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doctorthreephds · 3 years

Text

Synapses: Part 2

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader

WC: 3.3k

TW: Again, nothing, except excess amounts of knowledge about forensics. Also the books suggested are great reads.

Summary: Your not-so-date date with Spencer arrives and you prepare for the worst to find out that the two of you have more in common than you realize. It is then when you begin to find feelings for the resident genius.

Masterlist

Taglist: @obsssedwithjustaboutanything @green-intervention

The next couple of days are a blur, with the signing of paperwork at the Bureau and enjoying your time off before you’re officially hired. Your lack of excitement was confusing. Usually most are nervous or excited to start a new job. But, for you, seeing Spencer was the most nerve-wracking thing you had experienced in a while.

That Saturday, you wake before your alarm. Even though the night before you had a hard time getting to bed, you wake once the light shines in through your window. It streams in and baths you in a golden glow. You had told Spencer to meet you at the bookstore around nine in hopes of checking out some books and then grabbing a bite to eat together, but you knew little to nothing about how flighty he would be. Would he take the books and leave? Or would he want to stay and chat? Perhaps you were overthinking a little bit.

A startling ring comes from your phone, forcing you to sit up and grab at it to silence the loud alarm. You groan as you throw your legs over the side of the bed, walking over to the closet to look through the hangers of sweaters and blazers amassed from years in academia. You think back to that night, what Spencer was wearing. His usual get-up was a blazer over a sweater vest and a button-up, at least it was for that night. It was cold then too. A beige sweater over a white button-up and a thick wool coat would do for today, it was rather chilly in D.C with the recent snowfall.

Your stomach bubbles with butterflies as you walk into your bathroom. After splashing some cold water on your face, you brush your teeth and try to calm your shaky hands. The blood rushing through your ears is like an anthem playing to your every movement. Was your heart pounding that loudly? You pause and take a deep breath before walking out of your room and into the kitchen. Opting for decaf so that your hands don’t shake as violently, a splash of milk and a teaspoon of sugar drop into the blue cup before you sip on the warm drink and stare out at the cityscape through your window like the calm before the storm. It was peaceful to see the bright white snow stand out against the brick and concrete as people pass by and get on with their Saturday morning. The steam from the drink tickles your nose as you take small sips, trying to pass time in an effort to not show up too early. You didn’t want to appear as if this was the only thing you had been thinking about for the past week, even though it was.

“You can do this,” you whisper to yourself, the phrase playing over and over in your head like a mantra, before grabbing your bag off the island countertop and typing in the code to start the security alarm. Rushing out the door, you close it behind you, the blanket of safety falling around your shoulders. Just another one of your father’s little things. At least you always felt safe.

Making your way down the stairs, you get down to the lobby and then out the glass doors into the rushed city streets. The chill relaxes you, calms your warm clammy skin as you walk down the sidewalk to the bookstore. A small smile grows on your face as puffs of air are made present with each breath. Your apartment was perfectly located, close to both the metro and the bookstore that you loved so dearly. It killed you to leave it behind when you got your Ph.D. but you were determined to be near it when you moved back.

A familiar ringing of the store bell engulfs you in a feeling of comfort as you near the store. It had been years since you went on a date, not like this was one, but you were definitely interested in Spencer and feared scaring him away or just not being interesting enough for him.

Walking through the door was like being transported into another world, The walls were lined with books, floor to ceiling. It was like a palace and you knew that every single book had a different world you could escape to when you needed to, when reality got too much. Every time you brought your dad here to sign some of Shelby’s collection of his books, he too had a similar face of awe. His job was stressful enough, it was the least you could do to help him gain some sort of escape.

“Hey there!” Shelby, the owner, calls out.

“Hi, Shel! How are you today?” you ask, glancing over at at the wall of candles next to her and checking to see if any of your favorites were restocked. It was one of the most alluring parts of the store, the book-themed candles with matching scents.

“I’m doing great, how did your last interview go? I know you were on the last one of the whole process,” she asks.

“It went great! I actually got the job and celebrated that night with my dad and his coworkers. There was actually this one guy--”

You hear the bell ring behind you and twist around to see Spencer standing there, an awkward smile across his face.

“Hey, Spencer! Welcome to the best place on earth,” you swing back to wink at Shelby and then walk forward to stand next to the young doctor. It makes you smile to see his crooked tie sitting underneath his maroon sweater vest and navy blazer. Out of instinct, you reach forward and adjust it before pulling back to realize what you had done.

“I am so sorry, it’s just a force of habit from when I do it for my dad,” you mumble and look down to the floor bashfully in an attempt to hide from the awkward shame.

“No worries. Shall we get to the books?” he asks and looks out to the bookstore. It was mostly barren due to the early hours, but it was perfect in your eyes. The overwhelming smell of paper and ink fills your senses as you direct Spencer over to the true crime section.

“I remember when I first found forensics books in the true crime section. It makes sense, though, forensics is all technically up to interpretation as anything but to me, it’s an interesting way of looking at science,” you state and begin pulling out books from the shelves. The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum, Forensics by Val McDermid, and All that Remains by Sue Black. It wasn’t the heftiest stack of books you had walked out with, but you were sure it would tie Spencer over for at least a couple days.

“The same thing could be said about profiling, a lot of people show hesitation when it comes to our profiles, but we haven’t been wrong yet. It was only really in the last 50 years that people started to take it more seriously, although some still don’t believe it to be helpful” he states and you look up at him.

“Alrighty, there are three of my favorite ones. And honestly, if anything I can get you my college textbooks if you really want to enrich yourself, but I doubt those will be as entertaining as these,” you say and let out a little laugh.

“I’ll probably get through these today,” he glances down at the stack of books as you stare in awe.

“How? No way,” you mumble, your eyes widening.

“I can read 12,000 words per minute,” you pause in place, staring in awe as he speaks.

“I stand corrected, I wish I had your mind when I was working on my dissertation. God, I spent hours reading research papers and textbooks that I thought my brain would melt. For you? Light reading,” you state and shake your head. “Spencer you’re incredible.”

“Hm,” he hums and looks down at the floor, almost like a resignation. It was sad to see. Did he not know how amazing his mind is?

“What?” you ask and frown.

“Most people don’t say that when I tell them about me. They usually look at me in awe or like I’m a freak of nature,” he mumbles and huffs. You pause and stare at him for a moment before speaking.

“Well, you shouldn’t listen to them,” you boldly state as he looks up. “Growing up, knowledge and education was the one thing that no one could take away from me. Spencer, I think you’re the coolest person I know, and my dad is pretty famous.”

He lets out a small laugh at that as you take a moment to look at him, really look at him. His hair was a plop of messy curls on top of his head, smoothed down to try and look somewhat put together, and his eyes were a deep brown although slightly dull from lack of sleep. He carried himself a little bit timidly, but he carried the books in his arms like they were the key to unlocking everything. And for that? You adored him.

“Do you wanna go grab some lunch? I’d love to get to know one of my new coworkers,” you tell him and begin walking over to Shelby.

“Sure,” he says, a slight flush on his cheeks appearing as Shelby rings him up and you go through a couple of the candles, taking a quick whiff of the ones that look interesting. You take one that smells like butterscotch and place it on the counter, reaching over to your bag to bring your wallet out.

“I got it,” he mumbles and smiles as you frown, shaking your head.

“No, it’s okay,” you tell him as Shelby takes his card, looking at you pointedly.

“No, it’s alright, I got it.” he responds and takes the small receipt back from Shelby along with his card.

You narrow your eyes, a playful smile appearing on your face as you stare at him while Shelby bags up the books and then hands you the candle.

“I’ve got lunch then,” you tell him and gently nudge his shoulder, a smile spreading over your face. He nods and the two of you walk out of the bookstore into the cold D.C. street. The cafe you had in mind was only a couple stores over and the irresistible smell of freshly baked pastries was unmistakeable as the two of you walked closer. As you approach, Spencer speeds up and holds the door open for you as you mutter a small thanks to him.

The cafe itself was rather small but full of people who were enjoying their mornings out. The menu was littered with several different drinks and food in French. Glancing into the case full of food, you set your eyes on a spinach and cheddar cheese quiche as well as a warm mug of tea. When you walk up to the counter, you look over at Spencer for a moment as he too stares up at the menu. He suddenly looks back at you and you feel like you get whiplash from how quickly you look back to the woman behind the register.

“I’ll take what she’s having and a coffee with room for cream and sugar,” he responds as you quickly hand over your card, ensuring that he has no time to take out his wallet. When the transaction is finished, the two of you move off to the side to wait for your food and drinks.

“So what else do you do besides working and reading? Although, I’d guess work takes up a majority of your time,” you ask, looking over at him as you rub your hands together to help warm them up a bit. You should have brought your gloves, but it had slipped your mind this morning in the midst of all your chaotic thoughts about the day.

“I play chess in the park when I find the time. I also like to watch foreign movies and knit occasionally, although I haven’t really found time for it recently. Most of my time outside of work is dedicated to reading,” he responds.

“Oh gosh, I could never knit. I tried it once and it went very poorly, I just have really bad coordination with my non-dominant hand. Crocheting is my personal favorite type of fiber art, it only really requires one hand,” you smile as your name is called out and your drinks are put on the counter alongside your food. Quickly, you grab the mug full of tea with one hand and feel relief as it begins to warm your cold fingers. With the other hand, the two of you grab your quiches and walk over to the condiments section where you watch as Spencer proceeds to dump several sugar packets into his coffee.

“Not a fan of the bitterness?” you ask and laugh as he dumps the sugar in, stirring it around with a stir stick.

“Just a sugar addict,” he smiles up at you and your heart almost skips a beat in your chest as the two of you maneuver over to a table.

“I remember, sugar over alcohol. I hope the cake that night was to your satisfaction,” you say and begin digging into your food after a quick sip of tea to warm your insides.

“I think it could have had more sugar,” you bark out another laugh and take a bite of the quiche.

“I’ll keep that in mind next time,” you mumble.

“What about you? What do you do in your free time?” he asks and you pause your eating to warm your hands with the mug of tea.

“I like to read as well, although I usually read science-related books. I’ve been trying to broaden my horizons and read some classical literature, I think there’s a lot to be learned from fiction that most scientists fail to recognize. There’s often a gap between humanities and science-related majors, but I think that they’re a lot more similar than they realize,” you speak and feel your hands sweat as you look up at Spencer who appears to be watching you as you talk. “Sorry, I’m rambling, aren’t I?’

“No, you’re fine. It’s not often that people think the two are connect when, in fact, there is a lot that can be bridged between the two. Science can only be progressed if information is shared and made available for people to read, that’s why papers are only accredited if they’re peer-reviewed. I’d like to think psychology is a marrying of the two, both humanities and science. Without the knowledge of human nature, we cannot predict and better ourselves as human beings but without the scientific process, we are left unable to process experiments and theories. So, you’re completely correct,” he says and the two of you are left staring at each other as you soak in the information. Your heart soars at his response and you can only smile as you bow your head slightly to try and hide the warmth in your cheeks.

“Very astute analysis there, Dr. Reid,” you mumble, hiding your smile in your cup as you bring it up to take a sip.

“Thank you, Dr. Montgomery,” Spencer does the same with his coffee and you feel your cheeks stretch even further than imagined, a warmth growing in your chest.

The rest of your “not date” is spent talking about similar things, the disparity that people seem to observe between humanities and science as well as fun facts thrown around to keep the atmosphere light.

“I mean, before photographs, people had to draw crime scenes to keep track of where everything was. The procedures for crime scene investigation were very poor then, though, but they did what they had to do. I find that facial reconstruction is one of my favorite connections between art and science, the fact that scientists learn how to sculpt faces in order to make an identification,” you state as you finish the last bite of your quiche and drink the rest of your tea.

“It goes hand and hand with forensic anthropology to help identify victims. It’s moreso for the family than it is to help find the unsub, but it can add to victimology and help understand how the victim died,” he responds, also finishing the last of his sickeningly sweet coffee.

“But it’s so cool how science and art really are married. To be good at figure drawing, you have to have a good understanding of anatomy and to successfully construct a face, you must know how to sculpt,” you finish and look down at the finished meal, you feel a bit sad to find your time with Spencer coming to an end. “I’ll bring this over to the trash.”

You stand and take the plates with their respective mugs over to the tub of used dishes and discard your tea bag and napkins used. Walking back over, you find Spencer standing next to the table grabbing his own bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

“Shall we?” he mutters and you nod, following him out the door.

“I’m going this way,” you tell him, pointing back in the direction of your apartment and the bookstore.

“You didn’t take the train?” he asks, hugging his bag close as he furrows his brow.

“Oh! No, I live just a couple blocks down from the bookstore. I chose my apartment for that reason,” you clutch your bag close as well, almost a sort of object to ground yourself so the endless nerves are redirected some place other than your brain.

“I’ll walk you down, then,” he states and moves to stand beside you.

“You don’t have to, it’s just a couple blocks,” you state and shake your head.

“I insist,” he smiles and you can feel your heart jump in your chest. Maybe it was the bright blue cloudy sky behind him or the chill in the air, but something about him felt a bit unreal.

“Al-Alright,” you mumble and begin back down the street, a calm silence settling as the two of you walk in tandem and allow the noise of D.C. to fill the air. The walk is short, shorter than you remember, but the warmth of Spencer next to you is distracting so perhaps the fact that you can’t keep track of the streets is enough to make it feel like no time has passed. In fact, you almost walk past your apartment building, but the glass doors swing open and stop you in your place as someone else walks out.

“This is me,” you glance up at the building and look back at him, unsure of what to say.

“We should do this again some time. I’ll bring you some of the classics that I have so you can have more to read,” he suggests but takes a step back, almost like he regrets the words coming out of his mouth as they do so. “Only if you want to, you don’t have to--”

“I’d like that,” another pause as your heart begins to pound faster. “I’ll text you.”

You lean forward on your tip toes and press a kiss to his cheek before spinning around and walking into the building, attempting to catch your breath and not turn to look at his reaction. Hoping and praying you didn’t overstep, you head into the elevator and look out at the street where you see Spencer staring in a sort of awe, a silly smile on his face. The doors close in front of you as you ponder. Maybe it was a date.

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid fanfiction #aaron hotchner #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #penelope garcia #david rossi #derek morgan #jj #jennifer jareau #emily prentiss

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urisk-factor · 2 years

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I fell something in my throat[ from laughing] and I was crying[ shaking a little but not much( this was so hard to write)] all from laughing

ANYWAYS

Talk about your characters pls

THANK YOU!! Have some ramblings!!

So with the Padparadscha Dragon I want Lex to be stupidly good at climbing because of all the time he spent sneaking into Rose's room at night so they could chat.

Alcmene keeps hissing at Elmore because fishy person but also likes cuddles with Elmore because her shirt is comfy.

Victoria is kickass and she and Elmore bond while fighting each other (they're both the chatty fighter sort)

Rose is the only person with any sense in the whole story. He has the brain the rest lack.

Murdock is laughably bad at catching mice (his job) but Lex lets him stay because he's a ginger tabby and Lex thinks of him as their real dragon.

Alcmene is older and very motherly to Murdock. It's not uncommon to watch her wash behind his ears.

Lex is on a whole investigation into corruption amongst the nobility.

Lex also never told Rose his surname as kids so as a pirate he's known as Captain Northlen and Rose has no idea what's going on. Lex said something like "I'm Lex, and if you call me something that has more than two syllables, I'll kill you."

Uh anyways, Rose is very interested by Lex just casually threatening the Prince and that's how they become friends as kids.

Most of the crew are in matelotages with each other.

Rose and Victoria both fall in love with pirates and then rebel against their parents.

With the Monster Quadrant, I think Val would jokingly call Ealasaid "Mhathair".

Tracy is the very scholarly type.

Ealasaid and Benjamin both make a lot of cat jokes at Tracy.

Benjamin is an angel and can take several forms, but mostly disguises as a human. He can take the typical wing and halo look and also the biblical angel look - the last one having an eldritch horror sort of reaction to seeing.

Benjamin also has a big fuck you crossbow that is stupidly heavy and only Benjamin can use it.

Tracy is a cat sìth, which is a Scottish creature that generally has two sort of versions. One is basically a dog sized cat that steals souls by sitting on a dead body and I'm fairly certain we have one in my village. The other, the one Tracy is, is a witch that can turn into a cat nine times but after the ninth, can't turn back into a human.

Tracy, for my own sake, doesn't have the limit.

Ealasaid is an each uisge. A water horse. Also Scottish. Pretty much every story you've heard of a kelpie is actually an each uisge - I think the difference between them is that kelpies don't actually do lochs? Idk, I'm not smart.

Val is her own sort of thing. She's a mutated angler fish, and isn't the smartest person you'll ever meet. Her concept actually came around from a stupid little idea for a humanoid creature with an anglerfish lure that sees it and takes a bite, only to realise it just bit itself. She evolved from there.

Benjamin used to be a monster hunter because he's repressed af. A combination of a kind little lady who gave him a chance, a woman who kept yelling at him to join their goth band, and a hot boy for him to change for the better.

The first time Ealasaid and Tracy meet Benjamin is in a bar. They're all sitting at the counter, B several chairs away from E and T, faced so that they can only see his less scarred side. Ealasaid gets pissed off of too much alcohol and starts a worst scar competition in the bar. She turns to Benjamin, asks if he's got anything that can beat them, at which point he turns, smirks, and says "don't start a bet you won't win".

Oh also have this crappy little drawing of Lex t-posing over Rose

#demon whispers about nonsense #demon's drawings #the padparadscha dragon #the monster quadrant #benjamin #tracy #val #ealasaid #pirate captain alexander northlen #prince roselindus maxwell dukensire the third #first mate elmore fisc #princess victoria imme #thank you key!!#ship's cat alcmene #ship's cat murdock

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dameronology · 4 years

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london calling {poe x reader} - 1

a modern coffee shop au

in this chapter: you could have sworn that london was trying to eat you alive. you didn’t ask the universe for a reason to stay in the city but it gave you one anyway - in the form of poe dameron, your new manager.

warnings: swearing

this was based off of a dream i had & then @cherieboba mentioned an AU...and now we have this. enjoy!

- val xx

‘Will you watch where you’re fucking going?!’

You hated Tuesdays. Tuesdays were truly and completely awful in every sense of the word. They were slightly better than Mondays but still...undeniably dreadful. This one had been no exception. You’d woken up late (and hungover, but that wasn’t relevant) and you were convinced that the Department of Transport had personally paid every single commuter to make your life a living hell that morning. Whatever patience you’d had upon waking up - and trust me, it wasn’t much - had worn completely thin by the time you’d been released from the hellish grips of the London Underground.

Your main concern was getting to work on time. The start of your shift coincided perfectly with the morning rush - also known as two straight hours of grumpy, uncaffeinated commuters. It was your job as a barista to provide them with coffee and to do-so in a timely manner. Anything less than thirty seconds would often result in a middle-aged, greying businessman coming for your ass. This morning, you were prepared to bite back.

‘How nice of you to show up.’

‘I know, I know!’ You pushed past your co-worker, tugging your apron around your waist as you did. ‘I overslept,’

Finn rolled his eyes at you, shaking his head. ‘Then you owe me five pounds.’

‘Why?’ You grumbled, pulling an order receipt from his hand.

‘The bet, remember?’ He replied. ‘You have officially been late twenty times so far this year.’

You let out a groan, mind going back to New Year’s Eve. The pair of you had made a deal that whoever was the first to be late twenty times owed the other a fiver - and it looked like you would be paying for his lunch today. It was unusual for you to be late so many times in a row but in the absence of a manager or acting boss, you’d let yourself slip a tiny bit. You knew that had to end today, however, because your new manager was due to start.

‘I’ll give it to you when I get paid.’ You said. ‘My rent is already late and that five pounds could be detrimental-’

‘- I’m just taking the piss.’ Finn chuckled. ‘Get these orders done and we’re even.’

He slid you the pile of receipts and you immediately slipped into autopilot. You’d been a barista for the better part of five years by that point; your hands could be at work whilst your mind was elsewhere. That was certainly the case today - your mind was raking through your financial woes and the fact that your rent was due four days ago - as you worked. After fifteen minutes of here’s a small skinny latte for Brian! and a large Americano to go for Roger!, you’d completely ridded the shop of the queue.

‘Busy morning, huh?’

You peered up from the coffee machine, eyes falling on the man in front of you. He was holding a half-empty cup of coffee, a smile on his face and warm brown eyes examining the mess of coffee and milk around your work station. He had a tangle of messy curls and...well, hot fucking damn. What else were you supposed to say?

‘Uh, yeah.’ You smiled. ‘Highlight of my day, I suppose.’

He grinned at you. ‘Do you enjoy working here?’

‘Yeah.’ You nodded. ‘I mean - it gets stressful but a job’s a job, right?’

‘Right.’ He replied, eyes falling to where your name tag rested on your apron. ‘I’ll see you around.’

Trying to hide the blush on your face, you picked up the empty milk cartons and carried them through to the kitchen at the back of the shop. Finn was already in there on his phone, swiping through Tinder. Your best friend’s love life was often a subject that came up on shift - as far you were concerned, he deserved the world. It was finding the world that was the hard part.

‘Hot customer alert.’ You greeted him. ‘And I mean hot.’

‘What kind of cute are we talking?’ Finn looked up from his phone. ‘Like...Leo Dicaprio in Titanic cute kind of hot or Leo Dicaprio in the Revenant, large and hairy kind of hot?’

‘Kind of in the middle.’ You replied, dumping the cartons in the bin. ‘He said he would see me around, so I guess he’s a new regular?’

‘Actually,’ somebody else’s voice came from the doorway. ‘I meant see you around as in I’m the new manager.’

You had never wanted the ground to swallow you more. Seriously - if the jaws of death could have opened right there and then, you’d be willing to jump into them with the tip of your hat and a so long, folks! This was definitely the worst Tuesday of your life. That was truly saying something, because you’d spent all of last Tuesday scraping dried milk off of a table. And, the Tuesday before that, you’d got stuck in the doors of the tube on the Jubilee Line and then -

-Not relevant. The presence of other shitty days didn’t erase the fact that you had just called your manager hot and compared him to Leonardo Dicaprio. Right to his face.

‘Hey, Finn?’ You glanced up at your co-worker. ‘I think it’s time I quit-’

‘- no, I take it as a compliment!’ He chortled. ‘I’m Poe, Poe Dameron. You’re the assistant manager, right?’

‘Yeah.’ You nodded, trying to hide the blush creeping up your cheeks. ‘Unless you fire me.’

‘No, I like a colleague who bigs me up.’ Poe grinned at you. It only made the blush worse. ‘It’s a nice store. I’m excited to work here.’

‘And I assume you know how to make coffee?’ You quirked an eyebrow at him.

‘I could do it in my sleep.’

You handed him an apron. ‘Brilliant.’

It seemed as though whoever was above had answered your prayers, because another queue quickly began to form and you had to get back to work. Poe and Finn chatted amongst themselves, bonding over the fact that they were both Americans working in London. You, meanwhile, focused on pumping out oddly specific coffee orders.

‘A hot-but-not-too-hot black Americano for Holdo!’ You called.

Mrs Holdo - or, Holdo as she insisted on being called - was one of your regulars. She was a high powered business woman who stopped by the coffee every morning. It was usually one of the highlights of working the morning shift. You were convinced she was on steroids of some point because she was the literal definition of a power bitch. The fact she dyed her hair lavender made her even more iconic.

‘Morning!’ You beamed at her, sliding her drink across the counter. ‘How are things at the law firm?’

‘Stressful, as always.’ She grabbed the cup. ‘New manager, I see?’

‘Oh, yeah.’ You glanced over your shoulder at him. ‘That’s Poe.’

‘You talkin’ shit?’ He grinned at you, giving you a wink.

Once the queue had died down again, you made yourself a coffee. A few people were fluttering about the shop; it was the usual, really. There was a businessman on his laptop at one table and an artist at the next. One of the perks of working in such a central area was all the people you got to meet. It certainly made the job more interesting - and you had a feeling that your new manager was only going to add to that.

‘So - tell me about yourself.’ Poe leant against the counter next to you, nudging you with his elbow. ‘Other than the fact you think I’m hot and that you probably love Leonardo Dicaprio.’

You let out a groan. ‘You’re killing me, man.’

‘If that’s the case, I hope you get someone to cover your shifts before you die.’

‘Isn’t that your job?’ You shot back. ‘Being the manager and all.’

‘You are my assistant manager-’

‘- no I am the assistant manager.’ You cut him off. ‘And I’ve been here five years so I know all that you could possibly need about running this place.’

‘Mm?’ Poe raised his eyebrows. ‘Care to share?’

‘Finn can’t be on shift with Hux - he’s an irritating part timer, really up himself - because they will kill each other.’ You paused to take a sip of your coffee. ‘And Kaydel is super sweet but she’s always late, so it’s best to put her on afternoon shifts.’

‘Like you were late this morning?’

You groaned again. ‘It was just one of those mornings - it was one thing after the other. I swear it won’t happen again.

Poe gave you a soft smile, the sarcasm fading from his face. ‘I’m just kidding. Don’t be so hard on yourself.’

With that, he took the coffee from your hand and took a sip. ‘Jesus Christ, what is in this?’

‘Four shots of vanilla syrup.’ You snatched your drink back from him. ‘Let me guess - you’re the kind of guy that exclusively drinks espressos and judges people for adding sugar?’

He simply raised his eyebrows, holding his hands up in defense.

Nine hours later, your shift was finally over; you were closing with Poe, who was currently sweeping the floor and singing I Want To Break Free. Your feet were aching but thanks to the free coffee, you were slightly buzzed. You’d decided that you liked your new manager - there were some pitfalls, however. Watching him flirt with every woman that came in was bordering on painful by the time lunchtime came around.

‘Rey’s here!’ Finn popped up from behind the coffee machine. He was supposed to be cleaning it, but it looked as though he was counting coffee beans instead. ‘Do I look okay?’

‘No different than usual, Finny.’ You replied.

Rey was your room-mate and best friend (Finn would argue differently). She worked in a primary school a few streets away from the coffee shop. She usually came in after you’d shut to get a free drink - she also drove to work, which meant you didn’t have to take public transport home. After a nine hour shift and with an impending caffeine crash, being shoved into a small tube carriage was your idea of hell. With that said, Rey’s driving wasn’t much better.

Fiddling with your keys, you unlocked the door to let Rey in. She looked tired - presumably from chasing after little children all day. You could see a bottle of wine sticking out from the top of her bag. That was this evening’s plans solved.

‘Hey!’ She greeted you brightly. ‘Hey, Finn!’

‘Rey, hey!’ Your co-worker waved at her. ‘I mean hey, rey!’

‘I’m just gonna clock out.’ You said, glancing over your shoulder at Poe. ‘If that’s cool with you?’

‘God knows, god knows I want to break - oh yeah, that’s fine!’ He suddenly pulled his headphones out.

‘This is Rey, by the way. She’s an honorary team member here.’ You explained. ‘And this is Poe, our new manager.’

‘She thinks I’m cute.’ Poe grinned.

You turned to face Rey. ‘I’ll explain later.’

‘Right. Of course.’ She gave you a wink. ‘I went home at lunch to feed Chewy. He’s eaten another pair of your shoes.’

Chewie was your six-month-old border terrier puppy. He reeked havoc pretty much everywhere he went - usually leaving a trail of fur behind him - but you loved him dearly. He’d earned his name after eating through eleven pairs of shoes in his first week at your apartment.

‘Of course he has.’ You grumbled. ‘See you tomorrow!’

‘See you!’ Finn waved at you, before giving Rey a sweet smile.

‘See you in the morning!’ Poe called. ‘And be on time!’

tags: @thespareoom @softly-sad @interwebseriesfan24 @yougottakeeponkeepinon @princessxkenobi @blue-space-porgs @cherieboba @highlycommendable

#poe dameron x reader #poe x reader #poe x you #poe dameron x you #poe dameron imagine #poe imagine #star wars x reader #star wars fan fiction #star wars preferences

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palettepainter · 3 years

Note

Do any of your hazbin NG's have pets? I know Velvet has a guard dog thingy forgot the name sorry but do any others have pets?

It's been a hot minute since I've done something for Hazbin, so lets go! Will also include Helluva NG's

Brinda (CharlieHusk)-

-So I didn't want to give Brinda a pair of goats like Charlie, I didn't really have the motivation to design two identical goat guards and I didn't wanna rip off the designs in Hazbin. So I debated the idea for a while on if she has a pet and the answer is: Yes and No

-Sorta like in the Owl House Brinda has a Talisman, it was crafted from the bark of a poison fruit hell tree (there are trees and other plants in hell which are non poisonous or non lethal to demons, but more or less the majority I imagine are poisonous) and was crafted into the shape of Hell Bat.

-Hell Bat's are big, mean fighting machines. Will eat anything and attack anything, a ferocious species that has been none to even eat other demons species. Despite this they are still social creatures and often roost together. Brinda is the only one seemingly able to control her giant hell bat - it can grow larger in size and is extremely agile. It "lives" on Brinda's coat rack, but in an attempt to make it more domesticated and less of a ferocious beast with an insensible appetite for blood Brinda has brought it it's own bed and given it it's own name

-Her bat is called Trixy. Trixy is a moody, prone to hissing, biting and chasing other demons. The only one she is remotely docile around is Brinda. Brinda is not above being growled or hissed at, but perhaps Trixie enjoys a little snuggle under Brinda's chin, her fur is especially soft for cuddling

Junior (CharlieHusk)-

-Like his sister Junior also has a bat talisman. His is much smaller then his sisters to accommodate the fact Junior himself is very small and can't really handle taking care of a bigger bat, but like Brinda's his can get bigger if it needs to.

-Junior's bat lives too on his coat rack and Junior himself isn't very affectionate with it...jk he loves it. When he's out he tries to present himself as uncaring to his bat body guard, but behind closed doors he's very fascinated by him.

-Junior likes to train his bat and so his bat does know some simple verbal commands such as: maul, attack, fetch, kill - all the innocent things a young prince would need to teach it's loyal pet

-Junior has named his bat Bugsy

Tristan (VaggieNG)-

-Tristan does not have a pet, but he enjoys studying insects and reptiles

-For some unknown reason Tristan seems to be a magnet for bugs, especially butterflies which are for some reason very fond of him. Tristan is not sure why these tiny creatures take such an interest in him, but he doesn't really care, he likes butterflies a lot

Iridescence (VaggieNG)-

-Like dear old papa before her she has a pet pig...only it's a hog, a hell hog, a big massive hairy hell hog

-Iridescence was given him as a "gift" from dear old Uncle Arackniss. Arackniss got double crossed in a bet and instead of walking out with a big ham joint he got the runt of litter. He assured his Angel who was teasing him for going soft that the wretched thing wouldn't grow any bigger then a handbag dog...oh he was so very wrong. Iridescence's hell bore is fucking HUGE. She's a big, slobbery, hairy, squealing beast to which Iridescence fondly dubbed Daphne

-Iridescence when she's not causing chaos spends her time riding around her hell hog like it's a horse around the hotel, making her hell bore pretty flower crowns or plots her next pranking scheme while Daphne eats her bed blankets. Vaggie and Angel have..thought about getting rid of the thing, they're pretty sure it has rabies at this point, but alas Iridescence is glued to it sooo Daphne stays

Velvet (AlastorMimzy)-

-I've actually already drawn Velvet's pet here! https://www.deviantart.com/palettepainter/art/Velvet-s-guard-dog-844244280

-Abaddon was given to her by her parents when she was very very little, though beast like and more animal demonic species are rare within hell's nine circles it is not uncommon for them to captured from the wastelands and sold on the black market. Abaddons, though not pack creatures, and very protective of their cubs, and so Abaddon grew up viewing as itty bitty Velvet as a "cub".

-Abaddon is still very much a lethal animal when she's not receiving pets and hunting crows in the back garden of the hotel. Her interets are stalking the halls without making a sound, perching on top of shelve and furniture, hunting crows and rats, chasing after little dots of light bouncing of reflective surfaces and sleeping in typical cat fashion

Francis (AlastorMimzy)-

-To Alastor's absoloute dismay he has fondly adopted one of Mimzy's shadow wolf puppies

-Mitzy currently owns 11 shadow wolves, one of which was especially smaller then it's brothers and sisters - a runt, like Francis. Francis, being the only teen in the hotel feels a little left out, so took the tiny puppy instantly under his wing the moment he saw it. The puppy is still a baby and so isn't much of a wolf, the only danger he possesses is the danger to your beloved slippers, which he will happily chew and teeth on.

-Still has itty bitty baby puppy teeth so chews a LOT, especially on deer old Alastor. Alastor...puts up with it for his wife's sake, knowing how much his wife loves her wolves..doesn't help that the puppies blasted parents, the female and male alpha, will be death staring Alastor down from the other side of the room while Francis and their pup play

-Francis has named his dog Pongo after the odd dark patches of fur he has on his back legs

Aldo (NiftyBaxter)-

-Has a pet priranha named Da Vinci whom he loves. Aldo is a big fan of marine life, one might call him a marine biologist. Unlike his father who is deathly scared of water Aldo can't seem to learn enough about it. He has many books on sea life in his room, a part of him dreams maybe he'll be able to see marine life on the surface. The only thing in hell is...sharks, which Aldo is terrified off

-Aldo was given Da Vinci by his teacer, Mister Aquarius, the project was for the students to disect the fish, but Princess Charlie thought that was "cruel", so instead Aquarius had to change it around. The task was for students to gain an understanding of responsibility, as expected most students didn't do the assignment, lost their fish or killed their fish, Aldo was the only one to pass. He has kept his lil piranha ever since, who is not so little anymore

Nidra (SirPentiousNG)-

-Nidra doesn't have pets, but she does enjoy the company of zombies

-Nidra's number one assistant in the study of the dark arts is none other then Hornet: her very first successful experiment in bringing back the deceased. Hornet is a harmless little rabbit, he just wants to chew on his toys, nom on a carrot and get some fond chin scratches from his mistress. Hornet is the one of the few people Nidra will actually talk to - she insists in the beginning she will never talk to her assistant as though it can understand her, but she does, and finds herself doing it a lot

-Her second pet is Tempest, a sassy cat that just started showing up one day and never left. Nidra more or less lives at the hotel, Sir Pentious is constantly on the move in his air ship and Nidra is not fond of travelling. Tempest lived in the alleys near the hotel, feeding on the mice and rats that infested the building. One day Hornet catches her wondering the halls and eagerly offers her his chew toy wanting to play. Tempest is of course not interested, but Hornet is presistant and in the end instead of Hornet searching for Tempest, Tempest would meow until she found Hornet

Thomas (TomVilla)-

-No pets

Riley (CherriSirPentious)-

-A chicken, given to her by dear old bar friend Husk Riley named her Henrietta and loves her dearly. Being part snake Riley likes birds that dart and can be chased, and Henrietta is also especially good to snuggle, but fat feathery lovable bird

-Riley comes and goes from the hotel, Cherri and her do have their own place, but Riley is a bit of wanderer and so tends to hop about from place to place, but she's never gone long. Henrietta more or less stays with her sister Nidra. Nirda was at first bothered to take care of her sisters stupid poultry, but Hornet seems to like her so she can't be that bad

Kiki (KatieVox)-

-IDK what inthe world these things are called but she has one of these weird creature thingies (skip to 15.38 and look to the right where Millie is ) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpnwRg268FQ

-His name is Sprinkles, she fondly gives him glittery little bow ties to wear, takes selfies of him and carries him around in her little back pack. Matthew is endlessly discussed by the thing, but Kiki just can't seem to see the truth, to her Sprinkles is a precious little angel

Nero (ValVox)-

-Has no pets cuz Val doesn't allow them in the house (lowkey thinks Iridescence's hell hog is pretty cool though)

Mathew (HelsaNG)-

-Has two snooty up tight hoity toity ferrets named Snip and Snap

Mako (CryminiHusk)-

-Also has no pets, but Coal gave him a houseplant to practise with

Crash and Dash (MillieTravis)-

-Also no pets

Lucy (MooxieMillie)-

-Also no pets

#HH #HHNG #Hazbin Hotel #Helluva Bos #Helluva #HHOC #My OC's

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not-close-to-straight · 4 years

Text

Sugar, Sugar (Three)

We meet the rest of the gang and Tony makes a move on Stucky.

MASTERLIST HERE

*****************

“Hey gal pals!” Clint slammed the door to Natasha’s apartment and made a beeline for the kitchen. “Have the Wonder Twins came by with the daily cupcakes? I’m starving and too poor to buy real foo...”

He let the sentence trail when he came around the corner and saw Steve and Bucky at the kitchen table and also Sam for some reason. “Oh uh--- hey a bunch of random men who doesn’t live here.”

“You don’t live here either. And did you call us the Wonder Twins?” Bucky dragged the box of cupcakes away from the center of the table and closer to himself. “Because Stevie and I don’t look nothin’ alike. Definitely not twins.”

“No no no.” Sam undid the wrapper on his third cupcake of the morning and took a big bite, spraying around crumbs as he finished, “We need to talk about why Clint apparently refers to Nat and Val as his gal pals.”

“If I would’a known you were here I would’a called out for my man pals too.” Clint defended, and made grabby hands at the bakery box. “Don’t hog the goods, Bucky-baby. Share the love.”

“The hell I will.” Bucky covered the box with a protective arm. “We only brought a dozen and fuckin’ Sam got to most of them. None for you. We’re keeping the rest.”

“No you aren’t.” Valkyrie finally made it out of her room. “You boys gonna bring that crap here, you’re gonna share. Give it up, Bronco and give it up now.”

Bucky sent the woman his fiercest scowl, then shouted, “OW!” when his fiercest scowl only earned him a smack upside the head. “Damn you, Val!”

“Fuckin’ feed me, then.” Valkyrie patted at Steve’s shoulder, ran her hands through Clint’s hair and crooned, “Good morning, gorgeous.” then hip checked Sam right out of the way so she could get to the coffee. “What’s the flavor of the day?”

“Coffee Caramel Macchiato.” Steve finally stopped stuffing his face long enough to speak. “Tony says it’s like coffee in a cupcake. Mornin’ Val. Clint. How’s it going?”

“It’ll be better when you give me one of those.” the boys never knew whether it was impressive or scary that Valkyrie could put back sixteen ounces of straight black coffee without pausing for a breath, but either way the feat distracted Bucky enough that Val managed to snag two cupcakes from the box before he noticed.

“Here, love.” she passed one to Clint, then hollered, “Tasha! Cupcakes! And coffee!”

“I want coffee.” Natasha managed to be drop dead gorgeous even fresh out of bed, red hair perfectly tousled, full lips pouty, crop top and flannel pajama bottoms absolutely adorable and every head in the kitchen turned to watch her progress across the living room. “Stare a little harder Sam, I’m sure you won’t burn holes in my skin with all that laser like focus.”

“Yeah I’m uh-- I’m not even sorry.” Sam shrugged unrepentantly. “Five years you’ve known me Tash. You don’t want me drooling on your kitchen floor, maybe put some clothes on before you come out of the bedroom.”

“It’s my house, I’ll wear whatever the fuck I want.” Natasha snatched a towel off the counter and tucked it into Sam’s shirt, patting at his chest teasingly. “There. Drool away.”

“Good morning, beauty.” Valkyrie pursed her lips for a kiss and Natasha promptly gave her one, then leaned over and gave Clint one as well. “Sleep okay?”

“How do you not know how she slept? You two still aren’t sharing a bedroom?” Bucky tipped his head back and grinned when the tiny redhead passed behind them, and Steve added, “Haven’t you two been dating for a year now?”

“I feel like that’s none’ya’bizness.” Valkyrie snorted. “Give me another cupcake.”

“Oooh, more from our favorite sexy baker?” Nat crowded in between Clint and Valkyrie and snagged one from the box. “Speaking of people who are obviously in love but not doing anything about it--”

Valkyrie smacked her in the ass and Natasha laughed over her shoulder at her. “-- what is this now? Three weeks you’ve been maxing out your credit cards buying cupcakes from Sweet Peach? And you still haven’t managed a date with the guy?”

“Tony doesn’t date couples.” Bucky licked his fingers, then leaned over and kissed the frosting right off Steve’s lips. “He won’t even go out for drinks. The only way we see him is to visit the shop and Captain Do Gooder over here says we can’t just go to the shop and ogle Tony, we actually have to buy something.”

“Yeah, cos shockingly enough, it’s creepy to show up every day and stare at him, Buck.” Steve pushed his boyfriend away when Bucky tried to steal a bite of his cupcake. “Tony tells us we don’t have to get cupcakes and he’s always real happy to see us, always lets us hang out while he’s working after hours but it still doesn’t seem right to take up space and not buy anything.”

“So let me get this straight.” Sam took Valkyrie’s second cup of coffee and grimaced over a too large swallow. “Tony won’t date-- oh ho-ho-holy crap woman, how do you drink this sludge?”

“Sack up or shut up.” Val countered and took her cup back. “Wuss.”

“Anyway.” Sam blinked back some coffee induced tears. “Anyway. Tony won’t date couples, but you two still drag your happy asses down there every damn day to flirt and buy cupcakes even though you have no chance of getting anywhere with him? That just sounds... terrible. It sounds terrible.”

“You don’t know the whole story.” Steve gulped at his coffee, then passed it over to Bucky.

“Okay.” Clint intercepted the mug and stole a drink too. “What’s the whole story?”

“We love him.” Bucky snatched the cup and glared around the kitchen. “How is there six people in this kitchen and only three coffee cups in circulation? Me and Stevie share cos we are adorable. The rest of you get your own damn cups.”

“When you start doing dishes, you can complain about the cups.” Natasha informed him. “And what do you mean, you love him? You don’t love him.”

“No, we definitely love him.”

“You definitely don’t.” Sam snagged Natasha around the waist and dragged her up against his body, pinching her side when she giggled and shook her butt into him. “Settle down, Red. And you two Wonder Twins definitely don’t love Tony.”

“I’m glad the Wonder Twin thing is catching on.” Clint got his arm around Valkyrie and smooshed a kiss to her lips, then hopped up on the counter and pulled the pretty girl between his legs, dropping his chin into her curly hair. “Seriously though. You don’t love Tony.”

“You don’t know the whole story.” Steve said again, and this time Bucky finished, “You also haven’t seen his ass, so you know. You have no idea what th’fuck you’re talkin’ about.”

“So what?” Sam shrugged. “He’s perfect? He’s funny? He’s the cream filling in your steroid jacked sandwich? What?”

“All those things.” Bucky checked his phone and jumped up to get his coat. “Except the steroid jacked sandwich thing, you know damn well these muscles are one hundred percent real.”

“Steve.” Natasha raised her voice to be heard over the chorus of jeers and disbelief when Bucky flexed dramatically. “Steve, seriously. Do you want me to look into this guy Tony for you?”

“She means, do you want her to do that scary Soviet Spy thing where she uncovers everyone’s secrets and uses them to bring down nations.” Valkyrie clarified, smirking over at her sort of girlfriend. “Anything sketchy we should know about your baker?”

“There’s nothing sketchy about Tony.” Bucky denied, at the same time Steve protested, “Tash! Do not do your scary Soviet spy thing! You’ll scare him away!”

“First of all, I’m Russian.” Natasha corrected. “And second of all, I work in data entry, not espionage.”

“Data entry.” Sam scoffed. “Cos we believe that. No way you work a regular nine to five, Tasha. Five years we’ve been friends and I’ve never seen you in office appropriate business wear ever. Data entry, my ass.”

“Anyway.” Steve cleared his throat loudly. “Anyway, Tasha. No. You don’t need to look into Tony, why would you even think that?”

“Cos somehow he’s got both you goons googly eyed and stupid over him and you can’t even tell me his full name.” she challenged. “Cos he is dead set against dating couples but lets you hang around anyway. Because if I didn’t half believe you dummies about being in love with him already, I’d worry he was gold digging or something else along those lines. I should look into him. He seems suspicious.”

“The last time you looked into someone, they disappeared with out a trace, Tash.” Clint spoke up from halfway through his second cupcake. “Remember that? What was her name, that foxy chick that shanked Sam and stole half his money?”

“NOBODY SHANKED ME!” Sam bellowed and Valkyrie cackled with glee. “We got a little feisty in bed and one of her long ass nails jabbed me in the side!”

“She did steal half your money though, right?” Bucky waggled his eyebrows. “Right? Put one hand down your pants and the other into your wallet and about emptied your bank account?”

“I have a giving spirit.” Sam groused. “I thought we were talking about Steve and Bucky falling in love with crazy people, not me!”

“Alright alright alright.” Clint clapped his hands a few times. “We are talking about Steve and Bucky falling in love, not Sam and his shockingly terrible taste in partners.”

“We’re not talking about it at all actually, cos I’m about to be late for work.” Steve handed the last cupcake to Natasha and blew Valkyrie a kiss. “Buck? Let’s go.”

“Coming, sweetums.” Sam called in a high falsetto, oophing over a quick jab in the ribs courtesy of Natasha. “This conversation isn’t over! We want to meet this Sweet Peach baker!”

“Hell, we don’t need their permission.” Valkyrie shrugged. “Let’s just mosey down to the bakery and meet Tony oursel--”

“Nope.” Steve stuck his head back around the corner and pointed at them. “None of you are meeting Tony until Bucky and I have a chance to explain about you all.”

“What’s there to explain?” Clint wondered, and Bucky yelled from the front door, “We gotta explain why we’re friends with a bunch’a assholes!”

They ran away down the elevator to a background of boo’s and vaguely worded threats, and Bucky was still laughing when he pushed Steve into the elevator then crowded up against the blond and lay a searing kiss on his lips.

“Hey hey hey.” Steve huffed a laugh, brushed his knuckles over Bucky’s cheek and slowed the kiss down to something a little easier. “What was that for?”

“Oh, because Nat and Val make me horny.” Bucky said over a grimace. “Which is... so weird.. but I’ve given up fighting it. I think it’s cos Nat is fuckin’ scary and Val isn’t scary but looks like she could seriously fuck you up.”

“So... the potential for violence makes you horny?”

“You’re one to talk Stevie, you got a boner watching football last night.”

“It was an impressive touchdown!” Steve turned positively scarlet. “A hail mary play and a run down the field and--”

“There’s nothing impressive about football, baby doll.” Bucky hushed him with another kiss. “But it sure is cute how you get all sparkly eyed and shit. Let’s get to work.”

“Fine.” Steve grumbled a little on the elevator down, but once they were out on the sidewalk again he asked, “Are we bein’ dumb about Tony?”

“Fuckin’ stupid.” Bucky confirmed immediately. “I’m half outta my mind over the guy because of the way his booty wiggles. You almost broke your neck watching him pull cupcakes out the other day. He sings that stupid ‘yummy yummy I’ve got love in my tummy song’ and you made the sorta noise you only make when I get up inside you. And every time he holds that frosting bag I think it’s connected to my damn dick. We are fuckin’ stupid, Stevie.”

“Okay, I wasn’t actually talking about all of those things.” Steve was blushing again and Bucky grinned at him. “I mean, are we bein’ dumb cos he doesn’t want anything to do with a couple beyond just hanging out and being friends, and we keep coming around sorta obviously hoping for more.”

“Oh thank god, we’re only bein’ sorta obvious.”

“I’m being serious.” Steve grabbed at Bucky’s hand and yanked him to a stop. “Three weeks, Buck. We’ve seen him every day for three weeks--”

“Not every day, we didn’t actually see him yesterday, remember? Or last Friday.”

“--pretty much every day for three weeks. We laugh and we talk and it’s a hell of a good time but do you think we’re wasting our time?”

“Alright.” Bucky pulled a hair tie from his pocket and looped his hair up and out of his eyes. “Alright Stevie, you know what I think? I think it’s pretty damn obvious Tony’s nursing a hell of a broken heart, definitely got burned falling in love with a couple before. I think he’s being real cautious and tryna take things slow but I also think that the other night when you told him how cute he was he about blushed his adorable ass right through the floor and Sunday he looked so damn relieved when we walked through the door, I know he was waiting for us.”

“You think he likes us.”

“I think he’s a totally smitten kitten.” Bucky confirmed. “Which works out pretty well cos we’re fuckin’ lost for him, right? Right?”

“Right.”

“And I know I haven’t stopped talkin’ about his ass, but we like him, right? Care about him a little bit, at least. I missed him like hell last night, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” this time it was Steve that initiated a less-than-publicly- appropriate kiss. “Yes. Care about him sorta a weird amount seein as how we’ve only known him a month and yes, missed seeing him last night.”

“So what’s the problem?” Bucky pointed out. “We’re fuckin’ stupid over him but that don’t mean we’re being dumb about him, right?”

“Right.” Steve finally smiled again. “Thank you.”

“Yeah yeah, I’m the whole package.” Bucky kissed him back and growled playfully. “I’ve got plenty of brawn and a surprising amount of brains too. Who’d’a thunk it?”

“Wow, that was a bad sentence.” Steve shook his head and started back down the street. “Who’d’a thunk it. Jesus, Buck.”

***************

Sweet Peach Bakery had been closed for an hour and a half by the time Steve and Bucky finished at the gym and made it down the street, so Bucky banged on the door while Steve called the bakery number to let Tony know they were outside.

“Well well well, if it isn’t my favorite hot bodies!” Tony’s cheeks were flushed, his smile stretched a little too wide when he made it to the door, and Bucky raised his eyebrows when he saw Tony’s more than half full glass of wine. “You didn’t come by last night, I thought maybe I finally scared you away!”

“Not a chance.” Steve set his bag down and motioned to the cup. “Start the party without us?”

“Oh come on, we all know it’s not a party until the hot people arrive.” Tony winked and nudged Bucky gently. “What’s with the murder scowl, Buck? You bummed cos you don’t have any wine yet?”

“Not scowlin’ sugar.” Bucky was quick to smile, even quicker to reach out and tug at Tony’s apron strings. “Just wonderin’ what happened today that you broke into the wine ahead of schedule?”

“Not ahead of schedule.” Tony tipped his head back and emptied the glass, then sashayed his way back behind the counter to get more. “I think I’m late breaking into it actually. You two weren’t here to help with it last night so I had to drink your share too.”

“Well we’re here now.” Steve followed Tony around the counter and grabbed two more glasses, passing one to Bucky. “Fill us up and tell us about your day.”

“My day.” Tony’s laugh sounded strained. “Oh man, my day? I pissed off a bride and lost a huge wedding job, that’s how my day went.”

“Oh damn.” Bucky uncorked the wine and refilled Tony’s glass most of the way full, then poured a little for he and Steve as well. “I thought you were like the bride whisperer, Tony. What the hell happened?”

“Vegan bride.” Tony made a kissy face at Bucky before taking a swig from the fresh glass. “Which is fine you know? It’s fine. I can work with that. Hey you know what would relax me? Come here and sit in my office, tell me which of the overly expensive chairs I bought feels better on Steve’s ridiculous butt.”

“Really?” Steve challenged. “Gonna use the words ‘ridiculous’ and ‘butt’ in the same sentence and make it about me?”

“Have you seen your ass?” Tony tossed over his shoulder, and motioned them through the kitchen. “I could bounce a quarter off that thing, Blondie.”

“Can confirm.” Bucky gave the aforementioned ass a quick swat. “Why’d you get new couches though?”

“Rhodey threw out my other ones.” Tony unlocked the door to his office and turned on the lights. “I dunno why though, couches I got at a garage sale in the late eighties are still usable, right? They went through all the college dorm parties and every single one of my apartments and at one point I gave them away but then found them again at a different garage sale-

“Wait, what?”

“--so I got them back!”

“Tony. Are you serious?”

“And college orgies aren’t all that wild, we all used condoms so total minimal body fluids--”

“OH MY GOD!”

“FROM THE LATE EIGHTIES!?”

“I mean, I lost my virginity on the big one so--”

“TONY WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“-- it was sentimental! Rhodey had no right to throw it out!”

“I feel like Rhodey should’a called so we could give him a hand.” Steve decided. “God, Tony. Couches aren’t meant to survive thirty years of college sex and garage sales, they are meant to give us a few years of comfiness and then die dignified deaths on the street corner.”

“There’s nothing dignified about street corners.” Tony disagreed. “And it’s so much harder than you’d think to find neon floral print couches these days? Rhodey made me get boring blue ones.”

“Sorry, was that neon floral print?” Bucky picked up a photo from Tony’s desk and squinted at it in disbelief. “Holy shit, that is a neon floral print couch.”

“Where?” Steve peered over Bucky’s shoulder, gaping at the picture. “Wow. Tony has your hair always been that fluffy? How the hell do you control that mess? Bucky, did you see this?”

“Cupcake, your hair is like eight inches off your forehead.” Bucky whistled as if impressed. “What is that, Flock of the Seagulls, huh?”

“You aren’t that tall, either.” Steve cocked his head curiously. “Tony are you-- are you wearing lifts in your shoes?

“High heels were in for men back then!” Tony snatched the picture back and set it face down on the desk. “And I use lots of hair gel okay?! And by the way? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that couch. It was a conversation starter!”

“Yeah, I feel like I’d have something to say if I walked into a room and that monstrosity was taking up the main wall.” Bucky agreed. “I’d have something to say if I walked into a room and saw you hair fluffed like that too--ow!”

He wheezed when Tony jabbed at his stomach. “My chubbiness!”

“Chubbiness?” Tony rubbed at his finger as if it hurt. “That was like poking a brick wall, what chubbiness? Fuck, I think you broke my finger.”

“Well maybe stop poking and start groping, less chance for broken fingers.” Steve darted around Tony and got the picture again. “My word, is this Colonel Rhodes wearing suspenders and pants up to his nipples? Does he know this picture exists?”

“I’m gonna hang it in the bakery as revenge for him taking my couches!” Tony grabbed for the frame and Steve just held it up higher, grinning over Tony’s outraged squawk. “This picture is like the gift that keeps on giving, Tony. Are you wearing glitter lip gloss right here?”

“Let me see?” Bucky didn’t even have to stretch to take the picture from Steve, holding it over Tony’s head and flattening one big hand into Tony’s chest to keep him away. “Ho-ho-holy shit, that’s glitter lip gloss and definitely some eyeliner.”

“THE EARLY NINETIES WERE A DIFFICULT TIME FOR ME!” Tony screeched. “FASHION WAS FLUID!”

“Fashion was terrible.” Steve finally took pity on Tony’s futile jumping and set the photo back on the desk. “Buck, you’re not allowed to make fun of me wearing polo’s and khakis in high school anymore. Not now that we know Tony wore eyeliner and lip gloss.”

“I didn’t agree to that.” Bucky said easily. “I’ll make fun of your old man khaki’s till the day I die. Tony, we need to have a serious conversation about your clothing choices.”

“Oh for fucks--” Tony threw up his hands in disbelief. “I don’t see you taking issue with my leggings and aprons and croppy tops!”

“We need to have a serious conversation about your past clothing choices.” Bucky amended. “I’m all about that sweet peach in those leggings.”

“And definitely never stop wearing croppy tops.” Steve interjected. “Oh but weren’t you telling us about a vegan bride?”

“Yeah, did she get mad cos your booty is cuter than her boo--”

Bucky shut up when Tony suddenly leaned in and kissed him-- or rather, leaned up and kissed him. Tony had to stand on his toes and grab both hands in Bucky’s shirt and yank the big brunette down to get their lips together, and it might have been determination on Tony’s part or maybe Bucky being too stunned to resist, but damn it was a hell of a kiss anyway.

“--booty.” Bucky finished lamely when Tony let him go. “I um-- booty. I got uh-- holy crap. I got nothing. Stevie?”

“Too busy to talk, Buck.” Steve took two big steps forward and whirled Tony around, gathering him right up into his chest and bending him over into a long kiss. One hand in Tony’s curls, the other low low over the rise of that irresistible peach, and Tony made an eep! sort of noise when Steve groaned against his tongue.

“That was uh--” the words barely worked, so Tony cleared his throat once or a dozen times and tried again. “--that was just as good as I assumed it would be. Grade a kissers, you two. Good work, team. I wondered if those mouths were good for anything other than flirting and terrible jokes.”

“Uh-huh.” Bucky was still licking the taste of Tony of his lips, pale eyes glowing. “You wanna see what else this mouth is good for?”

Steve cursed like he was choking, palming at his cock through his jeans and hissing out a half desperate, “Bucky! Just a little bit subtle, yeah?”

“Says the guy jerking off through his zipper.” Bucky retorted without taking his eyes off Tony. “So what’s up, sweet thing? Wanna ride my face?”

“BUCKY!”

Tony bit at his lip, ducked his head and peeked up from beneath ridiculously thick lashes, his fingers playing at the strip of skin between the top of his leggings and the bottom of his crop top.

“So um, my vegan bride.” He smothered a giggle when Steve did another one of those mangled curses. “She wanted whip cream frosting and her husband asked what vegan whip cream was and I said air and um--”

Belly button rings had no business being so distracting, but Bucky and Steve almost fell over all the same when Tony’s shirt lifted another inch to show off the brand new cup cake charm.

“--and um, the husband laughed at my joke but the bride apparently doesn’t think veganism is funny in the least or maybe future hubby had made too many jokes already but she flipped out and cancelled the whole thing.”

Tony sucked in a quick breath when Steve jerked forward like he wanted to touch him again. “Anyway, I’m pretty sure I ruined the wedding by making a joke about vegan whipped cream and it was a big job to lose so you know. That’s why I was drinking early.”

“And the kiss?” Bucky held out his hand and crooked his fingers coaxingly. “What was that about?”

“I told you.” Tony lifted one shoulder in a half hearted, teasing shrug. “I wanted to know if your mouth was good for anything other than flirting. Steve? You gonna try out that couch or what?”

“Yeah, I think I should probably sit down.” Steve sat alright, sat and grabbed a throw pillow and placed it over his crotch, thoroughly loving how Bucky’s eyes immediately zeroed in on the all too obvious pillow, and how Tony’s eyes sparked hot and interested at the motion. “Buck. Come sit down. This is definitely the most comfortable couch in the world.”

Tony laughed under his breath when Bucky sat immediately, sprawling back onto the cushions and spreading his legs wide in what could only be an open invitation.

“You two are gorgeous.” Tony said after a long moment of perusal. “And I was right, you sitting on my couches did relax me. Also, I’m apologizing for kissing you without permission but I’d like it to be noted that I am not actually sorry in the least.”

“Noted.”

“I’d also like it to be noted that uh--” Tony drew his finger over a distractingly full bottom lip and nearly purred in pleasure when both men’s mouths fell open in response. “--that while I have every intention of riding the hell outta Bronco’s face--”

“Fuck me, I’m gonna embarrass myself in my pants in like two seconds.” Bucky muttered.

“--and while I would be very much into getting everything beneath that pillow down my throat--”

Steve threw his head back and grit his teeth until his jaw hurt. “Christ, Tony.”

“-- and even though I’m pretty sure I missed the hell outta you two last night and that’s not something I’m willing to think too much about right now?” Tony paused for effect. “I’m still not going to date you. I don’t want a relationship. No way. These last three weeks have been super fun, I’ve had a great time getting to know you both but I’m ready to move past drinking wine together and towards the part where I smear frosting over your dicks and lick it off.”

He waited another beat and finished, “We all have to be on the same page, okay? More importantly, you two need to be on the same page cos I’m not about to ruin a relationship just to get my hands on what I imagine is a combined sixteen inches of grade A beef. Alright? Everyone good with that?”

It took Steve a full three minutes to manage a sentence-- “I wish I could laugh, because that was pretty amazing sass but I’m not actually thinking with anything above my waist. Buck? Got anything?”

“Literally nothing.” Bucky didn’t bother trying. “Nope. Not right now.”

“Okay, well.” Tony straightened his little apron and cleared his throat, cheeks flushed and eyes sparkling and preening with satisfaction at having rendered both Steve and Bucky absolutely stupid. “When you two figure it out, why don’t you let me know? I have cake pops to make. Stay as long as you want, but if you’re still here in half an hour I’m gonna make you mop.”

“Uhhhh sure?”

***************

A half hour later, Tony was busy portioning out batter for tomorrow mornings streusel muffins and Bucky was busy washing dishes. Steve was mopping the customer area, slow jazz was playing over the speakers and Tony’s heart was almost pounding out of his chest while he waited for one of them to bring up the conversation from the office.

He hadn’t been lying-- he was more than ready to give Bucky a test drive and definitely was ready to deal with polo’s and khakis if it meant watching Steve come apart via blow job but there was no way-- there was no way Tony wanted a relationship.

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice....

“We need to have a conversation.” Steve told Bucky as he rolled the mop bucket past the sink. “Tonight.”

“You need to blow me.” Bucky retorted. “Or at least bend over and let me at that ass. I’m not talking about nothin’ while my dick is trying to climb outta my pants, alright? Not happening.”

“That’s fair.” Steve grinned a little bit. “But still. At some point we need to have a conversation.”

“Yep.”

“About Tony.”

“Yeah, no shit, Stevie.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” Bucky spun around and kissed Steve square on the lips, holding him close. “I love you, baby. So so much.”

“Hey! Anyone want to come lick my spoon?!” Tony called, and Steve squealed in shock when Bucky chomped down into his lip.

“Bucky! Damn it!”

“Sorry sorry sorry.” Bucky groaned. “I was trying to be sexy but then Tony mentioned spoons and--”

“Okay we need to get you home.”

“Yes we fucking do!”

Tony barely looked up when Bucky and Steve grabbed their jackets, but he froze in place when they each left a gentle kiss on his cheek. “What’s up, guys?”

“We’ll see you tomorrow, alright honey?” Steve swept his fingers down Tony’s back to rest at the bow of his apron. “We’ll be here right at closing.”

“Talk to you real soon, sweet thing.”

“Ooookay.” Tony waved them out the door nonchalantly, easy smiles and casual sips of his wine until they were out of sight down the sidewalk.

Then he grabbed his phone and made a phone call.

“Heya Tones.”

“Heya platypus!” Tony said cheerfully. “Guess who’s gonna get fuckin’ railed tomorrow night?”

There was nothing but horrified silence on Rhodey’s end, then a scream of laughter that could only be Pepper, and when Tony listened a little closer, he could hear general restaurant sounds in the background as well.

“Oh uh--” he coughed. “Out for dinner with Pepper, huh?”

More screams of laughter, and then one of those famous world ending, longest suffering sighs that only Rhodey could pull off.

“I’ll just-- just let you go, hm?”

“Goddammit, Tony.”

*******************

SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE CHAPTER!

*******************

@thanossucks @atomicfandombomb @thebuckybrigade @fanfic-up-to-my-tits @starknakedsluts @basiad @everything-is-applepie @kimstark @tulipsnbigcats

@ships-galore @ceealaina @izziebladez @cwar1864 @hausoffro @lookuplaughing @tonystarkisanangel @multishippinglife @girlnic @iam93percentstardust @water-colouredmemories @paranormalmoonlight5 @igotloki @moosette05 @wayward-student-philosopher @kaz-brekkers-gloves @atomicfandombomb @ad1thi @1fuckingshitup69 @agentlokii

#ncts fics #stuckony #stucky #tony stark #steve rogers #bucky barnes

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datawyrms · 4 years

Text

Floating a Question

Dannymay 2020 Day 14 - Breathe (This was meant to be connected to Science/Gloves but tbh the link is tenuous at best.)

“I think you’re getting ‘Truce’ and ‘friends’ mixed up, Phantom. I’m not going to just forget you’re the scum that ruined my life.” Valerie scowled at the ghost, trigger finger itchy to just blast him for being so presumptuous.

“I know I’ve said it like eighty nine times, but no I didn’t.” The ghost gave an eye roll, but hovered slightly further away from the huntress and her board as he flung the thermos on his back. “I’d still rather not be enemies, you know.”

“Right, that’s why you narked on me to my dad. Because you’re such a nice slimeball.”

“Hey! I am so not slimy.” he kicked his feet up, as if pretending relaxing on an invisible lawn chair would make him less dangerous. “In my defense I kinda needed to steal the Ecto-skeleton before you did. The suit would have killed you anyway,” a small shudder interrupted the snappish retort. “Probably would have killed me if I didn’t luck out at the end there.”

“Newsflash, you’re already dead. And who said I even needed you to decide what’s best for me, huh?” Her suit helpfully prepped a shoulder gun, not bothering to suppress the smirk as the black suited ghost fumbled into an upright position, breath coming more quickly as he tensed to dodge. Not that she’d fire first. She wasn’t letting this ghost of all things make her break a truce.

“Okay, okay! Sorry! Well intentioned dick move! My bad!” He kept his hands up, still clearly expecting some sort of attack.

“Ghosts don’t know what well-intentioned means.”

“You want the textbook definition? I can probably do that. I was totally passing English.”

“No I don’t, Phantom. Just because you’re a decent fake doesn’t mean I fall for it. You can knock off the breathing thing, you’re glowing and twenty feet in the air.”

Instead of looking offended, her nemesis smirked. “Says the other ghost hunter who’s floating twenty feet in the air while glowing.”

“With assistance!” Being similar in any way to this pest wasn’t a welcome thought. Ever since she’d found out about Danielle ghosts had gotten complicated. Even though they shouldn’t be, she was human and different than the usual creeps that came to town. Yet now she kept noticing things that shouldn’t matter, like how Phantom kept up the breathing act, or the usual pack of terrors would remember her. They didn’t usually banter as much as the ghost boy insisted on, but they were starting to feel more like real people with personalities. Obnoxious ones that should be shot and shoved right back to the dimension they came from, sure. It was easier when they were all like that stupid dog, but now she couldn’t help but hear more of the words. They’d stopped being meaningless babble, just in case one really was like Danielle, and not really a ghost at all.

Which is why she agreed to this stupid truce in the first place. Even if Phantom was doing his level best to make her regret it.

“That wasn’t a qualifier, so I’m still right,” the so called hero relaxed a bit.

“You caught your pal. Shouldn’t you be vanishing off to wherever the hell you go to?” Instead of wasting her time, ideally.

“Youngblood is not even close to ‘pal’.” he grimaced. “I actually wanted to ask a question,”

Her brow furrowed, wondering if she should be shooting after all. “You know I barely tolerate you, ask someone in your fan club.”

“Little problem with that. Barely tolerating me makes you the best person to answer this. You’ll actually be honest.”

“If this is some sort of trick-”

“It’s a question Val, what kind of trick could I pull? Not sure if you’ve noticed, but you’re immune to my thermos.”

The ecto blaster in her hands gave a high pitched whine of warning. “You don’t get to use my name, ghost.”

Phantom let out a long sigh. “See! Perfectly honest. Feel free to use mine, it’s nicer than ‘scum’ or whatever you like to call me.”

Again with the breathing. Why did he insist on doing that? It made him seem more human than he had any right to be. “Then get on with it. I actually have things to do.”

“What do you think ghosts are, exactly?”

They stared at one another in silence for a long minute. “I’m looking at one. What kind of stupid question is that?”

He looked more frustrated at her answer than he usually did when she shot at him, pressing his face into his hands with a groan. “This is gonna be harder than I thought.” his head snapped back up “Okay. You’re looking at a ghost. What am I to you, then?”

Well, that was easier. “An ectoplasmic, smart mouthed, life ruining pain in the rear.”

The ghost rolled his eyes “Again with the-whatever,” he cut himself off, flipping upside down to look down at the huntress, managing to bring that irritatingly human face closer to hers without technically moving. “You don’t think that about every ghost, right?”

“Everyone checks the life ruining and pain in the rear boxes nicely. Oh, and I should have added ‘should stay in the ghost zone where they belong’. Happy?” her scowl turned into more of a confused grimace when the ghost actually smiled at that.

“Everyone! So you do see we’re individuals!” The sheer excitement over being insulted was a little disturbing. Would it really make sense to fake being that excited over one aspect of her answer?

“Well I answered your question, so now you owe me.”

“Pretty sure every time I offer help you don’t need it from ‘ectoplasmic scum like me’” he made air quotes for emphasis before flipping back upright. “What do I owe you then? Letting you capture me isn’t gonna happen, before you suggest that. Had enough of that last time, thanks!”

How one ghost could be so infuriating and familiar at the same time was incredibly vexing. In a way he was right, the sooner the ghost boy was gone, the happier she should be. She shouldn’t want anything from this pest. “Why do you bother with the breathing?” It was a foolish thought. Just because Phantom resembled Danielle didn’t mean the reverse was true. He’d said as much himself.

The simple question seemed to throw him. “You try talking without expelling air and let me know how that goes. Duh.” he tried to play it off, but looking away and pulling an arm behind his back almost broadcasted the ghost was lying. Danny was similar, he couldn’t manage to lie while looking you in the eye.

Valerie shrugged, attempting to feign disinterest. “Should have known a ghost would just lie.”

“It’s not a lie.”

“Lying by omission is still lying, ghost. Which I’m sure you know.” she paused, making sure the ghost was still paying attention. “Can’t keep up the ‘ghosts aren’t bad’ image all that long without slipping up, huh?”

Phantom squirmed under her glare, muttering something under his breath. “I do out of habit, alright? Don’t know why you care now but there you go.” he rubbed at the back of his neck, toying with the collar of his jumpsuit. “Honestly I didn’t think you’d believe anything I said anyway.”

“Neither did I.” Maybe admitting that to her nemesis was a mistake.

“Like I know you don’t like me, and yes I’ve screwed up, but I really do mean not all ghosts are evil Va-er...yeah.” he frantically stumbled over her name, rather ruining the attempt to appeal to her.

“Uh huh. Maybe I’ll believe it when ghosts aren’t attacking my town on a daily basis.”

“Okay, fair, but really-” Phantom stopped himself, biting his lip as those unsettling green eyes stared Valerie down. He took two more tries to actually start talking again. “Shooting first isn’t always the right answer.” the ghost stopped yet again, searching for some sort of hint in the fed up ghost hunter’s face.

“I have a life, Phantom. Get on with it and get lost.” She shouldn’t be hearing him out, she should be yelling at him to stop endangering people and go back home already. Homework couldn’t be worked on with him roaming around unchecked.

“Okay! Like some ghosts do come here just to be a problem, I get that, but not all of them.”

“I assume this leads to saying you’re one of the ‘good’ ones?” her scowl deepened, but the ghost shook his head in a hard no.

“No, I mean some of them are just upset and need a little help, and they won’t stop showing up until that’s dealt with.”

“Well if someone didn’t keep cramming ghosts into thermoses before I could waste them, they’d stop being a problem.”

The ghost let out another groan, pulling at his face. “I was like you at first! If I’d known not all ghosts just wanted to fight I might have been able to keep Cujo from ruining your life, okay? So okay, yes, I ruined your life! Just...not how you think I did.” the ghost’s shoulders tensed, looking a bit unsure if he’d actually meant to say all of that.

“You’ve got about five seconds to try and make that make sense,” her free hand tightened into a fist, trying to not let the anger of this ghost gloating over his actions make her be the one to break the truce. She was human, she was better than this thing.

“I didn’t get why he kept coming back. I guess he figured as a ghost I’d be able to help him? So I’d put him back in the ghost zone, but he’d just get out again because he needed to find something that was here. If I’d figured that out instead of just trying to force him back there probably wouldn’t have been as much lashing out and damage, and yes I really am sorry it wasn’t on purpose-he just wanted his toy Val. He was just a confused puppy.” his rambling only increased in speed as he went, as if mishearing might make it better.

“So out of all ghosts you try and make a case for the only one I hate more than you. Seriously?” That monster was a puppy? That wanted a toy, really? She was this close to ramming her board into the floating menace.

“Have you ever seen him since?” It was more of a plea than a question.

“Why should I pay attention to exactly what ghost animal I’m shooting at, huh?”

“I think you’d notice the ghost who ruined your life, as someone on the other side of that grudge.” Normally it would be a snarky comment, but the ghost didn’t even make it sound like a jab, just a statement. “You don’t have to believe me, but you’d believe a human, right?”

“Not someone just repeating your stupid story that makes you look better, no.”

“How is saying I messed-no I’m getting distracted.” he clapped his gloved hands together, taking another steadying breath. “Ask your dad what happened to Axiom’s guard dogs. He should know that. And maybe think about it?”

“If you touched even one hair on my dad’s head-” she nearly growled, trying not to enjoy how the ghost seemed to jerk backwards in fear.

“I swear, I haven’t even looked at him. This is something he’d know because of his job, not because of ghosts or anything.” the ghost twisted, legs melting away into the wispy tail she usually saw retreating in the opposite direction. “Thanks for not shooting me?”

Before she could even give a retort the ghost zipped off, out of human sight in moments and vanishing from her radar soon after. She really needed to figure out how that menace managed that. She wasn’t going to ask her dad such a stupid question. She hadn’t seen any dogs at Axiom.

She was going to ask him, wasn’t she. Stupid ghosts, making simple things complicated.

#dannymay2020 #Danny Phantom #valerie gray #yes that title is a pun an i have NO SHAME #my stuff #who best to run ideas by when trying to prove something to your ghost hating parents?#your ex who personally hates half of your guts!#great idea danny #i have two modes #goofball fluff or total angst #there are no other settings #sorry for typos/misspellings the closer it gets to 9 the less time i have to actually check lol

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nereol · 3 years

Text

I’ll Be Your Animal (7/8)

Next part of my Val / Emmerick fic!

You can read this on AO3 or on my WorldAnvil page (with pics, music and other stuff).

Claire looks at her knowingly. “So... you two're dating now?” Val takes another sip and rolls her eyes. “I... no... you.” She sighs again and shakes her head slightly. “You know I don't date or...” “Yes...” Claire interrupts her with calm voice. “Question is, does he know it?” “I...” Val takes a sip to avoid Claire's eyes. “I should probably talk to him.” “Yes, you should.” Claire nods.

Sorry not sorry Em, for the end of this part...

Next time Val visits the Afterlife is just a few days later, middle of the night. The moment the first door opens her eyes meet Emmerick's and they don't break eye contact while Val walks over to him.

“Hey, Em.” Val leans against the wall with one shoulder right in front of Emmerick and looks up to him. “Hey, V.” His voice is deep and husky but calmer than usual and it sends shivers down my spine. He eyes her. How he would like to touch her, kiss her right now... she can see the lust in his eyes and bites her lower lip. His gaze falls at her mouth. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

Then he opens his eyes and speaks with silent voice, so other people around can't hear him. “I know it might be hard to make some time.” He looks down at her, in her green eyes. “But I'd like to spend more time with you.” Then he leans down and whispers. “Alone.” His husky voice and breath at her skin are giving her goose bumps.

Val sighs and eyes him. She'd love to be 'alone' with him right now. Then she shakes her head slightly to clear her mind. “I'm sure we'll manage it.” Emmerick frowns. “I usually go to sleep, when you are working... and the other way around.” “Well, it's not like I'm working nine to five... I do have gigs at night from time to time.” She looks at him with a spark in her eyes. “...and next day off.”

He says nothing, his gaze lingers on her lips again. “I'll let you know.” And Val puhes herself of from the wall to enter the Afterlife. Emmerick closes his eyes to get himself together and to stop himself from looking after her.

---

Val walks over to the bar, thoughts still running. “Hey, V!” Claire comes over and greets her like always. “Hey.” Val smiles. “You okay?" Claire eyes her. “You're a lil' blushed.” Val sighs, her face in her hands. Then she takes down her hands to look at Claire. “Gimme a cold beer.”

Claire hands her a beer. “So?” She looks at Val with raised eyebrows. Val takes a sip. “I just talked to Rick.” She sighs. “Uh-huh.” Claire looks at her knowingly. “So... you two're dating now?” Val takes another sip and rolls her eyes. “I... no... you.” She sighs again and shakes her head slightly. “You know I don't date or...” “Yes...” Claire interrupts her with calm voice. “Question is, does he know it?” “I...” Val takes a sip to avoid Claire's eyes. “I should probably talk to him.” “Yes, you should.” Claire nods. “...before it gets even more complicated.”

---

Val's at the Afterlife for several hours tonight. She chats with Claire about street races, visits Nix to see if he has time to teach her something new. And she has to talk with some people about ongoing and future gigs. After all this, she sits on a couch with a few other people she doesn't actually know, thinks about leaving. Then she gets a text from Emmerick.

You free? I take a break.

Warmth spreads inside her. Then she remembers what Claire has said and she sighs. She puts her phone in her pocket and stands up from the couch.

Emmerick leans against the vending machine next to the elevator. When he sees Val he nods towards the elevator and she steps inside, leans against the wall next to the buttons. He follows her inside, pushes the button in passing and walks over to Val.

The elevator starts with a rattle and they are alone, finally. Emmerick leans down and kisses Val greedily. Her back at the wall she puts both her hands on his hard torso, lets them trail up his chest. He holds her naked waist under her jacket and pulls her closer against his body. One of her hands on his shoulder she rises up on her tiptoes and their kisses getting deeper. While her other hand is in his neck, brushing his short hair, one of his hands grabs her butt tight. She moans in his mouth and he growls with satisfaction.

The elevator stops and Val pulls back a little, somewhat breathless. She can see some of her own lust in his eyes. Then she sighs. “We should talk.” She avoids his eyes and he loosens his grip so she can leave the elevator. “About?” Emmerick follows her. She sits down on one of the crates standing around. “This...” She points around with her hands. “Us... I guess.” One more sigh and she leans back on her hands, looks up at the sky. Of course no stars.

“Okay...” Frowning he sits down beside her. “I don't do dates.” Val speaks quick, before she can change her mind. “...or inputs, outputs ...or mainlines, what ever.” She looks at him slowly. He just looks at her so she keeps talking. “I'm not able to make plans for the future... I'm...” She swallows hard. 'Dying'. But she can't say that. And to be honest, it was like this before this mess as well. “It's complicated.” “So?” That everything he asks, still frowning a little. “So I just wanted you to know before... before we move on and...” She swallows again, avoids looking at him. “It's just fair to let you know, that I don't do serious or... exclusive relationships.” When she says 'exclusive' his eyebrows furrows slightly.

“That's all?” He speaks calmly. Val swallows one more time, looks at Emmerick and nods. “Good, 'cause my break's almost over.” He reaches out with his hand. “Come here.” His voice is husky again and there is a spark in his eyes. She takes his hand and moves closer when Emmerick grabs her and pulls her up on his lap. Val giggles and wraps her arms around his neck.

He kisses her, again greedily and she returns the same way. One of his big hands is on her lower back, the other lays on her thigh where his thumb draws circles on her naked skin. A warmth and a tingle spread throughout her entire body.

She pulls his jacket of his shoulders and when he breaks the kiss to catch some breath Val starts kissing his ear, his neck, the edge of his collarbone. One hand in his neck she pulls his top out off his pants with the other and lets her hand slips under it to feel his abs. He moans, lays his head back and his grip at her thigh tightens.

“How long is your break?” Val asks against his neck in between some kisses. “Not long enough.” Breathless, husky. She takes her hand out from under his top and pulls back from his neck to look him in the eyes. Then she lets her hand trail gently over his crotch. Just the slightest touch through his pants, but she can feel him. He moans. “Fuuuck!” And Val can feel goose bums in his neck.

“'kay, we need to stop” Emmerick's breathless, takes his hands away from her and leans back on them. “Wanna go back to work?” Val still sits on his knee and looks down at the bulge in his pants. “Like this?” She grins evil. “Damn, Rogue's gonna kill me if...” He puts his head back and closes his eyes. “If you're late?” Val can not help herself, she smirks. “Or if you show up with a boner?” “Both, probably...” Emmerick looks at Val and sees her cheeky grin. “Not funny.” “Just a lil'.” Val winks.

“So...” She puts one hand on his thigh, strokes up slowly. He growls low and Val looks into his eyes. “Rogue'll kill you anyway, so we could...” She bites her lower lip. He graps her with both hands on her hips. “No!” And he lifts her of his lap, effortless. Val giggles and Emmerick stands up. He sighs and runs a hand through his face while he walks over to the elevator. Val follows him.

After pushing the button he leans against the wall and looks up at the ceiling. “Please tell me you got no gig tomorrow morning.” He speaks through clenched teeth. Then he looks down at Val. “Well, I have a gig”, she answers with low voice. He sighs.

She walks over to him, just two steps. “I'll call when I'm free.” Then she raises up on her tiptoes and kisses him. Sweet and gentle. “Mhmm.” He hums against her lips with pleasure and the vibration gives her chills. She takes a step back and the elevator stops. “You goin' back in or...?” he asks. She shakes her head. “Nah, I'm done for today.” “So... good night?” He looks down at her. She nods. “Thanks.” She smiles at him and he returns it mournfully.

Then both of them leave the elevator. Emmerick to stand at his positions, hands in front of him, but now a bit lower than usual to hide the bulge. And Val to leave the Afterlife and ride home at her bike.

#Val / Emmerick #OC: Val Griffin #Cyberpunk 2077 #cp2077 #Emmerick Bronson #Cyberpunk Emmerick #V #female V #streetkid V #fic

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akaashishotthighs · 4 years

Text

Sebastian/Jonathan Morgenstern Birthday - One Shot

Location: New York, another universe Date: April 4 2007

“I think I’m in love with you and I’m terrified.”

“But Queen Amara, I’m just a peasant boy. How could you love me?”

“Because Sebastian, you’re not just a peasant boy. You are a prince.”

There was a loud gasp from one of the spectators.

“But Amara, this means…”

“We can marry.”

“Oh, Amara! I love you!”

“Oh, Sebastian! I love you too!”

Jonathan joined the two dolls and made kiss noises, often pausing to say “Amara” in a deep voice, and “Sebastian” in a high pitched one. The epic climax of his doll show was stopped by his sister Clary throwing a pillow at him. “Hey! It was getting good.”

Clary dropped her head to the side, her orange waves falling on top of Valentina, their young half-sister, to who he was making the doll show for. “I think there are certain people in the audience a little too young for this kind of thing, no?” She smiled at him.

“I’ve seen people kiss before.” Valentina crossed her small arms. “Princesses always kiss their prince in the end. And mommy and daddy kiss all the time. And you are always kissing Jace. I think. It looks more like he’s eating your face than kissing you.” Jonathan burst out laughing, so Clary hit him with a pillow again. “Pillow fight!” Yelled Valentina, before jumping on her brother with a small pillow on her tiny hands.

Clary joined her, laughing. “Why is this two against one?” He complained. “It’s unfair!” The two red-haired girls ignore him. “Alright, is this how it’s gonna be? Fine. Then I’m calling a friend of mine.”

“Who?” Asked Valentina, pausing for a second to hear what he had to say.

“My very food friend, the Tickle Monster!” He waved his fingers at her.

“NO!” She screamed, her big blue eyes filled with humour. He lunged for her and tickled her as she screamed in glee. “Clary!” She turned to her sister.

“Sorry, Val.” She shook her head. “You’re on your own.”

The racket they were making was interrupted by a knock on Clary’s bedroom door. “Come in.” She said between giggles.

Luke’s face appeared through the open door. “Hey, guys. I’m sorry to interrupt, but it’s already past Valentina’s bedtime.”

“No.” The small girl whined. “I wanna stay up with Clary and Johnny like a big kid.”

Clary pulled Valentina onto her lap. “Think about it like this: if you go to bed now, you will have lots of energy tomorrow and we can spend the whole day having fun.”

“Just us?” She looked up at Jonathan, giving him her best puppy eyes and jotting out her lip in a small pout. She knew he could never say no to her, especially not when she gave him that look.

“Just us.” He nodded. “But you have to go to bed now.”

She sighed. “Fiiiiiiine.” She jumped out of bed and walked over to her father. Before leaving, she turned back to them. “Good night, Johnny.”

“Good night, demon child.” She giggled at the affectionate nickname he’d always called her.

“Good night, Clary.”

“Good night, Val.”

Luke waved goodnight at them and shut the door. Jonathan sighed. “There goes my plans tomorrow.”

“Yes, it’s a shame that you have to spend a whole day with your dear sisters instead of having to trail after your girlfriend as she uses you as a cargo donkey for her shopping bags.”

He came up to her headboard to sit next to her. “Gee sister, whoever hears you is gonna think you have a problem with Titania.” He said sarcastically.

“No, really?” She retorted, also sarcastically. They both chuckled. “I don’t understand why you’re even dating her.”

He leaned his head on the headboard to look at her. “Because we can’t all be dating beardless Thor.”

Clary snorted and laughed. “If Jace is beardless Thor, what does that make me?”

“Too good for him.”

She tilted her head and grinned. “Aw, Johnny!”

“Don’t!” He jabbed his finger at her.

She gave a whining exhale. “Why does Val get to call you that, but I don’t?”

“Because she’s four years old, cute, and worships me.” He shrugged. “She could call me trash, and I’d thank her.”

Clary laughed. They stood quiet for a few minutes before Clary slid down to lay on her back. He slid down next to her. She was scrapping one of her nails against another on the opposite hand, trying to take the remaining of the nail polish out. It was a nervous tick of hers. “What is it like being seventeen?” He watched her hands in silence instead of answering. “Jonathan?”

“What do you really want to ask me?”

The scrapping became more aggressive until she dropped her hands at her sides. “Did you miss him today?”

Jonathan knew who she meant. “I miss him every day.”

Their father, Valentine, had died when they were young. Killed in combat. Jonathan had been ten, and Clary was nine. Their mother had taken it hard, and for a while, Jonathan had feared for her. But then, Luke showed up. He had been Jocelyn’s best friend since childhood and had been like a brother to Valentine. He helped her get back on her feet.

Two years later, Luke had upgraded from mom’s friend who brings us cool stuff, to step-father. Jonathan had been against it. For those first few months of their marriage, he was rude, spiteful, and had rebelled. Dyed his hair black, wore dark contacts, wouldn’t obey curfew, ignored Luke whenever he spoke to him and yelled at his mother at every chance he got. He wished he could say that he changed once his mother got pregnant. But he couldn’t.

It wasn’t until after. After Jonathan’s mother went into labour. After his mother gave birth to Valentina. After he held her for the first time. After his baby sister looked up at him with those big blue eyes of hers for the first time and grabbed his thumb.

He started small. Started by obeying curfew. Wouldn’t raise his voice if Val was around. Took out the contacts and went back to the green eyes so much like his mother’s and Clary’s. Let the black dye fade from his hair, the natural blonde hair contrasting drastically. Accepted Luke into the family.

But his father had been his hero. He refused to let his step-father take over his memory. Luke had understood. There were boundaries, and he promised to never cross them. So far, he’d kept his promise.

“Today was fun, though.” He smiled at her.

“Who knew Luke could throw a good party?” She chuckled.

“Birthday party.” He lifted an eyebrow.

She shrugged. “Still a party.” She yawned. “I think my internal clock is calling for bedtime as well.” She sat up. “You staying?”

He shook his head and sat up as well. “No, I’m gonna go.” He got up and came to her side, leaning down to leave a kiss on the top of her head. “Night, sis.”

“Don’t let the bed bugs bite.” He chuckled, and he shut the door behind him.

He came around the living room and saw his mother curled up on the couch, her red hair up in a bun, a blanket around her and a mug with steam flowing out of it. She was staring intently at the tv. As he came closer, he noted she was watching a horror movie. “Is that smart to watch before bed?”

She gave a little startled jump, the contents of the mug almost falling on her. She exhaled. “Oh, it’s just you.”

He leaned his elbows on the back of the couch. “Who did you think I was? A demon?” He hissed at her, causing her to chuckle. She rested her mug on the coffee table and came back up to put her hand on his cheek. It was hot and gave him a chill in his forehead. “You’re too pretty to be a demon.”

He squinted at her. “I bet you say that to all your children.”

She chuckled again and dropped her hand. Jonathan missed the warmth. “What can I say? I have good genes. Only make beautiful children.”

He came around the couch and sat next to her. She pulled on the blanket and threw it around him. “Where’s Luke?”

She smiled. “He fell asleep right after putting Val to bed.” She turned her head to him. “You’re not tired?”

He shrugged. “A little, but I can force it out to watch the movie.” She threw her arm around his shoulders and pulled his head onto her own shoulder. Softly, she combed her painter’s hands through his hair. Sooner than he wished, his eyelids started feeling heavy, and his vision became blurry. As he was giving up, and surrendering to sleep, he felt a kiss on the top of his head, the same way he’d given his sister. “Rest, Jonathan.” His mother’s voice was distant in his ear. But she’d told him to rest.

And rest he did.

#sebastian morgenstern #jonathan morgenstern #clary fray #valentina graymark #luke garroway #jace herondale #jocelyn fairchild #clace #lucelyn #valentine morgenstern #the dark artifices #the mortal instruments #the shadowhunters chronicles #tda #tmi #tsc

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hedwigstalons · 4 years

Text

The Tracy Prize - part 14

My old laptop went to the electronics graveyard so I treated myself to a shiny new one. Of course all writing ideas then vanished.

Have a bit of a fun and nonsense section while I work out how on earth to wrestle this fic to some sort of conclusion.

Here are the earlier parts for those that want to go back to the beginning: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13

xoxoxox

“Is it ready?”

The low rumbling voice was quiet, a barely audible whisper in her ear. It sent an illicit thrill tingling through her body. There was no real need for the secrecy, Brains was deeply absorbed in his own project on the other side of the lab and had barely registered Virgil’s presence.

Claire nodded. She pointed the end of her pen at a small vial of colourless liquid on the back of her bench then continued scribbling in her notebook. It had taken several attempts and some failed testing on herself in order to ensure the mix was right but she was satisfied the liquid would do its job.

“Good. Grandma has gone to the mainland for a couple of days. I’ve checked in with John and there are no emergencies brewing. Weather systems are quiet, volcanoes are peaceful and Langstrom Fischler is on his best behaviour at a family wedding. The perfect night for a family dinner.”

Virgil wandered off the claim the kitchen, leaving Claire to continue her work.

Years of campfire cooking on family camping trips had given Virgil ample opportunities to hone his culinary skills for one-pot recipes. With all the comforts of a well-equipped kitchen to hand he could knock up a chilli that would have his brothers salivating more than any fine dining could. He knew that with this on offer no one would want to miss the meal.

He set to work chopping onions and tomatoes. A special blend of spices was ground and mixed. Soon the warm savoury aroma of good cooking began to permeate the house. A smell that would develop and set stomachs rumbling as the chilli was left to simmer gently.

First one resident then another wandered into the kitchen only to be swiftly evicted. Any brother attempting to dip a spoon into the pot for an early taste soon found themselves swatted away with a ladle. Virgil was not going to let anyone spoil their appetites before the feast was ready.

When the instruction was issued over the wrist comms that dinner was served it was as though the emergency alert had sounded. Running footsteps sounded around the complex as everyone hurried to claim a place at the table. Only Brains and Claire arrived at a more sedate pace.

Once everyone was seated Virgil started to carry across huge steaming pots of chilli, rice and a large tray of salty nachos to the table.

“Claire, before you sit down would you mind giving me a hand?” He indicated a tray of water glasses ready filled for distribution.

Claire nodded and headed over to the counter. With her back to the assembled diners she put a few drops of liquid from the vial into one of the water glasses then slipped the vial back into her pocket. Turning back to the table she then carefully handed out the drinks, making sure that one particular fish brother received the correct glass.

Ladles were dipped into pots and plates were filled. Virgil and Claire caught each other’s eye and smirked slightly as Gordon took a swig of his water while waiting for his turn with the serving spoons.

Everyone began tucking in.

Everyone except Gordon.

The first mouthful of chilli had him coughing and turning slightly purple. Scott looked at him with concern.

“Just went down the wrong way” he croaked.

The second mouthful burnt his tongue and the third had him breaking out in a sweat.

“What’s the matter Gordon? You don’t look too well.”

Trust Scott to pick up on his discomfort. He was starving and all he wanted to do was wolf down what was normally one of his favourite meals but the concoction in front of him was barely palatable.

“I’m fine” he muttered. “It’s just a bit too spicy tonight.”

Now more than just Scott was looking at him with concern. If anything Virgil’s chilli was on the milder aromatic side of the spice spectrum, something Gordon had been known to tease his older brother about on occasion.

“You sure you’re eating the same meal as the rest of us?” asked Scott.

Alan reached over and shovelled a large mouthful off of Gordon’s plate. “Nothing wrong with the food. Gordon’s just being a wuss” he announced.

Everyone resumed eating but Scott kept a careful eye on the aquanaut, worried in case his brother was sickening for something.

He wasn’t the only one keeping watch; Claire and Virgil shared a satisfied smirk.

Gordon’s stomach growled. He had been waiting for this all afternoon and now, for some reason, his portion was inedible. Yet everyone else around him tucking in happily having been served from the same pot. He nibbled at his rice and was pleased to find that he could eat that without a hitch.

Having been denied the chilli Gordon turned his attention to the nachos. As he popped the first crisp into his mouth it was as though his tongue had been dragged across a salt lick. He hurriedly swirled more of his water round his mouth in an effort to take taste away.

He was now feeling thoroughly miserable. He picked at his rice, the only thing he could manage to eat. Plain boiled rice did not make for a satisfying meal.

With the main course over Virgil cleared the table to make room for dessert. Tubs of lemon sorbet were brought out of the freezer and placed on the table.

“Hey, how come Scott gets his favourite?” Alan grumbled.

“If you bothered to help out when the supplies need ordering you might be able to pop a few of your own favourites on the shopping list” Virgil admonished, leaving Alan looking a little shamefaced. The youngest of the clan had got very adept at making himself scarce when there were household chores to be done. “And anyway, the lemon will be a nice palate cleanser after the chilli.”

It was with some trepidation that Gordon picked up his dessert spoon. He took a nervous sip of water before taking a bite of the frozen pudding.

He nearly went cross eyed as he received an intense sour hit. His cheeks were sucked in and his tongue felt like it had cramp. He threw down his spoon with a clatter.

“Gordon, what the hell is wrong with you tonight?” Kayo snapped. “Virgil spent hours cooking and you are acting like someone is trying to poison you.”

Gordon was now thoroughly bewildered. He looked around the table and his eyes lit upon Virgil and Claire who were both trying to stifle a laugh.

“I don’t know. But those two sure do.” He pointed across the table as he made his accusation. “I don’t know how, but those two are responsible.”

Scott followed his brother’s pointing finger. He couldn’t see how Virgil and Claire could have done anything, they had all eaten from the same pots and served themselves, but he knew his brothers and Virgil was definitely looking guilty.

“Spill” he commanded. “What have you done to Gordon?”

Claire and Virgil shared a look. It was time to confess. Claire put her hand into her pocket, withdrew the glass vial, and placed it on the table.

“What is that and is Gordon going to be ok?” there was a definite threat in the question.

Virgil placed himself in the firing line. “It’s perfectly harmless. It just overstimulates your taste buds and makes them hyper-sensitive. The effects wear off over time.”

Claire nodded. “I’ve tested it on myself a few times, you’ll live.”

Gordon breathed a sigh of relief. It explained why he was only able to stomach the plain rice.

“And how much longer of this do I have to put up with?” he grumbled, taking another sip of water.

“Well it lasts for about two hours after the last dose. Which means…” Virgil looked theatrically at his watch, then at the glass that Gordon was still holding, “you have about one hour, fifty-nine minutes and thirty seconds left to go. You have been dosing yourself nicely all evening.”

“Why, Virgil?” Scott knew the engineer was not one to act unprovoked and this was likely therefore to be an act of retaliation.

“Call it payback for his little chat with Auntie Val. And he called Two a lumbering bus. No one gets away with insulting my ‘bird” he pouted.

Scott rolled his eyes. These pranks between brothers were common enough and as long a no serious damage was done he generally found it was better to let things run their course.

He had to admit he was more than a little surprised that Claire had been a participant in tonight’s entertainment. From what he had seen she was dedicated to her work. If anything, too dedicated. Before tonight he had been worried that she wasn’t really integrating with the family. Now he was just relieved that, with her chemical talents, she had teamed up with Virgil rather than Gordon or Alan.

For some people revenge is a dish best served cold. For Virgil and Claire it was a dish best served spicy, salty and sour.

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds fanfiction #scott tracy #virgil tracy #john tracy #gordon tracy #alan tracy #kayo #brains

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suffering-and-happy-about-it · 5 years

Text

WhatsApp? Part 5. (Steve Rogers x reader)

Description: You’ve never been lucky with guys. You just wanted to catch someone’s eye, to be loved. One day, that’s about to turn completely - with one fake, completely imagined number a guy gave you

A/N: I am a little shit for this tbh. But shush.

Warnings: FIRST ACTUAL SIGN OF FLIRTING.

Tagging: @missdictatorme @songforhema

Read the rest and don't be scared bcs of my crazy ass: Part One Part Two Part three Part four

Series master list if you love to read series in order like me :) (I got u, boo): H E R E

You had coma while you slept. Not like an actual coma - but you were totally dead when you fell asleep at half-past one a.m. You were done for - three and a half hours past your bedtime, charmed by some mysterious man and worried the hell out for that poor boy who snored all over the place.

Thank God May was woken up and that she had lived nearer to the office than you do. Because you could wake up later than you usually did. The traffic wasn't so bad in this part of Queens either.

"Pancakes are on the table, sleepyhead. Now wake the hell up." - She giggled when you just hummed into your pillow, refusing to wake the fuck up. You fell asleep at one a.m. for god's sake. This was some torturing and you were sure of it.

"I think I need to take a day off. I'm dead. I'm more dead than Peter was yesterday." - You mumbled into the pillow, smelling the delicious pancakes.

"I'm feeling ok now, Y/N." - A young voice rang through the living room. You felt dizzy, yet you take your head off the small pillow you've slept on. Peter, who's body most likely had the last hurrah before death yesterday, was sitting at the table, grinning at you widely. - "You're the dead elephant in the room right now."

He had his sweater on, his hair was super messy and he looked tired as hell. But he was alive per se.

"I will recall what I just thought in my head before a second." - You sat, yawned out loud like a lion on savanna at the midday and turned your head to him. You looked tired but really, really happy. That made him look happy as well. - "Because you're having your last hurray before your death. Guess the joke's on you, zombie-kiddo."

Peter knew you were just messing with him. You two did it all the time - friendly beefs and arguments about everything - the most of them happened after you've seen the last sci-fi movie in local cinema (you were his adult company to the movies he and his super best pal couldn't go alone to and you knew that even if Pete will grow up or find a gf, this will be a part of your life that's not going to change.)

"I'm mentally more mature than you are. At least I know how to get my crush better without panicking and talking to a fifteen-year-old boy. I know better than you." - Pete was teasing the hell out of you. - "Anyway, how did it even go?" - He wiggled his eyebrows at you, eating the pancake slowly.

"Well if you didn't come practically walking dead into our office yesterday, I would tell you... That we moved from strangers to friends with Steve." - You served yourself a pancake with some syrup on it. You sometimes slept over at their place, May always being the chef. And her pancakes? Dear lord. That was the best fucking thing ever. Period.

"He texted her six of those worried messages when she forgot her phone at the office." - May abrupted the conversation without taking her eyes off her newspaper. - “I think we all can consider that as something.” - She laughed a bit when you hissed in her direction.

“Choose your side here May!” - You laughed and heard your phone vibrating at the small table in front of the TV, plugged into the charger as you left it before you fell asleep. You smiled and saw Peter grinning at you under the palm that covered his mouth.

---

You couldn't even believe how fast can a month go around. You didn't even notice - you worked from nine to five at the charity, enjoying your time with your girl, sometimes you even hang out. Not too often tho, because you loved when you just curled in your favorite PJs, watching a movie and letting Steve make you laugh. (Don't worry, Steve’s unintentional dumbness made Sam laugh a lot as well.)

You two were basically internet besties. Steve read almost everything that happened you during the day (he found your life so calm and nice, he almost got jealous at you) and he even shared some details from his day-to-day life with you as well. He was usually surrounded by his friends - some name called Sam, one named Bucky and a woman whose name was apparently Natasha. They seemed to be an extra funny squad from what Steve had told you.

Peter got really better after he almost stressed you out at the hospital. The fevers didn't come back, he didn't vomit since then and that biting on his wrist disappeared as well. He survived that and you were nothing but happy for him.

You even bought a hella good and hella cheap costumes for your performance at that Stark Charity Evening. You had a long meeting about what choreography you will actually do, but then Kat, the biggest sex bomb at your office stood up.

“I think we should do Candyman choreography. It's thematic and it's sexy. And we are sexy, isn't that right, Val?” - She encouraged you. She was a feminist and May was too energetic and too much of a leader, she liked that idea immediately.

“Ladies, that's it. We can be sexy but not slutty female officers. I like it. Yeah. We can get some costumes like a uniform tux and a pencil skirt...” - May tried to get you a vision of her idea. You honestly thought it is a bit stupid - Christina was super slutty in that clip. May was not really that type of a gal - but she would be up for it if is PG-13.

“But you know, we can show some skin off.”- Deena took off where May started, looking at everyone. - “Jesus May, I didn't say we will make it a lesbian show-off strip tease even tho I know that Val would've loved it.” - She winked at Valerie and she just laughed. - “I mean, we can have those shirts tied around our back and some short under the uniforms. Like that girl who is showing her biceps off and is like a mechanic? Abby knows what I'm talking about, she has that posted in front of her for two years now.”

“So...” - Suzie looked at everyone. - “We will start off as officers but then we will strip the formality off and show the men that we can take care of ourselves.” - She continued. Kat just seemed to be proud of that idea. And to be honest, when it would be like that, you were up for some Candyman as well. - “It will be a nice nod to the marinas and if we will have a good choreography, we can raise more money. Especially from the men. And that is our goal.”

“Okay girls. We have ourselves a plan. Now the choreography is in your hands and costumes are the things that I will take care of.” - You smiled shyly. You were off to a good start.

But you know, everything has to stop eventually.

Steve: I will be off the country for the next fourteen days and maybe more because of my work. I'm really, really sorry.

That hit you completely unprepared. You almost forgot about that thing with Steve’s job... Everything was just too dreamy to think about that mans job. You bit your bottom lip, looking around. You felt like everyone in the office could feel your mood shift even if nobody paid you any attention. But you tried to play it off as a joke - you were friends after all.

Y/N: As long as you will send me a postcard and you'll miss me out there, I think I'll make it somehow.

You put your phone on your desk and looked at the computer with a blank stare. You knew him an only month and a half - you didn't know where he lives, what does he look like or how does his voice sound like, but that man just had some magic in his texts.

You wished that you were joking when you said it yourself, but he really had some magic in him. Two weeks without him? You will miss him badly. A month? You will go crazy in no time.

Steve: That can be arranged. :)

A gentleman at all costs, you smiled and closed your eyes for a while. Maybe it was good that you will take a short break from each other. You will be more looking forward to his kind words. Even more, you did now. Which sound impossible, but it may be right.

Y/N: Which one of the things we are talking about? I don't want to make any high hopes, handsome.

You joked and looked back at the stuff you were working on. It looked good - it was a document about the usage of food and the clothes you gathered from the locals. There was one big pre-fall evening where you will be giving the thing to the homeless people and you needed to document how many things you had actually. You were almost done so a little dispersion from Steve was not a bad thing.

Steve: I thought we are talking about both of the things you wrote to me. Especially about the second one.

Everything in you froze for a sec. Did he really... Did he really just flirted with you? And was it you or it was the most fascinating and smooth thing someone ever did around you? You half-hissed and half-laughed at that, suddenly being happy as hell. Wow.

Y/N: So you would miss me?

No need to be overreacting. Maybe he is just messing with you - yeah. This man here sometimes got you good, once or twice, but it didn't happen too often. Which was kind of a bummer? He was so funny at times.

Steve: Do you even need to ask about that? Of course, I will.

And that was it. You felt like screaming and jumping so high you will touch the clouds. Steve Rogers, the man who made you laugh with his shyness and cuteness had definitely told you that he will miss you. It almost felt like a first I love you. But you didn't want to get too over yourself.

“I know that victory dance you're performing now.” - Suzie, the elegant tall blonde suddenly appeared at your desk with other papers with you. - “This man is actually doing a thing to you, do you know that? It's lovely to see.” - She said quietly as she let you off.

The squad you belonged in had almost the most stereotypical friends in it - May definitely was the Mom one, there was no point in denying that. Deena was a girl full of energy and love for life, the paries felt wilder with her in it. She was the energetic one, still listening to Wannabe by The Spice Girls or Fancy by Iggy Azalea. Suzie felt like the quiet one, but she was just reserved and well mannered - she was somehow related to some fancy monarchy people or what. And you were the wallflower - everyone told you things and you just kept them a secret. Also, you were the hanging out friend. Things were much more enjoyable and funnier with you around.

So yeah. That was typical Suzie. She noticed, told you - but she was really formal and reserved, just giving you a shy smile. If Deena found you in this state, she would remind you every three to five seconds about your dreamy face. You should be grateful to Suzie for waking you up to this gently.

Y/N: I will miss you too.

And it was out. Just like that, you admitted you will miss him. And you thought like everything just started with small, five- worded sentence.

---

Steve looked at his phone with a frown, watching your conversation for a little while. You weren't exactly making it easier for him to leave America and go to Russia. Most likely a whole month without you. He inhaled deeply.

Both of you got used to each other's virtual presence so much it felt like the day will not be complete without the other one in it. Was it the feeling Clint told him about? The one when he had to leave Laura and his kids? It must've been something fairly similar, but on a smaller scale.

And you will miss him as well. Damn it, weren't you a sweetheart?

“Are we ready to take off today or should we call it off?” - Natasha called at him from inside of the Quinjet, looking like a walking hair product commercial. She was truly beautiful, but not for Steve, he had someone else on his mind. She was beautiful for Sam tho and he didn't hesitate to tell her, but she always rolled her eyes and told him to bugger off.

“Let him be, he has to say goodbye to his online girlfriend.” - Sam answered Natasha in a cocky voice, patting Steve’s back. At that point, Sam declared you like Steve’s girl at every actual chance he got his hands on.

Bucky was more calmed and down to earth about that. He knew you make Steve smile and that you charmed him with your points and kindness. But there was a lot of more far ahead of you two - to meet up, try if your chemistry actually works in person and so on. But that didn't make him stop from making dumb jokes about you two from time to time. But he was not as persistent as Sam.

“Shut up birdbrain.” - Bucky hushed him as he prepared his things inside the Quinjet next to Nat. - “You are just jealous because no girl has an actual interest in you. That is a point.”

“I wonder why I wonder how...” - Natasha sang quietly and made Bucky chuckle.

“It is a real mystery. We should call Scooby-Doo. Aren’t you fellas? You know, you're both animals and...” - Bucky shrugged his shoulders and just continued in teaming up with Natasha against Sam. They were a strong team, quite an enforcement commando used against Sam. Also, Bucky was a sucker for Scooby-Doo. He loved Velma especially.

“The girl from the bistro would tell you different, old man.” - Sam sat next to them, watching Steve with a slight smile. He was proud of him. He didn't fuck up and it was almost two months since this WhatsApp thing started.

“She smiled at you and laughed at your jokes because she knew you will give her a bigger tip.” - Nat zipped Sam off before he could even start about that Tessa girl from the place they had lunch in. - “Because no one would laugh at your jokes willingly.”

Bucky gave her a high five. - “Shots fired.”

Steve: I'll call you when I'm back. And that's a promise.

Steve: I really need to go, my friends are getting impatient and they are behaving like literal children. I need to take care of them. Be safe, Y/N. Okay?

He wrote quickly and followed his friends, knowing that he will hear your voice when he gets back. And that was a thing worth of speeding the mission up. Or at least doing everything it takes for that.

#steve rogers #captain america #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers imagine #james buchanan barnes #bucky barnes #the winter soldier #sam wilson #the falcon #natasha romanoff #black widow #peter parker #may parker #lovely

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kassandra-lorelei · 4 years

Note

I would love a prompt of C.C. realising she is younger than Fran. And how our Niles reacts, of course :P

@missbabcocks1 Here we are, at last, my bestie! I hope this was everything you were expecting when you requested it!

But also, oh my God, I am so far behind on all these prompts! I’m so sorry everyone’s been waiting - work keeps me very busy! I will try to do more, more often, to get through them! I need to get back on track a bit, even though I work full time now. Besides, it will be good - who doesn’t love hearing about these two idiots and their adventures?

Niles had to say, there was something extremely pleasantabout C.C. having been told to go on maternity leave. In the days after thewhole extended clan had arrived in California, there had been so much work todo – particularly for both his wife and Mr. Sheffield at the studios – that itseemed as though neither one of them would get a break!

Fortunately, a small miracle had happened and Maxwell had,over the course of some months (as opposed to his usual years), noticed thatthe load was really too much for her to handle. Studio work, even forproducers, didn’t lend itself to anything apart from being on one’s feet allday when shooting and the rounder her belly grew, the more it was starting tobecome a concern whenever a live set inspection or meeting was called.

It was a relief for the butler when their employer hadfinally told her to simply rest at home for the remainder of her pregnancy. Notthat C.C. hadn’t put up a fight, of course. She seemed to have a constant worrythat things just wouldn’t get done if she wasn’t there to make sure of it, andfor the first long, few weeks, she hadn’t been able to help swinging wildly ona pendulum back and forth between “on edge and anxious” and “bored out of hermind”.

That was why Niles had done everything he could to keep heroccupied, which was what he found so pleasant about it, in truth. Having her athome meant that they got to spend more time together, just as they would’vedone had they still been at the mansion back in New York. They’d read books,watched movies, tossed playful remarks back and forth as he went about hischores – the works. He’d even bring lunch right to her lap if she was feelingtoo tired or uncomfortable to move.

As time moved forward and C.C. settled further into hermaternity leave, her worries seemed to settle as well. Not that they went awaycompletely, of course, but enough so that she could actually enjoy herself andnot think about working all of the time.

Not that she didn’t find some of that to do around themansion, as well. The office always had things that needed clearing, filing or reworkingand it wasn’t as though Maxwell would ever get around to it. So, C.C. had takenit upon herself to do a little bit of administration work, every once in awhile, whenever she felt the boredom creeping up on her again.

She had clearly felt the urge a little while after Niles hadbrought her lunch, because when he returned to the living room with his own sandwich(he’d cooked the bacon for this BLT to perfection, in his mind), her plate fromher meal was clean and she had retrieved another box.

She was sat going through the papers inside it, a greatCheshire Cat-like grin stretching across her gorgeous face.

He loved to see her looking so happy, even if it did alsointrigue him. What could she have found in that box that had made her sopleased? He could even hear her chuckling a little bit under her breath…!

Well, there wasn’t anything like having a little bit oftheir usual fun to ask her what was going on…

He sauntered over, allowing a grin to start to curl at thecorners of his mouth.

“You’re looking awfully chipper. Did Mr. Sheffield call tosay that he’s fired someone you hate?”

C.C. looked up and smiled at him brightly, “Better.”

“Oh,” he blinked in return, coming to stand over where shewas sat on the sofa, craning his neck a little to take a look at what she wasdoing. “Two people?”

C.C. half-rolled her eyes at him. He didn’t take itpersonally – he knew it was all part of the fun.

“No one’s been fired, Scrubbing Bubbles,” she told him. “Ijust happen to have stumbled upon an excellent piece of news.”

“Is that so?” Niles’ eyebrow raised and he leaned in towardsher, elbows resting on the back of the sofa. “Would you care to share thisexcellent piece of news with your now-very-curious husband?”

His wife pretended to think about it, before another verypleased grin began to spread itself on her lips.

She practically purred her answer, “I might, for a littlequid pro quo…”

That was an answer Niles always enjoyed hearing. He wasbasically finished for the day, not including dinner, which he could easily putoff for another couple of hours or so.

And he was sure he knew the perfect way to spend them.

“Well, you know I am always happy to scratch your back, ifyou scratch mine…”

His motion to lean down and plant a kiss on her lips wasinterrupted at the very last second, when C.C.’s hand darted out and she pickedup his sandwich off his plate, taking a bite out of it and putting the restback.

She chewed for a while, during which Niles could only try tostammer out a protest but fail, eventually just letting his jaw drop and hangthere for a moment until she was done and ready to speak.

She dusted her hands off as she picked up the paper she’dbeen reading, “Now, you wanted to know what I’ve been looking at.”

Niles frowned in slight annoyance at his plate, “Yes, and Icould’ve enjoyed one whole, complete sandwich to go along with it…”

C.C. rolled her eyes, trying to look unimpressed but notreally managing to conceal her amusement.

“I’ll make it up to you later,” she said in a voice that luckilypromised it without using those words, before going back to the paper. “Youwanna see what I’ve found here or not?”

After a moment, Niles sighed.

“Alright, you’ve got me. What is it?”

“There’s the yenta I know and love,” his wife grinned,gesturing proudly at all her hard work. “I’ve been refiling and reorganisingall the household legal documents. The Sheffields’ and ours.”

“Both sets?” Niles quirked an eyebrow, surprised. “Shouldn’twe leave the Sheffields’ files for them to sort out?”

C.C.’s grin dropped away from her face and she gave him ALook. They both knew exactly what it meant, too – he had just been so takenaback by it in the heat of the moment that the answer hadn’t really registeredto him.

The Look meant something along the lines of “Who are youkidding, Butler Boy? Since when have the Sheffields ever done anything that wecould do for them?” mixed in equal combinations with “Would you trust Maxwellor Fran Sheffield to do something like organise and keep legal documents?”.

He could only really nod in return, once the understandinghad settled in properly.

“Good point,” he said, turning his attention back to thepapers. “What did you find? I’m assuming, of course, that your good news comesfrom one of these pages.”

“You’d assume correctly, lover,” she lifted one single sheetof paper out of her lap so that he could see. “Check this out.”

Setting his sandwich down on the one clear patch on thecoffee table, Niles took and peered at the document.

His eyes then went back to his wife, “It’s a copy of MrsSheffield’s birth certificate.”

His immediate thought was to ask why she had been looking atthat particular piece of paper in the first place, but it was almostimmediately interrupted by the rest of his brain asking him who he thought hewas kidding. Fran’s birth certificate was a closer and more heavily guardedsecret than the contents of the Vatican archives; he would’ve looked withouthesitation, if he’d been the one doing the filing.

They both already knew that C.C. knew this, too. There wassomething especially warming in that – they knew each other, inside and out, andknew exactly when the other would be interested in something they’d found.

“Mm-hm,” she hummed pleasantly, as smug as a cat who’dgotten both the cream and the canary. “Notice anything about it?”

Niles studied the certificate carefully, looking for the onepiece of information that she could be talking about. There was one reasonnobody ever saw this paper, and it was the one thing they’d both truly wonderedabout their friend for as long as they’d known her.

Of course, he had the information that she was in the sameclass as Val at school, who had accidentally let slip one time how old she was,but there was something more concrete about seeing the proof firsthand. Rightthere in front of him, on the official piece of paper that recorded Fran’s birthday.Besides, what if Val also lied about her age (poorly, compared to MrsSheffield, but even so)? Or what if the hastily-used excuse that Val kept beingheld back turned out to be true (because, well, come on)?

It didn’t take long to find.

In the butler’s mind, he’d more than half imagined that herbirth date would look…off, compared to other people’s. That was, he’d thoughtthere would be a day and a month, but no year. His sense of logic had steppedin in the moments he’d thought that and told him not to be ridiculous – itwould be scribbled out with a pen, or redacted, like an important militaryrecord, or the dates and locations of stories that authors wanted to representas “real life” in Victorian literature.

But, much to his surprise, neither of those things weretrue. The date was there, in full.

And his eyes could only widen at the number printed on thatpage.

“No…!” he exclaimed in some disbelief, incredulous at havingthe proof positive there in his hands. “It can’t really be true! Surely…!”

“Oh, yes,” C.C. was on the verge of chuckling in puredelight, clasping her hands together in glee. “Our good, perpetuallytwenty-nine-year-old friend, is at the same time, somehow older than I am!”

As if to illustrate her point and celebrate at the sametime, she began to half-dance in her seat, shimmying her shoulders from side toside and wiggling her hips as much as her belly would allow.

Niles watched in amusement, his hand dropping away with thepaper still in it.

“You really are pleased with yourself for finding this,aren’t you?” he asked, mostly rhetorically because the answer was obvious toanybody who had working eyes.

His wife scoffed, still in the middle of her dance number, “Likeyou’re not happy to have finally fully solved the mystery! I’m surprised youdidn’t do this back when she first started at the-oof!”

Suddenly, she flinched, doubling over and clutching at herstomach, halting her in her seated tracks.

In an instant, the butler tossed the paper back into the pileand flew to her side, seating himself next to her as alarm bells immediatelywent off in his head, loud and ringing like the end of the world was on its way.In his state of dread and panic, an impending apocalyptic event would haveactually been preferable to what he imagined might have been happening.

What was going on? Was something the matter? Was it thebaby?!

“C.C., are you alright?!” he cried out, fear of the worststarting to grip at his heart.

Much to his relief, she took in a few deep breaths andrelaxed, letting her arms slip gently around her stomach.

“Yeah…yeah, I’m fine,” she said, raising an accusing eyebrowat her bump as a faintly entertained smirk made its way onto her lips. “Yourlittle servant spawn must’ve felt my happiness and decided to aim a kick at mylower intestine!”

Niles felt the last of the fear be washed away by the toneof her voice and the look on her face as she rubbed at her belly. She was fine.The baby was fine. Everything was fine. He could calm himself back down.

He could get himself back on track. Besides, he had afeeling that it might distract her from the glee of finding out for definitethat she was younger than Fran, and they’d all be allowed to go on with theirdays.

He pulled her into an embrace, settling one of his hands ontop of her stomach and patting it lovingly.

“Getting creative at running rings around you, even from inthe womb,” he beamed proudly. “We have a little prodigy on our hands already.”

C.C.’s half-smirk blossomed into a full one, “And you’ve gotyourself a little clone.”

Niles slid his hand over her belly, taking her hand andentwining their fingers, “You say that as though it were a bad thing.”

She pretended to think about it in return, exaggerating alook of contemplation and using her free hand to tap at her chin.

“Essentially having two of you around the place? Now, why onEarth would I think that was a bad idea…?”

He slid as close as he possibly could in response, leaningin so that his nose was nearly brushing hers.

“You wouldn’t. You love me too much for that…”

C.C.’s slightly hitched breath was warm against his skin, “Maybe.”

Niles felt the corners of his mouth twitching upwards, “Alittle.”

His wife played at being stubborn, “Sorta.”

It was at this point that the butler knew he’d won the game,“Kinda.”

He felt his lips brush against hers, before C.C. pulled awayjust enough to give him a teasing look.

“If our kid turns out to be as big a sap as you…” she lookedlike she was trying to think of a good threat, but came up with nothing.Instead, she simply shook her head. “I really have no idea what I’ll do.”

“I imagine you’ll be forced to finally melt and renounceyour throne. Though I have no idea where they’ll find another Ice Queen at suchshort notice…” he closed the gap again and quickly pecked her lips. “Unless, ofcourse, you’ve already melted.”

She was back to smirking again in an instant, in a way thatmade him think she thought she’d caught him out on something.

“You’re not distracting me out of it.”

Niles’ brow furrowed, “Out of what?”

“Being happy for my little age victory over Nanny Fine,” shereplied, poking him lightly in the chest.

The butler felt his face fall. Damn, she really was good. It truly did go to show just howwell they knew what the other was thinking at any given moment…!

Well, all he could hope to try and do now was downplay thewhole situation enough that she might not keep that smirk of hers for weeks onend.

“I hadn’t intended to distract you from that – our littleone did the job for me quite well enough,” he eventually counterpointed. “Besides, whosaid anything about it having to be a competition?”

C.C. seemed slightly put out by his question.

“No one, but I don’t think it would kill anybody toacknowledge it.”

Niles bit back a frown. She did have a point; she wasyounger, and she had every right to be able to say so. Many years’ worth of“old” and “ancient” jokes could easily be deflected away without trouble, withthat knowledge out in the open, as well as in mind.

Besides, it wasn’t as though not being twenty-nine tookanything away from Fran. Their friend had many things in her life to enjoy andbe proud of, and her age didn’t have any bearing in any of them.

So, he smiled, giving his wife a kiss on the cheek.

“Alright. We’ll talk about it with her tonight,” he said,before pointing a finger at her, emphasising that he meant what he was about tosay. “Using gentle words, though. You say you don’t think it will kill anybody,but you can never be completely sure.”

C.C., chuckled and grabbed his hand, “As you wish, ScrubBrush.”

The gesture was tender, and her voice amused. She wasagreeing to his terms with neutral feelings, but she was enjoying the fact that hewas being so commanding over it.

He couldn’t hold back a smirk over how it wasn’t the firsttime.

“God, I love it when you agree with what I say…” he practicallygrowled, thinking back to her words before about “making it up to him”.

His wife’s eyebrow shot up and she began to grin, clearlyunderstanding, “Hoping to cash in on that promise I made just now, are we?”

Niles pointedly checked his watch in return, “Well, we dohave a few spare hours before anybody is due to arrive home…”

C.C. cast her eyes quickly towards his sandwich, remindinghim it was still there, “What about your lunch?”

The butler studied her for a moment, and then looked atwhere his sandwich was sat waiting, the bacon and lettuce crisp against the soft,cool tomato and the bread cut thick from the loaf he’d bought only that morning.

He reached out, grabbed his prized lunch and took one bite,chewing it rapidly and swallowing before setting it back down and taking hisnow-laughing wife into his arms.

“I’ll finish it later.”

#anon asks #the nanny #niles and cc #niles the butler #cc babcock #otp: butler bitch #otp: always been bitter together

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storiesofadanandhisdog · 5 years

Text

The Kings Crown

PROLOGUE

The rain fell in large drops, straight down on the hood of Keldorn’s worn cloak. The evening was thick with the smell of wet and rotting wood from the forest floor. Mud sucked and grabbed at the wheels of his drive cart and trailing load. They were heavy and piled high with all kinds of goods on their way to the market in Talaris.

“Come on ya filthy orc smellin’ son’s o’ cows.” Keldorn shouted at the gorthas pulling the train along with seemingly no trouble at all. Gorthas are huge leathery animals that closely resemble a rhino crossed with a pig, but bigger than you might think.

“We won’t find no dry place to sleep ere’n this forest tonight if ya don’t git those stubby legs movin'.” He knew it was a totally useless suggestion though; gorthas after all have only two speeds, slow and 'I’m dragging An entire store behind me, through a foot of sucking mud, and can’t possibly move any faster if you lit my butt on fire'. So he pulled his hood a little lower and mumbled to himself.

Keldorn had started out from his home in the mountains of Roundhin, more than two weeks past the point any other traders will make the trip. Winter comes hard to this region, and most make good and sure they and their horses are home before it hits. Winters bite would have little effect on the thick skinned gorthas though, and Keldorn has seen a few hard winters out of doors and far from a warm bed.

His thoughts started to wander again to his friends, and the thought of seeing them again after what seemed a long time indeed. “Come on, GET! “ He barked snapping a seldom used whip at his side. He felt bad using the tool because of its symbolism, and not for any thought that they may get mad, or even feel it. These gorthas have been with him for twenty years. The moment they are born, gorthas are introduced to the dwarf who will be as their family. Keldorn and no other can ask them to move. Anyone who tries to force a gortha to go where it doesn’t want to go is wasting the last few moments of their life pushing a mountain that can pulverize steel in it’s blunted teeth.

“S'ok, I’m just a might touchy s’all.” In Talaris his friends are gathering at this very moment to drink and laugh, toast and cheer, of their past adventures together. There is no place on earth he would want to be more.

The rain worsened, but there was a small almost invisible smile on the side of Keldorn’s face. He’d be there by dawn.

Davin Mitrell rode to Talaris atop a perfectly groomed mare named Apple. The horse had no sentimental significance, but was a good mannered and intelligent beast. He rode well and the way was smooth, so the trip had been good so far. He was only a half day out by soft ride, so he took his time and enjoyed the day.

In the trees and bushes, that line the eastern road, eyes watched his passing with more than a passing interest in his wizards robes. These eyes noted no spell book at hand or even visible, wizards often had valuables on them and were easy marks when caught defenceless.

Davin sat back and smiled as he thought of the perfect way to surprise his old companions, he’d walk in to the tavern with a chicken under one arm and a loaf of bread under the other and say ……

An arrow dug into the side of his robe and scratched a deep line along his chest, as twelve men jumped out onto the road in front and behind him.

“Get him quickly before he can get to some sort o’ magic or another,” one of the bandits barked. They rushed forward from all sides, and another arrow passed by the now rearing horse.

Startled into action, Davin cast the only spell he could think of. “Slee val ectrom!“ Davin is in point of fact not a wizard as the bandits had thought but rather a sorcerer, and a rather odd one at that. Not to say odd in manner, but in that every spell he seems to learn goes wildly out of control, or has some sort of unexplainable side effect. Most of the time you never know what’s going to happen.

The bandits all start to fall fast to sleep, which is good seeing as it was a sleeping type spell, but so does everything else. Birds drop from tree branches, squirrels fall onto the road, and most unfortunately for Davin is, his horse droops it’s eyelids an lays down for a nap. “Huh,” Davin looks around at the seen only slightly surprised, but more than a little concerned says,

“Now, should I wait for the horse to wake up or will they all wake up together?” He thought “Damn it.” Davin yelled, reaching down and picking up his pack, and anything he can carry from Apple, dusts himself off, and starts to put some ground between him and the bandits. “Sorry Apple, but I’m a little out manned here and have no way of knowing when they’ll get back up.” Davin tipped a nonexistent hat to his horse and the rest of his belongings, and headed for his friends and The Top of The Hill Tavern in Talaris. If he’s lucky he’ll be there by dawn.

The monk sits in a wobbly waggon pulled by three very old mules. They should be living out the last of their days in a field grazing lazily on oats, but the group of pilgrims the monk is travelling with can’t afford to replace them. The going is slow but none seem to mind, they are used to long journeys. They came from a group of small villages to the south and planned to make the temple district in Talaris their last stop before the long trip home.

The monk has fallowed this group for eight months, watching their faces as they see places and people of religious importance to them and their histories. He understands this need to feel connected to a larger world because of his own need to visit these places, to study what they may teach him. The monk has spent almost his whole life in the study and mastery of his mind and body, to better understand his own place in the world.

“Beggin’ your pardon Monk, but we're going to stop for a rest now,” Ged, one of the pilgrims said stirring the monk from his thoughts. “will ye be eating with us?”

“I will be glad of the fine company, Ged.” The monk would some times decline the offer when he was fasting before a meditation, which had no set time as far as his companions could tell, so they always asked. “Whose turn is it to prepare the meal?”

“Mary is up for the job today. She’s makin’ some sort of soup or stew, I’m not real sure.”

“Humm, maybe I’ll meditate after all.” These two never find the good natured women’s food very appealing, but neither of them have the heart to tell her.

“Ha, come on then lets be grateful for the fact that you're not cookin', and grab a bite my friend.” Ged helped the monk from the waggon and they set out to make a spot clear for the group to eat.

They ate their lunch in a flat clearing by the side of the road and talk quietly to one another.

“Tell use Monk, how along has it been since you saw these friends of yours?” Mary asked him as he finished his, uhm, soup, stew…. meal.

“The last time I saw them was three years ago. We had had a time of sorting everything out between Davin and that wizards guild I’ve told you of, and Keldorn, the dwarf of the group, made use all promise to meet again. We have been in touch over the years through various ways and agreed on a time and place convenient for everyone. I must say that I’m really going to be glad to see them all again. It seems a very long time.”

“We will probably make it there with time to spare, if the mules don’t die on us.” Ged laughed. ”We shouldn’t be more then an hour or two away from the city before we have to stop for the night.”

“It would be good to see them again,” he thought. “Not long now. We should be there at dawn.”

Mark Megal had an unusual travelling companion for a thief and a rogue. He rode beside his long time friend Corvin Godsmold, whose ornate chain shirt caught the sun and threw it about, shining and dancing off anything close by. The paladin almost always seemed to Mark to be giving off some kind of light. They were an odd pair, but they got along so well they just never got around to saying good bye as the others had after their last adventure together. Secretly, Mark stayed to have a good reason not to join a thieves guild, or worse an assassin’s guild. He just wasn’t that kind of a guy. Being able to say, “if I joined your group, I think my paladin friend there may have to smite me or something, and I have no desire to be smotten, thank you very much,” is a great way to avoid unwanted hassling. Mark is good at opening places that may have been shut to others, and finding his way safely to and from some of the more unsavoury places one sometimes needs to go, but he had never liked taking something that wasn’t his to take. Of course, possession is nine tenths of the law, and what Corvin doesn’t see won't kill him.

Corvin is a chosen paladin of Hundoo, God of honour and valour. He is a good man with strong principles, and he is rarely ever swayed once he has made up his mind what is right and what is wrong. Corvin likes having Mark with him for both company and for someone to help him stay true to his honour. He can trust Mark to always be Mark, a constant, always pulling some joke or scam. It’s in his harmless, if slightly immoral nature, that Corvin is reminded of what all people truly are at heart. Just people living their lives in the best way they know how.

“Do you think Safrin and Morin will be there by now,” Mark asked trying not to sound excited.

“They have been there for a week already, on some ranger business. We will Probably be the last ones there.” Corvin said, pointedly looking at Marks small horse. Mark had been forced to get a new one after his last one took a badly aimed arrow in the back of the head. This one was there, and cheap, two things that have great sway over the rogue purchasing decisions.

“It’s not my fault, we were running on rough ground and she jerked up at the last second. Anyways it not my fault.”

“Well with that mangy nag, we won't be there today, we’ll have to ride through the night to be there on time,” Corvin mocked Mark with a grin.

“Well that’s not a big deal, after all, it’s not like we’re going to have any trouble with you all decked out in your Hundoo parade gear. Who in their right mind would attack us?” Mark grabbed the back of Corvin’s cape and gave a tug, laughing wildly as Corvin fussed over his dress cape being mishandled.

“Right then,” Corvin said leaning forward so quickly that it almost pulled Mark, still holding onto his cape, right off his nag. Corvin grinned, spurred his horse and rode circles around Mark as he regained his seat. “If you can catch me this time, I promise not to tell Keldorn you shot and killed your own horse in glorious battle.” He proclaimed holding a fist to the sky at the glorious combat line.

“You wouldn’t.” A look of terror came over Mark’s face. “You’re not that mean.” He pleaded. “Isn’t it against your religion to kill someone by humiliation?”

“No”.

“Get back here you filthy god lover. Coward. Weakling. Oh come on.” Mark pleaded with the nag to move just a bit faster but it just would not move. As he watched Corvin ride away, he knew he’d never hear the end of this from Keldorn.

Corvin’s voice could still be head far down the road saying, ”Let’s go Mark, we don’t want to be late. We can be there by dawn.”

#fiction #fantasy #adventure #novel writing

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mystblbk · 5 years

Text

La Hija--Chapter 5(part 2)

NINE MONTHS AGO: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

The room is stuffy with the elite and my coat feels just a bit too tight because of it. I shift again and hear my mother huff next to me.

“You need to stop that,” she tells me with her patented look.

“Stop what,” I feign confusion.

She rolls her eyes, “If I didn’t know you better I would assume you’re nervous.”

My eyes narrow and I growl under my breath at her. My mother simply smirks at me. I shake my head and sip the wine I have in my hands.

“So,” my mom whispers, “Why are we really here for?”

I bit my lip, “I need an ‘in’ with León. His new wife needs to be charmed and this is a perfect way to get them both on my side.”

“Why not wait for the wedding,” my mom asks.

“Too many people,” I shrug, “I need a spread for the new resort I have and I really don’t want to shed too many pesos for it. I think a nice honeymoon might get me it for free.”

My mom rolls her eyes, “Shrewd businesswoman.”

I laugh and she follows along. We share a fond look then my mother takes my offered arm. I walk us into the next room with a nod to a few of my business partners on my way out. The engagement party is in full swing tonight and very little space of the rented mansion is quiet so I’m not surprised as we turn into the next gallery it’s full with chattering and happiness. My mother talks to me about her cooking classes and her girl dates with her friends. I can’t help but smile as she speaks, there was a time where she wouldn’t even leave the house after my father’s murder and seeing her like this makes me happy.

My mom suddenly shuts up and I look over at her. She’s staring across the room and I follow her eyesight. A young woman with dark brown hair, almost black, stands next to a handsome man.

Eva Carvajal and her new husband Mateo Luna.

“What,” I ask.

“Nothing,” my mom mumbles.

I furrow my brows as mom looks away to the painting next to us while taking a full swing of wine. I keep staring at mom while glancing over to the oldest Carvajal heir.

My mother shakes her head, “Women change like the wind, mi niña. Never forget that.”

I stare after her with a confused look but before I can ask about my mom’s attitude, Barabara Soto calls for my mom. Mamá smiles at her friend and then kisses my cheek before running off to her gang of misfits. I watch as her and the other three ladies kiss each other’s cheeks before walking off to who knows where.

“Change like the wind indeed,” I murmur.

“If someone sees you speaking to yourself, they might think you have gone mad.”

My small frown changes to a happy smile. I look back to my right and see the man of the hour with his fiance on his arm. León and Lucía look happy and content as they approach me. I grin at them and take my friend’s hand with an excited shake. After releasing Leon’s hand, Lucía leans over and exchanges cheek kisses with me When she pulls away, her hand automatically starts rubbing the spot of lipstick she leaves on me. I chuckle at the smirk León gives me as his woman grasps his hand again.

“Congratulations bud,” I say in English, “When were you going to tell me”

Leon rolls his eyes, “It just happened. This was supposed to be for the presentation of my book. Someone hijacked it.”

I share a fond look with Lucía, “And it pains you to share the spotlight, we all know this.”

The two laugh at my joke but smile at me with kindness.

“Thank you, Juliana,” Lucía cuts in, “Finally someone can say it to his face that isn’t me.”

We chat for a few minutes, exchanging stories about work and our families until I look down at my watch. They should be getting along with the other guests so I turn to my friend with a serious look. Lucía takes the hint and kisses me one final time before walking away. Leòn waits for me to speak so I do.

“I need your help,” I whisper.

“With?”

“I received a tip,” I explain, “A source has told me that Armenta is in the city again. I need someone who can confirm this.”

Leòn stares at me, “You’re looking for revenge that I can’t help you deal. Not any more. We talked about this.”

I shake my head, “I just need your informants to confirm. Nothing more. I have all I need in my own hands. I just need to know if it will be a walk in the park or one in Iran.”

He swirls his wine glass and thinks. I don’t say a word, this man had been a good ally since my take over and I value him as a friend as well.

Leòn finally takes his last sip, emptying his glass then turns to me, “Alright. But that is all I can do. I won’t endanger my people or my family, especially now.”

“That’s all I need,” I nod, “I’m repaying you for it.”

“You don—”

“For everything,” I cut him off, “For being a good friend and for being a wonderful ally, but mostly because you deserve some time off. I have a new resort in the Bahamas I’m promoting next year. The installation is ready and I want you to be the first to be there before the crews show up. It’s on a private beach and has connections to nearby towns to enjoy. Think of it as a honeymoon present for you and your new wife.”

León stares at me, knowing full well my family’s reward to loyalty, and then nods, “Okay. Thank you, Juliana.”

I wink at him, “Don’t break my suite, old man.”

He laughs and nods. I smile as he hugs me tightly then leaves me to find his fiance. I sip the remnants of my own glass then look for a server nearby. A full glass of red is pressed into my empty hand as the other is taken from me by a server. I turn to the person out of uniform and smile with a racing pulse.

“Valentina.”

“Hello again, stranger.”

The girl smiles down at me and I try to hold back a blush at the wink she gives me. Somehow I don’t do a good job because the heiress grins with stars in her eyes. I shake my head and allow a small laugh to leave my lips

“How ya been,” I drawl out.

Her smile twitches at my accent but she responds, “Good. Lucho has left me completely alone and I have more time to focus on my internship now that he isn’t breathing down my neck anymore.”

I narrow my eyes, “Do I need to—”

“It's fine now,” she speaks up while placing taking my other hand, “Don’t concern yourself on annoying men.”

I roll my eyes, “It’s a force of habit.”

“I suppose I can’t sue you for that then,” she winks again.

I shake my head and look away as she laughs. I get a whiff of her perfume as she bumps me softly with her shoulder. The scent makes my mouth water so I take a sip of the wine before speaking up again.

“Did my uncle save you again? You’re starting to make this ‘tardy’ thing a habit, you know. The purpose of an internship is to show how much of an adult you are. How adult are you if you keep showing up late for your afternoon classes?”

“I don’t do it on purpose,” she gasps, “You know I’m still upset about that. It’s been a few months and a ton of lunch dates and you have yet to explain yourself, Valdes.”

“It’s a lot to go through and I haven't had the time to sit down for that talk,” I whisper apologetically but also in relief.

“Too busy to see me,” she asks.

Her stare is coy and playful as she bites her lip. My breath hitches as she stares at me with her doe eyes. I bit my lip and look away. My heart stutters as I try to find a way to explain the broken promise of lunch dates. We had been in contact for the past few months through text but had not been able to get together.

“I have too much work on my hands,” I murmur.

“Can’t find help,” she asks.

“Can’t find trust,” I answer.

We share a look, hers of understanding and mine of appreciation. I force a smile then speak up again.

“Speaking of your internship, your dad has been singing praises.”

“Oh?”

I nod, “He says you’re a natural and will probably get the open spot they have without his input.”

Valentina bites her lip and looks down. I watch as she plays with the long chain of her necklace for a second then looks back up at me.

“Yeah,” she whispers, “I actually took some advice I received a while ago during the opening of a new wing to the museum downtown.”

“Oh,” I smirk.

She nods and giggles, “Some kid said I should embrace my position instead of fighting it.”

“Sounds like a smart kid,” I chuckle.

Valentina rolls her eyes but then turns to me with a serious look. I raise a brow and wait for her to speak.

“I actually needed to see you.”

I smile with a rush going through my bones, “Oh?”

She nods, “Dad said you know some good guards. I need a new bodyguard.”

The rush I feel shits to concern and protectiveness, “What’s wrong?”

She bites her lip again before saying, “I’ve been receiving odd gifts lately.”

Realization hits me and I laugh with relief. Valentina joins in while placing a hand on my forearm.

“I should be offended,” I cough out, “I chose those myself.”

Val smirks, “How much did you spend exactly?”

I roll my eyes, “Act like you don’t like the shoes but I can see you’re wearing a pair.”

Val smiles happily at me and I grin back. A sound of shuffling nearby catches my attention and I look up, hand positions over my concealed gun. My attention is taken away from me when she grabs onto the corner of my jacket. My eyes meet hers and we stay staring at each other until a cough comes from nearby, most likely the owner of the shuffling from earlier. We turn to the noise and I see Guillermo Carvajal standing near us with a blank face. Though his face is neutral, his eyes show fear, worry, and protectiveness. I sigh and turn back to the other woman.

“It was nice seeing you again Valentina,” I nod to her, “I’ll try to make some time to have that talk I promised you.”

I don’t say another word or look at her again, as I walk out of the gallery.

My ears hear a distinct voice saying: “Be careful of her Val,” as I walk away.

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

EIGHT MONTHS AGO: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

I sigh and sip on my sweet tea. The heat is sweltering but I ignore it in an effort to keep my jacket on and my weapons hidden. I sigh again and tilt my head up to look at the skylights above. Suddenly a large ‘smack’ hits the table and I try not to jump as a flurry pink blouse and chinos move about in the seat in front of me. I smirk as the girl starts babbling, hearing very little but enjoying the sight.

“And then Eva has the nerve to tell her off! I mean, I get it. She’s not our mother, but that doesn't mean she can't eat breakfast with us. I mean sure she’s young but she’s so smart and pretty and dad’s happy so…”

I sigh, this time in content, and place my chin in my hand like while watching the girl move talk with her hands moving to open her salad. I look down at my burger and fries before pushing the whole plate over to my companion without a thought. Val seems to get the hint and smiles at me with a delicate blush. I hold back a laugh as she starts munching on the fries while still talking in between bites.

It’s been like this ever since our first lunch date a few months ago. Every other week Val and I would meet at the mall that is between both our jobs to eat together instead of hiding in my office. She would usually bring in a salad, accompanied by a whole morning of texts about how it wouldn’t fill her ravenous appetite. Once Val got to the table I picked, late, as usual, I would push half of my food to her since she would ultimately eat it anyway whenever I wasn’t looking. Usually she would show up happy or pensive from writing an article for five hours, but lately, she shows up angry and distressed from dealing with Eva’s anger for her dad’s fiance.

Just like right now.

Valentina continues to rant about her sister, small bits of hair coming loose from her bun, and my eyes don’t leave her face. I can’t help but tuck a small strand behind her ear as her head bobs from side to side with a crease in between her brows. A few seconds later, she lets out a big breath before smiling apologetically at me. I smirk again and shake my head.

“It's okay,” I chuckle, “You’re cute when you do that.”

Val blushes, like she always does at my compliments, then pulls out her newest book out of her leather bag. I take the book and look through the pages, making sure to take note of the small words she writes at the margins, then close it and hand it back to her.

“You read slow,” I smirk.

“Superhuman demon,” Val scoffs back.

I wince but smile anyway, “That hurt.”

Val smiles cheekily but I can see a little concern from my reaction. I shake my head and look away. A second later, a small hand cups my cheek and tilts my head back to the owner.

“How has your day been, boss,” she smiles trying to change the subject.

I scoff but grin, “It was boring.”

“Was?”

I stare into her baby blues for a second then nuzzle into the had that is still cupping my cheek. I feel nervous as I place a kiss into the palm then pull away. Val still has her hand held up but is staring at me with a warm gaze.

“You liven things up a lot,” I whisper.

I look down at Val’s untouched salad and the remains of my lunch with a fond look. Valentina stays quiet as I stand up and kiss her cheek. Without a word I walk to the closest stand and order a random meal. I can’t help but glance back at our table and see Val playing with her food while deep in thought. Once I receive my food, I walk back silently and reach the table. I keep looking away from Val as I sit down until she looks up at me with a strange look in her eyes.

“Do you want to go out,” she asks seriously.

I blink, “Out? Like, hang out or…”

“Like a date,” she answers.

I stare at her until she looks away with a hot blush burning her skin. I see her lips move but don’t register the words she’s saying. I’m too busy trying to figure out what I should do. I sigh and finally stop her backtracking.

“Are you sure Val,” I ask once she has her eyes on me, “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, my family, my work—”

“All I know is that I like you,” she cuts me off with a strong look, “I know we’ve known each other for a short time, but I do. I like you as a person. You’re sweet and kind and protective. I don’t care about ‘business’ Juliana. I just want to go out with you and forget about everything about our families and work and everything else. I just want us to focus on us without complicating things.”

My eyes don’t leave her as I let her speech sink in. Her eyes are honest and open, something that many people I surround myself are lacking. I finally speak.

“Things always will end up complicated in the end, Val. We’re public figures, ” I smile sadly, “And like I said, there are many things that you don—”

“I don’t care,” she shakes her head, “I want to enjoy my time with you. If things come up, we talk about them then.”

I nod slowly, “Okay.”

Valentina grins and pulls my hands from my tray. I bit my lip as she kisses my knuckles with a happy smile.

“You know what this means right,” she giggles, “I get to pick what we do.”

Air is slammed out at me as she winks coyly at me. I sigh and resign myself to the gorgeous woman in front of me, I wouldn't be able to go against her wishes anyway.

“I knew you were a troublemaker when I first met you,” I shake my head.

Valentina’s laugh echoes around us, causing the people near to look over at our table. I don’t pay them any attention. My attention is stuck on the giggling princess laughing across from me.

______________________________________________________.

VALENTINA’S POV

SEVEN MONTHS AGO: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

The bullpen is full to the brim of journalists running to and fro. I watch from my small desk as Mateo and Eva get into another spat leading to the offices nearby. When my sister looks up towards me, I busy myself with the work in front of me. I read and re-read the article in front of me in the hope that inspiration hits me. Finally, I look up again and see Eva gracefully walk away from a fuming Mateo.

With a sigh, I wait for my brother-in-law to look at me so I can signal for him to approach. As I wait for Mateo to come near, a buzzing from my phone asks for my attention. I glance down and see a new message notification on my screen. I smile down but force it down to look up at Mateo as he sits in the empty chair next to me. He gives me a sad smile and I lean over to pat his hands, another buzz reaches my ears. Mateo glances over at my phone but I shake my head.

He’s my priority right now and Juliana can wait.

“Work or home,” I ask.

He shakes his head, “Work. She doesn't want me to publish an article on the new tip we got.”

I furrow my eyebrows, “The one about El Sur or—”

“La Familia, Valentina.”

I sigh, “Why not? They’re notorious. They’re practically outside our doors every day—”

“It's against your father’s wishes,” Mateo whispers with a roll of his eyes, “Eva says if we even hint at them, your father will have our necks. This seems too fishy. I wouldn’t be surprised if your father knew exactly who is at the top of their gang.”

I furrow my brows, “You think so? I honestly don’t think my dad would be involved in those kinds of things. He’s too kind.”

Mateo nods and opens his mouth when another reporter, Luiza, walks up to us. The woman is short and round. She has been at the head of the daily news division since my father worked down here in the company's early years. Her dark eyes sparkle as she looks at us with an amused stare. She comes to stop near us with a stack of prints in her hands.

“What’s the gossip,” she smirks at us.

Mateo looks at her and simply says, “La Familia.”

Luiza pales, “Why?”

“Eva won’t let me publish their recent present to El Sur.”

Luiza turns to Mateo then to me and shakes her head, “Don’t stick your nose there, kids.”

I furrow my brows, “Why?”

Luiza looks around, everyone is too far away and working hard on their stories to care, then bends down to whisper to us.

“Our informants always get the best crime stories for a reason, Valentina,” Luiza whispers.

I stare at the older woman but nod my head, still confused. The older journalist takes her leave but not before giving us both a warning glare. I look at Mateo and he gives me a look that screams ‘see?’ I roll my eyes and he gets up to go to his office. The morning goes by, leaving me with a half-assed article on the opening of refurbished buildings downtown. The only shining light of the whole day is my conversation with Juliana, one filled with teasing and playful banter. It lasts very little though because she notifies me of her leaving the city for work reasons and wouldn't be able to meet me for lunch or our usual Saturday date this coming week.

Having no distraction on my ride home, Juliana was already boarding a plane to make it to San Antonio quickly, my mind constantly goes back to the way Luiza acted this morning and what Mateo had suggested. I stop at a red light and bite my lip. A sudden urge to research hits me, so when the light changes I drive to my favorite book store. I make it to the store before closing and manage to convince the owner to help me pick out a few books. She helps me pick out a few along with a few biographies of retired politicians and public servants.

Once at home, I lock myself into my room and pour my attention to the large books. There are a few on the corruption of the political realm, a few on crime lords and even more on key historical events that could be explained on criminal activity. By the time Silvina is calling me to dinner, I have read a large chunk out of a biography from a former police chief.

I stand up slowly from my spot on my desk and stretch my aching muscles. My eyes catch the bouquet made out of daisies and roses that I had received a few hours after getting home. I smile and take the small folded card that is still attached to the plastic holder. My hands slowly open the card and two letters drawn in red ink greet me. I trace the note then sigh before placing the card back and making my way downstairs.

Don’t cause too much trouble while I’m gone.

-------------------------------------------- SIX MONTHS AGO: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

“Nice! Very nice!”

We move from our spots as the photographers look through their shots. I smile at Guille and he grins right back. I look over to Eva and see that her grumpy mood has contaminated only Mateo, which is not odd, and am happy to see she is being somewhat docile today. Finally, I look over to papá. His grey suit makes his eyes sparkle even more as he stares at Lucía, my new stepmother.

The atmosphere is happy and excited even after the exchange of vows over two hours ago. The whole hall is filled with family friends and business partners and family so it explains why so many smiles are being exchanged. My eyes look over the partygoers until a table near the dance floor catches my eyes.

At the head of the table is a Juliana in a three-piece suit and hair in a bun on top of her head. To her right an older woman, Juliana’s mother Lupe, and to her left a man with slick back hair and a thick mustache that is wearing a similar suit as hers, Alvaro or how Juliana calls him: Alacran. Next to Lupe is a tall lanky man with a thick mustache in his own three-piece suit that I recognize right away, Dr. Beltran Flores. Next to the Dean is his wife in a red dress petting their young son’s hair into place while looking over his crooked tie, Alicia and Javier Flores.

On each side of the small family are men in pitch black suits and long gold chains with loose-fitting jackets, Juliana’s personal guards. I could recognize a few of them from the times they would trail behind Juliana and me during our dates. My eyes trail back to Juliana and stay there. My girlfriend somehow feels my gaze and discreetly winks at me before turning to her godfather to talk.

“I wasn’t expecting them.”

I turn around to look at Eva as she comes to stand next to Guille and I.

“Why,” Guille asks, “The Valdés family gifted dad his honeymoon. Or did you forget?”

Eva shakes her head, “It's not them I’m talking about.”

I furrow my brow, “What?”

BANG!

The crowd yells in terror and everyone as a whole ducks down or falls to the ground. I feel Guille pull me and Eva under him as we all look to see where the noise comes from. A server runs off with a gun in his hand and a smirk on his lips. My eyes follow where he comes from and I feel my whole being freeze. My dad lays on his back grabbing onto his chest with a bloody hand. Johnny stares down to him with wide eyes and a hand covering his mouth.

“¡LEÓN!”

“¡Mi AMOR!”

Guille forces himself up and runs toward my fallen father, Lucía hot on his heels. Eva and I stand up together and run towards the group surrounding my father. My knees hit to floor as I crouch next to my brother and stepmother. My dad’s eyes focus in and out as his head lays in my stepmother’s lap.

BANG!

We all look to the sound with fear. My jaw drops as I take in the figure standing over the waiter’s slumped form.

Juliana, suit now splattered with drops of stray blood, stands over the dead assassin with a drawn out black pistol and deadly stare. Her eyes stay staring at the man as the group of men from her table jump into action and close all the doors of the ballroom. Her godfather is now on the phone behind her family clutching his own silver pistol.

Our family’s security detail suddenly burst into action around us. My eyes keep moving from Juliana until she looks at me with an unexplained look. The first encounter I had with her echoes in my mind with clarity.

Finally, someone who understands my pain.

There’s a lot you don’t know about me.

My eyes begin to water and I look away to hide my distress. I stare at my father as he struggles to breathe. With a tear rolling down my eye, I take the hand he has at his side and kiss his palm. His eyes look away from Lucía to stare at me. I smile painfully and speak with a soft voice that he usually only spoke to me with.

“Estas bien papá,” I tell him, “Vamos estar bien.”

My dad hiccups and closes his eyes. Everyone around me yells in panic and the room spirals into chaos further. A group of paramedics rush into the ballroom and to us on the floor. We are pushed away as they tend to my father. I look over to where Juliana was but furrow my brows when I see that she and her family are all gone.

“LET’S MOVE!”

The man’s voice sounds urgent and I look over to the paramedics strapping my father down and now running out of the room. Lucía follows them, heels kicked off and blood on her hands. Guille runs after them along with the head of security, obviously taking over. The party planner and host takes over calming everyone down as much as she can and Johnny helps her.

“Let’s go,” Mateo says taking Eva’s hand and my own, “We can reach the hospital if we go now.”

Eva nods and we follow her husband out of the ballroom. The drive to the private hospital is swift but not swift enough. We rush into the emergency room with guards breathing down our necks only to come up with the sight of Lucía sitting in the closest seat being held by my brother. Eva ignores them and runs to the closest attendant while Guille signals me to come forward. I feel my feet fly over the tiled floor and then fall to my knees in front of them.

I stare at Lucía and she catches my stare. Her hazel eyes burn into mine and I understand what she’s telling me. I look up to Guille to confirm and see him bite his lip as an attempt to hold back tears.

“He’s gone.”

I close my eyes tightly as Eva puts her hands over my shoulder as she delivers the news audibly. Lucía pets my head as I lay it on her lap, making sure to run her fingers through my hair. I feel my whole body shake as sobs burst through me. Guille’s hand grasps my fist and he holds it between his hands, soft yet bristly kisses are placed on it to comfort me.

We stay at the hospital for an hour for the paperwork to be processed and confirmations of funeral preparations. By the time we reach the exit of the hospital, the streets surrounding both the hospital and now our home is filled with paparazzi and journalists and onlookers. This has left us all hiding in a closed off waiting room with our guards scrambling ways to get us out in an effective manner.

I look down at my hands as Eva and Lucía somehow end up calling a small truce to figure out what to do. I close my eyes and try to remember my father’s happy laughter or smirking face but can only come up with his bloody body and frightened stare. I feel tears fall down my cheeks when a pair of small hands are placed over my shoulders. I furrow my brows as the smell of familiar spice and neutral perfume hits my nose. I open my eyes and look up.

“I’m sorry.”

I stare up at Juliana and somehow my sorrow ebbs and I feel comfort by her presence. I nod and she smiles softly at me before letting go of my shoulders to walk further into the room. My heart wishes that she could comfort me as Mateo did with Eva but I know this is not the time or place for my family to find out who’s been overflowing my office with flowers for the past months.

My sister and stepmother look up from their deliberation as Juliana walks toward them. Lucía looks at the young Valdés then allow her to be pulled into a hug. They stay that way for a while until Juliana pulls away. The girl turns to our head of security and signals for him to come to her. She looks over at me and Guille so we do the same. Once all of my family and Diego are around her she sighs and looks at Eva then Lucía.

“I’ve sent my personal guards to clear the area out around the mansion along with a police detail,” she explains with an authoritative tone, “I have an entourage ready to follow you out of here and to arrive there. I called in some favors and have one of the highest ranked homicide detectives on the case. They will be taking him for the night and doing their job thoroughly so you won’t have to worry about them keeping him for too long.

I have a gag order placed on all media outlets to allow Grupo Carvajal full coverage on what is happening and allow you to dictate what news is allowed to leak. I have a team that will help cover you while the police figure out what level of security you might need after this.”

Lucía stares at her with relief and pain in her eyes, “Thank you, Juliana. I know you don’t have to-“

“He has been a good friend to me,” Juliana cuts her off, “I’m afraid I can’t offer much more without…”

Lucía nods, “It’s more than enough. Thank you.”

Juliana nods then pulls Lucía into another hug. I see my stepmother shake as she lets go of a sob into the younger woman’s jacket. They pull away and Juliana turns to Eva.

“I have my godfather on the scene at the ballroom,” she says, “He will contact you if anything changes.”

Eva shifts from one foot to the other then glances over at Mateo who is on the phone by the exit. Finally, she turns back to Juliana and nods hesitantly. Juliana somehow isn’t offended by this action like and nods to her before nodding to Guille then me before walking out of the waiting room. My eyes follow her as she reaches a group of tall men in suits. She speaks to them briefly before they walk into the room and she turns the corner out of sight.

The rest of the day seems like a bad dream. Juliana’s guards help ours leave the hospital and get us home. When we do get there, Johnny is waiting with a slew of detectives and police officers. I leave them all with my older siblings and stepmother to process what has occurred. I walk up the flight of stairs to my room and stop short when I see the door to my room cracked open. I gulp and slowly walk towards the door. I push open the door slowly and feel relief flood through me when my eyes recognize the figure standing by my window.

“Juliana.”

The girl turns around, phone still near her ear, and gives me a ‘hush’ motion before turning back to speak in hushed tones. I watch with curiosity, mostly for why she’s here in my room, then proceed to grab a change of clothes. Juliana turns back, still on the phone, and watches me as I grab my pajamas and walk into my bathroom to change. I sigh and lean against the door when I make it inside.

My eyes close and I see visions of my father, Juliana from across the room, Guille and Lucía in the waiting room, and finally the drive back. I feel numb as they repeat in my head. I shake my head and undress, not caring where my dress and undergarments fall, then turn on the hot water. I don’t test the temperature, I simply hop in and hope that the heat warms me up from the ice cold that has surrounded me since grabbing my father’s hand. I stay standing there under the hot water, hugging myself while pressing my forehead against the once cool tiles.

I don’t know how long I’m in there but it must have been long because when I look down at my feet I can see my whole body colored in a shade of tomato red. Tears fill my eyes as I go through the motion of washing up. It finally dawns on me that Juliana is outside waiting so I turn the water off once I’m done and quickly get dressed. My hair is limp over my shoulders but I don’t pay any mind to it, I was going to bed anyway and have little strength in me left.

Juliana is still standing in front of the open window when I re-enter my room. Her hands are on her waist and she’s staring out of the window in deep thought, or so I thought.

“We need to talk.”

A new wave of panic rushes through me as Juliana turns around with a serious face, one that she reserves for scolding her detail. Juliana sees my fear and sighs before coming to stand in front of me.

“I think I know what happened to your dad,” she tells me.

“What! What do you mean—”

“Shush,” she says covering my mouth, “No one knows I’m here, amor.”

I mumble and she moves her hand for me to speak, “How did you get here then?”

Juliana smirks, “Babe. Have you met me?”

I smile but sober up and sigh, “How do you know? How do you even have an idea?”

My girlfriend looks away. I can see memories swirl in the dark chocolate depths. Finally, Juliana turns back to me.

“What did your supervisor tell you a few months ago,” Juliana asks, eyes not leaving mine, “You called me the next day to tell me about it. I left my meeting in San Antonio early and you called worried about your dad…”

I bite my lip and Juliana shakes her head.

“I can’t help you understand unless you answer,” she whispers.

I look down at my clenched fists, “Our informants get good information for a reason.”

“And what did Mateo tell you before that?”

I stare at my hands then look up. Dark eyes stare at me with a patient look. A long month of research and poking at work finally connects in my brain. My eyes widen and I feel my heart race and my breathing hitch in fear.

Juliana nods, “He’s right. Your dad knows the leader of La Familia. He’s known for a long time. He was friends with him. They had a business relationship.”

“How do you know,” I stupidly ask again.

“I think you already know,” she sighs, “You’re a smart girl, Val.”

“When I asked you out on our first date, you said there’s a lot I don’t know about you,” I mumble.

Juliana sighs and moves to stand on her knees in front of me, “And one of those things can be incredibly dangerous for you to know.”

I look up at the caramel eyes I’ve grown attached to, I read reluctance and that fierce protectiveness I’ve loved since I saw them.

“What are you trying to tell me, Juliana?”

She takes my hands in hers while still staring into my eyes, “You can choose to know. All of it. About your dad. About me. About anything I know. Or, you can choose to not know, and we can end this now. We’ll go our separate ways. I’ll only see you in passing and I’ll be respectful towards you and your family.”

“And if I want to know,” I ask her.

The woman bites her lip then answers, “If you know, you’ll have a huge cross to bare. This information is not for the faint of heart, amor. I don’t want to be the cause of you thinking differently about your father. I don’t want you to think differently of me either. But if you want to know, I will tell you. I trust you, Valentina. I have since day one. I have no problem telling you about me and what I know about your father, but I just want to know if you want to know and are willing to know.”

Knowing about my dad means I know about Juliana. Knowing about Julian means consequences if I don’t keep the information to myself. How bad is this information? Why do very few people know about it? Will I be able to keep this information to myself? What if we break up? Will I be able to keep it then?

I look back up to Juliana. My eyes don’t move from her face. I read her expression but it’s still reluctant and protective. In the few months I’ve been near her, dated her, I have seen almost all sides to her. I have seen her at work mode, hovering over papers with a crease between her brows. I have seen her romantic side, deliveries of flowers to my desk had almost become a daily routine. I have seen her jealous side and her protective side. To think that I’m a small handful of few that have gained her trust is staggering. She’s known me for a few short months yet trusts me to tell her secrets and even those of my father’s.

I breathe in heavily then nod slowly.

“Tell me.”

Juliana’s dark eyes focus on me. The air around us is heavy with tension. Juliana opens her mouth and speaks.

“My grandfather was the creator and leader of La Mafia de Mexico. My father took over until his death. And right now, I’m the leader of La Familia.”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19186732/chapters/46216516

#amar a muerte #juliantina #valentina carvajal #juliana valdes #fanfic

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phantomphangphucker · 5 years

Text

Evil As Plain A The Collar On His Neck - PhannieMay- Day 21 Double Date

Summary: Danny’s revisiting the dating scene, but just is Jazz doing here?

Sequel to my fic A Sister Always Has Her Reasons

“And why do you have to come again?”

Jazz rolls her eyes, “mom and dad asked me to chaperone after what happened last time”. Danny can’t help but groan and cringe as he remembers the disastrous date with Star, which of course got interrupted by a ghost and resulted in him going home with shredded clothing.

Glaring at his sisters “charge” who snickers at Danny, which Jazz also rolls her eyes at, “you could at least try to get along”. Danny only glares at her incredulously for that, how could he ever get along with him.

But spotting his old, and possibly new, flame changes his mood, “hey Val!”. Catching his sister muttering at her “charge”, as Danny runs over to Valerie, “now don’t you go scaring her mister, or you will be in shit”.

Danny can tell Valerie’s a bit confused, “try to ignore them. My parents are being a bit over bearing after my last date resulted in blood loss and ruined clothing”. Valerie snickers at that, “your entire family is wacky, including you”, shrugging, “but clearly my tastes are wack”.

“I’ll take wacky any day, much more interesting”, Danny chuckles as they take a seat together, with the other two close behind.

Danny uses his menu to block out the other guy, which Valerie leans into to whisper at him, “let me guess, you don’t get along with Mr. tall, built, and brooding over there?”. Danny shakes his head and glares at the menu, “enemy is a pretty accurate descriptor. But where Jazz goes, It goes too”.

“It? Now that’s just mean-”, the rest of Valerie’s comment gets cut off as Jazz clears her throat. Danny, lowering the menu, glares at her. Who rolls her eyes and points at the approaching waiter, resulting in Danny blushing a bit and mean chucking coming from across the table.

“So what will you four being having to drink today?”, the two nineteen-year-olds order Faygo, Delicious Red for Valerie and Moon Mist for Danny. Lemon water for Jazz, who then glares at her “charge” as he orders a Green Lantern. He just shrugs, “it’s not like I’ve got a liver to piss off, and it’s not like I care”, while Danny’s just wondering where the hell he got an ID and what the hell’s even on it. Jazz rolls her eyes, “that stuff tastes awful though”.

“He’s awful, so it fits”, Jazz glares at Danny. While Valerie talks over the strangers snickering, “okay, who are you? I thought I’d seen everyone in Amity and there’s no way I’d miss someone walking around with an oversized neon green collar”. Danny groans slightly as Jazz responds, “the big guys' name is Dan, bit of a trouble maker so he’s stuck with me”. Danny blinks at her incredulously, “a bit?”. While Dan smirks and stretches his arms over the back of his head, fully noticing Valerie trying to not stare at his muscular arms, “they could snap your damn neck”.

Jazz shakes her head, “well, you lasted twenty minutes”, while Valerie glances at Danny. Patting her leg, “he won’t actually be doing that”. Muttering under his breath, “only because he isn’t allowed to”.

Jazz snorts as Dan flat-out tosses the entire drink in his mouth, downing it in one gulp. While the waiter goes a bit bug-eyed, promptly bringing him another. Jazz cuts him off after the fourth, laughing, “I’m not rich! stop that!”, pointing at the waiter, “and you! Stop encouraging him!”. While Dan leans his head back and laughs, which is plain weird to Danny. Though he can’t help but laugh a little along with Valerie, while the waiter looks like he’s just had a damn good day.

Eventually getting their food: caramelised salmon for Valerie, chicken penne for Danny, salad with garlic toast for Jazz; and, as per requested, the bloodiest thing they could serve, eight-ounce steak cooked blue with a side of ribs, for Dan. The waiter, looking at him, “just so you know, that is the single weirdest way anyone has ever requested for anything here”. Turning his head to the Fenton girl, “you Fenton’s sure like ‘em weird, don’tcha?”.

Danny coughs into his hand a bit at that but eyes Jazz questioningly as she blushes, even more weirded out as she waves him off.

Valerie’s not sure why Danny’s eyeing his sister oddly, the waiter wasn’t exactly wrong, she was definitely odd herself; though this guy’s odder.

Shoving one of her green beans at Danny, who just takes it with his mouth and eats it. “So, you figured out how to fling yourself into the void of space yet?”, Danny chuckles at her question fully remembering promising to do so as his yearbook quote, “once or twice, still working on the “and die” part”.

“The answer to that question has been around for fifth-teen years”, Danny glares at Dan and stabs at his noodles a bit aggressively. Dan smirks and violently snaps his teeth around a large piece of steak, loud enough to make the people across from them jump and scoot their chairs away a bit.

Valerie points her fork at him, “you have issues”, while he digs in his mouth and pulls out a tooth he broke loose. Flicking it across the table, out of sight before it dissolves into ectoplasm, snickering, “your idea of issue, is my idea of a good time, little red birdy”.

Valerie squints at him while Danny mildly chokes, glaring subtly at Dan.

Jazz is torn between being slightly grossed out and wanting to giggle a bit, for being twenty-nine, the guy sure was an overdramatic baby, “you just have to be a mildly terrifying ball of tease, don’t you?”.

Dan pokes her in the side, barely whispering, “I get my pleasures where I can”. Before ecto-zapping her lightly under the table, which she hits him playfully for, while he just snickers a bunch. Doing it more until she actually starts laughing, chuckling, “it’s my right by might, soft flower”. Dan leans back against the booth, satisfied, before biting clean through a rib bone; with one arm behind his head.

Valerie will admit it’s a little adorable Jazz collecting herself and patting the huge guy on the head, which he seems quite pleased by. Danny must have some serious issues with Dan to look so put off though, he won’t admit it but he is rather protective of his sister. Well, ok, he’s protective of everyone actually.

Elbowing him, “oh whatever, but since the party crashers are distracted...”.

Danny decides to deal with whatever weirdness later in lue of taking the chance to kiss Valerie, not giving a damn that Dan probably noticed. While Dan and Jazz take turns ruffling up each others hair, though he takes the time to zap Danny purely to annoy him.

Valerie has no clue what the zap was, there wasn’t supposed to be literal sparks flying, she also has no clue why Danny’s glaring at Dan again.

Danny decides to roll with it, to not give Dan the satisfaction, smirking at him before turning and poking Valerie, “well, when sparks fly, the couple must surely be shockingly perfect”, with a shit-eating grin, “so clearly with us, lightning struck twice”. While Valerie snorts, Danny a bit surprised to see Dan looking rather amused while Jazz just groans.

Dan, chuckling at Jazz, “with this weather, I’d say we could bolt and see if any actually strikes”. Danny can’t help but respond, “sounds like a killer idea to me”. Which Dan actually snorts at, while Jazz gapes excitedly, whispering, “did they just, get along?”.

While Valerie mutters under her breath, “he’s like a jerkier version of Danny”. Which makes her blink, realising that makes it genuinely kind of weird that Jazz is clearly either dating or borderline dating this guy. Or they just have a really really weird version of friendship; Valerie’s not placing her bets on the last one though. But considering half the damn town seems to ship the Red Huntress with Phantom, and she’s not exactly entirely opposed to the idea; her eyes are just firmly elsewhere. So who was she to judge here?

It doesn’t take long after that for the waiter to bring them their bill. Unsurprisingly, Jazz pays for the tip and most of the meal thanks to a certain oversized someone. Poking at him with the bill as they all get up to leave, he shrugs, “could have just left, besides, money’s a human issue”. Jazz glares at him, “that’s wrong and even if you don’t care, I do”. Dan stretches his arms over his head, “everyone else's wrong, is my oh so very right”. Dan smirks knowing that was part of the allure of this thing with Jazz, along with annoying his younger self. Though he does find it odd, yet pleasant, that his affections are more genuine than that. Not that he’ll admit that to Danny.

While Valerie and Danny walk a fair bit behind the older pair, “you’ve officially succeeded in giving me the weirdest date ever”. Danny smirks loosely and bumps his shoulder into hers, “so this mission to Venus was a success then?”. Rolling her eyes at him, “absolutely, you reckless space boy”.

Not a single one jumps as a massive thunderclap goes off, rattling a few windows. Both Jazz and Valerie say to their respective ghostly men, “if I die, I’m dragging you down with me”. Both of whom responded, “guess I’ll die”.

End.

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