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rubydolly · 1 year

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MY TRIP TO SINGAPORE 2023

I have just returned from a trip to Singapore. I went with my Mum and my Boyfriend Aaron, we all had a wonderful time, Singapore is such a beautiful clean, safe country with so much to see and do. We spent a week in Singapore, four days in the mainland and two days on Sentosa Island. Below is a day by day account of my trip as well as some information and tips I thought would be useful to add.

The trip started at Sydney International Airport on the 3rd of May. We flew from Sydney to Singapore via Singapore Airlines and let me tell you this is THE BEST!!! Airline I have ever flown with. We flew Economy and when we entered the plane I thought at first we were in the wrong section, that we were in business class because all of the seats had a pillow and blanket, something I have NEVER gotten on any other airline so I was pleasantly surprised to discover that we were in fact in the right section. The chairs were so comfortable, usually I find plane seats to be uncomfortable but these seats were perfect. The service is amazing, you never want for anything and the food was amazing too, for dinner I had Chicken Tiki Masala which was delicious and then after dinner we were all given a Magnum Ice Cream. The flight to Singapore was 8 hours and it was a very pleasant flight.

When we arrived in Singapore the first thing I noticed when we stepped off the plane was the heat, it was 9:00PM and according to my phone it was 87% humidity and the temperature was 28 degrees. This is normal for Singapore, as it is very close to the equator, also May is the last Spring Month before Summer in Singapore. We got our luggage and then got a cab to our hotel, we stayed at the Park Royal, a beautiful hotel directly opposite Haji Lane.

Myself, Aaron And My Mum At Sydney International Airport

Me In Front Of The Park Royal Hotel Pool

The Park Royal Hotel Pool

DAY ONE Date: 4/5/2023 Weather: Day: 32 Degrees Night: 28 Degrees Humidity: Day: 78% Night: 87% Itinerary: Gardens By The Bay Marina Bay Sands Lavo

For our first day in Singapore we decided to do the famous Gardens By The Bay and Marina Bay Sands. We caught a cab from our hotel to Gardens By The Bay which took 5 minutes.

The Entrance To Gardens By The Bay

We decided to do the Cloud Forest, Supertree Observatory and Floral Fantasy, we got our tickets and headed straight to the Cloud Forest. The Cloud Forest is absolutely breathtaking, it features one of the worlds tallest indoor waterfalls which stands at 35m tall. The Cloud Forest is also home to a lush mountain covered in plants from around the world and also has an aerial walkway which provides a birds eye view of the Cloud Forest from above. There are many amazing plants inside the Cloud Forest such as Singapore’s national flower the Orchid, but my favourites were the carnivorous plants. There is a whole section dedicated to especially to carnivorous plants as well as lots of different kinds of Pitchers (My favourite Carnivorous Plant) dotted around the forest. While we were there, “Avatar The Experience” the exhibition was on display inside the Cloud Forest which made it even more magical.

The Waterfall In The Cloud Forest

Orchids, Singapore’s National Flower

Pitchers

Me Fascinated With This Beautiful Tree

Orchid Haven

Hanging Pitchers

Carnivorous Plant Collection

Mum And I

Birds Eye View Of The Cloud Forest From The Aerial Walkway

A Banshee From The Avatar The Experience Section

Me “Taming A Banshee”

Exiting Avatar The Experience

After The Cloud Forest we headed over to the Supertree Observatory, the tallest supertree in the supertree grove which offers amazing views over the entire Gardens By The Bay and the Marina Bay area. There are a few cafes inside the building should you feel the need to stop for a drink or a bite to eat.

The Top Level Of The Supertree Observatory

Our next stop was the Floral Fantasy, an indoor garden that provides both a magical experience and the perfect Instagram shot. Suspended bouquets hang from the ceiling and elaborate floral arrangements fill the garden and over 15,000 fresh cut, dried and preserved flowers hang from the ceiling. There is also a vivarium housing Poison Dart Frogs which I was most excited to see as I love frogs (I have a Green Tree Frog named Princess) and I had never seen a Poison Dart Frog before.

Floral Horses

A Giant Tree Statue

Me With Butterfly Wings

Poison Dart Frog

We were all pretty hungry once we exited the Floral Fantasy so we decided to head to the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel for lunch. We ate in The Shoppes foodcourt, Foodcourts in Singapore are unlike foodcourts any where else in the world, they are clean and offer a variety of the most delicious food, some of which even receive Michelin Stars. While I cannot remember the name of the stall I ate from I do remember it was Japanese and I got the best Bento box I have ever had, it came with Takoyaki, Rice and Katsu Chicken. After lunch we went and had a ride on Sampan Rides, a little boat ride in a canal in the middle of the shopping centre. After that we had a little look around some of the shops before heading back to our hotel for a quick rest before dinner that night.

Sampan Boat Ride

That night we headed back to Marina Bay Sands and had dinner at an Italian restaurant on the rooftop called Lavo. The restaurant is on the same level as the famous infinity pool and the views across Singapore are absolutely stunning. As a non drinker I was very happy to discover that this restaurant had a mock-tail list, in Australia where I’m from many places don’t do mock-tails, throughout my trip I discovered that nearly every place in Singapore does mock-tails which made me very happy so I had a mock-tail. Mum and I shared a Garlic Bread while we had drinks, for dinner I had the Rigatoni Melanzana and it was absolutely delicious.

The View From Lavo

Enjoying A Mock - Tail

The Three Of Us Enjoying Dinner

Rigatoni Melanzana

After Dinner, we walked back over to Gardens By The Bay where we watched the nightly Garden Rhapsody show, a sound and light show in the Supertree Grove that goes for 15 minutes. Once the Garden Rhapsody had finished, we got a cab back to our hotel and that was the end of our first day in Singapore.

Garden Rhapsody

COSTS Cab Fare: S$7.00 ($7.95AUD) Cloud Forest: S$53.00 ($59.00AUD) Supertree Observatory: S$14.00 ($15.00AUD) Floral Fantasy: S$20.00 ($22.00AUD) Lunch: S$12.00 ($13.00AUD) Sampan Rides: S$13.00 ($14.00AUD) Cab Fare: S$7.00 ($7.95AUD) Cab Fare: S$7.00 ($7.95AUD) Mock - Tail: S$23.00 ($25.00AUD) Dinner: S$59.00 ($65.00AUD) Cab Fare: S$7.00 ($7.95AUD)

DAY TWO Date: 5/5/2023 Weather: Day: 32 Degrees Night: 27 Degrees Humidity: Day: 79% Night: 85% Itinerary: River Safari Singapore Zoo Piedra Negra

Day two was dedicated to the Mandai Wildlife Reserve which houses four wildlife parks, Singapore Zoo, River Wonders, Jurong Bird Park and Night Safari, we did the River Wonders and Singapore Zoo. To get to Mandai from Haji Lane took a trip MRT which took us about 45 minutes and from there a 10 minute trip on a bus.

We bought tickets for both the River Safari and the Singapore Zoo, we decided to do the River Safari first. The River Safari is a river themed zoo and aquarium, Over 6,000 animals including 40 threatened species call the River Wonders home with zones that replicate the habitats of rivers around the world. As we walked through the aquarium, I was delighted to see Red Bellied Piranha and Electric Eels as neither of these fascinating Amazon River dwellers can be seen anywhere in Australia.

Manatee

Red Bellied Piranha

Electric Eel

Green Anaconda

We made our way down to the Amazon River Quest Boat Ride, which showed us many more amazing animals from the Amazon Jungle which I had never seen before such as Jaguars, Flamingos, Anteaters (I call these animals the Living Vacuum Cleaners as they look like Vacuum Cleaners to me), Howler Monkeys and much more.

Amazon River Quest Boat Ride

Collared Peccary

Brazilian Tapir

Jaguar

Once we got off the ride our next stop was Panda Paradise to see the resident Giant Pandas Kai Kai, Jia Jia and Their one year old Cub Le Le. This was the most exciting part for me as I had never seen a Panda before, the first time we went through they were asleep however when we went through a second time they were awake and munching away on Bamboo. We had lunch at the appropriately named “Mamma Panda Kitchen” before moving onto Singapore Zoo, I had Chicken Katsu Ramen which was delicious.

Jia Jia And Le Le

Chicken Katsu Ramen At Mama Panda Kitchen

Kai Kai Eating Bamboo

We went into the Singapore Zoo which is home over 2,800 animals from 300 species and has won many awards both locally and internationally including plaudits from Forbes Traveler as one of the best zoos in the world, the Asian Attraction Awards for Most Popular Attraction in the Wildlife Park category and the STB 22nd Tourism Award for Best Leisure Attraction Experience of the Year, it was also ranked as one of the top 3 zoos in the world by the TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Award in 2018. I have been to many zoos in my home country Australia, we have many amazing zoos but I can honestly say that this is THE BEST!!! Zoo I have ever seen, such an amazing variety of unique animals in big beautiful enclosures that truly mimic Their natural environment. I loved seeing them all especially the White Tigers, Pygmy Hippopotamuses, White Rhinoceroses and the Orang-utans but my favourite section was Reptopia. I am a Snake fanatic and this zoo has many Snakes that I have never seen before as we don’t have them in Australia, one of the Snakes I had never even heard of which is a rarity for me, my favourite snakes were the West Africa Gaboon Viper and the Sidewinder but I loved them all.

Proboscis Monkey

White Tiger

Pygmy Hippopotamus

Asian Elephants

White Rhinoceroses

Orangutans

Poison Dart Frogs

Sign On Poison Dart Frogs

Reticulated Python

King Cobra

Red Tailed Racer

Green Tree Python

West African Gaboon Vipers

Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes

Sidewinder

Green Pit Viper

Once we had seen all of the zoo we once again got back onto a bus then the MRT and went back to our hotel. That night for dinner we ate at a Mexican Restaurant that was opposite our hotel called Piedra Negra, I had the most delicious Tacos and a Virgin Mojito beforehand.

COSTS

MRT Fare: S$3.00 ($3.50AUD) River Safari: S$42.00 ($46.00AUD) Lunch: S$17.90 ($20.00AUD) Singapore Zoo: S$48.00 ($53.00AUD) MRT Fare: S$3.00 ($3.50AUD) Dinner: S$11.90 ($13.00AUD)

DAY THREE Date: 6/5/2023 Weather: Day: 31 Degrees Night: 27 Degrees Humidity: Day: 79% Night: 85% Itinerary: Haji Lane Sultan Mosque Little India Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple Chinatown Buddha Tooth Relic Temple Maxwell Food Centre Clarke Quay Fika Swedish Cafe And Bistro Jumbo Seafood Merlion Park

The next day we decided to walk down Haji Lane which is in the Kampong Glam area of Singapore and known for its one off boutiques and cafes. Located in the heart of of Kampong Glam is the elaborate Sultan Mosque. Built in 1824 for the first Sultan of Singapore, Sultan Hussein Shah, Sir Stamford Raffles the founder of Singapore gave a S$3,000 grant to the construction company of a single story building with a double tiered roof. A hundred years later, the mosque desperately needed repairs and was transformed into the what it is today, an elaborate building with huge gold domes that looks as though it is straight from Aladdin so of course I had to get a picture in front of it. We were planning to go inside to have a look however the day that we went which was a Friday the Mosque was closed off to tourists as it was being used for Prayer. If you decide to go to the mosque, Modest clothing is required to enter the Mosque, long sleeve tops covered to the wrist and long pants or skirts to the ankle are required, no shorts, tshirts or revealing clothing. Should you not have the appropriate clothing, the mosque does provide free cloaks to visitors.

Me In Haji Lane In Front Of The Sultan Mosque

After Walking down Haji Lane and seeing the Sultan Mosque we decided to get a cab to Little India. Once known as Serangoon in the 18th century and operating as an important artery of commerce and transport for the plantations located in the interior of the island along the route to Serangoon Harbour as well as being a vital loading and unloading point for the Johor gambier and pepper planters, Various communities began to establish themselves in this area in the 19th century. Many Kampongs (Malay Villages) were established around the area and attracted people from Java, Malaysia and of course India and by 1980, the area was officially named Little India. Today Little India is one of Singapore’s most colourful and vibrant districts, there are many things to see and do in Little India as well as many great places to eat. We walked around the area a little bit until we came across the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple. This beautiful Hindu temple is one of the oldest temples in Singapore. The temple was built by Indian pioneers who went to Singapore to live and work to help these pioneers feel at home in a foregin land. Sri Veeremakaliamman, the chief deity of the temple is a Powerful Goddess and Destroyer of Evil was chosen as her presence fulfilled the need of the early migrants to feel secure in a new land. Modest clothing is required to enter the Temple, long sleeve tops covered to the wrist and long pants or skirts to the ankle are required, no shorts, tshirts or revealing clothing, you also must remove your shoes before entering the temple.

Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple

We then caught a cab to Chinatown where we went and saw the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. built in 2007, this is the place to go to see Buddhist art and learn about this culture which is over thousands of years old. The name itself comes from what the Buddhists regard as the left canine tooth of Buddha which was recovered from his funeral pure in Kushinagar India and is housed within this beautiful temple. We walked around the first level and then took the elevator up to the fourth level which is where the left canine tooth of Buddha is displayed. We then went to the very top of the temple, a beautiful rooftop Orchid garden Modest clothing is required to enter the Temple, long sleeve tops covered to the wrist and long pants or skirts to the ankle are required, no shorts, tshirts or revealing clothing, if you happen to wear a short sleeve top, shawls are provided free of charge. You are also able to purchase offerings in the temple.

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

We had lunch at Maxwell Food Centre, a very well known Hawker Centre in Singapore. For those not in the know, Hawker Centre are open air complexes that house many stalls that sell a wide variety of affordably priced food, You simply cannot go to Singapore and not visit a Hawker Centre. I had Haianese Chicken with noodles, at Tian Tian, it was the best Haianese Chicken and Noodles I have ever eaten in my entire life.

Maxwell Food Centre

After Lunch we got the MRT to Clarke Quay where we had a quick walk around the area before getting a cab back to our hotel where we spent the afternoon swimming in the hotel pool. After a few hours, we decided to go and get afternoon tea from a cafe across the road from us called Fika Swedish Cafe And Bistro. “Fika” is a Swedish tradition in which you stop for a coffee break and something sweet to eat for 30 minutes with family, friends or colleagues, in keeping with the tradition, I had pancakes with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate sauce.

Fika Swedish Cafe And Bistro

We went back to Clarke Quay for dinner that night and had dinner at Jumbo Seafood, a seafood place in Singapore that is well known for its Chilli Mud Crab. This was my first time trying Crab and I must say I enjoyed every mouthful. We also had Fried Rice and some Satay Sticks as an entree, this was our most expensive meal in Singapore but it was absolutely worth every cent.

Dinner At Jumbo Seafood

After Dinner we walked all the way around to the Merlion Park and saw and took pictures with the famous Merlion statue. The Merlion is the cities national icon. According to the legend, Sang Nila Utama, the 14th century Prince of Sumatra, was sailing in the South China Sea when a ferocious storm hit. Scared that the ship would be wrecked he threw his crown into the ocean as a sacrifice to the Gods. Once the weather cleared the ship had reached an island paradise, as the Prince came ashore he encountered a lion, a good omen which Singapore - Sanskrit for lion (singa) and city (pura) was named after. The Merlions fish like body is symbolic of Singapore’s origins of a fishing city. Behind the Merlion statue is a smaller Merlion statue which is known as “The Merlion Cub”

The Entrance To The Merlion Park

The Merlion Statue

The Merlion Cub

Marina Bay Sands At Night

COSTS Cab Fare: S$6.00 ($6.95AUD) Lunch: S$5.00 (S5.95AUD) MRT Fare: S$3.00 ($3.50AUD) Afternoon Tea: Cab Fare: S$7.00 ($7.95AUD) Dinner: S$111.08 ($124.18AUD) Cab Fare: S$7.00 ($7.95AUD)

DAY FOUR Date: 7/5/2023 Weather: Day: 30 Degrees Night: 27 Degrees Humidity: Day: 79% Night: 86% Itinerary: Fort Canning Park ION Orchard Satay Street Lau Pa Sat

This was our last day staying in the mainland of Singapore before moving onto Sentosa Island the next day. We decided instead of going around by Cabs or the MRT to join a Hop On, Hop Off Bus Tour and tour around the city for one last time this way. I would really recommend doing this as it takes you to all of the important sites and you get headphones which you can attach to an outlet and listen to information all about Singapore. Aaron is a bit of a History buff and very interested with the subjects of WWI and WWII so we made the decision to visit the beautiful Fort Canning Park which sits opposite Clarke Quay. The park itself is gorgeous and lovely to just walk through and admire the greenery, however we went for the Battlebox Museum. Many important historical events took place at the hilltop of this park, in the 14th century Malayan Princesses bathed in forbidden springs (the hill was known as Forbidden Hill during this time), and ancient craftsmen piled their trade for the royal family. During the British colonisation, Sir Stamford Raffles resided here and established the first botanic gardens to simulate agriculture in the country. In 1936 an underground bunker now known as the Battlebox was built, this was the command centre during the Malayan campaign and the Battle of Singapore. This is also the place where Lieutenant-General Arthur E. Percival and the Allied Forces decided to surrender to the Japanese in WWII.

Aaron And I On The Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour

Forbidden Spring

Sign On Forbidden Spring

Beautiful Fort Canning Park

The Battlebox

After spending the morning at Fort Canning Park, Mum and I decided we wanted to go to Orchard Road and go through the iconic ION Orchard Mall. Aaron wanted to go to Suntec City and look at some gaming equipment so he went there and Mum and I headed to Orchard Road. There are nine shopping centres along Orchard Road however we only went through ION Mall. ION is absolutely huge and has everything from fashion, food, homewares, technology and high end designer labels. We went through many of the shops, however the shops I myself bought from were Daiso and Charles And Keith.

Orchard Road

Inside ION Orchard

Daiso

Charles And Keith

Sephora

New Shoes I Bought At Charles And Keith

Me Dressed Up In My New Shoes For Dinner

After a long shopping trip, Mum and I went back to our hotel where we met up with Aaron and spent the afternoon swimming in our hotel pool. For dinner, we caught a cab to Lau Pa Sat and Satay Street. We started off our dinner in Satay Street with some satay sticks, we ordered 10 chicken satay sticks and 5 beef ones, they were the best satay sticks I have ever eaten in my life. We then went into Lau Pa Sat and tried a variety of different foods, all of the dishes are so cheap my most expensive dish was S$12.00. I unfortunately don’t remember the names of the stalls I ate from but what I had was, Haianese Chicken and Rice and a plate of Spicy Tofu. We then went into Food Folks, a cute little shop inside Lau Pa Sat that sells dessert, my Mum and Aaron had coffee and cake and I had a chocolate gelato. We then caught a cab back to our hotel and began packing up our rooms ready for the next day.

Lau Pa Sat

Inside Lau Pa Sat

Satay Sticks From Satay Street

Haianese Chicken And Rice

Spicy Tofu

COSTS Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour: S$52.78 ($59.00AUD) Lunch: S$10.00 ($11.00AUD) Dinner: S$39.00 ($43.00AUD) Dessert: S$5.00 ($5.95AUD) Cab Fare: S$8.00 ($8.95AUD)

DAY FIVE Date: 8/5/2023 Weather: Day: 31 Degrees Night: 27 Degrees Humidity: Day: 68% Night: 79% Itinerary: Siloso Beach Coastes

We checked out of the Park Royal Hotel and called a cab to take us to Sentosa Island. When we got to Sentosa Island we checked into the Village Hotel where we were staying and basically spent the entire day by one of the three pools just relaxing as we had been going no stop for the past four days. Around lunch time, Mum and I took a walk down to Resorts World and had a look in the bazaar which is filled with restaurants and shops.

Twelve Cupcake In Resorts World

The Bazaar In Resorts World

Aaron Relaxing By The Pool

One Of The Village Hotels Three Pools

Me Enjoying A Virgin Mojito By The Pool

Aaron And I Enjoying The Sun

In the afternoon, we decided to go down to Siloso Beach, Siloso Beach is a manmade beach, there is a zipline and lots of bars and restaurants along the shore, many of the bars even have pools in them. When we got to Siloso Beach the first thing we did was take a photo at the Famous Siloso Beach sign. We then walked around the beach for a bit before heading up to Rumours Beach Club, a bar that had a pool, Mum and Aaron didn’t take their swimming costumes with them but I did so I swam in the pool while they enjoyed some drinks.

The Famous Siloso Beach Sign

Siloso Beach

Rumours Beach Club

Me In The Pool At Rumours Beach Club

We had dinner at one of the restaurants on the beach called Coastes, it didn’t have a pool but it did have amazing food, I had spaghetti Arrabbiata. After dinner we went back to our hotel and swam in the pool as we waited for the Wings Of Time show to start. The Wings Of Time 20 minute laser light show featuring sound and fireworks is held on beach road and is a ticketed event, however we opted instead to watch the show from the rooftop pool in our hotel.

Spaghetti Arrabbiata At Coastes

The Three Pools At Night

Wings Of Time From The Village Hotel Rooftop Pool

COSTS Cab Fare: S$14.00 ($15.00AUD) Lunch: S$20.00 ($22.00AUD) Virgin Mojito: S$23.00 ($25.00AUD) Rumours Beach Club Virgin Lychee Mojito: S$10.00 ($11.00AUD) Dinner: S$22.00 ($24.00AUD)

DAY SIX Date: 9/5/2023 Weather: Day: 32 Degrees Night: 27 Degrees Humidity: Day: 67% Night: 87% Itinerary: Universal Studios Altitude

Our second last day in Singapore was spent at Universal Studios, located on Sentosa Island this is the first Hollywood movie theme park in Southeast Asia.With six zones that are populated by iconic characters from the famous franchise Universal Studios, there is something for everyone to enjoy here, wether you’re a daredevil, a film buff or just looking for a day of fun, Universal Studios will provide you with a day of fun to remember. The Six Zones - Hollywood Zone - New York - Sci - Fi City - Ancient Egypt - The Lost World - Far Far Away

Us In Resorts World

When the gates opened, we went straight to the Jurassic Park Rapid Adventure and managed to get straight on, this ride basically simulates the scene in the first movie where everyone goes on the car ride for the first time which later breaks down, leaving the guests stuck with in the middle of the ride with carnivorous dinosaurs who are now roaming freely, except instead of a car you are in a boat. We got off the Jurassic Park Rapid Adventure ride and headed to the Canopy Flyer, a rollercoaster in which you are sitting on a seat which is suspended up in the air and moves quickly.

Us In Front Of The Universal Studios Sign

Mum And I With Trolls

Jurassic Park

Discovery Food Centre In The Lost World

We existed The Lost World and entered Far Far Away where we went on the Shrek 4D ride, a really fun 4D simulator ride. After that we went on the Enchanted Airways rollercoaster before stopping in for a look at the Fairy Godmother’s Potion Shop

Far Far Away

Fairy Godmother’s Potion Shop

We then made out way into Ancient Egypt to get on the Revenge Of The Mummy ride, an indoor rollercoaster that is pitch black inside, I’m not gonna lie I was terrified because I am not a big fan of rollercoasters, they have always freaked me out and the only reason I went on the Canopy Flyer and the Enchanted Airways was because Aaron and Mum managed to somehow talk me into it and I enjoyed them both but I would never have even considered doing it on my own. As we got on the ride, I was really nervous like I said but there was NO WAY!!! I was backing out, leaving Universal Studios without riding Revenge Of The Mummy was simply not an option for me so I went through with it anyway. I held Aaron’s hand all the way and according to him I was gripping his hand so hard I almost broke it LOL!!! The ride was for me very fast and full on as I don’t really do rollercoasters but I ended up enjoying it so much I insisted on going on it again one more time before we left the park.

Ancient Egypt

After riding Revenge Of The Mummy, we went into Sci Fi City, home of the famous Battlestar Galactica, now that is a rollercoaster I absolutely DID NOT!!! get on and there was no way anyone was going to talk me into it, but we did go on Transformers The Ride The Ultimate 3D Battle, a fun 3D simulator in which you have to help save Earth from total destruction.

Sci Fi City

Transformers Voices Of Cybertron Show

Battlestar Galactica

Transformers Supply Vault

We then stopped in at Loui’s Pizza for a quick lunch break before getting back into action.

New York

The next ride we did was far more low key than the previous rides, the Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase. I know I know its for little kids but I wanted to try and do as many rides as I possibly could, my goal was to do all of them however there were some kids rides that adults couldn’t ride on and as I mentioned earlier Battlestar Galactica was out of the question so on the Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase we went. While not a thrilling ride it was really cute and visually it was good.

Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase

Big Bird’s Emporium

Having done almost all of the rides, we decided to do a little bit of shopping, there was both a Hello Kitty and a Gudetama store in this park, I would like to give a personal shoutout to Aaron for being an accountability partner for me in these shops, without him i for sure would have emptied my entire bank account.

Hello Kitty Shop

Gudetama Shop

Minion Mart

We then went back around and hopped on Revenge Of The Mummy for the second time before leaving the park and heading back to our hotel for a swim. While walking through Hollywood, I spotted a Vincent Price plaque on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame so naturally I needed to stop and get a photo.

Me With Vincent Price’s Plaque

We spent the afternoon in the pool and had drinks at the swim up pool bar.

Enjoying A Virgin Mojito By The Pool Bar

Mum And I By The Pool Bar

That night we had dinner at the rooftop pool bar Altitude in The Outpost Hotel which was next door to us. Mum and I shared a Margherita Pizza and Penne Arrabbiata. After dinner we all sadly and with heavy hearts went back to our hotel rooms to pack up all of our stuff, ready to check out and fly back to Sydney the next day.

Margherita Pizza

Penne Arrabbiata

DAY SEVEN Date: 10/5/2023 Weather: Day: 32 Degrees Night: 28 Degrees Humidity: Day: 68% Night: 85% Itinerary: The Jewel Changi Airport

Waking up we were all hit with a pang of sadness as we had breakfast, packed up our rooms and checked out of our hotel. We caught a cab to Changi Airport and decided to make the most of our last few hours in Singapore by exploring The Jewel and the rest of Changi Airport, this airport is rated the best airport in the world and after going through it I can see why. We checked in our luggage and then headed over to The Jewel where we went straight to the famous HSBC Rain Vortex to take some photos.

HSBC Rain Vortex

After we got our photos we had a quick walk around the Shiseido Forest Valley before heading to the food court for lunch, I unfortunately cannot remember the name of the place we ate at but I do remember that I had a very delicious pasta with red sauce. After lunch it was time for some shopping, The Jewel has many shops, my favourite being the Disney Store, Miniso, Charles And Keith and this really cute gift shop which I can’t remember the name of.

The Disney Store

Can’t Remember The Name Of This Store

Charles And Keith

With our last minute shopping done, we went up to the top level and went on the Canopy Bridge which gives you an amazing birds eye view of The Jewel, we also went through the beautiful Topiary Walk while we up there.

Birds Eye View Of The Jewel From The Canopy Bridge

The Topiary Walk

With only two hours until our flight to go, we headed back over to Changi Airport, we were in Terminal Three which has a Butterfly Garden, it is small but filled with all kinds of beautiful and unique butterflies. When we were done with the Butterfly Garden it was sadly time to go and wait for our flight back to Sydney.

The Butterfly Garden

COSTS Cab Fare: S$25.00 ($28.00AUD) Lunch: S$23.00 ($25.00AUD) Canopy Park: S$8.00 ($8.95AUD)

LAWS AND PENALTIES

In Singapore, failure to comply with laws and regulations is not tolerated, below is a list of laws you must know about before you go as well as the penalty if you fail to comply with any of these laws. Please note these penalties are for first time offences only, if you are caught a second time the penalty doubles and is much more severe.

No Smoking In Public Smoking indoors is prohibited in Singapore and is also banned in certain outdoor spaces. Here is full list of smoking and non smoking areas. Penalty For Failure To Comply: S$200.00 Fine, If taken to court this Fine can increase to S$1,000

No E Cigarettes The importation, distribution, sale and possession of E Cigarettes is prohibited in Singapore Penalty For Failure To Comply: Fine of up to S$10,000 Imprisonment of up to six months

No Eating Or Drinking On Public Transport Eating and drinking anything, including plain water is prohibited on all public transport. Penalty For Failure To Comply: Fine of up to S$500.00

No Connecting To Someone Else’s WIFI Connecting to another persons WIFI without Their permission is illegal, this does not include free WIFI at local coffee shops. Penalty For Failure To Comply: Fine of up to S$10,000 Imprisonment of up to three years

No Chewing Gum Chewing Gum is an illegal substance in Singapore the importation of it into Singapore is strictly prohibited. Penalty For Failure To Comply: Fine of up to S$100,00 Imprisonment of up to two years

No Drinking After 10:30PM Or Before 7:00AM It is illegal to sell and consume alcohol in any public place, including bars and restaurants between 10:30PM and 7:00AM, however this can slightly change if you are in a Liquor Control Zone. Penalty For Failure To Comply: Fine of up to S$1,000

No Feeding Pigeons Or Any Wildlife Feeding Pigeons in any public area is prohibited as is feeding wildlife found in reserves and parks. Penalty For Failure To Comply: Fine of up to S$5,000

Flush The Toilet By law it is mandatory to flush a public toilet after use in Singapore. Penalty For Failure To Comply: Fine of up to S$1,000

No Littering Whilst all countries have laws against littering, in Singapore this law is heavily enforced. Penalty For Failure To Comply: Fine of up to S$2,000

TIPS - Currency is Singapore Dollar $S. - Singapore is 2 hours behind Australia in time. - Cabs are clean and efficient however it can be very difficult to get one at certain times like peak hour and when it rains. - The MRT is the easiest and most reliable way to get around, you can buy an EZ Link card which you tap on and off at each station like an Opal Card or you can just use your credit card to tap on and off. - Singapore is very hot and humid year round as it is very close to the equator. - It rains almost every afternoon in Singapore. - Google Maps is unreliable and does not work in Singapore, download the App Waze instead as it is much more reliable.

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southeastasianarchaeology · 7 months

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[Paper] The So-Called ‘Kāla Head’ Armband of Temasek: A Preliminary Report” by Natalie S.Y. Ong

via The Temasek Working Paper Series, September 2023: New study debunks Majapahit origin of Temasek's gold armband, linking it to northwest South Asia instead.

via The Temasek Working Paper Series, September 2023: The article by Dr Natalie Ong challenges long-standing assumptions about the origin and symbolism of a gold armband found in 1928 in Singapore, revealing it to be connected to northwest South Asia rather than Javanese Majapahit culture. This paper focuses on the gold armband that was unearthed in 1928 on Fort Canning Hill in Singapore as part…

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#Fort Canning (site)#gold #ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute #jewellery #Majapahit (kingdom)#research papers #Temasek History Research Centre

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metropolitant · 9 months

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CELEBRATING A MILESTONE: CITADINES CONNECT CITY CENTRE'S EXEMPLARY FIRST YEAR IN SINGAPORE

Reflecting on a year filled with a relentless commitment to exceptional service and customer satisfaction, Citadines Connect City Centre, Singapore's upscale city hotel, marks its first year of connecting with guests.

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#anniversary celebration #Café Natsu #Citadines Connect City Centre #clarke quay #E.D.T #exclusive promotion #Fort Canning Park #gardens by the bay #Grab ride voucher #Loft Room #Orchard Road #Singapore #Tank Road Railway #TripAdvisor #upscale city hotel #World Travel Awards

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myfictionaldreams · 11 months

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Hey, can you do something with where the reader is pregnant in mafia stucky and Bucky and Steve are super protective about her?

Xoxo

Our Little Bean // Mafia!Stucky x Fem!Reader

A/N: Thank you for your request, this has been requested quite a few times by many people so I hope you do enjoy!

Important note for readers: I'm currently working within maternity services within the UK so the pregnancy side of this is all based on a UK perspective but it's set in the US so apologies if anything is different over there. Also, the signs and symptoms are based on my bestie's pregnancy so thank you for letting me use these!

ALSO: I'm sorry if I don't do any more pregnancy/baby fics, I wanted to just do this one and return to the normal trio we had before.

Tags: 18+ readers only, unplanned pregnancy, fluff (LOTS!), comfort, soft steve/bucky, protectiveness, pregnancy kink, pet names, pregnancy symptoms discussed in detail, crying, family/domestic fluff, tooth-rotting goodness!

Words: 6.9k

my masterlist 📚 AO3 Link

Your nausea never seemed to settle, barely being able to keep down dry toast or sips of water and then there was the immense exhaustion, finding yourself to be lucky if you were awake for an hour before falling asleep again. This, paired with the dizzy spells and dull aches in your temples, it was safe to say that you were done with feeling unwell and you definitely blamed Sam Wilson for this. He’d turned up to work last week feeling unwell, slightly different symptoms to yours as he had a head cold but ill nonetheless and now, here you were, collapsed onto the couch in the living room, under a mount of blankets.

It wasn’t all bad however as Bucky had stayed home to look after you and he was doing a good job of it too, but he and Steve were always extra attentive when you were unwell and had been taking it in turns to stay home, with Steve having stayed with you yesterday.

Bucky today had helped you wash, changed into fresh pyjamas and then carried downstairs, tucking you into your little fort before sitting on the floor and reading the book you were halfway through reading. You were too tired to read and didn’t want to keep your eyes open so Bucky offered, which was hilarious to hear him trying to read along and then asking questions as to the type of books you’ve been reading.

“So who is this Rhysand guy? Just some hotshot king or something?” he asked, lowering the book to look at your resting face. You smiled tiredly at his question, opening one eye to look into his confused expression, he was already invested in your book, even though he had started more than halfway through.

“Something like that”, you replied, voice croaking from needing water which he was quick to notice, lifting the glass with the straw to your mouth and you hummed your thanks, taking a sip and closing your eye once more.

You fell back to sleep again and woke to be carried, noticing that it was dark outside with another day passing as Steve carried you up the stairs, having returned home from work. Your arms were trapped into the blanket cocooned you were being carried in so you nuzzled your face into his neck to let him know you were awake.

Steve tilted his head, kissing the top of yours as he placed you into the centre of your shared bed, “think you’re up for eating some chicken noodle soup?”

“Did you make it?”, your voice was full of hope as you blinked open your eyes to look up at him but made no attempt to move just yet.

“Of course, only the best for you”. Steve left to retrieve your soup, giving you time for another quick snooze, before he was back and shaking your shoulders. With his help, you untangled yourself from the soft blankets and attempted to sit up but were hit with a wave of dizziness, having to stop and close your eyes to get your bearings straight before it subsided and you could sit up properly. Steve was looking at you with a knowing glance as he sat on the edge of the bed, a warm noodle soup bowl in his lap that he began to spoon-feed you - something he insisted on. “You know I’m going to call the doctor, right?”

You release a frustrated huff, you didn’t need the doctor, “It’s fine though, it’ll pass. Sam said it took him 4 days before he started to feel better and I’m only on day 3”.

“Baby, you’re on day 4 and you said this all yesterday and it’s only getting worse”, he stated everything matter-of-factly but you were still shocked that you’d somehow missed an entire day. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to see a doctor and there was no use arguing with Steve when it came to your health.

So after you’d finished half a bowl of the soup before feeling queasy, Steve excused himself to call his doctor who just so happened to be a close family friend. Of course, you had fallen asleep before the Doctor arrived and being rudely awakened made you feel even more groggy and unwell as Steve whispered, “Sorry honey, but Doctor Banner’s here to check you over”.

Steve excused himself so the Doctor could check you over properly without feeling pressured by the mafia boss in the room. Doctor Banner put you at ease though with his warming personality and you’d met him on a few occasions anyway when Steve or Bucky were more injured through an event with work, but you’d never had him look after you before.

The two of you ran through the general list, ‘When did you start feeling like this?’, ‘What are your symptoms?’, before he began doing your vital signs, temperature and blood pressure, all just normal procedures.

“Could you be pregnant?” he casually asked as he velcroed the blood pressure cuff from your arm.

Frowning you answered, “Um no…no, I’m on birth control, so I shouldn’t be”.

“Do you mind if we do a quick test just to tick it off of the list? All you need to do is pee in this cup and I’ll dip a test strip into it”.

You wobbled to the toilet on unsteady feet, realising this is probably the first time you’d properly walked in days because the boys insisted on carrying you everywhere. As you used the toilet, you didn’t think anything of the test, leaving the cup on the side for the doctor and returning back to bed, wondering if he’s going to give you some antibiotics or just see how you get on over the next few days.

After a few minutes, your eyes were closed but you could hear the Doctor returning so you asked, “So, do you think it’s just the flu like I said-”

“It’s not the flu, your test was positive”.

Your eyes snap open to look at him, sitting up and feeling dizzy but ignoring it, “what? What do you mean it’s positive?”

Doctor Bruce held up the little white strip that had two purple lines on it. You looked between the test and his face as he calmly smiled, “You’re pregnant”.

“What if the test is wrong? Can we do it again?” Thankfully he didn’t fight you on this and gave you the packet of tests, you grabbed two and stumbled back to the bathroom. Both strips gave the exact result and now it felt like your heart was coming out of your mouth it was pounding so hard and loudly in your ears.

“Take a deep breath for me”, Doctor Banner calmly instructed as he placed a steady hand on your back in case you needed extra support. You took a few deep breaths, not even realising that you had been holding your breath. Gripping onto the bathroom side, you began to feel dizzy again so he helped you back to bed waiting until you were settled before continuing.

“This explains your symptoms, I’d say you were in your early stages of pregnancy so we’ll book an appointment with the midwife tomorrow and sort out things like a scan. You may feel that your symptoms get worse over the next few weeks and if they do, you can always call me back but otherwise, stay rested and take it easy”.

You were only half listening. Midwife? Scans? Symptoms getting worse? There was so much for your brain to process. There was an actual baby inside of your body right now, a part of you and… who? Your anxiety was increasing with each second as you tried to let the words sink in as the Doctor packed his stuff away. Did you want to have a baby right now? You had always wanted kids but were you even ready at this stage of your life but then again… was anyone ready for a baby when they were accidentally knocked up?

Then the knocked-up by who question echoed through your thoughts. You obviously didn’t know if the baby was Steve's or Bucky’s, so would they be upset about this? If it was planned at least there could be some way you could arrange who to have sex with to know for sure but now… you were all in the dark about the paternity. You didn’t care if it was Steve or Bucky, you were always a trio in every sense of the word but now that this was your reality, would they be pissed off? And were they even ready for kids? The business took so much of their time and was still very dangerous but this was bound to happen eventually as you all wanted children.

Bucky and Steve had always been very open that they wanted kids, especially Bucky with his affection name for you being ‘mama’, he often would talk about his fantasy of seeing you barefoot and pregnant with his kid. So, at least you knew they were on the same page about wanting to have children but now it was the stress of is now the right time and who was the father of the baby?

You were vaguely aware of the Doctor bidding his farewells, “I’ll speak to you tomorrow and I’ll let you tell your partners the good news”. You offered a half-assed wave to him as he left, before staring at your hands in your lap, completely petrified for the next few minutes.

Steve and Bucky wandered in a few beats later, sitting on either side of you on the bed but you couldn’t look them in the eye, trying desperately to hold it together.

“Everything ok, Doll? The Doc didn’t tell us what was wrong, just said you would explain”, Bucky asked, stroking a finger down your arm to try and soothe you but it was enough to make you break.

You burst into tears, hiding your face in your hands.

“Honey? What is it? Talk to us”, Steve encouraged, attempting to pull your hands away from your face but you held them there tightly so instead, he pulled your body into his lap, your legs over his thighs so that you could hide your face into his chest, the sobs building in intensity and everything was just so overwhelming. You were excited, scared, relieved but nervous, it was a lot to handle.

Steve and Bucky encouraged you to talk to them both, becoming more unsettled with your increasing hysterics. It took a few minutes to calm down, and it helped as Bucky held both your hands, rubbing circles into your skin and Steve wrapped his arms around your shoulders, holding you close to his body. You decided it was better to just tell them than keep it to yourself any longer.

With your face still pressed into Steve’s face, you whispered “I’m pregnant”, however, it was so muffled and quiet that neither man heard you.

“What was that sweetheart?”, Steve asked, trying to pull you away enough that both men could see your tear-stained face.

The words sounded strange coming from your mouth as you kept your head hanging lowly, mumbling, “I’m pregnant”.

You knew that they had heard this time by the way both completely froze, not even breathing as they processed the news. Bucky finally whispered, “What?”

You still couldn’t look at him, scared you’d see disappointment or anger in his eyes.

“Are you sure?” Steve asked in such a faint voice you were shocked it was even from him.

Nodding your head at his question you explained, “We checked a couple of times, he thinks I’m still in my early pregnancy but-ah!”

You jumped as Bucky all but tackled you and Steve, his lips kissing every part of your face that he could reach and when he pulled back enough to cup your cheeks, you took in the glowing grin on his face, his eyes twinkling with love as he shouted, “you’re pregnant! We’re having a baby!”

Steve then seemed to snap out of his initial shock and his arms tightened and lifted your body further up so he could kiss your face just as happily as Bucky before nuzzling into your neck, breathing you in, “I love you so much sweetheart, I can’t believe it! Wait, why were you crying, are you not excited?”

He relaxed his hold on you so that they could both see you properly and you had room to look at them both. “I... I am excited! I just wasn’t sure how you would both react as I don’t know which of you is the dad-”

Bucky leans across and kisses your lips quickly cutting off your sentence, the grin still broad across his face, “I don’t fucking care, if the baby has my genes or Steve’s, we’re all in this together, remember? That’s what we’ve agreed on”.

“So you aren’t upset?” you wanted to clarify.

“Fuck no hot mama… and you’re actually going to be a mama! This little bean is ours, all of ours!”

You were crying again with relief, “you really mean that?”

His eyes softened, kissing the corner of your mouth, “Of course I do”.

“We both mean it, I… I can’t believe it, I’ve always wanted to be a Dad”, Steve admitted, kissing your temple and as you looked up, you could see his eyes glistening with unshed tears which only made you smile and cry harder.

Steve made the move first, lowering his hand over your abdomen, resting over your stomach where there was no bump yet but knowing there was something growing inside you, he couldn’t help the relieved gasp. Bucky was quick to cover his hand and yours on the top so the three of you were feeling where the baby would be. “I can’t believe we’re going to be parents!”

The next few days were a whirlwind of excitement and unimaginable joy whilst also still feeling relatively unwell, especially feeling more exhausted as you wanted to buy every pregnancy book and read them all but soon fell asleep with it open in your lap.

Then there was Steve and Bucky who could not contain their excitement, going above and beyond for you, especially with you still feeling ill. They would cook and feed you, if you were too tired, refill your glasses of water, constantly ask if you were comfortable and more than happy to fetch another pillow if needed. Not only this, but their levels of affection had increased massively, whispering their love for you at any opportunity, holding your hands, and lots of kisses, it was so nice to feel this level of love when going through such a life-changing experience.

Both of them had been just as motivated to read about pregnancy, birth, babies, and the whole lot from A to Z, they researched everything that was possible and then gave you the rundown on what your bodily changes would be including what you couldn’t eat, vowing to not eat the same items until you could which you didn’t seem necessary but appreciated the gesture.

Then there was the excitement of going to the Midwife’s appointment and it all became so much more real again, especially being able to book the ultrasound scan. This was where you found out that you were 8 weeks and 3 days and the entire world seemed to pause around the three of you as you watched your baby's tiny heartbeat on the screen.

To say you all cried was an understatement, all of you not taking your eyes off of the scan picture that was provided, the little bean was so tiny, only just being able to tell the outline of its arms and legs. Now it felt official. You, Steve and Bucky were going to have a baby.

Many things changed including protection that increased tenfold. Security around your home doubled and you had not only Sam Wilson as your bodyguard but also Natasha. Not only this but if you attending the business or in public, Steve and Bucky would crowd around you, almost like a human shield, their overprotective instincts on overdrive, even from people who were just at the check-outs in stores. Sam and Natasha were confused by the sudden dynamic intensity and it was hard to keep it all a secret but you had all decided to wait just a little while longer and continue with your unknown illness excuse just until the baby had grown a little bit bigger.

This was something else that you had to get used to with adjusting to the many bodily changes you were going through to adapt to growing this baby. A few days following the scan, you’d come downstairs to Steve cooking you scrambled eggs which were your usual favourite breakfast but as soon as you smelt those cooking eggs, you were gagging and rushing to the toilet, throwing up violently.

Your eyes were watering as you finally stopped emptying your stomach but still gagging as you could smell the lingering eggs in the air. A warm hand rubbed circles over your back, Steve’s apologetic voice came from behind you, “Sorry, baby. No more eggs”.

This was the first instance of vomiting and it wasn’t just eggs, as every single day you would be throwing up and then feeling extremely tired afterwards that you weren’t able to do much throughout the day but be with your head in the toilet or lying in bed. The boys were almost glued to your side during this time, worried that you weren’t keeping enough food or drinks down and even had to call Doctor Banner back just to check you weren’t too dehydrated.

Thankfully you hadn’t needed to go into hospital as your vomiting subsided but the nausea remained for a while.

“You sure she’s ok? She’s looking a little peaky,” Sam commented to Steve one day as he came to help guard the house and was having his lunch with you all but he took one look at you and knew something wasn’t right, even as you forced the sandwich into your mouth, making sure to still eat for you and baby… not that Sam knew about the baby.

“Yeah, she’s fine Sam, thanks for checking though and we appreciate the extra hours you’re doing”, Steve responded with a thankful grip on his friend's shoulder.

“It’s no problem man, just worried for her that’s all, don’t really understand what’s going on with you all, especially with the extra security and whatnot and I feel like I’ve hardly spoken to her for a few weeks now. Just want you to know I’m always here if you ever need anything”.

You felt guilty when Steve later told you what Sam had said, feeling bad that you were keeping it secret but it was only for a few more weeks.

Luckily, you had found the special trick to help your nausea as suggested by a friend: lavender! After sitting with a bag of dried lavender for a couple of hours and not feeling nauseous, Steve and Bucky were quick to fill the entire house with lavender-scented items including candles and sprays, even having some in the car and it helped to settle your nausea massively.

But, as soon as one symptom passed, another would be replacing the uncomfortable feeling. The next was your breasts becoming incredibly painful and sore, even if you accidentally knocked them when putting on a bra or rolling over in your sleep, it was agony. Your boyfriends were even more careful with you during this phase, getting ice to hold against them during particularly painful moments and being careful to give you enough room when asleep.

A couple of weeks later was the first day you noticed the little bean kicking, at first it felt like maybe gas, almost like there were butterflies fluttering in your tummy but then you finally realised what it was. The feeling grew stronger with each day as well as the size of your growing stomach which was something Steve and Bucky were going absolutely feral for. They would take pictures each week to show your progression and would constantly be placing their hands on your stomach, even if the bump wasn’t that noticeable just yet.

The midwife recommended talking to the baby at one point so every night, you would sit with a shirt off and Steve and Bucky would lie on either side of you, taking it in turns to tell stories, sing their favourite songs and lay sweet kisses along the growing bump. One day, Bucky was telling the little bean about the time he and Steve snuck into a movie theatre when the skin under his cheek poked out as the baby kicked him in the face. Bucky sat up with excitement, it being the first time he had properly felt the baby move as he cooed, “there's our strong baby, good job little bean!”

“You hit the right dad as well”, Steve joked causing Bucky to smack him in the shoulder.

“Don’t listen to Dad, listen to Pops, I’m right here to make everything’s ok”, Bucky continued to speak sweetly to your stomach.

Your heart swelled at the difference in names that he had seemed to pick, “is that what you’d like to be called?” you asked them both, stroking a finger across each of their cheeks, feeling the stubble beneath.

“It’s perfect”, Steve beamed, kissing your stomach again.

Now it was your 20-week scan, Baby was so much bigger, you couldn’t believe the difference those weeks had made since the last scan. Now it was really starting to look like a baby with longer limbs and you were even able to find out the gender, however, you had wanted to wait to find out, liking the thought of it being announced at the birth.

With these beautiful new prints of the scans, you finally wanted to tell people, beginning with your closest friends.

It was a casual lunchtime meal at the office. You sat at the large table in between Steve and Bucky, with Sam and Natasha sitting opposite, all idly talking and eating the take-out that Steve had bought. However you had opted for a different meal: 4 packs of salt and vinegar chips and a tub of tomatoes - both were your latest cravings.

Sam eyed your food wearily, “Interesting mix you’ve got there, boss lady?”

Your only response was smiling with your cheeks full of tomatoes as Bucky placed his hand over your thigh. You knew he wanted to put his hand on your stomach but you hadn’t told either of the people across the table just yet and even though your bump was starting to become noticeable now, you were trying to hide it behind baggy shirts but even that was becoming difficult. You were in desperate need of some new trousers as well as the button was digging into your skin as you shifted uncomfortably, looking at each of your boys, feeling antsy with excitement as well.

“Can we tell them? I really need to take off my trousers, I’m feeling really claustrophobic”.

Sam frowned at your random sentence, confused by what you meant however it was Natasha’s reaction that sparked your interest as she smirked, leaning back in her chair with a tilt of the head. You looked at her with a gaped-open mouth, pointing your finger at her, “You already know! Who told her?” you asked, looking between Bucky and Steve.

“Wasn’t me”, they both responded at the same time, holding up their hands as you eyed them both suspiciously.

Natasha leaned forward in her chair, “did you really think that I wouldn’t notice? I’m offended Sugar, it’s in my job description to be observant. In fact, you should be asking if Sam is right to keep this job if he can’t notice something this obvious”, she teased the man sitting next to her who still looked just as confused as before.

You laugh at Sam’s reaction, looking to Steve who handed you the sealed cards. You happily took them, standing from your chair and feeling Bucky’s hand on your lower back to help and then walked around the table, giving them both a card each. It wasn’t anything special or elaborate, but it had a picture of the latest scan with the statement: “Update to your job title; bodyguard & uncle/auntie”.

You’d never heard the high-pitched tone from Sam ever before as he quickly stood, his chair squeaking across the floor as he shouted, “What?!” He turned to you, looking between you, the picture and Steve and Bucky, “Really?!”

You pulled the back of your shirt so the material was tight to your front, showing off your growing bump, grinning as he shouted “Congratulations!”, before pulling you into a huge hug, careful of your belly but rocking the two of you on the spot a few times and kissing your temple, “I can’t believe I’m going to be an uncle again!”

Sam was then pushed aside, giving room for Natasha, “Move it, Wilson, I want to meet my niece or nephew”, Sam didn’t mind being moved as he rushed around to embrace Steve and Bucky.

Natasha hugged you tightly, and you were able to ask, “How long have you known?”

“A couple of weeks, you aren’t as subtle as you think at hiding things. I mean, you’ve hardly been awake enough to have a conversation, this is the most lively I’ve seen you in nearly a month. And that's without the new obsessive protecting from Steve and Bucky, how they’re always touching you and the weird food you’re eating, it’s more noticeable than you think it is”. She pulls back to put her hands on your growing bump, “how many weeks are you?”

“20 weeks and 5 days, I can feel the little bean moving more with each day, I feel so big already and I’m not even showing that much considering I’m only halfway through my pregnancy”. Natasha grinned hearing this, looking at your little bump. “Now you both know, I can take off my pants without being judged”, you groaned as you undid your jeans button, utter relief when they were completely removed from your body and felt free, your shirt was long enough that it stopped mid-thigh so you weren’t too unmodest.

Bucky had snuck behind you, his arms wrapping around to rest on your stomach as he kissed your cheek. Natasha smiled watching the embrace as she remarked, “Guess you got what you wanted all along Barnes, now you can call her mama and she actually is one”.

“Mmm absolutely”, Bucky nuzzled into your neck, the sensation making you laugh as it tickled, turning to shy away from his attack but he only held you tighter until you melted into his arms.

Steve and Sam joined your little gathering and Sam jokingly asked, “So if the baby’s a boy, can we name him Sam?”

You were so thankful for the news being out, especially as this meant that you could go baby clothes shopping with Sam and Natasha, finding little outfits that you could surprise your boyfriends with. It was one of the only things you were able to do for them to show your appreciation as they did so much for you throughout your pregnancy.

Your cravings continued to become stronger with each day and often found yourself waking in the middle of the night to find something to quench the craving for something acidic and sour taste you needed so desperately it felt like your world was going to end if you didn’t eat it right then and there. On multiple occasions, Steve or Bucky would come downstairs in the early hours of the morning to find you sitting on the kitchen floor, your belly round and exposed, hating feeling material against your skin, and a scattering of different foods surrounding you, a happy smile on your face.

“You ok down there beautiful?” they would ask with grins that matched yours and with your heightened emotions you would be crying before long, reaching for them to come and sit with you which they would do eagerly, pulling your body in between there legs and kissing away your tears, “don’t cry pretty girl, I’ve got you”.

If you ever run out of your favourite cravings, they would drive to the store and you were buzzing to go along for the ride in the middle of the night, fully awake and ready for the night time adventure only to fall asleep before getting to the store.

Entering into the third trimester, your belly was round and heavy, things for sure were becoming more difficult for you as the little bean grew. There were small excitements still like attending antenatal classes with your boyfriends who were taking their role as dad and pops very seriously, you’d never seen them concentrate so hard before.

“You’re doing the boss face again”, you whispered to Steve as he correctly wrapped the baby doll in a blanket. Steve's features softened immediately as he sheepishly looked at you from the corner of his eye.

“I’m just trying to concentrate”, he mumbled, eyes returning to looking at the doll, his fingers trembling slightly as he continued wrapping steadily.

Reaching across you grabbed his hands, keeping your voice low to keep the conversation between the two of you, “I’m scared too, but you’re going to be a great dad, Steve, you’ll be ok”.

This was a little pep talk you needed to have with both Bucky and Steve on numerous occasions as they began panicking that this was actually happening and whilst you reminded them there was nothing they could do to take back the growing baby in your belly, it was ok to have nerves, but everything would come to them with time, they needed to stay strong, especially as you were also sort of beginning to lose it.

Your body was really changing to accommodate the growing little bean. Your hands and feet were swollen until your shoes couldn’t fit anymore and god…the heartburn was excruciating, and nearly as painful as the kicks to the ribs. There was never a moment where you weren’t out of breath, even standing to pour cereal into a bowl took all of your energy and you’d be sighing in relief as you sat down. Your hips hurt, your back was in agony, and the pregnancy fun had well and truly finished.

This was where the boys really shined through as they would massage your hands and feet, they would be more then happy to cook or grab anything for you, picking things off of the ground, finding clothes that might fit and then there were their compliments which was one thing keeping you going.

Steve and Bucky could not get enough of seeing you pregnant, “you’re glowing honey, pregnancy suits you so much, my love”. You never felt like you were glowing and would describe yourself instead as a huge, hungry, tired monster but the way the boys looked at you, put those negative thoughts to the back of your mind.

From the moment you woke up to the second sleep would invade your consciousness, they would remind you of their love, needing you to fully comprehend how much they appreciated you growing their baby, you were doing so much for them, putting your body through it, for all of you, for the little bean.

Their words definitely helped when you began to feel needier in more than one way as your hormones caused your arousal to be one-minute non-existence and the next feeling nearly overwhelmed with how badly you needed to touch them and be touched. Thankfully with how obsessed they were with you during your pregnancy, they were more than happy to deliver. Hands would be all over, their lips leaving words of affirmation against your warm skin, being careful not to be to rough and more than happy if you wanted to take control and do whatever you wanted to them.

You had to be honest and say you never felt more loved up before. Even with the gang still in full operation, they were able to look after you as their number one priority, even through your emotional breakdowns, or weird pregnancy habits that had you thinking you were slightly insane but they never judged once.

For example, towards the end of your pregnancy, you had a completely immense craving to chew on your bath sponge every time you sat in the large bathtub. So when one day Steve walked in with a freshly warmed-up towel and caught you mid-chew with staring eyes, you expected his reaction to being anything but a soft smile, “You having fun in there, baby?”

Pulling the sponge out of your mouth slowly you nervously answered, “I uh… I don’t really know how to explain…”

Steve held up a hand, “You don’t have to explain anything, whatever makes you happy and I think I’ve read in a book that sometimes pregnant women can have cravings like this, whatever makes you happy”.

As your due date closened, you sat in the centre of the large bed, watching Bucky shuffle his way through your clothes, trying to find the right things to pack for your hospital bag. “What about this?” he asked, holding up a pair of your normal jeans.

“They haven’t fit me in four months, Bucky”, you laughed, shaking your head. “I need pyjamas or baggy shirts, things that can be easily taken on and off, maybe you should just leave Steve to do it”, you suggested whilst holding out your arms.

Bucky shrugged, dropping the jeans and jumping onto the bed, making you squeal with the bed moving up and down before he had his hands against your bump, kissing the tip of your nose. “Not long until we meet you little bean”, he was rewarded with a kick against his metal palm that had you wincing. “Hello baby, I love feeling you kick so much but be gentle to Mama she’s doing such a good job with keeping you safe”, he leaned down to kiss your belly as your fingers delved into his hair.

“It’s ready!”, Steve shouted from another room, catching both of your attention. Bucky jumped up first and then helped you to stand, keeping his hand on your lower back as you wobbled to the spare room that Steve and Bucky had been decorating as the nursery. It was something you had left them in charge of organising, not having the energy over the last nine months to even think about decorating and Steve and Bucky were more than excited to take on the job and so far had kept it secret from your prying eyes.

As you looked around the room, tears swelled in your eyes instantly, reaching to hold onto Steve and Bucky, praising, “It’s perfect!”. There was a beautiful baby cot, pictures of the three of you surrounding the ultrasound scan photograph on the wall, a painting you knew Steve had done, and a rocking chair in the corner that Bucky had claimed as his for the night feeds he’d volunteered himself for.

Now it was all just a waiting game.

“You’re doing it again”, Bucky commented from where he stood in the entryway to your home having returned from the office a few days later.

“No, I’m not, I’m just cleaning-”.

“Nesting… You’re nesting, Doll”, Bucky reminded you, taking away the cloth from your hands and throwing it to the side so he could hold your shoulders and kiss your temple. “Go and rest, you’ve only got a few days left!”

You roll your eyes as you leaned into his warmth, your bump touching him first as you hugged around his chest, “Bucky most babies aren’t born on their due dates you know, I just want to make sure everything is perfect around the house and ready”.

“Everything IS perfect, please just rest”. You relented to him, feeling tired already from the ten minutes of standing, moving to sit on the couch when a period cramp suddenly began in your lower abdomen, causing you to scrunch your face up in pain, especially as it was followed by a large kick to the ribs.

“Woah, are you ok?” Bucky asked, his hand cupping your cheek.

“Yeah, probably Braxton hicks or something, it’s fine”, you say, finally sitting down and putting your feet on the small table. Bucky didn’t seem convinced and continued to be a mother hen throughout the rest of the night, even though the pains subsided after you had a nice warm bath.

As your due date came and went, you were becoming restless, needing the baby out, feeling overwhelmed with how big you felt, wanting to meet the baby and hating waiting around. It wasn’t like you hadn’t tried everything either. Eating spicy foods, and going for walks, especially up and down the stairs which was incredibly uncomfortable with how low the little bean’s head was sitting in your pelvis. You’d even had sex a few times, Bucky was more than happy to hear that nipple stimulation could induce labour but still, nothing happened.

Those period cramps would come and go throughout these days as well, getting your hopes up before they disappeared and still, no signs that your labour was even happening.

On the fourth day following your due date, you awoke suddenly in the middle of the night to another period cramp that started in your lower back and spread around to your front. Even though this felt different, you didn’t want to wake the boys and get theirs or your hopes up as you tried to slide out of bed without waking them to use the bathroom for what felt like the tenth time that night.

“You ok, baby?” Steve asked, his eyes still closed but his hand reached for you in the darkness.

“Yeah I’m, ok, go back to sleep Steve”, you encouraged, touching the back of his hand before pushing yourself up and waddling to the toilet, using it and then realising just how wide awake you were and the dull ache of the pains still lingered so you decided to run a warm bath. During the time that it was filling up, you had another pain which took longer to subside but this was always how it started with the intensity increasing but after the bath, it usually stopped.

However, even as you let the warm water settle over your body, easing your muscles but the pains continued but at least the little bean was lovely and happy as he or she gave you a powerful kick to your ribs. The next pain had you gritting your teeth, eyes clenching closed as you held onto the side of the tub, waiting for it to pass but this pain lasted for nearly a full minute, and you decided maybe it was time to take some pain relief.

Standing and awkwardly climbing out of the bath, you dried your body and picked up your night dress to pull over your head when another pain came and took your breath away, your stomach hardening and causing you to moan lowly, bending over to blow the pain away.

“Honey?” Steve shouted from the bathroom having heard your moan as he waited for you to come back to bed. You couldn’t answer him as the pain consumed you, and he was rushing to be by your side, Bucky following closely behind him. Steve rubbed your back slowly as your pain finally began to ease so that you could look up at them both.

“Wow, that one was strong”.

“You ok? Can we get you anything?” Bucky asked, stepping forward with worry etched on his face.

“I’m ok.... I think… I don’t want to get my hopes up that this isn’t contractions but fuck, it hurt like hell”, you muttered, bending over to pick up your dress from the floor and then a trickle of clear liquid dripped down the inside of your leg. All three of you noticed as you tentatively looked up, “Is it bad that I can’t tell if I’ve just wet myself or if that’s my waters…”.

Neither of your worried boyfriends had time to answer as another painful wave came and had you doubling over, leaning your head against the sink. Steve was quick to grab you and let you lean against his strong body, remembering what he had learned from the antenatal appointments to help you through the pains, “That’s it baby, breath in and out, nice and slow”. It helped to listen and ground yourself through the pain as Bucky’s cold metal hand rubbed against your lower back, helping to ease the intense pressure from the baby.

The pain lasted for the same amount of time as the previous one and the clear liquid, which was definitely not urine, had gushed out more, forming a small puddle onto the floor. “Ok, I think it’s time we call someone”, you decided.

Bucky kissed the back of your head as he ran to get the phone and Steve helped you to pull your shirt on, his thumb brushing your chin as he sensed your anxieties, “You’re going to do amazing my love, we’ll be with you every step of the way”.

#mafia au #mafia steve rogers #mafia bucky barnes #mafia bucky #bucky barnes #bucky #bucky x reader #bucky one shot #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers one shot #bucky fluff #steve rogers fluff #stucky one shot #stucky x reader #stucky fluff #mine*#stucky

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softshuji · 1 month

Text

You're starting to believe Shion doesn't have the capacity to be mad at you,

and it makes you a little angry when you've done something wrong, and he can only click his tongue and say 'I don't mind, I'll sort it out' and he's on his hands and knees picking up the shards of the broken glass now scattered over the kitchen floor.

He might nick his own palms with a wince, but he diligently grabs the broom and sweeps the flints up before you can comment on how you should have been doing it.

He turns up with a replacement the next day and it finds a home next to the others, as if it had never happened in the first place. And he never gets mad, never yells, never speaks negatively even if you deserve it, even if you're pushing his buttons and being irritating, he can only smile.

You crash your car, you lose your handbag, you set the smoke alarm off, you get into trouble constantly and he has nothing to say except, 'it's okay, it'll be fine' and you're torn between believing maybe that he doesn't have the capacity to get mad at all with you,

or maybe he doesn't care enough to do so. Anger is passion after all, isn't that what they all say?

You've taken to doing more reckless things just to get a reaction that isn't the softhearted and loving smile thrown towards you whenever you drop something and send the pieces flying and you hate yourself a little bit every time when you know he's being so kind, and you'd be devastated if he wasn't.

That's always the thing about him- and the rules are different for you.

He doesn't take you to gang meetings often and they call him 'mad dog' when you're not around and it baffles the others (ran and Rindou especially) that his girlfriend is a sweet, innocent, intuitive thing that dotes on him every day- enough for you to send him out with home cooked lunches that don't give him stomach aches. Though he'll never admit he gets them at all, he's never really been one to complain at anything.

If anything they're a little jealous. How can someone as 'unput together' as him bag a girl like that?

You would have a mind to tell them exactly how if you ever knew that conversation had happened- but he makes a point to keep 'all that gang shit' away from you anyway. He likes your little corner, the slice of domestic life that you offer him where he can perhaps be something else, where he gets to be the man in charge for once, where you don't mind that he is sometimes hard to put up with (his words, you'd never believe that). His dear girlfriend is a saving grace at the end of the day when he kicks off his shoes at the door and heaves a big sigh, scratching his hair as he slides off his jacket and misses the bannister when he throws it onto the wood cornering the stairway.

He is too good at the centre of it all. You don't and have never felt at all ashamed of being his girlfriend, or his girl, or anything,

and the snickers don't bother you when you know who he really is and what he really means. People have always chosen to see exactly what they want to, why would this be any different?

But you can't lie and say the guilt isn't eating you at all, when you provide so little to him in the way of his life. To him, he might not be the Haitani's but to you that's never mattered. You like the simplicity of him, and duplicitous feelings have never been your forte because he's always been so upfront about his feelings for you. He likes you, he loves you, he makes it known all the time and you wonder if you really do enough when he is so forgiving and you're under no illusions that maybe he isn't like the others, but it doesn't mean another woman won't want him if he left you. He's still part of the biggest gang in the country, and you know that counts for something.

It's making you a little sick when you think about it again- the concept of him not caring enough to be pissed off at you when you deserve it, of being so quick to defend you, even when you have done something wrong.

Like today, when you're deliberately being tetchy with him, sketchy and evasive and he's prodding in the gentle way of his to find the root of the issue, and it burns you a little inside when he trails after you- a puppy following an owner- with your discarded jacket in hand, clothes kicked off and left on the floor.

'You going to tell me what's wrong or not?' he says, bending to pick up your shirt as you round the corner to the bedroom. It makes his heart quake inside when he thinks about it. Are you not happy enough with him? Do you not love him? Is he doing something wrong? If so, how can he fix this?

'Mhmmm no, no nothing's wrong,' you say airily, as if nothing is and you miss how his eyebrows crunch towards your back as you slip off the rest of your clothes and pick up your discarded robe from the tower of them on the chair.

And you hate that you're being like this for no reason, or rather a reason you can't discern in any easy way when you know he doesn't deserve this, when he's been more than attentive to you over time. You're lucky in a way few others are. When you meet with friends and they talk on and on about husbands and boyfriends that it sounds like they don't love at all- all the issues, all the nagging that you can't relate to and you curse yourself for ruining what others would kill to have, albeit unintentionally.

'You're being funny.' He folds your clothes and leaves them on the chair, filling a glass of water for you as you both pass the kitchen.

'Funny how?'

'Weird, like you're upset.'

'You think so?'

You hate the evasive game. You hate even more that he can probably see through it so easily. He's always been like that. The other's call him airheaded, but he's never forgotten a thing about you.

'I know so. Can you tell me what's wrong?'

You turn, a look over your shoulder to him in the doorway, fiddling with his hands, a little lost, a little adrift, the worried and anxious tilt of his brows matched by the bite to his lower lip and it aches inside when you know you're the cause, when it hurts because of that fact. You love him, but where is that love meant to go when you have so much of it? When you wonder one day whether he's coming back, whether he's staying or dying in another man's battle, when you know his loss would tear something in you that you could never heal.

Your mouth forms the words before you have time to catch up with it, and it comes off seamlessly when you say 'I'm sorry,' and he frowns in that way he does, his brows pinching, the slight curl of his blond hair framing his cheeks, a strand or two falling over his tattoo away from the fray.

'Huh? What for?' he says, now shutting the door behind him, your glass of water and painkillers for the headaches you get left on the nightstand.

Clockwork.

You're a fish when you open your mouth, close it again and turn wordlessly towards the dresser to pick up a hairbrush, mumbling a "nothing, forget it," that has his ears pricking up, expecting him to take the bait and leave you to sulk on your own, the kicked puppy attitude that you hate you still show even now.

His hip brushes the dresser when he comes up to you now, pulls the hairbrush from your hand with a noise of indignation at the back of your throat, before tossing it onto the bed, your wrists now encircled in his bigger hands, his thumbs finding the dips over your knuckles seamlessly.

"no."

"no?"

"no, it's not nothing, and you can tell me." A beat. "I want you to tell me."

And your cheeks burn with heat, a fiery ice that licks at your neck when his thumbs come to rest on the incline of your wrists, a knowing look in his eyes with an eyebrow raised. And you avoid his gaze for a moment, settling it on the dresser, on the corner where the paint is chipping and the wood is exposed and he lifts a hand to tilt your head, your chin between his thumb and forefinger, till you stubbornly turn back to him with a pout.

‘Sorry,’ you say, your lip pulled by your teeth, bitten down and reddened, an anxious bite that he presses down on your lip to stop, the edge of his thumb skimming the dip in your chin.

‘You’re saying it again without telling me what it’s for,’ he says now, hands slipping down to your waist that he pulls till it’s flush with his own. ‘I wanna know what has my Dear girlfriend so sad.’

‘I just feel stupid y’know? I’ve been shitty to you recently, and you haven’t gotten mad at me once, and it makes me feel guilty when you don’t.’

He frowns, a crease to his brows that you resist the urge to smooth over with your fingers. ‘You want me to get mad at you?’

‘Yes! I- well no, but just- don’t you get mad at me?’

‘No, why would I?’

‘Why wouldn’t you? Don’t you love me?’

He shakes his head, incredulous, a stunned and pained expression flitting over the warm apples of his cheeks. ‘Of course I love you, but what does that have to do with anything?’ His grip tightens on your hips, a slow rock and thud against his own as he smooths circles into the slip of skin between your shirt and pants.

‘Well, people get angry at who they love sometimes, and you don’t, so that might mean…’

‘That I don’t love you? Is that what you’re saying?’ he says, the inflection at the end that betrays his hurt, the worried and hushed flash of pain glimmering in his eyes where the reflection of you avoids his gaze. You don’t speak again, opting to stare at the ground, your feet, the one spot on the carpet with the immovable stain that never lifts.

The silence seems to stretch, a quiet so loud that your ears ring with it, yawning on till he breaks it with a ‘I’m not sure who told you that but they were an idiot.’

Your head snaps up, apprehension and unease creeping along your skin. ‘What do you mean?’

And he laughs somehow, his eyes creasing, the sharp edges of his teeth revealed with the curve of a smile, lowering his head till it rests against yours, the edge of his blond hair tickling your cheek. ‘You’re so silly sometimes y’know?’

‘Huh?’ you say stiffly, a warning bell ringing lightly against your ears, a little ashamed, a little pressured despite yourself, even though you're the one who started it, you're a deer in headlights at the soft easiness of him. Maybe it would be easier if he burned through you, if he bared his fangs and bit straight into you - in the way you know would take a long time to nurse.

And he laughs harder somehow, a little giggle that provokes your own, a light and hesitant laugh that has you prickling with self consciousness. 'What are you laughing at? What's so funny?'

'You! You are!' And he raises his hands around your shoulders, a light shake of them as his breath ghosts over your Cupid's now, warm, sweet and scented with the undertone of menthol. You catch the reflection of yourself in the vanity to the side- you're puffy, cheeks puffed out, eyes watery, not your best by any means, especially when you angle in the way that shows the scar on your shoulder - a horrifying sight really, and you lift your cami to hide it , as if you ever can, as if it still matters this many years later.

And he softens, that glimmer in his eyes, a faint click of his tongue before you're pulled- gently still, into the warmth of his chest, your cheek squished against the soft linen of his shirt now creased from the day, your hands somehow instinctively finding purchase on his back where the muscle slips and slides underneath his skin, all sinewy flesh that feels warm and alive under your hands.

'Y'know…..' he starts, a rumble of his voice that ruminates against your earlobe, one hand coming up to rub at your back, the other still firmly on your hip pulled flush to his. 'Sometimes I do get angry at you, but it never means anything, never changes anything.'

Your voice is a whisper against his skin, your breath curling along the exposed flesh of his arm where your lips skim across now, faint freckles and marks now pressed to your mouth. 'You do?'

'Mhm, sometimes. When you do reckless things, when you don't take care of yourself, when you don't talk about what you like because you don't think you should.'

A hot fiery ice thunders into your veins and your neck prickles with embarrassment. 'I do that?'

'You do. It's like you don't think you ought to take up any space, like you feel bad for wanting things.'

'Oh.'

'But it doesn't mean I don't love you. You're my girlfriend aren't you? Just because I don't get mad at you doesn't mean I don't love you. It's because I love you that I don't get mad.'

'But other people say-'

He pulls you back, his lips ghosting over your forehead, hands coming to cup at your cheeks, tenderly, the knuckle dusters and rings left forgotten on the bedside table. 'I don't care what people say. Loving you will never make me angry, or mad, or anything like that and whoever told you that was a loser.'

'But…..'

'No buts. It's either love you as you are, or lose you all together.' He shrugs, the glint of eyes now pearly and glimmering with a soft rosy shine. 'It seems like an easy choice to make.'

You look away, a lick of heat making a slow crawl along your neck. 'Oh.' And you move from foot to foot self consciously, a hand coming up to scratch at your neck. You wonder in times like this, whether it bothers him to constantly give you this reassurance that comes so easily and often, when you doubt him and it has you shameful, and you find that he never relents in neverending love.

Why would he? You're his dear girlfriend and that's the way he likes it.

Happy bday to my darlin' ❤️

Reblogs appreciated!

#tokyo revengers #tokyo rev #shion madarame #tokyorev x reader #tokyo revengers x reader

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fuctacles · 10 months

Text

Eddie, begrudgingly: Dustin's older brother is kinda fine :/

I had a craving for best friend's older brother AU so I wrote some but it's not my forte I'm out of ideas so that might be it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Edit: jokes on me I guess

[Part II] [Part III]

Eddie was about to knock on his freshman friend’s door when there was a loud commotion on the other side and the door opened by itself. A guy, probably around his age, nearly ran into him in his haste to leave the house. He startled, taking Eddie in. And then taking a double take, the way Eddie was used to people doing at the sight of him.

“Who are you?” the guy asked, scrunching his nose and not meeting Eddie’s eyes.

He felt his hackles rise, venom building in his throat and ready to spit. He wasn’t expecting this on a Saturday on his friend’s doorstep, but he guessed this was the kind of town where you just couldn’t wear your battle vest in peace anywhere. His upper lip twitched ready to form a snarl, when suddenly the guy's features softened, a spark of recognition lighting up his eyes.

“Wait. Let me guess. Eddie?”

Eddie faltered, taken aback by the sudden shift in tone. He frowned.

“Yeah?”

The guy's face warmed up with a smile, and Eddie was not ready for that kind of emotional rollercoaster this early in the morning.

“Dustin’s stories do not do you justice,” he says for some reason, eyeing him again. Eddie wants to shrivel up and hide. What the fuck was happening. “He’s waiting for you in the kitchen,” he said, stepping to the side to invite him in. “I have to go to work, so you two be good, okay?” he says before waving a cheery goodbye and closing the door, disappearing just as abruptly as he showed up in front of Eddie. The inside of the house suddenly seemed dull.

Another ray of sunshine peeked from the kitchen, toothy grin and hazelnut curls.

“So you’ve met Steve!” Dustin grinned in place of a greeting.

Eddie gawked at him.

“That,” he pointed at the closed door. The sound of a car leaving the curb tickled his ears. “Was Steve?!”

“The adopted brother Steve? The Star Wars fan Steve? The badass older brother Steve?”

“Yes, all that,” Dustin nodded enthusiastically.

“I thought he was, like, 16!” Eddie flailed and it sounded like a petulant whine even to his ears. He winced.

Dustin frowned at him like he was being stupid. Eddie didn’t like that gaze, but unfortunately at this point, he was getting used to it. His younger friend leaned on the kitchen door frame watching Eddie toe off his shoes.

“He’s 19. What gave you that impression?”

Eddie frowned at his scuffed Reeboks. He nudged them with his toe to line up, looking for an answer.

“The adopted part, I think? He’s almost an adult, who adopts that old?”

He knew he had said the wrong thing as soon as he said it. He looked up at Dustin, whose face twisted uncomfortably.

“Shit, sorry man. I didn’t mean-”

Dusting clicked his tongue impatiently, interrupting him.

“It’s fine. This is an unconventional arrangement,” he said in that way when you heard something repeatedly. “I can tell you more, but after we make that character sheet, okay?”

Eddie nodded, eager to abandon his social faux pas. The Henderson’s were an unconventional unit, and that’s what he loved about them, at least from the stories Dustin shared. The guy was a little freak, just like Eddie, so it checked out his family was just as unconventional. So was Eddie’s after all.

The parallels made him warm up inside, the familiar need to protect his younger friends flaring up.

“Deal,” he nodded, following his friend inside the kitchen, where notebooks and DnD manuals already littered the table.

A couple of hours, two coffees and an unsolved argument about the intricacies of multiclassing later, they decided to take a break and Eddie could finally feast his eyes on the family photos on display. He stood in front of the newest one standing front and centre on the mantle. Steve was smiling shyly to the camera while Claudia Henderson had her arms around his shoulders and Dustin was grinning wide from his other side, hair ruffled by the older boy's hand.

“How long he has been living here?”

Dustin’s head popped out of the kitchen where he was rummaging for snacks.

“About a year. Remember the Starcourt fire?”

“Yeah?” Eddie frowned, taken aback by the seemingly unrelated question.

“Well, he’s been there and-” the boy frowned, fully stepping into the living room and crossing his arms. “Shit, Mom says I shouldn’t be babbling it around. That it’s Steve's story to tell.”

Eddie hummed, cocking his head.

“Your mom is very smart.”

Dustin unwrapped his arms, clenching his hands together.

“I guess I could tell you I mean who are you gonna tell? You just-”

Eddie raised both his hands, stopping him.

“Dude, he interrupted with all the disapproval his drug dealing nonconformist self could muster. “She’s right and that would be breaking your brother’s trust.”

“Uh. Yeah,” Dustin gulped, looking adequately ashamed at proposing the idea. “You’re right., he nodded.

This lasted about half a second because nobody could stop Henderson from being an egocentric know-it-all and since he was wrong he was now going to overcompensate for it. Of that, Eddie could be sure.

“We can go to his workplace and you could ask him!”

Eddie raised his hands again.

“Hold your horses Henderson, we’re not harassing your brother at work.” The boy was actually pouting, the little shit. “I am not that determined to hear it. I’ll just catch him another time I visit.”

That was the wrong thing to say because he wasn’t planning on being a recurring guest initially. Or maybe it was the right thing to say since Dustin positively beamed at the implication.

Maybe it was because the kid’s presence has been a good influence on him as well.

Also, while the story of Steve’s adoption didn’t seem that interesting before, the idea of a mall fire being somehow involved raised questions that were now itching the back of Eddie’s tongue. He had to ask them at some point.

“There’s this guy,” Eddie starts one day during lunch break.

“Oh-ho,” Gareth murmurs with disdain, the crumbs from his sandwich falling from his lips.

“Not like that,” Eddie glowered at him, slapping against his arm. Even though it was kinda like that. “He’s picking up Henderson after Hellfire today and if we run into him, I want you guys to be civil.”

“We’re always civil,” Jeff frowns at Eddie’s backhanded accusations.

“Yeah, especially when you guys are mooning after Mrs. Wheeler.”

The comment raised a wave of loud protests from his friends.

“I am just saying-”

“You’re just saying that guy is hot and we shouldn’t ogle him?” Gareth, the worst friend he has, raised his eyebrow.

“No, I’m just-”

“You calling dibs, Munson?” John the Traitor, the Backstabber, joined in. Johned in, if you will.

‘No!” Eddie protested, maybe a little too loud. A couple of heads turned but when they saw the ruckus was coming from the freaks table, they quickly lost interest. “He’s the worst. A hunk of jock with stupid hair but!” He rose a finger. “He’s Henderson’s family. And what do we do with family members in Hellfire?”

“Lure in.”

“Lull into a fake sense of security.”

“Cast charm person.”

“Exactly,” he smirked, pointing his finger at each of them in approval. “This case is no different.”

“It feels different,” Gareth murmured under his breath, earning himself another smack on the shoulder.

Eddie wrapped up the session and was giving out experience points to his players when a soft knock interrupted his counting. He frowned at the door.

“Speak ‘friend’ and enter!” he hollered to his sheep’s utter glee. He grinned at them.

Dead silence was all the response he got, so he assumed whatever normie was bugging them got discouraged. But then, Henderson was turning around in his seat, yelling at the door.

“It’s from Lord of the Rings! You know this one!”

There was a shuffle on the other side where apparently, Steve came already to pick up his brother.

“Oh! Um… Melon? Was that it?”

“You may enter!” Eddie commanded with a grin straining at his cheeks. Dustin was doing a good job educating his jock brother, apparently.

The guy pushed the door open, taking in the table full of teenagers. He waved hesitantly.

“You guys finishing up?”

“I’m handing out points, we need just a few minutes,” Eddie waved his hand. “And it’s Mellon.”

Steve frowned.

“That’s what I said.”

“Sure you did,” Eddie cocked his head condescendingly, ignoring the eyes of Corroded Coffin members staring at him. “Now sit and wait,” he gratuitously offered, snapping his fingers and pointing at a nearby bench, like Henderson’s older brother was some kind of dog.

To his surprise, he nodded shortly and obeyed, sitting down and watching him expectantly. Eddie took it as his cue to proceed. He coughed to gather his sheep's attention and went back to his meticulous calculations.

“That didn’t look like Charm Person to me,” Gareth hissed as soon as the younger members of Hellfire had left.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Eddie scrunched his eyebrows, throwing him a look while he stuffed his campaign notes into his bag.

“You told us to be nice, but you ordered him around like he was one of the kids,” Jeff pointed out, arms crossing.

“I did not”

“You totally did.”

Eddie’s eyes narrowed as he straightened up.

“What is this? Mutiny? Among my own kin? Ungrateful little herd I had nurtured on my own breast-”

He was interrupted by a cacophony of grossed out noises.

“Spare us the imagery, please.”

Eddie huffed indignantly, closing his bag.

“Then quit yapping. It was a singular lapse of judgement on my part,” he said with finality, throwing his bag over his shoulder. Without looking back, he walked off, hand raised in a goodbye, “Toodles, bitches.”

And he was gone.

Gareth sighed.

“Man, I love Eddie, but sometimes…” John cut himself off, shaking his head.

“Yeah.”

Eddie’s been on the fence about it for some time now. But the time was ticking and he did say more than once that ‘86 was gonna be his year, so maybe it was time to pocket his ego and make some calls.

Some very, very humiliating calls.

Sighing deeply he imagined himself going to the woods and digging up a deep hole. There he imaginary buried his pride, made a fancy map to find it later, hopefully in time for his graduation, and finally dragged himself back home and in front of his phone. Next to it, he tacked on a list of numbers of all his newest sheepies in case of emergencies. Like Hellfire scheduling.

He sighed once more, slumping dramatically before dialling the first of the numbers. As he listened to the dial tone, he squared his shoulders, decided a more confident pose was in order. He was now a man of action, taking his fate in his own hands. His pride was buried deeply in the darkest corners of the forest and only a courageous-

“Har- Henderson residence, this is Steve speaking.”

Eddie’s mind went blank, completely thrown off. Who was he calling again? What for?

“Hello?”

“Is this how you pick up the phone? Did I get the wrong house? Is this the British Queen?”

“... Eddie? Is that you?”

Busted.

“What gave me away?”

“Ah, only the dramatic nonsensical ramblings.” Steve answered, amusement in his voice.

“Thank you, I pride myself in those.” No pride! Pride is buried deep in the putrid soil of a forgotten battlefield! “But I’m here for the superior Henderson, please and thank you.” Ah yes, the Charm Person again. Somebody could think Eddie buried his Charisma along with the pride.

“Sorry, Claudia is at work right now.”

Eddie scrunched his nose, confused, the gleeful tilt to the voice in his ear irking him. Then he remembered the mom. A staple in most households.

“Har, har, Steven. The smart one.”

“Please never call him that to his face,” the man said with a resigned sigh.

“There wouldn’t be enough space in the room for both our egos if I did.”

Steve laughed then, softly and genuinely, before calling out for his younger brother.

After a loud rattle, Dustin’s lispy voice finally reached Eddie’s trailer.

“What's up?”

The man braced himself for what he was about to request.

“I need your help with an assignment.”

The door opened before he could even knock. Again.

“I thought I told you not to inflate his ego.”

“No, you told me not to call him smart. It is merely a by-product of my desperate attempts at graduating,” Eddie shrugged matter-of-factly. “Besides, I don’t respond to the likes of you.” He punctuated his words by seizing the guy up before brushing past him inside the Henderson’s house.

“The likes of- Excuse me?!”

Eddie was skipping towards Dustin’s room.

“Hey big guy I’m here for my tutoring!” he announced himself, standing in the open door to his friend’s room, who quickly beckons him inside. Steve’s heavy steps follow and soon he’s the one standing in the door frame, arms crossed, while Eddie bounces on Dustin’s bed.

“What do you mean the likes of me?” he asks, almost pouting.

“Mainstream,” offered Dustin, shuffling through stuff on his desk.

“Jocks,” added Eddie, still bouncing with glee, hair following up and down.

“Normies.”

“Pop listeners.”

“Mom friends.”

“Conformists.”

“Okay, I get it!” Steve threw his hands in the air, stopping the list that probably wouldn’t come to an end otherwise. “You’re the cool guys, have fun having your cool stuff,” he huffed angrily, grabbing the doorknob. Before he closed the door he threw one seething glance at Dustin. “Do not. Ask me for snacks,” he hissed before slamming the door shut.

Eddie flipped back on the bed, a wide grin splitting his face.

“Man, your brother is so easy to rile up,” he chuckled gleefully.

“Right?! He’s so bitchy,” Dusting turned around towards him, signature smile in place. Eddie hollered.

“He is!”

Alas, a slap of palms interrupted his delightful trashing around.

“I believe we have some physics to cover?”

Eddie groaned. Right. He didn’t come here to bother the older Henderson. Booo.

[Steddie masterpost] [Ao3] [ko-fi]

#steddie #pre steddie i guess #steve is a henderson #older brother steve #i like the simping for older brother idea but im running dry #if u have ideas for this trope feel free to drop them i might write more #the general idea is eddie finds steve attractive but is lowkey mean and teasing to him because he cant control his jockphobia #also uses it as a defense mechanism against rejection #steve in this is okay with his bisexuality #he thinks theres something there while eddie is in denial #adoption background: authorities got involved after they couldnt get a hold of harringtons after starcourt fire #with murrays help they lost custody and claudia swooped in #i know hes old but its more about legal stuff like changing his name and his parents losing any power over him #ao3 is down so heres a treat #ff #mine #st #steve harrington #steddie fanfiction #stranger things #stranger things 4 #eddie munson #the hendersons

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horang-07 · 6 months

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i am about to ramble like a crazy person abt the fnaf movie so scroll if u don’t like spoilers

was not expecting all the love on my last post so i will keep posting thoughts abt the movie

another thing that rlly interested me in the movie was the focus on images, how humans process things through what we see rather than context, and how this sets up the fnaf movie trilogy to focus on fnaf 4 in the next movies.

the most obvious example is abby, we’re explicitly told that children communicate and understand things through pictures, which mike sorta shrugs off until he starts seeing the bigger picture. this then applies to the animatronics when he learns that they are also children and incredibly influenced by the drawings in their environment. the restaurant in the movie is very much a living thing of its own, the way it thrums to life when abby enters, and the animatronics know the truth of the drawing the second it is pinned up, and the animatronics are an extension of that.

a less obvious example is mike. even though he shrugs off abby’s teacher, and the point she makes about him being at the centre of all her pictures, he is much the same. it isn’t just children who are influenced by images. he has been returning to the same image every night for we don’t even know how long, the same picture of the nebraskan trees, the same perfect family picture he describes to vanessa, the same image of his brother looking at him out of the car window. everything he does is a result of this image. he is wholly consumed by it, believes he can somehow change the picture and see the truth beneath it if he just tries hard enough.

the ghost children, specifically golden freddy, change the image for him in an attempt to placate him into giving them abby, but no matter if he dreams of a happy family, it wont change the truth of what happened. just like how pasting a picture of five children happily holding hands with a golden bunny won’t change the truth underneath. images are fallible, they don’t tell the truth and we cannot trust our brains.

firstly i think this is a really fun direction to take in context to how the movie humanises the animatronics. fnaf 1 is a game made entirely of scary, still images of the animatronics, save for the jumpscares and foxy’s run. the lore is sparse and entirely given through exposition (if i hear one more person complain abt vanny only being there for exposition and not phone guy’s two minute loredump at the start of every night in the game i will lose it), and we know nothing other than that our death is imminent.

but the truth is that these animatronics are kids. they’re scared and lost and confused and cannot understand what has happened. underneath bonnie in the west hallway camera and freddy staring at you from the showtime room are terrified kids doing what they feel they have to. the movie was incredibly dedicated to showing that these kids still want to build pillow forts and sing to music and tickle their friends and be a family and i think it was a great choice.

i think all this focus on images is definitely a perfect lead into fnaf 4 (im not 100% on my book lore but i believe there are three books that cover fnaf 1, fnaf 4 and then sister location??) especially with the recent lore update that all of fnaf 4 is hallucinations. we don’t need a lore explanation of how the nightmares could be real because… they aren’t. following the game timeline, fnaf 4 would have already happened by now but we could easily see a return to it through mike, especially if the schmidt-emily or schmidt-afton theories are true and mike could have been the child in fnaf 4 but surpressed his memories. firstly we have a protagonist who is already on sleeping medication and has dreams that can be easily manipulated. this is a perfect setup for the nightmare animatronics to start making themselves known.

i also think that fnaf 1 was intentionally visually tame. the themes of the movie are actually very dark, they don’t shy away from the truth of the bodies being hidden in the suits, the animatronics Very Brutally kill the burglars, max is literally bitten in half and her body is hidden away, but the on-screen gore keeps it pg. this 100% allows them to experiment further with the levels of gore, tension and violence if they do fnaf 4, because quite frankly some of the nightmares are horrifying.

TLDR this movie sets up a million directions and theories that the next one could go in, and theres nothing the fnaf fandom loves more than vague lore and theory crafting

vanny post next bc i have Thoughts

#eden rambles #fnaf spoilers #fnaf #fnaf movie #mike schmidt #william afton #five nights at freddy's #vanessa afton #fnaf 4 #fnaf theory

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becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys · 10 months

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hi Elanor! I'm going to be Wales for the first time (and am wildly excited), do you have any recommendations for things that really shouldn't be missed in the Cardiff area? (please feel free to disregard if you don't feel like being a virtual tour guide, I've just been seeing your abundant enthusiasm for Wales on my dash for years and can't wait to visit myself)

:D :D :D

I'm doing so much for the Welsh Tourist Board today! They should pay me.

Okay, let's think... A lot of it will depend what you're into. Do you like history and heritage stuff? Wales is extremely rich in castles, so there's a whole load around there - Cardiff Castle, obviously, but also Caerphilly Castle is the second largest in Europe and has a fun leaning tower, while Castell Coch is just west of Cardiff and was built by a lunatic who wanted his castle to Look Right, and so features the sorts of parapets, towers and moats that a cursed Disney princess would be happy with. Said lunatic also built the Animal Wall around Bute Park, which is a lovely park just left of Cardiff Castle in the city centre.

Also St Ffagans Museum, that's in west Cardiff - that's one of those living heritage museums, so they've taken historic buildings from around Wales and very carefully, brick by brick, moved them into St Ffagans to preserve them. They've made it into a little village though, it's so cool (honestly I could write an entire post about St Ffagans alone). Aim to get there for mid-morning so you can buy fresh bread from the popty in the village square, they've usually run out by about 1.30. The sweet shop does GREAT lemon sherbets. There's a lot to see (including a couple of Eisteddfod Chairs :D), so wear comfortable shoes for walking. They also have a high ropes course, and various specific events.

And, Caerleon Roman Museum, north Newport. The Romans built a lot of forts in the UK which became towns, but only three fortresses, and only where vitally needed because of Extremely Restive Locals. Caerleon is the biggest of the three, and in the Mabinogion, that's where King Arthur's fortress is - Caerllion. Whole sections of it are remarkably well preserved, including the little amphitheatre, but they built an actual museum over the top of a chunk of it; it's pretty cool.

OH ALSO do you want to go down a coal mine? Big Pit in Blaenavon will take you down an actual literal coal mine. You do not know darkness until you have been down a coal mine. There's also the Rhondda Heritage Centre, which doesn't take you down but has built a coal mine set above ground and last time I went featured one of those rollercoaster simulators.

Leisure stuff: four different escape rooms, if that takes your fancy; technically six but avoid City Mazes and Play At Pins. Cardiff Bay is swanky as fuck (albeit the most expensive part of Wales, which is... still less expensive than London) and includes things like the Millennium Centre, which will have various shows on. Also the Millennium Centre's cabaret area is currently liberally coated with photos of my husband. Oddly oppressive presence. Unsettling.

Cardiff International White Water does white water rafting/tubing, kayaking, that sort of thing - super fun if you aren't terrified of water. Cardiff International Pool and Gym has some fun slides. Techniquest is a big science centre.

Oh, and as ever, if you want to do one of those guided tours there are a billion to choose from in Cardiff. Including a Doctor Who one, if that floats your boat.

Anyway I hope there is something useful in there!

#asks #wales!#closed for cleaning on mondays

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thewales · 3 months

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The Times:

Appearances will need to be rescheduled as the Princess of Wales recovers from abdominal surgery and the mood is now ‘100 per cent family first, day job second’

Once home in Windsor, Catherine’s diary will be cleared and replaced with rest — something the active princess may find a bit of an adjustment. Until her hospital admission last week, Kate’s days were usually filled with school runs, meetings and calls in Windsor or Kensington Palace with her private office, Royal Foundation team and charities and patronages, official engagements and usually, some form of exercise.

Last week, Kensington Palace contacted Catherine’s 30 charities and patronages to confirm postponing and rescheduling engagements. She has been without a private secretary for more than a year, but her assistant private secretary, Natalie Burrows, who has stepped up in the interim, will continue to hold the fort alongside William’s private secretary, Jean-Christophe Gray, a Whitehall mandarin who will return to government in the spring. Kensington Palace is expected to announce a new “chief executive” to lead their team.

While Catherine is unlikely to be in action until after Easter, aides insist her work will not stall. Last January, she launched a campaign, Shaping Us, to raise public awareness around the importance of the first five years of a child’s life. Building on the work from the Royal Foundation’s Centre for Early Childhood which Catherine founded in 2021, the campaign will continue to be her primary focus this year, and work driven by her will be continuing behind the scenes.

Those close to her say that while she will be out of sight for much of the next few months, her interest in her work will be undimmed and she is unlikely to be able to clear the decks completely.

An aide said: “Knowing her, I don’t envisage that will be the case. Her passion for the early years is clear, there will be a huge continuation of that campaign and she will be keen to be out continuing that conversation with the nation as soon as possible.”

it can be revealed today that William will not cut ties with the Church of England when he is King, and will uphold the centuries-old tradition of the monarch being the church’s “supreme governor”.

William is not a regular churchgoer and does not have the strong faith of the late Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles, but he has no plans to change the sovereign’s unique role within the Anglican faith upon his accession, despite recent speculation he will look to sever ties with the church.

Sources close to William have insisted “the conversation has never come up” and dismissed the suggestion that he is considering altering the monarch’s relationship with the church.

For William, it is family more than religion that is the key to his day-to-day life. Unless they are on engagements or working overseas, William or Catherine always do the school drop-off and pick-up every day at Lambrook, in Berkshire. William, who visited Catherine in hospital on Thursday morning and over the weekend, is now doing both drop-off and pick-up for their three children, helped at home by their nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, who has been with them since 2014.

Weekends are usually spent at Adelaide Cottage because of the children’s sporting commitments, and they tend to visit Anmer Hall, their Norfolk home, only during the school holidays.

The Italians, who were set to welcome TRH on an official visit in March, will need to be patient while that tour is rescheduled depending on the princess’s recovery and there will be a short wait for HRH’s charities until she is back out championing their causes.

Full article

#brf #the prince of wales #the princess of wales

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sashaisready · 6 days

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This Must Be The Place: Chapter 1 - Home is where I want to be

Biker!Bucky x Femme Reader

Back at your beloved late grandmother's home to pack up her house, you have a run-in with the town's biker gang 'The Howling Commandos' and find yourself entangled with the metal armed President.

Series Masterlist

Warnings for: death of a loved one, grief, angst (it gonna be angsty!), Bucky not always being a good guy.

You sighed heavily as you pulled up to the house in your beaten-up Mustang. Hard to believe you were back, but life certainly has a sense of humour.

You parked up and leaned against the driver’s door, looking up at your new home.

Well, old home.

Granny’s place.

Once the centre of your world – a place of home baked cookies and tyre swings, of blanket forts and climbed trees. Of carefully tended to scraped knees and long hugs on the couch in front of Granny’s favourite shows. Sitcom reruns and Murder She Wrote, more lemonade than you could ever feasibly drink.

You came to visit every summer and they were the best summers of your life. But of course, you got older. As you grew, you wanted to spend your summers with friends, to kiss boys and go to the diner with Stacey and Monique. Granny’s place would always hold a large piece of your heart, but you grew up. You looked back now with a sense of sadness, wishing you’d gone for one more summer. Maybe two.

Granny understood. She was always telling you to spread your wings and live. ‘Don’t tread water, Cub’, she’d tell you. ‘Go out there and enjoy yourself’.

And you did. Maybe a little too hard.

You stayed close with Granny despite the physical distance between you as you moved across the state for school. Plenty of phone calls and letters were shared, and she’d send you novelty postcards she found at gas stations and thought you’d find funny. You still had a pile stored in a shoebox, now shoved into your car’s trunk with all your other worldly possessions.

You still visited occasionally, always telling yourself you needed to come more – she needed someone to clear out the attic, to sort out her paperwork, fix the old fence. You should sort that. The town was nice enough, but the biker gang that owned the local dive bar and auto shop gave you a bad feeling. You’d hear the roar of their motorcycles late at night, feeling grateful that was Granny was safe on the outskirts of town.

A few months ago, just as you were looking at your calendar to arrange your next visit, she suffered a sudden, huge heart attack. The hospital staff told you on the phone that it was quick, mercifully. She was in front of the TV, sipping a cup of tea. It would’ve been exactly how she wanted to go, quick and comfortable in her castle. No long, drawn-out illness. No forgetting her own name or wasting away in a bed. She often told you her worst nightmare was to become a burden and forget the life she’d lived.

But you couldn’t shed the guilt that she died alone. If you’d been there…

Your parents meant well but weren’t particularly distraught. You and Granny were closer than anyone else in the family. Still, ever the pragmatists, they arranged the funeral and filed the paperwork while you pulled yourself together. Granny was organised enough to have a will, and even had a document in her bureau with details of her finances and who to contact for every possible loose end that might need tying up in the event of her death.

Despite your closeness, it was still a huge shock when you found out she’d left the house solely to you, and nobody else in the family. Her few savings were divided between her children and other grandchildren. But you got the house.

‘Cub’, read the note in the will. ‘You loved this place, so it’s yours. I don’t care what you do with it. You can sell up and use the proceeds to take a vacation for all I care. Buy a fancy car or a designer bag or even invest in something dumb. You can stay here and lay down roots. Whatever you want. It’s all yours. Just fix that damn fence before you do anything’.

Nobody in the family quibbled it. The property wasn’t worth much, and nobody wanted to sort through Granny’s things, so here you were. Still mourning, but trying to move forward.

You didn’t really have a plan. You weren’t exactly set up in life, even flailing, some might say. Flitting between bullshit jobs and bullshittier boyfriends. No real roots or ambitions. You decided to move in for a while and sort the house out. Maybe get a temp part time job in town to keep you afloat. At least you didn’t have to pay rent. Then you’d sort Granny’s things, give the place a lick of paint, fix the aforementioned damn fence, then you’d decide. But you’d probably sell up. I mean, what would keep you here?

You spent a few hours getting your own stuff moved in and sizing up the task ahead. Granny’s place was clean, spotless in fact, but she was a bit of a hoarder. There were endless Rubbermaid tubs of clothes and blankets, spices in the pantry older than you were, and cardboard boxes of seemingly every birthday and Christmas card she’d ever received.

You also weren’t prepared for the emotional impact. Every corner held a childhood memory, you could practically hear the radio she used to play as she cooked, smell whatever mouthwatering dish she’d be whipping up that day.

You channelled your energy into the work and made some calls. There was a Goodwill store in town and a women’s refuge a few miles away, and they were very keen to take some of Granny’s things off your hands. You made plans to do some drop-offs over the coming weeks. You arranged to have wifi installed and took some time getting utility bills moved into your name.

You sat at the dining room table with a glass of water, exhausted, when your phone buzzed with a text notification.

“Hey! Are you here? How about we catch up with drinks tonight?”

Wanda. The one person you knew in this town apart from Granny. You’d played together as kids and hung out every summer. As you got older, you stayed in touch on social media and would go for coffee when you visited Granny. You liked her a lot. She had reached out to you when Granny died (as apparently everyone knows everyone here) and you’d thanked her. You kept her updated with your plans with the move. She’d always stayed here in this town, getting serious with her boyfriend Vis and settling down.

Part of you wanted to keep your head down, but you knew you’d benefit from some company, especially Wanda’s. You didn’t want to be the weird recluse living in her dead grandmother’s house who only ventured outside to buy groceries. Besides, it would be nice to reconnect with her.

“Hey!”, you replied. “Sure am. Just getting comfortable. Okay, sure. I could use a drink. Where we going?”

She responded seconds later. “The Snake Pit. Yeah, I know it sounds scary but it’s okay, really! The Howling Commandos own it, but they’re cool when you get to know them. Vis and I will pick you up at 8?”

You sighed. Great. Drinking in some biker gang’s sleazy dive bar. This was your life now. Well, you’d had worse Saturday nights.

“Alright. See you then” you fired back before you could talk yourself out of it.

Wanda was right. The Snake Pit was okay. A little dark and dingy inside, but a more varied clientele than you’d expected. There was everyone from excitable college girls to the old geezers nursing a single bottle of Bud for over an hour. You had worked in bars; you knew the types well. It wasn’t the rowdy biker gang hangout you expected, but you guessed options are limited for drinkers when there’s only one drinking hole in town.

The bartender was a little all over the place, messing up a few orders and rushing to get everything done. He seemed to be serving people haphazardly with little regard for who was there first. Fine. Whatever.

Splayed across barstools and were the Howling Commandos themselves. All clad in heavy leather and denim, they joked and drank beer with each other while keeping a close eye on the customers. You got the impression they weren’t necessarily looking for trouble but wouldn’t hesitate to deal with it should some occur. A broad blonde with a thick beard seemed to be in charge, you could see in the way the others hovered around him that he held some sort of authority. They were quite intimidating in their matching kuttes and big boots, but you supposed that was the point.

The blonde man locked eyes with you and watched you, a mix of curiosity and wariness on his face. His eyes were blue and strong, the intensity of his glare causing you to turn away as you went back to nodding at the story Wanda was telling. You had a strange feeling of dread in your stomach, but maybe that was just the anxiety of being somewhere new.

“You wanna play pool?” she asked, nodding towards the corner.

There were a couple of pool tables and the back of the room, with a dartboard nailed to the wall not far from them.

“Sure,” you smiled as you stood up and grabbed your drink, “I’m a little rusty…it’s been a while”.

“Modesty I’m sure,” Vis grinned as they followed you over. “I bet you’re secretly a dark horse”.

You winked jokingly as the three of you laughed and moved towards the table. It was nice to catch up with them, you settled in so comfortably together that it was as if you did this every week.

As you set up the balls and chalked your cue, you felt the presence of a group moving behind you. The Commandos group had moved from the bar and headed to the dart board, jeering and laughing as they lined up to take their turn. A striking redhead, the sole woman in the group, was busting their balls about their darts ability (or lack thereof).

“Hey” you heard Wanda say softly as you moved around the table, and a few of them murmured greetings back at her.

They were being loud and obnoxious as they ragged on each other for their poor aim, and you suppressed an eyeroll as you leaned over the table to take your shot.

The laughter got louder as you pulled your cue back and aimed, they were practically shouting, you pushed your cue forward through your fingers and moved to the ball and-

Pain.

PAIN.

You flinched and your legs buckled as the cue clipped the ball and sent it flying in the wrong direction. You felt a pressure and a sting as your brain tried to catch up with what had happened. You could hear Wanda gasping and Vis talking to you calmly as another voice interrupted.

“Ohmygod…Ohmygodsorry…I didn’t…oh my god, FUCK” they said, the panic evident.

You turned and looked, to your horror, to discover one of the darts embedded in one of your ass cheeks. This surely couldn’t be happening??

As you turned back towards the panicking voice in front of you, it became immediately evident who was the perpetrator.

He was young, chocolate brown hair slicked back to reveal a baby face. Wide, horrified chestnut eyes stared at you. Despite the kutte and motorcycle boots, he looked like a scared little boy. Behind him stood members of the gang, some smirking, some rolling their eyes and nudging each other. They didn’t intervene, just enjoyed the show. You felt your face flush with mortification.

“What…what the fuck is wrong with you?” you spat, furious as well as in pain. You noticed the entire bar had stopped to watch. You gripped the dart but couldn’t quite build up the courage to pull it out.

“Are you stupid...?” you continued as he just stared at you, his mouth flapping like a fish as he tried and failed to explain himself.

Wanda said your name in a wary tone and Vis told you it was okay. Even through your angry haze you could tell they were nervous about where this was going.

“Hey…come on now,” said someone else. “You all shut up”.

The group quickly parted and quietened as the blonde man from earlier appeared in front of you. “Parker…” he sighed under his breath.

“Look…it was an accident, okay?” he told you sternly. “I’m sorry…look, I’m Steve, I’m the co-owner and-”

“I don’t care!” you hissed. “What the fuck kinda place are you running here?”

You knew you sounded shrill, but you were upset and embarrassed. And it hurt! You were half aware of the group suddenly tensing up, the atmosphere in the air shifting to something a bit darker.

The man raised a brow in annoyance and went to speak again when you suddenly yelped, feeling a hard sting in your bottom half and then an immediate loss of pressure.

Someone had yanked the dart out.

You turned, aghast, to a man who had suddenly appeared behind you.

“What the fu-,” you exclaimed as you looked at him.

Your words died on your tongue as you were greeted by the face of the most beautiful man you’d ever seen. Long, coffee-coloured waves of hair sat at his well-chiselled jawline. Big, broad shoulders stretched out a clinging white t-shirt beneath his kutte. He had a metal arm that moved robotically, but mostly you were caught in the depths of the cerulean pools of his eyes. The others all seemed to straighten up and go quiet in a way they hadn’t even done with Steve. This must be the other owner, then.

He smirked and waved the dart in front of you. “Fixed it”.

You furrowed your brows. “Ow…” you said monotonously.

“You want some ice for that or…?” he smiled a wide bright smile, and you did your best to ignore something igniting deep within you.

“It’s funny, is it?” you scowled. “I could sue for this…”

Could you? You didn’t know if you could. But you were too mad to stop.

The man sighed.

“Look…we’re sorry. Parker’s sorry. Steve’s sorry, and I, Bucky, am sorry,” he told you, his voice softening. “Parker can’t play darts for shit but he’s never been a safety hazard until now. It was bad luck. He sure as hell won’t be playing again. Now, how about we get you and your friends a round of drinks on the house to apologise? And if you still wanna stay after that, you can get as much beer and pool as you want – no charge.”

You looked at Parker who was still visibly panicking but not quite as much, then Steve who watched you curiously. Wanda and Vis were nodding effusively as if encouraging you to accept his offer. You were still angry but didn’t really want to piss off the local motorcycle gang on your first night here. You were grateful for this de-escalation, even if you were still mad. You could practically see the room start to relax again.

“Fine” you sighed with defeat, rubbing the sore spot on your backside. “But a warning you were about to do that would’ve been nice”.

He laughed, “Yeah…but I didn’t want you to freak out”.

Ugh. His laugh. His perfect laugh.

You rolled your eyes, annoyed that he was right, you would’ve freaked out if you’d known. You felt yourself mellowing, then became irritated at yourself for folding so easily for a handsome man. Habit of a lifetime, huh?

“Maybe you should still ask before getting that close to someone” you muttered.

“Point taken”.

He smiled with amusement and gestured you towards the bar and you followed, nodding to Wanda and Vis that you’d be right back. The rest of the bar’s patrons went back to their drinks and conversations as if nothing had happened. The darts game continued, with Parker noticeably sitting down away from anything sharp and pointy.

“He means well…he’s new at all this,” Bucky explained as he watched your eyes follow Parker. “He gets ahead of himself when they rile him up”.

“Well, your friends thought it was hilarious”.

“Trust me, they were laughing at him. Not at you. But yeah, it was kinda funny”.

You huffed and leaned on the bar, giving him a side eye and only replying with your drink order. Bucky signalled to the bartender who nodded and looked flustered as tried to speed up serving his customer.

“Your bartender sucks” you muttered.

“I mean he’s a little slow but-,”

“No. He sucks. Why is he doing a Guinness now? You pour a Guinness first and let it settle, do the rest of the drinks, then come back and top it off,” you explained as you pointed to the sloppily poured lager he’d put on the bar. “And does your customer want any beer with that foam?”

Bucky laughed again. “Well, okay. Point taken, Sugar. Are you saying you could do better?”

“Sure. A monkey could do better…”

He laughed again, turning to look at you as he smiled and watched you with curious eyes. “What did you say your name was again…?”

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x you #james bucky barnes #this must be the place fic #biker!bucky #motorcycle club au bucky

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sirmanmister · 11 months

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For any Canadian/East Coast peeps please remember to wear masks outside!! This air quality is WORSE than when Fort McMurray burned!!

Keep an eye on your children and grandparents and pets! They’re all especially prone to smoke inhalation!

If you get any nosebleeds you can put a tiny bit of petroleum jelly in your nose to keep things from drying out, and lip balm is a good idea too. Sunglasses won’t save your eyes completely but they do help if you have to go outside!

Any yard work or exercise can WAIT. Going for a run WILL hurt you. If your house is too smoky, turn on your air conditioning (if you have it) and go to a shopping centre for the day. I think they opened the cooling centres in Ottawa which is apparently getting hit super hard so you can also head there to get a break!

Please please be careful out there folks!

#this air quality can kill so please be safe!!#if you have a medical condition please please please take it easy #the smoke has been making me lightheaded and I’m in decent enough health #also please #don’t vape or smoke outside #I understand the addictions I used to smoke but please please try to wait until the air clears up a tiny bit tonight #not fallout #serenade posts #wildfire smoke #PSA #Canada #East coast #wildfires #air quality #legit half of Canada’s population is being hit and a goooood chunk of Americans so this is a post for all

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bradshawssugarbaby · 3 months

Text

Under The Stars and Stripes - One (Capt. Syverson x OFC)

a/n: look at your girl coming up with two multiparters at once!!! i wanted to write something sweet for capt. syverson (who moving forward, i have named luke, fyi), and my partner sort of suggested this (i mean, kinda, he thought it was what i was writing - turns out he was wrong but gave me a v good idea).

pairing: Capt. Syverson x Joanna Blake (OFC)

warnings/content: injuries, medical discussions, age gap (38 + 26), mentions of military service, inaccurate descriptions of physical therapy + military life.

word count: 1.9k

The unforgiving glare of the overhead lights in the medical center cast a harsh radiance over the waiting room. Luke's cerulean blue eyes squinted against the artificial glow in the room, his gaze wandering in search of anything remotely captivating. Opposite him, an infographic poster touted the virtues of physical activity and mental health, a message that seemed incongruous with the knee brace he begrudgingly wore. The irony of contemplating jogging or hitting the gym while nursing a wounded knee did not escape him.

"Luke Syverson?"

He swiveled his head in response to the melodic call of his name. In the doorway stood a woman, her blonde hair secured with a claw clip, a clipboard balanced gracefully in her hand. A warm, friendly smile adorned her heart-shaped face. With a half-hearted wave, Luke acknowledged her.

"Present and accounted for, ma'am."

Internally, he winced at the self-consciousness his response provoked. Rising to his feet, Luke attempted to distribute his weight favorably, minimizing the strain on his compromised leg. A sharp pang shot through his knee, confined by the rigid embrace of the brace. Collecting his crutches, he navigated his way toward the young woman, focusing on maintaining a semblance of grace. The crutches, tools of mobility he had resisted vehemently at home, now betrayed his struggle.

As he drew closer, Luke observed that she was notably younger than he, the realization of his own impending forties sinking in. Her olive-green eyes sparkled, framed by honey-colored strands that cascaded like molten gold. A sun-kissed radiance illuminated her complexion as she beamed at him.

"I'm Joanna. I'll be your physiotherapist moving forward. Let's head to the exam room; we can go over the paperwork together."

Her voice possessed a cheerfulness that could rival a weather reporter or red carpet interviewer. Luke nodded in understanding, trailing behind her as they entered the room. The once sterile lighting had mellowed, casting a more agreeable ambiance.

The examination room emanated professionalism, each piece of equipment meticulously arranged, and charts displayed with precision. Joanna gestured toward the examination table, indicating for Luke to take a seat. Settling into a chair nearby, she balanced the clipboard on her lap.

"Alright, Captain Syverson, let's delve into the paperwork and gain a betterunderstanding of your situation, ok?" Joanna initiated, her focus shifting to the documents before her.

“Let’s start with the basics, full name and date of birth?”

“Right,” Luke began, “"Full name's Luke Everett Syverson, ma'am. Ain't much use for the middle one, but it's there. I was born April 15, 1968, ma'am, interrupted my ma’s Easter dinner. Home base is Fort Bragg, North Carolina, hence why I’m here in Durham. Otherwise woulda’ probably gone to the centre in Tennessee, closer to where I’m from and all..”

“You know, I never use my middle name much either, but, just in case there’s two Luke Syversons in the armed forces, gotta include it to make sure I’ve got the right one.,” Joanna nodded her head, humming as she jotted down her notes.

The room embraced a quiet tension as Luke settled onto the examination table, his eyes following Joanna's movements with a mix of curiosity and wariness. The dimmed lighting cast a softer glow, alleviating the clinical starkness of the surroundings. Joanna, her gaze focused on the paperwork, began with a series of routine questions about the nature of Luke's injury.

"So, Luke," she started, her tone gentle yet professional, "tell me about when the injury occurred, and how has the journey been since then?"

Luke took a moment, his gaze drifting to a framed landscape photo on the wall. The distant mountains seemed to echo the weight of his thoughts. "Iraq. Torn ACL," he said, sparing the details but acknowledging the source of his struggle. "Routine patrol, turned into anything but routine."

Joanna nodded, recognizing the understated weight in his words. "I see. That's a significant injury. And you had surgery to correct it?"

Luke shifted his weight uncomfortably on the exam table, nodding his head. “Sure did, m’am, three days ago. Still hurts somethin’ fierce, but I guess that’s what I’m here for.”

He sighed, his focus on the knee brace that had become both a literal and symbolic constraint.

“To be completely honest with ya, m’am, I just wanna get back on my feet so I can figure out what to do with my life now, you know?”

She nodded, understanding the complex emotions wrapped around his military service and the path to recovery. "Recovery and returning to civilian life is a process, Luke. We'll take it one step at a time. Do you have any idea what you’d like to end up doing in future?”

“I haven’t really thought about it. Never went to college, so a lot of stuff’s off the table now. Plus, I’m getting old. Not sure where that leaves me either. Thought about maybe becoming a police officer or an EMT, you know? I wanted to do that when I was a kid, but then joined the military on my 18th birthday instead.”

Joanna smiled warmly as she made a couple of notes on her paperwork, before continuing to further establish the details of Luke's history, the conversation shifting to one about his daily struggles and the impact the knee surgery had on his life. With each exchange, a bridge of understanding formed between them, an unspoken alliance forged in the pursuit of healing.

In those moments, Joanna glimpsed the man behind the military façade. Luke rarely dwelled on his time overseas, focusing instead on the immediate goal: shedding the brace and moving forward. The physical therapy sessions ahead were not merely about mending a knee; they were about reclaiming a life after two decades of military service.

As the examination progressed, Joanna outlined a personalized rehabilitation plan, detailing exercises and strategies to rebuild strength and mobility. The room, once filled with tension, now held a promise of progress and recovery.

"Alright, Luke," Joanna said, concluding their discussion, "we something to start with at least. Let's work together to get you back on your feet."

With the paperwork completed, the clipboard now resting on the desk, Joanna moved seamlessly into the practical aspect of Luke's rehabilitation. She began guiding him through a series of light exercises designed to gradually rebuild some of the strength in his knee that he’d lost. The atmosphere in the room shifted from contemplative to purposeful as Joanna demonstrated each movement with precision, her instructions clear and encouraging.

Luke, though initially reserved, found himself following her lead, a quiet determination in his eyes. As they progressed through the exercises, Joanna observed the subtle signs of discomfort and adjusted the routine accordingly, ensuring that the session struck the delicate balance between challenge and progress. The room resonated with the rhythmic hum of therapeutic effort, a shared endeavor toward a future where the weight of the brace would be a distant memory. As the session neared its end, Joanna offered a reassuring smile.

"Great work today, Luke. We'll take it step by step, and before you know it, you'll be moving freely again."

“Thanks m’am, I appreciate it,” Luke replied, a soft smile forming on his lips.

“It’s what I’m here for,” Joanna nodded as she held the door open for him in an effort to make it easier to exit as he hopped on his crutches, “And Luke? I wanna hear that you’ve been using the crutches at home as well, or you’ll just injure your knee further.”

“Yes, m’am,” He chuckled, shaking his head as he made his way out of the clinic.

Later that night, Luke settled into the worn-out couch in his living room, the dim light casting a soft glow across the room. He dialed his younger brother Travis’ number, the anticipation of sharing his day evident in the subtle smile that played on his lips.

After a couple of rings, Travis’ voice came through the phone, lively and teasing.

“Well, well, if it ain't the elusive older brother himself. What's new, Luke?"

"Not much, just had my first therapy session today,” Luke chuckled softly as he took a bite out of his slice of pizza.

"Therapy? Never thought I'd see the day, Luke. What's the world coming to?"

"It's for the knee, not my sanity, Travis."

"Alright, alright. So, how'd it go, Captain?"

"Surprisingly good, actually. The therapist, Joanna, she's something else. Got me doing all these exercises. Says I'll be back to hiking those Arkansas woods in no time."

“Joanna, huh? Luke, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you have a little bit of a thing for her. Florence Nightingale effect?"

"You watch too many movies, and besides, idiot, that’s when the therapist falls for the patient. Ain’t gonna happen. She's just good at her job, makes me feel less uncomfortable, I s’pose."

"Sure, sure. So, what's the verdict? She cute? Should I tell the kids they’ve got a new aunt?"

"You'll be waiting a long time for that. But seriously, it felt good, productive. And, she asked me about what I wanna do now. Got me thinkin’ about my options."

"Really? Did she smell the smoke? Set off a fire alarm?"

“Funny. I’m thinkin’ maybe becoming an EMT, you know? Can still help people, use my military training, just…stayin’ stateside and less sand.”

“You did always have a thing for helping people, I’ll give you that. Now, about Joanna…”

“Travis, forget it.”

“I’m just saying, Ma’s 60th birthday is coming up, and you know you’re in for a grillin’ about when you’re giving her grandbabies.”

“She has two already,” Luke protested, laughing as he took another slice from the box of pizza, “Besides,” he said with his mouthful, “I don’t know if I even want kids at this point. I’d be dead by the time they had kids”

“Well, if they take after you, maybe. I had kids at a reasonable age.”

“I s’pose, how are they anyway? Bet ya Hannah’s grown like a bad weed since I saw her last, and Maddie? She was knee-high to a grasshopper last time I saw her.”

“They’re good. Maddie’s almost 5 now, gettin’ quite feisty, like her mama, and Hannah’s taken up cheerleadin’, now I gotta become well-versed in making perfect pigtails in her hair if her mother’s busy with the little one.”

“Better you than me, Trav. Don’t think I could figure out how to do those tiny lil elastics.”

As Luke engaged in a heartfelt conversation with his brother, the echoes of family life stirred a contemplation of his own future. The tales of parenthood shared by his brother left a lingering thought.

Did he, despite his usual reserved nature, harbour a desire for a family of his own?

Love and romance had often found him awkward and uncertain, but when it came to showering affection on his nieces, those barriers melted away effortlessly. His musings naturally gravitated towards Joanna, her radiant smile replaying in his mind, illuminating the corners of his apartment like a beacon.

The playful teasing from Travis planted an idea in his mind, one he never expected to be considering, which prompted Luke to consider whether there might be something extraordinary about his connection with Joanna.

Setting the cordless phone down on the table beside the couch, he sighed heavily, the weight of his newfound solitude settling in as he savored a third slice of pizza. His eyes roamed around the room, the empty expanse of his apartment feeling almost suffocating. The hush of the house, disrupted only by the dull roar of football highlights on the TV, intensified the solitude. In that moment, amidst the quietude, the prospect of companionship and a shared future became a lingering ember in Luke's thoughts.

#captain syverson fic #captain syverson fanfiction #captain syverson x ofc #cpt. syverson #cpt. syverson fanfiction #cpt. syverson fic #cpt. syverson x ofc #cpt. syverson x oc #captain syverson x oc #captain syverson #capt. syverson #capt. syverson fic #capt. syverson x ofc #capt. syverson x oc #henry cavill characters #henry cavill fanfiction

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