#Oz imagine

[prose-for-hire]

i have a scenario one… spike or oz goes to the bronze and the bartender is late for their shift so they just throw one of the servers (who is kinda awkward) in the pit to try and help but they have no idea what they are doing they only know how to crack open a beer and people keep asking for cocktails and (spike or oz) chat and try to help them through it or at least make them feel better

A/n: I chose Oz! Hope that’s okay, love! Thanks for this one I really enjoyed it !! Warning for a swear word at the end couldn’t resist lol 💖

It was two for one cocktail night. And the bartender who insisted that the Bronze introduced cocktail night was doing his usual disappearing act.

He hadn’t shown up for his shift, he was more than two hours late. You had muttered that he had better be dead or he has no valid excuses left to use.

You knew it wasn’t really very nice to joke about that sort of thing especially in Sunnydale but you were about 99% sure he was a vampire anyway. You never saw him in daylight.

Either way, the manager had all but grabbed you round the collar and threw you at the bar. You didn’t know the first thing about making drinks and it looked like it might not be something you could learn in a night.

To make matters more embarrassing the guy you had feelings for was sat at the bar when you walked up. Oz.

You had met him at a few gigs and he was a regular at the Bronze but he wasn’t much of a talker so you tended to fill the silence with a running commentary that just turned to babble. You got on well though, you had plenty of shared interests.

Now he was watching you frown at the liquor that confronted you as a bunch of young people jostled behind the bar and shouted hundreds of orders at you.

You greeted him when you noticed him looking and beamed at him when he ordered a beer. A beer, you could do. But when it came to the cocktails? This was going to be a mess.

You had a book to refer to and you tried to set to work. You just about got away with the first couple of orders. You convinced someone to help you behind the bar who was just as clueless as you but could help tackle the demanding customers.

When things settled down a bit, you even had the chance to chat to Oz a little.

“Cranberry”

“You ordered a beer! They don’t do cranberry beer… do they?” He smiled softly at your panicked question, shaking his head slightly.

“You’re missing cranberry in there” he pointed at the glass you had spent ten minutes remaking when you shook the contents onto the floor.

“Oh, right! Yeah, I… I knew that”

The girl came up and shouted in your face just as you added cranberry to her drink. She took one sip and screamed until the whole place went still and stared in your direction. She clearly wasn’t a fan of your attempt.

After she stormed away, you were already attempting another cocktail unsure whether to say anything to the guy at the end of the bar about what had just happened. You didn’t want to make an awkward situation more awkward.

“Tough crowd tonight” Oz offered before you could think of a suitable thing to say, you smiled in relief and he nodded. He took a sip of his beer as he watched you.

After a while you got into a rhythm. Oz spent a lot of time in bars, it came with the territory of being in a band. He listed off the ingredients and you hurriedly tried to combine them with minimal spillages.

You noticed he had finished his beer a while ago and didn’t order another. He was sitting there just to spend time with you.

He made you laugh, telling you about the worst experiences he had at gigs around the state and made comments to make you feel better about the cocktails.

He spoke a lot more than usual, perhaps it was the beer or to make you feel better or maybe it was also that he had decided he would finally ask you out.

Eventually the bartender arrived and you were too happy to get out from behind the bar to listen to his anger about the mess you had made with broken glass and half made cocktails.

You ducked under the bar and stood beside Oz, theatrically wiping your brow which made that cute half-smile of his appear on his face. It was rare but you loved it when he smiled that way.

“Wanna get a drink?”

“Anything but a fucking cocktail” you laughed, nodding enthusiastically.

He smiled at you, a dreamy look on his face as he did. You were the one. He had never been more sure.

#oz #daniel oz osbourne #oz x reader #oz imagine #buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #btvs imagine #btvs x reader #gender neutral #gender neutral reader

[chaoticace2005]

Alastor: Susan.

Susan: Hello Alastor. You’re looking grey and sickly.

Alastor: So nice of you to greet us, I thought surely you’d still be crushed under that house in Munchkinland.

#yeah wizard of Oz came out after al died but I can imagine someone either at the hotel or Vox sitting him down to watch it #or he was curious early on before he gave up on TVs #source: brooklyn nine nine #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel memes #hazbin hotel incorrect quotes #alastor hazbin hotel #alastor #susan hazbin hotel #Susan hazbin #hazbin hotel alastor

[its-wabby-stuff]

Mikey Goes To Oz

<Time spent: 49 hours 17 minutes>

When Mikey takes some time away from a loud family squabble he accidentally ends up getting “flushed” down the sewers. This winds up sending him to the colorful land of Oz where he meets a good witch, a wicked witch, a brainless scarecrow, a heartless Tinman, a cowardess lion, and a powerful wizard, all disguised behind very familiar faces.

A canon adjacent spin off set before the season one finale but after they discover Splinter is Lou Jitsu

I wanted to fit each of the boys into their “you’ve had this all along” category. Leo isn’t brainless, in fact he’s pretty clever with a street smart, people reading ability on par with Donnie’s intelligence. Donnie isn’t heartless, he just has a tough time expressing his feelings. They are complex and unalgorithic but he can get just as excited or sad or angry as anyone, as much as he may deny it. Raph isn’t a coward, but being brave sometimes means admitting you’re scared and that you maybe don’t have all the answers. You dont have to be strong all the time and you don’t have to do it by yourself.

In the movie Dorothy’s journey home is also a representation of her running away. The important thing was to remember there were people who cared about her. Mikey is experiencing a similar phenomenon, wanting the escape the bad vibes in the lair. His “you’ve had it all along” is interesting because it is an object, since the Ruby kneepads could’ve taken him home the whole time. And sometimes getting home means going on a journey only to realize you never left.

I put April as Glinda because Glinda appears as a defender of the weak, and I see April in a similar light. Always willing to help and beat someone up if it is so required. Splinter as The Wizard of Oz represents Splinters own willingness to hide behind different personas, his running from the past and the pulling back of the curtain for Mikey in timeline. The Wizard grows through the movie, albeit quickly, and ends up leaving Oz to go home leaving his legacy with the scarecrow, the Tinman, and the lion. In this case the passing of the baton to his sons.

Meanwhile Draxum as the wicked witch felt much more how Mikey sees Draxum at this time in the show, mostly just an antagonistic force who wants something from them. Fun fact: I imagine throughout this dream, Draxum is uninterested in being the wicked witch but is pressed into it via plot. Hence his disinterest in being “melted.”

Additional characters not pictured: Big Mama as the Wicked Witch of the East (those were her Ruby kneepads!!) and Todd as the Mayor of Munchkin Land. If you can think of more, feel free to leave them in the comments or tags.

#rottmnt #wabbystuffpost #Mikey goes to Oz #I’ve had this in my WIP file for far too long #I got a little lazy with the rendering #especially for the first piece #I may update it later but for now it’s going out like this #let’s just say it’s rise style #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #leonardo #donatello #raphael #michelangelo #april oneil #baron draxum #Hugnin and Munnin #splinter #Lou Jitsu #wizard of Oz #my art #wabbyart #questions are always welcome #close ups of specific things are under the Mikey goes to Oz tag #tmnt #please don’t flop #additionally Leo doesn’t have as many bones so he’s tripping or supported on almost every page #Dorothy tells off the Lion in the movie as the Scarecrow and Tinman cower and I imagine that’s a very funny scene in this AU #I also think Mikey keeps mixing everybody up with their irl people #if you haven’t seen the movie in a while I recommend watching it again cause some scenes may be funnier with this context

[tricoufamily]

may flowers

#Man. #you may imagine yourself with oz. once. #but you know whose legs those really are #this is what ygyth cinematography looks like when i play it like a movie in my head #very 'weird late 90s early 2000s indie movie only available on equally weird streaming service' #ts4 #ts4 render #ts4 edit #the sims 4 #ygyth

[emma-d-klutz]

You know that btas episode where Dr. Strange sells Batman's secret identity, and when he (among others) hears that it's Bruce Wayne, Two-Face was like, "I have known Bruce since before we were potty trained. That guy is not the Batman," and starts beating Strange up for trying to scam him? I know Bruce must have been totally relieved at that point, but do you think he was also offended? I would be. If I were Bruce, I'd be sitting around later the next day thinking, "Ok but what did I do when we were kids that makes it so unbelievable that I'm the Batman?"

#btas #two face #harvey dent #bruce wayne #batman #harv oz and joker might not have just started wailing on strange at the end. my imagination might have made that up #you know i've found as an adult that a lot fo the parts of btas and bb that scared the shit out of me as a child are complete fabrications

[therealdazaifucker]

dazai sleeps like a princess. i know it. i know he does.

#i just know he looks so enchanting and serene in his sleep. i know!!!! #mumbles in his sleep too.... its very endearing if you dont start deciphering what hes saying. just leave it to thr imagination. #dont let his beautiful face and peaceful demeanor fool you if you get to close he'll grab you like a venus fly trap #oz posting #dazai #bsd #dazai x reader #kinda

[goatpunches]

AU where Shang Qinghua is the System and is out to personally ruin Shen Qingqiu’s life

#who else would come up with those scenario pushers #also an au where sqh is way more antagonistic than he actually is #imagine wizard of oz style sitting in a control room preventing sqq from being able to succeed at anything #or making it otherwise extremely difficult for him #anyway this was inspired by listening to the greatest show LMFAO #fanart #cumplane #cucumberplane #shang qinghua #shen qingqiu #scum villain self saving system #svsss #mxtx

[foursidecity]

Dorothy and scarecrow and the dandy demalion !!

Second batch of my wizard of oz retelling designs!!! They are very silly and fun...

#i forgot scarecrows hat 😔 #also i imagine since dorothys a dog... maybe billina joins her instead #and she gets toto later on down the line ?(like eureka the cat) #ispy.png #the wonderful wizard of oz #the wizard of oz #dorothy gale #dandy demalion #demalion as tatterdemalion.. i just like that word ok? ok. also it has lion in it #the cowardly lion #oz #art #character design #knicknacks #redesign #scarecrow

[themusewithinthemusewithout]

I finally saw the Dark Crystal (1982) last night. What a wonderful story of bravery and shadow integration, simple yet powerful. Brian Froud's beings always amaze me. December is going to be full of magic.

#the dark crystal #films #brian froud #fantasy #illustrations #imagination #shadow work #good and evil #amethyst #jim henson #frank oz #cult films #gelfling #mystics #magic

[omegalomania]

i thought the beginning part of the background music for the claymation teaser sounded an awful lot like the guitar riffs we got at the end, and it turns out someone on the fob subreddit agreed and spliced the two together. uploading here for posterity!

#fall out boy #fob8 #*making poasts #i was PRETTY sure patrick did the composition for the music for the short #but this made me 100% sure #mr oz the guy who did the claymation seems to like really weird surreal synthy bg music so i didn't wanna assume #but since patricks in scoring for kids shows this really felt up his alley like it felt a little bit like a demented kids show #i am. SO excited for what this album is gonna sound like. oh man. #IMAGINE THE BLEND....THE EXPERIMENTAL ELECTROPOP SYNTH OF MANIA PLUS THE GRITTY GUITARS WE KNOW JOE LOVES....

[geekynerfherder]

Showcasing art from some of my favourite artists, and those that have attracted my attention, in the field of visual arts, including vintage; pulp; pop culture; books and comics; concert posters; fantastical and imaginative realism; classical; contemporary; new contemporary; pop surrealism; conceptual and illustration.

The art of Paolo Barbieri.

#Art #Paolo Barbieri #Fantasy Art #Fantastical Art #Imaginative Realism #Female #Feminine #Pinup #Dragon #Mythology #Goddess #Star Wars #The Wizard Of Oz #The Little Mermaid #Game Of Thrones #Wonder Woman #Bram Stoker's Dracula #Dracula #The Lord Of The Rings #Batman #Alien #Dante's Inferno

[bestworstcase]

this is a spinning-circles-in-the-office-chair thought but how did salem find out how the relics work. she knows the lamp has a “password” and a limited number of questions, and that using the staff to create something will destroy its previous creation.

we know she’s never used the lamp before, otherwise she’d have known jinn’s name. it’s possible she had the staff at one point and lost it, although i’m skeptical of ozma’s ability to get it back from her if she did—man is a dreadful strategist. she doesn’t seem to know what the relic of choice is: the lamp, the staff, the sword, and “the beacon relic.”

spins chair.

the way her expression changes when ruby says “we’ve seen what you’re capable of. the lamp showed us.” salem doesn’t react to the interruption in any way until she hears the lamp showed us.

from ironwood, we know that ozpin told the inner circle that the lamp can answer three questions per century and that the questions were all used up before ozpin sealed the lamp in the vault. we also know that ozpin used the staff to raise atlas at a point when ironwood was already part of the inner circle, meaning within the last couple decades, which necessitated giving a similar explanation of what the staff can do and its limitations to the whole inner circle; in v7 ironwood knows the staff can only make one thing at a time.

salem is startled, and then coldly irritated, when she hears ruby say the lamp showed us.

she’s not upset because the girls learned the truth; she’s upset because all the information salem has about the relics came to her via member(s) of ozpin’s inner circle, and ruby just revealed that at least one thing ozpin told his acolytes was a lie. as far as salem knew before that moment, the lamp was dormant. useless to her. when ruby says “the lamp showed us,” both the assertion that the lamp is out of questions and that the lamp only has a finite number of questions it can answer are thrown into question.

given what salem does immediately after getting her hands on the lamp a few hours later…

“the lamp showed us” switches salem’s train of thought to “the lamp is still usable?” and then to “if that’s so, i could ask it questions myself” and then to “we still haven’t uncovered the location of the beacon relic” and she’s only half-listening to what ruby says to her while she turns this over in her mind and what comes out of her mouth is “your mother said those words to me,” because summer rose is the one who told her, per ozpin, that the lamp was all out of questions. “she was wrong, too.”

#imagine the seer call if salem had gotten jinn’s name out of oscar. #hello summer. your daughter informed me that ozpin lied to you about the damned lamp #the crown is locked up in the emerald forest under some ruins be a dear and secure the location won’t you? #cinder and i will be along in a few days. #summer who has been tearing her hair out for like fifteen months trying to find this stupid relic: …please tell oz fuck you from me

[octopus-defence-squad]

something i feel isn’t brought up and explored enough is that we are the watchers. it’s us! every twisted thing you blame on the watchers is true, because we are nothing if not bloodthirsty. we made the canary. we loved the games so much they continued.

it’s a literal thing, in evo. the watchers are a representation of the audience’s desires. and they’re the same now, in secret life. the tasks are audience submitted. the edited perspectives, all chopped up for our viewing pleasure, all with a representation of us looming over it all.

we call them monsters; we’re the same. aren’t we also enjoying watching them all die?

it’s interesting, is all

#post by oz #secret life #secret life smp #3l smp #look i loved evo #and i love the dramatic eldritch watcher ideas #but here especially. it’s just us #we give them tasks bc it’s interesting #ideas we suggest #if they’re monsters it’s because we are too #and GOD isn’t that fun #to look at fandom imaginations of them. and know it is a self portrait

[therealnotta]

ok i thought about it and actually, the wildest thing in the wizard of oz series (to me) was when the tin man, scarecrow, and A Random Child whose name I can't remember all went to find the tin man's ex. and they stop at tin man's buddy's house, to see if he knows where said ex is these days, and buddy isn't there, so they go inside to wait for him

and the house???? is full of severed body parts?????? just everywhere, they're in a barrel by the door, they're on the table, just chunks of clearly human flesh and a mess of limbs and whatnot, tin man thinks this is fine, scarecrow is really creeped out, scarecrow opens a cabinet and finds a severed human head

tin man runs on over and is like "what the f- oh that's me lol" and it's??? HIS old severed head??? so the scarecrow is just barely recovered from this, tin man is explaining the situation of how he became tin again, etc. etc.

and then the eyes open

and long story short the tin man's soul transferred to his new tin body, but it takes more than having your soul removed to kill you in oz... so his old body is still alive, but without its memories and completely confused and disoriented

the friend comes back and casually mentions how it took a bit for the transferring to finish, and after that the head just didn't remember anything. that means there was a bit there where this head DID have all of the tin man's memories still, and as far as he knew his friend had just left him without a body in a cabinet, unable to move, while the rest of his body just... walked off without him. literally horrific and the tin man is just like "haha! how quirky!" and honestly it's not the worst thing to have happened to him so i can't fault him for that but like. i'd be a little worried if one of my oldest friends told me that they'd totally leave me in a cabinet while my soul slowly left my body and wouldn't even feel bad.

#yeaaaah im gonna be honest #you really should've told your ex that you didn't die :/ #wizard of oz #tin man #tw dismemberment #it was so wild #the poor kid who DIDNT go on the original adventure #and DOESNT know that this is just how the tin man is?? wild #the friend was highkey so troubling #long story short not all of the body parts were from this tin man #someone else had become tin #and this friend had taken pieces from both of them and just. glued it together. literally used glue #and intended to use the resulting person as a servant #but the person had just kinda. left #i literally can't imagine #it's like being besties with mr. victor frankenstein #and then when you're a ghost you look and. hey. why're you sewing my old arm onto someone else's torso victor #victor i know i said id donate my body to science but this is weird now #VICTOR WHY IS MY OLD ARM ATTACHED TO A NEW PERSON AND DOING THINGS VICTOR #HEY VICTOR MY OLD ARM JUST KILLED SOMEONE. YOU MADE ME A MURDERER AFTER I DIED. REAL COOL VICTOR WHAT WAS THE PLAN HERE. #except in this case the resulting person #this isn't a joke #the resulting person went out. and married the tin man's ex #it was the wildest scene #him and the other guy who got turned into tin had #as it turned out #both been engaged to this girl #so they show up #and find out that she married both of their corpses basically #but the corpse was alive and just. pissed off all the time

[owlespresso]

If you’re still accepting prompts, may I humbly submit : “You don’t have to leave, you know” with Yuri!

“You can stay, you know,” Yuri murmurs. You look over at him. Dawn’s first light nudges through the curtains, paints the room eggshell blue, touches the strands of his hair with pearlescent light. You feel newly hatched. Clumsy, clueless little heartbeat beating wings against your ribcage. The blanket is pooled at his waist. He’s all pale and lean, comfy as a cat under the spot of sun.

You’re in the middle of shoving your trousers back on when he beseeches you. Caught red-handed. His cheek is smooshed against the downy pillow, eyelids low and voice soft with slip. But he’s still smiling. A drowsy kind of smile. He’s like an old painting, pale brushstrokes capturing the foggy, ethereal feel of the hour. The last stars twinkle in the milky periwinkle skies. 

You drop your pants for the second time, and march back to the bed like the lucky fool you are, thunking dead onto your side of the mattress.

“I know I can stay. It’s my bedroom. In my house.”

“Yet you’re always so eager to scuttle away the moment I take my eyes off you,” Yuri replies, just as easily. He reaches over, idly runs slender hands up and down your arm. That tender touch ventures to your back, bleeding the tension out of you. “I think I spend more time in here than you do.”

“I’m not running away,” you mumble, cross at his teasing. You settle onto your side. The haze of sleep still clings to his expression, glassy eyes blinking slow as he takes you in.

“Mhm,” he sounds horribly unconvinced. “Sorry. I’m not sure what else to call it when you wait until you think I’m asleep to sneak out of bed.”

“I just thought—” you splutter, suddenly mortified. How many times has he pretended to be asleep? How many times has he witnessed you stumble around the room like a newborn foal, plucking your clothes off the floor and off the bedpost and off the chair by the window? “I just though you might want some space.” You shove your face into the sheets. Your hand rests palm flat on the space between you.

“Mmh. Did I say or do anything to give you that impression?” he asks, suddenly thoughtful.

“No. I just—I mean, you see me almost every day. It’s probably good to give you a break, y’know? So you don’t get sick of me,” you say, as wryly as you possibly can. Better a half-truth than outright admitting your own insecurities, admitting just how much stock you put into his opinion of you.

“I’ve spent the past two years following you around like a lost mutt. Do you really think I would do that for someone I could ever possibly get sick of?” he looks at you incredulously. “Saint Seiros, you’re dense.” He sounds utterly bemused, but his hand settles atop of yours to pin it to the mattress. He interlaces your fingers. You smother your face into the sheets.

“Well, sorry! It’s not like I can read your mind!” you grumble, increasingly mumbled.

“Then c’mere and read my lips,” Yuri yoinks you from your hiding spot with a hand between your shoulder blades. He nudges you onto your back with devastating ease, smooth as silk in the way he slots a thigh between your legs. “I’m obsessed with you. Have been ever since you fell face-first into the Abyss.”

You grimace at the reminder of the incident. The loose, rotting floorboards of a particularly disused shed gave way. You would have wound up a splatter on the floor of the Abyss’s arena had Balthus not been there to catch you. 

“Don’t go anywhere,” Yuri presses his lips to your chin, and then to your cheeks, retaining your attention with practiced finesse. Not that he ever has to try very hard. “And listen really close, because I’m not good at saying this kind of thing.”

“I need you. I want you. I don’t know what I would do if you ever left me,” Yuri smoothes himself atop of your prone form, palms sliding up your forearms to pin both hands to the sheets. “Do you understand?” he murmurs against your jaw, placing kisses there too. Lips warm and smooth.

You manage a scandalized squawk, heat flooding your cheeks. That seems to mollify him.

#imagine fe3h #oz write #yuri leclerc/reader #yuri leclerc x reader #fe3h x reader #fe3h writing

[mrsbuckybarnes1917]

Dottie and Daniel

A little follow up to Frozen Wastelands as part of my Finding You Series. This was a request from @andiekandie.

Word count: 2k

FINDING YOU MASTERLIST

Steve hovered apprehensively at your front door, hand poised to knock but not quite making contact with the wood. You’d just been allowed home from the hospital after the hypothermia ordeal and he didn’t want to bombard you. At least this was the excuse that kept him from banging down your door. Maybe you were asleep, you deserved your rest.

“Shit!”

He heard a muffled voice, a thump and the sound of something clattering to the floor.

“Ace?” Steve called out, rapping his knuckles against your door. His pulse had quickened with his anxiety about your wellbeing. "Ace! Are you alright?"

There was a moment of silence before he heard padded footsteps before you opened the door slightly.

"St've?" you croaked.

"Everything okay?"

"Pe'chy." Your voice broke mid-word.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

Now that he had your attention, he couldn't quite bring himself to leave, even though he could see how sick you were. The dark circles under your eyes and the red areas around your nose where you'd clearly blown it repeatedly were just icing on the cake indicating how you felt compared to the way your voice sounded. 

You shrugged and opened the door further so he could walk past you.

"Is Bucky home?" Another question he already knew the answer to.

"No, he w'nt ou' wit' Sam."

"You don't sound so great."

You shrugged your shoulders before they drooped with weariness. Steve put a comforting hand on your back. He had spotted the kettle and box of teabags on the kitchen counter. 

"Why don't you grab a seat. I'll make you a cup of tea?"

You didn't need to be told twice, you hadn't quite recovered from your hospital stay and now you were suffering from a rather nasty viral infection which had taken hold during your weakened state. In a flash, you’d collapsed on the sofa, wrapping a blanket around your shoulders in an effort to stop the shivering. You hadn't quite been able to shake the cold feeling.

Steve fumbled over the kettle as it boiled, impatient for it to start whistling so he could join you. He had so many thoughts and questions about the past but he didn't even know what he wanted to ask you first.

Eventually, even a watched pot boils, and Steve sloppily poured milk and water into the two mugs. As he sat down, you jumped slightly at his proximity.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you."

"S'okay," you whispered, accepting the hot beverage in your frozen hands. "Thanks."

Steve scooched closer to you, and you felt grateful for his warmth and comfort and you couldn't help but rest your head on his shoulder.

The familiarity of your position brought a smile to Steve's face. A fitting symmetry of how he had rested his weary head on your shoulder all those years ago. If you hadn't been feeling so worn out and under the weather, you'd have noticed the way Steve pressed his nose into your head and took in your scent.

He closed his eyes, trying to visualize the memory of you, of Dottie, his first kiss. How had he not recognized you when he first met you? It was so obviously you. Or was he just projecting your image into the memory? Everything about the moment felt familiar. He needed to hear the story in your words.

“Ace?” he called gently. He wondered if you had fallen asleep, you seemed so still and peaceful.

“Ye-?” your voice cracking before you could finish saying the word.

“Is your tea ok?”

“Mmm,” you hummed your approval. “St’ll h’t”

You looked up at the man who you’d once thought was your whole world.

“You didn’t just come here to hang out with me, did you?” you whispered. It was the only way for you to talk without your voice breaking. “You wanted to talk in the hospital.”

Steve looked down at you as you sniffed and rubbed your itchy nose. He was suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of selfishness. How could he have so easily ignored your needs just so he could get his own answers?

“Wha’s up, St’ve?”

“How much do you remember about what happened after you fell in the water?”

You were silent for a bit, contemplating his question. Dragging a net through the back of your mind, trying to dredge up your memories, but all you could conjure was a feeling of winter. “M’stly ‘member feeling c’ld. You and B’cky were there.”

“You don’t remember what we talked about?”

You shook your head. “Sh’uld I be c’ncerned?”

“No, but you were a bit delirious on and off. You kept calling me Daniel.”

Your eyes snapped up to his face so fast that tea slashed over the edge of your up and onto your hand. “Argh!” you cried out, trying to shake the scalding liquid off your hand without spilling more.

Steve grabbed your cup as you winced, wiping the amber liquid off your hand with his sleeve. You sat in silence for a few moments as he held your wrist tightly.

“St’ve? I think you g’t it.”

He released you, looking a little sheepish. Neither of you seemed to know what to say next.

“Ace. Is it true?” Steve finally spoke up.

Was he talking about the past? The past you had shared for one short day? You nodded.

“You were Dottie?”

“Yeah. I was her.” You frowned. “She was me?”

“Ace, I don’t understand. When did this happen? Did you know who I was?”

“No. This happen’d b’fore we’d met, before we’d officially met. I didn’t know you were … you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me your real name?”

“Time travel. Messy bus’ness. You sh’uld know. Didn’t want to make changes to the timeline. Ripples not waves, right?” You did your best to give him a cliff notes version of your recollection of events, as much as your voice would tolerate.

“Why didn’t you tell me when you realized who I was?'

"D'you r'member wh't you said at that p'rty?"

Steve looked at you with sadness in his eyes. "I knew it was real."

"You said 'it wasn't love'."

"Was it?" Steve looked at you with surprise. 

"Daniel was re'lly import'nt to me, ev'n though I only 'new him for 'ne day."

"Dottie… you changed my life."

The way Steve was looking at you, it was the same way Daniel had looked at Dottie all those years ago. The pull you felt to him in that moment was powerful. The confession of past trysts had brought back old feelings that you had spent the last year burying. He was so close. Uncomfortably close. You felt a tingling inside.

"Hh'iishew!" You sneezed forcefully into your lap.

You looked back up sheepishly, blush across your cheeks and feeling incredibly embarrassed. "S'rry."

To your surprise, Steve burst out laughing.

You pouted at this reaction. "Hey!" you whined, punching Steve playfully on the arm before finally succumbing to your own mirth.

"Bless you!"

"I distinc'ly r'member not being bo'vered by a bit of sneezin'."

"It doesn't bother me. It's just-" 

"I kn'w." 

It all felt so familiar, almost like you were reliving the moments before you had first kissed. Except now you were with Bucky and you'd never jeopardize your relationship with him, just for a memory of something that could have been. Steve's laughter had broken the spell, the moment you had shared.

"So what convinced you that what happened was real?" you asked, curiously. 

"Because when I woke up the following morning, I found this." He started pulling something out of his pocket. "I never showed it to anyone, because they all laughed at the story."

Steve took your palm and placed something into it tenderly. 

"St've!" you gasped as he moved his hand away.

You recognized it immediately. A dainty necklace with a ball pendant. A photo projection pendant. It was a graduation gift from your family, containing a picture of the five of you. They were your family, your only family, until you'd lost them all in a tragic accident soon after you'd graduated. You had survived only because you'd been on a post graduation trip with your friends. Everything in your home had been destroyed and you had few photographs on your phone because the days of digital photography were still in their infancy.

You held it up to your eye. There they were, just as you remembered them. Maybe a little more blurred than you remembered.

"Ace? What's wrong?" Steve's voice pierced your reverie. Concern laced his words as he watched your tears fall silently.

'St've…" You tried to explain, but felt totally overwhelmed by the return of a treasure that you had long accepted as lost. Before you knew what was happening, you were sobbing into Steve's chest as he held you tightly.

It was only Steve who noticed the front door opening and a shocked Bucky who was at your side in an instant. He looked over your head at Steve, who opened and closed his mouth wordlessly, totally bamboozled by your reaction. 

It took you a minute or so to regain some composure and to acknowledge your boyfriend's presence.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?"

You wanted to tell him, to tell him that something wonderful had just happened, but words seemed to fail you and you just shook your head as your eyes and nose leaked mercilessly. It took you a minute to extract yourself from the tangle of Steve's arms and your blanket, but you managed it so that you could crawl into Bucky’s embrace. A place where you'd never felt safer, he was your home. Graciously, you accepted the tissues Steve handed you and attempted to clean yourself up a little. Bucky had the decency to not look too disgusted as you blew your nose repeatedly.

"Feeling better?" he asked as your breathing became calmer.

You nodded sheepishly. "We were just talking about the time travel situation. About Dottie and Daniel."

"Oh." Bucky's voice was quiet, a sudden stiffness in his posture that you were too tired to notice. But Steve had.

"Just comparing stories and how we remember what happened," he interjected.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you." Bucky apologized, despite his apprehensions about the discussion he had not been privy to.

"I guess I always knew the truth. And that was enough," Steve smiled at his old friend.

"B'ky." His name was barely intelligible as your voice crumbled under strain. "Look."

You held up your open palm in which your precious necklace was cocooned.

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"I thought I'd lost it years ago, but Steve kept it safe for me. Look inside." You demonstrated how to hold the necklace so he could see the image inside.

Bucky gasped as he saw the picture of you and your sisters smiling back at him in the tiny orb.

"Ace, this is wonderful!" He held you tightly knowing how important this memory was to you.

Your family wasn't something you'd discussed often with Steve in depth, but you had spoken to Bucky about them.

"We'll have to make sure you never lose them again."

You nodded up at him, laying your head on his chest, suddenly feeling worn out by the events of the afternoon.

"I think this is my cue to leave." Steve leaned forward and put a hand on your leg.

"Wait!" You sat up quickly. "You never saw them. You had this the whole time, you had my picture all these years. Here, look!"

Steve took the pendant into his hand, holding it up to his face. He smiled. "I'm glad I could them safe for you."

"Thank you."

Before anyone could say anything further, your phone started ringing.  Sam's smiling face beamed up at you from the screen.

"Hey Sam!" you sat forwards and smiled at your friend.

"How you doing, sweet cheeks?"

"I'll live," you snaked.

"Missed you today."

"M'ss you too!"

"Tin man make it home alright?"

"Ye'h, he's 'ere." You panned the camera over to Bucky. "Scarecrow too!" You added, flicking over to Steve.

"Wait, are you calling me the cowardly lion?"

"You're the least cow'dly person I kno', Sam."

"You got that right, Dorothy. Now go get some rest."

"Thanks Sam. See you 'ater." You hung up the video call.

Steve and Bucky looked at you, the same question on their mind. Did Sam know the thrilling tale you had to tell?

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