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scoopsgf · 4 years

Note

for a prompt peter meets the rouge avengers and they witness irondad at it's finest

It’s half past two in the morning when Peter’s ears perk at the sound of an old-fashioned, peppy ringtone.

He looks around in search of it. There’s Tony passed out at his workbench, face dangerously close to a slice of plated cold pizza; DUM-E is rolling around a few feet away chasing after a crumpled ball of paper Peter had tossed over his shoulder; there are tools scattered everywhere and blueprints and a whiteboard covered in equations.

But no phone.

Peter slips off his stool. He walks toward the sound, slowly, cautiously, and by the time he thinks he’s located the source the ringing stops.

Peter stares at Tony’s discarded running jacket. Throwing him a quick glance over his shoulder just to make sure the older man is still asleep, he reaches into the pocket and pulls out an old flip phone.

“What,” he deadpans, to absolutely no one.

Tony Stark, the former CEO of the world’s largest tech conglomerate. Tony Stark, creator of the most powerful mechanical weapon—sorry, prosthetic—of all time…

Is carrying around a dinky Nokia from 2009.

A Nokia which promptly starts ringing again (very loudly). “Shit!” Peter swears, jumping. On instinct he answers it. “Hello? What? Hello?”

“Tony?”

Peter glances at Tony again. He bites his lip. “Tony is unfortunately unavailable at the moment. I’m his… personal assistant. Would you like to leave a message?”

“Oh, uh,” there’s some muffled muttering on the other end, like the caller is relaying Peter’s words back to someone else, and then, “I uh—it’s kind of an emergency. Would you mind asking him if he’s got a minute to talk?”

And by now, Peter’s totally put the pieces together: crappy old phone, the voice—he is absolutely 100% having a real life conversation with Steve Rogers.

Again.

Peter doesn’t exactly know the full story between Tony and Steve. He just knows that whenever anyone brings up Rogers, Tony’s face darkens and he clams up.

Squinting at Tony, he asks, “Are you sure you need to talk to him?”

“Believe me, I wouldn’t have called otherwise.”

“But if you had, maybe, some other form of assistance? Say a web-slinging vigilante from Queens?”

There’s a pause.

Steve says, “Hey, kid,” with a smile in his voice.

“Hey Brooklyn,” Peter returns. “Long time, no speak.”

“Yeah, well, you know. So you’re working for Tony now?”

“I wouldn’t call it working so much as slave labour.”

A laugh. “Somehow I doubt that. What’s he doing?”

“Sleeping—which, y’know, he barely gets enough of as it is. So what’s the situation?”

“Nice disguise.”

Natasha Romanoff looks up from the paper kid’s menu she’d been studying. Her eyebrow, dyed blonde, is raised. “I was worried it’d be too effective.”

“You do realise Buzzfeed publishes weekly articles that are literally just blurry photos of you and the other rogues followed by a bunch of keysmashes?”

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Peter slides into the booth opposite her. “So you’re here to what, feel me out?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, I’ve already done that.” She sets the menu down. “I was already in the area. We’re both waiting for the ride.”

Peter nods. He looks out the window while she studies his face. He’d had no choice but to forego the mask seeing as his suit is still under repairs back in the lab. FRIDAY had said it wouldn’t be fixed until morning.

Natasha kicks his foot. “Why do you look younger than I remember?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugs. “But hey, since we’re playing Q&A, why’d you stab Tony in the back?”

“I didn’t stab him in the back,” Romanoff argues. “I just… the Avengers are my family—”

“Tony’s part of the Avengers—”

“Tony has a support system. Steve is nothing without us—and I say that with love. Without his team he’d just be a sad old man stuck in time.”

“But now with you and your amazing makeover skills, he’s at least caught up to the seventies with that beard.”

She kicks him again. “Shut up. I don’t have to explain my reasoning to a kid.”

“So why are you?”

Romanoff squints and leans forward. “Why are you here?”

“Because if Tony knew that you needed help, he’d stop at nothing to save you no matter how much he hated your guts—which he doesn’t, by the way, he’s just really hurt—even if it meant putting his own life in danger. I don’t want that.” Peter shrugs. “Plus you were pretty cool last time and I thought we could be, I don’t know, friends or something. Whatever, it’s stupid.”

Her lip quirks up. “It’s not stupid.”

“Really? So you’ll be my spider buddy?”

Natasha rolls her eyes. “Think of a better name first and then we’ll see.”

He opens his mouth to retort, but right at that moment the door to the Taco Bell chimes and Steve Rogers walks in.

“Oh wow,” Peter whispers. “The beard really does work for him.”

“Right?” She grabs his arm. “Come on, little spinner.”

—

Steve is not at all pleased at how young Peter is.

“I dropped a jet rail on a kid,” he proclaims for the upteenth time, knuckles white around the steering wheel.

“Yeah, a kid that can lift fifteen tons on a bad day,” Peter snaps back, a little irritated now. He finishes strapping on the kevlar gear Natasha had provided him with. It’s bulkier than what he’s used to, but better than no protection at all.

“I dropped a jet rail on a kid.”

Natasha reaches out. “Steve—”

“I DROPPED A JET RAIL ON A KID!”

“I’m FINE!” Peter shouts back, the only one in the van besides Barnes that doesn’t flinch.

“You’re eight!” Steve retorts. “You don’t even know what fine is!”

Peter closes his eyes. “Oh my god.”

“Steve, he’s enhanced,” Natasha reminds him, the only voice of reason. “Tony never would have brought him if he didn’t think Parker could handle it—”

Peter’s eyes snap back open. “How do you know my last name?”

“What did I say about how I’d already felt you out?”

“That sounds… so much worse than the way you mean it.”

“See?” Natasha pats Steve’s arm. “He’s already making dirty jokes. He’s fine.”

Steve is silent for a few seconds. Then he shakes his head. “We have to take him back.”

“What?!” Peter demands. “No! You need my help!”

“I need Tony’s help!”

“I can literally do anything Tony can,” Peter proclaims, and then pauses. “Probably.”

“That’s real reassuring,” Wilson pipes up from a few feet over.

“No one asked you,” Romanoff hisses.

Wilson rolls his eyes. “I’m just saying, Steve’s got a point. Look at this little twink. Have you seen him? He’s like two feet big.”

“I’m literally sitting right here,” Peter says. “And I wasn’t kidding when I said I can lift fifteen tons.”

“No,” Steve decides. “You’re too small.”

“Oh, are you shitting me?!” Barnes explodes. “Steve, you were a five foot tall asthmatic when you enlisted!”

“That was a different time!”

“It’s just a little stealth mission,” Barnes says. “The kid can pin my arm down. Even you can’t do that.”

Steve frowns. “You can pin his arm down?”

Peter takes a deep breath. “I’ll say it one more time: fifteen tons.”

Another pause.

“Fine,” Steve says. “Fine, Jesus Christ. But if he dies—”

“You’ll blame yourself like you always do,” Natasha finishes for him with a dry look.

Rogers sighs. “Yeah. Probably.”

—

Tony jolts awake at precisely four AM.

The first thing he sees is pizza.

It’s two inches from his face and disgustingly congealed. He pushes it away as he raises his head, and then notices a second thing: Peter is gone.

“Um… FRIDAY?”

“Yes Boss?”

“Where’s the kid?”

“He left approximately two and a half hours ago on urgent business.”

Tony’s eyes narrow. That stinks. Like, a lot. “Urgent business? He’s twelve.”

“I was only able to catch his half of the phone conversation—”

“Oh, well then just trace the call or whatever.”

“I’m afraid the phone he used isn’t advanced enough for that.”

Tony stiffens. He doesn’t want to look, but turns around anyway, eyeing his jacket. Slowly he grabs it and feels around in the pockets. “It’s gone.”

“What’s gone?”

“What do you think?! The phone! The little rectangular piece of garbage Rogers FedExed to me with the worst apology note of all time!”

“Oh, that.”

Tony freezes. His eyes close briefly. Then they seek out the nearest of FRIDAY’s cameras. “You didn’t wake me up, darling.”

“No,” she replies, almost sheepish.

“Whyever not?”

“Peter and I both agreed that the best thing for you would be for you to sleep as long as possible—”

“I don’t CARE what’s best for ME!”

He takes a minute to fume. Then he starts moving. “Is he wearing his watch?”

“Yes, Boss.”

“Fantastic, showstopping, incredible,” Tony slaps the housing unit on his chest. “Open the pod bay doors, would you?”

—

Peter is kind of kicking ass.

Like, not to brag or anything, but he’s taken down six HYDRA agents so far and for once hasn’t had to ask for help. He’s holding his own.

Maybe it’s something to do with being part of a whole unit. They move around each other, they fight as one; there’s a boost to the normal amount of adrenaline Peter feels in the midst of a fight. He knows that if he gets kneed in the chest and goes down for a second, Barnes is gonna swoop in and break a jaw with his metal arm. Likewise, Wilson knows that if he gets thrown back into the wall with that weird glowy laser gun, Peter is gonna web the HYDRA soldier up and subdue the threat.

It’s… kind of awesome.

They’ve split up, for the most part. Maximoff, Rogers, and Romanoff are working through the east wing while Peter, Barnes, and Wilson slowly carve their way through the west.

“Could use a little bit of backup,” Wanda says through the comms, in a rasping, out of breath voice.

Peter taps his ear. “Where are you?”

“Second floor, third room,” she reports.

Peter doesn’t waste any time. He shoots a web for the roof of the atrium and swings across the wide open space that separates the two halves of the building. He’d calculated the distance just right and hurtles straight into Wanda’s attacker.

“Thanks,” she huffs.

Peter shrugs, wiping Dilapidated Building Dust off of his suit. “Hey, no problem.”

“You know, they’re all hypocrites.”

Peter pauses. “What?”

“I was nineteen when we went to Germany. My powers just happened to be more convenient for their needs.”

“I, uh—oh.”

She slips past him. “I’m not saying they’re not good people. I’m just saying that when it comes to winning, sometimes morality goes out the window. In that way… Sometimes I think Stark might have had the right of it.”

Before he can really process that, Peter reaches out and grabs her wrist. She scowls. “What?”

“Two agents, twenty feet away and gaining.”

“How can you tell?”

“Heartbeats.”

To his surprise, she grins. “I’m not going to lie, that would come in handy a lot with the work we do.”

“Well, you know where to find me. Wanna trip em Suite Life style?”

“What?”

“Nothing, just follow my lead.”

—

When Rogers’ fist collides with the last agent in the base, and Peter and Romanoff have extracted all of the information she needed off of HYDRA’s underground databases, Wilson says, “Do your thing, Wanda.”

She nods. “Everyone clear out.”

Peter doesn’t question it too much. He follows Barnes’ lead outside. The base, disguised as a factory, is in the middle of the Jersey woods—so there’s no one around to watch Wanda’s hands glow red and for the building to collapse inward.

“Cool,” Peter breathes.

“Destroying buildings can be fun when it’s on purpose,” Wanda tells him, somewhat bitterly.

Peter frowns. “That wasn’t your fault.”

“Tell that to Stark.”

“He doesn’t think—”

“Tell me what?”

Peter’s blood runs cold. He doesn’t want to turn around, but he does anyway; slowly so as to delay his inevitable demise. Tony is hovering about feet behind them all with his faceplate down.

“Oh,” he says stupidly. “Hey.”

The plate lifts.

Tony does not look happy.

“Hello.”

“It’s uh… fancy seeing you here?”

“Oh, don’t try to be cute with me.” Tony drops down onto the ground. “How about you save me the heart attack by telling me what in God’s name you’re doing out in the middle of nowhere at four in the fucking morning—and you left with them of all people when I specifically asked you not to!”

Peter opens his mouth. Then he closes it and averts his eyes. “They needed… help.”

“Oh, they needed help,” Tony shakes his head. “You need help. Psychiatric help.”

“Hey, lay off the kid man,” Wilson pipes up. “He was just—”

“Excuse me?” Tony puts a hand to his ear. “What? I must be mishearing, it sounded like you were butting into a conversation that has nothing to do with you by defending the poor decision making of a sixteen year old kid who has a math test in four hours!”

Peter blinks. He’d forgotten about that. “Okay, you’ve got a point there—however, I’d like to present to the jury evidence piece six-hundred and five: my completely uninjured body!”

Tony opens his mouth. Then it snaps shut again. Opens again; “Just wait until Aunt May hears about this.”

Peter’s eyes widen. “Are you crazy?! She’ll kill us both!”

Tony hesitates. “You might have a point—but that doesn’t change the fact that this was incredibly reckless and stupid! You can’t just run off willynilly without even informing your parents—”

“Willynilly?” Peter interrupts, instead of PARENTS?!

“Enough! You’re grounded!”

Natasha steps forward. “Tony—”

“From what,” Peter challenges, ignoring her.

Tony sputters. “Uh, your suit, Karen, TV, that board game—”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know what Dungeons and Dragons is called.”

“The name of the game is irrelevant,” Tony snaps. “Two weeks. Maybe three if you piss me off any more on the way home.”

“Don’t tell me you expect me to like, latch onto your suit.”

“And put you in more danger?! Fuck no! Happy’s waiting in the SUV.”

Peter sighs. He turns to the others. “Well, it’s been fun. Thanks.”

Steve Rogers blinks. “Uh, yeah. You did good, kid.”

Tony holds up a hand as Peter tries to pass him. He’s squinting at Steve, but seems to decide he doesn’t want to speak to the other man. He zeroes in on Natasha. “He did good?”

“Damn good,” she replies. “We could use him.”

Tony throws his head back and laughs. “Fucking hilarious! Think again! I swear to God, if I catch any of you heathens near my kid again and you’ll be dead before my feet hit the ground. Kid, go to the car.”

“Tony—”

“No. Car.”

—

“What the hell, Rogers.”

“Tony—”

“No! This is not the part where you speak.” Tony takes a second to remember to breathe because his heart is still pounding and there’s red on the edges of his vision. “I meant what I said. Stay away from my kid.”

“Tony, he’s stronger than you’re giving him credit for—”

“Nope! Nope! No!” Tony blasts off before he has to listen to any more.

—

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Peter meets Happy’s eyes through the rear view mirror. Glaring, he slowly buckles his seatbelt.

“That’s more like it. So, did you have fun?”

Peter slouches. “Am I even allowed to say yes?”

“No.” Happy shrugs. “But hey, if it’s any consolation—”

Peter never gets his consolation; the car door swings open and Tony slips inside. Before he can even get a word in, he’s being pulled into Tony’s arms. The older man’s heart is hammering against his chest.

“Kid—”

“I’m sorry,” Peter blurts. “Really. I know I shouldn’t have gone, I just… I wanted to help.”

“I know.”

He breathes out. “They didn’t mean to—”

“Leave them out of it.”

“But I went along with it—”

“Peter,” Tony says, and then sighs. “Just… that can’t happen again, okay? Promise me?”

Peter wishes he meant it when he says, “Yeah, I-I promise.”

The drive home is quiet, but Tony lets Peter fall asleep on his shoulder, and when they get back to New York they stop at his school so he’s not late for his test.

And everyone sees who’s in the car when Peter gets out.

Kind of makes up for being grounded, if you ask him.

#asks #anon #marvel #irondad #tony stark #peter parker #prompts #rogue avengers #fanfiction #my writing #natasha romanoff #steve rogers #no bashing here folks!!!#this is me trying to write something unique and absolutely failing #oops

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mermaidxatxheart · 4 years

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I was wondering if you could write something where the reader is talking to Natasha or someone about how she feels like Bucky uses her for her body? He only really has rough sex with her, never asks about her wellbeing afterwards, or during. He has only taken her on 4 dates, and practically ignores her outside of the bedroom. She just feels really used and Natasha is pissed (she votes for a break up no matter what)and Bucky overhears her and just he ends up working his ass off becuz of guilt

Choices

This was pretty easy to write, once I started it just spilled out. Thanks for the request, babe. I hope you like it.

Pairing: Bucky X Reader

Word Count: 1667

Warnings: Angst, mentions of rough sex, swearing

No one ever told you the downfall of living with spies and super soldiers.

Like the fact that Natasha Romanoff is amazing at reading micro-expressions. She always manages to ruin a perfectly good cup of tea.

She sidles up to you as you sip at your tea. You determinedly ignore her stares, refusing to be the one to break.

“What’s that face for?” She finally asks.

“It’s just my face, Tash.” You reply evenly.

“No, you have a sad mark, right there.” She pokes your forehead.

You swat her hand away with a roll of your eyes. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m expertly trained and you have a terrible poker face.” She grins. “I thought you just came from a ‘session’ with Bucky.” She hints, nudging your arm. “Shouldn’t you be all glowy and relaxed?”

“I’m fine.” You insist.

“Oh my god, how can you stand that? Your pants are on fire.”

“Jesus, I hate you.”

She pokes your arm, and her eyes widen. “I’m sorry, is that a bruise?” She lifts your sleeve and you yank your arm away.

“It’s not what you think.” You sigh.

“Oh, so Bucky didn’t hurt you?” She snaps.

Bucky

His stomach rumbles again, He’s put off eating for a while. He knows Y/N would be in there, and it’s just easier to avoid you when you’re not in the bedroom. It’s hard to see you afterward, knowing what he’s done and how much he must have hurt you. He tries to resist as much as he can, he tries to hold out because he knows that every time he can’t, he’ll lose control and hurt you.

He almost reaches the kitchen and freezes when he hears Natasha’s voice. “Oh, so Bucky didn’t hurt you?” She snaps.

“I’m not sure you would understand.” You reply.

“Try me. I thought Bucky liked you.” Natasha’s voice is defensive.

“He did. I mean, he does. I don’t know. I think he does. Sometimes.” You sigh and he can just picture you rubbing your face.

Sometimes?

“You guys go out, don’t you? On dates?” Natasha asks and Bucky can’t stop the cringe.

“We’ve gone on a couple. But, he has a hard time in the crowds.” You defend him, more than what he deserves.

“And?”

You sigh loudly. “And, he seems more interested in having sex than going out.” You say exasperatedly.

“Rough sex?” Natasha guesses.

“Yeah. I mean, it’s great.”

“Y/N, stop making excuses,” Natasha demands, slamming her hand on the table.

“What are you asking me?” You shoot back.

“How does he treat you?” She asks pointedly.

“Like I’m there just to have sex with him. Kind of ignores me when we’re outside the bedroom. Doesn’t particularly,” you cut off with a small noise like you’re unsure what to say. “I don’t wanna say he doesn’t care, but I don’t think it occurs to him to be soft sometimes.”

“Soft? Like, gentle?” Natasha asks. He knows that tone. She’s rising towards anger pretty quick.

“Sort of? I don’t mind the roughness. I trust him not to take it too far, but he could still ask if I’m okay afterward.” You say quietly.

Bucky’s shoulders slump as he realizes what an asshole he is. He needs to figure out a way to make it up to you. To figure out a way to tell you all the complicated things you make him feel that he hasn’t had to deal with for 70 years.

“That’s not okay, Y/N. That’s not just rough sex or BDSM, or whatever it’s being called. That’s certified abuse and you need to end it.” Natasha says firmly.

“No, Tash, it’s not-he doesn’t-”

“End it. Look, I like Barnes as much as the next person, but not if he’s going to treat you like that. I’ll kick his ass.”

“Please don’t.” You groan.

“I’m just saying. If I see you with another bruise, I’ll lose my shit.”

Bucky steps back from the doorway, appetite lost. He needs to think, needs to clear his head. Maybe Natasha is right, as she usually is, and he should end things with you. But he doesn’t want to leave you with a bad memory of him.

He heads for the training center, in desperate need of a workout. He plugs in his headphones and makes quick work of taping his wrists. He heads for the punching bag and begins.

He never should have allowed you to get so close in the first place, but maybe he never had a choice in the matter. You tend to work your way in without anyone noticing, a small laugh here, shared joke there. Late-night snacks, early morning coffees, secret smiles across the gym floor. And then suddenly he sees you differently, knows he’s looking at a work of art, something so soft and sweet, something that holds the power to destroy him.

The first time you fell into bed together, you begged him for faster, harder. Your breaths were small puffs of air against his ear, your lips a sin on his neck. He destroyed you, hands too tight, hips driving too harshly. He was starving for you, and the more he devoured, the hungrier he got.

He was so ashamed of hurting you, too embarrassed at having lost control like that, he couldn’t even make himself ask if you were okay. That would be admitting that what he had done was wrong. But how could you feeling so good around him be wrong? And then he couldn’t bear to see the horror in your face as you realized how rough he’d been, the bruises around your wrists, at your hips. He left before you were awake, ashamed, disgusted with himself.

He swore he wouldn’t do it again. He would apologize or just pretend it never happened. But then you were smiling at him across the kitchen, coffee made just for him and maybe-just maybe-you didn’t hate him at all.

He never wanted to hurt you; never thought he would have the chance to be so intimate with anyone. You always beg him for more, harder, faster, deeper. You drive him to madness and how in the world is he supposed to resist perfection?

But then the morning comes. Oh god, the morning light, showing off your fresh bruises, the swollen wrists, the raised marks on your bare back, the indents of metal plates etched on your skin and he’s a fucking monster. And so, he avoids you. Guilt rolls around in his stomach, tightening his insides to mummy status.

Christ, he’s a god damn menace.

The bag breaks off the chain and sails across the room, sliding with a quiet thud into the wall. His hair is sticking to his face and neck with sweat. It drips in his eyes, trickles down his back, plastering his shirt to his skin.

“Shit.” He mutters, staring at it before straightening up.

“I thought helping you work out aggression was my job.” You say from behind him and he jerks back away from you. You frown, taking a step towards him. He matches the distance and you pause. “Bucky?” You tilt your head.

“I was hoping for some privacy.” He mutters, dropping his gaze.

“Oh. Right. I’ll leave you to it, then.” You acknowledge, taking a safe step back. “Steve keeps spare bags in that closet.” You say gesturing begins him.

“Y/N?” He starts, looking up at you.

“Yeah?”

“Would you, um, would you maybe like to have dinner? With me, I mean. Dinner with me?” He asks, sounding like a buffoon. He can feel his face reddening. Christ almighty you make him nervous.

“I would love to.” You smile, your face lighting up in such a beautiful way. “Is tonight okay?”

“Yeah. I think we need to talk.” He says and your face instantly falls.

“Talk?”

“Yeah.” He bobs his head like a fucking chicken. Because he’s a coward. A chickeny coward. Ugh.

“Bucky? Should I be worried?” You bite at your bottom lip and he wants to stop you, to reassure you that everything’s fine. But he can’t. He has to do the right thing.

“I,” he pauses, unsure how to tell you that he was eavesdropping. “Natasha said-” he stumbles and you roll your eyes.

“Yeah, Natasha doesn’t always know what she’s talking about.” You say.

“In this case, she might be right.” He hedges.

“I bet she’s not. Let me guess, she told you that we should stop seeing each other?” You guess and he realizes his mistake. You don’t know he overheard your conversation; you think Natasha confronted him.

He nods, lying like a fucking carpet.

“Well, she’s wrong. She doesn’t understand.”

“She understands that I hurt you.” He says quietly.

“Because I ask for it.” You step closer. “If I didn’t like anything you do to me, you wouldn’t be allowed to keep doing it, Bucky.”

“I can’t keep control when I’m... when we’re...”

“Fucking? Maybe if you didn’t fight it so hard, you’d have an easier time.” You say evenly, and he realizes that you’ve moved in front of him without him even realizing it. “So, we’ll go to dinner and talk about everything we want from each other. And I’ll try not to encourage you so much. Although the sex is pretty fantastic, I don’t want you feeling bad. I think the solution is more sex so that you get used to it and it doesn’t all spill out at once.” You clutch his shirt and pull him down to meet you for a searing kiss that steals his breath. “I’ll see you for dinner.”

And then you’re gone.

Maybe he was wrong about losing control. Maybe he never had it in the first place. Maybe you’ve been getting almost everything you want all along. But he can definitely do better at the soft parts, like not ignoring you, like making sure you’re okay. Maybe admitting it doesn’t make him a monster, but hiding from it does.

Everything Tag List:

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artificialqueens · 3 years

Text

Sanctuary (Jalaska) - Grinder

AN: Wow…been a hot minute since I posted anything to AQ. Currently working on a series but decided I should give myself a wee break and write something else. This is a songfic based on Sanctuary by Joji whom I absolutely adore. And, who knows, maybe I’ll write more Joji inspired fics and make it a collection. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy! Stay safe!

Lots of love to all the discord people for helping me with this and, especially @artificialeevee and V. If anyone of you are thinking about joining the server, do it!

The year is 9872. And I’ve fucking had it.

The name’s Jinkx Monsoon; intergalactically tolerated American space Historian, a linguist of 3 human languages, and 4 alien languages.

Location: Space somewhere.

I have a question; Is it wrong to destroy the only housekeeper on your ship, an AI bot whose sole purpose is to clean and only clean? It’s nothing personal against the bot. It’s just…the thought of thriving as a glamorous space housewife for an hour or two is very appealing to me at this moment.

You see, life on the Sanctuary ship isn’t exactly exciting anymore.

Dumb name. The place is anything but a sanctuary. Ivy and I just call it ‘Big Debbie.’

Speaking of Ivy, she’s fallen asleep at the wheel again. Yes, this has happened before—a few times. The first time, we all had a laugh about it. The second time, we joked about how it was becoming a habit. But the third time, it was starting to kind of get on the Captain’s nerves.

The ship has been spinning in slow circles for half an hour now. Shea storms in, flicks Ivy in the ear, waking her up. I breathe a laugh out of my nostrils as Ivy rolls her eyes. The ship stops spinning and is back on course. Destination? Nowhere.

I notice how Shea looks at me now as I sit my feet up on the controls. She looks like she wants to say something. But what is there to even say? She shares my exact thought and leaves the room.

I look at Ivy as she types away on her keyboard, a bowl of yogurt in my hand, cold spoon in the other. “What are you thinking about?”

“All the fuel we’re wasting.” She puts on a fake smile, hiding her frustration.

Before I get another chance to speak, Phi Phi sits in the other pilot seat, next to me, and slaps my feet off the control panel. “Can we please avoid accidents?”

“What’s the fun in that?” I sulk. Heck, at least it would give us all something to talk about.

Who even are we anymore? And how did we get here?

Let me explain.

-_-_-_-

9869. 3 Years Ago

“Be warned, Monsoon; If you mess this up, you’re out of here.” Alyssa’s words ran circles in my head.

I resisted the urge to grab a glass of complimentary wine as I walked around the exhibition room, nodding and offering a fake smile to the attendees. The wine probably tasted like ass. These folks loved that type of stuff. I wasn’t part of their social class, not used to such tastes, so it was a hard pass on the booze. However I hoped my green emerald tea dress told them that I was one of them. Not that it would have mattered anyway. To them, I was just staff. But I knew I was so much more than that.

I was pretty good at hiding my nerves. This opportunity wasn’t given to just anyone, something I have waited on for a long time. I was to host an entire exhibition, the Universal Museum of Space History’s Lost Treasures reveal. A “One Night Only” event with a guest list of people who probably ate breakfast with a second cousin to a Royal at least once in their lives. And I couldn’t fuck it up. I couldn’t.

Before I walked into the room that night, I was just a tour guide, and in the current Century, it wasn’t as glamorous as it sounded. My manager, Alyssa insisted that we stick to the science-y feel. Instead of having an actual real live tour guide, we just used a hologram instead. And that hologram was yours truly. Groovy, right?

But this event? This meant opportunities. A possible promotion! And not to mention, I would be a part of something big. I was blessed with the task of unveiling a one of a kind artifact. No one knew where it came from. Or the real name. But they called it the Revitalization Grain. The name didn’t do it justice.

This pretty, glowy stone brought forth the growth of nature, crops, and resources. If I was a saleswoman, this is the part I’d say, “But wait! There’s more.” It had healing properties, offered a sort of hit, and even brought someone back from the dead (apparently).

Standing in that room, with all the aristocrats surrounding me, I was the only person who knew all that. The amount of digging and snooping around I had to go through to obtain this information was extensive.

Of course, not everything about the stone was known yet; where it came from, if it was life-form made or natural, or what its real name was.

I passed a Glarglaxian, and she wriggled her scaled fingers in a wave at me. I asked her how she was doing. Not that I cared. It was all about being a good hostess. But I really wanted to grab her and say, “Wait 'til you see the shit we’re about to pull out.” The excitement was getting to me.

Greeting a few others, I saw the tall woman standing in front of a floor-length window, staring out at the galaxy and sipping her wine. Damn, she looked classy in her long black mermaid dress, her blonde hair falling to her lower back. She looked human; therefore, I guessed that was what she was.

She seemed lonely, and I had to be a good little hostess and make her feel welcome. I walked up to her and cleared my throat. She turned to look at me, and I swear her eyes were black pits. She blinked, and I saw her eyes were actually just a dark brown. Maybe it was just the lighting in the place.

“I hope everything is up to a satisfactory standard for you, ma'am.” I started before spurting out a few other statements.

“Yes,” she drawled, “I’m having a ball.”

I rose on my toes and lowered to the ground again. “I can see that.”

“Well…if I could make one improvement, I would have chosen someone else for the entertainment. Someone more…electronic.” The woman said, her eyes trailing behind me.

I looked around to the other side of the room, where Cher was singing something a bit more slow and soft for her tastes. Yes, we bagged Cher for this gig. The woman was centuries old and still an absolute diva. How she hadn’t been given her own planet yet was beyond me. I think her Mom was in the crowd too.

“I couldn’t agree more with you, ma'am.” I looked back at the blonde.

“Please. Alaska will do."

Alaska…Strange choice of name. The last name of Nocturna, USA, Earth. It had been known as Nocturna for over 2000 years. Quite peculiar to choose a name like that.

"Apologies.” I smiled.

Alaska held out her glass of wine. “Here.”

I waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, I shouldn’t.”

“You can stop with the formalities, Jinkx. I can feel your anxiety."

"My anxiety?” This caught me off guard. And not to mention, “wait…how did you…?”

Alaska pointed a perfectly manicured finger to the left of my chest. I looked down. The name tag. “Oh. Of course. How silly of me."

"Weird spelling. But, other than that, I like it.” Alaska commented.

“Um, no. It’s spelled normally."

"Well, it was originally spelled without a 'k.’”

“No. It’s always had the 'k.’”

“No. The human race only started to spell it with the 'k’ when Jinkx Jenner was born back in the 49th Century.”

Alaska sipped her wine, and I was speechless. How the fuck didn’t I know that? I didn’t want to sound like one of those 'I’m an intellectual’ types. But I had dedicated a significant amount of time to learning about my origin planet’s history. Even going back to the caveman times.

Alaska ended the void of silence, offering me her wine once more. “Here. Drink up, Jinkx-y.”

My face flushed at the nickname, blinking a few times before finally accepting the drink. I took just a sip, not to appear unprofessional. As I expected, it was bitter. But I tried to hide my scowl and handed it back. Alaska’s upper lip curled up.

“Like that’s going to do anything.” She commented.

“Honestly, I’m fine. But thank you for the offer.” I beamed, putting my hands together. “Are you here alone?”

“No. I’m here with…friends.” She stretched the ’s’ sound. Her gaze traveled to a particular group of people. Looking around, I took in how attractive they all were. They all had glitter painting the side of their faces. And their lashes were long and thick, just like hers.

And dumbass me just came out with it. “God, you’re all so attractive.”

Looking back, my eyes widened. Why I had said it, I have no idea.

“Thank you.” She drawled.

“I-I…that just came out. I’m sorry.” I stammered.

“Don’t worry. We get it all the time.” Alaska stated before smiling.

I thought she was just gloating. But if I had known back then what I know now, it would have meant something else entirely.

Hours later, I was giving a speech that I must have written over 50 times before being proud of the final product. There was a red velvet curtain behind me. I was moments away from pulling a gold rope, dropping the curtain, and finally revealing the Revitalization Grain. The mixture of anxiety and excitement stirring inside was euphoric.

While I was delivering the speech, I spotted Alaska in the crowd, how eager she looked. Her friends were scattered around the room, sharing her expression. It only made me more excited.

And finally. Pulling the gold tassel, dropping the curtain, the stone was finally revealed in its glowing glory. I heard the crowd gasp in surprise. But I was too busy staring at the stone in its glass container.

And gasps turned to shrieks. This was what caught my attention.

I looked around. Alaska and her friends were holding laser guns, pointing them at the other guests. I don’t know why, but Cher started singing again. I guess maybe she was trying to calm the situation. For fuck sake.

“What the fuck??” I exclaimed as Alaska made her way towards me.

No. Towards the Revitalization Grain.

“It’s been a great night, beautiful people.” Alaska looked at the crowd once before turning and smashing her gun into the glass, smashing it to pieces. Oddly iconic.

My heart had risen to my throat as I watched her reach in and lift the stone. Where the fuck was the security?? Before I had the chance to act, the stone’s light became brighter in a matter of seconds. So bright if I hadn’t looked away, I probably would have been blinded.

I shielded my eyes, hearing the shrieks from the crowd along with Cher still singing like the legend she was. And when the light dimmed, I looked back.

And my stomach knotted.

Alaska’s hair was longer now, bigger, thicker, and practically white. Confirming that my earlier misjudgment was actually correct, her eyes were all black. Her skin shimmered as if glitter ran through her blood. And those nails, those perfectly manicured nails were longer and pointier.

She was a Celestial. Her friends were Celestials. How hadn’t I clocked this before, what with the glitter? And that also explained why I had just blurted out how fucking hot they all were. It was an effect they had on everyone they met.

“Thanks for being a great host, Jinkx-y.” She winked before approaching me. She held the stone tight as she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.

Why hadn’t I tried to grab the stone? Because of the feeling of her lips on my skin, I swear I was high for a few seconds. I recovered only when she was walking down from my podium. A Glarglaxian charged as if ready to tackle her to the ground. But one of her buddies intervened, sending the Glarglaxian sliding across the shining floor with a single shove.

Alaska stood in a circle with her followers now. She turned and winked one more time. And just like that. With the flash of pink light, she was gone.

-_-_-_-

I called Alyssa immediately after the incident to just let her know how it went. She was mad because I called it “a small fuck up.“ She was a religious woman, so the string of curses and threats of hiring a hit man took me by surprise.

What seemed to be 5 minutes later, she was at the museum, her sugar baby boyfriend in tow. Her first question was, “where the flying fuck where the security?”

As far as I was aware, there was no security. Not one guard was in the room for the whole thing. Turns out, they were all hiding in a closet and smoking up. She fired them immediately. And there was no doubt I would be next.

Then came the talk with Government officials. It was all through holographs but still scary as shit. They were equally as disappointed to hear a group of Celestials had stolen something so powerful. They said the matter of the situation was so grave, the President would most definitely have to hear about it. Not one of the US or some other Earth country Presidents. The President of the Universe. So you could understand why they would rather not.

And instead of deciding amongst themselves what should be done next, they put that on Alyssa. But she was just the manager of a museum. How was that fair? And bless Alyssa and all, but she wasn’t very bright.

Because I couldn’t help but feel somewhat responsible, I piped up, offering to go and find the Revitalization Grain myself. They laughed at first. But upon expressing my knowledge of Celestials and being able to speak their language, they agreed. They would find more people.

And that was it. I was destined to travel the universe.

Of course, I cursed myself for even speaking up. I had never been a part of something like this. And I couldn’t just be like, "Hello, lovelies. Just letting you all know, I’ve changed my mind. Unemployment doesn’t sound that bad.” I drank two bottles of wine that night.

It took a year to prepare for the journey. And in the process, I met my team. Here, have a nice bullet point list I made a̶n̶d̶ ̶s̶l̶a̶v̶e̶d̶ ̶o̶v̶e̶r̶.̶

♡ Shea Couleé: The Captain.

♡ Sasha Velour: the First Mate and executive officer.

♡ Roy Haylock: Chief Officer of the Flight Department.

♡ Ivy Winters and Phi Phi O'Hara: Pilots.

♡ Milk, Kameron Michaels, and Bob: Engineers.

♡ Willam Belli and Courtney Act: Technicians.

♡ Me, Jinkx Monsoon, narcoleptic nerd: Linguist and Historian.

We met up a few times, different planets for each occasion. I’d say our visit to Barcelona (no, not the lovely sunny destination on Earth but the planet) was what solidified our friendships.

But for that whole year, I couldn’t get one person out of my head. And that was Alaska. I thought not much of her while we talked that night at the exhibit. But that fucking kiss on the cheek. That’s what got me. The momentary high, the way I was just frozen as she walked away, robbing us all of the stone. Whenever I remember that night, all I see is her image, like some kind of PowerPoint presentation. And Baby, I love your way plays in my head . Appropriate moment to call me a simp?

-_-_-_-

9872. Present Day

But wait. That doesn’t exactly explain how you all ended up in your current situation!

Shut up. I’m getting there. I just need a wine break.

I find myself in our kitchen. On my way there, I pass Willam and Bob playing ping pong. We went through a phase where we couldn’t decide who was the best and who got to go next. But the fun had long faded away. Same with the karaoke machine. That belongs to me. I must say, if I hadn’t volunteered for this shit, I would have belted out a song and won over an audience years ago. But without getting off-topic; the karaoke machine ain’t fun anymore.

Courtney stood there in the rec room, singing the lyrics that appeared on the screen. Her once electrifying whistle tones brought down to a somber dirge. “If you’ve been waitin’ for fallin’ in love, babe you don’t have to wait on me. 'Cause I’ve been aimin’ for heaven above but an angel ain’t what I need.”

Reaching the kitchen, I pour a glass of wine and look out the window into the far off distance. And all of a sudden, I’m reminded of Alaska, standing in that window, looking classy, sipping her wine, how the glitter on her face shimmered as she turned to look at me.

“What are you smiling at?”

Fuck, Ivy’s here too. She’s sitting on a counter in the corner, eating yogurt. I look away.

“Oh. It’s nothing.” I reply.

“I haven’t seen you smile in a long time.” Ivy points out. “Is it really just nothing.”

“It’s just…something funny from back home.” I lie.

Ivy places the bowl to the side. She’s silent momentarily before her face scrunches up, tears surfacing. For fuck’s sake, curse me and my foot in mouth disease!

I sit next to my best friend as the tears come flooding. I hold her in my arms, letting her know I’m her shoulder to cry on right now. It had been years since Earth was destroyed. But the grief was still fresh for her.

Actually, for the whole team.

I’m considered the lucky one. After all, I had no loved ones left on Earth. But my team? They had families; parents, siblings, partners, children of their own. And now, they’re gone.

How the Earth was destroyed? We tried to figure it out ourselves. But with no answers, we are just wasting away, flying around in Space on our ship. Nowhere to go. No purpose in life.

-_-_-_-

9870. 2 Years ago.

I was high-key worried that a year wasn’t enough time to prepare for this mission. And this thought hit harder upon arriving on the planet Celestia.

Although, we were expecting some sort of barrier, guards, a surprise attack. But there was nothing. Huh.

The place was pretty much just a copy of Earth, except if you took 10 hits of LSD and were pushed into a never-ending hallucinogenic trip. The blue sky was an oceanic hue, clouds glittering, pink trees everywhere like someone just scattered houses and buildings in the middle of a forest. Nearby planets were visible in the sky, the stars shining bright, and I questioned whether it was night or day.

Music pulsated through the air, all different songs playing at once from all different directions; Electronic dance music. I figured that’s why Alaska wasn’t feeling Cher the night of the exhibit.

Upon approaching, Shea quickly noticed that locals weren’t exactly acting how we thought they would. They were excited, cheering, and beckoning us to land. We did so, parking in what I guessed was a parking lot? Except there were no cars.

Exiting Big Debbie, we were distracted momentarily, watching as the Celestials ran around, hand in hand, their spirits high.

But Shea got right to it. “OK! Calm down. Where’s the Revitalization Grain?”

A Celestial approached us, like an animal ready to pounce, and Shea was ready to brawl.

“Just down the street. Take a right. You’ll see a marquee all lit up. It’s just in there. Costs to get in, though.” The Celestial explained.

The fuck? How was everyone on this planet this chilled out?

We all collectively agreed to keep our lasers hidden since they seemed harmless now. But I knew they could pack a punch. I had seen it the night of the exhibition. Better to be safe than sorry.

On the way to the marquee, we bickered over how the hell we were going to even pay. Well, Shea and Sasha mostly. Willam and Courtney were more interested in how attractive the Celestials were. couldn’t blame them.

All the while, I looked around me, hoping to see a certain someone. But then again, if she saw me here, surely she’d know something was up.

Coming to the marquee’s entry line, Sasha managed to get a peek at the front of the line. People were literally paying with anything - false eyelashes, jewelry, scales from their own flesh, fake nails, whatever they had on them.

Roy decided to stay behind, the only thing he thought that would interest them being his rose-tinted sunglasses. And he was not willing to part with them. Over much debating on what we would offer, we agreed that maybe a simple handshake, a sign of peace, would suffice.

We were right. How I wished I could just live there.

When we were in, the deja vu set in. Celestials, humans, and other alien species stood around, sipping wine and talking amongst themselves. The music wasn’t live and provided by Cher. But it played from speakers in the corners, the beats fast and fitting with the environment.

And there, on a podium in the middle of the room, was the Revitalization Grain. Its glow was brighter than the last time I had seen it. The light seemed to travel through the podium and into the ground, like veins running through a human body.

I looked around for Alaska, but she was absent. Damn.

Shea gave the command, and we withdrew our weapons. The once cheerful and friendly atmosphere was brought to a grinding halt as the people began to cower. The rest of the team reassured them everything would be fine if they just stayed put. I approached the podium and lifted the precious stone.

And with that, the light from the podium disappeared, but the stone still shone bright. This was it—time to hit the road.

Everything was going so well. We had gotten back to the ship safely. No one even bothering to attack us.

But before we could get high enough, the ship started to go through what we thought was turbulence. But of course, the Celestial’s decided now was the best time to fight. They were attacking Big Debbie in their own flying pods. There was no way we were going to make it out of the planet alive.

And so we were forced to land in hopes we could fight them off. Disembarking Big Debbie, there was indeed a face-off. My team and the Celestials stood outside; the area around us was more barren and dusty than its main city area.

We were all yelling at each other, not a single word clear enough to understand with the many voices. All I got from the exchange was that we argued they had stolen a rare artifact. They claimed it belonged to them now. It was just back and forth madness.

And then came another pod, this one bigger and more glittery.

And my heart stopped.

It was Alaska.

She exited the pod.

Oooooh, Baby I love your way.

She looked right at me as if she could sense the stone within my satchel.

I smiled shyly, “Hi, Ala- -”

“Jinkx, give me the stone.” She demanded, holding out her hand.

“Ugh…no,” I replied, clutching the satchel strap.

“Jinkx, if you don’t give me that rock…” Alaska growled as she stormed towards me. Shea tried to block her way, but with a simple wave of her hand, Shea was lifted from the ground and thrown back.

Like a dumb ass, I just screamed and took off. I abandoned my poor team, leaving them with the Celestials. But honestly, Alaska at that moment was terrifying. She really did growl. And her eyes were black pits again. Scary stuff, really.

I don’t know how long I ran for, but the sun was scorching, there was no wind or moisture in the air. I just ran and ran until I had no choice but to stop. My legs and lungs burned.

I was doubled over, hands on my knees and panting. I made a mental note to work out more, which I still haven’t done.

Looking behind me, Alaska was nowhere to be seen.

“Wh…What…?” I straightened.

A manicured hand clamped down on my shoulder, spinning me around. It was Alaska. How she had got there was beyond me.

God, she was stunning. Ooooh, Baby I lo - -

She grabbed the strap of the bag tight, which brought me out of my trance. I tugged back. “This is ridiculous! Just give it up, for crying out loud!”

“No. That stone belongs to me!”

“It belongs to the museum!”

“Jinkx, you have no idea what you’re doing!”

“I do! I’m saving my career!”

The strap snapped. And the stone flew out from the bag, flying across the rocky plain. We ran for it. Alaska was slightly faster than me. The only way I could think to reach the stone before she did was to fling myself to the ground like a penguin sliding on ice. And it must have been my lucky day because it worked.

A piece of the stone had broken off. For fuck sake!

“Jinkx. The rock. Now!” Alaska commanded.

I turned, sitting on the ground now, and pointed my laser at her. “Alaska, honey, you know I can’t do that.”

“Stupid human. You need to give me the rock right now. You don’t understand - -”

Over Alaska’s shoulder, I could see the ship in the distance, heading in our direction. Damn, I really did run far.

I bolted for a rocky hill, awaiting the ship’s arrival. And of course, Alaska followed.

“Get back here!” She yelled.

I held the stone tight, shaking my head. Backing up, I felt my stomach tighten. My heel was on the edge of nothing. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the long drop down and gulped nervously.

“Give me the stone!"

I looked around as Alaska lunged forward. I instinctively threw myself to the side.

And I watched as she fell from the cliff.

"Alaska!” I yelled.

I watched her fall, becoming smaller and smaller.

My mind was blank. I couldn’t even comprehend what was happening. “Fuck…fuck…fuck…”

Before her body could splatter to pieces, her body moved along the plain of land, and shot high up into the sky. “She can fly? Oh…OK. Good.”

She was like a glowy blur, contrasting the oceanarium blue of the sky. A glowy blur that was getting closer and closer. “Oh…OK. That’s not good.”

I looked at Big Debbie. And then to Alaska. And then, Big Debbie. And then, Alaska. A dizzying back and forth. Who would reach me first? I hoped it wouldn’t be the latter. Death didn’t sound too lovely, after all.

“Jinkx!” I heard Ivy yell. Alaska was close, but the ship was closer. I saw Ivy standing in the doorway, hanging on for dear life.

The speed of light that was Alaska was catching up. Fuck. The ship was so close. I was so gross from all the sweat, practically feeling the heat radiating off the approaching Celestial.

And in a matter of seconds, the ship was next to me. Ivy was reaching out a hand. I grabbed it, and my skin could have peeled off from the great force of being dragged into the ship.

I hit the ground and rolled, Ivy quickly shutting the door.

We had no time to celebrate our victory. It was time to get the fuck out of Celestia and keep the stone safe.

-_-_-_-

9872. Present Day

“Yeah, but you tell that story like it’s the wildest shit.”

I snap out of my daze. Shea is in the kitchen now, pouring herself a cup of coffee. I was so involved in telling Ivy my own account of the story, I didn’t realize our Captain entered the room.

“It was the wildest shit. The way Ivy pulled me onto the ship? It was like something out of an old action movie.” I insist.

Ivy’s not upset anymore. She laughed a few times during my storytelling. Good to know I can lighten the mood for her a bit. “Did Alyssa even notice the missing piece?” Ivy asks, tucking a leg under herself.

“No,” I answer. Like I said, Alyssa wasn’t the brightest. But in returning the stone to the museum, I learned she was also one harsh mother fucker. After the long journey back, she basically said, “Thanks for the stone, Jinkx. What you did is so admirable! But also, you’re fired. And one more thing. While ya’ll were gone, the Earth was destroyed. So, good luck trying to find a new home. Bye.”

Well, not exactly word for word. But it might as well have been. Alyssa fired me for “letting the aliens steal the stone,” which was totally stupid. I wanted to sue her for unfair dismissal. But at that stage, what was the point? I just gave the stone over and accepted defeat.

“What a bitch.” Ivy shakes her head.

“I know. She sounds like one of those bitches, you know the ones who take a vacation to a poor country, come back and throw away most of their wardrobe instead of actually doing something to help.” Shea observes. She’s not far off.

“Any other questions?” I ask.

“Yeah, one more. You have a crush on Alaska.” Ivy smirks.

“… That’s not a question.”

“OK, well, 'you have a crush on Alaska.’ True or false?"

"False. Are you nuts? As if.” I lie.

“I mean…” Shea squints her eyes, “You do talk about her some type of way.”

“Well…how do you know I’m not adding to the story? To make it more exciting?” I raise my brows. That’s dumb. That’s my worst lie. I’m terrible at lying, and I know they can see right through me. But they don’t question me further, and I am thankful.

Of course, I like Alaska. What’s not to like? It wasn’t just some plot device I threw into my story for exaggeration. Actually, none of it was exaggerated. Imagine if I told you right now that Alaska didn’t even fly, and she had indeed fallen to her death, and that was the last of it. Would it be considered a sad or happy ending?

She really did fly that day. But part of the story I left out was this; when she went soaring into the sky, that motherfucking Baby, I love your way song played in my head again.

-_-_-_-

I’m in my room now. It’s only 5pm, but my all-over-the-show body clock is saying 'nap time.’ I kick off my boots and fling them into the corner. And before I can even get comfy, in comes the cleaner bot, Tallulah. She’s like a slightly bigger version of Wall-E from the Oscar-winning film Wall-E . But instead of eyes, she has a screen for a face. Therefore she only speaks in symbols. Bless her.

“Hey, girl,” I murmur, feeling a yawn come on.

“ :) ” She says. She hovers over to my tossed boots, picks them up, and carefully places them under my bed. She takes almost a full minute to make sure they are perfectly symmetrical next to each other.

“Thank you, Tallulah. That’ll do.” I say, smiling. But she isn’t leaving. She starts searching the room for something else to clean. I really really want this nap, but from past experience, there ain’t no stopping her.

I think back to earlier in the day when the dark thoughts were getting the better of me. How I thought of ways to destroy her just to live out my intergalactic space domestic fantasy. I regret that immensely. The feeling of loneliness, while being surrounded by people, can sometimes fuck with your head.

“Tallulah.” I pipe up, grabbing her attention.

“ ? ”

“We love ya, gal.”

“ :D ”

I smile and lie down on the uncomfortable bed. You get used to a mattress like this when you’ve been using it for so long.

I close my eyes, hoping sleep will come quick.

“ Hmmm, hmmm hmm, hmmm…falling in love…” God, that karaoke song that Courtney was singing is stuck in my head now.

The ship shudders, and I huff. The light above my head isn’t any help, either. I can only turn it off when Tallulah leaves the room. But I’m guessing that won’t be for another while. Think I’ll just face the wall then.

My eyes are closed for all but 2 seconds when Tallulah taps me on the arm. “Tallulah, it’s nap time.”

She taps again, and so I sigh heavily, letting her know I’m serious. I turn around. And bolt upright.

I have no fucking idea how but Tallulah has somehow found the chipped off piece of Revitalization Grain. “ 😃 ”

“Give me that.” I hold out my hand.

“ 🍬 ”

“Tallulah, that is not candy. It’s very, very precious.”

“ >:( ”

“Look. I traveled so far to get that fucking stone just to lose my goddamn job. I earned that piece.”

“ :( ”

She really isn’t going to give this up. “OK. Fine. You can have it. But, you need to take good care of it. It’s not food. It’s not a toy. And if it falls into the wrong hands, the consequences could be vital.”

“ :D ”

“Glad you’re happy, hon’.”

The ship shakes again, only more violent this time. “Jesus Christ! If we’ve flown into a storm - -”

I nearly hit the wall as the ship shakes even more aggressively.

“ 👁👄👁💧"Tallulah’s screen flashes.

"Go to your room.”

“✅”

We both leave my room, Tallulah hovering down to the left and me towards the right.

I’m jogging my way to the control room, Roy popping out of his own room. “I swear to god. Somebody better be dead.”

The ship jolts. Because we were practically power walking with confidence, we fall the fuck over, right on our faces.

I groan in pain before responding to Roy’s statement. “Jesus, ain’t that a bit much?”

Entering the control room, everyone’s on their feet, rushing around, pressing all sorts of buttons, Shea giving a lot more commands than usual.

“OK. Who’s dead?” Roy asks.

“Do you have to?” I roll my eyes. He only smirks.

“Someone’s trying to get in,” Shea explains.

“Into the ship?” I raise a brow.

“No. Into my panties. Yes, of course the ship!” Shea snaps. Can’t blame her; it was a dumb question. My bad.

I approach Ivy, looking over her shoulder at the screen.

“This is crazy. What do you think it is?” I ask.

“I don’t know. But, from all the ruckus, I’m gonna guess and say it’s huge.”

My stomach is sinking to my ass. “Fuck…”

“It’s kind of exciting, to be honest.” Ivy laughs nervously.

“Which side are we talking, ladies?” Shea cuts off our conversation.

“The South East Side, Captain.” Phi Phi answers.

There’s banging. We all look to the North West side. Not the South East.

“Wow. Whatever it is, it’s fucking fast.” Ivy says.

“Shh. Listen.” Sasha holds a hand up.

There’s scratching sounds now. It’s almost unbearable to listen to like nails on a chalkboard.

We’re all still, just listening, too afraid to speak, unsure of what to do.

“What the fuck is going on??!!” Bob bellows as he enters the room, Milk and Kameron following behind.

“Shut the fuck up,” Shea swears through a harsh whisper.

The three engineers stop dead in their tracks, unsure of what is actually going on.

The scratching has stopped.

The ship is still.

And the silence is haunting.

Even though whatever is on the other side is probably a bloodthirsty creature, craving the taste of our insides; honestly, I’m fucking pumped.

I look to everyone else, but they clearly don’t feel the same. Phi Phi’s skin is pale like she’s looking death right in the eye.

There’s still this silence. And I want to break it. “Do you think - -”

The room is illuminated, and we all collectively flinch. And that feeling of familiarity settles in.

When the light has faded enough for us to look, what I fear (or low-key hope) to happen has happened.

In the middle of the room is a figure, the light slipping away from them to reveal their long blonde messy locks, their long arms, talons for nails…Oh, God…

Their head whips around to look at us. And that stupid Baby, I love your way song plays in my head as they flip their hair over their shoulder.

“Alaska!” I gasp.

She holds up her laser gun, aiming it at us. The others aim their own weapons right back at her.

“None of you could have opened the door? Seriously??” Alaska growls.

“Yeah, because inviting in whatever was fucking with our ship wouldn’t be a stupid move or anything.” Phi Phi sneers.

Alaska stands tall. “I mean, I did fucking knock.”

“Sorry, we didn’t hear it,” Ivy replies apologetically, Shea shooting her a look.

“As if we’d let you in, though.” Shea chimes.

“How rude.” Alaska comments.

I take in her appearance, which has significantly changed since I last saw her. The once strong, tall Celestial is now frail and seems to struggle to even hold herself up. Her once luscious hair is like straw, dry, and lifeless. And the glitter in her skin. It’s gone.

“Why are you even here?” Sasha demands.

“To take back what is mine.” Alaska pants. “Where’s the stone?”

“Jokes on you, girl. We don’t have it anymore.” Roy answered.

Alaska is breathing heavier now, blinking more than usual. “That’s impossible. I was drawn here. I can feel its energy."

The crew is quiet, and I feel like a fucking idiot. Of course, she’s talking about the broken piece that I gave to Tallulah. Maybe this was reality coming back to bite me in the ass that we can’t always have nice things.

No one is saying anything. Therefore, it’s my time to spew some bullshit. "It’s probably just the aura still left over on the ship. There’s nothing here for you.”

Alaska seethes, her body quivering. “So I saved up all my energy - fucking propelled myself across the universe - used whatever strength I had left…all for nothing?!”

I feel bad but won’t let it show. I just nod my head. “Yeah. You kinda did.”

Alaska lowers her weapon, eyes drawn to the ground. At first, she looks in disbelief. Then disappointed. And now her eyes aren’t lifting, her chest heaving.

“If you want, we can fly you back?” Ivy offers, shrugging her shoulders.

Instead of answering, Alaska drops to the ground, out cold.

“Jesus Christ!” Bob steps back.

I’m the only one who rushes to her. I try for a pulse. She’s still alive. A sigh of relief escapes my lips, and I look to the others. “Are you just gonna stand there all day? We need to help her.”

“Do we though?” Roy smirks.

“Yes. We do.” I snap. Looking back at the passed out Celestial, unsure of what to actually do, I poke her on the forehead. “Alaska…?”

She stirs.

Kameron kneels on the other side and scoops her up in his arms.

“Wow - wow - wow. What are you doing?” I demand.

Kameron raises a brow. “Helping?”

He turns to leave the room.

“Yeah, well, be careful with her!” I call after him. Kameron is harmless. But with those muscles and her fragile state, I’m afraid one wrong move, and she’ll snap in half.

“What the fuck is going on?” Phi Phi asks, standing up from her chair.

“I don’t know, but I feel so unprepared. What do we do?” Ivy says.

“Let’s all just calm down.” Shea raises her hands, trying to ward off the team’s anxieties. “Look, we don’t have the stone. We’re not gonna tell her where it is. Therefore, we’re useless to her.”

“More reason for her to kill us,” Willam noted.

“Not if we keep the peace and give her a ride home.” Shea counters.

Too many thoughts whirlwind in my brain right now. Maybe I should just come clean and tell them about the piece of Revitalization Grain. Or maybe not. I feel like the confrontation would be worse.

“I need a smoke.” I don’t even smoke.

“I need a drink.” Phi Phi adds.

“I need to stress masturbate.” Willam groans.

I’m ready to hurl.

-_-_-_-

2 hours later and I’m still on edge. Since Alaska broke in, I’ve had a long-ass shower, napped, ate 2 heaping bowls of cereal, and tried to find Tallulah. If anyone found out about the stone, my ass was grass.

The bot is not in her usual hangouts, which wracks my nerves up to 100—time to try looking through the whole ship.

I search high and low, searching each room I pass. I’m desperate to get this stone back.

“What are you looking for?” Milk passes me.

“Tallulah. I…spilled something”, I answer, the frustration apparent in my voice.

“Someone’s stressed.” Milk comments, continuing on in the opposite direction.

I bite my tongue, knowing full well that a snide remark is on the tip of it.

I find myself at the far end of the ship, where no one really visits too often. It’s just storage and the prison cell. Yes, we have one of those in the case that a criminal boards.

Finally checking said prison cell, I don’t find Tallulah. But I find Alaska. I can feel anger brewing in my chest, knowing this was what Kameron thought would be appropriate. Yes, she broke in, but she is not a threat.

She’s just lying there on the ground, and I feel saddened.

But she looks over her shoulder. I’m glad to see she’s awake.

I enter and stand before the glass barrier separating us. Alaska sits up and turns to me.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” she says.

“The Captain’s set sail. We’re taking you home. Should we expect an attack?” I ask.

Alaska blinks long and hard, looking away in frustration. “I don’t think so.”

“Good,” I say. I could just turn and leave. But my feet are stuck to the ground. I just look down at her, feeling the pity inside. But I must remain firm for my team.

“So, I’m really stuck in this cell for weeks with no entertainment?” Alaska combs a clawed hand through her long hair.

“Well, when you put it that way, I’ll willingly allow you some form of entertainment. You want a book?”

Alaska gags. “I’d prefer music.”

I move to the wall on the left; there’s a switch linked to the sound system that plays through the ship. Music used to play on repeat throughout the place. But when you hear the same songs over and over again, it becomes repetitive. I turn the volume, but not too loud as to disturb everyone else.

Some classical tune plays at random. It was never a favorite, but Alaska seems to not mind.

“You know there’s one moment I can’t ever stop thinking about. It involves you.” She drawls.

“Really?” I let myself smirk, sounding a bit too enthusiastic.

“When you let me fall from that cliff.”

“Oh. OK.”

“I could have died that day.” She continues. “But honestly, as I was falling, I thought… that’s alright… that’s OK. Everyone would know that I was legendary.”

“I would have caught you if my reflexes were better.” I try.

“No, you wouldn’t. Then I would have had the stone.” Alaska counters.

I don’t even try to argue that she’s wrong. I know I’d fucking blurt it out that I found her very appealing and would be pretty sad to know she died. Although, the thought of her reaction was also intriguing.

“You want to join me in here?” She suggests.

“Not terribly.” I lie.

“Are you scared of me?"

"No.”

“Well, I find it kind of rude with the barrier between us.”

She has a point. But the team would tear me a new one.

“Don’t worry. I won’t try to escape.” Alaska raises a brow. “I don’t exactly have the energy right now.”

To be fair, she still seems very sluggish. I give in, scan my key card, and enter the cell. Her eyes follow me as I sit down on the ground next to her.

“At least it’s not cold in here,” I comment.

“I’m pretty cold.” Alaska states.

You wanna cuddle? Nah, I can’t say that. “I’ll find you a heater later.”

“So, Jinkx-y. What have you all been at since we last met?” She’s intrigued.

“Nothing fascinating,” I reply. “Planet Earth was destroyed. We got nowhere to go. No missions. Nothing.”

Alaska looks disappointed with the answer.

“I’m sorry. Were you expecting something a bit more thrilling? Well, the last time something exciting ever happened, before you got here, was a very long time ago.” I continue.

“You have a really negative aura right now.” Alaska comments. “Maybe if you had a little more positivity, you’d find happiness.”

My brows connect. “Well, I’ve never been one of those 'fake a smile’ types. That’s a one way trip to a massive breakdown.”

“Who said anything about faking a smile?” Alaska tests. “If you get out of your head, stop focusing on how boring everything else, then you’ll see what the world has to offer.”

“What are you? A therapist?"

"See, this is what I’m talking about? The negativity. It’s making you more hostile. So different to the Jinkx I met back in the museum.” Alaska’s eyes squint as she analyzes me further. “And no, I’m not a

therapist. If you didn’t notice before, it’s just my people are a very positive bunch. Give us a Tsunami; we’ll make a water slide out of it. Give us a house fire; we’ll toast marshmallows and have one hell of a party.”

I know I could never reach that level of chill. But I find it admirable.

“Jinkx, how old are you?” Alaska asks.

The question catches me off guard, but I answer anyway. “33 years old.”

“Wow. You’re like…way younger than I thought you’d be.” Alaska’s brows raise in surprise.

“Are you saying I look old?"

"I was going to guess late 40’s.”

“Oh, wow. Thanks.” The sudden urge to leave and go find some more wine is strong. Actually, maybe that’s what has clearly aged me.

“Late '40s is still young, girl. But early 30’s. That’s really, really young. Practically still a child.” Alaska comments.

“You have a really warped concept of age,” I note. “How old are you then? You gotta be younger than me, at least.”

“Far from it. I’m actually 2099 years of age. Just about to get into my 2100’s."

I’m shocked. Only then, when she states her age, do I remember that Celestials live for a very, very, very long time. But still. I never imagined she’d be 2 millenniums old.

"I forgot you humans only have less than 100 years.” Alaska plays with her hair again. “Which is why I find it sad you’re just sitting here wasting what remaining time you have. You have so much to experience. A lot to learn. You just gotta open your eyes.”

“Huh, you’re not wrong.” I click my tongue. “OK, so let me know more about you."

Alaska looks flattered.

"Why the name 'Alaska’? I’m guessing your parents had an interest in Earth?”

“I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. Just because I like you.” Alaska says coyly, making me blush. “It’s not my real name.”

“Oh, cool. What is your real name then?” I lean forward, enthusiastically.

“I’d rather not say.”

“OK.” I don’t press her. “Does anyone know your real name?” I don’t want to feel left out.

“Of course they do. But for specific and appropriate reasons. I’d just much rather be referred to as Alaska. And what about you? Why Jinkx with a 'k.’” Alaska lies on her side, propping her head up with a hand.

“I don’t know. My Mom liked it, I guess.” I also lie on my side, and I just smile at her.

“Jinkx Jenner fan?” Alaska asked.

I shook my head. “I have no clue. Honestly, she wasn’t very present for my childhood. I never had the chance to find out.” I see the sorrowful look on her face. And I regret taking the conversation to a dark place. Before she can ask about the rest of my family, I take a turn and ask a question. “So like…are you broke or something? I’m guessing that’s why you wanted the stone so bad.” I smirk.

“What do you mean?” Alaska’s brow raises.

“The marquee. You were charging people to see the stone.”

“Oh, that . I guess that was just a perk. Not really different from people paying to see it in the museum.” Alaska explains, her smile slowly fading. “But no, that’s not the real reason.”

With a sigh, she sits up again, leaning her back against the wall. Her chest heaves, eyes looking upward. It’s like she’s avoiding me, or the topic. I’m unsure of which one.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“It's…” she pauses like she’s trying to find words. And then she sighs through her nostrils. “It doesn’t matter.”

Concern takes me over. I sit up and move towards the wall beside her. “Hey, it’s OK. You can say it. It’s just me.” I say as if she’s known me for years. I don’t know why I said it. I guess I just really want her to trust me.

Alaska avoids my eyes. “I really can’t. It could be dangerous for Glamtron.”

“Glamtron?"

"Yes, my planet.”

“You mean Celestia?”

“No. Glamtron.”

“…”

“Alaska, you’re from Celestia.”

“No, it’s called Glamtron.”

“Says who?”

“I do. I renamed it.”

My head cocks to the side. “ You renamed it?”

“Yes. I do have the power and the authority to do that, after all."

My eyes widen. "Wait a minute. Are you saying…”

“Yes, I am the Queen. Alaska Thunderfuck from the planet Glamtron.” She says so proudly. “So, yes. I really did rename it to Glamtron.”

I don’t even care about the name change any more. I’m just…beyond shocked. Here, I am; Jinkx Monsoon, a space nerd, sitting with royalty.

"Fuck. I just… don’t know how to act all of a sudden.” I say.

“Well, I’m not looking very Queenly right now. Just see me as Alaska from the exhibit for now."

"I know, but… I’ve studied Celes - -” Alaska shoots me a look, “Glamtron before. There’s never been any mention of an Alaska before. And you’ve been alive for so long. How…” I trail off, not knowing how to even finish my statement.

“Because Alaska isn’t my real name.” She says as if I should have remembered that. I thought she would have been happy to know I forgot.

“Well.” I pause. “I hate to ask, but what do they refer to you as?”

She licks her teeth like she’s slightly frustrated. “OK. Fine. But you gotta promise to always call me Alaska.”

“Cross my heart.” I place a hand over my heart to seal the deal.

“OK.” She looks to the door as if afraid anyone will just wander in. Then she looks at me, leans in close, and whispers, “My name is actually Thriks.”

My first thought is, 'Oh, yikes. That is kinda awful.’ But now I’m thinking back to my reading. And I am definitely familiar. The Queen Thriks was known as a wild party animal, yet a loving and caring mother-like figure. She was always so strong for her people and went out of her way for them, making sure everyone was in high spirits. Because of her loving nature, she was to go down in history as one of the most adored Queens of Celestia.

“I have read about you,” I say quietly.

“And you’re little history books and articles. Do they still call it Celestia?” Alaska stretches the ’s’ in Celestia out.

“Uh, huh.”

“If I was a different person, I’d sue."

But we’re getting off track. I need answers. "Well…I could write about you? I’d write you as Alaska . I’d call it Glamtron . I’d make everything right if you help me."

Alaska bats her lashes. "You’d do that for me?”

“Yes!” I exclaim, grabbing her hand.

“Hmmm…” she brings a finger to her mouth, thinking, “I can’t wait for the part where I robbed the museum. I’m sure there will be some bitterness in those words.”

She’s kind of right. Yeah, I’m having a good time talking with her. But she did kind of cost me my job. I purse my lips as the classical song ends, transitioning to something from the 1980s.

“Alaska, why did you take the stone?” I ask again.

She’s silent again, pretending to be distracted by the catchy Madonna music.

“Alaska, I need to know if I’m going to write your story."

She stops bobbing her head, huffing put through her nostrils. "Jinkx, I really can’t.”

“Why not? You told me your name.”

“Because that’s different.”

“How?”

“Because it’s dangerous.”

“Why?” My tone becomes more demanding.

“Because it just is,” Alaska replies, her tone the same.

“For who? Us? Are we in trouble?”

“No! For my people.”

“So…you don’t trust me?” I ask in an accusing manner. Seems a bit emotional blackmail-ish, but I’m desperate to know.

“I do trust you, Jinkx. But I can’t say the same for your team.” She says with venom.

“My team are good people!” I say. “They have never caused any harm.”

“They terrified my people that day.” Alaska countered. I figure she’s talking about the day we arrived in Celestia.

“And how is that any different to the night of the exhibit?"

"Because unlike you all, we had a good reason.”

“And that is?”

“Jinkx, you’re really really starting to piss me off.”

“Don’t ignore the question. What am I going to do? Go out and tell my big bad teammates? Why would I do that if I have no idea what the consequences are?”

“Because we’re vulnerable, Jinkx!” Alaska shouts. Her volume causes me to shrink away. She’s gritted her teeth, kneeling on her knees and towering over me now. I’m actually scared.

“Look at me!” She presses her hands against her chest. “I’m fucking dying! My planet is dying. My people are dying!”

In my moment of shock, as Alaska looks down on me, pieces of the puzzle come together in my head.

Thriks; the loving Queen who went out of her way for her people.

The attack on the museum.

The Revitalization Grain.

The one thing that brought restoration and reincarnation.

“You wanna save them,” I speak through a whisper.

With a sigh, Alaska sinks back to the ground. Her head lowers, blonde hair covering her face.

“Jinkx, the stone is of Glamtron origin. It was lost 300 years ago, in the middle of the war with the Holoxyans. For so long, we were wasting away, trying to build up our own energy to keep ourselves alive. And from just laying around, we were just dying anyway. And I had no idea what to do. I didn’t know how to save them.” Alaska’s voice cracks. “For years, I had to watch as many gave what little energy they had left to my team and me. Just so we could go find the stone.”

I’m horrified as realization hits; I’ve brought doom to an entire planet.

“Please, I don’t want anyone other than us to know,” Alaska states firmly. “Glamtron has no defense. If someone knows how vulnerable we are, it makes us a prime target for invasion. The Holoxyans. They will attack.”

I move close to her again. I resist the urge to throw my arms around her, now aware of literally how fragile she is. I take her hand graciously; my own eyes must be glistening. “Alaska, I’m so sorry.”

She puts her other hand on top of mine. “I do trust you, Jinkx. I’m just…terrified.”

“I know. I know.” I say quietly.

Alaska hasn’t shed any tears. They were right when they said Thriks was a strong bitch. I held back my own tears, fearing it would be selfish.

“So, no. It’s not because I’m broke.” Alaska comments. And I nervous laugh. She laughs too. “You promise this stays between us?” She looks me in the eye.

Is it inappropriate to say at this moment I’m just smitten by the dark irises? “I promise.” I squeeze her hands reassuringly.

“Great.” She nods. And she leans forward, kissing me on the cheek.

I could fucking melt. The high must be kicking in again because the lights are dimming, there’s some sort of pink aura emerging, the music is louder, and Alaska feels warm.

She pulls away. I expect a smile. But she’s looking around her as if she’s experiencing the same thing.

“Alaska, look.” I point to her wrist. She looks just in time to see something glitter under her skin, like sparkly pink blood flowing through her veins.

She’s looking at me now like something has just hit her in the head like a brick. I don’t know what, so I just stare back in confusion. “What’s - -”

I’m cut off as she grabs my face.

And she kisses me again.

On the lips.

Suddenly, I know what pink glitter tastes like, even though I’m pretty sure there is no taste. Her kiss is so gentle, which I do not expect from her. She’s lifted a hand to my cheek, stroking a nail along my skin. And I hope this is a sign she’s not just in it for some nice colors floating around the air. I feel this spark, and it will kill me if she doesn’t feel it too. Upon having this thought, I wrap my arms around her tiny waist. The butterflies in my stomach are going wild, my heart is pounding so hard, yet all I can focus on is the soft feel of her lips.

She pulls away, and I almost pull her back in. But I’m taken aback by the room now . Like, am I tripping right now, or are there really purple fireflies floating around?

Alaska’s looking around in awe as well. I guess it’s not the cosmic-high feeling from her kiss.

“Well, that’s never happened before.” Alaska looks back to me with a smirk. The holographic glitter has resurfaced, decorating the sides of her face.

And her hair, almost pale white, longer and thicker. I can’t help but run my fingers through it. Never has hair felt silkier to me.

She’s glancing down at my hand, still playing with her locks. “I feel…alive again.” She breathes out a laugh, pulling away from me, admiring the healthy color of her skin, the glittery fluid coursing through her.

I look away, noting how the floaty lights remain. But the hit is gone. So this is real. There really are tiny glowy orbs floating around us.

"Wow. What is this song?” Alaska asks, moving her body to the rhythm of the music. The 1980s song has long ended. Instead, the song Courtney was singing earlier plays.

“I’ll have to find that out for you. You’d think I’d know it. We’ve heard it so many damn times now. It’s kind of annoying.” I laugh.

“Why do you think that?"

"It’s just…too depressing, I guess. I mean, listen to the words.”

“This is what I’m talking about. Don’t focus on what’s black and white. Listen to the music.” Alaska turns to face me, her long arms rippling to the tune.

I don’t want to be an annoying son of a gun and ruin the tender moment for us, so I take her advice and really listen to the music.

“Not anyone, you’re the one, more than fun, you’re the Sanctuary,

'Cause what you want is what I want, Sincerity.”

My eyes are closed, and my body is swaying. And I’m feeling it. Like the music is flowing through me. “Hey. I think you’re right.”

“See?” I open my eyes to see her move toward me. She takes my hands in hers. And we spin in a slow circle.

“Souls that dream alone lie awake, I’ll give you something so real.”

As the chorus kicks in, the dance has picked up a pace. I don’t even know what kind of dancing this is. Let’s say a mix of slow dancing and ballroom. And I laugh when she spins me around. I try to return the gesture, but she’s too tall, and I nearly knock her in the face. I’m embarrassed for a few seconds, but she’s laughing. And it makes me feel less like an idiot.

I can’t keep up this pace; I’m falling so hard right now. I slow myself down, hoping she gets the hint.

“Hold me oh so close, 'cause you’ll never know just how long our lives will be.”

I wrap my arms around the small of her back, pulling her to me. I can see the small floaty lights reflecting in her dark eyes. And now it’s my turn to kiss her. I’m really, really falling hard.

I could stay like this forever, rocking side to side, just kissing Alaska. But reality has to come back and creep into my brain, doesn’t it?

I know this won’t last. We’ll eventually have to part when we leave her back to her dying planet, and my team and I will continue on wasting away.

I stop kissing her to get another look at those eyes, and she lays her head on my shoulder. We continue to sway side to side. And the thought of letting go is making all kinds of negative emotions surface. Am I glad for this moment? Oh, absolutely. If she hadn’t broken in, I’d still be in my room, either sleeping or waiting for Tallulah to finish cleaning.

“Wait…” I say.

“What is it?” Alaska speaks into the crook of my neck.

“I…” I pause, “OK, don’t get mad. But I kinda lied to you.” She lifts her head at this. “You were right about sensing the stone. The truth is I have a piece.”

Her eyes widen. “I knew I felt it.”

“It’s small. But it’ll give you more strength.” I suggest with raised brows.

“No. I have enough right now. I don’t know how but…you ignite something in me, I guess. As for the stone, I know a few people back home who could use it more.” Alaska suggested.

“Well, good. Wait here.” I give her a small kiss. “I’ll be back in a second.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t be going anywhere.” She calls as I leave the cell.

I’m too buzzed to search every damn room. I just search for the nearest human who will provide me with answers. I find two in the security room. Ivy and Courtney.

“Which one of you whores have seen Tallulah?” I ask, peaking my head in.

“Not me.” Courtney answers. She’s got a smirk on her face, and I know somethings up.

“Me neither. But we’ll tell you what we did see.” Ivy gestures to the 5th screen, showing Alaska still dancing around in her cell.

My eyes widen. “You were spying on us?”

“Not our intention. We thought we’d keep an eye on things in case something happened.” Ivy then laughs. “And I guess it did.”

The shame takes me over, and my face flushes with shame and embarrassment. “Oh, for God’s sake.”

“I actually think it’s adorable. Very Romeo and Juliet.” Courtney coos.

I roll my eyes. This is all incredibly immature. But I know they’re not going to just let it go. “OK, kids. I’ll let you have your fun. But it stays between us. Anyway, where’s Tallulah?”

“We told you. We don’t know.” Courtney replies. “Try her closet.”

“OK.” I turn to leave, not before turning and pointing at the two. “Remember; it stays between us 3.”

“You got it, girl.” Ivy smirks.

I waste no more time with them and rush to the cleaning room, which just so happens to be at the end of this corridor, just around the corner. My pace is so quick, I almost trip.

Upon getting to the door, I’m thankful to find Tallulah is here but shut down. “Tallulah?"

No response. I clap my hands 2 times as if it’ll bring her to life. It’s never worked before, so I don’t even know why I tried.

When she doesn’t power up, I roll my eyes, grabbing a bottle of disinfectant from the shelf and dropping it on the ground.

Tallulah is up and running in a matter of seconds.

"No. Stop.” I move forward to stop her from going to the bottle. “Tallulah, I have a huge favor to ask.”

“ :0 ? ”

“You remember that glowy thing I gave to you?”

“👍”

“Good. Where is it?”

A box on her build opens, revealing the chipped off piece of Revitalization Grain. But I can’t just take it.

“Well, that’s good that you haven’t lost it. Can I have it back, please?”

“ :( ”

“OK, it’s not that I want it. I need it.”

“ >:( ”

I’m serious. There’s no time to argue.“

” 🤬💢🖕🗣🔫🚫✖❗ “

I lick my teeth beneath my pursed lips, realizing this isn’t going to be as easy as it seemed.

"Look, Tallulah, I know you like it. It’s pretty. It’s glowy. I get it.” I soften my tone. “But there are people out there who are dying. A lot of people. But this tiny little stone? It can help them get better. If you give it back to me, you’re saving the lives of so many. You could be a hero.” My brows raise.

“…”

Wow, talk about being left on read.

“ 🆗️ ”

“Yes. Jesus Christ! Thank you!” I quickly hug her. She hands me the small stone, and I pat her on the head. “You’re a lifesaver. Literally.”

“ 🤺 ”

Not sure what she meant by that one, but I leave her to it. I hold the small rock tight in my hand, seeing its glow seep through the gaps in my fingers. And I can’t believe that there’s a chance we can help Alaska save Glamtron. Even if I can’t be with her, I would feel better knowing everything is better back on her planet.

I pass the kitchen and stop dead in my tracks. Shea’s all alone, just staring out at the window. Fuck. I can feel it. The dread creeping up.

“Captain,” I address her. It feels weird calling her that. She’s just been 'Shea’ for a long time now. But with the new task, I guess it’s only appropriate.

She looks away from the window, taken by surprise. “Jinkx, you scared me.” She sniffs, quickly wiping at her eyes. Fuck, this isn’t good.

I walk into the room. “You feeling OK?”

She sighs. “Yeah, I guess I will be.”

She goes back to looking out the window. Standing next to her, I follow her gaze. And I immediately recognize the area.

Large masses of rock float around in the distance. Remains of the Earth.

I purse my lips for a moment, trying to make sense of it. I almost feel confused by what I’m looking at. I know what happened, but it still feels…unfamiliar. “You’d think someone would clean this mess up,” I say.

“No. This is a graveyard, Jinkx. It has to stay.” Shea states.

“Fair enough.”

We continue to stare, like we’re in some sort of trance, watching the pieces float around.

“Wanna hear something funny?” Shea asks, giving me a sad smile.

The mournful aura is weighing down on both of us. Something funny right now would be great. “Yeah, of course.”

“As soon as she broke in, I knew it was our chance—a new purpose. Finally, for the first time in a long, long time, we get to do our thing. And I was…so fucking excited. I couldn’t fucking wait.” She laughs.

I don’t find it funny, but her happiness is making me happy.

But her smile drops. And I know now when she said if I wanted to hear something funny, it wasn’t going to be funny at all.

“But then what? What happens after we leave Celestia?” She asks, looking at me with wet eyes.

Nothing happens. We go back to the same old shit and hope that something good happens.

Shea must’ve been holding back a sob because she chokes, grabbing my attention. She covers her mouth as if it will hold back the other ones.

“Hey, it’ll be fine.” I grab her free hand.

But my words are meaningless. I don’t know if it will be OK or not. So I hug her hoping it’ll help some.

She whispers in my ear, “I just want my family.”

I’m devastated. I really am the lucky one. Who knew being abandoned by my own mother at such a young age could be such a blessing? Because this anguish Shea is expressing? It’s soul-destroying.

She cries into my shoulder some more, and I run my thumb along the back of her shoulder. I can’t even tell her it’s alright. Because I know it won’t be.

I look at the stone in my hand, still hugging Shea. If only this stupid glowy thing could restore the life of this ship. If only it brought back the good times, the adventure, the danger.

I continue to stare at the stone. And I have no idea why, but something I thought about earlier resurfaces.

The loving Queen who went out of her way for her people.

“Fuck.” I whisper.

“I’m sorry.” Shea sniffles, lifting her head. She dabs her eyes with her pinky.

“It’s not you. It’s - -” I begin. But I fail to find words to explain my thought process.

All I can say is I know what I need to do now.

I look at my Captain for what will probably be the last time. “Shea, when the time is right, come find me.”

“What?”

“You’ll know what I mean.”

I pull away from her and go to leave the room, her voice calling after me. But I don’t listen. I need to do this.

-_-_-_-

Alaska stands as I enter the room. I pull the stone from my pocket, and she’s already drawn.

“Fuck, you weren’t kidding when you - -”

I cut her off with a kiss, something to give her more energy. I don’t know how much she’ll need to make it to the escape pod, but hopefully, this should do it.

I pull away. “Change of plan, hon’. You wanna rob the museum?”

“What?” Her brows cross.

“I’m gonna make things right - I’m gonna get the Revitalization Grain back, we’re gonna take it back to Glamtron. And I don’t care if that makes me some sort of intergalactic space villain. When the time comes, we’re gonna fight for your planet.” I babble, and only when I finish do I realize how nuts I sound.

Alaska’s blinking, as if struggling to comprehend everything I just said. “Jinkx, you know the stone? You know it’s called the Glitter Bomb, right? And before you argue, yes, I named it that.”

I roll my eyes, adoring her dorky side. And I hand over the piece of the stone. If we’re getting the glitter bomb - as she calls it- she might as well have this piece now.

As soon as it’s in her hand, she’s glowing. It’s breathtaking.

She’s breathtaking.

“Come on. We need to get to an escape pod quick.” I take her hand.

“No need. I say we take the quicker way.”

“And that is?”

She wraps her long arms around my waist. “You better hang tight.”

And in a matter of seconds, light envelopes us. And the atmosphere changes. We’re outside. If it wasn’t for my trust in her, I’d panic at the thought of suffocating. But I can breathe, and I know it’s one of her quirks.

We’re blasting at the speed of light, passing many planets and stars that would take weeks to pass. And I wonder if people on other planets are looking up at us right now, thinking we’re a shooting star and making wishes.

Speaking of wishes, I kind of wish I could see what’s happening back at the ship. I can just picture it. The sight of Alaska and I whooping by the windows, Shea realizing what’s going on, giving commands and ordering everyone to get a move on. Ivy trying to figure out where we went, giving her plenty of searching to do. Milk, Kameron, and Bob working on kicking the ship back into action. Everyone just running around, trying to shake the energy back into themselves.

'Cause they have a new purpose now. I am their enemy. And that couldn’t make me happier. Because I know they’ll be thankful for giving this to them, something we all had been waiting for.

But what makes me happier, more than anything, is that I’m here with Alaska. We’re going to save Glamtron, the planet formally known as Celestia. We’re going to protect it at all costs.

And, most importantly, I’m going to be with her for the rest of my life.

#rpdr fanfiction #jinkx monsoon #alaska thunderfuck #ivy winters #shea coulee #courtney act #bianca del rio #jalaska #fluff #sci fi #angst #hurt/comfort #lesbian au #head in the clouds #grinder #concrit welcome

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guildedlily6 · 4 years

Text

You Plus Me Equals Soulmates Part 3 (Peter Parker x Reader Soulmate!AU)

Summary: Y/N gets invited to her best friend Liz’s party. When Peter Parker, Liz’s crush, shows up and spends more time interested in Y/N, things get tense. Does Peter confess his feelings for Y/N? Does Y/N believe Peter is her soulmate?

Author’s Note: Hello I’ve been writing practically all day for Part 3 and 4. Part 4 is almost done being written so in the mean time I’m posting Part 3, but hopefully Part 4 will be up soon. If you haven’t read Part 1 and 2, click on the links below to do so.

Part 1 || Part 2

Word Count: 2,267

Warnings: swearing, angst

------------------------------

High school parties have never really been that exciting for me. Whether it’s the dumb underage teenagers acting drunk from the non-alcoholic punch or the pounding music that makes my heart feel like it’s going to beat out of my chest, I don’t know.

At the moment, however, I would do anything to get my best friend back. After the fight I had with Liz last Friday, she ignored me for the entire next week. She’s always been a little bit dramatic, but this is a little unusual.

So here I am. After being invited to Liz’s party via text, I am standing in heels and a burgundy dress outside of Liz’s house.

“Hey Y/N, you gonna join the party?” Flash struts up beside me, drowning me in his obnoxious cologne. “We could dance.”

“Yeah, no thanks, I’m good,” I answer, walking past Flash and his look of disappointment. The music is pumping and the lights set the mood with a purple-ish tint.

I look around for Liz. She’s standing in the kitchen talking to some girl in a blue skin-tight dress. I swiftly walk over to her.

“Hey Liz.” I try to say it with warmth so that she knows what I want to talk about, but instead it comes out cold and stiff. Blue Dress Girl takes one glance at the look on my face and scurries away.

“You came,” she observes. “I didn’t think you would. You don’t like parties.” Then why did you invite me, I think, but don’t say aloud.

“I’m sorry for what happened last Friday Liz. I wasn’t trying to take Peter from you, or something, and we probably don’t have the same tattoos anyway,” I say, getting straight to the point. “It’s not my fault he was looking at me.”

Liz’s expression turns sour as soon as the last words leave my mouth.

Shit. Why did I say that?

“Yeah. Okay. Speaking of Peter, there he is. Leave him alone and we’ll see what happens.” She nods towards something over my shoulder. I turn around and make immediate eye contact with Peter Parker. I look away instantly, trying not to provoke anything further between me and Liz.

“Fine,” I agree, silently hoping she won’t bite my head off.

Of course he’s here. Not like he could just not show up after what he said today.

Peter’s been talking about this Stark Internship lately and today he let slip that he knows Spider-Man which then led to Peter promising that Spider-Man would make an appearance at Liz’s house party tonight.

Spider-Man is pretty awesome, if you ask me. But the chance that Peter Parker knows Spider-Man is pretty bullshit to me. I don’t even think the Stark Internship is real. Peter’s smart, but is he Stark Industries smart?

Some girl walks up to Peter and Ned. I think her name is MJ? I’m not sure, she’s the quiet kid who sits in the back of my chemistry class. MJ walks away and so does Ned, who’s obviously more interested in the food rather than the people at the party.

Peter wanders over to us and Liz stands up straighter.

“Peter, hey! You’re here! Do you want to dance?” Liz jumps into conversation brightly, making Peter and I cringe slightly.

“Uh, yeah sure,” Peter responds, sounding unsure. Liz takes him by the arm and leads Peter out to the living room where people are jumping around and dancing.

“AYE PENIS PARKER IS HERE! PENIS PARKER, WHERE’S SPIDER-MAN?” Flash shouts from his place on the DJ stand. People cheer and raise their red solo cups into the air.

“SPIDER-MAN SPIDER-MAN SPIDER-MAN,” people chant. Peter’s expression is that of a deer caught in the headlights.

Peter says something to Liz who nods excitedly. But instead of leaving to go and supposedly fetch Spider-Man, he approaches me.

“Hey Y/N. I-uh… I have to talk to you about something,” he says, barely audible over the music that’s been turned up a few notches.

“Yeah sure. What’s up?”

He says something, but I can’t decipher a single word coming out of his mouth. He waits expectantly after he finishes talking, perhaps waiting for my response.

“What?”

He says something again, but it just sounds like a jumble of sounds under the music.

What is so important that he came to me instead of going to embarrass himself in front of everyone after explaining he doesn’t know Spider-Man?

He seems timid and scared of what I’ll say, which makes me feel bad about having not heard him once again. I smile awkwardly. The song that was playing ends, so that there's a second of silence.

“I’m sorry… I uhh- I have to go,” he stutters with a pained expression. He turns, walks away, and leaves out of the front door.

I feel bad. What was he trying to tell me?

___________Peter’s POV____________ “So I kinda actually meant to ask you out to homecoming, not Liz. I really like you, Y/N. And uh… I guess this is me asking you to homecoming? I don’t know what I- uhh what I’m going to do about Liz, but I promise I’ll fix it.” There. I finally said it. It feels nice to have finally told her how I feel, but I’m also extremely scared of the rejection that’s most likely coming next. She opens her mouth to speak and I turn on my enhanced hearing to better understand her over the music.

“What?” She asks, obviously oblivious to what I just said.

“I really like you, Y/N.” I say again, a bit less confidently. She smiles apologetically and the song ends.

That was awful. She probably heard me and didn’t know what to say. I’m so dumb. Why did I think she would feel the same? She probably isn’t even my soulmate.

“I’m sorry… I uhh- I have to go,” I explain before turning around and leaving the party through the front door. My stomach is in a panic-filled knot as I grab my backpack from behind a bush.

I take out my suit and quickly get changed.

After hopping onto the roof, I contemplate the dangers of what I had promised for the party.

“I know Spider-Man.” Really? I have no control over my own words. Let’s add this as a close second on my list of dumb-things-I’ve-done-on-accident.

I look for Y/N through the glass on the roof. I can’t find her.

Where did she go? __________Y/N’s POV__________ After waiting for a couple seconds, I leave through the front door after Peter. Once I get outside, I scan the front yard, but I don’t see him anywhere.

He probably bailed while he still could. Smart move. I turn around, preparing myself to join the party again, but I spot something in my peripheral vision. I tilt my head to look up on the roof and my mouth drops open.

Spider-Man?

What? He’s actually here? Peter wasn’t lying. But then why did he leave?

I stand and stare in shock for a few seconds before Spider-Man whips his head around to look at me, startling me.

“Are you real or was there actually alcohol in that punch?”

__________Liz’s POV___________ “I have to go and um… get Spider-Man then,” Peter shouts over the music.

“Oh, okay,” I reply, nodding. I don’t really believe that Peter is a Stark Intern or that he knows Spider-Man, but it’s okay because he’s cute.

Peter walks away, but not towards the front door. My eyes follow him as he makes his way over to Y/N.

You have got to be kidding.

I watch as they have a conversation. They don’t look like they're flirting, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s ignoring my request for her not to talk to him. I don’t take action to interrupt them. I simply watch and wait to see what happens.

Peter says something and finally leaves. After a few short seconds, Y/N follows him out the door.

Hell no.

Clutching my cup of punch, I march after Y/N after the door shuts.

__________Y/N’s POV_________ Spider-Man puts a finger up to his mouth, or at least where I guess his mouth is, signaling me to shush.

I tiptoe over to the side of the house, putting my hands on the wall and looking up at him.

“Are you actually friends with Peter Parker? Does Peter really have a Stark Internship?” I whisper-shout.

Spider-Man looks between the party, then me, then back at the party. Then he shifts his head, seeing something behind me. He shoots a web somewhere to his left and leaps away.

I hear the front door open behind me.

__________Peter’s POV_________ Why did she follow me?!

“Are you actually friends with Peter Parker? Does Peter really have a Stark Internship?” She whisper-screams at me.

Does she not believe me? I feel slightly hurt, but not surprised. I guess Spider-Man seems a lot cooler than me, especially since she doesn’t know I am Spider-Man.

I dart my eyes between her and the party through the glass a few times, unsure of what to do or say.

Then I spot Liz coming through the front door, unbeknownst to Y/N. I use this as my chance to escape my small problem and point my hand out, shooting my webs and leaping away.

Once I’m a few blocks away, I hear talking.

I peek over a bridge to see three men loading suspicious weapons with purple-glowy-things into a van.

___________Liz’s POV___________ I step outside into the fresh night air, examining the front yard like a hawk. Y/N is up by the wall, her hands resting on the brick. However, it’s too dark for me to tell if there’s anything between Y/N and the wall. She’s just finished whispering something.

Anger fills me.

She snuck out here with Peter, didn’t she.

I stride over to where she is, cup in hand.

I grab her shoulder, flipping her to face me. I bring back my hand that’s holding the cup and for a split second, I realize Peter isn’t against the wall and she wasn’t doing anything with anyone.

But it’s too late.

The contents inside the almost-full red cup splashes all down the front of Y/N’s dress, soaking her in the sticky, cherry-smelling liquid.

“What the hell!” Y/N screams. The noise attracts the people from inside and they rush over to the window to watch.

“You bitch! Where is Peter? Is he too busy getting undressed around the corner? I told you to lay off. Hell, you said you would!” I yell at her. She’s broken our promise. Two years ago we promised each other we would never ever interfere with each other’s relationships.

“What? Are you blind? Do you see Peter anywhere? I don’t give a fuck about Peter Parker! I don’t know where he went, Liz,” she explains, pissed off and inspecting her ruined dress.

People inside the house laugh and take out their phones.

I glare at them, but it only encourages their excitement at the new drama. Y/N and I have always been known as the inseparable duo. The school best friends. And I just tossed some cheap store-bought juice on her.

“Whatever. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to talk to you or Peter ever again,” I declare.

“Over some boy? Liz, who are you? I’m sorry, okay? I don’t know why I should be, since I didn’t do anything but-”

“Ever since freshman year, you’ve known that I like him. You’ve always been the friend who has to one-up me, anyway. The second something good happens, you have to make it yours.” It’s not entirely true. Y/N doesn’t try to one-up me or take things away. It’s just in this moment that fire fills my veins, like I’ve activated a switch that’s labeled Super Bitch Mode. “He asked me out, not you, Y/N. It’s time to grow up.”

__________Y/N’s POV_________ “He asked me out, not you, Y/N. It’s time to grow up.”

Are you fucking joking? At this point, I feel bad that Peter has to go to homecoming with her.

“Excuse me? You’re telling me to grow up? Look around, Liz. You’re getting angry at your best friend who’s been beside you since the 5th grade. Over a boy.”

Peter is cute and nice and quite amazing, if you ask me but-

Wait, what? I did not just think that.

Liz glances around uncomfortably. Something in what I just said hit home. “Whatever. My mind hasn’t changed. Go home, Y/N,” Liz demands with a hint of regret in her voice.

I smile bitterly. “Gladly.” I shoot her the coldest glare I can muster before showing everyone through the window a gesture that relies heavily on my middle finger.

I stomp down the steps and to my car, getting inside and slamming the door. I start the engine and zoom away from the house.

Technically, I don’t have my license and the fact that my mom had enough trust in me to let me borrow her car and drive it alone should warn me to drive slower, but at the moment I don’t care.

I can’t help but let tears slide down my face as the anger leaves me and the realization sets in. I want my best friend back. I want her to forget everything that’s happened.

However, I can’t help but think about my newfound feelings for Peter and my growing curiosity about the tattoo on his wrist.

------------------------

Sorry this is a slow burn so far, but the next part definitely has some action in it :) Thanks for reading!

Part 4

@disfunctionalcellmembrane @marvel4geeks

#part 3 #part 4 coming soon #peter parker #peter parker x reader imagine #marvel universe #soulmate au #just wait for the next part :)#update #i have seriously been revising all day #imagine #peter parker fanfiction

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amuseoffyre · 5 years

Text

Crossing Paths - 909AD - Wessex

Notes: I know! Look! Back to this old bean for a bit of variety :D Also, this story covers two dates - 909AD and 947AD - which technically fit between Mercia (902AD), Priesca (917AD) and Lake Chad (978AD). The full chronological chapter index is here :)

909AD – Baltonsborough, Wessex

“Oh for Heaven’s sake!”

Crowley tilted his head to peer out of the deep shadow of his hooded tunic. It wasn’t the brightest of nights, lit by a single blade of light spilling holily from the partly-open doors of the church, bringing the smell of candlewax and incense with it. “Angel? S’that you?”

“Who else would be able to spot you?” Aziraphale demanded. “What on earth are you doing here?”

Crowley jerked his thumb towards the open doorway. “Got to put on a show for that lot. Waiting for my cue. You?”

The angel’s lips pursed. “The same,” he admitted and Crowley carefully and deliberately squashed down the temptation to point out they were both mucking around in the same place yet again. It happened a lot and they both knew it. No point flogging the same dead horse.

“Anyone in particular?” he inquired. “Or just a general flash of lights, glowy eyes, whoooo, mystic spiritual intervention sort of thing?”

“Um.” The angel fidgeted, tugging at the collar of – oh for Satan’s sake. He was wearing a bleeding cassock. That meant undercover, which meant it wasn’t even anything dramatic. Probably just some daft little blessing he could have done with one hand tied behind his back and standing on his head.

“C’mon,” Crowley coaxed, grinning. “How bad can it be?”

“It’s just one person, technically,” Aziraphale admitted. “A young lady. I have to make sure she is… very blessed. On behalf of her soon-to-be-child.” He peeked in at the church, the light casting a golden glow over his face. “Her name’s Cynethryth.”

“Sounds like a sneeze.” Crowley straightened up, listening. “Ah, hold on a tick… that’s my cue.” A sharp snap of his fingers sent a torrent of bitterly cold wind gusting at the doors. They crashed inwards and the wind whirled through the church, extinguishing every single candle and plunging the building into darkness.

People were screaming and gabbling prayers in a panic and he heard the angel sigh.

“Oh, really, Crowley.” He snapped his fingers. “Let there be light…”

The sense of panic and terror evaporated and Crowley felt the ripple of awe and wonder pouring out of the building.

“Angel…” He swung around, glaring at the wide-eyed Aziraphale. “Did you just… undo what I did?”

“Not… precisely,” Aziraphale said sheepishly. “I relit Cynethryth’s candle. That’s all.”

That’s all. Room of darkness, all candles snuffed out, and one miraculously popped back to life.

“Ugggggggggggh!” Crowley threw his head back with a groan. “Angel! I’ve been waiting here for a bloody hour and now, turns out I didn’t need to bother? I was meant to scare the living daylights out of them and everything!”

“Oh! Er… sorry, I suppose.” Aziraphale reached out consoling, then hesitated awkwardly. “Well, technically, I couldn’t have done it without you, could I?” He gave Crowley’s arm a single, careful pat. “So jolly well done.”

Crowley raised his eyebrows. “Are you trying to make me feel better?”

The angel offered a cautious smile. “Why? Is it working?”

It was so damned hard to stay annoyed with the soft idiot.

“Couldn’t say,” he said airily, though he couldn’t stop himself from grinning. He jerked his head back in the direction of the main street. “You can make it up to me with some mead.”

Aziraphale’s expression brightened. “I do like a drink with honey in it.”

“Honey, alcohol,” Crowley laughed. “Best of both. C’mon, angel.”

___________________

947 – Glastonbury

Aziraphale had always had a weakness for visiting places of love and devotion. Glastonbury was positively swimming in it, despite the old abbey still lying in ruins. The person he had come to find throbbed at the centre of the place like a heartbeat. Oh, he would do marvellous things, this young man.

The angel was so distracted by the sheer sense of peace about the place that he didn’t notice another man hopping frantically from foot to foot until he collided squarely with him and sent them both reeling.

“Ack!” The man caught his elbow as he staggered, keeping them both on their feet. “Oh! Aziraphale?”

Aziraphale stared in astonishment at the demon in holy vestments, bouncing urgently from one foot to the other. He had one hand over his face. “Crowley? Aren’t you– isn’t this sanctified ground?”

“Mm. Yeah. Bit nippy.” The demon hobbled and hopped by him. “Scuse me.”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous!” Aziraphale hurried after him, slipping his arms behind the demon’s knees and his arms behind his back and hoisting him off the ground. Crowley yelped and clutched at him, as if he expected to… oh. To Fall. “Oh don’t worry, my dear,” Aziraphale scolded gently. “I’m not as weak as you seem to think.”

He carried the demon back to the edge of the grounds, setting him down on the road by a grassy verge.

“Ohhh.” Crowley sagged in relief. “Ow.” He clutched on Aziraphale’s arm and tilted up one foot then the other. They looked like they were clad in boots, but closer to, Aziraphale could see the patina of scales. “Don’t recommend that. Not without shoes on.”

“What on earth were you thinking, going into a church?” Aziraphale demanded, steadying him.

“Orders,” Crowley replied with a wince as he set his foot back down on the grass. He sat down heavily, stretching out his legs, and pushed back his hood.

“Oh good Lord! Your face!”

Crowley grimaced and lifted a hand to gingerly touch his nose. It was swollen and blistered on both sides. “Yeah. Had a bit of a… run-in with the lad I was sent to tempt. No one mentioned the overzealous little bugger blessed his smithing tools.”

Aziraphale stared at him, then looked over his shoulder in the direction of the church. “I don’t suppose you were there for Dunstan? The monk?”

Crowley blinked slowly. “Ahhh. Yours?”

“Mm.” Aziraphale sat down on the verge beside him. “I don’t know if you’ll remember her, but there was a young lady in Wessex a few decades ago…?”

“Sneeze-girl?”

Aziraphale nodded. “Young Dunstan is her son.”

Crowley made a grumpy sound. “Typical. Should’ve been easy. He’s been double-crossed, beaten up, tossed in a ditch to die, accused of witchcraft and everything. Should be bitter and angry and all the easiest emotions to tempt.”

“And instead, you get one set for sainthood.”

Crowley made a face, shaking his head. “I swear they do this on purpose.”

“What’s that?”

“Sending me after ones who will become all… holy.” He mournfully looked at Aziraphale. “At the rate I’m going, I’ll have the full set by the turn of the millennium.” He heaved a dramatic sigh that – Aziraphale felt – was only a little over the top. “Knowing my bloody luck, at the end of the world, I’ll get the sodding Antichrist.”

“Oh, now you’re being ridiculous,” Aziraphale said gently. “This one is only tapped for sainthood. Hardly a world-changing Messiah or anything.”

“And Yeshua was only meant to be a prophet and look where that got us,” Crowley said. He dug his toes into the grass, wiggling them. “You here for Dunstan as well?”

“A little inspiration,” Aziraphale confirmed with a nod. “He’s a very talented young man.”

Crowley carefully touched the tip of his nose. “Well, he definitely knows his way around a pair of tongs, I’ll give him that.” He was quiet for a moment. “D’you think you’ll be long?”

Aziraphale chuckled, getting back to his feet. “Probably not. As long as I don’t get the same kind of welcome as you, I may even be done before the next bells.” He considered offering Crowley a hand to help him up, then thought about his aching, probably burned feet. “Can you wait here?”

Crowley sprawled back on his elbows in the grass. “Why? What do I get?”

“Only some of the best pre-sacramental wine in the country.”

The demon’s face split in a grin. “Stealing from monks? Angel, I’m shocked.”

Aziraphale wrinkled his nose at him. “It’s not stealing when they give it to you as a gift,” he said. “And anyway, even if I did take it, it’s while on heavenly business. That technically means it could be considered a tithe.”

Crowley snickered. “Yeah,” he said, “keep telling yourself that.”

“Oh…” Aziraphale tried to glare, but from the grin on Crowley’s face, he wasn’t very convincing. “Do be quiet.”

As he turned and stamped back in the direction of St. Mary’s, he heard the demon laughing.

(For the nerds keeping tabs on me, this is St. Dunstan. ie. the Saint for the church in London wot was bombed in 1941 :D)

#fic: crossing paths #good omens #good omens fic #aziraphale #crowley

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nitewrighter · 5 years

Text

Dragonback Pt. 5

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

AO3

The Thrilling Conclusion! And by ‘Thrilling’ I mean I give Jack a hard time.

---

One of the things they never tell you when you become a father is that, for the sake of both you and your child’s growing sense of personal privacy, you have to become good at avoiding looking at things. You aren’t really aware of this until they’re a teenager, mind you. “No, I didn’t see that book fall out of your backpack.” “No, I didn’t see what screen you were on before you minimized it.” “No I didn’t see the 12 seconds of furious making out as I pulled the car up to pick you up from Amnesty Club.” Seeing Rei grow up, these were things Genji became very aware of. As soon as Aedan came coughing and muttering back into consciousness and Rei cupped her hands to his cheeks, Genji looked off with all the quickness ninja and cyborg reflexes could afford him as his daughter launched her face at the clone of his wife’s worst rival. Genji glanced back briefly, saw they weren’t finished, looked off again for another few seconds, then saw that they were holding each other tightly. His shoulders relaxed slightly for all of two seconds, before both he and Rei became acutely aware of the same thing.

“Hanzo--” Genji started, pivoting on his heel.

Rei perked up slightly from where she was kneeling over Aedan.

Almost on cue, there was a rustling in the bushes and Hanzo burst through a thicket, buckling over to catch his breath.

“They aren’t after us! They’re after the clone!” he blurted out before anyone could ask if he was alright.

“Hanzo--” Genji stepped up to him, “It’s fine. We’re okay.”

His eyes flicked across the three of them, still panting from his sprint. “Talon attacked you as well?”

“Some kind of combat airship for me,” said Genji. He glanced at Rei and Aedan, “As for them...”

“There was a Reaper clone---Well not really a full clone of him since she was a girl....” said Rei.

“And her eyes were off,” said Genji.

“She collapsed my ribcage,” said Aedan.

Hanzo looked at Aedan.

“I... got better,” said Aedan.

“Are you okay?” said Rei, walking up to him.

“Some foot soldiers. Nothing I couldn’t handle. I only managed to interrogate one while the rest ran off but... clearly I should have been getting back to you,” said Hanzo.

“We’re okay,” said Rei, smiling a little as she hugged him tightly. Hanzo touched a hand to her still-damp hair and gave her head a pat. Rei pulled back and Hanzo’s brows raised slightly.

“You’ve got black on you,” said Hanzo.

“Hm?” Rei glanced down at the black splatters Aedan had coughed onto her shirt. “Oh--Yeah, that’s just..” she brushed at the front of her shirt, “It’s nothing.”

“No, I mean you’ve got black...” Hanzo trailed off and pointed at his own mouth.

Rei brushed the back of her hand against her lips and saw a dark smudge of nanite secretions. “Oh--Oh that’s just... that’s... um...” Rei furiously wiped at her mouth while Hanzo glanced past her shoulder and made eye-contact with Aedan, who was struggling to his feet while bracing a hand against the tree, his own chin still black from nanites.

“Rei got the dragon back! Isn’t that good news!?” Genji suddenly, and with no small amount of desperation, cut in.

Hanzo broke his eyes away from Aedan. “What?” He looked at Rei, “When? How?”

“I was hurt, and I was in the water, like you were,” said Rei, “And then...” she trailed off, “There was... this light? And...” Rei looked back at the pond, then broke away from Hanzo, briskly walked over and started sloshing in to the water of the pond.

“Rei!” Genji called after her, but she was already waist-deep when she dipped under-water. “Just like her mother...” Genji muttered.

The surface of the pond was still for a few seconds when Rei suddenly broke the surface with a gasp.

“Dammit!” she smacked the surface of the water with a frustrated splash, “It was there! I swear it was there! And it was all glowy!” She swam back to the edge of the pond. and wrung out her hair and shirt.

“The same happened to me when I received my storm arrows,” said Hanzo, “I probably searched up and down the rivers and ponds for days, but to no avail.”

“So we’re no closer to figuring out what the dragon actually is,” said Rei, shivering a little, “All we have to go on is a stupid weird glowy blue light and--” She cut herself off.

“...and?” Genji tilted his head at her.

“And we need to get back to the watchpoint,” said Rei, “I... I have an idea, and I’m not sure if I’m crazy or not.”

“I’m with her,” said Aedan, his voice woozy, “If we want to find out more about the Reaper clone, we should get back. If I can get to the lab fast enough, I might be able to isolate her DNA from any spare nanites she left in my body.”

“...so you smeared bits of yourself on Rei, and there’s bits of a reaper clone in you,” said Hanzo, flatly.

“I didn’t smear anythi--” Aedan started.

“You know what? I’m just going to get back to the campsite and activate the comm beacon. Rei is right, we should get back home,” said Genji.

----

They stayed close to camp and one of them kept watch for the next few hours until the evac arrived. Rei thankfully had a spare change of clothes so she didn’t have to spend all the time waiting sopping wet. Aedan was still clearly exhausted by the harrowing events, and he no doubt got the worst of the fight, but Rei stayed by his side as he slept and she kept watch. She saw the light of the sky tinge pink through the leaves of the trees as the Orca arrived.

“Thought you lot were the outdoorsy ones!” Tracer called down cheerfully as she lowered a ladder from the dropship. Aedan was the first to climb up. “Most of you at least,” she said, as Aedan took his seat and the Shimadas climbed up after him. She grinned at Rei, “Good to see you again, Sunshine.”

“Good to... see you too...” Rei started as she pulled herself up into the dropship, but then her eyes trailed down to the chronal accelerator on Tracer’s chest.

A few seconds passed and Tracer cleared her throat. “You all right, love?”

Rei seemed to snap out of a trance. “What? Yeah--I just need to sit down.” She took her seat as Genji, and then Hanzo got up after her.

“Let me guess,” said Tracer, “You’re in for a horrifically long debriefing when you get back.”

“Oh I wouldn’t say horrifically,” said Genji, “...terribly, maybe. Harrowingly...Horrific if it’s Jack doing the debriefing.”

It was another long flight back to Gibraltar. Aedan took advantage of the on-ship medkit to extract some blood and nanite samples from himself before, as he put it, his body eliminated all of Andrea’s presence. There was a certain unnerving efficiency with the way he stuck needles in his arm. Rei wondered what kind of tests Talon put him through before he defected. She wondered how many of those tests he had been taught to conduct himself.

Rei gave a glance back to her father and uncle sleeping off the fatigue from the fight before glancing back to Aedan, gingerly setting vials of his own blood down in their little case.

Aedan’s eyes flicked up at her as she watched him. “You should be resting,” he said quietly.

“So should you,” said Rei.

“I will, eventually,” said Aedan, looking out the window of the dropship, “Just... a lot to think about.”

“When is that ever not the case with you?” said Rei, pushing out of her seat and stepping across the dropship to take a spare seat next to him.

“Look they cloned Reyes, and as far as I know, the woman who just collapsed my ribcage is the closest thing I’ll ever have to a sister. It’s... a lot to deal with.”

Rei huffed. “She is not your sister. Siblings don’t...” Rei gave a glance to her father and uncle slumped over sleeping in their seats and cleared her throat, “You don’t have to think of her as your sister,” she corrected herself.

“I know it’s just... amnio-tank. It’s isolating. I mean... it took my mum five tries to make me. I suppose it was egotistical to assume they wouldn’t keep trying after me...” Aedan pushed his hair back, “Then again, I suppose I was my mother’s project. This one... she... she’s pure Talon.” He glanced down at the small case of the two vials and set it aside. He huffed and then looked at her, “I shouldn’t be fixating on this--We should be happy for you. You got the dragon back.”

“Aedan--” Rei started, “With what we’ve just been through...” she reached up and touched a hand over the point where she had healed his ribcage.

Aedan just clasped his hand over hers, letting her feel his heart beat. “We’re safe now,” he said quietly.

“We’re safe for now,” said Rei.

“Then we’ll keep watching each other’s backs,” said Aedan, giving her hand a slight squeeze.

Rei’s brow crinkled a little, but she smiled. “Yeah... we’ll watch each other’s backs,” she said, softly. Aedan let her hand slip back to her and she leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes. Aedan closed his eyes as well for a few moments, but despite all the exhaustion in his system, his eyes flicked open and he glanced over at Rei, all thick eyelashes and feathery flicks of brownish-black hair. He glanced back at Genji and Hanzo, slumped asleep together, and then back at Rei.

“Rei?” he spoke her name softly.

“Mm?” she opened one eye at her.

“I want to ask you something, and I figure I should ask you it now before we get into the whole maelstrom of debriefing and lab work back on the watchpoint,” he nodded his head in Genji and Hanzo’s direction, “And while we have a moment to ourselves.”

“Always a lot to think about with you, huh?” said Rei.

“Always,” said Aedan.

“Okay, shoot,” said Rei.

“Right. So umm.. that kiss back there in the forest,” Aedan fidgeted a little, “Was that an ‘I love you’ kiss or was it a ‘Oh you nearly died and I’m very emotional because I got my weird mystical dragon back’ kiss?”

“Excuse me?” there was a laugh in Rei’s voice.

“I’m giving you an out,” Aedan smiled a little, “Because if you thought I followed you around like a lost puppy before, oh, believe me, Rei Shimada-Ziegler, I’m going to be insufferable now.”

Rei grinned and ruffled his hair. “It was an ‘I love you kiss,’ obviously. I mean... yeah I was freaking out because I thought I lost you for a few seconds there but...Yeah. I love you,” she huffed and played with his hair a little, smiling, “Aren’t you supposed to be the super-genius here?”

“Scientists are known to have trouble understanding the miraculous,” said Aedan.

Rei snickered and rolled her eyes hard.

“What, was that bad?” said Aedan.

“It was terrible, I think that’s why I loved it,” said Rei, weaving her fingers between his. He glanced down at their interlaced fingers, then brought up her hand and kissed her knuckles.

“Try to get some sleep,” she said, leaning over and kissing him on the eyebrow.

“I will,” he said quietly as they both settled back into their seats. He watched as she closed her eyes, her head slumping a little, and he smiled and leaned back as well, letting the exhaustion wash over him like a blanket.

He didn’t have any nightmares for the flight back to Gibraltar.

---

“You can’t keep doing this, Jack,” it was the early evening on the watchpoint and Mercy was frowning over several x-rays of Jack’s hips and remaining foot.

“The second I stopped going on missions and stuck myself behind a desk was the second everything started going wrong,” muttered Jack.

“Another blow like on the last mission and you could be wheel-chair bound for the rest of your life,” said Mercy.

“We’ve been able to update Genji’s prosthetics over the years...” Jack started.

“Let me rephrase that--I can’t let you keep doing this. As a doctor. As a good person. Going on missions with the intensity you have is destroying your body. It’s a miracle the SEP serum is holding you together the way it is but--” she went over to her laptop and scrolled through several endocrine screening results with a furrowed brow, “You can’t keep straining it like this.”

“And what, let one of the kids handle it? This fight was supposed to be done before any of them came into the picture!” snapped Jack, “You saw what happened to your daughter when Talon---!” Jack caught himself as he looked up at Mercy’s face.

Mercy pursed her lips for a few seconds before taking a calming breath. “Jack--you still have so much you can contribute to the team without going on missions,” she inhaled, “And...” her breath hitched slightly, “And Rei’s been able to build a life for herself without the dragon.”

“Talon’s just going to keep--” Jack started.

“Don’t,” Mercy’s voice was stiff, she took a deep breath, “I know you have a lot at stake in this fight,” she said, pushing her hair back, “And I know we’re all emotionally compromised here--we’re here because of that---but you have to think about how much this is about your pain and your pride and how much of this is about getting the job done.”

Jack stared at her for a few seconds. “...It’s my mess,” he said, after a few beats.

“We’ve made it our mess, too,” said Mercy.

Jack folded his arms in thought then gave a glance to the x-rays. “As I am...” he said quietly, “How many more do you think I have left in me?”

“This isn’t a question of how man--”

“Doctor Ziegler?” Athena’s voice chimed over the room’s speakers.

“Not now, Athena,” said Mercy, rubbing her forehead.

“But you told me to--”

“It can wait,” said Mercy, “I’m with a patient.”

“Understood,” said Athena and the speakers blipped off.

Mercy turned back to Jack. “Sorry--What was I--Right. It’s not a question of how many missions you have left, Jack, it’s a matter of doing what’s best for--”

A blue portal suddenly opened up and a tall, lean, medium brown-skinned boy stumbled through and Mercy just about jumped a foot in the air.

“Doctor Ziegler!” Samir blurted out as the portal closed behind him.

“Samir, what did I tell you about teleporting into the infirmary? There has to be some privacy for---”

“They’re back!” Samir blurted out.

“What?” said Mercy.

“You said to let you know as soon as their dropship entered Watchpoint airspace. Genji and the others, Rei, Aedan---They’re back.”

Mercy’s eyes widened. She looked back at Jack. “I--We--” she started.

“I’m too old. I shouldn’t go on missions anymore. I’m stubborn. I got the gist of your prognosis,” said Jack, “I’ll need their debrief, too. Let’s go.”

Mercy huffed a little but then Samir opened up a portal next to her with a flick of his hard-light projector-clad wrist. He gave a small salute and a “Sir,” to Jack before stepping through. Mercy stepped through after him and in a soft ‘vworp’ sound she was out on the watchpoint tarmac with Jack stepping through after her. She looked over her shoulder to see the other kids were there--Rajeev, Marti, and Jaime. Samir took his place next to his twin and they all turned their attention to the van-like contoured boxy shape of the dropship touching down to the tarmac.

“Heckuva welcoming party,” Mercy glanced over her other shoulder to see McCree walking in off of the watchpoint shooting range. He looked at Mercy. “Think she’ll stay this time?”

Mercy pushed her hair back. “That’s not fair to ask her,” she said, quietly, only barely audible over the hum of the dropship.

The door slid open with a wheeze of depressurizing, and Rei was the first to emerge with Aedan right behind her. She made eye contact with Mercy and her eyes lit up. She stepped out of the dropship and both she and Aedan were both instantly hauled off their feet in a tight hug from Rajeev, then immediately swarmed by the other kids, including Marti, who was trying to break the whole thing up so that Rei could talk to her Mom but finding herself lost in a wash of questions for Rei. Mercy couldn’t blame them, really, it had been months since Rei was last on the Watchpoint. Mercy watched as Hanzo exited the dropship as well, managed to sidestep the swarm of Rei’s peers, gave her a nod and a gentle clap on the shoulder before Jesse took advantage of his jet-lag to catch him in an embrace and whirl him into a kiss. Mercy smiled before glancing back at Rei, still being swarmed by the other watchpoint kids.

She chuckled a little as Rei and Aedan were overwhelmed by questions about stunt work or the “Ninja camping trip.” Mercy watched Rei’s face as she talked, her own deep gray eyes flicking back to Mercy as she tried to break out of the crowd. The gray-white streak in her hair from Urdr Labs was still there, but she seemed to be carrying herself differently than the last time she saw her. There was a warmth about her. Mercy felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Genji.

“Oh--” was all that fell out of her and in an instant the were wrapped up in a tight embrace.

“What happened?” she asked, as Genji clicked at the catches on his faceplate and took it off, “Did it go well?”

He just kissed her in response and her arms tightened around him. Glad they were back. Glad they were safe. They broke away briefly, still holding each other.

“She was amazing,” said Genji, looking over at Rei.

“Then she----” Mercy looked over at Rei, and then back at Genji.

“She got the dragon back,” said Genji. There was a slight shake to his voice of excitement and the fear that it might not be real.

Tears brimmed in Mercy’s eyes and she put a hand over her mouth. “How?” she blurted out, “What happened?”

“Guys--! Guys!” Aedan’s voice cut over the din of the others, “I can’t really stay here, I need to get to the infirmary lab--”

“Infirmary lab?” Mercy repeated. Her eyes flicked over Genji’s armor, seeing several new scratches and dents in it.

“Oh no...” she said quietly.

“It’s fine, we’re fine,” Genji gave her shoulders a light squeeze.

Genji’s smile shrank slightly and he looked up from Mercy to Jack, “We’d better debrief.” he said, his hands still on Mercy’s shoulders. He broke away from her only for Rei to manage to nearly tackle her in a hug.

“Oof! Sunneschii, I’m not one of your stunt buddies,” said Mercy, stroking Rei’s hair before returning the embrace.

“I got it back,” Rei said, her arms tight around Mercy, “It’s back.”

“I’ve heard,” Mercy kissed her forehead before cupping Rei’s face in her hands, “I’m so happy for you.”

Rei’s cheeks squished slightly against Mercy’s palms as she grinned, eyes bright. Mercy smiled right back.

“But I’m guessing the trip wasn’t all sunshine, roses, and dragons, was it?” said Mercy, looking over at Genji.

“Yeeahhh,” Rei rubbed the back of her neck, “Aedan’s right, we gotta get to the lab and... you should probably find somewhere comfortable to sit.”

----

“...A Reaper clone,” Mercy repeated, interlacing her fingers and bringing her elbows up on the conference table just outside the infirmary. The whir of centrifuges could be heard outside of the room, punctuated only by the scratch of Rei’s pencil on the yellow writing pad in front of her. Hanzo leaned against the wall next to the door, typing out his own written debriefing on a tablet.

“Well, not technically---” Aedan started.

“A clone is a 100% copy and this one is clearly edited, yes, I’m sure. If they directly cloned Gabriel as he is now, the embryo would likely never stabilize,” said Mercy, “But you’re sure?”

“We won’t really know until the gene sequencer isolates her nanites from mine in the samples I brought. Luckily she’s...” Aedan seemed to be searching for the right words, “ Her nanites are distinct from mine. Hardier. Even her wraith form was... denser.”

“And she was strong too,” said Rei, continuing to sketch, “Crazy strong.”

“SEP serum?” Jack looked at Genji.

“Talon wouldn’t be able to get a stable sample of it off of Reaper alone,” said Mercy.

Jack glanced over at Rei, still furiously sketching, but now looking up between him and the yellow lined pad of paper in front of her as she worked.

“What?” said Jack.

“Sorry it’s just, you and her both had this thing with your nose...” said Rei, looking back down at the pad and sketching more.

“’Thing?’” Jack repeated, and then looked back at Genji’s whose eyes were unsettlingly fixed on him.

“...The eye color’s the same, too,” said Genji.

“Lot of people with blue eyes in the world, Genji,” said Jack.

“If Talon needed a stable source of the SEP serum...” Mercy started.

“Oh for--You can’t make one clone off of two people,” said Jack.

“Two X-Chromosomes,” said Mercy.

“If your remove the methylation of haplo DNA at the beginning of the process it’s not impossible at all,” said Aedan, “If Mum could slap a Y chromosome onto me, it’d probably be child’s play for her.”

“But you said we still need to wait for the sequencer’s results,” said Jack, “She might not even be Gabe’s kid.”

“She might not be...” Aedan conceded, not breaking those bicolored eyes away from him.

An unsettling silence fell across all of them. Jack looked at Aedan and deep down, a part of him knew that if it was his mother in the room and not him, she’d be telling him to swallow his pride and accept that he knew full well what Talon was capable of, and how far they were willing to go.

Jack felt the eyes of everyone on the room on him. “Where would they even get my DNA?!” he snapped.

“Well... either Moira took samples of it when she left, or... they picked it up in the 30-odd years you’ve been fighting them,” said Mercy.

Another long silence passed among the group.

“We aren’t discussing this further until that sequencer gives us the results,” said Jack, walking toward the door, “I want a written debrief of the full Shirakami-Sanchi incident from all of you by 0800 hours tomorrow.”

“You’re storming off and giving us homework?” said Rei.

Jack looked over his shoulder sharply at her.

Rei cleared her throat, “Right. Written debrief. Standard procedure,” she said a bit meekly.

Jack turned away from her and walked out the door. It shut behind him.

“...Reaperclone definitely has two daddies,” muttered Rei.

Genji looked over her shoulder and picked up the yellow pad she had been sketching on.

“That is a very good likeness,” he said quietly.

“...Maybe it’s better that he didn’t see it,” said Mercy, taking the pad from Genji, her brow knitting together with worry.

---

It was fairly late in the evening and Rei chewed on the end of her pen on the couch in the watchpoint living room, looking over a blank debriefing document and template. The Shimada-Ziegler family had had takeout for dinner that night, everyone already worn out either from the flight back from Japan, the exhaustion of relating what had happened there, and further discussion over lab results and She felt the arm of the couch sag behind her with another person’s weight.

“One of your few nights here and you’re stuck doing Overwatch paperwork,” Aedan said with a sigh.

“Oh, did you already finish yours, nerd?” said Rei, sitting up from the cushions slightly.

Aedan shrugged. “Lab intern,” he said with a slight smile, “You get good at the pencil-pushing.”

“You got a hole punched in your chest, how are you done first?” muttered Rei.

“It wasn’t punched, technically it was damage via displacement. And I get really nasty with the details,” said Aedan, “I want to ruin his breakfast.”

Rei snorted. “You shouldn’t joke about that,” she said quietly, “You almost...”

“It’s a coping mechanism,” Aedan said with a shrug, “Probably not a very good one but--woah!”

Rei had reached up and grabbed him by his ‘Pipette, Cry, Repeat’ shirt and yanked him down onto the cushions next to her. Half his body weigh was bearing down on her legs, but she didn’t mind, really. His own legs were still loosely draped over the arm of the couch, and he was staring up at the ceiling next to her as she penned out a few more notes of her debriefing.

“So... what next?” said Aedan.

“Mm?” Rei glanced up from her writing.

“I mean... you had a life for yourself back in Hollywood.... you were Midori Rider.”

“I was a stunt,” said Rei with an eye-roll as she continued writing.

“You had the helmet--I mean, that’s not my point. My point is, you had a life for yourself outside of this---”

“This is bigger than that---” said Rei.

“What you want in this is bigger than anything,” said Aedan, pushing himself up to an upright sitting position to look at her.

“Aedan--they cloned Reaper... If I’ve got the dragon back, then I can’t just stand aside and play dress-up while my friends are in danger.”

“Just because I got a hole punched in my chest doesn’t mean you have to protect me 24/7,” said Aedan.

“It wasn’t punched, it was displaced.” said Rei, arching an eyebrow.

“Touché,” said Aedan.

“Aedan...” Rei exhaled. “I did love the life I had outside of Overwatch... but it’s because I loved it that I know I have to fight for it,” she set the pen down on the clipboard and brushed her fingers along his forearm from where it was awkwardly jammed between them, “I think that’s part of what loving something means.”

“Guess ninjas are full of love then, aren’t they?” said Aedan with a grin.

“What do you think the Shimada dragon is made of?” said Rei, mysteriously.

A few seconds passed.

“What, seriously?” said Aedan.

Rei tried to push back a laugh but failed. “Pffft! No! I mean--I don’t know! Probably not...It’d be dumb if it was.”

“You had me for a second,” said Aedan.

Rei was snickering, “Nah, I’m hoping I’m going to figure that bit out... I don’t know when.. but soon. I’m going to ask Winston about it. But, well... in the meantime, I can help here. I can protect my family.”

Aedan stared at her for a few seconds. “So... you’re staying?”

“Yeah...” Rei said quietly, “Yeah, I think I am.” She smirked. “It’s what Midori Rider would do---fight alongside her friends! Save the world! The real Midori Rider, no stunt doubles here!” said Rei, grinning and attempting to strike one of the sentai poses despite being half-reclined on the couch and holding a pen and clipboard in her hands. Her hands dropped back into her lap. She glanced down briefly, “And... I missed you. I missed all of you.” She pushed her hair back. “That clone...” she said quietly.

“Andrea,” said Aedan.

“Andrea?” repeated Rei.

“That’s what the voice in her earpiece addressed her as,” said Aedan.

“Well... Andrea said she was made to end this fight,” said Rei, “I want to end it too. But we’re going to end it our way.”

“Then I’ll see it through with you,” said Aedan, sitting up slightly.

“Aedan..” Rei smiled softly as he took her hand in his.

“Giorraíonn beirt bothar, Rei,” he said with a grin, “I told you. Lost puppy.”

---

It was well past midnight and Jack was leaning against the counter in the infirmary lab. He could wait. He knew he could wait. Let Mercy or the clone deliver the news while all tight-lipped over a tablet. But he couldn’t sleep. His prosthetic leg ached at its joint and he glanced down at his glass.. Malt whiskey from one of McCree’s long-forgotten stashes. He had no idea how old it was, only that it was one of the many casualties of McCree severely cutting back on his drinking after Rei was born, so... old. Could probably strip paint with it.

The whirring of the centrifuges had long since stopped, but the screen of the main monitor had been at 89.15% for the past 15 minutes.

“How much longer?” said Jack.

“I’m still calculating the results, Commander,” responded Athena.

“Not commander anymore. Fifteen minutes longer or two hours longer?” said Jack.

“I could temporarily divert all the energy my user interface function to speed up the process,” said Athena.

“Why don’t you do that?”

“Force of habit from Winston, I suppose,” Athena replied, “I don’t feel right leaving someone alone if I’m all they have to talk to.”

“Ouch,” said Jack with a slight chuckle before sipping his drink and letting it sear his tongue, “It’s all right, Athena. I’d rather find out sooner.”

“I’ll be right back,” said Athena. There was a slight ‘vwoom’ of her speakers powering down and Jack was left in the dimly lit room for another 10 or so minutes. Jack idly watched the alcohol chew away at the two large ice cubes in his glass in the dim light of the room. He idly tapped away at some of Hanzo’s debriefing on his tablet before Athena spoke up again.

“And we’re back,” said Athena.

“Okay...” Jack took a breath, “Do your worst.”

“Based on analysis of the incompatible nanites extracted from O’Deorain, I can confirm that the Talon agent that attacked him and the Shimadas has both your DNA, and that of Gabriel Reyes.”

Jack exhaled, then picked up the small yellow writing pad Rei had been sketching on earlier and saw she had sketched the face of a young woman. He made out his jawline--or at least the jawline he had back in all the posters, his nose, Gabriel’s eye shape, all large and tired, but cold and light with his own eye tone.

He looked up from the sketch to the large letters reading “DATABASE MATCH” on Athena’s screen with his and Gabe’s old overwatch ID photos displayed prominently.

“Well fuck,” he said, before knocking back his drink.

#Reidan #Gency

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urwarriorangel · 5 years

Text

‘tis the season (thor odinson au)

person a seducing person b into taking a few steps back/backing them against the wall (”oh look, how did that mistletoe get right there????”)

w: language, insecurity, slight smut but not really, um thor mfing odinson??? (no gifs are mine)

a/n: hello! i’m going to try to get as many christmas/december themed fics out while i can bc a bitch is determined!! i really hope you guys enjoy this bc i do. i love thor <3 also i’m doing a 2018 fic rec list, so please submit your recs here <3 as always please let me know what you think and click here to read my tony stark christmas au!

You have spent all day decorating your place to be fit enough for a Christmas party. You’ve hung up lights, put up mistletoe, bought ingredients for a gingerbread house, made some hot and cold holiday drinks.

And it’s finally time for Wanda to come over and just watch things while you shower and get ready for the party. But, of course, she has a trick up her sleeve you had no idea about.

At three o’clock, you hear your doorbell ring and you run over to open the door: hair up in a messy bun, flower painting your cheeks, cropped t-shirt just barely covering your tidbits, sweatpants probably the only decent thing about you… minus the syrup stain on your sweet mid roll.

“Wanda! I was scared you wouldn’t come! You didn’t respond to any of my--” You finally look up and feel your heart in your throat. Turns out, it’s not Wanda it’s-- “Thor!”

“Y/N,” he gives you a big smile, eyes appreciatively running down your length. “Did Wanda not tell you that I would be coming in her place today?”

He walks past you into your apartment and you have to force your jaw shut before closing your door and making your way to him.

“No, Wanda didn’t tell me anything. Was she busy?”

“She sent me an urgent message this morning, saying nothing more than ‘something came up, go to y/n’s at 3’ and so here I am,” he turns around to face you, his normally happy face turning into one of concern as soon as he sees your less than excited face. “Is everything okay, Y/N?”

“No, it’s not,” you pout and run a hand through your already messy hair. “Wanda was supposed to come in and keep an eye on the place while I shower and get ready for the night. Wanda why?”

You walk around your place, groaning and slowly cleaning everything up. You know why Wanda asked Thor, the god of fucking THUNDER and FERTILITY, to come here. Thor, of all people. She knows you have a crush on him and this has to be a part of some trick that she has to get you two together.

While you’re fuming to yourself, Thor just watches you. He tries his best not to stare at your slight underboob reveal every time you bend over to pick something up. He appreciates the way the sweatpants cling to your waist, chuckles at the bit of syrup you’ve gotten on your blessed tummy roll. He can’t seem to get enough of you. But when you catch him staring, he has to think fast.

“Well I’m sure I could keep an eye on your apartment. I won’t set any fires. I’ll stay out of your way,” he shrugs and your eyes rest on his shoulders for a second too long. “Y/N?”

“Y-Yes?” Your eyes meet his and you swear you can see a smirk on his face, but it’s gone before you can blink.

“I said I will happily keep an eye on the apartment. I will finish cleaning up, it seems as though you’ve done everything else humanly possible to make your place look christmassy,” he shrugs looking around. “I’ve got this. Trust me.”

You look around, contemplating whether or not to take Thor up on his offer, not that you had much choice but still.

“Fine,” you bite your lip and Thor’s eyes catch the action before quickly looking away. “I’m sorry you got roped into this, Thor. I swear if I wasn’t covered in flour in places I’d rather not say, I swear I wouldn’t make you do this.”

“It’s no worries, Y/N,” he smiles at you and both your hearts skip a beat, his because he imagined the parts of you covered in flour and yours because his smile alone could make you do ungodly things.

“Thank you again,” you smile and move closer, standing on your tippy toes to kiss the now blushing god. “I’ll be back very soon.”

You walk away and as soon as you’re out of the room, Thor lets out a soft sigh. He’s finding it harder to control himself than he originally thought. The young witch knew of his feelings for you. She had to have. How else would she have known to call him instead of any number of worthier Avengers?

But the second he thinks of anyone else seeing you like this-messy, lovely, so entirely warm-his hands fist up at his sides. No. He’s so very glad that Wanda chose him. He shakes his head and notices a mistletoe that’s fallen on the floor and puts it up against a slightly hidden wall in the hopes of maybe pinning you against it and taking you then and there.

After somewhat coming to terms with his feelings, Thor takes off his coat and starts cleaning up. He wipes down countertops, quickly vacuums the living room, puts everything in what he assumes is its place, and stands in the kitchen, looking proudly at his masterpiece.

“Wow,” you whisper, from right outside the bathroom-Thor’s massive arms are the first thing you see as soon as you step out and you can’t stop the admiration from all but pouring out of you.

Thor’s throat dries up as his eyes land on you. You’re dressed in a bathrobe, wet hair falling across your shoulders and back and down your chest, eyes wide as you stare at him unabashedly. He swallows a moan once he sees your hardened peaks through your thick robe, was it really that cold?

The doorbell rings once, breaking you of your initial trance but now your eyes meet and neither of you can seem to look away. Were his eyes always this stormy? Were yours so warm and honey-like?

The doorbells rings again and this time you’re pulled apart by the reality of it all: Thor was here to help you clean up… in place of Wanda… who’s probably now here for your party.

Your eyes widen and a small gasp leaves you as Thor clears his throat, very clearly trying to adjust his pants. Your cheeks are burning red and you turn on your heel just as the bell rings again.

Thor whispers a “fuck” under his breath as he readies himself to open the door.

Once you make it to your room, you take a second to calm your heart. Thor was adjusting himself… because of you. Thank you, Wanda.

You quietly scream into your hands and get ready as fast as you can. You put on some very little, glowy makeup, put up your hair in a half bun, wear a typical small red dress and some gold heels before finally walking out to greet your friends.

You feel confident, the dress definitely helping matters as you walk into the living room and do everything in your power to avoid Thor’s gaze, which you can feel on you.

“I see you guys have all gotten comfortable,” you raise your brows at Peter and Steve who both have way too much whipped cream in their mouths and not enough on their hot chocolate.

“Well we had to,” Wanda smirks, walking up to you. “You weren’t here to welcome us.”

“Not, but Thor was,” you look over to the god and give him a thankful smile before looking back at Wanda. “Which is more than I can say for you.”

“What, did my plan backfire?” She smirks at you and your eyes widen immediately and Thor’s head turns to the two of you.

“What plan?” He raises a brow, studying you as you subtly shake your head at Wanda.

“The plan to get you two idiots together,” she smiles and your cheeks redden.

For a moment, there’s silence. You feel your heart beating out of your chest as Wanda looks at you, slightly concerned. Thor’s eyebrows haven’t come down since Wanda’s confession and just as everyone else starts asking questions, you decide to speak up.

“You all stay here, I’ll be right back with some spiked cider,” you give everyone a tight smile and head to the secret corner at the far end of your kitchen.

The cider’s not there, but you need a moment to collect yourself. So Wanda wasn’t busy this morning, she sent Thor because she knew about your crush on him. Thor, who probably doesn’t have a crush on you. Thor who was just entertaining Wanda. You feel silly: silly for thinking Thor is into you, silly for wearing this damn dress that’s probably doing you no favors.

You feel a couple tears creep up and while you’re trying to swallow them down, you don’t notice Thor. So when he places his hands on your cheeks, you’re startled.

“Why are you crying?” His voice is soft and you’re immediately comforted, and at the thought, your tears fall freely. How could they not?

Thor’s heart softens at the sight of your tears, at the way your wide eyes trusted him immediately.

“Hey,” he presses a kiss against your forehead and you whimper. How could a man the size of him be so soft, so caring?

“S-Sorry,” you murmur and pull back with a thin smile, steadfastly wiping away the few tears that manage to escape. “I’m okay.”

“Is that so?” His hands move down to your waist and they wrap around you, give a new meaning to the word home.

“Y-yeah,” you ignore the shiver that runs down your spine and lean back against the wall.

“So,” Thor’s eyes move up and he smirks for a split second before looking back down at you. “Why were you crying then?”

“Just feeling silly I suppose,” you shrug and look down, hands instinctively moving to his neckline and you play with his buttons to avoid any questions.

“Why silly?” He furrows his brows and you bite your bottom lip to keep it from trembling. “Hey.”

One of his hands moves to cup your face, thumb slowly pulling your bottom lip out of your mouth. His free hand pulls you in closer and all sane thoughts leave you as you take in the proximity.

“Tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it,” he whispers gruffly, trying not to get lost in you.

“It’s a lifelong battle, Thor. No fault of yours,” you shake your head and he moves his head lower, bringing a gasp out of you as he nuzzles his nose against yours.

“Why do you feel silly, sweet angel?” He kisses the side of your mouth and you pout at the action or lack thereof.

“I feel silly because of this,” your lips brush against his as he speaks and he stiffens for a moment before pulling back, confused. “I feel silly because Wanda knows I have a crush on you. She bothered you, sent you here, because I have a crush on you.”

“Why do you feel silly about having a crush on me?” You look up at him and can see the hurt in his eyes.

“Because look at you, Thor,” you smile softly as you study him, raising a hand to trace his face. “You’re perfect. You’re a god: a powerful, kind, so incredibly beautiful god.”

“And what about you?” His brows furrow again as he realizes that you think *you’re the issue*, not him.

“What about me?” You look down again, doing your best to keep yourself covered as Thor now studies you.

“You’re incredible,” he pushes you back a little further until your back hits the wall and your breath is knocked out of you. “Your lips,” his thumb traces your mouth, teasing it inside for a second and pulling back before he loses his fucking mind. “Your sweet smelling hair,” his hand moves up and bunches your hair in a fist. “Your spine and the way it arches when I’m watching you,” his head moves down and on instinct, your back arches. His fingers teasingly trace down your back and you whimper against his open mouth. “Jesus, fuck. And this,” his hands move up and around to lay flat against your chest. “Your precious fucking heart. I can’t get enough of it, of you.”

He leans forward, gently, lovingly pressing his lips against yours. His hand move down your chest, barely skimming where you needed him most, and finally wrapping them both around your waist.

“Don’t ever,” he kisses your jaw, your neck, your nose, your collarbones. “Ever think you aren’t more than worthy. You are. You’re everything. And if you ever need a reminder, please let me know.”

You nod, unable to stop looking at those lips. And the way the quirk up when he notices.

“I’m glad you’re in the mood to kiss again because guess what?” He tilts your head up and you see a small bundle of mistletoe. “‘Tis the season, as they say.”

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tacticalgrandma · 5 years

Text

So I don’t know how links are working on here anymore, but I have a new fic I’d like to share as best I can! Sombra returns to Dorado after the events of the “Hero” cinematic, and explores exactly how much she hates Jack Morrison. Primarily a character study of how she’s broken and not really about Jack Morrison at all. I’m going to post the fic as well as the link, and as always, comments & kudos would mean the world! Remember, you can leave both even if you don’t have an ao3 account.

AO3

Sombra hears about Soldier: 76’s little excursion in Dorado, of course. Tiburón texts her some pissy message about how if she isn’t too busy being a fucking sellout, maybe she could help them deal with the asshole who bashed Azabache’s head in like it was nothing. Sombra lets her jabs slide. Tib has a right to be angry. Sombra’s angry too.

She knows who Soldier: 76 is, of course. She did her reading on the SEP. One hundred participants, four survivors. Soldier: 12 died in combat. Soldier: 95 developed Stage IV breast cancer about a year after the war ended and died within the month. Soldier: 24 is present and accounted for. Soldier: 76 was never exactly subtle.

What’s funny is, she can’t figure out what game he’s playing here. He named himself something that would identify him to every person in the know in the world. And even Jack Morrison’s not dumb enough to have done that unintentionally. He’s got to have a bigger plan in mind, but when she asked Gabe what he thought it was, he just grunted and told her that Morrison never planned a goddamn thing in his life.

Sombra will figure him out, of course. In due time. Right now, she has business with Los Muertos.

Sombra doesn’t think the Gulf air in Dorado will ever stop feeling like home. She remembers as a kid, when the smell of burning metal and flesh permeated her world, she would sometimes catch a whiff of it and tell herself that okay, it’s still Dorado, it’s still home, things will be alright. On Rosh Hashanah, the Nieveses would march her and Patricia down to the coast and give them sheets of paper and tell them to number the ways they had wronged the world. Patricia would do so solemnly, head bowed and brow furrowed in concentration, and Sombra would toss her scraps in and crane her neck to see if she could spot fish darting around the ripples. The Nieveses would shake their heads and sigh but Sombra still took something from the ceremony. She had liked the idea of the ocean containing a part of her. Even if it was her sins.

Tiburón runs up and hugs her when she sees her, and that feels like home too. They can snipe at each other over text all they like, they’re still Muertos, they’re still family. They’ll have each others’ backs.

“How’s Aza doing?” Sombra asks. Tib loses her giddy smile and Sombra’s heart sinks

“Bad,” she says. “Still in the hospital. Migue and Luci went to visit him last week and he was talking to them then, but he crashed a couple days later. They say he’s stable but they won’t let anyone visit so I dunno. Dunno how his family’s going to pay for the bills, either.”

“It’s just him and his dad, right?”

“His sister’s in prison for the next twelve, so yeah.” Sombra’s runs her fingers through her hair and leans against the guard rail, the Gulf lapping up at the breaker behind her. Tib’s staring at her.

“What are you going to do, Sombra?” she asks.

Sombra chews on her lip. She’s struck by how much things have changed around here. Not even five years ago, she would be the one asking that question to Tiburón. Tib’s nearing her forties, practically ancient by Muerto terms, and she didn’t get there by being soft. Tib can take anyone in a fight, rally anyone to her cause, smooth over any problem with enough beer and laughter. She’s one of the ones who plucked Sombra out of the mass of grasping orphan children, cultivated her, taught her how the world really worked. She’s a god among the Muertos and Sombra idolized her.

But things have changed. Lúmerico’s just one part of a globe-spanning web that’s entrapped Dorado. The head of Overwatch is descending upon the city to get off on beating up her friends. And Sombra’s the one who rebuilt herself to play on that scale. Tib’s tough. Sombra’s not expecting her to go anywhere anytime soon. But she’s the old model, and Sombra’s the new one.

“You said he let the others go,” Sombra says. Tiburón nods.

“Yeah. Mateo got him off their tail, thank Christ.”

“How?”

“Threw a bomb at him,” Tib says with a laugh. “He just wanted to blow him the fuck up, but it ended up landing near the kid instead. Still distracted him. And she’s fine, but her mother bitched us out good.”

“Which kid?”

Tib won’t meet her eyes all of a sudden. “He didn’t mean for it to get near her,” she says. “He didn’t know she was still there.” Sombra pushes off the railing and narrows her eyes.

“Christ, Tib–”

“It’s fine, okay Olivia?” Tib snaps. “No one got hurt. Except for fucking Aza. So try to focus on that.”

Sombra stares at her and Tib meets her gaze for a moment before she drops her eyes again. All the anger Sombra had seen in her melts away and leaves behind something tired and pathetic.

“I’ll take care of it,” Sombra says. She starts to walk away.

“Sombra–”

Sombra wheels around and catches Tib flinching. “I said I’ll take care of it, okay?” she says. “When I say something, I mean it. I take care of my fucking people.”

She walks away from the pier. Tib doesn’t say anything else as she leaves.

The bakery’s just a few blocks away, in the more residential part of town near the church. Sombra smells it before she sees it and it mixes in with the Gulf air and if salt water smells like home, then baking bread smells like family. Sombra steps in through the shop door. Patricia looks up from the counter when she hears the bell above the door chime and gasps.

“Sombra!” Sombra grins and gives a wave.

“Hey, Patty.” Patricia rushes around the counter and towards Sombra. Sombra spots her flour-covered hands and apron and takes a step back. “So I’m happy to see you too, but–”

Patricia pays her absolutely no mind and crushes her in a hug. Sombra hides her smile in her shoulder and hugs back.

“It’s been so long,” Patricia says. “And the last time you texted me was months ago, and that was to send me some dumb meme about Portero. I thought something had happened to you.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.” Patricia lets go of her and folds her arms, but Sombra’s seen her cross too many times to be too affected by it. “I’ve just been really busy, shit with the job and all, and you know, didn’t want to get you guys involved accidentally–”

“Oh, stop.” Patricia waves her towards the little table near the window. Sombra sits down and Patricia hustles back behind the counter, rummaging around for something. “So what are you here for now?” she asks.

“What, I can’t just stop by and visit my dearest friend?”

“Sombra.” Sombra drums her fingers on the table and sighs.

“Well. I need to talk to Ale, actually.”

Patricia pops back up and looks at her quizzically. “Ale? What for?”

“Tib told me what happened.” Patricia’s face darkens and she dips back around the counter and walks to the table. She puts a buñuelo in front of Sombra and leans her face on her hand.

“They wrote me a check for her college fund,” she says. “And God, that’s good to have. They did seem sorry. But…” Sombra takes her hand over the table and squeezes it.

“I took care of it,” she says. “Don’t worry.” Patricia swallows hard and nods.

“You said you needed to talk to her, though?” she asks after a moment, when she’s blinked the shine from her eyes.

“Yeah,” Sombra says. “There’s some other shit I need to take care of.” Patricia nods again and stands up.

“No swearing around her,” she reminds her. Sombra rolls her eyes, Patricia rolls her eyes even harder back, and then heads through the door behind the counter. A couple minutes later, the door bursts open and a girl runs towards Sombra, her mother in a tired pursuit.

“Olivia!” Alejandra squeals. “You’re here!”

The name still takes the air from her lungs for a second. Patricia must notice because she coughs into her hand. Alejandra glances back at her, then looks back up at Sombra guiltily.

“Sorry, Sombra,” she says, emphasizing the last word in a way that would sound sarcastic without the accompanying puppy eyes. Sombra grins and musses her hair.

“It’s okay, kiddo,” she says. “It’s good to see you again.” Alejandra makes a little noise of pure excitement and hops up on the chair across from Sombra.

“Mom said you wanted to talk to me about the guy,” she says. Her eyes are jumping between the buñuelo and Sombra pushes it towards her. She grabs it and takes a bite. “Do you know him?” she asks with her mouth full.

“I might,” Sombra says. “I’m not sure. I’d like to hear what you remember about that day.”

“Sombra, it was so crazy!” A bit of buñuelo sprays out when Alejandra talks but she’s too busy gesticulating to notice. “So Migue and the others, they took my purse, so I ran after them, and then he showed up, and they were shooting at him, and he started shooting back, and then his mask did this cool red glowy thing–” Sombra nods, trying not to let her anger rise at Alejandra’s enthusiasm and dumb grin. “And then there was a truck, and they jumped on to it and threw a bomb at me, and he ran and grabbed me and got me out of the way! And he even got my purse back for me!” Alejandra finally swallows her mouthful and looks up at Sombra with big round eyes. “So? Do you know who he is? Can you thank him for me?”

She can’t take it anymore. “He put Azabache in the hospital, do you remember that part?” Sombra asks scathingly. Alejandra looks down at the remains of the buñuelo.

“Azabache, he– I don’t think he–” Sombra drops a hand on the table and Alejandra jumps.

“I don’t care what you think about Aza, he’s one of us! And we protect our own!” Sombra jabs a finger out the window, towards the Gulf, in the vague direction of wherever the hell Morrison’s fucked off to. “You think if there had been a bomb on you and a bomb on one of his buddies, he’d have picked you? You think if there had been a bomb on some rando or a bomb on you, Aza wouldn’t save you? That bastard did one thing for you and then he ran. Well, Aza’s still here, Mateo’s still here, Tiburón’s still here. When it gets down to the wire, Ale, that’s the shit that matters.”

“Sombra!” Patricia says. Sombra looks up and sees her making her way towards them. Her face is stony in a way she has to take seriously. She stands up. Alejandra pushes the rest of the buñuelo towards her. Sombra snorts.

“I’m good,”’ she says. “Just think about what I told you.” She heads towards the door.

“He saved me,” Alejandra said in a small voice. “Doesn’t that make him a hero?” Sombra turns back to her and she knows she’s just a kid, she knows she should be patient with her, but fuck, Sombra learned this shit when she was eight years old. Ale’s got to grow up sometime.

“There’s no such thing as heroes,” she tells her. “And anyone who says otherwise just wants something from you.” Alejandra says nothing and Sombra leaves, the bell above the door chiming in her wake.

On her way back to Venice, she thinks about Jack Morrison. She remembered growing up and hearing him called a hero a thousand times in the news. Patricia and the Nieveses had nodded along to that and so she shouldn’t be surprised by Ale being the way she is. But still, it’s fucking ridiculous. Jack Morrison isn’t special. People like Jack Morrison are everywhere.

People like Jack Morrison don’t come to Dorado to learn or to help, they come when they want to feel good about themselves. People like Jack Morrison have the world at their fingertips but run around dressed up as the little guy because they want to feel like a victim instead of a fuckup. They beat up actual little guys when they want to feel big. People like Jack Morrison ignore the hunger in Dorado until someone tries to take a crumb from their plate. People like Jack Morrison give little kids dreams about the world being just because they never want to admit how the odds were stacked in their favor.

She’d been holding on to the intel, waiting to see the best for use for it. Maybe blackmail him into telling her what she wants to know, maybe dangle it in front of the right party to get something in exchange. But you know what? Fuck Jack Morrison, and fuck people like him.

“Your ex is in Giza,” she tells Gabe. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”

#i already have one pissy comment but aklsj i'm not taking down the troll description #sombra #soldier: 76 #olivia colomar #jack morrison #overwatch #fic #orig

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sparemyocs · 7 years

Text

I Think of Arrows

He sat up slowly as he could, making sure the other man didn't wake as his movements shifted the bed. The rather ugly cotton blankets were hard to pull away from. Warm, and he wanted to believe safe but- As 'brave' as Hanhari fancied him the inevitable rejection in the morning wasn't something he could face. It had been wonderful (who knew the man had such a flithy mouth? Dorian Pavus did, thank you very much), before, during, and after. Now he was taking the reins because the Inquisitor couldn't be in charge of everything. Dorian could scarcely control his own heart but this? This he could do for himself. He could get dressed in the dark, he could leave without making a sound, he could fall back asleep in his own bed without feeling hollowed out because he'd gotten exactly what he'd expected without any dismissive words from such an incredible man. Maybe not what he wanted, but certainty what he'd expected.

-----

Sera looked up as Mr. Inquizy-boots himself came in and... Didn't greet her at all actually, just stepped over to her cushy window seats and flopped down like a fish. He smelled like Dorian, and a good time and yet didn't look like he'd had one at all. "Hey you..." She sidled up next to him with a frown, "Why're you all dead?"

He took a deep, shaky breath before pushing his face into his hands. "...I... He didn't stay. ...It was just... I'm sorry Sera, I don't know why I-"

"Shut it and keep going." She scowled, pushing out her bottom lip and putting on the angriest eyebrows she could.

He looked to her, brief and blank, then rubbed his hands over his face again. "It seemed... Right, I think. I don't know what I could have done wrong." His hands dropped from his tattooed face and into his lap. "It was fun, and so good. Then after... I was comfortable and his hands were gentle-" Hanhari swallowed hard, eyes going glossy as he teared up. "I thought- ...Why, Sera? Why wouldn't he...?"

"That knob-sucking snake-shitting arse-fucker. I'm gonna make him eat his dumb fancy mustache!" Sera shot up, grabbing her bow and quiver and running off before the other elf could catch up with her mentally, let alone physically.

-----

Dorian leaned on his left hand, trying to read and failing. All he could think about was the night prior. It was so troublesome! What about the Inquisitor ("You don't need to be so formal while we're in bed together you know.") had him so utterly infatuated?! He'd known stronger men, more handsome men. ...Not more powerful men however, not so personally. Was that it? Was he just denying a part of himself that was nothing but power-hungry? ...Han- No. The Inqui- No... The Herald was also kind to a fault. Rarely, rarely did he ever refuse to see another man's point or not try to understand him. Dorian could even recall a conversation where he'd said that even Corypheus 'was just a man once'. Was that it? Maybe both of them. It made the Herald quite easy to use after all- Even unintentionally! Dorian sat up a bit, freeing his left hand to pull out his birthright from under his clothes. He just held it. A gift almost thoughtlessly given. Against his direct request, the Herald had exercised his influence to fix a mistake Dorian had made in an attempt to... Please him? The Altus sighed softly. Even now he couldn't figure out what the elf's game was. Or had been. It was over-

"HEY TEVINTER, YOUR ASS IS GOT AN ARROW WITH IT'S NAME ON IT!" Sera flew up the stairs, sliding into view with said arrow already drawn. It didn't take long before it was drawn back to point at his head.

"Sera! Sera hold on!" He jumped up, reaching for his staff. The arrow that grazed his fingertips was enough for him to give up on it and throw his hands up in surrender. "I don't know what I did, but I swear-"

"You know what you did you slimy toad! Ugh, and he liked you and everything!" She pulled back harder on the bowstring-

"Sera, stop!" The Herald skidded into view while Dorian tried to digest her last sentence. He jumped to wrestle the weapon away from the taller elf while she spat out obscenities. Dorian jerked out of the way of a stray arrow as Leliana, Solas, and even Varric rushed into the fray as well. Eventually Hanhari managed to get Sera pulled back down the stairs with Solas' help and Dorian found himself being pulled up into the rookery by Leliana and Varric. "Alright Sparkler, dig through that librarian head of yours and let's figure out why Sera just tried to pin you to that nice chair of yours."

Dorian scoffed in disbelief, "Why are you two acting like this is my fault! I'm very clearly the victim here!"

"Simple," Leliana said, circling her short wooden desk to sit on the other side of it once again, "she said so. Sera is nothing if not blunt. Even if your intention wasn't to slight her or the Inquisitor, you've obviously managed to do so."

"I... I haven't done anything out of the ordinary." He slotted his hands together, quickly becoming very uncomfortable with the direction the conversation seemed to be going.

Leliana didn't look terribly sympathetic. "Haven't you? I got reports of you entering the Inquisitor's quarters yesterday. I was rather surprised when I woke up this morning to a report that you left his quarters alone very, very early in the morning. Well before dawn."

Varric groaned and winced, "Oh shit, Sparkler. Please tell me you didn't walk out on him. Glowy is the king of bleeding hearts and he's had a thing for you since the time travel shit. You'd rip him in half."

Dorian sighed softly, deciding to get familiar with some of the nearby masonry rather than look either of them in the eye. "I'm... well aware. But it really is better this way you see. The Herald is quite the public figure, and being seen with me-"

"Would probably make him happy. Maker forbid right? Have you seen how he looks at you sometimes? 'Cause I have, and the last faces I saw that puppy-eyed expression on are now married and everything."

Married. Was Varric trying to give him a heart attack? "It'd never happen. It'd hurt longer to draw it out."

"For who? Him, or you?"

Dorian bit the inside of his cheek to keep from flinching. "...Both of us I suppose?"

"Is it really worth it, knowing what you're going to be missing out on?" Leliana had gone mercifully silent. Then again the dwarf's pestering and guilt tripping was probably impressive enough for the both of them. The Tevene man certainly thought so.

Dorian hissed softly, "Fine! As soon as we both have a moment I'll go and talk to him!" He looked back to the other with a pinched frown, "Does that please you, Ser Tethras?"

"Uh, yeah actually. Ten gold pieces says it'll please Glowy even more."

He hissed softly, "Oh keep your coin." Turning on a heel, Dorian fled down the stairs and headed for his personal quarters. He would need some sort of plan of attack after all. Since apparently no one had the good sense to let this all go.

-----

Ultimately, his plan boiled down to 'get drunk, confront the Herald in his quarter's again, and hope to forget it all by the next dawn'. Simple. Less simple was arriving before the man had turned in for the day. Less simple was getting the fire started because he'd left all his doors open to the cold air. Less simple was occupying his time looking over the Herald's collection of books because the bastard was taking his sweet time getting up here. Less simple was the thought of getting to do this every day. Damn Varric and his... His nosiness? His interference? His encouragement?

"Fenedhis... Dorian..." The Herald hung back at the stairs, his tight grip on the railing looking like an anchor keeping him from turning around and darting away again. He was nearly crouching behind the banister, all nerves and....

"So... I'm under the impression that yesterday wasn't the end of it?" Irritation at everyone's pestering crawled up his throat alongside the words. Tinting them with a hint of anger that made the elf wince.

"...If you don't want to be here... I won't make you do anything you don't want to Dorian. You don't owe me anything. I'm... sorry. I'm sorry if I made you feel as though you had to do anything with me."

"What?" The alcohol was now very much in the way. Why would he be sorry? He'd been... incredible. Still was but- He felt his brows scrunch. "What... exactly do you think is happening here?"

"I... I'm still not entirely sure but it seems... Are you drunk?" He pulled himself up the last few steps, looking over the mage with his brilliant red eyes.

Dorian swallowed as he started crossing the room with a gentle worried frown on his face. "Answering a question with a question? I thought you found that uncouth?" He looked away from Hanhari's well-meaning, but ever intense gaze.

"...Right. ...I may be entirely wrong, but I'm under the impression that I pressured you into... Into having sex with me? I can't tell if that's better or worse than the alternative..."

"Ha. No, you certainly didn't pressure me into anything. Least of all in that regard. What is the alternative?" He looked back, even if it made him feel as though some invisible force was pressing down on the front of his neck. Ready to choke. Ready to break. The silence between them was thick too. Hanhari looked away from the other, shoulders pulling tight and Dorian could see him trying to swallow down pain. It wasn't working very well. "Oh. I... That wasn't my intention either. ...Where would you want this to go?"

Hanhari frowned, "What do you want?"

He threw up his hands, tisking the other. "Never mind me for a moment- just a moment. I want your honest answer. If you're still willing to give it at this point: I wouldn't blame you if you weren't."

"Sastmahn... Anywhere as long as it's with you. ...I don't know what's going to happen anymore than anyone else, but I do know what... ...I want to be with you. For however long you'll have me. If that's just for one night then... I'll manage."

"But you do want more than one night." Dorian should have felt ecstatic, but it was just a bit too strange an idea just yet.

"Much more." Hanhari's hands had dug into his coat, but he kept still and kept his eyes level with Dorian's. Brave.

"Then... I suppose you... we, can have... more. If you're truly certain."

"I am... Are you?" He came around his desk, giving Dorian a great deal of time to back away as he reached up to stroke his cheek. "I don't want this to be... I don't want you to- I don't want to use you, and in return-"

"I want to stay," he spat it out like it burned, grabbing the hand on his face. "I only... worry for your sake. We aren't terribly compatible. A Dalish elf and a Tevinter Altus-"

Warm lips shut the other mage up, "I'm inclined to disagree."

"And what of your reputation-?"

Another, harder kiss. "Our happiness is more important than my reputation. The people will learn. And if they can't, I didn't want them that badly anyway."

"...You're ridiculous." Dorian grabbed for the other, pulling him close as they kissed again. It was needy, but relatively chaste.

Hanhari hushed him when they broke apart, "...Please stay? No sex just... lie with me?"

"Very ridiculous... How can I refuse?"

"Easily. It's just two letters."

"Oh it is so much more than that... You have no idea."

Hanhari pursed his lips, "It's not the alcohol, is it?"

Chuckles wracked his frame as he shook his head. Maker, preserve this man... Gingerly, he started pushing the redhead back towards his bed. It'd be a long night. A... safe one. Maybe.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/12230361

#pavellan #dorian pavus #Hanhari #Sera #Leliana #Varric #canon divergence

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thesiteofstyle · 7 years

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MARIA ISABEL SEVERINO

On her streamlined hair and beauty routine, plus the one accessory that can compete any look.

“My name is Maria Isabel, I’m 21, born and raised in Queens, NY. I just started my last year at NYU as a Music Business and Performance Major. Between school, a part time job and trying to break into the music industry myself, I’ve managed to streamline hair, beauty and fashion into every simple and quick routines.

My daily makeup routine takes about ten minutes out of my morning, I’m all about getting every possible minute of sleep. I start off by rinsing my face with just water, patting it dry and applying Cetaphil Daily Moisturizer before anything else. After that I apply Elta MD sunscreen, as recommended by my dermatologist. (I severely underestimated how much we need face protection on a normal day not spent at the beach). Next I dab on some of Benefit’s Porefessional Primer under my eyes and on my nose, and top that off with Benefit’s Boi-ing concealer around my eyes to cover up my perpetual dark circles. After some mascara courtesy of Benefit’s Roller Lash, and a quick brush of my eyebrows with Essence’s brow gel, I run Benefits Watts Up down both sides of my face, and I’m out the door! I really have managed to do this in about 10 minutes before leaving for class. However, if I’m going out at night or have something more important going on during the day I start with the same bases but after concealer, I move onto foundation. I’ve only used Benefit’s Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow for the last year and swear by it. It feels and looks like I have almost nothing on. I definitely make more use of my highlight, I want my glowy cheekbones to be spotted from 3 city blocks down. Lastly I always count on red lipstick to spruce up my look a little. There’s always a tube of Mac’s Ruby Red in my makeup bag.

As much as I pride myself on the speed of my make-up routine, hair styling is definitely the most time consuming for me. I have relatively thick, curly hair and I dedicate about two hours in a day to washing and styling. In the shower, I use Devacurl’s No Poo Lather free shampoo (a good shampoo is super important to me as I’m always very wary of anything drying out my curls). After I rinse that out I use Cantu’s leave-in conditioner as my in shower conditioner and wash it out (regardless of its name). Out of the shower, with my hair still sopping wet, I start my styling routine by applying a drop of that same conditioner (to leave in this time) just to lock in some moisture. Next I apply a generous amount of Miss Jessie’s Pillow Soft Curls Gel and distribute it evenly throughout my hair. I then apply a little bit of Tresemme Flawless Curls Mousse and scrunch my hair up towards my scalp. I top it off with Bounce Curl for a little bit of extra hold and then leave it to air dry! Which only takes about 7 hours on a good day. I repeat this process about every three days.

My style inspiration is, simply put, New York City. Sitting on the train, on a park bench, or walking to class, I’m constantly encountering people walking by in a piece or an outfit that I love and I always make a mental note to recreate or reference. When it comes to shopping, I love Zara. 50% of my closet is Zara merchandise. Topshop and Asos are two other favorites. I like to switch my look up all the time based on my mood, but there are a few staples I’m always consistent with.My number one most important possession as of late is my pair of gold hoops. I don’t remember the last time I went out without them. I feel like I can complete any look with it. If I’m not feeling my hair or a certain look on any given day, my hoops save the day for me.

Second is my pair of jeans from Citizens of Humanity. I was finally willing to invest a little more than usual into a pair of jeans that I fell in love with. They’re the “sculpt” jeans in a light wash. I’ve never felt better in a pair of jeans. They make me feel like someone crafted a pair of jeans just for me.

Next are my black and white adidas Superstars . I’m on my second pair now. As beat up as they are, I think they go with anything I’m wearing, from track pants to a dress. Another necessity is my leather jacket. Hot, cold, rainy, snowing, I’ll throw it over anything I’m wearing and feel 10 times cooler.Last but not least, my red Essie polish. Ask anyone who knows me what color my nails are most likely painted and they’ll tell you, red, every time. I really love bold, bright reds, and I’m obsessed with Essie’s Russian Roulette.”

Maria Isabel Severino interviewed by The Site of Style

#maria isabel #maria isabel severino #interviews #featuredpost

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sugamacchiato · 7 years

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[2/3] two lefts don’t make a right...but three do

Pairing: Yoongi / Seokjin

Summary: Yoongi thinks Seokjin forgot their anniversary

Word count: 1,815

Genre: Uh… my sad attempts at humor? idk it’s pretty light imo but it ain’t fluff exactly ~

Warnings: other than light swearing none I don’t think?

a/n: lol so this takes place the day BEFORE the events of pt1 ~ I started writing this part originally as part of p1 but I didn’t like the flow of things so I took it and bc of that it’s kind of mostly a filler chapter. That being said, it was also my favorite part to write which is why I couldn’t bring myself to delete it altogether and just made it pt2 tho I did almost rip my hair out trying to make this part flow better. I don’t know how to words so byeeeeeeeee

pt1 here

Yoongi really should have been more suspicious when Seokjin didn’t drop any crass reminders in the weeks leading up to their anniversary, but he simply took it as Seokjin deciding to finally stop being a patronizing dick. New date, fresh start, Yoongi reasoned.

Little red flags did go off when Yoongi was woken up by his usual alarm and not with an “I can’t believe I’ve put up with your ass for seven years now” kiss but he shrugged it off when he heard Seokjin in the shower. Seokjin probably wanted him to sleep in a little longer but forgot to actually turn off his alarm. Yoongi expected some tepid remark about whatever he had planned when Seokjin stepped out of the bathroom but was only informed that he had some meeting on the other side of the city and would have to head out a little early before he vanished into their closet.

Seokjin was testing him, Yoongi realized, to see if he had indeed forgotten their anniversary without any of his irritating reminders. Like hell if he was going to give Seokjin the satisfaction. He knew Seokjin would keep the charade up for a good while just for the sake of being petty but Yoongi planned to nip that in the butt early by sneaking up behind Seokjin as he walked out the door and pull him down for an “I can’t believe I’ve been legally bound to your ass for a year now” kiss. The idea was that since Seokjin was already on his way out he wouldn’t have time to sit back and pout which would’ve given Yoongi the triumphant last word. For the moment, at least.

Their morning went on like most; only a quipped comment from Yoongi here and there, annoyed that Seokjin would put him through this whole farce. He got a few pointed looks from Seokjin but Yoongi’s too often grumpy in the morning before he’s had his coffee so it wasn’t uncommon for Seokjin to just let Yoongi’s snide comments slide without contest.

Seokjin was a pretty good actor and when he wanted he’d fool pretty much anyone. With Yoongi though, Seokjin could only ever keep up with facades for so long before Yoongi would pick up on some subtle inconsistency in personality that give him away. The longer their morning went on, the closer Yoongi scrutinized Seokjin’s every move, trying to catch any indication of his husband’s theatrics. Seokjin eventually caught onto Yoongi’s unusual surveying of him and crossingly reminded him of the thousands of photos Yoongi kept of him on his phone and if he wanted to be creepy to use those in the meantime. Seokjin was running late which in turn made him intolerably snippy. Yoongi’s snarky comments earlier probably didn’t help the matter and he almost regretted them...almost.

Watching Seokjin curse up a storm while rampaging around their apartment looking for his lost keys was Yoongi’s first real tip that Seokjin wasn’t keeping up with some agenda. He was always way too suave and put together while he kept an act up. His sleeve could catch fire and he probably wouldn’t break character. Which meant...that Seokjin had actually forgotten their wedding anniversary. What the fuck?

Any other day Yoongi would find it amusing how easily Seokjin’s over-the-top dramatics were instantly appeased the the moment he found whatever he had been looking for. His husband’s childish tantrums were some of Yoongi’s favorites to tease him about since Seokjin always tried to keep some semblance of an adult character. Yoongi loved the indignant pouting when he’d make hinted remarks about Seokjin’s less than composed episodes. That morning however, Yoongi watched in disbelief as the black cloud lifted over Seokjin’s head and replaced with rainbow glitter (or whatever the hell it was that made him so damn glowy), he grabbed his briefcase and mindlessly hummed that annoying song from a gum CF he’s had stuck in his head for weeks while heading out the door. But right as he walked out he stopped when he realized something and turned back.

Awkwardly maneuvering through their furniture, Seokjin trotted back where Yoongi stood uselessly at the other end of the living room. The tiniest bit of doubt that maybe Seokjin was acting clouded Yoongi’s judgement of what to expect when Seokjin reached him. When Seokjin merely leaned down and pressed a quick peck onto Yoongi’s lips before turning around with a vague wail as a goodbye, Yoongi couldn't help the slightest dejected feeling pooled in his stomach because how the hell could Seokjin forget their damned anniversary?

He waited all day for an “oh my god, I fucked up!” text from his soon-to-be-ex husband which would soon have been followed by six or seven “this wasn’t my fault” excuses texts and one last “I’ll make it up to you” text, but they never came. The longer the day dragged on the more irritated Yoongi got with Seokjin for forgetting.

He jumped when Seokjin’s ID finally appeared on his screen but it was only a text letting Yoongi know that he was going to have dinner and drinks with his brother and not to wait up for him. Yoongi was so livid he was ready to all but ask him for a divorce.

But no, Yoongi thought, there was still time left in the day and he would at least give Seokjin the benefit of the doubt until midnight.

Yoongi carelessly flipped through the book Seokjin had on his nightstand while he waited for him to get home. He wasn’t actually reading but it was a good way to keep his jittery hands busy while he came up with a passive-aggressive way of letting Seokjin know it was their anniversary.

Yoongi’s anniversary gift for Seokjin was still tucked behind their armoire and he thought about sliding it under Seokjin’s side of the bed so when he got down on hands and knees looking for his other slipper (which Yoongi would’ve made sure would never be seen again) he’d see the neatly wrapped package and card and realize. It may have slipped his mind that it was their anniversary but there was no way Seokjin didn’t know the actual calendar date.

Yoongi was so caught up in his petty delusions of imagining himself silently staring Seokjin down while he tried to piece together an excuse that when he heard the front door he panicked. He had completely lost track of time and instead of coming up with a quick plan b he just stuck his nose into the book in his lap and mechanically followed the lines of text despite still not actually reading a single word. It seemed Yoongi opted for the ‘pretend everything’s still okay’ route and he mentally slapped himself but it was too late since he heard Seokjin was just up the hall.

He was still focused on the progression of the lines when Seokjin entered the room but Yoongi doesn’t know how he didn’t hurl it at Seokjin’s head when he heard his smug laugh. “What?” he asked, looking up at Seokjin and glad he sounded casual enough to not raise any suspicion just yet.

“It’s cute that you’re pretending to read while waiting for me,” Seokjin mused, nodding at the book in Yoongi’s hands. The pompous tone in Seokjin’s voice rubbed Yoongi the wrong way as he was already upset with him. Him being bratty wasn’t helping.

“I’m not pretending,�� Yoongi protested. He was getting huffy and if he were dealing with anyone besides Seokjin, Yoongi would have taken a moment to bite his tongue and pull his thoughts together. Unfortunately, he was dealing with Seokjin and Yoongi always seemed to let his emotions get the better of him with matters relating to his husband.

Seokjin seemed to have taken Yoongi’s defensiveness as just him being stubborn and not actually upset with him since he just nodded to the book in his hands again and asked him how he had managed to get through over half the book in only a few hours. Yoongi knew that bitingly replying he had always been a fast reader was a weak excuse but he couldn’t stop himself. So when Seokjin asked him which character he thought the traitor on the island was, all Yoongi could do was look at him stupidly for a moment before Seokjin smiled softly and disappeared into their bathroom.

Slamming the book shut in frustration, Yoongi scanned their room with new resolve to find a clever way to let Seokjin know he had forgotten their anniversary. His eyes circled around and landed on the book in his lap. His jaw dropped. The Transformation of Korean Law: 1900-1950 was the title printed on the cover and whether from anger or embarrassment Yoongi’s face flared up. Son-of-a-bitch!

Yoongi was debating between setting the book on fire and chucking it out their ninth story window when he heard Seokjin sneer loudly from across the room. He stood just outside their bathroom doing nothing to restrain the self-satisfying look of amusement from seeing Yoongi had realized his double play. He couldn’t believe he played himself so fabulously and then walked so easily into Seokjin’s trap.

Seokjin shook his head and without another word climbed into bed, took the book in his husband’s lap and placed it back on his nightstand before turning back around and placing a kiss unceremoniously on Yoongi’s lips. He snuggled into the covers and it wasn’t long before he was asleep. Yoongi was still both upset with Seokjin for forgetting their anniversary and with himself for letting his spite control his actions that he decidedly stayed up to brood a bit longer.

Okay. Seokjin had won this round, Yoongi admitted after a while of glowering. He knew his dumb husband wasn’t even aware they were in battle but whatever, that’s another issue. He ultimately decided he would get his retribution the following day and settled in to sleep.

Despite being upset with him the whole day, Yoongi still finds peace in Seokjin’s soft snores and muddled grumbles. Sleeping Seokjin looks like an angel and Yoongi always tries to keep his eyes open a second longer because, not to be cheesy, but even after all these years there’s still something breathtaking about Seokjin being the last thing he sees before falling asleep.

With a final sigh, Yoongi said goodbye to their first anniversary as a married couple and dozed off with an inherent smile when he felt Seokjin pull closer into him and wrap an arm around his waist. Whatever ridiculous issue they had with each other, Yoongi still loved how neither of them let it really get in the way of their relationship. They may go to bed in the middle of a silent fight but it always seems to melt away, even if only a little, as they slept.

#yoonjin #yoongi #suga #seokjin #jin #bts #bts fanfiction #mywritinglol #two lefts don’t make a right...but three do

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beauticate · 5 years

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Magdalena Roze, Journalist

If you’re anything like us, one look at Magdalena Roze’s radiant complexion, and you’ll be desperate for her to spill the secrets to her signature glow. And good news: the journalist, podcast host, and mother-of-two has turned her talented hand to cookbook writing, with her new release detailing recipes to help get some of that very glow. We chatted to Magdalena about her wholesome (but delicious) day on a plate, her go-to beauty addresses in Byron Bay and Sydney, and why she won’t say no to some old-fashioned, homemade cake.

“I always knew that I wanted to work in the media, so when I left high school I was at a bit of a crossroads where it was a choice between acting or journalism.

I'd been acting and doing theatre since I was a kid and had a lot of friends that went to NIDA, so that path seemed obvious in many ways. But I was also drawn to writing and storytelling in a more journalistic capacity, and the opportunity to travel, experience amazing things and interview interesting people. So I chose the latter and was awarded a scholarship to study Media and Communications at the University of Sydney. In my final year, I did an internship at Channel Nine and at the end of it they offered me a job. The rest is history!

With my job, I love that no day is the same and that I'm constantly learning, meeting interesting (and often extraordinary) people and experiencing new things.

It’s changed a lot since I’ve transitioned from exclusively working in television towards a more digital and project based career, but while it wasn’t something I planned, it’s been a blessing to have more flexibility, autonomy and creativity - especially with a young family. One day I’m testing recipes for my cookbooks and another I could be recording my food podcast The Pass, hosting Nigella Lawson or doing a shoot for a brand I love. It keeps me very inspired and fulfilled, but most importantly, it still affords me the opportunity to live in Byron Bay and be with my kids, and for that I'm extremely grateful.

My personal style has changed a lot since moving to Byron Bay and becoming a mum.

It’s definitely more relaxed, but I still love glamming up for a red carpet. I tend to adapt to my surroundings, so when I’m at home in Byron, I pretty much live in linen, flowy, dresses, swimsuits and sandals. There’s a lot of white and neutrals, which is crazy with two messy babies! My staple designers are My General Store, Estilo Emporio, and Spell when I want to go a bit more boho. St Agni are my go-to for leather sandals. My favourites for basic pieces like t-shirts are Jac and Jack and Bassike, and pretty much all my knitwear is from First Born which is all handmade and fairtrade. When we travel I switch it up and tend to wear more black and tailored pieces, and my red carpet style can be really varied depending on my mood and the event. I actually really love putting the whole outfit together, from heels to makeup and accessories. Some of my favourite Aussie designers are Zimmermann, Scanlan Theodore and Toni Maticevski, and I love Christie Nicolaides earrings. They're real statement pieces and always make the outfit.

My beauty routine is way more low maintenance in Byron - which is convenient being a mum of two as I’m lucky if I have 5 minutes to get myself ready!

Unless I'm doing a shoot or hosting an event, most of my days involve little or no makeup at all and like to stick to the more natural based products, especially when it comes to skincare. This actually came out of necessity a few years ago when I was working long hours and wearing heavy makeup on TV every day. My skin really suffered and I started breaking out in rashes that wouldn't go away. I couldn’t control the makeup part but I realised that I could use much more lowtox products on my skin, so I made my own completely natural toner, moisturiser and eye cream and my skin literally cleared up in a day. I'm sure it wasn’t just the products - things like stress and hormones have a lot to do with it too - but I've been using simple and natural based skincare ever since. Becoming pregnant with Archie four years ago was another incentive to use cleaner products, plus for some reason I became really sensitive to the smell of certain fragrances and chemicals. I'm definitely not a total purist, especially when it comes to makeup, but there are so many great natural products out there now that it’s easy to do.

I very much believe in a gentle, non-abrasive approach as well as the powerful role of wholefoods in attaining glowing and strong skin, hair and nails. I swear by good fats like bone broth for this as it’s literally packed with collagen, as well as adding ghee, coconut oil and hemp oil to my meals. It’s boring but drinking lots of filtered water probably makes the biggest difference to plump, hydrated skin.

I cleanse my skin with Sodashi Clay Cleanser with lime which is gentle and nourishing, followed by a spritz of Oil Garden Rose Floral Water.

I moisturise with Sodashi Rejuvenating Face and Neck Moisturiser or sometimes just a few drops of Oil Garden Rose Hip Oil. Dr Hauschka Rose Day Cream is also a favourite during the cooler months as it’s quite rich. Then I fill in my brows with Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil and dab some NARS Radiant Cream Concealer under my eyes to hide the mumbags! I usually leave it at that but if I have a meeting or want an extra lift, I love LUMA Just A Touch Lip and Cheek Tint in Signorita for a dewy natural flush on my apples and it really is the perfect natural lip colour. I'll also dab a bit of the LUMA Illuminating Highlighter in Golden Glow on my cheekbones. I like to have really clean skin before I go to bed, especially if I've been working and have makeup on, so I use some sort of oil like coconut oil or African Botanics Pure Marula Cleansing Oil to remove the first layer of makeup, sunscreen and impurities. It smells so good! Then I cleanse with something foaming like Chantecaille Rice and Geranium Foaming Cleanser (which is 80% natural) as the gentle exfoliating beads of rice bran give a thorough clean and I can use it to remove eye makeup too. I follow this with my Oil Garden spritz and Sodashi moisturiser. I really like trying new products and I’m always on the lookout for something natural and amazing, so I tend to mix it up every few months.

I use natural essential oil based soaps handmade by my friends Church Farm General Store in Byron Bay and they're gentle enough to use on the kids too. Because I spend a lot of time at the beach with sunscreen, I like to give my body a good scrub regularly with Mukti Organics Bioactive Body Polish. It leaves my skin feeing so smooth and nourished, and smells heavenly. For both of my pregnancies and in the months after, I massaged Weleda Stretch Mark Oil on my belly which has worked wonders. I like to treat myself to a hot bath now again with epsom salts and a few drops of Oil Garden Relax & Unwind Silk Bath Oil which feels and smells divine.

In the day and most of the time, my beauty look is natural, fresh and feminine. But if I'm going out to an event, I love to glam it up.

In terms of celebs, I like Gwyneth Paltrow's pared back beauty and Blake Lively’s red carpet glam. For nights out, I use Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation. I’ve been using it since the TV days as it’s light enough for a daytime look and yet you can build on it in the evening. When I want glowy skin, l use LUMA Liquid Light Illuminating Primer underneath. I swear by NARS Bronzing Powder in Laguna for contouring and that sun-kissed look, and NARS Blush in Orgasm. If I’m getting my makeup professionally done, I find that adding a few individual lashes to the eyes make a huge difference. And I think that having a good quality set of makeup brushes is essential.

I have long, thick, coloured hair so my hair needs plenty of moisture.

I'm yet to find a great natural shampoo so if anyone has any tips, let me know! I’ve always used Kérastase but my hairdresser recently put me on to Iles Formula shampoo, conditioner and Finishing Serum and love it. It’s super light and makes my hair feel super soft and silky. It actually does what it says on the bottle and the packaging is really nice and sleek too. When my hair is particularly dry, I’ll often add a heap of coconut oil in it and slick it back in a bun all day before washing it at night, and I always add serum to the ends after a blowdry or tonging. Speak of which, a thick tong is the best tool for achieving a beachy wave in minutes.

My top tip for healthy hair is to do as little as possible to it. When I worked in TV, I used to have to wear hairpieces to make up for all the breakage from constant teasing and hairspray. Since moving to Byron, my hair is thicker than all the pieces put together! I credit this to leaving it alone and eating a lot of good fats.

My mum has amazing skin and she’s always taken good care of it.

She encouraged my sister and I to do the same using quality products. While she’s far from high maintenance, she’s always told us to make an effort when we leave the house. I’ve always been interested in makeup and beauty, most probably influenced by my older sister and mum so I was quite diligent about cleansing, moisturising and wearing sunscreen from an early age. This seemed to be more of a priority than makeup.

But the main thing both of my parents constantly told us is not to stress and stand up straight, because no amount of makeup can fix that.

When I'm in Sydney I see Jocelyn Petroni at The Facial Room.

I've been going to her for years and everything about her treatments - her beautiful, calming salon, the massages, and reiki - is on another level. She was the first to introduce me to Omnilux, a 20 minute non-invasive light treatment that gives skin a radiance. She’s all about bringing out one’s inner glow and I feel like that’s the key to true beauty. Her facials are heavenly!

I’ve been getting my brows done with Kristin Fisher in Sydney since back in the day when she had a tiny room at a Paddington gym , while my makeup artist Ashlea Penfold does the most gorgeous glowy, beachy, goddess makeup. In Byron Bay, I get my facials at A Little Company which is a gorgeous serene space like something out of Kinfolk magazine, and Aleshia Marie in Bangalow. For haircuts, colours and blowdries I go to Edwards and Co in Surry Hills and Byron Bay. The stylists are always amazing and I relish the time to myself to read the latest fashion and creative magazines and drink coffee without kids pulling me in every direction. Gaia Retreat & Spa in Byron Bay is a special, peaceful retreat that I like to go to with my mama friends to unwind and get a massage.

I've never had a regime when it comes to exercise, and it’s only now a few months after my second baby that I feel ready to be active again.

So I’ve started with some gentle, restorative yoga which I do a couple of times a week at home with my teacher, Brooklyn, and we build the intensity as I get stronger. It’s impossible for me to drive to a class while still breastfeeding so having her come to me is a godsend and the highlight of the week. If I can grab 30 minutes at the end of the day, I love a jog on the beach or quick standup paddle on the river. Other than that, most of my training is carrying Charlie and running after Archie.

While supplements definitely have their place, like magnesium to help with sleep and muscle tension, day to day I try and get the bulk of my nutrients from eating real wholefoods as I feel that their much more bioavailable. So for skin, hair and nails, there’s nothing better for me than bone broth, ghee, coconut and hemp oil. There’s a locally made honey here called Vallentine’s which is twice as strong as manuka and great for wound healing.

For relaxation, yoga is my go-to as it ticks all the boxes in terms of nourishing the mind, body and soul.

When we had our second baby, Charlie, Darren (Ed’s note: Magdalena’s partner) and I negotiated two mornings every week where we get to do whatever makes us happy while the other takes the kids, to maintain some sanity amongst the chaos. So mine is yoga. It’s gentle yet strengthening, and so good for my energy and emotional state. We live between the river and the ocean, so I also love standup paddle. There are few things more peaceful and relaxing than gliding along the water in my straw hat with my own thoughts - such a luxury. Sometimes I don’t see a soul for half an hour, just fish and stingrays.

I’ve fallen in love with reading again while breastfeeding Charlie and if the kids are asleep or with my mum, and I really enjoy cooking and coming up with recipes in my own time. When the kids a bit bigger, I look forward to doing the Byron Bay lighthouse walk early in the morning again. It’s such a beautiful way to start the day, followed by a beach, swim and coffee. And I love my Oil Garden essential oils. I use them everyday as a mood lifting fragrance and in the diffuser.

When we made the sea change to Byron Bay to open Three Blue Ducks on The Farm, I started a blog sharing my favourite wholefood recipes and tips for living a more natural life.

It started off as a bit of a hobby as I was really inspired by the lifestyle and approaches to food and wellness here - there is such a strong connection to food. We’re surrounded by lush farms and passionate producers, and shopping at the farmer's markets and eating with the seasons is a way of life. I was learning so much from a lot of really amazing people so I wanted to share it with others. It really took off so I was approached by a publisher to turn it into a book, which became Happy & Whole.

Cook, eat and enjoy real food.

We absolutely love it, it’s our life and livelihood at Three Blue Ducks. There are so many different diets and lifestyles all claiming to be the best or the healthiest, that it can be very difficult working out what to eat - so for me it’s about keeping it simple and getting back to basics. By this, I mean eating wholefoods that are unprocessed, grown without the use of sprays and chemicals and areas close to their natural source as possible. And cooking the way our grandmothers or great-grandmothers used too - things like pickling, fermenting and slow cooking to bring out the maximum flavour and nutritional value of an ingredient (and it’s much cheaper than superfoods!).

I also don’t see any particular food as good or bad. Sure, cakes and marshmallows aren't as nutrient-rich as a bowl of chicken broth, but they are sometimes foods and, for me, perfectly fine on occasion, especially if they’re made with real, whole ingredients. Sometimes, a lovely piece of cake is the only thing that hits the spot on a rainy afternoon with a cup of tea. Same as morning coffee and a glass of red wine - mother’s tonic! It’s about listening to your body and eating foods that work for you.

My days on a plate can be quite different depending on what work commitments I have on.

But when but when I’m not travelling or doing something like a photo shoot or podcast recording, I wake up when the kids wake which is usually about 6am. I make a cup of peppermint tea and then breakfast which is usually porridge with almond butter, a little cinnamon and apple or banana. Darren, the kids and I then go to one of our local cafes for a flat white and do the crossword. It’s super nerdy but it’s our morning ritual before work begins at 9am.

If I'm at home, lunch depends on what we've picked up at the farmer's market or what's in season, but I cook for myself and Archie so it might be something like spelt pasta with pesto, feta and greens like broccoli and zucchini. Sometimes I might cook the pasta or veggies in bone broth and then we drink the rest.

In the afternoon, I'll often bake something with Archie, which doubles up as entertainment and an afternoon treat. Most of what I make is wholesome but I don’t mind an old-fashioned homemade cake now and then, especially if it’s made with beautiful butter and eggs. It’s good for the soul and I really crave something sweet when I’m breastfeeding so I don’t fight it. I use this as a chance to test recipes too, and put on a slow cooked dinner like a wild rice and chicken pilaf or stew. It’s super easy to prepare and I just let it go for a few hours and then it’s ready. Once the kids are asleep, I love a glass of red wine or chamomile tea while Darren and I unwind and catch up on the day.

Throughout the day, I’ll snack on everything from cheese to blueberries to homemade chocolate (which is actually super easy, the recipe is in my book). Sometimes it’s a smoothie, other times it’s fresh sourdough and butter, and both feel just as nourishing.

Embrace ageing.

It’s a beautiful thing and something I’m surprisingly at peace with. As long as I’m healthy and happy, I really don’t have a problem with a few laugh lines. And I hope that ‘filters’ and heavily doctored images of unattainable ‘beauty’ that many young people are being bombarded with on social media are a passing phase, and society will once again embrace the raw and real - because there is nothing more beautiful.”

Story by Tess Schlink. Photography by Rob Palmer. Images from Happy & Whole, supplied courtesy of Plum

#Magdalena Roze

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