-cum! Fuh--fuck, ‘m s--sorry!”

Seungcheol can’t even manage a word in before he feels his cock being forced out of your pussy and the wetness that squirts all over his cock and lower half. Loud cries and whines are all you can manage in the thrums of pleasure and the grip you have on the vibrator only tightens as you grind against the toy to ride out your high.

Seungcheol takes the time to wrap a hand around his cock as he strokes himself; body turned halfway towards the laptop to see what everyone was saying.

hoshi_tiger_xx: uh ohhh pretty baby came without permission

hoshi_tiger_xx has donated $50

hoshi_tiger_xx: donation for squirting tho

alphagyu97: ugh look at her cute lil hole begging to be filled up

angelhan: bet she’s feeling empty rn huh

Your soft mewls have Seungcheol turning back to face you; eyes trained on your twitching body when the pleasure starts to ebb away and the overstimulation from the vibrator starts to bite. “Daddy… the---the, mmh, toy…”

“You can turn it off, sweetheart.” His tone is clipped and you already know you’re in for it once you manage to find the switch on the silicone toy. You turn it off and slide your hand from underneath you; palms flat against the sheets as you sniffle.

“I--I’m really s-sorry, I--I couldn’t--”

“I want you on your knees again, princess.”

Nodding shakily, you ease your bent leg down as you maneuver yourself onto your knees; hands already searching for Seungcheol before you hear his small ‘ah, ah, ah’s. “Hands behind your back and tongue out, baby.” You follow his orders as you clasp your hands behind your back and diligently open your mouth and stick your tongue out as far as you can.

He brings his cock towards your face, tapping his cock head against your tongue before he starts to jerk himself off over your mouth and face. “I gotta hand it to you, princess. At least you apologized.” Seungcheol laughs under his breath, “But next time though? I won’t even let you have my cock.”

You whimper in return, brows furrowed under the silk tie.

“Fuck, ‘m gonna cum all over this pretty face.” His grip on his cock tightens and he thrusts into his palm quicker as he chases his high. “Don’t worry. I’ll take pretty pictures of your cum stained face.”

Seungcheol groans as he feels the coil in his body snapping and not a second later do you feel warm rivulets of cum hitting your cheeks and your tongue. Some of it manages to catch on the silk tie as you moan. The donations and comments pour in like water as Seungcheol continues to cover your face in cum and for the umpteeth time, you’re reassured that this was a path that worked out for you.

It was so silly that you’d thought of quitting camming earlier.

Although, you never brought it up to Seungcheol.

In actuality, there were quite a few things that you’d never brought up to Seungcheol.

“Fuck…” He mutters from above you and it’s enough to bring you out of your thoughts as you hold still. Seungcheol takes the hint, using a sticky cum covered hand to reach for his phone to snap pictures of you; he’d just clean it up later.

“Say cheese~” He laughs, taking a couple photos before tossing his phone onto the bed as you draw your tongue back into your mouth and swallow down the warm salty substance that managed to hit your tongue.

Seungcheol helps you up from the floor, pouting when he sees how red your knees have gotten. “Hmm, think I need to take care of my princess after this.” He helps take your blindfold off and you’re quick to blink the fogginess away as you try to focus on Seungcheol’s face before peering over to the laptop’s screen.

Your cheeks burn hot at the cum that still stains your cheeks when you see yourself but the comments that flood in calling you pretty make you giggle.

“Ooookay. I think daddy is gonna get all cleaned up and I’ll wrap up here?” You check in with Seungcheol, who shoots you a nod and a small thumbs up before slinking completely out of the camera’s view.

“Okay guys, now what were you all talking about while I was on my knees?”

You get out of the shower feeling refreshed; tossing on a loose shirt before skipping out of the bathroom.

Seungcheol is cozied up on the sofa, waiting on the food that the two of you had ordered right after you ended your show. “‘Cheollie~” He turns to you as you plop down next to him and he’s quick to wrap an arm around your shoulders as he tugs you into his side.

“Feeling better?”

“Mmhmm~ A ‘lil sleepy but I can go for that food and then sleep.”

The two of you share a laugh, eyes focused on the movie that plays on the TV. “Say…” You start, “Someone asked a good question in the comments after you stepped out.” You gulp; palms a little clammy.

You just had to know.

“Yeah? Was it about the shibari camshow again?”

“No, actually…” You take a deep breath, telling yourself it’d be okay regardless of what he said.

“Seungcheol, am I your girlfriend?”

#cherrybomb!cheol #seungcheol smut #scoups smut #seventeen smut #svt smut #scoups scenarios #scoups imagines #seungcheol imagines #seungcheol scenarios #svt scenarios #svt imagines #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #scoups #seungcheol #svt fic #seventeen fic

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heyitsjay03 · 3 years

Text

Aeipathy: Chapter Two

Disclaimer: i don’t (unfortunately) own Marvel or any of their characters, plot points, etc. so all right are to them and their our overlord Disney

AN: yeahhhh this one’s a shorty but i promise the next one will be longer and filled with plot and angst and shit so prepare yourselves <3

Bucky x Reader

Word Count: 3.1k

TW: angst, mentions of torture, mentions of murder/arson, HYDRA collectively is a prick

Chapter One is available here!

Gnawing.

It claws through my body on all fours. Tearing, ripping, hacking, burning.

Monstrous fangs that sink into the deepest parts of muscle- I can feel it in my bones, the burning.

There is no noise, just the sound of whirring and the unholy screeching of demons in my ears. Faceless demons, demons whose faces have too much detail, demons that stare, demons that scream. Demons, demons, demons.

I have fallen. Fallen from grace. Fallen from…

No, no.

I am falling.

Something catches me. A savior in blue. Scarlet red smeared across their chest. Blood. My blood- the blood of sinners and saints and bystanders. Of children and ancients and of rich and poor.

There’s white streaked between the red. Piety. Purity. Righteousness. Desperately, I cling to the stark white stripes. Indecipherable mumbles pass my lips as I stare at the white. I beg for purity, to be clean again.

Every time I wake up, it’s always the same.

The immovable weight in my body. The unceasing shivering. The bite of frost. The writhing of filth in my veins. In my nerves. In every fiber of my being. Festering. Growing. Rotting. Corrupting. Remembering.

But why can’t I remember?

All I can remember are the demons. Faceless, nameless but never silent. Always screaming.

Screaming, screaming, screaming.

I cling to the white. The righteousness of my savior. Solidity in turbulence. Silence in cacophony. Purity. Cleanliness. Life.

I cling to life.

But life burns under my fingertips. It shrieks and squirms under my touch- tries to escape. Repelled by my presence, it retracts away from my grasp.

Color retracts into shapes as I take in my surroundings. An almost completely empty room completely made of concrete. A single contraption behind me made of metal. Icy fog slithers out of the open door, hissing and flicking at my ankles.

Words, however, remain blurred. The savior holds me upright- pulls me to my feet. Everything burns and aches. I’m so incredibly cold. Frosted water paints my skin, coats my clothes to my body. A puddle gathers beneath the writhing fog.

This seems familiar.

My eyes turn up towards my savior. The blood-stained guardian. Words fall from their lips, landing on deaf ears.

My body trembles as the cold becomes more vicious with its fangs. The savior turns away and says something. Everything is muffled- faraway and distant and like someone has their hands clamped down over my ears.

“Why am I awake?” I ask, straightening up. Every inch of me quivers while every part of me wishes to stop.

But I was awoken for a purpose. My mission.

And I’ll complete it.

Hail HYDRA.

Location: S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters

Date: 2012

“Woah, easy, ________,” I mutter, holding her upright. Her eyes wide, they flick around the room. Her hands grip my chest as she shakes violently.

She’s here. She’s alive.

She… she died. Died on that table- how is this…

“Steve,” Tony mutters, holding out a blanket. I take it and start to wrap it around her shoulders.

As her glazed eyes lock with mine, I look over her face. She’s drained of color- blue and white. Her chapped blue lips open and close violently.

Hoarsely, she starts to speak.

But not anything I can understand.

Over and over, she repeats questions with her eyes wide and wary of every moment and movement. My eyes dart over to Tony- who watches ________, his eyebrows furrowed.

Russian.

That’s what she’s speaking. Russian. And fluently. Extremely well. Why… Why is she…?

“She didn’t… usually speak like this, did she?” Tony asks, gesturing vaguely to her as she continues to shake in my arms. Broken words off a stolen tongue hiss past her lips. She furrows her eyebrows as she looks between the two of us.

“Her files told me she was-” Tony continues.

“She’s… she’s never spoken this before,” I mutter, adjusting my grip under her arms. “Raised in Brooklyn for most’a her life- I dunno why-”

“V chem... moya missiya?” ________ hisses, her voice shaking. I look down and watch her straighten up on unsteady legs. “V chem moya missiya?”

“...why is she…?” Tony mutters, stepping in front of her. He lets his head fall back with a sigh as he taps his leg with his finger. “It’s been a long time, let’s see if I can do this.” Rolling his shoulders back and snapping his neck, he focuses back on ________. “Kto ty?”

________’s head tilts to the side slightly. Her eyebrows furrow further as she glares at him through them. “...Hetaerae. V chem moya missiya?”

Tony sighs and closes his eyes as he speaks. “Ch… chto… ty. Chto ty?”

Her eyes glaze over as she stops shaking, standing upright. “Ya HYDRA.”

“...she’s… She died, Tony. I don’t… I don’t know what else to tell you,” I mutter, looking up from the desk. “She… she died before I even got the serum. I hadn’t even seen Doctor Erskine- Bucky… he hadn’t been shipped off to Europe yet.”

“I may be able to help explain that,” Tony says as he gets to his feet. In his hand is a thick folder filled with papers and photos and notes and scraps of paper. He places it in front of me with a thud. “Apologies- I would opt for the digital version but, uh… you… don’t even know what... that… is.”

“Tony,” I say sharply as I open the folder. He just shrugs and sits down across the table again. The top paper is mostly blacked-out with a few words left untouched. ________’s name. Her age. Her parents and their causes and dates of death. And other words that… don’t make sense. ‘Mistress’. ‘Replication’. ‘Improvement’. ‘Rejected’. ‘Baroness’. ‘Salbei’.

‘Hetaerae’.

Repeated over and over throughout the sea of black streaks is that word. ‘Hetaerae’. At the very bottom of the page in tiny letters are the words ‘Project Samsara- Hetaerae’. In the corner is a skull with tentacles writhing beneath it. ‘HYDRA’ is written along the curve of the skull.

My stomach churns. If HYDRA really is behind this then...

I start tearing into the folder. Photos of the various angles of the steel container from when I woke up. Under it is a handwritten note. ‘Cryo-container; Vrsn: Hetaerae’.

Another photo- this one of a chair. On the armrests and legs are cuffs, along with another one on the back of the chair. Something metal comes around the chair. It juts off the side of a machine and looms over it like an archway. A note is written over the photo. ‘Neck brace may prematurely terminate subject. Issue logged during first programming session’.

Another blacked-out stack of papers. The same words are repeated over and over again. ‘Hetaerae’, ‘Baroness’, ‘Samsara’, ‘Salbei’, ‘HYDRA’. My fists clench the papers before tossing them to the side. Tony watches in silence.

What the Hell is this? What were they doing- what did ________ have to do with it?

My eyebrows furrow as I manically flip through the papers. Papers fly to the side as I tear through the folder. I can feel myself getting rigid as I near the end.

Nothing. I’ve learned nothing. Not a single goddamn thing. There’s nothing here-

My hands stop as my eyes rest on the last few items. A file not blacked out. It’s completely intact. Nothing scratched, no scribbles, no hasty lines cutting through words. I snatch it and start reading.

Project Samsara; Hetaerae

Subject Name: ________ Bishop

Subject Age: 26

Subject Info:

Daughter of Leon Bishop (deceased) and Catherine Chambers (deceased)

Resident of Brooklyn, NY

Military background

Non-combatant medic

Attempted pilot training

Worked under Doctor Akin Nachtnebel- HYDRA researcher

Personal friend of Captain Steven G. Rogers, Sergeant James B. Barnes, political activist Odessa Lily Mae Ababio

Official status: Deceased

Simplified Process Log (see file 178953 for detailed logs):

Day 1:

Body retrieved by HYDRA.

Blood and tissue samples taken.

Heart/respiration rates taken.

Note: Hetaerae seems to be semi-lucid. May require sedation.

Day 13:

Serum incubation complete.

Visible changes in body structure internal and external.

Bone density increased slightly, muscle mass increased, other changes to be tested.

Day 23:

Regen. abilities test positive

Enhanced reflexes test positive

Body modifications test optimal

Note: Hetaerae seemed to negatively respond to pain. Possible weakness. Must train to not respond.

Day 68:

First programming session prematurely terminated. Hetaerae reacted negatively to programming.

Admitted to medical wing.

Near strangulation and bruised trachea.

Removing neck cuff on programming station and attempting again tomorrow.

Day 100:

Programming temporarily successful.

Hetaerae could not recall set of numbers given pre-programming for forty minutes.

Memory wipe testing will continue.

Day 173:

Hetaerae admitted to medical wing for treatment.

Major vocal cord damage.

Damage not irreversible.

Memory wipe testing will continue.

Note: Hetaerae begged for ‘Steve’ and ‘Bucky’ repeatedly during memory wipe. More research needed.

Day 234:

Three guards admitted to medical wing.

Hetaerae had clawed at their eyes, noses, ears, and mouths

Broken nails were taken from guards’ faces.

Admitted samples for research.

Extra-long memory wipe testing done.

Hetaerae will be allowed a day to rest after strenuous session. Cannot allow for subject’s termination.

Day 250:

Near disaster.

Hetaerae attempted escape.

Four guards killed. Two more seriously injured.

Must increase security.

Note: Hetaerae lethal before combat training. A promising candidate. Akin, in his paranoia, chose well.

Day 276:

Hetaerae broke free of restraints during memory wipe.

Too exhausted to attempt escape.

Memory wipe has prevented Hetaerae from remembering subject name.

Will begin codeword implantation process tomorrow.

Day 342:

Hetaerae begins Samsara training tomorrow.

Complete memory wipe achieved.

Hetaerae is the only thing within subject.

Day 3658:

Samsara training complete.

Winter Soldier co-training complete.

Complete memory wipe complete.

Codeword implantation complete.

Hetaerae to be placed in cryo to await orders.

Hail HYDRA.

HYDRA status: Active. Ready for use.

“Look at her track record,” Tony mutters, sliding a thick wad of papers over to me. Turning away, I shake my head. “...fine. I’ll read it for you.” He huffs, flipping through the various pages. “Uh… her first mission was to…” he scoffs, “To take out a mid-level politician that had apparently laid his eyes on something he shouldn’t have. ‘Mission: success, target: terminated’.”

“Tony…” I warn quietly, my shoulders getting tenser with each word.

“A few missions later, she’s retrieving lab samples and… and destroying the lab... Fourteen people killed. ‘Mission: success, targets: terminated’.”

“Tony.”

“I’m skimmin’ here, Cap, but listen- an orphanage in Saint Petersburg, a… a couple in Prague, a woman in Athens, a man in Cairo...” Tony continues skimming through the pages. “‘Mission: success, target: terminated’, ‘Mission: success, target: terminated’, ‘Mission: success, target: terminated’-”

“Enough!” I snap, turning to look at him.

Tony sighs and puts the papers down. Running a hand down his face, he purses his lips. “Dunno how else t’tell ya this, Cap- she’s dangerous. She has killed hundreds of people. She can speak seven languages, she can infiltrate a political atmosphere and topple it, she can... camouflage in any… social situation, she has a perfect kill record... Whoever she was before-”

“She’s still in there,” I cut in. “She’s still in there.”

Tony rolls his eyes. “Are… are you not... hearing what I’m telling you?” He gestures to the original folder. “They laid into her for… ten years. Subjected her to torture. Wiped her slate clean. Whatever was in there, pal, it’s long gone.”

A huff leaves my lips. “...you don’t know what she was like,” I mumble coldly, reminiscing over what it was like to live with her, to live with her at my side like I was at hers. “She was… the most... hard-headed… stubborn dame I’d ever met. And strong, too.”

“Rogers-”

“She’s still in there, Tony,” I snap, my eyes flicking up to him. “She’s strong.”

“Good morning.” I say, waving at ________ as she sits on the chair. Her breathing is steady, eyes trained on the opposite side of the room. Her wrists are handcuffed to the armests- the same with her ankles. They clink slightly as she breathes.

The room is completely empty except for another chair across from hers. My shield lays against the chair- ‘a precaution’ Fury called it.

‘A threat’ is what I would call it.

I step further into the room and sit down on the chair. With glazed eyes, she watches me. “Are… those too tight?” I ask, gesturing to the cuffs.

She says nothing. Only blinks in response.

She… she looks so empty.

Her face was always glowing, her smile illuminating the clinic when Buck and I would walk in to bring her lunch or just to bug her. Letters would flood in every now and then from past patients or their families, thanking her for her patience and kindness. She would keep them all in a shoebox under her bed.

And her hands. She would wrap bandages around my wounds with care. She’d always tell me to not get it in my head to fight again… and then ask where the punks lived so she could ‘pay them a visit’. Her hands were always feather-soft when checking every injury’s progress.

Now they look… darker. Not in color but just… darker.

Stained.

Did she know what she was doing when she killed those people?

________ shifts slightly, the sound of the handcuffs pulling me out of my head. I clear my throat and straighten up. “...do you know who I am?” I ask quietly.

No response.

“Do you know who you are?”

“Haetarae.” She answers, eyes still glazed.

“Do you… do you know who you actually are?”

________’s eyes narrow for just a moment. “...HYDRA.”

“No. No,” I mutter, pointing to my chest. “...do you know who I am?”

...nothing.

“Steve. I’m Stevie. We… we grew up in Brooklyn together. With Bucky. We, um… Buck ‘nd I, we helped you out of a fight when you were thirteen. That’s how we met… you… remember that…?”

She blinks, eyes scanning over me.

Getting up from my seat, I reach into my pocket and tug a photo of the three of us out of my pocket. It was taken after she had gotten her nursing credentials. We had gone out dancing, just the three of us. We found someone willing to take our photo. A smile crosses my lips as I look down at it.

Colors start to fade into the black and white photo. Every detail is so crisp. ________’s chin is resting on my head as she stands behind me- a bright, red-lipped smile on her face. Her arms are wrapped around my chest as she leans over. Her hair is done perfectly- up with roses in her hair. Neat and tidy like she practiced. The skirt of her dress is the same shade of red as her lips. Black dots pattern the fabric of the skirt. The bodice was black- matching her heels. Hooked through her elbows was a creme-colored fur boa.

Bucky’s got his arm around her waist and he ducks down to my level. He holds a pressed black suit, wearing a red undershirt. His suit jacket is hung over his shoulder with his undershirt’s sleeves rolled up. I remember him shining his shoes that day while ________ meticulously placed roses in her hair. Bucky had sewn and hemmed my pants with pride. ‘It’s a special day, punk’, he mumbled with the needle between his lips, ‘can’t have ya trippin’ on your pant legs.’

She shifts again and I’m pulled right back into now. ________ sits in front of me. No smile, no roses, no brightness. And Bucky… Bucky’s dead and gone. Lost a long, long time ago. Slowly, I hold out the photo. “...see?” I mumble, “That’s me… before I… had a growth spurt. And that’s Buck.”

I look up to her. She’s focused on the photo, eyes slightly squinted and head tilted to the side just barely. “...Buck ‘nd you,” I laugh quietly. “He… he was… so crazy about you. He just… never realised it.”

The door behind us cracks open. Her body snaps tightly, eyes back to glazed. Tony peeks his head into the room and tilts it back. “Eyepatch wants you.”

I sigh. Looking back at ________, I tuck the photo into her hand. Slowly, her fingers wrap around it delicately. I nod once and start out of the room. As the door swings shut, I spare one last look. ________ looks down at the photo, her head slightly tilting once more.

“It may be our only option,” Fury sighs. “She’s unpredictable at best.”

“She’s still in there- if I can just… keep talking with her-”

“That is out of the question,” he says firmly, eye flicking up to me. “...you’re too close on this one, Rogers. I’m making the executive decision to-”

Lights start to flash overhead- red and screaming. A wailing buzz rips out of the hallway as the red light bathes us in scarlet. The door slams open, Tony standing in the doorway, panting. Fury slowly gets out of his seat, eye wide.

“She… She got out,” Tony mutters, gesturing outside.

My body launches forward as I run into the hallway. People are running, an anxious chatter swarming around them as they pass just in front of me. As I push into the main hallway, elbows and chests are thrown into me. Flicking to each person, my eyes catch the room where ________ was held. The door is almost completely torn off the hinges- the wood cracked at the handle.

I start to push through the sea of people. Like water, they throw themselves against me- eager to leave the building and get the hell out of harm’s way. But as I make my way to the door and push out the other side of the tempest, I can see the dangling cuffs still hanging around the armrests.

My fingers graze the splintering wood door, tracing the ridges of where her fingers had dug into the wood- leaving grooves in the shape of her hand. The hinges look relatively new as they hang lifelessly off the wall. The debris littering the floor is kicked around, leaving a partial trail down the hallway. I follow with a solid grip on my shield.

“________?” I hiss, looking around the empty hallway. Everything is dimmed by the red lights and the screaming of the alarms haven’t stopped. “________!”

I round a corner and every adrenaline-fueled tension melts away. At the very end of the hallway is a floor-to-ceiling window. Broken glass lays at the base of a gaping hole.

She’s gone.

#captain america #bucky barnes #bucky fanfic #bucky x female reader #captain america x platonic!reader #eventual relationship #slow burn #angst #bucky barnes x female reader #bucky barnes x reader #series #nick fury #tony stark

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whatdoesshedotothem · 2 years

Text

Friday 28 November 1834

8 35

12 ¼

No kiss very fine morning F48° at 9 ¼ am breakfast at 9 35 - Had Charles H- at 10 to say he found Spaldin best to deal with – A- and I out at 10 ½ for an hour – went to 2 or [3] booksellers’ shops for Rennies’ pamphlet on railroads – learnt that he had been surveying for a railroad from Burlington to York (I think) and that his pamphlet was probably on that subject - Wood’s work 1vol. 8vo on railroads gone thro’ 7 or 8 editions not to be had in Hull - went to Wilson’s paid for inkstand an improvement on the Indian rubber stopper - the top of the box part fixing on with a spring instead of screwing - went into the Joint stock bank corner of Silver street to ask them to give smaller bank of England notes for the note for £500 n°3884 dated Leeds 21 June 1833 signed J. Booth that A- got some while ago from Briggs’s bank – the people civil enough but against rule to exchange so large a note for a stranger unless taking some respectable known person as guarantee - as the note might have been lost before coming into my hands – I thanked the people for the information and walked off – mentioning the circumstance to Loft House, the druggist, in the market place on paying him got his Palmer’s wax candles – Wilson could get me Chalmers’s biology 32 volumes 8vo. bound for fourteen guineas – would let me have for 55/. + 20/. a copy (got for a subscriber and thrown upon his hands) of Walker’s (published by Nicoles of Wakefield) map of the canals and railways of England and Wales, published a few years ago at 3 ½ guineas with a 4th at 2 guineas and an 8vo at 1 guinea volume of text by Priestley agent to the Aire and Calder navigation - but the map was mounted for hanging up and the back, at least, looked a little soiled - back at the X Keys at 11 ½ and had the agent the Messrs. B..... and Spaldin and paid him for 120 (six scores to the hundred of deals) 21ft. rid Petersburg deal at 5 1/2d. per ft. 50 America Pine (12ft.) picked at 4/3. per deal and 10 Riga oaks logs at 4/9 per ft. - the red archangel deals are ¼d. per ft. dearer than the Petersburg - the man said Charles H- had explained what I wanted the deals for - for railing or thin rafters, and the Petersburg would do better for these purposes than the Archangel which latter is of stronger coarser grain, but works better than the Petersburg that CH- chose the Petersburg against himself - Thomas Greenwood buys the Wiburg deals (and it is Wiburg I have had from him) which are 1/4d. per ft. cheaper than the Petersburg - there is a rise of 1/4d. per ft. since Greenwood was last at Hull - CH- says we have paid 6/. instead of 4/3 per deal (12ft.) of America Pine at H-x and that I have paid for Riga oak &/. instead of 4/9 - I gave the agent the £500 b. of E. note described at the bottom the last p. and in ½ hour he sent me the change (£400 in b.o.E. notes) as I had paid the odd money [over] than £100 out of what I had in my purse - the very best Archangel timber to be had of Spaldin at 2/1 per ft. cubic - A-and I out again at 1 35 - to call on the 2 Miss Bedingfelds Humber bank - the proprietors of the row of houses there are gaining 30 or 40 yards breadth of ground from the river - driving larch piles and filling up, which ground costs them 3/. or 4/. per yard for every yard measured on the surface - a great improvement, and not dear - 20 minutes in going - found the 2 ladies at home and their niece Mrs. Steel (çidevant Isabella Waterton) with them - looking well and vulgar - all very civil to us both - sat 40 minutes - detained in returning about 10 minutes by the bridge being thrown open for a vessel to clear out of the rock - back at the Inn at 3 – A- had a mutton chop and I ½ of one and off from Hull (Charles H- with George in the rumble and Eugenie inside crowding us) at 3 57 - Hull is a town abominable for is radicalism – a meeting last night in favour of Hutt and Hill the present radical members, their constitutions declaring they were ashamed of the name of Whigs and should in future call themselves radical reformers - Wilson (our bookseller) a conservative, a tory, a sensible man, but says he is left in the lurch by all his high tory friends - the tory interest divided - Mr. Conuthers (the tory candidate from London who was to speak at 2pm today) has not much chance of success - off too late (at 3 57) to see much– a 16 miles stage to North Cave where we arrived at 5 53 in dark and were told we should be four hours in reaching Selby 21 miles for no horses kept at Howden – to change

SH:7/ML/E/17/0115

at Booth Ferry would not expedite us – it being a mile round about and we should have to wait for horses from the other side of the water – just 2 hours in reaching Lofthouse bridge – and at Selby (George Inn) at 9 ½ i.e. by York for my watch (as entered in travelling account 9 ¾) is ¼ hour too soon – very bad tea - ate and enjoyed our score of nice smelts brought from Hull - too early for them here by 2 months - sat talking till 11 ½ - we had had in the master of the house (Hawdon) - the Selby people not for the railroad being continued to Hull - everything would then pass thro’ Selby without stopping - the Selby line estimated at £160000 - has cost above £300,000 - they have borrowed of government £90,000? Walker of London the engineer - had Mackintosh contracted for the job (he did the last Hull dock and has just taken the new dock to do at Goole) it would have been done long ago; but he was a few thousands too high § and they have expended far more than that - the Line from Selby to Hull estimated at £300,000 but it will cost at least twice that sum - (§Mackintosh’s estimate of the Selby line £7,000 above Walker’s estate which Hawdon said was £160,000 or £150,000) - fine day – a smartish shower at Loft house bridge at 8 5 but tolerably fair again in about 1/2 - F51° at 12 ¼ tonight in my dressing room (no fire) -

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nordic-language-love · 3 years

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Language Learning Log 2021 - Week 20 (10.05 - 16.05)

Norwegian

Watched 2x Kveldsnytt broadcasts

Watched 1x Nytt på nytt episode

Read 4x articles

Read 70 pages of Harry Potter og Føniksordenen

Wrote 125 words of fiction

Wrote 5x journal entries

Finished listening to 1x Uillustret vitenskap podcast

Started listening to 1x Siri og de gode hjelperne podcast

1x Silje Thorstensen yoga video

60-minute italki lesson

Speaking practice: recorded video about bridge technique and exercises

Japanese

Wrote 5x journal entries (typed)

Duolingo: Transit 1 and Clothes 1

JFZ ch 13 videos

Norwegian

I made a video explaining the technique for going back into bridge for my italki teacher this week. It was painfully embarrassingly awful, to the point I remade it in English because I was 1000% sure the Norwegian one didn’t make any sense, but I didn’t find I had to search for words too much; it was just my grammar and the way I word things that suck. The vocabulary’s largely there, it just sounds like everything I say is directly translated from English rather than sounding natural.

Other than that, I’ve mostly just been writing in my journal, listening to podcasts and reading again. Not the most productive week on the whole and I didn’t hit most of my goals, but I've been more focused on exercise this week. I’m determined to get back into it! I think this coming week I’ll try to incorporate more Norwegian yoga videos into my training.

I also have two italki lessons booked this week (due to me not understanding how time works and thinking the 20th was next week) and I’m like... I cba to reschedule so I’m just gonna take it lol. I’ll just wait a week to book my next one.

Last week’s goals

Mysteriet om Nils ch 43 culture sections ❌

Watch 5x TV shows or news broadcasts [3/5] ❌

Read 100 pages of Harry Potter og Føniksordenen [70/100] ❌

Listen to an hour’s worth of podcasts [25 + 43 = 68/60] ✅

This week’s goals

Read 100 pages of Harry Potter og Føniksordenen

Watch 5x TV shows or news broadcasts

Mysteriet om Nils ch 43 culture sections

Japanese

Watching the Japanese From Zero chapter 13 videos I realised that I already knew and understood everything being said and could answer all the questions correctly. Pretty proud of myself ngl. I think I need to go back through the videos and make some notes at some point - maybe I’ll do that next month. I really need to get into studying grammar properly.

As with Norwegian, I didn’t hit most of my goals this week, but I don’t mind too much. I’ll just get on them this week.

Last week’s goals

Start reading a short story ❌

Duolingo: increase Clothes 1 skill to level 2 [7/7] ✅

Duolingo: start Hobbies 2 skill ❌

JFZ ch 13 grammar videos [2/2] ✅

Write at least 1 handwritten journal entry ❌

This week’s goals

Start reading a short story

Duolingo: start Hobbies 2 skill

Write at least 1 handwritten journal

Other

I’ve done a fair amount of training this week - I’m really happy to see all the pink and green on my grid! I had a bit of a realisation at the start of the week that I’ve got really unfit and inflexible over the past year and I’m not happy about it at all, so I’m pushing myself to train more, as well as watch what I eat a bit. Also, I’ve started teaching again and group classes are back this week, so I’ve got to get back on it! One of my students has been training throughout lockdown and she’s really not that far off being my level now, which uhhh I can’t have lol. I’ve gotta stay ahead of my students!

This week my boyfriend has the week off, so we’ll be spending time together and I might not get as much done in the way of languages and training (hence setting three goals instead of my usual four for each section), but we’ll see how it goes. I still want to try to exercise most days, and obviously if I can do a little languages every day then that’d be great!

Last week’s goals

Strength & conditioning course unit 7 part 1 [20/20] ✅

Submit at least 2 learning tasks for my aerial hoop instructor course [0/2] ❌

Stretch on at least 3 days [5/3] ✅

Train pole/aerial hoop on at least 2 days [2/2] ✅

This week’s goals

Strength & conditioning course unit 7 part 2

Stretch on at least 3 days

Train pole/aerial hoop on at least 2 days

#progress report #langblr #language blog #norwegian langblr #japanese langblr #learning languages

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what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years

Text

Stark Spangled Kinks: Vanilla

Summary: A year on the run following the events in Siberia has changed Steve…but not too much. He’s still a man of simple tastes… Takes Place within the timeframe of SSB Ch 35:- Not A Perfect Soldier, But A Good Man. Warning: SMUT SMUT SMUT- This entire series is SMUT so NSFW and NO UNDER 18s!!

Pairings: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark.

A/N: So in honour of their Wedding Anniversary (5 years today!) I came up with this. It’s total nonsense, and just a load of badly written smut but, whatever.

SSK Masterlist // WIYPT Masterlist

August 2017

Another day, another under-the-radar mission. This one breaking up a gang that had been terrorising locals, running guns and arms, raiding local refugee camps and kidnapping the children to ship out to god knows where, for god knows what.

Frankly, it had knocked Katie sick, so she had been only too glad to get out of there once they’d ‘dispensed’ the ring leader into the care of Fury’s contacts. Well, by that they mean they’d left him hog tied in the middle of the African desert at the co-ordinates they had been given. What happened to him, well, even the world’s sentinel of justice, honour and truth couldn’t find it within him to give a shit. Not after what they’d just seen anyway.

Katie stole a glance at Steve as they drove the ‘borrowed’ jeep back to where Sam had landed their jet. Their time on the run had hardened him. Over a year now spent in shadows, and it was almost as if those shadows had claimed part of him for themselves. His hair was longer, far longer, usually worn pushed back off his face but the exertion of the fight they’d just had, had left the front strands flopping over his sweaty forehead. His beard was dark, and thick, speckled with the odd bit of copper and blonde here and there, hiding his jawline entirely leaving his face almost completely unrecognisable. To the average man on the street he looked like just another person, maybe worthy of a second glance for bearing a passing resemblance maybe to the fugitive Captain. The one thing that remained unchanged were his eyes. Whilst they were tired, carried a heavier burden than before, they were still the same eyes Katie had noticed and fallen in love with, and they still flashed with warmth and a sparkle whenever he looked at her.

And as long as that was there, she knew he was ok.

They reached the jet, Sam hopped down from the back of the jeep and headed in first over to the comms system, swiping at the screen.

“Hey, Steve…” he said gently, turning to his head back over his shoulder. Steve walked up the ramp, looking at Sam expectantly. “Fury’s patched us through the co-ordinates of a place to stay. Looks to be 100 miles North. Might be worth holding up there for the night?”

Steve hesitated for a while, they’d been running missions back to back now for almost 3 weeks. He was desperate to get back…well, home he supposed. To their cottage in Scotland that they’d holed up in for 12 months, where Wanda was currently waiting. But as he glanced around, Sam’s face was sporting a nasty gash above his eyebrows, Natasha had taken a few hard digs too and was clutching her side and Katie had taken a heavy blow to the face, the bruise already forming on her cheek. They were tired, whacked…maybe it was best they got their heads down and headed back in the morning.

“Alright.” He nodded. “Bring it up on the map.” Sam pressed a few buttons and then the holo-display sprang to life. Steve and Natasha observed the image, Natasha pointing to something, Steve agreeing before he straightened up and looked at Katie and Sam who were waiting patiently. “We were just staying it looks like a good spot we can land the jet. There’s nothing for miles, and it’s coastal.” “Coastal?” Katie frowned, before he eyes lit up “Like, there’s a beach?”

“Yeah” Steve said, not bothering to point out that their cottage in Scotland basically had its own private one. “There’s a beach.”

“It looks to be an old Diving Resort on the Red Sea.” Natasha said, “According to Fury, one of his contacts in Mossad used it as a front for smuggling Jewish Refugees out of Ethiopia. Operation Brothers, you heard of it?”

Katie, Sam and Steve both exchanged glances before they shrugged.

“Not surprising, I think the information surrounding it was only declassified recently.” Natasha scratched her neck “Long story short they saved thousands of lives. Smuggled refugees out of camps, and then shipped them out by boat back to Israel.”

“And they used a hotel as a front?” Katie arched an eyebrow.

“Diving resort.” Natasha nodded “Was fully functional too. Pretty damned clever if you ask me.”

“Is it safe?” Steve asked.

“Fury wouldn’t tell us to head there if it wasn’t” Katie replied simply, “We can go, check it out. If we don’t like it we can head home.”

***** Sam landed the jet expertly on the beach which was hidden in a large cove. They stepped off the ramp onto the sugar white sand and Katie looked around at the various huts scattered along the shore. The main body of the hotel itself seemed to be boarded up. The 4 of them split up into 2 groups of 2 under Steve’s instructions, and made their way around, carefully, making sure there was no one else there, checking each out building thoroughly. Eventually they met one another at the front of the sandstone building, all nodding to signal that there was no sign of anyone else.

“The Red Sea Diving Resort.” Sam read the faded red lettering over the top of the boarded up entrance “Imaginative.”

Katie gave a scoff as she shook her head “Well I don’t know about any of you lot but I need to wash up and get changed…I’m disgustingly hot in this.” She pulled at the collar of her combat-top and turned to head back towards the jet. Steve caught her up, sliding an arm round her waist and pressed a gentle kiss to her temple.

“We haven’t forgotten.” Sam called from behind them. They both stopped and Katie glanced at Steve who met her puzzled look with one of his own.

“Forgotten what?” he asked as he turned to look at Sam.

Sam blinked, then turned to Natasha who gave a snort “Clearly they have…”

“Have what?” Steve pressed again, his tone slightly less patient than it had been.

“It’s your wedding anniversary you pair of dumbasses.” Sam snorted “God you two are…”

Clearly he couldn’t decide what it was that Katie and Steve were, instead he trailed off and headed up the ramp into the jet. Natasha followed him as Katie and Steve remained on the sand, simply looking at one another, before they both burst out into laughter.

“Oh my god…” Katie stuttered “We forgot…”

“Well, we have kinda been busy Doll.” Steve teased, before he shook his head and smiled “I haven’t forgotten that day though. Happiest day of my life.”

Katie smiled, “Mine too.”

He gently raised her hand to his mouth, brushing her knuckles with his mouth before they too headed onto the ramp and grabbed their kit bags.

The 4 agents walked down the sand, towards the huts they had checked earlier. They selected one each (the fact that Natasha and Sam headed a little further down to the one Steve had picked for him and Katie didn’t go unnoticed by the super soldier) and headed inside. Something Steve had noticed when he had looked around was how reasonably clean it was. He’d expected things to be covered in a layer of dust but it was fairly habitable. As Katie set about searching the drawers for something to make the bed with, he headed into the small bathroom at the back, turning the taps on. After an initial cough and a splutter, the system kicked in and the water began to run. Orange from sand and rust at first as it splattered the white porcelain bowl. Steve left it going whilst he moved back into the main room and saw Katie was holding what looked like an old polaroid photo.

“Look at this…” she said gently. “I found it when I was looking for some bed sheets.”

Steve glanced down at the photo which showed a tall dark haired, bearded man stood with his arm round a shorter, dark haired slim woman, who was looking at something to her left and laughing. At their feet sat, quite frankly the ugliest dog Steve had ever seen. It was hairless, but he still couldn’t help but admit it was cute in a strange way.

“They must have been part of the team that ran the Mossad Op.” Katie shrugged, “He kinda looks a bit like you actually.”

“I don’t see it.” Steve looked at her and she shrugged, moving to put the photo back in the drawer. “I found the bathroom, water is still running but not sure if it’s gonna be heated or…”

“I don’t need it heated.” Katie said, shaking her head. “Frankly the colder the better. Now, help me get this bed sorted and then we can wash up and maybe we can spend what’s left of the Anniversary we forgot sat out on the sand?”

Steve chuckled, pulling her closer to him, both hands on her hips. He dropped his face to hers, catching her lips in a soft kiss. “Sounds good to me.”

After a quick shower each they headed back outside, where Sam and Natasha were already sat. And it turns out their friends were indeed far better at remembering their anniversary than they were. Along with their normal supplies, Sam had stashed a crate of beer on the jet, hidden in the cooler and Natasha had also managed a bottle of the same champagne they had served at the wedding, although instead of drinking it out of crystal flutes, it was sipped from mugs which bore the Avengers symbol, a harsh reminder of the life they had all run from little over 12 months previously.

The 4 of them sat on the up turned logs, dotted around what Steve correctly guessed had been some sort of fire pit, talking quietly, watching the sun set over the ocean. It was peaceful and Steve felt like they could almost have been on vacation.

Almost.

He felt Katie sagging next to him and turned to see that she had her eyes closed, head resting on his shoulder. He placed a soft kiss to her head and then looked at the rest of his team. Sam’s head was drooping a little and Natasha’s eyes were heavy. With a soft instruction to go to bed they both looked at him, giving him a nod and Katie stirred a little. In a graceful movement Steve had swept her into his arms and he carried her, not unlike the way he had done 2 years ago that very night to their accommodation for the evening. She sat on the edge of the bed, removing her shorts and climbed under the scratchy sheets, Steve settling down besides her.

“Night sweetheart.” He muttered, kissing her neck as he pulled her to him, her back pressing into his chest.

“Night Soldier.” She whispered back, closing her eyes.

**** Steve turned over for what felt like the 10th time in as many minutes. He couldn’t get comfortable, and then there was the simple, yet slight complication to the situation that he’d woken from a particularly graphic dream about their honeymoon, and now he was fucking horny as hell.

He rolled onto his back, his head turning towards Katie and his eyes scanned over her face as she slept. He took in the shape of her nose, soft curve of her lips and his eye-line flickered down to the swell of her breasts which were visible under the cami she was wearing.

Ok, so that wasn’t helping. At all.

She gave a soft sigh, moving a little, her legs kicking down the sheets slightly so they fell around her hips and that was the point Steve’s already fraying self-control snapped. Shuffling closer a little he pressed his lips to hers, before he moved his mouth to her jawline, down her neck, leaving soft, hot kisses on her skin as he went. His hand gently curled around her hip, fingers digging into the flesh ever so slightly and she gave a little murmur, her eye lids fluttering as his lips moved back to hers. And this time, she reciprocated slightly. His lips dropped further downwards, his tongue dipping into the hollow of her throat before his affections turned to her delicate collar bone. With a gentle shift of his body, he went even lower still, his calloused hands sliding along her ribcage as he slid her cami top upwards, exposing her breasts. His large hands cupped them, thumbs brushing over her nipples and at that he felt her really respond with a soft whimper, her back arching slightly into his touch.

With one hand he traced the curve of her hip down the outside of her thigh, before he trailed across her belly, and then her soft whimpers became a harsh gasp as his fingers entered her, curling softly against her insides, coaxing more and more wetness from her as he moved, his mouth continuing to lick and sucking at her breasts. She arched her back, writhing, desperately moving her hips as she sought out the friction she needed between her legs and Steve obliged, moving his hand so the heel of his palm brushed against her clit. With a strangled moan, which she stifled slightly by turning her head into his arm, she came, her body shaking on the mattress, sheets now pushed well out of the way, leaving her bare bar her summer yellow panties underneath him.

Steve’s mouth claimed hers once more, in a searing kiss as he let out a groan of his own when he felt Katie dip her hand into his boxers, wrapping her hand around his achingly hard cock. Every inch of him was on fire and he wanted her.

“Need you…” he said, his own voice low with desire as he pressed his lips back to her neck, nipping at the spot beneath her ear. “Want you…”

“You got me.” She whispered “I’m yours, always.”

At her words he gave a low groan, sitting up slightly so that he could pull the rest of her underwear down. He wriggled out of his own, before he settled over her, his mouth finding hers again the pair of them letting out a shaky sigh and a moan each as he entered her.

Her hands gently slid down over his back, feeling the expanse of muscle which twitched under her finger tips as he moved, slowly, deeply. Every roll of his hips sent his pelvis rocking up against her spot. Katie glanced up at him, his lips kiss swollen, eyes blown with desire, hair falling forward over his forehead. She reached up to brush it back, her hands tangling in the long strands and she pulled his face down to hers, locking their lips in a sloppy, filthy kiss.

Fuck, Steve Rogers loved sex with his wife anyway he could get it, but this…well, he was a sucker for simple vanilla and Katie was too. There was something about this position, the boring missionary one that drove both of them wild. The way Steve could cage her in his arms, fuck her into the mattress one day or make love to her the next. The way his large frame engulfed hers completely surrounding her, filling each one of her senses. The way he controlled the pace completely, driving into her again and again until she could no longer think straight. The way he controlled the depth, sometimes using his arms under her knees to hold her open, or slinging her legs over her shoulders.

It was a plain, vanilla flavoured heaven. One that they could visit time and time again, and would never get bored of tasting.

Steve drove as deep into his wife as he could get, rotating his hips slightly whilst he was fully seated, causing her to gasp and emit a frankly sinful moan which he swallowed with his mouth. Her hands dug into the skin of his shoulder blades and he moved, grabbing her wrists and pulling them round so he could lace his fingers between hers. Pinning her hands either side of her head he picked up his pace slightly, carefully watching her face as he felt her tightening around him slightly, a tell-tale sign she was close.

“Come on sweetheart…” Steve panted, his lips by her ear as he gave a soft nip to her neck. “Come on baby…”

The sensation and heat which was building in her core was impossible to ignore. Her breathy pants of his name became faster, as did Steve’s movements and with a last, broken cry of his name the fire exploded in her belly and she came, hard, her orgasm rolling over her in wave after wave of white hot pleasure, which left her boneless underneath Steve, her nails digging into the backs of his hands. The sensation of feeling her around him was enough, and Steve gave a single, strangled cry of her name as he too reached his peak, his hips faltering as the ribbons in his belly untangled, the pleasure spreading from the toes to the very hair on his head.

He pressed his face into Katie’s neck, pressing another soft kiss to her pulse point which left his lips salty from the slight gleen of sweat which coated them both. He pulled back slightly, releasing Katie’s hands as she flexed her fingers, knowing full well what she wanted. And, sure enough, her fingers threaded through his long hair, scratching softly at the nape of his neck. His eyes closed, and the pair of them lay in silence, completely blissed out and relaxed, hearing only each other’s gradually steadying breaths which mingled with the sounds of the waves lapping against the shore outside.

Katie felt Steve’s lips press to her forehead and she smiled softly, opening her eyes to look straight into his, those baby blues spattered with green.

“Happy Anniversary gorgeous.” He muttered, his lips catching hers.

“Its past midnight.” She replied gently

“Not at home.” He replied softly, before he swallowed and hung his head “I’m sorry it has to be like this.”

“Hey, Steve…I am home.” Katie looked at him, her hands moving to cup his face “My home is with you.” She moved his face so that his lips met hers again, her hands gently tangling in his beard “It always will be, you know this.” She whispered against his mouth before she kissed him, deeply, wriggling a little. Steve gave a short grunt and she felt him starting to twitch inside her again. With an arch of her eyebrow she tipped her pelvis again and in a flash Steve had reached up, pinning her wrists down by her head.

“Keep going and Imma be hard again in about 5 seconds flat.” He whispered, and Katie grinned.

“I’m counting on it soldier…” she smirked “Because I’ve got a hankering for some more plain old vanilla.”

#stark spangled kinks #steve rogers #steve rogers x original female character #steve rogers x oc

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ryik-the-writer · 3 years

Photo

THE AUDACIOUS STORYBROOKE MIRROR ADVICE COLUMNIST (WEDNESDAY PAPER EDITION) In which Lacey French is a smutty advice columnist for the Storybrooke Mirror.

Ch. 3: Lacey proposes a team-up and bantering ensures

A03

Gold tried to bury his guilt as he paced around his home, desperate to get his conversation with Lacey French out of his mind.

He shouldn’t have said what he said. He hadn’t meant what he said. But that hardly mattered; he’d realized that the second he saw the hurt on Lacey’s face.

That was hardly the way to act around someone he’d been in love with for years.

But he was a coward, he knew this in his bones. The word had been thrown at him for decades, by his abusive parents, his fellow soldiers during his day in the service, even his ex-wife.

It was odd, the way a word follows one around like bad gum on ones shoe. It was even stranger how true it became after a while.

“What are we going to do about this?”

He should have told her there and then what they could do about it. He could have let her into his house, offered her a cup of tea and explained the email he sent her in a drunken daze, as well as the feelings behind it.

But instead he’d snarled his teeth and turned her away, as he seemed to do everyone.

Few could phase through the icy wall he surrounded himself with. Jefferson Hatter, a local tailor, Gold’s occasional business partner and certified nutter, would walk through glass if provoked, and would climb that wall to get to Gold when he felt like it, namely his liquor cabinet, but kept his distance just the same.

Then there was David Nolan, Storybrooke’s “nice guy” who tried to be friends with every single person in town. However a kind word or a hello when their paths crossed in town was as far as he would go, as he knew the consequences of getting too close to the town monster.

There were a few others, tenants who had polished records of getting their rent in on time, and thus were civil, abet a bit cold.

Truth was, Gold didn’t know how to let people in. What could he do with other people, let alone a beautiful creature like Lacey French?

Pushing her away was the logical thing to do, he decided as he began straightening up his living room. He even nodded to the idea.

She’d forget about him, find some striking fellow who deserved her, and he could go back to admiring her afar, after he completely disconnected his email, that is.

It was the perfect decision, he thought, and would set off a lifetime of silence, but it would be worth it to spare Lacey from his sting.

He thought the decision final until there was another, very familiar knock on the door, and a new course of fate was struck.

He was shocked to find Lacey back at his door, not even half an hour after he sent her on her way.

“Miss—“

“Zip it,” Lacey ordered, and Gold found his tongue heavy as lead.

Lacey examined him again, noting how she met his eyes in her heels. The extra height gave her a boost of confidence. She feared Gold as much as she feared Keith Nottingham or Sydney Glass, but Gold had a bit more leverage on her livelihood. Not to mention, with all that he had revealed with the email, there was a softness there she didn’t want to harm.

She’d come for his help, after all, not further put a strain between them.

She’d even let go of his earlier comment, only if he helped her, that is.

“Look,” she began. “Let’s start over from earlier. Thanks for the email, I thought it was cute, blah blah blah.”

Gold gripped his cane. “Your point?”

“It’s…the kind of material I need.” Lacey admitted, feeling woefully embarrassed to admit her own lack of skill. “And I was wondering if, possibly, you could do it again.”

“Do…what again?”

“Write another email, one’s that sensational but clean, and give or take 100 words.”

Gold stared at her, honestly unable to grasp her concept of thought.

“Are you asking me to write for the paper?” he inquired, the question coming out as a cruel scoff.

“No,” she shot back. “Not exactly…” she huffed, hating him. “The truth is I can’t write fluff, but I need a fluff piece for Wednesday’s paper … and you seemed to have that skill.”

A dark smirk tugged at his mouth.

Push her away.

“So your telling me you can’t do your job, Miss French,” he laughed, and his heart clenched as he watched her cheeks burn. “Your incompetence is not my problem.”

He started to close the door, believing the cruel words would be the end of the situation, but Lacey’s heeled shoe stopped him.

She leaned into him now, her blue eyes colder than the iceberg that struck the Titanic.

“Look, you pompous, little shit of a man,” she growled. “You can help me, or –“

“Or what?” Gold yelled. Instinctively, he fought off all threats, even if they came from the woman he currently had a burning fondness for. “You have no power over me, dearie. But me, I can have you homeless with the click of a pen, so I suggest you find someone else to pawn your duties onto.”

Lacey gulped. He’d revealed her one fear in all this. He could take so much from her, true. Losing her apartment could lead to her losing her job under the right circumstances, not to mention staying with someone with a space the same size as hers.

But somehow, Lacey didn’t see the frothing landlord intertwining with the love-struck admirer who sent her the email.

She try one more thing, and then she’d quit, she promised.

So she smirked and placed a hand on her hip, the same pose she took whenever she turned down Keith Nottingham or had to go head to head with Sydney.

“You’re not going to do shit,” she said, watching in glee as Gold’s expression changed to a flabbergasted one.

“I beg—“

“You have the hots for me, Gold,” she continued. “I have the proof on laptop. You’re not going to throw me on the street, not now.”

They were both quiet following Lacey’s observation, but the latter only hoped it was a correct one, and Gold didn’t call Sheriff Graham to cart her away.

Thankfully, Gold’s tight posture relaxed. She’d called his bluff, and now he was putty in her hands.

“Very well, Miss French.” He sighed in surrender. It would be her heart too, he decided.

“So, will you …” she trailed off, staring at him half-hopefully.

It wasn’t a good idea, he thought, but he had no leverage on her now. Nothing to scare her of push her away.

So he did the only thing he could do: he rolled his eyes and stepped aside.

Lacey shrieked in delight, practically dancing past him into his prison and sanctuary.

She gave a whistle at the first glance of his abode.

“Not bad,” she commented.

“I don’t need your input on my decorating, dearie,” he sighed. “Just…show me what you want.”

Lacey help back a dirty comment and instead inquired the whereabouts of his computer.

Gold slowly led her to his study, his face heating up when they went past his bedroom.

His computer was still on, humming away. Gold quickly closed his email, seeing Lacey smirk out of the corner of his eye, and stepped aside.

“Your turn,” he said.

Lacey popped her fingers and swirled his chair around, logging into her work email where dozens of inquiries on love and sex awaited.

She scrolled longingly past them to three of the tamer ones, including one she’d received an hour ago and hadn’t read yet. She opened them in new windows and eased back so Gold could see the screen.

“This is what I have to work with,” she sighed. “Help.”

Gold scoffed and leaned in as closely as he could without touching her. He swiped his glasses off the table, putting them on and glancing at each email, his attention getting particularly grabbed by the newest one.

“Dear Racy Lacey,” Gold read. “I recognize that this is hardly your expertise, but I’m not sure who else to turn to. I just found out a woman I once loved very much has passed away in my home country, and I’m torn whether to go to the funeral or not. Our separation was not a pleasant one, but there was still a great deal of love on my end. I know she must have built an entire life after us, and I don’t wish to infringe on her family’s grief, but I feel I must face this, less I regret it forever.

Please, Racy Lacey, what should I do?

Signed, Wooden-hearted Widower.

Gold and Lacey were quiet for a moment, the weight of the seriousness of the email hitting them both.

Lacey, of course, knew that the message was sent from Marco Booth, Storybrooke’s most notable carpenter and friendly face.

He was also known for being able to cook a mean Italian dinner and having a shaky relationship with his only son. He was an open book, or so Lacey thought. He must be comfortable revealing this part of his life to the public, even if only some of the town’s more investigative residents would catch on who the email originated from.

Still, why write her?

It was rare to not see him with Jimminy Cricket, the town shrink, a much more perfect candidate for this sort of subject.

“Maybe they’re too close.” She wondered allowed.

Gold looked down at her. “What?”

“Nothing,” Lacey waved him off. “What do you think, can you do something with this?”

Gold relaxed on the sofa near his desk, musing on the subject as Lacey swirled the chair to face him, anticipating his answer.

“Remind me again why you can’t do this yourself, your job at that?”

Lacey groaned. “Come on, Gold.”

He smirked lightly, taking her misery as a nice little slice of payback.

“Humor me, Miss French.”

“Gods,” Lacey cursed, leaning down so she could stare at the floor rather than his face (which was decently framed by his reading glasses, she dared added.)

“I’m not good with the fluffy stuff,” she relayed.

Gold frowned. “A man losing the love of his life hardly seems like “fluff,” as you say.”

“I mean the stuff outside of my expertise, romance and…”

“Sex,” Gold stated bluntly, pretending the very word itself didn’t affect him.

“Yep,” Lacey chuckled with a glance his way. “Giving people deep, meaningful advice on matters outside of that just doesn’t work for me. I don’t really know why but I don’t want people to get bad advice because of my…” she looked at him again, this time with a touch of malice. “Incompetence.”

Gold’s gaze waivered, ashamed for his earlier reaction.

“So, that’s why I need a bit of help, and no, I can’t go to one of my co-workers because it would look like I’m shrugging off my job.”

Gold nodded. Her motives were fairly innocent, and not too concerning. And to be fair, she could have done worse. Gold would admit that he did have quite the vocabulary, and could meet her requirements.

It was the emotional aspect of the job she was asking of him he feared he couldn’t handle.

Years of keeping so much emotion inside was dangerous. He was a boiler ready to blow, and she was the last person he wanted to see him in that state.

“So…” Lacey shrugged. “That’s my problem, Gold. What do you think?”

He thought, despite the risks, this was a golden opportunity, if you pardon the pun. He’d finally be able to spend time with her, truly get to know her, and test to see if these feelings of his were true or just a passing phase. Eventually, he would spare them both a good deal of grief.

He sighed. “Let’s form a rough draft and go from there.”

“Yes!” She yelped, spinning in his chair. “I owe you big!”

“We’ll see,” he replied, hiding his grin. “Now get serious.”

“Serious,” Lacey repeated, opening an email to herself to start typing.

“Back straight,” he ordered. “Legs uncrossed.”

“For Gods’ sake,” Lacey groaned.

“Focus,” Gold ordered, standing just behind her. “Now type after me. Dear Wooden-hearted Widower…”

“Dear Wooden-hearted Widower,” Lacey repeated in a childish tone.

Gold glared at her for a moment before continuing.

“It’s my barely expert advice that you stick to familiar lands and not take the trip—“

“First off, up yours,” Lacey hissed. “Secondly, what the hell do you mean he shouldn’t take the trip?”

Gold rolled his eyes. She was too young to understand the true pain of lost love, and too inexperienced to realize when it was appropriate to take a step back.

“Would you have him scratch at scars or heal on his own?”

“I’d have him face his demons and make peace!” Lacey fought back. “Running away from ones problem doesn’t do anyone a damn bit of good!”

“You asked for my help and I’m giving it to you. Write what I say or do it yourself.”

Lacey groaned, feeling cornered, and Lacey French snarled and bit and clawed when she was in a jam.

But this was a strategic battle, one she’d end up losing in some capacity, but she was striving to win gracefully no matter what.

“How about we meet in the middle?”

“What middle do we share?” Gold asked.

“We tell him to go and...stay guarded, I guess.”

Gold rubbed a hand over his face. He shouldn’t have agreed to this. Of course he and Lacey had completely different mindsets. She had a shred of humility, his had burned to a crisp years ago.

“If he goes to her funeral, he’ll only be hurt,” Gold concluded, leaning against his chair as he willed away thoughts that needed to remain buried.

“After all, there’s no greater pain than regret.”

Lacey watched him carefully, seeing that softer side that most of the town was certain didn’t exist.

Maybe this was too much for him. For all she knew he had some deep, dark past that was threatening to overtake the present.

She wasn’t one to get circulated in someone else’s business or to gossip openly, but damn she’d love to peak into his mind, into his past.

However, she had a job to do. One of the first things she was taught about journalism-wise was to distant herself emotionally from the subject. It made the job a lot easier.

“He’d regret things a lot more if he didn’t go,” Lacey commented. “Maybe it’s better to rip the band aid off.”

Gold accepted this, but held onto his restraint.

“He needs to be careful.”

“Let’s go again,” Lacey said with a snap of her fingers. “This time let’s be a bit more positive.”

Gold let out a rude noise but relented.

“Dear Wooden blah blah blah,” Lacey read, pausing to let Gold jump in.

“Should you…” Gold began, changing his mind. “You should pursue this endeavor with caution, as the past has a way of taking over the present if you become too engulfed in it.”

Lacey matched his words, listening with interest to his advice.

“Don’t expect a warm reception or even a lukewarm resolution…”

“That’s a little harsh,” Lacey muttered.

“However, you should expect to leave in peace, and I indorse planning your trip with this in mind.”

Lacey finished typing and waited for him to continue, but Gold went quiet. When she looked at him, he had a contempt look on his face, considering their work finished.

Lacey hummed and turned back to the computer.

“Good luck to you have a safe trip back.”

“No,” Gold spat. “Don’t add such a treacly ending like that. It’s tacky.”

“It shows we give a damn.”

“It’s out of place.”

“Oh my gods!” Lacey whined, typing out her signature and then sending the email to Cruella while Gold protested behind her.

“Well that’s just lovely, and incredibly dowdy,”

“It’s fine,” Lacey scoffed. Damn he stressed too much.

Gold snarled, muttering something about incompetence and newspapers.

“Fine, are we done?”

Lacey spun in his chair, giving him the same look she would give Glass when she was getting scolded.

“Come on, this wasn’t so bad.”

“You’re right, it was downright terrible, but it’s over now. I’ll see you out.”

Lacey frowned. She’d go with dignity, but not until she spoke her mind.

“You have the funniest way of charming the chick you have the hots for.”

Gold slapped the top of his cane. “Would you stop saying that, it’s unbecoming.”

Lacey clucked her tongue. She had him now.

“What would you call it then?” she challenged.

“Miss French—“

“Lacey, and just humor me.”

Gold wished the floor would give way. It was a miracle he was able to think though Lacey’s column with her being within five feet of him. Now he had to bear his soul to her in his own study.

“I would call it an attraction,” he admitted, hoping she’d leave before he could be truly humiliated.

“So yeah, you have the hots for me.”

“I like to think it’s a bit more than that.”

Lacey smirked, her lip running over her lip. She’d had men flaunt over her before, but this somehow was more genuine, more real. To have those affections come from someone as stoic as Gold was truly interesting.

It was flattering, though she wasn’t sure how to feel in return. Probably best to stick to the business arrangement for now.

But that didn’t mean they couldn’t have a spot of fun in the meantime.

“How about a drink?” Lacey suggested.

Gold’s stomach flipped at the idea of alcohol. “It’s one in the afternoon.”

“So what, we need to celebrate,” she said, sauntering to him. “To our new relationship.”

Gold twitched, flustered at her closeness. “Relationship?”

“Well, after this I’m sure Glass will want me to do one of these once in a while, which means I’ll have to come back for your … assistance.”

Gold almost choked on his own gulp. So much for keeping her at distance.

“Gold,” she sighed, wrapping his free arm in hers and leading him downstairs. “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

#rumbelle fic #rumbelle #golden lace #lacey french #rumplestiltskin #ryik's fics

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captainillogical · 4 years

Text

Distant Lands Ch.7

Stranded on a planet with toxic conditions and nothing but the clothes on your back, your only means of survival lies within the gem that got you here in the first place.

Spinel/Reader

collab with my lovely wife @firstofficertightpants

“Uhhh..” You hear yourself echo out into what feels like empty space. “Is there a lightsource nearby?”

“There should be, hold on.” You turn to Spinel, to see her gemstone glowing slightly on her chest. Huh. “Give me a second, and I should be able to find the control nearby.”

You watch the glow of her gem move off to the side, and you take a couple steps forward to get your bearings. It smells.. dusty in here. You can’t feel anything around you, so you assume you’re in an open space. Nearly a minute passes in the dark, and you hear Spinel shuffling around a good twenty feet away from you.

“You find anything yet?” Your words continue to bounce off the walls. There must be a high ceiling, too.

“Could ‘ya be a little patient? I don’t see you helping.” You hear her reply.

“I can’t see in the dark, what do you expect me to do? It’s not like I have a gem to light the way for me.” You scoff, taking a few more steps forward.

“I think I found it.” You hear another small click, and all of a sudden the room lights up around you.

You’re about two feet away from something, and when you look up, you realize it’s a statue a good thirty feet tall. The face is strikingly stern, with the chin jutting out in a fierce display of authority.

“Is that Yellow Diamond?” Spinel says off to the side.

“Yeah.” You stare at it a bit more. “Funny. She looks the exact same now.”

“You’ve met Yellow Diamond?” She asks, perplexed. She’s walking back over to you now.

“Yeah, a couple times, all under very weird circumstances. At least she eventually stopped trying to kill Steven, though." You chuckle, looking at the room around you.

The walls are long and high, and there’s a couple of really old Diamond murals along it. You see a staircase in the back, leading up to the second floor, and a couple of generic statues off to the side that looked like they were just placed there randomly. In the middle and along one side of the wall there is a bunch of outdated gem technology, with a giant screen taking up a large portion of it.

“She tried killing Steven?”

“Yup. Dunno why you sound surprised, you also tried killing him.” You reply, tired and sarcastic.

“That’s different! I had my.. reasons.”

“Your reasons are basically the same. It all ties back to Pink Diamond.”

“I..” She crosses her arms, and purposefully looks at the gem tech in front of her. “I doubt that.”

You stare at her for a moment. “Well, maybe if you told me why, I’d be able to tell you that you were wrong to your face, and we can finally settle this.”

“Settle what, exactly?” She uncrosses her arms, and wipes the console in front of her. There is so much dust caked onto the controls and screen that her glove comes back with a thick, dark layer of dust. She makes a disgusted face.

“Your problems. You clearly have issues with something that happened, and you’re letting them control nearly every aspect of you. I can tell.” You nearly cough at the slight dust cloud around you, and you have to bring your hand up to your face to wave it away.

“That’s none of your business.” She snaps back with, and presses several buttons in front of her. The console beeps, and the screen lights up in front of you two.

“It isn’t, no. But it’s not like you have anyone else to talk to.” You shrug, watching the screen boot up. You don’t really care anymore, not really. Not since she promised to not harm Steven.

“You’re kind of a hypocrite.”

“Really?” You scoff. “What makes you say that?”

“You also have problems. I can rarely talk to you without you snapping at me.” She wipes more of the computer down, and attempts to shake the dust off her glove, to no avail.

You glare at her, unable to form your words for a moment.

“Listen, I-”

You’re cut off by the console chiming, and you hear a voice say “Welcome”. Both you and Spinel look at each other.

“You think communications are still up?” You ask, argument momentarily forgotten.

“They should be. Gems built tech to last for thousands of years.” You watch her navigate the menu, display language in something you cannot read.

Several messages pop up on the screen, and Spinel huffs out her nose in frustration while exiting out of all of them.

"What's wrong?"

"It's giving me connection issues."

"Are you serious.." You want to scream. “Why does everything need to be difficult!? I just want to go home.”

"I'll get it fixed, sheesh. Give me a minute to figure out what it's talking about." She grits her teeth, tongue poking out slightly. You watch her offhandedly, as you really can’t do much else other than wait.

She’s changed a little since you’ve met her. Not so much appearance wise, other than her pigtails looking a little more frayed, a bit looser. Like she’s let the wild of the jungle get to her. You’ve always found the markings on her face a bit strange, but you’ve grown used to them. The thing that bothers you the most honestly, is that her heart shaped gem (that you now can guess is heart shaped because she’s a friendship gem.. the irony) is upside down? It makes no sense. You won’t ask her why she looks the way she does, though.

The last couple of days you’ve felt a bit different about her. You don’t really hate her anymore, not really. She’s kind of tolerable, sometimes.

Spinel makes a couple tutting noises which draw you out of your inner monologue. You watch her eyes flicker rapidly across the screen.

“So, good and bad news.” She finally says after several minutes.

“Bad news first.” You reply.

“Okay, all network signals are completely down and I can’t seem to get them back up.”

“And the good news?”

“I attached an SOS signal to a nearby satellite. It should be able to bounce off something from there and get to someone, but who knows at this point.”

Of course.

“That ain’t great but.. it’s something.” You shrug. You’re disappointed, but there isn’t really anything you can do to change this. She narrows her eyes at you.

“I was expecting you to be a lot more.. angry about this. Not gonna lie.”

“Well, it’s kind of on brand at this point for this planet to give me unpleasant news.” You roll your eyes at her. “I’m not fussy all the time.”

“Coulda fooled me.” She snaps back instantly, and you give her a pissy look. Whatever. You’re tired.

A bit done with the whole situation, you disengage yourself from the console while you walk around, looking at everything. It's dusty as fuck in here, clearly from disuse. Off to the side, you see a pile of something and instantly get excited.

"Ohhh fuck yes." You hear your voice echo across the room.

"What are you going on about over there?" Spinel pipes up from her position on the other side, but she doesn't move.

"I found a cloth tarp! A big one!" You shout back, picking up a corner of the fabric, feeling it on your fingers. It's a bit rough, but after sleeping on fucking leaves for the last two weeks, this feels like a luxury.

"..and why are you excited about that?"

"Because this will make sleeping so much better, and it's the closest thing to a blanket, okay! Anything is better than leaves at this point."

"Humans are so weird." She replies with, staring at you for a brief moment before going back to looking at the screen. You find yourself not really caring.

"Anyway, I'm gonna shake this out and pass out soon. Today has exhausted me." You cough from all the dust you're kicking up.

"Do what you want." She says, “I’m gonna see if I can somehow restore the corrupted data logs I found on here.”

You will do what you want, you think to yourself. She can do whatever.

You go to grab a bunch of the cloth tarps and move them into a giant pile in the corner of the room, after shaking each one out further away from your chosen spot. It takes you awhile, and when you’re done, Spinel is still at the console, eyebrows furrowed at the screen.

You lay down, and face the wall.

By the time you're half asleep she finally lays down next to you, and you hear her sigh to herself while adjusting the cloth over herself. Sleep comes to you easy.

You wake up several hours later due to Spinel getting up from her position beside you and walking away from your bed pile. In your half sleep state, you hear the doors to the Spire open and close. Did she just.. leave? You lay there very groggily for several minutes, wondering if you should go check on her to see what she’s doing. She’s never left in the middle of the night before like this. A few more minutes pass and before you can convince yourself to brave the cold outside, you hear the doors opening again with a swoosh, and the sound of footsteps walking back towards you.

Spinel lifts the drop cloth and gets back under it right next to you, and you try your best to not seem like you’re awake right now. You let your breathing even out, with no further sound or movement coming from Spinel behind you.

Honestly, this is the most comfortable you’ve been since being on Earth, even if it is just laying on a pile of musty tarps. Minutes pass, and you’re starting to feel your eyes droop again with sleep. You feel your body relax, and then.. something touches the small of your back. It’s just enough of a touch to feel it, and it jostles you out of your sleep again. Is she asleep? You listen closely to hear her breathing, and you’re a 100% positive she’s awake. You move slightly, and she quickly pulls her hand away in response. ...okay. Why was she touching you?

You roll over immediately to see what’s up with her, and she’s staring at you with a strange expression.

“Why’d you leave?” You ask, voice rough with sleep. Her eyes flicker between yours, considering you for a moment before opening her mouth.

“..I had a nightmare.” She says, plainly. Her facial expression is kind of.. vulnerable.

“Okay, but why’d you leave the Spire?” You’re too tired and not really in the mood to make fun of her for this, and besides, the air around you right now is.. different. It’s hard to describe.

“I needed to get some fresh air to clear my head.” She sighs, and wipes some loose pink hair away from her face.

“Nightmare was that bad?”

“..yeah.” She replies reluctantly.

“Wanna talk about it?” You pry, not really caring if she does or not.

“Not really.” She says, kind of stubbornly.

Ugh, okay. That’s the most you’re going to extend out to her. You’re tired and not really feeling up to this anyway.

“Alright, suit yourself.” You roll back over, and rest your head on your arm for a makeshift pillow. For some reason your tarp pile feels a lot more lumpy now, and it’s making it really hard to find a decent comfortable spot. You adjust yourself multiple times before finally settling, and pulling your drop cloth back up to your chin. Man.. this thing decently keeps in body heat. You almost feel snug under here.

You feel yourself falling asleep again, when Spinel moves slightly behind you.

“...um.” She clears her throat.

“Yeah?” You reply curtly. Can she let you fucking sleep?

“It was about Pink Diamond.” You open your eyes again, and you can just feel how tired your facial muscles are. Of course she wants to share with the class now.

“Was it the same nightmare as last time?” You hear yourself asking.

“...yeah, actually.”

“That uh. That sucks.” You reply, kind of awkwardly. You don’t really know how to deal with this kind of thing. “Having the same nightmare twice, I mean.”

“I’ve had this happen every night we’ve been here.” She says bluntly, and you roll back over to face her.

“Every night? You’ve had the same exact nightmare every night?”

“Yes.” She narrows her eyes at you. “Is that not normal?”

You stare at her for a bit. You’re almost concerned. You know, if you actually cared about her.

“No, that’s not.. er. What are they about? Are you like, trying to give a serious report to the other gems or something, and when you look down you realize you’re in your underwear? And Pink Diamond is there, laughing at you?”

“No.” She replies, giving you a tired look. “It’s always about her abandoning me in the garden.”

“Pfft, abandoning you? I mean that’s shitty, but I was expecting, I don’t know, something like murder? What kind of nightmare is that?” “A realistic one.” She says, and takes in a long breath of air.

“Realistic.” You stop, open your mouth, and stop again. “Could you explain?”

She looks down at her hands momentarily, contemplating something. When she looks back up to meet your gaze, you feel as if her expression changed a little.

“So. Long story short.. we were best friends, and then she left me.”

You stare at her, waiting for her to continue. Several seconds pass in silence.

“You gonna elaborate on that?”

“This is hard for me.” She presses her face further into the tarps, almost as if she’d prefer to sink into them. “It’s kind of a fresh wound, still.”

“Well, I have time.” You say, neutrally. This seemed to be the right thing to say, because it looks like she just visibly relaxed her hunched up shoulders.

“You know how I said I was a companion gem?” She asks you, and you nod at her. “Well, I was made specifically for Pink Diamond.”

“Why?” You question out loud.

“The other Diamonds deemed her lonely, and also wanted her out of their hair. So they gave her.. me. It was great, being with her. We had our own garden to play in, just the two of us. We’d have hours of fun there.”

“If it was so great, why’d she leave you then?” You say, not quite understanding what she’s getting at here.

“She wanted a colony so bad like the other Diamonds. Pink begged them for so long, and threw so many tantrums that eventually they gave in.”

“And then she just left? You didn’t go with her?”

“Yeah, and no.”

“What did you do?” “I waited for her.” “You WAITED for her?”

“She told me to. You know, like we were playing a game. And I’m good at games, the best even, but..”

“But?”

“She never came back.”

You stare at her. You feel like something maybe just clicked. You know the rest of Pink Diamond’s story. And.. with Spinel here just telling you hers, and never having met her prior to two weeks ago..

“Spinel?” You meet her gaze, and she’s looking at you nervously. You feel wide awake now.

“Hm?”

“How long did you wait for Pink Diamond to come back?” She tears her gaze from yours immediately. This terrible feeling of nausea and dread bubble up in your stomach, making you nearly instantaneously feel like shit.

She mumbles something so quiet that you can’t make out anything she just said.

“Wanna repeat that?”

“Six thousand years, give or take a little.”

You feel your eyes widen in surprise, and nearly choke on your own saliva.

“You.. six thousand years.”

“Yep.”

“You questioned nothing?” “I thought about it, but if she came back and I wasn’t there..”

“What made you finally leave? Considering you must know by now that-”

“It was Steven’s broadcast. I figured it out after that.”

You both stare at each other for several long moments while you attempt to sort this information out in your head.

Wow. It all makes sense now. There’s a lot to unpack here. God, you.. You feel like shit. She must have warped directly to you guys as soon as she saw that message. She wasn’t exactly kidding when she was talking about a fresh wound.

Sure, it doesn’t excuse her trying to murder Steven, but now you just feel terrible that you’ve kinda been an asshole to her this entire time and she just.. yikes. She clearly needed someone to talk to. She doesn’t even seem like the same gem that used you for a human meat shield two weeks ago. How in the world did she not go insane from being isolated for so long? Er, aside from.. You know. When you first met. How has she gone from thousands of years of silence, thousands of years with no touch, or talking to anyone, all by herself.. to.. to this. Stuck on a shitty planet, and with you. It is her fault, but..

You don’t even know how to proceed from here. You seriously feel like you need to go outside to clear your head to just.. absorb all of this.

“Why aren't you saying anything?" She interrupts your thoughts, sounding quietly concerned.

"I'm a bit at a loss of words here. You're gonna have to give me a second." You inhale and exhale, gathering your thoughts. "So.. wow. Wasn't expecting that from Pink Diamond, but knowing so much about her? I'm honestly not surprised at all."

“Yeah I’ve.. had a lot of time to think about it.”

“No kidding.” You say, still in a bit of shock at this. “And look, she’s even plaguing your dreams subconsciously.” “Is there a way I can get them to stop?” She asks you, fumbling with the edge of the cloth between her fingers.

“I’m gonna be real with you here.” You sigh, pushing your hair a bit out of your face. “I only ever got my really bad nightmares to kind of go away by confronting the issue at hand.”

“Which was?”

“I needed to face everything I was scared and insecure about.” You say, and Spinel’s eyes meet yours.

“I.. uh. I don’t know how to do that.” She says, very quietly. The silence of the room envelops around you, and you watch her eyes flicker between yours.

You feel like whatever you say next might cause your relationship with her to change a little, somehow.

“Would you like to talk about it?”

Her eyes open slightly wider, mouth hanging in surprise. “You want me to talk?”

“Do you have any other choice to talk to anyone else here?” You have to stop yourself from rolling your eyes.

“No..”

“Anyway, I’m your only option, so.”

“I don’t even know what to say.” She says, fingers gripping around the fabric, clenching them tightly.

“Honestly,” You start, “I didn’t approach anyone with my shit. Steven actually forced me to sit down and talk to him about it, because he could tell I was miserable and losing sleep over it.”

“He sounds like a good person.” “He is. I don’t know what I’d do without him.” You pause, and she looks slightly guilty at what you just said. “But he made me realize I was putting too much on me, and blaming myself for everything when no one is perfect. So..” You take another breath. “What exactly are you feeling here, in these nightmares?”

“Anger. Hurt. And this intense hollow feeling in my chest.” She flicks her gaze away from you kind of.. nervously.

“Makes sense, all things considered. Is there something that you can’t stop thinking about, no matter how hard you try?” You watch her bite her lip in between her teeth, eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah.” She says, softly. “The indescribable feeling of standing there waiting for her, wondering how long it’s been since I last saw her, wondering if something really bad had happened. Then watching Steven’s broadcast about peace and prosperity, finally realizing she literally left me and made new friends, and doesn’t even exist anymore.”

Silence fills the room for several seconds. You feel your chest tightening; her sad, defeated tone striking a chord inside you.

“What an asshole.” You accidentally say out loud, and slap your hand over your mouth. “Sorry, I know that isn’t helpful.” Her face twitches in an almost smile, and that causes some kind of feeling to bubble inside you that you squash down to not analyze later.

“No, you’re right. I just wish I could say something to her.” She sighs.

“And what exactly would you say to her?” You ask, and she meets your eyes briefly before purposefully staring at her hands instead.

“I’d tell her that she’s a half-rate diamond who sucks at playing hide-and-seek.” She pauses for a second, like she’s mulling over something before saying it. “And then I’d ask her..” She trails off, mumbling slightly, and you can’t hear a word of it. She’s very purposefully not meeting your eyes now.

“Could you repeat that last part?”

“I.. I’d also maybe ask her if there was anything I had done to make her leave me there.” She says very quietly, and you barely manage to hear it.

You.. you stare at her. You can see a small amount of tears welling up in her eyes, and your heart breaks for her, just a little.

“Spinel.” You say, and she looks to you, lips trembling like she’s about to cry. “There was nothing you could have done to make her abandon you like that.”

“Look, I clearly deserved that,” She says, voice filled with raw emotion. A tear spills down her face, and she wipes it away quickly. “Because why else would she have done that?”

“No one deserves that. Period.” You state factly, and you want no room for argument about it. “And I don’t know, because prior to this.. no one had mentioned your existence at all. She didn’t tell anyone about you.”

“Hearing that out loud makes it hurt so much worse.” She laughs, and chokes back a quiet sob, wiping more tears away from her face. You feel like your stomach just dropped, and something grips your chest cavity tightly.

“I didn’t mean it like..”

“It’s fine. It’s all her fault, anyway. I’ll get over it eventually.”

“Spinel..” You trail off, unable to form the right words. You don’t really know how to make this any better. You feel awkward and miserable, and you’re rethinking every interaction you’ve had with Spinel up to now with the new information.

She.. she basically clung onto you at first because she absolutely did not know how to deal with her own abandonment issues and isolation. You’re trying to not blame yourself for your own self preservation, but you feel extremely guilty that you didn’t try to understand her sooner. Because technically, you’ve been a complete dick to her for the last week unnecessarily. Even when she was nice to you.

“I’m sorry.”

She looks up at you, wiping another tear away. She looks miserable, and with her shoulders trembling like that, she seems so small. Small and unthreatening, unlike when you first met her.

“Why? What do you have to be sorry about?”

“I haven’t exactly been super nice to you, like, at all.” You answer bluntly.

“So? It’s not like I gave you a reason to like me. I trapped you here with me, I don’t deserve any kindness.”

“Yeah, well. I’m still sorry.” You shrug, watching her avoid your eyes again. “And.. I think everyone deserves a bit of kindness.” She makes a face like she’s about to protest, so you speak up before she tries anything. “Don’t argue with me about this.”

She opens and shuts her mouth, and continues to avoid your eyes.

“Okay.” She says, and the room fills with silence again.

A minute or so passes while you lay there, the sound of your own breathing the only thing you can hear. Eventually her eyes trail over to yours, and you make eye contact. You both look at each other for several long moments, neither of you breaking the quiet. You can see her gem peeking out of the tarp she’s covered with, chest moving slightly with every intake of breath. Her eyes look.. so tired.

“Um..” She shifts her body slightly under the tarp, pressing her face further onto the pile. “I think maybe I should sleep.” “It would be a decent idea, yeah.” You reply. Neither of you move.

“Y/N?” She asks.

“Hm?”

“Thanks.”

“For?”

“Listening.” She blinks slowly, and you can visibly see her shoulders deflate.

“Don’t mention it.” You say, and give her a half smile.

You pull the cloth up to your face, the smell of dust hitting your nostrils. You don’t really mind. She does the same and you make eye contact with her again, feeling the air between you two change slightly. You don’t really know how to describe it, but.. it’s different.

You find yourself falling asleep facing her this time.

It doesn’t bother you.

#spinel x reader #spinel #su #steven universe #self insert #distant lands #fic #my fic

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soysaucevictim · 3 years

Text

Rest of the final week of current program & starting some new stuff.

Mar. 13

I woke up after 1PM.

Did some dishes before doing today’s workout.

First, today’s DD. 2′ chest squeeze with EC. I forget if I’ve had to do his one for a whole 2′, but oof. That took some digging in, especially in the las ~30″ of it. Got to trembling from fatigue and occasionally paced a bit as distraction. But mission accomplished, there.

Last, Chapter 58 of AoP. First section was traveling, 24TP. Done at Level 2, as high knees, and in one go. Was a bit of a challenge loading things that way. But manageable.

Workout proper was done at Level 3 (7 sets, 20 push-ups per set.) I definitely savored the 2′ rest time. Had a brief bit of doubt whether I could maintain Level 3, but happy I managed. Admittedly push-ups weren’t very refined and counted holds a bit fast. No less a challenge.

Picked up some iced coffee and spent time updating some logs/archives. Keep falling behind on that tool, keep recognizing this as a sign things Are Not Going Well. But anyways...

I did make another Hello Fresh meal, today. Southwest plant-based protein over rice. A pretty tasty recipe. I think I’m getting a bit of a hang of handling this plant-based protein stuff, in cooking.

Spent rest of day on the usual stuff.

Got to bed around the same time as yesterday, in the red zone.

Mar. 14

I woke up around 11AM.

Did a bit of the usual before starting on my exercise...

First, today’s DD. 40 push kicks with EC (20/20). A fun little exercise, nothing too flashy.

(After an interlude of distractions...)

Last, Chapter 59 of AoP. Looks like yesterday, I traveled to the wrong camp location - so I made the first thing I did for the chapter was traveling the 25TP from where I was and where I needed to be. Level 2, as high knees. I split this into 15+10.

Did the workout proper at Level 3 (5 sets, 4 push-ups per defined combos). I went for max rest.Push-ups got a bit sloppy and I did get to feeling it.. But it wa ultimately manageable work!

After hitting the showers and sketching a future art project idea, I spent the rest of night on the usual.

I got to bed a little earlier than yesterday, still in the red zone.

Mar. 15

I woke up around 10AM

Did a bit of the usual before getting to a psychiatrist appointment. Went okay, aired out a thing and was met with understanding/receptivity. I still think my meds are staining a bit - but hopefully getting back to one-on-one therapy will help.

After getting home, doing some fic reading, and whatnot, got in my exercise.

First, today’s DD. 3′ overhead punches with EC. I counted 382 punches thrown in the duration, happy I managed to stay over 2/sec at that. Very enjoyable exercise.

Last, Chapter 60 of the Age of Pandora Program. Like last time, I went for Morse’s Plan, figured that’d be a fun thing to test against my previous run of the program.

Lotta basic burpees and squats, but unlike last time I managed Level 3 instead of 2 (7 instead of 5 sets). It was still pretty intense, but not quite as brutal as it was for me a year into this journey, yay for progress (definitely dig what a difference going at this stuff has made in the last 5 years...)! \o/

I then made today’s Hello Fresh meal. Pasta primavera in lemon Parmesan sauce. I thought this was pretty tasty.

Spent rest of night on the usual stuff.

I got to bed obscenely late, in the red zone.

Mar. 16

I woke up around noon.

Spent a few hours on: getting iced coffee, doing dishes, breaking down some boxes, and organizing some cookware that I recently decided on ordering.

After that and some of the usual peppered in, did exercise.

First, today’s DD. 40 plank rotations with EC. Manageable - took a bit of focus to maintain balance for all of it. Did get a little bit of fatigued, but doable.

Second, Day 1 of the Square One Program. This is a Level 1 Program - so I’m treating it as gentle strength-training and warm-up for the next part of docket. The load was light enough that I modded UP (not using a chair assist) exercises, did things at Level 3, and nixed the rest periods. We’ll see how well I may maintain this - but don’t anticipate issues there.

Last, Day 1 of the Reboot Program. Level 2 Program (cardio-centric), definitely a good deal more intensive than prior for it, considering this the meat of my exercise plan. Did this at Level 3 again, but kept to max rest (did all the hidden burpees, a tiny bit tough on the knees today.)

Spent rest of night on the usual, clothes shopping, and jotting down some more iZ!AU notes.

I got to bed a few hours earlier than yesterday, but still in the red.

Mar. 17

I woke up around 11AM.

Went to Seeking Safety Group again, today. Twas alright made some writing notes while teir. Thought about whether I could have the time afterwards to run out to a convenience store while I waited on pick-up - but didn’t do that.

Once I got back home, I got going on my exercise.

First, today’s DD. 50 back leg raises with EC (25/25). Did things as a balance variation. It was nice given how crampy my right hamstrings/glutes were feeling for some unknown reason.

Second, Day 2 of the SOP. Level 3, no rest. Arm work, i kept my arms up for all of the sets and in between them. Got a bit more intensive in the last couple levels.

(After a bit of recovery time, given there was more arm work ahead...)

Last, Day 2 of the RbP. Level 3, max rest. Yeah a lot of bicep extensions / arm raise hold times. Definitely a more intensive load that SOP. Arms got nice and tired.

Spent rest of the day on the usual stuff.

Got to bed later than yesterday.

Mar. 18

I woke up around noon and one of the first things I took care of was exercise.

First, today’s DD. 100 shoulder taps with Ec (standing). Manageable work, a bit tough in the last 30 reps or so.

Second, Day 3 of the SOP. Flexibility day, Level 3, no rest again. The Achilles/calf stretches were satisfying. Pretty breezy and good warmup.

Last, Day 3 of the RbP. Leg day, Level 3. I rested ~1′ in between sets, this time. Kinda glad for the short/small lunge intervals here. I feel like I need to give the knees some TLC again here soon...

Spent several hours on the usual stuff (reminisced about some old fandom stuff). Did a bit more writing before getting to bed too.

I got to bed obscenely late, in the red zone

Mar. 19

I woke up around noon.

After some YouTube, I got going on my exercise.

First, today’s DD. 10 archer push-ups, no EC. I wasn’t confident enough to do this type of push-up off the knees today - so modded things down that way. Yeah. Not a huge fan of these

Second, Day 4 of the SOP. Level 3, no rest, no assists. Enjoyable and gentle balance work, is what I got from it.

Last, Day 4 of the RbP. Level 3, max rest. Ooof. got to sweating buckets and winded - but done! I’m kinda surprised at how this Level 2 program isn’t as much of a cakewalk as it may seem. the hidden push-ups also helped make things that much more intense. (But I’m still in good enough condition to meet the challenge and I still think the rating is appropriate!)

After a bit of chatting, I made today’s Hello Fresh Meal. Oven-ready chili coconut curry chicken. A pretty low-effort meal, which I appreciated. That said - I may have to throw it in oven longer than specified next time around (i think I may’ve used a bit too much foil to cover the tins - might’ve drawn more heat away from the food like the chicken.) Otherwise pretty enjoyable.

After some dishes and chatting, got some substantive writing progress in (letting FocusMe do it’s job for me more effectively, helped).

I got to bed obscenely late, in the red zone... again.

Summary of Experience:

I completed my second run through the Age of Pandora Program in March 15. Quite a few days later than intended... but February/March has really been kicking my ass in terms of stress and energy levels.

At any rate, these are my stats from this run of the program:

Points Traveled: 1,428TP, Level 2, as high knees. (1 point = 10 steps.)

Challenge Levels Taken:

Level 3 for 45 Days (vs 19 from prior record!) - Feels pretty good hitting Level 3 for most of it, this time! \o/

Level 2 for 3 Days (vs 29 from prior record)

Level 1 for 1 Day (vs 1 from prior record) - Chapter 55 still kicked my ass, needed to break after Set 2... again. orz

Jobs Taken: 17 (5 Canis + 12 Misc/Ch.) - Looks like I did considerably less than last time.

Fights Won (Pits): 4 (City Pits) - Not counting instances for plot. It was fun doing more of these, this time around! Probably overdid it a little bit in pacing/loading. Pffft.

[Ending] Scraps: 200

Paths Taken (Spoiler-Free Version): Same as prior run!

Alana, Dicer, and Morse were invited to my camp, again.

---

My stats for the previous run from 2016, for reference...

Part 1:

Points Traveled: 755TP, Level 3, as march steps - mostly. (1 point = 20 steps.)

Challenge Levels Taken:

Level 3 for 10 days

Level 2 for 15 days

Jobs Taken: 20 (8 Canis + 6 Equos + 6 Misc.)

Pit-Style Fights Won: 3 (2 Plot + 1 Extra)

[Ending] Scraps: 4450

Paths Taken (Spoiler-Free Version): B, A, A (Perk Get!), A, B, B (To Be Continued...)

Alana, Dicer, and Morse were invited to my camp.

Part 2:

Points Traveled: 633TP, Level 3, as march steps - mostly.

Challenge Levels Taken: [After fixing counting errors]

Level 3 for 9 days

Level 2 for 14 days

Level 1 for 1 day

Jobs Taken: 8 (2 Equos + 6 Misc.)

[Ending] Scraps: 2,885

Paths Taken (Spoiler-Free Version): B, B, A, B, A (Epilogue B?)

#adventures with fitness #adventures with hello fresh #(hhh... keeping score is hard + that took way too much effort)#(but i like measuring progress this way)

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sleepy-giggles · 5 years

Text

The Impostor (a continuation of Ch. 26 from FT 100 Years Quest)

OHMYGOSH GUYS, I’ve been so excited after the latest chapter that I literally couldn’t sleep until I wrote my little version of what’s going to happen next!! I know we’re unlikely to get another gruvia-dense chapter after the GLORY that was Chapter 26, but I still have a full week until the next chapter comes out to dream ok? *o*

Click here to read on FanFiction.Net!

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Lucy and Wendy shuddered as the icy waves of doom and darkness emanated from their friend's body. The poor girls who sat on either side of him could only shiver silently, unable to escape the sub-zero temperature that extended within a 3-feet radius from Gray. Neither had the courage to say anything; they could tell that it wasn't a good time.

Erza, as well as Happy, were soundly asleep against a boulder furthest to his right. Luckily, having taken Erkis' place in the play earlier had tired Erza out completely, or else she would've smashed his skull open for being so careless with his magic.

The ice mage's right leg shook restlessly as he stared intently at the bluenette who sat directly across from him. They were separated by a campfire that unfortunately illuminated the unsightly scene in front of him all too well.

Yes, unsightly was the right word.

To say that he was in a sour mood right now would be an understatement.

"U-um," Wendy said meekly, barely above a whisper. "A-are you okay, Gray-san?"

He didn't hear her. It was safe to say that at that moment, he only had eyes and ears for one person, or rather two, to be accurate.

The neglected chicken wing he happened to be holding on a skewer engulfed into flames, but even then, his eyes never left Juvia's smiling face as she listened adoringly to Natsu's exaggerated retelling of how they defeated the Water God Dragon.

What. The. Fuck.

The scorched skewer in his hand snapped in half. He didn't know if he was overreacting because he hadn't seen her in a while and was simply more sensitive than usual, or if there really was something fishy going on.

Ever since Juvia showed up out of nowhere on their train, she hadn't been acting like herself. First of all, she didn't pounce on him immediately after she found them. This part wasn't all that strange since even Juvia had her calm days. But after explaining to the team why she was there —apparently, she had taken up a solo mission close by because she just couldn't bear to be away from her Gray-sama another second— she then had the audacity to sit down next to stupid Natsu. Without so much as hugging the ice mage.

Ok fine, he'll admit that to outsiders, her behavior didn't seem out of place at all. Perhaps to the rest of Team Natsu, it just looked like Juvia was holding back more than usual and keeping her feelings in check. But they didn't know her, Gray did. The two of them had been separated for an insane amount of time. She surely would've missed him just as much as he missed her, if not more. But to his utter disappointment, other than a few polite acknowledgments and gentle smiles his way, Juvia had, for the most part, ignored him.

And now, as they're settling in for the night, the water mage had once again plopped herself down beside flame-brain. Even when there was a huge vacant spot next to Gray, which he had purposely kept free just for her.

Juvina-sama's words echoed in his mind.

"Don't think she will wait for you forever, lover boy!"

He shook his head to get rid of any unnecessary thoughts. No, there was no way she moved on already. They had been through too much; they literally died for each other. And besides, even if Juvia finally got tired of waiting for him, it was ridiculous that she would choose the pink-haired idiot over him, of all people.

And yet…

"Wow, Natsu-san is so powerful!" Juvia giggled. "The Water God Dragon didn't stand a chance, huh?"

The dragon slayer let out a boisterous laugh, his head doubling in size at the compliment.

It took Gray everything he had to not plant his foot in Natsu's face right then and there.

He glanced over at Lucy, who had been sitting quietly at his left. The celestial mage's eyes were also glued to the unlikely pair across the campfire.

Shit, even Lucy looked worried. And this made him worried because if anyone was an expert at reading these types of situations, it was her.

The blonde emerged from her thoughts when she felt like she was being watched.

"W-What…"

"Nothing."

"So you noticed too, huh?" Lucy gave a forced smile and tried to sound cheery. "I didn't know they got along so well!"

Gray said nothing.

An elbow nudged him in the chest. "Don't tell me you're jealous?" Lucy winked at him.

He scowled and looked away, knowing that a blush was making its way to his face. "Shut it."

"Oh? You're not even going to deny it?" Lucy laughed and this time, it was genuine. "You've come a long way, Gray Fullbuster."

Gray grunted but smiled back. "Stop, you're starting to sound like Juvina-sama."

His friend, now more relaxed, looked back towards Natsu and Juvia happily chatting away. "Alright, since you're having such a hard time, I'll be generous and help you out before you freeze us all to death."

Wendy and Charle, who were currently cuddling close to the fire after Gray had unknowingly unleashed his cold wrath, turned to Lucy and gave her their best look of gratitude despite shivering.

"Um, Juvia!" the blonde called out. "You and Gray haven't seen each other for a while, I'm sure you two have a lot of catching up to do. Why don't we switch spots? Natsu here doesn't know when to shut up once you get him started on dragons."

"Hey I don't talk that much!"

The bluenette looked startled for a second as if realizing something. "Ah yes, Juvia indeed has missed Gray-sama so much!" She turned to face the ice mage and gave him her best, loving smile. "Juvia can't wait to hear all the stories Gray-sama has to share, later."

Later?

Gray's heart fell. Lucy, Wendy, and Charle looked on with shock. Heck, even Natsu's jaw dropped slightly at her response.

Without sparing him another glance, the water mage turned back to the dragon slayer. "Please continue, Natsu-san. You left off at a most exciting part!"

Natsu let out a nervous laugh and reluctantly continued. In turn, Juvia shifted closer to him until her bare knees pressed snuggly against the clueless man's thigh.

Very. Snuggly.

The campfire froze.

Everyone turned their attention to Gray.

"Hey ice princess, what's your deal?!" Natsu immediately blew a mouthful of fire at the block of ice, restoring the heat a little.

"Gray?"

Lucy peered up at her friend cautiously, but couldn't see his eyes as they were hidden under his bangs.

She noticed his tightened fists shaking and digging into his thigh, and placed a comforting hand over his white knuckles.

The girl jumped when the ice mage suddenly grabbed her wrist instead and tugged her closer.

"Sorry, Lucy," Gray said under his breath. Confused, she followed his line of sight until her eyes landed on the bluenette. The dots quickly connected as she realized his plan.

So Gray was going to test Juvia's reaction. Lucy relaxed slightly and tried to play along. By now, Juvia's love rival senses would've been tingling and any minute now, she'd probably fly across the fire to put herself between them.

However, to their surprise, the water mage didn't even notice the fact that they were holding hands. She couldn't have, because she never once looked their way.

Lucy was thoroughly freaked out at this point. And Gray was getting desperate.

In one swift motion, and a little more aggressively than he had intended, Gray threw his arm around Lucy's shoulder and slammed her body into his. This earned a loud squeak from the celestial mage. Wendy's face turned red, and finally, Natsu and Juvia paused their conversation to see what's up.

The pink-haired dragon slayer was the first to react.

"GRAY!" he roared and shot up from the log he was sitting on. He then pointed an accusing finger at them. "What do you think you're doing to Lucy?!"

Gray ignored him and continued to direct his piercing eyes at Juvia. No one can tell except probably Lucy, but he was fuming right now.

Suddenly, the hair on his body stood up.

Although it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, Gray could've sworn he saw a flash of irritation across Juvia's face. But it hadn't been the look of jealousy like what Gray was expecting. No… it was a look of annoyance directed at him for interrupting her conversation with Natsu.

She can't be serious….

Just what the hell did he do? Was Juvia actually giving him the cold treatment? Was this all because he went on the 100 years quest without considering her feelings?

Ok, that kind of made sense. But regardless, this was still out of character for Juvia no matter how angry she was with him! And Gray knew her more than he would admit. The girl who proved that her love for him was strong enough to break even Invel's Ice Lock was not someone who would play mind games with him. Like water, Juvia's thoughts were transparent and people can read her like an open book. She was refreshingly simple in the sense that she spoke her mind and behaved in ways that felt right to her. She displayed her heart for all to see, believing that there was no shame in telling someone how much she loved them. Juvia was different from Gray.

So why then, is his woman cuddling up to his best friend and—more importantly—not losing her shit over the fact that he literally has her "self-proclaimed" love rival practically sprawled across his lap?!

Another second passed, and Juvia was making no move to do anything about their compromising position. However, just as Natsu was about to march over and start a fight, Gray stood up, making poor Lucy lose her balance and fall on her stomach.

"It's getting late. Let's call it a night."

"HUH?! Oi popsicle head, I'm not done with you ye—"

"Natsu, stop!" Lucy snapped as she tried to pull the fire dragon slayer away. "You've done enough for one night, now let's go get some sleep!"

The blonde all but shoved Natsu into the boy's tent.

"Wendy, Charle, do you think you two can manage carrying Erza to her bed?"

"Don't worry, Lucy. We'll take care of it," Wendy said with one arm already under Erza's shoulder. She seemed relieved to finally escape this 'adult drama' that had unfolded a few moments ago.

As the crew slowly retired to their respective tents, only Juvia and Gray were left.

"It's been a wonderful night, Gray-sama," she smiled at him brightly. "Juvia will see you tomorrow!"

"Wait." His hand shot out and pulled her back.

"Hm?"

His eyes were pleading. "What's with you? You're acting different."

"Am I?"

"Yes, you are," Gray stressed. "It's been a long time since we've seen each other, and you're treating me like a stranger."

"You're worrying over nothing, Gray-sama. You can never be a stranger to Juvia."

There it is, that fake smile again.

The ravin-haired mage narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Juvia," he leaned over the wooden fence that stood along the edges of the hill, and stared off into the faded landscape as dusk settled in. "Has that scar healed yet? I still feel awful for accidentally stabbing you that day."

The blue-haired beauty had a troubled expression on her face. "Gray-sama, Juvia will be sad if you keep blaming yourself. It was nothing more than an accident, and the scar is healing just fine."

"Oh really?"

Her skin crawled when he turned slowly, eyes glowing bright red in the dark. His arm and the majority of his broad chest was covered in disturbing, black markings. She backed away.

"Gray-sama? You're scaring Juvia—"

In a split second, his long fingers were around her neck and she found herself choking.

"Your acting was pretty good there, almost had me fooled," the devil slayer seethed. "Too bad it just wasn't good enough."

She struggled and clawed at his tight grasp.

"You're not Juvia. So who the fuck are you? Some sort of shape-shifter?!" he bit out threateningly and released his hold just enough for her to be able to talk.

"Please… Gray-sama…" Her tear-stained face twisted in pain, and almost immediately, Gray released her.

His heart beat heavily in his chest from the adrenaline. Shit, what if he was mistaken? What if—

A chilling laugh escaped the water mage's lips. With a hand still massaging her neck, she gazed up at him with a smirk.

"I'm impressed, I didn't think you'd catch on this quickly. You're not as dumb as you look."

Gray froze and his blood ran cold when the unfamiliar woman in front of him confirmed his worst fears.

"I'll ask you one more fucking time," he rasped out as his whole body shook with barely restrained rage. "Who are you? And where the hell is Juvia?"

"Who I am is not important."

The woman stepped towards him. "But your sweet little Juvia…" she took his hand and placed it over her heart, "is right over here… Gray-sama." She whispered the last part tauntingly into his ear, and Gray realized that he had escaped a crazy dream only to end up in a nightmare.

#gruvia #gruvia fanfiction #gruvia fanfic #gray and juvia #gray fullbuster #Juvia Lockser #fairy tail #fairy tail fanfic #nalu #fairy tail 100 years quest #Gray X Juvia #fanfic

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agentdagonet · 6 years

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Echoes, Ch. 13

Find it here on AO3

Find it here on tumblr: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Fic Summary: Feet dangling off the edge of the bed, hands still resting on the earpieces of his glasses, Eggsy opened his eyes.

And promptly shut them again, screwing them shut like a child who had the distinct misfortune of biting into a raw lemon. Breathing harshly in his nose and out his mouth, trying to stave off whatever delusional panic had befallen him, Eggsy reopened his eyes.

‘Harry?’

Or: The Hologram Story Nobody Asked For

Harry Hart didn't know the date. He couldn't tell you who the current President was (not so much couldn't as wouldn't, but still, silence was its own answer) or his own name as far as the Hospital staff were concerned. He'd been confused and horrified by the tale they'd spun when he'd woken up, but had only asked for his belongings in a seemingly-desperate bid to recall who he was.

Agent Galahad was confused beyond measure and more than a little worried about his Agency in the wake of the things he'd woken up to. Not the least of which was an ungodly amount of gossip about who was and was-not being discovered without a head every few days. Missing persons from around the globe reappear overnight, refusing to give any details as to their freedom, but all anyone could talk about were the gruesome collections of headless world leaders and celebrities being discovered even a year later. The priorities of the general populace were, as ever, unsurprising. It had been surprisingly easy to convince certain members of staff that he could contact (or, try to, as it were) his family if given internet access. There'd been a delay, certainly, but one of the overnight nurses had left him a laptop with strict instructions not to ignore his body's needs in favour of traipsing the net. He wasn't Merlin (he ignored the pang in his chest that reminded him that there may no longer be a Merlin) but he had picked up enough throughout the years to use the unsecured laptop without giving himself away. He'd looked up the news reports for V-Day, as it had so lovingly been named by the masses, statistics showed that nearly 1% of the population had been affected by the incident. Only 10% of those affected had died, the rest were still in various states of injury and recovery; those who had been found headless were barely acknowledged outside of a small blog that kept a running list. There had been a day of mourning for them, notably interrupted by rioters demanding answers they would never receive, before the bodies were simply tagged and cremated, the ashes sent in plain boxes to their next of kin. Any new finds were reported before following the same process; by now it was simply routine. There was a reddit thread dedicated to discovering who, exactly, they should be thanking for ending the Valentine Massacre and releasing their missing persons. There were maybe 100 posts; one claimed to be the Princess of Sweden, who mentioned how finely dressed and fit their rescuer was. That didn't have to mean anything, on its own, but Harry's traitorous heart began to hope anyway. One poster identified themselves as M.Baker, and spoke about a young woman having called them and gave instructions to lock their daughter in a bathroom and throw way the key mere moments before the chaos began. They wrote that they most would definitely have killed their daughter without the warning, having come to their senses with a large knife in hand standing over the buggy they'd left their child strapped into. Baker... Baker... Dean Anthony Baker, Eggsy's unfortunate stepfather; married to Michelle with one daughter, Daisy.

M. Baker, warned by a young woman about the chaos to potentially save the life of their young daughter. It was a stretch, but at this point Harry was willing to follow any spider's silk that would tell him Kingsman was not only responsible for ending the threat, but had suffered minimal losses as well. The call could have come from their newly knighted Lancelot, who had formed something a bit tighter than alliance with Eggsy during their trials. Eggsy. Eggsy who he had left in his house, unattended but for a laptop hooked into his glasses feed. Eggsy who had gone to beat his father after the crushing failure of his final test. Eggsy who had been correct in his assessment of Harry having something of his father stuffed in the loo (figuratively, not that Eggsy knew that). Eggsy whose apology he had callously ignored before going off to Kentucky- Eggsy, who had to have seen Harry's time in Kenucky come to a gruesome end.

He could only hope Eggsy'd been spared from Valentine's scheme- but there were only a handful of ways to be sure. He logged in to his in-home feed remotely, bypassing the vocal and fingerprint features with a series of intricate passcodes, and let out a shaky breath at the sight of Eggsy in his home. Mildly bruised, looking incredibly lost with his head bowed to the floor of the downstairs loo, and apparently mid-conversation. 'Guilt ain't gonna bring those people back, bruv.' Harry'd only tapped into the audio/visual feed, and was unable to see whoever Eggsy was speaking to, when he realised that Eggsy was wearing a set of Kingsman glasses. There was no one else there, no phone on the counter top or the telltale blinking from the inner rim of the glasses when engaged with communication at HQ, so the only explanation was- The Will. The holograms, hooked into his house without so much as a by-your-leave from Merlin (not that that had ever stopped him). It'd been a year (how easy it was to forget that, in the unchanging sterile hospital) of course they'd turned on. And if Eggsy were living in his home, for whatever reason, it was only a matter of time before they'd been discovered. Apparently that time had come and gone, and Harry wasn't sure of when it happened, but his fingers were typing into the command box. He didn't remember what all he'd originally had this one say but skimmed through the text and added on autopilot, hoping to a vague entity that it came out fluidly to Eggsy. He had to know that he had done the best he could and would only improve if he kept moving forward. It was all that had held himself together, some days. Eggsy who was not Lancelot, though the hologram addressed him as such. Had Eggsy been Knighted? And, if so, how had he bypassed the Dog Test? What circumstances had led them to this moment, split apart by an ocean and near-assured death? Did all of Kingsman survive Valentine's scheme? If not, who had been lost? Harry only half-listened to himself monologuing, questions running through his head at an alarming rate, but found himself frozen as Eggsy spoke about his father. 'It was worth it.' Harry mouthed the words to himself, hardly able to believe them. Eggsy, the child whose father he'd taken (with the best of intentions) and whose life he'd most assuredly caused (however tangentially) to fall into the mess it had, thought it was worth it? Harry watched, mouth agape, as Eggsy pulled Lee's butterfly from the wall, and ran a finger across the writing Harry barely recalled, a soft smile accompanying tears he didn't bother wiping away. Had Harry been paying himself any mind, he'd have felt a set of matching tracks across his own face. As it was, he watched the feed for a moment more before turning his attention to the rest of the command boxes at his disposal. He could easily set off an alarm that would call whomever was at Merlin's desk to his home, but he didn't want to disrupt Eggsy's evening. He could send a message to Merlin directly, but that would be fruitless if Merlin were... gone. Same went for Arthur. It was fortunate that the hospital staff had kept his (albeit ruined) glasses, Harry thought to himself, as he activated the homing beacon and set them back onto his bedside table. He sent a message through the home system to both Arthur and Merlin's inboxes, he could only hope that whoever was in those positions now wouldn't write them off, before sending one to his own inbox in a vague hope of Eggsy having access. 'Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated, and I would greatly appreciate an escape route from this hospital. The tea is atrocious.'

#dagonet writes #kingsman #kingsman fanfiction #echoes #SEE I PROMISED #longer time between chapters than I would have liked #BUT STILL #I AM HERE

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kindabraveandlittlestupid · 6 years

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Try not to get caught up with the labels: Feminist, Equalist, or Humanist. The tag matters less than the larger goal society should set out to achieve. Equality for all and sometimes Equity to make small tips to the scale where needed. I am not afraid of embracing the concept of being a Male Feminist because my world is saturated by politics and I understand the players. I know the villains who wish to pit Feminist against Equalist or Humanist are doing so not because they believe any of the labels but because they benefit from the distraction between like-minded individuals who seek the same goals. Most men are not in the social position to be “The Patriarchy” but those men of wealth and power through industry, politics, or religion are the Patriarchy. An so long as they can make Men believe Women are a threat to them, that Black Lives Matter is a danger to White Americans or that Immigrants are taking the wealth of the country, these powerful men do very well so long as we keep fighting with the person next to us instead of realizing the real villains are often above us.

This is one reason why I like the idea of the Rise of Matriarchs in American Society. We can rattle these men’s cages and make them aware their power is suspect to change by a greater majority of society. This is not to say women cannot be corrupted by wealth and power as well but societies that have a more representative/diverse governments tend to be LESS corrupt and that is a step towards progress everyone benefits (except the extremely wealthy men who clutch power).

This post (despite the starter above) is not a political breakdown post though I plan to write on these subjects more in the future. Instead, it's more of clarification of my views and where I stand on various topics related to feminism. I realize there are topics that I might not touch base on and if you want me to add one you can shoot me a note. I also might hold opinions that do not take an absolutist view towards a topic and in today's politics that can be dangerous on the left and right because anyone who isn't falling in line 100% can be labeled a traitor to the cause or party.

Access to Birth Control and Planned Parenthood

I am always bewildered how nonsensical conservatives are in regards to these topics. The very best means of avoiding abortions is education, family planning, and birth control which prevent young women from having to make a difficult choice. Despite this, they believe in abstinence and try to remove birth control basically pushing more young women into the realm of motherhood because of a few minutes of passion that will ultimately decide the next 18+ years of their lives!

I believe Planned Parenthood should be available and welcome in each community to ensure that young women and men are protected, educated, and equipped with the proper means of avoiding unwanted pregnancies. I also believe condoms, IUDs, Birth Control Pills and Plan B’s should be available on the cheap and discreet to further protection. Lastly, Birth Control should be covered by insurance, even business insurance regardless of the employers personal/religious views. In other words, I am pretty damn liberal on this.

Abortion Rights (Link)

There are fewer choices a woman might face more difficult then deciding if she should or should not get an Abortion. I wrote in detail about this topic before so I will give you the short version. I believe NO ONE likes the idea of a abortion but those of us who understand the issue also know that forcing any woman regardless of age, race or social position to give birth also not ok. We in society should make this choice informative and safe. We do that by having comprehensive sexual education and birth control to be the ‘front line’ of avoiding this difficult choice. If she decides to take the next step or explore her options it shouldn't be done by bullshit church clinics attempting to use shame, guilt or false information to change her views but institutions that provide her all the options and information she could need to make the choice that's best for her. Everything should be her choice without influence from the community, the church, her parents or even the male involved. Aftercare programs should also be there to help her no matter what choice she chooses.

I think we should aim for the 20 weeks (Recent science article suggests this is possible when the babies consciousness kicks in. Open to changing if the article ends up being false) and under as the optimal time to make the choice. However, I am open to learning more on this topic and discussing if the “when” should be pushed further back. Lastly, if it comes down the choice between saving the mother or unborn fetus, I believe the mother's life is more important unless she deems otherwise. There are few political topics where I think men should shut up and let women decide... this is one of them.

Paid Family Leave

This isn't just a woman's issue but also a men's issue as well. I would actually argue this is a progressive issue as both the father and mother both deserve to take part in raising a child in those early stages. We need to consider this as a long-standing social program to allow career-oriented adults (both male and female) to continue their careers but also to support their family. We also need to ensure employers don't attempt to punish these women (and men) by skipping over them for promotions or refusing raises because they decided to have a child.

There is no argument from me that women deserve a longer leave of absence being the one who gave birth and breastfeeds the baby. I think both parents could benefit from this sort of social net and it's important we build it in such a way that it also covers two mothers or two fathers and even adoption.

Girls Education

With a better education for girls in the United States (and for the matter the world) has proven to improve economies, lower crime and even slow overpopulation because academic opportunity provides new options instead of simply being a wife/mother (nothing wrong with those if you choose that as part of your lifestyle). This is still a major issue as there are still countries that place girls education as secondary to boys education. Even if they are far away it is still our responsibility to ensure girls rights to an education is provided for them. Its pretty clear I believe in this topic wholeheartedly, however if you know me then you know there is more often then not a but around the corner.

The only caveat I can think to note is Female only education programs. An example of this is Girls Who Code that teaches programming to young girls. I love this program and I think its great they are trying to narrow the tech industry gap by pushing for more female coders. However, as someone who worked in a non-profit industry for a few years and created co-ed athletic leagues, there is value in having boys work with girls. These young women won't be working with only females forever, eventually, they will have to work with male coders and gender segregation robs them of that early experience. On a second point (and the real thing the operators of this program are missing out on) it is the fact if they have males in their class/program they can catch/alter/adjust the problematic behavior of male students to make them the new gold standard of how a male coder should act with their female coworkers. I suppose this is all just perception but I always believed its better to have both genders work together so they might view each other as equals rather embrace a gender segregation to achieve some corporate goal of having a bigger female workforce without address the issue of toxic male work environments.

MeToo Movement

I admit I am of mixed feelings about the MeToo Movement. I hesitate to support ANY movement that relies heavily on the court of public opinion. I worry about the history we all have and how sharp this social edge is at cutting down men (and women) who stand accused of any transgression. At the same time, I understand this is the reaction when sexual assault (verbal or physical) is simply swept under the rug for decades.

It scares me a little making me wonder if I ever pushed something too far. I think of jobs were I work with men and we goof off telling stories but having female coworkers nearby. They participated in the tales but I feel a dreadful concern that one or more of them simply played along trying not to make a fuss. Perhaps I made someone feel uncomfortable online at some point in the past.

Lord knows I was a victim myself to a young stalker who drove past my work taking pics and texting the line “LOL. I know where you work”. I was only able to make her stop harassment when she texted things like she was gonna lie to the police and send me to jail and I replied back with the screenshots of the whole conversation making her think how they (the police) might react when I share the text logs (clearly she didn't think her grand plan thru). I also endured a few indecent encounters with drunk women (usually on Saint Patricks Day) when I wear my kilt to the bar and they lift the edge to get a peek. I politely laughed it off and brush their hand away trying to ignore the fact they were we attempting to see if I was wearing the kilt authentically.

When you’re the victim of something like this you know it in your core that people were mistreating you. I know I never groped a woman, physically assaulted anyone or flashed myself but have I made improper jokes and I hope I never made anyone feel uncomfortable.

In the end, the MeTooMovement is a good thing. It needs to evolve into the next stage taking on a political form where it becomes not just a hashtag and social media post but evolve into real-world policy and social change that adjusts how men treat women in society (and the occasional female on male transgression). We can all do a little better and MeToo has the momentum to perhaps create a lasting social change by creating consent and decency program that could be taught both in schools and also in adult careers.

Women in Politics (Link)

I touched base with this topic before and I am pretty comfortable in my position. We don’t need more women in politics, we need more Smart Women in politics (and for that matter, we could do with some smarter men as well). Women make roughly between 20 to 30% of the leadership positions in government. Champions like Lee, Clinton, Warren, and Collins make up some of the smartest women in politics and bring a character with them that makes not only Washington better but the whole country better.

The reason why I make the distinction between “More Smart Women in Politics” and just “More Women in Politics” because of women like DeVos, Palin, Bachmann, and Sanders exist. Really just stupid stupid people who don’t know nor care about the long-term effect of their policies and their divisive rhetoric. We could do better than the likes of them and I hope this 2018 election brings a wave of strong/smart women who will balance out this government to something more representing of the country... 50/50.

NOTE: Preferably a BLUE wave of strong women.

Conclusion

I handpicked these topics because they relate to women's issues. By no means are these topics the only thing women care about but they connect deeply with feminism. As I said above if there is something you care for me to add to the list and hear my personal views/beliefs then shoot me a note. If we do not agree 100% on a topic I ask you to reflect on what I write before writing a hot worded post. If you have an opposing or slightly different view on a subject and think I could benefit from hearing a feminine take on a topic, by all means, share your post (and links to information). I am always evolving in my opinions and alternative views with thoughtful insight commonly shift my views. As always thanks for reading.

Regards Michael California

#Male Feminist #Supporting Women #Progressive #Liberal #Politics #GirlsWhoCode #Women in Politics #MeToo #Me Too Movement #Abortion #Abortion Rights #Pro Choice #Planned Parenthood #Paid Family Leave #Girls Education #Equality #Equity

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nordic-language-love · 3 years

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Language Learning Log 2021 - Week 16

Norwegian

45-minute lesson

Read 4x articles

Read 2x chapters Harry Potter og Føniksordenen

Watched 3x Norsklærer Karense videos

Watched 1x Nytt På Nytt episode

Wrote 316 words of fiction

Mysteriet om Nils ch 40 + read ch 41

Chatted with Amanda

Japanese

Kanji drills

Read a short story

Listened to music

Duolingo: Family 2 skill

JFZ ch 10 exercises + ch 11 video

Norwegian

There have been ups and downs this week. I started strong by doing a full chapter of Mysteriet om Nils instead of just the reading as I’d planned. But once again I didn’t do as much reading as I wanted, and I did basically no writing. I did have a nice chat with @hopehav though! I feel like talking is getting easier, even if my grammar and pronunciation are still all over the place.

Last week’s goals

Mysteriet om Nils ch 40 reading ✅

Read 4x chapters Harry Potter og Føniksordenen [2/4] ❌

Watch 3x Norsklærer Karense videos + take notes [3/3] ✅

Watch 2x TV shows or news broadcasts [1/2] ❌

Write 1000 words of fiction [316/1000] ❌

This week’s goals

Read 100 pages of Harry Potter og Føniksordenen

Write 1000 words of fiction

Watch 2x Norsklærer Karense videos + take notes

Japanese

I continued learning new kanji doing drills with my colourful pens on my whiteboard. I love it! This week I learned more family vocab (孫, 親戚 and 兄弟), verbs (走る and 座る) and 一緒. I wanted to learn 15 new kanji this month and made a list of 25 potential kanji. I’ve actually got through most of that list already.

I also read another short story. This one was only a page and a half, so it didn’t take very long to read. I was really happy to see a couple of kanji I’d recently learned crop up too! It’s motivated me to keep working on my vocabulary. I do need to work on my grammar too, so I’ve been thinking of getting a new textbook (JFZ does not cut it for me unfortunately). Until then, I’ll try to watch some youtube videos and find explanations online.

Last week’s goals

Read a short story ✅

Improve Family 2 skill to level 2 [4/6] ❌

Watch JFZ ch 11 grammar videos ✅

Kanji drills on at least 3 days [3/3] ✅

This week’s goals

Duolingo: improve Family 2 skill to level 2

Kanji drills on at least 3 days

JFZ ch 11 exercises

Other

My dad came over to visit this week and the stress of it basically drained me, so I had a few days of not really doing much at all. Actually, I’ve spent a lot of time napping - I went back to bed twice on Saturday! So all in all, not my most productive week. But I did have a fantastic training session yesterday where I worked hard on a lot of tricks I’ve not attempted for a while because I’ve been too scared to train them (because I’ve lost strength and didn’t want to be faced with just how much strength that really was). As predicted, I have a lot of work to do before I’m back to where I was, but I’m so determined now!

This week I reeeeeally need to get on with my instructor courses this week! Now that we’re open for private lessons again I need to be booking in classes, but I can’t until I’ve finished my course as otherwise my insurance is invalid. So that’s my main goal this week!

I’m not expecting to get much done in terms of languages/exercise this week - my boyfriend has the week off so I want to spend time with him. Plus my dad is coming over again on Thursday, so Wednesday I’ll be tidying/baking/buying food/stressing out and Thursday I doubt I’ll get much done at all. So I’m setting minimal goals this week. Hopefully I’ll still achieve some!

Last week’s goals

Stretch on at least 3 days [1/3] ❌

Allow biceps to heal up ✅

Finish aerial hoop instructor course unit 6 ❌

Strength and conditioning course units 4-6 ❌

This week’s goals

Train aerial hoop and/or pole on at least 2 days

Stretch on at least 2 days

Finish aerial hoop instructor course unit 6

#progress report #langblr #learning languages #language blog #norwegian langblr #japanese langblr

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thatbluegibson · 6 years

Text

CH 57

Liz tucked her boys into their beds in her sister’s old room and met her mom in the hallway.

“Try to get some sleep, dear,” her mom whispered, “We’re just across the hall if you need us.”

Liz nodded and retreated to her childhood bedroom, still somewhat unchanged since she had last slept in it some fifteen years ago. Her mom had taken down the band and gig posters, lovingly rolled them up and stashed them in the closet, but the bulletin board and CD collection still were intact. Liz curled up onto her full sized bed and stared at her old nightstand, smiling at the pick collection she had stuck to the side of it. She wondered if Travis had talked Kyle into rehab and if he had the will to get clean again. An emergency custody order had been arranged through her lawyer to strip Kyle of his rights until he was proven clean which she knew would infuriate him, but the boy’s safety came first above everything else. Rolling onto her back, she took inventory of her day. Up at five with the kids, dropped Jack off at school at 8, then drove over an hour to Portland for her dance lesson, then an hour back to pick up Jack and then head home to relieve Travis of watching Owen. An hour later Kyle had shown up. She took a deep breath just to see if she could, thinking that the exhaustion of everything was so heavy that she might not be able to. Her life was a fucking wreck, but it wasn’t all gloom and doom if Paul McCartney wanted her to work on an album. And then there was Dave, who cared enough to worry about her and her seemingly endless drama. Why did everything have to fall apart right when he showed up? Remembering she still hadn’t called him, she felt for her phone and dragged herself off the bed when she realized she had left it in the kitchen. Tiptoeing down the steps, she avoided the squeaky treads that she knew by heart and grabbed her phone off the kitchen counter. She was just passing the foyer when a figure in the window next to the front door made her gasp and jump back before realizing it was Travis.

“You fucking scared me,” she whispered as she pulled open the front door and let him in.

“You didn’t answer your phone,” he replied, looking down at the device in her hand, “Kyle is all checked in and under lock down for three weeks.”

Liz let out a long sigh and leaned against the wall, “Good. Thank you for dealing with all that.”

“He’s my brother, Liz. I’d do it whether you asked me or not.”

Liz felt the rush of empathy hit her and realized she was being incredibly selfish. She stepped forward to hug him and he immediately hid his face in her hair. He didn’t often let his tough facade break, but when he did it was a full collapse. “He’s such a fucking idiot, Liz.”

“Yeah, I know”

“The boys deserve so much better.” He loved Jack and Owen like they were his own and cherished being their Uncle T more than anything. He had come running when Liz was in labor with Jack and Kyle had vanished, holding her hand through the thick of it until Kyle miraculously reappeared and kicked him out of the room.

“I know,” she repeated.

“Do you think…” Travis stepped out of her arms and looked down at his feet, “Do you think maybe I could take the boys while you’re in England? We can send Andy for security and-“

“Travis, I’ll never take those boys away from you, ever. Regardless of what your idiot brother does,” Liz said firmly, “If you want to send Andy and watch the boys, I’m 100% down with that.”

Liz couldn’t remember the last time Travis looked so happy. She hugged him goodbye with the promise that she’d see him tomorrow to work out logistics and locked the door before heading back up to bed.

Dave’s phone lit up and buzzed sideways, bouncing off the red glass candle that was set in the middle of the booth’s table.

“Answer it,” one woman urged her friend as she checked her makeup in a small mirror fished from her giant purse.

Her friend flipped her black hair over her shoulder and picked up the phone with her long acrylic nails, swiping to answer the call, “Hello?”

Liz looked down at her phone screen thinking she had called the wrong number.

“Hello?” the woman asked again, her shrill voice now annoyed.

“Uh… yeah. Is Dave there?” Liz furrowed her brow, trying to listen over the blaring music in the background.

“Oh, he’s a little busy right now,” the woman said, her friend giggling hysterically next to her. She flipped her hair again to hide the phone when Dave turned away from the bar with his hands full of beer glasses.

“Riiiight…,” Liz muttered, looking again at the phone screen.

“You’ll have to call back later. Like tomorrow or something,” the woman said quickly and ended the call, slamming the phone onto the table top.

Josh jumped at the loud noise and leaned across the table as the woman adjusted her top, “Who was that?”

“Literally, no one,” she smiled up at Dave when he set the glasses on the table and shoved Josh over so he wouldn’t have to sit next to the two random groupies Josh had plucked from the crowd at The Rainbow.

“So do you have a girlfriend?” the blonde screeched across the table at Dave.

“Yeah, Dave. You got a lady in your life lately?” Josh threw his arm around Dave and shook him a little.

“I’m seeing someone, yeah,” he replied, raising an eyebrow when the two women exchanged a giggle.

“But she’s not… here, right?” the other woman leaned forward and pressed her ridiculously huge implants against the wooden table top.

“She’s working,” Dave said, now thinking it was a bad idea to call Josh to get his mind off things. Why didn’t he call Taylor? Or Chris? Or Nate? He could be sitting in Nate’s kitchen discussing vintage aprons with him right now, but he had to call his rowdiest friend and go to the most insane bar they knew on the Sunset Strip of all places. He had waited as long as he could for Liz to call him back before he was certain he was losing his mind and Josh was the first person he thought of. They were several beers in when Josh had the bright idea of trolling the dance floor for some tail and dredged up these Oxford scholars while Dave did shots with some fans at the bar. Spotting his phone on the table, Dave slid it towards him and checked the screen, disappointed for the hundredth time that his notification bar was blank.

“Well if she’s busy…” the woman with jet black hair that he was pretty sure was a wig purred and he felt her acrylic claws slither up his leg.

He jumped back and Josh looked at him like he had grown another head, “What the fuck, dude.”

“I’ll be right back,” he managed and fled the booth for the back of the bar. Once outside, he shakily pulled a cigarette from his shirt and lit it, leaning against the brick building away from the other groups of smokers. He tried to remember the last time he had smoked, but couldn’t place it. He had tried to quit so many times at the request of his girls, but it was a bitch of a habit to break especially when he had been drinking. Realizing he hadn’t smoked in Oregon, a cigarette at least, he checked his phone again. Scrolling through Liz’s texts to make sure he hadn’t missed any, he noticed his call log was off. Thinking that was a bizarre thing to notice, he checked the log and swore when he saw her name above Josh’s at the top of the list.

“Shit,” he whispered and tapped the return call button as hard as he could.

“Hello?” Liz’s voice was muffled and gravelly.

“Hey,” Dave looked down at his shoes so no one would see that he was grinning like an idiot.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t call earlier,” he heard her roll over in bed and shut his eyes, imagining he was next to her.

“It’s okay, Liz,” he said quietly, “How are you?”

“We’re at my parent’s for the night, but Travis got Kyle in an inpatient rehab so we’re going back home tomorrow.” Dave struggled to understand what she was saying. She had to leave home to get away from Kyle? What the fuck was happening up there? “What are you up to?”

“Oh, uh…,” Dave looked up as Josh appeared next to him, “Josh and I went out for a beer.”

“Or twelve,” Josh chuckled and tossed a cigarette in his mouth.

Dave heard Liz mumble something and turned to the wall to hear her better, “What?”

“I’ll let you get back to having fun,” Liz said louder.

“No, I can-,“ he looked around for a quieter spot he could talk to her in, but couldn’t see anything.

“I have to get up in a few hours anyways,” she yawned, “Have a beer for me, okay?”

Dave leaned back against the wall feeling a little defeated, “Okay.”

“Bye, Dave.”

“Goodnight, Liz.”

He held the phone to his ear for a minute after she ended the call, only looking up when he felt Josh staring at him.

“You find a muse, man?” he asked, taking a deep drag off his cigarette.

“Fuck, dude,” Dave shook his head and returned his phone to his pocket. “I found something.”

Josh eyed a group of women that were inching their way towards them, “You ready to unshelve that Vultures record yet?”

Dave thought about the rainy day he had spent in bed with Liz in Oregon, telling her all about the Vultures sessions. “Yeah I might have promised someone that we’d put something new out.”

#dave grohl fanfic #dave grohl fanfiction #dave grohl fiction #thatbluegibson

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