#The left had me frustrated because I made the loop for the charm too big but I was too far gone to turn back so alas
I’ve been figuring out how to make bead bracelets lately and I’m happy to say I’ve been improving bit by bit!! On the left is the first one I tried making for my wife while on the right is the latest for my prima~
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Reflection Of You | Chapter 1
Genre: Historical!AU, Timetraveller!AU / Different Dimension, Romance
Pairing: SUGA x Reader, Yoongi x Reader
Characters: Normal!Reader, Idol!Suga, King!Yoongi, Guard!Seokjin, Guard!Jungkook, RoyalAdvisor!Namjoon, Servant!Jimin, Servant!Hoseok, Prince!Taehyung
Summary: Confirming you were dating the famous Min Suga of BTS, you knew you were bound to make some enemies. But what you didn’t expect was to be cursed, going back to meet a cold-hearted, arrogant king that shares the same face as your rapper lover.
The nightmare the both of you feared had finally come true.
“Thank you, ARMY!”
“We’ll see you soon!”
“We love you forever! Goodnight!” You watched the monitor with proud eyes, your hands clasped together. After a long world tour, the boys had their final concert in Korea, their home country. You, along with the other staff, clapped as the 7 boys stepped off the stage.
“Good job!” There were exchanges of hugs and pats on the backs. Technically, you weren’t a member of staff, so you respected the distance, standing at the back of the crowd.
“There you are.” Someone said, almost like a sigh of relief.
“Great job, as always.” A smile slowly widened on your face as you opened your arms to hug him, resting your cheek against his peck.
“I’m sweaty.” Was all he said.
“Like I ever minded.” You chuckled, pulling away to look up at him. He gave a soft smile, leaning down to peck your lips. It was quick but endearing. You knew for him, doing that in public was already a large feat.
“Noona! You’re here!” You were yanked out of your beloved’s arms.
“Of course, Kookie. It’s the last show of the tour, I wouldn’t miss it.” You patted his head as he lifted you off the ground.
“Yah, look at the scowl on hyung’s face after you stole his girl.” Taehyung appeared, slinging his arm around your maknae’s neck. You giggled, shaking your head. Someone stood beside you, holding your hand. Speak of the devil. You turned your head to see him looking at his phone in his other hand, totally nonchalant about holding your phone.
“Great show today, guys. You were amazing.” You told all 7 of them as they packed up, ready to head home.
“Thank you, (y/n).” Jin pinched your cheek lovingly.
“As much as I love spending time with ARMY, I’m excited to have some time off, as well.” Jimin yawned, adjusting his hat in the mirror. You nodded in agreement. The boys deserved a nice break.
“The vans are here.” The managers informed.
“Let’s go, aegi.” He called. You walked hand in hand with him. Before you stepped out, he stopped you.
“You forgot again?” He chuckled, taking a mask out of his pocket. He gently hooked the elastics over your ears, adjusting the fabric on your face to make sure that it was comfortable.
“Thank you.” You said sheepishly.
“Hurry, love birds!” Hoseok called out, being the one to share the van with the two of you. Even if you were all boarding the van privately, you were still cautious, wearing a mask when you went out in case any fan manages to slip past security and saw you.
“We’ll sit at the back.” You were yanked into the seat, making you blink in shock. You felt your lover’s headrest against your shoulder.
“Any plans for the break, Hobi?” You asked.
“Hmm, besides going home? I would like to travel but I don’t really have a destination in mind. What about you? Are you and hyung going to do something?” He asked back.
“He’s visiting his family. Unfortunately, I have work but I’ll try to join him for a few days. After that, we might take a few days off to travel too.” You smiled.
“Must be nice to travel with a companion.” Hoseok teased.
“Not when your companion just wants to sleep and eat all day.” You giggled. There was a grunt of annoyance from beside you.
“Hey, you sleep just as much as me. We hardly stepped out of our hotel room the last vacation because all we did was sleep then nap all day. Besides, I deserve to sleep and eat all day for how hard I’ve worked.” He scoffed. You nodded your head, you couldn’t argue with that after all the hard work the boys have put into the tour.
“Touché.” You booped his nose.
“Still hard to believe hyung is the first one to get a girl. We all thought he was too much a gramps to get one.” Hoseok laughed.
“That’s part of his charm, I guess.” You smiled. Looking down, you saw that said male had fallen asleep against your shoulder. A slight frown was on his face as he crossed his arms.
When the car stopped in the gated apartment complex, the 3 of you were dropped off at the front of the dorm building.
“Hobi-”
“I know, I know. You won’t be spending the night in the dorm. Goodnight, you two.” Hoseok waved you two off. You giggled and gave him a hug before parting ways from him.
“I can’t wait to just spend the next few days in bed.”
“When are you going back to Daegu?”
“Next week. What, can’t wait to get rid of me already?” He teased. You scoffed, entering the lift together and tapping the resident card, pressing the lift button.
“If I wanted to get rid of you, I could just return to my place.” You shook your head.
“As if I’d let you.” He said from behind you. Pressing the code into the keypad on the door, you pressed your finger print and the door unlocked. The two of you shuffled into the big apartment. You turned the lights on and placed your bag on the couch. The first thing you did was put away the washed dishes from your breakfast this morning.
“You can do that tomorrow.” His voice groaned.
“It’ll take less than a minute. Go ahead and shower.” You chuckled. Once again, you were yanked away from the cupboard. He rested his chin on your shoulder, arms loosely looped around your waist.
“What’s wrong?” You whispered, stroking the back of his head.
“Is it too early for post concert blues?”
“You are such a workaholic. You’ll be on stage again soon. Besides, ARMY wouldn’t want to see all of you so tired out. They would want you to rest well and have a break too.” You comforted.
“When I’m with them, I just feel like I have the whole world.”
“ARMY is lucky to have all of you. You’re their world just as much as they are yours.” You smiled.
“You’re forgetting something. ARMY gives me the whole world. But right now, I know I am holding my whole world.” He placed a gentle kiss against your temple.
“Cheeseball.” You shook your head with a laugh. You shooed him away to shower while you finished the chores for the night like folding the washed clothes, filling the coffee machine for tomorrow and arranging the few fan gifts from ARMY around the house.
“I’m done.” He called from the bedroom. You entered, seeing him pull a plain white shirt over his head. He rubbed his wet hair with a towel.
“I’ll go shower.” You said, picking some fresh clothes and bringing it to the bathroom. You were quick with your shower, blowing drying your hair afterwards so you wouldn’t have to wait for it to dry.
“Hurry, I want to sleep.”
“You don’t have to wait for me!” You replied.
“No.”
“Alright, alright.” You shook your head, hanging your towel back on the rack to dry. You closed the bathroom door, slipping under the covers. Immediately, you were drawn into a warm embrace.
“Don’t wake me up tomorrow.” He mumbled, eyes closing.
“Wouldn’t dare to.” You joked. He opened one eye to glare at you while you smiled innocently at him. He yawned, tucking his head into the crook of your neck comfortably.
“Goodnight, aegi.” He placed a kiss against your skin.
“Goodnight, Yoon.” You replied.
You’ve known Yoongi for years now. When you worked at a music store near BTS’ old dorm when they had just debuted. He would come at night, just before closing to browse the shelves. Even if you came to know the whole group through Yoongi, you and Yoongi connected on a whole new level, you understood each other through music.
It was about 2 years ago that he had asked you out on a date. Of course, you were unsure, considering how popular he was and you didn’t want to burden him by keeping your relationship a secret.
But you trusted Yoongi. When he told you he would protect you, you gave him a chance. And you’ve been happily together ever since.
It scared you when Yoongi threatened to leave BigHit when the management found out about you. You told Yoongi that you wanted him to prioritise BTS and ARMY before your relationship together. That was your only condition.
“Why?”
“Because ARMY and BTS were there for you before I was. You need to be there for them just like how they are there for you.” You told him.
With that, the management and Mr Bang approved of your relationship. They also appreciated how you made Yoongi happier and were a positive influence when he had his low times.
It was around 4 am. You woke up, feeling the space beside you still empty. The sheets felt cold, meaning that Yoongi hadn’t returned. You sent a message to Jungkook, who you knew would still be awake since he was working on releasing a surprise song cover for ARMY.
“Yoongi hyung? He hasn’t returned.” The youngest informed.
“Thanks, Kookie.” You hung up. You respected Yoongi and his work, never wanting to interrupt him or stop him but you knew you had to step in at certain times.
‘The number you have dialled is currently unavailable-’
You sighed as you were directed to voicemail again. Putting your shoes on, you left home to visit his studio.
DING DONG
You pressed the doorbell, waiting for an answer but to no avail. Even if you knew the code, you wouldn’t just enter. Just like everyone else, you would always ring the doorbell first and wait for a reply. You pressed it again.
“Who is- Oh, it’s you.” Yoongi poked his head out.
“Hey.” You greeted.
“What are you doing here? I’m busy.” Yoongi said. It came out colder than he would have liked but after working for hours and not getting the results he wanted, he was getting frustrated.
“I know. Just wanted to see how you were doing. Can I come in?” You asked. Yoongi looked back into his studio.
“I’d rather you not. Like I said, I’m busy. I can’t have another person here, it’ll only distract me more.” He said. Yoongi wasn’t someone that dealt with emotions well, you knew that. When things weren’t working out, his defence mode was to just push everyone away and hide alone. That’s just his way of dealing with emotions.
“I understand.” You nodded, not wanting to push him any further. Without another word, Yoongi just closed the door, retreating back into his studio.
“Hmm...” You roamed around the lounge area. You smiled as you came across the famous picture of Jimin that Yoongi got as a prize during the photography episode of Run!BTS.
“Time to go home.” You went back home. Even waiting for Yoongi outside his studio, you knew he would feel guilty later on and you didn’t want that. You laid in bed but was woken up by Yoongi pressing his face into your back.
“Yoon...?” You tried to turn around to face him but his arms held you in place.
“I’m sorry.” He mumbled, burying his face into your back. You reached over to put your hand over his.
“There’s nothing to be sorry about.” You said, sleep laced in your voice. You yawned, finally turning around to face him. You cupped his cheek with your free hand.
“The songs weren’t working out, the lyrics were trash, I just... I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. After you left, I just-”
“Shh, you don’t have to explain. I understand how frustrating it must have been. Everyone has their own down times. Don’t worry, I’m just glad you’re back to rest. Maybe after a nice sleep, you’ll have a clearer mind to write better, hmm?” You smiled softly.
“Next time, be angry with me.”
“Why do you want me to be angry with you? I mean, I have times when work frustrates me too. We aren’t perfect.” You laughed.
“You’re too nice to me.” He pressed you against his body, inhaling your comforting scent. You loosely wrapped your own arm around his middle, letting out a yawn.
“Go wash up. I’ll wait for you.” You promised.
-
Yoongi was usually an early riser but after the concert last night, he had slept in until the afternoon. When he woke up, he realised that you weren’t beside him. He sat up, running his fingers through his hair as he looked for you.
‘Fridge empty. Went out to get groceries. Iced Americano is in the fridge. - (y/n)’
Yoongi smiled at your note, folding it and tucking it into his pocket. He never told you but he keeps all the notes you leave him, even for ones that just say, ‘gone to work’. He shuffled to the fridge, taking the glass of cold coffee out, adding ice before sticking a straw in. He sat down by the kitchen island, scrolling on his phone.
‘BTS’ Suga seen holding hands with mysterious female after concert.’
‘Insider releases photos of BTS’ rapper and a female embracing each other, said to be his girlfriend.’
‘Has the cold, savage rapper finally met his match?’
Yoongi’s eyes widened as he saw the alert news. He felt his heart stop when he clicked on one of the articles. There were blurry photos of you holding hands with him, leaving the venue last night.
“PD nim.” Yoongi called his boss.
“It seems a fan had snuck in under the guise of a staff member. We’ll handle the press for now and tell you what to do next.”
“How can this happen?!”
“Calm down, Yoongi. We have apprehended the culprit and will be turning her over to the authorities. Just make sure (y/n) is safe. The two of you should stay indoors for now.”
When he hung up, his phone rang again, it was the members. But right now, he couldn’t answer them. He was too worried about where you were and whether you were safe. Quickly, Yoongi dialled your number. Fortunately, you picked up, totally ignorant that your relationship was now public.
“Good morning, or should I say, good afternoon?”
“Aegi, are you okay?” He panicked.
“Okay? Of course, I am. Didn’t you see my note? I just finished paying for groceries, about to leave the mart.”
“Stay right there, aegi. I’m coming to get you. Don’t talk to anyone, alright? I’m coming.” He said as he grabbed his car keys, putting on a mask and a cap.
“Okay, now you’re scaring me. What’s wrong, Yoon?”
“They found out. I’m so sorry I let this happen. I’ll explain more when I come get you, alright?” He said and hung up. He got into his car, speeding to where you were. You were standing by the mart entrance.
“Yoon.” You sighed in relief, entering the car with all the groceries in your lap. Yoongi sped away, back to the gated community. True to that, as he passed the security, he saw some fans standing at the post, trying to enter. Luckily, fans didn’t know he owned this car and the windows were tinted so he could drive past without anyone suspecting.
“Let’s go. Hurry.” He grabbed the bags, pulling you with him to the apartment. Only when you reached, you finally stopped him.
“Yoon, calm down. It’s okay, I’m okay. Now tell me, slowly, what happened?” You led him to the couch to sit down. He buried his hands into his palms while you rubbed his back.
“Someone snuck in as a staff member last night and took pictures of us. It was in the press this morning.” He explained.
“Does PD nim know about this?”
“He said he will handle the press and tell us what we have to do next.” He shivered, his breathing quickening. You knew that was a sign of Yoongi’s anxiety so you pulled him into your embrace immediately.
“It’ll be okay, Yoongi.” You comforted.
“Have you spoken to the boys?” You asked softly. He shook his head. As he said that, your phone rang. It was Namjoon.
“They’re just worried and want to know if you’re okay. Let me tell them that we’re okay.” You told him, answering Namjoon’s call and putting him on speaker. As you predicted, the other boys were on the other line, bombarding the both of you with questions.
“We’re okay, just a little overwhelmed. Thank you for your concern. We’ll just wait for PD nim’s instructions.” You told them.
“Do you want us to come over?”
“Maybe later on but not right now? Just let Yoongi and I grasp the situation and calm down first. If there’s anything, we’ll be sure to keep you all updated.” You promised.
“We’ll see you later then.”
“I’m so sorry I let this happen, aegi.” Yoongi cried, cupping your cheek and rubbing it with his thumb.
“Hey, it’s not your fault. We will get through this. I know it’s a little earlier than we would have liked but we knew the risks we were taking by having this relationship, Yoon.” You wiped his tears.
“You don’t understand, aegi. Those people that could hurt you, they aren’t really ARMY. They’re crazy and obsessed. I’ve seen what they have done to others before. I will never be able to live with myself if I let the same thing happen to you.” He shook his head. You knew what Yoongi was referring to, the ‘sasaeng fans’ that the media always talked about.
“Let’s not think of the worst.” You hummed. Yoongi’s phone ringing broke your embrace. It was PD nim, along with the PR team.
“Yes. I understand… I’ll speak to her and let you know. Thank you.” Yoongi said and hung up with a sigh. You tilted your head, hoping they didn’t give Yoongi the ultimatum.
“They said I either publish a note to the fans, explaining everything. Or let them deny the photos, say that you are just a family member.” He explained.
“I see...” Those were reasonable options.
“What do you think is the right thing to do?” You asked Yoongi.
~~
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I love you
First I love yous...do I need to say more? Anyway, please don’t hesitate to reach out for anything, whether that be comments, requests, feedback or just to have a chat! Happy reading xx
It’s been three days of utter pandemonium ripping through your brain in complete disarray. Three days of pent up stress storming through your mind as you ran like a headless chicken to try and find a handle on a situation that frankly, you didn’t give a rat’s ass about.
It all started when your boss had called you in his office, his signature tyrant-resting face on, solid frown drafting his features in a look of severity. Well, this can’t be good, you’d immediately thought once you took a hesitant seat across his desk. You’d hoped for a benign reason behind the sudden meeting, and that the scowl on his face was merely a residual of some other trouble that had absolutely nothing to do with you.
Your prayers had fallen on deaf ears however, as the summoning proved to be a twenty minutes angry diatribe about how one of your most recent client had expressed their wish to withdraw from their deal and de facto, the company. Though it hadn’t been your fault per se, your boss didn’t have any reservations about reminding you of your supposed responsibility to keep your clients sated and on the company’s leash. He’d given you three days to fix it after that. Three days to persuade the client not to pull out of the deal, or you risked some serious downgrading if not redundancy.
You’d called Harry for support the minute you got home and spent the whole evening brainstorming the craziest ideas to him. He’d listened patiently, holding your hand on the table as you both indulged in the Thai take-out he’d picked up on his way over. That first night, you’d barely slept as you laid in his strong arms, back to his chest. Your reeling mind had still been trying to conjure up any sort of plan that would help you out of this chaos; but for each switch of the glowing red digits on your alarm clock, your hopes had dwindled some.
You hadn’t known then, but Harry couldn’t find rest either as he spooned you against him. You two hadn’t been dating long, several months at best, but already your distress was unbearable to him and every bone in his body ached to do something to help you. This feeling of powerlessness was crawling out of his skin and swimming around like a shark amidst his prevalent thoughts of support, admiration and love. Because, while he’d shown you the first and conveyed the second countless times in the past, the third had yet to tumble out of his lips, despite the confession burning their flesh a bit stronger every day.
What really had had his mind reeling though, was knowing that maybe, just maybe, he had the power to make this situation go away; and for each switch of the glowing red digits on your alarm clock, his hopes grew some.
Your earlier utterance of the client’s name had been ringing through his mind in faint recognition, an itch starting to fester at his fingertips. Dialing a phone number was all it could take. A couple choice words and if he played his cards right, the deal would be back on the table. He’d known interfering was arguably a bad idea, and truthfully he’d always made a point of honor not to use his connections to serve ulterior motives (his or anyone else’s), but how was he supposed to do nothing when the person that caused you trouble was in fact a friend of a friend that might reevaluate their stance if he pitched in with a bit of charm and compelling words? How was he supposed to stay idle, watch you dissolve in an anxious mess, if he wasn’t as powerless as he thought?
So he didn’t.
He’d originally planned on keeping you in the loop, but you’d been gone by the time his forest green eyes had fluttered back to consciousness the next morning. After a quick shower, a large mug of the coffee you’d left for him before running back to work, and locking your apartment with the spare key you’d given him a couple weeks back, he’d pulled out his phone. Two minutes was all it took for his friend to pass him your client’s number and without hesitation, he’d launched the call and brought his phone to his ear.
It took a bit longer than a couple of minutes for that conversation to take effect, but eventually his words hit their target. After all, his lovely nature could pierce through the most robust walls and stubborn minds. He didn’t even have to put on the charm that much, instead drawing earnest sentiments about your impeccable skills and rambling about how there was no better person to keep their account safe in the business. He’d gnawed at his lips the whole time, desperate to pull through but still scared to fail you somehow. You’d already been let down by the client and your boss, you certainly didn’t need your boyfriend added to the list.
The call had ended with their promise to reassess and consider your undeniable abilities in the equation, yet the next day you were once again convoked to your boss’ office with a snarly bark of your name. Puzzlement washed over you as you speed-walked after him. Why was he still so resentful with you when you’d gotten the client to reenter the contract?
Another twenty minutes of intense scolding provided you with that answer. With a disdainful gaze puncturing your poise, your boss told you that while your job was no longer on the line, you’d been given a firm warning about using your boyfriend as negotiator for the company’s dealings.
How he knew when you yourself weren’t aware of the fact, you didn’t know. In retrospect, your talk with the client had been suspiciously easy for someone who’d made their will to ditch the company crystal clear. You’d merely laid out your arguments, expecting resistance and some pushing, but were only met with a squinted look and cautious acceptance. Now you know your case had already been pleaded once, by the man who was taking more and more space for himself inside the chambers of your heart.
You didn’t quite know how to feel about it; didn’t know if you should be mad or grateful. You were specifically stunned because you knew it was out of character for Harry. Your boyfriend was the most generous being you’d ever met, but humility was even more so a prevailing layer of his beautiful nature. You certainly didn’t expect it, didn’t wish for it to happen again because you were always adamant not to ever use anyone for their assets. Yet there was a tingling, a mixture of discomfort and gratefulness, sloshing in the pit of your stomach.
This whole thing was a mind-fuckery of emotions you were too tired to process.
What you did feel though, was the pure frustration at your boss’ hypocrisy. You both knew he didn’t really care how you’d gotten the deal back, just that you did, but his intolerable disposition wouldn’t allow him to applaud your efforts and move on.
Wanting to put this all mess behind you, you bit back the retorts that you craved to force down his throat, simply nodded through his chastising charade, and leaped to your feet as soon as the dismissing words left his stupid trap.
Now that you’re making your way inside your home, your nose is hit by a waft of delicious aromas traveling from the kitchen. Your mind is still fuzzy with every trouble and startling revelation that transpired in the past three days, but as your eyes settle on your apron-clad boyfriend, you take a moment to appreciate the sight of his soft figure stirring the content of what must be a pan on the gas. His back is facing you, but you can hear the gentle humming under his breath, as he hasn’t registered your arrival yet.
After another minute of whistling, he finally twists around and his eyes almost pop out of their socket when they find your timid stance a couple feet away. "Jesus, pet, didn’t know you were home yet," he chuckles softly before taking in your somewhat moony features. Your expression is hard to pinpoint, your delicate traits blank of any emotions yet your eyes have the same sparkle that greets him every morning and every night when he pulls you for a deep kiss in his warm embrace. "Everythin’ okay, love?"
The query snaps you out of your semblance of trance, your head looking down to the floor to gather your wits before you level your gaze back to his. "Yeah it is. Umm, my boss called me in again today," your bite your lip, not knowing how to navigate the conversation. In all honesty, you just want to be done with the whole thing, would rather spend an evening full of cuddles and potentially mind-blowing sex, but you know this ought to be acknowledged.
"Oh," his brows pull together with the same confusion you’d experienced when your boss ushered you to his office. "Did he thank you for the big save?"
"Not exactly," you clear your throat bracing yourself and Harry’s face tenses at the realization about where this is going. "My job is safe and I’m still working on the account," hie loosens up in relief, but your next words have him stiffen right back up in alarm. "But I got a warning for a certain someone’s involvement in the company’s operations. Apparently, my boyfriend called the client on my behalf and forgot to clue me in…"
Your voice is calm and doesn’t carry any reproachful tone, but Harry’s pulse is suddenly speeding with dread regardless. The fact that he could have lost you your jobs is the only thing registering in his frenzied mind, as he sets the dish towel from his shoulder down on the counter and steps closer to you. His eyes are bouncing off yours in a frantic back and forth, as he gulps his remorse down. Before you can appease him with reassuring words, and show your lack of anger, he launches in an apologetic rant, enclosing both your hands between his palms.
"M’so sorry, love. I didn’t mean to put you in a bad position. Fuck I just- I kept thinkin’ I could help since your client was a friend of a friend. And, the more I thought about it, the more I kept thinking 'I can’t do nothin’. Cause I hate seein’ you in pain an’ I really want to be here fo’ you and I know this was probably the wrong way to go about it, but damn y/n, I couldn’t stand doin’ nothing, m’sorry-"
"I love you."
The words come fast but distinct, airy but firm, not an ounce of doubt laced through their utterance. An eerie silence permeate the small space surrounding them, as Harry tries to find his own words back. It took three of them to steal all of his, but in his defense they were the ones he’d been dying to hear and to deliver himself. His eyes are wide, blinking in total surprise. He’d expected irritation, disappointment perhaps, maybe even anger, but definitely not the sweetest words he’s been keeping at the forefront of his mind. "I- you do?"
You still have that wondrous look on your face, but this time a bright smile enlivens your features, "I really do." You take your hands out of his grip to hold onto his wrists and pull him closer to you. You have to look up since he towers over you but you’ve always liked that about your relationship; the way he always seems to dwarf you in his embraces, whether because of his height or his bear-paw hands. "I mean, don’t that again," you let out a soft laugh, "but I know why you did it, and I love you for it."
Harry smiles rivals your own now, as your hands smooth up his arms to clasp at the nape of his neck, "plus, my boss is a jerk anyway so, who cares?" You pull him in a loving kiss then and his arms wrap themselves around your shoulders in a tight lock. His lips are as soft as ever between your own, and you detect the faintest taste of pepper and other exotic herbs lingering on their edge, from his cooking endeavors. He’s always been one to have a taste or two while he’s working, whether that be in the kitchen or other rooms…and regardless, you always like it when you get your share from his supple lips.
He feels slightly distracted against your mouth though, his technique not as ravishing as it usually is. and before you can wonder why, he’s pulling an inch away from your swollen lips, hurriedly whispering your tender confession back to you as though the words couldn’t be out of his mouth and into your heart fast enough, "I love you too, pet. So much." His hands are cajoling your face, thumbs drawing soothing circles across your cheeks, and his beaming smile is melting your heart in a goo of pleasure after all the strain it suffered in the past couple of days.
"Fuck, c’mere, don’t ever wanna stop kissing you," Harry mutters against your lips before diving in for a real mind-bending, soul-shaking, tantalizing kiss this time. Just like that, all your worries and sorrow evaporate into thin air, only to be replaced by an intoxicating pink loving brume. You two definitely spend the most perfect evening with lots of cuddles and endless mind-blowing lovemaking. Screw everything else.
➪ Masterlist
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one step back, two steps forward (pt.4)
masterlist
Not all heroes wear capes
Kaylan stood tall on the roof of the building. The spotted heroin was having trouble keeping herself safe.
For the love of God please work!
Closing her eye she took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, her yellow green eyes glowed and she swung her rope lasso and threw it towards ladybug. The loop secured at ladybug’s waist that made the said hero startle. With a strong tug Kaylan pulled the hero upward before she started falling down right in her arms. (here)
**************************************************************************************
Her mind was exploding with worst case scenarios like a bullet train. The feeling of rope and the strong pull made her believe that she was going to be out of commotion just like that. But the moment she landed in someone’s arms, she was startled to see her savior.
For as long as Marinette can remember, she never got fascinated by some glowing eyes. And she never voiced that. Not once in the future.
*******************************************************************************************
The beeping from the earrings startled them both. Ladybug looked around.
Thank you for your help but I need to recharge.
Ladybug kept looking for any place to hide. With a wave Kaylan made a blue colored cube. The shocked face didn’t go unnoticed by her but she ignored it.
It’s my magic. I made sure no one can’t either see or hear you.
Huh?
The spotted heroin who looked baffled at the sudden reveal couldn’t process what was actually happening. Rolling her eyes Kaylan pushed the other girl to the cube.
Tsk! get inside.
Once she was safe inside, Kaylan turned to observe the situation. From what she gathered from Marinette’s general information and her own research she just needed to find the thing that has the magical butterfly in it.
While the whole situation looked abstruse, she knew as a magic user herself, it was possible to defy logic rather easily and the living proof was rather in front of her.
Since I saw many victim with the mind control ability the minions are nothing but an obstacle. Considering that they can turn the other like themselves it would be best if they could be separated from the main boss.
Miss?
With the speed of lightening, the knife was at speaker’s neck. Ladybug looked frightened for a moment but it was gone. With a sigh she put the knife away.
I believe that you are Ladybug.
And you are new in Paris.
And how do you know that?
Considering I know almost everyone in the city and I don’t think that there would be someone with such abilities here. It kind of give away.
Kaylan looked away from the heroin and looked at the crowd that gathered at the base of the building trying to climb up.
Your partner is incompetent.
*sigh* I know.
I have a few plans that can help you but it involved me in a dangerous situation.
A surprise gasp left her lips as ladybug looked at the other girl astonished.
I can’t put the life of a civilian in danger.
Well too late for now.
Huh?
Looking at what she was pointing at, ladybug felt a little nauseous. There wasn’t a single civilian in sight that was not affected by the akuma.
Give me a few sample plans and I will tell you your role.
The words forced themselves out of her mouth but she didn’t seem to care. There was a hint of frustration and helplessness hidden by the sheer determination in her eyes. A smirk made its way towards her face making the spotted heroin regret her words by a long shot.
Sure!
*******************************************************************************************
This is so nauseating. Do they eat brain? Do you think they die if we crush their heads?
A high pitched excited voice pierce through the crowd and every minion looked at the general direction. The shadow of two people behind a wall could be seen.
Would you shut up? Your glass shattering voice is making me deaf.
Excuse me?!
Geez you’re scaring the akuma with that voice. I think they are bleeding from their ears. Screechy voice!
My voice is not screechy! Everyone knows it. Just because they are weak and pathetic and can’t bear a little loud voice doesn’t mean I’m the one to blame. God forbade, that akuma just couldn’t get any other ability from Hawkmoth……….like seriously! Zombies! So third class! And there are so many akumas that had minions. Like no originality! Don’t they have copyrights!
A tick mark appeared on the akuma’s head.
Get them whoever they are swarm them and break them apart. How dare they say that I’m weak? I’m the strongest akuma yet. Get them! Get them! Get them!
In no time the minions ran towards the two people leaving the main akuma all alone.
I can’t believe her plan actually worked.
The spotted heroin called from behind before dodging the beam and knocking the weapon from plague doctor’s hand and tying her from her other yoyo. The main yoyo broke the akuma item and captured and purify the butterfly.
Bye bye little butterfly.
After a miraculous ladybug, the spotted heroin comforted the victim. Kaylan jogged towards the pair and extended a card towards the victim.
My mother is a psychiatrist. You can schedule a time with her and go for a therapy. I’m sure it will do well if you don’t have to bottle up all emotions.
The nurse gave a strained smile and left promising that she will schedule the session so something like this never happens.
Milady!
The sing song voice of the leather clad hero made the other one flinch. Chat noir came smiling like a Cheshire cat.
Chat noir! One again you came late and got hit instead of listening to my plan. You need to take this seriously!
But I always take you seriously.
Ladybug felt like giving a hard slap to his face. He didn’t listen to a single word she said and just spoke of his fantasy. It was nice listen to these when he was a good hero. It helps when the stress got into her but now it is just plain irritating.
Chat noir you need to be a serious hero!
I am a good hero! I always save you like a knight in shiny leather.
Th-that’s not what I mean!
The one sided argument was enough to bring a headache. With a big sigh she pushed chat noir away from ladybug making him tumble down on the ground. It was lucky that there weren’t people around yet but the time was limited.
Ladybug you should leave. You need rest anyway.
Ladybug sighed in relief and left quickly. Kaylan turned to the cat themed hero with a fierce glare making the said hero flinch. Grabbing him by the collar, she pulled him up to her level.
I’ll say it just once, you better stop making her do all the work you dumb, lazy cat or so god help me I’ll be the one you will have to worry about.
You can’t say anything to me. You’re just a new girl who came here yesterday. Ladybug and I are destined to be together.
Chat noir yelled while struggling to get away from her. For a girl she was strong, far stronger than he is and he was the one with the miraculous, he should have more strength than a normal girl.
If you think that you can get out, well you thought wrong.
She shook him violently before shoving him to the wall, rather violently.
I hate people who think they are heroes and deserve the best. You are one of those heroes. Acting all high and mighty and calling himself a hero while you do nothing to live up to that claim and ladybug had to do all the work.
You……… how dare you………….
The anger didn’t last a second when Kaylan slammed a knife right next to his cheek. Now it was sticking right there on the wall.
How dare I? How. Dare. You? You think that the world revolves around you and they owe you a favor. Or worse. Ladybug owe you something. I might be new to all this but I can assure you a single piece of magical artifact can’t decide your destiny. So ladybug don’t owe you her love. GET. THAT. THROUGH. YOUR. THICK. SKULL.
Chat noir didn’t move a bit. He had been scolded before but as Adrien not as chat noir. And this girl, she not only dare to scold him but she is also disrupting the peace of his class. She even sits next to Marinette.
Marinette.
This girl is dangerous, he need to warn Marinette or Marinette will be trouble.
During his inner turmoil, he didn’t notice her taking out her knife or leaving. When he did came to his senses she was turning a corner. He wanted to follow her but his miraculous started beeping.
“Guess I’ll have to warn Marinette tomorrow.”
***************************************************************************************
Stepping down to the stairs after classes was dismissed, Kaylan found herself being hugged by her mother. She was asking question at a rapid speed. Some relevant and some irrelevant. Well not like it mattered. Her mother was safe anyway.
In a distance she saw Marinette looking at her. When their eyes met, she send her an apologetic smile before waving her and leaving towards the bakery.
Guess I’ll be asking her tomorrow.
Life was great. Even with hilariously dangerous situation.
previous
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(Fiction fact:
Kaylan has magic.
she can make solid structure.
she didn’t said any type of incantation like Zatanna or Constantine. it makes her a different type of mage or maybe a superior one.
Kaylan do not use magic much, instead she uses her knife, especially for threatening. ladybug was an exception.
the two shadows were illusion that she made and manipulated the emotions of the akuma to separate the minions and the main akuma.
Ladybug is the only one that can be seen in the head to head fight.
lucky charm of this akuma was yoyo)
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Idiot (Affectionate) ~ A Bad Samaritan Fic
CHAPTER TWO: FRIENDSHIP
Pairing: Derek Sandoval x Reader
Word Count: 2839
Rating: T - racism, references to the plot of Bad Samaritan, mild language
A/N: I’m trying to balance covering a lot of time so that this doesn’t end up 20 chapters of the same thing and I never get to canon events and also getting some good, specific moments in, so hopefully this works...
Previous Chapter | Masterlist
Time passed. You found yourself settling into a surprisingly easy friendship with Derek, though not one without it’s frustrations, and certainly not one that looked like friendship at all from the outside looking in. On more than one occasion, Sean had poked fun at each of you, though never in front of the other so they were aware, calling you out for flirting and playing hard to get.
You hated him for being right and refused to admit that it was what you were doing. Your stupid schoolgirl crush on your cousin’s best friend wasn’t something you wanted to acknowledge.
~
Nino’s had been abuzz for weeks with the news that the restaurant had been booked out for a re-election campaign event for the mayor of Portland, and now that the night had arrived, excitement had turned to panic. Nino had fretted constantly about every detail, from the amount of food and wine available to their arrangements on the plates. He had forgone setting up a buffet table for the cocktail and hor d'oeuvres hour in favor of what he thought was the much more high-end system of servers circulating with trays. And now two of the servers had, at the last minute, called in sick.
“There are not enough people!” Nino was exclaiming. “But I cannot set out a table now! We would have to rearrange the whole room!”
You had only just arrived, stepping into the chaos from the street like passing through an invisible barrier. One that at least part of you wanted to turn around and cross back over again.
“You need servers more than valets tonight, why not ask those two boys to help?” one of the kitchen staff suggested.
“That’s really not how their contract works,” you muttered, even though you knew it didn’t really matter in the end.
Nino looked thoughtful and turned to you. “Do you think they’d do it?”
Sean and Derek weren’t even there yet, and wouldn’t be until almost opening, so it would be a gamble, unless Nino could get them to pick up the phone. Plus they didn’t have appropriate service uniforms to your knowledge. Which meant that Nino had to either change everyone’s outfits or hope he had spares somewhere in the restaurant. Not to mention, there was no guarantee they’d even be willing, and since they were hired as valets (technically Nino’s had an account with their business, but since it was the only one so far and they didn’t really seem to be actively searching for more, he may as well have hired them directly), they weren’t obligated to do anything other than park and retrieve cars.
You sighed. The only problem with working with family was that you were expected to be able to know Sean’s thoughts on things, as if you were some kind of mind reader or expert.
“I don’t know,” you said with a shrug. “But they both have a lot of respect for you, so it can’t hurt to ask.”
That was a lie. It could hurt. Saying no would make things awkward, saying yes would cost them a night of tips and...extracurriculars which you chose to actively not acknowledge. But the latter was probably best, since pulling their usual tricks on the mayor, his donors, and his powerful friends would be asking to get caught and spend the rest of their lives in prison.
“Great!” Nino hurried off to the phone as if you had said they would help without a doubt.
~
“Where is your tie?” Nino asked, gesturing, appalled, at Derek’s bare collar. “I told them to find you a tie. You’re not dressed properly. I can’t let you be seen like that!”
The whole staff was gathered around in the lobby for some sort of pep-talk/debrief and assignments before the doors opened for the big event. Nino was checking every detail like a hawk, jittery with nerves. The kitchen guys were anxious, not sure why they’d been dragged from their stations to the front of house, acting like a crowd of kids that got called to the principal’s office. Everyone else was casual, mostly gossiping over who they thought would be there, hoping for a political scandal to break before their eyes.
Derek held up a length of black silk. “You got any of them clip-on kind? I’ve never worn one before, so I don’t know what I’m doin.”
Nino sputtered. You rolled your eyes, stepping up beside him.
“I’ll take care of this, Nino,” you offered, gesturing at Derek’s entire self, and he had the nerve to look offended.
He nodded, turning away in a hurry, radiating nervous energy, looking for the next crisis. Finding none, he started in on his speech about how tonight was the most important night in the restaurant’s history, how he was proud to have such a dedicated staff. Then he dismissed everyone, listing off assignments as they scattered. You half listened, turning to deal with the problem of Derek’s tie.
“Hey, thanks,” Derek said quietly, offering you a half smile.
“I’m not doing it for you,” you answered. “Nino’s a better boss than most are ever lucky enough to have. It’d be a damn shame for him to drop of an aneurysm because you don’t know how to dress yourself.”
“Sure,” he chuckled. “Well I guess that means I’m in your hands.”
You smirked at the idea, ignoring Sean’s waggled eyebrow out of your peripheral. Derek noticed, his cheeks coloring slightly.
“You’ve seriously never worn a tie before?” you asked, taking the garment from him.
“No. Why would I? I don’t exactly get invited to the kind of places you need one.”
“Right…” you sighed, stepping closer, throwing the material over your shoulder to free your hands. “Step one is fully close your dress shirt.”
Your fingers darted nimbly, closing the tiny white buttons, ghosting over his throat and making him swallow nervously.
You continued to describe each step as you took it, looping the tie around his neck, trying to teach him what to do. But he couldn’t focus on your words, not with you standing so close that he could feel the heat radiating between your bodies.
“And voila. Tie tied. And if someone really wanted to, you have an easy way of killing you around your neck for fashion,” you joked, brushing the fabric smooth. Your hand lingered against his chest for a moment, for reasons you couldn’t explain, before you stepped back.
Silence hung in the air.
“So I’m all set then?” he asked finally, blinking as if coming out of a daze.
“You’ve got to button your vest too, but I assume you can figure that one out for yourself.”
“I don’t know,” he chuckled, beaming at you. “I’ll give it a try.”
You laughed along with him, trying not to think about how handsome he looked, dressed up like this. Not that he wasn’t handsome all the time, even in baggy jeans and a hoodie, but the formal black and white uniform suited him. You frowned, annoyed with yourself for letting your thoughts stray down that path.
He finished buttoning the garment and spread his arms, gesturing to himself. “How do I look? Pretty good right?”
“Not bad,” you said with a smirk and an effort to keep your voice casual. “Someone nicer might even say you clean up good.”
Suddenly his arm was around your shoulders and he leaned in to your side with a charming smirk of his own.
“Maybe they would, but you know I’ll take a ��not bad’ from you over that any day,” he said with a laugh.
Before you could respond, he sauntered off, leaving you to glare and gape at his retreating back.
~
Derek couldn’t help himself. He was supposed to be walking around the room with this tray of shrimp puffs - or whatever rich people food Nino had assigned him, he was pretty sure it was shrimp puffs - and offering them to the guests. Instead, he was just standing in one spot, tray held out absently and teetering every time someone brushed past him, watching Y/N. She wove effortlessly through the clusters of men in pressed suits and women in silk dresses that rustled when they moved, smiling easily at them as she offered them champagne or wine. Even from a distance he could see the sparkle in her eye that made each person she spoke to feel like they were special, and as a result scored her numerous ones and fives left behind on her tray when they picked up a glass. His fingers itched to brush aside the piece of her hair that escaped its updo and danced across her temple, tucking it back into place behind her ear.
He felt a quick flash of guilt as he traced the shape of her body in her uniform, the black vest hugging every line and curve. He shouldn’t be staring, he thought. After all, she was Sean’s cousin and Sean was his best friend. And she was a friend, these days; you don't ogle your friends. But damn if she wasn’t hot, if he didn’t want her. His mind wandered, and he was just starting to imagine what her lips on his might feel like, what she might taste like - she had smelled like apple pie earlier when she was standing so close to him, when he’d been too chicken to make a move while he had the chance, and part of him hoped kissing her would taste like it too - when fingers, covered in too many rings and jingling from the stack of bracelets on the attached wrist, snapped in front of his face, startling him and dragging him back to reality.
“Are you even listening to me?” the woman demanded before raising her voice and slowing her words, over-enunciating each syllable. “I said I want your vegetarian option.”
“Uh. All I got are these shrimp things,” said lamely. “But my buddy Sean is around here with some mushrooms, I think. With like spinach stuff inside?”
She huffed, glaring and waiting and not saying anything.
“I'm sorry. I'm not—”
“Very intelligent. I can tell. I want you to bring me a plate with vegetarian appetizers. That means no meat. Nothing that was alive. And I want a selection, not just dumping all the same thing in a pile.”
As her voice got louder and her words even slower, it started drawing stares from the rest of the guests. He bristled at her tone, feeling his neck get hot as embarrassment and anger mingled. He knew why she was speaking to him like that. She wasn't the first.
He took a slow, deep breath. Getting angry would just play into her hand and make things worse. Before he could say anything, like maybe some remark about how plants used to be alive too, they just never had faces, Y/N appeared at his elbow.
“Derek! There you are, I've been looking everywhere,” she exclaimed.
He raised an eyebrow, silently asking what she was up to, and tried to ignore the fluttery feeling in his stomach at the idea she’d been looking for him.
“Nino said there was a problem, with the...thing and unless we want the guests to just be eating tiny hors d'oeuvres all night, you have to go talk the chef down from quitting over it.”
“What?” his face scrunched in confusion as he turned to Y/N.
She rolled her eyes (he kind of loved how often she did that) and plucked the tray out of his hand smoothly, fingers brushing briefly against his, sparking under his skin like a hotwiring a car.
“The thing. In the kitchen,” she said pointedly, like it meant anything. Then she turned to the woman, the largest, fakest smile he had ever seen on her face.
“Right...I’ll uh...get right on that…” he said helplessly.
“Sorry about that ma’am,” she lied to the woman, voice sickly sweet as she led the woman off. “He’s a culinary genius, but Nino likes to shake things up and keep the staff on their toes.”
“Oh,” the woman said, seeming surprised by the shift. “I just assumed...because he was one of them.”
“One of who?” Y/N asked, feigning confusion now though he could see that her eyes were hard and ice cold. Her smile took on a knife-sharp edge and he found himself grateful that it wasn’t being turned on him.
“Well. You know…”
“I’m sure I don’t. Because I can only think of one thing you might be trying to say. And I know you wouldn’t be so blatantly racist,” her voice got just a little louder, pitched toward the people around them, not the woman she was talking to, “at an important event like this. Would you?”
Derek chuckled and tucked his hands in the pockets of his pants, making his way to the kitchen. It might have been a fake reason, but he figured he may as well take the few minutes break it gave him anyway.
~
“Hey,” you said, dropping into a chair next to Derek, finally catching a short rest while the guests transitioned from one part of the evening to the next and found their seats for speeches and dinner. “Are you okay?”
“Hm? Yeah,” he said quickly, pretending that he had just been zoned out in order to cover for the fact that he was staring, again. “Just exhausted. Is this what it’s like for you every day?”
You chuckled. “It’s not usually quite this intense when we just have a few tables each to focus on. I think serving tables in a bit will be a better idea of that. But I meant about...you know...earlier.”
He made a face of confusion.
“The hag with the cheap perfume and the stupid attitude?” you offered.
“Oh that,” he shrugged. “I’m used to it. She was pretty tame, compared to some.”
“You know that’s the opposite of reassuring right? And not really an answer to the question.”
“I’m fine, don’t worry about it.”
“Okay,” you agreed reluctantly. “Probably for the best. She’s probably a senator or their wife or something, and something tells me bitchslapping a public figure is a negative on the Character and Fitness review.”
You scratched the back of your head in a(n adorably) sheepish gesture.
“The what?”
“The thing where I spend all this time on a degree, and in the end it all comes down to one insane bullshit test and a review of my personal history. And a bunch of stuffy old men, and women these days, decide if I’m an acceptable fit for the esteemed legal profession.”
“Legal...I didn’t know you were trying to be a lawyer?!”
“Duh,” you rolled your eyes and dropped your voice. “Why do you think I keep telling you and Sean not to get caught yet. I’m useless to you for another year, at least.”
“You didn’t have to step in like that,” he said after a long pause. “I could have handled it.”
“I didn’t think you couldn’t.”
“Then why’d you get involved?”
“Just because you can handle it, doesn’t mean you should have to,” you shrugged. “I could tell you were uncomfortable. I thought I could help.”
You let your thoughts race. Had you done something wrong in trying to divert the conversation and give him an out? Did you accidentally make things worse? Was there something else you should have done instead?
“I’m not mad,” he said reassuringly, noticing the nearly panicked expression that danced across your face. “I just don’t usually get people doing that for me.”
“Well, what else are friends for?”
There was the at word again, he thought. The thing he didn’t want to destroy, but that stood unnavigable between you. He didn’t know what he was doing. This was new territory for him. It didn’t help that the line was blurry. What was real flirting and what was joking? Sometimes you made him feel more confident than ever, and then seconds later you left him drowning, insecure and flustered. Maybe this was the moment to ask, you had left the door cracked open just enough for an opportunity.
Sean caught his attention, waving him over. He realized with a start that they hadn’t talked all night, for the first time in a long time. The door clicked shut, another chance lost.
He turned to say something, and you waved him off.
“Don’t worry about it,” you said with a wink and a smile that made his heart flip. “I’m not interested in monopolizing your time. Besides, if I start now, I can probably pop in a quick 10 minute nap before we have to start running the first course.”
He watched you settle further, crossing your arms over your chest and close your eyes, either to continue the joke or to actually do what you said and shook his head fondly, before sauntering off to join Sean on the other side of the room.
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Idiots ~ H.D.
A/n: God I love requests when people KNOW my branding!!
Request: “Hamish duke x male reader we’re the reader is a magician but can’t tell when someone is flirting with him and hamish trying to get his attention” by anon
Word Count: 3800+
Masterlist
Once upon a time, two boys sat at a table together in a little coffee shop. One of them went on and on and on about something and the other watched him with an expression that channeled both confusion and adoration. Everyone looking on had the same mixed expression, but this time with different emotions: charmed amusement, and frustration.
See, Hamish and Y/n were adorable and obviously in love and those who didn't even know them looked at them and saw a couple and smiled because young love. Because young love gave everyone hope. Because it was fresh and pretty and admirable and kind of funny when you thought about all they were going to go through, imagining it with a happy ending of course.
Unfortunately, for those who did know them, Hamish and Y/n were really fucking annoying.
They were obviously in love with each other - or at the very least attracted on some level. Y/n always listened to Hamish ramble, even though he obviously had no idea what Hamish was going on about most of the time. Likewise, Hamish dealt with Y/n's severely annoying ability to not perceive literally any attempt at flirting Hamish threw at him.
Don't get me wrong, Hamish was trying. REALLY HARD. He's been trying since they first met. Hamish had been forming a friendship with this girl- the only person who could keep up with him when he talked about his field and major. But there came a moment when he noticed that she lost interest in him and what he was saying, even as she talked and joked along in time. The day he'd met Y/n, the boy had been talking to that girl that Hamish was sort of becoming acquaintances with. He used to know her name, but she had been quickly forgotten when Hamish had noticed how Y/n never lost interest in him, even though the poor English major was obviously way over his head trying to understand what Hamish was saying.
Long story: the girl and Hamish stopped talking in favor of Hamish giving Y/n all his attention. He preferred to be cared about and he appreciated the effort Y/n was giving, even if he couldn't deliver with any results. He liked that he could go on and on about anything - even things outside of school - and Y/n would listen without complaint. There was something so genuine about Y/n. It drew Hamish in a lot. After a while, their conversation drifted from Hamish talking and Y/n listening to Hamish trying to get as much information about Y/n as he could. Y/n was willing to talk about a lot, and where he was hesitant Hamish recognized the line he'd drawn and let it be. They were only friends for five and a half months, but in that time Hamish had developed very deep feelings for Y/n. Which had lead him to try his hand at flirting.
At first he'd thought Y/n wasn't interested, but then someone had made a joke about them being a couple and Y/n had gone along with it without hesitation. Which seemed to Hamish as if he didn't mind the idea. He had looped in a classmate on a promise he'd do the kid's next assignment. The kid had flirted with Y/n, getting the same complete lack of understanding Hamish did. It seemed that despite Y/n being super affectionate and kind, and even though he was quite smart if Hamish gave the time and effort to help him understand, Y/n was the single most oblivious person Hamish had ever met. At some point Y/n had decided that no one would ever like him, or maybe he'd accepted flirting in some other form. Whatever it was, Y/n did not pick up on any common form of flirting at all.
Hamish tried for two months. TWO. MONTHS. He gave up and even tried straight up pick up lines. Y/n's response had been to return with pick up lines of his own and then to say, "I love that we can joke around like this. It's so refreshing, when everyone around here seems to be so gloomy and shit these days."
Hamish was at his wit's end. He was ready to just take a leap of faith and tell Y/n his feelings straight out and take the hit if Y/n rejected him. Before he could, unfortunately, he found a blue rose on his desk one morning as he prepared for his TA period. He'd looked around to see what it could possibly mean and after several hours and dark holes and wrong paths, came across the Hermetic Order of the Blue Rose. Instead of confronting Y/n about his feelings, he decided to go to this thing tonight. It seemed interesting and might give him time to clear his head. He enjoyed new things and learning opportunities. Something fresh to figure out might even clear his head and help him with this whole Y/n predicament.
That evening as Y/n and him did their usual afternoon studying together, Y/n seemed upset about something. Hamish wasn't going to prod about it, as he'd learned that Y/n only shared his thoughts and emotions when he was ready to, but it was setting a weird mood.
"Hamish?" The blonde boy looked up, expecting Y/n to finally share. Whatever he'd been expecting, what Y/n said next threw him off. "Don't go tonight."
Hamish's eyebrows came together. "Don't go to what?"
Y/n pursed his lips before looking at the colored pencils he'd been doodling with. They'd found that if Y/n took a few seconds every once in a while to do something other than homework, he had a lot better time studying. That didn't seem to be what he was thinking about now. He picked up a blue pencil and reached over, handing it to Hamish. "Will this one be okay to use on your notes? I know you're peculiar about how you organize them.”
Hamish didn't highlight his notes. He stapled them by units and had a different folder for each of his classes, but that was it. If he really needed to remember something, he would use blue pen instead of black. He hated using pencil though- it faded and smeared.
However, despite the oddity, Hamish was not confused about the message Y/n was sending. There was only one thing Hamish was doing tonight, as they'd made no other engagements. And the only way Y/n would know about it...
Y/n was part of the Order of the Hermetic Blue Rose. And he was telling Hamish not to come to the whatever it was.
In Y/n's eyes, Hamish saw a plea for Hamish to avoid the thing altogether.
"It'll be fine," Hamish said slowly. Y/n's level of code and secrecy lines up with the Order. After all, they were kind of like the Illuminati, if the Illuminati were real. It was super secret and most people thought it a big joke. Hamish had thought it a joke himself before he'd gotten that rose. He'd only heard of it in passing, mostly when homework "went missing" and people joked about the Order whisking it away, or someone wasn't in class and people played with the idea of them having crossed the Order. If Y/n was apart of it, he would never say it in any way.
"No," Y/n argued. He seemed to think for a second and Hamish realized that he was trying to deliver a message to Hamish. "Honestly Hamish I think this class is bad for you. You seem to struggle with it a lot. Maybe you should just drop it. I've been... meaning to tell you for a while now."
Raising an eyebrow, Hamish tried to figure out what Y/n was saying. Did he think this would be too hard for Hamish? That he wasn't smart or tough enough? No, that wasn't in character. Y/n always encouraged Hamish to do things even when Hamish himself set a limit. He decided to test the waters, push back a little. Try and get more information. “I mean it's not that bad. I've been enjoying it."
Y/n frowned. "I took it last year and it almost ruined my transcript. I know how much you care about your grades- it might really hurt them. Dangerous stuff you're playing with here." Hamish's eyebrows came together. Before he could ask, Y/n stood and gathered his stuff. "I'll see you tomorrow." He gave a tight smile, fear in his eyes. What was he afraid of? He left and Hamish gave only a small nod.
Was the Order really so serious? I mean honestly it was just a bunch of college kids. Were they... cruel? Maybe it was more of a gang than some powerful organization. Maybe Y/n was in trouble.
Well that meant that Hamish absolutely had to go. He needed to know what was going on and how to help Y/n, if he could. If he couldn't, at least they'd be able to watch each other's backs.
So he did.
And before anything happened, a weird ringing sound took over his entire mind and the next thing he knew he was in a room he sort of recognized but had no memory of. Naked. Covered in blood.
The next time he saw Y/n, surprise surprise, actually wasn't when they were all attacked by those they'd been closest to the last six months. And by they, he meant the three other people he also kind of recognized but, yet again, had no memory of. No, it was actually a little after he discovered what the Order really was and found out he was a werewolf. Alyssa Drake of all people popped out of nowhere, promising to give their memories back. And as she talked to Jack and tried to convince him to trust her, Hamish spotted Y/n next to her.
He became human and put a robe on, coming into the room. He felt a lot of emotions. They pushed him to blow right past Alyssa and Jack, straight to Y/n. Hamish pinned him against the wall, anger seeming to have taken the most hold for now. Y/n looked terrified, but when their eyes met his expression softened. Hamish got the impression that Y/n was not afraid of him, but something else. It made worry boil up and he pushed it down, trying to keep hold of himself.
"Tell me you weren't sent to watch me. Tell me you aren't one of them, Y/n."
The room was very quiet as the others came in, everyone watching. Y/n searched for the words for a second. "I- Hamish, I'm part of the Order." Hamish stepped back and Y/n's eyes watered. He seemed to be more panicked now. "I didn't become your friend just to watch you like the others though! We weren't ever supposed to meet or talk, not like we did. The- the girl I was talking to the day we met. SHE was supposed to watch you. But you started ignoring her and seemed to take to me better, so I- I- I hate it now, but back then I was just doing what I was told."
"So you took my memories?" Hamish demanded. "That didn't strike you as wrong?"
"Okay first of all," Y/n snapped. "I didn't even know who you were for like two and a half weeks after we started talking, okay? When they told me, they introduced you as some incredibly dangerous monster who was hellbent on killing everyone who used magic so even if I had, it would have been in self defense because I thought you were dangerous."
Lilith stepped forward. "If you had?"
Y/n huffed, straightening his clothes. "I didn't ever dust you. By the time they told me who you were, they only told me because I was talking to someone about this guy that I-" he cut off, and Hamish shifted upon seeing the blush rise up his throat. Lilith and Alyssa both wore the exact same look. They knew exactly how Y/n felt. "I was friends with." It was then that Jack's eyes went wide with understanding too. "They tried to convince me to stay away because of what you are, but all you've ever been is funny and smart and really talented and snarky as hell." He huffed in amusement. "I was always kind of impressed with you, your sass is like next level it's amazing." Everyone in the room felt the oddity of the warring emotions of everyone else with the weird sort of light and humor Y/n brought to the table. They wanted to smile, but there was too much else going on. Y/n cleared his throat, trying to not default to humor. Hamish cursed himself for being concerned- he knew that Y/n struggled a lot with being emotionally vulnerable. "Anyway, I don't know who did it or how or when, but they never even asked me to. They thought that we had stopped talking for the most part. I never talked about you again at least."
"Until now," Alyssa spoke up. "He confronted me. Begged me to help because he said I would understand since I was... friends with Jack. I told him about my plan to come here and help you guys and he was more than willing and ready. We were hoping that together we might be able to convince you."
The Knights got quiet, all listening to each other. But it was clear that everyone but Randall was nearly completely convinced, and Randall didn't care enough to argue. If his friends were going, so was he.
They all lined up and Alyssa dusted them. At first they panicked but when they all woke up with their memories completely returned, Hamish's eyes immediately landed on a very hopeful Y/n. He scrambled to his feet, trying to find his words. "You lied to me." Y/n paled. He seemed to be terrified again, but this time Hamish knew immediately why. He was scared of losing Hamish.
Again.
"Hey guys! How are we doing?" Y/n was smiling as usual. It was dazzling to Hamish.
"Better now that you're here."
Y/n laughed. "I know you've been having a hard time with homework, but have you really been so miserable without the comedy relief around to lift the mood?"
Everyone exchanged looks. Everyone but Y/n, who was as always oblivious to everything. Hamish had struck out again.
The first memory was the easiest to swallow.
"Hey Hammy."
"You've been spending too much time with Randall," Hamish sighed as Y/n greeted him upon entering the Den. Y/n laughed. "Maybe you should be spending more time with me."
"Miss me?" Y/n teased.
Hamish looked up from his book, locking eyes with Y/n. "Yeah. Maybe just us? Tonight? Dinner? Movie? Something else?"
Y/n shrugged, his expression unchanged. "Yeah sure dude. I'm starving, and the new-" Hamish stopped listening after that. His message had gone unreceived once more.
He could remember everything, and yet he found himself mulling over the ones about Y/n the most.
"You should wear that shirt more often. You look very good in it."
"Thanks man."
And-
"You free later? I was thinking maybe we could get better acquainted."
"And see I was sitting here thinking we were already best friends." Y/n’s frustratingly beautiful laugh rang out again and Hamish felt his shoulders slump. "Yeah I'm down to hang. Anything for my best buddy."
Then there was-
"Hey Y/n nice pants. They'd look great on Hamish's floor."
"Very funny Lilith," Y/n hummed as he read a book. Hamish shot her a death glare as he sat next to Y/n, his arm draped over the back of the couch they both sat on.
"Not a joke," Randall chimed in. "I think they'd really match the walls. Maybe try it out?"
"I would have to take them off to do that, and I don't see the point of going all the way back to my dorm to get another pair of pants for me to wear just so we can see how these look on Hamish's floor. Total waste of time, especially when I have to have this book read by tomorrow for class."
Eventually Hamish had just turned to pick up lines.
"Hey Y/n, can you hold this?"
He held out his hand and Y/n went to take whatever he was holding, only for Hamish to interlock their fingers. Y/n laughed and didn't drop his hand, even as he rolled his eyes to dismiss what was happening. "Now who's been spending too much time with Randall?" After Y/n looked the other way, Hamish frowned and dropped his hand.
Attempt after attempt after attempt....
"Kiss me if I'm wrong but dinosaurs still exist right?"
Y/n didn't even blink. "Dinosaurs do exist, silly. Well, their bones do. We can go the museum to check them out if you want to?"
Hamish huffed. "What about the kissing me part?"
"Well you were wrong, so I'll have to pass," Y/n reasoned calmly. Hamish glared at the opposite wall so Y/n couldn't see.
He had tried everything.
"You remind me of my homework, because I'm going to slam you on my desk and do you all night."
Y/n burst out laughing. "That's a good one! I haven't heard that one yet. Did you go on some weird kick and look all these up? You've had a load to share lately."
Hamish sighed. "Yeah. Randall got drunk and shared them all with me. I thought they'd make you laugh."
Until he'd finally just said it.
Hamish stood in front of Y/n, desperate. At this point, even his friends thought Y/n was a hopeless case. Maybe they'd been wrong. Maybe Y/n didn't like Hamish. Maybe he was just trying to be polite. "Will you go on a date with me Y/n?”
Y/n smiled at Hamish. "Lose to Cup Pong with Randall again?" Hamish didn't even waste the time to come up with something. He just turned around and walked away, ignoring Y/n's familiar laugh behind him.
He'd been sure that Y/n just wasn't into him. Until:
"If we die today, I need you to know that I love you."
"I love y-"
"No." Hamish grabbed Y/n by the shoulders, his eyes boring into the other boy's. "The Order is probably going to kill us today, or the next chance they get, now that they know about us. Even if it's not today. I can't die without you knowing that I've legitimately fallen in love with you and it's driving me insane."
Y/n's eyes were wide and earnest, but before he could respond Vera and him had to face the magicians outside who had found the Den, and after there had been too much going on... He hadn't even gotten to get Y/n alone before his memory of Y/n had been taken completely in one go.
Hamish remembered everything. He remembered scheming with Randall, who knew Y/n the most of course because-
Randall was the first to move after they all woke up, dazed and trying to process all their new memories. He, of course, tackled Y/n in a hug immediately. They were both crying. "I'm sorry I forgot you."
"I knew you'd come around," Y/n reassured. "We're brothers man. You can't get rid of me even though you totally want to."
Leaning away, Randall laughed as he wiped his tears. The pair had been a duo for as long as any of the pack had known either of them. Randall was the one who acted like an idiot but was super smart. Y/n was the one who everyone thought was super smart because he got great grades and knew fun facts, but who was actually a total idiot in the sense that he had absolutely no people skills and misread almost every situation and made everything either really fun or super awkward. With help from Hamish he'd been able to figure it out a little. That's how they'd all met. Hamish had told them both about the Knights, but only Randall had been chosen by one of the furs. They'd all been friends until...
"Wait, you're part of the Order?" Hamish voiced.
Y/n sighed, Randall's arms falling away from him. "Alyssa came to me before. She begged me not to tell you, because if they didn't dust you then they were going to kill you. I figured it would be better to have you guys forget me than to be dead, at least until we could figure... something out. I told mom that something really bad had happened and you had disowned me. Said-" He blushed. "I said you and Hamish were together and I'd made a move on you. She was PISSED and left it to me to fix. I was just glad she didn't mention me to you at all. She's been mad at me for ages and demanding I figure out a way to fix it, so when Alyssa had the idea to just work with you guys instead of doing what we were told... I was all for it."
"He joined the Order so they wouldn't wipe his memories," Alyssa continued. "Because all of last year's additions had been... eliminated one way or another, we needed more people anyway. And since Y/n already knew about magic and you guys, it was only too easy to convince the Grand Magus to induct him."
Hamish stood and Y/n did with him. Randall immediately got protective, but Y/n placed a hand on his shoulder and he calmed. Not that he could take Hamish... maybe. Now Y/n was curious, but this wasn't the thing to be worrying about right now.
Hamish opened his mouth to speak, and from the look in his eyes Y/n could see what he was thinking. So he skipped the pleasantries and rushed to him, pulling him close by the back of his neck so their lips could press together. Everyone else, despite everything going on, cheered. After everything they'd been through and all the hardships they'd faced, finally - FINALLY - Y/n had figured his shit out.
When Y/n pulled apart, both boys were grinning. "I've been being your friend for the last few months so that when I finally found out a way to get your memories back, they wouldn't question it when we got together because goddamnit Hamish, I love you too. And I hope you still feel the way you did then, even knowing that I'm part of the Order. That I... I know magic, and use it." He looked like he was ready to get rejected.
"You still know nothing," Hamish whispered. "The fact that you could feel me miss you back and you still think I would chose any other relationship or person over you or let anything get between us... How can you be THAT stupid?"
Y/n socked him on the shoulder. "Asshole."
Hamish just grinned before hooking his finger in Y/n's belt loops. "Your asshole."
"Damn right," Y/n whispered, smirking.
Lilith reached over and chucked a pillow at them. "OKAY OKAY! We do have shit to deal with other than your guys' love life." She was right. The boys parted and everyone got ready to do whatever they had to next to make the scales balanced again. To make it all right.
But as they all headed to the the temple, Y/n leaned over and added, "I owe you a date."
Hamish just smiled at that. "More like you owe me ten."
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Anon asked: Can I request something angsty but with a fluffy ending for natsuya? Preferably a one shot but headcannons would be fine too! Don’t push yourself ❤️❤️
Ok anon I see, trying to break my heart by making me write angst for my baby 🥺 Im just playing haha thank you for your concern, but don’t worry about it! <33
Harsh | Natsuya Kirishima x Reader
A/n: a bit of an abrupt ending, but I felt like it would just be dragged on if I continued~
Warnings: nothing really just some minor cussing when reader goes 😠
Genre: angst to fluff
Word Count: 1k+
{2:36am} A small sad smile ghosted upon your features as your eyes adjust in the dark, focusing on the tiny words on the lit screen held in front of your face. Natsuya.
When it felt like the whole world had forgotten you, pegged you down into the dirt, there was one who cared. Natsuya.
The guy had his own dreams and goals though. Traveling all over the world, doing what he did best, swimming and drinking. And just when you thought that he too, had forgotten about you, he hits you up at the most odd hours of the night.
“Hey...(y/n)? You there?”
Silence.
“(Y/n)?”
Should you answer?
“Aw come on, the silent treatment?”
Idiot.
For as long as you could remember, your best friend had always meant more to you than just your best friend. Of course, being Natsuya, he was oblivious. And when one morning he came to your door, telling you he was going to go take on the world, once again, you put your feelings away, and smiled at him.
“You know, you should stop making such scary faces...Everyone who lays eyes on you will just end up running away.”
“Huh?! You really think that way about me?!” You pushed yourself off the rail offended, looking Natsuya directly in the eyes.
He let out a laugh that made your heart stir. You narrowed your eyes further, but the man just kept laughing, eventually straightening himself and taking a step towards you. Gently, he caressed your fingers, before placing his palm in yours, lifting it up to your chests.
“Don’t stop smiling (y/n), nobody in the world has a better smile than yours.” You let your lips draw back slightly, bringing your other hand up to rest on his holding one.
“You’re the one who put that smile on my face...”
Then he leaned in, amber eyes holding your gaze, his lips just barely hovering over your own. And just when you thought you could meet him the rest of the way, he took the back of his hand to bring your head down, to place a chaste kiss on the tip of your forehead. Your eyes bore into your feet, frustration, but mostly confusion. When you looked up, he had left.
So now when you held the phone loosely to your ear, all you could do was think of the moment back then, 2 years ago. But it had been longer than 2 years that you had burdened yourself with these feelings, suppressed deep below. His voice on the other end had triggered something inside you. All of a sudden you felt a rush of emotions surging through you.
“Hey (y/n)...come on”
And that was it. You broke. Tears raged as you brought the device closer to your open mouth, ready to spew everything you had kept locked away from the moment Natsuya had lend you his hand, asking for your friendship.
Idiot.
“Idiot...” you mumbled, your face further darkening in the already pitch black room.
“Huh?(y/n)?”
“I said Idiot!” Your hand clenched tightly around the phone. “Do you have any idea how long I used to wait, checking my phone every goddamn second to see if you had called. Every fucking night Natsuya, I stayed up for who knows how long, considering the possibility of a time difference, but never saw the damn phone screen light up to the name I wanted to see. And now, when I finally get a chance to sleep, here you are, after two years, asking why I’m giving you the silent treatment?”
You heard his breath hitch.
“Well what do you want me to say Natsuya...hello?...yea hello to you too.” You waited for a response, digging your nails into the sheets when all you received was silence.
“Why do you do this Natsuya...” your voice cracked. “Why do you call me your bestfriend, but can’t even spare me a simple text.” Again, your response was silence. “You’re such an idiot Natsuya you know that? But somehow I still have fucking feelings for you.” You felt like shouting it, screaming it, but the last few words came out barely above a whisper. You held back your breath, eyes stinging from holding back tears. After a while of, again, being met with silence, you were about to hang up and angrily throw your phone across, when a soft voice stopped you.
“(Y/n)...open the door, I wouldn’t want to worry your neighbors at this time.” You froze, eyes wide in shock. Open the door?
You peeled back the sheets, getting up and slowly trudging towards the front door, not caring about your bed head or that you were still in your night gown. You paused for a minute, hand on the door handle, eyes downcast, not wanting to be tempted to look through the peek hole. Cautiously, you opened the door and met the man with unruly hair with a blank face. Natsuya who would always greet you with a wide smile, now looked at you solemnly.
“Well what do you want me to say (y/n)?” You merely lowered your gaze, hand still tight around the door handle.
“Do you want me to lie and say I like you too?” You flinched.
He took a step towards you, his chest just centimeters away from your face. You were about to step back, when a pair of arm wrapped themselves around you and pulled you close. Your eyes burned. What is he trying to do now?
“I love you (y/n)” He stated simply, hold tightening around you, so that your face was now pressed flush against his chest.
“I’m not going to make any excuses, because you’re right, I am an idiot and back then I should have just kiss- “
“Just shut up and hug me Natsuya” It was like all your previous turmoil had vanished away the moment you became encased in his arms. No matter how much you wanted to, you couldn’t stay angry at your bestfriend. Especially now, in your state of bewilderment, the words he just uttered on loop in your head. You pulled back and looked him in the eyes, tears trailing down your cheeks. He leaned in, and it was like you were put back in the same situation two years ago. However this time, it was you who stepped back, just a little, to raise your hand and have it snap across his face. Taken aback, Natsuya stumbled, looking at you startled, hand cradling his stinging cheek.
“That was nothing...I wanted to punch you instead.” You huffed, arms crossed and eyes refusing to meet his. Natsuya pouted as walked back up to you, still slightly in shock.
“The first thing you should have said is I’m sorry.” Arms still crossed, you turned your back towards him. Natsuya chuckled and pulled you in again.
“Right...sorry, I deserved that...but can we go in already?” Natsuya glanced around nervously, hoping that the commotion hadn’t woken up the neighbors. You glared at him, stepping aside to grant him entry. Right when you locked the door and turned around, you were met with eyes full of regret, a hand brought up to soothe redness still tender on his cheek. Although you knew his apologetic expression was over exaggerated, with the puppy eyes and all, you couldn’t help but fall soft. In the end you too, “Love you.”
Natsuya’s eyebrows raised as if he had heard you wrong, and looked at you agape. You shook your head and smiled, “I love you, you big doof.” Natsuya flashed you a charming smile of his own before slyly slipping his hand in yours.
“Nice to know your smile is still as beautiful as ever.” He breathed, leaning down once more, pausing in case you actually do decide to land a punch on him. However this time, you reached out and kissed full force, letting your fingers entangle in his disheveled locks. His hand traveling down your hair and ear, before making its way around your waist to pull you in closer, savoring your long missed scent and touch.
Eventually pulling away, you lightly punched his chest, averting your gaze.
“I still haven’t forgiven you...it’s gonna take a lot more than three words and kissing me to make up for it.”
“Harsh.” Natsuya chuckled, resting his chin on your head, stroking your hair. ~
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Puppet
Whittaker!Master X f!reader X Doctor
Gif: unknown. (If you know, please tell me so I can credit)
Warnings: mentions of abuse, angst & death of a character
(I sincerely apologise for not being able to add the ‘read more’ break, I know it’s long. Also I didn’t specify which Doctor it was so you can make it who you want it to be.)
- - -
“How could you? I trusted you!” The Doctor yelled directly at you, his hands in fists, his face red like strawberries.
The Master had just told him that for the last year of travelling with him, you’d been betraying him behind his back, getting close to him so you could do the Master’s dirty work for her.
“Stop shouting, dear, you’ll give yourself a migraine.” She sniggered, striding over to you with purpose.
She dipped you down and kissed you so deeply, so intensely, everything else around you faded away into darkness and background noise. Your arms snaked around her neck in response, holding on tight. The moan that slipped from your throat was loud enough to ring in the Doctor’s ears, not that you were paying attention to him at all anymore.
The Master hummed her appreciation for the sound and smirked as she pulled you back upright, her eyes fixed on the Doctor. “Doesn’t she sound so sweet, Doctor? Doesn’t it break your little hearts to know you could never make her make a sound like that?”
The Doctor’s face fell from confusion and anger to hurt and… acceptance?
“I just…” his voice was weak, his fighting efforts withering away. “I don’t understand.”
The Master twisted a strand of your hair around her finger for a second, while she feigned sadness, her bottom lip poking out in a pout. “Poor you, Doctor. Finally, the man who knows everything there is to know about the universe and everything in it, speechless and confused.”
Your hand absentmindedly played the buttons on the Master’s waistcoat, still pressed to her side. You glanced over at the Doctor and almost pitied him, the pain of heartbreak clearly displayed on his face. After all you did spend the best part of a year with this man, albeit reporting his every move and thought back to the Master at the end of each day, and you weren’t completely heartless.
But from the first day you met the Master, she had made sure you understood rule one, never trust anyone. The Doctor would’ve done well to have learnt that too.
“This good girl right here,” she looked you up and down, the corner of her lips tugging up into a small, proud smile. “Has been keeping you busy while I’ve been attending to some… things.”
You bit your lip in anticipation of the big reveal, ready and waiting for the Doctor’s reaction, your whole body practically buzzing with excitement. The Master noticed and shot you a look that said be patient and turned back to the man in front of you both.
“I’ve been visiting your little friends,” the Master circled the Doctor for intimidation purposes, the way her body moved and swayed as she slowly walked had you licking your lips. “Your… retired companions.”
The Doctor gave her a look of disgusted curiosity, his jaw clenched. “You better not have hurt them!”
But the Doctor knew better than that, of course she hurt them. Why else would she have visited them?
You could hardly contain the giggle that forced its way from your chest, the Master directing a sinister grin at you when she heard, understanding your joy.
“I’m sorry, Doctor, I can’t tell you that, otherwise I’d be lying.” She leant back on the console, looking at her perfectly manicured fingernails ever so casually.
“What did you do?” The Doctor spat, his face turning back red in frustration, sweat forming at his hairline.
“I started with that blonde woman you loved so much. Oh, what was her name again? Violet? Tulip?” She winked at you playfully and again you giggled, your hands unable to keep still. “Nevermind. Whatever her name was, she’s dead now.”
His face twisted into multiple forms at once, none of which you’d ever seen before. Anger, hatred, shock, you name it. “No. You couldn’t have. She’s in an alternate universe, with no way through.”
“You underestimate my abilities, Doctor. And for good measure, but mostly fun on my part, I left your little clone alive, crying pathetically.”
The Doctor gripped onto the console behind him for support, not trusting his own strength to stand anymore. He felt for the man that was basically his twin, knowing just how much he loved her and now having to live a long and miserable life without her.
“Then I went down the list of everyone you’ve ever brought aboard this ship, well the ones you’d allowed to live, and kill them all off. One by one.”
The Master came back to stand with you, her arm around your waist as you all but bounced in your spot.
“But why?”
“Because I felt like it.” The Master’s tone was very blasé, as if to say why else?, her shoulders shrugging carelessly.
“You can’t just… that’s not fair!”
As the Master spoke, she looked at you, her finger under your chin and her eyes admiring you. “What’s fairness got to do with anything? Come on, Doctor, you and I have never played fair, why start now?”
The way she looked at you sparked a fire in your core, goosebumps rising across your body. The Doctor spoke again, but his words were a mystery to you, your complete focus on the woman in front of you, now stroking your cheek with a single digit.
The Master also continued talking, her lips forming words like she had rehearsed them. Her face showed no sign of amusement now, but it was such a turn on when she was stern and serious, her brows creased and her eyes like daggers impaling your soul.
A sharp pain radiated across your cheek, your head suddenly thrown to the side.
“I asked you a question, darling,” the Master lowered the hand she had just slapped you with, her teeth gritted in irritation. “Now answer me!”
Your hand found its way to your throbbing cheek, the touch of your own skin against it stung like a thousand bee stings.
You hadn’t been paying attention, too caught up in your desire for the other woman, all senses switched off until you were abruptly brought back to reality. “I…”
The Master snared, stepping forward to put her face right in front of yours, eyes burning with something worse than anger. “Do I have to punish you?”
You remembered the last time she had punished you, trapping you in a tight, dark room and invading your head with visions of your worst nightmares, playing on a loop for days, weeks.
You remembered one particular day when she had been angered by something or someone so badly, she came to the room and released all that anger out on you through kicks and punches, beating you until you were bloodied and bruised, teetering on the edge of unconsciousness.
You weren’t sure how much time passed after that, but eventually she opened the door again and scooped you up into her arms, shushing you lovingly as you cried into her neck. She had bathed you, carefully cleaning the bumps and bruises scattered over your weak body and she sat behind on your bed as she brushed your hair until the brush ran through it like silk, telling stories of the adventures she’d had while you were locked away.
And although you forgave her in a heartbeat, just like always, from that day you decided to be on your very best behaviour for the Master, the punishment just not worth it. Until now.
“No, I just…”
“Leave her alone.” The Doctor piped up, looking at you with hurt in his eyes.
It confused you a little that the Doctor would stand up for you and have your back even after you betrayed him in the worst way possible, but you figured after spending so much time with him and bonding, on his part, over dangerous days out, it had to have something to do with it.
“Stay out of this!” The Master snapped back, her shoulders tense, her eyes never looking away from yours.
“She’s not your puppet, Master. This is between me and you, just leave her out of it.”
The Master’s face softened a little, her lips curving into a smirk. She round you to stand behind you, her chest against your back, her lips grazing the shell of your ear. “Oh, but she is.”
Her hand trailed up from your stomach to your throat where she lightly squeezed and tilted your head back to rest on her shoulder. You stood frozen, allowing her to control you in fear of the consequences.
Her eyes remained locked on the Doctor as she whispered in your ear, making sure he was still paying attention. “If you want to avoid punishment when we get home, you will do exactly as I tell you, do you understand?”
You nodded the best you could with your head back and whispered yes Master, your knees feeling like they might give out at any minute.
“Good girl. Now, go over there and hide this somewhere he won’t see it. I don’t care how you do it, just make it quick and don’t mess up.” She slipped a cold metal object into the back of the waistband on your jeans, the feeling of it forcing you to shiver against her.
She placed a simple encouraging kiss onto the side of your neck as she released her hold on you and pushed you forward toward the broken man still standing frozen in his spot.
“I have better things to be doing than standing around here at your pity party, Doctor. So I’m going to go, but you enjoy yourself, really.” The Master saluted the Doctor playfully and turned to walk away, shouting for you to hurry up behind her as she walked through the TARDIS doors.
“Doc I-“
“Please… please just don’t.” Finally he moved, turning away from you and shuffling over to the other side of the console, pressing buttons like he knew what he was doing. “Just go.”
“I’m sorry.”
Were you sorry? You didn’t know your own feelings anymore, every one of your thoughts and emotions dictated now.
The Doctor looked at you for a moment, his face practically showing all of the cogs turning in his restless mind. He looked tired, beaten down and ready to give up. It wasn’t a look you were used to seeing on this usually charismatic and charming man, his skin glowing with adrenaline, now dull and pale.
“I know.”
He walked off down a hallway of the TARDIS without another word, slipping out of sight almost instantly. You expected to feel guilt and regret right now, but you felt no different to how you had during the year you spent with the timelord, keeping him distracted.
You carefully and quietly slipped the metal object the Master had given you under a control panel of the console and followed in the Master’s footsteps, out the door without looking back.
“My sweet girl,” the Master praised as you came through the door to her TARDIS, her arms raised as if you’d been away for months and just returned home. “Excluding the minor hiccup that I will ignore for now, you did so well back there.”
Butterflies swarmed and fluttered in your stomach, a proud feeling washing over you. “Thank you.”
“Come, watch this.” She gestured you over to stand with her at the computer screen and you did so without hesitation. “Press this button right here.”
You pressed it and not even a second later, up on the screen, you saw the blue box explode into sharp pieces of wood and jagged metal, fire erupting into the air and causing the ground you were standing on to rumble like you’ve never experienced before. Aftershocks rippled through the atmosphere like radiation, your eyes never tearing away from the screen despite the TARDIS jerking around like no tomorrow.
The Master grabbed ahold of your face and forced you to look at her instead, a sickening smile playing on her lips. “Good girl.”
She kissed you hard, a kiss you did not reciprocate, and just as quickly released you to casually walk off somewhere to do God only knows what.
You allowed your eyes to once again watch the screen, now only seeing the carnage and aftermath of the Master’s doing, knowing the Doctor was in the wreckage somewhere, probably dead.
You didn’t move, couldn’t move, your mind blank and your body numb. You looked a few moments longer then switched off the screen and exited the room the same way the Master did, in search of her, hoping to find a new way to please your Master.
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When you put one(1) Gay Panic in a laser tag arena
Read on ao3
Pairing: Roceit
In which: Roman, Logan, Patton, and Virgil have met up for laser tag. Roman spots a cute guy. Gayness ensues.
Warnings: Its laser tag so theres lots of fake guns, kissing, remus mention, let me know if there’s anything else I should put in.
Word Count: 1955
Simply put, it was a Friday. One of the best Fridays to date, in Roman’s not-so-humble opinion. This particular Friday was the last one of the month, which meant the big get-together with his friends! They hung out at other times, of course but tried to plan something a bit more exciting every so often. Last month’s was go-kart racing, in which Logan absolutely destroyed all of them, including the other walk-in players. Something about “racing lines”, was his explanation. Roman wasn’t quite sure, but he could respect Logan’s skill nonetheless.
This time around, they were going out for Laser-Tag. Roman was under the impression that he was good with a laser gun (a weapon wielded in the name of good would always bring him fortune), but that would soon be put to the test. Logan would be there to pick him up in only half an hour, and his makeup wasn’t even started yet. Never mind that laser-tag was in the dark, a prince has got to slay! He ended up playing around with his new white eyeliner, hoping the blacklights of the arena would make it pop. Too soon, the doorbell rang and they were on their way.
After picking up Patton, then Virgil, Logan pulled into the parking lot not a moment too soon. Roman was just about to burst from the excitement.
“Ready to defeat whatever foul foes may oppose us?”
“Ooh! Let’s make sure we are all on the same team!”
“Let’s try to get purple. I’ve never lost a game while playing on purple team.”
“Virgil, superstitions like that won’t help us win, it will be stealth and true aim that will lead us to victory. Those laser-blasters...”
Roman rolled his eyes affectionately as Logan continued to explain the best way to hold a blaster and use the mirrors situated throughout the course. This one was sci-fi themed, with everything lit up in neon greens, pinks and purples. As they walked into the lobby, the others still bickering about the pros and cons of various hiding techniques, Roman scanned the room to size up their opponents… and his gaze locked right onto another’s across the room.
He was tall, sandy blond hair just barely obscuring sharp green eyes. He leaned casually on the check-in counter, a friend beside him purchasing tickets. Twirling a quarter across his knuckles, he kept eye contact with Roman for a long moment before offering a sly wink and turning back around.
Roman finally realized he’d been staring, and blushed deeply at having been caught. So much for keeping his cool.
“Roman! Hey, you’d stopped responding whats-” Patton stopped, as Roman had now turned around, face still flushed, “-Oh!” Patton giggled. “Bit of a gay panic there, my friend?”
“-No,” he said, “He’s just. Attractive, is all. Its fine. I'm fine. Its fine.” Patton smiled indulgently at that, but Logan interrupted any further comments.
“We’ve got tickets for the 3:30 game,” he said, “Until then, you’ve each got 10 quarters.” Any laser-tag arena worth its salt had some arcade games to entertain guests before and after. This one had better games than most, so they had to play. Logan quickly passed out everyone’s quarter allotment, and then left to try the claw game. Logically, it was rigged and he wouldn’t win anything. But that made it the most challenging, so it would be fun to try.
Patton nudged Roman in the direction of the handsome stranger from earlier, now starting up one of the classic hunting style games. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”
“Hey!” Roman tried to object, but Patton had already slipped off with Virgil to the opposite end of the arcade, leaving him with seemingly no choice but to try to strike up a conversation. He took a deep breath, trying to even out his frayed nerves before striding quickly over to the man.
“Mind if I join in?”
“Of course, you’re welcome to try to beat me,” his voice was silky smooth, the teasing leaving him just as flustered as before.
“You’re on.”
-----------------------------
They were interrupted about 5 minutes later with a call for the next game. Roman’s opponent hissed in frustration. Leaving the game like this would waste valuable quarters, but a better game was calling.
“Well done, for an amateur. What’s your name, sweetheart?”
Roman faltered at the compliment. He had been beaten soundly, ending several thousand points behind. But eventually, words started to form again. “Uhh, Roman. And you are?”
“Ethan. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I trust I’ll see more of you inside?”
“Definitely.”
With a quick nod in response, Ethan swept away towards the beckoning attendant.
I’m screwed.
-----------------------------
Roman rejoined his friends for the safety presentation, finding that Logan had miraculously won himself a unicorn plushie from the claw machine. He seemed absolutely overjoyed at it, even as he tried to contain his excitement. Virgil quickly proclaimed it to be the team’s good luck charm and mascot, and Logan did not even try to object. They all sat as patiently as they could through the presentation, anxious to get into the arena. There was the explanation of the arena layout, the three different goals, power-ups, the colors on the vests, how to fire the laser how to put on the vest how to walk around and not run so you don’t trip… all that useless good stuff.
Roman found it all tremendously boring, and instead opted to sneak glances at the man- Ethan - across the room. He was determined to get the better of Ethan in-game. Call it revenge for being beaten in the Arcade or just really aggressive flirting, either way he was definitely intent on defeating his new sworn enemy.
The attendant led them into the prep room, the walls lined with glowing vests sorted by their color. Virgil made a beeline for the purple rack, waving them all over. Next came one of the arguably most important parts of the game: choosing your nickname. This particular establishment had all of the vests named after various superheroes. So, the best strategy was to check every gun for the best names and go from there. Logan didn’t bother with this irrational ritual, he just went for the first vest he picked up, Doctor Strange (He secretly found this to be absolutely perfect). Virgil ended up on Raven, because everyone needs to be an emo half-demon occasionally. Patton, very much out of the loop on superhero lore, found Mr. Fantastic to be his nickname of choice. Roman chose Captain America, because Superman was already taken and who doesn’t want to have America’s ass.
Across the room, Ethan was doing up the straps on his friend’s vest. The guy was practically vibrating with excitement, saying something about “shooting people’s heads off”, as though that was possible. Ethan just laughed, grabbing another vest from the green rack and buckling it in place on himself.
“Everyone ready? Let’s make a game-plan,” said Logan, always the strategist of the group.
“Spreading out is our best bet, so that not everyone can get tagged at once,” said Roman.
“Yes, but we get a 30 second grace period in the beginning, so I think we should dash to the green base first to take it all together,” said Virgil.
“Sounds good. We can spread out from there to cover the most area,” said Logan.
“How about we do pairs so we can watch each others backs at least?”
“Agreed. Is everyone in accordance with that?”
When everyone had nodded, Patton put his hand in the middle. “We’ve gotta have a team cheer!”
“Umm. Alright. Laser Tag on three?” Logan said.
‘Why not! One, two, three!”
A very much not-in-time chorus of “Laser Tag” rang out, leaving everyone involved vaguely confused but overall enthusiastic about the effort.
“LASERS!” A cry came very belatedly, from the green team’s side of the room.
“Remus, what the heck,” said Ethan, “You can’t just copy the opponents!”
Before the green team could get their act together to create a real team cheer, it was time for the match to begin. The attendants opened the door and 12 screaming adults flooded into the battlefield.
Purple team split off as one, taking a left towards the orange base. Logan took point, leading them purposefully into enemy territory.
“Here.”
They split to opposite sides of the path, concealing themselves behind walls and checking out the area for any other players. The timer on the grace period counted down the last 5 seconds.
“5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Now!”
“Yeet,” said Virgil quietly, as he stepped out and dashed towards the base, firing continuously. The orange team was lying in wait though, so Virgil went down quickly. He stepped back to let his vest come back online, and his teammates went on the offensive. Trading shots, the purple team soon took over the base. 3 seconds of capturing later, the base went down to Patton’s blaster.
“Yes!” Patton pumped his fist in the air, before exchanging high fives with his teammates. “Time to split up.”
“Virgil, with me?” asked Logan.
“You’re on. See you at the end of the war, you guys!”
They departed quickly, leaving Patton and Roman to head off in the opposite direction. From then on it was a desperate clash of missed shot and curses, hits and cheers, everyone battling for the top. After one particularly hectic exchange, Roman found himself sheltered behind a wall for a moment to catch his breath, Patton nowhere to be found. Then, footsteps approached and Roman readied his blaster. A figure rounded the corner, but they had on purple lights. He lowered his gun, even as the figure solidified into an urgently moving Ethan.
“Wait I thought you were-”
“Shhh, there are people coming.” Ethan silenced him, and crouched close to get in behind the wall. Roman could feel him pressed close to his side, breathing heavily from all the running, and it took him a moment to get back focused on the game.
Some orange team players rounded the bend, but they hadn’t exposed Ethan’s and Roman’s hiding spot yet. The walked past, laughing, until Ethan stepped out behind them and cleanly shot them both in the back.
“What-”
“Let’s go!” Ethan grabbed him and pulled him to his feet, running off away from the now incapacitated orange players. Roman soon found himself dragged into another hiding spot, Ethan standing in front of him.
“Nice makeup. Doesn’t exactly help you hide though, does it?”
“I’d say it helps me slay the opposition.” Roman was quite proud of himself for that one, considering how hard it was to form coherent sentences right this moment.
“Oh, now does it?” Ethan chuckled, “Well, you certainly slay me.”
He leaned in, and Roman felt his breath catch.
“May I?” It was whispered, low enough for only him to hear.
“Oh. Sure.” That’s what he went with? Sure? You just said sure, Roman? Of all the idiotic-
His thoughts didn’t last long, because at that point he was pushed up against the wall and Ethan’s mouth was on his, hot and insistent. In just one moment, he was left breathless, what a surprise and starstruck, before Ethan was already pulling away.
The lights on Ethan’s vest changed, blinking green as his spy power-up timed out.
“Oh-” Roman came to the realization that he was, most definitely, screwed.
In one smooth movement, Ethan stepped back, raised his blaster and shot him, aiming right over his heart. He winked, barely visible in the dark, before turning on his heel and disappearing around the corner.
“I am so fucked.”
Back in the lobby, a new line appeared on the scoreboard.
“Captain America was shot by The Winter Soldier, 25 points.”
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Black Cat
Welcome to the beast! I did toy with splitting this into chapters, but I like a long one shot and hopefully you all do too.
So, I voted for the superhero prompt and was psyched when it was picked but then drew a blank about how I wanted to approach it. Then I listened to ‘To die for’ by Sam Smith and that was it. It was supposed to be a short little fluffy story… then this thing called plot came marching in, knocked me off my chair and took over. So now there’s fluff AND plot AND a lot of words.
Summary: Sanji’s pretty sure he’s found the love of his life, shame it’s the elusive criminal he’s supposed to be catching. Superhero AU
Rating: M for Language, brief mention of violence and a limey moment that can be skipped (Do we still use the terms lemon and lime for sexy times?)
Words: 18k, buckle in kids.
@sannamiweek
This can also be found on FFN and AO3
Enjoy
“Ah, Mademoiselle, what a pleasant surprise.”
The lady before him gave a short laugh as she turned, jewellery still in hands, as she gave him a once over.
“Pleasant indeed, have you been working out?” She said in a sultry tone. He knew she was trying to get under his skin, and whilst it was working, he didn’t miss the way her eyes drank him in.
He tried to keep his cool, he wouldn’t be had this time. “I have, there’s a certain Black Cat that I have to keep up with after all.” He said as he began to walk closer, something that her keen eyes instantly picked up on and tensed, ready for whatever move he made.
“Well, I’m flattered, of course.” Her casual words betrayed by the way she took a step back, eyes assessing the room for an exit.
There was a tense moment as they both watched each other, trying to anticipate the others move.
“As ravishing as you would look in them, you know I can’t let you leave with them.”
“That’s such a shame, I really like them.” She pouted and started to play with the gems. “I feel like these would really suit me, especially this one.” She held the diamond necklace up to her neck and laid it across her bust, smirking. Although his eyes were covered by black glasses, she knew he couldn’t keep his eyes on her face.
“Is it hot in here or is it just me?” She looped the jewels through her arms and let them slide down as she pulled at the black leather away from her body with one hand and fanned with her other.
He was frozen at this point and she used it to her advantage. With him like this, she walked towards him, making sure to swing her hips and start playing with the zip hiding her cleavage.
Once she was in front of him, she ran her hands along his shoulders, moving them up to cup his face and move it to one side. She leaned in closer, so her body was pressed against his. At this point his face was bright red, extending further than his mask.
She sighed in his ear before whispering, “Thanks for the jewels.” And then kissed his cheek, leaving a red lipstick mark. “See you next time.”
She shoved him down in his stupor and he watched in a haze as she suddenly took off running across the store. She climbed up the wall, giving him a lovely view of her behind, and out of the open window, which she’d clearly used to break in.
She was breath taking.
.
.
.
Black Cat once again succeeds in stealing jewels, leaving Stealth Black in the dark.
Sanji sighed.
He was in his favourite café as he read the newspaper and although it was frustrating, he couldn’t bring himself to be angry at the headline. They weren’t wrong after all. She was successful and he was still in the dark as to how to capture her. She was smart, beautiful, sneaky, gorgeous, tactical and did he mention she was an absolute bombshell?
He rubbed his hands across his face. He definitely shouldn’t be thinking about her like that. He should be thinking about how to capture her. Yet, he didn’t really want to. She was a petty thief more than anything, she’d never hurt anyone and left the place with minimal damage. Plus, she brightened his day with her wit and sunny smile when she saw him.
His thoughts were interrupted by another voice, “Would you like another refill?”
His head shot up from the newspaper and was met with a young waitress holding a coffee pot. He gave a grateful smile, nodding and going back to his newspaper.
“Black Cat, huh? I don’t mind her; she seems harmless enough.”
Sanji chocked out a fake laugh, hiding his chagrin, “Yet powerful enough to take on Black Stealth, she must be something alright.”
She shrugged. “Black Stealth is something himself, I’m sure he’ll snag her someday.” There was something in her tone that made him look back up at her. She was giving him a funny look, like he was missing an inside joke that he wasn’t privy too.
And with that, she took a step back and turned around. He wouldn’t think anything of it, but her tone was odd, and did she wink at him before turning? He felt a blush rising on his cheeks at the thought but shook his head. Yes, he had a weakness for women but there was only a certain woman on his mind right now. The one who was suddenly leaving lipstick marks on his cheek.
It had been almost 5 months since she’d come into his city. No one knew anything about the Black Cat, she came out of thin air one day when she’d picked a lock to get into a high-end jeweller. He’d been stupefied back then; she was bent over looking at something and gave him the greatest look at her lovely behind in her tight leather cat suit. Then she’d turned to look at him (her suit really was tight, ahem). Her mask covered the middle of her face, starting below her eyes brows and stopping at her nose but revealing big amber eyes with eyelashes fluttering against flushing cheeks and scarlet red lipstick adorning her lips. Adorable cat ears donning her head.
He’d been frozen just looking at her, but then she’d breathily said his superhero name, almost like a moan, and he completely shut down after that. She’d winked at him, gave him a flirty wave and had taken off. He was in euphoria for a couple of minutes after, until he’d realised that he’d just let a robber escape his clutches.
Since then, they’d faced off quite frequently. Every time she used her charms against him, becoming bolder each time. They’d never actually clashed like other villains he’d faced up against, then again, he wasn’t so besotted with the others. He’d faced off against women villains before, he took greater care with them than he did to men, but he always got them in the end. But her. She was something else. It was love at first sight and whilst he’d hoped it’d pass… it didn’t. Every time he saw her, he fell a bit harder. It put him in quite a pickle.
The worst thing though, was that they actually got along. Considering their opposing sides, they had banter and over time, he was feeling like he was getting to know her. She was just intoxicating. As the days went on, he moved further and further away from catching her, simply because he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to capture her. But he had an obligation to. He was a superhero and whilst she was a very smart, crafty thief, she shouldn’t be a match for him. But she was.
.
.
.
It was one of Sanji’s days off and normally, he kept superhero work for night-time only but liked to keep an eye on the news during the day, just in case. It was incredibly rare that the police couldn’t deal with criminals during the day, the night-time was when the real low lives showed their faces in this city.
When the radio was suddenly interrupted by a special report, he felt his ears prick. It was telling civilians to stay indoors and avoid the city centre because a shoot-out had broken out. So far, no lives were lost but a few injured.
No more had to be said and Sanji was abandoning his relaxing day off. He’d never forgive himself if someone innocent got shot.
Stealth was a big part of his image and his suit was black for a reason, to blend in during the night. Right now, the only thing that fit in was his blond hair and tiny bit of yellow on his suit. Normally he would activate the invisibility feature on his suit, but he wanted the attention on him when he arrived. This way the shooting would be aimed at him and not civilians.
He landed with a thump on the police officers’ car just outside of city centre and all heads whipped towards him. He could see the relief on a few of their faces when they recognised him. It must be worse than he thought.
“Focus on civilian safety, get them out and I’ll deal with the gang.” Stealth Black said, launching himself back into the sky.
From above, Stealth Black could see carnage. A car was alight with two officers trapped behind it, surrounded by the gang who were slowly spreading themselves out and strategically using abandoned cars to move forward. His eyes narrowed at their organisation. So it looked like this might have been planned and they weren’t normal thugs.
Over the past few weeks, he’d heard rumours about a gang that had moved into the city. They were apparently recruiting members but nothing other than word of mouth had surfaced. He couldn’t do much else than keep his ear to the ground. Maybe this was the start of it.
He swiftly dropped behind the burning car to retrieve the stranded officers. “Are you injured?” His eyes scanned and found no more than a couple scrapes and a lot of dirt.
They both shook their heads.
“Keep still and brace yourselves.” Without another word, he wrapped his arm around each of them, stood up and activated the boosters in his boots as he kicked the flaming vehicle in front of him towards the gang. This gave him the opening he needed as gang members jumped out the way and shouted to each other about his arrival. He left the officers just outside the shooting zone, where an ambulance was on hand and took off again without a word.
He ran through the shooting zone, bullets flying past him or ricocheting off his suit as their attacks were now focused on him and started taking them down one by one. They were smart thugs, but they were still human, he laid off the boosters that helped increase his kicking power and that seemed to be enough.
He ducked as a thug swung their gun, attempting to hit him in the face and Stealth Black swept his leg out to knock the guy off his feet. Once the thug was down, he brought his foot down sharply onto his chest and heard a few ribs break. He shouldn’t be getting up quickly.
The gang, sensing they were losing to one person, all swarmed him in an attempt to overwhelm him. He backflipped into a handstand, bringing his legs out vertical and spun, hitting some of the thugs that were close enough and stunning a few before they got too close.
“Ben, no!” A scream tore through the air.
Stealth Black’s head whipped in the direction of the voice, only to find a child running across the shooting zone. The child had escaped the grasp of his mother as they were being moved to safety and now the police were having a hard time holding the mother back too.
He knew that no thugs took sympathy, regardless of whether it was a child or not and that if he didn’t get to the child quick enough, one of the thugs would shoot.
Whilst he was distracted, a thug saw an opening and hit Stealth Black on the back of the head. He was dazed for a moment and the world went silent as he desperately tried to catch up. A thug wrapped their arms around him to hold him in place as more gathered. He snapped out of it when he heard the mother screaming again for her child and his senses came back to him.
Stamping his foot down, he created a shockwave of power that launched him, and the thug wrapped around him, into the air whilst the other thugs went sprawling. He sharply dug his elbow into the thug behind him and watched as he fell to the ground below.
Looking again for the child, he was met with a sight that chilled his blood and made time stop moving. One of the gang members had seen the child and was raising his gun ready to shoot. He could feel the adrenaline pumping through him, as he took off charging with everything he had towards the child. Whilst he prayed for a miracle, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to reach the child in time and his brain was working through every possible option to overcome the inevitable.
The bullet was already flying towards the child, who was stood still, paralysed by fear.
He could feel his heart pounding in his ear as his stomach plummeted.
He wasn’t going to make it.
Suddenly the sky turned dark and electric crackled through the air.
“Thunder tempo!”
And then there she was. God, she was so overwhelmingly beautiful. Wind whipped around her face, making her hair fly through the air as a ferocious lightening bolt hit the gun wielding thug. She swooped in and picked the, now crying, child up in her arms and used her baton to deflect the bullet. Interesting, he’d never seen her the baton before, maybe it was new?
When he would look back on this moment in the future, he would this as the tipping point of when he started to fall in love with her and confirm that she wasn’t a villain.
Any tension suddenly left, as the last crispy thug fell to the floor and the crowd around them cheered.
Black Cat looked completely bewildered as people came closer to start congratulating them both. The mother of the child came weeping towards her, thanking her profusely again and again. She managed to stutter out a quiet you’re welcome, as she handed over the child in her arms to the mother.
However, as the camera crews started to come over, he could see her starting to panic. Her eyes darting around the area for the easiest escape route in all the mayhem. To his delight, she’d never had that look around him. She always seemed at ease… probably because she had the upper hand, but he still liked that she was relaxed around him- even if he was a hero.
She jumped when he strolled up to her, his arm resting on the small of her back to get her attention. He murmured in her ear, “You want to get out of here?”
Whilst his words were supposed to be overly flirtatious, she gave him a relieved smile regardless. “Please.”
“Hold on then.” The arm on her back snaking around her waist and they were airborne. Her screaming into his ear as she strangled him in a chokehold and him laughing.
He soon regretted laughing when they landed on the top of a roof building because she soon hit him over the head and was lecturing him about warning someone first before doing that.
She was still angry when he suddenly wrapped her up in a hug and all the anger bled out of her when she heard his heavy breathing.
“Are you okay?” She asked, as she tentatively wrapped her arms around him, unsure what to do.
“I thought he was going to die,” his voice small.
Suddenly Black Cat understood, the moment had passed and now he was forced to deal with the emotions. Her arms wrapped around him surely now and rubbed up and down his back in a soothing manner. He couldn’t see it, but she smiled. He really cared, huh.
“But he didn’t.”
“All thanks to you- I can’t thank you enough, I don’t know how to show my appreciation.”
“You don’t have to. I don’t want to see a child die, or anyone innocent for that matter.”
Stealth Black pulled away but clasped her hands in his and blinded her as if face lit up behind his mask and glasses. “I knew you were good. Join me! We’d make a great team.”
“We’d make a fantastic team. But no. I’m not made for that right now.” She hated that his face dropped. “But you’re great at it. It’s fun to watch you in action when I’m not the one trying to escape.”
“You were watching…?”
She cursed herself for getting too comfortable. She’d been sitting there before he even arrived, ready to step in should she need to. He was impressive, it wasn’t something she had seen him do before, commanding officers and skilfully fighting off thugs. “Well, it’s- uh, yeah.” Her shoulders dropped. “But you know, you can show you appreciation by not telling anyone! I have a reputation to upkeep.”
He felt warm inside. She was rough around the edges but a good person at heart and had his back when he wasn’t enough.
She extracted her hands from his grip as he just stared at her. It was of course flattering but she could only deal with his adoring look for so long without feeling… things… for him.
She really needed to go.
But she couldn’t leave without teasing him a bit, butterflies in her stomach or not. The hand on his arm got his attention as she leaned in to leave him with the trademark lipstick mark on his cheek.
What she wasn’t expecting, was for him to use his other hand to pull his mask down enough to reveal his lips and to turn his head.
To kiss her.
On the lips.
The wasn’t part of the plan at all, she frantically thought. He was hesitant for a second, giving her a chance to break the kiss and kept still. When she didn’t pull away, he applied pressure and moved his lips. She found herself melting into the long overdue kiss.
Black Stealth felt like he’d died and gone to heaven, something he would not be upset about right now. The woman he was pretty sure he was in love with was kissing him back and if he heard right, she just sighed into the kiss. He tightened his arms around her, pressing them together as tightly as possible and she reciprocated by angling her head and running her hands through his hair.
As intoxicating as she was, he needed to breath. When he pulled away and looked at her, she was dazed. Eyes glassy, cheeks flushed and smeared red lipstick, most of it was probably on his lips right now but he didn’t care. She was still in his arms, not hitting him for kissing her.
“That probably wasn’t a good idea,” she whispered against his lips, but made no move to pull away.
“Probably not, but I just don’t care. Do you?” He whispered back.
She smiled at the confession. “I like this, it suits you.” Rubbing her fingers against the scruff on his chin. “I have to go.” She said, leaning back in for a quick peck on his lips before she was pulling the mask on his face back up.
He could only nod, not expecting the second kiss. As she began to pull away, he came to his senses and grabbed her hand before she could go. She turned to him with a raised eyebrow.
“I have a feeling this wasn’t a one off and might be part of a gang operation that’s slowly growing. I haven’t heard much, no one has, do you know anything?”
Black Cat considered him for a moment before answering, “Not really. Same as you, only hear say. I hear they’re dangerous and expanding at a fast rate. That’s it.”
Stealth Black couldn’t hide the disappointment on his face, he’d wanted more information. He nodded anyway, thankful that she’d at least been comfortable telling him something, they weren’t exactly on the same side. Him on the ‘good side’ and her sitting in a weird grey area. “Hm, okay, thanks anyway,” he hesitated a moment before continuing, “Just… be careful okay? I don’t want anything happening to you, especially if they get wind that you helped me.”
She squeezed his hand, smiled and turned around. Just as she was about to leap from the roof she stopped, turning her head and said, “Those were on the house, the next kiss will cost you.”
And just like that she was gone.
But he still smiled in triumph. There was going to be a next time.
.
.
.
The gang had finally made their appearance, the shoot-out in city centre had only been their introduction. It was no longer vague rumours.
He’d seen his fair share of petty gangs, but this was nothing like that, they were the real deal. Highly organised and from the few vans he’d busted they were transporting drugs but none of the lower ranking thugs in the gang didn’t know the identity of the boss. Seemed he was pulling the strings behind the scenes, clever. They’d also committed bank robberies and he’d noticed the police were becoming less effective. There was less urgency in their movements, and he got the impression higher ups were being paid off by the gang.
Newspapers were unaffected, though they didn’t pose much of a threat and didn’t know any more than him. They did, however, keep him up to date with what villains were currently on the loose and supposedly they were linked with the new gang starting up. Yet he never bumped into any of these villains.
Things were starting to get out of control, and he got the impression this is what they wanted. Cause chaos, meanwhile, gain the upper hand in underground dealings and they’d be running the city.
Normally he would listen in to the police scanner on his days off or during the night for anything major going on. Now it was eerily silent, apart from the odd drunk driver. Instead he’d now taken to doing nightly patrols to see if he could gain any leads. He did this in his stealth mode so that no one could see him and catch on to what he was doing. Yet he’d found nothing. Not a thing. They weren’t sloppy and it was starting to irritate him.
Just as he was about to turn in for the night, he saw something jump past him on his left. What was someone doing jumping about on the rooftops? He followed the direction they went and what he saw made him feel like he’d finally hit the jackpot.
Kalifa.
She was part of an organisation that he’d captured a couple of years ago. They ran their own form of justice, which included killing people if they saw it fit. They made themselves judge, jury and executioner.
He landed on the roof, several feet away to observe her before he took any action.
“My, my, Stealth Black, long time no see. What can I do for you?”
He stayed silent; she shouldn’t be able to see him in stealth mode.
“I know you’re there. You thought I wouldn’t learn your tricks after last time?”
He sighed and became visible. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m not doing anything illegal, so that’s not any of your business.” She smirked and adjusted her glasses.
“You did escape prison though. How?” He demanded.
Many years ago he’d struggled to capture Kalfia, he was raised not to hit woman which is hilarious for a superhero. He’d always used his Stealth mode to capture them, it’d been a handy feature. However, that mode didn’t prevent blushing and stumbling around on his part. He knew women would always be a weakness and he had to factor that in when he went up against one. Then Black Cat strolled into his life and raised the bar. It’d been a blessing and a curse. He was somewhat immune to other villains’ charms, becoming more effective at catching them… but then he couldn’t catch Black Cat. Not that he really wanted to. But that was a different matter.
“It helps when you have connections,” she drawled coyly. “Enough chit chat though, I have appointments to get to.”
He just managed to throw up his leg and block the kick meant for his abdomen, what he hadn’t expected was for her other leg to come up and clock him around the face.
“You’ve gotten faster, that’s a pain.” He grits out as his head throbbed. Maybe he needed a helmet, everyone liked to hit him there. He backflipped into a handstand to avoid the foot coming down on his head and when he looked, the concrete had cracked from the impact. Okay, he needed to get serious. Except she didn’t let up and he spent his time dodging or blocking her attacks as they came hurtling towards him. “Appointments, huh? I heard you joined the gang that came into the city.”
She gave a short laugh. “Nosey journalists, how do they find this information out? Maybe there’s a rat… or feline, on the loose.”
He blocked the last kick, shoved his foot out and sent her falling to the ground. He was exhausted and in trouble. Whilst his stealth mode seemed to be useless around her, he used it anyway, just in case he could throw her off and took out the cuffs from in belt. As she started to pick herself up, he used the boosters on his boots to send a shockwave through the ground and succeeded in throwing off her footing. Using this to his advantage, he flew forward and locked one of her hands in the cuffs but just missed the second hand as her foot came out to trip him.
Stumbling back, he managed to keep himself upright but now had to come up with something else. At least one part of the cuffs was on.
Kalifa started laughing and Stealth Black couldn’t be more confused. “You thought that cheap trick would work again?” She boasted. And he watched in disbelief as the cuff slid straight off of her, falling to the floor with a loud clang. Stealth Black could only gape. What the hell was he going to do? He grit his teeth, he couldn’t hit her but he really needed to. It was the only time in his life that he cursed his father for instilling this belief in him.
“It appears I’ve had an upgrade, whilst you’re still left in the dark. Let’s see if you can keep up now.” She said. Her body became slick and shiny as she surged forward.
He threw his knee up again to block the hit and watched as her leg slipped straight off of his to the side and came back around to hit him in the kidneys. He fell sideways as pain erupted in his side. He couldn’t even block her now.
She was now charging towards him, but his body wasn’t responding. He was fatigued. He managed to lift both his legs and hit them against the roof top, creating an even bigger shock wave to send her flying backwards. It would do nothing but buy him some time.
It started to rain, and he groaned. It’d been clear skies just a few moments earlier but as he looked up, he could see clouds starting to form. He really didn’t need this right now. He was getting his arse kicked and he was going to be rained on. It felt like his luck was running out.
Oh god, she was getting up again. He heaved himself to sit upright whilst his mind whirled for solutions.
“You look like you could use a hand.”
Relief rushed through Stealth Black at the sound of her voice and he turned to see her standing there in all her glory, baton extended at the ready. Black Cat. His knotted stomach calmed, and his heartbeat picked up. Oh thank god.
“You really should learn how to deal with women… apart from me, of course,” she said, winking as she walked past him.
Kalfia looked at Black Cat in disdain. “What a surprise to see you here Black Cat, seems you’re quite the accessory to Stealth Black. I’m sure people would be interested to know that.”
Stealth Black had no idea what was going on, but Black Cat’s face screwed up and she went straight on the attack. She whipped her baton for Kalfia’s face, but the woman dodged it. Kalfia started a flurry attack, much like she did with Stealth Black, except Black Cat would allow herself to actually hit the woman. The hits were actually landing this time, did the rain affect Kalifa’s abilities? Black Cat managed to hit Kalifa in the face once and then in the stomach, before sending out a harsh wind from the baton.
Black Cat didn’t give the woman a chance to recover before she was sending a thunder bolt straight through the woman’s chest.
Kalfia’s eyes lost their focus and she opened her mouth to let out a puff of smoke before falling to the floor in a steaming pile.
Stealth Black was speechless. He was in awe of the woman in front of him… and if he was honest, a little turned on. She was a powerhouse. Another quality to add to the list of things he loved about the woman in front of him.
Black Cat turned to him, “Do you still have handcuffs?”
His head filled with images of the lady in front of him in handcuffs… or her using them on in, but he snapped out of it when she coughed and gave him a hard stare.
“Focus, we don’t have time for your daydreams.”
He passed her the handcuffs and she clicked one part around Kalfia’s wrist and the other to the drainpipe up on the roof.
“That should be enough to hold her, she’ll be woozy when she wakes up but make sure to keep her wet and take her to the police as soon as possible.”
“You’ve never been like that with me before.” Black Stealth said.
Nami’s head tilted in confusion before she understood what he meant. “Luckily you’ve never given me a reason to. I used to just bat my eyelashes at you, and you were putty.” She laughed.
“I’m glad, that looks like it hurt.” He walked closer to her and his hands itched to wrap them around her waist, but he wasn’t sure whether he was allowed to. They’d kissed but what if that was too familiar? “What are you doing here by the way? Not that I’m not thankful.”
“Luckily for you, I was passing by and saw she was about to kick your handsome face in. I’m the only one allowed to best you.”
His heart soared at the handsome comment and that she wrapped her arms around his neck, his own hands now making their way around her waist to settle there. The only thing that was odd, was the look on her face. He couldn’t read it. She’d never looked like that before. Normally she was an open book, but he didn’t question it as she pulled his mask down and leaned in to kiss him on the lips.
She sighed into the kiss and tilted her head. Her tongue touched his lips and before he knew it, he’d let her in, and she was playing with his tongue. When they parted, he squeezed her sides, he was just so happy he couldn’t resist. Even though he couldn’t see it, he knew there was a dazed expression on his face, he just couldn’t get enough of this woman.
“What’s the price for that kiss then?” He’d expected her to smile or laugh but he felt his stomach twist when she frowned, eyebrows pinched together in worry.
“Forgive me for what’s going to happen.”
His stomach plummeted but he didn’t get the chance to question what that was meant to mean, she extracted herself quickly from his embrace and was gone.
He felt empty.
.
.
.
Black Cat is the newest member of underground gang
Sanji was at the restaurant on break when he saw the news. He felt like he could be sick.
He went back to work in a daze, and it was only as he was cooking and flipping ingredients in the pan that his mind began to wonder. The puzzle started to piece together. She said she’d been watching him take down the gang… because she was already one of them? That’s why she was there? But why would be intervene and take down some of her own guys? Then again, when she ran into him facing up against Kalfia. Kalfia said she had appointments, was Black Cat her appointment? She was meeting her to join the gang? Or was she already in and they were going to do something? But why stop Kalfia?
‘-quite the accessory to Stealth Black. I’m sure people would be interested to know that.’ That sentence Kalfia had said kept going around in his head. He hadn’t thought anything of it, was she threatening Black Cat? With him? His thoughts were going around in circles and he had no answers coming to mind. He didn’t believe for a second she was a villain, there must be an angle he was missing.
The thing haunting him the most, was her expression as she told him to forgive her. A villain didn’t ask for that. A villain didn’t kiss the hero either.
He had no solid answers to the majority of his questions, but he believed in her and his gut was telling him she needed his help.
.
.
.
It turned out following her was incredibly hard. Normally he was too… overwhelmed after meeting with her to actually pursue her after a robbery. He doubted she’d ever give him the information, but he was curious about her baton. It turned out she could also turn herself invisible using it. It’s like they were made for each other~
He shook his head, now wasn’t the time for fantasies of the two of them but he was seriously thankful that she didn’t use all those moves on him or he’d actually have a hard time with her. He did feel a tiny bit guilty for underestimating her. It did give him an opportunity to use the new feature in his glasses though, the heat signature that Franky had just put in.
Even with that though, he still had difficulty keeping up with her without being caught. She certainly earned the title of cat, she was agile, ducking and diving through alley ways and above rooftops. Where on earth was she going? They were starting to get close to the docks in the rough side of the city. He certainly hoped she didn’t live around here, she could clearly handle herself, but he’d still be worried. Anything could happen in this city.
Since the news broke a week ago, he’d heard absolutely nothing from her. He didn’t exactly know what they were right now, but they’d kissed twice (her initiating the second) and she normally made sure to make an appearance at some point during his week, even if it was fleeting. Something wasn’t quite right.
He was pulled out of his thoughts as she came to a standstill in front of the pier, she appeared to be just gazing out at nothing and for a split second he considered going over to her. But then she was deactivating her invisibility and looking around. He stiffened when she looked straight at him, he thought if might just be chance until she waved and winked at him… she knew he was there? Had she let him follow her? How did she-? Stealth Black smiled to himself, reminded once again how amazing she was. This was planned. Any hesitation he had regarding her allegiance vanished and he kicked himself to doubting her. He knew Black Cat. He should be trusting her.
Ten minutes later and he was in their hideout. Considering it was underground, it had high ceilings, supported by multiple beams or scaffolding where it wasn’t quite complete yet. It did make him wonder how long this took to build and why no one noticed, but then if his information was correct and they were paying off people in high places then it’s really no surprise at all. Nevertheless, the high beams and scaffolding will be handy for him to navigate around here undetected alongside his invisibility.
The voices started to get louder as he made his way further into the hideout. As he entered the large room where the voices were coming from, he saw four men. Three of them were visible and standing in front of the fourth man who was sitting in an even bigger, imposing chair covered in shadows. The three visible men were huge… inhumanly huge.
In front of the group of men was Black Cat, she looked tiny compared to them.
“-and here she comes, crawling back after ruining our gang operation the other week and taking down Kalifa, for no good reason. We should kill you right now for being a rat.” One of the large men walked closer, leaning down over Black Cat.
Stealth Black felt his leg twitch and had to resist the urge to go down there to beat the shit out of him. To speak to her like that and threaten her. He could feel heat working its way up his body, as his anger spiked. Any thoughts were interrupted by her harsh tone.
“Oh cut the shit Kuroobi, if you believe any of that then you’re a fool.” She replied frostily. He’d never heard her voice so sharp and stinging, normally it was smooth and soothing like honey. “Have you not seen the newspaper? You think I want the police to take me as a serious threat? I’m a petty thief, like I want all of the city after me.”
Kuroobi snorted, “Don’t try and make me think that wasn’t you just so you can clear your name with us. You need us now to protect you.”
“And the coincidence that the news broke after Kalifa’s arrest? I told you all along she was the rat and you didn’t believe me. I had to step in, she was having a meeting with Stealth Black-”
“Funny that you mention him. We’ve heard news that you’re involved with him, kissing up on rooftops? You’ve been feeding-”
Stealth Black froze and his body tensed, ready to step in at a moment’s notice, this sounded like it could get ugly.
“Don’t interrupt me!” Kuroobi’s face darkened but stopped talking, “I’ve been keeping tabs on them both. Stealth Black is getting suspicious, I’ve been keeping him entertained- you’re welcome by the way- and he has no leads about what you guys are up to, thanks to me!” She paused and looked at all of them. “So don’t you dare accuse me!”
There was a tense moment as the four men stopped to consider her words, the three men turning to look at the man in the chair.
She was what? Keeping him entertained? His initial reaction was betrayal and hurt before he reminded himself that she knew he was here. She was lying to them to save face.
Kuroobi looked like he was about to argue some more but was interrupted when the deep voice from the shadows interrupted. “Calm down, Kuroobi. We have no reason to accuse her like this, for the time being what she says checks out. She’s our ally after all.” The man’s voice from the chair was calm.
“But boss-” Kuroobi was silenced as the man in the chair got up and made his way from the shadows, slowly walking down the steps in front of him to reach Black Cat.
He was bigger than the other three men, he made them look tiny in comparison. Much taller and vile looking. His calming voice didn’t match the twisted smile on his face. He had shaggy black hair, a long-pointed nose and razor-sharp teeth. He leaned over Black Cat and tilted her chin up so she couldn’t look anywhere else but at him.
“Because allies don’t betray each other and I’m sure Black Cat is smart enough to figure out what would happen if she did. I didn’t get this reputation for nothing.” His voice was still calm but there was an edge to it now, one that was threatening.
Black Cat shoved his hand off of her chin but maintained eye contact. “Well now you know. So stop sending people after me.” She turned to leave and just before she left the room, she called over her shoulder, “Also, I never agreed to killing innocent people when I joined.”
“Shahahaha, but you’ve teamed up with a gang that has no problems with it? You have no moral compass, so don’t get high and mighty on us.” The men continued to laugh as she left without another word.
Stealth Black didn’t miss the way her face screwed up as they laughed.
.
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.
Sanji was tired. It’d been a long week. Between his day job as a chef and spending his nights and days off patrolling, he’d had no time to relax. Since the hideout he’d heard nothing from Black Cat, or the gang, and he was starting to get nervous. His previous conclusion was correct, Black Cat had let him follow because since then he couldn’t find her, no matter how much he wanted to. That meant it would be another night patrolling to try and find her or see if the gang is doing anything around the docks where they were based.
He’d contacted his friend in the police force to try and get details on the gang. He had a name of one key member and description for the illusive boss, but his friend couldn’t tell him anything. Apparently, things were tense within the precinct at the moment, anyone digging too deep into gang activity were moved onto different tasks or sent on a goose chase that led nowhere. He left his friend with what little details he had and told him to let him know if he hears anything else.
When he’d booted up his own computer to do some research, he’d only found snippets of activity from eight years ago. The name Kuroobi popped up in the article and pictures of him and another man that looked similar to the guys from the hideout, but they looked so much smaller. Nothing compared to the huge bulky men from the other night. The article briefly discussed gang activity in villages before they suddenly disappeared.
It was so frustrating, considering the major events that were going on, no one knew anything. He’d never seen anything like it in his time of being a superhero.
Rubbing his face, Sanji walked to his apartment door and prepared himself for a night of more researching and patrolling. Entering his apartment, he took off his shoes and put his bag down on the table next to the door. He took one step in and knew something wasn’t right. There was a breeze. He always made sure windows were locked before he left. He stilled and waited, no noise. But that didn’t mean the place was empty.
He started to migrate through the apartment, back pressed against the wall and tentatively looking around corners to clear rooms. He’d cleared the kitchen and office, by the looks of it nothing had been touched. Odd.
Even though the apartment so far looked untouched, he didn’t let his guard down. Someone might not be after possessions, after all. He breathed out slowly, to calm himself as he stood next to the opening for the living room. Quickly whipping his head round to look in, he met a pair of amber eyes looking back at him.
“Took you long enough, do you know how long I’ve been waiting?”
Sanji had moved away from the wall and was now standing in the doorway, mouth ajar in disbelief at what he was seeing. There Black Cat was in all her glory, seductively stretched out across his sofa, one arm supporting her head and the other propped on her hip. It was like one of his fantasies come true, he had to remind himself not to faint. But then he realised, he wasn’t currently Stealth Black… he was Sanji.
“Uhhhh...” Damn him. He couldn’t think of a single thing to say, he was too shocked.
She stood up, walking to him and rested her hand on his shoulder. “Do you want to sit down?” She asked comfortingly. Black Cat did find it funny, honestly, he looks like he’s seen a ghost, all the colour in his face was gone and he couldn’t string together a single sentence. Almost like when they met, ah good times.
When he sat down, she sat down next to him as well… a bit too closely, which certainly didn’t help his brain with thinking. He ended up blurting out, “I don’t have anything worth stealing!” It was almost worth looking like a fool when she started pealing with laughter. It did cause a blush to appear on his face
“For once, I’m not here for that,” she said once she’d calmed down. She leaned in closer all of a sudden and Sanji had to not think about the breasts pressing against his arm or the hot breath on his ear as she whispered, “I know who you are, Stealth Black.”
His stomach dropped. “How- how do you… when did you- what?!” He couldn’t articulate anything, there was too many questions and his brain couldn’t organise them, they just came flooding out all at the same time.
At least she moved back so she could give him a second to breath, but somehow the hand she put on his knee in a comforting gesture made him even dizzier. “I’ve known since the beginning. All those months ago, just after my first theft I found out. I like to know what I’m up against.”
“Why did you never say anything?”
“There was never a need to and I never told anyone either. That information was just for me.”
He’d calmed down by now and rested his hand over hers on his knee and squeezed it. “Thank you. So, why are you telling me now?”
“Things have changed, my plan is now in tatters. I wasn’t exactly planning on your competence, you have a very handy weakness to women, and then there’s us- ah well, I mean-” Her eyes were as big as saucers as she looked at him, she hadn’t planned on having a discussion about their relationship right now, it’d just slipped out.
“That we’re a couple?”
“Well you’re bold all of a sudden, you couldn’t even form a coherent sentence just a few minutes ago!”
“You wouldn’t have kissed me if you didn’t want to be.” Sanji smirked at her.
“And how are you so sure?”
“Because from what I’ve heard, you use your feminine appeal if the situation calls for it, but you’ve never kissed someone.”
“You’ve been keeping tabs on me?”
“I have a friend in the force, and I ask him about you. I worry about you.” He finished before smirking, “You sure give them a run for their money though.” He remembered his friend begrudgingly admitting how difficult she was when they occasionally encountered her. It appeared she kept her criminal activity according to his schedule.
She snorted, pleased with herself.
He flipped the hand still on his knee so he could tangle his fingers with hers. “I want to be a couple, if you want…” His voice trailing off, unsure.
Black Cat could feel a blush forming on her face and she felt flustered, she nodded and choked out, “After all of this is done.” Normally his face was covered with a mask and glasses but to be at the brunt of such a radiant smile was almost too much, did he even realise how handsome he was? “We still have a gang to deal with and it won’t be easy.”
They were interrupted from any further discussion as her stomach grumbled, Sanji raised an eyebrow looking at her. “When was the last time you ate?”
“I’ve eaten today,” she said flippantly.
Sanji’s eyes narrowed at her vague answer and recalled earlier that she’d been waiting for ages. He looked at his watch, it was almost 8pm. “Come on, let’s go to the kitchen. I’m a chef, I don’t like people going hungry.”
“Oh no really, it’s fine!”
Except he wasn’t listening anymore and left the living room to go to the kitchen down the hall, leaving her to trail behind him, insisting that she didn’t need to be fussed over.
“Don’t you at least want to change first?” She asked. He was still in his suit from work at the restaurant.
“Not right now, I can change later once we’re both fed.” His jacket was now hung-over a bar stool at the kitchen bar, and he was rolling up the sleeves of his shirt as he started getting ingredients out. “Take a seat.” He gestured for her to sit on the other bar stool.
She sighed. No matter what she said he was intent on feeding her and hadn’t listened to a word she said in protest. Giving up, she took a seat and settled on watching him cook. At least from this vantage point she could give him a once over without him catching her, admiring the way his suit fitted him. He turned to ask her something and raised an eyebrow when he caught her red-handed checking him out, or more accurately, his behind. He didn’t need to say anything when she jumped and suddenly averted her eyes to the side, pretending to take in the kitchen.
When he’d finishing plating up the food, he turned and this time she was actually looking around his kitchen. This was almost surreal, having Black Cat in his kitchen eating dinner with him. He felt like he should pinch himself.
This was one of the best things about being a chef. He’d placed the food in front of her and whilst she’d politely waited for him, he didn’t miss the delight on her face when she’d started eating. He enjoyed people enjoying his food.
Whilst they were eating, he started telling her about his day. They’d held conversations in the past and they did actually get along quite well, but it struck him that he knew very little personal details about her. It wasn’t much of a surprise, she was a wanted person after all, and he wasn’t sure whether she’d even tell him.
He stopped talking midstream, interrupting himself, “What about you? Apart from breaking into my apartment, not that I mind, what have you been up to? Actually, I haven’t seen you for a week, have you been okay?”
She considered him for a moment, deciding on what information to give him, “Well, I circled around the city for a bit today before breaking in, to make sure no one was following me. As for my week, I’ve been at work. I’ve being putting Black Cat away, until I could come here. I think there’s people looking for me.”
That was a lot of information to take in, Sanji thought. “There’s people looking for you?” He asked with concern.
“I think I’m being kept tabs on by the gang, I may have cleared some of my name but they’re suspicious. Maybe let’s get into this after we’ve eaten. I have a lot to discuss with you.”
“So, you also work? Similar to myself then. What do you do?”
She smiled coyly, “Trying to find me?”
It hadn’t even occurred to him before, until this very moment, “Wait, have we met? When I’m me and you’re not Black Cat?”
She laughed and looked amused when she replied, “Yes we have, and you barely looked at me. It was both incredibly flattering and a bit rude. You were too hung up over Black Cat in the newspaper.”
Wracking his brain he couldn’t even think of when this may have happened. To be fair, he was always hung up over her… but to ignore her over Black Cat… but then she was Black Cat, so his attention was on her. His head was starting to hurt.
“You know I am actually interested in you behind the mask, right?” He had to clarify this, whilst they were skirting around the topic.
She nodded and smiled, “I kind of guessed when you showed no interest in any women at all, apart from Black Cat.”
It was now his turn to smile, “So, you’ve been keeping track of civilian me and my personal relationships?”
She couldn’t make eye contact as she replied, “You’ve shown a great amount of interest, I wanted to see whether it was genuine or not.”
It was true. At first, she had been curious when he’d ignored her. She knew she was attractive and knew about his weakness to women, but when she’d started to develop feelings for him in return, she was checking to make sure he wouldn’t break her heart.
“Because you like me?” Sanji couldn’t keep the joy out of his voice.
“Well I think we’ve already covered this, why else would I have kissed you?” She rolled her eyes, trying to stamp down the blush.
“I know, I just can’t believe it.” He paused as he considered her words and the meaning running deeper underneath. “I know I have a certain reputation around the city as being weak to women, but that just came from be inability to hit them.” He ran a hand through his hair, trying to pick his words carefully. “I was raised not to hit women; it was ingrained in me and I’ve never been able to shake it off. But please don’t misconstrue it. I’m a one-woman man.”
Next to him, she smiled. She already suspected as much, but it did put her at ease hearing it from him. It appeared she’d picked a good one. She leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Thanks for dinner, let me help wash up.” He didn’t even see her pick up his empty plate as she made her way over to the sink.
They continued discussing their weeks, her hedging around any personal details she wasn’t willing to share yet, as Sanji washed and Black Cat dried.
It was nice, Sanji thought. Having her like this, not on opposing sides and just being domestic. Even if she was still is her costume. It was as close as he could have her for the time being.
It was almost 9.30pm by the time they’d finished, and he made them both a coffee. There was still a lot to discuss. They both settled back on the sofa in the living room, leaving their mugs on the coffee table in front of it.
Before Sanji could say anything, Black Cat put her hand on his arm to stop him. “There’s a lot to go through, so I’m going to go from the beginning and stop me if you have any questions.” She said.
“You’ve now seen the most prominent gang members, they run everything but never go out in the field, so that’s why you’ve never seen them. They pull the strings from behind the scenes. They’re incredibly dangerous and if you go against them, they will ruin your life. They either know everything about you or have enough connections to find out.” She paused. “I’ve never been Black Cat before moving to this city, I’m only here because I want to take them down and this suit provides the people close to me safety. Also, it gave me the opportunity to build a reputation so they’d invite me into their gang, and I could find out what their plan was.”
So he had been right, he’d never been able to find out any information about her prior to her appearance here.
She continued. “The gang is run under Arlong. He’s the boss. Without my mask he’d know who I was instantly. Eight years ago, he ran my village into the ground. We were thriving and happy, but he came in to use it as a test run. He brought criminals into our village and imposed a tax on all of us to ensure our safety from them. The police in our village stood up to them. The woman leading them was my adoptive mother Bell-mère,” she paused for a moment to compose herself (‘Bell-mère, no, Bell-mèrrrrrre’), it still stung. “He beat her and publicly killed her in front of the village to make a point.” A tear escaped and ran down her cheek.
Sanji ground his teeth, not only hearing of how they treated women but for Black Cat. For her to go through all of that… and then to be working for them. His hand reached out to hold hers, his thumb rubbing along the back of her hand to rub along it in a soothing gesture.
She paused, gathering herself, before continuing. “The village agreed afterwards no one else should have to die like that and we obeyed his rules, waiting for the day he’d leave. He finally did and took all the resources with him. I swore to myself I would make it right. For Bell-mère and for my village. I later found out he was producing drugs. There’s a reason why they’re all so big. They’re manufacturing drugs that alter human abilities. They’re unstable and have adverse effects, I refused to take them, but Kalifa did and so have they. They’re inhumanly strong and quick. He thinks with a big enough army, no one will be able to stand in his way, so he can start taking over the region.”
“Shit, this isn’t good.” Okay, so they were in deep trouble. He exhaled loudly and started thinking about what they were going to do.
“I can feel you thinking. I already have a plan in motion. I had one from the very start, but someone came into the picture and I’ve had to alter it. I now need your help.”
He shouldn’t be happy about this situation, but he couldn’t stop himself. She wasn’t a bad guy at all, and she hadn’t planned on using him, she genuinely liked him. She’d made it pretty clear by now that this was the case, but it was just so nice to hear. He cupped her face and brought her into a swift kiss. “I’m all ears, m’dear. The floor is yours.”
She coughed to compose herself from the sudden kiss, “Well, ah, yes. The plan. It turns out I actually am the leak; my friend works in the newspaper and I’ve been leaking information to put pressure on Arlong and his men. I was always going to pin it on Kalifa, I’d mentioned her to Hatchan, Arlong’s right hand man, and he fell for the bait and recommended her to Arlong. He’s not the sharpest tool.” She laughed to herself. “Obviously, I had to move up the schedule once I’d taken her down, with her new abilities you wouldn’t have been able to take her down without exerting force, and I outed myself to the papers myself to try and win myself more time with Arlong. I know where the drugs are and where they’re storing their money. They don’t know about my clima-tact; I’ve worked hard to keep that a secret. It’s the only thing I have against them that they won’t be expecting-”
“Sorry to interrupt, but I was curious about the baton, will you tell me about it?” It wasn’t relevant at all, but there had been so many questions going round in Sanji’s head for weeks and seeing most of them were slowly being checked off, he might as well go for this one too.
Black Cat considered him for a moment, before answering. “I have a friend who’s quite handy and he made it for me, as well as some other gadgets. It’s a weather weapon, I have a degree in climatology and with that knowledge I can control the clima-tact.” She finished proudly.
“So you work in weather?” Sanji considered her for a second, she’d make a beautiful weather lady.
“That’s the first thing you think of after I tell you about a magic weather weapon?” She laughed. “But no, hopefully after all of this is done, I’d like to get into the field.”
“You’re amazing, you know. Doing all of this.” Sanji could feel himself falling deeper into the rabbit hole after talking to her. They’d spoken before during the 6 months he’d known her but not like this. She was a beautiful person, through and through.
Moving closer, Black Cat tucked her head in the crook of his neck. She’d never felt so comfortable around someone before. She could hear his heartbeat picking up and she smiled. He was still so nervous around her, it made her like him even more that he technically had her at the point but still had this kind of reaction around her. She moved her hand to twine with his and his free hand came to rest over their joined ones. “Hmmm, this is nice.”
He didn’t say anything in return, just rested his head on top of hers.
Jolting awake, Sanji woke to a pitch-black room, only the streetlights outside giving a dim glow. He could feel a weight in his hand and looked down to see their hands still loosely joined. She’d stayed. And fallen asleep with him. He wanted to squeeze her, he was so content right now, but he didn’t want to wake her.
Looking at his watch it was only 12am, they hadn’t nodded off for long, but he did feel self-conscious, it’d been a long day and he was pretty sure he smelled. The inner gentleman in him refused to leave her to sleep on the sofa, he’d move her to his bed, and he’d sleep on the sofa after taking a shower.
As he picked her up, she stirred and tucked herself in closer to him, mumbling incoherently. How cute. He laid her down, using a spare blanket to lay over her and moved over to his draws to pull out sleeping bottoms before going to the adjoining bathroom to shower.
It was a quick shower, only about ten minutes and he was walking back into his bedroom with a towel wrapped around his shoulders trying to get the moisture out of his hair. He was careful not to shine the light from the bathroom onto her face, only using it so he could make it out the room without stubbing his toe.
There was a sense of déjà vu as he looked at the bed to see her laying before him, amber eyes meeting shocked blue ones. “Oh, you’re awake, did I wake you? Sorry.”
She completely ignored what he said, “You really weren’t joking about working out, you’re ripped.” Except her tone wasn’t joking or coy like usual, she sounded in awe. She’d always known he had a good body; it was hard to miss in his suit but seeing him without a top on. He was lean but muscular. Defined arms, even though he didn’t use his hands to fight, broad shoulders that tapered down to a trim waist and six pack. What a view.
And just like that, the room was flooded with tension as they took each other in. Their eyes moving along the others body before resting on the other’s face. For once, not in a dangerous situation or where they’re trying to read the other’s movements. Sanji could feel his heart pounding and in the quiet room, he wondered if she could hear it too. Her eyes were huge, and they were slowly drawing him in. He’d never seen her look at him like that and he had to convince himself to swallow and breath to keep a level head.
He didn’t realise he’d moved until his legs hit the bed. She was looking up at him now, pushing herself to sit up and her arms slid along his arms to grab the towel around his neck to pull him down, so his face was a hairsbreadth away from hers. His arms came down on either side of her face to support himself as he leaned over her. They slowly drew in closer to each other until they met in the middle to kiss. This wasn’t like any of their other kisses. It started slowly, lips brushing against each other until their kisses became longer as more pressure was applied. They started to become hot, needy and desperate as Sanji slipped his tongue into her mouth. Perhaps it was because it was so long overdue, the time of night or because they were about to tread dangerous waters with this gang takedown.
None of those thoughts mattered though as Black Cat tugged the towel down closer to her, becoming frustrated by the distance still between them and pulled back to nip at his bottom lip. It didn’t take much more than that for him to change his position, his hand sliding along the thigh furthest away from him to part them and make space for himself. She had no issue with this, parting her legs in invitation as he settled his body in between them, no longer leaning over her. She gasped as his body settled against hers and he used the opportunity to slip his tongue back into her mouth. Her hands moved from the towel and pushed it away so she could thread her fingers through his hair, their mouths moving together in rhythm. She earned a groan of approval from him.
They broke apart for a brief second to catch their breaths, before meeting again for another hurried kissing, the bodies slowly starting to move against each other’s. His hands moved along the leather of her suit and groaned when his hand pressed up against the side of her breast. Her body was something else. He nibbled her lip in parting before he moved down to the side of her neck, leaving a trail of blazing hot kisses. She made the sexiest little noises and the way she was wiggling her hips was driving his crazy. He could feel himself hard and ready, only getting worse with each of her gasps, did she know how much he turned her on?
She did in that moment as she ground her hips fully against him. He could feel the heat through her suit and could only imagine how wet she was. Hotly against her neck, he said, “You’re so sexy,” and squeezed her breast over her suit. The moan he received in response was almost dizzying and she slowly started a rhythm of moving her hips to rub against him, her legs tight against his waist, locking him in place. Not that he was going anywhere, his hips moving along with hers and pulling back to thrust against her.
He pulled away to look down at her face. She was breath-taking and he couldn’t believe that he was in this moment with her. His hand moved from her breast up to the zip to slowly pull it down but hesitated. He looked at her face again and was met with smouldering amber eyes, they hazily looked back at him in question as to why he’d stopped. Amber eyes filled with lust… behind a black mask.
He sighed and pulled away to sit up on the back of his heels, trying to reason with himself and resist the urge to ravish her. His hands running through his hair in frustration.
“Sanji, what’s wrong?” She asked, sitting up in concern. Moments ago they were filled with lust, now they reflected nothing but worry.
“I can’t do it like this,” he said despairingly. One of her hands moved to his shoulders to comfortingly rub along them and encourage him to continue speaking. “I don’t want our first time to be like this. You deserve more. I want to wine and dine you first, know everything about you and not have a gang looming over us. And I completely understand you might be uncomfortable taking your mask off right now, but I want to see you properly when we do this. You. Not Black Cat.”
Oh, she’d picked a good one alright. “You’re right. It’s okay.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to offend you. I want you; I really do but, I want everything.” He couldn’t bring himself to look at her yet.
Hands moved to cup his jaw, bringing him up to face her. “You’re the sweetest man I’ve ever met. You’re right though, now’s not a good time for this. Come here.” She removed her hand from his shoulder and opened her arms to hug him.
He returned the hug eagerly, bringing her up to him, squeezing her to him and making her laugh. “Please stay the night here though, I’ll take the sofa, I’d worry if you went out this late.”
“Just stay here,” she said matter-of-factly, and he had to ignore the way he twitched in his trousers, he was trying not to think about her in bed with him right now. Pure thoughts, pure thoughts, he chanted to himself in his head.
He nodded, composed. “If you want me to. I have a spare change of clothes; you can keep the mask on. No pressure.”
She went to change, coming back to join him, mask still on but cat ears off. He was laying on his back and to her delight, he hadn’t put a shirt on. They wouldn’t be doing anything tonight, but the eye candy wasn’t something she’d turn down. He lifted his arm for her when she entered the room and she accepted the silent invitation to cuddle into his chest, her hand resting over his heart.
.
.
.
He woke up alone, the light peeking through the curtains and the spot cold where she’d slept last night. He almost groaned in disappointment, he really wanted to wake up to her, but his eye caught the brightly coloured note on his chest.
Went home to shower. I’ll be back shortly.
We still have a lot of planning to do.
xxx
This time his groan was for another reason, the thought of showering with her and his mind running through last night. He’d done the right thing… but still. Shaking away any further thoughts, he went to have his own shower and prepare for when Black Cat got back. What should they have for lunch? Or would she be back in time for breakfast?
She wouldn’t be back in time for breakfast. She’d been gone for hours and he was starting to worry. Sanji couldn’t help but fret, her note had said shortly. He’d begun pacing around the apartment, he didn’t want to be clingy and go looking for her, but he made a deal with himself, if she wasn’t back in 30 minutes, he’d put his Stealth suit on and go out.
Ten minutes later, he could hear the windowsill in his bedroom opening. He sprung up from the sofa in the living room (in vain he’d been trying to distract himself) and was met with a very dishevelled Black Cat. Her normally immaculate hair was all over the place, she was heavily breathing and… was that a rip in her suit? “Holy shit, are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?” He was in front of her, arms roaming across her body to look for any cuts. When it ran along her waist, she cringed, and his fingers came back with blood on them. “You’re bleeding?!” He said almost hysterically.
“Sanji, calm down. It’s not as bad as it looks. I was caught off guard. It’s a flesh wound really.” She tried to reassure him. “There was no point in showering though, I’m a mess again,” she tried to joke to lighten the mood, but it fell flat. He was too concerned.
He could kick himself. Here he was, in his comfortable apartment, whilst something happened to her. “Tell me what happened.”
She’d borrowed another of his shirts, so she could peel down her uniform whilst preserving her modesty and he could deal with the cut on her waist. It was just a flesh wound, but it didn’t make him feel better. As he cleaned her up, she was telling him about what had happened. She’d been right, Arlong had not been convinced and instead sent someone to just dispose of her. The thug had caught her by surprise on the way back and they’d scuffled, she’d struggled to get the upper hand but when she did, there hadn’t been any more issues.
“So, where is he now?”
“…Well, that’s the thing.” She paused, as if thinking about how to phrase this. “He’s passed out outside in the alley way, with zip ties around his hands and feet. He’s not going anywhere anytime soon but it does mean we need to strike tonight. I wanted to do it in a few days’ time, but we don’t have that luxury anymore. Arlong won’t like him not returning, he’ll know something’s wrong.”
Sanji rubbed his forehead, this was a nightmare, but he agreed with her. “Any plans for the body? We can’t leave him in my apartment, nor can we hand him into the police because they’re being paid off.”
“Well, I do have one idea… you said you have a friend in the police?”
.
.
.
“What did you say to get him to come here?” Black Cat had already shared her concerns with texting him outright, in case someone saw, or their messages were being monitored.
“I asked him if he wanted to come over for lunch,” he replied casually.
Her eyebrows shot up, “Seriously?! I told you to be discreet but where’s the urgency, we can’t leave an unconscious body outside?!”
“I never invite him for lunch.” He told her, deadly serious. “He’ll know something’s wrong.”
She cocked her head in confusion, they were friends, right? Anything else she had to say was cut off as there was a knock on the door.
Sanji looked through the peephole and opened the door. The other guy looked at Sanji, a bored expression on his face but changed to one of alarm as he saw Black Cat peering over Sanji’s shoulder. His hand went to the gun on his hip and hissed out, “What the hell is she doing here?”
Sanji’s face turned dark as he put himself fully between the man at the door and Black Cat. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, shitty bastard?”
“I’m obeying the law! She’s a criminal, I don’t forget that when a woman bats her eyes at me, unlike you, pervert.”
“What did you call me?”
“Per-vert.”
“Moss head!”
Black Cat could feel her temper thinning as the two grown men in front of her descended into childish bickering. It was the last straw as they both grabbed each other’s collars, tugging at each other. She walked over to them, hitting them both on the back of the head. “Would you two focus! We’re against the clock.”
It turned out Sanji’s police friend was actually a childhood friend named Zoro. They had an… interesting friendship, they were like brothers; easily descending into arguing and fighting, but clearly had each other’s backs like family. Sanji had reassured her that Zoro’s nicknames for him were way behind him. He’d admitted when he was younger, his soft spot for women was a bit more than just refusing to hit them, but he’d grown up since then and the moss head now used it to get on his nerves. She understood he was still a bit perverted; she’d seen that many times during their encounters, but it appeared to be with just her, he wasn’t the least bit interested in Kalifa and she was a stunning woman.
But regardless of their relationship, it was quite clear that Zoro didn’t trust her, no matter how much Sanji waved him off.
That didn’t stop her teasing him though, “Are you just annoyed you’ve never been able to catch me?” She smirked at him.
His face went red in annoyance and he huffed, turning his face to the side and refusing to look at her. It didn’t help that Sanji was next to her, throwing him looks too.
Before anything could start up again, she started talking about her plan. She wanted Zoro to take the guy from the alleyway into the police station but under the guise of public intoxication to get him out of the way for the time being and without anyone being paid off by Arlong to tip him off. She and Sanji would sneak into the hideout tonight.
Zoro wasn’t pleased about being left out of taking down the gang and it took some explaining from Black Cat to make him understand. They were dangerous and he had no disguise, even if Arlong was behind bars, anyone in his life wouldn’t be safe. Arlong had all kind of connections. She would be calling him in, with the rest of the police force, when they were down, and the drugs would be with them. Reluctantly he agreed but told them to contact him in case things went pear shaped.
After their planning, Sanji went down with Zoro to get the guy and make him look drunk. In other words, pouring alcohol on his clothes so he reeked. He’d be disorientated enough when he finally woke up to pass for drunk.
“You sure about her?” Zoro nodded up to Sanji’s apartment, referencing Black Cat.
Hands in his pockets, Sanji nodded. “Absolutely. She’s not a bad person.”
“She’s a criminal.”
“She’s a petty thief- and she’s only doing it to take down Arlong.”
Zoro considered his words and examined Sanji’s face. Not a hint of doubt.
“Worried about me?” Sanji said, smirking at the other man.
“Tch, no.” He responded in agitation.
They loaded to man into Zoro’s police car. Zoro was about to go but stopped as he opened the door, “Good luck tonight, call if you need me.” He got into the car but before he closed the door he called out, “You make a disgusting couple,” and slammed the door, not giving Sanji a chance to respond.
In his own weird way, Zoro had just given his approval.
Sanji smiled before making his way back up to his apartment and Black Cat. They still had to flesh out more details.
.
.
.
“You’re sure about this?” Stealth Black whispered to Black Cat, as they stood in front of a secret entrance she’d made for when this day came. “If you want a few more days to plan, you’re welcome to stay at my place.”
She rolled her eyes. “My plan’s always been the same, only now I have an accomplice. So this way it’s not impossible. Do you trust me?” She looked at him, holding eye contact.
“With my life.” Was his blunt response.
“Then we can do it. Let’s go.”
They’d gone down to the pier cloaked in invisibility. Black Cat had used that very moment to show a handy feature, she also had heat tracking so they could keep up with one another. The ears of her costume came down to become glasses when she needed them. He mentioned the similarity of her glasses with his and she waggled her eyebrows at him cheekily, casually mentioning her tech guy knew his, Franky. Where did he think his guy suddenly got the idea from?
“Right, so we first locate the drugs and money, then we pick them off one by one, that’s our only chance. It’ll only be Arlong and the other three right now, maybe a few strays that aren’t out and about but they’re easy to deal with. It’s those four we have to keep separate.” Stealth Black nodded, taking in the information she gave him.
Black Cat lead them, both masked in invisibility as they navigated through the hideout via the beaming and scaffolding near the ceiling. They were close to the main room where Arlong generally stayed and overheard him, his voice commanding. “What do you mean he hasn’t returned? Where the hell is she now?”
Another voice responded but was too quiet to make out, almost as if they didn’t want to be heard.
“You don’t know where Black Cat is? Did I not make my instructions clear? Don’t return without her body.” Arlong shouted and the body came crashing through the opening. “What the hell are you looking at? Go with him.”
Other bodies scurried out, picking up the man crumpled against the wall.
Stealth Black frowned and looked at the woman in front of him in worry. He wanted her dead and he couldn’t stop imagining it, his heart constricting. Over his dead body. She’d make it through this alive, she’s scarified enough.
Amber eyes turned to him, whispering, “Don’t worry, if they think I’m still out there, they won’t suspect I’m in here and-” she grinned, “-Arlong’s emptied out the place for us.”
Continuing forward, Black Cat did an exceptional job navigating their base and within minutes of entering they were dropping down from the ceiling to land in front of the door. It’d taken her a week to find this room, they’d kept it well hidden and by the looks of it only Arlong and his three most trusted men knew about it, as following lower ranking gang members had led to nothing. She’d had to follow Kuroobi, which was a risk, but it’d paid off and then opening it had been a cinch. They kept their loot in this room, both the money and merchandise. They appeared smart but clearly weren’t, why would you keep two valuable parts of the business together?
But she’d gotten cocky. Hearing Arlong send people out looking for her gave her confidence and she’d entered the room with very little precaution, Stealth Black following in after her, his back to her as he checked to make sure no one was coming.
That’s how they now found themselves face to face with Hatchan and Chew. Chew had been talking to Hatchan before they both heard the door open. Black Cat stilled as the other two men looked just as surprised to see her suddenly appear, Stealth Black still none the wiser as he inspected the hallway. He did turn when she suddenly started tapping his back to get his attention.
“It looks like we’re in undetec…ted,” Stealth Black finished slowly as he turned to see the situation in the room. “Shit.”
Chew looked unimpressed, raising an eyebrow at their carelessness. Hatchan laughed, “Word got to us what actually happened with Kalifa, so Arlong took action.”
Of course it did, Black Cat bit her cheek. There was too many threads dangling in her plan, trust one of them to trip her over so close to the end. Oh well, they’d planned to take them down anyway, this section would just be harder than the rest. At least Arlong and Kuroobi didn’t know they were here yet.
“Hatchan, you take care of them, I’ll let Arlong and Kuroobi know.” Chew said.
“Stealth, you’re in charge of Hatchan, I’ll take Chew.” Black Cat said and Stealth Black nodded back to her. Chew snorted in derision, but still tensed, ready for her attack. They both moved at the same time towards their targets.
“It’s ridiculous to think you can take me on. You’re inferior to me.” Chew spat out at Black Cat.
Her clima-tact out, Black Cat suddenly extended it, so it shot out to hit Chew in the face and he stumbled back, not expecting it. He recovered quickly, seemingly taking her seriously now and shooting forward to punch her. She jumped to the side barely missing it. Right, increased strength and speed, she reminded herself.
Across the room, Hatchan had drawn his sword to use against Stealth Black, something he wasn’t worried about as Zoro had used his kendo sticks against him when they were younger. Stealth Black did glance over to Black Cat to make sure she was okay and watched as he butted Chew in the stomach with her clima-tact.
“You should keep your eyes on your opponent,” Hatchan said and swung his sword towards Stealth Black’s head, but he managed to bend backwards at the last minute to dodge it. He was a few hairs shorter now though. He launched himself into the air to avoid any more sword attacks and came flying down to deliver a swift kick to Hatchan’s face.
So far, Chew had only managed to nick Black Cat with a hit on her shoulder and trip her twice. He was getting more and more frustrated; she was quick on her feet and he couldn’t land a hit. He tried to rush her, throwing constant punches and not allowing her to respond, until he finally cornered her against the wall. She ducked when his fist came flying towards her, his fist colliding with the wall and going through it. Whilst he was stuck, she moved around him but wasn’t expecting him to rip out part of the cement wall and throw it at her. She went down with a scream and just as he was about to kick in her face, Hatchan came flying towards Chew, crashing into him and through the other still intact wall.
Stealth Black was at her side, helping her sit up. He’d seen Chew about to hit her in the face and recklessly kicked Hatchan towards the pair. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I just wasn’t expecting it. It’s my own fault.” She said, now standing. “Contact Zoro and let him know there’s gang members on the streets, they can easily be handled. They’ll be downtown, the industrial estate, tell him to grab some trusted police officers too.”
They both paused as they could hear footsteps moving towards the room they were in, they nervously looked towards Chew and Hatchan, who still hadn’t gotten back up since being launched into the adjoining room. They looked at each other and nodded, both instantly understanding the other.
Kuroobi entered the room and looked furious as he saw his fallen comrades. He appeared to just stand there a second, before he called out. “Come out here you little rat, I know you’re here.” He turned around, scanning the room and locked onto something in the corner of the room. He launched himself across the room, his punch being blocked but what he wasn’t expecting was someone to come from the other corner and smack him across the head.
From the floor, he watched as the person in front of him revealed themselves to be Stealth Black and the one who had the audacity to knock himself to the floor was none other than Black Cat herself, smirking down at his stupefied face, clima-tact resting on her shoulder.
He picked himself up as Black Cat and Stealth Black tensed. “I’m stronger and faster, if you think you can beat me, you’ve got another thing coming.”
“Black Cat, move the money and drugs to another location, I can deal with this.” Stealth Black said, not taking his eyes off of Kuroobi. She nodded to moved towards the money and just as Kuroobi was about to move to stop her, he had to block off Stealth Black who had come running towards him.
Kuroobi and Stealth Black were then locked in flurry attacks. Punches and kicks being thrown from the both of them and they only just about managed to block them. However, Kuroobi found an opening and punched Stealth Black in the abdomen, sending him to the floor winded and proceeded to kick him in the side. Stealth Black laid there, pain shooting through his body, those guys hit hard. He’d have to be careful; he wasn’t sure how many more of those he could take.
Whilst Stealth Black was trying to recover, Kuroobi locked his eyes on the traitor that had her grubby hands on their money. He grabbed her shoulder and threw her back, causing her to drop the bag on money and groan as she felt the rubble from broken walls cutting through her suit. She detached the clima-tact from her belt and twirled it through her fingers as she considered the man in front of him, both of them circling each other.
“What, no whip?” Kuroobi sneered at her, jabbing his arm out, she managed to dodge the first but the second connected with her shoulder.
“Oh, I’ve got something that’ll sting alright.” She responded as electricity crackled through her clima-tact and the confidence melted off his face, not expecting the device to do anything. She stormed forward, whipping the clima-tact round to connect with his face and send electricity coursing through him. She then launched a gust of wind at him and he stumbled back, still standing but just barely.
“Now Stealth Black!” She shouted.
Kuroobi could barely turn before Stealth Black was before him and roundhouse kicking him, sending him stumbling to the floor. Stealth flipped forward, activating the boosters, to send his foot careening into the back of Kuroobi’s head and then kick him in the side to send him towards Black Cat. At her feet, Kuroobi looked up and the last thing he saw before blacking out was her clima-tact coming down to make contact with his face.
It was Black Cat’s turn to move towards Stealth Black. Her hands cupped his face but all she could see on him was a few scratches from being thrown around. She imagined she didn’t look much better. “Well, not exactly how I planned it, but we’ve still got 3 out of 4.”
“Shame he’s the hardest one.” His side was screaming at him not to move but he got to his feet regardless, trying to mask the grimace. He noticed she did something similar, but she was walking towards the door before he could say anything else. She peered into the hallways and found it empty. She gestured with her hand for him to follow.
They were jogging down the hall, discussing what their next move would be when they both heard a rumbling sound. Stopping, they looked around to see nothing and it was only too late that they realised something was running towards them. But not down the hallway, Arlong was running through rooms, tearing down walls to reach them. With all the walls coming down, the hideout would collapse at this rate. He burst through with an enraged cry, and before they could move, they were being lifted by their necks and slammed into the wall behind them.
“I’m going to kill you both to make an example, how dare you do that to my comrades.” He leaned over them, looking animalistic with his nostrils flared and teeth bared at them. They both struggled against him, his grip like iron and Stealth tried to knee him in the abdomen but Arlong barely flinched. “You’ll be first,” he said, eyes boring into Black Cat’s face.
Arlong’s head reared back to head butt Stealth Black and then proceeded to throw him away like a dirty tissue down the hall. With his hand now free he tore the wall down behind Black Cat and threw her through it. She rolled once she’d made impact with the floor.
“I invited you in, trusted you with vital information and you betray me.” He walked towards her as she tried to crawl away from him. She couldn’t keep up and his foot came down on her free hand, she cried out in pain as he started to put his weight on it. “Tell me, tell me why you did it.”
Despite her situation, she looked at him with nothing but hatred in her eyes, “Because you’re a monster and I won’t let you get ruin this city and these people’s lives like you did my village.”
His face twisted into a cruel smirk. “Those people were pathetic and once I’m done with you, I’ll kill everyone in that puny village. You’ll have brought that fate on them. You can’t save shit.”
The clima-tact in her free hand came around to hit him in the face and she used that momentum to kick him in the chest, freeing her hand when he took a step back. When she got to her feet, he looked bored, like she’d barely done anything. It didn’t stop her though and she swung it again, hitting his chest, legs, head, anything she could to get him to the ground.
All the hits were for nothing as he levelled her with a questioning stare, “Finished?”
She smirked, looking past him, “Not quite.”
Arlong was thrown to the side from behind when Stealth Black joined the fight, his foot making contact with the side of his face. They both nodded at each other and moved in harmony. Both of them relentless, he would kick, and she would be ready with her clima-tact, either hitting him or sending him back to Stealth with a strong gust of wind. The man before them both wasn’t given a chance to get a hit in before the other was attacking.
But it seemed Arlong had grown bored, as his hand came out to catch Black Cat’s foot when she attempted to kick him and picked up her before sending her flying into Stealth Black. The impact sent them both flying back and rolling across the floor.
“Stealth, Stealth, are you okay?” Her hand came out to touch his, shaking it.
He looked up slowly and nodded but his face said otherwise. His eyebrow had split from where Arlong had headbutted him and a massive lump was forming under it, the blood trailing down the side of his eye. There was rips in his suit and she didn’t have to see it, but she knew there’d be some nasty bruises underneath that suit. They’d both taken a lot of damage. He attempted to get up, Arlong was slowly walking towards them but Stealth Black slumped back down. “Shit, we might be in trouble here.”
Black Cat frowned, she hadn’t taken as many hits as him, she needed to get up and buy some time. “Mirage tempo.”
Maybe he had a concussion, maybe he was already dead, and this was heaven. But his body hurt too much for that. There was multiple Black Cat’s standing in front of him. They all had a great behind though, he thought deliriously.
“Cheap tricks won’t work on me,” Arlong said, unamused at her antics.
She didn’t reply, instead all the versions of her split apart to run around him, openly mocking him, to stall him. It worked. His temper thinned dangerously, and he lunged one by one at the different versions, swiping his hands out and watching as one by one they disappeared at his touch. Until he was left with one.
But it was too late. Thunder crackled angrily from above him and a second later it came hurtling down. He screamed in pain as he was absorbed by white light.
When the light show receded, black smoke was coming off of his body and his mouth gaped open. He wheezed, but when he wheezed again, it wasn’t it pain. He was laughing. Laughing at her.
Her face paled. That was her strongest move.
“That’s it? Don’t tell me that’s your best move? Pathetic.” He advanced on her. When she brought her clima-tact up to hit him, he grabbed it and ripped it from her grip, throwing it behind him. He swatted the hands away that came to punch him and he painfully grabbed her hair, tugging it to make her stand on tip toes to try and alleviate the pressure. She was forced to look at him in the face as he snarled. “I’m better than you-” he kicked the feet supporting herself from under her, leaving her to dangle from her hair, “-I’m faster than you-” he slammed her into the wall, “-and that’s why you’re going to die.”
Stealth Black blearily looked up to see the love of his life being slammed against the wall. Arlong’s hands moving from her hair to around her neck, slowly choking the life out of her, as her hands clawed at him to no avail. Her face scrunched up and legs desperately kicking when she couldn’t intake air. His hands balled up, he gathered up whatever energy he had left, and he ran towards Arlong. He hooked his foot against the side of Arlong’s head and kicked with all his might, sending the both of them flying in different directions and successfully dislodging Black Cat from Arlong’s grip.
“Diable jambe.”
And Stealth Black was in the air plummeting towards Arlong’s head. The kick sent Arlong’s head into the concrete below him and Stealth spun, flipping over to send a kick into his side. He was in front of Arlong by the time he’d finished rolling from the kick, his foot coming under Arlong’s back to send him into the air and smacking back down into his chest to send Arlong crashing into the floor. Stealth fought to stand on his feet afterwards, his energy depleted and the injuries he’d sustained taking their toll.
It wasn’t enough though. Arlong twitched from the floor and rolled to his side to start getting back up again. What was this man made of? Perhaps if they both hadn’t fought others before hand, they wouldn’t have such a problem.
At least when Arlong got up, he looked a bit battered. The man still had more in him than the both of them combined but their hits were still taking a toll. But his stomach clenched. It wouldn’t be enough.
Stealth Black tried to block the punch but the force of it was too much and he was sent flying back. Looking next to him, Black Cat was laying on her side hunched over, hacking, and trying to intake air that she’d been denied.
Arlong was advancing on them and all Stealth Black could do was crawl towards the woman in front of him, insistent on trying to protect her and take whatever hit Arlong was about to deliver. Stealth was protectively in front of her, hand on her thigh to keep her behind him. She didn’t have the strength to argue this, she merely squeezed the hand on her thigh.
This would be it.
Arlong loomed in front of them, manic grin in place.
A gunshot sounded. Stealth Black opened previously clenched eyes to see Arlong standing there, eyes blown wide with a hole in his shoulder, blood saturating his shirt. Arlong stumbled around in disbelief.
“Get on the floor with your hands behind your head.” Came a rough voice. Black Cat’s arms came to wrap around Stealth’s shoulders as she rested her head against his back, her relieved laugh in his hear.
The moment was interrupted by another voice screaming at the top of their lungs and running into the room. Without hesitation the newcomer ran to Arlong and hit him square in the face, breaking his nose and causing him to fall to the floor in front of Stealth Black and Black Cat. The combination of all the attacks, current and previous, being enough to finally take him down.
“Luffy, I told you to round up the others!” Zoro grouchily said, lowering his gun.
The boy just grinned, sticking his finger up his nose, “Did you?”
“You know he can’t stick to a plan, why did you even bring him?” Black Stealth said from the floor, no malice in his voice, just amusement. Since Arlong was no longer a threat, he’d turned around to face Black Cat and cup her face, bringing their foreheads together. It was over. They’d done it… with help, but still.
“Couldn’t trust anyone at the precinct and at least Luffy has a fighting background, even if he is a firefighter- they aren’t being paid off.” Zoro rubbed a hand across his face. “I’ve called this in, police should be on their way. The news will be having a field day tomorrow.”
It was only then that Zoro looked closely at the two on the floor. “You two look like shit, by the way,” he said bluntly.
Pulling away from Stealth Black to face Zoro, Black cat beat him to responding, laughing despite the state of the pair of them. “How about we throw you around for a bit, then we’ll talk.”
“Right, Luffy you take Black Cat, I’ll take the idiot. We need to get you both looked at.” Zoro said, eyeing the nasty cut on Stealth’s eyebrow. Stealth looked like he was about to protest but couldn’t say anything when his ribs screamed at him to not move.
It didn’t stop Stealth from looking over his shoulder when Luffy went to pick her up, just to check on her. “Calm down would you, Luffy might be energetic but he knows when to dial it down,” Zoro said. Behind them, they could hear Luffy nattering away and Black Cat laughed at something he said, before groaning as she’d jolted something.
Knowing she was okay, he focused on not leaning too much of his weight on the marimo and tried walking himself. “How did you know where we were?”
Zoro shifted his grip on Stealth. “Got in contact with Franky when we’d rounded everyone up, he put a tracking device in your suit for emergency’s. Good thing he did otherwise you two would be in trouble.”
“What will happen now?” Stealth Black asked.
“Leave it to the police, for now. Shit’ll hit the fan at work,” Zoro groaned at the thought. “But Arlong and his gang will be dealt with, they’re no longer paying them.”
.
.
.
Black Cat and Stealth Black join forces to take down the malignant Arlong gang.
Police are currently under investigation after allegations they were being paid off…
Sanji was currently sitting in his favourite café, reading the latest newspaper and eyes skimming for any new information. He’d spoke to Zoro about the headlines, asking him if he was really okay that he received no credit. The other man had just shrugged him off, saying he didn’t need that kind of attention, especially considering the scrutiny they would now be under.
His eyes locked onto the information he was looking for.
Black Cat has not been seen since the gang takedown and the question still looms about whether she is still considered a criminal or not. Police are refusing to comment on the matter and Stealth Black has been unreachable. Can her past crimes be forgiven?
He shook his head, what trash and they call themselves to news. If only they knew what she’d done and everything she’d sacrificed, they’d be begging for forgiveness for even thinking about writing this. To even cast doubt on her was beyond him.
Once they’d made it out of the hideout, Black Cat had directed them towards a clinic her friend, Chopper, owned. The young doctor had looked aghast when he’d seen them and had treated them straight away. Sanji hadn’t managed to stay awake for much longer once they were in the clinic, his body finally succumbing to exhaustion now they were safe.
He’d woken a little later to find Black Cat in the chair next to his bed, dark marks covering her neck but a sunny smile on her face despite it. Sanji had tiredly smiled at her, his eyes fighting to stay awake so he could be in her presence for longer, but it was a battle he was losing. It was just as he was drifting off again then he felt lips pressing into the corner of his mouth and a whisper in his ear.
‘Come and find me.’
The words had been ringing around in his head ever since he’d woken back up to an empty room. Chopper had been angry that Black Cat hadn’t waited to be discharged by him.
Since then, he’d looked for her, he really had. He even had Zoro keeping an eye out on his patrols, but Black Cat had disappeared completely. He’d realised soon after exactly what she meant by what she’d whispered to him in the clinic and his brain was sifting through their conversation they’d had that night in his apartment, ‘‘Wait, have we met? When I’m me and you’re not Black Cat?’ ‘Yes, we have...’’.
She’d wanted him to find her, not Black Cat, but her civilian identity. And he’d kept her waiting so long already.
That’s how he’d found himself currently in the café. He’d spent the day walking around the city, going into his local bank, supermarket, petrol station, anywhere he frequented to try and find her. Every woman that he walked past made him feel paranoid.
But nothing.
He put his head in his hands, running them through his hair. She was a little minx, making him search for her like this with little clues. He wasn’t annoyed though; it was so her that it made him fond if anything.
“Would you like a refill on your coffee?” The waitresses voice interrupted turmoil but he didn’t move his head from his hands.
“Yes please.” He nodded.
‘and you barely looked at me…’ Whispered in the back of his mind.
He whipped his head up from his hands to look at the waitress next to him. Amber eyes filled with mirth, uncovered by a black mask and red lips twisting into a coy smirk. He’d imagined this moment so many moments and, in his daydreams, he was suave, sweeping her off her feet.
A stark contrast to the fool gaping at her, eyes moving frantically around her face, taking all of her in.
She laughed and sat down in front of him uninvited, although he would have invited her to sit if he could get his brain to work and pull her chair out like the goddamn gentleman he was supposed to be, but he couldn’t get his legs to move.
‘You’ve been here for 30 minutes and I’ve walked past multiple times, you’re very unobservant for a superhero,’ she lowered her voice towards the end. “I decided to put you out of your misery when my shift ended. You were looking despondent, so I decided to come save you.” She finished, winking at him.
He laughed at her pun, eyes still sweeping across her face, in fear of missing anything. His face lost all signs of amusement as his hand moved her long ginger hair away from her neck to see fading bruise marks. His mind replaying the moment when he’d looked up as Stealth Black to see her dangling by her neck, legs desperately kicking against Arlong. His eyes snapped open when the woman in front of him moved his hand from her neck to her cheek and resting against his hand.
“Are you okay?” Sanji asked, his thumb brushing against her cheek, looking for any signs of distress on her face.
“Better than okay.” Was her simple reply, her face showing nothing but happiness. He figured any other emotions would probably present themselves over the next few weeks. She was probably too overwhelmed with relief for the time being, a massive burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
It wouldn’t matter anyway; he’d be there to help her through it all.
“I suppose introductions are long overdue, at least on my behalf.” She pulled his hand away from her cheek and held it in front of them both, shaking it in introduction.
“I’m Nami.”
Am I an absolute tease for ending it like this? You bet your arse I am. But am I also writing an epilogue? Yes, I am. So I’m not completely horrible.
I’d had the ending written out roughly in my head since the start, with some changes along the way; the epilogue is completely new though. This has honestly been such a such a wonderful challenge. I’ve only written small little fluff pieces before, so to write something like this has been a pure joy. And a bit of a nightmare. I’ve spent all of February plotting and writing.
Also, forgive me for any errors, I’ve eyed this story multiple times and done the best I could.
Thank you for letting me share my imagination with you.
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The Master of Blasting
Months ago, once I realized my Retron had a save-state feature, something got into me. I realized I could go back to old retro games and actually finish them. Sure, I played 100s of games in the 8 & 16-bit eras, but I’ve never been that good at anything with a steep difficulty. Most games of the late-80s, early 90s were punishingly tough and typically, without cheat codes I never got to see the end of them.
After playing through all the old Donkey Kong Country games and Sonic the Hedgehog 1, I turned my eye towards a peculiar series I had only dabbled in before, Blaster Master. With the release of Blaster Master Zero on Switch, I was extra interested in diving into the well-regarded B-tier NES original.
With a little research, I found that a total of 8 Blaster Master games have been released...that’s when the classic Sergio completist kicked in. I convinced myself that I shouldn’t play the new Switch games until I’ve completed all of the retro titles. When I began my journey I didn’t realize it would be such a headache. Here’s my run-through of all the Blaster Master Games.
1988 - Blaster Master (NES)
Ah, the original. This little game has a charm to it that most games of the late 80′s don’t have. It was clearly inspired by Nintendo published games like Metroid and Zelda. Blaster Master’s key gimmick is the ability to play as the armored tank Sophia the 3rd or as an on-foot character named Jason, the pilot of the tank. As needed, Jason jumps out of the tank and enters human-sized doors.
Blaster Master is a 2D platformer, but once Jason enters a door, the game switches to an overhead perspective for navigation through maze-like dungeons. None of the mazes are particularly hard to solve, but all of the game’s bosses are found in these dungeons. As a kid, having a game that completely switched perspectives was rad. I never owned it as a child, but I vividly remember my time with it through rentals and such.
This first game is super hard and I found myself using known glitches to get past the game’s harder boss sequences. In true Metroidvania-style, there’s heavy backtracking throughout Blaster Master and if you don’t know where you’re going getting to the next level can be quite annoying. Having played the whole game, I can finally say that despite a super strong first impression, Blaster Master isn’t that great.
It's WAY too hard and by the halfway point the luster had worn off the unique gameplay. For some reason, this is the point where I decided to dive headfirst into the rest of the Blaster Master games. I’m a glutton for punishment I guess.
1991 - Blaster Master Boy (Game Boy)
Prior to playing the original, I had no idea there were so many titles in this series. I definitely didn’t know there were multiple portable entries. Blaster Master Boy is less a Blaster Master game and more a Bomberman game. Technically its a sequel to the Bomberman spin-off Robo-Warrior. A quick trip over to Youtube can confirm that the gameplay and music are lifted directly from Robo-Warrior. To add even more confusion, in Japan, Robo-Warrior was called Bomber-King, Blaster Master Boy was Bomber-King Scenario 2 and it wasn’t even published by the same company.
Because of this weirdness, I didn’t spend too much time with Blaster Master Boy. It also didn’t help that there isn’t a decently priced copy anywhere on the internet.
1993 - Blaster Master 2 (Genesis)
Five years after the original, Blaster Master returned to the console market with Blaster Master 2. It was a Sega Genesis exclusive and the only title in the series released in the 16-bit era. Playing this immediately after the original really made it quite hard. The controls aren’t as precise and the difficultly level is somehow ratcheted up. Blaster Master 2 is a more straight forward platformer without the backtracking of a traditional Metroidvania.
Unlike the first game, when you enter the human sections of the game, you don’t start a top-down sequence. Instead, the pilot levels are 2D platform shooter areas. All of these seem half-baked, clunky and compared to the game’s contemporaries, quite sad. Fortunately, top-down gameplay wasn’t completely abandoned, before the end of each level there’s an odd top-down sequence, where you pilot Sophia. This mechanic never returns in future games, but taking the rest of the game into consideration, it really isn’t terrible.
Unfortunately, there’s not much good to say about Blaster Master 2, It hits most of the design notes that the first one hits but the entire experience feels like it was made by a completely different team. Funny enough, after saying that, I looked it up and Blaster Master 2 was, in fact, made by a completely different team. Ha!
The game’s only saving grace is its vivid color pallet and solid sprite design. Like the first game, the music solid, but unless you’re taking a trip through the whole series like me, Blaster Master 2 can be skipped.
2000 - Blaster Master: Enemy Below (Game Boy Color)
It took Sunsoft awhile to get around to the Blaster Master series again, but in 2000 they came out swinging. Blaster Master: Enemy Below was released for Game Boy Color and of all the games on this list, it is the game that most resembles the original. Much of the art is designed to look nearly identical to the NES games’, even down to a nearly pixel-perfect recreation of the SOPHIA tank.
The top-down Jason segments return as does the extreme difficulty and fantastic soundtrack. It’s hard to really complain about the execution of this title. It was clearly an attempt at just trying to make the closest thing they could to the original and in many ways, it is a tighter and more consistent experience. Unfortunately, that’s also a strike against it. Enemy Below doesn’t bring anything new to the table. The bosses are basic re-hashes of the originals, the levels feel like a “lost levels” DLC pack and the game being portable doesn’t really encourage innovation.
I guess the coolest thing I can say about Enemy Below is that it's still available for purchase. On the 3DS Virtual Console, you can pick up Enemy Below for about $5. At that price, it’s easy to recommend, especially since it comes with built-in save-state functionality.
2001 - Blaster Master: Blasting Again (Playstation)
Also, released in 2000 (in Japan, 2001 in North America), is the weirdest game in the series to date, Blaster Master: Blasting Again. For those of you too young to remember, the Playstation/N64 era of video games was full of 2D series trying their hand at 3D games. Blasting Again is an egregious example of this frustrating industry trend. You still pilot a tank, with all the same features, like homing missiles, and hover, but you’re dropped into a fully realized 3D world with painfully bad anime cut-scenes.
The “Jason” sequences are still here, but they too are 3D and mundanely boring. Also, with this being an official sequel to the original, you play as Jason’s son Roddy, not Jason. Much of the music from earlier in the series is remixed, and rerecorded, so not all is lost in the odd one-off. Unfortunately, the antiquated tank controls and punishing difficulty makes Blasting Again hard to recommend. I was able to play it on PS3 with no issues, but the toggle switch for the digital and analog controls was initially hard to find.
I ended up sinking about 40 hours into finally beating this tragedy. I wasn’t able to use save states and despite it being objectively bad, I grew to love it’s janky and unfair presentation. As a whole, these games have really tested my ability to control my anger, but Blasting Again was the first one to truly get all the way under my skin.
2010 - Blaster Master: Overdrive (WiiWare)
Notice, I have yet to say any of these games are good, that’s because they aren’t. What they have is a charm to them that conjures the aura of the scrappy beginnings of gaming and the forced appreciation of only owning 4 games that had no checkpoints. Thus far, despite initial misgivings, I’ve enjoyed my time on this journey. Blaster Master: Overdrive is where that joy ended. The fun I was having with the series was taken out back, brutally beaten, and left to die in the town square as an example to anyone daring to play this absolute nightmare.
Overdrive starts innocently enough. It does it’s best to try and evoke the gameplay and tone of the original and for what it's worth the art style isn’t terrible. The Sophia and Jason gameplay loops are in-tact and even the gun-upgrades are more important than ever. Where Overdrive falls apart is its difficulty and embarrassing lack of control options.
I’m sure most of you are at least familiar with the Wii-Remote. With this being a Wii-Ware only game, it could only be played with the Wii-Remote. The real downside is that the developer either ran out of time or opted not to explore the myriad of control options the Wii offered. There’s no classic controller support, no Gamecube controller support, there’s not even a way to map buttons to a nun-chuck. You are stuck playing with the Wii-Remote turned sideways.
This wouldn’t be that big of a deal if they had found a better way to implement strafing into the controls. To strafe, the player must hold the B button. That’s the button underneath the Wii-Remote. In a world where the player is using the remote like an old-school NES controller, B button usage is a legit finger-bending-nightmare. Couple this broken control scheme with punishing difficulty and you have the perfect recipe for rage-quitting. I‘m not proud of my behavior during my time with this game and let’s just say I own 1 less Wii-Remote now.
The last thing I want to say about Overdrive is less about the game itself and more about its availability. The Wiiware marketplace is 100% closed, which means there’s no legit way to purchase this game, outside of buying someone’s Wii who had already bought it. This is an ominous foreshadowing of things to come. I would have paid for this game. Hell, I’m deep enough into this BM adventure I would have paid a premium to play this dumb game, but Nintendo’s shut-down of the Wii-Ware shop is a low-key attack on game preservation that us archivist, CANNOT forget. *steps off of soap-box*
2017 - Blaster Master Zero (Switch/Steam)
With the release of Blaster Master Zero, the series got the most attention it’s had since the original game. Most of that attention was because Zero was basically a launch game for the Switch. The best way to describe Zero is to say that it’s developer Inti’s attempt to take the Blaster Master formula and actually make a decent game. For the most part, they succeed. Oddly enough, almost 30 years later, Zero is the first legitimately good Blaster Master game.
Much like Enemy Below, Zero tries its hardest to evoke the look of the original NES game. Some refer to games like this as pixel art, others refer to it as lazy...I float somewhere in the middle on it. It was great playing a Blaster Master game with a proper controller where the mechanics actually work. However, it was frustrating seeing a game, based on a design aesthetic that hit its ceiling in the late 80s, try to beautify itself. Many attempts were made to make the design stand out, but it just kept hitting the ceiling established by its predecessors.
Alternately, by Inti making the game super-playable, the flaws of the older games stand out even more than before. Typically, good Metroidvania’s have an intuitive way of hinting at where you need to go next or a good way of telling you what access you’re new power-ups give you. Due to Zero’s obsession with evoking the original, that intuitive gameplay is replaced with a red box on the map screen. This turns the game into a “drive to red box, shoot things, drive to next red box and shoot more things, experience”, rather than the naturally explorative nature of other games in its genre. The anime story seemed unnecessary from the start, but I’m sure someone will enjoy it.
While playing Zero I honestly asked myself, “Is this game way easier than the older games, or can I finally control this little tank properly?” I’m sure the real answer is somewhere between those two extremes, but ultimately Zero was a blast, albeit WAY too easy. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the sequel improves upon this wonderful jumping-off point. However, I’m positive I’ll be disappointed that more wasn’t done to bring the series into the modern 2D-platforming space.
2019 - Blaster Master Zero 2 (Switch)
Zero 2 is very much a sequel to Zero. In true anime fashion, the story immediately gets super self-serious and consequently superfluous. I’m sure some players will love the dialog between protagonist Jason and all of the various anime-faced characters, but that’s not what I’m here for. Needless to say, the story gets involved in ways other Blaster Master games haven’t. That’s not a strike against it, it’s just a characteristic that may not actually matter.
All previous mechanics are intact here and new ones are introduced almost immediately. If Zero was truly the first good Blaster Master game, then the refinements introduced in Zero 2 make it...wait for it...THE BEST BLASTER MASTER GAME EVER MADE! It controls well, the levels are interestingly built, and where previous sequels in the series lacked innovation, Zero 2 is full of cool and weird, new stuff. The bosses are fresh and interesting, the Jason sequences have been enhanced with a brand new counter mechanic and the space travel segments add a level of depth not seen in previous games.
I hate that I’m being so positive about the game. It’s been so much fun talking shit about Blaster Master games. Unlike the previous game, developer Inti found a way to modernize the gameplay and still make a genuinely challenging experience. I had trouble with multiple bosses, but never did I feel like the game was unfair, or something was broken. Many of the additions to the story also benefited the gameplay. Something as simple as making the Frog from the original game the reason Jason can immediately leave dungeons serves both the story and gameplay.
This has been a long journey, and the real hero is Inti Creates. Hopefully, Zero and Zero 2 have done well. The work put in by Inti deserves praise. They have perfected a formula that’s been pending since 1988. Both titles are only $10 on the Switch shop, and at that price, you are basically stealing them. Anyone with a Switch has no reason not to pick at least one of them up and check it out.
As for the series itself...I have very mixed feelings. There are very few good Blaster Master games. It's a series that trades in loose nostalgia for a widely forgotten NES game. From that, a bunch of often half-hearted sequels were developed trying to capitalize on the little bit of cache the original game still has. I don’t regret my time with the series and I think more titles deserve the Blaster Master treatment, but subjectively, I wouldn’t recommend anyone pick up any games outside of the original and the 2 newest Switch titles.
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Writing’s On the Wall
A little something inspired by THIS pic that @jeldenil shared on the Drarry Discord Server - hilarious lines contributed by her and @hogwartsfemme 🙌
Betaed by the lovely @malenkayacherepakha and cheered by the sweet @drarryruinedme7 ❤️
Drarry | 2586 words | Harry POV, Auror cadets Harry & Draco, graffiti, gratuitous use of the ‘just out the shower’ image
Summary: In which the Auror department is surprisingly artistic, Draco is still an overdramatic shit, Harry still makes the most of any trouble that finds him, and getting horizontal is the solution to everyone's problems.
Also available on AO3
The first time Harry ever noticed graffiti that referenced him had been in the Quidditch locker rooms at Hogwarts. He had been pretty sure it was Draco or one of his cronies that had slipped into the Gryffindor area and spelled miniature Dementors to appear whenever someone walked past the blank game-play board. Oliver Wood had cursed and spluttered when he realised they had erased his intricate diagrams and game-plans, fiercely complaining to McGonagall.
Some of the highlights while he was at Hogwarts had been during the Triwizard Tournament - there had suddenly been loads of graffiti about him. None of it complimentary until he’d completed the first challenge, admittedly. “POTTER STINKS” had flashed across every toilet door in the castle in a lurid, flashing green for three weeks before Filch managed to convince Professor Flitwick to help him remove the charms.
Then a tiny doodle of him and a dragon appeared in an alcove on the way to the History of Magic classroom. Complete with glowing dragon flames it showed Harry and the Horntail flying a wild and cartoonish circuit around a sketchy Hogwarts, their endless chase looping every minute or so. It was probably Dean’s handiwork, the lines confident and skillful even though it was charmed onto rough stone walls - and his practice with art charms had come a long way since his first Quidditch banner. Within a week it had been scratched through though, a proud ‘CEDRIC’S THE BEST’ scrawled over it.
After the war, he saw it more regularly. The mark of the Deathly Hallows spelled onto walls, scratched into bar tables. Sometimes a cheeky ‘If HP sees this and wants a good time, Floo me!’ with addresses charmed underneath. It made trips to pub bathrooms, usually home of the more lurid examples of graffiti, an embarrassing trial sometimes - his friends always welcomed ammunition for their endless teasing.
Thankfully, he wasn't the only one targeted by renegade artists and overzealous fans. Ron had flushed beetroot red (clashing horribly with his hair) for a full half hour after seeing a particularly explicit suggestion about himself scrawled in muggle pen across the wall in the Leaky Cauldron. Harry had cackled all the way back to their tabled and regaled Hermione, Neville, Seamus, and Dean with the details while Ron hid behind his pint.
He was pleased when he joined the Auror Cadets and nobody seemed to be star-struck. Their tutors were strict but fair. Even Draco Malfoy wasn’t up to his old schoolboy tricks. It appeared that his attitude had matured just as well as the rest of him.
On too many occasions to count Harry caught himself appreciating just how well Draco filled out his cadet uniform, especially the clinging material of their work-out gear which left less to the imagination than he thought he should be subjected to at work...while still desperately wanting to see more.
The only issue Harry had with his cohort of fellow cadets, and even some of the wider Auror staff, was the giggling. He knew it wasn't to do with his ‘man who lived twice’ reputation because they’d made a point of pairing him with an Auror in his sixties for sparring classes during his first month of training. He’d had his arse absolutely handed to him during class after class for four solid weeks, and that had quelled any potential hero worship before it could start.
No. This was the kind of giggling that made you think people were talking about you. He walked into the break room and was immediately on edge as three fellow cadets started sniggering into their tea cups, going silent as soon as he turned around and made eye contact. And it happened when Draco joined sessions too. Not to mention the sly looks and excited mutterings that broke out whenever he and Draco were paired together in classes or for fieldwork.
It was driving Harry mad. That morning in duelling practice he had been partnered with Draco to fight against another pair of cadets, learning how to effectively work offensive and defensive spells while working in a pair - just like they would once they were full Aurors. He had been surprised earlier in the year at how well he and Draco worked together when fighting, but on reflection realised they knew each other’s duelling style so well from attacking each other that it sort of made sense.
Thankfully it was Friday, and the day was done. He and Draco had been on clear-up duty, packing away the cushioned mats and returning the sparring room back to its blank slate, ready for the first class on Monday. So it was just the two of them in the changing rooms, showering before heading home.
Ordinarily Harry would have just skipped out and headed home for a shower in the comfort of his own place, but he’d promised to meet his friends at the Leaky and only had half an hour before he was due to get the first round in.
With just him and Draco in the shower rooms it was actually peaceful, no sounds but the rush of water, no laughing cadets making Harry feel like he must have something on his face. Other than the obvious of course.
Just as he was drying off, thoughts of beer and a big basket of chips filling his mind, Harry’s peace was rudely interrupted.
“POTTER!” Draco barked. “ Explain yourself!”
Harry hurried to wrap his towel around his waist, and padded out to the main changing area to see what he was being accused of. Even the sight of Draco, his own towel riding low on slim hips, his hair still dripping water onto his surprisingly broad chest, didn't distract Harry from the sheer horror induced by the entire wall of graffiti he found.
There was the usual house pride slogans, the Hufflepuffs perhaps not so surprisingly prolific taggers given their famous loyalty. There was even a Deathly Hallows icon - a remnant from those first months post-war when Harry saw them everywhere. Some clever bugger had even charmed a big marker quill to stick to the wall - so anyone wanting to add their own touch to the wall wouldn't find themselves without a writing implement.
But the pièce de résistance was the two feet tall portrait someone had drawn of him and Draco together. As in. Carnally. It didn’t have quite the artistic flair of Dean’s magical moving paintings, but mini-Harry and mini-Draco didn’t seem to let that hold them back - both of them looking over their shoulders with surprised expressions while they continued rocking and thrusting together. With gusto.
Harry felt a hot flush creeping up his neck, and it was only half from embarrassment. His fellow cadets’ laughter and meaningful glances between him and Draco suddenly made sense. Clearly the whole bloody lot of them were in on it - given the number of different handwriting styles decorating the wall.
Draco was similarly pink, points of colour high on his cheekbones giving away his emotional state - just like when he got angry at school. If Harry wasn't sure Draco was about to launch into a full blown rant he might even have taken a moment to admire the way his rage made his eyes so bright. But an angry Draco was a long-winded Draco, and the pub was calling Harry.
“Clearly I didn’t bloody do this, Malfoy.” He gestured at the layers of writing and doodles. “This is the whole fucking team at it. Look! I’m not a Hufflepuff am I?!”
A scoff was his only response. Then Draco pointed out the ‘I need HP like a grindylow needs water’ tag, and raised one pointed eyebrow meaningfully at Harry.
“I think this smacks of your usual ego actually, even if you did seem to have gotten over that recently. And look - isn’t that your abysmal handwriting?!”
Harry peered at the word Draco was pointing at.
“What the fuck is ‘drarry’ though? I definitely didn’t write that. I don’t even know that spell.”
Draco rolled his eyes so hard Harry was surprised they didn’t fall out of his head. So overdramatic.
“It’s clearly a fucking portmanteau, Potter, you absolute idiot. Anyway. Aren’t we ignoring the elephant in the room here? They’ve drawn us fucking for Merlin’s sake - in our place of work! ”
Draco was working himself up to high dudgeon now, and Harry couldn’t exactly blame him. It was inappropriate. But it was also pretty funny. And frankly, from his perspective, he couldn’t blame the rest of their class for getting a bit carried away. He knew he must have contributed to whatever idea they had of the two of them together, with the way his eyes lingered on Draco’s arse so regularly. Even so, they should probably talk to the head of the Cadet teaching team, get this all sorted out before it spilled into a more public forum.
But winding Draco up had been one of Harry’s specialty subjects up to this point in his life, and far more fun than resisting Imperio or defeating Dark Lords, so he decided to indulge himself. Even if he ended up late for pub night. Or with a black eye.
“You’re right, you know. This is wrong.” He paused for a moment, taking in Draco’s approving nod before gleefully marching on to turn it into a thunderous glare. “Who said you get to top?”
A strangled noise escaped Draco’s open mouth, his brows twisted with frustration. Harry tried to keep his soaring satisfaction hidden, loving the play of emotions over Draco’s usually calm face. There was just something about seeing him get all flustered that made Harry feel the same way he did when he reached out to grab the snitch. Elated.
“ That’s what you take issue with?”
He was even gesturing with his hands now. Elegant fingers pointed angrily at their twins on the wall - still merrily copulating - while the other hand gripped the knot holding his towel up. Harry couldn’t help but drop his gaze for a moment, imagining what he might see if he annoyed Draco enough for him to let go of that towel for a moment.
Ever the hopeful Gryffindor, Harry leant forward and grabbed the marker quill. He grinned at Draco before drawing a big arrow pointing at their doodled likenesses, then wrote in bold letters ‘OK BUT HARRY TOPS’. He drew back and watched as Draco read his addition to the wall, waiting for the inevitable bomb to go off. This was better than sparring.
“There. I fixed it.”
But instead of an explosion of the poshest invective he’d ever had the pleasure of hearing - Draco’s command of archaic swear words was genuinely one of the highlights of their working together - Harry watched as Draco fell silent. His eyes were wide as he stared at what Harry had written, the spots of pink high on his cheekbones blooming into a flush that travelled down his neck and even onto his chest.
And now Harry was looking at his nipples. Fuck.
When he managed to drag his treacherous eyes away from those pert, pink, perfectly lickable buds he found Draco’s sharp gaze trained fully on his face. This didn’t bode well.
“You...fixed it? ‘Okay but Harry tops’ is you fixing it? That was the only part of this whole thing-” he gestured wildly at the wall. “That’s the only bit you have an issue with? Not the whole. Drarry thing. Seriously?”
He actually sounded almost plaintive. Harry suddenly regretted taking the piss, even if he hadn’t exactly lied at any point in this little melodrama.
“Um. Well. Obviously we should talk to Auror Lessing about it, it’s not fair that they’re doing this just to us. But. Well. I’m not offended people might think of us together I guess?” He shrugged his shoulders and nodded at their graffiti counterparts. “They look like they’re enjoying it anyway!”
Draco’s eyes narrowed as he watched Harry huff a nervous laugh. He advanced one step toward Harry, and Harry couldn’t help but notice the way his body still glittered with droplets of water from his shower. Couldn’t help thinking about what a pleasant way to spend some time it would be to lick each one of them. He hauled his thoughts back from that treacherous direction; his towel didn’t hide much and it definitely wouldn’t hide a very work-inappropriate stiffy.
“They do look like they’re having fun, don’t they.” Draco murmured.
Harry swallowed hard at the deep timbre of his voice.
“ That Harry doesn’t seem to be too disappointed to be on the receiving end. Shame it’s not an accurate reflection of reality.”
All thoughts of propriety flew out of Harry’s mind at that. Draco sodding Malfoy was flirting with him. Undeniably. Could a bit of embarrassing graffiti really be the thing that pushed them beyond the weird tension they’d had since eighth year?
“Well. Um.” He cleared his throat. “It’s just the assumption really. Probably because I’m shorter than you. But I’m pretty, um, versatile. And, ah, height difference doesn’t matter much in bed, I find.”
For the span of a heartbeat Harry feared he’d misread the situation, overstepped the mark. But then a wicked grin grew on Draco’s face and he knew he’d hit just the right spot. He stepped closer still, making Harry tilt his head up slightly to maintain their eye contact.
The small space between them filled with heat, and Harry felt like if he breathed in deeply enough their chests might even touch. He wondered if Draco was still holding his towel so tightly, but didn’t dare look down, didn’t want to break this moment stretching between them.
“I agree Potter. Very unfair of them to pigeon-hole you. They should know better by now.” He raised an eyebrow, challenge in every line of his face. “I was thinking of skipping pub night this evening in favour of a hot bath and a curry. But, as you’re feeling so versatile I’m happy to be flexible too. How about I join you and the rest of the motley crew for the obligatory Friday night pint, and then you join me for food?”
Harry felt his mouth drop open, shocked Draco had been the one of them to finally come out and say it so boldly. Draco just leaned closer still, his breath hot against Harry’s ear as he whispered, sending a corresponding shiver of excitement down his spine.
“I reckon we can test out your height difference theory, I’m sure my sofa would do the trick too - if you want to demonstrate for me?”
The image that conjured in Harry’s mind was enough to make him snap his mouth shut and stifle a groan of desire. He reached out to finally touch Draco, and closed the tiny distance between them to kiss him fully on the mouth. A broad palm at his waist, gripping tightly, pulled a gasp out of him. He dragged himself away from Draco’s mouth with difficulty, already panting slightly.
“Fuck pub night, get dressed. Last one to the apparition point is paying for the curry.”
With that Harry dashed across the room to pull his trousers on, grinning as he watched Draco wrangle his own on over still damp legs. He couldn’t wait to see what this mutual competitive spirit would create outside of the quidditch pitch or duelling ring, but he was sure it would be absolutely worth the tongue-lashing he’d get from Ron for ditching the sacred Friday night drinks for Draco.
Tagging @tedahfromtayla @maesterchill @tomoewantsdolls
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game of survival
plot: basically small scenarios taken off the time the survival program that formed stray kids was happening.
word count: 2k-ish
hi guys! it’s mari here! it took me a little while to put some stuff out for mimi, so i’m sorry for that. sorry for any typos in here, i tried my best to edit it in my free time but you never know hehe,,, anyways, i hope you guys like it!
*mãinha is regional “slang” for mother in brazilian portuguese
the first mission in the survival was to convince jyp that he should debut a girl within his new boygroup.
after much much work, and way too many meetings, she stood in front of the man that would decide her future, who would tell her what her 8 years of training would be worth.
“the team that will be debuting will be chan's project team, all 10 of you”
💌
“hello!” mimi sounded cheerful as she pressed ths buttons on a elevator “today we're moving into the dorms, so i’m bringing you guys here with me while i pack!”
she seemed giddy, a giggle leaving her lips as the thought of finally debuting hit her.
“mãinha, cheguei viu?”(mom*, i'm home, okay?) she said as she closed the door behind her, her mother greeting her back from the kitchen, still in portuguese.
her family wasn't crazy rich, but still, they were well off enough to have a big apartment that fit the three of them and their cats.
about the cats, mimi zoomed the camera in one of the sleeping cats, chanel, the eldest of the three, who was sleeping on the couch, before she walked to her room.
“and this... is my room” she turned the light switch on and filmed the white walls, waiting for the camera to focus again “miumiu, you're here?” the camera focus changed to her bed, where a white slept on top of the pink bed covers.
the remainder of her vlog was similar to that, she showed her parents, who looked proud of her, though they were quite camera shy, and showed her last cat, dior, a tabby she rescued on her way back from practice a year prior.
💌
with the making of hellevator, mirae felt apologetic towards chan. it just happened that he made a song in the female key, yet park jinyoung accused him of making a song to fit her. it didn't make much sense to her at all, she had a few parts, and even asked to have less parts so she wouldn't stick out too much.
things were looking rough, but she couldn't let that knock her, or any of her boys, down.
💌
with the 3:4:3 battles, a lot was happening. at first, mimi was glad she was in the same team as felix, minho and changbin, however, she was starting to regret her choices as felix screeched loudly after changbin kissed him on the cheek.
everything seemed at peace near the han river, so she felt a little apologetic towards the bystanders that had to listen to felix’ freak out… at least it would be nice content for the show… and at least felix got the kiss he wanted.
💌
things weren't exactly going smoothly that day.
even after practicing so hard, felix was criticized, minho got the lyrics wrong and she once again received a jab for not being hungry for lines.
it was almost like jyp didn't know what he wanted from her.
it was a big deal already, a girl in a boygroup? it sounded so weird, not exactly being the loved cookie cutter format the industry had since the 90s, now, jyp didn't want her to steal all the spotlight, yet he wanted her to stand out just enough, and she didn't seem to know how much was enough.
the day had been rough, and she was already so frustrated, so, the moment it was announced minho would be eliminated, she couldn't stop her tears as she hugged him tight.
minho tried to calm her down as he always did before, wiping away her tears and patting her head, all that while trying to keep the smile on his face.
that made her cry harder
💌
after minho left, everything felt weird, wrong. they still practiced, mimi still called her parents every night and skyped them to see the cats running around and to see her mother's comforting smile, she still bought her usual snacks from the convenience store near the training center. the group even went on a vacation with the program, where she had a lot of fun.
but that felt hollow, weird, as if a big part of it was missing.
and it was.
she could feel her hands shake as soon as the video message minho made started playing, she held changbin's hand as she stood beside him, already feeling her throat close, eyes watering as her turn approached
“mimi-yah” minho said in the video “i bet you're already crying, right? you've always been a little baby about those things”
she felt herself smile alongside him, but both their smiles were still sad
“oppa is so sorry” minho said quietly “please don't blame yourself too much, you're doing so well and you have to keep up the good work, okay?”
she felt the tears running down her face as she kneeled down to the floor with a choked sob, changbin rubbing her back lightly.
“don't forget to tell me if anyone is being mean to you, okay?” she looked up at the screen as if he could see her right now “oppa is the only one allowed to be mean to you”
she couldn't pay more attention after that, she just covered her face with her yellow hoodie and tried to calm down, cursing lee minho for making her miss him too much.
💌
during the battle with the yg trainees, mimi was feeling better.
she still missed minho, and it still felt weird to train without him, but it wasn't like they didn't text every night anyways.
she had trained very hard with all of the boys, finally feeling confident after jyp let her be a part of the vocal team and be a part of the group performance.
it was the first time her compliments came without any stab in the back, so she felt good about it.
“i'm mimi!” she smiled as she introduced herself to yg himself.
“a girl in your boygroup?” he asked jyp “that's bold”
she nodded as he looked back at her
“mimi, are you not from here?” he looked at her file, seeing the long name written down in hangul
“i'm from brazil, sir, but i moved eight years ago”
“have you trained in jyp for eight years?”
“no sir, i trained at sm for four years before moving to jyp” she answered, a small smile still on her face. she wanted to look confident, even if her hands felt clammy
after that exchange and yg's comment of hoping their future in the group wasn't like the song, they performed and mimi felt completely comfortable for the first time that day.
💌
after getting complimented so much by yang hyunsuk(from her stable vocals to her charm and her combined adlib with woojin, she could feel herself fill up with pride every time she remembered those compliments) himself, mimi could tell jyp was finally gonna let her off the hook for a bit, even so, she knew she shouldn't get too comfortable.
so, as they sat down waiting for him, she hit her false nails against the table, chatting with jisung and trying to distract herself
💌
brunch with their boss ended up being just fine, the food was nice, they read their letters and she allowed herself to eat more than she usually did.
however, she felt a little sick the moment they were reminded of the mission
“this time, it will be busking” jyp announced and she held her fork with more force so it wouldn't fall and hit the table.
they hadn't performed like that before, and she could feel them all tense up a bit as they thought about doing it.
💌
as they all trained for the mission, mimi couldn't help but worry about felix the most.
he had quickly become one of her best friends in the time they spent together, and she knew he was such a hard worker.
she worried that he would start doubting himself, and overwork himself, so, even though she wanted to be there with him, she settled for at least texting him and making sure he was treating himself fairly
💌
the night of the busking event, mimi took the mic with a big smile on her face as she helped with mcing, she kept the smile on even as the boys talked, ignoring the blaring sirens going in her head and the pain in her stomach she felt as she got more nervous.
she just had to hold it in until it was over.
💌
“everyone!” she exclaimed, her smile growing as she heard people cheering her, calling her name and yelling how pretty she was “was today fun?” she heard them screaming yes “we're so glad you all are enjoying our performance as much as we are enjoying to perform to you!”
chan then kept up with the ment until the show was over
💌
mimi was criticized after the busking event, though not was roughly as some of her group mates.
her vocals weren't her best because of how nervous she was, and she made minor mistakes because of it. but she would be fine, at least her position would.
💌
when she heard jyp saying felix wouldn't continue with them, she felt her world shatter as the worst case scenario happened again.
mimi couldn't believe this.
she felt felix, who was next to her, turn on his back, not wanting them to see him wiping his tears.
she wanted to curse jyp, call him all the ugly curse words she knew in portuguese, slap some sense into him.
but she couldn't, so she settled with crying and hugging felix as hard as she could, saying sorry over and over again as everyone cried, feeling lost.
as she back hugged him, he turned around to hug her back, telling her not to feel sorry towards him, whispering that he was the one that was sorry instead, that he should have listened to her advice.
as jisung joined in on their hug, the duo cried harder, both bawling their eyes out.
after a moment, jisung started pulling her away, telling her to let him talk to chan, and she proceeded to cry on jisung's chest, something she found herself doing more and more often after the show started.
💌
mimi was feeling out of the loop for a few days and she felt sorry to the boys for it, though she wasn't the only one.
it felt weird going from ten to nine, and from nine to eight. it felt wrong.
they were still not over minho leaving, now felix was gone too.
mimi was never the most religious, though her mother was a devout catholic, but she prayed every night that whoever was out there, if there was someone, that if they could, they would bring them back to the group
💌
the moment felix and minho walked back into the practice room, mimi felt her heart fill up, like some sort of balloon filling up with helium and going up to the sky.
she giggled as they walked in and as things felt completely right for the first time in a while.
💌
alongside the burden of debuting, mimi would also be dealing with the burden of being the only girl in the group. it wasn't like she hadn't read the headlines, a lot of people didn't want her there, calling her a little whore, claiming horrible things about her.
she knew she had to prove them wrong, as soon as possible.
💌
“stray kids will debut as 10”
mimi's ears were ringing, she could hear the crowd start cheering as the words left jyp, becoming some sort of mantra in her head as she repeated them to herself, minho and felix ran towards them and she felt herself being engulfed by her best friends, her group mates. she felt her throat close as her eyes filled with tears, even if she tried to hold back her tears, she knew that the moment she looked up at one of the boys, she would start bawling like a little kid.
that was exactly what happened.
she looked up and locked eyes with felix, her best friend, and the one person she felt the most apologetic for, and she felt her tears running down as he wiped them, she looked beside him and saw all of the other boys.
mimi looked up at her nine groupmates, at the people she cared the most about, and she felt like things would be okay.
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Heartbeat: A Fragile Reminder
TITLE: Heartbeat: A Fragile Reminder
CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 13 / ?
AUTHOR: brightsun-and-dark midnight
ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki falling in love with a Midgardian and his words to Thor about Jane during Dark World coming back to haunt him. “It would be a heartbeat. You would never be ready.”
RATING: M for Mature
NOTES/WARNINGS: ~▪︎~FOR THE WHOLE STORY~▪︎~
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Check Masterlist. It's going to be a long read. I try to keep each chapter around 3,000 words.
My Ao3: brightsun_and_darkmidnight
!-!TRIGGER WARNING(S)!-!
So many triggers, read ALL of them!
Swearing. Angst. Death. Depression. Violence. Self-harm. Regret. Carelessness for safety. Doubts. Torture. NSFW. Smut. Fluff. And Of Course- Mischief.
Summary: Out in the open.
~ ~ ENJOY ~ ~
Many more weeks passed. The Avengers and civilians knew about their relationship since they went on more dates, took walks and browsed stores together. During all hours of the day when both of them were free from duties.
Alicia went to press conferences to support him. They tried to question her, Alicia held her hands up as if to stop the questions, shook her head. Then pointed at the Avengers or Asgardians. "I'm not the one here to be questioned."
However things got really personal when a reporter asked, "How did you get a woman like Alicia? Especially with your history."
The look on Loki's face was confident but at the last statement she saw his eyebrows furrowed for a second. Then complete mischief in his eyes. "You think I had her fall for me?"
Everyone was silent besides a few clicks of cameras. "Well yes," the waver in the reporter's voice was a stark contrast from the confidence he displayed earlier.
Alicia bit her lip trying not to laugh and to stop from smiling too big in anticipation.
"Well you all have seen her charm." Loki waved his hand towards Alicia. She shrugged dramatically at the attention and the room filled with laughter.
Every one knew of Alicia. The sweet girl with the God of lies.
However only Loki and SHIELD agents were aware Alicia was apart of SHEILD and was trained to protect herself. It was agreed among those people Alicia would be transferred to the Avengers and become part of that team soon.
Targets were on her head even more with their relationship official. There was a group chat found by SHIELD that people were planning on using her to get to Loki as revenge for New York. People had approached Alicia while Loki was, and was not present. Alicia used her wit and calming charm to keep the situation non violent as possible. In other words preventing Loki from killing anyone.
There were people who supported the relationship because they saw how happy both of them were. Alicia had won the hearts of those people herself, mostly. Loki had acquired several fan bases at how protective he was over her. Innocent chats had that perspective.
Then, dark chats among the BDSM community made their desires for the dark prince unashamedly clear. People tried to flirt with both of them, Loki got jealous when Alicia was flirted with while Alicia found it amusing, greatly loving the sex after those encounters. No matter of how gentle or rough the sex was: Loki was persistent of being on top to be able to satisfy her.
The times when they both consented to rough love making Alicia loved reminders. Loki was very hesitant about not healing her but came to the agreement to leave his mark on places no one would see. He also made her agree to letting him heal her to a subtle discomfort. Loki knew by now how to handle her subspace and the aftermath that sometimes followed. A ton of cuddling, warmth, chocolate, and if they had time he would read or talk to her until she fell asleep.
The Avengers were fiercely protective of Alicia. They might have "happened to be in the same location as them." Loki held her close when Thor was around, those nights were particularly possessive. Loki loved to take her slowly but with dirty talk.
"You love when I take you like this?" Loki demanded in Alicia's ear, thrusting deep into her from behind and pulling on her hair. The other hand between her legs, fingers rubbing her very sensitive nerves as his arm pulled her backwards. She often was too wrapped into pleasure but Loki continued with his observation. "Love to have me absolutely crazy while you are so friendly with all those idiotic pursuers. And you don't want me to do anything to them. Yes, I know you love those encounters because you are always drenched with anticipation. Even now you are dripping down both of our thighs."
Loki would roll his hips more dramatically that she loved, "ooh Darling. Are you so close now? I can feel you rippling with need. Maybe I should stop and leave you frustrated as I am-"
Alicia would beg urgently for release, telling him she wasn't flirting. Loki knew she never flirted, but her being nice drove him insane. She did decline their advances and got closer to Loki. Of Course he would hold her and glare at the brave individual.
With a slap to her rear and a tug on her hair, he growled loudly, "Must you always use the same excuse?"
Alicia would apologize with her promise that he was the only one for her.
"You be sure to remember that." And Loki would give her further reminders as to who she belonged to.
Loki did not need to worry so much when they went to Asgard. She was dressed in his colors which marked her as his. No one dared to step out of line like the disrespectful Midgardians.
Alicia wore the armor the first few times she was at Asgard. She complained a multitude of time and then completely refused to touch the metal. Alicia swore up and down that she was never going to wear armor ever again because it was uncomfortable. Even after Loki had many designs for her, she refused. Once Loki explained that armor is just part of Asgardian culture she gave lean way… but she was somehow winning the battle with less protective armor with each visit.
On days filled with pure joy like today. They caught the most attention by everyone because they were like young lovers. Loki had her by his side as he spoke with Thor, Jane, and others about matters of Asgardians. Alicia gave him a kiss on the cheek and excused herself.
Alicia walked towards the direction of the bathrooms and disappeared into the crowds. Making a huge loop around to children playing with bubbles. She wanted to have fun with them and asked for their assistance in mischief. She guided them down wind from the group she just left and told them to produce as many bubbles as they could.
The bubbles were carried by the gentle wind and caught everyone's attention. The children squealed when they were caught and laughed as Loki chased a sprinting Alicia. Loki yelled at her for disturbing the conversation. Then caught her from behind and spun her around.
Alicia was trying to pry his arms away from her, "Loki put me down!"
"No Love. I think I might just carry you all day."
Alicia laughed at the suggestion. "Loki! People are staring!"
"So let them," purred into her ear.
Loki carried her back to the group despite her vocal protests. Her premature laughter gave away her plans. As soon as Loki set her down she tried to get away. Loki pulled her close and held her firmly against him so she could not cause more mischief.
Everyone knew it was all good fun and were laughing at the couple. Loki's smug look turned into a forced seriousness, which furthered Thor's laugh. Loki's voice was low and authoritative, "Now Jane was just discussing about making a new bifrost on Earth before the disruption."
Alicia pushed on his chest with a teasing huff.
Alicia admired the beautiful light elf woman that spoke up, "It would make it much easier for us and other realms to keep in contact. Traveling from Alfheim is very long and dangerous." Her light-hearted facial expressions turned hard as she was in thought. Her very tan skin and long lighter hair color glowing in the sunlight.
She and her companions looked heavenly. Her once bright eyes were clouded with thoughts that Alicia felt were dark in nature.
Thor crossed his arms and looked down in thought. "We will need similar materials as the one we had in Asgard. We would also need to convince the people of Earth to let such a powerful machine be built. SHEILD would be difficult since it would open more travel to Midgard."
"In order for us to start, all travelers to Midgard should be instructed to bring supplies." Alicia watched Loki rub his lips in thought, "do we have the instructions or designs for this? It will take an immense amount of magic to get the bifrost up and running."
"There is knowledge on the subject but it is kept among the older architects and sorcerers." Thor spoke again, "I have discussed with them and naturally they are weary to share the information with non-Asgardians." Thor made a displeased sound, "should the bifrost fail it would cause mass damage damage to Earth."
Alicia had a quick idea and spoke fast to keep the vaguely preplanned speech from fleeing her mind, "Could it be placed in space? Travel could be restricted to Earth because transportation would be needed to even reach the planet. I imagine placed further away the catastrophic damage would be less than if placed on the actual planet." She felt Loki rub her side with his thumb as praise.
Jane was filled with excitement. "She could be onto something. The materials would not take up space on Earth and would already be in the location for easier placement. We would need to figure out the perfect spot to minimize potential damage. We could make simulations to get a better idea."
"We still need to discuss the idea with Midgard to maintain the peace we have." Loki looked confident but Alicia saw his forced worry.
Alicia spoke up, "Given the fact that travel is still going to happen without the bifrost, that could be the best leverage we have. As well as it would keep the peace between all other world's. Thus resulting in more treaties and less war."
One of the Asgardian advisors laughed with amusement, "these two have switched mindsets since they got together."
Alicia smiled at Loki, "I think we bring out all aspects and compliment each other."
The other advisor that was significantly older spoke up with pure joy, "It's as if Loki is a millennium younger."
A heartbeat.
Loki did not want to be younger.
Alicia poked his side with a gleam in her eye. "He brings out my younger self too."
Thor smiled but he sighed heavily.
Valkyrie spoke up, "We will prepare a speech for a live broadcast after running through simulations, list of supplies, and talking with the elders."
"For now let everyone rest. It was a long day and we all have an abundance of things to think about. We will be in touch." The light elves left without another word.
"Ladies how about you go ahead of us. I would like to speak to Loki."
Loki rose an eyebrow at Thor.
"Do not fret brother we will be close behind them."
Loki watched as the elders walked away and then Alicia go with Valkyrie and Jane in another direction. Alicia and Jane talked excitedly about something and Alicia gestured widely around her. The shoulderless cape that started at the intricate gold metal around her shoulders as well as around her upper back. The metal was connected by a lace that was woven criss cross across her collar bones. Down and around her shoulders hung chains. The cape connected a small amount in front to the armpit and as well as the place between her shoulder blades, of course to the metal shoulder protection. The pieces were connected by golden metal bracelets. Anytime she moved her arms the sheer fabric moved with her.
The dress she had on was strapless and brought the attention to the bare spots of chest, shoulders, and shoulder blades not hidden by the poor excuse of protection. Of course she refused to wear armor so Loki had the designers come up with intricate designs of metal. Even if it was not really going to help in defense in anyway. Metal was common in Asgard.
Alicia's dress flowed with the wind as well. The silk dress had a variation of green shades but stayed close to his emerald color. There was a black sash blowing to the side and Loki remembered it hanging loosely around her hips, capturing the lower half of her body due to the vertical ripple of dark and lighter greens of the dress.
The sun broke through the clouds and everything glowed. Her skin. Hair. The metal caught in the more pronounced areas. From his spot behind her the dress was even able to catch some light through the sheer black cape. Loki wished he could be in front of her as she walked, see that smile playing on her face as she talked to Jane and her eyes lit up as bright as the sun.
"You really love her don't you?"
Loki's face turned but his eyes stayed on her till they no longer could. "You have heard me tell her that many times."
"I think you should officially court her. Ask her."
"Thor. It is only a mere two months before our year anniversary. Midgardians do not get engaged in a short amount of time."
"Well… some do after a few hours."
Loki scoffed as Thor started to walk to follow the women, "and the sooner they are engaged the less success the marriage has." Loki looked at Thor, "and what about you? When is your ceremony?"
Thor's smile was nervous, "I was actually planning to ask her during dinner."
"You two get along well enough... I suppose if things don't go well I could veil you in smoke, if that would help."
"Loki.."
He snickered at Thor's nerves. "I jest. Really brother you two do well together. Asgardians will thrive with her by your side at the throne."
"What? No plans to rule yourself?"
Loki faltered in step as Thor pushed him. "I wouldn't mind but Alicia wants a simple life as possible."
"I heard her say she sees you as Loki. No titles. Although. People say she lies, she wants your wealth and the attention the comes with royalty."
Loki could not help but laugh. "She refuses to call me anything besides my name, gets into a big fuss when I gift her things. As you have seen she hates the media attention and waves the reporters away." Loki shook his head, "gossip is very terrible on Midgard. Not even based on facts and spreads as quick as Hel's fire on dried grass."
Thor chuckled quietly, "you are right about something, brother."
Loki rolled his eyes, "you act as though I'm not capable of coming up with well thought out plans-."
"Tricks."
Loki wanted to hit that smug look off of his brother's face. Then smirked, "Must I get my Lady to remind you it takes a sharp mind and skill to use those tricks?"
It was as if Loki was seeing Thor going through all of the times Alicia stabbed him with her wit. "She is a very fierce one.. I can only imagine how our parents would have liked her."
"Odin would lock her away." Loki felt his nails digging into his fist and wanted Alicia's gentle touch with a face full of calm affection.
"Mother would love her. I'm sure. You were her favorite." Thor continued after Loki gave Thor a look of disbelief, "it showed in the way she would try to get you out of trouble you caused." Thor clapped Loki's shoulder, "Both mother and father would approve of who you are now, loving her in an extension of you."
Loki watched his love as she was approached by a group of young children and their parents. Alicia got down to hug each one of them. The children took turns hugging the three women walking together. Loki stood behind her, "love.. did you get another dress dirty?"
Alicia turned to face him with a toddler in her grasp, "oh Loki. It will wash out." She was smiling widely until the little one pulled her hair. She muttered an ow and Loki laughed but moved to untangle the little fingers. "She has a strong grip" Alicia's laughter turned into more quick mutterings of pain as the other hand held more hair.
"I am so sorry! She really loves to hold things" the mother scrambled to help Loki with the little girls hands. Once Loki got her fingers untangled the little hand curled around his finger and she babbled at him. Alicia held the other hand and smiled at Loki.
The mother spoke quietly, "She likes both of you. Especially you Prince Loki."
Alicia grinned, "she has good taste."
Alicia shivered as a vision was about to come true. Loki's worried eyes were on her when they made eye contact. Alicia heard a sound she dreaded. An object whistling, moving through the air so fast due to the thrusters attached.
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To bring him back (a Fictober19 Stucky drabble)
Prompt 21: “Changes is annoyingly difficult”
Fandom: MCU
Tags: light angst, canonical memory loss, implied past relationship, stucky
Warnings: none apply
Ao3
It comes a time in one’s life when, after being confronted with the impossible enough times, nothing is impossible anymore.
Steve Rogers had faced enough impossibles to believe almost anything. That’s why he didn’t second-guess much his gut when it jolted at the close sight of the ultimate assassin’s eyes. He could have sworn that was Bucky’s brow, Bucky’s nose bridge, Bucky’s determined gaze. He just needed to confirm with some authority that whatever unbelievable lost link in this narrative was a reality. Time travel, cloning, more super-soldier serum… He didn’t even questioned why his childhood friend, his best and only true friend, was trying to kill him. There sure must have been a reasonable explanation for it. Like extraterrestrial forces. Or fairies.
The following months of fights and disagreement, of conspiracies and treason, were just a blur. Nothing compared to the fact that Bucky was alive. Nothing as hurtful as the fact that his childhood friend, his best and only true friend, didn’t remember him. Nothing as plunging as the realisation that this was the proverbial end of the line. Again.
In the end, at a great cost, the Avengers assembled anew, and they took Bucky in. Better with them than against them, was the reasoning behind his recruitment. He underwent a gruelling neuro-psychological procedure to get rid of each and every trigger mechanism. The matter of getting his pre-Winter Soldier memories back was never risen. When Steve asked, everybody from SHIELD’s medical staff to Banner and even Loki and Dr. Strange told him it could happen or not, but there wasn’t a way to bring them back on purpose. As knowledgeable as they all were in their own fields, the human mind, they said, was still one of the greatest mysteries of the universe.
The Avenger known as Winter Soldier was a quiet superhuman with an enhanced metal arm. His face and voice and date of birth were those of Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, declared missing in action during a Howling Commandos mission against HYDRA. There’s where any similarity ended. Where Bucky had been good-humored, the Winter Soldier was brooding. Where Bucky had been extroverted and easy-going, the Winter Soldier kept to himself and was always one fraction of a step away of inabiliting the closest menace. Where there used to be that famous charming smile of Bucky, the Winter Soldier’s lips where always pressed thin, downcast, and his gaze was the closest thing to the void Steve could imagine.
After all, the end of the line had arrived when Bucky fell of that moving train and Steve failed to catch him. There was no impossible turned true for them. His childhood friend, his best and only true friend, was gone.
The world underwent several catastrophes, most of which never made the public eye, a handful of them solved without even leaving the Avengers headquarters. Old frictions smoothed, new friendships were born. Steve only looked longingly at the Winter Soldier every now and then, trying to find any sign of old Bucky’s personality resurfacing. It was an afterthought now. Those who had been worried for him and called it obsession in the first weeks didn’t even noticed.
The first time the Winter Soldier smiled, Steve dropped his mug of coffee. He said it was lack of sleep and everyone believed him.
It wasn’t a big smile. His face relaxed for a moment and the corners of his lips perked up slightly. Steve had made a joke that he thought no-one would get when they’d asked him about being in “active service”. They meant literally, as in the military, but he made a sexual innuendo, because in his time “active service” could mean being sexually active. He said it rejoicing in the fact that no-one would get it and he would left them wondering once more about his sex life. But Bucky, no, the Winter Soldier, had smiled imperceptibly as he kept his head down, studying the history of the decades he had missed.
Wanda catched the mug before it shattered against the floor, Steve made his lame excuse about not sleeping enough, retrieved his coffee and headed to his bedroom to try and calm down. It had been just a smile. A smile because of a joke that could have been funny in the forties. A joke he did several times with the Howling Commandos. “I’ve never been officially in active service in my whole life”. It could mean anything and it was funny because, literally, it was true but, figuratively, it left them wondering. But the Winter Soldier surely didn’t remember that. He probably smiled because that bit of slang was in his vocabulary, nothing more. Bucky was gone. He was the Winter Soldier now.
Steve wasn’t sure if he needed a nap or a 50 miles sprint, now. He took his sweatpants off and put on a pair of rated jeans and a zipped hoodie over his plain white tee. He put on his baseball cap and fake glasses and headed out, to his exhibit. That, he reminded himself, was the only place where he could see Bucky, the real one. He looked more alive in the black and white footage than the Winter Soldier had ever managed to look in the real world. Now Steve needed to punch something, since there was no one left of those who did that to Bucky. The ones that killed Bucky. The ones creating an impossible in this stupid world where everything could be but this. It was a too loud world, too bright, too fast. Steve needed some respite. Maybe sleep would have been a better idea.
--
He couldn’t help but try, because of course he couldn’t. He had never been known for dropping things. He had been known for following his gut and ending up being right. So he kept peppering his speeches and chats with subtle hints to the thirties and forties in Brooklyn. Very specific things that only someone who’d been there would get, but not as singular as to catch the other Avenger’s attention.
The Winter Soldier got them all. And Steve emboldened with each smirk, huff and glance. They were all very subtle and never led to a meaningful conversation. The Winter Soldier’s acknowledgement of Steve’s strategy finished in the non verbal hints of getting the reference. Tony Stark’s acknowledgement of Steve’s strategy was more direct.
“A word, Cap”, said Tony after a briefing. When everybody left the room to their assignments, Steve cocked his head and waited for Tony to say something. “You know I am not against him anymore, do you?”
Steve rolled his eyes.
“Tony…”
“Because I don’t. I swear, I learnt. We all learnt. He was a problem, until we realised he was a victim, and now he is a very valuable asset”
“What’s your point?”
Tony sighed through his nose while pursing his lips and weighing Steve with a stare.
“I wouldn’t want him to become a liability”.
Steve felt the all anger of their Civil War creep in and zero into Tony’s solar plexus. He managed to refrain but he wasn’t amiable when he spoke.
“Again, what’s your point?”
“I know what you are doing. I don’t think anybody else has, I just happen to pay a lot of attention to you. Well, probably Nat knows too, because she’s rolled her eyes at me a couple of times when you drop…”
“Okay, enough”. Steve knew better that denying it, but that didn’t mean he was willing to discuss it. “Your advice is noted. I won’t let it become a liability, but I won’t let it go either, because if there is a single chance to bring him back I will try. I won’t put it before the Avengers or the world’s safety, but will keep trying until he’s back or until one of us dies, whatever happens first”.
When Tony spoke he did it softly, measuring his words, the ghost of their past enmity very much present.
“Captain. Bucky is gone. You mourned him. If he ever comes back, that’s great, but chances are he won’t. And we cannot afford to have the greatest strategic mind of the planet distracted with psychological games and grief. It wouldn’t be betrayal if you let it go”
“It would”, he said defiantly, before speaking more calmly: “Advice noted, Stark. I will bear it in mind, I promise. You don’t have to worry”.
--
It had been a long time since Steve had gotten in the exhibition outside opening hours. Still, the guard tipped his cap as he opened the door for him.
“Long time no see, Captain”
“Been busy”, he smiled. “How are things, Alan?”
“Great as usual. You’ve got company by the way”, added Alan when Steve was about to round the corner. He stopped on his tracks to ask who, a cautious, calculating expression on his face, but then he saw the Winter Soldier standing in front of one of the panels. He turned his head and saluted, wearing that blank expression of his.
Steve approached him and stood by his side for a while. When the video on the screen had finished a loop, Steve talked in a low voice:
“Never took you for a nostalgic”.
The Winter Soldier hummed and turned to Steve:
“Me or your good ol’ pal Bucky?”
Steve looked at him not really sure if that was a genuine question, and accusation a retort or what in hell. The Winter Soldier walked to the next panel and Steve followed him.
“I come here every now and then. I try to make sure we won’t meet, because I don’t want to disturb you. I know this has some importance for you”.
“It has. I appreciate the thought”. And then, after hesitating for a while, he added: “Why do you come?”
The Winter Soldier shrugged.
“To see if it all comes back. It never does though”.
Steve’s face fell and the Winter Soldier noticed. He continued, this time looking at Steve.
“I come here after certain dreams or flashes. I don’t remember much aside from my.. HYDRA missions. And some unconnected things. More sensations than images or memories. Sometimes I dream a game of throw in an alley. Sometimes it’s me lying on a couch, looking at a chapped ceiling. A fan is buzzing and someone is drawing. I can hear the pencil against the paper and I can feel boredom and frustration, because I want them to stop and go play. I remember some things from the war too. As I said, only flashes. I come here and look at the pictures and try to find some link between them”.
Steve breathing was heavy and his jaw was set without him even realizing. He made himself look away from the Winter Soldier and into Bucky’s mugshot in the panel. Their expressions were so different it could have been an entirely different face.
“Why haven’t you come to me? I could help you figure out those memories. We were joined at the hip, I probably remember those moments too. If I had known you were starting to remember I’d probably…”
“Change…” interrupted the Winter Soldier in his low monotone voice, “is annoyingly difficult. Specially when your mind has been set to a single track and you were excellent at it. It feels slow. It feels like disappointment. I don’t really remember you. I know we were good friends because I’ve been told, and I’ve read here”, he said nodding towards the panel in front of them, “but I don’t know why. I don’t know what happened. And I see what you do to try and bring this guy back, and the faces you make when I just don’t react. I didn’t want to give you false hopes in case he never really comes back. I know you must miss him a lot”.
“Oh, yeah? How would you know that?”, asked Steve with a sad laugh. The Winter Soldier turned his back to the panel, sighed and put his hands in his pockets.
“There’s this feeling whenever I look at you. Like I want to punch you and kiss you at the same time. And during missions, there’s this need to protect you at all costs, as if you weren’t a virtually immortal super soldier. I don’t know where it comes from, but I know it’s Bucky’s”.
Steve looked at him, mouth hanging slightly. The Winter Soldier sighed again, turned his face to Steve and tried a small, apologetic smile.
“That’s how I know, pal. He misses you too”.
Steve watched the Winter Soldier walk down the hall towards the exit. He turned back to the panel and Bucky’s mugshot. And he saw the very same smile the Winter Soldier had just given him. Steve smiled in return. It wasn’t a sad or unrealistically hopeful smile. It was the smile that had always made his way to his lips whenever Bucky was around. The one with which he said “hello” to him, and “goodbye”. The one with which he said “thank you”, “I’m sorry” or “I’m glad you’re here”. The one that loudly stated “I love you” for nobody to hear but his childhood friend, his best and only true friend. And he might be getting the echoes of it.
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Metro: Last Light Review
I just finished Metro: Last Light and ohhhhh my god the feelings! I was a good little Ranger and managed to get the “Redemption” ending. Which left me in tears. So, here are my thoughts:
The Dark Ones
Oh, boy. The little Dark One (I named him “Alyosha”) was a lovely and actually helpful companion for some really rushed and therefore not so enjoyable parts of the game. I loved his naivety and wonder, which reminded me a bit of Artyom in the beginning of Metro 2033. Idealistic, naive and curious about the world around him. I also found the Dark Ones to be not that creepy in the first game and really disliked the fact that the canon ending for Metro 2033 was the one were Artyom nuked them.
Pavel Morozov
Boy, this is a hard one. I get that Pavel was designed to be likable, to make the betrayal really hurtful for the player (and therefore Artyom) but I did not expect it to work that well. Mind you, I knew he was going to betray me before I played the game (Thanks, tumblr). But it hurt. God, I loved him as a companion. With his smirk, stupid jokes, charm and (probably, probably not so) fake admiration for Artyom. His teasing on the Red Square broke my heart. I was feeling so used and angry but at the same time I wanted him back. So, well done writing this character in particular. No one but Pavel will ever have me stuck in continuous loop of “I love you but I hate you.”
Anna
Now, moving on to something that was done badly: Anna (or, to be more specific: her character). First of all, I’m glad that in Metro: Exodus Anna seems to be a lovable, totally badass character who loves Artyom very much. But, during Last Light, I developed quite a strong dislike for her. The whole “rabbit” nickname was ridiculous and downright annoying. It destroyed the serious topic of killing the little Dark One. Every time she showed up I had the strong urge to roll my eyes. Her views on the Dark Ones and almost everything else were dismissive and arrogant. She reminded me of her father a lot (so, well done), whom I do not really like, either. Also, we really do not need to talk about that very weird, forced and extremely misplaced sex scene, right?! I mean, that was just cringy.
Ulman
Oh, my one true Metro love. I want to know who made the decision to kill this angel off, so I can kick his/her butt! But seriously, why? Loved the beginning with him, which placed him in the role of the companion again (at least a bit). And that was that. Revolutionary idea: Let him be the kidnapped one Artyom has to save. Place him in the swamp church and let him get injured by the blast. Artyom witnesses one of his closest friends being dragged away by asshat Lesnitsky (do not fight me on this, Ulman and Artyom are totally best friends!). Of course one of the highest-ranking rangers would be leverage against Miller. No need to drag Anna into this. Artyom saves Ulman, we are spared of the weird sex scene (or get a cuddle scene for Artyom and Ulman, because they both need someone to hold them) and this extra quality time with our favorite ranger would make his death much more tragic, since the bond between the player and Ulman would have been stronger. Also, can we talk about how his death is mentioned? In the credits?! Definitely not enough. One of the main characters of the first game and we do not even witness him dying? Big no no! So, if you want to kill a character like this off, at least give the player a proper death scene.
Level design and enemies
My thoughts while playing Last Light can be summarized like this: F*ck, f*ck, f*ck! I felt constantly underpowered, overwhelmed and scared. “Sundown” and “Nightfall” were stupidly frustrating because the level design was confusing but then again, it got better after I played it second time. The second part of the game felt very rushed in general which greatly overwhelmed me but then again, story-wise this fast pace makes sense. “Red Square” annoyed me because it is close to impossible to play non-lethal here (I found a video for this but was way too impatient, so I just killed them all, apart from Pavel).
When it comes to the enemies, I am torn. Some of the enemies I liked (the shrimp, for example). The demons were downright annoying and more than once successfully attacked me when I was inside or under something. The mutant bear was overkill and unnecessary. The whole level was creepy and tense enough. Big Mamma was okay.
Plot
I actually liked it. A lot. Replace Anna with Ulman during the kidnapping and I would call this a 10/10. With Anna it is a 9/10. God, I’m glad she seems to be an amazing character in Exodus. The Reds as the main enemy were cool and interesting enough, Korbut was a disgusting and therefore good villain. Interestingly enough I pitied Moskvin in the end, seeing him talking to a picture of his brother.
This f*cked me up
Oktyabrskaya station. I mean, it was just terrible. Not in the sense of “bad” but sincerely upsetting. The sheer mass of corpses, the fire, the smoke. This really got me. I felt so disgusted and angry and helpless. Just think about it: They brought the virus there, which resulted in people dying a painful and messy death and then (because the virus was not fast enough), they just killed the survivors and infected off. Burned them alive.
Memorable moments (things that made me laugh, cry or shudder)
Khan lecturing Ulman about the dangers of smoking (Khans amused tone)
Speech of the Fuhrer after escaping the Reich prison (made me sick)
The whole airplane sequence
Pavel standing next to a tied up Artyom and not even looking in his direction while taking orders (f*ck you, Pavel)
The fisherman who gets Artyom to Venice (Lovely guy)
Teddybear
Confronting Pavel in Venice (Jesus, the tension)
Level design in the catacombs (so very eerie)
Little Dark One as a kid while talking to Miller in Polis (I think he is actually waving at the surrounding rangers)
Being dragged to safety by Ulman during the firefight (I just love this guy)
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