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#vol. 2... hard knock life

comfortfoodcontent · 4 months

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1998 Jay-Z Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life Album Magazine Ad

Fun to see it called Lifetime Vol. 2 here pre-release

#Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life #hard knock life #jay-z #roc a fella #albums #cds #music #90s cds #90s music #90s rap #rap #hip hop #1998 #90s #1990s #magazine ads #print ads

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musictyme · 2 months

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JAY-Z - Can I Get A... ft. Amil, Ja Rule

#JAY-Z - Can I Get A... ft. Amil #Ja Rule #music #hip hop #rap #vol 2 hard knock life #1998 #90s music

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upsidedownmvnson · 8 months

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tell me you love me | steve harrington

warnings: fluff (warning lol) friends to lovers, idiots to lovers,

a/n: i actually really loved this <3 i hope you do too

tell me you love me vol 2

Steve Harrington had already tried twice in his life to confess his love for you.

The first time, you two were in the tenth grade and you had just accepted stupid Jack Warren's invitation to prom, so Steve didn't bother. That was back when he was settling into popularity anyway, so he got over it pretty quickly. He was dating Cathy Bartlett the next week.

The second time, Robin had made him pinky promise not to date you. She had held him down, sat on his back and twisted his arm until he pinky swore that he wouldn't do anything to destroy the delicate ecosystem of the friend group. There was already one awkward ex-situation in there.

But Robin was right, you were not like the girls he normally dated. If things went wrong he wouldn't be able to just sweep it under the rug, it could have painful ramifications for all his friends. Although... he didn't actually think it would go that bad. Steve would find his mind wandering on the idea often. He pictured the two of you in the kitchen, side by side cooking dinner and talking about your day. When he thought of you, it felt like home. It felt like somewhere he could build a house and live forever.

If he could only get the words out, he'd realize how quickly you'd accept him. He'd realize he wasn't the only one of you that was stupid in love.

You had been in love with Steve since you could remember. But never once thought he'd shared your interest, not with all the girls around him all the time. The way he shines in their attention and basks in their praise, it's enough to make you sure he's happy with how it is. Or he probably wouldn't have told you all about his date with Debbie Dabbenthorn, right?

Tonight, you, Nancy and Robin were at a party. Something Steve desperately tried to make not happen. But he was working, so there was no one to stop you girls from coaxing each other into drink after drink, which you always did. The three of you always drank too much, and Steve always got stuck trying to coral you and Robin into his car.

At the party, Nancy was handing you another red cup filled to the brim, sloshing over the side and coating your fingers. You hadn't noticed.

"I love when we ditch the boys," Nancy said, smiling as she sipped out of her own solo cup. "It's so fun!"

"Same," Robin said, slinging her arm around Nancy's shoulers, making the two of them sway and laugh. They caught their balance and cheered drinks. "Hey, help me find the bathroom!"

It wasn't hard to find, but it was hard for all three of you to get there without knocking into each other, but it didn't matter. The three of you giggled the whole way, laughing too hard over barely anything. Enjoying the simple joy of being with your friends on a party.

The line for the bathroom was short, only a few people deep. Nancy was grilling Robin on her love life while Robin evaded every question with a vague answer, soon, she turned it onto you, focusing Nancy on the other singler girl in the group.

"Do you not think anyone is cute at least?" Nancy said, not quite believing you when you say you didn't have a crush on anyone at the moment. You shrugged, trying to avoid admitting that it was her ex boyfriend that really turned your head. Robin chuckled, and slid into the bathroom.

You started sipping your drink when Nancy asked, "Not even Steve?" and you nearly choked, but you coughed once and composed yourself. You stared at her, confused as to why she would bring him up.

"You don't have to say anything," she said, and you looked into your cup, noting that you'd need a replacement after this trip. "But it would be okay with me."

Robin opened the bathroom door again, reassembling the trio be throwing her arms around both of your shoulders. "New drinks!" she cheered, steering you all in the direction of the kitchen.

"Drink up," Nancy giggled, "and then let's dance!"

So that's what you did, you guys drank and danced and had a great time. Until Jonathan came to pick up Nancy. That's when you saw that it was after nine, so Steve should've been on the way to come collect you and Robin from your drunken outing. You told Robin again how nice it was for Steve to come get you.

"But c'mon, you love him right?" Robin asked, laughing at your shock.

"I do not love him," you argued, but you did. Robin shrugged, but didn't look convinced. "He just is beautiful, that's all."

"Nah," she said, brushing off the idea with a wave of her hand. "You just love him."

"Do not," you mumbled. But Robin already leaned the other way when Vicki walked up to talk to her. You leaned further into the couch, the ugly thing was very comfortable. Steve should be there any minute.

"Hey," Robin whispered, "Vicki invited me to go with her friends to the lake... Are you gunna be okay here? You're not too drunk are you? Because if you think you can't stay awake, I'll stay of course..."

"Robin, go! I'll be fine for like two minutes..." you slurred, you were pretty drunk but Steve really was going to be there any second.

"Okay!" she didn't have to be told twice before she was scrambling after Vicki in her love-drunk haze. Or maybe just regular drunk, but Robin was feeling giddy anyway.

Steve was running behind because he lost the address that Robin had given him. She'd just ripped off a corner of a piece of paper, and Steve had lost it at some point in his shift. When he finally found the place he was thirty minutes behind.

When he got inside you were curled up on the couch alone, snoozing while some couple made out next to you in the spot Robin had vacated. He smiled when he saw you, and took a knee next to you, trying to wake you up nicely. He stroked your cheek, and tucked some hair behind ear, making you stir softly in your slumber.

"Time to get up," Steve said, "Where's Robin?"

"Went with Vicki," you whispered, rubbing your eyes, smudging whatever makeup wasn't already ruined from the dancing.

"Well, how mean of her to leave you here all alone," he said, running his thumb along your cheek again. "Can't trust you guys alone now though, she did leave you to fall asleep at a house party. That's like really bad, I'm mad at her."

You made a soft noise in response, his stern voice was, not so stern. He smiled at you, and you couldn't help but notice how beautiful he was. Leaning close to you, rubbing your cheek, hair falling perfectly on his forehead and you just wanted to reach up and brush it away like he did. But your hands were wedged under your head, and you were afraid that if you stirred even an inch, he would leave, and this moment would be over.

"Guess you'll just have to make sure you come with us next time," you whispered, eyes bloodshot and glossy from all the alcohol. He thought you were the most beautiful girl in the room. The party was still raging around him, and he easily could've found a place within the girls, but he was content in this moment with you. Your eyes started feeling heavy, and you couldn't stop them from constantly fluttering shut.

“C'mon let me help you up babe,” Steve said, aiding your drunk figure. The nickname made your stomach flip. You were dead weight, giggling as he took care of you and grabbed your things and still found the patience to be kind to you, musing like he was interested in all your drunk babble.

“You're just so pretty, Stevie, it's stupid,” you cooed, finding a place beside him with his arms around you for balance as he lead you, slowly, to his car.

"D-Don't say that stuff," Steve said, voice cracking at the beginning. You were drunk, and it was dark, but you still noticed the blush on Steve's cheeks, and you smiled.

He opened the door for you, and you commented, "so romantic," while holding your hand over your heart, and Steve's heart raced. He went around the trunk of his car to get another second of fresh air, if you saw him in the light you were sure to see the heat he felt in his neck and cheeks. You were flirting with him, and he couldn't contain his excitement every time you complimented him, looking up at him with those beautiful eyes.

The entire trip was like that. From the moment he was in the car you were just a loose cannon of compliments and praises. This combination of him sober and you drunk has never happened while alone before. Were you this flirty with him when he was drunk too?

The answer was yes. The real reason Nancy knew you really wanted Steve was because whenever you two are drunk and together you look like you're in love... because you are. Holding hands, head on shoulder, legs across laps, big bright smiles that made everyone think you were truly, madly, deeply in love. Everything that's just a little too friendly, but never crossing that silly little line that kept you both under the umbrella of just friends.

You were a delight in his passenger seat. He only wished you spoke like this when you were sober, because then maybe he'd know for sure you love him too.

"Hey Steve?" you asked, voice coming out as almost a purr in your sleepy state. Steve's heart melted. "Can I hold your hand?"

"Yeah," he answered, clearing his throat and moving his hand over to your lap, intertwining your fingers. Your hands were cold to the touch, but all you felt was the comforting warmth of him. You were both smiling, goofy grins to match the butterflies in your stomach. "You can hold my hand whenever you like."

You made another happy hum, but said nothing else. The ride was short. No words exchanged, just the quiet songs on the radio, turned low to let you drift off in the passenger seat.

When you got to his house, he parked the car, looking at you. He didn't want to wake you. And he didn't want to let go of your hand. Maybe he should just stay in the car all night.

Of course he didn't do that. Steve weaseled his way out of your grip, not bothering to hide how pleased he was that you whined at the loss of his touch. he helped you out of the car, encouraging you to climb on his back for "an express ride to the VIP bathroom," and he delivered, carrying you, all dead weight and giggling, to the bathroom where he left you to clean up. You put on the clothes he delivered, Plaid pajama pants and a big grey shirt. Well, you put the shirt on, the pajama pants were thrown into the tub, because you couldn't be forced to wear pants.

"Steeeeeve," you slurred, leaving the bathroom, giggling and bumping into the doorframe.

Steve was standing in the doorway to his room, wearing only blue plaid pj pants. His torso on glorious display, while he stood frozen at the sight of you. You stretched your arms over your head, and the shirt rose, exposing your panties to him. He nearly choked looking at you.

"Can I sleep in your room?" you asked, smiling at the effect you had on him. "Look how cute I am," you said, turning around and lifting the shirt while bending over slightly, giving him a perfect view of your ass, with the panties laying deliciously over your cheeks.

"Jesus," he muttered, unable to look away but trying to force himself to. He shouldn't be sneaking a peak while you were this drunk, but in his defence you were the one showing him. "Come to bed, just put your shirt down."

"It's your shirt," you teased, obeying him anyway. You danced behind him into the room, and crawled into bed. It smelled so good, it smelled like him. You could've stayed by Steve's side under these blankets forever.

You lay facing Steve, in his overly big, overly comfortable bed, too tired and drunk to keep your eyes open, but you still try. Steve smiles at your determination to stay awake, he watches your eyes blink quickly, trying to shake the sleep away.

You want to reach over and intertwine your hands, you don’t. He wants to reach out and brush the hair off your forehead and behind your ear, he doesn’t.

“Are we in love, Steve?”

The sharpness of your question cuts him, wounding him in a way he didn’t know was possible. He wanted to speak, but there were no words. No charismatic come back, and no way to avoid the lingering question in the air. Steve holds his tears back. He really did love you.

When your eyes peak open, he’s nodding. His eyes filled with tears that he refuses to let you see, but you see. "Yeah, I think so."

“Why is it so sad?”

“Because we're best friends," he said, "and I can't lose you."

"Tell me you love me," you whispered, silly mood replaced with a tight feeling in your throat, like you were going to cry. But you held it back.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too."

He wanted to cry. He wanted to kiss you. But instead, he just sighed, and found your hand under the sheets, and held it tightly. He was frozen. This was his dream come true, so why did it feel like a nightmare? Like you were right there, but he couldn't have you. Like he was doomed to stay in love with you, and never actually get to be with you.

“I will still love you in the morning whether I say it or not, Stevie.” Your eyes finally started winning the battle, and they stayed closed more than they stayed open, too heavy too fight.

"I know babe," he said, watching as you breathing changed and your eyes didn't open again. "I will too."

#stranger things #steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington angst #steve harrington imagines #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x fem!reader #stranger things imagine #stranger things imagines

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dem-obscure-imagines · 3 months

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You're So Timeless | Vol. 1

Steve Rogers x Reader

Fandom: MCU

Summary: In 1943, Steve Rogers was visited by his soulmate. He fell hard. Problem is, she was from the future and didn’t stick around for long. Now, in the twenty-first century, he finally found her again, except this version of her hasn’t met him yet and won’t know he’s her soulmate for another year.

Note: So this is a combination of my other two Steve Rogers soulmate AU fics, but lengthened and fleshed out into a full fic. I was literally possessed to write this. I have no other explanation. I really like how it came out. I gave this one chapter headings (I am also going to post it to Ao3) and yes some are Taylor Swift titles. Sorry about that. It takes place roughly around the time Civil War would, but we have managed to avoid the war this time around. I also moved some other characters up the timeline because I think they’re neat and I said so. Without further ado, please enjoy my new Magnum Opus.

Also Tumblr made me split it into two parts. Part 2 linked HERE and also at the end of the post.

Warnings: Canon-typical violence/injuries, soulmate au, tons of mutual pining, kind of a slowburn but in reverse. Light angst, but a happy ending.

Word Count: 38.7k total (I am not sorry)

Reader Is: Enhanced (forcefields), 24 years old, female

The End

Time.

It was a fickle thing. In the blink of an eye, a year had passed. A mere twelve months earlier, you had been living a different life. The only life you had been responsible for was your own. And your plants, but…they never seemed to last that long under your care. Now, everything was different.

It was the day before your birthday. Your twenty-fifth birthday, which, in the world you lived in, meant that tomorrow, a name would appear on your wrist, the name of your soulmate. It had been stressing you out all day, the weight of tomorrow and everything it meant.

It was late, and you were exhausted from a day of overthinking. The longer you stayed up, the longer you delayed the inevitable reveal, and thinking about it too much made you nervous, so you just decided to get to sleep sooner than later.

It was once you were just about to climb into bed that there was a knock at your door.

“It’s open!” You called. The door opened slowly, revealing Steve, who was leaning in your doorway, arms crossed, that pensive look in his blue eyes. “Oh, hey.”

“Hi.” He chuckled. He seemed nervous, although you weren’t sure why.

“Everything alright, Steve?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I actually came in here to check on you. Wanda said you were…quiet.”

“Yeah, you could say that.” You hugged your arms around your frame and bit your lip, looking up at the super soldier standing in front of you. “Just…I don’t know. I’ve been looking forward to tomorrow for my entire life, but…now that it’s here, I’m so scared.”

“Hey, come here.” He said, pulling you to him, strong arms wrapped around you, as if he could protect you from the future itself.

“I don’t know what to do…”

“(Y/N), whoever they are, they are incredibly, incredibly lucky. You don’t need to worry about anything. It’ll all work out. It always does.” He said it like he was certain. Like somehow he knew what would happen in the morning when suddenly your life was turned on its head and you had to venture out to find your other half.

Since you’d met him, Steve wore a leather band around his wrist, covering his soulmate’s name. You’d figured he must have met them in the forties and…maybe they hadn’t made it long enough to see him come out of the ice. But you didn’t ask about it. You never dared to put that question into words. He’d been through enough heartbreak already.

“What if they don’t like me…?”

He scoffed, holding you tighter. “That’s impossible. They’re going to love you. So much. I promise.”

“And…and we’ll still be f-friends?”

Steve pulled away, looking down at you, a hand very carefully touching your cheek. “Of course we will still be friends. Nothing is ever going to change that. I promise.”

You nodded, a tear slipping down your cheek. “Good. Thank you, Steve. For everything.”

He gently wiped the tear away, the pad of his thumb warm. Once he was sure you were okay, he let go, looking at you with that knowing sparkle in his eye once more. He took a little extra time to look at the shirt you were wearing, the Star Wars tee you’d had since high school. “See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.” You agreed.

“And happy birthday, (Y/N).”

We’ll Meet Again

“Ma’am? Are you alright? Ma’am?” The voice sounded far away. You were pretty sure you were still dreaming. You opened your eyes slowly and immediately became aware of the pounding pain in your head.

“Ow, oh my God.” You reached up and felt there, but it didn’t feel like you were bleeding or anything.

“Ma’am?”

You froze for a second, slowly looking up at the figure standing above you, confusion written all over his familiar features. It took you a long moment to put the pieces together. You were on a porch somewhere in what appeared to be New York, but it was…different. A lot different than the parts of the city you knew. Alright, it had to be a dream.

You looked up at the man standing above you and did a double-take. But no, it was him. It was a tiny, frail version of Steve. Your eyebrows furrowed and you sat up slowly, staring at him for a long moment before whispering, “Steve?”

His mouth opened and then shut again and he made a face of confusion, like he was trying to place where he knew you from, but he didn’t know you yet, and wouldn’t know you for several more years, to say the least. “Do I know you?”

“It’s complicated.” You exhaled. “Can we go inside? You’re going to need to sit down for this.”

Dumbfounded, Steve nodded and you stood up from the porch, only to find that he was at your eye level when you did. Weird. He led you into the small apartment and you looked around. It was quaint. There was an easel in the corner of the room and…Bucky Barnes sitting on the couch? You stared at him for a good, long moment, a shiver running down your spine.

“Who’s the dame?” He read your shirt. “What is Star…Wars…?”

“About to find that out myself.” He chuckled, leading you into the living room. “Buck, could you give us a minute?”

“I’ll be in the kitchen.” Bucky got up and walked to the other half of their tiny two-bedroom.

You sat down on the couch and so did he. The silence was thick. You thought for several moments. You weren’t quite sure how you had ended up in the 1940s. You looked down at your hands and it was then that your gaze finally landed on the writing on your wrist. And then everything made sense.

“What’s the date today?”

“It’s July 4th, why?”

“July 4th…” You whispered. “What, 1943?”

You could see the wheels turning behind his eyes before he replied, “Yes ma’am.”

“Well, happy birthday, first of all. And second of all…” You held up your wrist so he could read it. Steve’s eyes went wide and he stared at the three words written neatly on your skin in his own handwriting.

Steven Grant Rogers.

“You’re my…” He looked at you for a long time, his eyes wide. He hastily undid the cuff around his wrist and held it out to you, your own name written there. He ran a finger across the letters, as if to prove they were really there.

“I’m your soulmate.” You said certainly.

It hit you like a truck, then. The weird look on your Steve’s face, the way he was so certain that everything would work out. It was because he had already lived through this. And that meant that in all the time he’d known you, he’d been hiding his mark not because his soulmate had died, but instead because you were his soulmate and you didn’t know it yet.

Your entire year of friendship, of memories, of roadtrips and missions and movie marathons…he had known the whole time. And that look in his eyes wasn’t just his protective side coming out. It was love. It had been love the whole time.

Oh.

Steve exhaled a long, shaking breath, really taking you in. Once again, he had a million stars in his eyes. He let out a whispered, “Wow,” as tears began to form.

You came back down to earth. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” He chuckled, sniffling as a tear ran down his cheek. “I’ve just, I’ve got a lot of…health problems, so I wasn’t sure if I’d ever…meet you. And you’re here and you’re great and I just…I’m sorry.”

That brought tears to your eyes. “Oh, Steve…” You pulled him into your arms and he didn’t hesitate to surrender to your embrace, his arms wrapping tight around you and holding you close, head nestled into the crook of your neck. “Just breathe. It’s okay. I’m right here. I’ve got you.”

Always.

He took your advice, doing his best to avoid an asthma attack on what was shaping up to be the best day of his life. Once he finally caught his breath, he pulled away to look at your face again. “I have to ask…How did you know?”

“I don’t know if you can tell from these clothes,” you motioned down to the t-shirt and sweatpants you were wearing, “but I’m not from around here, exactly.”

“I kind of thought so, but I didn’t want to be rude.” He smiled softly. “Um, where are you from, then?”

“I’m from the future. Like…a while from now. It’s hard to explain why or how, and I’m not really sure how I got here, to be honest, but I’m glad I am.” You sighed, thumb grazing his cheek, wiping away his tears. He crooned at your touch. “I don’t know how long we have before I have to go back.”

“Am I there? Where you’re from?”

“You are. It’s complicated. We’re really good friends and…when I get back, I’m sure we’ll probably be even more than that.” You smiled, shaking your head. “I can’t believe I didn’t put the pieces together sooner.”

“(Y/N)?” Steve asked, trying out your name for the first time.

“Yeah?”

“Let me take you out today, show you a good time here before you have to go back.” He took your hand and carefully laced his fingers through your own, testing the weight of it, the feel of it.

You smiled. “I’d like that.”

“Not to eavesdrop, lovebirds — congratulations, by the way — but if you’re going to take her out, we’re going to need to find her some clothes that aren’t so…‘not from around here.’” Bucky leaned in the doorway.

“Yeah, I thought the same thing.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll call one of my girls and we’ll get her squared away. Sit tight.”

“Thanks, Bucky.” You said, chuckling when his eyes widened after you addressed him by name. “I know you, too. From the, uh, future.”

“Weird…” Bucky decided.

“Long story?” Steve asked, studying the look on your face.

“Very.” You agreed. After staring at him for another long moment, you pulled him back into your arms again, exhaling a long breath before whispering, “Steve, I’m so glad it’s you…”

***

“Wow.” You stared at yourself in the mirror, studying the way Bucky’s, ahem, lady friend, had curled your hair, done your makeup. You did a little twirl and relished in the way the skirt of your dress twirled. It was navy blue, short ruffled sleeves with a flared skirt and buttons down the front. “I think it suits me.”

“I agree. Blue is a good color on you.” Steve was sitting in a chair at the edge of the room, absolutely enamored as he watched you. “Although, I’m sure they’re all good colors on you, doll.”

You felt the heat rise to your cheeks. “Thanks.”

“I mean it.” He stood up and walked to you, slipping one of his hands into each of yours and staring into your eyes, looking at the way you looked standing next to him in his reflection. His soulmate. The kind of girl people write poems about. “You look great.”

“I don’t look out of place?”

“No one is gonna think you’re a time traveler. Well, unless you tell them.” Bucky said. “Maybe don’t do that anymore.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t planning on it.” You chuckled and gave Steve’s hands a squeeze. “Where to first, soulmate?”

His cheeks reddened as soon as you said the word. “Well, I was thinking we could go to my favorite little diner down the street to grab something for lunch, and then maybe we could take a walk through the park, catch a movie, and then go out for drinks tonight?”

“What, you aren’t gonna take her dancing?” Bucky teased, ruffling Steve’s hair under a large hand. “Show the girl a good time?”

“I would if I didn’t have two left feet.” Steve chuckled, a sheepish smile on his face. He looked at you, waiting for some kind of response. “How does that sound?”

“It sounds like a great time, Steve.”

He smiled. “Good.”

The two of you left the apartment not long after that, and walked side by side towards the diner. Your hands were swinging in the space between you and your hand brushed Steve’s once, twice, a third time, and then you slipped your hand into his, intertwining your fingers.

You caught him smile out of the corner of your eye. “Is this okay?”

“Yeah, of course it’s okay.” He grinned and chuckled to himself. “You can hold my hand as much as you want, doll.”

When the two of you finally got to the diner, a little bell rang over your heads and you got seated at a booth by the window. The two of you ordered drinks and you skimmed the menu while you waited.

“So, tell me about yourself.” You said, resting your chin against your fist and looking over at Steve. You studied the way his blue, blue eyes flicked up to your own and the blush that covered his cheeks shortly thereafter.

“You probably know a lot of it already.” He chuckled. “Unless we don’t talk a lot?”

“We talk quite a bit, but I still want to know about this you. Here and now.”

“I like art. Drawing and painting and stuff.” He said. “I haven’t had time to do much lately, but I’d like to get back into it.”

“See, that I didn’t know.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I didn’t know you were into art.”

“I could, uh, show you sometime.” He offered.

“I’d like that.” You smiled. “What else?”

“I like to read. I like going to Dodgers games with Bucky. One time he took me to Coney Island. I don’t like rollercoasters, but I liked playing the games. He wasted three whole dollars trying to win a teddy bear for a redhead named Dot.”

“Three whole dollars…” You chuckled. “Well you don’t have to worry about the rollercoasters too much, I can’t go upside down without throwing up.”

“That makes two of us. Enough about me, tell me about you.” Steve nudged, his hand slowly moving towards yours. “How do we know each other? When did we meet?”

“We’re…coworkers, I guess you could say. We met about a year back and now we live in the same building? I’m sorry for being so vague, I just—”

“Don’t want to give it away, yeah, I get it.” He nodded, understandingly.

“You took me under your wing as soon as I moved in and really made me feel welcome. You’re the one that brought me onto the team, actually.” You took a sip of your drink. “We’ve been through a lot together already, and I’m sure it’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

“Mmm…” Steve nodded. “I know I just met you, but I’m really glad you and I are close. Well, will be close.” He paused before chuckling and shaking his head. “There’s still some little voice in the back of my head telling me all of this is just some amazing dream.”

“That doesn’t even begin to cover it.” You chuckled, tucking a piece of curled hair back behind your ear. “I’ve…I’ve had a crush on you forever, Steve. I can’t believe this is happening.”

He stared at you, almost dumbfounded. “O-on me?”

“Yeah.” You agreed. You’d forgotten, you supposed, that Steve had had this phase, the self-depreciation, the insecurity. Your Steve, when complimented, was shy, sure, but you knew he understood what people were talking about. This Steve didn’t see it that way. Not yet. But it would be your job to use your one day with him to change that, to make your soulmate see that he was worthy of love, even self-love. “Yeah, of course on you, Steve. I can’t believe I get to have you.”

His cheeks reddened and he finally took the leap, taking your hand across the table, thumb grazing your knuckles with care. His blue eyes sparkled. “Funny. I was gonna say the same thing about you.”

***

Once the two of you were finished up at the diner, you took a walk through the park. It was gorgeous out, a bright, sunny, warm summer afternoon. Several couples were strolling down the paths, hand in hand, and you were one of them, your hand held tight in Steve’s, his thumb gently stroking the back of yours.

You went to the theater and caught a movie together. Luckily enough, they were showing the Wizard of Oz. Your current situation had you feeling like Dorothy in more ways than one. The movie had only come out four years earlier, which was definitely strange. Not to mention the fact that the tickets were only twenty-five cents, the popcorn a mere ten cents.

And then, once the movie was over and the sun was setting, you went to a bar, where Steve ordered each of you a drink. You took a sip of yours, something sweet, and smiled at him across the table.

“So, how’s your day been, birthday boy?” You asked coyly.

“The best I’ve had so far,” he replied, his eyes sparkling. The sparkle faded, however, when his expression grew somber. He hesitated, but then asked, “Okay, I have to know…How long do I have to wait to see you again?”

You exhaled a long sigh, biting your lip. If you told him the truth, he might ask questions you couldn’t tell him the answers to. And besides, the real answer would require some math. You didn’t know the specifics.

“I’ll be honest, Steve, it’s…it’s a pretty long time.” You thought for a long moment before continuing, “I…I can’t really tell you why. It’s all really complicated, and if I tell you too much, it might not happen the way it’s supposed to.”

“Oh…” Steve nodded and took a sip of his drink. Once he set down the glass, he reached across the table and took your hand. “Well, however long it is,” he looked straight into your eyes and a chill ran down your spine, “It’ll be worth it. Every second. I promise.”

You could have cried. “I hope so.”

“There you two are! I was wondering which bar you’d wandered into!” Bucky was, apparently, already slightly intoxicated as he approached you and Steve with a date of his own. “How was your day on the town, lovebirds?”

“Spectacular.” You replied. “I wish there was more time to soak it in.”

“New York sure is something, huh?” Bucky’s date asked, giggling innocently. If only she knew the half of it.

“Yeah, you could say that.” You laughed and tucked a piece of hair behind your ear.

“You guys wanna sit with us?” Steve asked.

“If you don’t mind too much, punk.” Bucky grinned.

Steve got up and switched sides of the booth so he was sitting next to you instead of across from you. You slid your hand into his, intertwining your fingers. He smiled, chuckling softly to himself as he gave your hand a squeeze.

“Did you give the lady her dance, Rogers?” Bucky asked, smirking.

“Not yet.” Steve chuckled. “We’ll see. The asthma makes it a bit difficult sometimes.”

“Never seems to stop you from getting into fights.” Bucky muttered, causing Steve’s cheeks to flush.

“Just wait until the band plays something slow,” Bucky’s date pointed out.

“There you go!” Bucky raised his glass to his lips. “Great idea, Maggie.”

“Glad to be of service.”

And so, the four of you chatted until the band started to play something sweet and slow. Steve looked at you for approval and you nodded. He led you out onto the floor with the other couples.

Steve blushed, flustered, and he looked at you before saying, “I don’t know how to do this.”

“It’s easy.” You promised, guiding one of his hands to your waist and holding the other. “That’s it. And then we just move to the music. You can twirl me around if you feel so inclined.”

“Alright.” He chuckled, swaying in time with you. “Hey, uh, (Y/N), I need you to know…I had a really, really great time today. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted in a soulmate and I’m so excited to spend the rest of my life with you someday, however far away that someday is.”

“I’m glad I met your expectations.” You smiled, tugging him a bit closer.

“No, you exceeded them. You’re better than anything I could have imagined. I’m so lucky.” He paused, and his expression fell a little. “I know I’m a lot. I have a lot of problems and they might complicate things sometimes, but…”

“Steve, you’re perfect.” You shook your head and leaned forward, resting your forehead against his. “The universe gave you to me for a reason and I’m so, so glad it did. You’re amazing. I can’t think of anyone better to spend the rest of my life with.”

He was quiet for a moment before whispering, “Can I please kiss you, doll?”

You leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips, the music swelling around you as you guided his hands to your waist, cupping his cheeks to hold him close to you. When the moment had passed, you rested your nose against his, meeting his eyes and inhaling his scent, committing this version of him to memory before he was reduced to just that, a memory.

“Steve Rogers, I am so sorry you will not hear me say these words until after I go back tomorrow, but I love you. I have loved you for a very long time. And I know I will love you for the rest of my life.”

You spent the rest of the night together. Twirling across the dancefloor, talking, soaking each other in. But when you reached the front porch of the townhouse, Steve looked back down the steps to find you’d disappeared, leaving him with nothing but the memory of your lips, your laugh, your smile.

“You gonna be alright?” Bucky asked, a hand on his shoulder.

“I don’t know.” He replied, words swallowed up by the sounds of the night. “Just give me a minute, pal.”

Bucky nodded, solemn. “Take all the time you need.”

The Beginning

Steve remembered the day you’d met—for the second time, though he didn’t realize it right away—like it was tattooed on his brain. It was a few years after he’d come out of the ice and he had taken Tony’s advice to get out more, which had led him to the local mall.

It had been an uneventful day. He strolled around the perimeter, taking in the storefronts, studying the fashion, browsing the menu of a pretzel place, reading the posters on the exterior of the movie theater, the things that were coming out in the coming months. Nothing interested him in particular. He didn’t really care for war movies.

After a few quiet hours, his peaceful walk was interrupted by screams, people running away at top speed, which, of course, caused him to spring into action, assessing the situation. He ran towards the source of the chaos, scanning, scanning, until his eyes landed on the attacker, a guy with a flamethrower, aimed at a teenage theater employee. Steve hurdled over a trash can, moving people out of the way, directing them to safety and trying to put himself between himself and the mallgoers, but before he could, you did, hands out in front of you and what seemed to be an invisible shield poised there, redirecting the flames and protecting the movie theater employee that had nearly been caught in the crossfire.

A quick flick of your wrist knocked the attacker’s gun out of his hands and it slid across the floor to Steve’s feet. He chucked it into the fountain without a second thought, where it fizzled pathetically. The guy lunged at you with heavy metal gauntlets, and you dodged the first swing but caught the second in the face, falling backwards. When you landed, however ungracefully, you sent a blast of energy at the guy, knocking him over a plant and sprawling onto the tile floor.

While the guy was on the ground, Steve tackled him, wrenching the gauntlets off of his hands and chucking them away, too. Soon, the police arrived, apprehending the guy while mall security comforted the distressed mall patrons, ushering them to safety and medical attention.

You sat on a bench after, breathing heavy, a cut on your forehead. Steve walked over, interested in this superpowered rescuer, someone who wasn’t yet on the Avengers’ radar, but would most definitely be on the news the next day if the sheer amount of phone footage recorded was any indication.

“Are you alright, ma’am?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just glad everyone is okay.” You told him, meeting his eyes.

He finally got a good look at you and froze, looking bewildered. A deer in headlights. “You’re…”

There you are, doll. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.

It was you. Of course it was you. Since the moment he’d been unfrozen, he’d been looking for you. His soulmate. The girl from the future that popped in on his twenty-fifth birthday, turned his whole life on its head, and then left without warning, hours after their first kiss. Back when he was five-foot-nothing with asthma and more medical conditions than he could even remember.

Back before he was anything.

And you’d loved him anyway. You’d given him the day of a lifetime and hope for not only a future, but for love. That someone could love him for him despite it all.

“I know.” You knew? “I…I don’t know what it is or…why I can do it. I’ve been like this since college.”

Your powers, you meant. You thought he was talking about your powers and not your name, which was burning a hole into his wrist beneath the thick leather band keeping it hidden.

“Right. Well, it’s…” He sighed, gathering his words, hiding the elation and pain behind a warm smile. “It’s a good thing you were here. I don’t have my shield on me.”

“Mine is built in.” You chuckled.

“You, uh…have a cut. On your forehead.”

“Oh, do I?” You reached up and found it with your fingers and they came away a bit bloody. “Shit.”

“Come on.” He offered you his hand and you took it, letting him lead you over to the counter of the theater. “Hi, do you have a first aid kit we could borrow?”

“Yeah, of course.” The girl at the counter said, rushing to grab it.

Steve patched you up with gentle hands, off in a corner on your own, in the room the theater used for birthday parties. Staring up at him, you finally realized the obvious. This was Captain America. And he was using a careful finger to spread a triple antibiotic ointment on your cut.

Play it cool, (Y/N).

“Do you do this often? The hero thing?” Steve asked, trying to sound somewhat indifferent. He couldn’t be, though. Not entirely. Not when it came to you.

“No.” You shrugged. “Haven’t had much opportunity, thankfully. I mean…I’d like to, I just didn’t know how to…get into it, I guess. Any email I sent to Stark or S.H.I.E.L.D. or whatever would end up on a slush pile.”

“Well, I’ve got some connections. If you’re seriously considering it. I can’t say I recommend it, but…Obviously you’ve got that protective instinct and you seem to work well under pressure.”

“I don’t know about that. My heart is about to leap out of my chest.” You admitted, laughing as he carefully laid a Bandaid over the cut, closing the kit.

“That makes two of us.”

“Well, if you think I’m really cut out for it…I’d love to help.”

***

It was three days later that Nick Fury got in touch with you. You thought it was a scam call at first, but no one else would possibly have the info about you that he did. That was S.H.I.E.L.D. for you, you supposed.

You packed up your apartment, your boxes of books, your old journals, your clothes and makeup, your life, and hopped in the jet that was waiting for you at the meeting place. Inside was a pilot with flaming red hair, Natasha Romanoff. The Black Widow. It was hard not to get a little starstruck.

She helped you load your things into the jet, let you settle into the copilot seat, and then you took off, soaring away from your old life and towards your new one, the mysterious, magnificent facility tucked into upstate New York, that iconic A emblazoned on the front of the building.

“Steve said you’re telekinetic. That’s cool.” She complimented with a smirk.

“Yeah, I’ve got force-field stuff. I don’t know what else, exactly.”

“Oh, we’ll figure all that out. Banner already has a list of tests he wants to run. Nothing too intense. I made him promise not to give you the lab rat treatment too soon.”

“Reassuring.” You chuckled.

“Wanda’s been decorating your room all day. It’s not often we get new blood.”

“I appreciate it. I can’t wait to meet everyone.”

“They can’t wait to meet you.”

The jet landed a little under an hour later and Natasha helped you haul boxes towards the front door, where Steve was waiting. It was like time slowed, that look in his eyes, glistening little stars.

“Come on, Rogers, these boxes aren’t going to move themselves.” Nat waved him over, snapping both of you out of your trance.

“Right, right.” He jogged over. “Is there anything heavy?”

“That one.” You pointed. “It’s got my candles in it.”

“On it.”

You grabbed a few tote bags, slinging your computer bag over your shoulder. A few others came out to help, Clint and Wanda namely, the latter of whom used her shimmering red powers to speed the process along. Were you any more confident in your own powers, you would do the same, but you hadn’t had much opportunity to use them yet, and you didn’t want to drop anything fragile on your first day.

You started unpacking the essentials, your smart speaker, your laptop, some books and your favorite candle. You put some clothes in the dresser, hung some up in the large sliding closet in the wall. Upon further examination, you had your own bathroom, too, which was nice. There was a wall tapestry with sunflowers on it, and several little knickknacks. Wanda’s loving touch.

Someone cleared their throat and you turned to find Steve there, arms crossed, leaning in the doorway.

“Hi there, um, just checking in. Figured you might want a tour when you got settled in. No rush, of course.”

“I would love a tour. I can already tell I’m gonna get lost in this place.”

He grinned. “Not on my watch. Come on. I’ll show you around.”

Steve walked with you through the office spaces, the computer labs, Bruce’s lab, Tony’s. Tony was in the city, but Bruce was home and introduced himself with a dad joke about the Hulk and a warm handshake. You saw the training facility, a giant room with floor to ceiling windows, a wall of mirrors, practice dummies, landing mats, and plenty of sparring weapons. There was, separately, a fully furnished gym, and then the basics, a large, modern kitchen, living areas and lounges, study spaces, a library, a party room with a bar, and a very fancy coffee machine.

You could see yourself making a home here.

Steve walked you back to the hallway where all the bedrooms were. “If you need anything or have any questions, my room is just down the hall on the left. Wanda is next door. Dinner is at six.”

“Six o’clock it is. Thank you, Cap.”

“You can call me Steve.”

“Steve.” You nodded, slowly accepting the fact that you were now on a first name basis with Captain America. “And you can call me (Y/N).”

“Nice to meet you, (Y/N).” He said, some twinge of nostalgia at the end of his words. You turned back into your room to get some more unpacking done and Steve walked back down the hall, taking a deep breath and looking up at the ceiling, doing his best to hold in his tears.

…Ready For It?

You spent the first few days in your room for the most part, unpacking but also hiding, if you were honest. You met Vision. He seemed nice. He also had the ability to phase through walls, apparently. Still no sign of Thor, but you weren’t holding your breath. You were sure he was a busy guy.

Sam Wilson introduced himself with the same offer everyone else had so far, to let them know if you needed anything. You appreciated it.

And then, finally, there was Tony, whose dry humor came across immediately. He sized you up, drilling questions about where you went to college, what you majored in, what your top three movies from the 1980s were. You were pretty sure he liked you, but you didn’t think he trusted you. And that was okay. You knew that was something you’d have to earn around there.

“No soulmark yet, kid?” He asked, eyeing up your bare wrist.

“Not yet.” You confirmed.

“That makes you what, twenty-three? Twenty-four?”

“Twenty-four. As of last month, actually.”

“Okay.” He nodded. “Well that’s exciting. I’m sure you’re counting down the days.”

“More or less.” You chuckled, catching Steve watching you out of the corner of your eye. He did that a lot, you noticed.

Before Tony could come up with some witty comeback, the lights flashed red, accompanied by a loud siren.

“Vis? What’s going on?” Tony asked as Vision walked into the room, his sophisticated sweater melting into the uniform you’d seen on the news, red and green with a golden cape.

“There seems to be a stir at the local fairgrounds. Tremors and gunshots. Hostages.”

“Alright, let’s go pay them a visit then.” Tony pressed a button on his watch and transformed into Iron Man in front of your very eyes. “You can stay here or come with us. Up to you. But suit up fast. We’re out in five.”

You stood there for a moment, waiting for the shock to wear off, but the sirens definitely weren’t helping.

“Stick with me.” Steve instructed, voice calm, confident.

“Okay.” You nodded, following after him, towards the hangar where they kept the jets.

Natasha was standing at a locker, pulling her catsuit on with impressive speed, Clint beside her, loading a quiver with arrows, checking his bow.

“Nat, can you get her ready?”

“Baby’s first mission?” She asked, impressed.

You nodded, waiting for orders.

“Well, it should be an easy one, from the sound of it. Here, put this on. We’ll get you your own gear in the next few weeks.”

She chucked you an extra suit and you did your best to shimmy into it. Surprisingly, you could actually move in it. There were holsters, but you weren’t gun trained, so you figured it was best to leave that to the professionals. Instead, you followed the others onto the jet, hoping your forcefields and blossoming battle instincts would be enough to protect you out there.

***

The fair had devolved quickly into madness. There was fire, screaming, running, and gunshots. You flinched at the onslaught of it, but followed the others out anyway, listening to the voice in your earpiece, Steve’s voice, as he issued orders. You were put on civilian evacuation with Sam while the others engaged with the attackers. Six of them.

You did your job diligently, ushering people to a safe distance while law enforcement arrived. Until one of the attackers engaged with you, however, mistaking you for a civilian. Something snapped. In an instant your flight instinct vanished, replaced with the need to fight. He punched at you and you countered, sweeping a leg under him and then using a forcefield to knock him into the cornfield.

One of them launched a bazooka at Tony while he wasn’t looking, and without a thought, you trapped the explosive in a bubble, forcing it into the air where it exploded harmlessly, away from everyone.

And when the dust settled, the rest of the team turned to look at you, sharing looks with each other.

“Thanks for the save, kid. I owe you one.” Tony complimented, clapping you on the back on his way into the jet. “Let’s get something to eat. I’m starving.”

Your heart raced with the adrenaline of battle, the feeling of a job well done. Steve gave you a thumbs-up, a proud grin. His risk had paid off. You weren’t a total failure.

“You doin’ okay?” He asked, slinging his shield onto his back.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You replied, letting the energy fizzle back into your palms.

He watched with interest at the faint crackles of blue that made up your powers. “You did good out there.”

You felt your cheeks flush. “Thanks, I—"

“Alright new girl, were are we stopping for food?” Natasha asked, slinging an arm around your shoulders.

“I get to pick?” You asked with a laugh.

“And don’t be afraid to pick something fancy. It’s Tony’s treat.” Clint added, walking with the rest of you onto the jet. You strapped in while the others tried their darndest to influence your pick, bickering like siblings. Like your family.

Yeah, you could get used to this.

Waypoint

Your training started shortly after that first mission. Bruce took all your vitals, measured them before, during, and after use of your powers. He recorded said powers with every device known to man until he had your ability down to a science. He had a hunch they were of cosmic origin, but you had no idea when you could have possible come in contact with something like that.

Next came a uniform. At the moment, it was a dark indigo color, something similar to navy blue, but leaning a bit more purple. The chest area was left blank, Tony claiming he’d add a symbol once his graphic design team came up with something. He did add some accents up the arms and down the legs, thin, light blue lines that matched the color of your powers.

Natasha and Clint gave you a few crash courses on weapons and your aim left a bit to be desired, but your hand-eye coordination wasn’t bad. Sam put you on a modified military workout regimen to get in shape, get your stamina up with the rest of the team.

You practiced making forcefields, seeing how big you could make them, how small, how much force they could endure before they broke. Natasha shot some bullets at them, and your fields caught them, allowing you to kill their momentum and drop them harmlessly to the ground. They could withstand some electricity, but not Wanda’s powers. And they held against Steve’s superstrength, but not for long. Still, a few hits from a supersoldier was more than most could endure, so it would buy you some time in the field.

Eventually, you moved on from just forcefields and started learning to move objects. It turned out, you were not limited to bubbles. You could create platforms underneath things. This evolved into creating platforms underneath people, that they could jump on, or ride on top of while you moved them.

You practiced using them for transport too, but it was harder standing on them while controlling them, especially if you tried to jump from platform to platform. It was a bit like patting your head and rubbing your tummy, and it would take a lot of practice.

There weren’t many missions, and the ones that popped up, you didn’t get sent on. They were high level things, and while your powers were improving, and very quickly, Bruce was always quick to reassure you, you weren’t ready for covert ops yet, especially ones that had been months in the making.

Every time Steve got sent off, he left with that sad little half-smile of his, the one where he pressed his lips together, eyes glittering like a lake under moonlight. He’d give you some words of comfort, usually dealing with how short the mission was supposed to be. It didn’t often make you feel better.

Bruce stayed behind with you, most times. More like all of the times. Code Greens, as they were called, were seldom necessary, and besides, as they had learned with Wanda back during the Ultron days, Bruce could be a liability if someone else got in his head. But it was nice not being completely alone in the big empty facility.

“He always looks so sad when he leaves.” You noted, sipping from a mug of warm tea. Steve had left only moments before, the last member of the team that was shipping out.

Bruce thought about it for a moment. “Does he?”

“Oh. I don’t know. Maybe I don’t know him that well.” You shrugged, the sounds of Animal Crossing resonating from the TV.

“You know, he has, lately. He didn’t used to.” Bruce noted.

“Weird.”

“Uh-huh.” He replied absentmindedly. “So explain to me this game?”

“Okay, so you move to this island and have to spend all your money paying off debt to this raccoon…”

It was in another training session that there was a malfunction. A shock grenade went off dangerously close to Sam. Before you could even process what you were doing, your hand shot out, a bright, pulsating star crackling in front of him, another, second star on the other side of the room. Steve assessed the situation and used the shield to knock Sam into the star, neutralizing the grenade right after. There was a bright flash and Sam appeared on the other side of the room, tumbling out of the second star.

You froze, curling your fingers and closing both of them. There was a slight pinch in your shoulder, near the base of your neck. The others all stared.

“Wait, what was that?” Bruce asked over the intercom.

“You did that?” Steve asked, motioning to Sam as he walked over.

“I think so.”

“What was that?”

Natasha asked, looking you up and down. Sam stared at you like you’d sprouted a third eye.

“I don’t know.”

“Do it again.” Bruce insisted. “Hang on, I’m coming in there.”

The door from the observation room opened and Bruce joined the rest of you in the circle that was steadily forming, all of them watching you, waiting.

“I don’t know, it was just like…” You focused on that feeling again, the desperation to get Sam the hell away from that grenade, and as though you were punching a hole through reality, it opened in the center of the circle, an eight-pointed star, bobbing and ebbing and flowing, made of the light blue energy you were so familiar with.

Carefully, you opened another one, ten feet in the air above the first. Clint shrugged and chucked a tennis ball into it. Sure enough, it popped up to the second one, before falling down through the first one again. This continued until eventually you closed the bottom one, letting the tennis ball bounce harmlessly across the floor.

“Well shit.”

“Waypoints.” Bruce said, deep in thought. “Teleportation. This…this opens up a lot of doors.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Steve murmured.

“Hey, that’s kind of cool. Waypoint.” Clint said, drawing attention to it. “What do you think?”

“What, like as a codename?” You asked, weighing it as an option.

“I like it.” Sam grinned. “Waypoint.”

“Waypoint.” You repeated, trying it out. Hi, I’m Waypoint. I’m an Avenger.

It sounded silly, but it was getting more official by the day. There was, of course, only one way to make it official official, and that was with one of Tony Stark’s famed parties…

Wonderstruck

You let out a sigh, staring at your reflection in the mirror. It was the night of the big party. Your first, as an Avenger, and the official induction of what Tony was deeming the second class of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Sam: the Falcon, Wanda: the Scarlet Witch, Vision, and You: Waypoint.

He’d gotten you a dress to wear, one that matched your uniform. It was long, sleek, that navy blue/indigo color. It glittered like stars and moved like a dream. And in the middle of it, poised at the base of the sweetheart neckline, was the eight-pointed star that Tony had turned into your symbol.

Your hair and makeup were done, and all that was left was the zipper.

Someone knocked on the door.

“It’s open!” You called, expecting Natasha or Wanda. Instead, it was Steve, who, when he saw you were unzipped, pulled the door almost all the way closed and shielded his eyes with his hand.

“Sorry! I’ll leave—”

“Wait, actually, could you help me zip this up? I can’t reach.”

Steve nodded, slowly lowering his hand and entering the room. He closed the door behind him to give you some privacy. He was dressed in a sharp black suit with a blue tie. His lapel pin looked like a tiny version of his shield.

“Wow…” He murmured, taking you in. “You look great, (Y/N).”

“You think so? I’m not sure blue is really my color…”

He scoffed. “It most certainly is.” He swept the hair off of your shoulder, meeting your eyes in the reflection in the mirror as he gently pulled the zipper higher until it was secure in place. “In more ways than one.”

“Yeah, guess so.” You agreed, nervous energy crackling around your fingers, blue as ever. You dispelled it, snapping out of it.

Steve looked at the two of you in the mirror for a long time before turning towards the door again. Halfway there, though, he turned back around, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a flat velvet box. “This is, um…for you.”

“Oh! Thank you.” You reached for it, heart racing. Inside was a necklace, its pendant a silver star with eight points. In the center, an aquamarine gem. You gasped, looking at it. It was beautiful, delicate. “Steve, this is beautiful. Thank you so much.”

“It’s the least I could do.” He said, offering his hand. “May I?”

“Please.” You said, handing him the necklace and moving your hair out of the way. He did the clasp behind your neck. It settled between your collarbones.

“There. Now it’s official.” He whispered.

“Almost.”

“Almost.” Steve agreed, offering you his elbow. “Right this way.”

You looped your arm through his, letting him lead you out into the initial murmurs of the party. What Natasha dubbed the “extended family” had shown up. Rhodey, Maria Hill, Nick Fury, Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts, and, of course, Thor.

He was a sight, that was for sure. He towered over everyone else at 6’5”, arms the size of tree trunks. It was a bit intimidating to say the very least.

“Rogers!” Thor bellowed.

“Thor! I didn’t think you were coming.”

He grinned. “I never miss a feast.” His eyes fell on you. “And you must be this new team member Banner spoke of.”

“I’m (Y/N). It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“The honor is mine.”

“Here.” Natasha handed you a champagne flute. She eyed up your necklace. “That’s cute.”

“Steve gave it to me.”

She quirked an eyebrow and looked up at the supersoldier, who still had your arm. “Steve has good taste.”

“Steve had help.” He admitted, smiling sheepishly.

“I’d get you one too, Rogers, but Thor has the strong stuff.” Natasha said, patting his other arm while you took a sip of the champagne. It was sweet, tangy. “God’s favorite boy scout has trouble getting drunk.”

“My tolerance is too good.”

“I think we just need to get you a Four Loko. Or two.”

“A what?” Steve asked.

“It’s like four drinks in one can. They’re insane. I tried in college, but tapped out halfway through.”

He considered it for a moment, letting out a laugh. “See, that just might work.”

Tony wandered around the lounge, greeting everyone. He looked you up and down. “You look beautiful, Portal Girl.”

You internally chuckled. The others had advised you not to feed his ego when he used his nicknames. “Thank you, Tony.”

“And you’re also here, Rogers.”

“Tony.” Steve nodded.

“You her date tonight?” He asked, motioning to your joint arms.

“Oh. Yeah, I suppose I am.” Steve agreed, not budging. Neither were you.

“Well, I hope you’ve taken some dance lessons since last time, Rogers. I’m sure (Y/N) wouldn’t want to have her feet walked all over.”

Steve chuckled and rolled his eyes as Tony moved onto his next targets. Sam emerged, looking very sharp in a red suit. Even Vision had dressed up for the occasion, Wanda beside him wearing an elegant red dress. The two of them talked and laughed on the other side of the room and you smiled. You could tell when you moved in that he cared about her.

You wondered if robots could have soulmates, too. If any android had a soul, surely it was Vision. Maybe you’d ask him about it sometime.

Once all of the expected guests were accounted for, Tony did the briefest ceremony in the history of ceremonies, introducing you all to the few members of the press he had allowed to come. You spent the beginning of the evening shaking hands, networking, and then once the strangers left, the real party started.

Nat switched you to something a lot stronger to champagne, and she was running the bar, so it was easy to get refills. Clint and Thor were arm wrestling on one of the tables which was…hilarious, admittedly.

Steve found you after a few hours apart. “Hey, will you be my partner?”

“Sure, for what?”

He laughed, loosening up quite a bit with Thor’s Asgardian mead in his system. “Sam and Bruce are trying to teach me how to play Beer Ball or something.”

“Beer Pong?”

“That one, yeah.” He nodded. “Winners play Clint and Nat.”

“That checks out.” You chuckled. “Yeah, I’m game. I haven’t played since college, though.”

“I haven’t played ever so I’m sure you’re a step ahead of me anyway.”

“We’ll see about that. Your physics skills are pretty good, what with the shield and all.” You complimented, earning that charming smile of his. “We might just give them a run for their money.”

“Enough flirting, kids, get over here.” Bruce grinned as he finished lining up the cups.

“You know how to play Beer Pong?” You asked, plucking a ping pong ball off of the table and fiddling with it.

“Kid, I have seven PhDs. I have played my share of Beer Pong.” Bruce admitted.

You couldn’t help but smile at that. It was nice to see the Avengers loosen up like this, have a good time together, really truly bond.

You gave Steve the basic rundown of the rules: no elbows past the edge of the table, balls back, stoplight, island, and that if you let Sam and Bruce get too many cups, you and Steve would get “schwaisted” as the kids said, or, at the very least, you would. Steve would probably be fine.

“Ladies first.” Sam said, giving you the second ping pong ball, one of which, you handed to Steve.

“You’re gonna regret that.” You said, rubbing the ball between your hands before perfectly bouncing it into the cup at the front of the pyramid. “Your turn, Steve.”

“Don’t mind if I do.” He said, sinking the ball into the same cup. “I believe that’s three cups, gentlemen.”

Sam’s jaw dropped. He shared a look with Bruce. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”

“You’re telling me.” Bruce chuckled, retrieving the ping pong ball and rolling it back. He started drinking the contents of the first cup, leaving the other two to Sam. “Alright, do your worst.”

Needless to say, you wiped the floor with the other two. Barely even gave them a chance. Which is why it was only fair that Clint and Natasha kicked the absolute shit out of the two of you.

You struggled to down your third cup, which is why when you reached for the fourth, Steve shook his head and took it from you, only offering a wink when you opened your mouth to protest.

“Hey! Steve, it’s supposed to be five each.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, she already finished hers.” Steve shrugged, chugging another like it was water. “Right, (Y/N)?”

“Yeah absolutely. What he said.” You shrugged.

You helped clean up the mess a bit after the game was over, rounding up empty cups, wiping down the table, and then washing your hands as Tony switched the music to something upbeat, dancing music.

“Come on, let’s dance.” Steve urged, clearly toeing the line between tipsy and drunk. He reached out for your hand and you couldn’t resist. You didn’t even try.

You let him lead you out to the middle of the room, where Wanda and Vision were already dancing together and looking adorable doing it.

“I thought you couldn’t dance.” You laughed as he spun you around to the music.

“I’m a quick learner.” He whispered, mouth against your ear.

You swore your entire body flushed red, but you let your feet lead you through the dance. Steve took both of your hands, swinging you out and then back in, spinning you around. You blamed the alcohol on what happened next. Your heel caught on the fabric of your dress and you fell over the back of one of the couches, tugging Steve down with you.

He laughed, using an arm to push himself off of you, hovering, eyes soft. “Sorry.”

“It’s my fault. You’ve got me falling for you, Rogers.” You murmured, gazing up at him through your eyelashes.

You said it as a joke, a quip, but there was some truth in it. More than some. It had been a magical, magical night. And if it weren’t for the leather cuff on his wrist, you could see yourself spending the rest of your life with him.

Steve closed his eyes, smiling and sitting up, helping you upright again. “I’ll go get us some water.”

You sighed and sat back against the couch, heart hammering in your chest.

Natasha perched on the armrest, looking down at you. “What was that?”

“Not sure. I think I fumbled the bag. If…if there even was a bag I guess.” You chuckled, shrugging.

“No, there is something there. I can see it.” Natasha said, thinking as she nursed a glass of wine. “Hmmm…”

Steve stood in the kitchen, getting two glasses of filtered water from the fridge. He exhaled a deep sigh, leaning against it. He replayed the moment in his head over and over. The look in your eyes, the way your necklace glimmered in the light, the sound of your voice, the flush of your cheeks. You were catching feelings for him, that much was clear. He wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Steve Rogers, I am so sorry you will not hear me say these words until after I go back tomorrow, but I love you. I have loved you for a very long time. And I know I will love you for the rest of my life.

Maybe it was a good thing, he reasoned, thinking back on his first night with you all those years ago. But you still couldn’t know why. Not yet.

It was going to kill him to keep it a secret for ten more months.

Timeless

Sherbert rays of the sunrise lit the training room, filling it with a warm orange glow. You were sitting on the floor, stretching your legs while you listened to music. That was another thing on the growing list of skills that had improved during your stint as an Avenger: your flexibility.

Suddenly, Steve was standing over you, saying something you couldn’t hear due to the noise cancelling headphones over your ears.

You slid one off, looking up at him. “Good morning.”

“Morning. You’re here early.”

“Couldn’t sleep.” You shrugged, reaching for your other leg.

“Sorry to hear that. Wanna talk about it?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I think I drank too much caffeine before bed last night. Learned my lesson. No caffeine after six.”

“That’s a good rule. Mind if I stretch with you?” He asked.

“I don’t mind.” You tossed your headphones onto your workout bag and connected your phone to the Bluetooth speakers, putting on some music you could both listen to.

“I recognize her. This girl’s voice.”

“Taylor Swift.”

“Ah. Yes, her. I keep hearing about her.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.” You laughed. “Have you liked any of her songs so far?”

“I don’t know if I could name one for you, to be honest.” He listened to the song that was playing. “This one’s not bad, though.”

“I’ll send you some recommendations. There are some I think you’d really vibe with.”

He smiled. “I’d really like that.”

The others came in not long after, did their warm-ups, and then Steve briefed everyone on the plan for their training session, one in which everyone would swap weapons, practice using each other’s things in case they ever had to in battle if one of their teammates got disarmed.

You started with Clint. He showed you the absolute basics of archery, how to pull back the bow, how to notch an arrow, how to aim, taking into account distance. You fired a few arrows into a target and did okay, you supposed, but you would need some practice if you wanted to actually get good at it. Years of it, realistically.

Natasha showed you how to use her electric batons, which were fun, but did intimidate you a little. You definitely did not want to end up on the wrong end of those things.

And then, inevitably, you were standing in front of Steve. He offered you his shield, which on its own seemed daunting. You held it for a second, assessing the weight of it. It was noticeably lighter than you thought it would be.

“Woah.”

“Yeah. People always expect it to be heavier.” He said, a hand resting on his hip as he watched you hold it. It looked so right in your hands, he decided. “It’s good for a lot of things, but first…” Carefully, he helped you put your arm through the straps on the back of it, holding it in front of your body in its primary and most famous purpose.

You let out a sigh, shaking your head. “This is so crazy.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah, you have no idea.” You chuckled, waving it around a bit.

“You keep looking at it like it’s Thor’s hammer or something.” He teased.

“Feels like it.”

“Well the good news is, this thing is not password protected by some Asgardian magic words. The bad news is, that means the bad guys can pick it up, too.” Steve said, gently positioning your body in an offensive stance, nudging a foot with his own, switching your arms around. “You can use it to bash somebody head on, or you can angle it a bit to get a more direct blow. It will take the force of most things. I…I actually kind of don’t know the limits. Hasn’t failed me yet. The paint does come off from time to time, though, so don’t worry about that.”

“Okay, wow.” You nodded. “Good to know.”

“I trust you with it.” He said, eyes meeting yours.

You smiled, heart racing. “I’m honored.”

He showed you a few other tricks, and then training wrapped up for the day, everyone grabbing some water, taking a shower, or making plans for lunch. Once you walked off with Wanda, Nat cornered Steve.

“What was that?” She asked, that catlike grin on her face.

“What was what?”

“I saw it, you know, the way you looked at her. I think you’ve got a soft spot.”

“Yeah, well, I did rope her into all this. Can’t say I don’t feel responsible for her.” He dodged expertly, weaving through Natasha’s mental gymnastics with skill and precision, or so he thought.

“Uh-huh sure. Well, she, Wanda, and I are going antiquing this afternoon. You should come. After all, you know quite a bit about vintage valuables.”

He laughed. “Hey!”

She walked off, smiling to herself. Steve thought about it for all of four seconds before he decided he would tag along. He hadn’t been to an antique shop in this century, so he couldn’t imagine the kinds of things they had there now. He might even learn a thing or two.

***

After a quick lunch, Steve did decide to tag along. It wound up being him, Vision, and the girls, which he certainly didn’t mind.

You and Wanda were buzzing with excitement, Natasha looking on and following behind with Steve. Vision lingered, studying everything, picking things up to get a closer look. He had projected a human disguise over himself, something Steve didn’t know he could even do, but it seemed to work. No one had batted an eye at him since they stepped foot in the shop.

“This place is…huge.” Steve said, glancing down the hall of the seemingly endless store.

“Biggest one in the state.” You chimed. “It’s the whole city block.”

“There’s a basement, too. And a second floor.” Natasha informed him, patting his arm. “This is gonna be an all day kinda thing.”

“Oh undoubtedly.” He said, setting down the teacup in his hands, a petite, floral thing.

You sifted through a box of records, picking up the soundtrack of the Muppets Movie.

“Is that a frog?”

“This is Kermit thee Frog, show some respect.” You laughed, putting the record in your basket.

“Kermit?” Steve asked again, seeming genuine.

“Oh I forgot you missed the Muppets, oh my god.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound familiar.”

“We need to fix that as soon as possible.” You told him. “Can’t have you missing out on cultural icons like Gonzo and Miss Piggy.”

“Okay now you’re making things up.” He chuckled, shuffling through the records as well. You showed him a few good ones and he added them to his basket, saying something about how he’s been meaning to use his new record player.

Wanda browsed some vintage rings, picking out a few, and Natasha rifled through a rack of vintage dresses, most of them from the forties and fifties from the look of it. Nat held up a navy blue one, silky, with short ruffled sleeves and buttons down the front. Steve froze, looking at it. For a moment, it looked just a little too familiar. Like the dress you had worn that night.

Eventually Nat put the dress back. You hadn’t seen it. You were distracted by a shelf of VHS tapes, looking for the old Barbie movies, whatever those were. Wanda was with you, on the next shelf over, calling out movie names when she found something cool.

Steve wandered off on his own, looking around at the different trinkets and toys, old letterman jackets and jewelry, dishes that may or may not contain lead. Finally, he came upon a little room full of art, paintings and photographs, handmade pottery.

Time stood still.

He stared at the large painting on the wall, oil on canvas. Two star-crossed lovers dancing in a bar in Brooklyn, a little guy with a dream, dancing with the most beautiful girl in the world, twirling in her dark blue dress. His heart raced. He never thought he’d see this painting again.

It had been his last painting before leaving for Camp Lehigh, the last painting he did before his life and body changed forever. He’d used the last of his paints to make it, every color mixed with care to get the exact color of your hair, your eyes, your lips, all from memory.

And it was here in front of him. When he had been presumed dead, it must have been sold off. He didn’t really have anyone left it could go to.

In that moment, he wasn’t Captain America. Standing in his shoes was that little guy from Brooklyn.

“Woah.” You murmured, suddenly right next to him. “It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah, it…it is.” He agreed, looking away from it. He didn’t want you to get too close of a look at it. However, that didn’t stop you from walking forward to inspect it closer.

“‘Soulmates.’ Artist unknown.” You read from the plaque. “Oh, it’s from the 40s. 1943. Does it look familiar?”

“Yeah, actually. Bucky liked that bar.” Steve said, pointing to the details of the interior. “It’s a little place in Brooklyn, called Val’s. Well, it was I guess. I don’t know if it’s still open anymore.”

Your eyes lingered on the woman’s face, on the man’s. You didn’t say anything about how they looked, about the uncanny resemblance to yourself and Steve. Instead, you sighed. “Someday, I want to be that in love with someone.”

He just about cried. But instead, he gathered his words, put a hand on your shoulder, and told you with confidence, “You will be.”

***

Hours later, when you were all shopped out and you’d checked out with your things, Steve stayed at the counter while the rest of you went to the car.

“Hey, um, that painting in the art room. The soulmates in the bar. I’m interested in buying it. Would it be possible to have it held here for a while, though?”

“Oh I’m sure we could arrange something,” said the old man at the counter with a smile and a nod. He started writing out the purchase form.

Steve glanced back towards where it was, that fragment of his soul he didn’t think he’d ever see again. He knew the fact that he’d stumbled upon it was nothing short of fate.

Wildest Dreams

It had been Tony’s idea. Of course it had. It always was, wasn’t it? He’d insisted that all the members of the team who hadn’t yet been exposed to Wanda’s mind manipulation should be, just in case there was a misfire during combat and one of you got caught in the crossfire. It would be important to see how each of you reacted, the kinds of things you saw so you’d be able to snap out of it.

Theoretically, of course.

This left Natasha, Steve, Thor, Bruce, and Tony out, as they’d already had their fun with Wanda’s magic. The rest of you, however, were waiting for your turn.

Wanda felt conflicted about it. She didn’t want to hurt her friends on accident, let alone on purpose, but Tony was insistent, and he had some of the others on his side. Namely, Rhodey, who had been hanging out more and more, and Clint, who’d had his experience with a different kind of mind control shortly before the Battle of New York.

It was part of why he’d volunteered to go first. Once he came to, he gave you a thumbs-up, shaking it off and walking over to Natasha.

“You sure you’re good?” She checked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. No big deal. Who’s next?”

Sam looked at you and the despondent look on your face before volunteering himself to go next. Rhodey went in solidarity, despite being too busy with his government responsibilities to be a full-time member of the team. And then it was your turn. You stood next to Wanda. She offered an apologetic smile before red crackled around her fingertips and it hit you.

For the first few seconds, you were fine. You felt tingly. You blinked a few times and your eyes felt weird. No doubt, your eyes were red, like the others’ turned when they were under the influence of Wanda’s powers.

“Hey, (Y/N), you okay?” Steve asked, voice urgent.

“Think so.” You replied, mouth full of cotton. It felt like that time in college someone had given you an edible that was too strong. The first and last time you’d ever gotten high. Like you were sinking and melting. Your legs buckled and Steve surged forward, catching you before you hit the floor, gently lowering you into a comfortable position. “Hey, you’re pretty strong…” You murmured, head lolling onto his shoulder.

The others all looked at each other. Clint dragged over a bean bag and Steve gently lowered you onto it, adjusting it so you’d be comfortable.

“She’ll be okay, Steve.” Natasha reassured him, the guilt in his eyes palpable, yet still not explained. Not entirely. She had a sneaking suspicion whatever it was had something to do with the name written on his wrist, the name he wouldn’t show anyone. Not her, not Nick Fury, not even Sam.

“Yeah, I know.” He nodded, slowly taking a step back. His eyes didn’t leave you. He had to force himself to look away. “I, um…I have to go…There’s a…” Steve motioned towards the door before leaving the room, while you sat there, catatonic, off in your own little world.

***

“Hey, (Y/N), you okay?” Steve asked, his voice close. “That was a long nap. Forget to set your alarm?”

You opened your eyes and you were laying down on the couch. Steve was standing at the island in the kitchen, cooking something. It smelled good. Really good. He was wearing a button-up, sleeves rolled to his elbows, still wearing his slacks from work. He had music playing from the record player, your vast collection of hits from decades of music, and he was still hooked on 40s jazz. You supposed you couldn’t blame him.

“You cooking?”

“Mmhmm.” He nodded. “Come over here and get a taste.”

You followed, out to the kitchen. He set down his wooden spoon and swiftly intercepted you, pulling you up onto the countertop, kissing you deeply, a hand running through your hair. Your hand came up to frame his cheek. He was growing a bit of a beard these days. You liked it, thought it suited him.

You sighed against his lips and then pulled away to look at him. He grabbed your wrist, pressing a long kiss to your soulmark. Three simple words. Steven Grant Rogers.

“I love you, doll.” His words cut through you, eyes tender and sincere. “Always have.”

But this wasn’t your Steve. And it wasn’t your reality, given away by the slightest tinge of red in his irises.

It wasn’t real. And neither was the glimmering wedding ring around your finger.

***

You blinked awake, the power dispersing from your head, leaving you shockingly sober. And hungry. That familiar sting was back, right between your neck and shoulder. You wondered how long it’d been.

Clint was in the room with you. So was Sam. Natasha was gone. Wanda too, surprisingly. As was Steve.

You got chills even thinking about him, the phantom of the wedding ring still clinging to your finger.

“You alright?” Sam asked, making eye contact with you first.

“Yeah, I’m good. How long…?”

“Three minutes. New record.” Clint said with a grin.

“Oh.” No wonder it had felt so short. Part of you wanted it to last longer.

“We’re sending Rhodey to get some food, if you’re hungry.” Sam said.

“Where from?”

“The golden arches.”

“I could go for some nuggies.” You admitted. “A McFlurry, perchance.”

Clint laughed. “How did I know you would say that?”

In the kitchen, Steve stood, hands on the counter, mug of coffee steaming in front of him, untouched. He stared at the cupboard door.

“That must be one interesting cupboard. You’ve been standing there for like five whole minutes.”

“It’s only been three.” Steve said, glancing at the clock.

“And the fact that you know down to the exact minute is why I’m so intrigued.” Natasha chimed, tilting her head. “What is going on with her? I have never seen you look at anyone like that in the entire time I’ve known you. Is she…what, the kid of an old friend? Grandkid?”

“It’s nothing, Natasha. She’s the newest member of the team, I’m just worried—”

“Steve.” She said, cutting him off, that look in her eye. “If you want to get all defensive about it, fine. Keep your secrets.” She sighed. “But if you need someone, I’m here. Whatever it is, you don’t have to carry it alone.”

Steve let out a long sigh, weighing his options. It was something to the tune of eight months until your birthday. That was still a long time. A lot of time for that secret to slip through the cracks and, potentially, break the timeline. The Butterfly Effect was something he had researched extensively. Your future together was something he wasn’t willing to risk.

No, it was too important that you stay in the dark, even if that meant keeping his friends in the dark, too.

“Thanks. I appreciate it. But I’m fine, really. It’s nothing.”

“Uh-huh.” She nodded unconvinced. “Well, she’s out of it. Clint just texted. She wants twenty chicken nuggets and an Oreo McFlurry.”

The relief was immediate. You were okay. He could only wonder what you had seen in there, and why it had been so quick. The others had been under for upwards of ten minutes. You’d only been down three. “Well good. I’ll let Rhodey know.”

Invisible String

It was late. A few weeks after your tussle with the Scarlet Witch, if you could even call it that. You could tell Wanda felt guilty about the whole thing, but it wasn’t her fault. If anything it was Tony’s. Sure, the exercise had prepared you for a worst case scenario, but it had also dug a very awkward gap between you and Steve. You could barely even look at him without wanting to burst into tears.

He had his soulmate, whoever they were. You really needed to let it go.

You walked down to the kitchen to get a cold drink, but there was already someone sitting at the table. Steve, sitting there, hand resting on his chin, papers spread out in front of him. There was a picture you recognized as Bucky Barnes.

You’d heard whispers of him around the Compound from time to time. Steve’s best friend turned Hydra assassin, brainwashed for decades and now, rogue, out there somewhere. Sam always seemed to be looking for the guy. Natasha and Clint, too. And there had never been any sign of him. Well, until now, it seemed.

On the TV, Star Wars was playing. Empire Strikes Back. Steve looked up at it every so often.

“Star Wars?” You asked.

He chuckled and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Your first time?”

“No. They were the first things I watched when I was out of the ice. I like them a lot. The hope, the Force, the Jedi stuff, the music.” He shrugged. “They’re good.”

“Who’s your favorite?”

Steve smiled, sheepish. “Han Solo.”

“And here I thought you’d say Luke Skywalker.”

“He’s great, too. You like Star Wars?”

“Yeah, I used to be obsessed with them in high school. Haven’t seen them in a while, though. I’m something of a Leia girl myself.”

“That makes a lot of sense.”

“Does it?”

“Oh yeah.” He nodded. “You’ve got that spark.”

“What order did you watch them in?”

“Nat made me watch the originals first.” He confessed. “I like the prequels, though. Well, two of the prequels. Phantom Menace is…”

“Oh yeah. You’re not alone in that.” You laughed softly. “You know, I never really pegged you as a sci-fi nerd.”

“Yeah, well, someone I really care about seemed to like them a whole lot, so I knew I had to check them out.” He shrugged. “What are you doing up so late?”

“Getting a drink. What are you doing up so late?”

He looked down at the papers and then back up at you. “Oh. Yeah, this is just…Trying to get some stuff figured out.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” You offered.

He thought about it for a long moment, letting out a little sigh before nodding. That was the only reassurance you needed before grabbing a can of soda from the fridge and plopping down into the seat next to him.

“They found him. Clint and Natasha. They think he’s hiding out in Kentucky somewhere.” Steve said. He shook his head. “He saved my life a few years ago. After all the brainwashing, he still pulled me out of the water. I don’t know how much of him is still him, but…”

“But it’s worth a try.” You reasoned. “Obviously he’s been through a lot, but he must be pretty strong to have made it through everything.”

“I don’t know when I’m going. They haven’t narrowed it down all the way. And Tony doesn’t want me to even go at all.”

“Tony is full of shit.”

He laughed. “Yeah…”

“If you want to go, you should go. And if you need me, I’m there. You shouldn’t have to do it alone.”

He met your eyes with a sobering gaze. “You mean it?”

“Yeah, of course.” You agreed. “When, uh, when I was in the eighth grade, my class took a trip down to DC. There’s a Captain America exhibit in the Air and Space Museum, it had just opened. We learned about you and Bucky. How close you were, what happened. There are videos of me just crying uncontrollably there, learning about it. They had to take me outside, get me some water. I couldn’t go back in. I don’t even know why. Something about it…”

“About me?” Steve whispered.

“That’s embarrassing. I shouldn’t have told you that.” You chuckled, shaking your head.

“It’s not embarrassing. It’s sweet.” Steve said, reaching for your hand on the table. You let him take it, fingers curling.

“So when you found me that day, I guess I always knew it would lead to something like this. A stroke of fate, or something.” You admitted. “Some part of me knew that you would mean something to me someday. I guess I never thought we would be friends.”

“How old were you?”

“God, this would have been like ten years ago at this point. I was like fourteen or something. I was twenty-one when they found you in the ice. It was all over the news my sophomore year of college, kind of right when I was figuring my powers out, actually. And then everything was all over the news and I…went into hiding more or less, hoping it wouldn’t be me on the TV next.”

“Until the mall?”

“Yeah. But I couldn’t just…let it happen, you know? It was like some part of me knew that I had these powers for a reason, and that if I didn’t stop it, who would? I didn’t know you were there, obviously, but, I think even if I had, I still would have jumped in.”

He smiled softly, eyes earnest. He gave your hand a squeeze. “Well I’m really glad you did, for the record. I think we’re all a little better off because of it.”

There was a moment of quiet. “Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“How old are you?”

“Oh, um…I’m ninety-eight.”

You chuckled. “No, like how old are you really?”

Steve took a breath. No one ever asked him that. No one really cared about that. No one except you, it seemed. “I’m not sure. I’d have to do some math. I think I’m twenty-eight maybe. Twenty-nine.”

“Thought so.” You smiled. “Well, Steve, whenever you get it figured out, say the word and I’ll suit up. We’ll bring him home.”

Out of the Woods

The next mission you were sent on wasn’t to bring back Bucky. Not yet. Instead, you were on the team that got deployed into a rainforest to break up a rogue Hydra base. It was warm, almost too warm for your uniform, but you were grateful for the coverage, especially when they started shooting.

You ran down the makeshift path, evading enemies and throwing up forcefields to stop them in their tracks. Thor was in town, so he was zipping around through the trees with his hammer, the force of it bringing some down every once in a while.

“On your six.” Steve reported through the comms. You dodged out of the way and sure enough, a Hydra agent tumbled ahead, tripped by a small field you cast at his feet. A few of Natasha’s bullets took care of that.

“Thanks.” You replied.

“Don’t mention it. I could actually use some backup. I’m in the building. There’s more of them than I thought there would be.”

“I’m on my way.” You reported, changing directions and sprinting towards the building housing the Hydra base. What they were doing here, you had no clue, but Bruce theorized it had something to do with a meteor that had landed out that way a few months prior. They were probably harvesting whatever materials had been inside it.

You kicked down the door. Steve had six guys on him, two of which he disposed of quickly. You made a portal beneath one guy, sending him falling down a flight of stairs with the second portal you opened.

The other three guys went down quickly enough, only for a guy in a giant mech armor to come crashing through the interior wall. He shot and Steve jumped in front of you, taking a hit to the neck. A tiny syringe filled with shimmering purple liquid.

“Fuck! Steve!” You ran to him, but that didn’t take care of the large problem looming behind you. Seeing red, you made another portal at the feet of the robot, opened it in the ceiling, and cut it off as it was halfway through, destroying it in a flash of sparks and shredded metal. It shut down, giving you time to get to Steve.

He was sitting against the wall, head slumped to the side. You took the syringe out of his neck, tucking it into a pouch on your belt for testing. If this thing was poison, you’d need Bruce to start whipping up an antidote as soon as possible.

“Steve, hey, stay with me.” You touched his face, trying to wake him.

At your touch, he blinked a few times, drowsy. He gave you a crooked smile. “Heyyy, there you are.”

“Come on, we’ve gotta get you back to the jet.” You told him, pulling him to his feet, but he slumped in your arms like dead weight. You had been working out since you’d been recruited, but he was still heavy. “You’ve gotta work with me, big guy.”

“They used to call me little guy.” He murmured, sounding drunk. “Back in Brooklyn.”

“I’m sure they did.” You slung his arm around your shoulders and started hauling ass out of the building. A few agents shot at you, trying to hit you while you were distracted with carrying Steve to safety, but they forgot you were the one Avenger whose specialty was defense.

You lit a forcefield in your left hand, using its faint blue light to guide the two of you through the dim hallways. It slowed all the bullets to a stop, causing them to drop to the floor harmlessly. There was something kind of poetic about it, you supposed. Steve was so famous for that shield of his, but now you were the shield, protecting him.

“Did you guys find anything in there?” Clint asked.

“The good news is, we cleared most of it out. Bad news is, Steve got shot with something. I’m bringing him back to the ship now. I don’t know what it was but he’s acting really drunk.”

“Tranq darts seem to have that effect on him, yeah.” Bruce explained. “Bring him back here and I’ll make sure it wasn’t laced with something else.”

“On it.”

You lugged Steve along, stopping to rest and readjust against a wall for a second.

“Thank you for takin’ care of me even when I don’t feel so good.” He said, leaning his full weight against you.

“Of course, Steve. I’ve got ya.” You pulled his arm around your shoulders again. “You would do the same for any of us.”

He smiled, face impossibly close to yours. “Oh, I’d do anything for you, (Y/N).”

You knew it was probably just the drugs talking but you’d be lying if you said it didn’t do something to you when he said it anyway.

Once you were outside, you opened a waypoint in front of the two of you, the second portal in front of the jet, and then stepped through, closing it behind you. Bruce opened the door and helped you haul Steve inside, onto the cot of the makeshift mobile infirmary.

You handed Bruce the empty vial.

“Thank you for remembering. Thor always breaks these and then I have to do bloodwork to figure out what was in them.” He chuckled.

“He’s very smash first, ask questions later.”

“No wonder he and Hulk get along so well.” Bruce joked. “Alright, get back out there. I’ll make sure he’s alright.”

“Thank you.”

“Be careful out there.” Steve advised, eyes half-lidded. “They have guns.”

“I’ll be extra careful, alright? I promise.” You met his eyes and he smiled immediately. Once you were sure he was okay, you stepped out of the jet again, getting back to help the others.

***

When you got back, you were nursing a bullet wound. They’d gotten you in the arm. It wasn’t too bad, though, the bleeding had almost stopped. Natasha went straight for the med kit when you two stepped foot on the jet, motioning you over to the stool.

Steve was there, still on the cot. He stared as Nat started cleaning your wound. “Wait, you got hurt?”

“I’m okay. It’s not that bad.”

He nodded and reached for your hand. “I’m really glad you’re alright, doll. Had me worried sick.”

Doll. You replayed the word in your mind. Steve had called you a lot of things in the past few months, but never once had he used that somewhat outdated term of endearment. You liked it, though.

You met Natasha’s eyes and she smirked while the supersoldier held your hand.

Sam walked in next, eyeing up the scene unfolding in front of him. “Woah, what’d I miss? Feels like I missed several chapters.”

“Steve is drunk.” Clint explained, counting his remaining arrows.

“Tranq dart. He’s fine. Just needs to ride it out for a few hours. He should be back to normal by the time we get home.” Bruce explained as he put away his tablet.

“You feeling alright, buddy?” Sam walked over and put a hand on Steve’s other arm. “You’re holding (Y/N)’s hand kinda tight there.”

“Huh?” Steve asked, directing his eyes to your joint hands. He let go. “Oh. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, Steve.” You reassured him.

The others trickled in slowly until everyone was accounted for, the base destroyed, the Hydra operatives in SHIELD custody for questioning. Fury and his team would handle it from there. You couldn’t help but play the mission over and over in your head.

Never had you used a waypoint to split something in half. But something had clicked in you when Steve was hurt. You’d never felt like that before, like part of your soul itself was being ripped out. He meant more to you than you cared to admit, especially when your fate was tied elsewhere.

Still, your new ability needed training. It was a dangerous skill to have, and if you didn’t hone it properly, you could end up doing some serious damage on accident.

Come Find Me in the Future

It was the night before you and a select group of the team were heading out to find and recover Bucky. Clint had finally gotten a hit on him. But if he had, that meant others could be after him, too. People that wanted him back. Badly.

You were nervous about it for that reason. You weren’t sure why the rest of you hadn’t already left, to be honest. You didn’t want to race with Hydra. It wasn’t one you were sure you’d win.

To stave off the feeling of dread, you had commandeered the living room TV and popped in Howl’s Moving Castle. You were nursing a mug of chamomile tea in your hands, playing games on your Switch.

You were near the end of the movie, at the part where Sophie was whisked to the past, when Steve walked into the room, in his pajamas, a tank top and a pair of plaid pants.

“Hey, Steve.”

“Hey. You’re up late. Big mission tomorrow.”

“Yeah, it’s almost over.” You told him. “Drinking my sleepy tea as we speak.”

“Sleepy tea?”

“Chamomile mint. It’s good. There’s some over by the Keurig if you want any.”

“Thanks.” He smiled, walking over. “What’s this?”

“Howl’s Moving Castle. One of my favorites.” You told him.

“What’s it about?”

“That is a complicated question.” You laughed. “I’d have to start it over, I think.”

“Another time, maybe.” He chuckled, crossing his arms.

Steve watched as Sophie got sucked back through the wormhole to the present.

She called out “I know how to help you now! Find me in the future!”

He perked up. “Wait, she…there’s time travel?”

“Yeah, she gets pulled into the past for a bit and tells him to find her and then years later, the first words he says to her are ‘There you are, sweetheart. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.’ It’s really sweet.”

“They’re soulmates?”

“They are.” You nodded.

“Does that happen? Often?” Steve asked, hung up on it. “In real life?”

“I don’t think so. I’ve never heard of that happening before.” You shook your head. “I don’t think anyone would believe it, even if it did. Happens a lot in fiction, though.”

“Oh. Cool.” Steve nodded. He met your eyes and then looked down at his lap, tongue flitting across his pink lips. “I, uh, wanted to apologize.”

You furrowed your eyebrows. “For what?”

“The mission last week. I, uh…I said some things and, uh…I just, I’d hate to make you uncomfortable. I’m sorry if I did.”

“You didn’t.” You assured him. “No apology necessary. You were drugged. I probably would have said worse, to be honest.”

He smiled. “Okay. Cool. Thanks. And thank you for agreeing to come tomorrow. We could really use the help.”

“Of course. I’ve got your back, always.” You told him, earning another one of those earnest, lovesick smiles. “Anywho, I finished that playlist for you. The Taylor Swift one. I can make you a more general one with different songs, but…figured that was a decent starting place.”

“Great, yeah, thank you.” He nodded, looking at his phone as it pinged with the notification you had sent it to him. “I’ll give it a listen.”

“Let me know what you think.”

“Oh I will.” He chuckled to himself. “Really, thank you. I appreciate it. And um, have a good night. See you tomorrow.”

“Bright and early.” You saluted.

He nodded before repeating, “Bright and early.”

Bygones

Bright and early was an understatement. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon when your alarm went off. You groaned, rolled over and silenced your screaming phone, forcing yourself to sit up so you didn’t drift back off.

Today was too important for that.

Instead, you got up, brushed your hair, and went out to the kitchen, where Vision had whipped up a full breakfast for everyone going out. It was you, Steve, Nat, Wanda, and Sam. A small team, but enough firepower to bring him back without overwhelming and/or scaring him off.

“Morning.” Steve said, eyes landing on you the moment you walked into the room.

“Morning.”

“Coffee?” He offered, pushing a cup of your favorite iced coffee over to you. You couldn’t lie, you were impressed.

“Thanks.” You grinned, taking a long sip to kickstart your morning. You loaded a plate up with eggs, sausage, bacon, and toast, plus a little side of hashbrowns, thanking Vision thoroughly.

“It is my pleasure, (Y/N). As someone who does not require sleep, it would be rude of me to let you all starve so early in the day.”

“(Y/N), you got him listening to Taylor Swift?” Sam asked, eyes drilling into you.

You laughed. “Uh, yeah. What about it? She’s a cultural icon, do you want him left out of the loop?”

“Hey, I’m not complaining.” Steve shrugged, sipping on his coffee.

“Of course you’re not.” Natasha chuckled, words warbled by her own cup. You noticed the way her lips pursed. If you weren’t mistaken, you’d say she was nervous. About what, you couldn’t tell. She seldom got nervous. Or at least, she seldom let it show. But it was definitely there.

Wanda was the last into the kitchen, already fully put together. She gave the chef her thanks with a warm smile and sparkling eyes. You couldn’t help but smile. Those two, beyond a shadow of a doubt, were absolutely made for each other. You wondered what her wrist would have to say about it when the time came.

Once everyone had eaten, those who weren’t suited up got ready, locked and loaded for a tense mission. You’d have Clint on the coms here, doing recon from a drone. The rest of you loaded up onto the jet, strapping in.

Nat and Sam hopped into the cockpit. Wanda sat next to you, Steve across the aisle, his eyes meeting yours every so often.

“It’ll be alright.” You said, trying to dispel his nerves.

He nodded, but didn’t reply, just giving a short nod and staring at the holographic map on the wall as you approached closer and closer. You could see that little guy from Brooklyn peeking through the eyes of the supersoldier sitting across from you, nervous about his best friend.

You unbuckled just before you landed, walking across the jet to strap on your weapons. The others did the same, arming themselves. Nat was going to keep the jet warm for a speedy exit, the look in her eyes still unreadable. The rest of you got ready for war.

It was an abandoned warehouse, large garage door, broken windows, slanted roof with a hole in it. Definitely not the most secure of places. According to Clint’s drone, Bucky was in the back room.

“Waypoint, I need you out here ready to get us a quick escape.”

“Got it.” You nodded, positioning yourself within eyeshot of the warehouse and the jet so you could make a portal either way.

“Wanda, Sam, you’re with me.” Steve instructed, taking a minute to breathe, to think. “He’s gonna be ready to run. We have to talk him out of it.”

“Uh, Cap. Might wanna work a little faster. There’s another plane incoming. About three minutes out.”

“Alright.” Steve nodded, taking off his helmet and slinging his shield onto his back. He led the other two into the building.

For a heartwrenching two minutes, you didn’t hear anything. And then you heard a plane. And then gunshots.

“(Y/N), now!” Steve instructed.

You did as you were told, opening the waypoint in the warehouse, another just outside. Nat had picked the jet up off of the ground, firing at the one Hydra had brought. She took another shot, damaging the wing and causing it to go down.

“Shit, wait—!”

There was a flash of light and you expected it to be Steve that came through first. Maybe Bucky, even. Instead, it was a grenade. And a split second later, it exploded, knocking you unconscious.

***

Steve stood over you, horrified. Thanks to your suit, the damage didn’t seem too bad. But you had blood and soot caked on your face, the ends of your hair singed.

It was his fault. He had told you to open the Waypoint, only for a Hydra agent to toss a grenade right through it.

He all but collapsed to his knees, collecting you in his arms. Bucky was on the jet already, Sam, too. Only he and Wanda were outside with you.

“(Y/N), come on. Open those eyes for me.” He pleaded, voice soft, eyes aching with tears. “Hey, come on. Please…”

“We should get her back to the jet.” Wanda goaded softly, a hand on Steve’s arm.

“Yeah.” Steve nodded, a tear slipping down his cheek. He scooped you off of the ground, an arm beneath your legs, the other around your back. Your arms hung down, limp. Your head rested heavily against his shoulder, eyes closed.

By the time Steve walked up the ramp, Nat already had the infirmary cot down, ready to go. Bucky watched, eyes intense. He looked up when Steve approached, eyes falling on you. They widened when he got a look at you.

“Woah, is that…?”

“Yeah.” Steve nodded. “It is.”

Natasha helped him get you situated in the cot, wrapping the cuff around your arm that would measure your vitals. With everyone accounted for, Sam closed the door, lifting the jet into the air.

“I’ve got Banner on the line.” Natasha told him.

“Good.” Steve’s eyes didn’t leave you for a second, watching as the breaths entered and left your lungs. “Tell him to get the infirmary ready for her.”

“Already on it, Cap. She’ll be okay. Her vitals look…well they look good, all things considered.” Bruce relayed. “Just get back here as fast as you can.”

***

As soon as the jet landed, Steve unhooked you from the vitals monitor and collected you in his arms, carrying you to the gurney Bruce had ready, walking with him as he wheeled you towards the infirmary. Bruce insisted he needed some time and sent Steve away, taking a piece of his heart with him.

Vision checked over Bucky, giving him the okay almost immediately before going to help Bruce in the infirmary.

Steve sat at the table, Bucky sitting down to join him. The others gave them a minute alone.

“Hey, pal.” Steve exhaled, trying to force a smile. “Glad you’re here.”

“Me too.” He agreed. “Thanks for coming to get me.”

“Of course.” Steve nodded. “I’m with you—”

“Til the end of the line.” Bucky smiled, eyes soft. His irises flicked towards the infirmary and back. “You wanna talk about it?”

Steve let out a sigh, the wall finally coming down and more tears slipping down his cheeks. “It’s my fault, it’s all my fault. She’s—”

“She’s gonna be fine. I promise you.” Bucky’s hand grabbed onto Steve’s wrist, the covered one. The one with her name etched onto it. “She has to be. Has she…does she know yet?”

“No one does. Just me. And you.” Steve confessed. He wiped his thumb under his eye. “So you’re right. She has to pull through.”

Steve held onto that spark of hope for the coming hours. He showed Bucky to the room that had been prepared for him, but Sam offered to give him a tour of the place, knowing their friend was in a fragile mental state.

Eventually, Vision found him and told him he could enter the infirmary. Bruce had finished treating you. When Steve walked in and saw you, still unconscious, laying on that bed, he choked on more sobs. The bruising on your face was pretty severe. You were hooked up to several monitors, an IV. Supposedly, your injuries were not too extreme, but you had a cracked rib and would need time to heal before you could do any missions or training.

Hours later, Nat found Steve in there, wringing his hands, tears in his eyes. He fiddled with the cuff around his wrist. The playlist you’d made for him played softly from a speaker in the corner of the room. Timeless. As if he wasn’t already crying enough.

“She’s gonna be okay, Steve. Bruce thinks she might wake up soon.” Nat comforted, sitting in the chair next to him. She put a hand on his shoulder, confused by her friend’s sudden mood. Members of the team had been injured before and sure, he checked on them, but he never reacted like this.

“I know, I just…” He shook his head. “I’m worried about her is all. It’s…kinda my fault this happened.”

Nat pressed her lips together, tilting her head. “This seems like a little more than that. You wanna tell me what’s really going on?”

He wanted to hold onto his secret. He did. But he was feeling fragile, vulnerable. It couldn’t hurt to have just one more person on his side. “I can, just…not here.” Steve nodded, leading her out of the room, out of your earshot, if you could even hear him while you were out, but still in sight thanks to the soundproof windows.

Nat’s hands settled on her hips, waiting for an answer. Instead, Steve took the cuff off of his wrist and held it out to her, letting her read the letters that had been etched there for the better part of a century.

Her jaw dropped. She stammered, arms crossing. She met his eyes and when she saw the sadness there, the guilt and longing, her expression softened.

“I should have told her. A long time ago, I should have told her but I can’t. In six months, on her twenty-fifth, she’s going back in time to 1943 to meet me on mine. And it…didn’t seem like she knew until she was already there.”

“So you’ve just been holding it in this whole time?” Natasha asked. “You’ve been in love with her…”

“Since the forties, yeah.” Steve nodded. “My great lost love, as Tony likes to call her when he rags on the band I wear.”

“Does he know?”

“No. Just you. And Bucky.” Steve amended. “He was there when she…”

“Right. Weird.” Natasha let out a long sigh, looking through the window. Her fingers reached for her own cuff. She hesitated, but pulled it off, holding her soulmark out to him. “Fair is fair.”

Steve stared at the letters for a long time, realization slowly filling his eyes. The name on her wrist was none other than James Buchannan Barnes. “Oh my God.”

“I didn’t know how to tell you until all the dust settled, but it just settled, so…” She shrugged, putting the cuff back on. “I’ll figure out how to tell him, too, if he doesn’t know already.”

“Buck’s mark was grayed out back then. We thought…well, we didn’t know what it meant.” Steve said, shaking his head. It was the reason Bucky had dated around so much back then. He’d figured if he just found someone else, his mark would change and he wouldn’t have to be alone. Never could he have guessed what it actually meant, that his soulmate wouldn’t be born for another forty or so years. “And then he lost his arm…”

“Yeah, that part I did know.” She smirked. “Well, I’ll keep an eye on her. Let you know if she says anything you need to hear.”

“She probably thinks my soulmate is dead, too. Everyone else does.”

“Ironic.”

“No kidding.” Steve sighed, gazing longingly through the window.

“We’ll get you through it, Steve. You’ve waited seventy years. Six months is nothing.”

“Yeah. I’m gonna sit with her for a while. I don’t want her to wake up alone.”

He slinked back into the infirmary and sat in the chair beside your bed, watching your steady breaths and listening to the beeping of the heart monitor. Natasha watched him through the window, feeling lighter and heavier at the same time. Nevertheless, she was glad they had talked. At least now, they could be there for each other.

Vol. 2 Here

Tags: @cap-lu20

#steve rogers x reader #steve rogers soulmate au #steve rogers imagine #captain america x reader #captain america imagine #marvel #mcu #avengers

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cupfullofpapas · 2 months

Text

(Yes I'm reusing this image too busy to doodle a new one :''( life has been super crazy as of late ) Second Vol in The Assistant series: In the arms of a Devil Rated: E F/M Cardinal Copia x F!Reader Papa Emeritus IV x F!Reader Also read it on my Ao3 here Previous Vol. : The Assistant

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5: Screen Share

Sleeping was difficult that night, you tossed and turned until your body was too exhausted and you passed out, when morning came you reached out expecting to touch your Cardinal's sweet face but found only cold sheets, the confusion it hit you before your memory did. “Ah.. the tour,” you thought out loud with your hand still on the sheets.

Your Cardinal would be lying beside you, waking up to him you would crease his cheek and get a genuine smile from him, a smile you missed already. Grabbing your phone and tapping in the security pin, the envelope icon had a 1 on it.

Copia: Goodnight Cara Mia <3, call me when you get up

You smiled looking at the message the little heart he typed out made you giggle as you pressed the call button on his name, it rang a few times before he picked up. "Dolcezza, good morning!." He greeted putting a smile on your face as you sat up in bed leaning against the headboard. "Morning Caro, how did you sleep?." You heard Copia groan. "Without you by my side, horrible I used to be able to wake up to an empty bed and not think anything of it, and now? it is the worst feeling in the world." You couldn't help but chuckle at the dramatic tone of his voice her hand cupped over your face to keep any noise from escaping. "Well it's only for a few months Copia, remember-" "Cara" He interrupted "If you are, going to say 'absence makes the heart grow fonder please Mountain has already given me the entire lecture about it, no wonder he is Primo's favorite ghoul."

A smile came to Copia's face as he heard you laugh on the other end ahh what a laugh you had he could listen to it for hours, there was a moment of silence the Cardinal swallowing hard trying to decide if now was the right time to say those three little words to you, he shouldn't be this nervous about it he'd already slept with you several times. Copia opened his mouth to speak however Rain appeared in the doorway his thumb pointing over his shoulder. "Ah, dolcezza, I need to go and get started first concert is in a few days." "I know." You replied swinging your legs over the side of the bed and getting up. "I need to get my butt up too." At that moment there was a quick rapid knock on your door as one of your siblings of sin stuck her head into your and Copia's dorm room as you and Copia said your goodbyes. "Come quick!, Sister Gemma has gone into labor!."

You stared at the sister in shock. "But" You started. "She isn't due until next month." This made you get up quicker throwing on her habit, instead of brushing your hair you shoved it into the hat there was always time to brush it later. The closer you got to the infirmary the more siblings of sin and ghouls alike littered the hallway, pushing one of the shorter ghouls aside.

"Sorry, Lenti!." You called back finally pushing the door open and heading down the hall. "Sorella." Came Primo's worried voice taking your hands in his. "We were in the garden when the pain started." "Has her water broke?" you watched as Primo stared at you blankly. "I'm not sure, I do not remember Sorella" You knew he was worried and some information could have escaped his mind especially with everything moving so fast and his fear of losing a second wife.

You heard Gemma call for him it took you aback for a moment to hear her like that, fearful, fearful was one thing you would never classify Gemma as. Primo had let go of your hands and rushed to Gemma's side. "Mi amore, do not worry everything will be okay." "I hope ah!- so caro." You watched them for a moment and wondered.. if one day that would be you and Copia, shoving the thought aside you stepped into the room. "Gemma how close are the contractions?" Before Gemma could answer you heard Sister Imperator behind you. "They are close now, if you would please step out into the hall." You wanted to argue about staying there, however, Lenti was already tugging you out of the room to stand with the rest of the ghouls, ghoulettes, and siblings of sin. The heavy doors kept Gemma's cries at bay, time seemed to stand still as you worked your way to the outer edge of the group squeezing out of the crowd.

"You!." You heard a voice yell out and before you knew it you were tackled to the ground and with weight sitting on your stomach the air had been knocked out of you. "Divine!." You heard Alpha's voice as he picked the ghoulette up off of you the blond giving a nervous laugh, meanwhile, Terzo and Omega helped you sit up you were about to thank them but only glared at Terzo.

"Yes, yes I know I was a dickhead, look I've already called and apologized to him, as much as I didn't want to-" "He felt awful after the fight, he didn't even do his skin routine or bubble bath" Omega butted in, thankfully the young Emeritus had worn his paint or else you would have seen his cheeks go red. "Shhhh! Omega!." He spluttered "What? it's not like it's a secret" You mustered out a small laugh looking up as Alpha walked over still holding Divine by the back of her top, like a cat that had been caught. "What do we say Divine?" the ghoulette hissed only to get shaken slightly. "Okay! okay!." The female huffed.

"I'm sorry for tackling you, I saw you and got too excited- now put me down Alpha!!." The Ghoul opened his hand dropping the girl who landed on the floor with a thud. "Ow! you motherfu-" She started but huffed making her way to Terzo on all fours taking a seat by him and Omega grumbling. "I see she's still pretty feral." "We're working on it." Alpha shrugged before asking. "Any news on the baby yet?." You shook your head. "Nope, Sister Imperator had Lenti pull me from the room, I think she's pushing right now."

"She pushed you from the room? the old witch" Terzo grumbled running his hand through his hair in annoyance. "She better be kind to my niece or nephew" Terzo hissed quietly.

It felt like forever until the door finally opened and Sister Imperator stepped out. "It's a girl." She announced to the waiting crowd Primo being the next to step out of the room holding the baby girl wrapped in a yellow blanket. "Alessia Anna Emeritus." He announced blinking as several of the crowd members were pushed aside Terzo forced his way to the front his eyes having a shine to them. "Fratello, she is beautiful" He spoke his voice a whisper as those tiny mismatched eyes looked up at her father and uncles her little head was covered in soft blond hair. "How is Gemma?." You asked as you made it through the crowd Omega, Alpha, and Divine having acted as bodyguards.

"She is doing well, come" Primo spoke as he turned allowing you and the others to walk in the older Emeritus considering you part of the family now. Gemma looked up from her place on the bed. "Sister, there you are." She held her arms up allowing you to hug her Terzo was next followed by the two ghouls before Alessia was handed back to her mother.

"They said she was early but strong with everything fully developed." Gemma smiled as Alessia's little hand took hold of her finger, you turned your attention hearing the door open only to see Secondo standing there he looked surprised or maybe shocked?, to see you there, you couldn't pinpoint it.

Saying your goodbyes you headed out of the room so the brothers could marvel over their new niece, thankfully the crowd outside had departed making it easy for you to be on your way. Time seemed to slow down and you hated it, you hated going to bed alone at night sure Copia and you would talk for a few hours until you both eventually fell asleep while still on video call there were a few times you woke up seeing him fast asleep you had learned a few things from this: One Copia was a heavy sleeper. Two he sometimes talked in his sleep. And three he sometimes passed gas in his sleep, the first time you heard it, it sent you into a fit of laughter that woke the poor man up out of a dead sleep. When he asked what was so funny you spared him any humiliation and simply said that Bisscoti had done something funny, from then on if it happened again you always muted your side to laugh or giggle.

Two months in and time started moving faster, thankfully mostly because you were watching little Alessia, rather watching Primo gush over his bundle of joy you had to remind the eldest Emeritus to take his medications and of his appointments with the abbey's doctors. You watched as Primo gave his daughters' belly a raspberry which made the youth squeal in laughter, feeling your phone buzz before ringing the screen and flashing Copia's name you waved to the two happy new parents before taking your leave and answering.

"Hey babe." You answered giggling as you heard a wheeze of surprise on the other end. "Hello sorella, how are you?." Your Cardinal asked once the camera had been turned on allowing you both to see each other, you swore he grew more and more handsome each day. "I'm good, missing you, you have what, one or two more shows before you return, yeah?." "Si, and non too soon." "Oh?, trouble in paradise?." "I wouldn't say trouble more like ehhh.." He rolled his wrist looking for the right words to say. "Getting the ghouls and ghoulettes to listen to me, especially Omega and Alpha but enough about work how is la mia nipotina doing?"

You stared at him for a moment. "My little niece." He respoke as you gave a thankful look. "She's doing well, a little small, other than that she's in perfect health." "Does she have the ehh, eye?."

"Yeah she does, it's so weird, seeing a tiny set of eyes like that makes me wonder if there are any baby pictures of you lying around." You laughed as you heard Copia wheeze a 'no'. You laughed while heading back to the dorm, flopping onto the bed while holding the phone above you.

Copia watched as you flopped down onto the bed seeing your gorgeous hair fanned out and the way the blankets hugged you... his mind started wandering, wandering right down into the gutter it had been too long since he had pleased himself, so long that seeing you sprawled out on the bed made him stand at attention. Copia was mentally thanking Lucifer and the infernal princes that he had remembered to lock his bunk door for some privacy.

"Ahh, cara mia the things you do to me." He whispered which put a smile on your face as you rolled over onto your belly the phone held out in front of you. "Oh?, and what do I do to you?, my Cardinal?." You watched as his face turned a soft shade of red.

"W-Well I-I that- that is uh... um.. eh... that- you see ehh..." He was flustered and you loved it. "Well?." Your voice took on a flirtatious tone. You watched as he smirked feeling the rare boost of confidence. "How about I show you, eh?." Now it was your turn to turn red as you heard the rustling of clothes and a zipper and with the turn of the phone, you were face to face with his cock standing erect and proud. Copia's leather-dressed fingers came into the frame to stroke at himself slowly. You watched biting your bottom lip as you felt a tingle between your legs watching, listening to his breathing grow deep.

"I see you miss me quite a bit hm?." You giggled lifting your hips from the bed and rolling them feeling yourself starting to grow moist. You had almost forgotten how good it felt when he was inside of you, how good it felt while your Cardinal slammed into you hitting all the right spots while he had you on your hands and knees taking you from behind.

"More than you know tesoro." You watched as his hand pulled away his cock throbbing, you watched it bounce with each pulse. Biting your lip you looked around as if to make sure no one was looking at your screen in your own damn room.

"You know- letting it go like that isn't good." You whispered. "Perhaps you should take care of it mio caro." You rolled your r and you swore you saw his cock bounce harder. "Si, si dolcezza" You heard your Cardinal gasp as he took a firm hold of his cock starting to stroke his erect member soft moans passed his lips, moans that went right to your core making your slick walls throb and grow slicker, they gave a harder throb as you heard him groan your name. "Fuck that's hot." You wheezed out in a whisper.

"Bellezza, what I wouldn't give to have you here with me right now bouncing on my lap, to be deep- so deep inside you." Copia panted out.

"Oh fuck, yes Copia." The words came out in a hushed gasp of a whisper, they seemed to just spill out on their own as your hand snaked down between your legs slipping past your panties and feeling your moist lips. "Sweet Lucifer, I'm so wet."

You breathed you felt a slight wave of embarrassment however the feeling was pushed away as you sank two fingers into your cunt making yourself gasp his name, before you knew it you both were masturbating listening to one another, the phone had been moved so you both could also see each other while your hands went to work. "Fuck, cara I want you, I want you so fucking bad." Copia breathed as his hand pumped his leaky cock, beads of precum had welled and started to spill giving his erection a soft shine.

"Ragazza birichina... I can hear your wet cunt from here." Copia breathed making you clamp around your fingers. "Oh fuck, C-Copia-." You panted as you thrust your fingers in and out of yourself faster. "I want you here in me so fucking bad." You whined your back arching into the huge mound of pillows.

"Ohh.. you have no idea how much I wish I was there." Copia breathed. "Amore I'm close."

"Hold it baby, just a little longer wait for me." You gasped as your second hand joined in rolling your clit, as good as it was it couldn't compare to the feeling of Copia's hands on you. Your mind trying to trick yourself into thinking it and surprisingly it works bringing you closer to your peak. "Cara-." Copia started but you cut him off.

"Now, now, oh fuck- now! oh baby I'm cumming I'm cumming!." You moaned as you felt the pressure snap in your pelvis it felt as if your blood rushed from top to bottom and back while your cunt squeezed your fingers. Copia had sped his hand up until his balls finally contracted as he released. His head was thrown back as thick streams of cum splurted from his cock splattering onto the camera, you could only hear a faint breathless 'ah shit' as your body was starting to come down from its high falling back onto the bed.

It took a few minutes before you finally had enough energy to get up and clean your mess, Copia doing the same on the other end wiping his phone clean. Afterwards, you lay in bed with a pillow propping your phone up next to you as you both continued to talk into the night feeling even more in love as you said your goodnights and blew a kiss at the screen. You were settling down for bed when you heard a knock at your door, mumbling you dragged yourself from the bed to answer it finding Emilia at your doorstep, your brow arching.

"Mi dispiace, sorella, for coming to you so late but you are the only one I could think to ask." "What is it Emilia? and it's okay." "Mi dispiace, but do you- umm." Her pale face grew red as her dark eyes looked away, she looked kind of cute that way almost too innocent to be in the church of Lucifer. "Do I?." "DoyouhaveanyextracondomsIcoulduse?." She said quickly her voice hushed, there was silence for a moment while you both stared at each other before you laughed which made her face redder. "Yeah yeah I do, come on in." You waved your fellow sister of sin into your dorm room while you vanished into your room grabbing the box from the nightstand and popping it open pulling a line of the foil packages out.

Folding them you headed back to the living room where Emilia was still standing her face still red with blush. "Here you go." You handed them to her as she gave a thankful smile. "Grazie." "No prob and don't think there is any bad blood between us just because you're with Secondo okay?." Emilia stared at you as if you had read her mind and seen right through her fears, you watched as her hazel eyes welled a little. "Grazie, grazie sister." She spoke smiling as you hugged her.

"Now go, rock his world sis." You snickered as Emilia squeaked at your words, one final hug and she was off to nail the man of her dreams, you couldn't help but feel a little jealous that she could go right to her lovers' room and be with him while yours was miles and miles away. Your final thought that night was if this was how Gemma felt when Primo was on tour during his era as Papa, if she could get through it then hell you could too!. Tag list: Please message me and tell me if you would like to be tagged! @thesoundresoundsecho @xpapaemeritus @copiasprincipessa

#the band ghost #ghost #copia #cardinal copia #Cardinal Copia x F!Reader #cardinal copia x reader #Papa emeritus IV #papa emeritus iv x reader #Papa Emeritus x F!reader #ghostAU

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lemonsnapples · 7 months

Text

I feel like there are too many people who think that Shen Yuan is lazy and would never work hard. He is usually contrasted with Shen Jiu, who is shown in the extras to be driven by his pride to keep cultivating to become stronger than Liu Qingge.

Sure, Shen Yuan's life goal is to be able to live a lazy, carefree, pampered life, but we've read SVSSS, have we not? Have we not seen how much Shen Yuan will bust his ass for his self-preservation?!

Oh, but Shen Yuan only cultivated once as SQQ then stopped, I've read some people online say. He never considered becoming stronger himself to be able to face LBH.

To that, I give you this quote from Vol 1 Ch 1 of the official English translation:

So damn awesome! Power worthy of a character who was a peak’s sole master. With this level of cultivation, if he diligently trained for the next twenty years, then maybe in the future—as a last resort, if he absolutely had to face that overpowered Luo Binghe—he might just be able to flee in disgrace!

As you can see, he does consider cultivating hard as a strategy. Then he does actually cultivate, and he didn't know how to out of muscle memory or from reading PIDW, either - he had to figure out how, as shown in Ch 2:

He sat on the stone bed and began to cultivate, carefully following the methods he’d memorized from manuals.

But right after he comes out of cultivation SHL attacks CQMS, and he got hit with No Cure, which meant that he couldn't cultivate anymore even if he wanted to.

Did he give up on the notion of becoming strong himself to be able to deal with LBH in the future, so that he's not completely reliant on LQG? No, he then came up with the mushroom body idea, which allowed him to be so strong he could break out of a huge net of immortal binding cables with his raw spiritual powers. That's something SQQ's body couldn't do, even in PIDW!

When Shen Yuan was threatened with his life by the system and by his belief that LBH would want to turn him into a human stick in the future, he went out of his way to do so many things for his own survival. It's not just his own survival that he cares about, either - when LBH was knocked out in the Holy Mausoleum arc, Shen Yuan dealt with ZZL and TLJ, and fought and killed the palace master, all while dealing with No Cure flaring up, all by himself.

Just because Shen Yuan wants to be lazy doesn't mean that there isn't a situation when he could be ambitious and driven - and that situation happened to him right in SVSSS!

In conclusion, Shen Yuan isn't as lazy as people think! For Shen Jiu, you gotta make him feel insecure to get him to act out of his pride. For Shen Yuan, you gotta threaten him and the people he loves to get him off his ass. They're driven by different things, but they can both be super ambitious under certain circumstances!

#svsss #shen yuan #shen qingqiu #shen jiu #ramblings from paying too much attention to fandom

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panandinpain0 · 2 years

Note

Hi could you do a fluff/Angst headcanon of dating Will x Male reader???

Home

Of course! I love Will so much.

Requested by: Anon

Will Byers x Male!Reader (Hopper is the father figure to Reader, but not like Eleven- he's just the only parental role you have in your life)

Something to know about me- I hate being sad so I avoid angst if I can. Which is one of the reasons why I am terrified for tonight when vol. 2 comes out...

For that reason- this oneshot is set in season 3, I need some nostalgia before I get hit with this

Enjoy while we still can 🥲

You and Will had been going out for a couple of months now and you were both incredibly happy

Your loved ones supported you

Strangers didn't, but why did they matter?

Honestly everyone just wanted the two of you safe and happy.

That's why when you go on dates Hopper trails along.

He thinks you don't notice, but you do

Ever since you had gotten together Joyce had voiced her concern for you two to Hopper

So he decided to keep an eye on you

(Let's be honest, he was going to do it whether Joyce said something or not)

You were basically his son- and even if you weren't, he still felt responsible for you

And if anyone laid a hand on you, man, watch out

So when you came to visit the Byers' house after school to meet with Will while Hopper was over

And you were covered with bruises and cuts

Blood, sweat, and tears caused by something other than "hard work"

You should have seen Hopper's face.

It was redder than when he yelled at Eleven to keep the door 3 inches open when Mike was over

You had knocked, even though you didn't need to.

You had a key, Joyce had given one to you years ago

Walking into the kitchen you could see Hopper, Joyce, Jonathan, and Will sitting at the table

Joyce and Will had jumped up when they saw you

And offered you a seat at the table

Which you took

They all shouted questions at you while Joyce patched you up

"It was nothing," you say

"Just some kid."

"'Just some kid?'" Hopper would shout back.

He and Jonathan would threaten to find the kid and beat him to a pulp

But the three of you would convince them not too

"I'm fine, really."

And you were

Fine- that is

You would take anything as long as it meant being with Will

Other than those parts of your relationship everything else would be bliss

Watching movies (Jonathan joining sometime, man that guy seems a little lonely)

Drawing together

Trying to draw each other and then laughing at the drawings

Joyce teaching you how to cook

Hanging out as a couple with him and his group of friends

You'd team up and convince them all to play DnD just like you used to

They would have your back.

If anything happened, you knew you wouldn't be alone

Because they were your family

Your favorite moments were the quiet ones, alone with Will

Holding his hand as you laid on his bed in the afternoon, cuddling

The window open and the hot air and sun filtering in

You would look into his eyes for hours

Running your fingers through his hair

Or watching him draw

Or listening to music together

Then everything happened.

The Mall fiasco

...The Mind Flayer

Billy.

Hopper.

...

Joyce thought it was best for them to move.

You were torn in part, both you and Will

It wasn't like Joyce liked seeing it, but she needed to leave

To get away

So as you joined lips with Will for what seemed to be the last time you realized something

You would rather be with Will, than anywhere else.

Yes, Hawkins was your home physically

But your real home?

Will Byers.

You move to Cali with the Byers + Eleven! Yayyyyy!

I was really debating on whether to make you and Eleven siblings but I ship Jopper and it'd be weird if Joyce and Hopper were a thing while you and Will were a thing- you get it.

Who else is petrified for tonight?

Heh... yayyyy

-Author Max <3

#fanfiction #writer #x reader #reader insert #oneshot #x male reader #stranger things #fluff #gay mlm #x male y/n #william byers x male!reader #will x reader #will byers x reader #will byers #st3

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annikin-annotates · 2 years

Text

Funeral HC's For Eddie Munson

A\N: I’m not usually one to write things like this but since Vol 2, I really need to vent. Y’all are just the people sitting by and watching.

WC: 656

Content: Angst, Mentions of death, Crying.

“At least I didn’t run this time, Right?”

You had gotten there too late, you cradled Eddie's body in your arms “Eddie no, no Eddie please come back to me. I can’t do this without you please!” you pleaded, but he was already gone.

Eddie was gone

There wasn’t really a funeral for him when It first happened, but in the months after as Hawkins slowly started to rebuild. Wayne had organised a get together for Eddie’s friends as well as you. You had sat with Dustin, keeping an eye on him. It had been hard for the kid after everything he went through.

Dustin kept close to you after that, He knew that you and him shared the same pain after losing Eddie. He tried to go to Steve, he was sympathetic for his young friend but he wasn’t close to Eddie so he didn’t fully understand. He did his best to help him in any way he could.

You understood though, you understood what Dustin was going through. You started the conversation by asking him if he was okay. It just seemed to pour out of him, like it was the first time someone had cared to listen and reach out to not say “I’m sorry”.

Wayne found himself leaving soon after the makeshift funeral, not being able to fathom staying in a town that demonised his nephew who lost his life trying to save the very town that vilified him.

Before he left, he stopped by your house he didn’t knock, he just left three boxes and drove off. He figured you would see them when you got home.

You came home from volunteering at the shelter to three boxes on your door step, there was no sender but you had a feeling of who they were from. You carried both boxes up stairs to your room and laid them on your bed. Unsure on opening them. There was a little note on the smaller square box

“He would want you to have these”

You lifted the lid off the box, it was his vest and jacket. you lifted them out of the box and held them to your chest, inhaling the ghost of him. You couldn’t control your emotions, you let out tear after tear, sobs wracking your rib cage and tearing through your throat.

You had managed to calm down enough to look in the second longer box it was his guitar, his sweetheart.

And in the final box, the smallest of the three sat his rings glistening in the light of your room. Your hand covered your mouth as you let out an uncontrollable sob again.

You called Dustin the next day, you sat him down on the couch. He was tired, his eyes hollowed and dark, the eyes of a kid who had seen too much pain. Too much misfortune.

You gave him the small box, pushing it into his hand. His rings. You had already had one strung onto a necklace, a necklace you never took off, it was only right for Dustin to have them.

“Eddie would have wanted you to have these Dustin, he loved you like the little brother he never had. Before all of this happened, he told me to keep you safe, to keep an eye on you if this ever happened. I told him he was crazy to think like that. He sacrificed himself for a place who hated him, that says more to us than any eulogy. He would want you to help those lost sheep Dustin, they need you.”

You held Dustin close as he cried, the poor kid. He stayed with you that night, you told him he was welcome anytime. Eddie told you to protect him, that life would eat him alive. And protect him you would.

You would protect him, because you couldn’t protect Eddie.

#eddie munson x you #eddie munson hc #eddie munson x y/n #stranger things #stranger things vol 1 #eddie munson x reader #steve harrington #steve harrington headcannon #eddie munson #jim hopper #billy hargrove #billy hargove imagine #dustin #harrington #heather holloway #steve #dustin henderson #joyce x hopper

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pecanwriter · 6 months

Text

Very Uncool Love Story part 2 (MPREG, WG story)

Themes: M/M MPREG romance (low key slow burn) between a fat librarian and a disabled punk musician

Words: 1690

Part: 2/?

PART 1

“Hello.” Larry said, nervously fidgeting with the receipt as he stood at the counter of Music Emporium, facing the shop clerk who looked even more attractive in real life than he did in Larry’s memory. “Oh, Slayer album, I didn’t expect you to be back.” he grinned. “You remember me…?” Larry asked, genuinely surprised. “It’s hard not to remember someone like you in a shithole like this. And besides, you have a bewitching voice.” the man said, deadpan. Larry sputtered, feeling the blush coming in. “Relax, man, relax!” he chuckled. “So, what brings you here?” “I, uh… I need to exchange the CD I got last time.” “Present didn’t work out?” “My brother-in-law already has this one…” he explained weakly “He asked me to get something called Hammerhunter Vol 4…?” “Hm.” The man’s brow furrowed. “I should have one. I’m not sure though. Come with me.” Larry followed the man noticing another tattoo on his back, peeking over his tank top collar. He also noticed the man was limping decidedly more than Larry remembered. “Are you okay?” He heard himself ask, and couldn’t fathom why he did it. “I fell. Being a cripple, rock concerts… Doesn’t always work out.” he shrugged, stopping at one of the shelves.

Larry wanted to ask why, of all words to choose from, he chose to call himself a cripple, but sparking up a conversation not related to the shop business was entirely beyond him at the moment. He was a coward, he wasn’t trying to deny it.

“I don’t think it’s here…” the shop clerk muttered, his head turned slightly as he read the labels with his right eye. Reaching out to a much higher shelf he let out a hoot of victory as he went on tip toes to reach the shelf, clearly forgetting about his injured leg and promptly losing balance. Larry wasn’t sure how he did it, but he caught the man before he fell and somehow managed not to fall or knock any CDs over in the process. They froze for a moment. Larry could feel the man’s fresh, citrusy perfume and a faint smell of cigarettes. And a hip bone digging into his fat belly. He gently peeled himself off the man. “Thanks.” The shop clerk croaked, clearing his throat. Larry reached out, grabbing the CD with ease. Only then did he realise he probably had about six inches on the other man. Somehow his beauty made him seem so much taller. His what now? Larry shook his head, he was truly losing it. “Here.” Larry pushed the CD into the clerk’s hand. “Ah.” the man gave him a flustered smile. “Let me ring it up then.”

“Here we go.” the beautiful man handed Larry his new CD in a black plastic bag with the Music Emporium’s terrifying logo on it “Come again if he doesn’t like that one either.” he gave that little mischievous smirk and then he winked. Actually winked! “Thanks” Larry said and turned to leave, but suddenly, something possessed him. For a fraction of a second, he felt like a cool, confident rocker and not a nerdy middle-aged librarian. Feeling his imaginary burning wings spread behind him Larry turned back to face the counter and in a voice that couldn’t be his own he asked:

“Could I invite you out for a coffee sometime?”

The beautiful man smiled. “Sure, Angel-voice,” he said. “I’m Oliver, by the way.” “Larry.”

“A date?!” Arianna’s voice was shrill on the phone. “How did this happen? When did you meet him? Oh my God, tell me everything!”

“He’s the shop clerk at the CD store.” Arianna laughed. “See? This is why I tell you to get out of the house more! So, tell me, how did you manage to ask him out?” “I… He’s… his leg was hurt and he lost his balance and I caught him and… I don’t know, I guess that body contact broke some sort of an invisible barrier and I just… asked him before I left.” “Oh my god, my brother is finally going to settle down, at last!” “Arianna! Stop it! I’m not going to go through with the date, it was a stupid idea.” “What are you on about now?” “I’m not the dating type, I don’t…” “Stop it, Lawrence Marshall!” she quipped. “You have to stop being so afraid of human interactions! The world doesn’t end with your books and games. You need this. You’re going.”

And so, Larry guessed that he was going.

Larry let out a groan. How did he outgrow another pair of trousers?! Truth be told, these were quite old, but he still hoped they would fit. They were one of the coolest trousers he owned and the thought of being seen in public with a person like Oliver while looking so painfully like a librarian wasn’t an option. Although now, he assumed, it was the only option. He put on a pair of olive green chinos. He looked critically at himself. Hating the way his shirt highlighted his massive gut he pulled on a sweater, completing his librarian get-up.

He looked pathetically uncool. *

Oliver looked even better outside of the dark shop, Larry was astonished to discover. The jeans rested so low on his hips that it was almost inappropriate. He was wearing another tiny tank top, but since this was England he was also wearing a leather jacket and looked so, so good in it. “Hey,” Larry said, trying not to think how uncool, grey-haired and fat he looked next to this gorgeous man. “You look great.” “Hey, Angel-voice.” Oliver grinned. “Right back at ya.”

Larry blushed. “How’s your leg?” Larry asked, remembering the fall. “Better, thanks.” he gave a tight smile. “So, Angel-voice, where will you take me?” “I wasn’t sure since I didn’t know if your leg would be better but maybe river-side?” “Romantic.” he grinned. “Let’s go then, Angel Voice.” He said, gesturing vaguely “Lend me an arm then, I’ve already had a taste of those strong arms and I would like another sample.” he grinned "And besides, I gotta be honest, I tend to use people as much as I can if it saves me from using this thing." He waved the crutch slightly. Feeling that his face was already red like a beetroot Larry stretched out his arm and gently took Oliver’s hand to wrap around his arm since this was Oliver’s bad vision side. “You know someone blind?” Oliver asked, suddenly. “Sorry?” “I can tell that you already figured out I can't see on this side. You’re very good at interacting with me. You know when to use touch and not make it seem invasive. I assume it’s because you know someone sight-impaired?” “My sister.” He admitted. “She lost her sight to tumour complications in her twenties. But other than her sight she made a complete recovery, thankfully.”

“Good for her.” Oliver nodded. “Sorry about her eyes though.” “I’m sorry about your eye,” Larry said, suddenly realising he had no idea if that was rude. Oliver laughed. “You’re a weirdo, Larry.” “I’m sorry, I don’t do this often.” “Brain aneurysm.” “What?” “A brain aneurysm ruptured. That’s how I lost my eye and my leg.” “That sounds… painful.” “I was in my last Uni year.” “What did you study?” “Believe it or not, Biochemical Engineering.” “I… Have to admit that I wasn’t expecting that.”

Oliver didn’t reply, instead, he continued:

“It was the last year of uni, you know. So when that damned thing ruptured in my brain I just thought it was exhaustion. Headaches, fatigue, blurry vision… All that type of shit, you know? And then one day I collapsed in class. Turns out I fell into a fucking coma. That’s when they found the bleed in my brain. I woke up two months later, only one eye and one leg still working and unable to speak.”

“Unable to speak…?” Larry stared at him, not caring if it was an appropriate response.

“Yeah, when I collapsed I apparently suffered a stroke caused by the rupture and not only did it paralyse parts of my body but it also destroyed my speech centre. I spent three years re-learning how to talk, read, write… Truth be told, I still suck ass at writing.” He laughed suddenly. “Wow, I’m a fun date, aren’t I?” Oliver exclaimed and Larry, stupidly, felt himself blush. A date? He said date. Larry looked down at the man on his arm and was once again astounded at how beautiful he was. Maybe it was foolish to concentrate on that after what Oliver just told him, but that’s where his brain went.

“I’m a librarian.” He heard himself say and flinched instantly at his own stupidity. “What?” Oliver laughed in surprise. “I’m sorry! But you’re so intelligent and you’ve been through something so difficult and came out on the other side being so bright and resilient and attractive and cool and I’m… I’m a librarian.” “And what’s your point?” Oliver asked, trying to sober up, but not really doing a good job with it. “I’m not cool like you, I’m just a nerd. I don’t think you realise how uncool I am, I don’t think you would like to be seen on a date with me, actually…”

Oliver let out a sigh. “You know why I agreed? None of my co-workers even asked what was wrong with my leg. I don’t know many people who would offer to exchange their gift for someone since the first one wasn’t right. You’re a considerate person. That’s why I agreed to go out with you. And, man, that bewitching voice…” Larry didn’t think it was possible to turn any more red than he did at that moment.

“And besides” Oliver gazed up at him, his pale grey eyes full of light “I get the feeling you underestimate how good-looking you are.”

Okay, Larry realised, it was possible to turn even more red.

"Come on, let's get to the river." Oliver laughed again. His beautiful, ringing laugh.

And Larry let the man who was meant to be leaning on him lead the way.

#bhm #chubby boy #mpreg #mpregnancy #mpreg fiction #bhm fiction #mpreg writing

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lgbtqmanga · 6 months

Text

New Releases Nov. 14, 2023

Adachi and Shimamura vol. 11 by Hitoma Iruma and raemz

First there were summers full of smiles, followed by summers full of stress. And then there were summers full of Adachi... For Shimamura, this year's vacation is a reminder of all the pivotal summer moments from her past!

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card vol. 14 by CLAMP

Clear Card picks up right where Cardcaptor Sakura left off, with Sakura and Syaoran starting junior high school. With the Final Judgment passed, Sakura thinks school life will be quiet, but then all her cards suddenly turn blank! The mysterious new power she discovers will change how she thinks about her powers in this latest volume...

The Dangerous Convenience Store vol. 1 by 945/gusao

Yeo Eui-joon needs cash, so he works part-time at a convenience store--where the clientele includes hoodlums and mobsters. He's tired of being yelled at while ringing up booze and trying to talk his way out of extortion, but he's not tired of seeing a certain good-looking gangster walk in the door. Gunwoo is huge, gruff, and intimidating at first...but he seems to care about Eui-joon's well-being, and is quick to knock aside anyone giving Eui-joon a hard time. After Eui-joon gets a peek at the enormous condom size Gunwoo buys, a little spark of attraction might just grow into a big, fiery love story!

Depth of Field vol. 1 by Enjo

Hey, Kon-chan. Why don't we have sex?

One day, in his secret after-school spot on the roof, Hayakawa met Konno. Some called Konno "hard to approach," "scary," or "intimidating," but whenever he had his camera pointed at his latest subject, it was clear he was enjoying himself.

Respect, envy, jealousy, an inferiority complex... Hayakawa's complicated feelings toward Konno, who has everything he ever wanted, continue to intensify...

A story of emotionally immature love, high school, routines heaped together, and conflicting focal points, from up-and-coming author Enjo.

Happy Crappy Life vol. 2 by Harada

Former elite banker is now living in the boonies with a full-time NEET and these days the two mostly spend their time drinking heavily and being very kinky with each other.

Kasuya's future looks seriously in doubt as he has been demoted to the boonies. His social life is also looking poor given how there are not many people his age in the area who are single, his age or even remotely share his interests. ...Outside of maybe his neighbor, Kuzuya. But while they both share the same kinks and both enjoy drinking heavily, they'd both rather make it big in the capital (hopefully in the arms of a strong dominating lady!!) Well, at least in Kasuya's case, that "dream gal" has come searching for him! His ex is back and she's about to discover his secrets.

Hitorijime My Hero vol. 14 by Memeco Arii

Masahiro Setagawa doesn't believe in heroes, but wishes he could. He finds he may need to start believing after all in this latest volume…

Love Nest 2nd vol. 1 by Yuu Minaduki

A real-life odd couple navigate living together as secret lovers in this Love Nest continuation.

Masato, once bitter and alone, used to spend his time wreaking havoc on other people’s happy relationships. But now he’s too busy being a homemaker with his roommate-turned-lover, Asahi. Unfortunately, their secret relationship seems to have secrets of its own, and Masato just might find himself missing the predictability of single life.

Masato and Asahi went from odd-couple roommates to live-in lovers and are now enjoying their honeymoon phase to its fullest. But Masato can’t help but feel frustrated that he’s unable to share with his family and friends that Asahi is his special someone. And Asahi isn’t helping matters by acting so suspiciously! Just where is he sneaking off to?!

Lullaby of the Dawn vol. 1 by Ichika Yuno

Night after night, Elva steps forth into the black sea, sword in hand, to drive back the creatures that surge from the waves. Elva is one of the 'kannagi,' warrior priests chosen by the divine to protect the island. With his snow-white hair, unaging youth, and black-stained limbs — proof of the corruption that gradually takes the life of every kannagi — the local people fear and shun him... at least until his path crosses with that of a boy named Alto. Enraptured by Elva’s strength and lonely soul, Alto swears to serve him and free him from his cursed fate.

After eight long years, Alto has grown into a capable and fearless young man, unwavering in his devotion to his kannagi. Elva had long ago resigned himself to an early death — but somehow, Alto’s presence seems to be gradually healing him of the black sea's corruption...

Megumi & Tsugumi vol. 4 by Mitsuru Si

Alpha Megumi and omega Tsugumi are now a true-blue couple looking to take the next step in their relationship, but Megumi’s dad is still not on board with his son dating an omega. To make matters worse, there’s another alpha - masquerading as a beta - who’s been sniffing around Tsugumi, trying to make him his mate! Megumi thinks he’s come up with a plan to solve all these problems, but before he can bring it to fruition, he and Tsugumi get in a fight!

The Ruthless Commander and his Reincarnated Warhorse by Sakashima and Nomoto Narita

A thirty-year-old Japanese male is teleported to Japan's warring-era. But instead of being reincarnated as a samurai or ninja, he is now a pony! Cute and spry, he is enjoying his carefree new life but all that changes when he runs into a human who is fighting off a bear attack! The pony dashes and rescues the man, and thus begins his new life...as a warhorse!

Sheep Princess in Wolf's Clothing vol. 1 by Mito

Aki Rikujo, a Wolfa, works as a butler at the royal castle in the land of Sheepa. Her quiet and peaceful days get shaken up when she saves the life of Princess Momo Shiudafaris. The shy sheep princess immediately latches onto Aki who, before she knows it, becomes the princess’s private tutor. Momo wants more than just math lessons from Aki, and even sneaks into the wolf-woman’s bedroom to seduce her! Aki soon realizes that, under the timid woolly exterior, Momo is a wild animal!

Terano-kun & Kumazaki-kun by Yoriko

Student council president Terano is confident and smart. On the other hand, the good-looking, but scary Kumazaki has been failing classes for the past few years. One day, a friend catches Terano texting someone. Terano remains quiet on the subject... No one would have guessed that the rebellious Kumazaki is actually quite shy, and is completely wrapped around Terano's finger...

#new releases #manga #queer manga #lgbt manga

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lostgirl677 · 2 years

Text

Room of memories

Masterlist

Part 2

Part 3

Estasblished relationship

Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

TW: Stranger Things season 4 vol.2 spoilers. Death

A/N : It’s quite sad but I tried to put fluff. It’s also a bit long

You couldn’t believe that you were driving back to his place. The place where your life changed forever with no going back, shattered fates and hearts. You felt tears brimming to your eyes with all the images of your last moments together on this earth replaying in your head like a broken record, blurring the road ahead of you. But you couldn’t allow yourself to let your emotions flow that way despite the fact that everything reminded you of Eddie's presence or absence, should I say. The old mixtapes laying there, the full ashtray, the stain he made with his burger on the dashboard and even his old jacket on the backseat, it was like you were just driving him home while he’s sound asleep on the passenger seat. You could almost hear his light snores. Like the good ol’ time. You wanted to live in this kind of memory forever but every single time the image of his eyes going dull flashed in your head and struck you like lightning. You even heard his last words, ‘I love you Y/N’, countless times with every gust of wind. As if he used it to send you love words from the beyond. You always smile through your tears when it happens and whisper sweet words, hoping that he’ll receive them somehow. Every sunrise reminded you of his bright smile and every sunset, the way his brown eyes seemed to take a honey color. You always tried to remember the good moments with him and they were legion. With someone like Eddie by your side, the roughest moment always felt easier. But now you had to go through this alone or almost. That’s the precise reason you were driving. The tears made their way to your cheeks by now, making it difficult to see.

At the simple idea of going back to the trailer, you wanted to jump off a cliff but you had to help his uncle through this. Eddie was his only family left, his ‘son’ and now he was all alone with his grief. He was practically family to you, like a second father. He was devastated and you couldn’t leave him that way. When you arrived in his driveway, you parked your car and took Eddie’s jacket on the backseat to wrap yourself in it. It still had his scent, as if he just gave it to you after wearing it all day long. It made you feel a little better. You couldn’t help but glance at the exact place where he breathed his last breath, even though it was in fact in the Upside Down.It looked like flowers grew in the exact place you had to leave Eddie. Flowers you never saw there before. It brought a small smile on your lips. You then found the courage to walk to the trailer’s door and knock. The door creaked loudly and Eddie’s uncle appeared. When you set eyes on Wayne, you could feel all his emotions on his face. He had dark circles under his eyes, his wrinkles more pronounced than usual and his cheeks were stained with dried tears..He seemed to have lost weight too. Before any words were exchanged, he took you in his arms. You returned his hug. When you parted, he glanced at you with a small smile and said with a sob evident in his voice ‘Thank you for coming here, Y/N’. He looked like he was about to burst into tears at any moment, probably due to the jacket and its scent, but seemed to control it for both of your sakes. ‘You’re welcome, Mr Munson.’ He smiled weakly. ‘I already told you that you can call me Wayne.’ You smiled too. ‘Sorry, some habits are hard to lose.’ He smiled again and got out of the way to invite you inside. You obliged and what you saw made your heart clench even more. It was messier than usual, the windows were closed so as to not let any ray of sunshine go through them, cans of beer scattered on the floor and cigarette’s butts everywhere. You were practically sure that there were shattered plates on the sink. He closed the door and gestured you to the couch while he took a chair. You sat and waited for him to say something. He just looked everywhere and the silence quickly became awkward. It was maybe his way to grieve, having someone with him and staying silent ? But then you saw him glancing at you hesitantly. You decided that it was time to break the silence. You cleared your throat and took all your courage to talk.

‘So…’ It seemed to catch his attention and he turned his head to look at you. ‘ They say that bringing good memories of Eddie can help a lot. So I thought that maybe…’ you gently smiled at him. He smiled too. ‘It’s a good idea. I have tons of good memories with him.’ His eyes seemed to get a glassy look as unshed tears tried to escape. So you began to recount all the adventures you both had with him. ‘I remember that time when Eddie was six. He came home, all proud of himself after getting Mrs Jones’s cat, Fluffles, out of a tree. He had scratches all over his face but his missing teeth smile was priceless. And Mrs Jones gave him five dollars.’ You laughed a bit. You remembered that fat ginger cat vividly. ‘Or even the time he thought that a watermelon would grow inside his belly after swallowing the seeds’ He had this nostalgia in his eyes. ‘I also remember when he made me read The Hobbit to help him sleep. He took it everywhere with him. He even learned how to read with this book’ That made you remember something. ‘That reminds me of the time I asked my mom to sew hobbit costumes for both of us so we could go trick or treating together as Frodo and Sam.’ He softly laughed. ‘And I had to let my beard grow, take an old uniform at work and a worn out gray hat to play Gandalf.’ You could remember it as if it happened yesterday. He had the perfect hair for Frodo so you were Sam and you swore to fight by his side until the very end. And you did, goddamn you did it till the very end. Emotions threatened to overtake you so you swallowed thickly and kept going with the memories. ‘ One time when we were around seven, we played outside and we were a bit bored. So Eddie had the brilliant idea to bet that he could land on his feet after jumping from the oak tree near my house. We both know how it ended but he was really proud of his plaster cast. He really thought that it made him look badass but he never mentioned to anyone how hard he cried when the adrenaline wore off.’ You said fondly. ‘I’m pretty sure his love for tattoos is your fault with all the drawings you did on his plaster cast’ Wayne said with a light laugh. After a little silence, he said ‘ You know, my brother was sent to jail and his wife was unable to take care of Eddie. So when I had his custody, he was barely verbal due to his young age. I almost saw all his first times and one time he fell really hard on his knees and his tiny hands bled a bit with gravel on them. He cried hard and when I took him inside to clean his wounds, he called me “Dad”. I was caught off guard that I almost cried myself.’

He then took his wallet off his pocket to open it to reveal a child’s drawing with a tall stick figure and “Wayne” with a few spelling mistakes. ‘After all these years, I still have it and I will never take it off my wallet.’ His voice shattered. You could feel his emotions. You helped Eddie on this drawing so many years ago. That’s even the way you met. ‘This drawing is the reason Eddie and I became friends. It was a project for the upcoming father’s day. He tried many things but couldn’t finish them because he was never satisfied. He wanted the perfect gift for you and since he really loved drawing, he decided to draw you something. As you know, even then, the other kids were mean to him. They wouldn’t let him approach the table with the drawing material. And I guess that he saw me all alone in a corner with a few paper sheets and pencils so he came to ask me if he could borrow some of my material. I said yes and he sat next to me. He introduced himself and then asked my opinion on the colors he should use. We talked through the whole process and discovered that we were quite similar so we decided to play at the next recess. And you know the rest of the story.’ You said, smiling. Wayne had a fond smile on his face.

With a soft voice he said ‘ I always knew that Eddie was an artist. When he saw this guitar on the window display of the music shop, he went crazy over it. He made plans on getting a job or even helping the neighbors to obtain the money. Sadly, he already had a bad reputation in the neighborhood and nobody wanted to hire him. So I worked extra hours and ate the least possible to save this money. Of course, he found a way to get money’ you already knew how, even though his uncle seemed to ignore it. ‘ But I managed to buy it with all the extra money I got. So for his birthday, I settled everything, you probably remember how his face lit up when you handed him the guitar. I also remember the day he told me proudly that he was the dungeon master of his own club. I was lost with all the lore of Dungeon and Dragon but he seemed so happy about it that I did my best to follow through his explanations. He even made me wear a costume to get inspiration to create a character in his campaign. A magician I think.’ He said with a smile. ‘One time, he played his whole scenario in front of me, doing all the characters and their voices, even the damsel in distress.’ You said, laughing at the image of Eddie as a damsel in distress. Wayne smiled too. He then checked his watch and got up. You saw him grab a bucket, a sponge and a few chemicals from under the sink. ‘It really helped, Y/N. Thank you. I have to go but you can stay.’ You looked at him, curious. ‘Where are you going ?’ he sighed. ‘I have to go to the cemetery to watch over his grave. I saw that there was graffitis on it again.’ It felt like a punch on the guts. Eddie’s grave. Eddie’s shallow grave. And there were assholes able to do such a terrible thing to someone’s grave. For a brief instant, you almost forgot that he was dead. ‘I can go there if you want to.’ you proposed. He smiled sadly at you. ‘No it’s okay. You can stay here if you want to. Grab whatever you want in the fridge. You can even take some things in Eddie’s room. I’m sure he would be okay with this. Good evening, Y/N’. You looked at your watch and realized that the sun must have set by now. ‘Good evening Wayne.’ He smiled at you and got out.

You struggled to make your way to Eddie’s room. It was so hard but you had to do it. The moment you set foot in his room, a violent flow of memories overwhelmed you completely. Every single piece of decoration was a piece of Eddie himself. It was like nothing happened at all. His curtains were open and the darkness of the night overtook the room. You faced directly his chest of drawers with his mirror and of course, his guitar. You began to sob quietly and this simple sight but tried to regain your composure as best as you could. You began to walk around his small room. Next to his amp laid a piece of his old plaster cast with his favorite drawing of yours on it. You remembered how he begged the doctor to let him keep this part. You laughed a bit at this memory. The doctor’s incredulous look was priceless, really. You then saw a series of silly pictures of Eddie and you on the wall.

Flashback

‘Come on, Y/N ! It’ll be funny. Plus I’m sure you’ll want to remember how sexy we were before we grow old ’ Eddie said, pleading with you with his puppy eyes. He knew you couldn’t resist it and viciously used it against you to get whatever he wanted from you. ‘Fiiiine’ you said, rolling your eyes but smiling at the same time. He smiled so hard that it looked painful. He pushed you on the photo booth and took place next to you. At the moment the camera took the first picture, he sneezed super hard so it covered you with a bit of snot and his hair was everywhere. ‘Eddie ! It’s disgusting !’ you said, almost choking on your laugh ‘You have seen nothing yet !’ He said winking at you.He licked your cheek for the second picture while you laughed like a crazy girl. ‘Revenge !’ You screamed. On the third one, you messed his hair even more while he placed his ring cladded hand on your cheek to playfully push you away.’It was really low of you, Y/N ‘ he said with mock hurt. So on the last one, he took you by complete surprise and kissed you on the lips. You were sure we could even see the red on your cheeks in the pictures. It was both your first kiss. ‘Admit that you liked it as much as I did’ He said smugly with his adorable smile. ‘Shut up Munson’ you replied and kissed his cheek. When you got out, the whole mall looked at you and your disheveled appearance. He simply looked at them with a stupid grin. When you took the pictures, you both burst into laughter. ‘Black mail material much, right ?’ he said. 'Definitely. I love them ! But I think I love you more, Eds’ He blushed heavily. ‘I love you too, Y/N/N’

End of Flashback

Looking at his blurry figure in the first picture still made you laugh to this day. You had a duplicata on your wallet, you looked at them from time to time.

You then looked at the stuffed bear behind his pillow. He made you swear that you’ll never tell a living soul about it. You still remember how you won it for him.

Flashback

‘Have you heard about the fair coming to town this week ? It looks a bit boring but you know, we could…bring a bit of animation on it. You know, you and me?’ He seemed so enthusiastic about it. ‘Are you asking me on a date, Eddie ?’ His smile began to grow bigger. ‘Is it a yes ?’ You took his hand on yours and looked him in the eyes. ‘ Maybe ?’ you added, raising an eyebrow. He dropped on his knees and dramatically said, ‘Are you trying to drive this poor man insane ? Can’t a gentleman ask the woman of his dreams without her being so cruel ? Is it what they call tough love ?’ He got up quickly and whispered in your ear. ‘If so, I’m totally into it’ You blushed. ‘Idiot.’ ‘Yes, but I'm your favorite idiot. So I’ll pick you up at 7 PM?’ You just rolled your eyes. ‘Fine’.

At the fair, it was difficult to walk without people looking weirdly at the two of you but you didn’t care. ‘Look Y/N ! A haunted house !’ he practically jumped into place. He was like a kid again. You knew he just wanted to be in the dark with you so you obliged. You entered the attraction and began to walk through it . You were both laughing, earning disapproving looks from the others. ‘Look at how fake it looks. They call that a vampire, I call that a toothless grandpa and have you seen this…. AAAAAAHHHHH’ he nearly pierced your ear drums with his blood curdling scream when the werewolf suddenly jumped from the fake bush . ‘So…It looks fake, nothing scary in here.’ you said sarcastically. ‘I just wanted to scare you with my banshee scream.’ You rolled your eyes. ‘Yeah right, but I’m scared that you managed to make me deaf above all’.You finished the attraction and decided that you wanted to win something for him. You took him to Balloon Pop and when you saw the teddy bear, you knew that was the perfect gift for him. ‘So my lady wants to win something for me ? I feel like a princess. The courtship can begin only if you fight your hardest for my hand.’ He said, presenting you his hand. Was he always this dramatic ? When you saw that he still waited in that position, you took his hand and kissed it. ‘Anything for you, princess.’ you said. He grinned and let you play. You won and asked for the bear. You turned to Eddie and said ‘For you Milady. May this humble gift signify my affection for you’ ‘Oh my knight in shining armor’ he said, throwing himself on your arms. At the end of the date, he drove you to your house and kissed you. ‘Promise me to never tell anyone about the plush.’ You seemed to think about it. ‘I can’t promise anything but be sure that you are my princess, Eds’ you said kissing him. ‘You are impossible Y/N. But I guess that’s why I love you so much’ He then drove back to his trailer.

End of Flashback

You hugged the bear really tight, holding it as if it was Eddie himself. The last time you slept with him, you saw that he clutched the bear in his sleep. Yeah, the tough metalhead was a real softie deep down. He was really chaotic. You still remember the late night call when he NEEDED to know whether the butterflies felt humans on their stomach when they were in love.

Flashback

‘Because, goddamn, if I was a butterfly, I would feel the whole world population in my belly when you’re near me.’ ‘I don’t know if it's because it’s 2 AM or anything but it’s one of the worst and yet the most creative pick-up lines ever and I still feel flattered by it. Harrington should ask you for dating advice.’ ‘Not anybody can be the local Casanova, sweetheart.’ ‘Whatever you say Munson, now let’s get back to sleep. Goodnight, my Aragorn’ You could hear the smile in his voice ‘Goodnight, Undómiel’ you were about to hang up when you heard him ask you ‘Did you know that we had homeworks for English ?!’ You rolled your eyes. ‘Yes, but I’ll let you copy them tomorrow before class, promise. Love you.’ ‘Love you too.’

End of Flashback

As you roamed, you recognized his handmade poster for the Corroded Coffin concerts on the Hideout. He was so proud of it and even invited you for the occasion. Next to it, there were a sheet with your song on it.

Flashback

The bar was nearly empty on this Tuesday night. Some guys were already too drunk to keep their eyes open. You hung out with the owner while you waited for Eddie to appear on the stage. When he appeared in all his glory, his makeup on fleek and his hair looking really metal like he used to say. He was always so confident but here, he appeared super nervous. At the moment he took the microphone in his hands, he looked like he was about to run the hell out the bar. But then he spotted you and said ‘Good evening Lady and Gentlemen, we’re the new stars of Hawkins, Corroded Coffin and I wanted to dedicate the first song to a really special person who still stands by me and supports me after all these years. This is for you. He then began to play a special song just for you.

End of Flashback

You were so fond of all these memories. You found a paper with an A + on it. It was your science project in freshman year. Eddie was so proud that he pinned it on his wall.

You also found his D&D stuff but most importantly his Dungeon Master notebook. You grabbed it and took a look inside. There was a campaign in the making. His last campaign… He’ll never get to finish it. You prepared this one together, he told you everything about it but the last events happened before he could write it. Your tears almost leaked on the ink of the notebook. You decided to give it to Dustin so you could finish it together and play it the way Eddie wanted it.

You continued your exploration of Eddie's room. You found the drawing of the two of you you made for him when you were eight. God it was ugly, but you made it with all your heart and he kept it. You even found your old book of exploration with secret codes to decipher, riddles, dragons you had to fight with dice, a kind of D&D of your own. And even some of your mixtapes and his hobbit costume. To your surprise, all these memories made you more happy than sad. In a way, they say ‘Don’t be sad because it’s over. Be happy because it happened’, so you tried to live by it. You were about to grab one of his Hellfire Club t-shirts when you heard a weird noise in the living room. You jumped, dropped the t-shirt and got out of the room to inspect. What you found on the floor disconcerted you. ‘What the hell ?’ you said out loud. It was a tiny piece of bloodied black fabric. No, it must be something else. You made your way to Eddie’s room again and found the window open and when you approached, you heard a twig breaking and were sure that you saw a silhouette with long crazy wavy brown hair and a bandana running under the moonlight. What if ? No, Impossible. He wasn’t alive. You were going crazy.

Timeskip

‘In honor of our late Dungeon Master, Eddie, we’re gonna play his last masterpiece’ said Dustin solemnly as you took place on Eddie’s throne. You wore one of his beloved rings and his jacket to complete the tribute. You all cheered with your cans of apple juice and began to play. You were sure that Eddie would be proud.

Once the campaign was over, you went outside to take some fresh air. It was really overwhelming to play it in his honor instead of playing with him. You heard weird noises nearby. You followed it and saw the same weird silhouette once again…

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secretfanficwrite · 2 years

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With Or Without You (3/?)

Eddie Munson x Hopeless Romantic!Bestfriend!Reader

Last Part | Next Part

Word Count: 1.6k Warnings: this one is more fluffy <3 Summary: A quick visit to Eddie's trailer leaves you hopeful

Author's Note: I was mid writing this when vol 2 came out...so apologize if the writing just suddenly reflects that I want to crawl into a hole.

The silence of the car was deafening as you sat there. You had been staring at Eddie's trailer for the past 15 minutes, trying to work up the courage to finally go in.

The trailer park was dark and quiet. His van was parked out front and the only light on was his bedroom. There had been minimal movement in the window. This made you somewhat hopeful he was alone.

Your hands were shaking some, playing with the hem of your shirt and inside of your cheek was beyond raw at this point.

Taking in a hard breath you finally opened the door, stepping out into the cool air. There was a soft rumble of music playing, obviously coming from the small trailer.

Your feet scraped against the dirt and rocks as you trudged up to the front door, your body feeling like it weighed a millions pounds. A sweaty, shaky hand raised and knocked lightly on the door.

You rocked in your spot as you waited, but were met with no answer. Maybe this was a sign to just leave.

No. You had to get this over with.

You stepped backwards, stumbling some as you reached the dirt once again. Your breathing became heavier as you approached the small window, afraid of what you might find on the other side.

You leaned down, picking up a small rock before tossing it at the window, a quiet tick noise sounded back.

There was a loud bang before a disheveled figure appeared, yanking the curtains back. He was shirtless and a cigarette hung from his lips carelessly. He stared at you in confusion before a wide smile broke out when he noticed it was you. He gestured towards the front door before letting the curtains fall closed once more.

You let out the breath you were holding but your heart still felt like it was going to come out of your throat. Making your way back to the door, a quick gust of wind met you as Eddie quickly swung the door open.

"I was beginning to think you weren't coming" He joked as he stepped to the side, allowing you through. You were hit with a waft of cigarettes and weed. The floor vibrated some along with the music coming from the back of the trailer.

"Yea sorry I uh....I was with Robin" You shrugged off your jacket before draping it over of the chair at the table.

he chuckled before beginning to head back towards his bedroom with you in tow. "Should I be worried she's going to replace me?"

Your eyebrows furrowed in response. The word 'replacement' left a bad taste in your mouth. The thought of the unsettling word hadn't even graced your mind until now.

"hey you good?" He interrupted your thought, leaning in front of you with a small smirk.

You stared at him with a slightly parted mouth, a shay breath falling from your lips. "yea I just....I need to talk to you about something" your gaze dropped from his and landed on your hands as you picked at your nail polish.

He turned around, lowering the music to a soft hum. He flopped onto the bed, patting the spot next to him before putting out his half smoked cigarette.

With a deep, shaky sigh you slowly lowered yourself onto the bed, ignoring his gesture and sitting rigidly at the foot. He paused, confused before the bed shook as he scooted down next to you.

"Alright your scaring me now" he teased again, with a soft chuckle.

"Eddie I....I just...." your lip began to quiver, and you clenched your jaw in response. Trying to hold back the anxious tears that threatened to brim your eyelids.

A heavy hand came up to rest on your arm. He pulled you in, resting your body against his side and your head on his shoulder.

You couldn't hold back anymore. The soft sob left your lips and both of your arms reached out, wrapping around his waist and holding on for dear life.

His skin was soft under your touch and your tears slid straight down his bare chest. You had missed him the past couple days and the contact was just enough for your barrier to break.

His other hand came up, wrapping around your head and pulled you closer, nestling against you.

You both sat like this for a moment, him letting you cry into his shoulder as he held you tightly before he spoke up. "Hey do you smell that?"

"what?" you voice was broken and muffled against his skin and between sobs.

"You don't smell that?"

You turned your head slightly to the air, breathing in softly. "I don't smell anything" your voice was hoarse and tears continued down your face.

"Take a deeper smell"

You sniffled, bringing in a large amount of air before letting it go slowly. Eddie followed in suit, matching your deep breaths and encouraging you to continue.

When you finally stopped you continued to sit there, face buried in his shoulder. Neither of you said anything as Motorhead played on the stereo softly.

His voice was soft and gentle "We can talk later if you want" You only offered a nod back against his skin. "We can get high if that'll help?"

You couldn't help but let out a laugh at the suggestion, continuing to nod as you finally pulled away.

He stared back at you with a soft smile, eyes scanning your features before a hand came up to wipe the leftover tears that stained your cheeks.

You could only admire him back for a moment before the bed shifted as he stood up to rumble through his black case for a blunt. A soft hum left his throat as he matched the music, finally drawing a smile to your face.

******

"Sooooooo?" Robin's voiced dragged out, a slightly raise of optimism.

You shifted on your feet anxiously and your face grew hot. "Well I didn't exactly...follow the plan..."

Her shoulders and face dropped in disappointment.

"BUT! we kinda..almost..you know" you quickly replied, your voice drawing quieter with each word. She gasped loudly, drawing the attention of multiple people in the video store before you shushed her.

"ew do I wanna know?!" she whispered yelled in shocked

"I mean it's not anything bad or crazy, just...." you trailed on sheepishly going into explanation about the moment that had not left your mind.

You were both high out of your minds. There was a calm atmosphere while Nightmare on Elm Street played on the tv. He was laid out on the couch on his back with you laid directly on top of him with your hands under you head and against his bare chest. Both of your legs were tangled and his hands resting on the small of your back softly.

You could feel your eyes slowly closing with every rise of his chest, the rhythm soothing you further.

"I think I figured out what we can be next Halloween by the way" You jolted suddenly, the sound of Eddie's voice startling you. He chuckled under his breath in response and his hands clutched onto the skin of your back to keep you from falling.

Your eyelids were still heavy as you lifted your head to look him in the eye and rested your chin back down on your hands.

You were meant with those stunning brown eyes, just a few inches away, closer then you've ever been before.

His mouth parted, ready to continue but no words left his lips. His breath was warm against your face and you could feel his heart picking up slightly under your hands.

His eyes scanned your face before slowly trailing down to look at your lips and snapping back up to your eyes. You could feel your body getting warmer and you swallowed hard.

His hands began to rub small patterns into your lower back, trailing up the bottom on your shirt and landing on your warm skin. You could have sworn there was a closing distance between the two of you.

"Have I ever told you that you have the most beautiful eyes" His voice was soft and his chest vibrated underneath you.

Your breath hitched as your face heated up even further. The nervousness suddenly hit you like a freight train and your gaze left his face, looking off past him. You took in a deep breath, pulling back some and sitting up.

He groaned as your weight on him shifted. You suddenly sat at the edge of the couch, the situation similar to that of a few minutes ago, but with a much foggier mind.

You gripped at the rough material of the couch, your nails bending against the fabric. "Eddie I have feel-"

The door swung open and you paused, turning to see Wayne making his way through the door. He paused, looking at you both before awkwardly before giving you a smile and stepping into the small kitchen to begin making himself a dinner after his night shift.

"There just...wasn't really another moment after that to try" you didn't dare meet Robin's gaze after you finished, knowing it would be full of further disappointment.

"I mean...it's something though yeah?" her voice raised with some optimism and uncertainty. You looked up and she offered you an uneasy smile.

"but corroded coffin are playing tomorrow night...I was hoping you'd come with me and I could see if I could try again?" You cringed slightly waiting for her response.

A loud groan met your ears as her head rolled back before she laughed softly. "fine. but you better get it done or I'll tell him for you"

Your eyes widened and any emotion on your face dropped. "you wouldn't"

"Wouldn't I?" she teased before grabbing a pile of tapes and marching off towards the back office, leaving you standing there in shock.

******

Author's Note: Alright ya'll big question, let me know! Do we want this ending to be happy or sad? Idk if people have had enough sad Eddie for now or if were ready for more?

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bobsliquorstore · 5 months

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Top 5 Mafioso Rap Albums

The 90's was a golden era of hip hop. In the mid-90's, one thing that stood out was the the "Mafioso" sub-genre of rap that was created by Kool G Rap. In the late 80’s, NWA took the world by storm with the Gangsta rap sub-genre. By the time the mid-90s hit, east coast rap came with their own twist of gangsta rap influenced by the mafia culture. The sub-genre was overshadowed by west coast rap music. Pop culture didn't take a liking to it, maybe because the songs were too intricate. The average listener is not trying to dissect through lyrics and meanings on a casual listen. Mafioso rap gave birth to one of the greatest rappers ever, Jay-Z, so it's hard to overlook the music that came out during this era. Here's a top 5 of Mafioso albums:

5. Scarface The Diary (1994)

Geto Boy's stand-out member and Houston native, Scarface, is one of the illest rappers to ever touch a microphone. Many rappers have highlighted Scarface as a major influence and an elite lyricist. Scarface known for his sinister/dark stories about murder, death, poverty and the afterlife. This album is Scarface at his apex of rapping abilities and lyricism. One of the best storytellers in rap history, he provides introspection about the metaphysical human experiences. Death has been a constant element in his music In songs like "I've Seen A Man Die" he lures you into the dark experience of seeing a dead man laid out on the pavement and facing the repercussions of committing murder. His constant obsession of the death is a genre in its own. Scarface almost personifies a grim reaper narrating a person's life before his/her's death. He keeps dark tone with this album on songs such as "No Tears," "Hand of the Dead Body," and "Goin' Down."

4. Nas It Was Written (1996)

Illmatic was such a classic any follow up album would of been hard for Nas to live up to. It Was Written was an underated album at the time, now considered a classic. Some Illmatic enthusiast dislike this album because it made Nas go "pop" with the classic "If I Ruled The World" featuring Lauryn Hill. The album was elite, God MC Nas verses laced with production from the Trackmasters and Dr. Dre. It Was Written was him with more confidence, wealth, and maturity than the debut. Illmatic was life in Queensbridge Projects, It Was Written was Nas with the riches and survivor’s remorse. He goes from “Nasty Nas” to “Nas Escobar”. Escobar gives us one of his more introspective songs, “I Give You Power,” where he raps from a perspective of a gun. Despite the negative criticism from music outlets, It Was Written is his best selling album of his career. Nas created one of the few mafioso rap albums that crossed over into the mainstream.

3. AZ Doe or Die (1995)

Hailing from East New York, AZ is known for his rather unique (pun intended) voice and rhyme flow. AZ was introduced to Nas via a mutal friend over the phone, which led to him getting a feature on Nas' debut Illmatic. Getting introduced to the masses on the hip hop classic, Illmatic, there was a lot of hype surrounded by AZ. He lived up to the hype when he dropped his debut album Doe or Die. AZ came out the gate with a hip hop classic. AZ's bars were crafted with impressive vocabulary and illustrious lines telling a story of a mobster on the road to riches and the pitfalls of living fast. Grandiose bars highlighting low life activities while living the high life, taking other people's goods in "Gimme Yours" while simultaneously protecting his riches from "Ho Happy Jackie".

2. Jay Z Reasonable Doubt (1996)

Jay Z didn't become a household name until his third album, In My Lifetime Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life. Unfortunately, at the time of its release, Reasonable Doubt flew over people heads. Most listeners had to go back and listen to the project. 2Pac dissed him on his posthumously released album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, and people didn't know who Jay Z was yet. I guess 2Pac foresaw the success Jay Z was going to achieve in the music industry. His debut album is Jay Z's arugably most elite bars, sparring with the likes of the legendary Brooklynite Biggie Smalls, his mentor Jaz-O, and his then-sparring partner Sauce Money. Jigga even secured the Queen of R&B Mary J. Blige, with an alleged bag of cash.

1. Raekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (1995)

The Chef cooked up a 3-course meal on his solo debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, also known as "The Purple Tape" for the unique cassette color. This project impacted rap music like an atomic bomb. The album was practically a collaboration album with Rae's Wu-Tang group mate Ghostface Killah; Ghost being featured on nearly every song and skit. The Purple Tape was felt in the streets across the country. Arguably the best Wu-Tang solo album, Raekwon had a short stint as the King of New York when this project released. The lyrics and RZA's beats were all on point, maintaining the Wu-Tang style and showcasing the Chef's unique style simultaneously. Rae and Ghost take you on a trip to Shoalin, where they snort coke and hit licks. Like most Wu-Tang albums, most features only included Wu-Tang members. The exception of this rule was Nas, who spit some of his most memorable bars on “Verbal Intercourse”, with Rae and Ghost holding their own with one of the best MC’s of all time. Without this album there wouldn't be a Reasonable Doubt or It Was Written. The subject matter of OB4CL inspired Jay-Z and Nas. The subject of a mobster trying to leave the life to become a full-time rapper.

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