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artificialqueens · 4 years

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Just A Little Crush (Nicky/Crystal) - Mac

AN: If you know me at all you know I love this pairing and I think it needs to be talked about more. So I’m talking about it more. Thanks a million to Meggie for beta-ing and being an angel! Love u!

Summary: “Who would have thought beneath all this clown makeup was this such cute twink.” - Nicky Doll

Or: It starts off as a joke. Crystal thinks Nicky is hot. Who doesn’t? But when Nicky gets word of this little crush, she starts to have a bit of fun with a very easily flustered Crystal. But the teasing can only go on for so long until Crystal snaps. And she’s right on the edge…

It started off as a joke.

Nicky and Widow were assigning themselves roles while Crystal flipped through the packet they were given. Her brain was too preoccupied with the ‘holy fuck I made it’ thoughts to concentrate on what all was being said.

“We should play to our strengths, yeah.”

“So you would be the drunk, and I would be the sexy,” Nicky said jokingly to Widow, who threw her head back in a laugh.

Crystal nodded, mind elsewhere.

“I’m the sexy one,” Nicky said to herself.

“Obviously.” Crystal mumbled under her breath, absentmindedly.

Apparently, her mumbling wasn’t as quiet as she thought because, in a split second, Nicky was turning around, focusing her sharp gaze directly on the younger queen.“Oh, obviously, is it? Was that some flirting, Miss Crystal?”

Crystal was so thrown by the intimidating fact of being under Nicky’s scrutiny that she couldn’t even remember what she had said. “What? No, I-”

“Sounded like it to me,” Widow chimed in, an amused expression forming at the sight of her sister so flummoxed.

Crystal tried once more to defend herself, face heating up the longer Nicky kept her eyes on her. “I wasn’t-”

But Nicky cut her off again, “Don’t worry about it, mon chéri. I know I’m stunning.” Nicky tilted her head a bit to the side, and Crystal couldn’t help but notice the way her jawline was so perfectly sculpted. “I don’t blame you for noticing.” Nicky gave a particularly salacious wink, and Crystal scrambled for words.

“I didn’t mean it like-”

“Mhmm, sure you didn’t, Mary.” Widow laughed, then turned back to her paper.

But Nicky was still looking at Crystal with that same curious expression. She looked like she was almost… sizing her up. Crystal, who was still flushed from the sudden attention, wouldn’t meet her eye. Nicky looked her up and down once, twice, and then gave a knowing smirk before turning back to her character sheet in front of her.

Crystal’s brain took a minute to get back online.

Since she had met Nicky, Crystal had been… intrigued. Yes. Intrigued was the right word. She had been intrigued by the self-proclaimed fashion queen’s dry, biting humor and delicious accent.

Not delicious.

That sounded weird.

Her enchanting accent.

Yes.

That was better.

Nicky was… French. She was posh and quick-witted and incredibly talented. And there was so much more to her, Crystal just knew it. The quick chats they had in the Werq Room thus far had shown her as much. Nicky didn’t share a lot, whereas Crystal was about one hair short of telling you her entire life story at any given moment. Nicky was calm, cool, and collected, where Crystal often felt like a meteor tied to a string. They were very different people. So, of course, Crystal was intrigued. It had nothing to do with the French queen’s impeccable jawline and irresistible-

“-and Crystal can talk about the nut butter.”

“What?” Crystal shook her head to clear it and found two pairs of eyes looking at her expectantly.

Widow smiled, that maternal one that Crystal was used to seeing by now. It was both knowing and judging at once. “Earth to Crystal. We got a challenge to win.”

Crystal shook her head once more. “Yeah. Yeah, sorry, just spaced out a second.”

“Well, pull it together, sis. We Missouri queens gotta bring home the crown this season.”

Crystal gave an appreciative smile to Widow. Her kinship with the older queen was growing every day on set, and she felt grateful to have someone on her side.

Nicky was just staring at her with that same wicked glint in her eye. Crystal could feel her face flushing already and had to look away.

The rest of the rehearsal passed relatively uneventfully, with Crystal absorbed in studying her character. She only really noticed something was different when she glanced up halfway through her makeup to make eye contact through the mirror with a familiar face.

“Wh-What are you doing over here?”

“Is it okay if I get ready here?” Nicky asked.

“Yeah, course, I just thought you liked to get ready with Gigi.”

Nicky smirked.“Ooh, are you jealous already? There’s plenty of me to go around.” Nicky ran a hand over her bare chest dramatically, and Crystal couldn’t stop her eyes from traveling along the path she made.

“I’m not- I’m not jealous!”

Crystal cursed her voice for going up an octave.

“Don’t worry, mon amor.” Nicky winked. “It’s sexy.”

Crystal flushed impossibly redder and stared open-mouthed as Nicky went back to applying her makeup.

…

It started as an off-handed comment, but it soon grew to be much more when the rest of the girls overheard their flirting. Well, Nicky’s flirting.

The queens were all gathered around the table in the Werq Room, waiting for the cameras to finish setting up, and someone threw out the brilliant idea of playing fuck, marry, kill. Crystal put air quotes around the brilliant idea part.

They took turns going around the table, scream laughing at Heidi insisting she was a dom top, and how if there weren’t cameras around, she would bend Jan over the table. Only if she had her boy brows, though.

It finally came to be Crystal’s turn, and she smiled sheepishly as her sisters’ attention focused in on her.

After a beat of silence, Gigi just chuckled, “Honestly, I can’t think of anyone for you, cause you’d obviously do all three to Nicky.”

“What-”

Widow cut Crystal off with a laugh, “Girl, don’t get me started. That acting challenge, Miss Crystal couldn’t focus. She was so busy starin’ at Nicky’s ass.”

“I was not!” Crystal tried to defend herself.

It was no use.

The rest of the girls were having a fit. Of course, the quote-unquote weird girl of the season would fall for the fashion model.

Nicky only watched in amusement and shot Crystal a wink when they made eye contact.

Finally, Ru’s voice called to them through the television screen, and the girls made their way over. Crystal was saved for the moment.

But only for the moment.

Every chance they got, her fellow season 12 sisters would poke fun at her little crush on Nicky.

Not crush.

It wasn’t a crush.

It was just an attraction.

That’s all.

And who could really blame her? When Nicky looked like that and sounded like that and dressed like that and smiled like that and laughed like that and-

And maybe it was a crush.

A little one.

“-for your look?”

Crystal suddenly realized Nicky was standing in front of her and had apparently asked her a question.

“Umm, what?”

“Maybe if you stopped checkin’ out Nicky’s ass, you’d have heard her,” Widow hollered from across the room. The girls fell into another bout of laughter, and Crystal just ducked her head.

She looked back up to see Nicky waiting for her expectantly. Crystal pulled her notebook over and flipped through the first pages of her outline. Nicky leaned in close, so her chin was nearly resting on Crystal’s shoulder. The younger queen tried to ignore the appreciative hums Nicky was making so close to her ear.

“That looks stunning.” Nicky’s voice dropped, and she spoke in a whisper that brushed the shell of Crystal’s ear.

She knew what she was doing.

That thought struck a chord in Crystal.

Up until now, she had been playing right into Nicky’s hands. Acting like a damn teenager in lust. Nicky was winding her up. Teasing her to get a reaction.

If it were anybody else, Crystal would be pissed as hell. But something about the way Nicky’s eyes slid down her face made Crystal sure that the attraction wasn’t one-sided.

“Not as stunning as you though,” Crystal shot back before she could lose her nerve.

Nicky clearly was not expecting this answer, but she didn’t let it read on her face. She just gave Crystal that damn smirk again. “Oh, really?”

Crystal only nodded.

Nicky looked back at the sketchpad and reached out to trace along the headpiece, purposefully brushing her arm against Crystal’s. “I really like this bit here.”

Crystal couldn’t stop her eyes from sliding closed. Nicky being up in her personal space was making her head a bit fuzzy.

“Nicky?” Crystal nearly whispered.

“Yeah?”

Crystal opened her eyes, “What are you doing?”

Nicky shrugged. “You’ve been checking me out the whole time, thought I’d repay the favor.”

Crystal chuckled lightly. “Oh, and what’s the verdict?”

Nicky looked Crystal up and down, practically undressing her with her eyes. “Inconclusive.”

“Really?”

Nicky leaned in ever so slightly, so her breath would hit Crystal’s lips. “I need more data.”

Crystal flushed a deep red.

So much for not being a bumbling idiot.

…

It had started as a joke. But now Crystal couldn’t get her makeup done without Nicky by her side. The two of them had made a little corner for themselves, separated, as much as possible considering, from the rest of the girls. It almost felt like their own little refuge.

As time had gone on, their flirting, well, Nicky’s flirting had simmered down a bit. She still looked at Crystal like she would devour her if she got too close, but she also was giggling more, letting loose.

And there was this new thing. This tension. It cracked and fizzed in the air around them. Crystal couldn’t pinpoint when it started, only that when Nicky reached over to move a piece of hair away from her face, Crystal may have stopped breathing.

Nicky leaned back and smiled proudly to herself. “Better. Now we can see your hair in all its glory.”

“Now you’re messing with me.” Crystal blushed and ducked her head.

“No, I like it! It’s sexy,” Nicky insisted.

“You’re into mullets? Wouldn’t have pegged you the type.” Crystal chuckled lightly.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you look like- like that,” Crystal gestured to the whole of Nicky. “I just thought you were into… I dunno. Something prettier.”

“You are pretty.”

Crystal looked up to meet Nicky’s eyes. It was a genuine compliment. The first words not laced with innuendo or with the sole purpose of getting under Crystal’s skin.

“Not as pretty as me though, obviously,” Nicky said, suddenly looking away and licking her lips nervously.

Nervously. Huh. Nicky was nervous. Maybe all this time that she had spent winding up Crystal was affecting her too.

When Crystal didn’t respond immediately with her usual wit, Nicky looked up at her again. Crystal knew she still looked a bit dumbfounded, maybe that’s why Nicky looked away and licked her lips again.

“Stop doing that.” Crystal blurted out.

“What?”

“Licking your lips.” Crystal couldn’t stop herself now, intent on seeing how far she could push the older queen now that she had her off-kilter.

Nicky smirked, a bit of her cockiness returned, and she met Crystal’s eyes again. In one graceful movement, she leaned over into Crystal’s personal space. “Why, is it tempting you?” Her voice was low and husky, and Crystal could feel the air on the ends of Nicky’s words brush against her face.

“Yes,” Crystal answered, honestly.

Nicky froze like she hadn’t expected that answer. Like she hadn’t expected that after all this time of teasing Crystal that she would have the balls to actually say something.

“W-well, why don’t you do something about it then?”

The hint of a tremble in Nicky’s voice, the first crack in her pristine facade, made Crystal press on.

“Maybe, I will.”

Crystal shocked herself with how brazen she was being, but she didn’t have time to second guess herself. Crystal inched even closer.

Suddenly, the space between them multiplied. Nicky had stepped back and was now holding out her hand. “Karl,” Nicky blurted.

“What?”

“My-my name. Karl Sanchez.”

After a moment of processing on Crystal’s part, and an impatient shaking of Nicky’s hand in the air, Crystal finally took the hint and Nicky’s hand.

“Cody.”

“Nice to meet you, Cody.”

Nicky smiled, and the twinkle was still there, albeit a bit dimmer this time.

“Likewise.”

…

It started off as a joke.

Somehow it ended up being a thing. And now here Crystal was. With this unbearable crush on this unbearable boy who was hell-bent on making her fall head over heels.

The whole tension thing has only ratcheted up more and more as time had gone on. Each brush of their hands or stolen glance made Crystal’s stomach flip. She wanted to beat herself up about it, but she couldn’t find the willpower. This thing. This tension. It wasn’t just her. She was sure of it.

She was sure of it because she followed Nicky out on one of her smoke breaks.

The French beauty smiled at the sight of her, blowing out a puff of smoke before walking closer.

Crystal didn’t know what she expected coming out here. Only that it had been weeks. Weeks of this tension and she was going mad. They had been dancing around each other. They both knew the tension existed. They both knew it had an end.

Crystal was more sure of herself now. But as Nicky approached, she scrambled for words.

“Karl,” Crystal said it like a warning. Maybe it was.

Nicky didn’t listen. “What? You’re going to tell me you don’t want me?” She sauntered even closer, flicking her cigarette away before wrapping her arms around Crystal’s shoulders. “That you don’t want to fuck me?”

“Karl,” Crystal said it like a warning. This time it was.

She could feel her control slipping. Every inch of her body alight and on fire.

Nicky pressed their foreheads together lightly, “I don’t believe you.”

Crystal snapped.

Her hands worked of their own accord and pulled Nicky in by the hips, pressing their bodies impossibly close.

Crystal’s mouth started moving before she could stop and overthink, “You’re right. I do want to fuck you. Because you’re fucking hot. You walk around like my goddamn wet dream with your fucking voice, and you make me crazy.” Crystal was breathing heavily and using every ounce of restraint to keep from biting Nicky’s lip her damn self.

Nicky, for her part, opened her mouth, but no words came out.

“But I know I do the same to you.” Crystal smirked.

Nicky’s nose scrunched up, and Crystal could see her about to argue, so she inched even that much closer. And Nicky’s eyes nearly glazed over.

Nicky fumbled her words, “W-Well I-”

Crystal cut her off. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

If it were anyone else, Crystal would have sworn she heard Nicky whimper.

“Tell me I’m wrong, and I’ll go away. I’ll stop,” Crystal repeated.

Nicky opened and closed her mouth once, twice, and a third time before finally swallowing. “You’re not wrong,” she whispered, and Crystal could feel the exhale on her lips.

“Then kiss me.”

“You first.”

Crystal didn’t wait a second longer before leaning in to finally, finally close the distance between them. The kiss wasn’t as frantic as she expected. It was passionate while still being cautious. They were still testing the waters out. Of course, Nicky tried to shove her tongue down Crystal’s throat after about thirty seconds, but Crystal wouldn’t let her, content to make this one last.

When she finally pulled away, Nicky looked every bit the blushing idiot she had made Crystal into over the past few weeks. The younger queen tried to muster a smug smile, but all that came about was a contented one.

Nicky blushed even deeper at the lack of teasing and ducked her head in an attempt to break eye contact.

“Stop looking at me like that,” Nicky said.

Crystal grabbed her waist more firmly and pulled the older queen closer, the action nearly making Nicky fall into her arms and forcing their eyes to meet.

“You first.”

#rpdr fanfiction #nicky doll #crystal methyd #crystal x nicky #canon compliant #fluff #flirting #lots of flirting #just a little crush #mac #s12 #on set fic

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thetruthaboutlovecomesat3am · 6 years

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For the prompt thing : BlackHill 42 (out of pride) please? Thanks!!

Here you go! (Sorry, this is long and really random, but at least it’s something cute and not sad to break my recent sadness spiral. Hope it’s close to what you wanted! Thank you for the prompt!)

List of Kiss Prompts (still working on the others I got, don’t worry they’re not lost! I’m just a slow writer)

Mariaremembered how it all started. With an email from Tony that just said“omg is that you?” and an attached link. Maria thought first of avirus, but remembered SI’s emails were strictly filtered. Then shethought of some sort of international incident, possibly she wasbeing accused of treason, worst case scenario this was about theSokovia Accords. When she opened the link and saw a blog articletitled “Top 5 Avengers Most Likely To Be Queer” She wassure Tony was just messing with her. She wasn’t even an Avengeranymore. She was the head of Stark Industries security.

Outof curiosity, she scrolled down.

Numberfive was, not to her surprise, Steve Rogers. It was theorized aromantic affair with Sam (number four). Number three was no otherthan Tony Stark, digging back into bisexuality rumors from before hesettled down with SI’s CEO, Pepper Potts. Number two wasSpider-Man, the article called him “the twink hero we’ve all beenwaiting for” whatever that meant.

Andthen there was number one. The picture they chose almost had Mariachocking on air. Number one on the list was Natasha Romanoff. And whywas she most likely? The very picture that had Maria chocking. A gif.Natasha was talking to a brunette woman, her hands clutching the hemof her jacket, keeping her closer. The brunette seemingly whisperedsomething in her ear because Natasha smirked and nodded. Maria wasthe brunette. She remembered that party, they thought they were in adark corner, they thought nobody was paying attention to them. Mariawalked to her, complimented her with a casual “nice dress”, thenNatasha pulled her closer. Maria lightly kissed her neck thenwhispered in her ear something like “if you want to come by myplace later I’d love to get you out of it” and the smirk and nodNatasha gave in response were captured in the gif. At least the neckkiss was left out, Maria thought.

Atleast it wasn’t an official newspaper. This was just some randomblog, and Tony only knew about the article because he had an alertfor any Avengers article that came up, right? It just randomly pickedup this gossip article nobody was going to care about. She scrolleddown and saw that the article had six little thumbs up. She sighed inrelief but a split second later she realized that Tony couldn’t bethe only person with an Avengers alert on his search engine, couldhe? She refreshened the page and scrolled down dreadfully. The littlethumbs were now 16,709 up and 207 down. So seventeen thousand peoplehad clicked on the article in the time it took her to read it.

Sheopened up the message Tony sent her and wrote back to him “Can youtake it down?” but hesitated to send it. If enough people had seenit and it suddenly disappeared they could end up having a PR scandalon their hands. She could read the next article already. “HomophobicAvengers PR deletes an article on an LGBT+ blog”. They wouldn’tknow the article was deleted because it was true and, unless theydidn’t want to confirm it was true, to remove it would be to standagainst an LGBT blog. And the last thing Maria wanted was that. Shedeleted her message to Tony, knowing the only possible course ofaction would be to ignore the article altogether.

Sherefreshed the page again; 93,000 people had now read it.

Herphones went crazy. Her desk phone, her mobile work phone, herpersonal smartphone. Pepper personally told her this was ano-delegation matter. As if Maria would ever dream of delegatingsomething this close to her. She was taking calls two at a time,denying rumors about Stark, Rogers, Wilson and Romanoff all with thesame pre-made line: “I can neither confirm nor deny thisallegations at this moment.”

Maria,of course, could definitely confirm or deny most of thoseallegations, but she couldn’t, because she didn’t know whatproof they had nor was she in any hurry to handle the backlash headedtheir way.

Then,the call came. She picked up, giving the same answer she was givingto anyone else, saying she couldn’t confirm or deny the rumors. Butthe reporter on the other side of the line immediately interruptedher.

“Actually,miss Hill, I’m calling from the AvengersUpdates blog to ask if youhave a quote. We’re sending out an article in a few minutes.”

“Whatarticle?” And why hadn’t they ask for a quote from Stark, if it wasabout the same list? “Why do you want a quote from me?”

“Wehave an article about your relationship with Natasha Romanoff, thegif spoke for itself after all, but we decided to add a few words ofour own.”

“Hold,please.” Maria brought her work mobile down and her desk phone toher ear. “I can neither confirm nor deny these allegations at thismoment. Goodbye.” She hung up the phone, then brought the other oneback up to her ear. So someone identified her from the damn gif. Ofcourse they did. “What’s in the article?”

“You’llbe able to read it in a few minutes when it comes out. No punintended. Do you have a quote for us?”

“Ido. It is a great shame that people are still, to this day, forcedout of the closet. The Avengers are making an attempt to keep theirprivate lives private despite being in the public’s eye for no otherreason than keeping the public focused on what truly matters. I can’tconfirm nor deny these rumors, but either way, it shouldn’t matterwho they’re in love with, it should only matter what they do for theworld as our heroes. Let their private lives be private.”

Shehung up and went onto the next call, then the next, then the next.Until her laptop started signaling incoming mails. She opened upanother email from Tony, the message reading “omg is it true?”,and she clicked on it, dreading what she was going to read at the endof that link.

Thearticle was titled “EXCLUSIVE Black Widow’s lover: “Itshouldn’t matter who they’re in love with.” Who is NatashaRomanoff’s mysterious girlfriend?”

“Oh,come on, that is the line you decide to extrapolate?!” It made itsound…well, it made it sound like Maria straight out admitted therumors to be true.

Herphones all rang at the same time.

“Wecan’t confirm nor deny these allegations at this moment,” she saidafter answering all three of those at once. She hung up the deskphone and her work cell, but a somewhat amused voice spoke back fromher personal phone.

“Heythere, mysterious girlfriend.”

“Natasha?”

“Yep.So, we’re girlfriends now, are we?”

“Thatquote – they didn’t – I didn’t say that. They just took half asentence from what I said to them to make it seem like I wasconfirming the rumors.”

“Haveyou read it? Maria Hill, national hero in the army, former deputydirector of S.H.I.E.L.D., third in command at Stark Industries andprettiest woman in New York City.”

“Theydid not say that.”

“Nah,that was all me. But they do say I apparently seduced you andabandoned you to avoid making my sexuality public. Made you fall inlove, then fled. Hence the quote about let the Avengers love who theywant to love.”

Mariasighed, leaning back on her chair and pressing her fingers againsther eyes.

“I’llsend out a press release where I categorically deny this.”

“Whatif I don’t want to deny it?”

“Youknow I’m not in the public eye as much as you are, I don’t have anissue with that.”

“Well,if we deny it it’s only going to make the press more interested. Ican always put pictures online of me and Steve holding hands, nobodyknows he’s like a brother to me. Or with Sam, I’ve got plenty ofchoices.”

Mariafelt an almost instant knot in her throat. “I’ll issue a pressrelease as soon as possible. My other phones are ringing, I need totake it.”

“Youknow I’m joking, right?”

“Iknow.” No, she didn’t. “I do need to take this. Bye, Nat.”

“Youanswer that and I’ll take care of the press release.”

“Sure,okay.”

“Bye,Maria.”

Shehung up, then moved onto the next call. “I can neither confirm nordeny these allegations at this moment,” she kept chanting.

Thephones had been quiet for seven minutes. Seven blessed, peacefulminutes. She even had time to check on her actual work and make sureeverything was being handled, before her phone rang again.

“Ican neither confirm nor-”

“MissHill, it’s the same AvengersUpdates blogger, I was wondering if youhave another quote?”

“Ido have some opinions about your article but seeing as you misquotedme before I’m not sure I’m comfortable-”

“No,this isn’t about the article. About the press release. MissRomanoff’s video?”

Mariaslowly closed her eyes and sighed. “Hold please.” She opened heremail inbox and immediately saw a new message from Tony from aboutfive minutes before that only read “omg”, Tony’s word of the day,apparently. She clicked on the link and started to watch the video,recorded from Natasha’s phone. Well, that was quick.

“Goodmorning,” she started in her mock serious voice, that had Mariaworried already. “Please treat this video release as an officialstatement. I would like to address the issues brought up today by twoarticles, the first one addressing me as the avenger most likely tobe queer and the second one about an alleged relationship between meand Maria Hill. First of all, it is not only outrageous to mepersonally, but absolutely not true in any way that I, and I quote,broke Maria’s heart before I fled the city. It’s preposterous andridiculous.”

Mariapaused the video. And there it was. It was ridiculous to Natasha thatthey could be a couple. Preposterous, even. Outrageous. Then again,they had gone without a label for so long now, that it wasn’t thatsurprising Maria didn’t like the outcome. Natasha was denying theywere involved. And, sure, technically, maybe they weren’t involved.Maybe they had a tacit friends-with benefits deal. Maria never caredto investigate her luck, but right now she was feeling she shouldhave before it became a public matter.

Shepressed play again.

“Iwould never break her heart knowingly. I love her. And, as she saidto the reporter who wrote the article, it shouldn’t matter if we’rein love. It doesn’t affect our jobs, it’s private and it should stayprivate, not because we’re ashamed. In fact, she’s the thing I’mproudest of. I’m proud of my sexuality and I’m proud of ourrelationship. So if you want to write an article about the firstavenger to come out, please go do that and stop calling Maria at herwork number or mobile number because she isn’t going to give you abetter answer. Unless she wants to dump me via blog article, then youmight get yourself a scoop.” She then stopped walking, raised hereyes and saw something behind the camera that made her decide tochange her route. “That was a joke, please stop contacting her toget information about me. Thank you for the attention, goodbye.”

Sherecognized in the video Natasha walking on the block of the SI towerand it felt bizarre, because she wasn’t supposed to be back in NewYork until the next day. What was she doing there, then? Sheseemingly changed path to go around to Tony’s backup entrance insteadof getting inside by the main one. What was going on out there?

“MissHill, are you still there?” The voice from the other end of theline reminded her of the ongoing phone call.

“Yes,sorry.”

Therewas a knock at the door and then it sprung open without her needingto invite whomever was knocking in. Natasha strolled past theentrance, closed the door behind her, and sat down on one of Maria’schairs.

“It’scrazy out there, there’s two dozen reporters waiting outside thebuilding,” Natasha told her like she hadn’t just dropped into heroffice unannounced.

Mariastared at her for a moment, before pressing the phone back to herear.

“Yes,I do have a quote,” she said to the reporter. “Please write itdown because I don’t want to be misquoted again. Okay. The quote is:I’m proud of her too.”

Natashasmiled and got up from her chair as Maria hung up the phone. Shecircled the desk and bent down towards Maria, resting her hands onher chair’s armrest.

“Ireserved a table at Gianni’s for this evening, but something tells meit’d be hard to lose the paparazzi.”

“Youknow, you had me convinced you were going to deny everything and actoutraged for a second there,” Maria said, grasping her jacket andbringing her down a couple of inches, until they were barely apart.

“Itold you I didn’t want to deny it. I’m proud to be with you.”

“Withme, uh?”

“Haven’tyou heard? We’re girlfriends.”

Mariasmiled and reached up to kiss Natasha firmly on the lips.

“I’mproud to be with you, too.”

#blackhill #martasha #maria hill x natasha romanoff #fanfiction #ficlet #*mine

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artificialqueens · 5 years

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Exercise in folly 2.0 - Chapter 2.1 (Craquaria) - SamWhity

Title: Exercise in Folly 2.0

Summary: Monét looked at her with disbelief, before sighing: “Giovanni never saw the damn video. He dodged the whole thing like a pro because he was trying to be your friend”. “He’s my friend”. Cracker’s answer came without any hesitation, so natural and passionate that the other queen smiled softly. “Cracks…” Summary of the chapter: Maxwell tries again and receives an unexpected answer. Giovanni sulks and Kevin and Nicola are the best friends we all should wish for. Author’s note: Even though Aquaria and Jordan Stawecki seem to be friendly with eachother again, I decided to have them still un-reconciled for the time being. Everything you will read about this moment in time and the so-called drama should be furthermore considered purely fictional and nothing that is portrayed here has any legitimacy.

Chapter one

You keep me up at night To my messages, you do not reply You know I still like you the most The best of the best and the worst of the worst Well, you can never know The places that I go I still like you the most You’ll always be my favorite ghost

(Florence + The Machine, Big God)

Even though he deeply enjoyed touring with others queens, Maxwell Heller couldn’t help himself from sighing contently while putting down his luggage in the entrance of his apartment.

“Home sweet home”, he mumbled with a smile, before closing the door behind him.

“Coffee?”, Kathelyn asked while making her way to the kitchen.

“Of course”, the man answered, then he picked up one suitcase and started unpacking the gifts and fanarts he received on the road.

Just as he started reading a very long letter, his phone vibrated.

Monét X-Change, 2:34 pm: Got home safe?

Monét X-Change, 2:34 pm: We’re having dinner at mine, with Dustin and Yuhua. You coming?

Monét X-Change, 2:35 pm: I’ll ask Giovanni as well, but only the Lord knows what is up with that twink nowadays…

Monét X-Change, 2:35 pm: You coming, right?

Monét X-Change, 2:36 pm: Come on Cracks, answer already!

Maxwell chuckled, clearly amused by his friend’s lack of patience, before typing a short answer.

Miz Cracker, 2:37 pm: All right, all right. I’ll be there.

Monét X-Change, 2:38 pm: Perfect! Bring Kathelyn with you, it will be fun!

“What are you laughing at?”, his best friend asked, while handing him a mug full of steaming coffee.

“Kevin is being ridiculous as usual”, he explained, before taking a sip of the beverage and wincing in pain “Shit! That was really hot!”.

Kathelyn rolled her eyes, before going to her bedroom and starting to unpack.

“I’ll see a couple of friends tonight, don’t wait for me”, she said, while folding a shirt.

Maxwell nodded, then he added: “I’ll be at Kevin’s for dinner, don’t worry”.

The scoff he received as an answer was followed by a quick: “Well now I’m worried. Don’t get into any trouble, Mister”.

The look she received as an answer was enough to make her giggle.

“I love you too”, she conceded with a soft smile, then she closed the door behind her.

Kathelyn, 2:43 pm: I’m serious. We don’t have enough money to pay bail yet.

Kathelyn, 2:43 pm: Can you imagine? Okay, Kathelyn, time for slob.

Kathelyn, 2:44 pm: You have to admit that it was pretty funny.

Kathelyn, 2:44 pm: Right?

Kathelyn, 2:44 pm: RIGHT?!

Maxwell, 2:45 pm: I was waiting for you to finish your little piece…

Kathelyn, 2:45 pm: Don’t be so salty… :P

Maxwell, 2:46 pm: I will call in intervention, if you don’t stop

Maxwell, 2:47 pm: I’ve warned you

Kathelyn, 2:47 pm: You’re no fun…

After a couple of minutes, Maxwell’s phone vibrated once again, making him snort.

Kathelyn, 2:52 pm: You have to admit it. It’s time for slob was HILARIOUS.

***

Nicola, 2:43 pm: I just received the upteenth video of “Viva Las Vegas”. Please send help.

Giovanni Palandrani, barely awake but already in a weird mood, chuckled at his phone. With a little smile on his lips, he typed an answer.

Giovanni, 2:44 pm: Oh, poor you. Do you want me to send you “New York, New York”, just to switch it up a little bit?

The answer he got made him giggle stupidly.

Nicola, 2:45 pm: Do not even dare, kid! Otherwise I will personally ask Gaga to strike you from her beloved list of the most loyal fans!

Nicola, 2:45 pm: Where has the respect for the elders gone?

Nicola, 2:46 pm: Not that I’m old.

Nicola, 2:46 pm: Because I am certainly not old, understood?

Giovanni’s smile grew bigger. He quickly replied, before making his way to the balcony of the hotel room.

Giovanni, 2:47 pm: I would never imply you are old. I will just state that Shaquida was still going to daycare, while you were already driving one of those ugly tanks you like so much.

Giovanni, 2:48 pm: To quote Bob the Drag Queen, Nicola Formichetti is so old, he would probably die the moment he decided to act his age.

He did not receive any kind of answer for a couple of minutes and the lack of response made him worry he took it too far. Why was he always taking it too far?

“Goddamn it, Giovanni”, he murmured, before typing quickly.

Giovanni, 2:51 pm: It was totally inappropriate, I am so sorry! I should have just shut up.

Giovanni, 2:51 pm: Sorry, I am just in a weird mood. I am so so sorry…

Giovanni, 2:52 pm: I understand if you’re mad now but please know I really did not mean it in a disrespectful way.

The answer he got made him snort his water and sigh with relief at the same time.

Nicola, 2:54 pm: RELAX, I was just busy. I know how to roll with the punches kid… ;)

“You bastard”, he whispered, before answering.

Giovanni, 2:55 pm: Busy recording yourself playing the piano? Charming… :P

Nicola, 2:55 pm: Can we please go back to the apology? I liked you way better when you were sincerely apologizing…

Giovanni started laughing, before realising someone knocked at his hotel door.

“It’s open”, he said.

One of the hotel’s butlers was standing in front of the door, looking at him composedly, his hands hidden behind his back.

“The car will be here in less than forty minutes, sir”, he announced, before handing him a bouquet of flowers and adding: “Someone left this for you at the counter, today”.

The young man thanked him, before closing the door behind him and starting to gather his suitcases. He could do it even without Jordan, he thought to himself.

He put the bouquet on top of his carry-on, before picking the card and reading it out loud.

“To Aquaria. Thanks for the most amazing show I could possibly wish for. You are one of the best performers I had the pleasure to witness and I can’t wait to see you again, slaying on stage. Xoxo”

The boy smiled, before taking a picture of the sweet gift and uploading it to his Instastories with the caption “Blessed” and a smiling kitty.

In that exact moment, his phone vibrated again.

Monét X-Change, 3:04 pm: We’re having dinner at mine today! You’re in right?

He smiled, excited at the idea of seeing Kevin, before realizing he could not possibly make it to New York on time and sighing.

Aquaria, 3:04 pm: I wish! I’ll be back later tonight :(

Aquaria, 3:05 pm: You can feed me leftovers for brunch tomorrow, if you’re free. :D

Monét X-Change 3:05 pm: Lunch at mine and it’s a date. ;)

Aquaria, 3:06 pm: Now that took a turn…

Monét X-Change, 3:06 pm: You bitch!!!

Monét X-Change, 3:06 pm: You only wish…

A quick glance at his watch made him realize his ride would have arrived in a couple of minutes. He put his bags on the trolley he got from the reception and made his way to the elevator.

“You can make it, see?”, he murmured to himself, trying to avoid thinking about the whole drama around Jordan and his sudden interest in Los Angeles.

Once in the elevator, he found another text.

Miz Cracker, 3:12 pm: Are you coming to Monét’s?

He quickly left the message on read, before going back to the other one and trying to come up with a silly if not funny answer.

Aquaria, 3:12 pm: Last time I checked, I already gave to charity. Like a ton. Maybe next year you’ll be luckier ;)

“Weak”, he murmured to himself, before exiting the elevator and waiting for the car in the lobby of the hotel.

His phone vibrated again.

Miz Cracker, 3:14 pm: Are you purposefully ignoring me?

Miz Cracker, 3:14 pm: If you do not feel like talking it’s fine, just stop leaving me on read.

Miz Cracker, 3:15 pm: For real, Giovanni.

With a sigh, Giovanni locked the screen and saw the car approaching. He exited the building, put his sunglasses on and smiled at the driver, who then proceeded to load the suitcases in the trunk. He sat in the back-seat and put on his headphones, trying to come up with an answer for Cracker as well. Nothing. His phone vibrated once again.

Monét X-Change, 3:22 pm: You little sly bitch…

Monét X-Change, 3:22 pm: Have you talked to Cracks, btw?

Monét X-Change, 3:23 pm: And don’t you even dare to play dumb. You know better.

“Shit”, Giovanni murmured, before biting his lower lip and typing a couple of words.

Aquaria, 3:24 pm: I don’t know what to say.

Monét X-Change, 3:25 pm: Kid… just tell him how you felt while watching that video.

Aquaria, 3:25 pm: It’s not that.

Aquaria, 3:25 pm: It’s a lot more than that and I do not know how to react. And fucking everything around me is crumbling…

Monét X-Change, 3:26 pm: I heard about Jordan. I’m sorry, baby.

Aquaria, 3:26 pm: Can we please not talk about it now? I don’t really feel like crying in a taxi…

Monét X-Change, 3:27 pm: Of course, baby. Of course. I will see you tomorrow okay? Come at around one and we’ll have a kiki.

Aquaria, 3:27 pm: Thank you, Kevin. :*

“We’re here”, the driver pulled over, before exiting and starting to look for a cart to put Giovanni’s luggage on.

The young man exited the car as well, then took his bag and thanked the driver with a polite smile.

“Keep the change”, he said, while handing him some cash.

He quickly entered the airport and deposited his suitcases, before heading to the lounge and helping himself with a glass of juice.With a sigh, he took his phone out of his bag and tried to come up with a reply for Maxwell.

Nothing. Again.

The screen lit up for a quick second.

Nicola, 3:51 pm: Already at the airport? How are you feeling?

He bit his lower lip, before answering.

Giovanni, 3:52 pm: Honestly? I don’t know… I have so many things on my mind and I can’t stop thinking about other things and all this thinking is making me crazy.

“Way to go, Giovanni. You really have a way with words”, he sneered, after reading the message once again.

Nicola, 3:52 pm: Care to untuck? (See what I did there?)

Giovanni smiled at the attempt at making him laugh, before typing further.

Aquaria, 3:53 pm: I do not know where to begin, honestly… there is so much going on and I have so little control over how things are going…

Nicola, 3:54 pm: I will take an educated guess and say it has little to do with the lack of creativity in your current work, right?

Nicola, 3:54 pm: And before you start, your work is still fucking incredible.

Nicola, 3:55 pm: But I’ve known you long enough, kid…

The young man sighed, before answering.

Giovanni, 3:56 pm: I am in a weird place, right now. After all this drama about Jordan and people assuming I treated him like a fucking slave, I had to sit and watch that video. And it stung more than I could ever predict.

Giovanni quickly realized he was close to tears and decided to put his sunglasses back on, just to prevent a scene.

The other man’s answer was concise.

Nicola, 3:58 pm: Tell him

Nicola, 3:58 pm: Tell him that it hurt and maybe you can sort this shit out

Giovanni, 3:59 pm: Maybe

Nicola, 4:00 pm: Listen, I’ll be in NYC tomorrow afternoon. Sushi at mine?

Giovanni smiled: the care that man had for him was something he was incredibly grateful for, even if he could not quite figure out why the older one was caring so much. He quickly typed an answer.

Giovanni, 4:01 pm: I could use some sushi for dinner tomorrow, actually

Nicola, 4:01 pm: Then it’s a date! Let’s say at 9 PM?

Giovanni, 4:02 pm: That sounds perfect. I’ll see you tomorrow.

Nicola, 4:03 pm: See you tomorrow, kid. Be safe xoxo

When his flight was announced, the young man got up quickly and made his way towards the gate. Once seated, he closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep.

***

“Guess who’s back in da house!”.

Kevin welcomed him with a solid hug and a warm smile. Maxwell entered the apartment, hung is coat and made his way to the kitchen, where Yuhua and Dustin were chatting sipping on some cheap wine.

“Hi guys”, he smiled and took a couple of steps forward to hug the both of them.

Yuhua hugged him back, with a big smile.

“How have you been, girl?”, the queen asked, before making space for Dustin to hug him too.

Max hugged the friend back, before answering: “Good. Busy but I can’t complain”.

They quickly sat at the table, waiting for the food to be delivered.

“Has someone heard from Giovanni?”, Dustin asked, while sipping on his glass of wine.

Kevin raised his glass, nodding.

“I did. He’s not home until later tonight”, he explained, then he added: “I will meet with him tomorrow, to see how he’s doing and stuff”.

Yuhua raised an eyebrow.

“Stuff?”.

In that exact moment, Maxwell chocked on his glass of soda and started coughing, causing Dustin to laugh manically.

“You bitch!”, Kevin laughed, patting his best friend on the back in order to prevent him from choking any further, “I want to see how he’s doing, what he’s up to and this kind of things. I also have yet to give him my Christmas present”, he said with a proud smile.

The sound of the doorbell interrupted the conversation and the host stood up to go take the food and pay.

“I’ll be right back, ladies”.

After a couple of minutes, they were sitting in front of a plethora of boxes and paper bags full of Thai food.

“You really went all out”, Yuhua looked at the food with disbelief, before adding: “Are you sure you don’t need anything from us?”.

Kevin pinched his friend, before opening a container and smiling at the sight of the steaming hot curry inside it.

“I just thought it would be nice to spend time all together again”, he said before pausing and adding: “Well, without Giovanni… but you know what I mean”.

The others nodded, before starting to eat.

***

Finally in his apartment, Giovanni left the suitcases in the hallway and sighed.

“Home sweet home”, he murmured, before switching the light on and deciding he might as well turn the heating on and warm up the rooms a little bit.

His phone vibrated, making him jump.

Jordan, 00:17 am: In February I will be gone.

Jordan, 00:17 am: Just letting you know.

The young man bit his lower lip, before typing a quick answer.

Giovanni, 00:18 am: Thank you for letting me know.

He put his phone back in his pocket, then he went to his room and opened a drawer, taking out a small plastic bag. He rolled himself a joint and went to smoke it on the balcony, trying to clear his head.

“Shit”, he murmured, before closing his eyes and sighing.

He did not know what to do, let alone how to react to Jordan’s antics any more. After the whole fiasco in London, he had absolutely no idea how to go further without ruining their friendship. When the management stepped in, he had no other options than to fire him and the expression in his eyes was one of defiance and cockiness he had never seen before.

“As if you would survive a day without me”, Jordan sneered, before collecting his jacket and leaving the room.

Giovanni took his phone out of his jacket, hoping Nicola would be awake and willing to listen to him vent.

Aquaria, 00:23 am: I am currently sitting on the staircase outside and all I can think about is how many friendships I’ve fucked up. It’s making me slowly insane and paranoid and so unsure of myself it is almost disgusting. I don’t recognise this part of me and it scares me, I don’t know how to react to Maxwell’s messages or to Jordan’s rage and it is making me go crazy.

He sent the message without checking the name of the receiver. Needless to say, just because karma and faith every once in a while love to play tricks on people, he sent it to Maxwell instead without realizing the mistake he made.

He locked the screen, finished his joint and headed to the bathroom to have a shower, blissfully unaware of what just happened.

***

Maxwell’s phone vibrated, making the man jump slightly.

“Everything allright, Cracks?”, Kevin asked, before looking at him quizzically.

The other man nodded.

“It’s just my phone, Kathelyn must have gotten home or something”, he replied, before taking his phone out of his pocket.

The message he got was definitely not from Kathelyn.

Needless to say, the man barely managed to whisper a confused: “What…?”, before signalling to his best friend to join him on the balcony.

Once the door behind them was closed, much to Yuhua and Dustin’s disappointment, the younger man was presented with the other one’s phone.

“What is happening, Max?”, he then asked.

“Read it”, Maxwell said, sighing.

Kevin read everything twice, before looking at his friend with concern in his eyes.

“I reckon it wasn’t for me either”, he then commented, trying to lighten up the mood and failing miserably at it.

Max sat on the floor, before closing his eyes and murmuring: “What should I do?”.

The other one shrugged, before joining him on the floor and giving him his phone back.

“Well, now at least you know he’s not mad or something…”, he murmured, trying to sound comforting, “I’ll see him tomorrow and maybe I can try…”.

“No, I don’t think it’s a good idea”, the other one interrupted him, “I don’t want him to feel trapped or some shit”.

Kevin nodded.

“Yeah, it makes sense”, he mumbled, before getting up: “Let’s go and see what the others are doing. I will keep you posted tomorrow, okay?”.

Maxwell nodded, then he got up as well and squeezed his friend’s hand.

“Thank you”.

#craquaria #miz cracker #aquaria #monet x change #hurt/comfort #slow burn #rpdr fanfiction #exercise in folly #samwhity #s10 #canon compliant

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