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#and it goes for the ‘millennials’ too! just leave others be and let them like what they like and look how they feel most confident in
tonnerredebrest · 2 years
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I NEED MORE MENTALLY STRUGGLING CARLOS POV tnx :)
You absolute menace. Ngl, I wrote this because The Author Went Through Some Harsh Stuff And Needs To Sort Things Out TM. 
HUGE THANKS TO @mish-tique FOR BETA READING! SHE’S AN ABSOLUTE PEARL IN THE CARLANDO MILIEU!
Again, this is NOT reality. Don’t share it outside fandom spaces. Don’t share it with the people involved.
tw: Internalized Homophobia
*****
Carlos can’t say his upbringing had been out of the ordinary. Yes, he had a World Rally Championship-winning dad, he got accustomed to fame pretty quick, and he learned English pretty early on, but that doesn’t mean his education changed. He still went to school, catholic school, and Sunday school, following what millions of Spanish pupils followed, and still follow. He still passed high school and set off in the world. Pretty normal for the majority of the kids born in rich countries. 
Yet, when he first sees Lando, he knows something is wrong with him. As a man, you don’t simply see another man and think “I wanna kiss him, cuddle him, fuck him, and call him love for the rest of my life”, no. You are supposed to have those thoughts towards women and women only. You cannot have them for a pretty British boy, with a smile who brightens your world and warms your heart. 
Before you go on about how he is simply ignorant, Carlos isn’t. He isn’t ignorant. He knows gay people exist, he’s not a boomer, thank you very much. He also knows bisexual people exist, he’s a millennial for Christ’s sake! Yet, while those concepts do wander in his brain, he cannot seem to be able to make them apply to himself. He’s not gay, bi, or something else. Other people are, not him! Carlos is a perfectly straight man, who dates pretty and hot girlfriends, and makes sweetly love to them, absolutely not thinking about a man while doing it. 
No. He loves women too much to be gay. He had too few times those disturbing thoughts towards men to be bi. He is simply normal, a boring heterosexual male. 
But then, why does he get so anxious and pissed off when someone doubts his sexuality? Why is he mad when someone asks him what genders he likes. Why can’t he bring himself to watch a cute gay love story his very own girlfriend recommended? Carlos doesn’t want to think about that, too dangerous territory. 
“Sometimes I don’t understand you,” Isa says, as he declines for the umpteenth time watching Love, Simon. “You act so touchily freely with Lando, giving him heart eyes, but you won’t watch this?”
Carlos doesn’t say a word, keeping looking down. He has nothing to say, mainly because he doesn’t know what to say. It’s not like someone could ever understand what’s going on in his head. It’s not like someone could understand why parts of himself are fighting each other to death. It’s not like his story is normal, he IS normal!
Isa mumbled something he doesn’t quite catch, and Carlos chooses not to reply. Why would he? He leaves her sulking in the living room, as he goes somewhere else, somewhere people won’t go about and ask difficult questions. 
Yet, it seems he can't escape them forever.
It's summer break, and he invited Lando on a weekend echapée at the beach. He doesn't know why he did it, he just feels this deep yearning for Lando every time they are apart for too long. Carlos puts it on the account of the deep friendship they have. It's one of the most intense, pure, and sweet he's ever been in. 
And he is sure it's only friendship feelings between them, even tho he carefully chooses to not think about how his heart skips a beat every time Lando smiles at him, or how the Brit is the last thing he thinks about before sleeping, and the first when he wakes up. 
They are lounging on the beach, lazily tanning under the hot Spanish sun. Lando seems to be reading, and Carlos is sleeping. He dreams of nothing, just letting himself be carried to another realm by the soothing sounds of the ocean, the gentle breeze in the air- wait, was that water?
Carlos feels a sudden coldness on his back, which brings him back to reality. He opens his eyes, to see Lando laughing his ass off, a little empty plastic bucket in his hands. 
“Oh, you motherfucker,” Carlos groans, getting up on his feet. “You are dead cabròn!”
And he launches himself at Lando. The latter, too busy laughing, doesn't have the time to dodge him and finishes on Carlos’s shoulder as if he were a sack of potatoes. 
“Carlos! Let me off!” He screams, to no avail. 
“Oh no, cabròn. To the sea with you!”
And without any ceremony, Carlos dumps Lando in the salt water. The Brit yelps, before getting back up. He devilishly smiles and tackles the Spaniard into the water. 
They are now both wet, and mock fighting in the sea. Water gets thrown in every direction, and their laughter echoes on the private beach they rented. 
After a while, the laughter dies down, they don't have the same energy anymore. Carlos and Lando are close, dangerously close. The Brit seems to notice it and chooses to get even closer. It makes Carlos slightly uncomfortable, but he is accustomed to Lando’s weirdness and desire for physical contact. The Brit gets even closer, up until they are in each other personal space. Gently, he puts his arms around the other driver, locking him into a hug. 
“Carlos, I love you,” Lando whispers in his ears.
The Spanish driver freezes. No, that can’t be possible. Lando, cute, sweet, innocent, funny, amazingly beautiful Lando cannot be in love with him, and less of all in love with a man. The Brit is literally everything a woman could ask for, being bite-sized and ready to be showered under a never-ending load of cuteness. He cannot possibly be in love with the Spaniard. 
“Is something wrong?” Lando asks, concerned as Carlos has gone mute. “Should I get home? I mean, I'm so sorry if I made you uncomfortable. It wasn’t my plan, really. I really thought you and I would have been on the same page, but apparently, I was wrong,” the Brit gets off him and puts a couple of meters between themselves.
Carlos cannot begin to describe how much he wants to kiss Lando right there. Yet, he catches himself. No, he can't do that, remember? He is straight, straight as a pine tree. He has a girlfriend too, he can't do that to her!
The following week is the worst week he ever had. He shuts down his phone, not wanting to speak to anyone. He doesn’t even answer postcards his family sent. Carlos contemplated going with them for a while, but only a look at his phone made him remember what happened. 
He is disgusted by himself. 
He dared having thoughts, that kind of thoughts, towards someone else than his girlfriend, towards a man! How can he live in peace with himself knowing there was a part of him who wanted Lando more than anything? 
Carlos doesn’t know what to do anymore. Isa comes to visit, and he had to let her in. Yet, he doesn’t speak to her, just nods and groans. He almost thinks about locking himself up in the guest room, and sleeping all day, to forget and get away from whatever his feelings imply. 
One day, his girlfriend jas enough. She ambushed him while he was cooking something for himself. 
“You don't love me anymore,” Isa says, matter of fact. “There’s no denying it, Carlos.”
Even if the driver had prepared himself for that, it still hurts. 
“No, Isa, that’s false!” He tries to convince her, but how can he do that when he doesn't even believe his own words?
She only smiles at him sadly, taking his hands in her own. 
“You know it’s true, Carlito,” her tone is sweet and sad. “I care for you enough to let you go. I was blind for too long.”
He can see tears pooling in her eyes. He feels some wetness in his too. Slowly, he comes closer and hugs her tight. Isa sights, tears wetting his neck. There’s no point in denying he is crying too. 
They fall asleep on the couch, each other talking about how much they liked the time spent together. Isa always joked about how, as she was the one who asked Carlos out, she’ll be the one dumping him too. He feels it’s incredibly ironic, but also very iconic of her. 
The next day she leaves, going back to their apartment in Madrid. It was her’s in the first place, so Carlos just has to take his things out. A few days later, he feels more like himself. It’s still summer break, so he books a flight and goes there. 
As he lands in the capital city, he decides to open his phone. He leaves it on silence, just enough time for all the calls, messages, texts and other notifications to die off. His lock screen is absurdly cluttered. Carlos guesses he can deal with that later. 
“You look like shit,” Isa greets him, kissing his cheeks. 
Carlos chuckles. He can’t deny it, Lando still plagued his thoughts, restlessly. 
“I gathered them in some bags, but do check over again,” she leads him to the living room.
On the sofa, several grocery bags await him. The Spanish driver goes around the flat, looking for other of his things. He founds none and goes back to the living room. 
“It’s all clear,” he says, getting the stuff in his hands. 
“I’ll ship things if I found anything else,” Isa replies, showing him a compassionate smile. “Oh, and before you got out, just make sure you call this number. It’s a therapist’s, you’ll feel better after it. 
She hands him a business card. Carlos just put it in his pocket, not thinking much about it. 
Carlos did go to the therapist Isa recommended. The person had been very professional, as they had revealed they were actually non-binary. The driver was a little shocked, but he did go passed that, and opened himself to the therapist too. 
He had learned quite a few things and got helped a lot. Session after session, Carlos got more confident about himself and his feelings, up until he was quite comfortable with the idea that he was in love with Lando too. 
He had talked about getting in a gay relationship with his therapist, who encourage him to talk to Lando and mend things between them. Even if they don’t end up together, their separation had put Carlos in a very stressed and sad place. It’s true it had been a few weeks of little to no contact, and only very poor communication on track. 
Carlos is determined to turn that around now. He had invited Lando to his Italian apartment, for a little dinner. Lando said yes, and Carlos is preparing the food for them. He is truly surprised that Lando accepted seeing him, he just hopes the Brit will want him back, as a friend. Carlos doesn’t believe Lando will ever love him again, not after how Carlos behaved himself. 
The Brit arrives at 7 pm, right on time. Carlos is truly delighted to see him, his eyes lighting up as he opened the door. 
“Lando, good evening. Please, come in,” he says, getting out of the way for the guest to enter. 
“Good evening to you too.” 
Things are a little awkward between them, as they went neither for a hug nor handshake. 
“I, uh,” Lando says again, handing him a black bag. “I didn’t really know what we’ll be eating but I brought wine?”
It is red wine, a Bordeaux, perfect for what Carlos planned. It is an expensive one too, the kind which Carlos liked. His smile impossibly grows.
“Thank you, it is perfect.”
Lando slightly blushes, trying to downplay the gift. Carlos then takes his coat, hangs it on the coat rack, and shows him toward the living room. 
“Carlos, you didn’t have to,” if the Brit was pink before, he is now fully red. 
The Spanish driver had redecorated a bit. In the middle of the room stands a little table, perfect for two. On it, a little bouquet is arranged, completed with some candles. The lights are dimmed, definitely set for a cosy mood. 
“Please, sit down,” Carlos says, even going as far as pushing the chair under Lando when he sat. 
They are now facing each other. The Spanish driver opens the bottle, serving both of them a full glass. Lando doesn’t hesitate to drink, even if he doesn’t like alcohol in the first place. Carlos is surprised by that but doesn’t say anything, it wouldn’t be a good conversation. 
On their plates, some Spanish hors d’œuvre is present. The one Lando liked when they did that McLaren video. Carlos sees the Brit is hesitant at first, but the latter ends up remembering the dish and enjoying it. 
“It’s very good, Carlos,” Lando thanks him, almost moaning.
“I’m glad you like it, Landi- Lando.”
The Spanish driver catches himself before he uses a nickname. He isn’t sure if the Brit is comfortable with that after what happened between them. Lando just shoots him a bright smile, and they continue their meal. 
Carlos does have to get up, to search the actual food. It’s some simple pasta, with a sauce in them, but it’s also Lando’s favourite meal. When it is served, the Brit’s smile grows impossibly wider. 
“Is that…” He cannot even finish the question.
“Yes, it is,” Carlos nods, serving himself too. 
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“It’s no worries, Lando, I wanted to.”
And, as if the pasta is magical, they slowly fall back into their old routine. Tentative jokes are exchanged, but after a while, their usual banter comes back, in full force. They don’t see the time pass, and neither their food slowly diminishing, until they realise they’ve been laughing for a while over empty plates.
“Let me bring the desert, Landito.”
This time, Carlos forgot to suppress that nagging feeling of wanting to call Lando anything else than Lando, really. He cringes and looks back at the Brit, hoping he didn’t overstep any boundaries. On his side, Lando just grins, his cheeks a little flushed. Carlos smiles, before going into the kitchen. 
There, he opens the fridge and takes out Lando’s favourite cake. It had been a hassle to find in Italy, but he managed it. On top of it, there’s a big “sorry” written in white frosting. Carlos hopes it’s not too cliché.
“Here it is!” He says, coming back with the decent-sized desert. 
The Spanish driver is careful to put it so that the writing is facing Lando. He looks back at the Brit, who is now facing him, absolutely gobsmacked. 
“Carlos, why?“
“I’m really sorry for you I behaved towards you these pasts week,” he begins, thinking back to the speech he had prepared for such occasion. “It was really unfair to you to not say anything and ignore you. I fully realise I behaved like a massive idiot, and I would understand if you don’t want to be friends anymore.”
Carlos looks down, feeling his cheeks redden. He hates putting his feelings out like that, but I’d he wants to call a Lando “cabrón” again, he’ll do whatever it takes. 
“But… What if I don’t want to be friends?” Lando asks, voice not sounding very confident. 
Carlos looks back at him, visibly hurt. As he sees his expression, Lando is quick to add:
“I mean, more than friends- What if I want to be more than friends?“
The Brit seems uneasy, not daring to look him in the eyes. 
“You want that, with me?” The Spanish driver can’t believe it. “After all how I was to you?”
“It hurt, yes, but I realise it’s because you had stuff to figure out, and I’ve forgiven you about that.”
Lando gets up from the chair, going in front of Carlos, crouching in front of him. He gently takes the other’s hands in his, squeezing them tight. 
“I want a relationship with you, you muppet,” his voice is a little mocking, but also quivering. “I’ve had a crush on you since God knows when. I want you to be even more part of my life, Carlos. I-“
The Brit doesn’t get to finish his speech, as Carlos surges forward, locking their lips together. Lando is so surprised, that he lets out a little sound, before relishing at the contact. Soon enough, the Spanish driver withdraws from the kiss, he needs to talk before going further. 
“I am afraid, cariño,” Carlos confesses while their foreheads are pressed together. “But I’m working on it. I can’t promise it’s perfect, but one day it will.”
*****
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jmin · 3 years
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my ig is FILLED with cringe millennials x gen z discourse and it makes me so mad to see ppl taking it too far just for the pleasure of shitting on people’s likes asdfghjklç
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So I was being a basic bitch the other day and listening to my true crime podcasts when it occurred to me just how suspicious Nile’s “death” would look to everyone not in the Guard, leading me to a train of thought that, 2200 words later, absolutely got away from me but I can’t let go so I’m inflicting it on all of you!
To set the stage, we know the movie takes place over approximately a week. Here’s what happens to Nile from the military’s point of view:
She dies is very seriously injured
She heals without a scratch
Just before she’s supposed to be shipped out to Germany, she vanishes, leaving two men concussed (and presumably reporting being knocked out by a woman with short hair wearing civilian clothes)
She goes AWOL for several days
They get word from the CIA that she is to be reported killed in action (details unclear)
So, at the beginning of this very weird week, the USMC has to tell Nile’s family of her death critical injury. What her family was told depends on how long she was dead – a Google search tells me that family will be notified in person within 8 hours of a soldier’s death, but we don’t know how long her first death lasted. For an injury, however, they’d get a phone call to notify them and the unit would arrange for them to visit as soon as the soldier is transferred out of a combat zone. Like I remember when I was in high school, a guy from my church who was a Marine was really seriously injured in a helicopter crash in Iraq and from what I could tell, his parents were told immediately and were flown out to Germany to see him, so it stands to reason that Nile’s family would have been informed relatively quickly after her throat was slashed, one way or another.
And then, she goes AWOL. Her family would be notified while the USMC tried to figure out where she went, not least because the military would want to know if she’s contacted them. (And it’s possible that her family may have been on the way to Germany to see her since we know that’s where she was supposed to go!) So for several days:
Nile’s mom and brother have no idea where she is
They know she was seriously injured and most certainly should not have been moving around on her own
They can’t get a hold of her
The military can’t tell them anything
And the next thing they know for sure is that she was “killed in action.” After being injured and vanishing into thin air. And they presumably cannot produce her body or any concrete evidence of her death. In any case, something sketchy is going on, so they’re like. SMELLS LIKE A MILITARY COVERUP.
In a surprise to probably no one, there is a well-documented legacy of mysterious US military deaths, particularly of women of color (TW for sexual assault in these links). The cases of LaVena Johnson and Vanessa Guillenin particular have made national news because of their families’ persistence in seeking justice. Likewise, Nile is a Black woman, and her mom and brother are most certainly hypercognizant of (a) state violence against Black people and (b) these high-profile cases of suspicious military deaths. So her family are seriously side-eyeing the situation, knowing that (a) the military has a serious incentive (and a documented history) of covering up things that make them look bad and (b) nothing about Nile’s disappearance and supposed death are adding up.
And Andy’s right. Nile does come from warriors. And you know who else does? Her brother.
Don’t get me wrong. Nile’s mom would absolutely not back down. She’d know something was up and want to get to the bottom of it. But based on what I know about Gen X parents (mine), they’re not the most technologically savvy. Like they can use the internet, but they didn’t grow up with it the way we young millennials and Gen Z did. So Nile’s brother takes the lead. And what do zillennials do best?
Social media.
Nile’s brother starts going hard on any site he can, trying to get the word out to see if anyone knows what happened to his sister. He starts a Reddit thread. He starts a Facebook group. He reaches out to the media and true crime bloggers and podcasters à la Sarah Turney, getting loud and being a general nuisance in hopes of getting some answers. He gets his friends and Nile’s friends involved. Maybe eventually Dizzy, Jay, and others from Nile’s unit hear about it and reach out, telling him what they saw and how weird it all was. He’s drumming up interest, and soon “Nile Freeman” becomes a household name (at least among the true crime fans).
Copley is, of course, trying his best, but at this point there is just so much that it’s impossible for him to scrub everything. Sure, he can erase new footage of Nile and the Guard, but what can he do about Reddit threads and podcast episodes that are speculating something weird has happened? Maybe he could hack the sites and shut those things down, but honestly, that’s the last thing he’d want to do, because that only adds weight to the theory that Nile’s disappearance is a military coverup. So eventually he has to tell Andy what’s going on.
Andy, obviously, does not take the news well. However, she is also completely computer illiterate, because that’s Booker’s job and he’s the only one who ever bothered to learn what the internet is in any meaningful way. (She probably calls Booker for advice, and for the record, I think Booker would have no qualms about shutting down conspiracy threads, tinhats be damned, but Copley is too concerned about the consequences. He’s ex-CIA for crying out loud, he knows how it’ll look if they scrub every mention of Nile’s name from the internet.) Maybe she confers with Joe and Nicky but, let’s be honest, they’d be equally unhelpful. So at this point, she knows they have to bring in Nile.
But the thing about Nile is that she, too, knows how to use the internet (duh). Aside from her being a young millennial/digital native, we know from the cave scene where she’s giving Booker suggestions on how to track Copley that she clearly is even more computer savvy than the average person. And for that reason she almost definitely took over the day-to-day tech stuff after Booker’s exile. So I think it would be foolish to expect her to be unaware of what’s happening. She’s not contacting her family or posting on the message boards or anything, but she knows what’s up. So Copley and the team probably sit her down to “break the news,” but we know the girl does not have a poker face (see: literally shooting herself in the foot and not being able to play it cool whatsoever) and cracks immediately, telling them she’s seen everything about her case – she’s not interacting with any of it, she certainly didn’t instigate anything, but she knows. (And she is so goddamn proud of her brother.)
At this point, I’d like to pause and consider Nile’s role in the overall narrative of this movie. She’s set up as a foil to Andy, obviously, but she’s also a foil to Booker. Booker, who, like Andy, is a serious pessimist, but who, unlike Andy, still has very fresh memories and trauma associated with being the new kid, which have destroyed him. In his mind (and Andy’s), if Nile communicates with her family, she’ll become just like him in a century or two – bitter, alone, and stuck with her grief and memories of watching her family die and knowing they died resenting her. It’s a small sample size, but this is the only experience they have to go off of.
But it doesn’t have to be like that.
There’s been a lot of discussion of TOG being a fundamentally queer movie – a group of people brought together because of something inherent about themselves that is different, that must be hidden, that causes others to hate, fear, and reject them. Booker’s backstory is the archetypal traumatic “coming out” story – his family learns who he is, hate him for it, and attempt to cast him out of their lives. He’s stuck with his trauma, his pain, his loss, and it consumes him.
But what if Nile’s family would be the opposite? What if her “coming out” to them as immortal is met with acceptance, love, celebration? What if her family is just overjoyed to have her back, and they don’t care what the circumstances are? I'm reminded of this incredible post from @shitty-old-guard-deaths a while back, where Nile’s mother hits Booker with a frying pan because “my baby let me believe she was dead for FIVE YEARS based on your bad advice???” (which may or may not have inspired this whole tangent). Nile takes the advice of someone who did the same thing she wants to do because she doesn’t want to risk her family’s rejection. She wants the good memories with her family and is afraid that showing them her true self will bring her unbearable pain, forever replacing those memories. But, with high risk comes high reward.
Anyway. Nile and the team are trying to come up with a plan for how to handle this whole thing, but she’s not really participating because she’s too afraid to hope. Until finally, quickly, so she doesn’t lose her nerve, she suggests she reach out to them, knowing that, realistically, that’s the only solution before things snowball even further out of control. The team is shocked, but realize that she has a point. They decide that Copley should actually be the first point of contact, posing as a US government official to talk with them and test the waters.
So Copley goes to Nile’s family’s house to talk with her mom and brother. They’re probably distrustful and apprehensive, but nonetheless secretly ecstatic that their work has paid off. They talk and review all of the information that they’ve collected, including testimonials from the people on Nile’s base and recent sightings (along with photos) of Nile (with the same three people) over the last few years that people have sent them but they haven’t posted publicly. At this point, Copley’s like, yeah this is about to blow up, we gotta put our cards on the table. He convinces them to come with him to some safe house/black site/whatever he can get that is technologically impenetrable (I’m picturing them in like, an interrogation room at a police station kind of deal), takes their phones, locks the doors, and brings in Nile.
What follows is the most delightful reunion scene of all time, bringing Joe, Nicky, and even Andy to tears as they watch and listen from outside the room. With Copley’s help, Nile tells her mom and brother about her immortality and what’s been going on since she died (within reason, of course), and they are thrilled. They don’t understand why (because no one does) but they don’t question it and they see it as a gift from God – she’s been resurrected, she will live, and she has a purpose. Her mother and brother are so happy to see her again and are willing to agree with pretty much anything to stay in her life as long as they can.
So. They set up some complicated agreement (they bring in the other three for support/intimidation as needed) setting the terms of their relationship. They swear Nile’s family to secrecy, maybe bringing up the lab to show how high the stakes are, and they readily agree. They come up with some cover story for Nile’s brother to share on the message boards (maybe that the government has opened an investigation but because it’s an open case he has to shut it all down? Tells people to direct their tips somewhere else? Something to that effect). There’s still speculation, of course, but without Nile’s brother at the helm providing the energy, the hype dies down as news stories are wont to do without any movement. And Nile’s family goes to work for the team. The experience has taught them that Copley can’t possibly do everything himself, especially when it comes to social media, so Nile’s brother takes the lead on the day-to-day tracking/social media while Copley and her mom focus on finding jobs and scrubbing their traces afterward.
So there you have it: Nile gets to integrate her biological family into her found family and spend the rest of their lives with them as it should be, Copley gets some badly needed help managing the reality of social media, the team finally has a positive narrative surrounding outsiders Knowing About Them AND about interacting with people from their previous life, and the audience gets the happy ending to this very lovely and very queer story to counteract the pain associated with Booker’s family.
Plus, you know, I’m a sucker for both a good government conspiracy theory and for Nile getting every good thing she deserves.
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fieryhonesty · 3 years
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Genshin drabbles filled with sadness - Kaeya, Diluc, Xiao
“What have I done? Why did I write such angsty stuff? I feel horrible for hurting the boys. Maybe I should have delete this...”
prompts: loosing their s/o for whatever reason, f!reader
Genre: angst 
Warning(s): nsfw (alcohol consumption, mention of blood) don’t give me that look you don’t want to read this at work, depression & mourning, reader’s dead (no violent or detailed description the boys just lost their girl)
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Kaeya has poured two glasses of wine. One for him and one for the woman sitting next to him. She was smiling with the most genuine smile. Pointing up at the sky. The moon and the stars were shining bright. He didn't need any other light source to see her beautiful face.
Just the two of them sitting at the balcony of their shared house. Silently observing the beauty of the night. Drinking from his glass, the sweet-bitter taste was dancing on his tongue. It was as beautiful as the woman he was spending the time with. 
"You know, you are really beautiful tonight, y/n. How about I take a day off tomorrow just to spend it with you?"
No answer.
"We could go on a walk around the city or perhaps go outside the city's walls?"
Yet again, silence.
Kaeya finished his glass with one quick motion. Pouring more wine. The burning sensation in his throat was slowly reminding him something.
"Hey, Dearest. Why don't you talk to me?" 
Silence. 
"Ah, you are right. I'm... a fool."
He starts laughing. It's not a laugh a happy man would have, it's quite the opposite. Kaeya's in pain. His chest hurts, he knows why but dares not to admit it.
Removing his eye patch and tossing it on the table. Looking at his smiling companion. Why is she so beautiful? He is such a lucky man, having somebody like that. So why is he feeling this pain in his chest? Why does he feel like his heart will burst?
The glass with wine shatters. The shards are covered in the red liquid. He closes his eyes. Trying to force the tears to stop forming. Biting his lips. It hurts so much. His hazy memories are slowly reminding him what's going on. 
Just like a movie it all flashes back in the moment you were standing between him and the enemy. Blocking the hit for him. Falling to ground with a painful scream. But before that you managed to look at your beloved. He is safe, you did well. 
He stares in horror at the scene. Wishing it's just a bad horror he is watching. This can't be happening. You didn't waste your life for him, did you? If there was somebody supposed to die it's him. He made a mistake. A mistake which cost him you.
Kaeya is silently sobbing, one hand hiding his face while the other is gripping his attire at chest area. He is sure nobody can see him, yet he still feels like to hide. He might be drunk but he knows the woman next to him is just an illusion created by his own mind. There's nobody at all it's just him and the wine. 
You are no longer alive. It's all because of him being cocky that day. He was full of himself and so sure he will keep you safe. In the end he lost his remaining pride and you...
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Diluc is walking in circles. Biting his thumb while doing so. It hurts, he can taste blood but nothing hurts more than his heart right now. Sweat is forming on his forehead as he is trying to suppress his tears. His shoes are making loud thumbs against the wooden floor. The sounds can be heard in the room under his. 
Everyone is silent in the room. Elzer, Adelinde, the old man Tunner and a few more. Listening to noises from Master Diluc's room, yet nobody dares to let him know he is loud. It would be more than rude. Especially now when he has to deal with yet another painful experience. 
First he lost his father and several years later he lost his wife. He was finally happy. Having you by his side was a blessing. You were there for him whenever he needed and he did the same for you. Feeling down? He'd be there cupping your face, planting butterfly kisses on your face. Snuggling you close into a protective embrace.
You did something similar. Playing with his hair when he was snuggled to your neck. Brushing through them, tucking them behind his ear. Saying soothing words. He would fall asleep like that.
But now? You are gone. Your sudden passing away affected the whole manor. You were liked among the maids as you often joined in small talk or offered to help them. Despite their protests it's their job. You didn't mind it.
Old Tunner and folks from vineyards remember how you often walked around. Caressing the grapes or bringing some snack.
Simply put. You were the star which was shining bright for everyone. Lifting their spirits and now you are gone. Everyone is mourning you but none can think of how much he is hurt. 
When Diluc heard about your critical condition he rushed to see you but doctors didn't let him. You needed to rest but your body was weak, they knew you won't make it. In the end allowing him to see you for the last time. Holding your already cold hand. 
He sat there for minutes, until you left him all alone. He didn't move, doctors had to lead him out. Somebody had to pick him up and bring home. He laid on the bed, one hand over his face. Trying to keep his tears away. 
Nobody dared to knock on the door. Not even Elzer who always worried about his young Master. Trying to offer some kind words. He knew his words would be useless now. All he can do is just wait. He knows if he goes his Master will be out of control and won't listen to anything. 
It's just another painful hit for Master Diluc. He thought he would be happy finally. Already had plans for the future with you. Everything is pointless now. Why does life keep taking his beloved ones from him? How much more he has to suffer…
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Xiao is silently sitting at the top of Wangshu Inn. The cold wind is caressing his hair. He is observing the distant horizon, how the moon is slowly going up. His mind is blank. If he were a mortal it would be probably clouded by negative thoughts. 
He has no feelings or need for them. He is one of the mighty Adepti, there's no room for stupid things like feelings or emotions. At least that's what he tries to keep repeating to himself. 
Mortals come and leave out of his life. Which is only natural for their short life span. He wouldn't be bothered with it at all. But there was a woman who managed to change him. Showed him what those odd feelings in his chest are. She proved to him he has feelings and emotions. He was just suppressing them his whole life. 
Perhaps it was all for the better. He feels lonely. Usually it would be the two of you sitting here. You would be nudging him about random things. Snuggle onto his shoulder, whispering some nonsense. He would look at you and see those shiny, beautiful eyes of yours. 
He remembers when you fed him with his favorite dish. He was confused at first why would you do it. Explaining to him it's something people in love would do for their partner. Take care of them. He tried to feed you too, it was a clumsy attempt. But you appreciated his efforts.
You showed him so many nice things he could see only from mortal's eyes. He understands some things he couldn't before. All because of you. But what's this feeling? Regret? No. He does not regret letting you enter his life. He regrets being too late. 
Before he could do something you were already gone. The demon which attacked you. That sneaky bastard avoiding his watchful gaze. It dared to assault somebody he thought of as a close person. Taking you from him just as if bonds are nothing. 
When he arrived you were possessed by the demon. Its power went out of control, destroying everything around. He tried to talk to you but there was nothing left, just agony and darkness. He could see the suffering in your face. You didn't want to. You never were a violent person, yet now you are destroying everything. 
For the first time in his life Xiao felt anger was taking control over him. He wanted to eradicate all demons. For what they did all those millennials, for what they did just right now. He knew you will eventually die and leave him, he was fine with that. But he never thought of losing you like this.
He has to do his duty as a Yaksha, the Liyue's protector. Pointing the tip of his spear at your throat. He stopped only because you tried to talk. The words coming out of your lips were just gibberish. 
"Farewell, y/n. I'm sorry."
Ending it just like that. Watching how the blood was leaving your body. Feeling sick from the sight of it. He released you from the agony the demon was causing you. Banishing it as it tried to escape from your dying body. There's no demon safe, not from Xiao. He will continue his duty.
But one thing is certain. He will always feel lonely at night as he got used to your presence. You will remain in his heart forever. Always will have that special place as a foolish but lovely mortal, daring to approach him despite all of his fame as a Yaksha. The cold he feels right now bothers him. Just if you could be there...
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volantium · 3 years
Text
your doorstep calls my name aka soft boys painting each others nails 
for @venomondenim 🖤
also available on ao3
The thing is, Peter’s noticed, is that Harley’s always got chipped nail polish.
It begins out as a fresh coat, clean and without a single mark marring the shiny surface. But it doesn’t take long—usually only a couple of hours—before it starts flaking off. Harley never seems to notice, or mind. It chips because Harley’s so hands on, no matter what he’s doing. The likely cause is the fact that he’s always in the lab, and both of them know you aren’t meant to be wearing nail polish with all the state-of-the-art tech Tony lets them play with.
But Peter’s noticed when Harley’s tapping his fingers against the kitchen bench, and it chips off in small terrazzo pieces. Or how Harley will pick at his fingers when he’s nervous, and it peels back underneath the curve of his nail. Peter doesn’t know what any of this means, that he has this knowledge lurking in the back of his head. It’s just another Harley-ism he’s taken stock of, analysed and put into the drawer of everything else he knows about his best friend, and thusly resolutely and absolutely not thought about again.
He almost always wears black nail polish. Peter can count on one hand the amount of times Harley’s had bright yellow or red fingernails. It follows, logically, that this only occurs whenever Harley’s looking after Morgan.
The thing is, Peter thinks, as he watches one such time, Morgan painting careful lines of bright purple half on Harley’s thumb nail and half on his skin, is that he wouldn’t mind if that was him instead.
Peter’s never had nail polish on before.
He wonders what it’s like.
This thought sits with him for the next few weeks, as he watches Harley chip his black nail polish without a care in the world. Would it be okay if he asked Harley? Would it be okay if he asked why it’s always black? Would it be okay if he asked Harley to paint his nails, maybe, just once, so he knows what it’s like?
They’re hanging out after class one day, supposedly studying for their upcoming midterms, but Harley’s sat at his desk with a bottle of black nail polish and is slowly rubbing off the remnants of his last paintjob with a cotton pad. Peter’s leaning with his back to the wall on Harley’s bed, watching him from across the room, his biology exam notes spread around him.
He watches Harley carefully tip the bottle of acetone upside down so it soaks the cotton pad and presses it to his nail. Peter knows he’ll leave it for a little while, so the chemicals break down the polish, he’s watched Harley do this often enough that he knows black’s hard to get off.
Peter takes a breath, steeling himself for reasons he doesn’t even know.
“Harl?” He calls, just slightly louder than the music playing from Harley’s computer.
Harley doesn’t look back when he replies. “Yeah, darlin’?”
It’s been years of Harley calling him darling in that honeyed accent of his, Peter’s used to it, but like everything else that Peter resolutely and absolutely doesn’t think about, this time it makes something swoop low in his stomach and butterfly settle high amongst his rib cage.
“Can I ask a question?”
“You just did,” Harley says, and even from across the room Peter can see a hint of a smirk flirt across his face. “But you can ask another.”
Peter isn’t in the mood to deal with smarmy Harley James Keener attitude right now. Too focused on the fact that this is finally his chance to figure out Harley just a little bit more.
“Why do you wear nail polish?”
He can tell Harley wasn’t expecting that particular question in the way his shoulders tense and he goes still.
But this is Harley—Harley should know why he’s asking.
“I don’t mean it in a bad way,” he rambles anyways, because Harley still hasn’t said anything. “I just wanted to know, you don’t have to tell me, like you’ve done it the entire time we’ve known each other, I think it’s cool—”
“Peter, darlin’,” Harley interjects, fond amusement colouring his voice. “Calm down.”
Peter takes a breath, lets it out. “Sorry.”
“Nothing to apologise for, I just wasn’t expecting you to ask.”
Peter’s shoulders slump when Harley remains quiet for the following minute, only for Harley to get up from his desk and make his way over towards the bed, settling in amongst Peter’s textbooks and worksheets and the green bedsheets. 
“Because my dad always hated it,” is what Harley eventually says.
“Oh.”
It’s kind of half the answer Peter was expecting. He knows enough, between Tony and what Harley’s told him, to connect the dots.
“I’m sorry.”
“Darlin’,” Harley says, looking at him with those sea-blue eyes. “You gotta stop apologising for stuff that ain’t your fault.”
Peter flushes. “Do you think you could paint mine? I’ve never done it before.”
“I’m guessin’ you wouldn’t want black though, right?”
“Do you have any pastels?” Peter asks, in a smaller voice than he means to.
Harley nods. “I’m sure I’ve got some somewhere, I usually save ‘em for Morgan or Abby.”
Harley stands up to go find them, and Peter starts nervously playing with the fraying hem of his hoodie. It’s a faded red and too large and has Rose Hill High scrawled across it in big block letters and not his hoodie at all.
This is when it clicks—the oh moment in his head, that maybe he likes Harley just a bit more than friends should.
Harley returns in the midst of this revelation, setting the handful of coloured polishes down on his bedside table, clinking as the glass bottles knock against each other.
Peter wonders how his world hasn’t been tipped upside down and come to a grinding halt, too.
“This was all I could find,” Harley says, sitting across from him on the bed. “Gonna look like you dipped your hand in a bag of Easter eggs.”
He’s right—there’s pale pinks and blues and yellows like right out of a candy store, but Peter loves them.
“No, it’s fine. They’re nice colours.”
Harley smiles at him, bright and beautiful, and Peter has to marvel, just a bit how he didn’t realise before the depth of his feelings.
“Give me your hand.”
Peter holds his hand out for Harley to take. They’ve held hands before—Peter’s a tactile person—but there’s something new about this, the way Harley gently twists his fingers around so he can paint them comfortably and correctly.
“What colour do you want me to start with?” Harley asks, quiet, his voice barely a rumble in his chest.
Peter looks up at him. Harley’s looking down at his hand and back at the colours on the table every now and again, like he’s thinking of the perfect pattern for Peter’s nails. It’s late afternoon, and the sun is starting to set; it floods the room in a wash of orange-gold, and in the sunlight Harley glows. The freckles across his nose, the faint blonde in his hair gilded and shining, and the clear crystal of his eyes, hidden ever so slightly beneath gold eyelashes. It makes Peter a little breathless, just looking at him.
“You chose,” Peter finally says, maybe a little but too long after Harley asked. “You know more than me.”
Harley sweeps the pad of his thumb over Peter’s fingernail, just enough that it catches amongst the groves of his fingerprint.
“Yeah, okay,” Harley says, and reaches for the yellow.
They sit in silence as Peter watches Harley paint his nails. Yellow on his thumb, then egg-blue on his forefinger. The pale millennial pink goes on his middle finger, then blue, then yellow again.
Harley’s moved onto Peter’s other hand by the time Peter figures out how to say it.
“Harley?”
Harley hums in acknowledgement, too busy concentrating on painting his nail blue without leaving streaks.
“I really like you,” Peter confesses.
Harley gives a short laugh, still doesn’t look up. “I’d hope so, we are best friends, right, Parker?”
“No,” he says, and waits until Harley stops painting and lifts his head. “I like you like you.”
“Oh, okay,” Harley gives a simple shake of his shaggy blonde head, and goes back to painting Peter’s nails with careful concentration. “I like you like you, too.”
Peter blinks. “Don’t just say that.”
“I’m not.”
“Harley.” “Peter,” Harley parrots, finally looking up at him. “Have you met you? Of course, I like you, dumbass.”
“You’re the worst, Keener.”
Harley smirks once more. “No, I’m not. You like me like me.”
“I—” Peter starts, cutting himself off, because Harley’s leaning closer.
“Peter,” Harley says, his voice soft and low. “Can I kiss you?”
Peter nods, unable to speak, and then—
Harley kisses him.
It’s soft and it’s sweet and it’s not at all how Peter imagined his first kiss with a boy would be. But it’s Harley and that counts for something. Harley’s hand comes up to cup his jaw, light and tender, and Peter has to remind himself he currently has wet pastel paint on his nails and can’t sink his hands into Harley’s hair without tragedy occurring.
Harley tilts his head, thumb sweeping across Peter’s cheekbone, deepening the kiss just enough that those butterflies in Peter’s stomach all fly off at once.
“So,” Harley says, after they pull back and the both of them smile like fools. “Do you wanna paint my nails?”
“They’ll look bad.”
“No they won’t,” Harley disagrees, and, because he knows that Peter likes him likes him, says, “They’ll be perfect, ‘cause it’s you.”
Peter leans forward to brush a shy kiss to Harley’s cheek, and reaches for the black nail polish.
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holidaywishes · 3 years
Text
Behind Closed Doors
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  Requested: 👍
  Summary/Request: Can I request a fic where Auston is in love with the reader but so is Freddie and the reader has feelings for Fred so they date in secret as to not hurt Auston but he finds out when he catches them together or something 😅 *edit* would it be possible to make the reader really shy and quiet and possibly a little bit innocent and Fred thinks Auston only likes her because he wants to corrupt her or something like that 
  Warning: fluff, angst
  Author’s Note: So, I decided to do this in kind of a “timeline” set up. So we start with them all meeting each other and then see how Auston fell for the reader and how Freddie and the reader started a relationship and how/why they decided to keep it a secret which made the fic REALLY long. About three quarters of the way through, I thought about splitting it up but didn’t so... it’s just really long. ALSO! I’m pretty sure credit for this GIF goes to @moto-leafs​ but I originally found it on Google Image Search and that link took me to Pinterest so I could be wrong. If I am, please correct me! But I mean, look at that GIF -- so much anger, I had to use it. Lastly, I just want to point out that I know nothing about the Raptors or basketball in general and, to be honest, I have no interest in learning anything about it. I apologize if the players I referred to are not good players or that they’re not actually currently on the team (I looked up the Roster and just randomly picked names.) Lastly, to anon, I already had most of the fic written when you sent in your ask so I’m not sure if I was able to completely fulfill it. Still, I hope you enjoy it! Stay Golden, loves! <3
  masterlist
  the other masterlist
xx
Auston’s P.O.V
  The Raptors game was disappointing. It started out great but late in the third quarter, they gave up their lead and ended up losing by 20.
  “Well...” Freddie sighed, “what do you wanna do?”
  “Ugh,” you groaned, “I don’t know , I j--” Your attention was stolen by the scent of coconut passing you by and you tried to find who it belonged to, your eyes landing on a group of girls giggling near the exit. “Follow them” you said under your breath
  “Huh?” Freddie replied, drawing your attention back to him
  “Sorry,” you said before quickly making your way to the group of girls that held your attention, “follow them.” You repeated to Freddie as your feet began to move
  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he laughed, “we can’t just go following a group of girls. That’s a little creepy, don’t you think?”
  “Then let’s go talk to them...” you sighed, “that’s all I meant. They just smell so damn good...”
  “What?” Fred scoffed
  “Just.. follow me.” You came up behind the girls, listening to them laugh with each other, and leaned down to greet them. “Hi,” you said happily, standing up straight when they turned to you, “I’m Auston. This is Freddie.”
  “Hi,” one of them said, “I’m Lily”
  “Shirley,” another introduced herself before laughing, “my parents were big fans of Shirley Temple”
  “Gabby” another said with a smile
  “Tracy” the next one greeted and you were soon met with the eyes of the last girl of the group. Catching the scent from earlier and waiting for her to speak
  “Hi,” she smiled shyly, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, “I’m (Y/N), it’s nice to meet you both...”
  “We’re sorry for just.. kind of stalking you guys,” Freddie chuckled, “we just wanted to say hi. And see if you wanted to join us for some drinks?” The girls looked back and forth between each other before Lily agreed for all of them
  “We’ll grab our own ride and follow you there?” she said
  “Or we could all just walk over” you suggested
  “Well...” Gabby chimed in, “what bar are you taking us to?”
  “There’s a place called the Loose Moose. I’ve heard it’s a good vibe”
  “It’s a short walk” Tracy said
  “And it’s not too cold out” (Y/N) added with a shrug
  “I like it. It’s like we’ll have bodyguards” Shirley joked
  “Alright then! I guess that’s settled” Lily laughed, gesturing for everybody to head out the exit.
  “So what’s the plan here?” Freddie asked in a whispered tone as the two of you followed behind the group of girls, staying close so you didn’t lose them
  “Don’t really have a plan,” you replied, “just thought we’d hang out...”
  “That’s it?” he scoffed, “you’ve got no thoughts?”
  “What did you have in mind?” you chided
  “Nothing,” he chuckled, holding his hands up in defence, “I just thought that you’d have something in mind. You know... since you were the one who wanted us to ‘follow them’”
  “Like I said, I just thought we’d hang out. Have some drinks, laugh a little. No ulterior motives” you confessed. You both listened to see if you could hear either of the girls talking about you, trying not to be too obvious, but when (Y/N) turned her head to look at you, you both jerked your heads away; watching her smile before whispering something to her friend.
  “So...” she started, “why us?”
  “What do you mean?” you asked with a smirk, catching Freddie watching you as she spoke, leading you to train your eyes forward
  “Oh come on!” she scoffed dramatically, “don’t think that we don’t know who you are. We’re not dumb enough not to realize that you’re Auston Matthews and Frederik Andersen of the Toronto Maple Leafs” she smiled as she gestured enthusiastically, keeping relatively close to the two of you, your arms rubbing against each other every so often. “But why did you pick us? Why did you come over and ask us to get drinks with you guys?”
  “Fair enough,” Freddie smiled, grabbing her attention before you could, “we couldn’t help it. We saw you all from across the room and we got a little... entranced.”
  “Entranced?” she giggled, turning her body ever so toward Freddie, “really, that’s what you’re going with?”
  “Yeah, I think it is” Freddie smirked. You watched as the two locked eyes, leaving you to direct them through the crowd, never feeling like more of a third wheel in your life.
xx
  It was strange, to you, that two professional athletes would want to take you and your girls out for a drink but then you thought to yourself: five of us, two of them, they’re probably just playing the odds. So, when Lily agreed to go to the bar, you couldn’t exactly think of a reason to say no.
  “They’re cute!” Shirley whispered to you as you walked arm in arm down the sidewalk
  “Are you planning on making a move?” you smirked
  “Maybe,” she replied, “are you?”
  “I don’t think so” you smiled. You weren’t really the flirt of the group, you usually left that up to Lily and Tracy, and you were almost positive they were the reason Auston and Freddie approached the group anyway. That didn’t mean you couldn’t be a wing woman for them or get some answers for yourself. You looked back and caught the two laughing between themselves before jerking their heads away as if not to be caught by you, “hey, I’ll be right back okay?”
  “Mhm...” Shirley hummed teasingly and you dropped your arm from hers and fell back to where the boys stood
  “So...” you said as you tucked yourself between the two of them, “why us?”
  “What do you mean?” Auston replied with a smirk
  “Oh come on” you scoffed, switching your gaze between the two of them as you continued. “Don’t think we don’t know who you are. We’re not dumb enough not to realize that you’re Auston Matthews and Frederik Andersen of the Toronto Maple Leafs,” you smiled as you confessed something you knew they already knew, feeling Auston’s arm graze against yours every once in a while as the three of you continued walked pretty closely together. “But why did you pick us? Why did you come over and ask us to get drinks with you guys?”
  “Fair enough,” Freddie smiled and you couldn’t help but be drawn to him, “we couldn’t help it. We saw you all from across the room and we got a little... entranced.”
  “Entranced?” you giggled, turning your body to his, “really? That’s what you’re going with?”
  “Yeah,” he smirked, “I think it is.” You tried not to stare at him, even when you heard your friends laugh or when you felt Auston’s hand on your back to direct you away from oncoming traffic on the sidewalk, but you couldn’t help it; he had you hooked.
xx
Freddie’s P.O.V
  The entirety of the night was spent trading shots and expressing how deeply disappointed you all were in the Raptors
  “I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY GAVE UP THEIR LEAD SO EARLY!” Gabby exclaimed
  “I can’t believe Davis missed that shot!” Shirley added
  “Lowry was off tonight,” Auston sighed, “ruined the entire game”
  “Now hold on,” (Y/N) interjected, “you can’t blame it all on Lowry.”
  “I can’t?” he asked, raising one eyebrow and you shook your head before smiling
  “It’s a team sport,” (Y/N) continued, “Watanabe and Siakam should’ve helped out their man.” You finished your beer before asking the group if they wanted another drink and everyone seemed to be empty
  “Here,” Freddie called out as you walked away, “let me help you.” You placed your hand on the small of her back to let her know that you were there. As you waited for the bartender to take your long list of drink orders, you decided this was your chance to get to know her a little better, “so.. what do you do?”
  “For work?” she asked, “I’m a social media content curator...” she rolled her eyes at her title
  “I take it that’s not what you want to do?” you smiled and she shook her head
  “No...” she sighed, “I went to school for interior design but, because I’m a millennial, everyone thought I knew what I was doing online. Spoiler alert: I have to use Google for everything I do in my job because I have no idea what’s going on” she laughed. “But I have so much student debt and the job pays well...”
  “What do you want to do?” you asked
  “Like what’s my dream job?” she replied and it was your turn to nod for her to continue, “I-- someday, I want to have my own company. I want to be able to design spaces for luxury hotels and million dollar homes while also breathing life into non-profit organizations like homeless shelters and food banks...” she got so excited explaining her dream that you could only watch in awe as her eyes sparkle as she shared her ideas. “I’m sorry...” she blushed, “am I talking too much? I’m talking too much, I’m sorry”
  “No no no!” you exclaimed, stopping only for a second to finally order the drinks for the group. “Don’t be sorry,” you continued, “I like hearing you talk. I like hearing you get all excited, it’s exciting for me” she chuckled at your confession before walking ahead of you back to the group, sitting down across from her friends and you grabbed the open seat next to her.
  “Thank you” she smiled, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear so you could still see her face. The night continued with more alcohol, more talking and a little bit of dancing and you kept getting closer and closer to (Y/N) but when you got too tired to keep dancing, Auston stepped in. You watched as they laughed together, swaying to the music before (Y/N) let her head fall back onto Auston’s chest, stopping when the music changed; Auston making his way toward you quickly as (Y/N) stayed back with her friends
  “You should back out there,” he smiled, wiping off the sweat from his brow, “everyone’s having a lot of fun” he said as he looked back at the girls. There was a look on his face that you could tell meant he was falling for her, “god she’s somethin’ huh?”
  “Who?” you questioned dumbly, hoping that he’d say someone else
  “(Y/N),” he scoffed, taking a sip of water, “I mean look at her!” he exclaimed, gesturing to the girl you’d begun falling for. “That smile, that hair, the way she moves her hips. I mean, I could swear she was testing me out there” you had to stop yourself from getting offended on behalf of (Y/N), but the way Auston was talking was starting to infuriate you
  “I didn’t think she was your type...” you mumbled
  “She’s not, not really,” he smirked, “but I’m allowed to have a little fun. Plus, she looks so innocent... I like that”
  “So, you just want to corrupt her?” you scoffed
  “Corrupt her? No way!” he said, “I just wanna see how innocent she really is”
  “So, you’re just gonna fuck and chuck? Really? You’re gonna be that guy?” your anger had gotten the best of you and you just snapped
  “Whoa,” he replied with a chuckle, holding his hands by his shoulders in defence, “there’s nothing going on with you two right?” You looked back at where (Y/N) was on the dance floor, bopping with her friends and laughing with the people around her, before looking back at your friend and teammate. What were you supposed to say? No, I’m not into her. I don’t find the way she laughs hypnotizing. I don’t find her passion exciting. I don’t think she’s sweet. Or funny. Or smart. I’m not into her. Of course not. But of course, that would be a lie, “Freddie? Hello?..”
  “Sorry...” you said, shaking your head, “have you asked her out?”
  “No,” he admitted, “but the way you’re acting, I guess I just thought I’d make sure nothing was going on before I did...”
  “No, nothing’s happening” you strained a smile, looking at (Y/N) before continuing, “ask her out. See what she says. See if she’s as innocent as she seems...” he smiled at you and patted you on the shoulder as he finished the water in front of him, shifting in his seat as the girls came back to the table.
  “HEY!” they all exclaimed, the alcohol clearly taking effect; (Y/N) sat beside you and you tried to not get too close; leaving space for Auston to make his move. The look on her face proved that she wasn’t happy with the way you were suddenly treating her; only to be confirmed when she followed you to the bathroom
  “WHAT THE HELL?!” she yelled, pushing into the bathroom and locking it behind you
  “What are you doing?!” you yelled back quietly
  “Why are you all of a sudden ignoring me? You’ve spent the entire night getting close to me and getting to know me and now you just decide, meh, no, I’m over it? Did you finally decide I was too boring for you? Oh, sweet little (Y/N), she’s too nice for what I’m looking for...”
  “That’s not what’s going on...” you tried
  “No?” she questioned, getting closer to you as she spoke, “then what is going on? Tell me, I wanna know”
  “Auston,” you sighed, “he wants to... ask you out”
  “So...” she huffed, “he can ask but I won’t say yes”
  “Why not?” you asked
  “Because, I want you to ask me out, dummy,” she laughed, “I wouldn’t have followed you in here like a lunatic if I wasn’t interested in you!” You held your breath for a second as you took in what she said, closing the space between you quickly and pushing her against the wall, letting your lips move in sync with hers. Your heavy breathing filled up the space as you were forced to pull away from each other due to the sounds of drunken bar-goers banging on the door
  “He can’t know about this...” you said, adjusting your shirt and fixing your hair, “Auston” you clarified.
  “I know,” she replied, wiping away her smudged lipstick from your lips before looking in the mirror to adjust herself, “don’t worry. It’ll be our little secret.”
xx
1 Year Later
  When you and Freddie started dating, you agreed to keep it a secret because it was so new that neither of you wanted to screw it up but, truly, it was a wonder that you and Freddie had never been caught, by anyone, much less by Auston with the way you two were constantly touching each other in the smallest of ways or flitting off to be alone together.
  “Maybe he’ll be okay with it?” you asked between kisses, continuing the conversation you’d had with Fred about Auston earlier, “it’s been a year...”
  “He won’t be okay with it,” Freddie chuckled, moving his lips to your neck to leave trails of kisses over your skin, “he talks about you every time he sees you, every time you leave the room” you groaned in reply, distracted by the feeling of his tongue against your skin.
  “Why do you want to tell him so badly?” he asked, pulling away suddenly, his hands lightly on your hips, and scrunched his eyebrows together
  “I hate sneaking around...” you admitted, “I love you, Fred, but I hate lying. We’ve all become so close and the more time that goes by, the more he’ll feel like we betrayed him”
  “Is that what you think?” he asked and you nodded, pouting in response, “no matter when we tell him, he’ll think we betrayed him. Because I told him I wasn’t interested and then I lied; he asked you out, you declined, he still decided he’d try to get you to fall for him”
  “So what do we do?” you sighed
  “We keep doing what we’re doing,” he smiled, wrapping his arms around your waist, pulling you close to his chest, “don’t get caught.”
  “What happens when we finally do get caught?” you questioned, cocking your eyebrow
  “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it...”
  “Freddie...”
  “What do you want me to say?” he threw his head back, dropping his hands from your waist to run them through his hair, “that, in order to throw Auston off, you should go on a date with him?”
  “What?” you scoffed, “you really think that would work?” you leaned in and whispered, seriously considering the option
  “I wasn’t serious!” he exclaimed, raising your arms in annoyance
  “I don’t want to use him,” you said, hopping down from the counter where you were, “but maybe if we go on a date and he realizes that we’re not.. compatible, then he’ll drop it and we’ll be able to be together. Honestly. Without hiding.”
  “(Y/N), baby,” he smiled, “you don’t need to worry about using him. Or being compatible. He’ll find a way to make you compatible so he can use you”
  “He’s not going to use me...” you scoffed
  “Yes he is” he scoffed back
  “I don’t think so” you teased
  “Baby, you forget. I know him. He talks to me. He told me what he wanted from you the night we all met,” you confessed, “Plus, he’s charming... He’ll find a way to get exactly what he wants without you realizing he’s doing it”
  “You’re charming,” you smiled, grabbing his waist and pulling him close to you so you could wrap your arms around his neck, “way more charming than him”
  “You don’t know that. You haven’t been with him one-on-one...”
  “Then maybe I should,” you teased slightly, curling his hair with your fingers, “you know, just to prove you wrong?”
  “Fine” he said sternly, pulling away from you. “Let him ask you out. Let him do exactly what he wants with you. Just so he can say he had you ‘cause that’s all he wants.”
  “Freddie,” you chuckled, “It’s not like I’m not going to sleep with him.”
  “You better not” you placed your hand on his cheek so he would look at you, smiling when you saw his sad puppy dog eyes
  “I love you” you whispered before he leaned down and kissed your lips
  “I love you, too.”
xx
Auston’s P.O.V
  You had been asking out (Y/N) for months. You couldn’t understand why she would be hanging around so much if she wasn’t interested but you persisted and she actually agreed
  “Really?” you said quietly and she nodded in response, scrunching her eyebrows together with a sympathetic smile, “I mean, great! I’ll pick you up... Friday at 8″
  “Perfect, see you then” she smiled before hugging you goodbye and turning on her heels. You spent the rest of the week trying to prepare for the perfect date but you weren’t even sure what that looked like
  “Just take her somewhere nice,” Freddie suggested as the two of you sat in your living room, playing NHL20, “I wouldn’t put too much pressure on it”
  “I don’t think you understand Fred,” you laughed, “I have been trying to get this girl to go out with me for an entire year. I’ve never worked this hard just to hook up with someone before”
  “Why are you working so hard? It’s not like you’re hoping anything comes of it right? You just want to hook up with her because of the way she danced with you one night a year ago...” he pried
  “No,” you replied, “but I’ve never been with someone like her”
  “Someone like her?” he repeated and you furrowed your brow
  “A nice girl. A sweet girl. An innocent girl..”
  “You're really hung up on her being innocent aren’t you?” he asked
  “Wh-- do you know something I don’t?” you laughed, “just tell me where I should take her”
  “I don’t know...” he sighed, dropping his face in his hands, “just go somewhere casual... somewhere you can wear jeans and a t-shirt”
  “You seem annoyed.. why are you annoyed?”
  “I’m not annoyed.. I just have a bit of a headache. Look, just take her somewhere low-key. You’re not trying to impress her so you don’t need to work this hard. That’s it” he replied, standing up and walking out as the screen lit up to tell you that you won and you celebrated loudly, unbothered by Freddie’s departure. When Friday finally came along, you took (Y/N) to an outdoor patio for some drinks since the weather was getting a little bit nicer before eventually heading over to Tilt to play some games. The two of you were having some friendly competition and laughing with each other
  “I can’t believe it’s so late!” she exclaimed, noticing the time on the clock on the wall, “we’ve been playing games for almost four hours!”
  “No no, hold on,” you smirked, “you’ve been playing games. I’ve been dominating at every turn!”
  “Oh yeah sure, hot shot,” she smiled, smacking your arm playfully. “Seriously, I think we should probably get going...” she whispered and you thought that this was your chance but she flipped it on you, “I promised my Mom I’d meet up with her -- she’s going through something at work...”
  “I’m sorry to hear that” you said, rubbing her arm softly before catching her eyes dancing across your face. It felt like a moment that begged for a kiss but when she turned her head away, you had to let it go, “I’ll drive you home.”
  “Thanks” she smiled before walking ahead of you toward the exit of the arcade. The ride home was silent aside from (Y/N)’s phone going off every five minutes or so
  “Everything okay?” you finally asked, not wanting to intrude
  “Yeah, sorry...” she sighed, “it’s just my mom. Trying to figure out when we’re going to see each other”
  “I can take you to her place, if that’s easier?” you said
  “No,” she replied, placing her hand on your knee briefly before pulling it away, as if she caught herself flirting and had to stop herself, “no that’s okay. I told her we’d meet at mine so she could get out of her house, but thank you.” When you pulled up in front of her apartment building, (Y/N) smiled over at you, “thank you, again, I had fun tonight...”
  “Let me walk you in” you insisted and she agreed. You walked her to her door and stood there silently. Maybe this was just a ruse, you thought to yourself, maybe she wanted you to follow her inside. You leaned in and she hesitated, taking a breath before her eyes opened wide and danced between yours, before she took a tiny step forward. There was something in the way she looked at you that made your mind go completely blank and your body take over, connecting your lips with hers and leading her against the wall by her door. You let your hands wander from her neck to her waist as the kiss began to heat up and you could feel her breathing increase, leaving her chest heaving when you moved to kiss her neck
  “Auston...” she breathed, pressing her hands into your shoulders, “Auston...”
  “Should we go inside?” you smiled to yourself before continuing to kiss behind her ear
  “I think we should stop...” she confessed
  “Come on..” you replied, “your mom isn’t really coming over is she?”
  “I just can’t... don’t think we should do this” she said, stumbling over her own excuse
  “You don’t have to act so innocent” you smiled, leaning back down to kiss her neck
  “What?” she said, pushing you away from her so she could look at you, “I’m not trying to act innocent. I just think we should stop. We had fun tonight, it was a good date but it doesn’t need to end with sex...”
  “If it was good, why wouldn’t you want it to continue?”
  “I--”
  “Why would you lie?” you interrupted, starting to get angry
  “Please don’t get angry...” she whispered, almost pouting at you, “I just didn’t want to give you the wrong idea when I said it was late. That’s all...” You huffed at her reasoning before shrugging and turning to walk back to your car, looking back at her as she took a deep breath and walked into her apartment.
xx
  You were surprised at how much fun you were having. You expected Auston to take you to just invite you to his apartment so you could Netflix and Chill so he could make the move that Freddie was so convinced he was going to make, but when he took you to an arcade you were pleasantly surprised. The night was going really well, so when you noticed that it had gotten so late you realized you had to find a way to end the date but the only thing that came to your mind was to lie and say that your mom needed you. Auston seemed to be accepting of it and drove you home but Freddie kept texting you on the ride home and it started to raise flags to Auston
  “Everything okay?” he asked
  “Yeah, sorry...” you sighed, “it’s just my... mom. Trying to figure out when we’re going to see each other” you lied, replying to Freddie’s frantic texts asking what was happening
  “I can take you to her place, if that’s easier?” he asked
  “No,” you said quickly, placing your hand on his knee involuntarily before pulling it away to not give the wrong impression, “no that’s okay. I told her we’d meet at mine so she could get out of her house, but thank you.” He finally pulled up in front of your apartment building and thanked him, “I had fun tonight...”
  “Let me walk you in” he offered and you agreed, thinking it was sweet, but unsure of what to say as the two of you walked to your door. He seemed to be fine with the silence, so you kind of just followed his lead before finally getting to your door, smiling at him awkwardly as you both continued to stand in silence. You noticed him lean in and you took a quiet breath, hesitating before you noticed how much closer he had gotten to you; becoming almost a deer in headlights as your eyes flitted between his. You unwittingly took a tiny step forward and his hands moved to your neck before his lips crashed into yours as his body directed you against the wall. His hands snaked down to your waist and your breath began to build in your chest as you felt the kiss begin to heat up. You found yourself thinking about Freddie, knowing that he knew where you were and who you were with and what he believed Auston’s intentions to be; but you couldn’t help but fall into his slow kiss, dragging your hands up his arms until they rested on his shoulders. This wasn’t supposed to happen, you thought to yourself, the date was supposed to end like this, he was just supposed to walk you to your door and go...
  “Auston...” you said through heaving breaths, “Auston...”
  “Should we go inside?” you could hear him smiling before he continued to kiss your neck and you shook your head pathetically
  “I think we should stop” you said, still breathing heavily and pushing your hands into his shoulders
  “Come on,” he smirked again, looking at you quickly, “your mom isn’t really coming over is she?”
  “I just can’t...“ you stumbled, “don’t think we should do this”
  “You don’t have to act so innocent” he whispered as he leaned back to lay kisses on your neck
  “What?” you said angrily, pushing him away from you so you could finally see his face, “I’m not trying to act innocent. I just think we should stop. We had fun tonight, it was a good date but it doesn’t need to end with sex...” 
  “If it was good, why wouldn’t you want it to continue?” he questioned
  “I--” 
  “Why would you lie?” he interrupted and you could tell he was starting to get angry
  “Please don’t get angry...” you pleaded quietly “I just didn’t want to give you the wrong idea when I said it was late. That’s all...” He huffed at you before turning on his heel and walking away from you; you composed yourself to unlock your door and head inside.
  “WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!” Freddie yelled as soon as you walked in the door
  “Freddie?” you said, “what are you doing here?”
  “I heard the two of you out there... kissing...” he admitted, “I knew he’d make his move”
  “I don’t need this right now, please, just don’t” you sighed
  “What’s wrong?” he replied, more sympathetic now as he followed you to the couch, kneeling in front of you to comfort you
  “This was a mistake,” you admitted, “if we had just been honest with him, I wouldn’t have had to lie to him about all this. And he wouldn’t have made a move on me...”
  “Baby,” he whispered, “this is my fault, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have agreed to letting you go out with him...”
  “He was so mad, Fred. Like I could feel him seething” you sighed
  “He’ll be fine,” Freddie said, “I’ll talk to him tomorrow, tell him the truth” you frowned at him, unsure if that was the right move, but you wrapped your arms around his neck as his wrapped around your waist. “I love you” he whispered in your ear before pushing the hair away from your face and kissing your eyelids gently, earning little giggles from you before you pecked his lips. It wasn’t long before he was drawing you close to him, your chest tight against his as he kissed your lips passionately
  “I love you” you smiled when he pulled away from the kiss to remove his shirt, picking you up after he connected his lips back to yours, letting his tongue part your lips as your fingers played with his hair. He held you against the wall to remove your shirt, smiling at you biting your lip, leaning in to kiss you when the door flew open
  “WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?” Auston yelled
  “Auston” Freddie yelled in surprise, putting you down gently and you frantically tried to cover your bra-clad body
  “What are you doing here?” you asked, trying to hide yourself behind Freddie
  “Is this why you wouldn’t invite me in? You already had someone inside?” he snarled, “I can’t believe I was so gullible, you’re really not innocent at all!”
  “HEY!” Freddie yelled, stepping closer to his teammate but managing to keep you covered, “that’s enough! You never saw her as a person, only as a conquest. Stop being a dick.” You could feel Freddie’s muscles tensing in his arm as you held onto him, preparing for what Auston would say next
 “Me? I’m the dick?” he scoffed in return, “she’s the one who’s going through us like candy wrappers!”
  “STOP IT!” your boyfriend continued to yell
  “I get it, Fred,” Auston smirked, “I mean I finally get it. You wanted to have something before me, that’s why you kept telling me not to try to sleep with her. You wanted her first. I get it.”
  “Watch it” Freddie growled
  “But now that you’ve had her, I think it’s time you drop the act. Let me have a turn...”
  “ENOUGH!” you finally shouted, stepping out from behind Freddie, “you two are ridiculous. Auston, I’m sorry that I upset you but Freddie and I have been dating for almost a year now. I thought--”
  “We thought” Freddie corrected, forcing you to look back at him
  “We thought if I agreed to go on a date with you, you’d drop it and then we’d be able to come clean with you. But I didn’t expect you to kiss me...”
  “You kissed me back!” he replied angrily
  “I did,” you admitted, “I got caught up in the moment and I shouldn’t have but it doesn’t change anything. You don’t get to have a turn with me, I’m not a toy and you should be ashamed of yourself for thinking that way” you waited for either of them to speak, but they remained silent. “I think you should both go. You can fight it out if you want, just not here.”
  “I’m sorry, (Y/N)” Freddie whispered and you squeezed his outstretched hand in reassurance
  “Just tell me one thing,” Auston sighed, looking between the two of you, “is this real? I mean, are you sticking around or are you gonna wait until someone else comes along?” You looked at Freddie once, a smile creeping across your face
  “I love him,” you confessed, still looking at the tall, ginger man behind you, “it’s real for me”
  “It’s real for me, too,” he replied with his eyes locked on yours until he finally looked at Auston, “I love her. We love each other. You weren’t supposed to find out this way but we didn’t know how to tell you...”
  “You’re sure?” Auston asked, “that you both feel the same way about each other?” you both nodded before Freddie wrapped his arms around your waist from behind you and kissed your temple. “Alright,” he sighed, dropping his head, “then I guess I’ll.. leave you to it” he forced a smile and walked out the door, leaving you feeling like you had to chase after him
  “Auston, wait,” you called, “I really am sorry about all this”
  “I know” he said
  “You really were trying to play me though weren’t you?”
  “At first, yeah,” he laughed, “but somewhere along the way, I realized you were too sweet to be played. Maybe it was the outfit you picked or the makeup you wore or the way you looked at me... or the lie you told...” he smirked when he remembered what you told him. “I don’t know what did it but I lost my nerve”
  “You didn’t lose your nerve when you decided to kiss me” you teased
  “Sure I did,” he scoffed, “because when I was kissing you it became about feeling you close to me and not... trying to get in your pants” you smiled at his words, feeling a tinge of heat rush through your body to your cheeks as if you were embarrassed
  “For what it’s worth,” you finally said, “if you take a girl you actually like, not one you’re just trying to mess around with, on a date like tonight -- she’d be lucky to have you” he smiled tightly, his lips pressed together as if he didn’t really believe it, and continued making his way down the hallway. You hoped this wouldn’t cause problems between Fred and Auston but you were just happy the secret was finally out.
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rainbowtransform · 3 years
Note
Anon who asked about Foolish here's the prompt. Foolish just has enough of the server and breaks Dream out of prison with Micheal. They take him, Michelle, Punz whose is their brother to another server. Foolish takes Purpled too cus he is not leaving the boy where Quackity can manipulate him. He also yells at Puffy telling her that when she remembers she has her own children and actually wants to be in their lives to come find them cus right now they're done being neglected by her.
:) all /rp
The note he’s left for his mother is simple: this is your choice.
He once asked, years ago when his powers were just coming in again (and that’s the problem with dealing yourself, if that you’ve got to wait for the little things) who she’d choose if it came down to between her family and her job.
“You,” she said, gently pulling Dream’s arms through his pajama shirt. “It will always be my family first.”
(But then, Foolish wants to protest, why did you leave for months on end? Why do you leave Niki alone? But he refrains. He loves his family, has a brother who is close to how he is, and two mothers who love him very much. His mothers are trying their best.)
But they’re not right this time. Foolish knows this and his mother has chosen her pathway. (He’ll miss her, he’ll admit. But his brother needs to be safe.)
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Purpled is a kid. He’s a kid who saw his home get blown up by TNT by Quackity, to try and build a nation that will eventually be torn down by its Own citizens. Foolish sends a calling card, and gives him coordinates. Asks him to take care of someone else.
Michael McChill is an amazingly energetic person, who has broken three blocks into the prison and is raring for more.
Michelle is hard to pull out of Puffy’s home. Puffy’s trying to keep her happy; but she’s not Michael. Michelle is not okay with staying inside and no other kids to play with.
Punz doesn’t answer, but Foolish keeps him in the back of his mind. If he ever gets back to him, Michael will be the one who deal with him.
But now, Foolish and Michael wait. They’re watching the prison. Foolish sees Quackity March in, all righteous air and chin high.
(Foolish sees him leave with blood on his clothes, cheery and waving goodbye.
Foolish sees red.)
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
They’re waiting at the cords when Foolish rides up, mindful of Dream in his arms. “He’s hurt.” He tells the teenager and Michelle. “But he’ll be okay.”
(There’s a brother who is most like him, laying on the floor of a prison cell crying.
There is a brother like him, who holds onto Foolish’s hands like a lifeline.)
They ride out further, away from the SMP and the blasting alarms. Sam’s lost his canon life and Foolish almost growls before he remembers the person still with him.
They go hundreds of blocks away. They Zig zag and sometimes Michael even steers his horse a different way to confuse others. Purpled is more lively the more they get away from the SMP and Michelle sniffles.
“It’ll be okay,” Foolish says quietly to her. “Papa’s… not good right now.”
Michelle nods, and keeps her eyes straight forward. She’s a brave girl, Foolish knows. Brought to the Overworld to be a friend, just to be trapped a second time without one. Foolish locks his pinkies with one of her own hooves. Michelle smiles and Foolish looks ahead.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Dream heals. Foolish coaxes him out of the house sometimes, let’s him stay outside for as long as he wants and takes him back in when it gets too loud or overwhelming.
When Dream doesn’t flinch at the tiniest movement anymore, Michelle sticks with them. She presses little kisses onto Dream’s forehead when he’s leaning down, and then kisses her fingers and pats them around his legs and arms.
“To keep you safe.” She says.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Purpled ends up rebuilding his UFO, looking up proudly at it and wiping sweat off his forehead. “I’m not going to go home just yet,” he tells them at dinner. “But I’m thinking of it soon.”
There’s a brief moment of silence before Dream says “don’t get caught in the SMP. There’s a bunch of things you need there, right?”
Purpled shrugs. “My fuel’s just there. Nothing else really. I’ve got some bread and stuff that I can eat on my journey. It won’t take long. Probably two or three weeks at best.”
“Be careful. Quackity’s still looking.” Michael says, shrugging off a coat.
“It’s been like three months,” Purpled says, annoyed. “Really?”
Michael sits down next to Dream’s seat, nudges his arm away a little bit, and then takes a porkchop. “Two people he wanted to be with Las Nevadas, one of the strongest growing nations up and disappear with a prisoner and a daughter of Puffy’s? He’s probably going to be looking for a long time. It’s only the fact that we’re so far away and that we’d basically destroyed the way up here that we haven’t moved on yet.”
“We need to, though,” Foolish says. “The UFO can move right?”
“Yeah it just can’t go to space,” Purpled reassures. “And we’re moving?”
“We were waiting until Dream feels up to it, and healed enough. We shouldn’t be going far, but we’ve got to take down anything that even makes people think we lived here.”
Michael shrugs. “The Warden won’t rest easy either. Dream was his only prisoner, and he is ready to get him back at any cost. This isn’t your fault Dream, we’re not turning you back in, don’t even think about it.”
There’s a quiet moment before Michelle asks to be excused so she can go play outside.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
You whisper to FoolishGamers: we need to talk.
FoolishGamers whispers to you: no
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
The trees look lovely today. Sometimes Foolish remembers he was a millennial younger and when his first family took him to the park, or whatever was considered a park back then. 
Foolish is older now. He knows enough about what you must do in order to satisfy the voices in your head and how to help others. He almost lost his brother. A brother who holds more power than they can imagine together.
He watches Puffy walk out of the trees. Her hair is vibrant and colorful and Foolish remembers when he was younger and she used to live she used to let them braid it. But there’s only so much that memories can allow.
“Foolish, my son,” she says. “Will you please tell me what have you been doing.”
“I’ve been taking care of my family papa. You wouldn’t get it you abandoned Dream when he was in the prison.”
“He hurt children.”
“He did,” Foolish acknowledged. “He did. But he didn’t deserve torture. And he sure as hell didn’t deserve what the prison did.”
“It’s best for us if he goes back in.”
“I thought that you wanted to talk because you were going to apologize. But if you’re not going to wear down here you we all love you and we are your children. When you decide to love us back, when you understand why we had to do what we did. Then you can come and see us and you can stay with us.”
“Foolish,” she starts and he shakes his head.
“No. I’m not going to listen to anything anymore. I’m keeping my siblings safe. And I’m keeping Purpled safe because he does not deserve to be in Las Nevadas being manipulated by the man who let my death happened.”
And with that, he turns away.
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Text
On Supergirl
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Figured I should put up my thoughts about Kara in the wake of her first film appearance being announced, and the final season of her TV show fast approaching. Short version is: Kara is very cool and DC needs to stop messing with her. 
My Introduction to Kara
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I was introduced to Kara the way most millennials/Gen Zers were I imagine, via the Loeb Superman/Batman arc which brought the traditional Kara Zor-El Supergirl take into Post-Crisis continuity, after years of DC attempting to have a “Supergirl” without violating the editorial mandate that Kal needed to be the literal “Last Son of Krypton” (an example of one of the dumb ways DC fucked Kara over). Story goes that one day Dan Didio was in line at the Superman ride at Six Flags (I love that ride even though it’s stolen my glasses every time I’ve ridden it, even when I left them in a locker!). The ride had signs that talked about various Superman characters. Didio was reading the entry for Supergirl where it talked about her not being Clark’s cousin but instead some weird merge of alien shapeshifter, angel, and human girl, and he realized how fucking stupid that was, and he went back to the office and told Loeb to bring Kara back. 
Years later I would also be standing in line at the Six Flags Superman ride (probably at a different park location but who knows?) as a youngster and would read the new Supergirl sign that trumpeted that Superman had a cousin who shared all his powers, an update reflecting the new Loeb origin. I thought she sounded pretty cool, made a note to see if my library had any Supergirl stories next time I visited, then got on the Superman ride and promptly lost my glasses like an idiot because I wanted to take them off while I was riding and pretend I was changing from my “disguise” into Superman mid flight. My dad grounded me for this afterwards, but it gave me a funny story to tell at family get togethers and isn’t that what Six Flags is all about?
A month later (and with spiffy new glasses), my mom dropped me off at a new library next to where she worked, and they had one of the best Superman collections I’ve ever seen to this day. I was in heaven and while reading every Superman book I could find (I couldn’t check them out because I didn’t have a card, my mom’s card didn’t cover the area the library was in, and my mom wouldn’t have checked them out anyway since comics were “too violent”), I found the trade collecting Kara’s new origin. I read it and I thought both she and Superman were really cool, and Batman was a  punk who had to beat Darkseid by cheating, the loser. Turner’s art to my young eyes was the best I had ever seen, and the panels got engraved into my brain. 
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I still get downright nostalgic whenever I see Turner Superman or Supergirl stuff. I also got my parents to rent the animated movie adaption of the Superman/Batman arc from Blockbuster (remember those?), and that sealed the deal. Seeing Kara hold her own against Darkseid convinced me she was as cool as her cousin. Next time my mom dropped me off at the library next to her workplace, I went looking for Supergirl stuff to read. I found the first volume of her new volume by Joe Kelly taking place after the Loeb arc and dove in.
It was... weird. 5 years later I might have enjoyed it but at the time I was majorly put off. Kara took a secret identity for a day and then ditched it because it was “stupid” and the kids bullied her. She was always getting into fights with Kal, and there was this weird plot that I couldn’t follow about how her dad had sent her to kill Kal, maybe or maybe not? Also she could grow crystals which I thought was dumb, and said she was stronger than her cousin which I couldn’t buy for a second given he looked like he was carved out of marble, and she looked like she relied on sunlight instead of food. I put the volume back on the shelf and kinda gave up on reading the character after that for a while. 
I followed her via the DC wiki updates just like I did Superman, and everything I read seemed dumb and convoluted. She was split in two, moped around a lot, made out with an alternate version of her cousin, and basically just flopped about the same way the rest of the Superfamily did during the 00s. Nothing made me think I had made a mistake dropping Kara until I read the latest update to her wiki page.
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I was super into what I was reading about the Busiek/Johns era of Superman online. Lex was back and making a big revenge scheme that involved all the other Rogues! Old Superman Rogues were getting revamped and made cool again! Johns reintroduced Brainiac and made him a big threat, with Kal and Kara teaming up to fight him! Busiek was revamping Prankster and telling big ambitious Superman stories! For the first time in a long while, the consensus on the Internet was that Superman was good again. My “home” library had zero Marvel books and no Superman or Batman books, all their DC stuff was Flash or Green Lantern, mainly written by Johns. Insane to think back on now. My hopes that because Johns was involved with Superman, Superman books would show up at my library were fulfilled. They started bringing in Busiek and Johns collections, and someone there also ordered Sterling Gates’ first volume of Supergirl, and I checked everything out since I was old enough to have my own library card, and my parents were worried more about the violent video games I was playing rather than comics.
I read everything and loved it. I also really liked Gates’ take on Kara. She was still an imperfect teenager but she wasn’t insufferably angsty or constantly fighting with Kal. She was going to give the secret identity another try and Lana had “adopted” her. It’s funny remembering how I enjoyed all that given my current thoughts on how Kara should work, but it was great at the time. I liked Gates introducing new foes for Kara, some classic Superman Rogues adapted for her like Bizzarogirl, others crafted specifically for her like Reactron. Gates’ basically rekindled my enjoyment of Kara the same way Busiek & Johns rekindled my enjoyment of Superman.
Of course it ended terribly like everything Superman-related seems to.
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I’ve got a whole post I want to do about New Krypton and what came after. In short that is the most blatant example of “hitting the reset button” that I’ve ever seen. All the potential got wasted, and afterwards everything except Lex’s Action Comics stuff just didn’t appeal to me. Gates got booted off Kara for Nick Spencer who ended up leaving himself later, a promising Teen Titans line-up with Kara on it didn’t happen, and the last proper Pre-Flashpoint Superfamily story was a crappy team-up with Doomsday against Bigger Doomsday (thank God for Cornell’s final Luthor/Superman confrontation at least). When news of the reboot arrived, I was honestly happy. The Superline needed an enema.
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Controversial opinion time: I liked New 52 Supergirl. It’s weird because a lot of the stuff I hated about Kelly’s run was here, and a lot of the stuff I loved about the Gates’ run was not. This was angry, moody, emotional Kara again, fighting with Kal and not fond of Earth. But I was in my teens at this point, and I didn’t want happy go-lucky Superman or Supergirl. I wanted my heroes angry, scared of the future, ready to go out there and smash some cars. Morrison’s Action Comics was 100% my jam (still is once I really understood the deeper meaning beneath the work) and this Kara felt like a natural fit for this universe. Plus we got Asrar on art and that guy made it damn pretty to look at, lots of cool science fiction stuff going on, even with the dumb H’el storyline.
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I loved all the new Rogues Kara got. I loved her new Fortress under the ocean. I loved how traumatized she was by the loss of Krypton, that she wanted more than anything to go home, that her cousin was like a stranger to her since they had been apart for so long. I found all of that incredibly relatable. A lot of the New 52 Supergirl stories might have been schlock but it was my type of schlock damnit, and I enjoyed it!
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I kept with her New 52 series all the way through the Red Daughter Saga (which I loved). As someone who grew up on Johns GL (since that was the only comics my home library had), seeing a Supercharacter join a Lantern Corp was the hypest thing ever. I loved the finale about Kara finally letting go of her anger and losing the ring while smashing her foe into the sun, it was incredibly cathartic for me as an angry teen myself. I finally stopped following her series sometime after since I was no longer enjoying the Superline or really DC as a whole. It wasn’t until I heard that New 52 Superman died and the “old” Superman was back, that I checked back into DC.
DC Rebirth & How I Think Kara Should Work
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I did not enjoy Supergirl Rebirth, and I think I’ll talk about my problems with it alongside how I think Kara as a character should work since the two are related. A pet peeve of mine that has formed over the years is this: I don’t like it when Superfamily members get turned into Clark clones. Kon wearing glasses and going to Smallville High. Kara going to high school and being involved in journalism. Jon more or less being written as a copy of his dad personality-wise. I hate that kind of stuff because it’s boring. What’s the point of a Superfamily if everyone is just copying Clark? It also doesn’t fit the characters especially in Kara’s case. Why the hell does she want to be a journalist? Were there journalists on Krypton? I don’t remember ever seeing one! Shouldn’t she want to be, I dunno, a scientist? That seems to have been the El family tradition, wouldn’t she have been groomed for that?
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This one-off by Shea is honestly the only acceptable outcome for Kara going into journalism for me. She realizes she’s just copying her cousin and switches to something she wants to do. So Orlando copying the show, which already basically turned Kara into an expy of her cousin, just did not appeal to me at all. What had worked for me under Gates way back when was not clicking for me this time. I wanted to see Kara embody the principles of the S-shield in a different way than her cousin did. So I really enjoyed when Rebirth ended and we moved into the Bendis era with Andrekyo relaunching the title as Kara in space.
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Kara in space has always felt like a good fit for me. Unlike Kal I’ve come to believe that Kara really shouldn’t be all that fond of Earth. For him it’s home, but for her it’s just where she ended up after her real home got destroyed. I think Kara works well as a sort of nomad, occasionally making stops back home to Earth to check on her cousin, but otherwise? She’s more comfortable out in space than she could ever be on Earth. Out in space she can be Kryptonian (which is what she should think of herself as in contrast to Clark being torn between his Kryptonian biology and human upbringing, and Jon/Kon identifying as human), be her true self, not have to pretend to be human to fit in. Kara founding a moon refuge was one of the best ideas for her that I’ve seen, I would love if DC made her Future State refugee center on the moon canon. I’m excited for more Kara adventures in space with the upcoming Tom King story.
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Also love that her and Krypto are getting tied together, if they don’t want to use Krypto in Superman’s stuff, let her have him! Bring on cosmic adventurer Supergirl!
Personality & Other Traits
Kara to me should be more hot-tempered than her cousin. All the Superfamily members should have a temper in my opinion, I see that as the “Deadly Sin” of Superman and his family. But while Kal is like a simmering pot that will explode if it’s left cooking for too long, Kara is like dynamite. Light her fuse at your own peril because she will go off on you.
I also like the idea of Kara being rash. Kal’s got a maturity that came from over a decade of having to live with Lex Luthor constantly getting away with all his evil schemes. He’s patient because he’s been forced to be. Kara? If you ask for her help she’ll give it, but beware because she doesn’t really care about the long term impacts of her decisions. She’s an invulnerable teenager after all.
Really liked that Venditti Annual where Kara got tutored in history by a reincarnation of Hawkman. Kara having a passion for history is a neat trait, would be nice to see her teach Kal or Jon some Kryptonian lore, or have her lead a Kryptonian holiday celebration for the Superfamily because she’s the only one who remembers how to do it. 
Sexuality wise I know a lot of people ship Kara and Lena on account of the chemistry between the two in the show. I haven’t watched the show myself but I’m fine with making Kara bisexual, the Superfamily could use some LGBT+ rep, and Lena hasn’t done anything of worth as a villain, so undo that and throw the two together. If we’re letting Harley and Ivy get away with murder I think we can let Lena off the hook too, undo the Ultrawoman weirdness and put the two together. Could be fun seeing the two building that moon refuge together.
All in all I think Kara is a great character who is a stronger embodiment of the immigrant experience than even her cousin in some ways. I hope King does a good job with her, she’s treated better than her cousin on the film side, and that overall the 20s are a better decade for Supergirl than the 10s were.
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uhhhhyandere · 3 years
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halloween special!
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hi everyone!!!! 
for halloween this year, inspiration struck and i decided to craft this halloween special demon/angel light au! i had so so much fun writing this and hope yall enjoy it!!!
no matter where you are in the world, if you celebrate halloween or not, i hope you all are doing amazing and know that you are so so loved (by me) and thank you all for the love and support you give! i love every single one of y’all and let’s finish out the year the best we can!!!! 
word count: 7.2k 
And He will bring hell with him. 
The grass will gray, and the trees will blanket with ash as all life is left withered, limp, and colorless in his wake. He takes, and takes, and takes with the full red moon on his back and the stars glittering on his lips in golden lies. Should his, Kira's eyes, red with ire from his unattained vision, seek you out, you are bound to the pits of hell itself for eternity. 
"Well, that's what the tale says," Misa said. "If you believe in that kinda stuff." She flipped the book over to display the illustrations. You leaned over to get a closer look. "They really have to make evil people this beautiful, huh?" You looked at her incredulously. "What? You're thinking the same thing! I just said it…" Her eyes trailed down to the pages again. 
"He was a mortal once?" Misa nodded her head and adjusted herself on the sofa for you to scootch closer. Her red manicured nails slipped the page over to the next. 
"Who tried to be a god." You squinted down at the new page and pointed. 
"She kinda looks like you." She laughed. 
"Just wait," Misa replied. "Anyway, he was young, a few years below us, when he came across the power to make him a god. He was not chosen nor special. The power was left to be picked up by any traveler. It just so handed to be dropped outside of his family's farm, and he just so happened to be who he was. An ambitious genius with the same hunger for power the poor have for food. He used this power to rise above all others and to kill any who dared step in his way." Tragic art painted the pages as Misa continued to flip through them. 
"How?" Misa shook her head. 
"They don't know. We don't know. A creature crueler than Kira. A bored god looking to stir trouble. A blessing that was used as a curse. Perhaps all. Perhaps none." She giggled. "Exciting, isn't it?" You scoffed. 
"Yeah, yeah. Keep going." 
"But he had enemies. No mortal man should wield what Kira wielded. Those who wanted to strip him of his power and deliver justice to those he had ridden of, not grasp the power, the golden throne, he sought. They played games with one another. Cruel, cunning games of who would outsmart the other. He who was supposed to condemn his power and he who had it used the same means to win.
"Us. Regular people used and thrown away to further their game. There was one," she pointed at the girl who resembled herself, "who picked up the same power as he. It was her who tried to love him, that bent at his word, that carried out his will." Misa swallowed, "but he had lost his ability to love, or that's what was thought until..." Misa cut herself off. 
"Kira and his nemesis continued to use, to manipulate the very ground the other walked on. All until he finally stood at the foot of the throne of the world he thirsted for. Pristine and shining, it stood above the clouds themselves. This is where he was slain, where his blood stained the stone, the rug, the throne, infecting and cursing them. The throne cracked, contorted, twisted, and fell. Down, down it fell until he and the now blackened throne were in hell. 
"One day, when the full moon shines on the bleeding night, he will rise, and he will bring hell with him. He will claim what he has lost to reign over the world of men. The grass will gray, and the trees will blanket with ash as all life is left withered, limp, and—,"
"I know that much," you interrupted, "but I'm confused. Did you leave a part out? Where you cut yourself off, I mean." White teeth dragged across her lip. 
"After," she started to rapidly flip the pages, "after he was banished to hell, they found…" Her flipping stopped at the very last page, "this." 
On the page was a cage with gnarled black metal and a large gash across the bars. A human whose arms crosses on their chest in an 'X.' Their feet were bound together and tied with rope to the middle's central support pole. Blood trickled down their face, torso, and legs. Beautiful, broken, ripped wings crumpled at their back. "He had stolen an angel. Broken them. Claimed them. Upon their back, scars from where he had failed to rip them off their back." She hummed. "Kinda looks like you." 
You laughed nervously then scoffed, trying to get the haunted picture out of your brain. "Should his eyes, red with ire from his unattained vision, seek you out, you are bound to the pits of hell itself for eternity because you are who he has lost, and he will not fail again.
"But that's just how it goes!" Misa laughed good-naturedly and shut the book harshly. "Pretty scary, right?" You shook your head.
"Absolutely not. First, it's actually pretty disturbing. Secondly, it's so vague! No details on how he died, if the other guy killed him. You'd think after eons of repetition, they'd make stuff up." Misa shook her head. 
"Yeah, if you ask a bard, but do you really want to hear a romanticization of it in a song where they talk about how he loved whom he locked away and claimed? They do not sing about the reality, for it is far too gruesome for even documentation, much less for song. At least, that's what Rem told me. Being vague is the only option to make it tolerable, but I think she actually knows the truth and won't spill." You laughed and rose from the library's sofa. "So? It's my favorite story." 
"That's because that girl looks like you." 
"And?" You clicked your tongue. 
"I dunno. I did say it was disturbing, but you don't really believe in this kinda stuff, right?" You scratched the back of your head. 
"Of course, I do!" She giggled. "Ever since Rem took me in and taught me to read, it's been my favorite book." How could you forget what an oddball Misa was? You sighed. 
"Alright, believe what you want. Halloween is the day after tomorrow, after all. Be as spooky as you want." Misa rose and slipped the leather-bound book back into her bag. "Are you stealing that?" You harshly whispered. She shook her head. 
"Nope! It's Rem's." Oh, gee.
"I'd rather steal from the library—which has free books—a concept I just remembered for some reason than Rem. Do you have a death wish? Nevermind, don't answer that. Why did you make me come to the library again?" 
"Isn't this where people read?
"...You're right. I got nothing. Come on. I need to get back to the market. I promised my parents I would pick up the pumpkins Mello grew and carved. Apparently, people are putting lights in them to make the faces glow at night."  
Your village was reasonably large, set on the misty hillside of the mountain. Though the nearest city where the Earl of the region lived was a few miles down the path and knights on horses frequented here on their patrols, your village felt world's away from society. It was also relatively famous for the chapel, so travelers often stopped to visit, especially with the holiday season. 
It rested closest to where the cliff dropped into nothingness. Flowers surrounded it, and moss grew up its stone walls. Vivid glass windows decorated all sides and around the wooden doors. A tower ascended from the front to where a millennial old bell sat still for just as long, for it was only to ring when the world was set to end.
Within, pews lined the plush red rug. The rug ran straight to the golden altar, where a large statue stood behind. The stained glass filtered color light upon its flawless, stone complexion. Water poured from the few holes in the body down into the small pond around it. 
"Are we going to meet on Halloween?" Misa asked. "You know it's my favorite holiday! Everyone will be on the square dancing and dressed up!" You smiled. 
"Of course. You know my parents would not miss a party. We can meet on my porch since it's closer?" She nodded enthusiastically,
"Yes! That sounds perfect! See you then!" The blonde blew you a kiss and skipped in the direction of her house. You smiled before turning on your heel and approaching the square. 
Of course, the market would be busy with both locals and travelers. It was mid-day, and each stand had its unique, limited-time holiday goods. You had to squeeze your way to make it to Mello's stand. The blonde grimaced as you approached. Ah. He's in a good mood! 
"Afternoon, Mello." 
"Y/N," he regarded you. "You're really going to buy a pumpkin with a scary face? Would it really go with your garden?" You scoffed. 
"It's my parents, actually, and yes! I can be scary and festive! Not as good as you, Mello. I heard that you carved lots of pumpkins for the village." He hummed and motioned to those on the wooden stand. 
"Not for the village," he replied. "You still have to pay, got it?" You rose your hands. 
"Of course, of course." You began to browse the selection. "Will you be attending the festivities night of?" He scoffed. 
"No. Now pick your poison or leave." You smiled and reached for one with a broad crooked smile. "Terrible taste." You furrowed your brows. 
"...But you're the one who made it?" Mello's eyes widened for a second before narrowing once more. 
"It's one of my worse ones. I guess it'll go well with you, then." You laughed and rubbed the carved circle around the stem with your hand. 
"Yep! Sounds good, Mello." You reached into your pockets and dropped a few coins in front of him. "Keep the change. Happy Halloween!" Mello snatched the coins from the table and shooed you off. You morphed back into the crowd, maneuvering your way through the group back to your house.
An abrupt, intense headache wracked your skull, causing you to suddenly stop amid the crowd and wince, nearly dropping the pumpkin under your arm. With your free hand, you grasped your forehead, but the pain only escalated and pulsed down your body. Two particularly intense strands of pain erupted on your back.
Peeking up, the crowd blurred around you, but your eyes on a figure at the corner of the inn. He was too far to make out the intimate details besides his lithe frame and brown hair. For moments you locked eyes before he disappeared behind the inn. 
The pain stopped as if it was an illusion. You snapped back into reality, chest heaving in relief. A few eyes looked at you in concern, but no one stopped to ask. Thankfully so. You wouldn't know what to tell them if they asked what happened. 
Shaking your head, you safely made it to your small house hidden behind a large oak tree. 
"Oh! You got the pumpkin! How was Mello?" 
"Charming as ever, of course. I was just with Misa at the library before that. She told me the story about Kira and his fall to hell." Your mom nodded her head and took the pumpkin from your arm. 
"Ah, that's an old one. I guess she's always been the type to be into that stuff. It freaks me out, personally." You followed your mom to the kitchen. 
"Yeah, me too. I try to remind myself it's not real, but there's also the small tick in the back of my brain that tells me it may be, you know?" She nodded again. 
"Oh, I like this carving! Nice choice, Y/N, but yes, I do that too. Especially since Halloween, this year, is on the full blood moon. An ill omen in all tales. Luckily the town's party rids my mind of such horrors, as should yours. Anything else happen today?" You paused.
"N-no. Nothing comes to mind. I think I'm going to go find father then wash up before dinner. Is he still in the forest?" Your mom nodded. 
"Yep. He's been hunting that same deer for weeks now. Apparently, it has a rack of the like he has never seen before. Something of beauty. I think he doesn't even want to kill it as much as he wants to see it again." Your dad was somewhat of a conundrum. As much as he awed and loved nature, he was a hunter who made income on the sale of its pelts and horns. "I'm sure he hasn't found it yet. Maybe you can help."
Unlikely, but you liked to explore the misty pines surrounding your village. They were too safe and had a few secret spots where hollowed logs led to hidden clear ponds. Wishing your mom farewell, you entered the pines and inhaled their thick scent. 
Your dad's job was handy in that you knew the backwoods like the back of your hand. He taught you the ways to track and navigate through the seemingly identical trunks. 
He also unknowingly taught you to sense when something was off with the forest. After ten minutes of traversing, you finally had the feeling of dread. The mist was inches too low, the grass droplets too wet, and the temperature degrees too low. You held your breath and glanced at your surroundings. 
A silhouette. A deer's head with a rack so vertically high you thought your eyesight was failing you. Except, as you stepped closer, this deer had the body of a man standing upon his two legs. Large hollow eyes oozed mist. 
"..." something was whispered into the air. You continued to hold your breath. "...—/N." The deer-man gave no indication of moving, and you could not bring your feet to even wiggle the frost from your toes. "Y/N."
Your name. Crystal clear. Your breath hitched. His hand with long, natural claws extended forwards towards you. "Y/N," it repeated. "You mus—....—ere. No t—." You could not make out his words. 
"Y/N!" Another yell. This time you recognized it as your father. Eyes blown open, you wretched your eyes from the deer-man and sprinted towards the voice of your father. 
"I'm...sorry." 
"You're not telling us everything." Your father accused. After you ran head-first into your father, petrified and stumbling over every word, he urged you home and waited for you to take the bath you begged them to allow you to have before sitting you in the sitting room, the fire roaring under the holiday wreath behind you. 
'It just scared me. I've never seen a bear of its size." Why are you lying? You had no idea. As soon as your mom asked the first questions, lies flowed out of your mouth like the truth. Stories you naturally never could have conjured on the spot. Stories you would never because you did not lie, which is why your parents, despite their dubious expressions, did believe you. "I swear. I just got freaked out. I think it's because of the story Misa told me today."
"That girl," your dad muttered. 
"She told them the story of the man who fell to hell. Kira." Your dad nodded and rubbed his chin with his hand. 
"Ah, I see. That would do it. Y/N, I know the full blood moon is coming, but there's no need to fret. Stories are just stories, alright? Leave your candlelight on tonight should you be scared of the dark, alright? Me and your mom are in the room over, alright?" You nodded. "Good. Now, what's for dinner?"
You lit the candle that night. In your nightwear, you sat on the edge of the bed. Muffled moonlight streamed through the frosted window and reflected off the full-length mirror in the corner. You inhaled deeply through your nose and exhaled through your mouth.
"They're just stories. Just stories." Like a mantra, you repeated this under your breath as you ducked under the covers. Opening your eyes, though, you were met with a flash of shadow in the mirror. You jumped and stared at it with eyes open enough to feel the cold air. You waited for something in the still room to move, for it to flash again, but nothing did. Thankfully.
Still, you threw the blanket off of yourself and approached to assure yourself that yes, it was nothing, and yes, there was nothing: just your reflection and the room behind you.
Until you blinked. 
For a second, blood poured down your body and wetted down your clothes against your figure—wings broken and limp behind your back. 
You screamed and smashed the mirror with your fist on impulse. Along with the shards, your body fell to the ground, and actual bloodied hands kept you from collapsing entirely. However, the features in the fragments were not yours. The man, the one from the square, stared back, but at this closer view, you can see his eyes. 
Red. 
You threw yourself back against the wall and screamed. Your door busted open, and your parents barged in. Your mother ran to your side and took your hand in hers while your father took in the big picture around him. 
"I-I thought I saw something in the mirror. Misa told me once the m-mirror is the passage to the other world. I-I know it's stupid for me to react like this, but I just… I don't know. Do you think it's the blood moon?" Your parents were quiet. 
'It could be," your mother said. "The blood moon is supposed to come with magic. It enables beings to crossover from other worlds, from other planes. It is the ill omen, but crossing over is all they can do. They can't touch you or hurt you. That, I promise." You nodded. 
Your parents stayed with you, and, for the first time since you were literally a toddler, you slept in their room, blankets wrapped around you on their floor. Relief flooded your system when sunlight broke through the window. Though your sleep was haunted by vague images and muddled whispers, you slept through the night after the incident. 
"Are you sure you're okay?" Your dad asked. "You can skip your daily chores if you don't want to do them. Tomorrow too. Aren't I generous?" You laughed but shook your head no. 
"That's alright. I think if I stay home, I'll just keep thinking about it. I need to get my mind off of it. Doing chores will put my mind at ease. Some normalcy, I think." Your dad nodded, though you can tell your parents weren't eager to just forget the events of last night.
You knew someone, though, that would be eager to learn about them. 
"Misa, can you keep a secret?" She bit into an apple. 
"No," she replied simply. "I tell Rem everything, but that's it. I don't really talk to many other people here besides you and her, so no one else to tell, but I know Rem will mind her business. She talks to fewer people than I do." That was true. You could count the number of times you talked to Rem on a single hand, and Misa said she liked you. 
"Okay, don't freak out, but…" 
She freaked out.
"And they were red?" You nodded. 
"Glowing. A sinister smirk on his face. His hands in the reflection, touching my own through the glass. It was the same as the one I saw in the square right after we met." Misa's eyes widened in enthusiasm and jubilation.
"It's him! It has to be! Kira!" You shook your head. 
"No, my mom explained it to me. It's a spirit from the other plane playing a joke on me. She told me that after I stopped crying and fled to their room before I passed out. That story isn't real. It… can't be." Misa shook her head and leaned forward. 
"It is! It's not that you don't believe it's real; it's that you don't want to believe it's real! Y/N, you have to believe me." You grimaced and backed away to create some breathing room.
"Why would I want it to be real?" You whispered solemnly. "Why would I want that to happen to me? I can't believe it's real. It can't be real. I'm terrified if it is real, okay? If my parents think it's real because I do, they'll tell the church, and if the church finds out? You know how they deal with spiritual trespassers and those they possess. I'd basically be dead. My soul stripped from my being to ensure I do not bring harm to anyone else. I would be a hollow body, Misa! Don't you get that!?" You inhaled a ragged breath. 
"...Has anything happened today?" You shook your head. "It's already almost sunset, so that's a good sign, at least. Sorry, I got too excited. Your feelings and safety are important. Okay, I promise I won't tell a soul about this." You breathed a sigh of relief. 
"Thank you. I just… don't know what to do." 
"Have you gone to the chapel? The water from the statue is supposed to cure any possession." You shook your head. "Okay! I think I know your next steps, then. Come on!" She stood abruptly from the bench and held out her hands. "Let's go!" 
She dragged you across the diameter of town until your footsteps echoed across the chamber. A few holy people greeted you as they did their duties. Some travelers prayed at the pews for good luck and well-being. A single man stood next to the pond where the statue stood. 
"Greetings," he welcomed. "I recognize you two from town, but I don't believe we've met. My name is Soichiro. Are you here to drink from the spring?" Misa nudged you forward. 
"Y-yes. Oh, I'm Y/N." He nodded. 
"I see. Does the blood moon have you nervous? Don't worry. Lots of people come to do the same before a blood moon. Come and cup your hands and drink the water. Any disease in your soul shall be healed." You lowered yourself down to your knees and cupped the crisp water between your palms. You lowered yourself to sip, and you swallowed. 
But it would not go down. 
You began to cough, and your body convulsed with coughs. Liquid did come from your mouth, but the drops upon the ground were not clear, but a vicious red. Soichiro yelled for the other holy people as your body shook and twisted. Ropes bound your wrists, and hands steadied your head—arms wrapped around your waist to keep you as still as possible. A man placed his palm on your forehead and whispered incomprehensible words. When he finished, he ripped his hand away, and your breath was restored. You were unable to fall with the tight grip they still had on you. 
"W-what happened?" You asked, feeling the tears on your cheeks continuing to inch down and the blood drying on your chin. "I-I don't know. I'm sorry." 
"Take them to the purification chamber."
"No! Please, no! Help me! Someone, please help!" It was a joint effort between numerous holy people to lift your struggling form from the ground. "Misa! Mom! Dad!" you called out for, yet, in the chapel, none of them were there. However, your screaming did not stop for them until you were placed on a large chair and gagged. Your legs were bound to the bottom of the chair, and arms rebound to the arms. Holy people circled around you. 
The chair you were in was much less a chair and more so a throne. Pure white metal was attached directly to the ground. Red cushioning provided comfort to your rear and back. With ragged breaths, you looked waited until one of them spoke or did anything besides watch you. It was the man who sentenced you here that approached. 
"Soichiro," someone called, but he ignored them and angled his head down towards you.
"I am going to undo your gag. Do not scream. I just want you to tell us the truth if you know anything. Sometimes… they do things without signaling a mortal." Large calloused hands undid the gag, and you inhaled greedily. "Now, tell us."
"A-are you going to take my soul?" 
"Speak first. I cannot make promises I do not know if I can keep." You swallowed and explained what you could to them. Your eyes were focused on the ground. The terror you would feel if his reaction was bad was too grand for you to meet his eyes. The silence after you ended your experience was deafening. "I see." He looked to a holy person nearby. "We need twenty-four-hours to prepare for the ritual. It leaves us with little room before the blood moon rises. If we do not store their soul… go now. It is much worse than any of us could have imagined." Your heart plummeted. 
"W-what? No! Please! Tell me what's going on! D-don't take my soul, please! I-I want to live! I'll run away! You'll never see me again!" Soichiro stared at you with what you hoped was empathy. The bags under his eyes spoke of his wisdom and his exhaustion. He motioned for the rest of the holy people to leave, so it was just him standing over you. 
"I'm sorry, child." He spoke softly, knuckles wiping the tears flowing down your face. "No matter how far you run, no matter how fast, no matter how well you hide, no matter how you continue on: alive or dead, he will come for you. The moment you locked eyes in the mirror, you were bound to him, just as you always have been." You shook your head, vehemently. 
"It's not true, is it? Kira... is he…?" Soichiro smiled sadly. "It can't be… it can't be me. It's impossible." You sobbed. "How? Please, at least tell me before… before…" You couldn't even make the words out. 
"My son," he began, "was always destined for greatness, but then greatness found him, and he became too great. The power he found was a single, black notebook. Write someone's name, and they would pass. It originally is from a Shinigami, a god of death, that possessed him while he owned it, but… there are forces more potent than Shinigami in the universe. He and his opponent, the one who sought to bring the mysterious killer Kira, my son, that plagued the land to justice, who we called L, always were at a battle of wits, of plans, but, in the end, my son won.
"But this victory angered others. It was they who killed him at the throne of the world. It was they who watched him plummet to hell. It was they who built the statue in this chapel and sealed him in hell so he could never return, but they have long passed. Their magic fading in time. I could do nothing in all this time except pray to angels to keep my son at bay." He paused and looked up solemnly. "You must be wondering how I am alive," He looked down at his pale hands. 
"The notebook is gone now. The Shinigami that dropped it fled back to his world when Lig- Kira, was cast down to hell. I, too, touched the notebook. A scheme my son created to get ahead. The curse of it never went away, and I am now stuck to live eternity until my son ends it." He clenched his fist. "I did not know you were so close. I did not know it was you. If I did… I would have taken your soul long before you could have known life without it." You shook your head. 
"I don't understand. What is my part? The book… the book only showed a cage with… someone in it. The story has no word of them. Just the girl… the weapon that served him." Soichiro sighed. 
"Back then, the plane between the mortal realm and other words was thinner when angels and spirits would roam mortal lands. You were an angel. A new one. Young. Wide-eyed and drawing silver linings wherever you walked. Someone he set to ruin. Someone with a soul so pure that he can take and twist to his own liking. No one should see you except him, so he locked you away and bound his soul to yours and your soul to his. As long as he lived, whether here or hell, you would too. 
"But just your soul. Unlike me, whose mortal body is stuck, it is solely your soul that has been recycled for eons. His part, the part of his soul within you, could only be awakened should your eyes meet his. Then, with his entire soul active and with the power of the red blood moon, he will be able to break the barrier that seals him tomorrow night. We must lock away part of his power, so he cannot walk this land again. 
"Should he, then he will seek to claim all that was taken from him. The mortal world will fall as we know it. Those he inevitably tricked in hell to follow him will breakthrough behind him. What the world deserves for not seeing him as the god he sees himself as." Tears pooled in Soichiro's eyes. "I still love my son. The bright-eyed boy, but he cannot love. What he feels for you is something far darker, something twisted. I do not know what he will do if he finds you. You will be better off soulless." You sobbed. 
"B-but the deer-man in the woods. Do you - I mean…" He furrowed his brows and shook his head. 
"I don't know, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry my son came upon you. No one deserves this fate." You wretched in your bindings, ragged breaths, and eery whines escaping your mouth. "Some will be around to feed you later, and someone… someone will explain everything to your parents. 
"Let me see them!" You yelled out. "Please! One last time! They don't know anything! I just want to… please, I… I get it. Why you have to do this, but please let me say goodbye. Please. I just," you bit your bottom lip to prevent another wail, "please." Soichiro shook his head. The man could no longer maintain eye contact with you.
"I can't. We cannot risk you talking to anyone lest risk his jealousy. As far as we are concerned, you are not you. You are his." You pulled against the ropes once more. "I'm… so sorry. It is best for everyone that he does not see you with others while he is powerful enough to watch this world. I hope you never forgive me." Crestfallen, he turned his back and approached the door. 
"No! Come back! Please! Don't leave me alone here! P-please! S-Soichiro!" Only the slam and locking of the door met your calls. 
You don't know how long you howled and wailed, how many times it echoed back in the circular chamber to your ear. There came the point where your body could make no more tears, so you were left with pathetic dry heaves. It was then that a voice whispered in your head. 
"Y/N…" It was different than the voice in the woods. It was sinister, deep, evil. You focused on anything, the floor's intricate patterns, the ceiling, the running water behind the chair, the plants around the circumference of the room, anything to not acknowledge it. "Oh, aren't you a gift wrapped up for me? Clearly my father's work. Don't ignore me, Y/N. I know your every move. I know you can hear my every word" 
"F-fuck you!" You cried, and he laughed. Then, he clicked his tongue.
"Such dirty words. You're not the angel I remember, fresh out of the clouds. Ah, but there wasn't much angel left, from what I can recall. Do you feel it, Y/N? It shouldn't be long now…" For a long time, nothing happened, then, like two knives down your back, you screamed. "Ah, there it is. Those screams, I do remember. I don't care if it hurts." Blood soaked the cushion behind you and flowed down to your rear. "You brought this on yourself. This is what you deserve." 
"I didn't do anything!" You writhed. 
"Is that what my father told you? Is that what the story says? Oh, they couldn't be more wrong, love. You denied me what I deserve. You could have fallen to hell right with me, where you can be where you belong, but you stayed. I couldn't have you running back to the angels to live your days without me. I wouldn't allow it. If I hadn't had Mikami lock you in that cage, if I hadn't bound our souls, your grave would be in the flower fields above the clouds, but you got conceited. 
"Let me remind you of something, love. You are mine. Your body, your mind, your heart, your soul, what's between your legs, it's all mine. We are bound for eternity, Y/N. There is nothing you can do about it." He got quiet just as the immediate pain receded, leaving you with intense throbs. 
"You… won't get the chance," you spoke through tears. "Big talk for someone who isn't even going to breach this plane." A flash of pain sparked in your skull. He chuckled. 
"Oh, Y/N. Perhaps you are just as green as you were when we met. I can't wait to feel you again. To have you watch me burn the world." Silence. 
Despite your exhaustion, you could not sleep. You might as well have melted into the chair in how your body did not move a single inch, too scared to bother your wounds, and have the pain come back that is still aching. You did not want to spend your last hours unconscious. No one came to feed you.
"They're coming," he said. "They'd better be quick, then. The moon is almost up out there, after all." He groaned, and you jolted at the feeling of a cold hand on your neck. 
Soichiro and a train of holy people entered the room and surrounded you. He approached your limp body and undid your bounds. You did not miss him tense, and his eyes widen at the pool of blood in the seat from your back. 
'We must hurry. Any minute he will come through." Soichiro enlisted others to help him carry you back up the stairs to the altar. "Twenty four hours in the chamber has amplified their soul. It explains the marks on their back from their past life. Quick, on the altar!" The cloth was smooth against your skin as they placed you. 
Movement flurried around you as different scents were sprayed, various objects were placed on the ground and on the altar around you, and foreign words were spoken around you. Fatigue racked your body. There was not a single inch of your body that you could to move. 
Soichiro stood over your body. Your eyes, dead and clouded, stared up at him. In his hand was a singular, transparent, glass object. Quickly, he lifted his hand, ready to plunge it down. 
A loud bang resounded in the chapel, and the glass fell with a splatter of blood. You rolled your head to the side and watched two bodies approach from the entrance. All of the holy people around you were blown limply against the walls around you. It was only when they were right above you that you recognize it was Misa and Rem. 
"Rem, can you carry them? Do you still have your strength?" 
"Do not worry, Misa," she replied. Long arms lifted you while Misa skipped ahead and smiled reassuringly back at you. Music filled the crisp air. Lights hanging from the trees and other ornaments swept by your visual field. You groaned and lulled your head to face Misa. 
"M-Misa, no." You groaned. "He's coming." She giggled and turned around. Skipping backward, her smile widened. Behind her, the crowd gathered in the village square. Their vivid garments stuck out under the lights. 
"Of course I know, silly! Rem is a Shinigami just as the one who gave Kira his power. Just like he had a notebook, I had Rem's, but it was destroyed eons ago. Still, it binds me to live eternally, just like Soichiro. Luckily, Rem's cloaking magic covered me when I've met him, or he would have spoiled it all for us!
"When I saw you, I knew it was you. No matter how you may physically change, your heart and soul are always the same. Now, he's going to return to us. He's going to spearhead the new world." She twirled her hair around her finger. "Isn't that exciting?" 
You had no strength to fight in Rem's hold. Even if you did, you were unsure if you would be able to beat a Shinigami. 
Eyes were drawn to you as your bloodied and weak form was carried by an almost unidentifiable figure. Gasps echoed across the crowd, the music stopping as you presumably reached the square. 
"They watch helplessly," he spoke. "They know you are not theirs to touch. Soon, they will all know my power. They will all know who you belong to. Keep your eyes open, love."  
"Y/N! Y/N! Move! That's our child! Move! Y/N! The desperate calls of your parents broke through the crowd, but Rem presumably pushed them far back just the holy people, scaring the public to still and part for your funeral march. You heard the sick smack of bodies against a surface. Misa hummed to herself in front of you. Your head rolling back, you met Mello's wide and helpless eyes as he stood in the crowd. 
Misa led you away from the crowd and stopped at the flagpole at the village's entrance gates with the group following. Rem retied you to the base of the flagpole; your arms crossed over your chest in a familiar 'X,' legs and waist bound to the pole. Misa's settled herself next to you.
"All!" She called. "Watch as the blood moon rises behind the chapel! He who fell to hell is rising again to take what is rightfully his!" She pointed to the moon as it brilliantly glowed crimson above the chapel. Murmurs rose from the crowd, suspicious and fearful. "Watch as our god returns to the mortal realm!" 
The church bell rang. Its deathly reverberations echoing in your ear. The crowd fell to silence. 
"Have you missed me, love?" He spoke. "Because I have missed you." 
A red beam of light erupted from the chapel, followed quickly by multiple explosions. The statue, the roof, the infrastructure all crumbling by the expanding beam of light that touched the sky, screams erupted from the crowd, and they began to scramble. You pulled with what little strength you had left, but the pole against your back seized you in pain to cease your movements.
A silhouette could be made out of the beam. Large black wings spread from his back, sharp and jagged. Hands rose above his head before he dropped down in front of the chapel submerged in flames. His shadow enraptured you, and though his shadow was mostly unclear from a distance, you could make out his eyes even from here. Slowly, he took his first step forwards. 
Every needle and leaf in the trees around him fell. The grass withered all around him. Ash from the sky and littered the ground. With each step, the radius expanded until more and more life died around him. Your eyes trailed to the unconscious bodies of your parents against a tree. His zone of death stretched farther than them. 
"Eyes on me." 
"You're going to kill them!" You screeched. "Stop this madness at once!" You shook in your bonds. Misa was frozen next to you, eyes wide in anticipation as he approached. 
"Ordering me around? Perhaps you still are conceited. I think killing them will remind you of your place, hm?" Unfortunate humans were reduced to ash in his radius. The wind blew the ashes all around him, gently lifting his brown tufts of hair. "These mortals are nothing compared to you and I. Accept me as your mate. Accept the part of your soul that is my own, and the pain will all go away. You'll be dragged down to hell, and I'll bring you right back up." 
Your parent's ashes were a different color than the rest. 
"You know, it's been an eternity since I've heard you call my name. Do you even remember it?" You shook your head and squeezed your eyes shut. The thick scent of smoke, of ash, of death, permeated the air. "Eyes on me." He was almost here. Arms extended to the side, he approached from the other side of the square now. 
"Misa, we need to leave." 
"No! He's here! He's finally here, Rem!" 
"His aura will kill you, Misa." 
"No, I won't! He won't!" Rem, at lightning speed, grabbed Misa and flew in the other direction. "No! Put me down! I'll never forgive you! Stop!" Her voice echoed until it was out of range. Your head lashed back and forth, looking for any sign of life, but there was none: just ash, dying grass, and gnarled, graying trees. 
Dressed in all black, eyes blazing, teeth sharp, wings stretched, he now stood before you with the moon on his back. You pushed yourself against the pole despite the shock of pain. The grass around you died, the bugs vanishing, but you remained fine. You stared at his feet. 
"Oh, love," soft fingers reached down and tilted your head up. "You're as beautiful as I remember." Black wings encircled you, so you could only see him. "Do you remember my name?" You shook your head, and he gripped your chin harder. "Do not lie to me. Say my name, Y/N. Sew the wounds of your forsaken wings and accept your place with me." His voice resounded in you. "You feel it. I know you do. I feel your pain. Your fear. I've felt every emotion your reincarnations have ever felt. Say my name." He leaned in close.
"Kira." He clicked his tongue. 
"Stop resisting," he hissed. "Say my name, Y/N." His breath glided against your cheek. His hand moved to cup your jaw, and the other trailed down your waist.
"Light." It came off your lips quickly, easily, and he smiled, eyes widening with pleasure. Immediately, relief filled your physical body, your back's pain dissolving. Your head tilted back in bliss. 
"Y/N," he whispered against your neck. "Finally." He inhaled your scent deeply, hand tilting your head to give him more access. He placed a small kiss against your skin. His kisses trailed upwards, along your jaw, frantic against your cheeks, nose, until he captured your lips and stole your breath. 
"Oh, Y/N," he whispered against your lips. "I love you."  
110 notes · View notes
sage-nebula · 3 years
Note
My problem with the “let the adults handle things" is that the protagonist and Hop are just okay with that and actually listen? kids aren't like that?? In every other story with children and main characters they get told stuff like that but still don't listen anyways and actually works and save the day. But the real reason is that it was probably the original plan but the game got rushed and had to scrap it and cut corners
This might come as a shock, but kids are people, and therefore aren’t a monolith. “Kids don’t listen and wouldn’t be okay with that” isn’t a statement that can be made with 100% accuracy because just like all adults are different, all kids are different. Some kids will stomp their feet and throw tantrums when they’re told no. Others will accept it. It depends on the individual child, as well as the circumstances involved.
As for these specific children and circumstances:
The primary time that Leon and Sonia say “let the adults handle this,” Hop wasn’t actually present. He shows up after the cutscene has already unfolded. Even if he had been, Hop hero worships Leon. He wants to surpass Leon because surpassing him means being just like him. He’s crushed after battling Bede not because he lost, but rather because Bede tells him that he’s making Leon look bad. Hop apologizes to Leon the next time he sees him. What all this means is that if Leon tells Hop to do something, Hop is 99.9% likely to do it. If Leon says, “Stay back and let me handle this,” Hop will. This is evidenced by how, even though Hop runs past Raihan and others to get to Leon in the climax of the story, he at first hangs back and lets Leon handle Eternatus, confidently telling the player that Leon can do it. It’s only when Leon fails and is injured that Hop steps up to battle Eternatus alongside the player, Zacian, and Zamazenta. So yes, it makes perfect sense that Hop would listen to Leon because Hop hangs on Leon’s every word and has since he was very small. He trusts and believes in his brother implicitly and, even after deciding to cheer for the player in the Championship match, later confides that he didn’t really think the player was capable of defeating Leon.
As for the player, they have no personality outside of what you give them. For me, I’ve been playing Pokémon games since 1998. I’m absolutely beyond tired of having to save everyone’s asses because the PokéWorld can’t go two years without facing another crisis. I don’t want to be the hero anymore. I don’t want to be the Champion anymore. I was exhausted at having to be the Champion in Alola. This isn’t a job that appeals to me, it’s not one that I want. So if Leon and Sonia say, “Go continue your adventure, we’ll handle this,” my response is, “Thank fucking god” because that means I can fuck back off into the wilderness and continue exploring. I don’t want it to be my job to clean up whatever bullshit mess Chairman Rose or any other villain has caused. I am here to explore lands I’ve never seen before, to catch and train and play with monsters, and battle alongside them in battles I choose to participate in, too. That’s all I want to do. Any other bullshit is just a giant pain in the ass that pulls me away from what I’d rather be doing. And since I feel that way, the player character in my games feels that way, too. After all, when I play, the player character isn’t actually a kid. She’s actually an adult in the body of a kid. But she’ll pretend to be a kid if it means someone else picks up the slack and saves the world for once (even if she ends up having to do it anyway, sigh). She deserves a damn break.
All of that said:
In every other story with children and main characters they get told stuff like that but still don't listen anyways and actually works and save the day.
That’s exactly why it’s refreshing that this wasn’t the case in Sword & Shield. I mean, yeah, the player had to intervene anyway because that’s just how video games work, but it was nice that for once in this series’ history the adults actually tried to do something. The only other time this has happened was in Black & White, wherein the Gym Leaders and Alder stepped up to make a stand against Team Plasma. Otherwise, the adults are 100% useless in every single game, even the ones where the villain is threatening genocide, and as an adult myself, I really hate that. Sure, kids need stories where people their age are being heroes, absolutely. But when adults don’t even try, and instead happily leave everything on the shoulders of a child, I get aggravated. It shouldn’t be up to actual children to save the world, and it was so refreshing to see a Pokémon game where that was recognized, and where the Champion himself was seriously injured trying to make sure that didn’t happen.
Lastly:
But the real reason is that it was probably the original plan but the game got rushed and had to scrap it and cut corners
Yes, Sword & Shield had a limited development time that led to some things getting cut (such as the National Dex, tragedy though that is), just as every game since Gen VI has. However, I can confidently say that this is not one of them because of the characters involved.
Sonia has, in my opinion, one of the richest characterizations and most realistic stories out of almost any other Pokémon characters from the games. At the start of the game, she’s in her twenties and has no idea what she’s doing with her life. She’s retired from battling after dropping out of the Gym Challenge in her youth, but she dropped out of the Gym Challenge because she lacked the confidence to face the obstacles it presented, not because she wanted to do something else. The fact is, Sonia doesn’t really know what she wants to do. We know that she went to school at one point (her fake assistant in the post-game mentions that Sonia does have a doctorate), but she doesn’t have any actual research she’s working on. Instead, she’s a self-appointed assistant for her grandmother, even if what she does is mostly just meander around the lab . . . reading or organizing materials, I guess.
But after her grandmother gives her a kick in the pants and tells her to go find something she wants to do, she manages to do just that. She finds something that ignites her curiosity and her passion, something that makes a difference in her life at the very least, and possibly the lives of everyone in Galar. She finds her confidence, her drive, and her purpose. At the end of the game she’s the new regional professor, more sure of herself and her place in the world. And as someone who only just very recently left my 20s, I can say that Sonia’s story in this regard is very, very Millennial. Most twenty-somethings have no idea what they’re doing with their lives. And while they probably won’t figure it out as quickly as Sonia did (I’m still working on it myself), her struggles are very relatable and real. It’s clear that a lot of thought went into her character and her writing. Game Freak gave her a lot of love.
With all of that said though, Sonia being hyper-aware that she is an adult while Hop and the protagonist are kids is something that is present from the very beginning. She brings it up when you first reach the wild area, for instance. She makes it known that she has more experience and that she is therefore watching out for you and for Hop (particularly since Leon frets over Hop, as Sonia also points out). Sonia telling the protagonist to just keep enjoying the Gym Challenge while she looks into things is 100% in character for her. It’s characterization present from the start.
And the same goes for Leon. Leon, who became Champion at age 10, and therefore has had to shoulder the burden of being Galar’s Champion for over a decade, knows exactly what it is to have too much responsibility at too young an age. Sonia notes that Leon “practically raised [Hop]” (which is odd given they have a mom and at least one grandparent, but nonetheless), and also that he worries about him constantly. I believe Raihan says something along the same lines. And we see this from Leon as well, with him questioning you about what was going on with Hop when he runs into you in Hammerlocke after Hop’s battle against Bede, and then talking about how he’s going to seek Hop out to talk to him again. Leon doesn’t want Hop to so much as feel bad, much less be in actual danger, even setting aside the fact that Leon feels greatly responsible for the safety and happiness of everyone in the Galar region and therefore feels that it is his responsibility as Champion to face any threat to any of that head on. (Which, it is his responsibility as Champion to face threats to the region, but Leon takes it too far in that he feels he’s responsible for everyone’s happiness as well, which in turn contributes to how unhappy he actually is being Champion). So considering the fact that Leon is very protective of Hop and feels strongly that it is his duty as Champion to deal with any burden Galar faces, it is 100% in character for him to wave you off with a smile as well. That’s not a “we cut this corner because of time,” this is a, “We understand the character we’ve created and we’re staying true to him.”
So, to summarize: I disagree with everything you said. Goodnight. 
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caitlesshea · 4 years
Text
the way you showed me you care
“Shit.”
Booker jumps about a half foot in the air and almost falls off the couch at the sound of his phone ringing. It’s been months since anyone has contacted him, so long that he was beginning to wonder why he even kept it charged. 
In some self sacrificial moments he thought about changing his number so they couldn’t contact him, tricking himself into thinking they would. 
He fumbles forward and goes to answer when it blessedly stops ringing. Just because it takes an insane amount of alcohol for him to get drunk doesn’t mean he hasn’t spent the last couple of months trying. 
Just as he lays back down on the couch it rings again and when he goes to answer it his stomach sinks. 
Copley. 
“What?” Booker growls into the phone and the voice on the other end just sighs.
“How soon can you get to London?”
“Why? Is Andy?” 
“Everyone’s fine.”
Booker releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding and rubs his forehead until he calms down.
“Then why?”
“London. How long?”
Booker holds his phone in front of him, trying to figure out the time and what day it is.
“Give me a couple of hours.”
“Fine. You remember how to get to my place?”
“How could I forget?” Booker responds dryly and he’s only slightly disappointed when Copley doesn’t say anything back. 
“Do you need anything? Money?”
Booker swallows at the softness in Copley’s voice. They’ve always had a friendly enough relationship, one doesn’t get to the point of asking someone to help you end it all without being somewhat close. They always understood each other in that regard.
“That’s the last thing I need. I’ll see you tonight.”
Booker hangs up before Copley can say anything and he smiles as his email pings with a train ticket to London and a rental car reservation. 
He takes one last look at his shitty apartment and grabs the duffel bag he’s had packed since he first got to Paris. 
At the last minute he picks up the copy of Don Quixote that Andy gave him and shoves it into his bag before grabbing his keys and his current passport, a French one, for once. 
Something about being exiled for a hundred years makes him want to be sentimental. And drunk. But he figures he can drink on the train. 
In what feels like no time at all he’s pulling up to Copley’s weirdly modern house in the outskirts of London. Booker tries not to think about what Copley could possibly want, especially considering he dragged Booker to London for it. Before he even turns off the engine Copley is outside waiting for him. 
“You made it.”
“Very astute of you.”
Copley rolls his eyes and Booker follows Copley into his house, setting his bag down on the couch. 
“Gonna tell me why I’m here?”
“I need your help.”
“My help?” Booker asks as Copley hands him a glass of scotch. 
Booker looks around Copley’s office, weird detective board still firmly in place, and waits for Copley to answer. 
When it seems like Copley isn’t going to say anything anytime soon, Booker walks over to the board, heart clenching at seeing Andy’s, Nicky’s, and Joe’s faces reflected back at him.
“None of me?”
“You told me you were immortal. I didn’t really need to do any research on you.”
“Mmm.” Booker swirls the drink in his glass and smirks.
“Couldn’t figure out my real name could you?”
Copley smiles and Booker shakes his head as he laughs.
“You’re very good.”
“Oh, I know.”
Copley smirks at him and Booker feels himself relax for the first time in months.
“So, my help?”
“There’s a job.” Copley hands him an iPad and Booker looks it over. “Andy agreed, but I need supplies and I don’t want to put them on the radar of any of my contacts.”
Booker raises an eyebrow at that and he swears he can see regret in Copley’s eyes.
“Joe and Nicky can get them. They know who we used.”
“Joe and Nicky?”
“Just because they’re super old doesn’t mean they can’t use a computer.”
“But Andy?”
“Oh, yeah, Andy’s terrible.” Booker walks over to sit in one of the chairs as Copley takes the other. “But Joe and Nicky aren’t half bad and I’m sure Nile is even better.”
“Nile. A millennial she is.”
Booker laughs and hands back the iPad. “She giving you trouble?”
“She just wants to have social media, wants to see her family, the usual.”
“Well, Nicky and Joe have an Instagram.”
“They what?” Copley looks like his eyes are going to bug out of his head and Booker rolls his eyes as he opens his phone.
“Not in their names or anything. It’s one of those couple’s accounts. They never show their faces and Nicky thinks he’s funny, posting old photos of them, making people think it’s a filter instead of a yellowed Polaroid.”
“Jesus.”
“Just give Nile some ground rules.”
“And the family part?”
“Ah, yeah, I don’t know if I’m the best person to ask.”
“Why?”
Booker looks up at Copley and realizes he’s genuinely curious. Booker takes a moment to spin his wedding ring that he stills wears and notices Copley still wears his as well. It makes something clench in his chest that he can’t really describe.
“Nothing good will come from her seeing them.” Booker ends up saying quietly and Copley nods. 
Booker doesn’t know what to do with the look on Copley’s face. It’s not pity, or even understanding, but it’s something close, and that makes his heart hurt. 
“Here.” Booker emails Copley the contacts and supplies he’d use for this mission and he waits for Copley to read it before getting up to leave.
“Stay.” Copley says as Booker walks past him. “For dinner I mean, and you can go back to Paris tomorrow.”
“Dinner.” Booker says, even though he packed for at least a week, and doesn’t want to look too closely at why he doesn’t want to leave.
“You cook?” Copley jokes. “You’ve had what, two hundred years to learn?”
“Nice try.” Booker walks into the kitchen with Copley behind him and takes a seat at the bar as Copley pulls out some food.
“Are you ever going to tell me how old you are?” Copley asks as he cuts up some veggies for what looks like a stir fry. “None of you have, actually.”
Booker swallows roughly at the mention of everyone else and he wishes he refilled his scotch before coming out here. One appears in front of his view and Copley gives him a wry smile.
“We don’t really talk about these things.”
“What things?”
“You know.” Booker waves in the general direction of Copley’s office. “Immortality, with anyone who’s not…”
“Ah.” Copley nods and throws the veggies and chicken he pulled out of the fridge into a wok. 
“What?”
“Nothing.” Copley turns to look at Booker and Booker can’t explain it but he feels seen like he never has before. “Doesn’t that get lonely?”
“I think you know the answer to that already, James.”
Copley nods and they sit in companionable silence while the food cooks. Booker wishes he had more to say, but the sting of losing his friends, his family, sits heavy in his throat. 
There’s no Nicky to bet if Andy will guess all the flavors in the latest baklava. There’s no Joe to watch football with and cheer for any team who’s wearing the color green because ‘Nicolò’s eyes.’ There’s no Andy to…
He’s brought out of his musings by Copley’s shout. 
“They have almost a million followers!” 
Booker can’t help it, he throws his head back and laughs, really laughs, for the first time in months. 
~~~ 
Booker was supposed to go home the next day. But it’s been almost three weeks and he hasn’t left. 
It’s not that he wants to stay, that’s a lie, but Copley keeps asking for help on jobs or how to deal with the team and Booker, the martyr, can’t stop himself from asking for more information. 
It’s not like he can’t figure out where they are. He helped them disappear in the world for almost two hundred years, he knows how they operate, but that feels a little too invasive, even for him. 
“They want to take a break for a little while.” Copley sits down next to him with coffee and passes one to Booker.
That’s another thing. Booker isn’t drinking as much and his flask is in his bag. Copley brings him coffee, tea, water. Almost anytime Booker sees the man drinking something, he brings something for Booker, as well. Booker knows it’s a tactic to get him to stop drinking as much, but he finds that he doesn’t care. 
“They do that.”
Copley just looks at him and Booker is reminded of the CIA Agent he met nearly nine years prior. 
“When you’re as old…” Booker smiles at Copley’s look of interest. “Nice try. But breaks are good. And Nile is still new.”
“When will she stop being new?”
“When Andy thinks she’s ready.”
“For?”
“Honestly? Probably never now that Andy’s…”
“Mortal?”
Booker swallows and looks up at Copley. The storm brewing in his own eyes is met with a compassion he doesn’t deserve. He looks away before he does something ridiculous like cry but not soon enough for Copley to notice.
“Booker.”  Copley breathes deeply, almost like it pains him that Booker is hurting. “How long is your exile?”
“A hundred years.”
“A hundred years?”
“Yeah.” Booker doesn’t even realize he’s saying the next part until Copley’s gasp. “A third of my life.”
“A third? So you’re two hundred?”
Booker sighs and figures if the man is letting him live in his house then he might as well be honest with him. 
“I turned two hundred and fifty this past May.”
“Two hundred fifty…” Copley trails off with a look of concentration. “Seventeen seventy?”
“Got it in one.”
“Well, shit.”
Booker laughs at the look on Copley’s face. “You have a board of over a hundred and fifty years of photos of us and my actual age surprises you?”
“Well yeah, especially considering you’re the baby.”
“I am not the baby.” Booker glares at Copley without heat.
“Right. Right, it’s Nile. You’ve definitely got middle kid syndrome.”
“I resent that.”
Copley shrugs and it’s such an odd thing for him to do that Booker smiles. 
“Forty two.” Booker says unprompted. 
“Huh?”
“I’m forty two, give or take a few years.” 
Copley turns his head to the side like he’s studying Booker and likes what he finds. “I’m forty three.”
“I know.” 
Copley rolls his eyes. “So how did you die?”
“The first time?”
Copley nods and Booker thinks about telling him the glorified version of the truth or the actual truth and finds that he actually wants to tell him.
“Army deserter, fighting with Napoleon.”
“Huh?”
“What?” 
“Nothing, just don’t see you as an army guy.”
“It was the thing to do.”
Copley raises an eyebrow at him and Booker sighs. 
“Alright fine, I was a forger, got caught, sent to war…”
“Booker.”
Booker shakes his head. “It wasn’t the last time I saw my family, although...”
“Family?”
“Wife, three sons.” Booker spins his wedding ring, watching as Copley’s eyes follow the movement. 
“I never…”
“My youngest son died at forty two, cancer. I can still remember everything he said to me, screaming that I wouldn’t share my gift with him to help him.”
Booker startles as Copley’s hand comes down on top of his own, squeezing tightly. 
“I’m sorry.” 
Booker turns his hand over in a moment of bravery and squeezes back.
“I’m sorry, too.”
Copley sits back for a moment, seemingly contemplating something, then shakes his head as he gets up to grab a binder on his desk.
“What are you?” 
“Here.”
Copley places the binder down on the table and Booker looks at it like it might bite him.
“What’s this?”
“Open it.”
Booker opens it and sees pages of photos of himself. The photos that should be on the wall with the others.
“So you did have photos of me?”
“Just those and the few that are already on the wall. You’ve been with them a long time.”
“Not that long.”
“Longer than most people will ever get.”
Booker nods at that, thinking back to the time he had with his family, the time Copley had with his wife. It makes his heart hurt, when he thinks about everything he’s done.
“If I had your names I could find more.”
“Sébastien.”
“What?”
“My name, it’s Sébastien Le Livre.”
Copley smiles and the way it lights up his whole face is beautiful. The thought stops Booker’s heart for a moment, but then he lets it wash over him. For once, his attraction to someone else doesn’t feel like a betrayal.
“Booker makes sense now.” Copley smirks. “Although I think I like Sébastien better.”
Yeah, this man is going to be the death of him.
~~~
Booker should really admit that he’s not leaving Copley’s house. They’ve traveled to a few places and Booker’s taken a couple of solo jobs and gone to some of his safe houses to get some of his things but it’s been three months of him living with Copley and helping him with the team's jobs and he can feel himself slipping into a dangerous normalcy. 
You can also cut the tension between them with a knife. Booker doesn’t think he’s ever wanted someone as badly as he wants James Copley, but here he is three months into the first solid home he’s had in over two hundred years, and all he wants is Copley. 
Which is to say, he’s a little miserable. He can’t mess this up. He can’t mess up the one friendship that’s become as vital to him as breathing, he can’t mess up the chance to help his family, even if they don’t know it, and he can’t mess up the chance to spend at least some of his hundred year exile with this man. 
Booker’s trying to figure out how to at least see if Copley’s interested in maybe making their relationship something more when he hears a loud crash from the kitchen. 
“Shit.”
“You okay?” Booker looks around at the mess in the kitchen, a little shocked to see any part of the house in such disarray. 
“Yeah, sorry. I was looking for something.”
“What?”
“A cookbook. My wife’s.”
Booker’s heart seizes at the mention of Copley’s wife. It’s not that they haven’t talked about her, hell Booker’s seen more pictures of her than he’s ever seen of another person, but something twists in his gut, burning hot like jealousy, and he hates it. 
“What were you trying to cook?”
“Huh?” Copley’s looking around frantically and not really paying attention and Booker puts his hand on his arm to stop him.
“James.”
Copley looks at him and visibly relaxes as Booker bends down to look in the cabinet Copley was cleaning out. 
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
Booker finds what he thinks Copley is looking for and stands up to hand him a small book that has pretty cursive writing on the front.
“Here.”
Booker looks into Copley’s eyes as he takes the book. Their hands brush and Booker swears the butterflies he feels make him feel like a teenager again, which is honestly impressive. 
“Sébastien.” Copley says in his infuriatingly elegant accent and Booker feels himself moving closer, so close that he can feel Copley’s breath against his own lips. 
It only takes a second, and then Booker is surging forward and kissing Copley, who drops the book and wraps his hands around Booker’s waist. 
Booker reluctantly breaks the kiss when the need to breathe becomes too much. He looks into Copley’s eyes and is pleased to see a similar look of want reflected back at him. 
“What are we doing?” Copley whispers as Booker presses up against him and pushes them into the counter. 
“Whatever you want.” 
Copley takes that as an invitation and he surges forward, Booker grabbing onto his hips to stop the momentum as he feels Copley’s tongue seek entrance into his mouth.
Booker gets so lost in the kiss, so lost in pulling Copley’s shirt from his pants and undoing the buttons to his shirt that he’s pretty sure he’s never been kissed like this before, and that’s saying something. 
Before Booker gets what he really wants, which is Copley somewhere horizontal, Copley breaks the kiss with a shout.
“Shit.”
“What happened?” Booker’s looking frantically at Copley. “James!” 
“Cut myself.” Copley looks at him as he pulls his hand in front of him to show the bleeding the knife that was on the counter behind Booker caused. 
Booker helps him bring his hand under the water as he grabs a towel. As soon as the blood washes away Booker turns his hand over looking for the cut and doesn’t see any.
“Where’d you cut your hand?”
“I, I don’t know.” Copley’s looking at his hand like he’s never seen it before and Booker doesn’t think, he just grabs the knife and slices Copley’s hand again and then his own.
“Sébastien!”
“Just look.” Booker wipes the blood away from his own hand and Copley’s and places them next to each other as they watch both wounds heal. 
“Holy shit.”
“Does this mean?”
“I don’t know what it means. Usually a person has to die for us to figure it out.”
“Uhh, about that.”
“We can deal with this later?”
Booker leans in closer to Copley and kisses him again, magically healing immortal hands long forgotten.
~~~
Except, not so forgotten, when Copley shoots awake in the middle of the night, grabbing his head and nearly throwing Booker out of bed.
“James?” 
“Sorry, nightmare.” Copley looks over at him and then turns on the light and Booker can see the worry lines on his face.
“Tell me.” Booker says as he reaches up to cup Copley’s cheek as Copley leans into him. 
“It was nothing.” Copley shakes his head as he scoots closer to Booker. “The team.”
“What about the team?” 
“Nothing, probably just nerves for the next job.”
“James. Tell me what you saw.” 
Copley sighs as he lays back down and Booker hooks his leg over Copley’s as he waits for him to speak.
“I don’t want…”
“I’ll be fine.” Booker says as he leans in to kiss Copley. “Tell me.”
“Andy and Nile were training, Joe was sketching something and Nicky was cooking.” 
“Shit.” Booker lays back down and rubs his hands over his eyes. “We dream each other.”
“We?”
“When there’s a new immortal.”
“So you think?”
“I don’t know what to think. This hasn’t happened before.”
Booker looks over at Copley and sees that his eyes have gone wide and he has a panicked expression in his face. 
“Hey.” Booker turns on his side so he can pull Copley closer. “We’ll figure this out.”
Copley nods just as his phone starts ringing. They both jump at the noise as Copley shows him the caller is Andy. 
Booker tries not to listen but it’s kinda hard when he’s hugging Copley and he misses the sound of Andy’s voice.
“They’ll be here tomorrow.” Copley says as he drops his phone on the nightstand.
“Alright. I can get out of your hair.”
“What? Sébastien, no.”
“I’m not supposed to see them. Hell, I’m probably not supposed to even be speaking to you.”
“Sébastien.” Copley runs his fingers through Booker’s hair. “This is your home. I want you to be here.” 
Booker can’t help it, he kisses Copley like he’s never going to be able to again, as he reaches over and turns off the light. 
~~~ 
Morning comes all too soon and Booker hates it. This sanctuary he’s built, his home, according to James, is about to be overcome with people who hate him.
“I can meet them somewhere else.” Copley says as if he can read Booker’s mind. Wouldn’t that be something. 
“No. They’re probably almost here anyways.” Booker would know, as he broke his own vow and tracked them, just so he knew how much time he’d need to prepare.
“Do I even want to know?”
“No.” Booker smiles and Copley leans down to kiss him just as the doorbell rings. 
Booker holds tighter to his coffee cup as Copley lets them in and for the first time in almost a year he’s looking directly at Nile, Andy, Joe, and Nicky.
“Booker!” Nile says delightedly as she practically skips over to hug him. He sinks into the hug, grateful to at least not have burned this bridge.
“Hey, Nile.”
Nile pulls back and Booker looks over to Andy, who looks the same, if not well rested, and he hugs her, too.
“Book.” 
Book squeezes her again as he steps back. Booker looks at Joe and Nicky, who stand formidable and together but with their heads tilted to the side like they’re trying to figure something out. 
“Did you dream of Copley, too?” Nile asks him and before Booker or Copley can answer Andy gasps as she looks across the living room.
Everyone turns toward her and Booker instantly realizes what she’s looking at and so does Copley. It’s Booker’s copy of Don Quixote that Andy gifted him last year. 
But that’s not all, no, she’s going to notice Booker’s boots by the door, his laptop on the table, his sunglasses and motorcycle helmet on the shelf. It looks like he lives here, because he does. 
“You didn’t just get here today, did you?” Joe asks him as Andy looks at him smiling. 
“No.” Copley answers as he comes up to Booker and places a hand on the small of his back. 
Booker can’t help it, he leans into the touch and turns towards Copley to give him a small smile. 
Booker chances a look back at the others and feels warm at the sight of Nile, Andy, Joe, and Nicky all smiling at him. 
Nicky walks over to him and pulls both Booker and Copley into a quick hug. 
“It’s destiny.”
196 notes · View notes
bookworm-blogs · 3 years
Note
Surprise Ask!: Some Kayama and Shirakumo headcannons?
I’M SORRY FOR NOT RESPONDING SOONER I’VE BEEN BUSY W/ WORK N SHIT FHFHFHH
But omg yes! HELL yess I do!!
Since you didn't specify whether their relationship would be platonic or romantic, I'll just do both because BY GOD THEIR FRIENDSHIP ITSELF IS HEAVILY OVERLOOKED. (I'm still salty about Kayama's lack of presence in the main magna regarding the Kurogiri reveal. She's just as much a friend to Shirakumo as Aizawa and Yamada, damn it! Then again Horikoshi could be holding off on us for a reason idk we'll just have to wait and see...)
Anyways! Platonic (ft. Rooftop Gang) headcannons!
1. Kayama and Shirakumo have a similar taste in music. I know our world and the BNHA world are different (apparently they haven't reached the moon yet in BNHA?? And Aizawa had a touch screen phone in Vigilantes so I'm assuming their generation and our millennials grew up a tad bit differently), but I can't help but think they would be complete nerds of 80's rock. Smashing Pumpkins, Fleetwood Mac, Red Hot Chili Peppers... These two would always contact each other on when the next album hits and be each other's first choice to concerts and would always blow all their money on band merch. Their all-time favorite song would probably be "Go Your Own Way" by Fleetwood Mac, or "September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire. They always argue about which is better.
2. These two are the BIGGEST video game nerds. Every now and then, when they aren’t busy with school or work studies, Kayama would come over to Shirakumo’s house to play games with him. Aizawa isn’t too fond of video games, and Yamada prefers to listen to different types of podcasts, so that leaves Kayama to be Shirakumo’s gamer buddy, which isn’t bad at all since this girl loves all types of games. From Animal Crossing to the Halo franchise, Kayama has a surprisingly broad range, with her favorite genre of video games being horror shooter games like Resident Evil. Shirakumo isn’t a big fan of horror and is more a fan of free world games like Red Dead Redemption or The Last of Us, though he does make an exception for point and click horror games.
3. Kayama occasionally pops in on the boys’ study sessions. Usually, Yamada would be at the helm tutoring Shirakumo and Aizawa, though Kayama would pop in from time to time to help him with harder subjects like history since she’s smart. She used to host their sessions at her house, though that quickly stopped since she always dressed up as a sexy teacher and got a little too close to the boys while showing them how to solve equations. 
4. They would regularly barge in each others’ homes. Shirakumo was especially guilty of this, as he would use his clouds to fly over to his friends’ room windows and sneak in through through them. It became such a common occurrence that Aizawa, Yamada, and Kayama all decided to just keep their windows open for the cloud boy to come in whenever. Usually Aizawa would be Shirakumo’s favorite victim (he loved watching Aizawa leap out of his skin every time he knocked on the window), though Yamada and Kayama were just as entertaining (Shirakumo once knocked on Yamada’s window and nearly went deaf after the blond screamed with his quirk on. Kayama was a bit more risky for obvious reasons). Kayama was the first one to return the favor, however, and when Shirakumo saw her sitting on his bed in the dark while petting Sushi like an evil mastermind, he let out a high pitched scream that Kayama still holds over his head to this day. 
5. Kayama and Shirakumo "flirt" with each other all the time. You know Ayame and Shigure from Fruits Baskets? How they would say something incredibly corny to each other before suddenly being like, "haha cheers mate." That's these two. Since they hang out on a regular basis, people always make fun of them by calling them boyfriend/girlfriend. One day, they got so fed up with having to explain themselves that they decided, "fuck it, if they want a show we'll give them a show." When they made their first target pass out from a furious blush and a bloody nose, Shirakumo and Kayama made this their "how to keep hoes at bay" strategy. Yamada finds their antics hilarious, while Aizawa always thought it was weird. Every time they "flirt," Shirakumo and Kayama always make sure to say "no hetero" as soon as the other person is gone.
Now for the romantic headcannons!
1. Everything is the same, except Shirakumo forgot to say "no hetero." This made Shirakumo have an existential crisis for about a month. He would always ask himself, "Why didn't I say it that time? Was I being stupid? Or did I actually mean it? What if this changes our friendship forever? Oh God, what if she hates me?" Aizawa would always be the first person Shirakumo goes to to vent his woes, sometimes even coming to his room in the middle of the night. While Shirakumo would ramble about how bad it is to catch feelings for his gal pal, Aizawa would always listen until he's done before telling him to just confess. Shirakumo doesn't, and this routine lasts an entire month.
2. Kayama realizes Shirakumo's growing crush but doesn't say anything bc she wants to hear it from him. This man tries acting like nothing's bothering him, but he was as obvious as Dipper from Gravity Falls (muttering under his breath and hopping at the first opportunity to hang out with her). At first Kayama didn't think much of it, but when she caught him glaring at a couple gawking boys in the hallway, she realized what was also going on.
3. After 3 months of awkwardness, Kayama finally dragged him off on a date. Shirakumo was terrified the entire time, waiting for Kayama to tell him he's not her type, but was shocked when she bluntly told him, "we should start dating" after watching a movie. Everything fell into place afterwards.
4. These two became the hottest couple at UA. Up until the Tasomiya Incident, Shirakumo and Kayama acted a lot like how they did before, except they now had dinner dates, movie nights, and all the fun couple stuff like making out behind the school and genuinely flirting (much to their friends' disgust. Seriously, do these two have no shame?). Kayama loved going shopping, and Shirakumo was more than happy to carry around her stuff on his clouds. Once, they got caught sneaking out to the pier at night and made a brave escape on Shirakumo's clouds. As soon as they got back to his house, they were on the floor, laughing.
5. After Shirakumo's death, Kayama hadn't dated since. Sometimes she would go out whenever her friends would set her up, but Shirakumo was the last time she ever has a serious relationship. She protects Sushi with her life, even as he grows older. Sushi was the last living remnant of Shirakumo, and she wants to keep him for as long as possible.
Little does she know he may not be as dead as she thinks... (Dun, dun dun)
Anyways yeah, I’m a slut for this rarepair and it breaks my heart that there isn’t more content on it. Fear not, my fellow CloudNight stans, for I am making a fanfic on Ao3 rn and am also gonna make a one-shot in a few days! Thank you, Nightowl, for giving me the chance to scream for a bit! ;’)
51 notes · View notes
wormstacheangel · 4 years
Text
Day 13: Ladies
Word Count: 2601 
Summary: I don’t know why I want the rest of the prompts to follow a big story line now cause this is after day 11 & 12. So read those first or don’t. Jack goes to visit his sister Claire because Dean and Cas need alone time in the bunker. 
-
It started with Sam stumbling back into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes and running his hands through his hair. He walked over to where Jack was sneaking in some of Dean’s cereal and held both his shoulders to look him in the eyes.
“Jack, don’t go into the garage. Don’t go looking for your Dad or Dean tonight, okay?”
“But Cas said we-”
“Promise me, Jack.”
“Oh.” Jack nodded then with a smile. “I promise.”
Sam patted Jack’s cheek with a sigh of relief. “Good. Good. I need…I need to wash my eyes out with soap now.”
The next morning Sam had stopped Jack from walking into the kitchen. “Nope! Get dressed Jack. We’re going out for breakfast.”
“All of us?”
“No, just you and me. Cas and Dean are a little,” Sam shivered as he was pushing Jack back towards his room. “Busy at the moment.”
When they came back, they took Cas’s car instead of the Impala because Sam says it was too soon for him, Sam yelled out that they were home. He said it as loud as he could from the top of the stairs and Jack looked at him confused because they never announced it before. The loud squeak of the door was an indicator of someone walking through the front door already.
Sam sighed in relief when he noticed there was nobody in the map room but then when they dropped their left overs and shopping bags, Sam took him shopping for a new jacket for two hours, in the library they heard…noises. 
“Nope!” Sam took Jack’s head and turned him around so his face was hidden against Sam’s chest. His too big hands covered Jack’s ears but he could still hear Sam yelling. “No! Not where the kid can see you! What the hell is wrong with both of you?”
“Sammy!” He heard a muffled Dean but Jack didn’t dare move from where Sam was holding him. “We thought you were gone.”
“We’ve been gone for 5 hours, Dean!”
Now Jack was sitting by Sam’s side in the kitchen table with beers all around while nobody made eye contact. Jack didn’t mention how Cas and Dean were now holding hands on top of the table either, he couldn’t fight back the big smile he had but he didn’t say anything about it. Mostly cause he didn’t really know what was going on and didn’t want to say the wrong thing.
“I’m giving you a week. Jack and I will go stay at Eileen’s while you two…go at it like rabbits. Get it out of your damn system cause I don’t want Jack to be scared for life like I am now.”
“We’re going to stay somewhere else?” Sam only nodded but Jack looked back at Dean and Cas. “Can I stay with Claire?”
“What?” All three of them said, Cas more in a happy tone than the two brothers. 
Day 1 with Wayward Daughters
“Hello.” Jack held his hand up to say hello to Jody who opened the door. She looked surprised by his presence and he scrunched up his eyebrows as he asked, “Did Claire not tell you I was coming over?”
“No. No, she didn’t.” Jody placed her hands on her hips as she called out for Claire. Then she opened the door wider and motioned for Jack to come in before giving him a quick squeeze hello. “Judging from your stuff this is an extended stay?”
“A week.” Jack informs her. “I believe Cas and Dean have been like rabbits. Well that’s what Sam calls it.”
“Oh.” Jody smiled as she raised an eyebrow, her arms crossing while she leaned closer out of curiosity.
Jack nods as he smiles innocently at Jody. “Sam tells me they’re in their honeymoon phase. I’m not really sure what that means but he told me to leave the bunker for a week.”
“Gross!” He turns around when he hears Claire walking towards him. “Please don’t talk about our Dad doing it while you’re here.”
“Claire!” Jack drops his stuff on the floor and pulls his big sister, a self declared role Claire took upon herself that Jack was grateful for. “I missed you!”
Claire chuckled as he patted Jack’s back. “I just talked to you on the phone a few hours ago, dummy.” She pulls away and helps pick up Jack’s bags off the ground. “Come on! You’re sleeping in my room.”
“Dinner will be ready soon!” Jody calls after them.
“Thanks Jody.” Jack turns to smile at her before he walks into Claire’s room. “Wow, your room is so bright. Must be nice to have windows.”
Claire laughs as she drops the duffle and backpack Jack had brought on top of her bed. “I guess. Kaia would be home from school soon but Alex and Patience are at work until late.”
“I don’t think Patience likes me very much. Every time I visit she hides away.”
“Neh, dude, that’s only cause she thinks you’re cute.”
Jack perks up. “She does!”
Claire reaches to squish Jack’s cheeks together. “Yup but no flirting with my friends. You suck at flirting anyways.”
“Dean, says I’m good at flirting.” Jack frowned at her while his face was still in her hands. “The waitress gave me her number.”
“That’s cause you’re cute, dummy, and she felt bad for you but not cause you’re good at flirting.” She dropped her hands and pointed a finger at him. “Now as the new God-”
“Shh! Nobody knows about that.” Jack sighed. “I only told you because you said siblings don’t keep secrets from each other.”
“Honestly, when I asked for your deep dark secret I thought it would have to do with murdering someone but being the big guy upstairs is really…something. But as God’s sister it’s my job to teach you all the big sister stuff.”
“Which is?”
Claire shrugs. “Hell if I know but I am gonna teach you how to be a normal millennial. Maybe actually listen to music people your own age listen too.”
“But Dean said-”
“I know what that old man says.” Jack laughs as he sits on Claire’s bed. “But he’s old and he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“You know,” Jack whispers. “Dad listens to Lizzo and Beyonce behind Dean’s back. We listen to it on our hunts.”
Claire laughs as she falls back on her bed. They spent the next few minutes laying on her bed and exchanging experiences. They were both lying on the bed facing the ceiling hugging the stuffed animals Cas had gotten them, Claire had a grumpy cat while Jack had a Chewbacca. They both talked about their Mom’s and whatever Claire remembered about her father, Jimmy. 
It was nice to have someone Jack could talk to that understood his weird family dynamic. 
“Jack! Claire! Dinner’s ready!” Jody called out to them and they both looked at each other with a smile before getting up to eat.
Kaia was already setting up the table. Saying she got home a while ago but wanted to give them some sibling bonding time. Claire kissed her girlfriend hello before Jack gave her a hug.
Patience walked in half way through dinner and ended up sitting next to Jack, both of them feeling awkward especially now that Jack knows she thought he was cute. Dean never did finish giving him the talk. Claire teased them both and Kaia luckily stopped her before Jack flew away in embarrassment. He really didn’t want to be….angel-y? While he was staying with Jody. He wanted to be a normal young adult. Even though he was 5 years old. Well 5 and a half.
“Donna is going to visit later this week so maybe we can have a family day out or something.” Jody tells them as Jack dried the dishes and Kaia washes. Patience went to take a shower while Claire put the leftovers in Tupperware containers for Alex when she came home.
“I would love that.” Jack tells her and she smiles back, motherly and warm. He hasn’t had that since Mary or his actual mother and missed it.
Day 2
Claire told Jody they were going to see a movie but she took him to a bar. He realized that was the reason she wanted him to bring his fake ID. He told her he didn’t like lying but she reminded him it was part of their job. He reminded her that they weren’t on a job. 
“Then let’s find a quick one!”
They ended up finding a couple of vampires and Claire had told Jack to use his hunting skills instead of his powers. He was busy swinging a machete to the last vamp that towered over them both, when Jody walked in. Calling their names in a Mom voice that made them both freeze. The vamp shoved Jack out of the way and threw Claire across the room but Jody chopped his head off before he did any further damage. 
Now they sat in the back of a cop car, bruised and covered in blood, while being lectured all the way home about being irresponsible. 
Day 3
They talked all night, Claire from her bed while Jack slept on the floor because he hogs the blankets. They talk about what they wished they would be doing if they were normal. They talk about how every time Cas talked about life lessons or whatever to them it makes them feel guilty because they never want to let him down. All he wants is for them to be happy and they can’t even get that right.
Claire talked about her found family here and about her relationship with Kaia, who was sharing a room with Patience for the week.
Jack was jealous as he talked about wanting to find someone special.
“Hey it took our Dad how long to find Dean?”
“I don’t want to be alone for thousands of years!”
“Thousands! Wow, Dad’s old. Gross.”
In the morning they had chores before Claire drove Jack to Alex’s work to “bother” her. Really, it was to bring her some lunch and have Jack create a miracle or two on some patients. Alex didn’t freak out, just smiled warmly at him and it made him feel proud of his power.
“Thanks man.” Alex patted his shoulder. “You’re welcome to come by anytime but leave the little brat at home next time.”
“Hey! He’s my little brother. We’re kind of a packaged deal now.”
Alex rolled her eyes fondly before telling them to leave. “Go bother your girlfriend at the school or something.”
So that’s where they headed off next. Bothering Kaia was much different than bothering Alex because Kaia was in a classroom where they couldn’t go in. So Jack and her waited on some outside table while he watched students walk from building to building. 
Claire talked about how boring it was to be just a student. Blind to the world of the supernatural but once again Jack was jealous. He had that option taken away from him and while he loved his family, he wished they would have given him a different career choice. 
Kaia comes out and grins at them both. They all go out to have a late lunch and it felt so normal.
Day 4
Patience was still hiding away from Jack and he felt bad that he made her feel awkward in her own home. Especially since the place was way smaller than the bunker so the only place she could hide was her room.
“Patience! Jack wants to know if you wanna see a movie with us on the couch.” Claire called out to her and before Jack could say anything she continued with, “Come on, you can stare at him the whole time if you want!”
“Claire!” He covers his face in his hands in embarrassment but Patience comes out to join them for the movie anyways. Jack sat in between them on the couch, unable to pay attention to the scary movie Claire has picked out for them to watch.
Luckily Patience hugged a pillow while Jack jumped into Claire’s arms during a jump scare. He also did manage to blow up the TV but he quickly fixed it before Jody got home.
That night Jack text’s Dean. Asking him how he should flirt.
Day 5
Donna came over and gave him a big hug. He liked her and the dinner table was crowded while they talked about their lives. Hunting as well as their regular everyday lives. They all seemed to have a nice mix of both while Jack’s every day was the hunting life. The fixing heaven and hell life. The whole monster-fighting and being the new God life. 
So he instead opted to just listen to the women talk and enjoyed the familiar family banter. He missed his Dads.
Day 6
Jody and Donna took them to the lake.
Jody talked about how Bobby, not the other world Bobby but her Bobby, used to take Sam and Dean to the same lake as kids. They were far enough from anybody seeing them that Jack decided to maybe show off just a little. Doing normal stuff like walking on water or parting the water so Patience can grab that nice rock she wanted. Nothing major.
He also found out he liked when someone plays with his hair. Claire has been doing it when they talked and he rested his head on her lap but now he likes it more when it’s Patience because she’s cute to look at. She finally talks to him, feeling comfortable talking about her own psychic powers. She has visions and feels energy around her.
“Your energy is so big it honestly made me feel queasy the first few times I was around you.” She laughed and Jack frowned at her feeling bad that he made her sick but she continued. “Now. I kind of like it. It’s soothing and warm.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She smiled and Jack felt his heart race in excitement. 
Lightning struck down and hit a tree setting it on fire. Nobody could prove it was him that caused it cause it was night time and the sky was…clear. Yeah, maybe it was him but he got nervous!
Claire was the only one that knew it was him and  made him put the fire out. Then pulled him to her instead so he won’t cause another natural disaster. He pouted a lot as he rested his head on Claire’s shoulder but watched Patience the whole time.
Day 7
“You know you’re always welcomed here, Jack.” Jody was hugging him goodbye as Sam gave him the all clear to come back. “Even if you just want to hang out and get away from your crazy Dads for an afternoon. Just pop in whenever.”
Jack hugged her back and thanked her.
Then he was hugging Claire, “Stay at the bunker some time. Dad misses you.”
“I text him all the time!” She rolled her eyes when she pulled away. “But I’ll stop by more.”
He hugged everyone goodbye, even Patience let him hug her. Before he flew away from the living room.
“Dads! I’m home!” He calls out as he appears in the bunkers kitchen, dropping off the Tupperware containers on the counter. “Jody made you guy’s food!”
“Hell yeah!” He hears Dean before he sees him walk into the kitchen. Cas trailing behind him with a warm smile. “Hey, kid!”
“Hello, how was your honeymoon?” Jack asked and Dean choked on mashed potatoes.
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dontshootmespence · 4 years
Text
Through It All
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Part 25
Summary: Now married, Spencer & Y/N navigate the D/s lifestyle. How will their relationship change?
Words: 1,362
Warnings: Face-sitting, anal sex.
A/N: My first entry for @cm-kinkbingo​​ run by my beautiful girlfriend @heycasbutt. This fills my anal sex square.
Eighteen months must mean some kind of a growth spurt, because Charlotte is all over the apartment now. Any chance she gets, she follows you and Spencer around, knocking things over and pulling out plugs from walls just because she’s discovered she can. Not that there aren’t wonderful things to go along with the crazy, but she’s much more active now.
Between her growing into the tiny little human she is, work and finishing up adoption classes, you and Spencer haven’t had a ton of time for each other and it’s starting to wear on you both. On top of that, an expecting mother had chosen to meet with you and picked you for adoption only to back out two weeks later, which left you both feeling on edge. Every adoption agent says “don’t get attached,” but it’s practically an inevitability and having her back hit you hard.
But you plow forward. After miraculously getting Charlotte to bed, you and Spencer decide to snuggle on the couch. He’s wearing a pair of gray sweatpants sitting snugly on his hips. Slipping one of his oversized t-shirts over your head you follow him outside and nestle yourself underneath his arm, resting your head against the broad expanse of his chest.
“Spence?”
He shudders and you look up to see him staring off into his own little world.
You call him again.
“Yea?”
“You okay?” You ask. “I just called your name and you got all spacey.”
“Sorry, just- this. It’s hard. I wanted that baby.”
Heat builds up behind your eyes. “Me too. I just keep telling myself that that baby wasn’t meant to be ours. Another one is.”
“I want Charlie to have a brother or sister.” This time when his mind began to wander, you could tell he was thinking of Charlie playing around with a younger sibling. “Sooner rather than later.”
“She will.” You place your hand against his chest and slowly begin to maneuver yourself into his lap, your knees coming to rest on either side of his legs. “Is there anything I can help you with in the meantime?” His smirk mirrors your own as his hands slip up your thighs. “Maybe we can try something we haven’t before.” You trail off and watch him think it over. There isn’t a whole lot that you haven’t tried that you still want to, but then it clicks.
You lean into him and grind ever so softly against his straining erection, whimpering when his fingers skirt the edge of your panties and slip around the curves of your ass. One hand slides up the small of your back as he kisses you, his teeth tugging gently on your bottom lip. “Let’s go inside. I have an idea.”
Chuckling, you follow behind him, jump on the bed and make quick work of your panties, throwing them to the side just as Spencer finds what he’s looking for - the dildo you attached to the wall a while ago. “Wouldn’t want my little girl to go without an empty hole now would we?”
“No, Sir.” Two fingers swipe against your slick entrance, pushing inside without any resistance. “Want a taste?”
Spencer moves faster than you’ve ever seen him before. It makes you laugh so loud you’re afraid you’ll wake Charlotte. “Don’t make me scream. We don’t wanna wake her.”
“That’s on you not to be noisy,” he teased, wrapping his hands around your thighs to bring your pussy toward his eager, hungry mouth. “Rest your legs on my shoulders.”
In this position, your legs are wrapped fairly tightly around his head and although it’s ridiculous you’re always afraid of suffocating him. But in his words, “if that’s how I die so be it.” Before you can say anything, he licks all the way from your ass to your clit, flicking his tongue against it to send you bucking into his mouth. “Let go, if I die here. I die here. Just don’t tell anyone how I went,” he laughs.
Your snort turns into a whine as his thumb and forefinger and spread your pussy open for him. In preparation, you reach into the nightstand and grab the lube, laying it down near your ass.
He groans into you. “Someone’s eager.”
“Need all my little holes filled.” Spencer’s pupils blow wide and it’s all the high you need. “Wanna fuck my ass, Sir?”
Without a word, he grabs your hand and pulls it down to your pussy, motioning for you to touch yourself while he reaches for the lube. He applies a generous amount in his hands and begins massaging around the tight ring of muscle. You’ve prepared for this with other instruments. Especially your favorite plug. But this is the first time you’ll be doing it without toys. As his other hand strokes up and down his cock, he sees you tense. “What’s our word?”
“Red, Sir.”
“I’ll go slow.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
When he nudges the head of his cock against your ass you grab the sheets and still yourself. For a moment, there’s pressure, and then the slightest hint of pain, but it’s nothing you can’t handle or haven’t handled before. And then he’s inside you, slow and gentle thrusts allowing further and further in each time.
Reaching back, you grab the headboard and open your eyes, watching as Spencer’s mouth drops open. “Fuck, your ass is so tight.” Without looking, he reaches for the dildo and slips it between you. “Once I slip this inside you, you’ll be even tighter. I might lose my mind.”
“But what a way to go, right?”
You whimper as the dildo slips inside you, building up the pressure you feel. The mixture of pleasure and pain is eye-watering. Spencer teases you - your dripping pussy providing more lube as he picks up the pace of his thrusts. “How’s it feel, baby?”
“So tight, Sir. I-I-” The words won’t form as he thrusts again, almost to the hilt this time. “Just...fuck my ass. Please. I need it.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m a slut that needs to have my holes filled, Sir.” You push up with your palms and use it as leverage to fuck yourself onto him. “Feels so big. So tight.”
Spencer grunts, watching himself slide in and out of you before bending down to kiss you. With his body almost flush against yours and his cock in your ass, his body presses the dildo deeper and deeper inside your sodden pussy. “God, Y/N, you’re so tight,” he breathes against your neck.
Each movement made your body tighten, coil in anticipation of your nearing release. His fingers scraped up and down your arms and across your chest and stomach, leaving no part of you untouched. “Not gonna last,” he breathes.
“Come for me, Sir. Please. Fuck me harder.”
Spencer reaches up with one hand and clasps yours, white-knuckling the headboard with the other as he picks up speed. Mouth agape, you whine and beg him over and over again to come for you. When he finally cries out and shudders above you, you feel your body seize and your eyes roll back in ecstasy. “Fuck!”
His lips crash into yours, silencing your cries as he slowly pumps into your ass. “Fucking hell, Y/N,” he laughs, carefully pulling out and turning to grab a towel. With his free hand, he wipes the hair out of his eyes and turns to see your cheeks flushed red. “You okay?”
“More than. That was. Mmm. Yea. I could put that into the rotation if you know what I mean. Little messy though.”
Pulling you close by the small of your back, he kisses down the side of your neck. “How about we go shower it off? Get all sudsy.”
“Fantastic idea. We’ll only do this when Charlie’s asleep.”
With a few strides of his long legs, he gets up and picks you up bridal style to carry you to the shower. In the bathroom, a lightbulb goes off in his head. “Wait, maybe we can do this in the shower! Two for one?”
“Sexy times and no mess?” You exclaim. “You’re such a genius.”
He snorts. “I know.”
@heycasbutt @ultrarebelheart @katherineisagubler @proud-slytherin-ghost @randomwriter23 @fandom-queen67 @sixx-sic-sixx @xqueenofthecraziesx @aofay02 @groovyreid @criesinreid @jdougl-love @xreider @cringeemospntrashassbutt @prettyboyeffect @prettyboyreid @themanip @spencerreidsthings @augustgraceful @whollytaciturn @prisonreid @factualfic @jasmine-negron @snitchthewitch @ellabobella051419 @crazyforsstuff @kaatelyyynn​ @jane-dough @dreatine @bitter-post-millennial @adlerorzel-blog @hallieedrew @psychedelephantt @krisymccall996 @4ueijos @mclaujac @ray-likes-starwars @nurseemilyblog @slightlyvicked @she4567 @guesswhosback129 @princessdolan @happycreatorfangirl @fallwhisper @nyemadowell @sammy-jo1977 @sin-bin-and-tragedies @imsuperawkward @ahhahahaheehee @crispygiantsaladgarden @reputay-swift @pizzarollsfordayz @andiebeaword @timey-wimey-lovi @garbagecanfics @friedparadisetale @dereksbetaa @idontevenknow2 @holyfishloverfarm @nohemi2500 @typeshitbih @sadgirlhan @kmc217 @bigbuttsowhatuniverse @charmedfandomgal @im--blushing @dangerouspersonllamabagel @fichoe21 @yes-sir-hotchner @thefandomallrounder @mrsenos08 @walkerchick007 @letsdisneythings @winchesterqueenie @specialagentleigh @spn-wheresthepie @haileymew @bitchyoulied @geniusgub @urdicksmol @6lack6erry @slutlanna976 @downondilaudid​ @baileysb1tch @la-vie-en-amour1​ @letsdoit-tomorrow @eideticprettyboydrreid​ @lazynoodledragon​ @shybaby231 @aimzonicles97​ @grace-superpowers​ @softestlavender​ @ssa-dr-ladylock​ @drprettyboy​ @patricks-fabulous-face​ @tearosaria​ @shxdowofdarkness​ @marvels-gurl​ @gublergirls​
103 notes · View notes
rebelcap · 3 years
Text
No, no, no, yes.
Bucky x oc. (Luna Vega, woc, slightly enhanced)
Sweetheart, I’ve been checking on you since 2014.
Luna does and Bucky knows, she’s been there since the beginning. When the winter solider becomes Bucky again. Even before Steve and certainly after Steve.
They start to wonder if…
PART 2
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One.
The TV was silent, illuminating the little living space that goes up to the little kitchen, the light of the door was on. Bucky was lying on the floor, absently watching the TV, the news, and all going to shit since everyone came back—and some left.
His eyes perk up to the door when he hears the elevator door opening up and steps walking towards his apartment. Bucky stood up and heard a voice speaking from outside.
“It’s me, open up.” Luna talked from the back half of the hallway, knowing that he had already heard her coming. He groaned, annoyed as he looked around from some of his clothes. “Bucky,” she spoke again as she reached the door.
“One second!” He shouted and grabbed a shirt and some sweatpants from the one-seat couch beside his bed.
“Are you with someone?” She asked and Bucky opened the door and found her staring with a shit-eating grin. “Are you flipping your wig with some broad?” Luna wiggled her eyebrows at him, hitting him with the forties slang.
Bucky took a deep breath and stared at her face for a moment and declared. “I hate you.”
“No, you don’t. You need to get laid,” She exclaimed as Bucky moved to the side to let her in, he went back to the floor as she sat down on the couch.
“I tried, online dating is… overwhelming and weird.” He mumbled, looking at the muted television.
“Like Tinder?,” She asked, looking around for the remote, Bucky hummed. “You’re too old school for that.”
Bucky rubbed his face and observed the woman sitting on his couch, slouched and absently changing channels. “How did it go?” He asked referring to her latest mission.
“Could be better,” She said and Bucky rolled his eyes.
“Explain.”
“Intel was shit, my package got shot—he’s fine though.” She said without taking the eyes from the TV. “I tried to link up with the other guys,” Luna said looking at Bucky, talking about the rest of the Avengers.
“Had any luck?"
"Well, the kid, hulk and Clint, and the ant dude are doing okay and I don’t know about the ones in space because SWORD revoked my level 9 privileges that I had on SHIELD. And Wakanda is all good.” She made a face of disgust. “I can’t find Wanda or Strange. Probably doing weird shit around, whatever.”
“Now you’re checking on me?"
"Sweetheart, I’ve been checking on you since 2014.” She joked but they knew that it was real. They have history, the first time they met was obviously when Bucky was the winter soldier. She was a black ops operative on SHIELD, worked along with Steve, Natasha, and the STRIKE team. On her last mission, she started suspecting SHIELD was compromised by Hydra because her target had expressed it.
“You’re another HYDRA puppet, thinking you’re doing the right thing. SHIELD is not more.”
Before she could even press the issue and ask questions, her orders came through. No prisoners and was forced to terminate him. They sent her home on obligatory leave because she had sustained severe injuries in that mission. After Nick Fury was shoot, they brought her back, Secretary Pierce gave the order to put her on a wash down super-soldier serum to heal her injuries, something that she had no idea and they did that without her consent… but it worked perfectly and increased about a 25% her strength, stamina, and abilities —a little above average than the regular men.
All the pieces fell into place as soon they gave her orders to capture Steve, Natasha, and Sam. That’s when she knew that HYDRA had infiltrated SHIELD, at first she was only going to play along with them to gather intel that she planned to feed to Steve to bring them down. But it all cemented it together when she met The Winter Soldier, realizing that it was Bucky.
So she stayed for Steve.
But when Bucky pulled her out of the Potomac, injured and lost, feeling that he could only trust her—she helped him to get back on his feet and leave the country with a promise to not tell Steve that she knew about him.
“I won’t tell anything but keep in touch, Bucky.” She told him. They were in her car after she arranged a safe passage on a fishing boat to Europe.
“I will, Luna, I will.” He promise.
And he didn’t break that promise, even though she knew that Steve would never forgive her about it, not until after the shit that went down with the accords.
“I miss him,” She said almost in a whisper. They never talked about Steve, it’s been six months since he chose to leave their asses. “I still can’t believe he left us stranded here.”
“You still mad at him?,” Bucky asked.
“Yes, he just… left, no goodbyes, no explanation. Just…” She shrugged. “I know he loved her, I know. But we went through so much—” Luna cut herself off. “And then leave me with your traumatized ass.” She joked, Bucky laughed.
“Ah screw you, I’m doing therapy. Mandatory but still,” He rolled his eyes and turned around to look at the TV again.
“And how is that going?"
"It’s going. I…” He took a pause. “I’m making amends."
"That’s good,” Luna said and noted the expression on his face and knew what he meant with amends. “Who you killed?” she deadpanned.
“I can’t do anything illegal, I can’t hurt anyone—But I’m taking back the power I gave them, maybe bruising them a bit.”
“Hell yeah, do you boo. Hunt those sons of bitches,” Camila Smile, hyping him up. Bucky actually smiles as they high-five each other. “I’m on your make amends list?"
"I don’t have amends to do with you.” He frowned.
“You pushed me off the helicarrier.” Camila pointed out, which was true.
“You were annoying me,” Bucky said, which was also true.
“You almost killed me.” She made a solid point and Bucky shrugged it off.
“Sam grabbed you mid-air.”
“Yeah, then he dropped my ass too,” Camila explained and pointed out. “Because someone plucked the wing off his suit.”
Bucky rolled his eyes at her, again. Shaking his head and Camila smile.
“I ain’t telling you sorry.” Bucky smiled, playing along.
“I’m talking with your therapist.”
“She’ll put you on therapy.” Bucky looked at her, smiling. “You’re fucking crazy, you know that.”
“It’s a character trait, Bucky.” She laughed. “Besides, you like me a little crazy.” Camila teased a little.
“You know I do.” He agreed, looking at her with a smile on his lips. They both fell into a comfortable silence until Bucky blurted, without even thinking of the ramifications of saying something like this to her.
“I have a date tomorrow, at ten."
"What did you say?” Camila explained, turning her body to Bucky to hear him more correctly. “Did you say date?” Her short Bob fell exactly to her shoulder and bounced around as she hopped on the couch, kinda excited—acting like a freaking chihuahua.
“Yeah, I’m already regretting telling you. You’re gonna jinx it—
"What?,” She shouted, interrupting. “Aren’t I the one who’s been trying to get you laid all this fucking time?"
Bucky rolled his eyes once again, acting like a grumpy old man—well he technically was and said nothing. That was okay because Camila was going to answer it herself.
"Me!, so no… I’m not gonna jinx it,” She threw the remote at his chest and Bucky glared at her.
“That fucking hurt.”
“Don’t be a pussy. Who is she?, I know her? Is she cute?"
"It’s the girl from Izzy,"
"You asked her out?” Bucky looked at her and made a face and proceeded to tell her how Yuri set him up. Camila made a face and then laughed. “Look at you, finally you’re out of your millennial old dry spell.
” It’s just a date.“ He quickly interrupted her.” I haven’t had one since 1943.“ Bucky panicked a little, shuffling on the floor.
"Nah,” She hummed and shook her head, quickly getting up from the seat. “Come on,” Camila said waving his hand in front of him. Bucky frowned as he looked at her, confused.
“What?"
"You’re taking me on a date, I won’t let you go unprepared. You’re my friend I won’t let you fail.” She extended her hand at him and Bucky didn’t bulge. “Buck, come on” Camila pouted a little bit, giving him a little flirt and Bucky’s face got red. “Please?” She batted her eyelashes at him.
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riarushi · 4 years
Text
nct as cousins.
❥ genre- serious crack, fluff ❥ word count- 1.7k
Alternatively titled “NCT at Family Gatherings”. I think the universe wanted me to write this? Thank you to markleeholdingthings on Instagram for helping me out! (We made the most basic family dynamic on the planet.) ~Ness
➵ 
Taeil
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Talks to the adults and enjoys it.
Some of the babies originally thought he was their uncle. 
Not necessarily close with any of his cousins except the older ones that took care of him growing up.
The younger ones aren’t too familiar with him since he doesn’t talk to them, but he likes to give them little trinkets when he sees them. 
Will offer to supervise the kiddos if they want to go outside. 
Has a music degree (big no no in this stereotypical family) and works in music production.
Johnny
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The cousin that’s stuck in college, everyone loves him but the adults don’t think he is a good life example to the youngsters.
Second favourite of the adults (because the favourite has a degree and a job).
Likes talking w his fellow millennials while sipping his wine
He likes to give advice to high school cousins.
The baby cousins fear him :( He smiles at them lots and gets them the best presents to make up for it. 
Is probably still in college because he doesn’t want to join the adult table.
Taeyong
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Taeyong likes the babies. 
He’ll sit them on his lap while he talks to the adults, making sure to play with them a bit so they don’t get bored. 
If they do anyway, he’ll get up and carry them back to the rest of the cousins, chatting with them for a while. 
The adults think he would make a great father. (Some of the nosy aunts and uncles like asking about his love life lmao) 
He treats the cousins around his age or older with respect. 
Overall everyone likes him because he’s happy to talk and easy to get along with.
Yuta
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A social genius, he tailors his approach perfectly for every generation.
Has to greet every single child at the reunion before doing anything else. 
Every moment you look at him, there’s a different youngster in his arms and he’s high-fiving a different high schooler. 
Well-mannered with the adults and friendly with cousins of all ages. 
The high school-aged cousins love that he doesn’t treat them like angsty teenagers and he’s become a favourite among them.
Not jobless, to the relief of the parents.
Kun
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Kun is the favourite, the cousin everyone gets compared to. 
He’s always busy working so he’s usually late to family gatherings. 
Is basically whisked away by the adults immediately to talk about adult things. 
He asks high school cousins “How’s school?”. Chill with them because he saw them grow up.
Has a huge soft spot for the baby cousins.
He’ll be in the middle of a conversation and drop everything when they tug on his sleeve.
Doyoung
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Quiet, he does and talks about anything but only when he’s prompted.
He’s as successful as Kun, but not as sociable. 
Sits beside his parents most of the night and minds his own business. 
Doyoung’s awful at supervision. 
He just sits there and watches the kids make chaos.
His relatives get shocked when they see him outside of gatherings acting casually with his coworkers/friends.
Ten
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He just got out of college but decided to take a year break before looking for a job. 
Is a kid favourite. 
Even though he’s one of the older cousins, he’s the most “hip with the kids”.
Teaches them how to cheat on tests and in general, be an awful student. 
Ten does not enjoy the adult table.
All the parents think he’s talented and has a lot of potential but will he!! Stop ruining their children’s minds!!!!! 
He only gets friendly with the older cousins when he’s wine drunk. 
Has never met the baby cousins. (The adults are sheltering them from the chaos that is Ten at family gatherings.)
Jaehyun
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Jaehyun starts off by greeting the adults and being the sweetheart he is.
The adults always want to know about his love life because “Our nephew is very handsome, no?”
Hangs out with the older cousins later, drinking beer and chatting away like best friends.
He enjoys watching them fight with each other. 
Probably the youngest at his table, gets teased quite a bit. (”Yoooooo, Yoonoh’s growing up!”)
The younger kids aren’t really familiar with him.
Winwin
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The favourite among the youngest cousins. 
They get excited to see him every time he arrives at family gatherings. 
Participates in their games (They like making him count for hide and seek.) and sits with them while eating. 
He spends very small amounts of time with the adults, quickly answering any questions they have about his life. 
The older cousins think he’s cute :( 
After the little ones go home, he watches whatever drinking game his generation has gotten into.
Jungwoo
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Jungwoo is a free soul.
He’s just there to entertain himself, watching whatever cartoon the little ones are watching.
When they turn around and see a grown man on the couch, they’re a bit startled.
The adults think he enjoys taking care of the kids, but no. The boy is there to watch Tom and Jerry for his own enjoyment. 
Nobody remembers that he’s an engineering student, one moment he’s watching Blue’s Clues and the next he’s leaving to finish an assignment for class. 
The high schoolers try to ask him for advice, but he just says “I literally don’t know what I’m doing.”
Lucas
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This boy walks into every family gathering dressed like he’s gonna be on a runway. 
Enjoys talking to the high schoolers about how their school’s changed since he graduated. 
Other than them, he joins any conversation on invite. 
The youngsters climb him like he’s a playground item. 
There’s just kids hanging off him while he laughs at some joke his uncle made. 
Sometimes, they shout “Big brother Yukhei!” into his ear and he just pats their head silently before continuing on with his business.
Mark
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Follows his parents around.
He’s wrapped up in his own thoughts instead of whatever his mom is talking about with his relatives.
I’m kinda hungry, should I grab that cookie? I’m gonna grab that cookie. 
At some point, his parents get fed up with him “acting like an eight year old,” so he gets sent to play with his fellow cousins. 
Asks for the WiFi password and then sits on the couch all night scrolling through his phone. 
He doesn’t talk to his cousins because he never knew how to.
Xiaojun
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A sweetheart with the most patience. 
Same question from every single adult about school? No problem, he’ll answer it as many times as he needs to. 
The youngsters like to pull pranks on him because they know he won’t scold them afterwards.
“Did we get you good, Dejun-ge?” “Yeah, I almost had a heart attack, haha.” 
Helps the babies get food. 
Just has a great family bond with everyone.
Hendery 
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Hendery likes to look for the older cousins that take care of him, initiating conversation.
If they’re busy or stop talking to him, he goes to the crowd of younger cousins on the couch and chills with his phone.
Occasionally, he’ll show them all some memes he has.
“Haha, guys look at this one.”
Mimics the children screaming in the background to get some chuckles from them, too. 
The adults don’t think much of him, he’s a chill kid doing his thing.
Renjun
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He’s quiet and polite for the most part, especially towards the adults.
With his cousins, he jumps in to say one-line roasts about people mentioned in conversation and then goes back to being silent.
They might say something like “My school friends are so weird!” and Renjun simply replies with “Makes sense why you’re friends, then.” 
One of the baby cousins likes to hug his leg, and he smooths their hair or holds their cheek absentmindedly.
An art major, but the adults aren’t worried since he’s smart. 
When alone in a room, he’s doodling on some scrap paper he found.
Jeno
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Close with the cousins around his age.
Has a group chat with them and texts them to come to the living room. 
When they arrive he just goes “Wanna play Spaceteam?”
He plays party games with them for the rest of the night. 
If the other cousins want to join in, he’ll teach them how to play. 
The adults don’t think much of him, they usually just ask how he is and he replies with “Good!” and a smile.
Haechan
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Haechan is The Annoying Cousin™. 
He comes off as very cold and bitchy usually. 
At family gatherings, he participates in games and gets overly competitive.
WILL cheat or flip the table, causes all the chaos.
The parents aren’t a fan of him, the kids either love him or hate him.
Older cousins think he’s entertaining lmao
Jaemin
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Normal until some random kid screams his name. 
From then on he is in full kindergarten teacher mode.
Brings an entire crowd of noisy toddlers to the tables and everyone is just in shock. 
His older cousins know he’ll come around and chat with them once the kids go home, so they save him a bottle when he gets there. 
The adults have a good image of him: handsome, smart, charming. They think he’ll get married early. 
It’s a celebration if his mom announces he’s seeing someone.
Yangyang 
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Starts heated debates among his cousins. 
If he’s in the zone and an older cousin tries to put an educational twist on the argument, he’ll start bullying them out of the room.
“From what I learnt in college--” “THIS IS A DEBATE AMONGST THE YOUTH.”
Two seconds later, he’s back to being friendly and cheery, talking casually and normally. 
The adults don’t believe their children when they tell them what happened upstairs with Yangyang. 
They think he’s the sweetest kid of the bunch.
Chenle 
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Chenle is just comfortable and gets absorbed in the atmosphere.
“Chenle, go play with your cousins.” “Hey guys! My mom said to play with you”. 
All his cousins get along with him. 
He thinks the baby cousins are cute and will baby them. 
Lets them sit on his lap while he plays card games. (Probably lets them choose cards for him sometimes, too.) 
Youngest of his generation, everyone loves him to pieces.
Jisung
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He does not want to be at the family gatherings. 
Awkwardly trails his parents because he doesn’t know what to do. 
Has to be pushed towards the food by relatives and just goes “Oh. Um, okay.” 
The older cousins ruffle his hair and ask him, “Aye, Jisung! How’s school?” “I-It’s good...” 
The younger ones do not find him approachable. 
Asks his parents when they’re going home as soon as 9 PM hits.
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