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theweasleysredhair · 4 years

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When Sparks Fly [F.W.]

Character: Fred Weasley

Word Count: 1891

Requested?: Yes/No

Summary: “You’re scared of fireworks?” “Scared is an understatement.” In which Fred plans a birthday surprise for his girlfriend without the crucial knowledge that she is terrified of fireworks.

Disclaimer: Gif isn't mine, credit to whoever made it

A/n: I bloody loved this request

also to the requester: I hope I got this right bc I actually adore fireworks so I had to get myself into the mind-frame of being scared of them to write this so fingers crossed I did an okay job. enjoy my love!

~*~

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST MY WORK! REBLOGS ARE ABSOLUTELY FINE! <3

+ + + + +

“What are you talking about now?” Ron asked the twins as they were chatting about something loudly.

“It’s my Y/n‘s birthday next week,” Fred announced. “And we’ve got something spectacular planned,” George grinned, folding his arms over his chest.

You smiled at them and shook your head with a laugh, “I’m kinda worried what the two of you are working on to be honest. You’ve both been awfully mysterious about it all.”

“Oh don’t you worry about a thing, love! Things are gonna take off,” Fred replied with a smirk, “Gonna have a cracking-”

“-Absolutely sparkling-“ George added.

“Time,” they finished the sentence simultaneously.

You smiled at them, hearing a few chuckles from the others as they wandered away, heads bowed together as they conspired about something or other.

“Shit,” you said as soon as they were out of ear shot.

“What’s wrong?” Ron asked as he grabbed a bar of Honeydukes chocolate he’d left on a nearby table.

You sighed, “Their plan involves fireworks.” “Don’t all their plans involve fireworks?” Hermione asked with a small smile.

“Well yes but... this plan is for me. And from the hints they’ve been dropping, fireworks are a big part of the plan,” you chewed on your lip in thought and nervously clasped and unclasped your hands together.

Harry cleaned his glasses with the bottom of his jumper before returning them to his face, “Is that such a bad thing?”

“Well... usually no. But in this case... I thought I’d be able to go a bit longer without saying anything but... I don’t like fireworks. And by ‘don’t like’ I mean I am curling-into-a-ball-and-freaking-out petrified of them,” you admitted, looking down at your hands and sighing again.

“You’re scared of fireworks?”

“Scared is an understatement. Some people are scared of spiders - Ron - some of snakes, of clowns, of werewolves. My thing is fireworks.”

“But your boyfriend is Fred Weasley,” Ron said incredulously through a mouthful of chocolate.

“Oh yeah, cheers for that, Ron, I had almost forgotten,” you replied sarcastically.

Ron smiled before shaking his head, “No, I know, I just mean... well, how have you gone this long without telling him?”

You shifted in your seat, and avoided looking at any of them, “I just... haven’t. He loves them, doesn’t he? I can’t just tell him to stop using them just for my benefit.”

And that was the truth, really. You would never ask him to stop something he loved, and him and George used fireworks a lot in their pranks and such. It wouldn’t be fair to turn around and ask him to stop.

“Well... how badly are you afraid of them?” Hermione asked, tapping her chin in thought.

“I am more afraid of fireworks than Snape is of shampoo,” you joked, “No but seriously, I’ve had quite a few panic attacks over them - bad ones. I just... I can’t help it. I wish I liked them but I’m just terrified. And now Fred is planning something for my birthday and it’s very obvious that it involves fireworks. I don’t have the heart to tell him but... my heart’s thumping just from thinking about them.”

Hermione reached over to squeeze your hand reassuringly, “I’d speak to him beforehand, I’m sure he’d hate it more to do something that scares you.”

You smiled thankfully at her, “Yeah I’ll um... I’ll try and speak to him.”

***

Your birthday arrived much quicker than you’d hoped, and you’d woken up with an uncomfortable feeling in your stomach. You hadn’t gotten the heart or courage to confront Fred about his plans for your birthday - he seemed much too excited any time you saw him - and by any means you didn’t want him to feel as though he had to change everything he’d been working on. You appreciated the effort and adored the lengths he went to to show you how much he cared and didn’t ever want him to know you weren’t as excited as him for what was to happen.

Your day went by quite normally, your friends and other students passing by to wish you a happy birthday. The only oddity was you hadn’t seen the twins all day, and it was nearing evening. The thought put you on edge, as you assumed they were working on whatever it was they’d been planning. Despite this, you couldn’t help but miss them - particularly your boyfriend - and hoped they’d make an appearance soon.

You’d just finished your evening meal when your eyes flickered to the ginger boy entering the Great Hall, a carbon copy of your doting boyfriend however completely different in your eyes.

“Happy Birthday, Y/n!” George grinned as he sat beside you on the bench and gave you a side hug, “Sorry we haven’t seen you all day, must’ve been rubbish without us, eh?” You smiled back, “Thank you Georgie! Yes I suppose it has - potions was definitely more boring than usual. You um... haven’t seen your dear twin at all, have you?”

“Ah, you wouldn’t happen to be referring to Freddie boy there, would you? I have indeed seen him and the main reason I am here is to escort you to him,” George stood you and held his hand out. You shook your head fondly and took it, allowing him to pull you up and out of the hall.

He led you down the main hallway and towards the doors of the castle, then out onto the Hogwarts grounds.

“Where are we going?” You asked as you followed the younger twin across the grass.

“You’ll see! You’re gonna love this, Y/n! Fred has been planning this for ages - with my help, of course,” George boasted as he shot a grin over his shoulder at you.

You faked a smile, hoping it was believable enough to look like excitement as you tried to hide that your heart was trying to escape your chest and you could hear blood rushing in your ears.

“George..?” You began.

“Yeah?”

Taking a deep breath, you continued on as you glanced down at your feet, “It’s probably much too late to say anything now but I really don’t like-“

“Happy birthday, darlin’!” A familiar voice interrupted you, halting your sentence in the middle. Your eyes flickered up to rest on the welcome sight of your boyfriend and you couldn’t help but smile when you saw his messy ginger hair and cheeky grin.

He wrapped his arms around you and pulled you into a warm hug, one you accepted instantly and happily as you hadn’t seen him all day.

George made himself sparse, leaving you alone with your boyfriend who pressed his lips to yours in a sweet kiss, making up for the fact he’d been gone all day.

As you pulled away, he immediately moved back in to kiss you again, mumbling how much he’d missed you (even though it had only been a day), before finally placing a last chaste kiss to your swollen lips. He then grabbed your hand and pulled you towards the Forbidden Forest, where you noticed lights twinkling in a nearby clearing.

He led you over, his fingers locked around yours as he bit his lip and looked at you, “Surprise, love!”

Your eyes locked on the scene, a blanket laid out with your favourite foods on top, bags of Honeydukes items sitting beside it and a pile of presents - wrapped messily in brown paper and tied with wonky bows - scattered across the grass next to the blanket. Small, glittering lights hung from the tree branches around the clearing, casting a light glow and illuminating both the food and the dozens of pillows that you noticed were also piled around.

“Thought we could spend some time together without anyone interrupting us or anything. Also got some new things we’ve been working on that I want to show you before we show anyone else,” Fred explained, nodding over to a stack of what you assumed were Wizard Wheezes products.

“Oh Merlin... this is beautiful... it’s amazing,” you murmured.

And it was. It was so lovely and thoughtful. You adored it.

Yet, as you were staring at the scene, in awe at how beautiful the fairy lights were, you couldn’t help the voice in the back of your mind reminding you about the fireworks, not knowing when they were going to go off but sure it would be soon.

Suddenly, you heard Fred chuckling beside you and you frowned as you looked over at him. “What’s so funny?” You asked nervously.

“There are no fireworks, love,” he said simply, shoving his hands into his pockets, the hint of a smile resting on his lips.

Your jaw dropped almost comically, “What? What do you- How did you- How could you possibly know I was thinking about them?”

“You keep looking around as if you’re waiting for something. Just letting you know there are no fireworks so you can relax, babe. I know you’re terrified of them so they were never part of the plan. You really think I don’t know you well enough to know that?” He mocked with a playful grin.

Your mouth opened and closed as you stuttered out, “I-I never told you-“

“Didn’t have to, I saw your reaction to the small sparklers me and Georgie made to throw around and realised then. I notice everything about you, love,” he said sincerely.

You turned to him with shock on your features, jabbing him lightly in the chest as you scolded him, “Then why in the name of Merlin’s saggy left ballsack would you make me believe your plan relied on fireworks?!”

“Just like to mess with you, love,” he gave you a cheeky grin, and you wanted to be mad but looking at him, you couldn’t bring yourself to be. Still, you tried to be as you gave him a fake glare, “Fred! I’ve been working myself up over this for days! You’re a right prat!”

However, you couldn’t help the relieved giggle that left your lips as you rested your forehead against his chest and sighed contently now you were back at ease.

“I’m your prat though.”

“Hmm, I suppose so,” you mumbled into his jumper as his hands rested on your waist, him leaning his chin on the top of your head. You stayed stood up, in his arms, for a while before you decided to speak again, “Doesn’t it bother you that you’ll probably never be able to use fireworks in my vicinity?”

Fred pulled away for a moment to look down at you, his features softening as he took in the sight of your nervous demeanour, “Honestly? I’d give up fireworks forever if it meant you’d stick around.”

You smiled wide, blushing as you hid your face again in his chest, “Don’t get too sappy on me, Weasley.”

“Me? Sappy? Never.”

“Hmm..” You hummed, unconvinced. “Just want you to know I love you more than anything, and that includes fireworks,” he said earnestly, the corner of his mouth flicking up into a small smile.

“Stop being so cute,” you grumbled.

“No can do, love, I’m the cutest!” He announced, laughing as you pulled him down by his collar. You smiled and shook your head just as your lips grazed his,

“Well I guess I can’t argue with that.”

#fred #fred weasley #fred x reader #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley imagine #fred weasley imagines #weasley twins #weasley twins imagine #weasley twins imagines #hp #harry potter #all queue have to do is follow the spiders

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wiypt-writes · 3 years

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Stark Spangled Banner

Ch 18: Told You I’d Say Yes

Summary: Steve, Katie and Sam begin their search for Bucky and they uncover something that makes Steve start to question where their priorities as a team should lie. Decision made, the two of them head back to the Tower in New York to join up with the other adventures, and when Katie’s 30th birthday arrives, Steve asks a very differen question…

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Warnings: Bad language words, smut (NSFW), no under 18s. And a whole lotta teeth rotting fluff…

A/N: I think this is my favourite edit yet, @angrybirdcr

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 17

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Steve had no real leads and as such he, Katie and Sam spent weeks combing through the information that Natasha had provided, using JARVIS to translate the Russian which none of them spoke of course. It was hard work, stressful and gave them nothing of real use either, other than give them a bit more of an understanding of who the Winter Soldier was, so to speak, and then Sam had a brainwave. If Bucky was starting to get his memories back and pieced together that he had been working for Hydra under duress, he might go looking for answers, possibly even revenge.

They decided to start in the nearest Hydra base they knew about from the leaks on the internet, and as such they were now ransacking an old abandoned bank in the financial district in the middle of the night.

What they found wasn’t great- a dozen bodies of dead Hydra agents. Most looked as if they had had their throats crushed apart from one who was sat in a chair, a bullet between his eyes. From the look, and smell, they’d been there a while.

“That’s an execution.” Sam muttered, nodding at the man who had been shot and Katie looked at him as Steve simply turned and walked from the smaller room, back into the larger corridor. He made his way down, pulling open a thick door into the main vault and stopped dead as he saw some form of chair in the middle, surrounded by restraints and a device that looked like some kind of macabre halo. Steve felt his mouth go dry as he looked at it. I was some perverted form of the chamber he’d been in when they’d administered the serum…

“Looks like they were deleting data when they were interrupted…” Sam bent over to get a closer look at the computer to the side. Katie passed him the device she had brought and he plugged it in and started the data mining. As Steve made his way towards the two of them, Sam frowned and clicked on something that caught his attention and immediately the sounds of tortured screams filled the room. Katie jolted slightly as Sam took a step back, the three of them glancing at the screen which was sat on the desk. And all 3 wished they hadn’t. As there, on the screen Bucky was strapped down the halo-like contraption lowered onto his head.

“Turn it off!” Katie instructed to Sam, who moved to cut the footage immediately but Steve grabbed his arm.

“No…” he said firmly, his eyes fixated on the grim footage in front of him, his chest heaving with anger.

Finally the screams stopped and someone was saying words as they were in Russian but when they finished Bucky slumped down in the chair staring blankly ahead, as he spoke a single sentence, his face and voice completely void of expression and emotion.

There was a moment of silence when Steve suddenly snapped grabbing the edge of the table and flipping it over with a loud crash, all of the equipment and computers meeting a rather abrupt end along with it. He felt sick, upset, angry…and he couldn’t help but feel this was his fault for leaving his friend behind.

“Steve?” Katie asked anxiously, whilst she watched his shoulders heave with anger.

“Let’s go.” He instructed sternly, already making his way to the exit.

“Steve?” She called again.

“Now.” He bit back.

Steve didn’t speak a word whilst they drove home. Once they were in the apartment he stormed straight through the hall and up the stairs to the bed room. Katie turned to Sam who was hovering in the hall.

“That went well.” he quipped.

Katie sighed, walking into the kitchen and handed Sam a water which he thankfully took, draining it in one go.

“The thing is, Sam…” she ran a hand over her face “It’s gonna get worse, the more we dig, the more we’re going to find.”

“Yeah well, on that note I’m going to go back to the bank, do a bit more digging of my own tonight.” Sam sighed “See if I can find something that would give us an indication as to when exactly Bucky hit the base, might help us piece together a timeline of sorts.”

“Alright, but be careful, yeah?”

“I’m always careful, sugar!” Sam grinned, and Katie rolled her eyes. “Listen, you gonna be ok?”

“Yeah, I’ll give him some time. He’ll come round, he’s just…” she paused searching for the right word before she concluded “sad.”

Sam nodded “Call you tomorrow then, I’m at the VA in the morning but my afternoon is free”

“Will do…oh, and Sam?”

He turned around and Katie threw him the keys to the Q5 as he still hadn’t replaced his car. “Take this, but bring it back in once piece.”

“Cheers dude!” He beamed, catching the keys expertly before he headed out of the door.

Once he was gone, Katie walked over to the sofa and dropped down onto it, pulling out her phone. She knew it was late, but Tony answered straight away.

“Did it work?” She asked instantly.

“Did it work…” Tony snorted “I made the damned device, of course it did. JARVIS took everything off their system…he’s already sifting through and cross referencing… any mention of Barnes in any form he’ll find it.”

“Thanks Tony.”

“There is something he has found thought, that’s kinda interesting, but also very worrying.”

“What?”

“He found an encoded list of locations, locations for HYDRA bases across the globe. Curiosity got the better of me, and I ran a couple of cross checks on the bases that were already captured or infiltrated, and it matches 80%…”

“Yeah, there’s bases out there that didn’t fall… that’s what Fury’s doing, you know this.”

“Well here’s the thing…” Tony sighed “That 80% rallies to around 10 bases. One-Eye-Willy knew about 6, which he is currently working on with SHIELD or whatever they’re called now. The other 4 were unknown, until now.”

“Shit.” Katie sighed. If they had gone unknown, unchallenged, then it was possible that more of Hydra remained than they thought.

“Pretty much what Fury said when I called him.” Tony replied “Anyway, I think it’s time we put the band back together Kiddo…”

She groaned. “Steve already turned Fury down to find Bucky first.”

“Well, for once I’m inclined to agree with the Goth Pirate.” Tony continued “I think rounding the last of these bastards up is slightly more pressing than Spangles chasing his old school buddy.”

“Don’t call him that…” She sighed, rubbing her hands over her face.

“Fury says he’ll make contact with Natasha and Clint, no idea how to reach Point Break though. I called his girlfriend, or paramour, whatever, who said he was off chasing something, no idea what, but when he comes back she’s gonna tell him we’re looking for him.”

“I’ll talk to Steve…but I can’t promise anything.”

“If anyone can talk him round it’s you.” He said, his voice adopting a more sympathetic tone “You know, there’s no reason why we can’t look for Barnes along the way. I mean it’s all Hydra, right?”

“Yeah, good point. Let me talk to him. I’ll call you tomorrow, or later today, whatever.”

“No sweat, take care. Love you kiddo.”

“You too Tones”

Katie dropped her phone onto the couch and sighed. Time to tackle Steve. She unzipped her combat boots, shucked them off and headed up the stairs. She gently opened the bedroom door and saw Steve, hair damp from the shower, led on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

“Hey.” She crawled onto the bed next to him and propped herself up on her elbows so she could look at him.

“Hi.” He rolled his head to accept the kiss she offered as she reached a hand up to twine in the hair at the top of his head. “I’m sorry.” He leaned into her hand like a dog seeking attention. Katie opened her arms to let Steve snuggle into them, like a child, as she rolled onto her back, his head laying on her chest as her hand continued to tangle in his hair.

“Do you think we’re wasting our time? Looking for him?” Steve asked after a moment.

Katie hesitated, choosing her words carefully. “Bucky has been brainwashed and tortured by HYDRA for longer than I’ve been alive. It’s going to take more than saving you from the river to bring back the man you knew” she took a deep breath “I think we’re going to struggle chasing someone as resourceful as he is when he doesn’t want to be found. And we may have another problem…”

“Like what?” He asked, frowning at her.

“I just spoke to Tony. J has been going through the info that we pulled from the servers. Apparently there’s a list of 4 secret Hydra bases that no one knew about, not even Fury, that didn’t go down when we took out SHIELD.”

Steve let out a groan “So now I have to choose, between Bucky and taking down what remains of Hydra…”

Katie kissed his head sympathetically as the turmoil raged within his brain. They couldn’t let Hydra get a foothold again. But he didn’t want to let Bucky down either.

“You know, going after Hydra might help.” Katie spoke softly “I mean, we have nothing other than vague ideas and supposition about where Bucky is or what he has planned next. We might find something along the way. In the meantime, Sam can keep working our current angle and line of thought.”

“You’re right.” he said after a pause “I’ve tried twice to bring these bastards down. I can’t let them slip through my fingers a third time.”

*****

“Gotta say Cap, you’re looking better than last time I saw you.” Tony grnned as they entered the lab in the tower.

“I feel it!” Steve smiled, shaking Tony’s hand.

“What you looking at?” Katie asked, nodding to the screen, taking in the map.

“Got JARVIS running a bit of an analysis on the bases we found out about. Terrain surrounding them, best places to land the jet, potential areas of weakness that kinda thing.” He said, “Could take a while but, best to be prepared with some form of plan I suppose.”

Katie turned to Steve, grinning, about to launch into a rendition of “Star Spangled Man with a Plan” but Steve gave her a filthy look, knowing full well what was going through her mind. She grinned at him innocently and he turned his attention back to Tony.

“Any news on the others?”

“Banner is due back at some point tomorrow. He’s at some kind of Scientist band camp…” Tony waved his hand. “Barton is on his way, but you already know that. As for Nat…well she said she’ll be here when she can…which just leaves Point Break to show, whenever he’s back from riding the rainbow road that is.”

“He’ll turn up.” Katie shrugged “If all else fails I’ll do what he told me to when we needed him.”

“Which was what?” Steve asked, looking at Katie, frowning. As if she knew how to contact him and hadn’t said anything…

“Stand on top of a tall building a shout.” she said, grinning. Steve gave a roll of his eyes as Tony snorted. “Although I think he may have been joking.”

“Maybe we should get him some kind of Bat Signal” Tony mused “but with a hammer instead of a bat.”

“No.” Katie shook her head and Tony pouted at her.

“Why do you always piss on my parade?”

“Because your parade is usually dumb. Look we’re gonna go upstairs and unpack a few things.”

“Sure.” Tony nodded. “Oh, happy said he’ll get your apartment in DC cleared over the next week, and I thought we could go for something to eat tonight. Do the whole…” he waved his hand in a circle motion as he looked back at the screen, “fmily thing.

“Sounds great.” Katie smiled, looking at Steve who nodded, thankful of something ‘normal’ to look forward to, and the pair of them made to leave.

“By the way, I renovated the living floors so your Penthouse has had a bit of a facelift.” Tony said. Katie stopped and turned to face him.

“What do you mean facelift?” She frowned “I liked my floor…”

“Yeah but when I did the rooms for everyone else they got new furniture so I ordered you some too. If you don’t like it you can change it, no big deal. I didn’t change the décor to much…I know how much of a princess you are about people touching your stuff”

“Princess here technically owns forty percent of this tower so…” She flicked him the finger and he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah yeah…there’s a spare suite for you anyway Spangles opposite Thor’s, you know, just in case you get pissed off with her. No one would blame you if you did…”

“You’re a dick.” She rolled her eyes at her brother and turned back towards the elevator.

In all fairness Katie did actually quite like the changes Tony had made. Her penthouse spanned the entire floor below Tony’s whilst everyone else shared a floor a couple of levels down with another Avenger. Perks of ownership, after all. There was a new coffee and cream coloured L shaped sofa in the room, a walnut coffee table replaced the glass one that had been there, and a brand new HD OLED TV adorned the wall opposite, along with a media system. A state of the art sound system was installed and the kitchen was completely new and had been knocked through to the dining area giving them a huge open plan space similar to the layout of the apartment in DC. There was frankly the biggest bed Steve had ever seen in the bedroom and the furniture was sleek, with a slightly smaller TV adorning the wall opposite the bed. The en-suite now sported his and hers sinks along with a double shower, a corner spa tub and there was a smaller bathroom just off the hallway along with another bedroom, a study and a balcony spanned the entire length of the floor, which was accessible from the main bedroom and the kitchen-diner. It overlooked the New York skyline and contained a small patio area and a hot-tub along with some outside furniture. But true to his word, Tony had kept the colour scheme. Different shades of blue throughout the bedroom, steel grey in the kitchen and warm coffee and walnut colours in the lounge.

Steve loved it.

As promised, late that evening, the two of them accompanied Pepper and Tony out for dinner. They had gone to Anatolia’s, an Italian restaurant on the outskirts of Brooklyn much to Steve’s delight. It had been a really nice evening, the 4 drinking and eating far too much but as Tony had pointed out, things were about to get a little bit crazy so who knew when the next time they would get chance to relax and socialise was.

“Other than your 30th that is.” he said, looking at Katie over his wine.

“So there is something planned…” she grinned.

“Maybe.” Steve shrugged. Oh, he had something planned alright. He’d spoken to Tony about it a week or so ago, the Inventor gleefully agreeing with his idea.

“Man, my little sis is turning 30 in 3 weeks…I feel so old.” Tony continued to grumble.

“You are!” she teased.

“Yeah but not as old as your boyfriend…”

“Well done, you almost went a full evening without mentioning it.” Steve dead panned, folding his arms.

“You know he’s technically younger than me, Tones.” Katie said “

“What?” Steve looked at her, “How do you work that out.”

“You were born in July 1918 right, went into the ice in, what, March 1945?”

“Yeah…”

“Woke up in May 2012. So when you count how many years you spent actually awake and living, and not taking a cold nap, you’re really only 29 this time round.”

“So Captain America is your toy-boy?” Pepper giggled. Katie shrugged and took a sip of her wine as Tony and Steve looked at one another, both of them wearing expressions of bewilderment.

“Wait, does this mean we can throw a Happy 97 minus 67 party for Spangles next year?” Tony grinned and Steve let out a groan.

“See what you’ve done?” he looked at Katie with exasperation, and she just shrugged.

The night ended with a few drinks in a bar before a car picked them up and the couples both bid each other goodnight before going their separate ways

“That was proper pizza.” Steve said as they walked out of the elevator into their living area, the panel sliding in place leaving the door hidden.

Katie laughed as JARVIS gently flipped on the ambient lighting. “Well you certainly enjoyed it…getting through 2”

“Yeah, think the last 3 slices were a mistake” he mumbled as she headed into the kitchen. “They’re sitting in me like a brick.”

“Awwww poor baby!” she mocked thickly. “Getting so old you can’t even have a few slices without indigestion.”

“Hey, I’m younger than you, remember?” He laughed as Katie pulled 2 beers out of the fridge handing him one as she glided past him to flop onto the couch.

“I’m gonna regret pointing that out, aint i?” She laughed as Steve nodded.

*****

Katie had a meeting with her Editors and New Business department the next morning and Steve had a job of his own, a different mission that he was fucking nervous as hell about. He asked JARVIS where Tony was, who located him in the large, open plan main common room area of the tower, the one Loki and the Hulk had decimated 2 years previously.

“Tony you got a minute?”

“S'up Cap?”

Steve took a deep breath “I err…” his palms suddenly felt sweaty. “You know I love Katie and…" He cleared his throat before he looked Tony square in the eye, surprised to find the man watching him, warmth across his features. “She’s the most important thing in my life, and I…well, I wanted to ask for your permission, to ask her to marry me.”

“My permission?” Tony quipped.

“Well I’d normally ask her dad but…”

Tony smiled and glanced down at hands before he looked back at the blonde haired man stood besides him. “You gonna do better than a ‘we can get married if you want’ outside your apartment door?”

Steve let out a sigh and shook his head “she told you about that?”

“In the hospital” Tony smiled.

“Not my finest moment” Steve rubbed at his temple.

“Oh I dunno.” Tony said pushing off the front of the Bar area where he had been leaning. “Given the fact you were inches from death she was pretty upset at the fact she told you to come back with a Tiffany special…”

Steve smiled.

“You got one yet?” Tony asked. “A ring I mean.”

“No.” Steve shook his head.

“Well it just so happens I know one of the consultants at Tiffany.” Tony smiled, and Steve looked at him, his face creeping into a smile as he knew that this was Tony’s confirmation he was giving him his blessing. “Whenever you’re ready, I’ll make a call.“

The two men looked at one another, sharing a silent moment of respect before Tony reached out with his hand and Steve shook it, a shit-eating-grin spreading across his handsome features.

“Oh fuck this, come on Spangles, bring it in. I’m secure enough in my sexuality to hug another man.” Tony sniffed, and Steve stood up off the bar stool with a chuckle, the men exchanging a quick embrace, punctuated by a lot of back slapping.

“For what it’s worth…” Tony smiled as he stepped back, his eyes shining with emotion. “You make her happy, you treat her right, you put her first and I’ve never seen anyone metaphorically slap her back into place as well as you do….sorry, lot of dust in here…” he wiped at his suddenly watering eyes, water that may or may not have been tears before he took a breath and looked at Steve again “I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather grant permission to.”

Steve smiled, his own eyes shining with emotion.

“And I’m pretty sure you’d have gotten it off dad too.” Tony nodded at him and Steve looked at the floor for a second before he glanced back up at him, taking a deep breath.

“Thank you Tony.”

*****

“What is this?” Thor’s voice was loud. “I can’t see them…”

“No you turn it…hang on” The 4 Avengers in the lab looked at one another, Tony grinning from ear to ear as Jane was trying to explain how to use the video call facility on her phone.

“He’s worse than you!” He grinned up at Steve who merely rolled his eyes as Bruce stifled a grin.

Eventually Thor’s face, or rather his left nostril filled their screen and all of them urged him to move the phone away. Finally he did so, and his handsome face beamed down at us all.

“Greetings!” he smiled “It is good to see you all again, Little Stark you look as radiant as ever.” “Thanks Thor!” Katie laughed as besides her Steve bristled a little bit.

“Jane says you need my help.”

“Yeah, we got a job Point Break.” Tony said.

“Is this to do with SHIELD and Hydra?” the God’s deep voice rumbled.

“You know about that?” Katie asked.

“Of course, it was all over the news. I watch that now, with Jane” he said, a glint in his eyes, “But that reminds me, I have a bone to pick with both you and the Captain…”

Steve frowned and looked at Katie, the pair of them sharing a glance before they looked back at the screen.

“I saw you both on the television fighting SHIELD alongside the Birdman…” Thor continued, ignoring Katie and Steve’s laughter as they both thought of Sam’s face if he could hear that nickname, “Why didn’t you call me? You know how much I love fighting.”

“They didn’t send for me either…” Tony said, putting his hand up.

“Call you, do you have a cell phone?” Katie looked at Thor.

“No, what for?”

She didn’t reply, instead she looked away trying not to laugh at the perplexed look on the God’s face

“We have a lot of loose ends to tie up.” Steve spoke, steering the conversation back to the purpose in hand. “Not all of Hydra went down when we took SHIELD out.”

Thor’s face split into a grin. “More fighting?”

“More fighting.” Tony said, as Banner let out a small sigh.

“Why is there always fighting?”

They explained the basics of what was going on to Thor, before he promised to join them as soon as he could and then Banner headed off to shower and to unpack following his trip.

“I’m going to head to the office for a few hours.” Katie said. Steve nodded.

“Tony and I have stuff to do.” he said simply, but met her gaze with a passive one of his own as she glanced at him, arching her eyebrow.

“Ohh…I get it…” she grinned, “You’re sorting my birthday surprise. Cute.” As she turned to go she walked straight into the desk behind her, jabbing the corner harshly into her thigh.

“You alright?” Steve asked, trying but failing to hide the chuckle in his voice at her clumsiness.

“Thanks for your genuine concern.” She grumbled, instantly rubbing where the sharp corner had dug into her. “Shit, that hurt…Jesus fucking Christ…”

"Ooooh, hey. You kiss Spangles with that mouth?” Tony raised an eyebrow at her

“Yes, Tony, I kiss him all over with that mouth.” She glared at him as she rubbed her thigh. “Every inch of –”

Tony clapped his hands over his ears. “Lalalalalalalalala! I can’t hear you!”

Once Katie was out of earshot, Tony turned to Steve “You get it?”

He nodded, holding up his mother’s ring that he had managed to slip of when Katie was sleeping.

“Alright, let’s go.”

They drove the short distance into Manhatten, and Tony parked his car up in a private space behind the department store they were visiting. Steve followed him into the store where they were greeted by a small, grey haired mousy looking man dressed in an immaculate 3 piece suit.

“Mr Stark, Captain Rogers.”

“Hi Robert.” Tony smiled at him, clapping Steve on the shoulder “Take good care of him, he’s shitting himself.”

Steve sighed and shook his head but the inventor had already wandered off to the other side of the store, examining something in one of the glass cases.

“It’s perfectly understandable to be nervous, it’s a big thing.” Robert smiled, gesturing for Steve to follow him. He did, as they walked across the store to a small room at the back. Steve walked in and dropped into a seat. “So, do you have anything specific in mind?”

Steve took a deep breath, “Something elegant, but flashy enough to be special, I’ve no idea really, other than she prefers white gold to yellow.”

Robert smiled at him, “White gold or platinum. Ok. Any idea on the cut of diamond?”

“Princess.” Steve said, smiling. That he did know, from way before they were even dating.

“Oh my god!” Katie said, looking at the gossip magazine Natasha was reading, as Steve peered up at them from the seat behind his desk. “That’s fucking hideous.”

Natasha snorted “20 carat apparently.”

“Who the fuck needs a 20 carat ring?” Katie shook her head.

“I dunno, not something Tony would buy for Pepper?”

“Nah he isn’t that tacky.” she shook her head “And I’d kick his ass, it’s so…garish.”

“I don’t think the cut helps” Nat said, holding the magazine up “It’s a Brilliant, so looks a bit..”

“Shit?” Katie offered and the girls laughed “Seriously, if I ever have a man who’s ready to propose you better tell him it’s Princess or bust…”

He and Robert chatted for a few moments, Steve assuring him that the budget was healthy, whilst the man headed off into the store and came back with a few options set on a blue velvet tray of sorts. Steve’s eyes were instantly drawn to one in the middle. It was held a large diamond and was set into an elaborate clasp which melted into the band which was studded with smaller diamonds.

“Ahh yes.” Robert smiled as Steve picked it up “That’s one of my favourites. It’s a Tiffany Novo…”

“Sorry, did you say Nova?” Steve’s head jerked up, a smile on his face.

“Novo, Captain.”

Close enough Steve thought as he grinned.

“Princess cut with a Pave set Diamond band in platinum. That one’s a 2.05 carat, but we can do it smaller.”

“No, this one is perfect.” Steve smiled, looking at him.

“Well, that was easy…” Robert quipped and Steve nodded, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah…” he let out a chortle of a laugh, “you had me at Novo.”

Robert frowned, but didn’t ask for an explanation. “That one there is Sixty-Six thou…”

“Holy shit.” Steve exclaimed, before hastily apologising for his outburst. He knew he had said he had a decent budget but…

“However, Captain, seeing as it’s you, I can shave twenty percent off that, leave my commission.” he man smiled as Steve began to protest “And offer you a further ten percent for Tony being a regular customer.”

“I couldn’t…”

“You guys saved my daughter’s life in New York.” Robert looked at him, smiling softly “She was in the bank.”

Steve took a deep breath and shrugged, a faint flush on his cheeks. “Just doing my job.”

“So am I. So we’ll call it forty, and I’ll throw in an extra eighteen months care package. So she can bring it in to be cleaned, repaired should anything happen to it over the next three years.”

Steve hesitated, it was a lot of money. He knew he had enough, more than enough. His wages from SHIELD had been generous, plus his Army back pay that Katie and Fury had secured for him had been piling up and earning interest, but he still wasn’t used to being able to just flash it around. Plus now he wasn’t technically earning either…but the more he looked at it, the more he just knew it was right.

And she was worth far more to him than anything money could buy.

“I’ll take it.” He nodded, decision made.

He handed Robert his Ma’s ring, which Katie had had resized to fit properly and Robert nodded, smiling as he slid it onto a measuring cone.

“You’re in luck Captain. We have one that size in stock so you can take it away today. Whilst we’re here, would you like me to give this one a polish?”

“Oh, err, yeah, great.”

He shook hands with the man and headed back into the store where Tony was now leaning over a cabinet, talking to a blonde haired assistant. He pointed at a necklace with an obscene price tag, and she nodded, picking it up and turning around.

“Something for Pep.” he said, gesturing to the gift as he nodded at Steve. “You know, just because.” he frowned “That was fast.”

“Found the perfect one.” Steve smiled “It’s called a Novo”

“Nova?” Tony looked at him, eyebrow raising as he smirked.

“No, Novo…although that’s what I heard too at first.” Steve laughed.

“Huh.” Tony said, as Robert approached them. He opened the box he was holding and reached in for the ring, setting it down on a velvet tray again to show to the men. It was even brighter in the store lights than in the room. Steve heard Tony whistle at the side of him.

“That’s a rock and a half Cap.”

“She’s worth it.” he shrugged, simply. “I just hope she likes it.”

“If she doesn’t we can exchange.” Robert said, as he finished his inspection and after making himself happy the ring was perfect he boxed it up and handed it to Steve in a Tiffany bag.

“Cap, you could propose with a ring pull and she’d say it was perfect.” Tony smiled.

“Now you tell me.” Steve said, handing over his credit card.

*******

“Shit, shit, shit…” Katie was panicking. Her ring was gone. Steve’s Ma’s ring. The one he had given to her at Christmas. The only real thing he had of his mom left. She’d ransacked the bedroom, living room, her office. “No,no…”

She made her way back into the kitchen, looking everywhere, before she headed into the bathroom. Nothing. She collapsed onto the closed toilet seat, her head in her hands as she began to cry when she heard the elevator door open.

Steve stopped as he walked into the living room, frowning at the utter chaos that greeted him. Cushions were all over the place, drawers in the large unit were flung open. Immediately he went on the defensive, knowing it was ridiculous as there was no way anyone could have gotten in here, but still…

“Katie?” he called. Katie’s head jerked up and she wiped her eyes

“Bathroom.” she said back, and he could tell from her tone something was wrong.

“Doll, what’s going on?” He strode into the bedroom and then stepped into the large en-suite. She’d been crying. “Baby?” he crouched in front of her.

“I…I’m so sorry…” Her voice cracked. “But your mom’s ring… I can’t…”

Steve felt a sudden pang of guilt, she was distraught, thinking she had lost it. He hadn’t thought of that.

“No, sweetheart, it’s ok, I’ve got it.”

“You do?” she frowned.

“Yeah.” he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled it out. “I was looking at it when you were asleep last night and thought it could do with a bit of a clean-up so I took it off and Tony took me to a place Pepper takes hers…”

Katie looked at the ring, before she felt her anger simmer over.

“You complete ass Steven Grant Rogers!” she yelled, hitting him in the chest “I’ve spent the last 3 hours out of my mind with worry…”

“I know, I should have told you but I wanted it to be a surprise.” Steve lied, hoping to god for once she wouldn’t see through it “I’m so sorry!”

She snatched it off him, returning it to its home and she glared at him, before looking down at it.

“Well, it does look nice and shiny” she said, admiring it and Steve let out a sigh of relief “Don’t touch my stuff.”

“Your stuff?” he looked at her as she wiped at her face.

“Yes, my stuff.” she repeated petulantly. “You gave it to me, remember. It’s mine.”

He was about to laugh and call her a brat, when there was a loud clap of thunder and a flashing of bright white light, punctuated by various rainbow colours, outside the bedroom window and they both turned their heads to look at it.

“Thor!” Katie said, jumping up and beaming.

“Am I forgiven?” Steve asked, rising to his feet. She turned and looked at him, rolling her eyes at the injured puppy dog eyes he was giving her.

“Pull another stunt like that again and I’m imposing a sex ban for a week.”

“Yes Ma’am.” he grinned, giving her a peck on the lips.

****

Thor’s arrival spurred the Avengers into getting down to some real planning, and when Clint arrived that day too, bringing with him the news that Natasha would be with them by the middle of June- she was on some kind of trip with Fury-those of them present began to take all the information they had, planning their first raid on one of the uncovered Hydra bases, this one being on the outskirts of Seattle.

“Your call Cap.” Tony looked at Steve, his jaw was twitching as he turned over the pros and cons of hitting the base whilst they were still one down on the team. Eventually he made his decision and looked around the team.

Suit up…” he said, straightening up “Wheels up in 20”

Behind him Banner groaned.

He needn’t have worried though, there was no need for a code green. In fact, it was a bit of a damp squib. There were minimum guards to take out and all in all it was relatively easy. There were also no computers, just a truck load of paper files which they meticulously boxed up and loaded onto the jet.

Over the next two weeks they hit the remaining unknown basis that they had discovered, and every one of them was the same. They were clearly never used as main strongholds, more like storage facilities if anything. Steve was frustrated, Katie knew that. But as she and Tony pointed out to him, they had a hell of a lot of information to comb through. They liaised with Fury, who had nothing new to add, other than that he would be in touch if his team needed help about the remaining bases in Europe.

As such they spent most of their time filtering through the information they had gotten from the bases, along with the boxes of files that Fury and Hill had pulled from SHIELD. Banner and Katie (when she wasn’t working) set up a simple filing system as they went along, cataloguing each bit of paper information so they knew where to find it in future, and could add to it as they went along.

There wasn’t much to go on, they didn’t find any new information, and nothing on Bucky, but there was one name that continued to crop up time and time again.

“Baron Von Strucker…” Katie said to the team which was congregated in the lab. “I’ve gone through the information available, including what was dumped on the internet when we released all the files…it isn’t pretty reading.”

Clint lounged with his feet up on the desk munching some popcorn. He offered it round and Tony took a hand full.

“Not likely to be where Hydra is involved.” he said, leaning against a desk, chucking the popcorn in his mouth.

Steve who had been flicking through a file clucked slightly with his tongue and shook his head “Says here he trained with Jasper Sitwell at the Preparatory Academy.”

Tony began choking and at first Katie thought it was reaction to the fact that Hydra had an academy but she soon realised, as he was pointing at Clint with a disgusted expression on his face that it was the popcorn. She grinned- Clint like his popcorn laced with cayenne pepper.

“What is wrong with butter and salt?” Tony gasped as Clint explained what was on the corn through his laughter. Thor reached over curiously and took a handful before declaring, much to Clint’s annoyance, that he enjoyed the spicy snack.

“He had his fingers in a lot of SHIELD pies” Katie continued “He was running the SHIELD STATION, which is the Scientific Training and Tactical Intelligence Operative Network, an R&D facility which was established to conduct investigations on the material retrieved from the ground during the battle of New York, you know, the shit Fury said he had destroyed?”

“Alright.” Steve nodded “Dig up what you can on it and then we’ll go from there. From the sounds of it he seems like the one we should be focussing on.”

Katie nodded.

“But not tonight.” Tony said, looking at Steve “I think we deserve a break, especially seeing as it’s someone’s 30th tomorrow.”

The room cheered and Katie rolled her eyes “Yeah yeah…don’t remind me.”

*****

Katie woke the next morning to soft kisses peppering the side of her neck and a deep burn growing at her centre as she was slowly pulled to consciousness. She let out a low moan and felt the lips at her throat spread into a sly smile

“You dreaming about me?” her Soldier whispered.

She bit her lip, arching her back and leaned into him as his hand splayed on her stomach, pulling her closer before she felt his fingers sliding down gently to the space between her legs. She didn’t say a word, she couldn’t. It was all she could do to simply groan as he gently pushed two fingers inside her, before he moved to massaging her spot. She pulled her legs together suddenly, thighs tightening as the muscles in her core clenched.

“You want more?” he asked, voice slow and deep.

She nodded eagerly, moving so that she was lay on her back and finally opened her eyes.

Steve gently moved, so his knee was positioned between her legs, sliding his T-shirt over her head before one hands moved up her body, tracing her ribs before he started to caress her breast, the other fingers continued to stroke inside, making her groan more and more. He placed a soft kiss on her jawline and smiled at her.

“Happy birthday, Gorgeous.”

His words undid her, and she let out a sound that was halfway between a gasp and a squeal, feeling for him under the sheets “Steve…” Every inch of her was on fire and he wanted him. “Please…” she begged, her voice catching as he moved over on top of her fully, shoving his boxers down and she let out a long shaky moan as he entered her.

“Good?” he asked, his breath a whisper and she nodded eagerly as he began to move. His thrusts were slow but deep and powerful, every roll of his hips sent his pelvis rocking up against her spot.

It didn’t take long at all, she was so close already and Steve watched her face, not wanting to miss the moment.

“Fuck…” Her head completely dropped backwards as her core spasmed again and then she came, hard, her orgasm rolling over her in such a way it had her clinging to Steve, crying out a strangled cry as he too reached his peak, her name tumbling from his lips.

The minutes passed as they lay curled in silence, completely blissed out and relaxed, hearing only each other’s gradually steadying breaths.

Steve’s hand gently stroked the arm that was draped over his abdomen before he gently moved her to one side, sitting up. He had things to do.

“Hey…” she began to protest before he smiled.

“I’m going to make you breakfast”

“You are?”

“Of course, it’s your birthday” He chuckled, from the edge of the bed where he was pulling on a pair of sweats.

"Pancakes,” she muttered hopefully.

He laughed. “Yup,” he said before lowering his lips onto hers. They shared a long, deep kiss that left them grinning like idiots as he pulled away, hopping off the bed and pulling on a t-shirt before leaving the room.

Katie stretched out and glanced over at the clock on the bedside table. It was half 9. A perfectly reasonable time to wake up on her birthday. And the best bit was, she had an entire day of being a spoilt birthday brat ahead of her! Steve was taking her to Coney Island in the afternoon, he had been dying to take her back to Brooklyn for ages and they’d picked today to go after the team had decided to take a break from the non-stop research and missions. Then later in the evening there was some form of meal booked, although where she had absolutely no idea. She’d been trying to catch everyone out about it for weeks but failed, miserably.

She was just about to get out of bed and into the shower when she heard her phone vibrating on the nightstand beside her bed. She reached over for it, and rolled her eyes. It was Tony.

“Happy birthday kiddo! How does it feel to be officially old?”

“You still got fourteen years on me, you dick!” she said, grinning before she yawned slightly “Why are you ringing me when you’re, what? A floor away?”

“Wasn’t sure if you’d be up or not.”

“Well there’s no worries on that account as for my birthday Steve got me a new alarm clock.”

“An alarm clock?” Tony said, his tone flat

“Yeah.” she said, biting her lip as she fought to keep myself from laughing “His penis.”

There was a pause “That’s gross.” Tony groaned and Katie laughed as he continued to complain “I mean it’s bad enough knowing that you two…you know, without being given some form of mental image like that…”

“Oh quit your whining!” she grinned “When you bringing me my present?”

“Ah well, you’ll have to come get it, it’s a bit big.”

“Big?” I said “It’s not a 16 foot teddy bear is it?”

It was his turn to laugh “No, although, speaking of big, stuffed animals, what did Cap actually get you?”

“You’re hilarious, and I’ve no idea. He’s making me breakfast at the moment.”

“More sausage?” he said sardonically.

“Pancakes, actually” she replied “Which is why I need to go and have a shower before he eats them all himself…”

“Alright, come up when you’re ready…” he said. “Not going anywhere…”

By the time she made her way into the large open plan living area, Steve had already completed 2 stacks of pancakes (his miles bigger than hers), a plate of bacon and was just setting 2 glasses of orange juice down on the breakfast bar in front of the 2 plates. He looked up and smiled, she was dressed casually for a day at the fair, tight jeans, boots and long white top, over which she wore an open beige half-sleeved cardigan, and her hair was pulled up into a high, messy pony tail. She looked beautiful as ever.

“You look lovely.” He said, pressing a kiss to the side of her head as she sat down. “So, how does it feel to be old?” He could barely get the words out without laughing, and she simply shook her head at his poor attempt at a joke

“You’re such a jerk!” She rolled her eyes, as he grinned.

They ate breakfast, and then like the big child she was she demanded to know where her presents were so Steve took her hand and led her into the living room where they were laid out on the coffee table.

She opened her gifts one by one, a few items of clothing, a pair of earrings, a new set of wireless earphones that she had mused over buying and then decided not to, a gorgeous white and rose gold diamond bracelet and a leather bound edition of the Wizard of Oz book to replace the one she had lost in Malibu.

“I saw that and couldn’t resist.” He grinned, as she grinned back “oh and here…”

This was the big one. He held out the envelope and Katie looked at him, gently taking it before she slid a finger under the top to rip it open. Steve watched as she pulled out the piece of paper and for the second time that morning her mouth dropped open in surprise. It was a print out of an itinerary leaving the 30th November and returning on the 14th December, with the locations being cities in Europe- Munich, Paris, Venice, Bruges, Dublin and London.

“2 nights in each…3 in London” Steve said as she glanced up at him, unable to speak “I didn’t know what else to do and I know you’ve wanted to go back to Europe for ages, and how much you love Christmas and the markets and stuff…”

“Oh my god, Steve… ” She glanced down at the paper, finally finding her voice. “This is amazing! I don’t know what to say.” Steve felt the familiar pink tinge growing around his cheeks before she threw her arms around him, “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

He smiled and then kissed her head before he pulled away. “Shall we go and see what outrageously flashy present Tony has for you?”

“Do you know what is is?” she asked.

“I might do…” he smiled as she stood up. There was no might about it. He knew what it was. And he knew she was going to lose her shit about it.

The two of them made their way up to Tony’s main living floor, her hand in his.

“You now I’m excited to finally take you to Coney Island.” He smiled as the door to the elevator shut.

“Excited?”

"Yeah, it’s just I watched Bucky take so many dates around there and I spent most of my time wondering when I was gonna’ get to take my own gal.” He admitted, bashfully.

"God, you’re adorable,” she smiled at him as the doors opened.

“Happy birthday!” Both Tony and Pepper chimed and she grinned, stepping out and into Pepper’s arms before Tony swept her into a hug.

“Well I don’t see any huge stuffed toys so…” she looked around and Pepper snorted.

“I talked him out of it.”

Tony handed her a small box and Katie looked at him.

“This isn’t big.”

“Brat.” Tony rolled his eyes and she smirked. She pulled the ribbon of the box, took the lid off and stared at the content inside. And as it dawned on her what it was she looked up at him, then to Steve, who was watching her, an amused expression on her face, then back at the box her eyes wide.

“You didn’t?” she looked up at her brother, her mouth dropping open.

Tony shrugged “Well you buried your Range Rover and gave away the Audi so…”

She looked at him for a split second before she squealed, threw herself at her brother and then turned on her heels, running.

Steve and Tony both watched her go before they turned to one another and followed her.

“You ready?” Tony asked.

“As I’ll ever be.” Steve nodded.

“Huh.” Tony nodded.

“Ready for what?” Pepper asked.

“Oh, they’re going to Coney Island.” Tony said as they headed down in the elevator, waving away her question.

Way ahead of them Katie burst into the parking lot and skidded to a halt. There, in all its glory was her own brand new Chevrolet Camero Exorcist, the car she had dreamed of since she was a teenager. It was gorgeous. Deep blue with cream leather interior. She unlocked it and sat in the driver’s seat, taking in the smell. The head rests were stitched with the Stark Industries logo and the dash was awash with every single button and function you could imagine.

“Fire it up.” a voice said, and Tony looked at her through the open driver’s side door. She did as she was told and grinned at the beautiful growling noise it made and squealed, feeling the leather of the steering wheel.

She turned to Steve who was stood leaning slightly on the door watching her.

“Hop in soldier!” she grinned, and he smirked, walking to the passenger side.

“Have fun…” Tony said, before he turned to Steve and looked at him, giving him a significant nod and a clap on the shoulder. Steve smiled back and then sank into the leather seat. He had to admit the car was nice. Katie pulled out of the space and gave a groan that was far too arousing than it should have been.

“Oh my god…” she murmured, as she pulled onto the street. The car purred and handled like a dream. As she put her foot down it sped forward, throwing them both back in the seat.

“Easy baby!” Steve chuckled as she laughed, speeding over Brooklyn Bridge. “You’re gonna get a ticket…”

She shrugged, not actually caring at that point.

*****

Steve wound up, pitching the ball which sliced through the bottles on the stall diagonally, knocking them completely off their pedestal and sending the ball through the back of the canvas booth as it ripped a hole clean through it. Steve bit his lip, not realising how hard he had thrown it and turned to look at Katie. She was doubled over, laughing at the look on his face, and then laughed even harder at the expression on the attendants face as he glanced from Steve to the bottles on the floor, to the hole in the canvas and back again.

“Which one do you want?” Steve asked, placing his arm around her as the attendant indicated for her to pick a toy.

“I think I’ll have that one…” she said, pointing to a brown bear that was dressed in a Captain America outfit, complete with helmet and shield.

Steve shot her a look and she held out her hands, protesting her innocence. “What?”

“Good choice ma’am” the attendant said, handing over the bear “He’s an all American hero is our Captain.”

“That he is.” She grinned “He’s incredibly handsome too I believe.”

Steve cut her off as he thanked the man before steering her away as he checked his watch. They had about an hour before they needed to get back.

“Come on, let’s take a walk.”

He led them both down to the sea front, pausing to get a hot dog each, and they walked, eating in comfortable silence. The sun was still warm in the sky, the sea was by their side and Katie was lost in her own little world until she realised Steve wasn’t besides her. She turned to look for him, wondering where he was and then spotted him a few yards behind her, crouched on one knee on the well-worn wooden slats of the boardwalk.

“I told you I was gonna ask you properly one day.” He cleared his throat, looking up at her with those blue eyes she loved so much as he held out his hand, opening the small box that was inside. The sun bounced off the surface of the ring and she couldn’t see it fully but she clamped her hands over her mouth. “I know we were a little too late to be each other’s firsts, well in some ways anyway…” he said, and Katie let out a choked giggle. “But I want all my lasts to be with you. Will you marry me, sweetheart?”

“And I told you I’d say yes one day!” She said, her voice cracking with emotion as she removed her hands shakily from her mouth and nodded. “Yes. Yes of course I’ll marry you.”

A few of the by-standers who had been watching started cheering as Steve jumped up, everything around him bar his girl faded to nothing as she threw herself into his arms. He picked her up, laughing like an idiot, his strong arms round her as he twirled her round, the pair of them sharing fast, rapid dizzying pecks on the lips as he held her off the floor. Eventually he set her on her feet, an utterly stupid grin plastered on his face as he looked at her, a grin that wasn’t going to fade any time soon.

“Do I errr have to put it on myself?” She spluttered a laugh, raising an eyebrow.

“What, oh, yeah, right…” he said, stepping back and removing the ring from its home, fumbling slightly before he managed to get it out, holding it in his right hand, but before he could do anything else she grabbed his left hand which contained the box before he could slip it back into his pocket.

“You bought me a Tiffany?” She almost shrieked as she looked at the distinctive blue-green box in her hand.

“Yeah, and if you give me a second you can see it.” Steve chuckled at her. Biting her lip she held out her left hand and he slid the ring onto her finger and she let out a loud gasp.

“Stevie, it’s beautiful.” She whispered, looking at it before she took his face in both her hands. “I love it.”

“I love you.” he murmured into their kiss. He grinned and dropped and arm round her shoulder as they made their way back down the boardwalk, back to the car, Katie’s eyes almost permanently transfixed on her ring.

“You definitely like it?” Steve asked, suddenly feeling nervous as he nodded to her hand

“It’s perfect, but how did you know?” she looked up at him as they reached the other side of the road

“Do the words, ‘big, fuck off Tiffany diamond’ ring any bells?” he looked at her, referencing their conversation outside his flat a few months ago.

“Not about the tiffany.” she shook her head “But the cut. It’s a princess one, the one I’ve always wanted.

“I have a good memory” he smiled, “And I picked that particular one because its a design called a Novo. I thought he said Nova at first.”

Katie laughed as she snaked her arms round his neck. “For the record, this was much a much better proposal than we can get married if you want….”

“Are you ever gonna let me forget that?” he sighed as he leaned down.

“I think you’ve redeemed yourself…” she said as her lips met his.

****

“Tony suggested we have a drink before we meet everyone.” Steve stepped into the elevator and Katie looked at him before she smoothed down her white dress.

“So where are we meeting everyone?”

“It’s a surprise, stop being so impatient.”

“Errr. You can’t tell me off, it’s my birthday.”

“Well stop asking so many questions and just enjoy your night!”

She didn’t get chance to reply as then the elevator doors opened onto the main party floor and there was a loud eruption of noise, making Katie jump.

“SURPRISE!”

Her mouth dropped open as she looked around the room. It was decorated in banners, balloons, and now paper streamers from the party poppers that had just been exploded by their friends. Clint, Thor, Bruce, Rhodey, Sam, Maria Hill, Tony, Pepper, Lawson, Evans, a whole host of people that worked in the offices and a familiar copper haired assassin stepped forward to greet her.

“Miss me?” Nat quipped.

“I can’t…” Katie began to speak, as she hugged her friend back “Oh my God…”

“JARVIS can you record this?” she heard Tony speak. “For this is a monumental occasion. She’s actually speechless…”

Katie turned to look at Steve who had been watching her reaction with a smile on his face. He loved seeing her happy, and he was pretty sure he’d managed to achieve that several times over during the day.

“Did you organise this?” she asked

“Why do you sound so surprised?” he chuckled, stepping forward to kiss her cheek “I had a little help but yeah, it was my idea. Happy Birthday baby.”

Before she could reply Natasha suddenly spoke very loudly.

“What is that?”

“What?” Katie asked, although she knew full well what Natasha was talking about.

“Errrr that?” She grabbed at Katie’s left hand.

The room fell silent.

“What does it look like?” Katie grinned at her

“Holy fucking shit.” Steve heard Clint chuckle as he slid his arm round his fiancées waist and the two of them exchanged a smile.

“We’re getting married” Steve grinned, finally tearing his eyes from Katie to look round the room. There was a pause and he locked eyes with Tony who winked at him before there was a flurry of noise and activity as everyone surged forward to congratulate them.

Tony reached them first and the two men shared a manly hug, which included lots of back slapping before he dropped a kiss to his sister’s cheek as Katie felt a hand grab hers. Natasha scrutinised her newest piece of jewellery before she looked up at Steve.

“You picked that all by yourself?” she looked up at Steve.

“I’m not completely useless” he rolled his eyes.

“I’m impressed Rogers,”

Sam clapped Steve on his back and as the two men began to banter, Tony pulled his sister into his side.

“Congratulations Kiddo.” He said, looking down at her hand “Looks even better on.”

“You’ve seen it?” She frowned.

“I may or may not have taken him to Tiffany’s…” Tony shrugged. “But I promise he picked it all by himself”

“So you knew he was gonna ask me?”

“He asked my permission.” Tony sniffed. “Well I might not be Dad but…”

Katie noticed his eyes were shining and she smiled at him as he continued.

“I want you to know,” Tony’s voice cracked slightly “I couldn’t be prouder of you, or love you more if you were my own.”

“Stop it, you’re making me cry!” Katie exclaimed, the tears in her own eyes gently spilling out as he pulled her into huge hug and she pressed her face into his chest. Eventually she stepped back, the pair of them wiping their eyes and Tony took the opportunity of a distraction, turning to a waiter.

Steve, who had been watching the two siblings saw the emotional exchanged and he stepped forward, as Tony was yelling about champagne for a toast.

“You alright?” Steve asked, gently wiping a tear off her cheek before he slipped his arms around her waist.

“Never been happier.” she beamed, honestly, her hands winding round his neck “ I know I said last year was the best birthday ever but this has smacked it straight out of the park.”

“Glad to hear it.” he smiled, leaning down to kiss her “I love you.”

“God job, seeing as I’m gonna be your wife.” she teased, her hand tangling in the back of his hair.

“Yeah…” he said, the shit eating grin spreading across his face again as he contemplated the words. His wife. “Yeah, you are”

Chapter 19

**Original Posting**

#stark spangled banner #steve rogers #Katie Stark #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers fic #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character #mcu #mcu fanfic #captain america #chris evans #chris evans characters

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aceofspadegrass · 3 years

Note

Can you maybe make a fic of just me and Niragi chilling and hangin out together at the beach?,just Niragi being calm for just one day.

(Of course his lynx and Fanta has to be there...and Dori)

And then Niragi would question things such as "Can I see your hair?" And I would say "No,only girls and family relatives can see it" "Why aren't men aloud to see your hair?" "Because,they will judge on just by or appearance and not our personality" "So does that mean,Kuina,Ann and Mira can see your hair?" "Yes,yes they can. We even has a girls sleepover party at Kuina's room that day with Ace and Chloe" And Dori dressing up as a women is like "A-and I'm not invited!?" "Dori,you're a boy..a grown man dressing up as smexy lady-"

A Chat with Ila

Characters: @a-simp-20, Niragi Suguru, Dori Sakurada

Genre: Fluff. Just @a-simp-20 vibing with Dori and Niragi and talking about hijabs! :D

1.4k words

Hehe, sorry I finally got around to this! I was taking a little fanfic break after posting 6 fics in a row, you understand right? (I say break as if it hasn’t even been a week pfft-)

I’m going to try my best to incorporate your culture, okay? Okay. :D I hope you like it @a-simp-20! Here, have this nice picture as well. (Sorry for tagging you three times in a row-)

It was late into the day, and wandering about the Beach was a group. It consisted of two men, a lady, and two animals, happily chatting amongst each other about normal topics, like how soft pillows were and the legality of eating fried crickets as a snack.

Which, by the way, was completely legal in certain cultures.

Fanta was happily trotting besides Dori, who was more focused on trying to paint his nails with clear polish on the move, humming a song. On the other side of him was Catra, the lynx wearing a rubber duck on her head for the sheer fun of it. Said rubber duck had a tiny felt cap on it, tiny lettering spelling the word ‘Chicken’ in Hiragana.

People naturally got out of the way upon seeing Niragi, but Niragi wasn’t even paying attention to them, knowing full well his sheer presence was enough to cause a reaction. That way he could focus on talking to Ila about totally normal human endeavours.

“ Have you ever sat in a bath in the dark with a little bit of light? It’s actually really soothing as long as you’re not scared of the dark, and it’s really quiet too!” Ila chirps, walking besides the bottle of black tea, Niragi shrugging. He’s never really had the time for himself for something like that. It sounded amazing though, and maybe when he had the time he would do it, even using scented candles and even bath salts. Ila smiles up at him. “ Aww, you really should, you look like you need one!”

“ Wh- Hey! What does that supposed to mean?!” Niragi accuses as he looks down at Ila, who smiles at him.

“ It’s really nice, that’s all! Especially here, where there’s so much violence going on, there needs to be a time to relax and ease your stress!”

Niragi just squints at her, then leaves it be. Ila had good intentions, so he just continues onwards, Dori humming behind Niragi and Ila.

“ If you want to, Niragi, I wouldn’t mind it if you wanted to borrow some of my bath salts! They’re some of my favourites, but don’t expect them to smell like anything. I prefer the unscented ones.” Dori offers Niragi, who just waves off his doppelgänger as they approach the TV room. The group enters, Fanta and Catra hopping onto the couch and claiming it as their own until Niragi shooed them off to sit on the ground instead. Fanta was a lot more nicer about that, Catra baring her teeth a little at Niragi, the overcooked barbecue giving her the disappointed dad look complete with his hand on his hip until Catra finally complied, Ila taking a seat right where the cat was previously, Dori taking the other side of the couch. That left Niragi to the middle, but he doesn’t take a seat just yet, heading over to the DVD case to pick out a movie for them to pass the time with. He pulls out a random case, squinting at the cover.

“ Hey, Sakurada. Why the hell are you on this?” Niragi holds the case up and looks to Sakurada. Sakurada comes over and peers at the case, gasping a little in recognition.

“ Oh! That’s Orange! It’s actually really good!” Dori smiles happily at seeing his face on the cover, even if it was really small. Niragi hums, looking at the cover. He points to the main characters on the cover, squinting at it.

“ The fuck, why are these two on here-“

“ Hm? Oh, that’s just Yamazaki and Tsuchiya! They’re actors as well! I kind of hope they’re alright, I haven’t seen them around lately-“

“ How many of you clone fuckers are out there-“

“ Well technically-“

Niragi holds a hand up, hushing Sakurada. “ Never mind, I don’t care anymore. Let’s just watch this.” Sakurada mutely nods and goes back to sitting on the couch, Fanta hopping back up and splaying his body across Sakurada’s lap, Sakurada chuckling in amusement and giving his dog a few belly tickles. Ila was visibly happy as well, Niragi sliding in the disc and going to sit down as the movie started to run.

Two hours later, and Ila was already talking about the movie and how nice it was, Sakurada nodding along with her as she went on. Niragi remained quiet, admittedly not having paid much attention to the movie or its plot, using it more like background noise and eye candy as he zoned out. He wasn’t really much of a romance drama movie kind of guy anyways, got too mushy for his taste.

Still, no use in spoiling Ila and Sakurada’s joy in the movie. Even Fanta seemed to be joining in on the fun, tail wagging excitedly as he sat there on Sakurada’s lap. Catra had sat at the foot of the couch the entire time, content where she was and occasionally grooming her huge paws and then settling said paws on Niragi’s foot and kneading it. It was a weird experience, but ultimately harmless.

The conversation soon died down, shifting to fashion sense, and Niragi’s attention moves to Ila, more importantly on the hijab on her head. It was actually a pretty salmon colour, and his staring contest with the side of her head went on too long, as his eyes met with a very amused face, Ila blinking and waving a hand in front of his face, snapping him out of it.

“ Is something wrong? Is there like…. lint on my head?”

“ Ah, no- Just wondering why you wear that. I don’t think anyone has seen your hair.” “ Well, men haven’t! That’s kind of the point! I’m a Muslim, and that means women wear these as a sign of modesty.” Niragi tilts his head. Why be modest here? It’s the Borderlands, technically anyone can do whatever they want. Then again, he guesses it applies to wearing it the same way as not wearing it. “ So….. why not?”

“ Well, it’s simple! We want people to not look for appearances and instead look for what’s right here!” She pats her chest, right where the heart was. “ It’s to keep men unrelated to us from seeing something they aren’t allowed to! If you were, for example, to marry a Muslim woman, then she’s allowed to show her hair to you, but only then! Otherwise that’s off limits to you!” Ila explains happily, Niragi slowly nodding and taking in the info.

“ So…. what about the ones that aren’t men?”

“ Then they’re allowed to see my hair! In fact, we, as in Ann, Kuina, Chloe, and Mira have sleepovers over in Kuina’s room! It’s actually really fun! Oh, but immediate male family members are allowed, but that’s it!”

There was a mildly offended gasp from Sakurada, who holds his hand over his heart. “ What? And I’m not invited to them? Even though I look stylish?”

Ila giggles, shaking her head. “ Even if you wear the prettiest dress and the nicest wig, you’re still identified as a male, and can’t be allowed to see my hair, Sakurada! It’s nothing against you, you’re doing great, it’s just how my religion functions between the relationship between men and women! It also means you and Niragi aren’t to touch me, even in a friendly context!” “ Wh- So you’ve never had a hug?” Niragi furrows his eyebrows a little, confused.

“ I have, just not with men.” Ila explains politely, still smiling. “ Being polite and modest is just how we are, that’s all! Of course, some cases of being touched by men are absolutely necessary, like with doctors, but when we can, we highly prefer not to be touched by non-mahram.” Niragi and Sakurada both nod at her words, Fanta barking. Sakurada point to Fanta. “ Does Fanta count?”

“ Well, not really? There’s technically different rules in set for dogs, but that’s for another time.” Ila responds, and gets up with a hum. “ Hey, wanna go see how many plastic ducks we can fit in Chishiya’s room?” Niragi grins, getting up so fast off the couch it almost was like he was ejected from it by a spring and running out the door, Fanta barking and running after him, Sakurada chuckling and getting up at a reasonable pace.

“ Come on, what are you waiting for! Let’s go fuck with the whipped cream pie!” Niragi yells, Ila laughing and following behind him along with the rest of the squad. It was a pleasant evening for some chaos after a nice long chat.

#aib #alice in borderland #aib fanfic #alice in borderland fanfic #niragi suguru #sakurada dori #niragi deserves a cat #I went ahead and did a bit of research to make sure that it was accurate enough-#this was actually really nice to write not gonna lie-#i don't know your stance on eating fried crickets so I kept it mostly vague-#it really just became a part of talking about muslim culture in a normal conversation #a real teaching moment for them :D #yes I included a sakurada acting career reference just because-#p.s. they got 102 ducks in his room before chishiya noticed-#ask

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writersdaydream · 4 years

Text

Open the Door

Prompt: please open the door

Fandom: Hemlock Grove

Character: Roman Godfrey

Word count: 2159

High school is supposed to be the best four years of a teenager’s life. So far; it’s a load of shit. Having a dad in the navy isn’t the easiest thing ever. In my 17 years of life, I’ve had the privilege of moving 6 times to different states. The longest place ever being Oregon, and my favourite. Only one more year until I can move out and be in my own place, living wherever I choose, for however long I choose.

2 years ago we moved to Pennsylvania, and it quickly felt like home. The aesthetic was perfect, the weather was perfect, and for once, I had friends I felt like I could trust. Moving place to place, I found it useless to make friends; keeping the ones I would meet online, never staying long enough to make friends in person. That’s not how Roman saw it however; I still genuinely don’t know if he wanted to keep me close to keep me quiet or if he wanted to be friends.

Whatever the case, we didn’t stay the same; I was quick to discover he was protective over those he gets close to. May be from losing people in the past or just how he was brought up and how he is with Shelly. After saving my life the first time, there was something between us that quickly sparked. Long story short, he’s been my first boyfriend and I would not change anything for the world.

School that day was going by as usual, Roman came to pick me up, we got coffee and were in the parking lot smoking before school started. “What’s on your mind?” He asked, pulling me from a trance, but I just shrugged – not wanting to get into it this early in the morning. “Y/N, I know when you’re lying” but once again I shrugged.

This was the longest my family has ever stayed in one place; we always moved around just to be closer to my father, and it was usually around this time of year that we got news whether or not he would be relocated. I couldn’t say goodbye to this place; Hemlock Grove quickly became my home, no matter how dreary things got or how intense my life would become. I wasn’t ready to give this up. My anxiety was quickly rising, but I didn’t want to bother him with my family issues.

Roman turned to me, his hand on my exposed thigh and looked in my eyes. He always managed to calm me down and get me to start talking but I don’t know if I could tell him this time, I didn’t want to get him in a mood before I knew if anything was happening. Looking anywhere but my boyfriend, I saw it was 8:30 and we had 5 minutes to get to class. “Look, I don’t know if anything is happening, maybe I’m just having a rough day. Anyway, we have five minutes,” and without looking back, I grabbed my stuff and rushed towards the door.

All day, I could feel Roman staring at me. I wanted to look at him, give him some peace of mind – but I knew if I do that, I would start crying. I feel like I can’t leave, this is the one place I have ever lived that made me feel lucky. I had friends, I had a boyfriend, hell, I was supposed to be graduating at the end of the semester – I feel like I can’t let that go, but I had no power whether we moved or not. I’m still a minor, and my mom is legally allowed to drag me everywhere with her.

During lunch I decided to take a walk, try to clear my head and be fresh for the afternoon. Numerous calls and texts from my friends almost prompted me to turn my phone off until I got the one text I have been dreading all day.

We need to talk when you get home

-mama

Tears immediately brimmed my eyes, I couldn’t do it. I can’t leave this place, I’ve built too many things, had too many memories for it to be taken way from me in just two years.

After little debate, I decided I was done with school. It felt as though my heart was slowly being torn in two. I hadn’t even gotten complete confirmation of what was happening or why she needed to talk to me, but it was like a yearly clock work. We are going to talk, she is going to break my heart and we are going to pack up to wherever is closer to dad’s new base.

Where are you? -Rome

Y/N, come on

-Rome

Class is starting, are you skipping?

-Rome

I wasn’t feeling well, decided to walk home

-Y/N

Bullshit

-Rome

☹

-Y/N

With that, I turned on do not disturb and enjoyed my quiet walk home.

Every house I walked by, every tree I saw would just make me more sad; knowing these would be the final times I would see these places. The walk way up the house already confirmed what my mom hasn’t told me; a real estate agent hammering a brand new ‘For Sale’ sign up in the front yard. Tears welled in my eyes, but I quickly shook them away – at this point, I should be used to it.

“Y/N? Is that you?” My mom yelled as the door slammed behind me, no point in trying to hide it – she had already heard my entrance. “Hi” I say, trying not to show the crack in my voice. “It’s only 1, don’t you have class this afternoon?” I shrugged my shoulders, really, I just wanted this conversation to end. “Y/N?” She asked again, but I just shook my head and made my way up to my room. Seeing the collapsed cardboard boxes resting over the door just made more tears well into my eyes. I knew there was no stopping this and I had to agree with what was going on; whether I liked it or not.

Roman

After a couple more texts and no answer from Y/N, I realized I wasn’t going to get anywhere. Glancing at the clock, I had 20 more minutes of class, but I was not in the mood to sit through it. Y/N made class a little more bearable to sit through, and I was losing my mind sitting here. She wasn’t answering, she had told me she wasn’t feeling well; but I had a hunch there was something else going on. “Mr. Godfrey, is there somewhere else you’d rather be?” The teacher asked after I ignored yet another question, so I looked at him. “Yeah, thanks for asking,” and with that, I grabbed my things and left; hearing protests, but not looking back.

I had one thing on my mind, and it wasn’t schoolwork.

Pulling up to Y/N’s house, I immediately found out why she had decided to skip the rest of the day; a large, bright ‘for sale’ sign was posted up in her front lawn. I felt my heart sink, she had told us about her father relocating every so often, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon after her moving here. I kept my eye on the sign, as if staring at it would make it disappear, but that’s not how the world works; it’s also not how being an Upir works, unfortunately.

Shrugging it off, I put my car in park and went to the front door. Looking up at her room, the blinds were drawn, and her windows were closed; she loves hearing and feeling the breeze, so I knew she was sad. My heart broke for her, and all I wanted to do was hold her and make sure she was feeling okay. “Roman! Haven’t seen you in a while” her mother greeted as she opened the door, I smiled gently and accepted her hug. “Sorry about that, things have been a little hectic lately. Uh, is Y/N here?” I asked. “She’s up in her room, I must tell you, she’s in a little bit of a mood,” with that, her mother was down the hallway; most likely going to keep packing.

Stalking up the stairs, I couldn’t help but get chills. Y/N was an emotional person, you can feel her emotions as soon as she steps foot into a room. Either being able to lighten it, and make everyone feel better or at ease, or bring down the room entirely. She is human but has no idea how truly powerful she is. At the top of the stairs, it felt as though a ghost had passed through my body. The entire floor was cold, freezing even, but as I looked around, all doors and windows were closed; the sun was shining outside, I knew this was entirely being brought on due to her mood.

Gingerly, I knocked on the door; not expecting an answer but expecting at least a sign of life. Besides hearing her little cries, it seemed as though the life had been sucked out of here. “Go away mom” she cried, making my heart break, she was clearly upset and it made me upset for her. “It’s me” I whispered, there was a moment of silence, before she turned on her bed – most likely shifting her back to door. “Go away” her voice cracked. Her voice was breaking, telling me she was trying not to cry, but it was no use. I gently tried pushing the door open, but it was no use – she had locked it. “Come on Y/N don’t do that. Please, open the door.”

However, there was no answer.

I knew she was hurting, but I had no idea what to do. “Please” I whispered, starting to feel defeat. Before meeting her, I would have never shown this much weakness to anyone, no matter how close I was with them. That was something about her though, she had so much power it was insane, she knew my strengths and she knew my weaknesses; and she was the main one.

Resting my forehead against the door, I wasn’t willing to give up. Y/N and I were both very stubborn people, she should know better than to assume I would have left.

I don’t know how much time had passed, but I had ended up sitting on the floor outside the door. I don’t care how long it would take, I would not be leaving until I was able to see her, and see how she was doing. I heard movement from her room, and suddenly weight on the other side of the door. “You still there?” She asked, I let out a little smile, turning my head. “I’m still here” I say.

Suddenly, the lock clicked. I knew she had unlocked the door, but I didn’t want to do anything she didn’t want me to. The door had opened, making me stumble and fall back into her body, her arms catching me slightly. “You know, you’re supposed to be in my place” I mumbled, putting a hand on her arm that was around my shoulders. “Let me have this, please” she said.

I did as asked, not daring to move. I could sense how she was feeling, and I didn’t want to do anything to disrupt her peace in this moment.

It was quite a long time before she finally spoke, her cheek pressed against the top of my hair, our hands interlaced. It was a peaceful moment, and if this is all I could give her in moments like this, I would do it ten times over. “We’re moving” she said, tightening her grip on my hand, and I nodded my head – not quite sure what to say to that. “I don’t want to say goodbye Roman; I don’t think I can” her voice cracked for what seemed like the millionth time today, and it shattered my heart. I hate how this girl can do so much, without doing anything at all.

I sighed, trying to think of anything to calm her. I turned in her arms, letting my head rest on her chest. Her heart beating millions of miles an hour, she was anxious out of her mind. “Calm down sweetheart, okay? We’ll do something, I’ll make sure you don’t have to leave” I promised. “How can you Roman? There’s nothing we can do, I have to move, I have to make new friends and start everything over again” she said, moving the hair from my forehead. I couldn’t help but to smile, she was so naïve it was a little cute. “Trust me, you won’t have to. I won’t let you leave,” her pupils dilated at my words. “I promise” I whispered, leaning up to capture her lips in mine.

#roman godfrey #bill skarsgard #roman godfrey x reader #bill skarsgard x reader #roman godfrey imagine #roman godfrey au #roman godfrey fluff #roman godfrey imagines #bill skarsgard imagine #bill skarsgard fluff #hemlock grove #fanfic #writersdaydream #roman #godfrey #fluff #fluff writing

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underthedekutree · 4 years

Text

Young Link might have PTSD - Part 2: Termina is NOT a Parallel World, Technically

This is a continuation of my last post so if you’re seeing this and haven’t read it, go here.

This is the part where I somewhat smoothly segue into Majora’s Mask. Link, lonely and filled with unprocessed trauma, leaves Hyrule in search of Navi. According to most sources (which take from Hyrule Historia probably? don’t quote me on it), Link falls down a hole into Termina, a parallel world to Hyrule, that contains many familiar looking denizens of Hyrule, but playing different roles. And well, if you probably guessed by the title, I have a rather different interpretation.

Okay, so in a nutshell my theory is that Termina is in fact all a dream, kind of like Koholint Island. Except the one dreaming up this world isn’t some deity like the Giants or Skull Kid or the Moon. It’s Link.

(big explainey hoo hah below)

Evidence 1: Link begins the game sleeping. Yes, I know literally every Zelda game begins this way and it’s a whole tradition thing. I am beginning with the weakest points first and working my way up to the strong ones. We’ll get there.

Evidence 2: The reuse of character and environment models from Ocarina of Time. The literal IRL reason for this is of course the game famously being given only one year of production time, which meant that the most practical method was to reuse as much material from MM’s predecessor as possible (eg. Romani Ranch sign is the Kakariko Village sign, and still says Kakariko Village on it). It seems like a rather offhand afterthought for Nintendo to chalk it all up to “oh its just a parallel world like Link to the Past or something. But think of it like this; when we dream, we often see familiar people from throughout our lives put in strange and unexpected situations, like that irritable old farmhand you hated so much is now a depressed circus master for some reason. Dreams don’t make sense. Things you know will mix with other strange inexplicable things, fleeting thoughts in your mind, all roughly tied together by whatever emotions you had been feeling when you went to bed. Malon is split into two people, Romani and Cremia, her older and younger self. This might reflect how Link feels about Malon, that she changed so much in those 7 years that she’s like a different person entirely, that it’s hard for him to process that they are the same, because the change was so shockingly sudden for him.

Evidence 3: Gorons in the snow, Gerudo by the sea. Yes, I know that sounds a lot like good evidence for a parallel world (that’s why the idea is widely accepted in the first place, it has merit), but it also works in as dream world evidence too. As a child, my family was obsessed with skiing. We would go to the same mountain every winter, and we would stay at the same lodge. It almost became like a second home for me. So much so, that one night I dreamed that my house had been replaced by the lodge, so it wasn’t on a snow-capped mountain, but in a bushy Australian suburb. Okay that kinda got off subject but I’m bad at conclusions so in summary Dreams Just Be Like That (tm). You get what I’m saying right? No? Sorry, let’s just move on.

Evidence 4: The Milk Bar. AKA my favourite location in the game! It’s often overlooked as the “haha funny they couldn’t put alcohol in kids game so its kiddy milk hee hee”, but it is actually a strong thematic pillar of Majora’s Mask. As I mentioned in Part 1, if you put a 9 year old in a 16 year old’s body and call him an adult before ripping that all away is probably going to leave the kid with an identity crisis. What is a mature place open at late hours when children are sleeping? A bar. What is a drink associated with the young, being produced for the purpose of helping children grow? Milk. No please don’t go I swear there’s more to this, stay with me. In order to gain access to the bar, Link must prove he is mature enough by wearing a mask, a disguise, like Adult Link is to Young Link. Being adult isn’t earned through years of natural living experience and mental development, it’s a thing you are given by adults to just BE when they deem you worthy, at least from how Link sees it. So that is the amalgamation of dream thoughts that is the Milk Bar. Is it mature? Is it childish? What is the line between the two? Is there one? It’s the culmination of his anxieties and confusions that he doesn’t know how to express. Another, smaller expression of this anxiety is the Clock Town Guards. When Link is a Deku, the guards say they don’t allow children outside the gates. When Link turns back however, the guard goes to stop him because he looks too young, but sees that he has a sword, and lets him pass. Why the sword? Well, in one way this is a callback to Kokiri Forest, where Mido doesn’t let Link see the Deku Tree until he has a sword. But also, what is the item that lets Link travel through time and become an adult in OOT? The Master Sword. Link seems to believe that adulthood is measured by the things you have, physical markers of maturity, which is how lots of children see adulthood. You’re an adult if you can drink, if you’re tall, if you’re married, if you have a house, a car etc. But in reality this isn’t how it works. Heck, I’m technically an adult but I sure as hell don’t feel like one, because I know I still have things to learn about responsibility, patience and all the other things, that can only come with time, which is the moral conclusion of OOT, but clearly Link missed the memo. Don’t get me wrong, there are some indicators to show he’s grown a bit. He can ride Epona, use the bow, do flips like some kind of acrobat etc. But those strange and confused feelings linger, and manifest in the young boy’s dreams.

Evidence 5: The four transformation masks. The four masks represent different aspects of Link’s self, and the way he grew and changed in OOT. Deku Scrub the Innocent, Goron the Confident, Zora the Mature and Fierce Deity the Hero. Link began only knowing the Kokiri Forest, and nothing of the world outside. As he set out on his journey, he grew more confident in his skills and defeated greater foes. When evil took over, he learned from his fatal mistake and worked to right it. And when it was finally time to face the greatest threat, he was ready, with all the heart pieces, bottles full of fairies, Biggoron Sword in hand. At that moment he struck the final blow he probably felt like the strong and unstoppable hero everyone in Hyrule told him he needed to be. And that feeling of pure uncompromising strength, with the whole world behind him, manifested in the Fierce Deity. Fierce Deity is much taller than Adult Link, and packs so much of a punch that he can beat Majora without batting an eye, like some overpowered Super Saiyan. It reminds me a lot of Undertale, with young Asriel becoming what he imagines to be an all-powerful godlike being, like something you’d see as a children’s drawing. Fierce Deity gives off those vibes, like “he has a HUGE SWORD that SHOOTS BEAMS OF LIGHT and he’s 8 FOOT TALL and CAN KILL ENEMIES IN A SINGLE BLOW!!” Before the final battle on the moon, when Majora gives you the mask, he childishly asks if you want to play a game of good guys and bad guys. And the good guy always wins, no matter what. Fierce Deity makes the final boss a cakewalk, but its supposed to.

Evidence 6: Anju and Kafei. Short one, because it falls a lot into everything else I’ve said regarding childhood vs adulthood. Kafei is effectively a switcheroo of what happened to Link in OOT. An adult shrunk back to childhood, uncomfortable in his new body and looking for a way to fix everything. He’s a reflection of how Link now kinda feels like an adult in a child’s body, because he had started to be used to being called an adult.

Evidence 7: The Moon. I haven’t super touched on the main meat of the game yet, so here it is. The moon and the 3 day mechanic is an allegory for constant mounting pressure, that builds and builds, never ceasing, because the world is in danger, and there’s only one person who has been chosen to save it. I’ve always been interested in the Chosen One narrative, and how different media explore the idea of the world’s very existence being pushed onto one person. How at the end of it all, they can never be the same again after all they’ve gone through. When you’re somehow expected to hold up the Moon itself single-handed, and your life and everything you care about suffers because you’re putting everyone else before yourself. That feeling of complete loneliness under a crushing weight, and although other characters may come to help you, in the end its still all down to you, and you never had a choice in any of it, as all the decisions were made by someone else. You must do what they tell you. Believe in yourself, believe...

Evidence 8: Skull Kid. The story goes that long ago in Termina, the Skull Kid and the Giants played together, until one day, the Giants left, leaving the Skull Kid alone and heartbroken, with nobody to turn to. As life moves on, things may change, and people always come and go from your life. Your friend might move overseas, or stop texting you, or you might fall out of friendship after an awkward event from which you could never recover (no, these have totally not all happened to me, shut up i’m fine), or your fairy companion might just disappear without so much as a goodbye after their task is complete. And it feels like you didn’t matter at all. That they never really cared about you, and you’re as easy to drop and move on from as a child’s toy. You might get angry, and want to shut them out, and give them a taste of their own medicine. Majora’s Mask teaches you that this isn’t the case. Life is ever changing, but you will always have the memories of times with your friends, and a chance to make more with new friends, like a sassy talkative fairy sprite and her shy brother or a child made of wood who wants to destroy the world. Friends come from unlikely places, so accept that change will happen and hope that wherever the people you knew are, they’re okay. You’re thinking about them, so they might be thinking about you too. And who knows? Life is unpredictable. They might just come back one day, and it’ll be like they were never gone.

Evidence 9 (the final one, I promise): The Song of Healing. At the end of all things, after losing ones you love, connections to family and friends, memories of things long past... you need time to heal. Link’s journey through Termina is a constant gauntlet of running into his own past traumas, forced to relive them again, and again, and again. But sometimes you should take a deep breath, gather your thoughts, and take time to heal. Although it can be important to confront your fears and learn to surpass them, it is exhausting, and you can end up more emotionally broken than when you started. The three masks all had regrets of powerlessness; unable to protect your community, your loved ones, or even yourself. Troubles you’ve gone through that keep plaguing your mind, and you’re wondering if you’ve done enough, seeking answers where none can be found. And the best thing you can do... is accept and move on. Be kind to yourself, and give yourself time to heal. Link’s way of processing his grief and trauma is to create an entire hellscape world in his own head, but not everyone processes it the same way. Sometimes you feel like you need to busy yourself, or listen to soothing music, or talk to people you trust, or spend copious amounts of money, or make some angst art, or cuddle your plush toys until their stuffing squeezes out. Sometimes life hits you in the face and you want to blame yourself for standing in the firing line, but it’s not your fault. It’s okay to feel however you feel, whether you’re drenched in a pool of tears or you just feel numb, it’s okay and natural. You’re okay. You’re here.

Okay so it got kinda personal at the end there but I hope it was informative, and made you think a little bit differently about Majora’s Mask and Ocarina of Time. You probably want to go back and play them now. Me too.

So was this all just an excuse for me to gush about how cool Majora’s Mask is? Hell fucking yes it was. Congratulations for making it through my monstrous ramblings, you get the secret prize of looking at my weird art on my DA. Here you go. Have a nice day, Zelda Nerds.

#long post #legend of zelda #majoras mask #young link #fierce deity #zelda theory #wow i cant believe i never realised i wrote fuckig outset island instead of koholint im dumby af

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paodequeijofeliz-blog · 4 years

Text

I would do it all again

Ride or Die Fanfiction (characters and main story belongs to Pixelberry Studios).

Pairing: Mona and MC (Annie)

Information: this takes place after the first book.

Summary: After what happened at the parking lot, each member of the crew tries to build a new life, following the “every man for himself” motto. But Annie doesn’t agree with that and tries to pull them back together, especially Mona, who she has been waiting for too many years.

Warnings: none.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 5

I would do it all again - Part 4

Annie felt her eyes closing against her will. Fuck, I need coffee. Didn’t she just have a mug? Things were a blur that morning. The clock struck 11 am, a vison that made her heartbeat speed. Shit, shit, shit, I need to finish these.

It was Sunday, a beautiful, hot, and sunny weekend, but the woman had barely looked outside. The doctorate selection was coming up, one test that could either put her back in college or push into waiting another year. The desk was filled with books, piles and more piles of them mocking her slow reading skills with their old covers and tiny letters. She scratched her eyes one more time before hiding behind hands, a heavy sigh of tire escaping the lungs. Then, something caught her attention.

First, it was the smell. Fresh coffee.

Second, the sound of steps. Low, muffled.

Third, the feeling of an arm holding her by the shoulders.

Annie finally uncovered the face to look up and find Mona’s staring curiously. She had put a mug of coffee on the girl’s desk. “Hey, Mon”.

“Hi, gorgeous.” She tightened the grip around Annie’s shoulders, feeling her melt and relax after placing a kiss on the side of her neck. “I’m not gonna distract you. Just brought more coffee.”

“Thanks. Is it with…”

“Sugar? Yes. Black, extra strong, extra sugar. I know.” Mona gave her a cocky smile. “Want something else? You barely ate breakfast today.”

“No, I’m good. I…” she moaned happily after tasting the coffee. “Good lord, you make great coffee. I think I just had a caffeine orgasm.”

The woman bit her neck, like a punishment. “Don’t sound so surprise, princess. I can do stuff.”

Annie giggled, taking a big gulp before putting the mug back on the desk. Her eyes travelled around the papers and books, but when she felt Mona’s arms loosing up, her hands went fast to hold it there. “Wait, no. Stay. Please. I need a break. Talk to me about Toby. How’s he?”

The Lebanese stopped for a second, hesitating. Then, she turned Annie’s chair so they could face each other, slowly climbing into the girl’s lap. “He’s fine. Let’s talk about something else.”

“What do you have in mind?” Annie leaned back, holding her by the waist. The sunlight shining against Mona’s feature was a vison strong enough to steal anybody’s breath away. “Wait Mon, first, have I already said you look sexy this morning? Cause you do. A lot.”

Mona opened a mischievous smile, fighting the urge to transform it into sex talk. That wasn’t the point now.

“Malika Calil.”

“Who?” Annie tilted her head, confused by the sudden change of subject.

“Me.”

“I don’t underst… Oh. Oh my god. Your name?”

Mona rolled her eyes. “Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

Too late. The girl’s face was all lightened up by now.

“That’s so pretty, and strong, it fits you! I love it. Malika.” For some reason, the sound of it on Annie’s mouth also made Mona love it. “Why are you telling me this so out of the blue?”

“Figured it was time. You didn’t peek so far.”

“Of course. I respect your decisions.” She said softly.

“Yeah, you’re a goody-goody. I know.” Mona teased, earning a dramatic and astonished gasp from her. “But thanks, I appreciate it. Now you know.”

“Which do you prefer?” Annie held her tighter, completely lost on those dark eyes. Suddenly, she felt safer in there. Closer.

“Whatever you choose, I don’t mind.”

“C’mon, there’s gotta be a favourite.”

“My favourite will be ‘boss’ when this auto shop is opened.”

Annie laughed, burring her face on the woman’s chest. “Okay, boss.”

Life could get so light when they were together. Suddenly, the teacher forgot all about her insecurities towards the exam, as the scent of Mona’s parfum slowly involved her like in a hypnosis. A hand stroke down the girl’s hair, brushing it tenderly. After a few moments hidden between her lover’s breasts, Annie spoke again through a muffled voice. “Can you tell me more?”

Mona twisted her lips, wondering what exactly to share. “Well, I already told you my father was a bricklayer. My mother was a designer, she’s the one who taught me how to draw. I have two younger brothers too. Twins. Haven’t seen them in ages. We never fought or anything, just… Life happened, you know. They went to live with our mother’s cousin in California after our parents died. Must be finishing high school this year.”

“I’m sorry about your parents.”

“I’m sorry about yours, too.” Mona kissed the top of the girl’s head, still brushing her fingers through the brown waves. “What else do you want to know?”

“Hm… What’s your favourite colour?”

She furrowed her eyebrows to that question. “Really?”

“Yeah. Why, is that too personal?”

“Humpf.” Mona shook her head, thinking for a second. “It depends. I like it dark. Dark blue, dark purple, black, silver. Red is cool too, for clothes. I don’t think I’ve got a true favourite, but mostly I go for dark blue. Like the night sky. Happy now?”

“Extremely.” Ann finally peeked up to meet the woman’s gaze, a big smile opening to that view. “You’re a goddess. I’m sure of it. No human being can reach this level of beauty.”

“Well, then something’s gotta be wrong here, cause’ goddesses shouldn’t worship humans like I worship you, hotstuff.”

“Oh my, you do know how to make a woman blush, don’t you?”

Months passed as they kept that sweet routine. It was like taking a vacation inside your own house. Movie nights became a thing, both addicted to it, especially since Annie was out for the most part of the day. Every time she would get home to find something paused on the TV and take outs on the table. Mona couldn’t believe how happy someone was able to be while watching Jurassic Park at a Tuesday night. After six years locked up in a nightmare with her ex-girlfriend, it was about time she had a break. Besides, once the auto shop was set to work, things wouldn’t remain so peaceful anymore.

Her and Toby’s plans were to open it right away since most of the tools and licenses were already in order. Ximena was going to have her studio in the back, starting as soon as she could buy new supplies. Mona would be the one divided into these two worlds: working with cars, in the front; but also designing tattoos for Ximena, in the back.

Life had never tasted so damn good.

“Fourteen months and we’re ready to go, people!!” Toby was bouncing in front of the camera, a happy grin on his face.

“Do we really need to wait for my parole to be over? I want to start already.” Mona put her feet up on the table, staring as Ximena scowled on the screen.

“Yes, we do. Mine is over, Toby’s too, now we’re gonna wait for yours. They specifically said you can’t meet with us during parole. Don’t you dare risk it, Mona.”

“Yeah, Mon. It’s not for long. Besides, aren’t you living in a paradise there? Why the rush?”

“I just want to go on with it. Can I start fixing things around here? Maybe painting? I really need to do something.”

“Fixing, yes. But you’re gonna wait for us to paint it. I have ideas.” Ximena lowered her voice, her tone becoming a little more concerned. “And, hm… What about that other subject? Have you… Solved it?”

Mona stiffened. “No. I decided to let it die in prison.”

Before any of them could protest, the sound of a car parking outside alerted her. Without saying goodbye, the Lebanese just closed the laptop and went to open the door for a tired, but smiley, Annie.

“I did it, babe. I nailed that fucking exam.”

“Never doubted you would, gorgeous.” Mona pulled her in by the waist, holding the girl so tight she cofed. “Who knew I would be dating a freakin’ genius one day.”

Annie chuckled, looking up to find her gaze. “So, I went from ‘nerd’ to ‘genius’? That’s an improvement. Now let’s wait and see how long until I go from ‘date’ to ‘girlfriend’.”

Mona arched her eyebrows, surprised. “You are my girlfriend. Dumbass.”

“You never said it before.”

“We have been living together for ten months. It’s implied.”

“Nope. It isn’t. I’ll want it by written with your signature on the bottom. ‘I am Anna’s girlfriend’, in legible lett...”

Mona interrupted her with a deep kiss, suddenly pushing Annie against the closed door and roaming hands down her body. That made her gasp, breathless as the Lebanese kept teasing, following a path of kisses and bites down Annie’s jaw. Every bite came with the whisper of a word.

“You… Are… My… Girlfriend.”

Mona finished the sentence with a small kiss by her earlobe, smirking as she heard Annie’s response.

“Oh, yes. Yes, I am.”

#mona x mc #choices: ride or die #sorry it's smaller this time #probably there'll be more 3 parts

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koalitypop · 5 years

Text

how to make a bookworm fall in love with (all of) you || chapter 1 - “nothing”

pairings: OT7 x reader

tags: love for books, polyamory (in the future)

word count: 2.9k

chapter 2

a/n: all of the books that have been mentioned are real books and i specifically recommend reading “Nothing” - it is one of my favourite books and it is a great read if you are looking for something rather philosophical. i hope you enjoy the piece!

When all 7 members of BTS entered the local bookstore, where you spent every afternoon, surprisingly, you couldn’t be any more annoyed. You could hear that a group of pretty noisy people had entered, but because of the shelves in front of you, you couldn’t see them – all you did was sigh and continue reading the resume of that thriller book you saw everywhere you went.

Books were your biggest passion. They helped you understand yourself better and were your secret escape universe from this tiring awful world. And after years on years, being supported only by fictional characters and magical worlds, you decided to try to surround yourself with books, as they were one of the not so many things, which brought you happiness and comfort.

You treasured the few hours you spent every day in that bookstore a lot and there were many reasons about it - it was really warm and cosy, constantly smelled like tea, wasn’t really bright and, most importantly, it was located in the rather calm place in your neighbourhood. It totally fit your imaginations for the best bookshop.

“Yaah, it smells really good in here”, a boy exclaimed somewhere in the bookstore.

You rolled your eyes, irritated. Was it necessary for this boy to scream?

Many steps coming from different places and a boy’s shade on your right - someone was getting closer to you. “It must be one of those punks” you instantly thought. It wasn’t hard for you to imagine their hands scrunching and creasing the books or not putting them in the correct place, making cold shivers creep down your back. Such a disrespectful attitude towards books wasn’t something you could tolerate.

The resume of that thriller book sounded promising, but you put it back at its place and decided to continue wandering around, hopefully not meeting any of those nasty sounding people.

You turned left twice, going to the Young Adult section of the bookstore. The quantity of Young Adult books was astonishing, especially for a bookstore, which wasn’t a part of chain stores. Young Adult wasn’t exactly your favourite category when it comes to books, but as every other thing in regard to books, it was worth a try. Despite that, your favourite book was categorised as Young Adult one.

A new hardcover edition of Looking for Alaska. Not your all-time favourite, but still a very good read. The new edition was really beautiful, still mostly black as the origina-.

“Gosh, those idiots again!”

Someone ran into the section out, almost breaking one shelf, making you turn your gaze to him in shock. That person looked pretty interesting - wearing a very old-looking coat, with wide pants and a Ravenclaw sweater underneath, a pretty ridiculous outfit, which however looked gorgeous on him. If you could only see his face, his stupid baseball cap getting in the way.

The boy looked at you and sighed. “Ah, sorry-” at first starting in Korean, “Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you,” then he continued in a very bold American accent.

He made a bow-like movement and continued looking for whatever he was looking for. Fortunately, you were able to get a few glances of his face. Olive tan, beautiful brown hair and sinfully plump lips, as his tall and fit figure wasn’t seductive enough. It was a miracle to see such a handsome boy in a bookshop.

He cursed behind you, obviously not finding the book. You were trying to carry on with the resume, when after one not very well-coordinated clumsy movement, he was standing dangerously close to you, still searching.

You tried not to send curious glances every two seconds, but, God, it was so damn hard. His eyes jumping around the shelves in between the tittles, trying to find one, so focused, with his lips slightly opened, making him look immensely cute.

Someone shouted something from the other end of the bookstore. And then, you remembered.

He must be a part of this noisy group, which entered a few minutes ago. He probably wasn’t so smart as he seemed, maybe he spoke English, because he’s Korean-America, despite not looking as one. He's probably buying a book for his girlfriend, as a late gift for an anniversary. Or for a cousin. Definitely not for himself.

“I found it!” he screamed, pulling a book out.

Nothing by Janne Teller. Your favourite book.

Okay, this changed the things a lot. You could say something, you had the rights to do so. Maybe, just maybe, you were a bit too harsh on him, maybe he truly was buying the book for himself, maybe he’s even a bookworm, just like you. You could just simply praise him, nothing overboard, only acknowledging the fact that he has made a great choice.

“Good choice. It’s my favourite book.” you remarked in Korean.

The boy turned to you so fast, you were afraid he would bump into you just as he did a few minutes ago into the shelves.

“It’s mine too! I reread it every mon-… Wait, you speak Korean?” he was so excited to speak about the book, it took him some time to figure out that you are speaking in his native language, despite obviously not being Korean.

“Would I be looking for a book in a Korean bookstore, if I didn’t?” you chuckled. Pronunciation, accent – you sounded as a native speaker.

“You speak really well! It’s surprising. Korean is a very difficult language and not many people are able to speak as well as us Koreans do! Not that you look dumb, I mean you look nice, even smart... Oh, God, don’t mind my blabbering.” he ended up getting all shy and blushing.

“It’s alright, I get that a lot.” you laughed more at his cuteness than at his words.

It seemed like he was interested, so you had to give it a try and follow. And how could you not, such a man shouldn't be passed.

“I am Namjoon.” he added, giving you his hand for a handshake.

“Y/n.” you simply replied, taking it shyly.

“So, you said that Nothing is your favourite book?” Namjoon said, his voice full of excitement.

“Yeah, it is. I mean I love numerous books, but Nothing changed me. It’s written so well and the plot is fantastic. The fact that the author used children to be the main characters of such book, that is such a bold decision and she could have failed so many times...” you blurted out before being interrupted by Namjoon.

“I know, right! It sends such a deep philosophical message! Gosh, I am so happy I found a fellow lover of Nothing. Most of my friends can’t really understand the book or just don’t read it, because they find it too tough. I hate it when people are afraid of reading books with philosophical messages, just because there isn’t any action or so!” Namjoon continued, gesturing around.

“Namjoon-ah, did you find it?” a tired raspy voice asked with a slightly higher tone.

“Yeah, I found it” Namjoon waved his friend off with an eye-roll.

“Wait a minute”, you continued, pretty suspicious, “you said that Nothing is your favourite book and you reread it every month, but why are you buying another copy then?” your brows scrunched, thinking you had caught him in a lie.

“I know that it sounds really dumb, but my roommate’s dog ruined it. You don't want to know about the argument we had afterwards. Thank God, the copy wasn’t signed or he would be dead.” Joon explained.

“No, it’s fine, I got you. I have heard and seen this, numerous times,” you tried to laugh the situation off, feeling the conversation dying, hoping that Namjoon would say something else.

“You have a dog?”

“Oh, no, no, I don’t...”

“A dog person?” He tried to guess.

“More of a cat person actually.” you laughed, your eyes focusing on the slight smile on his lips.

“Just like Jimin. He’s another one of my roommates, and he loves cats. Unfortunately, we hardly make time to take care of Yeontan”, that must be the dog, “what about another pet. But, you see, there is another one of my roommates, his name is Yoongi, and he kinda has some cat looks, so Jimin must be fine, I guess. Oh, I talk too much, sorry for being so annoying.” Namjoon got all shy again.

“You’re not annoying, not at all. I can reassure you, you are a great person to talk to. But, with how many people do you live with? I mean, you have already mentioned three roommates and a dog.” you laughed slightly at the very end.

“Well, I actually live in a dorm with my six members. We are in a group, like a musical group, like a boy band.” Namjoon explained again and again.

“Yeah, I got it the first time.” you smirked.

“Goodness, I don't know what is happening to me, really, I am not like this usually.” Namjoon got all red and flustered.

All shy and confused – was it because of you? Well, maybe not, but still you had to continue, the moment too alluring to overthink right now.

“No worries, it’s cute, you're cute.”

God, Y/n, shut up. Now that was a little too much.

He smiled.

Okay, a smile, a smile is good, not too promising, but good. Maybe he likes you, or at least thought that you weren't a weirdo or a psycho.

Why were you thinking so much about it?

“Have you picked up anything?” Namjoon asked.

A book. Any book. Just pick one, Y/n!

You were in panic. Pure panic. Which book should you pick up? If you just pick any book, randomly, there is a very high chance that you will pick up a not well-written book, a bad one, about a certain uncomfortable theme or just a book, which he doesn’t like.

The thriller!

“Yeah, there is one at the thriller corner, which caught my eye!”

You weren’t lying. That resume of that book sounded promising and you wouldn’t mind buying it now, as you didn’t have any particular idea what you want to read.

“Do you usually read thriller books?” he asked, leading you to the thriller corner.

“I wouldn’t say so. You see, most of the time, I just want to read a certain type of book – sometimes I want to read something rather philosophical, sometimes I want to read fantasy, sometimes I look for historical novels. It depends on my mood, I guess.” you simply answered, trying not to sound indecisive.

“Literally, same. I just don’t get it how people read the same type of books they whole lives. It’s like being at the same place your whole life.”

Namjoon’s comment made you smile, he was so cute gesturing around.

You picked up the book. Just the thought of buying a book made you feel happy – a new world you can explore, new characters to meet. The same way people were excited before going on a vacation, you were when you were buying a book, and truly, there wasn’t anything more normal for you than that.

“Stone Bruises by Simon Beckett. Interesting.” Namjoon murmured, peeking over your shoulder to see the title of the book.

“Have you read it?” you asked, tuning over to meet his face, incredibly close to yours.

“Never heard of it.” Joon giggled.

“No matter what I do or where I go, I always see it, so, I guess, I should read it. It sounds promising.” you explained, turning your head back to the book, embarrassed by the closeness.

“That might be your next favourite book then.” he mentioned, moving a little, so that he isn’t so close to you.

“Oh, I don’t want to compare any other book to Nothing, I always end up disappointed afterwards” you laughed, heading to the pay desk.

“I got you” he added, somewhat putting an end to your conversation.

Oh, no.

You didn’t want the conversation to end. It shouldn’t end. He was cool and smart and... God, so handsome. And even if you had no chance with him, at least you should try.

You had nearly reached the pay desk, once you both pay for the books, you would go out of the bookstore and that was it. The end. He wouldn’t ask for your number, why would he, you hadn’t even spoken for a long time or flirted at all. And his friends? They would for sure start to make noise again. That was it. No chance. You couldn’t even come up with an idea what you should say, panicked and scared that you might say something incredibly stupid.

“You have managed to make another one to buy Nothing!” the boy at the pay desk exclaimed.

“No, it is actually my favourite book too, I just need another copy” Namjoon laughed, showing off the book.

This was the perfect chance to tell him something. About the book? No, he already knows everything, it’s his favourite...

“So, Y/n has found a fellow Nothing fan then? Knowing how many people love this book, you might be soulmates.” the cashier teased, taking the book from Namjoon’s hands.

Soulmates? Literally, he had to say that?

You sent the boy behind the desk a very angry look, ready to say something to make the situation better, being interrupted by a loud thud.

And, of course, his friends!

“Yah, Park Jimin just don’t pick such big books with your small hands, you always end up dropping them. I am so tired of your messes, really!” the boy started by screaming, but was whining at the end, talking ever so fast.

“Sorry, hyung...” another boy whispered.

Namjoon left the pay desk, going to his friends, leaving you without giving you any time to say something.

“Hyung, it wasn’t actually Jimin who made a mess.” Namjoon sighed.

“Ah, and how do you know? You weren’t even her-”

“Would you stop screaming?” Namjoon cut him off, a few sighs following his words.

You couldn’t hear what Namjoon was exactly saying to his friends. You were just so disappointed in the fact that your conversation has ended like this, only being able to think about all the bright future you could have had with him if you had found something to tell him when you could. You paid for your book, your mood a bit parky after this development of the events, ready to continue with all the other stuff you had to do today.

“Guys, this is Y/n. Y/n, these are some of my roommates – Jimin, Jin and Yoongi.”

Dear Lord, these men were handsome!

Jimin was a not so tall man with an angel-looking face, sinfully plump raspberry-pink lips adding to his beauty. His blue shirt did more than enough to show his bulked up upper body. He was carrying a small book in his hand, The Notebook in particular.

On the other hand, there was Jin – tall, fit and exceptionally handsome, staring at you with deep brown eyes. His enormous shoulders made him look even hotter, while the cute Super Mario bag charm on his backpack was telling you about a rather childish and cite side of him.

Last, but definitely not least, there was Yoongi, again, not so tall, a bit pale, but hot as hell, licking his small pink lips, while looking directly into your soul. Truly had some cat vibes going on. The headphones around his neck and his overall a bit baggy clothes didn’t let you know much about his figure, but you were already thinking about who exactly you were interested in, now as you have seen pretty much half of this band.

“I’m Y/n!” you smiled, trying to empty your hand.

“You speak Korean?” Jimin asked, his lips parted open, all pouty and cute.

“Yes, I actually live here” you said trying to put some more confidence into your voice.

Then, again, as always, your conversation was interrupted. Now, by the barking of a dog outside.

“Oh, Yeontan must be getting angry, we have left him for too long outside.” Namjoon said, gesturing to the other boys to get outside, while waving bye to the boy behind the pay desk.

This for sure was a weird end.

“Bye!” the cashier waved at you, smiling.

You waved back, sighing. It wasn’t meant to end like this.

You exited the bookstore, being met by the frisky wind of Seoul.

“Y/n, wait a minute!”

Namjoon?

You turned around, hoping for the best.

God was finally at your side.

“I’m sorry that I got out so quickly, it’s just, we have to take extra care of Yeontan, he is a small dog, you know” Namjoon was about to start blabbering again.

Just behind him, you saw Yoongi, Jin and Jimin and another three figures, all squatted down, surrounding a very sweet-looking dog.

“Oh, yeah, I got you, no worries” you tried to laugh it off, being mesmerised by his looks, now that you can see him at light.

“You see, I was hoping we can exchange numbers. So we can text and stuff like that. Or maybe KoalaTalk?”

Damn, yes, God was at your side.

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turkoftheslums · 4 years

Text

Anonymous asked: Who are some of your favorite people on your dash every day and why?

‘Ello, nonnie.

Pretty much everyone I follow can be counted as a “favourite person” but I’ll tag all the people whose chats I have up on the side of my screen because otherwise this post will end up longer than my combat analysis (I know, I know, I haven’t posted it yet and it’s been months).

I may have wrongly assumed some pronouns here so please let me know and I will fix them asap. 💙

@missionheartcd - Kyrill is absolutely lovely and we’re both always up for whatever the other is thinking. Our first in-character interaction was when chasiingrain’s Jessie gave her Tseng a cat and he was looking for assistance from his Turks so Reno was like “Can I offer you a nice lint roller in these trying times?” and then our next interaction out of character was me launching into her DMs like “LOOK I know we’ve only interacted once but I have this image in my head and I need to tell you about it” and she was completely up for me hopping into her inbox, no questions asked.

@rude-at-your-service - not a day goes by where I don’t think of V and sing his praises (even just to myself). We’ve been mutuals for almost 5 whole years now (he was the 8th blog I followed when I made this account) and he somehow put up with my silly childish knobbyness back then. But we’re big bros now with mutual love for our muses who call each other bro and he gets a free pass on my 1 thread per blog rule (which I need to reword in my rules) - if only because our other thread is almost done and I don’t shut up about soft Reno and Rude content lmao.

@chainedbydarkness - I don’t really know the mun all that well (I think their name is Jay? Because of their Discord name my brain calls them that name automatically but we’ll use Jay for the sake of this). Jay seems like a really nice person and they play Bakura who is, like, my favourite character in Duel Monsters (and the abridged series, even though I do a better Marik impression than (Yami) Bakura) and I really like how they’ve implemented Bakura into the FF7 universe by making him a medic. They’ve been bundled by work lately so I don’t see them as often on my dash but I hope they’re doing well!

@wedgeofavalanche - Jess is awesome. She has some really cool ideas and just a delight to talk to. Her wings AU is awesome and so well thought out. I still need to continue on from that one ask meme I sent ages ago where Wedge was to listen to Reno’s heartbeat (because I’ve had this one funny idea in my head ever since and I know she’ll love it)!

@shutupreno - This mun. This mun is awesome. I think the mun uses he/him pronouns but please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. He is one cool bean and I always love when he pops up on my dash. I’m really glad that’s he’s around and I’m thankful for the support he offered me when I was trying to power through my uni work.

@reno2ndgun - If you want another Reno with a hysterical sense of humour, please check out this mun. They’re chill to talk to (hell, I was even messaging them last night about what I’m storyboarding) and we occasionally hit other up at random intervals just to chuck random shit at each other. A delight of a mun and I love having a nosy at some of their threads.

@chasiingrain - I. Love. Light. I can’t even remember when or why we started talking, it just sort of happened - probably because of the screen cap posts. She is my main Reno dealer and I can’t wait for part 2 of the remake to come out because I’m certain I’m gonna be sent a random 4K Reno tiddy or two from her and it’s gonna be great. We also recently found out we knew each other from my XV days which is pretty awesome. Her blog always lights up my dash (( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I’m not sorry) and I love the relationship we’ve built up between Jessie and AVALANCHE Verse Reno.

@dimidiumseras - Rain is a frickin’ delight. Been following them since 2015 and I’ve loved their art ever since. I might have freaked a little when they followed me back because it was like “No! You’re quality! Why are you following me?!” Still not gonna get over the Turks as Minions doodle though. And I’m the reason they’re plagued with Me? Gongaga posts all the more these days. :3c They send funny images and videos to me pretty much every day and I pay it back in kind with more funny images, TikToks and shitposts.

@soraofdestinyislands - We don’t talk as much as we should but it’s always great to see them on my dash! I did accidentally contribute to encouraging Sora to drink that one time a few weeks ago but he had two irresponsible adults watching over him so it was fiiiiiine. Also I don’t know why but I always laugh when I see their Sora swearing on my dash and I’ve a mix of “No sweetie! Don’t swear!” and “YES! YEEEEESSSSS!” when it happens. So yeah lmao.

@renoltage - Faye is awesome. I think about her quite often and hope she’s doing okay. I can feel her love and adoration for Reno through her portrayal and I hope her muse comes back to her soon. I miss seeing her blog on my dash.

@that-turk-laney - And here’s my partner in crime, Mia. I don’t remember who followed who first but we always through ideas and art back and forth and she helps me find words I’m looking for. I love seeing her posts on the dash and she’s one of the many I have notifications on for (so if you see me liking your posts as soon as they go up, I have notifications on for you lmao). Batting general thoughts and ideas back and forth with Mia has really helped me develop Reno over the past few months and– it’s just been awesome.

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balancingdiet · 5 years

Text

Tabula Rasa

Detective Conan & Magic Kaito Characters: Shinichi/Kaito Words: 3100 ish Chapter: (1) … (18) (19) (20)

Shinichi always finds his neighbour weird. But he didn’t expect to find his neighbour lying on a patch of grass and donned in Kaitou Kid’s costume, too.

Dear Diary, 24 Dec

Hello! Before I start, let me first introduce myself. My name is Aoko, and I like to cook and volunteer at the hospital. There’s always this sense of accomplishment whenever people enjoy my cooking and company, and it makes me happy when they are happy!

What else... Oh, I haven’t thought of what I want to be when I grow up, but I do have lots of inspirations around. First of all, my dad is a Police Inspector! And Kaito, my childhood friend/neighbour is an amazing magician! Both Keiko and Sayaka, my close friends in high school, aspire to be a baker! Yuna too, wants to be a vet.

Ok, I think I’m starting to drift away from the main topic... Anyway, this notebook was a gift from Kaito. Or not. He said he got it as a complimentary item for some stuff that he bought online... But well, the fact that he even thought of me is already pretty sweet.

I originally wanted to use this book to do my homework, but Keiko suggested writing a diary with it, so I shall give it a go! Let’s see how long this diary-keeping thing will last (^-^)v

Dear Diary, 4 Jan

Bakaito got a cold today.

Okay. Let me rephrase that.

Kaito got a cold today.

Well, I guess he doesn’t deserve to be called Bakaito when it was sort of my fault that he became sick... But he’s so stupid! Yesterday, I told him I needed help because I sprained my ankle at the supermarket, and he came WITHOUT HIS COAT. It was such a long way home! What was he thinking??

But yeah... so now we’re both stuck at home. Me with a sprained ankle and him with a fever... I guess I can't see Kaito's ice skating fails any time soon! (≧∀≦)

Dear Diary, 22 Jan

Today, Kaito and I went to volunteer at the hospital.

We found out that Mika-chan’s dad passed away last night.

This is so horrible... Mika-chan loved her dad so much.

When I heard the news, I couldn't control myself and had to cry in the bathroom while Kaito started the magic show on his own.

I felt bad. The atmosphere wasn't great and Kaito wasn't in his best condition either, yet he still put on a smile the entire time.

Ended up, his performance cheered me up too.

I don't know what I'd do if Kaito wasn't there.

Dear Diary, 1 Feb

( •̀ω•́ )σ ( •̀ω•́ )σ ( •̀ω•́ )σ

KAITOU KID SUCKS

KAITOU KID!!!!

SUCKS!!!

( •̀ω•́ )σ ( •̀ω•́ )σ ( •̀ω•́ )σ

Dear Diary, 28 Apr

It’s been a few months since Kaitou Kid returned.

I never like him, and will never understand why everyone treats him like a celebrity either. But now... I think I should start viewing this from another perspective.

Since Kid first disappeared, and also mom’s death... I rarely see dad ever energised for anything. But after Kid returned, he's so much more motivated to go to work now. Speaking of which, dad was on his way out to the office before I went to school this morning. He even agreed when I suggested to make and deliver him bento dinner. He never wanted them the last time, just because...

But even though I’ve decided this MAY be the best for dad, that DOESN’T mean I will EVER tolerate Kid’s criminal ways!! Dad is definitely gonna catch him in the end, and by then, let’s see if he can still walk around in his costume!!

Seriously though, what’s with his hat.

He looks stupid.

(」ﾟﾛﾟ)｣

Dear Diary, 18 May

Today, Kaito and I went to Tropical Land.

I know I should at least be a bit happier when I had so much fun, but I still feel a little bad... especially when the reason why I asked Kaito out in the first place was because I thought he was Kaitou Kid! Or at least that was what my dad thought.

But in the end, I’m glad Kaito proved my dad and I wrong.

How can he be Kaitou Kid anyway?

I think I owe Kaito more than just an ice cream treat for ever doubting him. Maybe I should ask him out to Tropical Land again properly next time. And then we’ll have real loads of fun!

Dear Diary, 30 May

EDOGAWA CONAN THE KID KILLER IS MY NEW IDOL!!!

I have no idea who this kid is, but he’s really, really smart and cute! And comparing to all the Kid’s fans out there, I can’t believe it’s A CHILD that knows what’s right and wrong...

Hakuba-kun always uses the right words to irritate Bakaito, but I think the name “Edogawa Conan” has more effect on him. If I could get an autograph... I think it would be the best thing to use to tease Kaito and his stupid obsession with Kaitou Kid! (｀▽´)

Dear Diary, 21 June

Today is Kaito’s birthday!!

I used to always buy him magic crafts and gadgets from our local bookstore, but now that he has the capabilities to make his own tricks, it’s a definite no-no! I considered bringing him to his favourite Ramen store, but I figured it’d be the easiest to just ask what he wanted to do or eat instead.

Guess what was his answer?

He said he wanted me to teach him how to cook fried rice.

I was like what?? That’s it? And he said yeah. So we spent the entire day getting the ingredients at the supermarket before going over to my house. It was easy and Kaito got the steps fast, but... silly Kaito. I mean... if he ever wants to eat it, he can tell me and I can always cook it for him.

But oh well! It’s nice to know Kaito wants to learn something else besides magic tricks. I had fun teaching him anyway. And I believe he had fun too!

As long as he’s happy, I think that’s all that really matters.

----

“Kudo-kun!”

Shinichi shut the notebook and turned, watching as Takagi walked to close their distance on the rooftop. Keeping the book inside the pocket of his suit jacket, Shinichi greeted back.

“I thought you’re taking a break.” Takagi gestured to Shinichi’s suit once he stood beside him. “Turns out you’re reading your notes? For a case?”

“No, it’s not anything related to work.” Shinichi afforded a smile, but there was just so much his lips could move as his heart squeezed at the thought of Kaito.

Takagi nodded understandingly and said nothing more, which Shinichi couldn't be any more thankful for. “Anyway, I’m not sure if anyone told you since you missed this morning’s debrief, but a new division is on its way.”

“Yeah, Inspector Megure did tell me,” Shinichi said.

“I’m so glad things are going back to normal for us again.” Takagi heaved out a relief sigh after a long stretch. “And maybe by then, you can also focus on what’s worrying you all these while.”

Shinichi blinked. “...What?”

Takagi raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been worrying about something, or someone, haven’t you?”

"Um..."

“I may be wrong, and I’m sorry if I am. It’s just that I noticed some similar things in you that I had whenever I worried for Miwako-san.” Takagi scratched the back of his head. “I hope things are okay for you.”

“...Thank you.” Shinichi turned and looked over the view beyond the roof. “Anyway, you’re not wrong. There’s someone I’ve been worrying about recently.”

And that was all Shinichi could say.

It wasn't just for the sake of Kaito’s privacy or identity. The truth was, Shinichi had no idea what to do besides worrying. And this was the first time he felt so, so useless in this entire decade of his life.

He pressed a hand over his suit, feeling the bulge from the notebook.

“Then I hope things will work out for that person too...” Takagi’s voice trailed off as his brows furrowed in concern. “Actually, is he or she someone I know? I’ll be more than glad to help if I can.”

“No, you don’t know him... but he did knock you out disguise as you before,” Shinichi muttered at the end.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Shinichi smiled. “Thanks for your concern. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem.” Takagi slapped a hand over Shinichi’s back. “We’re a team after all.”

----

Dear Diary, 16 July

Kaito has been pretty busy lately. And tired. Yes. Definitely tired.

I thought it was related to his track-and-field club and went to ask Chihaya-chan, but she said there wasn’t any recent competition lately. In fact... Kaito hasn’t been an active member since many months ago.

I then asked Kaito a few times about it, but he always deflected my questions and started talking about other things. And that is ALWAYS his habit. Guess what, BAKAITO??? The more you try to avoid, the more obvious it becomes! <(｀^´)>

I'm so frustrated at him, but you know what’s even more frustrating? It’s the way he never fails to make me want to forgive him in the end even though I should have stayed angry at him longer. Always giving me those pretty roses and placating me with Tamago...

So SO FRUSTRATING!!

Dear Diary, 11 Aug

Kaito fell asleep in class again.

It’s not like I’m worried for his grades when he never needed to pay attention in class to score well (;¬_¬) What I’m worried about is his health.

I’ve already given up asking why and what he is exactly busy with, but I’m afraid he’d started stressing himself to attend the volunteering sessions with me, just because he doesn’t want me to worry...

I’m grateful, and forever will be, for those days when he accompanied me to visit my mom and even signing up for the volunteering program just for me. I’m really, really grateful for all he has done and all that he is doing now, but what I want is to be able to help Kaito, to lift whatever burden he is carrying... And what I want even more is for him to trust me. Trust me enough so that I can do all those things I want to do for him...

Just... ugh.

Stupid, stupid Bakaito...

Dear Diary, 9 Sep

Today is my birthday.

We didn't have school and Keiko asked why I didn’t take the opportunity to hold a party, but to be honest, it slipped my mind. I had been so busy with homework and worrying about... well, yeah.

Dad has work, but he wished me early in the morning before he went. Keiko, Sayaka and Yuna came over to my house and baked a cake for me. Everyone in the hospital helped to celebrate too when I went to volunteer in the evening. Kanna-chan even made a bracelet as a gift! Having a party or not, I still feel extra loved today.

As for Kaito... he had wished me in the morning through a text, but I didn’t see him all day. He must be busy.

It’s fine anyway. There’s always next year.

OH my god. Bakaito CAME.

Guess how did he do it?! He had climbed up to my balcony and scared the hell out of me! AND HE STILL HAD THE CHEEKS TO SAY HE WAS 12 MINUTES EARLY. He must be some monkey in his past life! ヽ(ಠ_ಠ)ノ

He then asked me to follow him to his backyard. Like, seriously, he could have called or texted me on the phone instead of climbing up to my balcony... but beside the point, I followed while he led the way.

And turns out this Kaito... He had cultivated a bush of blue roses as a gift for my birthday.

Oh boy... It is really, really beautiful!!!! And I think I must be so overwhelmed that I just... sort of pounced onto him as a form of...thanks. (//∀//)

I called it a hug, and he called it an attempted murder.

Then with only 3 minutes left, he sang me a birthday song with Wasabi and Curry sitting on his shoulders while Tamago sat on his head. I think I hadn’t laughed that hard since ages.

And I think I hadn’t seen Kaito looked so bright and cheery for a long time.

He told me to make a wish afterwards. But to be honest, I don’t think I needed one.

At that point of time, I felt as though all my wishes had already come true.

Dear Diary, 1 Nov

With the way Bakaito has been handling his life, I knew he will fall sick sooner or later...

He’s now down with a cold and a fever and has been missing from school for three days.

I was so tempted to tell him a ‘I told you so,’ when I dropped by his house for a visit, but I rather Kaito get well soon than to jinx him any further. He kept on drifting in and out of his sleep too, and it pained me when I saw him like that.

I stayed till dinner time and had to force feed him the porridge I cooked, while convincing him that I DID NOT put any fish in it for about 90 times. He seemed to care more about the non-existent fish than his fever and the medicines he hadn’t eaten. Silly Bakaito.

Maybe I should visit him tomorrow again.

Dear Diary, 2 Nov

Today, Kaito got admitted to the hospital. He’s getting proper treatment, but he’s still sick, which is why it’s getting worrisome. This is the first time he’s been sick for so long.

And luckily Jii-chan was around... Or I don’t know what to do alone...

Dear Diary, 3 Nov

Kaito Kaitojis Kaito iskasit

Kaito is Kaitou Kid.

The portrait of his dad in his room... I thought it was just an ordinary portrait. I thought...

I’ve thought so many things.

I just wanted to pack Kaito’s clothes. I don’t know why I heard a sound behind the portrait. I don’t know why I decided to give it a push. I don’t know why the portrait could flip.

I don’t know why I ended up in another room.

I... don’t know.

In the end, I had to lie to Jii-chan that I had something urgent and couldn’t bring Kaito’s clothes.

I can’t face Kaito.

I just can’t.

But then... What should I do now?

Dear Diary, 6 Nov

Kaito is well.

That’s all that mattered for now.

Dear Diary, 7 Nov

THIS BAKAITO. DID HE SERIOUSLY SEND A HEIST NOTE RIGHT AFTER HE RECOVERED?!

WHY IS HE DOING THIS TO HIMSELF.

Dear Diary, 10 Nov

It’s been a long time since I went to Kid’s heist.

Tonight’s loot was a golden sapphire, and it was held inside a museum of a very, very wealthy man... And thanks to dad, I got into the museum and avoided being squashed by the crowd that were cheering outside, but I wasn’t allowed to hang out at the main area. I went to the security room instead.

The heist lasted around ten minutes, which was quite typical, based on what I heard from dad. Blackout. Smoke bombs. Escape. But for that ten minutes, dad had spent the entire day with the Task Force and the owner, just to prep enough to take down Kid.

And as for Kaito... he probably used hours and hours to plan, hours and hours to prepare, and hours and hours to do all of everything for this... and yet after a day or two, he would return the loot back in great condition...

Why?

I can’t figure Kaito out . Or Kaitou Kid. All these things... they don’t make sense. And if I can’t understand, I can’t find any reason to forgive Kaito.

But I want to.

I really want to.

Why is he making it hard for me to do so?

Dear Diary, 14 Nov

What should I do?

Dear Diary, 16 Nov

What should I do?

Dear Diary, 20 Nov

What should I do?

Dear Diary, 22 Nov

What should I do?

Dear Diary, 28 Nov

At the rate Kaito is sending his heist notes, I’m pretty sure he’s going to fall sick again, what’s more the weather is getting really cold soon... How does Kaitou Kid keep himself warm in his costume? And that hat... it’s just ridiculous.

Everything is ridiculous...

Maybe I should have made a wish when Kaito asked me to on my birthday.

Maybe I should have told him how I feel.

Maybe.

I don’t know anymore.

Dear Diary, 24 Dec

This diary is one year old now.

How time flies so fast...

Oh, and it’s Christmas tomorrow too. Keiko had invited me to her house to celebrate, and I think I’m going to go.

It’s the only place I could go.

Dear Diary, 18 Jan

During the volunteering session today, Kanna-chan told me she missed Kaito and his magic shows.

It’s good to know I’m not the only one too.

But even though I feel that every single day, being told about it by someone else caught me off guard, and I didn’t really know how to response. So I just... told her he will drop by soon...

I think Kanna-chan wasn't convinced though, which isn't strange. I mean... I'm never a great liar after all. But it's ironic how Kaito hasn't seen through the things I've been hiding from him until now.

----

Shinichi reached the last written page of the book.

(But it wasn’t the end. In fact, there wasn’t an end.)

He brushed a finger at the bottom of the page, feeling the creases caused by the countless blotches of dried, water stains...

Shinichi closed the book.

Of course he knew better, but it was easier, and nicer, to think it was simply water and nothing else.

#kaishin #dcmk #detective conan #Kuroba Kaito #kudo shinichi #tabula rasa

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hailene · 5 years

Text

Perfect Imperfection (2)

Perfect Imperfection| part two

Characters: Jaemin x female lead, Chenle x female lead (the girl will go by the name of Aeri)

Genre: fluff, angst, writer!au, highschool!au

Word count: 4.1K

Summary: Aeri is the teenager who writes. Finding inspiration in anything surrounds her, her ideas go wild once she meets the perfect character, Na Jaemin. As a writer becomes obsessive with their favourite character, Aeri grows a weird passion for the bright boy. However, she's so focused on painting Jaemin as perfectly as possible, that she ignores the furry of fiery hair that takes her to night walks and shows her secret places around the town. Despite knowing everything, she forgets that playing with fire means getting burnt. And that sometimes, when we remember to stop, it's too late.

part one》part two》part three

I knock at the front door and wait patiently for somebody to open it. The small chance that Chenle has already read my notebook was bothering me deep down and all that I wanted was to have my stories back.

I hear footsteps approaching the door and a few seconds later, it opens.

"He-..."

And Jaemin looks at me surprised.

"...y." I whisper, still stunned by the sutuation. "And sorry for bothering you, I must've got the wrong address."

Lee Donghyuck, you little piece of shi-...

"Hey, Aeri!" He smiles. "Come in, you're not bothering me."

"It's really just a misunderstanding, I'll leave so-..."

"No, really, come in. Do I not deserve an explanation at least?" He asks on a serious tone but smiles warmly.

I sigh and follow him inside. His house was far from being something you’d call “too much”. It looked cosy and warm, spacious enough and it looked like it would smell like baked cookies on a Saturday evening. However, it was lacking something, it made me feel like I shouldn’t be here.

Well, of course, I really shouldn’t be here, but-...

"So what brings you in Nana land?" He asks, closing the door behind me.

I smile as I take my shoes off.

"Nana land?" I ask as he passes by me, heading towards the room in front of us which looked like a kitchen.

"My house, of course." He says, turning to look at me. "Would you like to drink something? I have water, coffee, tea-..."

"Water is fine." I nod, trying to make things as easy as possible for him.

But realising the only one who's having a hard time is me.

He brings me a glass of water, gesturing me to follow him into the room next to the kitchen, the living room. It was pretty decorated, neat and it really reminded me of Jaemin somehow.

"Story time!" He beams while sitting on the sofa, looking at me.

I give him a confused glance before realizing what he's talking about. I sit in an armchair across from him and clear my throat.

"So I bumped into one of my classmates today and we accidentally took each other's notebook... and I need mine so I wanted to pay him a visit. I asked my friend Donghyuck to send me his address... because he 's good at this stuff, but he, hopefully accidentally, sent me yours."

Jaemin chuckles. My hurts twirls.

"I haven't known Lee Donghyuck for too long but I don't think it was by accident." He smiles.

I sigh.

"You're right... I should've known that he's gonna prank me again." I say and Jaemin gives me a small smile.

"Again?"

"Yeah... we've been friends ever since we were in primary school... and he barely misses any chance to make me regret it." I say, shrugging.

"I wish I could be friends for somebody that long..." he sighs and I look at him confused.

But before I can say anything, my phone rings. I excuse myself and pull it out from the pocket of my jeans, only to see Jeno's name displayed on the screen.

"What is it, loser?" I ask after sliding the green button.

"Aeri, we kinda... uhm, something happened and we might kinda... need you to get us out... of the police station?"

"You might kinda need me to what?" I say incredulous.

"Please, pretty please!" I hear my bestfriend asking in despair. "I promise to explain all of this later, I-..."

"You better." I sigh. "I'm on my way."

I end the call and stand up, Jaemin following suit, looking at me confused.

"Is there anything wrong?" He asks me on a concerned tone.

"Just my friends going to jail, you know, the basic." I laugh my anger away. "I'm so so incredibly sorry, Jaemin, I promise to make up for this soon-..."

"Don't worry about this." He says putting on a jacket. "I'm not gonna let you walk alone at this hour anyway."

I look at him stunned as he makes his way to the entrance door.

"Let's go!" He says and for a second, I feel like his smile might shine brighter than the sun.

***

I find Jeno and Hyuck sitting at one of the desks in the police main office, looking at the policeman in front of them with puppy eyes. However, he was oblivious to their miserable gazes, as he was writing something that I assumed was a report.

"Lee Jen-..."

"Guys?"

I turn around and I find my classmate looking at us bewildered, his bright orange hair ruffled, strongly contrasting with his dark clothes. He looked like he had been running to get here and I can only imagine the reason why this weird combination of humans were here tonight at the police station.

I close my eyes and sigh.

"It's time for the explanation, boys." I say and cross my arms over my chest.

"Are you the owner of the house?" The police officer asks, ignoring me.

"Which house-..."

"I am." Chenle says behind me and both me and Jaemin turn to him bewildered.

I frown and turn to my friends, rage taking over me.

"Okay what the hell did you do?" I ask.

"They broke into a house, but the security alarm went off and they were caught by one of our equipage." The police officer says while gathering the papers. He looked young, young enough to seem amused by the whole situation.

However, I was pretty much stupefied.

"You what?" I ask on a higher pitch than my usual voice.

"We really didn't mean any harm, we-..."

"Save whatever you have to say for the juries, this kid shall press charges against-..."

"I won't!" Chenle jumps near us. "I won't, this has all been a misunderstanding, we'll sort it out."

"Are you sure, kid?" The police officer asks Chenle incredulously and the boy nods his head firmly.

"Yes, there's really no need of any paper or such... we'll figure it out!" He says.

The police officer looks at him confused for a few seconds before sighing and waving his hand tiredly.

"Fine, I guess." He says, before turning to Jeno and Donghyuck. "You two are free to go now... try not to get in trouble from now on, though."

My friends nod their heads and thank the police officer while standing up. The man waves them off and returns to his papers. He looked too young to be imagined eating donuts like the cops in movies but I couldn’t get over at how funnily unbothered he seemed to be by the whole situation.

"Hey, kid, I need you to sign some papers." The man tells Chenle and he hurries to his desk.

***

"So what was all of that about?" I ask, anger taking over me.

"We felt bad for telling you the wrong address so we thought we could get your notebook-..."

"By breaking into Chenle's house?" I interrupt Jeno. "I can't believe you did that, guys, that's-..."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Hyuck says. "I really am, I didn't mean to go this far, I swear."

"I can imagine you didn't plan to end up at the police station."

I turn around as I suddenly hear footsteps behind me and my eyes meet Chenle's fiery hair. I step towards him, my heart beating fast, full of anxiety.

"Chenle, I'm so so incredibely sorry-..."

"There's nothing you should apologize for." He gives me a small smile before looking at Hyuck and Jeno. "I'm sure you guys had a good reason for breaking into my house."

He wasn't mad. He seemed actually amused. He looked like he knew this was only a misunderstanding, like he knew there was nothing he should be worrying about.

Donghyuck explained him the situation, with a rare serious expression on his face. Chenle was slightly nodding here and there, signaling that he was understanding the situation, slowly but surely lifting the weight from my heart.

"So that's why. We're so sorry, we-..."

"That's alright, don't worry." Chenle waved it off before turning towards me. "Would you like get your notebook tonight, or can it wait until tomorrow?"

I shift awkwardly.

"I would be really thankful if I could get it tonight." I say and he nods.

"Let's go then."

***

Jeno, Donghyuck and Jaemin have gone home, leaving Chenle and I alone and if it weren't for the events that had occured tonight, I swear I wouldn't and couldn't have felt as awkward as I feel right now. We walk in silence, Chenle probably sensing my nervousness and deciding not to say a word the whole time.

When we arrive in front of his house- an actual big ass villa, I must say- I decide to speak.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

He nods, tapping some sort of code on the entrance door. There was no secret that Zhong Chenle was one of the richest kids in town, but all the fanciness that he was living in still amazed me all the time, mostly because he almost never acted like a rich kid, or the way people think usual rich kids act like.

"Have you maybe... read my notebook or something?" I ask.

"I haven't." He says, opening the door for me. "Why would I?"

I shrug as he leaves the hall, probably going to get my notebook. Everything around me was bright and clean, warm lights shining and giving me a strong feeling of home, despite the fact that I have never ever stepped foot into this house.

"Here." He says, handing me the notebook and making me flinch as I wasn't aware of his return.

"Thanks." I say. "And I'm so sorry, once again, for everything."

Chenle waves it off.

"That's alright, really." He smiles. "Anyways I guess all of tonight's events might be a great source of inspiration for you, right?"

I look at him confused.

"Yeah, I... guess?" I say.

"Such a shame they didn't get to break in the house of your perfect character, that would've been way-..."

"YAH ZHONG CHENLE!" I suddenly speak- or better said scream. "You said you hadn't read it!"

He steps back defensively, but he looked rather amused than scared.

"I haven't. I just happened to have seen some lines." He smiles.

"Yah, you... you..." I stutter. "Yah Chenle..."

I sigh and he chuckles.

"You have to pretend you have never seen anything from between these covers, okay?" I say on a serious tone and he laughs. "I'm being serious, Chenle!"

"Okay, okay, fine." He smiles and I sigh once again.

"Promise me." I say and he raises his hands defensively.

"I promise." Chenle says. "Your lines are safe with me."

He gestures zipping his mouth and throwing the key away and I smile.

"But Na Jaemin is really lucky."

"Yaaah!" I cry and he laughs loudly, making a strong feeling of annoyance grow in my heart. And something more.

***

I was sitting on the bleachers with Renjun and Yeji, waiting for the try-outs to start. Jeno and Donghyuck were standing on the edge of the basketball court, throwing enthusiastic smiles here and there to the boys who wanted to get in the team. Jaemin was sitting on the ground patiently, making small talk with some other kids that unlike him, seemed teriffied. He was giving off warm vibes and self-confidence, the kind that makes somebody even more attractive than they already are. It was an orange Thursday sunset, the time of the day that was my personal favourite because it made me feel inspired. I was barely holding back from pulling out my notebook and sketching a few writing aesthetics on its pages.

We weren't the only ones who'd come to watch the try-outs, but maybe we were the most relevant ones, because the biggest part of the people sitting in the bleachers were fangirls of the basketball team, mostly Jeno’s, Jisung’s and Donghyuck's, as always. Jisung and I weren't that close, he was the kind of kid who was your friend's friend and who would probably help you if you ever needed him. But we didn't have any kind of common interests or anything of that kind, which was basically pretty weird for me. Ever since I started writing, I have tried to get closer to people of all kind, mostly because socializing and dealing with real events inspired me but kept me mentally steady as well. It's never been his case. He was nice, attractive even, probably too attractive for his own good and a great friend to Jeno. But that was it about it.

I guess some humans simply don't click. I've figured in time it's alright to be neutral regarding some people, it's alright to have a good impression about them but to choose to admire them from afar.

Yeji was communicating through gestures with Jeno and I was barely holding back my laughter at Jeno's terrible skills in this field. When I first met Yeji, I had this weirdly good feeling about her, as if she belonged in my story. And I realized why when I saw her sitting quietly on the edge of the basketball court on a Friday evening, watching my bestfriend as if he put the stars in the sky.

Comparing to my relationship with Jisung, Renjun and I are way closer. I could never find a specific reason for this, though, so I came up with the conclusion that some people will click with you and some won't, without any particular reason. Unlike any of my friends, Renjun doesn't hang out with me regularly. Weeks can go by without us seeing each other, but we're always coming back as if we have never been apart. He's the first person I would show my pieces of writing to, if I ever decided to show them to someone. I trust him a lot, because unlike kids our age, he is considerate and mature.

A mess of fiery hair distracts me from my thoughts and I don't have squint my eyes to realize it's none other than Zhong Chenle. Despite his simple appearance, a loose black t-shirt and basketball shorts, everybody was looking at him. It was no secret Zhong Chenle was rich and the number of people who wanted to befriend him just because of that wasn't little, but he didn't seem to care. He never did. His signature amused smile made its way up to his lips and I couldn't help but smile too. It was contagious, his brightness could literally light up the night, even though few took their time to realize this. We've grown up with this weird idea that rich people will always play behind you and know how to play with you. But the ones who have met Zhong Chenle know now better than to believe those stories. And I'm glad I'm one of those people too.

Chenle spots Jaemin and a his smile widens, his pace picking up in order to get faster next to the older boy. I watch them, without being able to hear their conversation, to my disappointment. I didn't know they were close or at least close enough to make Chenle run to Jaemin like that.

Wait...

What if Chenle tells him about my notes about him?

I feel my world suddenly stoping at the thought and my pulse accelerating.

But he promises not to.

Still.

I try to shake off this uneasy feeling, but to no avail.

Shortly after Chenle came, the try-outs began and each of the wanna-be members had to pass their test. No matter how many boys were trying to pass, none of them could come close to Jaemin, who went among the first ones and who visibly impressed everybody. Chenle went the last. However, as soon as his test started, Jaemin suddenly came on the second place. There was something about Chenle, about the way he was dribbling the ball, the way he was running on the court, as if he owned the place and he knew every square inch of it. There was some kind of crazy smile on his lips, weirdly scarry.

"Is he even real?" I hear Yeji whispering next to me and all I can do is stare in awe without saying a word.

An antagonist.

He'd be the perfect one.

I shiver and try to wave away my thoughts, simply focusing on the boy running in front of us, the ball in his hands looking like it was part of him.

By the end of the evening, the basketball team has gained 4 new members, Jaemin and Chenle being two of them.

We wait until the fangirls and fanboys leave so we can go and congratulate everybody. There was some sort of aura around the new basketball team, it felt right. Something about the way the sunset coloured their appearance in orange made them seem like the perfect fit. I couldn't tell exactly why though. It was just like that.

"Congratulations! All of you were amazing!" Yeji beams as we get near the boys.

Jeno looks at her with his signature smile on his lips and a glint that seemed to belong only to Yeji in his eyes. The new guys thank her, wide and genuine smiles plastered on their faces. I look at Jaemin and Chenle who were standing right next to Jeno and I can't help but smile at the overflowing excitement that their smiles give off. Pretty much like water and fire, they seemed harmonious together, but they were different. I wanted them to be different.

This can turn out so well.

By the time the sun completely sets, we decide we should go and celebrate, in the honour of the new basketball team. When we get ready to leave the court, the ghost of a deep worry makes me stay behind and wait for the fiery-haired boy.

"You didn't tell him, did you?" I ask and my voice comes out in an almost-whisper.

He looks at me surprised, but not confused.

"I didn't." He says, making me release a deep sigh of relief. "And I will never. Don't worry."

He gives me a small smile but if I hadn't been so distracted by his assurance, I would've probably noticed it wasn't a genuine one.

***

The sound of the raindrops hitting the windows was calming me down, alongside the hot chocolate in front of me. Summer has been forgotten in a short amount of time as the cold weather made us finally understand there was no going back and it was autumn now.

This is one of the few days when Renjun hangs out with us, making me feel more at peace with myself. After their basketball trainment, Jeno had this idea of hanging out together in our favourite coffee shop. Donghyuck was sick, but Yeji, Renjun and I came along instead. We were sitting like this on one side of the table, Jeno, Jaemin and Chenle sitting on the other. It wasn't the first time we hung out like this, but it was, maybe, the time I was going to remember the best out of all.

I was carefully typing out ideas in the notes of my phone, stealing glances at the hazelnut-haired boy from time to time. The first thing that I notted was his drink, a venti Iced Americano with 2.5 extra shots of espresso, drink that was probably darker than the depths of hell, but which, by the look on Jaemin's face, he adored. Yeji laughed at him, wondering how he's going to sleep at night after drinking that, but he shruged it off with a smile.

Despite the fact that his drink is insanely bitter, he's just so sweet.

I note other small details on my phone, trying not to be too obvious. The only people that knew about my intentions at that table were Chenle and I and he promised me he won't tell anybody so my secret was safe. However, I could feel his gaze on me as I was typing and I tried to ignore it. He wasn't that annoying after all.

There was something about Jaemin's aura that was bothering me though. He was just too bright. There wasn't any dark side of him, excluding the pitch black coffee that he was enjoying so much. And I was constantly thinking about how this boy can be so kind and sweet all the time.

He couldn't.

There had to be something about him that I hadn't found out yet, something that made him less perfect and more human. Because there is no such thing as angels on earth, even though he surely seemed to be one.

Yeji gets me out of my deep thoughts by snapping her fingers in front of my eyes, making me flinch awkwardly, Jeno and Jaemin chuckling slightly.

"Is Aeri not your name?" She asks. "Thought we were friends, still you haven't even told me your real name."

I smile and shake my head.

"We were talking about the writing contest," she explains "have you talked to mrs. Kang after all? Will you be judging?"

I nod.

"I have and yes, I will be one of the judges." I say smiling. "This is so awesome, I still can't believe she thought about this and proposed me to be part of the jury."

"You're really talented, no wonder why she did such thing." Renjun says in his calming tone and I smile, engulfing the half-filled mug with my hands.

"Yeah, we'd probably know that too if she ever let us read whatever she writes." Jeno rolls his eyes but smiles afterwards. "I still can't believe she trusts you more than she trusts me..."

"It's not about trust, for the 100th time, Jennie." I say annoyed and Yeji chuckles at Jeno's nickname.

"You always say that." His words are hurt, but he looks calm. I know he's just trying to make me feel guilty when deep down he understood long ago why I barely ever show a piece of my writing to him or to Hyuck or to anybody else excluding Renjun.

"When her books will be out for the world, you'll see it all, don't worry." Jaemin says, patting Jeno's back and making me chuckle.

We've had a few encounters by now and he's come to know how passionate I was about writing. He didn't push it though and that was just another reason for me to like him.

"I don't know." I shake my head smiling. "We'll see about that."

"Aeri, I would seriously kill to figure out what goes on in your head sometimes." Yeji jokes and I smile, but I feel myself faking it.

"You don't wanna know." I whisper.

"I do." She says and I look at her for a few seconds before shaking my head.

"She would never let you know, though." Renjun smiles.

"Actually," Chenle says, looking at his cappuccino as if he could foreses the future in the creamy liquid. "we usually let the others know a lot of things about us.”

He smiles. Killer.

“It's just the others that don't pay enough attention to figure it out." he continues.

I look at him, breath hitching in my throat but he seems unphased. He has just said that basically, I'm an open book for the ones who know how to read.

Fear creeps up through me as I realize that despite the fact that he promised he wouldn't tell anybody about my notebook, he will never drop it and will forever use whatever he read in there in a way to make me feel like an outcast. Like I owe him something.

I feel tears threatening to roll on my cheeks and I lower my head so nobody can see the water pooling in my eyes.

Don't cry, honey. Why did we have to switch our notebooks, why did he have to read mine and know how impossibly interested I am in Na Jaemin and everything regarding him?

I excuse myself from the table and go to the restroom in order to wipe the tears away. There's some kind of fissure in my thoughts, as once I lost my notebook, things got out of hand and I didn't have control over the situation anymore. I try to imagine that all this anxiety could be washed away like my tears, with cold water. But it's hard to ease the heaviness when it's all that I can feel.

"I should get going." I say once I return to my friends and take my backpack.

They look at me and I see the sudden change in the mood as if they've sensed my small breakdown.

"Then let's leave together," Yeji says standing up and taking her bag as well. The boys follow us outside and we stop for a second in order to figure out who and which way they're going. Usually, Jeno, Renjun and I go home together, but tonight, Jeno had to take care of his little cousins and Renjun had to visit Hyuck in order to give him his notes for the week as he has missed classesq. Yeji was living in some other neighbourhood and Jaemin said he had to take the bus to get home. Therefore, fortunately or not, I was left alone with Zhong Chenle.

"Don't you have to get home?" I ask after Renjun waves us goodbye, being the last one out of my friends to leave.

Chenle shrugs.

"Wouldn't it be rude of me to let you walk alone?"

"Not really." I sigh.

"I'm still going to do it though." He says and I shrug.

After a few seconds of silence, he continues:

"Actually, there's a reason I wanted to walk with you." He says before turning his head towards me.

He gives me one of his killer smiles and for a split second, I feel myself able to do anything. For him.

"Follow me."

A/N: Hello! There is just one part left, what are your premonitions :D?

hailene x

#nct #fanfic #kpop #chenle #jaemin #jeno #renjun #haechan #donghyuck #nctdream #au #jisung

9 notes · View notes

cheshiresense · 6 years

Note

Hey, speaking of the Aizen/Ichigo time travel notfic, I just want to say I really love the way y ou write Aizen when he isn't just the villain. Like I don't even know why Im surprised, it's /you/, your characterization is always amazing. Do you think you can write a few more snippets or hcs with him and Ichigo? Maybe some interactions or convesations between them? No pressure ofc, thank you for everything youv'e already blessed us with!

Lol thank you! That’s good to hear, I always find flat characters painful to read so I do my best to round them out whenever I can. Aizen was a new one for me, this is the first time I’ve explored his character beyond - as you say - just the villain of the story that’s been defeated or needs defeating.

Here’s two more short scenes in this ’verse. I actually really like this AU, which surprises me because before this, I didn’t have any interest in writing Aizen at all.

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[Dinner]

Sousuke generously reserves a table for two at the sushi restaurant a block down from the Academy. He only has to wait ten minutes before Ichigo slouches into the seat opposite his, looking like every student who’s ever pulled three all-nighters in a row rushing for exams.

Sousuke arches an eyebrow. “I did not think the course load you are taking would be difficult for you.”

Ichigo shoots a glare at him but doesn’t seem to have the energy to hold it for longer than a few seconds before he’s slumping again and reaching for the menu instead.

“The course load is fine,” Ichigo tells him irritably. “But one of my teachers used to be Thirteenth Division and has some stupid grudge against Kaien because Ukitake-san passed him over for lieutenant even though he had a longer tenure than Kaien or something. So he’s taking it out on me by giving me extra assignments out of the blue every week. Says I’ll fail his class if I don’t do them.” He waves a dismissive hand. “I kinda wanna call his bluff, but it’s whatever, I just wanna graduate as soon as possible, and I can deal with a case of asshole. It was just a little tougher lately cuz of midterms but today was my last one anyway.”

Sousuke studies him for a careful moment. “You could mention it to your cousin. I am sure Shiba Kaien would jump to your defense, especially when he is involved.”

“Yeah, and that’s exactly why I’m not gonna tell him,” Ichigo scowls. “He’ll go charging in and kick up a huge fuss and definitely go overboard defending my honour or some shit. He’ll probably get Hisakawa fired, which I don’t really care about, but he’ll also draw a crapload of attention, and I don’t want anybody tossing words like nepotism and favouritism around. You told me yourself the Twelfth doesn’t seem to have many big clan members, and it’s not exactly a shock that Kisuke chooses people for his Division according to their intelligence. I don’t want him thinking I’m coasting by on my clan’s reputation or something, and that’s exactly what will happen if I get Kaien to step in for me for every little thing.” He pointedly sticks his menu up between them. “Now can we order already? I literally haven’t eaten anything but instant ramen in a week. I’m getting everything here since you’re paying.”

“Oh I am, am I?” Sousuke enquires dryly.

“I’m poor, deal with it.”

“I am fairly certain your clan would shower you with money if you mention that you need it,” Sousuke points out. “And nobody else would even know if you are so concerned about reputation.”

Ichigo grimaces even as he glances around to catch the waiter’s eye. “Kaien’s already giving me a stipend every month cuz I’m family but I wanna save that for an apartment when I graduate. Besides, I don’t like asking people for money.”

Sousuke gives him a flatly droll look. “And yet.”

Ichigo meets his gaze without hesitation, a smirk curling at his lips, one that teeters between gruff amusement and a reckless sort of mockery. “Consider it payment for creeping on me when I was a kid and then dragging me into a war. You almost killed me multiple times; sushi’s the least you owe me, bastard.”

They pause for a minute to place their respective orders, and neither of them speaks until the waiter is out of earshot again.

“I wonder,” Sousuke murmurs, eyeing Ichigo thoughtfully. “If you blame Urahara Kisuke for ‘dragging you into a war’ as much as you blame me.”

Ichigo snaps his chopsticks and then jabs them at him. “Kisuke apologized. You didn’t.”

“And I never will,” Sousuke agrees, because he won’t, not with any kind of sincerity, and he’s noticed that Ichigo has a knack for picking out that sort of thing. Sousuke isn’t sorry. Perhaps his ambitions and plans gave the boy very little choice in the matter, but at the end of the day, it was still Kurosaki Ichigo who chose to fight instead of bow or run away, and Sousuke can respect him enough as a former formidable enemy to give credit where it’s due.

Ichigo made his choices, just as Sousuke made his own, and they’ll both live with them just the same, good and bad.

“No,” Ichigo acknowledges easily, and Sousuke knows no one else who can say that in this situation with no anger or bitterness, just a resigned sort of acceptance as if he made his peace with this truth a long time ago. Instead, he only points his chopsticks at Sousuke again. “But that’s why you have to pay for my sushi and Kisuke doesn’t.”

Sousuke watches him for a moment longer and idly wonders if he’ll ever understand the kind of person Kurosaki Ichigo is. One day, perhaps, but at least in the meantime, he won’t be bored.

He inclines his head just as the first of their dishes arrive.

“As you say,” He acquiesces, and Ichigo flashes a grin like he’s won something important. Oddly enough, it amuses Sousuke more than anything else. But there are worse things than amusement, and for now, he lets it be.

Well, he lets that be anyway. Ichigo is a… puzzle that Sousuke probably won’t tire of putting together for a good while yet, and that suits him just fine.

On the other hand…

He steps quietly into the classroom, shutting the door behind him. The click makes the man sitting behind the desk at the front look up. “Aizen-fukutaichou? This is… unexpected. Did we have a meeting I forgot about?”

Hisakawa’s confusion is understandable. As far as Sousuke can remember, in both timelines, he’s never spoken to the other Shinigami. Hisakawa was insignificant before - sub-par intellect and mediocre strength, not good for anything but canon fodder, which Aizen had plenty of Hollows for - and he’s just as insignificant now. It’s just that he’s also making a nuisance of himself this time around, which is unfortunate for him.

“Hisakawa-sensei,” Sousuke greets with a pleasant smile as he approaches. “We do not, as far as I am aware. I simply wished to speak to you about one of our mutual students.”

“Oh, well, of course,” Hisakawa frowns quizzically. “Which student are you talking about? Is it a schedule conflict? Those should’ve been ironed out months ago though.”

Sousuke supposes the man gets points for touching on the only problem a student attending both their classes could have. Hisakawa teaches history - a core class - while Sousuke only teaches calligraphy as an elective. They don’t have much else in common.

Then again, if schedule conflicts were ironed out months ago, it obviously can’t be that, and there’s no point bringing it up. Sousuke takes it back. Hisakawa is still just as much of a waste of space as Sousuke has always believed him to be. Honestly, the hiring standards these days. If this was Shiba Kaien’s competition for the lieutenant seat, no wonder Ukitake refused to fill the position with anyone else even if it meant waiting a decade for the Shiba Clan Head to accept.

“No, it is nothing of that sort,” Sousuke agrees. “But it has come to my attention that Shiba Ichigo-kun has been receiving quite a number of… extracurricular assignments from you.”

Hisakawa immediately bristles, and a sneer slashes itself across his face. “Oh, he’s been complaining, has he?”

“He has mentioned it to me,” Sousuke says mildly.

Hisakawa snorts. “I wasn’t aware Shibas even knew calligraphy existed,” He mutters snidely before saying, louder and more patronizing, “You shouldn’t listen to him, Aizen-fukutaichou. You know how Shibas can be, they’re always exaggerating. I’m not giving Shiba more work than he needs. His history marks could use some work, and I’m trying to help. I hear he wants to graduate in a year, and he can’t do that if he fails a core class.”

Sousuke hums a considering note. “He is in danger of failing? How strange. Shiba-kun takes after his cousin, does he not? Another prodigy.”

Hisakawa’s sneer only grows more pronounced. “They give that title to any clan kid these days, it doesn’t mean anything. Trust me, Shiba’s history marks alone will probably see him here next year, especially if he’s going around whining about not getting special treatment.”

Sousuke raises an eyebrow. “I admit, I am rather surprised by that. You see, I have read some of Shiba-kun’s history papers.” He hasn’t had much of a choice. For whatever reason, Ichigo likes working in his office, and he has the strangest tendency to paper his work all over the floor. And paperwork gets boring, and Ichigo’s thought process can be… interesting, even on the most mundane topics. “I am no expert on the subject of course, but from what I could tell, his work is always thoroughly researched and well-written. Perhaps you should take another look.”

Hisakawa’s face turns steadily red, and he pushes to his feet even as he accuses, “So you think just because he has a clan backing him, he should get special treatment too! I thought better of you, Aizen-fukutaichou.”

Sousuke has to suppress a chuckle but amusement slips into his expression anyway, because Hisakawa’s features darken to something downright hostile. “His marks will stay the same. In fact, I might fail him just on principle! I didn’t think Shiba was a coward too, sending another teacher to beg a better grade out of me just because he can’t handle my class.”

Sousuke stares him down for a long unblinking moment, until Hisakawa is almost twitching from the tension stretched between them. Only when the man opens his mouth again, no doubt to splutter out something belligerent, does Sousuke sigh and drop a hand to his Zanpakutou.

“Well, I did try,” He muses, mostly to himself.

He draws his blade. Hisakawa stares and doesn’t even make a move for his own Zanpakutou. What a fool.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Normally,” Sousuke explains courteously. “I would not bother stepping in on behalf of a student, especially when that student would - I dare say - be rather cross with me should he find out. But we have plans to carry out, and I will not allow something so trivial to hinder them.”

Hisakawa gawps at him. How unsightly.

“You need not worry,” Sousuke adds. “You will not remember a thing.”

Finally, Hisakawa reaches for his Zanpakutou, the first blush of alarm rising in his features. “Wait, have you gone insane, Aizen? What do you think attacking me is even going to do? I- I won’t be threatened-!”

“Shatter,” Sousuke cuts him off, smiling benignly even as his reiatsu swells around them. “Kyouka Suigetsu.”

And Hisakawa’s expression goes slack as the hynosis takes hold, slithering into the deepest recesses of his mind.

“You should be honoured,” Sousuke murmurs. “This will be some of my finest work. After all, anything less and Ichigo-kun might notice. And I would rather not be scolded again.”

(This Is A Time Skip But Also Does Tumblr Not Know How To Center Shit)

[Sight]

Sousuke glances up as a shadow passes through his window before returning to his paperwork. “Shouldn’t you be working?”

A disgruntled noise answers him. “Kis- Urahara-taichou is neck-deep in a new experiment; he’s not gonna notice I’m missing for days, never mind one afternoon.”

“And you decided to come visit me?” Sousuke can’t help but find that amusing, considering their past. “How thoughtful.”

He pauses when Ichigo doesn’t snipe something back, as is fairly standard these days. He looks up. Ichigo isn’t even looking in his direction. Instead, he’s still perched on the windowsill, and his gaze is slanted to one shadowed corner above the bookshelf across the room.

“…Ichigo-kun?”

Ichigo blinks, then turns to him and hops down into the office. “Hey, so, I figured it out,” He says abruptly. His eyes flit around the room again, and Sousuke notices the way they dart from shadow to shadow before finally focusing on him again. “The seeing into their little shadow world thing.”

Sousuke straightens. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” Ichigo lifts a hand, and pale blue light sparks off his fingertips.

Sousuke stares. How fascinating. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen any other Quincy wield reishi so casually.

“I think I can make it so you can see them too,” Ichigo continues. “I’m gonna have to… fiddle with your eyesight a bit though.”

Sousuke pins him with an assessing look before slowly reaching up to take off his glasses. “If you end up blinding me, I will stab you before you make it out of this room.”

Ichigo rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever, but I’m not gonna do that. Now hold still and close your eyes.”

It takes effort not to flinch, much to Sousuke’s irritation. But the grip he still has around his writing brush tightens anyway when cool fingers touch his eyelids.

It barely feels like anything. There’s a tingle that itches a little, but it’s there and gone within seconds, leaving only an odd chill behind, not unlike getting a cold gust of wind to the face during winter. Ichigo withdraws, and Sousuke opens his eyes.

Nothing looks different. He doesn’t actually need glasses to begin with so everything is clear. He cocks a questioning look at Ichigo, who shakes his head.

“Wait for it,” He murmurs, taking a seat on the edge of Sousuke’s desk and absently shuffling through the top file in the inbox. “They’re not always spying on everyone. But you’re a person of interest to them, you know that, so I think they check in on you pretty often.” He pauses, and his gaze slides across the room before he focuses on the file in his hands again. “Here he comes. Don’t let him see you watching him.”

Sousuke follows his brief line of sight, just in time to see a very familiar blond head bob into view in the shadow cast by the couch set against the wall. It isn’t a very big shadow, a foot high at most, so Sousuke only gets to see the face and part of his neck and a little of the high white collar of his uniform, but it’s enough.

The next second, he’s reaching for one of his books and flipping it open like that was why he looked up from his paperwork at all. But now that he can see that he’s being watched, can sense it even, and so blatantly too, the urge to simply get up and run the Quincy through for his gall is tempting. Only the knowledge that he can’t at the moment stays his hand.

Can he hear us? Sousuke scrawls on a spare piece of paper.

“No,” Ichigo mutters back. “I tested it. It’s like a soundproofed window. I mean, it is now.” He smirks triumphantly out of sight of the Quincy. “Before I figured it out, it was like one of those one-way mirrors. Now we can see them too. But we can’t hear them, and they can’t hear us. They might know how to lip-read though, so be careful anyway.”

Well, obviously. Giving the game away this early would be foolish.

Sousuke watches through his periphery as the Quincy gives them both a last cursory blank look before his head moves out of the shadow and disappears again.

“Jugram Haschwalth,” Sousuke murmurs, surveying his office before turning his attention to Ichigo. “And they can see through every shadow in Soul Society?”

“As far as I can tell, yeah,” Ichigo scowls darkly. “They’re a bunch of regular Peeping Toms.” He grins for a moment, all teeth. “You would’ve made great friends.”

Sousuke narrows a reprimanding look at him. Ichigo just grins wider, not at all repentant, but he doesn’t push further either.

“What should we do now?” He asks instead. “I’m still working on figuring out a way to get through, but at least we can see them. Do we just keep doing what we’re doing and try not to draw their attention?”

“Yes,” Sousuke decides. “But also, mark down who they look in on most, who they consider to be the biggest threats, and who they’ve overlooked but can be threats to them.” He puts his glasses back on. “How long will I be able to see them?”

Ichigo shrugs. “Eh, not sure. You’re my first guinea pig.” Sousuke sighs. At least Ichigo looks a little sheepish now. “We can do a few tests over the weekend or something when I don’t have work. I probably should get back now.”

“I thought you said Urahara wouldn’t notice,” Sousuke says sardonically.

“He won’t,” Ichigo confirms. “But Hiyori will. She’s yelling at the science department at the moment though, and that always takes at least an hour, so I figured I’d take the chance to come show you this-” He waves a hand in the direction of the shadow Jugram was in. “-since I finally got it down this morning.”

Sousuke glances lingeringly at him. You could have waited, he almost says, but the words don’t come in the end, and a moment later, Ichigo is halfway out the window again.

“Anyway, see ya later,” He calls back briskly. “I finally got my first paycheck yesterday so I bought groceries. If you want free dinner, swing ’round my place and I’ll feed you. And we can talk more about the Peeping Toms.”

And then he’s gone in a rush of Shunpo, leaving Sousuke to stare after him, feeling strangely wrong-footed.

But then, Ichigo has a habit of leaving him that way.

Sousuke sighs again, puts it out of his mind, and gets back to work, firmly ignoring the blond-haired spy that sidles back into his office via the shadow in one corner of the ceiling this time.

But he can’t wait until Ichigo figures out a way to get through. He’s chopping the head off of this one personally.

#bleach #myscrap #ichigo & aizen time travel verse #kurosaki ichigo #aizen sousuke #msg #anonymous #headcanon

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lycanresistance · 6 years

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Aarmau Isn't That Great - A Deconstructive Analysis On Aaron And Aphmau’s Relationship.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I’m NOT trying to say “Aarmau is bad, so you should ship Garmau/Laurmau/Zanemau/etc.!” I personally don't care for those ships at all. This is specifically about how Aaron deserves better. Also, I’m NOT trying to say Jess and Jason’s relationship is unhealthy -- I think they're extremely good for each other. I'm talking about the fictional characters Aaron and Aphmau, who while being based on them, are separate entities from those real people. Please keep that in mind.

Also, if you're going to reply “I can ship whatever I want!!! Don't attack me!!! No ship hate!!!” right now just don't. Being critical of media is in no way hating on it and if you think a criticism backed with canon evidence is hate, then please go outside.

Anyways, warnings for discussion of child abuse/neglect under the cut.

So, to start this off, I'm going to state something that is both canon and important to this particular meta: Aaron was abused by his parents, Derek and Rachel Lycan (more by Derek, but I'm not excusing her actions either). It's canon and displayed in several episodes, particularly Heartbreak in PDH S2, the entirety of his appearances in Falcon Claw University, Lover’s Lane, and in the flashbacks in Emerald Secret. This is touched on a lot of Aaron’s aphmau wikia page if you want to read up on it.

In Falcon Claw University, Aaron is being kept in isolation and treating as a monster by Derek and the people Derek has hired to keep Aaron away from people. This causes this exchange between them in FCU EP.1, “Meeting In Person”:

Aaron: I can't say.

Aphmau: Huh?

Aaron: I can't say why I've been gone for two years without saying a word. It's a private matter and it's hard to bring up. I can't tell you if I’ve changed as a person, because I don't even know myself as it stands. But what I do know is that I want to be your friend so bad. I really did miss you, and I hope you can understand.

Aphmau: Can I ask, if you ever get the courage to tell me… would you?

Aaron: Yes. I would.

This conversation is very sweet at first glance until you realize that it never actually paid off. Roughly ten years pass from this conversation to current day and Aaron never told Aph about how Derek treated him and never told him he was an Ultima until outed by Ein. While we don't know why for certain, it can definitely be read as Aph dismissing his feelings often. For example, in EP.2 of the Mystreet Holiday Special, “Aaron’s Dad,” when Aphmau invited his family over without telling him they have a conversation at the beginning:

Aaron: My dad… [sighs.] I haven't seen or talked to him in such a long time. I don't know what to prepare you for.

Aphmau: Hey, Aaron… however your dad is, I’m sure he's fine. Besides, it's the holidays! Holiday magic is sure to make him at least somewhat pleasant.

Aaron: It's sweet of you to think that way, but --

Aphmau: Upupup! Holiday magic. Now, let's get back downstairs before your mom and my mom kill each other!

Aaron: But --

Aphmau: Holiday magic, Aaron. Holiday magic!

[Aphmau leaves, leaving Aaron behind.]

She continues to dismiss his feelings regarding his family in EP.24 of Mystreet S3: Lover’s Lane, “The Break-Up”:

Aphmau: Thanks, Aaron. We'll spend more time tomorrow. I promise.

[Flashback.]

Rachel: We'll spend more time tomorrow, Aaron. I promise.

[End of Flashback]

Aaron: (to himself) Why can't I get myself to tell her about these memories? How I'm feeling... I just want to support her and see her happy. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

So here we're drawing parallels between Rachel (Aaron’s mom) and Aphmau. Not the best comparison for Aaron, considering how (as shown in later episodes of Lover's Lane), Rachel continuously manipulates him:

Rachel: I'm so proud of you for coming back home.

Aaron: It wasn't an easy choice to make.

Rachel: Nor was it an easy choice for us to take time off last week, but we wanted to be with you and Melissa.

Aaron: I have to admit, I was skeptical about coming back home.

Rachel: As were we. I mean, the thought of you running off again? Why, it would just your father and mine's heart.

TL;DR of the Lover’s Lane finale just in case you forgot (or didn't watch, in which case, you should, cause it's a good finale): Rachel steals Aaron’s phone to try to keep him from getting back in touch with Aph or his friends. Aaron finds out, and, realizing that his parents haven't changed and goes back home.

After this, Aaron seems to be moving on from his parent’s influence. For example, take what he says in Aaron’s Ticket (the season 4 prequel) EP.1:

Derek: I'll pay you a lot for this!

Aaron: ...Normally, I wouldn't listen to you, but…

Aaron only takes the job because he needs the money. This shows that he is no longer putting up with how his parents treat him.

But now, he's on vacation with them in Starlight. Post-Emerald Secret they got what they wanted back in Lover’s Lane: to force Aaron back into their life. Most likely because of Emerald Secret EP.17, where Aphmau and Derek have a heart to heart of sorts where Derek realizes 30 years too late he ruined his son’s life and makes a half assed apology while Aphmau cries, and the Derek (and by extension, Rachel) decide that everything is now good and they can go back to being one big happy nuclear family.

Narratively, it's just bad writing, but I love Jess, so I’m going to ignore that and take it literally. Meaning: Aaron, in all of his of being with Aphmau, never, ever worked up the courage to actually tell her about his parents - even post Lover’s Lane.

Now, there is a just as likely alternative that he has told her and, like in the holiday special, she ignored him, but if that's the case that would mean she's a hypocrite who, despite saying she does, fundamentally doesn't care about her fiancé’s well being or mental health. I'm going to analyze the first one instead, because if it's the second one she's a terrible person and I like to think she's simply flawed.

Now you might be saying, “But him not telling her isn't a personal thing! He just doesn't have the courage to talk about it with anyone!” Wrong, because he does discuss it with someone - in Her Wish EP.3:

Renee: How long have you been cooking?

Aaron: Uh...since I was young. My parents weren't always around, so I learned to cook my favourite things on my own.

Renee: Why weren't your parents around?

Aaron: They, uh…

Renee: Did they die when you were young?

Aaron: No! No, they were always working. They weren't always around when I needed help.

Let this sink in for a minute: we get more of Aaron opening up about his trauma to the (supposed) teenage cousin of his fiancée than his *actual fiancée.* Kind of messed up. He also confides in Jenny more than he ever does in Aphmau - take for instance FCU EP.17:

Jenny: What do you want out of life, Aaron?

Aaron: ...I want… a family.

Jenny: Huh?

Aaron: It's just… yeah. Some people want riches and fame, and there's nothing wrong with that. Everyone wants different things. But for me, I've always wanted a family of my own. You know, someone and little ones to love and care for… better than those who cared for me. …Sorry, went off on a tangent there.

Also, lets not forget that in Emerald Secret EP.10 Aphmau openly admits she'd rather have him harmed than have another woman be near him:

Aphmau: What's going on?

Tatiana: We need him to wake up!

Aphmau: Why? What's wrong?

Tatiana: Our alpha is coming. If he finds him here, he'll hurt him!

Aphmau: Huh? What?

Tatiana: [Embracing Aaron]. Wake up! Please!

Aphmau: What are you doing to him?

Tatiana: He needs more of my body heat!

Aphmau: Oh no he doesn't! Hey! Let go of him!

Aaron: [Waking up] Ah, Aph, you feel so… warm… huh? [Notices Tatiana and jumps] Woah! What the-- who are you?

Aphmau: “You're so warm.” What was that supposed to mean?

Aaron: Aph! You're here!

Aphmau: Of course I am. Remember?

He almost died, chill the hell out. Then there proceeds to be a misunderstanding where Tatiana says things that Aphmau implies to mean he has some sort of romantic affair with him in the forest, despite Aaron’s protests, and throws a rock at his head. Real solid, healthy relationship here.

Let's contrast this example: when Aaron has picture proof of Aph cheating in Lover’s Lane (even though she didn't) he thinks rationally about the situation and firmly believes that Aph wouldn't do that to him since they love each other.

When Aphmau is presented with a couple vague statements that could be taken as Aaron cheating, she throws a rock at Aaron’s head immediately despite him verbally protesting. It's played off as comedy, but seriously, it's absurd. It's also worth noting that Lover’s Lane was a comedy focused series and Emerald Secret wasn't.

Anyways, that's all my main points. I have some other minor ones but they aren't quite worth listing. Feel free to reply or shoot me an ask if you have anything to ask/any questions! Unless it's to say “I don't care I ship aarmau anyways,” in which case, don't.

#i hope this is coherent lol #aphmau #mystreet #aaron lycan #my analysis #my post

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bi-bi-byee · 7 years

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SQ Week - AU 5 Enchanted Forest - Another Kind Of Punishment.

The Evil Queen has her own special kind of punishment for a certain blonde thief. NSFW... I’m sorry this is so late, I realised I hadn’t written any smut for SQW and that had to change!

"Let me out of here!" Emma growled at the top of her lungs as she shook the stiff bars once again to absolutely no avail. She placed her head against the cool wood of the prison doors and bashed her head on in, hard enough to make a point but soft enough to not cause herself any harm. She had no one to blame but herself; if it wasn't for her own greed then she wouldn't have gotten caught. She groaned, knowing that being caught could have been easily prevented made this situation a million times worse.

The blonde thief turned away from the bars and slumped against the wall behind her slowly sliding down it until she was met by the sandy dirt floor. There was no way out, the Evil Queen was sure to have her killed. She dropped her head in frustration, there had to be another way out. She wasn't ready to surrender yet. The guard that brought her in seemed quite moronic, surely she could distract him somehow, she was fast which always worked in her favour; she could easily out run him.

"Well if it isn't the infamous Emma Swan." A rich voice drawled,interrupting her of her thoughts and causing her head to snap up and see the Evil Queen herself standing on the other side of the bars. She was perhaps the last person that Emma expected to see, she usually let her guards do all the dirty work for her yet here she was gracing a common thief with her royal presence.

"Come to release me, Your Majesty?" The blonde asked, a confidence lacing every word that she spoke. Her confidence was part of her charm and she knew it.

A laugh swept over the spacious dungeons, a strong, hearty cackle which was strangely terrifying. "You should be so lucky." She paused for a moment which seemed like an excruciating amount of time to Emma who sat there staring at her waiting for whatever it was that she planned on doing to her. "No, I came down here to see for myself just what a dirty little pickpocket you are."

"Do you give every criminal such special treatment?" She asked curiously already knowing that this behaviour from the Queen was extremely out of character.

"Only the ones that spark my interest and you, Miss Swan are certainly one of those."

"How come?"

"Because not only do you have the audacity to steal in my kingdom you also have the nerve to steal from me personally."

"You shouldn't leave your precious jewels in an empty carriage then, should you?"

"Why not? My guards managed to catch you, didn't they? This would mean that you failed in your little mission to steal from the one person who cannot be stolen from however your attempt was enough to make me initiate a personal vendetta against you."

"And what does that mean exactly?"

"It means that I have my own special punishment for you." Without another word the Queen waved her hand and she had transported herself and Emma to a much more lavish room. She had kept the prisoner in captivity of course; this time instead of being held behind bars she had her wrists tied tightly to the bed posts of the luxurious bed which was centric to the luxurious room. She had also stripped her of her clothes, the items simply a distraction to the main attraction.

Emma took a moment to adjust to her situation, magical transportation being brand new to her and it left her feeling dizzy and slightly dazed. Once she had regained her senses she realised what kind of punishment the Queen was meaning to give to her. She looked down at her nakedness and pulled the ropes against her arms, they were tight but not too tight. If she played her cards right then this 'punishment' could also lead to her escape. "I have a feeling I might enjoy this so called punishment of yours." Emma husked, her eyes glued to those of the Queen's. She had always found the Queen attractive, didn't everybody? But she never in a million years thought that she would be in such a position with the royal.

Regina slowly walked herself over to the helpless blonde and stood beside her. She bent down and whispered into her ear, her warm breath sending shivers down the spine of the thief. "Quiet. This is for my pleasure and not yours." She kept her mouth there for a second before capturing the blonde’s earlobe in between her teeth and sucking the skin between her lips.

Emma bit her lip to subdue another sarcastic comment from passing them. Her eyes fluttered shut at the contact that was made between herself and the brunette. She didn't want to piss off the Queen, she may be sexy but she was also dangerous. She could pull her hand into her chest at any time and steal her heart, Emma swallowed, maybe escaping her wouldn't be so easy.

Regina harshly pulled away from where she was and clambered on top of Emma. She bore her eyes into her victim and positioned a leather clad knee in between bare thighs rubbing her leg between them in a painstakingly slow manner. The blonde moaned from beneath her which made the Queen smile, teasing her prey was always one of her favourite things to do.

Emma breathed heavily as she felt herself getting wetter and wetter as the brunette pushed her leg faster and harder between her thighs. She let out a hungry moan, her eyes filling with lust at every stroke that was made. "Do you want more?" The monarch leaned forward and whispered against Emma's lips being sure to tear them away as soon as she spoke, never did she let anybody ever kiss her.

"Yes." The blonde responded earnestly and rolled her hips. The Queen glared at the movement but said nothing instead she pulled her leg away and placed her hand below to take over from where her leg had left off. She dragged a finger through wet folds and purred as she felt just how wet Emma was for her.

The Queen's beauty was hypnotising to her, she could feel her eyes glazing over as she watched the gentle rise and fall of the brunette’s breasts which were just centimetres in front of her. She couldn't help but pull at her restraints wanting to touch them more than anything. She groaned at the pressure that was keeping her tied still and groaned once again at the finger teasing that was taking place down below. "Please...” She whispered, pulling her hands harshly towards the other woman once again and having them snapped back in to place once more.

Regina smirked, seeing the want in those green eyes turning her on more. She whisked a wrist in the air and suddenly her own clothes had been removed. She grinned evilly as she saw the blonde’s eyes almost pop out when she saw her naked appearance. "You want more, do you, thief?" She asked, leaning forward and attaching red lips to a hard nipple.

A nod was all the blonde could muster; she arched her back wanting even more of Regina's mouth to be on her. Her eyes shut once again as she took in all the pleasure she was experiencing, her thoughts of escaping falling to the very back of her mind.

Regina nipped and tugged at the bud between her teeth, her tongue rolling over and over the peak until she heard another moan escape from beneath her. She moved her attention to Emma's other breast and repeated her previous movements. She placed a skillful thumb on to a throbbing clit and began to draw out circular motions on to it. Slowly she inserted her finger into wet folds and bit down harshly onto the nipple being held between her teeth.

Emma released a bark and rolled her hips down onto Regina's hand. "More, Your Majesty." She called out and again pulled at the rope, not being able to touch the other woman was torture to her.

Another finger was inserted to warm heat and slowly Regina dragged her teeth down over toned abs. She replaced her thumb with her tongue and began to swirl the tip of her tongue over Emma's pleasure. She plunged her fingers in and out in a faster movement, bending and twirling them as quickly as she could, building up her speed every time the blonde elicited a moan from those pink lips of hers. "Are you going to come for your Queen?" She husked into Emma's wetness, her hooded eyes glancing up to find the straining blonde staring back down at her with a glistening of sweat making home on her forehead.

"Mmhm, yes. Yes!" She all but screamed and grinded her hips on to the Queen's talented fingers. Her release was eminent and all she could think of was how badly she didn't want this to end.

The brunette smiled and once again buried her head back into that delicious wetness. She added a third finger and toyed them around inside warmth; she could feel the blonde’s walls begin to close around her hand which only made her go even faster. She wet her tongue and held it firmly against her clit; a final hip buck and a scream letting her know when Emma had reached her climax. Her fingers slowed their pace as she felt a waterfall envelope her palm, she begrudgingly removed herself from Emma's legs and made sure she had the blonde’s full attention before she slowly sucked her fingers dry of the thief.

Another moan filled the room as Emma watched the seductive performance that the Queen was giving her. Never before had she witnessed an act so sexual, it turned her on all over again and she tugged at her restraints harder than ever, wanting nothing more than to jump on top of the brunette. "Untie me." She squeaked and continued to pull even when Regina had finished with her act. She could feel the nooses getting looser but they were still strong enough to keep her in place.

The Queen laughed and shook her head. "Never." She spoke alluringly. "Now lean back." She waited until Emma had done what she had asked before crawling up the bed and positioning herself over the blonde’s awaiting mouth.

Emma was taken by surprise by this sudden action but she immediately adapted, her tongue shooting into Regina's warmth as soon as she could taste her. She whirled her tongue around hungrily, wanting to taste as much royal juices as she possibly could. She arched her wrists as she lapped up the Queen, she was almost certain she had enough space now to slip free from her restraints but she was waiting for the perfect time to orchestrate her escape.

Regina's head had fallen back in pleasure, her hips managing to grind in perfect time with Emma's tongue. She slid her hand down and massaged her own clit, a small series of moans lightly escaping her plump lips.

The blonde continued to dart her tongue in and out of the Queen, swirling and twisting to make sure she tasted every crevice of the woman. She hesitatingly glanced up to see the current woman's state of pleasure and made sure to be ready for when the brunette was about to reach her peak.

Regina's eyes clamped closed as she felt that familiar knot in her stomach, her orgasm calling for her release. She rubbed down on her clit in soft flicking motions and rolled her hips faster against Emma's hungry tongue, another moan escaping her.

That moan was the only sign that Emma needed to know that Regina was close, she carefully removed her hands from the loosened rope ties but was sure to hold them in the same place that they had been in. A loud scream ripped through the air as Regina ejaculated, who knew the Queen was such a screamer?

Emma wriggled from underneath the Queen who fell gently to the side of the bed as she came down from her intense orgasm. Before Regina had a chance to compose herself, Emma was already on her feet and had grabbed the purple silk robe which hung on the side of the Queen's vanity. She slid it on and made her way to the slightly open window. Without looking back she clambered out of it half expecting a fireball to come crashing into her but being marginally relieved when she managed to get out unscathed. The cool air attacked her and before she had a chance to adjust to it she had found herself running, she knew the palace well enough from folk tales and she knew how to avoid the guards from the time a few hours ago when she was escorted in. She had done it; she had escaped the Queen and received the greatest punishment that she could have ever imagined.

Regina glared at the cheek of the other woman. She growled as she saw the tips of blonde hair escaping through the window. Of course she could have caught her with a simple flick of her wrist but she had chosen not to. She was sure that her guards would catch the thief again at some point in time and she would look forward to that day with bated breath. This new game of cat and mouse beginning to excite her already. Until then she would just have to find somebody else to play with.

#swan queen week #swan queen fanfic #swan queen #swan queen fanfiction #fanfic

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imheresothedeadcanrestinpea-blog · 7 years

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Do strong female characters still exists?

It’s me again. Been a while, right? well... this post has been created thanks to a random thought in my brain were I compared Sarah (from Labyrinth) and Tauriel (yes, her again, I know that many years have passed but I’m still pissed by her existence).

So what do we understand by “Strong Female Character” or, better yet, what do we want as one?

Lately the entertainment industry has placed in our brains that a Strong Woman is the one who can kick ass just as good as a man. Is it like that? My answer is no.

A Strong Character (male or female) is the one that doesn’t give up no matter if the odds are on it’s favor or not. Someone who literally has the world against but is still ready to fight in the name of whatever he or she protects because deep down he/she knows is the right thing to do according to his/her morals. It’s quite important to highlight the “ is the right thing to do according to his/her morals” so we don’t fall through the ilussion that everything this character does is good or in name of a greater good: no everybody is goodie-goodie, you know... a villain can -and should- be a strong character too. He/she must evolve by learning from his/her mistakes and assume the consecuences of his/her actions. Doesn’t it sounds more compelling than an “super awesome strong character”? It does to me.

Strong Female Character

In the field of “women inside fictional stories” you can find the typical “Damsel in Distress”, the (so feared) “Mary Sue” and, I’d like to believe, the “Strong Female”.

For several years the Damsel in Distress was the norm. That virginal, pure, sweet girl or princess that had to be rescued from the claws of evil so she could live happily ever after in the arms of her beloved was The Thing. She was a role model back on the day when girls had to marry beasts (that sometimes were kind of a good guy after all) like Belle, or “be nice” like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snowhite. Beeing physically weak was (apparently) quite appealing in a young woman and it was even better if she was ill as well (nothing to serious,off course, but enough for her to lie in a couch all day suffering... and I’m not making this up, I’ve read it in Agatha Christie’s autobiography. She complains more than once of how her grandmother seemed to wanted her to embody Camille’s -or La Dame aux Camélias- lead character so she could get a husband). All of us has seen this girl at least once.

Time passed by and women became a little more powerful year after year. And no, I didn’t made a big jump from 1700′s to the final days of 2016. I’m talking about those women who started to write and, while doing it, creating a new place for women. Louisa May Alcott, the Brontë sisters, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley are the names that all of us know and many might have read -I didn’t, I’ve only read Shelley’s Frankenstein, the others are not my cup of tea- and I’m quite sure that there are many many more. With them Strong Females were born. I know, “all of them dressed in pretty dresses and had no violent action nor knew how to fight... how could they be Strong Females?” well... maybe because they were always fighting to have a voice? or because they were trying to break the tradition of beeing a daugther to become a wife and later a mother? Jo March, trying to be a writer and not caring if anyone said that she wasn’t feminine enough (when she cuts her hair to get some money or because she whistles!), not to mention certain sacrifices she (and her sisters) do to live day by day, is a strong character. Would you deny it? Maybe she’s not “the one” that will end an evil goverment, she won’t beat the crap out of her enemies nor will face the world alone holding nothing but a pocket-knife... but she’s strong and anyone can relate herself with her (and a young woman who doesn’t like “Little Women” and never could read beyond the chapter of the party at Laurie’s -after trying to read the book twice- is saying that!). Josephine March can kick some serious Strong Female’s asses today and she was “born” in 1868! Those were real Strong Females and that’s why nowdays they are still considerated role models -maybe-.

The All Mighty Mary Sue: now we found a big jump in time... times where women gotta be everything (good, pure and innocent at the same time that she’s a master assasin who can kill a hundred men blindfolded in the middle of the dark). I know that “Mary Sue” has becomed pretty much a curse word specially among those who write this type of characters -or at least enjoy them-. No-one likes to say that they like a token character that is as empty as the head of a Barbie doll and brings nothing to the story beyond her charming presence. Ok, there is another kind of Mary Sue, the Lead Character, she and her issues are the main reason why the story exists (Bella Swan from Twilight is a good example). In both roles (side character or main one) she’s worthless and depends A LOT of the men around her. Main Character Bella is nothing without her relationship with Edward, Jacob and her dad. Sure, she’s got some female friends but, in comparison with those three guys, she hardly talks to them. How do you think the book would’ve been without the love story and the differences with her dad? Side Character Tauriel (sorry, I can’t help it) is nothing without her relationships with Thranduil, Legolas and Kili. And she has NO female friends. What other version of this character could’ve existed without all of it?

Strong Females in movies

As I said, lately we had wave after wave of “strong female characters” that are just amaizing in everything they do and, sometimes, are even better than the men around them. Is it bad? No, but it could be a big “yes” depending on the story or in how often we get to see it.

All movies nowdays seem to believe that having a super-powerful woman is good and having a more “traditional” one is as bad as having a damsel in distress. Times have changed, I know, we do not need to “have” a man to be someone as it used to happen in the ‘50s... we can save ourselves, we can use guns, we can fight but does that mean that we are strong? Physically strong: sure... Strong-strong? not quite.

Of course it’s awesome to see a good fight on a movie (I quite enjoy them) but beyond the fantastic moves of this character we love is there anything to back it up? Is there a good reason to take that road? Was there a better choice? Here’s the random thought on my brain that made me write this article. Scene comparison ahead:

Labyrinth (1986):

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The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

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Let’s see... In both cases the heroines (filled with anger while thinking of calling Tauriel like that) find themselves against someone who doesn’t let them go on or their journey to save a baby brother (Sarah) or hot dwarf a bunch of dwarves (Tauriel). In both cases this obstacle is an authority figure, Sir Didymus -guardian of the bridge- and Thranduil, the Elvenking. It’s the same dilemma... but two different reactions. Sarah, a teenager, chooses to talk to the guardian, to be reasonable with him so she can get his permision... and she has it! Tauriel, an adult elf, chooses to shut up and threatens the King’s life.

“You idiot! Tauriel is trying to save the dwarves lifes, there’s no time to talk and be nice! It’s a war!” Oh, really? What if I tell you that Sarah only has 13 hours to save her baby brother before he turns into a goblin? Actually maybe she has less than three hours to save him in that scene, considerating that sometime later we see a 13 hours clock marking 11 sharp. She doesn’t have that much time does she? We saw that Ludo defeated Sir Didymus and that he’s also capable of holding him in his hand, Sarah could’ve easily asked Ludo to hold him until she crossed the bridge... heck! she could’ve kicked Sir Didymus out of her way and cross! But she didn’t because she didn’t needed another enemy behind her and she had no reasons to be a jerk. Tauriel decided that convincing her King to help her was a waste of time. After all why a man that knows her, raised her, gave her a job, and send his son to get her back to his kingdom (so she wouldn’t get into trouble) would care about her or her needs? He’s a cold hearted King, after all (major eye roll).

Which one is the strongest (and again, we’re not talking about physical strength)? The one that chooses to be gentle and polite or the one that chooses brutal force? It can be resumed in this: wisdom or brutality?

It’s quite funny that the question of wisdom or brutalilty shows up since Tauriel is a Silvan Elf, and they are -as said by Tolkien- less wise and more dangerous. As I said before “less wise” doesn’t mean “stupid” nor means “savage” as everybody seems to believe. Tolkien was reffering to the way of living of this elves, who turned away from the Valar’s invitation to join them and decided to live in a more “natural” way. A possible paralel to our society would be the hippie movement... we wouldn’t call them savages, would we?

As a character that was created to show how merceful we are it’s quite shocking to see Tauriel taking such a violent turn to get what she wants. The worst thing now is that we (anti-Tauriel people) can’t even say that that’s how teenagers behave, since Sarah in her 15s has shown the opposite reaction.

I ask you: of all the movies you’ve seen this year... did all the women took the high road instead of the easy one -that one beeing beating the crap out of someone to get what they wanted-? If violence was used: was this choice the only option? Did them had a really good reason to do so? If the answer is a “yes” congratulations! you’ve watched a movie with a strong female character (or at least, a good try to be one).

Can a Female Strong Character fall in love?

Of course she can!

Many people believe that their favourite females are criticized because they’ve fallen in love. Once Upon a Time said it first: love is not weakness, it’s strength. Everything’s OK if the girl loves someone, the problem begins when this love is the only reason why she moves a finger or when there’s nothing more for her than it or when love blinds her and makes her take stupid choices (and even forget her awesome set of skills).

Believe it or not, there’s a title for those strong females that after falling in love became -pretty much- damsels in distress or that were never intended to be Strong Females: Trinity Syndrome (you can read more about it here)

A strong female who falls in love? Glad you ask. The first one that comes to my mind is Lisbeth Salander from the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson, she goes through hell and yet falls in love but it never really affects her personality in a negative way (she was distant to people around her and opens up to Mikael -the guy she loves- but only with him and SPOILER ALERT once her heart breaks she’s still the same one). What about Princess Leia (RIP Carrie Fisher) she was tough, and smart and completly capable of comanding a group of rebels... but she falls in love anyway and it doesn’t change her at all. Any ot Tolkien’s women who fall in love are still the same and because of their love they push the boundaries and accomplish great deeds (Lúthien), others doesn’t need to fall in love to do so (Éowyn, Haleth). There are many more examples, sadly no so many from the last decade.

I’d like to do just one more comparison before finish this part.

Singin’ in the rain (1952)

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

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Both of them ended up facing the love of their lives (yikes! in Tauriel’s case). Both men think that only because of their looks (probably) they got the girl and will live together happily ever after but first, they have to charm her and both go the wrong way with sexual innuendos, touches and glances. Kathy Selden (RIP Debbie Reynolds) knows what’s going on and thinks of the best way to get out of such situation, she even uses physical strength when it’s needed. She won’t let a men to get his way with her. Tauriel knows what’s going on and decides to go on with the game... say what? Girl, you hardly know him! He could be a dangerous prisioner... and you’re flirting with him? How did you get the title of Captain of the Guard? I wonder if any orc has pulled such a move on her and if she reacted the same way.

Again, we have a strong female and a female (I’ll even say that she’s how men would love to see women behave).

Conclussion

So? Do they still exists? Yes, I think. There aren’t many, but every now and then one shows up (Lisbeth Salander is the last one I’ve meet so far).

What about all the other women in the movies and books? They could be strong characters if the writers could put a little more effort. So far we have the male idealization of a woman (you know: super hot, awesome fighter, love-sick puppy, independent but not that much) and the female version of this male idealization (fighter, sometimes insecure, lives to love her man and protect him, etc). It’s quite scary if we see them like that. I wouldn’t be frightened if all girls grew up the way I did; I know, I’m not the best example out there, but I know that I was taught not to let anyone (male or female) to put me down or to “show me my place”. And this teaching came from my family, not movies, TV shows or books (at least not in my early years) this three tools were for entertainment purposes, nothing more.

Today we live in a different world were the image prevails and this is the same world were parents have no time to be with their kids or doesn’t know how to prepare them for the world out there or don’t want to be the kind of parents that smother their kids by controlling what they watch or read because that will make them “bad parents”. It’s not like that, kids depend on us all. WE have to be their role models, not a character or toy. How come that I grew up playing with my Barbie dolls and I don’t want to be a supermodel or blonde or super skinny? Because I had a good education at home. How is it possible that I grew up watching and admiring the Disney’s princesses and yet I’m not looking for Prince Charming nor I care if I look like them or not? Because I was taught the difference between a movie and the real life. I also learned, many years later, that gender doesn’t matter: if a character has a good set of morals we can apply them too... who cares if said character was a men or a woman?

I wish that newer generations could be able to learn that you have to be yourself, that makes you strong not your ability with the sword but the reason why you’re using it and the fears you’re facing.

I wish that newer generations wouldn’t need a Strong Female Character because they’ll be their own.

#strong female characters #writing tips?#could create some controversy #don't get offended #anti-tauriel #super anti-tauriel #a strong character is

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