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littledrummeraussie · 3 years

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At Christmas All The Roads Lead Home | part 2

Christmas morning finds Ashton and Y/N reminiscing about their very first holiday together – with both of their flights cancelled the strangers make the hasty decision to rent a room until they can leave for their own destinations. The pair soon finds out that there’s much more than they’ve bargained for when there’s only one bed in their hotel room. story masterlist. | masterlist. word count: 3488 words tags/warnings: past: an unhealthy load of flirting. food sharing. some heart-to-heart talks. snowball fights. there’s still only one bed. & present: dad!Ashton. fem!mom!reader. married fluff with kids and a dog. Christmas morning cuteness. tooth rotting fluff. nostalgia. a healthy load of teasing.

“Do you think we could eat some more of that cookie we’ve left out for Santa?” Ashton nodded towards the kitchen, a grin spreading across his face. “We could tell the boys the reindeers ate them.”

“Daddy doesn’t have a sweet tooth, the reindeers do,” you lovingly rolled your eyes at him, hands sliding onto his face to pinch his cheeks, making him giggle.

“There’s something else Daddy loves that’s sweet,” his eyes were sparkling with mischief, hands sliding under your thighs to pick you up, and you muffled your squeal against his neck.

Your arms wrapped around his shoulders as he stood up, blankets falling to the floor in a heap. Ashton squeezed your butt lightly, brushing a smiley kiss onto your lips before adjusting you up on his hips, bringing you over to the kitchen. He put you up on the counter and stepped between your legs, already reaching for the plate of chocolate chip cookies you have baked the night before while he finished decorating the house with the boys. Their giggles still rang in your ears as you recalled them chasing each other through the kitchen, tiny arms wrapping around your legs for shelter before Ashton picked them up, pressing a series of kisses on their cheeks and noses, making them squeal with laughter.

Ashton broke a cookie in half before putting it in his mouth, leaning forward so you can bite into it as well, your lips lightly brushing in the middle. A smile pulled at your lips at this and the memory of how sharing Christmas cookies became a tradition for the two of you, something that now you also did with your sons. When the first batch was done you brought one over to the three of them; Tyler and Henry were cuddled into Ashton’s sides, watching a movie together while Bailey napped at their feet. Your heart was ready to burst with love as you watched him breaking the cookie into three, carefully giving the boys their own portions before sharing the remaining piece with you.

“What are you thinking about?” Ashton pushed himself up on his tiptoes, playfully biting your nose as he leaned closer, and you scrunched up your face, pulling back a little.

“You’re so weird. Why did I marry you?” you reached for another cookie and broke off a piece, bringing it to his mouth.

“Dunno. Why did you marry me?” he accepted the cookie from you, munching on it as he spoke. “I mean, the sex is really good, so…”

“Yeah, it was only for the sex,” you chuckled, curling a leg around his waist to pull him closer. “No, I was thinking about our day in London. How you stole half my croissant at breakfast.”

“Hey, I shared my panini with you,” Ashton gave you a faux pout. “And it was a damn good panini, thank you very much.”

“Yeah, I know, I brought you there,” you stuck your tongue out at him before popping a chocolate chip in your mouth. “Guess this is why I married you.”

“Because of the panini?” he furrowed his eyebrows and you leaned forward, pressing a kiss onto the bridge of his nose, stroking your thumb over his scruffy cheek.

“No, silly,” you shook your head, smiling at him “Because not a day has gone by without you making me laugh. Making me fall in love with you even more.”

*****

It surprised you how easy it was to convince Ashton to have breakfast with you in a small corner café instead of your hotel’s restaurant. Maybe it was the promise of fresh coffee and the world’s best panini, or maybe the offer that this time it will be you paying for both of your food. Either way you couldn’t complain as you’ve made your way towards the breakfast place.

“So what are your plans for today?” he asked as you both settled down at a table, waiting for your orders to arrive. “Or do we just walk around London all day long?”

“I mean, you’re welcome to go back to the hotel but I’ve thought we could make the most out of this situation,” you shrugged, giving him a smile. “I mean, when was the last time you’ve seen a winter wonderland like this in LA?”

“Can’t recall,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “But you have to promise me you’ll join at least one adventure of my choice today.”

“I mean – you were willing to come and have breakfast with me, so I guess that’s the least I can do.”

“We were sleeping in the same bed last night, having breakfast together is just the next step,” Ashton sent you a wink, one that could only be described as flirty. “And anyways, you’ve promised me the world’s best panini. Now I don’t know how you know that, but I trust you on this one. Can’t disappoint me now.”

“It is the best, I promise you.”

Before any of you could make another comment the waiter has arrived with your food and coffees, making both of you focus on your breakfast. You needed to stifle your laugh as Ashton moaned around his sandwich, clearly enjoying it as much as you’ve thought he would.

“Okay, you were right. This really is the best panini I’ve ever had,” he took another bite of it, eyes almost rolling back from how much he enjoyed it.

“Told you so,” you sipped you coffee with a smile, lightly kicking his foot under the table. “I wouldn’t have brought you here if it wasn’t the best.”

“Yeah, yeah, but your croissant is looking really good too…” his gaze moved from your face to the plate in front of you, and you quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Nooo. Don’t you dare…” but you were too late – a mischievous grin pulled at his lips as he quickly reached across the table to snatch up your breakfast, taking a hearty bite of it. “Ashton!”

“That’s a damn good croissant too,” he munched on it between words, and you rolled your eyes at him, laughing at his antics.

“I’m really glad, but you just ate my breakfast,” you kicked his foot again playfully, and he curled his ankle around yours, making heat crawl up your neck.

“Here,” he placed his plate in front of you, giving you another smile. “You can have the other half of mine.”

“Giving up your panini for me? What a gentleman,” you took a bite of the offered sandwich as Ashton kept eating your croissant. “Guess we’re getting better at sharing?”

“Yeah, I think we are,” he rested his chin in his hand, still smiling softly at you.

Your legs stayed tangled together under the table until you’ve finished breakfast.

*****

“It was one of the best days of my life,” Ashton pulled you to the edge of the counter, wrapping both your legs around his waist as he hugged you, face hidden in the crook of your neck. “I never wanted it to end.”

“And to think we were both on our way back home…” you hummed in agreement, fingers slowly brushing through his curls.

“We were already home,” he mumbled against your skin, lips pressing a soft kiss on your jaw. “We just didn’t know it yet. That home is not a place, but a person.”

*****

“You know, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you since yesterday,” Ashton’s shoulder brushed against yours as the two of you made your way back to the hotel.

“So why didn’t you?” you let yourself slightly bump into him, making him let out a chuckle.

The day was spent walking around London and getting lost in the snowy city, window shopping and buying whatever food or drink one of you started craving. Both of you ended up with a few trinkets and last minute gifts that you just couldn’t leave behind before Ashton treated you to lunch, claiming that he also knows places you have to try out. He shared stories with you about the time he spent in England, how snowball fights with the boys were his favourite past time around this time of year, and in the end he made good on his promise and dragged you out to ice skating even though none of you have done it in years.

“What were you doing here?” he finally asked, tucking his hands in his pockets. “I mean before you were meant to go home.”

“You really wanna know?” you chuckled and he nodded, making you continue. “One of my friends came up with the brilliant idea to have a singles trip. Guess her bucket list included something about hooking up with a British guy but she didn’t want to come alone, so she dragged us with her. We rented a house and just had fun there, or went out to meet people, you know. She did find herself a guy, and it looked kinda serious, so I guess it wasn’t for nothing.”

“But you were alone at the airport,” your path led you through a park and Ashton kicked one of the snow piles, not looking up at you. “Did something happen?”

“I wanted to stay for a day or two,” you shrugged then a moment later let out a sigh. “I didn’t actually want to go home.”

“Why?” Ashton stopped and blinked at you, the confusion clear on his face. “I’ve thought you couldn’t wait to be back in LA.”

“There’s nothing wrong with LA. Just… going home means I have to go home, to see my family, and those visits usually end up, well– let’s just say they care too much about my personal life.”

“Is there someone waiting for you at home?” he stepped closer, the toes of his boots touching your shoes, and you looked up at him, shrugging.

“Does the guy my parents want to set me up with count?” at that Ashton let out a breath, cheeks turning slightly pink as a smile pulled at his lips.

“No, I don’t think so,” he chuckled, and you did the same, slowly continuing your way back to the hotel. “What about here?”

“What do you mean?” you had a pretty good idea what he was asking, but wanted to hear it from him.

“Have you met someone in London?” his shoulder bumped into yours again, and you stopped, eyes meeting after a few seconds.

“Do you count?” you quirked an eyebrow, the slightest bit of flirt in your voice.

“Maybe…” it was Ashton’s turn to shrug, his face turning another shade of red as he kicked the snow with his boots, quickly casting his gaze down.

“Then yeah. Maybe,” you stepped away with a giggle, making sure you brushed against him. “Are you coming? I don’t wanna miss dinner, Irwin.”

Ashton shook his head with a little laugh, scurrying after you. He fell into step with you, quickly picking up your previous conversation about his early days in London as you made your way across the park.

“…and then Calum somehow locked himself out in his boxers and– Y/N? Where ar– fuck, that’s cold!”

You laughed as Ashton turned around, shoulders pulled up and jaw clenched as he realized you just hit him with a snowball. You already had another one at the ready, and you could see the flash in his eyes as he dropped his shopping bags, reaching for the closest pile of snow.

“Oh no, you didn’t…” he gave you a grin, aiming at you.

“I think I just did!” you shouted at him, giggling as he missed hitting you with the snowball just by a few inches.

“I’m gonna get you, you can’t run away!” Ashton suddenly started running towards you, and you shrieked with laughter as he chased you through the park.

You felt his arms wrap around your waist, both of you crashing to the ground in a fit of giggles, trying to catch your breaths. His pupils were blown wide, lips slightly chapped but so kissable as he pushed himself up, looking at you like it was the first time. A second passed, maybe two, then he collapsed next to you on his back, giggling again.

“Told ya I’ll get you.”

“You still couldn’t hit me with a snowball,” you poked his side which made Ashton laugh even more.

“God, you hit my neck! It’s all the way down my shirt! I’m soaked!” he let out one last chuckle before looking at you.

“You can shower first when we get back,” you smiled at him and he just nodded. “We don’t want you to catch a cold.”

“Can we go back now?” Ashton pouted at you, pairing it with his best puppy dog eyes, and you stifled another laugh, sitting up.

“Sure,” you reached for his hand, none of you feeling the cold around you when your fingers touched. “Come on, Australia. Let’s go home.”

*****

Someone started moving upstairs and both of you stopped in your tracks, listening to the sounds coming closer and closer to the stairs. A moment later you’ve heard a thump, and soon Bailey appeared next to you, stretching and yawning.

“Well, good morning to you too, boy,” Ashton reached down to give him an ear scratch, and Bailey nuzzled against his palm. “Is everything okay upstairs?”

The dog nudged Ashton’s knee before turning around and making his way to the door. Ashton leaned back to you, pressing a kiss on your cheek before nodding towards Bailey.

“I’ll let him outside. Don’t go anywhere.”

“Sure, hot stuff,” you chuckled, and Ash wiggled his eyebrows at you. “Bring him back for some biscuits!”

A few minutes later the dog was already back in the kitchen and you slid down from the counter, reaching for the treats he loved the most. You saw Ashton smiling as you crouched down to Bailey, petting his muzzle as he patiently waited for his treats. He nuzzled against your side before starting munching on the biscuits, taking them one by one from your palm.

“Who’s a good boy? Yes, yes you are, Bailey, you are a good boy,” you stroked his side as you talked to him, and Ashton joined you too, scratching his ear again.

“Did you know I’ve got him for you because you’ve told me you wanted a dog for Christmas?” Ashton caught your eyes over Bailey’s head, and you bit your bottom lip, blushing.

“I didn’t think you remembered,” you confessed. “I just thought it was a lucky coincidence.”

“No, I did remember. I’ve been waiting for the perfect time to get you a dog, and thought our first Christmas as the Irwins would be it. Of course, I didn’t know you were pregnant, in that case I would have thought about it twice, but I wasn’t about taking him to a shelter just because of that.”

“I’m still amazed you gave up your precious garden just so me and the boys could have a dog,” you gave the last biscuit to Bailey, and Ashton beamed, a blush on his cheeks.

“I love you. I love the boys. And I love Bailey. A garden is just a garden – but you’re my family, and I would do anything for you,” he squeezed your hand, and you tangled your fingers together.

“I couldn’t ask for more. And I love you too, Ash. So much.”

*****

By the time Ashton got out of the shower your dinner had been brought up to your room, so he settled down next to you, knees slightly pressed together as you ate your food. A blanket was wrapped around his shoulders, and you joked if he was trying to protect himself from another snowball, for which he just stuck his tongue at you.

“Really funny, Y/N,” he rolled his eyes, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

“I do think it was funny,” you stifled your giggle, and he poked your knee with his finger, making you laugh even more.

“You’re still weird. I kinda like it,” he said, almost as an afterthought, but before you could react to that he already moved onto something else. “What about the cookie? Did they send that up for us as well?”

“No, that was actually me,” you confessed, and you suddenly felt a bit shy and embarrassed. “I would say it’s a peace offering, but– it’s a Christmas tradition in my family.”

“Now you have my attention,” Ashton put his elbow on his knee, resting his chin in his palm. “You’re gonna tell me?”

“Okay, traditionally it’s a Christmas apple not a cookie, but it was easier to get this one,” you started, pulling your legs under you. “They say that those who are together at Christmas and share an apple then they are all going to spend the next Christmas together too. It’s something my family has been saying and doing since forever, and… I mean, it’s Christmas Eve and we’re both here and not at home where we thought we will spend the holidays and…”

Ashton reached for your hand and squeezed it, tangling your fingers together. He gave you an encouraging smile, nodding a little to go on.

“I just thought that– that this could be something that we could do? Just a little piece of home while we’re here,” you mumbled, not really daring to look up at him. “It’s silly, I know. I’m being weird, I’m sor–”

“No! No,” Ashton turned towards you, thumb brushing over your cheek. “It’s really lovely. I really like the sentiment behind it.”

You felt your cheeks heat up and you quickly reached for the cookie, holding it up for Ashton. He grabbed the other half and broke it off, never looking at the baked good but at you, even when he brought it to his mouth to take a bite.

“So – does this mean you want to spend next year’s Christmas with me again?” he chuckled, munching on his cookie and you shrugged, a small smile pulling at your lips.

“Who knows, we might get stuck at the airport again. In that case it’s good to know I have someone who’s willing to share his room with me.”

“If we’re both in LA next year I’ll make sure to share a cookie with you at Christmas,” Ashton winked, his other hand still holding onto yours.

“Sounds like a promise,” you chuckled, taking another bite of your cookie.

It was around midnight when both of you found your ways to your shared bed after watching a tacky Christmas movie or two. Ashton was already wrapped in his blanket when you came back from the bathroom, slipping under your own sheets. He propped himself up, cheek resting against his palm as he looked at you and you turned towards him, blinking up at him.

“What would be your ultimate Christmas present?” he asked, voice soft and curious. “What is something you hope to find under the tree?”

“A dog, maybe,” you answered after some time, a smile pulling at the corner of your mouth and you saw Ashton mirroring you. “I miss having one. Would love to have someone waiting for me when the day is over.”

“Yeah, they have that effect on you,” he reached towards you, tucking a lock of hair behind your ear. “They are great company. I have one back in Australia – kinda miss little old Indie.”

“That’s a cute name. I would love to see them,” you rubbed your cheek against your pillow, getting comfortable. “What about you?”

“I have everything,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “The only thing I wish is to see my family. I really miss them, haven’t had the chance to go home since forever. I’m really lucky with my life and job, but family is family. They’ll always be on top on my list.”

“I’m sure we will be able to travel in a day or two. Snowstorms aren’t forever. You’ll be home before you know it,” your eyes moved to the window where you could still see the snow slowly falling. “And me too.”

“While I do miss being at home… right now I couldn’t ask for more,” Ashton whispered, and you knew there was something he wasn’t saying, something that you felt too.

“Me neither,” you shook your head with a smile, slowly closing your eyes. “Good night, Ash.”

“Remind me to show you a picture of Indie tomorrow,” he lightly chuckled, and you felt him brush another lock of hair away from your forehead. “Good night, Y/N. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” you mumbled, already drifting away.

You still heard Ashton quietly humming, something that sounded a lot like I’ll Be Home For Christmas, and you could swore you felt him moving a little closer before you fell asleep.

Morning found you with fingers lightly tangled together between the two of you, his touch warm and comforting, and – even in this strange city – feeling a lot like home.

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

» part 1 » part 2 » part 3 » part 4

taglist.

@mymindwide @loveroflrh @sadistmichael @notinthesameguey @babylonashton @talkfastromance4 @dead-and-golden @fuckyeah5sostakemehome @karajaynetoday @myfavfanficsever @myloverboyash @suchalonelysunflower @sexgodashton @rebelwith0utacause @creampiecashton @irwinkitten @allthestarsandthemoon @castaway-cashton @spicycal @wontlastimokwiththat @luckyduckydoo @sunshineeashton @2fangirl4u @talkfastdrummer @pastelbabygirl19 @istantommoandtpwk @perfectlieirwin @thesweetness-irwin-archive @c-a-l-m-hood @youngblood199456 @tiannaxox2 @caffeinecalum @fanficsandotherthings @melanindarling

#ashton irwin #ashton irwin x reader #ashton irwin fanfiction #dad!ashton #afic: at christmas all the roads lead home #fiction time #series: at christmas

74 notes · View notes

goth-girlfriend · 4 years

Note

love your latest endeavor story!!! please do a part 2 omg

Of course!💙 I’m excited for it myself!

Well, now we have to name it,

Endeavor’s Intern

(2/?)

🖤💙❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️💙🖤

“So much for waiting just for a schedule.” I mumbled and finally relaxed again Endeavor’s chest.

He ignored me, his arms still stretched out working away at papers on his desk. My thights started to hurt form being pressed together between his own, so I didn’t what any rational person would do. I grabbed a hold of his massive biceps and ignoring his protests I pushed myself up and pushed my legs over his thighs and knees. In this new position I leaned back completely against his chest, his chin now resting ontop of my head. I took deep breath and looked around his office, the sky has moved from mid morning to mid afternoon. The clouds were not longer just bright white, they had tints of orange and pink.

‘Hey, hows it going?’ -❄️🔥

‘Oh, you know, it’s going’ -☀️🖤

‘Did you cry? He goes easier when you cry.’ -❄️🔥

‘No..., i didn’t get a smack on the hand though, kinda hurt honestly. 😭 -☀️🖤

‘You’ll Live then, it could’ve gone worse.’ -❄️🔥

‘Yeah, okay. So....how’s it going on your part?’-☀️🖤

“Tell Shoto to get back to work.” Endeavors voice vibrates against my back.

“Tell him what?” I asked wanting feel him speak again.

“To get back to work.” He grumbled and pushed his hips back against his chair to lean foreward slightly.

I followed his actions not really wanting to, but because he was quite literally my chair at the moment.

‘Shoto, you dad says get back to work’ -☀️🖤

‘Tell him get back to work.’- ❄️🔥

“Shoto says for you to get back to work,” I tried to looked over my shoulder.

Endeavor mumbled something and I started to scroll through my phone. I landed on Snapchat, ever since the sports festival and leaking my snapchat my views have gone threw the roof. Apparently people like to see what it’s like to be a hero in training.

I opened the filters and started to play around with some, my favorite being the basic heart crown. I took a few pictures with different filters not posting them due to endeavors chest being visible in the background. I might be a little crazy but I’m not stupid. I wonder if I can get a picture with Endeavor.

“Endeavor Senpai,” I felt him tense behind me.

No response, “Will you take a picture with me?”

He didn’t answer, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

I angled my phone upwards, at the top of the screen his face, at the bottom was from my nose up. We both had heart crown filters. He seemed annoyed, but I took the picture anyway.

“I don’t like this let me try a different one.” I moved and sat across his lap, my butt on one thigh and my legs over the other.

I turned my phone to its side and then got us both in the picture.

“Smile, it’s not like anyone else is going to see this.” I mumbled and smiled.

The edges of his lips tugged up barely, I took it as the best I could and took the picture.

“That’s definitely getting saved.” I saved it twice.

I scrolled through the filters and found a fan made filter, Endeavor or All Might poll. I looked over at Endeavor, he was staring at me hard as I clicked on my answer. Of course it was going to be him, he been my crush for about two years, and I’m literally sitting on him right now.

The filter changed to red heart and fire emoji crown, I smiled at Endeavor and leaned my side against his chest. I wrapped my right arm about his neck and held up a piece sign.

“Come on, now you really have to smile for this one.” The filter picked up on the both of us and I stretched out my left arm to get more of us.

I was gonna cherish these because this might never happen again. He had a faint smile, I smiled wider and tilted my head to the right slightly, he loved his left arm around my hips and his right arm resting on the arm rest. I felt all happy considering I was literally quitting three or four hours ago.

I took the picture and saved it, I showed it to him. He simply made a “hm” noise.

I let out a heavy sigh, “I’m bored.”

“You go on Patrol soon, go get ready.” With that he pushed me off his lap.

Standing up I nodded and grabbed my coffee smelling and slightly now stiff cloak.

“He totally likes me.” I mumbled once I was outside his office.

I walked to the elevator, the secretary of the floor looking at me smirking.

“Did her get rid of you already?” She was smirking.

“Pfft, If i weren’t here for just a week I could replace you faster then you can order his Coffee.” I sassed at her and did the most cliche finger snap.

She rolled her eyes, I smield and turned to walk into the elevator, Todoroki was there.

“So don’t tell anyone but guess what.” I said once the elevator doors were closed.

“What?” Shoto asked crossing his arms across his chest.

“I-“ I stopped and pulled out my phone to show him the picture I took with his dad, the last picture showed I was sitting in lap with his hand on my hip.

“Look.” I showed him the screen grinning like an idiot.

“What.” He looked at the photo eyes wide, “how?” He asked.

“He smacked my hand and then told me to wait for the schedule change, so I went to sit down but pulled me down and basically said he said he told me to wait not to move.”

“I see.” He leaned back against the wall of the elevator, “So should I refer to you as step mom, mom or just by your name like I do now?”

I blushed and looked down, “Shut it Shoto, your dad is still married to your mom so I actually feel bad now.”

I sulked looking down, Shoto sighed and rolled his eyes.

“(Y/n), they were actually divorced not to long after she was admitted to the hospital. It just never made it to the public.” He sighed and looked down.

I felt bad, I moved and hugged him from the side. My arms wrapped around his chest and my chin bent upwards to rest on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry Todo,” I whispered.

He turned slightly and hugged me back, “Together we make a whole mess.”

I laughed at him, a smile made its way to his lips.

“Yeah but now it’ll be you and my dad,” he exaggerated a sigh, “So I’ll be all alooonnee,” he exaggerated another sigh, “No friend, no money, nothing. Just alone.”

“You’re such a baby,” I pulled away and so did he.

“Besides I’d totally be a sugar baby and we’d definitely hang out and I’d finally go to universal!” I put my hands on my hips smiling up at Shoto.

“Oh, so your in it for the money.” His left brow quirked.

“No, not really.” I sighed and looked down, “It’s probably not real, people will think I’m crazy and don’t know what love it. I mean after all we’re only 15 , but I think I really like your dad...” I smiled down at my shoes.

The elevator doors finally opened.

“Well,” he sighed, “Good luck.” We stepped out and he walked off with another hero.

“I’ll see you after Patrols.” He called out over his shoulder.

“See you then.” I mumbled.

I sat on a sofa in the waiting room, I wonder who I’m patrolling with today. I hope it’s someone cool, I don’t really know anyone, so I don’t know who’s cool yet. I kicked my feet slightly just waiting for someone to pick me up and take me with them on patrol. About three other pairs left, not one person taking me, or stopping to ask me.

I deflated a bit with every passing person, did Endeavor lie to? Did he just tell me that to get me out of his way?

“Well, day two is coming to an end, no patrols so far.” I logged down on a mini log I had made in my calendar. “Wonder if I’ll get to go home, or will I wait all night for a patrol.”

Just as I closed the app I leaned back in my chair.

“We’re leaving lets go.” I jumped up quickly at the sound of Endeavor’s voice.

“Yes sir.” I follows quickly as he made his way out the door.

“There are four teams out already, one in the north, east, south and west. Well cover the central area. When a call comes in the group closest will respond first. If they’re busy the second closest will respond.” I followed and took mental notes as he spoke.

“Just a question.” I asked when he took a break from explaining.

He looked down at me arms crossed, “What?”

“Do you ever work with any heroes outside of your agency or is it like a strict agency hero teamwork system for you?” I asked curious why he was talking with Hawks.

“There is an occasional hero that is nuisance, but can complete tasks efficiently.” He didn’t sound to happy about it.

“Hawks?” I asked tilting my head.

“Precisely.” He looked ahead on the semi empty streets, avoiding eye contact as to no have to interact with anyone.

“He’d be useless with out his wings, even if they don’t do much I wouldn’t expect much from them.” He stopped at a side walk lights nd peared around the corner into a dark alleyway.

“What’s wrong with wings?” I asked looking around where he did.

“They get in the way, they get dirty easy, if you’re anything like Hawks the slightly dust will awns you into a cleaning frenzy. Overall I think they are more trouble then they’re worth at times.” He said as he finally began to cross.

“Well I think they’re cool.” I looked down, our shadows fell behind us. “I mean they’re are so many things you can do.”

I activated my quirk, surprise, I can grow wings. I stretched my left wing behind Endeavor’s back to tap his left shoulder he’d turned and I pulled it away quickly.

“Also it’s just something about the sound of flying that just gives me a sense of peace and nostalgia. When I was younger, I used to love birds flying, crows and ravens specially. They would get closer not exactly afraid, I loved to listen to them flap their wings, it sounded powerful for such small birds, considering the size of birds of prey.” I shrugged and started to think about.

“Did you see someone back there?” Endeavor asked as I stopped.

“No why?” I asked looking back.

He didn’t say a thing but looked foreward. I moved to tap his shoulder, looking for a distraction.

“Ooo, look it’s you.” I pointed to a hero Mech store, Endeavor plushies and posters were on display by the window.

He turned to look I too the opportunity and tucked it away. I watched him look over his shoulder then back.

“Have you ever bought any of your own merchandise?” I asked him.

“No, I’m always gifted my own merchandise.” He didn’t seem impressed.

“Well then.” I mumbled and then saw a new collection.

“Look! They have a new thing.” I pointed to a small white box with question marks.

“Text your luck, see what UA student you can collect. class 1-A first collection, sixteen different figures, collect them all.” I read it out loud, “Im gonna buy some, I wonder if I can find myself, this is amazing.”

I got excited and deactivated my quirk, I could foil my own plan. I started to walk in before Endeavor cleared throat. It hit me, this is an internship, I slowly pushed the door.

“Pleeeeaaaasssseeeee.” I stretched it out not opening the door.

“Hurry.” He said and turned away.

I rushed in and bought the whole box. There’s three in each there has to be at least one of me. I saw a different bag and bought three of those, they were pro hero’s.

I walked out bag in head, “Alright I can compromise, if I get more then one Shoto I’ll let you have one, I think they’re keychains.” I said looking at the bag I was holding in my right hand.

Endeavor just looked at me and sighed, I smiled sheepishly and nodded. “Well let’s get back to work...”

As we walked I pulled my belt around my waist, it had a large pouch on the back, I pulled out all the small bags and squished them in there and made sure to-zip if tight. I threw the paper bag and box away and caught up with Endeavor.

We spent the next few hours doing nothing, just walking around. Every now and then I would tap his shoulder while I talked about something nonchalant, he look for whatever it was and turn back around.

“Well, I’m hungry, and you said patrols ended at 2, it’s 2:20.” I was looking at my phone.

“Alright.” He said stopping in the light of some 24 hour shop, “Well take a break.”

I got excited, I’d finally be able to open my toys.

“Great, What is this place I’m starving.” I leaned around and looked past Endeavors broad shoulders and chest.

“Boba tea and cafe.” I read the sign, “24/7 for your convenience. Pro hero discount after 9:40 pm.”

I looked up at Endeavor, “You even get a discount.”

I was about to pass him until someone cut me off. Red wings blocked my view. It was Hawks, I looked around and saw him, Tokoyami. I smiled at him, he nodded.

“Ew.” I said in fake disgust at Hawks with a smile on my face.

“Hm?” He turned to me.

“Oh didn’t see you there shorty.” He was snarky, he used the tip of his wing to ‘take’ my height to show how is a shorter then him.

“Don’t get to cocky, the size of your wings have nothing to do with the type of man you are.” I huffed and swatted his wing away.

It was very soft surprisingly.

He laughed, “Feisty.”

“Yeah, now, move please? I haven’t eaten since last night.” I said trying to get last.

“Endeavor!” He pushed past me forgetting about me and his intern.

I watched Endeavor’s face contort.

“Well let’s eat.” I shrugged at Tokoyami, he sighed and nodded.

Tokoyami and I walked in and made our way to the register.

“Alright, what do you that is good and affordable for high school students?” I asked when the guy asked how he could help us.

“We have a mystery meal,” he started, “You gettour choice boba tea, a side of rice, and depending on the day you get a cutlet, grilled fish, tempura shrimp, steamed vegetables, omelet or dumplings. We give you care and every time you order a mystery meal we lunch a hole, after six visits for the seventh by redeeming your card you can chose a pro hero inspired meal for free.” He explains and showed me a silver paper card with little squares.

“Alright, I’ll take one. Do you want one Tokoyami?” I asked. He was looking at the menu above us.

“Yes but you order fir-”

“Two mystery meals, his apple flavored if you have it and I’ll take strawberries, both with mango pearls please.” I gave the guy my bank card he scanned it and punched two holes in my card.

“Thank you.” I smield and took it from him.

“Aren’t you guys from UA?” He asked and eyes us.

“Yup, is you watched the festival you should at least recognize our own number three right here.” I patted Tokoyami’s shoulder.

We went to sit in a large booth, we kept small talk. Tokoyami telling me how Hawks likes to stand behind him and spread out his wings or carry him so then people see them they look like one whole bird.

After he finished I told him a bout the small figures and pulled out a bag, I asked him if he wanted to open one. He denied and I opened it. Out came three Tokoyami.

“Well then.” I said and picked one up, a small version of Dark shadow was coming from him in the figure.

“Look how cute dark shadow looks.” I pointed him out.

“Here you can have one.” I laid him the miniature version of himself.

He picks did up by the chain looking at it. “Not a lot of variety.”

I let out a few laughs, and shook my head, “Nah, it’s just beginners bad luck.”

I stood the two Tokoyami up and reached for another bag as I moved my pouch to the front to look like a Fanny pack.

“Well, I have our whole class now,” I tried to make a seating arrangement on the table. All the extras piled on the side.

“I’m even here.” I pointed to my smaller self.

“Sixty figures and I only get to keep sixteen.” I said and looked at the rest.

“Oh! Also look at these.” I pulled out a bag of pro hero’s.

“How much can you fit in that bag?” Hawks asked from his spot beside Tokoyami.

“A lot, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” I said pulling out the bags of pro hero’s.

“These have four.” I read on fo three bags.

I opened the first bag, three all nights and an Aizawa.

“That’s depressing.” Hawks said as he picked up a Might.

“Next.” I said throwing the bag to the side.

A midnight, present mic and two ectoplasm.

“The bags says your chances of getting top five hero’s are better then the rest, but you literally just got a rare and not a single common.” Hawks said taking the empty bag from me.

I sighed. “Last one.”

I opened it and put came four Hawks.

I looked at him, he was smirking, “Ill end you, I’ll do it.”

I dropped the bag but it made a clicking noise.

I picked it up, “Look.” I showed stood the fifth figure up, “They packed an extra.”

“It’s a little Endeavor.” Hawks said reaching for it, “I didn’t spend 20 dollars for someone else to take it. I swatted his hand.

“But you can have a Tokoyami, All Might and Hawks.” I pushed the three to him.

He pouted and looked at the figure between my two fingers.

“But I want that one.” He pointed to Endeavor.

“No he’s mine.” I argued back.

“Excuse me, can we have a picture of you four for our hero wall?” The cashier boy was back with trays of food and a girl beside him with a camera.

Nobody had time to reply before Hawks was standing and ageeeing. “Everybody show your quirks, they have to know we’re legit.”

I looked at Endeavor who never stopped burning, “I don’t think it’s that hard to believe.”

We lined up, Hawks, Tokoyami, Myself and Endeavor.

I propped my left arm on Tokoyami’s shoulder, Hawks raised his wings and did a peace sign, Tokoyuhad darkshadow infront front of him, I stretched my wings up and out, and Endeavor has his arms crossed against his chest. The girl stuck the Polaroid to a paper and held a sharpie out, “would you like to si-“

Hawks snatched the paper away and looked at me then the paper then me.

“What?!” He asked and looked at me, twats at the corner of his eyes.

“I thought I was special,” he was deflating slowly.

I laughed and looked at the picture, “Ooo, I look good.” I said pointing to my wing, it stretched out further than Hawks.

“Well, don’t hold out on me what kind.” He squinted, “Eagle, when I was a younger everyone thought vulture or raven or crow but surprise! Bird of prey.” I shrugged.

“You know what this means?” He asked.

“No.” I answered honestly.

“Wing buddies!” He lifted his left wing and I looked at it, I tired to resist but sighed and gave in, I hit his wing with my own and sighed, “wind buddies!” I cheered back with a smile.

We all signed the paper and the lady hung it on a wall.

After eating we all headed out, I reached into my pouch and pulled out two figures. I slid back around to my back and held my hand out to Endeavor.

“Here, it’s you and Shoto.” I said offering the two figures.

“Thank you.” His voice was low and smooth, his larger hand covered mine as he took them. Heat leaving his hand and engulfing my own.

I felt my wings ruffle up a bit as J smiled, “You’re welcome Senpai.” I winked at him and grinned.

He looked over at me, my heart fluttered. His eyes looked so pretty in the dark, being lit up but every other white light we passd.

I was really hoping I wouldn’t call it love, but man, if this wasn’t love what was it?

We walked down the same side walk, I wanted to reach for his larger hand, in my mind I could here Shoto “do it.”

So I did, he tended and I whistled a tune like nothing happened. He just looked ahead, I smiled and tightened my grip slightly on his hand.

“This is definitely the best.”

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

@lovemadnessharleyquinn

I hope you don’t mind I tagged you!

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nerdingz-obsessed · 3 years

Text

An Analysis of Castlevania (Netflix)

In response to mean words from a fren.

My dearest Castlevania simps, it is time to rise up.

My friend (who I will be attacking :)) was dissing Castlevania (szns 1-3) after my recent Trevor Badass Belmont post, so now I must indulge myself with a rant on how much I absolutely love this series. This is a five four part thing, sorta long (Sorry? but if you read then you’ll understand why I love it my friend is wrong) it has minor spoilers throughout, but it's been out for a while so, proceed with caution ig.

TL:DR at the bottom folks.

One: The Nostalgia

When I was a (small) kid, my uncle was a senior in high school. (I think, I don’t exactly remember.) He loved video games and he’s part of the reason I love them today. Mostly I only ever watched him play things like Halo, but one day he was playing this 2-D, fight game, killing monsters and kicking butt. (as he described it.) And later he let me take a turn, and I couldn’t exactly tell you I knew what I was doing, but I remember how awesome I felt as some 7 year old kicking vampire arse. Now, I get to see those characters again as a young adult and it brings me back, especially the kicking monster butt parts, which brings me to...

Two: The Fight Scenes

(Light Spoilers) HOLY MOTHER OF GOODNESS, if you would have told 7 year old me, “this is going to be a badass anime one day and you’re going to squeal with excitement,” I would have laughed in your face. But I’m not laughing now. If you’ve watched it then you just know. From Sypha and MAGIC (I stan so hard lemme tell you) And Trevor WITH THE WHIPSSS (Szn 3 Episode 9 THAT SCENE Ashshishgishguhsi) And Alucard WITH MAGIC AND MAGIC SWORD (YES) And just Isaac (Whom we love to hate and hate to love) And all of the Vamps and their kool little fighting quirks. I just love love love how amazing, fast paced, and epic the fight scenes are. And it never felt incorrect. i.e. yeah Cypher uses magic and she always seems to never never run out of stamina, but to me it made sense, she’s trained for her whole life, always on the road and there are times when she does look appropriately winded. @ my friend Or Isaac, he’s powerful yes absolutely, but we still see his human weakness. @ my friend(I think this goes for all humans when compared to the Vamps and Monsters tho...)

Three: The Animation

Can I just say that this is one of the most aesthetically beautiful anime I’ve seen in a while. Like the fight scenes, for instance, when fire engulfs a lot of the screen it looks beautiful. Okay that wasn’t very specific, here, in fight scenes, the lines change. If you look, you’ll notice in intense fight scenes the lines getting harder, intenser I suppose, it therefore adds that intensity. (Especially by season 3.{Szn 3 episode 9, dual whips got me drippin fam XD}) But it was also so smooth and elegant (Hi I really love the fight scenes in this show. :)) On small details: the details in Dracula's castle and Alucard's hold under Gre- that city whose name I cannot spell. Not only that, but the scenery, my particular favorite: When Isaac is ‘forging’ his first set of monsters when he’s out on his own. I’m a sucker for the way from a distance those red flames (flames?) shot up into the sky, it was just *chef’s kiss* in the scenery department, just ahhhh :

Oh, speaking of Isaac, it’s time to get on to important, meatier things...

Four: Characters

First off, the villains/antagonists are not just evil to be evil. (Unless you’re Carmilla... :| ... I mean ig she thinks she’s justified bc hello, she’s fighting for her peoples... and I mean, she’s badass, but I sorta have to side with humans? idk) Big Daddy Baddy Drac isn’t just “I vant to suck your blood,” his pain is real. I mean, losing the only person you ever truly loved? Heartbreak. Isaac and Hector both have totally a plausible and low-key understandable reasons for their actions. Okay it’s not an excuse for their bad behavior, but the way they respond to Drac. And, back to Carmilla, can we just stan the four Queens that rule. The four ruler thing they have going is Genius! It’s brilliant, they share their acquired and unique skills and there’s no mans to ruin plans. @ my friend

Edit: Yo I didn't even touch on our two sibling bastards from szn 3. Lol. They are great manipulators, you can feel the betrayal hurt just as bad. They're the jerks that you LoVE to HATE >:(

And The side characters and minor antagonist give the story life. They aren't just blown off characters who don't promote the plot @ my friend. They add depth, perspective, atmosphere and life into the story. Some may not be particularly necessary, or may not need all the character building they were given, but none of it felt forced. It made sense with the story and the interactions they had with other characters flowed and was natural. Yeah, that was brief, but ya get the point.

And importantly, our protagonists.

Trevor Belmont, technically the main protagonist and center for the for the entire story. His character instantly pops of the page as a reluctant hero, but one that is so damn good at his job. His emotions are believable, it's fairly easy to sympathize with him and he is a vibrant character that you can easily follow along with. See the badass Belmont post ✨ here ✨

Sypha Belnades has easily become one of my most favorite heroines. Her personality, physicality and entire character are so vivid and colorful. She is a believably strong character who does not deserve the resentment she gets from @ my friend. I admire the steps that her character has gotten to take in the story and I am so excited for more Sypha. Also ✨ M a g i c ✨

Lastly, Alucard, our troubled, half vampire son who deserves the world and a hug. He is introduced as the badass immortal that we love to see, but seeing how he has to deal with well, everything, is why I so love the writers. They gave us a dynamic in which we get to see someone, who at first didn't care or need for interaction with others slowly realize how much he needed it. And you can see the stages of his development through each episode. It's lovely. He also doesn't deserve the hate my friend gives him. Also, ✨ Tiddies ✨ (I'm so sorry omg)

And Extra ! Extra ! they are all attractive, like have you even seen an unattractive face in any of the characters with surplus screen time? Sure they may not be your type (@ my friend) but they each have their good looking qualities.

Five(ish): Dynamics/Relationships

I'm lazy and can't write another paragraph lol, but point is. Everything in the amazing show flows together so well. Nothing feels awkward or forced, and more importantly everything has a cause and effect factor for other things. Maybe not directly, but it's there. And everything will come crashing together soon, can't ya feel it? As for relationships b/t characters, well, what can I say, they work so well, are unakward, and have me begging for more.

TL:DR:

This show is beautiful and amazing, both in animation and writing quality. Characters pop of the screen as do the scenes. Fight scenes = Epic. Villains = Important + Badass. Characters = Relatable. Writing = Good. Scenes = Pretty. Hotel = Trivago.

And I didn't even get into the details. Smh.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk, I hope you had a good time @ my friend

#castlevania s3 #castlevania #rant #it's so good i could rant for hours #im so sorry this is long lolol #trevor belmont #sypha belnades #dracula #alucard #adrien tepes #blood tw #monster blood but hey i gotchu

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sasquapossum · 3 years

Text

When I was at my poorest (21yo, making $3.45 an hour working night shift at a convenience store) I rented a single room. Third floor walk-up, sloped ceiling, a fire escape that I used as a balcony. I had access to a tiny bit of fridge/freezer space, but no cooking facilities. All I had was an electric wok. I used to it to make rice, with some soy sauce and ginger and vegetables and maybe a bit of chicken when I could afford it. That is, when I wasn't living on the cheapest bread and peanut butter I could find, plus all the popcorn and soda (non inventory items) I could stand during my shifts.

Today was a real flashback to those days. I'm trying to use up some leftovers, so I made Leftover Fried Rice.

Brown rice from three nights go

Diced up "smoked pork shoulder butt" (same as Canadian bacon AFAICT) that has been kicking around in the fridge for a disturbingly long time

Couple of eggs

Frozen corn and peas

Teriyaki sauce left over from last night's takeout

Maggi sauce (from Poland because the US stuff doesn't have MSG)

This stuff is *smoking*. Partly because it's genuinely good. Really, this basic formula would work with a lot of different ingredients, but some of the extra ingredients improve a lot on the version from the Bad Old Days. My wife even said we should make this part of our dinner repertoire, which is like the highest compliment I'm ever going to get. But also, part of it is the flavor of nostalgia. Despite being materially poor and in a lousy job, the total lack of other constraints or responsibilities meant that in some ways that was actually a good part of my life. I'll write about that some day.

But meanwhile, the main point is that sometimes the simple things make life pretty good.

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xxisxxisxxis · 4 years

Text

Gateway Drug | Part Seventy-Four [pt.2]

Words: 3.4k

Warning(s): explicit language, drug abuse

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My back hits the bathroom stall, my fingers tangled in blonde hair, the taste of cigarettes and vodka cloaking my tongue, Duff's hands holding tightly to me, a small, nervous chuckle leaving his lips between kisses.

"We're doin' this here?" He asks me when he pulls away to heave in a breath.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't we?" I grin, kissing him again for a brief moment and he raises his brows.

"Because Tommy and Nikki are with us." He points out.

"They're plastered. They won't notice a thing." I assure him, my hands tugging at his belt, standing on my tip-toes to press my lips to his once more before I get his belt undone, unbuttoning his pants and crouching so I'm eye level with his crotch.

We hear the bathroom door open and I freeze to about making noise, trying not to incriminate myself.

Within less than two seconds, we see Stevie's fluffy blonde hair peeking over the next stall, his eyes following after, scrunched with a smile.

"Jesus, Steven!" I scold, my face turning bright red from embarrassment.

"Whatcha doin'?" He asks.

"Man, seriously, you choose now?" Duff asks him.

"You never answered my question." Steven ignores him, still grinning.

"I was about to pray, Steven." I reply sarcastically.

"Being obvious that you're blowing Duff in the bathroom." He points out.

"Dude!" Duff looks at him pointedly, not impressed.

"What, I'm just saying. You two disappeared at the same time. What do you think's gonna happen?"

"Tommy and Nikki aren't even paying attention." I argue, standing up.

"Nikki got on the subject of divorce and then asked where you were." Steven explains. "I'm trying to get you out there before he asks where Duff is."

"Divorce? What'd he say about divorce?" I ask next and Duff glances at me from the corner of his eye.

"He doesn't want to split half of his money with you." He tells me.

"He doesn't have to. I've been putting away 20% of every check he gets since last February, and that $40,000 from Playboy, into a savings account that's protected by a certificate of deposit." I tell him.

"He hasn't noticed?" Steven asks me next.

"He's been too strung out." I shrug and they look at me, looking to be questioning my morals.

"You've been siphoning money out of your husband's pockets, using his heroin addiction to your advantage because he hasn't been paying enough attention to notice?" Steven clarifies.

"No, no, that makes me sound evil. I'm not evil. I'm being smart--I'm thinking ahead." I state, but Stevie doesn't look convinced. "Stevie, whether we divorce or not, we're both gonna be out of money soon because he's blowing through it. Whatever's in that account can be divided between the two of us if he wants it to be, I don't care."

"So, he knows you've been putting money away?" Duff asks me.

"...No."

"Viv, you don't have a savings account. You have a 'when this shit goes to hell, I'll be stable' account." Steven informs me, glancing at Duff. "We owe Izzy another fifty bucks." He mumbles.

"Dud--"

"--Hey, we're leaving!" Izzy yells in to the bathroom through the crack in the door, and we scurry out, as innocent as possible.

"Here." Steven hands Izzy a few bills of cash.

"What bet is this for?" Izzy asks.

"She's got the 'get the fuck outta dodge' money stash." He replies lowly and Izzy looks at me.

"Smart girl." He nods at me and I roll my eyes.

"Where we going next?" I ask Axl, yelling over the music as we make our way to the door.

"Fuck if I know." He admits with a shrug.

As soon as we get outside, flashes of cameras start at us and I wince, squeezing my eyes closed and keeping my face down, grabbing tightly to Axl's hand to try to calm the anxiety bolting around up my spine.

It only takes him half a second to get on the other side of me to put me farther from the press.

When he wasn't accusing me of trying to break his band up, being a pompous asshole, showing off, or ill from reeling off a manic spell, he was a pretty sweet guy--he is a pretty sweet guy, it just took us so many years to reach a point where we wouldn't argue at least once every time we hung out.

Tommy, Nikki, Steven and Slash end up going to a strip joint while me, Izzy, Duff and Axl decide to head to a bar that's on the outskirts of town in hopes of losing the press...and we do.

The small bar is mainly at the point of the night where most people are stuporing in their drunkenness, a couple lazily shooting pool, a few older men at the bar nursing beers with a pretty bartender organizing her bottles of booze out of boredom...and none of them act like they know who the hell we are, either that, or they don't give a shit.

Axl and Duff blend in with their cowboy boots and cowboy hats, but Izzy doesn't exactly stick out like a sore thumb, of course he's always been good at being lowkey.

I'm just in a simple black dress and heels, sitting at the bar with Duff and the guys as the bartender comes over to us.

"What y'all drinking?" She asks us.

"Beer." Axl, Izzy, and Duff say at the same time and she raises her brows, looking at me.

"Water." I tell her.

"Got it." She nods, starting to get our drinks ready.

"Well, this song is uplifting…" Izzy mumbles and I furrow my brows slightly and concentrate over the country music soothingly playing over the bar and I recognize it as George Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today" before I tune it out of my mind because I've only heard it once before through Tansy back in high school and it made me cry like a little bitch.

"I'm having fucking war flashbacks." Axl mumbles, looking around, before taking a sip of his beer and Izzy chuckles.

"I don't know, nostalgia or whatever it is." Izzy replies with a shrug.

"L.A. kick's butt fuck Egypt's ass." Axl states with a scoff and the bartender glances at us.

"Then go back to L.A." she suggests innocently and I raise my brows.

"I agree." I say, and Axl cuts his eyes at me, and she gives a small smile before going down to the counter to check up on the men at the other end. "I like it, it's quiet and peaceful and there aren't a swarm of people up to no good." I pipe out, looking around again for a brief second.

"So, what I'm hearing is I need to start preparing myself to move to a discreet hick town." Duff says with a small smile. "Or at least have another house in a discreet hick town."

"Ha. Ha." I roll my eyes, drinking my water as he gets in my ear and says, "I'm being serious."

I look at him, not expecting him to say that.

Am I even ready to live with him back in L.A.? Let alone have an established relationship to the point he's putting money towards more than one house than one so I have somewhere to stay to get out of busy L.A.?

"Okay, homewrecker and whore, don't plan your future around us." Izzy sarcastically calls us, but his order isn't so sarcastic, while motioning between him and Axl.

"What's the matter, Izz? Scared to face the reality you won't have anyone to buy a house for you in hicktown U.S.A?" I ask him with a grin.

"It's legal to marry your third cousin, here, Vivian, I don't wanna to live here." He scoffs out.

"War flashbacks." Axl repeats to reinstate his point and Izzy nudges at him with a grin he's laughing behind.

Another slow song begins to play and it takes me a moment to realize it's "Behind Closed Doors" by Charlie Rich, and I'm finishing my water in one more swallow before tugging at Duff's hand.

"C'mon." I insist and he looks at me, then to the empty dance floor, then he looks around, nervously. "There aren't any media people in here. Nobody knows who we are. We have, like, one time to have a decently normal moment without being under a microscope." I point out.

He looks at me a moment longer before standing.

"You guys make me sick." Izzy tells us, waving for the bartender to bring him another drink.

He's given up on love ever since he found out his girlfriend, now ex, screwed Nikki when we came back for a break in September without Nikki realizing she was Izzy's girlfriend.

When Duff and I get to the floor, he's wrapping an arm around me, taking my hand in his, pressing a small kiss to my lips as we easily fall into a slow sway to the music.

We dance in silence for a moment before he says, "I'm sorry if the house thing is too soon to mention or something, I didn't mean for it to come out that 'in your face'." He admits and I shake my head a little.

"I wasn't expecting you to be planning stuff like that, yet, is all." I shrug.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean...most guys aren't gonna outright plan for their new girlfriend to move in with them or anything like that within a month and a half of them dating or...whatever we're doing." I tell him and he raises his brows.

"Are we not dating?"

"We are." I smile shyly, looking up at him. "I don't know, I just didn't know you were that serious about me."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because I'm still married."

"Yeah, but you're getting a divorce, so it's not like me making plans for us in the future is completely crazy." He tells me.

"No, no it isn't." I agree with a little nod. "I just wasn't expecting it."

"Well, are you okay with me making plans?" He questions me and I squeeze at his hand tighter and push up on my tip toes to kiss him sweetly, his arm hugging me to him.

"I love you." He says to me, kissing my hair, and I pull away a little, grinning like a kid as I reply, "I love you, too."

Our lips meet once more, then our tongues, and soon enough moving in with Duff, Mötley Crüe bullshit, Guns N' Roses bullshit, and inevitable divorce bullshit, completely slips my mind.

Duff just had that effect on me, that I knew everything was gonna be okay, even if everything else said differently.

When we get back to the hotel, Vince and Tommy are drunkenly rambling on to the front desk receptionist, trying to convince her to give them another key to Doc's room, so they can sabotage him further, and she doesn't seem to be budging.

I slowly ease away from Duff, not wanting Vince to catch us too close together or he'll flip shit in front of Tommy.

"C'mon, just give us a fuckin' key." Vince says to the woman.

"Sir, you are not staying in the room, therefore I cannot grant you access--"

"--Viv, Viv, come tell her to give us a key to Doc's room!" Tommy waves me over upon seeing me.

"Guys, you don't need a key to his room." I politely tell them, stepping to the desk.

"What? He's our fucking manager, we--"

"--We have a policy that if your name is not on the room's reservation, you cannot have a ke--"

"--My dick has your name on it, bitch, so just start fuckin' suckin'!" Tommy yells, grabbing his junk through his pants and me and the receptionist are mortified.

"Classy." Axl scoffs out to them, his lip curling in disgust as he goes to the elevator.

"Not as classy as your bassist fucking our bassists' wife!" Vince snaps at him and my eyes bug, Axl stopping in his tracks in the middle of the lobby, the receptionist trying to keep her facial expression at bay, but failing.

"Oh, shit." Izzy mumbles, knowing a shit storm is about to tear out.

"Ever thought maybe it's your bassist's wife that's fucking our bassist, instead?!" Axl replies with a smartass smile but I know he's pissed. "And maybe that wouldn't be a problem if your bassist wasn't a strung out--"

"--Okay!" I cut him off before he can continue on, knowing Vince will try to fight him over it...Tommy just stands still...a look of confusion and hurt on his face as his eyes dart between Duff and I.

"I'll be in the room." Izzy mumbles, going to the elevator, Steven and Slash quietly following after him, and I look at Axl and Duff.

"Go with them, I need to talk to Tommy." I say quietly and Duff hesitantly listens, giving Vince a glare, and avoids eye contact with Tommy, as Axl rolls his jaw and balls his fists at his side while staring a hole into Vince's soul before they go to the elevator.

"Tommy, I can explain." I tell him.

"I can't fucking believe you." He pushes past me to leave the hotel and I go after him, grabbing his wrist.

"Tommy, please." I plead and he snatches away from me, tears in his eyes.

"When the fuck are you gonna stop screwing my friends and not tell me?!" He asks me.

"Tommy, I just--"

"--Lemme guess, same shit you pulled with Nikki behind my back for over a year, right?! 'It just happened'!" He throws at me.

"Tommy, it did just happen!" I tell him.

"I can't even…" he trails off, shaking his head, raking his long fingers through his hair. "...Talk to you right no--I can't even look at you right now, Vivian." He frustratedly lets out, heading out the lobby's doors and I don't follow him, knowing he needs time to think.

I stand there for a moment longer, keeping my tears in, but thankful the lobby was empty except for us and the lady at the desk, who's minding her own business--thank fuck.

Vince looks awfully proud.

"So now that the secrecy's shot to hell and we know what you really are, now, who's next--Steven? He has a crush on you. Probably be more than happy to have a turn next time." Vince smugly says as I push past him to get to the elevator.

"Excuse me?" I ask him in a hiss, wondering if I heard him correctly, turning to face him.

"Slash, too." He continues. "Axl's got his eye on Tansy but I'm sure if he saw some of those pictures Nikki let me see, he'd be willing to try you out. Or maybe Izzy. He's got the angsty thing going the way Nikki did when you first got with him, so…" He adds. "What?" He asks me when he sees me glaring at him. "Comes with the territory of being a groupie slut, right? After all, what else are you going for by keeping your legs spread for guys other than Nikki?"

"No." I state, shaking my head. "No. You don't get to degrade me over this, Vince. I won't let you. You don't get to look at me like I'm a slut when you sleep with over ten girls a night--while your marriage is under the pretense of being 'healthy', while your wife and mother of your child is at home, blind to what you're really like on the road. And as for Nikki and I, we took vows. Vows that he broke long before I ever did, so I don't get to be the whore that can't keep her legs closed, and you don't get to judge me for how I'm coping with the complete obliteration of my livelihood after the man I planned on being with, until I grew old and died, publicly humiliated me and chose drugs over me. You don't get to do that." I command and he just stares at me and I go to the door, but turn around to add, "and if Nikki gets heartbroken over Duff and I, then I'll take responsibility for that because I tried everything I could to repair my marriage before I threw in the towel, I can accept breaking one or two hearts, I'm not proud of it, but I don't mind answering for a little collateral. But tell me, Vince, how do you accept renewing your vows to a faithful and loyal woman who's stuck with you through shit most women would've ran from, while you've never gone a month without sleeping with other women? How do you accept the fact you have children that you don't bother seeing, and more children that you probably don't even know exist?" I ask him, furrowing my brows. "Although I guess you can argue that's just what rockstars do, but if I recall, you weren't yet a rockstar in high school when you were getting Tami pregnant while you were still in a two year relationship with Tansy." I finish, stepping into the elevator, watching him disappear as the doors close, leaving him to be pissed.

The guys are in my room when I get back and I let out a huff of air as Axl stares daggers into me.

"They're not going to tell anybody." I say before Axl can even speak.

"Except the lady at the fucking desk." Izzy licks his lips.

"She's not gonna say anything." I reply. "Tommy's pissed at me but he's not gonna tell Nikki."

"Unless you two don't break it off." Axl snaps and I exhale and start undressing to get into my pajamas.

"I'm not doing that." I state and a tension fills the room as Izzy blows smoke from his nose, Duff, Steven and Slash quietly exchanging looks as Axl's nostrils flare. "I'm not doing it and you can't make me." I add.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Vivian?! It's fucking over! You tried to pull it off and it didn't work! They know!" He outburst, walking to me heatedly.

"They know about us hooking up, they don't know that we're not breaking up over them finding out. We'll just keep it under wraps." I argue.

"Viv." Izzy starts as Axl yells, "it's over, Vivian!"

"You're not my fucking parent, Axl, and you're not Duff's either!"

"You're being selfish! You don't give a fuck about Duff or this band because if you did you'd be willing to walk away because if they find out you two are still together--and they fucking will--we're done with!"

"Ax, man." Duff calmly lets out to get him off my back and Axl looks at him.

"Tell her you guys are over." He demands, motioning to me.

Duff looks at me, frustration and sadness in his eyes and I rub my lips together.

"Duff." Axl snaps at him and Duff slowly shakes his head. "Duff." Axl repeats, a little harsher.

Duff just stares at him, scratching his forehead with his thumb while his middle and pointer finger hold a cigarette.

"I'm not tellin' her that." He tells Axl with a level voice and Axl rolls his jaw. "Look, alright, we'll be really careful this time, and we mean it." Duff promises as Axl balls his fists tightly by his side. "I know we haven't been the most lowkey about it but we will be this time, Ax. We've only got a week left on the tour, man. Alright?"

Axl was so worried about Tommy and Vince telling Nikki...but little did they know...

(NIKKI): ...I spent that whole tour with those guys trying to figure out who in Guns N' Roses she was sleeping with. I think it took me so long because deep down I knew who, I was just hoping an amusing turn of events would make it Axl or something...she had too much of an attitude for him to tolerate so I knew that was out. Steven wouldn't have done that me, neither would Slash. Izzy was a possibility, and maybe I would've accepted it a little better if it were him because he was the most like me out of all of them, but like I had done to her with Vanity, she chose someone who was the farthest thing from me to exist: the most polite, most gentlemanly, most loyal, the most together.

Vivian's always said, "what's done in the dark will come to the light," and the ugly reality that had been brought to the light when I stumbled into Duff's hotel bathroom to puke my guts up, only to find Vivian's crucifix--that she'd been wearing every day since before I even met her...the one she would only take off when she was doing something she felt was a sin…I knew.

#gateway drug #nikki sixx #mötley crüe #nikki sixx x oc #nikki sixx fanfiction

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goldenworldsabound · 4 years

Text

Turrfield and Jasmine

Title is...descriptive? Lol. Golden visits Turrfield and gives her friend Jasmine a call! Golden can’t help but gush about Kabu, and Jasmine knows her well enough to notice. :) Kabu-adjacent fic since he’s not technically in it lol. Content warning: none, word count: 2001

Golden had spent the day making her way to Turrfield and exploring the ancient ruins. She had been absolutely delighted with both the herds of Wooloo everywhere (she made sure to catch a few) and the ruins themselves. Ancient, olden things gave her a sense of nostalgia for the rich history of Ecruteak, and the mysteriousness of the Ruins of Alph. She had spent perhaps too much time exploring those ruins at a perhaps too young age.

She had snapped a selfie she'd sent to Kabu, as well. She'd sent it along to her friend Jasmine back in Olivine too, trying to convince herself it was a normal, friend thing to do, and definitely had nothing to do with her presumably one sided crush. To her surprise, Kabu had sent a selfie back to her, with Centiskorch excitedly sliding into the photo, Kabu's own face a mask of stoicism despite the v for victory he was making with his fingers. That had been encouraging. She'd sent a few more photos after that, and he'd commented on all of them.

Settled into her tent just outside of Turrfield, she pulled up her phone to look at the last exchange.

Kabu: I'm glad your journey around Galar is starting off so well! I really enjoyed hearing about your day and seeing those pictures. :)

Golden: Oh, I'm glad! I was worried they were a bit much.

Kabu: Absolutely not. Please keep me updated, when it's not too much trouble.

Golden: Yeah! For sure!

Golden: Alright, I need to set up my tent and check in back home. I'll talk to you tomorrow? :)

Kabu: Sounds good. Have a wonderful night, Golden.

Golden: Thanks, you too!

Golden sighed, pulling her knees up to her chest and pushed the phone against her forehead. He was really sweet. Dammit. She leaned her head back, noticing that she'd inadvertently entered a bunch of text. With a quiet gasp she deleted the nonsense, giving a sigh of relief that she hadn't accidentally sent that to Kabu. Whoops.

The first thing she'd done after setting up the tent had been to call Professor Elm. He was checking in on her ranch every so often, and today was one of those days. It sounded like everything was going well, for which she was grateful. With so many Poke'mon, she knew there was always a chance she'd have to rush home from a trip like this. She recognized this on all of her outings. But there were extra reasons now to find that distressing.

In any case, things were fine at the moment. Things were fine here, too. Tak and June were curled up against either side of her, mostly asleep, while she leaned against Athens in lieu of a solid wall inside the tent. Athens chirped pleasantly every so often, content with this situation.

Ping.

Jasmine: Hey! Yeah, I can spare a minute right now. :) I'd love to hear about your trip!

Golden smiled. She had been hoping she'd get to talk to Jasmine. Now that she was away from Motostoke, she was practically bursting with the need to talk about Kabu to someone. Of course, that would be easier said than done, she thought, as she felt her face warming. She called up Jasmine despite this.

"Hey!" Jasmine's face appeared on screen, backed by the view out the top of the Olivine lighthouse. Golden heard an Ampharos cry out happily too, and Amphy leaned into the frame. "Amphy says hi too, of course!" Jasmine said with a laugh.

"Hi Amphy!" Golden held the phone up so Athens could stick their head into view with a friendly chirp. "Athens too!" The two humans giggled. "Tak and June are asleep, but, well..." Golden angled her phone to show each Poke'mon in turn.

"That's the Poke'mon that gym leader helped you catch, right? Kabu, was it?" Jasmine asked with a smile.

"Yep!" Golden grinned, trying to keep her response from being glaringly obvious. She hadn't been able to talk face to face with Jasmine this trip yet. They'd spoken over text, of course, but over video chat Golden had a feeling her budding crush would be obvious. "It was very kind of him. And June is an absolute delight."

Jasmine laughed. "Leave it to you to impress a gym leader." There was a sparkle in her eye.

"Hey, you're a gym leader too!"

"I know, and you certainly impressed me. You were the only one who didn't get mad at me for needing medicine for Amphy first. There were all so rude, isn't that right Amphy?" Jasmine cooed at her Poke'mon for a moment. "And you really kicked my butt."

"I actually lost this battle, unsurprisingly." Golden admitted. "But Kabu was a good sport. He had his Sizzlipede fight Tak. That went alright! And then Athens was pretty well matched with Kabu's Centiskorch - oh, Centiskorch is the evolution of Sizzlipede, it's like, way longer - but Kabu used this thing called GIGANTAMAXING! Specifically gigantamaxing, there's a different between that and dynamaxing, actually, but...I already explained that in a text didn't I."

Jasmine nodded. "You did. But it's still nice to see you so excited about it." She tilted her head. "What I was really surprised to hear about was that wild area! That sounds really fun. You and Kabu spent an awful long time out there catching June from the sounds of it!"

"Oh yeah, that's true. You'd really like it I bet. I'd be thrilled to get to do raids with you and Steelix!"

"Right back at you."

There was a lull in the conversation.

"I was kind of bummed to leave Motostoke actually," Golden admitted, fidgeting nervously. "I just...really enjoyed spending time with Kabu, you know? He's a pretty great guy. The gym system's a little weird there and he's like...not in the full time league right now, but...gosh he deserves to be! I mean, his battling skills and his dedication were really admirable, you know?" Golden shook her head, rambling on a bit more than she'd meant to.

"Oh? He must be something special to leave such an impression on you!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Golden asked. She had to admit that she was hoping that Jasmine would pick up on this, while simultaneously also hoping she wouldn't. Golden didn't know how to bring up that she had a crush, let alone talk about it. But she wanted to. But she also didn't want to. Gah, feelings were complicated.

"Ooh, I think you're blushing a little bit." Jasmine commented. Golden felt her face flare up immediately at the remark. "You're usually so gung-ho about going to new places and meeting new people, I'm surprised you didn't leave Motostoke even sooner. You were supposed to, weren't you?"

Golden swallowed. "Well, yes, but when Kabu made that kind offer I thought it was worth the change in plans." She laughed nervously at the sharp look on Jasmine's face. Though often quiet, the steel-type gym leader was particularly good at teasing her friends. She was observant and perceptive, making her lethal as it pertained to good natured teasing.

"And as a result of spending all that time together, it seems like you two became close." Jasmine commented, grinning. "That's so sweet, Golden. Do you think he returns your feelings?"

"Wha- buh- Jasmine you can't just say it like that!" Golden exclaimed, shifting nervously, raising her voice defensively. Tak made a little noise, disturbed by her change in volume. "Ah, sorry Tak, go back to sleep, shh." She rubbed her hand on his head gently until his eyes closed again. "Really now, that's- that's a bit much!"

Jasmine giggled. "You're always so shy about these things. It's quite cute."

"Shut up." Golden mumbled.

"Well? My question?"

Golden pouted. "I...I dunno...I mean, I assume not, he's...he's a fair bit older than me. From the sounds of things he mentors people a lot, so." She waved her hand dismissively, looking away from the screen.

Jasmine frowned. "Hm, I see your point...older, huh? Let me look him up."

"Ah- well- wait-" Golden stammered out.

"Ooh, he is a bit of a silver fox, isn't he?" Jasmine smiled. "But he's very handsome, I can see why you might like him."

"Jaaaasmiiiine!" Golden whined, knowing what was coming next.

"Is it his sharp, angled facial features? That passion burning in his eyes? Or maybe his muscled body, Goldie? Not to mention, it sounds like he has a stellar personality!"

"Jasmine, I'm going to fight you." Golden said plainly, trying to ignore her warm face.

"Always down for a rematch." Jasmine replied. "Oh, I see, so he was the gym leader..." Jasmine was clearly reading, and Golden took the moment to recover herself. "Mm. That is an unfortunate set of circumstances. I can certainly sympathize. I'd be...lost if I were to lose this position." Jasmine admitted, frowning.

"Yeah." Golden smiled sadly. "He seemed pretty lost. But, I mean, I went to an exhibition match of his, and he won! And when we talked afterwards, I mean...he said meeting me had helped, uh, rekindle his passion!" Golden grinned.

"Wow, he said that?" Jasmine seemed stunned. "Well, I mean, I think you tend to have that effect on people, but when you've only known him for such a short time...you sure he doesn't have feelings for you?"

"Jasmine! I- I don't know. I mean, it made me really happy to hear that, and he even came and saw me off this morning when I left, but...I mean...he might have just been being nice." Golden sighed.

"Okay, so, here's the thing. His profile says back when he was in the major leagues in particular, he was a really intimidating gym leader. He's very stoic, hardly smiles."

"What?! I mean, sure, yeah he was definitely stoic, but he definitely smiled a bunch! And he was really sweet! I didn't feel intimidated at all." Golden frowned, displeased with the description.

Jasmine grinned, and Golden felt like she'd fallen into a trap.

"It does say that he only tends to smile around individuals he is close with, actually. And that beyond the stoic exterior is a kindness that can be easy to miss." Jasmine looked like she'd solved a puzzle. "But you seem to have blown past all those stoic walls! Makes you seem a little special, doesn't it?"

Golden knew she was blushing again. "B-but, I...I mean, we bonded a lot, as friends, in the wild area, maybe that's it, I don't know why he'd see me as more than that."

"Golden." Jasmine's tone and expression were a bit more serious. "You understand that you're a great catch, don't you? You're stunning, for one - no, don't argue with me - for two, you're passionate and kind-hearted, and for three, you're an incredible trainer, which I think speaks volumes about your personality too. Consider Tak. Most trainers would have given up on him, but since you realized he wanted to battle, you've been helping him achieve that goal as much as you can! It's beyond admirable."

Golden looked away shyly. "Well, gosh, thanks Jasmine...I do appreciate it..." She sighed. "But I'm not sure I can believe that Ka- that Ka- that this man is romantically interested in me." She stumbled over his name in a panic, unwilling to say the statement fully.

"Hm. I'll drop it for now but I personally think there's a very good chance, and also that you'd make a great couple." Jasmine commented.

"Mweh." Golden put a hand up over her face. "Fine." But a moment later, she yawned.

"It's getting late there, isn't it? I should let you go to sleep." Jasmine commented. "Oh! But do feel free to keep me up to date or call again! It sounds like you're having a blast over there."

"Thanks Jasmine. I certainly will. And, um, thanks for...your kind words..." Golden found herself pouting again.

"You're welcome, Goldie. Sleep well."

#golden flames #fic #kabu x oc #lightly #platonic wendy x jasmine #self insert #self ship #selfship #self shipping #selfshipping #>w<#writing this made ME gushy too #love that man #hope Jasmine doesn't feel OOC!!!#I think she's quite but perceptive and good at teasing as a result #oc x kabu #not sure which is The Tag

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takaraphoenix · 3 years

Note

Thoughts on reboots?

Thanks for playing, dear! ^^

Kay so my general thought on reboots is: Mixed feelings.

For my detailed thoughts, I gotta split reboots up into their sub-categories, because my feelings on the matter vary depending on what kind of reboot it is.

Personally, I recognize five different kinds of reboots. So let’s go through them and I’ll tell you what I think.

1. The Nostalgia Kick

The most common of reboots; people have nostalgia for A Thing so you are banking on the fact that these people will be lured in to watch it based on nostalgia - it is guaranteed money, because the thing comes with an already promised and established fanbase of money-spending people.

Now, to make a nostalgia reboot work, you need more nostalgia than just that of the people in front of the screen - the people in charge of making it need to share that nostalgia. I’d like to name DuckTales here, because you can feel the love and care that goes into this reboot, you know the people making it love the thing as much as you love the thing and that, in the end, makes the result really good.

So even if the money-givers who greenlight a reboot are in it for the money, a nostalgia kick reboot can still work if you also put the people with nostalgia behind and even in front of the camera, not just in front of the screens and I am very much in favor of those, I think it is wonderful to revisit something that you love.

2. The Second Chance

Let’s just assume the motivation behind greenlighting these all is just... always corporate greed, for the sake of saving time and focus on the project itself, okay?

The second chance reboot is something where the original had potential but the potential wasn’t reached - be that writing, acting, or being cancelled without ever really being given a chance.

The new Percy Jackson series falls under this category; either you look at it as “cancelled too soon” because we ever only got 2/5 movies and deserve to see the story through to the end, one way or the other, or you see it as a poor execution in the movies and want it to get that second chance at getting it right.

I love the second chance reboot, I think it is a very justified kind of reboot, because sometimes, for some things something just didn’t work out - be that the people in charge not being a good fit for the project, the actors not fitting, or it just isn’t the right time for that particular thing just yet and a later audience might just find more enjoyment in it.

3. The Update

Much like the second chance, there’s a good core to the original. But by today’s standard, it’s kind of outdated.

Be that through racist, transphobic, homophobic or misogynistic depictions/jokes/writing that were a testament of their time - which does not excuse them, but that is simply where they came from. That was what the entertainment industry of the time was, ugly as it may seem.

Take every TV show from the 90s that is just... all white. Literally just... all white, not a single character of color, not even in a minor role. And even the ones where there are characters of color, but only in a minor role. Shows that are entirely and completely heterosexual. Shows and movies where the whole focus on only on the men and the women are, at best, damsels in distress with big tits who serve the male gaze and are nothing more than trophies.

The core plot of these things can be good. Heck, even the overall writing can be great. But there is just certain aspects that were simply done that way back in the day that do not fly today anymore and the story itself deserves to be retold, but in an updated manner.

Absolutely loving these kind of reboots. Give me the story I enjoyed, but make it more diverse. Tell a different version of the story.

4. The Untouchable

Well now, this one is outstanding compared to the others that talk about the objective form of story; this one is entirely subjective.

The untouchable is one that every person has to define for themselves; it’s that thing you love so overwhelmingly much, you don’t think it should ever be touched, because it is perfect just the way it is.

In some cases, it may still have flaws, like the in Nr. 3 described outdated problems, but there are just too many things that can’t be recreated - specific actors, the overall chemistry of the cast, the writing in details in particular, certain ways of execution that just aren’t done that way anymore (like, say, 2D animated Disney movies). And despite it being something that could be updated in certain aspects, you value the other parts too much and know they can not possibly be recreated so it shouldn’t be touched at all.

As an example, I’d just throw Star Wars out there, because I am fairly sure that people would march the streets with pitchforks if Disney were to announce an actual reboot of the trilogy; there is a reason they went with sequels and not a reboot, because even Disney knows that this is an untouchable franchise for too many nerds and they would be alienating their audience by doing a reboot.

While nostalgia is the thing that draws people in with reboots, there is a fine line you walk and if you are clever about it, you know when to not reboot.

Same goes for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot - they realized that ACTUALLY rebooting this would not fly, so they went with making the new story about a new Slayer, instead of recasting Buffy Summers. That way, the nostalgia crowd WILL still sign up because it is still the thing they loved, it’s the same universe, it’s a continuation of the original story, but it doesn’t touch and thus potentially ruin the thing that the people really love.

If you tackle a reboot project and realize that what you’re working with might be a big untouchable and go about it differently, that can still work out really well. But I wouldn’t count these kind of sequels as reboots, since they are generally seamless continuations, so they’re nonwithstanding for this post’s point.

Generally, if someone is doing a reboot of something I, personally, see as an untouchable, the expectations set are impossibly high - you already love the thing, after all, so they need to bring not just their A Game but their A+ Game to it to make you love this new thing.

It’s about a 90% fail rate, in my experience. And I hate it. I know this one is harder to grasp, because it is a very individual thing - from person to person and from franchise to franchise - but if they try and reboot something I love to bits and pieces and don’t do it justice, that’s... the singularly most disappointing form of reboot and I really hate it.

Hence the “don’t reboot, continue” approach, but since it is not always a universally acknowledged untouchable but rather just something you yourself hold in such high regards, that just doesn’t always work out the way you wish it.

5. The Dumpster Fire

Now, number 5 is one that, in a Venn diagram of reboots, cuts into all four previous ones!

Bad, lazy reboots. If the people making it are solely banking on your nostalgia and don’t actually give a crap, they think slapping the name of the thing on it will be enough and they don’t have to put efford into it. Think of 90% of Disney’s bullshit live-action reboots of their animated classics. Lazy jerk-off reboots for the sake of nostalgia, money making and keeping licenses. Disgusting. Needs to die.

This can happen with absolutely every other category of reboot - they don’t put the care into it, they half-ass it. Often times, the fact that it is a reboot is already symptomatic of that; they were too lazy to come up with something new so they slap a new coat of paint onto something that already exists. If there is no spark there, no show that the people actually give a damn about making this thing good and think that nostalgia alone is gonna bring butts in seats, it’s honestly doomed to fail from the beginning.

Worst case scenario? The bad reboot is such a dumpster fire, the fire catches onto the original and ruins it for you too. Say, the interpretation of a character or other element is just so fundamentally wrong and bad that even looking at that character in the original doesn’t spark joy anymore because it just... makes you remember the bad take on them?

Genuinely, this is the form of reboots that need to stop. If someone reboots something, there needs to be a reason for it - beyond money. Personal investment, a genuine idea for how to make it better/how to update it, something to make this reboot both, worth making and worth watching.

Ask Me My Thoughts On [insert whatever you want here]!

#Reboots #I bet this answer was more detailed than you expected #oops #xD #Thoughts Ask Game #send me asks #sunnnnyy

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astertataricvs · 5 years

Text

Akaza x Reader || Nostalgia

"Hey, miss, want to come with us?"

"P-Please let m-me go."

Akaza was peacefully walking through the alleyway of the Kabukicho district until he heard voices coming ahead of him. As he ambles towards the unknown voices, he saw two men cornering a girl who was coughing constantly.

"Huh? But it's a shame if you won't go with us. It will be fun, I assure you," he whispered in your ear maniacally while your eyes shut closed.

You don't like being cornered on the wall especially by some random guys who are desperate to keep their hands under the women's skirts. Although you wanted to punch their faces and pummel them into the ground but in your state ー you cannot.

Since you were born, you have a very vulnerable body and you're easy to get sick. Although you're really a sarcastic woman who likes to burn them with your words, you can't do it since you don't want them to pick on you any further due to you having a frail body. Now, these bastards were trying to get in your pants, well it's your fault in the first place for walking around during the evening, specifically that you live within the area of Kabukicho. What do you expect of the district who has lots of repugnant men lurking around until the sun rises?

Ahh, you really could be an idiot sometimes.

"P-Please, I n-need to go."

'You disgusting fuckers! Let go of me or I'll smash your butts on the ground and kick your balls so you won't ever impregnate anyone! These motherfuckers!' If only you can say it out loud, why do you have to be born with such a weak body? Although you don't want this and didn't wish for it, it still fated to you ever since you were inside your mother's womb.

Speaking of mothers, you grew up being an orphan and was adopted by an old woman who's living all by herself. She doesn't have any relatives to count on due to her one and only daughter died because of her illness. Thus her husband deserted her for some prostitute in the district.

You really pity her for enduring that kind of depressing moments. She had a hard time sustaining those painful circumstances that occurred in her life. That's why she's beyond pleased when she raised you and be her own daughter despite that you're not related by blood. You're really grateful to her for taking you in the garbage when you're still a baby, though you know you're trash yourself.

"Don't be so fussy, miss, we're being good guys here inviting you over to a very fun place," he snorted that makes you scrunch your face in disgust.

Surprisingly, the tall guy grasped your wrist causing you to stumble forward because of his dynamic attempt of dragging you with them. Striving to struggle from his hold was all in vain, your body was too frail to even break free from his clutch. Although you wanted to kick him in the balls, you couldn't since forcing yourself to do things that are beyond of your body's strength can cripple your health. Also, your coughing fits were preventing you to struggle with much of your strength.

Meanwhile, at Akaza, he was annoyed that humans were blocking his way. Should he kill them at once? However, he was disrupted from his adverse thoughts when he saw you coughing strenuously while struggling to break free from the grip of perverted men. Perceiving you from trying to release yourself, a wave of nostalgia lingers through his wellbeing.

A sudden of shockwaves struck his mind and paused for a moment. It feels déjà vu for him but, he has no clue about what it was. Is it his memories when he once was a human? Oh, how he doesn't want to remember it anymore whether it's a pleasant one. He already had a new life so he shouldn't dig any more to his past. He felt his head throb and felt livid at the same time, seeing those men forcing a frail woman to come with them seriously pisses him off. However, he shouldn't concern himself with a human right? He's a demon and he doesn't like humans who are weak, he despises the weak, specifically that you're the perfect illustration of what he resent the most.

On the contrary, his guts told him to save you from those men despite that he really doesn't want to aid you because of pity. He solely doesn't like humans blocking his path and their repulsive action aggravates him. To be precise, he wanted to annihilate and devour them this instant even you, if only you weren't a woman. He has this kind of perception that he dislikes killing or eating any woman he would come across. Even though Douma encourages him to eat women because they have more nutrients inside their body, he still refuses to eat and kill them.

Sighing, he ambles closer to the men and you. "Oi," Akaza meddled and before the men can look at him, the demon already kicked their bodies onto the wall with an unhuman strength causing their spines to crack and make them unconscious.

You, who watched the scene only gawked in astonishment and your jaw fell to the ground. Seeing the crack of the wall just because of a kick really amazes you yet terrified. You swiftly gaze at the man in front of you with wide eyes. As your eyes landed on his figure, you noticed the trail of lines imprinted on his body and he's fair as fuck! He's paler than you! Also what stands the most about him are his pink hair and blue eyes ー wait! You can see his fine abs! What a sight to behold!

"What the hell are you looking at?" His voice snapped you out from your fantasies and quickly looked at him in the eye.

"A-Ah! N-Nothing!" Then afterwards, you cough again.

Oh, how you despise yourself when you're coughing so much that it bothers everyone surrounding you, to their point of view, they don't want to get closer to you considering you might have a contagious illness running in your blood that can ruin their health. It's not your fault for having such a weak body!

"You do realize that you're in the red light district, right? You shouldn't wander around during the night if you don't want anything nasty to happen to you," he deadpanned before turning his heels to leave you behind.

"W-Wait!" You called out which you successfully caught his attention. Akaza peered over his shoulder and raised his eyebrow.

"Thank you," you sincerely said then beamed him a tender smile. Momentarily, you felt light-headed and your breath ragged all of a sudden. Then subsequently, darkness consumes you and didn't know what happened after.

•••

You were awakened by the cold gust of wind gush through your body. Groggily fluttering your eyes open, instead of seeing your dull cream coloured room, you saw shimmering stars above the cold night. Seconds of staring at the exquisite scenery, you realized that you fainted earlier when the enigmatic man saved you from those bastards.

"You're finally awake." You hastily whipped your head at the man who saved you earlier.

"A-Ah, where am I?" You asked with fear. Even though he's your saviour, you're still cautious of him. What if he's one of those bad guys whose lurking around the busy streets?

Also what made you alarmed is that he's body was printed in lines like a typical thug you always encountered in the streets. But despite him looking like a thug, he really has handsome features that every woman wants for a man.

"We're on the roof," he answered you to which your mouth fell open.

"E-Eh?!" You quickly sat up from your lying position and you found out that you're really on a roof. You can spot the people walking underneath you, not noticing your presence which only above them.

"W-Why are we here?" You queried and the man gives you a side glance before answering you.

"Do you prefer sleeping on that alleyway where hundreds of perverts passing by or here where no one can touch you? Choose."

"But you can book a room in a hotel, there are lots of here actually," you countered and Akaza glared daggers at what you asserted.

"Do you really think I would do that? What are you? A spoiled princess who can get all the things that she wants?" He snorted causing you to sweatdropped at his harsh reply.

Deliberating your answer earlier, you apprehended that your statement was actually rude and really self-indulgent. Since when did you start being selfish? You're not that kind of person.

"Thank you for saving me earlier, I owe you a lot," you said your gratitude to him as you bowed in front of him.

Akaza merely stared at you then scoffed. "If only you're not a woman, I can kill you this instant," he threatened which give chills through your spine. You can sense the intimidating aura he gives and how his fiery eyes pierced right into your soul.

His appearance really does intimidating, although you just met him today; you can feel the confidence he gives off and you're cognizant that he's indeed strong after you beheld how he handled those men with just a kick of his. In spite of knowing how dangerous this man was; you can feel that he's not that bad just like how his appearance seems to be. Your instincts said so and you can't help but trust this man in front of you even you don't know his entire personality.

Unbeknownst to you, the men who tried to harass you beforehand was killed and eaten by him just like how he usually does to every single person that he comes across to.

"I'm sorry if I caused you trouble, I was just going back home but they abruptly blocked my way," you spoke, not looking at Akaza beside you.

The upper demon glanced at you before darting his eyes at the people walking by. "I'm not interested in hearing how you almost harassed by those assholes, it's your own imbecility that leads you from that predicament."

You weakly smiled. "Is it stupid to buy some medicine for your health in order for you to live longer?"

Akaza's body stiffened upon hearing your statement. Gradually, he turned his head to gaze at you who has this kind smile crept on your face and coughing for a moment.

"I have a frail body and I can get easily sick. I don't know how did I even live for this long despite that my body can't keep up any longer," you explained in a gentle tone. "I was thinking of scenarios of how my mother took care of me when I was still inside his womb. I don't even have any idea who she was and I was adopted by an old woman who was passing by on that day then found me in the trash. She's the one who raised me up to this day despite that I can no longer live that long."

Akaza only listened at your storytelling and didn't bother to look at you. He can hear you sniff and how your voice wavered in every sentence you say. He doesn't even know himself to why he's still staying with the likes of you who he despises the most. He should be elsewhere right now, trying to find some human to hunt and eat. But his conjectured plan was interrupted when he stumbles upon a weakling like you.

He was keenly listening to you that really made him baffle. Why is he staying with you? He can't point out to why but he has this sense of nostalgia crawling through his body. Akaza was agitated, it frustrates him why he's suddenly feeling this kind of emotion. He also felt it earlier when he saw you being harassed by those bastards. Although he digs dipper into his memories, he still can't. The enigmatic sensations he was feeling has still settled.

Akaza resembles you to someone he knows but he can't decipher who it was. His mind was in full chaos just because he met a weakling runt.

"I-I'm sorry if I suddenly confide about my past with you, it's just that... I feel I can trust you even though we just met," you bashfully said as you tilt your head to the side for him not to see your flustered face.

Akaza stared at you for half a minute before responding. "Why do you even trust someone like me? You don't know who I am and mostly, you don't know what I'm capable of," he grimly remarked as he spins your body to face him and leaned his face closer to you, intently looking into your eyes.

You gasped at his sudden move and breath hitched due to the close proximity of you having.

Now that you can see him up close, you discovered that his eyes were a shade of yellow and there's a writing that says upper moon three. You were bewildered to why he has writings in his eyes but... amidst, you were mesmerized to his eyes. Studying his facial features, you deemed how gorgeous this man was even there are blue marks surrounding his body. His eyelashes have the same colour as his hair. His appearance really is peculiar for someone living in Japan but, you can't help but be stunned at how beautiful this man in front of you as if your eyes were blessed or something.

Staying in that position, you subconsciously, glided your hands on his pale cheeks. This causes Akaza to snap out from his trance and menacingly glared at you. However, you weren't even terrified of how the way he sinisterly looked at you. The only reason why you still had the tenacity to hold him like this is because of his enthralling eyes that you can't avoid your gaze at it.

"You're really beautiful," you absentmindedly said.

Akaza's lips separated to what you had told him. He didn't expect that someone will say such pleasant words to him despite that he's a demon. He killed thousands of people and eat them, hence, he doesn't deserve that complimenting word you just spout. He wants to pull his body, however, half of him wants to feel the warmth you're giving him on his cheeks. For some unidentified reason, he felt comfort in between your hands. he felt this kind of sensation before, but when?

"Oi," he called to which you blink your eyes several times and return to your senses.

When you realized that you're holding his cheeks, your face steamed in embarrassment and frantically removed your hands on his visage.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't intend to--"

"What's your name?" He abruptly asked.

"Eh?" You blink, still not processing his words.

"I said what is your name?" His voice becomes stern.

"(Name)! (Name) (Last name)! But you can call me, (Name)," you piped and Akaza nodded in acknowledgement.

Then to your surprise, the pink-haired man carried you bridal style and jumped on the roof to descend on the ground. The people passing by was surprised at the sudden appearance of you and him and afterwards, Akaza releases you.

"You should go home, I don't want to save your sorry ass again," he spat which causes you to chuckle.

"Gladly, but wait, what's your name before we depart."

"Akaza," he simply said and you hummed.

"Okay, Akaza-san, thank you for saving my butt there. I hope we can meet again." You bestow him your tender smile then the said man elicits a scoff before turning his back at you.

"Whatever." Was all he said before disappearing into thin air.

You gasped in shock when he suddenly vanished in front of you. You wandered your eyes in order to see the man but he was nowhere in sight.

Meanwhile, at Akaza, he was on the roof of one of the buildings in Kabukicho while watching you searching for him. Clicking his tongue, he decided to go back where Muzan and the other upper demons at. Before he departs, he glances at your figure who's now walking through the streets to return to your home.

"Okay, Akaza-san, thank you for saving my butt there. I hope we can meet again."

The upper demon replayed your statement earlier. Absentmindedly, the side of his lips curved upwards.

"Surely we'll meet again, (Name), until I find the answers of these nostalgic feelings I'm feeling," he said to himself thus started to return back to their hideout.

#kimetsu no yaiba x reader #kimetsu no yaiba imagines #kimetsu no yaiba fanfic #kimetsu no yaiba fanfiction #akaza x reader #demon slayer x reader #kny akaza #kny akaza x reader #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #kny x reader

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ultimateoptimus · 4 years

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SCUBA Princess-in-Peril

A Frogman Fubblegum Scenario by UltimateOptimus

Once upon a time one beautiful Summer day over the great waters between the Land of Ooo and the Islands of Man above one of the sunken Pre-Great Mushroom Wars cities known as the Drowned Cities and across the beaches of high Ooo, Finn Mertens and Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum, the Boy-Hero and his Candy Princess, High School Frogboy and Froggirl and both members of their High School's SCUBA Club, deciding to take a SCUBA diving class one Summer school day, in their sporty, sleek and cute Water Park swimwear and swim caps and their personalized SCUBA gear clad, are all-too-ready to take the plunge from their AI-piloted Candy Kingdom Liveaboard-class Flagship Dive Boat CKDB Princess AquaCola from Bubblegum's Candy Kingdom Navy with the Diver Down flags and buoys set up and the ship's AI Captain-Pilot ordered to follow the pair underwater into a SCUBA Diving Adventure - a "SCUBAdventure" as Finn coined the phrase - deep into the waters of the sunken Pre-'Shroom city.

For Finn Mertens, today's SCUBAdventure is the Boy-Hero from the Islands of Man in SCUBA diver training, facing his childhood fear of the ocean head on, full steam ahead - a hands-on exorcism of his own aquatic demon. For Princess Bubblegum, this is Pre-War history research and extra SCUBA diver training for the more experienced Candy Mutant Girl of the Candy Kingdom - this underwater adventure ain't her first SCUBA dive. For our young heroic lovers of Human and Mutant origin both, Finn and Bubblegum's SCUBAdventure will be a mathem-aquatic Summer Splash of underwater fun in the sun and a lovers' SCUBA dive to remember.

"But what's a fun SCUBAdventure without a little dance with danger?" Finn and Bubblegum thought and in pre-dive the Boy-Hero and the Candy Princess created a secret Rescue Frogman training mission to test Finn as Rapid Response Rescue Frogman-in-Training:

Step 1: At the secret signal when the time comes, the Frogboy and Froggirl would start the rescue drill and split up, with Finn making the extreme hazard zone of the Drowned City his AquaGym and Princess Bubblegum settling down below and turning off her OxyCola bottletank to simulate a real out-of-air emergency - as real as it gets, but not TOO real. Step 2: Soon as he recieves Bubblegum's out-of-air signal once her bottletank's completely shut off and she is hovering between the bottom and the surface, Finn drops the AquaGymnastics, swims up as fast as his fins can take him to and buddy breathes - shares his life-saving air - with Princess Bubblegum in a lightning SCUBA rescue. Step 3: Once the Rescue Frogman mission is completed, Princess Bubblegum turns her OxyCola bottletank back on and Finn and she break for the surface together slowly and always breathing out to avoid getting a bad case of the bends, inflate their rescue jackets halfway up and if need be switch to snorkels once they break surface.

The two heroes of Ooo suited and geared up for aquatic action, Finn and Bubblegum turn their air tanks on, pull their masks down on their faces, plug their regulators into their mouths and take their first deep breaths of processed air from the mouthpieces. The Boy-Hero and the Candy Princess step up with fins on their feet to the dive platform and get ready to take the jump deep underwater.

Princess Bubblegum (Through Snorkelator): *Haaaaah...* Ready to SCUBA dive, Finn? Finn (Through Regulator): *Haaaaah...* Am I ever, Princess Bubblegum! Princess Bubblegum (Through Snorkelator): *Haaaaah...* You know what time it is...

Finn and Bubblegum (Through Regulator/Snorkelator): *Haaaaah...* ADVENTURE TIME!

KERSPLASH!!! And "Adventure Time" the time-honored codephrase of action, like torpedoes, away Finn Mertens and Princess Bubblegum go, jumping off the platform in a giant stride and with a big splash SCUBA diving down, down, down underwater into the big, breathtaking subaquatic world of the Drowned City, once a bustling Pre-'Shroom War metropolis home to millions, just waiting for our heroic pair. Finn and Bubblegum breathe bubbly breaths on their regulators and enjoy the candy sweet taste of SCUBA tank air in every last breath as the Frogboy and the Froggirl in their sleek, sporty swimwear-clad forms kick their finned legs and swim around the towering submerged skyscraper-decorated neighborhood of the ex-city, Finn's blonde hair and Bubblegum's hot pink hair, both beautiful even under swim caps, flowing free in the water, complete with all the wreckage of what you would find in a typical city once the 'Shroom Wars were through with it.

Finn (Through Regulator): *Haaaaah...* Mathematical! Look at all those rad sunken skyscrapers in the City, Bubblegum! Princess Bubblegum (Through Snorkelator): *Haaaaah...* Yes, Finn. Even after the Great Mushroom Wars, this city is beautiful. Finn (Through Regulator): *Haaaaah...* I can make this Drowned City an awesome AquaGym just for math Frogboys like me to show you how much of a Hero I am to you! Princess Bubblegum (Through Snorkelator): *Haaaaah...* An AquaGym with a real history to it. A history I want to learn so much from. *Haaaaah...* Just stay together with me. And please don't drown on me. Finn (Through Regulator): *Haaaaah...* Roger. And if you dive into any trouble, I'll be swimmin' to your rescue, Princess Bubblegum! Princess Bubblegum (Through Snorkelator): *Haaaaah...* I pray to Glob you will, Finn.

So long as Finn, training as a future Star Frogboy of the Islands of Man and the Candy Kingdom and fighting his phobia on its home field in the Drowned City and Bubblegum, a veteran Star Froggirl of the Candy Kingdom on a Pre-'Shroom War history lesson on the city, stick together with each other as dive buddies in this SCUBAdventure, the pair of SCUBA diving heroes will be swimming in and out of today's underwater adventure just fine, still kicking and breathing, safe and sound in what began as and seems like a peaceful, safe, uneventful SCUBAdventure. At least THAT's what most other boring SCUBA divers would think this dive would go down.

The time came for Finn and Bubblegum to commence their secret Rescue Frogman training by secret signal.

Finn and Princess Bubblegum (Through Regulator/Snorkelator): *Haaaaah...* (Commence Rescue Frogman training.)

Finn tests his aquabatic skills and underwater Hero Heart as Frogboy by treating the ruined city like as he called it an AquaGym like the adventurous young Boy-Hero he is and Bubblegum swims to the Olympic-size swimming pool of the city's high school - littered with high school students' abandoned SCUBA gear and air tanks from the school's SCUBA class when the Wars hit Downtown - out of school spirit nostalgia and historical curiosity.

Bubblegum, about to demonstrate even veteran frogmen and frogwomen can and will make rookie mistakes (forgetting to bring emergency Spare Air tanks to name just one), signalling her OxyCola bottletank to shut down air and playing unaware her tank was slowly going empty... yet... plays around and rests sitting her pink one-piece swimsuit-clad butt on the bottom of the high school pool and take in the summer sunlit underwater urban sights of this sunken old city, make herself nice and comfortable before getting the SCUBA peril show on the road.

Princess Bubblegum (Through Snorkelator): *Haaaaah...* The Drowned City and the high school - complete with its history, all its students and their stories and lives before the War - is so beautiful with the summer sun shining on it. *Haaaaah...* I am ready. Signal to OxyCola bottletank: commence air shut down. *Haaah...* Ah. My air emergency alarm is triggered. *Haaah...* Time to play SCUBA princess-in-peril. *Haaah...* Three. *Haah...* Two. *Hah...* One. *Ha--** Action.

Bubblegum's loud sounding air emergency signal his call to action, Finn stopped mid-maneuver, remembering he needs to protect Princess Bubblegum, dropped his AquaGym training and take up the Rapid Response Rescue Frogman training, swimming to where Princess Bubblegum is, kicking his finned legs as hard as he is breathing into his twinhose regulator as he can to swim to the Princess' rescue in a trail of air bubble clouds from his heavy breaths out of his reg' - and pray to Saint Minato he swims there just in time.

Finn (Through Regulator): *Haaah-hooo! Haaah-hooo! Haaah-hooo!* PRINCESS BUBBLEGUM!

Princess Bubblegum, the more experienced SCUBA diver of the two, rapidly running out of air, takes a crash course in SCUBA safety, today's lesson being "ALWAYS keep your eyes on your air!" and plays the victim SCUBA diver part with authenticity dangerously approaching frightening like a reenactment of certain Pre-Mushroom War cartoon and movie SCUBA peril scenes when she felt her bubbly breathing through the mouthpiece of her snorkelator tightening - the first sign her OxyCola bottletank is almost closed. Bubblegum reflex-lays swimgloved hands to her bottlecap switch snorkelator, the pink mouthpiece in her mouth squeaking with each bubbling gasp, the snorkelator sounding like a drinking straw trying to drink from an empty pop bottle with every breath Bubblegum tries to draw. Princess Bubblegum is calm and collected as a veteran Frogwoman can be playing the victim in the drill. And well she must be: a drowned mausoleum of a Pre-War city at the bottom of the ocean is no place to get lost and run out of air in. Bubblegum sure would use breaths of air from the high schoolers' SCUBA air tanks if 1: they're still full, 2: didn't go unused for a good few generations and 3: she feels in the mood for breaking the simulation.

Princess Bubblegum (Through Snorkelator): *Haaa-- hoo--!* OxyCola Level: Red... my air... *Ahoo-- fmmmfh--!* My air is running out... *Hfmmmf--!* I'm on my last breaths... *MmmmMMM--!* FINN! *FFFmmMMmmff--!*

Bubblegum, her snorkelator around her mouth squeaking, tightening more and breathing became very difficult, knows a routine SCUBA dive downtown would turn into a hazardous SCUBAdventure if you break the rules of SCUBA diving. These are her last breaths. The smart cookie frogwoman she is, Bubblegum knows "low air in tank" means "dive over" (and she didn't need her DiveComp to learn that) and called for Finn to swim his swimsuit-clad tuckus over to her and break for the surface together, slowly and breathing out on the way up to avoid getting down with the bends, inflating their rescue jackets and switching to snorkels once breaking surface with the CKDB Princess AquaCola on rescue pickup standby for them, starting with springing herself off the pool floor and kicking her fin-legging-clad legs up, up and away, hovering in the pool in wait for Finn to join her as escort for the way up in a slow and orderly fashion (easier said than done when the air in your tank's almost gone).

And then Bubblegum's snorkelator gave her one last breath of OxyCola she breathes in long and deep before calling it quits and going offline.

Princess Bubblegum (Through Snorkelator): (And now my one last breath...) *HaaaaAAAAAHfff--** Finn! *Aaah-hooo-ahoooo--!* Oh Finn, please swim with air in time! Please swim with air in time! Please swim with air in time!

Bubblegum gasped out in horror her very last hard bubbly breath out the snorkel part of her now useless snorkelator and is left praying for more breaths of air from her now turned off bottletank through the mouthpiece in her mouth, her prayers answered only by the vacuum in her closed bottletank with every breath she tries to take, the DiveCOMP on her wrist beeping out the out-of-air alarm loud enough for Finn to hear. And that can only mean one thing:

Princess Bubblegum ran out of air.

The one prayer Princess Bubblegum made - for Finn to swim to her with air to share in time - is answered by the guardian angel in light blue, blue and green SCUBA gear swimming along to Princess Bubblegum's rescue. And not a moment too soon.

Finn (Through Regulator): *Haaaaah-hooo! Haaaaah-hooo! Haaaaah-hooo!* Never fear, Princess Bubblegum! Your Rescue Frogboy guardian angel Finn is here swimming to your rescue!

Finn Mertens, heroic schoolboy frogman and boy SCUBA diver-in-training he is, a victim of the waters himself, wasted no time at all with becoming Princess Bubblegum's guardian Rescue Frogman angel, swimming full steam ahead, his bright light blue-blue swimsuit-clad boy-hero body slicing through the waters, kicking his split twinblade finned legs and breathing through his twinhose regulator as hard as humanly possible to Bubblegum at the sunken high school swimming pool, the young pink candy mutant girl in pink one-piece sports swimsuit and swim cap clad currently hovering in the SCUBA gear and air tank littered Pre-'Shroom Wars school pool sucking on her turned off snorkelator with both swimgloved hands on it, cheeks puffing up around her mouthpiece with each try to draw breath through it, praying for more breaths from her closed off OxyCola bottletank and kicking her fin-leggings floating in standing place above the pool floor to keep herself afloat, waiting for her boy-hero, Finn immediately having down pat Princess Bubblegum is out of air.

Finn (Through Regulator): *Haaaah-hooo! Haaaah-hooo! Haaaah-hooo!* You will be just perfectly fine so long as I am with you, my dear Frogwoman instructor. I know a veteran Frogwoman Princess like you isn't psyched out easy by a little out-of-air emergency. Please plug your snorkelator out and let me share my life-saving air with you, Princess Bubblegum.

Finn and Bubblegum connect their hands together and hold each other closely and tightly as teenage SCUBA divers like them do best, kicking their fins in place floating above the pool, both Frogboy and Froggirl making sure they are keeping their Frogman cool at all times in their secret Rescue Frogman out-of-air emergency simulation. Princess Bubblegum squeezes her swim gloved hand on her snorkelator and fastens her seatbelt for The Big One...

Princess Bubblegum: (This is it. My last hard gasp of OxyCola air. Since you asked so nicely, Finn...) *HaaaaaAAAAAAUUUM! POP! Fffblblblblblbl. Mmm.*

And with Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum, Frogwoman of the Candy Kingdom gasping in her last hard gasp of all the OxyCola bottletank air she can breathe into her candy lungs and cheeks from her shut off bottletank through her sweet-tasting clear pink plastic mouthpiece, straight out of her puffy cheeked bubbly mouth bubbling and popping Princess Bubblegum plugged her colorful red-white Cola-bottlecap-and-drinking straw themed snorkelator, leaving a now breathless Frogwoman Princess of the Candy Kingdom in an underwater high school swimming pool of the sunken Pre-Mushroom Wars metropolis. Bubblegum slashes her swim gloved hand across her throat, letting the Human Frogboy know the Candy Froggirl's air tank is out of juice and in serious need of air. Finn, knowing full well what needs be done as Rescue Frogman-in-Training, lays his swim gloved hand on his twinhose regulator and gears himself up for the rescue...

Finn: (This breath of air is just for you, Bubblegum.) *HaaaaaAAAAAUUUM! POP! Blblblblbl. Mmm.*

Finn Mertens, Frogboy of the Islands of Man gasps in one long hard breath of OxyBio backpack tank air into his young boy lungs and cheeks through his clear plastic mouthpiece and with puffed up cheeks and swimsuit-clad chest with a lungful of SCUBA tank air, out of his puffy, bubbly mouth bubbling and popping Finn plugs his futuristic-styled green twinhose regulator and swims up close and personal to buddy breathe with Princess Bubblegum, his SCUBA Princess-in-Peril.

Here's the funny thing about the "buddy breathe" part.

Princess Bubblegum: *Hmmmwfh?*

Frogboy Finn Mertens kisses Froggirl Princess Bubblegum in the lips, the human frogboy kissing precious, lifesaving air into the blushing bubblegum froggirl, Finn surprising Bubblegum with his "mouth-to-mouth" approach to buddy breathing - his Kiss of Loyalty and Love. Finn and Bubblegum soon hug each other in a tight warm loving embrace once her surprise makes way for relief and love, their puffy cheeked lips still connected to each other's and sharing their breaths of air, their personalized regulators floating below their mouths, their colorful sporty swimsuits colliding and connecting with each other, soft fabric brushing and rubbing, their swim gloved arms holding the two at the waists and finned feet kicking like the young SCUBA lovers they are.

The human frogboy loves the Original Flavor bubblegum taste of the candy froggirl he feels in his lips locked in hers in their bubbly kiss, he must face facts.

Finn and Princess Bubblegum: *Mmmmmmblblblblbl.*

Much as Frogboy Finn and Froggirl Bubblegum want to stay like this for the rest of their lives kissing underwater in each other's swimsuit and SCUBA gear clad embrace, Finn and Bubblegum, knowing all too well rules are rules and all good things must come to an end, decided they've kissed enough air into each other and broke the kiss with a big pop, bubbles of air leaking out of their lips with a buzzing sound by rule of "never hold your breath".

The human frogboy and the candy froggirl will treasure this underwater memory of theirs lovingly.

Finn and Princess Bubblegum: *Mmmmmm... POP! Blblbl.*

Frogboy Finn and Froggirl Bubblegum smile cute, puffy cheeked, bubbling smiles and signal OK at each other. The Rescue Frogman drill a complete success, Princess Bubblegum powers her OxyCola bottletank back up and twists the air valve open again. Frogboy Finn plugs his green twinhose Helper's regulator back into his mouth and Froggirl Bubblegum her freshly reopened Cola-themed snorkelator back into her mouth, the frogboy's and froggirl's waiting lips and teeth biting into his twinhose reg's and her snorkelator's clear mouthpieces and take a good breath.

Finn and Princess Bubblegum (Through Regulator/Snorkelator): *HaaaAAAUUUUH!!! Hoooooblblblblblbl! Haaaaah! Hoooooblblbl! Haaaaah! Hoooooblblbl!*

Frogboy Finn and Frogwoman Princess Bubblegum gasp in their first hard gasping breaths of SCUBA tank air through their regulator and snorkelator, clouds of air bubbles roaring out of the regs welcoming the SCUBA heroes back to the world of airbreathers, the human frogboy and the candy froggirl feeling good to be breathing with regulators in their mouths again after their Rescue Frogman drill - Princess Bubblegum especially from the looks of her blushing pink mask and snorkelator covered face, her cheeks puffing with every breath of OxyCola bottletank air she gasps in through her snorkelator with muffled sighs of relief before she returns to normal breathing.

Frogman Finn and Princess Bubblegum strike a fun-loving victory pose and signal OK to each other with regulator-covered smiles and happy laughter.

Finn and Princess Bubblegum (Through Regulator/Snorkelator): *Haaaah... hooooblblblbl...* Rescue Frogman Mission Accomplished! Finn (Through Regulator): *Haaaah... hooooblblblbl...* I hope you loved my mouth-to-mouth SCUBA rescue, Princess Bubblegum, my SCUBA Princess! *Haaaah... hooooblblblbl...* Your original flavor tastes mathematical! Princess Bubblegum (Through Snorkelator): *Haaaah... hooooblblblbl...* Why, thank you for your stylish rescue, Finn, my flawless SCUBA Champion! *Haaaah... hooooblblblbl...* I loved the taste of your kiss too!

Before the SCUBA diver heroes can make the ascent though, Finn and Bubblegum take one set of the SCUBA gear in the pool, mask, snorkel, fins and dive jacket each, one boy's and one girl's as mementoes to remember their SCUBA dive in the sunken high school pool by and pieces of Pre-'Shroom War history and leaving the rest and the air tanks be in reverence of the memory of all the students of this school, Finn stashing them in his green backpack (gotta love Cartoon Logic and Hammerspace).

Princess Bubblegum (Through Snorkelator): *Haaaah... hooooblblblbl...* And now, Finn, it's time for our emergency ascent back to the surface. *Haaaah... hooooblblblbl...* The Princess AquaCola is waiting for us topside. *Haaaah... hooooblblblbl...* I hope you and I have our rescue jackets ready! Finn (Through Regulator): *Haaaah... hooooblblblbl...* Aye aye, Princess Bubblegum! Emergency ascent it is! *Haaaah... hooooblblblbl...* Next stop: home sweet home, exit stage up! Rescue jackets at the ready! Princess Bubblegum (Through Snorkelator): *Haaaah... hooooblblblbl...* That's a wilco, Finn! *Haaaah... hooooblblblbl...* Emergency ascent! Rescue jackets at the ready!

The human frogboy and candy froggirl holding on each other for the swim up, Finn and Princess Bubblegum commence with their emergency ascent spring their finned swim sock-clad legs off the SCUBA gear and tank-littered sunken high school pool and swim up, up and away from the Drowned City's high school to the surface, the boy and girl slowly kicking their fins and breathing out bubbling from their regulators in their mouth to avoid getting a bad case of the bends on their way up, taking one last look at the sunken high school and its pool and the Drowned City it and its students called home below them as it shrinks from their view into the blue colored depths of the ocean in goodbye... for now... before refocusing their loving gazes at each other.

Higher and higher up Finn and Princess Bubblegum swam in their controlled ascent, their mask-covered eyes connected to each other lovingly, holding on each other tightly, kicking their swim sock-clad, fin-wearing legs slowly and surely, breathing out bubbly breaths of air from their regulators, their DiveCOMPs keeping track of their air level and ascent, the Drowned City and its High School now swallowed into the blue out of their view until they reach the halfway point between the City and the CKDB Princess AquaCola. And the human frogboy and the candy froggirl know what that means in their secret Rescue Frogman training as they reach with one hand for their SCUBA gear's rescue jacket inflator ripcords on their back...

Finn and Princess Bubblegum (Through Regulator/Snorkelator): *Haaaah... hooooblblblbl...* Emergency Rescue Jackets!

Frogboy Finn Mertens and Froggirl Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum with one mighty yank of the ripcords inflate their sporty, sleek and cute emergency rescue jackets, Finn's rescue jacket a green Stab Jacket Style Helper's Rescue Jacket with green Helper's Rescue Water Wings on his arms and Bubblegum's a yellow with red-white peppermint stripes Scubapro Stab Jacket Style OxyCola Rescue Jacket, the jackets opening up with a loud pop, wrapping Finn and Bubblegum around them nice and figure-huggingly tight and puff up with a loud hiss of air going into the jackets, making them cute and puffy not to mention safe. Frogboy Finn and Froggirl Bubblegum breathe their way out all the way in their Exit Stage Up.

Finn and Princess Bubblegum (Through Regulator/Snorkelator): *Ahooooooooooooooooblblblblblblblblbl!*

The human frogboy and the candy froggirl in their inflated rescue jackets blast off to the surface like underwater rockets, splitting the waters in a huge trail of bubbles out of their SCUBA systems and their regulators as the two SCUBAdventurers breathe out to avoid the bends on the way up.

And with a mighty huge splash, Frogboy Finn Mertens and Froggirl Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum break the surface of the great waters between the Land of Ooo and the Islands of Man, the brightly shining summer sun, the sapphire blue summer skies and the CKDB Princess AquaCola greeting them. Finn and Bubblegum, floating around like living buoys on the water surface in their inflated rescue jackets, take a few last breaths from their regulators before spitting them out, letting the regulator and snorkelator fall out of their mouths, gasping in breaths of surface air and laughing heartily in triumph and fun.

Finn and Princess Bubblegum: Ahahahahahahaaaah! Finn: Math me, we did it! We were REAL mathematical Frogmen down here, Princess Bubblegum! Princess Bubblegum: Yeah! Congratulations, Finn! You and I truly are mathematical Frogmen!

Their SCUBAdventure and Rescue Frogman Training ending with the human frogboy and candy froggirl passing with flying colors and SCUBA gear mementoes in the frogboy's backpack, Finn plugged his snorkel into his mouth, Princess Bubblegum her snorkelator in Snorkel Mode with the bottlecap dial turned to the snorkel into hers and the two frogkids floating in their rescue jackets take a dip back down underwater, take one last look at the big blue underwater world before heading home and swim a lap to the waiting Princess AquaCola's dive platform, working their swimming arms and fin-wearing legs out in the meantime. Once they reach the AI-captained diveboat's dive platform, Frogboy Finn and Froggirl Princess Bubblegum haul their swimwear and SCUBA gear clad bodies up out of the water, climb back aboard the Princess AquaCola's platform by its two ladders, take the snorkel and snorkelator out of their mouths and sit down on the platform to dry off and take a breather, the frogboy's and froggirl's emergency rescue jackets automatically deflating once out of the water, letting the air inside them hissing out and pack themselves back up into their Frogman rigs, the emergency jacket inflator in recharge mode 'til next dive, Finn taking the sets of salvaged SCUBA gear out of his backpack and into the diveboat's storage, giving the two and the rest of the Candy Kingdom something to remember their SCUBAdventure by.

And before our heroes order the diveboat's AI Captain to chart course for home sweet home to the Candy Kingdom full steam ahead, Frogboy Finn Mertens and Froggirl Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum end their SCUBAdventure fun-filled summer day by going out to see and soak in the rays of the beautiful shining summer sun hanging high in the sapphire summer skies at the CKDB Princess AquaCola's dive platform with each other for romantic company, Finn and Bubblegum looking forward to diving into more future SCUBAdventures - inviting more of their friends if they feel like it - and kissing each other in the lips again in a summer lovers' embrace.

The End

@fubblegummers @mrdifferentguy @kimonobun @atfubblegum @fubblegumappreciation @ppgxrrblove

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call-me-nerdy · 4 years

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Mari takes off her rose-tinted glasses

Felinette November day 5; Scars.

Nothin' wrong with a bit of angst and some fluff on the side, right?

His skin was unmarred by blemishes; untainted by wicked marks. But his eyes revealed the grotesque scars she never bothered to notice before.

-----

She saw him as he stood idly in front of immense double doors, silent as he counted the drops of water that charged at the ground. Deja vu pierced through her chest like an arrow at the sight of his regard, twisting her heart with the pain of familiar nostalgia. Her palms ached, her lips quivered – cold, trembling fists tightened around the umbrella handle. The scene felt too familiar; too uncanny.

He looked so lonely.

Marinette stared at him from her spot, pensive. Adrien, by all accounts, looked absolutely normal – his posture was straight as the days before; his clothes were identical to yesterday and his passive countenance was the same as it always had been. But then why, she thought, why does he seem so different? Marinette never thought of Adrien as a lonely person, what with the attention and admiration he always recieved in class. And never in Marinette's whole career of lovelorn pining, had Adrien ever changed a single thing about himself. Not his hair, not his style of clothing, and not even his model-perfect complexion.

It didn't occur to her until she saw his eyes.

His skin was unmarred by blemishes; untainted by wicked marks since the day she fell in love. But those eyes... Dear lord, those beautiful green eyes that drove her over the edge every time she saw them. Those eyes that nudged her to fall into tragedy on that faithful day in the rain. Those eyes that she once coveted to the point of a malicious obsession,– that drove her mad with envy whenever someone else wanted them for their own. Those eyes – no, Adrien's eyes were morose under his hair. Disturbingly distant as he stared at the raindrops that fell on damp concrete. His eyes revealed the grotesque scars she never bothered to notice before, throbbing red and infected with every emotional anguish he had endured.

Oh, how she had been so cruel.

Marinette hated many things in life – she hated many things about herself. She hated being so clumsy and worrying the people she loved with the purple bruises on her skin. She hated how she always took it upon herself to deal with responsibilities that were never hers to begin with. She despised being a damn liar to her friends and family, even if it was for the sake of secret identities.

And most especially, she loathed being so selfish when it came to her desire for Adrien Agreste.

How many times had she sabotaged other people to preserve a love that never existed? How many people did she betray, regardless of their innocence? There were far too many to count – too many people she had hurt. She had been the catalyst of far too many cursed butterflies – had been a vessel of the toxicity she sought so hard to eradicate. It lit her up with raging hellfire and devoured her from the inside out.

Marinette was burning.

It burned. It scorched. It punished. It hurt. Her hands felt heavy with blood. Cruel voices whispered betrayal into her ear, accusations of crimes that Marinette couldn't deny. And suddenly, her conscience weighed heavy on her shoulders.

She couldn't go on like this.

She was a horrible friend in the countless times she ditched preplanned events just to stalk Adrien. She was an insensitive classmate when she seized opportunities that her classmates deserved a lot more. She had been a terrible lover when she prioritized her happiness over Adrien's smile. Unjust, naïve, and obsessive, Marinette almost laughed, How did I ever hope that he would be happy with me?

She had been so blind to his pains. A perfect image to uphold, his lack of freedom, and downtrodden by a neglectful father that pushed arduous responsibilities on his back. The daily akumas only rubbed salt on his wounds, – seeing so many of his friends become victim to Hawkmoth's manipulations. It was a miracle that Adrien still had the resolve to smile everyday.

Marinette peaked another glance his way, sighing.

God, she loved that boy. Her heart still beat frantically whenever he smiled her way, – her cheeks still reddened with his every compliment. Beautiful Adrien. Sweet, kind, and talented Adrien. How could she not love him? How could she simply ignore a boy who's goodness knew know bounds? One would be fool to hurt him.

Just like she did.

She loved him. She loved him so much. and she would continue to love him. Even if...

Even if it wasn't her to make him happy.

Marinette strode over to him, a black umbrella shielding her from the rain. Puddles broke with her every step. Adrien noticed her arrival, smiling awkwardly as he waved at her.

"Five PM is a bit late to still be in the school, isn't it?" Marinette forced herself to smile.

Adrien laughed, "It is, but the Gorilla is on leave today, and Nathalie won't be arriving until Seven." he grinned. "But don't worry, It's nothing I haven't handled before."

Marinette's heart clenched, had it always been like this?

"Don't you commute?"

Adrien ran a hand through his hair, "I do, but I'm not particularly equipped right now as you can see." He admitted sheepishly.

"Oh." Marinette's mind blanked on how to respond. Silence surrounded them with deafening volume, only broken by the pattering of water on the floor.

"Hey, doesn't this feel a bit familiar?" He finally said, looking to the sky in fond memory.

Marinette inhaled shakily, "It is."

"It's the day we first met, right? When you got trapped inside the umbrella?" Adrien tried to lighten the mood, albeit a bit poorly.

Marinette remembered that day well, – the memory burned deep into her mind. It was the day fell head-over-heels for the blond in front of her, and it was also the day she first embarassed herself in front of him.

"I'm appalled you still remember! And that you brought it up." She mustered all of her strength to reply, a cheeky grin on her lips.

He perked up at her reply, "Hey, hey! No harm, no foul. It was pretty adorable, honestly."

She faked a dramatic gasp, "Flattery, Agreste? Don't try to butter me up for croissants!"

His laugh was music to her ears, "I wasn't! It was the truth, cross my heart." Adrien drew a cross on his chest.

Marinette fought a blush from appearing, her heartbeat was starting to pick up it's pace. She gulped, "S-speaking of that day, remember this umbrella?"

"You brought it? I haven't seen it with you until today." His eyes widened at the sight of his black umbrella in Marinette's hands.

"I had a hunch about the weather." She said.

"I never knew about your clairvoyance." He teased back, a childish joy on his face. Marinette's never seen him like this before.

"You don't know a lot, Agreste." She quipped. She wasn't sure if her words were wholly jokes.

"Well," Adrien looked conflicted, "I do want to get to know you."

Marinette frowned, "Is that so?"

"Uhm, yeah! Sorry if it sounds a bit rude, but I can't but get the feeling that you're always scared around me." He admitted. She couldn't stand the hurt in his voice.

"Really?" Was all she managed to say.

"I mean, you always seem to run away whenever I enter the room. You stutter a lot, and Nino and Alya refuse to tell me why. " Adrien rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish expression. Marinette's chest hurt even more.

"I'm sorry that you felt that way. It was wrong of me to make you feel unwelcomed." Marinette's hold on the umbrella tightened, her palms ached with guilt.

His eyes widened, "Oh, don't apologize! I just thought that I did something wrong, but I never really had the chance to say sorry."

"Say sorry for me being a coward?" She laughed bitterly.

"No! Well, I uhm... It's just that we never get to talk like this! I kind of envy Alya because of that." He admitted. "You always seem so comfortable with her and the others."

Marinette glanced at him, his expression was that of a kicked puppy. "Well, I'm sorry for running away from you all the time." She started, "And, if it helps, maybe we can start over?"

"What? Really?!" Adrien looked so hopeful. Marinette's heart melted.

She nodded, smiling. She extended her hand towards him, "Hello, stranger. I am Marinette Dupain-Cheng, an aspiring designer, baker's daughter, and can totally beat you in Ultimate Mega Strike 3." she ended with a smirk.

"Hi, Marinette." He started, unsure in his words. "My name is Adrien, I love anime, croissants and I hate stinky cheese." Marinette suppressed a coo at his cute introduction. Adrien smirked back, "And it's me who can beat you in UMS 3."

"Let's test your theory next time, then you'll treat me to a milkshake when I win." She challenged

"No way! You'll be the one getting me croissants when I kick your butt!" He laughed. Marinette joined him with a fit of giggles herself.

She felt... lighter somehow. She felt better than before.

When their laughs died down, Marinette extended the umbrella in his direction, "Here,"

Adrien looked at her, confused.

Marinette giggled, "It's getting late, and your house is already pretty far away." She toom his hand and placed the umbrella habdle into itm

"Marinette, I can't–" he frowned.

She deadpanned, "Adrien, I live a few feet away from the school, you need it more than me."

"But I–"

"If you fight me on this, you won't be getting any croissants tomorrow." Adrien reluctantly took the umbrella at the threat, avoiding ger gaze. Marinette sighed, satisfied. "Good. Now hurry to the train station before you get sick."

Adrien looked her in the eyes again, "We'll talk tomorrow, right?" he asked hopefully.

Marinette smiled, "Of course."

He stared at her. He looked happy.

A moment passed before somehow, somehow, the umbrella closed and trapped Adrien inside of it.

"Mmpf!" He yelped.

Marinette burst out in laughter, clutching her stomach. "At this point, I think your umbrella is cursed to trap people inside it on rainy days!" She gasped out. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen." Kneelibg down, she pulled the umbrella open, revealing a very flustered Adrien

"S-sorry about that!" A blush coated his cheeks, his stutter was adorable too.

Marinette snorted, "You shouldn't be the one apologizing, you dork!" She pulled him up on his feet.

"See ya," She said, opening the umbrella for him.

He took it in his hands, "Y-yeah." Adrien stuttered out, before rushing out of the school gates.

Marinette watched his retreating figure, a sigh escaped her lips. Her shoulders felt lighter, and she breathed much more freely.

Then why did she feel so empty?

It was only after he left the school grounds when she felt a tear kiss her cheeks.

Then another.

And another.

Until she dropped down on the floor, wracked with ugly sobs.

She wasn't rejected. Nothing hurt. On the contrary, her chest felt more numb than heartbroken. Then why on earth was she crying?! It didn't make any sense at all. She tried to wipe away the tears that fell, but more replaced them every time. Her shoulders trembled up and down, she bit her lips to keep them from shaking.

"Marinette, everything will be okay." A tiny, feminine voice assured, a small hand rubbing the shell of her ear in comfort.

Marinette gasped through the sobs, "Oh, Tikki. Why am I crying? Why is it so numb?! I shouldn't be crying!" she wailed, her hands cupping her face.

"It is perfectly normal to mourn a love that you let go." A different voice chimed, calming and rational. Marinette recognized the speaker to be Wayzz.

"I d-don't understand!" She hiccuped.

"I'm sorry..." Wayzz said, guilt laced his tone.

Marinette heard footfalls approaching her direction, splashing with every step. She swallowed her sobs and frantically tried to wipe her tears away as the teo kwamis hid inside her bag.

"Hey." A familiar voice gently called, – Marinette knew it all too well. The tears stopped falling on her cheeks. She looked up to meet his concerned eyes.

Felix.

"Hey to you too." She weakly greeted from the ground.

Felix frowned, "It's raining, you should go home."

She chuckled halfheartedly, "I kinda gave my umbrella away."

"Here, stand up. I'll walk you home." He offered his hand. Marinette took it gratefully, and pulled herself up.

She waved her hands, "It's really fine, Fé. You might get home late. I already sent Adrien home."

He clicked his tongue, "And leave you on the floor? Come on now, you live nearby anyway."

Marinette laughed, "You won't take no for an answer, will you?" she grinned at him. She knew him too well.

"No."

Smirking, she relented, "Alright, I accept, my Knight with too much hair gel."

"I might just splash you with rain water." Felix rolled his eyes.

"I'm kidding!" She snickered, taking his arm under the umbrella.

"Hey Fe,"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

------

OKAY SO I'M EXTREMELY LATE, SO WHAT.

Everyone loves a good umbrella scene. Especially since It's a reverse umbrella scene. And even better, it's two umbrella scenes in one oneshot!

And yes, Adrien does develop a crush on Marinette after this, sue me.

So a lot of thought went into this, like Adrien and Marinette's 'introductions' to one another. Marinette presented herself with her full name, while Adrien only said "My name is Adrien." Additionally, Adrien told Mari that he liked Anime, croissants and hated stinky cheese. He didn't mention any activity that his father made him do, like fencing, piano and chinese. Take that as you will.

Oh, and the reverse umbrella scene was very on the nose, but a really poetic way to show Marinette moving on from Adrien to become a better person. And a way to make Adrien like Marinette to fulfill my Marichat dreams, but I digress.

And next, the Felinette umbrella scene. So, Felix wasn't very involved with this one. But, I decided that as opposed to Felix giving Marinette his umbrella, they share it together. This is for a number of very obvious reasons, but mainly because it's cute.

Anddd, I have noticed a pattern with my stories. I tend to have very blunt titles, and weird epigraphs in the beginning. Just wanted to put that out.

#Felinette Month #Felinette November #But there's a lot of Adrienette #Umbrella scene #Adrienette #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Felix Agreste #Adrien Agreste #Miraculous Ladybug #ml #Day 5 #Prompt #Scars #No creepy adrien clone

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theantisocialcritic · 4 years

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Archive Project - January 6, 2014 - Best Films of 2013

Welcome to Day 2 of the Hummy Awards! Today we will be reviewing the best movies per genre of 2013. The Genres we will awarding today will be: Comedy, Fantasy, Science-Fiction, Romance, Action, Thriller, Super-hero, Animated, Book-Adapted, Drama, Christian, Family and Art. We will also be awarding movies with the titles of: Least Subtle Movie of 2013, Most Divisive Movie of 2013 and Most Underrated Movie of 2013. Lets get started! ————————————————————————————————————————— Best Comedy of 2013 ————————————————————————————————————————— Nominees: This is the End, The World's End, Anchorman 2, Saving Mr. Banks. Winner: The World's End!! Runner-up: Anchorman 2 This year we were treated to the final part of the "Cornetto Trilogy", the end to a long term mashup of the creative team behind such works as Shawn of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. The World's End is a wonderful sendoff from that creative team. I hope we see more from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in the future! ————————————————————————————————————————— Best Fantasy Film of 2013 ————————————————————————————————————————— Nominees: The Great and Powerful Oz, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, 47 Ronin. Winner: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug!! Runner-up: The Great and Powerful Oz Its a Lord of the Rings movie, even the worst Lord of the Rings movie is still dwarfs everything around it… ————————————————————————————————————————— Best Science-Fiction Film of 2013 ————————————————————————————————————————— Nominees: Star Trek into Darkness, Pacific Rim, Oblivion, Elysium, Gravity, Ender's Game. Winner: Elysium!! Runner-up: Star Trek into Darkness Props to Elysium for being the freshest new Science Fiction movie out in a while! Same for Star Trek for being an awesome sequel to the famed 2009 reboot. ————————————————————————————————————————— Best Romance/Relationship Movie of 2013 ————————————————————————————————————————— Nominees: Warm Bodies, The Spectacular Now, Don Jon, About Time. Winner: Don Jon!! Runner-up: Warm Bodies Trashy as it may be (and believe me, its is really trashy!!), Don Jon stands as a fascinating exploration of relationships and an impressive directorial debut for Joseph Gordon-Levitt! ————————————————————————————————————————— Best Action Movie of 2013 ————————————————————————————————————————— Nominees: Olympus Has Fallen, Iron Man 3, Star Trek into Darkness, Man of Steel, White House Down, Pacifc Rim, Elysium, Kick A** 2, The Wolverine, Lone Survivor. Winner: Elysium!! Runner-up: Olympus Has Fallen Props again to Elysium for giving us some of the coolest, most awesome and bloodiest action this year! ————————————————————————————————————————— Best Thriller of 2013 ————————————————————————————————————————— Nominees: Gravity, Captain Phillips Winner: Gravity!! Runner-up: Captain Phillips What can I say? I liked Gravity more than I liked Captain Phillips... ————————————————————————————————————————— Best Superhero Film of 2013 ————————————————————————————————————————— Nominees: Iron Man 3, Man of Steel, Kick A** 2, The Wolverine, Thor: The Dark World. Winner: Iron Man 3!! Runner-up: Man of Steel Nearly a year after The Avengers, nobody knew where the Marvel movies were going to go. How could they possible be as good as before? Where would they go? How can they make the stories without having the entire team show up? With Iron Man 3 we got our answer! Standing alone as the best movie in the Iron Man series and serving as an awesome followup documenting life in the post-Avengers world. No other Superhero movie had bigger shoes to fill and filled them so effectively. ————————————————————————————————————————— Best Animated Film of 2013 ————————————————————————————————————————— Nominees: Monsters University, Despicable Me 2, Frozen, Epic Winner: Frozen!! Runner-up: Despicable Me 2 Heres where I begin getting hate letters for not making Monsters University the best movie…. Frozen stands as a movie so good is competes with major film releases. So it wins!! The End! ————————————————————————————————————————— Best Book Adaptation of 2013 ————————————————————————————————————————— Nominees: Warm Bodies, World War Z, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, Kick A** 2, Twelve Years a Slave, Catching Fire, The Book Thief, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Great Gatsby. Winner: The Great Gatsby!! Runner-up: Catching Fire All the flare of Hollywood Blockbusters put into one of the best novels of all time and you get one of the most interesting adaptions this year. ————————————————————————————————————————— Best Drama of 2013 ————————————————————————————————————————— Nominees: Prisoners, Rush, Twelve Years a Slave, American Hustle, Lovelace, 42 Winner: Prisoners!! Runner-up: Rush For being the tensest and best made drama of the year, Prisoners takes away best drama. ————————————————————————————————————————— Best Christian Film of 2013 ————————————————————————————————————————— Nominees: Grace Unplugged, I'm in Love with a Church Girl, Black Nativity Winner: Grace Unplugged!! Runner-up: I'm in Love with a Church Girl For having the best message for young Christians, Grace Unplugged wins Best Christian film of 2013! ————————————————————————————————————————— Best Family Film of 2013 ————————————————————————————————————————— Nominees: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Saving Mr. Banks, Oz the Great and Powerful, Monsters University, Despicible Me 2, Frozen. Winner: Saving Mr. Banks!! Runner-up: Oz the Great and Powerful If you don't mind a few swear words, Saving Mr. Banks is one of the sweetest films of the year! ————————————————————————————————————————— Best Art Film of 2013 ————————————————————————————————————————— Nominees: Inside Llewyn Davis, Twelve Years a Slave, Dallas Buyers Club, Spring Breakers. Winner: Inside Llewyn Davis!! Runner-up: Twelve Years a Slave For being an deep, fascinating look into the life of a down on his luck Folk singer with lots of symbolism and lull, Llewyn Davis wins best Art film! Thank you to the Coen Brothers! ————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————— Least Subtle Film of 2013 ————————————————————————————————————————— Least Subtle Film is an award specifically designed to call out films that either intentionally or accidentally favor blunt or unsubtle stories ands themes in their films in favor of subtle storytelling. While being blunt isn't inherently a bad thing, it stands to reason that lacking subtlety in a lot of cases is detrimental to the films. Nominees: White House Down, Elysium, World War Z, Grace Unplugged Winner: White House Down!! Runner-up: Elysium I wanted to give this award to Elysium for how severely blunt that film's message on social inequality is but I liked that movie, so the award goes to White House Down. This movie works under such a black and white understanding of American politics and calls out Republicans as evil, dumb, corrupt, puppets to the corporations that want nothing but money, while stating the Democrats (notably Obama) are thoughtful peacekeepers that want to help the poor. If your liberal, chances are you'll think this film is cheesy and fun but to a conservative like myself it's a giant middle finger. The action is fun but I have nothing else positive to say about it. I think Olympus Has Fallen was much better. ————————————————————————————————————————— Most Underrated Film of 2013 ————————————————————————————————————————— Every year dozens of great films pass under the radar while major action films and romantic comedies hog the spotlight. Here we pay tribute to a few of them that the majority of film buffs missed out on. Nominees: Oblivion, Pacific Rim, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, Kick A** 2, The Spectacular Now, About Time, Dallas Buyers Club. Winner: Kick A** 2!! Runner-up: Pacific Rim While Pacific Rim flopped in the US it did rather well overseas (surprising from the US being obsessed with the Transformers films for some reason). Kick Butt 2 on the other hand received very little attention and was heavily criticized by a number of critics. You know what? The critics that gave this movie negative reviews are wrong. It might not be as great as the original film but Kick-Higny 2 feels like a natural continuation of the story from the first movie and makes me extremely excited at the possibility of a third movie, as teased in the final scene. Hopefully the lowered budget on this film allowed it enough of a profit margin to earn the rights to a Kick-Glutius Maximus 3. To quote a movie nobody but me has seen, "Pray everybody!". ————————————————————————————————————————— Most Divisive Movie of 2013 ————————————————————————————————————————— I don't even need a nominees selection to determine which film this year had audiences more split over it. Winner: Man of Steel!! No film this year has divided audiences more to hate or love a movie this much since Les Miserables last year! I'm in the camp that enjoys the film as an awesome action movie with a fresh take on Superman. This movie however has a lot of detractors who point out major flaws in the film and the directing the Warner Brothers is taking to force out a Justice League movie as soon as possible. Honestly though we can't accurately judge where Warner Brothers is taking this until after Batman vs. Superman and Justice League have both be released so for now I'm just enjoying an awesome movie with my favorite Superhero. If you disagree that Man of Steel is good than I completely understand your thoughts but these are mine. Man of Steel is a good movie IN MY OPINION. ————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————— For more on Man of Steel, check out the Nostalgia Critic and Angry Joe's review here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1AJyKJ4BCo

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jae-canikeepyou · 5 years

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| day-off | j.jh

pairing: jaehyun x fem!reader genre: au + idol!yn a/n: again, it’s not proof read. i don’t think i even do that anymore omg hahaha! :D ~j.

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“this is.. the building, right?” mark’s eyes trailed the new developed apartment estate, looking back and forth from the hand-drawn map.

doyoung rolled his eyes in frustration, “stop taking the map, mark.” he grabbed the already crumpled paper. the map wasn’t clear; it had been an hour since they arrived at the area, however with the directions drawn out, they couldn’t find the apartment jaehyun recently moved in to.

mark’s guilty conscience started to kick in when everyone surrounding him to look to doyoung; who was now tapping his fingers chronologically onto his waist in impatience. “okay i admit i was in the wrong for losing jaehyun‘s map.. but i clearly remember it, that’s why i drew it!”

“yeah while walking- *coughs*” donghyuck teased.

“well your map probably brought us to the other side of the city! we’ve been walking non-stop!” doyoung took an umbrage to mark’s response. all kinds of profanities jumbled in his head yet he was too tired to even deliver to the young man.

“johnny, tell doyoung he’s exaggerating!” mark whined monotonously. not that he was ignored, it took awhile for the lad awhile to realize johnny was looking elsewhere with headphones on.

a truck honked its horn and as it parked by the building they stood at, then the men lifted the metal door of the compartment. piles of boxes were placed at the front. hunch caused doyoung to walk up to the men. few nods and scratches of the head made the rest of the boys to tilt in question.

immediately taeyong knew what it meant when doyoung gave the raised brow. “we have to carry these up to jaehyun’s place.” he said. “they were sent to a wrong address, but this building is definitely jae’s.”

deep sighs went on for a good minute before they obliged with his orders. they, for sure had no energy to even complain after the unplanned walkathon; thanks to mark’s careless mistake.

whilst they waited for the lift, the out-of-place instrumental echoing the lobby created an awkward air dwelling amongst them. ultimate silence and pure exhaustion were cut short when they arrived at the door. taeyong had his palms onto the unlocked door knob and to their surprise they heard you both bickering and arguing like parrots.

“get off me y/n!” jaehyun’s voice startled the rest of them. a thud was heard. “seriously, you chose him?!”

“who cares if i did?!” you butt back and taeyong pursed his lips, making everyone mirror the same expression. “he’s way more practical!”

at this point, the only thing that went through their minds was the possibility of you.. cheating. it was finally their day-off after the tour and jaehyun was kind enough to offer a sleepover at his place. little did they know that they’d encounter such private matters today; like literally they were right outside his door.

“i think we shouldn’t enter just yet.” taeil suggested as he placed down a box.

“maybe they’ll stop if we messaged one of them.” yuta started to press letters onto the screen. a hand grabbed his phone, telling him to not do it.

“we’ll wait for them to stop.” johnny removed his headphones where your argument with jaehyun was louder than the blasted music in his ears.

mark yet again whined in a whisper, “i don’t wanna eavesdrop though. we can leave the box-”

“see you’re always like this!” jaehyun yelled in a much louder tone. “can you use your brain for once?!”

their heads all shot up at the amount of volume their bud gave.

awkward.. their eyes said it all.

“i am using it! you’re just too blind to even see it!” you let out a groan. the guys heard a multiple stomps your tiny feet ever did. they had never encountered you like this before.

as you both continued the probably endless argument, jungwoo found himself sitting onto the carpeted floor of the hallway. his share of box right beside him. the rest of the followed, all hesitant to even doorbell or bothering to knock when jaehyun started to yell again.

“i don’t have to see your brain! i’ll know your hardwork if you acted!”

“well your hardworking girlfriend’s doing everything for you! you’re the reliant one!”

“reliant?! reliant?! look whose talking! are you even hearing yourself?!”

“shut up! you should hear yourself! if i died, you wouldn’t have someone to depend to!”

“i don’t care if you died!”

the door slammed open, revealing the nine boys with boxes in their hands. taeyong was clearly pissed at the behaviour. “hey jung jaehyun. what you told her is way out of line-”

“hey guys.” you both seated so comfortably onto the giant bean bags, you and jaehyun greeted simultaneously with eyes so innocent and child-like. the tone was completely different compared to what they heard just minutes before. “great i was waiting for those!” your boyfriend stood up to help his friends.

you soon did the same, grabbing the home slippers to let them wear. as you talked, your brothers, a.k.a jaehyun’s friends, were very dumbfounded to the point they all remained quiet. you waved to them several times before you snapped your fingers, jolting them back to reality. “hello? i’m not talking to the air, am i?”

jaehyun sneeked his palms to support your waist, giving you a kiss on the cheek as you headed to the kitchen. “why didn’t you ring the bell?” he asked.

sicheng gulped at a volume before speaking. “we thought you were about to end things with y/n. we didn’t want to interfere.” he walked to the sofa and made themselves home.

“ah, you heard us arguing?” the chuckle jaehyun gave was rather genuine, as if nothing happened. “sorry about that. we were playing super mario bros on nintendo wii.” he took out a dirtied ivory white controller from this hoodie pocket.

oh what the..

“bubs saw it as we unpacked his things. been working for two straight days and we decided to take a break.” you had a glass tupperware and reusable plastic cups in your hands.

“yeah you had no idea how much nostalgia hit me when i saw it.” jaehyun laughed as he gestured you to sit beside him.

“i made lasagna~” you singsonged, passing the utensils around the center table.

the boys dove into the delish meal you prepared for them. as imaginary as it sounded, you could almost feel your shoulders heightening in pride when they complimented on how good it tasted. jaehyun reminded you to make two more batches because he knew his friends— and including himself, are pretty big eaters.

the recent comeback song of your group began to play as the playlist shuffled. they all stopped eating and used their forks as mics to mimic you. it hyped up everyone when your part came; you were the rapper. you gave in and went along with them.

noticing how the food was close to being devoured, you stood up and grabbed the rest to be reheated.

“hey jaehyun, have you ever heard y/n sing before?” johnny asked the blushing boy after he took a glance of your waiting figure at the kitchen.

“nope.” he popped his lips. “hold on, just hums i guess.” he replied.

“good thing i brought this!” donghyuck whispered, rummaging his bag for an item. few sighs of expectation came out from all of them as they knew what he meant.

they sang as if they’ve had countless of beer rounds. the jolly noise was getting louder as your song played. closing the door of the oven, you brought the last batch of your lasagna. taeil told you they wanted you to sing, and with immediate hesistation, you declined.

“why not? i bet you have a beautiful voice.” taeil complimented, and you couldn’t help but blush.

the bridge of the song was about to come when yuta passed the mic to you. in all honesty this part of the whole song was completely out of your range, but you’d be lying if you didn’t attempt this with your group’s main vocalist; rina.

they thought you had a voice of an angel, though you haven’t sung in public since your debut. as you hit belting and prolonging note, the boys cheered and nudged each other, signalling any of them to record your boyfriend.

jaehyun was speechless with his lips parted.

you blushed and hid your face right after it ended, grabbing a pillow nearby and collapsing backwards. “stop cheering!”

“why aren’t you the main vocalist?!”

“i have high hopes that you’ll be having a solo in your group’s next comeback!”

“y/n you’re really good!”

the pillow you were holding against to was removed from your hands. jaehyun smiled with beetroot coloured ears. “can you sing me to sleep later?”

“no.” you butt back, embarrassed that your boyfriend’s asking will be frequent now that he knows you sing well.

jaehyun whined and put his weight onto your small frame, squishing you so you wouldn’t escape. “i’m gonna tickle you.” he warned whilst his hands grabbed you.

“i’m not ticklish.” you defended with a straight face.

“we’ll see about that.” he leaned down where his chin was visible with stubble, attempting to squish his face to yours.

“jung jaehyun! stop! your face is oily!”

“blame it on your lasagna!”

“you eat like how a baby eats!”

“but i’m your baby!”

“yah get a room!” mark yelled, disgusted at the pda you both showed. well it was only jaehyun anyway. you were the victim of a playful act of your boyfriend.

you sat up with face all red from the chin upwards. “this is how i suffer everyday ever since dating your bro.” you told the rest of them.

“jaehyun did say he’s a romantic.” johnny made a teasing expression, earning a fake gag and sour faces from the others.

“and a forward person.” taeyong chuckled with his arms crossed.

“he said he’s very affectionate.” doyoung

yuta hopped in his seat. “he loves skinship too.”

“specifically holding hands.” taeil joined the tease.

jaehyun stuttered. “i- i didn’t mean it in a way yo-you’re all thinking of.” he threw a pillow.

“or did you?” johnny teased.

you looked at your boyfriend whose lips pursed to a flat line. he was so flustered and it was really cute.

“one more word i’ll kick you out of my house.”

#nct 127 #nct #jung jaehyun #jung yoonoh #nct jaehyun #jaehyun #jaehyun nct #jaehyun x reader #nct yoonoh #yoonoh #yoonoh nct #yoonoh x reader #jaehyun imagines #yoonoh imagines #jaehyun oneshot

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boogiewrites · 5 years

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A Girl Walks Into A Bar 13

Characters: Declan Harp x Bella Fiore (OFC)

Summary: Modern Declan harp AU. Declan plans a date and hopes it goes well. It goes so well neither of them wants it to end.

Warnings/Tags: Mild. Language. Date Night. Bella softening up and stepping up! Maybe they finally kiss?

Click on my screen name then go to Mobile Masterlist in my bio for my other works and chapters. Please leave a like, reblog or comment if you enjoyed this! It makes me want to write more of what you want if you let me know!

Thanks to Bella’s stellar work ethic, she was able to concentrate despite the buzzing in the back of her skull. With her still highly suspicious coworkers she managed to avoid questions with glares, but the bravest and admittedly closest to her, CeeCee, wasn’t convinced.

She stands in Bella’s doorway after hours, door open for the 4th day in a row. She’d been playing old Motown all day, they’d even caught her dancing and singing to herself in the studio, chewing on a pen and swinging her hips as she read over papers.

“Alright. Who is he? Or her, what the hell do I know?” CeeCee shrugs.

Bella's eyes shoot up from her clipboard, looking wide at her ballsy business partner. “What?” she asks with no inflection.

“I’m not stupid. I know you. I have eyes. You’re happy about something.” she says with a jutted forward chin, giving Bella tight lips that show her obviousness.

Bella only stares, her eyes under a deep set brow.

“The Motown all day? Singing and dancing to yourself? I even saw you smile at your phone today. You tell me nothing is going on I’m gonna tell you you’re full of shit.” Her bold statement delivered with a back and forth of her head.

“Then save us bother the time and tell me that then.” Bella snaps back quickly.

“UGH.” she throws her head back dramatically. “Fuckin’ Scorpios I swear to GOD!” she groans and turns to leave. Bella smirks as she returns back to her checklist.

----

All Declan had told her was to dress comfortably and for movement. To say she was curious was an understatement. She’d suggested something fun that would help her forget the hard week she’d had. While it had been tough, there was something different, something that kept her mood from crashing despite the workload and meetings. She’d not told him about that part though.

With his advice in mind, she’d dressed comfortably. She struggled to find the balance between form and function, fussing over if she looked “cute” enough. Which was something she hadn’t weighed in many years. But he made her want to consider things like that again. He brought out something in her that made her want to be feminine. After years of leather and denim, of hard brows and severe hair, she’d found herself shifting. This was also something CeeCee noticed. She’d even worn a dress to work more than once in the past week, and on a non-meeting day. Wearing her hair down and loose, softer make up in lighter colors and less black, she felt a part of her opening up that hadn’t since she was young. Her armor of leather not feeling as needed when she had him around, she didn’t feel the need to protect herself so much. She knew she was in good company.

Declan makes it to her house, the roar of a motorcycle surprising her as she fussed over Robbie before having to be out the evening.

“You’re fucking kidding me?” she scoffs out a playful laugh. She watches him pull up on an old bike, something like her dad would’ve ridden when she was small. A surprising shade of turquoise, but what was more surprising was how he looked.

He was no stranger to showing more skin in the warmer months, just like her, but riding a bike requires a bare minimum of coverage to still be responsible. Plus maybe he’d gone to the gym every day this past week, gone up to the woods and started clearing out his stomping grounds of the winter build up. Maybe he’d wanted to look good for her. She was making him consider his appearance just the same as he was her. He hoped he succeeded, as he knew she’d look good to him no matter what.

She wracked her brain for the long since buried information on motorcycles she had from her childhood. Her dad having his and treating it like a member of the family before his wreck. After it he’d dabbled a bit here and there, helping friends work on theirs. But he’d kept being a fan of them, trading road trips for magazines as he got older. She gets washed over with an odd, warm nostalgia. She thinks of the old pictures of her parents, him in his leather jacket and her in her bell bottoms and flowing dresses. She wonders if this was what her mom had felt like when big Sandro had rolled up to take her out all those years ago. A deep pull in her gut that she didn’t want to acknowledge told her yes.

She jumps and shakes out the nerves. “Be cool. Be cool.” She whispers, stretching her arms and neck as he makes his way to the door. “Be cool. You can do this. It’s just a date.” It was a date right? Shit, had he said date? She knew he liked her, no room for wondering there, the almost kiss was still burned into her mind. So it was a date. Or was he going slow? Was he going slow because of her or because he wanted to? Her brow furrows and she scratches her big wavy hair, falling past her collar bones now as she’d opted out of the usual spring cut. The doorbell makes her jump and she rolls her eyes at herself in harsh judgment. She counts to ten slowly and breathes, then goes for the door.

Declan stood with gleaming shoulders in the late afternoon sun. His tank top long and loose, faded over dark jeans and his usual shit-kicking boots and chain. The leather vest was something she’d not seen him in before and to say she was a fan was an understatement. She wonders if there’s more leather where it came from and if he had a collection to rival hers. She doubted it but filed the curiosity to his kinks away for later.

“Hey, Babe.” She greets first and boldly, pulling the door back to welcome him in.

“Hey Bells.” A broad closed mouth smile that makes his eyes nearly disappear comes across his face at the sight of her. A dress cut in at the waist with a little ditzy floral print of white and yellow against a black background reminds him of some cool girl from a 90s sitcom. It brushed at her knees and he saw her same little boots loose around her ankles. With effortless hair and makeup, he wanted to hold her against him and feel that softness. The cotton of her dress under his hands as he leaned in to hug her, the warm berry vanilla scent of her as he kissed her cheek and made her blush as she side-eyes him before moving away.

“Gonna grab my purse. Say hi to Robbie if you want. He missed you.” She tells over her shoulder with a tone that suggested he wasn’t the only one.

“I’ve missed him.” He responds in a deep and even voice, Robbie already loudly announcing his presence and rubbing between Declan��s legs. “Hey, baby dude.” He mrmurs with a scratch to his fluffy butt. Robbie purrs in approval.

“Alright.” she announces with a black leather crossbody bag to match the jacket. Warm for the weather but she wouldn’t get on a bike without it.

“I know I said comfy but, I don’t know if a dress will work for what I’ve got in mind.” He responds with a hesitant face.

“Oh, I’m prepared.” She responds proudly, hand reaching down to lift the hem of her dress to show shorts underneath. “Got bike shorts underneath.” She grins.

“Always prepared huh?” He nods in approval.

“I try.” She smiles sweetly, bending to pet Robbie one last time. “We’ll be back, kay? I put your catnip toy on the bed for you.” She coos at him, taking out her keys.oo

“Hope you don’t mind.” He says, shrugging to the bike.

“I should’ve known you had a bike really. Black Wolf and all.” She answers, putting her keys and zipping shut her purse. “But you’d never mentioned it.”

“I don’t ride her in the winter. Well, not this one anyway.”

“She special?” Bella asks as he moves to grab a helmet out of studded leather saddle bag

“The most.”

“So this is the woman I’m competing with huh?” She chuckles.

He feels his face flush slightly, thankful for the color he’s gotten in the woods the past week to hide it, skin now a warm-toned tan that caught the sun like a dream. Bella wanted to run her fingertips down those muscled arms and feel every curve of muscle he’d earned. “Yeah. My first love.” He explains after clearing his throat. “First bike.” He clarifies, handing her a black matte helmet, same as his. “My mom hated it, so I painted it her favorite color as a way to suck up to her.” He grins at the memory.

“Did it work?”

“Eh. Not really.” He fully laughs and mounts the bike, holding his hand out to her. “You got it?”

“Oh yeah, don’t worry about me. Dad had bikes growing up.”

“Seriously?”

“Mm hmm.”

“Ugh. Lucky.” He remarks, getting out his keys and readying his foot to kick off. “You gotta tell me about that later.”

“Can do.” She nods with her helmet on, now fearlessly wrapping her arms around him, the warmth of his stomach and chest against her palms and fingertips as the unbelievably soft shirt shifted in between her fingers with the flutter of the wind. He wasn’t reckless or fast and she appreciated it greatly. It’d been decades since she’d been on a bike.

They pull up and Bella peels herself from the hot skin of his leather vest, looking forward to seeing all of in motion as she’d gotten her fair share of his arms during the ride. Although driving out of town had been an unexpected but lovely detour, the site of his arms, which up close rivaled the tree trunks on the sides of the two-lane road they rode on. They pull up to a long line of fencing. His bike not the only one there, but by far the coolest in her opinion.

“Forest Fortress?” She states out loud with a wrinkle of her nose in question as she shakes out her hair from her helmet.

“So you haven’t been here before. Good.” He proudly declares and takes her helmet.

“You gonna tell me what it is or do I have to keep waiting?” She smiles.

“Have you ever played paintball, Bella?” He asks, half bent and securing the helmet in the saddle bag.

“No, but I’ve played laser tag.” She offers.

“Think of it as laser tag that hurts.” He laughs.

“So this is a paintball place?” Her brows go up and she shakes out her dress.

“Hope that’s okay.”

“Hell yeah it’s okay.” She answers with a big grin, bouncing on the balls of her feet slightly. “My legs are gonna get totally fucked though.” She lets out an amused noise.

“Nah, they have protective gear you can use. Wouldn’t have let you leave in that if I thought I’d be bringing you back all bruised. Robbie would never let me live it down.” He kids with a straight face and she manages to suppress a girlish giggle at him beaming a killer smile her way.

With his charisma and gentle guidance, he found that smile that he was worried might only exist at the festival still fully engaged as they went through the steps of putting on gear and teaching her how to use the guns. People knew him there, half bro hugs and slaps to the back in greeting all the way until they were both equipped and ready to head out into the obstacle course.

“So you do want to be on the same team or different ones?” The guy at the last stop before the entrance asks, knowing she was a newbie.

Before Declan can even turn to look at her she answers definitely “Different.” With a big and challenging smile.

“Look at the balls on this one.” the guy laughs and slaps a blue stripe on her gear. “And red for you D.” He remarks with a firm slap to his back. “Clean fight guys. You heard the rules.” He commands and opens the gate to reveal a scattered and varied series of wooden and rope courses in a fenced-in area of the forest. A rainbow of paint colors splatted all over everything. Tarps, haybales, stacks of giant tires, it was essentially a playground for adults. Which was a perfect choice in Bella’s eyes as she scurried away as soon as they crossed the threshold much to Declan's surprise. He was more than thrilled with her enthusiasm for his choice and the feisty competitive behavior it was bringing out in her.

The alarm blares and the shots start. She decides to keep an eye out for Declan, but take out anyone else if they popped up. She took out one person, her smaller size and workout routine she’d amped up for the warmer months helping her out. Declan was at a disadvantage with his height, she would see his back arched and bobbing around but could never get him head-on. So she uses the pole dancing classes to her advantage and shimmies up behind a terrace, thighs burning as she aims and misses. He whips around fast and sees nothing and she decides to just have some fun and jumps on his back, the unexpected attack knocking him to the ground as he hears her distinct laugh from on top of him as he moves to face her.

“Got ya bitch.” She snorts and laughs.

“Jesus Christ Bella!” He mutters out as he scrambles. “Where you even fuckin' come from?”

“Always look high.” She answers rolling off him as she keeps laughing quietly to not draw more attention to them.

“You didn’t shoot me though.” He grins wickedly and holds his gun up to her.

“I missed.” she shrugs. “Worth it though.” She leans back and sighs and smiles at him.

Well dammit, now he didn’t want to shoot her, laid back looking all soft and smiling at him.

“But you haven’t shot me either.” she raises a brow and grins, gun pointing at his chest now.

“Seems we’re at an impasse partner.” he says with a cowboy twang that makes her snort.

“If we eliminate each other, we can start over, or go back to town and eat. If we don’t, we have to walk 10 paces and try our luck with everyone else.” she replies with a playful wrinkle of her nose.

“I am hungry.” he answers with a pout of his lips.

“You know I am.” she smirks.

“A truce? A duel?”

“A...betrayl?” she tilts her head, finger on the trigger as another alarmingly charming smile comes across his face.

He flinches like he’s going to shoot her, only wanted to get her to wince and give her shit for it, but instead he knocks her gun and sets it off when he startles her, shooting him in the thigh. “Oh shit!” She squeaks, covering her mouth and sitting up as he balls up and groans. “Please tell me I didn’t just shoot you in the dick.” she begs with a serious face that makes him contorted up in discomfort, snort and laugh loudly.

“Glad to say you did not.” he groans.

“Oh, thank God.” she exhales sharply, rubbing his arm and frowning. “I didn’t mean-”

“Nah, nah I know. My fault.” he shakes his head. “Guns involved. Shouldn’t have fucked around.” he grunts out, sitting up. “It fuckin’ hurt but I’ll live. Be a nasty bruise. That was so fuckin’ close.” he lets out a pained chuckle.

“Yeah that had to hurt, dude, I'm so sorry.” she gives him an entirely genuine apologetic face, leaned in close to his that was still grimacing as he rubbed his leg.

“I’ll live.” he gives her an exhale and a nod, giving a good show of his words. “Well you know what might help?” he says, leaning and looking at the splat of paint.

“What?” she asks so earnestly he feels guilty already.

“You could kiss it and make it better.” he responds with a straight face and she shoves his shoulder so hard he hits the ground, forcing out a laugh from his chest.

“Maybe later.” she rolls her eyes and stands, dusting off her legs. “You fuckin’ goof.” she shakes her head and reaches her hand down to him. “Timer’s about to go off.” she nods towards the large LED board above the box where the scorekeeper watched.

They walk with his arm around her shoulders back towards the front, her arm around him as if she were helping him along.

“The 'ol seduce and betray. I like it.” the guy at the front holds his hand up for a high five as she passes.

“Oh fuck you Kyle.” Declan bellows out.

“Thanks.” Bella grins wide and answers the guy's gesture enthusiastically.

Since she’s mildly maimed him, they decide to go eat instead of going for another round. The energy sourced of nearly an hour hunting other humans had taken its toll on them both. The same closeness, the same warmth, and smiles they’d grown so fond of from each other over more junk food in a shitty little diner he liked. They talked bike’s, his and the ones she’d ridden, the ones her dad worked on, how he’d wrecked and her mother wouldn’t let him ride now out of worry. He learned about her family a bit and was glad to see she’d had a good upbringing, parents still alive and together, something he’d always wanted in a family and for himself. At that small table in the crowded room that felt like no one else was around, they sat and talked for nearly two hours without even checking the time or their phones, it felt to oddly effortless. They both felt heard and like they were interesting to someone else. They talked about nature, about music, sharing their favorite things that everyone else told them they talked too much about.

So when the time came for Bella to go home, her gut was telling her no. In fact, it was screaming it at her. He’d left with another cheek kiss and a tight hug, proving to her he was more than decent. She watches his broad shoulders slumped, jacket now on to guard against the night chill as he rode, his hands shoved into his jean pockets and biting his lip, wondering if he should’ve kissed her.

'You can’t let him leave', her conscience tells her. 'Don’t let him leave. This day was damn near perfect. You KNOW he wants it and you’re brave enough to admit you do too. Just… get his attention. Do something.' Her brain scurries and her throat turns to stone, her mouth open and trying but her nerves wanting to keep her quiet. It would be real if she made a sound. It would turn into more if she called out for him. Knowing you’re living a defining moment is funny. You can let fear freeze you, taking the easy way out, or you call push your cards all in on the table and win big. Or lose everything. But isn’t a life lived with failures better than a life lived with what if’s?

“Declan.” she forces out, the keys in her hand shaking from her nerves, not even moved to be put in the door.

He shuts his eyes for just a second, hiding the relief on his face. God, he had wanted to say something. “Yeah?” he asks over his shoulder, his hair soft around his shoulders, skin still warm and seemingly glowing in the sconces by the door and the solar pikes in the ground along her walkway despite the sun being long gone.

“I-” she starts and doesn’t know where she’s going. But she started. That was like half of the job, wasn’t it? “I don’t... uh...” she licks her lips and puts her keys back in her purse. “I don’t really wanna go home yet.” she manages, looking down before meeting his eyes.

“Oh.” he says, hiding his delight with pursed lips and a nod. “Well that’s, y’know, fine with me.” he shrugs and turns fully towards her, taking slow steps as her feet also carried her towards him.

“You wanna... I dunno... go somewhere else? Like... somewhere you like to go on a nice night like this?” she offers, eyes hopeful as they looked up at the man nearly a foot taller than her as he ran his fingers through his hair. The night was almost as lovely as he was. Almost.

“Yeah. I’ve got a place. Can’t tell anyone though. It’s a secret.” he leans in and gives her a wink that she doesn’t act exasperated by, just a lazy smile on her face.

“I won’t.” she replies softly.

“Let’s go then.” he whispers, taking her hand and walking her back to the bike.

---

The ride is serene and gorgeous. The moon out, bright light dropping through the tree canopy, the long dull roar of the bike as she held herself against him both rumbling together with the motor. She doesn’t know how many times she sighed, but she couldn’t stop. This day had been so nice and it really was a perfect night to be outside.

To a small clearing they drove through a barely broken in path to a large tree on its side. A marked stopping point, a few others having been removed offered a little meadow to see up into sky. Out in the forest, there was no noise or light pollution to take away from the view. They check that their phones were on silent subtly, they weren't taking any chances of being interrupted.

“This looks like someplace in a movie where teens come to get in trouble.” she remarks with a grin, fluffing her hair and shaking her jacket, standing as he turned to sit sideways on the supported bike.

“Or some 30-somethings looking to get away from everyone else.” he offers with a voice that was deeper and more even when he was among the trees. His face fell softer as if he felt at home there.

“You make this?” she asks, looking around, the moon giving enough light to see around up to the tree line.

“Somewhat. Cleared it out a little. Beat out the path over time. I like to get away up here. Sometimes I camp out.” he shrugs his explanation.

“It’s really nice. It’s so quiet.” she whispers.

“Don’t have to whisper.” he gives her the same warm smile that made her give him a chance in the first place.

“Feels like I should.” she remains quiet, standing closer to him, almost between his legs.

They both occupy the silence, looking up at the stars, feeling a slight breeze, taking in the sounds of nature. She wasn’t used to it. But she certainly felt like she could learn to like it. “I can see why you like this so much.” her voice still soft. “Only missing one thing for me.”

“Wassat?” he mumbles, looking at her with her eyes shut and face to the sky.

“Music.”

“Yeah...no wifi out here.” he chuckles.

“I’ve got music saved actually.” she announces, pulling out her phone and ignoring all the usual alerts.

“‘Course you do.” he gives her a smile, watching her nose twitch in thought as she was lit up from the phone screen.

“What? Should I not play it?” she asks with more genuine concern that makes him even more certain there’s a real soft kitten under that hard exterior.

“No, go for it.” he answers with a casual shake of his head.

“‘Kay.” she bites her lips. “There’s only one playlist I have saved, but it’s a great one. My parents wifi up at their cabin is shit so I saved this one so they could listen to it once I hooked up their stereo in the house for them.”

“Please tell me your parents aren’t country fans.” he snarks.

“No, no. They’re cool. Well I mean, I think they have good taste in music anyway.” she smirks. “It’s all Motown and 60’s stuff.” she explains as the Supremes comes over the phone, she sits it on the back of the bike. “One of moms favs.” she reminisces with a happy expression, moving her hand and hips in rhythm. “We’d watch old recordings and do the dances. I still remember most of them.” she admits with a shy smile. “Guess it’s the dance training. Or we just did it way too much.” she chuckles.

“Dance training?” he asks with a nod of his chin.

“Yeah, I danced as a kid. Mom with her pop culture dances and wanting me to learn the Celtic stuff. She thought I was good at it, so she put me in classes. Dance team in school, that whole thing.”

“Should’ve known.” he huffs out.

She turns her face to him, feet still playing out the easy steps.

“You’re good.” he offers with another charming smile.

“Oh.” she looks back down and smiles at the ground with her eyes crinkling at the edges. “Thanks.”

“You don’t think so?”

“It’s not that it’s just...I’m not really the best at taking real compliments.” she admits with a nervous laugh.

“I caught on.” he offers softly and leans forward.

She continues to sway and he contently watches her, wondering if he should make a move or just let her be. “You have a favorite out of these?” he suggests, thumbing through the long list.

“A few of course.” she snickers at herself.

“I wanna know what you're into... pick one out for me.” he urges, his voice slipping deeper and her body notices as it tightens and reacts.

She nods and leans in, getting close and bending over his long legs. His eyes turn a deep shade of brown, growing more lidded as he moved in close enough to smell the sweet scent of her perfume in her hair. Goosebumps bloomed over her skin at the feel of his breath, she gulps and plays it cool, making another little list of her favorites. She thought maybe she could set a soundtrack. Set a mood that couldn’t be ignored, interject with her encyclopedia of knowledge on the music of the time. She decides to loosen herself up first and get a laugh out of it, always a good place to start.

“Alright. Hit play.” she orders with a cheerful smile, Jackson 5 coming through and it wasn’t what he expected. She starts with the dance steps he knows to be associated with them, little turns and hand gestures and he sits back with crossed arms and nods his head to the beat. He applauds with an impressed face even though she didn’t do much and she bows. A cute smile with flushed cheeks as she leaned over to check the playlist.

“Don’t worry about it. Just relax. That’s what this place is for.” he whispers and stands, pulling her away from the bike. He’d seen the songs on the list, he knew he didn’t have anything to worry about with any mood being killed. With the night ripe and the air tense between them, he wanted to facilitate what he thought she wanted and knew he wanted. Maybe she was more timid with things like this than he realized. Her confident front falters as he takes her into his arms, a hand sliding under her jacket to her back pulling her in, another taking her hand, elbows bent with fingers laced together. The moon was bright enough to see her face, surrounded in a soft frame of thick wavy, naturally almost black locks. Her green eyes caught the light as they sat wide and almost innocent as she spanned over his chest and to their clasped hands. He leans his face down closer to her, his voice sweet and calm, trying to ease any nerves she had about getting close to him.

Her first thought when being taken into his arms was boy, is he bigger up close. But the quick second was realizing how close they’d been already. They’d slept skin to skin, nestled like little bunnies together and she hadn’t had a problem with it. So why was standing close and holding his hand erupting a fire in her stomach that threatened to bubble up and out of her throat with words that took away from the moment? It was like when bypassing her mind, her words changed from yes, I want this, to, did you know that when this song was recorded- putting up her wall to keep her from getting too close. But there was nothing to be afraid of at this point. He’d proven himself on all fronts. He was one of her best friends so quickly it threw her off her game, she didn’t bond quickly with people, she didn’t attract good men who helped their friends and cared about other people. Why was all this happening now?

With AlGreen lending him the mood, he keeps her close, looking down curiously as she looked thoughtful but almost frightened. “Thought you might want a dance.” he speaks, making her look up at him. “It’s all you bothered me about down there, thought you might want to show me a thing or two when it isn’t pouring rain outside.” he offers with a soft smile.

“Or getting electrocuted.” she adds and he feels her take a deep breath, her posture straightening and watching her come back to herself slowly. “Need to slow dance properly.” she almost mumbles, but he’s close enough and observant enough to catch the words. His choice of song isn’t lost on her. “Good one to do though.” she offers with big eyes that catch the moon and shine, making him sigh and only nod in response. He moves his hips to the beat and hers follow suit naturally. “You’re better this time.” she praises.

“Good teacher.” he says with a kind smile.

“Oh. Go on.” she looks down and chuckles nervously.

“Maybe I will.” he speaks low and pulls her closer.

She has to respond so she closes her mouth and blushes. The moments build, the last push in Tired of Being Alone, the vocals screech and he moves them fast in a circle, causing the tension to break as she squeaks much to his delight and he moves his hips and shoulders faster. “Keep up Bells.” he laughs, she does she as she throws her head back for a moment, the song fades fast, her head falling to his chest and she chuckles at how nervous she is. But it wasn’t any match for the next song. One of her mom’s favorites she’d sing to her father when they were being sickly sweet with each other. Natural Woman by Aretha, a song that could move even the most stubborn heart. And Bella was no exception. From the get she knows she’s doomed. Or would it be blessed at this point? Maybe it was a sign. One of those moments her mom told her about. When the universe just tapped you on the head and said, pay attention girl. So that’s what she did. She danced with the one man to make her feel anything since she was young to the song her parents slow danced to when she was young, thinking she wasn’t awake, peeping down the hall to see them swaying in the living room. The string section builds her confidence and takes a deep breath and does what she really wants for the first time in a long, long time.

She looks up at him and gives a little smile, finding him already watching her intently, his face as dark and calm as the sky behind it. She bows back and puts her back to his chest, swaying with both hands interlocked in his for a moment, placing them across her stomach, and she felt no resistance from him. He even bent his knees like she told him, feeling his nose in her hair as it brushed close to her ear. This was how this should've gone at the festival, this was the way they were dancing before and now without a cloud in the sky, there wouldn't be any interruptions.

From his vantage point he watches her shut her eyes, her chin up and head rested on him, one hand rubbing over his, a slow and smooth ascent up her own body, fingertips grazing her neck, pushing her hair out of the way before it snakes up and touches his face. With eyes still closed she turns her head towards his, he can feel her heartbeat racing under his palms. Her fingers are soft and light up his jaw and into his hair. He shivers at the touch, an almost grunt coming from him, putting his head even closer to hers. He wasn’t going to pass up another invitation when she was so boldly presenting it. The words ring too true, and she knows she has to face what she’s doing. She has to be the one to do it, because he’s too good too.

When she opens her eyes he’s already there, looking down at her with his deep, dark brown eyes. A heavy brow almost hiding them if the moon hadn’t been so full. With a brief flutter of lashes at how handsome he really could be so close up, she looks to his lips. His parted just as hers were, trying to calmly get more air as their heart demanded more of them as their pulses raised. As the song rolls into Percy Sledge smoothly, they both know there’s no turning back this time. Nothing to break them apart except themselves, and neither wanted to. A melodic organ he feels in his chest, this’ll be it.

He watches the lump in her throat bob and he smiles, grazing his nose against hers and feels her body give a little shudder when he got close. The air is thick and tense, the night air hot only around them, the moon and stars the only witnesses to what felt like such a monumental moment for both of them. With her head twisted, chin lifted to meet him as close to the middle as she could, they share one more glance between them, a final chance to bail and neither take it. Back down to their lips their eyes move, sharing a breath, his hand moving up to her face, as hers still rested in his hair. They break on the blare of a horn, both their breathing halted with the warmth that washes over them all the way down to their toes.

What starts as one press of lips, almost chaste with his rough fingers against her smooth jaw grows deeper, turn after turn of their mouths, until Bella can’t stand it any longer. With a tiny whimper, the sweetest sound he’s ever heard, she turns in his arms, only parting for a moment and in a flash he runs cold, afraid the moments gone before she crashes her lips back into his, hands on his chest and the other in his hair, he gives over to her, leaning back against the bike, arms moving tightly around her to hold her close between his legs, splayed fingers working lower than they ever had before to her hips and between her shoulder blades, not wanting to even catch his breath as her arms slide around his neck.

They could’ve stayed like that forever. They both wanted to. This perfect moment, him surrounded by nature and her picking the soundtrack to her life was something they both wanted to hold on to for as long as possible. Her chest felt like it was full of fire, the butterflies in her stomach only fanning it with the rapid assault of their wings. Her fingertips tingled, only feeling warmth where he touched her, feeling the press of his impressive hands against her body under her jacket. His lips were softer than they seemed for a man that looked like him. The strong cupids bow and pinked color they natural held were always hidden at least in part by his facial hair, but she was getting to experience the full breadth of them tonight.

The kisses turn softer, more lips, more breathing, and her hands move to his rising and falling chest. With closed eyes still living in the blissful moment, their foreheads rest together as they take a few breaths. Wow, they both almost said. Few kisses felt like that one had. Some might never experience it. A painfully strong mutual attraction based on more than aesthetics. Built on friendship and trust and months of earning a place in each other's lives. It was real and raw and those things felt so rare for both of them.

“I can’t believe I waited so long to do that.” she eventually whispers, eyes still shut as her breaking the silence between them makes his eyes open to see her eyes flutter, half-lidded and pupils blown, fingertips light and shakey on the thin material of his shirt.

“You did it at the perfect time.” he coos back.

“Ugh.” a hand moving up to push back his hair as she beams up at him. “You’re so nice. Sweet, I mean.” she shakes her head, still trying to get the blood to flow to it and not the other brain that was shouting orders at her she was ignoring. “And… patient.” she adds with a huff of a laugh.

“Worth it.” he grins, kissing her cheek, the warmth flooding her all over again.

“Can we just... do more of that?” she lets out a girlish giggle he’s never heard, her head falling into his chest as her shoulders shake. She brings her head back up, shaking the hair out of her face and tracing her thumb over his cheek. “I’m so rusty at this.” she admits and he sees no shame or hesitation in her eyes now, only brightness.

“We can do as much of that as you want.” he kisses her softly. “And you don’t feel rusty to me.” he purrs back against her lips, eyes dark under a relaxed brow as she hummed happily.

“Not bad yourself, Harp.” she nudges her nose to his and smiles into a kiss, a content sigh shared as a kiss grows again. It felt so good, so right, just like she hoped it would. Just liked it should she thinks. He was so hot and pliant to the touch, a small lick of her tongue to his bottom lip makes his nostrils flare, a slow and teasing exchange between them. He bites on her full bottom lip and her eyes roll back in her head, a heavy sigh escaping her. She sucks on his after he releases it with a pop, her tongue moving to explore his own as they shared a more messy kiss, one that was clearly doing something for him as his hands ventured lower. He finally got his hands on that ass of hers, her letting out a little moan as he gave it a slight squeeze.

“Too far?” he asks, still learning the origin of her noises.

She answers by moving up into his lap, thighs on either side of him and shaking her head, putting his hands back where they had been. “No.” she answers before another wrestling kiss forms. Even with the advantage of being on him, he was still not taller than her. This was new for her as well, she’d never been a man this tall this... big. All over big. Or at least she hoped the hard place resting between her thighs was growing proof of that. Her hands slip under his jacket at the shoulders, far past her own in width and she moans as how hard he is under her hands. She greedily explores the planes of him, and he does the same. Hands down his chest to a stomach that was almost hard, fingertips pressed into shoulder blades that shifted as he easily picked her up to resituate her. Which she really didn’t mind at all. In fact she thought she might’ve found a new kink. No man she’d been with had even been strong enough to pick her up and throw her around so to speak, and literally. Her mind was full of racing ideas for him.

They kiss like teens at a make-out point as she’d teased upon arrival. Moans and pants exchanged against now swollen and wet lips, tongue in and outside of mouths as they explored what worked and didn’t, and so far there wasn’t a thing that didn’t feel good. It all felt too good and that was another problem entirely. One of those good problems she’d always heard about but never had herself.

She felt like taking her tits out of her dress, him getting those shapely lips on them and grinding on him until they both came. But she didn’t. She’d like to say she knew better, but she didn’t. She only knew not to go too fast, which is where she’d been burned before. “I know we have to stop at some point. But I don’t want to.” she half moans into a lippy and loud kiss.

He smiles against her. “I know babe. I know.” he groans and moves his hand back up to her waist. Hers on his jaw, thumbs swiping over the short sides of his beard as she kissed the corners of his mouth, the tip of his nose, wanting to feel every part of him against her lips.

“Mmph. That’s nice.” he hums with closed eyes and continues to his cheeks, that masculine brow, over the scar that lies there and one to his forehead.

“You’re very, very kissable.” she giggles, nuzzling his face with her nose. Touching him felt like a drug.

“So you are. Among...other things.” his nostrils flare as she bites her lip at him.

“Will there be time for that later?” she whispers, an almost naughty turn to her words.

“All the time you want.” he raises his brow, his voice deep with grit and hunger.

“How about we make time for it?” she asks, fingers into his beard and scratching, wanting to take in as much of him as she could.

“Mmm?” he asks, grunting as a response to her question and to the affection.

“We should make time. We’re both busy, I don’t want to go another week without seeing you... without... this.” she coos and kisses him softly.

“Then let’s do it. Let me take you out. A real date.”

“Oh, a real one huh?” she teases, kissing his cheek.

“Yeah. We’ll go downtown, meat, and wine the whole thing. Wine and dine.” he says playfully.

“Wine dine and...sixty nine?” she asks before her nose wrinkles and her face falls into a giggle.

“Like I said, whatever you want babe.” he grins.

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