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shegatsby · 27 days

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Love Thy Enemy

Summary; Y/N Atreides had always been a stranger to the entire galaxy, her bed wasn’t her bed, her home wasn’t her home due to the fact that she was sent to accompany and be sisters with Irulan. She had limited access to her actual family and over the years they grew distant. She thought she would be like Reverend Mother, alone, yet powerful, and soon she would realize that there was no need of being alone when a wild creature had his eyes on her for a long time.

A/N; Hi my little doves, I've missed you, I'm in love with my work lol I really enjoy writing this series so don't forget to share your thoughts with me. Don't worry, there will be SMUT in the future chapters. Sorry for any typos English isn't my first language.

TAG LIST IS OPEN! (Text me if i forgot to tag you little doves 🕊️ ♥️)

Warnings; Violence. Angst. Enemies to lovers. Female Bene Gesserit Reader x Feyd-Rautha,reader is reffered to as she/her.

Words; 2.232K

Chapter Four- ‘’Misery Begins’’

Giedi Prime, House Harkonenn

The air felt heavy in her lungs, the planet was orbiting a black sun, thus, everything outside looked black and white, no wonder these people were raised like animals, planet’s harsh conditions shaped their characteristics. The second she stepped out of the ship she hated every single thing but kept a firm stance.

Now she was settling in the guest quarters, the wedding was to be in 7 days and thankfully Harkonnen traditions says that they, under any circumstance, cannot stay in the same room.

Y/N had few of her personal maids and the rest was Harkonnen servants, all dressed in black with bald heads and pale, thin figures. Y/N noticed the looks she got from them, an outsider…

Inside the fortress one could see colors yet Harkonenns choose to keep it simple, her chambers consisted of a bedroom, a small living room, and bathroom. Without a word she moved to the velvet armchair which was facing outside, she didn’t want to engage in any conversation with anyone, ‘’Prepare my bath.’’ She ordered without looking at any of them and then moved to the desk in her bedroom to write a letter to her family saying that she landed on the planet safely and everything was fine of course she knew that every letter she would sent was going to be read by Feyd-Rautha’s most trusted politicians, maybe even by himself so she kept the letter short. ‘’Send this to my family.’’ She gave the metal, thin device which was the letter to a servant, ‘’Yes my Lady.’’

After her bath which consisted of warm water and bath oils she brought from home, she smelled fresh and felt better. She was on her desk reading when her door was knocked, ‘’Yes?’’

A servant girl entered, she looked sickly pale and thin, her eyes on the floor, her hands interlaced on her thin stomach, ‘’Na-Baron wishes to dine with you my Lady.’’ It wasn’t a wish, it was an order. ‘’The trip have made me exhausted, please tell Na-Baron that I desire to rest.’’

She noticed the girl’s change of body language, her eyes rose to look at her ladyship pleadingly. Y/N kindly smiled at the girl, oblivious to what was going to happen, she dismissed the servant girl.

The black sun of Giedi Prime shone bright just like the day before, Y/N decided to do some reading, learn more about the planet’s ecosystem. She had a light breakfast, the air still stingy in her lungs, she didn’t have much appetite.

Y/N Atreides was on her desk, taking notes and reading and her door knocked, ‘’Come in.’’ she was focused on the old books, ‘’My Lady.’’

‘’Yes?’’ she turned to face a man, he was a guard in his dark uniform. ‘’Na-Baron has a gift for you. He insists that you should open it after I am dismissed.’’ A strange request but what wasn’t strange about him anyways?!

Y/N couldn’t read the guard’s expression, his face was a blank slate, however he look more pale than usual skin color, was he ill? ‘’Thank you, place the box on the floor and you may be dismissed.’’ He did what he was told. She stood up and approached to the metal box, there was a strong smell of iron coming from it, it appeared there was no lock, no writings. Just in case, she placed the portable force field on her hand, activated it and tested it, working just fine.

Her hand went to open the metal box and her first reaction was to scream in terror, and her second reaction was to run to her bathroom and throw up her breakfast, shaking uncontrollably, on her knees like a wild animal.

Y/N Atreides didn’t know how many minutes or decades she had spent in that position, finally one of her old maids came for her rescue. ‘’My Lady…’’ she was an old woman with white hair and motherly touch, ‘’It’s okay now..’’ she was rubbing Y/N’s back gently and whispering kind words. ‘’Is it-‘’ she sobbed, ‘’is it gone?’’

‘’I took care of it my Lady.’’ She helped Y/N stand up and leave the bathroom. The metal box which had the servant girl’s head was gone and yet she could feel her eyes watching her every move. She threw the shield on her hand and marched out of her chambers. There was a solider guarding her chambers, ‘’Where is Na-Baron?’’ she asked trying to control her tone. ‘’He has a meeting with Baron Vladimir and Glossu Rabban.’’

‘’Take me to him.’’ She said, could feel the anger on her chest, so hefty. ‘’But my Lady-‘’

‘’Take me to him.’’ She used the voice on him, the guard, without a word started to guide her to the meeting room. The corridors of the fortress were mostly black, some grey and white here and there, there were guards on watch duties, servants cleaning or carrying stuff. It was so different than the environment she grew up in, in Caladan or Emperor’s planet was vivid and thriving, here it was just… lifeless. She cursed her fate.

There were two guards on the doors of the meeting room, ‘’Open.’’ She used the voice again and the doors were opened slowly, Baron Vladimir was sitting on a metal chair which was placed on marble steps, towering over Glossu Rabban and Feyd-Rautha who were standing and looking up at him, listening to him as if their lives depend on it.. well.. they weren’t wrong. Baron was surprised to see her. ‘’Lady Y/N!’’ he announced which made the boys look at her direction but she refused to look at them, her focus was on Baron. ‘’What a lovely surprise, I hope you quarters to your liking.’’ Y/N bowed in courtesy, ‘’Thank you my Baron, you are the most generous.’’ She had to control her anger and she was doing a good job, keeping things formal. She had to be respectful to the family otherwise her position let alone her life would be at stake, she remembered Feyd’s words; ‘’Try to humiliate me again and see what happens, little dove.’’ The room was barren with only a long marble table and chairs, the curtains were closed and white glowglobes lighting the room, no carpets, no ornaments. ‘’What do we owe the pleasure of your visit?’’ he asked, she could see he was trying to understand her moves. ‘’I must speak with Na-Baron. It is urgent.’’ Finally she turned to face him, even though he was standing far away she could see his body reacting to her words, he was alert and an animalistic shine on his eyes. ‘’Feyd, please escort your wife-to-be to a more secluded area and discuss.’’ His uncle said and Feyd bowed to him quickly, ‘’Yes uncle.’’ And then he turned to her, marching like a soldier, he held her arm and escorted her out of the room, his grip was tight, he made her follow him. Since there were guards and servants everywhere she didn’t dare to utter a word.

Y/N had no idea where they were going, the fortress was a maze and every corridor looked similar. They reached a door, Feyd dismissed the guards and opened the heavy black door. Quite frankly he threw her inside, before she got a chance to look around she spit her venom. ‘’What is wrong with you?!’’ Feyd looked puzzled, ‘’Did you really beheaded that girl just because I refused to dine with you?!’’ she could feel her whole body shake in anger, being in his presence disturbed her equilibrium. ‘’Oh, that.’’ He remembered, his behavior made it worse for her. ‘’Yes, that!’’ He didn’t close the space between them, his hands behind his back. ‘’Did I upset you, little dove?’’ was he mocking her? ‘’Upset?!’’ Y/N couldn’t believe her ears, what happened to that sweet boy she met years ago?

He started to move towards her like a predator, he was much taller than her, towering above her she had to look up to meet his icy blue orbits. Years had turned him into a killing machine, what a shame. She hoped to see remorse in those beautiful eyes but found nothing. Back of his hand found her heated cheek, touching ever so gently, it made one wonder how could he behead an innocent girl and then touch his wife-to-be like a tender lover. ‘’This is what happens when you reject my orders.’’ His voice calm and collective. ‘’I hate you!’’ and she pushed his chest but had no impact so she moved away from his aura. That’s when she noticed that they were in his quarters of the fortress, she remembered the fact that he dismissed the guards, no one to help her if things were to took a turn. ‘’You hate me?’’ he asked, still calm. ‘’What else… do you also fear me?’’

‘’No.’’ she simply answered. His none existent eyebrows rose, his pupils dilated ever so slightly, she noticed how still he was, like a statue. His nostrils flared with a passion she could not placed.

‘’No? So you don’t fear me.’’ He repeated back, folding his arms, he wasn’t angry, only curious. ‘’Not at all?’’

‘’You aren’t allowed to hurt me.’’ Her voice higher than his.

‘’Not allowed?’’ he tilted his head, his voice low and husky, ‘’and how can you be so certain of such?’’ a slight smile pulled at his plump lips, ‘’What makes you so confident in that?’’ he knew his own intentions but he was curios of what went on within her pretty head. There was a certain aura about Y/N that intrigued Feyd, he was watching, listening and studying her.

‘’Let me go back to my home.’’ She whispered, even she didn’t believe herself but that was her intention, to go back and ride her horse, walk in the lush gardens, laugh with her other Bene Gesserit friends. ‘’You assume you have the final word where you go.’’ He chuckled, his voice lower than before. ‘’I decide where you go.’’ His gaze grew sharp like an animal, ‘’I decide what you do. And what I decide..’’ Feyd laughed again, ‘’You’re going to obey.’’

‘’I had a life before you took me, I had a family and friends and, and..’’ she could feel her eyes getting blurry, ‘’And?’’ he insisted, ‘’I had a partner, a lover, and you scared him away!’’ she was practically yelling at this point, female rage taking over her body. ‘’A lover? Don’t make me laugh little girl. If he was so in love with you-‘’ he opened his arms looking around, ‘’where is he? Why isn’t he here defending your honor and saving you from me?!’’ with the mention of Y/N’a former partner Pyramus, Feyd-Rautha wasn’t so calm anymore, he could feel rage rising in his body.

‘’Because of you! You scared him and he ran! Otherwise he would be here-‘’

‘’Don’t be that stupid Y/N! He wasn’t so scared when I offered him a deal.’’

And with that Y/N was confused, ‘’What deal?’’

Feyd-Rautha was pacing in the room in anger, he couldn’t believe she was still ‘’in love’’ with that low life, waste of space. ‘’I offered him a supply of spice which will outlive him and his children and his children’s children. A generation wealth so to speak.’’

Y/N was shaking her head in rejection, her gaze focused on the floor, ‘’No, no,’’ she whispered, not believing what Feyd was suggesting. ‘’Yes Y/N! Your lover didn’t hesitate a second and took the deal.’’

‘’Then why did he try to escape with me?!’’ she yelled in pain, her heart was torn into pieces, ‘’I wanted you to see how pathetic he was and I staged it.’’ Feyd’s chest heaving with anger and he was so passionate to prove her he was right, he turned to go to the next room and brought back a metal device, he opened it, ‘’Here, he signed the deal.’’ She took it and saw the spice deal written on it, millions of gallons.. and Pyramus’ signature at the bottom…

Feyd grabbed the metal device and threw it on the couch near him, ‘’Not going to lie, you weren’t cheap.’’ And she slapped him.

Feyd-Rautha was slapped by a woman for the first time in his life, he froze for a second, shocked to see how bold she could be. He was even turned on a bit. With both of his hands he grabbed her delicate shoulders tightly, he was much stronger than her. ‘’LET GO OF ME-‘’

Feyd-Rautha didn’t care what she wanted, ‘’I might hurt you physically Y/N, but I would never do that to you. I would never sell what’s mine for something else. Do you hear me?!’’ his voice was rough and irritated her ears, her body was in shock and her shoulders hurting her. ‘’I would never leave what’s mine behind and walk away, I am a man, see me as a man not that little boy you met years ago!’’

Was that a love confession, no it couldn’t be.. someone like Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen couldn’t possibly feel something so pure and innocent, or was it just being possessive and showing her that her life was in his hands till death do them apart. The stress overcame her body, her vision was getting darker and the last thing she saw was Feyd’s pretty eyes.

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Thank you for reading. :)

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spacedace · 1 month

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Got inspired by the below tiktok and the idea of the Rogues killing the Joker in revenge for Jason instead of Bruce and had to write about it.

Here, have probably way too many words (with more to come most likely, this really won't leave me alone) of the Rogue's feelings about Jason's death at the Joker's hands and everything that followed.

(also I know the timeline is a bit screwy, shhh just go with it, we're going on vibes with this one lol)

Childhood was not held universally sacred in the dark streets of Gotham.

The city was hard and cruel and she didn’t care about the ages of those that were ground up and spit out in her oily black heart.

A kid could slit your throat as easy as a man grown in a place like their fine city, maybe easier even for those who still fell for the ideal of children being incapable of anything but innocence and sweetness. Children learned from the world around them though, they learned from the savagery that filled their world, the hard scrabble desperate attempts to survive. They learned what dark corners to avoid, which ones were safer to skitter down.

It didn’t mean there weren’t still some rules of decency to be honored though.

Most folks, even those in the circle of the Rogues, largely left kids out of the equation. Crossfire happened of course, hitting busy city centers always meant some kind of collateral. But there wasn’t much that they got out of purposefully hurting kids outside a black mark on their name in most levels of the grungy underbelly of the city and one hell of a big target on their back. Both from the Bat and those criminals in the dark with them that took offense to those kinds of things. They were crooks, but with few exceptions they weren’t complete monsters.

Robin had always held an interesting place in their grungy little ecosystem. Anything to do with the Bat was generally ruled as gloves-off, do what you do without hesitation. And Robin - both of ‘em - had no problem hitting hard and being ruthless. The first one in particular had a feral sort of rage to him that was a terrifying thing to be on the business end of.

But they were still kids.

Defending yourself from any kid swinging on you was fair game, a person had the right to defend themselves. Grabbing up Robin to hold hostage or bait Gotham’s local cryptid, that was all fine and dandy. You could even get away with roughing the kid up a little here and there, so long as you made sure not to go too far and always kept hits to where the kid’s armor was the thickest. No hard and fast written rules, mind, but general rules of thumbs. Lines indistinct due to the shaky ground a child dancing through the night as a vigilante left all of them on, but ones clear enough that you knew when you were at risk of going too far.

Besides, the Robins were good kids. Fucking feral little shits, of course, able to leave you bleeding just as easy from a kick as they were a sharp word. But good kids. Even most the Rogues in the Gallery liked em. It was hard not to be at least a little fond of a gutsy little punk like that.

Though they were all maybe a tad less nervous around Robin II than they were the original.

Robin I had a lot of anger burning in him, a lot of anger in him, but he was still a cheerful boy with a bright attitude that was refreshing in a world so bleak and dark as the one they all lived in. It was up in the air which was scarier about the kid: The smiled he gave when he was about to give a hands on demonstration about how much force a tiny ten year old could put into a kick when they had half a dozen spins shoved into a flip to wind up to 80 miles an hour, or the flash of his teeth when he was demonstrating the knife sharp brilliance of his belief that Batman was only as frightening as Robin was hopeful.

They weren’t sure if he realized that sometimes they felt a helluva lot more hope at the sight of the Bat when the little bird was putting the hurt on them, or if he’d simply folded that fact neatly into his core philosophy without issue.

Robin II on the other hand had this kind of quiet shyness to him - even as he was shouting the most inventive swears ever heard by human ear at someone while he kicked them in the balls hard enough to make ‘em see not just the face of their own god but a few dozen besides. He was just as unhinged as the Robin before him - seemed to be a requirement for the job really - but there was a distinct different in how the two birds flitted about the darkened skyline of the city. Where the first Robin’s smile was as much danger as it was dazzle, a fanged declaration of victory against the dark, Robin II’s was a sunny, stubborn declaration of perseverance. Kid was sassy and smart, and never - ever - flinched away from extending a hand to those he thought in need of it.

Even if the folks he offered that hand to were in the middle of an attack on some fancy Gala or Wayne Enterprises or whatever target of the week it was. Even knowing the offered hand was likely to be slapped away and followed by a right hook. Kid still always tried.

They all knew why.

The Bat was big on offering chances, on rehabilitation rather than damnation. Some of Robin II being the way he was came from the broody cryptid he followed around. But Batman couldn’t claim to be the sole reason for Robin II being the way he was, couldn’t even pretend to be the cause of most of it. Nah, they knew why the little bird was the way he was.

That unmistakable thick accent. That frame that was always a little too thin even as he got older and stronger. That unshakable, headstrong spirit.

Robin II was an Alley Kid.

A true child of Gotham.

Her polluted waters in his veins. Her smoggy air in his lungs. Her shadows clinging to his edges less like a beast looking to swallow a small bird up and more like a protective mother hiding her hatchling. He understood the world most of them came from. The one they all lived in. Knew it in a way anyone who hadn’t been swallowed up by the dark never really could.

Everyone had their favorite, but even those that claimed the first Robin as theirs couldn’t deny that Robin II was someone to be respected. Nor could they deny a fondness for the chain smoking, classic lit referencing, perpetually baby-faced little shit. They’d all had knock out drag out fights with the kid and knew how fucking unhinged the puny motherfucker could be in a fight, but he always tempered it with offers of resources, of a listening ear, of understanding.

He visited them after they’d been arrested sometimes. In Arkham, or Blackgate or wherever else they’d been locked up in after being stopped by the Dynamic Duo. The little bird would make the rounds whenever he had a broken wing or was stuck waiting as the Bat interrogated someone else or for any other reason he wasn’t out flitting about the city skyline at night. He’d bring cookies or snacks and even cigarettes from his own secret stash on the rare occasion, mask unable to hide the furtive glances around to check for the living shadow that was the disapproving Bat.

The Rogues and their Goons always had a soft spot for the Robins. And Robin II made it especially easy to let fondness bleed out of them from time to time. He was a good kid.

But childhood was not held universally sacred in the dark streets of Gotham.

Bad things happened to good kids all the time.

And some of the monsters that lurked in the city’s darkest shadows took the black mark of a kid killer as a point of pride.

Robin II disappeared one day. Just after that piece of shit Garzonas took the fast way down from the top of a tall building. There were a lot of Rogues with doctoral degrees to their names but even those Goons that dropped out of school before they learned to spell their own names could do that math.

The big bad Bat had benched the boy after the fierce little bird had done what any decent member of the criminal underbelly would have. There were those that thought maybe it’d been an accident, that the kid was pulled off duty because of being too upset at unintentionally crossing the heavy line the Bat drew in the sand. Those voices were drowned out pretty quick though.

Sure, Robin II was all about second chances, of doing better, of redemption. But Garzonas had chances to spare and only ever spat in the face of those offering them. Doubled down on being a monster in a way very, very few of the Rogues Gallery would. The kid was a sweetheart, but he wasn’t no push over and there were some things so heinous that there was only one way of handling them. Crime Alley had its own kind of justice system, and when faced with a monster that was beyond even Batman’s jurisdiction, Robin II did what he always did: fell back on his roots.

Or so the rumors said, at least.

That was the thing about Gotham’s seedy underbelly. It was a grimy, wretched nest of vipers and cut-throats, but it was also worse than any beauty parlor when it came to gossip. No one actually knew anything other than that piece of shit motherfucker took a dive while Robin was chasing him and that he’d not been seen on the streets since. But most had a fondness for the kid, and a distaste for the kind of cruelty Garzonas reveled in and there was no proof that Robin hadn’t gone and done the world a favor by drop kicking that barbaric sack of shit off a roof. So as far as most in the Gallery were concerned, the little bird had stepped up and been a hero.

Time passed. Not a lot. But enough. The Bat disappeared too, popping up on an entire other continent in a way that was awfully tempting. Even with other Masks playing baby sitter while the local cryptid was away. Rogues were scrambling to set plans in motion, Goons getting hired en masse, weapons and weird chemicals getting delivered to shady places across Gotham by the truck-full. The criminal underbelly was abuzz with the same excited energy of children the day before a big birthday party.

And then the news came in.

There were people in the dark who made their living finding things out. Knowing things that no one else did or could. Some even specialized, keeping tabs on Batman and Robin better than anyone else in the business were able. And when the information they found wasn’t anything handy to have tucked into a back pocket or a secret they were paid extremely well to keep? They held on to with the same tenacity a sieve clung to water.

Robin II had run off across the globe and ended up in Ethiopia. Something to do with a doctor doing aid work, the same something that had the Bat end up there was the assumption. Kid ran off to handle things himself or was sent on a separate path on purpose for some plan or other the Bat had cooked up on his hunt.

Whatever the reason, the kid crossed paths with the Clown.

Alone.

Childhood was not held universally sacred in the dark streets of Gotham. The city was hard and cruel and she didn’t care about the ages of those that were ground up and spit out in her oily black heart. But Robin II was hers, the child of her heart, an exception to the rule. And besides, most folks - even those in the Rogues Gallery - largely left the purposeful harm of kids out of the equation.

The Joker wasn’t most folks.

And the little bird was a long way away from the protective shadows of his mother city.

The Rogues and their Goons always had a soft spot for the Robins. And Robin II made it especially easy to let fondness bleed out of them from time to time. He was a good kid.

When the news broke, it broke most of them right along with it.

Plans stalled. Schemes ended. Gotham, for an unnervingly quiet stretch of time that neither its civilians or the world at large understood, went still. Crime continued, of course, but the big names weren’t seen. It was only right, by the standards of those that lived their lives in the dark, that they hold off and give the man that fought them all so relentlessly over the past years the time he needed to focus on hunting down the monster that killed his son. He didn’t need the distraction, and they all owed it to Robin II not to interfere while the Bat at last put a final end to the Clown.

And the hellish cryptid would need his full focus on this one. The Joker wasn’t one to take lightly at the best of times, but he’d set himself up neatly in the middle of a nasty bear trap. Ugly and complicated in the way everything with the Clown was. Interference from the CIA, from the UN, from Superman.

Shit went down. People heard about the Bat and the Clown throwing down in a helicopter plummeting from the sky in one hell of a water landing. Big Blue fished Batman out of the drink before he could drown but there’d been no sign of the Joker.

But the Bat would find him.

They all knew the relentless bastard would find him. It was just a matter of time. With the hellish drive of a demon straight from Gotham’s darkest shadows, the Bat would track the grinning, child killing ghoul down and make right the terrible wrong the evil motherfucker had done. Batman would hunt him to the ends of the earth and enact the justice he held up so fiercely. Robin II would have the vengeance the kid so rightly deserved.

It was just a matter of time. So they waited. And waited.

Days.

Weeks.

Months.

The Clown still lived.

The world, impossibly, began to move on. The Bat returned to his lurking in the night, picking off gangs and petty crooks and no-name gangsters as if nothing had happened at all. More vicious, more savage, but failing to turn that rise in brutality into the killing blow against the one figure that so rightly deserved it.

No one knew what was happening. There were rumors and theories, as there always were in the underground. Some thought that it wasn’t the Bat at all back in Gotham but someone else pretending for awhile, looking after his neglected city while he continued his pursuit of the Joker. Other held that it was the Bat but the whole thing was a ploy to draw the Clown out into the open. A pretense at not caring meant to get under the Clown’s skin, make the asshole mad enough to get stupid and sloppy and reveal himself.

That the man simply had given up was beyond comprehension. Beyond what any upstanding Rogue could accept. So it simply couldn’t be true. There was a trick being played. Some brilliant game of 4D chess that none of them had been able to parse out. It’d be revealed in time, and they see the brilliant trap that had been set. The Clown would be lured out, the Bat would put him down for good, and then they’d all at last raise a glass to the little bird that had been shot down far too soon and smoke shitty cigarettes and quote literary masters and mourn the loss one of Gotham’s own true children.

They just had to play along. Stumbling forward back into their usual habits, pretending that it was a choice and not the world just forcibly dragging them along. It’d make sense, eventually. The Bat had a plan. Robin II wasn’t forgotten, his killer not left free to roam and ravage unpunished for what he’d done.

And then one day there was a new bird flitting across the rooftops.

Chasing the Bat’s looming frame like a reverse shadow. Bright flashes of color in contrast to the bleak darkness of Gotham’s grimy nights. Small and thin and young.

Not the first Robin. With his showman bright grin and bloody rage and unwavering belief in the terrifying power of hope. Not the brilliant, vicious little boy that they’d seen grow over the years into the fierce and fearless Nightwing.

Not Robin II either.

Not Gotham’s soft hearted little bruiser with his unshakable belief that people could be better if given the chance, shinning so bright in the dark as he held out a hand that even the Rogues had no choice but to believe right along with him sometimes. Not the tough little songbird they’d never get to see grow up. Unavenged and unhonored. Put in a box and buried in the ground with a name none of them would ever know carved into a stone they’d never be able to visit.

No.

It was a new Robin.

A new child with the R emblazoned upon his chest.

Sharp and quick and young in the way the birds always were when they started flying at the Bat’s side. Every inch of the boy’s tiny frame a tragedy and an insult. One very, very few of Gotham’s vicious underbelly were willing to tolerate.

Childhood was not held universally sacred in the dark streets of Gotham, but there was a damn big difference between holding something sacred and not giving a damn about it at all. There were rules unspoken but understood, a way things were done. Nothing so solid or concrete as a code of conduct, more a collection of time honored traditions. Blood for blood was among the oldest and truest, and the more precious the person taken the more vital and vicious payment was to be made in kind.

The Clown had killed Robin II.

Beaten the kid half to death and then finished the job with a bomb.

Everyone knew he’d done it laughing all the way.

The Bat should have done the same in kind. Done worse. It was justice, it was what was right. You kill a kid you’re marked forever. You kill one so well liked and kill ‘em like that and you’re destined for a cruel and cold death. The Bat had first dibs. It was his kid. It was his right to put an end to that awful laughter and let his son have peace at last.

But he never did.

Nightwing had. For a bit. For a moment.

Robin I, who half the time had scared them all more than the Bat ever could. Dazzling and dizzying and dangerous. Gave back the pain and hurt the Clown had forced upon him with clenched fists and bone shattering hits. They were glad for him, that he was able to beat the monster who had taken his little brother from him to death, that he was able to have such justice.

And then the Bat stepped in.

Revived the fucking Clown.

A slap in the face. The snapping crack of a spine beneath one straw too many. The final, unforgivable insult the man had dared visit upon not just the child taken from him but the entirety of Gotham.

The Rogues and their Goons always had a soft spot for the Robins. Respected their ferocity, admired their moxie, marveled at their ability to keep shining in the dark like they did. Robin II made it especially easy to let fondness bleed out of the city’s dirty criminal underbelly from time to time.

He was a good kid.

He deserved better.

Better than the silence and peace he should be granted in death to be marred by the mad cackles of his killer still running around alive and unpunished. Better than his father giving up, returning to the same old routine as if nothing had happened at all. Better than the Bat snatching up a new bird less than a year later.

Gotham and her Rogues had given the Bat time enough to do what needed to be done.

It was their turn.

#batman #batman au #batman rogues #batman rouges gallery #dc penguin #dick grayson #jason todd #jason todd robin #dick grayson robin #bruce wayne #the joker #tim drake #dc robin #gotham city #open season au #i don't go in for Jason being the 'angry' robin or the 'violent' robin #he was the lil chainsmoking ball of sunshin robin that made sure to do his homework first before going out to fight crime #dick was the scariest robin because he was BOTH incredibly violent & full of rage AND a ball of sunshine & unrelenting hope #Jason was a Gotham kid (an Alley Kid) and I think a lot of the rogues would have respected that #dick got his respect by teaching them how many of their bones a tiny 9 year old could break in a single kick #feel like there's a scene in the extended au in which Tim gets kidnapped but instead of being held for ransom or threatened #it's just the Rogues aggressively mother-henning him and trying to make sure he's alright #Dick gets a call from Harley later that the newest Robin is fine he and Riddler are coming up with deadly traps together #No she doesn't see anything wrong with that - it's just some enrichment activities for them - why do you ask?

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kombuuuu · 11 months

Note

gwen romantic hcs or scenario please? 🥺🤲

Spidery Romance.

Gwen Stacy x Fem!Reader

another bunch of headcanons (and snippets, ur favs) with my favourite girl 🤍

GWENNBBBBB MMMWMAH HHHNG WEBEWEBWEEEHHHH

Gwen: Blue

You: Pink

Dad Stacy: Black

A cat..: Purple

mom friend this, mom friend that

how about just mommy?

is a HUGEE comfort roll in the realtionship

will do little things for you that you wouldn’t even realise

like keeping random containers because she knows you like them

jars 🫙 🤍‼️

she loves taking care of you, loves being who you go to for things

it makes her feel needed, which we know she struggles with

so she loves a partner who’s more co-dependent, like she is

“Baby?”

“Help.”

“Honey, what am I supposed to do with that?”

“Open it, please“ :(

“Oh, you sweet thing… What are you going to do with an empty pickle jar.”

“You’ve eaten all the pickles?”

“I’m… going to grow an ecosystem.”

ABSOLUTELY steals shit for you

she’s not rich, seeing as she doesn’t exacccctly live in her own universe

hey, star crossed lovers are multiversel..

so she steals

just nicks things from the mall she thinks you’ll like

little trinkets or anything small and shiny she can find

also cat figures

small, cute cats. she loves anything about them and will go out of her way to take em for you

(you think she just wants to deny the fact she loves the cats. or stealing)

your OWN little klepto cat

(you both love that game)

“Hey, Sweets.”

“Oh-! You’re home!”

“And I brought a cat.”

*gasp* “What breed !!”

“No clue, but look it’s tail moves.”

Will take you out to movie dates any time she can.

never really knew how to treat a lady so she takes notes from stupid eighties shows

will throw rocks at your window

or climb up the tree next to your house and break in even though she could just go thru the front door.

buys (steals) chocolates in heart shapes and roses to decorate your bed

it’s not even valentines she just wants too

don’t forget the candles and scented bath salts with a whole ass spa set up in your bathroom

“Baby? Wh—“

“[Name]! I missed you.”

“I missed you too, babe.”

“What are the flowers for?”

“Our anniversary’s not ‘til September.”

“Beautiful, we don’ need a reason. Just wanna appreciate you.”

smile and giggle like a little bitch? of course you will

Will eventually tell you about her spider woman endeavours

she’s guilty of hiding it from you

when you trust her so much

slipping out of your shared bed at night to go patrol feels

dirty.

She finally caved to her subconscious and spills it

you don’t freak out on her but she can tell you’re stressed

she tries to comfort you even when you have to opportunity to ruin her life

you could end it between the two of u right then and she’d forgive you

but not herself

“I’m spider-woman.”

“What?”

“The hero, [Name]. Well, vigilante I guess—“

“What the hell.”

“Baby, please. I know I should’ve told you sooner—“

“Do you know how much danger you’re in? Are you crazy? What happens if you get hurt and I’m not here? Fighting crime like that. Fighting villains.”

“I know, sweet girl, I know.”

she comforts you through it while you basically have an existential crisis in her name

you’re more scared she’s going to get hurt

or worse

than you are betrayed,

you can get why she kept this a secret

it takes you a couple week to hone down the worrying

gwen is hella patient with you 🫶

“I don’t like this. You’re putting yourself in harms way, and it’s careless,”

Guilty stare

“,But i’m not gonna stop you.”

“Thank you, [Name].”

“Please don’t die on me.”

“I won’t, baby.”

and when your finally calm you can kind of see the appeal in it

she convinces you to let her swing you around the city

and despite you both knowing you’re probably gonna pass the fuck out

you agree cause it’s cute

“Gwen.”

“Yeah baby?”

“I think—, maybe you don’t understand what I mean by ‘I don’t like heights’.”

“Wh— Oh.”

“What d’yu mean ‘Oh.’?!! You only just realised??”

“I come up here so often, it’s like a second thought!”

“It’s the fucking Empire state!”

“Ehh…”

She’ll take you nice places around brooklyn

mostly high up

to let you see the view

and to finally see you in it

she draws you any chance she gets

especially when she takes you to those places

shes been to em so often that she’s got muscle memory for the line to every building, but now she gets to trace the contour of your face around it too

will web you to the building if you ask

just so you won’t fall

“You know there’s not a single universe where I wouldn’t catch you, right.”

“There’s a first for everything,”

She snorts “Sugar—“

“I love you, Gwen. And trust you with my life. I do not, however trust wind.”

“Understandable, love you too.”

When you meet her dad he’s a little skeptical at first

only because you’re so nervous and he’s taught to be suspicious as a cop

but eventually he likes you, and you him

your both like old pals and it confuses gwen

he takes on a very fatherly position in your life

one you missed out on

gwen is ecstatic

the two people she loves the most in the world like each other

the stars aligned for her

she tells you about her struggles with him and is glad it doesn’t affect either of your relationships

“Do you treat my daughter well?”

“Dad, please.”

“Gwen, it’s okay. I’d like to think I am, sir.”

“Cause if you hurt my little girl, everything you do to her will feel a lot worse for you.”

“Dad!”

“I would never hurt your daughter Mr.Stacy, I love her. It’d be stupid of me to let her go.”

He smiled and clapped your back

*groan* “Why.”

she likes to keep you comfy

kinda has a thing for the housewife vibe

so she’s willing to do a lot for you

she’ll notice how empty it is in your house when she’s not there

it’s quiet and lonely

so totally for you (and not also her)

she’ll get you a cat

a small black american bobtail

she had found him while on patrol

saw a box left littered at the park and decided to pick it up

closer she got, more ‘mews’ she heard.

when she saw a short, stumpy looking kitten in the box

her heart melted

so obviously she took it

“For [Name].”

‘mew :3’

“Co-parenting practice.”

‘mmrp’

“God damn it.”

loves the cat with her whole heart

and so do you

you name it Peter

he’s adopted but he doesn’t need to know that

when he does something bad you threaten (emptily) to put him in back out in the street

“Go get a box, Peter. I’m gonna make your momma put you back where she found you.”

“He can’t understand you, baby.”

“Yes he can, look at how he’s looking at me!”

“See his face!? He’s so mocking me!”

“Sure, baby.”

—

EEE 🤭🤭🤭

#gwen x reader #gwen stacy x you #gwen stacy x reader #gwen stacy #spider gwen #gwen spiderverse #across the spiderverse #spiderverse x reader #spiderman across the spiderverse

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iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia · 9 days

Note

Could I get an Hc for how the M6 would react to an Mc that finds out they used to eat a lot of weird creatures and monsters.

I may be obsessed with delicious in dungeon, but like maybe Mc got to try dragon meat and realized that despite it being an 'exotic' food, it tastes familiar. Only gets more surprised. The more weirder foods they end up trying that rnd up tasting familiar.

The Arcana HCs: M6 when MC eats monsters

Julian

From a scholarly point of view, he's actually quite interested in learning more and documenting your finds as medical research

Who knows what medicinal properties these creatures might contain that have gone previously ignored? You could find some miraculous cure or random medicine if you keep snacking your way through the monstrous ecosystem!

Then again, he'd be lying if he said that practice was just as easy as theory. He's pretty well traveled himself, but some of the things you seem so eager to dig into are just ... so ... off-putting

He'll push through with most things but he will draw the line at anything resembling a plague beetle. He was force-fed one of those once and he never wants to experience that again

(he'd never try to keep you from making your own decisions, but to say that watching you eat things resembling plague beetles doesn't turn his stomach and make him anxious would be a lie)

Still one of the best researchers you could have helping you

He's got the background to understand physical nutrients and the importance of a diverse diet - and he's plenty dedicated to you

Asra

They are even more enthusiastic than you are

Sometimes you wish you knew what his limits were, because if things keep going at the rate that they are you might find out that he doesn't even have any

Faust is not helping either - she can and will help distract you if you've finally come across something you're hesitant to try so Asra can sneak a mouthful without being caught

On the plus side, they've tried so many different cuisines already that they have plenty of ideas when it comes to figuring out how to cook something new - and spice combinations you wouldn't dare dream of on your own

He also happens to have plenty of tried-and-true remedies for food poisoning as well (wonder why he learned all of those ...) and is more than happy to share with you if things go south

Absurdly creative with the whole cooking process in general

Keeps trying to incorporate magic. This does occasionally backfire when the beast being cooked is also magical by nature, and the two don't mix as intended

Nadia

She's politely unconvinced, but still mildly invested

Is she personally interested in trying all manner of unconventional dishes? Sure, if it's a well-established recipe from a trustworthy source and contributes to her cultural education

Your recipes, darling MC, do not cleanly fit into that category

She'll still try some, but only after you've been able to replicate the dish multiple times to the point that it's reliably delicious and safe to eat. Otherwise, she'll happily pass her portion to you

However, once you do find a creature that can be reliably cooked as part of a nutritious diet, she is all ears

Do you know what the state of Vesuvia is right now? Any new food source is a welcome food source, especially if it's a resource that isn't being tapped into otherwise. Tell her more about its properties

Will work with you and other nutritionists, chefs, and civil engineers to find a way to introduce it to the populace so they can take advantage of it

Who knows? Maybe if it's popular enough, it can be purposefully cultivated and turned into a major food export ...

Muriel

Not remotely surprised by your habits, for multiple reasons

For starters, he spent his teens living with Asra. In the woods. Who do you think came up with all those natural remedies for food poisoning??? Not the kid picking every mushroom they saw!

Second of all, he lives off of the land himself. The reason his grocery list is so short is because he's learned to find most of his sustenance in the woods around him. You're just doing the same

Third of all (and most importantly) - if it's food, it's food. It's that simple

Will eat anything you hand him as soon as he knows it won't poison him, no hesitation in sight and no further questions asked

His only concern about the whole thing is sustainability. He knows firsthand what happens when something throws the delicate balance of an ecosystem out of whack and he wants to make sure that doesn't happen on accident because you're new to it

Never really stops to appreciate any of the good flavors at first, but eventually develops a palette for the different spices

Insanely good at assessing what kind of nutrients it'll have

Portia

Being an excellent chef herself, she doesn't see much point in eating mostly monster food once the initial excitement has worn off. It was fun for several meals, but now she wants bread

This does not change her general fascination with monsters or magical beasts in general, though, or her overall interest in helping you on your special monster cuisine endeavors

Share the monster facts - all the monster facts

Will work with you on putting together notebooks full of information on monster behaviors, nutritional values, hunting and preparation methods, and ideal flavor profiles

Unrivaled at giving good cooking advice. The meat's good to eat, but too tough? Marinate it in something acidic

It's too spongy to be a starch, but too starchy to be a vegetable? Try roasting or grilling it plain and putting sauce on top

Knows all about how to maximize the "scraps" so that nothing edible goes wasted, and knows how to do it in a way that still tastes good and fills you up

Curious enough to try most of it, smart enough to avoid poisoning

Lucio

Okay, okay, so he'll admit it - he does get squeamish (just a little bit) at the thought of eating the monsters that tried to kill him earlier and he's not particularly fond of revisiting the "eat or be eaten" mentality that was instilled in him as a small child

That said, he is curious

And he very much enjoys all the hunting (and bounties!) involved

You're telling him that he gets to chase down a rare beast, enjoy the thrill of conquering it and the bragging rights that entails, get paid for disposing of it, and then get a free meal after he forgets about it for a couple hours? Sign him up!

Just, uh. Just don't remind him what exactly he's eating if it's from one of the grosser monsters. Devouring a deadly ancient boar? Awesome! Devouring a worm monster? ... yeah, don't ruin it

Has no issues with putting more resources into what you're trying to do. It means free food, bragging rights about killing and eating monsters, and dinner not getting dull and boring

Will not-so-subtly feed anything he doesn't like to Mercedes and Melchior when he thinks you can't see him

#ask arcana brainrot #the arcana #the arcana headcanons #the arcana hc #the arcana game #asra the arcana #julian the arcana #nadia the arcana #muriel the arcana #portia the arcana #lucio the arcana #asra alnazar #julian devorak #nadia satrinava #muriel of the kokhuri #portia devorak #lucio morgasson

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alwritey-aphrodite · 9 months

Text

Take the Moment

Chapter Two of There’s Nothing Like This

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Jamie Tartt x fem!footballer!reader

Warnings: cursing

Word Count: 2.3k

Author’s Note: guys seriously there’s more Jamie coming up I swear

The dressing room was a thriving ecosystem. It was always buzzing with energy and conversations, about weekend plans and workout routines and families and fears and new purchases. By the end of the second week, you knew who kept the best snacks in their locker, who had emergency toiletries, and who’s locker seemed void of anything remarkable, whether it was driven by fear or lack of desire you weren’t sure.

Walking into the dressing room was like passing through a wall of noise, like being enveloped in the warmth of your teammates. Stepping inside the dressing room was like coming inside after spending all day out in the cold, like nothing bad could ever happen to you.

Despite how early it was, despite the fact that you still felt half-asleep, your teammates were chattering away, loud enough for you to be able to hear bits and pieces of what everyone was saying.

“It was the grossest thing I’ve ever experienced,” you can hear someone saying, causing whoever was next to them to erupt into giggles. You couldn’t help but to smile to yourself, the love you have for your teammates doing wonders to relieve the built-up stress from the press conference last night. You’d gone home and replayed every moment over and over again, tormenting yourself until your brain couldn’t take it and you finally fell asleep.

Practice was the perfect remedy to your stress, giving you something else you needed to focus on completely so you couldn’t worry about anything else. That had always been one of your favorite aspects of the sport, the fact that while you were playing you weren’t able to think about anything but the game was what had made you stick with soccer out of all the activities you did as a young kid.

Now, though, because you were a professional there was an added layer of stress to every practice, every extra second you spent training. Still, a long day of training was the perfect thing to make you forget all about the disastrous press conference. After the rest of your team had gone home to rest before your first match, you stayed behind to work on your stamina on a treadmill as the men’s team took the field.

Sometimes you worried you were working yourself into the ground, but there was a part of your brain that wouldn’t stop pushing you to do more work, to push yourself even farther so you could prove yourself to everyone who had ever doubted you. Even though your muscles were screaming and you could feel your ankle start to swell and pulse, you increased the speed and the incline on the treadmill, telling yourself that you’d go home when the men’s team ended practice.

By the time they’re finished and you finally allow yourself to clean up and go home, you’re dripping in sweat and you were a little worried you wouldn’t be able to walk. You knew some of the girls were getting together to hype themselves up before your first match, but your evening would be spent recovering, alternating between an ice bath and heating pads in the hopes that you’d be in top shape for your first match and your debut as captain.

As you’re leaving the dressing room, dreaming about a large dinner and elevating your foot, you find Jamie waiting for you, leaning against the wall across from the door to the dressing room.

“Hey, Jamie,” you greet him with a wave and a quick smile before you’re continuing on your way, only able to think about how wonderful it’ll feel to finally lay down.

“Oh, hey,” he responds, and you miss the way he fumbles to put his phone in his pocket and catch up with you, walking in step as you exit the building. “I was just thinking how you haven’t been in Richmond long, and you’ve been so busy here with practice and all and maybe I could show you around, if you wanted?”

He’s cute, in an awkward, fumbling kind of way. Never in a million years would you have thought to describe Jamie Tartt as awkward, fumbling, or cute, but you suppose there’s a first time for everything. You wonder just how much he’s changed in the past few years, because the Jamie standing before you, fiddling with his hands, is not the Jamie you remember seeing in pictures and articles and in reality television shows.

“That’s really sweet, Jamie,” and you can see how he tries to hide a smile and it makes your heart melt a little, though you’d never admit that to anyone, “but I have plans with my bed and an ice bath tonight.”

“Oh, shit, you guys have a game tomorrow,” he looks beyond embarrassed that he hadn’t remembered or that no one had told him, “well, have fun with your ice bath.”

He turns to go, and your heart breaks the way it would seeing a puppy dumped on the side of the road, so you can’t help but shout out after him, “Maybe another time?” and you’re rewarded with the brightest smile you’ve ever seen and your chest feels warm in a way that makes you concerned for your health.

Spending your evening alone, soaking in an ice bath and eating dinner by yourself, was as exciting as it sounded. Even though it was a little boring, it was the perfect way to get you in the headspace you needed to be in for your very first match for Richmond. By the time you crawled into bed, your belly was full, your muscles felt as relaxed as possible, and you fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.

The only interesting part of your night was the dream you had where you’d thought you were getting married to Mackie and you made it all the way down the aisle before you realized you were actually marrying Jamie.

It rattled you, probably more than it should have, but you tried your best to just brush it off and go about your pre-match routine. Nerves always made it difficult for you to eat, so you settle for a light breakfast and pack plenty of snacks into your bag. Mackie comes to pick you up the way she always does, and you decide not to tell her about your dream, knowing she’d tease you relentlessly and that was the last thing you needed before a match.

Your morning only got weirder when you and Mackie entered the dressing room and it was practically silent, all of the girls huddled around something in the middle of the room. Pushing yourself into the center of the group, you noticed Elena holding a newspaper, a bold Richmond’s Women’s Team on the cover with Trent Crimm’s name on the by-line.

…a fierce group of players…

… champions in the making…

… led by a determined, slightly dangerous captain…

… all they need is belief.

It was impossible not to feel like you’re walking on air after reading that article, especially with the way Trent had picked you out of the group to mention you by name. That article was the perfect little boost you needed to head into your first match after how incredibly strange your morning was, wiping all thoughts of your weird dream away from your mind.

Walking out onto the pitch, you’re determined you can beat West Ham.

By half-time, you’re down 1-0, and you can feel the bleakness radiating off everyone in the dressing room. Roy’s trying to make an inspirational speech, trying to get you guys ready to go for the second half, but he’s floundering and everyone can tell he’s uncomfortable. As much as he believes in the team, he’s not known for being gentle with his support.

“Can I…” you ask, starting to stand from where you’d slumped yourself onto the bench by your locker. Roy nods, looking beyond relieved, so you make your way to the front of the room and take a deep breath. Despite your hatred for public speaking, you know this is something you need to do, not for yourself but for your team.

“We’re losing,” you start, and you can tell by everyone’s expressions that this isn’t what they want to hear so you go on, “we gave up an easy goal in the last five minutes, and I know we can do better. I know we can fucking win this, if we beat the boys, we can beat fucking West Ham.”

The energy’s starting to increase, you can see some of your teammates start to smile for the first time since you stepped foot onto the pitch at the beginning of the match, but you’re not done yet.

“Amelia, I’m only saying this because I love you and I think you’re amazing, but you’re playing like shit. I’m saying this because I know you can do better, I’ve seen you do better.”

You hate the way her face falls, looking like she’s hoping the floor opens up and swallows her but you need to say this, need her to believe in herself the way you believe in her, so you keep talking despite the pit in your chest.

“And I know this is your first professional match ever and that this shit is scary,” you go on, “but none of us expect perfection. We just want you to leave it all on the pitch and be the monster we know you can be.”

Despite her look of despair when you’d called her out, she’s smiling at you now and you can’t help but to smile back at her. “I believe in you, Baby,” you finish, and just mentioning her nickname seemed to make everyone perk up even more, reminding them of how great of a team you make.

“Let’s go out there and win this fucking thing,” Roy adds, and the team screams like you’re heading into battle as you head back onto the pitch to finish out the match. As you pass, you give Amelia’s shoulder a squeeze just so she knows everything you said came from a place of love and deep respect for her. The energy heading back onto the pitch is ten times more intense than when you’d headed out for the first half, and you’re more than confident in your team.

After the match, heading back to the dressing room was a goddamn party.

You’d won 2-1, with Elena scoring a goal in extra time to secure your first win by the skin of your teeth. Back in the dressing room, there’s champagne and laughter and Keeley and Rebecca screaming their faces off. You all join in, jumping up and down as if your joy is too strong to be contained inside your body. You feel sore all over and you know you'll have plenty of new bruises tomorrow, but all of that is overshadowed by how giddy, how light you feel.

You’re on the top of the world and there’s nothing that could bring you down.

The celebration is starting to get a little too rambunctious when there’s a knock on the door, revealing the entire men’s team. They’re wearing Richmond merch, but it’s your merch, shirts and hats and kits and scarves they’ve bought to support you at your first match. Really, you’re surprised you’re not sobbing with how emotional you feel, leaving the pitch to the roaring of the fans and seeing everyone as excited for your win as you are.

The boys file in, most of them heading for the alcohol while a few go find certain players, like the way Colin makes a beeline for Mackie. Jamie, though, heads straight for you and it makes you feel floaty, lightheaded in a way you weren’t before so you just chalk it up to the alcohol that’s now coursing through your veins.

When you notice your last name plastered on the back of Jamie’s kit, you can’t help the flood of laughter that bursts out of you. Seeing your reaction, a smile blooms on Jamie's face and his cheeks look a little redder than before, but you assume it’s due to the heat of the dressing room and the champagne, ignoring the fact that Jamie hasn’t drunk any.

“You just can’t let go of the number nine, can you?” You tease, grinning back at him as he shrugs with a shy sort of smile that seems so out of place with his typically confident personality. Your little moment is cut short, though, as Sam comes over to you with a beaming smile.

“You were fantastic, truly,” he says, already knowing you were going to try and downplay your skills, “I wasn’t even on the pitch and I was a little scared of you.” You laugh, unable to contain yourself in the way you’d normally try to because it really did feel amazing starting the season on a high note, starting the team on a win.

“Ah, I interrupted something,” Sam says with a knowing smile as his eyes dart between you and Jamie, “I’ll go congratulate the rest of the team.” He sends you a wink before he disappears off into the chaos of the celebration and you’re left reeling. You turn to Jamie to make a comment about how strange that was only to find him staring intently at his shoes.

So, it was back to being the strangest day of your life.

“Maybe, if you’re free tomorrow, I can take you up on your offer to show me around Richmond?” You ask, trying to break the awkwardness that had settled over your little corner of the room.

“Yeah? Perfect. Great. Cool,” Jamie says, and before you can say anything else Mackie and Elena are coming over to drag you to the middle of the party, and as much as you’d like to keep talking with Jamie, it feels good to be celebrated.

Hopefully it’s a feeling you get used to at Richmond.

Tags: @andr0medafallen @buckychristwrites @benedictscanvas @whimsical-roasting @sokkigarden @scaramou @guccilongboard @onceuponaoneshot @presidential-facts @yepyeahuhhuh @loveslide @allthefandomtherapy @gibby31 @buddyjuststop @ellietartt @cancvr @rae4725 @brianandthemays @sonyume @aiyaiy @captainfrisbee @dalebo3 @theloud-yet-quietone @imsoluckyeverythingworksoutforme @rockchickrebel @legobatmans9thab @curlypeter @lostinwonderland314 @yokolesbianism @jamietarttdodo @kno-way-home @nicklet94 @fan-goddess @innocentbi-stander

#jamie tartt #jamie tartt x reader #jamie tartt x you #jamie tartt fanfiction #jamie tartt fic #jamie tartt imagine #jamie tartt fluff #ted lasso #ted lasso fanfiction

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cozage · 8 months

Text

The Daughter's Return: Part 3

Chapter 1: Sick with Dread

Part One | Next Chapter | Table of Contents | Read on AO3

There are a lot of new people here who may not know I have an ongoing series, so here's a little info about it. It started as a request and quickly grew into a multichapter fic (the longest one I've ever created!) The reader is Whitebeard's Daughter, who has a volcano devil fruit ability and who has been away for two years, only to return and meet a familiar spunky fire user. There's nineteen chapters before this, so you might want to go read those first for some background information, but we've just entered the start of what leads to the Marineford arc, so things are about to get real. It's a commitment, but I believe it's worth it if you're looking for a character-centric in-depth story!

If you're keeping up with the story, releases will be on Monday and Thursday unless I say otherwise!

Characters: female reader x Portgas D. Ace Word Count: 1.5k

You were fairly certain you were about to die. Jinx hadn’t left you alone for days. Jinx, who couldn’t stand you or your presence. Jinx, who only saw you as competition from the moment Ace saved her from that stupid box and she claimed him as her own.

That cat had hated you from the moment it saw you. But now she was curled up on your chest, sleeping soundly. You could’ve sworn she was just waiting for the moment your heart stopped, so she could boastfully sit atop your corpse. That’s just how Jinx was.

You couldn’t blame her; you were an easy target right now. The Spring ecosystem you were in had completely messed with your allergies. It was only a matter of time before she would be able to smother you and completely get away with murder. Some days you were so sick, you couldn’t even get out of bed to go throw up. Today was one of those days.

You were sick from allergies and sick with worry. It was one day past due for Thatch to report back to the ship before the crew would have to send in a second team. He could’ve been caught, or killed, or tied up and made a mockery of. You had plenty of time to think about it, since you were basically bedridden at this point.

You were certain the commanders and strategists were all thinking of a plan to go find out what had occurred, but it would take at least two days to mobilize them. And in that time, Thatch could be taken away or sunk to the bottom of the ocean. It hurt to breathe just thinking about it.

The door opened quietly, and you heard Ace’s voice from the doorframe. “Are you awake?” he whispered. “I have someone here for you.”

“I’m awake,” you said, your voice scratchy and raw. You almost got your hopes up about the visitor, but Ace sounded solemn, which was a good indicator that the visitor wasn’t Thatch.

Marco stepped inside instead, and you groaned at his appearance. “Just let me die, Marco. Leave me alone.”

He hummed, frowning over your body as you laid in bed. “I’d really like to run some tests,” Marco said. “The concept of fever and colds are completely foreign to your body, and yet something is clearly off. You shouldn’t be this sick for so long.”

“Or maybe the substitute cook has been cooking so badly he gave me food poisoning that’s lasted the past two weeks,” you shot back. “I want Thatch back.”

“I know.” Marco sat down on the bed next to you. “He’ll be home soon. In the meantime, let me get some bloodwork to check out.”

“No,” you hissed, pulling your arm away from him. “I told you, it’s just allergies.”

Marco looked at you with skepticism. He knew that it wasn’t just allergies, and you did too.

“Allergies don’t make people throw up,” he reminded you gently.

“Worry does,” you argued. “And so does food poisoning. So leave me alone.”

“If you’re not better by tomorrow, I’m taking your blood by force,” Marco said, getting up and heading for the door. He gave Ace a knowing look, as if to say “Good luck!” and then left you two alone.

Marco had dealt with your varieties of illnesses over the years, and he knew you were too stubborn and whiny to listen to any of his advice. But for Ace, this was relatively new territory. You had been sick a few times over the past few months, but it had never been anything serious. Not like this. But you had been sick with worry ever since Thatch left. Something just didn’t feel right about this mission.

Ace laid down next to you and began to brush your matted hair from your face, but instantly pulled back.

He scowled at you. “I know you’re upset and want to be alone, but you don’t have to burn me.”

“I’m tired and I want to rest,” you groaned, turning away from him in bed. “Just let me sleep for a little bit, please?”

Ace sighed and got up from the bed. It was clear Marco must’ve given him some pointers.

“I’ll let you know if I hear any news about Thatch, okay?”

“Thank you,” you whispered, trying your best to sound normal.

The door opened and with a soft click of the door handle, he was gone.

You hadn’t meant to burn him, but you couldn’t let him know that. Your powers had been a little haywire recently. You were overloaded on stress and high emotions, and though you had thought you had gotten that mostly under control, it seemed that your powers sometimes had a mind of their own.

You’d be more concerned about it, but you were so damn tired that you fell asleep before you had time to think too hard.

You weren’t sure how long you were asleep, but you woke again to Ace’s voice, jostling you awake.

“Y/N,” he whispered, shaking you lightly. “Thatch is back.”

You sat up immediately, looking around the room. The sudden motion made Jinx hiss and bolt away from you, but you didn’t care. At least she was acting normal again.

“Where?” you asked.

“Out on the deck.”

You jumped up, ignoring the queasy feeling in your gut, and took off towards the deck. As you emerged, the setting sun illuminated the ship in a golden glow. You scanned the ship, desperately searching for him. He was here, somewhere. He had to be.

And then you found him, his pompadour hair making him stand out from the crowd.

“Thatch!” You screamed, running towards him.

His eyes moved over to you and he broke out into a massive grin, holding his arms open to catch you.

You slammed into him with such force, the two of you almost fell to the ground. But he kept you steady, like he always did. You did your best to keep the tears out of your eyes, but you were so relieved that he was okay.

“I told you I’d be back,” he said, rubbing your back.

“You’re late,” you sobbed into his chest. “You promised two weeks.”

“Will you forgive me?”

You pulled away from him, wiping the tears from your eyes. “I guess I can this time. Just don’t do it again.”

He smiled and gave you a nod. “Yes ma’am. You have my word.”

You had been so happy to see him, you hadn’t realized he had come back with a prize.

“You found a devil fruit?” you asked, looking at it skeptically.

“I did!” Thatch grinned, holding it out for you to see. “Take a look!”

You took the fruit from him and examined it. It was a small purple fruit that looked relatively unimpressive. There was no real indication of what it did exactly. But still, finding a devil fruit was a great feat, even on the Grand Line.

“What are you going to do with it?” you asked, still checking it over for any indication of what it could be.

“Not sure yet,” Thatch admitted. “I’m not sure I want to lose my ability to swim, especially if it’s a lame power. I might just sell it.”

You nodded. “There’s no good way to tell what it does, really. Probably better selling it than taking a risk for a lame power.”

“Pretty cool though, huh?!” He stood proud and tall.

“You’ve got color again!” Marco called, walking over to the two of you. “She was sick with worry, you know.”

Thatch laughed and pulled you in for another hug. “It was definitely a challenge. You were right, we were better off taking a few members from Division Two. But we made it work.”

“I knew you would,” you said, giving him a tight squeeze. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Alright,” he said, pulling away from you and addressing the crowd. “Let’s eat!”

He took his devil fruit back from you and headed for the kitchen. Your appetite was back now that your cook was back. All felt right with the world.

“You look better,” Ace said, grabbing your hand with his own.

“I feel better,” you admitted. “God, I was so nervous. It feels so silly looking back on it.”

Ace pulled you in, dropping a sweet kiss on your lips that tasted like cinnamon.

You pulled away from him, grinning giddily. “Did the commanders do Welcome Back shots?”

Ace gave a nervous laugh. “Maybe two or three,” he admitted. “You weren’t the only one who was nervous today.”

That was a little bit of a relief. Everyone else had kept such cool demeanors, you were worried you had been overreacting. But everyone had been nervous, they were all just better at hiding it. But now the anxiety that had covered the ship was nothing but a fading memory.

“Let's go eat,” you said, pulling him along with you. You were excited to finally have food that agreed with your stomach again, and finally felt like you could eat in peace.

Tag list! @taeyoge @teiza @tojislawyer @trafalgardnami @bloopbopsblog @dancingnewcat @dxestyi @flooofity @nyxthedragon01 @deadsnothere @h-rhodes1598 @morgyyyyyyy @trafalgardvivi @fiestynatureweeb @frogpogjoghurt @beepboopcowboy @ms-portgas @luvyallbabes @aikochan4859 @zuchkaa @saybeyonce @stray-npc @kitsunechan707

(if you'd like to be included in the tag list, just comment or send me a message!)

#one piece #one piece imagine #one piece scenario #one piece x reader #one piece x you #portgas ace x you #portgas ace x reader #portgas d ace x reader #ace x y/n #ace x reader #portgas d ace #portgas d. ace #cozage #✧˚ace✧˚

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human-encounters-diary · 9 months

Text

Day 15

We are set to arrive on Fendaar in two cycles. As we are currently stuck on the SIIR Noxos, I have concluded that the passages of time that I am free of duties would be best spent continuing to observe the human. The human, on the other hand, seemed to have different plans in that matter, as it took me an unusually long amount of time to locate her.

As I eventually found her, she seemed to be working on one of the control panels in the main control room, so I may excuse her absence with duties she had to attend to. As she saw me, although, she seemed rather…excited (this is obviously mere speculation, as the study of the Terran so far has provided far too little evidence to prove such theories)?

As she rolled out from under the control board and sighted me, her face once again split into a wide opening revealing her horrifying amount of teeth.

"Hey! Dude!", she said, raising to her full height and stepping towards me, still baring her teeth, although I did not recoil, as I did not want to seem impolite. She raised her arms, each pointing into a different direction, away from their connection to the human's body.

"Human Quinn. How are you?"

"Me? I‘m fine, the whole 'wandering around in space' thing just made me throw up, I honestly don‘t know why they insisted on keeping me there for two whole days."

The ends of her fingers, studded with claw-like (rather short and rounded instead of sharp, perhaps they were not meant to function as claws at all, or perhaps the beings on Terra were far different from what I knew, and therefore a shape like this was far more useful to hunt) protuberances, scraped over the back of the connection between her head and her upper body. If I interpreted her facial expression correctly, she seemed to be thinking.

"Maybe I got a light concussion too, I’m not entirely sure. But it's improbable, because I’m fine now."

I decided to focus on one piece of information at a time. "Well, this "throwing up" can certainly not be a healthy nor normal process, otherwise, it would not seem so violently painful and involuntary, would it?"

"Well it‘s not…unnatural, it‘s just something that can happen. And about health, it‘s not unhealthy, it usually helps us to get rid of stuff that is bad for our bodies!", she eludicated, moving one of her arms in a rather random manner.

"The scientists have concluded that this fluid is highly acidic. If this 'stuff' is so harmful to you, wouldn‘t it just dissolve in this fluid before being able to cause any further harm?"

Quinn seemed to think about that.

"Well, just because it gets dissolved, doesn‘t mean it‘s gone, you know? It's still in our bodies, and we have to get rid of it somehow. And if it needs to be fast, we throw up. Honestly, I‘d definitely explain this further to you, but Biology‘s never really been my strongest subject, ya know what I mean?"

I did not, in fact, know what she meant, but I decided against questioning her further.

After a pause the Terran spoke up again: "So, this planet we're landing on..." "Fendaar.", I clarified. "Right. So, this planet that we‘re going to, it‘s a desert, right?" "That is correct." "So, is it a sand, an ice or, I guess you could also count rock desert? 'Cuz on my planet, we‘ve got all of those types."

"Fendaar‘s ecosystem is mostly made up out of sandlike landscapes with rather scarce vegetation and biodiversity. Most of the planets in system 36-54 have rather extreme temperature ranges, and Fendaar is no exception.", I eludicated.

"Alright, cool.", she spoke, rolling back under the underside of the control panel she had been working on previously. She seemed to be sitting, or rather lying, on a piece of metal with four small wheels attached to it, allowing her to move it around.

"Your planet.", I initiated.

"Yeah?", she responded, while continuing her work on the wiring.

"Am I assuming correctly that your planet has a far bigger biodiversity?"

"Oh, yeah.", there was a small spring in her voice, as if she had let out air in the middle of speaking. "Big biodiversity. We‘ve got deserts and rainforests, coral reefs and permafrost - although perhaps not for that long anymore - mountain ranges and all that stuff."

"Interesting.", I supplied, for lack of a better response. If Terra had such differences in temperature and landscapes, it was a logical conclusion that the humans had evolved to survive under such circumstances.

"Yeah."

It was unusually quiet for some time. That was, until Quinn rolled out from the underside of the control panels.

"Alright, I‘m done." She took a deep breath before opening her mouth once again. Then, all of a sudden, the muscles of her face started contracting as if she was plagued by an invisible pain. Her eyes squeezed shut and she let out horrifying noise, holding an arm angled in front of her nose and mouth. The noise itself was not particularly loud or long, but I recoiled either way, as a measure of safety. I could not be certain if this gesture was meant to harm me, after all.

Quinn‘s arm sank down again as her other hand rubbed at her nose. She huffed, a sound far less threatening than the one she had produced a moment ago. One of the hair patches above her visual organs raised itself, prompting the question to arise if human hair was controlled by muscles or if it had a mind of its own, although this was a question that could be further investigated later. One of the corners of her mouth raised, revealing the seemingly sharpest teeth in her mouth.

"I guess dust is an inter-galactic thing, huh?"

I did not respond. Her face muscles contracted, causing the skin above her visual organs to crease.

"Hey, you okay? You‘re looking a little spooked over there."

"Human, I do not wish to cause you discomfort, but, if I may ask, what was the purpose of the noise you just uttered?"

She did not respond for a moment, blinking with both of her eyes as she stared at me. It was quite unsettling, considering her previous explanation, that most humans preferred not being stared at.

"I…sneezed?" The creases in the skin above her eyes deepened.

My front pliers uttered another rattling sound. "What is this 'sneezing'? What purpose does it serve?" I admit, I was quite curious. Terrans seemed much more complex than I had previously assumed.

She paused, seemingly to think of an answer. "Well, it‘s like…if something is bothering us at or in out nose, like dust, for example, it‘s kind of the natural response to that. To keep things out of our bodies that don‘t belong there."

"Human bodies seem to require a lot of defense mechanisms.", I commented.

She raised and lowered the connection of her arms to her upper body, baring her teeth once again while raising herself to her full height, using one of her arms as support.

"Y’know, it’s surprisingly hard to explain something you’re so used to to someone who’s never heard of it. I guess I still have to work on the whole 'awareness that I‘m around aliens' thing. S‘ kind of surreal."

She patted off her clothing, as if to remove non-existent filth once again. I had noticed the past few cycles that most of her clothing seemed to consist of several, usually differently-coloured, pieces of fabric.

Her clothes usually covered her body from the connection between her arms and torso to the connection between her legs and, presumably, her feet. Her feet were usually also covered, although I could not determine the purpose it was supposed to serve in the environment we are currently in, although the theory that the conditions on Earth are vastly different compared to the ones on the SIIR Noxos is gaining more probability, based on the Terran's narrations.

The human seemed to evaluate a question she wanted to ask (this is, of course, a mere speculation based on previous observations: her face muscles were contracted to form a crease over her visual organs, which could so far most likely be interpreted as confusion, thoughtfulness or discomfort; her head was both slightly raised and tilted to one side at the same time, a gesture that was most likely supposed to convey an ongoing thought process).

Although, before she could utter a noise, V-7 informed us of a request from the Vitrichl to gather for a matter of importance.

The purpose of his summoning was to divide the crew into several smaller groups that were to be assigned with different tasks to fulfill once we sucessfully landed on Fendaar.

I was grouped with the Terran, which was unsurprising, as well as Tkzt, a member of the species that is widely known across the galaxies as Ctzas (it is to note that the Ctzas have not evolved any form of written language and communicate exclusively through clicking and chittering sounds. The written forms of, for example, names of this species, are written by other species to produce approximately the same sound as the Ctzas make when recited verbally).

Tkzt, as a member of the unit controlling supply chains and keeping a list of the stock of the SIIR Noxos, would make a helpful addition in our task of seeking out the nearest settlement in order to stock up on supplies.

After all matters of importance were settled, the crew dissipated, continuing their respective tasks. The Terran was ordered to stay and to assist the Vitrichl in another matter, which is the reason I did not cross paths with the human again for the rest of this cycle.

Despite this, I am positive that accompanying the human on an foreign planet will give me a further insight into the species' mannerisms and interaction manners with foreign species, which will prove to be helpful further on in studying the human.

#*does that scene from movies but in reverse*#*a bus passes through your field of vision and suddenly I am standing on the opposite of the street in a trenchcoat & shades hiding my face #*In my hand a new chapter*#So honestly #I'm really immensely sorry that I disappeared for almost two whole months without a word #I had a lot going on #Duties #Deadlines #Having to travel out of the country two different times #But now I'm back!!#And I got a lot more free time so I'll be able to go back to my normal updating schedule of once a day #I spent some time thinking about where I wanted this story to go etc etc #But now I'm really excited to have this chapter finally released bc I was honestly struggling with it and the storyline #But now it's done and I'm back on the track :)))#day 15 #nr.15 #I wouldn't be surprised if most of you thought I was just dead and never gonna continue this lol #Also obviously thank you for the messages I got asking if I was okay and if I was continuing this #While also staying very polite #You guys are great <3 #Thanks for your patience and also for the 300 more followers I got while I was gone #Ok now the actual tags this already almost as long as the actual chapter again #I put it under a read more tho bc the chapter itself is also pretty long #earth is space australia #humans are weird #space australia #humans are space orcs #humans are insane #humans are terrifying #humans in space

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weirdmageddon · 2 years

Text

the existence of tiktok has made me genuinely afraid to share any obscure music i like with an untouched small close-knit subcultural following in fear that it will become basically colonized, turned into a fad, left as a former shell of itself, and turned into a mere talking point for demographics and groups to be associated with. with tiktok you can’t talk about the music in itself or find anyone who genuinely likes it after going out of their way to look for something good and was rewarded for their willingness to go into deep cuts (and thus have respect for it). tiktok forces it down the throats of people who would never go out of their way to do that because they don’t care. it turns that artist and the entire subculture they once had into a zombie. now they’re only associated with that one tiktok meme, or immediately brushed off because people already heard of them so much and got sick. the small, cozy, and informed following who you can have enriching conversations with about the band and their music is gone. you can’t talk about the music for its own sake anymore because it essentially symbolizes something entirely unrelated to what it actually is and who made it. it kills integrity of the music and the artists who don’t purposefully capitalize off of it. tiktok mass destroys things and turns them into a cultural joke because everything on there is about image and trends instead of genuine discussion and enjoyment about a thing in itself (how can you even have one on that app anyway). nothing is sacred anymore with that app’s existence.

and i’m not saying this because “i hate things that are popular and i think i’m better”, because i’m not. i honestly don’t care what happens on tiktok or what’s popular as long as it doesn’t come close to the untouched things with cult followings i genuinely enjoy, because it winds up invading and destroying that ecosystem. i don’t even have tiktok but i can feel the cultural effects that it has from my own little corner. i’m saying this because tiktok takes the more obscure things with their own niche people enjoy in their own little recesses and destroys their integrity by appropriating them and i can’t find anyone to have a genuine discussion about with anymore who also enjoys it as much as i do for what it literally is (which previously would be extremely easy. you could always assume someone who said they liked an artist knew even more about them than you did! maybe they know the ins and outs of their discography, went to a live show, have insider information, or just have a very personal experience with the band). i can no longer gleefully introduce it to someone because they’ve already heard of it and associate it with something else instead of on its own terms, maybe even disliking it merely because of what it is artificially associated with. i don’t want to be automatically associated with something or someone i never heard of because i like something that tiktok decided to take over and the people who like it fall into such and such a category. i never agreed to be a part of this.

#mine

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qingxin-dream · 2 years

Text

Burning for You

a/n | BASED ON GENSHIN 3.0 LEAKS!⚠️ …okay, so i have a confession. two things… one, i believe in love at first sight. and two, i am hopelessly in love with tighnari. <3 wrote this in a few hours high off of my new fav dendro main so i hope it’s okay! (art credits: u/murasakisumire on reddit)

warnings | character leaks, slight profanity, probably ooc tighnari but i’m having fun with it anyway :)

genre | fluff, smug tighnari likes to tease you

word count | 1.1k

pairing | tighnari x reader

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

In the humid wilderness of Sumeru’s lush rainforests, there was no room for error as a forest ranger. It was a matter of life or death—eat or be eaten.

The vast majority of the rainforest was relatively untouched by civilization and teeming with vibrant creatures of all shapes, sizes, and abilities. As a ranger, you were expected to be an expert in animal and vegetation identification, and able to sense danger through disturbances in the surrounding ecosystem.

You had been reminded of this requirement on numerous occasions by your superior, yet somehow you defied all natural laws with how you constantly attracted trouble. Sometimes it’s a simple, easily avoidable mistake on your part, but other times it turned into a horde of enemies charging in your direction with no obvious escape in sight.

As a result, you were assigned under the direct supervision of the Lead Forest Ranger, Tighnari, for special training. But it wasn’t your fault you magically invited danger everywhere you went. At first, you were quite intimidated by the long-eared ranger. You knew he was the best of the best, so the stakes were high. If you messed this up, maybe you really were hopeless.

Expeditions were extremely silent and awkward with your new companion. After a while of suffering from solitude, you had tried to get to know him more, but it proved to be difficult.

“Hey, ‘Nari,” you would inquire softly as he was focused on referencing an encyclopedia from his pack.

An ear would twitch accompanied by a nearly indiscernible hum, eyes not breaking from his work once. “Yes, (Y/N)?”

“Um, do you ever take a break?” you sheepishly asked, rubbing the back of your neck nervously. He raised a brow, promptly closing his book, and touched his chin in thought. Worried you had offended him, you continued, “L-like do you do anything for fun?”

“This is fun, is it not?” Tighnari replied nonchalantly. “I love my work.”

It was true. All Tighnari would ever discuss with you was about Dawson Rainforest. Such was the extent of any line of questioning you could think of. You could rarely ever get a reaction out of him, not that you wanted to tease him—well, maybe you wouldn’t mind to see the quiet and clever Tighnari devolve into a stuttering, blushing mess at least once.

But that is beside the point. You felt ignored and lonely. Breaking the ice was useless. You were going to have to be a lot more forward if you wanted to get Tighnari’s attention.

Which ultimately led you to this moment months later, as you snap out of your thoughts staring at the burning embers rising from the campfire. You like to think your relationship had improved or you understood each other better since then. At the very least, your skills were improving and working with him in a team wasn’t as bad as it used to be.

You both had set up camp together less than an hour ago after completing your duties since you were too far from the main base to lodge for the night. Tighnari had just set his ranger journal aside, pale green eyes locked onto you.

A strange rush of heat spread across your cheeks in embarrassment. You prayed to the Archons it wasn’t noticeable. Had he said something and you completely missed it? Why is he looking at you like that?

You cleared your throat, unsure of what to say since he still scarcely gives you the time of day, “What?”

Perfect. You were such a great conversationalist, you reprimanded yourself silently.

“You were lost in thought,” he observed, lips pursing slightly in disappointment. “I… apologize if I have come across as rude in the past.”

“No!” you insisted, shaking your head frantically and laughing it off. “That’s not why at all. Don’t worry about it. Just feeling bored I guess?”

“You must always remain vigilant. As you can tell, none of the wildlife here seem bored in all their clamoring even in the darkness of night,” Tighnari notes out of habit, but he pauses for a second before shaking his head too and scooting next to you. “But we aren’t on a mission so I suppose I may entertain your antics this time.”

Did the flame of the fire suddenly grow hotter? Your cheeks flushed with another intense wave of heat when Tighnari grew near, surely it wasn’t your Pyro vision acting up. Then again, every time the lead ranger draws close, you swear you can feel the fiery pulse of your vision on your chest. Or was that your heart leaping?

His bright jade eyes flickered knowingly from your vision to meet your skeptical gaze, a playful, smug smile threatening to tug at the corner of his mouth.

“Do you enjoy this, ‘Nari? Making me—!” you accused in shock, words abruptly trailing off as you find yourself nearly admitting your embarrassment. “Argh. This is what you actually do for fun, isn’t it?”

“Me? I could never partake in such fruitless endeavors,” he responded with an innocent wave of his bushy raven tail, rotten mischief dripping from each word on his tongue.

“Oh, but the excitement is just radiating from you, go ahead. I’m ready to hear the great Tighnari speak to me finally,” you retorted sarcastically in a huff.

“I would be more inclined to say it’s written all over you, (Y/N),” his voice lowers as he leans in ever so slightly, tall ears towering over you in an almost intimidating manner. “I’m… not as oblivious as you may think.”

Fuck, the fennec fox never cared to talk to you and the minute he opens his mouth it was your downfall. Your breath hitched subconsciously, the only confirmation Tighnari needed, a sharp-toothed smirk adorning his smug expression. You hated it.

You had quickly learned long ago he had a penchant for teasing and trickery, and you always walked right into his traps. After all this time pushing you away and reeling you back in at will with his wit, he knew he had you wrapped around his finger. You were utterly touch-starved and Tighnari reveled in it, lightly grazing the back of his fingers against your hot cheek.

His pearlescent irises glimmered and marveled at you—a predator helplessly enamored with his prey.

“This isn’t fair, ‘Nari,” you whispered, lidded eyes watching with longing as he slowly inches further toward you. The instinct to pull away crosses your mind, just to deny him the victory, but how could you when the promise of his lips was so imminent?

He brushed his nose against yours gently in a loving nuzzle, whispering onto your lips, “Neither is this burning in my heart for you now, is it?”

Tighnari could hardly restrain himself any longer, drinking in your scent like this so intimately, inevitably succumbing to your sweet lips in a passionate display of desire. When he held your cheek or trailed his hand down to your waist, you felt that familiar burst of your Pyro vision glowing alongside his Dendro one—his touch consuming you with an aching need for more.

You almost considered caressing his long ears when he nibbled at your bottom lip, until he broke the kiss with a soft smile and couldn’t resist indulging in your addicting taste once more.

thanks for reading! reblogs are appreciated! my masterlist.

#[opulent dreams].✿#genshin impact #genshin #genshin impact imagines #genshin imagines #genshin x reader #genshin leaks #genshin 3.0 #genshin sumeru #genshin tighnari #tighnari x reader #tighnari

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ciaonicole85 · 13 days

Text

Neighbor Series: Ch. 4 Part 2

A Delicate Ecosystem

Part 2: Carmen is obviously down bad, but does Sydney feel as deeply? Is her career or love most important?

I think this might be the last in this series.

The rest of the day and night went smoothly. Sydney tried to dismiss that stupid conversation with Richie from her mind. Carmy was the same as ever. She supposed he didn't have "the talk" with him. Typical that Rich thought it was her responsibility to control the actions of a grown man.

The next day Sydney walked past Marcus and Fak huddled in conversation and thought she heard her name. She shrugged it off, put away her stuff in her locker and joined them.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt. Marcus can we talk for minute?"

Fak who usually had something quirky to say, just waved at her and scuddled away.

"Yeah, anything wrong?" Marcus asked with an odd, no an irritated look, on his face.

"Well, yes. Our bread supplier isn't going to come through for the rest of the week. A death in the family. Carmy wanted me let you know that we'll have to make it in-house today, but we have a backup ready for tommorrow."

"Got it."

"Okay, let me know if you need anything."

"I said I got it."

Sydney was thrown off by his tone. Yes, Marcus had asked her out several months ago and it was weird for that night. Afterwards, they'd moved on and were back on good terms. She racked her brain trying to think if she'd done or said something recently to offend him.

"Um, is there a problem?"

"Nope."

Marcus's face was now unreadable and he walked away to his station. It was eerie, but Sydney had many other things to do so she shelved it for now.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following day Carmy stood behind the restaurant for a his "smoke" break right before nightly service. He quit cigarettes a shortly after The Bear opened because he had caught pneumonia and missed two days of work. His doctor told him that she'd seen a lot of pneumonia cases in her elderly and smoking patients that season. So now he chewed Nicorette and pretended that it was just as satisfying. While he stood there enjoying the solitude, Anna, a new hostess came out and began smoking her vape pen. She had a one of those warm, generic voices that was perfect for customer service, but she could instantly switch to a cloying Kardashian-esque accent. She used it whenever she could talk to Carmy alone. However, today she didn't immediately begin speaking when she saw him. He decided to not waste the chance to escape. Just as he was about to go back in Anna spoke up.

"So…do you like know of any nice apartments around here?"

Carmy was facing the door so he could roll his eyes, without her seeing. Then he turned around trying to look neutral.

"Uh, no. Well, I like mine. It's 10 minutes from here, but there's almost never anything available."

"Oh, really? Didn't Sydney just get a place there? Or did she move in with you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, I just thought I heard like you were maybe together?"

Anna kept her voice light, but she seemed nervous. One hand was gripping her vape pen and the other was twirling her long brown hair.

"No, we don't live together. What does that have to do with you finding an apartment?"

"No? Well, I didn't think so. Sydney is great and all, but she's…like you could like date anyone here, you know?" Anna replied choosing to ignore his question.

Carmen couldn't believe he was having this conversation. This time he couldn't help rolling his eyes in her face. The unmitigated gall of this women to talk about Sydney and to approach her employer in this manner.

"Anna, my dating life is not up for discussion."

Carmen wanted to say more, but he knew that it would be best to discuss it with Natalie first. She came from corporate America and knew the proper HR way of dealing this stuff.

"Oh, oh yeah. Like, okay. Um, I better get back" Anna stammered, blushing and darted through the door.

That night Carmy was on alert. It was one minor incident, but he had to suppress his compulsion to spiral with doubt and worry that Sydney would be hurt because of him. He hadn't really thought much about how others might view their potential relationship. He probably blocked it out because there was already so much to worry about. Also, their kitchen "mind-meld" flow was getting better all the time. It was exhilarating how they had become more and more attuned with one another during service. Often while working side by side they would hand each other the very thing they needed without even having to speak, much less look at each other. They could plate a dish together faster than a pit crew could replace a tire. With a glance Carmy knew when Sydney needed a break on their most insane evenings. He'd just squeeze her shoulder and she'd move so he could take over for a quick five. He did the same for others though.

However, what happened the other night might have raised some eyebrows. He was asked to greet a congressperson who was dining there and he beckoned for Sydney to join him. Before they went out he grabbed a towel to pat her dewy forehead, retied her chef's coat and smoothed it down like he was her personal valet. This was in front of the entire kitchen. He hadn't meant to do anything that would make Sydney a target. His intention was to support her, not romance her at work. Of' course there were slip ups. He just hoped the conversation with Anna was a one-off. To be on the safe side during service he tried not to do anything extra with her besides their usual telepathic routine. Sydney followed his lead avoiding making unnecessary remarks or touching him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later he walked her home. They were silent at first, their stride in perfect harmony.

Carmy cleared his throat.

"Sydney, has anyone been treating you differently?"

Sydney paused in surprise for a second, but then she answered "Am I that easy to read?"

Carmen was now very concerned.

"No, it's just that I had a weird conversation before service with one of the front staff."

"Was it about us?"

"Yeah, has anyone said anything to you?"

"Yes, Richie did. A couple others are just being a little icy this week. It's no big deal."

Carmen took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers.

"What did Richie say?"

"Oh, Mr. Richard had a speech. He wanted to make sure I kept the "shop" closed until you and Nat could pay back Cicero. He's afraid I'll mess up the ecosystem. "

Carmy's froze for a second, then he blushed scarlet from the mention of him getting anywhere near Sydney's "shop" and from Richie's audacity to address Syd instead of him.

She continued.

"At the time I thought he was just being Richie. Now, I don't know. I don't want to mess anything up for you, for us. The Bear is so new and we are on track to paying off the debt and maybe even getting a star."

"Sydney. We make an excellent team and nothing that we've done or will do together outside of The Bear will change it. I promise you, that I won't let it change. Your dreams are first priority."

"So are yours, Carmy."

Carmy's focused on his breathe for a moment, his heart pounding in his ears. His dream was doing this with HER. He meant it when he said he wouldn't even want to do it without her. Each day together wove a new thread from his heart to hers, but he wouldn't force it on her.

"Sydney, I like you. More than anyone I've ever…."

He stopped unsure if she was ready to hear how deep his feelings ran.

"But I understand if you want me to back off. Whatever you decide I will talk to them and fix this. You deserve nothing but respect."

They reached the front of their building and Sydney turned to face him. He was visibly trembling. Tenderness for him surged from her heart. Carmen was the most sincere man she'd ever met. He couldn't fake happiness, indifference, or confidence unless that was how he truly felt. Past the anxiety, occasional moodiness, and temper, at his core she saw someone who desperately desired to serve and to be understood.

He stood there defenseless.

She put a hand over his heart as if to speak to it.

"No, don't back off. I don't care what any of them think as long as we're good."

Carmy breathed again, took her hand in his and kissed her palm, nuzzling it against his cheek.

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Sydney lay in bed that night thinking. She knew down to her bones that her foundation was stronger than his. It was not due to any fault of his own. Her home had been filled with safety and love. It was her nature to be a perfectionist, but even when she failed she knew that she had intrinsic value as a person. What she lacked that Carmen had was the courage to be vulnerable. He was open to her about Mikey within the first few weeks of their meeting despite not knowing how she would respond. This and his consistent effort to know her, drew her in despite the chaos of early days at The Beef. She knew that he would actually listen and give her an opportunity to grow. There was another intangible factor, which scared and thrilled Sydney. When she often found him gazing at her, there was a feeling that he was not only moved by her beauty, but for who she was. It reminded of her of how her father looked at her mom, even when she was sick. It was one of her few memories that hadn't faded. She also knew there were no strings attached when he promoted her to CDC, but her heart demanded more with each passing day. She wanted to be Carmen's refuge and release in every way. This knowing was overwhelming and she was grateful that he moved slowly despite the hunger in his eyes.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day Natalie was working on-site when Carmen came into her office and closed the door.

"Hey Carm, how are you?"

"I'm good. Sorry, I didn't respond to your text last night. Baby PJ looked very cute in his White Sox outfit"

"Well, at least send a smiley face or something! But what's up?"

"So, I don't know if you've noticed but I'm interested in someone who works here."

"Oh, bro I know…so are you and Sydney official?"

Carmy brushed his hair back with his fingers and shook his head.

"Were you never going to say anything?" he asked.

"The best thing a sister can do is stay out of it. It's brothers who get involved with their sister's romantic choices. Thank God, you couldn't run off Pete."

"Okay. No, we're not rushing into anything. So far, she allows me to walk her to and from work. And we talk everyday."

Natalie clutched her chest and sank down further into her chair.

"She allows you to…I CAN'T! I had no idea my baby brother was this sweet!"

"SUGAR, the point of me bringing this up is that some of the staff have been going behind my back to talk to her, icing her out, and there's been a rumor that we live together. I won't have it! Anyways, I figure you know the corporate way to handle it."

"Okay, we were going to discuss health insurance options for the next enrollment period during family service, but I can slide in a talk about relational professionalism."

"Thank you."

Natalie sighed and squeezed Carmy's hand.

"She allows you to walk with her! Oh, Pete is going to melt."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

For old time's sake Sydney prepared Mikey's spaghetti recipe for family service. Carmy saved her a seat and she sat down next to him feeling Anna's bitter glances and Richie's disapproval. Marcus ignored them. As they ate Natalie gave the insurance presentation and then her politically correct professionalism talk. She took care to make it not obviously about Sydney and Carm. When she was done and people started to file out, Carmen asked for the original Beef staff to remain behind. They took their seats again looking intrigued.

He moved to stand at the head of the table.

"Alright, great…Okay. So I asked Natalie to give that talk. And thank you Nat, but I have something I need to say. too"

"So, You've all been here a long time. Before I came you already had each other's backs and then I took over. It was an adjustment. Then Sydney came and I had a partner from my world. There more changes but somehow we found a way to work together. Then we found the money and we started this. You all choosing to stay and gain new skills, means so much me and I know it does to you too.

The Bear is a special place because it's a family business. And not just because of Natalie and I, but it's all of you too. The thing is we got to have each other's backs. It's not enough to to get through service, get the reviews, a star, whatever, but we got to respect each other. You know that without Sydney and Natalie giving it everything they had during the reno, none of this would have happened. Where we're sitting would be a parking lot or a Dunkin's. Anyways, I'm disappointed that some in here saw everything Sydney did to help get us here and they're giving her crap because I like her. In HERE I respect all of you, everyone is paid fairly, given opportunities, and I care about you…your lives. She didn't do anything, but her job and she deserves your respect. Out THERE I hope to spend as much time with her as she'll let me. But in HERE we're a business and we're a family.

The silence was palpable. Sydney's eyes never left Carmy's face while he spoke and when he took the courage to meet them, he saw admiration there and her beautiful smile.

Tina broke the heavy mood.

"So, Jeff. Are y'all together? Are we what they a call a "mom and pop" now?"

Carmy grinned, still looking at Sydney.

"I'm working on it."

#the bear #sydcarmy #sydney x carmy #sydney adamu #carmy the bear #carmen berzatto #carmy x sydney #carmy berzatto #fan fiction #syd adamu #syd x carmen #syd x carmy #mushy stuff #fan fic

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sweater-daddiesdumbdork · 1 year

Text

Life Is Short So Make It Sweet

Chapter Eighteen: Introductions Made

Summary- 3.9k Curtis Everett x Plus!Sized Reader. You and Claude might be playing matchmaker. When they do take an interest, Curtis suddenly finds himself with more time on his hands.

Warnings- Phone sex and discussing the use of toys.

A/N- As always, Thank you all so much for reading and sharing this little series. I appreciate whenever I get to hear what anyone is thinking about these two and how they navigate a building relationship. Thank you @what-is-your-plan-today for taking the time to beta this project for me. Dividers made by @firefly-graphics

Chapter Seventeen / Masterlist

You pondered at Curtis’s kitchen table, papers scattered all around, your reading glasses half slid down your nose as you leaned over with a pen poised in your hand, glancing over essays. Or that is what you were supposed to be doing. But, you had something more important distracting you.

Claude happened to bring up the newest addition to the middle school team, Yona. In particular how sweet, smart, funny, and kind the soft-spoken teacher’s aide was and how she thought that there was someone you both knew who would probably really like getting to know her- Edgar.

Things between you and Edgar had changed, immensely after that Halloween party, for the better. You two had gotten to actually know one another now that you were a frequent member at Paulie’s for game nights. Yes, he could be hot-headed and run his mouth too far as he proved at your party. But, he also grew a pair and came out to apologize with sincerity, that you were sure of. Now the man would give you the shirt off his back if he thought you needed it. He also proved himself to be funny and caring, a bit shy whenever complimented. You were rather fond of the man now.

Yona was much more of an observer and tended to be more cautious with things. Claude thought this would be a moment where perhaps opposites attract. Now that Claude put that thought in your head, it wouldn’t stop rolling around up there.

“How’re the papers going?” Curtis questioned from behind you, startling you a moment to glance over your shoulder to see him coming in from the garage. His hands were covered in what looked like car oil. “Can you get the sink for me so I don’t touch anything?”

“Slow… slower than I like.” You answered his question as you went to turn on the hot water and go under the sink to find the special mechanics degreaser soap.

“What are the papers about this time?” He had you pump several squirts of the soap in his hands before he started to scrub at them.

“The winter ecosystem and hibernation of local wildlife.” You went back to the table to sit back down. “Simple enough, but… I need your thoughts on an entirely different matter.”

“Shoot.” Curtis scrubbed at his nails with a brush before he was satisfied that they were clean once more. Cleaning up around the sink, he turned to dry his hands on a hand towel.

“Edgar ever have any serious girlfriends?”

“Edgar? Um- not for a hell of a long time.” Curtis pondered, trying to remember his last serious girlfriend. “At least for a couple years. He was with one girl, but she moved away. He has had dates, but never anyone he was serious about. Why?”

“Well, there is this woman who started just before Christmas named Yona. She just moved here, really sweet and kind woman. I was gonna mention to Claude about maybe inviting her to Paulie’s, and see if she wants to join in on one of our game nights.”

Curtis listened closely while settling in the chair across from you. “If you think she would like to hang with us Honey, invite her. I know Edgar showed his ass back at Halloween, but if you trust him, he would probably love to meet Yona. I know he misses having someone, you know?”

“I picked up on that.” You plucked your pen back up to start working on the papers once more, only having a couple more to go. “He did say he was jealous of you before.”

“Well…” Curtis moved to a stand, sliding his hand under your chin to tilt your head back to look up at him. “I would be jealous too if I let you get away from me.”

You rolled your eyes at him playfully, but couldn't hold back the way it made you grin all proud as he dropped a kiss to you. “Good thing you saw me first?”

“Remind me to thank Gilliam for that. You almost done?”

“Just a couple more, I just gotta focus.” You blinked up at him.

“Okay, let’s go out to dinner tonight when you’re done.” Another nipping kiss had you pushing your hand lightly against his chest.

“You gotta let me finish then, stop being a distraction, Curtis.” He caught one more protesting kiss before backing up with his hands in the air in surrender.

“Fine, fine. Come find me when you are ready.” He grinned while retreating into the living room, you waited a few seconds before leaning forward in your chair, looking around the corner to see him grabbing a book and settling in the recliner he preferred to read in while waiting for you.

“I promise you will have a good time,” Claude assured Yona while you went up the stairs to Paulie’s and held open the door. You two had managed to coax Yona to come to game night to meet the guys. It took a little convincing but she relented when you and Claude both offered up rounds of beers. Somehow the guys made out on this deal too.

Yona followed you up the stairs and stepped inside, glancing around. “Looks like a grungy sports bar with cold beers and greasy food.” You nodded since she basically nailed Paulie’s on the head. “I already love it.”

“Did Y/N tell you about her first trip here?” Claude smirked as she stepped in behind Yona and you let the door shut behind you.

“Met your boyfriend here, didn’t you?” Yona inquired and you shrugged.

“Actually I met him on a school trip, but we did run into each other again here and had a fun night. “ You glanced around, looking for Curtis, Edgar or Gray. “According to Curtis it was our first date, but I say it wasn't.”

“Why not? “

“Because he never asked me out that time. We ran into each other.”

“Fucking fate is what it was.” Claude leaned against the bar. “Paulie, where are the guys?”

“Out in the back room.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “They already have drinks back there waiting. Maybe. They already came out once for refills.”

You led them around the bar and disappeared through the kitchen and into the back store room that Paulie set up for you guys to practice throwing axes You could hear the three of them debating near the large bullseye.

“Yeah, it veers to the left because you are not throwing straight Curtis.” Edgar stated while studying the implanted hatchet.

“I bumped my shoulder the other night.” He admitted, his hand lifting to rub at his shoulder. “Must still be sore.”

You hid a grin, knowing full well why he bumped his shoulder. The two of you tumbled out of bed right in the middle of making out and Curtis had managed to wedge himself between you and the floor before you both landed. You felt awful at the moment as he hissed in pain, scrambling off to sit next to him, half-undressed while he laughed hard, assuring you that he was okay.

You certainly didn’t see anything funny about what just happened, worried that you had really hurt him but he pulled you back to him, kissing and pulling you against him till you were lost in the haze that being with him brought. “Get your ass back up on the bed Honey, we weren’t finished.” You never got off the floor so fast in your life. Curtis right behind you, rolling the two of you back together, making you laugh at his enthusiasm.

Next morning, he was lame.

“Well now I know how I can win against you.” Grey joked. “Gotta maim you.”

“Fuck off Grey, you been ahead in points since Christmas.” Curtis flipped him off while you three entered the room, breaking up the debate as all three of them saw your small group coming in.

“Hey guys…” You paused to sling your arm encouraging around your friend. “This is Yona, Claude and I work with her.”

“Hi, Yona.” They rang out in unison, making the woman next to you laugh with her own greeting back.

“This is Grey.” Claude pointed him out. “Curtis is that tall brute next to him.” Then she sauntered over to Edgar, taking his hand, not being too subtle at all as she pulled the man forward. “And this is Edgar.”

Edgar blushed wildly, making him look cute and boyish at that moment. “It’s nice to meet you Yona.” His hand slipped into hers when she offered it, giving a shake. His hand swallowed hers but just watching them, you had a feeling that Yona had the upper hand.

“You too Edgar, what were you guys doing?”

��Throwing hatchets, do you want to try?” Edgar perked up, Curtis wrapped his arms around you, invested as well in the interaction.

“Absolutely.” Yona set her purse down on the table and wriggled out of her winter coat. You watched as Edgar set about finding her some hatchets. Curtis tugged on your jacket, encouraging you to slip it off and settle in for game night.

“I like her.” He admitted, still listening to her and Edgar talk while they both took up spots to throw with hatchets in hand.

“I knew you would.” You said softly back while turning to face him, eyeing his shoulder. “Is it still really sore?”

“Nah, just stiff.” He rolled his shoulders, wincing a bit. “Okay, A little bit. You gonna kiss and make it better?” A wriggle of his eyebrows disappeared under his black beanie. He looked so hopeful at that moment, you had to give him a little something to ponder.

“Will do more than kiss it better.” Giving a wink, you took his hand in yours and leaned up to kiss his cheek. “But not till later, we have all night.” You tugged him closer to the throwing line so you could watch Yona’s and Edgar's throws, Curtis groaning behind you.

“Later? Honey you want me to hold out that long?”

“Hold out for what?” Claude piped up, her eyes teasing at Curtis while you let Curtis engulf you, his arms draped around you and his chest pressing against your back, his groin pressing half-hard against you.

“Exactly what you think.” Curtis retorted while Claude cackled, you scoffed and looked up at him.

“Behave.”

“Make me.” His grin was wickedly teasing, you let yourself lean back into him while Edgar lined up his shot and swung his arm to send the hatchet spinning in a blur but it planted into the bullseye very close to its intended target. “Damn, keep going and you are gonna be hitting those dead center.” Curtis complimented and you gave a small squeeze to his hand in a thank you. You knew Curtis didn’t give them out to Edgar, not often since Halloween and you hated the rift between the two of them, even though Edgar had been wildly out of line that night.

Edgar shrugged, trying to brush it off while Grey and Claude added their own input, but you saw the little secret smile he hid when he ducked his head, stepping aside for Yona to throw. Yona approached with some apprehension. Everyone started to yell encouraging, but Edgar motioned for you all to pipe it down. You muffled yourself in Curtis’s arm, still watching as she made her throw.

And it landed so close to Edgar’s, even though it did bounce off, that you and Claude cheered. Grey and Curtis exchanged glances, grinning at one another. “Let her throw again,” Curtis mentioned. “And give her one of those sharper ones.”

“Yeah!” Edgar went to grab another, this one gleaming with a fresh blade as he carefully handed it over. “Throw it again, Yona.”

“Why did you give me a dull one before?” she quizzed him and Edgar shrugged.

“It was the first one I grabbed that looked like would be a good fit for you.” Edgar tried explaining hurriedly to defend himself, you saw the flash of nerves across his face that he might have screwed up. Yona giggled and bumped her shoulder against him, breaking the seconds of tension.

“I’m just teasing.” She whirled up to send that one flying. It was closer to the bullseye and stayed in the board this time.

You all gasped in surprise and Edgar rushed right over to check it, wrenching the hatchet out while placing a marker in the spot. “You are good at this.”

She shrugged, this time she came off as a bit shy. “Ah, well I did archery every summer at my family’s camp.” She collected the hatchet in Edgar’s hand and swooped down to pick up the first one that dropped. “I have really good aim.”

Curtis, who was still behind you, watching the interaction dropped his mouth to your ear, whispering softly. “Oh yeah, I really like this friend. Edgar does too.” Your eyes flickered to Claude who was whispering excitedly to Grey, the man nodding in agreement with what she was saying.

In the following weeks, Edgar and Yona started to see one another outside of the group. Curtis certainly noticed a change in his friend. He stopped being sullen about things, more enthusiastic and exuberant at work. Although whenever Grey or Curtis mentioned getting together at Paulie’s, Edgar had an excuse for why he couldn’t go out.

That made Curtis home more often as Grey was also going out with Claude when he wasn’t spending his evenings with Sophia. You as well were busy with after-school programs involved in coaching students who were struggling with their studies. It turned into late nights in his garage working on the Camaro till he wandered up to his bedroom to shower, read and share a few messages with you before bed.

You offered to come over afterward, but Curtis knew how busy and tired you were. Not to mention the fact your apartment was a lot closer to the school. As a compromise, you always made sure to call him while you were getting ready for bed.

“I have our flight booked for Florida.” He could hear you shifting the blankets around and the creak of your bed as you got in. He also heard the unsaid questioning part in your statement.

“I’m ready for some sunshine, sand, and sex with my girl.” He teased as he flopped on his bed, having taken a shower earlier and set the heater for the night, he was just wandering his bedroom in his boxers now, ready to crash after you said goodnight to him. You laughed at his statement, relieved sounding.

“Sunshine, sand and sex actually sounds really good.” You gave a little moan in the phone, more rustling of your beading, and Curtis could hear the soft hitch of your breath.

“You tired tonight Honey?”

“No…”

“But I hear it in your voice, what is it you are wanting?” Curtis questioned, his legs stretching out as he leaned against the headboard, waiting for your answer.

“I miss you.” You said hesitantly. “I feel like we haven't seen each other in forever now. I’m sorry, I know it is because of my stuff at the school we haven't.”

“I miss you too, Honey. I know we were supposed to meet up with everyone at Paulie’s, but what if we just spent the evening together this weekend?” Curtis knew it was late, and both of you would be up at the crack of dawn, but he had to make the offer. For you, he would make that drive. “What if I came over now Honey?”

“No.” You said firmly, being the more reasonable to the two of them. “Friday is your early day so you can’t be late and I will just be passing out after talking to you.”

“You, Pretty Girl, are such a teacher.” Curtis teased. “All responsible. Fine, fine… I could help you go to sleep though.”

“Well I am, but seriously Curtis, you would just be coming here to cling to the edge of my small bed and not get a good nights sleep.”

“Your bed isn’t that small.”

“Smaller then your king size one.” You giggled and almost shyly inquired his other proposal. “How are you going to make me fall asleep?”

His sweet little Honey, how he wished he was there to see your reaction to what he was offering.

“We have never had phone sex Pretty Girl.” There was that whine of surprise, a bit needy and he assumed it was from him using Pretty Girl.

There was silence, but then a tiny breathy “Oh.” reached him. “No, we haven't done that.”

“We don’t have to if you are not in the mood.” Curtis offered, giving you an easy out if you were not interested.

“No! Um- I’m very much in the mood Curtis.” Your bed creaked once more as you wriggled around in your covers Curtis guessed from the sounds you were making on the other end.

“Just relax Y/N, I got you.” Curtis tilted his head back, letting his eyes close so he could picture you laying in your own bed. “What are you wearing Honey?”

“Um, well I am wearing your Highway To Hell tee.” That made Curtis smile, knowing you were wrapped up in his clothing.

“I left it there for you to use Pretty Girl. Where do you want to touch yourself first, close your eyes and picture it, talk to me.” He was patient, not pushing you further. But he could picture you trying to work through your thoughts, the way your expression would go from unsure to exited at the challenge.

“My thighs, sliding my hands along the tops of them.”

“You do have beautiful thighs.” Curtis started, his free hand rubbing down his bare chest and belly to rest above the bend of his boxers. “I love feeling how soft they are as they wrap around me and squeeze.” Your breath hitched at his words, he swore he heard a touch of a whine in your voice.

“Then to my inner thighs, my hands are not as good as yours though. Or your beard.” You tone started to sound breathy, like you were headed towards something.

Curtis ran a hand against his chin, rasping it enough so you could hear it. Your breath hitched just as he hoped. “You like my beard rubbing against your skin, marking you all over Pretty Girl?”

“Yes!” you said with enthusiasm, Curtis cussed under his breath hearing you and moved his hand under the band of his boxers to press his palm against his throbbing cock. “Run your face up and down my thighs.”

“Play with your tits Pretty Girl, I know you love your nipples licked and sucked on.” Curtis wrapped his fingers around himself, squeezing lightly, resisting jerking himself off listening to you for now. “Push your shirt up off yourself.”

A rustling started in the phone and then you started whimpering. “I do love when you suck on me like that.” You sounded so sweet, making Curtis grunt lightly as he pulled his hard throbbing cock out, fisting himself tighter.

“Honey, I would be pulling and sucking on them, kissing all over till you were covered. One day I will fuck your breasts.” He jerked himself, pushing his legs up to brace his feet against his mattress.

“Your big fat cock pushing through my tits.” You encouraged him. Curtis let his head fall back, letting himself get lost in the moment listening to you. “I want you too.” Your voice drifted off a moment. “I have to touch myself.”

“Do it Pretty Girl, you must be wet now.”

“Uh-huh.” Curtis recognized that tone, the soft wail starting to build up, the sound of you rubbing your clit. “I want you inside me. To feel you on top of me, holding me down.”

“Trust me Honey, I will be soon.” Curtis felt himself shudder hearing you, his cock throbbing, needing to release. He worked his hand harder, chasing that feeling that burned in his belly.

“Have you underneath me feeling so good.”

“Hands pinned back?” Your covers rustled in the phone like you were kicking them off. The sound of your whines and moans coming more frequently, your fingers now burying into you from the sounds of it. Curtis could just picture you, your thighs spread open and your fingers pushing into your heat till you were messy sounding, your pussy squelching with every squeeze around your digits.

“Fuck I will tie you up if it will get you off Honey.” Curtis hissed into the phone. “Fuck-” His hips chased his fist, his cum starting to shoot over his hand. You were quiet a moment, just soft pleading whines coming through.

“Did you come?”

“Yes Pretty Girl.” He exhaled deeply. “Your turn Honey. You are so good, always feel so good squeezing my cock Honey, feel yourself squeezing your fingers.”

“Its’s not as good as your cock though.” You sighed in frustration and his phone ruffled a moment. Then a buzz came through. Curtis couldn’t help but grin that you must have gotten a toy.

“Pretty Girl, have you been holding out on me?”

You sounded sheepish on the phone. “Well, I haven't needed anything since being with you.”

“Well damn Honey, glad to have been of service. But I think should take some of those out next time I’m over. Let me hear you Pretty Girl, I wanna hear you feel good.”

You started softly, rebuilding back up, but within minutes you were chanting Curtis’s name and crying out in need. “You’re so close Honey, fuck you sound so good you are gonna get me hard again” When you came, Curtis started praising you, telling you how good you did for him, that he couldn’t wait to see you.

You said his name with a curious tone. “Curtis… you really don’t care about the toys?”

That surprised him for a moment. His brow furrows in his confusion. “No? I think that we should start using them if you didn’t mind. Why?”

“Well… I have known others to be jealous of me having them.” You stated cautiously and Curtis would have been willing to put money on who exactly that would have been.

“Honey, toys don’t bother me. You want them, then you should have them. Damn, I will buy you some when I find out what you like.”

“Oh, you don’t have to-”

“No, I don’t have to but I sure as fuck want to. I would never tell you that you can’t have them anymore, or ever care if you used them. If you are worried about me feeling jealous of some toys, don’t. I’m not at all concerned that I’m not pleasing you. Adding toys will just make it that much better for us.” He pointed out.

“You are really okay with this.” You stated almost incredulously.

“Y/N, I’m serious, It doesn’t bother me.” Curtis stated. You yawned into the phone, making him speak up. “I am gonna say goodnight though Honey, you have an early day.”

“I’m not tired… much.” You rebutted. “But you are right. Thank you Curtis.”

“Thank you Honey, it was good hearing you even if I can’t be with you. Goodnight Pretty Girl.”

You groaned into the phone in exasperation, making Curtis chuckle. “Goodnight, sweet dreams.”

"Trust me, will be dreaming about loving up on you. Talk tomorrow Beautiful."

#life is short so make it sweet #curtis and honey #curtis everett x reader #curtis everett and reader #curtis everett x you #curtis everett and you #curtis everett x plus sized reader #curtis everett and plus sized reader #curtis everett au #curtis everett #chris evans characters #amber writes #sweater writes

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craacked-splatters · 3 months

Text

"I know"

"Do u want to see what I added today?"

"Sure buddy"

(insane rambling below!)

Scrapbooks! Scrapbooks! Hell yeah!!

Hello to the 5 ppl seeing this👋 Ima be real Im running on 7 hours of sleep after 5day grind brain mushy rn and I scribbled everything maniacally by memory at 3am after having one of those revelation moments so I have no idea what I'm missing lmao. This is actually the first time drawing them like this 2. Really proud of it

and B4 u ask anything hear me out.

So like tmnt2012 mutant apocalypse am I right?

Yeah it's flawed and pacings off and stuff BUT! The implications it left behind are haunting and it has been stuck in my brain for years. One of the things that stuck with me was the fact that Raph and Don had stuff like April's tessen, Mikey's stuffed bear head, The Creeps containment jar, and Casey's skull(horrifying btw) with them and that it's like :((

I fully believe it was Donnie who collected and carried them everywhere in their car. Not only for Raph(to help with this memory)but also for himself.

Why? Well maybe I'm reading 2 much into it and it's also partly a HC of mine but also bc canonically Donnie has a bit of a hoarding habit collecting trinkets and pictures and stuff. He likes to keep things around that hold a lot of significant value to him.

We see this in The Creeping Doom during the intro

AND I swear he's got a literal wall of family photos in his lab somewhere I can't for the life of me find it but I know he did! He even took some to the farmhouse with him when they escaped during the invasion.

They're memories yk? Reminders..

Ok im having difficulty expressing this shit rn words r failing so like give me ur brain 4 a sec.

Imagine ur donbot.

You're stuck in a cold metal limbo for the rest of ur last remaining family members life. Everything and everyone you knew and cared about is dead and gone. Over thousands of species and ecosystems that made ur world unique wiped out. No more animals no more wild things no more blue clear skys. Death can't come for you. Not in a way that matters anymore.

And no matter where u go you are haunted by shadows of what once was. There are so many echoes and ghosts and cultures and stories and lives that were buried & left to rot by the gaping maws of fear & the desperate need to survive. No one cares for the past and the only other person around you can't remember it. Time will claim its domain again and there will be nothing left except empty metal husks to show sentience even existed in the first place.

Like holy shit he was just a kid bro and he never got the chance to even reach full adulthood!!! I can't possibly imagine the grief and guilt he must've carried with him all those years. He lost EVERYTHING

His family. His home. His world.

Did Donnie even get the chance to mourn??? Do u think his new body allowed it? Do u think he even ALLOWED himself to mourn? He had a hurt amnesiac brother who still needed to eat, who could still starve and bleed and die if they weren't careful enough.

So between his habits and the ✨Angst✨ and human pollution, him hoarding random ass things Wall-E style and making these shitty little scrapbooks or keepsakes didn't seem so far fetched to me. I also highly doubt there was enough time or resources to build shrines or graves in the middle of apocalypse. But yk honoring/preserving the memories of the things and ppl we love is natural for us so like SORRY if its a bit cringe of me wanting him to have SOMETHING to comfort him during the really bad days.

Even if its more bitter than sweet

Bonus doodads cuz I was indecisive:

The 1st was purple tinted cuz of donbot vision get it hehehe

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mac-kd8 · 10 months

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Where are Your Wings Iruma-Kun?

Summary-

What if Ali didn’t think quickly enough to create Iruma a fake pair of wings? What if Iruma actually got scars from his past hardships and trauma? What would the teachers of Babyls do when one of their beloved students tried to escape from their questions about his past? And to be honest, they really don’t know how to deal with a kid who has been through the most illegal form of torture in the entire Netherworld.

Chapter 1: Meeting Professor Balam for the First Time

“It’s most likely that Imaginary Creatures live in a peaceful environment. However, the Netherworld’s ecosystem is unforgiving.” Professor Balam stated after finishing his drawings on the chalkboard.

He then walked over to where Iruma was being held down by vines while talking to the class.

“ That's how we demons developed our wings. In the race for survival, wings are essential tools. Even without horns, you can escape safely as long you have…huh?! ” There was a short pause when Balam try to search for Iruma’s wings.

No matter how much Balam touches and felt around the young boy’s back, Balam couldn’t find any traces that Iruma had what pretty much all demons had. The professor being shocked was an understatement, he was completely mortified at the chance that one of his students doesn’t possess any wings.

Balam can't or will not believe that a demon as young as Iruma had gone through the worst type of pain known to demon-kind. Without wasting another second, Balam picked up Iruma and run in the direction where the teacher's lounge was located.

“Master Iruma!” Alice called his master's name as he and Clara watched the white-haired teacher carry Iruma like a sack of potatoes.

When Balam loudly slammed open the door it got the attention of all of the teachers who were currently occupying the room. Buer Blushenko, Morax Momonoki, Marbas March, Orias Oswell, and Bars Robin then turn their focus onto the 2 new incomers.

“Pardon me! Someone!!” Balam shouted when entered the teacher's lounge.

“What’s the matter, Professor Balam?” Robin asked worriedly, not used to seeing the giant teacher in such a panicked state.

“It’s an emergency! This boy doesn’t have any wings.” Balam then pointed to the sweating boy. Everyone only raised an eyebrow at Balam's statement, knowing that he can sometimes jump to conclusions. Buer only scoffs at Balam’s statement, pretty much all demons in the Netherworld have wings, it’s even more ridiculous for Balam to think someone young as Iruma has none. Buer then made eye contact with the blond Astrology teacher. Orias Oswell was thinking the exact same thing as his coworker.

It’s common knowledge in the Netherworld that the few demons who are wingless are usually strong full grown demons who can defend themselves. Not children who are learning the basics of magic. It’s simply impossible or a miracle for Iruma to last this long in the Netherworld without any wings.

“Of course he has wings,” Robin stated in his usually cheerful tone.

“He might just tuck his wings into his body.” Momonoki tries reasoning with her coworker.

“Or maybe they're just really tiny,” Orias suggested nonchalantly.

“He doesn’t have wing roots,” Balam exclaimed, which made all of the teachers a little more suspicious of the boy. To ease everyone's nerves and his own, Robin decided he would be the one to check if Iruma really didn’t have any wings.

No matter how much he twist and turn his way out of the giant teacher’s grip, Balam was just too strong for the human boy to even stand a chance of escaping.

So many emotions and thoughts were running through Iruma’s mind, realizing this may be the end of the road for him.

“Nooooo, If I knew I was going to be eaten today, I would tell just how much I appreciate Grandpa and Opera for giving me a great life. And what would Alice and Clara do once they found out that their own teachers had eaten their friend?” Time moves slower for Iruma as he remembers all of the memories he made with his best friends.

“I never even get to tell them how much they mean to me, I never got to tell them that I’m actually human.

Alice, Clara, I’m sorry that I couldn’t keep my secret for just a little bit longer.” Iruma mentally apologized to everyone who had loved and cared for him as he accepted his faith.

Iruma only closes his eyes, hoping that his teachers will devour him quickly enough so he won’t feel anything. After 5 seconds went by, Iruma wonder why he wasn’t in the demons’s stomach already. When he looked at his teachers for the first time after they saw his back, he didn't see hunger or any type of blood thirst in their eyes

No one had their claws out, no bite marks, no pain, just empty tense silence.

A hand-covered Momonoki’s mouth, trying her best to hold back a gasp. Robin’s knees gave out as his body shake in horror.

“His wings?!” Buer whispered under his breath.

“Those scars,” Marbas commented only to himself.

If only the clueless blue-haired boy knew that in the Netherworld, if a demon doesn’t have wings that doesn’t automatically mean that they are human. For all his teachers know, Iruma is a young demon boy who has been through the most horrendous and traumatic experience that even most seasoned demons couldn’t handle.

Chapter 2 https://www.tumblr.com/mac-kd8/721977396410155008/where-are-your-wings-iruma-kun?source=share

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martha-anne · 4 months

Text

I have a small garden. This is a relatively recent development, and it has been occupying a lot of my thoughts.

Writing about those thoughts here seems like as good an outlet as any.

The garden is looking particularly bad at the moment. Rather than speculating about what I want it to be like, I’m going to write about some things that have already happened and which I am happy about.

These pruned plants - a blackcurrant bush and a rose! I had never pruned anything before (I had never had anything that needed pruning before) and I felt paralysed by my own incompetence at first. I’m very glad to have given it a go. Either I've done it right, or I will have learned something about how not to prune.

Speaking of being paralysed by incompetence, these fenceposts! I knew I wanted to put up some kind of plant support/trellis along the back of this bed, but the task felt utterly insurmountable a few months ago. I had no idea how to go about it, so I did what I always do in such situations and asked my mum for advice. Cue posts, post-spikes, a mallet, and an improvised drive-in tool… I still need to string wires between them, but soon I’ll have a structure to train plants up.

This heap of twigs! These are the prunings from the blackcurrant and rose plants mentioned in the first point. There was not enough space in the compost bin for them at the time, so I’ve left them in a pile over winter. I hope it is a nice home for some appreciative bugs.

The compost! How do I love my compost bin? Let me count the ways.This pile of decomposing matter brings me indescribable joy. Since we started composting cardboard and food scraps we have so little waste to go into the dustbin. The compost is full of worms and all sorts of other life. I like to check on it in the mornings before I go to work.

The pond! I dug this a few months ago, and at the time I remember feeling like it was the first honest day’s work of my life. I got some water plants for free from a local facebook plant swap group. The eventual aim of this pond is to attract frogs to help deal with the slug population - I’m playing the long game. Of course, it will take some time for the ecosystem to stabilise - but already there is life! I was delighted to discover water hog-lice a few weeks ago. It’s a Christmas miracle!

This no-dig lasagna gardening bed! Every online resource said that this kind of bed is better if left for several months before being planted up. I planted mine immediately and the results were not amazing - so I’ve learned something, and this coming year it should be better.

Tulips! I mentally calculated and purchased what I felt was an appropriate amount of tulips for the space. A week later, a visiting friend brought the same quantity of tulip bulbs again as a housewarming gift. Finding somewhere for them all to go was a challenge, but my friend and I managed it together. I’ve now mostly forgotten where we planted them, which will be a fun springtime surprise.

There is so much I want to do with this space and so much I’ve tried which has already failed. I don’t really know much about gardening yet, but in 10 years time maybe I will have figured it out ;) Three cheers for my shabby January garden!

#pond bugs #crawling along #permaculture #small space garden #urban gardening #solarpunk

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tigers-eyes-26 · 1 year

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Destiny

Before his nonna died she gave everyone in the family advice. Some of it was good some of it sounded like the crazy ramblings of an old ill woman. The advice his nonna gave to Luigi was “Marry a girl whose name starts with D.” He was a little disappointed but brushed it off as the illness getting to her head. He wrote the “advice” in his journal and didn’t think about it. That was until he became interested in girls.

None took notice of him until after he grew his mustache in the last years of high school. Luigi dated Destiny Del Vecchio in high school. It was his first date, first girlfriend. He remembered what his nonna said and thought they were destined to be. Literally Destiny.

They broke up before she headed off to college in another state. He was going to the local trade school. She told him maybe they would be able to meet up after collage. “You never know what could happen.” They moved on with their lives, but sometimes he would have dreams that they would be married and live in some apartment somewhere.

After the whole magic world debacle. She did call him. She saw the newspapers and her parents told her about the crazy day that a lava filled monolith broke through the road with a fire breathing dragon turtle. The date was ok, but they didn’t click. They shook hands and bid each other goodbye. He stopped having dreams about her after that.

Luigi saw the relationship between the Princess and his brother blossom. He was so happy for them. It was cute seeing them become flustered. He always knew princesses would like Mario. Every Sunday they would have family dinner in Brooklyn. Their family would tease Mario about the Princess. Luigi would look at his uncle Arthur and his wife Marie and their kid. He kinda wanted that for himself. Eventually.

During the week he looked around him. They worked and lived among toads. He loved the toads but if he was going to eventually find a wife, he would have to spend some of his time elsewhere. He told Mario he would be spending his Saturdays back in Brooklyn. He asked his family to find some nice girls he could go on dates with. They happily did. He went on dates every Saturday. He clicked with none of them. His life was just too different for them to accept. He was happy with his life and living in the Mushroom Kingdom. After a year of failed dates, He decided he would put a pin in dating for a while. He went back to only going to Brooklyn on Sundays.

Luigi continued on with his life. He didn’t need to rush things; he didn’t need to force things. One day Princess Peach called him, Toad, and Mario to go investigate the desert. The Kongs wanted to build a racetrack there, but Peach wanted to make sure they wouldn’t be messing up a tribe or ecosystem that lived there. She also wanted them to investigate if there was anything from the earth that showed up in the desert and assess if it was safe.

****

They surprisingly met up with DK while in the desert. “The princess didn’t trust the Kongs to do their own research before they built a track?” The gorilla started. Mario and Toad wouldn’t stand for anyone to bad mouth the princess. Luigi backed away from the impending fight. Only to be poked in the back. He turned to see something tall in an orange hooded poncho and a shy guy mask, pointing a spear at him. Luigi yelped, alerting the others that something was wrong. Suddenly cactus-like balls burst from the sand creating a cage around the group.

“Why are you here?” The tall shy guy demanded. It sounded like a girl. Luigi looked down out of nervous habit. Out of the bottom of the poncho were some long human-like legs. Mario opened his mouth to answer but DK got to it first. “It’s none of your business!”

Mario glared at DK. “Don’t say that!”

“WHY NOT! IT isn’t.”

“It clearly is!”

“How do we know?”

“CHE!” Mario threw his arms up in the air. Another argument started between the two, Toad jumped in to defend his best friend.

The figure ignored the squabble and poked Luigi again. “Answer!” she demanded.

He put his arms up in surrender. “W-we were seeing if we could build a kart racetrack here.”

“You can’t. Now go home.” She lifted her spear.

“Wait! W-we need to tell our higher ups why?”

“Because I said so!”

“W-well who are you?”

She huffed, “I’m Daisy, I protect this neutral land from either side of your stupid war.”

“There isn’t any war anymore. Bowser has been defeated.”

The masked lady looked at the still flaming argument. “Are the Kongs and the Mushroom Kingdom going to war over this land?”

“Oh, heheh No we are on good terms, it’s just those two” He pointed to his brother and DK, “have some kind of rivalry going on. And Toad just…” he flipped his hands around trying to find the right word “...likes to jump in whenever he can.”

“They are annoying.” She stated.

“Yeah well, family can’t live with them can’t live without them.” She gave a snort. Did he really make her just laugh? He continued to talk. “So…you some kind of shy guy?”

“No.” her defenses raised back up.

“I haven’t seen anything like you before. Me and my brother here, are kinda new to this world.”

“….”

He rubbed the back of his head at the silence. “…Well, I guess I have to break up their fight before they start throwing punches. Hehe…” He turned around. A whistle rang out; the Pokeys dug themselves back into the ground. The yelling from Mario and DK stopped. Mario smiled at his brother, “What didja do Lu?”

He shrugged, “Just talked I guess.”

The Kongs begrudgingly accepted it was neutral ground and stopped their construction plan. Luigi and Mario told Peach that they may have encountered another female human in the desert. This excited Peach. She suggested that they all go to try to meet her again.

*****

They did meet her again. “Go away!” Daisy pointed her spear at them. “I told you we don’t want to be on anyone’s side!”

Peach stood up taller. “Who is we?”

“Like that gorilla said, ‘None of your Business.’” She turned to leave. “Now never come back!”

“Wait! Are you human?” Daisy paused her retreat; Peach continued. “I’ve lived here my whole life and I have never seen a shy guy with such long limbs.”

She gave a sign and lifted the mask. A tawny freckled face framed by auburn hair was drawn in a scowl. “You’re right I’m human, what do you want a prize?” She sniped out and turned again to walk away.

“Don’t go!” Peach reached out. “I need your help!”

Daisy swiveled around. “With What!? You’re a princess with a kingdom, why do you need my help!?”

“I need to know about people like me… were you born here?”

“Might as well be.” Her tone clipped.

“Are… are there more of us?”

“No…” She quietly replied.

“D-did there use to be?” This time Luigi spoke up. He was sensing the sadness radiating off the woman.

She slid the mask back on and jumped up on a rock and ran away.

That night the group of adventurers ate around the fire. Luigi had cooked, he would have liked a full kitchen, but he had been learning from Toad how to cook over a campfire with little supplies. They were all surprised when Daisy stepped into the fire light. She sat down and curled her knees up to her face. The three friends exchanged looks. Luigi offered her some food.

She took it. The food smelled delicious even from miles away. She took a small bite. It was delicious! She quickly finished what was on the plate. “Where did you learn to cook!”

Luigi smiled brightly, “from my Mama!”

Her eyebrows flattened at the revelation. “You have a mom?”

“Yeah! Don’t you?” Luigi slapped a hand over his mouth. What an insensitive question! “I-I’m S-soorry” he stammered out.

She waved away his apology. “No, this is why I came. I’m ready to talk about what happened. I figured that once I’m done sharing you can go away and stop bothering me.” She took a deep breath.

Daisy’s mom hadn’t survived giving birth to her. Her dad couldn’t take care of her alone. He was on his way to give her to nuns to raise. He took a shortcut through a construction site at night and ended up falling into a hole. While trying to find his way out he found a green pipe, he sat down on the edge and ended up in a shy guy tribe in the great desert. The tribe took in anyone who didn’t want to be forced into Bowsers army. Her father got sick, and no one knew how to help him. He died when she was 16.

She finished her story and stared at the fire. Peach got up and sat next to her. She placed a hand on Daisy’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

Daisy just nodded. She took slow breaths trying not to cry around strangers. Luigi got up and sat on the other side of Daisy. He gave her a hug; she was surprised but didn’t shove him away.

*******

They had set up a correspondence between Daisy and Peach. They would talk to each other, Peach would visit her, they would challenge each other in many feats, and eventually Daisy would come to visit Peach. Luigi would make sure he was around when Daisy visited.

He got the courage, from the many pep-talks from Mario, to ask her if he could start writing her letters. She agreed. They wrote, talked, they would go on kart rides, compete with each other, and sometimes just go on walks together. Luigi found himself falling for her. She was loud, active, tough and spunky. He loved the energy she brought to his life. Like his brother she encouraged him to be all that he could be.

She wasn’t weirded out by the duo world living. She missed her family, so she encouraged him to visit them often and appreciate them. When Daisy did come over for Sunday dinners she could be as boisterous as the rest of his family. The brother’s uncles were impressed by her.

He tried to help her find her family on Earth. He looked through newspapers and missing persons reports. He even submitted her DNA to try to find any close relatives. It turned out her grandparents were dead, and she had an uncle and aunt who died in 9/11. Daisy just shrugged “I was never really apart of this world. I don’t even know how I would react if I could meet my family from earth…” They decided to stop looking for her relatives.

One Sunday Luigi was feeling nostalgic. He got out old photos and journals to show to Daisy. As he was reading over some of his old journal entries to see what he could share, he found what he had written just after his nonna died. “Marry a girl whose name starts with D.” He smiled. Maybe he would after all.

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Author Note: After I broke up with my high school boyfriend I would have dreams about him all the time! One day during winter break when I was visiting my home town we went on one final date together and that was just what my brain needed to stop dreaming of him. Then I went back to university and meet my now husband.

I'm making fanfiction of the small throw away lines in the Mario move that made me think.

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