#reblogging to the rhythm of the rave | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

msgexymunson · 9 months

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The Rhythm Of The Night

Fem!reader v older!drugdealer!eddie

Overview: The weekend has landed and you're out clubbing, as you often do, and your hot drug dealer is tagging along. Safe to say, things get a little heated!

AN: 90s AU, Eddie is 31, reader non specific around early 20s. I've been out for a while, struggling with mental health, so I hope this finds you all in a better state than I've been. Remember, comments and reblogs are my life blood. P.S. Before you ask, yes it is very much possible (if you know, you know)

Warnings: reader uses she/her pronouns, a lot of smut, some of it fluffy, slight age gap, NSFW (minors DNI or I'll tell your mother) female fingering, boob play, P in V unprotected sex (be safe guys and girls), drug taking, descriptions of drug taking and highs, sex whilst high (!!)

10k words

Masterlist

OK, it’s all good. You’re gonna be fine. You say softly to yourself as you hug your coat tight around you, too long sleeves hiding your chilly fingers. Hopping from one foot to the next you try to mentally coax yourself to a comfortable state. It’s clearly not working.

You’re just going out. Clubbing, like you have dozens of times with your friends. And Eddie, your insanely hot drug dealer, is tagging along. No biggie.

But it is a biggie. Since you’d met the messy haired rocker you were smitten; utterly taken by his rough demeanour, roguish grin and deep brown eyes. Eyes you could lose yourself in. You nearly had.

Your schoolgirl crush had done nothing but expand on each meeting with him. Stolen glances and flushed cheeks peppered the memories of your rendezvous, along with perpetual flirtatious comments. You came to quickly learn that Eddie flirts just as easy as breathing. He’s a charmer; a salesman. Brushing it off as just Eddie’s personality was a different matter. Your brain told you it was just his nature; but your heart lingered on every word.

Rubbing your hands together in their impromptu hiding place, you blow on them to attempt to warm them up, your mind wandering to earlier today.

It was supposed to be just a regular pick up. You had needed to collect some ‘social medication’ from Eddie for the rave tonight, so you had bounced over there, happy to have an excuse to see him.

The door had flown open sooner than you had expected, which forced an already chapped bottom lip to be sucked in between your teeth as you bit softly on the broken skin.

"Hey bunny, you're early." Eddie's smile smeared across his face, buttery and filling; his teeth flashing with earnest and a dash of debauchery. His chin was marked with his rough stubble; a dark rugged nearly beard that was permanently etched across his features.

"Hey Eds!" You fired back with an innocent grin of your own.

You remember it clearly, him leaning on the doorframe shirtless, showing off countless cheap tattoos littered across his alabaster skin. You knew about the tattoos, but you had no idea about his pierced nipples. They gleamed in the light; the silver bars caught your eye and refused to let go. His teasingly muscular frame was fully displayed, making you dart your pink tongue out to lick your lips impulsively. He looked naturally muscular, erring on the side of skinny. More inclined to slenderness in your mind; you thought he was probably not fussed enough about his image to work out.

Your eyes widened as you realised you were staring, and you forced your gaze away and back to his. A knowing smirk pulled at Eddie's cheeks, altogether a bit too sure of himself, as per usual.

"Sorry, didn't have time to change, you know?" Eddie lied through his teeth. Of course he had time to change. You knew it as well as he did. A part of you had wished that he had stayed shirtless because he felt the same way you did, but you were almost certain the reason was just to see your reaction.

"Yeah, sure, sorry to bounce in on you like this." You had shrugged in an attempt to act blasé about his partial nudity, despite how your cheeks had rapidly grown in heat. Just thinking about it now had your face flushing in solidarity.

"Well, you are one for bouncing. Should've known, Bunny." He laughed, drinking in your figure with his eyes, before he gestured for you to make yourself comfortable. Eddie had made his way over to his desk to find what you wanted; scrambling through the drawers haphazardly.

"Aha! There you are, you lil sucker" Eddie exclaimed whilst he tugged a familiar tiny plastic bag from the bottom drawer. It had hearts inlaid on the clip close rim; the contents were a crystalline, slightly yellowish substance. MDMA. That same baggy currently resides inside a fabric pocket in your bra. You try to forget its presence so you’re less nervous when it comes to getting into the club.

"Thanks, you're a lifesaver!" You had made grabby hands at him which earned a warm chuckle. He held it out of reach, just to see your endearing pout.

"Now, remember, plenty of water, sips not gulps. And don't chew your tongue." As he wagged a teacher's finger at you, he tossed the baggy.

Rolling your eyes at that, you catch the bag clumsily. He had held out his hand and you had stared at it doltishly in a feeble attempt to get free drugs.

"Come on trouble, don't play dumb with me."

Eddie had given you an admonishing look, but there was no bite to it. As you huffed dramatically, you reached in your pocket and handed him a couple of crumpled notes. As he reached to take them, he held your hand for a second. You feel a flash of heat through you at the mere memory of his touch.

"Now, I can't keep giving freebies to all the pretty girls, or I won't earn anything at all."

You flushed at that; the apples of your cheeks had diffused into a deep magenta. He thinks you're pretty. That phrase had turned around and around in your head all day.

"Besides, I'm broke right now."

Before you could have processed how to speak properly, you had blurted out "come raving with me!"

"Oh Bunny, that's not really my scene, you know that."

"I know but, I mean, if you're broke, you could earn a bit of cash."

"I suppose you're right."

"It'll be awesome, Eds, trust me." You grinned hugely as you gave him the details of where to meet, practically vibrating with excitement.

It was only after you had left, with lingering thoughts of Eddie’s bare torso in your mind, that reality decided to hit you like a ton of bricks.

I can barely speak to him without getting nervous or embarrassed and saying some stupid shit; how the hell am I going to survive tonight?

Shaking your head, wishing it was some sort of etch-a-sketch, you focus back on your calming mantra, trying to block out the creeping nerves winding around your spine like unwanted vines.

Huffing into the night air, you shimmy your coat sleeve up to check the time on your watch when a large pair of hands grab you by the waist and a gravelly voice whispers in your ear, “baby you come here often?”

Jumping bodily, you twist to face your attacker and realise it’s Eddie.

“Eddie I was about to punch you, fuck!”

Eddie laughs deep in his throat, hands travelling to hold you by the hips. Your heart jumps at the unfamiliar gesture.

“Sorry bunny, couldn’t resist. I’ll make it up to you, promise.” That grin, that damn wink. Any resolve you had melts in their wake as you stare up into those chocolate brown eyes.

“Shall we, er, go?” You manage to stumble out, voice suddenly as skittish as a mare.

“Lead the way, trouble.” Eddie smirks, giving your hips a final squeeze.

Trying your best to ignore the rush of blood to your cheeks you lead him around a few side streets and down an alley. You had arranged to meet your friends a couple of streets away from the club.

“Well, look at the bunny leading me down some alley; what are you planning on doing with me?”

You roll your eyes in his direction. “Yeah, you wish, Eds. We’re meeting my friends, just around this corner.”

“Shame.” A further blush threatens to inch across your face at that, whilst a thought of a smile tugs at your lips. You look over to Eddie to catch him staring straight at you and quickly look away. Maybe he does like me?

You’re unable to dwell on the look however, as the minute you turn a corner you hear a loud, obnoxious voice shout “BUNNY!”

Before you can react a tall, lanky dark haired boy wraps himself in a koala hug around your middle.

“Tech! Good evening!” You smile. He peels himself off you in order to give Eddie an appraising look.

“Well, well, the infamous Eddie. Pleasure to meet you.” As he sticks his hand out. Eddie takes it, and finds himself pulled into a hug he was not expecting judging from the look on his face. Coughing, he pats Tech on the back. “Er, pleasure dude.”

“Been pre gaming, Tech?” You giggle.

“Only always!” He responds with a toothy grin.

Pointing at your other friends, you introduce the short blond with the shy smile “Eddie, this is Panda.” She waves with her fingers and blushes. Pointing to the built guy with the dreadlocks you smile “And Mustard.”

Mustard pouts, “I told you guys to stop calling me that!” His indignation is merely met with giggles from you and your friends.

As you take Eddie’s arm and start leading him round the corner to the club you feel him bend slightly to speak in your ear.

“So, anyone have a real name or is this gonna be a theme?”

You giggle, “Well Tech’s name is Wojtech, it's Polish, so technically it’s his real name. Plus, he is our own very camp IT whiz. Panda, well we met her with that name, we kinda took her in, you know?”

“Ah, that's good. I hear Panda’s are going extinct. Very humanitarian of you.”

“Indeed.” You smirk up at him in time to see his warm smile pouring towards you, and feel a heat pool in your belly.

Approaching a lit doorway with a metal barrier outside, your group stops behind a small queue of fellow party goers. You and Eddie hang back whilst your friends fumble about in various pockets for their entry tickets. You already have yours and Eddies clutched in your hand slightly too hard, crumpling the card with nerves.

"And, erm… Mustard?"

You giggle, dropping your voice a little lower given the content of your conversation. Eddie bends lower so you can whisper to him. "Yes, but he hates it. We were at an after party, he'd taken a crap load of speed. We were all winding down and he kept asking us to play Cluedo. Well Tech shouted, 'who do you think you are, Colonel fucking Mustard?' And we just lost it." You smile broadly at the memory while Eddie snorts out a deep laugh.

Your friends get their tickets taken and after a brief pat down they're ushered through. Pretty soon you're next in line.

"Tickets please." Looking up, you meet the gaze of a tall burly doorman, all lack of neck and set jaw. His colleague looks equally unamused and threatening, eyeing Eddie up and down.

"Here's our tickets fellas." He takes them, inspects them briefly, then pockets them.

You hold your canvas bag out whilst he shines a torch in it.

"Do you want one of these?" You fish in your bag and hold out a few candy suckers. Eddie's staring at you in disbelief.

The shorter one looks shocked and shakes his head, but then leans over to grab one anyway. No Neck's face breaks into a huge childlike grin.

"Now, I haven't had one of these in years! Thank you, miss. Do you have a grape one?"

You giggle and fish out the flavour for him and he takes it with his large paw, fiddling with the wrapper.

"Go on through, have a great night."

"Thank you!" You beam at him and waltz through the door.

Eddie strides to catch up as you start walking up a wide staircase, already hearing the tell tale thumping of heavy bass.

Grabbing your arm, he leans in, hot breath in your ear making you shiver.

"They didn't even search us! You've got balls of steel, Bunny."

Blushing at the fact you impressed him, you lead him up the staircase and over to the coat check.

"What can I say, I aim to please."

"I bet you do." He whispers, and his lips brush the edge of your ear softly. A small gasp escapes your lips at the contact.

As he breaks away, you know there's a smug grin smeared all over that handsome face, so you decide to not give him the satisfaction of a look, and instead focus on the coat check girl.

"Just want to check this coat please, Eddie do you want to do yours too?"

"Sure" He says, shrugging off his leather jacket. He's wearing his signature black jeans, hugging his legs deliciously, and a white fitted t-shirt. Simple, but damn, he looked fine. You swear you could just make out the balls of his nipple piercings, now that you knew they were there.

Realising you were staring, you look up at his face. To your surprise he looks embarrassed.

"I, er, didn't know what people wear to raves," he chuckles.

"No, you look good. Real good." Coughing, you look away and take your own coat off whilst he checks his.

As you hand your jacket over, you hear him whistle out lowly behind you.

"Holy hell Bunny. This what you wear outside??" Turning to face him, you can feel his eyes roaming all over your scantily clad form as he strokes the back of his neck compulsively.

You must admit, you look good tonight. Maybe a little extra effort went in knowing Eddie would see you. Maybe just a little less clothing than usual. So what?

Well aware that you looked your best in pink and blue, you had chosen a tiny blue bra top with pink edging, and a pleated blue mini skirt that barely covered your ass with hot pants underneath since you'll definitely be dancing on a podium somewhere in the club tonight. A simple pink choker and a few kandi bracelets completed the look.

Eddie looks like he's about 30 seconds away from eating you alive.

"What, this old thing?" You tease, giving him a twirl and a tiny curtesy with the tiniest of skirts.

"Damn." Eddie's hand roams to his mouth, rubbing his stubbled face whilst he continues to gobble you up in his head, or at least that's what it looks like to you. You'd never known him to be speechless; he was usually the one with the witty comebacks. It was your turn to smile smugly for once.

"If you're done perving, shall we go in?"

"Oh I am so not done, but yeah let's go." He grins back.

You roll your eyes at him but you're still grinning, excitement bubbling in your belly. Turning to the next set of stairs you lead the way, knowing full well Eddie's getting a choice view of your ass.

What the hell are you doing? This has certainly swam out of the paddling pool of playful flirting and was quickly taking a deep dive somewhere. You know full well this is a Bad Idea™. The guy is a drug dealer, and you're flashing your goodies at him. You hardly knew the guy.

A drink. It was definitely time for a drink.

You enter the main area, a sort of meet up spot between the two dance floors. The music was quieter here, but the throb of bass could still be felt in your gut. Predictably, you spot your friends queuing at the bar.

"What do you want to drink, Bunny?"

"Oh, a vodka lemonade would be great, thanks."

Eddie moves past you, close to your side since the room was heaving with people. You feel the not so subtle drag of his hand as it presses to your lower back, and dips just enough to get a feel of your ass before winking at you as he goes by.

Well that was a bit fucking forward. Not that you didn't enjoy it, quite the opposite in fact. The fleeting touch had you biting your lip enough to taste blood. If there were still any doubts about what Eddie wanted they dissolved immediately.

You sauntered over to your group of friends as they exited the throng of people congregating around the bar and walked with them over to a high table. No seats were free as per usual but it was at least a ledge to place drinks, and something for you to lean on. All these salacious thoughts had your knees ready to buckle.

"Bunny! I got you a bottle of water for your party pack!" Tech practically sang out. You laugh and take it gratefully, depositing it in your little canvas bag. You know you'll need it later.

"Thanks Tech babe." And you kiss him on the cheek.

"Hey, calm it, I don't want guys thinking I'm straight!" He says animatedly.

Mustard responds, "Tech, there ain't no way you come across as straight."

"Hey, that's not true! You think I'm camp?"

"As Christmas." Eddie's voice cuts through as he places your drink in front of you and casually throws his arm over your shoulders. Tech's eyes go wide as he not so subtly gives you a look and a nod. Panda giggles. Mustard? Well, he just looks pissed off. You notice Eddie's looking straight at him, and he's the only one who looked at Eddie and not you. You could practically smell the testosterone from here. Oh dear.

"Bunny, you look so pretty tonight!" Panda squeaks across the table, breaking the tension.

"Aw thanks babe, so do you, I love your top!"

"Thank you!" Panda beams. "You look really good too Chris, by the way." Her face flushes, stealing a glance at Mustard.

"Er, whose Chris? I only see Colonel Mustard." Tech says chuckling. Mustard throws him a murderous look.

"Hang on, can I ask something?" Eddie asks, addressing the group. "Why do you call Bunny, well, Bunny?"

You wince, your cheeks flushed with heat despite the lack of clothes.

The gang look confused, glancing back and forth to each other. Panda quietly says, "I think you have to tell us, Eddie."

"Huh?" Eddie looks puzzled, taking his arm off you for a second so he can see your face as he takes a sip of his drink.

Typically, Tech is the one to butt right in and embarrass you.

"Well, you gave her the name! She told us you called her Bunny and she wouldn't shut up about you and-"

"OK Tech that's enough" you interjected, already cringing more than you are sure is healthy.

"Oh really?" Eddie's clearly loving this. He leans on the table to get a close view of your face which you promptly hide in your hands.

"Don't you have like, a job to do?" You say through your palms.

Knocking his drink back, Eddie claps his hands together.

"You're right. Whose first?" Tech sticks his hand in the air, and he and Mustard start to walk him over to the restroom to do a deal.

"Don't think this conversation is over Bunny!" Eddie shouts over his shoulder at you.

Panda's smile is wide. "He's cute."

"Oh he's hot, but I don't really know him that well, you know?"

"Yeah, but you'll never get to know him with that attitude!"

You smile at her, she's always such a ray of sunshine. "Come on, I'm not ready to drop just yet, let's have a dance."

You finish your drinks and make your way to the main room. The second the doors open the heat and the noise slam into your abdomen. You can practically feel the music vibrating through your lungs. The dance floor is smoky; lights are flashing and the room is heaving with dancing bodies. You shoulder barge through and find a spot for the pair of you right under the DJ booth.

This is the reason you rave. The feeling, the music, the dancing. Being able to just let go and have no responsibilities, not a care in the world except maybe when you were going to take drugs. And when that happens, it's the same feeling but multiplied by a thousand.

You and Panda dance away, feeling the rhythm and snatching shouted conversation in each other's ears here and there. Pretty soon you're both sweaty and laughing, and ready for a small break.

"Bunny, I need medication, come on!" She drags you to the restroom where you sneak into a cubicle together. Fishing the little baggy out of your bra, you hand it to Panda first.

"Hearts? Cute."

"Yeah? Eddie gave it to me. You think he meant something?"

Panda took a bit out of the bag and put it on the toilet seat cover, smashing it into a line with a card. She passes the baggy back and you take a sizable crystal out and swallow it with the aid of some water. It tastes disgusting, but there's no way you're going to stuff something up your nose. Molly was like that, you'd grown somewhat used to it.

"Bunny, seriously, that man clearly wants you. You don't need a bag of drugs to tell you that."

She's right of course. You're still apprehensive though.

"It's just- well, he's a drug dealer."

Panda snorts the line she made and wipes her nose. "Er, are you one to judge right now?"

You laugh loudly and pass her the water.

"You're right. I suppose a bit of fun won't do us any harm."

"That's the spirit. Let's go have a smoke."

You both go into the main hang out area and find a vacant sofa surprisingly. Your buzz starts to creep on slowly but surely. Panda's a bit ahead of you; the pros of snorting.

"I really like Chris, you know." Her eyes are glassy as she tells you.

"Oh I know. I don't think he does though. You should just take the leap."

"Well, evening ladies." You look up and see Tech and Mustard grinning, pupils blown.

"Nice of you to join us. Here, have a sucker, don't chew your face off." You pass the candies out to everyone, holding back a cherry one for yourself. "Where's Eddie?"

As soon as you say that he appears, the biggest smile on his face.

Panda bounces up. "Come on boys, I'm buzzing, let's dance." And she grabs your friends to lead them to the dance floor, throwing a wink back at you.

"See you later Rock Star!" Tech shouts over his shoulder.

You just about hear Mustard grumbling "why's he got a cool nickname? This some bullshit."

Eddie flops down next to you, man spreading. You turn to him, elbow on the back of the squishy sofa, faces inches from each other. You can see from here he's clearly dropped, taken a pill or something. His pupils have grown, you can barely see the colour of his eyes. Apart from that he still looks put together. Probably more used to this sort of thing than you are.

"So, Rock Star?" You smile at him.

"Yeah, we were talking, and some guy started talking about metal, and I said I play guitar, next thing I know I'm Rock Star. Glad it wasn't mayonnaise or something."

You giggle at him, unwrapping your sucker and putting it in your mouth. Eddie fixates on your mouth immediately. Sensing the opportunity, you lick your tongue around it slowly, then suck hard. Letting it go with a wet pop, you look at his eyes again.

Eddie's clearly flustered.

"Are you- you having a good night yeah?"

"Yeah we had a dance, I've just dropped, just waiting for it to kick in."

Eddie reaches over to your face, fingers moments away from brushing your jaw, staring at your saccharine smeared lips.

You hear an awkward cough to the side of you.

"Hey, Bunny, it's DJ Skitz's set, you said you'd dance on stage?" it's Tech, hovering nearby, looking like an unwilling third wheel.

Well shit.

"Eddie, I've got to go. Come and watch, yeah?"

"Couldn't drag me away sweetheart." You feel the heat pool between your legs, amplified by the drugs beginning to course through your system.

"Come on then." In a moment of bravery, you grab his hand and lace his fingers between yours. He looks at your conjoined hands for a moment and then back up at your eyes. The look on his face is not what you were expecting. You'd grown used to the sparky wit, the smugness, the charm. Right now, he looks like a lucky little boy, shocked at the affection. You flash him a small smile and drag him into the main room and across the heaving dance floor.

There's a small podium stage left. A girl you vaguely know is on the other side of the stage on a similar podium, a skinny redhead in yellow hot pants and pigtails. You take your position, dumping Eddie directly in front of you.

The lights dim and your friend DJ Skitz is bathed in a spotlight. He begins his set, spinning some fast techno and hard-core that you love. Breaking out some glowsticks you lose yourself in the music, dancing, gyrating, sometimes spinning and shaking your ass. You nearly forget Eddie is there. Nearly.

Looking down, you see him staring at you as if you hung the stars in the sky just for him. Tech's there too, wolf whistling and cheering you on. Panda and Mustard are nowhere to be seen. A part of you hopes they're off sucking face somewhere finally.

The high is finally sinking those familiar claws into you. She's a sneaky bitch. You begin to let go at last. All the day to day bullshit, all the drama, all the hassle. Gone. You dance, just dance. Oblivious to the crowd and any expectations. Throwing yourself into the music, you dance. The thrill of the high leads you. You're guided through by the mistress of the beat.

In almost no time at all DJ Skitz's set is over. Before you exit the stage you tell him how good the set was, how much you enjoyed it, and of course, hand him a sucker. He grins and takes it gratefully, complimenting your dance moves.

As you are looking to get off the stage, Eddie holds out his hand to help you down. You meet him, bodies pressed together in the mess of people.

"You wanna sit for a bit?" He asks.

"Sure" you say as you flash a lazy grin at him.

This time, he's the one to link hands with yours and drag you. There's not much space free given this is the lull between sets. He spots a single soft chair way off in the corner and drags you to it.

"Mind sitting on my lap?"

"Not at all."

He sits, holding his arms out to you. You sink onto his lap, ass on his thighs. He wraps his arms around you and you melt into him, all social insecurities forgotten. Sparking a cigarette, he holds the butt to you, so you take a drag. Continuing like this, you share the smoke until there's nothing left.

"So, I'm guessing you're done for the night, yeah?" You ask, staring up at him.

"Oh, it was a very lucrative night. Might have to go out with you more often." He smiles at you.

"Oh that can be arranged. So all out?"

"Hmm, not quite. Two pills left. I was waiting for you, if you want one? Free of charge for the prettiest girls." He says, guiding a wayward hair out of your face.

"Oh, how many have you given away to pretty girls, huh?" You joke, poking him in the abs.

"None. Just you."

The smile that creeps over you is entirely unbidden, forcing its way across your face.

"So, you wanna go to the restroom or-"

"Oh, I think we can be subtle eh?" He raises an eyebrow at you. Staring at him, trying to work out his next move, he fiddles with his mouth and then flashes his tongue for a fraction of a second. You see a streak of white in your vision as he guides your head towards him.

It's not a kiss, it's a transaction. You say it to yourself in your head without much enthusiasm. Leaning in, you press your mouth to his. His thick tongue pushes into your mouth, massaging your own, passing you the pill. Fingers twine their way into his wild mane as you grip on, afraid of losing a hold on reality. It would have been perfect, if it didn't taste like hairspray.

You break away, the bitter taste of the pill too much. Gulping down water, you look at him again, taking in his flushed cheeks and heaving chest.

"Very subtle." You quip, hitting him lightly, hand resting on his chest unwilling to move.

"Yeah? See, I can do subtle." He says, as one large hand drifts down to cup your ass.

'Hmm, yes, very subtle. Hardly noticed that at all sir."

Eddie laughs, tipping his head back, giving you a full view of the veins on his neck. The feeling floods through you, making you want to dive forward to bite it. Before you can register what's happening, you're planting soft kisses to his throat. Eddie's breath heaves even harder.

"Holy shit Bunny, you're gonna make me hard."

Moving reluctantly away, your eyes meet once again. The question burns in your head.

"Why did you call me Bunny?"

He laughs and looks awkward for a second.

"Wait a minute?" He asks. You nod as he fiddles with his mouth again, you assume to take his last pill. He gestures at you for water and you hand it to him. Taking it gratefully, He gulps some down. You're going to have to replenish in a minute before you forget.

"For courage." He laughs, taking your small hand in his own.

"The family friendly version? You're sweet," he says, pressing a soft kiss to the tips of your fingers, "and cute," another kiss to the tips of your fingers, but this one lingers slightly, sending a quiver through your nerves, "and full of fucking energy, its unreal!" You laugh as he lands another kiss on your knuckles.

"And the R rated version?" You ask, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well," he says, visibly steeling his courage, "I've thought about you," he says, laying another kiss, this time to your wrist, "how good you would look," another kiss, in the crook of your elbow. He brings your face to his, his breath whispering in your ear. "How you would look bouncing on my dick, over and over and over." You gasp as his teeth graze your neck, the touch electrifying you. He bites down softly, sucking a bruise into your skin as you attempt not to moan aloud.

Pulling away, his eyes search your face for your reaction. To be honest, all you're thinking right now is how soft his lips are, how much you want them pressed against yours again. Or on your neck, your collarbone, your breasts…

"Well, you didn't run a mile. That's good." He laughs slightly awkwardly, fingers whispering against your arm, erupting goosebumps in their wake.

"Oh, I'm not running." You reply, pulling him in for a kiss. A real kiss. Locking lips, you take your time, tongue swiping into his mouth slowly. He responds in kind, licking into you, his hand dipping into the back of your skirt. You can feel his fingers squeezing into the flesh of your butt as the kiss deepens.

Every move is electric, making your hairs stand on end. You want to engulf him in the moment, to swallow him whole in it, to bask and revel in it, never ending. Eventually you both break away, if only to breathe.

"I don't know if its the drugs talking, but that was fucking amazing." You say breathlessly. Laughing, he takes hold of your hand on his chest.

"I hope not. We've not gotten to my fantasy yet."

Biting your lip, you feel his fingers drag down the cleft of your ass, drifting dangerously close to your hole. You whimper slightly; at the feeling, at the narcotics flowing through you, at Eddie. Especially Eddie. He was like a whole new drug you'd only just started experiencing.

"Fuck, you're perfect Bunny." He says, admiration gleaming in his eyes.

"Hey you guys!" You turn to see Panda, hand in hand with Mustard, a stupid grin plastered across both of their faces. Panda waves their woven together hands up triumphantly at you.

"About time!" You grin back, doing your own sheepish nod at Eddie, purely for Panda’s benefit.

"Wanna dance?"

You reluctantly slide off Eddie's lap and both of you make your way to the dance floor.

He barely lets you move, hands trailing across your figure, dragging his fingertips over your bare abdomen, grasping your ass or the back of your thighs. You reply in kind, soft digits trailing over his stomach, raking across his chest, sometimes stopping to rest on a pierced nipple, feeling the steel of it over his shirt.

"I don't think I've been this turned on in all my life," you admit in a frantic whisper to him. The pill he had given you had well and truly come into effect and you were basking in its golden glow.

"Shit Bunny, you can't just say that to me!" He gasps out, tongue darting out to lick at your neck while you dance.

"I have to touch you," he says breathlessly as he grasps your hand and leads you away from the writhing crowd.

Leading you down a corridor he pushes open a little known restroom door and ushers you into a tiny cubicle.

"Fuck, you are driving me crazy, shaking your ass in that little skirt" He says, fingertips grazing the inside of your thigh. The feeling is explosive, hammering through your nervous system like a freight train on steroids. You'd never had anyone touch you when you were high before, and the fact that it was Eddie had you moaning before he'd even touched your pussy.

"Hmm, be quiet little Bunny." He laughs as he presses his body against you, fingers tracing up and over your clothed heat. You whimper, pushing your body against him urgently.

"Please touch me Eddie," you struggle out, wiggling your hot pants and panties to the floor until they rest at your ankles.

"Say that again" He says as he grins wickedly, fingers stroking just to the left of where you wanted him, needed him.

"Please Eddie, please touch me. I-I need you to." You whisper, fingers wrapping the front of his shirt into a tight ball.

"I think I need that on tape" He huffs out, desire shining in his eyes. His calloused fingertips finally meet your wet heat, finding your clit with hardly any hesitation. Gasping, your eyes fly wide open, staring straight at his.

"Oh fuck Eddie, oh God, please, oh please make me cum" you babble at him, the feel of his rough, sure hands electrifying every limb.

"Sweetheart, you are something else," he manages to say, eyes shining. He sinks two fingers into you then as you open your mouth in a perfect o, feeling them glide into you, your velvety walls already convulsing. The heel of his hand presses deliciously onto your swollen clit as his fingers rub your g spot.

"Holy shit! Eddie, what the- how the fuck are you so good at this?" You whisper shout at him, small hands clinging onto his shoulders.

"I'm sure it's just the pills sweetheart," he laughs into your ear, taking your earlobe in between his teeth and sucking softly.

Your climax builds impossibly fast, buzzing through your nerves until every part of your skin is singing for him.

The rush is almost too much. Your head is spinning; vision pulsing with your heartbeat which feels like it's moved deep inside your cunt.

"Eddie, oh fuck," you nearly squeal at him, eyes wide and wild.

"Yeah? You gonna come for me, Little Bunny? Please, please come for me." His speed increases as you feel wetness squelch inside you. Reaching that precipice faster than you think you ever had, you freefall into it, gripping hard onto his shoulders. The buzz of your release sets your skin on fire, every rock of his fingers making you pulse and moan.

You come down, from this high at least. The other one, the drug fuelled one, is still firmly locked in. Eddie's eyes are fixated on yours; he's breathing as heavily as you are.

"You are unbelievably hot, you know," Eddie says, fingers still buried in your cunt. He finally releases you and pulls you in for a devastating kiss. Tongues sliding against each other, you press your body to him, wanting to be closer.

"Eddie, I really want you," you breathe out, fingertips pressing so hard into him they may well leave bruises. Sucking a love bite into his neck, he groans.

"Fuck. Yeah, I want you too, but maybe not in a restroom?"

You pull away and gain eye contact, both of you giggling and high.

"Suppose you're right," you laugh as you pull your undergarments back into position.

"You wanna dance some more?"

"Not right now, I feel fucked." He raises his eyebrow at you.

"Not like that! Just super super high." You're floating right now, soaring, thoughts scare and about as substantial as dandelion fluff.

"Oh shit you really are aren't you? Right, come on. I'll look after you."

He leads you out of the stall and washes his hands before guiding you to a free seat in the main room which was starting to clear out a bit. Flopping unceremoniously into it, you feel your head fall to your shoulder, letting the seat engulf you in softness.

"Wait right here, OK Bunny?"

"Yup. Not going anywhere. Got jelly bones" You giggle and smile broadly at him.

He shakes his head and leaves you for a moment, returning with a bottle of water. Handing it to you, you take it gratefully, feeling the cold water sips trickle down your throat.

Eddie squishes next to you on the armchair, feeling your forehead with the back of his hand.

"Well, you're not too warm, that's good. You got any suckers left? You want some gum or something?"

"Hmm, gum would be splendid!" You say to him in a silly voice. Chuckling at you, he rummages in a pocket, unwrapping a stick of gum and putting it in your mouth.

"Splendid?"

"Yup!" You grin, chewing lazily.

"Anything else I can do sweetheart?"

"Please touch me." You see him pull a shocked face, looking you up and down.

"Not like that! Just like, stroke me. My skin is all buzzy."

Throwing his arm over your shoulder, he softly runs his fingers over your upper arm, his other hand resting on your thigh following the same movements. It feels so nice, each stroke calming and intoxicating.

"Hmm this is so nice. Stroke the Bunny." You say as he laughs loudly at you.

"You're fucking hilarious when you're high."

"I'm hilarious all the time. I am a gift." You nod matter of factly at him.

"I'll say." He plants a lingering kiss to your temple as you snuggle into him, head coming to rest on his chest.

"Aw, look at the Bunny!" You look over and see Panda gleaming with sweat, still firmly grasping Mustard by the hand. Tech stands a little to the left, hands on his hips.

"Is she alright?" Tech asks Eddie, looking more sober than the rest of you.

"Yeah, she'll be OK, she's just really high."

"OK, Bunny?" You hum in response, smiling up dopily.

"Right, the ultimate test. Boop!" Tech says loudly, bopping you on the nose. You giggle, smiling up at him.

"Well, she didn't cry with laughter. She's good. You wanna go home Bunny? We're about to leave."

You frown. "Can you teleport me? I'm super cosy right now."

"I can do the next best thing. Abracadabra, let's get a cab-a!" Tech announces, wiggling his fingers.

You make your collective way out, grabbing your jackets. Eddie's arm stays glued around your waist making sure you're steady.

Outside, he looks a little sad.

"I guess I'll see you soon?" You gaze up at him in confusion.

"Eddie, you're coming with us. After party."

"Oh I don't know-"

"Hey buster," you say, poking him in the chest making him laugh, "you said you'll look after me. Well we are going to Tech and Mustard's place. And you're looking after me. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am." He smiles at you.

After a very squished taxi ride which you're sure wasn't legal, but hey, a lot of this night wasn't, you arrive at their house and settle in. Dance music is softly playing, and Eddie's sitting on a chair. You're on the floor between his spread legs whilst he rubs your shoulders. Mustard and Panda are snuggling on the couch together, whilst Tech is laying on a bunch of cushions on the floor. A joint has been passed already between you all.

"You sure you don't wanna sit here?" Eddie asks.

"And miss this back rub? Not in a million." You reply, reaching up to squeeze his hand.

"Hey guys?" He asks the group. Various heads swivel to look at him.

"Wanna play Cluedo?" Laughter erupts from everyone except Mustard.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up Rock Star." He says, but he's smiling as he says it. Standing up, he announces, "me and Panda, we're gonna, erm, have a nap." They take each other's hands and giggle as they leave the room.

"I'll just turn the music up a little, shall I?" Tech shouts at their retreating backs.

"Tech, you mind if we crash in your spare room for a bit?" You feel the pressure of Eddie's hands on your shoulders increase at your words.

He huffs. "Oh great, I'm surrounded by couples. I'll just stick some headphones in eh?" He winks at you as you stand up taking Eddie's hand and leading him.

You walk into the spare room, little more than a storage space. There's a few boxes stacked up and a bed, thankfully already made. As you shut the door, Eddie strokes your arm.

"You sure about this Bunny?" His eyes are big and soft, making you remember why you crushed so hard on him in the first place.

"Look, I'm not like, super high any more, but I'm definitely feeling it. I like you. I don't wanna think too much about it, all I know is that I wanna feel your skin on mine," you explain to him. No games, just pure honesty.

"That does sound really good right now." He says, pulling off his shirt. You take a beat to drag your hands over his exposed chest, fingers tracing over tattoos. Running a finger across a pierced nipple, he quivers.

"OK, fuck, yeah I'm still feeling it," he laughs slightly, eyes shutting for a moment.

Taking the opportunity, you pull your top over your head. Eddie's eyes snap back open, staring at your lacy blue bra. There's no padding, you can feel your hardened nipples poking at the soft fabric, just barely visible through the flimsy material.

You smile and pull your skirt and hot pants down slowly, leaving you in your bra and matching panties.

"God damn."

Eddie's eyes are raking over your form, drinking it all in. He reaches out a hesitant hand, dragging a finger slowly over your collarbone, making your skin erupt in goosebumps. He moves his fingers slowly lower, tracing the hem of your bra, before stroking down to your nipple. The contact zings through you, making you gasp.

Eddie smirks, hand reaching up to your bra strap, gently sliding it down your shoulder. Even that has you groaning.

You reach forward and grab him by the belt, dragging him towards you, and tilt your head up to envelop his lips in a soft kiss. It's so delicate; a crush of lips, a flirt of tongues, edging, teasing. His hands trace your sides. Each miniscule movement whispers across your skin; a susurration of sensation.

Fiddling with his belt you dip your fingers into the waistband of his jeans.

"Can I take these off?"

"Fuck yes" Eddie says, large palms running up your sides, thumbs reaching out to graze your breasts. Fiddling with his belt you just about manage to unfasten it, unbutton his jeans and pull them down. He's wearing loose fitting boxers, but even so you can clearly see the sizable tent his hard member is making. You run your fingers over it gingerly, tracing the outline, and gently take it in a loose grip, rubbing up and down.

"Jesus Christ that feels so good," he says, voice nearly a whisper.

He reaches behind you and unclips your bra with one hand. It's so fast you look up at him in shock.

"Oh shit, er- can I take this off?"

You laugh out loud. "Well, you might as well now!"

"Sorry, too excited" He laughs back, and peels the garment off your form. His laughter dies in his throat at the sight of your bare chest.

You're all poised to make a joke but he doesn't give you a chance. Falling to his knees in front of you, he gently strokes at your breasts with his hands, and you feel his hot breath on your nipple. As he licks pointedly over it you can't help but tremble at the feeling, it's just so intense.

Suddenly he takes it into his mouth and sucks. The moan that forces its way out of your throat is husky and laced with need. He plants open mouthed kisses all over your naked chest and stomach, sometimes nipping with his teeth, sometimes sucking a minute bruise. You quiver, feeling like your legs are about to give way.

It's almost ridiculous how amazing it feels; a hot weight settles in the pit of your stomach, wanting to lash itself out into the world. Then he's sucking your nipple again, swirling his thick tongue around it. Everything's tingling; your whole body feels like a live wire. He takes the other nipple in his mouth and you whimper. A familiar feeling is building in you but you are almost scared to believe it.

Surely he can't make me come without even touching my pussy?

The thought is incredulous, but the feeling mounts as your legs wobble in time with the shaky breaths you're taking.

"Eddie, Holy shit," you gasp out, fingers winding into his hair and tugging. He moans and doubles down on his ministrations, tweaking your nipple hard and running his knuckles over the hardened nub.

"I think, fuck, I'm gonna-" the words are lost in a cry of his name as you reach a pinnacle you didn't even realise was possible.

Taking ragged, heaving breaths you look down at him. He looks almost as shocked as you feel.

"Did you just…?"

"Yep."

"Really?" The look on his face is half surprised and half smug at this point.

"Hey it's news to me too!"

He laughs and stands, picking you up in the process, and lays you down on the bed.

"Bunny, that was really hot." Standing at the edge of the nightstand, he's staring at your nearly nude form as if it were some work of art. You take the opportunity to take your jewellery off and leave it in a pile on the bed.

"I didn't know I could do that." You smile at him, shrugging.

"I didn't know anyone could do that!"

Pretty soon you're both laughing as he gets on the bed next to you.

"I hope I wasn't too loud."

Eddie snorts a laugh. "Bunny, be quiet for a sec and listen."

You snuggle into him and listen. Oh.

"Is she- squeaking?" You press your lips together, willing yourself not to laugh. Eddies shaking under you with barely contained amusement. Soon after there's a definite grunting noise.

"Oh God I hope Techs put headphones on or he's gonna be scarred for life!"

Peals of laughter erupt from the both of you.

Laying there, stroking each other's skin, you feel more comfortable with Eddie than you've ever felt with any other man. This just feels right. There was no other way to explain it. Giving him a feather light dusting of kisses to his jaw, you realise your hand is roaming further and further south, reaching the waistband of his boxer shorts. You run your fingers across the very edge of it, dipping into the hem oh so slightly. Abs tense under your touch.

"Quit teasing Bunny," Eddie says; he's almost bucking into your touch, willing your hand to go lower. You ping his underwear with your finger, watching it snap back onto his skin making him jump.

"Can I take-" the sentence is cut short however, as Eddie pulls his boxers down and flings them across the room. Giggling, you look down. And stop giggling.

"Jesus Eddie, it's huge!" You thought it was big given you felt it earlier, but seeing is most definitely believing. No wonder he's so confident all the time.

"Flatterer." He quips back, but you can tell how pleased he is with your words. Moving to straddle him, you rub your thinly clad core against it, earning a heavy moan from each of you. Eddie's hands grasp your hips and run inside your panties.

"Take these off before I rip them off." You gasp at his words and look into his eyes.

"Please?" He adds almost sheepishly. You smile and lean awkwardly to the side, pulling them off and away. You're straddling him then, entirely naked, soaking pussy dragging along his throbbing cock. Eddie's eyes nearly roll into the back of his head, firm hands holding onto the meat of your thighs, helping you glide back and forth.

"Im- I'm on the pill. I'm clean. I promise. Can I just- slip it in?" You ask sweetly, dragging your hands up and down his lean sides.

"Er, I think I've hit my head and I'm making this all up. Say that again for me, Bunny?"

You giggle, and lean over him, breath whispering into the shell of his ear.

"I wanna fuck you raw. Can I? Pretty please?"

He groans so low it's almost a growl, pulling your face toward him for an urgent kiss. His tongue massaging yours and the drag of his pulsing cock rubbing against your clit is setting off fireworks in your head.

You slide and slide against him, when his cock slips inside. You wish you could have the noise Eddie makes in your mouth on record; it's low and primal, a violent hum. You tease him a little, giving him tiny kitten licks in his mouth as you circle just the tip, and take in a little more, a little more. Suddenly pushing your hips down he practically whimpers, eyes scrunching shut as he's fully seated inside you.

"Holy shit, Bunny what the- how is this so good, fuck!"

You have to agree, the feeling of him deep inside you has you fluttering already, cunt throbbing around his manhood.

You move to lift off him slightly, and slam back down.

"Bunny, please, go slow," he says, his eyes pleading with you as his fingers grip you tightly.

"I was trying to fulfil a certain fantasy?" You smile at him, and begin to grind back and forth at a languid pace.

"And I appreciate that," he says as you giggle. His large hands run across your skin, running over your sides, your stomach, your breasts. Each touch has you moaning, back arched in pleasure.

"This is too good Bunny. I want it to last."

Continuing your slow, deep pace, you feel your swollen clit singing, dragging across his pubic hair on each pass. The feeling transcends any sex you'd had before. It wasn't in the same league. Hell, it wasn't even the same game. You lean towards him, hands tucking underneath his muscular shoulders, holding him close to you.

"Have you had sex when you were high before?" You whisper to him as you grind deliciously back and forth and nibble on his earlobe.

"Yeah, but not as good as this. This is fucking incredible," he responds, planting kisses over your jaw line.

Your orgasm is creeping closer and closer as you moan in his ear.

"I can feel you shaking baby. You gonna come?"

You can only nod against his neck as he holds you close.

"Look at me. Eyes on me Bunny."

You lift your head, foreheads nearly touching. Your whole body is quivering, mouth hanging open. The hotness in your stomach is turning to liquid fire, reaching out to lick over your limbs.

"That's it baby, let go."

As if your body was waiting for permission, you feel yourself become truly overwhelmed by your own pleasure, exploding through you with an intensity unmatched by anything you've ever felt before. And it just keeps coming. Rolling over you in delectable waves for what feels like forever.

Finally, the waves begin to ebb. Your legs are shaking uncontrollably as you try to regain some semblance of breath.

"Wow." Is all you can manage. He smiles up at you, reaching to rub his thumb up and down your jaw, settling the softest of kisses to your lips.

"Right, hold on Bunny."

You're clinging to him as he turns you over until you're underneath him, his narrow hips slotted between your legs, without ever leaving your cunt.

"Smooth," you say, smiling at him.

"Well, I try." He grins back, grasping one of your hands with his and holds it over your head, fingers entwined as he slowly pumps in and out of you. His other hand is hoisting your leg around him, keeping your knee high. You're in rhythm with each other, moving as one, meeting his hips again and again.

Each thrust of his hips has you keening into him, sending more waves of intense pleasure coursing through your nerves.

"Eddie, oh God!" You grasp at his shoulder, fingernails biting into his flesh.

"Come with me my Bunny, come with me, oh fuck!"

You come together, the feeling of him throbbing his release into you sending you over that edge once again.

He nearly collapses onto you, barely holding himself up on an elbow as he brings his lips to yours. You kiss, and kiss, and kiss again.

"That was incredible," he whispers on your skin, nose nudging yours.

"Splendid" you grin back at him, making him chuckle.

"Wait, let me clean you up. Where's the bathroom?"

"First door on the right. There's a wash rag on the bedside table."

"Your friends really look after you, don't they?" He smiled, grabbing the cloth and donning his boxers.

He returns moments later and wipes at you with such care, cleaning you up.

Whipping his underwear off again, he snuggles up behind you in bed. You were finally starting to feel a little tired, but you know it'll be a couple of hours before you can sleep with the ecstasy in your system.

Not that you minded. This was heaven right here, Eddie's warmth pressing against you, leaving paper trace kisses over your shoulder.

"Eddie," you say in a moment of bravery, "what are we?"

"I thought you didn't want to think about it." He says. You can hear the smile in his voice. His arm moves over your side, hand coming to rest on your own.

Honestly, you're not sure why you'd said it. Well, there was one reason. You're not sure you could deal with this being a one night stand. The sex was too incredible for that.

"I know I said that, it's just- I don't want this to be it."

"Hmm," he hums into your shoulder, "what are we?" He leaves a soft kiss, "we're friends." You scoff a laugh and go to turn to him, but he holds you fast.

"Let me finish. We're friends," he continues, kissing your shoulder again, "friends who fuck," another kiss, a lingering one that makes your toes curl, "daily." You giggle, lacing your fingers with his.

"Friends who go on dates occasionally," he says, beginning to kiss at your neck. His length is hardening, you can feel it rubbing against the flesh of your ass. "friends who don't sleep with anyone else." He finishes, teeth nipping at your neck.

The grin that flows across your features comes unbidden and nearly surprises you.

"Eddie?" He only hums in response, starting to suck a bruise into your neck, his dick falling into the cleft of your butt as he pushes against you.

"I think that sounds a lot like-" you begin but he shushes you softly.

"You said you don't wanna think. So don't." He unlocks hands with you, fingers tracing down your abdomen and gently sliding between your wet lips. Gasping as he lightly rubs against your clit, you buck against his throbbing length.

"You are so sexy, you know that?" He huffs, slipping his member between your legs.

"Me? You're hot Eddie." He snorts in disbelief.

"Why didn't you ask me out?" You ask, as you feel the tip begging for entry.

"Hey, I tried to charm the pants off you." He said, nipping your earlobe.

"Well, I suppose it worked, but I thought you were just like that with all the girls" you reply, allowing him to slip inside you.

Moaning in unison, you rock against him. His breath is a whisper in your ear.

"No. Just you."

You keen at his words and he doubles down on his efforts on your clit forcing you to grip onto the bed sheets for dear life as if you'd float away.

"Eddie, fuck that's- that's so good" you purr, backing into him.

"You gonna come for me Bunny? My little Bunny? Go on, come for me," his voice is bordering on begging, rubbing tight circles on your swollen clit. Crying out, you clench around his cock, releasing again.

Grabbing you by the hip, he thrusts harder into you, again and again, until he's moaning his orgasm out, burying his face in the crook of your neck.

Bringing his hand up to your face, you drag your lips over his knuckles, settling warm kisses over each one.

"You know, I don't really know you, not really," you smile.

"Well, get to know me. What do you want to know?"

"I don't even know how old you are. 28? 29?" You guess, kissing him again.

He slips out from you and coaxes you to turn so you can curl into his chest.

"31 actually."

"Well, see that's a deal breaker, sorry," you joke, fingers tracing his chest tattoos.

"Well, we had a good run," he responds in kind, kissing you on the forehead.

You're not entirely certain where this is going, what the future may hold, but right now you're just happy to be in Eddie's arms.

Masterlist

@eddiemunsons-missingnipple @corrodedhawkins @lunatictardis @roanniom @pxrxcxa @sillypurplemurple @sinczir @lightvixxen @eddiemunsonfuxks

676 notes · View notes

8bitscarlet · 2 years

Text

To Die For

Summary: Your life had never known stability or the feeling of safety in it ever. But green eyes seem to I've you everything you've been missing. And you wonder, if they're something worth living for or dying for.

Pairing: Wanda x Reader

Genre/Warnings: Fluff (canon violence, cussing, blood, gun usage, mention of alcohol, alcohol consumption)

Word Count: 6.9k

A/N: I'm alive! I've had an incredibly busy last two weeks but I was able to squeeze this fic in with some free moments that I had. These next few months will be busy as well, so fics will be turning out slowly but they'll be turning out! 😂 So, here's Chapter 14 of AOP. Happy Reading everyone! 💕

*please do not repost or translate my material or claim as yours. reblogs, comments and likes are always appreciated!*

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Your knee bounces on top of your leg as your pen keeps a constant rhythm against your notepad. The supposed general of this guerilla group that’s being targeted with HYDRA weaponry by the corrupt government drones on in the background. Finishing the lines on the scribble you’ve been working on, you glance up at Nat. She flicks her eyes to the projecting screen and you sigh, looking at the routes you’ve already memorized.

The guards that stand around the room are growing antsy with the length of the meeting, feet aching in old boots as they try to keep tired eyes on all of you. Though the Avengers had never had run-ins with them, they sure had run-ins with the U.S. government. Some shadowy deals during a tumultuous time brought this now corrupt government into power and now anyone who looks American has a few extra eyes on them with some hidden grudges.

“I don’t see why you can’t just drop your bombs that your military is always raving about?” You glance up at the voice coming from a sitting lieutenant, his eyes boring holes into Steve, the American poster boy.

Steve sits up straighter with a frown, you know he didn’t want to be that poster boy but the name “Captain America”, it was impossible not to be. You lean forward and slide your pen behind your ear,

“Total war with them isn’t exactly one of your little guerilla play fights. Though, maybe if your soldiers handled their alcohol better…” you glance at the sweating and swaying guards around the room. You remember seeing them puking and falling over each other early this morning when you went to meet Sam for a run.

“That one’s awfully mouthy, aren’t they?” The Lieutenant cackles and slams his hand against another soldier’s chest, “We know who you all are and what you do and who you do it for. So how about you keep quiet about things you don’t know.”

Wanda closes her notebook quietly, clearing her throat, “We can’t follow you blindly. We’re partners here, so can we act like that?”

The lieutenant’s dark eyes flash to Wanda, a glint in them that causes your fists to clench tightly. She notices, her hand reaching out and subtly resting on your thigh. You let out a slow sigh, eyes locked on the lieutenant as he scowls.

“Why don’t you go brew some curses and fly around on your broomstick, witch? Don’t talk when you haven’t got a clue.”

You slam your notepad down now, your pen flying across the room and nearly hit one of the soldiers. Standing quickly, the chair you were sitting in flies out from you and crashes into the wall behind you. You dig your finger down into the table,

“Know what, asshole? Just realized I don’t give a damn about this little truce. And I certainly don’t give a damn about you.”

As you talk, you make your way around the table, hearing the adjustments of rifles as you get closer to the Lieutenant. He doesn’t back down though and wave for you to get shot. He stands up, meeting you as you reach him and preparing to take the first swing. Glaring him down, you hear the squeaking of wheels and then a hand presses against your shoulder.

“Alright you two. That’s enough,” Steve tries to push you away but you stay locked where you are, not letting this asshole get away with what he said.

“No, let them take it outside,” Nat says, flipping through her notes without a second glance at the excitement. At the thickening silence, her green eyes glance up and you watch them roll, “Trust me.”

Nat knows the culture here. You don’t back away from insulting words and walk away with your tail between your legs. You fight against them and whether or not you win, you gain respect. Both you and Nat know that respect is what’s needed right now and you glance at Wanda. She rolls her eyes, knowing you’re not really asking for permission to defend her honor, she doesn’t need your help. But she grins softly, picking up a brow in an intrigued stare and you can feel a warmth growing inside your chest.

“When I’m done with you,” you point at the Lieutenant, “You’re going to apologize to the lady,”

His laugh follows after you through the backdoor as you rip off your button down and trudge through the light snow that appeared overnight. It’s been cleared with some shovels and the afternoon sun, leaving behind slippery mud as you step into the makeshift ring that’s been made for occasions like this.

Soldiers are staring as the Lieutenant carefully takes off his uniformed shirt with clanging medals, the higher ranks never stepped foot into this ring. But there he is, fists covering his face and eagerly taking the first swing.

You grimace against his punches, knuckles hitting just right between your ribs. He’s slow but his hits cause even you some pain. Ducking below a swing meant for your jaw, you carefully catch on to his rhythm. Swings catch nothing but empty air as you dodge around him. A crowd has gathered, Nat squeezing past the yells of encouragement for the Lieutenant and curses towards you. Glancing to the side, you notice Nat slip some cash to the bet taker and you scoff, wondering if she’s betting on you.

Clenching yourself, you narrowly dodge the fist meant to knock you out and you spin around. The mud swings you around faster than normal as your foot slams into the Lieutenant’s knee. You stumble and in your moment of weakness, he lunges for you. Mud shoots out from underneath you as you're slammed into the ground but he loses his grip on you as you slam your mud covered hand against his face.

Squirming out from his knee that pins into your hip, you clamber behind him and wrap yourself around him. Legs lock around his waist as your arms lock around his neck, and you squeeze hard. Panting as you push his head forward, pressing him further into your arm, slowly you lean forward.

“Had enough?”

He snarls, trying to flip you off of him but you jerk your arm back, listening to his gag as he topples over into the mud. Any air he tries to breathe, it’ll be mixed with it. He knows it's only a matter of time before he passes out and you’re not letting him go until he’s gone limp. With a moment to think as his vision starts to close, you watch his hand rise and then tap against your arm.

You release immediately, clambering up to your feet in case some of the soldiers decide to come to his honor this time. Instead, nothing happens. They all stare with wide eyes that you’ve beaten the Lieutenant and that’s when you watch the General step forward through the crowd.

He glances down at his bloodied right hand man and then to you. You wait for him to kick you off the base but instead, you listen to a laugh come out that echoes without walls. The rest of the soldiers start to holler and whoop as the Lieutenant is helped to his feet.

“You’ve got a hard swing,”

You chuckle and rub against an aching spot on chin, “I’d call that a team bonding experience,” you reach out and take his hand for a shake, “As soon as you apologize to the lady,”

You glance over at Wanda who gives a small grin, a sparkle in her eye as she looks at you.

“Don’t hold it against me, ma’am. We’re a bit frightened of your powers but we know you’re needed. Just glad you’re on our side.”

He limps off to the infirmary as you graciously take a canteen of water from one of the soldiers. Wanda takes your discarded button down and gently pats away the blood from your split eyebrow, “Don’t be turning into a knight in shining armor, Y/N. I like battle worn armor.”

Her shoulder bumps into yours and you glance at her, curious with that glow in her stare, beckoning you to stay close. You oblige as you follow her for a short while while she walks through the base and you look around at the street signs, trying to figure out where you’re going.

Groups of soldiers are walking around, others run past and yell out cadence as they train while the two of you stick out like a sore thumb. Lengthening your steps, you fall into step with Wanda and you glance at her.

“The night before the mission and you want to get plastered?” you look up at the base’s bar that you’re heading towards, “You should’ve invited Sam.”

Wanda looks at you, “If I wanted to get drunk I would’ve brought him. But I’d like to remember tonight.”

An old, neon lit sign marks the building for all to see. You glance at the slightly buzzing sign and see the name of the band who’s playing tonight. Letting out a quiet hum, you’re surprised to see such a popular group coming to this little base. You’d seen posters lining through the city for their stadium tour, they must’ve added this without much notice to the government.

“Hey, since I fought for your honor, I get a free beer right?” You ask as you open the door to the sound of bustling conversations and strumming instruments.

Wanda sighs and pokes at the bruise on your chin, causing you to jolt away but you’re quickly following her, “I should be getting that beer for you not letting me take care of my honor.”

You chuckle, pulling out a seat at one of the few empty tables and waiting for her to sit, “I have to keep up with your magic. My super strength is boring.”

“Oh, yes, so boring. I yawned when you flipped that car with Johnson in it before he sped away.”

Settling down into the chair across from her, you grin, “It was nothing.”

“I’m not stroking your ego with this fake humbleness,” Wanda tilts her head slightly, “But it was something,”

You hold up your hand as a waiter walks by, “Get this woman whatever she wants,” you slide out your wallet and flick up your card between your fingers, “And put it on my tab,”

The evening turns into night and the lights inside the bar dim, only a few moments of colored bulbs as the band takes the stage. It’s a calm setting, no one running up to the stage or loud cheering. Everyone inside is there for a relaxing time and you sink down into your seat as you slowly turn your beer against its coaster.

Your eyes had been watching the band for a bit as the music was swelling around you, but they always seemed to fall away. They’d find their way back across the table that your beer sat on. On a redhead who’s own eyes were constantly falling away. The first few times your eyes fell on each other, they snapped quickly back to the guitar player. Your cheeks burning in the darkness as you quickly sipped from your drink.

But every few moments, you’d find yourself staring into those dark green eyes and wishing you never had to look away from them. Taking in a slow breath as you unclench your fist that hid beside your thigh, you decide it’s been long enough. You swung punches for this woman, risked your life on multiple occasions, why can’t you just look at her.

To watch the way her nose scrunches when the lead singer tells a joke. How she whispers to herself as she translates the words to herself, her lips moving nearly imperceptibly. Her fingers keeping the beat along with the foot of her crossed leg, remembering how they felt against your skin.

Your eyes follow over every curve and line on her face, finding each one as interesting as the last. The world seems to melt away as you watch her hair fall over her shoulder as she turns. Then those green eyes look at you and this time, neither of you snap away.

“You’re staring,” Wanda says after a long moment of her eyes running along your face and a grin resting on her lips.

“Am I?” you ask, sarcasm dripping from your grin,

Wanda leans back into her seat, “Do I have a hair out of place? Some mud on my shirt from you flinging it around?”

You nod slowly, “I didn’t know how to tell you.”

She grins wider and you feel the corners of your eyes crinkle as yours spreads against your face.

“What do you think?” she asks, eyeing the dancers and people walking around all of the decorations.

You shrug, “It’s a bit boring and drab, you know?”

Her laugh makes its way through the music and comes in clear as day, as if she’s sitting right next to you. Clearing your throat, you have a passing thought as you wish that she was.

“You’re still staring,”

“So are you,” you lean forward and rest your arms on the table, your eyes finally flicking away from Wanda and towards the dance floor. There’s a few couples that dance around, not crowded and plenty of space, “Come on. We’re gonna dance.”

“Dance?” Wanda shakes her head as you stand and wipe away the dry mug from your shirt, “No, I remember clearly that you don’t dance. You’re too cool for that.”

You hold out your hand, “Things change don’t they?”

She eyes your hand, not shaking though your body is filled with electricity, “Do they?”

With a grin, you wave her to come with you, “Well, we’re certainly going to find out.”

Her cool hand rests in yours and you pull her up to her feet slowly, letting out a quiet breath as you try to calm your racing heart. The walk is short but you have time for a billion thoughts to race through your head. Thoughts to try and remind yourself how to dance, others trying to determine how tight of a grip you should have on Wanda’s hand, if you had locked your room door or not.

But you raise her hand as you turn on the balls of your feet, raising your brows as Wanda steps up to you. Pulling her raised hand a little, she steps even closer. Lowering your arm, her hand rests on your back and she glances up at you. You grin as your feet move perfectly with each other, not a single glance to see if you’re about to step on her toes.

Every second is dedicated to her and she grins and you wonder if she’s heard what you’re thinking. Memorizing the way the lights shine against her eyes and how they glow up at you. The soft wrinkles on her face that almost disappeared when she slept. All the nights you nearly reached out to trace them on missions as nothing more than teammates, as friends.

As you raise your hand and twist your wrist slowly, sending her into a soft spin, you wonder if she’s had those thoughts. And as she comes around the turn, you hope that she has.

Her feet face you again and you pull against each other, stepping even closer than before. Your bodies press against each other now, her warm breath rushing along the top of your shirt as you watch her eyes drop down to your lips.

“What’s the matter?” you whisper, thumb grazing along her hip, “I’ve been practicing.”

“Well, for one, you smell,” she chuckles but you feel her grip tighten against your belt loops, “And I don’t think I’ve gone this long without hearing you complain.”

You grin, “Me, either. Are we… there’s nothing wrong with enjoying this?”

She hums quietly as the ballad continues beyond this two foot world, her head resting along your shoulder as goosebumps run down your neck. You lift her hand again and she finds its resting place on your neck, as though she’d done this so many times before. Your hand rests on her arm, feeling how soft her skin is along your fingertips. As she hums against you, the vibration in her chest filling yours, you only hope that things have changed.

________________________________

Adjusting the body armor you have on, you put your pistol back in your holster after finally clearing one of the last rooms you were assigned. You glance over as Wanda lets out a quiet sneeze. You chuckle quietly, her eyes flicking to you with a quiet warning to not say anything about it. The whole building is under construction, it’s old, dusty and practically coming apart.

“When you meant battle worn armor, I was hoping you meant armor that actually fit.”

Wanda sighs and walks down to the final door, “Can’t even go a day without a complaint.”

You let out a scoff, “Me complain? Who was complaining when I cleaned the coffee spoon?”

She whips around as a red missile slams open the door, her energy glowing from her hands as she steps into the dark and windowless room, “You cleaned it with your mouth!”

“I thought you were done!” you call after her, flipping plastic off of brand new, shining equipment. You clench your brows, intrigued how such expensive and new equipment conveniently ended up somewhere so moldy and musty.

Wanda leans against the exit door and crosses her arms, a finger flicking upwards as the remaining lights flicker on, “You know I have two cups a day. I hadn’t even finished my first.”

You roll your eyes and whisper as you pass her, “I ate the rest of your chips,”

Her gasp fills the quiet room as you grin at her, a shiver running through your body as you reach out for the door. Before Wanda can accuse you of all the other snacks of hers that have gone missing, you go to push open the door.

There’s a soft click and you freeze. You wait for an explosion or an alarm to start blaring but nothing happens. Wrapping your hand around the door knob, you shimmy it but it stays shut and doesn’t give a single millimeter of movement. Instead, you hear another click and then the sound of an almost silent fan.

Clenching your brows, you glance over to the vents and make your way over with slow steps. There’s a nearly clear cloud working its way out, a yellowish tint when it comes into contact with the light. The fan inside the vents starts to pick up speed now and you try to peer inside to see if there’s a canister you can rip out.

“Y/N, do you hear that?”

“I smell it,” you grunt, the room filling with a growing mustiness as you feel a tickle in your throat. You start to feel a tickle in your throat, “We gotta think of something.”

You ram full speed into one of the doors but it doesn’t budge. Your foot slams over and over into the door, but all it does is make a dent in the door.

“What are these doors made of?” you grunt and try to rip it off its hinges.

“Y/N!” Wanda shouts for you and you turn quickly, covering your face with your shirt as you start to tear off the body armor and drop it at your feet. You follow where she’s pointing with your eyes and see that there’s scaffolding in the room. Following it up, you can see a window that hadn’t been covered.

Jogging over without a question of if the scaffolding is steady to be climbed on, Wanda follows close behind you as you press your back against the metal. Interlocking your fingers, Wanda presses her boot into them as she steadies herself with a hand on your shoulder. Glancing up from her grasp, her eyes find yours and you feel her fingers wrap tighter around you.

“Wanda?” you whisper, feeling her other hand skim along your neck

“Yeah,” she whispers back, her other boot pressing against your thigh.

You grin, “We have to get out of here first if we want to laugh about this later.”

Her lips slowly turn upward, “I should start climbing.”

Grunting as you slowly and carefully lift her up until she’s able to grasp the metal railings, you step back and watch her swing her leg over, “You know, I could’ve just done this?”

As you clench your thighs to try and get as high up on the scaffold as you can get, you feel your body get wrapped in a warm embrace. You try to grab onto something as your stomach flips and you try to swim towards the railing.

“You should get better at reminding me that you have magic. Cause,” you grab hold of the rail with a grunt and feel your feet slowly float to solid ground, “You are exhausting to lift.”

Hopping up and over, you land next to Wanda with only the soft creaking of wood between you. Her eyes are locked on yours, breath hitched when you both see how close you’ve landed to her. Her finger jumping up and just skimming your hand, your eyes falling to her parted lips for a fleeting moment. You can feel yourself start to lean forward onto your toes as Wanda lets out a quiet sigh.

You pause before you can act on this moment, to see if there’s anything behind this pull you have towards her or if this is just an incredibly long case of getting rid of pent up emotions with no strings attached. You feel a grin rise at the corner of your lips, you know that’s not it. As you start to tilt your head, fingers reaching out to her jacket, a sound gets your heart pounding.

Your shoulder bumps into Wanda, your hand gripping your pistol as you glance back at her. Her glowing red eyes are already looking at you, the sound of bullets growing louder. There’s yells and crashing coming from the other room and the sound of pounding against a wall. You pull out your pistol, stepping slowly in front of Wanda as you sneak forward. Drywall explodes out and you flick the safety off and wait until you can see what you’re shooting to wrap your finger around that trigger.

Coughing comes from the dust as it starts to settle and you stand up straight, watching Nat and Steve run through the plastered over door. Nat swings herself around the hole into cover, peeking out as Steve waves the two of you off of the scaffolding.

“This whole place is getting ambushed. We gotta move!” he tells you as Nat starts to fire out of the room.

Steve waves you towards the exit that’s a floor down and through the main entrance. Satisfied that the two of you will get out of here just fine, he takes Nat to work down the halls. You follow after them for a moment, trying to find a safe way down to the main entrance. It’s quick work, the majority of the enemies’ attention is on the guerilla soldiers, you’re not even sure if they know you guys are here.

And they never do. With a few quiet shots and knife slices there and a few of Nat’s leg wrapping knockouts here, you work towards a broken office window that overlooks the foyer of the main entrance. Peeking over, you can see a wooden scaffolding below and old building equipment littering the planks and the floor below.

You scoff, wondering how long Hydra was planning on fixing this place up and when they gave up. Still, with all this new equipment, it must just be used as a storage area. The scaffolding looks shaky just from the rotted wooden planks and you try to figure out where to land.

You’ll have to carefully place your feet to make sure it doesn’t collapse and give away your position. The bullets have quieted now and hopefully the soldiers are sneaking away but Hydra doesn't need to know where you are. And the government here and at home, also don’t need to know.

“We’ll start clearing the way down there,” Nat tells you, climbing through the window and dropping down. There’s a small creak but Steve follows after her without fear. There’s a small swaying but everything stays together as they climb down safely. They look around, waving for you and Wanda to come down as they go peek down the hallways.

“Come on,” you say and clamber through the window. You land on the wood perfectly, grunting at the impact but freeze immediately. Something’s not right.

A creak didn’t follow your landing but a snap. Twisting yourself to look up at the window without moving your feet, you hold out your hand, “Wanda, wait!”

She’s already out the window and landing next to you by the time your words leave your mouth. The crack echoes out loudly through the room and the entire scaffolding collapses under you. You reach out to try and grab Wanda but everything happens too quickly as you try and suck in a deep breath before it gets knocked from your lungs.

Wanda’s yell follows you down and as you smack against the floor, pain explodes through your stomach and shoulder. You know you hit hard on your shoulder when you instinctively tried to reach onto Wanda but you don’t know why your stomach is burning, much more than just losing your breath.

Glancing down, you see something that wasn’t there previously, sticking out of you. Through your hazy eyesight and nausea, you make out the shape of a rebar sticking out of your abdomen.

“Fuck!” you yell and suck in a breath, your hands shaking against the warmth spreading along your shirt, You groan, knowing you shouldn’t have taken off the armor.

Wanda quickly picks herself up from the rough fall she still had and clambers over to you as she falls to her knees. You hear yelling coming from behind her and watch through tears of pain at the door behind her trying to cave in. The crash of the scaffolding and your yell was probably heard through the building and it’s exactly where the enemy is running towards. Nat grabs Steve and shoves him towards the other door to stop the flanking position, yelling at you to keep breathing.

“What do I do?” Wanda asks frantically, not knowing what injury to look at first.

“Move,” you groan out, your arm falling limp and fingers trying to wrap around the grip of your gun.

Wanda can’t hear your tortured breaths and leans forward, “What?”

“Move!” you shove her aside against the pain and bring your only working arm up with your gun. The gun breaks down and two soldier’s come barging in. You pray to the adrenaline gods as you quickly aim down the sights and the world slows down, letting you watch them raise their rifles and see the yells that escape their mouths.

The first bullet hits right on its mark and the soldier falls against his buddy that got knocked with Cap’s shield. Nat takes out the other two coming in that stare in horror as a large group of their friends get slammed into the wall by a wave of red. You watch the last two slump as the world comes back to speed. Wanda gets back to you, shaking and huffing.

Nat kneels next to you and stares down at your bleeding abdomen, trying to figure out if she can move you. Taking in a slow breath, she nods and tries to ignore your sputtering breaths.

“Two birds with one stone,” she points to Wanda, “Grab their shoulder,”

She quickly instructs Wanda where to grab and how much force to shove against the limb to get it back into working order. Wanda looks at you, trying to keep your breathing controlled and to focus on anything but the slow, pain pulsating through you.

You nod, “Just do it,” And in one quick motion, as if she’s done it a million times, she pops it back in with only a small yelp from you.

“Alright,” Nat wipes your blood on her pants, “I need you to help me pick them up,”

“What?” Wanda nearly yells and stares at the stick of metal sticking out of you.

“We can’t leave them here, Wanda,” they lower their voices to whispers, trying not to let you in on their plan.

In a quiet count to each other, you clench your teeth as they start to pull your arms and your body follows with a warm embrace. You feel it slide out of your body and so does the scream that you try to hold in. Nat lets go of your arm as Wanda’s magic slowly settles you on your feet and holds you steady as you find your footing. It feels like something is missing from your body and from the haziness in your head, you know you’ve lost a lot of blood.

You hobble forward, swaying as you press against the wound, Wanda’s hands glowing as she tries to keep you steady. The pain is exploding through your body with each step that you take, bringing tears to your already blurry vision. You hold your hands against the warm blood oozing its way out of you.

“We need to go,” you groan out, you nearly tip forward as you push Nat ahead, “Scout ahead. Together. Please.”

The main exit you were looking at is barricaded on the other side, you’re going to need a side exit and you’re going to need to find it fast. Wanda lingers for a second but soon follows the Black Widow after putting your pistol back into your bloody hand. Her green eyes stare at you for a moment as she cocks the gun and your hand wraps around hers and the grip.

“Super strength, remember?” you breathe out carefully, as you try to grin “Keeping up with your magic. Go, please.”

Though her eyes flick down to your lips, it’s not the time. Both of you are thinking the same thing, you don’t have to read minds to know. And she’s not giving this moment any chance of being a last moment. You follow after them, dragging yourself down the hallway with groans and huffs. You learn against a doorway, pressing a bloody hand against the white hot pain. The blood doesn’t want to stop. Sliding forward, you watch as the blood from your hand leaves a long streak along the wall.

You let out a heavy breath and lean against a desk as you follow the open doors that the two women are leaving as a trail for you. You can’t climb over the old dusty desks and equipment in the hallway, you have to snake through and around the offices.

Glancing up, you realize you must’ve rested for longer than you intended as you watch Wanda jog back into the room. She carefully helps you down to the ground and you grip her arm tightly. You want to protest, to tell her that you all need to get out of here but only grunts are forming from your mouth.

“Nat sent me back, we can’t find Steve,” she whispers and stops from continuing forward when she hears footsteps. She leaves without a word and you try to reach out for her and fail miserably as you catch yourself before you topple over.

You lean against the desk as you hear a door being kicked open. Your heart is pounding, which isn’t helping how fast the blood is escaping your body but you try to climb up to your knees. Trying to get up to protect Wanda from whoever has decided to join the party but you can’t lift yourself up.

“I know you’re in here. Make it easy on yourself,” the soldier calls out, his boots hitting the ground softly.

Taking three quick breaths, you lean out to pop a shot towards his head and end this. Instead, he fires his shotgun at the first thing that moves, forcing you to fall back into the cover of the desk. He’s standing his ground, ready to fire the second he sees any movement from this area. Breathing in carefully, you mutter for him to take a step closer. You’ll fight him to the ground, you have enough strength left. Keep him busy so Wanda can make it out of the room.

But Wanda has other ideas. You hear her yell and you peek out from the corner to see what the hell she’s doing. She jumps out from behind a desk, red glowing from her hands as she forces the soldier down to the ground. She sinks the blade of the knife she stole from your boot into his shoulder, her aim slightly off from ending the fight.

You try to quickly aim at him as Wanda is flipped off of him and she stumbles into a folder cabinet. Letting out a grunt as you pull back the trigger and you feel the recoil rush through your entire body, you collapse to the ground.

A second soldier comes running as you hit the ground, trying to pick up your hand to aim and empty the clip in your gun. Your head is heavy and any thought takes so much extra effort and time. You can’t see straight and your arm shakes as you try to lift the gun up to anywhere near where the soldier is. He doesn’t notice you though, all of his attention is on firing at the witch in the room. Wanda blocks his bullets that are trying to catch her as he gets closer and closer.

Your bloody hand slips off the desk trying to get up as he ducks behind a half wall and avoids Wanda’s magic. He chucks folders and a chair at her, distracting her as she quickly blocks away the objects that could turn fatal and then takes the opportunity to lunge.

“Get away!” you yell and slip against the wooden desk again.

He swings his arm and connects his gun with her face. She falls with a yell and in a moment of perfect connection, you slide your pistol across the ground as you faceplant it on the thin, carpeted floor. Wanda grabs it as the soldier raises the butt of his rifle above his head and you hear the holy sound of gunfire.

You watch as five quick explosions come from the barrel. The man falls next to her as Wanda stares up at the ceiling, quick breaths escaping and entering her lungs. You both are frozen for a moment, your body trying to keep you still and Wanda trying to stop the flashes of her life in front of her.

Wanda quickly gets up to her feet and runs to you. With more thought to get you out fast instead of babying your injury, she helps you to your feet against your painful yells. Instinctively, your bloody hand touches the swelling cut on her cheek.

“You’re hurt,”

She slaps your hand away, “I’m not bleeding out, Y/N. Focus, please!” Your feet are starting to drag and you lean against a filing cabinet, trying to catch a breath.

“Come on, Y/N. You really gotta start moving,” she waves at you to move your feet now that the hallway is empty and clear. The last thing you all need is for the hallway to get filled with soldiers again.

“I got it, go,” you shove her forward and take a few steps before leaning against an overturned desk. Your blood is staining the wood as Wanda jogs down the hallway towards the back exit.

“Come on!” she yells at you, glancing around for more soldiers to ruin the party.

You take a step and another, each one worse than the last. Wanda has opened the door, the bright light almost blinding as you lean against a pile of wood for another rest. You can barely breathe without having excruciating pain explode through you. You cough and cringe from the burning feeling coming from inside of you.

Wanda grabs your arm, scaring you as you nearly thought about resting your face on the planks of wood, and starts to put it over her shoulder. You push her forward and stumble slightly, you don’t want her to be slowed down because of you.

“Let’s go, Y/N. Walk!” she orders, her voice cracking slightly as she jogs to the exit to make sure the coast is clear.

You stumble forward, taking slow and careful steps. She keeps watch, staring out the door as you make your way so slowly to her. The pain becomes a numbing sensation but your vision is going out. You can barely keep yourself upright and you probably look like you’re at death’s door right now.

“Okay, it’s clear. Come on.” She tells you.

Your body and mind work together, to try and get all of your limbs working, but you continue to stumble over your own feet. You fall with a grunt and through the blinding light, Wanda comes sprinting towards you.

“Come on. We need to go,” she tells you and starts to drag you to the door faster than you would like, but you know time is of the essence.

You fall against the door to catch your breath but she keeps moving. Shoving you out the door and letting you stumble out into the crisp air by yourself. Winter was holding on for far too long this year. You can hear the screeching of tires and the rumbling of engines, this isn’t good.

“Y/N!” you stop, staggering back towards the building and turn yourself around slowly.

You groan and press your hand against your side, eyeing the scene in front of you carefully. Wanda is gripping Strucker’s sleeve, looking at the guns pointing towards her. Strucker grins at you, flicking the safety of his gun off. Without losing eye contact, you pull back the chamber and ready your rifle. Thankful to still have it but knowing that your spine was not happy to land partially on it.

Strucker’s jaw clenches slightly as you put his puny head between your sights.

“Now, Y/N. You shoot me and my comrades shoot you. But who will save your friend?”

You growl and step forward, willing every last ounce of strength to keep you steady, “Let her go.”

“No,” he smiles at you.

“Let. Her. Go.” you grip the rifle tighter, not a single quiver or falter in your movements. You’ll kill him and everyone pointing guns at you right now. You don’t care how long this stand off lasts.

Struckers presses the gun against Wanda’s head, you watch as she clenches against his sleeve tighter. She’s trying to figure out how to get out of this situation. If she knocks him back with magic, his guards are going to fill you with lead. And she knows, the way you’re staring at her, she couldn’t save both of you and get Strucker.

“The rifle please.” Strucker’s brows raise as his accent sends the rest of your blood boiling, “We don’t need more bloodshed, Y/N.”

You hesitate as you look around. Strucker sighs and nods his head. You hear the steps too late and feel your knee give out with a strike and then the butt of a gun cracking against your face. You’re restrained easily in your weakened state and you swallow carefully against the metal blade that presses against your throat.

“Y/N!” Wanda yells but shuts up with a yelp when Struckers pulls her hair.

“Stop!” you yell and hold up your hands, “Fucking stop!”

“Shame to see you’ve really fallen into this hero gig,” he slides the gun down Wanda’s face with a small grin, “Where’s the missing folder?”

You stare at him, replaying the memory of you bloodied and beaten and handing off a bent manila folder to Yelena. Years ago, before you were taken back into Hydra’s grasp and reconditioned. They were plans you had stolen from Hydra but there’s something gnawing in your brain. They filled the blanks of their plans without that folder. You know they did.

“I gave it to you,”

Strucker sighs, “I’m going to count to ten. And you’re going to tell me who you gave it to.”

You glare at him, wincing as the blade digs into your throat further and a jolt of pain comes from your stomach.

“Or she dies.”

Strucker watches with amusement as your eyes widen, trying to go back to that day. A dreadful day where you were strapped to a chair. Endless questions. You couldn’t have given up Yelena, she wouldn’t be here if you had. You clench your eyes, trying to bring back such a hazy memory.

A gunshot echoes out and you flick your eyes open to the bullethole that’s now in the ground. Wanda screams as you lunge forward, ignoring the pain and warmth of blood that runs down your throat now.

“Do you think I’m playing around!”

Four guys grab you now, surprised by this sudden bout of strength and one slams their baton onto the bloody spot on your shirt. You scream, leaning over in pain as you gag and the metallic taste coats your tongue, “You son of a bitch!”

Strucker is yelling, trying to get you to tell him where the plans are. Where the weapon is and to give it to him. The prototype, you know where it is. Where it was hidden.

“Wanda, look at me. Wanda. Stay with me” you glance away from Strucker to Wanda, silent tears streaming down her face. You glare at him, “I’m going to kill you, I swear to god!”

“Eight!”

You try to fight the tight grasps on your wrists, “Stop! Jesus, look just stop! And I promise you, I will help you find whatever you want!”

“Nine!”

“Please, don’t do this. Listen to me. I will help you. No contract. No payment. Just please. Leave her out of this. She’s done nothing!”

Stucker just glares at you, the tip of the gun still pressed against Wanda’s head. You shake your head, “Please, no,” hot tears run down your face, “No.”

There’s no hesitation, no thought. “Ten,” And the gunshot beats your screams.

_______________ CH 15

#wanda #wanda maximoff #wanda marvel #wanda x reader #wanda maximoff x reader #scarlet witch #scarlet witch x reader #wanda fanfic #wanda maximoff fanfic #wanda fluff #wanda imagine #wanda maximoff fluff #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda x you #wanda x y/n #wanda mcu

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rave-fuel · 7 months

Text

HELLO

this is where im reblogging the gifs i get from tumblr to preserve the creators/sources! many of these gifs play in the background of my twitch streams

there is a flashing warning for this entire blog! i will do my best to tag gifs accordingly but the majority of this blog is going to be flashing/strobing images!

categories in alphabetical order:

animal crossing

abstract

anime

backgrounds

dancing

food

halloween

konamix (konami/bemani, ddr, rhythm games, and ps1 graphics)

nature

nintendo

pokemon

rave

sci-fi

text

transparent

video games (other)

world of warcraft

posts will be tagged with sources (when they have them). if the gallery gets large enough the categories will have a separate page! gifs can also have multiple overlapping categories (e.g. anime and sci-fi) so they will appear in both tags. enjoy!

0 notes

starryeyedmunson · 2 years

Text

ecstasy (pt. 3) - b.b.

pairing: frat boy!bucky x sorority fem! reader

summary: the best fraternity on campus is hosting a party before the most anticipated rave of the season, and it’s all pioneered by social chair Bucky Barnes. and when you’re in college, you want to live life to the fullest, right? and what is more of living life to the fullest than having the most memorable but unrememberable night of your college career?

warnings: 18+, minors dni, allusions to alcohol use, allusions to sex, one mention of vomiting, language, a fake instance of someone hitting someone else with a belt, but it doesn’t actually happen (weird warning but you’ll see)

word count: 2.8k

a/n: ok FINE everyone, my heart is so warmed from all the lovely feedback and notes and reblogs and everything so thank you guys so much, it’s gotten me back into writing!! also let me know if you want to be tagged i'm literally so new to this ahhhh ok woooooo okay enjoy. no smut in this chapter but expect some hot n ready soon ;)

*not beta read*

For someone who drank a lot, you had never woken up with a hangover this bad.

Your head was pounding as your eyes fluttered open, only to have them be stung with the harsh strip of sunlight that somehow was only landing on your face. It took everything in you not to hiss as you adjusted to your surroundings, recognizing nothing about the room you were in besides your clothes on the floor.

Wait– why were your clothes on the floor?!

You slowly turned around to find the very handsome and very naked president of Sigma Chi fast asleep on the other side of the bed, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. Had you really slept with Loki Laufeyson?

Go me, you thought.

In any other situation, this would have been perfect. Come on, you thought to yourself, Loki was hot. You looked around the room to see if you could spot any ibuprofen to help with your headache, only to remember that you hadn’t eaten yet. And you didn’t necessarily feel like saying “good morning” to the Loki Laufeyson by vomiting all over his floor. Conflicted on what to do, you slowly started to get up out of the bed, careful to remain quiet as you moved towards your clothes. Sneaking out in the morning wasn’t really your style, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. As you tip-toed around the room, Loki stirred slightly, causing you to freeze in place. Once he resettled, you finally picked up your underwear and put it back on, wincing at how gross you felt for doing so. Finding a random shirt of his on the ground, you slipped it on quickly and quietly made your way towards the door. It creaked slightly as it opened which caused you to try and fit through the tiny crack you had made and out into the hallway.

Finally making it out of the room, you closed the door slowly behind you and leaned against the wall, feeling through all of your clothes for your phone. When you couldn’t find it, you began to worry that you had left it in Loki’s room. Where could you have put it? You don’t remember seeing it on his nightstand or on the floor, so where was it? You pinched the bridge of your nose as you tried to remember when you had it last, and then it came to you.

Coincidentally, it came right as a certain door down the hall opened to reveal an equally hungover Sarah Wilson emerging from the same room you had exactly one week ago.

She looked over at you and smiled that perfect smile. She was wearing what clearly was one of Bucky’s shirts, and it took everything in you not to yell a comment about it just loud enough so he could hear you. You gave her a small smile back and told yourself that it wasn’t her fault Bucky was an asshole, then made a beeline for the staircase. You practically skipped every step and speed-walked towards the front door, putting your hand up to block your eyes from the still-harsh sunlight once you stepped outside.

After trudging down the street to the large Chi Omega house and mulling over your barely-a-run-in with the girl that Bucky had ditched you for, you cursed yourself the entire way there for leaving your phone with Bucky. How were you going to get that back? You certainly didn’t want to see him; maybe you’d send Nat to do it. You walked into the house and up the stairs to your room, throwing yourself on the bed and opening up your computer. You immediately went to your messages, finding your text chain with Natasha. A bit confused when you had seen texts from this morning, you scrolled through intently.

natasha: hey where are u?

i’m at sigma chi still, wanna walk out together

you: hey it’s bucky i have her phone

natasha: …are u not with her

you: let’s talk about it later just come get her phone

natasha: no we’re talking about it now

you: nat no i’m tired

natasha: too bad i’ll be in ur room in 1 min

As if on cue, your best friend came barreling through the door, her makeup and hair from the night before now smudged and askew from the night’s events. “Alright,” she started, “this one’s on me.”

You snorted and gave her an annoyed expression, to which she shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t think he would do that, but regardless I’m sorry.” she said sincerely.

“Eh, it’s fine,” you said nonchalantly. “It’s not like I didn’t have sex last night with the president of the fraternity or anything,” you finished, giving her a smirk. Her eyes widened and she broke into a smile, jumping on the bed and demanding the details. You told her everything, and she reacted accordingly with all of the right ooh and aah’s, squealing in excitement with each detail you shared. “And then, I woke up this morning and basically M-16-spied my way out– wait, do you have my phone?”

She responded with exactly what you were dreading: “Oh, shit.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose in frustration as Natasha rubbed the back of her neck, knowing what this meant you had to do. “Natasha, you go get it right now.”

“What? No, you’re a big girl, and you can go get it,” she refuted. You picked up a pillow and tried to hit her with it, but she jumped up and dodged it, like she always does. It’s like she can sense when you’re going to do literally anything. “Just text him off of your computer, and tell him to come to the house to drop it off. It’s the least he can do.”

You gave her a stern look, to which she put her hands up and slowly backed out of the room, giving you a wink as she closed the door. You threw your back onto the bed, groaning in frustration as you opened your computer yet again to go to your text messages with Bucky.

Down the street, Bucky was laying in his bed staring at the ceiling.

“You have some serious explaining to do, you fuck.”

“Good morning, Natasha. How are you?” Bucky said, giving her a fake smile. Natasha bent down and picked up the belt that had been left on the floor from the night before, snapping it once before charging at Bucky. “Holy shit, okay, okay, please do not do that!” he yelled, putting his hands up to block his face from a fuming Natasha. She stopped at the side of his bed, throwing the belt on the ground before crossing her arms and tapping her foot angrily as she waited for an explanation.

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I don’t know, it just happened. What am I supposed to say, it’s not like I had any obligation towards her.”

“She was your date!”

“Okay, I’ll take that.” Natasha rolled her eyes and uncrossed her arms to pinch the bridge of her nose, taking a deep breath before opening her eyes again to look at Bucky.

“Did you not have fun with her or something?” she asked.

“It’s not that. I mean, I had fun with her. A lot of fun actually,” Bucky said. He thought back to the night before, remembering that he had spent the entire time with you. As the music in his room played, he thought back to the dance floor that he had spun you around on, you guys both laughing and smiling to each other with each time he dipped your frame. He remembered how the blue and pink lights illuminating your face, reminding him of the time he had first met you at the rave and just how sexy you looked. He shook his head as he cleared the thoughts from his mind, looking over at Natasha after doing so. “But that doesn’t matter, she probably hates me right now.”

“Okay, given that you clearly just reminisced for three minutes after saying you had fun with her means you should probably go fix it,” Natasha said matter-of-factly. Bucky sighed and rubbed his temple, nodding his head slightly. Part of him just wanted Natasha to leave him alone and let him sleep, but another part of him knew she was right. He didn’t even really know why he was entertaining this idea, it’s not like he even really knew you. But he also knew that he would face Natasha’s wrath if he didn’t at least become cordial with you, and dying wasn’t exactly on his to-do list for this week.

Natasha turned around and walked towards the door, sneering “fix it” before turning around and closing the door behind her.

He had been trying to fall back asleep for about twenty minutes now, but nothing seemed to be working. With an exaggerated sigh, he sat up in his bed and swung his feet over the edge, slipping on his moccasins as he made his way towards his bedroom door. As he walked down the hallway towards the bathroom, he overheard some voices in Loki’s room. The door was cracked open, and Bucky stopped by the door as he heard Loki and his brother Thor talking about what Bucky presumed was you.

“Was she any good?” he heard Thor ask.

“I mean, yeah, I just don’t know why Barnes didn’t fuck her,” Loki said. “She probably wouldn’t put out for him.”

“He does hook up with every girl in sight,” Thor offered. Ouch, Bucky thought, but true.

“This is true, I mean, all of our frat thinks she doesn’t believe he’s worthy of fucking her more than once,” Loki responded. “In fact, I know she doesn’t think that because she said that to me last night.” What?!

Bucky moved away from the door and pondered over what he just heard. Do you really think that? There’s no way you actually said that about him, he wondered. As he walked to the bathroom, his thoughts about your opinion on him and his ability in bed became intrusive, consuming his entire mind. Almost as if he willed it into existence, he felt a vibration in his grey sweatpants pocket, and he was met with your contact.

y/n y/l/n

hey can you bring my phone to chi o thanks

He looked down at the screen in resentment at first, but then an idea popped into his mind. If he could just get you to sleep with him again, then the Sigma Chi brothers would have nothing to say about the situation. Yes, this was perfect. He sent a quick 'be right there' in response to your text, and ran back to his room to get dressed. He kept the sweatpants on for effect, then threw on a crewneck and a proper pair of shoes before bounding down the stairs and jogging over to your sorority’s house. He pulled out his phone to let you know he was here, and within two minutes you were opening the door to his smiling face.

“Hey,” he started, but you shushed him before he could get out another word.

“Do you have my phone?” you asked, already annoyed that he hadn’t just given it back to you.

“Yes,” he said, pulling it out of his pocket. Your eyes lingered where they shouldn’t have, and Bucky had a smirk plastered on his face by the time your eyes made it back to his. You reached out for the phone, but he held it out of your reach. “Before you get this back, I want to apologize for my behavior last night. You were my date, and I should have stayed with you instead of bringing Sarah back.”

Was this man actually apologizing?

You stood there stunned as he looked at you with those icy, expressive blue eyes, showing nothing but remorse. His smirk was gone, and his eyes flitted between yours to try and read your expression.

“Thank… you?” you said, still shocked that he had actually apologized.

“Of course, Y/N. And don’t worry about hooking up with Loki, I’m not mad at you for that at all,” he said, flashing a quick smile at the end.

“Well that’s great, but I really didn’t give a shit about how you felt about that.”

He chuckled and smiled at the floor before looking back up at you through his long lashes. “That’s fair,” he began, “but I do want to make it up to you. How about dinner tonight?”

Now you were really shocked. You stood there dumbfounded, his eye contact never wavering as he patiently awaited your response. You looked around for any possible cameras or signs that you were being punk’d, but when you found nothing you looked back at Bucky in confusion. “You took me to your date party, stole my phone, slept with someone else, and now are asking me to dinner?”

He looked to the left quickly before looking back at you. “Well, when you put it like that, it sounds stupid.”

“Because it is.”

“Okay, look, I want to make this up to you,” he said with what seemed like genuineness. “I know, I fucked up, but I actually did have a lot of fun with you last night and really feel like if we got to know each other we might become at least friends. What do you say, doll?”

You looked at him for a while before finally sighing out a weak “sure,” 99% fueled by your desire to get him off of the Chi Omega porch. He smiled proudly, then handed you back your phone. You snatched it out of his hand to which Bucky laughed, then gave you a quick “see you at 7, doll” before jumping down the stairs of the porch and leaving your view. You were left standing at the door for a solid five minutes before Wanda came down the stairs, tapping you on your shoulder to bring you out of your confused trance.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

“Bucky just asked me on a date,” you blurted out. You turned to face her, and she wore the same expression you had on your face just minutes before.

“Oh,” she started slowly. “What did you say?”

“I said yes.”

“You did?”

“On accident.”

Wanda let out a breathy laugh before returning to her shocked and confused demeanor, standing there as you both looked at each other before bursting out into laughter. “Okay, well, I guess we should pick out what you’re wearing?”

“I mean I guess so?” you said, equally confused and laughing nervously. As you two walked up the stairs, you thought to yourself: How would this even go? If you were to actually even talk, what would you talk about? It’s not like you guys spent a lot of time conversing compared to the time you spent with your tongues shoved down each others’ throats. But as time passed by, you came up with a vague idea of how the night would end up.

At around 6:30, Bucky had already texted you to meet him at the restaurant he’d planned for you two to go to. He would have picked you up, but Steve was using his car to buy some tampons for Natasha. Jesus, Bucky thought, it had only been a couple days since they started dating and he was already a fuckin’ simp. Shaking his head in disapproval, he called himself a car to the restaurant. It was only about a 15 minute drive, so that gave him enough time for the car to come, and for him to get there on time.

Even though he was only doing this for the locked-in sex, he still had to play the part up until the very end.

Soon enough, the car pulled up in front of the house, sending Bucky on his way to the restaurant. He hopped out of the vehicle, dusting off his grey pants and navy button down as he walked towards the restaurant. Once seated, he texted you saying that he was sitting down and that you’d see him right when you walked in. He set his phone down and began to look through the menu, ordering a water and a beer to help him get through the night.

Bucky spent what felt like a long time looking through the menu, but when he checked his phone, only ten minutes had gone by. “Could have sent me a text you were going to be late” he mumbled to himself as he mindlessly went on his phone, sending you another quick ‘are you on your way?’ message.

Well, another ten minutes went by. Then another. Then another. As Bucky grew increasingly worried, embarrassed, and angry all at the same time, he realized exactly what was happening.

The Bucky Barnes had been stood up.

@bbgem329 @whitewinter-wolf @nash-dara @daliaaach @ph1na @silentkiller2374

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky fanfic #bucky imagine #bucky #Bucky Barnes #james buchanan barnes #bucky x you #bucky barnes smut #marvel imagine #marvel fanfiction #marvel #frat boy bucky #frat!bucky #bucky x y/n #bucky x reader #bucky barnes

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lightanddarklove · 3 years

Text

SU - Connie's character development

I've been noticing in the SU tags that people have been pointing out that Connie should have or must have had therapy or some sort of counseling prior to future, and I agree. I've heard that others think she got limited development on screen from the later half of SU and basically all of Future, a point that is fair post Jungle Moon, but to me, it would make sense for her not to lean on Steven as much as she does before Sworn to the Sword, as she slowly gains confidence from being Steven's friend.

I'm only focusing on a few specific episodes here in an attempt at brevity (it’s definitely longer than I wanted). At some point I may reblog and add more, but I'd like to get this out there before the one year anniversary of the SU: Future finale.

At the beginning of the series, she is fairly introverted, shy but inquisitive and sensible. She doesn't show any interest in the people of Beach City until Steven protects her from the falling rocks near the temple and inadvertently traps her with his bubble. She asks questions about the townies, and writes the text of what they need on the bubble when they try to get help from Onion. When Steven's rollercoaster plan goes awry to free them, and they are knocked into the water, she is clearly very anxious. Once the chasm opens up beneath the water and they are further trapped, we see her standing up for herself for the first time, something that continues to increase in frequency over the course of the series. Upon the defeat of the corrupted Orange Spodumene, she is amazed by Steven's quick thinking that saved them.

We see her again in Lion 2, when they have an adventure on Lion that precedes their intended movie outing. Upon arriving outside the theatre, after the harrowing experience with the Robot Shooty Thing in Rose's Armory, she is discouraged, leading to Steven's frustration with messing up their original plans. Connie counters with her feeling that Steven shouldn't be involved with her, as she feels her life less interesting than his, and that her enjoyment of Dogcopter is nothing compared to the magical destiny Steven is encountering. This lack of self-confidence comes back several times until late in the series. After Steven points out that he very much enjoys Dogcopter, the Robot Shooty Thing returns, causing the duo to fight it using the sword pulled from Lion's mane. Working together, they conquer their foe using Connie's tennis moves, cheering both of them up.

In an Indirect Kiss, she clearly shows concern for Steven's glum mood, but is willing to push him a little in order to get him to open up about what's bothering him. We also see what would have likely been a romantic moment if the healing spit from their shared drink hadn't caused a sudden headache from her prescription no longer matching what she needed. After Steven excitedly goes to tell the gems about his newly discovered ability, we see Connie form some resolve in popping out the lenses of her glasses at the close of the episode.

I spent some time analyzing Alone Together for both perspectives on Kevin for my SU: Future fic, The Best Mother and Doctor I can be, but the development of Steven and Connie builds from them discussing dancing and fusion on the beach. After Steven covering his eyes at first to help Connie get more confident, the pair get into a rhythm, and eventually running circles around each other. This causes Steven to trip and Connie to unintentionally dip him in keeping him from falling. Connie's blush shows she reads the situation as romantic, but Steven smiles, seeing nothing wrong with her holding him up. In a moment of connection, they both start giggling and Stevonnie is formed for the first time. A bond is forged, their mutual consent to continue being fused through most of the rest of the episode. Once they start dancing at the rave they realize the attention on them is making them very uncomfortable, causing panic and hallucinating. Once they break through the panic attack, they stand up to Kevin when he invades their space and refuse to let him dictate how they spend time together. As these earlier episodes progress, we see both of them learning to be more confident when by each other's side.

The Return does lead into Full Disclosure, from Steven leaving a message on her answering machine thinking it my be his last chance to say goodbye. After Steven separates from his Dad in The Return, he has no human contact until Connie's call cuts into the scene in the wreckage of Homeworld's ship in Jailbreak, asking if he's ok before leading into the celebration of the Gems at the beginning of Full Disclosure. Steven's a bit astonished on the face of everything that happened in the past evening, and when his dad's van pulls up, he promises to call her back and cuts the call short. Once he sees his Dad's reaction to his harrowing ordeal, he is further hesitant to answer Connie's calls, for fear of worrying her. After a brief talk with Ronaldo, advising him that his story is one he must bear alone for normal people can't understand the burden of truth. After mulling it over and feeling she is better off without him, he declines her call. After this, Connie continues to call, but she makes her way to Beach City and is soon at his doorstep, as he tries to explain to the gems that he wants to cut ties with the humans in his life, Connie included. Pearl buys him a bit of time as he sneaks past them, and Connie tells her she's very worried. Once Connie goes to leave, she spots him fleeing, and calls out to him multiple times, questioning why he won't face her. After Steven tries to break off their friendship via text, Connie calls him, confused. Once he replies seriously, she calls out him choosing to do this through the phone, and demands he "say it to [her] face," refusing to accept losing him as her only friend if he can't do that. This builds from Indirect Kiss, where she isn't willing to let him hide his feelings or what happened that made him feel badly. Once he leaps from behind the wreckage, we see his resolve to keep her away has broken, tears streaming down his face. After she shows concern for his visible injury, and he claims wanting to protect her, she shuts that down and asks for him to tell her everything. After he explains, she makes it clear that being a part of his life is important to him, and the episode ends with Greg driving them back to the Maheswaran home.

In Sworn to the Sword we see the culmination of her bravery and resolve to this point. After Steven and Connie try to enjoy their Jam Bud snack, they're accosted by a small flock of seagulls, and Connie fends them off with her violin bow. Upon seeing this, he volunteers Connie to apprentice sword fighting with Pearl, and although both of them are surprised by this proposal, he praises Connie, and she talks of how she wants to be there for him for the dangers the future to fight beside him. Swelling with pride, Pearl agrees, and their training begins. After showing them the Sky Arena, Pearls delves into the training and hardships of battle in her past. Pearl's tutoring Connie seems to focus on breaking down her independence, and Connie's prior confidence shifts to disregard her well-being, as Garnet said Pearl had done during the war. As Connie had issues with self-esteem prior, it isn't long before she's repeating mantras of "I don't matter," to Steven's horror. This training isn't taking place over a day or two, it seems over the course of at least several weeks. Once he's determined to keep her from risking herself without a thought, he interrupts a training exercise where Connie faces stealth striking Holo-Pearls through cloud cover. He dismisses the idea that she needs to face these threats alone, and asks to fight beside her instead, which they are able to work together seamlessly. Once Pearl catches wind of the pair in the arena, she scolds Steven, declaring Connie needs to face her alone and he shouldn't be there, knocking the weapons from the duo's hands. Steven refuses to accept that he shouldn't be a part of the fight, declaring again his will to fight with her, dismissing the thought that "[he's] too important." After Pearl snaps back with a shout calling Steven Rose, she stumbles over her words and attempts to dismiss the duo. They approach her and Steven admits the reason he felt the need to tell Pearl how he felt about the training was the "you're nothing talk," which worried him. Connie posits if Pearl felt that way because of Rose's actions, but Pearl laughs it off, telling her she felt the opposite. Once she declares that their bond will only make them stronger, if they train hard together, and comes up with a new regimen as the episode fades out. After the training Connie has received for several months Connie is asked to take part in her first mission with Pearl and Steven, which the Maheswaran family allows on the condition they take lots of pictures. Pearl guides them to a snowy area in the Great North as they seek out a corrupted Gem together. Upon facing one down, another appears, then splitting off in two directions and Pearl thinks about turning back before the duo convince her they can handle it. She agrees if they call her once they've found the corruption, as she worries about them fighting it alone. Steven and Connie track it, taking break to warm up in a hollow tree as snow continues to fall. Steven posits possibly healing it as there are humanoid tracks in the snow along with the corruption tracks, and thinking the Gem may not be too far gone to save. Once they track it further, it has appeared to corner itself against a rock wall. Pearl checks in with the pair via walkie-talkie, which draws the Gem's attention to them. Steven tries to talk to it, but it has no significant affect. It attacks, and once it pops the bubble around the duo, they are separated. It moves to strike Steven, but Connie tries to draw it's attention with snowballs. Once it bears down on her, she freezes up and says she "wasn't prepared for this." Upon hearing Pearl speak through the walkie-talkie, her resolve returns and se snatches it from beneath the Gem, calling her for help. Jasper crashes into the corrupted Gem, shocking Connie and Steven. He regroups with her, protecting them both with a bubble as Jasper pummels the corruption, and poofs it without much struggle. Pearl appears to help as Jasper shows off the gems she has captured, and Pearl is shocked. Jasper disappears into the snow and Pearl is relieved that the kids are ok, saying she wouldn’t have had them on this mission if she knew Jasper would be here. Connie is disappointed, feeling that she failed because she didn’t strike when she had the opportunity to fight the corrupted Gem. Pearl assures her that she followed the instructions of calling once they encountered the Gem, as she was instructed. Connie seems relieved by Pearl’s praise in the end, as they consider Jasper’s appearance as the episode closes.

After Jasper is freed in Super Watermelon Island, she poses a significant threat to the Crystal Gems, and now that they’ve encountered her in the prior episode, Pearl and Garnet set off to track her down. Amethyst watches over Steven and Connie and tries to distract them around Beach City, to keep their minds off Jasper. As the duo is playing in the water with Amethyst overseeing them, Jasper looms out of the water with a corrupted gem. As Amethyst faces off against Jasper, Connie and Steven fuse, and Stevonnie fights the corrupted gem while riding Lion. Amethyst is quickly dispatched and the fusion faces off against Jasper, defeating the corruption and saving Amethyst. Jasper gets away, but Stevonnie revels in their victory, despite Amethyst’s discouraged demeanor. When Steven and Connie unfuse, they are cheerful and Connie seems to have a confidence boost, which shows her competence that holds up through most of the rest of the series.

In Mindful Education, we see one of the last distinct shake-ups to Connie’s character up until Doug Out, which mostly just forms a stronger bond with her Dad. Steven and Connie are fusion training with Pearl and Garnet, and during their battle with Holo-Pearls, a distracting memory shakes Stevonnie so much they unfuse. Steven goes to comfort her as she runs out of the Sky Arena, and convinces her to talk about it to try and help. Upon hearing that she feels badly for accidentally hurting someone at her school, Garnet approaches them, suggesting a training option that may be help. The pair of fusions meet on the beach and are guided through meditation on how to work through their feelings about Connie’s most recent hard memory. In it, we see Connie bump into a boy at school and react suddenly by flipping him over her shoulder from his arm as a defensive reaction. Mortified, she flees and the memory ends. With breathing exercises, she is able to let the memory go, and we cut to another day where they attempt to train again. Once again, memories distract Stevonnie, but this time the thoughts come from Steven’s perspective. They reminding him of recent his battles with Bismuth, Eyeball Ruby and Jasper, causing the fusion to be overcome with tears and backs up to the edge of the Sky Arena, falling without warning. After they tumble over the edge, they unfuse and Steven is still overcome with emotions. Connie reaches out to him and tries to assure him that despite how badly he’s feeling to have to tackle these memories, he can’t run from them for good unless he faces them. Eventually, as they fall, they fuse again, and the memories pass, helping calm them enough so they can slow their decent.

#Steven Universe #steven universe spoilers #Connie Maheswaran #Connverse #my precious gem child #Sworn to the Sword #Jem Hunt #Crack the Whip #Mindful Education #Garnet #Amethyst #Pearl #Jasper

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melonkooky · 4 years

Text

stray kids reaction - s/o being a professional musician

requested

genre: fluffy i guess

author’s note: sorry that i haven’t posted this yet, i needed a little bit of inspiration to write again. and today happened to be that day. it was a little hard to try to think about how each member would react, so sorry if they’re similar. anyways, i hope you like it!!!

please do not copy my work. but please like and reblog it. thank you!!!!

bang chan

chan would find it cool that you were a professional musician, and he would love it anymore if you played an instrument that he was good at as well. that meant that you too could rave and talk about said instrument. whatever type of musician you were, however, chan would admire you. he would be there to help you practice, provide an audience if you felt nervous or discouraged before a show, he would do everything he could to help you. he’s also the type to suggest working on music together, whether it was just for fun, or perhaps a collaboration.

lee minho

to minho, it wouldn’t be a particularly big deal to him. that didn’t mean that he didn’t care about it. minho would still think, regardless of instrument, that it was a cool talent that you had. if you asked him to, he’d sit in during your practice sessions. he’s pretend to be annoyed or bored, probably saying some excuse that he had places to be, but he never skipped or left. and secretly, he would listen. minho scared about you a lot, so if he ever heard you getting frustrated, he’d suggest a break and get you food.

seo changbin

changbin would like the fact that you were a musician. changbin like to produce and write music, which may be a little different, but it made changbin feel connected to you. like, you both liked music. changbin would often join your practice sessions to relax or write music, sometimes the music helped him think. you liked when he did that, especially if you ever got frustrated, because having his quiet presence next to you eased your stress. it was those types of moments changbin cherished most.

hwang hyunjin

hyunjin might be the most enthusiastic at the fact that you played a instrument, regardless of what it was. he would just think it’s the coolest thing that you have such a talent, you remind him a lot of chan. hyunjin is very supportive. he’s the type to try to help you in whatever way he can. there would be a lot of laughs though when he tells you that he has no idea what you’re talking about or that he knows nothing about said instrument, and yet pretends to. he’ll definitely talk about you to others about your abilities.

han jisung

chan was a producer, he played with sounds and singing, more so than actual instruments. however, that didn’t mean that he didn’t think much of your talent. he would still think it’s cool, as in, “that’s you.” he always associates whichever instrument you played with you, wherever he went. jisung sometimes would come in if you’re practicing, head bobbing slightly to the rhythm. he always complemented you, making sure to be extra sincere for the times when you told him you wanted to give up. jisung made sure you were confident in yourself, because he can understand what you feel.

lee felix

felix would be similar to hyunjin in a sense that he would be enthusiastic and supportive of your ability to play a certain instrument. like chan, he would be radiate with love and admiration if it was an instrument he’s delved into before or played currently. he would often help you, offering pointers or advice or tips, even if they were said to him or if learned of them during his trainee days and had nothing to do with the instrument. they still helped though. felix would be the type to bring you up in conversation, mentioning your music ability, because he would be completely in love with you.

kim seungmin

seungmin is a more reserved (is that the right word?) than the other members. he would be more quiet about you to the other members. but he would still be happy that you played an instrument. he would support you, as anyone in a relationship should. seungmin found your practice sessions calming, mainly if you professionally played instruments like the piano, the violin, or something like that. he enjoyed your music because he could hear the passion and effort you put into playing. you weren’t a professional for nothing.

yang jeongin

jeongin would also be enthusiastic about your ability and talent. he would probably think it’s the coolest thing in the world. he would hype you up, saying things like, “that’s so cool. how’d you do that?” or “that was the coolest thing ever.” jeongin, unintentionally most of the time, made you more confident in your music playing. although he’d be excited, he would be more shy about you with the other members. but that wouldn’t stop him from going to your practice sessions just to watch you, because to him, that when was when you looked the most beautiful.

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borkthemork · 4 years

Text

Nightly Escapade (A Messy Drive Date Connverse Fic)

Fandom: Steven Universe

Rating: General

Words: 5,158

Pairings: Steven/Connie (Connverse)

Summary: Movies are perfect. What's not to like about them? They're stories told on the big screen, they could leave you shaking from the flood works or clammy from the explosions and ticking timers, and, most importantly, it's the best plan if two lovers ever wanted to go on a date. For Connie and Steven: planning a movie date was easy, there's nothing better than preparing a good ole' car of refreshments for a long drive, but executing it (without it going wrong) was another thing entirely.

Reblogs are appreciated!

He should've gotten them sooner.

One could retort that he only heard of the movie details today, but he felt guilty regardless when he eyed the lack of vacancy when he tried to apply his—newly gained—credit card to it. It was a one-in-a-million (or was it a billion? He'd have to ask Connie later) experience, and since his jam bud now had access to PG-13 movies just like he did, they thought it would be a great time to start something. An adventure. Or was it a date? A cool date adventure!

…

Dateventure!

Hahaha, he was a genius!

When she arrived at his house—naïve to the idea being dashed to shreds—he told her of the lack of tickets, feeling the crummy jumble of his heart with each shift in expression Connie had. She was looking forward to this film; she would rant and rave about Ghibli films like they were cinematic masterpieces, leaving him confused but intrigued. He never touched a Ghibli film before, so it was a beginning bout of interest that made him ask what was so special about them in the first place.

"You don't understand," she lamented when asking days prior, "Princess Mononoke was way ahead with its themes and dynamics regarding nature and humans. I would trade my own hands—not really since I need them—to see it on the big screen! To see it on any type of high-definition!"

Who knew Delmarva starved for this kind of content? Well, he should've recognized this when Ronaldo brigaded him with film advice but he never really took those consolations in a serious light. Even if he did, he still would've been short of time.

Now they’re here: Connie pacing in his room under the beating weather; fingers on her chin, her shoes clicking on the floorboards with hardened focus. "Well, we could see another movie since it's not that big of a deal."

Steven was fumbling with the wrinkles of his bedsheets, the screen of his laptop closed in a subtle defeat. The guilt fettering his torso. "I'm sorry, Connie. I know that you really wanted to see it."

"Hey, it's all right." She smiled at him. "Even if we can't see the movie, why not just go on the date, anyway?"

She stumbled with the word when it came down to it, shooting him an awkward glance. His stomach was bound in a knot; this was the first time they ever mentioned it out loud.

"Yeah!" He piped up, cheeks flushed in heat. "Nothing can stop us, we're jam buds after all!"

A petal-soft laugh. "Jam buds 'til the very end."

With that, they got started. The problem with planning—and the advantage of their duo—came down to the many ideas flung around the room like paper balls in the occurring scuffle for supplies. Steven would suggest something and then Connie would add to it—flinging it back to Steven and then back to her—until the ideas they've manifested became more like snowballs the size of boulders. So the tiny notion of a movie date transformed into a nightly car date, the dondai befitting blankets, a radio, a grocery bag of snacks, and other accoutrements such as the medkit bunched in the back. When asked about it, Connie remarked with a simple, albeit embarrassed, "better safe than sorry" as they listed off their roster.

"So, let's get this plan straightened out one more time," she announced in the car, Steven saddling up his seatbelt and fiddling with the ignition. "We're only following the routes near the coastline. I have some money we could use if we ever run out of gas cans. If we see an ice cream stand, we're definitely stopping for it. And—"

"We'll drive to Viewover Point so we can watch Unfamiliar Familiar at the drive-in," he concluded, churning out a carnie accent. "Now in 3-D with a limited purchase of Archimicarus and Lisa chibi plushies for only nine ninety-five!"

She laughed. "Correct! And we'll buy ten of them, five for you and five for me."

"What about fifteen?"

"Twenty?"

"Thirty!"

"Fifty!"

Both of them exploded into giggles, Connie playfully smacking with his shoulder. "Just drive!"

The engine growled to life. With the sun still perched in the sky, the two of them drove off with a rumbling trail of radio music and road-crunched gravel, not a single worry in mind; just two best friends against the long-winding asphalt lines.

-----

There’s a thing Steven had to learn the first time he began his traverse into the world of semi-adulthood: that driving had a few loopholes that society was okay with trespassing into. In one particular memory, he attempted and went with the minimum speed range in Ocean Town—following the procedures, being loyal to the rules for the sake of being a good Samaritan—only for a cop car to drive alongside his window to force himself to speed up, whose eyebrow quirked in irritation. Apparently, the road he occupied was one lane, and the townies (ranging from a mile long) behind him weren’t happy about it.

He tried to laugh it off, brush it off like it was sand peppering his shoulders, but Connie was with him when it happened. She never let him down for it. Ever.

And that’s what lead to them bolting past the Beach City safety limits, windows popped open—gushing them with the wind—as the two hollered over the Mike Krol ratatat’ing their space. Overall, he’d like to thank Beach Town for this valuable lesson. He’ll never forget it.

“What if I told you that the world was gonna end!” Connie held an unopened granola bar, singing into it as Steven did a clean turn, the tail of their car following the drift in consecutive ease; the windows displayed to the right reflecting sheens of the calm ocean, skies bearing unrestrained galaxies from light-years away.

She directed the granola towards him, who yelled out in glee, “and you had fifteen minutes to spend with me or your friends!?”

“I guess we don’t even need to use the phone!”

“I don’t need your answer, I’ll be spending it alone!”

Cue the dance break. Connie did a little jig in her seat as he rocked his head to the remainder of the rhythm, heart battling in his chest, hoping that his attentiveness could keep them alive at the presence of the cliff that loomed to the right of them. Their laughter was of pure delight, wild and untamed, the childlike initiative riling them like cinders.

At the introduction of the woods behind an impending crossroads, he made a left turn, cutting into the Delmarva wood.

“Wait, that’s the wrong way!” Connie said.

“What!” He tried to turn it around but it was too late. The car clipped from the road, leading them scrambling in a quaking mess, the vehicle gatling its way into the unknown, into the webs of branches and darkness.

Ears pounding with the tremors.

The violent shudders.

Dissonant heaves.

And groans.

It then stopped. A warmth enveloped them in a luster of pink, the car remaining still as the creaks of its metal came to a halt. He looked over to Connie, easing his heart when he saw that she looked fine. Disoriented, confused, but fine. The windows were crowded by brambles, of hardwood needles, trickles of murk peaking in between.

He groaned, rubbing his head. The dizziness settled down. "Strawberry, you okay?"

"Roger that, biscuit." She unclipped her belt, heaving out breaths as the two of them calmed their frazzled senses, inspecting the enclosed space around them with unease. They were settled in the belly of a mechanical beast, brittle with cracked glass and wretched frame, the outside covered in dimly lit brush. "That was a close call though. The air bags didn't even work."

"Either that or my bubble’s forcing it down." He considered the sturdy barrier. It wasn't a bubble, looked more of a compartment that twitched and receded when they moved too much in the limited spacing, glowing its familiar hues and glint. He needed to meddle with this later. "We should get out though."

A brief nod. "Agreed."

He didn't know how long it took. All he could focus on was the buzz in his ears and the careful work he did to keep the bubble (morphing and melding to his command) under control as they crept out by the backseats; courtesy of Connie, who didn’t hesitate to pierce one of his windows with the medkit when the doors didn’t budge.

In the final shimmy, the two of them plopped onto an unsteady incline of dirt—the bubble dissipating—keeping hold of one another until the pathway below them cleared to unrooted ground. Glancing through the canopy overhead, Steven thought of it as a giant colander; how the moon pouring into his sights a few moments ago was now trying its best to sneak past the floral arms, to catch him even while shrouded in cold.

"Okay," Steven felt Connie's hand wrap around his, easing up as she started to move, his eyes trying his best to follow her outlines. She pointed to a mess of lights opposite the car, meshed with the silhouettes of broken-limbed shrubbery. "We came from there. Let's try to get some cell service, that way we can get a tow truck to our location and the dondai."

"Oh, man." Steven looked back at his car, a wheeze in his throat. "Yeah, we definitely need a truck because the car's donedai!"

Nothing but an awkward chuckle. "Stay focused, Steven. Let's go."

The woods were thick with underbrush. Portions coddled them in aggravating clumps, having them push and shove their way through. A good thing about Steven, however, was that they ignored this with a snap of his bubble, hamster rolling their way out through the elongated tunnel they burrowed through the brier. He would minimize it when the arching leaves and branches were too stubborn to part, and sometimes the spikes protruded from them like machetes, ready to press and nip them into splinters.

"How far did we drive in?" Connie mumbled after a few minutes passed. Leaves nested themselves in her hair, the scuffs on her arms still muddied from their vehicular escape. In all honesty, it reminded him of earlier days, where they wandered the Delmarva wood with nothing big to solve, their imagination pulling their way to the next great exploit. "It looks like we’ve gotten way off the mark."

He winced. “Don’t worry, we’ll be okay.”

“Steven, are you sure?”

“I’m positive.” He told her. “I’m just pining for a way out, you know? We’ll be fine in no time.”

“Steven, we've been at it for five minutes.”

"If that’s the case we're in a sticky situation then," Steven said, letting out a high-strung chuckle. "If I just took the right turn, we woodn't be here."

She halted in her tracks—the boy tripping from the stop, saving himself before he slammed into the bubble. "Steven, tell me."

"Hm?" He looked over, scrambling straight. "Why d'you stop?"

"Something's on your mind," she said. "And we'll not take another step until you spill the beans."

"Well, the beans are back in the trunk."

"Steven!"

He jumped. "Okay, okay! Sorry, I won't joke about beans anymore."

"That's not what I'm talking about here." She rubbed the bridge of her nose, fatigue on her lips. "Something's bugging you; I don't want to make any assumptions so you need to be honest with me." Her countenance softened, Steven bristling at the slight squeeze of his hand. "Please."

He wasn't the kind to turn the other way, especially with the plaguing memory of separation that tailed him ever since he lied to her two years ago. A promise was a promise, a solid bond of trust he’d never wanted to break, and even if the anxiety toiled and fought against him, he couldn't help but be reassured that Connie would still be there regardless. She was his jam bud. His confidant when the times oozed by. One of the few people he could open up to in a clear fashion. What was he afraid of? Nothing, hopefully.

He released a sigh—ladened, heavy-like. "I don't know, I just feel like such a dunce sometimes."

She knitted her eyebrows. With a swift beckon of her hand they sat down, still enraptured in rose pink; words soft, gesturing him forward. "And?"

"We were having such an amazing time," he crossed his legs, not helping the lean for warmth as she pulled him towards her, the thump of her pulse meeting with his own, "and we had these plans, these amazing plans, but I was able to ruin it in a single minute because I didn't follow the route." A scoff. "A new world record. It makes me wonder why I deserve you sometimes if I could mess up something simple like a dateventure."

"Hey, now!" They held contact, her voice stern. A shudder overcame him, feeling the slivers of grit in the way she spoke. "That's not true. Trust me when I say this: you're the best thing that has ever happened to me and I'll not let your self-doubt believe anything else. You messed nothing up, I’m serious about that."

"But the tickets."

"They were out before we even checked on them."

"The dondai."

"We'll find a shop that'll fix it up."

"But what about Viewover Point?"

"From what I've heard the reviews weren't that good." She shrugged, fingers weaving through his chocolate curls, careful and diligent, each press to his scalp making his lids heavy. "And I wasn't gonna enjoy the movie anyway if you weren't there to have fun with me."

“So, you’re not mad.”

“I could get mad,” Connie murmured, “but what’s there to be mad about? We’ve been through worse stuff than this, way worse, nothing will make me full-on angry with you, period. You’re important to me, and I’d rather fix our messes than leave someone else to fix it for us.”

The dance of her fingertips made him hum, clouded, lifted elsewhere to a softer portion of his mind; he wondered if Connie always had this effect on people, to calm them with the rationality and pin-point affection that they needed? Or maybe it was just him who felt that way? Maybe he cared too much? Perhaps...it was enough.

He allowed himself to breathe—in and out—until the tension in his shoulders melted to nothing; heaviness still resided, but everything appeared more comprehensible now, less complicated than what he described in his brain. With it came an idea. A goal. Something to accomplish. He affixed her a look. "When we find some wifi, would you like to stargaze with me?"

She chuckled. "Why wouldn't I, you dork?"

"I just wanted to ask." He stood up from his place, inviting her with an outstretched hand. She reciprocated, comfort collecting in his palms. "Because if we’re going to make the most of it, we might as well enjoy each other’s company."

Her hand tightened on his, thumb brushing down on his knuckles. “An adventure then.”

Steven nodded, beaming of joy—heart rattling in his chest. “A dateventure.”

“Fine.” She snorted, motioning them forward, the light at the end growing to the size of a faint firefly. “A dateventure.”

Their trek was masked in the brilliance of pink, holding on to the other as the illumination in front of them grew to the size of golf balls—relieved that the bubble saved them from bumbling ceaselessly in the dark. With their advancement, they went faster. Each spike pierced the natural fetters, leaving Steven in a fit of elation when they pushed through, their barrier popping at the final trudge.

The floor was a mess of tickling thicket. He giggled at the brambles, dirt crawled up into the niches of his jacket. Connie was beside him, stretching her legs as she stood up, noticeable in the newly acquired light.

The environment returned to quiet solitude. Steven gave it a mindful gaze: in front of him were the dug-in trenches left from the remainders of the dondai's wheel tracks, each recess printed with its cross-cross and trailing-black smears; the moon brought itself past the covering of shaded evergreen like an angel, leaving them doused in glare; the road was discernible against the earth, cracked and marked with fading yellow lines, making him wonder how deep the direction would've gone if he kept course.

Connie ushered them to walk.

The trek emulated his reveries. Calls of the night sang to them in a cacophony of rustles, hoots, and night creature scuttles; Connie, in her rousing, stopped at certain points to name plants and animals that festered around them, easy to find when she raced off to examine a retreating mammal or lizard.

"That is an owl, of course." She noted the furry-cocoon from a faraway tree, who, if one faltered their blinking, shot them split-second glances with worn yellow specs. "Probably a great-horned owl; look at the tufts on its head!"

Steven squinted. Above the brow, the bird adorned furry wisps, reminiscent of a character from Connie's favorite series. "Wow! How did you know?"

"I had a book about Delmarva geography before. I sold it since I didn’t have much use for it when I finished, but I'm surprised it came in handy now."

He pointed over to the trees. "Then what are those?"

She rubbed her chin. "If I could recall, they’re sweet gum trees...or maybe black gum. I don't remember the difference between them," she admitted.

"That's cool, though." He told her, surveying the wildlife, a wonder pooling on his own. "How come we never do nature walks? It's so peaceful here." Even if the shadows lingered, he emitted of pleasure, the crave of curiosity like a boy first exposed to something new. This was one of the few times where he didn't feel like he was about to perish under some forsaken weight; the concept of having himself run around in terror or disgruntlement long over.

“We just never had the time to. With the two years you’ve been busy and my space camp involvement, the prospect of it never hit me,” she nudged him, a zephyr trailing past them. “But it wouldn’t be too late to start now.”

He grinned. “You see any hills, captain?”

A tilt of her head. Then a pointed finger to a far off ascent. “There!”

“Race you there!” Without hesitation, Steven broke off into a sprint.

Connie, in a fit of snickers, darted after him with an undignified yell.

Fast-smeared colors. Blur of the tenebrous. The rush of one’s ears, laughing in bounding race, lighting the sky with ardor. Fireworks—music—bursting with each spring and skip, Steven crying out in gaiety. Pain and guilt weren’t his master, for he took the reins of the woodlands and made them his own; satisfaction kindling his heart to the size of a bonfire.

When he stopped he took his time gulping down air, throat blazing with invisible fire. He couldn't stop his giggles, the feeling of euphoria that rushed over him like a hyper song; Connie enduring the same, their giddiness flowing to the remains of the land—down below, sprinkling the billowing leaves of their victory.

The ground became their beds, lounging them in verdant cushion as the sky opened up to glowing display. Stars. A cascade of twinkling fires that Steven tried to frame in his hands. Bringing them to his eyes, he examined each one with starry wonderment, Connie whispering to him now and then when he asked a question.

"What about that one?" He directed a finger to the corner of the night sky.

"That’s the Big Dipper."

"And that one?"

"Mmm," she fumbled, clicking her tongue. "Aquarius? It's hard to pinpoint from all the stars—they're so bright you'd think I'm mistaking Orion for something else."

"I don't think that's a problem." He commented, fingers lifting towards the speckles, connecting each one with imaginary twine. "It just means we'll have to work harder to solve the puzzle, and as long as we got each other it shouldn't be that hard."

She released a cool wisp of air from her lips. "You're so sappy, but the sap was definitely needed."

A frown. "What's wrong about being sappy?"

"There's nothing wrong with it," she told him, sincerity leaking through. "You're the sappiest guy I've ever met and...I can't help but adore how loving you are, it just fits you so well.”

"Who, me? I'm just being my wittle self," he cooed, her laugh accompanying it.

"See?" Her hand returned to his, brushed by the moonlit turf. He felt light, the world appearing to slow down with each breath he took, heart bumping like a wave-carried boat. "Who wouldn't love to have someone like you? If I never arrived at Beach City on the day we met, then we wouldn’t even be here. Just enjoying the view."

Joy rose from his chest. "Enjoying you."

"What was that?"

"That, that was a��!" He sputtered.

She burst into laughter, cheeks dark under the light. "Oh my lord!"

"I'm sorry! It just slipped!"

"Steven!"

"I meant that I enjoy your company," his voice was desperate, cracking like a misaligned symphony. He sat up in a panic. "Not like in a weird way, I'm sorry!"

"Steven, Steven!" He went taut; she didn't look mad or grossed out or judgemental. Instead, she was hugging him, keeping him still with each moment that passed—arms returning the gesture in a tight embrace. "It's okay. It's really sweet of you!"

Steven groaned. "But it sounded so weird, I didn't mean to gross you out."

"You didn't." Connie kept him close—fondness pulling on her lips, chuckle carried off into the cool Delmarva breeze. "You're just being yourself."

Steven considered it. Even through his panic he never restrained his smile and the rush of closeness that came with it, he kept put, taking in her proximity. "Did we call a tow truck yet?"

"Oh." They pulled away. Connie rummaged for her phone. "Nope, we still have to do that."

Steven placed himself back onto the ground as she started a conversation on the phone—shadows painting her in a soothing color, moon cradling her figure. Slow and winding, gifting them of a connection that pushed him down to rest. The natural, the dark and hushed, all of his surroundings gestured to a lullaby, massaging him of burdened weight. His eyes drew closed. Exhales lingering, languid in the crisp weather.

A click of the phone resounded. Then a rustle, settling down close to him with a small grunt. Crickets chirped their song, hoots traveling overhead. "I gave them our location. We'll just have to stay put."

"That should be no problem." He stretched out. "We're the masters of it, after all."

A snort. "You’re right."

Listening to the shuffle of grass, Steven added on. "We should plan another one after this."

"Another call?"

"No, I meant the thing we're doing right now."

“The dateventure?” She asked.

“Mhm.”

Hesitancy. "Uhm, I guess."

"Well," Steven flinched at the noticeable lilt in his voice. "If you don't want to do another one, then that's okay."

"No, no," she blurted. "I want to. I'm just thinking about something."

"What are you thinking about?" His gaze still prepped up at the sky, coursing by them in a crawl.

"Just a few questions...about us." The sigh from her left him restless. What about them? "We've always been close, really close. You've noticed it, right?"

A few moments came to mind: movie nights on the weekends, blanket nests sheltering them in watchful rest; boardwalk strides with cotton candy and snow cone mouths, carrying a blue-striped bear won over from a ring toss stand; close talks at sleepovers, imagining the hereafter, breathing in the possibilities they have—which was what they're doing right now as they speak.

"I've noticed."

"It always made me wonder." She started fumbling with her fingers. "Why haven't we started dating sooner?"

"I," a quick exhale, "didn't think it would be such a big deal."

Quiet. The question raised high above their heads, Steven squirming in his place. That was a good question, why didn't he ask her earlier? He never gave it much thought, for the idea seemed unnecessary—they were good enough as is. Nothing stopped their cuddling, nothing stopped their intimate affection when consequences encumbered them above, nothing stopped them when they had their first kiss. The only thing they’re presumably missing was a label. They didn’t need it. They would still be close even without the titles of 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend'. Or 'lovers'. Or even 'jam buds'. The question left was:

"Does it matter?"

"It does to me," she spoke under her breath. "We've always been close; I'm just curious about why it took so long on my end. Was I antsy? Afraid?"

"For me, I guess I was just waiting for you." The words stunned him. It was the only answer he had, the rest of him trying to pinpoint a more exact reason. "I felt comfortable with what I had, just being there by your side, so the only change between us is if you made it official...if you get what I mean."

"I get it." The flight in her reflection—pulling out from the dip in tone prior—brought him to relief. "Then I'm glad I asked." An idyllic hum. "Clarifications are everything, well, communication in general; I didn't want to worry about going on an assumption, or just toeing around it like last time."

"You're right," he said, pulling overgrown bits of grass under him. "I should've told you when you first kissed me."

The noise she made piqued of chagrin. "Oh man, you still remember that?"

Steven smiled overhead, hoping the stars humored them. Out of all the personal disasters they’ve done together, he didn’t mind that their affection lead to their foreheads banging together—it was his favorite memory. "In clear detail."

Connie groaned, hands wringing through her hair. "That was so embarrassing."

"I don't see it that way. I'm thankful for it." He snickered.

"Steven, noooo."

"It made me realize you were flirting with me before that!" Her hand pressed against his mouth, leaving him to struggle and teeter under her in muffled hysterics.

"Steven Quartz Universe, you need to stop talking right now!" She was in hysterics too, Steven trying his best to wrestle his way out. "Cease your lies!"

"Never!" He wheezed, face red as an apple. "You can't deny the fact that you were!"

"Shut your mouth!"

The struggle continued. He didn't know how long it went—seconds, minutes—but the next thing he could perceive was the taste of mint. Bubblegum. Pine needle. Face cradled in her hands. He couldn't conjure a word when she parted from him, mouths agape, keeping them bathed in lunar splendor on their glorious hillock.

A moment of breath. Then another. Each one keeping their eyes on the other, lips turned in candy-sweet beams.

"You didn't use Wikihow this time?"

She smirked down at him; a pepper-light kiss pressed to his forehead. "Steven, I'm already beginning to regret this."

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” He reassured her, happiness emanating from his smile.

Contentment. A solid form of trust he wanted to cherish for hours and hours on end. If all he could do was just ask for the day to become never-ending, tend to a cycle of rendezvous and silver lining with her by his side, then things would’ve been perfect, but he knew the future waited for them—to grow up, to adore each other without the pressure of failure, to seek comfort in times of rock bottom.

There was no going back, huh? The label was there, they just had to use it. Nothing would change even if he uttered it. "I love you, Connie."

But there was satisfaction in hearing it. "I love you too, Steven."

Then came the rotund buzz—vibrating between them with a shocking velocity—both of them clambering back to their regular positions as Connie, who dug her fingers into her pockets, conjured her phone to the edge of her ear. "Hello, who's this?"

Pinpricks of noise sputtered from the receiving end. She bit her lower lip, nodding sparingly throughout. "Okay, okay. Pearl, we're fine, but please bring the emergency medkit just in case."

"Wait, Pearl is on the other end?"

Connie nodded before returning to the call. "Garnet's right. We went through an accident but we have our location if you want to come pick us up."

“Can I say hi to them, Connie?” He tried to look over her shoulder.

"Yeah, sure!" She then rebounded back to the caller. "Steven wants to talk to you guys; yeah, we’re on a hill, and I have a moderate battery life so you could call us when you get here." She handed him the phone.

“Steven, are you there?” The high-strung inquiry left him sweating.

“Yes, it’s me, I’m fine!”

“Oh thank goodness, Garnet told us you two were in trouble a few minutes ago and we were worried sick.” Something gushed against the speaker, clipping of the audio for a second. “Amethyst is bringing us there as we speak so it won’t take long!”

"That’s great." He peered over to Connie. "We got out of the car with no bruises, and we're just on a hill waiting for help."

Pearl’s tone sharpened. “I know you two will keep together but stay where you are, make a smoke signal if you have to.” Staying put was enough as is. “We’re on our way!”

“All right, I love you guys!”

"I love you too, Steven, keep in touch. Use your powers if you find a scratch, we don't want an infection."

"Will do."

With that, the cell went dark. Steven placed it back to Connie’s palms as they reclined, allowing themselves to wade in the sea of green; the wind picking up now, billowing through their locks, as they busied themselves with the heavenly sights. Pondering on the situation at hand.

“Hey, Connie.”

“Yeah?”

“Why didn’t we just ask the gems to lift the car out instead of calling a towing service?”

“Oh.” Silence. “Oh my God, you’re right.”

He shot her a sheepish look. “Well, at least I got to spend time with you, I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

Even with his limited view, he knew that she was flushed, Steven grunting at the half-hearted punch to his shoulder. “You’re showing your sap again, dork.”

"At a time like this, sap ain't that bad, especially if it means I get to do a sneak attack!"

Falling on her like a tilted stone, she shrieked as they resumed back into a fit of wrestling, hearts strung to the sound of their mirth. There’s nothing wrong with a little sap, he thought, for the night was still young. And the future was theirs.

#steven universe #fanfic #connverse #steven quartz universe #connie maheswaran #fluff #su

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