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#but by the time they'd died they were completely over it and now they have their own love interests that they'd do anything for
bluefeathercas · 2 days
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Finding the Words | Buddie Fic
| in which Buck and Eddie finally give into each other |
Buck knew something was wrong with Eddie, after all they’d been best friends for five years and seen each other through the worst. Not to mention that Buck was hopelessly in love with him, even though Buck had already decided long ago that Eddie definitely didn’t feel the same way.
It was late at night and the station was empty for the most part. Hen and Howie had already gone home to their families and Bobby was in his office finishing off some paperwork. The next crew were slowly starting to filter in and if it weren’t for the fact that Eddie was ignoring him, Buck would’ve welcomed the silence with open arms - especially after the job they’d just finished.
The firefighter was restless, pacing up and down the locker room trying for the life of him to figure out what, if anything, he’d done to piss Eddie off so bad. So bad that Eddie didn’t speak to him, let alone look at him, the entire ride home. Buck could’ve sworn he was about to throw up, the mere thought of doing something to upset his best friend so much made him sick.
His thoughts were interrupted when Eddie suddenly walked into the room, their eyes met briefly before Eddie looked away, biting his lip in frustration.
“I’ll come back.” Eddie said, moving to close the door.
Buck was quicker, moving to hold the door open, his foot acting as a door stop as he reached his arm up to lean against the door frame for support.
“C’mon Eddie, you’ve been ignoring me all night.” Buck pleaded.
Eddie had his head down, his eyes searching for something to focus on, anything but Buck’s face.
“I don’t want to do this right now, Buck.” He started, wishing he’d kept his bag in his truck so he never had to go in the locker room to start with.
Buck stepped closer to him, the distance between them closing as he dipped his head a little to try and catch Eddie’s gaze.
“Hey,” he started, his voice soft. “Talk to me.”
Eddie cursed himself, how could he resist? 
He looked up, his eyes finally meeting Bucks and he could’ve almost died from heart failure at the sight of him. From his blue eyes to his pink lips and then that ridiculously adorable birth mark on his left eye - Eddie was in love.
But he was also angry.
Actually, he was furious.
“Seriously Buck, it’s like you have a death wish or something.”
Eddie brought his hand down over his face, trying his best to stay calm. He didn’t like being angry at anyone, let alone Buck. But with the job they'd just finished and seeing Buck jump from the ladder, onto the roof and then disappear into a fiery hole…
Eddie almost disappeared too.
What made it worse was how helpless he felt watching the flames grow, Cap and Howie having to hold him back as he stared in disbelief. He thought Buck was gone. So when he walked out of that building, the kid in his arms safe and sound and then jumped in the truck as if he didn’t just completely disregard his entire life - Eddie didn’t know how to feel.
“Did you ever stop to think about what would happen if you didn’t make it? If you didn’t come out of that burning house? If you went down with it?”
Buck frowned, not understanding why Eddie was so upset at a simple rescue. Usually it was Cap on his case, not his best friend.
“Wait- This is about the job? Eddie I was fine-"
“Every damn time we get a call, I worry about you. Because I know that you’ll run in, heart first without thinking about the consequences.”
“Eddie I-”
“You live like no one cares about you, like no one would miss you if you weren’t here tomorrow. But that’s not true.”
“Ed-”
“I mean did you even think about how much I-”
Eddie stopped, biting the inside of his cheek in a bid to stop his feelings from spilling out of his chest. He took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling, tears threatening to spill from his eyes and down his cheeks.
Bucks frown disappeared and he went to reach his hand out to place it on Eddie’s shoulder.
But Eddie moved back.
“-How much Christopher would’ve missed you?” he finally finished.
Bucks hand fell back down to his side and he could’ve sworn Eddie was going to say something else.
In fact, he knew Eddie was going to say something else.
“Because if anything ever happened to you, Evan, it would tear him apart. You know that right?”
Buck let out the breath he’d been holding in for far too long, his teeth were clenched and he wanted so bad to just kiss him. To grab Eddie by his stupidly broad shoulders and pull him into his own body. He’d thought about it so many times, how Eddie’s skin would feel against his own. He knew they’d melt together like glue and damn, how he wished for it.
How he wished for anything, any sign that maybe Eddie loved him back. Even liked him back, that would be enough for Buck. He could deal with only being liked by Eddie.
He had enough love inside for the both of them.
“Well I hope Christopher knows, that I’d never just leave him like that.”  Buck started, his eyes never leaving Eddie’s.
“I’m a firefighter, it’s my job to fight fires and if I have to, save people from them. I mean, we work in the same job Eddie. You know what it’s like, we do what we have to do to get the job done. To save people.”
Eddie kept silent, caught somewhere between admiring Buck and wanting to knock him out for being so clueless, so selfless.
“Eddie” Buck reached his hand out again, this time resting it on Eddie’s shoulder. “I’m fine, okay?”
Eddie nodded with a small smile, “I know you’re fine, Buck.” He breathed, his eyes moving to the floor, “But I’m not.”
“I’m not fine, with the thought of losing you- of Christopher losing you and having to explain to him that he won’t get to see you again. D’you know what that’d do to him, Buck? That’d destroy him and all because you love your job more than you love the people in your life-“
“Woah, Eddie… Calm down. It’s not that serious.“
Buck stepped away, his frown returning as he raised his voice “And why’re you getting up me anyway? You’re my best friend, not the Captain!”
He said, throwing his hands in the air.
“Because!” Eddie shouted, gritting his teeth as he moved closer, forcing Buck to fall back against the locker room wall.
Their faces were inches apart and it took all of Eddie’s strength not to look at Buck’s lips, because if he did, he knew it’d all be over. Buck sucked in a breath, his eyes scanning Eddie’s face for anything that could explain what the hell his problem was, but they found Eddie’s lips instead.
“Because,” Eddie repeated, “I-“ He bit his lip, trying so hard not to combust.
“Damn it.” he breathed, his eyes flicking to Buck’s lips.
Buck raised his hand in a moment of realisation, and placed it on Eddie's cheek. His thumb rubbing over Eddie's cheek bone.
“Me too.” Buck nodded.
Eddie looked shocked, his eyes meeting Bucks in confusion as Buck dipped his head down quickly, his lips meeting Eddie’s in an explosion of euphoria. They kissed deeply, small moans escaping each others mouths as Eddie pushed his body against Buck’s.
“We uh- we probably shouldn’t do this here.” Buck whispered, reluctantly pulling away from Eddie.
Eddie nodded in agreement, “Mmhm, my Abuela has Christopher tonight.”
Buck smiled, gathering his things and passing Eddie his bag from the top of his locker.
“You know this doesn’t give you a free pass to keep jumping into burning buildings-“
Buck cut Eddie off with a kiss, his hands grabbing at the sides of Eddie’s shirt at the same time.
“I know, but you can get up me about it when we get home.” Buck smirked.
They walked out together, Eddie trailing behind Buck wondering if this was all just a fever dream. Their bodies pressed together, their lips touching, Buck feeling the same way - Buck loving him.
And Buck was in his own world of amazement, taking a moment to play back the whole thing in his mind. He’d admired Eddie since their first job together and somewhere along the way, fallen in love.
“Me too.” He whispered to himself.
Me too. [ this fic is also on ao3, you can find the link here ]
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itsnotmystic · 1 day
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HEY hi
so: your pinned post mentions the life series and also emerald duo (of course)
concept for you: double life emerald duo soulmates (I'm thinking about it as a concept so now I'm sharing)
oh ho ho i love this idea! Sorry for taking a bit to respond, I had so many ideas I wanted to expand on with this. Been rotating it in my head all day
On one hand, I can see them very easily splitting up because they know and completely trust the other, and even if one loses a bit of health, then they'll still be okay. Quite frankly (at least following my headcanons lol), there wouldn't be too much out of the ordinary from their normal behavior.
But there is that heightened sense of awareness, fear. The fact that this isn't the normal day to day, but instead a survival and pvp style game. Now with the mechanism of losing hearts when the other gets hurt, I have the feeling that if one was to suffer a massive blow, the other would immediately be very clingy for a bit- not out of fear of death, but just the intrinsic knowledge of how bad that injury was and the fear of your partner being hurt.
("Nah mate, I'm fine! I'll just have a gapple and walk it off." "Phil, I literally felt that one and I don't even have wings, that it not fine!"
"Techno, my side really fucking hurts right now, don't you dare try to hide that stab wound from me")
On the other hand, I can see them getting progressively clinger as time goes on, especially after the first death that takes them to yellow, considering usually Phil is immortal and Technoblade never dies. I think the shock and reminder of death would leave them very defensive afterwards, and more hesitant towards going after others. Eventually though, they'll start going out together, as opposed to separately when they were on green, and maybe once they're more comfortable again they'll split up occasionally.
Now, red life, on the other hand, they're inseparable, mainly because of the idea that "if I die, he dies, too, so let's watch each other's backs. Two is better than one." It causes a long talk between them because by sticking together, they're consolidating their weakness into one spot, but by staying separate, they halve their strength. In the end, combining their talents wins out over both of them being in the same place.
I'm curious about what would happen tho if they were the last two. I feel like either they'd just chill with being the last 2 or, angsty route... I feel like Techno would pull some self-sacrificial thing. Like, I know they'd refuse to fight each other to the death, but there's gotta be a winner, and even tho Phil's like, "Death is literally my wife, we can work this out" Techno just wouldn't allow it.
But ya!! Feel free to add on any ideas you have, I'd love to discuss this more!!
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girlgenius1111 · 4 months
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don't you trust me?
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r gets into a fight. mapi is not happy.
-----
Most of the time, you enjoyed living with Ingrid and Mapi. It was fun, and you liked that you didn't have to be responsible all the time. You were 18, so technically you could live on your own, but the older girls had insisted you stay with them at least another year. You'd fought it initially, but then they got Alexia on their side, and there wasn't really much you could do.
However, today, their presence in your life only complicated matters. You walked in the front door, on your way back from tutoring, trying to sneak past them, right up the stairs to your room. You needed to fix your face, as well as you could, before they could see you. Really, you weren't sure you'd be able to do enough, but you needed to try.
You were finishing your school, which you did online, but you saw a tutor every week to ensure you were doing alright in everything. There were other kids there that saw the same tutor and they'd taken to... hating you. Really hating you.
You weren't sure if it was because they were jealous, you were living out your dream career, after all, or if they were just mean. Either way, they'd been teasing you for months, most of which you could ignore, as you only saw them once a week.
Today, though, you had lost your patience. It was already dark when you walked out of the building, and they'd walked behind you, cracking mean jokes per usual. You weren't sure why it bothered you more today, but it did. You turned, letting out a string of insults that they were left astounded at. You'd turned back around, heading in the direction of your apartment again, which was only a short walk away, when the girl whose mother you'd just insulted grabbed the back of your shirt, wrenching you backwards. To be completely honest, you'd thrown the first punch. It had been instinct. What followed was a fight you were honestly kind of proud of. Your face didn't really tell the full story; you looked like you'd been jumped, but really, you'd held your own against three other people.
You felt kind of guilty, because you'd pushed things to become physical. If you'd ignored them like usual, they wouldn't have taken it further. Instead, you couldn't keep your mouth shut, and now... well.
Surprisingly, you made it to your room, quickly shouting out a greeting to the older girls before shutting your door behind you. You look in the mirror that hung over your dresser, inspecting your face. Your hands were heavily bruised around the knuckles, but nothing was broken. Sure, your nose looked a little lopsided, one of your eyes was swollen shut, there was a cut above your eyebrow that hadn't stopped bleeding, and you're not sure the one on your lip doesn't need stitches, but you're fine. Completely fine.
You hear Ingrid's footstep just a second too late, and she's knocking quickly before opening your door. You freeze, as her question about what you want for dinner dies on her lips, jaw dropping open instead at the sight of your mangled face.
"Y/n, what the hell?" She asks, clearly making a big effort to stay calm. You don't really know how to answer, but she doesn't wait for you to. Instead, she grabs your arm, pulling you out of your door and down the stairs.
"María. María!!!" she shouts, and you attempt to stop in your tracks, but she continues to pull you along.
"Que paso?" Mapi asks, walking around the corner into the living room where you are standing with Ingrid.
"Ask her." Ingrid says, gesturing back to you. Mapi's eyes fall on you, widening, before she swears, moving closer to take your face roughly into her hands.
"Fuck, Mapi, that hurts," you cry out.
"Sorry, sorry," she says, hands softening on your face. Ingrid is standing behind her, looking furious, and you know you're in trouble. This isn't the first fight you've gotten in, but it had been a while. Your teammates had made it clear they wouldn't tolerate any of that. This was the worst it had ever gone for you, that much was clear by the state of your face.
"What happened?" Mapi asks, voice dangerously low.
"I got in a fight." Maybe you should have answered what you knew she was really asking, but your face hurt, they hadn't even heard your side of things, and they were already mad. You weren't really in the mood to talk about it, either.
At your response, Ingrid lets out a long exhale, turning to go into the kitchen. Mapi is staring hard at you, and you shrink under her gaze.
"What happened?" she asks again.
"The other kids that see my tutor. They don't like me very much."
"Did you swing first?"
"Yeah, but-"
"-Y/n, we've talked about this!" Mapi says, raising her voice slightly.
"I know, but-"
"-no buts! This isn't acceptable, you know that. What were you thinking?"
You weren't really expecting Mapi to get that mad at you, honestly. Normally she let Ingrid deal with your fights, and yell at you, but Mapi hadn't ever yelled at you before. You felt your eyes, really one eye, begin to water, and you look down, avoiding her gaze. It's not fair, she's not even hearing your side of things.
"I'm talking to Alexia and Jona, and you're going to be benched until you prove that you can act like an adult," Mapi continues. You know that this is likely an empty threat, so you stay silent. It still hurts, though, that she just assumes the fight was your fault.
Ingrid has reentered the room, an ice pack in hand, and she walks to your side, tilting your chin back up to inspect your wounds.
"María, calm down," she says, giving her girlfriend a look.
"No. This is ridiculous. I thought we could trust you." Mapi seethes, and you pull away from Ingrid, a flash of anger flowing through you.
"You don't want to hear my side of things? You just assume I started it? That's not fair, Mapi. If you want to yell at me, do it later, when my face isn't bleeding." You spit out, both girls looking startled at your outburst. Without another word, you turn, slipping shoes on and grabbing your keys, before walking out the front door, ignoring their calls for you to come back.
Angry tears are flowing down your face, burning the various cuts they come into contact with, and you wipe away at them as carefully as you can. Your feet carry you down the block, and you're knocking on the door before you can even really think about what you're doing.
It doesn't really make sense; logically, Alexia would be just as mad at you as the other 2 were but you didn't know where else to go, and you knew she would patch you up. You wanted Ingrid to do it, really, but you couldn't go back there now, not when you were so upset.
Alexia answered the door, gasping when she sees you.
"Pequeña? Que paso?" she asks, reaching a hand out to pull you inside. Her hands fly to your face, inspecting your wounds, and she's bringing you to the bathroom before you can answer.
"I got in a fight."
"Pequeña," Alexia sighs, applying pressure to the cut on your forehead, and to the one on your lip.
"It wasn't my fault! I hit first, but if I hadn't, they would have. There were 3 of them, I was just trying to be smart."
"3?" Alexia asks, eyebrows flying up.
"And then I got home and Ingrid saw and she got Mapi and Mapi yelled, and she didn't even ask me what happened really, she was just so mad," you cry.
You hear a frantic knock on Alexia's door, and she sighs, instructing you to hold the towels to your face. "Did you run out of there?" She asks over her shoulder, heading for the door.
Clearly, Alexia knew who was at the door, as did you.
"Yes."
You hear Alexia open the door, and tell the girls that yes, you're in the bathroom. You wouldn't have expected her to lie, but still, you don't want to see Mapi. At least this, Alexia seems to understand, as Ingrid comes down the hall alone, pulling you into a hug as soon as she's close enough, ignoring the blood getting on her shirt. You collapse into her, and she holds you up, hands rubbing your back softly.
"I'm sorry, elskling, we should have made sure you were okay, and heard you out before we got mad." She speaks the words into your ear, and if you had been mad at her, the guilt in her voice would have been enough for you to forgive her.
"I'm not really mad at you," you mumble. She laughs at that.
"I can't blame you for being mad at her. She just worries about you. You scared her, she doesn't like seeing you hurt." Ingrid says, and you nod, knowing she's right. "Cmon, let's fix your face." She grabs the first aid kit, and your hand, pulling you out into the living room where Mapi stands with Alexia, who appears to be scolding her. That gives you some satisfaction.
Ingrid sits you on the couch, and Alexia joins her, both girls inspecting the cuts, and your nose. Mapi stays against the wall, staring at the floor.
"I don't think either need stitches," Ingrid says, and Alexia nods in agreement.
"I don't think her nose is broken, either. Just swollen." Alexia notes. You sigh in relief. No hospital.
They use Alexia's extensive first aid kit to clean and bandage your wounds, holding ice against your face until you push their hands off, insisting on doing it yourself. They stand, then, and look meaningfully at Mapi, before they walk into the kitchen, mumbling about getting you water.
Mapi moves to sit next to you, and you're startled when she looks up at you with tears in her eyes.
"I'm so sorry, pequeña. I shouldn't have yelled. Seeing you like that scared me, and I freaked out. I didn't mean to be so harsh, really."
"It's okay," you say halfheartedly.
"No it's not. I'd like to hear what happened though." Mapi says, shaking her head. Ingrid and Alexia wander back in, handing you a glass of water, and sitting down on the couch.
You look between them, realizing that if there were any 3 people who you'd trust, it's them. You tell them the whole story, starting months ago when the teasing began, up until today. Mapi and Alexia look prepared to track the kids down and harm them, while Ingrid looks torn between murder, and giving you a hug. She looks like she's decided on a hug when Mapi beats her too it, pulling you into her arms fiercely. The guilt on her face is evident, and even though you want to stay mad, you can't. So, you hug her back, and she sighs with relief. When she pulls back, you meet Alexia's eyes and shudder at how upset she looks.
"Why didn't you tell us this was happening? We could have stopped it." She says through her teeth. You can tell, though, that her anger is directed at the other kids, and not you.
"It wasn't a big deal, I could ignore it."
"It doesn't matter, y/n, you shouldn't have to handle it. You're never going back there again, we'll find someone else to tutor you." Alexia declares, and Mapi and Ingrid nod their agreement. You weren't going to argue with them. With that settled, Ingrid and Mapi take you back home, after you thank Alexia for her help. They send you right to bed, arguing that you need rest to recover well, and you roll your eyes, but listen. You've just settled in bed when there is a knock on the door.
"Come in?"
Mapi's head peeks through the door, smirking at you, and holding two bowls of ice cream.
"Don't tell Ingrid, it's not a cheat day," she says and you grin. She settles on the other side of your bed, handing you the bowl, and you guys eat in a content silence. Not 5 minutes later, there's another knock on the door, and you and Mapi hide your bowls under your blanket.
"Yes?"
Ingrid opens the door, eyes on the 2 bowls of ice cream in her hands. "Don't tell Mapi, there was only enough left for 2..." she fades off, looking up to see Mapi reclined on your bed, staring at her with her jaw dropped open. You laugh, throwing back your blanket, exposing the first bowls of ice cream. Ingrid and Mapi both start to scold the other, but realize neither of them have a leg to stand on. Instead, Ingrid climbs onto the bed on your other side, handing you the second bowl of ice cream, which you accept happily.
Ingrid mentions something about the training schedule, then, and what time you all need to be up the next morning, and you sit forward, dropping your spoon into your bowl with a clatter. You look horrified.
"What is it?" Ingrid asks, somewhat panicked at the expression on your face.
"I have to go to practice tomorrow. Everyone is going to see my face and freak out. If you two were bad, imagine everyone else's reaction," you groan, already hearing the different lectures you were going to hear.
Ingrid and Mapi chuckle at your panic.
"Remember the last time you got into a fight? And you went to practice with that black eye? Practice was delayed 20 minutes so everyone could yell at you, and Pina got a picture of your face printed on t-shirts." Mapi remembers gleefully.
You glare at her, a look she returns.
"Maybe we can get it on the back of our jersey this time," Ingrid suggest, fighting a smile.
You roll your eyes, going back to your ice cream, dreading the next day, but also not. Having people care about you, worry for you, was a good feeling. Overwhelming, yes, but overall, a good feeling.
-----
lowkey hate the ending of this but im tired and i couldn't think of how else to end it
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grugruel · 5 months
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Let the Light in
Pairing: priest!Bucky x f!reader
MDNI/NSFW
Masterlist
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Summary: On the day of your wedding, you excpect to love your husband, not fall for the priest.
You'd never been a believer. But when your marrige spiraled into darkness, you had to find light elsewere. So you asked the Lord for help, and He answered.
Ironically enough, He gave you a most devout follower, the priest.
Word count: ca 4k
Warnings: fluff, angst, blasphemy, soft!priest!bucky, pinv sex, oral sex (f receiving), passionate sex, fingering, thigh-riding, adultry, praise (m receiving), priest kink.
AN: its been proof read! I dont understand how yall read it before the fact, my misspellings were crazy. I also edited it a bit, gave yall about 200-300 words more.
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I stod silently on the sidewalk, with my back to the road. Numbly observing the scene in front of me as I waited. Cars were rushing past behind me, slowing as they noticed the crowd.
The chilly autumn winds blew my coat off of my stocking clad legs, revealing them to the elements. I couldnt be bothered to care.
The cold did not affect me anymore, I was strung out on feeling.
I watched my husband struggle, and the guests scramble to help him. They got him on his feet, and his best man slung an arm around him to keep him from falling again. My eyes brimmed with tears, ready to fall any second now.
I felt a hand touch the small of my back in silent support. A palm pressed firmly into the arch below, fingertips curling, rouching the fabric of my dress. I closed my eyes and all my troubles were wisked away for but a second, until I heard the guests approach and the hand left me. I opened my eyes to a grim sight.
We met in college, my husband and I. He'd been lovely and attentive when we first met, he made me fall in love with him. He proposed to me on our graduation, and i'd never been happier.
Unfortunately though, it didnt last that long.
As we were fresh out of school, both with stellar scores and brand new degrees. We got our dream jobs, and bought ourselves our dream home.
Everything was perfect, until he got fired. Why? He wouldnt tell me, he left me in the dark, refusing to tell me himself.
Naturally, I grew suspicious.
So I called his former boss, who told me that they'd caught him with his secretary bent over his desk. They said he'd gotten a reputation within his business and would be experiencing difficulties in finding a new job for himself. My crying increased gradually through out the call, this was the first time hed let me down after all. His boss was very apologetic and so was my fiancé.
He found me sat on the floor with phone in hand, a complete mess of tears and running mascara. Immedietly showing worry, 'Whats going on, whats happened?' He asked, thinking somebody died. But when I glared at him, repaying his silence with my own, he understood. He stuttered an apology, his words a flurry of explanations and sorrys, sounding truly regretful.
So I forgave him, silly me.
With time, bitterness manifested within him. Resentment over the fact that I was well liked and did good work at my own job. It led him down a pityfull path, finding solace in alcohol, resentment turning into lousey drunkeness. I should've left him, but chose to forgive him. I loved him, despite all.
Eventually he found a new job, nowehere near the prestige of his old one. But it calmed his drinking.
When he sobered slightly, he apologized continously. Telling me he promised to get better and told me he wanted to have our ceremony, because I deserved it. Foolishly, I belived him. He stayed sober several weeks before the wedding, and I thought it could be a new start.
But here we are now.
I stood behind the doors of the nave, inhaling and exhaling big shaky breaths, trying to gather strength for what I was about to throw myself into.
The priest, father Barnes. The one who would be marrying us, came to me before I walked down the aisle.
'Miss.' He began, his eyes pleading as he took my hands into his, 'Its now my place, I know. But your betrothed-'
'Youre right, its not.' I cut him off, the idea of discussing my fiancés indiscretions with the priest was not appealing. 'I apologize father.' I sighed and met his eyes, 'Hes drunk isnt he?'
The priest tilted his head to the side, realising I was already well aquainted with the vice, 'Well, yes. . .' He said, sounding apologetic.
I nodded my head, deep in thought, 'Alright, lets not waste anymore time then.'
'You're still going ahead with the wedding?' He asked me, an incredulous expression shaping his face.
I looked down, studying the intricate details of my wedding dress. Id picked it myself, my favourite flowers covered it. That man of mine doesnt know my favourite in anything, nor would he notice them on my dress.
A melancholic smile covered my lips, 'You must think me foolish father.' I whispered under my breath, chuckling quietly.
He shook his head and moved one of his hands to my chin, tilting my face to meet his. The other grabbed my hands, and squeezed them, 'I think youre strong.' He told me, a reassuring smile on his lips.
'He promised me he would get better.' My voice was meak, a tear streaking my face.
'You're a good woman.' He breathed, letting go of my hands to cup my face. He leveled his head with mine, his tall stature forcing him to hunch as his eyes locked with mine, 'Too, good.' He whispered, 'And, Its not my business, thats true. . .' Another tear fell, and he gently stroked it away with his thumb, 'But he does not deserve your kindness.'
My cheeks burned hot, a blush crept up my face. I had not heard such kind words in a long time. I could not controll my crying any longer, unstoppable tears came rolling down my cheeks, 'I have to believe him, father, I have to try.' I told him quietly, hating how desperate my voice sounded.
'I love him.'
He cringed at the words, furrowing his brows 'I admire your devotion.' He said gently, 'Do you want more time? Im sure we can wait a little longer.' He tried, but I shook my head.
'No, I dont want to keep the guests waiting.' I took a deep breath, 'Do I look ok?' I asked him.
He nodded, but pulled the cuff over his hand and dabbed my cheeks dry.
His eyes flickered over my face, studying my features, my wet eyes and rosy cheeks. He leaned in, kissed my cheek and whispered 'Angelic.' His hands fell to my bare shoulders and gave them a reassuring squeeze.
He turned around and as he was about the leave I grabbed hold of his wrist, carefully tugging him back. He faced me and I let go of him realising that perhaps it wasnt appropriate of me. 'I just-' I began, but my voice broke. He met my eyes and pulled me into his embrace, 'Thank you, father.' I whispered against his chest.
He rested his head on your shoulder and rubbed your back gently, holding onto the fabric of your dress, rubbing it between his fingers. Studying the beautiful pattern. He slid his hands up your arms, feeling a sudden urge to kiss the bare skin beneath him. He pulled back hastily, clearing his throat as he silently rebuked himself.
'I must take my place dear.' He said, stroking a piece of hair behind my ear. He gave me a last smile, then left, taking his place by the altar.
I heard the music starting and the muffled sound of the crowd standing up. I sighed, steadied my breathing, and opened the doors to the nave. Everyone turned around, looking at me. Whispers rumbled through the crowd as I began walking, their stares were making me nervous.
Through the gloom of the church, light shone through the windows at the altar. I looked at him for comfort, handsome as he was, I met his eyes and found it within them.
He could not tear his eyes from you, you were the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, courageous and proud, you walked down the aisle. When your eyes met his, he smiled proudly. Hoping you would find some comfort in it, and you found it.
As I approached the altar, I tore my eyes from his and looked at my fiancé. His best man holding him upright, otherwise slumping over. He smiled sloppily at me, I gave him a strained smile back.
The ceremony was over quickly, my husband stumbled through his vows and his kiss tasted of smoke and whiskey. In fact, the entirety of him was drenched in the odor.
I smiled and thanked everyone as they congratulted us, and carefully, tiptoed around the subject of my husband.
I hurried to change into my reception dress, it was all black. Black coat, dress, heels and stockings. Fitting, I thought. As this felt more like a funeral than a wedding, burrying the woman I once was.
People were drinking, laughing and dancing. The reception was doing a wonderful job of keeping everyone cheery, everyone except me. I sat silently by our table, watching my husband as he kept drinking and his men trying to calm him down. He had barely spoken a word to me, he was to drunk to stand, to drunk to have our first dance. I felt myself sinking into oblivion as my polite smiles and thank yous were running out.
But someone approched me, snapping me out of the darkness. I looked up, and the light returned.
He reached his hand out to me, 'May I have this dance?' He asked, his white collar stark against his black shirt.
'You may.' I smiled, the first genuine smile I'd given anyone since the night begun.
I laid my hand in his and he led me to the edge of the dance floor, somewhere we could be at peace. In our dark colors we went unseen, tucked away from prying eyes.
I snaked my arms around his neck and his arms circled my waist, pulling me tightly against him. A bit unorthodox perhaps. But I didnt mind and neither did he, it seemed. I leaned my head against him as we swayed to the music, basking in eachothers prescence.
He sensed that you werent interested in talking, but rather needed a shoulder to lean on. Someone to hold you up, as your ungrateful husband couldnt even do that for himself.
For several songs, we just held eachother. Until the evening began winding down and we had to depart.
'I think this was a mistake.' He whispered.
'Which part?' I asked, and he sighed.
'Dont hesitate to come to me if you need anyhting.' He said quietly, 'Please.' he pleaded. I nodded, thinking id never take him up on his offer.
Now, I stood on the street. Still feeling the priests hand on my back although he'd already taken a few secure steps back.
I watched as my husband being carried to our car, as we were headed for our honeymoon. Two weeks in rome, I wish I could truthfully say I was excited. They shoved him into the back, and once again congratulated us with cheapish smiles. I walked around the car and opened the door, about to sit down when a hand slid into mine. I looked up and my eyes met his beautiful blues once again. He assisted me into the car, lending me his strong arm for support as I sat down. His hand slid out of mine, and a note was left in my palm, reflexicely I closed my hand around it. 'Anything.' He whispered and backed away, closing the door gently.
Our car drove off as the guests were waving us of, but all I could think about was the priest disappearing in the distance.
I opened the note, written down was his number and adress along with a few intricately drawn flowers.
I smiled to myself, quickly stashing it away in my pocket, afraid my husband would see. But as I looked at him, I realised. He was dead asleep, snoring even.
I opened my hand, tracing my fingertips along my palm. Trying to recreate the feeling of his hand in mine, his gentle, yet firm touch on my skin. I sighed, feeling my tears returning.
I cried silently, afraid to wake him. The driver looked at me through his rearview mirror, I met his eyes and quickly averted my gaze, crying even harder, but I couldnt even do that in peace. God, what had I done. I leaned my head against the seat, closing my eyes. When suddenly, I felt fingers on my knee. I shut my eyes harder, begging for it to be my imagination. But it wasnt.
'My, beautiful wife.' He drawled, tracing a finger along my jaw as his hand slid up my thigh. He sat forward, leaning towrd the drivers compartment and shut the hatch.
I opened my eyes and faced him, 'Aw, crying of joy sweetheart?' He asked, he was so delusional it was scary. I nodded, and feigned a smile which he returned lazily, then leaned in to kissed me.
I closed my eyes again, canceling out the taste and smell of liqour, shutting my ears to his voice.
And when his finger reached under my dress, It no longer felt like him. My husbands face was no longer my husbands, his voice and touch was someone elses.
All of a sudden my core was aching for more.
His kisses on my skin felt like heaven, his touch like fire and when he pulled me on top of him. I opened my eyes, and was met with blue, black and white.
Weeks went by and my thoughts never left father Barnes, whenever my husband made love to me, I made love to a priest.
Eventually his drinking subdued and he started taking care of himself, but grew more distant by the day.
It did actually make my existence bareable.
But there came a day, when I got home from work early and things were not as they should. The were heels in the doorway and clothes strewn on the floor. As I followed their trail, I found my husband and his secretary at the end of them. Naked, sweaty and monaing, in our bed, in our home. I was quiet, lost for words, but they mustve noticed my presence.
Because they stopped and threw the sheets over themselves, covering up. 'Sweetheart, its not what it seems.' He managed, struggling to clme up with an excuse. God, the stumache on that man. I felt like screaming, like cursing him and his entire bloodline. But he wasnt worth it.
I turned on my heel and he scrambled out of bed, dragging the sheet with him as he followed me out of the house, apologizing prefusely.
I shut him out, rage filling me as I got in my car and drove away. I drove to the only adress that came to mind.
I walked up to his house and knocked on the door, a few moments passed and he opened.
With wide eyes he looked at me, unable to hide his surpise. 'I uhm, I-' I stammered, my own surpise catching up to me. I hadnt had time to think this through, I acted on pure instinct. 'He cheated on me.' I got the words out, finally taking a breath as I finally understood their meaning. Misery overtook my rage, and my eyes welled as I tried to explain myself. 'I apologize for barging in on you father.' I started, 'Ive been thinking about you and I-' rambling, all my thoughts and feelings poured out of me. In the doorway of this poor mans home.
He reached out to me and pulled me into a hug, backing away from the door and let it fall shut behind me. He rested his head on top of mine as one of his hands held my head against his chest, stroking my hair. The warmth of his home embracing me.
'Can I confess something father?' I asked him as I laid my arms around him, much like our dance a few weeks ago.
'Anything.' He answered, kissing the top of my head.
'Ive sinned.'
He pulled back with a confused look on his face, but didnt let go. 'Lets hear it.' He ordered patiently.
'Ive. . . Been thinking of another man.' I whispered, looking deep into his eyes. 'During actions that should only take place between husband and wife.' I told him quietly, and his face grew pale. 'Ive had an emotional affair with this man, unbeknownst to him.' My breathing turned heavy, as my gaze switched to his lips, 'But, me and this man. Were both bound by vows you see.' I said and let go of him, understanding my words as I said them, and stepped back. Suddenly regretting coming here, as I felt rejection was imminent. 'Mine are already broken, but his are not and he cannot break them. He would not.'
'You should let the man speak for himself.' He said, serious in tone. His gaze locked in on me, as he stepped closer. 'I havent been able to stop thinking about you, no matter how hard I've tried.' He whispered, laying his hands on my hips. 'Ive never seen a woman so beautiful walking down the aisle, god himself mustve blessed you.' I snaked my hands around his shoulders, burrying them in his hair. 'Im hoping he would bless us, too.' Leaning in, his lips were a ghost over mine. 'I would care for you, in a way your husband never could. He does not deserve you.' He leaned his forehead agagaist mine, 'I'd work everyday to deserve your love, your kindness, your presence.' He said quietly against my lips, planting a gentle kiss on them and pulling back slightly to give me room. But I chased his lips, returning the kiss feverishly. Grabbing a fistful of his hair as I pulled him impossibly closer. His hands roamed my back, reaching under my shirt to undo my bra. It fell to the floor and he pulled my shirt over my head in one quick motion, making me gasp.
I removed the collar of his shirt with my teeth and ripped his black shirt open, burrying my head in the crook of his neck, 'Youre not a beginner, are you father? I asked, between kisses. Breathing heavily as I latched onto his skin, sucking at the sweet spot between his neck and collarbone.
He moaned, a smirk shaping his lips, 'Saints also sin from time to time.' he breathed, his hands falling to my ass and lifted me into his arms. I chuckled, letting go of his neck and circled my legs around his hips. I pushed my bare breasts against him and he burried his face in them, in turns taking them into his mouth. 'Where?' His voice came muffled by my skin.
'Everywhere.' I answered.
I could feel his grin against my skin, as he nipped my nipple with his teeth, making me yelp. He walked us toward his bedroom, and laid me down on his bed. He stood back, studying me as he took his shirt and pants off. I unbuttoned my own pants and shimmied out of them, raising myself onto my elbows, watching him as he took me in. His eyes roamed my body, thighs, hips, stumache, breasts. He loved all of me, 'Youre perfect.' He said, lust in his eyes as he climbed on top of me. 'I need you.' He whispered.
'You'll have me.' I told him and flipped him over. Positioning him against the headboard as I stradled his thigh, grinning wickedly and leaned forward, kissing his jaw. 'But first-' I whispered against his ear, 'I want to test your self control.' He looked confused, and I began grinding my clit against his thigh, a whimper escaping me. His hands flew to my hips to help me along, but I grabbed them and led them up to the headboard. I leveled my face with his, ghosting my lips over his as I had him hold onto the board, 'No touching.' I whispered and pecked his lips. I leaned back and my grinding resumed, I grabbed his thighs for support as the heat from the friction was making me swoon. I leaned my head back, biting my lip from the pleasure and when I looked back at him, he was holding onto the board for dear life. The muscles in his arms and jaw clenching as he fought himself to stay still, his eyes were running up and down my body.
The way your hips swayed and breasts bounced, it was sucking all the restraint out of him. His hands were itching to touch you, to just feel your skin under his fingertips for a moment. It would keep him fed for the rest of his life.
I hummed, 'Im- im gonna-' I stammered, my breaths frenzied as I was closing in on my orgasm. The crazy in his eyes made me smile devilishly, I felt evil, in the best way. My hips stuttered against his thigh, my ruts becoming faster and shorter as I was approaching my release. When I looked at him, his eyes were pleading, begging for permission, but it was to late. I rushed over the edge in a second, collapsing onto him, panting hard as I was catching my breath.
'May I?' He asked, his voice strained.
I kissed his chest and answered, 'Yes, please. You did so good.' He grunted at the praise, surprising me. He grabbed my ribs and threw me under him, hurridly kissing his way down my body until he reached my thighs. Spreading them, he kissed his way up the inside until he reached my panties. Without a second thought he ripped them apart and burried his face in my cunt. Tasting me, licking my juices, sliding his tongue through my folds and kissing my clit. A string of curses fell from my lips, as he pushed a finger inside of me, carefully sliding it in and out. Then adding another, and eventually a third, he thrusted them into me, my moaning telling him he was on the right track. He curled them into my spot and I nearly screamed.
'Just like that, good job.' I breathed and he moaned against my clit. What fun. He reached into his boxers and stroked himself, the sight made me mad. And for the second time, I came tumbling over the edge. He was not far behind, coming into his own hand, drenching himself in his seed. I grabbed his arm and pulled his hand closer to me, licking a stripe of his hand. He grunted at the sight, spurring me on as I took his fingers into my mouth. Sucking him clean as he watched, furrowing his brows, he became plagued by lust.
I pulled him closer to me, meeting his lips in another kiss as he pulled off his boxers. I reached down, stroking him as I lined him up with my entrance, 'You did such a good job, father.' His head perked at the praise, like a puppy being told hes a good boy. Gratefully pecking my face, cheek, chin and jaw, below my ear and neck. He put his weight on me, we couldnt possibly get any closer to one another. 'I need you in me father.' I told him bluntly, and leveled his head with mine, sliding inside. Kissing me mean while and I moaned into his mouth, sharing my breath with him. I laid my hands on his hips, telling him to move by pulling and pushing. Helping him set a gentle but firm pace, he lowered his head to the crook of my neck, his breath hot against my skin. 'Let me hear you father, dont hold back.' I whispered and appreciatively he grunted against my skin, moaning in my ear. It was fiendish, it was fantastic. 'Deeper, please.' I asked, pulling on his hips to drive him deeper and using the weight of his entire body he thrusted into me, in rythm with his grunts as our bodiess moved together.
'Tell me im good, please.' He begged, nuzzling his face into my neck.
I smiled, 'Youre being so good for me father.' I whispered into his hair.
'Thank you.' He whimpered, putting even more force to his thrusts as he traced my collarbone with kisses, all the way to my shoulder, repeating "Thank you." Over and over again inbetween his kisses. His thrusts were coming faster as he was closing in on his orgasm, driving me over the edge with him. 'I- im- im close.' He stuttered faintly.
'So am I, almost there father.' His pace hastened as his hand slithered between our bodies, finding my clit and circled it. 'God' I moaned, spots specking my vision as the priests thrusts became frenzied. He pinched my skin in warning, reminding me not to take the lords name in vain. Then we came together, and he collapsed on top of me.
'Im sorry for swearing, father. You bring it out of me.' I whispered.
He chuckled, 'Youre forgiven.' Throughout the night, we made love on the couch, the floor, the kitchen table and shower.
Eventually, we got back into bed. Holding eachother tightly as we drifted off to sleep.
When I woke up late the next day, there was a vase of flowers on the bedside table with a note under it, the letter "-B" was written on it.
I unfolded it and he had written me a message, "I had to go to church, but didnt want to wake you. I hope on seeing you later, please stay if you want to. Id love to come home to you. -PS, Your favourites."
I smiled happily and smelled the bouqet of tulips, a soft, warm feeling spreading throughout my body.
For a long time love had felt dark to me, it had felt cold and lonely, but now. . .
I had let the light in, he was my light.
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rhiaarrow · 2 months
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My favorite headcanon about the eggs will always be that they took on the attributes of their parents
But thinking about what each egg took from each parent got me thinking, what did the eggs look like when they first arrived then?
Today's 7am ramble is about how I imagine the og 4 eggs (Chay, Dapper, Leo, Ramón) appearance changed over time and what attributes they took from their parents! :D
Were the first 8 practically identical at first?
In my opinion, yes!
The first few weeks of the egg event everyone kept mixing up the eggs names and forgetting which egg belonged to which parent which of course was just because they were new and no one had memorized it yet.
But why not add a canonical reason for people mix ups?
Everyone was just identifying them by their personal accessories because when the first 8 were delivered they were practically identical.
All small children with tan skin, similar face shapes and the same bright yellowish eyes. The only obvious appearance difference was their hair. All different lengths, styles and shades of brunette.
But they were ALL brunettes to begin with.
(all the dead eggs are commonly depicted as brunettes as well so this adds to it, they died before taking on a lot of their parents attributes)
Now, the first really obvious change that had the Islanders noticing the subtle changes in their own kids was when one day Dapper just suddenly no longer had iris's or pupils.
She just had white sclera blinking back at people and they were clearly his Dad's eyes. Then when they looked closed to see if anything else had changed they realized that both Dapper's skin and hair had darkened a fair few shades when put in comparison with his siblings obviously making to become pure black in both areas like Bad.
But hold on, now that they were comparing hair, they noticed that Chayanne's hair had lightened by quite a few shades. It was now a very light golden brunette, clearly turning blonde like his Dad, and under the skull mask you could no longer see yellow eyes looking back at you. So they removed the mask and sure enough his eyes were the exact opposite of Dapper, just pure Black sclera like his Papa Missa.
And wait, Leo's eyes were purple now! Unlike his siblings she still had her iris's and pupils but the iris's were now a rich purple like his Pa Vegettas and their hair had started to darken too. Closer in color to Dapper's hair, both of them clearly developing black hair like their Dads.
On first inspection Ramón didn't seem to have changed at all. His skin and hair were still the same shades as they had been when he arrived but later that day, when tucking Ramón in for the night, Fit realized that the sleepy eyes looking back at him were the exact same color as the ones he saw in the mirror. The same strange concoction of green and brown that he'd never bothered to find out the name for. And if Fit got choked up over that when he went to his own bedroom for the night, well no one needed to know.
Overtime there were far more obvious changes and also subtle changes that went completely unnoticed.
Chayanne's tail scales shed then instead of growing a new set he grew in a thick plumage, so rather than the lizard-like tail he used to have it he now had tail feathers that matched his father's hidden wings.
Dapper's tail shed the scales entirely until only the base remained, thinning into a long line as the end began to grow and change overtime until she had a forked tail just like her father.
Leo's tail did the opposite, growing in size and the scales became smoother as the end of it began to resemble that of a shark, clearly taking after her Pa Foolich.
Ramón's tail didn't change at all in style, he kept the lizard-like tail they'd all had to begin with, he just adapted to his needs. Fit knew better than anyone that in order to survive it's better to adapt to the hand (pun intended) you're dealt. So he helped Ramón strengthen his tail and work on his motor control until he could hold tools or weapons with the end of his tail, to use the tail as an extension of himself.
In stature, it was pretty obvious that Dapper was starting to take after her Dad when they had their first growth spurt. He shot up a head above his other siblings, still a small child but much taller than the rest. But less noticeably her limbs and body were a lot thinner than the rest, similar to the lean and lanky physique of their demon father.
With the fact that his skin was now pure void black it was easy to miss that her nails had changed into taloned claws and they no longer wore shoes since they'd developed hoof/paw things similar to Bads. Her horns grew to double the size they had been, they grew straight upwards and were sharp at the end just like his fathers.
Chayanne unfortunately did the opposite, having taken up his father's height he stayed practically the same height as his younger triplet siblings all hit their growth spurts. Much like his father, Chayanne was short and sturdy but with the way Dapper was gaining height it didn't matter. Chayanne's own horns stayed the same height they had been but over time they adapted to fit perfectly against the skull mask Chayanne wore.
Ramon and Leo stayed the same height for ages, when one grew so did the other. But then Leo discovered platformed sneakers and since Ramon lived exclusively in steel toed work boots it was easy for Leo to seem taller than her triplet brother, even though they were the exact same height.
In stature Leo stayed the same, no obvious changes at all to her physique but Leo's horns grew slightly and curled backwards over her cap. The most noticeable thing about them though was the fact that the tips of them grew in a vibrant purple, the same color as her eyes.
Ramón did quite obviously take after Fit in his physique but the only one who ever knew that was Fit himself. Ramon wore baggy comfortable clothes all day so no one else knew about the solid muscle mass Ramon had effortlessly gained from repeatedly working with heavy machinery and regularly going to the gym to work out with Fit.
Ramón's own horns however didn't grow at all, in fact they shrunk. With the fact that they were continuously pressed underneath his meathead and goggles they reduced themselves to slightly raised stumps that poked out from under his fringe whenever he took the meathead off. Although he only ever did that when going to sleep, only Fit knew how tiny his horns had become in contrast to how his triplets horns had grown.
I am totally drawing this when I wake up tomorrow, I have thought about this waaaaaaay too much not to at least try to put it on paper.
We will not mention the fact that it's already tomorrow, 8am is a respectable time to fall asleep...yep.
More Miscellaneous Stuff I think the OG eggs picked up;
Leo's skin took on a more golden hue but since she was already tan skinned it was barely noticeable unless she was standing directly in the sun.
Ramón picked up Fit's eyebrows. No particular reason why, he just did. I mean he already had a flawless moustache so why not flawless eyebrows to match?
Chayanne took on Missa's hair texture, making his hair much more volumous than if his hair had been fully taken from Phil.
When Pac officially called Ramón son he took on Pac's pure black pacman shaped eyes which gave Fit a hell of a shock.
Chayanne's ears bent down overtime, he didn't know that they now looked similar to how Piglin hybrid ears did, but Phil did.
Leo developed a strong jawline, not quite as chilzled as her father's but definitely more than her siblings.
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buckyalpine · 2 years
Note
hiii i love your writing sm!!! i was hoping u can do one where the reader gets their nails done and bucky starts fantasizing their hands wrapped around his di-🤭 he just gets incredibly horny. LOVE U SM 
Bucky loves your nails
YESS THIS IS SO HOT
Drabble for this "Hey Buck" You plopped down beside Bucky, the both of you sitting in the living room while you admired your fresh manicure, your long nails painted a dark shade, perfect for fall. "Whatcha doing"
"Hey y/n..." Bucky stared at your nails while you  tapped away on your phone. "Uh...was watching something...a movie..."
Bucky's mind was fully focused somewhere else now. Your pretty little hands. Those perfectly painted nails. So fucking pretty. His mind started to wander. No matter how much he tried to stop it, he couldn't. How your nails would feel grazing his scalp. How they'd feel clawing his back. They'd look so pretty wrapped around his co-
Stop.
Bucky shifted uncomfortable beside you, his eyes growing wide when he realized his boner could poke an eye out. He grabbed a cushion, swiftly holding it on his lap, his eyes still flicking over to your nails.
Fuck he can't help it, the way he'd have his sweats pulled down just enough to free his cock, your pretty fingers wrapped around him, his head thrown back while you squeeze and tug his length. His head would be thrown back, thrusting his hips up into your hand, moaning, telling you to stroke him faster, twirl your wrist around his sensitive head. He’d tell you you were such a good girl, so perfect, how fucking pretty your hands looked playing with his cock, so thick for you to wrap your fingers around. 
He’d bust his load all over your hand, cum dribbling down his length, covering your fingers. You wouldn’t stop, you’d keep pumping him, milking every drop out of him till he was overstimulated, using his cum as lube. Your nails would looks so sexy covered in his arousal, licking your fingers clean.
"Fuck..."
"You okay Buck?"
Bucky's eyes grow wide when he realized his breaths were heavy. He gives you a strained smile, quickly retreating to his room without saying a word. He doesn’t bother laying on his bed, he already knows he won’t be able to control himself. He’s stripped all his clothes off, hopping in the shower, his back leaning against the cold tile wall while hot water sprays down on him.
His deep groans bounce off the shower walls as his hand goes down to play with his balls before trialing up to his shaft. His lip is caught between his teeth, his eyes squeezed shut, brows furrowed. It doesn’t take long for him to reach his climax, his cock throbbing from a few strokes. It’s not like you’d hear him from the shower, he doesn’t hold his moans back, your name falling from his lips each time he imagines you on your knees, stroking him, both your hands wrapped around him. 
“Fuck y/n!” 
His cum shoots onto his chest, some getting in his beard, his hand completely covered. He’s panting, taking a moment to collect himself before rinsing off and grabbing his towel. He opens the door and his soul nearly leaves his fucking body. What the fuck. 
“You okay Sergeant” You smirk, sitting on his bed, cocking your head to the side while Bucky stares at you with wide eyes, the blush spreading from his cheeks, down to his neck. 
“I-you-w-what you doing here?”
“You left your phone in the living room. I came to give it to you” You shrug, still not moving from his bed. 
“Thank you” He whispers, still rooted in place, . Your eyes flick to the water droplets that are dripping down the hard planes of his body. 
“Hmm, I’ll see you around then” You giggle, giving him one last smirk before leaving his room and closing the door on the way out. 
What the hell just happened. 
*****
It was just you and Bucky left again; the rest of the team had called it an early night from their movie marathon. Bucky held onto the cushion for dear life; you were sitting in nothing but an over sized t shirt, your pretty hands resting near him, while you sat in the corner of the sofa. 
“Buck, could I use the cushion?” 
His breath hitches in his throat when you reach over for it, his thick cock straining in his sweats. Just what you were waiting for. You bite back a smirk, crawling over to him, your hand resting on his abs, your nails scratching slightly, stopping just before where he needs you. 
“Y/n...”
“Shhh, just let me”
Bucky swallowed thickly, tugging his sweats down to pull his cock out. You hum, leaning over so you can play with him better, loving the way his body tenses in anticipation. 
He moans the second your soft hands wrap around his length, the feeling of your silky skin was better than anything he imagined. You start off slow, your lips pressing little kisses onto his neck while your eyes are focused on the pink tip of his cock already leaking with arousal. 
“Is this okay?” You whisper, swiping your thumb across the tip, getting his cock wet before licking some of his precum off your finger. Bucky moaned at the sight, his eyes rolling back, there was no way he was going to last as long as he wanted. 
“Y/n...” Bucky moaned, he almost sounded like he was in pain, his head thrown against the couch, his hips rocking in your hand in their own accord. He forces his eyes back open, your perfect nails, perfect hands stroking him faster, moaning along with him because he sounds so sexy when he’s this deep in pleasure. 
“Baby, m’gonna cum” He whines out, his eyes locked with yours, this is better than his fantasies, his balls were throbbing, he knew he was going to make such a mess. 
“You gonna cum soldier?” You coo, while he nods, his hips trusting in your hand, chasing his orgasm. 
“M’gonna cum so fucking much baby” He moans, “Fuckfuckfuck gonna cum so hard-yes fuck YES” You can feel his cock harden in your hand, his veins throbbing as cum shoots out of his swollen tip, covering your entire hand, dribbling down to your wrist. You keep stroking him until his cock is soft in your hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before letting it go. 
He cries out when you overstimulate him, his face buried in your neck, whining and whimpering because he doesn’t want you to stop even if it hurts, your hands look too pretty to be anywhere else. 
“You taste good baby” You smirk, licking your fingers clean while Bucky pants, his eyes glassy, cock still throbbing.  He takes your hand, placing it back on his cock, he can’t get enough. He pulls you into a messy kiss, tasting himself on your tongue before pulling away, the both of you desperate and needy. 
“Want your mouth next doll” 
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beanghostprincess · 3 months
Note
I just thought of this so you have to, too.
Buggy being genderfluid but the Roger crew not really giving a flying fuck about it. Who cares how you dress so long as you're still you? Yeah, sure, go apeshit, just be loyal, strong, etc. You're one of Us and your pants or lack thereof doesn't impact that.
The crew disbands.
Shanks and Buggy get smth of a culture shock once they are no longer in that protective bubble. Buggy is getting hateful looks, comments, snide remarks. Shanks is at his side, completely taken aback and honestly pretty pissed. Buggy, on more Femme days, faces more animosity, misogyny, and it's astounding to the former apprentices who different men and women are treated. And if you can't tell by a glance, people can get so upset?? What the hell????
Buggy refuses to be anything but themself/himself/herself, depending on the day and vibe. Shanks refuses to comply with this newfound social expectation to be rude and mean for no reason to innocent people.
The Grandline is the most progressive of the seas, due in part to the natural insanity it breeds. The Blues aren't as open, but the East is the more chill of the four. Buggy chooses there for many reasons, but the Big Top and crew is open to any sea. There's an information network, smuggling division, crowdsourcing area, etc.
Shanks will drop tips at places he visits for Buggy to get a foothold if they don't already exist, and Buggy will drop tips for Shanks regarding pertinent information for adventures, expectations, and etiquette.
It's a good dynamic. They go for years like this.
Buggy's stint in Impel Down was.... not fun. Aside from the misgendering, general torture and absolutely overwhelming energy there, it was stifling.
Marineford was a hot mess, but by the end, Shanks offers Buggy a ride to the Big Top's docked location, and on board, he just leads Buggy to this little chest in his cabin. Says, "here, take your pick. You wear whatever is most comfortable for you." There's a dress or two, a few skirts, tops, pants, shirts, and while most of it is in different sizes, there's belts and loops. Buggy bites back tears when they find their old skirt. They'd left that one on the Oro. How did Shanks even get this??
The time skip goes down, and by the time Cross Guild is running, Buggy has had to decide between masquerading as a Cis person or just... being themself. One morning, they wake up and everything feels too TIGHT, too STIFF, too much and she's left eying her leotard, half skirt and thigh highs.
...
Well. If she dies, might as well die authentic.
Crocodile and Mihawk nearly do a spit take when she struts out of her tent or into the announcement hall. She is a bit nervous by this, but she has COMMITTED.
It... also helps that so many of her men are singing her praises and Ritchie is bouncing happily, Mohji and Cabaji are smiling, Alvida is giving an approving nod-
She's happy. She's not going to let fear rule her, even if she can feel the gazes of two very powerful men tracking her every breath.
((They're not mad, they're fighting every urge to swoop her into a kiss and maybe more, but also the fact that WHO GAVE THE CLOWN THE RIGHT TO BE SO HOT??? IT WAS BAD ENOUGH BEFORE, NOW THIS????? they're not good at flirting, they cannot HANDLE this-))
I adore this. Buggy being genderfluid is actually so important to me as a genderfluid person-- My beloved. The concept of cold reality suddenly hitting them both (because they were so, so supportive back at the Oro Jackson) when the crew disbands is so good. Shanks is extremely protective of them when that happens, refusing to let anybody talk shit about Buggy. It's just so sweet of him. Tbh, it hurts so much to think about Buggy having to hide that part of himself,,, But then they come out to Mihawk and Crocodile and it's not only that they support them but they also absolutely love them. These two men are having a whole crisis over a clown again (as usual). But yeah, it's actually really sweet to see Buggy finally being free with them in that way,, Thinking thoughts about Crocodile going full mafioso with money and buying Buggy all the clothes she wants (he does it more for himself and Mihawk but yeah).
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Space ~ B.A.
A/n: LOVE touching on the way Iris and Barry create their relationship by high key sabotaging every other possibility bc they feel inevitable... great shit.
Request: “Barry x male reader, reader and Barry been having issues so reader goes to stay with Kara for awhile.” By anon
Word Count: 2,000+
MASTERLIST
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"So... are we going to talk about that?"
Y/n's jaw worked as he mulled over Kara's question. He couldn't expect her not to ask questions after all of that. She was a good friend, she worried. And Y/n didn't want to spend this entire trip running from his feelings. It would only make things worse.
On the other hand he really didn't want to talk about it.
But that may have been him trying to run from his feelings. Like usual. How well did that ever go?
He looked at her, taking in her barely contained curiosity and anxiety. The last time she had run into Barry and his boyfriend the two were newly in love after ages of pining and beating around the bush. They were full of relief at being able to hold hands and use pet names, and got borderline ridiculous if they ever kissed. Kara had joked they were the goal; the base line. Someone would look at her that way someday.
Now the two men were cold and distant, and when they'd gotten Kara the help she needed and Barry went to go back to his own world Y/n had asked to stay? In an entirely different universe where Barry Allen didn't even know who Y/n L/n was. Had never even heard of him. They were complete strangers in this world.
Sighing, Y/n leaned against the desk behind him and Kara tried not to grin as she realized he was about to talk about his feelings. Y/n never did such things no matter how many times she prodded and begged - but this was not a situation that called for smiling or teasing. She listened instead as Y/n began, "Barry and I have been having problems."
Kara raised an eyebrow. She was hesitant to push such a delicate string of luck but it seemed Y/n was about to stop and he really hadn't said much yet. "Problems?"
Once he started he couldn't stop. "First it was the newspaper with Iris' byline. I mean, he's been in love with her for near his entire life and everything was screaming that she would choose him back eventually. Eddie died, Patty and Linda didn't work out for several reasons - mostly because he couldn't open up to them. But that's not-" He closed his eyes, realizing he was going off on a tangent. "The point is," he began again slowly. "Barry and Iris are like, soulmates? Or something? And it started with the newspaper but then there was Earth 2, and the fact that they always know each other everywhere we go - even if vaguely. Like they're drawn to each other. Inevitable. There are worlds where I don't know Barry Allen and he doesn't know me, but they always have each other."
Slowly, Kara asked, "You're jealous of Iris?"
Y/n scoffed. "I'm not just mindlessly jealous. It wouldn't bother me so much if the name on the by line of the newspaper had changed. If it said Iris West instead, or Iris soemthing-else. But it doesn't. It still Iris West-Allen. And I feel like... a filler." His shoulders sagged and his face twisted with agony. "It doesn't help that he started to drop our plans to hang out with her. And I realized that actually he always prioritizes her. Our plans never overlap, like he's desperate not to have to choose, and then they do and he chooses her. And it's fine, she's family, but I thought I was too. I thought we'd at least be equally as important. And then Savitar comes and he goes after Iris - still. Iris and Barry weren't together, but his life falls apart if she dies. Like-" He blinked tears out of his eyes. "Like she's his whole world. Cisco can't save him, or Caitlyn."
"Or you," Kara realized, her face crumbling as it fully settled in.
The man shrugged. "Or me. And I tried bringing it up to him but he refuses to acknowledge it and scrambles to avoid the topic and I feel like he knows he's in love with her but doesn't want to admit it. I feel like I really am filler and he knows it, that his very atoms are waiting for her and it's just this unspoken inevitability. I'm only here for now and that's it and I'm not supposed to address it, I'm not supposed to see it, but I do and that really sets him on edge. Or- something does at least. I don't know! He won't talk to me!"
Immediately Kara pulled Y/n into a hug. Y/n let her, curling into her comforting warmth and knowing he could fully collapse and she would be fine. "Would it help if I helped you work through what other options there are? Discussions are hard to have if you have one out come stuck in your head, and then often turn into arguments that accomplish nothing."
Chuckling, Y/n wiped his face. "You're so smart Kara." And he meant it so genuinely she couldn't even joke that he was full of it. He seemed relieved to be able to talk about it, talk through it. She believed that truly was the case. "Please," he sighed. "Please tell me there are other options than what I think there are."
Kara hummed, tightening the hug for a split second before leaning away so they could meet eye to eye as they spoke. This was a conversation where he needed to know she was being absolutely truthful and genuine. "Well, first of all he could have the exact same fears as you. He could truly and deeply be in love with you and be scared that it'll all be for nothing. Fate and knowing your future - it';s a terrifying thought. Especially when no matter what you do, it never changes."
Y/n nodded. That was a perfectly logical option. "Anything else?"
She was ready for the question. "His life has been really difficult. He's constantly losing people, and being a superhero is extremely hard on a person. It's demanding and draining and leaves no room for even a single mistake. You're gambling with the life of every single person. Their happiness and stability. It's not a reason to treat anyone badly but I could understand if his work life and super hero life being so complicated and dangerous doesn't leave a deep desire for a normal, more straight forward life. Maybe he got it in his head that things with you were supposed to be easy and now... they're not. And he's too burnt out or anxious to address it."
Oh. Very quickly Y/n was calming down. Hearing all the other alternatives were very grounding and loosened the pit of doom in his stomach. "Anything else?"
Nodding, Kara continued. "He may not be taking your emotions seriously and either isn't realizing how your emotions are affecting you, or thinks they're some kind of accusation. He may even not understand that when you bring this up its concerning how you feel about it and not necessarily about him or anything he's doing at all. It's a pile up of things that all point your brain in one direction, and the way that makes you feel may be irrational or very rational, but either way he isn't the person who chooses Iris. And he may be one day, or he may not, but if he thinks you're accusing him of some sort of cheating when he couldn't imagine ever doing something to you?" She shrugged. "Like getting mad at someone for doing something in a dream. And it still means something to you but he isn't clocking that - all he can see is you blaming him for something he didn't do."
Y/n actually had the audacity to smile. "We would argue over me feeling insecure and it making him feel like I hate him. Or doubt him." He rolled his eyes but there was a little fondness there and Kara felt hope surge through her. Not all was lost yet. "We would end up arguing like we are over both of us just being insecure and not communicating it int he way we need to." He sighed, long and laboriously.
Kara just decided to skip to another option. "Or he's being an asshole and he does know it upsets you but he just doesn't want to acknowledge it or take it seriously."
They looked at each other for a second before slipping into soft, breathy laughter. It was weak and quiet but Kara wrote it down as a win. The idea that Barry would be so harsh and cruel truly was laughable. Maybe another Barry, another universe, but not this one.
After a second Y/n deflated again. Not as broken down but definitely exhausted. "What do I do if he won't talk to me? I can't just not know."
"Tell him that." When Y/n seemed doubtful, kara shook her head. "I'm serious. Say it even before you start the conversation. No warning, no chance to shoot you down or change the subject. Lay down the law. If you need this, you need this. It doesn't matter what he's feeling about the situation - you need to talk about this. This is a need for you; a deal breaker. If you break up you break up. He doesn't deserve you if he can't get over himself for an hour to talk to you and give you something you actively need."
Y/n melted in relief, eyes wet. "You're an amazing friend Kara."
The compliment, bursting with appreciation that could not be put into words, made Kara grin. "You deserve a good friend. Come on - we can take a few days before you have to go back."
So they did. A little less a month passed before Y/n went back. neither of them had meant for it to go on quite so long but Y/n's powers that were so often utilized by Barry were perfect for the threat Kara was facing and beating the bad guy was the last step. They had to go through so much before they could do that. It kept them. 
When he did go home, there was something different about him. He got to see more and experience more. He realized how much pressure he was putting on Barry and codependent he'd become. he seemed finally completely at peace with whatever happened - whether or not they broke up, he knew he'd make it through - but was also ready and willing to fight for it.
If only Barry would fight too.
In the end Kara had been right. Her very first guess had hit the nail on the head, and it had all come undone the second Y/n set a hard boundary. He needed this and Barry delivered. Their relationship was important enough to the speedster to put aside fear or pride and face it. They had a long talk about the whole situation and how out of control they both felt. How that scared Barry even more because he didn't want such a future. Because he wasn't allowed to be out of control like he was now or people died. Y/n clarified his feelings not being a reflection on Barry as a person and the kind of person or partner he was, and that seemed to help too. They decided at the end of it all that no matter what happened they loved each other and nothing could get in the way of that. That even if Iris and Barry did end up together, it wouldn't be the Barry that was now.
That Barry was Y/n's.
For the first time neither of them felt the need to check to see if Iris' surname had changed on the byline. It was Cisco instead who came crashing into the room, eyes wide with worry. He pulled up the article and pointed out the byline.
Iris West.
No Allen attached.
The article was the same, with a missing Barry, but the byline was different.
Barry and Y/n looked at each other, eyes opened for the first time. It was almost a slap in the face to realize that Iris and Barry ended up together in this world only if they thought they did. That the anxiety of the felt inevitable could destroy all of their relationships, and that the second they decided it didn't - it didn't.It was beautiful in a way. And suddenly they both felt that they could do so much more... 
And they did. Together.
-
Male Readers: @ravenpuff-oli @sortzz @fadedver
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It looks like the rewind Theory might be coming true
There are many variations of that theory, but yes.
Honestly, it is badly needed in the story if what Horikoshi is aiming for is an ending where the kids and the villains survive.
Introducing a character that can undone damage is always insurance for the author. You have to be careful to not overuse it to the point it loses its impact. If no one ever dies and everyone keeps on resurrecting, the predictability becomes boring.
The good thing is that bnha doesn't overuse Eri. They don't use it to rewind the damage done to the characters when they lose an extremity, for example. It didn't work on Nighteye. They didn't try to use it on All Might—and if they did, I can't remember when it happened.
The point is that I liked that Horikoshi left Eri's quirk to the end of the manga. That way he could make the characters give their 100% without it meaning sure death. It scares the readers, like it should, it creates tension. Knowing that Eri's quirk might not work is another good decision. Even if she shows up after the big showdown, the public doesn't know who is going to survive.
Now, when I say there are many variations...
I'm against the version of it where the villains are turned into kids. Where is the fun of it, uh?
It erases the complexity of each character and all they fought for. What was the point of fighting so much if you're gonna erase what happened? If there's no consequences, no accountability? Any story should grow from the risks of the actions taken. We want to know there's something to be lost, that's where the adrenaline comes from. That's the entertaining part!
The version that completely heals their wounds is also kinda... bland. I'm a fan of bnha because the story doesn't solve most disabilities with magic.
If a pro-hero loses a leg or an eye, they'd have to learn to fight with the cards they were dealt with. Like I said before, those wounds tell a story of the risks they took. Aizawa cut his leg to survive and see another day with Eri and his students. Mirko lost most of her limbs giving her absolute all!!!!
It's the same for villains. It moves you, the way those villains would sacrifice themselves for their goals. Compress' lost arm tells the story of how they lost Magne. Giran lost his fingers when he refused to sell the League, so their absence is the evidence of his loyalty.
I want irreversibility. I want permanece. I want to see the growth that comes with accepting what we do in our lives and how we have to keep going.
My favorite version is the one that heals enough for the person to survive, but not much more. It is not going to take you to step one, it can't erase all you did and all that was done to you.
A second chance, but you have to make it from where you were left. No shortcuts, no easy way out. Either you commit to it or you're over.
I don't want to see Touya without his burns. That is boring! I don't want squeaky clean Touya, all perfect and smooth skinned and whatever. That is not him. He's the boy who burned in the flames of his passion, right or wrong. He's the boy who is supposed to be dead, but survived because he was a stubborn bastard.
The story can lessen them, of course. At this point Touya is more scrap put together by metal than anything else. He cannot possibly survive like that, so he needs to be healed enough to live. The burns can even lessen with time, fading as Touya heals, but I want the memory to last. I don't care if he forgives Enji, I want him to be forced to look at the burns every day knowing how they're there.
Another example?
Tomura's scars tell a story. You cannot resurrect his family, so don't go erasing the scar in his eye or in his lip. Don't go erasing the evidence of his struggle.
To be fair, Tomura has changed a lot since his first appearance. I remember him with yellow teeth, all skinny to the bone. It shows that no one cared for him. Well, maybe enough to keep him breathing, but there was no delicacy involved. It's funny to think how he got better and better the more time he spent far from AFO. That and the surgery he had to undergo...
Which is a wonderful terrible concept. It's about the cleansing, how AFO was preparing Tomura's body to be his. Body modifications to assert ownership, that's a horror favorite. The idea of being "cured" to the point you can't recognize your own body. You know what I mean.
I'm glad that when rewind was used on Mirio, it cost him something. He lost his quirk for a while and he had to make an effort to go back to who he was. I'd say that the nature of the story helped him bounce and that's a chance we didn't see his struggle a bit more.
Anyway, that's my opinion on the matter. I hope it'll be a variation I like and not something that's gonna leave me sweating cold every time I dare to remember it.
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happyk44 · 3 months
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The thing was Percy didn't like being a bad kid. Every time he got kicked out of a school or wound up in the counselor's office over some incident he wasn't completely blameless for, his mom's brows would pinch. The line on her lip dipped. He knew what she was thinking each time: lost wages, job risk, who was going to watch him if he got suspended, where would she send him if he got kicked out, and so on.
He hated that he did that to her. Being a bad kid meant being a bad son. He refused to be a bad son - not on purpose anyway.
Well, he used to. She wasn't here anymore. Her brows weren't going to furrow. Her lips wouldn't thin. Her shoulders wouldn't draw up and tense before the principal even opened their mouth. It was over.
He didn't have anyone anymore. Nobody at cabin eleven would look at him. Other cabins steered around him like he was carrying the plague. Grover was off doing whatever satyrs did - probably getting ready to infiltrate some new school, befriend some new kid, save their lives. He didn't need Percy. It’d only been a few days but they'd barely interacted. Older satyrs would yank him along into the wood before Percy could get close or even open his mouth. Even Annabeth just eyed Percy with scrutinizing eyes - like she was assessing him for something. But every time he tried to approach her outside of their lessons, she brushed him off.
No one wanted Percy around.
What was the point of being a good kid anymore? There wasn't anything or anyone forcing him to keep his head above water. He was tired of the murmurs. He was tired of the avoidance. Tired of the glares from the Ares cabin. Tired of trying to keep the quake in his stomach tamped down.
He was just tired.
He thumbed along the flat edge of his sword. His new best friend was the pervasive feeling of loneliness. With a miserable sigh, he tucked the sword into the holster on his hip. People barely wanted to spar with him now so he was stuck to sweating it out on the dummies by himself. At least only when Luke wasn't pushing him as hard as possible.
But even with Luke there seemed to be pause. The first time Percy felt his gut yank after being claimed had been in training with Luke, and as soon as the feeling caught him, Luke begged off. Like he'd seen something in Percy that unnerved him. Sometimes when Percy looked in the mirror, he saw something in his eyes that unnerved him. A foreign thing - like a contact lens put in the wrong way.
No amount of poking or prodding at his eyes was going to get it out though. It was inside him - in his blood. He was sure of it.
He was starting to worry that it was the very thing he'd been keeping back, the very thing his mom was trying to keep him safe from.
The clang of metal against metal was loud as he walked past other trainees. There were a couple people leaning against the wall near the water fountain. As expected, they shifted away as he neared. Mistrust was bright in their eyes.
He did his best to ignore it. Not the first time people had stared at him like they thought he was dangerous. Or beneath them.
The water sprayed for a moment before he lowered his head. It was clarifying. He'd noticed it before, a burst of energy with every sip whenever he was tired, but ever since being claimed, he'd noticed the alertness more and more.
As he let go of the button, he caught the tail end of the muttering nearby. His stomach dropped.
“... should've ditched him sooner,” one boy grumbled. His friend snorted. “Maybe then she wouldn't have died.”
“What did you say?” The two startled. Percy understood why. He barely recognized his own voice, the eerie coldness to it frosty on his own tongue. Still, he repeated as he twisted on his heels to face them. “What. Did you just say?”
Panic besot them. For a second, the barest of a second, he could feel it kick in - be a good boy for me, Percy, be a good kid for Mom.
But she wasn't here.
She wasn't here.
So what was the point?
He took a step forward. “What,” he snarled, saliva coating his tongue like froth, “did you say?”
The others shifted away but he just crept forward. “Nothing, man,” one of them finally bit out, but they were lying. He could see it in their eyes, hear in their voice, feel it in their veins.
“You're lying,” he said. A bitten off laugh echoed from his lips. “You were talking about my mom.” Another choked laugh. “You think it's my fault?”
One of them raised his hands - a mock surrender. “Hey, dude-”
“You think I wanted her to die?” A sharp sensation coiled through Percy's chest. It thrummed hot and heavy, piling, piling, piling on his lungs. “You think I asked for ANY OF THIS?”
Someone's hand came to rest on his shoulder and it was like the crashing of the waves against his bare feet. Cold, clarifying, clear.
Freeing.
His fist drove straight into the jaw of whoever was behind him. He could barely tell who he was seeing - it might've been Luke, or any other tall blonde guy. But as soon as whoever it was stumbled back, he whirled around and punched whichever kid was closest in the stomach. They went down and he clambered on top to wail. Fist and fist upon whatever body part he could reach. He wasn't the most elegant hand-to-hand fighter but there was something to be said for the voracious and vicious energy boiling through him.
Distantly he was aware of yelling around him, aware of people pulling at him, aware of the person beneath him crying, arms over their face, arms Percy was tired of hitting. He needed to get their face, get their tongue, rip his mom from their mouth. How dare they speak about her.
How dare anyone talk about her.
A dozen hands finally yanked him back. He screamed. Bodies toppled. He grabbed the closest one by their hair, driving his knee upwards over and over again until hands ripped him away again. Swung blindly and caught someone. The two of them fell. His stomach pulled back. They choked. They weakened. He swung himself over until he was on top.
I want you all to drown, he thought, grabbing at their jaw. Don't ever speak of her again.
Saliva smeared across his fingers. His stomach pulled back even more. What was that - blood, water? On his hands, on his knees, on their skin, on their faces, in their veins.
His free hand drew out. He wanted it. It was his. Didn't they get that? She was his, and she was gone, so he would take and take all else that belonged to him until the hole in his chest was gone. Until the water they had coursing inside them filled him up.
“Percy,” someone whispered.
Their voice was familiar, breath hot against Percy's ear. He twitched. The feeling of nearby water, nearby fluid, was clenched tight in his fist. He just had to pull back. Yank it. Make it his.
The voice turned pleading. “Percy.”
He froze as two hot hands came to clasp his cheeks, dark brown eyes and curly hair blurring into view. Grover's face.
“Grover,” he breathed. For the first time since he'd ended up at camp, he relaxed.
Grover's thumbs stroked his skin. “Yeah, it's me.” He leaned in closer. “Percy, you need to stop.”
“Stop?”
“You're hurting people," he said. “You have to stop.”
Why? Percy thought. He didn't care. He didn't care if they hurt, didn't care if they drowned where they laid choking, didn't care if they suffered. It didn't mean anything to him. They didn't mean anything to him.
But this was Grover.
And with his mom gone, Grover meant the world.
“You want me to stop?”
“Yes,” Grover said. His breath was warm, his skin hot, his body close. Distantly Percy remembered nights at school like this - Grover tucked up next to him, trying his best to help Percy study when most people would've bailed. “I want you to stop.”
His lips were wobbling. His eyes were thick with wetness. His voice was unsteady - trying to be calm and rapidly failing. Even his hands shook.
Percy grabbed at his wrists. “Okay,” he whispered as he clung. His stomach relaxed slowly, the crash turning into a tickle. “I'm good, I'm good.”
Shakily, Grover exhaled, pressed his forehead to Percy's, and murmured, “I know, I know.”
His hands pulled away from Percy's face, but not away from him, arms wrapping around his neck and pulling him in for a tight hug. Percy's breathing wobbled as he tucked his face into the crook of Grover's neck. He clung tight and desperate. Pleading.
No, he couldn't be a good son anymore. He didn't have to bother keeping in check to avoid the thin line of his mom's lips. But he could be a good friend. To keep the tears out of Grover's eyes, the tremble from his skin.
“I can be good,” he promised quietly, for Grover's ears only. “I promise I can be good.”
“I know,” Grover said. His cheek pressed against Percy's. “I believe you.”
-
The fountain nearby trickled quietly. The steady flow soothed the unease between Percy's shoulders. Still, he squeezed the pillow in his grip tighter to his chest as he watched Grover flit around the bunk closest to him. He snapped the final end of the sheet around the mattress. Hooves clopped quietly against the tile as he stepped back. His gaze flickered between Percy's bed and his own.
Then he grunted and began pushing it closer.
Percy hopped up. The discarded pillow slipped from his fingers and onto the floor. He nearly tripped over it trying to get to Grover's side. They pushed the other bunk over until it was pressed into Percy's.
While Grover unfurled his blanket, Percy stepped back. Awkwardness choked him. He didn't know what to do, what to say. So he picked the pillow off from the floor and pressed it into his chest. Grover didn't spare him many glances as he worked to make up the bed. Leaning across his bunk, he yanked Percy's blanket from between the seam where the two bed frames connected and began tying the edges of both blankets together. It was shoddy work, no way it wasn't coming apart just from them lying on the sheets, much less sleeping.
But Grover did it anyway.
As he shifted back, hooves scraping the floor, Percy held out the pillow. Grover dusted off the top then laid it against the headboard. With both hands on his hips, he admired his work. Percy stared at it too. It was nice. Joined bed. Grover within direct reach.
His palms itched.
“Are you scared of me?”
Grover twisted around. His brows furrowed, but the edges of his lips were quirked upwards. It was reminiscent of school - Percy stumbling over something he read and Grover, lost but amused, over why Percy thought it was a man-of-war that Theseus fought.
He was partially grateful Grover cut him off before he could finish what he actually thought the sentence was trying to say. It certainly wasn't fight.
“I mean,” Grover started and Percy's stomach drew back. Behind him the trickle of the fountain silenced. Like the water was holding its breath too. “I'm scared for other people, but I'm not scared of you.” He punched Percy's arm with a quiet smile. “I know you're not going to hurt me, Percy. That's why I stopped you.”
The fountain began to trickle again. “And that-” He faltered. The ghost Grover's touched goosed up his bicep and across his shoulder. “-that doesn't worry you?”
That you might have to stop me again went unspoken but Grover was always good at understanding Percy's unspoken words, at knowing his unspoken feelings - even the ones Percy wasn't even aware he felt.
He sighed. “It worries me. But not because it's you.” He shook his head. “And definitely not because I'm scared of you hurting me.”
His eyes scanted away, brows furrowing deeper. Then he relaxed into the bed. After teetering on his heels for a couple seconds, Percy joined him. He gripped the edge of his shorts so tight his palms burned. Grover reached over to stroke along the back of his hand.
He exhaled slowly and let go.
“You remember Pan?” Grover asked.
Percy paused. “The satyr god, right?”
“Yeah.” Grover pulled away to tug at his fingers. “He's been missing for a while. Ever since the industrial age took off. And no one knows where he is. It's the dream of every satyr to find him, so that nature can return to the way it was.”
“That your dream?”
He nodded solemnly. “You have to be a Protector first, before you can get your Searcher’s license. But I'm not like the others.” His gaze fell down. His hands sat in his lap, cupped around nothing but air. “I don't want him just so we can bring nature back to its peak.” He sighed. “We were a lot different when Pan was still around. More free. More wild. I want satyrs and nymphs - all of us to be us again!”
Percy leaned into him. “What's stopping you?”
Grover snorted. “People forgot. We were more than just Pan's disciples. We fought to protect the wild from mankind. We didn't just sit around waiting for him to tell us what to do. But nobody wants to do anything.” He scowled. “They think when Pan returns he'll fix it all and I-” He bit his lip, then shook his head. “The world has changed. And gods don't get involved like that. Not to the extent they want him to. It's not in their nature. But if he comes back then maybe…”
He faced Percy. His eyes were watery, darkening the already dark brown of his eyes into shots of black. The welled tears glistened ever so slightly. Like the night sky, free of pollution.
His lips wobbled into a gentle smile. “But that's why I'm not afraid. You’re like nature at its purest form - chaotic, wild, unburdened.”
Normally those words wouldn't hit Percy as compliments. Insults, degradation - things that would deflate him and make his mom frown. But Grover sounded so earnest, his heart swelled.
“You can't tell, but I can feel it.” He swung his arm over Percy's shoulders and tugged him in close. “Your demigod essence, this sense of the wild that I've been searching for my whole life.” He gestured loosely. “Even the Demeter kids don't have that. Their mom is all agriculture and farming and that's great and all, but it's not pure nature, it's not the wild.” He squeezed Percy's shoulder as best he could with one hand. “You remind me of home, Percy.”
The frog Percy hadn't noticed in his throat jumped out with a burst sob-laugh. He tried to tile away, but Grover just tugged him close, bringing around his other arm to keep Percy pinned. Nonetheless his hold was fairly loose, like Percy was a stray cat he didn't want scratching him if he felt like running.
Or like he knew that Percy was the ocean through and through, unwilling to be contained, wanting to flow wherever he saw fit.
Percy practically crawled into his lap, sniffling into Grover's shoulder. Warm hands stroked up and down his back. He laughed quietly - a half-distressed noise marrying the sound, but managed a breathy wheeze of, “You remind me of home too.”
Grover kissed the top of his head. For the first time since arriving, he shattered. All his twisted up emotions committed out in a tidal wave of tears and broken gasps. All the while Grover held him. As tight as Percy clung to him, he didn't complain. Just held on even tighter. Wetness from Grover's own tears smeared across Percy's skin.
Ever the empathetic. Like his mom.
Percy squeezed his eyes shut. “Please don't leave without saying goodbye,” he begged in a hollow, hoarse whisper.
“I won't,” Grover promised.
They held onto each other even as tears and cries faded away. Grover kept stroking his back with both hands. Percy continued to cling.
Shoulders shaking, Percy wound the fabric of Grover's shirt over his fingers. After a few minutes of toiling silence, he whispered. “I think I'm changing.” He pressed his forehead to Grover's collarbone. “I'm scared.” He pulled back and stared into Grover's eyes. “What do I do?”
“Be my best friend,” Grover said, like it was the simplest answer in the world. And as soon as the words fell off his tongue, it did. How silly was Percy not to think of it before? “My best friend is a good person, the best kind of wild.”
“I can do that,” Percy promised. “I swear, I can do that.”
“I know,” Grover said, squeezing Percy's cheek. His thumb swiped away at a still wet tear under Percy's eye. The stroke was soft, gentle. Kind. “I believe you.”
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auncyen · 3 months
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(this is slightly morbid but nothing bad actually happens. If that makes sense.)
-
"Oh, cruel whimsy," Siffrin whispers right of Odile.
"Oh, cruel whimsy!" Siffrin wails from below as he lies, sprawled dramatically, dying.
Odile's seat vibrates because of how excited Siffrin is next to her. "Now leave me, light--" they continue.
"--let all shade come upon me--"
"--and with this last Change--"
"--I end this sordid tale, and pray my next be humorous enough to remedy."
The Siffrin on stage finally dies several minutes after he should have passed out from blood loss. The curtain falls. The Siffrin next to Odile claps wildly, shouting along with the crowd. "Bravo! Bravo!!!"
Mirabelle, on Odile's left, is still crying from the play's tragedy, but has recovered enough to comment, "that's another liberty they took. We don't all believe in reincarnation. It's mostly the Houses in Brisseau."
"And that's fine?" Odile asks, raising her voice just enough to cut through the applause around them.
Mirabelle shrugs, dabbing at her eyes. "The Change religion doesn't focus too much on what happens after death anyway, so it's not really that big a deal, I guess?"
"I don't think the Poterians are worried about accuracy anyway," Odile says, casting an eye around them before focusing on Siffrin--their Siffrin, not the actor who is back on their feet now that the curtain has risen again and taking a bow.
She cannot believe this is the first play Siffrin wanted to see. They'd loved plays, yes, but then those two strange days in Dormont happened, and the first time Isabeau suggested watching a play as a way to take their minds off things for a bit, Siffrin had gotten the strangest look on his face before saying he wasn't really in the mood and maybe they could just look around the market instead. They'd left the topic there for the day, but slowly, with a joint effort, they'd gotten Siffrin to talk about how he'd come to think of life as a play during the loops. They were supposed to say these things to Isabeau, or Odile, or Mirabelle or Boniface, and then the others would always say the same lines, and sometimes deviating from the script was good and created a better script and sometimes it resulted in something so awful that they immediately messed up the next loop and then spent the next six strictly following the better script and making everyone smile, over and over again, so that that "bad loops" wouldn't count anymore. Which was completely illogical, but Odile had to assume whatever had happened--Siffrin had yet to talk about whatever that was--had been traumatizing enough to make Siffrin cling to the safety of repetition even as it was driving them insane.
Needless to say, plays had been taboo for some time. Mirabelle hadn't even been sure at first if she could talk about her books, if any fiction might make Siffrin uneasy, but Siffrin had taken her not reading books by them as her not having any and had dragged Odile on a Secret Quest to procure some, so books were clearly safe.
The taboo on plays was broken today, when Boniface noticed Siffrin's name on a flier and immediately called it out, making everyone notice it. It hadn't taken very long for awkwardness to settle in as they all read further and realized "Siffrin" was the titular character of a play, but before Isabeau or Mirabelle could find a distraction, Siffrin had lit up. "...My name! I named myself after the hero! I love this--that is--" His cheeks shaded with fluster as he realized just how enthusiastic he'd gotten. "...can we go see it?"
It had been a unanimous yes, of course. If Siffrin was rediscovering an interest the loops had taken from them, good. Of course they'd watch it, both to make sure Siffrin enjoyed themself and because they were all a little curious what Siffrin had seen in this play to name himself after it.
Well.
Well.
"...Wait, where's Bonnie and Nille?" Siffrin was asking. With the play over, he was finally regaining awareness of his surroundings and noticing the other seats in the aisle, already empty. "Isa?"
"...Boniface went out with Petronille because they were uncomfortable with how dark it was getting--we all warned them it was a tragedy, please don't feel guilty, Siffrin," Odile says when Siffrin's face falls. "They knew they might be uncomfortable, they still wanted to try, and they left with their sister when they realized they might get upset. I'm sure Boniface is fine."
"Okay...Isa...?"
Odile is certain Isabeau walked out because he'd overthought the connection between Siffrin naming himself after a character who was from the start of the play almost certain to die at the end of it. She's certain, because she's overthinking it herself. "I'm not sure," she says instead, because he didn't actually tell her that and she'd rather not put words in anyone's mouth with a topic this delicate. "So why did you name yourself after the hero?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Siffrin asks.
She doesn't like the answer that seems obvious. "I'd like to hear your own thought process, though."
Siffrin bounces on their feet. "That monologue in act four--and his banter with Gaston! I can't believe I remember so much of it!"
It is impressive how good their memory is with plays, and Odile wonders if it's because plays, while inspired by the real world, very much take place in their own little worlds, far from memory-erasing islands.
"And, well..." Siffrin sobers. "He loses everything in the play. And I--I guess--I don't really remember if I tried telling people or not, about my past, but I don't think I felt like anyone would have believed me...so...it's not the same, he still remembers, but he felt that sad and everyone feels bad for him, so... it felt like a relief that way?" He shrugs, awkwardly.
"Oh," Mirabelle says, clapping her hands together as she stands up. "Now I get why you like these plays! It's the catharsis!"
Siffrin brightens with a smile at Mirabelle. "That's it! The catharsis."
"I see," Odile says, hoping the relief isn't too obvious in her voice. Yes, she and Isabeau definitely overthought this.
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otdiaftg · 2 months
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The King's Men - Chapter Twelve
Day: Saturday, March 9th / 10th* Time: 1:45 AM EST
"I know your father's going to ask, but I have to know now," Lola says. "You listening, Junior? Hey." She thumps his back with the hilt of her knife. "Where's the bird, hm? We've had some time to dig around since we figured out where you were, but there's no sign of her anywhere. Tetsuji says you told them she's dead. He was sure you were telling the truth. Me, I'm not so trusting." "She's dead," Neil chokes out. Lola grabs a fistful of hair to yank him upright. She'd put her knife aside so she can hold him with both hands, and her free hand clenches around his throat so tight he can barely breathe. She pulls him back against his chair, pinning his head to the headrest. Romero plucks the lighter out again, and Neil puts up a desperate fight. "She's dead," he says, almost wheezing through Lola's brutal grip. "She died two years ago after he beat her in Seattle. Do you think she'd have let me go to Palmetto if she was still alive? I signed up because I had nothing left." "Do we believe him?" Lola asks Romero. "Might as well be sure," Romero says. "Right that," Lola says, and holds fast to Neil so Romero can crush the lighter to his face once more. Lola's strangling grip on his throat means the best Neil can manage is a pained whine. He thrashes mindlessly against his restraints. Lola is speaking again, but he can't understand her over the roar in his ears. His world narrows down to the fire in his face. Romero puts the lighter away, but he pushes it in all the way so it'll reheat. Lola loosens her grip enough that Neil can breathe but doesn't let go completely. "Try again, Junior," Lola says. "Answer me and make me believe you. Where is Mary?" "She's dead," Neil says, voice raw with pain. "She's dead, she's dead, she's dead." Lola looks to her brother. "You believe him now?" Romero lifts his shoulder in a noncommittal shrug. Lola considers Neil again, then smacks his burned face as hard as she can. She leans further forward between the seats to get the lighter when it is ready and retreats back to her original cushion with it. Having the lighter behind him out of sight is worse than the pain they'd already put him through and Neil fights to yank his hands free. He tears his wrists open on unyielding metal but he can't stop. "Don't," he begs. "Lola, don't." "I've got questions," Lola says, voice oddly muffled. Neil guesses she is holding the lighter handle between her lips, because she uses both hands to roll his sleeves up. She runs her hands down his bared forearms, fingernails scratching faintly at his skin. She withdrawals a moment later, and her voice sounds normal when she speaks next. "Let's start with your teammates again. Tell me everything you told them."
Art used with permission by Esklinray. Thank you @esklinray!
*Due to the Leap Year, I have opted to highlight the day rather than the date to keep the events in occurrence to the 2007 year. I will continue to mark both days accordingly.
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def not an request but i wnt ur thoughts on this. you answered an ask once about the batboys + bruce lovin bruce's adopted sibling bcuz of how affectionate they are. and while I have alot of thoughts, my main one is just wonderin how they'd react if they died.
it could be from the rogue of the week, them dying bcuz they were held ransom and one kidnapper was trigger happy, a hitman for some reason. point is they died but i know for a FACT that jason and damian wouldnt think twice about using the pits to bring them back. they wldnt even think,, theyd just share a glance and nod.
like can you imagine bruce spiraling (they all are tbh) cuz his sibling died. alfred is trying to console him while comforting dick as dick is sobbing buckets. tim is trying to fight tears as he scours for any images of his aunt/uncle's killer and jason's in the back like "damian get the shovel" and a shovel spawns in damian's hands magically
sorry for this being long btw i waa excited
Everyone would be completely distraught at the loss of the only thing they felt kept them grounded. Their only sense of outward love, affection, and warmth being ripped away from them like that would be detrimental to everyone of them. Especially if the Reader has been killed so senselessly, like their killer didn’t even know who they were or their ties to Batman and the Batfamily or to Bruce Wayne in general. They could all blame themselves for being the reason a rogue got to them but just some random mugger having been the one to take away their beloved sibling/aunt or uncle would tear at them even more. Especially for Bruce, having the Reader taken away from him like his parents had been would mess him up all over again.
Honestly, there’s no doubt that Bruce, Tim, and Dick would heavily contemplate using the Lazarus pit to bring the Reader back. But it’s definitely Jason and Damian who don’t think twice about it and go through with bringing their precious aunt/uncle back. I feel like Alfed would be the only one to not consider it, whether he just can’t bring himself to do so or he’s come to accept the loss of the Reader.
The only reason I could see him being accepting/tolerating of the idea of the Reader being brought back by means of the Lazarus pit would mainly be for the sake of Bruce and the boys. Of course he’s affected by their death and not being able to be in their company again or to have them fret over him like they did, but it’s how hard Bruce and the boys take it that really has him willing to turn a blind eye while Jason and Damian go through with their plan. Alfred would also low key give his reassurance and acceptance to Bruce for him to go through with his own thoughts of bringing the Reader back to life. It may even be Alfred who plants the seed of using the Lazarus pit to begin with, in his own desperate way to get the family back to the way it was.
Also, in the case of a rogue having taken the Reader and was using them to get to Batman and the boys, I could totally see one of the villains’ lackeys being the one who deals out the Reader’s demise. Whether they went too far with trying to get information from them/roughing them up to add to the vigilantes rush to meet with the respective rogues demands or they just really wanted to take it into their own hands to get back at the Dark Knight/prove their worth to their boss. Either way, I could see their boss even being like “👀 You done fucked up and now we’re all going to die😬”. Trust me, Jason and Damian would go on a bloody warpath killing and maiming everyone involved in the death of the Reader or even just for being there, and I don’t even think Bruce would be in the mindset to stop them. Or maybe he doesn’t want to stop them.
In the case that the Reader was pointlessly killed by a mugger or low grade criminal for no reason other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Bruce and the boys would work tirelessly to find the person who did it. It would especially be infuriating and defeating if the Reader’s killer was just gone in the wind. No trace of the assailant, no leads off what evidence they did have, nothing. If they aren’t able to hunt the Reader’s killer down before they bring the Reader back to life then they would all be extremely paranoid about something similar happening to the Reader again, whether it’s the same assailant or someone else. Not getting that closure of permanently getting rid of the person who tore away their darling from them would weigh and all of them. They’d become even more overprotective of the Reader once they have them back and wouldn’t allow them to leave the manor for anything out of fear of losing them all over again.
Similar to Alfred, Dick would be the one consoling and trying to keep everyone together knowing that the Reader wouldn’t want them to tear apart like they already are. He pushes down his own heartache and hurt over the loss of the Reader to try and be there for Bruce and the boys, especially Damian. Alfred knows exactly what Dick’s doing, focusing on the others so he doesn’t have to deal with his own trauma regarding the ordeal. But Alfred doesn’t let that fly and he confronts Dick about it only for Dick to breakdown and unleash everything he’s been keeping under wraps.
The death of the Reader would really affect Bruce and the boys severely, they all shut down in their own ways. Sick is the only one who still comes off as his normal self but behind closed doors in another thing. Jason becomes even more aggressive and rough when dealing with any criminals, no matter how high or low on the food chain they are. Whatever sleep and healthy habits the Reader had gotten Tim to do to take care of himself went away the day they died. If anything he’s only gotten so much worse, a husk of what he used to be running solely off of caffeine and the need to find the Reader’s killer. Damian shuts himself off completely from everyone, not even Alfred or Dick can get to him. He won’t let them. All the wonderful progress he made with the Reader regarding letting others in and being able to let go of being the child of an assassin and vigilante and just allowing himself to be a kid is destroyed. He doesn’t want anything to do with anyone unless it’s his beloved aunt/uncle.
Bruce is a mess, both physically and emotionally. He’s taken a backseat from things, mainly pertaining to the Justice League and Wayne Enterprises. He stops by every so often and does want he needs to but he isn’t involved unless he really, really needs to be. Even though he has Alfred, Damian, Dick, Jason, and Tim, Bruce can’t help but feel cold and alone after losing the Reader. He feels the exact same way he did when he first lost his parents, before he adopted the Reader and brought them home to be his family. He knows he’s not truly alone, at least not physically but there’s a hole in his chest and he finds himself completely lost. He know he needs to be there for the boys, that the Reader would scold him for not being there for them when they need him most but he just can’t. He tries but he can’t do it, he can’t give them what they desperately need, not like how the Reader could. And that makes him feel even worse.
Bruce would be overcome with the feeling of being useless and vulnerable and he hates it. It would especially be hard for him if Dick and Jason were moved out of the manor leaving the family to be apart in such a trying time. Although, having Jason and Bruce in the same place together might not be good given that that may cause strife between the two. Especially if Jason blamed Bruce for the Reader’s death, or at least used Bruce as a way to let out his own grievances about not being able to save the Reader himself and projecting his own guilt and self blame about the whole ordeal.
This would only push each of them further towards bringing the Reader back by any means necessary. And they don’t care what anyone else has to say about it, they need their darling back otherwise their family isn’t going to last much longer without them.
Also, the overwhelming guilt and self hatred of Bruce or any of the boys if they had inadvertently been the cause of the Reader’s death. Like, while trying to get to the Reader maybe a stray bullet or knife/batarang/wing-ding hit the Reader and led to the their demise.
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vapolis · 1 month
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Hey just wanted to pop in and say I love that there are obvious ways that like certain ros connect with merc and like perceive them (I say certain cause I haven’t done all the routes and I’m not a fan of assumptions) but also this underlying vibe of this alien-ness too. Like in certain ways merc, jax, and orla are similar people. There’s this understanding that comes from operating in their world in the way that they do. Like speaking the same dialect while being three completely different people. Or three people from the same hometown with certain similar understandings but having wildly different lives.
I dunno, maybe it’s just me but I’ve always kind of gotten this feeling that merc is something knowable but never understood in some ways. Like jax and orla probably felt human before their current careers, and they do now, and they will when all is said and done. Maybe they don’t like the people they used to be, or maybe they’ll twist or untwist certain emotions or morals but human nonetheless. Sometimes merc gives the vibe that they don’t feel like a person. They feel like a collective, a mass grave, a midden heap, thoughts that claw and scream and hold uncomfortable vows of silence never at the right moment. Maybe they were a person before, but now they’re an amalgamation of the people they’ve died as. Like each time it’s harder and harder for them to wiggle and crawl their way out of the corpse pile. And it gives their interactions something spicy. Like jax and orla aren’t afraid of them, but whenever they’re directing or dealing with merc, it’s like they’re testing a hundred year old gun, with their bare hands and knowing that there’s a 8 out of 10 chance it’ll fire and fire well and do what you wish it to do, but there’s this 2 out of 10 chance that it’ll backfire and take your hand off. Like they’re not afraid, they’re still gonna test it, still gonna use it. But that 2 out of 10 looks a lot less comforting when you realize how much they’ll be needing that gun. And I feel like they interact with that amount of maybe wariness because neither jax or orla are dumb, certainly arrogant but never stupid. But no one trains their dog to fight in the pits and then lets them sleep in the same bed as them (which actually isn’t this kind of their romances, in which, case, I mean, should probably be fine right? Merc’s well fed… kinda. Probably.)
"merc is something knowable but never understood in some ways" OH HO HO I love that description of them. it's true in some way.
especially considering what you then say about them feeling like a collective of people, a mess grave (which goes so hard as well as the end of the ask I'm still 😵‍💫😵‍💫) that vibe certainly is something they grapple with as time goes on and their memories get weird as mentioned a little already. I love that you picked up on it and how that changes the way jax and orla interact with them.
yes, they're a tool meant to be used but at the end of the day they have their own mind made up of ghosts haunting them at night and the things left over from when they were someone else for the day and orla and to an extent jax are very aware of the fact. they want to use them but it's always a what if.
what if today is the day the merc snaps? what if tomorrow is the day we can't reign them back in? what if the day after tomorrow they turn on us? has that happened before? can they free themself of the burden of what once was and what they have done with their own hands in the name of others?
it's always at the back of their minds, even if they'd never say it. there's no fear, really, because they don't fear death itself and certainly not by the hands of merc, but a good amount of caution that warns them not to set them off too early.
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annymation · 3 months
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The Kingdom of Wishes- A “Wish” Rewrite
Chapter 13- Magic Mirror
Chapter 12
Asha is now sitting on the hand drawn bed that she drew with her magic pencil the previous night. Staring at the 7 teens in front of her, she looks at them completely stunned.
Asha was about to open her mouth to ask a million questions, such as how did they get there? Are they okay? Do they believe her now? Is the king dead?
(Man, if you've been missing the past few chapters this all must feel pretty weird huh?)
But she doesn't have time to say anything, as Dahlia rushes over and hugs her tightly:
"WE'RE SO SORRY WE WEREN'T THERE FOR YOU!!!" The girl's scream echos around the cave, she speaks quickly and on the verge of tears "We were so scared- and and Magnifico was looking at us like he was gonna cut off our heads if we said something! BUT THAT DOESN'T JUSTIFY IT! I should've spoken up for you! I'm the worst friend eveeeeeeeer!" Dahlia says dramatically.
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Bazeema, Hal and Dario come in for the hug too, Bazeema being the next one to apologize
"I know it's not much, but I brought an apology gift..." she whispers shyly, while reaching inside a bag she's carrying, and takes out a plant, composed of small star-shaped blooms that cluster together to give the illusion of a single flower "A hyacinth, your favorite... They also symbolize the desire for forgiveness."
(Yeeeeeah remember back in chapter 2 when Bazeema made a garden of purple hyacinths as a birthday gift for Asha? Yeah... It was aaaaaall foreshadowing that eventually the 7 teens would ask her for forgiveness. All details in this fic are foreshadowing! Also I just love flower symbolism.)
Asha takes the flower and smiles softly while the four hug her.
Gabo is standing next to the bed with his arms crossed. He interrupts the sweet moment:
"For the record, back at the plaza I tried to throw a rock on Magnifico's head SEVERAL times, but Mr "respect the corrupt authority" here kept stopping me." He says, pointing at Simon with an annoyed expression.
"Uuh yeah I did, because otherwise you'd be executed for treason, you're welcome." Simon says matter of factly, he looks even more tired than usual, after all he and the others have walked through the woods the whole night to find Asha.
"I would've died a happy man." Gabo says with a cheeky smile.
"You're not a man, Gabo. You're 17." Simon, the 21 year old, says sounding as tired as he looks.
"I would've died a happy boy." Gabo corrects himself with the exact same tone and cheeky smile.
Asha giggles at that, and she finally opens her mouth to say something "I don't blame you guys for not standing up against the king... Simon has a point Gabo, Magnifico is really REALLY dangerous." Asha warns.
Hal leaves the hug and speaks sarcastically with a smile:
"Yeah, we could tell heheh! Next time you find out that the kingdom is ruled by a two sociopaths, just let us know, okay? We can handle it." She finishes with a wink.
Dario looks surprised by that comment and comunnicates in sign language: "Wait, we can? I've been freaking out about it the whole way here." He still has a dopey smile while signing.
"Speaking of which... HOW did you all get here?!" Asha asks them, baffled that they managed to travel so deep into the woods.
Dahlia is more calm now, as she explains with a knowing smile:
"Let's just say we got help, from a little someone who's reeeeeally good at finding you anywhere you go."
"I told you guys I could find her!" Exclaims a little kid's voice coming from bellow the bed.
Asha is confused as she crawls on the bed to see where the voice came from and-
"Valentino?!" Asha exclaims with her eyes wide.
The goat is as happy as can be, looking up to her with his tail wagging.
"Hiiii!" The little goat jumps on the bed and starts licking Asha's cheek " I'm so happy to see you! I explained eeeeeeverything to them, so they'd come with me!"
Asha hugs Valentino, happy to see him... But not understanding how is the goat talking again.
"I- I'm happy to see you too Val... But... Aster, I thought you said Valentino couldn't talk anymore."
Aster, who has been floating around watching the conversation with a pleased smile, flies closer to Asha and explains:
"It's simple really! Some of my magic stayed inside him. That time, he REALLY wanted to say thanks to you. Now, he really wanted to tell your friends that you needed help, so my magic was re-awakened, ain't that right lil buddy?" Aster asks the goat with a cheerful smile.
"Maaa!" Valentino bleated in confirmation... Aaaand now he doesn't need nor want to talk anymore, so he went back to normal.
(This is still THE idea I'm most proud of in this whole rewrite, I unlocked talking goat on demand.)
"I see... So did Valentino really tell you guys everything?" Asha asks her friends with an awkward smile, hoping the answer is yes because it's really a long story.
Dahlia confirms that Valentino did indeed tell them everything, by saying "You mean how the king and queen have been changing people's wishes for years?"
"And when you found out, you ran away and wished upon a star?" Bazeema continued, while looking at Aster with a shy smile.
"And the star... Or rather, "Aster" here, answered?" Simon finishes the train of thought, looking at Aster with a... Suspicious glance.
"YUP! Look's like you guys are all caught up!" Aster says excitedly while floating around the cave.
Hal already seems to like the star boy's energy as she begins to introduce herself "Well, it sure is great to finally meet the guy who protected our girl back there, pleasure to meet you, Aster! The name's H-"
"Hal Diallo, right?" Aster interrupts with a smile as he shakes her hand, his smile widens once he does so, since he's seeing Hal's star.
Hal is surprised that he knows not only her name but also her last name.
Aster then proceeds to list all the others while pointing at each one "And you guys are Dahlia Hayashi, Bazeema Latif, Gabo Brandt, Safi Ayad, Dario Allegri and Simon O'Donohue... Did I get all those right?" Aster asks innocently.
(And yes, I did research all those names to fit with each character cultural background, except for Simon's that is from the movie. Yes, I do have a lot of time in my hands.)
All the 7 look at the star in shock but then slowly turn to Asha in confusion, Asha looks at them with an awkward smile. So Gabo promptly asks:
"Geez Asha, I know you like us a lot but did you really tell everything about us to star boy over here?" He asks in a cynic tone.
Aster quickly corrects him "Oooh no no no you got it all wrong ha ha! I know you guys because I've watched everyone from the sky." Aster laughs it off a little more.
"... THATS SO MUCH WORST!" Gabo exclaims looking actually scared this time.
Asha intervenes while getting out of the bed "Ooookayy this is a whoooole other can of worms that we don't have time to get into right now!" She says, referring to everything she learned about Aster the previous day "All that matters is that Aster is here to help us defeat King Magnifico and Queen Amable, and save everyone." Asha says confidently while holding Aster's hand.
Aster's stary freckles begin to sparkle when he notices she's holding his hand.
Gabo begins to to ramble in his usual sarcastic tone "Oh really? Awesome! Wow! Mind explaining HOW, exactly? Because although we didn't stay to watch the fight 'cause the rain started triggering Safi's allergies-"
"It's true, you know how bad it gets, we ran away as soon as it started raining." Safi interrupts, speaking for the first time.
(This is my way of saying they didn't see Magnifico almost break Asha's wish by the way.)
"Yes, yes we know how bad it gets Safi-" Gabo looks at his friend frustrated, not liking to be interrupted, even though he interrupts people all the time "Anyway- Although we didn't stay to watch the fight, word of mouth says that shinny pants over here got tossed around by Magnifico like he was a mouse being chased by a cat."
"He was more of a snake, if you ask me" Aster says with a shrug, and proceeds to talk confidently "And by the way, I certainly was no mouse, I was the one who won that figh-"
"Wait..." Asha interrupts the star as she remembers what Aster told her yesterday... She turns to Dahlia and quickly holds her friend by the shoulders as she pleads desperately "Please- Please PLEEEEASE tell me that lightning killed him!"
Dahlia looks like she really didn't want to bring the bad news, but she says it anyway "Uuuum... Well, yes-"
"*GASP* WWWOOOOO-" Asha jumps with joy, throwing herself on the bed with her arms up and a huge smile on her face.
But then her celebration is cut short by Gabo being his straightforward self:
"For like 5 minutes, then the queen did some creepy stuff and brought him back from the dead."
Asha and Aster both looked at him in shock, Asha slowly lowers her arms as she asks:
"... She did what now?"
"I've heard she gave him a true love's kiss... Would be quite romantic if it wasn't so scary" Bazeema says in a whisper.
Both Asha and Aster seem very disappointed by this, Asha remains in silence kinda just processing it, while Aster thinks for a moment before he states casually:
"... Well that's just cheating" Their arms are crossed and his mouth has a pout.
Gabo begins throwing some harsh reality as he speaks frankly "Yeah but that's how it went twinkle star, because guess what? Those two are CRAZY POWERFUL. And as long as Magnifico has that magic of his, there's nothing we can do, none, nada." Asha looks very frustrated with those words "So we might as well get comfy living in the woods from now on. Get used to the humidity, Safi." He says as he also lays next to Asha on the hand drawn bed.
As if on cue with the comment about humidity, Safi let out a sneeze
"ACHOOOO! Sorry..." Safi says while itching his nose... He thinks for a moment, and an idea seems to cross his mind as his eyes light up "I think... The king might have weakness though." Safi says raising his finger with one hand while itching his nose with the other "... But it's just a theory, maybe I'm wrong."
"ANY clue might be great help for us, Safi. Please, what do you think?" Asha looks at her friend in the eyes with a hopeful expression.
Safi looks back to her, her words encourage him to tell his friends a secret he has been keeping in for a while, he takes a deep breath before saying
"Alright... Last year, my mom asked me to help her at the castle-
We cut to a flashback sequence where we see Safi and the same cleaning lady from chapter 8. They're dusting off a fancy room in the castle.
"She needed my help because they were short staffed that day, and the king really wanted the castle spotless. Then he came in, complaining that my mom didn't clean his bedroom yet or something... I didn't pay much attention, but I did notice he left his magic staff leaning next to a wall... I got curious, I wanted to take a closer look at it, so I walked towards it while pretending to dust off some furniture. But when I got too close to it... Some ACTUAL dust got in my nose. I tried holding it in but...
"a- A-AAAACHOOOO!"
I sneezed on his staff and knocked it over. Magnifico immediately heard me and RAN to catch the staff before the gem touched the floor, and he did it just in time. I was relieved and so was my mom. I even laughed a bit thinking he would too... But he didn't... He looked at me in the eyes like he wanted to kill me then and there. He grabbed me by the scarf and lifted me off the floor a little. He yelled to my face:
"YOU INANE, FILTHY LITTLE BRAT! YOU ALMOST COSTED ME EVERYTHING!"
I was so scared, I tried a apologizing but that seemed to only make him angrier... My mom only watched nervously from the side. Then, a hand touched his shoulder... It was Queen Amable. She looked at him worriedly, and he looked back to her, I couldn't see his face... And just like that he let go of me and left the room without a word. Then the queen smiled to me, like what just happened was no big deal
"Please do forgive the king, my dear. He has been under a lot of stress lately, that's all... But you shouldn't be here in the first place, now, should you? No, a castle is no place for children. So how about you run along and enjoy the rest of your day, hum?" She placed a finger on my lips as she said with a sweet voice "And we'll keep this as our little secret, won't we?"... All I could do was nod."
The flashback ends.
We cut to all the other teens staring at Safi with expressions of both surprise and pity.
Aster's is floating in a sitting position with his legs crossed, he looks very sad.
"... Why didn't you tell us?" Asha asks, sounding heartbroken that the king and queen treated her friend that way and he had to keep that pain in silence.
"Probably the same reason you didn't tell us when you found out about their secret... I was scared." Safi said quietly with a sad expression, Asha nods in agreement "Also my mom told me not to gossip..." Safi adds quietly.
Dario comes over and gives Safi a hug.
"Heh thanks bud." Safi says, feeling relieved to let all that out.
Gabo, as always, ends the sweet moment by saying bluntly "Ok so we all agree the staff is like, his achilles heel, right?"
"... Yeah, if not breaking it was so important then why would he run to catch it when he could just use his magic to make it float?" Dahlia ponders.
"Because he can't do magic without holding it... " Aster answers, with an expression of realization.
Asha also has that same face of realization as she says "... Of course! None of the kings that came before him even had magic staffs, they could do magic with their hands alone... Magnifico DOESN'T know magic!" A smile forms on the corner of Asha's lips, it's almost comical how every aspect of that man was a lie all along.
"Soooo if we break that gem on his staff" Aster says with a huge smile while flying closer to Asha's face, his hair shinning brighter and brighter.
"He will be powerless." Asha finishes his sentence, looking at Aster in the eyes with a determined smirk.
"Uuuh that's great but... How are we supposed to break it?" Simon asks confused "Even the literal STAR here couldn't use his powers against the staff's magic, so what are we supposed to do?"
Aster turns to Simon with a confident look "Yeah sure, it was too much for me to handle... On my own." He turns to Asha for her to complete his point.
Asha get's up and makes the bed that she drew return to her sketchbook, surprising the rest of the teens.
While she does so, she finishes Aster's point:
"But together... We can fight."
She uses her magic pencil to draw some drums.
And we transition to the song:
What We Know Now
Lines in Purple- Asha
Lines in Red- Dahlia
Lines in Yellow- Safi
Lines in Blue- Hal
Lines in Bold Orange- Gabo
Lines in Green- Simon
Lines in Pink- Bazeema
Lines in Bold Yellow- Aster
Lines in Bold White- Everyone
(Lines between parenthesis- Me)
(Asha begins to draw some drums with her magic pencil, making them fly out off the page. Aster immediately gets her idea and begins to play the drums as the instrumentation of the song.)
… We've been deceived That royal pair are not what they've claimed to be They're more vicious than I could have ever comprehended When I made a wish and Aster came down This is not what I expected or intended But now that it's happened I don't regret it
(She begins to sing turning to her friends, her expression is bold. As she says the line "When I made a wish and Aster came down" the two of them share a glance, with Aster smiling at her as he plays the drums, and she looks at him with a warm smile.) 'Cause now I've seen Them show their true colors, in shades of green Saying that your wishes aren't safe because of me and That's a lie, lie, lie, lie. And now we know how we'll get the upper hand
(Aster uses their light to reflect on the gems inside the cave, creating the figure of Magnifico and Amable on the walls, that turn from blue to green. As Asha says the last line she raises her hand to the sky and starts walking out of the cave, with her friends following her to the forest.)
… If it's not us then who and when? If we don't fight they know they'll win Not allowed Knowing what I know now The lengths they'll go there's no amount I won't sit back watch this play out That's my vow Knowing what I know now
(She marches with them to the clearing in the forest, pushing the tree branches out of her way, some birds fly off the trees upon hearing her sing. As they reach the clearing, she turns to her friends to know what they have to say... Dahlia is the first one to step in)
… Get up, yah! No, I'm not the only one that's (yah) Fed up (yah)
(Dahlia walks to be next to Asha as she raises her hand to the sky with every "yah", motivating their friends even more)
… Wait 'til they hear our feet go dun, dun, dun, dun (yeah)
(Safi sings as Dario grabs one of the drums that Asha drew and begins playing it at the "dun dun dun" part. Dario may not be able to sing but he helps Aster with the instrumentals.)
… I don't think they'll be prepared for what's coming
(Hal sings her line with a passion, as she extends her hand forward to call the others to join their hands together in a group circle)
… A revolution hit the ground runnin'
(And they do so, then they raise their hands together, and with that we transition to Asha making a drawing of the castle that turns into a miniature, for them to plan how they'll get in.)
… If there's one thing they can't keep down Uh-huh It's us and the strength we've found It's too loud (loud) Knowing what we know now (knowing what we know now)
(Asha then draws little miniatures of her friends and Aster, they all come to life and get in position on the castle as the group begins to formulate their plan)
… And who, who knows if we'll succeed?
(Simon looks unsure, as he holds the little miniature of himself that Asha drew.)
But we- Won't stop and we won't retreat or turn round
Round
(Gabo notices the fear in his friend's eyes and offers these words of motivation)
Knowing what we know now Knowing what we know now
(They all sing together with Asha... All except Simon, as we see a shot focusing on him a bit far away from the group, smiling at them singing, but his eyes give away how he's trying to hide from the others how he's unsure if they're doing the right thing.)
… Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo Hoo-ha-hoo-ha-hoo-ha Hoo-hoo-hoo
(We get a sequence showing small glimpses of the group making their plan, and we can see time passing as we transition from early morning to mid afternoon)
… Can they tell what we're becomin'? (Hoo) Hear it in the way we're drummin' (hoo) I was sweet but now I'm something else (oho) Yah, yah, yah, yah! (Hoo-hoo)
… Ain't it nice of us to drop in (hoo-ha) To take what's ours to take it back in? (hoo-ha) They think we're nothing (hoo) But we're something else! (Ha) Yah! (Hoo)
(In this sequence, the group already planned everything. The gang dances together, as Dario is now the only one on the instrumentals, Asha drew a bunch of drumming instruments for him to go crazy with... But the camera suddenly moves up, as we focus on Aster looking at the castle in the distance as the sun begins to set, and the star sings his verse.)
… I've seen too many bad things that I can't keep count (The sky) And land now both unite To fight (fight) Knowing what I know now Knowing what I know now (hoo-ha-hoo)
(Aster refers to all the bad things he has seen them do while he was in the sky, as well as all the bad things he could see inside Magnifico with his eyes. His expression as he sings is bold and serious, as if he can't stand all the injustices he has seen.)
… They shall see all of your stars (We are) Aligned by your own scars So profound (Ahh) Knowing what I know
(He's flies down and begins to sing looking at all the other teens, referring to THEM as stars, that have been aligned to fight this battle because of the scars that the king and queen caused)
… I know (hoo)
… I know (ha)
… We know now (hoo)
… Knowing what we know now
(And the song ends with them striking a group pose)
...
So we transition to the castle, as we get a scene of Magnifico and Amable in the throne room, with 4 guards lined up in front of them.
"So let me get this straight..." Magnifico speaks to the guards with his voice filled with frustration, as he's sitting on the throne with his hand on his forehead "After searching THE WHOLE NIGHT, none of your troops could find any sign of that girl, nor the star?" He glares at the guards in front of him.
The guards all seem nervous, but one steps in to say something
"W-we went as far into the woods as we could, your highness... But there were some setbacks."
"Setbacks?" The king pronounces the word like it disgusts him "What kind of setbacks are we talking about here?"
"Last night when we were searching... Some of our men could've sworn they heard voices and whispers, the likes of cursed spirits..." Another one of the guards begins to explain, he sounds frightened.
"I've heard some say that the trees attacked them!" Another guard adds in, also sounding just as scared
"And I experienced the most unbelievable thing!" Finally a third guard starts telling what he saw, and we get a quick flashback
We see the guard at night searching through the woods.
When suddenly the ground beneath him starts to shake and... A giant flower sprouts out of the ground and closes it's petals with him inside...
Our perspective in the flashback changes to Aster hiding in the branches of some trees, giggling quietly as the guard screams for his companions to get him out.
(So yeah, the whole night Aster was messing with the guards by asking the animals to whisper creepy things and giving life to the trees and so on... The Peter Pan vibes in him keep growing.)
End of flashback.
And we cut to Magnifico staring at them shocked, not shocked that those things happened, oh no, he knows exactly what those things really mean... He's actually shocked with how incompetent they are.
Magnifico stays silent for a moment... The guards are all standing up stiffly, waiting for what he'll say next.
"... he he ha aHAHAH AH HA AHAHAHA!" Magnifico lets out a laugh that echos through the room, the guards look nervous. The king turns to the queen sitting next to him, she's staring at the guards with a cold expression. Magnifico talks to her like he just heard the funniest joke in the world "Did you hear that, my sweet? Hah ah They retreated because of- aha hah- some scary little whispers, moving trees and a FLOWER! HA!-Ha ha ha-" The king's genuine sounding laugh descends into a fake, deep one, as he stands up holding his staff tightly. His expression is twisting from a smile to a furious scowl-
"You FOOLS!"
Using his staff, Magnifico attacks the guards with a lightning spell, the guards manage to escape it just in time. As they look to their king in horror.
"IDIOTS!"
He does so again, the four men are now running for their lives to the exit, but Magnifico slams the door shut with the snap of his fingers.
"IMBECILES!"
He summons a third lighting strike that barely misses them, as they're now cornered against the wall.
Magnifico marches towards them, his face is red with rage while his staff is glowing green, ready to attack them again at any moment.
"That was THE STAR'S magic! THAT MEANS HE WAS NEAR YOU!" He hits the staff on the floor, creating a loud clang of the metal against the marble, the white floor is now cracked. "WHY did your captain not alert me about this?! I gave him a mirror PRECISELY for him to tell me about ANY SIGN OF THE STAR!" The king exclaims to the four men cowering in fear in front of him.
His voice is loud but it's not hysterical, it's a booming and commanding tone that demands respect and attention.
They remain silent, trembling in their armor.
"WELL?" He insists for an answer to his question, threatening to attack them again.
One of them spills the beans "I- I heard a rumor this morning that he lost the mirror!..." The man immediately covers his own mouth, realizing what he just did.
Magnifico turns to the guard that said that, his face relaxes as he says "... Oh did he now?... How unfortunate." his voice sounds calmer now, but the sense of uneasiness is palpable... his staff stops glowing. "Well then. Congratulations men, it seems the captain's position will be vacant very soon." The king speaks calmly as he starts walking back to his throne "Who knows, if you don't disappoint me any further, one of you might even take his place."
The guards all shiver at that, not sure if the king means their captain would just lose his position... Or worse.
"That will be all for now. Dismissed." The king snaps his fingers and a large door opens, allowing them to leave. The four guards bow down before rushing out of there. Once they're out, Magnifico snaps his fingers again to close the door. "... UUUUUUGH What's the use of ruling a kingdom when you're surrounded by idiots?" He slumps down on his throne, sounding miserable as he vents to his wife.
The queen holds his hand, her previous serious expression is gone, replaced by a passionate gaze "Patience, darling. We'll have our star sooner than you think, I just know it." She says soothingly.
He kisses her hand before saying "So do I, my love... But you were right, as always. We can't rely on others to even tell us where that blasted star is. It's true what they say: if you want something done right, you must do it yourself." He gets up from the throne and starts walking to the exit "I'll go to the forest to get them myself." He stops on his tracks for a moment and turns back to his wife with a pondering look "Hmm... Say dear, would you prefer that I brought the girl dead or alive?" He asks her in a loving tone.
"Alive, I could use a test subject for my potions, but either way would be lovely." Amaya responds, smiling wickedly.
"Then I better be on my wAAY- " The king almost trips over on something when he was walking to the door, he looks down and it is- "BRAVO! Watch where you're going you little devil!" Magnifico berates their lynx.
Bravo looks up to the king unbothered by the screaming, and it seems like he did it on purpose, not to stop his owner from going out though... But because he wants to show them something.
The lynx let's out a growly meow as he looks to the king and starts walking to another room, after taking a few steps the feline stops and looks back at the king and queen, as if to ask if they're coming with
"... It seems he has something to show us." The queen says while rising up from her throne to follow her pet.
The king raises one eyebrow at that, not quite sure if that's worth his time. But he follows along either way.
The two royals follow their pet up the flight of stairs, until they reach the king's study next to the wishes room.
And on the table, they see a hand mirror, that looks just like the magic mirror from Beauty and The Beast. It's glowing with a green light.
"OH! So I guess he didn't lose the mirror after all. Well done, Bravo." Magnifico says as he pets the lynx's head, Bravo seems pleased. "Now, let's see if we get some good news today."
The king holds the handle of the mirror and begins to speak with whoever is trying to get in contact with him
"About time, O'Donohue! So, have you found the star ye-" The person trying to speak with him comes into view in the mirror, we're not seeing who it is yet, only the king's face of surprise and confusion when he sees who it is "You're not the captain..."
We still only focus on the king's face, as we hear a familiar voice coming from the mirror:
"Erm no... I'm his son, actually, I'm sorry for stealing this from him but... there's something I think you should know."
The king looks intrigued at the mirror, he's ready to listen.
...
And we cut to another scene-
(*Jumps on screen* I MIGHT write a small bonus chapter just to show you guys how THIS conversation went, because if this was a movie then we wouldn't see it, but I want you guys to know SIMON IS NOT A TOTAL JERK AS HE SEEMS! So like, if you guys really want it, I'll write a bonus scene showing what Magnifico and Simon talked about, like a deleted scene of sorts! Okay moving on!)
It's evening time, the sun is almost completely set. And we're back to the forest.
We see 6 of the teens, Asha and Aster all together around a camp fire, sitting on logs. There's a small pot above the fire with some mushroom soup that Dahlia prepared, she brought the pot it in her bag, and the other teens also brought bowls and eating utensils with them.
Asha has an empty bowl of soup next to her, she's already done eating. She's now focused on trying to draw something on her sketchbook, not paying much attention to what her friends are talking about. Valentino is sleeping next to her.
Meanwhile, Aster is staring at her with what can only be described as a teen absolutely smitten, resting his head on his hand as he admires her.
They're also “wearing” their human disguise, so he looks 3D like all the others, if it wasn't for his fancy looking clothes he'd blend right in with all the other teens.
The other teens are all sharing stories and venting about how they've actually always had their grievances with the king and queen, but they never told anyone because they thought others would think they were ungrateful.
"-And then, it only took me messing up my juggling act ONCE and the king howled with laughter, but he never laughed at all with my actual jokes- UGH I've always felt there was something off about him." Hal vented to her friends about her experience as one of the court jesters look.
"You think that's bad? I've lost count of how many times I've seen them complaining about my dad's food." Dahlia said while eating her soup with an angry face... But then she starts smiling as a joke comes to her head "Sometimes I felt like asking THEM to try cooking something for once... But I’m pretty sure if Magnifico got near an oven he'd self combust hahah" She laughs at her own comment
The others chuckle as well
Bazeema shyly chimes in with her own story "Once, my mother accidentally planted red roses in the garden, when the queen specifically asked for white ones, so my mom painted all of them white in secret, and the queen actually believed it hihihi" Bazeema giggles, finding the situation really absurd.
"... Wait, wouldn't that kill the roses though?" Asha asks, taking her face off her sketchbook for a moment.
"... Unfortunately, it did, but my mom said it was better to sacrifice some roses than to upset the queen." Bazeema explains a little sad for the roses "I managed to save a few of them though." the bashful girl adds with a hopeful smile.
Gabo cuts in with a smug look "Ya know, since we're competing to see who had the worst experience with the monarchs-"
"It's really not a competition." Safi corrects him
Gabo ignores him and continues to say casually "I'm pretty sure I heard Magnifico killing someone in the dungeons once."
Everyone turns to look at Gabo with eyes wide as tennis balls.
"... I’m sorry, you heard what?" Aster asks, in the same position he was sitting when staring at Asha, but with his head now turned to Gabo.
"Killing: The act of un-aliving something that was previously living-" Gabo proceeds to define the meaning of the word, like the star doesn't know what it means
"Wha- I- I know what the word means!" Aster says, annoyed that Gabo thinks he's THAT innocent.
"Sorryyy, I just can never guess what your galaxy brain knows and what it doesn't, few hours ago you asked what was the meaning of the word "Revolution"" Gabo said sarcastically.
"Ummm how about you stop mocking Aster and get back to what you were saying about the king, I feel that's kind of a big deal." Asha said seriously, placing her sketchbook next to her.
"Oh yeah, right right *ahem* this one time when I was a kid, I stole the dungeon's keys from my dad, cause I wanted to see how it was down there, ya know? Just give it a quick look" Gabo smiles as he starts narrating like he's telling a scary story "Then, I heard someone screaming behind a door, and I could see some green light coming from the keyhole, just like Magnifico's magic... then all of the sudden- CRACK" Gabo says loudly, scaring everyone, specially Bazeema "I heard the sound of something breaking... And the screaming stopped." He says sinisterly.
(Keep in mind the teens left when it started raining at the plaza, so they didn't see Magnifico almost break Asha's wish, had they seen that Gabo would probably connect the dots that what he heard was not a murder but an inmate having their wish broken)
"... You're making this up to scare us, aren't you?" Dahlia asks with an unimpressed look.
"NOPE! It's all true. I ran out of there so fast I almost lost my shoe, and I've been keeping this inside me for years. Joking about it is just how I cope." He explains quickly as he shrugs. He then turns to Dario with a smug "What about you D? Your dad's the royal announcer right? Did he or you see something you shouldn't?" He asks like he wants to hear more gossip.
Dario's face turns sad as he looks to the side, then he just signs:
"I rather not talk about it."
"Understandable, then how about you Si-" Gabo looks around and notices that there's only 8 of them in the circle
(ONLY?! Uhum, like coming up with dialogue for 8 people is easy, It's really not!)
"Hey, where's Simon? Did he even eat?" Gabo asks everyone.
"Sleeping, of course, he's inside the cave, has been there for a while in fact." Dahlia says pointing at the cave they were in up the hill.
"Ah, I should've guessed" Said Gabo rolling his eyes.
"Someone should go check on him before we're out of soup though." Asha mentions, worried that he doesn't have enough energy for when they go enact their plan.
"I'll get him!" Aster says excitedly, as he morphs from his human disguise form to his 2D animated real form, and starts floating so he can get there faster "Be back in a flash."
Aster flies to the cave quickly, when he's about to get in-
"AAAH!" Simon was already walking out of the cave holding his pillow close to him, he get's startled by the wishing star flying towards him.
Aster stops flying just in time before crashing on Simon "Oh good, you're awake! Come on, you should go eat with the others, can't break in a castle with an empty stomach, am I right? Hahah I wouldn't know though, I don't eat." Aster giggles.
But then they pay more attention to Simon's face and realizes... He doesn't look like he got any sleep at all, in fact... He looks scared... And it's not just because Aster just startled him.
"Hey Simon... You look kinda shaken up, did you have a nightmare or something?" Aster ask concerned.
Simon looks away from Aster, as he just holds his pillow tightly and starts walking to where his friends are "Nope, you just scared me. I'm fine." he says with his usual monotonous tone.
Simon is walking ahead while Aster is following him. Aster looks sad, he has been sensing that the gentle giant doesn't like him for some reason, he thinks for a moment, and an idea pops in their head:
"Ya knooow, if you're having trouble with nightmares, I can actually make dreams! If you'd like maybe I cou-"
"NO" The young man says sternly without looking at the star.
Aster is taken aback by that... He doesn't understand why Simon is acting so weird.
Simon takes a deep breath before he turns back to look at Aster, with a calmer tone "Sorry... I just-... I just really don't want you in my head, okay?" Simon says with a concerned look.
Aster thinks he understands the issue, Simon is just shy and the star has been breaking the "personal space" boundary that Asha told him about.
"Ooh I get it, you want privacy! Thats totally fine! Tell you what, I swear to you I won't use the magic in my eyes to look what your soul desires, deal?" Aster says reassuringly, hoping that'll make Simon like him more.
Simon just turns away from the star and says "... Deal."
Then he just walks to be with his friends.
Aster doesn't quite understand what's up with Simon... But it's probably just a human thing he doesn't know about yet.
The two join the others at the camp fire.
"Well hello there sleeping beauty, did prince sparkling wake you uuuup?" Gabo jokes as the two join in the circle.
"Will you ever call him just "Aster"?" Asha asks him while still trying to draw something on her sketchbook.
"As long as I have star related puns? Probably never." Gabo says with a cheeky smile.
"*sigh* Fair enough" Asha says smiling at her friend, knowing that's just how Gabo is. She then turns to Simon "So, did you sleep well Simon?"
Simon just sits down smiling as Dahlia hands him a bowl of soup
"*yaaaaaawn*... Not much actually, but I'm fine, don't worry. Promise I won't pass out during our plan... Heh heh" He says with an smile... That looks quite forced.
"He's totally gonna pass out guys, we're so screwed." Gabo jokes and a few of the teens snicker a little.
Hal is one of the ones who laughed a bit but still she stands up to defend Simon "Aw come on Gabo, don't be like that, yeah Simon may be a sleepy head, but he always been there to help us out when we need him, right big guy?."
Simon gulps his own soup with the face of someone who knows they've made a huge mistake.
"T-thanks Hal..." He smiles to her "Though I really wish I could do more t-"
Asha suddenly takes her face off her sketchbook to ask "Hey, by any chance did you girls bring a mirror?"
Simon almost chokes on his soup "MIRROR? HUH?? HOw-" He coughs a bit and tries asking more calmly "I mean haaha why would you need a mirror NOW, Asha? hah ha"
Asha and the others look at him confused by his weird reaction, but she brushes it off as Simon just being tired "I'm trying to figure out a way to draw myself perfectly... Call it a plan B I have in mind, for emergency." She winks as she shows some drafts of herself on the pages of the sketchbook. "But I'm not sure if they look quite right, I've never been that good with self portraits."
Hal has a big smile as she says "Heeeyyy I think I saw a river back there, you should try looking at your own reflection on the water!" she says, pointing to where she saw the river.
Asha smiles to her friend as she gets up "Great idea, I'll be right back. And after Simon is done eating and you guys get all your stuff organized we can get started on the plan." She says confidently
"Yeah yeah yeah best friend, go on! Go over there and draw your beautiful face, you can do it!" Hal pretty much rushes her to leave. And as Asha walks away Hal says quietly while looking at her get into the woods"... Aaaaaaand sheeeeee's faaaaaaar enough?... YUP" Hal jumps to sit next to Aster and asks "Alright Aster, come on, when are you telling her?"
Aster was distracted playing with the fire on a stick, but once he hears that he turns to Hal in confusion "Huh? When am I telling her what?" He asks curious tilting his head to the side.
"The thing anyone with eyes can see, you’re in love with her." Hal says with a smirk.
"............ I
WHAT?!"
Chapter 14
Final Thoughts
Guess what song we're getting neeeeeext!
Oooooh writing the 7 teens, how I’ve missed you, I love them so much! Poor kids went through so much.
Gabo is definitely the one I like writing the most, you guys can probably tell, I just love his sense of humor.
Can I just say that the funniest thing I ever came up with in this rewrite is that the answer to how they can defeat Magnifico COMES FROM SAFI??? LIKE?? THE CHARACTER THAT HAS HAD THE LEAST LINES AND ONLY PERSONALITY TRAIT IS SNEEZING??? THATS THE ONE WHO SAVES THE DAY?!? HECK YEAH!
That part when Magnifico is yelling at the guards is a DIRECT reference to the scene in Sleeping Beauty when Maleficent screams and zaps her minions with her staff by the way, like, the words “Fools, idiots, imbeciles” are exactly what she said. Magnifico is now a lot more of a short tempered kind of villain like Hades, while Amable is more like lady Tremaine or The Evil Queen, always cold when around others. But just you wait when they reencounter our heroes, oh the evil levels will go through the roof.
And I’m sure you guys are wondering what’s the heroes plan, right?… Yeah you’ll see :)
…. Oh and I need you guys to know that EVERYTHING bad that happens with our heroes from this point on is HIS fault, not mine!
👇
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littlemissaddict · 8 months
Text
Tattoo's - Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader
Summary: Reader gets her first tattoo much to Eddie's surprise.
Word Count: 1277
She didn’t hear the front door open, or Eddie announce his arrival home from work. She was in the bathroom focused on cleaning her new tattoo completely unaware of his presence until she caught sight of movement in the mirror out of the corner of her eye. “Eddie!” she smiled excitedly, spinning around to face him where he was now leaning against the door frame watching her with intrigue.
He chuckled slightly as he stepped towards her, “Now baby what’s gotten you so distracted that I didn’t get my proper welcome home” he teased, smiling down at her as she stood in front of him. He figured it must be something big as she couldn’t stand still, he could feel her excitement radiating from her as she swung her clasped hands in front of her all the while a grin spread across her face.
“Well…” she draws out, her eyes quickly glancing down, so quick that Eddie almost misses the movement but she speaks again before he can follow her gaze downwards. “You know how I’ve been wanting a tattoo for a while” is all she manages before he interrupts her.
“You didn’t” his eyes widened as she nodded at him, "Let me see, let me see" he pleaded, bouncing on the balls of his feet as his excitement rivalled her own.
Holding out her arm, she watched him as his eyes followed the black tendrils of ink spanning across her forearm. His hands reached out to twist her arm slightly so that he could see from a different angle which she allowed seeing as his hands weren't actually touching the tender skin. Although the moment his hands moved to try and trace over the lines, she was quick to slap them away. "Nope not with your dirty, greasy mechanic hands" she scolded lightly, ignoring the pout that appeared on his plush lips, "I have to keep it clean so that I don't risk it getting infected" she informed him. It was something she assumed he knew considering the assortment of tattoos that littered his body and she was quick to point that out to him, "I just want it to heal properly like yours" she reasoned when he responded with a 'but baby'
Eddie snickered at that, "Yeah considering mine were done from a friend of a friend in Rick's basement it's a wonder they healed at all" he revealed, something she hadn't known before.
"Eddie it's your body, your life but it could get really dangerous if they'd have gotten infected" she urged. She'd heard all sorts of horror stories of people who had gotten ill from an infected tattoo so much so that they almost died, she shook the thought away, not willing to think of Eddie like that and instead opting just to look at him with wide eyes while she waited for his response.
"Yeah well when you short of cash you take your chances where you can" he shrugged as if it was nothing but he didn't miss the way her eyes grew comically larger at his nonchalance of the subject, "but I promise that's in the past, my last few have been from accredited tattooists in a proper parlour so you don't have to worry your pretty little head" he assured her, sealing it with a kiss to her forehead.
It had the desired effect and she relaxed at his words, though making a promise to herself to watch him closely when he inevitably got his next one. "I hope so mister" she spoke with a pointed glare his way, playfully prodding his chest with her finger, which he wasted no time in grabbing and tugging her close to him, causing her to squeal at the unexpected movement. “But can you do me a favour and help me wrap it?” she pouted up at him once the room had stilled..
A smirk grew on Eddie’s face as he, as usual, found an innuendo in everything. “Oh we’re wrapping it up now, I thought you liked it raw?” he teased, laughing as a choked sound somewhere between a laugh and a gasp passed her lips as she placed her palm flat against his chest so she could push her body away from his.
“Un-fucking-believable” she scoffed turning her back to him, not that she could fool him as he had already seen the smile tugging at her lips, well that and he could see her reflection in the mirror now that she’d turned around.
Stepping forward, until his chest was pressed against her back, he slipped his arms around her middle and tucked his face into the crook of her neck, his warm breath tickling the skin as he spoke. “I’m only kidding baby,” followed by kisses up the column of her neck to just under her ear, “of course I’ll help you wrap it” he whispered against the shell of her ear before pulling away, chuckling to himself as her body tried to follow him. “Just gotta wash these dirty mechanic hands first” he spoke, repeating her earlier words back to her as he wiggled them in her face briefly and she scrunched her face up in response.
They were quiet as he washed his hands and she turned to get the wrap for her arm. Once his hands were dry, he took what he needed from her outstretched hands, his own working expertly to cut the wrap down to size and gently place it over the tender skin with ease before he secured it with a little tape so that it wouldn’t come off during the night.
“There all done” he pulled back to let her admire his handiwork and she whispered her thanks to him as her eyes remained cast down, still focused on her arm. Eddie reached out again, hands desperate to trace over the design, only this time she let him since there was no contact with her inked skin. “It really is beautiful, don't know how you managed to keep it a secret from me though” he laughed quietly, his eyes still focused on the black ink just like her.
“It was tough, I did want you there but then I didn’t want to tell people in case I chickened out last minute” she explained, a slight pout on her face as she did so.
Eddie nodded in understanding, a tattoo was a big commitment, something you had to be one hundred percent certain with considering it was on your body for the rest of your life. “Well I’m glad you didn’t, makes you look even more metal” he joked, sending a wink her way which made her laugh.
“Well that’s easy enough to do since the only thing metal about me is you” she spoke and he gasped in response.
“T’is not you are plenty metal” he argued as she shook her head which only caused him to rattle off a list of everything he believed made her the most metal person he knew. Smothering her in praise in the cramped bathroom of their shared trailer, in their own little bubble where they could be anything they wanted to as long as they had each other, something they both hoped would never change.
Eventually they moved to the couch in front of the old tv with bowls of boxed mac n cheese in their hands with the talk of future tattoos filling the space between them, which turned into future plans, which then finally turned into them falling asleep tangled with each other awkwardly on the couch in ways that would leave them aching in the morning but their hearts full in the present.
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