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wiypt-writes · 3 years

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Stark Spangled Banner

Ch46: Just A Formality

Intro: Emmy gets into a spot of trouble at school, which leads the family to make a joint decision that will change their lives forever. And together with their friends they celebrate Jamie’s birthday, will a little surprise for Emmy too.

Warnings: Bad Language words. Slight angst (teenagers) and Steve being a very overprotective dad…

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: Yeah, I love this chapter. I hope you all do too. And thank @angrybirdcr for the edit...it mushed my insides!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 45

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

February 2021

“So what do you think?” Rhodey asked as he stood, arms folded, looking at the screen. Natasha was stood next to him, nervously chewing on her nail and Steve was looking at the rather gory photos that they had been sent through from the Mexican Authorities.

“Is it definitely him?” Steve sighed, looking at the screen again. In a million years he would never have expected Barton to be capable of such out and out gore and violence, but then again the man had lost his entire family- wife and three kids. Steve wasn’t sure how he would react should anything happen to Katie, Emmy or Jamie.

“Yeah.” Nat sighed, pressing another button. This time it flipped to some CCTV footage of the incident. They three of them watched as Clint took down six gang members, brutally, and with a final swipe of the samurai sword he was holding almost severed one man’s head completely from its shoulders. “Same MO, same fight pattern, and the facial recognition software caught him about five miles north of this town less than two hours before this happened.” “He’s getting more and more vicious.” Rhodey spoke. “I suppose we should be grateful in a way he’s taking down people that we should be stopping but how long till someone gets caught in the cross fire?” “Clint wouldn’t-” Natasha began but Steve cut her off.

“Once I would agree with you.” he sighed, looking at her “But now, well, Nat, he’s…” “Lost it.” Rhodey concluded

“So would you if you’d seen your wife and kids turn to dust.” Nat’s voice was fierce as she turned to look at him.

“I know.” Rhodey held his hands up “I can’t even imagine what he went through.”

Steve looked at Nat, recognising the pensive look on her face. “What you thinking?”

She took a deep breath. “I’m gonna fly out to Mexico. Rhodey, can you come with me? We’ll see if we can dig anything up?” Rhodey nodded. Steve was about to offer his services too, but then his phone started ringing.

“Hey beautiful.” He greeted Katie, but instead of the usual response of either hello handsome or soldier, he was met with an exasperated sigh.

“Emmy’s Principal has just called me.” She groaned “She’s been in a fight.”

Steve frowned. “Really? What for?” “No idea. He didn’t say much other than he’s excluding her for a week and wants us to go collect her as soon as we can. Thing is, I have a call in twenty with the Health Authorities, President Ellis has asked me to give them some guidance on how we regrouped at SI, and I can try and rearrange but if I can’t it means she’s gonna be sat outside the office for at least an hour and a half. Is there any chance you-”

“I got, course I’ll go. I’m done here anyway so you do what you need to do and we’ll see you at home.”

“Thank you.” She sighed “Between this and Jamie screaming blue murder when I dropped him in at the Day Care this morning It hasn’t really been the spectacular return to work I was hoping for.”

Steve wrinkled his nose. “He didn’t take it well then?” “No.” Her voice cracked “God, Steve, Leaving him there whilst he was screaming, fuck, it broke my heart.” Steve took a sigh and walked a little further away from Rhodey and Natasha, dropping his voice. “Honey, he’ll be fine. You know what he’s like. Ten minutes after you left he will have forgotten why he’s so upset and will have settled.”

“I know, I just, well Mom and Dad used to palm me and Tony off on our Nannies all the time and-”

“This is completely different.” Steve cut her off. “First off, you’re leaving him for what, five hours a day, maximum. Second off, he’s being watched at a crèche, twenty floors down from where you are, in the same building so you can see him whenever you want.”

“I was advised by the Staff not to do that today.” She sniffed. “It could unsettle him more.”

“I’m sure they know what they’re talking about.” Steve soothed her gently “Look, try not to worry. Jamie will be fine, I’ll go sort Emmy out and we’ll see you at home this evening okay?” “My hero.” she said and Steve smiled.

“Love you, see you later.”

Cutting the call he turned to Rhodey and Nat who were still looking at the screen. Walking back towards them he picked up his jacket where he had tossed it over the back of a chair, reaching for his keys at the same time.

“Guys, I gotta go.” He informed them and they looked up. “Emmy’s in trouble at school and I need to head in and see the Principal.”

“Trouble?” Nat frowned.

“Fighting.” Steve rolled his eyes as Nat and Rhodey exchanged a glance, Nat smirking slightly. Steve gave an exasperated sigh. “What?”

“Nothing.” Nat grinned. “Just don’t punch the Principal in the face…”

*****

It took Steve little over thirty minutes to reach the school. He may have broken a few speeding laws on the way, but Katie was right, it was too easy to do in the Camero. To be honest, it was pretty easy to do in the new Audi they had bought just before Christmas too, but Katie had that as it was easier to get Jamie’s seat and stroller in. The Camero was not child friendly, at all, but she had insisted on keeping it as a second car, despite Steve’s protests that they didn’t need it.

With an easy tug he pulled open the doors to the reception of the school and strode inside. The woman behind the desk handed him a visitor’s pass and led him down to the office as he brushed a piece of fluff off the front of his long sleeved blue top. Steve followed the white haired lady through the corridors in silence until he reached the office and spotted Emmy was sat outside it, slumped in a chair. At the sight of her father she jumped up and ran into his arms, crying.

“Hey,” He looked down as he smoothed her dark, ebony hair out of her face, cupping her face gently in one large hand. “What’s going on, Em?” “He started it.” She sniffed. “He was saying things, about you and mom and that my birth parents and that…that…”

She was starting to have a panic attack, Steve could see that instantly. She’d suffered from them a lot when she had first started to live with them and he knew that if he didn’t help her get it under control now it would escalate.

“Deep breaths.” He spoke gently, steering her back to a chair. She sat down and he tilted her head with his hand so that she was looking at him. “Count to ten, just like we practiced ok?”

She gripped onto his forearms, her eyes screwing shut as she took deep inhales and exhales, counting along as she did. By the time she got to seven she’d managed to ground herself again, and Steve encouraged her for the remaining three numbers, them just reaching ten as the door to the office at the end of the corridor opened.

“Mr Rogers.”

Steve stood up to greet the Principal, John Stevenson, who he had met once before when they had enrolled Emmy into the school. He was a tall, lean man with round glasses and a kind face, but an air of authority perfect for that of a headmaster “Mr Stevenson.” Steve smiled, shaking his hand “I don’t mean to be rude, but could you give me a second with my daughter please? I want to hear her side of the story and then I’ll be right with you.”

“Of course,” the man nodded, giving him and Emmy a little smile. “Just come in when you’re ready.”

Once the door to his office was shut, Steve sat on the spare seat next to Emmy. “So you wanna tell me what happened. Who ya been fightin’ with?”

“A boy a grade above. And I wasn’t fighting. Not really, I mean I hit him but he fell over, he didn’t hit me back.” Steve bit his lip. “Seems the stuff your mom and Auntie Nat taught you came in handy, huh?”

Emmy shrugged.

“What did you hit him for?”

“Because he’s a jerk and a bully” Emmy’s hands were wringing together. “He was picking on a few of the kids who lost their parents all through last year and then last month when I told him to shut up, he decided to start on me”

Steve took a deep breath “What was he saying?”

“The usual, stuff like ‘you don’t have a real family’, said that you and mom only look after me because you feel guilty that the Avengers fucked, sorry, messed up.” She glanced up at Steve, but he merely arched an eyebrow, letting the curse word slide. “And he says that once I’m old enough you’ll throw me out, and then he called me a, and I quote ‘fucking orphan rat’.” She shrugged. “Sso I punched him.”

“Alright.” Steve took a deep breath, his jaw ticking as he supressed the feeling of annoyance and anger that had flooded his system at Emmy’s explanation. “We’ll unpack all that when we get home, with your mom.”

“Are you mad?” Emmy blinked up at him, her eyes wide.

“Well, punching him probably wasn’t the best way to deal with the situation.” Steve sighed, and instantly his wife’s voice popped into his head at how hypocritical he felt.

“Hello Kettle, this is Steve Rogers, you’re black…”

“But if what you’re telling me is true-“ “It is Dad I swear!”

“Then no, I’m not mad. At you.” He gave her a small smile. “But I’m mad as hell he said those horrible things to you though.” He looked at Emmy as she smiled softly. “Now, I best go speak to your principal. I won’t be long, and then we’ll go home and talk properly okay?”

She nodded and Steve dropped a kiss to her head as he stood up and walked to the door. Rapping on it twice, he pulled it open and stepped inside the room, shutting it behind him. Principal Stevenson stood up, shook his hand before gesturing down at the chairs on the opposite side of his desk.

“So did she tell you what happened?” The man asked, leaning back slightly in his chair.

Steve nodded. “She said that a boy, I didn’t get his name…” “Josh Gemmil.” “Yes, well, she told me that this Josh had been picking on a few kids and when he started on her, she didn’t take kindly to it. And to be frank, I can’t say I blame her. The things he was saying to Emmy were disgusting.” “Yeah, and that may be the case.” Mr Stevenson sighed heavily, “but the issue is, Mr Rogers, we have a strict zero tolerance to violence policy, so, given Emmy did punch him in front of pretty much the entire school in the yard, I’ve no alternative but to suspend her for a week.” “Are you suspending him?” Steve asked.

“Sorry?” The man opposite Steve frowned. “I’m not…” “The boy who Emmy punched. Are you suspending him for what he said?”

“No-one has corroborated her story, well, other than Brooke and I know how close they are so she could be-” “Woah, hold up.” Steve interrupted, holding his hand up to cut that man off as a flash of anger surged through his chest. “Are you insinuating Emmy is lying?” “No, that’s not what I’m saying.” “So if she’s telling the truth, then surely the boy deserves punishment as well. Emmy isn’t the only person he’s been saying things to.”

“She’s the only person who has punched him.” “That may be, but either way-.”

“Mr Rogers,” the Principal sighed, cutting him off, “for what it’s worth Josh’s parents will be coming in later and I will be consulting them about his behaviour, but unfortunately Emmy has broken his nose.” “Well, I’d like to say I’m sorry about that but I’m not.” Steve was too far gone now to be rational, his instinct to protect his daughter had well and truly kicked in and the guy in front of him was really pissing him off. “I don’t like bullies,” he continued, levelling the man with a look and he visibly recoiled back into his seat, “and I’m not gonna punish my daughter for standing up to one. If you deem it fit to suspend her then fine, that is your prerogative, and of course I will tell her that violence is not acceptable, but I would expect some level of punishment to be extended to the boy in question and not just her.”

The Principal nodded. “Mr Rogers, I can assure you, if it was up to me I wouldn’t be suspending her at all, but my hands are tied by the governors and policies. I make an exception here, I have to do it for others and before you know it…” he trailed off. Steve took a deep breath, he could understand that perfectly, didn’t make it any easier for him to swallow though. “But that’s why the suspension is only for a week and not the two.”

Steve nodded. “Okay, do I need to sign anything or…”

“No.” the Principal shook his head. “Emmy has her log on to Workspace, her class notes and homework will be detailed on there as usual so she doesn’t miss out. If there is anything she doesn’t understand or needs help with, she can catch up when she gets back. She’s a very, smart kid so I’m not too concerned about that aspect of things.” Steve nodded, and stood up. He took a deep breath and stepped back into the corridor to find Brooke was sat with Emmy now, her arm round her best friend.

“Shouldn’t you be in class?” Steve asked, shooting the red head a look.

“Hey Mr R, don’t sweat it. Told em I was going to the bathroom.” Brooke shrugged and Steve rolled his eys.

“Well scoot before you get into trouble too.” He gestured with his head to the doors that led back to the reception area.

“Can Brooke come over later?” Emmy asked, timidly, “Or am I grounded?”

Steve took a deep breath “Not tonight, we need to have a chat. But over the weekend then, sure.” “’kay.” Emmy nodded, standing up. She reached for her rucksack but Steve took it from her, carrying it in his right hand, his left gently between Emmy’s shoulder blades as he steered her towards the exit. As they walked into the reception, Emmy stopped dead and he heard Brooke who was walking along at his other side mutter an ‘uh-oh’.

“This her?” A short, squat woman with a very short hair cut was stood a few feet in front of him, a boy by her side, a few inches taller than her, dressed in a bloodied T-shirt glared at Emmy and nodded. Instantly Steve moved forward a step so he was level with his daughter, his hand dropping to her shoulder.

“Your daughter broke my son’s nose.” The woman glared up at him.

“So I understand.” Steve nodded. “She has been suspended and we’ll be dealing with it appropriately.”

“You know, kids like her, they shouldn’t be-”

“Kids like her?” Steve blinked at the woman, and shook his head. “Excuse me?”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t.” Steve’s voice was low. “So, please, explain.”

“I mean with violent and aggressive tendencies, they should be locked up not in a school with normal kids-” “Woah, now hang on.” Steve held his hand up as he looked at the woman. “Your son isn’t exactly innocent in all this.” “I don’t see your daughter with blood all over her shirt. He didn’t hit her…” “I would hope not, seeing as he’s a boy and half a foot taller than her.” He shot back and the woman’s mouth snapped shut. Steve turned to Emmy and handed her the backpack and his keys. “Go and get in the car, sweetheart, I’ll be with you in a minute.” Emmy glanced up at him, one look on his face told her he wasn’t to be argued with, and she nodded and took them from him, before leaving.

His attention then turned to the teenager and woman and he folded his arms across his chest, glaring at them both. The boy had a sharp face, slicked back blonde hair and for some reason he reminded Steve of a younger Gilmore Hodge. Which was never a good thing. He looked at the woman and spoke again, his voice level but full of that Captain Authority he could never help turning on in situations like this.

“Your son said some very nasty things to my daughter, and in normal circumstances he should be apologising. However, given what happened I suggest we leave it at that and they agree to stay away from one another in the future.” “Him apologise?” The woman practically shrieked. “She punched him, if anything she’s the one that should be saying sorry.” Steve gave a huff of a laugh “I can assure you that won’t be happening. Besides,” he turned to the boy, “do you really want an apology from a ‘fucking orphan rat’?”

He heard a snigger followed by a mumble of “mic drop…” to his right and turned to see Brooke was still there.

“What are-�� he shot her a look, pointing towards the class rooms, “-scoot.” “Later Mr R.” Brooke shot him a salute and he raised an eyebrow as she headed off back to wherever she should have been in the first place.

“Did you say that?” The woman had rounded on her son.

“No…I swear.” “He said he didn’t.” Steve shook his head, his hands dropping to the buckle of his belt. “I’m not interested in whether he admits it or not. Fact of the matter is I believe my daughter and according to her and her friend, Emmy isn’t the first kid he’s picked on but I’m sure as hell hoping she’s gonna be the last, especially now he’s had a punch in the face to make him consider the consequences of his actions.” His lips quirked a little at the side as he delivered his final line. “I’d hate for him to get antoher.” “How dare you threaten him?” The woman was now talking in that high a pitch it was making Steve’s ears hurt.

“That isn’t a threat.” Steve shook his head “Merely an observation. Now if you’ll excuse me.” He turned to the door when the woman spluttered after him “You know, we do know where you live. That big, fancy house in Clinton Hill.” “Then by all means feel free to call round later.” Steve laughed as he turned to grin at the woman of her shoulder. “But I really don’t fancy your chances against my wife.” ****** “He said WHAT?” Katie spluttered once Steve had explained what had gone on. “The little fucking shit!” “His mother wasn’t much better either.” Steve shook his head as he raised Jamie up higher in the air above him, the tot screaming with laughter. “She threatened to come round later.” “I’ll kick her fucking ass!” Katie folded her arms across her chest and a wry smile crossed Steve’s face as he brought Jamie back down to his chest.

“Yeah I told her I didn’t fancy her chances.”

“Where’s Emmy now?” Katie asked.

“In her room, she said she wanted to be alone for a bit.”

Katie pondered for a moment, before she moved and walked out of the kitchen, calling up the stairs, “Emmy? Can you come down for a minute please?”

Katie came back into the kitchen and it wasn’t long before Emmy appeared, her eyes red. Katie sighed and pulled her into a hug.

“I’m sorry, I just, ” Emmy sniffed. “He was so rude and…” “Sweetie, we’re not mad.” Katie shook her head, steering the girl across the hall “We just want to talk to you, about what he said,” she gestured at one of the seats by the breakfast bar, “sit.”

Emmy did as she was told and Steve placed Jamie in the pack and play at the corner of the room. There was a minute or so silence before Katie slid a mug of hot chocolate, containing marshmallows and cream across the counter to Emmy, then passed Steve a coffee, picking up her own drink before she rounded the counter and sat on a stool next to Emmy, Steve staying where he was, the base of his back leaning against the worktop opposite them.

“So your dad told me what happened.” Katie began “And we want to talk to you about what that little jerk said to you.”

“I shouldn’t have let him get to me.” Emmy shrugged “I know what he was saying was crap but…” “If your dad had a dollar for every time he had reacted to something he shouldn’t have done he’d be richer than Tony.” Katie smiled and Steve gave a scoff.

“You’re a fine one to talk.” He raised an eyebrow at his wife and she grinned.

“And as for throwing you out once you’re old enough,” Katie shook her head, “you’re with us for as long as you wanna be. And then even when you don’t want to be, and you move out, we’ll be keeping tabs on you, annoying you, like Tony does to me.”

Emmy smiled and wiped at her eyes.

“You said he’s been picking on you for a while?” Steve asked “What made you snap today?” Emmy shrugged “I guess I was just fed up with it and when he was laughing about my name on my test paper, and he called me an orphan rat I saw red.” Katie took a deep breath, she was furious but before she could say anything Steve spoke, a frown creasing his brow.

“What do you mean he was laughing at your name?” “My surname.” Emmy shrugged “On stuff like the register and things at school its Rogers but on my official test papers for my grades it has to be McKellen, because Rogers isn’t my real name. And he was laughing saying that I didn’t belong anywhere.” Steve and Katie locked eyes and Steve was the first one to break away.

“Does it bother you, that your name isn’t Rogers?”

“Not normally.” She shrugged

“What if we made it so?” Katie asked.

“What, like change it legally?” “That’s one way of doing it.” Steve shrugged. “The other is we adopt you.” Katie looked at her husband and smiled. This was something they’d mentioned in passing to one another a few times but never really talked about in any detail as, well, to them things were fine as they were. But now, well, it just felt right. The next step for them all. Making her status as their daughter official.

“Adopt me?” Emmy’s voice was a whisper.

“Yeah.” Katie nodded. “Look, Em, as far as we’re concerned you’re already our daughter, and not just a foster one either. It’s merely a formality. But it’s up to you.” “Do you want to think about it?” Steve asked.

“No.” Emmy shook her head as she looked up tears in her eyes. “No, I don’t want to think about it. I’d love it, I really would.” Katie smiled as the girl threw her arms round her shoulders and began to sob. Steve put his mug down on the counter next to him and strode round to wrap his large arms around both his girls until a loud screech form the corner of the room made them all look up. Jamie was stood gripping the side of his play pen, clearly disgruntled at being left out of the hug.

“Alright pal, point taken.” Steve picked him up and carried him back to where Emmy was now wiping her eyes. He handed the tot to his older sister and Katie grinned.

“Family hug?” She opened her arms and Emmy laughed, as the four of them snuggled together in a huddle.

*****

March 2021

Despite Steve’s best attempts to ignore it, there was something in what that little shit had said to Emmy that had really bothered him. The Avengers fucked up. It wasn’t an alien thought, he often found himself thinking back to how they had failed but he normally shook himself out of it. They’d done the best they could, they simply hadn’t stood a chance.

The thing was, not all of the public saw that. On more than one occasion the remaining Avengers had all experienced some kind of vitriol from the public, Natasha still receiving hate mail for them all at the compound. Whilst people he met understood, it was always the ones that didn’t which stuck in Steve’s mind, but he’d never had anything more than the odd whispered insult or dirty look come his way, that was until a few day’s after Jamie’s first birthday.

He was in the store with Emmy, picking up a few bits and pieces for the family gathering they were having to celebrate Jamie turning one and he could feel someone’s eyes on him, which wasn’t unusual. What was unusual, however, was the tap on the shoulder her received as he tossed a few items from the list Katie had given him into the trolley.

“I thought it was you.”

Steve turned to see a dark haired man, the same height as him looking back.

“Can I help you?” Steve asked politely.

The man snorted “I thought at one point, yeah, but you didn’t, this…us…what the world is now, it’s all your fault.” Steve took a deep breath, and spotted Emmy returning to the aisle he was in with an armful of snacks he had sent her for.

“Sir-” Steve began, trying to placate the man but before he could do anything the guy had punched him straight in the face. It wasn’t a hard blow, but Steve hadn’t been expecting it. Or the subsequent blows for that matter.

He was vaguely aware Emmy was screaming, and out of the corner of his eye he saw a security guard hurrying towards him. Before he reached them, Emmy had kicked the man hard in the shin and was shouting at him, as he hopped on his good leg. Steve doubled over, the ringing in his ears subsiding as he pinched at his nose which was streaming blood.

“Oh my God.” A female voice said “Billy, what…” she looked up at Steve and paled “Captain, oh God, I’m so sorry…he’s…” Steve waved away another member of the public who had come to help, insisting he was fine. Taking a deep breath he looked up and saw the man was now crying, his head buried into his wife’s shoulders.

“We…we lost our son.” The lady continued, with a choked voice. “He hasn’t dealt with it so well.”

“I’m sorry.” Steve bowed his head, it was all he could think to say.

“It isn’t you fault” The lady shook her head. “And he doesn’t think that, not really, it’s just we never got a proper explanation, you know, bar official government statements. No real help to come to terms with anything.” “That doesn’t mean he can just punch the crap outta my dad!” Emmy blazed, indignantly and Steve lay a hand on her shoulder. “Emmy.” He shook his head gently before he turned to the woman. “I’m sorry that no one was there for you and I’m sorry that we couldn’t do more. But we tried.” The last three words were almost a plea to her, trying to make her understand they had tried, boy did they try. She cast him another sad look before she led her husband away.

“You ok?” Steve looked down at his daughter.

“Me?” She frowned “What about you?” “Had worse.” Steve mumbled, gently touching his nose “Let’s get out stuff and get home before it starts to set. I don’t fancy having to re-break it.”

**** Katie was sat smiling as Natasha was holding Jamie up, his hands curled round her fingers as she guided him round the living room.

“Won’t be long until he’s doing this himself.” The red head smiled, and Katie grinned.

“He’s growing so fast.”

“Think you’ll have another?” Nat looked at her.

Katie shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, Steve would have a football team full if I let him but, who knows.”

Nat smiled and Katie’s attention turned back to her son who was toddling in front of his Auntie. He was looking more and more like his father each day and was now a substantial little chunk who was pretty strong and robust too. Small bumps and knocks didn’t seem to phase him at all, and the other day he’d been playing with a tonka truck and had fallen onto it, flattening it completely. He’d screamed blue murder, more over the fact his toy was broken than he had been hurt, but it had made both his parents realise that he was definitely half Super Soldier and wasn’t inheriting any of Steve’s pre-serum ailments, much to Steve’s relief.

Their attention was taken as all three of them heard the car pull up the gravel drive and Jamie gave an excited giggle and started moving his legs even faster at the sound, understanding it to mean his father was back. Smiling to herself, Katie watched as he giggled and started trying to run to the door, and when it opened she looked up fully expecting Steve to grin and swoop his boy up into his arms, except what greeted her made her hand fly up to her mouth. His shirt was covered with blood and his nose was out of shape.

“Shit.” Katie stood up and headed straight to him, gently reaching up to slide a finger to his face, tilting it so she could see. “Are you ok?”

“I’m fine sweetheart” he said gently.

“What the hell happened?” Nat asked as she picked Jamie up, who was still squirming to get to his father, completely nonplussed by what was going on.

“Some guy in the store punched him.” Emmy explained, and Katie looked at her daughter, whose eyes were swollen, she’d been crying.

“What? Why?” she frowned. “Em, can you grab me an ice pack out the freezer?” Steve asked before she could answer, she was upset enough as it was and he didn’t want her seeing or hearing what was coming next. She nodded and headed off.

“Steve.” Katie watched as he sat down on the sofa, shaking his head.

“Just reset it before it starts to heal anymore.” He grumbled. “Quickly before she gets back.”

Katie sat next to him and reached out gently. He grit his teeth as she snapped his nose back into place. Across the room Nat flinched at the crunching noise it made.

“Fuck.” Steve cursed softly before laying his head back against the cushions of the couch steadying his breathing as his eyes began to water from the pain. He knew it would heal quickly but that didn’t stop it hurting like hell.

“You gonna tell us what happened?” Katie asked, looking at him.

“Some guy at the store recognised me and started screaming that it was all our fault, the Snap, and hit me.”

“Must have been a pretty hard swing.” Nat said gently, bouncing Jamie up and down, distracting him with the Cap teddy bear she had grabbed off the floor. Jamie grinned at the bear and grabbed it, sticking the ear of it into his mouth.

“He didn’t just hit you once, Dad.” Emmy said gently as she returned, passing him the ice pack.

“How many times was it?” Katie frowned.

“Four ,maybe.” he shrugged

“Try Six” Emmy muttered.

“Six?!” Katie’s voice grew loud

“And you just let him?” Nat’s snorted. “What else could I do Nat?” Steve sighed, “I couldn’t hit him back…” “Yes, you damned well could!” Katie seethed. “Fuck!”

“Language.” Steve chastised playfully. “Besides, wasn’t really going to hit him once Em had kicked him in the shin.”

“You kicked him?” Katie looked at Emmy who shrugged.

“He was screaming and punching so I kicked him, real hard, and then told him that he was an asshole, and everyone had lost, and that he should try fighting Thanos in a field in Wakanda himself if he could do any better…” “Then the guy’s wife appeared.” Steve sighed, pressing the ice pack to his face.

“Yeah, she was nice.” Emmy nodded. “Said they had lost their son and she was so sorry.” “But they’d never really had a chance to ask questions or had an explanation other than what the Government had said.” Steve’s voice was muffled slightly from the pack. “But it got me thinking in the car about how many other people out there like that.” “So we had an idea.” Emmy nodded “Support groups.” “Support groups?” Katie frowned.

“Yeah, we have them at school.” Emmy said “Somewhere for people to go and talk about their issues and feelings.” “That’s actually not a bad idea.” Nat mused and Steve nodded.

“I know. Surprised we didn’t think of it sooner.”

“Well we’ve had other things on our minds.” Katie popped a shoulder, gently.

“I’m gonna help.” Emmy smiled. “We’re gonna brainstorm ideas later after the party.”

“Yeah, on that, do me a favour and no one mention this to Tony when he gets here.” Steve groaned as he stood up, ice pack still on his nose. “I’m going to get cleaned up.”

Leaving Emmy to watch Jamie, Nat and Katie unloaded the car and took the supplies to the kitchen. Steve showered quickly and came back to help them, and it wasn’t long before the food was sorted, Katie’s ability to cook how easily she did never ceased to amaze Steve. Before long the gang arrived and Morgan toddled in, holding Tony’s hand before he let go and she bee-lined for Emmy who was sat on the living room floor where she had been sat looking at a book with Jamie.

“Hey Moo!” Emmy grinned at the younger girl who sat with a soft thud next to her, leaning into her older cousin for a hug.

Tony watched them for a short while before he asked if Emmy was okay and then headed into the kitchen to find Pepper already clutching a glass of champagne. Katie handed him a beer as she pulled him into a hug and he shook Steve’s hand.

“You’re in the same room as usual.” Katie looked at him. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted Moo in with you guys or not so there’s the travel cot in there or she can have the room over from you…” “She can stay with us.” Tony nodded, taking a pull from his beer.

“Where is she?” Natasha asked.

“With Emmy. She adores that kid.”

“Have you told her the paperwork has been finalised?” Pepper asked looking at Katie and Steve who both shook their head.

“No, we’re gonna surprise her with that later.” Katie smiled.

“We got her a little something.” Tony swallowed his beer. “You know, just to welcome her officially to the mad house.” “What is it?” Steve asked suspiciously.

“Nothing Iron Man or Tony Stark related.” Pepper looked at Steve. “I promise.” Tony shrugged. “Spoil sport.” The five adults all headed into the large living room, Jamie grinned up at his uncle and crawled over to him. Tony swung him up in the air and smiled, that is until Jamie head-butted him by accident.

“Oww…shhhhhhhhugar!” The billionaire corrected his curse before wincing. “Man, Rogers, this kid has your knuckle head.” Steve smirked. “He’s still half Stark.”

“Mind you, you should be grateful he doesn’t take after his mom. She was a horror.” “Was not.” Katie shot back indignantly. “Kiddo, you were a pain in the ass.” Tony sniggered. “You stuck bread in the VCR. Dad hit the roof.” “I thought it was a toaster.” Katie shrugged as the room laughed. “Mind you, not like we have to worry about that now seeing as VCRs went out in the stone age.” “Was that an age joke?” Tony smirked. “Do I have to respond with one about your husband or…” Steve rolled his eyes “Go ahead, be original.” “You know you’re almost as sarcastic as she is now.” Nat but in, pointing at Katie who grinned before she looked at Tony.

“You remember what dad used to say?”

“Sarcasm is a measure of potential,” Tony imitated their father’s voice. “And if that’s true…” “You’ll be a great man someday.” Katie finished, the two of them laughing.

Despite the crappy start to the day, it was a nice afternoon surrounded by their family. They drank, ate and eventually it was time for the cake which Katie and Steve were excited about, for good reason. Katie placed it down on the coffee table in the middle of the lounge, complete with candles. For the first time the group got a look at it, and Steve heard Emmy gasp. Half the large cake was iced in blue, the other half was lilac and across the top the word ‘Happy’ spanned both halves, before the next line read birth on the blue side and adoption on the other, before the word day sat underneath.

Emmy glanced up at her parents, her eyes filling with tears. “You mean…” Steve grinned and handed her the envelope he’d retrieved from the kitchen, which she took in shaking hands. “Signed, sealed, done. You’re officially a Rogers, Em.”

“Poor thing.” Tony mumbled, earning himself a slap round the back of the head from Natasha.

Together the Rogers’ children blew out their candles (well, Katie blowing Jamie’s out on his behalf before the boy could grab one of them and burn himself) and then Emmy turned to look at Steve and Katie before throwing herself forwards, her arms round both their waists. Steve’s arm fell to her back and he pressed a kiss to Katie’s cheek before Tony stepped forward and handed Emmy a small gift bag.

“It’s just a little something.” He smiled. “Just to say welcome to the family, officially we mean, because you’re already part of the…” He rolled his eyes as Emmy blinked up at him. “Just take it, kid.”

Emmy took the bag and opened it, her eyes widening as she looked at the box, emblazoned with the word Pandora. Katie peered down as Emmy opened it and smiled at the charm bracelet which was inside. It held charms, the letters EJR for her initials, Emily Jayne Rogers.

“Thank you.” She whispered before she gave Tony a hug, then Pepper. She stepped back and turned around, her eyes brimming with tears. “This is the best day ever!”

And despite the shitty start to it in the store, Steve was inclined to agree it hadn’t been that bad at all.

Chapter 47

**Original Posting**

#stark spangled banner #steve rogers #Katie Stark #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers fic #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character #mcu #mcu fanfic #chris evans #chris evans characters

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mysterytickingegos · 3 years

Text

At Least We Have Us

Pairing(s): Darkiplier x Platonic!reader

Genre: Angsty with a fluffy end.

Word Count: 1,771

Summary: Strange things happened to those who didn’t leave that dreadful manor in time, and you were one of those people. Becoming something not quite human took some time to get used to, but at least you weren’t alone.

Anonymous Request: Platonic Dark with a soft Y/N that's basically very motherly of him despite being much younger? She cares a lot about him and looks up to him. Maybe she's his assistant and also experienced the events of WKM and Dark basically adopted her after that? Post-WKM please! I need Dark being a wise and over protective big brother rn Thank youuuu

Authors Note: I loved working on this one! It was a fun concept, thank you so much for the request!

Want to read more?

[Image Description: A gif of Mark from a vlog video giving a thumbs up to the camera, it has been edited to be gray with Darkipliers afterimages and colors, red and blue.]

Dark...That was such a strange name to call him, at first.

Damien had been a family friend. He was your neighbor, and your best friend’s uncle. When you were a teenager he was a respected member of the local government, a man who hid away in a study and worked far too hard. Eventually with enough pushing from Ophelia, he was your boss, having given you an internship in city hall that Elli really didn’t want. You considered him a friend. Maybe not a close friend, but he was someone you trusted and respected and he would say the same about you.

You jogged up the stairs to the office, dodging past people while muttering quick apologies to anyone who had something to say about it. When you got there, you heard the laughter of your friend through the door and cracked it open. Ophelia was desperately trying to catch her breath between giggles, of course because Damien was telling another story about your completely sophisticated soon-to-be DA. He was surprisingly relaxed, leaning back on his desk and talking with his hands quite a bit.

“But of course, that doesn’t stop them, they run down the street- Oh, Y/n please come in. You’ll want to hear this.” He gestured to the empty chair beside Elli, but when you didn’t move from the doorway, both their faces fell. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” You tilted your head at them, not realizing how you looked, pale and out of breath. “Damien, they’re done counting. You won.”

He was in shock for a few moments, only standing up a bit straighter as he processed your words. “I won? I’m...?”

“You’re going to be the Mayor.” Ophelia finished for him, just before all three of you started laughing and cheering and jumping around.

In many conversations there were moments where you would catch a glimpse of the person you used to know, and in the beginning you would get a heavy heart. You weren’t ready to let him go, to accept that he was somebody else now. Perhaps that’s because it would mean accepting you were somebody else, too.

None of the guests from that damned party left the manor the same.

You heard it so clearly, a stranger’s voice coaxing you up the stairs, quietly whispering your name over and over as you slipped away from the rowdy party. You were practically hypnotized, not thinking about who it could possibly be or their intentions as they lead you to a room that sent chills down your spine the moment you opened the door. It was a room filled with trinkets of the occult, books with terrifying symbols, and scribbles of a mad man on papers scattered all over.

“You’re not supposed to be in here.” You heard a growl from a new voice, just behind you. The person shoved you inside the room and slammed the door as you hit the ground. “In fact, I could’ve sworn this was going to be hidden from all of you.”

You stood up as quickly as you could, turning to see the host of the party scowling at you. “I wasn’t...I was just looking for Elli.” You said quickly, brushing off your clothes.

“The same Elli that told you she was going to lay down for the night a couple of hours ago?” He stepped closer, slowly, ominously.

You thought back to that conversation, spoken quietly, just the two of you on the staircase while everyone else was still playing poker. “How could you even know about that?”

Mark grinned at you, sinister and cold. He gestured around the room, to the books and trinkets. “Things aren’t as they seem here, Y/n. Ever since Celine...left me here, the things in this house had opened my mind to things I never could’ve imagined.” A short laugh bubbled out of him. “I can do anything.”

“You’ve gone mad.” You whispered, backing away. You’d heard bits and pieces of the Iplier drama from Damien, having vented his concerns to you over cups of coffee during work since the day you got your invitations. But you knew now that he had no idea.

“Perhaps they were trying to do the same for you, but I’ve come too far for some kid to screw it all up now.” He turned on his feet and left the room, shutting the door behind him. You rushed over to it, trying to twist the knob before he got a chance to lock it. But it was far too late. You banged on the door and screamed for help until your voice went hoarse, but the room had in fact been hidden away. You were surrounded by taunting spirits in a room that nobody existed, for what felt like weeks. You could feel them gnawing away at bits and pieces of you after that, an itchy feeling under your heart, changing you. Truly, time had been warped, and only one day had passed before you were found by someone who was now immune to the houses secrets and cloaks. And he didn’t say anything, but clearly something had happened to you too.

Funny thing about living forever? (Or at least as long as you have,) It’s not that great, in fact it’s actually very lonely. The world changes around you, and you don’t change that much at all. You often have to leave, not wanting the attention of being the same age after living or working somewhere for 20 or 30 years. Or you get too attached to somebody and you know you will lose them, now or later.

But you weren’t alone. Despite his anger towards Mark, how badly he wanted revenge, Dark kept very close to you. Especially after he learned what happened to his niece, he was going to keep you safe above all else. Mark learned that the hard way when he tried to silence you too, only to find an empty house and a rather cheeky note.

“Catch me if you can.”

Another funny thing, you didn’t even know the power that you had when you first wrote that. As far as you knew you were a normal girl waiting out the storm. But eventually waiting got pretty tiresome.

“How could you be so foolish?” Dark called after you as you both stormed back into the house.

“Oh come on, it wasn’t that big a deal.” You huffed, tossing your jacket away.

His image faltered and glitched at what you said. “Not a big deal? You have the gift of longevity, you are NOT impervious to bullets!”

You flopped down into the armchair, crossing your arms. “We don’t know that yet.”

“You sprained your ankle tripping on air last month, I think it’s safe to say.” For a moment you could’ve sworn he smiled. If it wasn’t at your expense, you might’ve been happy. “You wonder why I hover,”

“Someone had to step in and do something.”

“Why did it have to be you?!”

“Because!” You twisted around in the chair to face him, fighting back tears. “I’m bored! I’m sick of living like a hermit! I’m tired of these stupid towns in the middle of nowhere and never having any friends...it’s been almost a century Dark, I don’t know how much longer I can do this.”

He pierced his lips, having to look away from you before he got emotional himself. “So this is your plan? Play hero until you run out of luck?”

“Or we can stop hiding. We can try and live our lives, instead of just surviving. I mean, what's the point if we’re completely miserable?”

“And what about him?”

“To hell with Mark, what about you?” Your voice was softer now. “I can work, and shop and be neighborly. But you...you’ve been stuck in the shadows, holding onto your hate all this time. Maybe you don’t believe it after everything that’s happened, but you deserve better.”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “What then? Where do you want to go?”

“How about we go home?”

‘Home’ was California, LA specifically. Sure, you could’ve gone back to your hometown but you were both part of a rather famous local mystery and you agreed it was for the best to stay away.

The sun had set a little bit ago and the streets were only illuminated by signs and street lights, that was the only way he’d agree to go out into the city with you, in the dark. Fair enough, he didn’t want to attract attention to himself. Luckily, you’d made some good friends in the last few months, friends like Mike.

“Ah, bonjour!” Mike greeted cheerfully as you and Dark approached the window, before ducking into his shop to get you both a bowl of ice cream. “I was wondering if you were going to show up.”

You nudged Dark over to one of the tables and leaned in the window. “I didn’t mean for it to take so long, thanks for keeping the shop open late for us.”

“Don’t mention it. I actually have a cousin with really bad anxiety, so I get it.” He passed you two bowls with a smile.

Dark squinted at you when you came back to the table. ‘Anxiety?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t have anxiety.”

“You’re right, I should’ve told him the truth. You and your sister possessed your best friend in the 1920′s to escape a place called the upside down, but sometimes you drag bits and pieces of it into the real world and that would probably scare the locals in broad daylight.” You didn’t miss a beat in your little rant, scooping some ice cream into your mouth as soon as you were done.

He chuckled and shook his head at you. “I’m supposed to be the one lecturing you on being subtle.”

“Hey, I’m the one who’s been covering for us the past 91 years. It’s your turn to follow my lead.” You said matter-of-factly, pointing your spoon at him, before you dove back into your bowl. You missed the ‘fair-enough’ nod he gave you and the pride written all over his face, another glimpse of someone you used to know. “You know, maybe you should bring you-know-who here someday.”

His eyes went wide and he shook your words off just a little too quickly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“So you don’t have a thing for his new friend that you’re watching out for?”

“Stop it. Stop it right now.”

“Fine,” You put your hands up in mock surrender, “But you know I’m right.”

#darkiplier x reader #darkiplier x you #darkiplier fanfiction #wkm fanfiction #markiplier egos x reader #totally didn't write this in one day haha #seriously I'm going to bed

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negasonicimagines · 5 years

Text

My One and Lonely

whew! this was intense! I’m really sorry if this doesn’t correctly fulfill these requests, folks! i tried!

1: “okay what about poly yukisonic x reader where the yukio, ellie, and the reader have started a new relationship, but the reader is unsure of it?? and Ellie and yukio just reassure thems?? basically I just want poly yukisonic x reader angst with a happy ending. : ')” 2: “Could you do a negasonic imagine where reader is her girlfriend and has telekinesis? And Wade takes any opportunity to tease the couple so reader constantly uses her powers to slam the door in Wades face?” [yeah i defo didn’t really fill this one but the reader has telekinesis and DOES slam the door in Wade’s face and I have so many requests bro... but I’d be willing to redo this if you’re not satisfied] TRIGGER WARNING for mentions and discussion of past abuse. the reader also almost has a panic attack. let me know if i missed anything

“You know, you could just talk to them about it,” Wade tells you, and your fork and book fall to the ground.

“Uh, no? I literally can’t, dude. Now my fork’s dirty.”

“Uh, yeah. You literally can, dude. And that’ll teach you to be lazy, using your powers for easy stuff like turning pages and eating. I bet the fork’s not that bad.”

“Like you wouldn’t do the same thing,” you scoff, and he shrugs, nodding.

“Come on. It’s totally normal for you to be feeling the way you are. They were friends and dating before you came into the picture. Insecurity’s normal. Especially considering-”

“Call me insecure one more time and I’ll use the dirty fork to show you just how insecure your eye’s placement in your skull is,” you threaten, feeling your face heat up. You didn’t like that your weakness was so obvious. Or that he reminded you of her.

“Christ, maybe I really am a bad influence...Nah, we’re just birds of a feather,” Wade says with a cheeky grin you don’t know how you can see through the mask. Maybe his tone of voice makes the subtle expression more perceivable. “Sorry,” he quickly adds. “But, seriously. They’re the last people who are gonna judge you.”

“Who’s the last people that are gonna judge Y/N?” You hear from behind you. Ellie. Shit. She made you far more nervous than Yukio did. Yukio was the gentle, sensitive moon, and Ellie… Ellie was the sun. Nuturing, yes, but scorching, too.

“Well-”

“No one. Not important. Right, Wade?” you plaster on a smile, fiddling with the fork in your hand before letting it float in the air. “Want the rest of my ramen? I’m not very hungry.”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“Catch,” you say, flinging the fork at him telepathically. He gasps sharply, but his reflexes are quick enough to grab it.

You get up, and notice Ellie looks a bit… gloomier than usual.

“Everything okay?” you ask, and she nods, her lips twitching into a small smile for you before quickly concealing the expression.

“Yeah, I’m alright. ‘Kio and I missed you at lunch, that’s all.”

“Well, I was, uh… Hanging out with Wade. Like you saw,” you explain.

“You didn’t seem very happy. He didn’t say anything to bother you, did he?”

“Oh, uh, no. I was just a bit stressed. Exams coming up and all that.”

“Exams are a couple months away,” Ellie reminds you. “But you were stressed, weren’t you? Look, if you’re having regrets, whatever, fine. I wouldn’t be happy about it and neither would Yukio, but you have a right to your feelings. Just don’t fucking lie to me, okay?”

“I- I promise it’s not about that. Really, I’m… Happy to be with you guys.”

“Then what is it? Seriously?”

You stiffen, you can tell she’s getting angry. Your heart feels like a stone in your chest, cracked and heavy.

“It’s nothing,” you say, not meeting her eyes.

“Alright. Keep your secrets, then,” Ellie sighs, walking away. You head to your room, locking the door behind you. Most students with telepathic abilities get their own rooms in an effort to avoid accidental harm of their fellow students. This was the case for you, and you used to like it.

But then, you met Ellie and Yukio. The two of them were already dating when you were officially introduced, and you became fast friends with them. It quickly evolved into more, and the three of you became what many refer to as a “throuple.”

The facet of the insecurity Wade so rudely talked of earlier was, of course, the fact that they were roommates, and you were alone every night. They got to cuddle and kiss and you got to watch ASMR.

It was depressingly lonely. Sure, every once in awhile you could get away with sleeping over on weekends. But, most of the time, the teachers monitored the rooms, making sure everyone was where they were supposed to be, in case of emergency.

But, wait, there’s more!

As mentioned previously, Ellie is the sun. Yukio is the moon. What are you in that?

And it didn’t help that you were still struggling to cope with the aftermath of her, a little over a year later.

Before you began your schooling at Xavier’s, you were friends with a small group of fellow mutants that were slowly drawn together by fate. One of these mutants was a girl. You can’t even bear to think her name.

Back then, you were only telepathically gifted. You hadn’t even dreamed you would be capable of telekinesis one day.

But she, she had super-strength, and she liked to use it on you. Even when you didn’t want her to.

You were defenseless.

You shake, pulling your knees to your chest.

“Hey, why’s the door locked? I thought we were all gonna work together on our art projects.” Yukio’s bright voice is muffled by the door.

“Uh, um, yeah, yeah, I’ll be there in a, um, sec,” you say, your breathing growing heavier and more fast-paced. “Actually, uh, you- you and Ellie sh...sh-should just go and, uh, go work on your projects t-together. I’ll- Yeah, I’ll, uh, figure mine out eventually.” Shit, I’m doing a terrible job at covering this up.

“You okay in there, bunny?” It was a cute nickname that Yukio liked to call both you and Ellie.

“Mmhmm, yeah. Just a bit, uh, very tired. Gonna take a nap soon.”

“Okay…” she says, and you know she doubts you. Failure.

“On second thought, uh, I’ll just go to bed early tonight. Let’s get to work,” you decide, unlocking and opening the door.

Upon opening the door, you notice Wade behind them.

“Didn’t realize you took Art, Wade.”

“You also didn’t realize that we planned for you to come to our room. You were supposed to show up twenty minutes ago, actually. So, we went to talk to Wade. Since you tell him everything these days,” Ellie says, pure bitterness in the mention of Wade. It wasn’t that she hated him. She hated that you told him and not her. Not even Yukio, who she’d admit was far more approachable than her.

“Sorry, kid,” he says. “They had a right to know.”

“You- You didn’t tell them about- About…” You feel your eyes widen, alarm racing through you slowly and quickly at the same time.

“No, not that. Not her. Just the other stuff.”

“Oh.”

“Her?” Ellie asks. “Cheating on us, seriously?”

“No,” you say, and it comes out as a whimper due to her angry tone. “I- I- This was a bad idea, Wade. You guys should just go, all three of you, I don’t feel well, I’m tired, I-”

“I’m gonna leave you kids to sort this out,” Wade tells you three. “Good luck.” He slowly backs away.

“Can you close the door?” Yukio asks, and you jolt, door slamming in Wade’s face.

“Yeah,” you say afterwards. This was becoming less stressful thinking and more panic attack by the moment.

“You’ve been avoiding us lately,” Yukio points out. “Wade already told us why, but… I want to hear it from you, ‘kay?”

“It’s nothing, I-” You take a careful, ragged breath, sitting on your bed. Yukio sits on the stool at your desk, and Ellie leans her back against the door. “I just don’t fit. I’ve never fit in anywhere, and I never will. All I’ve done trying is bother others. Especially Ellie and you.”

“You don’t fit?” Ellie asks. “What the fuck do you mean?”

“I- You’re the sun...Yukio’s the moon… And I’m just… I’m Pluto.” The last bit comes out as a shaky whisper. A large, hot tear rolls down your cheek swiftly.

“What?! No! No, bunny, you’re- You’re…” Yukio kneels in front of you, swiping your tear away with her thumb and keeping your sad face in her hand. “I can’t think of anything, but you’re not Pluto, baby.”

“The eclipse. You’re the eclipse, Y/N. Everything aligning perfectly so that we can be together,” Ellie says thoughtfully. “Is that all? You feel like you don’t have a place here, with us? You do. You’re what makes this whole thing work, okay? Now please, please tell me you didn’t cheat on us for validation.”

“The her comment, right…” you say, the temporary relief you felt by Ellie’s original statement subsiding. “No. I didn’t cheat, I swear. I’d never do that to you guys, to anyone. I… The last relationship I had before you guys was, um… Not the greatest. It was around a year ago, a little more. Before Xavier’s. Before I honed my abilities. There was a girl, a mutant like me. Like us. But she, uh… She had super-strength. And I wasn’t very physically strong, I was pretty weak, actually. So… You can probably see where I’m going with this, or I hope you do, because I don’t like talking about it, not at-” You finally dissolve into tears. “Not at all…”

Ellie rushes towards you to embrace you, and you flinch reflexively.

“I’m sorry. I was really thoughtless. Just now and for most of our interactions today,” Ellie admits. “I’m just… Things between me and ‘Kio weren’t the greatest, but we were trying because we knew we were meant to be together. And then you came along, and everything made sense. Everything finally fit together, perfectly. And- And I don’t wanna lose that. Ever.”

“Same here,” Yukio agrees. “You’re so great, Y/N. Wade said that you feel really lonely all by yourself in here. Maybe we should try to get you transferred to our room. Sometimes they let people room in groups of three, and they probably could use the extra room.”

“Yeah, but… It’d be kind of annoying to have me tagging along all the time,” you remind her.

Ellie’s eye twitches. “Tagging...Along?”

“That’s the phrase, isn’t it?” you ask.

She takes a deep, calming breath, and you watch her fingers move as she counts to ten on them silently. They’re both sitting with you on the bed, now.

“Ah-” Ellie clenches her teeth, hissing for a moment, as if she’s in pain. “Y/N, you’re just as much a part of this relationship as Yukio and I. What part of that is so hard for you to understand?”

“I- I don’t know. It’s just hard to believe. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“What shoes? There are no shoes here,” Yukio tells you. “I really only wear them because it’s frowned upon not to, and because if I didn’t then I’d pick up all sorts of nasty germs.”

Ellie nods in agreement. “Same.”

You sigh, knowing there’s no way to convince them of how worthless you are to the relationship. Maybe because to them, you aren’t?

“Hey, did you see that? I saw that. I think it’s clicking, ‘Kio.”

“I did see it,” Yukio agrees, and you smile a little at their antics, shaking your head. “Let me go to the office and get the room transfer forms. I’d love to stay, but I think you two cuties need to talk a bit… In private.”

Yukio exits.

“I’m...Sorry. For talking to Wade and not you guys. I shouldn’t have-”

“You’re allowed to confide in your friend. I shouldn’t have taken it as personally as I did. I just know there was a time, before we all got together romantically, where you would’ve talked to me or Yukio about something if it stressed you out that much. But I guess not… We didn’t know about her.”

“It’s just hard to even think about. I feel so ashamed all the time, I’m really sorry that I didn’t-”

“Seriously. You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, and I feel seriously shitty that I was such an asshole about it. You have a right to privacy, as long as you’re not putting anyone or anything in danger. But, the anyone and anything includes you. Okay?”

“Okay,” you respond, and Ellie kisses your forehead, her dark brown eyes looking to yours before she places the softest kiss on your lips, carefully holding your face as if you were priceless and she didn’t want to risk breaking you. You lean into her, forehead on her shoulder.

“Let’s lay down. I owe you some cuddling. I hear I’m an excellent big spoon,” she tells you.

“From a biased source. Let’s try the sweetheart’s cradle,” you offer.

“What the fuck is the sweetheart’s cradle?”

“Honestly, I did far too much research into the perfect cuddle position, for the time it might actually happen.”

“We don’t really cuddle, do we? Yukio hasn’t really given you any cuddles either, has she? Wow, you’re really missing out- ...Oh. I’m so sorry,” Ellie apologizes, looking more heartbroken than determined with this one. She hadn’t realized the extent to which you were being neglected by them. “I’m sorry, doll. Really sorry.”

“Doll? That’s new,” you comment.

“I figured you deserved a petname of your own,” Ellie informs you. “Now, explain this ‘sweetheart’s cradle’ to me.”

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minnuet-archive · 5 years

Text

I’m Sorry, Logan

(I'm not talking about Logan Sanders, but I do have a character named Logan that’s based loosely off of him. TW: Suicide)

I wake up to my alarm blaring in my ears. My eyelids refuse to lift and the world is a blurry mess. I stumbled into my uniform, the alarm still blaring. Eventually my patience ran out and I shut off the alarm. My backpack is lying in the corner and I shove it on. I grab a granola bar from the pantry and run to the school bus that’s already parked outside.

I jump into the bus. I walk down the aisle and all of the noise, ranging from random conversation to yelling and fighting, fill my ears and overwhelm my mind. I almost want to plug my ears, but someone’s bound to take offense. As I sit down in a seat next to the seemingly quietest kids, the horrible stench of 7 year old raisins with a generous side of sweaty gym socks permeates my nose. I hate the bus. I decide to try to space out.

When I arrive at the school, I went into the girl’s bathroom and wait until everyone had left the bathroom. I look really weird waiting for people to leave, and I kind of care. I kind of don’t though. Once everyone had gone, I slipped out of my catholic school uniform skirt and into pants.

My mother had refused to get me anything but the “girl’s” uniform which consisted of a tight, long skirt and a blouse. I hear the bell and run to class. I burst into the classroom and slide into my seat directly after my name is called.

“Late.” I groan and get out my homework. Why must it be me?

Vanessa and her friends snicker across the classroom. “Hey look, the plant’s here.”

My ears burned and I clenched my teeth. Those assholes. I’m not a plant. “My name’s El-” My eyes widen as I catch myself. “-Ellie.”

Vanessa gasps overdramatically and then says, “It can talk?!”

I don’t respond and give her what she wants, but it takes all of my strength not to. God, how am I so stupid? I don’t care if I’m using the Lord’s name in vain. I already let them know I was asexual! And if I let it slip? My name’s Elliott. I could just imagine the crap they’d do and say to me. What would I tell them? Oh yeah, by the way, I’m pangender. That would totally work.

I take deep breaths. I look at the teacher and zoning out is easy for me. The lunch bell rings after a while and I walk towards the courtyard, finding one of the trees in the corner that no one ever sat by. It’s kind of sad and droopy, just like me.

“Hey Elliott!” I flinch at the noise. He smiles and sits down next to me.

I relax and say, “Hey Logan. How was the class?”

“How was class? Class was bull crap,” I crack a smile and when I do, he adds “as always. I love how you did your hair today. It’s pretty.”

As I eat my brought-from-home lunch, I look at him and blush. He’s way too cute. I now turn even redder and look away as I shove my sandwich farther into my mouth. Too far. The lunch bell rings after a few minutes. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow Logan. Bye!”

He high fives me and starts walking towards his classroom. I walk towards mine. After Mr. Simon takes role call and I answer one question, I figure I’m safe and promptly space out for the rest of the day.

The bell rings and right as I’m about to walk out of the door, I heard Mr. Simon say, “Eleanor, may I speak to you?” A collective ‘oooh, you’re in trouble’ type sound comes from what’s remaining of the class as I walk up to his desk.

“Can I help you Mr. Simon?”

“Do you remember the dress code guidelines we went over at the beginning of the year?”

I start to panic. “Uh, yeah.”

“Then you remember that girls are to wear skirts and a blouse and that boys are to wear a button down and pants.”

I mutter that I might remember something like that. “Why can’t I wear pants? I’m not wearing anything completely out of school uniform.”

“Yes, but we have a strict dress code and you, as a girl,” I flinch at the word girl. Of course, I can’t correct him. “are to wear a skirt. If you come to school tomorrow wearing pants, I’ll have you change back into a skirt, confiscate the pants, and then call your parents.”

I nodded my head as if I understand, which I don’t, and then walk out of the classroom. I know he hates me, but I had no clue he would go to these lengths to get me in trouble. I really don’t want to wear a skirt and that was only the first time I wore pants. On the other hand, I don’t want them to get taken away because I had to save up for months to get them and I don’t want to have to deal with my parents.

As I walk home, I approach the entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge and smile. It’s so beautiful. Late afternoon fog is quite unusual this time of year and most people don’t like it, but I’m secretly happy about it. Walking the bridge is a really nice way to clear your mind in the morning. The breeze makes my clothes flow in the wind. The smell of salt water in the air fills my nose as I approach one end of the bridge.

I start to cross the bridge and into the fog. It’s peaceful and the moist air feels cool and nice against my skin.

After around 45 minutes, I come out on the other side of the bridge. I continue to walk towards my house.

I can’t wait to lay down on the couch and not worry about homework. Not because I finished it, but because I’m a procrastinator.

I turn down my street and see my house. As I approach it, I realize that my house has been egged. I see a note on the door and run up and grab it. Leave our school, you faggot. You don’t belong here.

Vanessa, her boyfriend, and their asshole friends were right about the last part. I don’t belong here. I wish I could leave, but it isn’t exactly possible. I rip up the note and look up at the eggs that are covering my home.

Ugh, I don’t want to clean this up… but my parents will ask why it happened if I don’t. Plus, they’ll make me do it anyway. I sigh as I slowly walk inside to grab a mop and some other cleaning supplies.

I open the closet door and grab everything I think I might need. I’ve never cleaned up eggs, so I’m just guessing.

I walk back outside and start to wipe the door with a random rag that I found. Once I finish cleaning everything that I can reach from the ground, I place all my supplies on the roof overhang. I awkwardly climb onto the overhang. P

I got on my knees shakily and started to clean the roof. Damn, could these kids throw. It takes what seems like years, but was really a couple hours to finish cleaning the house.

I take a risk and jump from the overhang. I didn’t break any bones! Yay! I grab all the cleaning supplies and shove them in a closet as I walk to my room. I get changed into some paint stained jeans and a band t-shirt that my parents begrudgingly bought me for Christmas.

I walk back out and throw myself on the couch. I log into an app that’s similar to tumblr except not as widely known. It has less asshole-ish people. I open a chat with one of my best friends, AchillesWasTheOriginalGay™ also known as Bentley or Ben. Sometimes I call him Benjamin because he hates when people assume his name.

Me: What’s up, Benjamin?

He responds almost immediately.

Ben: You’re an ass. But not much. You?

Me: House got egged. Assholes at school.

Ben: Oof that sucks, dude.

Ben: Hey I gtg do homework. Talk later?

Me: Sure.

I turn off my phone and put it down. I hear my mom pull up so I sit up and take out my school binder. I place my homework from yesterday in front of me so I look like I’ve been doing homework since the second I got home.

Directly after I finished setting up my fake homework station, she walked in. “Hey, mom!” No, too cheery. Calm down.

She smiles happily, “Hi, Ellie!” I cringe at my old name, but she didn’t seem to notice my overly excited greeting. “How was your day?” My little sister, Adia follows her in and then runs to our room.

I consider telling her that it wasn’t great for a second but decide against it, because she’d just ask questions. “It was good. Yours?”

“It was fine. Busy as always.” I give her a knowing nod and then I see her smile slowly fade. I tilt my head in confusion. “What did I tell you about those jeans? You can only wear them when you’re painting. They’re disgusting and baggy. Wear some nice tights next time.”

I roll my eyes and she scoffs as she walks into the kitchen. She puts her bags down. Adia runs back out of our room with a stuffed animal in her hands and she sits down next to me.

“Hi Adia. Did you have fun at school today?”

”Yeah!! I played with Sammy.”

“That’s fun.” She smiles proudly as if having a friend was something to be proud of, which in my case, is true, but in her case, not so much. She has lots of friends.

I’m contemplating this when I hear my mom start to reheat leftovers from last night. She slaps all of the food on three plates and we trudge over to the table and sit down.

My mom turns on the T.V. and we watch a sitcom as we shovel food into our faces. Eventually, the episode ends. We're too lazy to change the channel, so we leave it.

My mom is seated facing the screen and I watch her chuckle. I turn to the T.V. and freeze. It's a pride parade. All of a sudden I hear Adia’s excited voice.

“Ooooh! Rainbows!” I look at her and smile a little bit. She doesn’t even know. Sometimes I wish I don’t know about LGBTQ+.

“Those rainbows are for gay people.” My mom says gay as if it’s the worst thing you can be.

Mom continues, “You don’t want to be gay. Being gay is bad. You’ll go to hell if you’re gay.”

Now she just looked confused. “Why is it bad?”

“Because a man is supposed to be with a woman. That’s how God created us.” Mom says.

I finish eating my food as fast as I can to escape this horrible conversation and then interrupt. “Can I be excused? I’m getting tired.”

Before my mom can respond, my father swings open the front door.

This time, it’s not just me who’s frozen. He’s holding a beer bottle. His tie is loose. The top button of his shirt is unbuttoned and it’s stained.

What makes it most obvious that it’s happened again is his eyes. They’re huge. And not in the caring way.

He smiles goofily and stares at Adia and I. “No hug? No ‘Hi daddy!’ or ‘Thanks for working your ASS off every day to provide for us’ ?”

My first instinct is to pull Adia closer to me and step one foot in front of her. My second instinct is to throw something at him so we can all run.

I hold back. Mom’s too close to dad. She would never be able to run away in time. He could hit her. Even break a bottle over her head and kill her. She’s not a good person, but she doesn’t deserve that.

“Go. To your rooms. Now.” I turn to my mom in utter surprise.

“But mom-“

“GO. NOW.”

I grab Adia and make sure she’s safe and locked in her room before running to mine. I press my ear against the door because I might be able to get an idea of what’s happening. I can’t hear anything.

I slump down and hang my head in my hands. Holy christ, what is wrong with my family?? Why doesn’t she just kick him out when he’s hungover? Why don’t WE leave?

I can't deal with this.

I'm sobbing now. I clench my teeth to trap the noise in my mouth.

Over the course of a few minutes, I draw myself up onto my knees and then stand up, walking over to sit down at my desk and start to scribble words that seem right on a paper. After a minute of writing, I reread it. It's not good enough. I crumple up the piece of paper and throw it in the trash.

I hug my knees tightly, trying not to make any form of sound. My breathing slows back to normal the longer to sit there and I grab another piece of paper. I start to write once again, this time neater.

I wake up the same way as yesterday. I put on my pants and blouse. I don’t care if Mr. Simon tries to force me to wear a skirt. I’m not taking any bullcrap on my last day of school. And life.

I walk onto the bus and don’t even pay any attention to the kids that are already on it. I hear a kid yell “Get off, dyke!” and I resist flipping him off… well, I try to resist flipping him off.

I take my time walking into the classroom and I sit next to Logan. A kid comes up to me.

“You’re sitting in my seat.”

“Yeah. I know. My seat’s over there. Feel free to take it.” He looks as if he’s about to say something more, but he turns to walk towards my actual seat.

Logan looks at me. I wonder if he knows something off. That taking some other kid’s seat isn’t something I’d normally do.

If he notices, he doesn’t mention it. “Hey. How was your day?” He laughs and then adds, “Holy crap that was such a mom question.”

I snort and answer, “Oh my god, you’re right. But it was good. I’m tired as heck though.”

“No kidding.” I grin at him as Mr. Simon looks at us again. I don’t really pay attention in math. I just talk to Logan. It’s relaxing to not have to care. To not have to worry about the consequences to my actions.

When we walk to lunch, I start complaining to Logan about how much of the day we have left.

“Uhh, you know that we have an early day, right?”

“Oh! I do now.” He chuckles and smiles. I feel my cheeks get a little bit warm. He starts to talk about some fandom of his and I try my hardest to pay attention.

I don’t really know what triggers this, although I have an idea, but I realize something. I’ve never kissed someone. Ok, this needs to change. Dying a virgin is one thing, but never having kissed someone? That’s a whole other level of sad. I feel weird thinking this, but I know exactly who I want to be my first and last kiss.

He’s about to start another thought, but I interrupt him. I don’t care. “You’re amazing.”

He looks at me as if I said the strangest thing that could possible said. “I mean it. You’re always there for me and you talk to me about things we like. I feel I don’t thank you enough for that.”

He still looks weirded out but smiles warmly. “Right back at you,” he responds as he fidgets with his hands and looks down at his shoes. I gesture for him to continue and, without hesitation, he does.

Logan sighs and packs up his lunch as the bell rings.

“Hey, will you walk home with me? I know you normally hang out here for a while but I want to talk to you.” I know this is a risk.

Just like before, he doesn’t say anything, but now I’m sure that we both know something’s wrong. “Yeah, of course.”

We grab our stuff and we start walking. He starts walking faster and gets ahead. This is not acceptable.

I break into a full sprint and he starts to chase me. We’re laughing so hard we can barely breathe. When we reach the bridge, were both out of breath. We bend over and start panting like dogs on a hot day.

I break into a full sprint and he starts to chase me. We're laughing so hard we can barely breathe. When we reach the bridge, were both out of breath. We bend over and start panting like dogs on a hot day.

I stand up straight again and look at him. His face is glowing and his brown eyes are big and happy. He runs his hand through his slicked back (with both gel and sweat) hair and adjusts his glasses. He even tightens his tie. What a dork.

I know this is the moment. I move closer to him and pull his tie towards me with one arm and put the other around him as I kiss him.

The salty air blows through my hair and I feel on top of the world. After a couple of seconds, I step away. He looks confused. He wasn't ok with it. Oh god, what have I done? I'm about to keep running down the bridge when he hugs me.

This time, I'm the unprepared one. After a minute, he lets go and slides his hand into mine. We continue walking across the bridge. There's nothing we need to say and it feels amazing.

We don't have to explain ourselves. We can just walk quietly together. And it's not awkward.

My happiness fades away as I realize this is the first and last time I’ll be able to do this. I couldn’t change my mind if I wanted to. I already taped the note on to his backpack when he hugged me. This has to be the last time. Nothing good can last forever. Nothing can last forever.

We reach the other side. “Goodbye, Logan.”

He laughs. “You say it like this is the last time I’ll ever see you. This is just goodbye for now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I feel my heart shatter a little bit more than it already had but I cover it up with a soft smile. “Yeah. It’s just goodbye for now.” He leans in and kisses my cheek and then whirls around.

He starts to walk towards his house. I turn towards the water.

Tears spill silently down my face. I put my hand over my mouth to muffle my sobs. I want to run to Logan and scream his name, but I can’t. This has to be done alone.

I lift one foot onto the railing and then the other. This is it.

One last tear slips down my face as I whisper raspily, “I’m sorry, Logan.” I know it will be peaceful. A quiet ending. Not that I deserve one, but I guess it’s a favor to myself. I let go of the pole that I had been holding onto.

And then I’m falling.

Falling.

Gone.

#love #suicide awareness #tw suicude #suicide #loveislove #asexual #ace #pangender #genderqueer #nonbinary #queerandimmortal

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master-sass-blast · 6 years

Text

If Murphy Exists, I’m Gonna Punch Him in His F*cking Balls (Happy Anniversary, Darling).

THREE HOURS OF SLEEP

FUCK MY LIFE

(if it wasn’t clear, i’m editing this on no sleep. so if it sucks, that’s why.)

Summary: You and Colossus are trying to look forward to and celebrate your one year anniversary, but Murphy and his law have other ideas for you.

Rating: T for language, extremely brief and vague allusions to gun shot wounds, and mentions of the menstrual cycle.

Pairings: Piotr Rasputin x Reader.

If there’s anything you’ve learned about your life, it’s that if anything can go wrong, it will.

What can you say? Murphy really just loves fucking you right up the ass, dammit.

It’s the week before your one year anniversary of dating Piotr. You should be excited. You should be planning just exactly how you’re going to celebrate the milestone --and stocking up on condoms and lube for the “after-party.” You should be counting down every hour to the fateful day with breathless anticipation and sharing knowing looks and smiles with the love of your life.

What you should not be doing, however, is dodging bullets.

You grit your teeth as gunfire cracks all around you and tuck yourself against the back of a metal shipping container with Ellie and Yukio. “Wade! How much fucking longer!”

“It’d be faster, but Silver Balls is taking his sweet ass time sauntering towards the shooters! Hurry it the fuck up, you chrome dildo!”

“Language, both of you,” Piotr says over the comm system. “I can only move so fast in my armor.”

“Piotr, honey, I love you, but get a move on!”

The sound of Nathan’s gun going off blares through your ear piece, and then the sound of metal screeching and people screaming is audible through the tiny speaker and somewhere past the shipping container you’re crouching behind.

“There,” Nathan growls. “Shooters are down.”

You dart out from behind the container and towards the base the Brotherhood of Mutants had been working out of. “Finally!”

Right as Piotr starts lecturing Nathan about not killing people, a mutant with gold energy glowing around his hands jumps out right in front of you.

You shriek and launch an air current right at him --sending into a tree and turning him into mutant Jello. You stare at the remains, wincing and sucking air through your teeth. “Oh shit! Too hard!”

You boyfriend takes a moment to pat your shoulder reassuringly before chucking a pickup truck at a cluster of Brotherhood members. “It happens. Try to stay focused.”

The fight ends with a middle finger to your imminent celebration.

You get shot in the shoulder and wind up in the clinic.

You blink owlishly at Piotr as he walks into your room at the clinic, armored down and only a little scraped up. “Hi... hi... babe...”

“Privet, myshka.” He sits in the chair next to yours and takes your hand in his. “How are you feeling?” he asks as he kisses your knuckles.

“A lil’ fuzzy. Hank said he was able to ‘generate mos’ of the ‘njury.”

“Da. You’ll be down for a day or two until he finishes regeneration, and then you’ll be sore for a week or so but nothing too bad.”

“Technology. Fuckin’ awesome.”

He chuckles and kisses the back of your hand. “That it is.”

So, as if literally getting shot wasn’t bad enough, Scott puts you on shit detail for the next few days for killing someone and ‘breaking the rules.’

Add injury to insult, Piotr flies out the same damn day you’re released from the clinic to go on a mission with Wolverine’s team to finish tracking down the members of the Brotherhood that managed to escape while you were attacking the bunker.

You fume next to Nathan while you work on cleaning up one of the locker rooms. You scrub at a sink basin furiously, imagining that Scott’s face is there instead of the porcelain bowl and is taking the full brunt of your efforts.

“Jesus, take it easy. You’re gonna fuck up your shoulder again.” Nathan takes the brush from your hands and jerks his head at one of the benches. “Sit down. Rest for a minute.”

“Sure, dad.” You sit down anyway, wincing as you stretch your shoulder. “I don’t get why they punish people for killing. It just... it doesn’t make sense. I can’t explain it.”

“For people who don’t have Wade’s tendencies, it doesn’t,” Nathan agrees as he takes over cleaning up the sink. “What I don’t get is why Scott has you on cleaning duty right after discharge from the clinic. Pete’s gonna kill him.”

“Eh, he’s just like that,” you say as you rub your sore shoulder. “He hates me.”

Nathan shakes his head. “Never thought he’d be like this.”

You look up. “He’s your dad, right?”

“Yeah. Don’t really want to talk about it.”

“Okay.” You stretch your arm and shoulder, going through the physical therapy motions you’d been given before you’d left the clinic.

The week is just sucking. You’ve been shot, put on unfair shit detail, and Piotr’s not even here to comfort you through it. Fuck, you can’t even plan an anniversary date without him here! You don’t have a license; you can’t pick up supplies and you don’t want to make reservations when you don’t even know when he’ll be getting back or what kind of shape he’ll be in.

Nathan glances over his shoulder at you when you sigh. “What’s got you down?”

You feign shock and press your hand against your chest. “The famed Nathan Summers, voluntarily talking about emotions? Did his time travelling alter reality beyond his repair? Are you having a stroke? Quick, do you know where you are--”

He chuckles, shakes his head, and goes back to scrubbing the sink. “Meter’s running, kid. If you wanna talk, do it fast.”

You let out a huff and hunch over, glaring down at the --spotless--tile floor like it had personally wronged you. “Oh, it’s just that Piotr and I have our one year anniversary this weekend and everything’s going wrong. Shitty mission, accidentally got shot, Scott put me on shit detail for no fucking good reason, Piotr’s gone so we can’t plan anything, I don’t have a license or a bank account so I can’t get supplies...”

Nathan turns, leans against the sink, and crosses his arms over his chest when your voice trails off. “You do realize that Pete’s gonna be happy to just spend time with you, right? He’s not an high maintenance guy.”

“Okay, yeah, but I never thought I’d get to have something happy and romantic like a one year anniversary. I want something special --not that Piotr’s not great on his own, because I’d be totally happy just to spend the day with him too, but--”

“I get it,” Nathan interjects. “In my time, I never thought I’d live long enough to have a family. As soon as I found Aliya, I latched on to her as much as she’d let me and didn’t let go.”

“And now you’re here.”

He shrugs. “I have Wade. The team. You. Besides, since Russel’s never gonna kill Aliya and Hope, I’m never going to make the decision to go back in time to save them. Yeah, I could go back, but there’ll be another me there, and... well, I can do more good here. Try to give my wife and kid a future with the other version of me.”

You blink slowly. “Man, you really face-fucked reality, didn’t you?”

He snorts. “Something like that.” He cocks his head to the side and studies you. “Have you and Pete had sex yet?”

“Okay, I am not talking about my sex life with you in a fucking locker room--”

“I’m just saying, you could spend the day doing that. Take it from someone who’s been married, sex on anniversaries is a pretty common thing.”

And, awkwardness aside, it’s not such a horrible idea. The idea of spending the evening --or even the day--in bed with your boyfriend sits really well with you.

You smile to yourself as Nate goes back to scrubbing the sinks. Maybe this won’t be such a loss after all.

Except it is.

After a night of fitful sleep, you wake up to an all too familiar red stain in your pajama pants.

If there was a god you believed in, you’d be flipping them off right now.

Piotr comes back during the late evening, while you’re curled up in your bed with a heating pad over your sore abdomen.

You give him a mournful look when he opens your bedroom door. “My period started this morning.”

He tuts gently and sits down next to you on the bed. “I’m so sorry, myshka. Do you have everything you need?”

“Yeah, ‘cept maybe some chocolate.”

He kisses your forehead gently. “I may have solution for that. I was thinking, if you feel up to it, we could go where we had first date tomorrow. Good celebration for anniversary, da?”

And that, in spite of the gloriously shitty week you’ve had, makes you beam. “Yeah. I like the sound of that. Can we go to the chocolate shop and get some strawberries?”

“Konechno. As many as you want.”

You wake up in Piotr’s arms --and to a world of rain and thunder.

The sky is oppressively black, save for a few bursts of lightening, and rain is coming down in sheets. You can barely see the massive elm trees that sit towards the front of Xavier’s property, to say nothing of the roads out front.

“Tornado watch,” Piotr reads off his phone after you shake him awake. “Severe thunderstorms. Risk of flooding. No driving unless absolutely necessary.”

You break down crying at the news. Between the extra emotions from your period and the disaster of a week you’ve had, you can’t help it. You flop face first onto your bed --a little over dramatic, admittedly, but you’ve earned it as far as you’re concerned--and sob into the blanket.

Piotr peels you off the blanket and pulls you into his arms. He looks shocked as he wipes tears off your cheeks. “Moya lyubov’, why are you so upset? It is just rain. We can always go another day--”

“No!” You wail. “I’ve had a shit week, and I was looking forward to this, and now it’s all ruined!”

“It is not ruined, myshka.”

“It is! First we have to go on a mission, and then I killed someone before getting shot!”

It all comes bubbling out between sniffs and sobs --the constant soreness of your shoulder, how Scott had put you on ‘penance’ as soon as you’d be discharged, how your period had hit and ruined the idea of even spending an evening together, how you didn’t even have a license which meant you couldn’t go get supplies, and how Piotr hadn’t been there to plan anything...

Eventually, Piotr just pulls you into a gentle hug while you vent about your week. “I am so sorry you have had such a terrible week, dorogaya moya. I will talk to Scott and Professor Xavier about your ‘penance.’ And try not to fret, korosho? Perhaps we cannot celebrate on exact date, but it is not end of world.”

“I know!” Your breath hitches as you wipe your face dry with your shirt. “But I never thought I’d have anything like this. I wanna celebrate it.”

“I never thought I’d have you, either.”

“I appreciate that, babe, I really do, but that’s not what I meant. I grew up hearing that I was unlovable every day.” Your throat constricts as sentimentality threatens to make you cry again. “My parents constantly told me what an abomination I was and that no one would ever want me. And here you are--” you stop for a minute to try and breathe through the sobs that are shaking you “--loving me like I deserve it, and fuck I want to celebrate that but this week keeps going so fucking wrong--”

Piotr smooths your hair and kisses your forehead. “Tische, myshka. It is okay. I understand.” He smiles softly at you, thumb gently rubbing at your cheek and the dark bags under your eyes. “Why don’t you rest for little bit? I can go talk to Scott and the Professor.”

You sniffle and pout at him. “You’ll come back, right?”

“Konechno.” He nudges you back and kisses the top of your head before pulling the covers up over you. “Rest for now. I will be back soon.”

You wake up to the sound of your phone pinging.

LOML: Meet me in kitchen for breakfast? :)

You can’t help but smile. You pull on a sweatshirt --bras are overrated when you’re on your period or in general, really--and pad down to the kitchen.

The delectable scent of pancakes and bacon lures you in, and sure enough there’s Piotr putting a decent sized stack of chocolate chip pancakes on a plate for you.

“Babe!” you exclaim. “You didn’t have to!”

He shrugs, beaming and beyond pleased with himself. “Of course I did. You are my girl and you’re upset. Even if it wasn’t our anniversary, you still deserve to feel loved and be taken care of.”

Fuck, you’re gonna cry. You’ve had a shit week, and now the literal personification of sweetness is standing in the kitchen and fixing you a plate of pancakes while telling you he loves you.

It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, and you’re on the verge of emotional whiplash.

You wrap your arms around Piotr’s waist and press your face against his side as you start weeping again. “Thank you.”

He sets the plate down, turns so your face is against his chest, and runs his hands up and down your back while he kisses the top of your head. “You’re welcome, lyublyu.” He shifts to the side, then picks up a box of strawberries and holds it up for you to see. “I found these in fridge. I thought we could try making our own.”

You let out a surprised laugh in between gasping cries. “You’re too good to me, Piotr. Fuck, I don’t even have anything for you--”

“Don’t worry about it,” he murmurs. “It can be dealt with later.”

You press your cheek against his chest and let out a shaky breath. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

The strawberry making is blast. The two of you wind up burning a pan of chocolate before you can dip the damn things --in Piotr’s defense, that only happened because you’d distracted him--and you get more chocolate on yourselves than you do the actual berries.

Piotr winces as he starts down at his chocolate smudged fingers and forearms. “How did this even happen?”

“Hey, you took your chances when you decided to work with me.” You pat his arm sympathetically, leaving little chocolate smears wherever you touch. “Maybe you should go get cleaned up.”

He eyes the stains you’ve left and sighs. “Da. Before you decide to aim for my face.” He chuckles when you promptly swipe at his face and ducks out of his way. “I’ll be back in minute. Be good while I’m gone.”

“No promises!” You wait until he’s out of sight, then wipe your hands off on your pants before reaching for your phone.

Me: Do you know how to set up a projector?

Me: And lift heavy things?

Nathan: You do realize that projectors are woefully outdated in my time, right?

Me: Yeah, futuristic geriatric, I know.

Me: Can you do it or not?

Nathan: Yeah. Why?

You grin down at your phone screen. Piotr Rasputin, prepare to have your socks knocked off.

You glare down Nathan as you stand in front of the door to Piotr’s art studio. “I’m only saying this once. If you ever tell anyone --especially Wade--about this room, I’m going to unspeakable things to all of your guns.”

“It’s an art studio. I’ve seen it in yours and Pete’s minds. And if I haven’t told anyone at this point, I’m not going to at all.”

“Good.” You open the door and usher him in. “Okay, so here’s what I’ve got in mind...”

You and Nathan --carefully--move the furniture in Piotr’s art studio to carve out a decent sized space in the room to lay out and inflate the largest air mattress you could find in one of the many storage closets in the mansion.

You’re in the process of banking the mattress with heavy things so it won’t slide all over the place when the door starts to open. “Shit!” You dart over to the door and throw your weight against it to slam it shut. “Ow! My other shoulder!”

There’s a pause outside the door that could be described as fondly exasperated, and then Piotr’s deep voice rumbles. “Myshka... what are you doing?”

“Uh... nothing.”

“Right. And I can’t come in to my art studio because...”

“Uh... reasons. I’m trying to do something, but you can’t see it just yet.”

“Y/N.”

“Yeah?”

“What are you doing to my art studio?”

You sigh, then open the door and slip into the hall before shutting behind you. “It’s a surprise. For our anniversary. I wanted to do something nice to you.”

His expression is a mixture of genuinely touched and genuinely confused. “And you have to take over my art studio because...”

“It’s the best space for the task. Look, I swear I’m not destroying anything or disrupting the order to your space. Super promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.”

He chuckles softly and kisses the top of your head. “Do you know when you will be done?”

“Uh... nope. You’re the planner, not me.”

He smiles and shakes his head. “You are handful, myshka. But, I suppose there are other things I can do while you do... whatever it is you are doing.”

You flash him a big grin. “Good. I’ll come get you when everything’s ready.”

The rest of your day is spent darting around the mansion, gathering everything you need. You swipe blankets and pillows from yours and Piotr’s room --and run smack into your boyfriend as soon as you step into the hall.

“Y/N.”

“You can’t see me.” You adjust your armload so it covers your face. “I’m completely hidden.” You dart down the hall before he can say anything else. “Love you, babe!”

His laughter follows you down the hall, and he calls “I love you, too,” after you.

You grin as you head towards the art studio. Tonight’s gonna be great.

You pile the air mattress with blankets and pillows until it’s warm, plush, and comfortable enough to fall asleep on. Once that’s done, you dart back to Piotr’s room and swipe his DVD case.

Nathan’s gone before you get back, but the projector is set up and angled at the blank white wall in the studio. You hook it up to your laptop --a birthday gift from Wade--and make sure you can work it before you go back to setting up the space.

You take a string of white Christmas lights --you don’t know why Wade had them stashed under his bed, and you don’t want to--and hang them over the window frame. Once they’re secured --you might’ve had to tape them down--you turn them on and admire the soft glow they bathe the room in before heading out to assemble the last step of your plan.

Halfway to the kitchen, you realize you’re soaked with sweat. You detour to your room, shower off, and change before heading back to your original destination.

You put together a decent dinner --sandwiches, chips, fruits and veggies, some of the strawberries you made earlier, a couple water bottles--and pack it away in a picnic basket you’d found in a storage close before you turn around and--

jump five feet into the air because Piotr had snuck up on you while you were working.

You press your hand over your racing heart. “Christ! You scared the shit out of me, babe!”

“So sorry, dorogoy. I hope you weren’t planning on carrying that.”

“With my good hand--”

“Nyet. I was happy to let you do everything else, but I draw line here.” He reaches past you and lifts the basket out of your reach. “Your shoulder is injured. You’re not carrying this.”

You relent with a sigh. “If you insist. Everything’s pretty much ready, anyway.”

He smiles, kisses the top of your head, and takes your hand in his. “Lead the way, myshka.”

You bounce up and down on the balls of your feet, waiting in nervous anticipation while you give Piotr a moment to process the drastic renovation of his art studio.

He stares at the rearranged space, gaping while he takes everything in. He blinks, clears his throat, and says “Please tell me you didn’t move all this yourself.”

“No. I had Nathan do it. And he used telekinesis, so everything should still be in order in the drawers. And --and I made sure that all your drawings and supplies were safe, but I wanted a spot that was a little more private than the rec room and a different venue that your room or my room--”

He cuts off your rambling with a gentle kiss. “This is... incredible.” He straightens and regards the room with a quiet laugh. “I can’t believe you thought of all this.”

“Well, I wanted to do something special for you. Because if I deserve it, you definitely do. You’re kind and generous and... just really wonderful, and I thought a picnic-slash-movie night would be nice since we’ve both had a long week. And, I mean, you deserve a nice night, and I felt bad that I didn’t have anything for you for our anniversary...”

He wipes a couple stray tears of joy away from his eyes and kisses you again. “Thank you. This is amazing. It’s perfect.”

You beam up at him, delighted and so in love. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

#sass writes #piotr rasputin x reader #colossus x reader #piotr rasputin imagine #colossus imagine #virtually no trigger warnings #just frustration that ends in fluff #celebrating anniversaries #in honor of the shit week i've had #i'm literally gonna punch murphy in the balls when I find him #x men fanfiction #deadpool fanfiction

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nymph-net · 7 years

Text

ISSA STORYTIME

Ok I’m bored so ima tell y’all a wild ass story that happened to me first semester of my college experience; the story of when I got laced by a wild thot with some CRACK. Let’s get into the tea gorls

So I went to art school for communications design. I dont go there no more because it was hella racist, but a different story for a different day. The campus I went to was way up north, in Utica. Never heard of it? Didn’t think you would. Just imagine if the worst neighborhood in Detroit was an entire town with like no people and cows. I don’t know about y’all but at my school we had this thing called late night where we get snacks and shit in the cafeteria after dinner. I was one of 6 black boys in my entire school so it was always dry. So this particular late night I had got a pink wig and started fucking around and giving these crackers some life to entertain myself. My extra ass being who I was did stand-up for the entire night. Since it was early in the school year tho I aint really have no solid friends, so the people who I was gonna go smoke with finished their food and left me like some fucking snakes. When I was done I was deep in my feelings lol because bitch.....you gon spark up.....without me???

I was like “y’know what idgaf, I don’t need you niggas” because I’m likable, right? I could talk to anyone I wanted and make friends. That’s what my dumb ass thought even though I knew damn well these all were some back woods ass white people from Cousin Fucker Nowhere. So I’m standing in front of the dorms like “ok, if I was a white person who loved giving free weed to negroes, what would I look like?” and as though Satan himself heard me, this girl wearing dem Jerusalem B.Cs (you know what I’m talmbout) and a bright jacket that had to be from the thrift store because it smelled like pickled dick and horse radish extract walked past. I was like DING DING DING, gotcha Becky!! So I was like “omg hi sis, I always see you in class and I think your style is so cool blah blah” and all that fake shit. Naturally Linda felt gassed af and immediately offered to let me smoke with her. Yeah, yah boi got it like that.

But mama ain’t raise no fool and I seent Get Out so I don’t go nowhere with a white person without at least one other poc with me. So this couple I’m good friends with now was walking out of the dorms, we just gon call them Peanut & Jelly. They were quiet and both shy people so they didnt hang out much yet. They were also native and latino which was good enough for me so my loud ass was like “Aye, y’all smoke??” it’s 2017 so of course they smoke and I invite them to come smoke some of Margret's weed. Consider it reparations. Since they ain’t have no friends they were happy to come join us. Smh y’all if you see this I’m so sorry I got y’all into this lmao. Anyway Trisha was like “Super duper the more the merrier, let’s go :))” with her wild ass. But I remembered I still had some of my own weed left so we ran to my room and got it, but I ain’t have no bag to carry it in. So Ingrid said “Oh, I have a bag you can put it in” and pulled out this ashy ass ziploc bag. RED FLAG NUMBER ONE. But my clueless ass thought she just had some plaster or some shit in there before since we went to an art school. Smdh.

Shortly before we depart Peanut and I are getting everything together and making sure there’s no smell. While this is happening Jelly watches Rebecca spread some “dust” on her gums. RED FLAG NUMBER TWO. This nigga thought it was candy dust or something. No one in this equation is particularly bright. But anywhore, we started making moves to this parking lot/roof that we usually hung out at. I was hoping my friends fake asses would be there so I could ditch Jill’s ass. Peanut & Jelly I ain’t mind because they were cool once you got them to talk. I could tell they weren’t feelin Harriet tho lol and tbh neither was I but would your ass turn down a completely free spark up??? Didn’t think so. We get to the roof finally and I start checking my jacket to find I forgot my mini bong in my room. So Elizabeth is like “Oooh awesome we can smoke out of my pipe!” and I’m like lol you bougie ass bitch just call it a bowl. But my fake ass just said “Litty gorl, load that shit up!” thats exactly what I get. She starts loading her “pipe” up and I notice both my weed and hers lookin a lil ashy. AND THATS RED FLAG NUMBER THREE

It’s like 11 at night tho and we only had street lights so I didn’t wanna call Susan out and end up lookin a fool if it was nothing. So I just let her do her thing and pull out my lighter so we can make it do what it do ya feel? So we smokin and I’m having a pretty good time. I feel proud of myself and shit for scamming little Mary Ellen and getting a full spark up after my niggas rolled out on me. I’m like “haha bitch you did that and you high as fuck”. Me being the funny nigga I am in my head, I make myself laugh. Then I realize for someone who smokes pretty regularly and only had two hits, I was already shmizzed for some reason. I look over at Peanut & Jelly and both them niggas lookin like

“Already??? Huh, that’s weird”, young nigga Kam thought to himself. But once again it was free weed so I shut my Nancy Drew ass up and let it go. Debra passes the “pipe” to me and I hit it harder this time because I ain’t pay for it so ima get mines. Because I hit it so hard I kinda taste it and bitch, that shit tasted like Mary J. Bliges leather boots and plastic. So I’m like “yo Amanda, what’s good with your bowl the weed taste weird?” And it ain’t like weed has a particularly good taste but I know it damn sure don’t taste like that. Emily proceeds to say “I don’t think anything’s wrong with the weed, might be the other stuff tho” As soon as she said that shady shit Peanut and I’s heads snapped to look at her like “Bitch....what other stuff??”

Jelly at this point is checked the fuck out, like this nigga is walking through space or some shit. That might just be him tho cause that nigga always acts weird when he high smh. That ain’t the point tho. This raggedy Ann ass hoe starts giggling and laughing like someone said something fuckin funny. I’m sitting there confused and high as shit still got the fucking pink wig on, Peanut got her ass riled up and with good reason because we both know we just asked ole girl a question. So Peanut says one more gain “Did you put some shit in the fucking weed?”. By now I think Amber realizes the joke is nay and she’s close to getting stomped out. Here comes the climax of the story y’all. This bitch gon roll her eyes like we being extra and say “lol it’s fine, we just smoked out of my crack pipe and I haven’t cleaned it yet” When I tell you the entire world went silent, I heard SZA wheezing into her microphone miles away. My ass, Peanut ass, and even Jelly incapacitated ass was all like

“...wut?”

Jelly just started laughing like he just heard the funniest thing ever in his whole life. Peanut was staring at Tina like she was preparing her alibi for the police when they find that lil girl’s body. And me, you ask? I was just thinkin bout my girl Whitney. Like sis, is this how it started for you? I was looking at Rachel all hurt. Et tu Becky? All a nigga wanted was some weed and now my ass sitting on a roof high off crack. Suddenly time returns to normal and the only thing my faded ass can muster is a “Pardon me???” Helen continues to chuckle like she Tiffany Haddish up in this bitch and tells us that she smokes crack and weed out of that bowl sometimes, and that we had placed the collective weed in her coke bag. Jelly stupid ass still in the corner laughing to keep from crying because I knew that baby voiced nigga was scared. I’m so astounded at this point that I can’t even drag this wild ass bitch. Peanut however, is not me. Lort I never seen anyone but my momma yolk somebody up so fast! She smooth slid across that asphalt like

Grabbed Ellie, and said “BITCH HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FUCKING MIND?? ARE YOU SERIOUS??” and started shaking that bitch like she was tryna give her shaken baby syndrome. Jelly managed to get himself together enough to try and keep his girl from going to jail. What was I doing? Well I knew I had a choice, I could help Peanut throw Taylor off the roof, or I could help Jelly keep our good sis from catchin a charge. So I chose the smartest option. MY ASS STARTED TO HIT FOOT.

That shit wasn’t none of my business no more!! Bitch the link up is over! The deck is DONE. I could already hear my momma belt whoopin my crack head ass in my mind, no thank you ma’am! My black ass was done for the night. As I’m running back towards campus I hear footsteps behind me. I turn around to find Jelly running behind me, dragging Peanut along by the hand. Chloe however, is nowhere to be found. I ain’t stop running tho. Was it fear, was it anger, was it the adrenaline pushing me to run? Nah I was on crack so it was prolly that lol. We run until we’re two blocks away from campus and I’m finally too tired to run, which surprised me because I always assumed crackheads were just like the enegizer bunny. So we’re catching our breath and I’m tryna keep from falling over because I feel hella whoozy, but I manage to ask “What happened to Bobby?” Peanut proceeds to tell me she took one good fist, and dropped Katy like a bad habit. I was proud of sis too because she’s twig thin and I thought she was meek af. We start walking back to the dorms and all 3 of us are just silent. Ain’t nobody got shit to say bitch we on crack. Peanut and I lived 2 doors down from each other so they go in her room and I go in mine after we say our good nights. I go in my room and my roommate is there with his boyfriend. Immediately my roommate is like “lol you’re high af” and my overly trusting ass gon tell him “This girl laced the weed with crack”. This cracker ass bitch gon look at me and say “oh really.....are you ok?” like I just got into a small argument. Like nigga....I GOT LACED WITH CRACK DO I LOOK OK???

So I sit down and start watching videos on my laptop to try and distract myself from my anxiety because a nigga was SHOOKT to the core. My roommate and his boyfriend were just watching me like I was a good ass episode of something. I don’t blame ‘em tho, I looked wild af. I was twitching, teetering, and sweating like shit even though it was late September in upstate New York. Now this fake ass bitch gon take a snapchat video of my crackhead ass trippin and put it on his story for everyone to see. Needless to say after that day ain’t nobody fuck with Molly ever again. One good thing did come out of it tho, Peanut, Jelly, and I became real tight after that. And what became of Becky you ask? She made sure to steer clear of all 3 of us and my friends lol because they threatened to cut that hoe. Moral of the story children? Don’t trust white people.

#storytime #story #black tumblr #i dont even know what to tag this as #text post #?#entertainment #idk man #just dont juudge me #weed #tw drugs

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joshwrites · 4 years

Text

THE LAST OF US PART II SPOILER REVIEW

The Last of Us 2 is, mechanically, more of a refinement then a reinvention, but the story is running the opposite goal of turning the themes of the first game on it’s head. Despite the grim visuals, setting and tone the first game is ultimately a story about love and redemption. The second game twists this on it’s head with the core relationship this time being a hateful one. Redemption is still core but with the heightened violence and cynical, sinister impulses driving the main characters it becomes a much harder conceit. Can the irredeemable still find peace? It’s a disturbing premise without as many stories to use as a blueprint. Threading this needle to a satisfying conclusion would require a steady hand. Naughty Dog took on a much more difficult concept when writing this story and while I feel they mostly stuck the landing, some of that challenge shows in the final game.

But before we get started on the execution of the story I just want to acknowledge how disagreeable of a premise this would be to anyone that loved that first game. I didn’t understand the enraged reaction but I really should have. The Last of Us is often grim and heartbreaking but it’s ultimately a crowdpleaser that leans hard on genre conventions with a few clever twists. The thing about tropes and conventions is that they become that because they stay satisfying to watch in a way that’s timeless.

This game is much more eager to make more of it’s own moves. Some of the more violent impulses of the human mind that we only saw flashes of in the first to their logical conclusion. Characters are built up and fleshed out only to die at inopportune and unsatisfying times. If The Last of Us was a story about how the bonds we form with others can carry us through the dark, tragic world, The Last of Us 2 explores what would happen if that light disappeared and how we stop ourselves from being consumed by the void twe’re left with. What I’m saying is that they didn’t write a safe follow up to The Last of Us despite how easy that would really be. They wrote a story about the consequences of that game. The exact type of consequences that Joel and Ellie agreed to look the other way on in the first game’s acclaimed final scene.

But you can’t run away forever. I tend to cringe when games like The Last of Us are praised with terms like “adult” and “mature” strictly because of it’s aesthetic but I really don’t know another way to describe this shift in tone and messaging. Strictly talking from the evolution of the first game to the second, it’s like being hit with same doses of reality that come with adulthood. It’s a nice “next step” for Ellie’s journey as she turns 19 and a lot of the rocks that made up her life are taken away from her.

There will be spoilers from here on out, as a heads up. In the opening hours of the game, Joel is killed and he doesn’t get the blaze of glory one might expect of characters from his type. It is unceremonious, random, and ugly. He is made to look weak and pitiful. The player is forced to watch it unfold from Ellie’s perspective. The game starts by offing one of the franchises’s pillars in a surprising way that leaves everyone uncertain of what happens next, and I couldn’t have thought of a better way to be put in Ellie’s shoes for this adventure. Joel’s death got a genuine reaction from me that none of the games in the first game did, and it synced my feelings with Ellie’s as she charged blindly and impatiently into Seattle to chase a group she knows nothing about and a individual she knows nothing about the whereabouts of. This blind rage drives the story for the first half of the campaign and instead of things lining up for Ellie it’s full of false starts, dead ends and violence that rarely turns out to be necessary. If Joel’s death doesn’t lose players then this part serves to drive more of them away. I personally don’t mind a character transforming into something they’re not as long as it’s handled believably though and as far gone as Ellie is by the end of this first half it’s hard not to see how she got there. Her mind deteriorates as the violence she feels compelled to commit takes more and more of a toll on her with Ashley Johnson’s delivery becoming more withdrawn and stoic as the game goes on. The game has a unique sense of dread running through it as Ellie’s quest continues to go more and more off the rails and more bodies pile up. In a penultimate level Ellie starts to prioritize violence over the safety of her friends with a rationale that brings to mind addiction, and things almost never end well for those kinds of characters. The tone is prevented from getting too bleak through flashbacks to her relationship with Joel, showing how much of a positive he continued to be in her life despite everything. It feels a little cheap for the game to have it’s cake and eat it too in regards to Joel but it ends up paying off so well it’s hard to be angry. The game falls back into the scavenge - fight - scavenge cycle from the first game but with some refinements to both. The game is a little bit more open ended and systemic in most ways, with the exploration sequences having more optional content and the combat arenas being built with a lot more depth, angles to attack from and ways to sneak away and lose your enemies. Even more valuable than any collectible is the optional conversations you can find by taking a look around. AI is more aggressive and new enemy types like dogs and s+Seraphites keep Ellie on her toes by constantly tracking her position. Movement is more important than ever and these jungle gyms the designers built facilitate it perfectly. Being forced to engage with the level design more needed more complex and memorable arenas to compensate and thankfully Naughty Dog rose to this challenge. The arenas in this game stick out in my memory a lot more than the corridors of the first. It can’t escape some old habits though. The AI is still a little too robotic and easy to trick, something that ends up undercutting this game’s ambition to make every enemy a more believable person. Sometimes the game will go long stretches without anything interesting to do only to turn around and lay the combat encounters on too heavily. It’s a balancing act that this game can’t figure out. Some more variety in terms of content would have helped with this a lot. The game tries with a new set of puzzles based around rope physics. A few of these are pretty clever which makes them better than the ladder and wood puzzles from the previous game but they didn’t dig into it enough.

Just as the other shoe drops Ellie the game switches perspectives and has us play as Abby, the daughter of the surgeon Joel slaughtered in the first game. This is immediately a solid way to reinforce the games themes by forcing us to understand the game’s bad guy and how she had similar motivations to Ellie. With Abby’s revenge completed though we’re forced to confront how hollow she feels after the fact and that Ellie doesn’t have any catharsis waiting for her at the end of this tunnel. Abby’s half boils down to realizing the cycle is a hollow exercise and pushing herself to escape it. It’s not clearly directly connected to Ellie’s quest aside from the beginning and the end but thematically they’re very much two sides of the same coin. It’s a quest that’s a bit lighter and a little more noble and the tone shifts in turn. Naughty Dog’s famous set-pieces were largely absent from the more grounded first half and make a return here. More fantastic settings than even the first game are employed and visually they’re more spectacular than ever. Abby and Lev’s trip over the sky bridge is bound to stick with me just for it’s imaginative setting and jaw dropping view. The combat encounters get a lot more vertical and complex. Abby trades out Ellie’s stealth oriented play-style to one more reminiscent of Joel in the first game with abilities geared toward putting her on the offensive more often. It’s a little strange at first but being able to take more risks in this system ends up being a lot of fun.

Unfortunately the laser focused writing of the first half takes a hit. Abby’s more invested in her extended cast then Ellie is and not all of these characters are given the time needed to really shine. This is where the cracks of condensing the game into 3 days really start to show. The most believable relationships in the series are forged over a year or more with great detail and implications of what happens on and off the camera. Abby and Lev’s comradely is charming but it feels undercooked on the whole compared to the much richer relationships from the first game, the DLC or even other parts of this one. Lev as a whole is a positive addition to the universe but his story leaves a lot to be desired. In both story and gameplay he flanks Abby from the shadows, so quiet that you forget he’s there until he makes a precision shot with his bow to turn the tide of tense encounters. He is awkward and withdrawn displays a lot of courage in trying to escape his faction. Courage that inspires Abby to do the same and forges a bond. But that’s part of the problem. Lev is only really there as an accessory to Abby’s story. His story tries to continue Naughty Dog’s more progressive slant by delving into some of the difficult circumstances that come with being transgender but this narrative is ultimately very one note and conveyed through exposition and developments off-screen over any of the craft that went into selling us on Ellie in the original games. In many ways it feels like cheap tokenism and I hate to say that about a character written and portrayed with such earnestness. Abby’s story ends up coming up a little short compared to Ellie’s on the whole. Contrivance puts the overall larger cast in positions to be killed off. Spectacular set-pieces start to happen with very loose justification that doesn’t suit this game’s world. It’s definitely the more fun half of the game but I would rather have had a little more consistency over some of these elements. There’s a lot to like here but nothing that got under my skin as thoroughly as watching Ellie’s mental state deteriorate in the first half. So it’s a bit of a relief when we switch back to her in the last stretch, long after Abby lets her go and gives her a chance to live her life. Ellie is living in a dream scenario, on a quiet farm with her girlfriend Dinah and her kid. It’s a jarring, frustrating sequence that turns satisfying when quickly calls out for the farce it is. Abby was hollow after completing her mission but Ellie is about as well off after she gives up and lets go, illustrating that there was no easy answer for getting over her hatred and trauma. Seeking out Abby and finding her beaten so thoroughly by the world was one of my favorite moments in the game. One of the game’s biggest symbols of strength was reduced to a frail, fragile figure without Ellie’s input. There’s no honor in killing her now but Ellie doesn’t know what else to do with herself and tries anyway. The fight stretches a little too long and gets a little too graphic, but the ending works. Joel flashes into her mind and she lets Abby go, realizing all at once what he truly wanted for her and how he was able to do what he did to protect her. She had to alienate or inadvertently cause the deaths of most of the people in her life to get here, though and the ending leaves her on that tragic note. The game is about love in the same way the first game was, and how easy it is to justify hate in it’s name. It’s an interesting premise but probably not the best fit for an action game where the core loop is combat driven.Crafting a story about the destructive consequences indulging in violence leaves feels a little bit out of lockstep with itself when indulging in violence is so satisfying as a gameplay loop. The story is a precautionary tale about the temptation of violence but in the gameplay violence is directly trying to be cathartic. I think that the developers were riding on some kind of dramatic irony with that choice, but it’s so heavy handed it comes off as patronizing at times.

Storytelling or thematic ambitions don’t work in this medium without mechanical ambitions to go alongside them but Naughty Dog remains hesitant to push themselves here. Even the wheels start to fall off of the story just because of how many moving parts it’s trying to juggle. The first game was a little less mature and a little less ambitious than this one, but it was a little more consistent for it. I think I prefer this game though, warts and all.

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negasonicimagines · 6 years

Text

(You kissed her.)

Hi folks! I am so, so sorry for not posting, like, at all, ever! I am trying really hard, I need to stop procrastinating and get on you guys’ requests! I’m bad at keeping track of which rqs are anon and which aren’t, so, if you wanna be tagged in your fulfilled rq, please include to tag @[user] because I copy the rqs into a doc! (this is also useful if you wanna be tagged but not as your main blog!) anyways, I wanted to mix up the writing style a little, sorry if it’s obnoxious!

request: “Can u write something like,Idk,the reader is texting Ellie and asks her to make a makeup tutorial for youtube and she actually films it?And she's all flustered and embarassed interacting with the camera?Sorry if this is too vague”

I tweaked this significantly, I’m so sorry, I just really struggled with doing it justice, especially due to the vagueness of it. But, I did appreciate the request and if you’d like to submit it with a few extra details I would love to write you a new piece!

Additionally, this is my 30th NTW x reader imagine! Not my 30th published, but I keep my docs numbered and this is number 30! So, go us!

So sorry for the long A/N! Please enjoy!

(Text names are what you guys have each other saved as in your contacts!)

Ellie lost touch with most of her friends at home when she moved to Xavier’s.

(Most.)

There was one left, and if you’ve ever read one of these fics before, you know it’s you. Her best friend who she definitely doesn’t have a crush on.

Y/N ♡: Ellie!

҉ ♥Ellie♥ ҉ : What.

Y/N ♡: Your make-up looked really cute on the news today!

҉ ♥Ellie♥ ҉ : Thanks. Your point?

Y/N ♡: I was wondering if you would film a tutorial…? Please?

҉ ♥Ellie♥ ҉ : You don’t need a tutorial, you do makeup just fine. I saw your Snapchat story

Y/N ♡: Yeah, but I don’t do it how you do yours! I wanna learn THAT….

҉ ♥Ellie♥ ҉ : Tough.

Y/N ♡: :-(

Ellie rolls her eyes before leaving you on read. She’s so lucky you can’t see her face when you shamelessly compliment her like that. She gets so damn red, it’s embarassing. Whatever. She plugs her phone in and goes to sleep pretty quickly, not even dreaming.

The next morning, though, when she’s bored, she decides to create the video.

(Like it was a decision, when you were the one asking.)

҉ ♥Ellie♥ ҉ : Fine, I’ll make it. Can’t say I never did anything for you

Y/N ♡: Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

҉ ♥Ellie♥ ҉ : Whatever lol weirdo. Don’t text back I don’t want the phone to vibrate during

She suction cups her phone to her mirror, as she typically does so she can watch Netflix and do her makeup at the same time, but instead of that black and red app, she goes to the camera and begins recording.

“Hello, everyone. Or, just, y’know, Y/N. This is how I do my makeup. I start out with a primer, because I’m not completely stupid, then I go in with my foundation. Yes, it really is this pale ass emo shade. Then I blend it with a beauty blender, yeah, even I haven’t avoided that trend. And then this gray eyeshadow. And then the eyeliner, duh. And then mascara. Lipstick optional, but I’m wearing it tod- Oh! Oh my god!” She covers her mouth.

(Shocked.)

“Hey!” you tell her, stepping through the door. “Oh good, you’re actually recording. I wanted a video of us BFFs reuniting!” You wiggle your fingers towards her, and she rolls her eyes. You were the fun one, she was the grouchy one.

“What the fuck are you doing here?!” She remembers the situation.

“I’m not allowed to visit?!” you ask in reply.

“It’s kind of a long drive!” She argues, gesturing with her hands a little, and you shrug.

“Well, yeah, but when you’re moving somewhere it’s a good idea to visit first.”

“What?!” Ellie asks. “You’re a-!?”

(You nod.)

“What kind?! I mean, what do you do?!”

The people who overhear as they pass swear she’s never been this loud before, always responding briefly and nearly muttering her words.

You offer her a packet of sunflower seed snacks. She looks at you, confused.

“Take one,” you tell her. She’s always resisting.

(It’s cute.)

“What’s this got to do with anything?” the jaded girl inquires skeptically.

“Just do it, doofus!”

She takes one from the pack, and goes to crack it.

“No, hold it in your palm.”

“Y/N, you’re acting weirder than these jackasses think I am.”

“Watch!”

You close your eyes, focusing on the seed in her hand. She watches as a small green stem cracks the shell open, roots sprawling out as the stem grows thicker and darker, growing taller until the sunflower bursts open.

“Oh. My. God. Seriously?”

You crack open an eye nervously, smiling with the same tone. “Yeah. And…” You control the roots, causing them to make themselves into legs with feet at the ends. You make the sunflower dance, waving its leaves like arms.

(She just watches.)

Ellie usually didn’t speak as a choice, but in this instance she genuinely didn’t have anything to say.

(Until she realized that yes, she did.)

“Um, Y/N… Well, uh… Can you make the sunflower stop dancing?”

(No, that wasn’t it.)

“Oh, yeah, uh, here.” You hand her the gift bag she hadn’t noticed you’d been holding, and she peeks inside. It’s a bag of soil, as well as a black flower pot and plate set with silver skulls spray-painted on. “For the sunflower.”

“Nice,” Ellie comments, placing the plate and the pot in the correct position, on her desk in front of the window.. You dump some of the soil in the pot, and make the sunflower sit cross-legged, more roots expanding outwards to stake in the dirt before you add more. You take a water bottle from your purse and wet the earth inside with what’s left.

“Well, uh, I’ve gotta tour the campus. Kitty’s showing me around.”

“No,” Ellie immediately disagrees, jealousy rushing through her veins like it’s racing against her blood.

“Did I remember her name wrong?” You ask, confused.

“No, just- I’ll show you around. Tell her not to worry about it.”

You peek your head out the door and shrug, but then you nod.

Damn it, Kitty had been out there waiting for Y/N & listening the whole time? How embarrassing… Ellie thinks.

“Alright, let’s get the tour started, huh?”

The two of you go to exit, before Ellie realizes she’s (uncharacteristically) forgotten her phone! She stops the recording and locks it, sticking it in her back pocket.

You follow her around, listening to her explain the classes you’d likely take and what clubs there were in an exhausted tone.

“Is it really that bad here? Maybe I shouldn’t come…” you tease.

“No!” she nearly shouts,and you look at her with a mildly surprised expression. “Uh, it really doesn’t suck or anything, I’m just… You know… Like that.”

“I was kidding, Ellie, and besides. The papers are all in order. I don’t have anywhere else to go, anyway, my parents… Well, you know how that story usually goes.”

Ellie nods. “I’m really sorry. They seemed better than that.”

“It’s okay. Now I get to be roomies with… Well…”

Ellie’s eyes widen. “Me?”

“Yeah! You’re one of the few students who doesn’t have a roomie yet, so when they told me I could pick, I chose you!”

She tries not to blush.

(It doesn’t work.)

“Oh, jeez, El, you’re really red. You’d think with all that working out as an X-Woman, you wouldn’t get so winded after walking around a bit,” you joke, at least about the working out part. You’ve got no clue why she’s so flushed. “Are you okay? You’re not getting sick or anything, are you?”

“Sick of you,” Ellie remarks, though she doesn’t mean it. The only thing that makes her sick is her own cowardice. She couldn’t even ask you out over text, and now you’re going to be seeing her in person? She’s never going to admit her feelings, is she? She’ll die miserable and alone, just like she is now.

(And people wonder why she lashes out.)

You giggle nervously, eyeing her expression. Most of the time you knew she wasn’t being serious, or, at least, not being honest, but you did worry sometimes. “Alright… Suppose I’ll have to find Kitty to give me the rest of the tour…” You turn around teasingly, waiting for her to stop you as you slowly walk away.

(She doesn’t.)

It hurts your feelings signifcantly. You don’t turn around, knowing you wouldn’t be able to hide it. You begin walking at a normal pace.

“Hey, wait!” she protests, and you return. “Listen, I’m sorry I’m kind of a dick. I try not to be a dick to you, but it doesn’t always work out, because I really like you.”

“Um… Isn’t that supposed to be… Not like that?” You laugh nervously, a bit concerned for her mental health and your own safety.

“I just mean that- Well- I don’t like being nice to people! It makes me feel weak! And I don’t want to be weak in front of someone I like!”

“Like… Like-like…?” You ask nervously, trying not to sound too hopeful.

(It doesn’t work.)

“Yeah,” she admits dejectedly, your hope most likely being obscurred by the metaphorical dark clouds that always surround her. Most of the time, people saw them as anger. You understand, though.

(They’re shields.)

“Hey. Did you miss my tone completely or something? It was hopeful.”

“Hopeful that I wouldn’t? Sorry to disappoint you, prince- Mmf!”

(You kissed her.)

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