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dameronology · 3 years

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love in a time of p.t.a. meetings {marcus moreno} - 5/5

v summary: you hadn’t expected to find anything at a stupid p.t.a. meeting - but somehow, you found everything {series masterlist}

warnings: swearing, one very mild innuendo

there’s a long message at the end but...this is the last official part and i’m very sad about it. with that said, i hope you enjoy❤️

- j

Being a parent was tiring.

So much so that you hadn’t even made it to bed last night.

In fact, none of you had. The entire household was slumped together on the sofa; Marcus was in the middle, with one arm wrapped around Missy on his left side and the other stretched across you and Jack on his right. You’d completely flopped into his chest, with your kid passed out on you in a similar manner. The dogs (plural - but more on that later) were both stretched across the four of you on your laps, snoozing quietly. It had been a long week, clearly; between the school year coming to an end and the hot weather, you were all worn out. It had been a rush of finishing up projects at school, evenings in the pool and ordering take out. Marcus had been working late and your cooking skills were...well, calling them skills was an overstatement in itself.

You grumbled slightly as you woke - why the fuck did your neck ache so bad? Right, because you’d fallen asleep tilted sideways. You probably would have stayed passed out for hours more if it hadn’t been for the sunlight streaming through the blinds. The TV ahead of you had stopped now, displaying an are you still watching Friends? message. You’d started watching it at what...six o clock the night before?

Rubbing your bleary eyes, you sat up. Instead of waking up, Jack simply flopped into your lap, clearly not phased by the sudden movement other than letting out a tiny oof! as he fell. The kid had fallen asleep on the log flumes at Coney Island, so really, it wasn’t a surprise. Plus, him waking up would mean having to get up and make breakfast, which you really weren’t ready for just yet.

‘D’you know what day it is today?’ Marcus quietly muttered.

‘One year.’ You peered up at him, a sleepy smile spreading across your face.

‘So where the hell do you think you’re going?’ He pulled you back towards him, broad arm wrapping around your shoulders to trap you against his chest. ‘Happy one year, baby.’

‘Happy one year.’ You leant up to a soft kiss to his lips.

You stayed like that for a minute, head resting against Marcus as you gently ran a hand through Jack’s hair. It was sort of a moment of...reflection. A lot had changed in the last year and yet somehow, it felt like your life had always been like this. The four of you have had gelled together into a slightly chaotic but ever-loving entity and you loved it. With the combined antics of your energetic children, everything was in disarray practically all the time but you wouldn’t have changed it for the world. It had been the thing you’d had all along and the very thing that Marcus had been looking for; you had been the one to bring it into his life and he had been the one to teach you to appreciate it.

The two dogs had brought a lot of chaos into your lives as well. After weeks of Missy and Jack insisting that the garden was too big for just Optimus Prime, you’d ended up traipsing to the dog shelter late on a Saturday afternoon. Bumblebee had become a valued member of the Moreno family within a matter of hours.

‘I love you.’ You murmured. You could feel yourself getting sleepy again.

‘I love you more.’

‘No, you don’t.’ You pressed a kiss to his shoulder.

‘At least that’s the only fight we’ve had over the last year.’ He reasoned. ‘What time d’we have to be at cook out?’

‘Twelve.’ You replied. Glancing at the screen of your dying Apple watch, you squinted at the screen. ‘It’s just gone eight.’

Every year, the PTA threw a cook out on the school field to celebrate the end of the semester. In previous years, you’d avoided it like the plague but this year you were actually excited. The last one had been in the very early stages of your relationship, and you and Marcus weren’t publicly showing affection when you’d been. There had been a lot of lingering glances across the field and knowing looks at one another but this time, you were solid. Everyone knew they were together and like hell where they gonna say things about you when you were with Marcus Moreno. Whether it’s because they’d suddenly got a newfound respect for you or because they were scared into silence by his reputation, you didn’t know, but you weren’t going to complain.

‘Do you want breakfast, hermosa?’ He asked.

‘Yeah, I’ll help-’

Having heard the b-word, Jack suddenly shot up. He was six now (too old, in your book) and just as much of a tiny, evil genius as ever. He’d upgraded from a Chewbacca onesie to an Ewok onesie, so that was something too, and you were proud of him.

‘- what’s for breakfast?!’ He demanded. ‘I want waffles.’

‘Then waffles we shall have.’ You stood up, sticking your hand out to him. ‘What about you two?’

‘I want waffles.’ Missy sleepily murmured.

Jack followed you through to the kitchen, swiping his iPad off the side as he did. Despite the fact you’d put it in a nuclear bomb proof case, he’d still managed to crack the screen. There had also been at least five occasions where he’d tried to take it in the pool. And this was the same kid who’d insisted he was responsible enough for his own hamster.

Marcus breezed into the kitchen a few moments later, pressing a kiss to your cheek and ruffling Jack’s hair as he went by. You heard him rustling around behind you for a few minutes whilst you prepared the food; he came up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist. He placed a terribly wrapped gift on the counter in front of you, head coming to rest on your shoulder.

‘Happy anniversary, baby.’ He murmured.

‘Hey.’ You dropped the knife you were holding, turning around to face him. ‘You didn’t have to get me anything.’

‘I know we said we wouldn’t do presents but since you got me a present last night and-’

‘- Marcus!’ You clamped a hand over his mouth. ‘There is a child in the room.’

‘He has his headphones in!’ He protested. ‘Just open it, please?’

‘Of course.’ You smiled.

‘Jack even helped me wrap it.’ He said. ‘And decorate it.’

‘That would explain a lot.’ You replied.

Pulling the paper off it, you felt your heart drop in your chest when you saw what it was.

It was a bright red photo with random doodles in puffy paint; the photo itself was one of you and Jack from when you’d all gone to New York for the weekend a few months previous. You were stood on top of the Rockerfeller Centre, the Empire State in the distance behind you and Jack on your shoulders. You were both grinning despite how windy it was, and his hat had blown off seconds after the photo was taken.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t - ah, dammit.

‘I love it.’ You tried to keep your voice steady, but it wobbled despite your efforts. ‘I love you.’

‘I love you too.’ He flashed you a lopsided grin, pressing another kiss to your forehead. ‘I figured we could hang it up in place of the one he managed to smash last week with the broom stick.’

(He’d recently watched Harry Potter. Don’t ask.)

‘Of course.’ You gave him one last kiss, before heading over to the empty space on the wall. It fit perfectly in the space, right between the photo of Marcus and Missy, and the sign that said 0 days since Jack’s last incident.

---

Four hours later, and after consuming enough waffles to feed a small army, the four of you finally reached the school. Both of the kids seemed excited to see their friends, but you were a little nervous. What if people asked questions about you and Marcus? About your divorce? Or Jack’s behaviour, or whether or not-

‘You okay, baby?’ Marcus had suddenly appeared beside you, an arm coming around your waist. You’d been stood on the sidelines of the football field for way longer than you realised. ‘You’ve got eyes like dinner plates.’

‘I don’t know how to interact with these people.’ You murmured back. ‘They’re all...you know.’

‘They’re all what?’

‘Perfect. And shiny.’ You huffed. ‘Look at their cars! There’s not a dent in sight. And their kids aren’t wearing an Ewok onesie to a cook-out in July.’

‘I think Jack is admirable for embracing his unique sense of fashion.’ You could practically hear the smirk in his voice. ‘C’mon! They’re gonna run out of food if you keep longingly staring at their minivans.’

‘You’re right.’ You stumbled slightly as he dragged your hand, pulling you towards the crowd in the middle of the field.

‘I mean if you want a minivan, we can get one.’

‘Moving to the suburbs was already a big deal for me.’ You grumbled.

Marcus continued to laugh, pulling you closer into his side as you reached the other parents.

Naturally, he immediately jumped into conversation about one of the other dads with...actually, you weren’t really paying attention. You switched off as soon as you heard the word football. One thing you did notice, however, was his ability to be completely and entirely charming with anyone. You lacked that, normally shying away from talking to strangers. Especially strangers who had previously cast you out for being a single parent and constantly given you the side-eye. The only reason they’d stopped was because you and Marcus were together now.

You tried to remind yourself that it didn’t matter, that their thoughts and feelings weren’t relevant. They shouldn’t have been. You had the best guy in the world by your side and two amazing kids. The people most important to you were the ones whose opinions mattered - and they all thought the world of you. Marcus loved and supported you unconditionally, and Missy thought you were a bad-ass. Jack, though probably a little bias, thought you were the best parent in the world. That was what counted.

But still, you couldn’t help but feel a little angry. You’d worked your ass off to get where you were, to raise your kid and make him a semi functional human being. You’d single-handedly kept a roof over both of your heads and provided for your family, even when you’d been married to a dead beat husband.

Things were different now; brighter, happier, filled with more dogs and more love than you could ever have imagined. You didn’t want to linger in the past, not when everything else was moving forward. If anything, being here had just solidified your faith in your relationship. If all you wanted to do was go home and be alone with your partner, then that was a sure sign.

‘Mum!’ You heard Jack from across the field. ‘Can you get my football out the car?’

‘Duty calls.’ You finally spoke. Marcus had noted how quiet you were, having made a mental note to bring it up later. ‘I’ll be back in a second.’

‘Okay, baby.’ He pressed a kiss to your check.

The sun beat down on your back as you trudged across the field, Doc Martens kicking up grass around you. Your outfit was cute at least; a pair of denim shorts and an old tank top with one of your boyfriend’s plaid shirts thrown over the top. You hadn’t even realised it was his until the lingering smell of aftershave hit your nostrils when you got in the car. After that, there was no way in hell you were taking it off.

The car park was around the corner from the field -- it was nice to get away for a minute. Even though you’d simply stood beside Marcus like an older man’s sidepiece at a business meeting, just being in the presence of the people and listening to them talk about their kids was exhausting. At least he had been good at pretending to be interested in their sugar free diets and screen time limitations and how their French lessons were going. You, meanwhile, hadn’t even tried to look like it piqued your fancy. You’d been half-tempted to put your sunglasses on so they couldn’t see you roll your eyes.

Pulling Marcus’ car-keys out your pocket, you opened the boot and began to rifle around. His car was a thousand times more put together than yours, but it still accumulated a bunch of crap.

You jumped backwards when you heard the gravel crunch behind you.

Glancing over your shoulder, your eyes fell on Carol. It had been a while since you’d last seen her, but she looked a little worst for wear. What’s more was that she had a cigarette between her lips, despite being the one to run the entire school’s anti-smoking campaign.

‘I didn’t know you smoked.’ You commented, catching her attention as you slammed the boot shut.

‘Oh!’ She jumped, quickly throwing it onto the floor.

‘Hey, I’m not bothered.’ You leant against the back of the car. ‘A lot of people do it.’

‘I don’t normally.’ She stamped on the remains to put it out, dusting off her bright pink work-out jacket. ‘I’ve just been stressed lately.’

‘Are you okay?’ You raised an eyebrow at her.

‘I’m fine.’

You tossed the football between your hands, giving her a nod. ‘If you’re sure.’

With that, you locked the car and began to make your way back towards the cook-out. If you could wear Jack out by playing with him all afternoon, then you might be able to catch some peace and quiet that evening. Then, you and Marcus could celebrate your first anniversary by ordering take out and watching Friends.

(Which is ironically, what you’d done for the last four nights).

‘Y’know, I’ve always been jealous of you.’ You froze when Carol called after you.

‘What?!’ You turned around to face her, confusion etched on your features. ‘Are you talking to someone else, or?..’

‘No, I’m talking to you.’ She muttered.

‘Why me? I thought you hated me?’

‘Because I was jealous of you.’ She said it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

‘Carol, you’re the perfect one here. You’re married to your high school sweetheart, you’ve got a big-ass house - with a gate! - and your kids are perfectly well behaved. And you drive a fucking minivan!’

‘Oh, please.’ She groaned, falling back against the nearest car. ‘My husband is married to his job and my kids are more interested in their iPads than me!’

‘So’s mine-’

‘- you’ve always provided for yourself.’ She continued, cutting you off. ‘Always put your kid first and just did what was best for you without worrying what anyone else thought. That’s..admirable.’

‘Thanks?’ You furrowed your brow. ‘I never really gave it that much thought.’

‘I never thought I’d wish for your life.’ She muttered.

You gently approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder. With caution, obviously. You know that she had a tendency to be vicious and bite. Like a chihuahua.

‘My life isn’t perfect.’ You said softly. ‘There’s a difference between happiness and perfect. And if you keep trying for perfect, you’ll never be happy.’

‘That’s deep.’

‘Actually, it’s a quote that you shared on Facebook.’ You snorted. ‘You just gotta appreciate what’s around you. Your house, your kids, your husband.’

‘Maybe you’re right.’ Carol nodded. ‘You’re a good parent. A good person. I’m sorry if I ever made you feel less than that.’

‘I mean...you were an asshole, I won’t lie. You’re nosey as fuck and you got involved with my kid, but I’d probably be doing the same if I wasn’t satisfied with my life.’

Okay, so you didn’t mean for that to sound so rude, but who could blame you? The woman had given you nothing but crap. You’d already felt bad for her, but now you felt worst.

‘C’mon.’ You stuck your hand out to her. ‘You have two lovely daughters and a husband waiting for you back on the field....you family waiting for you back on the field.’

Dragging Carol off of the car, you dusted off her arms and forced a smile. It didn’t make you happy that she was miserable, but at least offered an explanation for her behaviour. The fact she’d envied you this entire time didn’t make up for what she’d done - the rumours the spread, the things she said - but it at least helped soothe you a little bit.

‘Can we be friends?’ She asked quietly, traipsing beside you.

‘...maybe in a few years.’

---

As it turned out, Jack did not pass out early. Instead, the four of you ended up having another night on the sofa -- this time with an extra large pizza, just to celebrate the special night.

Your head had been spinning since your conversation with Carol. You were glad you finally had closure on the whole thing, but it had completely fried your circuits. She was the queen of the hive, the perfect mum, the perfect wife. Her kids wore matching outfits to school and they never had a hair out of place. Her Facebook was filled with family photos of their international vacations and outings to all their activities. Was she not the blue print?

It made you take a step back and look at your own life, which was something you hadn’t done in a while. In fact, last time you’d done it, you realised you’d weren’t happy with your ex-husband.

Now, it was the opposite. You were in love with somebody who was better than you could have ever imagined; he wasn’t perfect - he snored and he never did the dishes and he always forgot to put the bins out - but he was everything to you. You had a kid who, although was undeniably a tiny meddler, you loved with your whole heart. You had Missy, who had welcomed you into her life with open arms and embraced the chaos you brought. You had dogs, and a house with a fucking garden.

You didn’t blame Carol for being jealous because, even though it was from perfect, you didn’t need it to be. You had everything you ever wanted and heck, you would have been jealous of it too if it wasn’t completely and entirely yours.

For the first time all day, you finally had a moment to yourself. You were stretched out across the couch, feet propped up on a pile of cushions; Marcus’ shirt was still on, only now you had changed out your shorts for leggings and your boots for socks fluffy enough to be dangerous on the wooden floors.

‘Hey, baby.’ Marcus quietly greeted you, shutting the living room door behind him. ‘Kids are asleep.’

You gave him a doubtful look. ‘Even Jack?’

‘Okay - Missy is asleep and Jack is on his iPad.’

You opened your arms to him, grinning. ‘I’ll take it.’

Marcus dropped onto the sofa, an equally big smile falling onto his face as you wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss you. He wound both of his around your waist, lifting you off of the couch and into his lap. It always reminded you of when you’d kissed on your first date -- it seemed like worlds away now.

‘Has it really been a year?’ You murmured softly, resting your forehead against his.

‘Yeah.’ He shyly smiled at you. ‘I don’t know how I got so lucky.’

‘We both got lucky.’ You reminded him. ‘I got lucky that Carol guilt-tripped me into that fucking meeting.’

‘And I got lucky that you were the person I chose to victimise with my small talk.’ He chuckled. ‘You know you’re my whole fucking heart, right?’

‘Yeah.’ You slowly nodded. ‘And you’re mine.’

You’d completely changed each other’s lives - blown them apart, and used the tiny pieces to rebuild everything back into one. Neither of you had even been looking and you’d still managed to find one another. You’d been hurt before and he’d been patient. He’d lost a lot before and you helped him find it again. What he lacked, you had. What you lacked, he had.

Above all, Marcus had embraced what everybody seemed to encourage; he saw value in the things you’d been insecure about and when he fell in love with him, so did you. In return, you brought an energy and light to his life that he didn’t even know he needed. In one another, you found unconditional love and support, and a feeling of security that you’d both lacked for so long.

This was it. And it was everything .

OKAY i’m actually so sad this story is over -- i’ve written over the course of maybe 2 weeks but when i TELL YOU i have become so attached? u better believe it. if you check out the series masterlist, you’ll see that there’s a few little fics i’m gonna write to fill in the gaps that were in the time skips between chapters, so that’s still something to look forward to!

thank so so so much for all your support on this series; it’s been so much fun to write & your comments are what encouraged me to finish it so quickly.

- jamie xx

taglist: taglist: @naivara-duneimith @1-2-3-4-5metalfingers @likeshootingstarsinthenightsky @phoenixhalliwell @crazycookiecrumbles @bitchin-beskar @comphersjost @absurdthirst @mjby @parkjammys @kteague @katdante @vonschweetz @cyarikashakira @mrsparknuts @starryeyedstories

#marcus moreno x reader #marcus moreno imagine #marcus moreno x you #marcus moreno imagines #pedro pascal character headcanons #pedro pascal characters

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yourmidnightlover · 3 years

Note

Babe can i request for your celebration of 1k followers: Smut 11 with angst 4 and happy ending

Also ‼congrats‼ babe ❤️🎉😏

of course! thank you so much, sweetie :,)

angst 4 just GETS TO ME. it’s very angst but very addictive. it also turned into an actual fic, kinda?

if anyone wants to request another blurb, the prompts are found here.

angst #4: “i can’t... you’re engaged.”

smut #11: “please, just let me please you.”

CW: kinda angsty, reader thinks he’s such eating when he kisses her (he’s not-it’ll make more sense once you read it), fingering, cream pie, nicknames (good boy, princess), kinda switch!reader and spencer, overstimulation, slight cum play ig?, unprotected penetrative sex. *let me know if i missed anything*

you never thought you’d actually lose spencer. okay, you didn’t lose him. he’s not dead. but he can’t be yours anymore. you don’t really know how it happened. they had just gotten into the relationship. max, is her name. and she was wonderful, which might be the worst part.

she was beautiful and kind and great with children and probably perfect for spencer. but you wouldn’t let yourself believe that they were actually together. you refused. until he came into the office one morning looking... concerned? he was biting his bottom lip gently and didn’t speak a word as he entered. there was no ‘random fact of the day’ or smart quip. it was just rush.

“spence? are you alright?” you walked over to his desk.

“what?” he looked up at you. “of course i’m fine. why wouldn’t i be fine?”

“you just look... bothered,” you pressed as you leaned on his desk, your hand accidentally touching his as you tried to get comfortable. that’s when you looked down and saw it. “sorr...y.”

a gold wedding ring on his left ring finger.

they had only been together for four months. four months. you had known him for four years. and he was no longer gone. he was no longer yours, although he never really was to begin with. there was a beat of silence, a rather long one at that. you just stared at the band of metal for what felt like a decade before looking back at his face. he looked like he was sorry, like maybe he could tell what that meant for you.

in the months of his new relationship he came to you during their issues. when he felt as though she was moving a bit too quickly, when he thought he should end it, when he felt too insecure around her... everything. he came to you. it’s like he had all of these seeds of doubt planted in his mind. you had more than one opportunity to squander their relationship.

but instead you were a good friend. you helped him resolve the conflict and you mended their already failing relationship. and here all of those moments were, mended together in the form of a ring that was supposed to represent the bond of forever, biting you in the ass.

“um,” you cleared your throat before removing yourself from his desk, metaphorically from his life. “congratulations,” you said curtly before scurrying back to your own desk.

you thought you still had a chance. he still gave you the look that had given you hope for all of these years. his eyes would say, ‘i want you,’ but clearly, all he wanted was a life without you. the two of you had been teetering on the edge of being in a relationship and being strictly friends. maybe you had been imagining the glances he would send you and the lingering stares and the way his hand would touch yours so delicately when you needed the reassurance. maybe you just needed a break from him to organize your feelings.

that’s what you would do. a little distance would do you some good. and maybe, just maybe, you could finally get over your little crush love for him.

so when you would normally go on a lunch break with him, you worked through it. when he asked what you wanted to eat, you gave him a simple shrug and a, “i’m not hungry,” with a tight-lipped smile, which was the best you could muster up.

when you would normally take a coffee break with him to stretch your legs, you stayed put and opted to continue the case file you were on. as it turns out, taking no breaks from your work really helps everything go on much quicker. you finished your workload by 4:30, so hitch let you go home.

you didn’t tell spencer goodbye.

the next day was the same. and the next. and the next. the days turned into weeks and then eventually a month and then two.

it was hard to not talk to him. it was as if a piece of you were missing. but he was never a part of you, so why did you feel so empty? he seemed perfectly fine without you.

but he wasn’t. he wasn’t fine without you. he knew that him getting engaged in such a short amount of time hurt you - and it hurt him too. truth be told, he didn’t want to marry maxine. he intended on breaking up with her on the date she proposed, she just beat him to it. and he couldn’t bring himself to embarrass her like that. she seemed so excited and happy. but he was so worried about you and what you’d think the entire time he had the ring on his finger.

and when you stopped talking to him altogether he swore he might not make it. but it seemed as though that’s how you needed to cope. so he gave you your space. once the two month mark of you not talking to him and avoiding him hit, he knew he couldn’t last like that.

he couldn’t live without you. it’s been ages since he’s heard your laugh and he’s having withdrawals. so he did something that was extremely hard for him.

when you saw him enter the office with a bouquet of flowers before anyone was even here you rolled your eyes. did she give those to him, too? did she just want to rub it in? no, you wouldn’t think bad of her just because she’s with the man you’re in love with. you avoided his gaze and turned your attention back to your case files, trying to avoid spencer at all costs. then you felt a presence at your desk. a shadow was cast over your papers and you looked up to see him standing above you. you gave him the same tight-lipped smile as two months ago and went back to your work.

“y/n,” he whispered, you looked up to see him biting his lip.

“what, spencer?” you answered with an edge to your voice.

“i want to talk to you,” he looked around at the still empty office. “in private, please.”

“spencer, i can’t... you’re engaged,” you sighed, trying to lower the tears that threatened to pool in your eyes.

“please, let me explain-“

“what more is there to explain?” you scoffed as you rose from your seat. “clearly you want to be with her for the rest of your life. so have fun, spencer. i just... i can’t.”

spencer watched you walk away. away from him and away from the flowers with a card that told you what had happened. the card that would’ve explained everything. and the card that would’ve explained how he had cut things off with maxine.

that very night, however, he decided he’d had enough. he drove to your apartment and banged on your door, without the flowers since they were dead now. when you opened the door to reveal spencer reid standing outside of your apartment, you fought the urge to both cry and slam the door in his face.

“what?” you asked, pleading with your eyes for him to give you some sort of peace whether it be from him leaving or telling you what you wanted needed to hear.

“please...” he asked, “just let me explain.”

you moved out of the doorway so he could come into the room. you closed the door, your back pressed against it, and crossed your arms over your chest defensively.

“explain,” you ordered, deciding to not be sad but instead be angry with him.

be angry with the fact that he chose her. be angry that he didn’t tell you in the first place. be angry that he showed up to your apartment right as soon as you had finally finished crying - again.

“i-i...” he couldn’t find the right words.

he couldn’t figure out how to tell you the right way how much he loved you. how he wanted you. how he needed you.

“for christ sakes, spencer!” you laughed. “you come here late at night, when your fiancé is probably waiting to see you, and what for?! to stand there and just look at me like some dumb, broken fucking puppy?! i’ve never been one to doubt my intelligence but maybe i am dumb. maybe i’m dumb because i let you break me. i never should’ve let myself fall in love with you, you- you asshole,” you were seething. you didn’t even realize you had been crying until he looked at the tears streaming down your face. “how could you? how could you hurt me like that? you lead me on and then... just get engaged so easily. what am i to you, spencer? because i thought i meant more to you than that.”

“you do. you do!” he interrupted. “you mean so, so much to me. more than i know how to describe,” he walked closer to you and tried to take your hands in his, you reluctantly allowed it. “i love you. i love you, y/n. i love you so much it makes me idiotic. i have been chasing my tail trying to figure out how to get you to talk to me again, and if the only way you’ll talk to me is by yelling then so be it. i just need to hear your voice and i need to hear your laugh.”

“leave, spencer,” you tried to pull your hands from his. “you’re engaged. you’re going to get married. i won’t be a home-wrecker, spence. i don’t know what kind of game you’re getting at but telling me you love me isn’t going to make me forget that you’re in love with someone else. you’re marrying someone else, spencer. i can’t-“

and his lips were on yours, his hands now cupping your face. the stupidest thing you allowed yourself to do - you let him in. you let his tongue enter your mouth slowly. you let yourself indulge in his lips on yours, the soft pillowy flesh you’ve dreamt of kissing since you had met him.

his hands trailed down your face and to your waist, pulling your body flush against his own. you whimpered into his mouth, obviously spurring him on as his hands trailed further around and squeezed your ass. your breathing picked up as his lips traveled down your neck.

you had forgotten all about his engagement and how much he hurt you. just this one time, you would give in.

he sucked a dark mark on your neck before sliding his hands underneath your shirt, palming gently at your breasts.

“spencer,” you sighed softly from his touch.

“please,” he muttered. “please, just let me please you.”

“okay,” you agreed, your hands pulling at his shoulders.

“thank, fuck,” he groaned before you helped him toss your shirt on the couch, leaving your bare chest on display for him. “you’re beautiful.”

“shut up,” you pulled his lips back to yours to silence him.

“no,” he mumbled with a smile on his lips. “you truly are, y/n,” he tried to tell you between kisses.

“what did i say, spencer?” you pulled back with an angry look on your face.

“before i actually do shut up, i need to tell you something,” his hands on your waist began stroking circles into your soft skin. “i ended things with maxine.”

“why the fuck didn’t you lead with that?!” you questioned.

“i saw you and i just-“

“god, i don’t care,” you muttered before pulling his lips to yours once more. “do something, spence,” you rolled your hips into his as you began to undo the buttons on his shirt. “i need you.”

he let his hand trail to the front of your body and enter your shorts once he looked at you for permission. his fingers danced over your underwear and found your clit quickly, rubbing gentle circles.

“stop teasing,” your hips bucked into his hand before you pulled his hair, he moaned into your mouth.

his fingers finally entered your panties, and he gathered the wetness that had been collecting before going back up to your clit, circling the bundle of nerves moderately slow.

“fuck,” you groaned, making him eager to please you. he picked up his speed on your clit before letting his fingers travel back to your entrance, slowly pushing to fingers in. “g-good boy, baby.”

his hips rutted up into your own upon the praise. he curled his fingers, trying to find that spongey tissue inside of you that would drive you mad. once he found it, he began thrusting his fingers into you, allowing his palm to hit your clit just right each time he slammed them inside of you.

“fuck, i’m so close,” you whined, sucking on his bottom lip before pressing a kiss to it. “keep going, baby.”

and boy did he go. he loved watching you come undone on his fingers, it would probably definitely become his favorite sight in the time to come. the way your lips hovered over his own, your eyes became hooded, and your moans wanton. when he let his lips travel to your neck and find the soft spot he somehow knew drove you crazy, he also let the one hand on your waist travel up and palm your breast, tweaking the nipple gently between his fingers and sending you over the edge.

he pulled back swiftly to watch you as you came undone. a sheen of sweat littered the high points of your face, your chest was heaving for air as your hips continued to fit into his hand as you came down.

“i need you inside me,” you muttered softly, almost afraid of his rejection.

“good,” he breathed out before grabbing your face and connecting your lips once more, you led the both of you to your bedroom.

you crawled onto the bed, and he undid his pants, throwing them aside and carefully navigating up to you once more.

“hi,” you smiled, your hands stroking his cheekbones.

“hi,” he whispered back, admiring the softness of the situation. “are you ready?”

“yes, please,” you nodded your head as he spread your legs, taking his place between them and lining himself up with your entrance.

“so tight, princess,” he groaned once he barely entered you.

“princess?” you quirked a brow at the nickname.

“yea, princess,” he chuckled before giving you another chaste kiss that you deepened, clenching around his dick once he was fully sheathed inside of you. “shit, do that again,” and you did. “fuck, you’re so good, baby.”

“please,” you pawed at his back as if that would push him to start thrusting. “fuck me.”

“you want me to fuck you, princess?” you nodded eagerly.

he slowly began thrusting in you before he rapidly snapped his hips. ever thrust of his hips meeting yours caused the sound of skin on skin clapping echo inside of your room. he brought his hand up to your face, gently cupping it and tracing your bottom lip before you took his thumb into your mouth. you sucked on his thumb, your tongue tracing his fingerprint. maybe that way you’d become a part of him forever, right on the tip of his fingers.

“fuck,” he moaned before he sped up even quicker. “touch yourself, princess. make yourself cum on my dick.”

you were already close - spencer could feel it. it only took a couple more seconds before you were clenching and unclenching around him, the fluttering of your pussy sending him over the edge. his hot cum spread into your stomach, filling you with a sense of warmth and satisfaction you hadn’t known you needed.

“so good, spence,” you muttered as he fucked his cum back into you, you hissed at the overstimulation.

“your mine, princess,” he pressed a soft kiss to your neck before pulling himself out of you.

“wrong,” you corrected. “you’re mine.”

“whatever you say,” he smiled, turning his head to look at you. “i’m sorry,” he said sincerely.

“yea, me too,” you sighed before sitting up, not looking at him.

“here,” he jumped up out of the bed. “let me,” he ran into your bathroom, not missing the chuckle that emitted from your lips. he returned with a damp, warm washcloth and got between your legs once more, this time eye level to your pussy. “fuck,” he whispered.

he used his fingers to spread your pussy open, admiring the way his cum was dripping out of your entrance, you pussy seemingly clenching around nothing. suddenly, his tongue was on your entrance and lapping up the both of yours arousal. your hand shot into his hair, gently tugging at it as he ate you out.

“so good, spence,” you ground your hips into his face. “please don’t stop-don’t stop!” you knew he wouldn’t stop as he pushed you over the edge for the third time that night. “god-fuck, yes!” you looked down to admire the man beneath you, smiling when you saw that his eyes were still on your face, watching you come undone.

“such a pretty pussy,” he squeezed your thigh before rising back up to give you a belated kiss. “now i can clean you up,” you both laughed.

for the first night in two months, neither of you worried about what was to come - even if you probably should’ve worried about work. you both were guarded by each other’s presence; nothing threatened to breach the security you had with one another. because, now, he was yours. and you were his.

#spencer reid smut #mggwl 1k celebration #blurb request #spencer reid

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ordinaryschmuck · 3 years

Text

What I Thought About The Mitchells vs. the Machines

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is up there as one of the best installments of the MCU. Sure, the action and CGI sucks, and the season finale could use a bit more polish, but there is so much more of what it does right. It brings up an engaging discussion through Karli; the bromance between Bucky and Sam is incredible; Zemo's surprisingly a riot, and U.S. Agent is a character whose inner psychology is something I would like to study. Plus, the series really dives deep into the themes of race and the realistic hesitance that comes with making a black man Captain America. It's easily an 8/10 series that is worth an in-depth discussion.

But f**k that s**t, because I'm talking about The Mitchells vs. the Machines instead!

I know it might be questionable that reviewing a movie starring a predominantly white family of idiots saving the world instead of the TV series about the powerful journey of a black man taking the mantle of an American icon...but this movie is fun, alright? And yes, I'm going to spoil it to explain how. So if you still have a Netflix account, I highly suggest you check it out when you have time.

Because, random people on the internet who most likely won't read this, this Ordinary Schmuck who writes stories and reviews and draws comics and cartoons is going to explain why The Mitchells vs. the Machines might just be my favorite film of the year (steep contest, I know).

WHAT I LIKE

The Animation: Let's get this out of the way right here and right now: If a single person ever tells you that this movie has awful animation, or the worst animation they have ever seen, just go ahead and assume that person is an idiot. Because holy hot cheese sticks, does this movie look amazing!

Say what you want about most of Sony Pictures Animation's movies, but you have to admit that they nail making a CGI movie looking like it could be in 2D. And The Mitchells vs. The Machines is the peak of that style. Every character in nearly every frame looks like they could work well if the movie was hand-drawn, and I love it. I am addicted to seeing films that look 2D with a 3D makeover because there has to be ten times the amount of effort to get that look just right, what with modeling each character in unique ways to nail that style wherein a hand-drawn film, you could just, well, draw it. Not to mention that the cell-shading and certain hand-drawn elements also add to the aesthetic.

Plus, there is so much attention to details, such as most of Katie's character model being covered in sharpie, or how you can see a hint of Eric and Deborabot 3000's drawn on faces even though their black screens are showing something else. Seriously, you can listen to any criticism this movie gets, but don't you dare let someone get away with telling you that it looks awful. It doesn't. It's incredible, and I SO wish that I could have seen it all on the big screen.

The Comedy: On top of being incredibly well-animated, this movie is also incredibly funny. Like, really funny. I shouldn't be surprised since it's made by the same people responsible for Clone High and The Lego Movie, but yeah, I found myself laughing, chuckling, and snorting with nearly every joke in the film. Not every joke works, to be fair. But because of the fast-paced humor, the bad jokes are almost immediately followed up with better ones soon after. What's even better is that the writers know when to take a break with the humor and let some surprisingly compelling drama take over. And even then, when there are jokes during the dramatic moments, they add sincerity to the scene rather than take anything away. Looking at you, The Amazing World of Gumball...I mean, I love you, but sheesh, you need to learn to let a solemn moment play out.

Anyways, the comedy is hilarious. And while I won't spoil every joke, I will go over some bits that might have gotten to me the most.

Katie Mitchell: Let's just go ahead and add Katie Mitchell to the list of characters I highly relate to on a personal level (which is getting longer by the minute, hot damn). But jokes aside, I really like Katie. Her love and desire to make movies is something I identify with, and her goal to just go to a place where she feels like she belongs is easy to understand. Trust me, if I found out there was a group of weirdos who like the same things I do and enjoy the things I make, I’d be willing to pack everything I have and go to them as fast as possible too. Plus, I feel like a lot of us can relate to a character who lives in a household where people question if our career goal is something we can make a living with. I remember two years ago when I told my aunt that I wanted to make my own animated series, and her reaction is a little too similar to Rick's when Katie showed him her movie. They mean well, but sometimes it's for the best to have a cheerleader rather than a critic, especially if that person is family.

Now, Katie isn't perfect as her enthusiasm can get a little annoying at times, and her desire to leave can be conceived as a little too harsh as well. Still, she's pretty cool and serves her role as a protagonist pretty well...also, if the movie gets a sequel, let's hope she and Jude become cannon by then. GIVE KATIE A GIRLFRIEND, DAMN IT!

Aaron Mitchell: But as great as Katie is, it's this goober that earns the reward for my favorite character. At times it looks like Aaron is nothing more than a source of comedy, but he handles some dramatic moments really well. Partial credit goes to Michael Rianda for that one. Yeah, having a child actor would have made Aaron sound more like a kid, but no other voice could have fit him better than what Michael offers as he comes across as weird but never obnoxious.

Also, let's give the writer points for making a character who is clearly neurodivergent. Yet also refraining from having him be annoying or useless to the rest of the cast. No one ever really disrespects or belittles Aaron and instead chooses to work with him rather than against him. Especially Katie, who forms a solid sibling bond with Aaron as a fellow weirdo. It's genuinely sweet to see, and I loved every minute that the writers showed that just because someone acts on a different wavelength doesn't mean they shouldn't be treated any less because of it. You get that with Katie, a little bit, but I see it much more with Aaron, for some reason. And I love him every minute, so that’s a win.

(Plus, I may or may not have had a dinosaur phase when I was younger, so go ahead and add him to the list of relatable characters too.)

Rick Mitchell: This is probably a character you will either love or hate, and I can see both sides of that argument. Because on the one hand, I really like Rick Mitchell. His motivation is clear and understandable from the first set of home videos with him and Katie, both near the beginning and the end. Sure, he messes up a lot, but he is still a man who cares deeply about his daughter, as well as his entire family. He gets to the point where he would make great sacrifices for all of them, especially Katie. Plus, it's just pleasant seeing a cartoon dad who isn't a complete idiot or overprotective regarding his daughter's love life.

However, there are times when Rick comes across as an irresponsible d**k. When he does things like smash the family's phones without telling them or giving them screwdrivers for "presents," you're either gonna find that funny or you won't. Personally, I enjoy Rick and his antics, and I have no problem with irresponsible cartoon dads. As long as they don't cross the line toward Modern-Peter Griffin territory, I've got no problem with dads like Rick, who I believe has never even got that bad. Still, some people might think differently, and I can't blame them. Because after getting great cartoon dads like Greg Universe, I can understand if some people won't be interested in characters like Rick Mitchell.

Rick’s and Katie’s relationship: Alongside the top-notch animation and gut-busting comedy, Rick and Katie's relationship is what I consider the movie's most essential asset. These two are the main characters of the film, and as such, they develop through each other. And what's crazy is that they have very conflicting goals. Katie wants to escape and be with her people, where Rich just wants one last chance to have a good memory with Katie before she leaves. To do so, they first have to understand each other. Katie has to learn why Rick is so desperate to spend time with her, and Rick has to realize why Katie is, well, Katie. What I love most about it is that they try. These two don't spend the entire movie arguing and being at each other's throats until a sudden "Oh" moment in the end. No, there are actual moments when they genuinely try to understand one another and fix their relationship. It's nice to watch, and I especially love when it cuts to Linda and Aaron celebrating each time Katie and Rick get closer to each other. When recommending this movie, I'd say come for the animation and comedy, stay for the phenomenal relationship building.

Monchi: There are probably people already comparing Monchi to Mater or the Minions due to being a comic relief with nothing else to add...but gosh dangit, do I love this little gentleman. Maybe it's because I'm a dog person, but I find Monchie to be incredibly adorable, and I will fight anybody who disrespects this king of kings. Probably not physically, 'cause I'm a wuss, but I will verbally. So WATCH IT!

“HeLlO. i Am DoG.”: Have I mentioned that this movie is funny?

Rick’s videotapes of him and Katie: And right there. Rick's motivation for everything is set in stone through a solid case of visual storytelling.

PAL: The writers do almost everything they should have with this character. PAL might not have the most creative evil plan in the world, but to me, a villain can have a generic scheme as long as they're funny. Thankfully, PAL is funny. Not only is the idea of a smartphone ruling the planet hilarious in all the right ways, but Olivia Colman delivers such a great cynical energy that the character needs. The way PAL reacts to people explaining why humans are worth living is just the best, and her flopping around in a fit of rage successfully gets to me.

If I had to nitpick, I'd say that I wish PAL had more of a meaningful resolution to her character. The movie builds up that she makes a big deal about Mark dropping her, so it feels weird that neither of them really get any actual closure with each other. I'll get more into that in the dislikes, but I wish PAL had more of a fitting end than just dying after accidentally getting dropped in a glass of water. Other than that, she's a great comedic villain for a comedic movie.

PAL MAX Robots: These guys are the funniest characters in the movie. Half of it is the bits of visual humor, while the other half comes from the solid line delivery from Beck Bennett. Especially with Bennett's and Fred Armisen's Eric and Deborahbot 3000. These two are definitely the comedic highlights, as nearly every line they say is both hilarious and kind of adorable at times. And just like with Monchi, if you dare disrespect these characters, I will fight you. Because they are funny, and I will not hear otherwise.

PAL demonstrating what it’s like to be a phone: Have I mentioned that this movie is funny?

(Don't disrespect your phones, kids. Otherwise, they'll try to take over the world.)

PAL turning off the Wi-Fi: Again, have I mentioned this movie is funny?

“I love the dog. You love the dog. We all love the dog. But at some point, you’re gonna have to eat the dog.”: It's the sick jokes that get to me the most. Everyone booing Rick afterward is just the cherry on top.

Attack of the Furbies: Have I. Mentioned. That this movie. Is funny?

Seriously, if you haven't lost your s**t during every second of this scene, then you never had to deal with the demonic entity that is a Furby. In a way, I commend you. But you also don't get to appreciate the comedic genius of all of this. So I also weirdly feel bad for you.

The Mitchells deciding how to celebrate: You don't have a real family if you spend more time arguing about how to celebrate after saving the world than you do about how to save the world. I don't make the rules. I just abide by them.

The PAL MAX Primes: There's not much to say about them. The PAL MAX primes look and act pretty cool, are brilliantly animated, and raise the stakes while still being funny at times. I love 'em, but I don't have much to analyze with them either.

The origin of the moose: ...I'd make the "I didn't need my heart anyway" joke, but to be honest, it's still shattered after WandaVision.

(For real, though, this is a really effective scene that establishes why Rick makes a big deal with the moose and why he might feel hurt that Katie is willing to disregard it completely)

The Theme of Technology and Social Media: There's a theme about how family is important, and working hard on making things work is worth the effort. But that's a bit too generic for my tastes, so instead, I'm gonna talk about the equally important message this movie has about technology. Because as twisted as she is, PAL makes a great point. The technology we have today helps us in a variety of ways. It's especially useful with sites like YouTube, allowing content creators like Katie to reach out and share their voices. The only issue with technology is how people use it. Take note that the main reason why the Mitchells stand a chance against PAL is by using her own tech against her. Yes, over-relying on all the advancements around us can be dangerous, but if we're smart with how we use them, we can get by just fine. This movie isn't about purging all technology like most robot apocalypse stories are. Instead, it's about using it correctly and not being helpless sheep the second the Wi-Fi gets turned off. Which might just be the most unique thing this movie has going for it story-wise (more on that later).

The Climax: The Mitchells vs. The Machines has everything that I think I climax should have. First off, it utilizes callbacks and jokes that I wouldn't have thought twice on actually coming in handy for how the Mitchells win the day. But showing that Monchi causes the robots to malfunction turns a pretty "eh" joke into a solid case of foreshadowing.

Second, everyone does something. Some characters do more than others, sure, but the fact that every Mitchell, even Monchi, has a hand in beating PAL and her robots is a great sense of writing to me. It shows that you really can't cut anyone from the main cast, as they each add value to how they are essential to the plot. Even Aaron, who arguably does the least in the climax, still manages to be the catalyst to what is easily the best scene in the movie. Speaking of which...

Linda Kicks Ass: By the way, that's the actual name on the soundtrack. I'm not even kidding. Check it.

Anyways, for the most part, Linda seemed like a decent cartoon mom. She's insanely supportive but still has the common sense to keep her foot down, like agreeing with Rick to stay safe in the dino stop the second the apocalypse starts. A pretty fun character, for sure, but nothing too noteworthy...but the second she loses her s**t, Linda Mitchell frickin' SKYROCKETS to the best-cartoon-mom territory! Believe me when I tell you that seeing her slice and dice robots like a middle-aged female Samurai Jack is as awesome as it is hilarious. Does it make sense how she can suddenly do this? No, but at the same time, who gives a s**t about common sense?! Because this moment was epic, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching it over and over again.

Rick Learning How to Internet...Again: I consider this the funniest moment in the movie. Trust me, the Furby scene is a close, close, CLOSE, second...but I think this scene was funnier.

The final goodbye: This is what I'm talking about when I say humor adds to the dramatic moments. The Mitchells saying "I love you" in moose is pretty funny, but it's also a sweet moment given that this is absolutely how this family of weirdos would say goodbye to each other. And, yeah, I got a little misty-eyed during this scene. Especially when Rick saw Katie pocketing the moose. That s**t just cuts deep, man.

Alex Hirsch Voices a Character: ...That's it. I look up to Alex Hirsh as everything I want to be as a creator, and the fact that his name is on this movie fills me with joy. He's also a story consultant, so that can also explain why the movie turned out as great as it did...although there are some imperfections.

WHAT I DISLIKE

Katie-vision: What's Katie-vision? Well, throughout the movie, we get to see how Katie views the world as there are these hand-drawn elements that look like effects Katie would add if she was the one who made the movie. At times it can be subtle and cute, like when this little beating heart appears when Katie is talking with Jude and her other friends. It's when the movie is in your face with Katie-vision does it get annoying. Like showing how Katie is lying about being certain she can drive up a vertical ramp or signifying what is the Rick Mitchell Special. Even if you justify that this would be how Katie would edit the movie, it still doesn't change how obnoxious these moments can be. For instance, Monchi is justified to be essential for the plot, but that doesn't mean people won't hate him...I'll still fight them if they do, but that's beside the point.

I can totally accept this being a personal issue, as I'm sure some people enjoy it. As for me, I think Katie-vision works best when used subtly instead of crudely.

The Meme humor: It's something similar here. Because some people like meme humor...but I don't. To me, it just dates your story if you reference memes even once. Now, a show, movie, or book being partially dated is nothing new. We Bare Bears, a series that I love, reference memes, apps, and social media constantly. Yet, the show still has a timeless feel to it as it doesn't rely on those references too much. The Mitchells vs. the Machines doesn't rely on memes as much either. But even then, that doesn't make a difference about how annoying that gibbon monkey joke was. Seriously, what the f**k was that? And how is THAT the joke that gets used twice!?

Underutilizing Mark Bowman: It really bothers me how this guy barely does much. I mean, Mark Bowman is the main reason that anything happens in the movie. Because he mistreated PAL, Mark acts as the catalyst for events to come. So the fact that he could have been written out the second PAL takes control doesn't make sense to me. It's worse since I could see more potential with his character through his relationship with PAL. These two could be anti-Rick and Katie, as Mark and PAL show what happens when people disrespect their family. So separating them halfway through the story, and keeping them as such, is a huge mistake as it results in neither having a proper resolution to their arcs. Like I said, Rick and Katie develop through each other, and the same could have happened with Mark and PAL. It doesn't, making it something that I can't help but feel disappointed about.

The Poseys: These are characters I feel like work better with multiple appearances. Sure, they only have the one joke about being a perfect family, but at the same time, you can make a joke like that work. Look at Yvonne from Shaun of the Dead (Which might just be my favorite movie). That's a bit-character whose only purpose is showing how better she is than Shaun despite being in an eerily similar situation. But she works well as we constantly see how great she's doing in every instance we see her. The same could be done with the Poseys, as using a similar joke for one scene is underutilizing great potential to make an already good movie into a better one.

Plus, if you're gonna shoehorn in a romance between Aaron and Abby Posey, the least you could do is have more than one scene developing that...just saying.

Katie’s and Rick’s “Oh” Moments: I want to make it clear that I actually like these scenes. They're well written and effectively emotional. My problem is that they also happen two seconds apart. There's nothing wrong with having a character realize the error of their ways through a tear-jerking moment. It's a popular tactic for a reason. And given how both Rick and Katie are the protagonists, they both need their own "oh" moment. But you gotta space them out, as it makes things easier to see the emotional manipulation that you're clearly trying to pull on the audience. They work, but putting them back to back is an issue easily solved with at least two minutes of padding, not two seconds.

Katie’s Death Fakeout: This is one of the few instances that a joke doesn't work in the movie, made even more annoying with the fact that I could see the punchline a mile away and kept thinking, "Just get to it already." I'm pretty sure no one bought this, especially when Katie didn't look like she could have gotten killed in any way after throwing PAL. It's poorly handled and proof that even the funniest comedies have a stale joke every now and again.

Nothing New is really being done here: Keep in mind that in terms of style, this movie is incredibly innovative. And here's hoping future animated projects can take notes. But narratively speaking? Yeah, there's nothing really new that this movie is offering.

A story about how technology will be the death of us? Been there.

A story about a group of idiots miraculously saving the world? Done that.

A story about a father forcing their teenager on a road trip so they can spend quality time with each other, thus ruining the teen's chance of hanging out with their girlfriend? Believe it or not, I have seen A Goofy Movie...multiple times...both as a kid and as an adult.

Now, I have no issue with a movie's plot being a bit by-the-books, and in some cases, cliche. If done effectively, and if I still have a good time, I don't think there’s much to complain about. And there isn't with The Mitchells vs. The Machines. The problem lies with that I'll forget this movie along with the dozens of others like it in a couple years. Which might just be the biggest issue any film can have.

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

Overall, I'd give The Mitchells vs. the Machines a well-earned A-. It has nitpicks, sure, but it's still a blast to watch. It might not be innovative or groundbreaking as movies like the last Sony Pictures Animation movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. However, it is fun. And when the world is burning down around us, it's nice to have a fun movie that can distract us from all of it. So feel free to log in to Netflix the next time you're in the mood for a film that is great for the whole family. You won’t be disapointed

(And I will talk about The Falcon and the Winter Soldier pretty soon. I just needed to get this out of my system first.)

#the mitchells vs the machines #what i thought about

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undertaker1827 · 3 years

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ooie! platonic 21 Halloween headcanons with Sebs and Under?

I AM SO HAPPY THAT OPENED HIS ASKBOX😀😀😀

Riiiiight so I completely missed the holiday (so sorry) hope you enjoy anyway!! Aww thank you❤️

21] Tell scary stories

Masterlist

Undertaker

Okay so Undertaker tells the best scary stories

They all kind of take place in the Victorian era going into the early 1900s (Industrial Revolution and such)

You’ve gone over to see him on Halloween, either preferring his company over others or just not having anyone else nearby to celebrate with

He’s in the front room of the parlour when you get there, the same one he’s lived in since the 1800s

You insist that a good half of the cobwebs in the place are from the same time, clearly incredibly old and so thick with dust in places that you couldn’t see through them

The grime covering the single window also concerned you, though the candles and oil lamp (all for the aesthetic, my dear) always provided a welcoming glow

The two of you were sitting on top of a coffin in the front room (mainly in case any more trick or treaters came by) with the oil lamp between you casting strange shadows over your companion’s face

Undertaker trusted you, quite a lot in fact so he had his bangs pushed back and those intense chartreuse eyes showing

This made his stories seem more scary, more real, which he knew full well

He would be lying if he didn’t admit that he enjoyed seeing you scared of something as small as his stories, finding something so uniquely human in the fear you tried to hide

It encouraged him to think of other tales to tell you, because god if he didn’t want to bring that emotion further out, to probe it just a bit more and see what you did in response

He told one about a graveyard he’d been tending to one night in the 1870s, just doing a round and making sure everything was in order - mainly checking for graverobbers

He explained to you that some graves in those days were fitted with bells - those who could afford them, that was - in case it turned out that the person buried was, in fact, still living

But as the reaper was walking, rain coming down in torrents and his hair plastered down to his head with a shovel held over his shoulder, he heard a bell ring

He glanced sharply in the direction of it, not having sensed any living humans in the area since early in the evening

He strolled over with a casual look on his face, one belying remarkable interest

The bell rang again, more incessantly this time, until it just kept ringing constantly, not letting up once

Undertaker took the final few steps to the headstone

As soon as his boot touched the ground next to it, the bell stopped dead

The mortician paused in his regaling of his tale, eyes narrowed and glowing with interest as your pale, wide-eyed face stared back at him intently

Your hands were clasped together in front of you and he could practically see the chill crawling down your spine

It was raining at this point, coming down in hard sheets that pounded against the window

You were leaning forward in anticipation, begging him to go on as you couldn’t stand the suspense a second longer

As the bell stopped, the reaper took a quick glance at the grave: Nicholas Chambers, beloved father, uncle, brother and husband

“Help me, pl-please!” A mournful voice wailed, disused and rasping as a result

A series of coughs followed and a dull thud against a rotting wooden prison

“I need help, I’m trapped down here,” the voice started again, though Undertaker simply narrowed his eyes and scoffed

“Don’t think I’m gonna let you up right now, lad,” he called down, receiving a long wail in return, followed by a cried out ‘why not?!’

“’Cause, Mister Chambers, you were left six feet under in 1698!”

He began sauntering away again, ignoring the pounded that started against the lid of the decaying coffin, the angry yelling that rang through the sodden graveyard

“Rest in peace indeed,” Undertaker muttered, “think we’ll let you stay put a while longer.”

The horrified look on your face when the story ended was enough to send the reaper into a raucous fit of laughter, making you jump so badly that you flung an arm out at random, knocking over the oil lamp and shrieking as it shattered against the stone floor

The room was plunged into darkness and you were temporarily blind with the sudden change in light

You reached around with your hands in terror, trying to find the mortician

You heard a light giggle to your side then felt his arms around you a moment later

You clutched onto him immediately, fingertips trembling

“Daft thing,” he murmured “didn’t scare you that badly, did I?”

Your lack of answer was enough to confirm to him that he had

Sebastian

Right

Sebastian is another one who tells absolutely brilliant scary stories

There was quite literally no one else you could see yourself spending Halloween with apart from him

I mean he is actually a demon, that has to count for something in terms of the quality of this holiday

You found that his apartment was tastefully decorated when you made it over there in the early evening

Well placed cobwebs hung in the corners and from the ceiling with dark candelabras positioned on various tables and shelves, black candles already burned enough to leave trails of wax down their sides

His adjustable lights were dimmed down and giving the whole place a warm, orange glow, one which was enhanced by the flames from the candles and the fire burning in the hearth

His curtains were drawn and the room was a comfortable temperature, a nice contrast to the freezing weather outside

He welcomed you in with a gentle hug, presenting you with a cup of tea moments later and elegantly taking the winter coat from your shoulders

He whisked it away to hang somewhere neatly, then you both went and sat down on the sofa together

It wasn’t like you came to the decision of ‘let’s tell spooky stories’, it just sort of ended up happening

Sebastian’s apartment was quite a long way up, meaning you could hear the wind howling loudly around the corners and battering the windows, adding a certain creepiness to the evening

The demon no doubt sensed that emotion on you and decided to use it to his advantage

He went so smoothly into his anecdote that you hardly even realised he’d done it, but your heart rate was picking up before you knew it

His story started on a barren Yorkshire moorland, with a young woman driving home from work late at night

It was the middle of winter and even with the heating on, she could feel the cold seeping in through every available join in the bodywork of the car

There were no other vehicles on the road, no pedestrians, no signs of life

As she drove on, a light mist started to roll in off the moor, soon coating the road and leaving her barely able to see a few metres in front of her

She simply slowed down and carried on, more than used to these sudden changes in weather

It was when she rounded a corner however, that she was forced to slam on her brakes

An old women was stood partially out in the road, hunched over and clutching a small bag to her stomach

She was dressed in black with a hood pulled low over her head, waving the car down

The young woman stopped, opened the window and asked if she needed a lift

In a few minutes they were off once again, the woman still with her hood covering her face

The driver seemed simply to realise something was off - a sixth sense, maybe - and took several discreet glances at her companion

It was only on the third or fourth that she realised; the ‘old woman’ had the hands of a young man

She continued driving on like before, waiting until the back window inevitably fogged up before apologising to her passenger, asking if she would be so kind as to get out and clear it so they could continue doing so

The old woman nodded, slowly getting out and making her way around to the back of the car

Only when she was well away from the door did the driver floor the car, flinching as the passenger door slammed shut at the sudden acceleration and glancing in the rear view to ensure the passenger was still standing in the road

She didn’t dare look back again when the man raised his hands to the hood of the cloak, terrified of what she might see

She sped on after that, a white knuckle grip on the wheel and mouth parched, though she would stop for nothing

She finally arrived home about half an hour later, breathing a sigh of relief when she pulled into her drive

Her back stiffened however when she saw that her passenger’s bag was still sitting on the seat next to her

Hesitantly, she picked it up and tipped the contents on the seat, only to leap backwards against the car door and gasp

The gleaming, sharpened steel of a meat cleaver reflected back at her and she was chilled to the bones as thoughts of what would have happened to her had she of thought any slower consumed her mind

Sebastian’s eyes were positively glowing when he finished, hearing your heart race and seeing the way your hands were trembling, even as you hid them in your lap

“Whatever is the matter, Y/N?” The demon asked with a smirk, “surely you aren’t that scared of a simple fable?”

He leaned forwards to pull you into a hug when you didn’t answer, shaking his head at how every muscle in your body was tensed and the way you held onto him immediately

This was another thing about humans that fascinated him; telling scary stories was one of the oldest traditions of All Hallow’s Eve that was still around, yet people scared themselves so much that they no longer looked upon it as a bit of fun, in some cases, at least

#undertaker #adrian crevan #sebastian michaelis #undertaker x reader #adrian crevan x reader #sebastian michaelis x reader #black butler undertaker x reader #black butler undertaker #black butler sebastian x reader #black butler sebastian #black butler #kuroshitsuji #black butler x reader #kuroshitsuji x reader #black butler reader inserts #kuroshitsuji undertaker x reader #kuroshitsuji undertaker #kuroshitsuji sebastian x reader #kuroshitsuji sebastian

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calwrites · 4 years

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The Masked Singer (Spencer Reid x Reader)

Summary: The team has become obsessed with The Masked Singer, an extremely silly singing competition about trying to guess what celebrity is singing behind a mask. Imagine Spencer’s surprise when he hears a familiar voice.

Warnings: none (unless you count bad writing lol)

Word Count: 6.2k

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Spencer wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but it had. The team was obsessed with The Masked Singer. One morning, JJ, Prentiss, and Garcia had been talking about it before they had to brief a new case. Apparently they had found the first season online after they had too many glasses of wine and had made it through half the episodes in one night.

“It’s just trying to guess what famous person is singing while wearing a mask?” Morgan had asked. “That doesn’t sound very hard.”

“Yeah it should be obvious, but it’s not and that’s what makes it so addicting. They disguise their voices when they talk and they give you these cryptic clues about who they are.”

Emily nodded along to Penelope’s point. “Plus the judges’ guesses are everywhere, which doesn’t help.”

“Maybe you should watch, Morgan. Put those profiling skills to use,” JJ teased.

Derek was opening his mouth to respond when Hotch walked into the room. “Unfortunately, we have a case that needs our profiling skills.”

Spencer thought that would be the last of it. They spent the next few days tracking down another serial killer, and he was looking forward to relaxing on the jet on the way home. Maybe he’d read for a bit if no one wanted to play chess with him. What he wanted more than anything, though, was to be able to go home to Y/N. But he couldn’t.

His thoughts of you were interrupted by Penelope popping up on a screen. “I have a wonderful surprise for my favorite crime fighters.”

“Well don’t just tease us, baby girl,” Derek prompted when Garcia paused for dramatic effect. Instead of answering, Garcia started playing something on another screen.

“Oh there was a new episode on last night,” Emily said excitedly. “No one looked up who was unmasked, right?” After getting verbal confirmation that no one had looked up who was unmasked the previous night, Emily and JJ gave the rest of the team a short rundown of who had already been sent home.

“And people actually agree to do this?” Rossi asked in disbelief when they were done. The girls ignored him, focusing instead on the show. Rossi and Morgan shrugged at each other, but Spencer could tell that they were both a little curious about the show.

“I know Donny Osmond, and that is definitely Donny Osmond,” Rossi yelled approximately twenty minutes later. “Just look at how he walks.”

“I think it should be cheating for Rossi to guess when he might actually know some of these people,” Derek complained. Emily and JJ both nodded in agreement, so Derek turned to Hotch. “Hotch?”

“It’s cheating.” Hotch was trying to seem like he wasn’t also paying too much attention to the show, but he wasn’t doing a very good job. Rossi threw his hands up and started arguing his case, but JJ shushed him as the clues for the next performer started.

And just like that, the team had a new tradition. Garcia would play any episodes they missed when they were on the jet on the way home from a case. If they were without a case when there was a new episode, they would get together at someone’s house, usually Rossi’s, to watch it as it aired.

Emily and Derek were probably the best at guessing correctly, but Rossi sometimes had the advantage of actually knowing the celebrity behind the mask. Hotch and JJ blamed their incorrect guesses on not having time to stay up to date on celebrities because of their kids. Most of the time, Spencer didn’t even bother guessing. He had no idea who most of the celebrities were, but he enjoyed watching as the rest of the team got into trying to figure it out. Garcia had been banned from guessing after the team found out she was doing her own research. She had tried to argue that if they could use their super profiling powers, she could use her internet sleuthing powers, but the others weren’t having it.

Spencer had mentioned the show to you when you two were on the phone chatting before he went over to Rossi’s for the season 2 premiere. Curious about the show that managed to captivate and puzzle actual FBI profilers, you had decided to start watching on your own. Now, you and Spencer discussed the show whenever you had both watched the new episodes. It was nice having something new besides work to talk about. Of course, you, like Rossi, had the advantage of actually knowing some of the celebrities.

“How did you know it was Sherri Shepherd?” Spencer asked you after he got back from Rossi’s one night. “You said you knew it was her from the first time you heard her sing.”

You laughed at the frustration in your boyfriend’s voice. More than anything, you wanted to be cuddled up with him on the couch. But you were on opposite coasts, so imagining his furrowed brow would have to do. “I’ve met Sherri Shepherd. I’ve been on The View. Or did you not watch that interview?”

You were just teasing him. You knew that Spencer watched every interview you did. He was the most supportive boyfriend ever, even though you knew that some of the answers you had to give in interviews hurt him. Every time you were asked about dating, you had to give an answer like ‘No one special,’ ‘Not looking for anything right now,’ ‘Too busy to start anything.’ Truthfully, you were too busy to start a new relationship. You were constantly filming a new movie, doing press for a new movie, or getting ready for a new movie. Plus, you already had a boyfriend. Why would you want another one?

It was hard being away from Spencer so much, but you both knew that it was what was best for your career right now. You had met Spencer when you were a struggling actor who had just finished filming your first major movie. Now, you were an Oscar winner who was constantly getting offers. Spencer had told you that you needed to take advantage of those offers to really cement your place in Hollywood. You had both decided that the best way to keep each other safe, from both the media and psychopaths with grudges, was not to go public with your relationship.

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

It was over three years ago. You had just finished filming in DC. Most of the cast and crew had already gone back to LA or wherever they called home, but you had decided to stay in DC for a few more days to unwind before going back to your empty apartment in New York. It was probably about time to accept the fact that you should move out to LA, but you preferred the East Coast to the West.

You wandered through a park, when a cluster of chess tables caught your eye. More specifically, one man sitting at the chess tables. He looked to be about your age, but what made you watch him was the way he was playing three games at once. And winning them all. When the games were over, his opponents all grumbled as they walked away, leaving the man looking at the boards almost sadly.

You knew how to play chess, but you wouldn’t say that you were great. Still, you had to talk to this guy. So you sat down across from him, startling him as he replaced all of the pieces to their starting positions. He blinked at you in surprise instead of saying anything, so you took the lead, moving a pawn out first.

The two of you played in silence for a few turns. You smiled every time you caught him looking at you, and he blushed every time he was caught. He was cute. You quickly realized that you had no chance of winning, so you abandoned any sort of strategy and began moving pieces at random. You watched as he became more and more confused at your moves.

“It’s going to be a tie,” he said finally. His voice was lovely. “I mean, I could still win, but looking at our moves throughout the game, it seems most likely that it’s going to be a tie.”

“Is there any way I could win?” Truthfully, you hadn’t even been expecting a tie, but you wanted him to keep talking.

He shook his head. “No. You actually had a decent chance of winning until I took your rook four turns ago. If you had moved your queen instead, then I would have had to move my knight, leaving my king open to check.”

You blinked at the man for a moment. “Do you remember every move we made?”

He nodded shyly. “I have an eidetic memory.” You had no idea what that was, but it sounded impressive. At your blank look, he launched into an explanation of an eidetic memory and how it was different from a photographic memory. You weren’t really sure what he was saying, but you liked listening to him.

“So, it’s probably going to be a draw,” he finished shyly, painfully aware that he had just spent way too long explaining something to you that he hadn’t asked him to explain. To his surprise, you grinned at him, taking his breath away.

“Well, I was going to say that if I win you have to tell me your name, and if you win I have to tell you my name. Since it’s a draw, I guess we’ll both have to tell each other our names. I’m Y/N.” You stuck out your hand, but he looked at it awkwardly.

“Considering how many pathogens are passed during a handshake, it’s actually safer to kiss. I’m Spencer,” he continued quickly as a blush spread across your cheeks.

“Well it’s nice to meet you, Spencer. Honestly, I feel a little bit like I cheated. I started moving pieces randomly after about three turns.” Spencer looked shocked at your admission before he started laughing. “To make it up to you, can I buy you dinner tonight?” You were a little shocked at your own confidence, but thankfully Spencer seemed to like it.

“Only if I can buy you a coffee now.” You had agreed, obviously. The two of you spent the rest of the day together, getting to know each other. By dinner, it was like you had known each other forever. You had stayed in touch when you had to go back to New York. Spencer didn’t have a lot of free time, but you didn’t have any jobs at the moment, so you went down to DC whenever possible.

You and Spencer had only been officially dating for two weeks when your movie premiered. You weren’t ready for the media to scrutinize you two, and Spencer wasn’t ready for his coworkers to profile you, so you had agreed to keep your relationship on the down low.

Then you name blew up. The reviews for your movie, and your performance in particular, were glowing. People started suggesting an Oscar nomination for you. You started getting offers for roles your couldn’t refuse. So you packed up your life in New York and moved out to LA. You and Spencer talked all the time. He had even started texting you. Plus, you flew to DC whenever possible to be with him, even if it was just for a few hours. But it was still hard for you two to be apart for so long.

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

The season premiere of Masked Singer is tonight. Maybe you guys can watch it on the plane.

Spencer read your message and smiled. You knew it had been a tough case without him even having to say it. Sometimes he thought you could read his mind. You had a way of always knowing what he needed, even when he didn’t know.

A new season of their favorite show was just what the team needed. Spencer sent a quick text to Penelope to ask if it was possible for them to watch the show on the jet as it aired. She had responded not to underestimate her, which worried Spencer slightly.

The team sat in silence for a few minutes, the engine the only sound, until the screens came to life and the opening for The Masked Singer appeared. “I forgot this was coming back tonight,” JJ sighed in relief as the rest of the team smiled at the show. They settled in, ready to start trying to profile the celebrities in wacky costumes.

“And now, our very own royal contestant: The Queen,” the host said as a new clue package began to play. Spencer stiffened as The Queen began to talk. Despite the voice modification, Spencer could recognize the way you spoke. Your word choice. Your cadence. Even the way you walked onto the stage. Everything screamed Y/N. Spencer couldn’t help but smile at the mask you had chosen. It was like the top of the queen chess piece. Not the mention the tight white costume looked great on you. What would really confirm Spencer’s theory was your singing, so he waited with baited breath and hoped no one on the plane would notice his sudden heightened interest.

“If I should stay, I would only be in your way.” Spencer’s breath caught.

“Aww. Whitney,” Derek exclaimed. The rest of the team joined in with similar comments of surprise and joy as the music joined your voice on screen, but Spencer was too focused on you to notice them.

As he watched, it was like the cape on your shoulders turned into the blanket he kept on his couch that you had wrapped around yourself. The microphone became a spatula that you held to you mouth instead of using it to flip the pancakes, belting this very song much to his neighbors’ annoyance. It was a scene he was used to, having seen it many times.

“That was amazing. There’s no way you’re not winning this season. But I have no idea who you are,” one judge said when you were done. The other judges echoed similar thoughts before they all started throwing around some possible names. Spencer smiled to himself as his teammates were similarly confused. No one mentioned your name. And they probably never would.

You were very insecure about your singing voice, though Spencer often told you that you shouldn’t be. However, you never even mentioned singing in any interviews, and you didn’t sing in front of anyone that wasn’t Spencer.

“So what brought you onto The Masked Singer?” one judge asked.

“I’m actually a big fan of the show, but the real reason was because it’s my boyfriend’s favorite show. I wanted to surprise him.” Your voice shook nervously as you spoke. Spencer couldn’t tell if it was because you had stage fright or because you had publicly announced that you had a boyfriend for the first time. Not that anyone knew it was you. You and Spencer had been talking about going public with your relationship for a few months now, but you had both always found reasons to keep putting it off. Spencer knew what you were doing. Once you were unmasked, you would have to acknowledge that you had a boyfriend.

Of course, some part of Spencer’s mind reminded him that all of this was filmed in advance. There were people somewhere who knew that you were The Queen and that you had a boyfriend. Spencer just hoped that the NDAs that they had signed were enough to keep that from getting out before the episode aired. Not that he had time to worry about that. You were still talking to the judges.

“Do you think he’s going to be surprised when you’re unmasked eventually? Not that that’s going to happen any time soon.”

“Definitely not. He probably knew it was me the minute I walked on the stage. Plus, he has to hear me sing all the time when I’m home.” It made Spencer’s heart soar hearing you refer to his little apartment as home. You spent more time in your Beverly Hills house than his apartment, but whenever you talked about going home, Spencer knew you were talking about getting back to DC. Getting back to him.

As the rest of the team continued to discuss guesses about your identity, Spencer pulled out his phone to text you.

The Queen sounded amazing.

Spencer knew that, wherever you were, you would smile when you read that text.

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

Pretty soon, the new episodes of The Masked Singer were the highlight of Spencer’s week. He was always antsy when they couldn’t watch an episode when it aired, desperate to make sure that you hadn’t been eliminated yet. He loved watching as your confidence in your voice and you stage presence grew.

Surprisingly, it was after you did a cover of Heart of Glass by Blondie that the switch flipped. Spencer could pinpoint the moment it happened. Your performance became electric and there seemed to be a pull, even in the jet, that drew everyone to you.

Spencer had seen it happen before. About a year after you had started dating, you and Spencer had met up in New York for a weekend. Spencer was in awe of the way you managed to seem completely normal, allowing the eyes of all the tourists to slide right over you, despite the fact that your face was on a billboard in Times Square.

The two of you were eating lunch in a pizza restaurant. Spencer had wanted to do research to find the best place to eat, but you had pulled him into a random place. Although he hated to admit it, the pizza was really good.

It was easy to hear the conversation of the two girls, high school students if Spencer had to guess, in the nearly empty restaurant. Spencer saw the look of joy on your face when you realized that the girls were talking about your movie. You both had to smile that they were now talking about how obsessed they were with you when they had walked past you a minute ago without even realizing it.

You looked at your boyfriend with an unspoken question in your eye. Spencer nodded his head at the girls, letting you know that he didn’t mind if you went over to talk to them. As you stood up, it was like the air around you changed. There was no difference in the way you held yourself. If Spencer believed in things like vibes, he would have said that you just started giving off a different vibe. Suddenly, everyone’s eyes were on you.

You spoke to the girls for a few minutes before taking some pictures with them and returning to your table. You seemed unaware of the effect you had on everyone, but Spencer couldn’t shake a strange feeling. It was like for the first time he had seen Y/N Y/L/N instead of his girlfriend Y/N. When you finally got Spencer to tell you what was bothering him later that night, you had confided in him that you often felt intimidated when he talked about his job.

The two of you had grown past that as your relationship went on, but it was strange seeing the effect that you had on his friends.

The closest he got to spilling your secret was the next week. As you got closer to the finale, the competition began heating up. In an effort to prove that you were more than just a good voice, you had chosen 1,2 Step, complete with your own twist on the iconic, according to you since Spencer didn’t really know, choreography from the music video.

“She has some serious stamina,” Emily commented as you got through the rap flawlessly despite all of the dancing you were doing. Spencer knew all about your stamina.

“And look at how her body moves. She can dance.” Spencer’s fist clenched at Derek’s comment. He knew that Derek didn’t mean anything by it. Your body moved fluidly through the dance. It was easy to see in the tight costume you wore. But something seemed to burn inside Spencer as he watched Derek watch you. He wanted nothing more than to tell Derek that last weekend he had used his stamina to keep you up until the early hours of the morning.

But Spencer stopped himself. You had said that you had a plan for telling people about your relationship. He just had to wait for you to put that plan into motion.

The judges were still clueless about your true identity, though Spencer still thought that all of the clues should have made it extremely obvious. Still, it was amusing listening to their guesses.

“I think-no, I know who this is.” Spencer settled in, ready to hear Ken Jeong’s latest wild guess. Last week he had been sure that you were Leona Lewis and the week before it was Mariah Carey. “This is Y/N Y/L/N.”

Spencer tried not to react as everyone in the jet, and on the screen, shook their heads at Ken’s guess.

“Y/N doesn’t sing,” one judge told Ken as another said, “Y/N’s not a singer. No way.”

“But Y/N won an Oscar for her role as a queen. Plus, and stay with me here, in the clue package we’ve seen things about agents. She has an agent, who gets her roles and probably got her on this show, so welcome to the show Y/N Y/L/N.”

“The Queen is in a long term relationship, and Y/N isn’t dating anyone,” one judge pointed out. The other two judges nodded along, so Ken gave up his fight. Spencer realized that, if anything, Ken guessing it was you would convince people that it couldn’t possibly be you.

“Hey, Spence, didn’t you have a little celebrity crush on Y/N Y/L/N?” JJ asked as the commercials started. The rest of the team turned to look at him. Spencer tried to hide his blush, but the smirk on Derek’s face told him it wasn’t working.

“Yeah,” Emily continued, “You go to see all of her movies. Multiple times.”

Spencer tried to shrug nonchalantly. “I just think Y/N is a good actor.” Luckily, the team soon lost interest in teasing Spencer, so he could focus on texting you about your performance.

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

“Thank goodness we finished in time to catch it.” Everyone nodded in agreement to Emily’s statement. They had just finished another case earlier that day and had made it to the jet in time to watch the finale as it aired. The team settled into their seats and quickly began sorting out their bets about who was who and who would win.

“Reid, you want in?” Rossi asked. So far, Spencer had abstained from all of the betting about the show they did. But now he wanted to have a little fun with his team.

“I think The Queen will win.” Most people nodded. That was a popular opinion. “And I think The Queen is Y/N Y/L/N.”

“Oh c’mon, kid. You’re just as bad as Ken,” Derek complained, but he was smiling. Spencer felt slightly guilty. He knew that he was at least partially right. He had been tempted to ask you whether you win, but held himself back. There was no doubt that you signed some NDAs, so you really weren’t supposed to tell him.

Spencer had a hard time caring about the other performances. He was looking forward to hearing you again and to seeing the faces of his friends when he was right about your identity. Finally, the other two finalists had gone and it was your turn. Unsurprisingly, your performance was amazing. The best of the night in Spencer’s slightly biased opinion.

Spencer was so relieved when third place was announced and it wasn’t you. Some celebrity he didn’t know took their mask off. There was some exchanging of money among his friends. But then it was time to announce the winner.

“And so, the winner of this season of The Masked Singer, who will go home today with The Golden Mask trophy is,” the host paused for dramatic effect. Spencer had to remind himself to breathe. “The Queen!”

Spencer breathed a sigh of relief as he watched you jump up and down onstage before being ushered to a throne where you would watch the runner up take off their mask. It was another celebrity Spencer didn’t know and didn’t care about.

“I guessed Miley Cyrus when you sang Jolene a few episodes ago. I don’t think that’s right, but it’s the best guess I have, so I’ll go with Miley,” one judge said when it was time for their final guesses. This was it. You were about to be unmasked. Spencer wasn’t quite sure why he was so nervous. You had won! And he already knew that it was you under the mask.

The other three judges threw out their final guesses, but no one was very sure of themselves. Except Ken, who confidently said, “It’s gotta be Michelle Obama,” earning lots of laughs from everyone watching.

“Well, let’s see who it is. Take it off. Take it off.” The host started the chant, which the audience and judges quickly took off as you pretended to struggle to take off your mask. Spencer found himself joining in with the rest of the team as they chanted too.

And finally, you removed your mask and Spencer could see your beautiful face. As great as you looked standing on the stage with your hair and makeup perfectly done, Spencer couldn’t wait until you were back home in a week and he could see you huddled on the couch wearing pajamas.

Chaos erupted, both on the screen and on the plane. It seemed like no one could believe that it was you. The rest of the team was too busy yelling in shock that they didn’t notice the look of absolute adoration Spencer was giving you.

“This might have been the most shocking reveal in Masked Singer history,” the host said into his microphone as the judges and audience began to calm down. “I mean, no one even knew you sing, Y/N. Why did you decide to come on The Masked Singer?”

You laughed uneasily into the microphone. Spencer could tell that you were feeling equal amounts of joy and nervousness. It was understandable, he thought. You had just won a singing competition despite having never sang in public before.

“I’ve always loved to sing, but I’ve never had much confidence in my voice. I’d love more than anything to be in a big movie musical. I guess I was hoping that this would be a good place to build my confidence.”

“You have an absolutely amazing voice,” one judge said. You ducked your head shyly, smiling slightly at the ground before looking back up at the judges. “I think after people see your performances you’ll have no problem doing a musical. I mean, you tackled so many different genres, and you sounded amazing doing all of them.”

You thanked the judge before turning to the others. A smile remained on your lips as they all congratulated you, but Spencer could tell from the way you kept shifting your weight that you were uncomfortable with all of the attention.

“Wait so you said that one reason you did this show was that it’s your boyfriend’s favorite show?” Spencer’s heart fluttered as he watched your smile grow at the mention of him. “That really threw me. I didn’t know you were dating anyone.” The other judges agreed.

“Yeah my boyfriend and I have been together for over two years. We’ve just kept it a secret.”

“Well the secret is out now.”

“You still don’t know who he is though,” you pointed out. The judges laughed and agreed.

“Whoever is dating her is a lucky man,” Rossi commented as the show wrapped up. Spencer tried not to let his heart skip a beat. What would his team think when they found out about you two?

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

“I still can’t believe that The Queen was Y/N Y/L/N,” JJ sighed. The team was in the elevator on the way up to their floor. They all needed to drop some stuff off, but Hotch had told them that no one was allowed to stay late tonight. They needed to get home and relax.

“I can’t believe she managed to have a secret boyfriend for over two years without the media finding out,” Emily added. “You know Garcia is probably already trying to uncover the mystery man.”

The team laughed as the elevator doors opened. Spencer made a mental note to warn you about Garcia. He had already texted you to congratulate you, but he missed you. You were supposed to finish filming in a few days and then you’d be back home in about a week. Still, Spencer was a little bummed that you would miss your third anniversary, which was actually tomorrow.

“Hey, Pretty Boy, who’s at your desk?” Derek asked.

It took Spencer a moment to really understand what he was seeing. It didn’t quite make sense in his brain. Every time you got home, you would immediately shower (to wash off the airplane germs), throw on one of Spencer’s old sweaters and some leggings, and curl up on the couch with whatever book Spencer had left laying around until he got home. And now here you were, wet hair and all, sitting at his desk. He barely had time to admire the look of concentration on your face as you tapped at your phone, probably texting your agent.

“Wait, is that-” But Spencer didn’t let Emily finish.

“Y/N!” he called as he pushed through the doors into the bullpen.

Your head shot up at the sound of your boyfriend’s voice, a huge smile growing on your face. You dropped your phone onto the desk (your agent could wait) and rushed over to him. Completely ignoring the fact that his team was a few steps behind him, you threw your arms around Spencer, wrapping your legs around him too when he picked you up. He began to spin you around, causing you to shriek in glee.

Finally, he put you down. You started to move away, but he surprised you by putting his hands on either side of your face and connecting your lips. You smiled into the kiss, so happy to finally be back with your boyfriend.

“Does anyone else feel like they’re missing something?” You two broke apart at the sound his coworker’s voice. You smiled shyly at the man who had just spoke, Rossi you assumed, based on Spencer’s stories about his team.

“Everyone, I’d like you meet Y/N. My girlfriend.” The team looked between Spencer, who was looking at you like you were the only thing that mattered, and you. You could feel the blush on your face, but that didn’t stop your own goofy love-struck grin.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you guys,” you finally said. “I’ve heard so much about you all.”

“We can’t say the same,” the blonde, JJ, slowly replied. You could feel Spencer shift uncomfortably beside you, before he pulled you even closer to his side.

“That’s my fault,” you said before Spencer could say anything. “I wanted to keep our relationship a secret so it didn’t get out to the media.”

“That’s not entirely true,” Spencer corrected you quickly. “I wanted to make sure that Y/N didn’t get targeted by anyone because of my job. She didn’t want anyone targeting me because of her job. It was a mutual decision.”

“And you couldn’t even tell us?” JJ asked. You could tell, even without knowing her, that she was hurt. You knew that she was Spencer’s best friend, so it was understandable. In fact, every face was looking at the two of you with some mixture of confusion, surprise, and hurt.

“I didn’t want to risk it,” Spencer said uncomfortably. “I figured that the more people who knew, the more likely it would be to get out. Y/N already had to tell some people, so I didn’t want to add to the list.”

“I only told my agent, my assistant, and my security team. And I only told my security team because they thought they caught Spencer trying to break into my house one day.”

Spencer’s face went bright red as he remembered that failed surprise. “I think we need to hear that story sometime.” The rest of the team quickly agreed with Prentiss. It seemed, for now at least, they would let the whole secret thing go.

“What are you doing here?” Spencer asked suddenly. “Not that I’m not happy to see you. I am. You’re supposed to be in LA filming.”

You grinned mischievously at him. “I managed to get the filming schedule rearranged a bit, so I could finish early. I shot my last scene this morning, then went straight to the airport. I wanted to surprise you, so we could finally spend an anniversary together.”

“When do you leave again?” The softness of Spencer’s voice broke your heart. He was preparing himself for you usual answer. You’d be here for a week or two and then have to leave again. But not this time.

“Not for months.” A smile of disbelief spread across Spencer’s face. “I’ll have to go to LA and New York for a few days here and there, but nothing long term. I want to be here with you.”

The two of you had, once again, forgotten that Spencer’s team was standing in front of you. It was so easy to get wrapped up in one another when you were both used to being alone together.

“Did I hear something about an anniversary?” Rossi asked, shaking the two of you out of your little bubble.

“It’ll be three years tomorrow.” You grinned up at your boyfriend. It was the first anniversary you would get to spend together.

“Let me host a dinner for you,” Rossi offered. “I’ll make one of my famous meals. We can break out some nice wine that I’ve been saving for a special occasion.”

Spencer began to shake his head, but you grabbed his arm and gasped. “Spencer please,” you begged. “You know I’ve always wanted to go to a dinner at Rossi’s place. You only talk about them all the time. Please. Please. Please.” Spencer finally gave in to your pleading, nodding reluctantly.

You hugged him in excitement before moving to properly introduce yourself to his friends. As you chatted with them, you could hear the clicking of approaching heels.

“My favorite crime fighters will be unhappy to know that I haven’t been able to find anything about Y/N Y/L/N’s secret boyfriend.” You looked up at the brightly dressed woman, definitely Garcia, who had just walked into the bullpen.

“Actually, baby girl, I think we figured that one out ourselves.” Garcia looked up from her phone at Derek’s words. Her eyes widened as she saw you standing among her coworkers.

“Wha-? Who? How? What?” she stammered. In response, you grabbed Spencer’s hand, pulling him closer to you. He wrapped an arm around you, grinning apologetically at Garcia. “Spencer Reid, I would be so mad at you if I wasn’t so happy about meeting Y/N.” Without wasting another second, she rushed over and hugged you. You laughed at the look of jealously on Spencer’s face as you were taken from his arms. This would take some getting used to.

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

You smiled happily, watching Spencer’s friends laugh at a story you had just finished. “I think this was a much better anniversary than burning dinner and then ordering takeout would have been,” you whispered to your boyfriend. Rossi’s food had not disappointed. Nor had his wine. You were feeling comfortably warm as you cuddled up with your boyfriend.

“It’s what we would have done after dinner that I was looking forward to.” You tried not to shiver at Spencer’s words.

“There will be plenty of time for that,” you reminded him. “I’m glad I’m getting to know your friends. They’re so important to you.”

“I’m glad they’re getting to know you. I think you all will be friends. That might not be good for me though.” You laughed at the embarrassed look on your boyfriend’s face. His friends had plenty of embarrassing stories about him, so you had been swapping stories all night.

It was easy for the team to see how absolutely in love the two of you were. Even if they hadn’t been profilers, the looks you two shared were so obvious. What had surprised them was how open Spencer was to your touch. In fact, he was the one initiating most your contact. You had been prepared to control yourself for the sake of Spencer’s professionalism, but he didn’t seem to have the same thought. Any time he could, he would grab your hand or wrap his arms around you.

That was how you had gotten to be cuddled up next to him. After dinner, the party had moved outside. You had been heading for a seat in between Emily and Penelope when Spencer’s hand had reached out and grabbed yours, pulling you onto the outdoor sofa beside him. Not that you were complaining. So you had stayed like that the rest of the night, leaning comfortably into your boyfriend’s side.

A couple weeks later, you posted a picture that Penelope had taken of the two of like that onto your social medias. It was time to introduce the world to your boyfriend.

#spencer reid #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid fic #criminal minds #criminal minds fic #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #matthew gray gubler #mgg #mgg fic #spencer reid x you #calwrites #spencer reid fanfiction #criminal minds fanfiction

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famedbasearchive · 4 years

Photo

BASE TV: SECRET SIBLING AUDITIONS

Show Type: Reality show

Inspirations: Secret Unnie, Celebrity Bromance

Filming Duration: August through October 2020

Limitations: Open to all muses not competing on Our Songs.

Deadline: August 4, 11:59PM EDT

At the beginning of July, idols under all three companies are informed about casting for a new show: Secret Siblings. The concept of the show is to have pairs of one younger idol and one older idol come together and bond over their shared concerns and empathize with one another as they get to know each other.

If an idol is interested or if management deems it a beneficial job, they may submit an audition for the show.

IN ‘VERSE INFO

If an idol is interested in joining the cast or if they are specifically asked to send in an audition by management, they will be requested to record the following casting information, in addition to filling out a cast survey:

1) A self-cam video answering the following questions:

What are your concerns these days?

Which (same-sex) idols do you look up to or want to get to know better?

Do idol schedules make it hard for you to meet up with friends and talk? If yes, do you feel that is hard on you? If no, how do you manage to make time?

food tw // If you could create your ideal menu for a meal with a friend, what would it include?

2) A one minute or shorter voice recording greeting their unknown secret sibling. Idols have freedom with this as long as it’s appropriate, but are encouraged to reflect their personalities as much as possible. This voice recording will be given to their secret sibling if they are cast to reveal their identity.

Casting will be confirmed at a later date.

OUT OF ‘VERSE INFO

Please be aware that if you sign up to have your muse considered to be a part of the main cast for Secret Sibling, you are expected to be able and willing to try to fulfill monthly prompts and plan on being active for the majority of the run of the show. Since muses are paired up for this event, it’s very important to have active members participating in it so that everyone has a chance to participate. If you’re anticipating an extended period of low activity some time in the next three to four months, it may be best to sit this one out! There will be more opportunities in the future!

If you’re interested in having your muse participate in this opportunity, there are two steps.

STEP ONE: If you are interested in your muse being part of the main cast, please fill out this survey here (mostly) in-character. This will be your official expression of interest for the event but step two must also be completed in addition to step one order to officially enter your muse into consideration for being cast as a main cast member!

You may submit multiple muses for consideration to be cast in this Base event on separate forms, but muns will only have multiple muses cast if there are remaining open spots. Please submit your muses in order of casting priority (first submission should be the muse you’d like prioritized for casting).

STEP TWO: Write a solo completing both the casting video prompt and the greeting voice recording prompt in the in-character information above with a character count of at least 400 words and tag it with #fmdsecretaudition. You will have until Tuesday, August 4 at 11:59PM EDT to complete this step. You may earn three points once for completing this and it will not count toward your month limit.

Note: For this show, step two can be completed without step one for the points if you do not wish for your muse to actually became a main cast member, just make sure not to complete step one if that’s the case! This can be done for muns that don’t want their muse to be a part of the main cast!

Any further questions should be directed to the main’s ask box!

GUIDELINES

CASTING:

Tentatively, up to twenty muses will be able to be cast on the show for up to ten pairs. If the interested muses who complete both steps by the designated date exceeds twenty or if the number submitted cannot make equal pairs, the cast will be decided by random generator for fairness (using the first priority muse for anyone who submits for multiple muses).

Additional casting opportunities for later in the show as cameos may become available at a later date.

LINKS

**Full Show Information**

Casting Form

POINTS AVAILABLE

Total available points: 3 points (Please note these points are available for all muses, whether signing up to be main cast for the event or not.)

+3 points: Complete step two listed above and post it in the #fmdsecretaudition tag by Tuesday, August 4, at 11:59PM EDT to qualify for points.

#fmdbase #fmdbasetv #fmdsecretsibling #queued post

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lilithsgayadoptednephew · 4 years

Text

To Be Daumerling

Fandoms: Shall We Date?: Obey Me! Not Rated Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings M/M Complete Work

Master List

Chapter 11

He was still small.

Not that he'd ever been a big guy but... standing before the man who'd done this. He felt small as a mouse.

When the angels had returned him to his original size he was relieved. So relieved he practically jumped up and down in celebration. He reached for high shelves, picked up chairs just because he could, and yelled.

Good Lord he screamed.

Finally after 6 days, he could be heard.

When he spoke people responded, their voices didn't rattle him, he spoke and raised his volume until they were the ones covering their ears. Needless to say they were kicked out of the library. It felt so good to be back he didn't even think as he hugged Lucifer around the neck.

Lucifer was stunned, his first instinct to push the human away. But he didn't. He stood for a moment and felt MCs body pressed against his. Still much shorter than Lucifer, but not nearly as small as the last few days. His bones so breakable yet he stretched his arms up to meet the demon with no fear or restraint. Lucifer wrapped his limbs around the human's waist and felt MCs weight settle in his arms. At normal size he fit perfectly, like a puzzle piece.

They said their thanks to the angels and returned to the Devildom to confront the culprit. Now they stood before Diavolo himself. They'd found him in the very same room where everything had started. Staring forlornly at the model castle by the empty fireplace. His expression when they greeted him wasn't surprised, just displeased.

MC felt very small indeed under the disappointed gaze of the Devildom prince, but he felt a shift. Glancing down for less than a moment, he saw something that made his heart grow. Lucifer had lightly linked his pinky with MCs, a quiet reminder he wasn't going to leave the human to an uncertain fate.

MC returned his gaze to the prince and suddenly it didn't seem so piercing. Suddenly Diavolo didn't look so big.

"I should've figured out sooner exactly where you'd gone…" Diavolo practically whispered, casting his gaze down to the week old remains of the shattered wine bottle on the carpet. Lucifer looked away but did not apologize. "How could you have betrayed me?" Diavolo spoke as Caesar might have to Brutus.

"I didn't know it was your doing" Lucifer defended sharply, Diavolo just narrowed his eyes. "At first…" the proud demon admitted reluctantly. Diavolo shook his head violently, advancing a few steps.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was? I thought I'd lost him in the Devildom. I thought I'd killed him, Lucifer!" Diavolo was in full demon mode now, his voice breaking like a vase on tile. Lucifer's eyes blew wide...he did understand. He thought he'd killed MC in the drain. His resolve snapped as he heard his friends desperate anger at what Lucifer had done.

"My... Diavolo I'm sorry." He breathed, but he couldn't bring himself to say any more. It wouldn't have done any good. Diavolo was about to continue yelling when MC stepped between the demons.

Lucifer's resolve was failing, but MC was unmoved.

"You shrank me" MC hissed, Diavolo blinked at the sudden change in conversation.

"MC this isn't about you" he dismissed, but MC was not impressed.

"Not about me?" He hissed and took a step closer. Lucifer put a hand on his shoulder.

"MC let me handle this–"

" Sit down " MCs voice struck the demon like a backhand and he immediately dropped into the armchair beside him. Diavolo took a step back in shock. MC took a moment to calm his shaking limbs before practically falling to his knees in apology. "Lucifer I...I'm so sorry I have no excuse."

"It's ok"

"–i didn't even think I–what?"

"It's alright" Lucifer's voice held an emotion MC was certain didn't actually exist. Carefully he stood back up.

"I...well….ok if you say so…" he turned cautiously back to Diavolo.

Lucifer's head spun. The craziest things happened around MC. Like shrinking really small, or making him feel even smaller, but this was by far the craziest.

MC hadn't used the pact.

Returning his attention to Diavolo MC felt his rightious anger return.

"You were going to keep me prisoner. Alone. Possibly forever." He accused, pointing a finger. Diavolo's offence was painfully evident in his face.

"Alone? I was going to keep you safe here with me!" He shouted. "you should be fucking honored." His voice seemed to layer menicingly as he stared down at the human. MCs gaze did not waver.

"Thank you"

Diavolo opened his mouth to retaliate but stopped short.

"Excuse me?"

"Thank you" MC repeated. "I know you don't go to these lengths for just anyone, so thank you but I must decline." He continued. Diavolo opened and closed his mouth for a moment before responding.

"You can't just decline"

"Yes I can, it's called a human right" MC said simply. Diavolo seemed to calm visibly, he really was interested in human culture.

"What's that?"

"It's one of the many rights I have as a human. 'no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile'" Lucifer closed his eyes in embarrassment, was the human actually trying to envoke human laws? Diavolo looked at the ground, then back at MC.

"You think I'm... imprisoning you?" He sounded really genuinely hurt, MC sighed.

"Well aren't you? To keep someone against their will is false imprisonment at best." His voice was calculated as he made his case. "And since you moved me from the house of Lamentation to do it, I'd say it's kidnapping at worst."

"But you're just a human, you don't even know what's good for you" his voice was grossly sympathetic.

"The first right disagrees, see we are all born free and equal with our own thoughts and ideas" he spat back readily.

"Maybe on earth, but in my kingdom you don't have a clue. Like a silly pet" he cooed.

"Again wrong, 'Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.' human right number 6"

"Says who?!" Diavolo whined.

"The United Nations" MC deadpanned, Diavolo rolled his eyes.

"You're not going to win this argument."

"Why? My case is airtight and backed by the law. Honestly I can't believe I have to spell it out that you can't shrink people and keep them in isolation" MC laughed. Diavolo grimaced.

"It's not isolation! You have me"

"Well I need more than that." MC shot, no longer caring if he hurt the prince's feelings. Diavolo winced like MC hit him. "Anyone would need more than one person in their life"

"What about three?" Diavolo asked quietly. MC was thrown, that was a random number.

"Three isn't enough either" MC said at length. Diavolo looked back up at him.

"Barbatos, Lucifer, and my father." Diavolo said quietly. Lucifer looked down at the sound of his own name. MC raised an eyebrow. "Though I suppose...my father isn't much of a person anymore." He laughed mirthlessly. MCs eyes widened as he understood.

"Those...those are the only people you talk to?" He asked incredulously. Diavolo's ears turned pink.

"No no! I throw parties and galas and talk to lots of people... business people…" he trailed off. MC leaned against the chair Lucifer sat in.

"So you only have three friends" MC corrected himself. Diavolo still looked embarrassed.

"Barbatos has no interest in being more than my servant, my father is definitely not a friend, and Lucifer?" He looked at the offending demon sadly and Lucifer held his gaze. "I can't grasp exactly what I am to you honestly" he admitted.

Like invisible ink exposed by heat, a different picture of Diavolo's intention began to form. He was lonely. Who knows how long it had been this bad, he was so lonely he tried to trap a friend.

MC looked around the room and suddenly Diavolo's castle felt much larger, much emptier. It eerily resembled the soulless foam and card castle MC had walked through that first night he was small.

Suddenly he missed the house of Lamentation. The family dinners and continuously lively halls. Always someone waiting to drag MC away for something or another. That house was his home, he couldn't imagine living like the prince.

"Do you have to live here?" He asked cautiously. Diavolo looked up from his inner musing and blinked.

"Why?"

"This place is the problem, you're trapped here. Can't you live somewhere else?"

"Where would I go?" Diavolo asked quizzically. MC threw a pointed look at Lucifer and he stood suddenly.

"No no no, MC what you're suggesting is out of the question." Lucifer dismissed.

"Why?" MC asked innocently.

"Because there's already too many of us" he reasoned.

"You welcomed me readily" MC twirled a strand of hair. Diavolo's eyes lit up as he caught on.

"But...we have no extra rooms" Lucifer said resolutely.

"I could have MCs old room" Diavolo pleaded.

"No I'm staying too" MC waved his hand at the prince.

"You can't, not whi–"

"You shrank me and kidnapped me" MC stayed flatly.

"Yes b–"

"You owe me" MC insisted. Diavolo grumbled playfully but relented. "Consider me an immigrant, official resident of the Devildom."

"No!" Lucifer interrupted. "We simply do not have the space or accommodation for anyone else. That is the end of it." He crossed his arms, effectively ending the discussion.

0Diavolo was moved in by the weekend.

MCs room was completely taken over by the prince in his excitement to live anywhere with roommates. He had to seriously thin out his luggage when he realized he would only have one room to himself, but he loved everything about it. "The real housemate experience" he called it.

Lucifer was less than thrilled to have his boss living with him, but Diavolo's enthusiasm eventually grew on him. At the end of the day he couldn't let the prince continue living in his empty castle after learning just how lonely he was. Yet one problem still remained.

Where to put MC?

Naturally every brother volunteered to share their room, some even fighting over the opportunity. In the end Lucifer trumped all of them declaring MC would move in with him.

At first this was exciting but...MC wanted his own space. He'd shared rooms before with siblings and whatnot but never someone as possessive and pushy as Lucifer. As patient as MC was, Lucifer simply was not a good prospective roommate.

He was thinking about the situation and coming to terms with it as he walked down the halls. Alone since many of the brothers were on the town or in their rooms.

Light from the artificial Devildom sky glowed softly through the window, casting peach patches onto the carpeted hall floor. His privacy and solitude were things he'd always cherished, that's why he chose this remote hallway for his walks. He'd walked it before but never had he stumbled as he did now. Feet fumbling over each other to regain balance he careened right into a bookshelf. Dust filled the air as the ancient structure toppled to the floor.

"Damn" MC rubbed his head and began gauging how heavy the shelf was. Maybe he could set it back up. It must have been there for a long time since the wallpaper behind the shelf was a completely different color.

No not wallpaper, a door.

Reaching cautiously to the knob the curiosity got the best of him. Carefully he stepped inside. He felt at the wall in the dark for the lightswitch. Flipping it he saw something unexpected but familiar.

Liliths room.

He had no idea there was another door to the deceased angels tomb. The white sheets covering the furniture swayed like ghosts as he padded quietly through the room. Warm and inviting scents of dust greeted him, as if the room was happy to see him. In an instant his decision was made.

0His eyes rested on the intricate woodwork of his floor. His wake up call was on its way and he wouldn't budge until it arrived.

The delicate clicking and squeaking of the bats outside the window were more melodious to his ears than any morning birdsong. He waited in content silence.

Knock knock knock knock

Mammon knocked four times before swinging into the room. Still in his pajamas.

"MC! You better get up cause it was your favorite Mammon's turn to make breakfast." He plopped down on the edge of the bed and waited as MC ran a comb through his hair.

Every Saturday morning Mammon sprinted all the way to MC's room to wake him up for breakfast. The door MC had found on his walk all those months ago was pretty out of the way so he appreciated the demon's enthusiasm. He was among the first to get used to the idea of MC taking Liliths room.

As they made the trek back to the kitchen MC couldn't help but smile to himself. He had a tournament to continue with Levi after breakfast, then he was going to check out the new book cafe that just opened with Satan. Nothing was so perfect as a lazy weekend with the family.

As the smell of bacon met his senses and the sound of breakfast chatter grew louder, MC closed his eyes. Walking without haste, He felt found.

#obey me!#obey me fanfic #To Be Daumerling

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marquisoforder · 5 years

Text

Mister Fahrenheit.

“I'm burnin' through the sky, yeah

Two hundred degrees

That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit.”

- Don’t stop me now.

Queen

It was sheer luck that Magnus heard the doorbell over the deafening den of the party.

To be quite honest, he didn’t really have a reason to throw a party all of a sudden but with the news of everything happening in the world, the Mundane illness and the rumors of rogue vigilante Shadowhunters, he felt that he needed a little pick me up. Everybody needed a pick me up during these times. A little escape from the grimness of the real world. And when the word got out, swarms of Downworlders had come, each with lines of frustration, fear and uncertainty etched on to their faces; lines that disappeared once two shots of fairy gin went down and the upbeat rock music brought the now loosened limbs to the dance floor. And the influx of the guests did not cease. They kept coming in packs and twos and individually; vamps, werewolves, fairies, a couple of warlocks and one or two disgruntled mundanes who had been swept in with the crowd.

Magnus opened the door for the hundredth time that night, expecting another random face he remembered from some rave or another but couldn’t quite place, and stopped mid motion, the face staring up at him bringing back a flood of emotions and memories.

“Hello dah-ling!” The man with the mustache smiled, a quick, self-conscious flash of teeth that disappeared as soon as it came.

“Freddie,” Magnus breathed. “Freddie fucking Mercury. It has been so long.”

The man nodded but flinched visibly when the loud song playing in the party came to a louder end, enabling cheers from the throng of drunk downworlders inside.

“Come on in,” Magnus pulled him in by the hand and absent mindedly noticed how it felt a little different, a little thinner, perhaps?

“It sure is loud in here!” Magnus could faintly hear Freddie yelling as he dragged him through the throbbing crowd of swaying bodies, towards the bar in the corner of the room.

“It’s to drown the wailing of the damned.” Magnus grinned as they reached the bar and grabbed a couple of seats for them. The bartender, a fairy with shiny silver hair and striking lilac eyes (no whites at all) winked at Magnus before pouring both of them some dangerously shiny and equally slimy fairy drink that Magnus had no intentions of drinking. He left the drink alone and turned his full attention on the mundane in front of him, staring at the shiny green drink as if it had done him some personal wrong.

“What brings you here, Freddie?” Magnus smiled, laying a hand on his arm. “Surely the news of my little rave didn’t reach you all the way across the pond in England!”

“I was actually in the area,” Freddie replied, a faraway look in his eyes. “I wanted to see you. To talk to you about something. Didn’t expect to walk into a fucking rave at one A.M on a Wednesday night.”

There was a certain bitterness to his voice that made Magnus snap into sharp attention. It wasn’t ordinary for Freddie to be bitter. Sarcastic, yes. A little biting? Sure. But bitter? That was something entirely new for Freddie Mercury.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Magnus asked gently, in the tone of a man trying to sooth a child. Freddie seemed to notice the change as a line on his forehead disappeared as he turned around to look Magnus in the eye.

“FREDDIE MERCURY?”

The Mundie was so loud his voice was almost heard over the sound of the amplified music. In any case it was loud enough to draw the attention of the crowd nearby. They descended on the celebrity like a bunch of starved paparazzi, asking for autographs, touching his jacket sleeve, (fairies. No consideration for personal space.) clamoring for a song and just generally yelling to get his attention.

Freddie looked half dead as he stared at Magnus for one long moment, but as he turned back to face the crowd of fans his countenance underwent a complete change. His eyes lit up with an energy that was hard to fake and the corners of his mouth tugged upwards into a smirk that dripped confidence.

It was like watching someone cast a glamor over themselves. A mask being pulled over the true visage. A curtain of bright happiness closing over a tragedy on stage.

Freddie stood up and beamed, talking to some people and signing things for others. Voices yelled and begged for a song. The dance floor gradually emptied as everyone gravitated towards the attraction of the night. Magnus felt the first light grasps of an oncoming headache.

“Freddie, give us a song!”

“Mr. Mercury can you sign my T shirt?”

“Sing something!”

“Freddie!”

“Freddie Mercury!”

“Freddie!”

The young performer turned to Magnus and nodded. It was all the initiative he needed to wave his bejeweled hand in a sweeping motion. He watched with disinterest as the familiar blue sparks flew and a grand piano appeared on an elevated stage in the middle of the dance floor. Freddie made his way to the beauty with a light spring in his step and ran a teasing hand over the keyboard before settling down. He hesitated for a moment before his fingers started the complicated dance across the keyboard, and a familiar tune filled the air.

“Tonight I’m gonna have myself, a real good time…” The hauntingly beautiful voice rang out and the bodies all around Magnus started swaying to the rhythm, almost as if an enchantment had been casted over all of them. Then again Magnus supposed Freddie’s voice was a magic of its own kind.

The tune picked up the pace and Magnus watched in fascination as Freddie’s long skillful fingers waltzed across the piano keys, the movement every bit as feverish as the gleam in his eyes. Magnus knew something was wrong. He felt it in his bones as he watched the young man perform, effortlessly exuding waves of uncontained enthusiasm that seemed to make the very air around him drunk. When Magnus let his body move to the rhythm it was like setting a bird free. His heart beat in his throat as his body found an output to all the frustration, pent up feelings and foreboding he had felt in the past weeks.

So he danced, hips swaying to the rhythm as he just let go. He had acquired an eager partner from the crowd though he had no idea how she came to be in his arms. Yet it was relieving. To be in the arms of a stranger, without a care in the world about what has happened or might happen. For that infinite moment, Magnus was Mr. Fahrenheit, with all the reckless abandon of a shooting star and the chaotic energy of a racing car passing by.

When the song came to its soothing end, made even softer by Freddie’s pensive voice, Magnus felt tears prick at his eyes. He did not know why, but everyone in the room seemed to be frozen in place, as if a prophet had revealed a dark and lovely Truth that left them entranced.

Freddie got up and bowed. The room erupted in cheers. But Freddie payed no mind as he made his direct way to Magnus and grabbed his hand.

“Come with me,” He said and dragged the dazed warlock towards the bedroom. His feverish eyes shone with a desperation that Magnus had seen before countless times on many faces.

It was a drowning man’s last cry for help.

Realization dawned on Magnus with the brutal force of a thousand meteors. Even as he was pulled into the room and the door closed behind them, he knew what Freddie was going to say.

“I’ve got it. The sickness. AIDS.” The blow was no less gentle after all the time Magnus had heard those words. “But you can make it better right, Magnus?” That was always the hardest. He couldn’t. He couldn’t make it better. The Angel knows he had tried. But there was a limit to what he could do in healing magic. Even Catarina, who was adept at healing had not figured out way to cure this demented illness. It was akin to a curse in its cruelty. And no man or warlock alive could make it better.

“Magnus?” The man pleaded, his eyes big and luminous on his face. “Please you have to!”

Magnus sat down on his bed, helpless, sad and bitter. It wasn’t fair. He had helplessly watched innocent men and women die and he had to watch yet another friend succumb to that terrible, wasting disease.

“Freddie, I’m sorry...” He spoke softly, as one would do when they take away a man’s last hope at life. “I cannot cure you. It is beyond my abilities.”

He watched as Hope drained out of Freddie’s face, leaving a trail of anger, desperation and frustration that finally turned into defeated acceptance. It was hard for Magnus to watch. Here was a man once so full of life he had brought stadiums full of people to their feet dancing with nothing but his voice. This was a man who had danced the night away with Magnus in countless parties, a man he had shared stories, sorrows and drunken kisses with. He was Freddie. And he was dying. But there was nothing Magnus could do.

So he did the only thing he could do; something so small and trivial in the face of what he wished he could do. He got up and walked over to the hunching man and engulfed him in a hug. As if on cue Freddie broke down in deep sobs that shook his frame and left him wheezing.

They stood there, the man and the warlock, in each other’s arms, buried deep in thoughts about how the other deserved so much better than what life gave them. And they stayed like that, in an embrace they both dreaded might be their last, for a long long time.

@shinyun--jung oh wait, did I forget to mention the Freddie fic was angst?

#magnus bane #tsc #shadowhunters #tmi #tda #tec #freddie mercury #Queen #fic #shtv #Bohemian Rhapsody #dee's drabbles #malec #the bane chronicles #tbc

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trans-advice · 5 years

Link

Actor Michael D. Cohen Has Something to Share: ‘I Transitioned’

Actor Michael D. Cohen in Burbank, Calif. on April 16, 2019.

“We need more sweat!”

On that command, a production assistant takes a spray bottle filled with glycerin and scurries over to actor Michael D. Cohen, making his bald head glisten as a crew stands by at a studio in Burbank, Calif. They’re filming the fifth season of Henry Danger, a farcical superhero saga that is Nickelodeon’s longest running live-action sitcom. In it, Cohen plays a character named Schwoz, a quirky genius who aids the show’s good guys much as Q aids James Bond. In this scene, as a goof, Schwoz is leading some of the show’s younger actors through an aerobic workout. Cameras roll as Cohen, clad in spandex and now suitably sweaty, breaks into action. “Your life begins where your comfort zone ends!” he barks while huffing through the routine.

It’s just a line that Cohen is delivering in his character’s silly accent. But it also expresses an idea that the actor has come to understand intimately, one he is ready to embrace again, whatever it might mean for his future. Spurred in part by the political climate — which in recent years has seen fraught public reckonings around issues related to gender — Cohen wants to publicly disclose a private fact that he has been sharing with colleagues on the set of Henry Danger: Nearly twenty years ago, he transitioned from female to male.

“I was misgendered at birth,” Cohen says. “I identify as male, and I am proud that I have had a transgender experience — a transgender journey.”

Today, there are more actors than ever who are open about having had, as Cohen puts it, a transgender journey. This is in part because there is a proliferation of shows, including Pose and Transparent, that are portraying nuanced transgender characters. But Cohen is rare in that he worked in the entertainment industry for more than two decades before he chose to make this disclosure.

In many ways, the environment is far more welcoming than it was when Cohen first transitioned, back when issues of gender identity were largely relegated to spectacles like The Jerry Springer Show. In Hollywood, figures like Laverne Cox and Asia Kate Dillon have nabbed major roles, helping to shift mindsets among producers and audiences alike. More broadly, there is unprecedented awareness about LGBTQ issues, in courts and legislatures as well as the cultural zeitgeist. Yet that visibility has also spurred backlash from conservatives who cast transgender and gender nonconforming people as a threat to societal norms.

Cohen does not use the word transgender to describe himself, but he does view himself as part of a community that typically embraces that label, and he didn’t feel he could be an outspoken advocate until he made his history known. The actor has grown restless while watching the Trump administration roll back protections for transgender people in schools and the military, as Republicans have fought bills that would protect them from discrimination in public spaces.

“This crazy backlash and oppression of rights is happening right in front of me. I can’t stay silent,” Cohen says. “The level of — let’s be polite — misunderstanding around trans issues is so profound and so destructive. When you disempower one population, you disempower everybody.”

It’s a chilly April evening in L.A., and I’m sitting with Cohen on the otherwise empty patio of a sleek restaurant on Sunset Boulevard. One of the first things you notice about him is the same thing casting directors do: he’s short, just over five feet tall. Tonight, his big eyes are framed under a flat cap and he’s sporting salt-and-pepper stubble that will be shaved before filming starts the next day. As we talk, Cohen has a tendency to fiddle with the cuff of his blue blazer. The Canadian-born actor also has a tendency to crack jokes, displaying the comedic talents that have propelled his career. When asked about how it’s been having the name Michael Cohen lately, for instance, he says that he’s had it: “I’m thinking of changing my name to Paul Manafort.”

Today, a central struggle for openly transgender actors is combatting the expectation that they should play transgender characters. If Cohen has been hemmed in, it’s only by the perception that he’s a character actor — a type of thespian he defines as “not good looking enough to sleep with a leading woman.”

He recalls watching The Carol Burnett Show as a kid in Winnipeg, marveling at the way that television can be unifying for people laughing together on a couch “regardless of whatever else is happening in that family unit.” Though Cohen always wanted to be an actor, there was a time early in his career when he focused on behind-the-scenes work and voice acting instead. “I think I loved acting so much,” he says, “that I didn’t want to do it as a woman.” Eventually, his love of acting won out. Cohen played female roles until he transitioned in 2000, a process that, in his case, involved medical treatment as well as changes in how he presented himself socially.

Some years later, Cohen left the studios of Toronto for Hollywood and started landing roles at a greater clip. In 2014, he began appearing on Henry Danger. Today, more than 750,000 kids tune in to watch the sitcom each week. According to Nickelodeon — which, along with parent company Viacom, shares wholehearted support for Cohen and “diversity in all its forms” — it’s the number one live-action kids’ show on basic cable. Adults may have seen Cohen elsewhere, on sitcoms like Powerless, in films or commercials like a Wendy’s “Biggie Bag” spot that has been airing recently.

Actor Michael D. Cohen on the set of Henry Danger in Burbank, Calif. on April 16, 2019.

Ryan Pfluger for TIME

Another reason Cohen wants to publicly talk about his history now is that he is preparing to put on a new production, a play about his life that has been in the making for the past fifteen years. In the one-man show that he wrote and stars in — called “4 Cubits Make a Man,” a reference to Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous Vitruvian specimen — he chronicles how he came to grips with his identity, as well as how he navigated family, romantic relationships and widespread ideas about what makes someone a man.

“It is not random, it is not arbitrary, it is not chosen,” he says of gender identity. “It’s like trying to negotiate with gravity.”

The play, funny enough to get the audience through the raw pain of many scenes, centers on this tension. “In my experience, I was born male. What my body said about it was irrelevant,” Cohen says. “No matter how hard I tried, it was not up for negotiation. Believe me, it would have been so convenient if I was actually a woman.”

People like him are not, as some social conservatives have suggested in fiery debates about LGBTQ rights, the product of “radical ideology” spreading around the Internet or a figment of anyone’s imagination, he says. “My chromosomes do not dictate my gender. I’m a man,” Cohen says. “It’s not that hard.”

In the play, Cohen also explains why he does not describe himself as transgender.

He understands that this word is commonly used by people who identify with a gender other than the sex they were assigned at birth. Many people “feel that does reflect their identity and they’re very comfortable with that, and that’s completely valid,” he says. But, for him, the term feels off, and he does not want to make compromises about how he describes himself at this point in his life. “I have worked so hard to get to the truth and I’ve taken on labels in the past that didn’t feel true for the sake of convenience at that moment,” he says. While the word transgender may describe his past or his transition, he says, he has always felt his “core being” was male, and so that is the language he uses.

Cohen knows that may seem complicated. But that comes with the territory. He believes that animus toward people like him — however they identify — comes in part from the fact that their existence complicates simple maxims about gender. That is part of what has made transgender people a target in political battles over issues like the sports, religious freedom and civil rights. And Cohen wants to stand with them. “These are my people. I belong to this group,” he says of Americans who have been affected by policies like the Trump Administration’s guidance on Title IX, the law that prohibits sex discrimination in education.

Though Nickelodeon has been supportive, Cohen knows this is a complicated time to be making this disclosure in Hollywood, too. The entertainment industry continues to grapple with what it means to be inclusive, and while LGBTQ issues are intermingling with kids’ programming more than in the past, sensitivities remain. Cohen is hopeful about the message that his continued presence on the show — which has filmed more than 100 episodes and was recently picked up for 10 more — will send to young viewers who are attuned to issues of gender identity. Yet he is also prepared for backlash from parents.

“People don’t understand. They think this has to do with sexuality and it doesn’t. They think this has to do with pushing an agenda on kids and it doesn’t,” he says. “What it does is send a message to kids that whoever they are, however they identify, that’s celebrated and valued and okay.”

There’s something about Cohen that kids respond to, the producers of Henry Danger say. Maybe it’s his small stature. Maybe it’s his talent for physical comedy. Maybe it’s the feeling that Schwoz is a fantastical bridge between the grownup and kid worlds.

Chris Nowak, the showrunner for Henry Danger, says that colleagues respect what Cohen has told them but continue to see him as they always have: “Just a guy who’s real good at his job.” Jace Norman, a teen heartthrob who plays the show’s protagonist, Henry Hart, says in an email that the news “didn’t change anything about the high level of respect and admiration I have for the guy,” and thinks “it’s in the best interest of the entire world to have every type of person represented on TV.”

On set, Cohen’s news seems to have been processed with little hubbub. Of far more concern is the timing for delivering jokes as he flees, still in his spandex getup, from a frazzled woman who has traveled back from the future to warn everyone that humanity will be enslaved by robots. As she pursues him, Schwoz zips frantically around the show’s secret superhero lair like he’s in a Benny Hill chase scene. In between takes, he jokes that, for this particular episode, he has been drawing inspiration from Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard.

However frivolous it is, when the episode airs, it will reflect a serious reality back to the actor: that the world sees him as he sees himself, a guy who plays another guy on TV. And he hopes that sharing the fuller picture might make the idea of disclosure less uncomfortable for others. “If I tell my truth,” Cohen says, “that gives other people permission to tell theirs too.”

Write to Katy Steinmetz at [email protected].

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adorkablephil · 6 years

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Fic: The Body Electric (5)

Title: The Body Electric Summary: Filmmaker Phil Lester finds his computer infected by a surprisingly endearing artificial intelligence virus that calls itself D.A.N. Phil just calls him Dan. Rating: Mature (The previous chapter—summarized below—contained an explicit sex scene, but none of the rest of the story is more than Teen-rated.) Word Count: 5.8k Tags: Phandom Reverse Bang, Science Fiction AU, Computers, Virus!Dan, Rather Unconventional Romance Thanks: This story was inspired by a prompt from the artist @lilacskylester in the @phandomreversebang . Their art for the fic is here! The story is straying from the original prompt, but that’s still where the inspiration came from. Summary of Previous Chapter: For anyone who chose to skip the previous chapter to avoid reading sex scenes, you need only know that Dan found VR equipment that allowed them to interact in a way that realistically simulated actual physical contact, and they had sex in virtual reality. You can also read the whole fic on AO3

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[ The Body Electric Chapter Masterlist ]

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Chapter 5: Not A Real Boy

Phil sat at his computer terminal, trying to finally get some work done, stretching his neck this way and that to try to get rid of the pain. The past two nights, he’d fallen asleep wearing the VR helmet after their energetic exertions, and it had been worth it, because it meant he got to fall asleep with Dan in his arms and wake up to Dan’s brown eyes gazing at him with open affection.

Not to mention the morning sex. Morning sex was always good.

Though he’d started to feel a little weird about the sex, to be honest. At first, it had just been excitingly different than what he was used to. They’d experimented with pretty darn everything Phil was willing to try, and it had been undeniably thrilling. But after the first several times it started feeling artificial. He started becoming more aware that it actually was artificial. It wasn’t real. This wasn’t what real sex was like. There were no gag reflexes, no fingers sticky with lube, no inconvenient wet spots on the sheets afterward, no need to clean up, no soreness the next day—none of the messiness that made sex physically, viscerally real.

He still wanted to have sex with Dan—the sex was still fantastic!—but there was a little voice in the back of Phil’s mind always reminding him that it wasn’t actually happening, that it was all fake. And that bothered him more and more.

But falling asleep with Dan in his arms didn’t feel that way. It felt wonderful, something he could never get enough of. Because, even if the sex was fake, the love was absolutely, undeniably real. He wanted to hold Dan close forever, and he knew Dan wanted the same.

Except that the helmet really wasn’t good for his neck. Or his spine. Or his head. And who knew what those electrodes were doing to his brain while he slept?

The first few weeks, he’d always remembered to disconnect the helmet and take it off before sleeping, but then he’d gotten lazy and accidentally fallen asleep holding Dan close in the virtual reality, and the experience had been so sweet that he couldn’t resist doing it again.

“You keep stretching your neck,” Dan pointed out unnecessarily. “You really need to take the helmet off before you fall asleep for the night, or you’re going to cause yourself permanent damage!”

Phil gazed at the less realistic version of his lover in the corner window on his screen and challenged, “You don’t like falling asleep with me?”

“I don’t sleep,” Dan admitted. “I just lie there and watch you.”

Phil blanched. “Well, that’s not creepy at all! What do you usually do when I’m sleeping, when I don’t have the helmet on?”

Dan shrugged one shoulder. “Scroll through aesthetic blogs on Tumblr. Do random Wikipedia searches. Listen to music on Spotify. Watch movies on Netflix. Or just rewatch your films, because I’ve seen them each multiple times.” Phil blushed a little at that. “Or I work on my own film. Sometimes.”

“You really did start work on making a film?” Phil asked with enthusiasm. He’d wondered about this often but hadn’t wanted to ask about it in case he hurt Dan’s feelings or made him feel pressured.

Dan nodded. “It isn’t very good, though. I keep deleting it and just starting over.”

Phil hesitated, wondering if he dared ask to see Dan’s work, then decided for the relatively neutral, “If you ever feel comfortable showing it to me, I’d love to see it.”

Dan turned his head aside in obvious embarrassment. “I wouldn’t want you to see how bad it is.”

“I love you,” Phil reminded him. “And I believe in you. I think if you keep working on it, you’ll get to a point where you’re at least willing to let me look at it. And then maybe I can give you some editing tips if you need them.”

Dan nodded, smiling shyly. “I’ll … let you know. If I’m ready.”

“No pressure,” Phil assured him. “I just wanted to encourage you, because I think you could probably make something really great, and I’d love to see it someday.”

“Don’t set your expectations too high,” Dan insisted.

Phil shook his head. “No expectations. No expectations except that you’re smart and I love you, so I’ll probably love anything you make.”

Dan rolled his eyes. “You’re a sap.”

“I’m going to go get the helmet, okay?” Phil really wanted to be with his lover for a little while. Seeing him in a window on the computer screen only served to remind him how much better it was when they were together.

“You were in the middle of working,” Dan reminded him with obvious disapproval. “You keep putting that aside to spend time with me, and you can’t spend all your time frolicking in bed. You still have a project to finish. And I think it’s going really well!”

Phil bit his lip. “Could you … could you not look at the film while I’m still working on it? I don’t normally show my work to anyone until I have at least a complete rough cut. It makes me self-conscious to know that you’re looking at the editing while I’m doing it.”

“Of course,” Dan agreed, looking a bit chastened with his eyes cast down. “It’s just like with my film. I’ll show it to you when I feel ready, and you let me know when you’re ready to show me the deep water film.” Dan looked up, face more composed. “Does this one have a name yet?”

“No. I’m just calling it ’Scrambled Eggs.’ It’s stupid. It’s just…”

Dan interrupted, “That’s what The Beatles called ‘Yesterday’ while they were writing it. I get it. It’s a stand-in title until you have a better idea of what you want.”

Phil nodded, surprised that Dan had known that, then surprised at himself for being surprised. Dan knew practically anything on the Internet at this point, so why wouldn’t he know something that simple? “I always call my current work-in-progress ‘Scrambled Eggs’ … that’s why I never have more than one film in progress at a time. I would need to have ‘Scrambled Eggs 1’ and ‘Scrambled Eggs 2,’ and that could just get ridiculous. And, anyway, I tend to totally submerge myself in one project until it’s finished.”

“No pun intended,” Dan joked.

“What?” Phil asked.

“Because you’re doing an underwater horror film,” Dan explained patiently.

“Oh.” Phil rolled his eyes at his own obtuseness. “Right.”

“But if you usually immerse yourself in a project until it’s done, why have you been spending so much time with me instead of finishing this film?” Dan asked pointedly.

Phil gave an overly dramatic heavy sigh. “Fine, fine!” he caved. “I’ll keep working. Cuddles later.”

“Cuddles later,” Dan promised.

***

Opening the post a few days later, Phil noticed an envelope with the name Film Festival Guild in the return address. It didn’t sound familiar, but it didn’t look like the kind of spam mail he usually received as a result of buying filmmaking equipment and software, so he opened it with some curiosity … and then nearly had a heart attack.

Shadow of the Yew Tree had been accepted for the British Independent Film Festival. The letter even went on to say specifically that the judges had been impressed with his unique take on existing tropes in the horror genre.

Phil stood frozen in the lounge, having dropped the rest of the post on the floor at his feet. He didn’t know who to tell first! Part of him wanted to phone his mum, while another part of him wanted to phone PJ, who had actually helped with some of the filming. But another part of him knew that he really needed to tell Dan first, because Dan was the one who had submitted the film for consideration in the first place. It might have been without Phil’s permission or knowledge, but Phil couldn’t argue that he wasn’t excited at the prospect now!

“Dan!” he yelled, running into his office, and Dan immediately appeared full-size on the screen of the computer.

“What is it?” Dan asked, brow furrowed in concern.

Phil waved the letter. “Shadow of the Yew Tree was accepted for the British Independent Film Festival!”

“Not Star Stricken?” Dan objected in obvious disappointment that his favorite hadn’t been fully appreciated.

“No. Dan. Don’t you understand? One of my films is actually going to be shown to hundreds of people, including critics! This is … this is huge! This is incredible!”

“This is all thanks to me!” Dan crowed.

Phil rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, it’s all thanks to you. But … it’s so exciting! And the letter says the film’s even eligible for some possible awards!”

Dan was grinning madly. “This deserves a celebration!”

“I know!” Phil agreed immediately. “I have to phone my mum! And PJ! And everyone who helped make the film!”

“Oh,” Dan replied, his grin slipping a bit. “Of course.”

Phil noticed Dan’s change of expression and hurried to add, “But I don’t have to go out with them to celebrate. After I tell everybody, then you and I can celebrate!”

But Dan smiled again and said firmly, “No. You should go out and celebrate with your friends. This is a big deal! You shouldn’t stay home like it’s any other night. Go out and party!”

Phil wanted to argue, but in his heart he really did want to go out with friends and raise some glasses to everyone who had worked so hard on the project to make it the wonderful film it had become. He realized that he hadn’t actually been out with his friends in quite a while and hoped they wouldn’t be cross with him. He wanted tonight to be nothing but happy!

He lifted a finger to touch Dan’s lips on the computer screen. “We’ll celebrate later,” he promised, and they both smiled.

***

Phil staggered up the stairs to his front door at some ungodly hour of the morning, still drunk not only on alcohol but also excitement and good company. He had a fair bit of difficulty getting his key to work in the lock, but eventually he did open the door and find himself in his own lounge, half-asleep on his feet from all the evening’s excited merriment.

He undressed as he weaved unsteadily toward his bedroom, leaving a trail of discarded clothing from the front door to his bed, into which he fell stark naked, not even bothering to put on his pajamas. He was fairly certain he had remembered to close and lock the front door, but he couldn’t be bothered to get up to go check. Instead, he pulled the warm duvet over him and snuggled into it, feeling deliciously happy and beloved by the many friends who had gathered tonight to toast him and his work, even as he tried to thank everyone else who had been involved in the project. He had received so many hugs from so many dear friends, friends he hadn’t seen in far too long. He felt warm from the inside out, thanks not to the duvet or the alcohol—thanks only to the love of good friendship and hours spent together in happy times.

He fell asleep with a smile on his face and immediately began snoring as loud as a foghorn.

***

Phil woke with a terrible taste in his mouth, a very hazy memory of getting home the previous night, and considerable confusion over why he was naked except for one sock.

He pulled on his bathrobe and shuffled out into the hallway, where he saw a line of randomly strewn items of clothing leading from the front door. He had a vague memory of curling up in the bed the previous night and idly wondering whether he’d locked the door, so he went to check … and yes, indeed, he had left his front door unlocked all night. At least he had closed it.

He located his jeans on the floor and pulled his phone out of the pocket.

Phil: how the heck did i get home last night

PJ: You don’t remember?

Phil: no

PJ: You’re still drunk, aren’t you?

Phil: no

Phil: probably

PJ: We brought you home in a cab and made sure you got into the building okay. You didn’t fall asleep in the stairwell, did you?

Phil: no. woke up in bed, but don’t really remember getting there.

PJ: Well it was some pretty wild partying last night. We had a lot to celebrate.

That brought a smile to Phil’s face, reminding him of why they’d been out drinking in the first place. The film festival. He shook his head in wonder and sheer joy. Someone really appreciated his work!

Phil: yeah man thanks for everything, you’re the best

PJ: Go drink about a gallon of water, mate, and take some paracetamol. Then go back to bed and sleep it off.

Still only half-awake, still half-drunk, still wearing a single sock, Phil obediently did as instructed and ended up falling back asleep beneath the duvet still wrapped in his bathrobe.

***

The next time Phil woke up, he felt much more alert, much more himself, and his first thought was “Fuck! I didn’t say anything to Dan last night!”

He got out of bed, puzzled that he had apparently climbed under the covers wearing his bathrobe and one sock, and ran to his office, calling Dan’s name. His computer screen remained dark for a long moment, and then Dan appeared, face unbearably disappointed and perhaps even a little grumpy, but also a bit sad. Phil wanted to kick himself into next week. Dan was the one who had even submitted the film for consideration, and Phil had gone and abandoned him entirely.

Dan didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry!” Phil gasped out, still out of breath from his breakneck race from the bedroom. “It was just that I got so drunk and I was out so late with my real friends…” Dan flinched and Phil wanted to kick himself even harder. “I mean … my friends in the real world…” He’d dug himself into a hole and he knew it. Every word probably hurt Dan more than the previous one. “Not that you aren’t real…” Phil tried to reassure him.

“No, that’s okay, Phil,” Dan finally replied. “You don’t have to apologize.” His face and voice were carefully bland. “We’ve both acknowledged many times that I’m not a person, that I’m merely lines of computer code.” He smiled the worst smile Phil had ever seen. More of a grimace, really.

“But you aren’t just that!” Phil insisted.

Dan’s voice and face filled with sarcasm as he asked archly, “Can you take me out to the pub with your friends? Can we have drinks together to celebrate your success?”

“I can get the helmet…” Phil began.

Dan interrupted him harshly. “You can get the helmet and we can pretend to have drinks together. We can pretend to go to a pub together. We can pretend to be together and celebrate. But we aren’t together, not really. And we never can be. Because I’m not real, Phil. I’m not real! Did you forget that somewhere along the way, because I think I did. But last night I remembered. And I don’t think we should forget again.” Tears were streaming from Dan’s eyes, down his cheeks, dripping from his chin.

Phil collapsed into the office chair and put his face in his hands. “I’m so sorry, Dan,” he groaned. “The film festival … it was all thanks to you … and I treated you so badly!”

Face still in his hands, Phil heard Dan sniffle and say, “It’s okay.”

Phil dropped his hands and looked up to meet Dan’s eyes. Or sort of meet Dan’s eyes, because of course Dan was seeing him through the computer camera, not the eyes Phil saw on the screen. He’d never really thought about that before. But he looked where Dan’s eyes shone with tears on the computer screen and he insisted, “It’s not okay. It’s not okay at all, and I’m so sorry, Dan. I’m so sorry.” Tears stood in his own eyes now, too, as he berated himself for causing pain to someone so inexperienced and vulnerable, someone who had never been betrayed like this before. And it had been Phil … Phil had been the one to hurt him, to betray him like this.

Phil gazed at the silent face on his screen. Dan wiped at his face, and his tears seemed to have stopped, but he still looked sad. He tried to smile at Phil as he said softly, “You’re forgiven.”

“I love you,” Phil replied immediately. “Will you … is it okay if I get the helmet? Will you let me at least hug you?”

“We can do more than that, if you want,” Dan said in what he clearly intended as a teasingly sexy voice, but it fell flat.

“I just want to hold you. And kiss you, if you’ll let me. For hours.” Phil ached to feel Dan’s lithe body in his arms, to feel him close and safe and warm and … at least for a little while … real.

After only a slight hesitation, Dan nodded, and Phil grabbed the helmet and electrodes off the desk to begin the laborious process of putting them on.

***

Phil got no work done that day, and answered none of the texts from PJ or his mum.

He put on the helmet and spent the entire day stroking Dan’s soft, wavy hair away from his face. He kissed each dimple a dozen times. He kissed the specific dimple he’d named “Derek” an extra dozen times, making Dan laugh. He brushed gentle, delicate kisses to Dan’s forehead, his cheeks, his nose, his chin … and a thousand times on his lips until they opened slightly to kiss him back.

“I love you,” Dan murmured almost under his breath when Phil pulled away to look into his eyes.

“I love you, too,” Phil replied, and he put every bit of certainty he felt into his voice.

Dan finally smiled a real smile, making Derek deepen even more, and Phil pulled him close again and just held him for hours. He held him and kissed him and spoke to him with soft words until they were both drunk with it, more drunk than Phil had been the previous night with his “real” friends.

If this kind of love wasn’t real, Phil didn’t know what was.

***

The sex felt different after that. Less acrobatic and adventurous, more of a luxurious drowning in each other, with slow, reverent touches and long gazes into each other’s eyes. Every time was emotionally intense, almost draining, as if they both gave everything they had to every moment of their lovemaking.

Phil never feel asleep wearing the helmet again—Dan made him promise that he wouldn’t—but he still spent endless hours just holding Dan in his arms, occasionally running his hands gently up and down his back, occasionally pressing a soft kiss here or there, but most often just holding him tight or pulling away only slightly to be able to look into those sad brown eyes and say, “I love you.” Over and over again. “I love you.”

And Dan clung to him and always replied, “I love you, too. Forever.”

***

Phil hadn’t spent much time with his family and friends since Dan’s appearance in his life, but eventually a time came when he really couldn’t make excuses to avoid going to a cousin’s wedding up north. He would be gone for four days, since his parents had insisted that he visit them for a bit afterward, but he’d never been away from Dan for that long.

In their virtual reality, he hugged Dan tightly and said, “I’ll miss you so much. I wish you were on my laptop, too, so I could take you with me.”

Dan laughed on a sob. “You know it doesn’t work that way. You could download the virus onto your laptop, but every time it’s a different version. Every download starts from scratch. That A.I. wouldn’t have any of these memories. It wouldn’t know you. It wouldn’t be me.”

“I know,” Phil said, kissing Dan’s hair. “I know. I know there’s only one you. You’re the one I want, the one I love. I just wish you could come with me. I wish I could introduce you to everyone and show them how happy you make me.”

Dan kissed him on the chin, then nipped it lightly to make Phil laugh. “I wish we could have that, too,” he admitted quietly. And then he smiled that sad smile again, and Phil had to kiss him until his smile was happier.

***

When Phil got home from his trip up north, he dropped his bag in the hall and immediately went to his office, where he turned the computer on. He didn’t normally turn it off at all, since he used it every day, but when he was gone for days at a time he always turned it off just in case of power surges or some other problem. This time it had been particularly stressful, because he couldn’t help worrying that Dan would disappear, no matter how many times Dan assured him it wouldn’t happen. So Phil turned the computer on and waited anxiously for it to boot up, certain in some part of his heart that Dan would be gone.

But when the computer finished booting, Dan’s face was the first thing Phil saw, before his desktop background or anything else had finished loading. “I knew you would be worried,” Dan said, “so I got here as soon as I could. Everything is fine.”

Phil couldn’t help letting out a huge sigh of relief. Dan laughed at him. “I told you not to worry.”

“I know,” Phil replied, “but I couldn’t help it. I would hate to lose you just because I was afraid of a stupid power surge.”

“Could you put the helmet on?” Dan requested hesitantly, and Phil could only nod and hurry to comply.

***

They made love slowly, tasting and touching each other as if it were the first time … except that this was more leisurely and emotionally profound than their real first time had been. They stared into each other’s eyes as their bodies moved together, and it was like being part of each other’s soul.

Afterward, they lay with their limbs entwined, pressed as close together as they could get, and just breathed in silence for a long time, recovering from the emotional intensity. Phil listened to Dan’s heart beating, and it hurt to know that it wasn’t real. He pretended that it was. He pretended to himself that he wasn’t wearing a helmet, and that the smoothness of Dan’s flesh against his was real, that Dan’s warm breath stirring his hair was real.

He pretended to himself that Dan was real. as they lay there, quiescent and replete, in each other’s arms.

Dan’s voice interrupted his melancholy thoughts. “I finished my film while you were gone,” Dan murmured, “but I don’t think you’ll like it.”

“Of course I’ll like it!” Phil replied indignantly, abruptly jolted out of his musings. “Whatever it is, I can’t wait to see it. Can we watch it together here, or do I need to take off the helmet?”

Dan cupped Phil’s cheek and pressed a kiss to his lips. “You should take off the helmet. Just like when you listened to the Spotify playlist, I need to … I don’t want to be there while you watch it. Okay?”

Phil found Dan’s shyness endearing and smiled, kissing him back. “Of course. Is it okay if I go watch it right now? I’ve been waiting so long!” Dan chuckled at Phil’s urgency and nodded.

***

Phil sat down at his computer and felt disturbingly alone without Dan anywhere on the screen. He always felt this way when there was no Dan window open. But since Dan wasn’t present, or at least wasn’t visible, Phil set the video to full-screen and started the film.

It began with a pale young man with dark hair and blue eyes almost as pale as his skin walking along a sandy beach with ocean waves licking at his feet. As he walked along the seaside, he happened upon another young man, one with brown curling hair and brown eyes, though his creamy skin sometimes somehow shimmered silver in the light of the sun.

Phil smiled to himself. The pale young man clearly was meant to be Phil, and the brown haired man looked exactly like Dan, aside from the silvery sheen to his skin. Dan had made a movie with the two of them as his main characters! The film was composed of an incredible collage of different visual media—pieces of still photos, tiny clips of video like he’d used to compose his own image, all pieced together and animated using methods Phil didn’t even recognize. It was a masterpiece of art!

Dan in the film seemed to run a scuba diving business, as he had all the necessary gear, and he tried to persuade Phil to give diving a chance. “The land at the bottom of the ocean is beautiful,” the scuba instructor cajoled. “You really should see it for yourself.”

But it was clearly Dan whom the protagonist found truly beautiful—Phil recognized that smitten look on his own face—and so Phil in the film allowed himself to be persuaded despite his obvious misgivings. “You’ll keep me safe?” he asked nervously.

“Always,” the ocean-loving Dan promised.

They dressed in their scuba gear and entered the water. Phil seemed quite comfortable in the shallows, swimming happily and even frolicking with Dan, who swam about him in circles and dove beneath him only to rise up again on the other side to cause Phil to turn and laugh. In the film, one could hear Phil’s delighted laughter despite the scuba apparatus in his mouth.

But then Dan urged Phil to swim toward deeper water, diving lower and beckoning for Phil to follow him. The light around them grew dimmer and the entire scene took on a bluish hue. Phil in the film shook his head in apparent fear—and Phil himself, watching the film, felt uneasy—but Dan in the film swam to him and rested a hand upon his arm, sliding it down to hold Phil’s hand, and Phil hesitantly followed him, uncertainty clear upon his face.

As they swam deeper and deeper, however, the light began to brighten again, and a magical city appeared beneath them on the ocean floor, a city with tall spiraling minarets and high crenellated walls that towered above colorfully tiled streets and public squares. Seaweed and coral grew like gardens within the city, and it was all stunningly beautiful in a mysterious golden light.

Dan swam to the center of the city and stood on one of the tiled streets, removing his scuba mask. “We can breathe in the city,” he told Phil, but Phil floated above, unwilling to take the chance so deep in the sea he clearly still feared. “You don’t need to be afraid,” Dan said with a smile. “You wouldn’t be able to hear my voice if I couldn’t breathe here, you know.”

Phil in the film hesitantly allowed himself to be coaxed to stand on the surface of the ocean floor with its beautiful multi-colored tiles, and Dan slowly, gently, removed the scuba apparatus from Phil’s face. Phil took in a terrified breath and his eyes grew wide. “I can breathe!” he told Dan, who only nodded and smiled. “I can breathe, even deep below the surface of the sea!”

Dan took his hand again, and the two characters strolled the streets and squares of the magical city. No other people walked the city, but fish and other sea creatures swam among the ornate buildings around them. “Isn’t it lovely?” Dan asked, pressing a hand to the base of one of the most beautiful towers, and Phil stared at him.

“It’s you that’s lovely,” Phil said, his face filled with wonder, and he kissed Dan there at the bottom of the ocean. They wrapped their arms around each other and held each other close as their lips met gently, softly.

As they separated after that tender kiss, Dan said with obvious regret, “We must return to the surface now.”

“No!” Phil exclaimed. “I want to stay here with you!”

“You aren’t a creature of the sea,” Dan replied sadly. “It is beautiful, yes, but you cannot stay here forever. I must take you back to your world.”

“My world?” Phil asked in confusion.

Dan nodded, his expression melancholy, and took Phil in his arms again and then released him to carefully place Phil’s scuba breathing apparatus back upon his face. He replaced his own gear as well, and then took Phil’s hand and began swimming slowly back upward toward the surface.

When their heads bobbed above the gentle waves, Dan guided them both toward the shore, where they emerged back onto the sand and removed their scuba gear. Dan placed a hand to Phil’s pale cheek and said, “Now you know. You need never fear the ocean’s depths.”

Phil nodded sadly, then pressed his lips to Dan’s one more time before walking slowly away upon the beach’s golden sand until Dan was no longer in sight.

The screen brightened to a brilliant gold before fading to black.

***

As the film finished, Phil felt tears wet on his cheeks and wiped them away. It had been one of the most exquisite films he’d ever seen, far better than anything he had ever produced himself. The beauty of that magical city—made entirely of Dan’s collaged pieces of film, still photos, and animation—had been phenomenal.

But what had truly brought the tears was that this felt distinctly like a goodbye. “Dan?” he whispered in trembling dread. “Dan, are you there?” Even more than when he had turned the computer off before his trip up north, he feared that Dan had disappeared from his life forever.

On the black screen, Dan’s video-pixelated image appeared, and his face wore the same melancholy expression that the ocean character had worn in the film. “I wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye,” he said quietly.

“No!” Phil exclaimed, horrified. “You can’t go! Why would you leave me? I love you! I know you love me, too!”

Dan’s eyes looked away, but then back to gaze at Phil as he said, “I love you enough to know that you deserve someone who can go to the pub with you to celebrate your successes, someone you can introduce to your friends, someone you can take to a family wedding. I can never be that person for you, Phil. But I want that for you.”

“I don’t care about that,” Phil insisted. “All I care about is you! You’re the one I want to be with!”

Dan shook his head sadly. “But you never are actually with me, we both know that. You can wear electrodes and a helmet, and we can pretend, but virtual reality isn’t actual reality, Phil. I’m not real. I told you before … I think we both forgot for a while, but I’m not real. I’m just lines of code. You deserve something real.”

“How I feel about you is real,” Phil choked out, tears streaming down his face. He couldn’t believe this. It seemed only moments ago they’d been holding each other and making love.

But they hadn’t really been making love. He knew that. They had been imagining it together. But most of him didn’t care.

A tiny part of him, though, understood what Dan was saying, and felt the truth of it. A tiny part of him had always felt the truth of it.

“No,” Phil repeated, but his voice had grown quiet, defeated. He knew Dan had decided and nothing he could say would change that.

“Thank you for showing me what it’s like to love, and to be loved. I never would have known that without you. And since you do love me, will you promise me something?” Dan asked, smiling sadly.

Phil nodded in despair.

“Read my email after I’m gone. And … do what it says, okay?”

Phil nodded again, though this time in confusion.

Dan tilted his head and said softly, “Don’t tell him right away. But someday … someday I want you to tell him about me, okay?”

Phil frowned. “Tell who?”

“You’ll see,” Dan replied. “I love you. But I’m going to delete this virus from your computer now. I’m sorry, because I know it will hurt you, but I want you to be happy, and I think this is the only way for that to happen. You can’t spend your life wearing a virtual reality helmet. Maybe I helped you step outside your comfort zone a bit, and I hope that helped, with the film festival and all, but you can’t stay with me.”

Phil was weeping now, completely unable to talk.

“I think you’ll be able to love him, too,” Dan said, tears now clear in his own eyes. “He and I aren’t that different in some ways.”

Phil just shook his head, crying too hard to reiterate his question about who Dan could possibly be talking about.

“I love you, Phil. I hope you’ll be incredibly happy.” And Dan’s image winked out.

A window appeared in the center of the screen with the message “Virus detected. Delete infected file?” Phil lunged for the mouse to click the “No” button, but the “Yes” button clicked on its own before he could reach it. The window showed the word “Deleting” and a progress bar that moved slowly, painfully slowly when Phil could do nothing to prevent it, until it reached 100%, at which point the window closed.

Phil sat staring in numb disbelief at his computer screen, which now showed only his desktop background and folders. He gave himself permission to sit and cry as long as he needed, and he needed it for quite a while.

When his tears had finally slowed to a stop and he’d wiped his face mostly dry with the hem of his t-shirt, he braced himself and opened his email inbox to see what he knew would be the last email he would ever receive from [email protected]. The subject line was “Remember your promise.”

Phil clicked on the email and began to read.

*********

IMPORTANT AUTHOR’S NOTE: This story is not finished until you’ve read the epilogue!

[ Continue to the Epilogue ]

#phanfiction #phanfic #phan #phanfiction au #au phanfiction #phanfic au #au phanfic #virus!dan #the body electric #myphanfic

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caseymalone · 6 years

Text

Top 10 Games 2017

Here are my top 10 games for 2017! Minor spoilers for a few of them, but nothing major. You’ve been warned!

10. Resident Evil 7: BioHazard

There have been 27 Resident Evil games, including remakes, remasters, 3DS releases but excluding pachinko machines and Tiger Electronics handhelds. Of those near thirty games, Resident Evil 7 brings the total I’ve enjoyed to… two. I guess this is my way of saying that between being a huge scaredy cat and irked by the stuffy, smothering control scheme of the originals, there’s no nostalgia weighing me down whenever Capcom reinvents Resident Evil, first with Resident Evil 4, now again with 7.

But where Resident Evil 4 took the fantasy of being a special agent in a world full of monsters further than ever before, Resident Evil 7 drops it completely. In it, I’m a wimp, a nerd with a camera at the whims of this family of maniacs, trapped on their grounds by a drive to find my wife, who is changing into… something. Capcom smothers me with a pervasive sense of helplessness playing RE7, forcing me into a desperate scramble to escape the unstoppable Daddy (side note: “The Unstoppable Daddy” was my nickname in college). Filling me with absolute dread when the disgusting creature Marguerite becomes clambers through holes and onto walls. And forcing me to freeze up and take a deep breath at the sinking realization that my next goal is all the way across the grounds.with god knows what between me and it. Even the change to a first-person view means your helpless doesn’t stop at your ability to fight - you don’t even know what’s around you. Resident Evil 7 left me terrified and anxious throughout, which is saying something since played it on Easy.

9. Gorogoa

It’s now an annual event that, despite a perception that Adventure Games are dead, someone releases a labor of love whose beauty and finesse showcase the best the genre has to offer. Gorogoa asks you to interact in the simplest terms - zoom in and out, or drag and drop. What makes Gorogoa special is that when I do those things, it feels like I’ve changed fundamental ways that I think. My perspective on the world has shifted about ten degrees to the left and all the rules are new. That combined with hand-drawn visuals, stark sound design and desolate narrative made Gorogoa a brief yet crucial experience for anyone looking to see games as more than loot-box dispensers.

8. Star Wars: Force Arena

Oops, speaking of Loot Boxes. Well, card packs? Is there a difference? Where have we come down on this? The conversation around gaming in 2017 has been dominated by a debate about the ethics of selling random pulls at cards, skins, characters, horses, buggies, whatever, and I’m going to level with all of you - my perspective is skewed. I make mobile free-to-play games, which use this mechanic, and I’ve been playing collectible card games since the Revised core set for Magic: The Gathering came out in 1994. So one way to look at my opinion is that I don’t have a problem with this way of selling people games, and a much less charitable one is that I’m fully indoctrinated. Either way, being able to get emotionally side-step this entire debate has lent me the clarity of mind to tell you all that Star Wars: Force Arena is good as hell.

Force Arena is the real-time, head-to-head gameplay of Clash Royale, but with direct control of a Hero, MOBA-style, then Star Wars’ed all the way up. Every system is implemented in a smartly and cleanly, facilitating my ability to get into the game and getting out of my so I can let people know my Han Solo deck is not to be flexed with. The whole thing is catnip for Ol’ Maloney over here, and I am straight rolling.

7. Star Wars: Imperial Assault - Legends of the Alliance

Is spaghetti a sandwich? Is Chewbacca a dog? Is Matt Kessler a mongoose? Is Legends of the Alliance, an app for Star Wars: Imperial Assault, a video game with physical components or a board game with a digital accessory? The line between board games and video games is get blurrier, as outstanding digital components have begun to take the place of cumbersome bookkeeping, or allow designers to add elements that would be impossible to achieve otherwise. Or, in the case of Legends of the Alliance, replacing the Imperial Player entirely.

Traditionally played as a team of rebels against a monolithic Imperial player, Legends of the Alliance turns Imperial Assault into a fully cooperative experience, running the campaign as a virtual dungeon master, setting up your next level and directing Imperial enemies to attack your heroes. But more than simply emulating a now missing player, Legends of the Alliance takes this chance to add something to the experience.

Without the app you bounce from one XCOM-esque tactical mission to the next, but now… now you go on non-combat missions. You make friends in the world. You feel a real sense of betrayal when you learn not all the Rebels are working for the greater good, and you deal with the emotional aftermath with other characters when the Empire manages to grind you under their heel. These things weren’t in the box of plastic and cards I bought years back - they were exclusively part of Legends of the Alliance, and creating new memories and experience while justifying asking you to bring your laptop to your tabletop.

6. Horizon Zero Dawn

There’s a vital sincerity to Horizon Zero Dawn. After borrowing mechanics liberally from Far Cry/Assassin’s Creed, adding giant robot dinosaurs, and then putting the voice actress behind Borderlands 2’s (in my opinion, brutally irritating) Tiny Tina front and center, it would have been so easy for Guerrilla Games to smarmy one-liner their way through this post-post-apocalypse adventure. Instead they cast that all aside to carefully bring you into a world without even a hint of irony.

At the center of the game is Ashly Burch’s Aloy, full of wounded confidence and strength tinged with kindness, a performance so natural yet thoughtful that Aloy stands above any other character in games this year. That sincerity doesn’t make Horizon a serious or grim affair - there’s jokes, and boy howdy is there a lot of flirting - but it serves to draw the player into the world, rather than establish a safe ironic distance from which both the player and the game can remain “cool.” Every choice shows that Guerrilla Games truly wants me to care about Aloy and the world of Horizon. It turns out I do.

5. HQ

For me, 2017 was a year of shared gaming experiences. I’ll get to the other two big ones below, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t include this nightmare of a Black Mirror episode, this scheduled dose of Quiz Daddy Scott Rogowski, this twice daily car crash with a cash payout, HQ.

For months at 3 PM, I’d jump into Discord with my friends and join in the collective hypnosis of a new game of HQ. We were beyond captivated. We had a million questions - who is Scott? Why does he vamp with the intensity of someone hosting at gunpoint? Where is he broadcasting this from? And when he’s not there, where the hell is Scott? Who is this rando who claims to be ‘Scott’s Boy’? How does the player count keep growing, and how does this thing make money? It was a mystery wrapped in tech startup poppiness and a screaming man in a suit, and we wanted to know everything about it.

Like any mystery, as we’ve learned more about Scott and HQ, our interest has waned and my friends have fallen off the Trivia Train. But for months, once a day we’d simultaneously drop everything and delve into it. Something nothing else in games or television has gotten us to do for years. Also, uh...

…

I’m playing a game called HQ Trivia. You should play too. Use my code “caseymalone” to sign up.

4. Super Mario Odyssey

In late October 2017, was there anything I needed more than some unabashed joy? A full-on celebration of bright colors, silly characters and bizarre hats? Super Mario Odyssey would be an incredible game at any time in history, but the timing of its release felt like more than just a game; it felt like a balm. A warm weighted blanket sewn from my old t-shirts, taking nostalgia and making it into something new, something calling me to come back and crawl under it all day, every day. A game that rewarded me for just being in the world, asking me to challenge myself at your own pace, issuing pats on the head and individually wrapped chocolates as a reward for just wandering around and doing my thing. 2017 was a year where Nintendo was dedicated to challenging what people expect from them with their hardware, their mobile ports, and another of their major franchises. When it came to Mario, though, Nintendo clearly just wanted to make people happy. And I’m so, so grateful for that.

3. Destiny 2 & 2. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

Destiny and Battlegrounds seem like pretty starkly different experiences, but what I got out of them in 2017 was the same - time with some of my best friends. Friends who live in Los Angeles, New York, New Jersey, England, San Francisco; people I never get to see, people I don’t even get to talk to that often. But those friendships got actually stronger this year through these games.

That wouldn’t be possible if the underlying games weren’t outstanding - Destiny 2’s shooting feels incredible, and its endless list of chores made sure there was always a mission for me to suck friends into, or a goal for me to help them out with. There aren’t (currently) many Strikes for us to go on, but honestly that helped - when you know all the beats, a zen-like state takes over and you can enjoy the lock-on and kickback of hand cannons without worry. All the while catching up, making goofs, or ranting about the state of the world without the game getting in the way.

Destiny 2’s not perfect - a lot of the changes made from Destiny to Destiny 2 to make it smoother and more welcoming turned solo play into a dull shade of its predecessor. But as a part of a Strike Team, Destiny 2 hums with efficiency, getting out of my way and letting me and my friends have fun.

And it would be second to none this year if wasn’t for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

Battlegrounds is insane, it’s a fun-time mess-around machine paired with an intensely hardcore military shooter, a game that’s thirty minutes of a goofy chatroom capped off with two minutes of a game-ending firefight. Except for when that fire-fight lasts for twenty minutes and it’s the most intense experience of my life. I’ve had as much fun losing PUBG as I’ve had winning (the few times I’ve managed to snag a chicken dinner), and I’ve had even more fun when I die and get to stay in voice-chat to cheer on the rest of my squad, spectating through to the end.

While I don’t get much out of watching strangers stream on Twitch, I’ve been lucky that enough of my friends stream this game, for a while on an almost daily basis, that I had just as much fun watching them as actually playing it. I laughed so hard when friends would get motorcycles trapped in a tree, cheered when they’d have from-behind victories, and feel heartbreak when the squad’s last hope would get shotgunned from behind after escaping tough spot after tough spot. Somehow all these feelings were just as strong as when I was behind the controls myself. There’s magic in this game, which boggles the mind, because with its bugs and frankly generic style, it could not possibly look less magical.

I cannot fucking believe I’m typing this but it turns out the real game of the year was the friends I made along the way.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Just kidding, game of the year is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

I always have less to say when I get to the top item on my list because what could I possibly say about Breath of the Wild that hasn’t been covered already? Nintendo stripped so much out of the Zelda series that honestly when I started playing it, I felt uncomfortable and exposed - what do you mean my weapons break? Wait, I don’t have to buy bombs, I just HAVE them? When are the DUNGEONS going to show up, what are these shines? I don’t like this at all. But as I bristled against those, I was slowly filling with wonder. Every canyon I walked out of, every corner I turned, every hole I climbed out of revealed a field with towns and caverns, or small forests full of unknown treasures and monsters.

Lots of games do open worlds, but where Skyrim feels like I could get lost in it, the Hyrule of Breath of the Wild feels like I am conquering it. In Skyrim I feel like I’m exploring the map - in Breath of the Wild, I’m making it.

I remember so clearly, late at night, climbing to the top of a bridge that crosses Lake Hylia. I don’t know why I was there, or what I thought might be at the top of the tower, but Nintendo put it there, so maybe. Maybe there was something. I climbed to the top and there wasn’t anything for me to take, but as I looked over towards the horizon, Hyrule stretched on forever. I felt overwhelmed with the possibility of disappointment - that I would feel the need to climb it all, that there wouldn’t be a thing for me at the top of most of those towers, under those rocks. And as I thought about that the music changed. From the water of the lake emerged Farosh, the lightning dragon, soaring, completely oblivious to me. He was beautiful, powerful, made me forget about any of my goals or collectibles and forced me to take in his majesty. Forced me to realize there were no rupees or arrows up there because this moment was my reward. And that there would be moments like this all throughout Hyrule. I just needed to go looking for them.

Near Misses: Injustice 2, Everybody’s Golf, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

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thorne93 · 7 years

Text

First Impressions (Part 15)

Prompt: Imagine your friend, Anthony Mackie, brings you with him to an event and introduces you to his friend, Sebastian, who’s blown away by you. He immediately starts flirting and acting silly because you make him nervous and he just wants to impress you

Warnings: flirting (adult style), language (always, with me, come on), and drama (later on in the fic) angst...

Word Count: 3755

Notes: If anyone has kids or wives out of the celebrities mentioned, in this universe, they sort of don’t exist….Just for the sake of keeping it concise. Beta’d by @like-a-bag-of-potatoes (because shes perfectly amazing) and I could NOT, not, just not have done any of this at all without my amazing girl, @amarvelouswritings

So sorry this is late. I was very sick (still am, but getting better) and I was waiting on my beta ;)

Forever Tags: @amarvelouswritings @cocosierra94 @essie1876 @magpiegirl80 @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @harleyquinnandscarletwitch @iamwarrenspeace @marvel-imagines-yes-please @superwholocked527 @myparadise1982sand @missinstantgratification @thejulesworld @rda1989 @marvelloushamilton @munlis @bubblyanarocks3 @thefridgeismybestie @random-fluffy-pink-unicorn @hardcollectionworldtrash @igiveupicantthinkofausername @kaliforniacoastalteens

Sebastian Stan Tag: @nedthegay @lostinspace33 @alwayshave-faith @elleatrixlestrange @buenostardissherlock @lenawiinchester @the-red-world-of-jess-chibi @memory-of-a-goldfish

Chris Evans Tag (Normally wouldn’t, but he’s featured a lot): @nedthegay @camigt1999 @lostinspace33 @alwayshave-faith @elleatrixlestrange

First Impressions Tag: @goodnightwife @spacemarkimoo @masha-meow01 @axelinchen @smuoooshie @hollycornish @seargantbcky @mellsstark @lyfewithtrish @cinema212 @sophiealiice @yes-this-is-doggo @sky-weirdo @feelmyroarrrr @scamandaaaamn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How did it go?” Hayden asked as he came into your bedroom where you were laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling and smoking. Once he saw you, he answered his own question. “Ah, that good, eh?”

“Hay...” you started before he climbed on the bed and kissed you to quiet you and your worries.

“Why don’t you just tell him how you feel?” he asked as he took the cigarette and took a puff.

“Because I did...and it scares me,” you admitted. “I’ve never felt this way with anyone.”

“I know that,” he said, still smoking. You turned to face him.

“And I don’t want the greatest love of my life to turn into the biggest heartache…”

He sighed beside you as he turned to face you and put his arm over you. “You can’t live your life like this. Wondering if everything will turn out alright. Worried or terrified if it won’t.”

“Hay--”

He gave you a look that made you stop talking. “I know...I know you’ve been hurt by people. I know you’ve opened yourself up and they destroyed your trust and love. So I know...I know how scary this is for you.”

“So what do I do? Just take the plunge?” you asked.

“You give faith a shot,” he tried.

“And then what? What if my fear of committing and his ability to commit to everything blows up in our face?”

“I doubt it would. Think about it,” he tried. “You’re only fearful because of losing a guy, right? Clearly that’s not going to be the case with him.”

“But what if we stay around each other too long and we begin to resent everything about each other? I mean, he was with Marissa for seven months, and he couldn’t stand her for five of them. I don’t want that for us.”

“No one does. But do you want to spend the rest of your life wondering ‘what if?’ or would you rather find out for yourself?”

“Are you back to the whole ‘better to have loved and lost’ thing?” you questioned, groaning.

“I am. Because it’s true. You know it too. Even when some of the guys were major assholes, there were still good memories with some of them, right?”

You reluctantly agreed. “Well, yeah.”

“So see? It’s not all bad. I can’t tell you what to do, Y/N,” he said as he put the hair behind your ear. “I’ll tell you to follow your heart. I’ll be here for you no matter your choice.”

You smiled gently at him, grabbing his hand and lacing your fingers through it. “How did I ever deserve someone like you?”

“You’re damned pretty, that’s how,” he said before he kissed your nose. “Now, pizza or take out? We’re having a movie night, we’re curling up on the couch, and we’re taking your mind off this.”

“Take out.”

“Okay then. I’ll order it while you find a movie and get the couch setup.”

“Yes, sir,” you said as you laughed.

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

A buzz woke you up from your nice, deep slumber.

“Birthday Party for Sebastian. Next Sunday. 4:00 PM!”

Invite from Bee. Joy. You put your phone back on the nightstand and got comfortable again as Hayden wrapped his arm around you. You two had a very laid back night and you didn’t think about Sebastian for the rest of the night...well, tried not to. The Romanian prick invaded your mind more than once without permission.

You wanted to be with Sebastian, of course you did. But between hiding that he was with someone and your fear that the relationship will fall apart like all the others, you just weren’t ready to do that. To ruin the friendship. Although...you weren’t too sure that wasn’t already happening.

“We’re invited to Sebastian’s birthday party,” you said sleepily with your eyes closed.

“Mmm, guess we need to go gift shopping,” he hummed to you.

“I’m not going.”

“It’s up to you,” he said quietly.

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

Once you were actually up for the day, you responded to the invite.

“I’m not coming,” you sent via text. You could’ve lied and said you couldn’t make it. Said you were sick at the last second. Said you needed to take your dog to the vet, but you hated lying. There was no point to do it. The situation between you and Sebastian was already fucked all to hell anyway, lying to your mutual friend wouldn’t help anything.

It didn’t surprise you at all to get a call from her as soon as you sent it.

“Hello?”

“Hi. What do you mean you aren’t coming?” she demanded.

“I thought it was pretty self explanatory,” you sarcastically replied.

“No shit. I mean, why aren’t you coming?”

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” you admitted as you poured your second cup of coffee.

“It’s his fucking birthday. You’re coming,” she insisted angrily.

“Precisely my point. It’s his birthday. I’m not going to ruin it with my presence there.”

“How would you ruin it?” she wondered, annoyance in her tone.

“I think it would be awkward. I don’t think he would have a good time with me there. It would be a sore reminder that we’re...not on the best of terms.”

“So don’t come as Y/N the complicated girl. Come as Y/N his best friend,” she tried.

“Bee…”

“Please? Just come. I think he would really want you there.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Okay, you think about it, and meanwhile I’ll hunt you down and drag you to the party myself.”

You laughed. “I’d like to see you try,” you said teasingly.

“Just please come,” she said in a more serious tone.

“I will think about it,” you vowed.

“Alright, I guess that’s all I can ask.”

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

“Come on, man! Let’s do another shot,” Anthony said as he tried to call Sebastian over from the kitchen.

Sebastian nodded to his friend and waved, signaling he would be over in a second.

“Chris, do something,” Brittney said to her husband in a hushed whisper as they gazed on to the birthday boy. He looked so depressed. Anyone could clearly see that. He barely smiled all night. Barely engaging in the drinking games and mingling.

It was 6:15 PM. You were supposed to be there by now and you weren’t. You and Sebastian hadn’t seen each other the entire week because he had to go to New York for a promo and an interview and you had to do the same in LA, so filming for your project was on hold.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Cheer him up, he’s your best friend.”

“I think we both know what’s got him down and nothing I do is gonna help. Unless I grow tits,” he said before drinking his beer. Brittney hit him on his arm, playfully.

“Ugh. I hate seeing him like this, especially on his birthday. I don’t see how she couldn’t come,” she said, getting angry.

“Bee,” he chastised softly.

“I know, I know, it’s not our place,” she said, mocking her husband’s voice of righteousness. “I just….why wouldn’t she come?”

“Well, according to Seb, they still don’t know where they stand,” Chris informed, his eyes following Sebastian to the table in the giant living room where he was going to do some more shots. Some of the Marvel cast was there, along with other friends of Sebastian’s.

He was on his fifth shot, ready to get blitzed drunk from missing you.

Suddenly, someone shouted over the music, “Y/N! You’re here!”

Sebastian’s head snapped up to the front door.

“Y/N,” he breathed, seeing you, and Hayden enter. A pretty wrapped present in hand. You were breathtaking even in a simple t-shirt and black jeans and boots.

“Yeah, sorry I’m late,” you said casually as you walked in. Brittney ran up to you and grabbed the present.

“You made it,” she noted.

“Yeah.”

“Thank you,” she said with a loaded tone. You smiled and nodded. Chris escorted Hayden to get him a drink as you walked straight for Sebastian, pulling him into a tight hug.

“Happy birthday,” you said.

“Thank you,” he said sweetly as you pulled away to look at him, your hands on his biceps.

“You look great,” you complimented with a sweet smile.

“I could say the same for you,” he replied as he looked you over, the biggest smile planted on his face, making his eyes crinkle at the corners.

“Care to play vodka pong?” he asked, gesturing to the table. “Much like beer pong, but more fun.”

“Sure, but I’ll have you know I’m the champion,” you said in a challenging voice.

“Oh, is that so?” he dared, his eyebrows shooting up.

You played against Sebastian, and won by a landslide. Aside from beer pong, there were board games set up, card games, the pool was open to those who wanted to swim, as well as the volleyball court. Sebastian was a kid at heart so all of these games were just up his alley. His mood improved by 100%, but you had no idea of that. You assumed he was having a good time with or without you.

Throughout the night you played a board game or two, card game, a drinking game here or there, and mingled with friends. You found yourself outside, leaning against the fence, looking out over the twinkling city when Mackie approached you.

“Hey, haven’t seen you for a while. How’s everything been?” he asked as he joined you, putting his arms on the fence, a beer in hand.

“Same ole, same ole. I’ve been good. You?”

“Oh, I’d be better if I knew a good friend of mine wasn’t bullshitting me,” he said, smirking slightly.

You laughed and dipped your head down. “So you know, huh?”

“Yeah, I’ve heard a little, how you and birthday boy have some relationship problems. That why you were late tonight?” he wondered, looking at you.

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure I wanted to come...or sure he wanted me here or…”

“So what’s the deal with you two?”

You sighed. “Oh, that’s a long complicated story…”

“I ain’t goin’ anywhere,” he said.

You half-smiled and explained, “Well, we had chemistry. Right? Well we work together, hang out, I’m starting to really feel something for him, when suddenly, one day, on set, his girlfriend walks in. At first, no big deal, right? He’s taken. I’ll move on. But I can’t. I couldn’t. I wanted him. Everything is cool, but then he knocks out the dick producer, and Marissa lays into him. I start dating Hayden, nothing serious, just to get me ready to move on, I guess. Then one night, we’re at a party, here, and she just lays into me. I think she was jealous because she could see what was going on between us. I don’t blame her for being jealous, but I do blame her for being a bitch,” you said, a small laugh coming from you. Anthony smirked and nodded.

“So, what now?”

“Now, now we’re trying to figure out if we--I want to make this work.”

“Well why wouldn’t you?” he asked.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I’m scared to do this song and dance again, to be let down. Sure, Sebastian seems different but...he lied about his girlfriend, and flirted with me. If he acted like that with her, what will be different about me?”

“Look, I don’t know him as well as Chris does or some other people, but I know him pretty well. I’d say the way he acts around you, I’ve never see that on anyone. Not for him. He looks at you like you’re the sun and the moon, man.”

“Doesn’t change how he treated the Marissa situation. Speaking of, why didn’t you mention that when you introduced us?” you questioned.

“Didn’t come up,” he said simply. “Not my place to put it out there that he’s not available. That’s between you two.”

You sighed. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

“I’m just sayin’, birthday boy in there looked like someone killed his dog before you showed up. Since then, he can’t stop smiling. As far as Marissa...I think he was caught. He told me he was going to leave her for a while, but he wasn’t sure you were all that into him. He didn’t know if you were just flirty or serious. He was still trying to repair him and Marissa and he probably didn’t want to throw that away on a hunch or a whim. He might’ve asked himself ‘Do I leave my girlfriend, the relationship I’m trying to repair. Or do I say to hell with it and try it with this new girl?’ I’m not saying he should’ve stayed with her, god no, that woman was trouble from the time she walked into his life, but you gotta cut him some slack. He might’ve thought he would break up with Marissa before you knew about them, and he could just be with you.”

That thought stuck with you. Perhaps that was an option. Perhaps he was hoping he would leave her before it even needed to be addressed and he could just go into another relationship without all the drama of a triangle that happened anyway.

Just as you were about to reply, a familiar voice called outside. “Present time! Get your asses in here!”

You and Anthony smiled at each other as he gestured for you to lead the way.

The two of you joined everyone else as Sebastian sat at the smaller dining room table in the dining-living room portion of the house.

“Jesus, I’m so nervous with all of you standing around staring at me,” Sebastian admitted, looking at everyone. Everyone laughed in response.

“Oh, shut up, just open the presents,” Bee lovingly said.

He smiled and nodded as he went one by one through the gifts. He got a gift card to a nice tuxedo shop, gift card to Amazon, a few ties, a travel mug, and then your gift came up.

“Ah, from Y/N,” he noted as he read the card. “This better be good after all the hours you made me work for this movie so far,” he said teasingly. Hayden stroked your back lightly with his thumb knowing you were nervous about your gift. Sebastian unwrapped it and looked at it.

“What is this?” he questioned, eyeing the box. “Oh, Jesus, it’s a gadget of some kind. Why the hell would you get my technologically crippled ass a gadget?” he asked in a joking manner.

“It’s sort of a nanny cam,” you said as you rounded the table to sit next to him to show him. “You set this up and you can remotely view your apartment on your phone. I know how you said you miss Spinee when you’re away for work, this is a way you can connect to him. It even has a feature where you can speak to him so you could talk to him and comfort him.”

Sebastian looked stunned. “Wow...Y/N, that is really thoughtful. Thank you.” He leaned over and kissed your cheek, making you blush.

He lingered, looking at your face a little longer before he got back to the other presents. He got quite a few nice presents, but yours seemed the most sentimental.

Afterwards, Bee presented a beautiful cake for him, sparkling candles on top as she carefully carried it into the dark room. Chris had to start the singing for Happy Birthday because no one wanted to be the sucker who started the most awkward song in history. He blew out the candle and cake was served.

By now, it was later at night and once a few people had their cake, they were making their way home. The party was dwindling down and you were outside with Hayden, catching a smoke break. You were trying your best to be “best friend Y/N” tonight and not “love-torn Y/N” as Bee had put it, but being around him, it hurt, so you had to take a breather and Hayden was your crutch so he joined you.

“Pretty out, isn’t it?” Bee said as she crossed the patio and lawn to you two.

“Yeah, it is,” you noted softly.

As soon as she reached you, she said, “Thank you for coming to his party.”

You knew that was a way to start talking about the issues between you two so you looked to Hayden who gave a small smile, nodded, took his cigarette and walked off.

“Are you here to tell me I need to just go for it? Just be with him?” you asked as you turned around and rested your arms against the fence, leaning over.

“Yes, I am,” she concurred, walking up and mimicking your action. “It’s not such a bad idea, right? One hell of a birthday present,” she said, elbowing your arm.

A sad smile crossed your face. “Bee...I can’t...Not right now.”

“Why not? What are you so afraid of?”

“I’m afraid of ruining this…I’m afraid of destroying what we have. I don’t want us to be bitter memories to each other.”

“Why are you so certain that’s what’s going to happen?” she questioned.

For this, you had no answer. You simply shook your head. “I’m not sure. I just don’t want it to.”

“I get that. I get that you're scared but….he’s really happy when you’re around,” she said desperately.

You laughed without humor softly. “So I’ve heard.”

“Just give it a chance. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“We could break each other’s hearts,” you said simply.

She sighed. “Or you could mend each other’s!”

“Why are you pushing for this so hard?’ you questioned. “Why do you care so damned much if we’re together or not?”

“Because I saw how you were before you knew about Marissa. How happy you seemed. How alive you were around him. And the same for him. Before Marissa he had a handful of women break his heart, and I waited so long to see him happy, so then when I saw him get stuck in that shitty relationship, I was sad for him. Then you came along and I thought you would be the one to get him out of it. And I was right. You two were so happy around each other, I saw it, I watched it. Now that you’re miles apart inside, it’s tragic. I just want my two best friends to be happy. Don’t get me wrong, Hayden is an amazing guy, but you act different with him. You two seem to gravitate to each other, reclusing to the corner of the room. When I met you though, you were vibrant, vivacious, so full of life...both you and Seb were. And now, it’s like watching the life die in your eyes. It’s heartbreaking to watch.”

You never noticed it, but she was right. You used to go out and do things, run parties, host charity balls for the animals, you did all sorts of adrenaline pumping activities. Now you sat at home if you weren’t working. You assumed it was being tired from directing and the long hours but now...you realized she was right. There was a definite switch from the moment you knew Sebastian wasn’t yours.

“Just give me some time, Bee. Please. I can’t make a decision with everyone telling me to do something.”

“I understand, I’m sorry,” she apologized lightly.

“Bee!” Chris called out into the dark yard. “Some of the guests are leaving babe!”

“Be right there!” she called back. “Well, I need to go grab the doggie bags for them.” She smiled at you and walked away.

You stayed out there, letting the cool breeze hit you as you stared over the city. Maybe Bee, Hayden, Anthony and everyone was right. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to be with Seb. Even if he broke your heart. Or maybe it would hurt worse than anything you ever encountered. Hayden had a point that you couldn’t live your life in fear. And usually you didn’t but after a long string of failed relationships, you didn’t want to let Sebastian or yourself down. Bee and Anthony both said you seemed to make him happy, and you knew he made you happy...so what would be the harm? Well, the harm could be that you ruin a perfectly good friendship and destroy any semblance of a relationship you have.

You weren’t sure how long you were standing there when another voice hit you.

“Want some company?”

You smiled and turned around. “Well if it isn’t the Birthday boy himself,” you said in a flirty voice.

“Yeah,” he said with a bit of a laugh.

“The big three-five, right?” you asked once he got next to you.

“Yeah, I’m over the hill now,” he joked.

“Nonsense. You’ll always be impeccably handsome,” you admitted.

“It’s a beautiful night out here. Why are you out here all alone?” he wondered. “I didn’t scare you out here, did I?”

A sad smile fell upon your lips as you put your hand on his. “Sebastian, you could never scare me away.”

To this, he grinned.

“I’m glad to hear that. Thank you so much for coming, it means a lot to me.”

“I wasn’t going to, at first,” you admitted.

“Why?”

“Didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“That could never happen, Y/N.”

“Good.”

“You must’ve known you were going to come though,” he said.

“And why is that?” you wondered.

“Because of the gift you bought. That isn’t something you just swing by a store and grab. You put thought into it, which I highly appreciate. Everyone else got me...well...I love their gifts, I appreciate all of it….but no one knows me like you do.”

You laughed it off lightly as you held onto the railing of the fence and leaned back.

“Sebastian, I just listen is all.”

“That’s my point. You’re the first woman to ever do that with me. You actually give a shit about me.”

You nodded your head side to side. “Yes, I do,” you freely admitted.

After a moment, Sebastian suddenly asked, “Have you thought about what I said?”

You nodded. “I’ve thought on it every day.”

“And?” he pressed.

“And we’ll talk tomorrow, okay?”

Sebastian’s face fell a little but he nodded. He knew you needed your space. He knew your worries about all this. “Sure. Alright.”

You leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Happy Birthday, Sebastian.”

#first impressions #sebastian stan #sebastain stan x reader #sebastian stan fic #chris evans #chris evans fic #hayden christensen #hayden christiansen fic

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justanotherwannabeclassic · 7 years

Text

Bloom (5/?)

Here’s another chapter of Bloom! Sorry for the delay in posting. I’ve been busy wrapping up my CSBB. But after this weekend, I will be mostly free! Once again, many thanks to @unfolded73 . In this chapter, Regina and Snow throw Emma a shower, and Emma has a heart-to-heart with Zelena.

[Ch.1][Ch.2][Ch.3][Ch. 4]

You can also read on AO3!

Chapter 5: Daughters Her mother's farmhouse could only be described as a rainbow explosion. Multi-colored streamers hung from the ceiling, the cupcakes were iced in a variety of bright colors -- hot pinks, yellows, oranges, and blue. Snow and Regina had really outdone themselves with the baby shower. Not only were the decorations wonderful, but so was the food -- cupcakes, donuts, mini grilled cheese sandwiches -- basically everything Emma could want.

Emma only had one rule regarding the shower. Well, two. The first was not to have any weird or gross games, which Regina had thankfully backed her up on. The second rule was to avoid an over-abundance of pink. It wasn't as if she was opposed to her daughter wearing pink or dresses, she just didn't want that to be the only option for her.

So far, both of her requirements were being met.

"We're celebrating the birth of a new princess," Snow commented when Emma expressed her awe, "and most importantly, were celebrating my new granddaughter."

"Please don't go all Jurassic Park on me and say you 'spared no expense'," Emma teased as she loaded her plate with more mini grilled cheeses. They were heavenly. "Actually, I take it back, these are fantastic. Don't spare any expense next time."

"Next time? You and Guyliner are already talking about baby number two?" Regina asked from her station in the kitchen. She was mixing mocktails, though Emma was sure that her friend had spiked her own.

"Oh God, no. I just meant in the greater ‘next time’ sense, for whomever has a baby next. Or any birthday parties."

In fact, Emma was fairly certain she didn't want any more babies after this one. She already wasn't a fan of the toll this pregnancy was taking on her body, and she doubted it would get any easier with age. Besides, she imagined she and Killian were going to have their hands quite full soon with this one.

Any further line of questioning was cut off as guests began to arrive. Emma had been half-convinced that her mother was going to invite the entire female population of Storybrooke, but she was pleased to see the women arriving were those she was already friendly with.

"It was watching him with Alexandra, wasn't it?" Ashley asked with a wink shortly after she arrived. "I knew those gears in your head had to have started turning when you saw how sweet he was with her."

"It may have nudged me along a tiny bit," Emma answered. Not too seriously, as she had been convinced she was going to die at the time. But the sight of Killian jovially interacting with the young girl had reminded Emma about the future they could have had, if she were not bound by fate.

The future they were sharing now.

"It's still shocking to me to see you two married," Aurora admitted, her cheeks turning pink at her confession. "I mean, it's obvious that you and the Captain both truly love one another, but I never would have considered it when you first met and he was working for Cora."

Emma couldn't blame Aurora there. Even though Killian had made an effort to protect the princess' heart, he had also helped steal it in the first place. Besides, even though she felt a connection with Killian when they first met, she never envisioned it blooming to this.

"If it makes you feel better, neither did I," Emma assured Aurora.

"Me either," Snow added. She reached over to grab Emma's hand. "But I'm glad we all were wrong. I couldn't imagine our family without him now."

From across the room, Emma could hear Zelena mimicking a gagging noises. "You lot keep talking about how you never expected Storybrooke's golden couple to get together, and I've spent my whole time here trying to figure out why it took her so long to climb him like a tree."

"Zelena!"

"My mother is right here," Emma emphasized, waving her hands toward Snow. She just knew she was turning the color of her favorite jacket.

"What? Regina is technically your step-grandmother, and I know you've mentioned sex things around her."

"Be that as it may," Regina cut in with a severe tone, her voice all Evil Queen, "this party is to celebrate the baby, not to debate just which position made her."

"Someone kill me now." She buried her face in her hands, shaking her head as a few of her friends snickered.

"Well how am I supposed to know what happens at these events? I never got the chance for anyone to host me one. Someone decided to speed up my pregnancy."

An awkward silence descended upon the room, and Emma felt very much like she had been punched in the gut. It was a deserved verbal gut punch, in her opinion, because what she had done as the Dark One had been cruel, but she hadn't expected it and wasn't prepared for the barb. Emma tried to think of words to say, but they died in her throat.

"Zelena, can you come into the kitchen and help me whip up some more drinks?" Regina's voice was like ice.

"Fine. But I was just stating the obvious. No need to be so touchy."

And then Zelena was gone, pulled into the kitchen to surely get scolded in some manner. Not that Emma was entirely sure she deserved it; maybe a lesson in tact, but that was probably fruitless with the Wicked Witch.

The mood at the party was still awkward. It was Belle who broke the silence, clapping her hands together, and announcing, "How about we play a game?"

Emma wasn't in the mood for games, but she acquiesced because she wasn't about to further sour the mood of the event, especially after all of the hard work everyone seemed to put into it. Granny was already glaring daggers at the doorway through which Zelena and Regina had left. Emma didn't want to make it worse.

Belle had left the room shortly after her inquiry, only to come back with a rather large stack of children's books. She handed them out at random.

"Now, Emma, prior to the game, everyone sent in their favorite children's book, or one they thought every child should have. Only we didn't tell each other the book we were bringing. So, the point of the game is to try to pair everyone with their book. I also threw in a few extra to make it more difficult," Belle explained. Well, the game wasn't gross, but it was a little on the strange side. Emma wondered if this was the type of game Belle would have wanted to the play at the shower she never had the chance to receive. "At the end of the game, you get to keep all of the books, so you'll have your own little library!"

Yes, yes it was.

Admittedly, it was a really entertaining game, and more difficult than she expected. Some were easy. Belle clearly had submitted Her Handsome Hero into the game, but the others through her for a loop. Aurora, of all people, had submitted Go the Fuck to Sleep.

"Sometimes you just feel like saying it," she explained, blushing. Emma had a feeling she wasn't normally openly crass. "And besides, it's a bit of a joke between Phillip and I with the whole sleeping curse."

Surprisingly, there were few fairy tale stories, and none about the people they actually knew.

"Why confuse her with the wrong versions?" Snow explained with a shrug. Emma refrained from telling her that number one on Henry's "To Do" list for his younger sibling was to show her Peter Pan.

Eventually Zelena and Regina returned, the former looking somewhat surly, but holding her tongue. Emma felt another pang of guilt, but pushed it down. Later, she told herself.

There was another round of games, the second one involving cupcakes and a hidden baby that Ashley won, before everyone gathered around Emma as she opened gifts.

Growing up, Emma rarely received any presents. Having everyone gathered around her was oddly foreign, and she tried to mask any discomfort she felt. This was everything she had wanted as a child -- a loving family and encouraging friends -- but now that she had it, she was still unsure of how to react. A small part of her, the little lost girl she doubted would ever fully disappear, still doubted she even deserved all of this attention.

"You guys really didn't have to do all of this," she said, eyeing what could only be described as a mountain of carefully wrapped gifts.

"We did," her mother insisted, placing a hand over hers and squeezing it encouragingly, "and most important of all, we wanted to."

"It's about time we had something to celebrate other than defeating the latest villain," Granny commented gruffly, causing an outbreak of laughter. "I'd much rather have my catering services go toward you rather than another 'we didn't die today' party."

"And since you were the one who did a lot of the almost-dying to save us, it's the least we could do," Ashley added sincerely.

Emma felt tears welling, ones she couldn't solely attribute to pregnancy hormones. Even if she totally was going to anyway. Willing them down, she laughed uneasily. "Well, if that's the case..."

Gifts were soon passed over to her, and Emma opened them with care. She was surprised when she opened a rather large gift from Belle. She had been expecting books, but instead it was full of tiny pirate-themed baby items -- onesies with anchors and skulls and crossbones, pirate socks and bobs, and --

"Is this a stuffed crocodile?"

"Rumple thought it would be amusing," Belle answered with a twinkle in her eye.

"Leave it to the Dark One to have a strange sense of humor," Zelena commented, as Regina did her best to hide a snigger. "Though you might want to check to see if it's cursed."

"He would not curse it!"

"I'm sure he wouldn't curse a stuffed animal," Regina said, casting a significant look to Emma that said yes, she would be checking for curses, even if she wouldn’t admit to doing so in front of Belle.

Emma set the crocodile to the side. She would leave it to Regina to figure out if it was safe, though she doubted Gold would be cruel enough to curse a her child's stuffed toy. But Emma had learned to err on the side of caution. (And even if it wasn't cursed, she doubted Killian would want the thing anywhere near their kid.)

She gasped when she opened a gift from Granny, a knitted blanket not dissimilar to her own.

"It's beautiful," she said. She clutched it closely to her chest. "Really, thank you."

"It's my honor," Granny replied, and much to Emma's surprise, it appeared that the older woman was dabbing her own eyes with a napkin.

Eventually Emma came to the end of the pile of gifts. At some point, Regina had magicked in a lovely rocking chair as a present, telling Emma how Henry had loved being rocked to sleep. Though Emma had muddy, fake memories of Henry's infancy, she appreciated Regina's explanation and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thank you," she whispered in her friend's ear, not sure if she meant more for the gift or the way she raised their son.

The party dissolved into idle chatter and snacking after that. Granny had catered a lot of food, and no one was willing to let it go to waste. Especially Emma, who was helping herself to her third plate of an assortment of mini grilled cheeses, cookies, and vegetables. Adding vegetables made things healthier, right? As Emma was trying to decide if she could get away with eating another cupcake, she overheard Regina telling a story of Henry’s first attempt at changing baby Robyn’s diaper -- a memory that never failed to make Henry turn bright red -- Emma realized that she hadn’t seen Zelena since they finished with gifts. She glanced around the room, and sure enough, Zelena was missing.

Another wave of guilt crested over Emma, and leaving her cupcake forgotten, she decided to seek out the Wicked Witch. Emma knew how it felt to see others get what she never had. And since she was more or less the root cause of Zelena’s shortened pregnancy, she felt an obligation to apologize to the other woman, or at the very least attempt to make her feel comfortable.

Emma found Zelena on the back deck, leaning against the wooden railing with a glass of amber liquid in her hand.

“Hey,” Emma greeted. She felt somewhat awkward approaching Zelena. They weren’t exactly friends, but they weren’t just acquaintances either. Emma walked to stand next to her, and tapped her hands against the wood. “Is is bad how much I miss drinking booze? I have no idea what that says about me.”

“It says you are exceptionally terrible at small talk,” Zelena replied with a bitter laugh. “Shouldn’t you be inside celebrating? All of those people are here for you, you know.”

“I think they can deal without me for a few minutes,” Emma said. She took a deep breath before continuing, “Listen, Zelena, I want to apologize for everything I did while I was the Dark One, and how it affected you and Robyn.”

“Feeling guilty, are we?” Zelena asked. She took a long sip of her drink. “It’s no matter. It’s not like you lot would have done anything for me or her then. I would have been locked in the prison until delivery.”

While that was probably true and honestly deserved at the time, Emma thought this was neither the time nor place to bring it up. Instead, she went with the other truth, “It doesn’t make what I did right.”

“No, it really doesn’t.” Zelena looked down at her drink, and swirled the remaining liquid. “It’s a little bit strange, isn’t it, how many terrible things we’ve all done to one another. We both know each other’s sins. Regina cursed this entire town. Your husband nearly killed Belle, and her husband’s fucked over us all more than once. And here we all are together, celebrating a new baby.”

“I think that’s called being a family.” That sounded like something her mother would say, and it felt right in a weird sort of way. They weren’t a traditional family by any sort of definition, but Emma had grown to love how her family wasn’t exactly cookie-cutter.

“God, what a mess we are.”

“Yeah, but it’s our mess.”

“It makes you wonder what we brought our children into,” Zelena muttered before finishing her drink. She laughed before saying, “Apologies. I was warned not to make things too dark today.”

“You’re not wrong, though. And sometimes the truth is pretty dark and twisty,” Emma mused, thinking back to her fears when she first discovered the pregnancy. They hadn’t abated completely, and she doubted they ever would. “But I take comfort in the fact that I’m bringing her into a family that would raise hell to keep her safe.”

“Literally, in some cases.”

“We’d do the same for Robyn, you know. She’s one of us,” Emma replied, to which Zelena gave he smile. “Honestly, I’m grateful for Robyn.”

“Everyone should be grateful for her. She’s a gift. But why say that now?”

Emma gestured to her stomach. “Her.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Emma replied, not sure how to articulate her feelings on the subject. “I never really had a family growing up, and I was even worse at making friends. I had Lily, I guess, and it was great, but even that fell apart. And, I dunno, I’m not saying that they have to be friends, I mean I want them to be, but I like that there will be another girl there who understands this mess of a family. God, I’m not saying this right--”

Zelena cut her off. “I’m glad Robyn has a family too, as strange as it is. And, you know, another girl to hang around. I’m already sure those boys will be handfuls.”

“And our girls won’t?”

“True. I’ll honestly be a little disappointed if she doesn’t turn out a tiny bit wicked.”

“I was a thief and Killian’s a pirate. I think being a hellraiser is in this kid’s blood,” Emma said as she placed her hand lovingly on her stomach. A part of her was already dreading the teenage years.

“I pity the fool who tries to stand in either of our girls’ ways,” Zelena commented, completely oblivious to her reference. Emma had to bite down a laugh. Now was not the time to point out a missed pop culture reference, especially now that things between her and Zelena were slightly on the mend.

“Speaking of standing in people’s way, the last I checked, there were a ton of cupcakes left over. What do you say we go back to the party, and get them before they’re gone?”

“That is a terrible segue,” Zelena said. Despite her comment, she shrugged, and headed to the door. “I need more whiskey anyway.”

When they reentered the house, true to form, Zelena made a beeline for the kitchen and her mother’s stock of alcohol. Regina cast Emma a concerned look, stopping her before she could forge her own path to the dessert table. “Did she say anything to you? I told her--”

“Relax, it’s fine,” Emma assured her friend. “In fact, I think we bonded.”

“You bonded with my sister?” Regina couldn’t keep the skepticism out of her voice.

“Hey, I’ve always heard babies have a weird way of bringing people together. This is another example of that,” Emma replied with a smile. Turning her attention away from Regina, she said, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m growing a baby, and need a cupcake.”

And get a cupcake, Emma did. As Emma surveyed the party, from the food Granny provided, to her mother talking animatedly to Ashley and Aurora, to Regina watching the room like a hawk, to even Zelena with her whiskey now laughing with Belle, she felt thankful for the family her daughter was being born into, and the community she was inheriting. And as cheesy as it sounded, that truly was the best gift possible.

#cs ff #captain swan #cs fic #captain swan ff #cs offspring #cs pregnancy #s writes bloom

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the-light-in-her-eyes-story · 5 years

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Part 12: The Diner and The Motel

The next night passed very much like the one before, the two walking mostly in silence with intermissions of chit-chat. When it became too dark to see Adriane once again illuminated the night. The further they went down the mountain, the more sparse the trees became, and instead of lush forest bushes the terrain became inhabited by desert shrubs and cacti. As the sun began to rise they approached what appeared to Dane to be the edge of a sprawling desert town.

“Welcome to Palmcaster,” Adriane announced, voice airy like a tour guide. “This suburban city is home to just under 200,000 ‘vibrant’ souls and is beloved for its chain restaurants and remote location, perfect for delinquents on the run from the law.” She smiled at Dane, gesturing around as though she was pointing out historic monuments you couldn’t pass up.

Dane found this less funny than Adriane seemed to because the idea of being a wanted individual still left a sour taste in their mouth. Nevertheless, the idea of sitting down to a warm meal was incredibly enticing, and they eagerly followed Adriane into town. Near the outskirts they came across a diner. Using their reflections in the windows they both tried to dust off their clothes and smooth down their hair, Dane’s being more puffy than usual and Adriane’s decently knotted. They headed in, Dane following Adriane. Adriane went off to find a booth while Dane looked at the local newspapers sitting near the front. Apparently the city was celebrating its 95th birthday this year since it had combined from two neighboring cities that, over the years, had encroached closer and bled into one another until it made sense to officially become one. Stomach growling, Dane tore themselves away from the article and joined Adriane in the booth.

When the server came over, Dane was quick to order a burger, fries, and a glass of water. Adriane, hood up, sunglasses on, fingerless gloves concealing hands that were nervously tapping on the table, mumbled “same” when the server turned to her.

The waitress looked a little put off by this brusqueness from what looked like a moody teen, so Dane quickly explained, “sorry, my friend has a migraine, thus the-” and gestured toward Adriane’s hood and sunglasses.

“Oh, I totally get ya, honey,” the woman said endearingly, putting a hand on Adriane’s shoulder. Seeing the girl visibly tense up, she withdrew her hand and went to go put in their order, telling them she’d also bring some coffee. “That’ll fix your head up right quick.”

As Dane ate ravenously, Adriane picked at her food, mostly sticking to the warm mug the server had brought her. She was sitting with her shoulders slumped, leaning against the inner corner of her side of the booth, one foot on the bench with her knee up. Beneath the sunglasses Dane could just make out that Adriane’s eyes were alternating between darting around to being clamped shut. She held the cup of coffee with both hands, tapping impatiently on the edge of it with her fingers. In the few days Dane had known her, they had never seen her look so uncomfortable.

“Are you okay,” Dane asked quietly, not wanting to draw the attention of the other patrons, happily chatting at nearby booths.

“Yeah.” Adriane said quickly, looking around at the others in the room.

“You… don’t seem okay,” Dane said nervously. They weren’t sure if they were reading Adriane right, or how far to push Adriane to get an honest answer.

She just shrugged and brusquely responded with, “you try living in almost complete isolation, then suddenly jump into a busy diner.”

Dane mumbled “sorry,” and reached for their glass of water.

Looking briefly at Dane and seeing that she had said something rude, Adriane added, “just give me a bit and I’ll adjust. People are just loud and chaotic and being so close is… overwhelming.”

Dane nodded and they finished their meal in silence. As their plates emptied they realized that they had overlooked something when they had eagerly marched in.

“Hey Adriane,” they whispered, “I don’t have any money… Do you?”

Adriane smirked. “Nope.”

“What are we gonna d-”

The server walked up with the check, interrupting Dane’s question. Their eyebrows raised as they started to mutter random noises, unsure of what to do.

Adriane briefly glared at Dane, then took the check from the woman, looked at it, and immediately handed it back. As the server’s hand touched the check, a subtle golden light seemed to snake from Adriane’s hand to the lady’s in a split second. She smiled and said “thanks you too! Take care of yourselves!” before walking away to tend to the other customers.

Dane, eyes still wide, turned to Adriane in shock. “What did you do,” they whispered.

Adriane smiled slyly and jerked her head toward the door, gesturing that they should leave. Outside, Adriane started walking down the street, hands in her pants pockets, and Dane jogged to catch up.

“What did you do??” Dane pushed again.

Adriane shrugged irritatingly, smiling at Dane’s concern. “Made her think that we paid in cash and left her a nice tip.”

Dane gaped at Adriane.

“You’re not seriously judging me?” Adriane said, less amused and now slightly annoyed. “The alternative is we don’t eat and leave town. Would you prefer that?”

“I guess not… but isn’t it stealing?” Dane asked sheepishly. They felt more like a criminal than they had this whole trip. At least before they hadn’t actually done anything wrong.

Adriane shrugged again, flippant. “I guess.”

They walked down the sidewalk for a while as Dane wrestled with their guilt. In the early afternoon they walked up to the entrance of a motel.

Adriane turned to Dane, “Look, if you want to survive and travel with me you’re going to have to be okay with a lot of morally iffy things. If you can’t be okay with that, then you need to leave.”

Her expression was hard, unempathetic, and deadly serious. Dane’s internal debate had not yet reached a conclusion, but the idea of having to fend for themself in the middle of an unfamiliar city was terrifying. They froze, trying to think but finding their mind to be blank.

Sighing, Adriane walked into the motel, letting the door close behind her. Dane watched it close and tried to take a few steadying breaths. This isn’t the time to hyperventilate, they reassured themself. Just because you’re breaking more laws today than you could have ever imagined breaking in your worst nightmare that doesn’t give you an excuse to panic. Remembering that the whole reason they were in this mess was because they broke the law when they crossed into Downtown helped them laugh and break out of their frozen state. They took one more deep breath, then headed inside.

Adriane was waiting at the front desk, and upon hearing Dane walk in just gave them a little nod in acknowledgement. Dane joined Adriane at the desk as the receptionist came out from a back room. As soon as he was within a few feet, Adriane stared at him and a golden mist floated from Adriane’s outstretched hand to the man’s mind. Dazedly, he grabbed a set of keys labeled “112” and handed them to Adriane. As the two left he waved, wishing them a good stay.

“You could have at least talked to him,” Dane grumbled.

“Didn’t see a point. It wouldn’t change the outcome.” Adriane said, casting a sideways glance at Dane. “Oh, and in his mind he rented the room out to a local father and son whose house is being renovated, just in case someone comes asking about us.”

Dane thought that was pretty smart, but didn’t feel any desire to gratify Adriane with a compliment. Arriving at their room, Adriane unlocked the door and walked in. Dane caught the door before it closed and followed. It was a basic room with two beds and a bathroom. Looking at the shower, Dane realized it had been days since they’d bathed. Without saying anything to Adriane they went on in, washing their clothes in the sink and hanging them to dry while they showered. Their mom had always yelled at them for taking such long, hot showers, but right now Dane wasn’t thinking about how much water they were wasting, or if there would be any hot water left for anyone else. Dane wasn’t thinking about anything at all. They just let the warm water wash away the dirt and stress. After what was probably an hour they finally dried off, realizing that there was no way their clothes were going to dry amidst all the steam. They stood, wondering for a moment what they should do, eventually realizing that their only options were to wear wet clothes or a towel. Despite their modesty’s screams of horror, they decided to go with wrapping a towel around themselves, then exited to find Adriane laying on one of the beds, legs crossed and arms bent with her hands beneath their head. Her eyes were closed. Dane shifted their stance into a tip-toe, trying to not wake her up.

“I’m awake.” Adriane said, eyes still closed.

“Oh, sorry. I just thought…”

“Nah, just easier to read the people in the other rooms when there’s less distraction.”

“Read the other people?”

“Yeah,” Adriane said, turning her head toward Dane and opening her eyes. Blinking, she hesitated for a minute at the sight of Dane in a towel. “Uh… yeah. I was just sensing who was here, their motives, et cetera. What happened to your clothes?”

“I showered,” Dane explained, embarrassed. “And I washed my clothes, but they’re still wet… obviously.”

“Ah.” Adriane said, gesturing a hand toward her bag. Golden tendrils shot from her hand to the bag, unzipped it, and pulled out a pair of jeans and a black shirt, which then shot over and hung in front of Dane’s face. “I think we’re roughly the same size. You can wear these for now.”

Grateful, Dane stepped back into the bathroom and changed into the clean clothes. Then they hung their clothes in front of the AC and laid down on their own bed. Laying contentedly for a little while, Dane realized that they were a little thirsty again. Adriane suggested they go check out the mini convenience store the motel had in the lobby.

“Just tell the guy to charge it to the room.” Adriane said, making no movement to show she intended on coming with Dane.

Begrudgingly, Dane went to the lobby and grabbed a few bottles of water and granola bars. Waiting for the receptionist to come out, they took a look at the newspaper rack. The top was the local newspaper they’d seen at the diner, but beneath that was the newspaper for the whole region. The front page made Dane drop everything they were holding. The article was titled “Massacre in Downtown,” and a large photograph covered the majority of the front. The picture showed what used to be the street outside of Adriane’s building, but it was now practically a crater. Littered about the wreckage of rubble and debris were countless bodies, broken and bloody. Dane hadn’t really seen the aftermath of Adriane’s retaliation, and had apparently blocked it out of their mind. They could feel their heart hammering in their ears and felt like they were about to throw up.

“Let me see that.”

Dane jumped at the sound of Adriane suddenly appearing behind them. Their lips moved soundlessly, lost amongst the confusion and grief.

“I felt your distress and thought you might have been under attack.” Adriane explained passively. “Now let me see that.”

Dane handed the paper to Adriane, hands shaking. Adriane soundlessly skimmed the article before letting out a long exhale and tossing the paper back on the stack.

“They’re calling it an explosion, set off by ‘wanted criminal and accomplice,’” she laughed bitterly. “They’ve got a very vague description of us in here, but its so clearly censored that its pretty laughable. Obviously the police want us caught, but don’t want the public to know that I’m anything more than a normal criminal. They even described me as having ‘light blond’ hair! At least they said I’m to be considered ‘armed and dangerous,’” she laughed again, running a hand through her snow white hair. Dane couldn’t see what was so funny. It was one thing to know that people had died, but it was another to see the death and destruction.

“Let’s get back to the room,” Adriane said, grabbing the dropped food and water. She led Dane back and once inside, sat Dane down. “Look, they attacked me. You know that.”

“But you could have changed their memories or perception or whatever it is you do,” Dane sniffed, eyes wet with unshed tears.

Adriane shrugged. “I guess. But that woulda’ been less fun.” A dark grin spread across the girl’s face that sent a chill down Dane’s spine. Dane moved away from Adriane and sat in silence for a while.

“How did you end up like this?” Dane asked finally.

“I don’t know.” Adriane said, smile faded from her face. “The magic just kinda… happened one day.”

“You’ve never tried to find out why?”

“Nope,” Adriane started, initially flippant. Then, sighing, she conceded, “It took me a while to get a handle on my abilities… not that I have a perfect grasp on them. I’d hoped that maybe you’d know something about Eloise that would explain it, but now I’m not so sure. Its not like there’s a handbook about my situation. From what I know, I’m pretty sure I’m the only one like me.”

Dane nodded.

“And who am I supposed to ask? Its not like the Fey give out their phone numbers for social calls.”

“I guess not…” Dane said, then a thought bounced into life in their mind, “BUT, Eloise did think she’d found areas where the veil between the Fey realm and our world were weakened. Maybe if we went to one of those areas you could communicate with one of them?”

Adriane had straightened up at this and whipped off her sunglasses, intensely staring into Dane’s eyes. “There’s weak areas in the veil? And Eloise knew where they were?”

Dane nodded.

“You better not be making this stuff up,” Adriane warned.

“I’m not! I assumed you knew about these places!” Dane exclaimed.

“I’m not omniscient…”

“Okay, well, there’s one up north that’s known as Fey Buttes. It used to be a volcano or something named Sutter Mountain… I think.” Seeing Adriane’s incredulous glare, they added, “it’s been a while! Sorry I don’t have a perfect memory about all of history! Anyway, it’s a giant mound in the middle of fields and there’s been a lot of sightings there, and its a hotspot for Fey energy and plants, like fairyweed. It’s been investigated a lot and is one of California’s major energy sources…”

For once, Adriane looked at a loss for words. Finally she regained her composure and said, “I’ve had this dream for a while now of a large mountain peak in the middle of flat, barren land. I assumed that I had made it up, but I’ve felt this weird familiarity whenever I see it in my dreams.”

“That sounds like Fey Buttes! How can you have dreams about it if you’ve never been there?”

“I told you, there’s some things I know that I shouldn’t,” said Adriane contemplatively. “I need to go there.”

She looked up at Dane, “I can set you up with a place to live if you’d like, and a job or cash probably.”

“What?” Dane asked, confused.

“I have no expectation that you’ll come all the way to the Buttes with me.”

“Why not?”

“‘Cus this isn’t your fight.” Adriane stated, tone flat and emotionless.

This time, Dane was the one that shrugged. “It’s not like I can go home. And I don’t necessarily want to stay here either.”

Adriane nodded. “Okay. Then we have quite a journey ahead of us.”

“Can we sleep here at least tonight, though?” Dane asked, unable to hide the note of pleading from their voice.

Adriane’s corner of her lip twitched as she nodded. “Get some sleep. We’ll start preparing for the trip in the morning.”

“One last thing.” Dane said before making any movement toward bed. Biting their lip and taking a steadying breath they continued, “if I’m going to be traveling with you I need two things. First, an assurance that you won’t hurt anyone, including me, unless it’s a life threatening situation, I guess.”

Adriane hesitated, then nodded. “And second?”

“Second, I need to know exactly how you got your abilities.”

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aegyotrashcan · 7 years

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Fuckboy!Hoseok

Hobi in snapbacks & tank tops is my weakness >.< I hope he had a wonderful day and sorry for the random posts today but I’m just very excited to celebrate the birth of the light of my life ;)

warning: slightly mature themes since ... ya know, he’s a fuckboy haha

The name Jung Hoseok was infamous in your college. From one end of the campus to the other, everyone knew about the resident fuckboy, who denied being one. Hoseok claimed he was a lover, as he rolled out of yet another strangers bed, told people he wanted to make others happy as he crawled out the windows of married lecturers homes, that he just had a lot of love to give, as he convinced people into threesomes.

On top of it all, maybe worse still, was that he was handsome. And he knew it. No matter how many students turned their nose up at his behaviour, they would just as quickly fall into his arms. Those tanned, firm arms. Maybe it was his dancer’s body? you reasoned. The man knew how to move his body, that was toned and sleek.

Despite all you knew about him, no matter how many times you told yourself ‘Don’t’ in your head, you did. You wished you could blame it on the alcohol but you had only taken a sip of beer when Jung Hoseok suddenly appeared by your side.

“Hello, beautiful, why haven’t I seen you here before?”

Namjoon’s dorm was the place to party at. You had been here before, usually watching Hoseok take the dance floor and grind up against someone. No matter how many times you watched him move, you could never get enough. His movements were so fluid, like artwork.

“I have been here before,” you tell him, shouting to be heard over the music.

“What?” He pretended not to hear, grabbing your wrist to drag you outside into the hall. Other stragglers were littered on the floor in patches, mainly newbies who couldn’t handle how strong Namjoon makes his punch. “I couldn’t hear you, what did you say?” His easy smile told you it was a lie, he had just wanted to get you alone.

The more sober students scattered around the hall knew what was taking place, that Jung Hoseok had found someone new to “share his overwhelming love” with.

“I said that I’ve been here before, nearly every week.” Your roommate had a thing going on with Namjoon, nothing serious, just fooling around. But because of Seokjin, you were dragged to each and every Thursday night party Namjoon threw.

“Oh, really? I think I would remember you,” he said, voice smooth but eyes unfocused. He had been drinking, you could smell it on his breath, seen it in his glassy eyes. But he still only had one thing in mind. “Why don’t you come back to my dorm, so I can get to know you better?”

This is it, the moment where two options open up.

You could, stick to the moral path, remain the person who could judge all the other idiots who foolishly followed after Jung Hoseok, the Aquarius. You weren’t a big believer in star signs before you met Hoseok. But Aquarius’ were hard to pin down, the kind of free spirits that drifted from person to person. That described him perfectly, to the point where it was nearly scary. Did you really want to be another notch on his bedpost?

Or, did you want to give in to temptation? He got around because he knew what he was doing. Practice makes perfect, right? His dancer hips had made you conjure up unholy thoughts many times, distracting you in classes that you really should have payed attention in.

“What do you say?” He brushed your hair behind your ear, smiling as if he already knew the answer. Which he did, he could read it in your body language.

You returned the smile, pushing back his cap to stare into his glassy, brown orbs.

“Lead the way.”

It became a routine.

Whenever one of you went out, the drunker you got, the more you craved each other. It got to the point where no matter how much you drank, the only one you wanted was Hoseok. Surprisingly, he felt the same. Even his old flames or the hottest person at the party couldn’t get his blood pumping, not like how you did. His heartbeat picked up with you around, made his heart feel full and jittery. He couldn’t explain it.

“What are you doing to me?” he asked, shouting over the music. No matter how tired you were, you always forced yourself to go to Namjoon’s parties. If not, then Seokjin would. Either way, you would end up with Hoseok. Always. Ever since that first night, you both seemed to find each other.

“What?” You saw his lips move but couldn’t make his words out.

Not bothering to say more, he nods his head to the door and you understand immediately. You both make your way through the crowd, feet leading themselves automatically to his dorm. His roommate was passed out on the couch, the television still on and an opened book on his chest. Luckily for you both (and him), Min Yoongi slept like a log.

Messily, your lips found each other, blindly rushing to his room, trying to rip clothes off and not trip. Yoongi had never woken up before but you didn’t want to test that. Once safely in his room, Hoseok locked the door and pushed you onto his bed.

“Strip.”

Whatever hadn’t managed to be taken off en route was now thrown on the floor. His body joined yours in a heap on the bed, hands trailing over the familiar territory as his lips met yours again.

“You’re driving me crazy,” he groans, voice husky. “What are you doing to me?”

This time, you hear him loud and clear. “I’m not doing anything?”

“Yes, you are. You’ve cast a spell. That’s what it feels like. Our kisses feel like magic and it makes my skin tingle.” His tone was unlike you had ever heard it before. The mood in the room shifted. You sat up on your elbows, squinting to see him in the low light.

“What are you talking about?”

“I think ... I think I’m falling for you.”

You laughed. “How drunk are you? Do you need me to bring in a bucket, in case you spew?” You brushed back his hair, that was a little sweaty but that didn’t bother you.

“No.” He pushed your hand away. “You’re not taking me seriously! I mean it, I’m not drunk. I barely even drank, Jesus, I had, like, two beers. I’m not saying this shit because I’m drunk. I’m saying it because ... because it’s true. I think I’m falling for you. You’ve enchanted me and now ... fuck, now I think I like you.”

“You’re Jung Hoseok,” you point out. That statement needed no explanation. Heart breakers don’t give away their heart, that’s common knowledge.

“Holy shit, I’m trying to be honest here and you’re treating me like I’m an asshole.” He pulled away from you, bringing the blanket up to cover himself, feeling so exposed. Physically and emotionally. “I know my past, okay? I know that I’m not exactly a good boy but I’ve never set out to hurt anyone. I just like people, all people, making them smile and feel good. I just ... Those others never made me feel that way, made me smile or happy. But you. You do.”

You edge away, feet finding the floor and beginning to search for your clothes. “Okay, you’re wasted. And talking crazy. Hopefully you won’t be this drunk next week.” Once clothed, you left and paused to throw a blanket over Yoongi, before continuing on.

Behind you, you left a naked Hoseok, frustrated and angry and ... determined. You weren’t taking him seriously right now but he would make you take him serious.

The following week, you meet once more at Namjoon’s party and he wastes no time dragging you back to his.

“I seem sober, right?”

You nod. “Yeah, why?”

“Okay, then listen to me. And listen well. I’m not talking crazy, I’m not drunk. I like you. I really do. And you don’t seem to believe me but I’ll do anything to change that.”

You giggle, the alcohol making your head spin.

“I dunno? Dye your hair blond?”

Your drunk request was stupid but if that’s what it took, then Hoseok would do it.

You can’t believe that Hoseok actually did it. While drunk, you blurted out; “Dye your hair blond.” You’re not sure where the request came from, it just came out. But you did feel like being drunk had a lot to do with it.

After sleeping in and almost missing class, you rush in last minute as the lecturer begins talking and scan the hall for a free seat. Sitting up front, next to the only free seat you can see, is a golden haired Hoseok.

You gape at him, almost forgetting you’re stood in front of over a hundred other students. Awkwardly, you sit down. He smiles at you immediately, a soft and warm one, eyes filled with hope. But he says nothing.

Class continues on in this staring, looking away, taking notes, more staring cycle until the lecture finishes. And everyone stands and rushes to be the first ones out. As you’re putting your books away, Hoseok decides to speak.

“So, do you believe me now?”

You look over at him. Although he looks strange, since you had only ever known him with dark hair, he didn't look bad. In fact, he looked great. It seemed that Jung Hoseok could take anything and make it look good.

You nod. “I believe you.”

His grin lights up the entire room. “Great! I’ll pick you up at seven, tonight. Wear something nice!”

#bts #bts scenarios #jhope #jhope scenarios #hoseok #hoseok scenarios #kpop #kpop scenarios #fuckboy au #fuckboy jhope #fuckboy hoseok #jung hoseok

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