#//I’ve been super busy around the house lately and i haven’t had much energy as a result | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

switch-writer · 6 months

Note

Hi I was wondering if you would be interested in writing a drabble for Ler!Kung Lao x Lee!Reader? I know I haven’t asked for a drabble yet but he just gives off such playful, sassy, let energy and you captured him so well in the headcanon you made. Anyways have a great night💜💜💜

Magical Giggles

Warnings/Extra Details: Tickling, fem!reader(although they has been used too), and I think that’s it?

A/N: As usual, thank you for the request! It’s been a long while since I’ve actually written a drabble, so this has been fun! I recently started working so this would’ve been done sooner but I’ve been super tired. So apologies for any grammar errors there may be! But thank you so much for requesting! I love Kung Lao, he’s a little sweetheart 🫶

Summary: Kung Lao has recently been busy assisting others, and chooses to reassure his lover by the best way possible. Lots of loving words and affection… and lots of giggling.

Finally, he was almost home. Kung Lao had recently been helping Liu Kang and Raiden recently at the Wu Shi Academy, mostly with assisting new trainees and teaching his own techniques since him, Raiden, and Liu Kang certainly all had differing ways of fighting and their own abilities. He was confident his own skills could help out the fellow martial artists due to the sudden spike in trainees and fighters going to the academy.

But alas, the day was finally and everything had settled down. So after a brief conversation and exhaustion being expressed between him and Raiden since they were rushing around every which way, although Liu Kang simply laughed and claimed his energy was much more long suffering than theirs, he finally made his exit. He tipped his hat and began his walk home…

He knew his days were getting longer and more hours in, so he knew tonight he’d have to pay more attention to his dear lover. While you had protested that you understood and found the action quite kind, he knew that eating dinner alone and not having someone to lay next to when you went to sleep was a difficult thing to swallow when realizing how close they were…

Kung Lao quickly rushed after his thoughts wandered to those saddened thoughts, a small tap echoing with every step he took with his hasty running.

After he dashed to the door of his humble home, a few deep breaths escaped his throat as he quickly entered, and power walked through the house as if he was on a mission, which he was. And within moments, he suddenly opened the bedroom door…

And there you were, a slight look of surprise escaped you as you noticed your lover in the mirror’s reflection you were previously using to pull your hair back, glancing back behind you to stare into his eyes while finishing pulling your hair out of your face.

“Kung Lao—?” You questioned as a laugh escaped him, followed by that soft contagious smile. “Surprised?” “…Perhaps.” You replied before approaching the bed, a soft smile wishing to twitch on your lips.

“…You’re going to bed already?” Kung Lao’s smile slightly wavered as you snickered. “It’s getting late. You aren’t usually home when I go to bed.” The hat wearing Man seemed surprised.. You seemed short with him… and trying to get to bed too soon. You already had climbed under the covers and were getting comfortable…

“No.”

“No?” Your eyes flashed to him, a brow raising on your face as he sassily put his hands on his hips.

“I said no.”

“…No what exactly?”

Within that very moment, he took his hat and tossed it onto a nearby surface before diving into the bed, causing a gasp, followed by a squeal from you as you curled up defensively… and suddenly, you felt him take your hands and suddenly begin to shower your face in kisses.

Which admittedly shocked you as a couple giggles escaped while your face squirmed around to try and dodge the kissing onslaught.

“Kung Lao—!”

Lao’s little angel, also known as you, spoke out with a soft giggle as he snickered, finally pulling away. “I said no! You’re going to stay up with me! Don’t play dumb, face it, you’ve missed me. You accepted the fact I wasn’t here, but you know it saddens you.”

You paused, surprised since he realized.. but you ended up turning away from him, refusing to face him.

“Awwh… come on. Don’t be like that. I know the truth.” He spoke with a gentle softness in his voice as his hand reached up, gently rubbing your cheek.

“…It’s alright. I understand, I think it’s very—“

“No! Don’t make excuses as to why it’s fine little lady. I’m gonna make up for it, and you’re gonna like it.” The rather sassy man smirked, his hand drifting down and tickling your tummy with a couple of gentle scratches with his fingertips, causing you to yelp as a laugh or two escaped you.

“Ohhh. There’s that magical laugh. The one that took my heart.” Kung Lao teased, causing you to roll your eyes.

“Cheesy, are we?” You snarked off to him in a playful manner, as if you were mimicking his sass, a slight smile forming on your lips.

However, the man gasped before snickering at his lover, they always knew how to challenge his sass, and he adored it about her… but he knew full and well he had to double his own sass.

“Oh you little—!”

Once more, he pounced on his girlfriend, causing a squeal to escape your lips. His fingers began to hastily move around your sides, his fingertips tickling you and causing that tingly electric feeling to surge your veins as a flow of bubbly giggles began to escape your throat.

“There’s the magical giggles! You haven’t giggles much recently either, hm?” He questioned as You attempted to hide your face with your hands. “Well, I suppose I have to make up for the lack of giggles then. I want all of those magical sounds!”

You suddenly felt those tickly fingertips move upwards around your ribs, causing a sudden squeak as the sensation spiked up with ticklishness from the scribbles around and between your ribs.

“And there’s more giggles! I must really be that funny!” He smirked all cockily, as if he was proud of himself for making you smile.

But it didn’t end there! Nono. He suddenly launched his hands up underneath his dear lover’s arms, clawing at the sensitive flesh right at the armpits, causing a squeal to escape your throat before gentle laughter began to flow out too.

“K-Kuhuhung Lahao—!”

“Yes, my dearest—“ and suddenly his fingers went back where they started, wiggling right above your belly, just to lunge right at the ticklish spot, and causing lots of ticklish sensations. “—most ticklish cutie?”

Your face began to flush a bright pink, your smile unable to contain itself as it got bigger and bigger. “Q-Quhuhuit it—!” “But you sound so sweet! So happy! So joyful! I can’t just let this end now, can I? Come on. Let me tickle this little tummy?”

And suddenly, a snort escaped you as his fingers crossed were making this impossible to resist, suddenly pinching and squeezing your hips for a brief moment, causing another snort as he went right back to your stomach.

“P-Plehehease! Please! I’m hahahappy, sihihilly—!”

“Ohhh fineee… I suppose we should settle down. But there’s one more thing.”

You seemed confused as he smirked, raising your shirt above those baggy, fuzzy pajama pants on your waist…

And it clicked.

“Wait—! Wahahait! Kuhung Lahao! Kung LahAHA—!”

You were overwhelmed with laughter as the playful sassy man you called your lover blew a raspberry on your tummy, causing both the silly noise along with lots of tingles going through your tummy as you kicked your legs with frantic nature and all the laughter in the world escaping you.

“o-oKAY—! GEHET—! S-SHOO! QUHUIT—!”

“Alright, Miss Magical Giggles!” He smirked as he teased, finally getting up from the bed now that all of the blankets were messed up.

And his lovely magical giggle box lover was right in the middle of the bed, curled up as she giggled.

“H-Hohow dare you!” You scolded as he laughed, bowing as if it was a honor.

“Hey, I love hearing magical giggles, magical laughs, and that magical smile makes me weak in the knees! Whew! I had to make up for not seeing it too much the past couple days.” He crinkled his nose in a playful manner, causing some more giggles to escape your lips as you finally uncurled and stood to your feet.

“Just go, Sir Cheesy. I’ll remake the bed, you go get ready for bed.” You shook your head in amusement, remaking the bed as he planted a kiss on your cheek and walked to prepare himself for some well needed rest.

Admittedly, as rotten and cruel that was to launch a sudden attack… it was still adorable, and you could tell it meant the world to him to make you smile.. how could you deny him? It truly cheered you up.

Once you finished making the bed however… you had to admit… there was no way you couldn’t return the favor..!

Kung Lao entered into the room after a couple of minutes passed… and suddenly, he felt someone come from behind a door to shove him onto the bed, followed by some nails scribbling up his sides, causing a not so manly squeal to escape from him as hysterical gleeful laughter escaped his lips.

And the house was full of magical giggles, laughter, and most of all… closeness, warmth… and affection.

… And of course, tickles.

Hope you enjoyed!

38 notes · View notes

helloalycia · 3 years

Text

lose you [two] // leigh shaw

summary: following her kiss with you, Leigh begins to act unfairly towards you and says something she instantly regrets.

warning/s: none i don't think?

author's note: only one more part after this! hope you’re all liking it, and if you’re not an elizabeth fan, i’ve got a kara danvers two parter coming up after this so stay tuned! also the lena imagine part three one is still in the works, so don’t worry, i haven’t neglected it!

part one | part three | masterlist | wattpad

Leigh had ghosted me before. She'd done it on and off throughout the first six months following her husband's death, unable to maintain contact when she barely had energy for herself. And I was patient, always, because that's what she needed. But this was different.

Her absence in my life was nothing to do with her grief, but rather the kiss she gave me the day I decided to take her out. It just had to be that, otherwise she was merely being ignorant and I knew she wasn't that harsh without reason.

Whenever I texted or called her, it wasn't with the intention of talking about what happened. She hadn't brought it up and I didn't want to pressure her into speaking about it, especially if it was a mistake (which, selfishly, I hoped it wasn't). I just wanted to hang out with her like we used to, but she was giving me blunt responses or claiming she was busy. It was like she was doing her utmost best to push me away and I couldn't take it anymore.

After about two weeks, she simply stopped responding to my texts. Her 'busy' life was keeping her from even acknowledging my contact and that was when I couldn't put up with it any longer. This wasn't about grieving or needing space, this was about her avoiding me for something she did.

On my day off, I headed over to Beautiful Beast, Leigh's mother's fitness studio where she worked. When I arrived, Jules was sat at the front desk, wiggling a pencil before her eyes distractedly.

"You look like you're real hard at work there, Jules," I commented playfully, smiling at her as she paid me attention.

"I was testing out that whole rubber pencil trick," she said nonchalantly.

"And your conclusion?" I asked, leaning against the front desk.

She couldn't help but smile. "It's pretty cool."

I chuckled at how cute she was. "Good to know."

"So," she began, leaning back in her seat. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I was hoping you could tell me if Leigh is in? I feel like I haven't seen her in a while."

Jules was about to respond, then her eyes fell behind me and she smiled. "Speak of the devil... there's your answer, Y/N."

I followed her gaze and realised the class that was going on in the studio had ended, with students leaving tired but happy. Leigh trailed out after them, using a sweat towel to wipe her face and push the loose strands of hair from her ponytail out of her face. She approached the desk, but upon spotting me, seemed surprised.

"Y/N," she said, rounding the desk to stand beside Jules. "You're here. Hi."

She was casual, unbothered by the fact that she'd clearly been ignoring me the past few weeks. I decided not to question it, instead offering her a small, awkward smile.

"Hey," I greeted with a nod. "I was hoping to catch you. Are you, er, busy?"

She avoided my eyes as she lowered her sweat towel, now grabbing her water bottle from the desk and busying herself with it.

"I mean, I've got class in an hour," she said with a shake of her head.

"Perfect. Maybe we can grab lunch and talk?" I asked, not giving her chance to decline since there was no reason to.

She furrowed her brows, feigning confusion. "Talk? About...?"

I pursed my lips, raising a brow with disbelief. She was seriously going to play it like this? Judging from the absent stare she was sending my way, she was. So, I glanced at Jules, who was back to distracting herself with her pencil and barely paying attention to what we were talking about, before looking back to Leigh.

"About things...?" I settled on, knowing she'd know what I meant. "I haven't heard from you in a while."

Leigh scrunched her nose, shrugging apologetically. "I'm sorry, I'd love to, but I'm going to be practicing for my next class. Maybe not today."

I kissed my teeth with annoyance. "Hm. Okay, sure. Good luck with your class, I guess."

Rolling my eyes, fed up at her pretence, I said a quick goodbye to a half-listening Jules and left them both to it. I'd like to think Leigh would come to her senses and contact me, but maybe that was wishful thinking. Either way, it was certainly not thinking for now, so I tried not to let it bother me for the time being.

—

Waiting on Leigh to make first contact was probably not the brightest idea, since I was sure if it was up to her, she'd just ghost me forever. But I was stubborn and I wanted to make a point (clearly not a very good one since she still proceeded to ignore me...), so another week passed without speaking to one another.

The only reason I went over to her house one evening was because Jules asked for my help with something. Since I was a graphic designer, she'd asked me to help design the promotional material for this new set of classes she wanted to start at work. Of course I said yes – in the many years I'd befriended Leigh, I'd also befriended Jules. I was happy to help, even if it meant awkwardly bumping into Leigh.

When I arrived, I was greeted by Leigh and Jules' mum before being led to the dining-room with Jules to help her. I tried to hide the fact that I was subtly searching for Leigh around the house, genuinely wanting to make sure she was okay despite the radio silence on her end, when Jules seemed to notice.

"She's not here," she said, making me look to her, embarrassed I'd been caught out. "She's on some date."

I raised my eyebrows, nodding. "Oh. Cool."

It shouldn't have bothered me – Leigh had been on a handful of dates in the past month, attempting to move on – but it did. Maybe it was because I foolishly thought our kiss meant something to her, since she initiated it. Clearly not, since she was already moving on. It didn't help that she couldn't just act normal with me if it meant nothing to her. No time for her best friend but time for dates with random people? Not cool.

"Did something happen with you two?" Jules asked whilst starting up her laptop.

I hid my panic with confusion. "What do you mean? Did she, er, say something?"

Jules shook her head, leaning on the palm of her hand as she glanced at me. "No, nothing. I just thought I'd ask since I haven't seen you around with her lately. Thought maybe you'd fallen out or something."

So she hadn't told her sister what happened. Maybe she really did want to forget about it.

"No, she's just been busy I guess," I mumbled in response, before pulling my memory card out my bag. "Forget that anyway. Let's see what we can do with your promo stuff, huh?"

Leigh long-forgotten, I showed Jules the designs I'd come up with for her banners and posters, which she was super excited about, and got to work. We mocked up some promotional material for her to get printed soon and she talked me through what she had in the works which was adorable since it was great to see her invested in everything. She'd come a long way from rehab and it was refreshing to witness.

We snacked so much whilst working that by the time I finished, I knew I wouldn't need to eat dinner. Jules' mum offered, but we were stuffed and it was getting late.

"If you need anything else, just let me know," I told Jules as I grabbed my bag to leave. "If you want anything changing, also let me know."

She gave me a thumbs up and a grin. "You got it, chief. Thanks again. I know you have an actual job to do an–"

"Don't do that," I stopped her with an amused smile. "I'm always happy to help you out."

She nodded appreciatively. "Well, thanks. I'll let you go."

I waved goodbye to her before shouting a goodbye to her mum and heading to the door, letting myself out. Only, when I opened the door, I squealed awkwardly upon seeing Leigh making out with some random guy on the porch. The uncontrollable noise that escaped my lips was enough to pull them apart with a start.

"Y/N," Leigh got out with shock, wiping her mouth and clearing her throat. "What are you– what?"

Still dumbfounded, I swallowed hard and looked away. "I– er– sorry to interrupt. I'm just gonna– mhm."

Closing the front door behind me, I quickly walked around the pair and began to leave, trying not to let my surprise, hurt and irritation build up inside of me. It wasn't my business if she kissed somebody else. It was her life – she could do whatever she wanted.

"Wait, Y/N!" I heard her call and winced at the sound.

Pretending not to hear her, I picked up my pace and finally made it to my parked car, fumbling for my keys in my bag under the dimly-lit streetlamp.

"Y/N, wait up!" she called again, and I risked looking up to see her approaching my car quickly, eventually stopping by my side.

Now that I had a better look, I saw that she was dressed up beautifully for her date, wearing a black dress that accentuated her curves and high heels that dared anybody not to stare. Though, when I met her gaze, I saw her ruined red lipstick and was reminded of the stranger she'd just been making out with.

"It's cool, I'm sorry," I repeated, shaking my head and wishing I could feel my keys in my bag already. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's not like that," she said breathlessly, holding her jacket and watching me carefully.

Finally finding my keys, I pulled them out and unlocked my car. "Not like what?" I asked, glancing at her with a tight jaw. "You can go on dates, Leigh. It's not my business."

Her expression softened. "Then why are angry?"

"I'm not angry," I said, before realising it was a little more hostile than I intended. "Look, forget it. Just enjoy your stupid date. I've got to go."

Before I could open the door, she grabbed my arm and pulled me back, eyes darkened with annoyance.

"What's your problem?" she asked impatiently.

I shook her off me and widened my eyes with disbelief. "Are you serious right now? You followed me!"

"Yeah, because you're clearly pissed at something!" she snapped, crossing her arms. "What's your problem?"

For once, I wasn't going to put up with her bullshit mood swings. It wasn't fair how she was treating me and I was going to do something about it.

"You're my problem, Leigh," I admitted with a glare. "I've been waiting for you to call or text or make some freakin' effort to acknowledge my existence, but as usual, nothing. And then to top it all off, I find out you're on some date when you can't even find a spare second to text your best friend that you're okay!"

She scoffed. "Sorry I have a life, Y/N."

Clenching my jaw, I pushed down the anger that was bubbling up inside. She looked so smug, like she'd done absolutely nothing wrong in this scenario, and it was pissing me off.

"You know what? Never mind," I gave up, releasing a shaky breath. "You clearly don't get it."

I tried to move around her and get into the driver's seat of the car, but she groaned loudly with petulance.

"Why the hell were you even here anyway?!" she asked, like she had the right to. "Couldn't you leave me alone for one night?"

I tried not to laugh. "Don't flatter yourself, love. If you'd actually bothered to talk to me, you'd know I was here to help Jules with her posters."

"Sorry that I thought that you couldn't leave me alone for two minutes," she said with a bitter smile. "It's like you don't even know how to function without me in your life."

I clenched my fists with frustration. "Wow, Leigh, big-headed much?"

She laughed dryly, shaking her head. "I kiss you once and now you won't leave me the hell alone!"

Leigh and I had been in so many arguments before this one – it's like they were inevitable with her – but I'd put up with them. I'd let her yell and call me names and treat me like shit because I knew she didn't mean it, it was a heat of the moment thing. But something was different this time. Her words stung a lot more than they should have, especially when they were delivered by somebody I thought I was in love with.

I unclenched my fists and scowled at her. "Go fuck yourself."

Not bothering to wait for her response, I ignored the way her expression changed into one of regret and guilt. I ignored her as she tried to tell me to wait. And I ignored her as her she knocked on my window when I got into the car. I didn't spare her a glance as I drove away, feeling tears prick the corner of my eyes.

Leigh Shaw could be such a bitch sometimes.

—

"Y/N, you've got a–"

"Whatever it is, I'll sort it," I reassured my new assistant. Ever since my promotion, it felt strange to have somebody work for me, but I was slowly getting used to. "Go have your break, Taylor! You've not moved from this seat all day."

Taylor smiled bashfully but nodded. "Okay. Thanks a lot."

I gave her a reassuring smile as I watched her leave. I'd just finished a long meeting with a client and couldn't wait to get to my office and procrastinate for a bit before getting on with some work. Only, when I opened the door, I was surprised to find someone sat in the seat in front of my desk. Maybe that's what Taylor was trying to tell me.

"Hello, can I help you?" I called politely, closing the door and stepping inside.

"I like the new digs."

I froze, smile fading when the stranger stood up and turned around. It was Leigh and I wasn't sure how she'd gotten here, but I wasn't dealing with her right now.

it had been a few days since we'd argued and she'd been trying to get in touch, but I completely blocked her number. It wasn't a permanent decision, but rather a temporary solution to a problem I wasn't in the headspace to deal with right now.

Every time I thought about Leigh or what she'd said, I felt so angry and fed up. She had no right to treat me how she did or make me feel like this when it was her fault. Blocking her was the easiest bet until I decided how to deal with everything. Clearly she hadn't gotten the hint though, since she was waiting for me in my office.

"How did you get in here?" I asked through gritted teeth, trying not to roll my eyes at the stupid smile on her face.

"Your new assistant let me in," she said as I headed to my desk, before adding comically, "She definitely has a crush on you by the way."

I narrowed my eyes at her from across the desk. "You need to leave."

Her humour disappeared, as did her smile, when she met my gaze with remorseful eyes. "I just want to talk."

I shook my head, looking down. "No, this isn't the place for this. And I've heard everything you had to say, Leigh."

"Y/N, please," she pleaded, stepping forward. "I want to apologise."

With a stern stare, I said, "Go."

"Please, just hear me–"

"No!" I erupted with anger, making her jump at the volume of my voice. "You don't get to do this! Not now, not here!" Swallowing the lump in my throat and trying to hide the hurt in my voice, I nodded to the door. "Just get out. After all, I wouldn't want you thinking I'm obsessed with you."

She pressed her lips together and looked down to her fumbling hands with guilt. It was quiet, though the air between us screamed with unspoken words. I hated this so much, the arguing, the anger, the resentment. But I wasn't giving in this time. She'd gone too far and she had to learn that her actions had consequences. She couldn't just get away with it. She had to respect my space.

"I'm sorry," she said gently, looking up with a genuine expression.

I clenched my jaw and said nothing as I waited for her to leave. Finally, she pursed her lips before turning around and going. When the door closed behind her, I let out a breath and sank into my chair, feeling exhausted at the short conversation. I wasn't ready to talk to her yet and I wished she'd just respect that.

Following that, I made sure to tell Taylor when she came back from her break to not let Leigh into my office until further notice. Or rather, not let her upstairs until further notice. She wasn't allowed to bother me in my workplace just because she felt bad.

Of course, not letting her in only meant I received more calls. Especially since I blocked her number, so she deemed it appropriate to call my work phone. Every time Taylor came into my office to let me know it was Leigh, I had to tell her to tell Leigh I was busy and end the call. And the times when I wasn't there, I had several messages from Leigh to reply to. It got to a point where I had to temporarily block her number from work, too. It was the only way to have some space without completely flipping out on Leigh.

One day though, Leigh decided to pay me a visit. She was resilient, I'd give her that much.

Taylor asked me what I wanted for lunch when I said I was in the mood to go out and eat and she could join me if she wanted to. She agreed and we both made our way to the bottom floor before leaving the building. But then I saw Leigh hovering about outside the front door, approaching me as soon as she spotted me.

Already rolling my eyes, I tried to sidestep her, but she was adamant on being a pain in my arse.

"Leave me alone, Leigh," I told her tiredly.

"They won't let me in and you've been avoiding my calls," she said, a little peeved. "What were you expecting?" Her eyes flickered to Taylor, who seemed awkwardly stuck between our bickering. Rather rudely, she asked, "Can I help you?"

Taylor didn't know what to say as I glared at Leigh harshly.

"Don't be a bitch just because you're pissed at me," I insulted, before looking Taylor apologetically. "D'you think you can give us a minute, Taylor? This won't take long."

Taylor nodded, glancing between Leigh and I. Leigh had her arms crossed, focusing a hard stare on Taylor as she walked away. When she was out of earshot, I lightly poked Leigh in the shoulder to get her attention.

"That's not fair," I muttered angrily. "She didn't do anything to you."

Leigh glanced towards her again before looking to me questioningly. "Where are you even going with her?"

I squinted at her judgementally. "If you must know, we're getting lunch. It's that time of the day in case you couldn't tell."

Leigh uncrossed her arms and straightened up. "So, what? This is a date?"

I furrowed my brows. "What? No! What are you–?" I glared at her. "This is none of your business!"

"Well, if it's not, you're definitely gonna give her the wrong impression," Leigh stated with a shrug. "She has a crush on you. Is that even allowed since you're her superior an' all?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose to contain my frustration, before meeting her spiteful green stare.

"If you came here to give me your unsolicited opinions, I don't want them," I said under my breath, making sure passers-by on the street couldn't hear us. "Now, leave me alone."

Her spite dispersed and was replaced with guilt. "Wait, no, I–"

"No, Leigh," I told her firmly, eyes silently pleading for her to give me some space. "You have to stop this."

Green eyes searched mine desperately, but I didn't have time for this, so I left her standing there as I rejoined Taylor and hoped lunch would help me forget about Leigh and her impatience.

"Sorry about that," I said to Taylor when I rejoined her side.

Taylor smiled reassuringly as we began to walk. "It's okay, don't worry about it." It was quiet, before she spoke up again. "Do you mind if I say something a little out of place?"

I looked to her curiously. "Er, sure?"

"I obviously don't know the specifics of what happened between you and your girlfriend, but–"

"Girlfriend?" I interrupted with raised brows. "Taylor, Leigh and I– we aren't–"

She seemed to catch on, eyes wide with embarrassment. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I just thought– well, she's very persistent and I thought that maybe you were together and in a lover's spout or something."

Heat crept up my neck as I loosened my collar. "No, nothing like that. She's just a friend."

Breathing out, Taylor said, "Oh. Well, I mean, I guess my advice still applies. She seems to really care about you."

I snorted. "She has a funny way of showing it."

Taylor smiled. "I know. My boyfriend is the same. We once had an argument and he did the same thing your Leigh is doing. Wouldn't stop bothering me. At home. At work. I let my stubbornness get to me and didn't want to hear him out."

I pursed my lips, glancing at her. "What did you do?"

She laughed like it was obvious. "I heard him out."

That didn't sound like an option for me right now.

"She doesn't respect my personal space," I explained to Taylor, glad to have someone to vent to. "She did some... hurtful things. I'm not making it easy for her."

"Clearly," Taylor noted with amusement. "Look, that's just my experience. But all I'm saying is that your friend Leigh seems to care about you a lot. To the point that she'd glare daggers at your very unavailable assistant."

Goddamn Leigh and her ability to embarrass me even when she wasn't here.

"Thanks, Taylor," I said appreciatively. "I'll have a think about it."

She nodded knowingly. "Anytime."

I definitely wasn’t ready to hear Leigh out yet, I knew that much.

#leigh shaw x you #leigh shaw x reader #leigh shaw imagine #leigh shaw #elizabeth olsen x reader #elizabeth olsen #elizabeth olsen imagine #sorry for your loss imagine #sorry for your loss

366 notes · View notes

outerbankspreferences · 3 years

Text

Relax - Rafe Cameron

Word Count: 2314

Warnings: slightly proofread, and SMUT 18+

MASTERLIST

A/N: So this was a request and I’m super late on it, but I hope you like it! Send me more request, I love doing them!

Never in a million years had you thought you would be dating Rafe Cameron, kook royalty. You knew him when you were in high school, or better yet you knew of him. Rafe had a reputation about sleeping around with girls and causing trouble. He was two years older than you, only seeing him when you went to Sarah’s house for a school project.

You would be lying to yourself if you said you never had a thing for Rafe, all the girls did. You assumed you never had a chance, not that there was anything wrong with you, but you weren’t his type. You weren’t overly keen on going to parties, more enjoying a quite night in instead.

This is what drew Rafe to you. He loved the calming effect you had on him. He was always so busy that when he would spend time with you it was like he got to slow down for a minute. When he first actually started talking to you, he enjoyed getting to know you.

Sarah had invited you to one of the parties at her house, she begged you to come. Just to shut her up, you planned on making a small appearance, leaving early enough to catch a movie. They were celebrating Rafe’s birthday and almost everyone on the island was there. Rafe was living for the energy ad vibe going through the house. All you could hear was music and people yelling.

You caught his eye when you first walked by, catching him off guard. You made your way through the crowd to find something to drink and then meet up with Sarah. You were pouring yourself a drink when Rafe came up slightly scaring you, “hey, it’s Y/N right?” he asked. You looked up completely froze in the moment. “Uh, yeah it is.” You reply, smiling into your cup. “I didn’t think you were the partying type Y/L/N, it’s nice to see you.” He winked at you, making you go weak in the knees.

You guys talked all night, Rafe ignoring everyone else just to speak to you longer. After that night he got your number from Sarah and you guys had been inseparable since. The two of you had been together four months when you started getting nervous. You had yet to tell Rafe that you were a virgin out of fear that he would make fun of you. It honestly scared you to have sex considering all the horror stories you had heard from your friends.

There were countless times you would be making out in his room and you thought you were ready just to become too hesitant and start to back off. Rafe would never force anything on you if you weren’t ready but he never had to wait this long. He started to think it was him, that you weren’t into him in a sexual way. He had never been so insecure about the topic before.

It was one of those times, you guys had been making out all afternoon, you were on top of Rafe, grinding down him enjoying the sounds he was making. He placed his hands on your ass, grabbing it slightly. You started to panic; overthinking everything that was happening. Rafe could sense you tensing up and stopped kissing you, “is everything okay Y/N?” he asked looking into your eyes.

You could get lost in those eyes, but not today. You felt exposed to him, and you weren’t even naked yet. You look down not wanting to meet his intimidating stare. His hand reached up to brush some hair out of your face, making him look at you, “baby please, talk to me.” He almost whispered, as if speaking to loud would scare you off. You looked at him, taking a deep breathe. “I-uh-I’m a virgin.” You stutter out, cheeks turning red.

Rafe had never thought of you as a virgin. It was never something that crossed his mind. He assumed from how beautiful you were thought you would have to fight guys off you. “I’m sorry I never told you. I guess I was scared, and I know it’s going to hurt, I’ve heard the stories.”- you rambled on trying to fill the awkward silence. He cut you off by kissing you. “If you’re not ready, that’s okay. I’ll wait.” You thought about it for a minute. You trusted Rafe more than anyone, maybe you were ready.

You pulled him in for a heated kiss. Slowly kissing down his neck, nipping at his jaw lightly. He moaned at the feeling, “I think I’m ready.” You spoke seductively. He pulled you closer to him kissing down you neck, nipping at places then smoothing it over with his tongue. You were a mess already and he hadn’t even taken your clothes off.

His hands rubbed small circles on your waist, slowly moving your shirt. Rafe knew it was a big deal that you were allowing him to see this part of you. He pulled at your shirt, “can I take this off love?” He spoke between kisses. You let a breathy moan, “yes please, take it off.” He helped you get out of your shirt, leaving kisses all over your chest and collarbones. He unclasped your bra with one hand letting it fall of your body. You started to get that uncomfortable exposed feeling again, and Rafe could sense it. “Do you want to stop?” he asked looking up at you. You shook your head no. “I need words love.” He spoke kissing your lips.

“No-no I don’t want to stop.” You whispered to him, kissing him again. Rafe started kissing down your chest, not getting were you needed him most. You were squirming in his lap. “Holy fuck Y/N, you’re so fucking beautiful.” He spoke, gripping your waist looking up at you. He loved seeing that blush creep onto your face. You were about to speak when your words got lost in a moan, Rafe had finally taken your nipple into his mouth. He sucked gently, massaging the other one. It felt amazing, and you could feel yourself getting wetter.

Rafe continued his assault on your breast making sure to leave some hickeys for you to find in the morning. He flipped the two of you over, so he was above you. Rafe started kissing down you body until he got to your pants. He tugged slightly, asking permission before taking them off. He took a second to admire your soaking panties. He took one of his fingers running them up your core over your panties. “You’re so wet for me baby. Tell me, have you ever made yourself cum before?” he asked looking up at you. You squirmed in his touch, basically giving him his answer but you knew he wanted to hear you say it. “No-no I haven’t Rafe.” You speak blushing again. He pulled himself up to kiss you one more time, “then your in for a treat love.”

He started to kiss your core over your panties, never losing eye contact with you. If it were anyone else, you would have been uncomfortable but with Rafe it made you drip more for him. He gently pulled your panties down, placing light kisses on your thighs. “Please Rafe, I need you.” You moaned out as his breath got close to your core. He loved to hear you beg for him, he could listen to it all night. He licked a long strip up your pussy and you almost jumped out of the bed. It felt amazing. Rafe was moaning into your core making the vibrations go straight to your clit.

Most times he would have been a bit rougher, but he didn’t want to overwhelm you. He heard you say something, and he pulled away, “not please Rafe, I want more. I need more.” You spoke more clearly, “are you sure?” He asked watching you nod at him. He took one of his hands that was holding yours and started rubbing small circles on your clit before he went back in with his mouth. He slowly pumped on of his fingers in you curling them up to your g-spot. You thought you were seeing stars, making sure to tell him how good it felt. He took the compliments as encouragement and added a second finger. With the stimulation on your clit and being so wet, it didn’t hurt when he added the second, you just pushed your hips closer to his. You winced grabbing his wrist he put the third in. He stopped immediately, kissing your thighs. “you have to relax beautiful; I have to stretch you out first.” He spoke, still rubbing circles on your clit. “I think I might cum.” You spoke out, having a warm feeling in your belly. Rafe started going a little faster, bringing you closer to the edge. “Come on baby, come for me. You can do it.” He encouraged you, grinding into the bed to relieve some of his own tension. He felt your walls clench around him as you let out loud moan, “that’s my girl. You did such a good job.” He spoke licking you clean; he didn’t stop until you were pushing his head away from the overstimulation.

“Do you want to keep going love?” He asked, pushing some of your hair out of your face. You were trying to regulate your breathing. All you could think about has him on top of you, and you screaming his name. “Yes, I want you Rafe, make me yours,” You whisper to him, blushing at the words. He leaned down and kissed you and you could taste yourself on his lips. You moaned into the kiss, as you started to rub him through his pants. Rafe took the hint and took the rest of his clothes off, reaching for a condom out of his bedside table.

It was the first time you had seen his dick. You heard that Rafe was packing but you had no idea he was this big. He laughed when he saw your eyes go wide, “don’t worry, it’ll fit baby.” He spoke and you completely forgot that he had to stretch you out with his huge cock. He put the condom on and grabbed another thing of the draw. He showed you a small red vibrator. “This will making this feel better at first, but we don’t have to use it if you think it’s going to be too much for you.” He spoke, waiting for you approval before doing anything. You kissed him again, “can we stop using it if it gets to be too much?” You ask, kind of nervous. “we can do whatever makes you comfortable.” He replied, smiling into the kiss. “okay let’s try it.”

Rafe turned the vibrator on the lowest setting, placing it on you hot clit. It was cold which added to the effect it had on you. you squirmed slightly while getting used to the feeling. “Baby, you need to relax for me, it’s going to hurt more fi you don’t.” He spoke up. You took a deep breath, fully relaxing under his body, he lined himself up, and giving you one last look to make sure this is what you want, you smiled and shook your head confirming that it was okay. He started to push into you. he had to force himself to go slow, not wanting to hurt you. it did burn slightly but Rafe was right about the vibrator, it did sort of make things better.

You both let out loud moans as he bottomed out in you. “Holy fuck Y/N, your so tight.” He moaned out. Rafe felt like he was in heaven. Of course, he had sex before, but he never shared a connection with anyone like he had with you. He knew that he loved you and you were special to him. “You can move now.” Your words pulling him from his trance. Rafe started at a slow pace, not wanting to overwhelm you with the vibrator. You didn’t expect him to be so vocal in bed. “Holy fuck your so amazing” and “you’re taking me so well baby” kept being repeated by him while all you could do was moan, not being able to focus on anything else. You felt the warm feeling your belly again, wanting to chase your high.

“Oh god Rafe, please go faster I’m going to come.” You spoke out between moans, and Rafe started going to deeper hitting your g-spot again and again. “Come for me baby, you can do it.” He spoke turning the vibrator up a little bit, he could feel your pussy clenching around him being him closer too. You let out a loud moan, forcing him over the edge too. “Holy shit, that was amazing.” He spoke laying on top of you. You giggled, kissing the top of his head. “I’m glad my first time was with you.” You spoke Rafe looking up at you. He kissed your chest, “thank you for letting me be your first time. Now how about he takes a bath and clean up?” He suggested getting up and heading towards his bathroom. You tried to get up put your legs felt like jello, causing you sit back down. “Hey now, wait there I’ll get the water ready and come get you.” He spoke noticing your lightheaded moment. Once the bath was ready, he came in and carried you in, getting in behind. You sat between his legs, and he poured warm water over your back. You sigh in content, feeling completely relaxed with him. “I hope I’m not reading this wrong, but I love you so much Y/N.” He murmured against your sick.

You turn around and kiss him as hard as you can. “I love you too Rafe, more then you’ll ever know.”

TAGLIST:

lemur46 fttayla @drewstarkeysbitchh

#rafe cameron imagine #rafe x you #rafe cameron #rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron smut #rafe cameron x you #rafe outer banks #rafe cameron dirty imagine #rafe cameron outer banks #outer banks #outer banks smut #drew starkey #drew starkey smut #drew-starkey-imagine

476 notes · View notes

istanleyff7 · 3 years

Text

TOTP, Episode Aerith, Scenes 28-35

Final Fantasy VII Remake: Traces of Two Pasts Episode 2: Aerith Scenes 28-35 A Light Novel by Kazushige Nojima Translated by Stanley (@istanleyff7 on twitter) Scene 28

Aerith intended to find a job on her own, but Elmyra had already promptly sorted it out. It was to help the teachers at the Sector 5 House. Even though it was a job, she didn't feel that she was working because she spent most of her time playing with the children. She wanted to know about the world that she hasn't experienced. Yoko, who was older than her, had already left the house. She rented a house with a group of friends and made jewellery, which she sold in markets around Midgar. Jean and X collected machine parts from the scrapyard, polished them and sold them to people who needed them. Elmyra frowned when she told her this and ordered that she must never leave Sector 5 no matter what.

"You said that if you restrained me, you'd be the same as Shinra. Have you forgotten?"

"I can’t believe you said that kind of stuff to your mother."

Elmyra looked very tired. Her work probably took a toll on her. If she had continued her "business" with Carlo and the others, she would not have had to work this hard. No matter how Aerith thought about it, she felt Elmyra let go of the business because of her. They were not a real parent and child, and she didn't have to care for her in the first place. Aerith wondered if she really had those inner thoughts, and she sure did. Was the given circumstances the reason why she tried to hold herself back with unnecessary words? Now, she was retaliating as a way to get back at Elmyra for tying her down.

Scene 29

"That's really sick."

"Yup, I admit it. My rebellious phase made things worse. I didn't have things to pour my heart and soul into, unlike you, Tifa."

"I really recommend exercising."

"Yeah, I’ll do that eventually."

"Yeah right… I’m sure.... You’ll do that eventually…."

"So, even though all these happened, I continued to help out at the house. The kids were so cute. They loved me. By the time I was fourteen, I didn't have much to complain about. But..."

Scene 30

After finishing work at the Sector 5 House, Aerith headed down the alley back home and saw people within the Gainsborough property standing by the entrance, unintentionally blocking it. There were two men and two women, and they seemed to be looking at the garden and the house. She recognised one of the men. His long, beautiful golden hair had not changed.

"Rodin!" Aerith called out to him instinctively.

The face she saw when he looked back was unmistakably Rodin's.

"Yo, Aerith!" Rodin called back to her cheerfully, but for some reason, still looking about his surroundings.

"You've grown taller, haven't you? How long has it been?"

"It's been two years? Maybe slightly more than that?"

"Ahhh, yeah around that long."

She also looked at the other three to see if she knew them.

"Cheers."

Their eyes met. The young man with a large body and a boy's face raised his hand bashfully.

"Eh? Is that you, Marcellus?"

"Ah, you recognise me?"

"Of course."

Although Aerith replied that, she did not think that he was the same as back then. His physique became like his father's.

"I brought Marcellus here because, for some reason, he insisted on seeing you, Aerith."

Rodin took a step back, seeming like he made an excuse. There was a sense of discomfort. Marcellus darted his eyes from place to place and Aerith could sense his nervousness. He scratched his cheeks two or three times and started to speak in an awkward manner.

"Aerith. Firstly, I want to apologise for calling you a thief. Please forgive me. I was really a stupid kid. I hated anything and everything about the world at that time. I didn't even control myself."

"I had already forgiven you. I'm glad you seem to be doing fine."

Marcellus's face lit up.

"Yea, I've been doing fine, thanks to you. Some thugs were chasing after me, then I ran away before a monster attacked me, and I was dying. Then I had a dream that you came to save me. For the longest time, I thought that it was a dream. Even if you were close by to me, you had no reason to save me, and you definitely couldn't be close by. But I had heard it from Carlo the other day that you knew where I was. Carlo didn't believe your reason. That's why he didn't tell anyone about it for a long time."

Aerith gave a faint smile, thinking that it was best not to deny or confirm anything. Damn you, Carlo.

"So I did a lot of research, and I've been wondering if it was the influence of the Lifestream. It's the flow of Spirit Energy. Do you know about it?"

"Nope."

She pretended not to know anything.

"Mako Energy sucks away the Lifestream..."

"Marcellus!" the young lady had been quiet the whole time, rebuked at him. "You're not allowed to talk badly about Mako Energy. I'll tell Papa if you do."

She then looked over at Aerith—

"My brother can talk about this for a super long time. Hey, have you been well?"

It was Rona.

"Yup. It looks like you're doing well too, Rona. How's Mr Meguro?"

"I can't say he's fine, but he's doing better now than when we left the slums. The air is better on the plate. You see, it's polluted and cloudy here, isn't it? I didn't know that until we left."

Rona was the same as before. She hurts people without meaning to.

"What's Carlo doing now?"

"He's working hard and is managing the business well. But I do wonder how he was during The Sector 5 Clash..."

"The Sector 5.... Clash?"

"You don't know about it?" Rona was shocked. "After Papa retired and Carlo became head of the household, the Corneo's, and some other ambitious, unknown people, came into Sector 5. Carlo and the others tried to get rid of them, and there was a bloody clash. Marvin, Roger and Bowman died, unfortunately."

"Eh...."

Aerith wondered how she could not have known about that.

"Well, things have already settled down, so there isn't an issue. And everyone has settled down where they should be," Rodin said, looking around again.

"Well then, Marcellus, Rona, are you both done? You both still can send letters in the future."

"Elmyra will be back soon. Do you all want tea?"

"I'm afraid we can't have tea either. We're actually not allowed in the Special District."

"Special District?"

"It spans from the station until here," Marcellus said. "It was established by Shinra around the time the Clash began. We weren't allowed to fight in the Special District. Anyone who breaks this rule would be executed. It was the only rule that everyone obeyed."

"I wonder what made this district special."

"Eh? Of course, it's because you're here, Aerith!" Rona could not hide her shock as she said it out loud.

"Okay! That's enough!" Rodin panicked.

"You both talked too much. Well then, let's go." Rodin urged them.

Marcellus hurriedly tried to arrange another meeting with Aerith. It seemed that he wanted to talk about the "mysterious incident". Aerith gave him a faint nod and dodged his attempt to do so. Rona invited her to come up to the plate to play, and Aerith replied that she would ask Elmyra. The four of them began leaving the alley. But Rodin turns around and points to a woman beside him. She was the one who was not introduced until the end.

"This woman is Amber, and we'll be getting married soon. Would you please pass the news to Elmyra? It's unfortunate that I couldn’t introduce Amber to her."

Amber looked at Aerith with an angry look on her face.

↞↠

When Aerith got home, she looked at a stand, which had a vase placed on it. There used to be a television on that stand. She wondered when the television disappeared from the house.

"Ah..."

She remembered. It was a month after Elmyra severed ties with Carlo and the household. While Elmyra was cleaning the stand, the television fell over, and it broke. There was no television in the house after that. Aerith wondered if it was a coincidence or was it just to keep unnecessary information out of the house.

Elmyra returned home late at night, and Aerith talked to Elmyra about Rodin and the others.

"Oh my, it's been a while, hasn't it? Are they alright?"

However, Aerith could tell on Elmyra's face that she was on guard.

"Hey, Mum. Do you know about the Sector 5 Clash? And about the Special District too?"

"What have you heard? We are living in a different world from those guys. It's better if you don’t worry about every little detail."

It seems that she would leave things in the dark again.

"The Special District is right here, isn't it? It's because I'm here. That's why Mum, you wouldn't let me go far away. That's the promise you made to Shinra. A promise to shut me in the Special District."

Elmyra shut her eyes and shook her head.

"That's not it. But let's stop talking about this now. I'm tired, and whew, work was rough. The water tank in the café had broken down."

"Why don't you quit your job if it’s that tough? If you want money, why don't you get it from Shinra? You've been living on their money all your life. Nothing would change, wouldn’t it?"

Aerith knew she should not have said that, but she did. She could not see the look on Elmyra's face, and she then heard footsteps. Elmyra went up to the second floor and went into her own room.

Scene 31

"At that point, I thought that would be the end of my time in the house."

"But it had a happy ending, didn't it? I mean, you both went back on good terms."

Scene 32

Aerith thought that she could not stay in the house any longer and she was filled with emotions. Aerith firstly went back to her room, pulled out a suitcase she had never used from under the bed and stuffed a few sets of clothes, along with a few valuables, into it. Lastly, she put all the money she had earned from the Sector 5 House into her pocket and left the house. She walked down a familiar alleyway into a brightly lit street. A familiar face called out to her.

"Hey, Aerith. Are you going out at this hour?"

"I'm heading towards Sector 6."

She instinctively told a lie.

"Wait, what, no!"

"Don't worry. I'm not going to the Wall Market."

"Be careful, okay? Elmyra will cry if that happens."

As she walked along the street, she remembered her adventure with Ifalna.

『I wonder which direction is Sector 3 in?』

『Which direction is Sector 3 in?』

『I've heard that there's a church in the Sector 5 Slums. In the past, people gathered here and prayed to God, but nobody comes here anymore. I've been thinking that we should hide there a little...』

Aerith's steps became lighter. She still really liked this idea that Ifalna brought up in the middle of that adventure. The church should be far and beyond the station, outside the 'Special District'. It was the perfect place for Aerith's mood. The depressing feeling she had when she left home unbelievably cleared away.

『Never forget that feeling, okay?』

『The feeling that you’ll enjoy anything.』

The memories of Ifalna came flooding back one by one.

Scene 33

"When you fight with a parent, adrenaline builds up in you, doesn't it?" Tifa uttered and seemed to be reminded of something.

"Yeah. That's why I couldn't stop and think about it."

"Yup. I understand."

"I've regrettably hurt people."

Tifa swallowed her breath after hearing Aerith's confession.

Scene 34

A train just pulled in at the platform of the station. That was probably the last train from the plate. Aerith glanced at it sideways and went ahead to try walking past it. This place was where she left her birth mother, and because of that, she still could not look at it directly. She felt as though the scene was still there. Suddenly, thoughts that she would be making a wrong move flashed through Aerith's mind. Was she about to make a grave mistake? The adrenaline she had felt earlier had unbelievably disappeared. The "Special District" was to protect her. Once she crosses the station, she would no longer have the protection. She stood rock still, as though there was an invisible wall ahead of her. Only the surrounding areas of the station were lit up. If she went forth, the road ahead would be dark. She could not see the future.

"Aerith?" a deep voice called out to her.

She turned around to see a large man standing with his back to the station. He had big eyes, a big nose and a big mouth.

"Ahhh!"

"You've totally grown up, haven't you? You look like your mother."

It was Fuzz, and he was wearing the same white coat as that day.

"You've got the wrong person," Aerith lied at the spur of the moment.

Trying to get away from him, she turned her back towards the station and darted towards the darkness. She noticed that Fuzz was following her. She could not stop.

"Aerith, wait up. It's not what you're thinking."

Aerith wondered what other reasons could he try to stop her. She felt that she should not believe him and stop for him. He must have been angry and detest us. She wondered what would happen if he caught her. Aerith no longer knew where she was headed to. She was running along a narrow road, and the surroundings were a mountain of trash. By any chance...

"Jean! X!"

There was no response. Even if this were their scrapyard, they wouldn't be there at this hour. But she could not help calling out to them.

"Ahh!"

Aerith stumbled into something big and soft and fell. The suitcase she held dropped to the ground with a thud, signalling that it broke.

"Ouch..."

She did not know what was in the middle of the road at first, but it was the carcass of a dead monster. There was an unidentifiable sound coming out from it. It died not long ago. Its bodily fluids reached Aerith's feet and hands, and she felt a stinging sensation.

"You don't have to worry. That's harmless."

It was Fuzz. She looked up at him on her bottom. He was as big as she remembered him when she was seven. She noticed that the hem of her skirt was very crumpled, and she hurriedly fixed it. She looked for an opportunity to stand up and back away.

"Aerith, how could you do this to me? I've been worrying about you since then. Ever since you ran away from Shinra, I've been wondering if you've been living in terrible conditions. I heard about this from Amber, whom you met today."

"Amber!?"

Amber. Aerith met her in the evening, and she was introduced as Rodin's lover, and they were to be married. She had an angry face. Aerith then connected Amber to Fuzz.

"Looks like you don't remember her. She was the friend who unloaded you both from the cargo train at the Sector 4 Slums Station."

"Ahh!"

So Amber was the grumpy-looking woman in the dirty work clothes that day.

"I heard from her about where you were, and I hurriedly came over to find you. But what a close call. We almost didn't cross paths. I'm sure it was Ifalna who brought us together."

Aerith slowly stood up. Fuzz took two steps back, perhaps to assure her that he was not a threat.

"Are you going to church, by any chance?"

"What?"

"I've talked to Ifalna about it before. She seemed to be very interested in it. When I told her I'd take her there someday, she said she definitely did not want to go. After you both disappeared, I went to look for both of you several times at the church, just in case you were both there. I prayed, but in the end, it seemed to me that there was no God."

A roar of a beast could be heard somewhere.

"That's from a monster. Here's the danger zone, especially at night. Shall we go to the church? Since we came all the way here anyway. It's not too far off from here, and it's nearer than the station."

It seemed that Aerith ran away further than she thought.

"But..."

"I see. Are you more afraid of me than the monster?"

She nodded honestly. He should already know how she was behaving towards him, and there was no point in pretending.

"Well, I'll just walk ahead then, and you can keep a distance and follow me. If a monster comes up behind you, run away on your own. We can’t expect the vigilante corps to be here at this hour. And I must warn you, don't expect me to put up a good fight too. Just because I'm huge doesn't mean I'm strong."

With a thin smile, Fuzz walked away. His big white back disappeared into the darkness. Fuzz was right. She did not dare to go back alone on the monster-infested road. Just because they didn't appear on the way here doesn't mean they won't appear on the way back.

"Watch out!" Fuzz's voice came from a long way in front. "The monster is dead, but it's still fresh. Don't step on it."

↞↠

The "soon" was somewhat a lie, wasn't it? They had walked so far that she was doubtful of Fuzz, and after passing the carcass of the third monster, which was still fresh, they finally came to the front of the church.

"I wonder who brought them down?" Fuzz wondered as he walked up the stone steps and approached the door of the church. It was a big door. The style of the building was unlike anything Aerith had ever seen before. She could not see the entire structure even if she was looking up. She wondered what it would look like in daylight. The door opened with a squeak. Fuzz beckoned to her, and he went in. Aerith then went up the stone steps. A light, sweet scent wafted over from the church. It was a smell that Aerith knew. The inside was pitch black, but the floor at the back was slightly white.

"Look, the flowers bloom here. Regardless of whether there is a God or not, this is a special place," Fuzz said.

Aerith thought the same. Flowers bloom in special places. The same scent from the Gainsborough garden surrounded her, and she was soon faced with feelings of regret. She wondered what Elmyra was doing—wondering if she was looking for her daughter, who ran away from home. She wondered if she was going in the direction of Wall Market, taking the word of her acquaintance and believing him blindly.

"You can sleep on the bench near the flowers. I'll be near the exit.

"Thank you."

Aerith was not sleepy at all, but she did as he suggested and sat down on a bench near the flowers. She let out a big, quiet breath and felt every stiffness in the muscles of her body relax. She must have been tenser than she had realised. She felt like she was about to really fall asleep. She had to think of something. She wondered what would have happened if she had come to this church that day with her mother, Ifalna. What if the adventure had continued until the end? What would she have worked as? With little knowledge about the world, what would she have done? Would they have been able to live together on good terms? No matter how close they were, would they have disagreements? Since they were a real parent and child, would no problems arise?

"Aerith."

A voice came from a distance.

"Yes?”

"The house at Sector 3, it's still there. I've continued paying the rent since then."

"I see."

"Would you like to live together?"

She wondered what he just said to her. What did he mean?

"You'd like me to live together with you?"

There was no response.

"Fuzz?"

As she stood up fearfully, she saw that Fuzz was right next to her.

"Yeah. Let's live together, ‘I..fal...na…’"

Fuzz smiled. The pupil in his eyes seemed like it was not looking anywhere. A big hand reached out slowly towards her.

"Come here."

He was going to grab her! Aerith tried to take the suitcase and run. However, he caught her by the arm.

"Let go of me!"

She slammed the suitcase into Fuzz's face as hard as she could. Fuzz flinched. The handle broke, the suitcase came off and flew off somewhere.

"You're heartless, Aerith."

She did not care and ran away. Weaving her way between the benches, she ran for the door. Fuzz jumped over the benches and gave chase.

"Wait!"

There was no way she was waiting. The door was already nearby. She had to exit and run away. And what should she do after escaping? Fuzz knows where she stays. Amber, without a doubt, told him about Elmyra's house. Even if she ran away now, Fuzz would show up eventually. What should she do? Would she always have to live in fear? As long as Fuzz was around...

And Aerith eventually darted out of the door.

"Eh?"

Elmyra was there in front of her, dressed in her usual clothes as though nothing was wrong. Her face changed from surprised to relieved, and her facial expression changed a few more times. Finally, she turned serious.

"Aerith, move aside."

"Huh?" Fuzz sluggishly came out of the building, "Who’s out there?"

Elmyra hammered his throat with her weapon with all of her might. Fuzz let out a shriek of pain, collapsed and laid down motionlessly. Aerith was shocked to see what weapon Elmyra was using. It was a broom, and it seems that she had brought it here.

"Shall we go home?"

"Okay."

"You didn't leave anything behind?"

"Ah..."

She forgot her suitcase. There was something important inside of it.

"Quickly go get it."

"Okay."

She went back into the darkness of the church and went over to the flowers. She looked around and immediately saw a suitcase. The lid was open, and its contents were scattered outside. She gathered up the scattered clothes and put them back in the case, but she could not find her "treasure"—the pouch containing the materia.

"What are you doing?" Elmyra called out to Aerith, her voice audibly contained irritation.

"I can't find that materia."

Elmyra mumbled in annoyance and crouched down to join Aerith in finding it.

"It's in a little pouch made out of cloth."

"I know."

It's true. Elmyra knows everything about her.

"But, how did you know I was here?" Aerith asked while searching for the pouch.

"That's what I'd like to know too."

"Eh?"

"I knew that you ran away, and I soon went out of the house too. I thought about where you'd have gone as I ran. And then, while I was in the garden, I knew that you would have gone to the church on the outskirts of the slums."

"Why?"

"It just somehow came to my mind. Ever since you came to the house, I've had several strange experiences. I thought that it was this sort of experience again. So I went back home again and did some preparations before coming over."

"And what you prepared was a broom?"

"I wasn't exactly calm, you know. But it was useful, wasn't it? Look, Aerith, over there."

Elmyra pointed towards the densely grown flowers. In the middle laid the pouch that they were searching for. She parted the flowers away to not step on them, picked up the pouch and looked inside. The materia seemed to be glowing brighter than usual.

Aerith turned around to look at Elmyra and was about to ask her shall they go back.

Elmyra was seated on the bench, and she was praying. She had her hands clasped at her chest, and her eyes were closed. The sight of her took Aerith's breath away.

"I used to give thanks like this when I was a child," Elmyra said, opening her eyes as she stood up.

She seemed embarrassed by it.

"Is it different from a prayer?"

"It's different today."

"Who did you thank?”

"Whoever told me about this place. Well, let's head out of here."

Elmyra started to walk, and Aerith followed her behind.

"Mum."

"Yes?"

"I'm hungry."

"Aerith, you’ve been talking to me normally since just now, but I'm angry with you. When I get home, you will face the music and hear everything I want to say."

"Okay～"

Both of them were completely distracted.

Fuzz had regained consciousness and was hiding behind the door. Firstly, he kicked Elmyra and sent her flying.

"Mum!"

Fuzz tried to rush over to Elmyra and was drawing near her. She dodged his grasp, picked up the broom that she had dropped, turned around and struck the big man. However, the handle snapped right in half.

"Aerith! Come over here!" Elmyra called out to her.

Aerith ran towards her in panic. She saw Elmyra holding a gun with both hands and pointing it at Fuzz. That was the gun that Carlo had left behind. Fuzz stopped in his tracks and stared at the muzzle of the weapon.

"You take one more step, and I'll shoot you."

"Why don't you understand me!?" Fuzz yelled as he came towards them.

A shot rang. Elmyra had fired the gun. The dry sounds of gunshots echoed in the air. How many shots did she fire? Finally, they only heard the metallic click of the trigger.

"Ifalna..."

Fuzz approached them as if nothing had happened. His lab coat was terribly stained, but there was no sign that a bullet had hit him.

"I can't believe this gun didn’t do shit!" Elmyra swore and threw her gun at Fuzz, but it flew well over the big man's head.

"Mum, let's run already..."

A bang was heard, and it was a sharp sound that cut through the air. Aerith did not know what it was until she looked at Fuzz. He was holding his left shoulder with his right hand and moaning. His blood was running on his white coat as he had been shot in the shoulder. Who had shot him? From where? Aerith looked around, but there was no shooter in sight.

"Let's go," Elmyra uttered in an awfully calm manner.

Fuzz collapsed and was writhing in pain. Aerith was not fearful anymore. He just looked so pathetic now.

"I'm sorry."

"Aerith, let's hurry."

Without delay, Elmyra started walking, holding the broken broom with both her hands. At last, Aerith apologised to Fuzz once more. She then proceeded to hug her handleless suitcase and chased after Elmyra.

"Hey, Mum. I wonder who shot him."

"I'm guessing this, but the 'Special District' probably expanded."

Ah. That makes sense. As they walked on, Aerith looked around her surroundings, searching for a black suit. Just for tonight, she felt that she could give them her thanks.

Scene 35

"What happened to Fuzz after that?" Tifa asked with a concerned look on her face.

"I never saw him again. Though, till now, I still get nervous when I see someone big."

"I see."

Whenever Aerith thought about Fuzz, she would still have mixed feelings about him. She did not want to see him again. However, she also carried guilt. Fuzz became like that because of what Ifalna and her did to him. If she never pondered about this, these feelings of guilt would continue for a long time. She wondered if she would ever get the chance to atone.

"You can talk to me about everything, okay?" Tifa assured her.

Aerith was delighted by her compassion. She wanted to tell her more.

"Well then, next up is a big one!"

"You gotta be kidding me. There's something bigger than whatever you said?"

"For that, you're right. It's about my first love."

"Oh, that's definitely something big!"

―It sounded like someone walked into the cargo hold. Tifa seemed to notice it too. They put their index finger to their lips and looked at each other. The sound of footsteps was coming closer, coming from the other side of the cargo wall. Tifa moved noiselessly to the gap in the cargo. It looked like she was waiting for the owner of those footsteps.

The time passed slowly but surely, and the footsteps came to a stop.

"It's me."

It was the voice of Cloud Strife. Tifa's expression softened.

"I'll tell you next time. About the story of my first love," Aerith whispered to her.

Cloud walked in front of them and looked at both of them with a dubious look. He made a face as though he was investigating them, and he looked ridiculous. Aerith and Tifa burst into laughter, trying to keep their silence.

-fin- ↞↠ You’re on page 142/142 of Aerith’s segment of the Light Novel Word Count: 29322 The End. Thanks for the reading! Translator’s Note Previous Scenes: Scenes 22-27 Back to Content Page (click/tap here) Final Fantasy VII Remake: Traces of Two Pasts Episode 1 — Tifa (Coming Soon) Episode 2 ― Aerith Coda: The Investigation Unit Within the Painting follow @istanleyff7 on twitter for updates support the TOTP translation project financially here (click/tap here)

#ff7 ffvii ff7r ffviir FF7RLN aerith

57 notes · View notes

petals42 · 4 years

Text

been so long and now...

Alright, not writing the fic but this is the fic I want to read for julie and the phantoms (okay updated note: I wrote it basically). Going to try to keep this quick (LOL it’s 7k). We’re starting after season 1 here.

[7k, Reggie-centric, Julie POV, child abuse mention, Ray is a good dad.]

Alright, the boys can now touch Julie (sometimes) and can still be seen when playing music, but other than that, it’s not super clear how much actually changes. And after that day in the garage, life seems to even out a bit. Which means Alex is off looking for Willie and Luke and Julie are spending a lot more time writing music together (and okay, maybe that’s new but if both of them ignore it, it's fine) and Reggie is back to hanging out with Ray.

Ray can’t hear him or see him and the conversations are by necessity very one sided. Either Reggie filling Ray in on his day slash his ideas on ghosthood or Ray talking to himself/the computer but somehow it becomes fairly commonplace for Julie to walk downstairs and find her dad talking to (around?) her dead teenage bandmate. And there are times, sure, where she is like is this weird?? Should i say something about this??? But Reggie is kind of being left on his own a lot and she never really wanted to listen to her dad mutter about cameras and if that’s how Reggie wants to fill his days then… well that’s not her business. Neither party seems to mind. Probably because her dad doesn’t actually know.

Of course, the Julie-magic power does eventually start working more and more and then Carlos knows they are ghosts and then her dad hears them talking in Julie’s room when Luke accidentally starts humming and then catches a glimpse of them in garage when there’s no lights on so he doesn’t see how the hologram is working and--

“It’s time to tell him, I think,” Julie says to the boys and Luke nods and looks excited and Alex twists his hands around his drumsticks the way he does when he is a little anxious (but mostly okay) and when Julie glances over at Reggie, she expects that large megawatt smile that he directs at Flynn or Carlos but instead, he looks even more uncertain than Alex.

“I dunno,” he says, one shoulder raised. “I feel like we have an okay system?”

His concerns get drowned out by Luke and Alex and Julie herself pointing out that her dad is in photography, at some point he is going to realize that this hologram technology does not obey the laws of physics and/or light, plus he keeps almost seeing them just around his house and…

They play a song to tell her dad and lately, the boys have been able to be seen longer and longer, especially when they are just in the studio and don’t officially bow so once her dad gets over the initial shock (which, admittedly, takes him a little longer than Flynn or Carlos), there are introductions and--

Julie finds herself glancing at Reggie the whole time. Waiting for him to bound forward and say that actually he knows all about Ray and actually they’ve hung out quite a bit and actually, it was him that’s been slowly doing the puzzle with Ray in the corner room and maybe the other boys do too because there are a lot more awkward pauses that she thought there would be but Luke seems to realize it halfway through so suddenly he is taking the lead (and maybe trying to impress her father like omg what???) and so it kind of gets forgotten. (especially afterwards, in her room, when her dad lowkey tries to grill her about her relationship with these boys and she doesn’t have good answers and ugggggh maybe they should’ve stayed holograms).

Anyway, things are still mostly normal after that. The boys are not often seen or visible (except more and more to Flynn and sometimes Carlos) and so Reggie is often back to hanging around her dad and one time Julie does ask him “Do you let him know that you’re here?” and “Oh no,” Reggie says. “I wouldn’t want to bother him.” And Julie guesses that’s true, Reggie is normally chilling with her dad when he is editing photos so, alright. Again, she has lots of other things going on. There isn’t much point in digging into this.

Except then-- then the boys start being seen more and more around the whole house. It starts in the studio and then sort of spreads and it’s a weird new normal for sure, them still walking through walls whenever they want so you can’t forget they’re ghosts, but you sure can see them around a lot. And if Julie is around and can make them solid, they can eat and so it become a not rare occurrence to have the boys come eat dinner 2ish times a week or at least try to (Julie’s “powers” only work about a fourth of the time, to be honest, but they can be seen so they usually hang around.)

And right around when that becomes common place, suddenly Reggie stops hanging out with Ray.

I mean, it’s not something that Julie notices right away but suddenly Reggie is around the studio a lot more and sometimes she assumes he is in the house only to find out he has been hanging by the beach or with Alex and Willie and there’s no real reason for worry but it sort of… lurks in the back of Julie’s mind. A weird sense that something isn’t quite right there, that Reggie used to love hanging around her dad and giving her dad full reports of their days and, okay, maybe it was weird but still… it bothered her. Now that it was gone.

And then, her dad asks her about it.

Not directly, but he comes sort of frowning into her room, asking if the boys are okay, and “yeah, why?” Julie says and..

“Oh, I dunno,” her dad answers, looking over his shoulder and drumming his fingers against his thigh. “It just feels… I don’t know, the house feels empty? Like… sometimes I think there should be someone and-- you know what, nevermind. It’s probably in my head.”

“No, no,” Julie says because she’s lied to her dad enough. “You’re right. I mean, Reggie used to hang out in the house all the time.”

“Reggie,” her dad says. “The bassist. He did?”

“Yeah, he was probably… what you were sensing.” and Julie has an awful moment of wondering if her dad thought that presence around him was her mom and if Reggie being more busy with other things was like losing someone all over again and--

“That’s what that was!” her dad sounds happy. And relieved. “Sorry. Who. Who that was. I thought I was going crazy.”

“No,” Julie shakes her head. “He’s real. And he was around a lot.”

“Hm,” Ray says and turns to leave. Then turns. “You know… he’s still welcome, you know? Unless you guys are practicing more…”

“I’ll tell him,” Julie laughs. And then shoos her dad out because she has got to work on this chemistry homework and sometimes it sucks -- having three ghost bandmates who should be in high school but who never have to do anything and don’t even try to help her and--

*^*^*^

“Hey,” Julie says, plopping down next to Reggie on the couch. It’s a few days later but this is the first time they’ve been alone-- Luke and Alex, realizing they were solid enough to go eat and running for the kitchen, Reggie opting to stay behind.

“Hi, Jules!” Reggie says and he doesn’t seem any different. With her and the band, he talks just as much as always, big bright smile, whining about the need for a country song, laughing at all their mishaps.

“I have a question.”

“What’s up?” He twists to face her, giving her all his attention. He does that, she realizes. Focuses on her. All the boys do, to some extent, but with different energies. Reggie’s is the biggest, she thinks. Honest and open.

“So… I’ve sorta noticed that you haven’t been hanging out with my dad as much anymore?” Julie tries to keep her tone casual. She’s not accusing him. She’s just… curious.

“Oh,” Reggie says and his head tilts as if confused by her confusion. “Well, yeah.”

There’s a beat. Julie thinks Reggie is going to keep talking. Reggie does not. Reggie turns back to where he was tuning his bass. “Uh, why?” she finally asks.

Reggie frowns at her. “Well, he can see and hear us now,” he says, as if this is very obvious.

“So?”

“So like… I don’t want to bother him,” Reggie says. “He does a lot of work during the day. It was one thing when he couldn’t hear or see me but now you know… I’m annoying.”

It’s Julie’s turn to frown, even though Reggie is already looking down again. There’s something about the way he says it, I’m annoying that bothers her. He says it as if it is an obvious fact. As if everybody knows it. As if it’s true.

“You’re not annoying,” she says. “I don’t think you’re annoying.”

He blinks at her. “Well, no, you don’t,” he allows. “And Luke and Alex don’t. Most of the time.”

“And Flynn and Carlos,” she adds.

“Most of the time. But still, see, all kids. Teens,” Reggie says. “But old people… parents are different. You have to--”

He cuts himself off and for a moment, his hand grips the neck of his bass tightly and there is a tension in his shoulders and suddenly Julie thinks she maybe is in a little too deep here. She doesn’t want to upset him.

“You’re dad is really nice but he still… It’s different,” he says and he shoots another smile at her, but it’s tight and fake and he jumps up the moment Alex and Luke burst back into the studio.

“So close,” Alex mutters as they come back in. “I had the sandwich IN MY HANDS.”

“Dumb choice,” Luke says, mouth still clearly full of something. “You gotta just hit the snacks, my friend. Focus on what’s quick and easy.”

The boys all head for their instruments and the moment is passing, Julie knows, and she also knows she now has clues that maybe she should put together but she doesn’t have time and why couldn’t her powers last just a little longer this one time? But-

“You should still go hang out with him again,” she tells Reggie as Luke starts tuning up and Alex gets settled behind his drums. “He misses you.”

There’s no time for Reggie to ask any questions but his frown of confusion as she turns away says it all.

*^*^*^

It grows, this curiosity and she realizes she doesn’t know much about Reggie’s parents. Luke’s, she obviously knows very well and she knows the story very well and she has heard enough about Alex’s to know that they are not worth seeking out but Reggie’s…

She’s never even heard him mention them. Not even in all their conversations about Luke’s. And this is a sensitive topic for all the boys and she doesn’t know how much to push or even whether to push so--

“What were Reggie’s parents like?” she blurts one day. Luke startles and looks up at her and that’s fair as they had been in the middle of writing a song and there was no reason for her to ask.

“What?” Luke says and she gets to watch as he tries to switch his brain over from music-mode to conversation-mode.

“Reggie’s parents,” she repeats. “What were they like?”

And she knows she’s hit on something when Luke’s head goes down and his shoulders come up and “I dunno,” he says. “It’s… we didn’t hang out there that much.”

“But you must know something?” Julie presses. “Like… did they ever come to see you guys play?”

“No,” Luke says and he’s leaning further away, eyes cutting to the door. “Look, I--”

“Were they against him playing music?”

“Uh- I don’t… Why are you asking?”

The question forces Julie to pause. And she chews her bottom lips as she tries to figure out the answer. Why is she asking? What does she think? What does she actually need to know?

“I don’t know,” she admits. “I just… he’s never even mentioned them.”

“Well, then… we probably shouldn’t talk about it,” Luke says and that’s fair, she knows it is, but she can’t help if she doesn’t have some information. And going to Luke was at least better than just googling.

“So there is something to talk about,” she says softly.

“No, I don’t… look,” Luke says and takes a breath. “Reggie never…. He never said anything about them, really. Not even when we were alive. He just… I don’t know. I told you, we never hung out at his house.”

“So you think they were…?” Julie lets the sentence dangle. Luke glares at her a little. Then takes another breath. Fiddles with something on his pants. Doesn’t speak. “You know I’m just trying to help, right?” Julie asks. “I just--”

“Reggie was really quiet,” Luke interrupts. “When we met him, I mean. He was… he was really shy.”

“Reggie?” Julie asks and she can’t help the disbelieving tone. That doesn’t make any sense.

“Yeah,” Luke says. “He was a great bass player, obviously, and nice enough but… really quiet. He… didn’t even laugh really. He just hung back a lot and… it’s weird to think about. Now that I know him.”

“You think he was that way because of his parents?”

“I mean… I dunno. Maybe?” Luke shrugs. “The few times he met my parents, he was… really weird.”

“Weird?”

“Just… weird.”

Julie opens her mouth to ask more questions, to say that that answer wasn’t specific enough, but Luke finally meets her eyes and suddenly she knows that this conversation is going to end.

“Look, if you want to know more, you can probably ask him,” Luke says. “Or like… don’t. It’s not like it matters anymore now, right?”

And there’s a trace of bitterness in that and a trace of please stop and more than a trace of I am uncomfortable with this conversation and so Julie lets it go.

“Yeah,” she says, worried she pushed too hard. “Yeah, you’re right.”

*^*^*^

The clues are all there and Julie isn’t sure what they point to, so she tries to listen to Luke’s advice and remember that it doesn’t really matter. Reggie doesn’t have to see his parents again and it doesn’t matter and he continues to seem absolutely fine with the band. Fine and happy and--

“Helloooo?” she hears him call from the front door, just as she’s hitting the top of the stairs. She turns, a bit confused because the boys never bother announcing themselves but she opens her mouth to tell him she has to finish homework before rehearsal today and then closes it when she says that he is not looking at her at all, but towards the kitchen.

She walks down a few steps. Bends over so she can peer down and see what he’s looking at.

Her dad is sitting at the counter.

“Hello!” Reggie is louder this time, and then waves his arms a little bit for good measure and her dad doesn’t see him, she realizes, doesn’t even flinch at all the noise and the arm flailing and she is about to tell Ray that Reggie is there when suddenly, Reggie’s face bursts into a grin and, seemingly satisfied that he is undetectable, the teenager plops himself down in the stool next to Ray.

Julie watches as her dad continues muttering to himself for a minute and then he pauses, and shifts, and glances, and she doesn’t know if he caught a glimpse of Reggie or if he can just sense it but his mouth quirks into a slight smile and he talks more now, at maybe a higher volume, but still to himself and Reggie doesn’t seem to notice the change, so she leaves them to it.

Reggie is still there when she finally finishes her homework two hours later.

*^*^*^

It doesn’t really get that much better. Reggie still avoids the house when he is visible and, when she catches him with her dad, she somehow knows that he had made sure he was undetectable before risking it and he doesn’t talk as much now, not when he’s learning from conversations with Flynn and Carlos that sometimes it’s part way through a conversation that they are suddenly audible, but she hopes it’s a little bit nice, at least, that Reggie is there at least part of the time.

*^*^*^

They play a particularly good show and the boys stay visible for 5 straight days. Reggie avoids the house the whole time.

*^*^*^

It’s a Friday night when Julie finally gets her biggest clue. It’s a rare quiet Friday. They don’t have a gig all weekend so there’s no rehearsals and Carlos is home and the boys aren’t visible or audible to anyone but Julie so most of her time is spent laughing at what they say and then having to explain to her dad and brother and she thinks they are going to try to play a game, maybe like Clue? Something all the boys can play, though Luke is pushing for twister even though the boys can literally go through people so that doesn’t seem fair at all and--

Something (a ball) whizzes past her head as she and her dad are bent over trying to remember the Clue rules and then she jumps as there’s the unmistakable sound of breaking glass.

There’s a moment of stillness and then it makes sense. There’s a vase broken on the ground and a baseball rolling under the kitchen table and she turns to see Carlos, looking shocked, mouth already open to apologize.

“Carlos!” her dad says, standing and moving, doubtlessly to go get the broom. But there is glass everywhere and his voice comes out angry because this is not the first kitchen object Carlos has broken by a longshot. “How many times have I told you not to play--”

Things move very fast then.

Her dad is moving towards Carlos because that’s where the broom is and Carlos is standing still and looking down because he already knows he’s going to get in trouble and then just as suddenly, Carlos is sort of stumbling back because he’s been pulled back and Reggie is standing where Carlos just was.

Squarely between her dad and her brother.

“It was me,” Reggie says. And he sounds sort of breathless but also certain and he’s not moving from where he stands.

Carlos is still sort of gaping that he was just pulled back by a ghost and Julie can see the other two boys processing that fact, the fact that Reggie just managed to touch another person and Ray jerks to a stop because a full teenage boy has just popped into existence in front of him. So no one says anything.

“I threw the ball,” Reggie repeats. More firmly this time. A lie, Julie knows, because Reggie had been on the couch with Alex. Nowhere near where the ball had come from. “It was my fault.”

His voice is still firm and his eyes stay on Ray’s for a second before looking down and his hands tighten into firsts before going slack and he swallows and--

He’s scared, Julie realizes. Scared, but still.

“It was my fault. So--”

“Reggie!” Her dad exclaims and he’s beaming, she can already see it, and then without a thought to whether Reggie is still solid or not, her dad is throwing her arms around Reggie as if he is a long lost friend

(Which in a way, maybe he is)

Reggie stays solid and his arms are pinned to his side and Julie sees him stiffen, sees his face frown in confusion.

“You’re here!” Ray says, still grinning. He leans back and slaps Reggie on the arm. “And solid, I see. Thank goodness. Come, come help me on this puzzle. You’ve been slacking and I swear this dark spot near the left corner is driving me crazy and-- Oh, Carlos, go get the broom and clean this up. No throwing balls in the house! Honestly, you’d think after the last time-- Reggie, wait, whatever happened with that telenovella you guys were watching, you haven’t updated me in forever.”

And then her dad is dragging Reggie away, who still looks shell-shocked, still looks like he was expecting something different, and Julie hangs back, partly to help Carlos clean up, partly to enjoy hearing Reggie slowly start to stammer out answers to her dad’s many, many questions.

*^*^*^

“Oh shoot,” her dad says an hour later, when family puzzle night is brought to an end because the three boys have abruptly vanished from existence. He looks at where Reggie had been sitting (roughly). “Well, we’ll finish next time.”

*^*^*^

What happens next, Julie calls in her head, the Period of Cautious Testing.

She sees it play out.

Reggie comes into the house, waves hi to her, but doesn’t say anything and then he goes and sort of… lurks near her dad, watching carefully and if her dad seems to be in a good mood (which he is often, to be honest), Reggie will either say hello or obviously pull out a stool to make it clear he is there and--

“Are you free?” Reggie asks. Or “Do you mind?” or “Hey, can I--?”

He says it when Ray can hear him and writes it if there is pen and paper nearby and even when there’s not, he stays tense and ready to fly if he’s not wanted, but--

“Of course!” her dad says. “Sit down.” “Come look.” “Oh, Reggie, check this out--”

And Reggie stares and listens and there’s this smile he has, not his usual huge grin, but a smaller softer sort of wonderful-filled smile and he pays attention to her dad as if he might be quizzed on the information later, still starts out not talking as much but--

“Okay, well tell me about,” her dad says. “Oh, do you think--?” And “Wait, I want to hear what it was like to--”

*^*^*^

“Your dad is really nice,” Reggie tells her one day. He says it right as they are starting rehearsal and doesn’t really look at her when he says it, looks more somewhere over her left shoulder and he is basically running away towards his mic stand but still…

It makes her smile.

*^*^*^

“Come play with me,” Carlos asks her, throwing his ball in the air.

“Where’s dad?” Julie responds. This is usually her dad’s territory. Whatever talents she had in singing and music and sort of dancing do not translate into sports.

“With Reggie,” Carlos says, throwing the ball up, tilting his head up to watch as it comes down and catches it. “They are talking about… I don’t know. Something. He said he’d be out but you know how they get.”

Julie does. And it doesn’t bother her but..

“Are you mad?” She asks, just to be certain. Carlos had been the only son. Still is. But also… “That they are hanging out so much?” Her brother is still young. Her brother maybe doesn’t--

“No,” Carlos says. “Not like I want to learn about cameras at all.”

Julie laughs.That’s true. And her dad sure can ramble.

“Also,” Carlos starts…. And then he is glancing at her and he is young and stupid and her ilttle brother, but when he looks up at her, he looks older and serious.

“Also, I think It’s nice. Reggie hanging out with Dad. I think he…”

He fiddles with his ball, but doesn’t throw it. “I think he probably needs that, you know?”

Julie did know, she just didn’t know that Carlos knew. And understood. And was willing to share Dad like that because he knew. She feels her face start heating up with pride.

“How did you--” she starts. Then stops. She knows how she figured it out and she had mostly relied on being able to see when Reggie was around and how he tried to stay away for so long and her conversation with Luke.

“Oh. Uh. Well, he started a stash of food in my room,” Carlos says. Julie blinks at him. “I went up there one day and he was shoving granola bars in a box in the back of my closet. That was already filled with other stuff.

“He was acting really weird. I mean, nervous and I dunno. I asked him why and he said it was always a good backup in case you couldn’t go downstairs and then I asked why I wouldn’t be able to go downstairs and I think he was embarrassed but still insisted it was safer and--”

Carlos shrugs. Flushes because he realizes he had been talking a hair too fast.

“I don’t know. It made him feel better so I kept it. And it honestly is sometimes easier than going all the way downstairs.”

“Carlos!”

“He has one in your room too!’ Carlos says, laughing. “Basket tucked under your bed, I think. I’m telling you, once you get used to access to rice krispy treats in the middle of the night…”

“Oh my god,” Julie says and they are laughing about this, because what else is there to do but…

“So it’s really okay,” Carlos says. “Plus I figure now you and me can play catch?” He turns on those big brown eyes for that last part and he is so good that Julie can barely stand it.

“Oh alright,” she makes sure to roll her eyes so he knows that she is not falling for him for a second. “Let me put my bag down.”

*^*^*^

The boys are not supposed to be on her computer (there has actually been talk of getting them their own computer to uphold this rule, but none of them really seem to have much interest in technology (besides TV) given that they can always just poof to whoever they need to talk to and force Julie to do the research for them) so it’s a surprise when Julie walks into her room and finds Reggie, glaring at the screen.

“Reggie!” she says, fully intending to yell at him. She has private things on there!

And then he looks up at her. He looks dark and serious and--

“Will you help me?” he asks. “I don’t know how-- this thing is so complicated.” And Reggie isn’t the one who will get frustrated-- that’s Alex when his anxiety gets to be too much or Luke when a song isn’t going well or even herself when having three rambunctious boys who can pop in on her literally any time gets to be a little much-- but he’s frustrated now.

“Okay,” she says, her earlier rant about privacy flying out of her head. “Okay, yes, let me help. What do you need to do?”

With the boys, it could be anything. Alex wants to watch videos of skateboarding so he can pretend he knows something about what Willie talks about, or there was the week he discovered Sense8 and then Luke really just wants to google guitars or also there was that week Julie tried to get him on music producing software and then he just wanted to read articles about how digital music was destroying the industry (like some old grandpa).

“I’m--” Reggie stops and stands. Takes a breath and blows it out. Julie waits. He looks somewhere toward the ceiling. “I’m trying to find my parents.”

Julie stills.

That is not what she was expecting.

“Oh,” she says and it’s a struggle but she keeps her voice carefully neutral. She also takes the moment to look down and see that Reggie has type “goo-gull” into the windows search bar.

He doesn’t add anything and so she sets herself to opening the real google and seeing what she can do. Contrary to popular belief, it can be a little hard to find people if they aren’t famous and have fairly common names.

“What are their names?” she asks and instead of answering, Reggie just passes her a piece of paper. It has their names on it. And what she assumes to be his old address. She senses the mood and doesn’t say anything else. At least he comes and sits next to her to see the search results pop up.

There are a lot of them.

“Don’t worry,” she says when she sees his eyes widen. “Even if I can’t do it today, I can put Flynn or-or my dad on it and I’m sure one of them can--”

“No,” Reggie says. “I don’t want-- not them.”

Julie nods and keeps scrolling. She doesn’t know what Reggie’s parents did for a living so she doesn’t know if some of these websites apply but she scrolls slowly and hopes he’ll tell her if he sees something.

After two pages, “Let’s switch to images,” she suggests. “Maybe you’ll see them.”

Reggie hesitates but then nods.

After some more silent scrolling, the silence gets to be too much -- “Why do you--?”

“There.”

Julie stops scrolling and, yes, there-- there’s something slightly familiar about that woman’s nose and the darkness of that man’s hair. She clicks to enlarge it, but it’s still a blurry picture, pulled onto google search from Facebook, if she had to guess and--

And she knows that you can’t really judge someone off of a photograph, especially not one that’s older and blurry but she…

They don’t look nice, she decides. Even though both of them are smiling. The smiles look tense and forced and they are standing a hair too far away from each other to be called close.

“That’s them,” Reggie tells her needlessly.

“Oh,” Julie says again. He doesn’t sound excited. He sounds… she doesn’t know what he sounds.

She waits, risks glancing at him to find he is still just staring. And the silence drags and then right- right as she knows she’s got to say something, anything--

“I thought it was normal,” Reggie finally says softly. “They. I thought they were normal. I mean… I thought everyone’s parents were that way.”

He’s still not looking at her. Still just staring at the screen.

“I mean… Luke fought all the time with his parents and Alex’s were just… always too religious and a bit off even before they knew and so I just assumed that everyone… you know.”

Julie did not know. Not really. Not at all.

“I knew they hated me,” he says and he finally glances over at her. He’s not crying, but his voice is tight and the nod he gives her is jerky. He looks away quickly. “For forcing them to get married. And for forcing them to stay together too, I guess, though… it wasn’t just…”

His leg is bouncing now. Jumping up and down even as his fist clenches and presses on top of it.

“It’s not even just that though,” and his voice rises now, almost desperate. “They hated me. They said I was loud and annoying and stupid and I… I thought that was normal. I thought they were right.”

He shoots up now, solid enough that her little table gets pushed back when his shin hits against it, but he doesn’t seem to notice and he swipes at his eyes, but he’s not crying. Just red and Julie’s almost crying, she realizes, but she’s also tense and her stomach hurts and she doesn’t know what to do.

“They were my parents and they hated me and I thought-- I thought that was normal. That everyone would always hate--” He cuts off and Julie opens her mouth again but she doesn’t know what to say. The boys… the boys are young and happy and they are all an open book, even when they try not to be, but now… Now Reggie clenches his jaw and stops himself. The boys never stop themselves.

“It wasn’t right though,” Reggie says and he’s angry now. More angry than Julie’s seen anyone. “It wasn’t fair. What they did. Making me feel… yelling at me all the time and-and sending me to bed without dinner so often that I- I fucking thought everyone snuck snacks into their room and shoving me around and even when they were happy, I just knew it could turn so quickly, that even one mistake could just ruin everything and I- I-”

He cuts off, breathing hard.

“Reggie--” Julie starts. She stands but he takes a step away from her so she stills.

“It wasn’t fair,” he says and he’s quieter now but it doesn’t feel calmer. He meets her eyes and his are wet. “I just don’t get how they could-- why they--”

“It wasn’t fair,” Julie agrees and this time when she comes closer, he doesn’t move. So she gets to put a hand on his shoulder and breaths a small sigh of relief that he is solid right now.

“I had to die, Jules,” he says, looking at her again finally. And this is… being dead is something the boys rarely acknowledge in a real way. It’s usually a joke or an offhand comment or their comeback for why they shouldn’t have to help her with calculus. It’s not this. Soft and serious and then followed by a dark chuckle. “I literally had to fucking die to figure out that they were bad parents. And I bet-- I bet they were glad.”

Julie opens her mouth to say that of course they weren’t, that any parent would be heartbroken, that he can’t know that but--

But she doesn’t know them. She doesn’t know if that is true.

“Well,” she starts but Reggie backs away and cuts her off.

“I have to go,” he announces. And then he glances at her and realizes she’s crying and maybe realizes what just happened because he runs his hand through his hair and guilt enters his eyes but “Sorry,” he says. “Sorry about-- You weren’t supposed to-- I gotta go.”

“Wait!” Julie tries, but he’s already gone.

*^*^*^

Her first instinct is to run and get Luke and Alex, to tell them to poof to all the most likely spots for Reggie to be, to tell them everything that had happened and then maybe run and tell her dad too for good measure and to probably cry a little more but she--

She doesn’t.

She doesn’t know what stops her or why instead of yelling and rushing down the stairs, she takes a breath and falls back onto her couch, but… that’s what she does.

She falls back and stares at the picture she’d found a little longer and--

I hate you, she thinks. You didn’t deserve him.

And then she closes the tab without saving it.

And she doesn’t tell anybody.

*^*^*^

Reggie is a little late to rehearsal that day, but not enough to attract much notice.

He comes in cautious though. Julie sees it, since she knows to look for it.

He poofs up outside the garage and then slowly walks in and he’s waiting, she sees, for someone to say something or act weird or for them to all stop talking at once in an obvious display of “we were just talking about your breakdown earlier.” He’s tense and cautious and--

“Dude, awesome,” Luke says in greeting, waving a hand at him. “You’re here. We can get started. I think I have a killer idea for a harmony echo thing in the chorus of--”

Reggie looks suspicious for a beat longer, eyes flicking between Julie and Luke and then Alex, but Alex is too busy trying out a new spin move with his drumsticks to really be paying much attention and Luke is still droning on about his latest idea and Julie just gives him a smile. And a nod. And hopes that her eyes convey she didn’t actually say anything.

She knows it was the right call when the tension leaves Reggie’s shoulders.

Reggie gives her a smile and a nod and then they all do what they do best.

They play.

*^*^*^

That night, Julie spots her dad alone (actually alone) on the couch, fiddling with something on his laptop, and when they were playing music together, she didn’t think about it but now it all comes rushing back.

The hurt and the anger in his voice and the fact that she didn’t know what to say or do and it was the right call, not to tell anyone Reggie’s private business, she thinks, but she suddenly feels very sad again and the only thing for it is to plop down next to her dad and curl into his side.

He hums in greeting and keeps his eyes on his screen and she just enjoys it. His warmth and smell and marvels in the fact that he is always there. That she can always do this. That she has a dad who will always let her sit with him and who has to be coached into being angry and just loves her so damn much.

“Honey?” he says and he’s closing the laptop to twist and look at her. There is concern in his eyes. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she says, shaking her head and trying to ignore the heat behind her eyes that tells her she might cry. “Nothing’s wrong. I just-- It’s been a long day.”

“Too much practice?” he says.

“No, not that. Just… you know. One of those days.”

“Oh okay,” he says and then he’s lifting his arm so he can wrap it around her and squeeze her more firmly into his side. “Okay.”

They sit for a long moment, just breathing and Reggie should do this, she thinks, just sit and be calm and be held and she hopes one day, he does. That he is solid enough and comfortable enough and maybe he can’t tuck all that way into her dad’s side like she can but he should still… he should still try. One day.

She knows her dad would let him.

“Thank you,” she says. “For being such a good dad.”

Her dad’s soft laugh answers her. “Well, you know that’s my job.”

“Yeah, but… also for everything else too. With the band and the music program and for-for being so good to Re-- the boys. All the boys.”

She doesn’t know if he hears the name she almost said, but he tilts his head as if he knows. He probably does somehow.

“They’re great kids,” is what he says instead.

“Still,” she insists. “I know it’s a lot. But they- he- just thank you.”

He looks at her for a long moment and finally nods.

“Anytime.”

*^*^*^

“Thanks,” Reggie says, the next day, drifting over to where she is resting on the couch while Alex and Luke get into a semi-argument, semi-productive debate on a certain rhythm. “For not saying anything to the guys.”

“No problem,” she says. “But if you want to talk more or--”

“No, no,” he says, waving a hand as if that is going to make her forget the entire thing. “It’s not a big deal. It’s--”

“Reggie.” She says it firmly. She says it and then waits until he actually looks at her. “It is a big deal. Your parents were-- They were wrong and mean and fucking horrible and if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s your right and I won’t say anything. But it is a big deal. Your feelings are a big deal. You are a big deal. So talk to me or to my dad or to no one but don’t tell me it’s not a big deal.”

Reggie blinks at her and Julie flushes. But doesn’t back down. Keeps glaring at him.

“Uh. Okay,” Reggie says. “I- I will. Or I won’t. Tell you that.”

“Good,” Julie says, nodding once. And then Alex and Luke turn back to them and it seems they have compromised (Or maybe Alex won and Luke is just saying they compromised) and they’re back to it.

*^*^*^

As far as Julie knows, he doesn’t talk about it. At least, not with her.

But, gradually, he stops hesitating before announcing himself to her dad and he starts buzzing with the same kind of energy that he does in the garage in the house and, then later, she goes downstairs for a late night snack and Carlos is there too, half-heartedly complaining that his stash has run out and he had grown accustomed to a certain style of living and--

“Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray Ray RayRay,” Reggie says, running into the house, tripping over his own feet somehow and skidding into the counter, knocking over the fruit bowl in the process. Her dad idly straightens it with one hand, the other reaching out to collect the apples and oranges that had rolled everywhere but Reggie grabs it and pulls. “You gotta see this, there’s a bird and the light-- bring your camera!”

“A bird?” her dad says, and he sounds a bit doubtful but he is already grabbing his camera.

“Huge bird,” Reggie says, waving his hands as if to indicate. “Biggest bird ever. I think it’s a condor!”

“A condor! A California condor??” her dad’s eyes go huge and then he’s throwing one camera at Reggie and grabbing another out of a drawer and there are apples and oranges everywhere and her dad almost brains himself stepping on one and flying forward but Reggie catches him and suddenly, Julie is in the kitchen by herself, surrounded by fruit, staring at a pancake her dad was supposed to flip.

She rolls her eyes and smiles to herself and grabs the spatula.

She doesn’t think they’re coming back any time soon.

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #jatp fanfiction #my fic #reggie #ray molina #julie molina #fanfiction #bullet point fic #but it is 7k #also yes i just pulled the title from finally free #it seemed to fit

387 notes · View notes

sputtersparky-tm · 3 years

Text

Here’s the fanfic I wrote yesterday...

Sorry it took me a bit to post this, my girlfriend came over and then we got distracted with videogames... and... then I ran out of energy to edit this puppy...

So without further ado, a late Valentine’s gift to all you lovely people who follow me out there...

A Blooming Romance [A Liquidator x Bushroot Fanfiction]

(Transferred from my Wattpad Drafts)

The rain trickled over the glass making up the greenhouse. Spike laid dormant by his owner and best friend he so loyally stayed by through thick and thin. Sighing as he lifted a leaf of his rose bush, Bushroot sat limply over the delicate plant. Spike tilted his head, approaching Bushroot as he sulked over the rosy reds growing so beautifully.

Nudging his arm, Spike wriggled himself into Bushroot's space. With a lick over his cheek, Bushroot's sullen look of shame evaporated into a soft smile. "Oh Spike, at least I have you through it all."

Spike nodded as he knocked Bushroot onto his back with a pounce. "AH!" He yelped being flung backwards. Succumbing to his friend's demands, he lifted his leafy hands to pet Spike's head.

"Feeling lonely? Only have your pet as a companion in life? Wanna have some wet, wild fun with your watery wonder of a partner in crime?" The gurgled voice of the well known water dog startled Bushroot from his moment with Spike.

Leaning his head back to look where the voice came from. "Oh! It's you! W-W-What are you doing here? Is Negaduck doing a heist today?" Bushroot became excited at the hope of being distracted from the dreary day.

"As vile and hateful as he is, I'm sorry to say I haven't heard anything from Negaduck all day. It seems this Valentine's Day shall go without the evil escapades of the five of us." Liquidator shook his head and pretended to brush dirt off his arm. As he approached his leafy green friend, Bushroot had gotten onto his feet.

"Darn it... Well then that brings me back to my original question!" Bushroot furrowed his brows.

"Hm, well my company's Valentine's special sales are skyrocketing, and I figured I would have something to do today, but it seems all I have is just my money and my shallow company to keep me company." Liquidator started off bragging. His expression saddened a little as he saw Bushroot's bemusement. "And, it seems sometimes even a million dollar company isn't enough to satisfy the humble heart of this hound dog." He splashed his hands to his chest as he gestured.

Bushroot scoffed. "Oh, so I suppose you want my help kidnapping some sad sap so you can have a little fun today?" He knew it was close to improbable that he would really have any fun of his own today.

"Hey now! I may be clever and villainous but that doesn't mean I don't believe in consent! After all, I am very prideful of my position on the top of the Capitalist lifestyle. And what more is Capitalism than even the poorest of the poor being able to choose as little as what water they drink?" Liquidator defended himself.

"T-That's n-not exactly corre-"

"SO! What do you say, my dear partner in crime? Would you like to join me for a night on the town? The evening may be young but there's nothing wrong with starting our romantic outing early!"

"Are you asking me out on a date with you?" Bushroot seemed appalled at first, he'd never been asked out by a man before, well there was that one time in college, but he already had his eyes set on a lovely young lady from the technologies field.

"I think you owe me your answer first before I give you mine." Liquidator smirked deviously.

"Uhhh..." Bushroot felt his heart skip a beat, his cheeks growing as red as the roses beside him. He hadn't thought in all his time of working alongside Liquidator that he'd ever be interested like this. At one point, he'd thought that there would maybe be something between them, after all they went so well together, it was almost fate that they'd both been mutated into their current forms! But Liquidator came off as such a square of a man, nothing more than the stereotypical heterosexual businessman who may even go so far to take bribes from all the worst people, worse than even the dreadful Dr. Slug!

"Well?" Liquidator pulled Bushroot from his flustered silence.

"S-Sure!" He blurted out, shaking from his nerves at the idea of being asked out by someone so confident. He immediately felt himself going down the slippery slope of his usual routine when it came to new people being in his life. He shook off the toxic temptations of growing dependent upon his date for the night. He didn't want to come off too strong. Taking a deep breath, he looked up to Liquidator.

"So it's a date then! Shall we be on our way?" So smoothly as he normally did, he locked arms with his Bushy compatriot.

"Oh, y-yes! Spike, please watch the house while we're out?"

With a nod of confirmation, the two mutants were out in the rainy world.

Darkwing Duck had gotten a call to a local restaurant about two very uniquely unmistakable villains hijacking a normal Valentine's Day dinner service.

Having done his normal entrance, he now held his iconic gas gun pointed at Bushroot and Liquidator, who previously sat peacefully at a table. "Stay seated and surrender, or suck gas you sultry sickos!"

"Oh, can't we just have one nice dinner without you bugging in? You're no better than a parasitic case of morning glories!" Bushroot rolled his eyes and slammed his hand to the table below him.

"Lonely? Bitter? Why don't you mind your own business or face the wrath of the Liquidator!" The Liquidator announced as he began winding up to attack the cape-cladded duck.

"Say, since we haven't ordered dinner yet, why don't we just make our own? Pan-Seared Duck, anybody?" Bushroot lifted the candle alongside the wooden roses that had been decoration at their table.

"Wouldn't that hurt the roses though, Bushy?" Liquidator paused in concern.

"No worries, these are nothing more than flammable fakes! Created from the mulched remains of long lost brethren. If anything, this is actually pretty poetic!" Bushroot explained as he set the bushel of roses alight.

"Amazing." Liquidator said softly under his breath as he watched his date's face glowing from the flames.

"Hey! You love sick losers, either surrender or risk being humiliated by the stunning strength of Darkwing Du-UCK!" Darkwing dropped to the floor, dodging the burning bouquet that had been chucked at his face.

By this time, it was only the three of them in the restaurant, 1 v 2, Darkwing Duck was surely overpowered. He yelped as he was chased all around the restaurant, now struggling to get control of the situation. Just as he was about to get ahead of the game with a fire extinguisher and a sponge from the kitchen, all power went out inside of the building, leaving them in the darkness.

Bushroot struggled to find his nearly crystal clear date, but his bewilderment didn't last long as he felt a cooling grasp wrap around his waste as he was carried out of the building, leaving the real loser behind.

Stopping on top of an abandoned tower's rooftop, Liquidator put Bushroot down.

They stared silently at the city-scape below for a moment before Bushroot broke the silence.

"That was the most fun I've had while on a dinner date EVER!" He chuckled as he looked at his date.

"Anytime you want a good time, all you have to do is call!" Liquidator smiled at Bushroot as he imitated holding a phone to his ear.

"W-Why do you suppose the power went out back there?" Bushroot glanced over the blackened city scape. "It seems we weren't the only ones who dealt with a blackout..."

"Hm, seems you're right, I wonder if Megavolt is going to town with one of his devices..."

"Gross." Bushroot shook his head in disgust.

"Says the one who went on a date with a man made of water." Liquidator nudged Bushroot lightly.

"Hey! T-That's different, my date is actually a living being! Way better than any c-cold-hearted robotic piece of machinery that that cooky rat fawns over...!" Bushroot paused for a moment as he thought to himself.

"Uh-huh." Liquidator began humming in disbelieving agreeance as Bushroot went on.

"He's super handsome, for one thing, really suave and intelligent, he also has a great personality, he knows when it's time to get serious and when it's time to have fun. He's also very slick and clever..." Bushroot's words faded as he looked to his date who nodded with a cocky smirk gliding over his muzzle. "What?" He asked nervously fidgeting with his hands.

"Bushroot, I know how you can be with people, you're very clingy and you often care too much." Liquidator started.

Bushroot slumped and began to feel his heart race as he felt his nerves go up. Had he come on too strong? His mind began to race with all the anxious thoughts that had not plagued him since his fling with Posey.

"So I want you to know something. Don't worry about being overly clingy, because regardless, I'm committed to you just like I am to my business. I may seem cold and uncaring at times but just know that no matter what, you're the only one I want. I mean, I don't exactly believe in fate but think about it, we're perfect for each other. You're a plant, I'm living water, it's almost too much to accept us as simply a coincidence!" Liquidator went on.

Bushroot's heart was toyed with as one minute it was racing from him being nervous to him being romantically enthused. Liquidator stopped himself, turning to Bushroot he reached out his paw and to hold Bushroot's leafy green hand.

"All this to say, I know it's too soon to say it but-"

"I love you." Bushroot cut him off.

"Hey! I was gonna say that!" Liquidator snapped back playfully.

"T-Too bad! I-I-I said it first!" Bushroot smiled meekly, hoping to not mess anything up.

"Hm, seems I'll have to take another first in retaliation, huh?" Liquidator cocked an eyebrow at Bushroot as he thought to himself.

"O-Oh? And what first would that be?" Bushroot's demeanor changed to being more submissive as he prepared for the worst.

"Oh nothing, but after all that action, wouldn't you like to lie down and rest?" Liquidator suggested.

"O-On this floor!? Oh I-"

"Bushroot, you sleep on literal dirt, I don't think this is very different, but here..." The Liquidator then shot up and power-blasted a clearing on the dirty roof just to appease his date.

"Whoa... I-I-I guess a little rest wouldn't hurt... besides, knowing that egomaniac, Darkwing is probably out looking for us..." Bushroot slowly lowered himself on the clean patch. "I guess you could say in this case it's best to lay low for a while, huh?" Laughing nervously, he watched as the Liquidator shook his head at his pun.

Laying next to Bushroot, the Liquidator took his date's hand. "May I have you answer a survey for me?" He asked, gazing over the stars above.

"S-Sure! It won't hurt!" Bushroot smiled carelessly.

"On a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rate this date?" He began.

"Definitely a 10!" Bushroot nodded.

"How would you rate your man of the night?" Liquidator went on.

"Mmmm, that's a tricky one..." The Liquidator looked intrigued as Bushroot hummed in thought. "I'd say your rating scale hardly cuts it for my answer, but I suppose I'll settle on a mere 10!"

The Liquidator smirked, if he was able to, he'd be blushing. "Oh, why thank you..." He responded, holding back a flattered chuckle. Clearing his throat he went on. "How- I mean-" He quickly pulled himself back together. "Would you go on another date with me?"

"Oh, that's easy! Of course I would!" Bushroot beams.

"Excellent, any final comments or questions before I conclude this survey?" Liquidator grinned.

"Hmmm, well, next time we should totally show Darkwing what for! And also..." Bushroot looked away from the night sky above, clearer than it normally was without the light pollution. "Thank you."

"What for?" Liquidator asked curiously.

"Taking a chance on an old plant duck like myself... most wouldn't care to."

"It was only a matter of time before I got the courage to ask you out." The water dog shrugged nonchalantly.

Bushroot scoffed. "You? Needing courage?"

As if on cue, Liquidator chimed. "It's more likely than you think!"

"I don't believe it!" Bushroot rolled his eyes.

"Better believe it!" The Liquidator rolled over and hovered his face over Bushroot's. Leaning in closer, the Liquidator stopped as his muzzle was about to meet Bushroot's bill. "Or should I get a scientist to back up my claims?" He said in a low voice.

Bushroot's face went red as he became flustered. "I-I-I-I-I uh, um, well..." He sputtered, stuttered, and stammered until his bill was closed by a kiss. Bushroot's eyes widened in shock, before he relaxed and enjoyed the moment.

Moving away from Bushroot's mouth, the Liquidator rolled off of him. "Now we're even."

Bushroot sat up and stared at Liquidator with a shocked expression, beak agape in a struggle to find the words to say.

"What do you say we take refuge at my place until the morning comes?" The Liquidator lifted Bushroot up onto his feet.

"Oh! u-uh sure! Of course! Yeah! Uh, I mean... sure." Bushroot quickly cooled his excitement.

"No time to waste! The night is still young so we ought to act fast!" Liquidator scooped Bushroot into his arms again and carried him back to his home far above the streets.

"H-Hey look! The city has power again!" Bushroot pointed out as Liquidator made his way over the rooftops to his company's sky scraper.

"Oh! It must have been our electrifying kiss that brought the city to life again!" Liquidator said slyly. Bushroot immediately cringed at the awful pun.

"Don't start with electricity puns! That's Megavolt's thing." Bushroot shook his head.

"Maybe so, but I do it right!" The Liquidator and Bushroot went back and forth well into the night, staying up far past midnight to just talk and joke and laugh in a new way never before done. A new love washing onto shore with the delicacy of a blooming rose.

#Sorry if there are any mistakes #I did my best #Please enjoy #I'm planning to write a Quackerjack x Megavolt counterpart to this #you might find some foreshadowing in this one for that???#Darkwing Duck #Liquidator #Bushroot #enjoy please #fan fiction #Sputtersparky posts

18 notes · View notes

notaburgler · 4 years

Text

30 days of quarantine

Bokuto x Fem!Reader tw: language, implied sex, implied anal sex, swearing

A quarantine had been ordered forcing all of Japan to stay indoors.

“30 days, at minimum.” The official said from the conference.

It would be hard, no doubt about that. Your live-in boyfriend was a ball of energy that wasn’t easily contained. He couldn’t lounge around or be lazy, even if it was in the name of health and safety.

He loved socializing. He didn’t even need to know them. Many times you’d been stuck at the entrance of the grocery store with a tapping foot, waiting for him to be finished with the lengthy conversation he was having with the person from the other line or the cashier. You wondered how he managed not to see the look of disinterest when he babbled on and on. But you loved the idiot, no matter how long he held you up everywhere you went.

Staying indoors and refraining from any kind of personal social interaction would wear on him. He was a social butterfly and the government just clipped his wings. For you, this was something you felt prepared for. Unlike him, you relished in time at home. Lazily lounging on the couch and munching on your favorite snack food was a night well spent in your eyes.

Your gaze fell longingly to your boyfriend as he pouted on the couch next to you, “Don’t worry babe.” You leaned over, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek, “we will still have fun.”

Your smile brought him back to life. He had faith in you, trusted you. His grin made your cheeks burn, he was so easy to bring back from his sad mode, you couldn’t understand how, or why, Fukurodani ever had an issue in the first place.

“You’re right babe! Plus,” he slid his hand along your lower back, “we get plenty of alone time. Maybe we should work on starting that family you want.” His bushy eyebrows wagged at you making you shake your head.

With a roll of your eyes, you popped another kiss on his cheek, “babe, it goes: dating, marriage, then kids, then we die.” A pat to his thigh before lifting yourself up from the couch.

Day 1- 7pm

“I decided to start a journal documenting how we handled the quarantine. Koutaro seems to enjoy relaxing for the first time ever. Occasionally, he will get spurts of energy and start pacing or go to the kitchen and open the fridge. I can’t help but laugh when he stares inside it for what seems like ages, then closes it and comes back to the couch with nothing to show. It’s funny watching him.

Maybe I’ll document how he handles this quarantine. Only 29 days to go.”

Day 2- 10:45pm

“Nothing unusual today. Kou talked my ear off about volleyball. I love him, I really do, but if I have to hear another story about an amazing spike he made in high school again, I might not make it to the end of the quarantine. But I still listen and smile. I have no idea what the hell he's talking about… like, what the fuck is a Libero? He said that Komi is the best out there.

In all honesty, only day 2 cooped up in the house and I can tell he’s desperate to get back on the court. Maybe I’ll actually pay attention at the next game? Not that I don’t, I just have no idea what’s going on! But Kou slaps the ball really good.

He’s in bed right now, staring at me. God I love him. Time to go get a bit freaky.”

Day 3- 11:11am

“It’s starting to hit me a bit. The quarantine blues really are a thing. I think it might be because Kou has moments of sadness. He’s like a dog, waiting for it’s master to come home from work. He stares out the window with a forlorn look on his face like it’s been years since he had smelled fresh air.

Like, babe, we have a backyard!

It’s not huge, but it’s enough to get some fresh air. Kuroo helps a bit. The window in our bedroom and the window in his face each other. They chatted for a few hours today. Gave me a chance to clean up the place. For fucks sake babe, it’s not like you’re busy! Clean up after yourself!

Note to self: Teach Kou how clean as you go before having children with him.

I think we will watch a movie tonight. It’s weird, we’ve been together in this house for 3 days, but yet we haven’t really spent time together. He's always so busy doing something. He just has to keep moving. It’s that, or he’s sleeping.”

Day 3- 1:39pm

“What in the actual fuck Kou! My god damn boyfriend is currently having a screaming contest with Kuroo. Those two idiots are just sitting in the windows holding a scream for as long as they can…. why? Why did I agree to move into a house right next to Kuroo? Why do I hate me?”

Day 4- 9am

“He’s still asleep. It’s the first time he’s slept in so far. It may be because he was up super late watching porn. I don’t understand how he can have so much energy? I tapped out after round 3, but he wasn’t done yet.

He is very cute when sleeping. I love him…”

Day 4- 6:56pm

“Well, disaster strikes!

It was a sweet effort, don’t get me wrong. He tried to cook dinner- key word: tried.

It was both burnt and under cooked… at the same time! I don’t know how he managed to fuck it up that bad, but here we are!

I still ate it. I smiled. I hope he couldn't read into the look of disgust I clearly had in my eyes. Maybe I’ll get him online cooking lessons or something. He seemed rather eager to cook, and I’m not one to stop him from trying, especially if that means I don’t have to.”

Day 5- 9:43am

“He tried cooking again. I got breakfast in bed. He’s such a pure-hearted idiot… my idiot. He made the eggs look like volleyballs, it was a cute effort. I told him that in a way to thank him for being such a sweetheart, I’d do lunch and dinner.

He’s tried cleaning the house, but somehow manages to make a bigger mess than before. My cheeks hurt from laughing at him fighting the dishwasher. Maybe this whole experience will help him appreciate what I do around the house more- not that he doesn’t already. Sometimes I think he assumes that since I’m going to college online and not working that it’s my job to clean up, and by all means, I’m more than happy to do so. But even when I’m home all day, some verbal appreciation and a lending hand here and there is also expected from him. I’m blessed that I am able to stay home, but I’m also not the only one that lives here.”

Day 6- 2:15pm

“He’s crying because Akaashi called to check in. Kou is such a social man, being out of contact with his friends is hard on him. I think he’s missing volleyball too. He’s been watching old matches on the computer a lot. He has this look of someone that’s missing their spouse on his face. If only he’d look at me the way he looks at a volleyball…”

Day 6- 5:09pm

“Akaashi is now FaceTiming him. Kou begged to see his “beautiful face” so now they are FaceTiming… he never FaceTimes with me! Why am I jealous of his high school setter? Imma go give him a piece of my mind. Update when I return.”

Day 6- 5:13pm

“Akaashi is beautiful. I have chosen to forgive Koutaro.”

Day 7- 8:46am

“He wants to build the best pillow fort ever. Kuroo is throwing all of his pillows and blankets over the fence so we can make one. I’m pumped! Hoping to turn the entire living room into a pillow fort.”

Day 8- 7pm

“Lazy day today for me. Kou has been getting more and more restless. He found old paint in the garage and decided to repaint the spare room. This… will not go well.”

Day 8- 8pm

“Note to self: make sure Kou has a spotter when painting on a ladder. Also, call a carpet cleaner when this is over.”

Day 9- 5am

“Kou is up early. I can’t sleep without him next to me. He curls up into my back and holds me so close, I love it. He woke up early to work out. He’s currently running circles around the backyard… the backyard is not big enough to run circles… also, I don’t think he’s shaved since day 1. Neither has Kuroo- oh god they aren’t shaving!

I’ve seen Kou take selfies each morning. Is he documenting how his hair grows? These two are so weird. I want him to come back to bed. I want to cuddle!”

Day 10- 3:47am

“I’m gonna murder Koutaro Bokuto, I swear. His snoring is so goddamn loud….”

Day 10- 8:05am

“I didn’t sleep at all. Kou was tossing and turning all night long. Apparently, he snores. This is news to me! I’d never heard him snore before, or at least, not like that. We had a fucking freight train rolling through our bedroom at top speeds, blaring it’s horn. Only 10 days in… I guess this is a real test of our relationship, huh?”

Day 14- 3:36pm

“Kuroo waited around the window for a while. We talked for a bit. It had been a while since we talked, it was a nice break. He was busy with work for a while, but this was a great chance to finally relax and chill. He told me that he picked up a few games at the store before the lock down. This was evident by the few cases strewn between our houses. He probably tried to let Kou borrow them and didn’t make the toss… and they call themselves athletes?

Kuroo was a nice break from the monotony of this lock up. I’m getting cabin fever and would like a chance to go for a walk or maybe-”

Day 14- 3:40pm

“So… Kou found out the hard way why we don’t play volleyball inside the house. Now our coffee table is broken and there is glass all over. Ugh… if old polaroid cameras were still a thing, and I had one, I’d leave a picture of my face right now. Just, ugh… 16 more days… 16.”

Day 16- 9:03pm

“Today was a nice day. I think Kou watching so much porn has made him hyper aroused. I swear, we’ve fucked on every surface of this house. He asked to get a bit adventurous, wondering what I would be willing to explore with him.

The list is rather long. The standard stuff normal couples try at least once… right?

Anal, 69, bondage, role play… stuff like that.

He says he doesn’t want the bondage to be like the porn he’s seen though, he can’t begin to even fathom hitting me, even if it’s something I asked for. He said, “the best you’ll get is a smack on the ass, babe.” And followed that up with one helluva slap to my butt. Ace of Fukurodani for ya, leaving hand prints on my ass. That’s fine, I don’t really like the whole slapping thing. But I’d be willing to dip into choking or some light shit like that… meh, we are gonna talk about it more tonight. I’ll write our list of what we wanna try next.

The good news is that I get to go grocery shopping today! Never thought I’d be excited about that!”

Kou and my kinks to try:

Anal

Bondage/shibari

Role play

Student/teacher

Sugar Daddy/Sugar Baby

Doctor or nurse/patient

Boss/Secretary

Pegging? (I’ll convince him!)

Mutual masturbation

Orgasm control/denial

Over-stimulation

Hot/cold play

Wax play

“I’m sure we won’t get all of them, but I think he’s game to try.”

Day 17- 10:53am

“WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME ANAL SEX MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE YOU GOTTA SHIT?!?!? I swear, I couldn’t enjoy even a second of it because I kept feeling like I was shitting all over the bed. Kou said it felt like he was fucking a silicone coke bottle; tight at the beginning, but after you press through... not so much. I mean, at least we tried it. I don’t think we are gonna go down chocolate lane again.

Not sure what we will try tonight. Actually, I might need a break from that. My hips hurt more than normal, and I still feel like my asshole is gonna prolapse any second… fuck that.”

Day 18- 8:20am

“Where the fuck did he get a saxophone? We don’t have a saxophone. It’s 8 in the goddamn morning and he’s trying to learn- I swear Kuroo… he’s got a trumpet. A FUCKING TRUMPET! These two… I love Kou so much, and I’d do anything for him, but I have to know where he got the sax from.”

Day 18- 8:34am

“I knew getting prime was a mistake.”

Day 18- 10:17am

“We agreed to have a lazy day. He put away the sax. I hid all of his reeds. It’ll be a shame when he goes to play again and has no reeds to play with. Sorry babe, but I’m on edge and I can’t handle you squealing your saxophone all day long.

About to pick a movie to watch while we eat. Maybe a show, who knows? I was scanning Netflix earlier and saw a cute little show called “happy tree friends” looks like something we might like. Just a cute show to bring back nostalgic memories. Maybe we will binge The whole series?”

Day 18- 11:19am

“So… that show… not what I was expecting. Kou is traumatized. This whole day of relaxing really isn’t panning out as I hoped. Maybe I’ll watch more after I rock my baby-of-a-boyfriend to sleep tonight. He’s fragile, but so damn cute.”

Day 21- 10:02am

“He’s started one of the dumbest things I’ve seen so far. I can handle the saxophone, I can deal with the screaming contest, I can even tolerate the paint fiasco… but why on earth would he create his own food challenges? He’s eating so much food! Babe! We don’t have that much food to be eating in one day!

Oh god… please Kuroo, please stop encouraging him. Well, at least he’s not making his own anymore, he’s just doing food challenges-“

Day 21- 10:05am

“He tried to do the milk challenge. The one where you try to drink a gallon of milk in one go. I don’t need him crying and vomiting because of it.”

Day 21- 3:18pm

“I’ve been helping him work out. It’s helping him stay relaxed and chill. He just can’t sit still. So at this moment, I’m sitting on his feet watching tv while he does crunches behind me. This is kinda nice. I like doing this. Maybe once he starts doing push ups, I’ll lay under him and get a kiss each time he comes down.”

Day 22- 10:05am

“We watched The Lion King and now Kou has taken the cat and lifted it up above his head like Rafiki did with Simba. He’s hanging out the window and now Kuroo is rounding up all of the stuffed animals his girlfriend has and any animal shaped object in his house and putting them on his lawn. Kou doesn’t know the words to the song, but he tries. This may be the weirdest thing they have done to date.”

Day 22- 11am

“I think the cat is traumatized. It keeps running away from Kou when he comes near. Now I have a depressed boyfriend and a terrified cat. I wanna be mad, but he’s so cute when he sulks. Plus, he cuddles me when he’s upset. I like that part.”

Day 24- 9:43am

“So, he's rearranged the living room. As I’m writing, he’s moving the couch I’m sitting on… again. I liked how we had it, but he needs to stay occupied. I’d rather him do this than to try to create an indoor slip and slide like he was gonna do.”

Day 24- 1:28pm

“He’s passing the volleyball back and forth with Kuroo. At least he’s still able to socialize, even if it is from a distance. I can see him want to spike the ball over the fence. He says it’s the perfect height. But it’s not safe since the backyard is so small and both of them are so tall… how?!? How are they so tall?!?

I’ve taken this time to work on a few projects that I’ve been trying to finish for a while now. I’ve got a blanket I’m making for Kou that I haven’t had time to work on, I’ve needed to finish that birthday present for my mom, there’s a tv show that I’ve been wanting to start, but Kou isn’t interested in it. Today has been fun. And our furniture ended up in exactly the same place it was when we woke up. I think he just wanted to see what our options are.

6 more days and hopefully, we are free from this mess.”

Day 28- 11:35am

“Almost there! Kou and I have handled this pretty well. We’ve fought a few times, but nothing worth mentioning. I’ve come to realize that even though he can be destructive and air headed, he’s also so sweet and compassionate, it’s probably the reason I fell in love with him. I couldn’t have done this without him. I would have gone crazy!

There’s a press conference tomorrow regarding the quarantine. God I hope this is over. I can’t stand to see him so desperate to get out of the house. He’s FaceTiming with Akaashi again. Their friendship is so sweet and pure. Maybe we will adopt Akaashi? I’ll run it by him.”

Day 28- 11:43am

“Akaashi said no.”

At 8am, 29 days into this national quarantine, a well dressed man took to an empty room and faced the camera. The broadcast was live and you were sure everyone was watching.

You took in a deep breath, squeezing Koutaro’s hand a bit too tight. Nervous, annoyed, a bit nutty; all of these could easily describe how you felt having been cooped up for 29 days.

After a moment to go over his notes, he spoke, “citizens, your cooperation in this time of need and crisis has been noticed. It is understood and acknowledged that the hardships and issues you face staying indoors for so long. It is with that that I must regretfully inform you…”

Day 29- 8:02am

“Fuck.”

#bokuto #kotaro bokuto #haikyuu!!#quarantine #30 days inside #bokuto x reader #fluff with implied smut #hes so cute #hes also a pain #kuroo testuro #hq #hq bokuto

125 notes · View notes

master-sass-blast · 4 years

Text

Release.

Hmmmmm... this thing is solid projection. Whoops.

Summary: You're exhausted. No matter what you do, you can't get enough rest to save your soul. You try to keep up with everything, try to not let the fatigue hinder you

--And then it all comes crashing down.

Pairing(s): Piotr Rasputin x Reader.

Rating: T for depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue, and general angst-hurt/comfort vibes.

Set after “It’s Truly Magical,” but this one is special in that it doesn't directly impact the canon. It's sort of a special one-off.

Author’s Note: So, as some of you may have gathered from the tags and preamble, this fic is basically me venting my own frustration.

I've been dealing with some pretty wicked chronic fatigue for the better part of... coming up on a year now, actually. Wow. I didn't realize it'd been that long.

It's made life really hard for me, from everything to eating to doing chores to hanging out with friends to writing. We don't know what's causing it, and we're trying to take care of it through lifestyle changes and making sure I don't exert myself too much (we meaning me, my family, my fiance, and my doctor). There's been a few things that have helped, but by in large it's still been kicking my ass.

I know I was gone for a long time. Part of that was the fatigue making it impossible to write or post. To those of you who are still around, thank you -and I'm sorry. I'm trying my best, I promise.

If you're dealing with chronic fatigue or think you're dealing with chronic fatigue, just know that it's okay that you're tired. You're not lazy. You're not a failure. You're not going crazy. You're not a burden. Your body needs rest, you need rest, and you *deserve* to rest.

Here's a resource on chronic fatigue syndrome and what it looks like.

I hope you're all doing well. Stay safe and wear your mask.

Taglist: @marvel-is-perfection, @chromecutie, @girl-obsessed-with-things, @super-darkcloudstudent, @dandyqueen, @leo-writer

It creeps over you. It starts as a wispy, soft cloud, hanging over the horizon of your existence.

And then it grows. Larger, more oppressive. Until you’re fully immersed in it, with no sense of direction or how to get out.

***

You’re not really sure you remember when it started. You’ve always been tired to some extent –anxiety, nightmares, and running on the X-Men schedule will do that to a person.

Exhaustion hits like a brick one day after training. You slump against the tiled wall in one of the shower stalls in the locker room. Water streams down your sweaty face and body while you struggle to make your eyes focused. Shit. I must have pushed too hard.

You manage to get yourself cleaned up and trudge back to yours and Piotr’s home at the back of Xavier’s property. You collapse onto the couch in the living room. Your limbs are stone, too heavy to drag another step. Your body throbs in time with your heartbeat. I need a nap. Just for a couple hours.

You only want to sleep for a couple hours.

You only mean to sleep for a couple hours.

You wake up at nine in the evening, to Piotr gently nudging you.

He tuts, fussing over you like a worried mother hen. “Are you feeling well, myshka?” He presses the back of his hand against your forehead. “You have slept for long time.”

“I’m fine,” you mumble, mind still cloudy with exhaustion. You force yourself to sit up. You jaw cracks when you yawn. “Just overdid it in training today.”

Your husband gently chides you, ushering you into the kitchen so you can eat. “It is important to replenish energy.”

You go straight to bed after eating and sleep for another ten hours.

***

Part of you wonders ‘how did I let this happen? How did I let it get this bad?’

The other part of you wonders if you had any say in it at all.

***

The fatigue starts seeping into other areas of your life as well. Training, grading, hanging out with friends, eating…

You’re so tired. You chalk it up to mission stress, to going too hard during training, to running on weird hours all the time.

You start sleeping through the day to cope. No matter how well you sleep at night or how much sleep you get, you’re always so fucking tired.

Piotr notices the change in your sleeping habits. Because of course he does. It’s ingrained into his very DNA to be an observant, loving nurturer.

He brings it up during dinner one night. “Are you doing alright, myshka?”

“What? Yeah. Of course.” You’d woken up from a nap a couple hours before, and you feel good for once. (You’ll crash a couple hours later.) “Why? What’s wrong?”

“You have been sleeping at odd hours,” Piotr says, stirring his soup with his spoon. “I just want to make sure you are not having mental troubles.”

“I’m fine, baby.” And, on that front, you are. You’ve got your meds, your support system, a home, creative outlets, and a fulfilling –if occasionally dangerous—job. “I’ve just been tired lately, is all. I think it’s the weird mission hours just putting my body clock out of whack.”

“You should try to stay on normal schedule, then,” Piotr points out. He frowns, concerned. “Is not good for mental health to keep odd hours.”

You bristle. You are trying, dammit. You push through training and grading and your obligations every single damn day, even if all you can do is collapse in bed afterwards. Who the hell is he to say that you’re not trying?! “I am, Piotr. You don’t have to micromanage me. I’m not one of your teens.”

Piotr recoils, blue eyes widening. He holds up his hands. “Easy, dorogoy. I am not trying to micromanage. I just want you to be healthy.”

You drop your gaze down to your bowl of soup. Your heart races in your throat. “Sorry.”

***

It’s like being one of those houses infested with termites. You’re being consumed from the inside out. On the outside, you look fine. On the inside, you’re crumbling away like a sad, dry cookie left in the bottom of the cookie jar for five long, lonely months.

You’ve always been weird. You oscillate between outgoing and reclusive like nobody’s business. You’re a lot like Wade –somewhere between amusing and a nuisance to most of the adults, though most of the teens and kids like you.

(Piotr insists that it’s not true, that everyone likes you well enough, but you’ve never quite had the full faith to believe him.)

No one notices that you’re hurting. No one notices that something’s wrong. No one notices, no one notices, no one fucking notices—

But, to be fair, you hardly notice it yourself.

***

You kind of start to lose your mind, if you’re being honest.

It’s hard enough to keep up with your workload with the mission scheduling –but being tired all the time slams the nail in the coffin. You manage to drag yourself to training on time because it’s mandatory, because it’s important, because it’s for the good of your team, and—

And everything else falls apart.

You spend countless late night hours on the couch cramming through your grading, because you needed to sleep earlier, and the deadline’s only looming closer, and you have to be productive, dammit—

More than once, you drag yourself up to bed when Piotr’s just getting up for the day.

He frowns, forehead creasing. “Myshka—”

“I had grading to do,” you mutter as you crawl back into bed.

He finishes buttoning up his shirt, then sits down next to you. The bedframe groans under his bulk. “This is not healthy, moya lyubov’.”

“I’m fucking working on it, Piotr!” you snap, glaring at your husband. “Just –leave me alone!”

He swallows hard, blue eyes shining with hurt. He looks like a kicked puppy.

You huff and slam your face into your pillow, mostly to hide the fact that you’re crying.

Piotr smooths your hair down, then kisses the back of your head. “Ya tebya lyublyu, myshka.”

You bite down on your pillow and cry harder.

***

It’s more than just being tired.

It’s guilt. It’s enough guilt to fill an ocean. No amount of effort you make is good enough; no matter how hard you try you wind up failing. Or snapping at someone you love. Or being unable to do even the simplest shit.

There’s so much anger, too. At the world, at anyone who points out that you’re not doing well, at yourself. There’s a scream constantly behind your lips, trying to crack its way out of your chest.

You’re failing. You’re trying to scoop up handfuls of sand to keep an entire dune from consuming you, and the grains keep running through your fingers; it practically looks like you haven’t done anything at all, and you’re so fucking tired…

***

The ‘house’ collapses over a load of dishes.

One load of fucking dishes.

It’s ridiculous.

You manage to drag yourself out of bed one morning, trying to get the haze that seems to be a permanent fixture in your mind to clear. You trudge downstairs, energy sapping out of you with every step you take.

You see last night’s dishes in the sink, waiting to be rinsed and loaded into the dishwasher.

It’s an easy task. The dishes aren’t all that dirty, and there aren’t that many of them.

And you can’t do it. You don’t have the energy. You’re just too fucking tired.

You failed.

You crumple to the floor, weeping against the wooden floorboards as the dam you’d been trying so hard to keep stable gives way. You scream, anger and guilt and frustration and self-loathing washing over you, crushing you beneath their weight. You clutch at your hair, seething as the past few months finally come to a head—

And then Piotr’s arms are around you. (Later, you’ll learn that he stopped back at the house to pick up a gradebook, which is why he was even around during the day in the first place.) He scoops you up, cradling you against his chest. “Myshka, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

You sob into his shirt, beyond words.

“Okay, okay.” He checks you over to make sure you’re not visibly injured, then carries you upstairs to bed.

You whimper when he tries to tuck you in. “No –I’ve got stuff to do—”

“It can wait,” he says, loving but firm. He gently tugs the comforter over you, then toes his shoes off before laying down next to you.

“It can’t,” you cry, even as he tugs you into his arms and tucks you against his chest. “It’s already waited for so long.”

“And it can wait longer.” He kisses your forehead. “It is okay, myshka. Rest.”

You snuffle and sob and gasp—

And, eventually, you fall asleep.

***

You wake up to Piotr stroking your hair. You inhale sharply, blinking to cast the bleariness out of your vision. “What time is it?”

“About noon,” he says.

Your heart sinks. “Shit. I’ve got grading—”

He places his arm over your waist, holding you in place. “It can wait.”

“But—”

“You had breakdown this morning, myshka. Health comes first.” He gazes into your eyes, brow furrowing. “Talk to me, moya lyubov. Please. What is wrong?”

Your heart rips into infinitesimal pieces at seeing him so worried –and then you start crying again. “I can’t…” You squeeze your eyes shut and buy your face against his chest. “I can’t. I can’t do it. No matter how much sleep I get, or I don’t get, or how much I exercise or don’t exercise, or what I eat or –any of it. I’m so tired, Piotr.” You let out a choked sob. “I’m just so tired, and I keep failing—”

Piotr rubs your back and kisses the top of your head. “It’s okay, myshka. It’s okay.”

***

Eventually, you settle again. You’re snuggled against Piotr’s chest, sniffling and sighing while he strokes your hair.

It’s not a bad place to bed.

“How long?” he asks, voice quiet and gentle. “How long have you felt tired?”

“I don’t know,” you mutter, lulled to a state of near drowsiness by his ministrations. “A few months? Maybe a little longer? I’ve always been kind of tired, what with anxiety and nightmares and all that shit.”

He ‘hmms,’ kissing the top of your head. “Have you eaten yet?”

“…does leftover pizza at three in the morning count?”

He sighs, exasperated and amused. “Okay, time for food.”

“I can’t,” you whimper, tears coming back as frustration swells in your chest. “I’m too tired to eat.”

Piotr shushes you, gently drying your cheeks with a tissue. “What if I bring you something?”

You stomach churns with guilt and self-loathing. “I’m not a baby. I don’t… I shouldn’t need people to make food for me.”

“No, not baby,” Piotr agrees, kissing your cheek. “But you are unwell.”

“I’m not sick!”

“Unwell is unwell,” Piotr states, voice brokering no room for debate (though it never loses that gentle intonation of his). “If I bring you food, will you eat?”

You hesitate, then manage a small nod. “Something small, please. I don’t want, like, a whole meal.”

Piotr nods. He heads downstairs, then returns a few minutes later with some toast, fruit, a glass of milk –and some Cheetos.

You giggle when you see the fluorescent orange cheese-snacks on your plate. “You do love me.”

“Navsegda.” He hands the plate to you, sets the glass on your nightstand, then waits for you to start in on your toast before speaking again. “I think you should see Dr. Mccoy about fatigue.”

“But I’m not sick,” you argue after swallowing a bite of toast.

“That you know of,” he corrects. “Lots of things can cause fatigue. Is best to check, to make sure more serious problem is not happening.”

“But…” A lump rises in your throat. “What if this is just me now? What if… what if I’m just broken?”

Piotr takes your hand in his. He presses his lips against your knuckles. “Then we know, and we make life suited to your brokenness.”

“I can’t slow everyone down, Piotr,” you insist. Your eyes burn with unshed tears. “I can’t –I can’t be a burden. It’s not fair to everyone else if I’m getting some sort of special treatment because I’m tired.”

“You are not burden,” Piotr declares, gaze boring into yours. “You are never burden. Understand?”

“Piotr—”

“Things happen, myshka. Sometimes, our bodies just… do not work right anymore. You still deserve comfortable, happy life. Nothing is unfair about that. Nothing.” He kisses the back of your hand again when you sigh, then pats your leg. “Finish eating. We go to doctor afterwards.”

***

The only way out is through.

Who would’ve guessed.

***

Dr. McCoy runs a series of comprehensive tests. Thyroid, allergy, iron deficiencies, vitamin deficiencies, glucose levels—

It comes back negative. All of it.

On one hand, it’s a good thing, given that you don’t have some sort of life-threatening condition that needs treating.

On the other hand, you just feel worse. It’s like proof that you have no excuse, that you’re tired for no reason, and that you just need to try harder.

“You are trying,” Piotr says when you admit as much. He draws you into a hug and kisses the top of your head. “We just need to find tools so that trying isn’t so hard.”

“What if there’s nothing?” you ask in a horrified whisper. “What if we try everything and nothing works?”

He kisses the top of your head again. “Then that is okay, too. However you are is okay, myshka.”

***

“How’s the tai chi going?”

You shrug. “It’s fine.” Nathan had switched you over to low impact exercise the second he got wind of your fatigue issues. “Wade likes to do it with me; we like to try and incorporate lame dance moves into our sets to see if Nathan’ll catch us doing it.”

Alyssa chuckles and shakes her head. “And does he?”

“He definitely did when Wade started doing the worm.”

The two of you laugh together.

“And how’s your task setting going?” Alyssa asks when you both settle back down. She grins when you scowl. “Ooh, I knew that’d be your reaction. I knew you were not going to like it one bit. You keep trying to eat the whole whale, sweetheart. You’re gonna choke!”

“I know, I know.” You sigh, frustrated and dejected in equal measure. “It’s just… hard. I used to be able to do so much more. And now –it’s like my body was stolen away from me.”

“I know, sweetheart. And I’m so sorry. But it’s important that you learn to readjust your scope for what’s reasonable and what’s not. Otherwise, you’re gonna keep spinning yourself in anxious circles –and you’re gonna keep making the fatigue worse by overworking yourself.”

You groan and rub at your face with your hands. “It just… it feels wrong! Like I’m being lazy! I don’t have a reason to be so tired.”

“Sure you do,” Alyssa says, as if it’s that simple. “Your body is healing. You spent a lifetime being traumatized and abused. Your body put itself on hold to help keep you alive. You’ve dealt with your anxiety, depression, and trauma to the point where you’re stable, so now all those years of stress and pain are finally catching up. This is your body’s way of saying ‘hey, it’s my turn!’ So, now you need to listen to it.”

“But what if I don’t get better?” you ask, voice fraying. “What if I’m like this forever?”

She shrugs, tucking her braids over her shoulder. “That could happen; the amount of trauma you went through would be more than enough to result in a permanent presentation of chronic fatigue syndrome. But it could also get better, too. There’s no point in trying to predict the outcome.”

“But if I don’t get better, I’ll have to step down from being an X-Man.”

“There is more to this life than being an X-Man, honey,” Alyssa says, smiling warmly at you. “You have an entire world to discover. You just might have to do it at a different pace than everyone else. Your goal isn’t to get back to being an X-Man. Your goal is to take care of yourself.”

You tuck your knees under your chin and wrap your arms around your legs. “That doesn’t feel like enough.”

“How come?”

“Because it’s me. I have to do more to make up for the fact that it’s me.”

Alyssa points her pen at you. “That’s the anxiety and depression talking. You are more than enough, just as you are. Your worth is not based on your productivity or what you can offer to society. It’s based on your existence as a human being, that’s all.”

You drop her gaze, opting to look down at the ornate, ocean blue rug she keeps in her office instead.

“I want you to keep working on adjusting your goal setting,” Alyssa says as she jots down a few notes in your file. “Three things a day, whether it’s chore, work, or self-care related. Nothing else goes on that list unless you need to remember to do it, like taking your meds. Okay?”

You mutter your assent.

“Attagirl. I also want you to do your positive affirmations. Three times a day, plus whenever you get caught in negative thought patterns.”

You groan and slump down on the couch. “No! Positive affirmations suck!”

“They’re wonderful,” Alyssa fires back, chuckling. “They’re so good for you, so good for your brain…” She laughs when you retch, then closes your file and stands. “Alright, sweetheart. Keep at it. I’ll see you next week.”

Piotr looks up when you walk out of Alyssa’s office. “All done?”

“She’s making me do more positive affirmations,” you grumble (you can hear Alyssa laugh at your admission).

“Ah, is good for you,” Piotr says as he ushers you down the hall. “Good to say truth out loud.”

You retch again. “Not you, too. I need to go find Wade. He’ll understand.”

Your husband chuckles and shakes his head. “Come on, myshka. Back home with you.”

“Why does it have to be so far?” you groan. “It’s so much walking.”

“Are you feeling tired?”

You sigh. “Honestly, yeah. I’m really wiped out.”

Piotr puts an arm around your shoulder in a one-armed hug. “I am sorry, moya lyubov’. Would you like me to carry you?”

“I shouldn’t need carrying.”

Piotr stops. He cups your face in his massive hands, making you look up at him. “Is not about ‘should’ or ‘should not.’ If your body needs help, then you need help.”

You hesitate, but ultimately nod. “Yeah. I’d be nice if you carried me.”

He nods. He waits until you two are outside, then kneels so you can clamber on his back. “Hop on, myshka.”

You loop your arms around his neck. You wait until he has his arms looped around your legs, then point in the direction of your house. “Home, Jeeves.”

Piotr chuckles. “I am transport service, now?”

“Damn right.” You gently slap his burly chest. “Mush. I want Poptarts.”

Piotr laughs again, then sets off across the lawn.

***

You’re not alright. Not technically. Alyssa’s right that you’ve been hurt. Healing takes time, and you’re just beginning your journey.

But you’ve got Piotr. Your family. Your friends. You’ve got Dr. McCoy and Alyssa as professional support. You have a home to rest in when you’re weary.

You’re okay –and on the days that you’re not, you will be.

And that’s more than enough.

#sass writes #piotr rasputin x reader #colossus x reader #*sighs*#well this happened #tw: anxiety #tw: depression #tw: chronic fatigue #not technically canon to the series #the author needed some catharsis #angst #hurt comfort #deadpool fanfiction #x men fanfiction

22 notes · View notes

harry-meepmeep-dresden · 4 years

Text

Hobbit Tricks

Hello everyone. I submitted a microfiction to a fan fiction contest. Thank you @studiocitypsychic for helping me edit this! You’re amazing! I hope everyone enjoys it: Buildings didn’t blaze with fire. Frogs weren’t raining down upon the city. Sidhe queens stayed clear of duking it out tonight. I intended to keep it that way.

If the fate of the world isn’t hanging in the balance, I’d typically spend this day of the year curled up enjoying my comfortable recliner, a cup of cocoa in one hand, book in the other, fireplace burning brightly in the background as I reveled in being the Grinch of Halloween. This holiday is all well and good when you’re not me.

Who am I? I’m the only wizard in the Chicago phone book, Harry Dresden. To say this day’s my least favorite is putting it mildly. This year I couldn’t just attempt to ignore it. No more fireplace, basement apartment, or staying in. I’m a dad, and there are certain responsibilities a single parent needs to live up to. It might not be saving Earth from becoming an undead paradise, but it’s still important. Tonight I’d be escorting two Hobbits and an ax-wielding Foo dog on an epic adventure to claim unspeakably valuable treasure…

Candy.

Father mode engaged as I let my baby girl help me get my fake bushy white eyebrows glued on. Maggie insisted they were absolutely necessary with the wig and beard. My beautiful little girl dressed up as Frodo. She had little makeup freckles on her cheeks, the elven cloak, and the iconic clothing made from what I guessed might be a pattern based on the movies, with lots of grays, greens, and browns. On top of that they’d picked out boots a few sizes too big and decorated them to look like Hobbit feet.

Scratching my jaw a little I determined I would not disappoint her by complaining about my costume she and Charity Carpenter made. Maggie and the Carpenters spent weeks on these outfits. No matter how itchy fake facial hair and wigs could be, not a single negative word would come out of my mouth about it. Anyway, I rarely get to dress up like one of my favorite fictional wizards, and this made both Maggie and me happy. Mouse wore a helmet, fake plastic ax, and that big goofy doggy grin of his. He couldn’t help it as he noticed how much Maggie enjoyed all of this.

Hope or another one of the Carpenter kids normally lead the trick-or-treating. They’d instead volunteered to help with Father Forthill’s trunk-or-treat at the church this year. Maggie and Hank demanded an old-fashioned door-to-door experience instead. I couldn’t lie about the fact that taking Maggie trick-or-treating made my heart grow three sizes.

We picked up Hank, and he brought out a map the Carpenter kids developed over years of experience of the best houses to get candy from. And with that, Sam, Frodo, Gandalf, and Gimli were off on an adventure. Now and then I’d whisper a spell, and Maggie’s plastic version of Sting would glow with a pale blue light. It delighted her and the surrounding kids. One house gave the kids full-sized candy bars as the adults complimented the costumes.

“Dad! Look!” she hurried over to show me. The large boots decorated to resemble Hobbit feet made running or walking tricky. She still half-waddled impressively fast. I whistled and smiled as she held up the candy bar.

“Seems the costumes impressed them. You did an amazing job, kiddo. I mean, these costumes couldn’t be more perfect. Starting to dig the beard. Maybe I should keep this look, huh?” I stroked the fake beard and tried impersonating that knowing stare into the distance Sir Ian McKellen used in the movies.

She giggled, hurrying off towards the next house, Mouse and Hank right by her side and me just behind. No way would those kids leave my sight. Her eyes lit up each time she said ‘trick or treat’. Every few houses she brought her bag over to show off the bounty of the adventure. It made painful memories wash away little by little. Soon we ran out of houses on the map. We were all loaded into the car as Hank checked his watch. I half expected him to jokingly call the watch ‘my precious’.

“Hey, Harry, isn’t there anywhere else you can take us? It’s still super early,” he pleaded as they buckled up.

“That’s all the places on the map, kiddo,” I replied, thinking about how fast we got through it, and blaming it on the kids’ energy and excitement.

“Nowhere else, dad?” I might not have seen it since I kept an eye on the road, but my dad senses felt the pout Maggie had while asking that.

“Alright, fine. Off to Helm’s Deep,” I grinned, changing direction to head to Murph’s house.

When we got there Murphy wasn’t home. There were no signs of foul play from what I could see. She might be at a party. I didn’t expect that with her injuries, but I’m not her keeper. I had really wanted to see her tonight, and couldn’t help the slight ache in my chest. Oh well, on to try Waldo’s place.

I gave a few quick knocks on Butters’ door when we arrived before waiting for an answer. No answer. He might be busy with knight business or his job. He enjoyed working late. Billy and Georgia were the next destination. They also weren’t home.

Before going to Thomas’ apartment, I called him. No answer. He and Justine were likely at a White Court party or busy with other activities. I’d rather not chance interrupting them with two kids in tow.

Back in the car, I noticed that Maggie and Hank were being remarkably quiet. Maybe they were bored. I tried to think about where else we might go. The church was a good option since they had set up games for the kids.

“Hey, sorry, it’s a bust. We’ll head to the church and see what they’re up-”

“No!” the two kids blurted out, interrupting me.“I mean, uh, I think I’d rather head home and you and Maggie could stay over and watch a scary movie or something?” Hank asked.

I turned to glance at the two of them and noticed Maggie change her attention to Mouse, away from Hank’s watch. The way they kept hovering over it, they reminded me of the Hobbits and the One Ring. Hopefully Maggie wouldn’t attempt biting off Hank’s entire hand to get it.

“Uh-huh… You two are up to something,” I said and narrowed my eyes.

“We don’t want the adventure to end just yet. We haven’t even been to Mordor,” Hank chimed with a half smile.

I needed to keep them safe from watching anything nightmare inducing or Charity’d mince me up and bake me into meat pies Sweeny Todd style. Out of the many monsters I’ve fought, I’d rather face them over her. Soon we parked in front of the Carpenters’ home. A shiver ran up my spine from the eeriness of Michael’s house with all the lights off. I thought at least one of the Carpenters would be home. Before I could ask Hank anything both the Hobbits rushed out trailed by the furry Gimli.

“Hey!” I shouted, not wanting to lose sight of them.

Why were they running off knowing how dangerous tonight of all nights could be? Might just be heading to the backyard to play, but it was still Halloween. Even knowing literal angels protected Michael’s property, my chest felt tight with worry when I couldn’t see the kids.

Once I entered the backyard, a bunch of lights blinded me.

“SURPRISE!” voices echoed in the night.

My eyes adjusted and I saw everyone and all the decorations they set up. The Carpenter family arranged themselves behind the table everyone had gathered around. I noticed Butters hanging out with the wolf pack to one side of the table. Murphy sat up in a chair with her crutches close by. Thomas and Justine were even there, wearing modest clothing and standing next to Murphy. The large cake on the table featured a t-rex picture on top, probably Butters’ idea. Next to it were plates and forks. A cooler filled with different soda sat next to the table. To top everything else off, the Monster Mash played in the background.

I felt Maggie hug my leg. Bending down, I picked her up and wrapped her into an even bigger hug. She kissed my cheek and wrapped her arms around my neck as I held her close. Everyone had planned this together. They set me up. Michael brought out an old Polaroid camera to take pictures. Wizards don’t photograph well on most modern equipment.

“You sneaky little hobbitses,” I tried to say in my best Gollum impression before sniffling as the fake beard tickled my nose. “You tricked me.”

That smile she gave me made me feel… Well, let’s just say if it were sunny out I could have used magic to catch daylight in a handkerchief.

“Happy birthday, dad.”

19 notes · View notes

lovemesomesurveys · 3 years

Text

What's your sleeping position? I sleep slightly turned to my left and propped up. How much did you spend the last time you went to a restaurant? I haven’t been to a restaurant in almost a year now, but I spent over $50 recently getting food from a restaurant delivered. I love the convenience of Doordash, but damn it’s expensive. Are caterpillars more cute or disgusting? Sorry, but I don’t find ANY bug cute. I’m afraid of all of them and find them all gross. I’m sure they’d say the same about me, so it’s mutual. Ha. Who started the conversation between you and the person you're currently texting? I'm not texting anyone right now. How long have you been on the computer? Over an hour this current session. I was on earlier, but got off to eat and stuff. Or do you mean how long total in my life? I’ve been using computers since I was in kindergarten in school, but my family and I got our first computer when I was 9. That’s when it really took off for me and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Whose birthday is coming up? What's your relation to them? My brother’s is next month. Have you ever had an argument with another survey-taker/maker? Nooo. The survey crew on here are awesome. Where is the farthest you've traveled this month? The only place I’ll be going is to my doctor, which is like a 5 minute drive away. What is something you wish you had more of? Energy. What is your state/province/region known for? I feel like when people think of California, they think of beaches and Hollywood. Have you ever had to spend the night at a hospital? Yeah, I’ve had to spend months in the hospital. Do you put shopping carts back into their designated spot in the parking lot? I don’t use shopping carts because it would be hard for me to push and wheel myself at the same time, but yeah my mom always puts back the one we use. What is the population of the city you live in? *shrug* It’s a lot. What is the most common name you are called other than your given name? Steph or Sis. What's your homepage when you bring up the internet? Well, I keep my windows open and whatever I was on last, which is generally Tumblr and YouTube (I both because I have two windows open side by side so I can watch YouTube and do other things), is the first thing I see when I open my laptop. Google is my homepage, though, it’s what pops up when I open a new tab or window. Was the last book you read for fun or was it for some type of assignment? For fun. I love to read and do a lot of it. Have you accomplished any goals you set for yourself this year so far? I haven’t set any, but we’re barely a little over a week into the new year. What was the last thing to annoy you or make you upset? It just sucked because I slept in until like 5PM yesterday and with my family’s different schedules and just kind of doing our own things at that time (my dad was busy and my brother was relaxing and probably taking a nap cause he had to get up early for work the past two days and today as well), I hardly saw or spoke to anyone. My mom had been gone hours before I got up and hours after because she had to get stuff ready for our family friend who flew back home today that she’s a caregiver for and then go pick her up and help her get settled in at home and it ended up taking a long time. By the time she got home she just quickly ate and had to go to bed because she has to get up super early for work. :/ So yeah, I didn’t even really get to see or talk to her at all. My brother had to go to bed early, too, and my dad always goes to bed early, so I’ve been up alone since like 10PM and that’s early. Generally, my mom and brother stay up later than that. I have my whole nighttime routine where I just do my own thing and I like it, but I like being able to see and talk to my family before during the day, ya know? My nighttime alone time routine doesn’t start usually until like after midnight, so yeah 10PM was really early. Being that I did that the night before as well and sleeping in so late and hardly seeing/taking to anyone yesterday... it’s been a lot of alone time and I’m feeling kinda lonely. But whatever, I’m doing my nighttime routine and about to make my ramen and then probably just go to sleep. Have you ever been ditched by someone only to find them out and about with someone else? No, I didn’t end up seeing them, but I found out later that they ended up doing something else. How old were you when you had your wisdom teeth removed? Like 16, I think. What’s the last song you sang out loud? I don’t remember at the moment. Have you ever dated someone you met online? No. Do you wish you were taller or shorter? “I wish I was a little bit taller.” 🎶 What time did you go to bed last night? I crashed around 5AM, which is early for me. I didn’t even remember falling asleep. Do you think you’re fat? No. I’m actually too thin and underweight. Do you have a pet cat? Nope. If you had to get up at six AM tomorrow morning, would it be painful? I’d be up anyway since I generally stay up until like 7 or 8AM. That’s been my messed up sleep schedule the past year for whatever reason. Are you happy with life at the moment? No. I think that’s been made abundantly clear to anyone who has been following me and reads my answers. Would you go on a date with someone right now if they asked? Nooo. Do you believe that if you want something bad enough, you’ll get it? You gotta put in the work and effort, too. What was the last thing you watched on the TV? King of Queens. What do you hear? An ASMR video. What’s the last beverage you had? I just drank some of my Starbucks Doubleshot energy drink. Who came over last? We haven’t had anyone over since the pandemic hit. Are you thinking of getting another piercing and, if so, where? Nope. How many phones have you gone through? I’ve had like 7 or 8. Have you always lived in the house you currently reside in? No, we moved here about 10 years ago. Do you own any band tees? Yeah, I have 3 Linkin Park shirts, a Red Hot Chili Peppers shirt, and a couple Nirvana shirts. Do you like to drink wine? No. Or any alcohol. Do you think your future will be a good one? :/

#personal #text #survey #surveys

3 notes · View notes

omg-foreverfilledwithweird-posts · 5 years

Text

Daddy’s Girl

Pairing: AU! Bucky Barnes X Reader

Summary: Bucky Barnes, a single father of his daughter Winnifred, named after his late mother, with sad, tortured eyes and a kind, open heart, hires Y/N to babysit his little girl while he works at his new construction job, coming home only at lunchtime. Innocent and fiery and compassionate, you find your way into his heart and soon his daughter isn’t the only one you come over for.

A/N: so as you can see I haven’t posted a fanfiction in awhile, been busy and stuff, and i want to go back to my roots and write a bucky story cause i adore writing him and I haven’t written an AU yet so I decided to do this one (he’s still a super soldier and was around in the 40′s just domesticated now we love him uwu) and as always i hope you guys enjoy and feedback is appreciated because it’s my only form of validation and i love it this ones a long one btw and rushed and WHOA and if ya want a part two LEMME KNOW

Warnings: really freaking fluffy, mild language, age-difference, cuteness, mentions of cheating and war trauma, slight angst, alcohol consumption, heavy makeout,

Your knuckles ghosts over the large, wooden doorway laden with vines, climbing up the cedar detailing, other hand gripping your bag strap tightly. You’re nervous, to say the least, this job funding your payments for online university and you don’t want to jeopardize anything on your first day. He’s offered more than enough for your hourly wage, more than any babysitting job you’ve had before, any job for that matter, and based on his house, it’s no wonder he can afford to do so.

Your fist finally knocks against the door and it opens almost immediately, as if he’s been waiting behind the door this whole time you’ve been standing here, both stalling. You’ve only heard his voice over the phone, deep and charming, but that didn’t do him justice. Sculpted face, from marbled, olive clay, cerulean blue eyes that are already looking you over, dark, brunette hair to his jawline and messy with the slightest of curls, and lips, curved at the edges permanently, like he was born with a face to smile. His left arm is made of metal, cool and hard steel you want to reach out and touch like a painting in the Met, off limits. But you don’t dare stare too long, don’t dare pry. He’s beautiful and you’re almost stunned into silence, not expecting the man before you.

“Y/n, right?” he asks, flashing a soft, half smile, warm and inviting.

“No, wait... yeah,” you laugh nervously, shaking your head, scrunching your nose when embarrassment floods to your face, flushed. “Sorry, yes, I’m y/n.”

His smile widens, “I’m James, but I go by Bucky. You can call me whichever you like. Please, come on in.”

You share in his smile, making the eye contact your past bosses would always reprimand you about, something about respect they said, and walk inside when he opens the door a little wider for you, “Yes, sir,” you say and he ignores the not so subtle tug in his chest when you say that, following in behind you after shutting the door.

“So uh... this is my humble abode, I guess,” he tugs on the curls at the ends of his hair as your eyes scan the house, speechless at the interior design, imagining that it gets lonely in this big home with just the two of them.

“Humble isn’t exactly the word I would use,” you look back at him. “Your home is gorgeous. This foyer alone is bigger than my apartment,” you laugh lightly.

Bucky noticeably softens, bashful, hands stuffed deep in his pockets when he walks ahead of where your standing rooted to the floor, “It was my ma’s... she left it after she passed. I’ve barely been able to keep up with the payments, but I do what I can.”

“I tried to...” he notices a barbie doll laying on the ground and kicks it swiftly under the staircase so you wouldn’t see but you catch the small exchange and smile. “Clean up as much one can with a five year old spider monkey on their back. I apologize if it’s messy in some rooms.”

You giggle, “No need to be sorry,” you assure him, tugging on your bag strap, filled to the brim with games to keep the child busy and occupied, also including some snacks and your cellphone. “Mess is natural.”

His shoulders slack, relaxing when hearing that, a soft smile his only response.

“Speaking of, hey, sweetheart!” he calls up the stairs, leaning against the railing, rolling up the sleeves of his light green flannel, unintentionally showing off his ripped forearms, toned and tan from working outside. “Come downstairs and meet y/n, she’s going to be taking care of you from now on while I’m working!”

“Hey is for horses, daddy!” she yells down the stairs, little voice high pitched and extremely adorable.

“Uncle Steve told you that, didn’t he?” he rolls his eyes, flashing a smile in your direction, sharing in the expression with him.

The little girl appears at the top of the staircase and she’s bouncing with energy, blonde curls raining down her shoulders, stuffed unicorn tucked under her pudgy arm, “He also said yelling is impolite. Especially when it’s from another room.”

“I’m gonna kill him,” he sighs, grumbling under his breath as he patiently awaits for his daughter to skip down the stairs, jumping into his open arms. He groans at the impact and spins her around.

“Well, how about you tell Uncle Steve to shove it,” he looks at her and she giggles, bubbling with laughter when he tickles her sides. “Can you do that for me?”

“Isn’t that mean?” she narrows her blue eyes, much like her father’s, big and bright.

“Yes, but I’ll allow it just this once.”

She nods, saluting her goofy father and he salutes back, brothers in arms. You’ve never seen a parent so in love with their kid like this, so kind and gentle.

He sets her down on the ground once again, the little girl finally acknowledging your presence with a curious tilt of her head, almost like a cat. “Is this the lady?”

“Winnifred, this is y/n,” he nudges her towards you, hand on her back pushing her forward. “And y/n, this is the spider monkey I was talking about,” he cracks a smile and you chuckle, lowering yourself to the ground to get to her level.

“Hi, Winnifred,” you extend your hand. “I’m y/n. It’s very nice to meet you. Your giraffe is really cute.”

She takes two of your fingers in her small hand, thin, golden brown glasses perched on the bridge of her nose and shakes, formal and polite when she puffs up her chest while doing her best to mimic her father, “I’m Winnifred but I go by Winnie, call me whicheva’ you prefer.”

Bucky looks at his daughter, stunned and mouth agape, “Are you mocking me?”

She furrows her small brow, faking offense, but she’s crossing her fingers behind her back where only you can see, “Of course not.”

“Were you listening this whole time, Winnie?” you ask her quietly and she grins, nodding rapidly, as hyper as the energizer bunny. You give her a small, secret fist bump, both sharing a small smile.

“You two will get along perfectly,” James rolls his eyes.

You’re braiding back Winnifred’s hair into plaited pigtails, tying off the ends with violet ribbon you brought from home, when Bucky walks down the staircase, work bag hanging off his broad shoulder. He blinks hard when he sees you, smiling with blushing cheeks, eyes tired. “Oh, hey, you’re early.”

“I also made you a sack lunch,” you hold up the paper bag with one hand, and fix up Winnie’s hair with the other.

You’ve been here a week now and it’s slowly become routine, you getting here early even though you don’t have to, going out of your way to do nice things for him because you know he needs it, and him blushing, oblivious to your affections but growing in his own.

His hand brushes yours when he accepts the lunch from your grasp, calloused fingers touching yours.

“Goodbye, sweetheart, I love you. Be good for y/n and I’ll see you at lunch,” he kisses the top of her head and almost like it’s out of habit, sleep deprivation, confusion, or just him plain wanting to, he kisses the top of your head too.

You look up at him, surprised, and Winnifred practically squeals, deep color filling your face.

He closes his eyes in embarrassment, clearly exhausted and delirious, “I didn’t mean to do that, I’m so sorry, it’s a force of habit. I’ve made you uncomfortable, haven’t I? I’m s-”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” you assure him, laying your hand on his forearm, subconsciously running your thumb over the skin when you try to relax his anxious rambling. You laugh a little, he’s like a puppy in more ways than one, “I’m not uncomfortable, here...” you get up off where you’re sitting on the couch, Win watching you expectantly.

You stand up on the tips of your toes, seeing as he’s six foot and then some, and kiss the top of his head, gentle and doting. “There you go, now we’re even,” you share a small smile with him, eyes alight.

He searches your face for something but you don’t know what, finding that unknown thing in your eyes before edging a soft smirk and chuckling, “Thank you. That... oddly helped.”

You grin brilliantly and Winnifred jumps on your back from the cushion on the couch, both of you sharing a laugh, “You’re welcome, I knew it would. Have a good day at work, we’ll be here.”

“You too,” he runs a hand through his behead of hair, looking at the two of you adoringly before walking over to the door.

“This isn’t work for me,” you say happily. “I love this spider monkey,” you scrunch your face up and stick out your tongue at her, Winnifred copying your silly expression.

She puts her small hands on your face and shakes you around, you toss her over your shoulder in retaliation. Bucky watches on at the adorable exchange and his heart aches in a way he’s never felt like that before, not his ex wife, not his past girlfriends, not the whirlwind of dames he went through in the 40′s army, not drunken one night stands he thought about calling the next day, and it scares him. You. And his attraction to you soon grows to much more than just that.

“Bye,” he sort of half smiles, heart beating out of his chest when he sees you give him a passing smile as he walks out, both of you still grinning even after the other leaves.

~~~

He’s sitting out on the patio when you’re about to leave for the day, just after putting Winnifred down for her nap. She had been clinging to your tee shirt until you broke down to her begging in telling her a story. There’s a bottle of beer in his hand, and you’re struck at how the moonlight is cascading down his sitting figure, how pleasing he is to look at, rocking back and forth in his white rocking chair. The paint on the old seat is chipping, old, and creaking under his weight, masking the sound of you closing the door behind you, tugging on your bag.

He sees you anyway, always taught when he was a soldier that he needs to look out and keep being alert at all times in case of an attack, that it’s either him or the enemy. His eyes are glazed over when he looks at you like he’s somewhere else before he shakes himself out of it, gulping audibly in your presence when tucks a falling strand of your hair behind his ear. He tied his hair up in a bun, the occasional tendril escaping the elastic.

His five o’clock shadow is more prominent out here in the near dark, stars speckling the sky above you both.

“Hi,” you exhale, running a hand through your hair so it’s out of your face, wearing a crooked grin Bucky can’t bring himself to want to fix. It’s so perfectly you. “I’m sorry if I interrupted your alone time, I know it’s hard to come by as of lately,” you chuckle, nervous beyond repair, almost losing your balance just standing here. “I’ll go and leave you alone-”

“Stay.”

It’s a single word and he says it with such gentleness and permanence you can’t say no. Not that you’d want to anyway, you’ll always say yes.

You nod, “I’d love to, but... are you sure?”

“Very,” he assures you, nodding towards the porch swing beside him, swaying in that late night breeze, curling itself around you and licking your bones, that warmth your feeling being something else. Someone else.

“Alright,” you concede and walk over to sit down on the swing, not needing much convincing.

You lay down on the swing, bare legs kicked up in the air when your jean shorts ride up ever so slightly, the hot sun in the day now biting you in the ass because the temperature has changed so drastically, nipping at your skin. His eyes fall over your toned legs and he’s intoxicated. You let out a long sigh you’ve been holding in all day, feeling the ice cold glass of a beer bottle in your outstretched hand, and you yelp slightly, opening your eyes and taking the beer he’s given to you with a small, gracious smile.

“Rough day?” he asks, taking a swig of his own drink.

“No, not at all, Winnifred’s the perfect kid,” you gush, twisting off the top of the bottle and sipping the drink. “I just never sleep. What with college and stuff.”

He smiles at the compliment to his daughter, agreeing completely, “Where do you go?”

“Community college down the street by my apartment, I only go part time, but it’s still... time consuming. I stayed up all night studying for upcoming exams.”

“Today isn’t so good for everyone I guess,” he nurses his drink, swirling it around absentmindedly. “Today’s an anniversary of mine.”

You frown a little at that, forgetting the idea of him being with someone, that familiar feeling of a hole in your chest, sipping the beer, “You and... your wife?”

His lips slightly tug upward at your change in tone, “Of our divorce...”

“Oh,” your eyes widen the tiniest bit, swirling your drink. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” his eyes soften at your kind words. You’re good, too good. For him, anyway. “I walked in on her... and my brother, after coming home from work. One month after Winnifred was born, she was asleep that night, they did it just one room away from my little girl...” he clenches his fist around his bottle and the glass fractures.

“She saw me and I didn’t say anything. I just looked at her. She said it was because I wasn’t angry that she was doing this. Because I never feel anything. I walked out, no emotion, nothing. So maybe she was right about that,” he laughs dryly, scratching the back of his neck, another strand falling across his face. “She left with him that night and I haven’t seen any of them since, maybe the occasional Facebook post of her and her new family but... all Winnie knows is that she’s gone, she asks me a lot if it’s her fault.”

“You don’t deserve that,” you say tenderly, as if cooing an injured animal, leaning forward. Your small shirt rides up slightly, revealing the soft pudge of your stomach when you reach out to put your comforting hand on his arm. He’s swept under your spell. “Winnifred doesn’t either.”

“It was tough at the time,” he admits honestly, baring his soul to you. “But I’ve moved on since, some things just aren’t...” you two lock eyes. “-meant to be, I guess.”

“She’s what we women like to call a cunt,” you tell him, your attempt to lighten up the mood. “Just look up the definition and you’ll see her picture, with your brother right behind her.”

He laughs, genuinely this time, eyes crinkling in the corners kind of laugh, the contagious one that gets you started too. It feels good, makes you both forget about your troubles. Just you two, under starlight, on this painted, wooden porch, in the beginning of June. Because you can’t be bothered with anything else.

“Thank you,” he praises, raising the bottle to his pink mouth. “I see why Winnifred adores you so much. It took dozens of some odd babysitters, but, hey, we got you now.”

“Well... I don’t normally swear around my bosses,” you flush in the slightest.

“I’ll allow it just this once,” he takes a sip, looking at you from the corner of his eyes, lips wrapped around the rim and coated with liquor when they curl at the edges.

“You’re too kind,” you breathe a chuckle and take your own sip, meeting eyes over a shared bottle of beer in both your fists.

“You’re the first to say so.”

“With a heart like yours, Buck... I highly doubt that,” you stand up from the porch swing, backpack in hand again. No one’s called him that since Steve and girlfriends in the 40′s, but he likes the way you say it much better. He can just hear the smug voice of his best friend now. From when he called him while you were upstairs.

“You like her, Buck,” he told him, that damned smile searingly loud even over the phone. “I can tell, haven’t heard you talk about a dame like this since...” he paused. “Since no one, actually.”

“I can’t like her,” Bucky had reiterated, to himself mostly, trying to convince himself what his heart was telling him otherwise. “She babysits my kid, she’s ten years younger than me... she won’t like an old man like me.”

“Since when as age been an obstacle for you? And if we’re getting technical, it’s more like a 110 years younger.”

“Well it is now,” Bucky chuckled. “And since when have you been such a smartass?”

“I’ve had a good teacher,” he snarked. “Just give it a chance. Or the next time you gush about her, I’ll go and tell the doll myself.”

“You’re not allowed here after all that polite shit you drilled into my daughter’s head. She’s a little you now.”

“I taught her manners,” Steve laughed. “Sue me.”

“If I could... believe me, I would.”

“Thank you,” he looks up at you from where your standing. “For everything.”

“Of course,” you smile and he stands up himself, knowing he should go inside. “But I uh... I should get home, it’s getting late.”

“Yeah, I guess it is,” he finally realizes, stuffing his hands deep in his jeans pockets, like a lovestruck teenager all over again, unsure what to do. “And you know... as long as I’ve been around, one of the only benefits of being a super solider, I’ve never met someone that talks as much as you do.”

You laugh, flustered and bright from the summer night air biting at the button of your nose, “I don’t know whether to be flattered or insulted.”

“It’s a good thing,” he says and you gravitate towards each other. “I’ve gotten sick of the quiet.”

You look down at your sneakers, “I’m glad I could be of service.”

You’re both so close, noses slight brushing when he’s inadvertently backed you up into the wooden railing. His hand opens and closes, before closing tightly into a fist.

He looks you over, as if he’s holding himself back from reaching out, wanting so much of you, but it’s never enough, “Goodnight, y/n. Get home safely, alright?”

Your lips dip downward, a frown on your lips that he can’t help but take notice of when he dismisses you, but he wants to protect you. He doesn’t want to do something you both would regret. A monster like him.

You bounce back quickly with a small smile, “Oh, right. Goodnight, Mr. Barnes,” and your eyes linger on his face before you’re walking down the steps.

~~~

James walks through the backyard, it’s a hot summer day, now in mid July, and you and Winnifred are running through the sprinkler. Your bare feet slap against the wet grass, green on your heels. He watches how your skin glistens in the sun with sweat and sun screen, sun burned cheeks and hair that clings to your face in tendrils. He can’t keep his eyes off of you, a coral, pink bikini top and jean shorts, the slightest of bows tied at the top from your string bottoms. He itches to get his hands on it, to pull, to see the supple skin underneath. His eyes fall over the dips and curves of your breasts and hips, your waist, your ass.

You run a hand over your hair, getting it out of your face and eyes to look at him with a brilliant, sunshine grin, wringing out the water in your locks, “Hey, you’re home early.”

“I-I got off a little early today because there was a heat warning, what are you guys doing outside?” he drops his work bag by the door and walks towards you both, arms folded over his chest.

“Playing in the sprinkler!” Winnifred answers, throwing her hands up, when the water hits her and she giggles freely. “Duh!”

“Really?” his eyebrows raise, mumbling smart aleck under his breath with a tiny, turned up smile. “And why is that?”

“Cause it’s fun,” you grin, crooked and bright.

You walk over to him, extending your hand, and he looks at the gesture, suspicious, a teasing smile forming. “I won’t bite... I promise.”

You take his hand and pull him to you, stepping through the grass and stringing him along until you’re in the sprinkler and he’s soaked. His white Henley shirt clings to his tanned muscle and your eyes are anywhere but, too keep yourself sane. He looks at you, looming over, running a hand back through his slick hair, water droplets falling from his long lashes and he’s laughing, grabbing you and throwing you over his shoulder like a rag doll, one muscular arm wrapped around your legs. They dangle off his torso when you kick, punching his back to put you down, but your sides split from laughing, so loud and obnoxiously.

“I wanna be carried! I wanna be carried!” Winnifred giggles excitedly, holding onto your foot where it’s hanging.

He sets you down, soft breasts to his hard chest, his hands on your waist when he puts you back on solid ground. You lock eyes with him and your fingers itch to reach out and touch him, run your hands through his hair and tug him closer to you.

He opens his mouth to speak, inhaling sharply, “Y/n, I-”

“Y/n! He has cooties, come play with me instead!” Winnifred yells, loud and jumping up and down.

“You heard the girl,” you smile, sad and dreamy eyed. “You’re contagious.”

“Go on, then,” he laughs, looking at you like he’s about to say something again, but ultimately decided against it. Your face falls at the missed opportunity, “I’ll see you inside.”

~~~

Winnifred fell asleep across Bucky’s lap, curled up within herself under a weighted, fluffy blanket, head against his chest. You smile at the adorable moment, how his face has softened around her as the television drones on of a Disney movie you turned on that neither of you paid attention to. Ten minutes in and Winnifred was snoring away, dead asleep after laying on her father’s lap.��

“I’ll bring her upstairs,” he clears his throat as he picks her up, small against his broad and muscular frame. “If uh... you want to come with,” his lips kick up and you share it, both dreary and dog tired.

“Of course,” you yawn, stretching out your limbs, and you follow after him up the stairs, watching as he doesn’t struggle to carry her at all up the staircase.

You both step into her room as he lays her down in her Frozen themed, princess sized bed, Elsa and Anna on her pillow and large, cloudy blanket, fuzzy to the touch. She snuggles herself into the cozy mattress and smiles into her pillow, flushed with sleep and activity from the day. You and Bucky’s eyes meet over her, and to anyone on the outside looking in, you’re a happy, little family, the wholesome sitcom kind.

He doesn’t mind that image at all.

The two of you walk out of the room after turning on her sound machine and glow worm night light, shutting the door softly behind you. You press your back against her door, hand still on the handle like it’s tethering you to reality, keeping you on solid ground.

“This is probably... a really odd request but could you stay with me in bed... until I fall asleep?” he asks, bashful and hesitant. “I’ve been having these... night terrors lately, flashbacks, and it’s hard to sleep, so I thought maybe if someone was there with me, someone I trust then-”

“I’m happy to do it,” you smirk at his boyish smile and how timid he’s become all of a sudden, walking alongside him to his . “But if I fall asleep waiting for you to do it, don’t blame me.”

He chuckles, deep from his chest when he opens the door to his bedroom, leading you inside. You rush over and jump onto the mattress, plopping down on the soft blankets and pillows, watching him roll his eyes in a fond, affectionate sort of way that has your heart working overtime. He lays down beside you, chest rising and falling in one deep breath, none of you wanting to fall asleep despite your exhaustion. You want to savor the moment. Him and you so close.

You sit up, hair falling angelically over your face, a curtain over your eyes that shields you both from the outside world. His eyes drift to the soft pout of your lips, pink and how your tongue drags across the pillow of your bottom lip, curling at the edges when you see where his eyes lay. His eyes then drift off to what he hopes to be sleep, breathing slowing as he gracefully slips into slumber. You watch his hardened features soften as he does, lips parted ever so slightly, dark eyelashes kissing his cheeks, and you know that this is love.

It’s not more than fifteen minutes into his sleep that he shoots upright, sweat dripping down his face, coating his hair and skin, now matted on his clothes, and he’s hyperventilating, eyes glazed over with visions of his past. You wake up soon after, startled by his harsh breaths and incoherent mumbles, whispers of a former life.

“Please... please don’t. She’s all I have,” he says, voice breaking but at the same time he’s robotic, not awake, and a tear slips from his eye. He’s shaking in his covers and you know what he’s dreaming about.

“Don’t hurt Winnifred, please, I’m the monster, not her. S-she shouldn’t be hurt, take me instead,” his heart seizes in his chest. He calls out your name in his tired voice, broken sobs escaping.

You throw your arms around him, close to tears yourself, clutching him to your chest to wake him from the nightmare, cooing softly in his ear until his breathing calms and he’s silent.

“I’m okay, Winnifred’s okay, we just put her to bed, Buck. It’s just a dream, it’s not real...” you run a hand through his brunette locks, teasing the scalp and rubbing small stars into his back, bringing him slowly back in to the present and out of his own dark, warped thoughts.

You move to put your hands on either side of his face, his eyes finally back to their normal glimmer, now awake. You brush your thumb against the stubble on his jaw, fingers massaging into the skin, “I’m here, just keep looking at me.”

He looks up at you, wide eyed and cautious of his every move, and to calm him down further, or possibly just to indulge your own wants, you kiss his forehead. Pressing lips against his cheek, his nose, his jaw, his temples, small groans escaping him when he takes your face in his hands and crashes his mouth against yours and it’s a symphony, harmony of moving lips.

“No, no... we can’t,” he whispers, just barely in front of your lips.

“Why?” you look at him, questioning.

“It-it’s not right...” he groans at the desperate expression on your face, hair mussed and lips swollen, throwing all caution to the wind.

“Stop talking,” you silence him, shaking your head with a soft smile, and your lips are on his again.

He greedily swallows your moans when his hands fall down your body, each and every ample curve in the palm of his hand. His hands slides under your thighs, gripping the smooth flesh and picking you up so you straddle his hips, legs wrapped around him. You grind your ass into him, purring, his breath quickening along with your heaving chest. It’s hard to imagine, wanting something for so long and finally getting it, like reaching out for light and finally grasping it between your fingers, that starlight you’ve been searching for since that night on the porch with him. And it’s better than you dreamed it up to be. He breaks away, both of you open mouthed and you kiss the dimple that appears when his lips twitch upwards while looking at you.

You trail your fingers up his metal arm and he feels the pressure of your hand, the warmth of your skin and the sudden press of lips against the cool steel when you kiss his palm.

He flips you both over so he’s above you, stubble scratching against your neck when he places sloppy, open mouthed kisses down your skin and sucks bruises on your most sensitive pulse points, a frenzy of tongue and teeth. A man untamed.

Bucky resurfaces and looks at you, lust and sincerity in his gaze, hungry, “Are you sure?”

“About what, Buck?”

“Us.”

“Unquestionably.”

#james buchanan barnes #Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes drabble #bucky barnes imagine #steve rogers x bucky barnes #Steve Rogers #steve rogers imagine #Sebastian Stan #sebastian stan x reader #marvel #marvel smut #Smut #fanfiction #avengers fanfiction #marvel fanfiction

950 notes · View notes

shaineybainey · 4 years

Text

“Noble Intentions”

Lab Rats [T]

The Lab Rats and Mighty Med teams face off with the greatest threat to humanity yet: The Incapacitator, a supervillain bent on becoming the most powerful in the planet. …Which makes things super awkward for Leo, considering that their newest nemesis is his father. AU. Lab Rats vs Mighty Med redux.

** DISCLAIMER: SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMER **

tagging: @weareoutofmaplesyrupdave @allhailkingbob @neshatriumphs @vcnting @verified-dumbass @serpent-princess @clockradio93 @lover-of-dc-comics @dysfunction-ality @eclecticlawyergardengoth

VIII: The Night of Infinite Hours, Side B

Tecton rubs his eyes, stinging now from staring at the twenty-foot screen of the League’s supercomputer. He doesn’t know why he’s doing this to himself. They’ve refreshed the radar four times already. If there was a change in result, it would have told him.

“You look terrible, Alex. You really should get some sleep.”

He looks up, only to find a mug of hot coffee being held in front of his face. “Thanks.”

“That’s not going to hold you up for long, though.”

I know, Tecton thinks wearily. It’s turning out to be one of his longest patrol as of yet.

Sharp takes her seat beside him, her own cup of coffee nestled safely in her hand. “Might not be a bad idea to get some shut eye. You never know when Incapacitator will slip and show up.”

“That’s why I can’t go to sleep. I have to wait.”

His colleague looks at him a while, analyzing. Then, she leans back on her chair and smirks up to the screen. “I’ll give it about seven minutes of good fight time.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

“Magda, please. Don’t do this. I’m already wiped as it is.”

The superhero smiles.

Tecton sighs. Nice. An admittance from him.

He can never win an argument with her.

“Geraldine has been down for almost three hours now. Gray Granite’s recharging, too,” Sharp comments as Tecton takes a cautious sip of his drink. “I can stay up for you, if you need. You know I’m used to pulling all-nighters now.”

Tecton smiles. “You’re not a prospect anymore. You don’t need to do scut work.”

“I’ve only been in the League for three months. I’ve still got a lot to prove.”

Tecton chuckles. “Congratulations, by the way.”

She only glances at him, a ghost of a smile on her face.

Silence settles between the two of them for the longest while. Tecton can’t decide whether it’s comfortable, strained, or a weird cross of both.

As he thinks of ways to fill the void, Sharp speaks again. “What do you think of the new prospects?”

The new prospects? It takes him a while. “You mean the kids?”

“Yeah. The twins. Shockwave...”

Tecton leans back on his seat, pensive. “They’re promising.”

Sharp scoffs. “Solar Flare isn’t here. You can trash talk them all you want – especially the blondes.”

Tecton laughs. “You do know you’re talking to one.”

“Please. This isn’t about you. I just mean those particular set of blondes.”

“You seem to feel very strongly about Quasar and Pulsar.”

“I feel very something about those girls, especially one of them.” Sharp looks at him. “I just want to know if I’m alone in this or if you feel the same thing, too.”

His brows furrow. “Like…?”

She holds his frown for a long moment, not once faltering in her gaze. When she sees he won’t be the first to surrender, she resumes her watch of the screen. “It’s a mistake to hire one of them,” she comments straight-faced.

He smirks. “Scarlet thought it was a mistake to hire you.”

“We both know why.”

At that, the smirk on his face shrinks. With so many problems in the world that they have to solve, he often forgets that problems also exist within their ranks.

He really shouldn’t be surprised. After all, they’re still human too – just like the people they save. “Magda - “

“I’m getting a bad feeling from them,” Sharp cuts him off. “One of them is two-faced. At the moment, I just can’t pinpoint who.”

“Is this because of what you found on the log from the training center?”

Sharp says nothing, but it’s obvious that the answer is yes.

Tecton takes a deep breath. It’s an issue that Gamma Girl and Spotlight had also asked him to look into. Since Sharp brought to their attention the fishy activities of the twin teenage girls, she and Solar Flare had been at odds with each other.

Scarlet will defend her mentees to the death, and Magda won’t back down on her stand regarding the trainees.

Remembrance of that causes his shoulders to feel heavier.

“Forget it,” Sharp says, her features distant and pragmatic now. “Have you told the boy’s parents what needs to happen after he gets home?”

His brain sputters once again. When it clears, though, he finds that he’s once again staring at another problem. “No,” he says. “I haven’t.”

“Can I do it?”

He sighs for what feels like the hundredth time that night. “No, I’ll—”

“Alex. You know you don’t have to do everything that needs to be done under the sun,” Sharp reproves. “That’s why you have us. We’re a team. You have to divide the load. That’s why you’re looking a lot older lately. You take so much of what you shouldn’t.”

He stares at her. “I look old.”

“Yes.”

“Lately.”

“Sí.” She grins at the screen. “Muy viejo.”

He chuckles humorlessly. There are so many things he want to say: he takes on so much because he has to; he takes on so much because he needs to. He takes on so much because the world needs him, and he takes on so much because that’s what he needs to do with his gifts.

But then, Sharp looks at him with a soft, warm smile and says, “You’re not alone, you know” – and all of those thoughts cease.

“I know,” he acquiesces.

Sharp nods. She takes another sip of her coffee.

“The program seems to be very important to you.”

“We’re giving children the care they need, and we’re giving them a second chance. What’s not to like about it?”

He smiles. “You know, half the League is still not comfortable about you eyeing Katrina Lee as your sidekick.”

“Trainee,” she corrects. “Are you not comfortable about it?”

Tecton thinks about it. He shakes his head. “No, I am,” he says. “The things her father did are not the same things she’s doing.”

“Mm, I believe that, too. Plus, Dr. Farrow says she’s been doing well and comes to all their appointments.” Sharp shoots a smirk his way. “Kat is a smart girl, very promising. It won’t be fair if she’s just forever known as Megahertz’ daughter.”

Tecton agrees. He thinks about the program, thinks about the two girls currently being helped. He also thinks about The Incapacitator, his negative opinion of superheroes, and then his son. “I want to tell them,” he says.

“Tell...who?”

“The Davenports,” he says. “I know we can’t change the minds of all supervillains, but maybe we can try again with another one. Incapacitator became who he is because no one came to help his family when they needed help. But maybe, if we take care of his son, maybe that would change his opinion of us.”

“I don’t know. That may be a bit of a long shot,” Sharp says. Still, she smiles at him. “It’s a pretty good idea, though.”

“Worth the shot, right?”

“Always.”

Tecton smiles down at his coffee, thrilled at the ray of light the action might shed on the world.

“Still, that’s cheating. You’re still not dividing responsibilities.”

He grins. “Alright, how about this? How about I go to sleep, so you’ll stop nagging me, and then I tell the parents about the program?”

“Sounds great. Your face is making me feel sleepy anyway.”

Tecton scoffs, getting on his feet. “I’m still the leader of the league, you know.”

She leans her head back to look at him. “Yeah. Your eye bags totally scream authority.”

Tecton can’t help but laugh. The other members of the league rarely crack jokes, and he’d say the relationship between all of them is more business than a real friendship.

Secretly, he likes having someone who pushes against the norm. “Thanks, Sharp.”

“You’re welcome, Tecton.”

At that end of the conversation, Tecton leaves.

A soft trill from the supercomputer stops him in his tracks. “Uh oh,” Sharp says. “Hold up on that sleep, Blondie. Alley Cat just sent us a message.”

“What does it say?”

“Watchdog tip. Junction City, Kansas. Seems like there’s some villains on the way to this one house.” Finding him reading beside her, she frowns. “What’d you ask me to read it for? You’re right here!”

Tecton switches from the message to the general energy anomaly register radar. There, they see two dots coming in towards their target destination. “This isn’t good,” he says. “Civilian neighborhood. We can be looking at casualties.”

“I’ll wake up Geraldine and Gray Granite.”

“I’ll contact Blue Tornado.”

“Alex,” Sharp calls after him as he speeds out.

He stops, spins around. “What?”

She gives him an impatient look. “Two on the radar, but there may be more,” she says kindly. “You’re tired. You can’t get in a rumble in your condition.”

“I’m fine.”

“The people in that house,” she reasons, “they can get hurt if you’re not in tiptop shape.”

Tecton pauses. She’s right. As much as she joked, he knows her estimate of there being only seven minutes of good fight is accurate. He’s tired, and in a rumble exhaustion is a weapon that the opposing team can use.

Once again, she wins the argument. “I’ll go as backup.”

“Alex.”

“I promise,” he nods, his feet already taking him towards the action. “Message us if something comes up on Incapacitator!”

Inside the Core, Magda only slumps to her seat, dreading what the unheeded warning might bring.

#Mighty Med #chapter eight #Noble Intentions #Tecton (Mighty Med)#OC

9 notes · View notes

honestlydarkcherryblossom · 4 years

Text

Oblivious. J. Yunho

Yunho x reader Warnings: you and Yunho being oblivious asf Word Count: 1.9k Not proof read

Walking through the campus with 8 of your best friends was a daily occurrence. Unfortunately, the envious looks from all girls on campus was also a daily occurrence. You didn’t mind them anymore, at first it made you feel uncomfortable, now it made you feel sad for these girls who were drooling over a couple of guys they didn’t even know.

“So game night tonight, Y/n’s place, we all in” San asked as the 9 of you walked to the cafe on campus. Everyone agreed to they plan, discussing who was bring what when Yunho spoke up, “I actually can’t tonight” “what, why not” Wooyoung whined, “yeah, Friday night game night has been tradition since 6th grade” you added as you rubbed Wooyoung’s back, who was now sulking. “He has a date” Mingi spoke for Yunho, sending the boy a smirk while jabbing his side. “A date?” You asked trying not to convey any sort of emotion in your words, suddenly all eyes were on you. All the boys knew about your crush on Yunho, all but Yunho apparently. At first you thought it was stupid teenage hormones, but as they years went on, the stronger your feelings got and you couldn’t pass it off as a stupid high school crush anymore. “Uh yeah, with Leslie Brown” “oh I know her, she’s in my literature class, she’s nice” you said with the best smile to could put on. Yeah you knew Leslie, all 5″9 of her. She was the gorgeous supermodel type with nice long legs, honey brown hair that framed defined her face perfectly, and possibly the prettiest smile you’ve ever seen. Of course Yunho would like her, you were stupid for thinking you ever had a chance with Yunho or any guy like him when girls like that existed. “Well, have fun tonight, traitor” you teased as you made your way into the cafe leaving the boys behind.

After having coffee with the boys, you went back to your apartment that you shared with 3 other girls that you rarely saw. You had all been dormmates freshmen year and decided to get an apartment together after that. 2 our of 3 of the girls were med majors, so they were always out late at the hospital. The last one might as well be a party major because that’s all she does, she rarely attends classes or does her work so you’re not really sure how she manages to stay in school. Right now you don’t care, all you want is to be alone.

It’s been a few weeks since Yunho went of his date with Leslie, and now they were dating. Yay. You tried to distance yourself from Yunho, just till you were over your feelings for him, but it just kept getting harder.

Now you sat at a picnic bench with all 8 of the boys and Leslie. Wooyoung could tell how uncomfortable you felt and tried to help, but nothing could get your mind off the couple who were sucking each others faces off directly across from you. You couldn’t take in anymore and stood up, “where are you going” San asked, which seemed to catch Yunho’s attention since he pulled away from Leslie. “to the bathroom, I didn’t think I had to announce it” you joked as you started walking away.

“Hey Y/n” a familiar voice spoke up from behind you. Turning around you saw Jisung, a boy from one of you classes. He was always nice and super funny, he was also attractive, definitely made class more interesting “Hey Jisung, what’s up” Jisung took in a deep breath and bit his lip nervously, making you smile, okay, maybe he was a little more attractive than you though. “Are you free this Friday” “depends, why” “Well, if you are, would you wanna go out with me.” Okay, maybe it was wrong, but in that moment, you thought going out with Jisung was the perfect way to get over Yunho. “I would love to” “really” he asked, his eyes lighting up like a kid in a candy store, and it just melted your heart, how could you possibly say now to him. “Yeah, here, give me your phone.”

Little did you know, Yunho saw the whole thing, and he felt a pit rise in his stomach. He didn’t like seeing you talk to guys, but he wasn’t jealous. No. How could he be? He had Leslie. He was convinced he didn’t like it strictly because he was protective over you, no romantic feelings involved. Nope.

“Yunnie, pay attention to me” Leslie whined. All the boys rolled their eyes at the girl obnoxious voice, she really was a nice girl, just not when she was acting like a needy 2 year old. “I’m back” You announced, coming back to the table with a newfound energy which didn’t go unnoticed. All they boys just stared at you, making you confused, had you missed something? “What? Is there something on my face?” “How was your little trip to the bathroom” Jongho asked with a smirk. A blush rose to your cheeks and you quickly looked down, “what, do I have to tell you guys every time a take a shit” “no, but you have to tell us when you get a boys number” Seonghwa said like the protective “older brother” he was, “a boy that we don’t know” Hongjoong added. “It’s not a big deal” you tried to play it off, praying that you blush would go away, but as the boys kept teasing, the redder you got. This was your first date since highschool, and despite going on this date to hopefully forget about your feelings for Yunho, you were excited.

Yunho watched as the boys teased you, a he couldn’t help but feel sick, like something was wrong. Seeing how red you got, how bright you smile was when you were talking about your date, it all felt wrong. He shook his head and moved Leslie off his lap before standing up. “Yunnie, where are you going” “I’m not feeling well, I’m gonna head home” “let me come with you” Leslie tried to follow Yunho but he just shook his head. “Not right now, I wanna be alone.”

You and the boys watched in confusion, he was feeling fine not too long ago. “What’s up with him” Yeosang asked as he watched Yunho walk away. “I don’t know, should we check on him” you suggested, Leslie didn’t seem to like your suggestion at all, she sent you a dirty look and said, “he said he wanted to be left alone.” “Yeah, well he’s our bestfriend, he doesn’t get a choice, let’s go” Mingi said, all of you stood up and went after Yunho, leaving Leslie behind.

“Yo, Yun, what’s wrong” you asked once the 8 of you caught up to him. “I’m just not feeling well” “bullshit, you were feeling fine 10 minutes ago” San spoke up, earning a glare from Yunho in response, “and now I’m not, I just wanna be alone.” He picked up his pace which made you reach out and grab him, “Yun-” “just leave me alone” he said, this time much more stern than before as he shrug your hand away.

Last night was your date with Jisung, and you had a really good time. He made you laugh and the smile never left your face, but you still couldn’t stop thinking about Yunho. He wasn’t answer your text or your calls and he’s been avoiding you, you know he has because every time you he sees you he quickly bolts for the nearest exit. It hurts, you’ve been asking yourself what you could’ve done wrong and come up with nothing every time.

So that lead you to now, standing outside Yunho’s apartment in the freezing cold at 1am, in only you pajama shorts and a jacket you tossed on before running over here. “Yunho open up” you finally started pounding on his door after three attempts of knocking. You heard a muffled response inside followed by some shuffling. “Y/n, go home” “not until you tell my why you’ve been avoiding me.” Yunho had sleep written all over his features, and his hair was tousled in all different direction, if you you weren’t so mad at him, you’d call him cute in this state. “Y/n-” “n-no Yunho, I’ve been worried s-sick about you these past few days and you’v-ve been ignoring me, I just want to know w-why.” You mentally cursed yourself for stuttering so much, but you couldn’t help it, you were freezing. That’s when Yunho finally realized the state you were in, you were paler than usual, you nose and cheeks bright red and you weer advisably shaking. “You’re freezing, get in here” he pulled you into his apartment and shut the door. He lead you to the couch and tossed a blanket on you.

“What the hell is wrong with you, coming to my house in the middle of the night in shorts” “I was worried about you, and I was finally fed up with you ignoring me.” Yunho just sighed, you were always so persistent. One night you showed up to his house in the middle of a blizzard because his first girlfriend broke up with him and she wanted to make sure he was okay.

“I- I haven’t been ignoring you-” “lie” “-I’ve just been busy” “another lie.” You simply shook your head at him, you’ve known him for too long, he couldn’t lie to you. “I’m not San Yun, you can’t lie to me” Yunho let out a breathy chuckle, he knew you knew him too well, hell you probably knew him better than he knew himself. And god he’s missed you, he’s been away from you for 4 days and he’s never felt worse than he did when he was away from you. So he just sat there, taking in all of your features that he found so fascinating, and before he knew what he was doing, he was leaning in, and then so were you. When your lips touched it was like every unspoken word between you to was being let out, lifting a huge weight off your shoulders. He held on to you like you were his lifeline, pulling you onto his lap and then impossibly closer.

The two of you finally pull apart and your out of breath. He rest his forehead against yours and his fingers dance across your skin, taking in a savoring every detail of this moment. “I should’ve done that a long time ago” he breaths out, his eyes finally connecting with yours. “Why didn’t you” “I was too afraid to lose you, and then Jisung asked you out, and I realized I was gonna lose you either way” “you would never lose me, even if we’re on to different continents, my hearts always belonged to you.” Letting go of those words made you feel free, like you were floating in outer space. You’ve wanted to tell him that since you were a freshmen in high school, and now you finally could. For Yunho, hearing those words made him realize how dumb he’s been. He’s could’ve had you, the love of his life, in his arms for years, and he was to dense to realize you were in love with him just as much as he was in love with you.

“Y/n” “hm” “will you be my girlfriend” “took you long enough.”

#yunho ateez #yunho imagines #yunho scenarios #ateez au #ateez #ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #ateez college au #fanfic #ateez fanfic

9 notes · View notes

the--sad--hatter · 5 years

Text

Game Of Survival - 3 (Bucky x Reader)

FANDOM - MARVEL

PAIRING - BUCKY X FEM!READER

WARNINGS - SMUT, VIOLENCE, ANGST, VERY GRAPHIC BLOOD AND GORE, SWEARING, DRUGS AND ALCOHOL

DESCRIPTION -

The Executioner - Killer of Killers, the monster that hunts monsters, the bad-guys bogeyman.

It’s a title you earned and one that you cherish. Your goals are justified, your methods are not. But when a simple murder turns into a suicide and you are left clutching a flash drive with a terrible secret on it, you find yourself caught up in a mystery that you can’t solve alone. You turn to the professionals, the experts, the heroes. The Avengers.

With the lives of everyone in the world suddenly at stake, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes have no choice but accept your help and Bucky Barnes quickly finds himself drawn in by you. He never much believed in love, let alone love at first sight so it figures he’d be proven wrong in such a spectacular way.

Masterlist

Chapter Three

You had found an empty meeting room with a decent enough window view and were hunkered down to wait for Doctor Banner to finish reviewing the information you’d given when you became aware that you weren’t alone in the room anymore.

“Widow. It’s been a long time.” You said without looking up.

Few people would approach you, fewer still could do it silently. Only one had such light footsteps, ergo, Natasha Romanoff was stood behind you.

“Executioner. Eight years, give or take.” She replied.

“It’s good to see you again.” You told her truthfully, turning to face her.

“Why is that?” She asked, lips quirking into a faux friendly grin.

“Our lines of work don’t leave much time for socializing or checking up on old friends.” You said.

“Friends?” She asked with a hint of surprise.

You ducked your head, hair falling forward to cover your face.

“You let me go.” You said softly.

“And that makes us friends?” She asked but there was no bite to it, just a genuine curiosity.

“Everyone I know is either trying to arrest me or dying at my hand, someone who doesn’t fit into either of those categories is the closest thing I have to a friend.” You admitted.

You knew Natasha would be taking your words with a pinch of salt, unsure if it was an honest confession or an attempt at emotional manipulation. But the truth was, you did think of her that way.

“Sounds lonely.” She remarked.

“It is.” You laughed softly.

“Well then this should be a treat for you, Stark ordered Chinese food. You hungry?” She asked, extending the invitation with a jerk of her head towards the door.

“The Avengers want to break bread with a killer?” You said, raising a disbelieving eyebrow.

“They let me sit at the table.” She shrugged.

“You and I are not the same.” You told her.

“No, we aren’t. I never had a righteous cause, I was an assassin.” She rebutted.

You laughed under your breath and shook your head.

“I haven’t been here long and it’s already begun. The redemption of The Executioner. Should I expect the Captain to come down and give me a rousing speech about morality and the good within me? Is Stark already working on my super suit?” You chuckled.

“I told him to make it black, so we’d match.” She joked.

“I’m not here so you can save me Widow, I’m here to save the world. Don’t waste your time on me, it’s a lost cause.” You sighed.

“Well I like having hobbies.” She said nonchalantly.

“So do I. I like killing. I’m good at it and it makes me happy and I sleep just fine at night knowing what I’ve done. I don’t need saved, I don’t need redeemed, I don’t want to change. When our business is concluded I will go back to the slaughter and mayhem.” You stated emphatically.

She looked you over for a moment and when her eyes settled on yours, you met her gaze unflinchingly.

“Alright. So Chinese?” She said, walking away like there hadn’t been a conversation.

“I’m not hungry, but thank you.” You said, sitting back down.

Shed didn’t say anything, she just left. You naively thought that was the end of it…. Ten minutes later she walked back in, a bag of Chinese food in her arms and an entourage dutifully following behind her.

“We didn’t know what you liked so we just grabbed as much as we could away from the rest.” Steve explained, putting a pile of takeout boxes down on front of you.

“You want a fork or chopsticks?” Clint asked, holding out both.

“I’m not hungry, I did tell somebody that.” You told them, waving Clint away.

He shrugged and threw the chopsticks at you and your automatic reflexes kicked in, making you catch them.

“You were shot, you’re still healing, you need your energy.” Steve scolded, unboxing the massive amounts of takeout.

“As someone who has been shot before, multiple times, I can guarantee there’s no healing properties to be found in Kung Pao Chicken.” You snorted.

“So you like Kung Pao Chicken, we have that. Here.” Clint said smugly, pushing the container towards you.

“Why the warm and fuzzy attitude Oliver Queen? Last time we met, I rejected you, you seem to be taking it well.” You said coldly.

“My ego was bruised but I got over it, realised it was you, not me.” He said, holding your gaze unwaveringly until you reached out to pick up the food.

He nodded in satisfaction and started stuffing noodles onto his plate before passing the box to Natasha. You sighed and looked around at them.

“Can I at least have a fork?” You asked, frowning at the chopsticks.

“The Executioner can’t use chopsticks? Really?” Steve smirked, unwrapping his own chopsticks and using them flawlessly.

“I can use them but the last time I held a pair I was using them to pluck out someone’s eyeballs.” You deadpanned.

Steve faltered for a moment, looking at you like he was trying to figure out if you were joking or not. Natasha watched the interaction with interest, noting the way you looked begrudgingly amused when Steve deliberately picked up a prawn ball with the chopsticks and put it in his mouth.

“So, Ex, Kill anybody good lately?” Clint asked casually.

“Ex?” You asked, prodding at the chicken with your chopsticks.

“The executioner is a mouthful, we settled on Ex. It was the politer of the options that were suggested.” Natasha explained.

“Unless you’ve changed you mind about telling us your name?” Steve asked hopefully.

“No, you’re already getting too friendly. No need to encourage you.” You sighed, giving in and actually eating the food.

“Ex it is then.” Steve said politely, conveniently ignoring your other comments.

“So neither of you told him my name?” You asked Natasha and Clint, somewhat surprised.

They shared a quick glance and it immediately clicked.

“You don’t know my name do you? Wow, Fury really did burn all traces of me.” You said.

“Fury?” Steve asked, pausing with a mouthful of food hallway to his mouth.

“She was on Fury’s radar, but not Shields. If he knew anything about her, he kept it a secret.” Clint told him.

They didn’t know. That revelation actually shocked you, though it shouldn’t have. You scoffed and dropped the takeout container on the table, appetite gone.

“Fury knew me alright, knew me a lot better than you do. He saw what you won’t admit, he knew what I was before I did.” You told them in an icy tone.

“He is good at seeing what people are capable of.” Natasha agreed.

“Yeah, he was.” You said bitterly, standing up and walking out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~Nine Years Ago~~~~~~~~~~

You sipped slowly at the coffee, not wanting to rush the experience. Coffee wasn’t a luxury, sitting out in public, watching the people walk past, seeing the way the city lives, that was a luxury.

“I’m impressed. Not many people can break into the most secure building in the world and you might be the only one to do it just to leave a job application on my desk.” Nick fury said, sitting down across from you.

“I wanted to get your attention.” You said softly.

“Well you have it.”

“I want to work for Shield, I have training, I have skills. I’m an expert in over 12 different kinds of martial arts, I have excellent marksmanship skills, I can understand multiple languages and am fluent in eight of them, my technological…”

“All this was in the application you left on my desk. What wasn’t there, was this.” He interrupted.

He pulled an envelope out of his coat and handed it to you. You gingerly took it from him and opened it.

“It’s not what you think. I can explain.” You said hurriedly.

“I don’t need an explanation. A photo speaks a thousand words.” He said dismissively.

You brushed your fingers over the photographs, drinking in the evidence of what you had done. Not that you needed a photo to remember the colour of your fathers blood, or the heat of the flames and the house burned.

“That’s a lot of anger for such a young girl. What bothers me isn’t the killing, it’s the fact that they pulled multiple bodies out of the fire, including yours. This was premeditated, planned down to the last detail and while your family burned, you slipped away.” Fury said coldly.

“Yes, I planned it. But I made the world a better place by doing what I did.” You whispered.

“I don’t disagree. But I’ve met people like you before, and that anger can’t be tempered. It will grow until it burns out of control and someone like that won’t make a good agent. You don’t have the capability to trust anyone, to be a team player. Sometimes when something is broken it can be fixed, made stronger. Sometimes it’s just broken and all it is a sharp object.” He said, and the kindness in his voice was so obviously false.

“You’re saying I’m broken, sharp.” You deciphered.

“I’m saying that you made the world a better place, but that doesn’t make you a good person. You are not now, nor will you ever be, a hero. There’s no place for you in Shield. If you want to put your skills to use, you’ll have to find a way to do it alone.” He suggested.

So that’s what you did.

~~~~~~~~~~Today~~~~~~~~~~

It had occurred to you after that day that Fury might have been manipulating you. He had nudged you into the life of a killer with his carefully chosen words and you never quite figured out if he did it because he saw a potential asset to be exploited or if he really had seen the darkness in your soul. Either way, it didn’t matter. You had taken the path he had steered you onto and you had no desire to turn back.

Even if a small part of you wished you could ask him the truth, it was useless. Fury was dead.

And you had somehow managed to stumble onto the man who killed him for the second time that day.

You could tell it was him from the back, even without the obvious metal arm. His shoulders were tensed, his back muscles rippling as he utterly destroyed the punching bag. Every jab was powerful and fast as he worked the bag with a strength you were slightly envious of.

“Did it personally offend you or are you picturing somebody’s face on it?” You called across the gym and he paused to look over his shoulder at you.

No.” He grunted, going back to hitting the bag.

Boxing was about more than strength thankfully, though you weren’t lacking in that department. Or at least for a human of your size you weren’t. There was something you had in spades though and that was stamina. You pulled your jacket off, leaving you in a pair of dark jeans and a black tank top as you walked across the gym to pull on a pair of boxing gloves you were guessing were Natasha’s. He stopped and watched you with a curious gaze as you lined yourself up in a perfect stance at the bag next to his.

“Weren’t you shot?” He asked.

“I was.”

“Should you be working out?” He said with concern.

“Best time to do it, my body knows it has to put up with the pain or I’d end up getting killed just because I had a dislocated shoulder.” You said, squaring yourself and jabbing at the bag.

Exhale. Right hook. Inhale. Left Hook. Exhale. Right Hook. Inhale. Left Hook. Exhale. Right hook. Inhale. Left Hook. Exhale. Right Hook. Inhale. Left Hook.

The world narrowed down to the air in your lungs and the rhythmic punches, everything else fading away until it was little more than white noise.

Bucky watched you with worry at first, concerned about your injuries but it dissipated under the steady thumping of your fists on the bag. He stood next to you and just watched, counting down the minutes and growing more and more impressed all the while. After 20 minutes his awe really kicked in. Your pace hadn’t once faltered or slowed and your face was still blank, showing no signs of discomfort.

After 40 minutes the only change was a slight sheen of sweat on your brow and your steady pace remained. The dedication you were showing was astounding and he couldn’t help but wonder how exactly you’d ended up this well trained.

After 55 minutes his heart thumped painfully in his chest when he saw the damp patch on your top and smelt the copper in the air.

“Stop. STOP!” He commanded, grabbing your fists.

You froze, letting him commandeer your arms and yank you away from the bag. He had fully expected you to fight against him but was pleasantly surprised when you didn’t.

“You’re bleeding.” He told you softly, dropping his grip on your arms.

You looked down and gently peeled your top away from your skin, exposing the red soaked gauze wrap that was covering your bullet wound.

“Must have ripped a stitch.” You said blankly.

You went to rip the gauze off but once again his hands grabbed at yours. You looked up and for the first time since you’d put the gloves on, met his eyes. He didn’t look worried or horrified, the normal reaction. He looked like he understood.

“Who taught you that?” He asked lowly.

“To punch?”

“To block out the pain of an injury until you’d completed your objective.” He clarified.

“Pain is just a distraction to be ignored, never stop and asses or treat an injury unless it is impairing your ability to fight.” You recited in a monotone voice.

“Who taught you? Hydra? Shield? The Red Room? Who?” He pushed.

“Not every terrible thing that happens to a child happens because of an evil organization.” You told him.

“You learned this as a child?” He asked you.

“I’m going to go and raid the medical lab so I can take care of this.” You said, ignoring his question.

“I can help you.” He offered.

“No, you can’t.” You laughed bitterly.

“I’ve stitched a bullet wound before.”

“But that’s not what you’re offering, not really. Is it?” You asked knowingly.

“I know you don’t want help, you don’t want to trust anybody. I didn’t either, but I did. Coming here, letting the team help me was the right choice. It could be for you as well. Nobody here thinks you’re evil for the things you’ve done, they think you still have honour and they want to help you. You could let them.” He said earnestly.

“My father.”

“Your father trained you.” He said, rolling with the change in subject easily.

“He did. My childhood was a lonely, painful thing. But we all have our trauma’s, we all have a tragic backstory. Learning about mine doesn’t mean you understand me on some deeper level and it doesn’t excuse the things I have done. I know that I’m not evil because I know the difference between good and bad, my moral compass is working. I just choose to ignore it.” You said resolutely, slowly walking to your coat and picking it up.

“The fact that you only kill the bad guys says a lot more about you than you realise. You keep trying to convince me that you’re a lost cause but I think it’s yourself you’re trying to convince.” He argued.

You smirked and folded your coat over your arm.

“I am not now, nor will I ever be, a hero.” You said, the weight of your statement clear in your tired voice.

You walked away and he didn’t try to stop you but somehow you just knew it wasn’t the end of it.

A/N Not even gonna pretend to have a shred of pride anymore, just gonna shamelessly beg for comments. Kara needs feedback, Kara wants opinions, Kara NEEDS attention!

@keepcalmandsosayweall @shirukitsune @alina-barnes@musingpredilection @sexyvixen7 @dropthepizza346 @nighmxre @chook007 @dragonrosegardens @brazen88brat

278 notes · View notes