#& they were like ''oh well clearly this is what we should expect from AJ as a rider'' even tho they fucking Knew.

[forasecondtherewedwon]

Stare Enough

Fandom: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Pairing: Sam Wilson/Bucky Barnes Rating: T Word Count: 4034

Summary: Bucky's got a new stare. Sam spends all afternoon and most of the evening working up the courage to meet it.

Both Sam and the food are the main attraction at this party and the problem with that situation is that it takes so damn long for one main attraction to get a second to enjoy the other.

He’s grateful—god, is he grateful—for the turnout. Friends, neighbours, the kind of people he and Sarah call family without there being any actual relation by blood, they’ve all shown up. Since the Blip, Sam’s felt like he’s always around, but this feels like a real homecoming. No sadness, nothing bittersweet. It’s a celebration and he’s at the center of it. Him and the food.

At last, Sam’s done the circuit with his plate, spooning creamy salads and grilled vegetables, stacking shellfish pink as a sunrise. There’s a fresh-baked roll perched atop a scoop of sweet potatoes and caramelized onions that smells so fucking warm and mouth-watering he has to resist walking with his nose buried in it. He collects a set of utensils furled in the middle of a paper napkin (courtesy of an efficient assembly line of old ladies, chatting and twisting neat rolls of cutlery), plate bowing into the palm of his other hand, and that’s when his damn phone vibrates in his pocket.

Sam halts and makes a sound of frustration. Nobody’s come to this thing empty-handed, so there are dishes crowding the surface of the tables, no place to set his plate down. His phone vibrates again. A teenager comes up to peruse the spread in front of him and Sam sighs, knowing what he’s about to do.

“Here,” he says heavily, offering up his beautifully arranged and wonderfully fragrant meal. The cob of corn shining with the butter he lovingly smeared over it nearly rolls over the edge. “You’re the luckiest kid in the world.”

Quickly, Sam turns away, sliding out his phone and bringing it to his ear. He doesn’t want to witness the boy digging in. His stomach growls as he greets Joaquin Torres.

“Sam,” Torres says. “Uh, I mean, sir. Mr. Captain Am… Captain Wil—”

“Take it easy,” Sam laughs. “You know me, Torres. Don’t get starstruck now.”

“Honestly, I never really got over you being the Falcon. Now that you’re Captain America… Apologies if it takes me a little while to be cool about it.” After a pause—taken while Torres attempts to become cool with Sam being Captain America, Sam assumes—he asks, “You celebrating?”

Not far from where Sam’s standing, there are two little girls singing along to their clapping game. At a table behind them, a trio of elderly gentlemen are arguing over which one of them it was that caught that 50-pound snapper off the dock back in 1978. There’s a sear of meat and fish being rotated onto and off of the grill and, bouncing over everything, music from a speaker someplace.

“Yeah,” Sam says with a broad grin. “Yeah, we are. I’d save you a plate, but I can’t even manage to hang onto my own.”

He doesn’t mention that Torres is responsible for that situation; he’s aware that, besides being a fan, the Lieutenant is a little bit infatuated with him. Sam’s trying to be gentle until the day he can respond to Torres with friendly smack-talk, the way he would Steve or Scott or Bucky. Maybe not exactly like he does with Bucky.

“Don’t worry about it,” Torres cheerfully insists. “I wasn’t calling for that, I just wanted to give you a heads up about something.”

“Alright. Let me just…”

Sam strides away from the heart of the party towards the water, seeking quiet. Kids dart in front of him and that’s nothing unusual, but when he follows them with his gaze, he sees they’re running towards Bucky. Bucky, who has his Vibranium arm extended and two kids dangling off it already, one of whom might be Sam’s nephew. Of course, Mr. Casual, Mr. Smiles, Mr. Social Butterfly, is carrying on a conversation like his arm isn’t being used as a jungle gym. A conversation with Sarah.

For just a moment, Sam stops in his tracks, considering whether he should go over there and break up any potential flirting. But then he watches them. Bucky’s just talking to her, not flicking his gaze up and down while he checks her out. And Sarah, she’s relaxed and smiling, totally at ease, like Bucky’s another member of their community. That makes him a friend. Family.

That’s one thought too far and Sam jerks himself into motion again, walking until he’d be swimming with another step.

“What’ve you got for me?”

“Well, I’ve been trying to watch as much of the coverage of the fight outside the GRC vote as I can, trying to get a sense of how they’re spinning Walker’s reappearance, the legacy of the Flag-Smashers now that Karli and her inner circle are gone… Anyway, there’s a lot of footage and you’re at the center of most of it.”

“Guess the new suit draws the eye. And the cameras.” It’s no surprise to Sam. Part of the job of being Captain America.

“Yeah, but…”

“What is it, Torres?”

“Bucky’s in the background a lot,” he explains in a voice that tells Sam there’s more Torres isn’t saying.

“Makes sense. He was in the thick of it as much as I was.”

“He’s there at the end too. When you were talking to the Senator about power and the common struggle. Man, that was a great speech. Do you think—”

“Torres. Please. The point.”

“Right, for sure, man. Bucky never takes his eyes off you.”

That flusters Sam for a second. He wasn’t expecting the blunt delivery, especially of those words. He squints down at the water where it’s lapping the side of the dock. He knew Bucky was there; they spoke right after, when Bucky tried to feed him that bullshit (and he knew it was bullshit at the time) about texting and missing the exact speech Torres is apparently still hung up on.

“So Bucky was actually listening to me,” Sam says carefully. “That’s a surprise, but it isn’t really the kind of thing that’s significant enough for you to bother notifying me about, is it?”

“I’d say that depends on what you consider significant.”

“Torres.”

“I know, but he’s not just listening! It’s how he’s looking at you!”

“Like he’s wishing I would wrap it up?” Oh, Sam remembers Bucky’s miracle from their session with Dr. Raynor.

“Like he’s totally into you! Major heart eyes. Sir,” Torres hastily adds.

And Sam should reprimand him for this. Calling with a trivial piece of information when he must know Sam’s already being very selective about which of the hundreds of recent calls (and it’d be more if more people had this number) he chooses to pick up. Calling to speculate on how Bucky was staring at Sam that night in New York.

“I don’t need to tell you this is gonna be one of those investigations we keep between you and me,” Sam states.

“For sure. I just thought maybe you’d wanna know.”

“Uh huh. You get any real news, you pass it along.”

“I will.”

Sam ends the call and turns. He looks to his right: the sparkling river. His left: his people, all the way down to the squirt with the glasses who’s hanging off a metal arm, and the man that arm belongs to.

He’s felt it, the way that Bucky stares. It’s not like it used to be though, when it irked Dr. Raynor at the police station in Baltimore, or confused Walker and Hoskins in the back of that jeep in Germany. This new stare of Bucky’s isn’t one Sam’s ever caught him doing. Bucky hasn’t quite let him. That’s actually how Sam noticed it was happening—Bucky would immediately glance away instead of leaving that dead expression on his face when Sam met his eye. Now that he has proof of it, proof he’s certain Torres would send him footage of in an instant if he asked, he’s scared to look.

Instead, he watches Bucky look at other people. Like Sarah. Like kids from the neighbourhood. His literal hangers-on disperse as Sam observes, scattered after Bucky leans towards them to say something. Sam sees half his smile and even that much has his heart swelling up in his chest. Bucky weaves through the tables and standing groups, the dancers and the kids who’ve broken out a skipping rope. (After eating from that buffet? Kids are crazy. Gonna make themselves sick.)

Without thinking too hard about it, Sam returns to the noise and the smells, trailing Bucky with a stealthy eye on his ass in those jeans. There’s no friction here between him and everybody else Sam cares about, he can see that in every short, friendly exchange someone engages Bucky in as he walks. Things flow as smoothly as the butter oozing off the corn Sam reluctantly gave up. Clearly, they remember Bucky from when he was here helping with the boat. They respect him. They like him. They’ve gotten to that last thing faster than Sam has, which makes Sam feel a little embarrassed as well as a little overwhelmed by how much the two of them have actually been through. He’s seen Bucky as a mindless killer and it almost brings a genuine tear to his eye—here on this glorious day in front of all these folks—to see the dork who rushed out to get his hands on a copy of The Hobbit in 1937 return in his current form as the dork who’ll take a fake punch from AJ and blush over brazen old women telling him how handsome he is.

Bucky stares different? Well. Sam feels different about the staring.

Sam keeps his distance until Bucky reaches the food, then his stomach gurgles a reminder than he hasn’t eaten yet. No ass is nice enough to distract him from his meal. He sidles up beside him and Bucky seems unsurprised, not even glancing over.

“Anything important?” he asks.

“What?”

“Your phone call,” Bucky clarifies, adding a heap of glossy green beans to his plate. Damn, those are some of Sam’s favourite. Bucky better not take all of them. “They need us somewhere?”

“Oh. No.”

Bucky shoots him a suspicious look after this stilted response, but he doesn’t say anything until Sam grabs a plate of his own, hungry eyes roving the feast that’s diminishing now that people have started coming back for second helpings.

“Put that down,” Bucky instructs. He doesn’t wait; he takes the plate out of Sam’s hand and tosses it back towards the pile. Thankfully, the plates are made of paper.

“Buzz off, man,” Sam tells him, reaching for the plate again. “I’m starving.”

“I figured.”

Wait.

“That’s for me?” he guesses, gazing longingly at the plate Bucky’s preparing.

“Yep.”

When Sam doesn’t reply, Bucky pauses with the plate in one hand and a serving spoon in the other and sighs.

“I didn’t want you to miss the good stuff. This party’s for you.”

“I think it might be for both of us.”

Bucky seems too self-conscious to say anything to that. He goes back to loading up Sam’s plate while Sam quietly feels his throat close up with emotion as he watches. He clears it gruffly.

“I woulda had to eat the cake you brought,” he jokes. “Pretty sure only the really little kids have eaten any. You know, people who don’t know better.”

“I was tryin’ to be a good guest.”

“I can’t believe you brought a store-bought cake,” Sam says, laughing as he grabs a set of cutlery for the second time and continuing to shuffle along next to Bucky.

“Have you ever seen me cook?”

“…No.”

“Exactly. Trust me, what I did was kinder.”

“If you say so.”

“You know what, Sam?” Bucky demands challengingly, turning to face him. “I do say so.”

Sam’s eyes go from the plate Bucky’s holding between them up to Bucky’s face. He’s close. And he’s got this look, this dancing look in his eyes that undercuts the shit out of the hard line of his eyebrows. Trying to seem all stern. All Sam can think for several seconds is that, if he just grabbed Bucky by the chain around his neck and hauled him forward, they’d never get the food stains out of their clothes. But their laundry would smell delicious.

He clears his throat.

“Then you better stay for a while.”

The corner of Bucky’s mouth twitches up and he hands Sam the plate he’s prepared for him.

“I plan to.”

When Sam picks a table to sit at, he makes sure there’s enough room for Bucky too. When Bucky sits next to him, he sits so close that their thighs press together and claims that’s all the space there is. Bucky talks and laughs when other people at the table talk to him. He’s easily drawn into conversation now and Sam feels weirdly proud of having brought this great guy home to meet everybody, even if he’s not here like that. People tells stories about last week and last century interchangeably, one old smartass making Bucky howl with laughter when they toss out a memory of Little Sam Wilson streaking from his house to the river for a naked swim. This is the danger of welcoming Bucky into the community. Sam, suppressing a smile, doesn’t really mind.

Elbows up on the table so he can eat, talk, and gesture emphatically with his fork, Sam feels Bucky’s stare creeping up on him. Slow, like the sun slides across the landscape when the clouds blow past. Bucky didn’t make this food, but Sam can feel his satisfaction as he watches Sam accept what he provided. Feels like there are grasshoppers springing around in his stomach. He still has a roll on his plate, one side soaked in family-secret barbecue sauce, and he tears it in half. While the rest of their table are caught up in some story being boisterously told by overlapping voices, Sam turns to Bucky and wordlessly offers the bread, edges dimpled where he gripped to split it. They watch each other chew and Sam’s closed mouth is smiling.

Inevitably, somebody pulls Sam back into the conversation and he does his best to laugh and heckle, covering the fact that he wasn’t listening, that he dropped the thread. The voices rise and rise and fall like water slopping over the side of a bucket.

In the next quiet moment, Bucky inclines toward him slightly and says, “You wanna talk later?”

And Sam says, “Sure.”

The day feels long, long, long, and Sam’s face gets sore from smiling, tired from talking. He does not confess that to Bucky, who’s almost always at his side. Lights go on overhead and beers come out of coolers, leftover food packed up and redistributed among neighbours, small children with drooping eyelids toted home. At first, Sam thinks Bucky’s leaning into his side because he’s drained from so much socializing too, but when he meets his eye, he just sees an invitation.

“Where are you two goin’?” Sarah asks when they slink past her carrying a too-big Cass in her arms.

“Just walkin’,” Sam tells her.

“Gotta stretch our legs,” Bucky contributes.

She looks from Sam to Bucky and back, smiling knowingly.

“Uh huh,” Sarah says.

Sam grabs Bucky by the shoulder to turn him forcibly away from his sister’s insinuations and just… forgets to let his hand fall as they wander along the water. Bucky’s steps angle towards his until his arm’s bumping Sam’s side, Sam’s arm slung around his shoulders. Is this still the body language of a couple buddies on a warm Delacroix night? Is it now, when Sam drops his arm and brushes the back of his hand across Bucky’s?

They leave the party lights on the horizon with the lazily setting sun, scrabbling off the end of the dock and onto the riverbank. Sam reaches up to give Bucky a hand down, so he won’t step in the soft mud and sink to his ankles. Bucky clasps his hand firmly and jumps.

The sound of people drops off down here and the sound of wind in grass, frogs hiding between reeds, rises.

“Are there alligators in here?” Bucky wonders, scanning the river’s edge.

Sam laughs.

“For sure.”

“And you swam here when you were a kid?”

“Even then,” Sam boasts, puffing his chest out, “my courage was legendary.”

“Yeah, and your nudity. Is there anyone within a mile of here who hasn’t seen your bare ass?”

Their eye contact holds. Oh right. Sam breaks away with an awkward, hiccupping laugh, directing his gaze at the dirt.

“The gators haven’t gathered too close to the dock in decades,” he promises Bucky. He stares out at the undisturbed water, enjoying the sun on his face. “Got skittish of the boats. Most of ’em, anyway.”

“Consider me not entirely reassured.”

“You scared of a little Louisiana lizard, man? Didn’t you grow up with Creature from the Black Lagoon?”

“Nah, that was after my time.”

“Damn, you’re old.”

Bucky snorts a laugh, refusing to look at him.

“You wanna take a dip?” Sam goads.

“No.”

But by the time Sam’s pulling his shirt over his head, Bucky’s peeling off his socks. Sam spares him a smile and keeps going, the ground soft underfoot. It could be like the few times they’ve changed in proximity to one another before, but it’s not. He senses Bucky’s eyes on him the whole time. Face hot, he takes a quick look in Bucky’s direction as he’s unzipping his jeans. His heart feels like his new suit—wings just waiting to unfurl.

When they’re down to their underwear, they wade in.

God, it feels nice. The water’s cool and the sun’s clinging to the horizon.

“Just don’t get any water in your mouth,” Sam instructs, then dunks his face and comes up squirting water at Bucky from between the gap in his front teeth, a trick he perfected as a kid. “That arm ain’t gonna rust, right?”

“You asked for this,” Bucky warns. He points a menacing finger and plunges below the surface.

Sam twists as he treads water, trying to see what’s going on down there, searching for a ripple or bubbles of released air. His legs move in twitchy kicks because that’s where he’s expecting Bucky to grab him. But the idiot is playing some kind of psychological game first, making Sam wait a full minute. Two minutes. Three.

He’s opening his mouth to call out Bucky’s name when he breaks the surface. Sam’s ready to swap the concern he was about to form into words into a taunt instead—did Bucky get down there and decide the scariest thing he could do was let Sam’s imagination take over?—until Bucky shakes his head and slicks his hair back. Then the words get caught in Sam’s throat and he just kinda stares.

“There was a really gross fish down there,” Bucky informs him. “Do you guys have eels there? Mighta been an eel. Maybe we should get out.”

“Alrighty, scaredy-cat, let’s get you to shore.”

Bucky propels himself out in front, arms moving in powerful strokes, and Sam’s hand darts out on instinct, fingers closing around Bucky’s hard calf muscle. Bucky jerks and Sam burst into loud laughter.

“Did you think that was an eel? Did you?”

“You’re lucky I…”

I’m lucky you what? Sam wants to ask when Bucky trails off, but he just swims after him.

During their game/possible eel panic (there’s no way it was an eel), they weren’t always fighting the current, so they’ve drifted downstream some. Bucky takes sloppy, sloshing steps out of the water, underwear that might’ve been light grey now dark and plastered to his ass. Sam feels like he’s choked on river water, though his mouth is dry. He lumbers out too and they begin the march back in the direction of the dock and their clothes. The water tickles as it runs down Sam’s legs; must be bugging Bucky too because he plucks his waistband away from his skin before letting it snap back. Clenching his jaw, Sam stops himself from trying to see too much.

This end of the dock is made of old boards before it transitions to pavement farther down, wood smooth on Sam’s feet when he and Bucky haul themselves up, dropping their collected clothes and shoes into a single pile. No point getting dressed until they’re dry, so they sit on the edge of the dock, feet swinging. Feels good. Feels home. They don’t speak until the sun’s set, the sky orange, then grey, then rich, velvety blue.

“You know, don’t you?” Bucky asks softly.

“Know?”

“Yeah, you know. Whenever you don’t know something, you talk and talk—”

“Sometimes I can work through a problem better if I vocalize,” Sam explains.

“But when you do know,” Bucky goes on, ignoring Sam’s input, “you’re quiet.” He looks at Sam. “You’re quiet.”

What else is Sam? Nervous. His skin’s prickling with it, and because even the warm air feels cold when he’s just climbed out of the river. There’s a wet patch spreading around him that he can barely see with evening rapidly deepening into night. He lifts a hand from the dock and sweeps it up his neck, brushing water droplets away.

Without glancing over, he says, “You’re doing that thing you do.”

“What?”

“Staring. That new stare you do.”

“Maybe,” Bucky acknowledges. A bird starts calling, the sound drifting in and away like the sway of a hypnotist’s watch and Bucky’s silent until it’s over. “Maybe I’m staring for the same reason you’re quiet.”

Sam waits. Bucky doesn’t add anything, so Sam turns to look at his face, hung with cool shadows.

“You’re not gonna say it, are you?”

“I thought you would say it,” Bucky argues defensively.

“You’re the one who’s been staring at me like that for a week. You should go first!”

“Please, you don’t even know how I’m staring at you, I only do it when you’re not looking.”

“Do it now then and see what happens,” Sam dares him.

“Fine.”

Just like that, Bucky locks in like Sam’s attention is the only handhold on a sheer cliffside. Vital and stable, a last chance, the one thing around him that wants to help him higher instead of watching him fall. A lot of that’s familiar from his regular hard stare, but then something opens up behind his eyes. Some fragile thing (that might be Bucky’s sense of caution) breaks. Suddenly, Sam’s seeing what Joaquin saw in the news footage and amateur cell phone video. Except he’s seeing it two feet in front of him. It’s intense. It makes the air a little harder to breathe.

Bucky’s lips curve into a smile, then part as he says, “I love—”

Hopefully, he wasn’t going to end that sentence with ‘store-bought cake,’ because Sam can’t really take back his reaction. The finger slipping behind Bucky’s ear as he cradles his face, the mouth sealed to his. Especially that. Thankfully, Bucky kisses him back, just as hard, and then harder.

“Thank god,” Sam pants when they break apart.

“You interrupted me.”

“I got you to stop talking? Guess we’re in my miracle.”

“I’d complain…” Bucky shrugs. “…but your miracle is pretty nice.”

“Not bad, right?”

He sighs and looks out over the water. Bucky pushes up on his fists and sits closer, offering his hand for Sam to interlace their fingers.

“Hey,” Sam prompts when it hits him that it’s super dark outside and they aren’t gonna dry much more like this, “did you book a hotel room again?”

“You kiddin’ me? I spent all my money on that cake.”

Sam laughs.

“Right, well, I guess you need a place to stay tonight then.”

“You know anything nearby?” Bucky asks with a soft smile.

Getting to his feet and bracing to pull Bucky up after him, Sam uses his free hand to motion towards their clothing pile.

“Put your pants on,” he says, “and I’ll see what I can do.”

#my writing #tfatws #tfatws spoilers #The Falcon and the Winter Soldier #CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE WINTER SOLDIER #Sam Wilson #Bucky Barnes #Joaquin Torres #Sarah Wilson #sambucky #Sam Wilson x Bucky Barnes

[marshieee]

We just changed

Timeskip Osamu x fem! Reader

Warning⚠️: angst

Part 6

A/N: this is where i get in lmao😂, thank you again to this angel @iis4d for proofreading this❤️ imma be watch jjk and make u fic don’t worry

Am i the pathetic one? Or you? I want my love to change...

It has been two months since that awful night, since that last heated argument and the last time you saw him face to face.

You’ve been doing fine unlike the past month, trying new stuffs and focusing on yourself. You got a part time job as a tutor so that atleast helped the two with the bills, futakuchi and aone was helping you with all their might which you definitely appreciated.

Futakuchi didn’t mentioned that he met your ex, it wasn’t that important so why would he? He’s still keeping his promise more like a declaration to osamu that he’ll make sure that you’re gonna be ok, you’ll be fine under his care and he plans to keep it that way.

“Oho~ what did you just say? You’re going to tokyo?”

You rolled your eyes at the irritating remark from your cousin, as much as possible Futakuchi wanted to volunteer on going to tokyo on your behalf again, but you insisted.

“Yes i am and don’t worry tokyo is big it’s not like I’m going to bump to my ex anytime soon”

That’s what you thought, you were at a shopping district trying to buy cheap things that caught your attention and to be honest it’s not like you’re gonna use them anyways but hey wasting money is fun.

But your attention was averted to a certain girl, you would have just ignored her but no, something caught your attention and it was the person who’s she with.

And without any second thoughts your feet unconsciously went up to them and now, now you are infront of them.

“Can we help you?”

“Um yes uh can i talk to you for a moment?”

They looked at each other before turning to you, before her partner was about to say something.

“Sure, baby can you wait here this will be quick i promise”

“Alright then”

She dragged you to the restroom which was miraculously empty, you don’t know what’s going on your mind yet you were to focused on wanting to talk to her.

“So? What do want to talk about?”

“What happened to you and osamu? Did you two broke up?”

It was a bit sudden but certainly you caught her off guard by those questions.

“Ahh~ so you’re the girlfriend”

She had an amused smile plastered on her face as she scanned you, pursing your lips you hesitated to answer nevertheless you still did.

“Yes but—“

“Hold on judging your from your expression it’s ex girlfriend now huh?”

You nodded slowly, she just scoffed and the way that she looks, she looks a bit offended.

“Right before anything else I’m Aj”

She offered her hand which you awkwardly accepted with a forced smile.

“Y/N, nice to meet you”

“So what was your question again?”

“Did you and Osamu break up?”

“We weren't even dating in the first place”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me”

Shocked as you try to process that one sentence she just said. They weren’t dating? How come? They were just fine the last time you saw them, they even look like they were.

“You two...weren’t dating?”

“No.”

“How come-“

“Ah so you saw us? Figured.”

Aj sighed, she was expecting that you’ll eventually catch them red handed, she was surprised that you hadn't lashed out on her already.

“Osamu and I were just fuck buddies, no strings attached.”

This was confusing to you, they were so intimate, you assumed that they were dating behind your back. Aj caught up with the expression on your face and immediately knew what’s going on.

“We met at the bar, he approached me and started flirting to which I flirted back of course...”

She clicked her tongue and looked away, it was clear that she was irritated talking about that.

“I’ve always wanted to meet you, you know.”

“What?”

She looks at you with guilty eyes, was she guilty about stealing Osamu from you? Does she want to apologize to you? You never blamed anyone for this, especially not her.

“I... I didn’t know Osamu had a girlfriend”

This left you dumbfounded, so she never knew about your existence? You should have expected something like this because it hurts hearing something like this from her.

“When we met at the bar I had asked him if he was seeing anyone, of course if he had said yes, I wouldn’t be flirting back, I would have immediately said no, I’m not that kind of a person who’s going to fuck someone that's already in a relationship heck even someone that's married! I’m not that fucking low.”

You could tell that she was serious, frustrated even. You just stayed silent waiting for her to continue.

“He told me that he was single.”

Aj mocked the word single as she rolled her eyes remembering that horrible memory.

“So I flirted back as i never knew that he had a girlfriend of...?”

“S...six years”

And with a scoff Aj sarcastically laughed, unbelievable that asshole cheated on a girl he’s been dating for six fucking years?! What a joke! What a fucking joke!

“This is the worst am I right?”

“Yeah”

“So..anything else? what do you want to know?”

“How long have you been...fuck buddies?”

Aj was hesitating if she should answer that question or not, either way both are painful options so she just choose to answer your question.

“Two months”

Two months, he’s been cheating on you for two months which means those I love you's and kisses were already shallow, those hugs and I miss you's was never genuine.

“Two months...I see”

“I’m sorry”

“No don’t be, it wasn’t your fault”

“But-“

Aj chose to shut up, this is not the right time to argue if she was at fault or not since you were trying to process the information she just gave to you.

“Just awhile ago you told me you wanted to see me..why?”

“Well that’s because I became aware of your existence”

“Someone told you about me, who?”

“I don’t know who but he was tall and got this slanted eyes.”

The first person that came into your mind who fitted Aj’s description.

“Rin”

“He came to me and told me about you.”

It was the same day Osamu left her apartment early in the morning.

“How can i help you?”

“Leave Osamu alone or just don’t involve yourself with him anymore”

“Um excuse me?”

Whoever this man is he got the nerve to say that to her early in the morning.

“Ok mister whoever the hell are you, what’s your relationship with him anyways? Why are you telling me to not get involved with him anymore?”

Before suna could react AJ suddenly gasped.

“ARE YOU PERHAPS G—“

“No I’m not gay! And no I don’t like Osamu in that way! I’m just.........a colleague”

“Huh then can you tell me why did you say that earlier?”

“Because Osamu has a girlfriend”

“What?”

And then suna told her everything, right after that she decided that the next time she and Osamu will meet, she’ll end whatever things they had.

Apparently when she and Osamu met again, Osamu was also thinking the same thing.

She looked at the man infront of her clearly didn’t have the energy to even look at her.

“So you have a girlfriend”

That’s when osamu’s eyes shots at aj, he did consider the possibility of aj knowing about you but he didn’t expect that she would have known this early

“How—“

“So you were lying?”

“Aj..”

“You were right?”

“Yeah”

Aj pushed her hair back and clicked her tounge, unbelievable fucking unbelievable! So she was fucking someone who’s already taken? Great! Fucking great.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“....”

“Oh now you’re not gonna answer?”

“Alcohol...”

“Oh yeah? You were pretty sober to me that time osamu”

He avoided his gaze,

“Ok sure let’s say you were DRUNK at that time....how come you still kept it a secret for two fucking months?”

“I..i—“

“Oh! So you were playing with me? Sure i fuck everybody but i will never fuck someone who’s in a relationship osamu and you FUCKING know that”

“Yeah i do”

“Then why?!”

“I...i don’t know”

Aj scoffed,

“You don’t know? You don’t know? Hahahaha BULLSHIT I don’t believe that you did not know, that's bullcrap osamu”

“I was just caught up in lust and—“

“Fuck you”

Osamu lowered his head to avoid her glare, right..fuck him and his life he deserves this.

“Let’s end this bullshit osamu”

He nodded in agreement.

“Yeah...you’re right”

Aj was about to leave but one last time she turned around to face osamu again.

“Just one more thing before I go”

Aj instantly slapped Osamu hard on the face, Osamu on the other hand didn’t do anything.

“Asshole.”

“I know.....I’m sorry.”

She couldn't believe that she was deceived by some jerk, she never really wanted that to happen if only she had known about Osamu’s relationship.

“Thanks to that jerk my trust issues are way worse now”

“Tell me about it”

Aj patted you on the shoulder and gave you a small smile.

“I’m sorry that happened and I’m glad i got to talk to you”

“Thank you for telling me Aj”

“Might be too late though but you did deserve to know the truth."

You just nodded and returned a small but genuine smile, you were both victims of the same man, she didn’t do anything wrong, she just knew nothing.

“Funny huh?”

“What is?”

Aj looked at you with a small smile.

“We’re both been lied to by the same guy”

“Victims of the same guy”

“Yeah...”

You two stood there a couple of minutes before AJ turned to the sink and started to wash her hands.

“Well i think I already told you what you wanted to know.”

She started to wipe her hands then looks at you.

“I’m glad you broke up with Osamu, you deserve someone better”

“Thank you, you too.”

“Oh darling hahahaha...I’m not planning on finding the right person yet.”

“O-Oh?”

She gave a wink then turned her heels and walked out leaving you all alone, you heard her shout.

“TERUSHIMA! BABY!”

You were relieved that she’s doing fine after all of that, you saw your reflection and frowned.

“Good for her, I guess.”

Well it’s just two months no wonder she’s alright already unlike you, you need to cope with the lost 6 years of relationship.

‘You’ll be alright' you mindlessly reminded yourself

“I’ll be fine”

Part 7

#haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu oneshot #haikyuu!! #haikyuu #haikyuu angst #angst #oc #author aj #osamu #timeskip osamu #osamu fic #osamu scenario #osamu x reader

[bestie-enthusiast]

Chapter 1: First (Proper) Meetings

This is the first proper chapter of my PTA! Dad Zemo fanfiction, and the 3rd of 11 chapters. The chapter is located under the cut.

Chapter word count: 4265

Fic Summary:

After the untimely death of both his wife and father due to a bombing, Baron Helmut Zemo takes his son and immigrates to America. He does not expect to find a family nor a romantic partner, and he especially does not expect to find the ability to heal. To grieve.

And yet, here we are.

This is a story about connections, growing, healing and mourning the past while still appreciating the future and all it has to offer.

One Year Later

“Come on now, my sonnenschein. AJ and Cass are most certainly already waiting for you.” Zemo told his son as he dragged him out the door. Carl had been having dreams (memories, blood, dust-) about his mother lately, and it had been difficult for both of them, especially considering the new school year was about to begin.

“Yes, papa.” Carl muttered sleepily, getting in and buckling himself when his father told him too. It wasn’t a particularly flashy car, but it did scream luxury, Zemo didn’t particularly care about the coincidental bragging though. He drove Carl to school in silence, letting his son have a few minutes of rest while he did the same. He didn’t sleep of course, just took a few moments to calm himself. It was stressful helping Carl process his dreams (memories, memories, memories-), let alone discussing his late wife. Carl wasn’t young enough when she died to forget her, and he couldn’t decide whether that was fortunate or not.

Zemo sighed and perfectly parked yet again, helping a just-awakened Carl out of the car and handing him his school bag. Now that his school was in sight, Carl had perked up a bit, rushing his papa along rather than the other way around. Zemo watched carefully as he rushed over to AJ and Cass, before looking around for Sarah.

He smiled when he saw her, then grimaced when he noticed who she was talking to. Fucking Carol. Nevertheless, he made his way over. He needed to play nice with Carol in order to keep his role in the Parent-Teacher Association.

“Ladies, always a pleasure.” He greeted with a smirk, which turned into more of a smile at Sarah’s hidden huff of laughter.

“Oh hello, Baron Zemo.” Carol greeted flirtatiously, and he had to hide the way his smile faltered with a glance toward the playground.

“Just Zemo works fine, Mrs. West.” He told her. While he was aware of his title and it’s connections, he did not want to flaunt it, just like his riches. He wanted Carl to live as normal a life as possible, which meant that he would have to do the same, not that he wanted much to do with what his future would have entailed without the unfortunate status of Sokovia. Sarah let out another huff of laughter.

Suddenly a new voice joined them. “Excuse me,” The man said, gently manervouring through them. Zemo knew immediately who it was from the voice, and even if he didn’t, the metal prosthetic was more than enough of a give away.

“It’s fine,” he heard himself say faintly, letting his eyes flicker down the man's whole body. James Barnes was a very attractive man, he thought to himself.

“Shit, I’m sorry. Just in a bit of a rush this morning.” He didn’t leave any time for a reply as he rushed into the school, fumbling with the stack of boxes he was carrying in his arms. Zemo stared at him behind the entire time until he was out of view. He knew he was blushing but he couldn’t help it.

“Well, well, well…” Sarah commented, a sly grin on her face. Carol looked rather huffy though, and cut her off.

“How disrespectful! He shouldn’t even be allowed near the children with his “PTSD.” And that metal arm, I mean think of the children! They shouldn’t know about it, and he should get a more realistic one. That would be far better for the children, not confusing them with his… robot arm.” Carol ranted angrily, her face growing a rather unpleasant shade of red.

“Carol!” One of the playground supervisors shouted in their general direction. “Hunter had another accident!” Carol stormed over in yet another huff, and both Zemo and Sarah let out a sigh of relief.

“I don’t know where she gets off being all high and mighty like that.” Sarah complained, before her mouth turned into a sly grin once again. “But I do know where you're getting off.” Zemo let out an undignified snort of laughter, covering his mouth in horror as he realised what he had done.

“I have no idea what you mean!” He protested. Sarah was very much like a sister to him, and she was also the reason he was on the PTA board. He enjoyed going to the meetings, especially when it came to fundraisers and budgets for prizes. He wasn’t the type to flaunt his wealth, but in the cases of donations? He would totally out-pay every other parent out there.

“Uh-huh, and you weren’t just ogling at your kid’s teacher’s butt?” She asked teasingly. The bell rang, cutting off their conversation. Despite the fact that it had been a year at this point, he still flinched at the loud, shrill sounding bell that signalled the start of the school day.

“Of course not! That would be incredibly impolite.” He retorted, smiling even as he protested her words. “It is good to see you again, Sarah.” He said quietly as they both watched their children line up together.

“You too, Zee.” She replied, just as soft. “And don’t think I didn’t see those bags under your eyes. Pick up your act or I’ll smack some sense into you.” Zemo ducked his head and blushed at both the nickname and the vaguely threatening nag to take care of himself.

“Apologies, I will ensure that you will not need to “smack some sense into me.” He assured her, knowing that he wasn’t actually going to do anything to sleep better, simply invest in some concealer. He felt bad planning to deceive Sarah like this, but he really was okay, so it didn’t matter. All he was doing was preventing her from worrying, that was a favour, right?

Once all the children were inside the school, he and Sarah said their goodbyes. He walked over to his car, and once in the privacy of it’s tinted windows, dropped his head and took in a deep, shuddering breath. He had no idea how he was going to stay awake and aware through the PTA meeting later that day. It was to discuss how the first day had gone and such, but Zemo really couldn’t care less, especially considering he already had a full day of work ahead of him.

Sighing, he turned on his car and drove home. Oeznik greeted him and took the car keys and his coat. Zemo muttered a thanks and headed to his office, spreading a fake grin on his face as he began his day of online meetings and phone meetings with his accountants, lawyers and business personnel.

The hours dragged by slowly, and he was thankful when the time came to pick Carl up from school. He had gotten Oeznik to go out and purchase him some expensive, good quality concealer, which he generously applied over his eye bags. Once he was satisfied with his appearance, he took his coat and keys from Oeznik, and headed to pick up Carl. Oeznik came along so that he could drive Carl home and Zemo could stay for the PTA meeting. He would either walk or call a car home, whichever he was feeling in the aftermath of the meeting.

Oeznik drove, which Zemo was grateful for, not trusting himself to not fall asleep at the wheel. He dozed slightly on the short drive to the school, but never for more than a few minutes. Oeznik quietly called out when they had arrived, and Zemo gracefully stepped from the car, looking every ounce of the baron that he was, and not an exhausted single-dad who was still mourning his wife and probably needed therapy.

“Thank you Oeznik,” he murmured quietly in his native tongue. He was still fluent, as were Oeznik and Carl. Even though Sokvia had technically fallen as a country, cannibalized by its neighbouring countries and removed from the map.

He plastered on a fake smile and took his place beside Sarah in waiting. She was talking to someone on the phone, once he heard the name he knew it was her brother. Sam Wilson. He did not know much about him, just that he left whatever he was doing to join Sarah in raising his nephews.

“Everything okay?” He asked, carefully making sure none of the residual tiredness leaked into his voice. Sarah was very observant when it came to the health of the people around her, so he couldn’t let her see anything at all. No signs that he was unwell in any way. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, he did. He just- this was something he needed to deal with himself. He could comfort Carl and talk, he could. It was easier. He could tell Carl that it was okay to cry, that they could talk for as long as he’d like, as much as he’d like, tell him that acceptance wasn’t easy, that it was going to be okay. But when it came to himself, none of that applied.

He should be strong enough to handle it, handle everything. If he couldn’t handle it himself, then how was he meant to help Carl? He needed to stay strong.

He was broken out of his thoughts when Sarah responded. “Yeah, we’re just a bit tight on money at the moment, but Sam is insisting we need to keep the goddamn boat. And don’t you dare go offering anything, we’re fine.” Zemo pursed his lips but nodded, already mentally planning how he was going to get Sarah to accept help; he could, after all, provide more than just financial aid.

The bell rang, he had to make an actual effort to flinch this time, he was very tired, and felt disoriented. Sarah laughed at him, which means he must have done a good job. He blinked harshly a few times to clear his blurring vision. He just had to get through the meeting, or maybe he could skip it and just give the school a generous donation to “help” them forget about it. But then Sarah would worry, so he would suffer through it.

AJ and Cass came rushing out, with Carl trailing behind them, clearly tired. Although he perked up once his papa waved at him. He rushed at him, and just like always, Zemo scooped him up and gave him a hug, before gently setting him on the ground. The PTA meeting technically started fifteen minutes after the school day let out, but most members took longer, and no one ever commented, except Carol, because they all had kids, or taught kids, and understood.

Zemo led Carl over to the car, helping him in and telling Oeznik that Carl could take a short nap before completing any school work. Oeznik nodded and Zemo started his walk back down to the school. The secretary buzzed him in before he could even ask, and he gave her a polite smile as he made his way over to the teachers lounge turned PTA meeting room. He blinked heavily, staring at the door for a second. He was contemplating just turning around when he heard a voice behind him.

“Are you just going to stand there or…?” It was James, and Zemo blinked again, struggling to find his voice.

“My apologies.” He replied quietly, “Just debating whether or not I want to deal with Carol today.” He quipped, opening the door for James to enter. He put on his best smile and straightened his posture. It was time to put on his mask of “Insufferable PTA dad who knows he’s better than you.”

The only other people here so far were staff and Carol, who was sitting in the seat directly beside his usual one. His smile grew even faker and more tense as he reluctantly sat down. Carol was the type of rich person who flaunted it, even though she had never actually had a job before, and all of her money was from her father and her husband's father.

“Hey, Helmut~” She said in a flirtatious voice, and he couldn’t hold back the flinch at her butchered pronunciation of his first name. She said it like an American, not the way it was meant to be pronounced in its language of origin.

“Hello, Mrs. West.” He greeted quietly, hoping that she wouldn’t be like this the whole time. “And like I’ve said numerous times before this, it is just Zemo.” He hoped that she would finally accept the fact that he preferred to be referred to as just his last name, but that hope was quickly crushed.

“But I like Helmut!” She shouted, pouting, once again butchering the pronunciation. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, calming himself. He had to stay polite and perfect. He had an image to maintain.

“Mrs. West-” He began, but was cut off by a snort.

“Your name is Helmut?” James asked incredulously, looking at him in exasperation. “What kind of rich person name is that?”

Zemo took another breath to calm and compose himself. “That is not the correct pronunciation, and it is not a traditionally “rich person” name as you put it, Mr. Barnes.” Zemo gently corrected, trying not to let any anger seep through his carefully constructed words. “And I prefer to go by my last name. Just my last name. Zemo.”

James hummed in consideration, and Carol let out a huff at her flirtations having fallen short. Zemo struggled to keep his eyes open in the lull of conversation as they waited for their final members, Sarah among them.

When Sarah arrived she took the seat on the other side of him, and he almost cried in relief at having a familiar, friendly face. It seemed that while James was nice to look at, he had some sort of dislike for upper-class people, which Zemo knew was not uncommon. Not that it didn’t hurt, being judged for something he personally had no control over.

But that's beside the point. The meeting started, and people started talking. Zemo kept himself awake by repeatedly pinching his hand, squeezing the soft flesh tightly everytime his focus started to slip. Several of the mothers attending tried to make flirty conversation with him, but he politely shut them down. All of them were married women, and he was not going to get involved with a married woman. Nor any woman for that matter, or man. He was not planning on ever seeking out a long term connection, not after Heike.

The meeting dragged on and Zemo, while occasionally participating, mostly stayed quiet. It wasn’t as though he was extraordinarily vocal at these meetings anyway, but he was more quiet than normal.

“I know you think I’m a dream but pinching yourself is not the right way to prove it.” A husky voice murmured to him. He looked over to see that Carol had physically gotten up to rant at some point, and James had taken her seat.

Zemo blinked in confusion. He was pretty sure James was flirting with him, which seemed unlikely, considering the man's attitude when they last spoke.

“More like this meeting is a nightmare I want to wake up from,” he replied, keeping voice as quiet as James. Carol had grown louder in her shrieking and it was giving him a headache. Well, at least now he couldn’t sleep even if he wanted to.

“Carol.” He said just loud enough to interrupt her and gain everyone else's attention, but he did not yell. Yelling was unfitting of a man of his stature. Baron’s do not yell, they command a room with silence, or with patience and a steady voice.

“Yes, Zemo?” Carol asked, eyes going half lidded and practically turning into hearts. He gave her a patient smile back, like she was a toddler too excited to wait.

“I’m afraid I have a rather potent headache at the moment,” he said, perfectly coaching his expression into something a tad more vulnerable than normal. “And I would greatly appreciate it if you could keep your-” ‘temper tantrum’ he thought to himself “-louder ideas, for the next meeting?” He pushed as much pain and tiredness into his eyes and smile as he could, which was a lot at the current moment.

Carol looked properly scolded and shrunk in slightly. “Sorry, Zemo.” She said quietly, sitting in James' original seat since he was still in hers.

“It’s fine. Thank you.” He replied, giving her a tight smile. He could feel everyone's eyes on him, and hoped it was because he got Carol to be quiet and not because of his admission of a headache. He could feel James staring at him, so he looked at him, tilted his head so that only James could see his face, and gave him a smirk. He hoped it wasn’t too obviously fake, and it seemed like it was real enough because James let out a huff of laughter (and oh how that made his heart soar) and turned away.

The meeting continued on for a while longer before everyone packed up. He had recorded the audio of the whole meeting on his phone, so he didn’t worry about missing anything. He was looking forward to listening to Carol’s rant a second time, but he did catch James’ laughter. He smiled giddily at the thought.

“What made you so happy?” Sarah asked from behind him as they were leaving the school.

“I got Carol to shut up.” He responded, biting his lip. He knew that if Sarah knew the true reason behind his smile she would never drop it.

“Uh huh.” She replied teasingly, before saying her goodbyes. They parted ways and he decided to walk home. He had just started walking when he heard loud, fast approaching footsteps behind him. He instinctively stepped out of the way and put himself into a loose fighting stance. Despite his now good mood, he was still very much sleep deprived and high strung. Thankfully the person, who he saw was Carol, had not attempted to grab him in any way. If she had, he probably would have broken her arm, or at the very least tried too.

“Hey Zeze!” Carol shouted, and he winced, both at the nickname and her shrill voice.

“Just Zemo, Mrs. West. And what can I do for you?” He asked, still perfectly polite. He would not allow himself to be anything but perfectly polite in any situation, public or otherwise.

“Well I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving you after you declared having such a horrific headache!” She declared, following just a step behind him as he started to speed walk towards his home. Then realised if he led her to his house she would never stop showing up. He pulled out his phone and called Oeznik, ignoring Carol when she asked what he was doing.

“Oeznik, come pick me up. A lady won’t leave me alone. She is not a threat, but a nuisance.” He explained, talking in Sokovian as to not insult Carol in a language she could understand. Carol was quiet as he talked to Oeznik, who said he’d bring a car right away.

“Thank you, old friend.” Zemo replied and hung up. “My apologies Carol, it was a serious matter. My butler will be around shortly to pick me up, so I’m afraid we’ll have to cut this conversation short.” She blinked and he noticed how she seemed dazed when he mentioned his butler. Was she not as rich as he thought?

“Whatever.” Carol huffed insolently, and strutted away. Zemo let himself relax just a little bit, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He flinched when someone put a hand on his shoulder and reflexively defended himself. His vision was blurry and he was almost certain he was a minute away from passing out, but he could not allow himself to get caught off guard.

“Woah!” The person exclaimed, and Zemo blinked. “Hey, it’s okay. You’ve just been standing here awhile, I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Zemo stared at the person, it was James. He had just attacked James after staring at nothing like an insane person.

“M-My apologies.” He stuttered out, “I am just waiting for my ride. You startled me.” Zemo had no idea how to explain what was actually going on. How do you tell your son’s teacher that you haven't slept for more than a few hours a night for almost a month and were practically delirious with sleep deprivation, which had caused you to disassociate, and then when he touched your shoulder your brain thought he was a Nazi so it made you flip out? That's right. You don’t. “Mm. Well since we’re both already here, I wanted to talk to you about Carl?” Zemo froze, had something happened? “I read the note you sent with him and just wanted to let you know that the school has a counseling program that I am required to recommend.” James continued with a huff of laughter at the end.

“Well thank you, but I assure you and your requirements that Carl is already seeing a licensed therapist.” Zemo replied. Despite the rocky start to the conversation, just being around James made his heart and head happy.

“Are you?”

“Parodon?” Zemo asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“Are you seeing a therapist?” James clarified. Zemo blinked in shock. No one had asked him that before. Well Oeznik had, but not again once Zemo had told him no. His entire world revolved around Carl and keeping him happy, so wasting time and resources on therapy for himself would be pointless.

“No.” Zemo answered, keeping it short and to the point. He was not, and it was not up for debate.

“I see.” James responded, pursuing his lips. “This may be out of line, but I don’t particularly care. Have you considered seeing a therapist? I think it might benefit your son if he saw that you were also actively taking measures to keep your mental health in a good place.” Zemo blinked, having to make an actual effort to keep the smile on his face.

“Well, thank you for your opinion. I will take it into consideration.” He wouldn’t but that doesn’t matter. It would keep James happy and Carl would stay happy, and he wouldn’t be happy but what does that matter? Keeping everyone else happy was key to staying in control.

“Right.” James sounded like he didn’t believe him, but Oeznik pulled up right after. Zemo held out his hand for a shake.

“It was nice conversing with you, Mr. Barnes. Please, do let me know if you have any more concerns regarding Carl.” Zemo said as James shook his hand.

“Of course, and just Bucky, please.”

Zemo nodded and ducked into the passenger seat of the car. Oeznik was in the driver's seat, and Carl was sitting in the back. As Carl started to excitedly tell him all about his day, Zemo allowed himself to drift into a semi-conscious state.

When they arrived back home, Oeznik started on dinner preparations and Zemo went over all of Carl’s school work with him, before sending him off to play in his room until dinner. After checking in on Carl, who was playing superheroes, he headed into his office. While everything regarding the legal side of his finances and immigrant status in the US was technically complete, he still had to manage his own finances and continue adding to Carl’s trust fund. There was always work to be done, especially when you were a baron. So while waiting for dinner, he worked on some paperwork. The mindless task felt numbing, in a good way. It was simple, but he did need to be present for it, meaning that his brain was flooded by words and numbers instead of thoughts of Sokovia and his wife. Oeznik called for both him and Carl, so he gracefully exited his office, intercepting Carl on the way down to tell him to go wash his hands. He waited for his son, before they walked down the stairs together and into the private dining room. They had a dining hall for guests and meetings, but also a family dining room for their everyday meals. Today Zemo quietly asked Oeznik to stay, which he did. They enjoyed a family dinner, and Zemo could feel his emotional state improving every minute he spent with his son.

After dinner was completed, Zemo ran a bath for Carl and kept an ear on him while finishing up some paperwork. Once Carl had finished Zemo helped him get dressed, brushed his hair and sent him to go brush his teeth. After Carl had done that, he tucked him in and quietly told him stories about Sokovia, speaking Sokovian of course. Carl quickly fell asleep and Zemo just watched him for a few minutes, soaking in every detail of his perfect son.

He took a long shower, letting the water wash away the pains of his day. He completed his extensive skin care routine and eventually found his way into bed. He stared up at his ceiling for a long time, just thinking.

It took quite some time, but he did manage to fall asleep, for a few hours at least. Carl slept through the whole night for once, but he didn't. He woke up only a few hours after he had initially fallen asleep and had been unsuccessful in his attempts to fall back asleep. He sighed, and headed into his office.

If he couldn’t sleep, then he might as well work.

-

Tagging @morganbritton132 (Who created this AU) and @i-ll-be-the-moon (Who is a supportive friend and likes my writing <3)

#pta dad zemo #pta au #tfatws #zemo #helmut zemo #baron zemo #fatws #fanfiction #james barnes #bucky #bucky barnes #tfatws fanfiction #fanfic #no powers au #au #au fanfiction #no powers #sarah wilson #oc #ofc #carl zemo #aj and cass #fluff #angst #hurt/comfort #cuteness #grief #mourning #ptsd #zemo has ptsd

[izzyfandoms]

Logicality - Demon

(This is one of 36 Halloween-themed ficlets I'm posting today! One for every sides/Remy/Emile/Thomas ship plus creativitwins!)

GENERAL TAGLIST: @quillfics42 @aj-draws @phantomofthesanderssides @phlying-squirrel @sly-is-my-name-loving-is-my-game @because-were-fam-ily @imtryingthisout @a-creepycookie @emo-disaster @littlestr @spooky-scary-virgil @fuyel @mimsidoodles @soupgremlin @aroaceagenderfluid @birdsbookshiddeninrealbirdsskin @quirkalurk @gingers-trashy-stuff @iinyxtello @justaqueercactus @melodiread @mrbubbajones @spookedferns @pun-master-logan @gayturtlez @k1ngtok1

Masterpost

Logan cursed as he messed up the summoning spell again, spilling lamb's blood all over his fingers. He had gallons spare - he was well prepared for this, after all - but it was still inconvenient to clean up every time.

He had to get up, wash his hands, and wipe down the table and all of his contents, every single time he made this mistake. Then, he would have to restart the spell - which would take ten minutes to cast in its entirety.

If Logan wasn't absolutely certain that he needed this spell - and the deal that would follow it - he would have given up two tries again. It was a difficult spell, the hardest one he had ever tried, and it was almost giving him more trouble than it was worth.

"Wow, I'm pretty sure that's the fifth time you messed that part up!" Came a cheerful voice behind Logan, that definitely hadn't been there before.

Logan grabbed the knife off the table, spinning around and suddenly pointing it at the intruder. He knocked over the cup of blood again as he did so - and silently cursed in his head at the mistake - but the intruder had startled him, so that was expected.

The intruder was... clearly a demon. It was a short man, who likely would have looked unassuming - with a blue polo-shirt and a grey cardigan wrapped around his shoulders - if not for the solid black eyes, light blue horns and too-wide smile on his face.

He looked like a dad who had just been possessed, which is why that was what Logan immediately assumed he was.

Not what he'd expected, sure, as he hadn't even completed the summoning spell, yet. But a demon had been what he'd wanted, so he supposed this wasn't entirely bad news.

"I had not completed the summoning spell, yet," Logan said, lowering the knife a little, but not completely putting it down. "How are you here?"

The demon took a step closer to him, still with that cheery - probably supposed to be friendly-looking - smile settled on his face.

"I could tell someone was trying to summon me," he explained. "So I decided to save you the trouble and just come here, anyway!"

"So... you're Patton, then?"

"Yup!"

Logan was still a little unsettled at the sight of the demon, but, unfortunately, that had been what he had been aiming to summon, despite the probable stupidity of his plan.

"Right..." Logan said slowly.

He didn't put down the knife, but he did loosen his grip on it, letting it just hang by his side in a hopefully unthreatening gesture.

"So, what do you want, Logan?" Patton asked, his smile never falling.

Logan blinked, taking a step back.

"How do you know my name?"

Patton giggled, the laugh sounding completely unhuman, ringing through the air like too-loud bells and making Logan wince.

"I did my research before coming down here to see you," Patton said. "I hope that doesn't upset you, but it should speed this up!"

"Okay... so, do you know what I want?"

Patton nodded. "Yup!"

"But, then why did you ask?"

"To be polite," Patton smiled. "I didn't want to seem rude, or scare you off."

Logan's brow creased. This interaction was getting more and more confusing, very different from anything he had expected from a deal with a demon. He had thought it would be harder than this, and that maybe the demon would look more threatening than somehow who dressed like a dad.

Though, Logan supposed, his style contrasted greatly with his demon horns and demon eyes, and that was more unsettling than a regular demonic presence would have been.

"Is it too much to ask?" Logan questioned cautiously. "My... request?"

Patton shook his head. "Nope! I can do it, easy-peasy!"

Logan took a deep breath, not sure whether he was relieved or disappointed by the answer. Well, he certainly wasn't excited at the part that would come next.

"And my end of the deal would be giving you my soul, I presume?"

Patton laughed again, loud and unsettling, though not at all unfriendly, which was perhaps the most unsettling part of it all.

"Nope!"

Logan paused. "What?"

"Nope," Patton repeated, shaking his head. "I don't trade for souls."

Logan blinked. "But... I heard..."

"I do make deals," Patton corrected. "But never for souls, silly! I'm not that kinda demon, you know? I only trade with humans with goals I respect, and my end of the bargain is getting something other than souls."

Logan dreaded to ask. "What do you trade for, then?"

Patton smiled. "Friendship!"

There was a moment of confused silence.

"What?" Logan exclaimed.

"Friendship!" Patton repeated. "If I grant your wish, you have to spend time with me," he explained. "Hell is just so boring, and the demons there are so mean! I like humans much, much more, but you guys don't tend to like me very much. So, I trade for friendship!"

Logan was... even more confused than he had been before, which really was saying something. He almost felt... sympathy... for the demon, though he still wasn't sure if this was all a trick or not.

"Right..." Logan said slowly. "What does this... friendship... entail?"

Patton smiled. "For a year, we spend four hours a week together. I will show up whenever I please, though only for the set amount of time, and we get to do whatever you want!"

"On earth, though," Logan clarified. "Not hell."

Patton shook his head. "Not hell."

"And... though you choose the times, I get to decide what we do during those four hours a week?"

"Yup!"

That... didn't sound so bad. In fact, Logan was struggling to find any sort of reason to turn down or alter the deal. It seemed like he was getting a bargain: something he didn't totally despise in return for his greatest desire.

It sounded... almost too good to be true, but he'd read that demons were unable to outright lie when making deals, and it seemed like Patton was genuine.

He took a deep breath.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Patton repeated.

"Yes, okay," Logan nodded. "I accept the deal."

He held his hand out for Patton to shake to seal the deal, but the demon just burst out laughing again.

"That's not how you seal deals, silly!"

Logan felt his face heat, and he pulled his hand back suddenly.

"How do you do it, then?"

"With a kiss," Patton said.

Logan froze, and he felt his face somehow warm and redden even further, as Patton looked him over with an amused expression.

"Don't worry," Patton continued. "It's just a short one!"

"Oh- okay."

"Okay?" Patton asked to confirm.

Logan nodded. "Okay. If- if it's just a quick one."

Patton leant forward, cupping Logan's face with hands that were so warm it bordered on uncomfortable. Then, he pressed his lips to Logan's, for just a brief moment.

The kiss... wasn't bad. In fact, it was warm and soft and not at all unpleasant, like Logan had expected it to be.

The kiss was good.

When Patton pulled back, Logan felt a feeling that he certainly hadn't expected to feel in that moment.

Disappointment.

And that disappointment quickly turned into dread when Logan realised... the demon was cute.

#me #writing #logicality #sanders sides #logan sanders #patton sanders #fluff #human au #demon au

[fivecatsinatrench-coat]

A Second Date

Clementine and Louis have a second date to continue getting to know each other better.

“I hate you,” she jested. “I love you too.” He smirked. “Even if you do have a weird thing for cowboys.” “Damn it, I do not! You’re never gonna let this go, are you?” “Absolutely not.” 

~  AO3  ~  FF  ~

Clementine grit her teeth and dug her nails into her bed sheet as a sharp pain shot up her leg. She  raised her head slightly and looked to the foot of her bed where Ruby was busy dabbing the limb with a wet cloth to clean it. The redhead insisted on cleaning it every day until it scarred over. It was already a miracle that Clementine had survived the amputation; Ruby didn’t want to test their luck with an infection. She gave the other girl a sympathetic look.

“I’m sorry, hon. I know it sucks, but it’s gotta be done,” Ruby said, rubbing the injured girl’s other leg in a futile attempt to soothe her. 

“I know,” Clementine grumbled, squeezing her eyes shut and resting her head back against her pillow. Of course she was grateful to Ruby for looking out for her, but God, did this suck.

It had been a little over a week since she returned home, and her recovery was going a lot more smoothly than anyone expected it would. The color had returned to her skin, and she was able to stay awake for the better part of most days. The pain was still overwhelming at times, but with the help of painkillers and emotional support from the other kids, she was able to push through it. 

AJ had been particularly attentive-- not that that was at all surprising. He spent most of his time by her bedside when she was awake, keeping her spirits up and making sure that she had everything she needed. He wasn’t beside her today, however. This was the first day he had left the walls of the school since they came home. He had initially been reluctant to go too far away from her, as even though she was improving, he was still terrified that something would go wrong. He was still terrified that he’d lose her. But that morning, Clementine was finally able to convince him not to worry-- that she wasn’t going anywhere, so he hesitantly agreed to go hunting with Aasim and Louis. 

When he headed out, leaving her alone in her room, part of her regretted telling him to go. Having him around kept her from thinking too hard about her condition. She tried her best to suppress it, but she couldn’t help the grief she felt over the loss of her leg. She knew that her disability would make life a lot harder from here on out; there were so many things she’d probably never be able to do again….

A light knocking at the door brought Clementine out of her thoughts. She propped herself up on an elbow and called out, “Come in.” 

The door opened and Louis stepped in. 

“Hey,” he greeted her with a grin and shut the door behind him.

“Hey, you.” She smiled affectionately at him then raised an eyebrow when she noticed that AJ wasn’t with him. “Where’s AJ?” 

“He wanted to help Aasim get a rabbit ready for dinner,” he told her then glanced at Ruby, who was still busy tending to Clementine’s leg. “Uh, I can come back later if you want.”

“No, it’s ok.” She stared down at her leg and frowned before meeting his eyes again. “Honestly, I could use a little moral support.”

Louis mirrored her dejected expression and walked the short distance to her bed. He crouched down beside her and took her hand in his.

“I’m so sorry, Clem. I--”

“Hey, I said I need support, not a pity party,” she interrupted.

He dropped the rest of his sentence with an amused exhale and squeezed her hand. “Right. Sorry.”

“So… how was hunting?” Clementine asked, wanting to shift the conversation away from her plight.

“Pretty good. We caught a couple rabbits, and I showed AJ how to reset the traps.”

“That’s good.” She chuckled before adding, “Guess you’ve replaced me as his sidekick, huh?”

“Hey, he’s the sidekick,” Louis joked, earning another light laugh from the girl. Of course, the sight of her laughing brought a grin to his face, as it never failed to do. 

Clementine looked lovingly at him for a moment before extending her arms to him for a hug, which he happily gave. 

“Thanks,” she mumbled into his shoulder.

“For?”

“Just, y’know... being here. It helps.”

He pulled slightly out of her embrace and kissed the tip of her nose. “I’ll always be here.”

A soft giggle from the end of the bed caused the pair to separate. Ruby had finally finished cleaning the girl’s wound and was looking fondly at them. They both blushed and lowered their eyes; they had almost forgotten she was there….

“Y’all are too cute,” Ruby remarked, shaking her head. She noticed the redness on their faces and gave them a small reassuring smile. “You don’t have t’ be embarrassed. It’s real sweet how close you two have gotten.”

Ruby picked up a roll of bandages and turned her attention back to Clementine’s leg. 

“I’m a lil’ jealous,” the redhead admitted, still looking down as she began to wrap the fresh gauze around the limb. “Not, y’know, of either of you specifically,” she quickly clarified. “Just of what y’all have, I guess.”

Ruby paused and looked back up to them. They were staring at her expectantly, apparently waiting for further explanation, so she continued:

“I used t’ read those sappy romance books the old English teacher kept in her desk and wish I could experience somethin’ like that,” she continued and smiled sadly at her hands. “I stopped a while ago, though, when I realized it wouldn’t ever happen.”

“Well, how do you know it won’t?” Clementine cut in gently. 

“I dunno… Not a lotta people left... And I doubt any of ‘em would like me.”

Clementine was surprised to hear that she felt that way. Did she really not realize that Aasim had a massive crush on her? He wasn’t exactly very subtle about it….

“You don’t know that. Maybe somebody does,” the brunette hinted.

She looked to Louis, who had his hand over his mouth in an attempt to hide the huge knowing grin that spread across his face. He dropped his hand and opened his mouth to speak but was stopped short by a light tugging on his wrist. He glanced down to find Clementine gripping it then shifted his gaze to her face and gave her a questioning look. ‘Don’t,’ she mouthed, knowing exactly what he was planning to say. As much as she herself wanted to just tell Ruby about Aasim’s crush too, she knew that they shouldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair to either of them. Louis pouted but obeyed and stayed silent.

Ruby raised an eyebrow at their behavior but chose not to question it.

“I don’t think so,” she sighed as she tied off the fresh bandage on Clementine’s leg. “Well, think I’m all done here.” Ruby stood and wiped her hands on her pants. “Anything else I can get’cha?”

Clementine shook her head. “I’m ok. Thanks, Ruby.”

She gave a little nod in response and turned to leave the bedroom. Clementine and Louis watched as she exited the room and gently closed the door behind her. They stayed quiet for a moment, listening to the sound of her footsteps down the hall fade away.

“I can’t believe this,” Louis quickly broke the silence, shaking his head in incredulity.

“I know, right?” Clementine agreed. “She really has no idea.”

 “I gotta tell her.” He turned to Clementine. “Come on, you shoulda let me tell her. This is too perfect.”

“No, he needs to tell her.”

“But he won’t, Clem. It’s been, like, a year.”

“Just... give it a little more time. He’s not very good at hiding it; she’s gonna find out eventually.” 

Louis crossed his arms and quirked his brow at her, clearly unconvinced. Noticing his skepticism, the girl continued:

“What if someone else told you that I like you?” she asked. “Wouldn’t that have kinda ruined it?”

“Honestly, I would’ve just thought they were fucking with me.” He stared at the door and frowned, pausing to consider her point for a minute before sighing in defeat. “...I guess you’re right.”

“Of course. I’m always right.”

He smirked at her. “I’m still gonna keep harassing Aasim about it, though.”

Clementine snickered. “That’s fine; you should. Just don’t tell Ruby anything.”

“Deal.”

Louis looked down in thought for a second. He sat down on the bed beside her and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “So, um...anyways... I actually came in here for a reason,” he said.

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Well, y’know, I figured you must be bored laying in here all day, so I thought, ‘Hey, what better time for our second official date?’” He pulled his deck of cards out of his coat pocket, set it on the bed between them, and looked to her with a hint of anxiety on his face as he waited for a response. 

She gave him a soft smile. “That’s a good idea. I am pretty bored.” 

Louis smiled and let out a breath of relief, which Clementine took notice of.  

“What? You thought I was gonna say no?” she asked as she sat up and rested her back against the wall.

“I mean, not really, but”-- he shrugged-- “you never know. Maybe, in the last thirty seconds, you realized you actually hate me.”

Clementine rolled her eyes. “No such luck,” she joked before focusing on the deck of cards sitting on the bed. “So, did you have a game in mind?” she asked the boy.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Y’know, I still don’t really know a lot about you, so I thought we could play the game we did the night you first got here. Remember? Highest card asks a question?”

“Yeah, I remember,” she confirmed. “Is War the only card game you know?”

“Of course not; it’s just the easiest. I know Golf, Spades, Cribbage, some that I made up...” As he listed off card games, Louis split the deck in half and handed half of the cards to Clementine. “I also know how to play Poker, but I hate it.”

“Why?”

“It’s boring.” He paused before mumbling, “And Violet always beats me.”

The girl chuckled. “Really?”

“Yeah. She’s impossible to read. I think she’s secretly a lizard-person,” he said, somehow keeping a completely straight face.

Clementine burst out laughing. 

“Don’t tell her I said that,” Louis added, as he laughed along with her. 

“Don’t worry; I won’t.” The girl’s smile faltered. “She… doesn’t really talk to me anyway.”

Not wanting to ruin the mood, Clementine quickly changed the subject. “So”-- she held up the stack of cards Louis had given her-- “are we gonna play?”

Louis nodded and gave the cards in his hand a quick shuffle. They each drew a card from their respective stacks and flipped it over; Clementine won with an eight of diamonds. 

“You win,” Louis said. “What do you wanna know?”

Clementine looked up and thought for a second. She couldn’t think of anything particularly creative to ask, so she just asked the first question that came to her mind:

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Damn, we’re already starting with the real hard-hitting questions, huh?”

The girl smiled and rolled her eyes in response before looking back at him expectantly. 

“It’s green,” he told her. “What’s yours?”

Clementine raised an eyebrow and smirked at him. “Hey, I thought only winners got to ask questions,” she teased.

“Ok, new rule then: losers can ask follow-up questions.” 

“Fine,” she chuckled before answering, “Mine is pink.”

“No way. You’re lying.” 

“What? What’s wrong with pink?”

“Nothing!” he laughed. “I just wasn’t expecting that. I thought you were gonna say something hardcore like black or blood red or something.” His expression softened. “That’s kinda cute-- that it’s just pink.”

The girl snorted, trying to hide the slight blush that crept onto her cheeks at his words. “If you say so.”

“Wait, what kind of pink, though? Hot pink?” Louis suddenly asked. 

“Ew, no.” Clementine wrinkled her nose at the thought of that obnoxious color. “Just regular pink,” she specified.

“Ok, good,” he chuckled and took the card she had drawn out of her hand, stacking it with his and setting it to the side. He motioned for her to draw again for the second round. “After you.”

Clementine drew another card from her stack and flipped it over: six of spades. Louis followed and produced a three of hearts.

“I win again.” The girl smirked at him. 

Louis shook his head and said flatly, “You’re cheating.”

She scoffed. “What? How do you even cheat at this game?”

“You stacked the deck.”

“It’s your deck!” she laughed.

“Alright, fair point… I got my eye on you, though.” He winked at her. “What’s your question?”

This time, she already had a question in mind. “Where are you from?” she asked. “Before you came here, I mean.” 

Louis smiled and answered, “Baltimore.”  

“That’s cool; that baseball guy I met was from there,” Clementine shared.

He raised his eyebrows. “No shit? What was his name?”

“Javier Garcia.”

“Wait, seriously? I’ve met him.”

Clementine’s eyes widened. “Really? When?”

“Yeah. Well, kinda. My grandparents used to take me to the baseball games in the city sometimes. He signed a ball for me. I think I still have it somewhere...” He shook his head and chuckled to himself. “I can’t believe you met Javier Garcia and didn’t tell me.”

She giggled at his enthusiasm then shrugged. “You never asked.”

“Alright, you gotta tell me everything now. How’d you meet him?”

“Well… I, uh…” Clementine sighed, slightly embarrassed of how she had acted back then. “I almost shot him; then, I tried to rob him.” 

Louis snorted. “Really, Clem? I mean, I knew you were edgy, but damn.”

She rubbed the back of her neck and said sheepishly, “Yeah… I was going through some shit at the time… He was pretty cool about it, though.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. He was a pretty cool guy in general,” she said and placed her card atop the other discarded ones. “He’s kinda like you-- little less dorky though.”

“Dorky!?” Louis clutched his chest and feigned offense.

“In a good way!” she quickly added with a laugh before switching focus to her stack of cards. She held them up and asked, “Round three?”

“‘Round three?’ You’re really gonna act like you didn’t just insult me like that?” He continued pretending to be offended as he drew another card. Before Clementine could respond or even draw a card herself, he blurted out, “I win.” and revealed that he had drawn an ace. 

“Not necessarily,” she protested. “What if I get an ace too?”

“I’d be very shocked.”

Clementine picked the top card off her stack and lifted it up in front of her face so that he couldn’t see it. She smirked. “It’s an ace,” she told him.

Louis looked at her skeptically and peeked over the top of the card to see what it really was. “That’s a four, darling.” 

The girl sighed and dropped the card. “Fine... I guess losers do deserve to win at least once.”

“Exactly,” he agreed before asking his question: “What’s your favorite kind of music?”

Clementine smiled; that was such a him thing to ask. She pursed her lips as she considered the question. Music hadn’t really been a part of her life like it had Louis’. When she and AJ were living on the road, they avoided it for the most part; it was unnecessary noise. She had probably heard more music in the past month at the school than in all her years on the road. 

“Honestly, I don’t know. I never really had the chance to listen to much music before I came here,” she admitted. “Sometimes me and AJ would listen to some rock CD in the car; I guess that was pretty cool.”

“Rock? That makes sense.”

Clementine shrugged and moved to draw another card, but Louis interrupted her:

“Wait, you’re not gonna ask what mine is?”

“I already know what yours is.” She smirked at him. “It’s obviously super girly pop music.”

“Ah, shit! How’d you know!?” he joked. 

“Gut feeling,” she joked back as she grabbed the next card off her stack.

She drew a Jack, beating Louis’ draw of a nine.

“Yes!” Clementine pumped her fist in celebration of her victory. “I have a good one this time.”

“Oh boy,” Louis said, slightly worried. “What is it?”

“What’s your biggest irrational fear?” she asked.

He eyed her suspiciously. “Um, you’re not trying to get ammunition to use against me are you?”

“No!” she laughed. “I’m just curious.”

“Ok...” Louis sighed before answering, “I’m terrified of wasps.”

“Wasps?”

“Yeah. I hate them. A couple years back we found a wasps’ nest under the lookout tower. I wouldn’t go outside for a week.”

“Are you allergic to them or something?” the girl asked.

“No, they’re just… fucking demonic, y’know?” he replied as an involuntary shiver ran down his spine at the thought of the wretched insects.

Clementine giggled. “Yeah, I guess they kinda are.”

“I’m glad you understand,” he chuckled then raised an eyebrow at her. “So, what’s your irrational fear, then?”

 “Oh, I’m not scared of anything,” she responded matter-of-factly.

“Everyone’s scared of something.”

“Not me.”

 Louis pouted. “Come on, I told you mine.”

She stared into his pleading eyes for a moment before groaning and giving in. “I guess I’m kinda creeped out by mirrors,” she confessed.

“What? Mirrors? How could someone as pretty as you hate mirrors?”

“Ha ha,” she replied sarcastically before explaining, “They give me a weird feeling... like they’re watching me or something.” She shuddered. “I don’t know how to explain it; they’re just creepy.”

The boy gave her an amused look. “Not gonna lie, that’s… a pretty weird fear. Was not expecting that,” he said.

“Hey, don’t judge me.” 

“I wasn’t.” He held up his hands. “There’s nothing wrong with you being scared of mirrors. In fact, if you want, I’ll go smash every mirror in the school for you right now.”

Clementine snickered. “I think I’ll be alright.”

“Ok, if you say so.” Louis picked up his stack of cards, preparing to draw for the next round, but before he did, he added, “If you ever change your mind, though, lemme know. I will do it.”

“I’ll let you know,” she promised. 

The pair each drew another card, and this time, Louis won with a seven of clubs. He held his card up to his lips as he considered whether or not he really wanted to ask the question he had in mind. Clementine cleared her throat and raised her wrist as if she were checking an imaginary watch, teasing the boy for taking so long to ask his question. So he decided to just go for it: 

“Alright, I gotta ask… And I’m not judging, ok? But...” Louis reached over her and picked up a book that had been laying on the opposite side of her bed. He held it up in front of her and asked,“What the fuck is this?”

“Oh God.” Clementine could feel her face begin to burn when she saw the cover. It was one of those cringeworthy western romance novels with a shirtless man in a cowboy hat on the front. The terrible thing was mixed in with a stack of a few books that Ruby had given her a couple days prior. The girl tried to explain herself:

“It’s a book Ruby brought me to read when I get bored. She gave me a few different books, and-- and I already read all the others. So y’know, I thought reading it would at least be better than staring at the ceiling. I--It’s super dumb. I swear I’m only reading it to laugh at it.”

Louis smirked at her babbling. “Right. Sure.” 

“I promise!” Clementine really wasn’t lying. The book was horrible-- probably the worst thing she had ever read in her life. It was almost impressive how bad it was, and that made it hilarious to her. But of course, Louis wasn’t going to let her off that easy.

“So what’s it about, then?” he asked as he scanned the pages, stopping when his eye caught a particularly cringeworthy passage. He smirked at the girl beside him and began to dramatically recite it:

Annabelle watched with wide eyes as he dismounted the horse, his bare six-pack glistening in the afternoon sun. God, he was sooo hot. He took off his cowboy hat and ran his fingers through his hair before turning to her and smiling. “Howdy, baby. I have come back for you,” he said in his deep, sultry voice.

Clementine lied back and buried her burning face into her hands. “Please stop,” she laughed. Of course, he ignored her and continued reading:

“Oh, Bill. I knew you would.” She ran into his arms and kissed him passionately. He tightened his hold on her and pulled her to the ground with him. He tenderly stroked her-- 

Louis cringed. “Oof, that’s a little inappropriate,” he mumbled to himself and quickly flipped a few pages ahead until he found a different section to read. “Here we go.”

Luckily for Clementine, before he could start reading whatever awful new passage he found, the dorm door opened and someone stepped inside. Louis lowered the book and turned around to see who it was. He smiled when he saw that it was AJ.

“Hey, little dude!”

“Hi,” AJ greeted the older boy then raised an eyebrow when he caught sight of Clementine lying back with her hands covering her beet-red face. “Uh, what are you doing?”

“I’m just reading Clem her favorite book,” Louis replied nonchalantly. 

“It’s not my favorite book! I hate it!” the girl blurted out. 

“Oh, stop lying, Clem. Your secret’s out; you might as well own it.”

“I hate you,” she jested.

“I love you too.” He smirked. “Even if you do have a weird thing for cowboys.”

“Damn it, I do not! You’re never gonna let this go, are you?”

“Absolutely not,” he laughed, planting a quick kiss on her cheek. 

“Lou, I swear to God when I get out of this bed...” Clementine playfully threatened.

“I’ll go into hiding,” he chuckled and stared down at the book in his hands. Something suddenly occurred to him. “Wait, so Ruby gave this to you?”

Clementine nodded. “She did.”

“I wonder if this is one of those sappy books she was talking about.” He mindlessly flipped through the pages then slipped the novel into an inner pocket of his coat and flashed her a sly grin. “I’m gonna show it to Aasim-- tell him to take notes and act it out for her.”

“Great idea,” she snorted. “You can torment him instead.”

“He is pretty fun to torment.” He grinned mischievously then glanced at the door. “...I’ll be back.”

Clementine watched as Louis stood and rushed out of the dorm room, his coat flapping behind him. She chuckled to herself as she heard him running down the hall. She loved that idiot.

“...I don’t get it,” AJ suddenly said. “What just happened?”

“Don’t worry about it, kiddo,” Clementine chuckled. “He's just being a dork.”

End Note: Thanks for reading! ♥

#this is pretty silly ngl haha #twdg #clouis #twdg louis #twdg clementine #twdg fanfiction #twdg fanfic #my writing

[pinkyhaert]

Nutcracker month 2020 by @artsynoova

Day 10: { Benjamin &.... Yuri!? } (ft. Ghostwire.)

{ Here have a flipping story because my brain just WENT with it when I wrote this; Scroll down for the art ;3c }

~ Hollyberry entered the next world as he did the others, unaware of the particularly dastardly surprise awaiting him. The world had a similar set up to that of Auran’s World. Especially the big theater looming in the background. Hollyberry was half expecting to have to dance the ballet again.. something he wasn’t exactly looking forward too.. ah well. At least he’s had the practice for it.

Inside the Theater, everything was worn out and old looking, not to mention practically pitch Black. The poor little Brave could barely see his Servo in front of his Optics! It was times like these he wished he still had his headlights.. as strange as that may sound. As he Went deeper into the Dreary looking theatre.. He couldn’t help but get the feeling he was being watched...

Two Glowing magenta Eyes Watched from shadows of the curtains.. waiting patiently for the unsuspecting nutcracker to set off his delightful trap he had set for him. This Plan will surely put a stop to Holly’s Meddling in his grand scheme.

As if on cue, The Lights of the theater turned on and shone on The Brave in the center stage. In the next instance by making a Dramatic entrance in a puff of purple smoke- A Phantom Appeared before the Brave in all its Mysterious and spooky splendor. ~

Phantom: “ FOOLISH WOODEN DOLL!! YOU’VE FALLEN RIGHT INTO MY GRASP!!”

Hollyberry, Slowly raising his Servo up to correct them: “ um.. Actually I’m made of metal-”

Phantom: “ I Care Not of any Detail you suggest Commoner’ ”

Hollyberry: “ Ah.”

Phantom: “ All the Intrests Me is What You have to Offer the Great and Powerful Phantom”

Hollyberry; raising an eyebrow in an Unamused manner: “ Oh? and what Might that be?”

Phantom: “ The Core that keeps you running and fighting and despite all odds against you, your ‘Soul’ If you will. Give it to me.”

Hollyberry; Blatantly: “ No.”

Phantom: “ I thought You’d say that you stubborn little Bratt. So I’m willing to make you an offer you can’t refuse.”

~ With the snap of their fingers, two Chambers that looked like miniature stages came down from the ceiling. At once they opened, revealing two of the missing nutcrackers Dressed to impress awaiting inside. It was the nutcracker of this world, Benjamin! and... Yuri!? What’s he doing here And so far away from his home!? Either way he had to help them!

But before Hollyberry could react, The two jumped down and surrounded him. Something was clearly Wrong- And the Masks on their faces proved it. Without warning they tried to subdue him, barely giving him a chance to dodge their attacks. He could tell they didn’t what to attack him however, with the look in their eyes betraying their true emotions on the matter.. but they were powerless to resist the Phantom’s Control.

With another snap of the Phantom’s fingers they obediently returned to his side in their mini stage chambers. Hollyberry whipped around with a Growl as he glared at the phantom with furry in his optics. If there was one thing Holly hated, it was the thought of being controlled to hurt others- especially with your consciousness still intact. ~

Hollyberry: “ RELEASE THEM; NOW!!”

Phantom: “ Only if you win a little wager~”

~ The Seats in the audience suddenly were filled with different shadowy beings and creatures Holly couldn’t make out as they cheered for the phantom and boooed at him. ~

Phantom: “ If you can put on a better performance then both me and my ‘bodyguards’ and survive~ I’ll release your friends. If I win the crowds cheers however, well.. you know how the play goes. So little nutcracker; We got a Deal?”

~ Before holly even had the chance to speak A New Figure burst from the rafters and Landed onto center stage, Causing the crowd to let out a Gasp of surprise. Hollyberry couldn’t believe his optics as he stared at the newcomer who glared down the Phantom before speaking without hesitation. ~

Ghostwire: “ Your Gonna regret you EVER Crossed Our Path you pathetic excuse for a Specter! Bring it On!”

Hollyberry; Astounded: “Rairakkurōzu!! What are you doing here?”

Ghostwire: “ You really think I’m gonna let some random Punk Bully my lil bro? I’d snap All his limbs in half if he even TRIED-”

Phantom: 0_0 💧

Hollyberry: “ Happy to see you too.” ^-^

Ghostwire; Cracking her knuckles while giving death glares to the phantom: “ Let’s show this phony phantom what makes You and me ‘Unique’ to the nutcracker Clan”

Hollyberry: “Alright!”

*music begins to play*

Phantom: “ W..Wait a moment.. That’s not Christmas Music-”

Both Hollyberry & Ghostwire: “ Nope :)”

——————

———-

The song: ( Again, not sang by me- )

———-

Hollyberry; Holding Ghostwire back: “ Wait- WAIT Ghosty it’s Okay They’re Back to normal Now” 💦

Ghostwire; About to YEET a Table: “ You sure? Pretty sure I still saw some evil left.”

Hollyberry: “ I’m sure..put the table down.”

Ghostwire: “ Fine..”

Benjamin & Yuri: /// Scary.../// 💧

Hollyberry: “ Um.. anyways, Are you two alright?”

Benjamin: “ Much better now that we aren’t under that Phantoms control and can move freely, thanks for the help Holly.”

Hollyberry: “ That’s good.. these monsters are getting a little harder to fight as time goes on..”

Yuri: “ But where did those things keep coming from?”

Hollyberry: “ I Have a General idea.. But you both shouldn’t be worrying about that. You should be focused on helping your worlds.”

Ghostwire: “ And Don’t worry about Deckerd-”

Hollyberry: “ Holly.”

Ghostwire: “-Holly. Me and a few others will keep an eye out for him. Speaking of which, I gotta go and find Flow and Fedelis now- who knows what shenanigans they’ve gotten themselves Into.”

Hollyberry: “ Haha understandable, Good luck Rairakkurōzu.”

Benjamin: “ If you need any help on Your journey, Just give us a call-”

Yuri: “-And we’ll come lend you a hand for a change!”

Hollyberry: “ Thanks, I appreciate it.” ^_^

———-

{ Just a friendly note to the beans included:

To Nova: I’ve been having such a fun time coming up with this storyline for the nutcracker month this year and I feel honored to be included in the list! So I wanted to do something special like last year, but with a storyline twist cause’ your special ^_^

To AJ: I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to make it to yuri this year so I wanted to do him a bit eailer than expected~ Surprise!!

To Ghosty: Y’all didn’t think I’d make it this far in an epic adventure and not include The Buff Goth ‘Clara’ of Holly’s Storyline, Did you? Big sister Ghosty is here to take names and claim souls for anyone who messes with her lil’ bro. }

———

Benjamin belongs to @artsynoova

Yuri belongs to @ahjones94

Ghostwire belongs to @cyberghost-scout

Hollyberry & Fudge belong to me :3c

#chibi #nutcracker!au #hollyberry #the nutcracker #nutcracker au #nutcracker ocs #nutcracker month #nutcracker month 2020 #nutcracker oc #the blueberry and the ghostly meringue #cyberghost scout #ghostwire #Yuri #Benjamin #the sticker stealer event #good verses evil #aggressive #cute #storyline #phantom #nutcracker #( I’m probably gonna make it to Reuben before I pass out ) #( Also Here’s Holly’s Clara!! ) #( she’s very aggressive) #( complete opposite of Her lil bro Holly ) #( don’t get on her bad side or she’ll throw you ) #( into the sun ) #( right after breaking every bone in your body- ) #my art #maccadam

[i-am-a-closet-fanfic-fiend]

Stardust and Starfish ~ Chris Beck x Reader

A/N: Hi my lovelies! I hope you’re all doing well in these crazy times. I hope you are staying safe and healthy.I apologize for the radio silence. I’ve had a lot going on, and I haven’t been able to really write anything. But I’m trying to chug along, and I’m focusing on finishing out my WIPs, so hopefully I’ll have more to share with you soon. 

Without any further ado, this is a fic for my Whippersnapper Daughter @captainscanadian​ ‘s CBC 1K Writing Challenge, which I was supposed to complete a million years ago, but I didn’t quite manage it. So here you are love, I hope you enjoy. This is my first time writing Chris Beck. I’ve never seen the Martian. I literally only know that he’s a fluffy space nerd (at least based on fics), so hopefully this is okay. 

Enjoy!

Prompt:  “Hey we kissed once in kindergarten but I haven’t seen you since and I couldn’t remember why you were so familiar.”

Rating: T 

Warnings: Language, I think that’s it. 

Word Count: 3251

Ahh graduation. A time of endings. A time of beginnings. A time for throwing caution out the window and kissing boy you’ve had a crush on all year.

You were clutching your diploma as you dodged around the other graduates looking for one classmate in particular. You finally spotted him munching on a handful of goldfish by the refreshment table.

“Hi, Rocket!”

“Hi, Bubbles!”

“Oh there you kids are. Come on. Get close. We need a picture.”

“Smile, Chris!” his dad coaxed before shuffling the two of you together.

“Big smiles!”

You each threw an arm around the other grinning wildly.

“Say, I’m ready for first grade.”

“I’m ready for first grade!” you both chorused.

“Well, we should get going. We’ll go get your stuff. Say goodbye to Chris, sweetie.”

“Okay, Mom!”

You hugged him tight.

“I just wanted to say that I really like you and I really like your book of stars.”

“Thanks! I really like your book about the ocean!” He grinned, blue eyes lighting up.

Before you could chicken out you leaned forward and pecked him on the lips like you’d seen your mom do with your dad whenever she said goodbye.

Chris squeaked in surprise and went rigid and red as a tomato. Before either of you could say anything your mom returned with your backpack.

“Y/n, honey, time to go.”

“Okay. Bye, Chris! Have fun at camp! See you next year.”

“See you,” he waved absent-mindedly, still wide-eyed.  

“Come on, we’re gonna be late,” your best friend whined as she waited for you to finish feeding your starfish.

“We’ll be fine. The talk doesn’t start until five.”

“It’s four-fifty.”

“Seriously? Shit okay. This is the last tank.”

You tossed in the mix of their food, scrubbed your hands before following AJ out of the lab.

You raced to the auditorium halfway across the campus, grateful for the reserved seats Casey had promised you. You looked around for the postdoc in question once you’d settled in, and you spotted her at the edge of the stage chatting with the distinguished speaker, Dr. Chris Beck.

“You’re staring,” AJ whispered. “Are you crushing on the guest speaker too?”

”He just seems really familiar,” you muttered back, squinting.  

“I mean he has been all over the news for the past few years.”

“No, it’s like I’ve met him before.”

“Maybe you saw him during your sting at Yale?”

“Maybe,” you shrugged.

You weren’t totally convinced but it made the most sense, even though you were pretty sure that your times didn’t overlap.

Before you could think too much more about it, the dean of the medical school started introducing him. Not that he needed it.

You, and nearly everyone else, were completely captivated by Dr. Beck. When it was announced at the end of the talk that Dr. Beck would be taking the equivalent of a sabbatical at the university and teaching a short seminar series starting in the Spring the excitement was palpable.

“I can’t believe astro-hottie is joining the faculty,” AJ giggled.

“I know right. That’s going to be fun.”

The crowd was slow to exit the auditorium, and you were surrounded by excited chatter.

“So do you want food first or should we try to score an intro?”

“Food. I’m sure he’ll be swarmed for a while. Besides, Casey is his host, I’m sure she’ll get us a chance to talk to him.”

“Perks of being friends with astrophysics postdocs.”

“True.”

After the formal dinner with the grad students and postdocs, Chris was enjoying himself so much that some of them continued the evening at a pub just down the road from the campus. He had been happily listening his company discuss some of his more interesting results when he happened to notice you walk in. You had changed into a short black dressed and donned a deep blue leather jacket against the cold.

Casey noticed his distraction and silently cheered. Clearly the newest faculty member was interested in her friend, and judging by your reaction to him at the reception you were interested as well, so she excused herself to join you at the bar.

“Hey, Case. How’s it going?” You greeted her.

“Good. Didn’t expect to see you two here tonight.”

“We were supposed to go to the new restaurant down the street, but they lost our reservation,” AJ explained.

“So, we decided to keep it low key,” you continued.  

“Gotcha. Well, do you want to join us?”

“Who’s us?”

“A few of the ones who went to dinner and Chris.”

She glanced over her shoulder and you and AJ followed her line of attention.

“Oh, so it’s Chris now?” you smirked, though it faltered when he caught your eye and smiled.

“He told us to. He’s really chill actually. You should come hang out,” she pressed.

“We’d love to,” AJ answered for you.

“Great. Grab your drinks and come over.”

She happily flounced back to the table, rejoining the conversation.

“AJ,” you hissed.

“What? Are you gonna tell me you don’t want to hang out with hunky space doctor you made goo goo eyes at all afternoon?”

“I did not make goo goo eyes at him.”

Your best friend rolled her eyes.  

“Yes you did. Y/n, come on. Live a little. It’s just a few beers with a bunch of grad students.”  

You looked at them, listening intently as he spoke. It looked more like a study group than anything which put you at ease.

“They’ve been talking for like five hours. I’m sure it will break up soon and then we can just hang out with Casey.”

“Okay. That sounds good.”

“Good,” she grinned before leaning on the bar to order your drinks.

You discretely checked out your hair in the mirror behind the bar and swiped on a bit of lip gloss.

“Don’t think I didn’t see that,” AJ smirked as she handed you your gin and tonic.

“Shush.”

You bumped your hip against hers as you made your way to the table.

There was a pause in the conversation as you approached.

“There you are. Come sit.”

AJ had already taken the one open seat next to James, the med student she had been crushing on, which left you to join Dr. Beck on the bench seat. He scooted over to give you more room when you sat down.  

“Thank you.”

“No problem,” he smiled shyly.

You momentarily got lost in his eyes.

“Did you three meet earlier?” Casey asked, breaking you out of the moment.

Heat clawed up your neck in embarrassment. Though you were relieved to see Dr. Beck seemed equally flustered. He cleared his throat twice as he bobbed his head in the affirmative.  

“Yes, Y/n and AJ right?”

“Yes. So, Dr. Beck, what were you all discussing?”

“First of all, please call me Chris. And second, we were discussing my research on the effect of zero gravity on muscle development.”

“Fascinating.”

You were easily caught up in the conversation as he explained his results and discussed data sets. His passion for research seemed to pour out of him. The discussion was lively, although you found yourself dominating the conversation. It contrasted nicely with your own research on technology for deep sea research. You were so invested that you didn’t notice the others leaving. At least not until they rang the bell for final call and you actually paid attention to your surroundings.

“Umm, when did everyone leave?”

Chris looked as confused as you were.

“I have no idea. I guess I am boring. I hope they don’t do that when I start lecturing next semester,” he chuckled.

“I’m sure they won’t. You’re an excellent presenter. Probably they got tired of me monopolizing you. Sorry about that,” you sighed as you played with a straw wrapper.

“Please don’t apologize. I was actually hoping to get a chance to talk to you.”

“Really?”

You wanted to smack yourself for the hopeful tone.

“Yes. I was disappointed when you left the reception early.”

“Oh, well, one of the octopuses next door escaped and that’s no good for anyone in the department.”

“I can imagine.” He smiled crookedly as the few patrons remaining started to pay their tabs.

“I guess we should go,” you pointed out reluctantly.

“Yeah. We should,” he agreed.

You both closed out and exited the bar.

“So, do you want to split an Uber?” he offered.

“I don’t live far. I was actually going to walk it.”

Chris looked appalled.

“It’s three in the morning.”

“I’ve done it before,” you argued.

He appraised you closely, trying to determine how stubborn you were. The conclusion… very.

“Can I at least walk you back then?”

“You don’t have to,” you assured him.

“I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight if I don’t know you made it home safely. Please?”

He pouted at you. Who could resist those blue eyes?

“You really don’t…”  

“I want to,” he admitted. “I uhh I’m not quite ready for the night to be over.”

Your answering smile was wide.

“In that case, I could use the company.”

“Excellent. Lead the way,” he offers you his elbow.

You looped your arm through his and started walking back towards your apartment.

You made the five minute walk in companionable silence. The feeling of familiarity had deepened over the course of the evening and you felt like you were walking with an old friend.

“Well, this is me,” you sighed, not ready to say good night.

“It was really nice getting to spend time with you, Y/n.”

“You too.”

“I know it’s late, and I’m sure that you want to get to bed, but would you mind terribly if I waited inside for my uber. I’m not sure how long it will be to get someone willing to go all the way to Hartford.”

“They have you staying in Hartford while you’re here?”

“They offered me a hotel room in New Haven, but I opted to stay with my folks. Wasn’t planning on closing down a bar after my talk,” he smirked.

You debated for a moment.

“I have a guest room. You are welcome to stay if you like. I have to go to Hartford tomorrow, so I could drive you back if you want.”

“I don’t want to impose.”

“You’re not. I promise. You’re never going to get an uber that far this late.”

“If you really don’t mind. That would be great.”

“Come on in.”

You unlocked the door and flipped on the lights, leaning on the edge of the couch to take off your boots.

“Are you hungry or thirsty?”

Before he could respond, your stomach growled for an embarrassingly long time. He bit back laughter.

“Well apparently I am.”

You looked at your stomach as if it were a traitor.

“I could eat.”

“Alright, let’s see what I have. It’s been a while since I went food shopping.”

Chris smiled as he took in the warm surroundings, and he found himself drawn to the art on the walls next to your desk. He could hear you rummaging around in your refrigerator while he tried to figure out why he recognized the image.

“So I threw in a frozen pizza and I’ve got Oreos.”

You shook the pack at him as you planted yourself on the couch.

“Excellent.” He grinned, joining you on the couch and taking a cookie. “That print is amazing. Where did you get it?”

“It’s figure 3A in my Nature paper. I had it blown up when it made the cover.”

“That’s why I recognize it. That was an excellent paper.”

“Thank you. It certainly has been a highlight of my career so far.”

“So what drew you to marine biology?”

“I was obsessed with the ocean as a kid. And adventure books. I wanted so desperately to explore the part of our world that’s so vast and unknown. I wanted to work on a submarine or at least at sea.”

“So how did you end up in a lab on land?”

“I did a semester at sea which was amazing but permanent spots on research ships and subs are few and far between. But I am also working with the engineering department on deep sea equipment.”

“Hence your expertise in muscle mass in high pressure.”

“Precisely.”

You chewed on an Oreo thoughtfully as you regarded him.

“So, why did you become a space doctor? It’s not the most traditional job in the world,” you mused.

“I suppose it isn’t. Well I wanted to be astronaut first. Like you, I was obsessed with space from really early on. But as I got older I grew to love physiology and anatomy over engineering for example. For a little while, I thought I’d have to give up my dream. And then I realized they had flight surgeons.” He smiled at the memory. “So I worked my butt off and ended up actually going into space.”

Chris shifted leaning his head back and looking up as if he could see the stars through your ceiling. You propped your head in your hand as you leaned on the back of the couch.

“Is it surreal being back on earth?”

“That’s a good word for it.” He let his head loll to the side to look at you. “I’m glad to be home, but it’s so strange. Sometimes I spend all day in my room because I forget I can leave. And noises of the city – that’s trippy after months in space.”

“I bet.”  

Your conversation flowed easily as you scarfed down the pizza. The sun came up and you were still talking.

You’re not sure how or when, but you must have fallen asleep talking, because you woke up tucked under a blanket on your couch to the smell of pancakes.

“Good morning,” Chris called, when he saw your head pop up.  

“Morning. What time is it?” you asked, rubbing at your eyes.

“A little after eleven.”

“How long have you been up?”

“Since around eight.”

You stopped mid-stretch to stare at him.

“We didn’t fall asleep until like 5.”

“I’m still used to really short sleeping shifts. I hope you don’t mind. I made breakfast.”

“I do not mind at all.”

After washing up and changing into some fresh clothes, you enjoyed breakfast together.

“So what do you have to do in Hartford?” he asked, taking the clean plate from your hands to dry it.

“Going to visit my sister and my favorite baby nephew.”

“Aww. How old is he?”

“Four. So not actually a baby, but…”

“I get it. What time do you need to leave?”

“Around one.” You shrugged. “We’ve got time.”

“Thank you for letting me stay. Last night was wonderful,” he added, quietly.

“Yes, it was.”

“This might sound strange, but I feel like I’ve met you before.”

You froze, water spilling off the plate.

“Sorry, that was weird,” he mumbled quickly avoiding eye contact.

“No. No, it’s not that.” You dropped the plate into the sink and turned off the water. “I thought the same thing when I saw you.”

“Oh thank god.”

“AJ was convinced it was just because I’d seen you on the news. But if you feel it too…”

“But where we would have crossed paths?”

He crossed his arms as he considered it.

You spent the next twenty minutes trying and failing to find a single place you might have run into each other.

“Junior Leadership Conference?”

“In D.C. in 2014?”

“Yeah.”

You racked your brain.

“It must be that, right?”

“I can’t think of anywhere else.”

“Huh.”

You both watched each other, not quite believing it, but also unable to come up with a better answer. You let it stand as you got ready to drive to Hartford.

“Do you mind grabbing the books off the front table?” You grabbed your keys and your bag. “I don’t want to forget them.”

“Sure thing.”

He shuffled through the pile of children’s books, smiling when he came across the National Geographic First Big Book of the Ocean as you walked to your car.

“Oh these books were awesome.”

“Which one?”

“Big book of the ocean.” He held it up for you to see. ”I had all of them, but the space one was my favorite when I was a kid.”

“I’m shocked,” you deadpanned as you started the car.

He mock glared at you.

“No but seriously, I took the space one with me everywhere. I was obsessed. In kindergarten, the other kids started calling me-“

“Rocket,” you murmured.

“Good guess.”

“Not a guess. I know how we know each other,” You announced, desperate to look at him, but keeping your eyes straight ahead. “You went to Aldrin Elementary for Kindergarten didn’t you.”

“Yeah. Wait,” He looked at the book in his hands before opening to the back cover.

“Rocket and Bubbles,” he hummed, running his fingers over the crayon scrawl. “I can’t believe it. It’s you.”

You glanced at him at a stoplight. He had a fond look in his eyes.

“I knew you were familiar. But I don’t remember your name being Chris. Even before we started calling you Rocket.”

He bit his lip rocking slightly in embarrassment.

“I convinced my mom to let me go by my middle name Richard, which I made into Ricky, because there were four other Chris’ in our class.”

“Oh my god. That’s right. You were Ricky the Rocket. We thought we were so funny.”

Neither of you could contain your smiles.

“What happened? Why did you leave?”

“My dad had to move to Boston for his job. We didn’t find out until like a week before school.”

“I thought about you for the longest time. I was so bummed when you didn’t come back.”

“I was too. I cried all the way to Boston.”

“And now, all these years later.”

“Together again.”  

You reached over and took his hand, and he twined your fingers.

You were both quiet for the rest of the ride, lost in thought. You only spoke to ask directions to his parent’s place, which you remembered quite well.

“Can I take you to dinner sometime?”

“I would love that. Tomorrow night?”

“I’ll be there with bells on.”

You bit your lip as you both hesitated, before you leaned across the armrest and kissed him. His eyes went wide and his cheeks turned pink, and you suddenly didn’t know how you ever failed to recognize him.

“You looked the same way the first time I kissed you,” you giggled.

“Not my fault you keep surprising me.”

“You’re cute when you’re mmf.”

You were cut off by his lips on yours. The kiss was passionate and you felt yourself melting into it as his hand cradled the back of your head.  

“You were saying…” he smirked at you when you both pulled back panting.  

You started to respond when you looked over his shoulder.

“That your mom totally just saw us making out in my car.”

He glanced over his shoulder before letting his head drop in embarrassment when his shocked mother turned on her heel and hurried into the house with her groceries.  

“On that note. Six o’clock tomorrow?”

“You’re on, Rocket.”

“See you, Bubbles.”

He pecked you once more on the lips before getting out of the car, whistling his way up the walk.

You smiled to yourself as he waved from the porch and you drove off.

This was going to be an adventure. Your biggest yet.  

A/N: Yeah, so this ended up very differenlty from how I planned, but I hope you all enjoyed! I had fun writing Chris Beck. Congrats again on the milestone that was like 3 milestones ago lol. Love you @captainscanadian​

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[ericsonclan]

A Part of the Family

Summary: The Everetts are getting ready for Christmas and Louis gets to tag along for some holiday fun.

Word Count: 2539

Read on A03:

“New stockings! New stockings!” AJ chanted, bouncing happily in the backseat of Clementine’s car. The boy had been crestfallen when Lee had opened up a box of holiday decorations only to find that water had seeped in and wrecked most of them, their stockings included. But once it had been announced that new stockings would be bought, he immediately brightened up, excited by the opportunity to decorate his own stocking and also the possibility of an even bigger stocking than before.

Clementine and Louis shared a knowing smile as they looked back at the boy and then at each other. Louis had been at the house to help the Everetts with decorating for Christmas when the damaged box was discovered. So after the lights had all been strung round the house and the Christmas tree decorated, he’d tagged along with Clementine and A.J. on their quest to get new stockings.

Pulling into the parking lot, Clementine looked towards their neighborhood Target. “Doesn’t look too busy. I think the cold is keeping people away,”

“That and people are probably procrastinating till the last second when it comes to buying gifts,” Louis noted.

Clementine chuckled at the slight tone of judgment within Louis’ voice. He took his gift giving very seriously. All his gifts had been bought back in November, but additional gifts were constantly being added to the pile as he spotted more “perfect” presents that he simply couldn’t pass up. The boy was lucky he came from money, otherwise he’d bankrupt himself each Christmas.

Hopping out of the car, the trio walked hand in hand, A.J. swinging Louis’ and Clementine’s arms back and forth as he scampered along between them. Once they had cleared a patch of ice, Clementine and Louis lifted their arms and swung A.J. back and forth between them, joining his excited laughter with their own. Stepping through the entrance, they all let out a breath of relief as the warmth hit them.

“There’s a shopping cart!” A.J. cried, running forth excitedly and grabbing the first cart he spotted.

“Remember, goofball, we’re just here for the stockings, not anything else,” Clementine cautioned.

“Well, if we see something really awesome then maybe I could pick it up for you…” Louis offered before pausing when he saw Clementine raise an eyebrow. She’d already given him a talk about the half dozen early Christmas presents he’d given A.J. and how he was setting unrealistic expectations for Christmas day. Giving a sheepish grin, Louis clammed up and settled for holding his girlfriend’s hand while she picked up a red shopping basket with the other.

Going down the Christmas aisles at Target, the trio soon reached an aisle that was completely covered with stockings on one side. There were plenty of different pre-made designs that ranged from snowmen to reindeer to snowflakes, but Clementine strode past of all of them and grabbed four blank red stockings.

“Four?” Louis asked curiously.

“Of course. There’s one for you too,”

Louis blushed happily at that, a flustered smile crossing his face.

A.J.’s eyes bugged out at the news. “Does that mean Louis is spending Christmas morning with us so he gets to open his stocking in the morning too?”

Clementine shook her head. “Sorry, kiddo, but I bet Louis wants to spend Christmas with his own family-” she paused when she caught Louis looking at the floor. “Aren’t you?”

“Well, my dad’s gonna be out of the country Christmas day closing a business deal in Japan and my mom’s celebrating Christmas with her husband and Phil so I just mailed them their gifts ahead of time. I usually crash Marlon’s Christmas since his parents don’t mind but he might actually be spending most of the day with Sophie now that they’re dating. And Violet is going on a road trip with Prisha so…”

“Louis, if you want to spend Christmas morning with us, all you have to do is ask,” Clementine said, a smile crossing her lips. “We would love to have you,”

“Really?” Louis’ eyes widened in excitement. I mean if Lee doesn’t mind-”

“He won’t. If anything, he’ll be just as excited as A.J. is,” Clementine glanced down at her little brother who was practically buzzing with excitement.

“Well then, if everybody wants it… I’d love to spend Christmas with you guys,” Louis’ smile grew at his statement.

“Yeah! Louis is coming for Christmas! This is gonna be the best Christmas ever!” A.J. declared, wrapping his arms round Louis’ waist in a tight hug. Louis affectionally patted A.J.’s afro as Clementine looked on happily. It warmed her heart to see how taken A.J. was with Louis.  A few months into their relationship and it already felt like he was part of the family,”

“Well then,” Louis cleared his throat before nodding towards the basket. “Are we ready to check out?”

“We should probably pick up a few other things first. Glitter glue, puff paint, cotton balls, stuff like that,”

“Then away we go to the craft aisle!” Louis pointed his finger dramatically and began to stride off until he paused and looked back. “Do either of you know where the craft aisle is?”

Clementine rolled her eyes good naturedly. “Follow me, you two,”

 ---

About a half hour later they were back home. Lee, who had been busy in the kitchen while they’d been gone, greeted them at the door with a smile, his red apron dusted with flour as well as his hands. “Welcome back, you three. There’s hot cocoa on the table if you want to set up there,”

“Thanks, Lee. Ooh, is that cookies I smell?” Clementine asked, taking off her coat and setting it on the rack by the door.

“Yup. Sugar cookies – your favorite. Dusted them with red and green sprinkles and everything,”

“COOKIES!” A.J. shouted, booking it toward the kitchen.

“Only two to start out with, son, then we’ll see if you can handle more from there!” Lee called. He turned back to the couple with a smile, shaking his head. “That boy’s got me feeling my age. All I want to do is settle down with my hot coca by the tree but here he is tearing through the house like he hasn’t already been doing that all day,”

“He’ll refocus when we get the stocking supplies out. Louis?” Clementine looked back at her boyfriend who held up the bag of supplies.

“Got em right here,”

“Great. We’ll lay everything out on the kitchen table so we can get started while we snack,”

Bringing the supplies into the kitchen, they all worked together to clear off spots for each person to have their own workstation with space for their hot cocoa and plate of cookies as well. After a few minutes dedicated to eating their winter goodies they opened up the supplies and each person began to strategize on how they would decorate their personal stocking.

“I’m doing Disco Broccoli!” A.J. declared loudly, grabbing the red and green puff paint. “But I’m putting him in a Santa suit!”

“That sounds great, kiddo,” Lee replied with a smile. He had taken the brown paint and was beginning to lay it copiously across his stocking. Clementine eyed his choice of color warily.

“What are you making over there. A yule log?”

“Oh, I guess it sort of looks like that now, huh? No, I’m trying to recreate the crossing of the Delaware. Figure it’d be the perfect choice since it happened on Christmas Day. It may be a bit ambitious considering my skills, but I’m sure I’ll get by,”

Clementine shook her head, smiling. Her father’s love of American history really did make its way into every facet of life. Grabbing another tube of red puff paint, she began to write her name neatly atop the border of her stocking. Looking over, she saw that Louis was watching her closely, a tube of green puff paint in his hands. Slowly and delicately, he began to write his own name upon his stocking just as she had done with hers.

“Glad you could join us, Louis,” Lee commented, smiling over at the young man with approval.

“It’s an honor to be here, sir,” Louis replied, a shy smile on his face.

“Just call me Lee, son. You know that by now,”

Louis nodded quickly, his eyes falling back upon his work. It was clear that being around Lee sometimes still overwhelmed him. Clementine figured it was because he felt he had so much to prove. But in her eyes, he’d already proved himself already and she knew that Lee for the most part felt the same way. Clearing her throat, she decided to announce what had been decided on the shopping outing.

“A.J. and I invited Louis to spend Christmas morning with us,”

Louis’ eyes shot over to Clementine’s and then to her father, clearly nervous. But Lee’s reaction made it immediately clear his fear was unfounded.

“That sounds wonderful. There’s always room for another round the Christmas tree. I guess we’ll be keeping your stocking at our house then, right, Louis?”

“Yes, sir. Lee! Yes, Lee,”

Lee smiled encouragingly. “I’m sure our Christmas will be all the merrier with you there,” His approval seemed to set Louis’ mind at ease. The boy’s shoulders relaxed, and he returned to working on his stocking with a calmer focus than he’d had before.

As time progressed their stockings truly started to take form. Clementine was going for a classic look with a Christmas tree upon her stocking. The tree had always been one of her favorite parts of Christmas: picking it out, setting it up, decorating and basking in the glow of the Christmas lights. There had been many years without that after the death of her parents, but Lee had brought back the joy of welcoming in Christmas in full force. The Everetts always went big with their Christmas tree, getting at least an eight footer and decking it out with so many ornaments it was a wonder the branches didn’t collapse under their weight.

“Wow, Clem, that looks awesome!” A.J. commented, his eyes practically sparkling in admiration. His own stocking was smeared with all sorts of paints and spurts of glitter now, but if you squinted you could make out the concept of Disco Broccoli within the chaos.

“Thanks, goofball. Yours is looking really groovy too,” Clementine grinned when A.J. beamed at that description. Thanks to Disco Broccoli, he’d been calling everything he liked “groovy”. Glancing across the table at Lee’s stocking, Clementine tried to stifle a chuckle but only half succeeded.

Lee raised an eyebrow as he heard the sound, smiling over at his daughter. “What? Are you not impressed with my rendition of Crossing the Delaware thus far?” He held up his stocking so they all could see his work, leading to tittering laughter all around.

“It looks like poos with Christmas hats on!” A.J. chortled at the sight.

“Now I don’t think it’s that bad,” Lee protested, glancing back at his work. Sure you can’t really make out who anyone is considering they’re all stick figures and it sorta looks more like they’re floating on a cloud than paddling through the water, but it’s certainly a unique design,”

“Oh, definitely. The Christmas hats were an inspired design choice,” Louis replied, his smile growing when he saw Lee nod in approval at his comment.

“Thank you! I’m glad somebody enjoys my artistic efforts!”

Clementine looked over to see how Louis’ stocking was comparing to all of theirs and her eyes widened in surprise. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but surely not something so… delicate. Louis’ stocking was covered in a myriad of pale blue music notes of all sorts and scattered among them were falling snowflakes done in white glitter puff paint. Each snowflake had a heart at its center, giving an air of romance to the entire design.

Catching Clementine looking at his work, Louis paused in his careful application of another music note, grabbing a cookie and stuffing it in his mouth instead of coming up with something to say.

“I knew I was dating a musician but not an artist to boot,” Clementine commented, pausing in her own work to nab another cookie.

Louis smiled shyly at the praise before a playful smirk emerged. “Yours is looking impressive too, though may I suggest one addition? Instead of the classic star atop the Christmas tree, what if instead you had…” he paused, grabbing an orange pompom and placing it on the stocking, “a clementine?”

Lee chuckled. “That’s a good one, Louis,”

“Yeah, it’s like Clem’s own special tree!” A.J. stated happily.

Clementine rolled her eyes at the unanimous approval but couldn’t keep a smile from showing. “Alright then. If you all insist,”

“Hooray!” Louis leaned forward and placed a quick kiss upon Clementine’s cheek. “I knew you’d recognize my genius someday!”

That one definitely had Clementine rolling her eyes again. She was glad to see Louis truly unwinding and being himself in front of Lee though. The first few times he’d come over he’d been too nervous to even reach for her hand.

---

A little while longer and the stockings were all complete. After accounting for drying time, Lee shook them free of residual glitter then draped them on the bannister. “Quite the stockings we’ve made for ourselves. I think Santa will be proud when he sees them. He turned round to face the others. “Now that that’s done, should we settle in for a movie night? I was thinking it’d be the perfect opportunity to introduce Louis to Muppet Christmas Carol ,”

“That exists?” Louis asked in surprise. “I love the Muppets! I’m game!” He grinned over at Clementine who nodded in agreement.

“I’ve got nothing else planned for the night. A.J.?” She turned to ask her brother but found that he had already run over to the TV and pulled out the treasured DVD.

“It’s Muppet time!” A.J. bounced with excitement as he clutched the movie to his chest.

Grinning in amusement, the others all settled upon the couch to start the film. Clementine rested her head upon Louis’ shoulder as the lights dimmed. It had been a long day. As much as she loved Muppet Christmas Carol , she might just fall asleep on everyone. She stirred though as she felt Louis gently squeeze her hand. She looked over at her boyfriend, smiling softly.

“Thanks for including me today. And inviting me to Christmas,” he whispered.

“Of course. It’s always fun having you over. And…” Clementine paused, biting her lip as her cheeks lightly flushed, “I’m looking forward to Christmas with you,” Even in the darkness of the room she could see Louis’ large grin at her words. Before he could say anything more though, they were both hushed by Lee.

“No more talking you two – the movie’s starting,” Lee watched Muppet Christmas Carol religiously. There would be no chatting or pausing during the film.

Letting out an almost imperceptible sigh, Clementine nuzzled Louis’ shoulder and closed her eyes. It had been a wonderful winter day; she couldn’t wait for Christmas.

#fanfic #ericson's diner au #clouis #ninja fam #twdg louis #twdg clementine #twdg aj #twdg lee #twdg #twdg christmas #ericsonclanchristmaschallenge

[malethirsty]

Daddy Lover - AJ Styles

Summary: Maybe it was due to your crush on AJ Styles but you thought The O.C’s Mother Lover gimmick was harmless, until they messed with yours. AJ Styles was going to pay!

Warnings: M/M smut (21+), Bareback (Wrap Before You Tap!), Daddy Kink

Inspired by: https://twitter.com/malethirst/status/1197624390046732289?s=21

The O.C.’s Motherloving gimmick had gotten out of hand. They had openly flirted with your mother, AJ even saying she should marry him so that you could ‘Get a father you deserved to look up to’. Your father had always taught you to be good, it was your main trait as a face. And your mother giggled & blushed, no regard or respect. Apparently it had all been apart of a produced plan to get you involved in a feud with AJ, a plan you had not been aware of until a few moments ago when you angrily confronted a staffer. You were in a rage and prepared to take apart anyone involved, even your longtime friend & crush AJ Styles.

You had stormed your way over to the locker room, only AJ was inside as you barged in ‘Good’ you thought ‘This will be easy’ AJ turned around “Well, if it isn’t Y/N. I guess you want your new daddy to-“ The rest of his sentence was stopped by you slapping him over the face “WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?! You know how much my father means, and you had to flirt with my mother and be a fucking dick about it!’’ you yelled at AJ, who seemed shocked, but quickly regained composure. “It’s not my fault your mama has the hots for me, you jealous or something?” he questioned and you swallowed. You were, but that was besides the point, so you stayed silent “I said “Are you jealous?” Answer daddy when he asks you a question, or did your lousy excuse of a father not teach you manners?” AJ slapped you, clearly to provoke you, but it was the hit you needed. You started to throw rights and lefts to AJ, both of you proceeded to let your fists fly, both of you leaving equal damage behind on the other. As AJ darted away, you ran after him, not noticing he used the lockers to hit a Phenomenal Forearm on you. Blood streamed onto your face, it seemed as if AJ may have broken your nose. “Stay down, it’s for your own damn good.” “No fucking chance bitch.” You growled out, as he ran in, this time you were ready, as he attempted to get you in the Styles clash, you enacted an adaption of your finisher ‘The Stroke of Midnight’, you grabbed AJ by the neck and lifted him off the ground, but instead of spinning him round so he hit the ground with his head, you raised him as high as you could and dropped him down on his feet. The next part was supposed to be to sweep his feet so he landed flat on his face, but you soon had hands pulling you back “Karl, Luke, Get off! This is mine & AJ’s-” but you suddenly saw this was a producer who was pulling you away from AJ, who was moaning in agony, you turned to see a cameraman holding his camera at the front of the locker room door, looking utterly terrified. Everything you two had done, including the cussing and the bleeding had been captured live on TV. Uh Oh. 

--

Later, following being treated and bandaged up, you knocked at AJ’s hotel door, and hearing a grunt of affirmation from The Phenomenal One, let yourself in. You saw him on his bed clothes tossed across the floor, some even ripped with his right foot equally damaged, he had sprained his leg due to the way you dropped him. You swallowed at seeing AJ in this position but you had to work things out “Vince is furious with what happened, me for cussing more than the fighting, and I can’t go back on RAW until we resolve our issues and conduct ourself better on TV. And I don't want you or I to lose our positions on the roster, and I know I can’t stay mad at someone who is my friend away from the ring, so I want this to be from the heart.” You sat down “Vince tried this new thing of sparking up genuine heat and controversy to pull people into watching, and because we’re so close outside of the ring, he told me cause he thought you’d be hit hardest.” AJ explained “Then this crap is on him!” you angrily responded “I agree, I tried to reason with him but he wouldn’t let you in on our meeting.” “Why am I not fucking surprised?” You grumbled. 

AJ sighed “Wendy’s furious with me as well” you looked up “Why? It can’t be because of the gimmick right?” AJ’s silence told you all you needed to hear “Seriously?” “Yeah, she hasn’t been a fan of this since the start and no matter how much I explain, she’s still angry I’m subtly using the daddy kink on air, it’s why I’ve been here instead of home the last few weeks.” You noticed he seemed glum and tried to cheer him up “I mean I could take her place, I’m not sure about wearing dresses but I’ll do the cooking and the cleaning, and I’ll even call you daddy.” You’d only realised how over enthusiastic/flirty the comment seemed once you’d said it and you knew AJ could tell that you’d been serious, instead of humour sly flirting. 

“Y/N, are you in love with me?” ‘Goodbye mutual friendship, hello bashing by Gallows & Anderson later’ you thought, might as well get it out “Yes AJ, I have had a crush you from the minute you walked out in that Royal Rumble match where me & Roman were throwing down, you went to save me from being thrown over the rope and locked eyes, that was the first moment. Whether it was at SmackDown Live or moving to RAW this year with you, I’ve always been in love with you.” AJ ingested this all in “Even as a heel?” He questioned, you breathed a sigh of relief, the fact he hadn't spouted hateful comments or tried to hit you showed he was understanding, and it would probably be resolved with a ‘We’re friends’ sort of statement, but that wouldn’t stop you from letting it go “Well I love your long Soccer Mom hair, your pretty eyes, your bulging muscles, your tattoo, but what I love the most is your Southern charm. Whenever your on, you can make me smile whenever you talk. I’ve always loved your instantaneous passion AJ, many don’t now and I sure was angry with you earlier, but with hatred at your character, my love stayed with you. I love you AJ because you are the best person who’s ever walked into my life.”

You both stayed in silence as you both processed what had happened. Of all the things you were not expecting, you weren't expecting AJ to lean up & kiss you. You wrapped a hand around AJ’s head, deepening the kiss, his tongue mapping out your mouth as you straddled AJ’s lap “God Y/N, I’m gonna love you riding my cock later, you’re practically begging for it like that!” You grinned, hearing him dirty talk was incredible to say the least, that beautiful Southern accent spilling utter filth from his lips was something you wanted to hear again and again. “Suck my dick” AJ moaned, and you didn’t wait to be asked twice as you moved down to suck his cock. “Oh fuck! This is nice. Much better than Wendy that’s for sure.” "Speaking of her” you moved up and took AJ’s hand and found his ring finger, removing his cock from your mouth and replacing it with his ring finger as  you removed the ring with your lips “As much as it is exciting to fuck a married man this evening, you aren’t Wendy’s anymore” you spat the ring onto the ground where his clothes were “You’re mine.” AJ groaned as you removed your clothes, showing off your naked body for him, all his now “You’re so greedy for daddy, you wanna take my wife from me Y/N? Want daddy to make you yours? Fucking slut is what you are.” You placed your index finger on AJ’s lips “I’m your slut daddy, don’t forget it” AJ’s tongue darted out around your finger, a groan emitting from him, “Never” he whispered back

You decided to up the ante by moving back down to suck his balls “Ah. Oh fuck that’s really good, Y/N, keep going!” After a while AJ started to shake “God Y/N, you’re gonna make me cum!” You withdrew, making AJ groan before you whispered in his ear “Fuck me sir.” AJ grinned “Climb aboard daddy” he seductively whispered. You obeyed, and took AJ deep, moaning as his large dick filled you up. AJ also gave a massive groan “OH FUCK! Y/N, you’re fuckin tight, tighter than anyone else. Fuck yeah!” AJ began to fuck you, brutal thrusts causing you to moan loudly as your former friend took you hard. 

“Back your ass up onto daddy, ride my cock!” AJ commanded, and you obeyed, running your hands down AJ’s torso, eventually fastening onto his nipples as you rubbed them “God that’s fucking hot! You look so filthy riding daddy’s dick, making daddy feel so good! Who's your daddy?” “You AJ” you moaned out, AJ slapping your ass “Louder, yell it out for the entire floor to hear!” “AJ STYLES IS MY DADDY! HE DICKS ME DOWN SO GOOD!” “Fucking right I do!” AJ growls, landing some more slaps on your ass before he continues fucking you. 

You ran your fingers through AJ’s hair as he continued to fuck you, with more urgency now as he reached the end. “Oh fuck! You close?” “Y-yeah Daddy AJ, I am!” AJ moves his hand over your cock & begins to wank it faster than his fucks into you “Cum for daddy, I want to watch you fall apart on my Phenomenal cock.” It didn’t take long, with everything else, you shot your load all over AJ’s chest, it mixing in with his hair. “Jesus Fucking Christ! That’s so fucking hot!” Groaned AJ. He began to fuck into you harder, your ass clenching down like a vice “Fuck Y/N, daddy’s gonna cum for you!” AJ let a roar escape him, as he finally came, hot loads shooting deep in your ass.

You fell forwards onto AJ, kissing him. “F-fuck” you groaned, both of you trying to regain breath “Yeah, that was amazing! Everything you wanted it to be?” “Yeah”. You stayed there for a bit “God, daddy loves you Y/N, stay with me tonight and every damn day after that!” You smiled at him “Wasn’t thinking of leaving, never fucking will.” 

#AJ Styles #Male Reader #AJ Styles x Male Reader #AJ Styles Smut #WWE #WWE Smut

[aesthetic-survivor-of-twd]

Can you rank the season openings from best to worst? :) (By this i mean the first 15 minutes where it introduces the season and characters)

I literally went back and watched the exact first 15 mins of each season just to make this ranking fair lol. Before I begin: I just want to say that I don’t find ANY of the openings bad for the record. I’m just ranking based on my personal taste.

1) TWDG A New Frontier

You’re surprised this is number 1 and so am I.

Okay, so I have to be honest. I actually think the intro to ANF is perhaps one of the best scenes in that entire season.

We start off with an ENTIRELY new cast from what we’re used to and naturally the intro has to be something that will introduce this new protagonist to us as well as his family - which was stated before the season to be a major theme of A New Frontier.

We can’t just start off in the middle of the apocalypse with this new dude instead of Clem, because why the hell would we care about this man we know nothing about and know nothing about his life? so the season has to start off with an early establishing scene of both our protagonist and his associates and I thought it delivered it to us successfully. 

I like how it starts off with Javier running down the street almost out of breath and a phone call playing in the background. We don’t know wtf is going on but it sounds serious (is he being chased? is it set during the apocalypse? does the phone call mean it’s before it?). Right off the bat we see the first glimpse of the complex sibling dynamic between Javier and David. We learn that Javier is never really there for his family and that David is the older more “responsible” sibling that seemingly holds jealousy towards his younger brother and is shown to deal with his anger through violence. 

Then we see Kate who shows up and the first thing she does is go up and hug Javier, which makes sense given the situation. BUT then she notices the mark on his face and questions how he got it, to which before javi even says anything she looks at David in disgust before walking off with Javier into the house (clever way of showing Kate’s opinion of David early on).

We also see glimpses of Gabe and Mariana as young children. When Gabe comes out of the house and asks why Javi and David are fighting it’s Javier that’s the one who reassures him everything’s fine while David is the one who takes a jab at Javier instead and then tells Gabe to go inside. It’s only when Javier reassures him again that it’s fine and to go inside that Gabe seemingly debates doing it until David firmly says “Inside” in a stern manner.

The relationships in this opening are really interesting to see after playing the season because you pick up on the little interactions between them you don’t pay attention to until it’s a big focus in later episodes.

After that is some REALLY great editing to build up suspense for what we know is about to happen. Mariana mentions that the father/grandfather is “awake” to which it cuts to black and we get shots of Javier watching her make her way down the corridor to the room. Then it kicks up a notch in tension as we see it cut to black and the scene over and over again as the title shows up and all hell breaks loose with the walker trying to attack everyone.

And then at the end we see them all split up in the cars and by the time it fast forwards to the “present” we realize that they’ve been travelling together the entire time and David isn’t there.

It’s so goddamn cinematic and has such a great combination of tone, character establishment, relationships, setting and tension all within those 15mins.

Also something neat I didn’t notice until now was that Javier mentions to David when they are going to the car that the highway is blocked. Which implies that’s the reason he was running (and also that the reason is perhaps because of the outbreak).

2) TWDG SEASON 1

(Insert comment about nostalgia here)

In all seriousness, I was very torn between this and Season 2 as second place and I had almost kept it at 3rd place until I remembered back when the season first came out and how great this intro was for the time.

Before we all became accustomed to being dog piled by zombies in TWDG, that scene of the cop turning and jump scaring you was some good shit. You knew that as soon as that fucker crawled towards you and you had to quickly get the gun to shoot him that you were in for a ride with this series and it was gonna scare the absolute shit out of you.

One thing I really loved about this intro is how it starts off “normal” with you in a police car in handcuffs (which is an interesting way to start off a zombie apocalypse game, just saying) but as the cop is talking to you in the mirror, you can see that there’s clearly something "wrong” going on as ambulances start driving past and a helicopter flies by.

It’s a really cool bit of storytelling you don’t pay too much attention to at first. But it does really well in selling the idea that the world is going to shit before you even meet your first walker.

The last thing I love about it is also the scene of Lee wandering around the house and looking at everything. It’s a nice atmosphere that borders between calm and foreboding and it’s fucking great. It was a smart decision to let us get a feel for Clementine’s life before we actually meet her.

And that music, oh god that MUSIC.

3) TWDG SEASON 2

This opening is a good introduction to the tone of this season and what we should expect from Season 2.

First off, the opening begins with a flashback of Season 1 with our decisions as Lee. I actually find this to be quite appropriate as it’s a nice little send off as our time with Lee while also setting the player up with the responsibility of being Clementine now. It’s like a nice bridge from both stories, past to present (at the time).

I’m aware that Omid’s death scene is quite controversial amongst fans of the series, but as an opening I do think it works in setting up the tension between Christa and Clementine in the present day and a device that sets off the change in Clementine from a relatively innocent enough-ish girl (still) to someone more worn down from years on the road with her caretaker that now has a shaky relationship with her and is now clearly suffering from depression.

It’s really neat seeing her character model from S1 change to how it is in S2. It’s a great contrast and is done well.

All of the season openings are good, but I think this one is the best at establishing what we should expect from the rest of the season.

4) TWDG The Final Season

I LOVE this season. You all know it’s my favourite, and I’ve sang it high praises from it having the best character development in the series (yes more than S1 and i’ve even went into great depth about it) as well as having a beautiful conclusion that perfectly ends Clementine’s story.

I love this opening as well.

BUT, If I am to be objective like I have been with the previous openings, I have to be honest and say that as much as I love this intro, the first 15mins don’t exactly bring the same sense of tone or even continuation that the past openings have had.

The best thing about this opening is seeing the transformation of the game engine from what it had been in previous seasons to what it is now, as well as the establishing dynamic between Clementine and AJ - something that after 2 seasons we finally have a believable bond between them and can’t wait to see it flourish. 

If it comes down to personal preference in regards to what opening I love to watch over and over again, then it IS this opening. But, that’s mostly down to it being the most recent title and the adoration I still hold for this season. After playing through the entirety of TFS, this intro becomes better than what it was at the very start of the journey because you know how far these 2 have come and it’s wholesome knowing that they finally found that place where they belong.

In a way, it holds an entirely new meaning the second time around and I love it for that.

#twdg #the walking dead game #twdg anf #twdg s2 #twdg tfs #skybound #telltalegames

[valkerymillenia]

Umbrella Academy

season 2, episode 7

More thoughts and live blogged reactions.

1982. I'm assuming Five used a briefcase... But in s1 we saw that the briefcase travels are tracked (Hazel and Cha-Cha got reprimanded for Klaus's Vietnam trip) so I'm not sure how the board doesn't know someone is coming... I might be overthinking.

Five being creepy.

Is that a Fudge Nutter like Handler mentioned in season 1? Oh, it is.

Jesus, Five! Anger management for you, old man.

AAHH! THEY LET FIVE SAY FUCK! Fucking finally! 🤣

How did nobody notice that destruction? 😆

Oh, the axe! Is Five going to go all American psycho? Because I'd love to see that.

HOLY SHIT!

That smile!

HOLY SHIT!!!!!!

Is he using tiny time travel bursts like Reggie said? Or a briefcase? Or is he just that fast?

AJ hiding under the table 😆

Pausing to drink water and grin, what a psycho, I love him.

He's definitely using time jumps but they are so controlled that I'm guessing briefcase or Handler little time stopping trick. I'm so proud of my mass murder baby.

... Vending machine? Lady, you have interesting priorities.

CRICKET BAT!

Wait! AJ's human body feels pain? How?

Please make Five swallow the fish like in the comics! Please, please, please, please.

The dancers are just like

I LOVE FIVE! The lengths this little killer will go for his family are unbelievable, nobody should ever doubt his love and devotion for them ever again.

This whole murder scene was incredible and Five's obvious glee made it even better. FEAR HIM!

Jesus, Klaus is so afraid of being possessed that he's afraid to sleep and Ben just mocks him? 😘💋 I get that this is supposed to be a funny 'brothers messing with each other' kind of thing but Klaus feels so unsafe that it makes me uncomfortable. What happened to you, Ben, when did you become so dark? You were the nice one!

Ben just getting closer and closer every time Klaus closes his eyes just gave me Doctor Who flashbacks.

"I hate your face" "I hate all of you" - Don't say that boys! You know you love each other.

Ok, Ben has a point. I'm actually liking this conversation. And I'm liking that Klaus is starting to understand his brother.

Ok, this is such a brother conversation. And Klaus constantly pretending not to know who Jill is 😆

Ground rules... Well, at least it's consensual now. That's something. See? Communication works.

Damn, the tension at the lunch table cut be cut with a knife. I'm scared what Carl is going to do.

Ray and Allison have a lovely relationship but I finally identified the problem, the tension I was feeling between since them a few eps back. It's not about Allison's secrets at all, is about Ray being so obsessed with his crusade that he completely overlooks Allison's feelings, he only pays attention to her when they are on the page about the mission. He sees her powers and his first thought is 'we could use this for the cause', Allison is clearly distressed and sad and even says she doesn't feel well and all he can think about is the damn JFK meeting. He's not a bad person and he's not doing it on purpose but he has a workaholic one-track mind that could easy turn into neglect for Allison. He clearly loves her and I'm rooting for them so much but I know that if asked to choose between Allison and his cause, he'll pick his cause.

So Five is done with the killing. I figured this might weigh on his conscience, it's one thing to kill for a greater good or survival, coldly and detached, it's another thing to slaughter for selfish reasons (even if his selfish reasons are a greater good).

Handler going all mom on him and wiping his face. 😆

"What I did today, I did for my family" -we know, baby, and they better respect you for it. You love then so much.

90 minutes??? Wtf, I knew Handler would try to screw Five over but that's just cruel, she's forcing him to uproot the family without even giving them time to say goodbye and that's even IF he can get to all of them on time.

It's not a name, you idiots. Also, that's Olga, not öga.

Don't harass the poor woman... Oh God, you guys are such morons... Diego, you dramatic little bitch...

"Wrong number. Have a lovely day" 🤣🤣🤣

I love the new dumbass buddy cop dynamic between Diego and Luther. This is the sort of positive brotherly dynamic they always should have had instead of being pitted against each other all their lives.

"you have some blood on you" "a lot of blood, actually. Five, what did you do?" -the casual, mildly annoyed way they ask is hilarious, if they knew what he did they'd be horrified (and possibly impressed).

Handler's militaristic chic dress is fabulous. I personally don't like it very much (or the message it sends) but it's haute couture and incredibly designed. Also, the bleached hair is back!

"any questions?" And then she leaves without listening. Power move 😏

Luther trying to comfort Diego like the dork he is. 🤣

Really though, I feel bad for Diego, and Five is under so much pressure that I don't blame him for snapping.

"I'm shy" -are you, Klaus? Are you really? You keep walking around in underwear in front of dozens of people, you're not shy.

So is Klaus lactose intolerant?

Ok, so far the possession thing is not as bad as some people were claiming. So far.

"stay focused" *giggle* -oh Ben, you dork 😆

Ahah, Ben enjoying all the different sensory stimuli. Adorable. He's just so happy, poor boy.

Dirt angels. SO CUTE ❤️

I know this all supposed to be cute and all but it would also be a perfect moment for Ben for experience Klaus's powers (the constant hauntings) as well as his addiction and the claustrophobic expectations of the cult. It would be an excellent chance to make Ben understand why Klaus is the way he is, seeing as Klaus is making a huge effort (and sacrifice) to do the same for Ben. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening because I think they want to keep this part about Ben.

By end of season 1 Klaus cried that people still didn't take him seriously, his compassion despite all his suffering made him likeable and deep, but this season he's back to being the family joke, I don't like that there's no resolution to that. But let's see where this goes, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Oh God, Carl's talk is freaking me out.

"who I am is not a disease" -very powerful LGBT+ statement considering it's the 60s!!!!

Oh, the blackmail...

Everybody keeps expecting Vanya to explode every time she gets emotional but this scene proves how much control she truly has. Respect!

Oh, finally Claire is mentioned! I've been rather upset that Allison hasn't mentioned her daughter even once this season (does Ray even know he has a stepdaughter?) seeing as most of her arc in season 1 revolved around her love and guilt over Claire.

Luther is right when he says they don't get live formal lives because they are special but Allison is even more right when she says that's not fair. This is why this family needs to stick together and love each other, they are the only ones that can really understand each other's struggles.

"hope" -Luther, you really are such a sweet summer child.

OH! I CAN FINALLY SEE ALLISON'S SCAR! The lighting in this scene makes it really obvious. Finally.

Ben and the strawberry. 🤣

"you're different today. You're dorkier" ah! First time anyone called Ben 'Sassy' Hargreeves dorky.

Oh Ben, you're adorable... Wait, "smell your hair"? What the fuck, Ben? You weirdo.

Holy crap! Jill is really forward, isn't she? Hippies, man.

Ben stuttering! 😆🤣 He died a virgin, didn't he?

It's funny but please tell me he isn't actually considering that in his brother's body...

Wait, did Klaus slap him because he doesn't want to have sex or because he's trying to stop Ben from ruining his own chance by saying too much?

Actually, I'm almost sure it's the second one, Klaus is playing wingman on his own body!

WHAT????

Ok so Ben IS a virgin but "you, me and Keechie"? What the fuck, Klaus? You slept with the fanatical crybaby and your brother's crush????

"Klaus, you're so filthy!" "Yes, you are, daddy." -Ben, this girl is not right for you. Run, boy!

AHAHAHAH ASDFGDDGGHSGSGASFHDBKDIS 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 DIEGO CALLING HIM DADDY!

Wait, AJ can speak without the body/suit/whatever?

Handler is going a little bit fascist dictator, isn't she?

Gotta admit, Handler really is such a mom in her own twisted way.

Ben giggling when he talks to Diego. Cute.

"Luther sniffs Dad's underwear" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

AWWWWWWWW, BEN AND DIEGO! THE CHILDHOOD HIJINKS! THE HUG!

GOD, THE HUG! ❤️

I need all the siblings hugging Ben now!

"you stay in this body, we need someone responsible behind the wheel" -Diego, I understand what you mean given the situation, but you playing obvious favorites between your brothers when free will and body autonomy are on the line is a little creepy.

"no one is insignificant" -that line is so loaded when used on Vanya.

Oh no, Vanya and Five playing the blame game is so bad... They used to be so close... They are both under so much pressure, this won't end well.

Oh boy, Five looks like he's on the verge of crying and Vanya sees that! I bet that's why she backed down. 😲😢

The Lila and Diego conversation is heartbreaking without even trying...

Is that Elliot? Is Diego burying Elliot because nobody else will? Diego really does have a heart of gold.

Don't drinkit! I'm pretty sure Lila is drugging you.

Yup, there it is.

What is she planning?

Once again, it's all about the movement with Ray.

"I would take my one year with you over a lifetime with anybody else." 😭 Oh Ray ❤️

But I get the feeling this won't end so easily.

There it is, the Swedes just arrived. And the smart assholes went right for Allison's throat.

You don't need the coffee can, Sissy. The Hargreeves are loaded.

Sissy, hurry up.

BEN, YOU ARE SUCH A 90s KID!!! So the Backstreet Boys are Ben's fault, God, I love this dork 🤣

Come on, Allison, you can fight better than this!

Good girl!

Klaus and Ben running and fighting each other at the same time 😆

Holy shit, that is some Exorcist level vomiting!

Poor Klaus, I totally get Ben's side in this (pretty sure he was trying to save Klaus by getting him to Five ASAP) but this whole thing made me mildly uncomfortable. Klaus just keeps sacrificing for everyone and nobody respects his boundaries.

Holy shit, Allison! That is so cruel! I like it though, so ruthless and vicious. 😈

Problem- Allison can't just leave Ray with a white corpse in the house. Especially not in Texas, death penalty and all.

Oh Sissy, you dumbass. You're a sweetheart but also a dumbass.

Ok, Lila is pretty insane. That's for sure.

Five:

"I don't want to hurt you" - well, Vanya warned them.

My baby is getting really good with her powers.

I hope that hit to the head doesn't give Vanya her memory back, that's so cliché and convenient, or would be really bad writing.

SHIT IS HITTING THE FAN. I'm dying to see more!!!!!!

#tua #tua s2 #tua s2 spoilers

[rational-mastermind]

It Doesn’t Hurt

Ch 4/5

--

 Siobhan was waiting patiently by the car, took one look at me, and instantly became concerned.

 “Oh no.. What’s wrong?”

 “Nothing.” I got in the car. “We’re heading back to the shop.”

 She frowned a moment then came and sat beside me. We took off for the shop and as it should be expected when one drives through England, the traffic made it difficult to progress. It was turning out to be a rather long, frustrating day.

 My mind wouldn’t let go of what Claire implied, and while granted I was sore that the one person in the office who didn’t talk about what I did even started to mention it so casually, what really hurt was how it was such a clear and distinct reasoning for my past actions that have led me to where I am today.

 I kept my distance from others, shutting them out, because I was the one who killed AJ.

 I have this horrible, crummy, bloody job because I was the one who killed AJ.

 I couldn’t sleep a single wink at night because I was the one who killed AJ.

 I went to the Clanbronwyn Hotel because I was the one who killed AJ.

 I couldn’t move on with my life, because I was the one who killed AJ.

 I was dumb for thinking about having any kind of a relationship after this mission. After this is over, she’ll be running her own store and going to college, while I’ll still be hunting down poltergeists and fending off the anxiety and insanity that threatens to consume my mind, day after day, night after night.

 It didn’t matter if she actually did like me.

 It didn’t matter if I actually liked her.

 Because I was the one who killed AJ.

 I entered Defoe Manor, got too close to the idol, and killed Andrew Jarvis and Philip Harty and from that alone, my life can neither progress nor reset. If I hadn’t been so careless, they would still be alive. Simone would still be alive. Abed would be too.

 But that can’t be.

 Because I was the one who killed AJ

 And it hurts.

 “TRILBY.”

 Like pulling my head out of the dark waters, Siobhan’s voice cut through my thoughts and I actually jumped in my seat. I looked back at her and she was worried.

 “What’s wrong?”

 “Nothing.” I lied and realized I may have said so a little too fast because obviously Siobhan didn’t buy it.

 “Bull. Now really, what’s wrong?”

 I sighed and rubbed my tired eyes.

 “I’ve just been having a long day.” I explained. “I mean, I started it with being accused of taking part in a masochistic cult. I think that really sat the tone beautifully for my whole day.”

 “Oh..” she deflated a little, and I could see the guilt sweep over her face. “...That was pretty harsh of me, wasn’t it?”

 “I don’t blame you. You really don’t know anything about me.”

 There was a moment of silence before Siobhan hesitantly began.

 “I could... try to get to know you.” she offered.

 “Siobhan I’m currently in the process of not wanting to know me.” I said flatly. “I’m not a part of a cult, mind you, but I do have a darker history and I’m not one for indulging in it.”

 “I wouldn’t judge you, honestly!” she persisted. “I’ve been wanting to get to know you, Trilby. The real you. The you behind the hat.”

 “Siobhan...” I sighed for what felt like the hundredth time today.

 “I know we all have troubles in our past, and decisions we probably regret, but that doesn’t make you a bad person. Even when I was skeptical of you earlier, I didn’t really think you could be so bad.” she smiled a bit and I internally cringed at her next words. “Abed really liked you too, and he was a pretty good judge of character. He wouldn’t have liked you if you were anything too far gone.”

 Apparently today I was meant to wallow in my guilt and regret. Abed was such a good hearted and foolish man. I honestly wasn’t sure if he was fully aware of any evils in this world until I came along and ruined it, like everything else.

 My mind was pulled back to when I last saw the man alive. How depressed he looked.

 “You took one companion of mine away and now you want another.”

 At the time I was somewhat puzzled by his words, too focused on finding out what was going on to really pay attention, that only now do I realize what he was thinking before his death. I had gone looking for Siobhan, and spoke with her privately in her room. She had passed out on the bed. Of course I knew what had really happened, but looking at it, from Abed’s perspective, I grimaced. He must’ve felt abandoned. Alone. Forgotten.

 It hurts.

 “I really don’t think Abed thought of me so highly.” I said, unable to mask my own depression. “And honestly, Siobhan? I know you’re trying to help but it’s not working. After all, if it wasn’t for me, he would still be alive, wouldn’t he?”

 “Well what do you mean?”

 “If I had kept a closer eye on you two, if I had just told either of you what was really going on.. Maybe you would’ve been able to escape the hotel. Maybe Abed would’ve still been alive if it weren’t for me.” I shrugged helplessly.

 “Trilby, you’re not responsible for Abed’s death.” Siobhan sighed a little. “It’s not your fault.”

 “What if it is? What if I did something- anything- differently?”

 It hurts

 “Woulda-coulda-shoulda.” Siobhan replied with a shrug of her own. “It’s like I said last month. People die. You can’t feel responsible for it forever. Is this what’s been bothering you?”

 “A million things have been bothering me, but since that’s the current subject, yes. It was all such a blur… I don’t know, maybe there was something I could’ve done. Maybe I didn’t do my best.”

 It hurts.

 “You can’t help that some tall demon was going around and hurting innocent people. That wasn’t your doing.”

 “Then why do I feel responsible?!” I snapped and then groaned. “I’m sorry.. I shouldn’t yell like that.”

 It hurts.

 “Trilby.. You’re the only one beating yourself up over it.”

 “No I’m not.”

 “You’re the only one baring this responsibility. No one else blames you but you!”

 “Because it’s my fault.” I said through gritted teeth.

 IT HURTS.

 “IT’S. NOT. YOUR. FAULT.” she said, adamantly.

 I suddenly slammed on the brakes, as we have arrived at our destination. I was in a hurry to leave the car.

 IT HURTS.

 “And what if it is?” I growled. “Maybe it is my fault! Maybe I should feel responsible for what happened!”

 IT HURTS.

 I could hear Siobhan slam the door and follow after me, clearly growing frustrated.

 “Then what good would that do?” she asked as we made our way into the store. “All you’re going to do is make yourself feel horrible!”

 “I do feel horrible!”

 “Of course you do!”

 “It hurts!”

“Then why let it hurt?!”

 I finally whipped around and raised my voice, all of my frustration and anxiety rearing its ugly head as I snapped.

 “BECAUSE I’M THE ONE WHO KILLED AJ!”

 Before I realized how stupid I was being, the shop shook once more and the wails of the undead immediately filled our ears. Things began to fly off the shelves again, swirling around us. Several shadows became more and more visible, joining in the madness. Siobhan accidentally bumped into me, trying to dodge a flying typewriter.

 “Siobhan, look out!” I quickly ducked out of the way of a launched rotary phone.

 I looked up and saw one semi-transparent form step out from among the madness. He had a broom mustache and a scar that traced down from the crown of his head over his eye. His entire torso was missing, jagged pieces of ribs sticking out under the folds of his clothes. Judging by the vague shapes that made up his uniform and the massive size and build he carried himself with, I was only left with one guess.

 Chief Brutus J. Ustyss.

 I carefully held Siobhan at arm’s length, knowing full well what was about to happen next.

 He came charging, a fist flying. I managed to duck out of the way. Without fully thinking, I tried throwing a punch myself, knowing full well that I’m by no means a fighter, but whether I knew how to fight or not, it wouldn’t have mattered.

 Because my hand passed right through his body, suddenly covered in icy coldness.

 “Oh shit.”

 A large fist was met with my jaw and I hit the floor, only dimly aware of Siobhan’s scream in fear.

 I tried to shake my head clear of the throbbing pain, and looked up only to find Brutus about to pound both fists into me at once. I rolled out of the way, brushing up against the icy cold barrier countless other ghosts have created for us. Immediately hands began to grab at me and tried to pull me in, digging claws into my shirt, but I tore away.

 A saw a china tea set come flying at me and dodged it in time, narrowly avoiding the shattered remains of a broken saucer.

 Despite my best efforts, I knew I couldn’t keep dodging him, nor the flying debris of the antique shop, forever. And there was no time to create a banishment ring.

 My brain was scrambling, trying desperately to find a solution to this when suddenly I hear Siobhan shout.

 “Trilby look out!”

 I looked, barely had time to register the grandfather clock that was flying at us before I felt Siobhan’s body colliding with mine. There was a loud bang, a sharp pain in the back of my head, and suddenly the world was black and still and silent.

 But I wasn’t knocked out.

 Pain throbbed through out my head while my eyes adjusted to the scare light that crept through the cracks. I could hear Siobhan and myself wheeze, trying to regain our breaths.

 “Trilby, you alright?”

 “I think so.. You?”

 “I’m alright. I… I think the ghost stopped.”

 I realized I was pressed back against something wooden, and when I tried to stand up straight, my head hit some kinda pole. I tried to feel out my surroundings.

 “Where are…?”

 “I think we’re in one of the old wardrobes.” Siobhan answered, I could hear her feeling things out as well. There was a moment of rattling. “Oh.. Ohhhhhh nooo..”

 I didn’t like the sound of that groan.

 “What?”

 “I think this is that one that locks automatically...”

 All I could do was stare at Siobhan through the darkness. A comical look of disbelief if she could see it.

 “...And where’s the key?”

 “...behind my desk... On a ring with a bunch more.”

 I sighed and allowed my head to drop against the apparent door in front of me.

 “Can today be any worse?”

 “Well.. I think that ghost stopped. Maybe if you’re out of sight, you’re out of mind?”

 “Hurrah. Now he won’t murder me.”

 “Well I could tell you how it could be better.”

 “And pray tell, what would that be, Ms. O’Malley?”

 “You could start by telling me what the hell’s been going on with you?”

 I heaved a great sigh, far too exhausted and frustrated for this round-about again.

 “I’m just.. I’m not having a good day, Siobhan..”

 “No shit, Sherlock.” she snapped back at me and then sighed. “Trilby, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

 I huffed and rolled my eyes. I was decidedly fed up with everything at this point.

 “Fine, you want to know what’s wrong? Everything is piling up on me right now and I can’t reasonably deal with any of it!” I began to vent. “I went to talk with Claire and apparently the Chief is the only one who’s keeping all the other ghosts, who knows how many, at bay! So I couldn’t do anything in that fight, even if I wanted to! “Then talking further along with Claire, I’m led to believe that apparently I get all the worst jobs my employers have to offer because I’m the one held responsible for the death of one of their operatives, who wasn’t exactly the best at his job anyway if he was going to be murdered by a retarded child’s ghost! If I hadn’t stepped foot in that manor, my life would be a hell of a lot more sane than it already is! I wouldn’t have blood on my hands! I wouldn’t have gone to that forsaken hotel! I wouldn’t be responsible for the death of so many innocent people!”

 “Trilby! Trilby, you’re NOT responsible for anyone’s deaths!”

 I would never admit it to her, but I could feel hot tears sting in my eyes and I fought to keep them from spilling. My body shook. I felt so torn apart. I felt her hands gently rest on my shoulders, guiding me closer to her.

 “But I’m the one who killed-”

 “It wasn’t you.” Siobhan interrupted me, her voice kept low and soothing. “It was the ghost, wasn’t it? The ghost of Defoe Manor?”

 “Well.. Yes..”

 “It used your hands.. It wasn’t you. It wasn’t your fault.”

 I could feel her gently guiding me until our foreheads touched.

 “Trilby.. Look at me.”

 I hesitated, but finally complied. I looked up and saw her dark green eyes, shimmering back at me. The light between the cracks barely catching in them enough to reflect the slight hues of brown that made it sparkle. She was concerned. I couldn’t blame her. But suddenly I couldn’t think of any way to string together the proper words to tell her all the awful things I was feeling. The thoughts that had been plaguing me for days. Weeks.

 “It was never your fault.” she repeated.

 I knew a part of me deep down wanted to believe it so fervently and I leaned more into her, as if somehow being closer would make it more true.

 “Siobhan..” the other part of me still felt hesitant. Still held doubt. I wanted to get as much of it cleared out as I could. “Why do you care so much? What does it matter to you how I feel? It’s.. Not like we’ll ever see each other after this.”

 “We could..” she offered with a small smile. “Whenever we have free time. You could drop by. Weekends. After hours. We could go for walks. Sit on the couch with tea. Talk... Read.... Or..”

 And suddenly, without thinking, our lips met.

 I couldn’t tell who dove in first, but before I could fully think it through, we were kissing. Maybe it was the adrenaline from the fight. Maybe it was something else. My mind tried to tell me how inappropriate and stupid this was. The rest of me told it to shut up. Too desperate to finally feel something good. To just have this one nice thing to myself.

 Our lips brushed against each other and hers were just as soft as I thought they were last night. Gentle hands raked through my hair and I was vaguely aware that my hat had fallen off outside the wardrobe. I carefully pulled Siobhan closer as we continued. Her arms wrapped around me.

 We stopped for a moment to breathe, my brain was scrambling to understand why or what we were doing, but all I could really focus on was how warm her cheeks felt, so close to mine, and how she smelled like apple cider.

 This time she kissed first, but it didn’t really matter. All that did matter was the growing warmth between us as we continued. My hands began exploring her, the same as hers did me.. I was fond in discovering how soft her glistening red hair felt, gliding between my fingers. Shivers raced up my spine in time with her gentle hands.

 It was exciting, sweet, and passionate, and for a while, the world outside of these closed doors was left behind us, for the sake of this moment. Focusing solely on the way she felt against me. The way she shivered under my touch, her soft lips pressing feverishly to mine.

 The way my heart swelled and my head made light and dizzy was almost as intoxicating as the way she giggled and sighed as my lips traced up along her jaw and down her neck.

 I was met with a nose full of her green turtleneck and the dusty smell of old books. I rolled my eyes a little, knowing this simply wouldn’t do, and pulled it away only to kiss at the silky softness underneath. This, of course, was rewarded with an admittedly adorable squeak.

 “Trilby! how ungentlemanly of you.” Siobhan teasingly scolded.

 I chuckled, a little breathless myself, and could feel my face grow warm.

 “W-Well..”

 She giggled and pulled away, leaving me wanting for a moment. Before I knew what she was up to, she was back in my arms, sans sweater. The warmth in my cheeks began to spread to my ears as I was made well aware what difference a tank top or a sweater makes. And before I could really focus more on that, she was returning the favor, sparking new waves of shuddering delight and effectively plunging my brain into a heady fog, in which I was happy to leave it.

 Eventually at some point my waistcoat made friends with her sweater, tangled under our feet. But I couldn’t care less. All I could really focus on was where her lips traveled, as they continued their own exploration further down, past my neck, whilst mine were buried deep in her red hair, breathing in her soft and sweet scent that reminded me of autumn evenings.

 Her hands traveled lower still and whilst mine felt out the hemline of her tank top and the smooth arch of her back as she leaned close into me.

 I was so caught up in the way everything felt that I had no earthly idea what was going on outside of the wardrobe. Time was illusory. That is, until I suddenly ran out of it.

 “Trilby! It wasn’t your fault!” Claire’s voice suddenly pierced the moment, leaving it to die quickly and painfully.

 Siobhan and I looked at each other only a moment before I quickly bent, to the best of my abilities in the cramped space, to grab my waistcoat and began cleaning myself up.

 I stood up and was sharply reminded of the coat hanger railing above my head.

 “Ow!” I tried not to bump the walls too much either, suddenly finding the small space to be far too cramped for me to move around in.

 “Trilby? Where are- OH.” Claire’s voice indicated she knew a little too much.

 “Claire, it’s not what you’re thinking!” I quickly replied, face burning hotter than before. It didn’t help that I had to button up my shirt as well. “It was the ghost! He- W-we-”

 “Should I uh… just let you two…?”

 “No! No, no, Claire, listen, we really should get out of here.” I said, trying to ignore the fact that Siobhan still had her arms wrapped around me and trying to keep a steady voice. “This thing is locked. Th-the key should be behind the counter.”

 I felt Siobhan kiss at my collarbone and fought with all my will to not let my voice crack. I tried pushing her off so I could finish buttoning up.

 “Siobhan, stop it.” I hissed at her, as quietly as I could.

 “It’ll take her a while to find those keys. We have a few minutes.” she whispered, barely audible, back. I could feel her grinning against me and I shuddered with conflicting emotions.

 “Found them!” Claire’s voice rang out cheerfully, suddenly bringing everything to a screeching halt.

 We looked at each other for only half a second before Siobhan finally started rushing to pull on her sweater while I tried to straighten myself out.

 By the time Claire opened the wardrobe, Siobhan and I were standing apart from each other. I tried to look composed and stepped out with slight cough. Claire, obviously, was waiting for me with a mischievous grin.

 “Hi, Claire. Thanks for that.” I said.

 “So, were you two um… Having fun?” she asked, playfully.

 “Nothing happened.” I said flatly.

 Claire only had to look me up and down before I caught on and corrected any mistakes. Claire scooped up my hat from the floor and offered it to me.

 “Right, so nothing happened.” she teased.

 “NOTHING.” I hissed and snatched it away from her.

 “Aaannnyway.. so what DID happen?” she asked.

 “Trilby accidentally uh.. Triggered the ghost again.” Siobhan explained, fixing up her ponytail. I couldn’t help but also notice how flushed her cheeks were.

 I looked over and saw the grandfather clock that flew at us earlier. I quickly moved to stand it back up, finding only the glass broken. Everything else seemed fine. Siobhan sighed with some relief.

 “I don’t think Brutus is going to want to talk about leaving peacefully.” I surmised. “Even if we do pull rank on him.”

 “Hm.. Then what should we do?” Claire asked. “Banishing circle?”

 I looked around the antique shop and sighed. It was cluttered and messy and made worse by the previous skirmish.

 “That could get some, but not all the ghosts.” I guessed to the best of my ability. “And that’s if we can clear the floor well enough for a ritual, to start with. We would get Brutus.”

 “But then how do we guarantee exorcising all of the ghosts under his control?” Siobhan asked.

 I looked at the tears in my shirt’s sleeve, remembering how eager and desperate the others were to get a hold of me. Most of them were likely violent and dangerous criminals.

 “Well.. We could try a big one.” I offered.

 “The counter’s in the way.” Claire gestured towards it. “And some would probably still escape anyway. We need to get them all.”

 I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. This day was certainly becoming taxing. Claire tapped her foot and began pacing back and forth.

 “Well maybe we can try, like.. A lot of them?” Siobhan was asking. “We can clear the floor.. It’d… Mean moving everything downstairs, but we could make more space.. And cover the area?”

 “And if they try to escape?” Claire argued. “They could try to leave the shop. The plot’s supposed to cover the block, right?”

 “Well it starts at the sidewalk and runs from one end of the street to the other, and covers the shops behind this one on the other side of the street.”

 “Right, so the ghosts could move around on any part of that land. They’re only kept here because the basement is Death Row. It’s where Brutus would’ve dragged me had he successfully killed me.” I throw out.

 “Right. That’s also why he stopped when I dragged you out the first time.” Siobhan explained, giving me a glance. “As soon as you left the plot, he stopped. Then Claire and I took you upstairs.’

 “So we’d have a better chance of getting them all if we were to cover not just the floor, but the walls and ceiling as well.” I said.

 “But then we still need to lure them out.” Claire intoned. 

 “What do you mean?” Siobhan asked.

 “I mean we can’t just wait for the ghosts to wander in on their own. Someone would have to invoke them. But since this guy’s obviously violent, it’d be dangerous. And he disappears as soon as the criminals are either dead or gone.”

 “So we need a way to keep the bait safe and stay here in the store while everything is going on…”

 After a moment of thought, we all came to the same conclusion.

 “Salt ring.”

 After that, it was agreed that I would be bait. Claire was apparently too clean for the job and I wasn’t about to risk Siobhan’s health. We spent the day clearing out the shop and Claire offered to pick up chalk for tomorrow.

#Chzo Mythos #Trilbhan #Trilby Somerset #Siobhan O'Malley #Rational writing #my writing

[goofygomez]

Baby Steps - Clouis Oneshot

Description:  Louis takes Clem on a surprise date and finds out something new about her.

Wordcount: 3000

---

“You know, there’s lots of places to hang out near the school,” Clementine pointed out as she and Louis climbed over a fallen trunk.

“I know, but what fun would that be?” replied Louis, “Plus, I think you’ll really enjoy this new place I’m taking you to.”

She smiled at him from beside him, and they kept walking forward. The sun was just beginning to come out, its first rays casting long shadows over the wild terrain of the forest, looming over them like monsters. A mild breeze blew from the west, causing goose bumps to form on Clementine’s arm under her denim jacket.

According to Louis, who’d kept track of the days of the year since the start, spring had begun merely two weeks ago and some lingering winter chills were to be expected. It didn’t help that he wouldn’t tell her where they were going, so she was left to wonder. He had waked her up almost in the middle of the night, telling her he had a special mission he wanted her to assist with. Turned out it was a walk through the forest.

But Louis insisted it was important, and so Clementine now found herself in the middle of nowhere with her boyfriend, possibly lost. She looked around and examined the vegetation surrounding them. There were beautifully colorful flowers sprouting everywhere in the wake of spring, and birds of all kinds chirped from their nests up above.

“We’re nearly there,” Louis assured her, getting his bearings when he spotted a fallen sign. It read ‘Travis Cottage’.

“Uh, Louis?” Clem asked, raising an eyebrow. “Where are you taking me?” she said slowly.

“Nope, not telling,” he replied, doing his best to imitate her voice. He did that often, mocking the way she’d confessed she had feelings for someone in their first game of Truth or Dare.

“Is this really necessary? We’ve got hunting duty with Aasim today, remember?” she said. Her tone clearly wasn’t a complacent one, Louis noted.

“I know, but that’s not until midday, and this will only take like two hours, tops,” he promised, crossing his heart.

“I’ll hold you to that,” she replied, shoving his slightly and grinning. Despite what she would tell him, she did enjoy these moments she and Louis had together. It was very rare to get a moment to themselves when they were at the school, surrounded by the other kids, and Clem refused to let AJ out of her sights for more than a couple hours at any given time.

Clementine could tell they were getting close when they stepped onto a small dirt path. They walked it for twenty more minutes until they arrived at a small cottage in the middle of the woods. Its roof had collapsed on itself and almost all the windows were either shattered or boarded up. Clem snorted and looked at Louis,

“How romantic,” she commented, making Louis laugh.

“We’re not going in there, silly,” he teased, walking on through the yard and around the back of the cabin. When they did, they were greeted with a beautiful lake, at least fifty yards wide. “We’re going there.”

They walked slowly toward the bank of the lake, stopping at a spot where rather big rocks lined the shore. Reeds grew along their side of the bank, hiding all kinds of animals inside them. Clem saw a toad leap from inside the waters and onto a rock, give them a once over and go back into the lake. Louis slowly sat down on one of the steadier rocks and extended his hand to Clementine. She took it and sat beside him.

From their little spot they could sense the calmness of the atmosphere here. It felt as though time stood still in this lake, and the only souls left were Louis and Clementine. She smiled contently for a while, silently admiring the beauty of the scene in front of her. It was times like these that Clementine lost herself in her thoughts.

AJ and she had been on the road for so long that she no longer had time to appreciate the beauty of the world, and she had failed to pass that ability onto AJ. Now that they had a steady home, though most likely not permanent, it was a welcome change of pace. Louis had made her realize that it was okay to take a break from time to time.

“Thanks for bringing me here,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She lifted her head slightly and planted a soft kiss on his cheek, huddling closer to him.

“That’s not all,” he said, smiling and wrapping his free arm over her shoulders. He’s learned that watching some old movie before the world went to shit. “How about we go swimming?”

To his surprise, Clementine almost jumped away from him and her smile was replaced by a frown. Had he said something wrong? She looked at him with caution, her golden eyes darting from him to the still waters beside them.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he said, concern filling his voice as he leaned forward to embrace her. She didn’t let him, and scuttled back further. “Clem, what is it?”

“I –,” she paused, looking away from him, “I don’t want to,” she whispered.

“Don’t want what?” he asked, clearly confused.

“I don’t wanna get in,” she replied, more clearly this time.

“Why not? I’ve done it a thousand times, it’s pretty warm this time of the year,” he joked, a frail attempt at lightening the mood.

“I don’t care,” she snapped, harsher than she meant to. “I haven’t had good experiences with water.”

“You,” Louis hesitated, debating internally whether he should approach her or not. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered again, looking down in embarrassment. Louis didn’t deserve for her to snap at him; he’d done nothing wrong. “You’ll think it’s stupid.”

“Clem, c’mon,” Louis said, almost incredulously, “if you really believe I’ll think it’s stupid, you may not know me all that well,” he reminded her.

Clem raised her legs to her chest, hugging them close and overlooking the crystalline water. The sudden stillness of it unnerved her. She was suddenly reminded of the last time she’d been in a lake, and how it had cost Luke his life. Closing her eyes, she spoke up,

“When I was eleven, before AJ was born,” she started. Louis looked at her with rapt attention, reading her face as she spoke. “I was running from some bandits, and fell into a running river. I was dragged for hours, and I very nearly died.”

“I’m sorry –,” said Louis, but was cut off by Clem moving on with the story.

“Then a few weeks later, me and my group were crossing a frozen lake. Walkers started following us, but they were slow. Unfortunately, one of my friends, Luke, was wounded. The ice broke out from under him and I tried to save him. I broke the ice myself and fell into the freezing water. I nearly drowned looking for him, but I was too late. A walker that had been beneath the ice got him, and Jane pulled me up.”

Louis stared horrified at Clementine, the goose bumps on his arms more due to her story than to the breeze that was blowing from the lake. He knew Clem had had it rough out there, looking out for herself most of her life. But he’d never have imagined she had this much trauma hidden under her usually inscrutable expression.

“I’m so sorry, Clem,” he said lamely, looking down. “I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay,” she assured him, offering Louis a small smile, “I don’t even know how to swim either way.”

“You don’t?”

“I used to, but then I forgot,” she said dismissively.

Louis considered it for a moment, scratching his chin and eyeing Clementine.

“How about I teach you?”

“Are you crazy?” she exclaimed, her eyebrows almost disappearing under her hat.

“Maybe I am, but I do know this: you’ll need to know how to swim at some point,” he said sadly. “Look I wish you hadn’t gone through everything you went through, but I can help you get over your fear,” he told her slowly, gauging her reaction. To his relief, she didn’t shove him off the rock, but she didn’t agree either.

“I don’t know,” she replied hesitantly, pursing her lips. “I’ve never had to swim in my life,” she reasoned.

“Well, what if you’re stuck at the edge of a river and there’s like, a thousand walkers coming after you?” he exclaimed, making exaggerated gestures with his arms and causing a small smile to tug at Clem’s lips.

“You sure you know what you’re doing?” she asked after considering it.

“Absolutely. We’ll take baby steps, alright?”

She studied him for a moment, deciding. His smile contrasted with her frown, and his eyes were alight with anticipation. She wondered what it felt not to be weighed down by the ghosts of your past, and considered asking him. Instead, she settled for, “Alright, I’ll do it.”

Louis’s face lit up at that and he jumped to his feet immediately, ready to impart his wisdom. She was already regretting her decision, but she stood up nonetheless. The boy took his coat and shit off, folding them neatly and setting them on a rock. He stepped over to the edge of one of the boulders and dove head first into the lake, splashing the dirt around him. Clementine recoiled slightly, but smiled when he resurfaced and cleared his face of dreads.

She couldn’t stop her eyes from lingering a second longer on his physique. She noticed that the freckles that covered her face also adorned his shoulders. Though he wasn’t by any means built strongly, she couldn’t deny the heat that rose up her cheeks.

“Eyes up here, darling,” Louis teased, waving his arms dramatically and getting her attention back.

“Sorry,” she muttered, looking away.

“Lesson one,” he said, raising a finger, “always focus on the task at hand when near bodies of water.”

“Oh, ha ha,” she shot back, mock disgust on her face as he chuckled.

She took a deep breath and looked around. It really wouldn’t do to soak her clothes for nothing, she thought. Taking her jacket and hat off, she placed them neatly beside Louis’s belongings. Clem took her boots off and rolled up her jeans, taking a few tentative steps toward the water. She reached forward with her right foot and dipped a toe in.

The water was pleasantly warm, she thought. This should be easy, right? She stepped forward once more and dipped her whole foot in. Though the temperature was okay, it still sent chills up her spine. Unbidden memories filled her mind, gluing her to the spot. Louis stepped forward and took one of her hands gently, nodding.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he assured her, “I’m here. One step at a time, okay?”

“One step at a time,” she repeated, steadying her breaths and closing her eyes. “You can do this, Clementine,” she said to herself.

Slowly, she put one foot in front of the other and started following Louis deeper into the lake. By the time she dared open her eyes, the water level was at her waist. Panicking, she jumped up, letting go of Louis’s hand in the process and almost tripping on herself.

“You’re doing amazing, Clem,” he cheered, taking her hand again for balance. “Just stay focused on my beautiful voice, and you’ll be fine.”

“Don’t make me punch your beautiful face, Louis,” she warned.

“I’ll take that as a free compliment, thank you very much,” he retorted, a smug grin on his face. “Alright, think you can go deeper?”

“I don’t know,” she said hesitantly, glancing at the deepest spot in the lake, where the water turned a deeper blue.

“That’s alright, we can chill here for a while,” he assured her, stepping forward to stand beside her. “How’s it feel?”

“Weird,” she said simply, shuddering when her foot touched something slimy. “Ugh, I hate water,” she declared.

“I feel offended,” Louis said suddenly.

“And why might that be?” asked Clem, indulging him.

“Well,” he replied, scratching his chin dramatically, “I read on one of those books in the library that humans are like 70% water or something.”

“So?”

“So, I’m offended you’d hate 70% of me, you know?” he exclaimed, feigning offense and failing miserably.

“God, you’re such a dork,” Clem said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Yeah but I’m your dork,” he corrected her. Clementine had to smile despite herself. He really was her dork.

After about twenty minutes, she finally felt ready to go all the way. She nodded at Louis, and together they set forward. It was then that Clem realized just how much taller Louis was than her. By the time the water was almost touching her neck, it was barely above Louis’s abdomen. She stopped then and turned to him.

“What now?” she asked, already struggling to keep her head above the water.

“Now, onto floating,” he replied, taking both her hands. “I want you to lean against me and lift up your legs. Yeah, just like that,” he encouraged when she kicked off and her bare feet almost touched the surface of the lake.

“Am I doing alright?” she asked tentatively, looking up at his smiling face.

“Excellently, you’re by far my best student,” he announced proudly.

“I’m guessing I’m also the only one,” she teased, attempting to ease some of the tension building up in her muscles.

“True as that may be, you’re still a great student,” he complimented her, “Now, extend your arms as if you were on a cross. Exactly.”

“Are you sure this is right?” she asked, frowning.

“Absolutely,” he assured her. “Before learning to swim, you have to know how to float. Otherwise that defeats the purpose of swimming. Now, I’m going to let you go.”

“You’re gonna what?” she exclaimed, her eyes opening wide with terror.

“Relax, it’s okay. While you’re in this position – if you relax, of course – you’ll float perfectly fine.”

“You sure?”

“Totally,” he assured, nodding once more. Hesitantly, she nodded back and closed her eyes. Slowly, Louis removed his hands from her back and took a step back. Clem didn’t even feel his pressure leaving her body.

She felt as if she were on a cloud, drifting off to where the physical world was but a dream. All her troubles seemed to fade away, a state of serenity overtaking her entire body. She didn’t even know how long she had spent in that position when she heard fingers snapping over her head. Her eyes fluttered open, and she had to adjust to the light before seeing Louis smiling down at her.

“What?” she asked, squinting when a ray of sunlight landed on her face.

“You kind of fell asleep,” he told her, raising an eyebrow.

“I – what?” she exclaimed, struggling to stand back up. When she got her feet to the ground, she noticed him smiling at her.

“Yeah, only for twenty minutes though,” he assured her, watching her traipse through the crystalline water toward the shore “You looked so peaceful, I figured you needed the sleep.”

Clem considered his words and sighed. She really had enjoyed the peace. “Okay, I guess you’re right. I think we should be getting back though.”

“We should dry off first,” he said, eyeing her soaking wet shirt and jeans. “It’s gonna be a hard walk back with those clothes,” he warned.

Clem looked down and frowned. He was right. She was soaking wet, and the moisture would just slow her down. They decided to wait it out and sat down on one of the rocks on the bank. Clementine lay down and looked up, closing her eyes as she drank in the early morning sun.

“You know, you looked so beautiful there,” Louis said suddenly, breaking the spell of silence that had fallen over them. His comment took her by surprise, and she shot up.

“Why do you say stuff like that?” she asked him, confused.

“Like what?” he inquired, still smiling. It was one of the qualities Clem loved most about him; his constant desire to smile in the face of life.

“Like that. You suddenly compliment me at odd times, and I don’t understand.”

“What don’t you understand?” he asked, frowning now.

“Why do you even like me?” she asked suddenly, looking down and startling Louis. He, however, took it in stride. He did what he always did; he laughed.

“What kind of question is that, Clem?” he asked her incredulously, which made her shrug. “I love you because you’re beautiful, because you’re protective of your own, you’re resourceful, you’re badass, you’re caring,” he listed the reasons on his fingers, making Clem blush.

“Is that all?” she asked, only slightly teasing. Louis smiled and waggled his eyebrows.

“Not even close. I love the way you blush when I compliment you. I love the way small dimples form in your face when you smile. I love the way your eyes light up when you’re talking about something you’re passionate about, like AJ for instance.”

“You’ve given this a lot of thought, haven’t you?” she said, glancing back up at him.

“I have, ever since I met you,” he admitted, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

“I love you too,” she whispered, leaning closer to him and pressing her forehead to his.

They stayed silent for a second, basking in the moment. Clementine sighed contently, and Louis cleared his throat. “Hey, Clem?”

“Hm?” she murmured, her eyes never opening.

“Can I kiss you?”

The question lingered in the air, and Clem couldn’t resist the urge to chuckle. She opened her eyes and looked at his chocolate brown ones, smiling.

“What kind of question is that, silly?” she asked, leaning in and pressing her lips to his in a tender kiss.

#twdg clementine #twdg louis #twdg aj #twdg telltale #twdg season 4 #louisentine #clouis #fluff #au #fanfiction #fanfic

[hopevalley]

Your last post was great food for thought. How would you have written Jack off the show? Personally I think they got the when wrong. Should have got them married end of s3, then written him off going to the Northern Territory and not coming back...

Thanks, Anon!

I’m a bit on the fence about Jack to begin with. On one hand, I agree with you completely: they should have been married before the end of S3, and then Jack’s decision to fight in S4 (after the death of his old pal Doug) would have been huge. They built up this “oooh, he could diiiieee~” narrative, after all. Seeing it come to its (arguably natural) conclusion would be acceptable.

On the other hand, there was something kind of nice about Jack dying when it wasn’t expected. If nothing else drove home that life as a Mountie was not this picturesque landscape of loveliness, that did. Oh, you mean he could die...while just training some men? Doing something in a position that multiple people said he should be honored to be considered for? Oh my!

It was still too contrived for my taste, though. It’s one thing to kill him off in a time of relative peace when he’s just minding his own business, but it’s something else to kill him off-screen and...after making him talk about how safe the job was (which it clearly wouldn’t be, as mentioned before in this series*). Talk about tonal shifts! AJ went to prison, and then there was this weird birthday thing that most of the viewers didn’t care about (where we pretended like Bill’s life wasn’t in mortal danger just days or weeks earlier), and right at the party gets into full swing this just haaaappens to be the moment a Mountie comes into town to tell Elizabeth that her husband died. And of course she’s standing conveniently Right There. Oh, and also, he definitely died a hero, not like a regular guy. How could she live with herself if he died like a regular guy? (/sarcasm, if you couldn’t tell.)

*I might actually be thinking of the When Calls the Heart movie where Edward talks about nearly dying during his own training.

A more convincing and arguably terrible (with positive connotations) way to write Jack’s death off-screen would be to place Bill outside or in the jailhouse when the Mountie comes riding in. He’s still recovering from literally almost dying (a pretty big deal, considering his age) and now he’s just found out Jack has died in some contrived bullshit manner...and it’s his duty to go with this guy and tell Elizabeth, because Bill isn’t the sort of character to shirk duty (neither career nor personal). Elizabeth is family now, after all.

It would at least do something to cement relationships and connections in this show before the actual funeral/grieving episode. Also, seeing Bill’s initial immediate reaction before he clams up and follows protocol he’s been taught from a young adult onward—that’d be delicious character stuff when he has his discussion with Abigail later.

Ideally, though, I’d probably do something more along the lines you’ve suggested (earlier marriage, more expected death). It’s just, by the time they’d decided to actually go through with killing Jack, I feel like it was too late to Take It Slow. If I were in that position, stuck in S5 and having to kill Jack off by the end (10 measly episodes, by the way), I’d do the following:

Jack gets reassigned entirely to train new recruits and there is some kind of set time frame for this. One year, two years: something like that.

Elizabeth and Jack have a rushed wedding that’s not visually impressive but sweet in other ways that have a big impact on the characters. Forgive my language here, but fuck the modern traditions the audience thinks they want (that weren’t even around during this time frame in many cases)! I’d have given them a truly romantic wedding in the church with recognizable faces in the pews and maybe a potluck picnic lunch afterward.

Logically this only happens if the characters worry that it isn’t something they can do later, right? It’s not that he worries he’ll die, but it’s the reality they live in that something could happen to him, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Also, Elizabeth won’t want to wait another year (if we say his placement is for at least that long), so it’s not hard to imagine her insisting on doing it immediately.

One final aside, I think this also gives Elizabeth the excuse to remain a schoolteacher in Hope Valley with the idea being that she can spend her summer with Jack (when she’s not teaching)—something she can’t do if they’re not married. At least, not without scandal.

Their ‘honeymoon’ is something they put on hold but probably a place they both wanted to go that’s not completely out of left field (get my joke?) and meaningful to both of them. (This is set-up for Elizabeth eventually going there alone for a letting-go type of scene when it would feel good/appropriate to see.)

They spend the week or two before he has to leave together, and during this time they discuss their future more seriously. Make it mostly the kinds of things that will feel bad when looked back upon after knowing of Jack’s death, but which still ring of some kind of ‘hope for the future’ at the time. S5 had a lot of bullshit in it, not all of which was bad, but the ‘dreams’ were too focused on tangible sorts of things and not the dreams of a couple madly in love who want to be together forever. 

The house is kind of silly scope-wise. If they’re dreaming about it, a line from Elizabeth to Abigail (or Clara, or anyone) that Jack wants to do it but she knows it’s not feasible on his income would make it seem like sweet dreaming.

This would be a good time for them to discuss where they want to honeymoon when Jack gets some time off and they can manage it financially, too.

While Jack is gone, Elizabeth reads some of his letters to Abigail. Maybe there could be some cute/saucy bits where she says “I’ll skip the next few paragraphs” or whatever, but the idea here is that Jack has arrived to his destination, is doing well, and Elizabeth is not particularly worried about him.

IF POSSIBLE, scenes of Jack bonding with these green bean boys. Young, largely untrained, idealistic... Man, we know Bill did a lot of teaching and stuff like that at one point in his career, too, so this could be a nice segue into Jack starting down a similar path! 

Also it cements his relationship with these men and shows not only that he DOES care about them, but WHY.

If this is NOT possible, at least allude to it in his letters. Mention specific names so that the audience feels a connection, however small.

Also if possible, show Jack’s death, or at least show him making the decision to risk his life for these young men he cares about.

If this isn’t possible: show a scene in the cafe where a patron is reading a newspaper with the date of Jack’s death on it (preferably not a character who had any issues with Jack personally), and Elizabeth is reading Jack’s latest letter to Abigail. It’s not quite as good but I think it would get the point across.

Because Hope Valley isn’t really modern enough for addresses, Bill gets the news first. He goes with the Mountie to speak to Elizabeth. This doesn’t give us tonal whiplash from hell, but maybe occurs during a quieter/less busy time.

Also, there is NO Abigail in this scene. She’ll get her time and I feel like her being a leech on Elizabeth’s character was a huge mistake. Let Elizabeth bond with other people!!!!

We could also really use the insight into Bill’s character and how he reacts “in the moment”—particularly compared to how he acts later. Him keeping his cool (for the most part) and then breaking down in the quiet of his own home/at his desk in the jail (or keeping it together until his conversation with Abigail) would do wonders for his character.

The funeral isn’t shown at length. No speeches. (I’m sorry, I don’t care for those and I don’t think Elizabeth would remember them anyway. They’d just be this massive blur.) She reflects on a hazy view of the casket from her own perspective, and maybe I’d add an iconic scene of the horse walking into the mist with the boots in the saddle facing the wrong way.

You know, the kind of scene that isn’t lovely or anything, but it still feels haunting. Especially if that horse is Definitely Sergeant. 

Elizabeth revisiting the grave (as she did in the final episode) is quiet. No music. Just her in the silence walking over to the grave and kneeling in front of it because that’s what it’s like and I feel as if that sort of deeply personal scene would resonate with a lot of viewers. 

I don’t deny that the original scene was lovely but that’s the issue: it shouldn’t be #aesthetic-based because that’s completely unrelatable. Most of us look mediocre at best when we visit a gravesite.

I also think there should be parallel Elizabeth-visiting-Jack’s-grave scenes in later seasons/episodes to show progress, and rather than going on the anniversary of his death maybe she goes on his birthday (and/or other special days) instead to celebrate his life. These scenes are always quiet and always gentle, and if there is music at all it’s just barely there.

I could also really go for her running into someone else there who is visiting a grave if there was time for it, just for a conversation.

I’m also REALLY uncertain about the gravesite they put him in in the actual show, just because I’m not sure Jack’s wife couldn’t pick where he was buried. I feel like for these characters, if Jack wanted to be buried anywhere, it would be near his father or in Hope Valley’s own cemetery (which isn’t shown after S1, but we know is there).

I’d go with Hope Valley for the #aesthetic if nothing else. Then Elizabeth can visit whenever she wants and we could watch her visits drop off over the course of a season or two.

Also then her running into someone else should be her running into Florence visiting Paul’s grave. She doesn’t get much in the way of sweet dialogue so this would be wonderful.

I chose Florence specifically because she doesn’t seem ready to move on and it’s been a long time, and maybe I’d even appreciate a comment along those lines by her: that she doesn’t feel the need to remarry/etc etc. Having Abigail (who did move on) and Florence then to give us both sides of the spectrum...feels good.

Then in later seasons/episodes, Elizabeth could run into people at the grave/around the cemetery who are there specifically to see Jack.

Bill leaving flowers/just standing there quietly.

Abigail coming to talk to him and keep him updated about all the really little things (but never the big things because those are for Elizabeth to tell). Maybe more of a stop-off after visiting the graves of Noah and Peter.

I don’t feel Nathan needs any sort of connection to Jack, but I think just the idea of Jack’s death would be enough to make someone like Nathan think twice. What kind of man was he? What did he die for? How well did he love this town? Will I ever fill the shoes he left? I could see him going and just thinking about those things.

It’s not a masterpiece and perhaps not even possible due to timing (the episode limit really messes with good plotline ideas), but I like the ideas in concept.

#long post #anonymously asked #answered mail

[letterboxd]

Divas.

“You have to know what you’re willing to fight for or die for.” Angelina Jolie goes head-to-head with Michelle Pfeiffer in the Maleficent sequel, Mistress of Evil. The megastars talk to Letterboxd about their new Disney blockbuster, their favorite villains, and learning to let go of your children.

We haven’t done specific data on this, but it’s no secret that, from Tinkerbell and Wendy to Mother Gothel and Rapunzel, Disney in particular excels at pitting women against each other and messing with concepts of motherhood. Times change, however, and in 2014, with Angelina Jolie in the title role, the studio’s live-action blockbuster Maleficent revisited the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, taking a refreshing spin on the villain from Disney’s 1959 animated classic Sleeping Beauty.

It worked: Maleficent became Jolie’s highest-grossing film, and holds a particular kind of appeal for the Letterboxd members who love it. For Rookie Bear, it is “…a journey from girlhood to motherhood and maturity, and in many respects, is exactly the film I would have liked Sleeping Beauty to be.” Aly C agrees: “I love that so many distinctly feminine themes are layered into this story, from non-traditional motherhood to recovering from sexual assault. It’s so smart; [writer] Linda Woolverton is a genius, and that must be part of why Angelina was so enthusiastically behind this project (besides looking absolutely iconic). I hope the sequel stays on this same path.”

Pedro Paixão is a little more succinct: “I have a weakness for bad bitches in leather.” He’s gonna love the follow-up, which sees dark fairy Maleficent (Jolie) drawn out of the moors, a verdant land in which fantasy creatures flourish, by the impending nuptials between surrogate daughter Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty herself, played by Elle Fanning) and her beloved Prince Phillip (Harris Dickinson, replacing the original’s Brenton Thwaites).

But this is Disney. With Maleficent and Aurora happy in their non-traditional family unit, the sequel needs a new bad bitch. Cue Michelle Pfeiffer, the ideal grande dame to go head-to-head with Jolie in lavish new sequel Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.

Pfeiffer plays Aurora’s mother-in-law to be, Queen Ingrith; outwardly welcoming of Maleficent, but secretly plotting against her, setting the stage for an epic showdown in which expensive special effects are entirely outshone by two of Hollywood’s most legendary actors throwing down. It’s misunderstood-villain versus actual-villain, and the star power on display is truly something to behold.

Jolie and Pfeiffer recently joined press in Beverly Hills to talk about the film, and we took the opportunity to ask them for any iconic movie villain performances that they may have taken inspiration from.

Angelina Jolie immediately named the performance given by her co-star in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns: “I like Michelle as Catwoman,” she told us.

Pfeiffer brought up a different Batman film, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, in her response: “I think the first thing that came to mind was Heath Ledger as the Joker. I didn’t take that as inspiration, but that’s my favorite villain.”

Read on for highlights from the rest of the conversation.

On being associated with the character of Maleficent: Angelina Jolie: The strange thing as an actor, you’re kind of always figuring out who you are, how people see you. Now with social media, everybody has an opinion. As an actor, it’s strange, you put yourself forward [for a role] and somebody says: “Oh, that’s very you.” And you think: ‘Really, is it?’ When I got a call and they said: “We thought you’re the only person who could play Maleficent. It was so obvious.” I was like: “What was so obvious?” I’m never quite sure how I’m supposed to take that.

And yet, I love her. So maybe I just need to fully embrace it at this time in my life. Maybe when I first did it I thought I needed to find the other aspects of her; she’s a bit wild and full-on and a bit much. Now I have different things in my life and I’m just so happy to feel strong again and have some fun. I adore being her.

On whether or not she was channeling screen legend Bette Davis in her performance: AJ: When I was little, I saw the animated film. Clearly she was drawn with that inspiration, and the original voice, and the original way she was, and I was so drawn to it. All of those women. There’s so much to learn from them. Any comparison I’m very grateful for.

On how the film plays with notions of good and evil: Michelle Pfeiffer: It’s a very unusual fairy tale, which I also loved about the first film, it was so surprising. What I loved is that it played in this grey area and it talked about good-versus-evil, and how all of us have a little bit of everything in us. I think in terms of strength, and how that manifests itself, it’s different in everyone. One of the things we loved about Aurora is that in many ways she is ultimately the strongest and wisest of all of us. My character is really brilliant and diabolical, but I wouldn’t consider her terribly wise.

I mean, everybody has vulnerability, and I think, [Queen Ingrith is] damaged. Nobody behaves that way unless they’re incredibly damaged on some level. She just doesn’t wear it on her sleeve, I guess. And it some ways, what she resorts to is really, truly out of a very deep fear. On the central themes of the film: AJ: It is about family. Aurora and Maleficent were brought together and they became a family and they weren’t really expecting it. Maleficent was harmed in her life and she lost herself and lost her ability to, I think, be soft and feel love. Being a mother brought out something in me that really transformed me. But we’re different creatures in the film. There are metaphors in the film, not to be heavy about it, but always I think a good film for young people has these messages, and I think there’s real questions in the film: [Aurora and Maleficent] get pulled apart, people tell us, because we’re not the same. “Because you’re not exactly like her, you’re not gonna love her.” That certainly strikes a chord with me. I think Maleficent does wonder if she’s good enough to be a mother.

Then there’s a real push to say “this is not how it should be, and this is not how to live”. Diversity makes us stronger. There must be a better way forward, and we have to come together. We do that in the film with the humans and the creatures and moor-folk coming together. We do that as a family, we come together and we fight against this separation. We unite and we say “this is the world we choose to live in”. I think that that is a really important message.

On Aurora and Maleficent’s relationship: AJ: I see her exactly as she is, and I don’t want her to be any different than she is. And she sees me as I am, and she accepts me as I am. It is to say to everybody: “Be yourself, be your true self. You don’t live forever.” Say to children: “No matter how people see you and how they say you should be, you’ll suffocate. Be your true nature, whatever that may be, and you’ll find acceptance, because you have to.”

On the film’s elaborate dinner scene, when Maleficent and Ingrith first encounter each other: MP: Tension-wise, nobody wanted to be the one to wreck the take, because it was so long. Every angle, every shot was a master. The tension is really good, you’re kind of just being there for each other.

AJ: I was just happy we were sitting. I felt like I was having dinner with friends for a week. I thought it was great. On the challenge of performing inside such gargantuan costumes: AJ: You get so supported in these roles with the magic, everybody working towards this idea of [bringing together] costumes, visual effects and make-up to help bring you into a creature. It’s a big team. Some of my costumes were half there, and we had to be flying with rigs and things. The trick with Maleficent sometimes is that I need to look stronger on the ground, but then I have to float when I’m up in the air.

On what the film has to say about self-sacrifice: AJ: When you talk about love, we spoke about knowing your true self, but really I think the core of is: we’re not here just to exist. You have to know what you stand for. You have to know what you’re willing to fight for or die for. If you live that way, then whatever pain comes with it and whatever sacrifice comes with it, you embrace it and it actually fills you with purpose. That’s hopefully represented in the film.

On whether or not she was trying to top her previous villain performances: MP: I didn’t actually look at it that way. I certainly enjoyed playing this, I was really delighted and surprised when I read the script. I was excited just by the notion of working with [Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning].

You approach them all differently. I had a lot of fun doing this. I felt like I had a lot of freedom to try and bring some other colors, you know, try to play the humanity. It may not appear at first blush that Ingrith is willing to sacrifice anything, but she’s willing obviously to sacrifice her son. I think that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love him. (Laughs.) It’s complicated.

On relating to Maleficent having to let go of Aurora, given that she just sent her oldest son off to college: AJ: To be very honest, Maddox was so ready and he’s doing so well. He spent these days with me as I thought I was preparing him to go. You work so hard as a mother, you think: ‘I’m really helping him.’ And then at the airport, he could’ve left but he stayed with me a bit longer, I kept thinking: ‘He wants to be with me a little longer.’ And then at some point he looked at me and said: “Are you okay?” and I said “Yeah I’m fine” and I realized the entire week was all for me. He was just making sure I was okay. And he gave me a really big hug because he knew that I needed it, and I knew that he was okay because he was the kind of man who knew what I needed and he gave it to me in a loving way. So I left feeling really proud. I did cry a few times.

There’s a part of this movie where I have to let [Aurora] go. It wasn’t in the script, but I didn’t quite let her go. And Diaval (Sam Riley) has to come in and say: “Let her go.” And that got me every time. Because I would think of… all of the kids. That moment of having to let them go. But it’s also exciting.

Related content

Everything on Disney+: a list of all the films that will feature on the studio’s new streaming service, launching in the US on November 12.

Rara’s list of films with both female heroes and female villains.

Mommie Dearest: the Letterboxd Showdown of misunderstood movie matriarchs.

‘Maleficent: Mistress of Evil’ is in cinemas from October 18. Comments have been edited for length and clarity.

#maleficent #angelina jolie #michelle pfeiffer #sleeping beauty #elle fanning #disney #fairy tale wedding #blockbuster #letterboxd

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

confessions and constellations [2/3]

Summary: AJ finds a crumpled up piece of paper with a poem on it. Not understanding what it means, he shows it to Clem. It seems that the two of them have a mystery on their hands. They know who wrote it, but… who is the poem about?

Preview: 

Again and again, he tries to write, tries to push those negative thoughts away. Hell, he even takes a break from the poetry format and just jots down his feelings. 

When it's just the two of us, you make me feel like I have a purpose here. Suddenly, survival isn't just the one and only goal day to day. Making you smile feels just as important as living does. I want to stay up late with you and talk and laugh and hold hands and look at the stars and make up stories about each of them. Give them all names and stupid voices until the sun comes up and they fade away. 

I know I’ll never tell you any of this. I’ll never tell you how much you’ve grown to mean to me over all these years. You’ve always been there in the corner of my eyes and now you’re all I dream about. 

I want 

Aasim sighs.

I want you.

How pathetic. 

Warnings: Aasim gets hurt in more ways than one. AJ’s an awful detective but he’s trying his best. Mitch pukes.

Author’s Note: This one’s pretty long. Thanks to everyone who read the first part! I really appreciate it! Maybe we’ll find out who the poem’s about. spoiler alert: we don’t not until the final part  

Part I | Part II  | Part III

---

The bright warmth shining in through his window is deceptive. When Aasim tugs the heavy blanket off himself and kicks it to the floor, the cool air immediately clings to any free skin. He feels goosebumps rise along his neck. 

He had another dream last night. 

In his mind, the images replay over and over again. He memorizes as much as he can. He flips over onto his side and yanks open his desk drawer to pull out one of his many notebooks. This one is red with a torn cover and some water damage on the bottom half. Drowsily, he flips to the next blank page and pulls the cap of his pen off with his teeth.

He jots down the little details before they flee his memory forever. They’re scattered, barely sentences.

the moon was enormous / not white? it was gold like the sun but cold gold/cold

fireflies instead of stars

in a city? we were on top of this huge building  lots of windows

we kissed again

He fills up the page before tossing it onto his desk. He lays back to stare up at the ceiling. 

It’s another day of survival. He’s to go check the traps and hunt after breakfast. Then, it’s back to work on his poetry...

Fuck.

Aasim groans, flinging his arm over his eyes. 

He really thought he had something last night, he really did. But, after reading back what he wrote it just seemed so... bad? He could never read something like that out loud and expect to be taken seriously. No way in hell. 

And, after he crumpled the paper up, it occurred to him once again that the whole poetry thing might be a huge waste of time and energy.

Being in love is a huge waste of time and energy.

It’s not something that’s going to help him survive day to day, it’s not going to feed him at night, and it’s not going to guarantee a roof over his head. Being in love, or rather, having this stupid, intense, mind-numbing crush wasn’t doing anything good for him. If anything, it’s just eating away at him, exhausting both his mind and his body, wasting his time. 

And for what?

For some fantasy of love? Of being loved? Of not waking up alone and having someone there to kiss him and hold him and just... be there?

That’s all it is: a fantasy. A dream. Just like the ones he has almost every night. 

He could continue with his plan, sure. Write the poem, write the note, confess with the poem, huge romantic moon, and... 

... and have one of two outcomes:

Rejection. Eternal heartbreak. Death.

Acceptance. Temporary happiness... Death. 

Because that’s all it ever ends with, right?

Aasim rises from the bed and moves about his room, continuing with his morning routine to distract himself with his thoughts. 

He’d try his hand at poetry again. 

But, he knows the truth.

Those poems will never be heard by anyone but him.

“Live in your fantasy,” he mumbles to the cold, empty room.

---

AJ wouldn’t stop talking about the poem.

“I like the part about the stars showering,” he says. “Like, they’re falling to the ground? Can you imagine if all the stars really fell like that?”

Clem smiles. “It’d be quite the sight, wouldn’t it?”

AJ nods. “But,” he holds up the paper, “it couldn’t compare to his crush?”

“So he says.”

Clem had read the poem out loud twice this morning, and each time it made her feel a little more guilty. And a little afraid. What if Aasim happened to walk by and hear them in their room? Not that Aasim ever comes this way, but still. 

“So!” AJ rubs his hands together, “where should we start?”

Clem replies, “We should narrow down the suspects.”

“Sus... sussspects?”

“Like, who we think it could possibly be.”

“Well, it’s not me,” AJ says firmly.

“And it’s not me,” Clem agrees. “And, I think it’s safe to cross off Tenn and Willy, too.”

“And Rosie,” AJ adds. 

Clem laughs. “Okay, so who do we have left?”

AJ starts counting on his fingers, “Marlon, Violet, Louis...”

“Mitch and Ruby.”

“Mitch, Ruby, um, Brody, Omar...”

Clem says, “I think that’s it.”

“Here,” AJ pulls a wrinkled piece of drawing paper off his desk and a crayon. “Write all the suspects down!”

Marlon Violet Louis Brody Ruby Omar Mitch

“There,” she says.

“So, we gotta see if any of them have freckles, right?” 

Clem nods. “That’ll help narrow it down.”

Honestly, she wasn’t sure what to expect. She hadn’t really paid much attention to the tiny details of anyone’s faces.

Well, with one exception-

AJ hurries to the door. 

“Hold it, goofball!”

“Clem,” AJ pouts.

“What are the rules?” she says, holding out her hand. AJ reluctantly gives her back the poem.

“You keep the poem,” he mumbles.

“And?”

“And never ever tell Aasim.”

“Right, and don’t tell anyone else,” she pockets both the poem and the list of suspects and nudges him with a smirk, “think of it like we’re undercover detectives. No one can know what we’re investigating.”

AJ grins. “Got it!”  

---

AJ’s... not very subtle.

At all.

The second they get outside, his narrowed eyes are darting from one person to the other. He’s tense, ready to strike at any moment. 

It’s very obvious that something’s up.

Clem tries to act normal as the two approach Violet. 

“Morning, Vi,” Clem greets. 

Violet yawns, stretching her arms over her head. “Good morning, I guess. Little cold, though.”

“Seems like summer’s over.”

“Awesome,” Violet sighs. She turns to smile at AJ but is surprised by his overly intense stare.

“Um...?” she quirks a brow. “Are you alright, AJ?”

“Fine!” AJ takes a step towards her. “Hmmm...” 

Clem forces an awkward laugh, placing her hand on AJ’s shoulder and pulling him back. He then relaxes, looking up at clem and shaking his head, mouthing quietly, “No freckles.”

Violet shoots Clem a puzzled look. 

“AJ’s paranoid,” Clem lies. “Had a, uh, bad dream that one of us is... secretly a robot.”

“Huh?” AJ frowns. Clem pinches him. “Oh! Yeah! Right! Robots!”

“A robot?” Violet scoffs. “Well, hate to disappoint, but I’m human. Though, I’d check up on Marlon.” She smirks, leaning forward and whispering loudly, “Only a machine would think that hair looks cool.”

Clem let out a sigh of relief. Even if Violet doesn’t completely believe them, at least she’s playing along. 

“Marlon...?” AJ whips around to search for Marlon. He spots him talking with Brody over by the gates. Before Clem can stop him, he’s wandering over to them. 

When he’s out of earshot, Violet says, “Robots, hm?”

“Yeah,” Clem sighs. “Robots.”

“Where’d he learn about robots from?”

“An old book we used to read together.”

“Right...” Violet crosses her arms. “You know, you can talk to me if something’s going on, right?”

Shit.

“Are you sure?” Clem jokes. “You could be a robot trying to trick me into telling you all my secrets.”

“Could be.”

They both watch as AJ stands close to Marlon, pointing up at his face. Marlon’s expression is surprised, and, if Clem’s guessing right, a little offended. Brody chuckles beside them as AJ’s shoulders fall, disappointed. 

“Well, guess I should go find Tenn,” Violet says. “Don’t want him to miss breakfast. Talk to you later?” 

“Sure,” Clem smiles. 

“Have fun finding your ‘robot.’“

Clem nervously waves as her friend walks off. 

AJ sulks back over to her, staring down at his feet. “It’s not Marlon,” AJ sighs. “He doesn’t have freckles, he has pimples,” AJ looks away, a little embarrassed, “there’s a difference, I guess.”

“Big difference,” Clem chuckles. “What about Brody?”

“Nope.”

Clem pulls the list out of her pocket. 

Marlon Violet Louis Brody Ruby Omar Mitch 

“Three down.” 

She was positive even before they made the list that Violet wasn’t the one. Sure, she and Aasim got along fine, from what she’s seen, but Clem couldn’t imagine Aasim falling for someone like Violet. 

Or Marlon, for that matter. After all, the two of them were constantly fighting about the safe-zone, among other things. 

And Brody, well, Clem couldn’t think of a time where she saw Aasim talking with her long enough for any real connection. So, that made sense. 

“Look!” AJ points towards the doors where Mitch and Willy are coming out.

Immediately, Clem notices that something’s off with Mitch. He’s hunched over, hand on his stomach and his feet dragging in the dirt. Willy follows him close behind, clearly panicked. 

“Suspect!” AJ whispers, already running over there. 

“Wait, AJ- ugh!” Clem shoves the list into her jacket and follows. 

Mitch seats himself at the table before flopping over, motionless. 

“Mitch...?” Willy asks. He pokes the top of Mitch’s head. “Are you dying?”

“Probably,” groans Mitch. 

AJ sits next to Willy. “What wrong with him?” he asks. 

“I don’t know!” Willy cries. “I found him like this!”

AJ shakes Mitch’s shoulder. “Hey, let me see your face!”

So subtle.

Mitch yanks his head up to stare blankly at AJ, who begins inspecting ever part of Mitch’s face. 

AJ pokes his cheek. “Your face is dirty.” 

Mitch’s face meets the wooden table with a loud thud and a pained groan.

“Well, well...” Omar’s voice rings behind them. Mitch visibly tenses. “Mitch, what’s wrong?”

“You fuck off, right now.”

“Could it be that you have a stomach ache?”

“No-ugh!” Mitch curls up on himself some more. 

Omar shakes his head, placing a hand on Mitch’s shoulder. “Now, what could you have eaten that would make you sick like this?”

“I hate you,” snarls Mitch.

“Could it be, oh, I don’t know, that moldy chunk of beef jerky that I warned you repeatedly to not eat?”

Mitch snaps up, glaring at Omar’s smug face. “I don’t have a stomach ache!” he exclaims. “I feel fucking fantastic! Best I’ve felt in weeks!”

“Oh, really,” Omar says flatly.

“I feel so good I could fight a fucking bear.”

“A bear? Well, in that case,” Omar gestures over to where breakfast is cooking, “I guess you’ll need an extra helping of rabbit so you can be extra strong for that bear-”

Omar doesn’t get to finish. Mitch is up and running back towards the trees with a hand over his mouth. Clem doesn’t dare look, but oh, she can hear everything.

Omar cringes. “Told him not to eat it.”

“Man...” Willy frowns. “He gonna be okay?”

“Yeah,” Omar smiles. “He’ll feel better once it’s all out. I brought out a water bottle for him, too. He’s gonna need to hydrate after all that.”

Willy leaves the table to run over to Mitch. They watch as Willy pats the vomiting boy’s back. 

AJ leans over and whispers to Clem, “It’s not Mitch. No freckles, just dirt.”

Clem nods. She figured. Mitch doesn’t seem like Aasim’s type, anyway. Although, that would’ve been an interesting turn of events. What a couple they’d turn out to be. 

Marlon Violet Louis Brody Ruby Omar Mitch 

More disgusting dry heaving sounds can be heard. 

Omar tsks before turning to Clem. “Breakfast’ll be done soon. Wanna do me a favor?”

“Uh, sure?” She really hopes it doesn’t involve cooking with him. She’d never do that again. 

“I’m gonna make up a plate for Louis. When you’re done eating, wanna take it up to him?”

AJ jumps up. “Yes!” 

“Great,” Omar seems pleased with AJ’s enthusiasm and doesn’t notice the boy’s inconspicuous inspection of his face. “Figured he’d want something. He didn’t look too good this morning.”

Clem’s brows furrow. “Like Mitch, or...?”

“Like he was sleep walkin’ with Marlon dragging him by his ear.”

“That good, huh?”

“Yeah,” Omar chuckles. “I made him some coffee. Hopefully, he’s perked up by now.”

Omar leaves them to check on the food. 

Clem sighs. “It’s not Omar,” she whispers.

AJ shakes his head. “Not a single dot.”

Marlon Violet Louis Brody Ruby Omar Mitch 

She frowns. “That leaves us with two suspects.” 

“Louis and Ruby,” AJ says. He’s anxious, Clem can tell. “Which one do you think it is?”

“...I don’t know.”

They grab their breakfast and sit down. Clem has to tell him several times to slow down before he chokes, and that even if he does finish, he’d have to wait until she’s finished, as well. 

While he wasn’t the most patient of them all, Clem couldn’t say she didn’t understand. Honestly, she was just as anxious to see Louis. 

Though, that does bring up a problem, one that she’d been ignoring. 

She knows for an absolute fact that Louis has freckles. 

She knows this because she’s spent plenty of time staring at his face. 

She also knows that Louis and Aasim are almost always paired up to go hunting. 

Louis and Aasim talk. 

A lot. 

It’s not impossible that Aasim could have feelings for Louis, and it’s definitely not impossible that the poem could be about him. 

But... it’s also totally possible for the poem to be about the other remaining person on her list. 

Ruby.

Clem can’t remember if she has freckles or not. But, if she does...

This might mean they need to find a new clue. 

---

He’s not hungry, he decides. 

Aasim finds himself back in bed with his head tucked under the pillow and the blanket wrapped around his body. 

He decides, for today, that he doesn’t want to exist.

He just wants to sleep.

He’ll exist again tomorrow. 

But, not today.

He forces himself to count sheep. He pictures them jumping over a white picket fence. One, two, three...

He counts so that he doesn’t think of anything else. 

Four, five, six...

Nothing but sheep.

And a knock on his door. 

“Aasim?” Marlon’s voice calls. “You in there?”

He remains silent, unmoving.

“C’mon, dude! Breakfast’s ready!”

No.

“Remember, you and Louis got hunting duty today!”

No.

The doorknob wiggles and his stomach drops. He can hear Marlon step in. 

“Aasim?”

“I’m sick,” he lies unconvincingly.

“Yeah, me too, buddy. Now, get your ass up.”

Ugh.

 ---

When Clem turns around with the food in her hand, she sees AJ already climbing up the ladder to meet Louis. She thanks Omar and quickly follows after him. 

“Louis!” She hears AJ enthusiastically greet.

“Hm? Oh, hey, little dude.” Louis isn’t so excited. His voice is deeper than usual and weirdly muffled.

Clem balances the food in one hand and cautiously climbs the ladder. 

She nearly snorts at the sight before her. 

Louis is sitting on his chair wrapped with a heavy, tattered blanket over his head and shoulders, covering his mouth and nose, only revealing his eyes. Said eyes are half-lidded and unfocused. One hand with an empty cup sticks out from the mess of blanket. 

Clearly, this is the perfect guy for lookout duty.

AJ takes the empty cup away from him and sets it aside. “You’re still tired?” he asks. “But, you had coffee. That always wakes me up.”

“Bean juice is just a big, fat lie,” Louis mumbles. “A conspiracy, I say.”

Clem approaches him with a smile and offers him the plate. It takes him a few blinks to register that it’s her. 

“Good morning, sunshine,” she teases. 

“And, suddenly, I don’t feel like death anymore.” Louis sits up and shrugs the blanket off down to his waist. He takes the plate offered to him and inhales the scent. “Never before has rabbit ever looked so divine,” he offers her a lazy grin, “thank you.” He scoots over, patting the place beside him.

Clem glances away as she feels her lips twitch and curl, but before she can move to sit, AJ lets out a huge gasp. When Clem looks back at them, AJ’s face is inches apart from Louis’. This seems to snap Louis awake as he nearly drops his plate at the sudden closeness.

“Well, uhm, hello, AJ?”

“You have freckles!” AJ points an accusatory finger in Louis’ face, nearly poking him in the eye. “Clem! Louis has freckles!”

Heat rushes through her body and pools in her cheeks.

“AJ!”

AJ pulls back, covering his mouth with both hands to hide his growing smile. He points at Louis again, bouncing with excitement. 

Clem is left there, frozen, unsure of what to say. Louis’ wide eyes hold many questions.

“Uh, yes? I’m aware?" Louis says. "Am I missing something here? I think I’m missing something,” he says. 

“It’s you! You’re-”

“The robot!” Clem blurts out. “Yep, Louis is the robot! Good job, AJ!”

“...What?” Poor Louis never looked so confused. 

From the corner of her eye, she notices AJ’s expression drop, turning into something close to a mixture of embarrassment and guilt. He covers his mouth again. Clem can tell he’s mentally kicking himself for almost exposing their secret. 

Louis eyes the two of them. “...I’m sorry, but I must be in a dream or something. Is that what this is? I fell asleep on watch and now I’m a robot? That’s the only explanation. Also, how are my freckles a sign of my being a robot?“ 

“Well, uh-” Clem bites her lip. “It’s just, AJ had a dream last night that one of us is secretly a robot, and that robot could've had freckles, so he’s a little paranoid,” she lies once again. 

AJ’s arms fall loose at his sides. “Yeah.”

“One of us is actually a robot, huh?” Louis thinks about this as he chews his food. “My money’s on Omar. How else is he able to take a rabbit and make it taste good? Only a machine could do that. Except, I don't think Omar has freckles."

"He doesn't," AJ sighs.

"Then again...” Louis frowns, “what if I am the robot, but I just don’t know? Like, I’ve been programmed to think I’m human when really I’m just a bunch of wires and buttons.”

Clem didn’t know what she expected really, but she’s not at all surprised that Louis would be taking this idea personally. 

“That would explain that charming sense of humor of yours,” she smirks.

“Hey!”

She takes a spot beside him, pushing aside the blankets. She tosses the binoculars over to AJ to keep him busy.  “Anyway, never seen you like this before,” she changes the subject. 

Louis readjusts the blanket so that it’s laying over both their laps. “Not exactly a morning person,” he admits. “Or a bean juice person.”

“You gonna be okay to go hunting?”

“Are you coming along?”

“I can.”

“Then I’m more than okay,” he grins, winking at her. She rolls her eyes and turns away to hide her own smile. 

“Who’re you hunting with?” AJ asks. 

“Who else?” Louis snorts. “Aasim and I are the dream team hunters.”

“Aasim,” AJ repeats slowly. “I like Aasim. He’s nice.”

Clem shoots him a warning look. 

But, AJ ignores her. “You like Aasim, too, right Louis?”

Clem has to refrain from smacking her forehead.

“When he’s not being a sourpuss or a buzzkill, sure. Aasim can actually be really cool,” Louis replies, completely oblivious to what’s being insinuated. “And, believe it or not, he does have a sense of humor. Sometimes.”

“So, you guys are friends?” AJ pries.

 And Clem hasn't felt this frustrated in a while.

Holy shit. 

---

After Marlon barged into his room and forced him out of bed for a second time that morning, Aasim figured counting sheep wasn't written in his fate today. So, up he was and at his desk. His notebook lays open, almost mocking him with the number of scribbles and doodled hearts. 

Again and again, he tries to write, tries to push those negative thoughts away. But still, more paper is wasted as he tears pages out and crumples them up. 

Hell, he even takes a break from the poetry format and just jots down his feelings. 

When it's just the two of us, you make me feel like I have a purpose here. Suddenly, survival isn't just the one and only goal day to day. Making you smile feels just as important as living does. I want to stay up late with you and talk and laugh and hold hands and look at the stars and make up stories about each of them. Give them all names and stupid voices until the sun comes up and they fade away. 

I know I’ll never tell you any of this. I’ll never tell you how much you’ve grown to mean to me over all these years. You’ve always been there in the corner of my eyes and now you’re all I dream about. 

I want 

Aasim sighs.

I want you.

How pathetic. 

---

"Louis? You up there?" 

Clem looks over the side to see Ruby standing there with her hands on her hips. She waves down at the redheaded girl. "Morning, Ruby!"

"Mornin' Clem! Lou with ya?"

"Doc! You've come to take my place!" Louis gleefully jumps up. He scarfs the last bite of his breakfast and gathers his blanket before motioning towards the ladder. "Ladies first-"

AJ hurries past them both and moves down the ladder.

"Or small child first, whatever."

Clem rolls her eyes, quickly going down to stop AJ from getting too close and personal with Ruby. She’s the only other person on their list, which meant that if she didn't have freckles, then the poem was definitely about Louis. 

Mystery solved, she thought bitterly. 

But, when she gets down there, she grows worried. AJ's staring up at Ruby.

"Uh-oh," AJ whispers. 

"Somethin' wrong, AJ?" Ruby asks. 

AJ shakes his head and turns around. He, not so subtly, points at Ruby with a panicked look. 

She hears Louis huff from behind. “It’s super uneventful out there. Not a single member of the smelly patrol to report,” he says. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I hear my bed calling-”

“No, you don’t!” Marlon calls over to them, shooting Louis a stern look. “You and Aasim are hunting today!”

“If that’s true then where is he?”

Marlon approaches them. 

“He slept in this morning, he’ll be out soon.”

“Slept in?” asks Ruby. “Doesn’t sound like him. Is he sick, too?”

“No,” Marlon answers shortly. He turns back to Louis. “In the meantime, get ready. And,” Marlon points at him, “don’t be late.”

Louis holds his hands up, dropping the blanket as a result. “Excuse me? I’m ready to go, it’s Aasim who’s late. Guess I’ll just have to take Clem instead.”

“Nope,” Marlon shakes his head. 

“Why?” Clem questions. 

“Need’ja to help Violet and Brody today. They’ve, uh, kind of been on one lately. If you could try and keep the peace, then maybe they could get some actual fishing done, yeah?”

She’s not happy about it, but gathering from Marlon’s tired expression, it’s been a hell of a morning for him. Best not to argue. 

“Alright, I’ll find Vi, then.”

“Thanks.”

Louis sighs, disappointed. 

“Don’t look so down,” scolds Ruby. “Aasim can’t do all that on his own.”

“Yeah, I know-”

Clem feels AJ tug on her sleeve, pulling her aside. 

“Clem,” he whispers, “Ruby has freckles, too!”

“I noticed.”

“So, which one is it?”

“I have no clue.”

AJ reaches into her jacket pocket. “Maybe we should read it again-”

“AJ!” She looks around and smacks his hand away. “Not here.” 

“But, Clem!”

“I, ugh, I know you’re curious AJ, but now is not the time. We’ll talk about it later. Don’t let it bother you, and don’t say anything while I’m gone.”

“Okay...” AJ pouts. When Clem’s not looking, AJ sneaks the balled up paper in his fist into his pocket. 

---

The air isn't as cold now as the two boys walk through the woods. Louis is close and unaware of how many times he keeps knocking shoulders with him, a stupid grin stuck on his face as he hums quietly to himself. He carries Chairles up on his shoulder and inhales the forest scent deeply. Since they left the gates, he hasn't shut up. Aasim's short with him, barely giving any real responses. 

He can't help it, he just... feels so shitty. 

He doesn't know why. He felt fine yesterday until bedtime came, and he had a pleasant dream, but... once his thoughts really get the best of him, it's like a switch is flipped and the floodgates of constant annoyance and agitation are opened. 

They check the closest traps and find them untouched. 

After the third trap, Aasim notices his hand starting to ache. His grip on the bow is tight, stiff. He shifts it to the other hand to stretch out his fingers. 

His mind keeps wandering back to the page he wrote before they left, the one where he jotted down all his feelings then proceeded to rip it to shreds.

Because, lately, it seems like everything he writes is just absolute garbage.

"So," Louis starts, "if you could have any superpower in the world, what would it be?"

Aasim frowns. He's not playing this game. “No.”

"The power of 'No,'" Louis thinks about this, "I wouldn't have picked it myself, but it does seem fitting to someone like you."

Aasim tries his best to ignore him.

"Me? I'd have the power to breathe underwater.” Louis sighs then. “I wish Clem could have come with us.”

Of course, he does.

“Yeah,” replies Aasim flatly. “She’d actually help out.”

“Hey, I help. I’m here, aren’t I? In fact, I was ready before you!” Louis protests. “I get things done. Just because I have a different way of doing things then you doesn't mean I'm the slacker here."

Aasim says nothing. He continues to walk until a hand rests on his shoulder, stopping him. 

���Alright, grumpy pants, what’s up?”

Aasim shrugs out of his grip and keeps moving. This earns him an elbow to the arm. 

“Yoo-hoo, Aasim?” Louis flashes a big grin. “You’ve been like this since we left. Seriously, you look down-”

“Can you just,” Aasim snaps, “shut up. Please.”

Louis stops.  He cocks his head, studying Aasim’s disgruntled face with worry. “Dude, are you okay?” he asks. “You’re not usually-”

“No, I’m not okay." Aasim shoves him, hard. "I’m sick of hearing you talk. Just shut up and do what you’re supposed to.” Aasim turns and walks away, still fuming, without another word.

Louis watches him, stunned, hurt.  He rubs at the freshly sore part of his chest where Aasim pushed him and follows at a distance. 

There aren’t many walkers wandering about. Aasim manages to shoot two rabbits, and they find another one caught in a trap.

Louis says nothing the entire time.

Aasim can feel how heavy the air is between them, and he hates it. 

Fucking hell, he hates it. 

They come across a walker caught in a trap. It’s missing an arm and a jaw. There’s an arrow sticking out of its shoulder. Skin slides down its bones with every movement. 

Louis makes no jokes. He doesn’t toy with the monster. He just takes Chairles, hits the walker twice, successfully killing it, and silently cuts it down while Aasim watches. 

The body lands heavy in the dirt. Aasim sets his bow against the tree and grabs the walkers ankles and drags him away. Just as he’s about the reach some bushes, the body gets caught on something. 

“Shit,” he mumbles. He hears the sounds of footsteps and Louis’ grunt as he resets the trap. He unhooks the walker's shirt from a rock protruding from the ground. His elbow brushes against the arrow, so he yanks it out. It wasn’t very deep with only the arrowhead being buried within the rotten flesh. Aasim uses his shirt to clean it off, spitting on it to help polish it. He hears a raspy growl from behind him. 

Aasim whips around, losing his balance as the new walker stumbles towards him, 

“Ah!” Aasim’s hands fly up to shove the walker away from him. The walker falls back, as does he. Immense pain pierces through his side and sends shocks throughout his body. 

“Aasim!” 

Louis is there, grabbing the back of the walker’s shirt when it tries to crawl towards him and forces the monster back. Aasim rolls onto his side, realizing that he’d fallen onto the arrow. Now, it sticks out of him loosely. “Fuck, fuck!” 

The sound of the walker's skull being crushed echoes throughout the forest.

Aasim grinds his teeth together and squeezes his eyes shut. With shaking hands, he yanks the arrow out. “Argh! Fuck!”

Hands are all over him. “Aasim, don’t! Shit!” Louis hikes up Aasim’s jacket to inspect the damage. His flesh is torn, bleeding profusely.  Louis, panicked, looks around for something to stop the bleeding before shrugging his jacket off and lifting Aasim up to tie it around his waist. 

More horrifying shocks of pain. “Don’t-!” Aasim protests, trying to push Louis away. But, Louis holds his ground, double knotting the sleeves of the jacket around him.

“You’re not bit, right? It didn’t get you?”

“No, shit, it’s just the arrow.”

Aasim tries standing but stumbles. Louis catches him, carefully helping him to his feet. 

“Fuck, that hurts,” Aasim groans. He feels tears sting his eyes at the throbbing heat but holds them back. 

“Here, let me-”

“I can walk,” snaps Aasim. 

Louis takes Aasim’s back and his bow. He keeps a comforting hand on Aasim back as they walk back to the school.

And all Aasim can think is, you fucking idiot.

---

Ruby’s gentle with him.

His back’s to her as she works on stitching up his side. Louis is there, too, keeping a close eye on him and handing Ruby everything she needs. 

When they first walked through the gates, Ruby was already grabbing him and chewing Louis out. 

Louis tried to explain what had happened, but Ruby was too worried about getting him inside. Marlon and Omar had questioned what happened, but Ruby shooed them out the door. Aasim’s surprised she let Louis stay, though.

Shit.

It’s cold. There are goosebumps rising on his bare back and arms.

He buries his face in the pillow, wishing he could just sleep. But, every time that needle pierces his tender flesh, he’s reminded that sleep is currently just a fantasy. 

“You two need to be more careful,” Ruby says.

“I know...” Louis says quietly. “The walker just appeared-”

“You need to be alert, always! What if one of you got bit?”

Aasim squeezes his eyes shut and says, “It’s not his fault.”

Ruby’s hands still. 

He continues, “I wasn’t paying attention. He was fixing the trap like I told him to. I was stupid.”

Ruby sighs. “Well... like I said, you both need to be more careful.” 

She finishes stitching him up and sits back. “Louis, could’ja fetch some more water, please?” 

“Sure.”

He hears Louis leave and close the door. Ruby’s wiping the blood off his skin with a damped towel. 

“How does that feel?”

“Fine.”

“Truly?”

“No, it hurts.”

Ruby gives a sympathetic smile. “Well, least yer honest, for the most part. It should start to feel better soon. Wasn’t really all that deep. Ya did do more damage by just yankin’ the arrow out, though. Shoulda left it.”

Aasim nods. 

“Hey,” she nudges him. “Aside from the wound, you doin’ okay?”

“Fine,” he repeats.

“I don’t believe you.”

“You don’t have to.”

Her fingers go to brush back the hair that’d fallen over his face. “Heard you slept in. Usually yer an early riser.”

He says nothing.

“I was thinkin’ about somethin’ today. It just occurred to me, really,” she says. “Do you remember that time we were in the green house and Mitch dared you to eat one of the mushrooms growing?”

A smile sneaks its way onto his lips. “But then I challenged him to a mushroom eating contest?”

“And he ate, like, six of ‘em while you didn’t eat any,” she giggles. “He certainly was a winner.”

“Was he, though?”

“Surprised he lived though that, honestly.”

“Some things never change.”

“No, not really...” Ruby sighs with a sweet smile. “Y’know, if ya ever wanna talk, I’m here.”

“...I know.”

Ruby stands. “You should be okay to walk around, jus’ don’t strain yerself, okay? Do ya need any help getting dressed?”

“No.”

“I’ll leave you to it, then.” Just as she’s about to leave, she turns and says, “I’m glad yer alright, Aasim.”

 He starts to count sheep.

---

Eventually, after a few hours or so, he does get up. After he’s dressed and heads outside, he’s greeted by almost everyone, checking up on him and making sure he’s okay. He doesn’t see Clem, Violet or Brody anywhere, or Mitch, for that matter. He does spot Louis on the couch by himself, shuffling a deck of cards with a faraway gaze. 

He knows he should go over there and apologize, but fuck, he can’t bring himself to do it. 

He sits on the steps in front of the entrance, wincing at the pain aching in his side. He huffs, rubbing at his tired eyes. He wished he’d just stayed in bed. What a shitty day.

“Hi, Aasim.”

He’s startled by AJ. “Oh, uh, hey.”

“How’s your side?”

“Hurts, but I’m fine.”

“Good. I’m glad.”

Aasim nods, not sure what else to say. He does notice that the child seems nervous. It’s likely that he doesn’t know what to say, either. 

“Aasim?”

“Yeah?”

AJ looks away and starts fumbling with his hands. 

“I’m sorry,” he finally says. 

Aasim raises a brow. “Okay...?” he says. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like you stabbed me.”

“No, not that.”

“Oh...” Aasim frowns. “What, then?”

AJ then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of paper. “This is yours.” He moves up the stairs and hands Aasim the paper. Then, he begins to ramble. “I-I didn’t show anybody, and I really like it, you know. I don’t completely get it but I like the way some parts sound.”

“What are you-”

Aasim unfolds the paper.

a thousand stories I could write about us in the night sky

His heart plummets into his stomach.

#twdg #twdg aasim #twdg louis #twdg ruby #twdg clementine #twdg aj #twdg violet #twdg mitch #twdg omar #twdg marlon #twdg brody #twdg willy #twdg tenn #is this story lusim? #or is it rusim? #lousim #rusim #twdg rusim #twdg lousim #we'll find out in the final part #i guess #i mean #it's probably pretty obvious by now #probably #btw aj literally broke both of clem's rules lmao