#I know I know it's late and posted at an odd hour but tada?

[lettalady]

The Long Journey Home Chapter 24: We break, we fail, we relearn what we already knew

          After an evening listening to strangers speculate about refugees and sending them home, an evening spent staring at the Manhattan headquarters for the GRC, you know what waits once you stop listening to the sounds of the city, once you stop trying to memorize the bedroom ceiling. It won’t be the deep dark black that you always hope for and rarely get, an empty sleep allowed by exhaustion -- even though you are. Exhausted. Exhausted from sitting on the edge of the sofa, tense for any new bit of information the newscast might bring. Exhausted trying to fight the inevitable, trying to fight the bad that just keeps coming, returning to you again and again as though drawn back by a homing beacon you can’t find to turn off.

         Maybe the scarred landscape of your former home and the events that drove you from it are etched deep enough in your psyche that there is no escape. Regardless as to what is decided, if The Patch Act is enacted as is or amended, it doesn’t matter. You return, time and again, to your home country. The fact that you finally got to see the site of the headquarters? The place where the decision makers made those calls that could have helped, but didn’t…

          You could have tried insisting that the pair of you stay up longer. Talk longer. About anything. Pretend a little longer that it was normal that he’s sleeping on the sofa rather than in his own bed. That you’re here, living with him -- however much longer your refugee status allows it. You could have pushed to hear a little more about the events that went down in lower Manhattan, insisted on getting some sort of confirmation that Sam would stop by, that he, too, was ok. Whatever ok means these days.

[ find the story on   AO3  ||  Wattpad ]

#The Long Journey Home #imagine helmut zemo #imagine baron helmut zemo #imagine james bucky barnes #imagine james buchanan barnes #yes you will pry buchanan out of my cold dead fingers #zemo reader bucky smut that turned into THERE MUST BE PLOT AND ANGST DARN IT #I know I know it's late and posted at an odd hour but tada?

[hollenka99]

Now He’s Gone Forever

Summary: Anti decides to strike but realises Jack might still have his uses. He should get the doctor and the magician to fix this. Inspired by this piece of art by TurquoiseMagpie.

Warnings: Character death, discovering a body, brief description of said body

This pumpkin carving was boring, no matter how enthusiastic Jack was. The demon would just have to bide his time. There had to be a window of opportunity coming up.

"There's his eyes." Jack checked the monitor. "Now comes the mouth. The mouth is gonna be hard but I'm gonna make it look like he's got-" he bared his teeth and made a sound to suggest a goofy grin. "Like he's got a load of teeth. Not sharp, jagged teeth. That's lame. That's not scary. Even though that's what I did last year. I'm a diff- I'm a changed man! I'm a different person."

He saws at the pumpkin, grunting from the effort.

"Gerald, you should go see a dentist. The teeth are coming out nicely. Well, at least I think they are, I haven't been able to follow the lines properly because the knife is like... sometimes it's a bit too big. Sometimes I'm terrible at this. Um, okay, almost there, almost there. Last one. Last one." He rotates the pumpkin to face the camera. "Did it work? Is your mouth gonna come out? Come on... yeah!" The sliced pieces slide out from the slight pressure he subjects them to. He continues to cheer as the rest of the mouth is removed. "Now I have to wipe off all the marker because, when you can see the outline, and then you see where I didn't follow, it looks stupid. You gotta see the pumpkin for what it is. Tada!"

After furiously wiping the black marker off, Jack presents Gerald the Pumpkin to the camera. It shines from the artificial light that lies off screen. He admires his work, grabbing the nearby pumpkin top so that he may complete the activity. Jack expresses his concerns that the top may not fit and cheers when it does, proclaiming Gerald is a fully formed pumpkin.

"Okay, so the last thing you wanna do is get your knife and you're gonna have to do fine-"

This seemed like the perfect opportunity to strike. Anti had been corrupting the footage throughout the video. Now it was simply a case of taking what he wanted. Jack is unsuspecting as Anti whispers instructions. All he needs is a gateway.

He coerces the man to lift the blade to his throat. His way in was open now. Anti forces himself into a position of control. The human's mind has no defences and struggles to resist the attack. Either way, Anti gains full command of the body with barely any fight back from his victim.

He giggles at his easy victory. Should he mock the video's audience or simply leave? No, they were only beginning to pay true attention to him. Some even argued he didn't exist. He'd show them.

"His body was weak. You all said my name. Kept me inside too long. I am here now. It's all your fault. Listen to me, you all made this happen. You could have stopped me. But you just watched as this happened! Now he's gone forever. Say goodbye."

With his message done, he didn't need this body any longer. Who was Jack but yet another pawn? Anti wasn't going to deny he was an influential pawn. However, when all was said and done, Jack wasn't needed anymore. Anti was a little hesitant. A guy like this had the potential to be useful again later. Jack had slit his throat; he was dead as soon as Anti stop possessing him.

He knew that doctor and magician were friends of Jack's. How about they try save him? It would be fun, watching the heartbreak, their desperation. If he played his cards right, he could get them involved. Manipulate them so subtly that they weren't even aware he was in control. He could make them into his puppets. If they couldn't save Jack, oh well. He'd move on to his next target. Although, he had to admit, the lost potential would frustrate him. There was so much he realised he could do with Jack. Why did he let his host slice his neck like that?

He makes an attempt to prepare the video for uploading. Everything glitches and refuses to function. Great. He spent so long working to reach this point. All this taunting of millions gone to waste. Plus a dead body on his hands now too.

That settled it. Jack's friends would have to come to his rescue and revive him. All that he needed now was to come up with a way to team them up. He spots a post-it note reminding Jack of social plans set for the following day. He writes his own note. At least pen and paper didn't involve technology.

Anti cut out the bottom of 'Gerald'. He figured it was a large enough hole for his plans. Carrying it to the recording room, he positioned himself and forced the pumpkin down on Jack's head. This would be something interesting for his next visitor to find.

He abandons the corpse, leaving a smudged Happy Halloween! on the whiteboard and blood he refuses to deal with.

---

Henrik stood outside the pub. Jack was half an hour late by now. The doctor's phone claimed he had attempted to call Jack seven times. Seven missed calls and three ignored texts. Henrik was willing to give his friend the benefit of the doubt at first but by this point, his patience was long gone. Jack was the one who suggested a catch up over drinks in the first place. Where was the asshole? He didn't seem to have the decency to let Henrik know he was going to be incredibly late. He wished they had never organised a night out. Jack's behaviour was unacceptable. It wasn't like him to blank his friends.

Yes, this was certainly odd behaviour. Jack was usually the type to apologise if he was 30 seconds late. He would definitely contact Henrik if he was stuck in traffic. So why hadn't he?

Something wasn't right. Maybe it would be a good idea to visit Jack at his home. He sent him a text to give Jack some warning, not that he expected it to be seen. If he didn't answer his door, Henrik was sure a spare key was left somewhere. Jack was always locking himself out of his house due to being disorganised.

Henrik knocks on the front door, praying for Jack to answer. If he forgot about their plans to meet, Henrik could live with that. He would be angry, of course, but he'd live. He is unimpressed when he finds a spare key lying under one of Signe's plants. Obviously, Jack was willing to have his home broken into. At least his wake up call would be from a friend and not a potential thief.

He searches, calling Jack's name multiple times. The front door had been locked so maybe Jack had left for the pub. No, he would have contacted Henrik if he was going to be late. Besides, he had already gone through that line of argument. His dread was only building. Maybe Signe knew where he was? No, she was away, visiting friends. That's what Jack had told him.

He enters a room, only to be greeted by blood. It's on the table and the floor. This blood can belong to only one person. Henrik begins screaming Jack's name as he races up the stairs. No, please no. He doesn't want to find what he's expecting.

The recording room door was ajar. With the rest of the house empty, this was the last possible place Jack could be found. He pushes the door and turns away immediately. This couldn't be happening.

Jack was there, slumped in his recording chair. His position must have slipped because he was half off the seat, only his arms and a knee keeping him on it. The pumpkin he had been carving was covering the majority of his face. His green hair looked a little like it was part of the plant. Henrik didn't like that.

The worst part was the blood. It was all over. The back of the pumpkin had a good proportion of red. Jack's hands had dripped some on the floor as well. When he forced himself to look closer, he found Jack's throat had been slit. It was clear he'd been killed downstairs then brought up here for some reason.

When had this happened? They'd only spoken yesterday. Granted, the conversation was only to confirm their plans but they had still talked. Last night, Henrik had walked around his neighbourhood with his children as they demanded sweets from local strangers. Jack had mentioned he was going to film a pumpkin carving video, similar to the one he made last Halloween.

It seems Jack barely finished his video before being attacked.

The pumpkin was degrading. Clearly his murderer didn't care about leaving Jack respectfully after death. Who would even want to murder a person like Jack? Removing it from his head was the first thing Henrik did. Jack didn't deserve to be found like this, to be mocked in death. With the mask gone, Henrik could see his friend's face. Jack had often joked about being pale but this was no comparison. A touch of his arm confirmed rigor mortis had set in. It had been at least eight hours then.

He has to know what happened. The police, they would need evidence. Jack had been filming a video, right? Maybe the attack had been captured on camera. Henrik looks at the computer desk, searching for the camera or anything useful. There's a note addressed specifically to him and it's certainly not Jack who wrote it.

H̸̕ȨN̵RI̧K̷

̶T͜a͞l̢͏̴k҉̷͢ ̕҉t̛͜o͘͞ t͝h̕e̸͘ ̷m̸a̸gi̴͟c̛i̶a̕͢ņ҉.͠ ̛S̵̢͟a͟͞ve͞͏̧ ̧̧͜y͢o̸͘͟u͘҉͞r̛͜ ҉͞fr̕i̛͘e̡n̛͢d҉̸.̷̕ ̴I̷f͡͏ ͡͏y̢o̴͡͏u̕ ̕c͝͏a̕n.͟

The magician? Henrik thinks he recalls Jack mentioning being friends with one. He'd have to search through Jack's contact to find this guy. He hates invading his friend's phone but it's necessary. He sees a Marvin and the name rings bells. He thinks this is the one. He skims through their texts to make sure. There are mentions of magic shows. That settles it, he's ringing this Marvin.

"Hey Jack, I can't really talk right now. I'm just leaving a kid's party. Call me back in an hour?" "Wait! My name is Henrik. I'm a friend of Jack's. You're a magician, correct?" "Uh, yeah." "Do you know how to bring back the dead?"

#my writing #writersofjack #say goodbye #turquoisemagpie #jacksepticeye #antisepticeye #henrik von schneeplestein #ao3 transfer #tw character death

[akwonders]

Party, date, drunk, reunion, ER?

So first I had like nothing planned. Then suddenly between Thursday afternoon and Friday I had a list. I was invited to a party by some co-workers, asked out on a date by 2 guys, and realized some friends are in the country. I was all O.o what on earth is going on?

One guy just wasn't going to make it into the schedule plus for some odd reason he irritates me already. The other one seemed to have more common sense on how to go about things. That is why I agreed with him.

Anyways, party with co-workers? Basically was a wine and cheese party with some other dishes. Pretty chill. Made it home and realized I was supposed to meet homie in like an hour.

It's funny because when we first started talking I was somewhat mean. Like if you want to learn English there are apps and hagwons for that. If you want some easy chick I am not the one.

He passed the message round. Sadly, most guys don't make it these days. He also doesn't live or work far from where I live so that is another thing that was working for him. Sent him a message to find out what exit and such. Only for him to realize that he mixed up the days. 😒

I will admit I was a bit 😑 at first but I could understand why later. Heck I was mixing up my days. He didn't want to break the date so he was like as soon as he get off of work we can still go. Which would have been an hour after our original time. So not too bad but I was like eh~ because he could be tired and then suddenly have to rush to a date. I felt kind of bad. So I told him not to worry and we can just make it for another day.

He wouldn't give up. Kept apologizing and really wanted to keep it for that night. I finally gave in because it seems if I didn't he was never going to let it go that he messed up while planning. He would message here and there until he got off.

By that time in general it was almost time for me to leave to meet him. So I went a bit early. I am always early. He took a taxi quick and when I saw him I was all 😮 because I was chilling listening to music. 😅

He apologized some more and I couldn't help but laugh because honestly it was pretty cute. Yeah I said that. He was cute alright? Alright.

We went to eat chinese styled lamb. Sat outside because the weather was nice. Had great conversation and too many bottles of soju.

I got drunk.

First time ever wasted.

Then I realized why. I didn't eat any rice or bread or anything all day to be able to balance out the alcohol like normal. So it got me good. Also had wine earlier in the day. Oops. 😅

To the point I kept switching from English to Korean with a mixture of Japanese. But we finished eating. He paid and we left. By this time it was almost 2am.

No subway running. So taxi it is. But before that...

I got sick. A stomach full of soju, wine and lamb is a no go for me apparently. So...yeah on the side of the road. Kept the guy out the way because I didn't want any on anyone. Was fine after that for a bit.

He made sure I had everything and made sure I was holding on to his arm as we walked.

At this point I was highly dependent on this man to much of my embarrassment.

But oh it gets better you guys. So much better~

Because I was drunk and not 100% or heck 60% me *chuckles* he gave the taxi driver the station to drop us off at.

Halfway, I had the driver pull over so I could throw up again. I actually told them in my drunken state I didn't want to mess up anything. The taxi driver was actually super nice too. Go figure. Anywho.

*covers my face in pure embarrassment* As I write this I can't help but cringe at the fact I have done such a thing.

Get to my station. He paid the driver. I somehow know how to walk to my place basically blind it seems. I magically press in door codes too.

So yes, this man now know where I live. At this point I was like whatever I need to get home at least. I have cctv everywhere if something goes down.

Made it to my apartment. Giggled at the fact I pressed in the code too fast and had to do it once more to get in. Quickly took off my boots. Told him to close the door while I ran to the bathroom to throw up again.

Yep~ a third time.

He made sure I was okay and gave me a ton of water to drink.

Even in my messed up state I was all "I have to brush my teeth, clean my face, and change clothes. I can't sleep like this."

Causing him to laugh. He was drunk but not like me. I was a mess.

Grabbed my pajamas and changed in the bathroom. Came out and actually brushed my teeth and washed my face. Literally a miracle I functioned so well. He gave me some more water.

Then it hit me.

This man is standing in my place helping me after I got drunk, threw up 3 times on our first date.

I just assumed he was staying I guess because I took out sheets, a blanket, and gave him a pillow saying, "Here, you can sleep on the floor since it's so late. I have caused enough trouble."

He was all 😮 are you sure?

I shrugged, walked to my bed and basically just collapsed on it like "let me die in my drunk embarrassed state."

He laughed and literally tucked me in while calling me cute.

Granted it's not the first time he called me cute but I was feeling far from it at this point. 😅

He settled on the floor next to my bed after making sure I was okay. I knocked out after saying good night.

*sighs* I know I know this is so unlike me. What happened? Life happened and I didn't care too much. I felt oddly comfortable which is weird.

Anyways, while sleeping if I moved a bit too much he would ask if I was okay and if I needed anything. At one point he just held my hand.

Then, I woke up yesterday (Sunday) morning and was like "omg my head. First time and hopefully the last I drink so much without eating properly first." Looked over and saw him sleeping still. It was like 6am and I remembered like 99% of everything but 1% was a bit foggy. I knew what happened but needed to piece it together better. Like the last 2 times I threw up.

He woke up maybe a few minutes after me and asked if I was okay again. Even though he was barely awake, that's when he confirmed my foggy 1%. I literally hid under my blankets saying sorry blushing like crazy. Only to hear him laugh and say it's fine while calling me cute for the billionth time. At this point I am all "I am going to die from pure embarrassment."

Drifted off to sleep again then woke up a bit more rested. Found my phone and stuff. Took a shower and such. He was still asleep. He wouldn't see anything anyways. So no worries.

He woke up to a phone call from work. It was his day off but they couldn't find a red bag it seems. So he was telling them where it should be.

Oh yes his details. Hmm...🤔 Let's call him Mr. Gucci since he is a manager of one of the stores. He is 181cm, born in '85 (so 32 years old), has one younger sister and broke up with his last girlfriend of 2 years in February because her parents wanted a guy with more money like a doctor or something. Yep~ I was all oh man ouch...

Anywho, we officially woke up. Talked a bit. My turn to apologize a ton. I did cook him some breakfast. It was the least I could do. Talked some more.

He brought up business trips that he has to do. I was just thinking to myself why is he telling me all this?

I know. I know. He had a reason to. He does want to meet again before his next business trip.

Honestly though besides me being drunk that was a fantastic date. He was a pure gentleman the entire time. When he left he told me to call if I ever need anything.

After that, I did some things. Called Mr. Ghetto got no answer and was a bit worried since he was already getting sick.

A few hours later met up with some friends visiting from England. Had a blast. At great food, explored, great conversation and all. Ended the night at Lotte's Sky Tower.

Not going to lie. It is worth every won for that view. It's in the video of the previous post. Said our goodbyes. We may meet up again before they leave.

I came home but of course stopped for bubble tea and got in at 9pm on the dot. 😄

Then finally found out Mr. Ghetto ended up with a condition that is temporary and even went to the ER. I was all 😯. He didn't answer because well he was barely awake. In which I know how it is because it's similar to what I deal with at times while having UC (Ulcerative colitis).

And he tends to keep to himself more without getting help from anyone. He cut most of his friends off over the summer. Which makes me worry more. Even if we are nothing more he is one of my best friends here that I would drop whatever I am doing if something happened. He does the same for me. *sighs* So now that he is able to get up himself I will check on him if not daily then every other day. I legit don't want to lose that man.

But yeah~ tada my crazy weekend.

Now to sleep. Until next time~ 안녕~

#life in korea #life in seoul #new co-workers #date #party #er #mr. ghetto #mr. gucci #drunk #first time ever #lotte sky tower #reunion #old friends #new friends #a new life #i died from embarassment #2017