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tiedyemillenialbullshit · 3 years

Text

Nightmare

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female!Avenger Reader Word Count: 3,431 Summary: Your best friend finally comes to visit the compound after you join the Avengers. What starts out as a fun night out, quickly turns dire for you and Bucky. Warnings: Angst, Fluff, Feelings, Mentions of Alcohol and Drugs, PTSD/Nightmares, swearing

“AHHHH Y/N!!” You hear her before you see your best friend running towards you, not a care in the world that your entire team has also turned around to watch you two galavant towards each other like long lost sisters.

You catch Sarah in your arms and spin her around.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you’re FINALLY HERE! And you’re early! Holy shit like I can’t believe you’re finally here in New York!! Let me introduce you to the team!” You grab her arm after she starts to show hesitance in meeting the Avengers all at once.

“Are you sure they have time? I don’t want to be a bother,” she says sheepishly.

“Oh my god Sarah, I talk about you all the time! They’re just as excited to meet you, come on.” You both walk towards the team still staring at you both near the entrance to the compound doing a quick debrief of a not-so-successful mission the day before.

“Guys, this is Sarah. Sarah this is-“ she cuts you off. “I know who you guys all are. It’s so nice to meet you! I’ll stay out of the way, I promise.” Everyone grins and introduces themselves to your best friend.

Nat smiles at you both, “On the contrary, you’re coming out with us tonight! No if’s, and’s or but’s”

Sarah seems to suddenly catch a second wind from her long flight and lets out a squeal of excitement.

You’re the newest to the “official” team, even though Steve and Fury had been trying to recruit you for years. You didn’t like the idea of the world knowing about your skill set and preferred to live a quiet life back in California. Ever since moving here, you’ve felt like maybe you weren’t home yet. Everyone was so nice and welcoming, but you missed your little house hidden in the outskirts of the National Parks in California. You missed the sun, the familiar smell of your patch of paradise and the general sense of room back home. Most importantly, you missed Sarah.

You were reluctant to invite her out to New York at first, but now that things seemed to be going smoothly, you sent for her via a car and private jet thanks to one Mr. Tony Stark. He was more than happy to help you out given your fresh and maybe sometimes bumpy arrival to the Avengers.

As everyone filed inside to break away before the evening festivities, Bucky caught your arm.

After holding you back for a second he said, “Hey, I can totally hang back tonight if you’d rather just be with Sarah and the team.”

You realize what he’s getting at. He also has some lack of feeling settled at the compound. It was something you bonded over when you first arrived. You both had similar pasts, even though they were at the same time lightyears apart.

“Buck, no. I think we’re all going out to Bleaker’s tonight! What’s a better way to get to know the team than bowling, beer, smoking inside, beer, old arcade games, more beer and maybe dancing?!”

Bucky gives you a quick glare out the corner of his eye before wrapping his metal arm around your shoulders to lead you inside after everyone.

“Fiiiiiiine, but I can’t promise I’ll behave.” You giggle, but suddenly feel a couple sets of eyes on you.

“And what do we have here?,” Tony asks with a smirk across his mouth. Sarah seems to be in the middle of an engaging conversation with Steve, so you don’t seem to have an easy out of this encounter. Bucky quickly drops his arm and steps a foot away from you.

“Uh, nothing. Y/N just seemed like maybe she wasn’t feeling well.”

“But I’m fine so here we are - have you seen Sam? Nat? Wanda? I told them we should be ready in a few hours and I jus-“

“Oh for Christ’s sake guys, your secret is safe with me,” Tony winks at you knowingly. You decide to take that as the end of the conversation and rush over to join Sarah.

“So! You have muscles.” Sarah says clearly at a loss of words looking at Steve in a tight shirt.

You and Bucky share a giggle, but pull Sarah away and save her from further embarrassment.

“What the fuck did I just say?” Sarah is about as red as a tomato as you drag her upstairs away from the awkward encounter. Steve looked a little flustered as well, which you file away in the back of your brain.

“Who cares! Let’s catch up and get ready for tonight.” Sarah is your best friend for a reason. Even though it had been 6 months since you last saw each other, it was like it was yesterday. You two spend the next few hours catching up, gossiping about each other’s families, friends, ex-boyfriends, etc.

“So! How are we doing in the boi department?” You turn around and face Sarah at the inquisitive tone in her question.

“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m good, I’m… I’m doing great, I mean yeah I’m good. WHY?” You’re stuttering and you don’t even care it’s obvious you’re blushing.

“Oh, you know. I mean, I’ve only recently met a few super soldiers, but I do think I can tell the there’s a spark between one and someone else.” Sarah so wants you to spill the tea but you promised Bucky you’d keep it quiet.

“Let’s just say things are developing and whatever you’d like to take from that you may.” You both launch into a giggle fit of her guessing and you denying certain aspects of Bucky Barnes.

When Wanda wanders into your room a few hours later, she starts laughing at what she sees. “You know you two are wearing like the same thing, right?” Exchanging confused looks at each other, you reply with a “AND?!”

Sam follows in with a smirk of his own. You’re bracing for his jokes but instead says “damn, OKAY! Everyone’s looking sharp tonight. Y/N, have you seen our bionic man around? Is he coming? He better come out tonight or I swear to…”

After Sam leaves to go find Bucky, the three of you wander down to find Nat and start the evening off with a shot or two. You aren’t much of a drinker, so one is enough for you. You much rather enjoy the company of your friend Mary Jane.

The team is getting silly with each other in the kitchen and quickly the room is filled with people yelling at each other to pregame harder, laughing when Nat’s little sister challenges Sam to a chugging contest and wins.

You feel a large hand at the small of your back. You can smell his cologne and know who it is immediately.

“Well don’t you look dashing tonight Sargent Barnes.” You lean in on impulse but stop yourself just as the girls turn around to see who you’re talking to.

“I was just going to say the same thing to you, sweets.” He mumbles in your ear before removing his hand and walking over to Sam.

The alcohol decides to hit you then, leaving you feeling empty that he’s not standing next to you anymore. Neither of you had wanted to have the “conversation” but you knew you were head over heels for him.

“CABS ARE HERE” screams Sam.

“Sam. For the love of God, stop watching Jersey Shore.” Natasha jokes to him.

At the same time Steve screams, “I understood that reference!” Eye rolls are exchanged as you all make your way outside.

The atmosphere is buzzing and you’re so excited to not just be out with your team, but to also have the only bit of family you had with you as well. You finally felt at home, at peace, and were ready for a fun night out.

Bleaker’s is one of those hole-in-the-wall dive bars that from the outside seems like a hard pass, but once you’re in, there’s no other place you’d rather spend a Saturday night. It’s true it started as a bowling alley in the 60’s. That still remains. What’s newer is the arcade in the back, where the old salon used to be. Jimmy bought the space next door, blew out the wall and filled it with arcade games that sometimes work and sometimes eat your money.

After years of being regular patrons, he knows your team well. The minute you walk in, he starts up all your favorite drinks.

“Ah! My best customers! I had a feeling I’d be seeing Earth’s mightiest heroes tonight.” You line up at the bar for whatever Jimmy decides you’re drinking tonight.

“Ah yes, two vodka on the rocks for my little Russian assassins. Sam here’s your vodka red bull which I don’t think you need, but here we are. Steve! Your drink of choice: an Old Style. Wanda, a cosmo for my favorite witch. And who do we have here, Y/N?”

You’re already both in hysterics at the old man behind the bar giving everybody a hard time. “Jimmy, this is my best friend Sarah. She’s visiting from California for a few days.”

“And whatever the lady wants can be put on my tab…” Steve butts in. Sarah immediately turns red but says “well in that case I’ll have vodka soda with lime please!”

Bucky has come up behind you and now you’re both laughing and watching the two of them stare at each other like no one else is in the room.

“Oh no, what did you do Y/N?”

“Let it play out, he’s not completely tripping over his words yet, maybe he’ll finally land a good girl.” You hush to Bucky.

Jimmy stares as well in amusement. “And you two? Your usual?”

“Yes’sir!” You shout over the growing music. Jimmy hands you each a jack and Diet Coke. You tell yourself it’s okay because it’s diet, but you know that’s a bunch of bullshit.

The other great thing about Bleaker’s? The dance floor downstairs. You always joke around that it seems like a nightclub that never closes in Amsterdam or something, but you’re serious. It could be 3 pm and sunny and you’d never know. It’s in the basement, it's always dark and the music is almost always too loud.

Usually that would gross you all out, but the energy tonight is pushing you all downstairs.

You reach back and grab Bucky’s hand not really caring who sees. It’s been months of sneaking around and either everyone knows and is playing it off like they don't or you’re really good at hiding it. Regardless, you’re over hiding. Maybe showing a little PDA tonight will get him out of his shell.

Sarah and Steve are no where in sight, assuming they’re ahead of you, you follow the team downstairs.

Minutes turn into hours. Everyone is dancing, laughing, sweating, screaming the lyrics to every song, and for a little while you can forget you’re a group of superheroes, and can just be normal 30-something year-olds.

You mostly dance with Bucky and quickly realize he’s a better dancer than you thought he would be. Those moves from the 1940’s must still be relevant in some way today, because the way he's grinding up on you and not caring if anyone sees just does something to you.

You work the room, finding Sarah, Wanda, Nat, even Steve for a song before you realize you don't see Bucky. You give it a few minutes thinking maybe he is in the bathroom. After 15 minutes though, you grab Steve’s attention and motion for him to check the bathroom while you check outside.

You race to the alley where you find Jimmy on a smoke break. “Hey Jimmy, have you seen Bucky? I can’t find him.”

“Oh yeah, doll, he took off in a cab about a half hour ago. Looked real flustered, but I didn’t want to press.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. You thought you felt his mood shift about an hour ago, he was becoming stiff and quiet. You thought maybe he was just drinking a lot but now you’re realizing the loud music, strobe lights and base must have been triggering him.

“Ugh I’m such a bitch,” you huff as you send Steve a S.O.S text.

You: Hey, Jimmy said he just left. I'm sure he's heading home. I'm going to go find him.

Sire Captain Rogers: Go ahead. I think Sarah and I can find something to do while you find Buck. ;)

You: Yeah I’m sure you can.

You: BEHAVE. She’s my best friend.

Sire Captain Rogers: I know Y/N, don’t worry about us. Let me know when you find him.

You lock your phone and hop in a cab back to the compound.

No one is up or around when you enter through the front. The kitchen has been cleaned up, the dishes done. Probably thanks to THURSDAY, Tony’s beta bot for “cleaning up after you assholes trash the place.”

You smirk and head for the elevators. Heading straight to Bucky’s room, you can tell his light is on but something seems off. You don’t like to use your powers on friends or in the compound, but you close your eyes and reach out with your mind to find his aura. Your eyes snap open. You don’t sense him, you just see red.

Taking this as a good excuse to break into a friend’s room, you burst into the room to find it in disarray. Everything is toppled over, broken glass is on the floor, the bathroom light is on, but all you can see is his blood on the door and the floor. You’re panicked, trying to piece together what happened.

Again, you close your eyes and reach out for the familiar energy of Bucky. You find him in your room on the floor.

“What the fuck?,” you mumble and sprint up the stairs to your apartment. You shoot Steve a text on your way up.

You: Found him, looks like a bad one. I’ll let you know if I need you.

Sir Captain Rogers: Thanks Y/N. I’m just a call away, let me know if you need anything. Night.

Upon entering, you sense he’s in distress. His heart rate is elevated, he’s incredibly sweaty and is panting like a dog.

“Bucky? Buck, it’s me, it’s Y/N.”

Bucky stirs and jumps into a defensive standing position quicker than you can blink. You flip the lights on with a “BABE. Baaabe, it’s me. It’s okay, you’re safe. We’re in the compound. You had a nightmare.”

Bucky’s eyes are wide and alarmed, but you can tell the moment he recognizes you.

Rushing over to you, he takes you into a big hug. “Oh my god. What happened? Are you okay, did I hurt you?”

“No Bucky, no I just found you a minute ago. You had another bad one, what do you need me to do right now for you?”

Bucky stands back and rubs his swollen eyes. “I need to shower, can you help me?”

Typically, this is where it gets exciting, but you knew what he means. Water grounds him. He doesn’t feel like he’s falling in water. It helps him visualize the stress washing off of him.

You help him strip and get in the shower, but before you can even take his jeans off, he jumps in and pulls you in with him. You realize how desperate he is for whatever he’s feeling to pass and your heart sinks.

You’re both standing there, almost fully clothed holding each other. This is the worst you’ve seen him in a long time.

“I’m so sorry if I ruined your night, Y/N. The base sounded like the train, the lights looked like the machine they used on me, what the fuck.”

You aren’t sure what to do so you decide to sit on the ground and pull him down with you. You position yourself behind him so his back is in your chest. Even though he’s so much larger than you, he sinks down enough for you to reach over his shoulders and hold him.

“It’s okay Barnes, just breathe with me. You’re safe. You’re with me, and we’re home. Nobody is going to touch you. I’ve got you, you won’t fall.”

You take in deep breaths so he can match your breathing.

After about 45 minutes, the hot water is out in the tank. Bucky sits forward and turns towards you. You want him to lead right now, so you don’t say anything. Neither does he, but the look in his eyes are telling you something about tonight is different.

With a soft smile on your lips, you cup his cheek until he is really looking at you. “Hun, let’s go lay down, ya? Let me help get you dried off.” Bucky hates when you fuss over him, so when he doesn’t argue, you know to be extra gentle with him.

After getting him up and out of the shower, you think skin-to-skin contact doesn’t seem sexual right now, it feels intimate in a grounding sense, and you know that’s exactly what he needs right now. Bucky seems dazed, almost like he got hit too hard in the head. You yourself are of course a tad over-served, and are quickly realizing the adrenaline of this entire situation is rubbing off.

You get Bucky into bed and turn to make sure his phone is plugged in and that he has a glass of water, but he grabs your wrist before you can move away. “Just leave it, it’s fine.”

“Buck, just let me-“ he grabs your wrist harder.

“Y/N. Please just stay here. Please.”

The entire time you’ve been together, he’s done a lot of things but begging you for anything is not one of them. Suddenly the phone and whatever hell else you were doing doesn’t seem important anymore.

You climb into your usual spot next to him and decide maybe you’ll try to get him to open up. The moment the back of your head hits the pillow, Bucky is facing you. His pleading eyes seem like they want to tell you everything that’s going on in his head, but you know pushing him to talk will just make the nightmares come flooding back too soon.

Instead, you decide to lay on your back and pull him to lay on your chest.

“Just listen to my heart beat, Bucky.” You hear him take a deep breath and settle into your chest.

You start and stop yourself from trying to say something comforting. You’re terrified to say the wrong thing at such a crucial moment. Typically these bad episodes are reserved for a Steve house call. You realize as he’s settling into a comfortable position that he hasn’t asked you to call Steve yet. Bucky trusts you in a way you didn’t realize until now.

You don’t know when, but you start humming the first calming song that comes in your head.

I’ll be seeing you In all the old familiar places That this heart of mine embraces All day through

Bucky picks his head up to look at you. Oh fuck.

“Where did you hear that song?,” he says to you with shiny eyes.

“You sing it all the time when you’re concentrating. I looked it up and added it to my ‘bath time/relax’ playlist. I didn't know Billie Holliday was a favorite of yours."

Bucky was looking at you like maybe this was the first time he saw you, like really saw you. “My mom used to sing that around the house when she was missing my dad.”

“Oh I’m so sorry, I didn’t know. I can hum a diff-“ you’re cut off with the most searing kiss Bucky has ever given you. He’s crying when he pulls back to look at you again. “Will you keep singing it?”

In that small cafe The park across the way The children's carousel That chestnut tree, the wishing well

By the time you finish the second verse, he has physically relaxed in your arms. You continue rubbing your hand up and down his back and shoulder, stopping to play with his long hair every once in a while.

I'll be seeing you In every lovely summer's day In every thing that's light and gay I'll always think of you that way

“I forgot how much I love hearing this song sung around me.” Bucky whispers so quietly you almost miss it.

I'll find you in the morning sun And when the night is new I'll be looking at the moon But I'll be seeing you…

You stop your caressing when you feel him sit up on one arm.

He leans down to kiss you but stops short to whisper “I love you Y/N.” You kiss him back and wrap your arms around his shoulders, and when you say “I love you too, Bucky,” you’ve never been more sure of something in your life.

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x reader #marvel fanfiction #bucky fluff #steve rogers

147 notes · View notes

cheeriecherry · 4 years

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hi!! how are you? can you write for baku, deku, & todo where they meet their s/o family for the first time & they’re super scary? they’re all super tall, buff, full of tattoos, loud, aggressive, mean & the fam is super overprotective over s/o & the 3 are just freaking out bc s/o is the opposite? s/o is super sweet, calm, bubbly & short so the last thing they were expecting was this & they’re just freaking out & trying to get on their s/o’s family good side? sorry if that sounds complicated 😭

The more specific the ask, the better! I’ll see what my brain can come up with, I’ve just had couch medicine so

Requests are temporarily closed so I can catch up on them!

BAKUGOU KATSUKI

-Loud boi isn’t gonna let anyone know that he’s intimidated.

-He’s already a little nervous to meet your family for the first time, though he’d never admit it. You were so hesitant to ask him to come over, and at first he thought it was because he was the loud and aggressive one.

-But that Saturday afternoon when he walks up to your house and your dad answers the door, he’s like ‘oh’ and it all clicks into place.

-He loves you a lot, so he wants to make a good impression, but he also never backs down from a challenge. So he and your dad have a stare down in the doorway, until you stroll around the corner and see them.

-You scold your dad and tell him to stop being rude to your boyfriend. Your dad doesn’t say anything, but he sighs and lets Bakugou in.

-The fun doesn’t stop there, though. You tug Bakugou around the house from room to room introducing him to your family, and every single one of them gives him the same cold, mildly threatening stare.

-Ngl your uncle who lives in the basement apartment kinda scares him, but he doesn’t say anything and tries to play it cool. The guy is built like a brick house and covered head to toe in intricate tattoos.

-He doesn’t mention it, but you can tell that your boyfriend is wondering about potential ties you have to the mafia, with a guy like that living in your house. But you assure him it’s just your uncle’s quirk that gives him the art on his skin, and that he’s actually pretty shy about it and doesn’t like going out.

-The last person he meets is your mom. With everyone being so much taller and physically stronger than you, he assumes that your mom is gonna be the person you got your tiny genes from.

-Lol no

-She’s at least six feet tall, and without a doubt the most intimidating person in the house. She’s got the face of an angel and the grace of a butterfly, but behind her smile Bakugou can see the willingness to kill anyone who hurts her baby (you).

-Lunch with the fam is a little awkward at first, until your younger cousin goads Bakugou into a spice eating contest. Then the shouting at the table begins, everyone placing their bets on who they think will win. You’re the only one who bets on your boyfriend, and you get like a hundred collective bucks out of your family members when he wins.

-He’s earned the respect of your cousin, who’s like eight maybe and now deems Bakugou a respectable opponent. Bakugou is torn between yelling and patting the kid on the head, so he probably does both and shouts at the kid to keep practicing so they can try and beat him one day.

-At the end of the visit, your boyfriend is surprisingly calm. You’re walking him home, arm in arm, not really saying much. Though you do tell him that he’s taking your living situation pretty well.

-He’s like wdym? And you explain to him that most of your friends and potential partners are scared of your family and refuse to come over because of them.

-Bakugou just scoffs and is like ‘of course they are, because they’re chicken shits. As if I’d be scared of a bunch of-’ and he pauses because you start laughing, not at him, just about the situation.

-Your family actually really likes him and find him a suitable boyfriend for you. They know you’re strong, but they want someone who can protect you and who’s loyal to you, and they see that in Bakugou. They probably invite him to the next family gathering.

MIDORIYA IZUKU

-A nervous boi

-He wants so badly to make a good impression on your family, to get their approval of your relationship. He knows you’re close with them, so he doesn’t want their potential opinions of him to sway your desire to be with him.

-He dresses casually but tidy, and while he waits at the door he fiddles with his shirt a bit.

-Almost has a heart attack when your sister opens the door and glares down at him with the rage of 1000 suns.

-He does his best to introduce himself formally and be polite, but your sister is making it awfully hard for him to stay focused. She doesn’t say anything to him, so he just continues chattering until he’s off on a tangent and saying way too much.

-And you’re like ‘I feel my boyfriend danger senses tingling’ so you go downstairs and lo and behold.

-Ofc he’s not in any actual danger, just the danger of making a fool of himself. You set a hand on your sister’s arm, and the moment you do it’s like all the anger in her body dissipates and she turns into a sweet, smiling bean. Then she skips away to go do her homework.

-You pull Midoriya inside and give him a once-over anyways, just to make sure your sister didn’t burn holes in him with her glares. But he assures you he’s alright, and he’s a lot more relaxed now that you’re around.

-Probably says something like ‘I can see why you were so nervous about bringing me to your house, your older sister seems really protective of you’

-and you’re like ‘um,,,,actually she’s my younger sister’ and he’s like ‘wot’ and you’re like ‘also she’s the least scary of everyone’ and he’s like ‘wOT’

-You waste no time parading him from room to room to show him off, all while his soul slowly escapes his body.

-Your parents actually scare him the least, like, of course they’re protective of you, but they have the common courtesy not to exaggerate their scary qualities. They still tower over both you and Midoriya, but they’re mostly civil in terms of interactions.

-Your older brothers scare him a little bit more. They share the basement suite, so you drag your boyfriend downstairs to introduce them all to each other...and interrupt their poker game with their friends.

-All of them have some kind of tattoo visible, nothing Midoriya recognizes as any gang symbol, but he’s still wary. However, he manages to say hello and all the pleasantries, and actually gets a smile out of one of your brothers, who tries to rope him into a game of cards.

-Thankfully you save him with the excuse that you still have more family to show him off to, but he’s left with the promise of ‘later, then’.

-Lastly is your sister, who he’s technically already met. She’s arguably the scariest of everyone. She’s easily almost six feet tall and looks like she could bench press the two of you with ease. You promise him that she’s a literal sweet pea, but when the two of you walk up to her room, Midoriya isn’t so sure.

-She glares at him hard, like she’s judging him about everything and if he doesn’t pass she’ll snap him in half. He has to swallow the lump in his throat, and quickly looks around the room for some kind of thing to ask about that might get her to open up.

-And he sees it. One of the rarer All Might figures from an old merch line, one that he also has, so he’s like ‘do you like All Might’ and it’s like a switch is flipped.

-You breathe a sigh of relief as the two of them start nerding out about their favourite hero, sprouting facts and recalling films and old news videos. When he mentions that All Might teaches at his school, your sister honest to god squeals, and starts asking all kinds of questions about what kind of teacher he is, what he’s learned, what it’s like to be a protogee of such a great hero. He answers everything with glee, all his former fears forgotten.

-When it comes time for dinner, your sister insists that your boyfriend sit next to her, which is apparently a very high honor because one of your brothers sulks off to the other end of the table. (You assure your brother later that it’s just temporary and that your sister just really likes your boyfriend).

-But seeing the two of them interact warms your heart, it’s usually hard for your sister to make friends because she’s so intimidating, so you’re glad they’re getting along. And so does the rest of your family! They see Midoriya’s kindness and hardworking attitude, and they warm up to him pretty quickly.

-It ends up being a really enjoyable night, despite the rocky start. Though sadly yes your boyfriend does eventually get roped into a game of poker, and yes your brother’s cheat, but you cheat too, and you’re all betting in chocolate coins. You share your hoard with him.

TODOROKI SHOUTO

-He goes into it being not nervous, and ends up being Quite nervous once he meets your family.

-When he arrives, you’re thankfully the one to answer the door, so he doesn’t get hassled, so everything seems pretty normal right off the bat. Until your cousin walks through the room and is like ‘???? who’s this pipsqueak???’ and Todoroki is torn between being his usual snarky self and being polite.

-He wats to throw shade right back, but for your sake he wants to make a good impression. You’re used to his manners (or lack thereof) but he doesn’t want your family to think he’s not worthy of you. He really loves you a lot and wants to stay with you.

-So he goes for a formal introduction, even going in for a handshake. It’s kind of funny, because your cousin is like ‘lol what are manners’ but your glare forces him to return the gesture. His hand completely dwarfs your boyfriend’s, and you have to hide a snicker.

-And then the guy awkwardly wanders out of the room.

-You and Todoroki kind of just stand there for a second, and then he’s like ‘is this what you meant when you said your family was intimidating’ and you’re like ‘:3′

-You give him a tour of the house, a nice modest place with traditional aspects. It’s nowhere near as big as his, but he like it that way, it makes the place more homey and warm.

-You introduce him to family members as you come across them; your younger twin nuisances cousins, who are more mischievous than dangerous, your aunt and her wife, who look like they could get away with murder, your brother and his friends, who mostly only glare at Todoroki to try and make him uncomfortable.

-Thankfully he’s used to the stoic and slightly scary expressions, thanks to his dad. He wonders momentarily if you’re safe here, but then he realizes that everyone in the house is especially kind to you, and very affectionate when they think he’s not looking. He doesn’t even bother asking the question.

-Lastly are your parents, who are in the kitchen preparing dinner. They’re a little perturbed that you’re both in the kitchen when they’re working, but they seem to be less purposefully intimidating than everyone else. They’re still a little scary though.

-Then he notices that your parents are making soba. From scratch. Which is particularly difficult to master, so he figures they must be pretty well practiced if they’re so good at it.

-Without thinking, he asks if they’ve made soba before, and soon your parents are sprouting off about their culinary careers and the restaurant they run. You were supposed to take over one day, but you ultimately chose a different path in life, even after they taught you so much.

-Todoroki didn’t even realize you could cook, but now he wants more than anything to try your meals someday, or learn a few things from you and make dinners together.

-It startles him a little that he’s thinking so far ahead in your lives, but honestly if you’ve managed to get him as a boyfriend then you’re likely to have him for your whole life, if you want him.

-He talks a little more with your parents about the food, expressing in his way that he’s looking forward to a dinner that’s had so much hard work go into it. And you can see the little light go on in your parents’ heads, the light that signals they approve of your choice in boyfriend and have started making room in their hearts for him.

-Dinner is nice, pretty peaceful aside from your twin cousins causing their usual trouble, but he’s nonplussed by it. he still wonders how you managed to come out so small in comparison to everyone else, but it doesn’t bother him too much. He can see that you’re loved and well cared for, and a little piece of him hopes that one day he’ll be able to get to know your family even better.

#bakugou x reader #bakugou katsuki x reader #midoriya x reader #midoriya izuku x reader #deku x reader #todoroki x reader #todoroki shouto x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #bnha headcanons #mha headcanons #Anonymous

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gifted-burnout-archive · 4 years

Text

Family Dinner

Requested?: Yes! Anon requested an age-gap Spencer x Reader fluff where Y/N’s older sister starts flirting with Reid.

Word Count: 4.9K+

Author’s Note: I want to preface this and say I am getting back into writing, and the style of this is not my best work, but I liked writing it and I felt like I did the prompt justice, so I hope y’all enjoy.

Warning: Age Gap (24 and 35). Otheriwse, floof.

Being a Technical Analyst for the FBI had always been your dream job. You were a whiz with computers, and it didn’t hurt that your dark web connection Penelope Garcia was working there anyway. So, when, two years ago, you finished your Master’s and Penelope took you out for drinks to celebrate, you couldn’t refuse when she offered you the job. And just like that, you were an FBI Analyst. You were a part of a selected group of intellectuals tasked with aiding agents in whatever research they may require.

The job came with definite perks, you really couldn’t complain. Especially when, after your training and orientation, Garcia brought you on as her second in command for the Behavioural Analysis Unit. You would never forget your first day on the job, walking into the office and coming face to face with the man Garcia often referred to as Chocolate Thunder.

“So, you’re the new team member then?” Derek Morgan asked you with a wink, leaving you frozen on the spot with shock. Garcia had not downplayed his handsomeness at all.

“Leave her alone, Morgan. Poor thing looks like a rabbit in headlights.” A female scolded Morgan from behind you. A few clicks of her heels later, Emily Prentiss walked by your left shoulder into view, coffees in hand. She offered one to you with a smile, and you managed your first words of the day.

“It’s really nice to meet you both. I’m Y/N.” You offered a hand, and Prentiss shook it firmly. Why was everyone so attractive?

“So, darlin’, let me give you the rundown.” Morgan started, and you shook off the nerves. Everything would be fine, right? “This is the BAU. You are now a part of the Special Agents Unit of the BAU. Along with Garcia, you send us information while on the job to keep us informed, up-to-date and ready to catch serial killers, predators, rapists, you name it.” Morgan was friendly, confident in his words and walk as he led you around the office space. You had to walk double time to keep up.

“You’ve met me, and Prentiss, and obviously Garcia-“

“I met Agent Hotchner too. He interviewed me last week.” You added, nodding a hello to the Unit Chief as he exited his office. He sent one back, disappearing into a door to the left of his own.

“At the morning briefing you’ll meet the rest of the team. Rossi is in the office up there, our senior agent.” Morgan gestured to the door Hotch had just disappeared through. “Agent Jareau, we call her JJ, is our former correspondent turned agent. She has a son named Henry, that’s her desk there.” Morgan pointed it out, a clean and organised desk to your right sporting photos of a very happy family. “And Reid.” Morgan stopped at the most cluttered desk in the room, covered in stacks of books and files.

“Agent Reid?” You clarified, trying to commit all the names and general descriptions to memory. You glanced over his desk, one of the books catching your eye and causing you to smile. “He has good taste in philosophers.” You commented, picking up ‘Critique of Pure Reason’ by Immanuel Kant from the stack and flipping through a few pages of the title before setting it back down. Your eyes drifted back to Agent Morgan, who had a smirk on his face.

“Doctor Reid, our resident genius… I think you two will get along just fine.”

“What do you me-“ Before you could finish, the doors at the far end of the room opened to reveal a man maybe a decade older than yourself, though he didn’t look it, with messy hair and a bright smile to accompany his rather dishevelled appearance. A satchel hung from his right shoulder, a coffee cup in one hand and a case file in the other. Even from across the room, you could see the honey tones in his brown eyes, could see the creases around his mouth from smiling.

Why was everyone so attractive?

“Derek, I swear to God if you’ve messed with my filing system again.” The doctor marched his way over, seemingly not taking notice of you to be sure Agent Morgan hadn’t tampered with the chaos on his desk.

“Reid, be friendly. We have a new team member.” Morgan scolded, and Reid picked up the book you had looked at only moments before, setting it in the correct place before looking at Morgan. Then looking at you.

“Oh.” Was all he could manage, a flush coming onto his cheeks. “Sorry. I’m Dr Spencer Reid.” He introduced himself with a wave, and you waved right back with a small smile, taking a sip of your coffee.

“Y/N… You know, Kant was fairly inspired by the philosophy of David Hume when writing Critique of Pure Reason? Hume’s Treatise on Human Nature was insightful for Kant, compelling him to rethink his own views around religious and natural philosophy.” You offered the information with a nervous tap of your foot and a pull at the collar of your itchy dress shirt. You had bought it a few days ago with the hope of impressing, but it just made your nerves more apparent you thought.

“You like philosophy?” Spencer’s eyes lit up at that, and Morgan walked away with a smile and his arm folded. While you continued to discuss with the resident genius your opinions of the two western philosophers, Morgan had sat himself on Prentiss’ desk, holding up a twenty-dollar bill.

“Twenty bucks says those two are dating by the New Year.” Morgan offered the bet, gesturing to you and Reid as he spoke. Prentiss just grinned, pulling out her own cash to match Derek.

“I say Easter. Whoever’s closest?” She countered, the pair shaking hands just as Garcia called the team into the meeting room.

Two years later, you and Spencer had been together for a year and 3 months of that time. JJ ended up winning the bet, since after you established yourself as a long-term and useful member of the BAU the entire team got in on the betting action Derek and Emily had began on your first day.

You had all been out on the case this time round, flying out to Michigan for a serial killer case, and Hotch rewarded the team’s good work with a few days off. Cuddled into Spencer on the plane home, with your work family around you, it felt nice to know you’d get a few days with your favourite person to relax.

“So, what do you two lovebirds plan on doing?” Rossi asked with a raised eyebrow, forcing you to blush and lift your head from Spencer’s shoulder. The group had been going around, proposing ideas for their own time off: JJ was heading to a resort with the kids and Will, Prentiss was doing something called ‘Sin to Win’ in Atlanta, Morgan was planning to work out, Hotch was spending time at home with Jack, Garcia was looking forward to cuddling with Sergio on her couch. Now, the question rested on you and Spence. As you glanced out the window at the mid-day sun, the plane starting its descent into Virginia, your boyfriend spoke up with a glint in his eye and a smile on his face.

“Well, with Y/N’s birthday coming up, her mom and I talked, planned a birthday dinner so I could finally meet the family.” He admitted, and you looked up in surprise.

You and Spencer were very much meant-to-be, but when you first told your family you were seeing someone, they were a little worried, Spence being older and all. You were 24 and Spencer was 35, it made sense for them to be a little nervous.

Of course, you mom saw a photo of you together last Christmas and fell in love with him right away, all her doubts diminished. She had been demanding you bring him over for months now, and you had been hesitant. What if your family scared him off?

The fact that Spencer had taken it upon himself to reach out made your heart swell, and you squeezed his hand in your own.

“I probably should have run it by you first, right?” He said with a chuckle, and you smiled even wider.

“Not at all, it’s a wonderful idea.” You responded, followed by a chorus of coos from Garcia and JJ, and rolls of the eyes from Morgan and Prentiss.

Dinner with the family, what could go wrong?

“You look… Stunning.” The voice caused you to spin round and face your boyfriend, who was slack jawed by the dress you had decided to wear, consequently making you blush. You had chosen a navy satin slip dress; one you had bought a few months ago and never had the chance to wear because of work. It accentuated your features nicely, without hugging anything too tightly. You had let a few hairs fall loos from your bun in curls, chosen some simple jewellery that complimented your skin tone.

He had a reason to be slack jawed, and while you may not have admitted that two years ago, you could now.

“Guess we’re matching then.” You complimented back, slipping on some navy heels to finish your look before walking over to Spencer and pressing a kiss to his cheek. He had dressed up too, in a light blue button down and black dress pants, a blazer to match. Your destination for the birthday dinner was one of the nicest restaurants around, and Spencer had refused to let your parents pay for anything.

“Before we go, I have something for you.” Spence grinned, and grabbed your hand, leading you out to the living room of his cozy apartment. You had practically moved into his apartment in the last month, whenever he was home you were here. Spencer had paced ahead, pulling a present off the bookshelf and walking back over to you with a smile that could melt hearts.

“Spence, I’m not 25 for a couple of days.” You tried to counter the offer, feeling bad for taking a present early, but Spencer pressed it into your hands.

“Please?” He pleaded, and you smirked, reaching for your handbag and slipping it inside. He raised an eyebrow as you walked for the front door, waiting for an explanation.

“We’re already ten minutes behind. I’ll open it at the restaurant?” You suggested, and the doctor grinned after a moment, thinking over the idea.

“Deal.” He agreed, moving into the hallway outside the apartment and locking his door before offering you an arm, the pair of you walking down to his car.

On the car ride over, you really couldn’t contain your excitement. The last time you had done something so fancy was dinner with your family to celebrate your bachelor’s degree, and you were 20 then. It was almost 5 years since you had donned a dress so pretty to go somewhere so expensive, and it felt nice. Spencer just smiled to himself in the driver’s seat as you jabbered on, the sound of your voice making him feel warm inside and light-headed.

How had he managed to get someone like you to love him, he would never know, but he wasn’t about to remind you that he was nowhere near your league. He wouldn’t risk letting you go.

You pulled up to the restaurant about an hour later, the car slowing to a stop being what stopped your spiel about new coding languages you and Garcia had begun using to boost efficiency in the tech cave you shared with your mentor. Suddenly, there was a lump in your throat.

“You ready?” Spencer asked as he turned the ignition off, a hand quickly coming over to hold the ones you had clasped on your lap.

“I just really want this to go well.” You admitted. Your family was great, your boyfriend amazing, but something was nagging at the back of your mind. Why were you so worried?

“Hey, look at me.” Spence said gently, turning your chin to look up into his eyes. “Everything is going to be perfect, alright? Your mom already loves me, my mom loves you, we have passed the important checkpoints.” Spencer reminded, and you thought back to when you had met Spencer’s mom Diane for the first time. She was so kind, so clever, you saw where Spencer got it from. The trip had been great and had led to you meeting Diane without Spence when you had the free time. By the way Spence spoke about your mom, even though they had only talked over the phone, reassured you, and gave you the courage to open the car door.

Spence was round your side of the car in an instant, helping you out of the vintage model Volvo and pressing a kiss to the back of your hand as you straightened up your dress. The way he smiled, the heat from his lips on your cool skin, it amazed you. He was the fire to your ice, even if he didn’t know it. With a final kiss on the forehead for good luck, Spence led you into the dining establishment, a hotel and restaurant just outside of Baltimore named ‘Lotus’, and as you headed for the front door you noticed your parents’ car parked nearby, Pennsylvania license plates and all.

Spence’s hand didn’t let go of yours until you were at the reception desk, where he let go only to pull out a business card with the reservation information printed on it. The receptionist tapped away for a few moments, humming as he did, then smiled.

“Ah, Dr Reid and Miss Y/L/N, the rest of your party just arrived, they’ve ordered some cocktails on your behalf, we’ll be bringing them through now. If you would follow me.” The receptionist, who you quickly figured out was called Frank by the shiny nametag on his chest, ushered you both into a private dining area, equipped with a private bar and a fairly large table, your family sat around it.

“Sweetie!” Your mother squealed and pulled you into a hug before you had even taken the chance to say hello to everyone. “Aren’t you looking lovely? Have you lost more weight? You know you’ll be lighter than feathers if you don’t eat enough.” Your mom, in her fashion, complimented you with worry laced in her questioning before turning to Spence, who was grinning from ear to ear. He was finally seeing the person behind the voice and knew his mental image of your mom had been correct. She had a rounder face than you did, was around the same height, dressed like the typical middle-aged woman, with rosy cheeks and a flare for patterned shoes. “And you!” She moved from you to embrace Spencer, and you couldn’t help but chuckle. Spence was always a bit of a germaphobe, but he had no problem having the air squeezed from his lungs by a woman half his size.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you Mrs Y/L/N.” Spencer responded, the rest of your family making their way over.

Pleasantries were passed around, your father giving Spence the once over before extending a hand, your grandparents asking far too many questions with sincerity, your aunt and uncle thanking Spencer for arranging the whole dinner. Your worry was very quickly blown away by a) how lovely Spencer was being and b) by your family being so welcoming.

Only once the waiters had arrived did everyone sit down, a variety of cocktails on the table. You found yourself sat at the top of the table, Spencer to your right and your mom to your left. But, as everyone filled seats, you noticed an empty chair with a martini in front of it.

“Mom, are we missing someone?” You asked, wondering if your cousin Fiona or Aunt Cathy had flown in for the occasion from Canada. It would be the only logical explanation.

“I wanted to surprise you, but I guess working with the FBI clever clogs has given you a keen eye.” Your mom grinned, and you tried to stop your face from falling.

“V’s here?” You asked, taking a large sip from your drink, only to realise there was no alcohol in it.

“Who’s V?” Spencer asked, raising an eyebrow at your actions from over the menu. Your mother answered on your behalf.

“Veronica is Y/N’s big sister. Flew in from Paris just to see you.” She chimed, and you held back the groan.

“I didn’t know you had a sister, babe.” Spencer sounded rather surprised, but with his profession and aptitude, it didn’t take long for him to see through your smile and determine that Veronica was not someone you particularly liked.

“Yeah, we haven’t talked in years. She’s been in Europe since I was 14?” You suggested, gesturing for the waiter. “Sorry, could I get something stronger?” You asked quietly, trying not to listen to your mom and dad gush about V.

“Veronica is a ballerina, the current Prima Donna for the Paris Ballet. She’s held the title for, oh, almost 3 years now. She is a spectacular dancer…” Your relatives continued on, explaining the successful career of your sister who was probably a room over, listening through the wall.

“Ma’am,” The waiter got your attention again. “Do you have ID, the woman who ordered your drink said you weren’t allowed alcohol.” The waiter said with a weak smile, and you let out a curt laugh before reaching into your bag to find your wallet.

“Unbelievable…” You found yourself muttering and handed over your ID to the waiter. He checked it over, apologised, and went to fetch you a new drink.

“So, you still can’t take a joke then?” the voice you had almost forgotten after years of absence was like an alarm in your head, and you did your best not to scream from shock. Veronica walked towards the table from the far side of the room, dressed in white and looking just as cruel as the day she left home. Beautiful, yes, but cruel.

“Hello V.”

“Hey, baby sis.” The silence that followed was tense, and your relatives seemed confused by why. It was a sister reunion, where was the hugging, the tears?

“We haven’t met yet,” Your boyfriend interrupted the quiet by standing up and pulling out the chair beside his for your sister. “I’m Spencer.”

“Well hello Spencer, I’m Veronica.” She said in a cheery voice, and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. She strutted her way along the table, squeezing grandpa’s shoulder as she went, and pressed a kiss to Spencer’s cheek in greeting, staining the tanned skin with red before sitting down and reaching a hand towards you. “I missed you sweetie, we have so much to catch up on.” A look to your left, your mom giving you a warning look, your dad’s face one of pleading, you plastered on a smile to match your outfit and reached over, squeezing V’s hand with a tilt of your head.

“I missed you too.” You lied through your teeth, sitting back in your chair as waiters came by to take orders.

There wasn’t much of a chance for you and Spencer to talk all evening, your mom and dad asking you constant questions about work and Spencer and Penelope, all the while your sister seemed to latch herself on Spencer like a leech. By the time mains were finished and dessert menus were being handed out, you had watched your older sister touch your boyfriend no less than 12 different times, and you heard her giggle at his conversation at least 23 times in the last hour.

“So, Spencer,” Your auntie asked, and you silently thanked her for shutting up Veronica. “How did you and Y/N meet? I mean, do you work in the same department at Quantico?” She sent a wink your way, and you took another sip of your cocktail, having moved from vodka to rum based drinks.

“Well…” Spencer flushed, and took your hand, resting them on top of the table. “Y/N and I work in the same department at the FBI. She’s our eyes and ears when the rest of the team are on the ground. The first day she walked into the office, I remember…” He smiled at you, and you couldn’t help but smile back, the rest of the table falling quiet to listen. “I remember she was getting the tour of the office and had moved one of the books on my desk. I was going to get mad, I’m not a fan of my desk being disturbed, but she smiled at me with these wide eyes and told me all about David Hume and Immanuel Kant and I just knew she was amazing. And we became friends as the job assists people to, but those first nine months she was in the office I was just waiting, just waiting for the right moment to ask her out for coffee.” You leaned over, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, smudging the stain your sister had left. “The rest is sort of history, to be honest. I never thought I’d get so lucky.” The coos from your mom, aunty and grandparents, along with the nods of approval from your uncle and dad sort of sealed the deal for you that your family were as charmed by Spencer as you were.

“Are we ready to order desserts ladies and gentlemen?” The waiter asked, notepad at the ready. You flashed one last smile at Spencer before dropping his hand so you could both decide on your final course, not noticing the storm cloud that had formed over your older sister’s head.

Now, you would never admit you liked your family better tipsy, but after Spencer paid for dinner without a complaint and your grandparents, of all people, suggested more drinks, who could refuse? The table was cleared as your group sat at the bar, drinking into the late evening. Pair by pair, your grandparents gifted you a new watch before retiring to their room upstairs, then your aunt and uncle presented you with a new book on coding languages for work, until you were just left with your mom, dad, Spencer and V. You had all had quite a few drinks, your sister the most, but with everyone heading up to rooms, it would only be a matter of time before you and Spencer got a cab home as well.

“Y/N, Y/N.” Your dad came over, still sure in his step unlike your mother, who was dancing to the background music in the room’s centre. “25 is a big thing, and we wanted to get you something special. Of course, with your work and all, we weren’t sure what but…” You dad pulled out an envelope and handed it over to you. You placed your drink down on the bar, a smile on your face as you opened the gift, pulling out a slip of paper from inside.

“Dad… New York?” You said, tears brimming in your eyes.

“I know you don’t get a lot of time off and all, so it’s a voucher for a hotel in the city for a few nights, when you and Spence get the chance. I was looking for some stuff that’s happening soon, and I saw a new computer exhibition opened up at the museum, and the university is always hosting philosophy talks and I just…” He smiled, wiping a tear from your cheek. “I’m really proud of you sweetheart, your mom is too. You’ve grown up into such an accomplished and amazing woman, it’s all we could ever ask for.” You jumped from your chair and wrapped your arms around your dad tight.

“Thank you, I can’t wait to tell Spencer… Spen-” You looked around the room to find Spencer and V had disappeared.

“They went outside my love!” Your mom hollered, beckoning your father to dance with her. You nodded and made your way out, leaving your parents to dance as you left the comfort of the private room for the cool night air.

“… a little young for you…” You caught the tail-end of the conversation as you headed outside, spotting V and Spencer stood just along the road, the former holding a cigarette between manicured fingers. Their faces were lit by the lights inside, shadows cast on the pebble car lot. Most of the cars had left, leaving the few of guests that were staying over that evening.

“I think we need to get you some water Veronica.” Your boyfriend countered, offering her an arm back inside.

“Oh, don’t be stupid Doctor.” V responded with a giggle, and you watched her pull him close. “We both know who the better sister is.” Her words made your face and stomach drop at the same time, and left you frozen in place. Of course, once again, your sister tried to take what was yours. She didn’t just have to outshine you for years, to bully you and mock you, to scare away the boys you liked as a kid, no. No, now she had to return to the US after a decade away and try and steal your boyfriend.

The thing was, you wouldn’t even be mad at Spencer if she succeeded… You had been given countless reminders that V was better looking, more athletic, more charming, just better than you in every way she demanded counted. Your smarts were nothing compared to her beauty, and she let you know it your entire childhood. She was five years older than you and still acting like you were teenagers.

“Actually, I don’t think we agree on that front. You see Veronica, I know people. I study them, that’s my job. And when someone decides to return home unexpectedly to celebrate the birthday of the younger sister they berated for an entire childhood, it says two things. First, that the attention you had in Paris has either disappeared or been removed completely from your life. And secondly, the only way you feel good is tearing other people down. It’s a shame that you can’t be proud of Y/N the way the rest of your family are, the way I am, because it just means you don’t love yourself… I know who the better sister is Veronica, and it’s not the one standing in front of me.” Spencer’s response shocked you from your stupor, and you found yourself walking towards the pair, your heels indicating your presence to the pair.

“Hey V, babe.” You addressed them both, Spencer taking the chance to pull you in for a kiss by the waist, leaving you giggling.

“Let’s head inside, I want your parents to see the gift I got you.” Spencer suggested, not looking at V for a moment once you had entered his vision. With a nod and your hand slipping around his waist the same way his arm held yours, you both headed inside, leaving V to contemplate the words Spencer had dealt her, the hard truth he had laid out.

“I forgot to say,” You grinned up at Spence, who return the expression as the pair of you entered the private room once more. “Mom and dad got us a voucher for a stay in New York. I was thinking we head next time we get a few days off?”

“That sounds amazing…” Spencer pressed a kiss to your forehead, pulling out a chair for you at the table then retrieving your handbag. “Close your eyes.”

“Ok, I’m ready for my present.” You followed the order, your eyes fluttering shut, and your hands held out in front of you. Your parents watched on as Spencer placed the gift he had given at his flat into your hands.

“Open.” He directed, and your eyes opened, a smile on your face. Your hands were quick to open the small, slim box, wondering if he had bought you a CD or something similar.

Instead, you found a locket necklace and a small velvet bag in the centre of the present.

“Spence…” You smiled, beckoning him over to help you clasp the necklace on. It had your and Spencer’s initials on it, a more materialistic gift than you would have thought Spencer would get you, but beautiful, nonetheless. “Are these matching earrings?” You questioned, opening the velvet bag in the centre.

“No.” Spencer said softly as you removed the item from within.

A key.

“I found us a place, in DC… With a study and everything, all the books and tech space we could want… Y/N, I know this might be too fast, but you are the person I want to spend my life with. And I know we aren’t at the wedding bells stage quite yet, but I thought this would be a good step to take in our relationship.” Spencer rambled on, and you leaned forward to shut him up with a kiss. It was soft and sweet, Spencer tasted like coffee and chocolate and booze and it made butterflies erupt in your stomach.

“Yes.” You answered his question before he even asked it to the applause of your rather drunk parents. “Yes, of course I’ll move in with you... I love you, Spencer Reid.”

“I love you too, Y/N Y/L/N… Should I order that taxi to the new apartment then?” Spence asked, and you nodded fast, gathering your things and kissing your parents goodbye.

And, despite whatever V had been up to that night, you left your birthday dinner to your new home, the home you shared with Spencer, the home you would keep with Spencer for many years to come.

#spencer reid #spencer reid x y/n #dr spencer reid #fanfiction #oneshot #fluff #bau #criminal minds

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acanvasofabillionsuns · 4 years

Note

Romantic analogical going to the fair or something maybe? -Skull anon(I have a feeling I know what this is for and I am very Happy :3)

this is exactly what you think it’s for! (presuming you think it’s for your birthday, in which case, yes!! happy birthday i hope you like it!!!)

• they go with their friends Roman and Patton and almost immediately lose them

“Should we go look for them?” Virgil asks worriedly. Logan hesitates.

“They have their phones with them,” Logan decides. “If they need us or vice versa, we can text or call each other.”

“Good point,” Virgil agrees, and pulls Logan over to the nearest roller coaster.

• Despite what some may assume due to his anxiety, Virgil loves roller coasters. Logan is,,, less fond of them.

“C’mon, please?” Virgil wheedles. “I don’t wanna ride alone.”

“My glasses,” Logan says. “I don’t want them to fly off or break or anything.”

“Not a problem,” Virgil tells him, rifling through his hoodie pockets and pulling out a glasses strap. “If a coaster’s intense enough that you need to take off your glasses with these on them, then we can just not ride it.”

“Oh,” Logan says, touched. “Thank you, Virgil.” He adjusts his glasses. “That’s very considerate.”

“No problem.” Virgil smiles at him. “Want help putting this on and adjusting it?” He waves the strap.

“If you would.”

• They ride coasters for a few hours before getting food, and then Logan insists they wait a bit before going on any more rides, so they wander around and look in the gift shops and stuff.

Logan squints. “Is that...”

“What?” Virgil looks over to where Logan’s staring. “Oh. Yeah, that’s them.”

Roman is sitting on a bench, clutching his stomach, as Patton flits between hovering over him and saying something to a park worker cleaning up something nearby.

“Yo, idiot!” Virgil shouts, striding over to them. “Tell me you didn’t eat a bunch of fair food and then ride a roller coaster.”

“Are we ignoring the fact that you would’ve done just that if I hadn’t stopped you?” Logan mutters, walking after him.

“Shh, let me heckle Roman.” Virgil grins.

“Oh! Hi, guys!” Patton says, smiling at them. “Roman’s, uh.”

“Suffering,” Roman moans dramatically. “I may never step foot on a roller coaster again.”

“You mean you wouldn’t go ride the next roller coaster we come across if I paid for your ticket?” Virgil asks.

“Let’s not be hasty now,” Roman says, sitting up straighter. “Free rides are nothing to smirk at, Virgil, wipe that grin off your face I know what you’re doing.”

• Roman does end up riding the coaster they come across, since Virgil pays for it (Logan and Patton opt to sit out and catch up on what the other had been doing), but after that then they take a break from rides and play some carnival games.

“Roman,” Patton deadpans, grabbing his arm and halting the group. “Look over there.” He points. There’s a booth - some kind of throwing or shooting game, it looks like - with a bunch of giant stuffed animals hanging as prizes. “There’s a cat one,” Patton whispers fervently.

Roman puffs himself up and strides over to the booth, Patton hopping after excitedly.

“Roman knows many of these games are rigged and he will likely fail to win anything, much less one of the giant stuffed animals, right?” Logan asks, even as he eyes the unicorn one (it looks very soft, okay?).

“Yeah, but Patton wants one,” Virgil points out.

Logan sighs. “Ah, yes.”

• They give Roman five tries before Logan steps up and wins spectacularly, twice, and gets the cat for Patton and the unicorn for himself.

“I had it,” Roman pouts. “I just needed one more try, two at the most, and I would’ve won.”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Logan placates him absently, squeezing the unicorn and appreciating the feel of it against him. It is very soft, as he predicted, and not overly heavy, and very good for holding.

“Psst, Lo,” Virgil whispers. “Can I borrow your unicorn for a sec?”

“May I ask why you want it? Also why you’re whispering?”

“You’ll see,” Virgil says cryptically. “And because I want to.”

“Fair enough.” Logan shrugs and hands him the unicorn. Virgil shuffles it around in his arms until it’s facing away from him, the head falling on its chest. Virgil clumsily sets the horn on Logan’s right shoulder, then the left, then on top of his head.

“I knight you,” Virgil proclaims, grinning goofily, “the best, smartest boyfriend ever.”

Logan melts, beaming softly back at his boyfriend. “I’m honored. If I may?” He gestures towards the unicorn. Virgil hands it over, and Logan passes it to Patton and kisses Virgil soundly.

• They eat dinner a little while later, because they’ve been there long enough for that, and wander around some more until they reach the ferris wheel.

“We’ve got to ride it!” Roman tells them. “It’s like the rule. You go to the fair, you ride the ferris wheel.”

None of them don’t want to ride it, so they all agree. They’ve accumulated enough stuff - Logan’s unicorn and Patton’s cat, Roman had gotten a few knickknacks as pity prizes from the game, they’d all gotten a handful of candy from here and there, Virgil had found a nice pair of earrings in a gift shop - that someone needs to stay behind to watch it, and since no one wants to ride alone Logan and Virgil stay back together as Roman and Patton take their turn on the wheel.

“Five bucks says they kiss at the top,” Virgil bets Logan.

“Are you kidding?” Logan asks. “Besides the fact that we’d have no way to verify if they kiss or not unless they were to tell us, they’re both hopeless romantics. Of course they’re going to kiss at the top.”

• Roman and Patton come down grinning widely and take over stuff-watching duty, and it’s Logan and Virgil’s turn to ride the ferris wheel.

Virgil wonders idly if he should kiss Logan at the top. Like he’d said, it’s a hopeless romantic move, and while Virgil might not be one, he is completely in love with Logan, and that feels close enough.

Then they’re at the top, and Logan is staring out at the amusement park below them and the sky around them - sun mostly set and a hint of stars starting to creep out and a really brilliant view - with such a look of wonder that Virgil has to just sit back and try to memorize his expression.

Then Logan turns that expression on him and Virgil is very, very gay.

“Are you looking at this?” Logan asks, eyes glittering brightly. “Isn’t it stunning?”

“Absolutely,” Virgil agrees.

Logan squints at him. “Are you talking about me or the view?”

“You.” Virgil grins at Logan’s squawk and blush. “The view is pretty too, though.”

• After the ferris wheel, they’re all pretty tired, so they wander back towards the entrance and pile into Logan’s car to drive back home. Roman fall asleep almost immediately after the car starts rolling, and Patton carries him inside once they reach home. Logan and Virgil grab the candy and the cotton candy that Patton insisted on wrapping up and saving for later, and decide the rest of the stuff they got can sit a night in the car.

They put up the food and get ready for bed and then curl up in bed next to each other and fall asleep, the lingering happiness from the full day turning into content.

#my writing #analogical #royality #platonic LAMP #ts roman #ts patton #ts virgil #ts logan #sanders sides #roman and patton 100% kissed at the top for anyone wondering #an ask #an-on ask #skull anon #tk talks #this is very unedited so apologies for any typos #*squints at tumblr messing up how i formatted this*#happy birthday!!#tumblr please behave

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seagreen-meets-grey · 3 years

Text

When Lightning Strikes Ch. 20

When your life is nothing but a cloudless sky, lightning can come and strike you so unexpectedly, you won’t even know what hit you.

Or: When Hiccup and Astrid meet, it is as if lightning strikes.

[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7] [Chapter 8] [Chapter 9] [Chapter 10] [Chapter 11] [Chapter 12] [Chapter 13] [Chapter 14] [Chapter 15] [Chapter 16] [Chapter 17] [Chapter 18] [Chapter 19]

Crossposted on ao3 and ff.net

(Last round, everyone!)

_______________

The pub wasn’t very crowded on a Wednesday night. Maybe a third of the tables and half the stools at the bar were occupied. Indie-Rock music was coming from the speakers, a backdrop to clinking glasses and pleasant conversations in seemingly countless languages.

Outside the windows, the setting sun was largely hidden behind clouds, but darkness was yet to set in. The lights in the pub were slightly dimmed to create a cozy atmosphere, accentuated by the Nordic decorations and laughter all around.

It was pleasantly warm inside, a stark contrast to the chilly air of late October, with cold winds coming in from the sea.

“Yes! Bullseye!” Astrid went to pull her three arrows out of the dartboard and accepted the two bottles of Kaldi Blonde, a local Icelandic beer, from Hiccup as he took his turn. They were standing in a corner of the pub, competing in their third game of darts. After she’d won the first two rounds, he was determined to win this one. But he would have to catch up to her first. The first arrow hit the triple twenty and he cheered, throwing her a victorious smirk.

“Don’t celebrate too soon, I’m still ahead of you!”

“Oh no, I’m going to destroy you,” he countered, squinting at the board and shifting his stance a little. With one smooth throw, the arrow landed slightly higher to the right of the first one, counting one point.

“Ha!”

He stuck out his tongue at her in response as he lined up his third throw. An excited buzz was flowing through her veins, mind completely at ease and a warm feeling in her chest – the usual for spending time with her boyfriend. She noticed him making his cute, concentrated face where he pressed his lips together and dedicated his entire focus in a single direction. Hiccup threw the arrow and for a split-second, it looked like it would hit another triple twenty, but it bounced off the first arrow and flew through the room.

She laughed at his wide-eyed expression as he scrambled after the arrow and crawled underneath a table to retrieve it.

“Did the board count that?” he asked as he poked his head out between two chairs.

“Nope,” she answered after a quick look at the electric board, “and I’m still ahead of you!”

He was grumbling something as he stood again, wiping a bit of dust off his arrow, and she was raising her bottle to her lips with a grin when she suddenly stopped mid-motion. Hiccup came to take the beers from her so she could start her turn, but then frowned at her. “What is it?”

A thought had just occurred to her, hitting her right in the chest, spreading through her entire body like electrically charged lava. She met his quizzical eyes, so green in the dimmed lights of the pub. Even after all this time, they still had the same effect on her.

“Astrid?” He briefly touched her still raised hand to get her attention and the same old spark jumped over her skin as if he was touching her for the first time. It was as if she had taken off the thick glasses that made everything look hazy – no, she realized, she’d taken them off quite some time ago, but only now had she noticed. Everything was clear all of a sudden, and she felt light, her heart jumping into her throat.

“Let’s get married,” she blurted out, a huge grin spreading on her face.

“W-what?” Hiccup was taken aback, staring at her with a slight gape.

“Let’s get married,” she repeated.

“You- But- I- Why—” he stammered, a million thoughts scurrying over his expression.

She crossed her arms. “Well, why do you think?”

He blinked, still in surprise. “You… You changed your mind? When?”

“Just now.”

Slowly, his gape morphed into a wide, blinding smile as he scooped her up in his arms and spun her around before setting her down again and holding her close, foreheads pressed together. She almost forgot about the drinks in her hand, nearly dropping the bottles. “And you’re really sure about this?”

“Yes.” Goosebumps broke out over her entire body as she looked into his eyes and saw her reflection in them mirror the unbridled joy and love building and crashing between them like a tsunami wave. Why had she taken so long to realize her fears had been stupid all along? Sure, they had come from a real place, but in this very moment, past Astrid was nothing more than a ghost fading into nothingness somewhere in the smallest corner of present Astrid.

“Okay,” he whispered. “Okay, let’s do it.”

Without breaking eye contact, she set the beers down on the next table and kissed him, long and deep, before grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the exit. “Let’s do it!”

He hesitated, stopping after a few steps. “What, you mean right now?”

“Yeah.” She furrowed her brows. “I’m sure there’s some place in Reykjavík that marries people.”

“Um… Astrid, this isn’t Vegas. You can’t just go to a nearby chapel, sign a form and get hitched.”

“You don’t know unless you go look for it.” She crossed her arms, a shadow falling over her boundless excited energy. “And then, once we find something, we can go first thing tomorrow and–”

“First thing tomorrow? I don’t think it’s that easy, hon.” He tried a smile, but it only flickered shortly before disappearing again. “Like I said, this isn’t Vegas. We’re on a completely different continent than Vegas. We can’t just go and get married.”

“Since when are you such a pessimist?”

“What? I’m not a pessimist, I’m being realistic here.”

She smiled lopsidedly. “Since when are you a realist? Where’s my there’s-no-way-we-can’t-train-the-neighbor’s-dog-to-bring-us-the-newspaper-Hiccup?”

He shrugged with one shoulder but didn’t answer, glancing right past her, not meeting her eyes. Her shoulders sagged along with her excitement. “You don’t want to.”

“I do! I really do!” he hurried to say. “But…”

“But what?” she inquired when he trailed off.

With slow steps, he reached her, taking her hands in his. “Look. Why don’t we wait until we’re back home?”

“Why? Why not go and at least scout our options? I thought you of all people would agree there.”

He took a deep breath. “Because I want you to have a chance to change your mind.”

Surprised, she took a step back. “Why would I change my mind? This was my idea!”

“I… I don’t…” He struggled to find the right words for a minute. “I don’t want you to go through with something you realize you don’t want after all, just because you made a decision and are too stubborn to admit it’s not what you want.”

“But I just said–”

“I don’t want you to regret your decision,” he said with a pressing look in his eyes that conveyed more than his words did, and she understood. She’d once made a decision she’d regretted later on – in a very similar context. Despite her initial disappointment and correlating annoyance, she felt a stream of liquid cocoa encircle her heart like a moat.

She leaned her head against his shoulder and squeezed his hands. After a moment, she felt him relax, his chin resting on her head. For his consideration alone, she wanted to drag him through the city and find at least Reykjavík’s city hall. But as much as she wanted to elope right here, right now, she could wait. Besides, they were going to be here for another two weeks, that was plenty of time she could use to change his mind.

With a small sigh, she lifted her head and pecked his cheek. “Alright. Now let me continue with destroying you at darts.”

Hours later, when they were lying in their hotel bed, she couldn’t sleep. She tossed and turned, squeezing her eyes shut until she felt dizzy, but to no avail. Not even Hiccup’s calm breathing next to her and the peaceful expression on his face were helping, and that usually lulled her to sleep like nothing else could. But not tonight.

Reaching over to the nightstand, she turned on her phone and blinked at the sudden bright light. Darkening the screen as far as possible, she typed a few key words into the search bar and spent the next hour researching. And Hiccup had been right. This wasn’t Vegas. She needed documents, not just copies but originals, and she needed time, two weeks in advance at the bare minimum. And money, too. And rings. And a warm dress and tux. And an officiant. And a place.

Now, some of those things weren’t that hard to obtain, and the costs weren’t nearly as high as she’d feared (seriously, she’d paid more for their big fridge), but she’d have to hand in all the necessary documents immediately if she wanted to make this possible. But as long as Hiccup wasn’t on board, for whatever reason, she could forget about the whole thing.

Swallowing her disappointment, she put her phone aside and turned to look at her boyfr– no, wait, fiancé! She and Hiccup were engaged now! Not with an official ring, but what did that matter? Engaged meant engaged. They both agreed to marry the other. To spend a life together, not just in practice, but in every sense of the word. Officially, legally, bindingly, finally.

The buzzing returned to her chest, and suddenly, it was easy to sink into her pillow and fall asleep. Because just as easily, she realized that time and place didn’t matter. They could always come back or travel somewhere else to get married. Hell, they could pay a few bucks to someone at the airport and take care of any legal requirements later – weren’t pilots allowed to marry people? Or did that only apply to ship captains? But before she could finish that thought, she was already out like a light.

All of her nightly deliberation, though, couldn’t stop her from not-so-coincidentally walking past a shop for wedding clothes on their stroll through the city the next day. Hiccup just shook his head with a fond smile and followed her inside. She could already look, right? And there was no way she’d wear the same dress to her second wedding.

She wasn’t usually one to enjoy shopping for clothes like other women did – if she needed something, she’d go get it, not aimlessly walk through a hundred stores without purpose – this place felt like heaven. Maybe it stemmed from her excitement, maybe it was the rows upon rows of cream and white (and the occasional black or green) that made her feel like she was surrounded by clouds. Brocade, lace, tulle, ornaments with golden or silver threads woven in, all kinds of different lengths and sizes and cuts. She felt a little overwhelmed until she figured out the system in which the dresses were hung.

While Hiccup was chatting with a sales assistant somewhere over by the tuxedo pants, she walked past a row of short summer dresses, running her fingers through the layers of fabric, marveling at the needlework that must have gone into all the fine details in the adornments.

Turning a corner, she found the section for warmer clothes. Winter dresses with long sleeves and thick layers that still managed to look delicate, matching bolero jackets, thick tights that would be invisible underneath the beautiful skirts, even light winter boots that went with certain dresses. Astrid wanted to try them all on. But quickly running the numbers in her head and converting currencies, she had to turn her back on probably half the display.

With pleasant music in the background, a small table with water, orange juice, champagne and snacks nearby, and a friendly sales woman offering her assistance, Astrid figured it was a good thing she and Hiccup didn’t have any set plans for the rest of the day.

Edda, the sales woman, greeted her with an enthusiastic energy, rubbing her hands together and asking Astrid for her preferences. Then she weaseled back and forth between the rows, picking out dress after dress, matching jackets, scarfs, shoes, shawls, fur capes and elegant ponchos. Whenever Astrid had put on one dress, Edda was already back with another.

And they were all so, so beautiful. But they either didn’t quite fit, were too expensive, or just simply weren’t her style. About half an hour into their fitting session, Hiccup was waiting for her lounging in a chair when she came out of the fitting room in a long layered dress with puffy sleeves and a high collar, not unlike Lady Diana’s dress. It had looked great on its hanger (and on Lady Di), but on Astrid? Well, when Hiccup saw her and started laughing, she just rolled her eyes with a defeated sigh and didn’t even wait for Edda to come back before peeling herself out of the monstrosity.

Two hours passed with just the blink of an eye. For a while, she didn’t even see Hiccup in-between getting in and out of dresses. She wasn’t even sure if he was still in the store, but she couldn’t blame him. She was completely drained and had stopped counting after dress number twenty. Seemed like Edda could tell because she suggested a break when Astrid refused to give up and come back another day.

Downing an entire glass of champagne in one go, she wearily wiped a hand over her face. She wanted to find a dress, the sooner the better, because then she had more ammunition to throw at Hiccup who still insisted they didn’t get married until they were back home.

She put down her empty glass and strolled through the store, side-eyeing every dress she’d tried on so far. Some of them had been really pretty. Maybe if she took them to a tailor to make some last-minute changes…?

Just for the sake of it, she took a look at the dresses with the horrendously high price tags. From within the masses, a full-length, sleeveless white silk dress with a lace collar caught her eye. It had a broad sash with intricate Celtic-Nordic ornaments woven in with golden thread. It felt impossibly soft and looked incredibly comfortable. But what was worst was that it seemed to be her exact size.

“That is beautiful,” a voice behind her said and from out of nowhere, Hiccup reappeared. He stepped closer, running a hand up and down her back.

“Yeah,” she sighed and carefully hung it back. “But way too expensive.”

“You could try it on and I’ll convince Edda that you’re meant to have it because no other person will look as beautiful in it as you.” He rested his chin on her shoulder and hugged her from behind. “Maybe she’s superstitious, too, and will believe me when I tell her you’re a goddess or a fairy in disguise and this dress can be her offering to you.”

“Solid plan, babe,” she said with a grin. “You know what? I’ll try it on for you. And for me, because it’s gorgeous and I want to.”

“That’s the spirit.” He let go of her so she could take the dress back to the fitting room.

It was perfect.

For a full minute, she marveled at her own reflection in the huge mirror. The dress fit like a second skin, as if it had been made specially for her. She ran her hands over the fabric, so soft and of such a high quality, the price almost seemed too low, even.

She pulled the curtain aside and stepped out of the room, feeling like the goddess Hiccup had offered to sell her as. And boy, did he think the same, judging by the gape and the wide eyes and the adoring smile that spread over his face following the first shock.

“Wow.” His voice was almost breathless. “I… Wow. Now I want to make you an offering, oh mighty goddess of… of…” He trailed off, at a loss for words. Astrid took pride in being the only one who could cause that in him. (Well, she and one dress. But that was it.)

“Oh, you found one!” Neither she nor Hiccup had noticed Edda come back. “Turn around, let me see.” Astrid turned for Edda, the fabric flowing around her ankles. “Wonderful, wonderful!”

“But way too much…” Astrid fingered with the price tag, already heading back to the fitting room before she could do something stupid like empty her entire savings account for this, but Edda motioned for her to wait.

“This dress is part of our next big sale. If you’re still here two weeks from now, it can be yours for a third of the price. Provided that no one else buys it before you.”

Astrid bit her lip and exchanged a glance with Hiccup. If she already couldn’t have her impromptu wedding in Iceland, she at least wanted the dress.

“I’ll take that chance,” she announced, earning approving nods from both Edda and Hiccup.

Step one: check.

But Hiccup was stubborn. The following days, she kept talking his ear off about extending their vacation and finding a way to get their documents here without traveling back first.

“Astrid, we’re in a different country,” he argued. “Let’s go home first and, when the lenses of the romantic vacation are gone, see what’s the plan then.”

“I’m not going to change my mind, Hiccup, I don’t know how often I have to say that until you believe me.”

But he was relentless. Not even her ploy to convince him by trying on the dress every time they walked past the store worked. She even found matching warm shoes and a beautiful white faux-fur coat that looked like a cape with sleeves and made her feel like a Viking queen. She also knew what she’d do with her hair, picking out a flower crown from a florist and a matching one for Hiccup the first chance she got. But he kept talking about how they could find these things in Berk or maybe have them shipped home.

The only thing they did without hesitation was buy the rings. They’d just come back from a four-day trip across the island when they walked past a jeweler’s display window. Infected with a prenuptial spirit, they spent the rest of the afternoon in a café, hunched over Hiccup’s sketchbook, before they went back to order their own personalized wedding rings. It made the whole ordeal feel absolutely final, but their time on this vacation was slowly running out and Hiccup still didn’t budge. Which was frustrating.

And then, less than a week before the sale, the dress was gone. Along with their chance to just bribe someone to marry them without all the legal necessities. She was grumpy for the entire day.

The next morning, she had sort of accepted her fate, directing her energy into making plans with Hiccup for a winter wedding and a party once they got home. It wouldn’t be as soon as she’d hoped it could happen, and much of their plans hinged on it snowing a lot, but the buzzing excitement was back in no time. And with it, her good mood.

Which is why she didn’t waste any energy on what could have been when the last day of their vacation dawned. After breakfast at the hotel, they took their rental car outside the city and spent the day at the coast, walking hand in hand along the cliffs and picnicking down at the beach sheltered in the shadow of a tall rock formation, with sandwiches, cookies and a thermos of hot tea.

They watched the sunset up by the edge of a cliff, huddled closely together on their camping chairs, listening to the waves at the bottom of the cliff, climbing and crashing back down. The wind was subsiding and the clouds were parting, and Astrid felt as if she was at the edge of the world, just her and Hiccup. It was still cold, though, and she adjusted her hat and scarf to properly cover her ears and neck. Then she reached over and took Hiccup’s gloved fingers in hers, resting their hands on the arms of the adjoined chairs. She felt him squeeze her hand and look at her from the side.

“What?”

His expression was thoughtful. “You haven’t changed your mind yet?”

She sighed in fond exasperation and leaned her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes against a low sunbeam. “No, you muttonhead. I want to marry you. That has absolutely nothing to do with us being on vacation. I don��t know how that even got into that thick skull of yours.”

For a few minutes, he was quiet. Then he pressed a kiss to her temple and hesitantly leaned his head against hers. “Too bad that it did, because we could have been married by now.”

She sat up and socked him on the arm, ignoring his yelp. “Yes, we could have been! I could also have owned my perfect wedding dress by now.” She crossed her arms and added with a low grumble, “Let’s hope the rings are really done by tomorrow morning. I don’t want to pay a shipping fee if they aren’t, they were expensive enough already.”

“Don’t worry, I checked with them this morning, we can pick them up first thing tomorrow.”

The sun had almost completely disappeared behind the horizon when she glanced back at him, absentmindedly playing with his fingers. “Did you really think I’d change my mind about you?”

He shrugged, keeping his eyes trained on the endless sea. In the now quickly dying light, it became harder to read his expression. “It’s not like I didn’t believe you when you said you were sure about it. I just...” He went quiet again, lips pressed together, but she didn’t take her eyes off him, waiting for him to continue. Then he looked at her, and in the near-darkness, his eyes were like a beacon, shining with emotions, open and raw and honest and vulnerable.

“I guess I was afraid.”

“Of what? Me changing my mind?” She frowned.

“Yeah. I mean… What if you start feeling trapped again? Like this is not the life you want?” His voice was almost a whisper, almost part of the wind grazing their cheeks, painting them red. “When you realize marrying me was the wrong decision. You said you were sure, but wasn’t that what you’d thought last time?”

Oh. Oh. So that… That was…

“Oh, Hiccup.” She enveloped him with both arms and pressed a lingering kiss to his mouth. “You could have just said that, you know. Then I could have told you way earlier that you have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

“I know you love me,” he continued, “but you also loved Eret and–”

“Not like this,” she interrupted him. “With Eret, everything was... easy. Pleasant. When I looked at our relationship from the outside, it made sense. But it took me a long time to figure out that I needed so much more than that. I’ve told you many times how it felt when I met you. You turned everything I thought I knew about love upside down, and about what I wanted, what I needed. The only reason I didn’t marry you way earlier is a fear I now know is irrelevant. Because I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and only you, only ever you.”

“Hm,” he made after a minute, trying a smile, “I guess your fear rubbed off on me a little.”

“It was a real fear, but like I said, I’m over it now. Because I know exactly what I want and because I know that it will be different this time, because I have not even the tiniest of doubts about you, I never had.” She regarded him with creased brows and a suddenly tight chest. “Do you?”

He vehemently shook his head. “No. I could have married you on the spot that day, you know, in the rain. I can’t imagine ever loving anyone else like that.”

“Good, then we’re on the same page. Next time, just talk to me, you muttonhead!”

A long sigh escaped him, as if he was releasing all the tension at once that he’d felt ever since she’d announced that she wanted to marry him, for real. “I’m sorry. I should have said something.”

“I know. It’s alright.” She leaned her head on his shoulder again, a starry sky above them the only light source for miles. One of the only clouds left in the sky gave way to the moon, or rather what little was visible of it, its crescent shape resembling a thin scythe.

“Good to know you’re still on board, though,” Hiccup mumbled and by the sound of it, he was far away with his thoughts.

Astrid fumbled her phone out of her pocket with stiff fingers, pulling up a weather forecast. “Looks like it’s gonna be a clear sky tonight. Hey, maybe we’ll finally get to see the lights!” It was one of the main reasons they’d chosen Iceland as their destination, after all. And so far, the sky had never been clear enough for the real experience.

“Yes, maybe.” Hiccup rose out of his chair with a groan. “But first, we should get back to the hotel, pack our suitcases, warm up, have dinner… Maybe not in that order.”

She hummed as she followed him back to the car, carrying her folded chair over one shoulder. “I’m sure we can think of a good way or two to warm ourselves up.”

_______________

After dinner, Astrid got a call from the jeweler that they could come pick up their rings immediately, even though they were already closed – someone would still be there to lock up, waiting for them. Hiccup offered to go get the rings while Astrid kept packing up their stuff. That didn’t take very long, though, as she was a very efficient packer, so she changed into her sweatpants and lounged on the bed while video-calling Ruffnut for a while.

Her phone was leaning against the lamp on the nightstand while charging, with Astrid sitting cross-legged on the bed, braiding and un-braiding her hair without paying much attention to what she was doing.

Ruff’s grand advice was to just put the rings on their fingers and call it a day. “No one cares about your signature on a piece of paper, dude. Just call yourself Mrs. Haddock from now on, or Mrs. Hofferson-Haddock, or call him Mr. Hofferson, whatever, who cares.”

“If we just wanted it to be symbolic, we could have done it already. But we want the real, official thing. The legal thing.”

Ruff let out a loud belch, crinkling the can of cheap beer in her hand. “Why? That sounds boring.”

Astrid repeatedly combed through a thick strand of hair that had a particularly large knot in it. With a frown, she picked loose hair from her clothes. “It’s not boring. It’s binding. Besides, there’s, like, a million other things that come with legal marriage. Like sharing property. Or tax benefits.”

“Tax benefits, huh? Maybe I should get married, too. Does your fiancé have any single friends? How about that Fishlegs guy? He’s nice.”

“Absolutely not! You cannot marry Fishlegs!

“Why not?” Ruffnut whined.

“Because like you said, he’s nice, and I don’t want you corrupting him. You can have Snotlout if you want, I think he’d be a much better match for you, anyway.”

“Eh.” Ruff shrugged. “He’s a little too small for my taste, but I guess for tax benefits, he’ll do.”

Astrid heard a key turn in the door. “Okay, Ruff, I gotta go now, Hiccup’s back. We’re gonna go see the northern lights.”

“A’ight, see ya. Send ring picks!”

“Sure. Bye, Ruff.” She leaned forward to end the call before shuffling around on the bed to face Hiccup. “That took a long time. What’s in the bag?” With him, he had a huge, plain white plastic bag that was closed with a zipper.

“First of all, I got the rings,” he said while taking off his shoes and jacket, carefully setting the bag down on the floor, leaning it against the wall when it tipped over. Whatever was inside, it had no particularly distinct shape.

“And what have you got in the bag?” She stood from the bed and walked over, but Hiccup caught her hand and pulled her back into the room.

“You’re very nosy. Rings first.”

There was a small black box in his hand. Inside, on a white velvet pillow, rested two silver bands. Carefully, he took them out, placing them in her palm. Hers had a tiny blue stone inserted and on the inside, Hiccup’s initials were engraved next to blank space where the date of their wedding would go once they knew when it was. His was adorned with a dark green stone and her initials. Surrounding the stone on each ring were very fine lines that made a pattern not unlike the one on the sash of what Astrid still considered her dress, although it would never be hers now.

She turned the rings, held them up in the light, and finally slid hers on her finger. It fit like a glove. “It’s perfect.”

“It is,” Hiccup agreed and gently pulled it from her finger. “But it’s going back into the box for now.”

Suppressing a sigh as he set the box aside – she’d get to proudly wear it soon enough –, her eyes wandered back to the white mystery bag. “Now what’s with that?”

Hiccup was at the bag in one quick jump, guarding it from her. “Before you open this, I just want to tell you how hard it was for me to keep this a secret. Do you know how many times I’ve been just short of blurting it out?”

“This sounds like a rhetorical question, so I’ll just…” She made a grab for the bag, but Hiccup snatched it from her, wiggling a mock-reprimanding finger in her face.

“You’re so impatient. And don’t stick your tongue out at me, missy!” He probably read her stance right and correctly deduced she was about to wrestle him for the bag, because he took a step back and held up his hand, expression changing into a smile that made his eyes shine. “You can see this as a substitute for an engagement ring.”

Heart pounding in her chest, she accepted the bag when he handed it to her, setting it down on the bed and sliding the zipper open. A soft gasp escaped her. “But this is…”

“Your outfit for tonight.”

She looked up, finding him wringing his hands nervously. “Tonight?”

He nodded. “That is, if you’re up for it?”

“Hiccup, what are you talking about?” Her heart was still pounding. Did this mean what she thought it meant? But how? “Wait, did you plan this all along?”

“I uh… Maybe?” He flashed her a shy grin. “I told myself I’d wait until the end of our vacation to see if you changed your mind – yes, don’t look at me like that, I know I shouldn’t have worried in the first place – but I couldn’t tell you that earlier today because then the surprise would have been gone. Besides, the rings weren’t ready yet and the dress was too expensive – by the way, I had it put on layaway until the sale started, which is today, so I just picked it up, and I have your boots and cape as well in there.”

He was now in full motion, talking fast and with his entire body, “And then I had to wait for the documents to arrive because they said the copies were fine for processing but they needed the originals for legal purposes. They arrived five days ago, just in time, although actually, the certification of marital status would have had to be handed in eight weeks ago, but they made an exception in this case, but not officially, of course – I didn’t bribe anyone, I just told them our story and they loved it. I already took care of everything; whenever you were in the shower or trying on dresses or when I went to the store to sneak drinks into the hotel or remember when I insisted on sleeping in and you slept until noon? I always snuck away to make calls or hand in documents. Now all we need to do is sign the papers.”

She blinked, her mind catching up to everything that had just come out of him like the Mosárfoss waterfall. “So all my nagging these past weeks has been for nothing?”

“Actually, I’d say the opposite. It was great reassurance.”

She seriously didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or scream or everything at once. He’d planned all this, without telling her, in case she’d change her mind about getting married, despite her constantly talking his ear off about it. It sounded incredibly stupid. But then again, he knew about her history, and she’d told him about her fear of trapping herself in an unhappy life because she thought she’d failed, somehow. He didn’t want to be the reason she ever felt like that again.

Wiping a hand over her face, she walked up to him, punched his arm and pulled him into a fierce hug. “You know, I would have been fine without a grand surprise. In fact, if you’d told me about this earlier at the cliffs, it would’ve been just as much of a surprise.”

“Hm, but I didn’t have the dress yet and it almost looked like the rings would be too late.” His arms came around her middle. “I didn’t want you to be disappointed after all if it hadn’t worked out.”

She pulled back to look at him. “How did you even get the documents?”

He shrugged with a lopsided smile. “Like everyone else would. I called your ex-husband, naturally.”

“Ah,” she chuckled. “I knew it was a good idea to keep him around, eventually he had to be good for something.”

“Yeah, well, turns out he was good for making it possible for his ex-wife to elope on vacation.” He lifted his chin and made a show out of ceremoniously clearing his throat. “So, Astrid Hofferson. Will you marry me tonight under the northern lights?”

Biting her lip to keep the glee from breaking out over her face, she turned away. “Nah, I changed my mind.”

After a beat, he groaned, “You have a very cruel sense of humor, you know that?”

“Maybe you deserve it.” Then she couldn’t hold it in anymore. She spun back around, finding Hiccup already right behind her, throwing his arms around her and lifting her from the ground. “Okay, yes, yes I will!”

After spinning her around once or twice, he put her back down and, with a barely concealed grin, shrugged and stepped to the side. “Too bad, now I’ve changed my mind.”

She grabbed the next best thing to throw at him, which was the pair of jeggings she planned on wearing on the plane tomorrow, and flung it right at him, hitting him square in the face.”Don’t you dare say that later! I will personally make sure to push you off the next cliff if you do.” She took the dress out of the bag, spreading it on the bed to make sure it wasn’t crinkled. But whoever had packed the bag had known what they were doing. Everything looked flawless.

“Thanks for the heads-up,” Hiccup retaliated, “I’ll bring my parachute.”

Underneath the dress, she found the faux-fur coat and the elegant cream-colored winter boots. And at the bottom of the bag, there was a neatly folded matching suit for Hiccup. She spread everything next to the dress. “Hey, let’s go paragliding or skydiving on our honeymoon! Where do you want to go?”

He picked a strand of her hair and twirled it around his finger. “I hear Iceland’s beautiful this time of year.”

“Very funny, babe.” She pecked his cheek, then dashed over to the bathroom. “I claim the shower first, my hair takes longer!”

_______________

They were scheduled to meet with the officiator a little further than a half-hour ride outside Reykjavík. While Astrid had been singing happy tunes in the shower, Hiccup had called the wedding planning organization he’d been in contact with over the whole legal process and given them the green light for tonight.

Now they were on their way to the site, driving themselves to their own wedding, sitting in a rental jeep in winter wedding attire (the flower crown looked very cute on Hiccup), ring box stored away safely in the glove compartment. The first minutes of the drive, it wasn’t clear who was more antsy, Astrid with her jiggly legs or Hiccup with his constant blabbering.

But then he put on a playlist consisting of Coldplay, U2, Imagine Dragons, and the first two songs they ever danced to together on that rainy Sunday, and singing along to the upbeat music gave them an opportunity to lose some of their nervous energy. Hiccup explained his sentiment behind putting November Rain on the playlist, which made her reflect on how far they’d come since Dagur’s now infamous 30th birthday party.

Lowering her window a bit – not willing to risk the air stream messing up her hair, even though she was wearing it loose, with only her flower crown on top –, she sang into the early night. “It’s a beautiful daaaay! Don’t let it get away!” The concept of fears and doubts and heartbreak seemed foreign to her, the world was a magical place and she was only an hour away from making the best decision of her life so far.

Closing the window when the air rushing in became a bit too fresh, she took out her phone and sent an all-caps text to her parents: ‘CHILL THE CHAMPAGNE CAUSE I’M ABOUT TO DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!’ For good measure, she added a string of heart emojis, stars, and a champagne bottle. She considered also adding a bride emoji, but decided to let her parents stew a little over the meaning of her message. She pictured them sitting at home on the couch, speculating– And there it was already, not five minutes later, the inquiring big question mark her father sent into the chat.

Purposefully switching her phone to airplane mode, she flung it onto the backseat and leaned forward as something in the sky caught her eye, something green and purple dancing high above. The aurora borealis. For the first time on this entire vacation, they finally got to see them for real, without thick clouds blocking the sky. She agreed with Chris Martin. This was para, para, paradise!

Their breaths came out visible in the cold air when they exited the car and walked the remaining few hundred feet to the bank of a lake. It wasn’t far from the cliffs, the sound of crashing waves a steady backdrop to the comparatively tiny waves of the lake lapping at their own shore. Hiccup grabbed her hand and she held onto his tightly.

She didn’t spot the two people waiting for them at first, too distracted by the wonderful display of dancing colors all above and mirrored on the almost still surface of the water. She understood why they’d come all the way out here. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Atali, the woman who would officiate their little ceremony, and Throk, her assistant who was setting up a few lights and a table with chairs, gave them a warm welcome and offered them both a variety of hot drinks before Atali spread the contents of a thin binder on the table. It was their documents, including a certificate that already had tomorrow’s date on it.

“We’re going to start shortly before midnight so you can say your I do’s right after the beginning of the new day,” Atali explained. Underneath the table, Hiccup gave Astrid’s hand a squeeze. “Now I need to know if you chose to change or keep your last names.” She raised her brows expectantly.

Astrid squeezed Hiccup’s hand right back. “I told him that, should we ever get married, I’d take his. So yes, I’ll change mine.” The look he gave her as Atali neatly wrote their names down on the paper made her heart skip at least a full beat. They were actually going to do this. She waited for a knot in her stomach, a nagging doubt in the back of her head, but she found nothing. She was all in.

While waiting for the time to start the ceremony, huddled together over cups of hot mead, Atali asked them to recap how they met and what made them decide to tie the knot here in Iceland. When Astrid mentioned her issues with admitting to failure, Atali told her about the Icelandic way of thinking: “Here, failure is something that receives applause. Us Icelanders will congratulate you when you fail and encourage you to try again.” It was certainly something to think about, Astrid figured.

When Hiccup wondered if many foreigners came here to get married, Atali explained, “Lots of couples find that a big traditional wedding at home isn’t for them, so they book a wedding program with us. Some then come alone, some bring up to a hundred guests.”

Astrid thought of her entire family tagging along for this and instantly knew what she preferred. Hiccup seemed to have read her mind. “It feels much more intimate like this, with just us,” he said. “Besides, we’re going to have a party with our people back home, anyway.”

She nodded. “And if not, then they’re going to throw it for us, whether we like it or not.” She looked at Hiccup with a knowing grin. “And your dad will be the first to sign up.”

“Oh shit, my dad!” he exclaimed. “I didn’t even tell them we’re doing this.”

“Don’t worry, I also just sent my parents a more or less cryptic message. They’re brooding over it right now, arguing over whether or not it means what they think it means.”

Throk laughed. “Are you planning on video-calling them afterwards? Some couples do and the reactions are usually priceless.”

Envisioning her mother’s surprise, followed by chastising questions about why nobody told her, and Hiccup’s dad’s booming, proud voice, she only briefly missed them on this important day. But Hiccup was right, it felt so much more special without anyone else around.

She was glad her coat and boots were so thick, or else she’d have felt frozen over by the time Atali asked them to stand and come over to the lake. Heart beating in her throat, she clutched Hiccup’s hand even tighter. Ever since they’d exited the car, she’d not let go of it once, using him as an anchor to keep her from succumbing to her nerves and jumping into the lake. She’d been nervous on her first wedding day, too, but for an entirely different reason.

Throk changed the angle of the light so that Atali could read her notes. The dancing colors in the sky illuminated everything else enough. Astrid stood in front of Hiccup who took her other hand as well. She noticed her fingers were cold but his were warm, and she was reminded of her physics lessons back in school, learning about electric circuits and leads and connections. Whatever power it was that connected them so strongly, she felt it flow through their hands and into her belly and chest.

Atali welcomed them again and started the ceremony. She began by citing various definitions for love and marriage and life itself, continued that she didn’t believe in the one true definition for any of those concepts. She told them stories of other couples she’d married, from every part of the world, with all kinds of different histories, who all had a different understanding of love and life. In the end, she said, true love was what the couple made of it.

“Do you want to say your own vows,” she asked, “or do you want me to directly continue with the rings?”

The lights in the sky were reflecting in Hiccup’s eyes as he regarded Astrid. “I’d like to say a few things.” He looked at their hands for a moment before meeting her eyes again, focused on nothing but her. “As a child, thunderstorms used to wake me up in the middle of the night. Even now, I sometimes wake up, expecting thunder and rain, but there’s no storm outside, it’s just you, sleeping next to me. And when you look at me, I can still feel the reverberations of the lightning bolt that struck me the moment we locked eyes for the first time. And I feel it now, too. It’s been almost two and a half years since you first told me you love me and I’m still in awe...” He paused to take a shaky breath.

“Astrid, you make me believe in myself like no one else can. Whenever I’m facing a wall or- or I’m stuck in my own mind, I can always count on you to be there. Sometimes, you don’t even need to say anything. I just have to look into your eyes and I now that everything will be okay. Without you, I’d stumble my way through life with no clue or guidance. With you, I know I’m not alone. And now, as I’m standing here with you, I don’t even feel the cold. I just feel you.”

His words were crawling underneath her skin, creating goosebumps wherever they went. She had to hold back the urge to grab him by the collar and kiss those magical lips of his senseless. When she opened her mouth to speak, everything that came out was a hoarse croak. She didn’t notice the amused smile shared between Atali and Throk as she cleared her throat and tried again.

“Contrary to popular belief, I don’t always know what I’m doing. Usually, when I face a problem, I just look at it like it is and take action. It doesn’t always work out. And sometimes I make plans, but then someone comes along, makes a mess of the whole thing and makes me question everything I ever thought I wanted from my life. How could I have known that I would one day consider that the best thing that’s ever happened to me?”

She gulped. How was she the one holding back tears? But as she looked more closely, she noticed the shimmer in his eyes that told her he wasn’t faring any differently. “With you, I don’t always have to be strong. I can break and know that it’s alright. You’re my favorite person in the whole world. I love the way your mind works. I love the way you look at the world and see possibilities where other people don’t think to look. I love how you make me see things in a different light. I love how you help me be the best version of myself.”

Despite the hot pools of tears threatening to spill over, she couldn’t bring herself to tear her eyes away from him. “And I never want to miss that feeling. That’s why I’m here, with you, as I promise I will always be. No matter what life throws at us, I will always be by your side.” Her voice gave out and even if she’d wanted to say more, she wouldn’t have been able to without breaking out into sobs. Hiccup did that to her.

After giving them a minute to let their words take effect and giving them a chance to gather themselves, Atali nodded at Throk to hand over the rings. “Are you ready to go on?”

Communicating with nothing more than a look, the couple nodded. Hiccup briefly let go of one of her hands to wipe at his eyes, catching her wide-eyed smile that mirrored his own thrilled anticipation. She was glad they didn’t have a big audience for this. Then again, she doubted she’d have registered anyone else while he was looking at her like this, painting her insides technicolor with his words.

Atali motioned for Hiccup to take the first ring and solemnly asked: “Will you, Astrid Hofferson, take this man as your husband?”

“I will,” she said, firmly and honestly. He gently lifted her hand, slid the ring onto her finger and tenderly swiped his thumb over her knuckles. Atali repeated her question at Hiccup, but Astrid didn’t even hear her over the pounding in her ears, eagerly awaiting his answer.

“I will.” She ascended. When she placed the ring on his finger, she was infinitely glad he was still holding her other hand, grounding her.

“Now the only thing left for you to do is sign your marriage certificate.”

Her hand was shaking a little, but she gripped the pen tightly and set her signature right next to Hiccup’s. And when Atali took the pen from her hand, she didn’t waste another second, grabbing his collar with both hands and hurling herself into him.

Only once before had a kiss been this earth-shattering, this heart-stopping, this satisfying. Only this time, it wasn’t raining in buckets.

Atali’s laughter brought her back down to earth. “I was just about to suggest to seal this union with a kiss, but you guys seem to have it covered. Congratulations, you two!”

During the ceremony, Throk had been taking pictures with their camera. Now he took a few more with their phones while Atali sorted the documents, and then even more with only the light of the dancing colors. Astrid was in a daze, following Throk’s suggestions on autopilot. Only when he asked if they wanted to take pictures of each of them alone and Hiccup stepped a few feet away from her, she regained her sense of reality.

But she’d still lost all sense of time. At some point, Throk was apparently satisfied with the amount of photos he’d taken, only staying for one more with the four of them in it. Then he and Atali packed their equipment back into their van while Hiccup and Astrid sent pictures to their friends, first of all to Eret, and video-called their parents.

As predicted, Stoick was over the moon, proudly congratulating them. Valka did the same, just less loudly. Wilma’s first reaction was to look at Frederick and go, “See? I told you she meant something like this!” Then they launched into a discussion over their speculations and who’d predicted what with what level of certainty.

“Are we going to be like this one day?” Astrid whispered to Hiccup.

“Oh, honey, I’m afraid we already are,” he said and pecked her cheek. His lips were warm on her cold skin. Which was why they kept the call short, promising to come by once they returned to Berk.

Then they said goodbye to Atali and Throk, thanking them for everything, before walking towards the edge of the cliffs. Standing there with their arms spread wide, facing the ocean while the wind rushed in their ears, they took deep breaths and shouted into the night until they were completely out of breath.

“How are you feeling, Mrs. Haddock?” Hiccup asked a while later as they stood in a tight hug, swaying with the lights above.

“Blown through.” She felt the wind and the chill of late October to her bones. Back in the city, there were a hot shower and a bed waiting for her, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave her husband’s arms just yet.

This was a moment for eternity.

_______________

It was a loud crack of thunder that woke her.

Careful not to make too much noise, she crawled out of bed and tip-toed into the hallway, the occasional flash of lightning in the sky illuminating her path.

On her way past her parents’ bedroom, she stopped and listened, but didn’t pick up any signs that someone had heard her. Nothing from her sisters’ rooms as well. Seemed like the whole house was asleep but for her.

One hand on the railing, she carefully tip-toed down the stairs. In the living room, she slid behind the couch, pulled the curtains aside and climbed onto the windowsill. This was the best place in the house to watch storms, she’d already figured that out during the first week they’d lived here. Rain was splattering against the glass and another roll of thunder shook the sky. She loved it.

Her dad liked to tell the story of how he’d felt struck by lightning when he’d first met her mom. She thought it was cheesy. Ida thought it was romantic. But Ida found everything romantic at the moment. And Lexi didn’t even understand the concept yet. Maybe Benji would have more sense than her little sisters once he was born. But that was still a few weeks away, said her mom.

Several more flashes of lightning momentarily bathed the living room in a bright light, enough to illuminate the mess that three young kids, a dog, and a cat inevitably made throughout the day. Not to mention the dad that liked to misplace everything, especially sketchbooks. He had a lot of those.

A low whimper gained her attention and she spotted first the eyes, then the rest of the golden retriever cowering between the chairs under the table.

“Come here, Zephyr!” she whisper-shouted and the dog scurried over. She jumped onto the back of the couch, wagging her tail and burying her head under Finja’s arm. “You’re a fine guard dog, you are.” She ruffled the fur behind the dog’s ears, calming her as the wind blew a gust of rain against the window, followed by another crack of thunder.

“Fin?”

Finja’s head whipped around at the voice. Ida stuck her head around the door, long blonde hair falling into her face. In her arms, she was holding a bundle of reddish fur – her favorite comfort pet, Nuffink. Finja herself had named the cat back when she’d first learned to speak. She couldn’t remember her thought process behind the name, though.

“Can… Can I sit with you?”

Finja wordlessly waved her over. Nuffink squirmed in Ida’s hold and escaped, but Ida didn’t care, a smile lighting up her face as she quietly ran over to join her sister on the windowsill. Zephyr enjoyed the additional petting hand and eventually stopped whimpering at every crack of thunder.

“Why are you not asleep?” Finja asked.

“The storm is too loud. And you? Don’t you love storms?”

It was true, Finja did. As far as she could remember, thunderbolts and lightning had never scared her. She rather found they calmed her. But tonight, she hadn’t been able to sleep much, nerves and excitement keeping her awake. She’d just managed to fall asleep when the storm had started.

“It’s because of tomorrow, isn’t it?” Ida asked. She was smart.

Finja shrugged. “Maybe.” It was her very first day of school. And since they had moved to a bigger house in a different part of Berk, that also meant she had to go to a different school than all of her friends.

“Don’t worry, Fin, you’ll be fine. You’ll find lots of friends, you’ll see. And granny Valka and gramps live near the school, how cool is that? You can go over after school every day!” One year from now, Ida would be in school too, even though she’d be a few months younger than the other kids.

“If mom and dad allow it,” Finja mumbled, but she had to admit, it was comforting to know that part of her family was always nearby.

“And uncle Eret’s work is only one street over.”

“Really?” Her little sister wasn’t just smart, she also had an amazing sense of direction. She’d kill it in school next year.

Ida nodded and yawned, exposing all of her teeth.

“Cover your mouth,” Finja chided.

“Oops.”

“Come, let’s go back to bed.” The rain was letting up and the sound of thunder far away. Zephyr was drowsing with her head in Finja’s lap. Besides, the glowing hands of the clock on the wall told her it was the middle of the night.

“Can I sleep in your bed tonight?” Ida asked as she climbed back down from the windowsill. Finja suspected she only said that so Finja would sleep better, but it wasn’t like she didn’t secretly like the idea.

“Okay.”

#httyd #hiccstrid #fanfiction #hiccup haddock #astrid hofferson #when lightning strikes #modern au #a bit of angst with a dash of drama #or the other way around #maja writes #ff #fanfic #how to train your dragon

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madamewriterofwrongs · 4 years

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I see a lot of Buck and May fics, but how about Buck and Henry? And Eddie and Maddie never got enough love. Or Eddie and Athena. Heck, even Eddie and Chimney. I'm starting to ramble so I'm just gonna go. 😘

Never stop talking about all the friendships on the show.

This involved neither May nor Harry (I may write one later), but it does involve a bunch of FireFam goodness so I hope you enjoy <3

“Do you ever feel like we’re spending our lives babysitting a bunch of rowdy teenagers?”

Bobby looked up from his place at the kitchen sink when his wife walked in to the dining room, face firmly in her phone.

“Every day.” Curiosity got the better of him, so he made his way to Athena’s side, drying his hands as he leaned over her shoulder. “The kids having too much of a good time?”

She snorted, tilting the screen for her husband to see. “Do you know what this text says?”

Eiddjr and i aren fettj t martine brjnt shors

Bobby barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the text from Karen. The kids were definitely having too much fun. It was almost time to call it quits.

“It looks Norse.” He shrugged. “Maybe they ended up at a Viking bar?”

He was very used to Athena’s confused, judgemental looks, but he never felt any better when they were aimed in his direction.

“What the hell is a Viking bar?”

He had no answer (and apparently his impression of a stereotypical Viking helmet made with embarrassed hands, wasn’t enough of an explanation) but he was saved by his own phone chiming with a new text.

Buck’s text message was at least a page long; but at least it was coherent.

“It’s definitely time to pick up the kids.” He had never seen so many ‘you are’ statements at once. Apparently, someone was feeling the love tonight. Not that it was much of a surprise; they all deserved a night off – it was the whole reason Bobby and Athena were still awake at 2am when they would much rather be in bed. Their gift to Buck and Eddie was to let them be wild and irresponsible for one night, and they would pick them up when it was time to come home and sleep it off (he’d foolishly offered to make breakfast in the morning as well, which earned him a slap on the shoulder from Athena who did not enjoy the idea of hosting a sleepover with six drunk adults).

Eddie had taken a little convincing when it came to their plan, sure that he could control himself and wouldn’t go over the top the way his fiancé would.

Photo evidence throughout the evening suggested otherwise – but those wouldn’t be discovered until the next morning.

At the moment, Eddie was sandwiched between Maddie and Karen, each matching him shot for shot, enjoying the anonymity and privacy of the bar too loud to be overheard and too crowded to care.

“I’m serious, Eddie,” Karen leaned in to his shoulder. “you and I would make beautiful babies together. If I didn’t love my wife so much – and I was sexually attracted to you at all – I would absolutely have your babies.”

Eddie, for his part, accepted her attempt at a hug with a whimper and a smile. “Karen, that’s so sweet. Hen is so luck to have you, you know that?”

“I know, right?” She only shouted so she could be heard over the music (which none of them would admit not knowing the words to).

“No, I’m serious.” Eddie batted away invisible hands. “You are so smart, and you’re incredibly patient – not to mention drop dead gorgeous. And you’re honest, and funny as hell.” He fell into her side. “You’re great.”

Karen stared down at where he rested on her shoulder, either forgetting what she was going to say, or thinking so slowly, it took her that long to come to a conclusion.

“I hope Buck tops you so hard tonight.”

Maddie slammed her glass on the table, having jumped ahead of them in the shot game while they were in their own round of complimentary chicken.

“I specifically avoided my brother’s party so I wouldn’t have to hear about his sexual escapades.”

Eddie rolled his head to look at his future sister-in-law.

“Maddie, I so appreciate you coming with me tonight. I like spending time with you; we should talk more. You’re so brave and”

“Blah, blah, blah.” Maddie rolled her eyes, already reaching for another shot of whatever they’d ordered a dozen of when they told the bartender to surprise them. “You are so talkative when you’re drunk. It’s like alcohol switches off the part of your brain that tells you when to shut up. Which is a slight improvement over the rest of the time when it’s like pulling teeth to get you to say three words to me.”

His pout seemed to melt off his face as she went on her tirade, but he finally found the words. “You make me nervous; but in a good way. I love your brother so much, and he cares a lot about what you think.” Words were becoming a challenge but he soldiered on – ha! “I think Buck would be sad if you didn’t like me and I don’t want him to be sad. So I worry about you liking me.”

Maddie sighed heavily, passing him his own shot glass for them to toast. “You make it so hard to be annoyed with you, you know that?”

“Hey, why are you trying to steal my imaginary boyfriend?” Karen shot up from her micro-nap, reaching for her own glass.

“Don’t worry, Karen” Eddie hugged her to his side. “We’ll always have Joxer’s.”

“If I didn’t have 100% confidence in your love for my brother, I’d be worried about how much the two of you are flirting.”

His eyes were wide when he turned to Maddie. “You’re 100% confident? But I thought you said I was annoying?”

“You are very annoying” she assured him. “But one of the most annoying things about you is how openly you love Buck.”

“It is disgustingly cute.” Karen nodded in agreement (though, nodded was a generous description for the slow head bob as she drifted in and out of consciousness).

“You’ve always just wanted what was best for him and tried to make him happy. I can tell you he’s never been happier than he is with you. You’re really good for my brother, Eddie.”

Later, he might blame the tears on the alcohol, but tonight, he pulled Maddie into a hug, kissed her hair, and told her again how much he loved her.

“Lame!” Chimney declared, holding up his own glass of something he should have stopped drinking hours ago. “That’s too tame, Hen, dare him to take his shirt off while he does it.”

Hen’s laughter was swallowed by the bustling crowd of old alcoholics and broke college students.

“I sometimes think you just see me as a piece of meat, Chim.” Buck’s quiet contemplation had been the source of much mocking all evening and now was no different, earning disapproving groans and snide remarks that had ceased being subtle four shots ago.

“We all know he has the hots for Eddie” Hen snorted.

That seemed to satisfy Buck’s pout (or the mention of his fiancé never failed to put a smile on his face). “I don’t blame you; Eddie is very hot.” He paused long enough to point a shaky finger in his friend’s direction. “But you are not allowed to cheat on my sister. She’d be really sad if you broke her heart and I don’t want to see her sad anymore.”

Chimney stared at his brother-in-law until he found the energy to move his mouth, as much sincerity as he could muster pouring all over the table. “I love your sister. I want to spend my whole life making her happy.”

“Shots!” Hen loudly declared, passing out new glasses for the trio from the tray they’d ordered, vowing it would be the last round – a lie that no one (not even the bartenders) believed.

“Shots!” Chimney failed to sit up from his slumped position at the edge of the booth but he managed to retrieve his drink and clink glasses with his friends, which was enough for the moment.

Hen held them in suspense with their tequila in the air. “One more shot, and you have to strip on the bar. That’s the deal.”

Buck rolled his eyes. “I’m not stripping on the bar again.”

Both paramedics nearly spit out their drinks but Hen was the first to regain her senses.

“You’ve done it before?”

“No!” His response came too late – and if any of them remembered this night, he might be worried about repercussions.

“You have.” Chimney point a lazy hand in his general direction, fading faster than the others.

“Why are you on her side now?” Buck would be very offended at both Chimneys, if he could look either of them in the eyes.

“I’m on the winning side.” He loudly declared, dropping his shot glass a little too forcefully onto the table, shattering their eardrums.

“If you’re not going to at least jump on the table then I’m going home.” Hen was already stumbling out of the booth when Buck grabbed her arm.

“Fine, fine,” he conceded, pushing their copious glassware to the edges of the table. “For you.”

Five minutes later, the trio caught themselves against the side of the building, Chimney holding an icepack to Buck’s forehead, and Hen apologizing to the bouncer for the seventh time as the door slammed behind them.

“My phone is dead so we can’t call Bobby.” Buck tucked his phone into his back pocket – nearly falling over when he went back to retrieve the phone that never made it into his pants.

“I could call Bobby.” Chimney did his best to keep his friend upright, but coordination was not his friend tonight.

“Or we could walk!” Hen declared, already setting off towards the sidewalk. What choice did they have but to follow behind, decidedly not calling Bobby to come get them from the other side of town.

While Chimney held the ice pack, Buck was free to sling his arms around his friends and pull them close.

“I am so lucky to know you guys, you know that?” The force of his embrace sent them stumbling over the synthetic grass, but they caught themselves in time. “See, you protect me.”

Hen, clearly the sensible one of the group, pulled them forward. “Come on, I bet we could run and keep our arms locked like this.”

Eddie’s trio weren’t fairing much better, having respectfully paid their bar tab after a woman tried to hit on Eddie, and Karen nearly threw an empty glass at her head. Maddie had wisely called Athena (although, the vulgar language she used would be the source of a lecture at the breakfast table), but that didn’t stop them from wandering down the street and away from the place they’d promised to stay.

They were definitely too far from their meeting spot when Eddie spotted a group of familiar faces across the four-lane road.

“Buck?!” he called, pulling more attention than strictly necessary. As long as it got the one man he was after, it would be worth it.

“Eddie?” Bingo! Both parties stood parallel to each other, mirroring their swaying movement. “What are you doing over there?”

“We’re waiting for Athena.”

“Cool. We didn’t call Bobby so we’re walking home.”

Eddie furrowed his brow. “Home is that way.” He gestured in a direction that would eventually get them back to their home (if they circled the globe a few times).

“Oh.” Buck frowned, taking him at his word. “We’ll stop then.”

“What happened to your forehead?” Maddie’s shout startled him for her sheer proximity – not because he forgot she was there because he only had eyes for his fiancé. She had a good point though. Why was Chimney holding an ice pack to Buck’s head?

“He wrestled a bear” Hen declared.

“No, I didn’t.” Buck shot his friend an annoyed glare. The thought of shots made Eddie queasy in the night air, but he listened to the trio across the street.

“I told you to, but you said we couldn’t find one this late at night.”

“There’s one at the zoo.” Karen shouted unhelpfully.

“We should go to the zoo.” Hen latched on to his wife’s idea much too quickly.

“You’re all idiots.” Maddie rolled her eyes, stumbling as she did so; thank god she at least thought to wear flats for her evening out. “Come over here and wait for Athena with us.”

Chimney had to be pulled back by Buck’s lightning-dull reflexes when he stepped out onto the road at his wife’s command.

“Use the crosswalk dummy” she scolded, earning an indignant look from her brother.

“Don’t be mean to Chim; he loves you so much.”

“Yeah,” Chimney parroted. “I love you so much.”

Eddie watched the exchange wistfully. He’d always liked Maddie and Chimney’s relationship. They took care of each other and respected one another and laughed together and talked together. He could only hope that one day he’d find something that good.

Oh wait, he had.

“I’m going to marry you, Evan Buckley!” Eddie shouted to the world, his eyes landing on the only face that mattered. “You’re going to be mine forever.”

“I love you, Eddie Diaz” Buck called back. “I’m gonna marry you so hard.”

“Oh my god.” Six fuzzy heads turned to face a very put out – though secretly bemused – Athena Grant, arms crossed over her chest from her position against the light post. “It’s like herding cats with you all.”

“’Thena!” Hen called from across the street. “We didn’t call Bobby.”

“I noticed. He’s here anyways.” The police sergeant clicked her tongue in annoyance. “I’m not shouting at you three all night, get over here.” When they didn’t move right away, she added with a glare “now!”

While one drunken trio made their way to the crosswalk to join their friends, Athena turned her attention to the drunken trio in front of her.

“And you three, were supposed to stay by the bar. Instead, I have to walk six blocks to find you, while Bobby is trying to find those three stooges at their meeting location twenty blocks away.” She continued her lecture even as she pulled out her phone to call her husband. “The six of you are going to send us both into early retirement.”

“Bobby, your kids are here with mine, you know the bar? Great.” She’d barely swiped the call button when she found herself engulfed by Eddie’s hug.

“Thank you for coming to get us, Athena. You always take such good care of us.” She hesitated for a moment before sighing and giving in to his sloppy embrace.

“I’ll remind you you said that in the morning.” They were all going to wake up miserable. Why had she let her husband agree to let them take the spare bedrooms? If she conveniently forgot now, they’d never know.

She’d drive them back to her house anyways.

“I’ll always remember�� he promised, eyes wide and sincere. “For as long as I Buck!” Athena recoiled when Eddie shouted in her ear, immediately detaching himself so he could fling his arms around his fiancé, letting the ice pack drop to the ground. “You came!”

Buck held Eddie tightly to his chest, squeezing as hard as they both could. “I’ll always come for you” he declared with the same sincerity Eddie had worn before. She hoped they remembered being this unbearably sappy. It wouldn’t be any fun to tease them if they had no idea what she was talking about.

As the three couples reunited, Athena stood off to the side, watching them cuddle and exchange light kisses. Karen and Hen’s touches were soft and quiet, Maddie and Chimney exchanged flirtatious words for only them, and Eddie was gently swiping his thumb over the inevitable bruise on Buck’s forehead. Each seemed to temper the other, adding a calm to the evening that had been chaos until now. They were happy – all of them – that seemed a hard thing to earn in their line of work. But they’d found it, somehow.

Her friends may be an absolute headache sometimes, but she loved them dearly.

Until Chimney vomited into the nearest trashcan, setting off an impossibly disgusting chain reaction amongst the group.

Maybe tonight, she’d love them from afar.

#cj writes things #prompt fill #cj answers things #buddie fic #buddie #911 fox #911 fic #cirrius-akyio #firefam #found family #drunken shenanigans #bachelor party

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

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Top 10 Thanksgiving Episodes

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody! Time to eat a ton, pass out, and watch MST3K and all that. And since I already covered most of the general stuff about how diffrent this holiday is in my Loud House Review, and to reitarate to anyone having a big, 20 or so people crammed in a room thanksgiving this year

For the rest of us like all of the big three of Holidays, thanksgivings also the time for some classic episodes of television. Granted most shows stick to one, with some exceptions like friends, roseanne and new girl, but most make their one count. Thanksgiving may not be as big as the holidays it’s sandwitched in between, to the point christmas is slowly but surely trying to swallow it whole, but it’s still a time for family, fighting, and food that brings plenty of opprotunity for greatness and even with a smaller pool, I stiill had signifigant trouble narrowing down my list to 10. But I stand by what I got it wittled down to. This is my top 10 thanksgiving episodes! And for my regular readers, there’s a suprising lack of animation but i’m more than willing ot go outside that and now’s the right time, asi’m currently having a black friday sale with reviews marked down by two bucks to just 3 dollars for an episode of any tv show. Yes it’s a shameless plug but since when have I ever had shame? So with that in mind let’s chow down, it’s my top 10 thanksgiving episodes!

10. Pangs (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Buffy is as a show I REALLY need to revisit. While lately, what with the abuse he did that we can’t get details on when making justice league or his you know cheating on his wife on and off over a decade, I’m not at all a fan of series creator Joss Whedon, Buffy itself is still a classic in my eyes.

The tale of a teenager given the role of the Slayer, a chosen female asskicker given moderate super powers and the duty to defend the world from vampires and other ghouls. The show dealt with the usual teen superhero stuff, ballancing asskicking with saving the world and arguably codified the genre, to the point I hold it at least partially responsible for the bigger wave of teen heroes in the 2000′s in animation and comics. The show had smart dialouge, metaphors, mythology and a rich, and vibrant cast. Sure some things haven’t aged well like an adult vampire dating a teenager or the really dated ways Willow’s sexuality were handled, as groundbreaking as it was, from barely letting her kiss her girlfriend or be shown being intimate iwth her, or just entirley shutting out the posiblity she’s bisexual. But a few age wrinkles aside the show is still good and I still need to rewatch it and that includes our number 10 pangs, one of hte most memorable and well done thanksgiving specials and one fo the shows more comedy moments. It’s thanksgiving, and Buffys mom’s going out of town, so she decides to hold thanksgiving at Giles place to bring her slowly drifting surrogate family together. Naturally given the way things usually go for our Slayer, she has a hard time of it as Willow chafes at celebrating colonolsim, Giles dosen’t get what the big fuss is about that or the meal being british, and Spike shows up looking for protection from season big bads the initiative, a secret military unit that’s chipped him so he can’t harm humans, so he has no way to eat and spends the mal tied to a chair. Oh and of course, a vengeful native american spriti from the chumash tribe has given Xander syphilis and killed a currator as revenge for his people’s suffering, so now Buffy has to fight a ghost bear if she want sa happy thanksgiving. Also Angel is back in town and being kind of a dick, but hey it leads to a good episode of his spinoff so whatever.

Pangs is just a fun episode, not only does it do well by not ignoring american colonalisim, but it just has a fun energy to it as Buffy desperately tries to have a good thanksgiving, Spike instnatly proves his worth as an addition to the gang both chemstiry and comedy wise, and we of course get this classic moment.

It had to fight it’s way onto the list, but pangs is a holiday dish worthy of sinking your fangs into.

9. The Dressing (Aqua Teen Hunger Force) Speaking of nutty fun thanksgiving episodes.. this one is simply that. I love Aqua Teen Hunger force.. even if like a lot of comedy shows it drooped in later seasons, it still has it’s classics earlier on and even later on has a few gems. But on the earlier on side we have their utterly bonkers and delightful thanksgiving episode “The Dressing”, a sequel to the Christmas Episode “The Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from The Future”, which itself is an utter classic, but we’ll possibly get to that in december’s list.

The Aqua Teens are having Thanksgiving with Carl, whose naturally onlyt here for the free food and staying outside. it’s also days before or after, with black colored frito pie,a t urkey, and whatever else their broke selves could scrounge up. However, naturally, like Buffy a normal day for the Aqua Teens just isn’t complete without some weird shit happening, thanksgiving gets interrupted by the cybernetic ghost of Christmas past fromt he future, whose transformed himself into a turkey and wants to save their turkey so it can lead a rebellion in the bizzare hilarious distopian hellscape he comes from. This of course leads to him getting drunk, eating all their food and later showing up with a laser sock to murder carl after the episodes over. It’s just a fun time, a really funny episode and one of the teens more memorable outings. Not a lot to say here, it’s just really damn funny.

8. Arnold’s Thanksgiving (Hey Arnold!) Anoter classic I really need to revist but that more than earns his place here. Hey Arnold.. is easily one of the best animated shows ever. I say that with no hyperbole as it handled slice of life well while still getting dramatic when needed to, and is easily the gold standard for slice of life children’s cartoons to this day. And naturally it’s holiday specials were great, and I only r eally haven’t revisited them because they also hurt.. a lot. So unsuprisingly this one makes the list.

IT’s thanksgiving and given how chaotic things are for both Arnold and Helga’s families, our heroes are miserable. Arnold would understandably like just once to have thanksgiving on thanksgiving, his family instead doing fourth of july due to his grandmother being who she is. And Helga naturally is ignored and mistrteated as usual since her sisters home and her dad and alchoholic mother ignore her as usual even when she’s not around. What i’m saying is while Arnold’s issue is understandable, helga always wins a “whose got the shitter life” contest.

So the two flee to their teacher Mr Simmons, a character I genuinely loved and loved even more finding out he was gay as an adult, as he was a kind , supportive teacher who could be a bit softhearted but wasn’t afraid to step the fuck up when needed. But they find his thanksgiving isn’t much better, as his Mother and wont’ stop sniping at his boyfriend peter and clearly isn’t entirely comfortable with her son’s sexuality, his friend keeps snapping at peter and mooching off him, and his uncle.. well he’s just a loud asshole who wants turkey.. The kids naturally realize the meaning of the holiday, reconclie with their families who DID take genuine steps to make up for them being gone and missed them, all is well. It just shows nobody’s family is perfect, and is well done in that but also shows why thanksgiving has grown beyond it’s roots: It’s a day for families to get together and even if they may fight, recognize why they love one another. I also give the show balls for heavily imiplying a character is gay and not slapping a girlfriend on him or any of the usual bollocks: Simmons just very clearly is gay and it’s as transparent as the show could get at the time, with the show making it crystal clear years later with the revivial movie. Nice. We’ll have more servings of thanksgiving classics after the cut.

7. Slapsgiving (How I Met Your Mother) Oh How I Met Your Mother. You started out really good but boy did that go downhill fast and land in a nuclear inferno didn’t it? But I can bitch about the How I Met Your Mother Ending some other time, and probably will. In the show’s prime before they decided to stick with an ending no one wanted anymore, it was pretty great and while season 1′s also impressive Thanksgiving outing “Belly Full of Turkey” was considered, there was ultimately one slaptastic king when it came to Thanksgiving: Slapsgiving.

Naturally for this show Slapsgiving ties into the show’s suprisngly deep and rich lore: The season before this, Marshall and Barney made a “Slap Bet”, which is exactly what it says on the tin: A bet where the winner slaps the looser. And due to Barney prematurely slapping Marshall, Marshall got 5 penalty slaps to be dolled out whenever, one in that episode and another in a coda to another. For his next one though Marshall decided to outdo himself and set up a counter.. and it all comes down to thanskgiving. So we get a good ten minutes of Jason Siegel making meancing slap based refrences while NPH’s barney cowers in fear before Marshall’s wife lily pumps the breaks on the bet as comissoner.. only to reconsider when Barney makes the mistake of tormenting Marshall over it, resuling in the inevitible, and in THE thanksgiving song.

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Basically it’s what happen when you give three really funny people a subplot together. Magic happens. The subplot is not bad either as a pre-totallyinsufferabledouchebag Ted hooks up with Robin again over lingering feelings and thanksgiving prep and the two have to deal with that... though it’s mostly funny for Robin’s new boyfriend, who Future Ted acknowledges is barely older than them, but admits to remembering as decrept old man, which results in a 30 something’s dialouge coming out of a very old man and me laughing very hard. A simple joke but one that really works. Overall a slaptacular good time.

6. Two Turkeys (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

NINE NINE BITCHES! I’m honestly shocked I haven’t talked about Brooklyn Nine Nine on here already, but it’s easily one of the best sitcoms in recent memory, if not of all time. It has one of the best ensemble casts, great jokes and timing, yet still ballances things out with a sense of realisim beneath the madness> It’s also noticable for holding it’s officers more accountable than most real world police departments, to the point all scripts that were written up for next season were thrown out post George Floyd. It’s truly a joy to watch.

So naturally they’ve had their share of Holiday episodes, with them easily having the best crop of halloween episodes since roseanne with their annual heists, and having some pretty damn memorable christmases, opening with this:

So naturally thanksgiving is no exception, with it’s last two being the best and it being a really hard choice wether to go with season 4′s “Detective Santiago” or this one. But as good as the other ep was.. this one inched it out for good reason.

The episode’s split into two equally good, equally hilarious plot lines. In the B-Plot, the 99′s Captain Raymond Holt, one of the best characters in sitcom history and gay icon, and his husband Kevin take their annual trip to get a pie for Holt’s families thanksgiving and come back with the well crafted pie, even if both prefer their food nice and bland. But the pie go missing and Captain Holt procedes to hilariously drill into each of the other members of the 99 and uncovering holes int their previous thanksgving stories with Rosa’s being suprisingly heartwarming (She’s going to a humilating minons on ice show with her family because they reconnected in jail.. setting up the equally awesome “Game Night” episode where she comes out.) and Boyle’s being utterly pathetic as you’d expect (Cooking his son mac and cheese because he’ll eat nothing else and declaring him a “basic bitch”). The solution however ends up being heartwarming as the culprit is actually Kevin, who hated the pie.. as did Raymond who suggests just taking the drive anyway because they enjoy the silent ride there and back every year. It may be boring to us.. but it’s preicious and really sweet all the same.. as it is hilarous when Kevin treats this as a big endugence and seems turned on by that. What i’m saying is these men are couple goals and Marc Evan Jakcson was awesome long before ducktlaes. The main plot is also great, as Jake and Amy, now engaged after this year’s halloween episode which is also , coincidentally, the series best, try to unite their families. It just goes about as well as you’d expect as Amy’s are type a control freaks, jake’s mom is a retired hippie school teacher and his dad is a human disaster area who has to be told to put on pants, cheated on his mom constantly, somehow got her back, and in general is barely functional on a good day. The families do bond breifly but things ineveitbly break down, hilarity and severed limbs insue and family comes together. IT’s just a funny, well done 20 mintues that’s also really damn sweet, with this plot ending with Amy’s dad accepting the chaos as that’s’ts what you do with family. Also jake naturally finds out he has a ton of step siblings as his dad was and still is a man whore. Happy Thanksgiving!

5. Bart Vs Thanksgiving (The SImpsons)

Let’s face it: if you follow my reviews at all you knew this was coming. While not one I go back to due to being an emotional kidney punch, i’d be doing this list a diservice if this classic wasn’t on there. In a nutshell, Bart starts a petty fight with Lisa over her centerpiece that ends with it in the fireplace, Bart sent to his room till he apologizes, and Bart seething insiting he did no wrong. It takes a visit to the homeless shelter after running away, and ending up on the news, to realize what an ass he’s been and one nightmarish dream sequence later, seriously why do you think I don’t revisit this one that often? This thing has traumatized me since I was a kid and unlike the slap song I will not be showing it to you, has a heartwarming reconcliation with his sister on the roof. It’s just a nice, sweet special that gets the holiday just right and i’d expect nothing less from Golden Age Simpsons.

4. A Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving (Gilmore Girls) Another show I need to talk about more, Gilmore Girls is fucking awesome. The story of a woman who ran away pregnant at age 16 and built her own life for her daughter in the quirky town of stars hollow who finds herself reconnecting with her parents in present day against her will.. is really good stuff. Funny, heartfelt and really damn well acted with one hell of a cast, the show is part of me and I make no bones about that, so it’s big thanksgiving outing naturally belongs on here. The premise is simple: Rory and Loreli end up having to go to four diffrent thanksgivings, which even for big eaters like them is a massive task, each unique and entertaining. The main event of course is Suki’s, where everyone’s faviorite chef agreed to let her husband cook the turkey.. of course with the plan to sneak in mid cooking and add her own touches. This gets foiled when Jackson and his family decide to deep fry the thing.. probably in part because Jackson knows his wife well and knows what she was planning. Though over the night while our heroines are at their other meals, it devolves into them deepfrying everything they can get their hand son including a shoe, and Suki getting plastered to tolerate it. While not topping it the other meals and the sheer lunacy of four thanksigvings in one day, are still memorable: There’s the natural posh one at Richards and Emilys, the dour joyless one at The Kims where Mrs Kim forces the band to play the whole time and forces our heroines to eat food as joyless as Mrs. Kim, and Lukes for a nice round of Rory grappling with having PDA with her boyfirend Jess before resolving it at the end. Also dean’s a jackass. No one is suprised. Jess isn’t one at this stage in his character which is. Also Kirk adopts a cat that slowly pushes him out of his own house which works comedically becaus Sean Gunn is a national treasure. Overall a really good episode and if you have netflix and haven’t checked the series out, this is a good one to try out.

3. The Thanksgiving Special (Regular Show) I already talked about this one in my top 11 Regular Show episodes so i’ll try to be brief. In a nutshell Mordecai and Rigby destroy thanksgiving and genuinelly feeling bad about it, scramble to win a thanksgiving bird from a Thanksgiving Song Contest, going up against an all star super group comissioned by Donald Trump. Yes really. Meanwhile Muscle Man and High Five Ghost go to get sides and the rest of the park staff’s attemtps to get a turkey are thwarted by a bunch of thanksgiving reinactors who go unexplained in any way shape or form which given how rare that is for regular show, which usually has some sort of explination for the madness, just makes it funnier. It ends with a REALLY touching song, a fight on a blimp with outgoing president trump, and a truly heartwarming thanksgiving meal. All in all a nice special that combines the shows madcap nature with the genuine warm fuzzies of thanksgiving.

2. We Gather Together (Roseanne) Another series I need to talk about more.. and another series where one of the creators has turned out to be a terrible human being. Seriously Roseanne Barr is is a terible person, she deserved to be removed from her show, and while the Conner’s isn’t GREAT it’s still FAR better without her. That being said I will still stick up for the original as she wasn’t the only one involved (indeed the aformentioned Joss Whedon worked on the show breifly and Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman Paladino not only worked there but later adapted one of Roseanne’s insane antics, making all the writers wear caps with a number instead of referring to them by name , to Gilmore Girls.). Her being a bad person even then dosen’t change the fact that the show is sitcom gold, one of my faviorite shows, and a true classic. And this episode helps showcase WHY.

What makes this episode special, even among Roseanne episodes is it’s structure: While there are things going on it’s mostly a free floating day in the Families life and thus feels like your there with them through thanksgiving. It feels genuine, like past thanksgivings i’ve remembered: Everyone has their own stuff going on, they all eat, and there’s naturally a big blowup.. and one that eveyrone else ignores to eat which I can relate to. That authenticity really elevates the episode and is why I seek it out every year.

That’s not to say nothing happens, it just flows in and out like it would in a normal thanksgiving. Roseanne deals with her parents, a pre-abuser version of her dad and her overbearing nightmare of a mother beverly, and the inevetible blow up when Bev’s needling about Jackie’s life goes too far , prompting Jackie to reveal her new job as a police officer before bursting into tears, all to Roseanne’s annoyance. Rosie also moves them to a hotel despite an attempted guilt trip from her mom.

Speaking of Mom’s we see Dan’s for the only time before the later seasons and the utterly terrible last season, a professional career woman whose moved on well from her ex and brought her new boyfriend there. Ed, despite some comptemplation over it is firmly accepting and instead starts flirting with the Conner’s friend Crystal. Dan, being overprotective because of his Daddy Issues, but ed cals him out on it “Being lonely is a hell of a lot for two people to have in common, you woudln’t knwo anything abotu that son, and I pray to god you never do” A great caper to a fantastic episode.. one I thought was going to top the list... THOUGHT is the key word here...

1. Turkey in A Can (Bob’s Burgers) This one is. Bob’s Burgers is one of the best things to come out of the 2010′s and i’ve fallen way too far behind on it, so I can’t say if any thanksgivings after thankshoarding top this one.. what I can say is this one is the gold standard for thanksgiving episodes, and is filled with great stuffing.

Thanksgiving is Bob’s holiday. Being a chef he loves the chance to go all out, and really flex his muscles for his families when it comes to cooking up a storm, and it’s endearing when bob gets just as nuts as his family. But this year someone keeps flushing his turkeys down the toilet despite his best efforts, so while Louise hilariously tries to solve things to proe it wasn’t her (though it’s entirely fair they thought it was her consdering.. everything), while LInda, Gene and LInda’s flighty sister Gale try to write THE thanksgiving song. And while it’s no you just got slapped, damn if they didn’t succeed.

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Sailors in your mouth indeed. It leads to plenty of great jokes the best being the guy at the Deli Counter thinking Bob’s into him and bob not being sure how to respond, but being mildly recpetive. But the climax is what makes the episode as when Bob falls asleep we find his medication has been making him sleepwalk.. and thus put the turkey s int he toilet, as Tina’s desire to be at the Grown Up Table, itslef a REALLY funny runner as you’d expect, has him panicking internally and thus reliving her potty training. The episode ends with Bob letting her come to the adults table, and a rather heartwarming thanksgiving feast. All in all an excellent episode. It also leads to the chaos seen above whic hif htat’s not thanksgiving, I don’t know what is.

Have a happy thanksgiving and check out my black friday sale! Until then there’s always another rainbow!

#thanksgiving #top 10 #bob's burgers #gilmore girls #buffy the vampire slayer #aqua teen hunger force #hey arnold #how I met your mother #the simpsons #roseanne #regular show #brooklyn nine nine #brooklyn 99 #99

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tabloidtoc · 3 years

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National Enquirer, November 9

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Duchess Kate sets the record straight on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Page 2: Ben Affleck is wasting away and friends fear he’s taking his new health regimen too far as the six-foot-four star usually weighs 208 pounds but has shriveled to a spindly 165 -- a nutritionist put him on a sensible meal plan but he’s altered it with his own fantastical ideas such as he won’t go near bread and he’s ditched pasta and he’ll eat cantaloupe and blueberries one day and nuts and seeds the next and he’ll only drink boiled water and green tea for 24 hours then break his fast with a small bowl of quinoa -- instead of pumping iron he does exercises using his own body weight like ten-minute planks -- Ben thinks he looks great but his pals fear he’s traded one addiction for another

Page 3: Love-hungry Katie Holmes is thrilled to have a new man in her life but she’s breaking the bank to keep him happy because Katie is picking up the tab wherever she goes with Emilio Vitolo Jr. because it helps her feel she’s in full control of the relationship but Emilio may be taking advantage of Katie’s generosity because Katie has been showering him with designer clothes and jewelry and even paying for a personal trainer to whip him into shape -- Katie enjoys giving her guy things he can appreciate because he’s made her so happy but she may go broke doing it and it’s not like he doesn’t have any money; he’s worth a cool $1.5 million himself

Page 4: CNN rocked by sex scandal -- Jeffrey Toobin’s sleazy sex scandal has rocked CNN but it’s just the latest in a string of scandals at the network

Page 5: Axed Fox News anchor Ed Henry fought back against his co-worker’s rape charges in a blockbuster lawsuit by handing the court explicit selfies and texts in an attempt to prove their tryst was consensual

Page 6: Ryan Seacrest is downplaying his latest shocking absence from Live with Kelly and Ryan but the TV dynamo is battling a mystery illness that may force him to sign off for good -- the co-host who is a well known as a workaholic skipped out on the daytime show for the third time this year and used the coronavirus pandemic as his excuse -- Ryan was suffering badly from flu-like symptoms on the weekend before his absences but came back negative for coronavirus however doctors remain baffled by Ryan’s ongoing battles with exhaustion and weight loss and stroke-like symptoms, disgraced perv Bill Cosby’s latest mug shot shows he’s a shriveled shadow of his former self and the fallen funnyman flashed a maniacal grin while refusing to look into the camera in the picture snapped behind bars in September and he’s unshaven and his hair is ratty

Page 7: Lizzo has embarked on a radical vegan diet and extreme exercise program to save her life -- doctor warned the 350-pound singer that her daily intake of 5000 calories a day was a dangerous path to self-destruction and she needed to change her life or lose it and Lizzo finally got the message and is committed to this program but it’s been a living hell for her

Page 8: After surviving a fiery crash at the Daytona 500 NASCAR hero Ryan Newman is locked in an ugly $50 million divorce showdown with his estranged wife -- Ryan and Kristina Newman split in 2019 after she was caught having an affair with another man and paying her love $450,000 and now Ryan’s lawyers are trying to freeze Kristina who was once referred to as the First Lady of NASCAR out of his fortune -- court papers reveal the two split in July 2019 when Kristina went to live with her boyfriend U.S. Army Captain Joe Schwankhaus who is the Chief Operations Officer of Kristina’s company VRX USA

Page 9: Ellen DeGeneres debuted a high-flying pompadour hairstyle on her new talk show but the makeover still doesn’t get to the root of her recent problems and although her hair may be rising her show’s ratings are falling

Page 10: Hot Shots -- pregnant Kelly Rowland, Andy Cohen took his son Benjamin for a stroll in NYC, Will Smith held court in L.A. while shooting King Richard a biopic about the dad of tennis greats Venus Williams and Serena Williams, Angela Bassett caught a drive-in screening of One Night in Miami in L.A.

Page 11: Grieving Lisa Marie Presley has broken her silence over the suicide of her beloved only son Benjamin Keough saying her heart and soul went with him sharing her heartbreak on what would have been Ben’s 28th birthday and she added she’s dedicating herself to raising Ben’s twin half-sisters and actress sister Riley Keough, Chaka Khan refuses to duo with Ariana Grande again saying she’s not gonna do a song with no heifer -- Chaka and Ariana worked together in 2019 for the Charlie’s Angels soundtrack

Page 12: Straight Shuter -- DWTS pro Emma Slater kept a handle on her coffee while steering her e-bike (picture), it pays to be Brad Pitt’s girlfriend as his new squeeze Nicole Poturalski has doubled her modeling fees, dancing siblings Derek Hough and Julianne Hough are out of step over her sloppy personal life and his hot new judging career because these two were supposed to be the next Donny and Marie Osmond but his solo career is exploding while hers is falling apart, Madonna has always been a big believer in astrology but now she won’t even meet with people if it’s not written in the stars and she’s spending a fortune to have an army of people read her charts

Page 13: Losing his beloved son to cancer has sparked new fears for fragile Robert Redford because Robert has struggled with his own health over the years and losing his son to bile-duct cancer is extremely worrying; he’s already frail and this has friends fearing the worst, Jeff Bridges is confident he’ll win his battle with lymphoma by coupling medical care with a strict vegan diet and chanting and spiritual healing techniques

Page 14: Convicted wife killer Scott Peterson may soon walk out of prison and grisly photos lawyers say could set him free -- following years of appeals California’s Supreme Court overturned Scott’s death penalty and now another appeal is forcing a lower court to reexamine his conviction for murdering seven months pregnant wife Laci Peterson and their unborn son Conner -- if Scott gets a retrial his legal team will be allowed to introduce new evidence including crime scene pictures that Scott’s former defense attorney said suggests Laci’s disappearance was an abduction by a satanic cult

Page 15: Former child star Zachery Ty Bryan of Home Improvement was jailed overnight and released on $8500 bail following his bust for a fight with a galpal at an apartment complex in Eugene in Oregon -- the drama comes on the heels of Zachery’s split from wife Carly Matros the mom of his four kids

Page 16: Ryan Reynolds can’t wait to film a new rom-com with close pal Sandra Bullock but it’s causing tension with wife Blake Lively even though Blake trusts Ryan and would never forbid him from taking this part but the idea of him getting cozy with Sandra again still makes her uneasy -- now Ryan and Sandra are signed up to do The Lost City of D and despite Sandra’s denials they ever had a romance Ryan is gushing about them getting back together

Page 17: Isolated and overlooked Today show host Hoda Kotb is being bullied off the morning show because of tepid ratings and the absence of former sidekick Kathie Lee Gifford and Mean Girls treatment by co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Jenna Bush Hager have pushed the disillusioned anchor closer to the door -- Hoda recently filled out paperwork to adopt a third child and she’s clearly putting more emphasis on family than her career and it sends the signal she isn’t happy with her role and is not thinking of Today as her top priority, trainwreck Matthew Perry is holed up in his new Pacific Palisades beach pad pounding out an explosive tell-all and his former Friends are quaking about what secrets he may reveal -- Matthew wants to rush the book out while interest in the Friends reunion special which was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic remains high -- he knows an uncensored account of his time on Friends and his drug issues would be a bestseller and he intends to blow the lid off his on-set romances and address rumors he and Jennifer Aniston were more than friends

Page 18: American Life -- her tall tale: I have the longest legs in the world

Page 19: Jessica Simpson has been flaunting her body after dumping a shocking 100 pounds but buddies worry the drastic drop in size isn’t natural and suspect she’s been taking diet pills again and they’re worried this could escalate into a big issue

Page 20: Devastated Reese Witherspoon was hit with a depressing double whammy -- the death of her dog Pepper from cancer and the delay of her long-awaited sequel Legally Blonde 3, Hollywood Hookups -- John Cena and Shay Shariatzadeh wed, Ashley Hebert and J.P. Rosenbaum split, Cardi B and Offset on again

Page 21: Bruce Willis is back in another Die Hard but this time it’s a commercial for Advance Auto Parts and Die Hard batteries and it’s a clear statement on the state of his career that Bruce has to revisit his amazing past to make a fast buck in the present, Giada De Laurentiis has been given the green light to get married by her 12-year-old daughter Jade -- Giada has dated TV producer Shane Farley for five years and he’s been living with mother and daughter for five months during the pandemic lockdown which gave Jade a firsthand look at what it would be like to have a new daddy and Shane’s passed the test with flying colors

Page 22: Cover Story -- Prince William’s heartsick wife Kate Middleton is breaking her silence about the royal family’s tumultuous bitter break with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to set the record straight and save Britain’s monarchy and she’s tired of all the rumors and lies and backbiting and after all the drama and negativity she wants to get the truth out there and end this unprecedented crisis that’s endangering the monarchy’s survival -- friends are trying to convince Kate to do an official sit-down TV interview about what really happened between once-inseparable William and Harry and how Harry and Meghan tore the family apart even before they moved to America but Kate is resisting because she fears that could backfire like Princess Diana’s TV tell-all about her marriage to Prince Charles 25 years ago -- Kate had to turn the other cheek often after Meghan joined the family and she offered to help Meghan adjust to royal life from the start but Meghan rebuffed her and Kate in tired of Meghan painting her as the bad guy especially when it was Meghan’s antics that tore the family apart -- Kate also is upset that Harry and Meghan are portraying themselves as victims of a world that’s against them while she and William take on a phenomenal workload to cover the responsibilities the Sussexes left and losing precious time with their own three children and it’s hard not to be bitter but Kate is trying to take the high road and forgive Meghan and move forward

Page 26: With their marriage hanging by a thread Tori Spelling fears Dean McDermott will cheat on her again while filming a new TV show in Canada for six months; Tori wanted to bring their 5 children to Canada with him but Dean put her off saying it would be too distracting -- she’s been a jittery mess and he can’t stand to look at her and he only took this job because they need the money, Melanie Griffith is frustrated with Chris Martin and wants him to put a ring on her daughter Dakota Johnson’s finger -- the couple have been dating since 2017 and Melanie’s fed up with waiting for Chris to pop the question -- Melanie began to lose her patience after the couple reunited following a split last June when Chris won Dakota back with promises to settle down

Page 28: COVID Vaccines: What you need to know

Page 32: Miley Cyrus claimed she once spotted a spaceship over Hollywood and even locked eyes with an alien but she also admits she’d bought weed wax from a guy in a van in front of a taco shop, whiny Kris Jenner is blaming social media for killing off Keeping Up with the Kardashians after it helped the reality TV clan make a mint

Page 34: Ozzy Osbourne is terrified a doll has cursed him -- Ozzy told son Jack Osbourne on their Osbournes Want to Believe show that Robert the doll was responsible for his recent bad luck and failing health, Tom Cruise and his Mission: Impossible 7 team caused chaos at an Italian hospital by filming there during the COVID-19 pandemic -- Tom and his crew including 100 security staffers plus trucks and other equipment descended on the Policlinico Umberto I in Rome for a week and legions of fans also flocked to the filming creating even more commotion in the streets outside the hospital and adding to the bedlam the production commandeered an elevator drawing criticism as hospital staff were treating 140 coronavirus patients with 12 in intensive care -- filming was done in an administrative section of the hospital but still sparked an official protest as well as complaints from trade union members

Page 36: Health Watch

Page 38: Superhero screen pals of Chris Pratt rushed to rescue the actor’s reputation after he was mercilessly dragged into a silly social media meme when a Twitter user posted pictures of Chris Pratt and Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans captioned with the instruction one has to go but a flood of responses slammed Pratt as the worst Chris causing his Marvel co-stars to prop him up such as Zoe Saldana and Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner and Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn and Chris Pratt’s wife Katherine Schwarzenegger also bashed the social media bullies, Matthew McConaughey kept saying alright alright alright to making romantic comedies until the day he was so fed up he turned down $14.5 million to do another one -- Matthew revealed in his memoir that he didn’t mind making a string of mindless rom-coms because their paychecks rented the houses on the beach he ran shirtless on but he eventually wanted to try something else so he turned down a big payday so he could get more serious

Page 42: Red Carpet -- Drew Barrymore

Page 47: Odd List

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slapshot-to-the-heart · 4 years

Text

Flatbush & Atlantic: part iii

Part iii is here! Read it, reblog it, text your friends about it, talk to ME about it, everything.

part i part ii

part iii

November 13

From: Mat

The tickets should be at will call! Let me know if you have any trouble, we’re headed out for warmups in a few

Cass shoved her phone back into the back pocket of her pants, turning to Samaira. “He put them at will call, which is,” she scanned the front of Barclay’s, “right there.” Samaira followed her to the counter. “Hi,” she said as the ticketing agent called for the next in line, sliding her license under the glass. “There should be two for Cassidy Shaw.” The agent nodded, reaching over to leaf through a filing box and pulling out the envelope. “Enjoy the game!”

Samaira looked over as Cass handed her her ticket, eyeing the long line to get through the metal detectors. “What kind of seats did he get you?”

Cass shrugged. “I’m not sure. He said they were good ones? Somewhere lower bowl, mid-ice I think.” Just got them, be in in a few! See you soon, she sent back to Mat.

She tugged on the collar of her Rangers jersey, ignoring the occasional dirty look thrown her way. It was only one borough over, so she was far from the only fan in blue and red, and she couldn’t deny that there was a part of her that was looking forward to seeing Mat’s reaction when he saw her in their rival’s colors. It was too early into her and Mat’s relationship for her to be wearing his jersey to games; she wouldn’t want to curse anything prematurely, but jerseys could run upwards of two hundred dollars, and she didn’t exactly have that kind of money to go spending on just anybody. Not that Mat was “just anybody,” but Cass was someone who thrived on stability and she wanted to be sure.

The usher at the doors scanned their tickets, and it was only then that Cass bothered to look down at hers to see where they were headed. She was familiar enough with the layout, it wasn’t her first Rangers-Islanders game and had been to a Lorde concert her first year in law school. Walking down the stairs, they kept going, and kept going, and kept going. Until they were right at the glass behind the home bench. Samaira whistled. “Boy came through.”

Cass nodded, smiling apologetically as the pair squeezed past the others in their row. “I’m not sure how he got them, these ones are usually sold out months in advance. Or some rich guy has them for season tickets.”

Samaira raised an eyebrow. “As much as you hate to admit it, he’s kinda a big deal around here, Cass,” she said, leaning over to her. “I don’t think it’s that hard for him to get seats on a week’s notice.” Not only was Samaira one of her best friends at school and the only one who had the night free, but she was also a born-and-raised New Yorker — and a huge Islanders fan. Mat told her that he’d set aside two tickets, and it didn’t take Samaira more than a minute to respond in all caps when Cass asked if she’d be interested. The guys were nearly done with warmups, and it only took a minute or so for Mat to notice her, raising his eyebrows and looking pointedly at her jersey.

“Sorry,” Cass mouthed, shrugging her shoulders. Smiling, he shook his head, skating back to the blue line to take another shot. Cass excused herself to go to the bathroom after warmups had finished, her phone lighting up with yet another text right as she finished drying her hands. Traitor. She laughed. You knew what you were getting yourself into, Barzal 🤷🏽‍♀️

She got back to her seat just as the players were skating back out, handing Samaira one of the two beers she had picked up on the way. “Don’t spill,” she said ruefully. “These were like ten bucks each.”

After lineups and the national anthem, they sat back down, and the puck dropped.

---

Much to her chagrin, the Islanders had won 3-2, but Mat had netted two points, one of which was an absolute beauty over Lundqvist’s left shoulder. So she really couldn’t be that mad. As much as Cass would have loved to stay and congratulate Mat on the win, it was ten o’clock and she really needed to head home if she wanted to get back anytime before midnight. Walking back to the train, she figured Mat would be done with postgame interviews and risked a call. He picked up on the first ring.

“What’s up?”

Cass smiled. “Hey, Mat. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay and see you after,”

“Don’t worry about it, babe, I know you’ve got a long ride home.” The pet name slipped easily from his lips, and Cass felt her heart skip a beat. “It means a lot that you wanted to come.”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I? You had a great game, that goal was incredible. I’m fine with you winning against my team if you’ll do it like that every time.”

“I’ll convert you if it’s the last thing I ever do.” He deadpanned. They talked for as long as they could, until Cass had to swipe her metrocard and was about to lose reception. “Talk to you later?” Mat asked hopefully.

Cass giggled. “If I’m not passed out, sure. Promise me you’ll get some sleep too?”

“Promise.”

Samaira lived on the same line as her, getting off with a hug and a promise to meet up for lunch on Monday. Cass had taken the route at night a hundred times, but it was just as much second nature for her to keep a hand on her pepper spray as it was to keep refreshing her Instagram feed.

As soon as she made her way up the stairs into the cool Bronx air and back to the land of cell reception, a text from her dad popped up. It had entirely escaped her mind that sitting right behind the bench meant that she and Samaira would have had plenty of airtime on the networks broadcasting the game, or that there was a 100% chance her dad was watching. He had taken a picture of the TV when she just so happened to be smack-dab in the middle of the screen, grimacing at what she guessed must have been another Islanders goal. And how did you get those tickets? Were they from the internship?

Cass let herself into the apartment, waving goodnight to Ryanne, who was watching Netflix in the living room, and tried to formulate an answer. No, not from work. They were a gift.

From?

The person I’m seeing. Cass hadn’t told her family about Mat yet. It’s not that she thought they would disapprove, but she wanted to make sure that it was real, really real, before she let her family in on it.

She could imagine her dad scratching his head. What kind of law student would have that kind of money? For that matter, what kind of person? Are you and Samaira together? Cass let out a laugh. Her parents knew Samaira and loved her to pieces, and she doubted they would have had any issue if she was dating her. But she wasn’t.

“Rip the bandaid off,” Cass whispered to herself as she shucked her coat off, leaving her in the jersey and leggings. Hahaha no, not her. They were from Mat. She added as an afterthought, Barzal.

You’re dating Mat Barzal?

I am.

Huh.

Guess the cat’s out of the bag?

Nov. 17 (tues)

Cass’s seminar leader for Native Law, Professor Davidson, had just emailed the class, cancelling that afternoon’s meeting. My daughter came down with the flu, she had said. It wasn’t the cancellation that bothered her; obviously, if you have a sick kid, take care of your sick kid. It was the fact that now she had four hours to kill and no idea how to spend them. If she went home, that was an hour’s trip either way, so what was the point? And as much as she genuinely did love the library (and she really loved libraries), she knew those chairs and knew that her ass would start hurting somewhere midway through hour 3. As if on cue, Mat called. He had left for a West Coast roadie a few days earlier, and wouldn’t be back for almost a week.

“Hey!” She said brightly. “Congrats on the win last night, I would have called but I definitely fell asleep somewhere during the second intermission.” The Islanders had beaten the Ducks 4-2 the night before, but the time difference meant that it finished well past midnight, and Cass had been up early.

She heard him laugh on the other end. “Nah, no problem. I’m glad you caught it though. How has your day been?” One of the things Cass had grown to appreciate the most about Mat, even in their short time together, was how deliberate he was. He didn’t just ask her how she was or how her day was going because that was the standard “boyfriend” question of the day, he asked because he genuinely wanted to know. Because he cared.

So she was honest with him. “So-so. Yoga was great, they had my favorite instructor which was pretty nice. Good meeting after. Got a croissant. But then one of my classes got cancelled, so I’ve got to either find some coffee shop to work at or park myself at the library, neither of which is sounding too appealing at the moment.”

“Why don’t you just crash at my place?” Mat asked, like it was the most obvious question in the world. “It’s closer, I’ve got coffee and stuff if you want.”

Cass was taken aback for a moment. It wasn’t like the thought hadn’t crossed her mind, momentarily, but she didn’t think that they were there yet. She had been to his apartment before, once, under very different circumstances. Mat had tried, valiantly, to cook pasta and roasted veggies for dinner. Tried being the key word. The vegetables had all been burnt to a crisp, and he had thought the pasta was supposed to be cooked for 18 minutes, not 8, causing it to more closely resemble pudding than pasta. They ended up ordering Italian from the place down the street. But having a stay-in date at someone’s apartment and letting them crash there alone were two very different things, and Cass was touched not only by the offer, but by the fact that he trusted her enough to extend it. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, of course, Cass. I want you to be comfortable. My spare key’s left with the front office, I’ll call them and let them know you’ll be picking it up. Shouldn’t be a problem. You remember how to get up there, yeah?”

“Mhm. Thanks, Mat, for real. You totally didn’t have to do this.”

“But I wanted to. Listen, morning skate’s about to start so I’ve got to go, but text me if you have an issue getting up. Or, like, if you forget where the bathroom is or something,” Mat added as an afterthought.

Cass laughed. “I think I can manage to find it, but thank you for the offer? Talk to you later.”

“Later.”

Half an hour later, Cass was curled up on his living room couch, a pot of coffee brewing in the kitchen and her books sprawled haphazardly on the coffee table. She spotted one of his hoodies slung over the armchair on the other side of the room. I don’t think he’ll mind if I steal it.

---

Nov 23 (mon)

The team had gotten back from the roadie around noon, and Mat had insisted on taking Cass out for dinner after she got off from work. “It’s been almost a week since I’ve seen you,” he had bemoaned on the phone earlier. Shaking her head and laughing internally at how needy her boyfriend was, she agreed to meet him at a Mexican restaurant a few blocks away.

She arrived just a few minutes before him, kissing him as they sat down. Grabbing a basket of chips, she headed over to the salsa bar. “How good are you with spice?” She asked Mat.

“I can hold my own, as long as it’s not like a Carolina Reaper or something crazy like that,” he answered, cracking a smile.

She laughed in response, setting the cups down on the table. Her enchiladas and his pozole came later, and Cass blushed at the knowing glance their waitress gave her as she slid the dishes onto the table. “How does it stack up?” Mat asked after she had taken a few bites.

Cass nodded happily. “It’s good. Really good. Obviously, I’d be disowned if I didn’t say that my grandma’s is better, but this is a close second.” Mat sipped his horchata. Cass had balked when he said he’d never tried the drink before, and his glass was now near-empty.

“Yeah, glad to hear it. This is super good too,” he said, eating another spoonful. She could tell something else was on his mind.

“What is it, chou?” Cass asked.

Mat bit his lip. “You’re still good to come to the game against the Canes tomorrow, yeah?” She nodded. “How would you feel about sitting up in the box?” Her brow furrowed. The box? Sensing her confusion, Mat continued. “Up with the other girls.” Cass knew that there was a box for the WAGs, obviously, but it hadn’t quite hit her that she was one now. She had met Paige, Beau’s girlfriend of six months, a few weeks prior, but that had really been more of an accident than anything. They had been walking around the Central Park Zoo one weekend, one of their first official dates, and happened to run into the other couple somewhere around the lemurs. It being lunch and the boys being boys, the group stopped for some sandwiches. Cass and Paige got to talking, chirping the boys for their sub-par “disguises” — “Since when has sunglasses and a baseball cap fooled anyone?” Paige had asked. Cass had laughed, they had exchanged numbers, and been talking ever since.

So, there was going to be at least one person she knew there. Why not, then? “Yeah, sure, sounds fun!” Cass said, nodding and tapping her fingers on the table, trying to get her nerves out.

Mat ran a hand through his hair, smiling nervously as if he hadn’t been too sure of what her answer would be. “Good,” he said, leaning down to pick up a bag. “Would have made this pretty awkward if you said no.” He handed it to her; she hefted it, trying to tell what was inside.

“Ooooh,” she said, “I didn’t know we were at the ‘presents’ stage of our relationship yet.” Mat blushed.

“Didn’t really cost me anything,” he mumbled.

“It’s got some weight to it. Soft. I’m going to go with...a mink stole.”

Mat looked baffled. “I’m not even going to pretend to know what that is.”

Cass laughed, untying the piece of ribbon that held the handles together. She pulled out a navy and orange jersey. “It’s one of the ones from my rookie season, figured I couldn’t have you going up there wearing another Rangers jersey. Didn’t want to throw you out to the wolves.” It was only then that she shook it out and turned it over. Barzal - 13.

Cass beamed, leaning over the table and kissing him on the cheek. “I love it, chou.”

---

Nov. 24 (tues)

Cass glanced at her watch. 6:38. The train was running on schedule, so she still had a little bit of time before she was supposed to meet Paige up in the box. She had offered to wait for her outside of the arena and walk her up, but she had driven Tito earlier and Cass didn’t want her to be stuck outside waiting for her. The car was packed with orange, blue, and white-clad fans, so nobody paid her any mind as she pulled out Mat’s jersey from her bag, switching out from the fleece she had been in all day. Are you sure it won’t be weird if I wear a jersey? Don’t most of the others show up to these things in dresses and shit? Cass had frantically texted Paige late last night.

Don’t worry! She had responded. Some do, yeah, but it’s def not uncommon to be in a jersey. I’ll be wearing Beau’s :)

It didn’t take long to get through security, showing her pass to the employee at the elevator and shooting Mat a good luck text, she let Paige know she was on her way up. Mat had given her the box number, so she made her way up to the suite, nervously smiling at the usher. “Hi,” she said.

The usher gave her a quick once-over and a curt smile. “Hi. Name?”

“Cassidy Cabrera Shaw, um, Mat Barzal should have added me.” She scanned the clipboard, making a tiny checkmark next to her name.

“Enjoy the game.” Cass tentatively made her way in, searching for Paige but still a little thrown off. It hadn’t escaped Cass the way the usher had looked at her, like there was something just a little off about her, like she didn’t quite belong.

It was a good thing that she didn’t have enough time to get too into her head, because Paige came barreling at her, wrapping her in a massive bear hug. “You came!!” She said, squeezing Cass’s hand once she finally released her.

Cass laughed. “Did you think I’d skip out on you?”

Paige shook her head. “No, I knew you’d come through.” She pointed to the hooks on the wall, where a mixed bunch of purses, scarves, and coats were hanging. “You can leave your bag there, let me get you a drink and introduce you to the other girls.” Cass followed Paige into the main room, where a dozen or so women milled about, sitting on couches and keeping an eye on the warmups below. Paige nodded at the bar. “What are you feeling? White? Red? Sparkling? I can make a mojito if you want. It won't be good, but if you’re desperate,” she shrugged her shoulders.

Cass threw her head back, laughing. “If they’re picking up the tab?” She replied, tilting her head towards the ice, “Give me the best champagne you’ve got.”

Paige grabbed a flute. “Yes, ma’am.”Pouring the champagne, she handed it to Cass, leading her over to where a group was hanging by the window. “Hey guys!” She said brightly, one hand touching the back of Cass’s shoulder reassuringly. “Girls, this is Cass. Cass, this is Lauren, Kerry, and Karley,” she said, pointing to each woman in turn. Lauren pulled her into a tight hug.

“Lauren Rodych Eberle,” she said, “Paige told us you’d be coming along. It’s great to have you.” The other girls introduced themselves, leading her over to a corner of the room. “These are the comfiest couches,” Kerry noted. “You always want to grab them as soon as you get up, they’re a hot commodity.”

Cass laughed. “Good to know.”

“So you’re Mat’s girl, yeah?” Kerry asked.

“Yep,” Cass replied, trying and failing to roll up the sleeves on Mat’s — her? — jersey.

She smiled. “I’m happy. He’s a great guy, don’t get me wrong, but could use a girl to balance him out. Bit of a himbo, but,” she lowered her voice conspiratorially, “almost every hockey guy is.”

Cass nearly snorted out her champagne. “Fair statement.”

Kerry took a sip of her own wine. “So, Paige said you’re in law school, yeah?” Cass nodded. “What’s that like?” If Mat could talk about hockey for hours on end and still not get through half of what he wanted to say, that was Cass with the law. It was refreshing to talk with a person who wouldn’t constantly try to interject with their own theory of jurisprudence or Constitutional interpretation, just someone who was genuinely interested in what she had to say.

---

The team had managed to extend their win streak to 3, a wraparound from Nelson that just squeaked past Reimer clinching the 2-1 win in the third minute of overtime. Everyone let out a collective cheer, some gathering their things and others hanging back to mingle. Cass meandered back over towards where Paige was waiting by the door; they didn’t have to rush since the guys probably hadn’t even finished showering yet, but the plan was to meet them down by the locker room.

“How’d you like it?” Paige enquired.

“It was really nice,” Cass answered genuinely. “I love going to these things with friends, but it’s nice to be around people who know the game and know the guys.”

“That’s the whole point,” Paige said easily. “We’re all in the same boat, even if some peoples’ home or work lives look different, nobody quite ‘gets’ this whole thing like each other.” Paige led her down elevators and corridors until they were nearly at the home team locker room. “Oh!” She exclaimed, causing Cass’s to snap around and look at her, startled. “No, nothing bad,” she added hastily. “Usually once or twice a roadie, the wives of a veteran or captain will host a family watch party. A lot of the partners and kids will come over, it’s really cute. Obviously don’t blow off work or something to come, but I’ll let you know.”

Cass smiled. “That would be nice.” The locker room door opened, players starting to filter out.

Anthony came out before Mat, giving Paige a kiss on the top of her head and smiling at Cass. “Mat should be out in a minute,” he added. She thanked him, congratulating him on his first-period goal.

True to Tito’s word, Mat appeared soon after, embracing Cass. “What’s that dumb look on your face?” She asked, seeing Mat’s satisfied grin.

“You’re wearing my jersey.”

“Well, yeah,” Cass said slowly. “You gave it to me.”

Saying their goodbyes to Tito and Paige, Mat tangled his hand with hers. “Nothing. You look good in it.”

---

Nov. 25 (wed)

The coffee tasted bitter in her mouth, but the much-needed caffeine jolt it gave her was enough for Cass to choke it down, shoving her cup — the white-and-blue one Mat had given her — into its spot on the center console of her white Escape. Cheryl had been with her since just before her freshman year of high school, the culmination of summer jobs, graduation gifts, and a used car lot. It wasn’t practical nor economical for her to drive most places in New York, so she usually sat in the parking lot of their apartment building unless one of the girls needed to run out at night or Cass was driving back home, as was the current case. It was the day before Thanksgiving, and she had a two hour drive (if she was lucky) and hours of cooking ahead of her before the clock ever struck Thursday.

Digging into the CD holder, she handed over the toll to the attendant at the station, giving as grateful a smile as she could muster when the toll arm lifted. Mat was going to call after practice, promising to keep her company on the drive up. He had been a little pouty about her leaving for the better part of a week so soon after he had gotten home, but one reminder from her about how long his roadies could run had shut him up quickly.

Cass loved family, so Thanksgiving had always been one of her favorite holidays. Their house was hosting this year, and if Cass had any money to bet, she’d guess that as she drove, her mom was frantically running around the house, pulling out napkins and silverware and trying to figure out how to fit fifteen people in a two-thousand square foot house. While her mom’s side rarely made the trip up from Texas and Hermosillo, her dad was from a big New England Irish Catholic family that never let a single holiday pass by without celebration. Her dad’s parents meant Grandma Maggie and Grandpa Joe, which meant an inevitable barrage of questions as soon as anyone let slip that she wasn’t single anymore. Cass loved her grandma to pieces; really, she did. But she was going to want to know his name, where he worked, where he went to school, and his mother’s damn maiden name before she would give it a rest.

Her phone was hooked up to the car, so Mat’s call came straight through, interrupting her preferred driving music, a mid-2000s playlist starring copious amounts of early Lady Gaga. “How’s the drive going?” He asked.

“Uh, pretty good,” Cass replied, changing lanes to pass the sluggish Honda ahead of her. “Just crossed into Connecticut, I’m thinking it’ll be another hour or so? How was practice?”

Cass heard the door to his apartment close behind him. “Good, Coach had us run a lot of passing drills, so it’ll hopefully pay off next game.”

“Friday, right?” She asked. “Against the Caps?”

“Yeah, should be a good game. They’re doing really well this season, hopefully the boys come through, extend the streak a little bit.”

Cass smiled. “You’ll be great. I’m sorry I won’t be there to see you, but —”

She could imagine him shaking his head on the other end of the line. “Babe, you don’t need to apologize. Thanksgiving’s a big thing here, and I know it’s been awhile since you’ve really spent much time with your family.”

“Yeah,” Cass said, chewing her lip, “that’s true. Pretty much my dad’s whole side is going to be there though, so I’m prepared to spend a solid hour fielding questions about you and my whole ‘new relationship’ I’ve got going on. I think they’ll be disappointed you’re not there.”

Mat chuckled. “It’s fine, Cass,” he said, reassuring her. “Just promise them you’ll bring me next year.” Cass couldn’t stop a big, dumb grin from spreading on her face. Next year.

“I promise.”

#hockey imagine #nhl imagine #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal #hockey writing #nhl writing #hockey imagines #hockey smut #nhl imagines #nhl smut #islanders #new york islanders #islanders imagines #islanders writing

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derenger · 3 years

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Growing up, parenting and gaming - Longread on life, computer games and finding yourself

This longread is dedicated to and written for all those current and former kids, who had or have troubles growing up, taking decisions, finding themselves in the world they live in, who play games independently of age and – perhaps – have not lost their love for a good game, good times and good buddies.

Perhaps it will help someone in their life. If that happens – I shall think of this writing as useful and my time writing it as not completely wasted.

The ideas have been on my mind for over 2 years now (they started getting very clear when I started doing therapy) and I have to put them on paper now.

Here it goes.

I grew up in the 90s in Eastern Europe. After the USSR collapsed millions of people found themselves without work, perspectives and means of existence. We were lucky that my dad had a good job that was paid in hard currency, however he was barely home – and by that I mean like seeing him 2 or 3 times a month.

We had good living conditions compared to others and my mom did the best she could too take care of my younger bro and me.

The first time we were exposed to computer games was when I was like 7 and my bro was 5 – in the office where the boyfriend of our aunt has been working. We played Dangerous Dave, Scorched Earth, Socoban, Digger, Civilization, The Incredible Machine and some others I do not recall the names. And of course, we liked it and it did not take long for our dad to install them on his PC at home. 2 years later my best buddy got Doom 2 installed on his PC and that was the absolute blast. We spent weeks trying to figure out how to get through level 2 and it was a big holiday when our buddy finally did.

My dad tried to restrict TV and computer time per week, so we always opted for the PC. Over time I learned to turn it on by myself and play when there was no one at home. My dad did not know.

A couple of our friends had 8bit consoles - soviet bootlegs of Super Nintendoes, with TMNT and Chip n Dale, but that was probably it. After all, we were living in a small village with not that many possibilities to make money.

When I was 10 we moved to a bigger city into a 1 room apartment. All 4 of us. This was 1996. 2 other very important things:

We started going to a far bigger school than before, where the mood was totally different from what we were used to. We were bullied and beaten, could not get along with other pupils and teachers and no one actually cared.

Father was home every day.

I mean, father was present home every day. It is not like he spent time with us doing sports or whatever. He just had any idea what to do with us as this was his first long time exposure to kids in the 11 years we were a family.

He was more of an authoritarian guy – we were not supposed to waste time in gaming clubs, listen to stupid music (Prodigy, Beastie Boys), we should have studied well, read books, have been doing sports and in general act like good kids.

We were doing some martial arts sports cause mom brought us there. We were taking music classes cause “everyone has to”. We were supposed to help out at home. We were not supposed to hang out with “bad” kid or stay outside till late hours. We were not supposed to smoke, swear and simulate illness to miss classes. We were not supposed to get into trouble.

It is not like we were putting a lot of thought into it. We just moved to the city from rural area and frankly speaking were absolutely not happy about. I guess we just went with the flow.

This was also the time when the first “gaming spot” in town opened – they had 2 Sega Mega Drives II and 1 Sony PlayStation. MK3, MK3 Ultimate, Contra Hard Cops, Golden Axe, some samurai fighting games for the Sega. SPS – Red Alert, Twisted Metal, Duke Nukem, Doom and of course – an incredible breakthrough for its time – Quake 2. And that was a revelation. I recall mom giving us money from time to time. To go play. Sega cost like 1 buck and hour, SPS – 1,5 bucks – far more expensive, so we played mainly on Sega.

At the same time we did have some games at home – Doom, Power Formula 1, Lines, the same Civilization, Lion King, Alladin, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Gods and Dune 2000. Dad did not want to allow us play games. Like, at all. Don’t ask me why he never deleted the games. The PC was mainly used for him to work. So when he left home, he took the power cable of the monitor and closed it in his spare suitcase. What we did was to unplug the cable from the printer and use for the monitor. Later on he hid both cables – from the monitor and the PC in the suitcase. I found a way to open the suitcase with a very fine flat screwdriver. Mom hid the fact from our dad for a while until he noticed the suitcase was “broken”. I believe they did not speak with each other for a week. But I am still proud of the fact of cracking that suitcase! Fuck yeah!

Things started getting worse when I transferred to a lyceum - 1998. I was 12. This was like a gymnasium for hardcore science-kids, where they went deep into math and natural sciences. I was hysterical the first 2 years as I was barely making the program. Even my dad had troubles solving the math they gave us. Music classes turned to shits. I had no time nor mood for sport. But I had to keep doing it all. Just because. There were a couple of bullies in class, whose parents bribed the management of the school so that their kids would have fancy graduation papers at the end and frankly speaking no one could get a grip on them. That had me very depressed.

Around 13 I started stealing money from my parents and missing classes to go to computer clubs – their number was getting bigger every week, consoles started to disappear. Half Life, CS 1.6, Age of Empires 2, Q3, D2 1.07, Black and White, SimCity 2000, NOX, StarCraft Brood War and many other games had our full attention. The biggest part of it was the fact you could play with or against your friends! That was so fucking awesome! At the same time I started discovering sci-fi and rock music, but that is a different story.

We stole a lot of money from our parents in those times and missed a lot of classes and of course after 3 or 4 months it all got revealed. Boy oh boy our dad smoked us. That was very very tough for a kid when all the things he actually liked were taken from him. Dark times when we were seriously asking ourselves what the hell our parents wanted from us as aside from the stuff they told us to do they never really told us what was it for. Everything else was useless, stupid or waste of time.

Somehow my marks at school got better closer to graduation and I graduated almost with a medal, went to university. I remember they had this PC club with like 200 PCs and from time to time we skipped one or the other lecture to play Starcraft or CS, but very quickly boozing with buddies became the major leisure activity and pushed gaming to the back. I did pretty well at the university, made my master with excellence and that was it – 6 years flew by in a blink of an eye.

I got my own PC during the first year at the uni, played a bit of Warcraft 3, HOMM 3, Quake 3, Lineage II but it was not like I was deep into that. I remember after defending my master I spent like 3 days playing Crysis without anyone saying a word. I mean, I was through with the university. I was free!

Soon after that I went on to work abroad as a project engineer in the chemical industry.

At the moment I am doing sales engineer for a good salary in Berlin, I am married and except for the Corona and all the restrictions it brought life seems ok.

During the last 10 years of my “adult” life I have been in many different situations. I have been very sick a couple of times, running on the edge of life and death. I have been in some useless relations that only drained energy and nerves from me. I also have been diagnosed with depression and burnout at some point, did therapy and consider myself fully recovered from both. I’ll be summarizing it all below.

When I look at my life it did occur to me that gaming was far more important than just the sheer desire to shoot buddies and skip school.

Growing up under the conditions where everything is predetermined one does not really get the chance to expose your own wish. After all, my parents both come from very unhappy families and did not have the exactly best examples of parenting.

It occurred to me that they never really cared about anything we achieved – whether in school, music or sports. I recall a couple of times when I did really good, like winning the City-contest in English language or getting my first “good” in algebra in 7th grade as that shit was extremely tough. I do not recall any reaction. In fact, mom and dad put their close attention to us only when things started getting really bad, like when we were skipping classes or got arrested for setting up fireworks in a crowded place. We never really got any positive feedback for anything we did because our parents just had no idea how to do that. I do not blame them – they were trying their best from their own experience.

And gaming was the absolute opposite to all of that.

Going to computer clubs we knew exactly that we were surrounded by like-minded lads. We made some good friends along the way – lads, who were always ready to jam on de_dust or bring their D2 chars to share some loot. One of the owners of the club had a daughter who was really good in Q3 – I remember everyone has been looking at her like she was some sort of demigod. The games gave us the space and playground we needed so much – clear even rules for everyone. If you frag – you win. If you don’t – you lose. If you suck – the older guys would always help with a couple of tips. Games also gave us control. I really liked the games where you went on an adventure, like NOX or Will Rock or serious Sam. Gaming also gave us the space to take our own decisions and suffer the full consequences if these were wrong – getting overrun by zerglings or getting fragged with rocket launcher with QUAD DAMAGE.

Gaming clubs were our safe space. At some point our dad did raid the computer clubs and did bust us a couple of times. Sure we got beaten on those occasions.

I recall my bro being very proud on getting 1st in the national 2v2 ladder in SC:BW later in the uni. He also used to game the whole night long at my parents place. This was over 10 years ago and they still do not know. He is still very good in SC though he does not play anymore.

I do play sometimes – currently grinding D2 and refreshing my knowledge in chess. I do not have more time for any other more or less serious game.

I am slowly approaching the point where I should write a conclusion – it is going to be quite simple. Gaming was the first opportunity to take my life into my own hands. It took me 32 years of my own life to find the power in me to take responsibility for myself and not to rely on someone else. My decision – my choice – my consequences. It took a lot of trouble and turmoil for me to get to this point and finally embracing the power within feels great. It was also the first surrounding of dudes just like me, which was a very good feeling back then.

During the last 6 months I switched to a job that pays almost the double of my previous one, my wife moved in with me from abroad, we have a nice apartment and are looking forward to vacations in the Alps. I still have to find a way to approach my parents though I am not sure the old hive is worth disturbing. I guess time will tell.

Whenever I am down or things do no go according to play – I do turn to gaming occasionally, just to get back into the world where I am in full control. It gives me power and I guess hope that everything will work out. If not now – then over time. You just have to keep practicing. And ask for help when it is needed.

I hope you found this read interesting.

#life #gaming #adulthood #friends

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inawickedlittletown · 4 years

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I’m With You (5/?)

Summary:

Having a crush was nothing to be ashamed of...lying to the family and friends of said crush about being the guy’s boyfriend, that was a whole other problem. When Buck saves the life of Andrew Diaz and accidentally makes a nurse think that he’s Andrew’s boyfriend, Buck soon finds himself lying to Andrew’s firefighter friends/coworkers as well as Andrew’s family including Andrew’s very suspicious and attractive brother, Eddie.

Based on the 1995 movie While You Were Sleeping.

Words: 3, 508

Read on Ao3

Masterpost

Previous Chapter

When he arrived at the hospital with Christopher, Eddie found Buck getting ready to leave. Christopher stopped just in front of Buck, looking up at him.

“Hi, Buck,” he’d said.

“Oh, hey, kiddo,” Buck said with a grin and then looked away from Christopher and met Eddie’s eyes. “Hey, man.”

Christopher looked towards the bed, then, and froze and looked back at Eddie with a question in his eyes. Christopher knew that his uncle was in a coma, but it was hard to get a kid to understand exactly what was going on even one as smart as Christopher.

“Daddy,” he said.

“Remember we talked about this, Chris,” Eddie said gently. “Your uncle got hurt and now he’s going to be sleeping for a little while.”

“It’s so he can rest up and get better,” Buck added in. “His body is repairing itself and then when he wakes up, he’ll feel a lot better.”

“Oh,” Christopher said. “So, he can’t see my card?”

Buck chuckled. “Not right now but when he wakes up I’m sure he’ll be glad to see that you brought it over. We can put it right here on the table so it’s one of the first things he sees. How about that?”

Christopher nodded eagerly and Buck moved the chair and himself out of the way so that Christopher could prop up the card on the bedside table. Afterwards, his son turned to Andrew and lightly he touched Andrew’s hand before he drew back.

“Well, I was heading out,” Buck said. “I’m glad he won’t be alone.”

Eddie nodded.

Buck ruffled Christopher’s hair on his way out and then he was gone. Christopher got bored after a while and asked if he could color. Coloring was Christopher’s favorite pastime so it was easy to just set him up somewhere so he could color while Eddie sat with Andrew. People often said that it was good to talk to coma patients and with Christopher distracted, Eddie just started talking.

He told Andrew about what he’d missed at work on the day of the accident and then rambled on about how their parents were coming to LA the next day.

“It’s really annoying. And they’re insisting on staying with me even though your house is empty and they could have the run of the place. Mom says it would be weird because you’re not there. Not to mention they don’t know about Legolas. Or Buck. None of us knew about that.” Eddie paused there to look at his brother. “You know, I don’t get it.”

Andrew couldn’t answer no matter how much Eddie wanted him to so he could explain himself and explain Buck.

“I just don’t understand, Andrew. Have you been lying this entire time or did you not know how to tell us? Did you think we would judge? And the dog. You don’t like dogs. Growing up...it always felt like you got your way. You got everything you wanted and Buck is—” Eddie sighed and didn’t finish the thought because if he said it outloud it would be admitting it. It was better to say nothing at all.

Eddie pulled out his phone for a while, glancing at his texts and catching up with all the memes Chim had decided to send him for no apparent reason. He saw a text from Pepa about his parents and ignored it for later.

Eddie was looking forward to seeing his mom and dad. He didn’t see enough of them, it was just that things were always a little hard when they were around. Even though he had Andrew and Pepa and Abuela around, his parents always worried about how Eddie was doing as a single father. They wanted him back in Texas. He heard about it every time that they came to visit. Maybe this time they would be more preoccupied with Andrew to bother though. Or they would realize that Eddie was doing just fine with Christopher.

Christopher poked his arm after a while to show him what he’d been coloring. It was a picture of a blob that was supposed to be Andrew, on a bed.

“Looks good, kid,” Eddie said.

One of the nurses came in then. She smiled at him and Eddie.

“Hello,” she said, “just coming in to check on him.”

Eddie watched her. She didn’t do much but she wrote some things down on his chart and then with a smile and wave she was gone again.

Eddie pulled Christopher up on his lap after a while. Christopher leaned against him and Eddie just loved his kid so much. He was hit with that all the time, the encompassing love that he felt for his child. It was like nothing else that Eddie had ever felt. One time he’d tried to explain what that was like to Andrew who didn’t really get it or want to understand why Eddie felt the way he did especially with how Christopher had come to be. Eddie could hardly imagine what Andrew might have done in his place.

When Christopher started to squirm, Eddie let him down again. There was no point in sticking around. He knew Christopher would get bored soon and talking to Andrew was frustrating because ot was like talking to no one at all. Not to mention that he had to get his house clean and fix up the guest room for his parents because if it was one thing that his mom liked to do was criticize and he didn’t want to give her any reason to complain.

Eddie was going to be one picking them up right after dropping Christopher off at school and considering he had to go into work mid-day, Eddie knew he was looking forward to a long day.

—-

Buck went by Coffee Time after the hospital in part because he wanted coffee but also because he wanted to talk to someone and he had two options. Ali and Chimney. And since Chimney was mostly a stranger, Buck figured Ali was his best bet.

Ali was already getting ready to leave when he arrived, but she waited for him to order and get his coffee before she linked their arms together.

“So, you didn’t tell them,” she said and Buck just sighed.

“I couldn’t do it,” Buck admitted. “I’m just that much of a coward.”

Ali laughed and nudged him as they stepped outside. It was a nice day, not too hot but warm enough that it was nice to take a stroll out. Buck couldn’t help but remember earlier that morning when he’d been walking Legolas with Eddie.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Ali said. “So tell me how that dinner went?”

“It was nice. They’re loud and friendly and sometimes they bicker and yet they all care about each other,” Buck said. “And, Ali, he has a brother.”

Ali chuckled softly and under her breath. “And is the brother attractive?”

“The brother is very attractive. And he has a son who is just adorable. He’s — Eddie has been suspicious of me. He pretty much told me he didn’t expect his brother to be with someone like me which—”

“Which is rude,” Ali said, looking at Buck with her eyes wide.

Buck laughed and shook his head. “No. I mean, he’s right. Andrew is unfortunately very very straight and everyone knows it so the fact that they’re all willing to believe all of this is—” Buck trailed off and he felt Ali touch his arm. “They’re just so wonderful. And I’m lying to them and I don’t know when Andrew will wake up but he will and then I don’t know—”

They stopped when they came to a bench. They weren’t too far from where the incident had happened and Buck almost couldn’t believe that barely any time at all had passed since that day.

“Buck, I really don’t know how to help you here,” Ali said.

Buck laughed and it was maybe a cry for help too. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. This is a house of cards and it’s going to collapse and I’ll be the casualty.”

They were silent for a while and Buck sipped at his coffee. A nice wind hit them and Ali sighed. It was the same sigh that she’d given him back at Christmas when he’d dragged her into a Hallmark to pick up a card for Maddie. Buck had no idea if the address he had was even hers anymore, but he’d sent the card anyway even while Ali judged him for bothering. Buck just wanted to be sure that she knew he was still there for whenever she decided it was time to return his call or his Christmas card.

“So, about this hot brother,” Ali said eventually.

Buck turned to face her entirely. “Ali, he is gorgeous. The genes, Ali. His kid doesn’t look anything like him, though. And he told me today that the mom isn’t in the picture. Didn’t elaborate or anything but he’s probably straight too. Can’t win on all accounts.”

Ali burst into laughter then. “Buck, only you could end up in a problem such as this one.”

“I know.”

Buck went to the gym after he and Ali parted ways. He usually went straight to the gym after he got off work and then he skipped working out altogether on his days off but with everything that happened with Andrew, Buck hadn’t stepped foot inside his gym in a few days and he was aching for a workout.

It was easy to lose himself to lifting weights and to the routine of stretching his muscles and making use of them. By the time that he was done and covered in sweat, his mind felt a bit clearer. He still wasn’t any closer to solving his problems, but he wasn’t expecting to find an easy solution. He was also pretty sure that no matter what he did things wouldn’t end at all well.

On his way out to his car, he checked his phone. Pepa had texted checking in with him. There were also a few texts from Chimney.

Hey, liar.

Just wanted to let you know I won’t out you to them.

And Eddie doesn’t seem all that suspicious anymore.

So that’s good.

What did you tell him?

Good luck, liar.

Buck couldn’t help but smile at the texts. He just hoped that after it was all over he might get to keep Chimney as a friend.

Thanks. I appreciate it.

I really...I couldn’t tell them.

It was too hard.

I think finding me in Andrew’s house with his dog helped me out in respect to Eddie.

Instead of going straight to his apartment, Buck made the trip over to Andrew’s instead. He figured that even if Legolas could get himself out onto the yard, that it wasn’t fair to leave the dog with no food until he got out of work the next day and stopped by. Buck couldn’t be sure when Eddie was planning on bringing Christopher to meet Legolas, so the least that Buck could do was leave the dog some food out and take him on another walk.

Legolas actually appeared at the door when he opened it this time and Buck bent down to pet him, leaving the door ajar. Buck hadn’t been petting him long when he heard a knock on the door and looked up.

It was a guy that looked sort of familiar to Buck but he couldn’t place where he could have met or seen him before.

“Hello,” Buck said.

“Hi,” the guy said, frowning at him. “Uh, who are you?”

“I’m — I’m Buck,” Buck said. “Andrew’s boyfriend.”

The guy stared at him for a long time. “Andrew’s boyfriend,” he repeated and then laughed. “What? No, that’s not possible.” He was still laughing.

“Who are you?” Buck asked.

“I’m Andrew’s best friend,” the guy said. “Josh. So I would have heard about this little development. Although, you are in his house. Where is Andrew anyway?”

Buck ran a hand down Legolas’ back. Josh was looking at Legolas with some confusion and then back at Buck.

“He’s in the hospital,” Buck said at last. “It’s why I’m here looking after his dog.”

Josh gasped and covered his mouth with his hand but in the next moment he was looking at Legolas again.

“Andrew doesn’t have a dog,” Josh said, then.

“Look, dude, I don’t know what to tell you but he does have a dog. His name is Legolas and I’m taking him on a walk. Andrew’s in a coma and they said he’ll be fine and wake up soon but that’s the state of things. So not entirely good.”

“And you’re his boyfriend,” Josh said and he whistled. “Well if he’s going for men now, at least he’s got good taste.” He looked Buck up and down twice.

“Yes, I’m his boyfriend,” Buck said and he tried not to be flattered by the way that Josh was so obviously checking him out. “And...I should go feed and take Legolas out.”

Instead of leaving, Josh stepped inside and closed the door behind him and Buck really had no idea what to do with this guy so he ignored him and walked to the kitchen and he heard Josh follow. Somehow, this felt worse than the whole thing with Eddie earlier.

Buck busied himself pouring out dog food into Legolas’ plate and Legolas waited until Buck was done to start eating. When Buck was done, he finally looked at Josh who had made himself comfortable by jumping up on the counter.

“Okay, so…” Buck said.

Josh regarded him for a moment. “I just...I want to get this all straight,” he said and then laughed. “No, sorry. I guess it’s not straight, is it?” He laughed again but sobered up quickly enough.

“Andrew was in an accident. He hit his head and he’s in the hospital. Has been for a few days now,” Buck said.

Josh nodded thoughtfully. “Okay...so, I get that. I’m just not understanding where you come in. Or, well, that dog.”

Explanations — lies, really, popped into his head. He could keep it all going and tell him what he’d told everyone else except that it was exhausting. Lying was the most exhausting thing in the world and Josh was already seeing through the whole thing. It didn’t seem worth it to lie to Josh, so instead of telling him once more that he was Andrew’s boyfriend he let out a sigh and he braced himself. This was the first step. If he could tell Josh then maybe he would figure out how to tell everyone else.

“Fine, so I’m not his boyfriend.”

“Aha!” Josh cried and he jumped off the counter. “I knew it. I have excellent gaydar and Andrew, I am sorry to say, is at most a one on the kinsey scale. And he doesn’t like dogs, so where did he come from?” Josh’s eyes were widened for effect and he glanced at Legolas and then back at Buck and raised an eyebrow.

“I have no idea where the dog came from,” Buck admitted and it felt good to say it to someone. “I just know that he had a dog collar on him when he hit his head and that the hospital gave me all his stuff. So I came here because I figured there was a dog and there was. His brother was surprised about Legolas too.”

Josh burst out into laughter that didn’t stop for a long moment. Buck was almost regretting telling him.

“So you got yourself into quite the pickle, then,” Josh said at last. “What are you going to do?”

“Let it blow up in my face,” Buck said and groaned. “He’ll wake up any day now and I’m going to be this giant joke to them that they laugh about. Pathetic Buck who lied about having a boyfriend and then kept the lie going while their family member was in a freaking coma.”

Josh reached over to pat Buck’s arm. “Listen, this is not as bad as it seems. The single life...it’s a struggle. Andrew isn’t a bad guy.”

“I’ve been lying about being his boyfriend,” Buck said. “Even the nicest most understanding person would be upset about that.”

He and Josh hung out for a while longer. Josh had even gone into Andrew’s fridge and brought out a couple of beers and they went outside because it was a nice night out and because Legolas wanted to go outside.

“So, what made you do it exactly?” Josh asked eventually.

“His grandmother,” Buck said. “I was talking out loud like an idiot and this nurse just assumed I was his boyfriend. And I wanted to check on him because the whole thing happened really fast and I sorta knew him and I was—”

“You were worried,” Josh said with a shoulder shrug.

Despite how weird things were that night, Josh was turning out to be a pretty cool and nice guy and Buck liked him. It was strange how he was suddenly finding people to talk to and that Josh had stuck around even after hearing about the mess that Buck had turned his life into.

“I was worried,” Buck admitted. “I, um, I pulled him out of the way of traffic and just all of it...I wanted to be sure he would be okay. And then Athena showed up and I thought she was there to question me.”

“Athena is—”

“Sergeant Grant,” Buck said.

Josh nodded and he took a sip of his beer, motioning for Buck to go on.

“Before I knew it his coworkers were there and then his aunt and his grandmother and I wanted to say something but his grandma didn’t look like she would be able to just handle it and she seemed so happy to hear I was Andrew’s boyfriend so it all just spiralled from there.”

Josh whistled. Legolas came running at them and Buck laughed when Josh was almost knocked on his back but then he grabbed Legolas by the collar and pulled him back.

“And here you are in your fake boyfriend’s house with his best friend,” Josh said.

Buck let go of Legolas and then turned to look at Josh directly. “Wait,” he said, “since you’re his best friend, tell me about him. Things I should know so I don’t—”

“Put your foot in it,” Josh finished for him.

“Sure,” Buck said.

Legolas brought him the leash so Buck stood up. “Come on, time to take this guy on a walk. Isn’t that right, Legolas?”

Legolas barked.

Josh followed him out of the yard and it was so reminiscent of his time with Eddie but it was different too. Josh talked about Andrew, mostly things that Buck had already observed about the guy and then when they paused so that Legolas could do this business Josh chuckled.

“Oh, and Andrew only has one ball sac,” Josh said.

Buck didn’t know what to say for a long while. “How — how do you know that?”

Josh just shrugged. “You really don’t want to know.”

Buck’s phone rang right at that moment saving Buck from asking how Josh had that information in the first place. It was an unknown number but he picked it up anyway.

“Hello?” Buck asked.

“Hey, Buck. It’s Hen. Just wanted to check up on you and see how you’re doing.”

Buck was a bit floored. “Uh, I’m good. How are you?”

Hen chuckled. “Chim gave me your number. I just — I figure you’re having a hard time right now with Andrew in the hospital and all and Eddie said earlier that you’re pretty on your own. So I wanted to be sure you’d be okay.”

Buck couldn’t remember the last time that someone had cared enough to check on him.

“I — I’m okay.”

“Good. Good,” Hen said. “Well, you have my number now so just call me if you need anything. Even if just to talk, alright?”

“I...yes, thank you,” Buck said and he was hit with the guilt again. They were just too good and too welcoming and he was a horrible person. “Andrew has really good friends.”

“We’re family,” Hen said. “That’s partly the job...but it’s been easy to care about these Diaz boys.”

Buck smiled to himself. Josh next to him raised his eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Buck said.

“Anyway, I’ll let you go, but I hope to see you soon, Buck.”

“You too,” Buck said.

And he wanted to scream. He wanted to let himself be upset by how stupid he’d been pushing into this family — these people that were just so nice and welcoming and that didn’t deserve what would happen when the lie came out. It was going to hurt them — genuinely nice people like they seemed to be, they would be hurt by it all. There was just no way around that.

Next Chapter

Notes: So yes, Josh has made it onto the fic and he knows. I really wanted someone outside of the 118 to know and maybe even have a different perspective on Andrew.

Let me know what you all thought. :)

Anyone that wants to be tagged on future chapters just let me know.

Tagging: @tranquility-or-chaos, @diazbuckleysworld

#911 fox #911 fic #buddie #buddie fic #buck x eddie #911 fox fic #fic #my fic #I'm With You

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viovivii · 4 years

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Why having a strong dad is IMPORTANT. Every girl needs a strong daddy in their life ❤️ good book. p.s DONT FUCKING BE A DEAD BEAT

this was a good read:

Chapter 1 – You Are the Most Important Man in Her Life

I’ve said this before, but scary. I am also the most important man in my wife’s life, but she was able to make a conscious decision to choose me. Not my girls, they are simply stuck with me!

Meg states that in her practice she has seen many young girls doing terribly unhealthy things to see if their fathers will notice. Young girls crave a father’s attention and love.

Dad’s don’t need to change who they are to be great dads. They need to invest in the relationship and understand what the world is telling your daughters through TV, the internet and their friends. Your job is to protect them from the ugliness that is out there and they naturally look to you to do that.

Next, Meg shares some scary statistics. Here are a few:

What is taught in sex ed. It is ridiculous. Make sure you understand what your school teaches.

One in five Americans over age twelve tests positive for genital herpes.

9% of girls fourteen to seventeen years old experience unwanted sex, primarily because they fear their boyfriends will get angry.

5% of high school girls have had sad, hopeless feelings for longer than 2 weeks. Many physicians call this clinical depression.

6% of Caucasian, 20.7% of Hispanic and 12.4% of African American females have made suicide plans in the last year.

8% of high school students drank alcohol before the age of thirteen.

7% of high school students have used some form of cocaine.

Kids spend 6.5 hours per day watching media of some form.

Kids with TVs in their bedrooms watch 1.5 hours more TV than kids who do not have TVs in their bedrooms. I’m sure this stat would hold true for smartphones.

Meg goes on to cite numerous statistics about how families can win the war against media through strong relationships with their kids. We can win this fight!

Chapter 2 – She Needs a Hero

Despite whatever outward impression she gives, your daughter’ life is centered on discovering what you like about her and what you want from her. She cannot feel good about herself until she knows you feel good about her. She does not want to see you as her equal. She wants you to be her hero. Someone stronger, steadier and smarter than she is.

The only way you will alienate your daughter is by losing her respect by failing to lead or failing to protect her. If you fail to meet her needs, she will find someone who will. That is where all the trouble can begin.

One of the best things you can do as a father is to raise your daughters’ expectations about life. Let her know that she is God’s masterpiece and that she will do great things in this life.

Deep down, we all want authority and rules in our life. We may instinctively want to buck authority, but when our world starts to fall apart, we run to the person who is that authority in our life.

Meg also suggests putting your expectations for your children in writing, now – while they are young. Teenagers are excellent at tangling your thinking. Write down your rules now. Laminate them, carve then into stone

Chapter 3 – You are Her First Love

You are her first love. You have other loves in your life, but she does not. Every man who enters into her life will be compared to you. If you have a good relationship with her and her mom, she will choose boyfriends who will treat her well.

Always be positive. Admire her deep, intrinsic qualities. Always keep the bar high. She will live up to the standards you set.

As she grows older, don’t assume she is capable of making good decisions. Protect her so she is in a safe place to make poor decisions – kids always will make bad decisions. It is how they learn. Enforce curfew. Girls with a curfew know that someone cares and is waiting up for them at home.

Pay attention. Listen closely. It takes time and patience, but it will build bonds that will last a lifetime. Start daddy-daughter times when they are young and stick with it. Teenagers need you more than at any other time in their life.

If you stay with her, look at her and keep listening to her she will always come back for more. She will feel more attractive and rightfully assume that boys that don’t want to be with her have a problem (because you are smarter and wiser than they are). This is a very good thing.

Chapter 4 – Teach Her Humility

“Humility is not thinking less of ourselves, it is thinking of ourselves less.” – C.S. Lewis

“It is not about you.” – the first sentence of The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.

Humility is hard and it must be modeled. It is the starting point for every other virtue. Humility means having a proper perspective on ourselves, of seeing ourselves as we really are. It also means knowing that every person has equal worth.

Take pride in her accomplishments, but don’t go overboard. Always recognize the accomplishments of her peers as well.

Make sure that she knows that her accomplishments do not define her. Her maker already did that. Trying to define ourselves with accomplishments and stuff is a never ending trap. Give her a firm foundation of who she is in God and it will serve her well forever.

Don’t let the world revolve around her.

Chapter 5 – Protect Her, Defend Her (and use a shotgun if necessary)

Let her know that she is beautiful.

Hug her. It is that important to her. Tell her you love her and how precious she is.

Every boy that dates your daughter needs to know he is responsible to you.

Be aware of the mixed messages she will receive about sex from school. Make sure that your message is the final word on the subject.

She might hate you for this in the short term, but she will thank you for protecting her and she will tell you that sooner than you might expect.

Chapter 6 – Pragmatism and Grit: Two of Your Greatest Assets

It’s OK.

Men are pragmatists. They look for solutions – often when our wives and daughters only want to be heard. Don’t negate listening, but your family needs your pragmatism, your realism, your solutions.

Daughters can become only one of two types of women; princesses or pioneer women. Praise the Lord he brought me a pioneer woman to marry. That gives our girls a much greater chance at becoming pioneers themselves.

Princesses believe they deserve a better life and expect others to serve them. Pioneers know that their hard work is how they achieve improvement in their lives. They are in charge of their own happiness.

You must teach your daughter to be a pioneer. The other option is not good and can lead to a host of bad decisions later – like marrying for money and stability.

Grit – Your family needs and deserves your best. As men, we often use up the best of us at work and have little left for home. That is not acceptable. We must get our heads right and game faces on for the job (the most important job) that waits for us when we walk in the door to our homes.

Divorce – It is the central problem that has created a generation of young adults who are at higher risk for chaotic relationships, sexually transmitted diseases and confusion about life’s purpose.

Don’t get confused and believe that going to church will keep your family together. Turns out the divorce rate in the church is about equal to that of the non-church going world. You must live out your faith at home and fight to keep your family together.

When your life nears its end your family will be your greatest accomplishment, not any businesses or buildings you may have built.

Chapter 7 – Be the Man You Want Her to Marry

Think about the standards you’d like your daughter’s future husband to meet. Pretty high, right? Do you live up to those same high standards?

It’s tough medicine to swallow, but we likely have higher standards for our daughter’s future husbands than we maintain for ourselves as husbands to their mothers. We’ve got a ton of great excuses. Work is so hard, I have so little time for me, blah, blah…

Are you always patient and kind? Are you an encourager? One day you will be walking her down the aisle to marry a man that will be very much like you. It is the way women are made. They are drawn to what they know.

Show your daughter that your relationship with your family is more important than possessions and expensive vacations. Make the family your priority.

It is a great strength to live knowing that if you lost every material possession, you would still have a life worth living!

Let her know that you will disappoint her. You’ll try very hard not to, but you will. You are human.

Chapter 9 – Teach Her to Fight

Women are emotional. This is truer for teenagers. They have emotions and impulses that must be kept in check or bad decisions will be made. As the Dad, you can help her make good decisions and make bad decisions safely through your direction and authority.

You understand how to battle impulses. You’ve won some battles and probably lost plenty. Your daughter does not know how to battle her impulses yet. That is why she needs you to make her life a safe place to learn these hard lessons.

Choose your battles carefully. Never budge on honesty, integrity, courage and humility. You can let a lot of the other stuff go.

Your daughter’s brain and her capacity for rational thought will not be fully developed until her late teens or early twenties. This is when she needs you most. Don’t get her to 16 years old and assume she is fully qualified to make great decisions.

Chapter 10 – Keep Her Connected

You, Dad, are the most important person in your daughter’s life. Keeping your family together and spending time together as a family is what will help your children avoid the traps in life (sex, drugs, alcohol, gangs). It has been proven time after time. Families that stay together have more successful kids.

Give your kids experiences. Hang out with them, have fun and be a great example. Get away from all the screens, get outdoors, have adventures, have conversations.

Hopefully, this book will help. Maybe this quick summary will encourage more dads to read the actual book (you really must – it is that good).

To all you Dads, fight the good fight.

#personal #me #myself #dads #daughters

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mwdders · 5 years

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Rainy day

Summary: A boring rainy day gets exciting.

Warnings: None

Word count: 2.4k

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Requested: anon

This is awful :(

— —

“But I’m bored.” You groan again, you were sprawled out across the sofa in the kitchen, legs hanging over the back, arms crossed over your chest, you’d been cooped inside all day because it had not stopped raining, “We’ve watched 3 films, ate our way through the kitchen and scrolled endlessly through social media, there’s nothing left to do.” You whine again, “That’s it.” Bucky stands up from his position on the floor in front of you and walks out the room, your eyes follow him until he’s out of sight. “Where’d he go?” You ask Peter and Steve, as they are the only people left in the room, everyone else had gotten bored and went back to their rooms. “Who knows.” Peter answers but doesn’t look at you, too focus on his game of chess with Steve, they offered for you to play the winner but you didn’t know how to play and you didn’t want to learn.

“Right doll,” Bucky enters the room again, arms full of board games and a pack of cards resting on top of the stack. “I’m going to show how me and Steve kept ourselves entertained in the 40’s.” He places the boxes on the coffee and table and you swing your body round, sitting up properly to look at the selection of games.

“Don’t look at those yet, we’re going to play cards first.” He takes the pack of cards and opens the box, he pulls a cushion from the sofa placing it on the floor before sitting on it opposite you, “I can only play one card game and that’s sevens.” You admit as you copy his actions and sit on the floor, legs crossed and elbows lightly resting on the coffee table. He shakes his head, “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you.” You nod and pick up the cards he hands you, “So let’s start with Rummy.” Bucky then went on to explain the game and you listened intently. “Got it?” You nod, “Think so.”

——

“You cheated!” You yell as Bucky wins another game, “I didn’t doll, I’m just better at it than you.” He’d now won 5 in a row, you huff, “Pretty sure you’re cheating.” You mumble and he laughs, “You’re such a sore loser, what do you wanna play then? Snap?” He jokes and you scowl at him and his laughter increases. “Shut up.” You put your cards down, “Bub we’ve been playing this for an hour now, can play a board game?” You pout, your attention span was awful and you got bored very quickly. “Sure, which one?” He holds up Monopoly, Pictionary and Cluedo. “Pictionary!” You point at it and he rolls his eyes, “Such a kid.” He begins to set the game up, “Peter, Steve, wanna play?” You ask, knowing it would be more entertaining with more players.

“Sure.” Peter stands up and before Bucky can even say anything you claim him for your team. “Young against old.” You comment and Bucky raises his eyebrows, “Old huh?” You laugh, “Bub, you’re like 100.” You sit next to Peter, and Bucky and Steve sit opposite you on the floor. “Okay first card is for Peter to draw and Y/N to guess.” Peter picks a card and his brows furrow slightly before he stands up and walks over to the big whiteboard and starts to draw. “A dog? A horse? A cow?” You yell random guesses at him and he shakes his head each time. “Oh a car?” You tilt your head a little to get a different angle, “10 seconds left.” You panic as Bucky says that, “Er a house? A horse rider? A boat? A-“ the timer goes off and you groan. “Y/N it was a trampoline! How the hell did you guess all those animals?” Peter asks you confused. “Sorry but when you first started drawing it looked like an animals head!” You giggle and Bucky and Steve take their turn, Steve drawing with Bucky guessing and of course they get a point as he guesses correctly.

You stand up and take a card ready to draw, the card reads ‘Pool party’ you frown, not sure how you were going to draw that. You try your best and Peter yells several different things at you, “Pool? Pool inflatables?” You groan, he was close to getting the answer and it was annoying that you couldn’t give him any hints. “Okay, pool, summer? Pool- Oh I know! Pool party?” He yells and you jump up and down, “Yes!” You high five him before adding a point to your side of the board.

The rounds continue and it finally comes down to the final, you were drawing by 9 points to 9. Peter needed to guess this correctly for you to win, the card wasn’t a hard one, it was ‘singer’ you’d drawn it and Peter was yelling guesses at you, “Woman? Karaoke? Microphone? Famous? Singer?” You throw the pen in the air, “Yes!” You show Peter the card and scream happily. “We won!” Peter does a little victory dance and Steve and Bucky just watch you and laugh. “We make a good team.” You fist bump Peter and he laughs, “I’d like to think we work well together.” You giggle, “I’ve decided I really love games.” Your smile is wide as you turn to look outside, the rain was still pouring and every now and then there would be a crash of thunder.

“The rains kinda growing on me you know. I hope it rains tomorrow so we can have another game day.” Bucky chuckles, “I don’t think so darling. You’re too competitive.” You turn to him, hands on hips, “I am not.” He smirks, “Doll, we played Pictionary and you acted like you’d won a championship or something.” You giggle, your stood by the kitchen work top, back against the cold granite, he was stood next to you, your arms brushing, “So? I play to win.” You nudge him with your elbow. “I can see that.” His head drops as he smiles and then he turns to look at you, “Your competitive side is so cute.” He takes a step forward and stands in front of you, “Have to be competitive, especially with how many men are on this team, us women have to step up.” You wrap an arm around his arm and lean on him, your fingers linking around his forearm, he leans against you, putting an arm around your shoulder.

“You but us men in our place more than none my love, you show us who’s bo-“ Bucky doesn’t finish his sentence before there’s a loud bang and all the lights go out, the emergency power comes on and the room is filled with red lights, “Must be a power cut.” Steve walks to the cupboard to grab torches, even though the emergency lights were on, they weren’t very bright.

“It’s getting worse.” You say, stepping towards the window, seeing the window and rain swirl and howl, with leaves and twigs hitting the windows.

“Get away from there Y/N.” Bucky pulls your arm and forces you away from the window, “We don’t know how safe it is with the wind.” You nod, and step further away and more into the kitchen.

“I’m going to find Tony and see if the power is out completely.” Steve leaves the room and you turn to watch him go, making sure he could see okay with the torch he had, which he could because he was gone before you could blink.

“Babe could you find some batteries in that draw?” You rummage through the draw and find the batteries, “Here.” You pass them to Bucky who then passes them to Peter who puts them in his torch.

You’re about to ask a question when a loud shattering sound causes you to scream, you jump down as the glass window breaks and a branch comes hurtling through at full speed, you scramble to get behind the kitchen counter as do Peter and Bucky. “Oh my god.” You put your hands on your head as glass continues to fall, Bucky crawls to your side and puts his arms around you, “Peter, cover your head.” He yells at the young boy and he grabs his head and puts it in his arms.

The wind whistles as the rain crashes down and the tree branch swings from left or right in the room, and none of you dare to move, scared more of the window might break.

“Holy shit! Is everyone okay?” You don’t look up from your position in Bucky’s arms but you recognise Tony’s voice. “We’re okay, how safe is that branch? Can we move?” Bucky has to yell because the wind was so loud. “I think so.” He let’s you go lightly before standing up, and helping you up, wrapping his arms around you, guiding you out of the room. Peter follows you as done Tony, “Friday, seal the kitchen off and activate the weather protocol.” The AI looks the kitchen door and begins work on the window.

“You okay?” Bucky looks at you, running a finger across your cheek, you wince, putting your fingers up to the pain, “Don’t touch it doll, looks like you’ve got glass in there.” You look up at his face and see multiple scratches and a glass pieces, “Are you okay?” He looks at you funny, “I’m a super soldier and you’re asking me if I’m okay?” He chuckles, you hit his chest, “Sorry I asked. I’m just making sure my boyfriend is okay. I won’t bother anymore.” You say sarcastically, “Darling I’m fine.” You look over his shoulder and see Peter, “Peter, you okay?” You turn to him and he’s clearly shaken up. “Hey, it’s okay.” You wrap an arm around his shoulder, “What’s wrong?” His lip quivers and he looks up at you, “I’m okay, I just don’t like storms and the way that tree just came through the window startled me.” You rub his arm in a soothing manner, “I know, I’m the same, I don’t do too well with thunder, but it can’t hurt you really, it’s just the elements.” You do your best at comforting him and it seems to work because he smiles and says, “Yeah I guess you’re right. I’m gonna go to my room and change, thanks Y/N.” He walks away to change out of his now wet and dirty clothes.

“You should go to the med bay, get that glass taken out.” Tony tells you as he finishes his conversation with Steve about working on the kitchen first thing tomorrow, “I will.” You smile lightly at him and turn to Bucky. “Buck I’m going to the med bay, this is stinging like a bitch.” He nods grabbing your hand, you begin walking towards the med bay in silence, with nothing but the rumblings of thunder and the pitter patter of rain hitting the roof, “You know, if it wasn’t thundering, the sound of rain is quite soothing.” Bucky says and you nod, “It’s is James. I just don’t like the thunder.” He opens the door of the med bay for you and the nurse comes over gasping at the sight of you both, “Come and take a seat.” She ushers you over and begins right away, turns out you had two cuts with glass in and they were pretty deep, meaning they needed stitches, that meant you squeezing Bucky’s hand so tight he thought you’d pull it off, “Babe, I know it’s metal and all but loosen your grip a bit.” He chuckles and you blush, releasing your fingers slightly, the pain wasn’t bad at all but it was the needle and the actually stitches that scared you. “All done.” The nurse says and you open your eyes that were squeezed tightly shut, and the grip you had on Bucky’s hand. “Your turn.” The nurse turns to Bucky and she was done in no time because he hardly flinched, whereas you moved every two seconds.

“You’re a tough guy aren’t you?” You tease as you walk hand in hand back to your room. “‘Spose I am.” You giggle and Bucky can’t help but smile, the sound of your laughter always made him smile, it made him feel alive. “I love you.” He blushes as the words leave his lips, “I love you too.” You look up at him and smile widely before leaning into him and grabbing his arm as you walk.

“Imagine If I’d of not pulled you from the window when I did.” Bucky says, and you frown, “I can’t imagine it. It could of gone completely different.” You sigh as you open your bedroom door. “I can’t imagine it, you getting seriously hurt, or worse.” He mumbles, wrapping his arms around you from behind as you walk into the room, him clinging to you like a second skin. “Mmm don’t think about it.” You tap his arms and he lets you go as you remove your jeans, and socks, Bucky’s eyes following your every move, you stand in just a T-shirt as you pull your hair into a bun. “Wow I’m tired.” You yawn and fall onto the bed, you look at Bucky as he just stands there staring at you, “You joining me or not?” He removes his jeans and shirt before lying next to you, “I had a good day today.” You run your fingers up and down his chest, “Really? You liked the board games?” You nod, “Did I! They were great.” He places a hand on your thigh and turns to you, “I’m glad, I thought you’d think they were boring too.” You laugh, “No. I’m glad you’re really old and thought about that.” He rolls his eyes and you laugh, “See babe, being old comes in handy.” He comments and you smile, “It does.” You kiss him and he smiles into the kiss. “Just realised, I haven’t kissed you all day.” You gasp, “What! How dare you.” He sits up slightly, “I know, imma have to catch up.” He kisses you again before kissing every part of your face as you giggle, “I think you’re caught up bub.” You say as he kisses your ear, “Mm I think one more.” He kisses your lips again and you hum, “Happy now?” You whipser agaisnt his lips, “Very.” He kisses your nose and you roll over and he wraps his arms around your waist and head in the crook of your neck.

“G’night doll.” You cozy into his warm arms and close your eyes, the sound of the rain soothing you both to sleep now the thunder had stopped.

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