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frostironfudge · 11 months

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Silhouettes In The Spotlight - Bucky Barnes - Chapter Fifteen

Summary: Bucky Barnes has worked immensely hard to have a filmography expanding across genres and garnering accolades from critics, peers and fans. Y/N Y/L/N, with her debut novel (fan-fiction turned New York Times Bestseller) has two other best sellers under her belt. Next is her highly anticipated fourth book lined up for release. SHEILD Productions has acquired the film rights to her debut novel and they want Bucky Barnes to play the lead (aka himself) by any means necessary. This story is about angst, lust, heartbreak, and love. After all fairytales only exist in books and movies right?

Warnings:fluff, angst, SA mentioned not described, drugs mentioned not consumed, entertainment industry language (basically misleading way of delivering news), legal stuff, anxiety, court proceedings, bucky is sweet but also a menace, shitty lawyers and victim blaming, comments made on size of reader

Pairing: Actor!Bucky Barnes x Plus Size!Fem!Reader

Word Count: 5.3k || Dividers: @firefly-graphics

Main Masterlist || Fic Masterlist || AO3 || Fic Playlist

Chapter Fourteen || Chapter Sixteen

HEADLINES:

Natasha Romanoff Unleashes Scathing Tweets While Defending The Victims Who Have Come Forward Against Alexander Pierce

Y/N Y/L/N Looks Sombre Attending Court Hearing. Bucky Barnes To Take The Stand. Fans Gather Outside Courthouse To Support Actor As He Supports His Colleagues.

Twins In Style, Reclusive Lawyer Andy Barber Looks Dapper In Suit Matched With His Brother Steve Rogers. Watch Exclusive Video Of The Lawyer As He Ponders Over Case Details In The Parking Lot.

Dolores Stuns In A Cherry Red Outfit, Is It Appropriate For Court? Watch As Our Fashion Experts Breakdown These Courtroom Looks.

HYDRA Now Pushes Innocence Narrative, Sharon Carter Leading Charge To Safe Face Of Organisation.

Fans Reign Down Hell On Ace After Comments About Shocking Revelation On The Truth Of Alexander Pierce The Star Deletes Social Media In Response.

Loki stares at the iPad lying on the desk. The shower turning on brings him back to the present. Dozens of emails, back and forth correspondence.

Pictures.

Pictures of him.

Pictures of Bucky.

Pictures of Steve.

Pictures of You.

Pictures of Bucky and You.

Pictures of Steve and You.

Some actual and several altered to insinuate much more than what was ongoing. Bile rises in his throat as he scrolls to the top and through the chain again while recording all of it on his phone.

Intimate pictures he exchanged with Ace, the bathroom door opens. He exits the iPad back to the home screen. Making sure to close all apps before locking the device.

“Are you coming in, big boy?” They call out, beads of water flow down their naked form. A sight which would have Loki tempted but now churns acid in his stomach.

“I’m terribly sorry, it's my brother. I need to go.” He explains having told Ace enough about his sibling, Thor, that they could draw conclusions for the need to retreat. He had done it before genuinely.

“Oh no, would you like me to come along?” They step out further grabbing the towel.

“No, I um, I’d appreciate that but I’ve already asked Bucky. I’ll update you in a few hours. I apologise for cutting this short.” He buttons up his shirt, swiftly.

Ace stands before him, reaching up to cup his cheeks. They stand on their tiptoes, pressing their lips to his, Loki’s hands grasp their waist. Eyes closed as the two share the kiss so steeped in with betrayal.

Loki rushes out as the air is leaving his lungs, the court hearings are ongoing. The next date is scheduled for next week. He gets into his car, uncaring for the tickets he might receive and speeds along to his best friend’s apartment.

Bucky opens the door to a frantic looking Loki who just thrusts his unlocked phone into his palms. The green eyed man heads straight for the bar cart and pours himself a generous serving of the amber selection. Downing it in one go.

Bucky stares at the playing footage, stomach knotting with every exchanged email. Natasha was right.

It was someone on the main crew.

Someone all trusted.

Someone you considered a close friend when Natasha and Yelena seemingly abandoned you.

“Pour me a glass too, I need to tell Feather.” Bucky holds out his hand and the cold crystal is placed in, he takes a sip then a longer one. Calls are exchanged between Andy, Matt and himself. More calls are made to Agent Lewis and Agent Lang.

The calls take hours and a meeting is called in order.

Bucky closes his eyes tightly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

When would this nightmare end?

A sniffle brings him back to the present Loki hunched over and trying not to cry into his hands.

“I trusted them.” He mutters as Bucky’s arms envelope him into a hug, “I, I– Bucky I’m so sorry.”

“I’m so sorry this happened to you. You don’t deserve this, not one bit.” Bucky pulls him in a tighter embrace, “I know how much they meant to you.”

Loki sniffles, holding onto Bucky, “I’m so sorry.”

You stare at Ace across the hallway of the courthouse. They meet your gaze, offering you a bright smile.

“Smile back.” Bucky reminds in a soft murmur, from his position, leaning against the wall, coffee cup in hand. You offer them a tightlipped smile.

“I feel sick.” Your palm pressed against your stomach, the queasy feeling blooms, “I can’t keep up this charade for long. Behaving as if yet another person hasn’t betrayed us.”

“I’d recommend a stiff drink.” Steve drinks from his own cup wishing it was something else. Glare affixed on Ace who was busy chatting away to their assistant.

“I don’t believe alcohol is the answer, Rogers. Believe me, the four ibuprofens I’ve taken agree.” Loki observes making his way over to your small group.

“How are you?” You hug him, he hugs back. Sighing deeply.

“I will be better.” He says, he takes off his sunglasses as he pulls away with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Don’t apologise again, please.” you request, he smiles still apologetic.

“Apologise for what?” Ace interrupts, grasping Loki’s arm with their own.

“For stealing me from date night for you know…” Bucky pushes himself away from the wall, wrapping a protective arm around your shoulders.

“Ah, yes.” They smile up at Loki, he grins at them, “I really hope you didn't mind, Y/N.”

“Of course not, I know how complicated a family can be, and having people to trust is extremely important. I’m happy Loki didn’t have to be alone.”

Steve masks a snort with a cough at your thinly veiled jab. Loki shifts slightly, Steve yelps, “These are YSL!” He sneers making sure the shoes aren’t damaged.

“Don’t worry they're baptised now by Louboutins.” Loki winks at him.

“Case in point.” You add.

Ace only smiles.

Andy waves at you all to enter the courtroom.

The crowd diminishes, as the courtroom fills up.

“All rise for Judge Rambaue.”

Judge Maria Rambaue takes her place, and everyone settles. Matt stands, as does Andy. The defence lawyers comprising the familiar faces of Schmidt and his overworked paralegals eye them warily.

Alexander only glares towards them then his gaze finds yours, he raises a brow. Then your view is blocked as Bucky shifts forward. Glaring at Alexander. The gesture makes the older man laugh, bemused. He looks on ahead.

“Don’t let him get to you, Feather.” Bucky murmurs, kissing the top of your head. You nod, intertwining your hand with his, he strokes his thumb over your tattoo.

“Permission to approach the bench, Your Honour?” Matt’s voice rings across the room.

“Permission granted.” Judge Rambeau waits as the teams approach.

Andy speaks and Schmit’s face turns red, he begins firing his paralegal, who cowers back pushing up their spectacles.

“I’m going to ask you to be respectful inside and outside of my court, attorney.” The judge’s voice is loud enough, the journalists at the back begin scribbling across their notepads vigorously.

The attorneys return to their respective tables. Matt whispers something to Andy, the two share a conversation. The latter stands, buttoning up his blazer.

Andy takes a deep breath, “Your Honour we would request to call Mr. Peter Quill to the witness stand.”

“Granted.”

Peter Quill walks with a confident stride, giving a beaming grin to a very confused looking Alexander Pierce.

"I solemnly declare and affirm that the evidence I shall give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth". Peter says, then faces the room.

“Mr. Quill, you were arrested a few weeks ago on account of possession of several narcotics seized from your home.” Andy questions.

“Yes, those charges have since been dropped as the evidence collected was planted and it was a thinly veiled warning.” Peter nods.

“I see, I would request the court to allow me to submit evidence from Mr. Quill in regards to this statement.” Andy returns with the marked evidence in hand.

The tape is played, Alexander’s voice warning Peter heard by everyone.

“Untrue!” Alexander yells.

“Order in the court, Mr. Pierce.” Judge Rambaue’s voice warns.

Andy shakes his head, “Analysis from Agents Lewis and Lang have revealed this is a non tampered with tape as well as the voice match software affirms it indeed is Mr. Pierce’s voice.”

“Objection!” Schmidt stands, “Mr. Pierce was in a recorded meeting on the date of this claim!”

“Mr. Schmidt!” The judge bellows.

“Your Honour this is a baseless argument!”

“Your Honour, we have records and geolocations found. Which confirms the call location and CCTV footage affirms Mr. Pierce was on a call at the same time.” Andy offers the evidence yet again.

Peter smiles at Alexander, “You made a grave mistake by coming after me.” he laughs, the smug expression doesn’t leave his features.

“I never called you. You were fooled. What would I do trying to one up an imbecile like you?” Alexander rolls his eyes.

The gavel resounds.

It's silent in the courtroom, Peter leaves the witness stand and Alexander is called upon to take the place.

“So you mean to say what? Someone imitates your voice during the call Mr. Quill received?” Matt questions.

“Yes.” Alexander replies.

“How are you speaking with such certainty? There have been several people here who have disproved most of your lies.” Matt gestures towards the crowd, “The jury have heard each lie be thwarted.”

“Several people have tried and failed to copy several aspects of my life.” Alexander sits back in the chair, one hand running through his hair.

“I understand and what about the call being placed from within the location you were at?” Matt drums his fingers along his guide cane, waiting for Alexander to speak.

“Someone knew I was at my chosen location and made the call. They were present for the sole purpose of incriminating me. I was on a video conference where you can confirm with the person on the opposite end.” He shrugs.

“You have a lot of enemies, is it Mr. Pierce?” Matt gives a sympathetic smile to Alexander.

“It comes with the line of work, son.”

“Who was on video call with you?” Matt turns his head towards the jury then back to the man.

Alexander sighs, “With my nephew, Brock Rumlow.” He flicks away a piece of lint, seemingly bored.

The lawyer purses his lips, waiting to formulate his next line of questions. Andy stares at Alexander for a moment. Then three taps on the desk. Matt tilts his head then straightens it.

“Whenever you’re ready, Mr. Murdock.” Alexander smiles as he smoothens his tie.

“Thank you Mr. Pierce. Now you mentioned that there was a video call with your nephew Mr. Brock Rumlow, correct?” Matt smiles.

“Yes.”

“What was the context of this meeting or agenda if you would be so kind to share?” Matt gestures towards the judge and jury.

“I am not at liberty to discuss since it is about the upcoming film he is directing.” Alexander’s lips press into a thin line.

“Alright and you affirm that you did not take nor make any other calls during the entirety of this meeting?” The lawyer raises a brow.

“Yes, I affirm.”

“If we were to acquire a recording of this meeting as mandated for all HYDRA, formerly known as SHIELD Productions online meetings, would this support your statement?” Matt smirks as Alexander visibly tenses, his eyes move to his lawyers.

“Objection, calls for speculation.” Schmidt covers.

Matt chuckles, “Alright, can you prove you took no calls Mr. Pierce?”

“Objection repetitive.”

“I haven’t received my answer.”

“Overruled.”

“Mr. Pierce? Since this rule is followed by all members and employees of your co-owned production house?”

“I am HYDRA.” Alexander grits out, palm slapping against the wood of the desk.

“Sentiments aside, can you prove you took no calls?” Matt keeps his cool.

“I built HYDRA to where it is.” Alexander presses.

“By sex-ually abusing young women and men?” Matt roars, calm demeanour fading away.

“Objection, leading.” Schmidt interrupts.

“I did no such thing, these people are placing baseless allegations for money!” Alexander bellows ignoring Schmidt.

“Mr. Pierce, the honourable court has received conclusive evidence that you did in fact assault the victims who have bravely come forth to share their harrowing ordeal.” Matt points out, “Many of whom have–,”

“Oh please, they received money from HYDRA to keep them more than compliant, silent and happy. This is all for more fame. Especially from that trio there.” Alexander sneers and points his fingers at you, Bucky and Steve.

Silence takes over the court.

Bucky places a protective arm around you.

Your hand finds his; fingers intertwined.

Steve keeps a blank expression.

Slowly it dawns over everyone what Alexander let slip.

Andy smiles pleased and it makes Alexander lose his composure.

Schmidt scrambles to stand up after an entire two minutes, “Objection h-hearsay.” He stutters.

Matt smiles, “Your honour, I have no further questions. I would request Mr. Barber to take over.” The two exchange places.

Andy smiles at the Judge and then Alexander, “Whenever you’re ready, Mr. Pierce.” Who only scowls at him.

“You may begin, Mr. Barber.” The Judge declares.

“In continuation of the question not answered earlier, Mr. Pierce, can you tell us why proof of your call is not submitted? It increases the likelihood of this one charge you may be found not guilty.”

“I am not at the liberty to share confidential information about ongoing HYDRA projects.” Alexander regains composure.

“I see, so a video conference with Brock Rumlow but you cannot share the discussed matter but you can affirm you did not take any calls.” Andy lists the affirmed matters.

“Yes.” Alexander answers.

Andy cheerily grins at the Judge, she raises a brow.

“Your honour we request the honourable Judge, Jury and court to allow Mr. Brock Rumlow be summoned to witness.” Andy continues to smile.

Schmidt snickers under his breath. Alexander’s shoulders relax further.

You watch as Andy’s smile doesn’t waiver and Matt does a fist pump as the Judge allows the request. Approving the paperwork Andy takes from Matt to handover.

A break for fifteen minutes is called, everyone scatters out yet again. Brock was in custody of the NYPD awaiting his own trial.

You’re following Andy and Matt into the conference room assigned to them. Bucky and Steve in tow. When chaos breaks in the hallways.

Bucky is pushed up against the wall, lapels of his blazer bunched in Alexander’s fists.

“Admit it.” He sneers, Bucky keeps his hands where everyone can see them, pressed against the wall.

“Alexander.” Bucky warns.

“Admit you fucking made that call. Only you can mimic me without a fault. You did this!” He spits out, fire burning in his eyes.

“Alexander, you need to stop making false accusations, that was a bit for the Emmy Awards. Years ago. I can’t even do a British accent, you know this.” Bucky explains, keeping his hands still in the air.

Your brows furrow when you notice Andy presses his lips into a thin line and Matt grip his guide cane harder. Steve avoids your gaze.

Your lips part as Bucky too, looks at you and then away back at Alexander.

The guards drag him away. Bucky smoothens his suit jacket.

“We’ll talk inside.” You know he speaks to you, “Privately for five minutes.”

Bucky grips the back of the chair, he allows you time to form your question.

“Did you mimic him?” You question, you knew he presented at the Emmys with Steve once but you never had gotten around to seeing the video.

“At the Emmys, yes, I had.” He recounts.

“Bucky.” your lips are dry as you run your tongue over them in contemplation.

“Feather, why would I?”

“You hated what Peter Quill did at the event…” You conclude.

“Yes, but I didn’t plant the LSD or Coke or whatever the hell they found.” Bucky defends, you press your fingers to your temples.

“I didn’t ask you about that.” Your eyes meet his azure.

“He’s on the same track as him, he had to be busted.” Bucky emphasises pressing his index finger against his palm.

“Do you have an alibi?” you close your eyes.

“I do. I was at an interview.”

“Then… How?”

“Recording played over.”

“You better not be hiding anything else from me.” You affix your glare on him. Then jog around the table to embrace him.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Feather.” He wraps his arms around you, tucking you against him.

“I promised you I’d take care of you.” He murmurs.

“Not when you’re– well, felonies.” You complain.

“Hey when most of your book boyfriends are morally grey why not your actual boyfriend be too?” He teases.

“They do the doorframe lean, amongst other things.” You huff.

Soon enough you’re twirled, back pressed to the wall. Bucky smirks, his hand resting above taking most of his weight. As he leans in, blue eyes full of playfulness. Your skin heats at the proximity.

“This better?” His voice is doing that deep baritone thing, the one that makes the thoughts in your head mush.

“I–,” words don’t support you.

Bucky leans in further, lips brushing against yours, he cups your jaw.

Closing the meagre distance between your lips and his own.

In the brief recess after knowing what Bucky did for you. The team never got a chance to speak. The break was extended further into lunch to allow Brock to be brought in, you felt queasy.

You still didn't understand why Brock being there would help the case in favourable manners. He was the nephew of the man being charged. Of course he would only support the man.

Playing around with the wrapper of the sandwich is all that felt right. Bucky prompts you a few times to eat, as do Loki and Steve.

“I just don’t feel hungry…” You repeat.

“Okay how about this?” Bucky makes smaller sections of the sandwich effectively turning two pieces into four, “Eat two small ones, it will help with the queasiness.”

When you just look at him, he raises the piece to your lips.

“The airplane needs landing access.” He chuckles, full of hope that you will eat.

“You’re…” You can’t find the words he’s absolutely adorable. So you do part your lips letting him feed you the first piece and then the second piece.

Bucky turns for a moment when Sam walks up needing to discuss the shoot scheduled for later today.

He looks back at you while Sam speaks, raising the third piece, you eat it without protest.

The rewarding grin Bucky gives you further melts your heart. He turns yet again to answer Sam.

You eat the fourth piece on your own, the queasiness easing.

“Good girl.” He praises, placing a kiss on your temple. You smile up at him.

“It's like watching a sugar rush actually take place.” Steve grumbles.

Loki shakes his head bemused, “You’d do the same thing.”

The two share a glance at each then the other’s food. Both reach for one piece of the other’s food holding it up to their mouths.

“Here love, please eat.” Loki says dramatically.

“No, honey, how can I eat unless you eat?” Steve defends, pressing the morsel to Loki’s lips.

You look at the two of them, “You know, I never thought about this, but I think the new book might have the two of you inspiring characters.”

Bucky and you look at them then back at each other.

“I see how these two would fit.” Your boyfriend chuckles.

“What are you planning?” Loki narrows his eyes at you and Steve regards you warily.

“Oh nothing at all…” You trail off, then look to the side as Andy walks towards your group.

“We’ve got ten minutes before the session begins, Brock has arrived.” His gaze settles on you. Bucky tenses beside you as does Steve.

“What?” You ask, looking between them.

Andy sighs moving closer, “He may bring up the night of the assault.”

“And that is a problem because?” You ask, “It happened, it's the truth…”

“There isn’t doubt about that, Y/N. If he brings it up, you will be called to the stand again.” Steve explains softly.

“Oh…” You swallow, the way Schmidt had questioned you, the blatant disrespect, the horrible accusations, the jabs at your weight and your writing.

Previous Hearings:

‘And what about this? Your literature is so sexually charged, this conversation between your characters suggests women are dominating in nature during sexual situations.’ Schmidt places the highlighted passage before you.

‘Objection Relevance?’ Matt interrupts.

‘Yes, because sex should be consensual, safe, healthy and enjoyed by the individuals partaking, I don’t understand–,’ Your words are cut off.

‘You writing about these things promotes you were asking for it all by coming onto my client. If you couldn’t handle yourself with the substances you abused, a woman of your appearance had to resort to throwing herself on my client to achieve her–,’

‘Objection opinion.’ Matt roars.

‘You were at fault, you were under influence and you came onto my client.’ Schmidt accuses, ignoring Matt.

‘Objection Evidence!’

You cower back in your seat. Ears ringing, flashes of the evening playing. Breathing hard you search for Bucky. Your knuckles shoot pain at the harsh grip on your chair.

‘Ms. Y/L/N, your recollection of the night is obscured, how can you yourself believe what happened when all you have are flashes? The drugs you took alter memories, are you sure you weren’t with the people trying to bring my client’s name down?’ Schmidt stares down at you, dismissing you. Dismissing your experience, your eyes move to the jury.

‘Objection evidence! Evidence B351-85 is the entire audio recording of Mr. Pierce’s sex-ual assault on my client.’ Matt pauses hearing your laboured breathing, ‘Y/N?’

Black spots cloud your vision, ‘He did it, he said no one would believe me. Please, you have to believe me. I, I didn’t lead him on please. There were bottles and I was thirsty. The water had something in it, I, please.’

Bucky stands, Loki tugs on his arm. The Judge looks at them then back at you.

‘Sit down.’ Andy whispers to them.

Your vision ebbs in and out, you try to anchor yourself to Bucky to something. Alexander grins smugly, you close your eyes, hot tears brim over your cheeks.

‘Crocodile tears don’t win cases Ms. Y/L/N. Your erotic fiction is good only on paper.’ Schmidt smirks, ‘No further questions.’

“But Brock will corroborate, correct?” Bucky stares at Andy, the lawyer nods.

“Given who he shares a genetic composition with, I do not want to trust him.” He looks at Steve and Loki.

“If they call me to the stand again, I’ll tell the truth.” You nod, taking a steadying breath.

“If anything occurs, we’ll call Steve or Bucky again to the stand, okay?” Andy assures with an apologetic smile.

“We’re here to help okay?” Steve adds, “You call us as witnesses, we heard everything.”

Andy nods, “We better get inside.”

The courtroom is tense as Brock is led inside his hands still cuffed. Alexander rolls his eyes and shakes his head as his nephew takes the stand.

Andy stands, his opening statement done. Brock seems every bit laid back. As though lives won’t change based on his testimony. As if this means nothing.

“Yeah, Uncle was on a call in the middle of the meeting.” Brock says and a murmur breaks out.

“Order in the court!” Judge Rambaue bellows.

“Do you know who was it with, this conversation Mr. Pierce, your uncle partook in amidst the ongoing meeting?” Andy questions, raising a brow.

Brock inhales, “He muted when the call was made, archives will have a recording of the meeting and if not my meetings are backed up to my server. I am willing to provide access.”

“I see, thank you for your cooperation Mr. Rumlow. No further questions, your honour.” Andy returns to the table.

All eyes move to Schmidt’s table, whispering occurs. Alexander slams his hand on the table, sneering at his lawyers then Brock. Who only smirks at his uncle,

“I would also go on record to say that I have supportive evidence that the man sitting there, Alexander Pierce, has assaulted those three sitting there. I have proof of the blackmail done for the same. In fact it was delivered by their close friend Ace to my uncle in exchange for a three movie deal with the production house.”

“Objection, lack of foundation.” Schmit points at Brock.

“The foundation is every allegation of this case.” Andy counters.

“Mr. Rumlow, I hope you have evidence to support what you are stating.” The judge looks at him and Brock nods.

“I have someone who can corroborate everything, with proof.” Brock only gives his uncle a wicked grin when Alexander stands marching over to the witness stand.

The officers stop him, “You won’t fucking get away with this!” Alexander struggles against the guards.

“Order in my court! Mr. Pierce, I will not hesitate to charge you. This is your final warning.” Judge Rambaue points her gavel at him.

“I am paying the price of being by your side while you ruined my life by making me do your bidding. No more uncle.” Brock looks at Andy.

“Mr. Rumlow, you mentioned someone who can prove every allegation?” Andy enquiries, Matt stands as well, ready with the to call witness papers in hand.

You look up at Bucky, he shakes his head unknowing of who it could be either.

“Mr. Nick Fury.” Brock smiles, the doors open, all heads turn to the man entering.

Dressed in all black, Nicky Fury keeps his gaze at level with the judge.

“Objection….” Schmidt struggles with the reasoning.

“Your Honour, we request to call Nick Fury to the stand.” Matt hands over the papers.

Nick submits three folders and a harddisk, “I know this isn’t traditional your honour, but the board of SHIELD Productions–,”

“It’s HYDRA!” Alexander shouts, Nick turns, his eye narrowed at the man.

“Was HYDRA, as of the Extra Ordinary General Meeting held with the stakeholders and active managerial position holders, you Alexander Pierce, have been terminated effective immediately. All your shares have been forfeited and bought out. You no longer have anything to do with our production house.”

“You cannot– I will take you down with me!” Alexander warns.

“No Alexander, you’re getting what was coming to you. You abused your power and now it is time to pay up.” Nick taps the hard disk, “Your honour, this contains everything Alexander has done illegally. Our Production House is being cleaned out. All employees are willing to cooperate.” He heads to the opposite side’s witness stand.

Nick meets Bucky and Steve’s gazes, then yours, “I apologise to everyone I couldn’t protect before. It was a stupid ass decision to let Alexander lead, I shall be taking a more active role rather than just financially providing for the production house.

“The court will take four days to review the newly submitted evidence. The jury is asked to consider everything and take their time to decide. Mr. Pierce you are hereby ordered to be placed in custody for your contempt behaviour in my court without bail.” The gavel resounds.

Alexander Pierce is dragged away, the four of you remain seated.

“Where are you off to Ace?” Loki’s words stop them in their tracks.

“Loki, are you going to believe–,”

“Alexander, there is something going on between Steve and Y/N. However I believe they may explore a throuple situation with Bucky Barnes.” He recounts, cutting them off.

“Here are the pictures you asked for, if your team can switch Steve and Bucky’s angles you can push the story better.”

“You went through my email?” Ace accuses, “That is a violation of privacy-,”

Your snort cuts them off, “You’re the one to fucking talk! You’re the one who leaked everything, I trusted you so much and kept wondering, I kept thinking it was others and not you. Fuck, you should really get the damn awards had me fooled you were my friend. Hell, we all thought you were our friend. You didn’t even spare Loki’s feelings. Fuck you, Ace.”

They blink at you, mouth parted. Loki scoffs at their look of denial.

“It’s best we leave.” Andy advises gesturing to the one man recording the entire ordeal.

“Feel free to post that everywhere.” You tell the man who scurries out at being caught.

“I’ll pay him to post it all.” Loki keeps his glare affixed upon Ace.

Bucky’s palm rests on your lower back, guiding you out, “Home?”

“Home.” You affirm, he presses his lips to your temple.

Hayden brings the car around. Bucky and you settle in heading home.

Yelena calls then, you put it on speaker.

“Hey Lena, you’re on speaker.”

“Hey, Hey Bucky, I heard the highlights, how are you holding up?” You hear ice clinking against glass from her end.

“We’ll get there, I suppose.” Bucky shrugs, “Any news on HYDRA Publications?”

“All of HYDRA is being dissolved, mostly SHIELD is too, it’s going to turn into something new. However, all decisions taken by the companies an hour before the decision to dissolve remain final.” She explains then sighs, “We’re going through the semantics of everything, several of the roster of BW is involved.”

“Did, did we get what we wanted?” You ask, you’d independently publish, you just needed the contract gone.

“I’m just waiting for confirmation from legal counsel at Barber and Murdock.”

“Confirmation for what?”

“If you retain all rights as author even though they have dropped you from their roster, due to poor review performance.” Yelena chuckles, you look up at Bucky.

“Wait, she’s free?” He questions.

“Yes, she’s free. We’ll work on getting the ratings up but as of now, you are not bound by any publication house.” Yelena’s happiness is infectious.

You let out a relieved laugh, “Thank you.”

“I’ll get back to you, this whole thing has led to fires I need to put out.” She ends the call and Bucky envelopes you in a hug, pulling you across his lap.

“Bucky!” You grab onto his shoulders, he only laughs.

“I’m so very happy for you, Feather.” He cups your face with his vibranium palm.

“Soon you will be free from them too.” You kiss his palm.

Bucky smiles widely, pink lips leading to the dimple on his cheek and the crinkles by his eyes. Your thumbs stroke his cheekbones, your lips kiss his crinkles and dimple.

HEADLINES:

In What Seems To Be A Shocking And Very On Brand Author Y/N’s Infamous Plot Twists, She Has Been Dropped By HYDRA-SHIELD’s Publication House Due To Poor Reviews. Read On Ahead To Know More About The Contract That Caused This To Occur.

Brock Rumlow Sentenced To Two Years Of Jail Which Was Further Reduced For His Compliance With The Law, Community Service and A Private Facility Allowed.

Alexander Pierce’s Downfall Shocks Hollywood More Stars And Big Names Come Forward As The Man Is Sentenced To Two Life Sentences In Prison. Found Guilty On All Counts.

Nick Fury On How He Knew It Was Time To Do The Right Thing, “It Was Time To Stop Remaining A Passive On Paper Leader Of This Prestigious Organisation.”

Steve Rogers Posts Picture Of BTS From His Next Movie Ghosted, Teases About Familiar Faces As Cameos. We Wonder Who Could They Be? He Also Is Setting Up A Free Mental Health Clinic At His Local Rec Centre.

Bucky Barnes and Y/N Y/L/N Spotted Holding Hands As They Enter Their Apartment Complex. Watch Mini Video Filmed At Her Mother’s Healthcare Facility of The Small Family Laughing As They Eat Jello In The Cafeteria.

Bucky Barnes Shares Heartfelt Write Up About Compassion and Kindness Towards The Victims of Alexander Pierce. Organises Fund Raiser For The Victims and Their Families Or Next of Kin. Loki Laufeyson, Steve Rogers, and Brock Rumlow Pledge To Match Fundraiser’s Amount Each.

A.N.: soooooo i hope you guys enjoy this update! slowly getting back to it all and writing, hope you all are doing well!

Taglist is Open comment or DM to be added!

Taglist: @stevesmewmew @elle14-blog1 @crazyunsexycool@sebsgirl71479 @pandaxnienke @slutforsexyseabass@eclecticpatrolroadlawyer @pandaxnienke @vampire7595 @buckyinluv @almostcontentcreator @calwitch

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skittydude · 9 months

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About Me

call me skitty (she/her). skitty is short for skittle (singular)

skitty (the pokemon) is pretty cute, tho not my fave (it's the turtwig line)

i'm mostly self-taught artist, i try to follow along tutorials and such but eh. i draw whatever really catches my fancy.

my irl responsibilities sadly leaves me a slow artist.

i'm also a pretty private person so info about me will be pretty sparse.

BUT.

I will put out that I am:

cis female

+25 y/o

born somewhere in SE Asia but currently in Canada

tired and always wanting a nap

Regarding my art:

unless it's stated in the caption/post, using my works for personal use is fine. (ex: as your profile picture, banner, phone or desktop background) just don't claim as yours and credit me

please ask if you want to use it in an edit or something like that

if said piece is a commissioned work and you didn't commission it, don't use it

don't remove my signature/watermark and re-post it as yours

don't use my artwork to spread hate or misinformation

feel free to send a question my way (via tumblr, email or dm), apologies in advance if i don't see it immediately

i try to post on my insta, ko-fi and even here but i doubt i will be consistent

My Other Socials:

disclaimer: unless listed here, it's not me/my account

Instagram

Ko-fi

Twitch

Throne

Carrd (tba and currently wip)

i also have discord and i should have dms open but i prefer to be contacted via instagram or here and i won't be accepting friend requests unless i know the person, sorry

i also have a redbubble and teespring but they're basically defunct. will eventually get rid of them

Additional Info:

i use a wacom tablet i bought from around 2016 and works fine. eventually might upgrade and open commissions. got an ipad recently-ish and i try to draw on there.

current art program/s:

clip studio paint (laptop)

ibis (ipad)

programs i've used in the past:

medi bang

firealpaca

paint.net

krita

#skittyme #about me #artist info #find me

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asm5129 · 1 year

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RWBY v9 intro analysis

First—best intro since volume 1 and 2

By a long shot

imo

The very first images in the intro draw a link between Neo and Jaune

So that’s intriguing

and does not bode well for Jaune

though i’m still not on the page of that Knight being Jaune

But we’ll see

Now, we see all of team RWBY with all their designs from throughout the show. Even though this looks to be a very Ruby-centric volume, they’re not getting out without some deep reflection either

The first time we see the new girl--likely Alyx-- in this intro, she’s overlaid over Ruby’s section of the first four major images. I don’t know exactly what that means yet though Now, Crescent Rose is a MAJOR recurring symbol in this opening Knowing Ruby’s love for weapons, plus her description in v1-–“they’re an extension of ourselves”—as well as the fact that Ruby has always defined herself by her ability to protect others, the loss of crescent rose implies something very deep. I think this also lines up with the thought I had about this volume forcing the girls to question their roles as huntresses

Crescent Rose was in many ways our introduction to the very concept of a huntress It also lines up with the lines about “balance” So perhaps the question is: who is Ruby if she is not a huntress? We then have “Vengance is a riptide” with what seems like Cheshire’s eyes and the the red prince, so there’s definitely gonna be trouble there Then we get the few frames of team RWBY walking and then running And this has me fascinated They’re all getting excited, running, moving forward, while Ruby gets progressively worse behind them and they don’t even notice I think the fact that they’re trying to, essentially, progress the plot while Ruby needs to process her shit is gonna be important

It’s something that’s been the subject of criticism in the past but this opening definitely seems to imply that’s an intentional flaw being drawn attention to this volume Then we have some images that show us other parts of the Ever After Like Jaune and the clocks—again, definitely implying there’s some weird time shit that can happen here—and the path that defies gravity Now, interestingly, the path that defies gravity has a lot of portals on it. They look very similar to the portals in the waystation Now, we get our first connection between Alyx and a seeming ability to shapeshift, with her turning into Ruby on the bridge and giving that unnatural smile And that leads directly to Neo—our first (and definitely not last) connection drawn between Alyx and Neo.

After episode 3, I’m thinking they might actually be Neo’s duplicates, each taking their own form

Maybe each representing part of her psyche? I dunno

But regardless Neo’s clearly learned some criminal empire building strategies while working with Roman

Then we get this green book It has the tree on the front

It’s most likely The Girl Who fell Through The World. And then it gets consumed in flames, indicating that knowing the details of the story won’t actually help

the flames lead to that image we’ve seen of the knight in the armor Which is actually gold and black, not gold and white Another mark against it being Jaune

Plus why show regular Jaune in the opening if he’s going to be the Knight here?

Anyways

We have the painting part where Ruby is falling

There’s the knight on the hare

And yeah his armor looks even less like Jaune’s here The Red Prince and his game Little, the Cat, and most notably the Cat is looking fondly at a picture of Alyx BUT There’s something even more interesting inside that picture

Who’s that in the background? Then we have the caterpillar-thing

Whose wings look awfully similar to the butterfly we saw several times this episode And then, most vitally, we get our best look at our mystery blacksmith/forger/whatever from the trailer (Sorry for the glare, took this picture of my iPad screen with my phone)

She’s wearing a cracked mask Genuinely feeding my feeling that this is summer A version of summer that’s been there too long

I don’t know who else it might be

And while I don’t know whether we’re meant to be theorizing about the knight

Everything about how this woman was framed in the trailer was perfectly tailored to get us theorizing

And that’s basically what I’ve got so far.

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vkelleyart · 4 years

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Story Time: Get a load of what happened to me at Starbucks today.

There’s a running joke among people who know me personally that I unwittingly go out in public with a sign on my forehead stating “I Am Non-Threatening. Come Talk To Me.” Because if there’s a chance a bizarre conversation with a total stranger is going to happen, I’m typically the person it happens to.

Some context: I have been pretty darn sick this week. (It’s not Coronavirus, don’t worry.) Since the work in my queue for my day job is comprised entirely of audio narration right now, and I currently sound like a waterlogged Demi Moore, I haven’t been able to work these last couple of days. As a result, I’ve been using my down time to knock out as much of Manu’s redesign as possible. Today, to ensure I didn’t spend the day languishing in sinus misery, I medicated the crap out of myself and took Manu to the Starbucks down the block from my son’s day care.

I hit the bathroom, then picked an empty table, but as soon as I sat down with my venti Comfort Tea and started tweaking the inks on my iPad, I felt the eyes of the man next to me looking over my shoulder.

When I looked up, he had his phone out. “I’m sorry,” he said (in a thick accent I couldn’t place geographically), “I don’t want to disturb. I notice you art. You are artist!”

I tried to smile. “Yes, I’m... Well, I’m trying to be,” I croaked.

He leaned in, like he was sharing a secret.

“I am artist, too.”

He stuck out his hand.

I gently took it, grateful for the bathroom trip I just took in which I washed the scourge off of my fingers.

“Can I?” he asked, holding his phone up.

“Take a picture? Uh... sure,” I said. It’s not like he would be able to steal Manu out from under me or anything, I figured. The panel I was tweaking was magnified out to Guam.

“I am artist. Architect and Designer,” he clarified while he steadied his phone over my iPad. “I am Ilker. What is your name?”

“I’m Venessa” I said, trying to be polite. This, I thought warily, is precisely how I get myself into trouble. I’m too damn nice.

“You know, I come to America twenty years ago from Turkey...”

I put down my stylus. This was going to be a while.

“I like Turkey,” he explained. “I like the country and I like the people. But I am artist. I am not... religious man.”

I nodded.

“I told my wife I was going to go to America and she said, “what are you going to do? You don’t have job! You don’t have money! No Visa!” And I said, “I am artist and architect. I will paint and sell my paintings.

“So I come to America alone. To New York City. I sit outside, and I paint. And people, they liked my paintings. They bought them. This one for $30, that one for $50.

“One day, a man comes over to me and he say, “I like your painting. I see you are also architect.” And he gives me his number and asks me to go to meeting at his office. Because he wants to offer me a job. He starts to talk about a building contract.

“I tell him I don’t know anything about contracts. I have no Visa. I am not American citizen. But he says, “That’s okay. I will take care of everything. You will have nothing to worry about.” And this man, he gave me a job. $173,000 a year. And my wife, he gave her a job too. She was project assistant. I bring her and my two daughters over from Turkey.”

“Wow,” I said, not fully believing the veracity of what sounded like a full-on immigration fairy tale.

“Here,” said Ilker, unlocking his phone and opening up his Facebook app. “I show you my work.” He paused and looked up at me. “I am interrupting. You don’t mind?”

At this point, I was invested. I had to see. Because whatever he was about to show me would either prove or disprove this yarn he was spinning. “Please,” I said, gesturing for him to go ahead.

He opened his photos and my jaw dropped. His work... was UNREAL.

“This is building I designed on Madison Ave.... And this one in Chelsea...”

Holy crap. I had just been to Chelsea with my sister last month on a trip to see a broadway show. I had crossed the intersection of the building he was, at this moment, telling me he designed.

He flipped through more buildings. These, he’d designed in Washington, DC. In Bethesda. In Arlington. All beautiful, streamlined, modern structures I had visited and parked my car in front of. He told me he did much of his concept work freehand. That he worked exclusively in natural media. His preferred media was pen, ink, watercolors, and chalks.

Between photos of his wife and daughters, he went on to show me photos from the RUSSIAN EXHIBITION OF HIS ARCHITECTURE ARTWORK.

Y’all, I was stunned. I couldn’t believe the talent I was sitting next to. Scattered among these gloriously rendered images of some of the most beautiful building concepts I’d ever seen were paintings of scenes in Central Park, the National Mall, and nudes from a life-drawing session he attends from time to time.

When he was done flipping through his phone, he looked at me and smiled. “I hope you don’t mind that I interrupt you. I show you all this because what you are doing is very good. And you should be encouraged. To draw is to make beauty.”

I nodded, a lump in my throat. “Thank you,” I managed. “Your work is astonishing. I don’t even know what to say. What is your name again?”

He held out his hand once more. “Ilker Kocahan,” he said. “I am getting more coffee. Can I get you one?”

I looked at my still-full venti cup. “No thank you. But here, please take my card.”

He held my dinky business card like I’d handed him a treasure and thanked me.

Then Ilker got his coffee, and left the coffee shop.

At some point in his ramblings he talked about America as a place of dreams. How he credits this country with helping him rise to the top of his field where he is now able to sell his paintings for $800-$1000 a piece now that he’s retired. My heart ached to hear him talk about that, knowing how our leadership’s positions on immigrants have taken such a dark and horrifying turn.

Imagine the buildings and museums and public places that would never have been if a business man in the park hadn’t lifted up a Turkish painter who spoke little English.

And now that painter was paying it forward on me.

I still feel pretty darn sick. I’ve still got body aches and a nose that has taken the rest of my face hostage.

But today was a really good day. And I just wanted to share it with you in case you are looking for reasons to keep drawing/painting/dancing/writing. It all counts and it is all good.

If you would like to see Ilker Kocohan’s work, please click here.

#Immigrants. We get the job done.#Edit: I’m sorry this post is so long. I made the mistake of writing it on my cell and now I can’t put any read-mores in. ☹️

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falcqns · 3 years

Text

Mute

Pairing: Chris Evans x Mute!Reader

Summary: You meet Chris for the first time and he doesn’t know you’re mute. All hell breaks loose.

Warnings: angst, chris being an accidental asshole, fluff, sebastian stan being protective

A/N: I based this on a dream I had, as well as my experience with being a selective mute from 2017-2020, and how I communicated and who I spoke verbally to. Hope you enjoy!

Sebastian was shocked when he met you in pre-production for the first post-endgame Marvel movie, and you didn’t speak, instead nodding and using hand gestures that he later deciphered to be sign language. He knew that you were fairly new to the industry, and so approached Joe Russo.

“Hey, Joe. I just had a question about the new girl, Y/N?” He asked, while watching you walk of with your PA next to you. “Sure, what’s up?” Joe responded.

Sebastian cleared his throat before continuing. “I tried talking to her a little bit, but she didn’t speak, instead she used sign language, and I just was wondering if you knew why? Just so I can be better prepared and know how to help her,”

Joe smiled at Sebastian’s request. Being the insanely caring person that Seb was, his question didn’t surprise him. “She’s a selective mute. She does talk, but it is only when she is acting, and she’s an amazing actor. She mentioned to me that she doesn’t speak verbally unless she is very close to the person and trusts them wholeheartedly, such as her family and best friends. Her PA is her best friend, and can help you communicate with her. But, other than that, just get to know her. She’ll probably open up to you.” Joe finished, before patting Seb on the back, and walking off to talk to some production people.

Sebastian looked in the direction that you had gone, and decided to talk to you. You may not communicate verbally with him, but he wanted to get to know you.

Over the next few weeks of pre-production, both Sebastian and Anthony got to know you, and both were insanely shocked when you performed your first scene with them. You delivered your lines like you had been talking all your life, and with the gravity of an experienced actor. They both congratulated you, and you signed “thank you” in response. If any one had any doubts about your skills as an actor before, they had fully dissipated.

When it had been announced that production would be moving to the UK, Seb approached you and Mackie with the idea of renting a place together. You had agreed instantly, glad that you wouldn’t be living on your own in a foreign country all alone, especially since Y/B/F/N couldn’t come along. Living with both boys was chaotic to say the least, but you wouldn’t trade it for the world. They gave you the biggest bedroom in the house, and began learning sign language so you wouldn’t have to carry your ipad everywhere for your text-to-speech app.

A few weeks in, you began to speak verbally to both boys. They were shocked when you spoke to them for the first time, but were insanely happy. Seb was almost in tears, recalling that you only spoke to those who you trusted whole heartedly. He had become insanely protective of you, and treated you like a sister, which you absolutely loved.

Everything was going great. That was, until Chris Evans showed up.

He had just finished filming his latest project, and decided to come and visit his two closest friends that he hadn’t seen in a few months. Mackie had mentioned that he was coming, and would be staying in the spare bedroom, and you foolishly assumed that he would tell Chris about your mutism.

But Mackie being Mackie, he didn’t. And neither did Seb, who also thought Mackie had told him.

You hid in your room when Chris arrived, not ready to face him at that point. You ventured out just after dinner time, and grabbed a plate of food before retreating back into your safe haven with the cover of working on an assignment that you had told to Seb. They bought it, and you and Chris made eye contact and shared a wave before you disappeared from sight.

A few days later is when all hell broke loose.

Chris seemed to have a habit of searching you and Seb out. It started off with him walking into our bedroom while Seb was talking to you, and admiring how you’d decorated the place. Yo gave him a small shy smile, which he returned, although there was a hint of confusion written all over his face. Then, you were asking Sebastian for clarification on the Romanian lines that you were supposed to speak the next day, when Chris wandered in to the kitchen. He noticed how you instantly fell silent, and whispered a thank you to Sebastian before you scurried past him. How watched your back retreat, and sighed, but grabbed his the beer he came for before walking into the living room.

It was later that night that you had decided that you wanted to talk to Chris. You hadn’t known him very long, but you felt very safe around him, and everyone had told you how trustworthy he was. You had spent the last 30 minutes hyping yourself up in the mirror before walking out on a journey to find him. You heard his voice floating from the kitchen, and as you got closer, your heart instantly broke.

“I just don’t get what her problem is with me.” You heard Chris say. Another voice, Seb, responded.

“Chris, I don’t think she has a problem with you,”

Chris scoffed. “Yes she does. Why else would she not talk to me, and rush out of a room quicker than she entered when I walk in? She has a huge problem with me. I don’t know why she thinks that just because she got a part in a movie that she can walk around all high and mighty, but I’ve done nothing to her. She’s being a bitch,”

You heard Seb exclaim and start to defend you, but you didn’t stay to listen to what he said, instead running back to your room in tears, your confidence shattered. You grabbed your iPad and apple pencil, and began to draw, an activity that let you communicate your feelings. You wanted to show Chris that you didn’t hate him, and that you didn’t think more of yourself just because you got a part in a movie.

You finished it right before dinner, and kept it in your grip tightly when Mackie called you down for dinner. Your heart fluttered in your chest as you made your way down the stairs, but your face fell, and eyes welled up with tears when you saw Chris wasn’t there.

“Is Chris coming to dinner?” You asked Seb, and he shook his head no sadly.

“No. He’s not in the best mood, but dont worry, he’ll be fine.” He said, as he grabbed his plate.

“Oh, okay.” You said, your voice coming out shaky. You looked down at the ipad in your hands, before walking out the kitchen. Seb followed behind you. Just before you reached the stairs, he gripped your arm, causing you to turn around.

“What’s wrong?” He asked sincerely, and you couldn’t hold back the tears.

“I-I heard h-him talking about m-me earlier,” You whispered, and Seb cursed before pulling you into a hug.

“You heard him,” He said. You nodded before speaking again.

“I drew him a picture and I wanted to give it to him to show that what h-he said wasn’t t-true, and that I’m actually a huge fan of his,” You sobbed into his chest. Seb didn’t move, but waited for your tears to subside, before walking with you upstairs.

“He’ll come around. He had a rough night, although that doesn’t excuse his behaviour. I’ll talk to him, okay?”

You nodded, and curled up in bed. “Do you want me to bring you up some dinner?” Seb asked, and you nodded again, before telling him what you wanted.

He left the room, and came down the stairs. he plated the food that you wanted, and grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge.

“What happened?” Anthony asked from the dining room as Seb passed.

“She heard what Evans said, and she’s heartbroken. I’m bringing her dinner, and then I’m gonna talk some sense into that motherfucker.”

“Good, he needs it.” Anthony agreed, watching as Seb walked away.

Seb dropped the food off to you, before walking across the hall to Chris’s room. He answered after the first knock.

“What’s up?”

“First of all, you’re a grade A asshole, and second of all, you need to go apologize to Y/N.” Seb said, anger bubbling in his voice.

“Why? She hates me, I’ve done nothing to her to-“ Chris began before Seb interrupted him.

“SHE DOESN’T HATE YOU!” He exclaimed. “She’s selectively mute, that’s why she doesn’t speak to you! She’s a huge fan of you. She’s in her bedroom, right now, heartbroken, because she heard you talking about her.” Seb finished, his hand pointing at your bedroom door.

Chris felt his heart sink. “Why does she talk to you, but not me?”

Seb sighed. “She only talks to people she trusts a lot, and you met her yesterday. Of course she’s not gonna talk to you right away, and now I’m afraid she never will because you talked bad about her. She drew you a picture in hopes that you would understand that she didn’t hate you, but you broke her heart even more by not showing up at dinner. Now, go and fix it or will not hesitate to call your mother.” Seb finished, before walking away.

Chris sat back down on his bed in disbelief. He’d fucked up, and he didn’t know how to fix it. He thought back to Seb’s threat, before picking up his phone and calling his mom.

You had just finished another episode of Criminal Minds, when a knock came to your bedroom door. You dragged yourself out of bed, and opened the door to reveal Chris. You felt tears welling up in your eyes, and kept them locked on the floor, in fear that he was going to yell at you, and repeat his earlier statements to your face.

“I’m sorry,” Chris breathed out. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

You slowly moved your eyes up to meet his, and he sucked in a breath when he saw your puffy eyes. “It’s ok.” You signed, and Chris shook his head no, before enveloping you into his arms.

He moved the two of your further into your bedroom, and shut the door behind him.

“It is NOT okay. In any way. I broke your fucking heart, Y/N. I have no excuse for what I said, and I want to make it up to you. Will you let me do that?” He asked, his face buried into the hair atop your head. You nodded and he pulled away from you. You grabbed your ipad, opened up your text to speech app, and typed in a sentence.

“Do you want to watch a movie with me?”

Chris nodded, and smiled, his thumb brushing over your cheek. “Of course. You pick.”

You led him over to the bed, and got in, and he climbed in the opposite side. You picked up the remote, and chose the movie “Swat: Under Siege”. Chris wrapped an arm around your shoulders, and pulled you close to him. You cuddled into his chest as the movies opening scene began to play.

About halfway through the movie, Chris tilted your chin up to look at him.

“I really am sorry. I hate that I said what I did. I just- Seb had told me all about you, and I had seen some of the leaked pictures from set, and all I wanted to do was impress you. When I thought you hated me, I couldn’t handle it, and I lashed out. I’m so so sorry about that.” He said, his thumb teaching over your cheekbone once more. “Also, Seb told me that you drew me a picture? Can I see it?” And you nodded.

You unlocked your ipad and opened the drawing app, clicking on the most recent one, before handing the device over to Chris.

His breath caught in his throat while he looked down at the picture you had drawn of him.

“T-that is amazing,” He said, tears coming to his eyes at the picture that you worked so hard to make of him. “You’re even more amazing than I thought.” He finished. “Thank you,” You signed, before thinking of a question.

You grabbed your iPad once more, and typed into your app.

“Why did you want to impress me?” Chris smiled at the sound of the robotic voice coming from the device.

“I was drawn to you. I dont know what is was, but I couldn’t get you off my mind. I had searched and searched to find another tv or movie you had been in, but nothing came up, and I was so shocked that you got such a big part right off the bat. But I was also insanely excited to see you perform. And when Seb and Mackie told me I could come and stay for a while, I was ecstatic to be able to get to know you, and that’s when I realized that I liked you.”

Your breath caught in your throat at his words. Did Chris Evans really just admit to having a crush on you?

“Now, I understand if you dont like me back, but I had to get that off my chest, especially since I just broke your heart.” Chris said, his eyes focused on the tv to not meet your gaze. You gave him a small smile, but grasped his chin into your hand, and drew his lips into a soft and tender kiss.

He let out a breathy moan, and pulled you closer. His lips travelled from your lips, and all over your face, amking you let out a giggle. He started laughing too, and pulled away. “I’m guessing this means that you like me too?” He asked, and you nodded immediately.

He smiled, and grasped your hand in his. “Well then, can I take you on a date?”

You took a deep breath, and opened your mouth. “Yes.”

Chris’s eyes immediately welled up with tears and he pulled you in for another kiss.

“You spoke to me,” He whispered when he pulled apart, a few tears rolling down his face.

You shrugged and gave him a smile.

“I trust you wholeheartedly.”

#chris evans fluff #chris evans x reader #chris evans #chris evans angst #chris evans x reader fluff #sebastian stan #anthony mackie

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willthecleric · 2 years

Text

I posted 5,484 times in 2021

274 posts created (5%)

5210 posts reblogged (95%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 19.0 posts.

I added 826 tags in 2021

#boosting - 258 posts

#i love this - 87 posts

#byler is endgame - 74 posts

#lmao - 72 posts

#important - 64 posts

#byler - 63 posts

#this - 60 posts

#thanks for the ask :) - 59 posts

#byler is real - 45 posts

#facts - 44 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i think mike freaked out about his ‘unnatural feelings’ for will and went into hyper drive trying to be straight while distancing from will

My Top Posts in 2021

I’ll never get over the fact that when Mike rushes to Will in the hospital (actually arriving before Lucas and Dustin), he puts his head to Will’s chest to hear his heartbeat. 😭😭😭

216 notes • Posted 2021-06-16 01:48:01 GMT

Fellas, is it gay to give your girlfriend a drawing of your male best friend so that you can look at it while kissng her?

219 notes • Posted 2021-08-12 06:23:32 GMT

So I guess it’s just a coincidence that the most romantic season of Stranger Things is the one where Mike and Will are off in California together. 🧐

223 notes • Posted 2021-09-27 22:21:34 GMT

The Thing poster in Mike’s basement as a Byler easter egg

Talking about Byler and movies reminded me of something that I noticed ages ago that I haven’t really seen anyone discuss. So I decided that I would make a post about it myself. :)

We all remember Byler’s movie date in S3, and the implication that it was something that had happened more than once. There is also the fact that at some point in S2 Jonathan told Nancy that he thought Mike and Will were probably at the matinee together. Something that I feel he was quick to say because Mike and Will go to the movies together quite often.

We also know based on Will’s Secret Files (which I consider to be more ‘canon’ than any of the other companion books because it has some suspicious stuff in it), that The Thing is one of Will’s favourite movies, while it’s not Mike’s. Not saying Mike doesn’t like it, but it’s definitely more of a “Will” movie. Will is more into horror, while Mike seems to prefer more sci-fi and action/adventure movies.

In Season one after Mike fights with Lucas and El leaves, Mike destroys the fort that he made for El. If you look, you can see that there is a movie poster for The Thing shown by the fort. (Sorry for the blurry quality. The only way that I could take screen caps for this was by taking a picture of my iPad screen using my phone.)

And at some point during this, Mike looks towards the poster.

He looks at the poster because it reminds him of Will and with El gone, Mike feels like he lost all his chances to get Will back. Because Mike KNEW that El was his only hope for Will to be saved.

Later on, we see Dustin come over and he and Mike talk. Dustin wants Mike to make up with Lucas, but Mike refuses to because Lucas does not want to work with El to find Will. If you look, you see the poster in the background and at one point right between the two. That’s because the reason why Mike is refusing relates to Will.

And we literally see in S3 Will sitting right by the poster just to further solidify the fact that the poster relates to him.

Now people may think that this is all coincidental, but I don’t think it is. The Duffers love to do things like this. They are huge on easter eggs and symbols. They love littering the show with clues. And they are also huge when it comes to placement. They are VERY deliberate with the way they shoot things.

So basically what I am saying is that Mike keeps a poster of one of Will’s favourite movies in his basement because it makes him think of Will and I find that adorable. Not only that, but it helps hint further towards Mike’s motivations and thought processes.

241 notes • Posted 2021-05-31 05:59:49 GMT

I still think Stranger Things is a book that Mike wrote for Will.

290 notes • Posted 2021-06-02 02:10:12 GMT

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#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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rouiyan · 3 years

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hi! i hope you don’t mind me asking but i was wondering, how do you make your header pictures (ie. the ones on your collectives)? you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to!

have a nice day!<3

hey bubs 🤗 i don’t mind answering at all !! but it’ll have to be under the cut since i wanted to be as thorough as humanly possible** and thus it’s very long >3< apologies 😢

** i understand that you might not have the same devices and platforms as i do, so i’ll write out both what i did and also a web-based / free version !! hope this isn’t confusing </3

𝟎𝟏 — 𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐏

i’m doing this tutorial (?) for specifically the headers on my collectives m.list so i wanted them to be all the same size. i used my in-app editor for my phone to crop them as so. the first set of images are of me doing so, the second is of a free website service that does about the same thing.

on the last pic, you’ll get to choose from different width to height ratios (width : height) and also whether it should be vertical or horizontal. if you’re doing more than one header of the same format then this comes in handy bc they’ll all come out the same size !! one drawback is that you don’t get much say in the exact size as you can only use the ratios they provide.

for the non-apple version, i just searched up “crop image” and clicked on the first thing that came up which happened to be iloveimg.com. it allowed me to directly change the size and position of the crop edge which was more freedom (?) than my prior method.

𝟎𝟐 — 𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐙𝐄 / 𝐉𝐏𝐆 -> 𝐏𝐍𝐆

now this step is only necessary since i wanted the transparent background (png format) for the words to float on. if you just want the words on the picture then to step three you go !! the first section of pictures is for procreate on the ipad which is what i personally use to edit, animate, draw etc. the second section uses autodesk sketchbook which is a free app and also what i used to use !! (they’re similar in function but i do think procreate is a good investment.)

so when you pull up a new canvas, keep in mind that it'll be the size of the whole image, like the transparent frame of it. my go-to is what i labeled "standard horz." which is 2400 x 1350 px.

in the transform tab at the top, you can change the dimensions of the picture by clicking any one of the blue border dots. and if you go into the snapping tab at the bottom, turning on snapping or magnetics allows you to position the image in the center (indicated by a yellow line when used). then, if you go to the layer managers near the top right, you can hide the background by unclicking the check box which turns the canvas into a png !! don’t save it just yet, bc you can do the last step on procreate as well (and that’ll keep the resolution pretty clear instead of importing from app to app).

autodesk is pretty straightforward as well. when you load up a new sketch, they only have certain presets for the device size you’re using it on. in this case, i just did it on my phone so the largest (and thus clearest) size i could get was 1109 x 2400 px. after you import the picture and position it where you want (there’s no centering tools that i’m aware of ??), hide the background + everything else except the image and save it into your photo library.

𝟎𝟑 — 𝐀𝐃𝐃 𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐓

i get all my fonts from dafont.com which is a basically just a giant font archive. whether you’re adding text on procreate or the other app i’m mentioning below, obtaining the font is the same.

i took screenshots for this too but i’m closing in on my image limit 😭😭 so i’ll be as coherent as i can, word-wise. you can navigate dafont via the different categories at the top and when you want to use one, just press download (and then confirm if your device asks).

after you have the font downloaded to your device, go to the tool tab at the top of procreate and under “add,” there should be an “insert image.” the left pic should pop up and you just have to press the Aa edit text option at the left and then “import font.” after you edit it to your liking, save it by going back to the tool tab and under “share,” you’ll find where you can press PNG to save it with the transparent background !!

for the free version, the app i’m using is phonto which is every starting editor’s best friend tbh. to get your desired font from your files into the app, there’s a little 🔍 at the top after you download it on apple devices. if you don’t have apple, i think you just have to go to your files like in the second pic and share it into phonto. there’s usually different variations that come with one “pack” like italics and bolds so just install the ones you want when in phonto.

phonto has the lil camera at the bottom and after you press it, select “photo albums” to import the png from before. click anywhere and it’ll give the “Add text” option. you’ll find the ones you’ve downloaded and shared into phonto under “fonts” and then “my fonts” at the bottom. the text editor is pretty versatile so you can play around with the shadowing, alpha, curvature and whatnot. the share button’s on the bottom right when you’re done. just make sure to click “Save as PNG” or else you won’t get that transparency !!

anywho, here’s my lil end product. the one and only lee jeno. i’m sorry if the images were blurry, i had to combine multiple into one bc of the 10 image limit 🤬 but i do hope this was helpful lovely anon !! i’ve never done something like this even tho i spend 90% of the time i dedicate to writing to instead editing LMAO,, have a nice day yourself, thanks for stopping by 🤗💗

#phew #a little tired

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avintagekiss24 · 5 years

Text

Certain Aspects | Bucky Barnes{

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x black!reader

Word Count: 4,837

Warnings: smut!

A/N: It’s still spooky szn ‘round these parts. Here is my joint submission for @sourpatchkidsandacokecan all things fall challenge and @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan multi fandom challenge! My prompt for All Things Fall is “you’re too old to go trick or treating” and Neighbors to Lovers for the Multi Fandom Challenge. Hope you enjoyyyyyy :)

-----

“Girl, he is too fine.”

You chuckle and roll your eyes as your sister bites her bottom lip while staring at your new next door neighbor. You lift your beer to your lips as the two of you sway slowly back and forth on your porch swing, your eyes closing lightly as you swallow the golden liquid.

A warm breeze whips down the street, the leaves on the trees swaying and adding a natural soundtrack to the evening as the sun sets. You cross your legs at the ankle as a smirk spreads on your face when you hear your sister moan again.

“Oh my God, will you stop?” You nudge her with your elbow, rocking her to her right slightly.

She puckers her lips as she shakes her head slowly, “And he’s a good dad too? You need to snap his ass up real quick.”

You cut your eyes toward your dark, long haired neighbor. He’s new to the neighborhood, only having been next door to you for about a month. You’ve gathered that he’s divorced, only seeing the dirty blonde haired little girl every other week and alternating Wednesday nights.

His laugh wafts toward you and you sit up a little straighter. He is cute, you’ll give your sister that. His hair is piled high on his head in a messy bun, loose, wavy tendrils falling around his face. He throws a fake spider toward the little girl as they decorate, her scream bouncing off of the houses, bringing a smile to your face. He shushes her and scoops her up in his arms before twirling her around, more laughter filling the air.

Ok, so you’ll give your sister that too. He is a good dad.

“I betchu he’s got good dick.”

You snap your head toward her, your mouth falling open, “Can you stop it! Damn, his kid is right there.”

“So? She can’t hear me. Come on, he is a prime piece of real estate! You should go talk to him!”

You shake your head, sipping on your beer again, “Not going to happen Tanisha.”

She turns toward you, her lips pursed, her eyebrows turning in on each other as she rests her balled fist on her hip, “Why the hell not?”

“Because,” You shrug, “I’m not going to just jump him because he’s hot and looks like a good dad. He could be a serial killer for all we know.”

“Right,” She draws out, rolling her eyes, “Next excuse?”

“He’s brand new to the neighborhood. I don’t want him thinking he moved in next to a stalker.”

“Next!”

You tap your fingernail against the glass bottle in your hands, “Umm, he’s white?”

You smile widely as your sister throws her head back to laugh, “You’re stupid! You’ve had white boyfriends!”

“Not since college.” You say, letting out a deep breath.

“No better reason to try again.” She loops her arm around your shoulder, her face softening as she smiles at you, “Seriously. You and Dante have been divorced for two years. Jourdan’s in college… it’s time for you to get out there.”

“I’m forty,” You laugh.

“That’s the new twenty!”

You let out another sigh, raising the bottle to your lips, “Listen, after eighteen years of marriage, I deserve a few years to myself. I just got Jourdan out of the house.”

Tanisha nods quickly, “I completely understand and you do deserve it, but you also deserve some of that hot, daddy dick next door! I’m not saying you have to marry his ass!”

You close your eyes and shake your head slowly, “I’m telling mom. You are getting out of control, ma’am.”

“Shit,” She smiles, bumping her shoulder into yours, “Let mama get a look at him, she’d jump him herself.”

Your eyes widen as surprise and shock fill your face, “Wow, Tanisha.”

She shrugs defiantly as she turns her head back toward your neighbor. You watch as well as they wrap the large oak tree with fake spiderwebs and carefully place their carved pumpkins on the steps of the porch. The small human starts to yawn, rubbing her eyes with her little fist and he scoops her into his arms again, planting kisses all over her face. He takes the stairs to his porch toward the front door and casually glances over at the two of you - catching you both red handed.

“Shit,” You mumble, dropping your eyes and tucking some hair behind your ear.

You cut your eyes back toward him after a few seconds. He smiles gently at the two of you, raising his hand toward you. You both return the gesture, your wayward sister wiggling her fingers at him, and you plastering a nervous smile on your face. He disappears seconds later, the slamming of his screen door floating toward you.

“Damn it, Tanisha!” You say, punching her shoulder.

She laughs again, clapping her hands, “What? I think that was a great first meeting.”

You stand and slip your feet back into your flip flops and pass in front of her, throwing open your screen door.

“What?” You hear her call behind you as you pass through the threshold of your home, ignoring her completely, “It’s not my fault, I wasn’t forcing you to stare at him… did you peep that ass though?”

-----

Your doorbell rings for what seems like the hundredth time that night. You jog through the kitchen, grabbing the bowl of candy and your cat ears as you rush toward the door.

“Trick of treat!”

You smile widely at the gaggle of children on your porch holding open their bags of candy. You wave quickly to the parents by the mailbox before bending over to toss random bits of candy into their bags. Moana, Buzz Lightyear, Elsa, Batman, and Maleficent all sing their thank yous before scurrying away back to their parents. You watch as the run off, smiling and waving again as another group approaches.

“Oh my gosh, you guys are so cute!” You coo as you throw Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and bags of skittles into their bags, “Be careful, okay? Happy Halloween.”

You glance up as they run off, your breath hitching in your throat as you meet a pair of blue eyes. Hunky neighbor. He blinks at you slowly, another one of his smiles spreading across his face as he raises his hand toward you. You blink back, your eyes dipping down his lean body, taking in the sight of him in his leather jacket tossed over a polka dotted black button up and tight black jeans.

“Umph,” You let out inwardly as your mind starts to run wild.

His hair is pulled back again, but this time in a ponytail. His free hand is shoved in his back pocket as his face twists in a mild confusion. You jump slightly, snapping back into reality and cover your face with your hand as you realize you’ve been standing like an idiot gawking at him. You plaster a smile on your face and wave back awkwardly as his daughter runs up to him, wrapping her arms around his thick thighs - damn it!

You snap your eyes back up toward the group of adults huddled at the bottom of your driveway. A leggy blonde, dressed as a nurse, slides her arm around his shoulder and rubs his back gently as they both smile down on their children. Embarrassment flushes through you and you roll your eyes inwardly before shutting the door as the group moves to the next house.

Goddamn Tanisha.

The night progresses quickly. Hours have passed, your candy bowl is empty, the wave of children and teenagers has slowed to a stop, and you’re currently cuddled on the couch, wrapped in a blanket and shoving popcorn in your mouth as Michael Myers slashes his way through his victims. You check your phone as a picture of your baby sister and her friends at a Halloween party slides through. You smile and are tapping out your response when suddenly the lights and television snap off.

You glance toward the ceiling, waiting for the lights to click back on. The low buzz of the power trying to reconnect sounds through the house seconds later. The TV and lights flicker, but then die away again. On any other night, you’d be perturbed but since it is Halloween, it’s fitting. You push away from the couch and move toward your hallway closet, collecting a handful of candles and disperse them throughout the kitchen and living room. Once they are lit, you grab your iPad, log into Netflix and continue your slasher movie binge.

A knock sounds from the front door an hour or two later. You snap your head toward it, glancing down at your phone to check the time. 12:02am flashes back at you. It’s too late for trick or treat-ers, and your sister is three sheets to the wind two cities over. You glance slowly back down on the paused screen of your iPad, Michael Myers’ bloody knife on full display. A quick thought flashes through your head of a six foot, masked man standing at your door.

You roll eyes and throw the blanket away from your body. You really do need to get out more. You jog toward the door, cracking it open just a sliver to reveal the smiling face of hunky neighbor. Oh shit. You gulp as your eyes go wide, but you pull the door open and push the screen door out.

“Trick or treat.”

You squint coyly, cocking your head “You’re too old to go trick or treating.” You smile, trying not to sound nervous as the earlier events of the evening reply in your mind.

He throws his hands up, “You caught me,” He smiles widely, his eyes crinkling at the sides as he scrunches his nose.

You could melt. He is too cute for his own good.

“Sorry, I know it’s late,” He starts, shoving his hands back in his pockets, “I just um, I just wanted to check on you since the power’s been off for a few hours. I haven’t seen… I don’t see… I think you live alone? Not that I’m watching you or anything, I just, you know, I - “ He laughs nervously, rubbing his forehead and then pinching the bridge of his nose, “Sorry. I just wanted to check on you, and see if you need anything. I’m not a creep, I promise.”

You laugh with him, feeling as though the awkward scales have evened out nicely between the two of you as he stumbles over his words, “That’s really sweet, thank you. I’m fine, really. It’s um, it’s Bucky, right? I think I heard one of your friends screaming at you from their car one night.”

“Oh god,” He chuckles, covering his face, “Sorry, that’s my buddy Sam. He’s unreasonably obnoxious and enjoys being the loudest person in the room.”

You nod, “Oh I get it, that sounds exactly like my sister. You are not alone, sir.”

The two of you share a laugh before it dies away naturally and you’re left looking at him and him looking at you. You smile nervously under his piercing blue eyes, glancing down at your sock covered feet before smoothing your hand over the top of your head. You glance back up at him, finding his eyes still on you as another soft smile spreads on his lips.

I’m not saying you have to marry his ass!

Your sister’s words float through your head as you smile stupidly back at the incredibly handsome Bucky. Suddenly, everything Tanisha has ever said to you makes a whole lot of sense.

You point behind you toward your kitchen, “I’m sure they’re warm by now, but I have beer and a dump cake if you’re interested. You know, as a thank you for coming over to check on me.”

His smile widens, “That sounds great, thanks.”

You take a breath and tread through the house, glancing over your shoulder quickly as he follows you. You point toward one of the bar stools at the counter and move to the fridge, plucking out two Modelo’s and sliding one toward him. You can feel his eyes on you as you move around the kitchen, grabbing plates and forks before sliding the glass pan holding your famous dump cake toward you.

“Thank you,” He smiles as you pass him a small plate.

You watch him through your eyelashes as he takes a bite and closes his eyes, moaning as he chews, “Mmmm. This is so good,” he says after a minute.

Pride flashes through you as you dig into your own plate, “Thanks. It’s one of my specialties.”

“It’s amazing. It’s been a while since I’ve had homemade dessert, my ex wife wasn’t much of a cook.”

“ Well, it’s not for everybody,” you chuckle as you take a bite, “Do you cook?” you ask quietly, trying to make conversation.

“I do now. I think I bought every cookbook I could find when we separated, especially since I’ve get Kimmie half the time now.”

“She was so cute tonight.” You gush, holding your hand to your chest.

“Thanks,” He nods, “I was surprised my ex let me have her tonight. That was a fight I was not prepared for.”

“Ah, not on good terms, huh?”

“Not in the slightest, no.” He chuckles.

“I know the feeling. My son was sixteen when my ex-husband and I split and my ex did everything in his power to make it as difficult as possible. We still don’t speak much.”

Bucky mouth falls open as he widens his eyes at you, “You have a sixteen year old?”

“I have an eighteen year old now.” You laugh.

“Holy shit,” He laughs, “You don’t look old enough to have an eighteen year old.”

You throw your hands up as you chew, “I started young. I wouldn’t recommend it, but I’m kinda glad I got it over with. I’m young enough to start over, but old enough to know better.”

“Let me tell ya. I was thirty five when Kimmie was born, and four years later, I’m still scared shitless. There is no way I could have handled a kid in my twenties.”

“Well, that comes with the territory. You’re never going to not be scared shitless.” You push your fork around your plate, averting your eyes from his, “I’ve seen you with her, you’re doing a great job. Don’t worry.”

You lift your eyes to catch the smile that crosses his face. His eyes linger on you, the butterflies in your stomach fluttering so quickly that it makes it hard for you to finish your cake.

“Thanks,” He says softly, dropping his eyes seconds later to grab his beer.

It grows silent between the two of you, your forks scraping along the glass of your plates filling the space as random crackles of the candles butt in as well. You sip on your beer before sitting it back down, spinning it in slow circles.

“So um,” Bucky says after a few moments, “Does dating get easier after a divorce?” You groan inwardly and he laughs, “I’ll take that as a no.”

“I’m not the one to ask,” You chuckle.

“Why’s that?” His voice drops to a soft tone, his head tilting slightly as he watches you. You shift in your seat and send your eyes back down to your plate as your face heats up , “Sorry,” He says after sensing your reluctance, “I am a complete stranger and that was totally invasive.”

“No, no, no,” You shake your head as you hold out your hand, “It’s not, sorry. I just, I dunno. I was married for so long, I just want a little time to myself, you know?”

He nods slowly, “I get that. But, you don’t miss certain… aspects of being in a relationship?”

You snap your eyes toward him as your lips part at his suggestion. He blinks at you as his lips curl up at the corners. His eyes dip from yours down to your lips, his tongue darting out to sweep along his before he reconnects his vision with yours. You take a breath.

Hunky neighbor.

You stand, not able to take the closeness of the two of you any longer, and move to the sink to dispose of your barely touched cake, “I mean, naturally,” you finally answer, “But it looks like you’re getting certain aspects already.”

He squints as he flashes a baffled smile, “What is that supposed to mean, neighbor?” He asks, batting his eyes playfully.

You laugh loudly, “Oh please! I saw nursey nurse nurse out there.”

“Oh no. No, no, no,” he starts, throwing his hands up, “That’s not that.”

“Uh huh,” You nod quickly, pursing your lips.

“I’m serious!” He stands and grabs his plate before moving around the bar to stand next to you at the sink, “That’s nothing. Sam set us up a few weeks ago, but it’s not going anywhere.”

“Oh yeah, neighbor?” You ask, mocking his previous playful tone, “And why is that? Since you wanna be all up in my shit.”

He shrugs, “She’s not my type.” He states matter of factly.

You laugh again, clicking your tongue as you roll your eyes, “What’s your type then?” You ask, crossing your arms over your chest as you beam up at him, “Hmmm? Neighbor?”

He flips off the faucet and grabs for the hand towel hanging from the handle of the dishwasher. He dries his hands quickly before tossing it to the counter and turns toward you, resting his hip on the edge of the sink, “Girls who pretend that they aren’t staring at me every time their sister comes over, which is a lot.”

Your mouth drops open.

“Girls who haven’t dated white boys since college.”

Your hands fly to your face as you gasp, “Oh my god! You heard that?” you squeal in embarrassment.

He pries at your fingers as he chuckles before pulling you flush against his broad, hard chest, “I thought it was funny.”

You swallow hard before peeking up at him to find his soft eyes back on yours again. His eyes bounce wildly between yours before lowering to your lips. Your lips part as you stare at him, your heart racing a million miles a minute as your breath starts to quicken. He tilts his head as he sinks his teeth into his bottom lip, his eyes wandering around your face.

Even in the current circumstances - your body pressed against his, those big blues all over you - you’re completely taken aback when he kisses you. You inhale deeply as his lips pull at yours. Your eyes flutter shut as he deepens the kiss with his tongue, sweeping it over your bottom lip before pushing into your mouth. You flatten your hands on his chest, letting them linger before you push them along his shoulders and down his biceps.

He pulls away after a moment, a light smack sounding as your lips separate. You keep your eyes closed, not wanting to open them for fear that this is all a dream. He lifts you from your feet and sits you on the counter. You feel his warm hands cup your face, his thumbs rubbing soft circles against your cheeks.

“Open your eyes, doll.” He whispers.

You obey immediately. You slide your eyes open slowly to find that this is in fact, not a dream. He’s here, in front of you, and capturing your lips with his again. You moan into his mouth as you slide your hands over his shoulders.

Bucky pulls your hips toward his and lets his large hand linger on your hip. He pushes his fingers into your shirt, skipping them along your warm skin until he palms your left breast. You inhale sharply as electricity shoots through your body.

You thought this would be hard for you and maybe - secretly - this is why you’ve waited as long as you have. The fear of being with someone new. But, as Bucky’s hands push along your skin, so nimble and soft, as his lips and tongue massage yours with command and purpose, you realize just how much you’ve missed this. It’s been too long since you’ve been excited, achy, almost desperate for someone to just touch you.

You’ll deal with your conscience in the morning.

You let Bucky push his eager hand underneath the band of your black yoga pants. You ball his t shirt into your hand as his fingers graze over your slick, sticky lips. He rests his forehead against yours - a smile curling on his lips. He takes a step back as his hand reappears from inside your pants. He grabs at the hips of the stretchy material and slowly peels them away from you, lifting each leg gently to free them.

He tosses your pants to the floor and sinks to his knees in front of you as he brings your right ankle to his mouth. He plants a warm, gentle kiss just on the inside of your foot, tossing his eyes toward yours quickly before returning them to your long legs. You bite your bottom lip as he kisses his way toward your thighs, giving each ankle, calf, and knee ample attention as his fingers skirt toward your soaked, thin panties.

He pulls you sheer thong away from you with ease. You shiver when the air caresses the heat between your legs. He stands as he slips his fingers between your lips, groaning again as your wet warmth envelopes his digits.

You push your hips into his hand as he strokes your clit, slipping it between his fingers to brush along the length before rubbing circles against it. Curse words fall from your lips as you roll your hips into his devilish fingers - random synapses firing rapidly inside your overdue body.

You’re tired of waiting. You lean up as he teases your pussy and pull his chest closer to yours. You kiss him hard and moan into his mouth before you pull away. Your tongue darts out from behind your lips to lick from his chin to the tip of his nose.

His eyes glint in the moonlight with delight.

You stare back at him with confidence as the candle light dances across your figures. You reach for his belt, unbuckling it slowly, pulling it from around his waist, only to discard it with a loud thud against the hardwood floor. You pop the button of his jeans and slip the zipper down the track before dipping your hands into the denim. You keep your eyes on his as the tips of your fingers brush along his hard cock.

Ooh, hunky neighbor.

You pull him free with no hesitation and slide your hands along him, smiling to yourself as his eyes flutter. You wrap your legs around his waist again to scoot toward the edge of the counter and to push him closer. You guide him toward your entrance, teasing him slightly as you rub his dick against your clit and through your folds. You press the tip of his cock at your entrance and grip his forearms - wanting him to do the rest.

He pushes slowly, both his eyes and yours cast toward your connection as he disappears into you. You ball the soft cotton fabric of his shirt in your hands as your body spreads and close your eyes as you relish in the fullness. He presses his chest to yours and holds you to him as he starts to withdraw, expletives falling from his mouth when he pushes in again - even deeper.

Within minutes his pace has quickened. One of his long arms is hung around your waist, his fingers digging into your flesh as the other holds his weight against the counter. He’s still trying to be gentle, knowing it’s been a while for you, but his hips are almost feverish. Pushing and pulling, with a slight hitch every now and again as shudders ripple down his spine.

Your moans echo throughout the kitchen as they bounce off the walls. You let your head lull as your body lunges with each one of his deep thrusts. You clench your muscles to make your pussy constrict around him to add to the sweet pressure. Your skin is on fire, your head swimming, as the dull ache in the pit of your stomach grows with each push of his hips.

He reintroduces the pads of his fingers to your clit as he straightens up, pulling his chest from yours. They’re quick and fluid, rubbing fast circles before slipping along the length of your clit. His eyes dart between yours and his hand before he dips in to capture your lips with his own.

“Come on baby girl,” he coos, egging you on, “I know it’s been so long, baby.”

He wants you to cum. Begs you to, almost. It’s been so long that you’ve actually been treated like a living, breathing woman - and not just somebody’s fuck toy - that his words do you in. He drives you to the absolute edge of your orgasm, and you let him push you right over.

You don’t even recognize the sound that scrapes at the back of your throat as your walls constrict around him. The ripples of your orgasm splash over you in waves, soft at first as you start to tremble. The waves crash harder and harder throughout your body as he punishes your cunt with his hips, drawing the orgasm out of the depths of you. You tense hard, digging your nails into his skin, gritting your teeth as you mewl as the most intense part of the eruption powers through you.

A warmth spreads through you as you continue to cum, Bucky’s grunting growing loud and deep as he spills into you. Your muscles flex as Bucky falls on top of you, nuzzling his face into your neck, his hot breath sticking to your skin. You tighten your legs around his waist as your head and body start to come down from the high he’s provided. A lazy smile forms on your lips as the urge to giggle fills your chest.

You can’t stop it as the light laughter rolls through you. You feel Bucky chuckle against you, his cool lips brushing against your hot skin, “Sorry,” you say through your laughter

He laughs again, this time fuller, the sound calling to the butterflies in your stomach again. He leans back - just to look at you. His eyes wander around your face like he’s trying to etch it into his brain forever.

You enjoy having his eyes on you. You enjoy his full attention.

The two of you stare at each other for a while, his fingers tracing yours slowly. The low buzz of electricity sounds through the house suddenly, and within seconds, the two of you are doused in artificial light. The TV pops on in the living room, the microwave and oven beeping as they both reset. The peace of the moment slips away.

“Bummer.” He whispers, kissing the tip of your nose.

Bucky takes a breath. He closes his eyes as he brings your fingers to his lips to inhale your scent before splattering kisses along them. The two of you separate, physically and emotionally, and dress in silence.

Once you’re clothed, you both move toward the front door and out onto the porch. You walk side by side through your yard as the moon lights the way. Light fills Bucky’s house as the two of you set onto his porch. You smile softly, dropping your eyes as he turns toward you.

“I really did come over to just check on you,” he chuckles, running his hand over the top of his head, “I don’t want you to think - “

“I don’t,” You cut him off, “Thank you for checking on me.” You wink at him, causing him to laugh again, “I’ll see you around, neighbor?”

He nods slowly, “You know where to find me.”

You shoot him a finger gun as you step down off of his porch, “You’ll be the first person I call the next time the power goes out.”

He wiggles his fingers at you as you retreat back to your own house, his eyes on you the entire way. You peek at him out of the corner of your eye as you reach your front door, flashing another smile toward him before stepping inside.

You have the best night’s sleep that you can remember.

You’re up with the sun. You head out the front door toward your car and squint as you find a folded piece of paper stuck in the frame of the drivers side window. You pluck it from its place and smile widely as your eyes scan over the handwritten note.

Not sure what time you get off work… but I think my power will be out around 7… after I make you dinner, that is ;) - B

#star's multi fandom follower celebration #Idatfwc #bucky barnes #you x bucky #bucky x black!reader #bucky barnes x black!reader #bucky x you #marvel #mcu #bucky barnes x you #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #avintagekiss24

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syms-things-5 · 4 years

Text

Clear The Area - Chapter Fifteen (Part Two)

**A Chris Evans Story**

Previous Chapter Here

Tags: @jennmurawski13 @kelbabyblue

Warnings: 18+ NSFW, strong language, generally a bit awkward

Notes: This is a long chapter, sorry. Any comments welcome, good and bad.

Chapter Fifteen (Part Two)

“Let me just bring up your booking here, one moment please.”

The lobby of The Langham was an ocean of grey and blue. The sun was shining brightly outside, the hottest day of the year so far, and it reflected in every surface of the space and accompanying bar. It was sparse on the usual detailing, instead preferring a minimalist approach; the check-in desk consisted of a mere iPad and one lily artfully growing from a tall, geometrical glass vase. Random art hung from all sides. One looked vaguely like a donkey, Sarah was sure. There was also what she thought was an ash tray balanced on a pillar to the left of where she was standing but she didn’t dare to investigate it any closer in case it cost the price of a small car.

It had the same over-perfumed odour as the fragrance section of a Macy’s. The tiled floor look so clean and fresh you could be forgiven for thinking it had only just been laid that very morning. Sarah felt a pang of guilt walking in wearing her scuffed Converse. She always felt so out of place in places like this. It was the kind of place she would run a mile from if she had the choice but Greg had an “in” with the manager and now here she was.

“So that will be four nights in our Executive Suite with Central Park view. You also have the bar allowance of $150 per night. You just need to take the elevator up to the 32nd floor and it’s the second door on your left. Would you like a hand with your bags, madam?” She motioned for the concierge to come over but held her hand up when she spied the puzzled look on Sarah’s face.

“I’m really sorry but I think there’s been some kind of mistake. I didn’t book a suite, just a standard double and I don’t think I pre-paid for any bar allowance. I didn’t even know I could do that to be honest.” Sarah chuckled awkwardly in an attempt to diffuse the tension but it fell on deaf ears. She handed the key card back to the lady, unsure of what else to suggest.

The lady showed practically no emotion at the possible mistake and simply took another look at her records before confirming that she was in fact correct with the initial room choice. “It’s definitely your suite, and...everything is paid for in advance. Could it have been made on your behalf? It looks like it was upgraded yesterday afternoon.”

Sarah wasn’t sure if she was asking her a question or telling her. She couldn’t believe she wasn’t biting her hand off but she hoped she hadn’t made some kind of horrific error her bank wouldn’t forgive her for. She could barely afford the double room she’d booked as it was and she’s sure the college wouldn’t have upgraded her without letting her know in advance. It made zero sense. They couldn’t have that kind of money going spare, putting students up in posh suites. She had no clue what could have happened.

Unless...Chris?

No, it wouldn’t be. He was less than pleased to hear she’d be away as it was. Except...well, who else? Sarah rolled her eyes a little too obviously before accepting the key card back. “That’s OK. I think I know what’s happened. It’s only the one bag. I can manage it.”

The lady nodded her thanks and, smiling politely, pointed her back towards the elevators. Sarah couldn’t move away from her fast enough.

Arriving at her floor, Sarah emerged from the lift expecting someone to come running up to her to confirm that they had in fact made a horrendous mistake. She slipped the key card into her door before pushing her way in to find her new home for the week.

The bedroom was large, uncomfortable so, with the bed positioned just off the middle in the room. Sarah figured the designer for a psychopath. It was big but not as empty as the lobby would have had her believe. In fact, it seemed reassuringly cosy despite the windows, so many windows stretching around the suite. There was a soft blue curved sofa opposite a screen that she’d seen smaller versions of in a cinema. Cushions fucking everywhere and fluffy white slippers she’d probably never take off again.

Everything seemed to be controlled from an iPad set in a stand by the bedroom door; the lights, the curtains, the air freshener, some background music for ambiance if she wanted. The windows tinted darker to block out the sunlight. Even the $1300 coffee machine was remote controlled; she had recognised it from the last edition of Home & Country Jocelyn had mailed to her, the exact one Shanna had been dropping hints about to Chris as a potential Christmas present.

The lounge offered her the clearest view of Central Park and with the light at this time in the afternoon, it was beyond stunning. She snapped a picture and considered texting it to Shanna but thought better of drawing attention to where she was staying. There was no way she could pass this off as a standard room even with her best efforts.

It was almost a shame to waste all of this on just herself. This room deserved romance, she thought.

Around the same time, Chris was on his third beer of the afternoon and lounging on his sofa. He had a new script in one hand, one he wasn’t particularly keen on but offered to read as a favour for a friend. He was so relaxed now that he had to re-read the last ten or so pages simply because it wasn’t landing. The whole room was lit softly by the sun outside. It had gone 4 o’clock when his phone rang disturbing the peace.

“Bernette! How was the journey?” he smiled into the phone as soon as he saw who it was.

“The bathtub is the size of my entire bathroom.” She announced, not giving him room to breathe. She heard him laugh heartily at the end of the line and could picture him looking smug and proud of himself, the dick. “I could have an orgy with the Patriots and still have room left.”

“Hey, don’t go getting any ideas.” he jostled with her. He placed the script down on the tablet to give her his full attention. “So, you like it, huh?”

“It’s...it’s absolutely gorgeous and utterly ridiculous. Seriously, dude, you did not need to do this.” She could sense his growing pride from here. “I’ve never stayed in anything like it. I have, like, a hundred towels.”

“That’s why I did it in the first place. Not for the towels, obviously, but just because you deserved something different. Something nice.” He enthused. “Don’t fight me on this, Bernette.”

“You should see the view. It’s so beautiful. I think I can see the museum.” She was stood on her tiptoes, pressed against the glass, looking at the tiny people milling around on the street so far below her.

“i know,” he responded. “You’ll be there for a week and best to be comfortable, right?”

She didn’t want to argue with him. She was tired and extremely grateful for the kind gesture. She’d be able to enjoy the place and her time in the City more if she could firmly separate her work from any space in which she could chill out. It wasn’t like she was going to be raving all night nor have much chance to see places at this rate, so more space was probably a good thing. She hadn’t had an unbroken night’s sleep in...she couldn’t even remember when.

“Thank you, Chris.” she spoke softly after a brief pause.

“You’re welcome.”

She put her phone down on the bedside table and set about removing her clothes from her suitcase. Well, “clothes” in the loose sense. What she’d packed was basically gym gear, sweat pants, t-shirts, nothing remotely attractive, and a simple paid of black trousers for the exam day itself. Who was going to see her anyway? Shanna had thrown a jumper in the mix without her realising, dismayed at her insistence that she was not going out to bars to hook up with someone.

“But you’ll be gone the next day! It’s. The. Perfect. Crime!” Shanna had said, exasperated and throwing her hands in the air in dismay.

The majority of space in her suitcase has been taken up with journals and textbooks, ones she hadn’t see since she left medical school and had long since expected she would never see again. Funny what opportunities life threw at you when you least expected it.

She was soon feeling the push and pull of the day and had planned on spending at least a couple of hours studying that evening, so she had a clean-up and threw on the first set of sweatpants that fell out of the closet. She tied her hair up and out of her face, pulled out her notepad and switched her Macbook on. The TV was showing some repeat of a gameshow with the sound on low, more for background company than anything else, and she finally figured out how to get the coffee machine working thanks to a small tome buried inside a drawer underneath the coffee table.

Chris 9.44pm: All OK? Need company yet??

Sarah 9.45pm: I love you guys bt I can’t tell u how amazing it is having space to myself. Been a looooong day

Chris 9.51pm: ah

Chris 9.52pm: OK maybe don’t look outside your door

Momentarily confused, she rubbed at her eyes trying to come up with a pithy response.

Chris 9.56pm: well this is awkward...........

Sarah looked at the door and then back at her phone. Looking up at the door again, she unfolded her feet from underneath her and slowly walked towards it. Pulling it open, she found Chris looking up at her through his lashes, sheepishness drenching his entire body.

“OK, funny story,” he said. “But I thought this might be romantic and then I got carried away and now I’m here and I can absolutely go if you need me to...?” He half-turned his body in the direction of the elevators. “I’m so sorry, honey. I just thought it might be nice and not at all annoying but it’s annoying, isn’t it? It’s OK, you don’t need to say anything. Dammit, I really thought I pitched this right.”

“Chris, it’s fine.” Sarah finally found her voice to speak. “Honestly. I’m...I’m just really surprised is all. I was not expecting you to...drive? All this way?”

He nodded. “Yeh, I just bombed it down the ‘95.”

Awkward silence fell between them as they stared at each other unsure of what to do next. Finally picking up on the fact he remained in the hallway, a backpack thrown over his shoulder, she moved out of the way and he entered the suite. Relieved, he placed his bag down and turned to see her close the door behind him. He looked mildly embarrassed and she was all too aware she wasn’t welcoming but it was getting late and her eyes had started to hurt a little as she rubbed at them with the back of her hand.

“Fuck, that’s a long couch.” he announced, taking his black suede jacket off and placing it over the armrest nearest to him. He glanced over and saw papers strewn over the coffee table, her laptop light blaring brightly and looked back to her. She was working hard and he had ruined it.

“I am so sorry. First thing tomorrow, I’ll go home, I promise.” He held his hands up by way of an apology but she shook her head in response.

“Stop apologising.” she chuckled. “Do you want a beer?”

He nodded gratefully and looked so adorable that any annoyance she might have felt finally dissipated. “How about I give you a hug and then leave you to it? I need a shower and I can amuse myself in there for a little while. I don’t know why I just said that.”

Sarah laughed again and a little more relief moved through him. He wasn’t sure why he was feeling so nervous when he had been so confident of his decisions in the car all the way here. He’d rehearsed his lines and imagined her big smile when seeing behind the door. He had wanted to stop off and buy flowers but he was so eager to see her, he’d just kept driving. No daydream could live up to the reality of seeing her face up close.

He watched her from the bathroom doorway. She was cross-legged on the bed, studying the thickest textbook he’d ever seen with colour-coded notecards laid out across the duvet. He had earlier glimpsed a page over her shoulder but decided against pursuing medicine as a new career when he was faced with photographs of god knows what. He tried to remove the images from his mind by drinking another beer and thinking of Sarah in her scrubs. That tended to work well for him these days.

She looked so cute sat on the bed, her reading glasses perched on the end of her nose. He wanted to come up with a joke, calm the tension a little that had grown between them in the meantime, but she looked pretty hot. More hot than usual and it was distracting. Like a sexy Librarian and for the second time this month he discovered something else he was into.

One pen was stuck behind her ear but she’d forgotten she’d put it there and was now using a different one. Her hair was tied up at the top of her head in a messy bun that she hadn’t touched since she’d arrived, more and more strands falling loosely around her as the evening wore on, framing her perfect, round face. She seemed to engrossed in what she was doing.

He was still a little wet from his shower and pondered whether she would notice if he just whipped his towel off and offered himself to her. There really wasn’t anything he wanted more at this moment in time than to have her touch him, to have her run hands gently over his chest, to tease him a little bit. There’d be some time, he reasoned, and right not it was just was exhilarating to think of her being here alongside him knowing it would be just the two of them for a little while.

He perched on the end of the bed in front of her. She barely moved, barely seemed to notice him. He took one of her blank notecards and carefully placed it on the open page so as not to lose her place. She leaned back slightly, allowing him to gather up the papers and place them in a pile on the floor besides the bed before turning back to lean in towards her, one arm stretching out across her legs. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes again. She wanted peace and quiet and he decided to rock up just because he could. He sighed to himself. He was such a dick sometimes.

“Do you mind me being here?” he asked her, fully resigning himself to leaving if she now asked him to as hard as that might be. He’d got so caught up in his idea of surprising her that he hadn’t fully registered just how important these exams were or how well she wanted to do. Passing them wasn’t an option for Sarah; she wanted to knock it out of the park. She wanted to do better for herself and the more he got to know her like this, the more it became his favourite thing about her. And he related. He related perfectly. He knew exactly what that was like. “Cos I can go if you need me to.”

“Chris, I’ve said it’s fine. It’s nice that you’re here. I would just hate you feeling bored if all I’m doing is studying all the time.” She nervously twirled the pen between her fingers while taking in how amazing he looked following a shower, a little steam rising off his skin.

“I won’t get bored.” he assured her. “It’ll be nice hanging out with you. Just the two of us.”

He plucked the pen from behind her ears and she rolled her eyes realising the mistake she’d made. He tucked strands of hair back and leaned in placing a quick, soft kiss to her lips. He smelled like her coconut shampoo and she just now understood how truly spontaneous his trip had been.

“Listen, there’s another reason why I’m here. There’s something I need to talk to you about and I couldn’t wait until you got home.” he stroked her arm gently, looking down into her lap. “It’s been going around in my head and I’m not entirely sure what to say about it to be honest, but...it looks like Jenny’s done an interview with a magazine. A full thing with a photoshoot and stuff and it looks like I might be involved.” He closed his eyes for a second before correcting himself. “Not might actually, it’s pretty much definite that I’m in there for a large portion of it.”

“OK.” Sarah nodded. He for sure seemed weary of the whole thing and she felt for him.

“I just, I know she can be pretty unfiltered at the best of times, so-”

“-but she won’t have said anything negative, right?”

“No, no, not negative. I’m not worried about that exactly. It’s just that...” He was struggling to find the words. “I just didn’t want you to get the wrong idea about us, about me and her. I expect she’ll have this hyper-romanticised view of things and I guess I didn’t want you thinking it was some great love affair which is what I think she’ll spin it as.” He couldn’t quite meet her eye while he was talking. “I’m not proud of myself or of what I said or did at the time but I was low and she was there and it was...easy, I guess.”

He immediately regretted his choice of words. As much as he wanted Sarah to understand, he didn’t want Sarah to think he was dismissive of his relationships in this way. “Matt’s figuring out some damage control with them. Hopefully, it’ll go away as quickly as it comes.”

“You think he’ll be able to clear it up?”

Chris nodded. Matt was a formidable guy and he was assured things would look and read much better by the time it went to print. He placed his hand on her thigh and it was only now she registered just how close he was to surrounding her. “I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve all too often but when I do, they know about it. I want to make them aware of exactly how I feel about them and I didn’t do that with her.” He dipped his head to catch her eye line. “So, when I do something for someone, it means something, y’know?”

“Yeh, of course. You’re a good guy, Chris. Everyone knows that.” She took his hand and lightly interlocked their fingers together.

“I guess I just didn’t want you worrying about her ‘cos there’s absolutely nothing there for me. Never had been.”

“You don’t need to explain this to me, I’m not going to hold anything against you.” she stroked his chin with her thumb and felt him relax into her hand. He glanced down at the mess he’d made on the floor and started picking a few things back up.

“How much left do you have to do tonight?” he whispered as his lips closed upon hers for a fleeting moment.

“I could do with finishing some notes but...half an hour, maybe?”

“I’ll hold you to that.” he kissed her again and got up from the bed, lifting her books back on top. “Just come get me when you’re done, yeh?”

Finishing up in the bathroom, Sarah switched off the light and moved towards the bed. She kneeled alongside Chris who was lying flat out, naked except for the duvet bunched across legs, reading what she assumed was the hotel magazine only to find upon closer inspection that it was in fact one of her medical journals. She giggled as she grabbed the moisturiser from the bedside table and began rubbing a small amount up and down her arms, regarding him as his nose creased up in apparent disgust at something he’d just read.

“Did you know the body has ten times more microorganisms living in it than actual human cells?! That’s bacteria, Sarah. Living, gross bacteria. All over us.” he looked at her, shock and horror crossing his fine, perfect features. She wasn’t sure whether to pat him on the head or laugh.

“It’s mostly good bacteria, though. Only, like, 1% of it is bad for us.”

“And when exactly were you going to tell me about this?!”

She creased up laughing and flopped on to her side next to him. “It’s all information that’s out there for the world to see. Remind me not to tell you about eyelashes.”

“What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever removed from somebody’s ass?” he asked.

“What? Why is that always a question people want an answer to?”

“I don’t know. It’s just weird. Humans are weird.” he muttered, turning back to the pages in front of him. She was glad he had chosen one without pictures. That was the last thing she wanted to see before falling asleep.

“So, have you learned something new?” she asked, curling her legs under the duvet.

“I have. I think you should test me and if I get a question wrong, you can do whatever you like to me. Deal?” he asked, smirking. She shyly smiled and he tossed the book onto the floor. “Hi.”

“Hi.” She repeated. She watched as his eyes slowly travelled down her body. It was unreasonable how much he managed to disarm her with only a look.

His hand reached out to gently caress the side of her thigh, nudging the duvet slightly down before moving back up to her hip, a ticklish area he’d picked up on the last time they were together. He leaned in and kiss her on the side of her jaw, so feather-like and soft she barely felt it if not for his warm breath she could feel on her neck.

“You smell nice.” he whispered, looking at her from underneath his eyelashes. “We could have showered together, y’know? Save the planet?”

As much as she was getting used to the little things he would do when they were alone, rubbing her arm, tucking hair behind her ears, saying nice things about how pretty she looked, having him here in such close proximity with no else around to distract them or force them into the light...it was getting risky. Not that Chris ever pushed her, mind. He’d been nothing but understanding and respectful and she was grateful for that but also growing concerned he was perhaps a little...bored. Why else would he drive over state lines to see her. None of this was normal and the more time went by, the more she became fretful of what they were doing.

“What are you thinking about?” he kissed her shoulder. “Is it dirty? If it’s dirty, I wanna know about it.”

Sarah smiled and placed her hand on the side of his face, running her fingers gently over his beard. He’d thoroughly given up shaving but she liked how soft it still felt under her finger tips and judging by the breath he released as he closed his eyes, so did he, relaxing into her hand. He kissed her again. She was hoping he’d take charge so she could put off talking to him a little longer but instead, he refrained from pushing them any further and leaned back a little, looking into her eyes. “Talk to me.”

She could feel his hand move slowly and deliberately up her arm until he reached the back of her neck, his fingers playing with the loose strands of hair that had fallen from her messy bun. There was no getting away from this.

“You know you can tell me anything, right? It’s OK for you to tell me what you want.” She could feel his breath on her skin, his voice low and rough. His fingers moved again and she felt them touch her lips, one of them running back and forth over her lower lip until she parted them ever so slightly and his finger softly dipped inside her mouth. He seemed to like that and kissed her again, a little harder this time.

“Just keep kissing me.” she whispered, relieved that se finally got some words out.

He smiled at her, satisfied with her response, and kissed her again. Slow, wet, a kind of kiss that was full of promise of what he wanted to do and it made her whole body thrum with anticipation.

One hand now resting on the bed beside her and the other moved from her cheek back down to her thigh. She was frozen to the spot, this man focussed on her so intently, prepared to give her whatever she asked for, whatever she needed, expressing so much in a kiss that she didn’t register when her hand began moving slowly, grazing a finger ever so slightly over the waistline of her shorts.

“...and what else?”

A little more, he moved his hand until his fingers dipped inside her underwear until he felt her skin, hot to the touch. She broke the kiss momentarily to let out a breath, one hand resting on the back of his neck for leverage as he continued tenderly moving his fingers until he got to where he wanted to be. Feeling her wet for him seemed to spark something inside and she felt him push her carefully until she was lying back on the bed, head just off the pillow, and he leaned over her. He adjusted his hand ever so slightly until she could feel his fingers pressing at her entrance before moving in small circular motions, riling her up.

“Look at me, honey.” he whispered, his voice rough and turned on as he wanted her grabbing at the covers as he stroked her. She tried to but she couldn’t stop her eyes from closing again, zoned out with only his smooth and confident movements to focus on. It was almost getting too much with him hitting her at just the right spot for her to lose herself completely when, just like that, he pulled his hand away and grabbed both sides of her underwear to pull them down and off her legs. The next thing she remembered was the feel of him skilfully grabbing her from underneath her thighs, his tongue swiftly taking over.

It didn’t take long for her to feel like was she coming undone and him feeling proud of himself. She couldn’t fight it and with one arm draped across her lower tummy, he certainly had not intention of letting her get away. Any feelings of awkwardness were soon a thing of the past as she let the gentle, unbridled bliss he was giving her wash over her completely. She honestly couldn’t remember ever feeling anything like this before, she was so out of it. He was covering her completely, her wetness mixing with his own, his beard rubbing against her smooth skin adding another level of pleasure.

She ran her fingers through his hair, messing it up. His tongue hit her clit again and again causing her to give him a short, sharp pull. His groan was so filthy and deep from within him, she felt it reverberate through her, raising goose bumps up and down her skin.

He wanted her on the edge as much as he felt he was. He wanted her to want him, to tell him exactly what she wanted him to do. He wanted her on fire. He wanted to hear her beg.

Just as she was on the edge for a second time, he stopped and blew softly across her wisps of hair. He chuckled when he heard what sounded like a quiet yet frustrated groan leave her lips, followed by a chuckle, something innocent and familiar. Her hands loosened from his hair as they stared into each other’s eyes, their mutual breathlessness the only sound they could hear.

“Does that feel good?” he whispered, the breath from his words scorching her skin. He moved his tongue just a little lower, not breaking eye contact, and she felt him dip ever so slightly inside of her, his arm wrapped around her thigh and the pad of his thumb taking care of the rest. He did this a second time, then a third, and when he returned to pressing his tongue over her clit, drawing her into his mouth, she was soon grabbing at him in any way she could in a futile attempt to take the edge off the orgasm that was coming at her like a freight train.

She was close. He knew she was so close now and he held his arms tightly around her to keep her close to him. One more swipe of his tongue right....there...and she was gone.

When her breathing even out, she slowly opened her eyes to see him move up and over her, placing soft, wet kisses on her hip, her tummy, her neck, and finally on her lips. He seemed cautious to kiss her, unsure of whether she wanted him to but she grabbed his face with both hands to pull him back down to her, kissing him as passionately as she could manage with what felt like no energy. She could taste herself and it was so much more erotic than she could ever have imagined.

She felt him smile into the kiss as he carefully settled his body on top of hers, allowing her to wrap her legs around him. He moved the hair that was sticking to her forehead and stroked her face with one finger, gently mapping her eye and her nose and her cheek. She couldn’t reconcile this being the same man who had minutes earlier been so dominant. He had so clearly wanted to say something at that point if only his hardness hadn’t been so distracting. He mover one arm under her neck, using the other hand to move hair from where it had clung to the side of her face. Holding her as close to him as possible and feeling blissful when he felt her legs wrap around his own, he entered her and held still, enjoying the moment.

“We should’ve done this years ago.” he spoke and for a brief moment, without realising, she was pulled from their intimacy, a pang of guilt taking its place.

He was too busy pushing into her, needing whatever she had left to give him. He grabbed at the back of her neck to keep her in place, his face buried into her hair. She felt her skin heat up all over from his breath as he panted at her side. It was more frantic than he’d wanted it to be as he groaned and moaned and pushed his whole weight into her with force. It was really all she could do to just hang on to him as he fucked her deeper, as he surged towards his own orgasm, then letting go when she felt him shudder insider her minutes later. He sounded helpless and as much as he tried to hold himself up from collapsing on her, he soon gave up trying and laid his head on her shoulder.

His warm breath continued covering her skin as she ran her hand gently over the back of his head. She felt him chuckle a vibration into the top of her arm before a wet kiss landed just underneath her ear, a place he had deigned his own after he realised how sensitive she was on that particular spot.

Finally rolling off her to lie on his back, he kept his arm stretched across her lower tummy and rubbed his fingers across the apex of her thigh. She wasn’t sure how long they stayed in this position but at some point he leaned over her to turn the bedside light off plunging the room into complete darkness and they continued to lie there in silence not really sure if the other was asleep or not.

He eventually turned onto his side to face her, keeping a firm grip on her waist. He was across her pillow and she could practically feel the flutter of his eyelashes as he watched her in the dark, a soft outline gradually appearing as his eyes adjusted to the blackness of the room, making out her features. she felt his hand move up and down her ribcage and over the inside of her elbow, another sensitive spot that made her shudder and him chuckle again when he realised she was in fact still awake.

She turned onto her side to face him and his hand moved to her lower back where it finally rested over her hip. She pushed her leg in between his and he seemed content and comfortable in how they were existing in this space, both aware they didn’t have to worry about getting up any time soon. He was running his fingers up and down her spine in slow, circular motions and it felt wonderful. Too wonderful. And there was that guilt again.

“What will you do tomorrow?” she asked.

He took a deep breath in contemplation at her unexpected question. “Gym looks pretty good. I have a book and a couple of scripts, too. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

“I know.” she murmured but he knew she was dwelling on something.

“I wanna be here for you if you need anything and if you don’t, you won’t even know I’m around. I promise.”

“I know that, too.”

She could sense him smile at her even in their dark. “Good.” he said. “It feels nice knowing I’ve made a good decision for a change.”

#chris evans #chris evans fic #evans fic #fan fiction #clear the area #sarah bernette #chris evans x original female character

35 notes · View notes

girlofmanyfandoms · 4 years

Text

Forbidden Spicy Gatorade Chronicles Chapter One

A/n: Ok, so the cult is getting stronger by the minute so if you haven’t been introduced yet, don’t be offended! I’ll try to go through everyone and introduce you in the next chapter. Erica (@the-never-ending-void) has asked not to be included in this fic.

Key:

Tater - @a-lonely-tatertot

Lynn - @lesbilynnette

Gray - @silver-snow

Lilah - @tribblemakingalicorn

Cadence - me

Ivy - @imaramennoodle

Molly - @molly-sencen

Farris - @everyonehasthoughts

Speens - @an-absolute-travesty

Holes - @holesinmyfalseconfidence

Connor - @linhammon-roll-bromance101

Panda - @worldwidepandamonium

Meg - @ultralazycreatorfan

Word count: 2,382

Warnings: If you’re reading this, you already know what’s about to pop off

Lilah poked Cadence’s shoulder who promptly rolled over. Lilah poked her several more times, a bit more aggressively. Grumbling Cadence sat up quickly and smacked her head on the top of the bunk bed. She sighed, rubbing her forehead. Her eyes slowly adjusted to her surroundings, taking in the strangely black, purple, and gold aesthetic room.

“Why’d you wake me up?”

“You got a notification,” Lilah said, eyes wide open, handing her the phone, slowly walking out of their shared room.

Cadence furrowed her brows, unlocking the phone before calling out to her roommate. “Wait, how long have you been up?”

“OREOS!” she called back. “Where are the keys?”

“On the kitchen counter,” Cadence replied, checking her emails. 1 unread message from Gray, the AI developer who she made small talk with during lunch breaks.

Dear Cadence,

Good evening! There’s a new play coming out on Mainstreet, called The Facade, and I was approached by the team to create a promotional piece. I was hoping you could help, and we would split the rewards 50/50. The play is about a murder crime, which is plotted out in a series of intricate riddles. The plot twist: the lead detective was the murderer, and had been delaying her trial while she was pretending to gather evidence, and stealing from a suspect to gain enough money to flee. And her second in command was funding the plots without knowing that her boss was the mastermind behind it all.

Ok, now that my boss has read above the cut we can talk freely. The offer is real, and I WOULD like to split it 50/50, I just can’t stand talking all formal, y’know? Anyway, since you said you do animations and stuff as a side gig, I thought maybe you could make the animations, and I’ll edit and do the social networking? Idk, I’m just spitballing here, let me know what you think.

Also, Lilah directed me towards this email, she’s really good at tracking people down.

Sorry if I made any spelling mistakes, I haven’t slept in weeks,

Gray

“Huh,” Cadence huffed, glancing at the clock. 3 AM. She had time. So, grabbing her IPad, she opened Procreate and got to work. The Facade. Sounds interesting enough. But what to draw? A lock perhaps? A silhouette of the main character? Before she could decide, her phone buzzed again, a voice recording this time, from Lilah.

“Hey, so I just ran into two of the actresses from The Facade and they said they want to talk to you about it so you can create a better promotional vid, meet me at the local library, k bye.”

Cadence wished on a shooting star that at least an hour had passed by so the buses would be running. But how wrong she was. It was 3 AM. It was raining. And the library was at least a mile away.

“This should be fun,” she mumbled, grabbing her set of keys, her IPad, and a raincoat before jogging the mile it took to get to the library.

_______

By the time Cadence arrived her hair was drenched and she was so out of breath and tired she thought she was going to pass out. She looked for any sign of her roommate, but she was nowhere to be found. Instead, she saw three people sitting at a table chatting freely and crying laughing. The librarian wasn’t fazed in the slightest. On the contrary, they seemed to be enjoying it, leaning over the library’s registry system, talking with them. Quickly Googling “The Facade,” Cadence confirmed that the two ladies were the actresses from the play. The other one offered occasional comments, mostly just watching the occurrences that went on. Social anxiety kicked in and told her to run in the other direction, but she really needed the money. She forced herself to approach them.

“Hey, I’m Cadence,” I introduce myself nervously. “Lilah said you wanted to speak to me about promoting your play?”

“Cadence! Lilah mentioned your animations, and we thought it’d be a new, eye-catching way to get our work out there,” the first one chirped. “I’m Molly, by the way. I play the detective’s second in command.”

“And I’m Ivy,” the other one greeted. “I play the lead.”

Cadence expected the third person to introduce themself next, but the librarian took the initiative. “Hello, fellow human, you may address me as SPEENS, I accept liver sacrifices.”

“They do that all the time,” the third person assured her. “Tater, by the way. I’m not in the play, I’m just working on a novel with Molly. We met up here to talk to good ‘ol Speens when these bit-”

“Language,” Molly warned.

“When these lovely individuals,” Tater corrected, “decided to make this a research sesh for the book. As if we needed more work. I’m free to fly wherever the wind takes me.”

“Amen to that, sibling,” Speens responded solemnly, pulling five wine glasses and vodka out from under the desk like a bartender. Cadence looked confused, but not against it. “Say, where’s the rest of the crew? Lynn, Gray, Farris, and the lot of them?”

“Farris doesn’t work on the set,” Ivy reminded her. “They’re an archaeologist. Holes makes the sets for us.”

Speens wrinkled their nose, seemingly in disgust. “And the others?”

“Well, if you can take a break, we can meet up with them at the theatre. Even Farris, since I heard their last trip was a bust,” Molly offered.

Without a second thought, Speens put up a sign that read “The Librarian is Out.”

“Do they-”

“All the time,” Ivy nodded. “It’s kinda their thing.”

“But, yeah, Farris and Connor tend to hang around the set,” Molly explained. “They don’t bother anyone, no one bothers them. They’re a bit older, kinda like the authority figures of the group.”

“If authority figures would let you make a dumba-”

“Tater,” Ivy nudged.

Tater changed their wording. “-unwise move in order to see what would happen.”

“They’re responsible for us without being responsible for us, if that makes sense,” Ivy commented. “Let’s get going though, before someone blows something up.” She shot a sideways glance at Speens, who put a hand up in surrender.

________

Ivy swung open the doors to the theatre and immediately had to duck for cover. “What the HELL, Connor?”

They were holding onto some theatre seats, zooming back and forth the row on rollerblades, occasionally losing balance and having to sit down. After a particularly messy turn-around, they decided to crawl over to the red carpeted steps and laid there for a moment. Farris was perched in a seat a row down, calming watching as Connor seemed to be having an existential crisis. Upon seeing Tater and Cadence, Farris got up, carefully stepping around Connor. “New kids?”

“Farris, this is Tater, and that’s Cadence,” Ivy helped. “They’re helping us promote the play.”

“Congratulations, you’re adopted,” they vowed, though Tater looked confused. “What? I don’t make the rules. Oh, wait, I’m supposed to be the responsible one…. Ok, so I make the rules, but they can be bent if the alternative’s interesting enough. Right, Connor?”

“Uh huh,” he called from the floor tiredly. If he hadn’t spoken, he would have been deemed dead.

“Lynn and the rest of the gang are in the back,” Farris informed them, pulling a skateboard from under their seat and helping Connor stand. Connor’s rollerblades flailed a bit as he struggled to get up, but his arm was slung around Farris’s shoulder, supporting him.

“DO A KICKFLIP,” Connor prompted, his words slurred.

“Are you kidding, I haven’t skateboarded since I was six, I need an actual skate park to practice that,” Farris recounted. “And how drunk are you?”

“Yes,” he responded, giggling in a hiccupy way. “Does anyone have more vodka?”

“I got you fam,” Speens said, pulling out a suitcase of alcohol from thin air.

“Anyways,” Ivy interjected, trying to get the conversation back on track. “I’ll go get the others, wait here.”

Ivy returned with Gray, Lynn, Holes, Panda, and Meg, and introduced them accordingly. “Gray works on the special effects, Lynn designed everyone’s costumes, Holes makes the set, Panda is a theatre critic, and Meg is our concept artist.”

“So, other than animation, is there anything else you bring to the table?” Molly asked.

“Well, I do glass art,” Cadence supplied. “It’s probably not relevant, but when it’s still really hot and glowy, which is when you can shape it, it looks like it would make a good snack. Hell, it almost looks like Gatorade. I can show a picture if you’d like.”

Cadence took her phone out and everyone crowded around to see.

“More like Powerade, Gatorade doesn’t come in that kind of blue,” Speens added.

“F O R B I D D E N S P I C Y G A T O R A D E,” Connor yelled, startling Farris.

“NO,” Holes countered, clearly distressed. “Do NOT drink molten glass. You’d die!”

“You call it death, I call it adventure,” Molly smirked. “I’m here for it. C’mon Holes, live a little.”

“Sis, how have you made it to adulthood thinking like that?” Lynn questioned, looking a bit scared.

“And I know how to live, I’m living right now!” Holes countered.

“Sure you are, nerd.” Molly rolled her eyes. “And how many near death experiences have you had, huh?”

“Near death- okay, first of all, I am not a nerd-”

“You kinda are,” Tater mumbled. Holes gasped, putting a hand over her heart as if they were betrayed. “What? You are. You make a living off of reading books.”

“Used to, friend,” Holes clarified. “I’m a freelance artist now. I picked up this gig because of these fools. And good thing too, because now you’re about to poison yourselves! Second of all, um, none?! How many have you had?”

Molly clicked her tongue in disappointment. “Five. Blended corn, acorns, eating soap, eating paper, and an intense game of dodgeball. I haven’t even peaked with these experiences yet.”

“Immortal until proven mortal,” Connor finished for her.

Meg stood next to Molly and held her shoulders. “This girl, she’s going places.”

“Meg, not you, too, I swear to god-”

“sLuRp,” Ivy joined in, grinning from ear to ear.

Holes was getting hysterical. “What the actual hell is going on? Lynn, help me out here.”

“The Gatorade is Forbidden for a reason, kids,” Lynn tried to reason.

Gray stood up with a mischievous glint in their eyes. “Where can we get it?”

“From the crunchy forbidden chocolate powder, of course,” Connor chimed in. Panda gave him a high-five while Holes became paler and paler from the cult forming in front of their eyes.

“This one speaks the truth,” Panda shrugged.

“Ok, what even is crunchy forbidden chocolate powder?”

“Sand, duh,” Connor said matter of factly. “Add some vodka, a martini, and some olives, and you got one heck of a slushie.”

“So that means there must be Forbidden Chewy Lettuce and Flavoured Forbidden Chewy Lettuce,” Tater went on. “Grass and flower petals. Cursed, but not wrong.”

“Ooh, and crackle air can be limestones and sodium carbonate, pies are dirt, bread is wood, and hard candy is metal,” Panda proclaimed.

“Fidget spinners are Forbidden Bagels, too,” Connor helped. “I should know, I tried the other day and cut my lip.”

Farris ignored the last part of Connor’s rant. “The variety pack, I like the sound of that.”

“Farris you’re supposed to look after us and you’re condoning this?!” Holes shouted.

Farris mounted his skateboard. “I’m not condoning anything. I’m enabling and hyping them up without joining in. That’s some big brain stuff.”

“This is why they control the brain cell,” Ivy nodded. “WAIT, ARE MY CHICKEN NUGGETS BURNING?!”

“Ives, you literally set a timer on the microwave backstage, you’re fine,” Tater reassured Ivy, holding her from running to check on her meal.

“Oh, like you know anything about microwaves,” Ivy argued. “You microwave ice cream.”

“It takes too long to soften, and I’m impatient,” Tater defended, turning to address Holes. “And it is eaten with a spoon.”

“Do not start this debate again- you know what, Panda, get ice cream from the mini-fridge, we’re settling this here and now,” Holes demanded.

“I think the real question is why is ice cream so hard,” Speens mentioned as Panda brought a tub of Haagen Daz ice cream. Holes used a fork to attempt to chisel out part of the snack. It wasn’t very successful.

“I think that’s just how Haagen Daz works,” Cadence observed.

Holes saw this as an opportunity to gain some momentum in the argument. “Not just this brand! All ice cream works like that!!!”

“No,” Panda objected. “Not Breyer’s. That stuff is always just right when you need it. Hashtag not sponsored.”

“Did you just break the fourth wall?” Lynn asked. “You know what, I don’t wanna know, just for the love of all that is good in this world please don’t drink the Forbidden Spicy Gatorade.”

“Too late,” Cadence said. “It’s easily accessible. Also, I’m calling E so we can recruit her.”

“Holes, I know you’re hiding it from us,” Molly speculated.

“What are you talking-”

“You’re keeping the Forbidden Spicy Gatorade all to yourself because you know of its power and you want it all to yourself.”

“I don’t HAVE the Gatorade, and I’m explicitly telling you it’s going to kill you if you drink it!”

As the bickering went on, Lynn slipped off to the vacant staff lounge to pull out her phone. There had to be a supplier somewhere who would give them this. She searched for a few minutes, and, after a few dead ends, she finally found an investor. “Cha-ching. Forbidden Incorporated is in business,” Lynn smiled to herself.

“Forbidden Incorporated, eh?” Farris asked from the doorway. Lynn froze and cursed herself for forgetting to lock the door. Now Farris knew of her plans. “Tell you what, I’ll keep your secret under one condition: We split the money 50/50, and get equal control over the decisions. So, deal?”

Lynn hesitated. She wasn’t sure she could trust Farris, but seeing as this was the only way to stop Holes from knowing just yet, she had no other choice. “Deal.”

_______

A/n: So that was fun and took entirely too long to write. I hope you enjoyed it and if you’re in the cult and I didn’t include you, reblog this and I’ll make a list. The next chapter might focus on a smaller group bc there are like thirteen characters here and I’m tired. Peace out!

#forbidden spicy gatorade

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timeandspacenovelist · 3 years

Text

Wargames Worries

Set before and after Wargames 2020.

The sweet but peaceful tones of “A Whole New World” filled the air with a relaxing atmosphere as Candice LeRae hummed along. She just taken out a nice turkey (it was a week after Thanksgiving, allow her) and she set it alongside the other lovely dishes on offer. Today was planning day for WarGames and in addition to going into war with these ladies, she also got on decently well with them. She and Dakota had patched things up after their falling out last year and Raquel seemed alright. Toni and she had met a few times over the past two years or so and she liked her, so that’s good as well. So in order to make this day as good as it could be, alongside the turkey there was a lobster, some Texas ribs and some snacks imported from New Zealand. Now all that was needed was for the guests to arrive. She checked the clock, 3:00pm. Johnny had his game to watch, so he would be occupied. She didn’t want him blabbing about anything unintentionally. She had to outright click delete on a tweet that he was about to send that was gonna reveal Indi as Ghostface before the time called for it. She loved him so much, but honestly, he frustrated her sometimes. She took a few cleansing breaths as she thought about the day ahead.

“Ok, first time planning as WarGames captain. Everything’s gonna be fine. I’m in control. Rhea did it last year, what’s the worse that can happen?” she said to herself. Maybe it was gonna be a good day. Then the doorbell rang.

She opened the door to three smiling faces who no doubt got a whiff of the food as they almost bulldozed past her. She was glad that part was a success, at least.

“So how are you guys doing?” she asked, trying to start off the get together on a friendly note.

“Well, Raquel and I just finished working out and Toni.. What did you say you were doing again?” Dakota stated and then asked.

“Mmmm? Oh, I was getting some new gear,” Toni said, her mouth full with lobster, “I’m really sorry Candice but I hadn’t eaten today and it looked so nice.”

“That’s fine Toni. It was for you anyway.” Candice said, a smile appearing on her face because of the Australian’s love for the food. She hadn’t quite gotten a chance to ask Toni exactly why she liked lobster so much, but one day she’ll tell her.

“Where’s Johnny?” Raquel asked, the Latina taking Toni’s initiative and digging into the turkey.

“In the bedroom, watching the game.”

“Don’t you two usually watch together?”

“Yes, but today, we’ve got something important to do.” The captain of Team Candice and the namesake, (Dakota suggested Task Force X but was rejected), then went over to the couch and picked up her iPad. She flicked through a few unneeded pictures (she didn’t know why she had a picture of Pawdme’s paw) before settling on the picture of the plans she spent last night drawing up.

“I figured since we’re up against some tough competition, we’d best prepare as well as we can. No four on 1 attacks this time.” That was slightly disappointing to her as they had enjoyed the use of the numbers game a lot over the past few weeks, but this time, they had to go toe to toe.

“Umm, Candice?” Dakota said, her hand raised in the air like a diligent student.

“Dakota, you don’t actually have to put your hand up.” Candice said with a soft smile.

“Ah, sorry. Force of habit,” the Kiwi said, blushing slightly in her embarrassment, “who’s gonna be the first one going into the cages?” It was a valid question. They had unexpectedly lost the advantage match so they would have to enter first. The person who went in first usually would be the one to set the pace and hang on, Candice herself knowing that personally.

“Well, I was gonna suggest that....” The sentence wasn’t completed as the trio were startled by the shout of Dakota who’s shocked face melted into a warm wide grin as she realized the mysterious person who touched her was Pawdme. The captain of Team Kick sunk to her feet and began to play with the Garganos’ dog, rubbing her belly and giving her high fives.

“Dakota, are you gonna listen to what I’m saying, or are you gonna play with Pawdme?” Candice sighed and asked, already knowing the answer. Every time she came over, this always happens.

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” she responded, clearly distracted by the rather cute pup.

Candice just shook her head and turned her attention to Toni and Raquel. Toni was, albeit still, paying a lot of attention to her lobster, but she was at least listening. “So, Raquel, I think you should enter the ring second. That way you can help clean up any messes we might have dealing with two of Team Shotzi’s members.”

“I got you Cap,” Raquel said, before she was interrupted by the throat clearing of one Dakota Kai. “sorry, other cap.” Dakota nodded her head and continued playing with Pawdme. Raquel was about to speak again when a loud cheer interrupted her. Johnny came out (well, ran out) of the bedroom like an excited kid who was bringing a report card for their parents to see.

“Sorry, Candice, but I just gotta tell you. I got it. My bet actually paid off!” the exuberant founder of the Gargano Way stated, as proud as he possibly could be.

“What bet is that?” Toni asked, her face showing one of intrigue and interest.

“He bet $500 that Higgins would score two touchdowns this game. It obviously paid off.” Candice stated, giggling at her husband’s excitement over it.

“Yep! Oh baby, Hollywood’s coming in clutch once again!” Johnny said.

“Hollywood, eh?” Toni said, intrigued by the nickname. Her boyfriend watched it, but she never paid attention when he talked football. She had no idea what a touchdown was, but it was obviously good as he got two, and Johnny was happy. She honestly knew little about sports other than wrestling, but was willing to try it if it was interesting to her.

Candice turned to see Raquel looking sheepishly at her, almost like there was something she wanted to say, but felt like it would be wrong to. “If you’re gonna say it, go ahead and say it, Raquel.”

“It’s the Cowboys, they’re playing the Browns. I mistimed the schedule. I thought we had more time before the game began.” the large Latina said, her point coming across very clearly.

“Fine.... go ahead and watch the game. But you better listen when Toni and I talk about the plan with you.” Candice said, like an exasperated mom.

“Thank you so much!” Raquel said as she hurried inside with Johnny, not before flicking Dakota for her interruption earlier, who responded with a playful jab in kind.

“Score’s 21-14 right now. Best watch your head there, the doorway’s a bit..... Ah see I told you to watch your head.” Johnny told her, his warning coming too late.

“Well, Dakota’s playing with Pawdme so her attention is gone, essentially. Raquel’s watching the game with Johnny, so it’s up to the two of us. You ready Toni? Toni?” Candice explained before trying to get Toni’s attention. She then heard a small sound before listening closer and hearing the loud but soft music of Queen, in particular, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’. Toni had her headphones in her ear and was scrolling down her phone on Twitter. Candice could only shake her head and smirk. She was 25 once too, and she did the same thing, albeit with a less high-tech phone.

She sighed, and she shut down the iPad. It was low on power, anyway. She did try. She did honest to God try. Maybe being a captain was a lot more difficult than Rhea made it out to be. Then again, she never had any team meetings. She was better than her there. Maybe one day when she’s less mad at her for the multi-woman beat down thing, she and Rhea would have a talk about WarGames last year that they had been meaning to have. She checked the clock, 3:30. It had only been a half hour. She shook her head and took out the cupcake she had brought for herself to eat as she let the vocalizing of Freddie Mercury send her thoughts to another place. Come Sunday, they’d just wing it.

Everything hurts. Everything aches. Turns out WarGames isn’t the most pleasant experience in the world. You’d think Candice would realize that after getting her ass kicked by four women for almost half an hour last year. But in her mind, Shotzi needed to be punished. Unfortunately, that punishment meant a broken arm and feeling very, very sore. But a win is a win, and she’s won two WarGames matches now, so that was nice. She looked to her left and gave a warm smile to Toni Storm, who responded in kind before wincing a bit as she tried to move fully on her side to turn to her friend.

“Hey..... thanks for letting us crash at your place for tonight and heal up.” the Aussie said in recognition of the Garganos’ hospitality. Candice (well, mostly Johnny) had decided that the rest of Team Candice could stay at their house tonight, so they wouldn’t have to drive home in pain. It was the least she could do as they put their bodies on the line tonight to win.

“It’s no problem, really. We all needed a place to rest and recuperate after the match and we have more than enough room here.” Candice replied.

“I’m sure Dakota is very thankful for your help, as well. She’ll just let you know when she wakes up. She got hammered, literally.” Toni said, as Candice turned to her right to see a soundly sleeping Dakota Kai, who had taken the lion’s share of the punishment. She had been the most difficult to get into bed because of her soreness and hadn’t taken long to fall asleep.

“You guys can thank me by healing up and getting better” Candice then took the bell she had on her chest and rang it as loud but as gentle as she could in order to alert the person who gave it to her. She had been in the opposite role many a time, but now she was glad it was her turn to be pampered. The door flew open to reveal an attentive Johnny Gargano awaiting his next order.

“You rang?”

“Could you bring me a cup of water, please? My throat’s a little parched.” Candice asked nicely.

“No problem. Nurse Gargano is at your service.“ Johnny said with a salute as he went off to get the drink. Yeah, Candice could definitely get used to this.

Toni tossed and turned in bed as she suffered from the nightmare again. It was the third time in four weeks she had gotten it, and it wasn’t stopping anytime soon. She honestly hadn’t wanted to do it at all, but she rolled to her side in order to fight off the seemingly invisible enemy and she hit Dakota as she flew off the bed and fell down on the surprisingly soft carpet. Dakota would need to make a mental note to tell them about it. The sudden thud and that wail of pain woke Candice up from her slumber and shook Toni from her nightmare. The bell was rung, and it was Raquel, not Johnny, who had answered. In addition to winning the match for the team, Raquel had taken the least amount of damage and so was fit for duties as a caretaker temporarily.

“What happened? What’s going on?” Raquel asked as she burst in.

Candice looked over to the fallen Kiwi and then the shaking Aussie, and put two and two together. When she switched places with Toni, she didn’t expect this to happen. “Toni had a nightmare, swung wildly and knocked off Dakota.”

Dakota hadn’t realized when it happened. All she knew was that she was on the floor, in the air, and then back on the bed. As her realization started sinking in, she noticed the towering figure above her and smiled. “Thanks.”

“No problem. You’re my Hermana. I wanna do stuff like this for you.” Raquel said, straightening and fluffing Dakota’s pillow.

Dakota wasn’t a multilingual person, far from it. But she knew a little bit of Spanish and knew that Hermana meant sister. She smiled at the term of endearment by the Latina. “Sister, eh? Does that mean I get to borrow your clothes? I might need to fix some of them though, just to fit little old me.” Dakota said, smiling at her friend.

“Oh, shut up.” Raquel said laughing as she ruffled Dakota’s mane and left the room, seeing that the other problem was being well handled by Candice.

Candice had her arm around Toni and was rubbing her shoulder as the Aussie finally calmed down. “Hey, hey, hey. It’s ok. You’re alright now. What was the dream about?”

“...... The I quit match.” Toni said after a few seconds of building up courage to say it. Candice understood immediately. It was Toni’s last match in NXT UK and she’d almost gotten seriously hurt towards the end. She assumed the nightmare stemmed from the WarGames recently and all the stuff around it must have reawakened it in her.

Candice took Toni’s hand in hers and held it tight. “Hey, you don’t have to worry about that now. I’m here, with you, in this nice bed. I’ve got your hand, You’re safe. Now I think we can lie back down and go to sleep, but as long as you know that I’ve got you. Ok?”

“Ok.” Toni said, nodding. Toni eased back onto the bed and kept a strong hold of Candice’s hand. Candice stayed up until she felt the strong grip loosen and loosen until she looked over and saw her sleeping. Candice, upon seeing that, was now content. She took a little longer, but she also eventually fell back to sleep as well, dreaming of her Prince Charming..

“Rise and shine, people! Up and at them. Time for breakfast.” Johnny shouted as the clock struck 8:00 am. Seeing as they were normally early risers, Johnny decided to let them sleep in a bit but now, he was ready. The three women sleepily walked out of the bedroom, still sore but less so than last night.

“Morning honey.” Candice said as she walked over and kissed her husband to greet him. She did smirk at the gagging sounds done by Dakota and Toni mocking her for her show of affection.

“Get a room you two.” Toni said, feeling much better after her nightmare last night.

“It’s our house, thank you very much. So what do you have prepared for us today, Chef Gargano?” Candice said laughing.

“Well, with some.... ok a lot of help from Raquel, we got up early, and we made toast and eggs and sandwiches and we got orange juice and water. All you need for a lovely breakfast to give you a good start to the day.” Johnny said, looking quite proud of his accomplishment, well, his and Raquel’s accomplishment.

“I didn’t know you could cook.” Dakota admitted to her large friend.

“You never asked. Ten months together and you never once asked if I could cook?” Raquel questioned with an air of lightheartedness surrounding it.

“Never got the chance?” Dakota said in response.

“Eat your damn breakfast. I worked hard on it so you best enjoy it.” Raquel said smiling as she sat down to eat, which gave the cue to everyone else to dig in.

“Yes, sir.” Dakota said saluting the Texan. The five of them sat down and ate their well-prepared breakfast, talking about the matches and how it went. Johnny and Candice spoke about bringing in Austin and Indi full time to train them. Toni talked about challenging Io, much to the annoyance of Raquel, but they agreed they’d settle in the ring when the time came. Dakota, to what she thought was away from Candice’s view, snuck food under the table for Pawdme, until Candice caught her but allowed her to give one piece to the dog before she had to stop. Eventually the breakfast was finished and Toni, Raquel and Dakota said their goodbyes and went home. Later that day, the Garganos were having a chat about the experience.

“I really think we should do this more often,” Johnny said as he kissed Candice’s arm injured, “of course, hopefully when you’re not hurt.”

“Well, the next time that WarGames comes around....,” Candice said as she kissed his cheek before slapping him on the head, “you go in the cage instead.” she said, laughing as Johnny rubbed his head in pain.

#candice lerae #toni storm #raquel gonzalez #dakota kai #johnny gargano #wargames #nxt #fanfic #fanficiton #wwe fanfiction #angst #comfort #fluff #friendship

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teacupfulofstarshine · 4 years

Text

une ladybug, lady du coeur

summary: logan just wants to save the city. he's not very interested in the advances of his partner. he isn't. yes, he is. (OR: a miraculous ladybug sanders sides!au that is a VERY late birthday gift to @blinksinbewilderment)

a/n: this is a gift for my lovely spouse squad member blink!!! her birthday is in august, and it is now almost february, i know, i'm bad at this, i'm sorry. also i love you blink i hope you enjoy this ~

cw: mutual pining, cartoon violence

wordcount: 2818

read it on ao3!

“This is getting ridiculous,” Logan grumbles, fumbling to shove his books into his messenger bag. Outside, there’s a loud, distorted roar from the akuma of the day. “We are never going to finish the French Revolution unit at this rate.”

“Good thing you memorized the entire textbook at the beginning of the school year, hmm?” Roman says teasingly. He throws his iPad into his bag and elbows Logan, who smiles at him as soon as Roman isn’t looking at him. The building shakes with the force of another blow, and Roman instantly tugs Logan close to him. Logan pretends it doesn’t make his face flush pink.

“We have to go,” Roman says. “We have to get out of here!”

“Roman -”

Roman throws his backpack over his shoulder, and Logan barely manages to sling his messenger bag over his shoulder before Roman is grabbing his hand and sprinting through the school. Logan stumbles after Roman, once again cursing that he’s so much shorter than his best friend. Roman flies down the stairs three at a time, and it’s a wonder Logan doesn’t faceplant.

They burst out of the school and immediately dive into a nearby bush as a large hoof slams down into the street nearby. Logan cowers into the bush, and Roman hovers his body over him. Logan opens his eyes, and it’s only then that he notices that when Roman had grabbed his hand, he’d laced their fingers together.

There’s a very strange feeling in his chest, and he has no idea how to handle it. Fortunately, he doesn’t have to think about it for much longer as Roman pulls away. He feels disappointed, but then Roman is flashing his million-dollar model smile and Logan forgets how to feel anything but lovestruck.

“You stay here where it’s safe, okay? I’m gonna go get help.”

“What? What if something happens?”

“Hey, you know me! Paris’s favorite face and all that, I’ll be fine.” Roman winks at him, before leaning down and hugging Logan quickly. He sprints out of the bush, a streak of blurred red, and Logan buries his head in his hands and groans.

There’s a little rustling noise, and then a tiny little creature flies up out of his bag. It’s a little red creature, with two small antennae, covered in large black spots. He hovers next to Logan’s head, little tail twitching as he pats his head sympathetically.

“Crush got you down?”

“Shut up, Emile,” Logan mutters. “He’s not my crush.”

“I don’t think you’re telling the truth,” Emile sing-songs, landing on Logan’s head. “Did you see the way he held your haaaaaaand?” Logan blushes, picturing the way Roman’s fingers felt laced between his and the press of Roman’s broad palm against his smaller one, the glow of Roman’s vibrant green eyes in the sunlight as he glances over his shoulder and grins rakishly at Logan.

“Shut up,” Logan says shortly, rather than think about feelings anymore. “We have to deal with this akuma before anyone gets hurt.”

“Whatever you want, Logan,” Emile says. “You know how to suit up!”

Logan sighs, running his hands through his hair, and tucks his messenger bag into the bushes. He sweeps a few stray brown curls behind his ear, revealing his unassuming, plain black stud earrings. “Alright, here we go. Emile, spots on!”

A flash of red sparkles swirls around him, and the earrings glow. Emile giggles as he swirls around and disappears into Logan’s miraculous. Logan can’t stop a cocky smile from spreading across his face as the transformation begins to take hold.

He presses his hands against his eyes and pulls them across his face, leaving a gleaming red mask in his place. The transformation races down his body and spirals around his arms, his torso, his legs, melting away his polo and tie and slacks. His outfit is replaced with a bright red bodysuit, covering him completely from the neck down in a pattern of tiny gleaming hexagons with large black polka dots. He feels the red ribbon attach itself in his hair, tying it back from his face, and his yoyo materializes on his hip.

Ladybug drops to the ground in a perfect crouch, reaching for his yoyo and quickly flipping it open. He presses one of the buttons, and his insufferable partner’s face appears on screen with a phone dialing icon.

“Honestly, if you don’t pick up I swear to god,” Ladybug mutters. The phone rings for almost twenty seconds, but no one picks up. He snaps the yoyo shut when he hears a civilian scream and immediately throws it up towards the roof. He tugs the line and swings away, directly into the line of fire.

*~*~*~*~*

Most days, Roman doesn’t give a damn about being one of the most recognizable faces in Paris. He’s an extrovert - he loves people, loves taking pictures with them and performing for them and just generally being around them. He’s not like his introverted best friend. He loves the limelight.

When he’s trying to sneak away and transform, however, this is less appreciated.

“You want some help, kitten?” his kwami drawls, curled inside of the pocket of his letterman jacket.

“I don’t like it when you do stuff like that, you know that,” Roman mutters, ducking quickly into an alleyway to avoid yet another paparazzi camera.

“I know, but I don’t think you have a choice,” Remy says. Roman swats at his pocket, but he can’t deny that Remy is right. Normally, he can sneak away on his own, but the crowds just keep growing and growing.

“Don’t do anything too permanent, okay?”

“No sweat, kitten. You know Ladybug’s gonna fix it all when you’re done, right?”

“I don’t wanna make extra work for him!” Roman argues.

“It’s literally not even him, kitten, it’s his miraculous that powers it all.” The little black catlike creature flies up out of his pocket and disappears into the crowd. Roman keeps running, not taking any time to look back or see what his kwami is doing. Little black bubbles fizzle through the concrete, and he hears someone shouting behind him, but he darts around a building and into a dark and dirty alleyway. Within a minute, Remy floats through the wall and lands in his palms.

“Do I even want to know what you did?”

“Probably not. You subscribe to that pesky human concept of ‘morals’ or whatever.” Remy yawns, curling into Roman’s cupped hands.

“Can you just get in the damn ring already?”

“I will not.”

Roman reaches into his backpack and pulls out a small plastic travel thermos. “Not even for . . . coffee?”

Remy’s ears twitch, but he maintains a nonchalant facade. “Coffee? What would I care about coffee?”

“Oh, nothing much . . . it’s just double-brewed espresso, made with that expensive shit you love, that’s all.” Remy whimpers and twitches again. “And I added a little splash of lavender honey and creamer . . . but if you don’t want it, I guess I’ll have to drink it . . .”

“No!” Remy wails, shoving the lid off the travel cup and diving inside. Roman has no idea how Remy can stand submerging his entire body in near-boiling coffee, but he isn’t complaining. Remy pokes his head out of the travel mug and shakes a few drops of coffee out of his fur, smiling.

“You needed me?”

“Of course I do,” Roman snarks.

“You know how to call me, don’t you?”

“Remy, claws out!”

Roman grins as a blur of black disappears into the silver ring he wears, which quickly burns black as well. He can feel power thrumming through his body, racing along his veins like lightning, and he smirks, shifting his stance to a more confident one. Two fingers swipe along his face, dragging black leather in their wake. He combs through his hair as it grows longer and more unruly, and black leather cat ears sprout up from his tousled curls. Black leather and green lightning spiral around him, and the facade of Roman Roi drops away.

Steel-toed black boots hit the ground as Chat Noir pulls his black belt tail out of his outfit, With a flick of the wrist, his staff is in his hand, and he vaults up through the Paris sky.

*~*~*~*~*

Ladybug dodges another blow from the akuma, which shrieks and hurls another projectile his way. It’s a florist, he thinks, akumatized over scathing comments from the mayor’s hellspawn. Ladybug doesn’t blame him for being upset, but the thorny vines choking the city streets are really a bit much to deal with.

“This is not necessary!” Ladybug shouts, drawing his yoyo and quickly lassoing the nearest building. He swings away as a plant erupts where he was standing. The thorns are enormous and sharp and almost as big as he is. “I know that you are upset, but please -”

“You want to call my profession silly?!” the akuma roars. Ladybug is sure that he has some kind of proper akuma name, but he honestly doesn’t remember it anymore. “I will cover you in thorns, and you will see how sharp a florist can be!”

Ladybug winds the cord of his yoyo around his fingers, crouching in the shadow of a balcony. He needs to figure out where the akuma is hiding, he needs to control the damage to make sure no innocent civilians are injured, he needs - he needs -

“My ladybug, look out!”

A silver staff flies out of nowhere and knocks Ladybug back as a Venus flytrap roars to life beneath him. If he hadn’t been knocked out of the way when he was . . .

A dark figure lands next to him. “Fancy running into you here,” Chat Noir purrs, eyes gleaming dangerously as he pulls Ladybug to his feet.

“Of course I ran into you here, we are both superheroes. This is our job,” Ladybug says, rolling his eyes. Chat Noir spins him around and dips him, and Ladybug is about to scold him for letting romantic nonsense interfere with their job until he realizes that they’ve narrowly avoided a deadly blow.

“You’re welcome,” Chat Noir says. “You can thank me properly later. For now, we have a job to do, don’t we?” He pulls Ladybug to his feet easily and takes his staff from where it’s lodged in the building behind them. “What’s the scoop?”

Ladybug fills him in. “I hate people like that,” Chat Noir mutters. ‘People who try to put others in boxes and act like they can’t ever have a different role . . . that’s complete and utter horseshit. I deserve to be - people deserve to be whoever they want to be.” Ladybug tilts his head in confusion.

“You are correct, Chat Noir, but still . . .”

Chat Noir shakes his head and spins his staff in one hand, deflecting a barrage of thorns. “Where do we suspect the akuma is, my ladybug?” Ladybug squints at the akuma, trying to reason out where the akuma might be.

“I . . . there! There’s a sunhat on the akuma’s head, and from what I understand the akumatized citizen wears that hat frequently.”

“How are we going to get to it?” Chat Noir asks. “I only get one Cataclysm before I change back, so we have to make it count!” Ladybug pulls his yoyo from his hip and spins it rapidly in front of him.

“Let us see if this evens the odds. Lucky Charm!” He throws the yoyo up into the air, kicking one leg up behind him for balance. Logan does not believe in luck, but Ladybug finds he has no choice but to believe, given what he does.

The yoyo glows, giving out a shower of heart-shaped sparkles as it spins rapidly around and around in the air. Ladybug can never look up at the lucky charm while it’s forming, but Chat Noir always stares at it starry-eyed (when he can, anyway, and isn’t too busy defending them from the akuma attacks).

The Lucky Charm glows so brightly that even Chat Noir has to look away, and it drops down into Ladybug’s waiting hands, and it’s . . .

“What am I supposed to do with this?” Ladybug asks, holding the red-and-black-spotted plastic hairbrush in his hands. He looks up, and the world is suddenly black and white. This is normal; once his Lucky Charm lands in his hands, the world is devoid of color until he looks around, and certain objects will light up in red and black color. From there, he has to figure out what to do.

“You got an idea yet?” Chat Noir asks. Ladybug squints around, and then he has one.

*~*~*~*~*

Chat Noir doesn’t know what Ladybug sees when he holds his Lucky Charm. His eyes go slightly unfocused, and the brown of his irises gleams red and black. All he knows is that within a minute, Ladybug’s eyes always refocus, sharp and clean, and he always knows exactly what to do.

“I need to get close to the akuma,” he says. “As close as you can get me, okay? I know what I need to do.”

“Any specific vines you want me to take out?”

Ladybug points out a few key points, and Chat Noir grins, throwing his fist into the air. “Cataclysm!” His fist comes back down covered in inky black bubbling flames. Ladybug spins his yoyo rapidly, and Chat Noir can’t stop himself from winking before he tears off across the street.

Chat Noir only gets one Cataclysm, the same way that Ladybug only gets one Lucky Charm. Unlike Ladybug, however, Chat Noir has a little bit of a window where he can work. If he’s fast enough, he can hit a few of the vines before his power fizzles out. He launches off the building, careful to only land with his feet and his free hands, and takes off towards the akuma.

Ladybug had pointed out three or four specific vines that Chat Noir should try to hit; he manages to hit two of them before his Cataclysm runs out. He settles for smacking the vines aside with his staff, trying to draw as much of the akuma’s attention as possible. He succeeds, too; the akuma is so busy staring at him that it doesn’t notice when a red-and-black-spotted plastic hairbrush comes flying out of nowhere like a boomerang and hits the akuma squarely in the eye.

The akuma wails, and Chat Noir can hear his ring beeping down to four minutes left as Ladybug’s yoyo soars through the air and knocks the akuma’s hat off its head. It goes flying through the air towards Chat Noir. “Chat Noir, it’s up to you!” Ladybug calls.

Chat Noir deftly expands his staff to pin the hat against the nearest building and sprints along the street, vaulting himself off of a nearby parked car and snatching the hat up. The akuma wails as he tears the hat in half, and a little black butterfly flutters out of the hat. “Get out of here, you nasty bug!” Chat Noir hisses.

Ladybug’s yoyo glows bright white as he spins it around rapidly. “Time to de-evilize!” The yoyo sails through the air, slamming right into the akuma, and two black-spotted red wings snap out and trap the akuma inside the yoyo. Ladybug pulls it back against his body and gently taps the compact. It pops open to reveal a little white butterfly fluttering off into the sky.

“Bye-bye, little butterfly,” Ladybug croons, a fond expression on his face. Chat Noir can’t stop himself from grinning dopily at the sight. Ladybug hops off the roof and picks up the hairbrush from the nearby building and throws it into the air, as high as he can. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

A glittering swarm of ladybugs tears around Paris, and Chat Noir grins as a tingle of magic floods through him.

*~*~*~*~*

By the time they finally escape Patton’s eager questioning for his blog, Virgil standing next to him with a GoPro dutifully recording, there’s only two minutes left on their respective miraculouses. “Pound it!” Chat Noir exclaims, offering his fist to Ladybug for a fist bump. Ladybug rolls his eyes, but he accepts the fistbump anyway. Before he can pull his hand away, Chat Noir grabs his hand and turns it so that he’s holding it, back of his hand facing up.

“Chat Noir? We’re about to de-transform, what are you -”

Chat Noir lifts his hand to his lips and kisses it, softly. “Until next time, my lovely ladybug.” Before Ladybug can protest, Chat Noir is vaulting away. Ladybug barely manages to make it to a safe place before his last dot beeps away and his transformation disappears in a flurry of sparkles. Ladybug is gone, and Logan Cerveau lifts his hands to catch Emile.

“Thank you,” he quietly tells his kwami.

“No problem,” Emile yawns, settling in for a nap as Logan tucks him into his breast pocket. “You’re so smitten, it’s adorable . . .”

Logan is too busy concealing his blush to protest. Much.

#starshinewrites #blink tag!#logince #miraculous ladybug!au #wife squad!#sanders sides #logan sanders #roman sanders

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metellastella · 4 years

Photo

Well I’ve tried in vain to post multiple images and commentary on this. Tumblr’s site design is just so terrible. And devArt just got a bad overhaul too. Is Amino the only place I can easily submit several images and an explanation paragraph or two?? Somebody please help me out. I have to switch to desktop after posting. When I submit an image off my phone, it won’t even let me insert tags. But ain’t that the whole point of this site?? Crazy. EDIT: ok, after switching yet again to iPad, I managed to wring out a few more scant functions I wanted that wouldn’t appear on the submission form on iPad. Sill not wholly what I want, but yay I guess?? Ugh. This is utter batshit insanity (sorry Adorabat) In which I puzzle over the design changes they made to Bearclops. See below. But first. Fun fact: Both front claws in my drawing are actually the same color. Due to an optical illusion, it just doesn’t appear that way because of the different color outlines and contrast to the different color arms. If a Tumblr were cooperative, I would give a visual example of a geometric design that demonstrates this clearly. Second. ‘My style’ is kind of a lie, just a quick look through my Gallery on DevArt or Insta indicates that having a consistent style is not my style. That’s a good thing for you, though, because it means more variety >:3 Badgerclops was originally a polar bear. My guess is that they probably changed it due to We Bear Bears. But like, a European badger’s ears are just as round as a bear’s, so why the heck would that be like almost the only thing you changed?? The eye covering patterns on his head are clearly European, though they were probably abstractly thinking of a brown American badger. I had a picture demonstrating this, next to my B.C. above, but due to ongoin g technical difficul ties … (yeah those are gaps, typing on an iPad royally bites) To me, having *only* his front arms colored is an interesting choice, as it mirrors the robot arm’s approximate ‘covering’. Is that the reason they did it instead of all of his limbs being dark? Maybe. I know that, to give him more black would make him almost less distinguishable from Mao, so if they were even aware of those options (which I don’t think they were, I’ll get to that in a second) then good call. At least here in the west, black is masculine and white is feminine (I’ll address that in my story too) so they were probably subconsciously assigning this to both Snugglemagne and B.C. Interestingly, B.C. having brown fur instead of black might, in Watsonian (meaning in-world causes, not artist choices) fashion, indicate he has a red fur pigment mutation (something I wrote about in my fic to explain Snug’s red tail, so I guess it might be brought up with B.C. too, though like the ear thing, it’s probably just the creators not bothering to even once Google a picture of a real badger, TBH. Or mistakenly thinking of some other brown animal, or honey badger, which has an entirely different set of fur markings, like it’s been buzzcut all down its back, lolz) You could see also a direct comparison of my Mao to the one we know and love, if Tumblr wasn’t being such a butt. Mao Mao comic page: https://metellastella.tumblr.com/post/621837213819437056/mao-maos-specific-trigger-should-not-be Multimedia time! Recording of Badgerclops and Snugglemagne talking about Mao Mao: https://metellastella.tumblr.com/post/622192459494096896/as-i-finale-to-mao-maos-pride-week-hosted-by And Pride Week Prompts! https://metellastella.tumblr.com/post/621726687992872960/hello-everyone-happy-pride-month-to-all-of-you

#mao mao heroes of pure heart #badgerclops #mao mao #Fanart

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yourholidaymom · 3 years

Text

Your Holiday Mom: Robbi

Hello Friend –

Welcome to our crazy and comfy home. Don’t mind Iggy, she just barks really loud whenever anyone comes in but is a total wimp. See? She’s already given up and is back to sitting in the most comfortable chair in the house. And please don’t step on the cat, he is old and blind and might accidentally poop on you. Ha ha, just kidding, he totally only poops on the stairs on his way to the litter box that he doesn’t use. Also, don’t mind the kids – Alden will want to show you her rope climbing skills, Kato will become suddenly shy (though he can be easily coaxed out of his shell with inquiries about planes or rockets) and August will toddle up and hug you and probably demand your iPad or phone (don’t do it). In our small town, the kids all call grown-ups “Aunt” and “Uncle” – so just by being introduced you’ve already become a part of our family. We’re so happy to have you.

Perhaps this holiday season is hard for you, perhaps it is lonely. Perhaps you have struggled with acceptance from your own friends and family, and perhaps you have even struggled with yourself for identifying as LGBTQ. And for that I am truly, truly sorry. I hope that you can find some respite in our home and at our table, though I can’t guarantee there won’t be a lot of chaos involved too.

One of the unspoken treasures of true acceptance is when you aren’t treated differently from anyone else, and so I will demand that you not stand on the table (August is the most frequent offender), that you finish your dinner before starting your dessert (actually, no one ever follows that rule, including me), and that if you happen to accidentally kick or punch someone while wrestling, you have to give hugs and kisses and say you’re sorry. Them’s the rules. If only that last one could be applied to everyone— both literally and metaphorically. If anyone is ever hurt, we need to extend our hands and try to help them heal. And so I hope you’ll metaphorically take my extended hand, friend.

Please have a seat and warm up with a cup of tea while I scurry around the kitchen doing the final touches on our meal. Ha ha, who am I kidding? I’ll be sitting hanging out with you while Matthew does all the kitchen stuff. We all know I’m a horrible cook. You and I can chat about this and that, about the latest things that you’re up to, about the book you just read that I got started but never finished (I’m never going to finish it, so please just tell me how it ends). I’ll ask how you’re doing, but you probably won’t tell me directly because Alden and Kato are fighting over the trampoline and everything’s a bit distracting. Matthew will interrupt and ask me to dress the salad (he always puts way too much dressing on) and I will get up and give your shoulder a squeeze on my way to the kitchen. Matthew will offer you some more tea and we’ll swap – he’ll probably ask all the same questions and you’ll have to repeat yourself a lot and I’ll apologize loudly from the kitchen. You are kind not to seem to mind.

And now Kato has asked you to please please please play freeze tag, and you are so good to oblige. I’m so sorry that he’s no longer wearing his pants.

I see that you are concerned when the three kids collide, but no harm done – the frenzy of the chase is enough to get them back up and running, though August points emphatically at his head and demands a kiss from you before he rejoins the fray. Thanks for doing that.

I have to interrupt the freeze tag so we can all eat dinner. We settle down at the table and say a quick “itadakimasu” – the Japanese version of grace, or more like “bon appetit,” I grew up saying it (did you know my mom was japanese, and awesome, by the way? She would have LOVED you – she was an extraordinarily quick and accurate judge of character). Itadakimasu literally means “I humbly receive” and that’s how I feel about having you here with us on this special day, thrown into the soup with us, as it were, and gracefully weathering the storm of my family.

The kids are occupied with their food, so we can talk some more. We’re excited to hear about your latest plans, and I think you should just do it. Do it! Matthew’s a little more cautious, but not un-optimistic. He offers some sage advice while I wink and nod and smile at you from behind his back to convince you I’m right, and you pretend like I’m not acting like a weirdo. Matthew totally knows I’m doing it, so he looks you right in the eyes and says, “You gotta do what feels right to you.” He’s all right, that one.

We barely have time to finish our meal before the kids are demanding another game of freeze tag. I insist you don’t have to, but you insist you do. They are so ecstatic that they forget to ask for dessert (seeing how crazy they are now, you definitely don’t want to see them after brownies and ice cream). You just scored 100 points with me and Matthew. Well done, friend, well done.

Once you’ve run them around the room a few dozen times, they start to flag and ask for a story before bed. (200 points!) You settle down on the couch (since Iggy’s still occupying the recliner) and the kids pile on your lap, each one with a book. By the time you get to the third book, August has fallen asleep and Kato’s eyes are drooping. (300 points!) You ask if you should keep reading and Alden says, “I’m a night owl. I’m not ever going to sleep.” After book #3, Kato is out. (1000 points!)

Time for dessert. Alden gets a tiny portion but doesn’t finish, because she suddenly decides she wants to do some drawing at her desk by the window. I eat the rest of her brownie. You and Matthew and I finally get to sit down and talk like adults – to the gentle soundtrack of snores from August and jingles from Iggy’s collar as she rearranges herself in the recliner. We laugh, we tell stories, and I don’t really remember what all we talk about, but I feel such a fondness for you that I feel in my heart that we are simpatico. It’s a warm fuzzy feeling because frankly I don’t feel simpatico with just anyone. There’s something special about you.

It’s getting late and you see that Matthew has suddenly gotten tired. He does that, all of a sudden. I could rattle on for a long time (Alden isn’t the only night owl in the house) but it’s clear he needs to go to bed. We pack up a little tupperware for you (don’t worry, we’ll get it back from you next time) while you put on your coat. We walk you down the stairs and are saying good-bye when Alden comes trundling down with a paper in her hand. “Don’t forget your card!” she says, “I made it for you.” You kneel down to take it from her, and she points out all of the pieces of the picture. “Here I am. I’m wearing a crown. This is Kato and this is August. August is so small because he’s just a toddler. Here’s Papa – he’s wearing fuzzy pants because it’s so cold outside. And here’s Mama. She has a crown on too, because she’s the queen. And here you are. I drew you in pink because pink is my favorite color. We’re playing freeze tag next to the Christmas tree.” You nod patiently and say some nice admiring things about her drawing skills. Then she takes it back from you and says, “And see? When you fold it up like a card, on the back it says, ‘I love you. Love, Alden.’ That’s because I love you.” She hands it back to you and says “Hug and a kiss!” and you kindly oblige, and she scampers back up the stairs.

Our evening is over and Matthew gives you a big hug. “Good to see you, friend.” Then it’s my turn, and I give you a big hug and an extra squeeze. I start to apologize for the chaos and you stop me. “I had a nice time,” you say. And I look in your eyes and say, “Me, too.” You put Alden’s card in your pocket and you’re out the door. We watch you as you head down the block, and I call out, “Until next time!” and you turn and smile and wave.

Happy holidays, Friend. We’re so glad to have you.

Much love,

Robbi

** This year we are reprising your favorite letters. The original post date of this letter was Dec 16, 2011.

Your Holiday Mom: Robbi was originally published on Your Holiday Mom

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pug-bitch · 5 years

Text

That’s not why I’m going (38)

Keep it together

Book: The Royal Romance

Pairing: Drake Walker x Amara Suarez

Rating: some foul language, some extremely suggestive. This is absolutely NOT appropriate for people under 18.

Word count: around 5,000 (oops) (I am on the app right now on my iPad and I can’t for the life of me figure out how to add a ‘keep reading’! If anyone knows, that would be super helpful, if not, I’ll add it when I’m on my desktop :))

Notes: This picks up pretty much where we left off, the day of the Decision Ball, starting with Drake’s POV.

*****

Drake watches Amara as she frantically tries different pairs of shoes to go with her red gown. She looks so beautiful in this color, her dark hair down on her shoulders, curls everywhere. He can’t help but smile.

‘What?’ she asks, grinning too.

Drake shrugs. ‘You’re beautiful. Can’t help it.’

She smiles a little wider. ‘You’re beautiful too. I can’t believe you got ready so fast. I’m already a record breaker, but you have me beat!’

He runs his hand through his hair, his smile stuck on his face. He wishes he could stop time, right now. Just be with her now, and for always.

But she’s right. They have to face the world. She has to show them that she won’t be broken. How could she be, she’s Amara Suarez! Detective Badass.

A knock on the door pulls Drake away from his thoughts. As Amara applies her lipstick, he walks towards the door and unlocks it.

‘Hey guys,’ Maxwell says with exaggerated caution, his hand on top of his eyes and a smiley Michael behind him. ‘Just checking in to see if you’re doing alright. Are you decent?’

Drake rolls his eyes and gives Michael a shrug as if to say Sorry man, he’s always like that, gotta get used to it. Michael laughs. Drake says, ‘Max, uncover your eyes, I wouldn’t open the door if we weren’t decent.’

Max obliges and comes into the room. Upon seeing Amara in her red gown, he gasps. ‘OMG babe. You’re gorgeous! And that hair… As Bertrand would say, Yass Kween!’

Michael chuckles. Maxwell looks at him in all seriousness. Michael’s eyes widen. ‘Wait, you’re serious? Bertrand says Yass Kween? Your brother Bertrand, with the long swimming shorts?’

Amara lets out a throaty laugh that makes Drake’s heart flutter. She says, ‘He saw the light when he discovered Queer Eye, but his closet didn’t get the memo.’ She turns to Michael. ‘You look amazing, Michael. Max’s tux suits you!’

Maxwell beams. ‘Right? I told him he can keep this one. He pulls it off better than I ever did. He gives out some James Bond vibes.’

Michael blushes. ‘Oh please. You all look great, by the way. I feel so intimidated right now, you’re all so comfortable with all this fancy stuff…’

Drake leaps in right away, ‘Oh, don’t be fooled, Mike. I’ve been at court basically my whole life and I’m still super uncomfortable in any fancy setting. It’s just a lot better when you have loved ones around you, to help you through it.’ He glances at Amara. ‘Hey guys, maybe I could take a picture of you to send Amara’s dad? He’d probably love seeing his daughter look so regal and happy, and of course, seeing you two together.’

Maxwell’s face lights up. ‘OMG how have we not thought about it?? Let’s show Jorge how hot his daughter is.’

Amara grimaces uncomfortably. ‘Not sure it’s the point, Max. Plus, it’s a little gross, when you say it like that. But it’s a great idea, Drake. Michael, what do you say?’

Michael’s grin can’t lie. ‘Let’s do it.’ He places himself right next to Amara while Drake takes out his phone. ‘Let’s do the prom pose,’ Michael says. ‘Plus, it’s a nice callback to your actual prom date, who was also a gay man.’

Amara gasps in mock shock and nudges Michael’s elbow. ‘How dare you talk about Adrian?’ She says in an exaggerated manner. They both laugh. ‘Well,’ Amara adds, ‘at least I look less like a cream puff than I did on my quinceañera…’

Drake glances at Maxwell and they share a knowing look, both happy and relieved to see Amara and Michael reunited, and acting like siblings. ‘Alright guys,’ Drake says, ‘smile!’

*****

Jorge is busy painting with his granddaughter, and he barely hears the ping of his phone. Callie is growing up so fast, and she looks so much like her father, that Jorge wants to soak up every second with her. The little girl is not one for staying inside the lines, but Jorge is a patient grandpa. He shows her how to follow the curve of the puppy drawing with her crayon, again and again, until she’s happy with what she’s colored.

‘Jorge!’ Nancy cries out. ‘Your phone is beeping!’

He rolls his eyes in an exaggerated manner, making Callie laugh. ‘Grampie, your eyes are crazy,’ she says through giggles.

He sighs and gets up, his back bothering him slightly. ‘Alright, let me go see what’s going on, sweetheart!’

He meets Nancy halfway and she hands him his phone. ‘I think it’s Amara,’ she says with a wide grin.

Jorge puts on his reading glasses, forced to admit that they do help him see better. He opens his texts.

Papi, Michael surprised me in Cordonia! All is well, we talked, we love and miss you. Give our love to Callie and Nancy. Attached is a picture of us, getting ready for a ball! Xo Amara and Michael.

Before he knows it, a light sob escapes his body. He didn’t mean for it to come out, he really didn’t. Now Nancy is looking at him worriedly. Fat tears are forming in his eyes as he stares at the picture of his kids who have forgiven each other. Unable to say anything yet, he gestures for Nancy to come look at the picture too. She gasps.

‘Honey, they look adorable. This is so great!’ she says, tears in her eyes.

Jorge takes a deep breath and kisses his wife on the cheek. How blessed is he? His Sergio must be so happy, watching over them. ‘Callie, sweetie,’ Jorge finally says. ‘Wanna see a picture of Daddy and Auntie?’

*****

Amara is sitting in the back of Bertrand’s car, with Drake next to her, and Hana in the front. Olivia is riding with Maxwell and Michael.

‘Is everyone doing ok?’ Bertrand asks, probably perturbed by the silence.

Hana responds first. ‘I’m fine, thank you Bertrand. Just anxious to see the end of tonight!’

Amara is too. She nods and turns to Drake, who offers her a smile. They agreed to stick around Ramsford and possibly the cabin in Portavira once the evening is over, for a few more days, while Michael is still in Cordonia. Then, they’ll keep a low profile and travel around Europe, away from the spotlight, the time for everyone to forget all about her and any impact she ever had on Liam. They will try to find Savannah. Then, when things have calmed down, they will resurface and tell Liam about their relationship. Drake told her earlier that he’s not sure there’s anything to salvage in terms of his friendship with Liam, but Amara doesn’t want to jeopardize it. After all, they have been friends for a long time, there’s always something to salvage.

After all, she didn’t think there was anything to salvage between Michael and herself. Look at them today.

Amara silently hopes Hana will stick around, too, although she’s pretty sure her friend will be headed to London to see a certain someone again.

As much as Amara is happy that the competition is almost over, a bittersweet feeling invades her. What if it’s the last time they’re all together, here, bitching about the court and its politics?

She shakes her head. No, this isn’t helpful. Her eyes meet Drake’s again, and he gives her a reassuring smile, as if he’d been in her head, reading her thoughts. She takes his hand, briefly, and squeezes it.

‘Here we are!’ Bertrand proudly announces.

Amara takes a deep breath and gets out of the car, after one last longing look shared with Drake.

*****

‘Holy shit,’ Michael whispers. ‘It’s even more opulent than yesterday.’

Maxwell smiles. ‘Yeah, they really went all out for the Decision Ball. Hey, have some champagne!’ He hands a flute to Michael, and one to Amara, before swiping one for himself.

Amara drinks hers nervously. She should mingle, but her heart’s not in it.

‘Hello, Maxwell,’ she hears an unknown voice behind her. ‘Long time no see, you old bitch!’

Maxwell’s eyes widen. ‘Leo! Hi! I had no idea you were here!’ The two men hug. Amara has heard so much about Leo, Liam’s older brother, that she feels like she should have recognized him solely from the way he greeted Max. Also from his looks - Leo seems to be chiseled from bronze, from head to toe. Wavy golden hair, sort of like a young Hercules, and a smile that has probably made a lot of panties drop.

Leo pats Maxwell on the back. ‘I heard about your coming out. It was really badass, man, congrats!’

Maxwell smiles. ‘Thanks, Leo. I appreciate it. Hey, let me introduce you--’

‘Amara Suarez, right?’ Leo interrupts, offering her his hand to shake. She complies.

‘Um, yes, nice to meet you.’

He brings her hand to his lips and kisses it. Amara has to stop herself from grimacing. ‘VERY nice to meet you,’ he says in a voice that is supposed to be sexy. ‘My brother did not lie about your beauty. You’re stunning.’

‘Hi, I’m Michael,’ Michael says, holding out his hand. Leo takes it.

Amara grins. Michael is obviously nervous and overwhelmed by the Palace and the whole thing, but he’s in big brother mode right now, sensing that Amara needed rescuing from a creep. The three men exchange pleasantries that Amara does not pay attention to, until Leo changes the subject. ‘Where’s Walker?’ he asks.

Maxwell stops in his tracks for a split second, and responds, ‘He’s over there with Rashad. Why do you ask?’

Leo smiles broadly. ‘I haven’t seen the son of a bitch in a while, so I want to say hi. If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen.’ He turns to Amara and winks at her. ‘And lovely lady. I hope to see more of you later.’

He walks away. Amara frowns. ‘More of me? What does he mean, more of me?’

Maxwell grimaces. ‘Ew. He has become even sleazier, and I didn’t think it was possible. Little Blossom, I have some Purell for your hand if you want. He almost licked it.’

Michael snorts, ‘So I’m not crazy, right? For a second, I thought it was a local custom and I wondered, should I have kissed that woman’s hand when you introduced me? Then I thought, no, he’s just a creep.’

Amara shakes her head. ‘I guess Liam doesn’t seem so bad now...Why do you think he wants to see Drake?’

Maxwell puts a reassuring hand on Amara’s arm. ‘Honey, it’s fine. He just wants to say hi. Besides, Drake can hold his own.’

*****

‘Father, can we talk?’ Liam whispers to Constantine, who is helping himself to a seltzer water.

Constantine sighs. ‘Sure, son. What is it?’

Liam smiles nervously. ‘I’ve thought long and hard about it. I’ve made my decision. I’d like to run something by you, now. Can we go outside?’

Constantine reluctantly agrees. He tries to limit his amount of walking in public, to avoid being perceived as sickly. He can’t control his movements as well as he could, just a few weeks ago. He can feel himself become weaker physically, and he can’t stand it. He certainly doesn’t want his subjects to see him as weak. But his son insisted, so now he’s wobbling around, trying to keep it together until they’re out of the ballroom.

‘So?’ he asks Liam impatiently.

Liam clears his throat. Constantine has always hated when he does that. ‘Father, you’ll be pleased to know that I’m going with your suggestion.’

Constantine can feel his whole body relax. Finally, his son has heard the voice of reason. Maybe he can even cancel what he had planned for later. Maybe it’s no longer necessary. ‘Good,’ he says, remaining completely calm and trying not to appear too excited. ‘I’m happy you changed your mind, Liam. This is the right decision.’

Liam gives him a weak smile. ‘That’s not all, Father. I have a non-negotiable condition to this.’

The King has to make a superhuman effort not to roll his eyes. What, now? And to think he was this close to being proud of his son’s decision. Now he’s about to ask for something. As if it wasn’t enough to have to watch his other son running around the ballroom, winking his way through all the ladies present. King Constantine loves his sons, but he wishes he could punch them sometimes. He sighs. ‘What is your condition, Liam?’

Liam adjusts his ascot. ‘Father, I am making this decision for Cordonia, because I am aware that I can’t follow my heart on this one. But I don’t want to give up on true love.’

True love. Constantine can’t believe his ears. But he has to keep listening, after all, Liam is meeting him halfway by making the right decision. ‘What do you propose we do, Liam?’

He continues. ‘I want to give Valtoria to Amara.’

Constantine’s face falls. Valtoria? To a Mexican whore? Over his dead body. Which, for the record, might happen sooner rather than later. ‘That’s preposterous,’ he whispers, outraged.

Liam stands his ground. ‘Well, whatever you may call it, it’s non-negotiable. I have feelings for her, Father, and I know she doesn’t...yet. But if she can’t stay close, she’ll leave without having given us a chance. At least, if she stays in Valtoria, she’ll be able to get to know me. It will be a lot less scandalous if I have a Cordonian arrangement with a noblewoman. Plus, she has made a great impression on the press, she has made a lot of effort to learn about Cordonia and our history, and let’s not forget that a lot of the nobles have already taken a liking to her, even Olivia—‘

‘Oh, you mean the woman who fornicates with her servants? What a great endorsement.’ Constantine spits out.

‘Father,’ Liam says calmly, ‘I’m not asking for the moon. I’m asking for your approval. The duchy is unclaimed, it would just mean that I have to make her a Duchess. It’s been done before.’

Constantine remains silent. It’s worse than he thought. And to think he was about to call off what he’d planned for after the ceremony… No way he’s doing that now. Not a chance in hell. His son needs to see for himself what he really wants to bring to court. He shakes his head vigorously. ‘Liam, this is ridiculous. Everyone will see through this, everyone will see it’s a whim.’

‘Valtoria needs a Duke or Duchess, and I found you one,’ Liam says firmly. ‘I don’t think it’s that much to ask for you to just say yes. Once you pass over the crown to me, once I choose a spouse, we can work through the details. Like I said, it’s non-negotiable.’

Constantine snorts. If he says no, Liam might not honor his end of the deal. So, for now, he has to make it seem like he’s open to it. ‘If you say it’s non-negotiable, then let’s leave it on the table. We’ll talk about it again after the ceremony.’

Liam beams. ‘Thank you, Father. I can give you more compelling arguments later, too.’

Oh, so can he. He smiles and walks away from his son, slowly but surely. Bastien is standing near the door, waiting for Constantine to make his way back to the ballroom. As he passes his bodyguard, the King whispers to him, ‘Please make sure that what we planned happens after Liam has chosen his spouse. I want it out there for everyone to see.’

Bastien nods curtly. ‘Yes, Your Majesty.’

Constantine gets back to his original spot, silently seething. Yes, he will show his son how terrible his judgment is.

*****

Drake sips his whiskey slowly, next to Leo. Sure, it’s nice to see him again, but he can’t help but think that Leo’s excitement over spending alone time with him rings a bit false. Like he’s trying to milk him for information on behalf of Liam.

Leo’s known for a lot of things, and subtlety is not one of them.

‘So,’ Drake risks, ‘How was your trip?’

Leo gives him a dashing smile. ‘It was awesome! I went all around Europe on a cruise, and since it’s ended, I’ve been in Morocco, and then Brazil… Just having a lot of fun.’

Drake nods and takes another sip. ‘That’s awesome. It’s nice of you to come back for your brother’s ball.’

Leo’s smile falters. ‘Yeah, I gotta say, I’m a bit worried about this little bastard.’

Here it is, Drake thinks. This is a lecture on friendship. Oh well, he’s not all innocent in this whole thing, so the least he can do is stick around and listen. ‘Oh, really?’ Drake asks in a falsely nonchalant tone.

Leo nods. ‘Yeah. You know he’s completely fooled by Madeleine’s newly found niceness, and he feels very isolated from everyone. The pressure of being King is getting to him, and believe me when I say I understand why.’

Drake bites his lip, trying not to say what he wants to say, along the lines of Leo, you are the very reason why Liam has to go through this pressure. But this wouldn’t help anybody right now, so he just nods. ‘I get it. But you gotta know that he’s been hard to support, these days. The Liam we both knew is difficult to see, through the mask of Courtly Liam.’

‘Drake, can you blame him? He has new responsibilities, and for God’s sake, our father is sick! Liam needs friends and support right now, not the cold shoulder.’

Drake takes a deep breath. ‘So, I take it you’ve heard that Liam and I have had tough times, huh?’

Leo shrugs. ‘Yeah. He told me that you didn’t like the way he acted with this woman, Amara.’

Drake has to try really hard to remain expressionless. ‘Yes, well, Amara is a friend, and I don’t like to see women being preyed on by entitled men. That’s all. If you had seen the whole thing, you’d understand.’ Maybe, he thinks. He would probably not understand, but it was worth saying it.

Leo raises an eyebrow. ‘You’re telling me you’re picking sides, and you’re choosing a chick you barely know, over your best friend?’

Drake sighs. Of course he didn’t get it. ‘No, Leo, that’s not what I’m telling you. It was just the starting point of our differences, but there’s more to it than that.’ He stares into his glass. ‘Plus, I don’t think you understand the whole ‘picking a side’ thing. If I see someone doing something wrong, I’m gonna call them out on it, whether they’re my best friend or a complete stranger.’

Leo nods. ‘I guess. But Liam needs you. Now more than ever. Think of all he’s done for you.’

Drake’s heart sinks. Of course he thinks about it, all the time. Of course it kills him. Of course he owes Liam so much… But is it a reason to close his eyes on the different person he’s become? Is it a reason to let go of the best thing that’s ever happened to him? Once again, he can’t count on Leo to understand. ‘I know,’ he says sadly. ‘I owe him everything.’

Leo’s stare hardens. ‘Yes, you do. He took you in, Drake. He includes you in everything. Hell, he considers you as more of a brother than me. Don’t forget that.’ He pauses. ‘He needs a brother.’

Drake frowns. ‘Got it. Good talk, Leo.’ He walks away, a knot in his throat.

*****

‘Hey guys,’ Drake says as he approaches Max and Michael.

They both smile, and Maxwell greets him warmly. ‘Hey Drake, where did you disappear to? We’ve been looking for you! Come have some of these amuse bouches, you’re gonna love them.’ He hands Drake a tray of little canapés.

Drake smiles. ‘Did you swipe that from a staff member?’

Maxwell nods enthusiastically, his mouth full of puff pastry.

Drake and Michael chuckle. ‘I just had a chat with Leo,’ Drake says. ‘He came on really strong. Told me I need to be there for Liam. It messed with my head.’

Maxwell sighs and smiles. ‘Don’t let him get to you. He basically licked Amara’s hand like a cartoon wolf, earlier, right, Michael? You can’t trust a guy like that. Don’t humor him.’

Drake nods. He’s still painfully uncomfortable, but he did the right thing coming to Max. The guy’s crazy, but he has a way of supporting his friend like Drake has never seen before. Even the way he immediately took Michael under his wing is remarkable. ‘Thanks, Max,’ he says as he pats his friend on the back.

‘Oh shit,’ Maxwell says, ‘speak of the devil, here comes Liam, everyone smile!’

Drake turns around, and sure enough, Liam is coming towards them, his fake smile plastered on his face.

Michael whispers, ‘Should I bow? What should I do?’

Maxwell whispers back, ‘Relax. Follow our lead, I’ll introduce you.’

‘Hello, gentlemen,’ Liam says enthusiastically. ‘How is everyone doing on this fine afternoon?’

Drake has to force himself not to roll his eyes. ‘Good to see you, Liam,’ he manages.

Maxwell chimes in, ‘You probably remember Michael Hansen-Suarez. Michael, this is Prince Liam of Cordonia!’

Michael awkwardly curtsies, which he probably has seen on The Crown or some other show. ‘Pleasure, Your Highness,’ he says, his head bowed down.

Liam holds out his hand. ‘Nice to meet you, Michael. I’m happy to see you back here again, I feel terribly about the way that you were introduced last night! Please accept my most sincere apologies.’ He does not even wait for Michael to respond, and turns to Drake. ‘Drake, do you have a second? I want to talk to you about something.’

Drake nods, looks at Max and Michael and excuses himself.

Once the two men are out of earshot, Liam’s smile drops. ‘Jeez, this is stressful,’ he says.

Drake nods understandingly. ‘I can imagine. How are you holding up?’

Liam nods. ‘I’m ok. Not completely happy about my decision, but it’s the best I can do, with what I’m given at the moment.’

Drake raises an eyebrow. ‘Don’t tell me—‘

Liam shrugs. ‘What am I supposed to do, Drake? Father is dying. It’s his wish.’

Drake remembers Leo’s words. He needs to be supportive right now, especially since he may disappear after the ceremony and not be there when Constantine actually dies. ‘I understand, Liam. I just hope you can find happiness in any way you can. Honestly.’

Liam gives him a sad smile. ‘Leo talked to you, huh?’

Drake chuckles. ‘Yeah. He made me feel like shit, which I probably deserve. I—I didn’t mean to abandon you. At all. I was just really put off by some things. You know me, I don’t change my mind easily. I should have supported you more.’

Liam sighs. ‘It means a lot, Drake. Thank you. For the record, I didn’t ask Leo to come to you. He told me he might, and I told him not to.’ He snorts. ‘Ironic, huh? My notoriously flaky brother, giving you shit for not being there? It’s fucked up.’

Drake chuckles earnestly. ‘I guess. But you know you can count on me, right? Even if we’ve had our differences…’

Liam smiles. ‘I know. Plus, I’ve come to realize that you were truly right about how I behaved with Amara. And this whole thing with her brother-in-law...how is she doing, by the way?’

Drake nods, stunned that Liam is asking him that when he hasn’t checked on her once since last night. ‘She and Michael talked, she’s doing ok.’

Liam smiles. ‘Good. Let me tell you, something wasn’t right with that speech I was given. I need to look into it. Between this and the way I’ve behaved with her...I owe her, now.’ He clears his throat. ‘Which is why I negotiated with Father, and I’m going to offer her Valtoria.’

Drake tries to speak, but the words are stuck in his throat. ‘Wh—what?’

Liam gestures to stay quiet. ‘Shh, no one knows yet, and no one will until after this is all over. But she’s been a great person through and through, she has made a lot of connections here, and I just thought as a symbolic gesture—‘

‘You are giving her a duchy?’ Drake’s head spins. What’s Liam’s angle? Does he simply want to keep her close? Is that his way of apologizing for trying to fucking grab her?

Liam nods excitedly. ‘Yes. Well, if she accepts. But, from what I gather, she doesn’t have much to tie her to her life in New York. So… Fingers crossed.’

*****

Amara has been hanging out with Hana and Liv, safely away from all the drama around. The three women are enjoying light chit chat and beverages, all three of them choosing to remain blissfully ignorant about the rest of the world, and the rest of the evening.

‘What do you mean you’ve never been skinny dipping?’ Olivia says, a frown on her face.

Hana shrugs. ‘No I haven’t. I’m not saying I’m opposed to ever trying, but I have to say, I don’t see the point.’

Liv snorts. ‘True. Unless there’s someone in the crowd you’re trying to see naked, there’s no point at all.’

Amara is looking at her two friends, a goofy grin on her face.

‘What?’ Liv spits out.

Amara laughs. ‘Nothing. I’m just enjoying the banter. You guys are the best.’

Hana squeals. ‘Aww, you’re the best, honey!’

Liv chugs her drink. ‘You girls are gross.’ She turns her head towards Drake, who is walking towards them. ‘Walker, long time no see! Where did you put Domvallier? Wasn’t he with you?’

Drake gives her a faint smile. ‘He had to take a phone call, but he’ll be back. He said he wants you to save him a dance.’

Amara smiles broadly at the thought, and is about to tease Olivia about her budding romance, when she notices Drake’s pale face. ‘Drake, are you okay?’ She says worriedly.

He nods. ‘I’m fine. I’m just—thrown for a loop. Can I tell you guys something and we all remain calm? I don’t want to attract attention by going outside—‘

Hana puts a reassuring hand on his arm. ‘Of course. Tell us, Drake, don’t worry.’

*****

Drake feels slightly better after telling the ladies about what Liam just announced. He had asked him to keep it to himself, but it’s impossible. The thought of Amara being stuck at court because Liam wants her close… he doesn’t know what to think, how to react, but his gut instinct is sadness. Court always had made him feel inferior. It’s full of sharks. Of people like Madeleine, like the new version of Liam, like the Duke of Karlington, and so many more people who thought commoners were lesser than. Of course, on the flip side, there’s good people like Maxwell. Bertrand. Even Liv. Rashad. But would that life make Amara happy? He’s too afraid of studying her face to see the answer. He stares at his feet instead.

Olivia is the first to speak. ‘Okay,’ she says softly, but firmly. ‘It’s obvious that Liam is doing that to keep her at hand, huh? So the intention is already...not fucking great. But…’ she trails off. ‘I mean… that would give you an opportunity to stick around, and it could be your out,’ she says to Amara. ‘You manage the duchy for a while, you’ll be near Drake and near...us.’

Hana chimes in, ‘You don’t have to accept, though. If you want your freedom over the title and the rest, you can absolutely say no, and I’m sure Maxwell and Bertrand will find a way to have you stay in Cordonia, if that’s what you want. Amara?’ She asks her friend, who is still silent.

Drake finally raises his eyes to her level. God, she’s so beautiful. Her face looks just as lost as his own, which somehow reassures him. They’re on the same page. He wants to take her hand so badly, and out of habit he almost does, but stops himself.

‘This is nuts,’ she says, a nervous smile on her lips. ‘I do love being here, I love you all, but doing it this way…’ she chuckles. ‘It’s fucking crazy. I’m not a noble, I’m a cop, and I’m a bartender.’

Olivia laughs. ‘There’s a first for everything.’

Amara shakes her head. ‘No, if he really does offer it to me, I’ll have to turn it down. Let’s stick to the plan.’

Drake can breathe again.

*****

‘Shit, look at these flowers,’ Michael whispers. ‘And these picture frames. And do you think the sword over there is real?’ He asks Maxwell.

Max laughs and nods. ‘Yeah, it is. I opened a bottle of champagne with it once. I can vouch for its sharpness.’

Michael smiles. He has to make a true effort in order to keep his shit together and not squeal. He wonders how Amara does it. He’s been observing her all day, and she is right in her element, she looks like she was made to mingle with nobles.

He smiles wistfully as he thinks back of the young woman Amara was when he met her, ten years ago, when she was just graduating high school, ready to go to college and take on the world.

Nope, not the best way to keep it together.

‘You okay?’ Maxwell asks, concerned.

Michael takes a deep breath and tries to will the tears to go back to where they came from. ‘Yeah, just overwhelmed.’

Maxwell smiles. ‘I get it. You have your sister back, and you’re in a foreign court, it’s a lot to process.’ He pats his back. ‘Take your time.’

He’s about to open his mouth and thank Maxwell yet again for understanding him so well, but he’s interrupted by a change in the music. There is, all of a sudden, a violin solo coming from the orchestra, which silences everyone, until the King is the center of the attention.

‘People of Cordonia,’ he says, ‘The time has come for my son, Prince Liam of Cordonia, to make his decision.’

*****

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