Protective sugar daddy Anthony is it. Can we see anything of him being protective of Kate? *swoon*
She didn't want to call him. Genuinely, she didn't. It was embarrassing, and he would think she was young and stupid - or younger and stupider than he already did. But her phone was on three percent (not her fault, Eddie had thought it a wise idea to unplug it so she could charge her tablet) and would be long dead before an Uber came. Assuming, of course, that they would even come this far out.
Cursing Siena for the twelfth time for leaving with some random, she took a steeling breath and tapped on Anthony’s number.
“Hey,” he said, sounding a bit confused. It was nearly two in the morning, but from what she’d seen, Anthony didn’t sleep very much. “Are you okay?”
“Not really?” Recalling the low battery, Kate thought she might as well spit it all out. “I’m at this party with no way home and I’m honestly super drunk and tired and I was wondering if you would pick me up because my phone is really close to dying.”
There was a sharp inhale on the other line. “Text me the address, I’ll be right there. And wait inside, I don’t want you outside alone.”
“Okay.” She hung up and texted him the address, putting her phone back to sleep. Her heart fluttered a little at the now-familiar concern in his voice. Maybe it was the tequila talking, but Anthony had a way of making her feel…cared for. Safe. It was probably just a side effect of being the oldest of eight siblings, but Kate let herself be won over by it anyway. Just for tonight, just while she was drunk and not responsible for her silly and naive musings.
She watched from the window. Anthony’s Tesla pulled up thirty minutes later, and she stumbled a bit in her heels as she walked down the driveway. Anthony was already getting out, shrugging off his jacket and draping it over her bare shoulders. “Christ, you must be freezing.”
“I’m fine, but thank you.” The cold air was actually quite sobering, though she could hear her words slurring slightly. Placing a hand on his chest, right over his heart, she looked up at his worried expression. “Thank you. I know it’s late.”
Anthony shook his head. “I don’t care about that. I’m glad you called me, Kate. Always call me.”
She was having a bit of trouble processing that as he held the door open for her and she slid into the passenger seat. Kate had always been the person everyone else called in an emergency, but it didn’t usually go both ways. Would Anthony really be there anytime she needed him? Or was that just another hollow promise?
God, she was too drunk for this.
Kate laid back in the seat and let the warmth of the heater thaw her out. “Drink that,” Anthony said, pointing to the unopened bottle of water in the center console. “I’ll get you some paracetamol when we’re back at mine.”
Of course they were going back to his flat. It wasn’t even a discussion. Even if a part of her bristled at the demand, the rest of her was a little relieved that she wouldn’t have to find the correct key to her flat or find her phone charger or take off her dress or her makeup or her heels. Anthony would make sure she got into bed as functionally as possible.
She opened the water and took a long sip, feeling like a new person. Clearly she was dehydrated.
“Kate,” he sighed, placing a gentle hand on her knee. Surprisingly chaste, far below the hem that hit at her mid-thighs. “You scared me tonight. You shouldn’t be out alone.”
“I wasn’t alone. I was with my friend, but she left.”
Anthony swallowed, his face still obviously tense. “I know I don’t have any say in what you do when you’re not with me,” he said deliberately. “But I still worry about you.”
Sliding her hand over his, she squeezed his fingers. “I like that you worry about me,” she admitted in a small voice, letting the alcohol embolden her to speak what was in her heart. Just for tonight.
The only indication that he’d heard her was his thumb pressing into her skin, but Kate thought she knew what he meant, anyway.
27 notes
·
View notes
strap in for this week's fic flavor: the failsafe episode of season one of the young justice cartoon except the simulation just won't. fuckin. end.
(fics that inspired this at the end)
If I ever did sit down to make my own fic, I'd split it in 3 parts:
The Simulation: bits and pieces of the 40 years Dick lives after most everyone he knows has died
The Return: the immediate aftermath and healing from the trauma of having not-quite-actually lived a whole life only to wake up and find out it was all fake. nothing traumatizing about that whatsoever.
The Unintended Consequence: aka the twist I'd love to add and would hint to in the second part - finding out the simulation, through martian mind fuckery, pulled from the real world (and in many cases, from real minds). Dick meets a bunch of people he didn't think were real outside the confines of his simulated life. A bunch of rowdy, heroism-inclined teens across the years get to meet the sibling/friend/mentor figure they all dreamed up one night.
(actual idea snippets under the cut)
.
Dick Grayson is 14 and most of the world's heroes have died. He planned a suicide mission that left him the sole survivor of a doomed team he helped found. The invasion may have been stopped, but is this really the price he wanted to pay?
The first face he sees in the infirmary is Roy's, and he has to close his eyes and just breathe for a few minutes because for one painful moment he'd thought it was Wally. But this isn't the world where his best friend miraculously survived alongside him. This is the one where he got his best friend killed and didn't even give him the courtesy of following behind him. Behind them.
.
Dick Grayson is 27 and has lived longer without Bruce than with him. The invasion's anniversary is always a tough day for him, but that morning seems especially harrowing. He'll get shit for it later, but can't resist stepping out onto the balcony of the manor's master bedroom (Bruce's old bedroom) for a smoke -- his first since he'd promised to quit if Jason, just 15 then, did too.
"Bad habits tend to pile up," he'd said, a rueful quirk to his tired grin. He'd tapped the cigarette twice on the railing and added, lower, "and this one's especially nasty, huh."
He inhales, watches the sun creep across the horizon, and lets acrid smoke burn through his lungs for a long moment before blowing it out in a small cloud. His eyes water, but he doesn't cough. It tastes just as bad as it did the first time he smoked one, not even a year after the invasion and treading water as Robin proved insufficient.
There hadn't been enough heroes to go around then, and Dick had been trained by one of the best. It hadn't been fair, but it had been his plan that had ultimately stopped the invasion. His shoulders everyone's expectations fell on.
He takes another drag, then smudges the lit end against the rail he's leaned on when he hears a boot scuff purposefully against the roofing above him.
"Todd and Pennyworth will be upset with you."
He doesn't turn around. Damian doesn't jump down to join him.
.
Dick Grayson is 54 and wakes up in a room full of ghosts. He hears his long-dead father-figure tell his long-dead team about a simulation they weren't meant to win. A training exercise gone wrong and only half a day spent under their mentors' careful, if slightly panicked, supervision.
He looks at his hands, watching the way his gloves crease when he flexes them in and out of tight fists. He looks at his team, their eyes a little haunted but shoulders slumped with relief even as they grumble. Batman's heavy, gloved hand settles on his shoulder and the weight of it is a nauseating mix of foreign-familiar.
He opens his mouth. Closes it.
Tears prick his eyes behind his domino mask, and he tells himself the suffocating, acidic void building in his chest is just some leftover side effect of the ordeal and not the grief-guilt of outliving yet another family (no matter that they hadn't been real in the end).
.
Dick Grayson is 16-going-on-56 and well used to the coincidences piling up between his simulated life and the real thing. Some of it -- missions and villains he remembers cropping up -- he's marked for Bruce to review and sort as he pleases. Some -- security for the cave, team building anecdotes, and training regimens -- he's shared with the team. And some he keeps only for himself.
Tim is one of those. He knows it's not fair to the kid (so much smaller now than he ever was when Dick lived his simulated life), but he can't help being selfish just for this. Tim is the one kid he's sure he didn't make up, and if Dick's taken to babysitting the kid just to be near at least one member of the family he built for himself in the wake of the worst days of his life .... Well, anyone who says shit about it can happily stand in line to have their teeth kicked in.
Despite this, it still catches him off-guard when he sees a familiar face pop up in one of Bruce's reports.
Jason Todd, caught boosting tires off the batmobile, is nearly the same age now as he was when Dick met him. He stares at the words, but none of them really sink in beyond the kid's name and address. He's moving before he's even made the decision.
He's used to the world kicking him when he's down - lived it for 40 frustrating years. But he has Bruce again. And things with Tim have been so good. And he's always been selfish when it comes to family. If he could just see Jason. If he could just meet him. If he could talk to him.
If if if if if--
.
Inspirations:
Circles in Shattered Mirrors by InfinityIllusion
Fine (But Not Okay) by CharlotteDaBookworm
Verisimilitude by mutemelody
25 notes
·
View notes
Super Bowl 2024 predictions? Or playoff predictions in general?
Bear with me since a lot of stuff will probably change over the course of this offseason (the draft and post June 1 stuff) and age poorly but here are some of my predictions (barring injury):
Obviously, Chiefs will always be in contention, I think their offense is still going to be pretty good without Bieniemy. I can see the AFC West being more competitive this season though the rest of the teams will have to compete for a wildcard spot.
The AFC South is probably the division I feel the most confident in saying that it’s Jacksonville’s to lose, because half the teams there are rebuilding and the Titans are probably on the verge of doing so.
I guess for the AFC I see it being (in no particular order) being: Bills, Bengals, Chiefs, Jags, Dolphins, Ravens, Jets (if they get Rodgers. If not probably the Steelers?). Not a lot of change from last season, I feel kinda bad for leaving the Chargers off of this because I think they'll be better than last season (what no Joe Lombardi does to a mf), but I do wonder if they will inevitably Charger things up and drop a division game or two against like. The Broncos. It happened last season.
And then in the NFC uhh Eagles, 49ers, Cowboys, Lions, Vikings, Giants, Saints, something like that. I think the Vikings will be a better team this coming season, even if their record doesn't indicate it. At the very least their defense should be better coached? But I can also see the Vikings not making it. Idk if bringing Wagner will be enough to improve Seattle's defense, and I'm not sure what the ceiling of that offense is going to be.
(Super Bowl predictions? If everyone's healthy, prepare for a repeat of SBLIV) (The idea of another Chiefs vs. 49ers hurt to type out but sadly I could see it)
7 notes
·
View notes