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celestialevie · 3 years

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Sunshine // Charlie Weasley x Healer! reader

(Not my GIF, credit goes to the creator) Genre: fluff with tiny bit of angst words: 1.7k warnings: cursing, like one sentence of smut (so 16+ please), kissing, idiots being oblivious about their feelings, mentions of second degree burn, mentions of broken ankles etc. Summary: Being in love with your childhood best friend is never easy, no matter how much love there is. A/N: This is gender-neutral fic don't mind the gif also, please keep in mind English is not my first language. If there are any mistakes, please let me know. And also thank you so much again for the 100 followers!! Hope you enjoy the fic

Working at your dream job with your childhood best friend has been the absolute dream. Even though you just started working at the sanctuary recently, you’re already loving it. And how could you not when Charlie Weasley has been nothing but supportive and making sure you’re comfortable with everything. Until very recently, you’ve been working at St. Mungo’s since your apprenticeship ended, when Charlie told you that people at the sanctuary are looking for another healer to work in case something happens with the wizards working there. While it did break your heart to leave your two other best friends, Tonks and Penny, you couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to be even closer to Charlie. Everyone around you two knew your feelings for each other, while the two of you kept being oblivious to each other's feelings, not wanting to ruin your friendship. Doing this job wasn’t that hard, healing a few burns here and there, twisted ankles etc. Charlie would find excuses to go and see you, even if it wasn’t actually anything wrong with him. You’ve known Charlie since the first year of Hogwarts, when you ran into him on the train. And honestly, seeing him then, you should’ve known you would’ve caught feelings for him. Red hair and blue eyes, freckles all over his face. Who can blame you? Your thoughts have been interrupted when you heard a knock on your office door. ‘’ Come in! ‘’ you yelled as Charlie opened the door. ‘’ Hi sunshine ‘’ he smiled at you. ‘’ Should’ve known it was you. Are you injured, or did you just come to bother me? ‘’ You ask him with a smile on your face.’’ Actually injured. Baby dragon decided to give me attitude by breathing fire on my hand. ‘’ he approaches you and places himself on a bed meant for patients. Taking his hand in yours, you see the very much visible burn marks on his hand. ‘’ It’s only a second degree burn, thankfully, nothing a little of burn-healing paste can’t cure. I’ll apply it and then wrap it up so that it doesn’t accidentally budge or wipe off. In no matter of time, your hand will be as good as knew and ready for another baby dragon or maybe even mother dragon to burn it again. But please don’t actually get burnt again on that hand if possible or anywhere. Molly would throw a fit if she knew how much of your scars and injuries I heal. ‘’ You say as you grab the burn-healing paste and apply it to his hand and finish it off with wrapping a bandage around his hand. Gently tapping his cheek, he sighs and gets up. ‘’ Thank you sunshine, you’re my saviour. ‘’ he exaggerates while kissing your cheek, and he’s on his way out of your office. What you didn’t know is while healing and inspecting his wound, he finally decided he’ll act up on his feelings. But for that, he’ll need help from one person who’s been helping him ignore his feelings for you. Going back to his place, he quickly wrote a note and sent his owl to that person letting them know to come over to his place asap. A couple of hours have passed before he heard knocking on his door. Opening his door, he saw that they were wearing the same outfit they usually did when they were meeting up. ‘’ Sorry it took me a while to come over, I was at work. ‘’ Charlie gulped and let them in. ‘’ It’s no problem, let’s get this over with and honestly this will probably be the last time we meet up like this, Anna… I decided to stop being a coward and acknowledge my feeling for y/n and do something about them. ‘’ he smiled and at his words Anna’s lips stretched into a wide smile. ‘’ Charlie, that’s amazing! I’m happy for you, god, I wish I could do the same about my feelings for Peter. ‘’ her smile faded a bit and a frown replaced it. Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her passionately, leading her towards the couch and slowly lowering her down on it while not breaking the kiss. Pulling off the coat, he knew she had only underwear underneath it. Slowly kissing down her neck and gently biting into it, wanting to hear her moans, he knew he pulled out of her every time they meet up like this. Lowering himself and kissing down her chest, sucking on

her sweet skin he’s got so familiar with recently. As he took of her bra, and started sucking on her nipples, the door of his cabin opened, and he swears the time stopped for him when he heard y/n’s voice when they interrupted something. ‘’ Hey Charlie….oh I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt. Please continue, I’m going to go…’’ before he could even muster up a word, they apparated away somewhere. ‘’ FUCK! ‘’ He yelled as he got off of Anna and helped her get dressed. ‘’ Go find her, you idiot! Don’t just scream and shout! You should go find her and tell her everything. I’ll go home. ‘’ Anna yelled at him Giving Anna a small kiss on the cheek as an apology, he quickly tried to think of a place y/n could’ve gone to. The first thing he did was run to her house and started knocking on their door. When they didn’t answer the door, he went to their office. When he tried to enter it, the door was locked, so he knocked a couple of times before moving on to a different location. He remembered showing her a special spot by the lake, which he accidentally found when he first moved to Romania. Quickly imagining that place in his head, he apparated there, and that’s when he spotted them. Sitting by the lake and throwing small rocks at it. Taking a deep breath, he approached them.

‘’ Hey sunshine. ‘’ at the sound of his voice, they raised their head and looked behind them. ‘’ Charlie, hey…’’ clearing his throat, he slowly approached them. ‘’ Mind if I sit down next to you? Been looking around to find you. Just want to explain something to you and then after that I can leave you alone if that’s what you wish for. ‘’ they nodded their head and gently patted a spot next to them. Charlie sat down. ‘’ Can I just say before you start, I’m sorry for walking in your house without knocking or even letting you know I’ll stop by. Didn’t mean to interrupt you and Anna in your private business.’’ their voice was on the verge of breaking because god-damn did their heart break when they saw Charlie and Anna in the middle of whatever they were doing. ‘’ Oh god no sunshine, you have nothing to apologize for. If anything, it’s me who needs to apologize to you. I am so fucking sorry you saw that. But I need to explain that whole situation and for you to understand it I need you to listen to every word I say. Anna and I were nothing more than just fuck buddies. To just try and forget about all the pain in our hearts that we both felt. We never saw each other as more than occasional fuck buddies who were looking to feel something. Her heart is longing for someone else, and so does mine. Sunshine, I know that what you saw probably hurt you more than you’d like to admit to yourself and to me. God, I wish you didn’t see me and her, but….’’ he stops, taking your hands into his and looking into your eyes. My heart only longs and wishes for you, sunshine. God, I’ve never been more in love with someone more than I am in you. If you’re in love with me too or at least have some romantic feelings for me, it would make me the happiest man in the world. If you wish to stay only friends with me, I completely understand, I promise I won’t let my feelings for you ruin our friendship. You mean way too much to me for me to only ruin it because of some stupid feelings. You’re the most important person in my life. You can say what you wish to say now. ‘’ Charlie was preparing for the worse, but what he didn’t expect is for you to start crying. Noticing the panicking look in his eyes, you quickly reassure him. ‘’ No, no, don’t panic, these are the happy and frustrated tears. Penny and Tonks will be over the moon once I let them know they were right about the two of us all this time. ‘’ A small laugh escapes your lips. ‘’ I’ve been in love with you, Charlie, probably since the moment I first met you on the train. All these times I’ve told myself you only saw me as your best friend, how could you ever see me romantically. But I guess I was wrong. ‘’ you wipe away your tears as Charlie looks at you with so much love in his eyes. ‘’ Oh sunshine, I’ve never been happier to see someone laugh. ‘’ you pull him into a hug, never wanting to let him go. He pulls a little away only to press him lips onto yours. The kiss was never sweeter, wanting to keep kissing you for the rest of his life.

BONUS:

When both Penny and Tonks received a letter from you, they didn’t expect anything unusual. But what they received was the happiest news they’ve been wanting to hear since probably fifth year of Hogwarts. Charlie and you were officially together. Just like you expected, you received one big howler from them. ‘’ CHARLES WEASLEY AND Y/F/N L/N HOW DARE YOU ANNOUNCE THE NEWS WE’VE BEEN WANTING TO HEAR JUST CASUALLY IN THE LETTER. I EXPECTED BETTER FROM YOU TWO!! ‘’ Penny screamed, but Tonks was only laughing in the background. ‘’ As soon as we can, Penny and I will come over to the Romania and keep telling y/n ‘ I told you so ‘’ because I TOLD YOU SO YOU DUMB IDIOT! ‘’ Tonks yelled, and all you could do was laugh at Charlie’s shocked and kind of terrified face. Penny can be a bit scary when she wanted to be, and he definitely experienced Penny’s wrath back in Hogwarts. ‘’ Well, they seem to like the news. ‘’ you laughed as you pulled Charlie into a kiss.

#charlie weasley fluff #charlie weasley x reader #charlie weasley #harry potter #hogwarts #nymphadora tonks #penny haywood #charlie weasley x you #charlie weasley fic #charlie weasley fanfiction #charlie weasley angst #charlie weasley one shot #charlie weasley imagine

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tgfangirl4eva · 2 years

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5 Years Later: Treading Water AU!

Danny had lasted at college for a year without ever going swimming. He had to avoid water until he had privacy. When he knew that his roommate Ian was out partying or studying (Ian always came back before 8 pm when he planned to sleep in their room), he could at least pull out his hydrokinesis in their shared room and not worry about anyone walking in on him.

So he set an alarm for 9 pm and always took peaceful baths at 12 am, relatively late enough that no one would likely walk in and see a glowing merman with white hair and green eyes. After all, time was a good way that humans managed their days. Rise with the sun and all that.

There were some night owls, that was true. But Danny knew how to manage his ... condition and he had a kiddie pool to let himself soak his body and let the water wash his pain away.

Ian loved pool parties and that was the one thing Danny envied him for. Ian went to them all the time and always made sure to offer Danny a chance to go as well. Ian was nice like that, he understood that some people couldn’t do things that others can. Helping out with the dishes, getting a snack for Danny when Ian went to the vending machine, little things that made Danny feel warm inside in a way that abated the constant pain being away from water made him feel. Danny may envy Ian, but Ian was a good friend.

Danny always made sure to clean up whenever Ian wasn’t around. Hydrokinesis was a merfolk power and using it brought out his other form, scales and all. It sure was pretty handy for cleaning up though. Danny was pretty sure he could start up a house cleaning service using his powers. Or maybe house sit.

Rich people tend to keep so many properties that they had to hire people to take care of them when they could have just housed other people in them and make them charge rent. Vlad kept all those places nice and clean and empty, why be so wasteful when there were homeless people on the street? Danny could understand landowning when it was a supplemental income that helped people get by, but keeping a dozen empty houses just for yourself seemed incredibly expensive and wasteful to Danny’s eyes.

Ian was one of those people so nice that Danny had wondered if Ian was faking it. Turns out he was just that genuine, just a little more sheltered than most people his age. Ian had been home-schooled up until his last year at college, when he met Danny. Ian reminded him of Kaima.

Danny didn’t want to think of Kaima or anything like her. He may think of Kaima as a friend, but she brought up some pretty bad memories. He knew that he couldn’t escape the Merfolk Empire forever, but they can’t go on land yet as far as he knew, so he moved inland for college.

It was the safest option available anyway, everyone would be curious about why this hydrophobic boy stayed close to the coast when he had a chance to escape the worst fear of his life. He spoke with Sam and Tucker a long time ago when college came up and the idea that they had to split up came. They would always be friends, but coming together could be hard at times.

Tucker was at MIT and honestly? Good for him. He LOVED being there, it was a challenge unlike anything he had ever had before and with his experience with the latest cutting edge technology courtesy of the Fentons? Tucker was a rock star.

Sam had thrived too. She was going for a dual degree in botany and anatomy. She had been FASCINATED with merfolk ever since she became their friend and wanted to see how human anatomy and merfolk anatomy differed courtesy of Danny. It was good for someone to know first aid anyway.

Vlad had gone silent and was definitely planning something, but he said that Danny wouldn’t deal with anything in college. Because of this, Sam, Tucker, and Danny were all trying to prepare for Vlad’s next encounter the best they could, but they had their limits. They couldn’t train together the way they normally did, they were too far apart for that.

Danny couldn’t also train his hydrokinesis all that well since he had to keep it secret for college, but he could work with his electrokinesis at least. Danny just kept a spare battery to practice via charging the battery and then letting other people use his battery, then charging it via electrokinesis in secret.

It was coming along SUPER well. Danny wasn’t entirely sure if Vlad had electrokinesis, but Danny had been able to finally shape it as though it was water, perfectly under his control. No singed battery, clothes, or hair. Nothing was on fire like the first time he pulled out electrokinesis. After 2 years of diligent practice, his electrokinesis was finally under control.

Danny was pretty sick of being approached for his extra battery though. Ian was at least nice enough to charge it when Danny “forgot” to do so in the middle of the night, which made it inconvenient to drain the battery too quickly, since the battery was designed to last a really long time as it was custom made by Tucker. Tucker had a small business selling high quality, long lasting batteries that could last 12 hours charging your devices before you had to recharge them and he was raking in a fortune. Sam had also pushed Tucker to experiment with chemistry as well, trying to see what ecologically friendly options for batteries were out there. Tucker had a prototype battery for the eco friendly market, but he was still working out the kinks of liquid batteries.

Dalvco was trying to recruit them all of course. Sam knew how to cater to Vlad’s market, the eco friendly activists that wanted the world to be a better place, Tucker was too good with technology NOT to be recruited by all the major tech companies, and Danny was Danny. Nuff said.

At least Vlad didn’t know about how Danny empowered Sam, Tucker, and Jazz using his blood. Danny would have heard about Vlad testing them otherwise. Sam could not only heal herself, but other people as well. Tucker had electrokinesis and thermokinesis, but not Danny’s water mode. Neither had water mode, or even Danny’s level of hydrokinesis. It was a little depressing, feeling alone like that.

Jazz didn’t make him feel so alone though. She had water mode and telepathy too. It felt a little invasive when she used her mind powers, but it also helped him deal with the feeling that he wasn’t good enough. She couldn’t work with as much water as Danny could, but it felt close enough that they bonded over their shared water awareness.

It made Danny not feel so alone. Maybe Danny could even bring Ian into his inner circle as well. Danny had something big to fight against Vlad with now. Danny had hope.

Author’s notes: I wanted to see what Danny would go through regarding water deprivation when he had a lot more experience and power under his belt regarding his living status (as a college student, he has way more freedom, but more responsibilities) and how water deprivation could play with his physiology. I remember how @breynekai-tfc said that Danny could either get used to water deprivation or his body essentially went into shock.

I personally head-canon that as Danny grows older and as his body matures, he can force himself to deal with water deprivation better as a form of exercising his transforming, like how he couldn’t keep himself human and couldn’t breathe in the shower in his first few days as a merman, but after a few weeks in, he manages to keep himself from breathing in chlorinated pool water by forcing his lungs to breathe air.

I also wonder what would happen if Danny either donated blood to/if someone drank his blood like a vampire. The heart is what contains a merperson’s “essence” and blood is pretty close to the heart...

So, here are what Sam, Tucker and Jazz can all do courtesy of Danny’s blood power-up: Sam: Regeneration (self-heal) and Healing (good for helping Danny heal when he’s passed out)

Tucker: Electrokinesis and Thermokinesis

Jazz: Water-mode (not as strong as Danny though) and Telepathy.

They all also got the standard merfolk power package as well, thought speak, hydrokinesis, and aquapathy.

Danny is the “source” and has the strongest water-mode, electrokinesis, regeneration, thermokinesis, AND poison barbs in this AU I’ve developed, though I’ve mainly lampshaded the electrokinesis and water-mode. He’s a force to be reckoned with. Vlad is TERRIFIED of Danny, but would never admit it. 5 appodidos in 5 years and Danny has the potential to unseat Vlad and take his place. Imagine what Danny could do in 20 years?

Edit: Also, the Merfolk Empire would shit their pants too. Danny somehow found a hack to get multiple appodidos in a way that they never knew was possible, and when they finally beat the Siren Kingdom, they’ll come on land and be scared senseless of the mysterious hybrid that is ungodly powerful.

Also, check out the notes to see more additional material on the TreadingWater!Verse

#dp fanfiction #dp au #dp treading water #treading water #Danny Phantom #danny fenton #danny phantom fanfiction #dp fanfic

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drabbles-of-writing · 4 years

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Okay now you have to tell us what the siblings did to the Blight manor.

SOMEONE ASKED!!

well, first of all, they tear that bitch to the GROUND. it was during the first four years when they raid the place to grab Amity’s stuff and Dip Out. whole family was there while the parents were out at some meeting. came back to rooms on fire and over half of their belongings missing. they fixed it all up, obviously, but it was a HUGE talk for a while.

but what I really meant was when the twins inherited the manor. Something happens to the Blight parents, haven’t decided on if the bitches just died or moved away, and they suddenly own their old home. They rip out anything that has anything to do with their parents, change color schemes, furniture, all that and either chuck it in the trash or the darkest depths of the basement and set it ablaze. Burning the past away motherfuckers. And then, when all that’s done, they change the name. They thought about it for a while and eventually decided on the name; the Raven House. It was a joke between them, and also to tick off Lilith, but the name stuck. They even gave her a tiny picture above the door to solidify it. Eda still insists the Owl House is better than any big manor.

Once everything is finished and the manor is re-made, the ex-Blight’s all come to an agreement on what to do with it, since they all already had their own places and didn’t feel like moving into the house they were abused in. They say a final ‘fuck you’ to their parents and make it one big safehouse. By which I mean it’s like a shelter. Kids or young witches and humans alike (though the humans are just kids wandering by after getting in a fight with a monster or the older graduated kids when they need a little assistance) can come and stay in the Raven House to be safe and secured for however long they need.

Barcus is in charge of the place, and he looks after any kids who come along no matter the background. Some kids only stay for 24 hours, others stay for months, sometimes a few years, on end. These are typically kids who have nowhere else to go or are on the run. We’ve got kids from the Isles, stowaways from other islands and even The Mainland, kids escaping abusive homes, orphans, kids who just need a break after getting lost/hurt nearby, the works. It’s a well-known place that’s completely free, since the Blight’s and even Lilith on occasion pay the taxes for it. It’s sweet for Barcus because he’s supplied with everything for free, but also hell because he has to deal with a bunch of kids on a daily basis. Luckily for him, he likes kids.

Course some witches or humans don’t understand Barcus, so he always has a chalkboard and chalk around his neck that he can hover in the air with his magic to write to the kids and help them learn how to understand him. If they can’t read, he usually has to call in one of the other kids in the House to help him out. No matter how long a kid stays, they are asked to carve their names on a large stone outside the manor. It used to be a statue in the front lawn the ex-Blight kids knocked over and left there, but it was repurposed. It’s littered with names and it’s not uncommon to find Barcus staring at the names or teaching some kids to read by having them read the names off the stone.

Now, the manor is big. It can easily house multiple packs of kids. But the thing is, it only has 6 bedrooms, and Barcus uses one of the smaller ones. Of course multiple kids could live in the same room, but there are some that need it more than others and aren’t comfortable with other kids. So the bigger bedrooms are saved for those kids (unless there’s an open spare one in which case it gets SWARMED) or Barcus asks the new kid to set up their stuff anywhere in the house, so long it didn’t interfere with others. Which leads to kids sleeping and hanging out in....interesting places. There’s always someone living in one of the bathrooms, three kids minimum at all times squirreling away in the closets (small and large), there’s a pile of pillows and blankets in the second dining room where kids hang out under the table, the big hallways have sleeping bags in them, some kid hid in one of the larger kitchen cabinets just because she could, there are SO MANY in the basement and attic, the library has all the nerds vibing on the bolted-down wall shelves and balconies, and one madlad set up a hut on the roof. Barcus isn’t happy with any of these but he supposes so long they don’t hurt themselves or own up to it being a bad idea later, he’ll deal with it.

They also offer to send plenty of these kids to school (usually Hexside but sometimes others), but there are a few who refuse it and Barcus homeschools them. The rule of thumb with anyone who stays in the Raven House is that you WILL be smothered in an intense amount of Found Family and you CANNOT stop them. It’s a mad house and it’s glorious. They have their own kinds of memes and vines in that house and it’s law that if someone says “pubby” then EVERYONE in the vicinity has to tackle Barcus in a cuddle pile.

Others of the Owl Family often drop by as well. The first few times were a mess cause Barcus had to explain this was his family and no you don’t have to come down and say hi if you’re uncomfortable but please stop losing it every time Edric comes by we know he’s a fashion extraordinaire please- Camilia is one of the most common visitors, and the kids call her Aunt Camilia (a name she would vividly remember from her time in the human realm) and she teaches them all how to cook and tell them stories from the human realm. Barcus is very thankful because he needs one stable adult to help him with these kids. All the ex-Blights visit as well, though Amity slightly less because she’s so busy. Edric arrives just to show off, and Emira is a lot more refined n checks in on the kids, since her job is a children’s health care worker. Granted, Barcus does a pretty good job of being their therapist, he got a degree for a reason. Amity is a treat visit, because there’s always someone who knows she’s the Empress’s advisor and they all gawk at her for a minute before realizing she’s a shy dork n have fun info dumping on her bc she listens to them with rapt interest. Gus is a fun show, often taking down notes of the theatre kids and showing off his illusion magic, acting as his own little inspiration to them by being one of the best in his grade despite being significantly younger. He also tells his theories of the human realm which are still off and need to be corrected by Camilia. Willow is a lot more sweeter n is like the grandma who gives you too much candy but is also not afraid to beat someones ass. She’s one of the few adults All the kids respect. Luz is fun because she gives adventures and shows off a lot. And kids are always in awe at her tattoos and scars. Of course, Luz still has dumbass ideas every once in a while and ends up getting kicked out early in her visit on occasion. She showed kids how to swallow a light spell. Lilith shows up at least once a month for a little bit, and the kids always LOSE IT. At first it was genuine shock but eventually they just did it for fun because they knew it made Lilith embarrassed. Eda...god Eda is a visit kids are either excited for or dreading, depends if you can put up with her energy. Eda usually shows up when she’s bored, hiding from the cops or needs to steal something from the Raven House. She’s the weird eccentric grandma of everyone and she adores the kids. Her showing up often either ends in something catching on fire or a couple of kids getting in trouble with the law, which Eda or Barcus can easily snatch them out of. Y’all know of the Life Changing Field Trip With Zuko? Eda has a very similar thing where she grabs a gaggle of kids and takes them on an adventure, but it usually ends up looking like chores. Either way it ends up in either giving the kid some Advice they needed or just changing a way they think based on the adventures they get up to. When she gets much older and crankier, she slows down a bit but never stops having bad ideas or advice, but it’s a lot easier for the calmer kids to talk to her.

Barcus keeps all the trinkets the kids give him and holds them in a special room only he can access, like the passageways in Hexside. He cares about all the kids who come to the Raven House, even if its only for a little while. He’s still a dog at heart. A lot of kids he hears from a few months or years after they leave. They’ll call or show up and tell him how they are. And whenever they do he makes time to sit down with them with tea and listen to all they have to say. Even if they only visit once, he’s glad to see them. But, of course, there are the kids he never hears from. The ones who don’t want to, the ones who are too busy, the ones who moved off the Isle and elsewhere, the ones who get lost out there in the world, and the ones who have died. But Barcus almost never learns what their fate was. He’ll have nights where he sits in his room filled with trinkets or by the rock with names and wonder what happened to them, and hoping that they’re okay and happy. But he doesn’t have time to think about that. He has new kids coming in all the time, he should focus on them, not the past. That’s what he tells himself.

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ashyblondwaves · 3 years

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When The Summer Dies

Prompt: Watching the Sunrise

Fandom: Scarletvision (Wanda Maximoff and Vision, MCU)

Word Count: 2343

Warnings: Ghosts! Paranormal experiences.

***

The world flew by in hues of green and orange, the late summer sun hanging in the sky for just a little while longer. Vision sat in the driver’s seat, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as Deadmau5 played over the car stereo. The GPS said they’d arrive at their destination in 7 minutes. Wanda shifted in her seat excitedly.

Visiting what all of the paranormal enthusiast YouTubers called “the most haunted farm in New York” was Wanda’s idea. Vision much preferred hobbies with tangible evidence of the truth, but he was going for Wanda’s sake. She’d been itching to get out and visit some haunted locales, and after the mission they’d just returned from, they needed to get away for a little while.

The story was that the large farmhouse on the property made anyone that owned and lived in the home lose their minds. Families had been murdered in that house. Their ghosts are said to still roam the farm each night. Some ghosts were harmless while others were angry. Very angry. The challenge from YouTube was to stay on the farm overnight to see if you can make it to sunrise. There were no prizes involved, just bragging rights were up for grabs. Of course, what they don’t remind you is that stepping foot on the property was technically trespassing, but the small town cops didn’t bother with enforcing that law unless things got rowdy there, but you could count on one hand how many times it had happened.

Vision spotted the farm right away. The intimidating white house came into view first. The green shutters hung by a single hinge on most of the windows. The dilapidated barn followed and as they crested the hill, land. So much land. Most of it overgrown with weeds and shrubbery now that it had been vacant for so long.

As luck would have it, it looked like Wanda and Vision were the only ones staying there that night. They pulled right up to the old discolored house and started their adventure.

“It’s 6:53pm on September 21st,” Vision said. “Sunset tonight is 7:24pm with a sunrise of 7:14am on September 22nd, which also marks the first day of autumn.”

“That gives us about 12 hours here,” Wanda said with a nod. She took a deep breath. “We can do this.”

Vision was skeptical. He knew that every breeze would have them on the edge of their seats, every owl call and every leaf that fell from the trees and all because of tales told on the internet for views and monetary compensation. Vision stopped, choosing to instead remind himself that this was for Wanda. Her hobby was important to her and it would be imprudent to dismiss it.

“We’ll set up the tent there,” Wanda started, pointing to an area about 50 yards away that seemed to be perfectly cleared of any shrubbery. “That must be where everyone else sets up, too.”

It was dark by the time they finished setting up the tent. Wanda, flashlight in hand, found Vision coming back to the car. She put her arms out, prompting him to walk into her them. She hugged him, pressing her cheek to his chest.

“Thank you for doing this,” she said, looking up to see Vision smiling down at her. “I know this is the last place you want to be right now.”

“Anywhere you are is where I want to be,” Vision assured her. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and swayed lightly with the breeze.

Maybe this won’t be so bad, Vision thought, holding onto Wanda just as the sound of a blood curdling scream echoed through the property. The pair split apart and looked around trying to find the source.

“You heard that, right?” Wanda asked, eyes darting around wildly. “Please tell me you heard that.”

“I heard it. It sounded like it came from the house,” Vision replied, turning towards the white eyesore, its paint peeling from every angle.

Wanda followed his movements and looked up into one of the second floor windows just in time to see a shadowy figure disappear.

“Shit!” Wanda squeaked, scrambling for her phone. “I just saw something in the window!”

With her phone in hand, Wanda began to record the house.

“Nothing is there, Wanda,” Vision said, looking up at the empty window.

“Not now, but there was!” Wanda insisted, ending the recording but keeping her phone out. “Maybe we should go in the house.”

“Wanda, NO,” Vision said as firmly as he could. “We agreed we’d stay away from the property.”

“I have to know what’s in there, Vis.” Wanda said. She grabbed a flashlight and trudged off toward the house.

“Darling?” Vision called, reluctantly jogging behind her. “Can we just think about this logically for a moment?”

“Now isn’t the time to be logical, Vis,” Wanda said, kicking the front door open.

“And now we’re felons,” Vision said, more to himself than Wanda.

As they walked into the dark and dusty house, Vision noticed the temperature decrease by at least 20 degrees. Wanda rubbed her arms to try to keep warm but continued forward, her feet causing the wood under their feet to squeak loudly.

It was when they were in the kitchen that they heard it. The sound of someone walking upstairs and the disembodied laughter of children whistling in the air. Wanda’s eyes grew wide. She said nothing as she bolted out of the kitchen and toward the stairs.

Vision followed close behind. He didn’t have a flashlight like Wanda did, he was relying on the light from hers to guide him. They walked slowly, carefully as if not to scare whatever may be inhabiting the upstairs. Somehow it was even colder upstairs. So cold Wanda’s breath came out in clouds as she whispered to Vision.

“It was that window I saw someone in.”

She pointed to one of the bedrooms on the west end of the house and started toward it, flashlight leading the way. Once they were both inside the room, Wanda began to speak.

“Is anyone here?” she yelled into the air. “Give us a sign.”

Suddenly, the door neither one of them were near slammed shut, the sound of a lock clicking echoing through the room. Wanda ran to it, jiggling the door knob.

“It’s locked from the outside,” she said, looking at Vision with a smile. “Think you could help me out, sweetheart?”

“Yes, dear,” Vision returned. He easily phased through the door, unlocking it with the key that stuck out from the lock.

A small voice reverberated through the house.

“Play with me,” it said with a laugh, the door closed again. “Play.”

“It’s one of the kids,” Wanda whispered. “What do you want to play?!”

Vision could say nothing. He stood frozen to the spot as Wanda communicated with a ghost right in front of him. He always said he’d believe in ghosts when he saw one and here he was, with no other explanation for this phenomenon than the fact that there truly was a ghost in the house.

Wanda walked closer to the voice when suddenly, her body went flying back. Vision barely caught her.

“NO!” another voice said.

This time, all of the doors shut and locked while the front door downstairs flung itself open.

“Get out of my house!”

The voice was not a child’s this time. It was loud, booming and clearly that of a grown man. It was all Wanda had to hear. Her phone was out in no time, recording the scene.

“This isn't’ your house anymore!” Wanda yelled back. She ran to each locked door and opened them back up. “You can’t tell us to leave.”

“If you want us to leave,” Wanda said, spinning around to direct her voice everywhere. “You’ll have to make us.”

Vision cringed. He was ready to get out of that house as soon as he’d gone in it and now Wanda was challenging a ghost to forcibly remove them from the home.

“Time?” Wanda asked.

“9:43pm, darling. That gives us 9 hours and 17 minutes until sunrise.”

Wanda nodded, turning back to the void in the room.

“Sounds like you’re stuck with us for a while,” Wanda said, shining her flashlight at a dark corner of the house, but nothing was there.

Vision, with new found confidence, moved from standing behind Wanda to standing next to her. He grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together.

“We aren’t going anywhere,” he said, turning to her. “I have your back in battle, I’ll have it here too, even if I don’t quite understand this.”

Wanda smiled, a large, toothy grin that said a million things. She stood up on her tiptoes and snuck a quick, chaste kiss.

“Now where was I?” Wanda said, her voice booming through the empty house. “Where is the ghost that wanted to play? We’ll play.”

Suddenly, out of the shadows of the same corner Wanda just looked at, a red ball rolled out, stopping right at their feet.

Wanda bent down and grabbed the ball, rolling it back to the dark corner it came from as the sound of a child laughing rang out.

But it was short lived. Just as the ball came rolling back it was pushed away by an invisible force.

“LEAVE!” a loud, male voice echoed.

“Wanda,” Vision said, their hands still interlocked. “Let’s be careful with this one. The child seems harmless, but this one wants us out.”

Just as Vision finished his sentence, the house started to shake as though there was an earthquake. Light fixtures swung back and forth, what little furniture was left in the house started to shift and move.

Wanda laughed.

“I’ve seen far worse than that. It’s going to take a lot more than that to scare us.”

“Darling,” Vision said through gritted teeth. “Is it wise to antagonize this ghost?”

But Wanda didn’t answer. The grip she had on Vision’s hand grew stronger, and Vision knew right away something was very wrong.

“Wanda?” he asked, turning to his girlfriend only to see her face contorting in pain. That ghost was doing something to her that Vision couldn’t see and he had only one idea. He scooped Wanda up in his arms and ran down the steps and toward the front door, taking Wanda out of the house and as soon as they were off the front porch, Wanda gasped, desperately trying to catch her breath. Her chest heaved violently as a strangled cry made its way from her mouth.

Vision pulled her to him, hugging her desperately, kissing the top of her head and pulling back to look at her.

“Do you need a doctor?” Vision asked. “I will take you right now. I don’t care one bit about this challenge if it’s going to put your life at risk.”

“No,” Wanda said feebly. “I’m fine, just a little shaken.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Time?”

“11:53pm,” Vision recited. 7 hours and 21 minutes until sunrise.”

“Let’s just go to the tent,” Wanda said, staggering off to where they set up their tent.

Vision followed behind, not liking at all what he just witnessed, but Wanda was determined to make it until sunrise. And now that they were out of the house, maybe it wouldn’t be as bad.

He was wrong.

Each incident came in unpredictable waves. First was the human-like howling that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once. Then the shadowy figure cast against the tent, but when Vision looked out, nothing was there.

There’d be no sleeping that night. Not with the land trying to scare them away at every turn. Instead, they lay together in the tent, wrapped in each other’s arms. Soft whispers of encouragement that they will make it until sunrise permeated the tent.

It was after the shadows on the tent showed a murder that Wanda started shaking. Vision held her, kissed her head and reminded her it was just the ghosts.

Just the ghosts, Vision thought. He’d never thought he’d say something so ridiculous, but he also wasn’t prepared to deny what was happening on that land.

The stories were true, at least the ones stating the land was haunted. He had no idea how many ghosts had come to mess with them that night, but each one grew more and more terrifying.

“Time?” Wanda asked.

“5:47am,” Vision answered. “1 hour and 27 minutes until sunrise.”

“Listen,” Wanda said, sitting up for the first time since they got in the tent. “I hear birds chirping.”

Vision listened and sure enough, birds were chirping, a sure sign that sunrise was not far behind.

They exited the tent cautiously, both unsure of what may be waiting for them outside of it. But there was nothing. The morning twilight seemed to make it all stop. They broke down the tent without words, scrambling as quickly as they could to put it all away.

Vision took a seat on the hood of his car, a breath of relief coming out in a shaky wave. He patted the open spot next to him and smiled as Wanda slid up next to him.

“Time?”

“7:11am,” Vision replied. “Sunrise is in 3 minutes.”

Wanda nodded as they both sat on the hood of the car and watched the sun come up. Wanda set her head on Vision’s shoulder as they shed the horrors of the night and welcomed dawn.

“We did it,” Wanda said triumphantly. “We survived the night.”

“That we did,” Vision said with a nod.

“Celebratory selfie,” Wanda said, pulling her phone out and opening the camera.

Instead of smiling, Vision decided to do something else. Just as Wanda was getting ready to hit the shutter button, he turned her head with his fingers and kissed her right on the mouth.

The photo came out perfectly natural. It didn’t look forced or posed at all.

“There,” Vision said proudly. “Put that one on Instagram.”

#flufftober2021 #wandavision #wanda maximoff #the vision #marvel fanfiction #mcu fanfiction #wanda x vision #scarletvision #scarletvision drabbles #writing shit

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k7l4d4 · 3 years

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Owl House AU Ideas, ZA FIRST!!

Hello all, this has been a long time coming on my part. After procrastinating on the subject, I have decided to upload my personal AU ideas for the Owl House. Here’s hoping ya’ll like them, and feel free to make your own stuff based on them as you please!!

Tough Love: This AU is my own twist on the classic Siblings AU, in which I fleshed it out into my own little niche using whatever I had available in my brain.

Victoria Noceda: My name for Beta Luz, who in this Idea is the oldest of the three Noceda sisters. Brash, belligerent, always ready with a smart remark, Victoria is a tough girl who takes no crap from anyone, with her weapon of choice being a metal bat carved with glyphs. A short temper mixed with both a strict demeanor and a flippant attitude has earned her a reputation as a thug, one which she has done nothing to reject or deny. Growing up, Victoria quickly grew familiar with the uglier side of humanity, and when her sisters were born vowed to shield them from the harshness of the world, by any means necessary. She is highly cynical, yet being around Luz chips away at this persona of hers. Despite her attitude and behavior, she is highly intelligent, graduating from school as valedictorian to the shock of everyone bar her teachers. Victoria first ended up in the Isles by chasing down Owlbert after the Palisman tried (and failed) to pickpocket her. She and Eda, to their mutual surprise, hit it off rather well, with Victoria often acting as her Stall Manager, Gopher, Muscle, etc., and has amassed a large quantity of glyphic spells, which she keeps as tattoos climbing up both arms (she actually has enough to cover nearly her whole torso and part of her neck, but uses illusion glyphs to hide them so Eda doesn't ask how she discovered them... some of them were highly unpleasant for lack of a better word). Using her work with Eda to avoid getting a job on Earth, Victoria has a LOT of money, mostly due to Eda paying her with whatever bills and coins Owlbert brings her without consideration for how much they actually are worth. Offered to house her sisters so they could "branch out and get some real world experience," really an excuse to get her sibs away from the toxic environment at school. Convinced (threatened) Principal Hal to have Luz sent to stay with her for the summer. Her aggressive tendencies and willingness to use incredible violence to solve her problems has resulted in her relationship with her sisters partially atrophying, though she is unaware of it herself. Her first encounter with Boscha, in the body swap episode, is meant to illustrate this as she very clearly and deliberately tormented and ridiculed the girl for bullying Luz, refusing to let up even when Luz begged her to stop until Boscha apologized and begged for forgiveness; Luz rushing off to help bandage Boscha's nearly broken hands implies this isn't the first time she has done this, or at least something like this. Victoria has a bad temper when roused and often resorts to extreme verbal haranguing when she's cross with Luz, not knowing that this reinforces the idea that she doesn't like or care for her youngest sister, as she can't bring herself to raise a hand to her sisters. Finds Amaryllis hot and enjoys teasing her. Will answer to Victoria, Tori, or Ria, NEVER to Vic or Vicky, which will result in her threatening to break the offender's legs, THIS IS NOT A BLUFF SHE HAS DONE IT TWICE BEFORE. Mari Noceda: My name for Pilot!Luz, the middle child. Easily the most well-behaved of her siblings, though that isn't saying much. Unlike her hyper-impulsive younger, and her super aggressive elder, Mari is calm, logical, and significantly more easy going. However, she is an absolute snoop with a very poor understanding of personal privacy, resulting in her being sent to the principal for breaking into other students' lockers, on multiple occasions. After Victoria basically dropped off the map, she became hellbent on tracker her down, resulting in her discovering the Boiling Isles and magic. As is her usual, she quickly got over whatever shock she felt and proceeded to brow beat her mom, Victoria, AND EDA to let her stay in the Isles by homeschooling (Camila doesn't know she went to the Isles, just that she wanted to move in with her sister... it hurt her more than Mari thought it would), she soon set herself to studying everything the Isles has to offer, to Eda's chagrin. While her repertoire is much smaller than Tori's, she knows quite a few spells herself, all of which she has studied to a ludicrous degree. After reading up on some of Luz's fantasy novels, she has started viewing herself as an artificer, blending magic and technology together. Is VERY GOOD FRIENDS with Vela Blight (they are dating but don't want anyone to know). Often puts down Luz's fantasies as ridiculous. Luz Noceda: Canon cinnamon roll, sorta. Plucky, sweet, optimistic, and, oh yeah, Kinda mental. Was introduced to the Boiling Isles and Eda via Victoria picking her up and driving through a portal that opened up in Eda's living room. When she asked her sisters' to share what they know about magic with her, they both laughed and told her they would teach her how to use any spells she figured out on her own, and no more. Basically the same as canon, she is somewhat more fragile emotionally as a result of Mari's unintended put-downs, and Victoria's angry rants. She is convinced that part of the reason she didn't have friends was due to everyone being afraid of Victoria beating them silly, or Mari invading their privacy. While very similar to her original self, this version of Luz has a lot of repressed anger, which manifests as a slight twitch in her left eye and a compulsive hiccup when stressed. Eda: Due to taking in Victoria and Mari, she is much more in touch with her caring side earlier on than Canon, welcoming Luz easily and more willing to play the mentor role. Quickly picks up on the warning signs in the sisters' interactions but is repeatedly shut out, to her frustration and concern. King: Mellower than in canon due to having Mari, who considers him a fount of demonic knowledge, and Victoria, who appreciates his street wise wisdom when it peeks through his megalomania, to talk and interact with. Clings to Luz as a "new general in my Army! Rejoice, Mr. Ducky, REJOICE!!" Amaryllis Blight: My name for Beta!Amity, and the eldest sibling. Ruthless, ferocious, and feral, Amaryllis always possessed the hallmarks of a problem child, bucking her parents authority at every turn, which she got away with due to her immense magical power even as a toddler. Wears green hair dye to spite her parents after they virtually disowned her. Regularly forgets any and all information that she deems useless, which includes her parents' names, resulting in her always referring to them as Mr. and Mrs. Blight at all times, even in her head. Leads the Predators, an elite section of the Emperor's Coven tasked with locating and sealing dimensional breaches, as well as purging anything that crosses through. Has a severe survival of the fittest mindset; if you don't have the strength and will to survive and succeed, you are nothing. Ironically, she hates bullies, claiming them as weaklings who tear down those with true potential for greatness, and often curses herself for being too weak to separate from Belos. Her sheer power and accomplishments have forced the Blight parents to recognize her as their child, if only to capitalize on her success and prevent difficult questions being aimed their way, yet none are comfortable with the arrangement. Strongly admires Eda, genuinely believing her to be the greatest Witch of all time, which leads to her verbally, and sometimes physically, tearing a new one in anyone who speaks ill of her in Amaryllis' presence. The biggest inspirations for Amaryllis were Katsuki Bakugo from My Hero Academia, and Esdeath from Akame Ga Kill, being strangely friendly and amicable to her fellow Predators and anyone who she finds sufficiently impressive in terms of combat, though she has no ability to register those she thinks of as weak, often being incapable of recalling any real information about them beyond whatever part of their appearance stuck out most to her. She has no respect or regard for Emira and Edric, regarding them as fools and cowards, and is genuinely incapable of telling them apart, despite the fact that they are different genders, and often needs a moment to remember who they are. Often verbally scolds Vela for being weak, with the first "kind" thing she has ever said to her since graduating was congratulating her for taking the first steps to realizing her true potential. Admires Amity's dedication to be the best, but detests her kowtowing to their parents. Has a huge crush on Victoria, but is both better at hiding it than Amity, by a mile, and severely conflicted over it, due to regarding humans as "the weakest existence on the whole of the Isles." Amaryllis' animalistic mentality is considered extremely unusual, even by the standards of the Boiling Isles and results in everyone being incredibly wary of her. Amaryllis is insanely loyal to those she holds regard to and works with, viciously destroying anything that dares bring harm to her comrades, or "pack" as she insists on calling them, and has a win by any means necessary mindset, being genuinely puzzled by the crowd and Amity's distress at Lilith's cheating during the Covention, seeing the power glyph as a perfectly acceptable tactic and applauding Luz and Eda's mines to circumvent the Human's lack of spells, however even she disapproves of cheating that can result in permanent injury, which is her sole complaint about the duel. Vela Blight: My name for Pilot!Amity, and the Middle child of the Blight Triplets. Timid, meek, and polite to a fault, Vela is near totally lacking in confidence. Is hopelessly mediocre in every form of magic, despite her higher than average power, and regarded as a failure to the Blight name. Her parents disowned her shortly before Canon, but allow her to stay in the Manor as her siblings' attendant, even Amaryllis is better regarded than she is by the Blight parents. Is good friends with the Detention Track kids, and eagerly jumped on the bandwagon when they became multi-track students, joining Luz as an All-Tracker, which also exposed her immense talent for magic mixing, allowing her to merge different forms of Magic with ease and fluidity. Vela's sheer passion for learning magic exceeds both Amity and Luz combined, and is genuinely puzzled why more witches weren't trying to multi-track too. Is something of a teacher's pet, to her own embarrassment, as even with her poor abilities her sheer passion for learning has caused many of the Teachers and Bump himself to develop a soft spot for her. Has a complicated relationship with Ed and Em, as while she loves them, she envies their talent, and despises their pranks, as she is often punished for them whether she had a hand or not, and often when she tried to stop them. When her trip-mates decided to prank Amity, she lividly tore into them with a brutal "The Reason You Suck" Speech before storming off in tears, resulting in Ed and Em chasing after her and leaving Amity and Luz alone in the library. During the trip to the Knee, she was still bitter, and went out of her way to be as difficult for Ed and Em as possible, only forgiving them after took on the Slitherbeast. Vela is very close to Amity, as well as the Nocedas. Vela regards Amity as a treasure and has the healthiest relationship with her out of all their siblings, instantly pegging to Amity's crush on Luz (She ships them so hard), though she doesn't call her out on it. Vela is scared of Amaryllis. Ed and Em: Are wilder than in Canon, willing to resort to harsher pranks to meet their goals. They adore Vela, and assumed she adored them; having her verbally tear them a new one served as a massive wake-up call to how jerky they could be, and often were, provoking them to be better siblings and people all around, still tricksters though. Are jealous of Amaryllis due to her being unshackled from their parents, and are often rendered livid by her casual dismissal of them. Amity Blight: Mostly the same, but a bit more assertive against the toxic influences in her life. Idolizes Amaryllis due to her power and freedom, and trusts Vela with the same secrets as her diary. Sallix Park: Name for Beta!Willow. A maverick and an agitator, she enjoys stirring up trouble for the heck of it, but only when she's the one to cause it. Adores her little sister, but insists on her fighting her own battles, and enjoys training Willow through random plant attacks. Has been secretly gaslighting Boscha, in the hopes of the brat having some kind of epiphany and cleaning up her act, not knowing that her actions were causing the triclops to develop conflicting impulses and feelings regarding Willow, as well as an unhealthy fixation. Is good friends with both Victoria and Amaryllis, resulting in her serving as referee whenever they fight, which is often. Willow Park: Same as canon, but more assertive over her behaviors.

Let me know if any of you have any questions or opinions on it.

#the owl house #owl house au #owl house luz #owl house amity #owl house beta #owl house willow #owl house eda #tough love AU

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celtics534 · 3 years

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Whatever it Takes

Covert Love Chapter 21

It’s finally over 😥! The final chapter of Covert Love is upon us. Y’all have been amazing with your love for this story and it makes me so happy! Thank you for all the encouragement and love 😁. I need to credit the amazing @thedistantdusk for all her help with this story! Literally the best person ever!!

This chapter title is based on Whatever it Takes by Imagine Dragons.

Read on: FF.net or AO3

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“ Hey, Prue. Long time no see .”

Harry’s entire body turned to ice at those words, at that voice. He’d know that voice anywhere. It was in all his dreams of the future, in every daydream his mind concocted, and it was the voice that made him feel safe with every word spoken. Except for those six words. Except for in this moment where he was tied up by a lunatic who had a crazy obsession with the love of his life (who happened to be the owner of the voice).

He tried to turn, to look at her, but the rope Prue had tied around him stopped him from turning more than ninety degrees. But even with that limited angle, Harry was able to see Ginny standing in the kitchen doorway, her palms out.

Prue’s shoulders tensed at the familiar voice. She spun around slowly, her eyes sharp as steel as she stared at the person. “ Well , I didn’t expect to see you here , my dear.”

Ginny’s laugh was humorless. “I could say the same for you, Prue.” She moved forward slowly, her gaze locked on Prue. “How about we catch up. I think we have a few things to talk about.”

The laughter that came out of Prue was manic, raising the hairs on his arm. “What is there to talk about, Ginevra? You were supposed to stay at my house. Actually.” Prue’s brow knit together. “How did you get here? France isn’t a short trip.”

France ! Harry’s mind faltered at the word. Prue had taken Ginny all the way to France! They hadn’t even spread their search past the United Kingdom. At the rate they had been going… Nope ! Harry needed to focus on what was going on right in front of him, not some what-if situation.

He took a deep breath, which wasn’t an easy task due to the gag shoved in his mouth. Ginny had moved to stand only a few meters away from him. She was so close he could almost touch her (if it weren’t for the rope pinning his arms to the back of the chair). Every part of him ached to touch her, to hold her, to kiss her. Of course, all the relief he felt at seeing her was numbed by the situation they were in. Yet all his body craved was a chance to hold her in his arms.

“So, care to tell me why you’re here in my brother’s house?” Ginny asked as if she were merely discussing the most recent rainfall. “I assume you have a reason for showing up uninvited to their lovely home.”

“Well, I had to meet this adorable niece you keep raving about!” Prue lofted Victoire a little higher in her arms, making the little girl whimper. “And of course I thought, why not having a cup of tea with the family while I was at it, but for some reason the moment I showed up everyone got rather tense. Including your little boy toy over there.” She jerked her chin at Harry.

“I can’t imagine why.” Ginny’s tone oozed sarcasm. “People tend to respond poorly to surprise visitors, Prue.”

Prue stared at Ginny for a few seconds before her lips curled into a condescending smile. “You may be right there, my friend. Next time I’ll have to remember to send an owl. But until then…” Prue twisted the blade in her hand ever so slightly, making it dig into Victoire’s skin a little more. “How about we all settle down for a lovely chat.”

“Should I go make that tea?” Ginny asked, her tone still level as if they were talking about morning broom traffic over Dublin. If Harry didn’t know Ginny as well as he did, he might have been fooled by her aloof attitude. But if there was one thing in this world Harry was proud to understand was Ginny Weasley. The way her fingers twitched every few seconds, the stiff way she stood, and the tension in her jaw… Ginny was nowhere near relaxed.

Ginny had told him stories about her tremendous acting skills. As a child, she’d used it to get an extra biscuit or get one of her brothers in trouble instead of herself, but Harry hadn’t yet been graced with a presentation of her skills. But as he watched her go toe to toe with Prue he decided she was as good as she’d claimed, maybe even better.

Prue’s head tilted to the side, as if considering Ginny’s offer. After a few moments, Prue shook her head. “Why don’t you take a seat beside your brother?” She jerked her chin to Bill. “Best seat in the house. You’ll be able to see everyone and everything .”

Again, if Harry wasn’t adept in watching Ginny he would have missed the way her neck tensed as she swallowed hard. “Oh? And what will I be privy to seeing?”

The wicked smile that turned Prue's lips made Harry's heart pound against his ribs. Her eyes fell onto him. "Something that should have happened a long time ago."

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Harry bit his tongue as the steel blade ripped into his leg. He refused to give her the satisfaction of showing how much pain he was in. Prue's cuts were precise and deep. Every swipe of her knife sent fire shooting through his body.

The first few cuts hadn’t been so bad, but after Prue’s twentieth slice Harry had given up keeping count. He’d closed his eyes after the tenth slash. At first he'd kept his gaze locked with Ginny, who was straight across from him, her arms and legs bound, but after the tears started falling silently down her cheeks Harry couldn’t look any more. She had tried to stay strong for him, but he saw her wince at every mark Prue made.

“You know,” Prue’s voice was higher than normal as she spoke somewhere to his left. The amusement was too clear in her tone. “This could all stop if you acknowledge your true calling, Ginny.”

Harry slowly opened his eyes to see Ginny’s pinched face, clearly trying to hold back any more tears. When she spoke, the tremble in her voice made Harry’s gut clench. “I don’t know what you mean, Prue. I’ve never known what you meant by that!”

Prue made a tisking noise with her tongue as she tapped the blade of the knife against the side of Harry’s chair. “I was afraid you’d say that.” Harry didn’t even see her hand move but rather felt the sting of the blade as the wound opened on his bicep. Prue let out a high pitched laugh that made every hair on Harry’s body stand on end. “ Whoops .”

Harry forced himself to breathe through the pain. He looked over at Ginny who looked ready to crawl her way to Prue to kill the woman. The way Ginny’s eyes burned with rage… Harry had never seen her emit such anger. He’d seen her angry a time or two, but this… this was a level of intensity that would make Harry cower if the look was direct at him.

“Prue.” Ginny’s voice had lost all its false serenity. Now her fury washed off her like tidal waves. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about! So why don’t you stop this insanity!”

Prue just shook her head as she circled around Harry, like a bloodthirsty shark. She let the knife tip graze over Harry’s body as she went around. His shoulder, bicep, arm, thigh. An uncontrollable shiver ran down Harry’s spine every time the blade touched bare skin.

“I’m disappointed to hear you say that.” Prue stopped so she stood directly behind him. Harry watched the knife skim over his arm to hover over his neck. “And I’m sure boy wonder here is feeling… discouraged by your inability to grasp your true self.”

Harry stared at Ginny, willing her to look at him. There were so many things he needed to tell her. How this wasn’t her fault, how much he needed her to stay safe, how much he loved her… He prayed that she could understand all that just by looking him in the eye. But she didn’t take her gaze off Prue.

“I swear if you kill him -'' Ginny's jaw clenched as she pursed her lips so tightly together that the skin around them became impossibly white. Her chest was heaving as she struggled against her bounds. “Just take me instead. Forget about them… about him.”

He could feel Prue’s body as she stood stiffly behind him. Harry could imagine her staring at Ginny with that cold, calculating look. When she spoke her tone was that of a soothing parent, yet her words sent another round of shivers down Harry’s spine. “No, sweetie , you need to be taught a lesson and I think this is the only way.”

The tip of the blade dug into Harry’s skin. He sucked in a deep breath. Harry wasn’t afraid to die. No, in his line of work he’d accepted his death might come at a young age. But to die knowing Ginny would still be in danger… it made a claw seize his heart in a tight hold.

He could feel Prue’s fingers at the side of his neck as she started to let the blade slide along his skin millimeter by millimeter. Harry closed his eyes, wishing he’d been given more time. Time to fulfill his dreams with Ginny. The dreams of getting married, having children, growing old together and getting to watch their grandkids play as they sat on their back porch.

Then suddenly the pain lessened to nearly nothing. Harry briefly wondered if she’d somehow killed him instantly. But the logical part of him knew that was nearly impossible with a neck slash. Then the noise of a scuffle reached his ears. He opened his eyes to see the bloody knife laying on his lap while Ginny and Fleur wrestled with Prue.

He had no idea how the two women had escaped their binds but apparently while Prue had been busy with him, they’d been doing their own work. Ginny’s fist connected with Prue’s cheek bone, making the woman cry out in pain. Fleur had focused on Prue’s feet, knocking her to the ground.

Ginny followed Prue to the ground. Straddling her waist while her knuckles slammed into Prue’s nose, making blood gush instantly. Prue howled in rage and pain, however she didn’t give up easily. She kicked out, knocking Fleur away from the tussle.

Harry struggled against his binds. He needed to help Ginny. Fleur rushed over to him, grabbing the knife from his lap. “ Une seconde, chérie ,” she said before hurrying off to free Bill’s ties.

Normally, Harry would have been offended at Fleur’s choice to free Bill first. But he had to figure his appearance didn’t inspire confidence in being ready for a fight. Hell, without the adrenaline coursing through his system, Harry was almost certain he would have blacked out. He did a quick visual inspection of himself. His once-white shirt was now a dark red and his blue jeans now had darker stains tinting numerous spots. Yeah, he didn’t exude ready for combat .

Harry’s focus was divided between the two groups. To his left Fleur, sliced every braid on the binds that held Bill. To his right, Ginny had Prue pinned to the ground, both women fighting with a fury rarely seen even on a battlefield. For every punch Ginny landed, Prue claws marked Ginny’s skin.

Everything was moving so quickly that Harry’s mind could hardly keep up. One second, there were three strands of rope binding Bill, then there was nothing. At the same time, Prue’s right hook connected perfectly with Ginny’s temple, making the red head fall backwards. Ginny’s loss of balance was all Prue needed. She pushed Ginny off her, springing to her feet faster than Harry expected.

He could see the short lived debate in Prue’s eyes, to run or to fight. It wasn’t more than a second before her flight instincts took control. She bolted towards the kitchen, but Bill was hot on her heels. With a tackle that would have made a rugby player proud, Bill took Prue down to the hardwood floor.

That was when he noticed Fleur had begun to cut his ropes. She was already to the last knot before he’d noticed. Then he was free and on his feet. He reached into his back pocket where he kept a pair of muggle zip ties that he crafted into handcuffs. Bill had Prue face down into the floor, giving him easy access to her wrists.

Prue was screaming unintelligibly into the floor, her body wiggling under Bill, but he outweighed her by nearly five stone, making her struggle for escape practically pointless.

After Harry pulled the ties tight, he rose to his feet, Bill locked eyes with him. “I’ve got her.” his voice was like sandpaper, but his eyes were steady. “Go check on everyone.”

It took Harry a moment to think past the fact they’d caught Prue to remember that there were others in the room. He turned around to see if Ginny was still on the floor where Prue had knocked her, but she’d risen to stand beside Fleur. The two women were trying to comfort a crying Victoire, who had been tied next to her daddy when Prue had turned her focus onto Harry. Fleur pulled the little girl into her arms and held Vic to her chest. Harry could see Fleur trembling as she held her daughter close.

Ginny turned around and their eyes locked. Harry’s mind was completely empty, except of her. Of Ginny, who was the most incredible woman he’d ever met. His legs moved with no hesitation. He needed to get to her, to touch her. Within five long strides he was holding her face in his hands.

Her face had numerous cuts, darkened bruises, and a lip that was rapidly swelling, but she’d never looked more beautiful to Harry. “Are you okay?” His voice was just as rough as Bill’s, but at the moment he couldn’t care less about his scratchy throat. All that mattered was what he held in his hands.

Ginny smiled at him, that smile she saved only for him. “Never better.” She rose to her toes to lightly kiss him. For such a chaste peck, it said so much to Harry. In the two seconds their lips touched, Harry’s heart expanded two sizes with the love he felt for this woman. He leaned his forehead to hers as she said, “I don’t know if you know this, but punching someone is very therapeutic.”

It took a second for his tired mind to register her words, but once they had, Harry started laughing. Ginny joined him, her smile wide as she laughed too. To an outsider they might have looked insane, but Harry couldn’t care less. He was alright, Ginny was alright, and past that nothing else mattered. He kissed her again, letting his lips linger this time speaking against her smile. “I love you.”

Ginny ran a hand up the side of his neck before cupping his jaw. “Right back at you, darling. I think we need to take a little holiday. Have a chance to relax. Somewhere warm and where I can have my way with you whenever I want.”

Harry’s breath hitched as he nodded. “Oh that can definitely be arranged.” He kissed her one final time. “But first, we’ve got to introduce our friend over there to her new cell in Azkaban.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“So Prue was convicted of all accounts,” Jamieson greeted as he plopped a manila folder on Harry’s desk. “Five accounts of kidnapping including a minor, multiple accounts of torture, and of course the stalking.”

Harry picked up the file and quickly flicked it open to see Prue glaring at the camera, her scowl becoming more prominent with each second. Her nostrils flared as she stared down the photographer. “That was fast. A trial and conviction in three weeks. Did Tonks discover anything else that could be added to Prue’s sentence?”

After Prue’s final attempt at freeing Ginny, Tonks and her partner, Emmeline Vance, had dug into Prue’s background and financials. Harry hadn’t been allowed to help due to his removal from the case, and his forced medical leave. He’d been commanded to take three weeks’ leave, which for once hadn’t bothered him because Ginny had also been given time off from the Bats.

They had taken their medical leave to heart, deciding a trip away was the perfect remedy to heal their emotional wounds (because the St Mungo’s healers had easily healed their physical trauma). The Spanish coast they’d found had been secluded and ideal for them. They’d swum with dolphins, eaten a plethora of bananas grown right outside their casa’s window, and spent every night in bed together.

But none of that had been his favorite moment of their holiday. There had been one night that outshone the rest. Every time he thought about that evening a goofy grin split his face. The sunset on his back, Ginny’s hand in his, the waves creating the perfect melody as they crashed against the sand… the best moment of his life had been the instant Ginny has said —

“Potter?” Jamieson slapped his arm, bringing Harry out of his daydream.

“Hm? Oh sorry!” He cleared his throat. “What were you saying?”

Jamieson snorted. “Clearly you had a good medical leave based on that cat-ate-the-canary grin.” Harry could feel his cheeks heat as his boss continued. “Tonks was able to find Prue had offshore accounts. Apparently, before coming to Ireland she’d had a rather lucrative muggle business, which we discovered to have been committing tax fraud before she’d performed an insurance fraud that allowed her accounts to reach a level to somewhere in the high millions.”

Harry had not seen that coming. “Seriously?”

“Yup.” Jamison popped the last letter. “The muggle police had been on her trail until she’d confounded them and disappeared to Ireland.”

“Okay so that’s where she gained her wealth, but what caused her to become obsessed with Ginny?”

“Ah.” Jamieson let the word out on a sigh, propping his hip on the side of Harry’s desk. “It turns out Canon had grown up in an abusive household. Her father was Tom Riddle.”

The name was familiar to Harry, but he couldn’t quite place it. “Remind me of who that is.”

“He was one of France’s most notorious killers. He ran one of Paris’ largest drug cartels. In his twenty-five year reign, he made over five hundred thousand in profit. But during that time he impregnated a young prostitute by the name of Estelle Canon. Based on the intel we’ve gathered through journals found at the homestead where Prue brought Ginny, Riddle sold Prue’s mother to a rival gang for access to their land. Riddle was trying to expand his empire out of Paris. But once Prue’s mother was gone, there was no one there to protect Prue from Riddle’s... more sinister behaviors and desires. ”

Harry’s gut clenched because he had a good idea of what Jamieson meant by desires , and even though he hated Prue, no one deserved to be abused like that. He let out a deep breath. “Okay, so she had a really bad childhood. But that doesn’t explain her fascination with Ginny.”

“Prue’s mother used to read her children’s books where a goddess was stuck on Earth. The goddess was said to be stuck in a human form until she discovered decency among humans. Prue somehow connected Ginny with the goddess in the tale.”

“Okay, I can get that on a crazy level, but why Ginny? Have we tried to get her to explain why she thought Ginny was this goddess?” Harry asked.

Jamieson snorted. “Of course! Vance has been to Azkaban everyday, but Prue refuses to speak. Anything we learn is going to be through her journals, which I’m surprised she even had. We’re planning on taking them to Ms Granger when she has some time.”

Harry nodded, he was no psychologist, so trying to understand why Prue kept a diary was a mystery to him, but maybe Granger could figure things out. “Well, I’m just glad it’s over.”

“You and me both, Potter. “Jamieson clapped a hand to his back. “You did good, minus the whole falling in love with your ward thing.”

Harry looked up into his boss’ amused eyes. “Sir, with all due respect, I’m pretty sure when you knew when assigning me the case that it’s nearly impossible not to fall in love with Ginny Weasley.”

Jamieson let out a bark of a laugh. “I’d never tell her, but that girl had me wrapped around her finger the first time Bill introduced us.”

“Oh and how easy it was,” an amused voice came from behind the two aurors, making them jump and turn to look at the woman they’d been talking about. Ginny was beaming at them as she moved closer.

Jamieson rolled his eyes before smiling at Ginny. “What are you doing here, Weasley?”

She pointed at Harry. “We have an appointment with my parents this evening and I refuse to let him claim some work -- thing -- as a distraction.” She met Harry’s eyes. “We’re in this together aren’t we, Potter?”

Harry could feel that goofy smile coming back. “You know I’d follow you anywhere, Love.”

Again, Jamieson rolled his eyes. “I don’t want to watch this. Potter, you’re free to go once you return that report to Tonks.” He pointed to the folder that he’d lefted on Harry’s desk. Then he was gone, moving across the bullpit to his office without so much as a farewell.

Ginny took Jamieson’s vacated spot, leaning slightly on the edge of his desk. “So how was the first day back?”

Harry shuffled the papers back into the folder, before rising from his chair. He stood in front of Ginny, his fingers moving to graze her hips “Not so bad, though… My mind did wander quite a bit.”

“Hmmm.” Ginny stood to her full height, still making her half a head shorter than him. “And what did your rambling thoughts focus on?”

He brought his hand to hers, threading their fingers before pulling their joined palms up to his lips. He kissed each knuckle until he reached her ring finger where two bands rested. The engagement ring they’d recovered from Prue’s house and the silver ring he’d slid there only a week ago. “How much I missed my wife and wished we were still in our little seaside casa where I could drag her off to bed whenever I wanted.”

Ginny pulled their interlocked fingers away from his face so she could replace it with her lips. She smiled against his mouth, “Funny, I was thinking the same thing about my handsome husband while going through Kennedy’s drills.”

Harry groaned quietly as she nipped at his bottom lip. “How upset would your parents be if we skived off tonight?”

She laughed, pressing a final peck to his lips before away.“Pretty angry, seeing as we’re already going over there to tell her we eloped. Best not to test Molly Weasley’s patience by cancelling.”

He sighed. “I know you're right. At least I think our parents will take it better than Sirius. He’s going to throw a fit that he wasn’t there to be my best man.”

“Don’t worry, love.” Ginny brought their joined hands to her lips before using them to pull him towards the exit. “I’ll protect you from our disgruntled parental figures.”

“I’ll be holding you to that, Ginny Potter.”

She sighed happily. “I love it when you call me that.”

“ Do you.” Harry stopped their movement to pull her into a small alcove near the muggle exit of the auror offices. He pressed her back so she leaned against the wall. “I’ll make sure to say it more often,” he said, leaning in to put his lips right next to her ear. “Mrs Potter.”

Ginny's hand came to knot in his already messy hair, drawing his lip away from her ear before kissing him. “At — this — rate — we’ll never — make — it.” Ginny said each word in between kissing him.

Harry was about to say he didn’t mind one bit, but Ginny cut his words off with a heated kiss that made his mind go blank. Right as he started to debate if he could get away with setting some privacy charms around their little niche, Ginny pulled away. Her hand slid back into his, their matching rings clinking happily together. She winked. “Remember that for later tonight.”

Then she pulled him out of their hideaway and towards the street where they could apparate back to their flat. Harry smiled as they stepped out into the rare Irish sunshine. He couldn’t believe how much his life had changed all because of a covert mission. All because he’d fallen in love with Ginny Weasley.

#hinny #hinny fic #Harry Potter #Harry and Ginny #harry potter fanfiction #harry X ginny #harry potter fan fiction #Covert Love Chapter 21 #Covert Love Final Chapter

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millenniumsilver · 3 years

Text

Title: A Dark Night

Main Character(s): Kwon Junseo. Cha Yejun.

Summary: There were a lot of things Yejun expected prior to moving into the dorms, as his group’s debut approached, but having his ex show up at his front door in the dead of night was the last thing that crossed his mind.

Warning(s): Discussions of mental health. Bad mental health/mental state. Cursing.

When Yejun was younger, he harbored a small fear of the dark, which equated to not being entirely too fond of the night. It originally stemmed from watching too many scary videos before bedtime, and it always ended up with him running to his parents’ room in absolute tears. It didn't take much for Yejun to realize that whenever he was scared shitless, it was dark, and whenever it was dark, it was nighttime. Thus, as a child, Yejun's aversion to the night began.

Even now, as a 23 year old, Yejun still wasn't fond of the night. He never truly understood the appeal it had to some people, where they genuinely preferred being awake when the sun set as opposed to when it rose, and how people simply were night owls, or how they started enjoying the day the moment it ended.

His dislike towards it intensified when he found himself standing side by side with his ex (and current group member), on the roof of his family’s house, only a few weeks prior to his big move into the dorms with the rest of his group.

Maybe Yejun was biased and was quick to blame the moon that followed him around whenever something bad happened in his life, as never once was the sun present when the tears began falling for him. The bad things in Yejun’s life were always accompanied by the taunting glow of the moon.

“Can you kiss me again?” the sound of the city filled the empty space that lingered between Yejun and Junseo, neither of the boys inching to close the gap between one another.

“Junseo-“

“Just one more time.” Junseo’s pleads bleed into the sound of the city being alive, allowing for himself to excuse the desperation in his tone that was barely audible.

“It’s not right, Jun-“

“We weren’t right when we started, why does it change anything now?” Yejun could tell from the way Junseo was speaking that he was both fighting to hold himself back from letting any tears slip, and he was fighting his own mind to be able to even speak his heart. “If we do something wrong one more time, what difference does it make?”

A siren blared in the background of the boys, allowing for yet another bit of noise to slip in between the cracks of silence between the boys, letting them both a second to try and collect their thoughts that had slowly been swept away with the wind.

“I miss your touch.”

There wasn’t a moment Junseo didn’t shock Yejun. From the moment they met, and let their hearts skip a beat in the form of an unspoken spark when their eyes landed on each other. Even now, in the cold night with both boys looking like strangers and almost feeling like strangers to one another. Junseo was a surprise in every sense of his being.

“I miss your lips.”

In the short while they first met, Junseo quickly became one of the best parts of Yejun’s life. It didn’t take more than a few times of the two hanging out for Yejun to like what he knew about Junseo, and count down the moments until he had the chance to learn even more about him.

“I miss the way you always treated me.”

He would never admit it, because even in his own mind it sounded like nothing more than a cliche from a romantic comedy, but Yejun finally discovered the meaning of falling fast and falling hard when Junseo walked into his life. Never once in his life did Yejun want to know every single thing he could about someone, while also wanting to keep things a secret so he could learn of them through memories he could always keep in his heart.

“I miss how you always spoke to me like I mattered.”

In his 23 years of life, it was the first time Yejun felt true love. He wasn’t shy of love, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t dated previously, but it was never like this. It never felt like his world had been lit aflame with a new purpose whenever he simply looked into Junseo’s eye; a glaze of hope always staring back at Yejun.

“I miss the way you held me.”

Yejun let himself give his heart to Junseo in between small kisses in empty rooms, and quick glances that only they knew of in crowded rooms.

“I miss the way you made me feel safe.”

Junseo gave his heart in between nights spent clinging onto Yejun in bed and moments where he could let himself fall, knowing Yejun would be right there to catch him.

“I miss your love.”

Both boys lost their hearts in one another, and even when the love for each other was only existent in memories, neither of them made a move to retrieve their hearts.

“I miss you.”

Their hearts belonged to one another, even if neither boy could cherish them the way they wanted. Their hearts were like puzzle pieces that finally found its rightful places, completing a puzzle that seemed to have broken away.

Yejun missed Junseo.

There was no way the young actor could deny that, or even interpret his feelings in a different way. He didn’t want to.

But he knew better.

The love the two boys had for one another was as brilliant and hot as a flame, and just like a flame, it was gone as quick as it came, leaving nothing but the cold darkness.

It didn’t take more than a quick glance for Yejun to know that while Junseo’s pleads were nothing but truthful, that Junseo hadn’t changed. Maybe he was worse than when they were together. Junseo always came off as someone who held appearances to a high degree, and it he made it a goal to make it clear with always dressing to the nines with what was in season, and simply having himself look like he was always coming back from a photo shoot.

However, in the nights where the older had slipped into Yejun’s home in order to find the warmth of his embrace, Yejun finally had a chance to see the real Junseo. Or at least, as much of the “real” Junseo, that he himself was willing to show.

Gone was the man who didn’t pay any mind to those around him, the man who walked the earth as if it was built for him, and the man who was far from comfortable with letting anyone see him as anything but his absolute best. Instead, there was the man who wordlessly found himself wrapped around Yejun’s body, wanting to receive the type of attention he never knew he needed. There was the man who stumbled in his thoughts and words, wanting to prove how much he cared for Yejun with every breath he took.

There was the Junseo who showed off how much the world was chipping away at him. Through bags underneath his eyes that seemed to become more and more prominent as time slipped by. Through nights where he couldn’t bring himself to speak and simply came for the affection he never felt before. Through confessions of how scared he was every time he opened his eyes in the morning.

Through it all, it became apparent to Yejun that he was far from the Junseo that everyone knew of. He was lost in himself, and he gave Yejun the chance to see him as his most vulnerable. He gave Yejun the chance to help find him.

But, if anything, the dim glow of the lights on the roof showed that while Yejun desperately tried to help Junseo, he had lost himself even more.

Before, he was wandering aimlessly in a maze built from everyone’s expectations for him. Now, he was drifting away into a typhoon of thoughts he had no intention of swimming away from.

“Have you gone to see someone like we talked about?” it was a cop out, a cheap one at that, and Yejun knew. But, if he told Junseo he missed him too, he knew what it would lead to, and he didn’t know if he could handle being the wave that swallows Junseo whole.

“My mom almost found out and that was enough to make me give up.” Junseo’s hands were quick to reach up and wipe at his eyes, his head ever so slightly tilting away from Yejun. “It’s a habit, I guess. Giving up on what helps.”

“You can always go back-“

“I gave up on you too, didn’t I? Can I go back to you?”

Gone was the soft tone embedded with the ghostly appearance of desperation in Junseo’s voice. Instead, there was a harsh anger in his words. Although, it didn’t take Yejun longer than a second to realize that the anger was directed at himself.

“You need to start looking after yourself, Junseo.” the younger finally made a move to eliminate the space between them as he put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You’re important, Junseo. For reasons I know you don’t understand just yet, you matter so much. You can’t let your life slip away from you, it’s yours. Not for someone else to own and control.”

“You make it sound so fucking easy.”

“And it’s not, I know.” Yejun put the slightest amount of force on Junseo’s shoulder, trying to squeeze it comfortingly. “It’s never easy to go against everything you’ve known in life, everything that's become a habit, even if it’s not a good one. But if you don’t start somewhere...if you don’t start soon, Jun, I’m scared you won’t be able to in the future.”

Yejun never thought that when the famed model showed interest in him, that he would fall in love with someone who had become so attuned to self-destruction that it was like second nature. To the point where he didn’t even know what he was doing would end up hurting himself.

The second he felt Junseo’s body lurch ever so slowly to the side, wanting to pull away, Yejun found his hands reaching up to cup his ex’s cheeks, allowing for him to finally glance into the eyes he had been so desperately avoiding the whole night.

The eyes that glittered with tears, and was nothing but a seemingly growing void of hurt. The same eyes that Yejun found himself smiling at the first time he saw them.

“I’m not promising anything.”

“I’m not the one you should be promising to, anyways.” the faintest of smiles began to linger on Yejun’s face, although it was void of the same warmth it always had. It hurt him that Junseo thought that he would be doing this for anyone but himself, but he knew it probably hurt Junseo even more.

Yejun didn’t know what was in the future for them, but it wasn’t what his mind was focused on. He wanted Junseo to get better for himself, so he can finally begin to live life the way he spoke of it in his sleepy rambles during the nights they were together.

If that future didn’t include Yejun, it would be ok. He just needed Junseo to be ok.

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yinyangswings · 4 years

Text

Love and Legends Harry Potter Witch AU

Okay so starting this off I was inspired by @musicfeedsmysoul12 headcanon for Harry Potter MC which is located here

I had started this prior to whole JK Rowling tweets, and do not condone it. What she said was wrong and honestly the fact that pretty much everyone else involved in the Harry Potter franchise (at least major actors, etc.) have condemned what she said says something about her. I still wanted to show what I wrote for this headcanon. If you have any questions, feel free to dm me.

This is a bit long so it’s under the Read More.

August Falke

MC was in the Gryffindor house. She is a muggle-born witch who was in Hogwarts during the second Wizarding War. She went into hiding in her second year due to Voldemort taking over but was found.

Her parents were killed and she was captured by a Death-Eater. She managed to escape a month before the end of the war. She has PTSD over this and has occasional nightmares. When she does she usually places silencing charms on herself to not disturb anyone.

She returned to and continued her education in Hogwarts after the war ended. Her final year she joined the exchange program and went to Ilvermorny. She found she liked it better there, as memories of her family were no longer prominent. After graduation, she moved to Chicago and began to train as a healer there.

Her wand is made of Blackthorn wood, has a Unicorn hair for a core and is 13’’. It is a dark color intricately carved and is supple.

While she has a broom, she never played Quidditch. She just keeps one because her dad always joked that a witch should have a broom.

She races August on Wyndsor a lot for fun.

Only once has she managed to convince him to ride the broom with her. Only once and he vowed never again.

Her patronus was initially a falcon, but later became a horse.

She does not tell August right away what the change means, and is blushing so much when she witnesses it happen

She has an owl she named Icarus who is a Scops owl

It takes her and August a little longer to get along because of his suspicions and her magic. They are constantly arguing. MC sics Icarus on him a few times.

Icarus doesn’t like August for a long while either. MC literally has to have a talk with the owl when he keeps attacking the knight after they get together

August begins to trust her when he finds her working on making healing salves and potions or injured villagers. When asked how they would know if she wasn’t poisoning them, she cuts herself and puts a salve on herself, basically poisoning herself in the process if she did make a poison, then blandly asks if she can get back to work. Reiner and the other retainers find this hilarious, August not so much initially, though he later admits to her that he was mildly impressed by that.

After the ice crystal incident, and subsequently returning back to the castle, to prove she isn’t going to betray them, she gives them her wand. They don’t realize it’s the biggest sign of trust for her as she hasn’t let anyone touch her wand since she got it again after the second Wizarding War until much later.

She holds her items in a bag with an extension charm in it. It’s rather entertaining to see the other retainers' reactions to it.

She lets them try fire whiskey. Their reactions to it is hilarious.

‘It tastes like we’ve swallowed fire!’ ‘Yes that would be the point.’

MC begins to have nightmares of the Wizarding War again. She starts to put a silencing charm on herself so she doesn’t awaken August. At first August doesn’t notice, but when her lack of sleep begins to affect her, he does, resulting in him pretending to fall asleep and watching her. Witnessing her having a nightmare and realizing she had been going through this on her own was difficult to swallow.

After she returns from Chicago and when he’s still recovering from the stab wound, she finds that she can’t heal him either. It's an added frustration in that season because Reiner has asked MC to not tell August about his condition, and August thinks she’s punishing him for the whole thing.

She tries to heal him the best she can with potions and salves as a work around, but it's limited in success.

When they are going to locate August’s family on the coast, MC talks about the ghosts in Hogwarts and tells some of the stories from The Tales of Beedle and Bard most notably the tale of the Deathly Hallows.

She has to get used to how different some species look in comparison to what she’s met in her world.

The curse makes her using magic extremely painful, so she has to not use it. It feels like the ice is spreading into her veins faster, and is debilitating for her. She can use small amounts of healing magic to blunt the edge of the pain, but it barely works.

She gets serious deja-vu vibes from Regin and just thinks...THIS is what Ollivander would look like as a dwarf.

She understands the concept of a sword having to be right for its wielder, as it is like the wand choosing its master, and is as helpful as she can be with trying to help August find his sword.

That doesn’t mean she likes Aisetha any more than usual though.

MC and August visit the MACUSA headquarters to see if there is any curse like the WQ curse on her as well as see if she can locate Aisetha. To say he was stunned by the Wizarding World is an understatement.

August gets to meet a house-elf while there. He laughs when he realizes why MC had such a hard time believing Iseul was an elf. He also understands why she was so incredibly thrown and got so jealous by how mermaids looked in his realm.

Aisetha doesn’t like her that much and she and it argue. She threatens more than once to get the Sword of Gryffindor for August. Eventually they have a respect for each other, but still argue.

As a joke they discuss what school houses their kids would be in. She knows that if any of their kids have magic, they would probably learn magic in the fantasy realm.

She’s initially nervous about the idea of any of her children having magic, due to the Witch Queen. August is quick to assure he would love them and their magic.

MC says he would have been in Gryffindor and occasionally will call him ‘her lion’. It makes him blush. He calls her a lioness.

Saerys

MC was in the Hufflepuff house. She’s a muggle-born witch. She was adopted by a family in England after she was found wandering around with no memory of her family as a little girl. She was the youngest, with two brothers of her adoptive parents. The second son was magic as well, though he was an unknown when Voldemort took over. One night deatheaters attacked their home. Her brother in a fit of stress became an Obscurus and killed the Deatheaters and accidentally killed their parents before expiring as well. Her adoptive oldest brother blamed her for his parents and brother’s death, and they are estranged because of it. She moved to the states at age 13 and finished her schooling at Ilvermony in the exchange program.

She becomes a Herbologist. Usually Saerys can find her in the gardens if she’s not with him. Many of time when she’s upset he finds her there

Her wand is made of Cypress wood, with a phoenix feather core, and is 10’’. It is lightly colored, roughly carved with a flower in the end, and is springy.

She has a pet cat named Rune. A black cat that she adopted, it seems smarter than most cats she’s met. Runes adores Saerys and if she isn’t with MC, she is usually following him.

Her patronus is a Dolphin.

The turbo mode freaks her out due to her younger brother, but once Saerys gets control, she relaxes.

Saerys learns about Obscurus and that due to the trauma of the war, MC’s younger brother became one, dying as he took down several Deatheaters.

When she finds out about the WQ soul, she’s not thrilled to discover that she was basically created to be a horcrux.

She knows about them from Harry Potter.

Taking him to the MACUSA is interesting. MC compares him to a kid in the candy store. He’s looking around all over the place and is just so curious about this world and how it differs from human Chicago.

Her fellow herbologists are low-key jealous about Saerys.

When MC and Saerys are in Chicago, they run into her adoptive brother and his family who were on vacation. She basically drags Saerys away, even as her brother calls out to her.

Saerys and her talk about it as they’re getting coffee. Saerys doesn’t push her, but does say that maybe sometime she should try to talk to him again. He wouldn’t push her to do it though. She quietly considers it unsure if her brother even wants to talk to her.

Later when they return to Chicago again, she does meet up with him and they reconcile to a degree. MC isn’t sure if she’ll be able to return to Chicago, so she’s happy that she’s able to mend fences.

While MC is still jealous when learning about the mermaids and Saerys’s relationship, she is also incredibly confused because mermaids aren’t exactly the most attractive creatures in the Wizarding World.

Imagine her surprise when she meets the mermaids and realizes just why Saerys talked about them like that.

Well at least he wasn’t saying she was more attractive than mermaids from the Wizarding World. That would have been a backhanded compliment.

Her magic is changed for a little while after Saerys gives her a part of his soul. Because of this, her wand doesn’t work correctly. While it still does spells some of them don’t work. It isn’t until the middle of season 4 where her magic begins to work properly.

Saerys helps her find books about plants and flowers of the fantasy realm. He gets an ecstatic MC and a bunch of kisses.

He had a stupid grin on his face for hours after that.

She manages to recreate the dish that Saerys had talked about. It’s not exact, but she manages to get it somewhat close. It’s a thank you gift to him and he is just stunned.

He spends quite a while after thanking her for that in his own way.

He doesn’t understand why she has to hide her abilities in Chicago. When she explains why, he is rather angry at the idea of her being punished for something that is a part of her.

The possession thing freaks MC quite a lot, because possession is never a good thing in her book, especially if it’s the souls of a dead race.

She has a broom and used to be a Seeker. She takes Saerys out for a flight just to see if he likes it

It’s not his favorite, but he definitely doesn’t mind going on a flight. He still prefers to be on the ground, but will do it occasionally as an escape.

She warns her friends in Chicago and in England about the WQ.

The idea of children has Saerys a little nervous because the idea of having a little witch/wizard with demon qualities might be a lot. MC is quick to deny it and says even if that is the case, she would teach the kid how to use their abilities.

Altea Bellerose

MC was in the Slytherin house. She’s a pure-blood witch but rejected her family's ideals about muggleborn witches and wizards. She was disowned in her fifth year and worked odd jobs to support herself for the rest of her schooling. She moves right after graduating

She later becomes a Hit Witch and is known for being one who jumps into the fray the quickest. She was chasing after a perp when she was struck by the lightning that sent her to the fantasy realm

Her wand is made of Acacia wood with a Dragonheart string, and is 9’’. It is lightly colored, ornately carved, and is rather bendy

She has a pygmy puff for a pet that she’s named Georgie. He’s pink, which MC finds ironic when she starts dating Altea

Apparently she just attracts the color pink.

She played Quidditch in her youth and was a Beater. No one who knew her is surprised about her choice in career.

Her patronus is a Raven. MC finds it hilarious that Altea’s nickname fits.

MC has a slight rivalry with Altea in the beginning. She cannot for the life of her understand why the spells here are so much longer in incantation.

In contrast, Altea doesn’t understand how she could use spells with such a small staff (it’s a wand!!!)

They both prefer offense over defense, though MC does know defensive spells more than Altea.

MC tends to dive in front of attacks to protect Altea. Altea is not amused about it and constantly gives MC grief and worry over her for it.

When Altea starts to lecture her about it, MC usually asks if Altea would do the same, and Altea would blush and look away.

Meeting the parents is interesting. Due to being a pure blood, she is able to use that pedigree to her advantage. She doesn’t tell them that she’s been disowned, and thankfully they don’t ask for more details.

Lional absolutely finds her amazing and asks questions about the Wizarding World.

Speaking of the other world, Altea is stunned by the Wizarding World and how they keep their magic a secret. MC explains that the humans there will try to find excuses for the unexplained.

She loves looking into the library

She also nearly died of laughter when she meets a house-elf. It takes quite a long time for Altea to look at Iseul and not start laughing.

MC takes Altea flying and the pink-haired wizard LOVES it. She can not get enough of the flying and there are many dates that involve flying, especially when Altea gains her wings.

Reiner Wolfson

MC was in the Hufflepuff house. She’s a half-blood witch. She was in her second year when Voldemort took over.

She stayed behind to help with the battle despite her age and was nearby when Colin Creevy died. It had an impact on her and after she graduated she became an auror. She would later visit the states and actually like Chicago, deciding to stay there.

Her wand is made of Hornbeam wood with a Unicorn hair core and is 12’’. It is darkly colored, intricately carved and is considered unyielding

She has a snowy owl named Achilles.

When she calls for him to come back she says ‘Achilles heel!’. Reiner finds it hilarious, though there is much groaning to be had by the others.

She doesn’t wear the full armor, but does wear her auror robes with some of the armor pieces

She played Quidditch during her school years. She was a Chaser.

She basically drags Reiner out for a flight when he starts overworking himself. He actually enjoys it quite a lot.

Her patronus is a wolf

She does timidly suggest when they discover Aldric being alive that perhaps he’s under a spell, but she isn’t sure if they have spells like the Imperious Curse. Cue explanations on the Forbidden Curse.

Reiner is not happy when he finds out she was subjected to the Cruciatus curse when she was 12

Her father was non-magical and did not like the fact that his wife and daughter had magic and made it clear to both of them. It caused a lot of tension, and her mother partially blamed her for having magical abilities for her father hating her. It makes her nervous to marry, but she does love Reiner.

Her wand DOES NOT like when the WQ is partially possessing MC, and has a lot of issues. It causes MC to have to work on learning how to use a shield to compensate

When she finds Reiner and he doesn’t remember her, she goes through different spell books involving memory loss, but can’t find anything and doesn’t want to do any strange spells in case it possibly could hurt him.

Instead she tells Reiner what she is, showing him a simple spell, taking a leap of faith. All she sees is her mother and father and what happened between them.

As she inwardly panics, Reiner stands and pulls her close, thanking her for being honest and that it doesn’t change his feelings for her. She’s relieved.

She laughs in relief when the spell is broken by them marrying.

‘Professor Dumbledore always said love was the strongest magic there is. Guess he was right.’

She and he sneak into The MACUSA Security Department to get his armor. She pretty much breaks every rule to get the armor back.

Reiner is stunned by the Wizarding World and finds it beautiful. He asks her if she really wants to leave this. She kisses him and says she’s with him for better or worse. And she wants to stay by his side and he’s needed elsewhere.

Returning to the Fantasy Realm brings back memories to when Voldemort had taken over and she has to push back the childhood trauma from that. Thankfully Reiner is there and she’s able to focus on helping him.

She almost laughs at the irony of being a witch and marrying Reiner when he’s declared the next King.

The nobles apparently have the same thought and aren’t happy about it.

Reiner makes it clear that he’s marrying her and will not allow baseless rumors about her stand.

She does suggest making an Unbreakable Vow if it would ease the nobles' concerns, but when Reiner learns the stipulations as well as the risks, he shoots it down. He trusts her, the nobles will learn to deal with it.

Iseul Idreis

MC was in the Ravenclaw house. She’s a half-blood witch. Her mother was non-magical, and her father was a wizard. Her father left when she was young and her mother, unable to handle having a magical child, killed herself. She was raised in an orphanage after this. MC always felt guilty over what happened to her family.

She is a magizoologist. She’s very similar to Newt Scamander and has visited him multiple times. He helped her make her backpack to be similar as his suitcase, though it isn’t as elaborate as his.

Her wand is made of Chestnut with a Dragonheart string core and is 11’’. It is lightly colored, roughly carved and is rather flexible

While she has a cat named Leaf, she also has a Niffler she rescued. The Niffler attempts to steal items in the castle, much to MC’s dismay. The retainers and Reiner are...surprised and amused as MC shakes the Niffler to have it release all its loot.

Her patronus is an elk

She has a hard time believing he’s an elf, but keeps that thought to herself

Introducing Iseul to the creatures in her bag is almost amusing for MC. He is so enthralled by the creatures that she’s protecting.

A thunderbird is the newest of her collection and he seems to love Iseul. MC explains that hunters blinded one of the eyes and partially blinded the other. She had been able to rescue it and nurse it back to health, though she could never release him back into the wild.

Her and Iseul bond over the animals, her talking about the magical creatures in her world, him talking about the dragons in the Elf Kingdom

They have a lot of bonding time discussing the differences between her dragons and his dragons

She dislikes Jinhai ten times more due to her love of animals.

When they’re in Chicago, Iseul meets a house-elf that is MC’s landlord. He is...very much traumatized.

“That’s what you thought I should look like?!” “Well in my defense, I didn’t really have any other source to compare.”

The Idreis family actually wind up loving her due to her treatment of creatures.

You bet their butts they love MC’s bag as much as Iseul does

When Iseul is believed to be dead, the animals and creatures all get out of the bag and surround MC to comfort their protector and the child in her belly. They’ll protect MC in Iseul’s place if they need to. Thankfully that decision isn’t completely needed.

Iseul gets jumped by a lot of the creatures for cuddles

The WQ makes a mistake kidnapping MC. Because it’s not just Iseul that goes after her to rescue MC.

Iris and the Niffler become partners in crime. Mass chaos ensues.

Helena Klein

MC was in the Slytherin house originally before moving to America during the war and entering Ilvermorny, where she was placed in the Wampus House . She’s a muggleborn witch. Her parents are incredibly supportive of her and her magic. When Voldemort began to take over, her parents and her fled to the states.

She trained to be an obliviator and is quite skilled in it.

Her wand is made of Pear wood, with a Unicorn hair core and is 14’’. It is lightly colored, ornately carved and is considered reasonably springy.

She has a pet barn owl who she named Cleo. Cleo likes Helena, but prefers MC

Her patronus is a Lynx

Meeting Helena is...interesting. Her magic is so vastly different than hers, even with what Helena says that she is the WQ and MC trained her. MC highly doubts that.

MC talks about Chicago and the Wizarding World and Helena is fascinated by it.

MC grows concerned when she discusses her job and Helena wonders if she could make her forget certain memories.

MC is protective of Helena, especially in the Human realm, though Helena tries to keep MC from using magic.

When Helena loses her memories in Chicago, MC freaks. Because she can’t figure out what is wrong, and what spell was used and if there’s any counter-spell. She talks to her mother who calmly says to just get to know Helena again. The Helena that would have been had she not had magic or met the WQ. So she does.

When her memories return, MC can’t figure it out, but doesn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

When Alain is killed MC has to use several spells to calm Helena down, and puts a soft memory spell on her so she can think of good things about Alain and slowly filter in what happened to him so she can grieve properly

When they return to Chicago after defeating the WQ, MC introduces Helena to her parents. Helena is, naturally, terrified. However both of them absolutely love her and tease MC on how she got such a good looking woman. MC is embarrassed, Helena is just...surprised.

MC introducing Helena to her world of magic, and watching Helena grow into that is fun for MC. Though she sadly doesn’t enjoy flying.

Alain Richter

MC was in the Ravenclaw house. She’s a pure-blood witch. Her family was safe during the war, though she felt like she should have done more to try and stop it.

She became a potioneer

Her wand is made of Rowan wood with a phoenix feather core and is 10’’. It is darkly colored, intricately carved, and is supple

She has a pet cat whose name is Snowball due to her white fur. She finds the name ironic later on.

Her patronus is an Ostrich

She is startled when her ice powers emerge, because as far as she can remember her magic can only really be through her wand unless it’s accidental magic, and she should be old enough where it doesn’t happen.

Realizing that she came from here makes her wonder if her parents knew about this.

She’s incredibly good at making potions, and normally kept to herself doing such things.

The ice occasionally will mess with her results of ice, but it’s not that bad.

Alain panics when she burns herself on potions though she uses her ice powers to heal the wounds.

That doesn’t make him feel better when she shows him this. Instead it makes him worry more because what if she’s hiding something.

Freezing his heart scared her more than anything because she had never used magic like that, she didn’t even know it was possible to break it.

When the spell is broken she apologizes over and over again, clinging to him.

She talks about Chicago and the Wizarding World to Alain, and he’s stunned at what that world sounds like. He can’t imagine hiding magic away, but can’t necessarily blame them.

She does take him into the MACUSA to see if she can find any research about Libra and Umbra and goes shopping for potion supplies

He’s a bit creeped out by the apothecary

Alain actually quite enjoys flying. Not as much as horseback riding, but still.

When MC is told of her destiny, she’s not exactly thrilled that she’s become like Harry Potter in some regards.

When WQ is impersonating her, her wand DOES NOT WORK, which pisses of WQ because they should be the same person, and yet it rejects her.

Alain accidentally meets her parents in the real world. They don’t really approve of him, and want her to marry another pure blood, or at least someone with magic. Alain feels inadequate when they tell him this before MC basically yells at her parents that such ideas is what caused the Wizarding World in the first place

She chooses Alain, even if they have to disown her because of it.

At first Alain starts to object, but MC shuts him up with a kiss.

She’s more than willing to live her life with him than remain in the Wizarding world without him.

When they have kids, she promises she’ll teach them how to control their magic if they wind up with it. Alain is just happy she doesn’t say if, she says when.

#lovestruck #lovestruck headcanons #august falke #saerys #altea bellerose #reiner wolfson #iseul idreis #helena klein #alain richter #love and legends #love and legends headcanons #jamfics

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marvelousstevetony · 3 years

Text

Destined (For Happy Endings)

I’ve been working on this fic for a while, but I never really got around to finishing it. But I did now, and I just want it out, lol. I might come back to it in the future and edit or rewrite parts of it, but for now... well, this is it.

This is set the night before the Avengers go back in time to reverse Thanos’ snap. Steve and Tony have a conversation that’s been a long time coming.

5,1k, Steve/Tony + angst with a happy ending

***

Of all places, Tony was in the communal kitchen. He had been in the workshop most of evening, but then he went down for drink, needing something to calm his trembling hands. They just wouldn’t stop shaking. It’d been a while since he’d felt this nervous, this scared. Well, a few years, at least.

It was way past midnight, the rest of the team probably lying in bed, overthinking everything that was going to happen only a few hours later, just like Tony was. They all tried to keep composed, act unbothered, but everyone knew they were just trying to cover up what was hiding beneath the surface; the fact that they were all scared, terrified, of what they were gonna face.

Sure, they knew where they were going. Tony, for one, had been mentally preparing for going back to 2012 the entire day. It’d been more than a decade since whole flying through a wormhole and saving New York thing, but he still saw it every once in a while, even after everything he’d seen since then; Cap’s shield being smashed into his chest, feeling Peter’s body dissolve in his grip, being stuck in space while believing he was going to die. The point was, Tony still had nightmares about all of those things, and knowing he was gonna be face to face with the thing that had started off his anxiety made him… well, anxious.

So he’d done everything he could to make sure he’d be fine when the time came. He was just working on the finishing touches on the newly designed suits, but it would’ve been so much easier if his hands would just keep still. So yeah, a drink it was.

The kitchen was dark, quiet. Only the weak light from refrigerator Tony hadn’t bothered to fully close and the sound of his breathing gave any indication of activity. He hadn’t even taken anything from the fridge, just vainly rummaged through it before opting for a glass of whiskey. He didn’t know how long he sat there, sipping at his drink and staring out into nothing but his own hallucinative visions, but apparently long enough for someone to crash his one-person party.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping? Tomorrow’s gonna be a long day.” Tony jumped and turned to see Steve leant against the door frame, arms crossed, a tired smile playing on his lips. That was such a dad-pose, Tony thought, such a Steve-pose.

Tony rolled his eyes and sighed to himself. “Thought I’d had enough of your lectures, Cap. You’re awake too, by the way, unless you’re sleepwalking. You’re not sleepwalking, are you?” Tony said drily and Steve looked to the floor with a humorless huff of a laugh.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to- I’m not judging,” Steve mumbled apologetically, then eyed the chair next to Tony. “Mind if I join you?”

“Be my guest,” Tony muttered and made a gesture for Steve to take a seat.

Steve scrubbed his face as he sat, rubbing harshly at his eyes before settling his glance on Tony. “I see you’re still a night owl,” he commented, referring to all the times he would stumble upon him, staying awake all night, working in the lab or simply drinking coffee in the kitchen by himself.

“Some things never change, Cap.”

As soon as the words had passed his lips, Tony felt something inside him churn, because isn’t that ironic. Everything had changed — that’s why they were here. Tony didn’t know if it was comforting knowing that he, maybe, still was somewhat like he’d been before everything; the accords, Siberia, the battle against Tha-… the battle, went down, or if it was exactly the opposite of that.

Maybe it was just Steve’s presence that sent a wave of nostalgia, a longing for the past, through him, and it annoyed him deeply that Steve still had that effect on him, because Tony had changed in the last five years. He had. He was out of the city, living in a small house, he had gotten married, and, hell, he’d had a daughter. And, okay, maybe his and Pepper’s relationship wasn’t like it used to, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. It was just more like they were clinging onto each other because they had nothing else to keep them sane in a world of insanities. Maybe he didn’t feel the same way when he went to bed like before, and he knew Pepper felt the same, but that didn’t mean they loved each other less, just… differently.

But Tony was happy, for the most part, living like this. Like he’d said: I have my second chance right here.

“You alright?” Steve asked, snapping Tony back to their conversation. He must’ve fallen quiet, deep in thought.

Tony opened his mouth, but shut it just as quickly. He was just about to let out his usual reply, always, as he’d insisted so many times previously, but, for maybe the first time in his life, he took a second to actually think about his answer. God, he really had changed. He sighed and looked into the blue eyes he once had known to be so familiar. They were still just as beautiful, just as piercing, just as kind as they’d always been. But, somehow, they seemed… different. Tony wondered how long they had been like this. When Tony looked into them he saw Steve, but not the one he knew. This one was sadder, emptier, than he remembered the soldier.

Steve had always been sad, to some degree, in a way Tony couldn’t quite understand. Sometimes Tony forgot that Steve was actually just a kid when he went into the ice. All Steve had wanted was to serve his country, to be of use and no longer be a sickly child. And Steve, being the self-sacrificing and too-admirable-for-his-own-good idiot he was, had crashed the plane into the Arctic with no intention of waking up in a whole new world where everyone he knew was gone. Then he got some of it back, Bucky, and though Tony felt betrayed that Steve chose Barnes over him, he tried to understand Steve’s reasoning despite not agreeing. Tony carried the freaking flip phone everywhere, because he couldn’t let go of it, no matter how stupid he thought it was. And then Tha-… and then they lost. And Steve lost his best friend all over again, lost Sam, lost the twinkle in his eyes and maybe that’s why they’re so empty and goddamn sad.

By watching and knowing Steve, Tony somehow learned that being alone and being lonely is not the same thing. Tony thought back to the fanciest galas and biggest PR-events, to the team movie nights and training sessions, and pictures of Steve’s face flickered before his eyes. The distant glance, the creased forehead and the smile. Steve would always smile, because even when everything was shit, Steve felt the need to reassure everyone around him that it’d be fine, that he’d fix it. And Tony might not be genius when it comes to people, but he could tell a fake smile from a real one from miles away. After spending years pretending and perfecting his façade, he was practically an expert on the matter.

He could tell by the way Steve’s jaw clenched too hard, the way his lips were pressed firmly together, the way the corners of his mouth forcibly twitched, and the way that his eyes just never beamed. He could be standing the largest crowd either of them could imagine, but no matter how many people Steve was surrounded by, Tony could feel the loneliness radiating from Steve miles away, exuding it like it was his own natural scent.

But Steve never complained, never whined or whimpered, never asked for anything, and Tony hated that Steve never needed them, never needed him. He never wanted backup during mission, Tony remembered faintly. He didn’t want anyone worrying over him, not even when he nearly died out on the field. He never let anyone take care of him. He was always just fine on his own, and Tony felt like he’d been stabbed in his chest whenever Steve would shrug off the pain and act like he was happy when he clearly wasn’t.

But Tony just had to come to terms with it: Steve simply didn’t trust him. Not in the way he had wanted him to, at least. And honestly, all Tony could think about, all he wanted to do when Steve wore that characteristic melancholic frown, the line right between his eyebrows, the heartbreakingly unhappy smile, was to suck out every inch of sadness from Steve’s body.

And now more than ever, the sadness was physically visible in Steve’s expression, and Tony had never been good at dealing with emotions, not his own, not other’s. But in a few hours, all of this wouldn’t matter, and Tony didn’t have it in him to just… act like he was okay. In all honesty, he didn’t really know what he was. So that’s what he said;

“I don’t know,” Tony straightforwardly thought aloud. “I actually really don’t have an answer for that question.”

“Tony Stark at a loss for words. Wow. So I’ve successfully managed to stump you, huh? Who would’ve thought,” Steve smiled, still sadly, because that’s just how Steve was.

Tony huffed a humorous laugh. “Yeah, well, don’t get too cocky now, Rogers. It’s been a long day, my wits don’t come as easily when I haven’t had my coffee.”

“Or slept?”

Tony rolled his eyes again. “You said you weren’t judging.”

“I’m not,” Steve replied solemnly.

It was quiet for a while, a heavy silence settled over them. Steve was nervously twiddling his thumbs, biting his lip, while Tony just stared into space. It seemed like no more words were to be exchanged but then Steve spoke up.

“Are you scared, Tony?”

“About tomorrow?”

Steve nodded weakly.

“I mean, yeah. I am. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.”

He swallowed thickly. He’d never actually admitted it, not out loud at least. But the words just slipped out through his lips like confiding in Steve was the easiest thing he’d ever done. He didn’t remember that ever happening before. It was the alcohol, he was sure.

“Are you?” He heard himself ask.

Steve inhaled deeply, holding his breath for a few seconds. “I… I don’t really know, to be honest. I think I’d be stupid not to. But I can’t let my fears of what could happen keep me from doing what’s right. Not again.”

Tony didn’t know how to respond to that — wasn’t quite sure what Steve meant by it. He just kept quiet instead.

Steve’s knitted his brows together in thought, visibly trying to decide how to continue the conversation. It took him a while, but at last he drew in a long breath and opened his mouth.

“Ever since what happened… happened, I’ve been… I’ve been trying to figure out how to move on. Grow,” Steve started, eyes low and aimed at his quivering hands. “I tried to help with the clean-up until everyone just… gave up, I guess. Nat and I tried our best to keep the team together, or what’s left of us. Tried going back to normal. But nothing every really did go back to normal, did it? I um- I started a support group. Sam used to lead one, I don’t know if you knew that, but he did. A-and I thought that even if I couldn’t move on, maybe I could help someone else. I don’t know if it worked, but I think Sam would appreciate me trying.”

“You know he would,” Tony said before Steve could continue his ramble.

The blonde looked up, revealing his suddenly watery eyes. Tony thought he saw something that reminded him of gratitude, but he wasn’t quite sure. Their eyes only locked for a split second before Steve’s glance snapped back to his hands.

“It’s just- I don’t know what my purpose is anymore.”

“I think we all lost some of our purpose when Tha-,” Tony stopped half way through the name. He sighed. Why couldn’t he just say the goddamn name? He gritted his teeth, squeezing his hands into fists. “When Thanos won.”

It felt weirdly relieving, Tony thought, after finally saying the Titan’s name for the first time since he’d returned to Earth all those years ago. Like had he been stuck under the moon that had been thrown at him and then suddenly released. An odd lightness after getting used to the heaviness. Maybe that’s why he suddenly gathered the courage to demand a better answer from Steve than I don’t really know.

“Y’know, you always were horrible at lying, Rogers,” Tony said instinctively, but then a sudden flash of reminiscence crossed him, of hard metal slamming into his chest, and he nearly went on to retract. Steve’s expression was unreadable, but Tony knew they shared the same thought.

Tony drew in a sharp breath and continued. “What I meant was that I want a better answer, an honest answer… Are you scared?”

Steve seemed to consider this for a long time, gnawing at his bottom lip, eyebrows knit together as if he was having an inner conflict with himself. Then he huffed and shook his head weakly.

“No, I’m not. I should be, but,” he shrugged and smiled humorlessly, “I don’t really have anything left to lose, right?”

“Right,” Tony said quietly. Something about the tone of Steve’s voice was despairing in a way Tony couldn’t bear, so he drew his eyes away from the man opposite him.

Steve appeared to notice Tony’s withdrawal and he quickly spoke up.

“Tony, I- I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think-“

“What are you apologizing for?”

Steve swallowed. “Sorry, that was just an insensitive thing to say… I know that you and Pepper have so much now, I know I dragged you into this, and I-I shouldn’t say stuff like that, shouldn’t be that inconsiderable.”

“No. No, I don’t— you’re good, Cap, really,” Tony said and he felt like he meant it. “I won’t lie and say this isn’t a big risk. I have a lot on the line, but if I have the chance to save something. Someone,” he corrected as a the voice of an awkward teenage boy played in his mind.

Mr Stark? I don’t feel so good.

He swallowed thickly and felt the hairs on his arms raise.

I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna go, sir please-

He had to shake himself, squeeze his eyes shut, to rid himself of the haunting voice.

“I have a lot win, too,” he explained, not wanting to go into any more detail. He couldn’t. At least not if he didn’t want to have a complete meltdown in front of Steve, who seemed to take the hint.

“Okay. Thanks… But I am sorry, Tony.”

Now, Tony nearly laughed despite the tension. Steve had always been unapologetically himself and with good reason. He was usually so stubborn and headstrong it made Tony want to throw up. But right now, Steve seemed insecure, uncertain, goddamn nervous, and, sure, Tony had gotten better at self-control, but he was still Tony Stark, and he couldn’t help but comment on it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you apologize that much. Something change within the last few years?”

Tony had meant for it to be a joke, but in hindsight he knew he sounded petty and unfair. He wanted to reverse what he said, but Steve beat him to it.

“I should’ve done it earlier. Apologize I mean,” Steve clarified.

Tony didn’t know how to respond, his mouth opening and closing a few time before settling on hanging slightly agape.

“I’m sorry, Tony. I am so sorry for all the pain I caused you. I don’t regret defending Bucky. He didn’t deserve to be locked up in a prison. But I do regret not telling you about your parents… I don’t think I’ve ever regretted anything as much as I do that. And I, um, I tried to let you know. To apologize. I sent you a letter, there was a phone as well, I don’t know if-“

“I got it,” Tony confirmed and something inside him twitched, a peculiar sensation that he couldn’t quite place anywhere else but in his chest. It was uncomfortable and fiery, and definitely not positive.

“Oh. Okay-“ Steve started, but was quickly cut off again.

“Why?” Tony asked, his voice filling with rage as pictures of the letter and the stupid flip-phone flickered through his mind. “Why didn’t you call?”

Steve frowned and yet, his features were still soft. Vulnerable. “I didn’t think you’d want me to.”

Now, Tony actually laughed. A spiteful chuckle rolled off his tongue and he could almost taste the venomous bitterness of his next words.

“I hated you-“

“I don’t blame you,” Steve concurred, his gaze dropping to the floor.

“I hated you. I hated the letter. I hated that goddamn flip-phone that, by the way, I carried with me every single fucking day, waiting for you to be the bigger person, because you alway were. You were always so good and righteous and so fucking perfect it made me sick.”

Steve bit his lip.

“I didn’t want to reach out in case you wouldn’t respond… I- I couldn’t bear the thought of you choosing to avoid me, even though you had every right to do so, so I just decided… not to. I thought I’d rather just not know in case I didn’t get the answer I wanted. And I’m sorry for that, too.”

“Back at it again with the apologies,” Tony rolled his eyes for what seemed like the twentieth time that night.

“You deserve more than a hollow apology, Tony.” Steve’s voice was way too earnest, way too sober, saying it like that. Like he would be satisfied if those were his last words. “I wish I could offer you more, wish I could show you how badly I wanted to press that call button, how much it has haunted me all these years…”

Steve trailed off and looked back up at Tony through long, thick lashes, blue crystals sparkling with pained hope. They were still so characteristically sad, Tony knew them, or at least he used to, because now there was something unfamiliar flickering in them. Maybe it was the moonlight that shone on them through the large glass panels, or the moisture that gathered at his bottom lash line that made Steve’s eyes look so vulnerable and sincere.

The remorse cascaded from Steve’s eyes. He didn’t have to say anything for Tony to picture how the nagging feeling inside Steve’s chest had been silently killing him for years. Tony could see it very clearly; how the regret would come to him in quiet moments, such as when he fruitlessly fought to fall asleep, or when he sat alone in the back of a diner, drinking cheap coffee that was bitter on his tongue, yet not bitter enough to extinguish the lingering taste of guilt.

Tony saw how the regret washed over him like slow waves on a shallow beach, how each wave was ice cold and sent shivers down his back. How he longed to turn back time and make a different choice, the right choice. How he envied the the pebbles, unbreakable and lifeless, unable to sense the stabbing agony Steve felt in his bosom.

Tony could see it all, he could feel it, and it made his breath catch in his throat. He knew.

“I know,” Tony breathed, voice barely more than whisper. “I know you’re sorry.”

Tony only realized Steve had been holding his breath when he exhaled slowly, his shoulders dropping, a small amount of the pinched expression bleeding out.

“And I’m sorry too, by the way” Tony said, voice surprisingly steady. “I, uh, I’ve got a lot of regrets as well… guess none of us are completely innocent, right?” He gave a one-shouldered shrug and tried for a wry smile.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me, Tony, I can’t ask that of you,” Steve shook his head, eyes still so serious it made Tony uncomfortable.

“I know,” Tony said. “But if tomorrow goes south I at least want to go with a clear conscience. So I’m offering an olive branch.”

Steve was quiet for a bit, and Tony was nervous he might decline, but then he smiled, sadly, but it was real.

“Thank you, Tony. I don’t deserve your forgiveness but… thank you.”

Tony swallowed thickly, then nodded. “You’re, uh, you’re welcome, Cap… it feels kinda good to do the right thing,” he said, a sigh of relief slipping past his lips.

Steve snorted a laugh, a sound Tony had missed more than he cared to admit, but the smile that began tugging at the corners of his mouth was telling enough.

A peace had settled upon the comfortable silence of the kitchen. The air no longer felt so dense and suffocating, and Tony allowed himself to actually breathe for a few seconds, risking at glance at Steve. The tightness in his chest he had felt every time he looked at Steve for the last seven years had eased. He no longer felt angry or betrayed, he didn’t have the urge to scream, to cry. He just felt… calmness.

It was almost paradoxical how he felt this relaxed just mere hours before what could be the most dangerous journey of his entire life. The calm before the storm, he thought to himself and found that he no longer feared the storm.

“I think I’ll go to bed. Catch some Z’s before tomorrow,” Tony explained as he raised from his seat. Placing a hand on Steve’s shoulder he gave it a squeeze and smiled, genuinely and warmly. “I’m glad we had this talk, Steve. If one of us— I’d hate for us to end like that.” It didn’t even feel foreign to say us anymore. It just glided past his lips like had they never parted ways.

“Goodnight, Steve,” he said and left for his quarters, but before he had even exited the kitchen, Steve called out.

“Tony, wait!”

Tony turned back around with a curious look on his face.

“I, um… I just want to say a few things before you go.”

Tony nodded curiously, urging Steve to continue.

“I, uh, didn’t really sleep. After Siberia, I mean. Not so much after the snap either, but mostly it was because of what happened at the Hydra Facility. I spent a lot of time thinking, about you… about us. I always told myself that if I got the chance I would tell you how grateful for you I am. For always being so hospitable to me, even before I moved into the Tower. For making sure I was okay and for caring about the team more than you cared about yourself.

And, uh, for all those things I said when we first met… I know the scepter was messing with us, but I want to apologize for that, too. You’re a good man, Tony, and I’m sorry I dragged you back into this mess of a life. You deserve to live your life with your family and not have to worry about another alien invasion. You deserve to be happy. If something happens tomorrow… Just know I’ll do everything in my power to keep you and your family safe, even if I won’t live to see it. Whatever it takes.”

Steve was out of breath, heart racing, the sound of its pounding ringing in his ears. His eyes were desperate but soft, and Tony was left speechless yet another time that night. And goddammit, Tony thought, how did he do that? Tony was always ready with a comeback, a witty reply. But tonight, standing in front of Steve Rogers, whose eyes were older than Tony remembered but still just as sad, just as beautiful, whose smile was small and shy and just for Tony to see, whose voice was warm and addictive and sounded like home, Tony’s mouth went dry, and he had to bite the inside of mouth to make sure Steve’s speech had left him numb.

Steve must’ve thought Tony wouldn’t react, because he just flashed a thin-lipped smile and looked down at the kitchen counter like he expected Tony to leave for good this time.

But Tony was still standing like a dear in headlights in the middle of the quiet kitchen. Had Steve just admitted that he’d die for Tony if it came down to it? Tony thought that was what he meant, and it made him uncomfortable, made him want to cry.

“Don’t say that.”

“I mean it.”

“You shouldn’t…” Tony bit his lip and shook his head. He couldn’t get himself to finish that sentence.

“Shouldn’t what?”

“You know what I mean, Steve. I don’t want you to… to sacrifice yourself for me.”

“But I’m willing to. I want to-”

“Steve,” Tony breathed sharply, like his throat was restricting.

“Please, don’t take this away from me. This is what I was meant to do.”

“You were meant for more than this, you know. You were meant to be more than a soldier. You are more than a soldier, and I hate that no one told you this,” Tony said, honestly, because it was the truth. “You were meant for— for picket fences and slow dancing in the living room, even though you’re a horrible dancer. For baking apple pies and watching your grandchildren play in your backyard. For living.”

“I was never destined for a happy ending, Tony.”

Sharp daggers speared their way into Tony’s chest. He couldn’t take it anymore; couldn’t take any more sorrow, couldn’t take another look at Steve’s despairing face.

Steve’s life had had an awful lot of endings.

If anyone asked, which they probably wouldn’t as Tony and Steve were the only people there, Tony did it out of sympathy. He did it simply because he wanted the sadness gone, or at least to pause it for a second, even if it meant getting pushed off and punched in the face. But Steve did neither. Instead, he melted into the gentle touch of Tony’s lips on his.

Tony had kissed a lot of people in his life, but none of them kissed like Steve did. Steve was hesitant but generous, tender and compelling. Their lips were a perfect match, like fate had sculptured them for this exact purpose. When they drew back, Tony’s lips felt cold from the loss of contact, instantly feeling the urge to lean in again.

“What was that for?” Steve asked in a fragile voice, but Tony could hear the smile on his lips.

“For happy endings,” Tony murmured against Steve mouth, replying simply, like it was an obvious answer.

“Tony—”

“I never actually hated you,” Tony clarified. “I thought I did, and I really tried to, but I… I couldn’t. I was hurt… Fuck, it hurt so bad. But then I realized it’s just like they say; the ones you love hurt you the most.”

As soon as the words had left his mouth, Tony stilled. He hadn’t meant to say that, he didn’t even know he felt that, but it came so naturally, as easily as falling off a log.

“Pepper…” Steve mumbled guiltily, an unspoken question hanging precariously on his tongue.

“She knows. Somehow, she always knows. More often than not, she knows even before I do.”

“But you love her,” Steve stated without a hint of doubt.

“I do,” Tony confirmed confidently. “I always will. I love Pepper the way I love Rhodey. The same way you love Barnes.” It took him a second to decide if he should say love or loved, but ultimately he ended on the former, because love doesn’t cease to exist even when the person you love is gone. Tony had experience on that matter.

“Because she doesn’t take your bullshit; is brutally honest with you even when the truth hurts; takes care of you no matter how stupid you’ve been? Because she’ll always be there for you, and because, despite everything else, she feels like coming home? Yeah, that’s… that’s Bucky,” Steve smiled to himself, every memory of him and Bucky, the good and the bad, flashing before his eyes.

“I love her — she’s the mother of my child and the one person I know that’ll never leave me. But we were never really meant to be. We’re family, but… we both know our love is purely platonic. We want each other to be happy, even if it means being happy with someone else. Mutual agreement.”

Steve went quiet, processing what he’d just heard, as Tony trailed his index finger over Steve’s parted lips. They were pink and soft, a bit swollen and wet from the kiss, but undeniable. Irresistible.

Tony leaned in again, silently asking for consent that Steve authorized. It was deeper and longer than the first, leaving them both breathless as they pulled apart and rested their foreheads against each other’s.

“Why now?” Steve asked. “It’s too late for us.”

“If tomorrow really is the end of you and me, whatever that may be… I want you to have at least one happy ending in your life. If you want that, I mean.”

Steve laughed wetly and nodded. Their faces were so close, Tony could feel the air that passed Steve’s lips.

“If I want that,” Steve humored. “That might just be the understatement of the century… though, I think I’d prefer if it wasn’t an ending.”

Tony’s smile stretched from ear to ear, and so did Steve’s. It wasn’t that the sadness had left Steve. Tony didn’t think it ever fully would. But Steve’s smile was wide and accompanied by eyes sparkling with hope, and god was that not the most beautiful thing Tony had ever seen.

“It doesn’t have to be, Steve. Not as long we stand together tomorrow. Just like we promised we would a long time ago.”

“I broke that promise, Tony. You know I did.” Steve murmured.

Tony took both of Steve’s hands in his, intertwining their fingers. They fit together perfectly, and just like with their kiss, Tony got the feeling this was meant to be.

“And yet, somehow, we ended up here.” Tony stroked the back of Steve’s hand with his thumb. “We’re gonna get them back, Steve. All of them.”

“How can you sound so sure?”

“Because we’re together,” Tony said like had he never been more sure of anything in his entire life.

Steve sighed, but it was relieved and pleased, and against Tony’s mouth, he mumbled, “Maybe I was destined for a happy ending after all,” before closing the space between them once more.

#my fic #steve rogers #tony stark #steve/tony #kinda angsty #i guess?

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ncdics · 5 years

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hey dudes... it’s ya girl... rani. it’s been a hot ass minute since i tumblr rped so here i am because i heard good things about the rp and the admin team :-) this is my baby nadia, local overachiever and tired bitch. this is a little rough but i will have her bio up soon (i currently only have her stats up), but LIKE this and i’ll hit you up for plots!

( alice t, cisfemale ) did you hear how NADIA MENON is applying to columbia university as a COMPUTER SCIENCE & PSYCHOLOGY major ?! the TWENTY-TWO year old is living in the CARLTON ARMS. i heard that they got in because they are +STAUNCH and +AFFECTIONATE, but honestly i think SHE can be -ENIGMATIC and -FINICKY. they’re a real NIGHT OWL. oh well, only time will tell if the SENIOR will make it til the end. + BLACK COFFEE, CORNERS IN COFFEE SHOPS, DANCING ALONE IN YOUR ROOM AT MIDNIGHT, NEVER SEEMS TO SLEEP, WORN PAPERBACK BOOKS, SUNRISES, GOLD NECKLACES AND RINGS, BLUSHED CHEEKS, A SOFT BREEZE, SCENTED CANDLES, HOUSEPLANTS, DARK CIRCLES COVERED WITH LAYERS OF CONCEALER, LAZY MORNINGS IN BED, UNSENT LOVE LETTERS.

name's NADIA, don’t call her nads unless you’re her bff

born in manchester, england, the only child of her software developer father, sachin menon, and her bakery manager mother, min “carrie” menon.

due to her parents’ long hours and her lack of siblings or extended family around her, she often times found herself alone, forcing herself to fill in the gaps with imaginary friends, books, and a cat named ‘floof’ by her and her neighbour.

the menon family lived a comfortable lifestyle in the city, getting to send nadia to a better than average school, where nadia flourished in sciences and maths. summers were spent in between malaysia, india and china, where nadia would spend her time with extended family

fast forward to the age of fourteen, things are going well, nadia is well liked among her classmates, her parents have advanced in their jobs and everything is going well... until her father gets a promotion - and the menons’ get to move across the ocean and to san francisco, california. nadia, obviously, is furious. going from moderately popular to the new girl in town was not her idea of a good time.

and so the menons finally reach san francisco, where nadia is miserable and carrie is a bit more than annoyed at sachin. nadia eventually settles in to her high school, launching herself back into popularity as she makes the dance team, and by some stroke of luck, the cheer team. tensions start to brew between carrie and sachin, which nadia starts to notice. she envelopes herself in schoolwork and clubs, joining a record number for the school.

the breaking point comes at the end of her senior year, where her parents announce that they’d be getting a divorce, even noting that they’d only stayed together because she was still under their care. nadia, furious, went off on both of them, vowing to never return to the home. her parents have attempted to sway her opinion, with her father paying for her entire undergraduate studies and her mother sending her checks for rent (and a little extra) every month. these obviously don’t work, but nadia works this to her advantage, and gets to use her tutoring/barista income to pay for luxuries like makeup and clothing

oh yeah she’s a barista and an on campus tutor - you need help with writing, any of your computer science courses, math, or science? she’s your gal. she’s (almost) at the top of her class.

she’s a COMPUTER SCIENCE & PSYCHOLOGY major - queue late nights trying to understand her coursework and banging her head on her desk because her code is coming out with too many errors. she loves it though, really.

P E R S O N A L I T Y - kind but quiet - has a different personality for everyone she meets, therefore making it hard to actually figure it out. she’s vague about her past and family, even her closest of friends don’t know what’s going on with her. behind all the mystery, nadia is eager to please and desperate to be liked, a nod to her high school popularity. she’s somewhat of a hopeless romantic, though the notion is hardened because of her parents’ divorce. exudes big brain energy - homegirl is a computer science AND psychology major, you think she parties? no. she studies and studies only. will indulge in a glass of wine once in a while.

wanted plots !!

tutorship !!! give her someone with absolutely zero brain cells for her to tutor. give her a student athlete who needs to pass but absolutely does not like class. give her a rich kid who could care less but needs to stay in school to make sure daddy pays for their degree!!!

exes - someone who hated the fact that she was always studying and never wanted to go out, someone she dumped because they cheated, someone who hooked up with her on a bet and she found out !!! anyone !! bonus: hateships !!!!!

enemies - academic rivals !!!!! coworkers who are trying to sell the most lattes this week. the person who always sits in her unassigned lecture seat.

coworkers/customers - she’s a tutor and a barista at an overpriced hipster cafe - let the possibilities flow

friends - friends who force her to get out of the house, friends who are a tornado in her perfectly organized life, friends who fell out because of her stubbornness, friends who are awful influences, friends who can count on nadia to get them at the end of the night.

#columbia.intro #big NERVOUS !

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thecomicsnexus · 5 years

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The Judge of All the Earth

WATCHMEN #3 NOVEMBER 1986 BY ALAN MOORE, DAVE GIBBONS AND JOHN HIGGINS

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC DATABASE)

Doctor Manhattan is having problems with his relationship with Laurie when he multiplies himself and she finds out that 'one of him' had been working while she was being romantic with another. Laurie walks out on Manhattan, going to meet up with Dan Dreiberg.

Meanwhile, Manhattan's ex-wife Janey Slater is giving an interview with a news editor of the Nova Express. She states that she has cancer that she presumably received through connection with Manhattan.

Manhattan gets dressed and transports from his home to his television interview where he meets up with a government official named Forbes telling him what to, and what not to say. One of his questions that he cannot say is about his involvement with the Russians in Afghanistan. Then, one of the audience members is Doug Roth of Nova Express who ask Manhattan of his relationships with his colleague Wally Weaver, Slater, and his former nemesis Edgar Jacobi, if he knew that all of them had a fatal form of cancer, among others. Forbes quickly intervened and stopped the interview, but while he and Manhattan were leaving Manhattan became overwhelmed by questions. A very distressed Manhattan yells "I said leave me alone!" and transported everyone outside of the building.

Laurie meets up with Dan who gave her some coffee and they talked about her troublesome relationship and where she will stay that night. She decided on a hotel and walked him to Hollis Mason's place, but while walking through an alleyway they were almost mugged by a gang of knot-tops. They take out the entire group. Leaving the alleyway, Laurie decides to go find a hotel and to leave Dan alone. Once arriving at Hollis' place, Hollis shows Dan the interview of Manhattan's incident on television.

Manhattan arrives back at his home to find out that it is being quarantined. He decides that he is leaving, telling a soldier to leave a message for Laurie and his superiors. He said he is going to Arizona, and then Mars. He goes to the Gila Flats test base in Arizona, where he took a picture of himself and Janey Slater many years ago at a carnival. On Mars he explores in a childish excitement and then finds a rock to sit on.

Laurie goes back to the base to find that everything is being taken away by military personnel in hazmat suits and she is told by Forbes that she is ordered to undergo a cancer scan and is ask about whether she has put Manhattan in emotional stress. Unaware of Manhattan's incident, she is offended by Forbes for considering herself responsible for something until the man, deeply exasperated, snaps to her that she is no longer welcome to the base, since his superiors believe that Manhattan is not coming back in which his absence has severe global consequences.

The next day, Dan awakes from his bed to find Rorschach has broken into his home (again), whom shows Dan a newspaper with the front page of Manhattan's departure from Earth. This news also makes Rorschach being more convinced of his mask killer theory.

That night, the news vendor receives the evening edition and is shocked to read from the headlines. Anxiously, he gives the kid a copy of Tales of the Black Freighter for free, and even his cap. The headline he read is "Russians Invade Afghanistan".

Tales of the Black Freighter A young mariner is the sole survivor of a battle with pirates and wakes up on a deserted island where dead bodies are piled next to him. The mariner recalls the disaster of the attack and about thinks about the pirates of the "black freighter" bearing down on his home and his unsuspecting family. He then begin the arduous task of burying his shipmates throughout the entire day.

UNDER THE HOOD

Chapter V Hollis described the 1950's as cold and bleak, both for himself and for masked adventurers in general. The Minutemen have become irrelevant in society as their exploits were being reported less frequently and treated as a joke. Sally Jupiter have her daughter Laurie in 1949, when her marriage began to deteriorate. Her marriage ended in 1956, and since then Sally has been successful in raising her daughter. The Comedian remained the only member of the Minutemen who has been treated seriously in the eyes of the public partly due to his government connections, and was turning into a patriotic symbol.

During the height of the McCarthy era, the remaining active masked adventurers testified before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, and were forced to reveal their identities. The Comedian was excepted because of his allegiance. This doesn't present any immediate problems for most of the Minutemen, such as Captain Metropolis' outstanding military record and Hollis' service in the police force. But Mothman met with more difficulty due to his associations with left-wing friends during his student days. He was eventually cleared, but the investigations were both lengthy and ruthless, and Hollis speculates that the pressure may have prompted his drinking problem that later contributed to his mental ill-health.

Hooded Justice remained the only masked adventurer who refused to testified, on the grounds that he was not prepared to reveal his true identity to anyone. When pressed, he vanished. Hollis presumed that the Hooded Justice retire rather than revealing his identity. But almost a year after Hooded Justice vanished, the New Frontiersmen publish an article about the disappearance of a circus strongman named Rolf Muller, who quit his job at the height of the Senate Subcommittee hearings. Three months later, a badly decomposed body was found washed up on the coast of Boston. The body was identified as Muller's that was shot through the head. The article further stated that Muller, whose family was East German, had been on the run for fear of being uncovered during the Communist witch hunts, and implied that Muller was executed by his Communist superiors. Hollis speculated that Muller and Hooded Justice are the same person, but find this troubling to accept his fellow costume fighter was a spy, and leaving him to wonder who had killed them. This has took Hollis a long time to realize to accept it as a mystery.

Another problem that contributed to the downfall of costumed adventurers was the absence of costumed criminals. These criminals turned in their costumes along with their careers, but some opted for a less extroverted and more profitable approach as "ordinary men in business suits" who ran drug and prostitution rackets.

By March of 1960, Doctor Manhattan came, whose presence make the term "masked hero" and "costume adventurer" obsolete. Hollis recalled how the public reacted with feelings of disbelief of an actual superhuman being with incredible powers. The presence of Manhattan made Hollis to conclude that the regular heroes are replaced. In the closing months of 1958, Ozymandias first appear after busting a major opium and heroin smuggling racket, and earned a reputation amongst the criminal fraternity for his boundless and implacable intelligence and a large degree of athletic prowess.

Hollis first met Manhattan and Ozymandias during a Red Cross relief in June of 1960. His encounter with Manhattan was described as a strange experience which lasts for a short time until it almost seems normal. It was then that Hollis decided to retire his heroics and opened his own auto repair business. Soon, he was visited by a young admirer who proposed to borrow his identity as the new Nite Owl. After visiting his admirer's home and seeing his technology that will be use on the war on crime, Hollis permitted. Hollis also learned of Sally Jupiter's daughter, who was also carrying on her mother's legacy. Hollis conclude that the super-hero has become a part of American life for better, or for worse.

REVIEW

Tales of the Black Freighter is still the thing about Watchmen that I don’t like. I understand “why it’s there”, but it doesn’t make it more entertaining to me.

There is one thing that I can take home of that, and it’s the relationship between the news vendor and the young reader. When I started reading comics, newsstands was the only accessible place for kids to get them. As a result, you would cultivate some sort of friendship with your local news vendor. That is very similar to what we’ll see during Watchmen. It is interesting that this comic book came out through the direct market (I assume because of its content, quality and lack of bar code), so that relationship is a bit ironic.

Narration in this issue is sometimes coming from a comic-book, and other times it’s other people’s dialogues. Usually when people talk, we see something that tends of be the opposite of what they’re saying.

This is the first time we see full frontal nudity in the comic. According to the annotated version, this may very well be the first time in a mainstream comic-book... but I hardly doubt that. Even for mainstream, this is 1986.

To be continued...

#alan moore #dave gibbons #john higgins #dc comics #comics #review #1986 #modern age #watchmen #doctor manhattan #vertigo comics

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homenum-revelio-hq · 4 years

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Welcome (back) to the Order of the Phoenix, Sara!

You have been accepted for the role of non-biography character NILAM DEUIL REGULUS BLACK with the faceclaims of Go Ah-Sung & Ahn Jae-Hyun! We’re so excited to have you back into the roleplay with Regulus. We especially liked how you describe her readiness to explore her identity. We were very interested in the complications that having an underground informant pretending to be someone else via polyjuice can bring to the Order!

Please take a look at the new member checklist and send in your account within 24 hours! Thank you for joining the fight against Voldemort!

OUT OF CHARACTER:

NAME: Sara

AGE: i am so old, Karli

TIMEZONE: EST

ACTIVITY LEVEL: generally around every day for at least one post

ANYTHING ELSE: n/a

CHARACTER DETAILS:

NAME: Regulus Black going by Nilam a shortening of Alnilam which is a star on Orion’s Belt and means “belt of pearls”. She tries not to use any last name but uses Deuil, the French word for mourning because it makes her think of black clothing and amuses her.

AGE: 19

GENDER, PRONOUNS, and SEXUALITY:

Regulus Black would not know how to have sex if someone took her hand, stripped her of clothes, and gave her an extensive, hands on, tutorial. It's not that she hasn't thought about sex, or that she wouldn't enjoy it. It's more that that she went from angry and angsty Hogwarts kid straight to Voldemort's inner circle. Then she participated in some murdering, uncovered some very uncouth dark magic practices, and then purposefully poisoned herself in a cave.

She's been busy and, really, this is her very first time she's ever had the chance to be on her own and try to figure out what she likes. In addition to that, there's been this pervasive understanding that Regulus Black was a boy. Along with stealing back some time (sort of), Regulus has really stolen back her own identity after her whole life time of pretending to be another gender. Unfortunately the identity she stole back didn't come with a tutorial or a new personality. At least, so far, her mother doesn't know but that might be because she faked her own death.

Oh, and if found out most of her family will want to kill her and the other part of the family, well, can she even trust them?

Details, really. Stupid, unimportant, details. Totally doesn’t impact her self perception at all.

BLOOD STATUS: Pureblood

HOUSE ALUMNI: Slytherin

ANY CHANGES: N/A

CHARACTER BACKGROUND:

PERSONALITY:

Strengths--

Expansive Thinking:

It’s not so much cunning or perception or even intelligence that Regulus Black has. Her OWLs were okay—if not spectacular. Her ability to socialize… somewhat less so than other family members. But what she lacks in social and book learning she well makes up for in being able to piece together information. Sure, Regulus might have never been able to sit down and regurgitate a chapter of a book—but she could take that same information and connect it to other chapters in other books and understand how it works. The same concept is applied outside of learning and into social situations—a perception on who-is-interested-in-whom (which got her into trouble more than once at Hogwarts when he blurted it out in the common room) or just what someone else is getting up to. Regulus doesn’t require obvious information—just enough clues that, over time, fit together like a puzzle.

Cunning it's not just a descriptor for her house: Regulus might not be the most conniving social mover, but that doesn't mean she hasn't sniffed out ways to manipulate all on her own. Before faking her own death, she became quite good at blending into the background, looking softer and more malleable than she was (although, to be fair, she was always a little more malleable than Regulus would have wanted to admit), and collecting information without being thought of as, well, anything worth worrying about. Post-faking-her-death, well, she's got to survive somehow… sure she might have it slightly easier (everyone's looking for a boy, after all, if they are looking for anyone…) but that doesn't mean she isn't striving, and mostly succeeding, to keep herself and what she knows safe. Regulus Black might feel like she’s been dealt a shit hand—but she’s been doing okay with it so far and that’s all down to being a cunning little asshole.

Weaknesses--

Anxious it's not mess that makes Regulus anxious: its life. Regulus as always been an unsettled, introverted, pureblood who doesn't care for loud noises (shouting is the worst), mudbloods, werewolves or mess. Counting helps, rubbing the inside of her robes between her fingers helps. Not being around people helps. Really, all of this would be a dead giveaway to her figuring out Voldemort or Death Eater plans but… its constant. It's been a part of Regulus since, perhaps, the day she was born--or, if not then, then certainly by the time she landed at Hogwarts. In fact, she's even learned how to use it to her advantage to some degree--to throw someone off or mislead them...but that doesn't really help when an argument breaks out and all she wants to do is cover her ears and shout stop stop stop.

Unstable so all the cunning and crafty thinking couldn't save Regulus from one stupid decision: drinking poison. If you asked her, even, she was perfectly fine before she went into a cave and drank a mysterious dark potion… but would anyone stable really think that was the best course of action? Into a cave. Alone. (Does a a house elf even count?) Knowing it was set up by one of the darkest wizards of her time who was fracturing his soul for immortality. No, Regulus Black reached the point of 'unstable' long before that poison touched her lips. It's even possible that the poison she drank has nothing to do with her difficulties now. Sometimes her hands go numb and she drops things, other times she misses a little time...well, she thinks, she didn’t need that hour anyway! Thoughts get a bit out of order--though they seem perfectly acceptable right then. This should concern Regulus more than it does but she's survived this long, hasn't she?

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FAMILY:

Walburga : Regulus likes to say that Sirius is more like their mother but, honestly, she's not so sure about that now (though she will be if she ever argues with Sirius again). Loud, dramatic, and demanding Regulus tried her best to stay in Walburga's good graces more often than not.

Sirius : older brother, arsehole, Regulus simultaneously adores and loathes her older brother. The adoration came from when they were little, thick as thieves, and nothing could break them apart… until Hogwarts did, until Sirius left for good, until the war. There's a lot that Regulus has never told Sirius and likely a lot Sirius has never told Regulus--and Regulus isn't sure that's a bad thing.

Narcissa : honestly, if Regulus could have family related #goals Narcissa would probably be a good paradigm to aspire to… unfortunately, her poise and social management are so far out of her skillset the idea of attaining those skills is pretty laughable.

Bellatrix : another family member Regulus delights in ascribing similar personality traits to Sirius. Bellatrix was instrumental in getting Regulus involved with the Death Eater's which was thrilling at sixteen and horrific by eighteen.

Andromeda : Who? Even after having run away herself, Regulus doesn't know what to think about Andromeda. Andromeda ran away for the wrong reasons, right?

It would be foolish to imply that Regulus Black is nothing like her family: Regulus Black is everything like her family. Slightly neurotic, settled in her own perception of right-and-wrong and superiority… all of this could be describing her mother, some of her extended family, and even her brother (well, neurotic in a different way, surely). The major difference between Regulus Black and Sirius Black is simple: Sirius was gifted a direct personality and Regulus a sponge. One might even call her sensitive—at least if they had met her at five and not fifteen. Instead of struggling against the tide of emotions and shouting in her home, Regulus absorbed it all. Instead of fighting, Regulus aquesessed: they knew better, after all. If she just did everything right maybe things would turn out okay?

Love might not ever be something said but perhaps there was that in the family, too. The language was just different and Sirius had a mistranslation. Regulus was better than that.

OCCUPATION:

Regulus : family heir, do you think she was allowed any "hobby" (much less job) other than Death Eater? After leaving the family "nest", so to speak, Regulus looked for ...well, it wasn't so much something to do as something to cover her weird erratic behavior. That something ended up being divination. She has an ad that runs in the paper once a week on different editions that reads: Nilam Deuil. Smoke and Ink scrying by Owl or Toad Appointment Only.

ROLE WITHIN THE ORDER/THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ORDER:

Regulus is fairly certain they are all going to die--herself most certainly included in that. Granted, she was expecting to die about two months earlier and that hasn't happened yet. Generally, Regulus has gone from one vigilante group to another and while the people are different she finds a strange sort of comfort in the cycle of chatter and arguments she hears. It's … the same? different but the same. In addition to that there’s even some comfort in understanding that they are all going to die--after all, if that's the case, what does any of this matter anyway?

Purpose: Regulus is providing information for sanctuary. Part of that sanctuary agreement is that she can present as the gender she is and not to be outed to anyone. She wanted some measure of freedom (thus new face and faked death) and protection (thus aligning herself with the Order). Her information is along the lines of organization structure, horcruxes, and methodology, among other aspects.

Role: Externally Regulus presents as a new order receuit named Nilam Deuil. A few upper level order members (Dumbledore, Kingsley, Moody, possibly others in play) know Nilam is Regulus while most simply know her as low level assistance in London. Other inner circle members may know that there is some sort of informant that has come forward and is involved in closed door meetings, however they do not know it's Regulus. In this way the Order helps protect Regulus but also holds the leash keeping her tethered to the conflict.

SURVIVAL:

Regulus should be dead. Regulus is suicidal as a general rule (not that she’d admit to it) and that is no better displayed than in her visit to a cave filled with inferi and poison. However… she ...didn't die. she didn't die. Instead, she was able to get in contact with Dumbledor. In addition to that, prior to her decision to leave the Death Eaters (by death or otherwise) Regulus survived based on her dueling skill and wits--although some would question the latter. She’s only now trying to get into the swing of things of moving around a lot or getting comfortable with a bunch of mudbloods and halfbreeds: she’d rather move around a lot.

RELATIONSHIPS:

Mary MacDonald she and Regulus only overlapped in a few classes thanks to her being a different house, but she certainly knows about her -- heard all about her as Mulciber bragged endlessly of that one time she "put that mudblood" in her place. Regulus got used to gritting her teeth in a smile and nodding along as though she were oh-so-impressed...but the woman she met didn't seem to have been put in any place and now Mulciber is dead. Maybe there's more to this Mudblood than meets the eye. Maybe there's a reason she should avoid her -- and not just because she doesn't want to be tripped-up and found out through a accidental reference to something she should have no idea about.

Sirius Black is the one person who will, at some point, be told who she is and where she's hiding. Regulus knows the only control she has over that is to spill the beans herself..but should she? Or should she wait and see when Dumbledor or one of the other upper Order Member's out her? If she waits she might die before she ever has to deal with whatever fallout that will bring.

OOC EXPLORATION:

SHIPS/ANTI-SHIPS: Regulus / Chemistry. Really, Regulus is more asexual then anything.

WHAT PRIVILEGES AND BIASES DOES YOUR CHARACTER HAVE? Regulus : was born into every ounce of privilege and is having a hard time managing the fact she now lives as though she has none of them. Purebloods are obviously better than everyone else --except now it's everyone else that is inadvertently keeping her alive. In addition to that, Regulus also had the privilege of being tutored in dueling and additional educational opportunities. She speaks French and passable German in addition to English and… plays the harpsichord.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? Fuck Terfs, frankly.

PLOT DROP IDEAS: You know me, I’m here to be the IC fuck up who blows up a building on pure accident unlike Dorcas… or providing information at the wrong time (or right one)

ANYTHING ELSE? N/A

EXTRA FOR NON-BIO CHARACTERS:

PAST:

Regulus Black was never supposed to be the heir of the Black family. Sirius was louder, a natural at many things, and just almost the ideal Heir. Almost because he rebelled a bit too much and Regulus never quite understood why. It would have been so much easier if Sirius had just… relaxed. Family was important and for all that Sirius loved them, his friends were not family. While Sirius was learning the importance of close friends (and found family) Regulus was being immersed in the family mindset. She was never one to question too hard and certainly not socially skilled enough to find better contacts. It was almost natural, certainly half expected, that her counter rebellion to her brother was joining the Death Eaters. What wasn't expected was that she eventually, slowly but decisively, realized that her 'go along and everything is fine' way of being was the worst choice she could have made.

PRESENT:

Regulus Black faked “his” own death. What else was she supposed to do, really? If she left she’d just be murdered and have never had the opportunity to live as herself. Granted, she expects this ‘opportunity’ to sell what she knows to the Order and live “freely” to evaporate shortly but something is better than nothing. It’s just too damn bad that drinking poison has given her some adverse effects and pretending to be someone she’s not takes social skills she’s never honed. At least when she looks in the mirror she feels like herself for the first time...or would if her polyjuice didn't round out her face so much. For Regulus, it’s all about the details and racing a self-made clock before she fucks up enough that everyone will realize: surprise! That weird new girl is a murderous Death Eater who had enough information to buy herself a new life.

Regulus' Alias is: Nilam Deuil a former Beauxbatons Academy student and current Smoke and Ink scrying divination "expert".

FC CHOICES: Go Ah-Sung (and Ahn Jae-Hyun) or Lana Condor (and Moon Gayoung)

#homenumaccepted

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