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ptergwen · 3 years

Text

web of lies

take a leap. if you start to fall, the net will appear to catch you.

photographer!peter x journalist!reader || masterlist

w/c: 7.1k

warnings: swearing, one drinking mention, descriptions of anxiety, and angst if ya squint

summary: peter can’t stop holding your hands, betty and ned are the modern day bonnie and clyde, ned is a terrible guy in the chair, the osborn’s are up to something, and mj hates you all

a/n: y’all i’m super excited about this series like i haven’t had an idea i’ve really loved in months? so it’s good to be back !!! there are tons of things i have planned and i can’t wait to share them with all of you hehe i really hope you enjoy part one <3 happy reading

to be honest, which is what you do best, you’ve had a thing for peter parker your whole time at the daily bugle. you actually almost told him once.

a couple months ago, peter walked you home on a night you worked overtime. he’d came in last minute to leave some pictures on your boss’s desk. no one else but you was there, hunched at your computer in the dim office lighting. peter was pleasantly surprised to see you, yet concerned for your well-being. you had to put your finishing touches on a story.

he didn’t feel comfortable letting you travel alone at that hour. so, he went with you when you were ready. his company was more than welcomed. you told peter about your article while you two sat on the subway. he’d listened intently, your head resting on his shoulder and his arm around you. he made sure you got to your apartment building alright as well.

“hey, peter?” you’d asked, halfway up the steps. he was waiting until you were inside and safe to leave. “hm? you good?” he’d smiled sort of expectantly. “yeah. i... i wanted to say...”

your words got caught in your throat when he gave you the softest puppy eyes you’ve ever seen. you couldn’t do it. for some reason, you were too scared to confess how you felt. “thanks again for walking me home,” you’d settled on. he’d seemed disappointed that was what you wanted to tell him. nevertheless, he said not to worry about it before taking off.

that one moment perfectly captures it all; how yours and peter’s narrative plays itself out.

—

“we’ve got an update on hydra v. the people!”

“those freaky giraffes escaped the zoo... again.”

“shoot one more spitball and it’ll be your last.”

“does anyone have an aspirin?”

welcome to the daily bugle, where the chaos never ends and the calm never starts. you’ll find new york’s finest writers, publishers, and creatives of all kind right here. that would include you. you’re one of the top journalists in the whole building, according to mr. norman osborn. he’s the brilliant and slightly insane man who runs this place.

although it’s rare for someone in your field, you were hired straight out of college. norman read a few pieces you’d written and loved them so much that he offered you a job. full time, full benefits, no questions asked. there was something special about the way you wove your words together. your writing had its own voice. a strong voice, one the paper was severely lacking.

you’ve been with the bugle for just over a year now. it’s not the quiet, nine to five gig you were initially expecting it to be. you’re each very unique individuals in your office, and there’s never a dull moment because of it. your coworkers can be found hosting debates on the riskiest topics or tackling each other for blueberry muffins, and that’s just a regular tuesday. the place is stranger than strange. but, it’s become home.

thanks to mr. osborn being so accommodating, you actually settled in rather quickly. another big help has been the friends you’ve made. your first was michelle jones, who prefers to be called mj. she’s a fellow journalist with a wickedly dark humor that trickles into her writing. if you had to describe her in one word, it would be blunt. mj is as real as it gets, and also eternally loyal. she keeps her circle small, so you’re honored you get to be in it.

mj sits right next to you, which means you’re always talking through your days. that’s due in part to the way your office is set up. there aren’t any cubicles, tables and swirly chairs taking up their space instead. norman heard it was more progressive, probably from his son harry.

harry is about your age, only a couple of years older. he hangs around quite a lot, but doesn’t do much with his time besides that. according to norman, he’s still seeking out his passion. he’s banking on him finding a suitable career at the bugle. he’d like to pass this all on to harry some day, hopefully sooner than later. either way, you don’t mind having harry here. he’s super funny and friendly with everyone.

there’s also ned leeds, who’s an editor and reviews most of your pieces. he’s sweeter than candy, even when he’s ripping your grammar to shreds. on the rare occasions you’re not discussing breaking news, you two talk about movies. ned is a film buff and gives you the best recommendations. you’re convinced he was a critic in his past life.

last but so from least is peter parker. he only works for the bugle part time, since he’s still in school. you both graduated from your respective colleges the same year. peter wants to get his masters degree, though. he’s a photographer who’s aspiring to be a cinematographer. him and ned have their passion for the industry in common, and that’s what makes them such great friends.

you learned this and more from the times you and peter have partnered up on stories. he’s one of your best friends not only at the bugle, but in your entire life. the many long nights you’ve spent collaborating have brought you close to each other. they consist of drinking and deep talks, along with some actual work. he takes the pictures, you do the writing. you’ve been told you make a lovely pair.

peter says it himself, too. you’d like to believe he means it as more than coworkers. he’s so caring, and smart, and pure, and peter. yeah, you like him an awful lot. you can hardly stand the feeling of it sometimes.

the fact that you you haven’t come clean already is ridiculous.

“goddamn. not again,” you mutter out. “em, you better come look at this. it’s bad.” mj wheels over to you in her chair with a puzzled look. her eyes follow yours, landing on your computer. “leeds just sent this? to everyone?” she questions, your reply a short hum. you’re both staring daggers at the email your screen displays.

ned is responsible for assigning each journalist their own topics to cover. he’s been lacking a bit recently, having you write up think pieces on fluffy things. in other words, stuff that no one cares about. he asked you to compare oat milk and almond milk just last week. you’d hoped this week would be better, but here you are.

“this is ass. who does he think we are, buzzfeed?” mj scoffs at her own words. the daily bugle prides itself on being a reliable news source, on paper and tv. you’re starting to stoop down to the low level of your competitors. “he assigned me some tiktok dance trend. i’m not writing a single word about that app.” she sets her elbows down on the table, head in her hands.

“aw, why not? grandma mj isn’t down with the kids?” you tease and click out of the upsetting email. “i don’t write for kids,” mj deadpans. she pushes her glasses up on her nose. “what’d you get?” “the evolution of memes,” you gloomily reply. you’re surprised norman has been approving these topics. then again, ned is the head editor. he can do whatever he wants regardless of approval.

mj glares over at the kitchen, where betty brant currently resides. she’s making two hot chocolates instead of her usual one. “i blame her,” mj mumbles to you. your eyebrows furrow. “dude, what? betty is an angel. she doesn’t even work in editing.” betty is the bugle’s highest rated anchorwoman. her and her news team are on people’s televisions every night.

“no, but she has been spending a generous amount of time with leeds,” mj grumbles. she’s admittedly very nosy. the upside is that she tells you any juicy office drama there is. “my theory is betty’s making him give us crap stories so she can report the good ones.” she glances over at you to see what you think. “no way. that can’t be allowed... or legal,” you laugh back.

as if on cue, ned appears next to betty in the kitchen. he takes the extra hot coco that’s piled high with whipped cream. betty tucks a sheet of paper into his suit pocket and kisses his cheek, then he’s gone. you can only gasp as you watch this unfold. what has she done to poor, clueless ned?

“not such an angel anymore, huh?” mj smirks in satisfaction. “suddenly, she has red horns and a pitchfork,” you bitterly agree with your tongue in your cheek. betty waves to you two on her way back to broadcasting. mj gives her a fake nice finger wave, you ignoring her. “we can’t sit back and let this happen, em. we have to do something,” you decide. “let’s tell norman.”

uninterested, mj takes off her glasses and starts to clean them. “like he’ll believe us. yeah, golden girl betty brant is sabotaging the writer’s room,” she rewords her previous statement to put its stupidity in perspective. you throw your hands up. “she is, though! we literally watched it happen!” mj puts her freshly wiped glasses back on and sighs.

“i doubt norman would care, y/n. every newspaper to ever exist is corrupt somehow.” your pessimistic old pal has a point. however, you’re not so willing to accept it. “why can’t we be the first one that isn’t?” you offer a small smile. mj snickers, wheeling back to her own computer. “those are words of the innocent.” she’s already tapping her fingers across the keyboard.

“i thought you weren’t doing the tiktok piece,” you say under your breath. you’re slightly pissed mj turned you down, since she’s the reason you know about betty’s meddling. “i’m not,” mj answers sharply. “i’m gonna email quentin and ask if we can change our topics. happy?” quentin beck is another editor in the building. he’s not bad, but he is intimidating. no one typically goes to him as their first option.

“i’m thrilled,” you confirm and grin at mj to emphasize it. “thanks for stepping up. you’re forgiven.” “i didn’t realize i had to be sorry,” mj notes, this time in a playful manor. she shakes her head as she begins writing. “you and your morals.”

what you value most in your career is honesty, under any circumstances. of course, the other daily bugle writers are the same. norman strictly prohibits clickbait and crazy headlines because that isn’t real news. you leave that to companies like buzzfeed. you’re honest in the sense that you say whatever has to be said, what everyone else is too afraid to. you’ll speak your truth no matter who tries to stop you.

it didn’t used to be that way. there’s some childhood trauma that remains deep in the back of your mind. you’ve left that behind you now, having over a decade to cope with it. hey, they say the past is in the past. what’s important is your takeaway, that you would never let yourself or anyone else be silenced from there on out. never again.

quentin ends up giving you the okay to write different stories. he lets you and mj choose choose your own because he’s got “better things to do” and you’re “big girls.” what a peach he is. mj goes with how capitalism is continuing to provoke global warming. she has something to say about every major world issue, and you admire the hell out of her for it.

you’re a bit stuck when it’s time to write your article. it’s terribly ironic because you pushed for this. you aren’t too worried, though. the city is crawling with material, so you’ll find what you’re looking for eventually. lucky for you, some much needed inspiration comes skipping out of the elevator.

“morning, peter,” you hear liz greet him at the front desk. she’s your floor’s receptionist. her wisdom and patience keep this place going. “hi, liz. how’s it going?” he asks. “things have been quiet... mostly. can i do anything for you?” liz peers up at him. peter sports a shy smile. “uh, yeah. mr. osborn wanted to see me?” “right. hang on.” she nods, dialing his office phone number.

it’s endearing how peter calls him mr. osborn, seeing as the rest of you go with norman. he’s probably the politest guy you’ve ever met.

grinning, liz puts down the phone. “you can go in whenever you’re ready. good luck!” peter laughs nervously and turns to leave. “thanks, you too.” his face falls when he realizes his mistake. “wait, i- i didn’t mean to say that. that was stupid. you’re not-“ “it’s fine, peter,” liz reassures him. his anxiety makes him trip over his words sometimes. that, and he’s a bit dorky in general. you find it rather adorable.

you also wonder what exactly he needs good luck for. he’s not even supposed to be working today, so your curiosity as to what’s going on has been piqued.

“um, i’m gonna go now. bye!” peter rushes off, his face tinted pink from the embarrassing encounter. you’re hoping he’ll stop and talk with you for a little while, but he heads straight to norman’s office. your whole body deflates at that. mj notices from her peripherals.

“what’s the matter? missing your hubby?” she coos, her words dripping in sarcasm. “no,” you lie. “i’m... i don’t know what to write about.” ok, there’s some truth. mj gives you a couple pats on the shoulder. “ask parker for help. you two work... well together. don’t you?” this must be the zillionth time you’ve heard that.

“we do,” you murmur and glance at norman’s closed door. peter is hidden behind it. “i just don’t wanna bug him. he has finals soon, and whatever norman is putting him up to. it’s my job, anyway.” mj pokes your arm. “those sound like excuses to me,” she concludes, still jabbing at you childishly. “you really just don’t wanna tell him you like-“

“can you keep it down?” you hiss, yanking your arm back. “he’s literally right over there.” peter stands up and shakes norman’s hand. you catch it through the blinds on his window. “y/n, you were drooling over his mere presence only minutes ago,” mj prefaces, a smile pulling at her lips. “you can handle three little words. i like you, that’s it. spit it out already.”

you’ll never admit this to mj, but she’s right. you lost your momentum after your first failed attempt to say the three little words. you’re still not sure what stopped you. you’d shared the details of that faithful night with her, and she’s been pushing you to try again since.

the door to norman’s office opens, and out walks peter. he’s beaming after their conversation, which seems like a good sign. harry passes peter on his way in to pay his dad a visit. he claps him on the shoulder, peter happily accepting before continuing his stride back into the main office. it takes a moment to register that he’s coming towards you.

you quickly set your focus back on your computer so he doesn’t think you’ve been watching him. even though, you definitely have.

“y/n!” peter calls your name. he’s on the opposite side of your table, in front of you. “peter!” you match his tone. “i was just dropping by. i thought i’d say hey while i’m here.” he’s still grinning. “what’re you doing?” he looks cute as ever in an oversized and cream colored sweater. his curls are slicked back with a tad too much product, cheeks rosy. you gaze up at him when he rests his arms on the table.

“pretending to be productive,” mj answers for you, pressing her lips together. peter cocks his head to the side. “pretending?” “ignore her. she’s being a shit stirrer today,” you explain. “like every other day,” he jokes, earning a laugh from you. mj just tuts and keeps writing. “talk about me like i’m not here,” she mumbles to herself, then gets back into her article.

“anyways, i thought you didn’t work today?” you ask to take the attention off yourself. also, because you’re curious. “oh! get this.” peter perks up even more, if that’s possible. he has energy like no other. “you know alex in broadcasting? betty’s camera guy?” “what about him?” you wonder. “he called in sick earlier this morning, with the flu or something.” he’s oddly excited to announce this. that prompts you to make a funny face.

biting back another smile, peter elaborates. “mr. osborn needed someone to fill in for him, so he picked me. i’ll be here all week.” it makes sense, since peter knows how to work a camera and does so wonderfully. you give him a celebratory push at his chest. “peter, that’s amazing! this is the perfect way to transition from pictures to film, right?” he’s nearing his finals at school, which consist of more movie-like projects. the news will be great practice.

then, he’s off to hollywood. you’ll put that out of your mind for now.

“exactly! i think it’ll be a good place to start. the pay isn’t bad either.” peter wiggles his eyebrows at you, you giggling once again. you do a lot of that when he’s around. that’s going to be more often now. “plus, i get to see you. everyone wins.” he squeezes your hand that was just on him. your heart begins to thump. “except alex,” you challenge, playing with his fingers. “but, for real. i’m happy you get to do this and that we’ll be spending more time together.”

“thanks, y/n/n. me too.” peter grins and leans over, taking a peek at your computer screen. there’s a blank word document on it. “you never told me what you’re up to,” he chuckles. “guess mj was right... nothing.” “i’m always right,” she chimes in from next to you. you look between the two of them with a scowl. “i haven’t found my story yet. i don’t know, this never happens.” peter nods as you share your dilemma. “no good ideas are coming to me,” you murmur.

“they will. you have a way of attracting things.” he licks his lower lip, your heart completely stopping this time. “well, i gotta go set up for rise and shine with betty brant.” he waves his hand like he’s presenting his words. that’s what betty calls her morning news segment. “be careful with her. she’s being really sketchy these days,” you warn peter, mj grunting in agreement.

confused, peter purses his lips. “really? ned says she’s a sweetheart. they’ve been going out for a while.” mj pops her head up and adjusts her glasses. “did ned also tell you she’s bribing him to give her all of our scoops?” she’s asking rhetorically because she already knows the answer. of course he didn’t. “it’s one thing to not like her. you’re just making things up now,” peter huffs.

mj kicks your foot under the table. “i told you no one would believe us. not even peter gullible parker.” “it’s benjamin,” he corrects her. “whatever,” she brushes it off, resuming her work.

peter does tend to be sort of naive, to only see the good in things when there’s plenty of bad. you’re the same in that way, unless you hang around mj for too long.

“is that true? betty’s stealing your stories?” peter turns to you and asks. you gesture to your screen. “i don’t have one, so you do the math.” he hums sympathetically. he’ll listen to you, never mj. “i’m sorry. thanks for telling me, y/n. i’ll watch out for her.” he bends his fingers to look like goggles, putting them around his eyes. you sigh lightheartedly.

“are you twenty two years old or twelve?” mj remarks, but not without a comeback from peter. “you’re, like, eighty five. worry about that.” they’ve had this type of banter for as long as you’ve known them. it’s equal parts amusing and exhausting. “don’t be late on your first day.” you snap peter out of it with a knowing smile. he returns it.

“i hope something crazy happens so you can write about it.” he’s walking backwards now, towards the elevator. “see you later, pete,” is all you say back, yet another laugh threatening to escape you. “see you. bye, michelle,” peter says just to bug her. “it’s mj,” she groans without looking up. he shrugs. “not so fun, is it?”

after peter is gone, you try to get back into work. or rather, you try to start your work. what he said about you having a way of attracting things keeps ringing in your head. was he flirting? no, he couldn’t have been. peter parker doesn’t flirt. words aren’t his strong suit, and you have countless memories that prove this to be true. earlier with liz, for example.

you’re probably reading way into this. peter was simply doing what any good friend would do and gave you advice.

it’s late in the afternoon when anything worth mentioning happens again. peter is still with betty, as far as you know. they’re probably preparing for the nighttime news now. all you’ve done since seeing him is nibble on snacks and bug mj, who’s almost done with her story despite your distractions. this is really bad, considering your deadline to submit is at the end of today.

you’ve never missed a deadline.

mj emails her work to quentin while you repeatedly bang your head on the table. she hits send before deciding to entertain you. “whatcha doing over there?” she cautiously prompts, powering off her computer. “trying to get an idea. i’m desperate, if you couldn’t tell.” your voice is muffled. “i could.” mj grabs your shoulders and pulls you back so you’re sitting up. you childishly pout.

“y/n, the only thing that’s gonna give you is brain damage,” mj says sternly, then softens her tone. “why don’t you ask for an extension? norman gives me them all the time.” whining, you slump down in your chair again. “yeah, but you’re you! we do things differently, have different expectations put on us.” she’s back to cold mj after you say that. “alright. at least i did something today besides pine over that little-“

mj’s insult for peter is interrupted by harry. “ladies, what’s shaking?” he comes up to you two with a the hint of smirk on his face. you manage a nod to acknowledge him. “oh, hey... harry,” mj unenthusiastically replies. she’s the one person who isn’t really a fan of him. “not much. y/n was just having a tantrum.” “she was not,” you dismiss her. “it’s work stuff. you know your dad.”

harry clicks his tongue in a teasing way. “yep, the grind never stops in this joint. boss man is...” he does the sign for cuckoo with his finger. you laugh a little at that. “in a good way,” you add on. mj only watches you two, blinking blankly. harry gives you a definitive pat on the back. “before i forget, he wants to see you.” that gets mj talking. “norman?” she questions. “your dad?” you choke out at the same time.

“who else? he said you two have to talk.” harry flashes you a weary smile. “have fun in there, old sport.” you’re too busy biting the skin off your bottom lip to respond. “mhm... she will,” mj speaks on your behalf. even she sounds worried. saluting you both, harry leaves to go pester your other colleagues. you’re completely and totally fucked.

“that’s it for me!” you grin sarcastically, freaked out by harry. “i’m fired, aren’t i? i’m definitely about to get fired, and it’s all because-“ “relax!” mj cuts off your rambling. she reaches down and grasps at your wrists. “get it together, y/l/n. you’re the best we have, okay? you aren’t going anywhere.” your grin becomes a frown. “then why does norman wanna talk to me? and, why don’t i have a story?”

mj always has the answers, but this time is the execption. she lets out a breath. “i don’t know. you’ll go find out and tell me what happens.” there’s no use protesting. you’re going to have to face whatever you’re about to at some point. “ok,” you give in, defeated. “i’ll be back soon, i hope.”

the walk to norman’s office feels like a walk of shame. mj can do nothing but sit back and observe it. if this ends the way you think it will, you’ll be collecting your things and won’t ever return. norman is a kind man, and he’s usually pretty understanding. he doesn’t mind the workplace shenanigans as long as you get your job done. unfortunately, you haven’t today.

you hear your boss’s booming voice when you approach his door. inhaling deep, you knock on it, and the room goes silent. “come in,” norman responds after a few seconds. mustering up a smile, you open the door to be met with your doom. “hi, am i interrupting something?” you check. “not at all! you’re just the person i wanted to see. sit, sit,” he beckons you over. he’s not using his angry voice, so maybe you’re in the clear. you enter the room as told.

you’re shocked to see a terrified peter is already in one of the chairs. he visibly relaxes a bit now that you’re here. what the hell is happening? whatever you were expecting, this was the last thing.

taking the armchair next to peter, you sit facing norman’s desk. you nudge his arm to get his attention. his big brown eyes lock with yours. “what’s going on?” you whisper. “no idea,” peter whispers back. the two of you turn to norman again when he claps his hands. he’s plopped down into his cushy leather seat.

“so,” he begins, gaze flicking from peter to you. “you kids know why you’re here?” “is it because i missed my deadline?” you blurt out. you’re once again a nervous wreck. peter doesn’t speak, just winces. “not that. although, i did hear from ned that you turned down his assignment.” norman flicks at a post-it on his desk. “i asked quentin for one instead. me and mj,” you explain, peter’s eyes going wide.

“you talked to quentin? that guy’s bad news,” he murmurs to you. “how so?” norman questions, since it’s his employee. “he- he, um,” peter clears his throat before answering, “he’s super critical, you know? hates all my pictures.” “i love your pictures,” you assure him, the corners of his lips turning up. “your style is so cool. yeah, though. quentin’s pretty bitter.”

considering this, norman drums his fingers on the desk. “i’ll look into that. but, that isn’t why you’re here. i’m letting you off the hook this time.” your whole demeanor changes and a huge weight lifts off of you. “really? you are?” “i have a scoop of my own that i want you to cover,” he continues, peter bumping your knee happily. a toothy grin takes over your face.

“since peter will be sticking around for a while, i want him to join you.” norman waits a beat in case you have any questions. it’s been a minute since you last worked together. peter laughs in disbelief. “you want me to take over for alex and do this?” norman nods proudly. “y/n will need the extra hands, if you have them.” “yes, sir. i do,” peter immediately confirms. “my last class is next thursday, so i have the time.”

“wait, so you’re almost done? that’s awesome!” you bump peter’s knee this time. “yup, all that’s left is finals... and studying.” he mindlessly takes your hand, lacing your fingers together. you’re enjoying his gentle touches. “thank you so much, norman. seriously, i appreciate this a lot,” you tell him and mean it. “hey, no problem,” he chuckles at your eagerness. you grip peter’s hand tighter.

“what’s the story?” “ah, yes. the most important part,” norman starts, peter sharing an excited look with you. “how familiar are you two with spider-man?” his excitement fades at the question posed. it’s unbeknownst to you, caught up in the moment. “uh, same as everyone else, i guess,” you casually reply. “how come?” “he’s your subject.” norman points at you both. “you’re gonna study him over these next few months.”

peter’s hand goes limp in yours, and he gulps hard, throat feeling dry. “you mean, like, an exposé?” “no, no. there will be no exposing,” norman clarifies. “i’m sure he wears the mask for a reason.” that settles peter only slightly. you’re not sure why he’s so tense all of a sudden. “what’s our aim here, then?” you steer the conversation.

“see what new york’s favorite hero gets up to every day, how his life is beyond the crime fighting,” norman further describes your task. peter exhales a shaky breath, shifting away from you in his seat. the golden sun hits his face and reveals a bead of sweat dripping down it. you stare at his figure in worry. “you okay, peter?” “fine. i’m just... hot,” he murmurs back. his sweater does look pretty heavy, so you concede.

getting back to norman’s story, you grimace at the idea. “do you really think people will want to read that? for lack of a better term, it sounds kind of...” you pause. “basic.” “i thought the same thing at first,” he surprisingly agrees with you. “harry pitched the idea to me this morning. you won’t believe it! the other night, he caught spider-man hanging outside his window.”

“harry... harry saw him?” peter squeaks out. he uses the wool material that feels like it’s swallowing him to dab at his forehead. “he stopped on his balcony. must have been pretty late, the kid’s a night owl,” norman says about his son. your face lights up as you listen to him. “he took some shots of spidey in action, when he swung off. i saw a few. they were pretty great.” he’s grinning at his son’s success.

“maybe he’ll get into photography with you, pete,” norman suggests. peter gives him a weak smile in return. “we’d be happy to have him.” he usually has a lot more to say about his career than that. his behavior is starting to genuinely concern you. “anyway,” norman gets back on topic, “it got me thinking. how much do we really know about this guy? we’re supposed to blindly put our trust in him?”

you’re beginning to see the appeal now. you’ve written your share of pieces on the avengers and their methods, tackling the same questions norman just asked you. spider-man shouldn’t be overlooked, especially when he operates so close to your home. this could be another revolutionary superhero story in the making. and, you get to bring peter along for the ride.

“you know what? this has a lot of potential,” you smile at norman, then peter. he has his phone in his lap, fingers flying across the screen. it must be something important. you’ll discuss with norman while he takes care of that. “we could make it a weekly thing, about spider-man’s adventures. find out what we can about the man behind the mask...” peter shoots up in his seat. “without taking it off,” you finish, putting his mind at ease.

“see, i knew you were gonna love it! it was a blessing in disguise, you missing that deadline.” norman bangs his fist on the table with a hearty laugh. “what do you say, peter? you still in?” peter slips his phone back in his pocket. his tongue pokes out to wet his lips. “oh, of course. i can’t wait to work with you, y/n/n,” he speaks in a monotone voice, adding on, “again.”

something is definitely bothering him, and it isn’t the weather.

“i gotta go. betty needs me upstairs, so,” peter moves to get up, his body stiff. you assume that’s who he was texting. “thank you again, mr. osborn.” he’s rushing out of the room just like that, until you call after him. “um, don’t you wanna set a time to meet up? so we can get started?” you reasonably ask. “i... i really gotta go. find me later,” peter tells you, giving you both a tight lipped smile and running off.

“the dynamic duo is back!” norman announces to you. you’re disappointed you can’t share that sentiment with peter.

he’s absolutely booking it down the stairs, not bothering to wait for the next elevator. this is bad. this is a nightmare.

peter went from having one of his best days in a while to the worst in not even a full round of work. today started off fine, and got better when norman promoted him. it got way better when you came along. he saw your smile that makes his insides tingle, heard your laugh that’s the prettiest sound to grace his ears, held your hand that he never wants let go.

things went a bit downhill after that. betty was pushy and yelled at him a lot, demanding he only film her good angles for the segment. you and mj weren’t wrong when you told him to be careful.

later on when he saw you again, everything was okay. he was physically shaking as brad told him mr. osborn requested to see him. brad is mr. osborn’s assistant. a try-hard for sure, but good at his job. why did mr. osborn call him in? did betty complain already?

they’d been sitting in mostly silence, save for small talk until you came knocking on the door. simply being next to you was enough to ground peter and his racing thoughts. it was enough, then it wasn’t.

the whole day had gone to shit after he found out you were going to be writing stories about his alter ego. not only that, but he was helping. during the pitch, he’d texted ned to meet him in the bathroom. he was really anxious and needed a friend who understood why.

ned accidentally found out peter is spider-man last year. it’s a long story that involves peter hiding from some bad guys in the building and ned shrieking so loud the lights flickered. they’re cool now that peter talked things through with him. his secret has been kept, from what he knows.

pushing open the men’s bathroom door, peter is a mixture of sweat and ragged breaths. he’s panting from his fast descent down the staircase. he takes in his disheveled appearance using one of the mirrors. his styled hair is now damp and undone, hands trembling and palms sweaty, chest heaving. here’s his daily reminder that anxiety is not cute. as if he didn’t know.

his stupid, gigantic freaking sweater is only making things worse. it’s suffocating him. no one else is in here, so peter pulls it over his head and tosses it to the ground. he’s got a t-shirt on underneath that happens to be black. what a convenient day for him to wear the hottest material there is.

peter splashes his face with some cold water next to try and cool himself down. that doesn’t do much for him. his face still feels like it’s on fire, but now it’s wet. he takes his hands through his mop of curls, backing away from the sink.

“fuck. fuck, fuck, fuck,” peter repeats to himself. he’s silent for a moment, then rage overcomes him. he kicks open a bathroom stall. “shit! i can’t do this. what am i supposed to-“

the door creeks open, so peter shuts up in case it isn’t ned. it thankfully is, and he wears a deep frown at the sight of his best friend. “dude, what happened? you look...” “terrible. i know,” peter finishes for him. he tugs at his locks in another attempt to tame them. ned approaches him carefully. “you’re not, like, dying... are you? because betty was telling me you have to-“ “of course you were with betty,” peter exhales in frustration. “no, ned. i’m not dying.”

in ned’s defense, the text he received was very alarming. all peter wrote was, ‘EMERGENCY. SOS.’

“i mean, yeah. it was my break.” ned sits on the ledge by the window, close to peter. “you do the same with y/n.” the mention of your name upsets peter all over again. he hides his face in his hands as ned watches. “if you’re not dying, then what’s the problem?” ned finally asks. “me and y/n...” peter removes his hands from his face, meeting ned’s worried eyes. “mr. osborn wants us to do a project together.”

“uh, peter? you’ve been saying how much you miss her forever, dude! you’re not excited?” ned snorts at him. he means well, but he has no clue what he’s talking about. “no. it’s supposed to be about spider-man,” peter answers angrily. this isn’t the support he was hoping for. realizing the severity of the situation, ned gets serious.

“oh... but, you’re still doing it?” he questions. “i didn’t have a choice,” peter scoffs out. “i can’t let either of them down.” “you’ll expose yourself!” ned escalates things further. “it’s not like that. we’re gonna follow spider-man around and post updates on him,” peter says, technically in the third person. he’s given an are you insane? look from ned.

“you are spider-man! and, no offense, but you’re not so good at hiding it,” ned refers to himself finding out. “how are you gonna be in two places at once?” damnit, peter hadn’t thought about that yet. he can’t be taking pictures of spider-man and swinging from building to building simultaneously. “i- i’ll figure it out,” peter stammers, unconvincingly.

ned looks him over in a disapproving way. “jeez. you’re really putting your life on the line for this girl-“ “woman,” peter interjects, not loving ned’s attitude towards you. “have some respect.” unfazed, ned gets up from the windowsill. “speaking of women, remember betty? you’re still on the clock,” he changes the subject. peter nearly forgot he has to go film her segment.

“i’ll head up to her now,” peter gives in. he scoops up his discarded sweater, not bothering to check his appearance again. ned follows behind him to the door. “we wrote her script together, you know,” he gladly informs peter, who already knows from you. “not really a flex,” peter mumbles his response. “peter, lighten up.” ned hits at his shoulder. the two of them exit the bathroom.

“you’ll figure this out later. i can always help.” he shoots him a sugary sweet smile. “thanks, ned. for talking with me and everything.” peter doesn’t smile back. they do a quick bro handshake, then they’re going their separate ways. “have a good show, dude!” ned yells back, to which he doesn’t get a response. peter doesn’t have it in him.

he allows himself to take the elevator back up to broadcasting. he’s so drained from the several anxiety attacks he endured. while peter waists for the elevator, he contemplates all the issues he’d better solve. it’s a relief to hear it ding because it brings him back to earth. that doesn’t last long because both you and betty are there when the door opens.

you’d each had the same idea, to find peter. unlike betty, your intentions were good. you asked liz if she saw peter leave. she told you he went downstairs, so you did also. betty was already in the elevator when it got to your stop. she was looking for him because, you guessed it, he had to record the news. the small space was filled with tension as you and betty occupied it.

“perfect. we’re going right back up,” betty beams, motioning for peter with her index finger. “hop in!” “coming,” peter does as told, going to stand between you and betty. she presses the button for your floor and theirs. the doors close. “pete?” you speak up, voice soft. “you kinda ran off earlier. i thought you were with betty.” “clearly, he wasn’t,” betty sneers.

you’re less concerned with her and more with peter. the sweater he looked so huggable in is now folded in his arms, his face splotchy and jaw clenched. he must have gotten triggered by something back in norman’s office.

“are you sure you’re okay? you... you can talk to me about it.” you take a step closer to peter, your doe eyes searching for his. he meets them with a tiny smile. at least, it’s real this time. “i’ll be fine, y/n/n. ‘s nice that you came to check on me, though.” “don’t mention it.” your arms loop around his neck and bring him into a hug. peter hugs you back by your middle, chin resting on your shoulder, breathing out in relief.

you keep your hands on his shoulders when you pull back. his stay on your sides, a lopsided grin now crossing his features. “spider-man...” you quirk an eyebrow. “how are you feeling about that?” “should be cool,” peter somehow maintains himself. “i’m mostly looking forward to doing it with you.”

listening in, betty joins the conversation. “what’s happening with spider-man? anything i should know?” her hand reaches into her bag and emerges with a notepad. does she ever think of her own content? “she’s nothing if not persistent,” you grumble to peter. chuckling, he pulls you into his chest. if he didn’t hold you back, you would’ve pounced on her.

“we’re gonna do a piece on him,” peter tells her. “you can’t copy or steal this one because it’s already been approved,” you contribute, smiling smugly as peter holds you tighter. betty is taken aback. “are you accusing me of stealing? who said i-“ “ned ratted on you... sorry,” peter says in a sing song voice. squealing, you jump away from him. “he did? we were right?”

“mj’s never wrong,” he reiterates. “mj knew about this? oh my god, i can’t believe her!” betty stomps her foot. “we got you on candid camera.” you make a clicking noise with your mouth. peter mimes taking a picture to back you up. “alright, alright. i won’t do it again,” betty mumbles, turning away from you two in annoyance.

“finally!” you hold up your hand for a high five, which peter gives you. “we really do make the best team,” he hums. your fingers intertwine with peter’s, and he lays his palm flat against yours. he prays extremely hard you don’t notice that it’s sweaty. you do, but you couldn’t care less.

“i was wondering when you’d wanna start our... research?” peter asks you, his lip between his teeth. “you were saying something earlier. maybe we could make a schedule.” “how elaborate of us that would be,” you tease. that earns a breathy laugh from peter. with a knowing smile, you put your free hand back on his shoulder.

“what are you doing tonight?”

peter parker taglist

@saturnpeter @tpwk-grande @itstaskeen @missyouhollnd @becicamina @dummiesshort @zspideyy @watchitimreadinghere @my-patronus-is-mabel-pines @dpaccione @karispotters11 @theofficialzivadavid @thehumanistsdiary @kelieah @aayaissaa @petersgroupie @annab-nana @tayyx @swtltlmrvlgrl @magicalxdaydream @haoluvver @kjune113 @captainamirica @marvel-dork98 @emmastarz @killingbxys @viriditie @misshale21 @veryholland @liliswifts @tommydarlings @rebelemilu @peterspideysense @cr-uelsummer @dreamy-clousds @quaksonhehe @quxxnxfhxll @blackbat2020 @babyblue19 @falconxbarnes @zachary-s @dirtytissuebox @dracoswhore007 @heavenlyholland @thsquad @etheralholland @dhtomholland @awh-lilies @tomshufflepuff @multifamdomfan12

if i forgot you please lmk!

#peter parker #peter parker fluff #peter parker x reader #peter parker x y/n #peter parker x you #peter parker imagine #peter parker fic #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker smut #spiderman #tom holland #tom holland fluff #tom holland smut #tom holland x reader #tom holland x y/n #tom holland x you #tom holland imagine #tom holland fic

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bored-mumma · 3 years

Text

Sebastian Stan - Fluff Alphabet

MASTERLIST

Bucky Barnes version

A = Attractive. What do they find attractive about the other?

He loves your passion. How even little things in life can get you excited and happy. He also loves your strong will. You two being in the lime light takes a strong personality and you match that perfectly.

B = Baby. Do they want a family? Why/Why not?

He really wants kids. He likes to imagine Sunday mornings, your children waking you up and you all making breakfast before spending the day playing games and just being a close family. Nothing makes him happier than thinking of his future family.

C = Cuddle. How do they cuddle?

No matter how warm the nights get, Sebastian likes to be snuggled entirely under the blankets. Usually one of you will be spooning the other but if its too hot then just either your legs or arms are slightly tangled.

D = Dates. What are dates with them like?

Sebastian doesn’t do ‘little’ dates. He sweeps you off your feet every single time. You’ll come home from work expecting a normal evening at home to find some new fancy clothes and jewellery lying down on your bed, along with a note telling you what time to be ready by. Bang on time, Sebastian knocks on the door (you live together but why not be romantic and come pick you up like he used too) with a bouquet of your favourite flowers. Before driving to a beautiful restaurant, champagne sitting there waiting. All evening he would throw compliments at you, repeating his love. If you felt like it, you two would go for a walk along the sea front or just drive randomly and talk away.

E = Everything. You are my ____ (e.g. my life, my world…)

You are my light.

F = Feelings. When did they know they were falling in love?

He couldn’t really give a proper time when he knew he was falling for you. It just kind of happened! He knew he missed you when you were gone, even if you spent all day together. He knew he dreamt of waking up to your face everyday and he knew his heart skipped a beat every time you kissed him. One day he just realised ‘holy shit, i love you’.

H = Holding Hands. How do they like to hold hands?

I = Impression. First impression/s?

You two got along very well. Your personalities just clicked and the two of you became friends fast. It took a few months, but that friendship soon turned into love.

J- Joker. Are they into pulling pranks?

He loves them, a lot more than you did. Barely a day went by that Sebastian didn’t play some sort of joke on you. Usually you find it funny and playful but other days you want to slap his pretty face.

K = Kiss. How do they kiss?

Most of the time Sebastian will hold your chin with his finger and thumb, tilt your head up and kiss you deeply. Although sometimes he’ll be a little more rough and grab your waist, pulling you towards him.

L = Love. Who says ‘I love you’ first?

You do. After a particularly breath taking date and nearly six months together, you finally felt as though you were ready to say those words. When you uttered those words, Sebastian grinned at you before saying it back.

M = Memory. What’s their favourite memory together?

You two were walking home from a lovely date night a restaurant. You both had a few drinks so couldn’t drive and you were struggling to catch a taxi so decided to take a longer walk across the parks. It was a stunning night and half way home, he placed his jacket on the ground and the two of you lied down, watching the stars and resting your feet. Feeling merry anyway from the drinks flowing through you, you lied there for nearly an hour, just joking together and sharing kisses. Going from the last letter, this was the moment you looked up at each other and said I love you for the first time.

N = Nickel. Do they spoil? Do they buy the person they love everything?

You are so, so spoilt. Literally anything your eyes land on, Sebastian will buy it for you. Even stuff you had never seen or even heard of, if he thinks you’ll like it, he’ll buy it, Date night? He’s got you some new clothes and jewellery for it. Anniversary? You cant see the floor in your home from all the gifts. And birthdays are just insane with the amount of stuff he gets you.

O = Orange. What colour reminds them of their other half?

Sky Blue. A lovely calm, stunning colour that reminds him of summer days. Days he loved to spend with you. He would often buy you some sky blue jewellery, making a matching dress too.

P = Petnames. What petnames do they use?

You two are cringe as hell and like to think of the most sickening names for each other as possible. Bunny, sugar-plum, precious. Just as cringy as possible to make each other laugh.

Q = Quaint. What is their favourite non-modern thing?

Sebastian's a simple man and loves the simple things. One of those things is a gentle bike ride. On a hot day with the cold breeze cooling him, he loved to just bike through the country and forget about life's trouble for a while.

R = Rainy Day

A busy man leads a busy life. Rain or shine, his days barely change. Although on the rare days you both have a day together with nothing to do and its pouring it down outside, he was known to drag you out in it. Whether to just dance in the back garden or to go for a quick run, Sebastian loved to just be out in the rain for a while with you. It felt like a reset for you both and it was those moments you treasured the most.

S = Sad. How do they cheer themselves/others up?

As most people know, Sebastian talks to his therapist often. You try not to pry too much, knowing if he wants to share his feelings with you, he will. But you can always tell when he’s feeling a bit down. It’s usually cured with a cup of tea, cuddles and you dragging your nails gently across his skin to make him feel relaxed. Sometimes he’ll talk to you about what’s bothering him, other times he just wants to feel your touch.

T = Talking. What do they like to talk about?

You two are low key conspiracy theorists. You will often find you both having deep conversations about a theory you saw online or about a new documentary. Whether it was something like aliens exist all the way to the queen is a lizard, you two would have debated on it.

U = Unencumbered. What helps them relax?

As said above, he loves to feel your nails dragging across his skin. He felt most relaxed when lying in bed on his stomach, you lying beside him and dragging your nails along his spine. He would get Goosebumps from it and always felt like he could fall asleep right there and then.

V = Vaunt. What do they like to show off? What are they proud of?

You and your career! Sebastian was your number one fan and would brag about your acting success every chance he could. Even if he’s doing an interview about his own movie, he’ll still slip in there how proud he is of your new project. He couldn’t help it.

W = Wedding. When, how, where do they propose?

It was your two year anniversary and you two decided to take a week off of work. Nothing special planned, just a week to relax and actually get to enjoy one another's company. Sebastian watched you with admiration as you cooked dinner, watching the way you sung along to the radio and how you refused to let him help, insisting on spoiling him. As you stood at the stove, Sebastian walked to the bedroom and grabbed a little box from his bedside drawers. Going back to the kitchen, he stood behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist, head resting on your shoulder.

“This wasn’t how i planned it,” He said, letting go of your slightly to open the box and show a beautiful ring. “But i couldn't wait any longer. Will you marry me?”

X = Xylophone. What’s their song?

wonderful tonight - Eric Clapton

Y = You. You are the ___ to my ___ (e.g. the cookies to my milk, the macaroni to my cheese)

You are the honey to my bee.

Z = Zebra. If they wanted a pet, what would they get?

Sebastian has always wanted a dog! You two ended up adopting a puppy together.

#sebastian stan #imagine sebastian stan #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan fluff alphabet #fluff alphabet #bored-mumma #fluff #sebastian stan alphabet

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sylvie-writes · 3 years

Text

Evans Family Christmas

pairing: chris evans x reader ft. Dodger hehe

requests: I need all the ugly Christmas sweaters, hot cocoa, Christmas cookies, everything in my life with the avengers or with Chris and his family 🥺 -anon

2. Just imagine that you and Chris are spending your first Christmas together and you’re decorating cookies and singing Christmas songs together and dancing around the living room with the fireplace going and of course hanging a stocking for Dodger. @aubreeskailynn

warnings: just chris being the dirty minded man that he is

word count: 2,079

author’s note: pardon any mistakes! this is also for @fangirlovestuff‘s birthday challenge! I’m so sorry for the long wait :(

challenge prompt: 25. that couple where one cooks and the other can’t cook for shit

PART OF MY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION (check the tag for the masterlist)

gif below was found on giphy

From your spot in the kitchen, you could hear the deep chuckle of the man you have loved for the past two years. He was currently on the phone with his mother who you assumed was inviting you both to the annual Evans’ family Christmas get together.

Chris rushed into the kitchen a giddy smile on his adorable face and fists excitedly curled into his chest like a small child. You didn’t even need to hear the words spill from his mouth to confirm your suspicions that the two of you were, in fact, going to the party.

One who cared for Chris as much as you did, could easily tell that the bright grin on his lips was the genuine one he sported when around his family. A career such as his, made time with family limited and you were always more than happy to go along to any event with Chris’s family. Even if that meant you’d see them once a year or twice a week.

The Evans family truly lived it up on the holidays, something definitely instilled in your boyfriend who acted like a frat boy at parties. (You have many videos of him being the happy drunk that he is, to say so.)

With this being your first Evans Christmas, Chris literally went all out once his mother called him that week before. You were unaware of this until an ugly Christmas sweater was laying out on your side of the bed just the day before Christmas. As you had been working all day, Chris had run out to accomplish some errands but you had no clue it actually meant this. With a small giggle, you decided to amuse yourself and try on the sweater. The sweater itself looked like it had been pulled straight out of any cheesy 90’s holiday movie you could imagine. Decked in lights attached to a battery pack and lots of gaudy tinsel, the sweater was the literal embodiment of any office Christmas party attire. Even the Grinch would have turned his head at all of the very questionable, yet somehow eye catching, components of the knit top.

You decided to venture down the stairs in the sweater to surprise Chris, but oh how the tables had turned. Instead of surprising the man, he shocked you first and not for a good reason. Jaw half dropped, you slowly walked into the mess of a kitchen. Various cookie making ingredients spilled among the counter and you found the culprit’s back turned your way. His entire black sweater was covered in flour and somehow even the back of it. At the mess you let out a tiny, but very audible, shriek causing the man to cautiously turn.

A nervous smile graced his lips and he held up two mugs of hot cocoa.

“Heh heh. Your sweater looks nice, honey...” There was no sign of amusement on your face, and you just horridly stared at the colossal snow storm of flour in the kitchen. “...hot cocoa?”

You just slowly turned your head in his direction and if an eye can invisibly twitch, then yours was doing so. An insane chuckle left your mouth and you just walked closer, snatching the mug from him. The last thing you wanted to do was clean this damn kitchen, especially after a long day at work. You loved Chris, but that man never followed through with things. Of course it wasn't intentional, but if you did wait for him to do said things, they’d never get done in a timely manner.

A timer sounded from the oven breaking your small staring contest with the man who nervously gulped from time to time as you were yet to say a word since entering the kitchen.

“Sounds like your cookies are done, lover boy.” You turned on your heel heading to the living room, but not without looking over your shoulder to utter a quip.

“Wouldn’t want to burn those things. Especially after the mess you’re going to have to clean all by yourself.”

Chris knew you were teasing, as confirmed by the discreet wink, and he just shrugged his shoulders, laughing. He had already planned on cleaning the kitchen, but this time he actually meant it.

An hour later, Chris joined you on the couch, a plate of decorated cookies in hand. He threw an arm around your shoulder and kissed your forehead. You decided to take a cookie and hummed in approval when the sugar dissipated on your tongue.

“My, my, Chris Evans. If you weren’t an actor, I’d say you could become a baker!”

In thanks, he once again kissed you, but this time on the forehead, making you crinkle your nose a bit. A few seconds of silence passed before he spoke again.

“I see you found the sweater. Do ya like it?”

You looked up at him with a dazzling smile and pecked his lips.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Against the plush lips of the man you murmured, “I hate to ruin the moment, but is the kitchen clean?”

Chris pulled back with a deep chuckle that seemingly lasted for minutes. He tried to speak between the choppy laughter, but failed and instead gave you a simple nod of his head. Leaving the man to his giggles, you quickly snuck off and then rushed back into the room in no time as Chris was finally ceasing his howling.

Arms secretly folded behind your back and a large, corny grin on your face, Chris’s eyebrows raised in suspicion. He cautiously reached out to pull you closer to him, pretty much to the point where you dropped to sit on his lap.

Once seated, you brought your arms around to your own lap and opened the glittery Christmas gift bag. Just as you were about to pull the final piece of tissue paper from the sack, you called Dodger who loyally came running in from the next room. At the point Chris was so utterly confused that he wasn't even aware Dodger had joined you both. Although, the man did wear a smirk that was borderline concerning.

The pup then curled up next to you on the couch after venturing in. Finally, you started to rummage through the gift bag, revealing its contents that had suspense looming in the air for a good while. Honestly, as you pulled out a beautifully embroidered stocking, which was for Dodger, Chris released a shaky breath that he had been unknowingly holding in.

You turned to see his reaction and instead started laughing at his tremendously cherry red cheeks. His smirk had also dropped and he now partly resembled a sad puppy. Even though he looked downcast, you could spy a sea of playfulness in his eyes.

“Oh my gosh, babe! Why are you so red?” It was now your turn to try and talk in between laughs.

Chris shook his head in a manner of disappointment, dramatically sucking in air and widening his eyes as one would do when traumatized.

“Let’s just say I had assumed there would be stockings in that bag, but...not that kind.” His ears were all red now and the two of you were cackling loudly, causing Dodger to leave the room.

“You dirty man! I swear for a few seconds I thought I was looking at Clifford the Dog!” you continued to tease him for a good five minutes and Chris just accepted it until a feel-good, Christmas classic came on the radio and he scooped you up.

For a quick second you squealed in shock, but then the man set you down on the floor in the middle of the living room. He held out a hand and you accepted it.

Of all the songs that could have graced the radio, it had to be Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You. Thank the heavens the blinds on the windows to the house were shut or the whole neighborhood would have seen you and Chris dancing like fools. The two of you energetically bounced around the living room. Your hair was flailing around as Chris’s arms madly waved up and down. Off key singing resounded from the you both and poor Dodger became the unsuspecting victim to the horrid sounds. Regardless that he was all the way in another room.

From then on, you and Chris spent the rest of Christmas Eve alternating between decorating cookies and doing some Christmas themed karaoke. The night ultimately ended when the both of you crashed from your sugar highs on the couch, not even waking until Dodger came and nudged you in the face, annoyed.

----

Christmas morning came quick and unfortunately that meant both you and Chris had to be up bright and early for the party at his parents house. It had been a good couple of months since you’d seen them all last.

After a couple of groans and tossing around, you managed to find the legs to leave the bed as Chris did the same. The two of you went your separate ways and did the necessary tasks before you later met at the front door. You and Chris both had your ugly sweaters on, even Dodger had one on as he was coming along too. In your hand, you held a bin of the cookies from the night before and in the other you held dodger’s leash as he practically pulled you out the door. Chris, who was chuckling at the dog’s excitement, trailed behind with the many gifts for his family members.

The Evans clan greeted you both with open arms, quite literally, as you were engulfed by all of his siblings at once. Poor Dodger was thrown into the mix and got a bit squished, but he enjoyed the embrace nonetheless.

As soon as you and Chris stepped foot into the house and the door shut behind you, Chris’s sisters ushered you into the kitchen where you just looked back to your boyfriend who gave you a thumbs up and a cheesy grin. Little did you know that you were about to learn the most sacred thing about the family, which is their gingerbread recipe. For a good couple of hours, you chatted with the ladies and helped tediously decorate gingerbread while Chris and the guys were in the other room. Occasionally he’d pass by and steal some cookies to which you’d smack him. The man would quickly retract his hand and like a child in a cookie jar, he’d dash away, but not before placing a kiss to the crown of your head.

Once dinner was served, everyone sat around the table, quieted down, stomachs full and feeling a food coma from the endless amount of servings. You and Chris managed to fight the urge to rest and instead collected dishes to wash. Just as you started scrubbing the dirtied plate Chris had handed you, he nudged your hip with his own. In confusion you turned to the man who motioned for you to look up.

Resting above your heads was a tiny piece of mistletoe, delicately hanging by a little silk ribbon. You lowered your gaze back to the man who had turned and now placed his hands on your hips. Pulling you flush against his chest, Chris kissed you deeply, prompting you to wrap your arms around his neck. Suddenly, you heard some cheering and could feel a protruding smile on Chris’s lips. Looking towards the direction of the sound, you saw the shutters on the kitchen pass through open, allowing everyone in the dining room to peek in.

“I was just about to give you guys some more dishes, but I should’ve known you both were up to no good. Thankfully your niece and nephews are in the other room!” Scott then set down the dishes and dramatically shut the mini doors making both you and Chris laugh.

“I’m hoping you won’t remember your first Evans’ Christmas for this.” Chris still had his arms wrapped around your waist and smiled down on you with a glimmer of hope.

Letting out a breathy laugh, you replied, “You and I both know I will, but hopefully there will be plenty more of these to come.” With that, you trailed your fingers up to his hair and gently tussled the locks, earning yourself a soft kiss on the temple from the satisfied man.

taglist: @memissbee @tricereads @buckybarnesthehotshot @bval-1 @tonystankschild @just-one-ordinary-fangirl @turtoix @kelbabyblue @jakiki94 @aubreeskailynn @calirindo @lady-elena-adeline @siriuslyslyslytherin @sushiinmidnight @patzammit @iwik3it

#Chris Evans #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans x reader #chris evans imagine #chris evans oneshot #chris evans x female reader #sylvie writes christmas celebration #fangirlovestuffbdaychallenge

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kerikaaria · 3 years

Text

Premiere

(Jungkook x gn!Reader) Oneshot, Established relationship

Genre: (G) Fluff

Warnings: None!

WC: 1.8k

Description: You’d do anything for your boyfriend, even if that meant sitting through the premiere for a horror movie.

A/N - Written for the lovely @aroseforyoongi ‘s birthday! We were given random prompts by picking two random numbers. My words were: Dedication and horror. AND I HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO DO. HORROR???? I couldn’t figure out where to go with that! So I’m also giving a HUGE thanks to @eternalseokjin for being amazing and giving me the basis for this little oneshot!

Happy birthday, Dianchie! I wish you all the best, always.

You hated horror movies.

It was a mystery to you how people actually enjoyed being scared out of their wits as they watched a killer hunt everyone down, or a ghost slowly drove its victims to insanity. So why, one may ask, were you currently on your way to the opening premiere of a horror movie?

Simple—you loved your boyfriend much more than you hated horror movies.

Jungkook had been working hard at his dream of being an actor, getting his hands on any role he could. With each job, he hoped the right people would manage to see him and his potential in the few scenes and fewer lines he was offered and be able to make his big break.

This was the first big step to that for him. With a little luck, the director had picked Jungkook out at the auditions and offered him the lead role for the movie. And even luckier, it was a movie that a lot of people were looking forward to and was projected to do fairly well. If it did go as well as hoped, then maybe this could lead to that big break he’d been hoping for for years.

What kind of person would you be if you didn’t agree to attend with your loving boyfriend to the movie premiere of what could be the start of the future of his career? So of course, you agreed to come. Jungkook was really apprehensive when he asked if you wanted to go, knowing your severe aversion to horror movies, and you were absolutely sure he would have understood if you said no. But there was no way you could do that to him. If he could sit through hours of those family gatherings your grandma set up every year and deal with the back-handed comments from relatives you hardly knew about how he’s wasting his time on his dream, you could do this for him. It couldn’t be that much more torturous than that, right?

That’s what you kept telling yourself while you were attached to Jungkook’s arm, a smile on your face for the cameras. Much more important than your anxiety of sitting through the movie was the crucial real-life role you knew you had to play for Jungkook right now. He would never say it out loud in fear of putting pressure on you, but you knew that he needed you for support. The cameras couldn’t pick up the subtle hints you knew all too well that meant your introverted boyfriend was extremely nervous about making a good impression, and about how well the movie and his acting would be received by viewers. It was easy to shut down the anxiety when you knew he was relying on you to be a pillar for him.

As soon as the two of you made it into the room and found your seats you could feel Jungkook relax, body feeling lighter after being able to get away from the reporters’ questions and prying eyes. He loosened your grip on his arm so he could properly entwine his fingers with yours, giving your hand a firm squeeze as he leaned toward you.

“Thank you for coming, baby,” Jungkook whispered against your skin before placing a chaste kiss on your cheek. “I appreciate you being here with me.”

“Of course,” you responded, turning to smile at him. “You know I’m always here to support you.”

“Let me know if the movie gets to be too much for you, okay?” Jungkook said, squeezing your hand once more. “We can leave at any point if you need to.”

You had absolutely no plans to cut this short for him. Even if turned out to be the scariest thing you’d ever seen, you were already steeling yourself to sit through the entire film. But to comfort Jungkook, you assured him that you’d indeed tell him if you felt like you had to leave.

Once the lights dimmed to signal that the movie was about to start, you felt the anxiety you’d kept at bay start to crawl its way up your chest. You kept it tampered down for the time being, reminding it that these movies didn’t start out with the really creepy stuff and you still had some time before the ghost was going to do anything.

It was made even easier when you first saw your handsome boyfriend appear on the screen only a few minutes in. You always watched everything he was in, no matter how small the role was. But now that he was the main focus and in the center, you couldn’t help but to be even more proud of him than ever.

Jungkook loved to learn every detail he could about his craft, including having an interest in directing and filmmaking as well. Days spent listening to him critique filming techniques made you also moderately familiar with the subject. While the movie wasn’t doing anything much different than you’d expect from this kind of film, you immediately noticed everything that set up the mood for a horror story. The desaturated and dark tones, soft ambient music and sounds in the background rather than a full-sounding soundtrack, and the ominous feeling behind Jungkook’s character being left a whole estate by a rich relative he had hardly even heard about. It was honestly incredibly well set-up, even if the plot was a bit predictable so far.

By distracting yourself with picking apart the details of how the film was setting up the story and admiring Jungkook’s talent and good looks, you almost forgot what kind of movie you were watching.

Almost.

When the first genuine jump scare happened about half an hour into the film, it held up to its name by making you nearly jump out of your seat. Even though he kept it quiet, you could tell Jungkook held back the chuckle that bubbled up due to your overreaction. He quickly steeled his expression though, leaning in to whisper, “You doing okay so far?”

“Yeah,” you were quick to respond. “I was just distracted.”

“Distracted? By what?”

“By how talented you are, of course,” you easily answered.

Seeing the hint of a shy smile on Jungkook’s face and the tension in the movie having calmed down for the time being put your restless heart temporarily at ease.

But of course, it wasn’t too long until the horror aspect of the movie was pulling into full swing and it was ominous music, jump scares, and creepy old ghost lady creeping around every corner galore. You tried to continue distracting yourself with the well-done editing and admiring your boyfriend some more, but it only went so far. Especially when your mind forgot to remind you that what you were seeing on screen was fiction and not your actual boyfriend in danger.

After a while, you gave up trying to actually see what was going on and hid your face in Jungkook’s arm, letting the close proximity remind you that he was indeed safe and sound next to you.

“Should we leave?” Jungkook gently asked, whispering close to one ear while he covered the other with his hand to help mute the sounds of the movie for you.

You shook your head, determined to make it through this. “I’ll be okay,” you meekly replied after lifting your head up so he could hear you. “How much longer, do you think?”

“It should be getting close to the climax, and then it’ll be a lot calmer. Are you sure you don’t want to leave?”

“I can do it,” you assured him. You turned your head back toward the screen in time to see Jungkook’s character running down a hallway to try to get some distance from the ghost. I can do it, you repeated in your mind.

Honestly, you would have preferred a slasher flick. Demon ghosts had too much power and were too unpredictable in what they could do, and the idea of fighting something virtually intangible scared the living daylights out of you. But this was your current reality and you were going to make it through this for Jungkook.

He was right, and it wasn’t too long before the climax began building up. It was a little easier to bear despite the increasing tension, knowing that Jungkook’s character was close to stopping ghost lady—you certainly hadn’t paid enough attention to find out if she had a name. Soon enough, the climax of the movie hit its peak and things started settling down to a much more manageable finish.

It took another five minutes for you to realize you were still clinging tightly to Jungkook’s arm out of reflex. Letting go, you mumbled out an apology for no doubt hurting him and telling yourself to remember and check him for bruises later.

When the credits finally rolled, you felt infinitely more relieved. You slumped in your seat, Jungkook not holding back his chuckle this time.

Before long everyone was shuffling out of the theater and while Jungkook smiled endearingly at you, you were listening to what others had to say about the movie. It relaxed you and put a smile on your face when you heard people complimenting Jungkook’s acting and about the plot twists that they didn’t expect—and you didn’t really know about because you were too busy burrowing into your boyfriend’s shoulder to notice.

You were glad the two of you lived together because even just walking out to your car in the dark had you constantly looking over your shoulder, expecting a murderous demon ghost lady to be on your tail. On the way home, the two of you kept conversation light by talking about how well you thought it went. Jungkook was still nervous about what the reception would be like, but he was much more excited now as well.

It was when the two of you were laying in bed that Jungkook said, “You know, I’m really proud of you for making it through the movie, baby.”

Playfully, you rolled your eyes. “Good to know me watching a fictional horror film all the way through is such an accomplishment to be proud of.”

“You ran out of the room when we watched ‘Haunted Mansion’ because you thought it was too scary,” Jungkook deadpanned.

“It was! There’s a crystal ball with a floating head in it! How is that not scary?”

“The head wasn’t actually in there. Sorry to tell you babe, but a movie with a singing statue quartet isn’t scary.”

“Shut up,” you mumbled, running out of juice to argue.

“Seriously though,” Jungkook said after a moment passed. “I really am proud of you. And I’m really happy you chose to come with me. I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”

“I love you,” you said in return, knowing he’d understand that those three words held a lot more meaning than just that.

“And I love you.” Jungkook smiled as he pressed a soft kiss to your lips.

You would readily do this again for Jungkook if he ever starred in another horror film. But that didn’t mean you’d stop being a big clingy scaredy-cat about it.

My ask box is always open!

Also, if you’d like to donate to my Ko-fi, feel free! Absolutely no pressure though :) You can also check out my Etsy shop for BTS inspired charms as well!

#bts fanfic #jungkook #jeon jungkook #jungkook x reader #fluff #actor!jungkook #thebtswritersclub #btscreatorscorner #kafenetwork

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awhitehead17 · 3 years

Text

Universal Signs

Epilogue / Previous Chapter

A/N: This is the final chapter and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has read this story, who has stuck by it from the start and to everyone who interacted with the story. It's all greatly appreciated, so thank you.

Also on AO3

Enjoy! :D

After slapping a sticky note on the fridge Tim heads out into the gardens of Wayne Manor. He feels the need to be alone and plus he wants some fresh air, the garden is a great place that provides him with both of those things. The note just happens to be letting everyone know where he’s gone off to. It wouldn’t be the first time its happened so they know to leave him be.

Tim walks through the grass and heads into the cluster of trees at the back of the property. Over the last few months, this area has become his escape for solitude. It’s peaceful, hidden away from the manor and no one else goes there. There’s a small gap in the grove, it’s big enough for him to settle on the ground, the tree roots emerging from the ground provide a good support to lean on and the grass there keeps it somewhat comfortable.

He comes here when he needs a break and today is no different. Being inside the manor is suffocating him and Tim just needed to get out, he needed to get away from the same walls in attempts to try and clear his mind.

Settling down on the ground Tim lets out a sigh and takes a moment to observe the nature around him. The leaves on the trees are slowly beginning to turn into a mixture of reds, oranges and browns, a clear sign that autumn is on the way. There are birds chirping away in the trees. There’s an occasional rustling of leaves where there are squirrels hurrying along the branches above him.

After a while he closes his eyes and leans back against the tree root he’s come to favour over time and lets his mind wonder.

It’s been six months since he’s returned home from being in space. At this point he’s somewhat adjusted to being back however there are plenty of times when he struggles with it. There are as many good days as there are bad days, they seem to balance one another out with how often they each occur.

The first month had been the hardest. His emotions were all over the place, everyone was on high alert, there were so many things Tim needed to catch up on like events in the world and even just his family relationships. Tim’s mental health went downhill, not alarmingly so considering what had happened but it was still a cause of concern for his family. He was constantly hit with anxiety, paranoia, disorientation, nightmares and insomnia.

Tim absolutely refused to go to therapy. No matter how much his family tried to convince he just outright refused, even straight up walking out of the room when the word was mentioned. He knows it would be good for him, however what the fuck was he supposed to say? How would he describe about being kidnapped by aliens? They would think he's insane and would probably try to lock him up in an asylum! The easiest way to avoid that is to simply avoid therapy.

He did find though once he told Dick and Jason what happened things became a little easier. A weight disappeared from his shoulders and he could be open with his brothers. Not about everything that occurred but most things and that alone made a difference.

Things stayed rocky throughout the second month and it wasn’t until the third month that things started to improve. Tim started to handle his mental health better, it took some time but he came across a variety of resources online and used those as guidance. While he didn’t magically heal overnight and still had problems, they slowly became less severe and easier to handle.

When the fourth month came around they let the public see Tim for the first time since he returned. That had been a mistake. The Wayne’s are well known in Gotham City (and somewhat the world) so there had been spotlights on them from the moment it got declared Tim was missing. While the spotlight lessened over the course of the two years Tim had been gone, once Tim’s return made it to the news the family were instantly highlighted once again.

Bruce and his team kept Tim out of the way, they kept statements and quotes pretty vague and anonymous. Of course there were lots of conspiracies on what had happened to Tim, where he had been that entire time and how he had managed to return home. If Tim was being honest some of the theories were pretty hilarious, though not one of them even came close to the truth.

The time they decided to get Tim out in public was during the annual charity event that took place in city hall. Majority of his family were attending meaning Tim wouldn’t be alone, the spotlight would theoretically only be on him for a few moments until the next celebrity showed up. Tim had been reluctant at first but after reassurances from his family he said yes. After all if he made an appearance the media may calm down and leave them alone.

The moment Tim stepped out of the limo they arrived in he had been bombarded and it didn’t let up the entire night. Even with his family there and the bodyguards no one really left him alone. The press were savages hunting for food.

Before getting kidnapped Tim could handle the press well, he knew how to play the game, how to avoid and deflect questions and answers, but this time he couldn’t. It was all too overwhelming, his emotions and mind went into overdrive and panic. He couldn’t help the panic attack no matter what, fortunately his family caught on to what was happening and managed to get him away somewhere private by the time the attack happened. They supported him through it and then called it a night. He hasn’t been in public since.

The fifth month had been a mixture of month two and three. Tim had his ups and downs but he was handling it the best he could. His family were always there to support him no matter what.

During the fifth month Tim decided to tell Bruce what had happened. He sat down with his adoptive father, Alfred too, in his office and Tim told him everything that had happened. Tim had been a nervous wreck and it took encouragement from Dick and Jason for him to finally do it.

Both Bruce and Alfred seemed to take it in stride. At first they seemed like they didn’t believe him but after a couple of days thinking about it they said to him they believed him, why would Tim make up something like that? On the other hand his story seemed to only encourage Bruce to try and get him a therapist even more and once again Tim blatantly refused. He argued he was handling it and so on. With reluctance Bruce dropped the topic but Tim knows it’ll come up again soon enough.

Now though, at six months, Tim thinks he’s doing okay (besides the obvious). He would like to believe he’s doing okay. There’s not a day that goes by where he doesn’t think about the aliens that saved him, or some of the events and adventures that had happened when he had been with them.

If there’s anything positive that’s come from his experience it’s that he's decided on a career change. Before getting kidnapped Tim had been working at Wayne Enterprises in the offices doing a mixture of roles. At the time he had been looking into the future of helping Bruce to run the company, he was well on his way to do it too despite his age. However his trip has opened his eyes up and he’s decided a career change seems suitable. He’s now going into astrophysics. A job in the sciences and looking at space, time and the universe.

Tim has only recently started up online courses because he needs to work on getting a degree in the field before moving onto getting an actual job in the area. He’s smart enough for it, and now that he has the interest and even first-hand experience in the area its all the more interesting. He finds it particularly fun when the question “is there life on other planets?” come up.

Apart from the online classes Tim’s time is spent catching up with things and generally chilling around the house unless he's dragged into something by one of his siblings.

Oh, doesn’t that make him think of another major adjustment he’s had to come to terms with. Damian. Bruce’s biological son. Tim knows his story of arriving to the Manor but he doesn’t fully know the details of his past. There was tension between them but they were civil to one another any time they cross paths. It certainly took time, and still is taking time, to get used to that he has a younger sibling. On the bright side at least he’s not the youngest anymore!

It was also thanks to Damian that Tim learnt that his universal translator works on Earth too. Upon his arrival back home, Tim had completely forgotten about the little device installed in his teeth and the remote that came with it. His mind had been on other things after all but it wasn’t until Damian spoke in his native tongue, Arabic, that Tim realised the translator is still implanted in him and it works with Earth languages too.

After that discovery Tim spent a good five hours on YouTube watching a range of videos in a variety of languages. It blew his mind that he could understand every single one of them. However, even though he can understand them, he can’t speak the languages nor can he write or read them. It had been an interesting discovery, now any time Damian speaks Arabic and Tim hears him, he can’t help but snicker at the teen’s language and the kinds of names he calls their siblings.

He sighs again, feeling oddly unsettled. His life seems almost rather dull now in a way. If anyone heard him say that after knowing everything he went through they would call him insane, but it’s like his “space life” had always been one adventure after another, always something to do, or a danger to be aware of. Now that he's back on Earth where there’s not so much of that it feels strange.

With that pleasant thought in his mind Tim opens his eyes up and starts to make a move to leave. He usually comes out to this forestry area to clear his mind but unfortunately today that doesn’t seem to be the case, his mind doesn’t seem to want to shut up. Tim trudges back to the Manor through the gardens as the sun begins to lower signalling the approach of the evening.

The next few days seem to repeat themselves until the weekend rolls around. It’s Saturday when Dick decides he wants to take Tim shopping. It’s a risk going out into public like that, as Tim pointed out to him, but Dick argues it’ll do him good to leave the Manor and how it’ll make a change of scenery for him.

Tim only agreed in the end when they compromised they’ll only be out for no more than three hours. Dick wanted more and Tim would prefer less, three seemed to be a good balance for them. Apparently his brother wanted to get himself some new clothes and there was the fact he needed to get Barbara something for her birthday that’s quickly approaching.

Together they go to the closet mall and Dick drags him into about five different clothing shops. The man gets himself a variety of new autumn clothes and even grabs Tim a fluffy sweater and a new jacket. Tim really did have to stop him when he tried to by an elephant onesie though, Dick may like the damn things but that didn’t mean Tim did.

After clothes shopping Dick decided to duck inside a jeweller’s shop on the way out of the mall. While Dick is inside buying who knows what, Tim choses to wait for him outside the shop. He stands by the door, leaning against the frame and people-watched as they walked by.

No one paid him much attention as they went about their days. Each person, family, couples all absorbed in whatever activity they were doing or what shop they wanted to get to. It still was bizarre to Tim, even after six months, that everyone here just goes about their days without the slightest bit of clue to what’s out there above and beyond. It makes him wonder what and where he would be if he never got kidnapped.

Tim shifts his position against the frame, propping his back up against it more as he continues to look around. He freezes however when something catches his eyes at the other end of the mall. There’s a small group of people who were stood off to the side by the wall out of the way from everyone that catches his attention. Their heads were ducked together as they spoke to one another and they all had their backs to Tim so he couldn’t see their faces. Tim doesn’t look away though because there’s something about them that seems familiar.

He’s not sure how long he stares at the group of three but they don’t move from their position in that time at all. He doesn’t think they’re up to anything as they don’t seem suspicious but there’s a tugging feeling inside of Tim that’s telling him there’s more to the group.

When one of them turns their head around to observe the surroundings as if trying to find something, Tim gasps. Surely that can’t be…

“Tim!”

Tim blinks and looks away from the group to find Dick standing next to him looking at him curiously.

“What’s gotten into you? You okay, I was calling your name for ages.”

Tim blinks at him again before looking back over the group, he sucks in a breath when he finally sees all three faces of the group. He watches with wide eyes as they start to move from their position and Tim knows he needs to go after them.

Without saying anything he pushes off the door frame and heads in that direction as the group starts walking in the opposite way. If Tim doesn’t catch up to them now then he’ll lose them and that isn’t an option.

However he doesn’t get more than a couple steps away before he's stopped as his arm is caught in a tight grip by his older brother. Tim tugs his arm roughly as he tries to get Dick to let him go. He frantically looks between his brother and the slowly retreating group.

“Dick, please, let me go… I need to go.” Tim begs. He could feel the desperate need to go and approach that group, he could feel his heart pounding and even some excitement stirring inside of him.

Dick’s grip only tightens. “What the hell you on about Tim?” His words are stern but Tim could hear how they’re said with an anxious tone.

Tim tugs his arm again, this time reaching out with his other to shove Dick away. “I’ll explain, I promise, just let me go…”

“No, not until you tell me what you’ve seen.”

When Tim looks over the group was now almost out of sight and Tim could feel his heart dropping. This was his last chance just to make sure he hadn’t been seeing things. Knowing Dick wasn’t going to let him go, Tim shoves him hard and yells at him.

“Let me go!”

In either shock or panic, Dick lets him go and Tim couldn’t be more relieved. As soon as his brother’s hand is off his arm Tim is shoots off in an instant, he ignores all the eyes now staring at him as he runs by them in the direction the group had disappeared from.

Miraculously he manages to catch up to the retreating group. He spots the three familiar figures manoeuvring their way through the crowd heading towards the other end of the mall where an exit is. Tim rushes forward, not caring about how manic he looks as he passes by strangers, and as soon as he’s in hearing range he shouts to try and get their attention.

“Kon! Kon, Cassie! Guys. Bart!”

The shouts get him a few more weird looks but he continues to be oblivious to them as he’s tunnel visioned on the three people in front of him. Thankfully his shouting gets the attention of the right people because the group stop and turn around in their place.

Suddenly Tim couldn’t breathe. There in front of him were the aliens who he thought he would never see again, the aliens who saved his life numerous of times and the ones who returned him home.

Kon, Cassie and Bart stand in front of him staring back seeming just as shocked as he is. For a long time none of them move as they all take in that they’re actually seeing one another again. If Tim weren’t so surprised by their appearance he would be questioning it, but he’s too elevated to give it much thought in that moment.

Without realising it Tim is moving and so were they. They meet in the middle and Tim finds himself wrapped up in a group hug. He breathes deeply, wondering why the action feels so familiar, and even safe, when he hasn’t seen them in six months.

He pulls back and looks wildly between the three of them. He can’t believe they’re here. Could this be a dream?

“Tim! We were just looking for you!” Bart grins brightly.

Tim shoots him a look, then glances at the other two. “Looking for me? Why what’s going on? Wait, wait, wait, how are you guys here? Why are you here?”

Bart’s smile falters a little at Tim’s rapid questions. “Because we wanted to find you.”

Tim shakes his head, feeling a little guilty that his questions came across wrongly. “No, I didn’t mean it like that, I’m just completely surprised to see you that’s all. This is totally unexpected.”

“Tim, as wonderful as it is to see you, do you know a place we can talk privately and not in the middle of… this place.” Cassie says glancing around cautiously.

Tim copies her and he finally realises how many people are looking at them funnily as well as giving them a wide berth as they pass by. Tim nods his head in understanding, this isn’t the kind of topic a group of people can discuss in the middle of the mall.

Just as Tim was thinking of a place they could go for privacy a shout gets his attention.

“Tim what the hell!” He turns around and is met with a furious Dick marching up to him. “What the fuck were you thinking running off like that?”

Tim huffs and rolls his eyes, he gets why Dick is worried but at the end of the day he is in fact an adult and not a toddler. “Dick it’s fine, I’m sorry but this is important.”

Dick studies him for a moment before his eyes flicker over to the three aliens standing opposite them looking awkward at the sudden appearance of his brother.

“Right so, Dick, this is Kon, Cassie and Bart,” he points to each alien in turn, “guys, this is my oldest brother Dick.”

There is a pause between them all and while the aliens look confused he could see the wheels turning inside of Dick’s mind. As if it’s clicked, Dick turns to Tim with wide eyes, “Are these the ones that saved your life?”

Tim smiles, feeling pleased that his brother has remembered his story and those involved. “Yeah that’s right.

“What are they doing here?”

Tim shrugs and turns to the others. “What are you guys doing here, beside looking for me?”

“Can we go somewhere else first Tim. Like away from all the eyes.” Cassie says pointedly.

Next to him Dick looks confused. “Tim what did she say? Wait, how do you understand them? That isn’t any language I’ve heard of.”

Tim blinks trying to comprehend everything going on. The aliens that saved his life are on Earth and he doesn’t know why, his brother is clearly confused and the others are looking at him expectantly. Tim is starting to feel pretty overwhelmed by it all.

In attempts to control his thoughts and emotions Tim takes a deep breath. “Right lets go somewhere else. Then everything can be explained.”

The private place they end up going happens to be a nearby park. It’s a large open space, where people are scattered over the place, it’s private in the sense that no one is paying them any attention and unless someone walks directly next to them, no one can hear their conversation.

The five of them settle down on the grass in a circle, the aliens and even Dick all look a little apprehensive for the choice of location but it’s not like there’s many others. It’s not like Tim and Dick can return home with the aliens in tow and expect Bruce to be okay with it.

“Right,” Tim says getting everyone’s attention. He glances at his friends, while still feeling completely gobsmacked by the fact they’re here, and gets down to business. Tim needs to find out what’s going on.

Now they’re all sat down Tim blurts out his questions without restraint. “How are you guys here? Why are you here? I thought you were all being punished or put on probation? Did you complete it, did it end and now you’re free to do as you please once again?”

None of them respond to his rapid questioning, they each look at him blankly like they couldn’t understand what he’s saying. When the silence drags out for too long Tim is about to repeat them when Kon speaks up for the group.

The Kryptonian sends him an empathetic look and with patience says, “Let us just explain what’s happened that’s brought us here, hopefully the story will answer your questions.”

Tim has to retrain himself from firing out the questions again. He wants answers! He can’t believe they’re here, he thought he would never see them again but here they are!

Next to him Dick lightly smacks his shoulder to get his attention. “Tim what are they saying? What’s going on?”

His brother is looking awfully confused and concerned. Tim can’t exactly blame him. He’s dragged Dick with him to sit down with practically three strangers and is now witnessing a one-sided conversation because he can’t understand the other three.

“They’re about to explain why they’re on Earth. I honestly thought I would never see them again, I’m just as confused as you are.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea Tim. What if it’s some sort of… trap or something?”

A surge of anger rises inside of Tim at the accusation. He understands Dick’s worries but this isn’t a trap and he knows it. They wouldn’t do that to him, not after everything they went through together.

“Dick shut up for a moment.” Tim snaps at him after a pause once he’s got his emotions under control. “Also they can understand you too, so watch what you say. If you don’t like it, go away and I’ll come find you later, or sit here and be quiet, it’s your choice.”

Dick stares at him, clearly taken back by the aggression of his words. But Tim isn’t relenting. He narrows his eyes at his brother, daring him to say something. In the end Dick raises his hands up in surrender and stays where he is. Once he’s delt with Tim turns back to the aliens.

“Sorry about him, there’s just a little misunderstanding. Please tell me what happened and how you’re here.”

Kon launches into the explanation of what happened after they took Tim home. Apparently they returned back to Krypton before finishing off their collection job, what they had originally been doing when they first met Tim. Once they completed that they were put on probation and were kept under watchful eyes for a long time. They weren’t allowed on any missions, they had to go back to the basic training skills and from there build the trust back up with their so called leaders.

Once some trust was established they were allowed on missions but only with other older members of their squadron, they described it like someone was babysitting them. They also had to report back on anything and everything during the mission. Because of good behaviour from the each of them, they were then allowed out on missions independently as a team some time later.

After more trust had been built, after they had once again proven themselves apparently Kal approached them for a very specific mission that would suit their abilities and past experiences.

Kal had given the three of them the mission of doing recon and observing humans on planet Earth. Apparently their files and databases don’t have enough accurate information on humans and after the fiasco with Tim, it’s about time they start taking human beings into consideration and start learning about them properly.

The three of them were to stay on Earth for an extended period of time to gather the data they need and to regularly report back to the leaders with their findings. They didn’t go into detail on what it is they need to do or what they need to observe but Tim can easily overlook it because at the end of the day they are in fact here on Earth and with him.

“So Kal sent you here on Earth to ‘observe’ humans because of you guys knowing me?” Tim asks just so he’s clear on it all.

The three of them grin and nod in response. Amused, Tim snorts softly. He settles back on the grass, using his elbows to keep him propped up. “Surely he knows that as soon as you land you would try and find me. By the way, how did you find me? I thought I was unable to be tracked?”

“We parked the ship where we dropped you off. We’ve hidden the ship from anyone seeing it or anything detecting it. Once we’ve found a more suitable place we’ll move the ship.” Cassie explains waving her hand around subconsciously as she talks. “Knowing that the city next to it is the one you said you lived in, we took a chance and started looking for you. As you pointed out, we can’t track you, so we’ve been relying on nothing but hope and chance in bumping into you.”

Tim shakes his head in disbelief. So it had been by pure chance that they happened to be in the same part of the city, in the same mall, at the exact same time as Tim.

“I’ve always wanted to come to Earth, especially after meeting you Tim. It’s strange, different from other planets we’ve visited before. Also why are the days so short? Everything is bright because the sun is out and you’d practically blink and it would suddenly be dark, but after that you’d blink another time and it’s light once again.” Bart starts rambling from his position in between Tim and Kon. He looks around curiously, taking in everything and Tim could see him shaking in place, it’s like it’s taking all of Bart’s self-restraint to not go speeding off into the city in his excitement.

Tim laughs at his comments, Bart is just the same as he remembers. They all are really and it fills Tim with a warmth he can’t describe.

“How have you been since you’ve been back? Is everything alright, run into any trouble?” Kon asks him sounding concerned. Tim notices the way his eyes drift over to Dick who is currently on his phone not paying them much attention. Tim gets the feeling Kon may be feeling a bit protective of him, especially after seeing how Dick had unintentionally treated him earlier.

Tim shrugs, pulling a face as he looks around the park. “No more than what was expected to be honest.” He looks back at the alien. “So far, and touch wood, I haven’t run into or even seen any League members. There’s been my own personal stuff I’ve had to deal with but nothing like what you’re thinking of really.”

Cassie sits up straighter, she’s also eyeing Dick like he could be a threat of some kind. “And him there?”

Tim rolls his eyes in response. When will everyone stop treating him like a kid that constantly needs to be protected? “He’s fine. He gets a little over-protective and after not seeing me for a couple years, especially after what happened, he wants to make sure I’m fine. He’s not a threat.”

Both Cassie and Kon don’t seem satisfied with his answer but they let it go. Tim lets out a long breath. “So what now? You guys are here, what did you have in mind once you found me? How are you planning on completing your mission?”

“We were hoping you would be able to show us things about the human life.” Bart says looking at him hopefully. “After all, you know what you’d be talking about, there’s also the matter of fact no one can understand us except you because of the translator.”

“Yeah okay, I think I’d be able to help you. After all, it’s the least I can do since you saved my life several times. However I won’t be able to be with you all hours of the day, I have commitments to deal with as well.” Tim points out. He would love to help them out but he can’t just drop his life to do so, not that there’s really much going on but that’s not the point.

The three of them nod in unison, clearly understanding what Tim meant. “Any help would be great Tim, thank you.”

They get talking about a few other bits, like what they have discovered since being on Earth for themselves. During that conversation there were a lot of snarky comments made about how underdeveloped humans were, surprisingly those comments no longer annoy Tim, he simply rolls his eyes and moves onto the next thing.

Tim’s broken out of the conversation after Dick nudges him to get his attention. Tim blinks at him, completely forgetting he was even there to begin with. “Tim it’s getting late, we should probably get heading home.”

Tim glances at the clock on his own phone and is surprised to see the time. They’ve spent hours talking and catching up.

After a brief conversation about where they could meet up the next day, they settle on a time and place before parting ways. Once they were out of hearing range Dick puts his attention on Tim. “So they were the aliens who saved you? I didn’t expect to meet them, they don’t look like what I expected them to.”

Tim rolls his eyes. “I have described to you before what they look like Dick, not all aliens are huge and green with tentacles, antennas and multiple eyes.” He certainly isn’t going to tell Dick that there are in fact aliens that look exactly like that.

Dick laughs at his sarcasm. “You know that’s not what I meant. They each have a different language yet you spoke to the three of them with no problems.”

“Yeah that’s because of the universal translator I have planted in my teeth. Its one of the first things they did when they found me. Once it was implanted I was able to understand everything they said, it’s how they all communicate out there.”

The two of them finally reach the car and climb inside.

“So what are they doing here on Earth?” Dick asks as he starts the car up and begins driving them home.

“They’re here because they’ve been sent to do recon on humans, they need to report back their findings to their leaders. While being here they decided to come and find me, they have also asked if I could help them out. Since they saved my life, agreeing to help them isn’t an issue, it’s the least I could do.”

Dick asks him a few more questions about what they discussed, his brother is still put off by the fact they all have different languages and yet they can all understand one another, but on the most part he seems okay with them.

It makes Tim wonder if he should let his family officially meet the aliens, if he did how would it all play out? Communication will obviously be an issue, Tim will have to be their translator but it may be worth considering in the long run. The aliens showing their powers to the family would certainly be interesting and with how private Wayne Manor is, they could get away with it and not be spotted.

Those thoughts remain in Tim’s mind for the rest of the day, into the night and stay with him until the next day when he meets the aliens again. Tim makes sure to keep them all away from too crowded areas (they ended up in the park again) and makes sure he’s prepared for anything that may go wrong. It’s one of the first times he’s left the grounds on his own since returning home and he’s nervous. His anxiety does calm down a little when he finally meets with his friends but he stays alert just in case.

They have a brilliant day together. Tim answers as many questions as he can when they each ask him stuff, he also shows them what he could, stuff that really helps humans in their day to day lives, for example his mobile phone. Alongside that Tim introduces them to the internet. Witnessing them using google for the first time was as amusing as it was painful to watch.

Don’t even get him started about when Bart tried to talk to Siri.

When their day starts drawing to close, Tim’s earlier thoughts come back to the fore front of his mind. In the end he decides to bite the bullet and turns to the aliens.

“How would you all like to meet my family?”

There's a pregnant pause between them and before anyone could reply Tim starts rambling on. “I know that communication may be an issue but we can get around that. I think it would be good for you to meet the ones I spend most of my time with. Not only that, I can then also show you what human family life is like, how homes operate and what gardens can be like. It may be worth considering?”

When there’s more silence Tim winces, curing himself for his eagerness. It’s stupid, of course they wouldn’t like the idea. Why would they –

“Yeah okay. That sounds interesting, of course only if you’re sure about it.” Kon says eventually looking thoughtful.

Tim whips his head around and stares at him. “Really? You want to?”

Kon shares a look with the other two, who nod in response, and turns back to Tim. “Like I said, if you’re sure about it, yeah.”

“Okay, okay…” Tim mumbles now getting equally excited and nervous about this happening. After they agreed Tim called Alfred up and asked the butler to come and pick them up. While on the phone Tim explained to Alfred the situation and how he’ll have company with him. God bless his soul, Alfred took it all in stride. While he seemed dubious about it, he agreed to let them come back to the manor.

Once Alfred arrived Tim took the others to the car and guided them inside. He greets Alfred before diving into an explanation on how cars work.

The journey back to the Manor is a short one and Tim has the fantastic opportunity to watch the awe expression cross his friends faces as they see the manor for the first time. Despite how many places they have travelled to, it seems like this really captures their attention, something that’s truly impressed them and Tim couldn’t help but feel slightly proud of that.

Once they’ve parked up, Alfred goes ahead first, probably with the main intentions of warning everyone what’s about to happen. Tim hovers behind for a while as he lets his friends stare at his home and the surrounding gardens. When more time than necessary has passed, Tim gently nudges them up towards the stairs, saying he’ll take them on a tour later on.

When they enter the manor they’re greeted with the sight of Alfred, Bruce Jason and Cass standing in the hallway watching them come in. Once they were all in Tim closes the door behind them and moves so he’s standing in front of his friends and faces his family.

Tim shuffles uncomfortably in his place, he’s feeling the apprehension of this meeting now more than ever. Taking a deep breath he addresses those in the room. “Everyone I would like you to meet Kon-el of Krypton, Cassandra of Themyscira and Bartholomew of Keystone. These three are the ones who saved my life while I was gone, without them I would have died long ago and never would have returned home. I owe them everything.”

Tim stares at each family member in turn, observing their reactions. Alfred of course is aware of them already and seems pretty neutral, Jason narrows his eyes at the aliens in distrust but doesn’t comment, Cass looks at his friends with curiosity which seems to be on the more positive side of things and finally Bruce seems stoic as ever, Tim couldn’t really tell what he’s thinking.

Eventually the thick atmosphere in the air is broken when Bruce steps forward, eyeing each alien carefully until a smile takes over his face and he relaxes his posture, letting go of what Tim could describe as the ‘alpha’ persona (the one where Bruce tries to make it clear he’s the one in charge and has all the dominance in the room).

“Thank you for helping my son and bringing him home. If I could ever repay you please let me know.”

Of course the aliens could understand Bruce but if they spoke then he wouldn’t understand them. In return to Bruce’s words, they each smile appreciatively and duck their heads. Bruce doesn’t seem bothered by the lack of verbal response, he resumes on as normal.

“Since we have guests how about something to eat. Tim, I’m sure your friends would be interested in trying some of our food?”

Tim glances at the trio, raising an eyebrow in question. They each look back at him and shrug nonchalantly, clearly not bothered either way, or at least that’s Kon and Cassie, Bart on the other hand looks as eager as ever to try food.

Tim turns back to Bruce. “Yeah they’ll eat. I hope you have a lot because Bart will literally eat everything in the house. He’s a Speedster and naturally eats more than the average person.” Tim laughs letting his adoptive father, and even Alfred, know in advance.

“There’ll be plenty Timothy, no need to worry about that. Now if you would like to follow me, I’ll show you where we will be eating.”

Without waiting Alfred turns around and heads into the depths of the manor. After sending a glare at each of their guests, Jason is quick to follow Alfred. Cass smiles politely and trails behind Jason with Bruce behind her.

The trio glance at Tim, clearly waiting for his cue before doing anything. Tim rolls his eyes and gestures on ahead, “Go, it’s going to be fine. Plus you’re going to absolutely love Alfred’s food, it’s the best.”

“If you say so…” Cassie mutters walking ahead.

Bart is about to speed off down the corridor but Kon catches his arm just in time to stop him from doing so. “Bart. Be careful, this isn’t somewhere you can easily run around in.”

“After we’ve eaten I can show you the gardens Bart, its plenty big enough outside for you to have free reign.” Tim says, knowing the Speedster’s way of dealing with his energy. Bart rapidly nods in response and starts after Cassie, not in a run but certainly a quick walk.

Then it’s just Kon and Tim left. They share a knowing smile. “It’s good to see you again Tim and it’s great to know that you’re still safe.”

Tim grins, feeling warmth rise up inside of him. Before saying anything he gestures for them to get walking, as they do he speaks up. “I missed you guys too. While I don’t particularly miss space and everything out there, I miss being with you three on the ship. I certainly wasn’t expecting to ever see you again.”

Kon shrugs, a sheepish smile playing on his lips. “Well we, or rather I, planned to visit you from the moment our probation was mentioned. I knew as soon as we had free reign again, we were going to come and visit you.”

Tim’s eyes widen at that. So even before they parted ways, Kon and the others had wanted to continue seeing him. “Well I’m glad you’re here, and that you’ll be here for an extended amount of time too.”

When they reach the dining room, they stop just short of the door. From inside loud sounds where being made and Tim dreads what kind of chaos he's about to walk into. It’s just another usual family dinner at this stage, there’s always some kind of drama going on. He turns to Kon with a thought, before he enters the room he shoots him a sly look, unable to help himself. The Kryptonian has no idea what he’s about to be in for.

“I’ve experienced your life Kon, now you get to experience mine. It’s probably going to be the wildest adventure you’ve had yet and that’s truly saying something, I hope you’re prepared.”

As he walks into the dining room, Tim leaves behind a bewildered looking Kon. For the first time since everything had happened, Tim is actually forward to what the future will bring. He knows that ups and downs will happen but he’s also excited to see what’ll occur with his new friends by his side as they learn about his way of life. It’s certainly going to be an experience.

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aewhore · 3 years

Note

Hi I saw your post about writing for AEW, would you be willing to write for Austin Gunn. The idea is that the reader has a crush on him and while they're both training, because of the sexual tension she suddenly reveals her feelings. ( if you can't its totally cool ☺ ) thanks xx

You’re lucky I love you, Idiot. ~ Austin Gunn x reader (Request by @heranimebeautyghost )

You were working out at the gym in Daily’s place. You had been signed to AEW as a wrestler for just under a year now and it was the best decision you had made in your entire career. You had been wrestling professionally for 6 years now but had never gotten a chance to really show off your abilities until AEW was announced and your small but loyal group of fans made noise on twitter about how they needed to sign you and before you knew it you were on a call with Tony Khan. Since you were signed you got to work with your friends you met when you wrestled in japan such as Trent Barreta, Chuck Taylor and your closest friend Hikaru Shida, but you also got to make new friends in Kris Statlander, Orange Cassidy and the Jurassic Express. When you started wrestling you had swore to yourself to never date another wrestler because you knew how hectic the schedules were and you knew you wouldn't be able to devote enough time to a relationship as you would like but being in AEW during a pandemic really tested that when you spent more and more time with a certain loudmouth member of the Gunn club, the one and only Austin Gunn.

How did you get into this predicament you ask? Well because of the pandemic, if you want to use the gym you have to sign up for a time slot and since they lessen the amount of people that could be in an enclosed space you might only be sharing that time slot with 1 or 2 other people. Most people opted to use their own home gyms or public gyms but you stayed with the Daily’s place gym. You knew because you prefer to work out later at night that a time slot would always be open. It just so happened that Austin worked out in the same time slot as you did, so you end up spending an hour or two alone together every two days. As you hung out with Austin more and more you couldn't help but develop feelings for him. He was an utter sweetheart even if he was the definition of a himbo. He would distract you from your workout by trying to be your hype man and making you laugh so hard you have to stop whatever workout you were in the middle of to jokingly call him an idiot. You started to develop a soft spot for the youngest member of the Gunn club soon after your workout sessions began.

You were getting ready to go to the gym the night after dynamite, you were running late because you overslept your pre workout nap. You were now the number one contender after you defeated big swole on last night’s show so you were preparing for an intense workout but you couldn't help break out into a smile at the idea of talking to Austin about your title shot. You arrive at the gym. You see the time slot is open, you hear Austin music already blaring as you walk into the gym. You place your bag down as you take off your sweatshirt and go to start warming up. “HEY Y/N!! I thought you weren’t gonna show!” You hear Austin yell from the other end of the gym. “I could never miss one of our workout sessions Gunn” You say back to Austin as he pulls you into a bone crushing hug, you can't help but appreciate these small moments of closeness you get with Austin because you just knew in your heart that he doesn't feel the same way that you feel for him so you have to hide your bright blush by burying your face into his chest. Austin holds onto you for longer than you expected before he releases you to go back to your warm up. “How long have you been here before i got here?” You ask as Austin returns to his weights. “Oh you know only about 20 minutes, i wasn’t waiting for you or anything” He adorably laughs out the end of sentence as you look over at him and he quickly looks away as if you caught him staring. “Sorry to keep you waiting hot stuff” You wink at him as you playfully flirt with him. He gives a hearty laugh at your attempt to seem cool.

Once your warm up is finished you start you to make your way over to the ring that's set up in the center of the Gym. You begin to stretch using the ropes before you notice Austin had finished up on his weight and was taking a quick break to have a drink of water. Your eyes sweep over Austin as his arm flexes to bring his water bottle to his lips. You snap your eyes away from him before your thoughts get rated R. You start to run the ropes to distract yourself from the hunk of a man behind you. “Hey, do you mind helping me run through some moves?” You stop running to hear Austin ask, you’re lucky you're not facing Austin as you start to blush immediately at the idea of being so close to him. “Um yeah sure, i don't mind.” You say as nonchalantly as you can muster up.

Austin gets into the ring and starts to walk you through a submission move he wants to do in his next match. He was attempting to modify an arm bar to make it more Gunn-like(?) so he claimed. “So.. where do you want me?” Your face goes bright red as you nervously laugh at the implication of your question. Austin does a double take at your question but you see his face go red as you watch his mouth open and close as he tries to format a reply. “Um how about you lay down on the mat?” You and Austin were now dissolving into a full on laughter fit. You lay down on the mat and Austin gets in position for an arm bar, Your arm rests against his torso as he grips your hand in his. He begins to move his legs to hook under your shoulder as he's adjusting himself, he releases your hand and it sits on his well defined pecs and you barely hold yourself back from running your hand up and down his muscular torso.

You're broken from your lust filled haze by Austin suddenly getting up and offering you a hand up. “Oh did you get it?” You are still seated. “No it’s not working the way i pictured it but it’ll be fine, I’ll figure something out.” Austin says almost saddened that his move wasn’t executing the way he envisioned. You grab Austin hand to help you up but he underestimates his own power and yanks you off the floor so fast you don't have time to find your footing before you brace yourself for the impact of hitting the floor but it never comes instead you collide with Austin's chest as he catches you in his strong arms. Words fail you as you look up at Austin and see he’s already looking back at you. You break eye contact to look down at Austin's lips and then you look back up to his ocean coloured eyes only to see he's looking at your lips as well. “.....Jesus” Austin sighs, your brows furrow “what?” you ask, mentally preparing yourself for the worst. “You look so beautiful right now, it's insane.”

You were blown away, did Austin really just say that? To you? right now? The air is knocked out of your lungs by pure shock alone. Words fail you as you try to string together some sort of intelligible speech. “Oh my.. Wait, what? You think I’m- really? Are you sure?” If your face was red already now your entire body was on fire. Austin laughed at your jumbled mess of a response. He pretends to think for a moment before he responds. “Yeah I'm pretty sure you're a stone cold stunner” he gave you that thousand watt smile and had you not been wrapped in his arms, your knees would have buckled from underneath you. To hide your ever-growing blush you lean your forehead against Austin's chest as you giggle at his term of endearment. “Aw come on baby doll, don't hide that gorgeous face from me now” You bury your face deeper into his chest as he tries and succeeds to make you blush by showering you with compliments. You're suddenly hit by a sad thought that Austin is just playfully flirting with you like he always does. It's hard not to feel let down by the ideas you had built up in your head not being possible in real life. You feel Austin’s hand under your chin as he tilts your head up to lock eyes with him. “...please don’t lead me on” you grumble more to yourself than anything but Austin hears you crystal clear and his brows furrowed in confusion as he sees the sadness in your eyes, you move Austin’s arms to allow space between the two of you so you could attempt to control your pounding heart. “Y/N what do you mean ‘lead you on’?” You sigh in frustration as you prepare to tell Austin about the built up feeling you've been having for the last 2/3 months.

“Listen Austin I know we're just friends but I want to be more than that but I know you don't feel the same way and that’s ok but please don't-” your frustrated venting is interrupted when your pulled back into Austin’s chest and his lips crash onto yours. Your eyes go wide when you realize what's happening before you allow yourself to completely melt into the kiss. Austin's hand rubs and massages your side and trails down to your ass as your hands tangle in his golden hair. You're the one to break the kiss as you rest your foreheads against one another while slightly gasping for air. “Incase that didn't answer your worrying Y/N, I really like you too and I’d actually like to take you out to dinner some time if you'd like” your head was spinning and you were sure if it was from the kiss or from Austin’s confession but you did know one thing for certain. “Yes Austin I’d love to go to dinner with you sometime.” You went to exit the ring to carry on your long forgotten workout when you feel Austin smack your ass. “AUSTIN!!” you say shocked at his sudden forwardness, You look back at him but he looks away innocently “..what? I didn't do anything.” You playfully glare at him when his poker face begins to crack. “You're lucky I love you, idiot.“

#austin gunn #austin gunn imagine #austin gunn fanfiction #aew fanfiction #aew fanfic #aew imagine #aew #wrestling #wrestling fanfiction #fluff #slight angst if you squint

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noonachronicles · 4 years

Text

The End of the F**king World - Prologue

Byun Baekhyun X Reader

Word Count: 3.5k

Warnings: Language. Violent imagery if you squint.

Genre: Apocalyptic/Alien Invasion AU. Slow Burn (ish?). One pining pup and one idiot in denial to eventual lovers.

A/N: Here goes nothing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The atmosphere that morning when you stepped out of your apartment was strange. You could feel it immediately, before you’d even pulled the hood of your jacket over your head to avoid getting the light drizzle of rain on your hair and outfit. It wasn’t a bad feeling but it wasn’t good either, mostly it left you uneasy. As you made your way down the street towards the subway you tried not to think too much about it. It was probably just the gray overcast clouds and the rain. It wasn’t like an off vibe was uncommon for a rainy day.

You’d already made it a couple of blocks when you finally saw your train buddy, Taemin. He was leaning against a light pole rubbing his hands over his thick jacket to warm himself as he waited for you. After casual greeting the two of you made quick work of the next couple of blocks. As a distraction from the freezing cold drizzle you listened to him tell you all about how his weekend went. Finally reaching the subway entrance you headed down to the train platform. It took a few minutes of waiting for you to realize that there were only two other people standing down there with you. You thought to mention it.

“Something feels weird today.” Taemin said before you had the chance, eyeing the empty platform. “Or is it just me?”

“You’re weird everyday.” you joked, “But you’re right. Something’s definitely off today. Probably just the weather?”

“No.” he sighed, too distracted by thoughts to even appreciate your dig. “It’s something else.”

“Is it a holiday? There’s like no one here. Do I even need to be going to work today?” you asked, seriously curious about whether or not you’d even had to get out of your warm bed this morning.

“No birds.” he said under his breath.

“What?”

“On the street, there were no birds. Did you notice?” he asked as the train came to its screeching, metallic halt.

You hadn’t noticed, but by the time you’d settled in the car Taemin had moved on. He pointed out an ad poster for the musical running at the theatre in midtown. Apparently his friend Jongin was a performer in the show and he was going to see it in the coming weeks. He asked if you wanted to accompany him and you told him you’d have to get back to him on it. By the time you’d reached your stop at midtown the conversation had moved on to something else entirely, as it often did. When you reached the top of the stairs you found it was raining harder than before so your goodbyes were brief, both of you promising to see the other for the same trip tomorrow. Then he headed towards downtown and you headed up.

There weren’t any birds, you realized on your walk. There were none of the usual noises of the city actually. No birds or other animals. Barely any traffic, which was incredibly strange even for how early in the day it was. In fact, the streets were usually packed with cars whose drivers were trying to inch their way to work. And the trains should have been full of people attempting to do the same. The thought just made you uneasy all over again so you dropped it from your mind and just assumed the sound of the rain could have distracted anyone enough that they wouldn’t even notice the silence. Mostly because you didn’t want to believe you were that unobservant. Honestly, if Taemin hadn’t put the thought in your head in the first place you would have never realized it yourself.

It was just before six in the morning when you reached work. The doors were still locked when you’d arrived since the store didn’t open for another hour. You tapped incessantly on the glass as your exhausted best friend made her way over to let you in.

“Morning.” Seulgi muttered as she pulled the door open, she looked as tired as you felt.

“Good morning, beautiful.” You smiled as you pulled off your soaked coat and unraveled your scarf from your neck.

She groaned at your subtle sarcasm, “Coffee hasn’t set in yet. So kindly table any witty commentary.”

“Yes, darling.” You laughed and your eyes brightened as you found the coffee she’d brought for you.

“How was your date last night?” She asked, following you into the back where you’d gone to put your things away.

You shrugged as you locked your wooden locker, “I don’t know. We’ve been together five years now, at this point they’re all the same. Marco not coming in today?”

“No, he said his wife didn’t want him coming in today, whatever that meant. It’s just us all day.” then she waved off your attempt to distract her, “Siwon didn’t ask you anything...specific?”

“Was he supposed to?” you laughed before sipping your coffee. Seulgi just shrugged innocently, which you knew meant something, “What do you know?”

“You know me, I rarely knowing anything, especially what the fuck I’m talking about.” She shrugged again and hurried back out onto the main floor.

“Seulgi!” you shouted after her, “What do you know? You have to tell me! No secrets, it’s in the best friend's handbook!”

She bit her lip as she contemplated her options, of which she had none. She had to tell you. You watched her move over to the folder with the newest paid receipts. After rifling through for a minute she pulled one out and held it against her chest, “Tell nobody that I showed you this. Especially Siwon.”

You held out your hand, palm up, and she slapped the paper down onto it. After flipping the paper over you read over the order form and your eyes went wide and filled with tears. It was a receipt for an incredibly pricey diamond ring that just happened to be your size. On the signature line, in your boyfriend’s curve and swirl was his signature. “Oh my god.”

“I know!” she said, grabbing your shoulders excitedly, “You’re totally getting engaged!”

Armenia was an upscale jewelry store, slated to be the next Harry Winstons. Seulgi had gotten a job there while the two of you were still in school and had helped you get a position afterwards. Though a career in the diamond trade had never been your dream, the money you made was far and beyond what other people you’d known in school were making. It got you invited to extravagant events, introduced you to the rich and famous, and was the perfect chance to spend everyday with your best friend playing with jewelry. It was similar to the way you played as a child except where all of your old jewelry was fake back then, there wasn’t a single ounce of plastic on the entire floor. For aesthetic purposes it was actually a strict company rule, even cleaning products had to be in glass or metal containers.

After the thrill of your morning realization, it had been an uncharacteristically quiet day. Which you blamed once more on the rain. You weren’t complaining. Not entirely. It was just a little boring as the day would often drag when you had nothing to do. Between the two of you every square inch of glass casing had been wiped spotless, and every displayed piece of jewelry was cleaned to perfection. Finally, a little after noon, the door opened. You’d been slumped over one of the counters doodling on the back of a piece of receipt paper, but quickly perked up at the sound. Though your customer service smile dropped from your face when you caught sight of your guests.

“Oh, it’s just you two.” you said leaning back over the counter and went back to your doodles.

The Beagle Brothers. You weren’t sure why people called them the beagle brothers when you’d first heard the nickname. They weren’t even brothers. However they could have been conjoined the way they were always glued together, which is where you assumed the nickname came from. Chanyeol, tall and wiry, was one of the sweetest men you’d ever met in your life. He was incredibly funny, outrageously smart and insanely talented at anything he put the slightest effort into. He was Seulgi’s roommate and though she hadn’t confirmed with you yet, you were pretty sure they were hooking up. Though the way he spent time with his counterpart it could have been safe to assume they were the ones hooking up too.

Baekhyun was Chanyeol’s tag along best friend. Maybe that wasn’t entirely fair, he was more than that. Baekhyun was average in build and height. Though next to Chanyeol he always ended up looking like his little brother. He was cute, you guessed, like a puppy. It was possible that he had actual beagle DNA coursing through his veins with his constant need for attention and endless energy. He’d always been sweet and kind to you, though you’d watched him around other women and knew he could also be a horrible tease when he wanted to be.

He was a good friend to you, both of them were. They both worked about a block away at a prominent electronics company. As he did every afternoon Chanyeol had brought Seulgi her refresher coffee and lunch, which they took into the backroom. With the feel of lurking eyes on you, you looked up unsurprised to see two big, brown eyes staring back at you. Accompanied by an absurdly charming smile.

“Hey, Baek.”

Somehow his smile grew even larger at the greeting and he placed an iced coffee on the counter in front of you. “Hi.”

“You know just because he brings her coffee doesn’t mean you’re required to bring me anything.” you said even as you took your first sip. “Especially since she’s probably repaying him…”

“I do it because I want to.” he said and brought his other hand from behind his back to place a brown bag in front of you as well. You tried not to but you smiled as you opened the bag to the sandwich he’d brought too. “How has your day been?”

It always surprised you, how genuinely he asked you about your day. “Slow, long… a little weird honestly.”

“Totally agreed. It’s been weird all morning. The vibe is off.” he sighed, “I can’t figure it out.”

“No birds.” you said offhandedly, thinking about Taemin before taking a bite of your sandwich.

He gave a small thoughtful hum. “Or all that stuff on the news is freaking people out.”

“What stuff on the news?” you asked.

“We’ve been watching it at work all day.” he shrugged, “I’m sure Yeol is in there making Seulgi watch clips on youtube, he won’t shut up about it. He has all these theories.”

“What stuff, Baek? What happened?” You were half annoyed by his vagueness. Of course they’d been watching it all day, they had a hundred televisions set up over there, you had none. You weren’t even supposed to be on your phones at work.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and pressed around for a minute before a female newcaster’s voice came through and he handed you the device.

“Major and sudden changes in atmospheric levels over twelve major cities around the world have left scientists scrambling for the last eighteen hours or so. It’s even said that air force units from the United States, Russia, Egypt, and Korea have been in heavy communication over the last few hours as more and more strange pictures are being uploaded to social media from those twelve cities.”

On the screen they were showing a montage of videos from snapchat and instagram, photographs from users on facebook and twitter. One was a group of what looked like high schoolers speaking Japanese, it was captioned as being at the Tokyo Skytree. The camera panned over the ground below. For a moment it just looked like it was overcast there as well, nothing strange, but as it moved back, showing more it was clear the shadow was only covering part of the city. It seemed like maybe there was something large in the sky blocking the sun from the ground. Whatever it was, it had to have been massive in size. As the camera moved up to the sky you waited expectantly to see what was there, but there was nothing. It was clear. Not even a single cloud was visible.

“What the hell is that?” you whispered as it flashed to pictures from Paris, New York, Moscow, Seoul, and Cairo where the same thing seemed to be happening. Long, narrow shadows all leaving the same shape covering miles worth of city in darkness.

“They don’t know. All morning they were talking about it like it was some global warming effect, but as more of these videos and stuff kept coming in they’ve been talking about it like it’s an invasion.”

“What like aliens? Shut up, that’s insane.” you kept your eyes on his phone, shaking your head as another picture flashed, “Shit, that’s us, Baek...that’s our city.”

“That’s what I’m saying. I think that’s why the city is so dead compared to normal. People are in their buildings, people are at work. But anyone who doesn’t have to be in the city for some specific reason is avoiding it.” he said as he moved over to the window.

“Marco’s wife didn’t want him to come in today.”

He hummed as if in agreement, “A ton of people called out at our work too. It’s crazy.”

Leaving his phone on the counter you moved around and stood beside him at the window as you looked out. He was right. Normally you would look outside of the shop and see a swarm of bodies pushing each other around all trying to get somewhere. There were more people than you saw that morning, but not a lot. There were still people coming in and out of buildings, smoking cigarettes on the sidewalk, going for lunch at the bistro across the street.

However it was missing the horns honking from taxis frustrated about being stuck in traffic. The loud chatter of groups of friends just shopping around. There were no family’s snapping pictures for vacation photo albums. Looking to the sky you could see the rain clouds had dispersed and the sun was shining above but the ground still looked dark like it was covered by overcast. If you hadn’t just clearly seen the sun in the sky you might have thought it was near dusk.

As the two of you stood there you could hear a humming start in your ear. It was the kind of subtle buzz that people say means someone is thinking about you so of course you figured it was just your ears at first. As it grew louder, uncomfortably so, you looked over at Baekhyun. He was rubbing his own ears in discomfort. The sound became worse, almost piercing. You turned around to see Chanyeol and Seulgi come out of the back covering their ears.

“What’s happening?” Chanyeol shouted over the noise.

Shaking your head unknowingly, you turned to look back outside when a low rumble shook the ground beneath you. It felt like there had been a huge explosion and the blast moved through the city like a wave. When it reached you you’d been blown backwards to the floor. The glass in all of the jewelry cases trembled and started to shatter around you. You could hear Seulgi screaming and you watched as Baekhyun threw himself over you. The glass windows of the shop were shaking but they were made of much thicker, tempered glass, and held through it. It took several minutes for everything to settle. Baekhyun stood up and helped you to your feet.

Chanyeol walked over to the window and looked out. “Oh... fuck me.”

The rest of you followed suit and went to look outside. Hoards of people were sprinting out of their office buildings, broken glass from skyscraper windows rained down on the street below, and the worst part was what was in the sky. Where there had been nothing just minutes ago was now what you’d could only describe as a spaceship. It was absolutely massive and hovering just over the city. You were honestly surprised it wasn’t hitting any of the taller buildings, it was so low to the earth. Baekhyun ran over to the counter and grabbed his phone and walked it back over to the three of you.

“- over every city that has been under discussion today, have revealed themselves it seems. It remains unclear whether or not these ships are here with any sort of malicious intent. Military specialists have been trying to contact the ships but have received no return communication. We ask that viewers remain patient and cautious as we await further information and instruction from - Oh god, oh what are those?”

Looking over at the screen on his phone you could see where the news camera was zooming in on objects falling from the ship over one of the cities. Creatures, long creatures with gangly, scaly arms and legs. They had bulbous heads, four eyes, and teeth long and sharp that matched the claws on their hands and feet. Quickly you looked outside, whatever they were, they were falling out of the ship over your city as well. After several minutes of staring in shock you could hear the deafening sound of military aircraft speeding overhead and watched as they launched missiles towards the ship and shot bullets at the falling creatures.

“What do we do?” Seulgi asked in a clear panic, “Do we run?”

“Fuck that!” You screeched, “I’m not going out there with those things!”

“Y/n is right.” Baekhyun agreed, “We don’t know what we're dealing with, if we start running where would we even run to? Just-oh shit.”

All of you turned to look at what caught his attention. One of the fallen creatures had rounded the corner down the block and was attacking any and every human in its path. You let out a terrified cry as you watched the creature tear the head straight off a man like he was opening a bottle of soda. As fast as you could you ran towards the door and opened the panel with the emergency security switch. In an instant thick steel bars were dropping down in front of the windows. You could still see out to the street where three more creatures had gathered. Two of them had made their way to the front of the store and were clawing at the glass clicking and hissing as they tried to get in.

“Is there somewhere we can barricade ourselves?” Chanyeol asked, grabbing you by the sleeve, dragging your shocked and frozen form back and away from the window.

“T-the safe room.” Seulgi stuttered. “We can lock it from the inside. There’s screens for the security cameras so we can see what’s happening out here.”

Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun by the shoulders, “What do we need? We don’t know how long we’ll be inside there. Quick! What would you put in your bunker?”

“Seriously?” you asked returning yourself to the conversation, “Are you talking about video games right now.”

“Uhh.” Baekhyun shook his head, “No, he’s right...this is good. Water, weapons, lights. Like flashlights, fire, whatever works. Something to connect us to the outside world so we know when it’s safe, the cameras should work for that.”

“We’re not going to have all of that!” you yelled, frustrated and terrified as several other creatures had joined the ones trying to get inside and the glass started to crack under the pressure.

“Water jugs by the back door. They use them for the machine in the breakroom.” Seulgi said and looked over at you, “Come on, think, you can do this.”

“Ohh, god....Marco keeps a gun in the office...and flashlights! There are flashlights in the desk drawer. Gina! Gina keeps food in her locker.” You said, your brain finally starting to process things again.

“Alright go! GO!” Chanyeol shouted and you all made your way to the back.

You took the office where you got the gun, flashlights and batteries. You even found an old battery operated radio on the back of the shelf before you went for the safe. Chanyeol and Baekhyun had carried the water jugs and Seulgi had raided every cabinet for food and other things you might need. She had just made her way into the safe room when you heard the shattering of the windows in the showroom. Seulgi wrapped her arms around you and both of you sat together on the ground as Chanyeol secured the door. When he turned around he looked over at Baekhyun.

“Does your phone have service?

Looking down at the screen he shook his head no. “Door’s probably too thick.”

“What do we do now?” you whispered as Seulgi trembled in your arms.

Chanyeol sat down and sighed, “I...have no fucking idea. I think all we can do now is wait.”

#byun baekhyun scenario #baekhyun scenario #exo scenario #kpop scenario #TEOTFW

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writingsfromhome · 4 years

Text

Lookalike

Request: Can you do another cone song? Maybe lookalike or maniac? [Can you do it like harry dates a lookalike of you?]

A/N: I know this is way later than I said, I honestly wrote four version of this and deleted them before settling on this one and it’s still not the best. I’m just posting it so I can move on to my other ideas. I hope you enjoy it anyway! Soz it ends kinda on a cliffhanger, I didn’t want to make it super long. It already feels really long.

———————————

It was a humid summer evening, not the kind of evening you wanted to step out in. But here I was, in line with my best friend Jules who’d somehow gotten word of this pop-up club that was recently getting more popular with social media. The location would be dropped in code somewhere online for a limited time and then the rest was just word of mouth. Jules worked as a makeup artist so she usually knew what the “in crowd” was doing. This time, she knew where the club was going to be.

Myself, I was just a recent masters-graduate with low job prospects and big time loans. Always tired, single, and at the moment, very, very sweaty. The humidity was really damaging the effort I’d put in for this night out.

“Do you think we’ll spot Ed Sheeran?” Jules asks, her one true desire. “Then I can finally tell him how much he means to me.”

“Don’t know if this is Ed’s scene,” I tease her. “He seems more like a laid-back pub sort of guy.”

“You’re so right,” she still peers around us. “You hoping to see any celebs here? This one’s the biggest so far I’ve heard.”

His face pops into my head but I slam my guard down. “I’ll be lucky just to find a cute guy.”

“Two of you?” The bouncer asks Jules as we make our way to the front-she looked twelve, and we finally head inside. We’d stepped into a storybook.

Vines and tiny lights covered the ceiling and floors, rays of green and pink lights flash around us and the ground was littered with flower petals.

“Oh my god the seats are trees,” Jules whispers in my ear. This was insane.

“They probably have themed drinks,” I grab Jules’ hand and pull her to where I see the bar. We loved a good themed drink.

“This is amazing,” Jules shouts. “I think I just saw Adele!”

On a second look, we decide it was Adele’s doppleganger but we’re soon preoccupied by drinks. I order a Cosmic Boom and take another look around the open space. It was getting pretty full, people dancing but a lot of people hanging about talking.

Jules and I take our drinks to the dancefloor and enjoy ourselves. This was new all over-enjoying myself. I’d spent the last five months working hard at school, job searching, and then a bit of travel. But I was so busy convincing myself that if I worked hard enough I’d forget about the awful year I’d had. Would forget about Harry and the way he left me.

Nobody would believe it, but Harry Styles was my boyfriend for a solid year. We’d met when I was visiting Jules on set of some talk show. He’d been there, after his interview, and mistakened me for backstage crew. He asked me to show him where his room was. He’d been so embarassed when I told him I didn’t work there, but I volunteered to help him find it anyway. I was just killing time ‘til Jules was done.

We had gotten lost and ended up in this storage space where it was clear stage props were stored. We’d found half a car-cut clear through the middle and ended up sitting inside and talking. It was weird, just an hour before that, Harry Styles was this iconic and unattainable person who lived in the fantasy part of my brain. Sitting in the semi-dark with him, in a half-car, and being only a foot away, he was just another person. A regular bloke who was gorgeous, talking to me about his recent mother’s day disaster while I laughed and told him about something similar that had happened when I was a child.

It was quite silly to think we were going to leave that room the same way we walked into it.

He’d leaned in once quiet had settled down around us, both of us just watching the other, afraid that speaking would ruin the moment. His finger had ghosted my face, hesitating, asking me without really asking me. I’d leaned in the rest of the way to tell him it was okay. That’s when I knew I was a goner.

He was gentle with me, but also entirely self assured, leading the way. I couldn’t keep track of his lips or his hands but every part of my body was alive and I lived entirely in the moment for him.

He’d called me later that night asking if I wanted to have dinner at his place. We knew we had something good going. So we kept at it.

Until five months ago.

“Y/N?” Jules says in my ear. I snap out of my memories and look to where she’s pointing. And then back to her ecstatic face. There, sitting near the DJ was actually Ed Sheeran.

“Jules,” I say, lost for words. We had to do this now. We had to approach him, now or never.

“I can’t,” she says close to me. “I’m going to vom right now.”

“Come on!” I grab her and try to move her stiff body one step at a time until we’re only a couple feet away. That’s when the group he’s talking to shifts and I see Harry. Harry with a girl on his arm. My Harry.

“What’s wrong?” Jules halts as my own body goes rigid. “Don’t tell me you’ve got nerves now...oh hey isn’t that Harry?”

“Yeah...” my mouth was dry and I couldn’t believe it. He was here, I really didn’t think I’d see him ever again.

“I need to talk to you,” Harry says as I pour my morning coffee. It was the first week of my final semester so I was actually in a good mood, optimistic before all the deadlines hit. I never saw it coming.

“What’s up?” i was so innocent, drinking my coffee with no idea what else was brewing.

He takes the coffee cup from my hands and puts it down, gathering my hands in his. I notice his hands are slightly clammy, that was the first red flag.

“What’s wrong?” I ask again, the anxiety spiking up.

“No-nothing. I was just thinking about how I have to on tour for the next year. You’ve still got school to finish and a great big career ahead of you. I feel like I’m just going to hold you back and I-“

“That’s silly,” I interrupt. “You’d never...”

“I might. I’ll have tour and you’ll have school-“

“Hold on. Are you just trying to say...is it you who’ll hold me back or me who’s going to hold you back?” I asked, confused. How would Harry ever hold me back? I offered to go on legs of his tour with him when I could. I could do my work on the road. Nobody was going to hold anybody back

Harry opens his mouth to explain but I don’t let him get a word in. How dare he try to twist the situation. He should just say what he felt!

“Is that really it? I’m just a regular girl-next-door who’s run out of her luck with the famous superstar? She could never understand your fame, you could never want her in the public’s eye? Is that it? You’re too good for me? You can’t even think about going public with our rel-“

“Trust me you don’t want tha-“

“Don’t tell me what I want!” The coffee had curdled in my stomach and I felt like dry-heaving but I hold it together. I was so in love with this man, to think about living without him was painful beyond comprehension. But all he saw me as was deadweight. The realisation is crushing. “Just leave Harry. Just bloody leave then, I don’t want to see you! After all we had together I’m just deadweight to you? I’m going to hold you back? And yoy can’t eve be a man and say what you really want!”

He’d ruffled his hair, given some explanation, tried to tell me he loved me but I was somewhere else. My life felt like it was falling apart, and I had a lab to teach in a few hours. He was so bloody selfish. I decided I hated him.

“-show him who cares. Go right up and pretend you don’t even know who he is...” I wasn’t sure how long Jules was talking but she was right. I didn’t care about him. This was my night out.

Jules walks ahead and uses her charm to wriggle her way into the small conversation, inserting me right beside her. She knew the business, taking her time to talk to Ed Sheeran so as not to overwhelm him. In the meantime, my eyes catch Harry’s, and it’s like a movie line. Time slows down, I hear the breath I take and see the surprise register on his face. But I let my eyes skim past his, he meant nothing to me. Instead, they land on his girlfriend and that’s where I fight to hide the surprise.

There’s these photos I see online sometimes, you take a picture and draw it in your own style. His new girlfriend was kind of like that. She looked just like me, except slightly off. More like how I looked last year. Since then, I’d grown out my hair and let its natural colour grow in. But I nudge Jules and use my hair as a curtain, trying to tell her to look. She speaks my language so she sees right away and her eyes widen. She mouths oh my god.

I watch from the corner of my eye while pretending to be engaged by Jules introducing what she does to Ed Sheeran. Harry says something to his girl and she laughs. Jesus, even her smile was reminiscent of mine. I try not to stare, using my drink as a distraction but some small part of me-most of me is upset-but a small part of me feels like I’d won. Harry had told me I wasn’t good enough for him, and then gone out to find someone who looked just like me. That gives me the confidence I need to finally look him in the eye. It’s like he was tracking my moves because he looks at me too. He smiles and I just raise my eyebrows.

“Y/N,” he says in that deep silky voice of his. It carries across despite the noise. My heart squeezes.

“Harry,” I say. I let my eyes slide to his girlfriend and she raises a hand.

“Hi, I’m Katy.”

“Hi,” I smile, she’d done nothing wrong except look like me I guess. She looks up at Harry, waiting for him to introduce us. Ugh.

“And this is Y/N, she’s my best friend but she always says she never understands my absolute obsession with your music.” Jules from the right of me catches my attention. She was introducing me to Ed Sheeran-and exposing me.

“Okay. Ouch.” I give her a look which makes her laugh and shake Ed’s hand. Oh my god. “I’m definitely a fan, just not as big as Jules.”

“She’s more of an indie rock girl,” Harry’s deep voice comes from behind me and I’m surprised to find him standing right behind me.

Jules raises her eyebrow at him, glances at me while Harry and Ed talk before interjecting and resuming her conversation.

“I’d say I’m more of a pop girl.” I turn to Harry. I look for his girlfriend but she’d disappeared.

“But that’s not your guilty pleasure,” Harry says and I avoid the tingle in my stomach as he says it. “And Kat’s gone off with her friend, they saw Adele they want to get a picture.” I don’t bother to say it wasn’t Adele. “How’s it going with you?”

He has to lean in close to be heard and I find myself drawing closer to his orbit. I had to be careful here. I remind myself that I hated him.

“Same old,” I say. “I’ve graduated, now looking for full time work. Travelled a bit too.”

“You finally see those tourist traps you wanted to?”

I forgot how intimately Harry knew me, I wanted to forget how much history we shared. But it’s so painfully obvious now that that would be impossible. Even holding onto my hate was proving slippery.

“The Great Pyramids were better than the Eiffel Tower,” I reference an old conversation we’d had. “So I was right.”

This makes Harry laugh and the club narrows down to just us as he steps to the side with me to a quieter area.

We stand in silence for a moment, just watching each other, memorizing the details about each that time had blurred. Like the laugh lines around his eyes, or the depth to his eyes. It feels like he’s cheating with me, with how fiery and focused his gaze is on me. The unspoken words in his eyes.

“Harry I-“ I raise my hand to tell him I should go, I didn’t want anything to happen we would regret. But he takes my hand and puts it to his warm chest. The words leave my mouth as I look at him again. Really look at him. From afar he looked like he was doing better than he ever was but up close I notice the tired bags and the lost look in his eyes. It was the same one I saw in my own after we’d broken up.

This was ridiculous, I tell myself. He left me, I shouldn’t feel bad for him. I’d won. But I want to ask him about Katy, when he looked in her eyes, did he think of mine? And when he looked at her smile, did I cross his mind? I already knew that he saw me instead ‘cause she looks a lot like I did back then. I wanted to ask him and tell him not to lie.

“How are you doing?” I finally break and ask even though I want to ask, is she just a lookalike?

He looks away, his hand letting go of mine. His fake smile is back on his face as he performs for me once again. “Not too bad. I’ve got a break from tour right now so just layin’ low.”

I look around and point to the club around us. “Laying low?”

“Yeah,” Harry laughs at being caught. “My girlf-Katy-she really wanted to come out to one of these with her girlfriends. She convinced me to come along.”

I didn’t know what to say to that so I just smile. My phone buzzed and I see a text from Jules. I look for her in the crowd and she’s staring at me with a raised eyebrow. I give her the everything is okay smile and she looks relieved.

“Jules is overprotective as usual,” Harry notices. What did he expect, I think, when he’s the selfish arse who broke my heart. The small flame of anger reignites as I watch Jules smile at me with caring eyes.

“She just wanted me to hook up with a cute guy tonight,” I say to Harry. “Spending it with my ex kind of kills the vibe.”

There, I’d addressed the elephant in the room. And just as I suspected, Harry gets uncomfortable.

“So I take it you’ve not got a boyfriend?”

“Nope,” I cross my arms. “Was busy travelling...” and feeling depressed at home I don’t add.

“Right,” Harry straightens up. “Well don’t let me keep you Y/N. Sorry to...”

I look up at him, his pause. His apology seems to be about something bigger than keeping me from the rest of the club. But I don’t mention it. I don’t push it. Yes, I wanted to stay here in this corner of the club with him but I don’t want to make it a big deal. I give him a squeeze on the arm to tell him it was alright. He paints a smile on and I walk away even though I want to just stay.

I walk to Jules, tell her I’d get another drink for us. At the bar, waiting for our drinks, I notice Harry with Katy again, they’re dancing with her friends, she laughs, he pulls her closer.

That was us not long ago, before that morning chat. God. I really did hope, in his head, he saw me instead. Cause...he’d been in mine every day since then. I admit it, some nights, no almost every night...I still though about him. I tried to hide it, I did an amazing job at hiding it, but I couldn’t erase him from my mind. The thought almost makes me laugh as I get my drinks...maybe I just needed to find a lookalike.

#harry styles fic #harry styles fanfic #harry styles x reader #harry styles angst #harry styles imagine #harry styles #conan gray #lookalike #fic #writingsfromhome #sunset season

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silverhandy · 3 years

Text

I saw the devil (in me) - chapter 5

Takemura doesn't believe in ghosts, not really, but a man driven to his limit might believe in just about anything. Trapped in a losing game and consumed by grief, he returns to Night City looking for closure. but ends up finding something much more.

ao3 I chapter 1 I chapter 2 I chapter 3 I chapter 4

Just as Viktor had said, his apartment was a short distance away from the clinic, but even that short walk made Takemura feel short of breath, his entire body shivering from the cold despite the thickness of his coat, one that should be more than enough to ward off the harshest of winters. He picked up the pace, following the directions on a small map that appeared on the top right of his interface, guiding him through the streets and later, when he reached the megablock, through the labyrinth of the scraped interior’s corridors. Takemura grimaced at the way the halls were littered, yellowed paint flaking away from the walls only adding to how grimy the place looked. Quietly hoping that Viktor’s apartment will turn out to be more orderly, Takemura pulled the collar of his coat up, but none of the people he passed on his way up gave him any more than a passing glance. At least this time he could blend right in instead of sticking out like a sore thumb.

Finally, an elevator ride and two flights of stairs later, Takemura was standing in front of the ripperdoc’s apartment door, gingerly putting his hand on a scanner while trying to catch his breath, the short climb showcasing how far from his usual form he still was. After taking it’s sweet time to verify a new ID, the device beeped and the doors slid open, inviting him in. Relieved, he stepped into the dark corridor and reached out a hand in search of a light switch. It turned on with a soft click just as the doors closed behind him.

The corridor opened into a combined kitchen and living area, with a long counter creating an impromptu barrier between the two. A small desk was tucked in the corner on the far side of the room, barely enough space to house a desktop and a few books stacked on top of each other, the pile dangerously swinging to the left, threatening to collapse at any moment. The rest of the available space was occupied entirely by a big, comfortable looking sofa and a tall shelf housing even more books and boxing trophies, maneki nekos in various colors and shapes perched up in between. As Takemura walked further into the room, he passed the door leading into a bathroom and what used to be another room for the bedroom, but with the wall dividing it and the rest of the apartment gone, different kinds of floor tiling were the only indicator that there used to be anything between them,

Takemura shook off his coat with a heavy sight and looked around for a place to hang it, eventually deciding on just placing it over the back of a chair, faced with a lack of a more traditional hanger. He walked up to the desk and placed the coat over the metal frame of the chair, careful not to let the heavy material crease in ways it wasn’t meant to.

That’s when he noticed the photographs. Not digi-frames, but actual, paper photos hung on a wall over the desk, small, carefully cut pieces of tape on each corner. Takemura leaned in a little to take a better look, intrigued by this old-fashioned display of nostalgia. It wasn’t out of character for Viktor, judging by the sheer amount of trophies he kept in his clinic, but still, this specific type of reminiscence wasn’t something that Takemura came upon too often. Moreso, despite his efforts to the contrary, his curiosity about the doctor’s personal life was only growing. It was impolite to sniff around his apartment like this, pry into the other man’s privacy, but the photos were there for him to see, practically luring him in. Moreover, it made him realize how little he knew about Viktor.

Shortly after their first meeting, the ripperdoc would let him hang around the clinic for a few hours when Takemura stopped by to check on V during the weeks it took her to recover and a few times even offered to watch boxing matches together, throwing in anecdotes from his own sports career in between the speaker’s commentary. Takemura appreciated the gesture, these times they spent hunched over the tiny screen on Viktor’s desk, a moment of downtime Takemura didn’t realize he needed back then, alone in a foreign city, persecuted by his own people. Compared to the chaos that Night City was, the clinic felt stable, safe and consistent. Check on V, chat with Viktor, reluctantly accept his invitation to stay for a few hours. Rinse and repeat. Takemura wouldn’t admit to himself how comforting Viktor’s presence felt, how easy it was to drop his guard around him, kept telling himself that one of these days he’d just see if V was still breathing and go on his way, work on a plan while laying low, blending into the crowd. However, all things come to an end - eventually V pulled through and Takemura felt he had lost an excuse to visit the clinic and so he stopped coming, throwing himself into putting the pieces of his old life back together. There was no time for indulgences anymore. He had to stay vigilant all the way through and not let himself get distracted as he and V miraculously managed to pull off each part of their insane plan.

They weren’t friends, exactly, their relationship bordering on acquaintances, but before that there was only one thing connecting them - V. With her gone, that thin thread between them was bound to break, wither away into nothing, and yet it didn’t the moment Viktor was thoughtful enough invite him to V’s memorial.

Takemura raised a hand to straighten the corner where the tape gave out, a centerpiece photo of Viktor, V, Misty, and a man with a square jaw and smiling eyes, arm thrown around Misty’s shoulders. They were at a diner of some sorts, washed out, red leather of the seats reminding Takemura of the same restaurant he spent hours nursing the same cup of coffee so he wouldn’t be kicked out. Plus, he still looked like a corpo back then. That also could’ve helped his case.

There were more photos of them, the group hanging out in various settings, at what looked like some sort of a festival, a bar, karaoke even, all these tiny moments forever captured in a single frame. Viktor and the man from the first photo after a sparring, foreheads glistening with sweat, a wide grin on their exhausted faces. There were a few others, ones where Viktor was noticeably younger, wrinkles that now lined his face not yet visible. Some of the photos were creased with white break marks where the pictures have been folded, the corners worn with age.

Just as Takemura was about to turn away, already feeling like he was leering, he noticed that one of the pictures had fallen to the ground. He leaned down to grab it and put it back where it belonged, filling the empty space it left behind on the wall, but not before he could take a look. The photo was quite old, though not quite as old as some of the others. Viktor was standing with an arm casually thrown over another man’s shoulders, both in Trauma Team uniforms, smiling for the camera.

Takemura hummed. Of course, that Trauma patch Viktor wore wasn't for show, but at the same time, the ripper didn’t seem too open about his career there. Takemura looked at the man next to Viktor. He was much leaner, Japanese heritage clearly visible in his features. He was smiling, too, practically leaning on the man next to him, daring eyes looking straight into the camera. Takemura let himself wonder, gently fondling the photo between his fingers. A good friend? He turned the photo and read the date. April 23rd, 2068, nearly a decade ago. More than enough time for circumstances to change, new opportunities to arise, friendships to dissolve, Takemura thought as he placed the photo back in its place.

Enough of that. What he needed right now was a hot shower, the kind that almost burned, forcing the strained muscles to relax. Takemura could feel how clammy his skin was, covered with layers of dried sweat from the days he spent tossing and turning, battling the ever rising fever. Washing it all off was bound to make him feel better, and even if it didn’t, it was certainly a start.

Takemura made his way to the bathroom, taking note of a fresh towel and a small pile of clothes left there, a small note laid on top of a neat pile. He smiled softly at an I hope it fits this time written in small, jabby cursive, but let it be for now, instead leaning down to turn the faucet of the bathtub on. It took him some time to figure out the proper ratio of cold to hot water, the pipes gurgling warningly at every turn, but eventually, he was satisfied. While the tub filled, he took off his clothes and folded them carefully, placing the pile in the laundry basket and waited until the tub was finally full.

Careful not to wet the bandage covering the entirety of his left arm, Takemura slipped into the water with a deep sight. The bathtub was quite big, long enough for him to straighten his legs comfortably. Left arm resting on the edge of the tub, he let the rest of his frame submerge into the water completely, already feeling the sheer temperature of it forcefully untwisting the knots that his muscles have turned into. Brushing away the wet strands of his long hair, he grabbed a bar of soap resting on a small stand and started sliding it over his skin, carefully washing the crevices where chrome met flesh. Soon enough the clear water dulled into milky whiteness and Takemura let his head rest on the edge of the tub, closing his eyes and letting himself simply enjoy the warmth surrounding him. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander, skipping over his plans for the foreseeable future. After regaining access to his account and the little money he managed to stash there, the first thing he’ll do is pay Viktor off, twofold for all his trouble. Then what? He didn’t want to think about it too much in the moment, but soon enough he’ll have to. Maybe he should just take these few days off, let his body heal before he has to make any big decisions. With his old life ending the way it did, sooner or later he’ll have to start building a new one.

Because in a way, a part of him died in that abandoned parking lot in North Oaks. By not accepting the fate Saburo-dono decided for him, Takemura denied everything he ever sworn by, this final act of disobedience ending the man he once was. The only man he knew how to be. If he was honest with himself, he was scared that not much else might be left.

Takemura didn’t even notice when the water turned cold until he felt himself shiver slightly, the pleasant warmth no longer engulfing him. He must’ve lost track of time, he thought as he stood to get out of the tub, careful not to slip. Takemura reached for the towel and started drying himself, surprised at how soft the material was. Eventually, he wrapped it around his hips and leaned over the edge of the sink, feeling as if it was the first time he had really looked at his reflection in months. Silver threads in his hair had crept up beyond his temples, making his skin look even paler, even more so with how deep the dark circles beneath his eyes were. He looked thinner, too, muscles he considered his own personal armor, an essential part of what used to be his job for decades, giving way to the bones straining against his skin, a palpable testament to the toll the last few months have taken on him. Takemura let his fingers ghost over the skin, dancing around the fresh scar right where the left side of his ribcage ended, until he reached up, all the way to his sternum where flesh met metal and further, to his cybernetically modified neck.

He rubbed his hand over the insolation, red threading still wet from the bath. The touch felt distant, his fingers going over the cables and metal elements, all connected in an intricate pattern keeping the entire construction functional. Takemura felt a sudden need to tug at the cabling, see how much manhandling it’d allow before giving way. It felt suffocating, Arasaka logos all over the metal plates loudly declaring to whom he belongs. With that collar on him, could he really be something else?

Takemura turned his eyes away from the mirror, as if afraid of what else he might see if he stared at it any longer. He pulled his still wet hair up into a messy knot and got dressed, the entire ordeal taking him an embarrassingly long amount of time. Viktor clearly had an eye, because the clothes, a charcoal pair of dress pants and a simple, navy shirt, fit him almost perfectly. Takemura hummed in appreciation, making a mental note to thank the doctor later and stepped out of the bathroom, but as he was making his way up to the chair where he left his coat, he saw a pair of yellow eyes staring right at him, seemingly just as surprised as he was. Was it the same ghost that kept haunting him for a while now?

“V…?” Takemura heard his voice in the otherwise completely silent apartment, the merc’s name escaping his lips before he could even think about what he was about to say. The animal in front of him let out a meow before jumping off the counter and making its way to where Takemura was standing, still unable to move. As he felt its small body, very much corporeal, rub against his legs, he finally allowed himself to exhale. It was just a cat. Not a bakeneko, but an actual feline, one that seemed to take a liking to him almost immediately. As he passed the kitchen, only now noticing the two small bowls placed in the corner of the counter. Takemura scoffed at himself, embarrassed that such a thought would even cross his mind as he walked up to the couch, the cat following him closely. When he reached out a hand to grab his coat, the cat jumped onto the couch and meowed once more.

“What is it?” Takemura asked, dropping his arm back to his side. The small thing meowed again, more demanding this time. He sat down on the couch, sighting as the cat immediately climbed onto his lap and made itself comfortable, purring loudly until it eventually settled down, curled into a ball. Takemura smiled softly, petting its tiny head, eyes already half lidded. He felt so tired, the couch was surprisingly comfortable and the heat radiating off the cat sleeping on his lap was more than enough for Takemura’s eyes to close, just for a second, he told himself, but before he knew it, he drifted away.

#goro takemura #goro takemura/viktor vector #takevik #viktor vector #victor vector #cyberpunk 2077 #the devil ending #cp2077 spoilers #my writing

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miss-tc-nova · 4 years

Text

Hey - Riku x Reader

Aha, Xeha-non! I tricked you! I wasn’t writing Roxas, I was writing Riku! It’s about time I gave this boy some love.

~~~~~

“Hey handsome.” I slide the book from the desk and take its place, grinning down at the boy. A snowy brow arches in response, before those teal orbs peer up at me. “Slackin’ on your homework?”

“Maybe,” he grumbles. I display the text and he continues scribbling down his answers.

“Ooo, even I got the homework done. You’re not tellin’ me I’m about to slip ahead on our grades are you?” I tease.

He doesn’t even bother to look up. “Not even close.”

I laugh. Of course it’s not. This kid could miss an entire month of school and still manage to beat me in almost every class. Not that I’m dumb or anything, he’s just that smart—now if only I could get him to realize that I’ve been hardcore flirting with him for over a year now.

Riku and I have been neighbors since we were little. We were never really friends and that was fine by me; we only occasionally passed by each other on our way to school or in the halls. It wasn’t until we turned fourteen and actually had a class together that I lost my mind. He probably just views me as a mild nuisance at this point, but I can’t help myself around him anymore. He doesn’t acknowledge any of it though.

The end-of-day bell rings and I stand up with a stretch. “Wha’chu think, Riku? Shall we do the project together?”

“Hm?” Like a needle pricking at my heart, he wasn’t paying attention. “Oh, I mean we can. But it just sounds like you’re trying to keep that gap between us from getting bigger.” Gods, if I could turn that smirk into something sincere, I’d probably die happy.

“Please. You may have me in maths and science, but you suck at English.”

“I’m one grade below you. Also, what does telling a story have do with any career?”

I count on my fingers. “Journalism, news, authors, basic communication skills.”

“We’re communicating aren’t we?”

“Barely.” Oh honey, there’s so much more than what we say…

His eyes roll but we agree to meet tonight at six to work on this story we’re supposed to write. I waste the day away mulling over this nonsense between us. Clearly this boy isn’t going to get the hint; I could probably kiss him and he would just blow it off as an accident. Yet I still can’t tell if it’s because he’s not interested or just strangely oblivious to flirting. Eventually, I admit defeat—I’m going to have to just flat out tell him. I decide it’d be best to do it tonight, when there’s time for us to talk it out; though that does put me at risk for making this project insanely awkward. I suck it up and plan my words out for the end of the night until six rolls around.

I pull open the door to find my classmate there, staring out at the horizon. “Hey handsome.” There’s still time to drop plenty of hints before the night ends, but he doesn’t respond. “You okay?” There are some gloomy looking clouds in the distance.

“Uh, yeah,” he replies, shaking it off. “Let’s get this dumb project done.”

“And here I thought you just enjoyed my company,” I say, letting him in.

We start to flesh out a basic a plot for this adventure short, all the while he keeps glancing out the window at the approaching storm. I, on the other hand, am starting to feel the nerves gnaw at my gut.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” I ask, pulling his attention from the window for the umpteenth time since we started.

Looking away from his distraction, Riku scribbles on his paper. “Yeah.”

He’s not going to tell me what’s bothering him. Perhaps it’s time to tell him what’s bothering me instead.

“Hey Riku?” He hums that that he’s listening before meeting my gaze. This could be it: the end of my endeavors, the end of my shenanigans, possibly the end of a friendship. Here goes nothing.

Taking a deep breath, I open my mouth to start again, but the storm lets us know that it’s here.

When the lightning flashes, Riku abruptly stands. “I gotta go.”

“What?” I stand with him but he heads for the door.

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” All those worries he’s been holding back all night have finally broken through. He hurriedly shoves his feet into his shoes.

“But-” The boy rips the door open and takes off down the street, not even in the direction of his home. I stand in the doorway, stunned, confused, and a little heart-broken. “…Be safe.”

The storm that night was terrible.

~~~~~

A year later…

This last year or so has been kind of dreary. Since that storm hit, three kids disappeared from our islands. Days were spent searching, but only the ocean could’ve kept them hidden from us for so long. Then we came across a miracle; some weeks after their disappearance, Kairi had been found on the beach of the smaller island. From what I heard, she had been groggy and confused for a while, but remembered nothing of what happened. As for Sora and Riku, we never found them.

I was upset for a long time but time heals all wounds supposedly. In reality, I’d just learned to think about it less and went about life. There wasn’t anything else I could’ve done. Even if my heart is still hung up on him, it’s not like I can bring him back. So, on the surface, I take my dreary days the same as my normal ones: one step at a time, no matter how hard the next step is.

Nope. Don’t think about it.

Clearing my head of memories I don’t have time to dwell on, I brush the hair from my eyes and readjust the bag of groceries in my arms. It’s Friday, school’s out, I’ve just done my shopping for the week, and now it’s time to go home and relax.

“Hey.”

My body freezes before I turn to person I just passed. He’s a tall, young man, his muscular arms bare. The first instinct is to put some space between us, but that mop of white hair is unmistakable; sure it’s longer than it was but it’s his.

“Riku?” I breathe, afraid to believe it is. Have I finally lost it?

His aqua eyes are just visible beneath that mess. “It’s been a while,” he tells me.

That voice; it’s the same and it still makes my heart flutter. The bag in my arm is hastily set aside before I barrel into the boy, arms around his waist as tightly as I can hold. I could melt when he returns the gesture but I’m too busy trying to keep from crying.

I step back, wiping at my eyes. “Sorry. I just…Everyone thinks you’re dead.”

He’s taking the fact pretty lightly. “I can imagine so.”

“What happened?” I murmur.

“Uh, I can’t exactly explain it,” he answers, dodging my question. Something about him seems softer than before. “The storm took me someplace far away and a lot of stuff happened. But I’m here now.”

Taking in his words, I want to question him. There was a whole year where I thought he was at the bottom of the ocean; of course I want to know everything. However, above all of that, I’m relieved he’s back.

I smile. “Well hey, welcome back handsome.”

Riku’s responding chuckle dies out to something hesitant. “Are you busy tonight?”

Reaching down, I scoop my groceries back up. “No. Just making dinner and being lazy tonight.”

“Do you want to hang out?”

It takes everything I have to not scream ‘Yes!’ at him. “Didn’t you just get back?”

“Yeah,” he says with a sheepish grin. “But Kairi spent a few long hours nagging me about being so oblivious.”

“What?”

His shoulders bounce but I don’t miss that old spark of mischief. “That whole year before I left, you were flirting with me.”

It’s suddenly a bit too hot for me and my brain threatens to malfunction. Instead, I take my turn to answer sheepishly, “I mean, yeah. But I think you settling in again is probably more important.”

“It can wait. I’ve got a lot of stupidity to make up for.”

I may never stop smiling again. “Only two years worth.”

“Then I’d better get started.” I could just squeal. “I’ll pick you up tonight.”

“I’ll see you then.”

I bid the boy goodbye and it takes everything I have not to explode before I’m sure he’s well out of sight. And that’s it; my brain is shot for the rest of the day. I’m not doing homework, none of my chores get done, and dinner is nothing that I had planned. I just lie around, giddy as a teenager should be.

I force myself not to bolt for the door when I hear a knock; I cannot, however, help the swelling happiness in my chest when I see him waiting for me.

“Hey handsome,” I greet. That’s an adorable blush trying to spread across his face.

“Hey. Are you ready?”

I tilt my head. “We’re going out? Isn’t it kinda late?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you from the monsters.” There’s a bit of the old self-confidence I remember him having.

“Oh my knight in shining armor.” I follow Riku to the docks and I should’ve known he’d be taking me to the smaller island; it was his favorite place to hang out. But I’ve never been there at night so this will be a new experience for me.

After he’s tied up the little boat, he offers a hand to me. “Careful.”

“You’ve become quite the gentleman,” I tease, taking his hand.

My joking goes right out the window when he pulls me up with absolutely no effort. “I think not wanting my date to hurt themself is just common courtesy.”

“Fair enough.” I pray he doesn’t catch the mild quaver in the two words. “So what exactly are we doing out here?”

“Whatever you want; just hanging out,” he says, walking out onto the moonlit beach. With a grunt, he plops down into the soft, white sand. With a bit more grace, I sit beside him.

The ocean before us is dazzling. The water is calm, gently lapping at the land and reflecting the light from above. An endless sky is filled with millions of twinkling stars painting shades of blue and purple around the shining moon. There are no birds or strangers to interrupt the white-noise of the water; just us. And we’re not exactly quiet. We talk and laugh and joke about all sorts of things. I get vague hints that Riku’s time away had been quite an ordeal but we skirt around those topics. Still, I feel like I’m finally connecting to him; I’m not hiding anything or hinting at hidden feelings. I’m able to fully express myself. And though he may not be as snarky as he had been, I’m still enamored all the same.

“It’s funny.” Riku says, looking up to the stars. “I wanted nothing more than to get off this island, but when I found out about you, I couldn’t wait to get back.

Thank goodness it’s dark. “That’s kind of a silly reason to suddenly change your dreams.”

“Not after the adventure I’ve had.” I don’t get a chance to dwell on the darkness in his words. Instead, my heart jumps into my throat when his hand sits on top of mind with a gentle squeeze. “Besides, I think you’re discounting yourself way too much. You’re worth changing dreams for.”

What the hell do I say to that?! I sigh. “I know I was flirting with you but that doesn’t mean you have to do this. You don’t owe me anything. If you want, we can just-”

My words are effectively silenced. It’s not smooth or gentle but Riku jams our lips together. I never would use the word awkward to describe him but this is terribly so. I still don’t hate it.

I don’t know if it’s my own blush or the heat rolling off him, but the air between us is hot. When he breaks away, there’s that smile—I can die happy now.

“If you end that sentence with ‘be friends,’ I’m going to throw you in the ocean,” he warns, a note of longing there.

The astonishment in me takes a dive, succeeded by desire. Pulling myself up by his jacket, I swing a leg over Riku’s. My hands weave into his hair, pushing the locks from his face, revealing those beautiful teal eyes. Without another moment’s hesitation, I take a second kiss.

First kisses are overrated. They’re awkward and never certain of both people’s feelings. But second kisses; with the confidence, understanding, and trust; those are the moments of passion that melt hearts. I am no exception. My insides are filled with thousands of butterflies but I can’t get enough—I will never get enough. I could live in this moment forever: just the two of us in this beautiful scene with our new-found love. I would’ve been gone only a moment too soon had I died earlier.

Lips part, gasping for air. My eyes rapidly scan his face, trying to commit this moment to memory. Then the wave of euphoria washes over me and I let out a breathy laugh.

“Fine. We’re not friends.”

~~~~~

Months Later…

I trail through the sand, water lapping at my feet, birds cawing overhead, sun raining warmth on this quiet, little, lonely island.

It’s been several months and it sucks. I got warning this time that he was going, but that doesn’t make me feel any better about his absence. The way he talked about it was like I may never see him again and he wouldn’t even give me any details. It was just ‘I gotta go’ and ‘I don’t know if I’ll come back,’ then he kissed me and disappeared; left me crying on the beach by myself. Even Sora and eventually Kairi disappeared too, but no, I get left behind. I’ve been flipping between anger and depression so much sometimes I just cry while I break things. Maybe it was ridiculous for me to think we’d always be together, maybe it would’ve been easier if he just said he was sick of me, but the fact that we were still so infatuated when he left makes this all the more miserable. I had less than a year to fall head-over-heels in love with him and, boy, did he leave his mark.

Today’s one of those low days, where I miss him so much it almost hurts. So I’m on the little island, hoping for distractions; I’d even take memories of our little moments here—anything to dull the pain.

Another round of sorrow creeps up on me and I take a moment to attempt clearing my vision.

“Hey gorgeous.”

My heart shudders so forcefully everything goes black and my ears ring. It clears quickly enough that I whirl around. He’s there, gasping like he ran a marathon to get here. I can’t believe it; also, I can’t take it. I take a running leap at Riku who falls on his ass to catch me.

Sobbing into his shoulder, I manage to get out, “You’re not allowed to leave me again. I swear to the gods that I will tie you down if I have to.”

Hugging me with his entire body, Riku answers, “I have so much to tell you.”

#riku #kh riku #riku x reader #xeha-non #novas requests #gender neutral reader

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amandaoftherosemire · 5 years

Text

Bulletproof -- Epilogue

Fandom: Marvel/College AU

Pairing: Bucky Barnes X Reader, Platonic!Steve Rogers x Reader

Characters: Bucky Barnes

Author: @amandaoftherosemire

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 4,405

Format: Series (Complete)

Warnings: Angst, fluff, implied smut.

Summary: Years later, Bucky wakes up alone. He thinks about how he got there before a surprise distracts him.

A/N: I’m so proud to have something completed. (You guys, seriously, I’m such a flake in my regular life. There are people that would be astonished to hear that I’d finished something.) That being said, I am really sorry to be done with this story. I loved writing every part of this. The angst made me cackle like a wicked witch and the fluff made me squeal like a girl. I’m a ridiculous creature when I’m writing.

Thank you so much to everyone who read this story, whether you’ve been with it all year or just found it last week. Every like, every comment, every reblog, means the world to me. I love telling stories and knowing people read and like them is what keeps me going.

I have to give a special shout out to @hellzzzbelle both for being my beta for the first few chapters and for the banner that I’ve used on every single chapter. She’s a peach and I will love her forever.

Part Fourteen here

Epilogue

Bucky woke in complete and utter blackness, his hand closed around the sheets on your side of the bed. It didn't matter how long you'd been gone, how he exhausted himself before falling into bed, or how deeply he slept, he still woke reaching for you every single day. If he'd already been yours the day you finally claimed him, the years together after that had only cemented your hold on him.

No matter how long you’d been gone, he still ached for you like you’d left yesterday. He still turned to talk to you constantly, still thought of you a thousand times a day; anything, no matter how mundane, could remind him of you. The cereal aisle had set him off last week when he’d spotted the Cookie Crisp and he'd remembered how you'd often teased him about his immature stomach.

He rolled over onto his back in the absolute dark, wondering what time it was. He had the day off and no plans, so he hadn't set an alarm. You'd installed the blackout curtains the first year of his residency, stating that if he was only going get three hours of sleep a day, they should be of the highest quality. Thanks to that complete lack of light, however, it could be two in the morning or the afternoon as far as he could tell. Knowing you weren't there made it hard to get up and find out.

He snagged the pillow from your side, burying his face in it, irritated to find that it had almost lost the scent of your hair. He’d known better than to sleep on it so many times, but he’d missed you so damn much. Some days, the days he didn’t have a shift in the ER, or someone like Sam or Nat hadn’t decided he’d burrowed long enough and barged in, it was all he could do to make himself get up. It was hard to find the energy when he’d find nothing but an empty apartment outside the comforting dark.

If you were still here, he’d cheerfully climb out of bed to go looking for you. If you hadn't gotten up much before him, he'd most likely find you in the kitchen, looking for caffeine. He’d once dreamed of finding you at the coffeepot, being allowed to slide his arm around your waist and bury his face in the crook of your neck. Over the years, he’d not only made that fantasy a reality, but a habit.

Bucky never took for granted the hum of pleasure you’d make as you’d tilt your head to give him better access to the soft skin of your shoulders, or the feel of your body pressing warmly back into his. His favorite days, you were still in your robe, the same one you’d had in college. The robe that had ended up on the kitchen floor more times than Bucky could count. The robe that had become weirdly enshrined in your relationship due to its place in the early days of your romance.

The robe that even still hung in the closet, because you hadn’t taken it with you when you left.

Or perhaps he’d find you on the couch the two of you had picked out together, surrounded by papers and books if you were studying or working from home, a book in your hand if you were relaxing. You'd look up at him and, without fail, your face would spread into a welcoming smile and you'd make room for him next to you. He wondered now if he'd ever told you how that smile made his heart skip in love and gratitude every time.

Picking out the couch itself had been an adventure, the two of you each with your own set of priorities for furniture. You’d been concerned with things like color, décor, stain repellant fabrics, etc. as well as comfort, but all Bucky had cared about was whether it was big and comfortable enough for when he inevitably made love to you on it.

With a lot of good-natured teasing and mock exasperation, the two of you had managed to find something that ticked all the boxes, a dark brown, soft, deep, and wide sofa. You’d spent hours upon hours hanging out on that couch, enjoying each other’s company, making love. Bucky had always thought the best part of being in love with his best friend was the conversation as the sweat dried and skin cooled.

He tossed aside the useless pillow and rolled to his side, burrowing under the covers. He didn’t know why he was torturing himself with memories of when you were still here, when he’d wake with you next to him, your scent in his head, your taste on his lips. He also knew he was feeling sorry for himself but couldn’t seem to stop. He started to guess at the time and calculate time differences.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the flash of light as the bedroom door opened and closed so quickly that, were he asleep, it couldn’t possibly disturb him. Bucky lay still, wondering if he'd fallen back to sleep as the only person he knew who had practiced that move often enough to become that adept at it was currently on the other half of the planet. There was no possible way he was awake.

He held his breath at the slight draft as someone slipped between the sheets and smoothly eased over until soft skin was pressing against his, a gentle arm sliding around his waist. Warm breath wafted over the skin across the back of his shoulders, sending goosebumps shivering over his body. His breath shuddered out, his heart pounding in fear and excitement.

“Is there a reason you're pretending to still be asleep?" you whispered against his back, the amused bafflement you felt at his utterly still form coloring the tone. "Or are you not happy I'm here?"

"If I move, I'll wake up and you'll disappear," Bucky whispered back, not entirely joking. "I miss you too much, so there's no way you're actually here."

"Considering how many hours I spent traveling over the past twenty-four hours," you retorted, your voice dry as dust, "I better fucking be here."

Bucky closed his eyes in relief. He'd dreamed of you so many times over the past months, but those dreams had been soft and filmy or raw and heated, featuring your tender heart or powerhouse body, not, as much as he loved it, your smart mouth.

Bucky burst into exuberant movement, tossing the blankets up and rolling over quickly to pull you, laughing, into his arms to squeeze you tight, his heart pounding in delirious joy. “You sure fucking sound like you’re here.” He made you giggle, sniffing at your neck and hair as he hummed happily. "Mmm, you feel like you're here." When he found your mouth with his own in the dark, he sank in, overjoyed to hear your hum of pleasure as he welcomed you home.

You were already breathing harder when he broke the kiss to lean backward, groping for the switch on the lamp beside the bed. He squinted even against the low illumination, but he turned back to look into the face he loved above all others, the face he'd only seen in a window on a computer screen for what felt like an eternity but was, in fact, more like seven months.

You were resting said face on his shoulder, your eyes tired from the exhaustion of traveling halfway across the world, but your smile sparkled with love and happiness. "Yup, looks like my girl, too," Bucky murmured as his hand came up to trace the line of your jaw with his thumb. "Except," he went on, frowning, "this might be a dream," he took your chin in his hand and tilted your face back and forth, making your lips twist in amusement, "because I’m almost positive you're prettier now than when you left, and I'm also almost positive that was impossible."

Bucky's pretty face melted into the sweet smile that charmed you as no other could. You couldn't stop the sigh that escaped you in response to both his tender expression and his flattery. You never knew when he was going to tease or taunt, the push-pull of your personalities part of how you'd beat the odds. It hadn't been easy, but you'd managed to stay together through years of education, building two demanding careers, and most recently long distance. You believed in your heart that the secret was remembering to express your love, every day, and to laugh together, every day. Best was when you combined the two.

"Sweet-talker," you murmured as you slid your arm around his neck to bury your hand in the hair he'd let grow to almost his shoulders. Tousled from sleep, stubbly, and a little hollow-eyed from overwork, he was, somehow, always, the sexiest man you'd ever laid eyes on. The sparkle of the solitaire on your finger made your heart race every time the light caught your eyes, so excited were you to claim him forever. Bucky had rolled his eyes even as his cheeks had pinked up when you complained that men didn't wear engagement rings, because you didn't think it was fair that everyone could see that he loved you but not that you loved him, too.

Wanting to hang a sign on him to proclaim dibs wasn’t completely insane. The man had only gotten hotter every freaking year. He got hit on at work on a near daily basis; only your absolute confidence in him kept you from melting down into an insane jealous rage some days.

"I love the surprise," he murmured as you drew his face slowly down to yours. You were thinking you had just about enough energy to bang him before the jet lag got to you. "But I wish I’d known so I could take some time off while you’re here."

"That IS the surprise." You ran your hand through his hair, brushing your lips against his, “I'm not going back.” Your face lit up in a smile so radiant he thought his heart would burst from the beauty of it. Not only home, he thought in relief, his throat aching, but home to stay. He slid his arms around you, one under your shoulders, the other around your waist, to hold you as close as possible as his mouth took yours in a kiss as passionate as it was joyous.

Once your mouth was free again, you used it to suck at the skin of his neck, knowing it drove him crazy. “Okay,” you said against his throat as you started shoving at the thin white t-shirt he’d worn to bed, “that’s not strictly accurate.” Bucky pulled back to look at you with anxious eyes, terrified to have his happiness ripped away so soon. Your hands came up to cup his face to reassure. “I have to go back for a couple of weeks in a few months, but other than that, I'm home for keeps.”

You giggled when he squeezed you tight enough to push the air out of your lungs. “Really?!” The exclamation was both incredulous and relieved. “Really really? Oh!” Bucky let you go to flop onto his back with a dramatic thump. “Thank god!” he shouted at the ceiling. He lifted his head to look at you when you lay across his chest to grin into his face, chin on the back of your crossed wrists. “I have been lying my ass off for months. I was not okay without you.”

Your face softened into a loving half-smile. "I know. Sam kept me posted."

To be clear, it had been a text from Sam begging you to come home and put him out of his misery that had prompted you to start taking steps to get home as soon as possible. Please, y/n, I can't take another six months of this mopey bastard, his exact words.

Bucky's arms came around you to run his hands over your back, running his hands up under the hem of your t-shirt. "That traitor." His voice was a growl, irritated that Sam would sell him out. Even still, he couldn't stop smiling helplessly at you. He couldn't see your face, feel you in his arms and not smile. "I didn't want you to know. It was such an opportunity for you." His irrepressible smile twisted sadly. "I didn't want you feel bad, least of all to cut it short, just because I'm a whiny bitch."

You pushed yourself up until you were laying on his chest, half on top of him, your face a breath from his, upset that he'd misunderstood. "It's okay! I didn't!" You kissed him quickly, then pulled back to grin tiredly at him. "Shuri's not just a worker bee; she's a madwoman." You shook your head, thinking of the young scientist with whom you'd gotten a once in a lifetime chance to collaborate. "Seriously," you laughed, "Tony was a cakewalk in comparison. She was perfectly happy to overwork with me so I could get home to you faster."

That made Bucky's eyes narrow in suspicion. "Three months faster?" he asked, disbelief coloring the tone. "How much did you overwork?" He'd been drinking in your face, but with the eyes of a lover. Now he started looking at you with the eyes of a doctor and could see the signs of sleeplessness and missed meals.

You rolled your eyes, but your mouth was twisted in a warm, wry smile. You knew why he was mad at you, knew you'd be equally mad if he'd neglected his health for you, but you couldn't regret it for a moment. Not when you were laying almost on top of a man unreasonable in his beauty, a man that you could personally attest only got better with age, like fine wine, or great cheese, or 16-bit video games. Whatever it took to get you here was worth it.

Even still. No reason to be a martyr about it. Your lips twisted again, this time with heat. "Enough that I really must insist that you dote on me for at least a week," you replied, your eyelids lowering in the shy, sultry look he'd fallen for the first time he saw it. In all the years, it had never lost its punch, its power.

Steve had once painted you as a melancholy mermaid; that painting now hung in Steve and his wife's living room. He’d given the Faerie Queene to Gamora. She'd taken it with her when she'd moved to Washington D.C. after her election to Congress. She'd always wanted to change the world for the better; her cutthroat mindset had already made her enemies, and the beginning of a name.

Bucky's dryad hung in his office, and he'd gone in there every day since you'd left to remind himself of the look of your face, alight with love and happiness. Robin Goodfellow hung in the bedroom you shared, where you'd gotten him through the loneliest times.

But to Bucky, you'd remained his Puck tempting him into mischief with a dare. He'd never tried to resist, not that he'd never wanted to.

And he certainly wasn't going to start today.

With a grin and a growl, his arms were banding around you to drag you close even as he rolled you under him. You held on with a happy giggle, delighted to let him take care of you. As he went about using his years of experience and familiarity, as well as the desperate passion of fond absence, to coax you first to pleasure, then to ecstasy, you soaked it up like parched earth in a summer storm.

Less time than he would have liked later, he lay entwined in your arms, forehead against yours, out of his head and out of breath. He'd feel worse about it, but to be fair he'd been without you since you'd come home for the holidays over six months ago. He couldn't believe he once worried that he wasn't cut out for monogamy. Nearly a decade later and you still left him wrecked.

You stretched with a happy hum and nuzzled your nose and mouth against his as you ran your hands over his skin in an instinctive need to remind yourself of the sensory experience of being loved by Bucky. Sometimes he could be overwhelming in his almost hedonistic approach to expressing his love for you. Today was not one of those days; you were as hungry, as desperate as he.

Bucky nuzzled back with a purr, reveling in the feeling of your hands combing through his hair. The sensation of your nails scraping his scalp had him feeling like he was a randy twenty-year old who only needed five minutes to recover for another bout. Worried about the exhaustion around your eyes, however, Bucky rolled off you, keeping his arms around you to keep you close. You draped yourself across him once more, your head on his chest, the sound of his heartbeat a pure contentment.

The rumble of his voice made you smile even before you heard what he was saying. "I am never going to hold you back but, babygirl," at this Bucky squeezed gently, "if you need to go somewhere, I need you to take me with you."

Your eyes softened in both affection and remorse. "You know I would have if I could."

Wakanda had begun to open itself to the rest of the world, but the nation was still very insular. General Okoye, the head of the royal guard, had accepted your presence in the palace due to your one-on-one work with Princess Shuri. However, your proximity to the people she'd vowed to protect had made her deeply uncomfortable with the idea of you bringing a plus one.

After discussing it, you and Bucky had decided it was too phenomenal an opportunity to risk offending your hosts. He'd stayed behind in New York while you'd gone to Wakanda, for what was supposed to be a year, to collaborate with the greatest mind on the planet. Combining your work on connecting both the body and the brain to prosthetics with Shuri's work on, well, everything, but vibranium in particular, the two of you had designed a new arm for Bucky.

You were supposed to stay for the manufacturing, but Shuri would be sending you video instead. You could hardly wait to see it yourself, let alone show it to Bucky. You were practically beside yourself in excitement, because you knew how amazing it would be when it was completed.

Bucky's expression turned horrified. "I know it, baby; I'm not saying that." He turned further onto his side to snuggle closer to you, pull you into his arms. He kissed you gently and smiled gratefully. "I'm just saying I missed you like goddamn crazy."

You pressed your cheek to his and closed your eyes, basking in the knowledge that you were home where you belonged, in the arms of the man you'd love your whole damn life. "I missed you, too, Bug." You said it on a sigh, the sound both happy and relieved and Bucky knew you felt what he felt. Everything had been askew, but now that you were here, his world had righted again.

"When I have to go back, do you want to go with me?" You smiled, already knowing what the answer would be. "General Okoye no longer objects." Your voice turned smug. "She likes me. I think it's because I worship her, but she likes me and said I could bring my man next time."

He gathered you close, enfolding you in thick, brawny arms and a wide chest. "Fuck, yes, I want to go," he answered, his tone disbelieving that you'd even ask. "And of course she likes you." He released his own sigh of contentment, then grinned at himself. "Now," he said in a low, warm murmur, "you said something about doting on you?"

You shook your head back to give him a lecherous eyebrow wiggle. "Is that what we’re calling it?"

Bucky laughed but shook his head in mild exasperation. "Y/n, I was thinking you need food and sleep."

"Yeah, alright." You bobbed your head agreeably. "I can get behind that." Your expression shifted back to that lecherous leer, humor making your eyes sparkle and making Bucky's heart skip a beat. "After you get behind me."

Much later, Bucky found you at the coffeepot, in your old silk robe, the colors faded but still beautiful to his eyes, pouring a cup of fresh coffee. Feeling like the act was a balm on his soul, Bucky came up behind you, sliding his arm around your waist and burying his face in the crook of your neck to smell the unique scent he could find only there, a scent that was indelibly written on his memory. He breathed deep with a hum of pleasure and contentment, the press of your body against his incredible in its simple joy.

"Coffee?" He spoke against the skin of your neck, his lips sending delicious shivers down your spine. He'd tried to exhaust you with pleasure the second time he'd made love to you. He'd succeeded, but you were stubborn. "Don’t you need sleep?"

"I don’t want to sleep yet." You set the cup on the counter and turned in Bucky's arms to slip your arms around his neck and pull yourself close. He responded by enveloping you in his arms, surrounding you in his body, his scent, his warmth. You sighed in contentment. Bucky hadn't been the only one who'd had an excruciatingly difficult time with the separation. You would never be sorry that you'd taken such an opportunity, not only for your career, but also just for the experience. That didn't mean you hadn't wished he was with you on a near-constant basis.

Bucky heard the contentment, but also the dragging fatigue. "Rest, then," he rumbled in your ear, seeking to persuade. He could feel in the slight sway to your body how tired you were. "Let's go cuddle on the couch and watch a movie."

You loosened your arms a fraction so that you could pull back and glare suspiciously into his face. You couldn't stop looking at him, touching him, reveling in the reality of him. "For someone who missed me so much," you noted, eyes narrowed, lips twitching, "you sure are interested in the concept of me, unconscious."

The corner of Bucky's mouth lifted along with one eyebrow as he scoffed out a laugh. "I much prefer you awake, babygirl," his arms tightened around your waist and his head dipped to yours to kiss you quickly, "for that especially, but I'm worried about you." His voice turned gently wheedling, "Besides, I could use the rest, too. It was what I planned to do today anyway."

Your eyebrows lifted as your eyelids lowered, giving you a skeptically unamused look, though Bucky knew your face, no matter how long you'd been away, and he could see the humor in the set of your lips. "You planned to cuddle with someone on the couch and watch a movie?" you asked suspiciously. (After this long, the last thing you'd worried about when leaving was Bucky's faithfulness. He'd murder a puppy before he'd cheat on you.) Your face relaxed as you tilted your head. "Was it Sam?"

Bucky rolled his eyes as his laugh rumbled through him. "What can I say?" Losing patience, he bent to put his arm behind your knees and scooped you up to carry you. "His arms make me feel safe."

"I can see that," you allowed as you leaned out of Bucky's arms to snatch up your cup of coffee from the kitchen counter. Once you had it cradled against your chest to minimize the risk of spilling, you settled against Bucky's chest and let him take you to the couch. "Okay," you continued as Bucky set you down, "we both know I'm gonna nod off and I don't want to sleep away the whole of your day off." Bucky used the pillows you'd piled on the couch to make a bed on which he could hold you. "Don't let me sleep too long."

Snuggling you into the curve of his body, he pressed his nose to your hair and breathed deep. Your couch was deep enough that the two of you could lie comfortably together if he spooned you. Bucky grabbed the remote to put something on for the drone of noise, hoping to put you to sleep. "You're the boss, babygirl."

Bucky dug in his pocket when his phone vibrated. He'd typed out a quick text before he'd gone looking for you, asking his closest friend from work if she could take his shift tomorrow so he could spend the day with you. He wanted you to sleep as long as you needed, but he also wanted to spend hours talking to you, reveling in the reality of you.

When he saw her affirmative response, he relaxed into the pillows, curling more fully around you. "Christine sends her love. She took my shift tomorrow."

At the sleepy "Yay!" you released, Bucky chuckled softly as he closed his eyes in bliss.

You hovered at the edge between sleep and awake, too comfortable and content to stay awake, no matter how you wanted to. The reason you wanted to was the same reason you couldn't, the man in whose arms you rested, cradled safe against his chest like something both fragile and precious. For all his care and concern, however, he never let you doubt his absolute confidence in you. As far as Bucky was concerned, there was nothing you couldn't do.

That show of unconditional faith and support, combined with the unshakeable love he'd given you from the beginning, had helped give you the courage to leave the man you loved and all of your friends and family to work halfway across the world. How could you doubt yourself when he was so certain you could do it?

You fell asleep in his arms, his body curved protectively around you, as you relaxed into the feeling of utter safety. In an odd roundabout way, James Buchanan Barnes had, by loving you with his whole heart, made you bulletproof.

The End

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robotnik-mun · 4 years

Photo

So, what happens when I decide to throw caution to the wind and mash together as many fucking Sonic Continuities as I possibly can? You get a big ass tangle of a family tree that needs to be split up into five separate images, that’s what.

It’s ugly, it’s unpolished, and I made it on a whim. Because the mental image wouldn’t leave me. And because I actually started developing this godforsaken nightmare of a family tree, born of merged continuities, headcanons, and sleep deprivation.

Now keep in mind that this thing is pure crack- it implies a world where Sonic eventually collapses from exhaustion of having to fight TWO Robotniks. It’s a mish mash of what-if’s, continuity mergers and personal ideas glued together. And I wanna stress it has nothing to directly do with my current setting- this is just like, The Path of Insanity.

Anyway, yeah. Against my better judgement I made notes for this insanity. Also, you may notice pictures of characters from other franchises being used as portraits for various characters. Those are basically faceclaims of sorts, meant as abstract representations rather than the literal idea of what they looked like... since, honestly, even I’M not cruel enough to inflict my ‘art’ on you.

Anyway, let’s get the ball rolling-

“Robotnikhotep”

-Robotnik Ancestor in ‘Mobigypt’. Was probably some big important muckity-muck.

“Julius Robotnikus”

-Probably Mobius’ answer to Caligula. His family eventually fell out of power and was forced to re-settle in what would eventually become Overland.

Ivo Kintobor

-Yeah, that whole ‘House of Ivo’ thing? This is the guy responsible. Most likely a douchenozzle, as there is a high concentration of that in the bloodline. Basically a minor warlord who unified a bunch of clans to form his own Kingdom, that was subsequently absorbed into Overland during the unification.

Brutus Kintobor

-Oh wow, a SKINNY Robotnik/Kintobor. This douche canoe attempted to conquer Angel Island for the Overland, but failed miserably. Sent back home in disgrace, a failure.

Gerald Robotnik

- Originally born Gerald Kintobor of the House of Ivo in Overland. He was more interested in science than politics, and after completing college he left that mess behind and immigrated to the United Federation. He changed his name to signify the break from his family history.

-Explored Angel Island in his youth, where he learned about Chaos Emeralds and the like from the various ruins there. He was even friends with then-guardian Janelle-Li.

-Started up Robotnik CORPS. He founded it as a way to disseminate his technology to the people of the UF and earn money to fund more experiments.

-You know the rest. The ARK, Maria, NIDS, Black Doom, Shadow, yadda-yadda-yadda.

Olga Robotnik

-Gerald’s wife. Duh.

-She met him while he lived in a spare room her father was renting out. She’d collect his rent. They grew close and eventually had kids and started a family.

-The shit this poor woman endured is amazing, but she managed to remain unbroken by it, and tried to remain close to her surviving grandchildren.

Grigory Robotnik

- The first son of Gerald. He wasn’t a genius, but he pursued a career in academics and became a doctor of physics. He had two children, Warren and Maria.

-After the ARK incident he became paranoid and accused the government of covering up what really happened. The obsession to uncover the truth destroyed his physical and mental health, and he died a shunned outcast ranting on pirated radio stations about various conspiracies.

-Died in a halfway house, but he managed to get ahold of Gerald’s diary before biting it. While he never got to use it to bring down GUN, it still paved the way for Eggman’s eventual use.

Amelia Robotnik

-Maria’s mother. After the ARK incident and the supposed death of her children, she fell into a deep depression and eventually committed suicide. In case you haven’t noticed, the story of the Robotnik family is depressing as fuck.

Warren Robotnik, ‘Warpnik’

-Maria’s brother. What a tweest!

-He was with her on the ARK, and demonstrated a similar scientific gift to his grandfather. He wasn’t close to Shadow the way Maria was.

-When the ARK was raided, he was captured and subjected to brainwashing treatments by GUN in the hopes of turning him into a loyal, in-house mad scientist. All it did was make him batshit crazy.

-He escaped some time during the Great War, and is now loose in Mobius, a lunatic geneticist fixated on continuing his grandfather’s ‘great work’... or at least his own warped perception of it.

Maria Robotnik

-You know her. You love her. Her life is a tragedy. She’s Maria! Nuff said. Years later, and she still weighs heavily on Shadow.

Ivo Kintobor

-And here is where things get a bit confusing! Ivo was born ‘Ivo Robotnik’, the second son of Gerald. Long story short, he was a douche more interested in politics and profit, and as such did not get along with his father, who bequeathed the family company to his younger brother.

-Despite this, Ivo SOMEHOW managed to reproduce. And when the ARK incident happened, he bought the government line hook line and sinker. He changed the family name back to Kintobor and moved everyone back to Overland to start anew.

-He’s like 50% responsible for Julian winding up the way he did.

-And yes- he DOES want to bulldoze the puppy orphanage to create a combination oil rig/toxic waste dump.

-Was murdered by Julian, who disguised it as an accident.

Lydia Kintobor

-ICE BABY ICE.

-Julian and Colin’s mom.

-She 100% supported her husband’s douchery, and was an active participant in tormenting her secondborn son in the hopes of ‘breaking’ him out of being a genius.

-Killed in the same ‘accident’ that took her husband’s life.

Colin Kintobor Sr.

-Born in the United Federation, but moved to the Overland as a child and grew up there.

-Major league Nationalist and Human Supremacist. Prick.

-Hated Julian basically forever and was encouraged by his parents to do so. He became their ‘golden child’ and was pushed to succeed at everything.

-Pursued a career in politics, law, and the military, and eventually served as a general in the Great War.

-Was eventually murdered by his own brother

Miriam Kintobor

-Colin’s first wife, via arranged marriage.

-She was pretty much his opposite, yet despite that fact the two came to genuinely love one another.

-Died giving birth to their son. Have I mentioned the Kintobor/Robotnik family history is a trainwreck yet?

Angela Kintobor

-The second wife of Colin. She probably met him while serving as a military functionary during the Great War. She is also the mother of Hope Kintobor.

-Other than that, I got nothin’. She likely died when Hope was young, by way of Swatbot invasion. Seriously, do NOT become a Kintobor Love Interest.

Colin “Snively” Kintobor Jr.

-You know him, you hate him! It’s the Snivster, bay-bee!

-His mother died giving birth to him. His dad blamed him for this. You can guess the rest.

-You know most of the story- crappy childhood, admired his uncle Julian, helped him take over the Kingdom of Acorn, spent a decade as his punching bag, etc etc.

-After seemingly offing Julian during Endgame, he briefly took over the Robotnik Empire.... and promptly lost it to Naugus, forcing him to flee for his life. In exchange for information about Robotropolis’ defenses, King Acorn spared his life but sentenced him to be imprisoned forever.

-Was busted out by a returned Julian so that his uncle would be able to properly ‘thank’ him for losing his empire. Helped the FFs to escape Robotnik’s revenge, and after spending time bumming around with them (and hating it) decided to throw in his lot with Crazy Uncle Ivo.

-He’s regretted it ever since... though he sticks with him because its either Ivo or Julian, and Julian will ensure his death is cruel, messy, and lingers for years to come.

Hope Kintobor

-The second child of Colin Kintobor. She was born during the later years of the Great War and spent much of her early life living in siege conditions as Overland tried and failed to stop the advancement of Robotnik.

-Eventually she witnessed the death of her father and remaining family at the hands of Robotnik before being saved by Sonic. She had an extended stay in Knothole afterwards, where she slowly learned that much of her people’s views of Mobians was innacurate.

-She eventually moved to the United Federation as a ward of GUN, serving as the technology expert for Team Dark. She is close to all of them.

-Seeks to redeem the name of her family so that it’s legacy won’t be one of bloodshed, conquest and madness. She’s got a waaaays to go, to put it mildlry.

-Despite everything she still cares about her awful, awful half-brother.

Dr. Julian Robotnik

-Had a REALLY goddamned crappy....well, life, basically. Take my word for it.

-Has basically murdered his entire immediate family by this point.

-Prior to the Great War he aided the Overlander Ministry of Conflict in toppling the legitimate government of the Kingdom of Amunopolis (Aleena’s Kingdom), forcing it’s royal family to flee to the Kingdom of Acorn and re-settle under new identities, with crown princess becoming ‘Bernadette Hedgehog’. That’s right- he’s indirectly responsible for Sonic existing.

-Blah blah blah evil experiments blah blah war crimes blah blah sentenced to be executed by Overlander government during the Great War and blah blah blah coup.

-Took over a large swathe of Mobius and expanded to conquer more, and for a time seemed like he might conquer the entire planet. The Robotnik Empire is.... not a fun place. Then or now.

-Then Sonic and the FF’s happened. Then Endgame happened, and he was... indisposed for a while, leading to his empire being diminished. While he has returned, he has suffered numerous setbacks since then, and the Robotnik Empire is now greatly diminished from its peak.

-That being said, he still rules a pretty big part of the planet, and is still the biggest danger to the world at present.

-Hates his cousin Ivo.

-REALLY goddamn hates That Hedgehog.

Laura Kintobor

-That’s Doctor Laura Kintobor (nee Ellison) to you, buster.

-She and Julian both worked as scientists with Overland’s science ministry, where they met and befriended one another. She eventually managed to coax Julian out of his shell, and their friendship bloomed into a romance, which led to the two marrying.

-She worked in the organic sciences division and was an expert on biology and zoology. In contrast to most scientists, she was very much an outdoorswoman. Even managed to convince Julian to partake.

-Much like her unfortunate sister-in-law, she died in childbirth... giving birth to a stillborn daughter.

-Yeah, this shit is grim.

Theodore Robotnik

-Third son of Gerald. Blatantly named in reference to Theodore Roosevelt, who was used as a visual reference for Eggman.

-Basically a professional beancounter who later inherited Robotnik CORPS. He chose to stick with his original name even after the ARK incident, and struggled to keep Robotnik CORPS afloat in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

-Set up a trust fund for his son Ivo, and tried his best to raise him to be a contributing member of society.

-Sufficed to say, that didn’t work. If he’s still alive, he has a REALLY tense relationship with his son.

-Named his son after his older brother as a passive-aggressive act of spite for abandoning the ‘Robotnik’ name.

Dolores Robotnik

-Mother of Ivo. She was a professor of chemistry who decided to put her career on hold in order to be homemaker.

-Was much closer to her son than Theodore was, and often wound up having to play peacemaker between the two. ESPECIALLY during Ivo’s tumultous teenage years.

-Sufficed to say she is not exactly pleased with how he turned out, assuming she’s still alive even.

Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik

-HE IS THE EGGMAN. HE’S GOT THE MASTER PLAN! Really, do you NEED to know any more?

-Well, okay, you do. He was born very shortly before the ARK incident and never knew his grandfather.

-His childhood wasn’t horrible, but it was rough in areas due to his high intelligence making things more difficult for him than they should of be. Loads of disagreements with his dad over pursuing science. Spent years plagued by the derogatory name of ‘Eggman’ due to his weight problems.

-You know how you fantasize about ruling the world as a kid? He never really left that stage of things.

-He initially worked as a research scientist in the fields of AI and energy. During the Great War he was approached by GUN to develop weapons for them. His research would go on to form the basis of the robotic soldiers later used by them in the Robotnik war.

-Began his plot to take over Mobius during his time there, and secretly began to appropriate resources and machines to build a hidden base on the distant South Island. Eventually his schemes were discovered by GUN, but he fled.

-While his cousin conquered portions of Mobius elsewhere, Eggman began his long term Death Egg scheme as a means of conquering Mobius in one fell swoop with the aid of the Chaos Emeralds.

-You can guess how it goes from here- he encounters Sonic on South Island and in the Scrap Brain Zone and is defeated, thus setting the tone for MANY other defeats in the future. He eventually took on the name ‘Dr. Eggman’ as a way to differentiate himself from his cousin, and to make the insult that dogged his life into a name to be feared ala ‘Penguin’.

-When his cousin Julian was seemingly killed and the Robotnik Empire in dissarray, Eggman started new bids to take over the world. He established the Metropolis Zone as his ‘capital city’ and founded the Egg Army to help supplement his Badnik Horde. The Eggman Empire now exists as a terrorist army at the beck and call of Dr. Eggman, though he’s still got a ways to go.

-Has four sons by three different women. Slut.

???

-Haven’t got a name for her yet. She was a random girl that a college age Ivo knocked up, which putty much put an end to her collegiate ambitions. She gave birth to two sons, one of whom she bitterly named ‘Ivan’ as a reminder of his origins after failing to get child support out of her babydaddy. She re-married and is currently leading a comfortable enough life. Humors her son because she knows it annoys his biological father.

Ivan Eggman

-The oldest of Eggman’s sons. In his mid 30s or so. Scientifically gifted, as his father was.

-Has numerous, numerous issues pertaining to his stepfather, a hard and strict man with little toleration for nonsense.

-Idolizes his biological father and desperately wants to be acknowledged by him, even changing his original surname to ‘Eggman’. Eggman the 1st was NOT amused.

-Eventually founded a company, Eggman Industries, and grew rich rapidly. Settled by the Bygone Islands where he pursues life as a ‘villain’ now, though really he’s more like a public nuisance than anything.

-Honestly he’s basically living a ‘second childhood’ of sorts using his scientific know-how and riches, and has vowed to one day impress his father and earn his acknowledgement. As you can imagine, it is.... not working out at all, given that he’s even more of a goober than his pop.

-Ironically, he isn’t naturally bald- he SHAVES his head.

Steve

-Yeah, he ain’t a robot here- Steve is the organic, younger (by about a minute) twin brother of Ivan.

-Utterly unconcerned with science or any of that jazz. He’s basically a bohemian beach bum, complete with californian accent- he spends much of his time surfing and earning cash from side jobs.

-Really mellow and easy-going, and doesn’t really dwell on stuff.

-Utter himbo.

Mrs. Robotnik

- Ex-Wife of Ivo Robotnik. Haven’t given it too much thought, but she and Ivo met while working in acadamia, and eventually married.

-Initially the relationship was pretty solid, and they even had a child together. However things swiftly deteriorated between the two as Ivo’s immaturity and increasing anger at the world strained their relationship, along with him being a lousy parent to their son. She eventually divorced his ass.

-After going through a rough patch with her son, she has begun to re-connect with him after his years a delinquent, and now happily supports his endeavors.

Ivo Robotnik Jr.

-Middle son of Dr. Eggman. Had a nonexistant relationship with his father while growing up, which combined with the divorce eventually turned him into a juvenile delinquent.

-He roamed with a biker gang for a while, and prefers to be called ‘Junior’ rather than ‘Ivo’.

-Fell in with Breezie for a while, the both of them unaware of the other’s connection to Eggman. They eventually went their separate ways once Junior began to turn over a new leaf. He still carries a torch for her, though is painfully aware it’d never work out. Their relationship is... complicated, these days.

-Has since become a software security engineer, making a living providing Anti-Eggman/Robotnik software to companies.

Lindsey Thorndyke

-A famed actress. She and Ivo had a drunken tryst at a wrap party where he’d been invited to act as a consultant on scientific accuracy. To avoid scandal she informed her husband, and they passed off the baby as their own.

-What more do you want. Its LINDSEY.

Chris Thorndyke

-The youngest son of Ivo Robotnik. Spent much of his life completely unaware of his true parentage.

-Eh, what can I say, I kind like the theory of him actually being a Robotnik in some capacity or the next.

-When he was a boy, he befriended Sonic and his friends and even hosted them during the days when Eggman’s schemes for global conquest caused him to haunt Station Square for a while.

-Admired his grandfather Chuck and pursued science to be like him, studying physics and engineering.

-Thanks to his mom he’s something of a film buff.

-In college he learned the truth of his heritage. This has put a strain on his relationship with his parents.

Francis Kintobor

-The youngest of Gerald’s sons. Pursued a career as a schoolteacher. While he changed his name in the aftermath of the ARK incident as his older brother Ivo had, he chose to make a small joke at his brother’s expense over the ludicrousness of the name change by naming his own son ‘Ovi Kintobor’.

-Named after Francis Mao, aka That Guy Who Made That One Comic Adaptation From 1991.

Elizabeth Kintobor

-Dr. Ovi Kintobor’s mother. A career veterinarian with a strong love of animals. That’s about it.

Ovi Kintobor

- Grew up on Westside Island, among Mobians. Had a pretty happy and contented childhood, and like many of the other various members of the Kintobor/Robotnik clan developed a pronounced interest and skill in science at a young age.

-Developed a particular interest in researching Chaos Emeralds.

-A Concientious Objector, he served as a medic during the Great War.

-Deeply, deeply shamed by the actions of his more notorious cousins, he has essentially hidden himself from the world to pursue his research and evade their notice, while helping against them in whatever way he can.

-Has secretly transported people threatened by his cousins to safer places, and once caused a mass sabotage of their respective robotic forces through the ‘Nicenik Virus’.

-An ally of the Freedom Fighters.

-Deeply distrusts GUN (which frankly isn’t a bad call).

-Bit of a hippy, but really is a genuinely nice guy who wants to help others through science.

-In some villages he is known as ‘Mr. Tinker’.

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Dr. Robotnik #Dr. Eggman #Colin Kintobor #Chris Thorndyke #Gerald Robotnik #Hope Kintobor #Snively #Warpnik #Maria Robotnik #Robotnik Junior #Boom Eggman #Steve Eggman #Robotnik Jr #Truly this was the best way to spend the finite thing known as my time on earth

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evadwrites · 4 years

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"If you knew this would happen, would you do it again?" For Narcissa & Rodolphus or cissamione?

Title: One Final Look Characters: Narcissa Black Malfoy, Rodolphus Lestrange Word count: 3 843 Link: AO3 The fic (mostly under a read more):

“If you knew this would happen, would you do it again?” She tried to keep her voice cold, as cold and disinterested and disgusted as possible; as cold as this stone floor Rodolphus was lying on, all crooked, shivering, and distraught, like a caged animal waiting patiently for its death.

Rodolphus was all of those things, by some stupid twist of fate, but Narcissa couldn’t possibly be that cold towards him, not when he needed warmth, support, and silent confirmation in the form of, “I still love you, I always will. You’re my best friend even after all you’ve done to others and to yourself.”

Narcissa hadn’t said any of that. She had just pursed her lips in an attempt to prevent those words from escaping her lips and waited. She had been waiting for so long she started shivering herself, freezing wind from the North Sea not giving a damn about all the warming charms on her black traveling cloak.

Black. Everything was black. Her traveling cloak, her robes, her shoes, those leather gloves Bella would’ve absolutely loved—the only thing that stood out was platinum-blonde strands of her hair. She was thinking of making them black, too, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it, although she wasn’t even a Malfoy anymore.

With Draco’s death, with Lucius’ death, she had no choice but to become a Black herself. Because every time she introduced herself, she would feel this gut-wrenching sob babbling in the back of her throat; she would remember the day of her wedding and the day of Draco’s birth. Then it would all come crashing down the day of the Battle of Hogwarts, where she couldn’t find her precious little boy in time, and Lucius had sacrificed his life to save hers.

Not that she needed any introduction after Harry Potter had stated her role in the Dark Lord’s defeat the next day after the Battle. And certainly not after Rita Skeeter had written that hideous article on her just two weeks before she visited Rodolphus for the first time. A Black Clad in Black Will Never Get Her Loved Ones Back.

When Narcissa had first read the title, it was sing-songed by Bellatrix’s voice, the one that used to read her all tales possible about Morgana when she was seven, the one that used to comfort her after a particularly stressful day at Hogwarts when she had just turned eleven. It was the voice of her sister who had been full of love and light, was bright and determined, one of the smartest and strongest witches of their generation. The one who had taught her Occlumency “just for the fun of it” and had never, ever used Legillimency on her, as she’d once promised. It was the voice of her sister from before, before all the pressure and prejudice and madness clouded her mind almost completely.

It was somewhat ironic, Narcissa thought. The first truthful article in Skeeter’s entire career just had to be about her. She hadn’t read past the title; it was enough for her to know what this annoying little bug had written about. Draco’s death, for sure, and then Lucius’, and then Bella’s, and the fact that Rabastan was executed just three weeks ago. There was one picture on the front page, and Narcissa thought she had spent hours on end looking at it critically as if searching for flaws. There weren’t any.

That picture was taken just a couple of minutes after Rabastan had gotten a Dementor’s kiss.

Narcissa was mourning, mourning the loss of her family, everyone she had once loved, everyone she will always love, even if some small part of her absolutely hated who this world, these wars turned them into. She was mourning, although many people in the Wizarding World thought she wasn’t allowed to just because her son, her husband, her sister, and her best friends were the Death Eaters.

Her question for Rodolphus was born out of grief and desperation, out of you’re the only one I have left, and I don’t want to lose you too; out of a mind-shattering you’re getting executed tomorrow, won’t you say something to me, at least anything?

Narcissa didn’t even know what exactly she was asking him about.

If you knew this would happen, would you accept the Dark Mark? Would you torture Alice and Frank Longbottom to insanity with Bella, with Bastan? Would you let Him change you so much I almost couldn’t recognize you the day I finally got to see you again, after fourteen years of waiting? Would you?

She didn’t know, and it looked like he didn’t know either.

Narcissa asked him again and again until she was screaming so loudly she could hear footsteps at a distance, hushed whispers of guards and her own voice echoing off the stone-cold walls of Rodolphus’ cell. Her voice was breaking, and tears were streaming down her face for the first time in months, for the first time since Draco’s and Lucius’ and Bella’s death.

He hadn’t answered, hadn’t said anything at all, hadn’t even looked at her. Narcissa left because she knew for sure—if she had stayed even for a couple more seconds, she wouldn’t have been able to walk away.

They decided to make a show of his execution—of his Dementor’s kiss, Narcissa corrected herself, because execution would be much more merciful than the fate they had prepared for Rodolphus. In other’s people opinion, he didn’t have any soul left, but Narcissa had seen him, and she knew him. She knew this part of him—the part she loved so much, the part she would always love—was still there, somewhere deep within.

It seemed like everyone was happy with the idea. Even people who were mourning their loved ones had small smiles plastered across their faces at the mere fought of Rodolphus being hurt, of his soul being erased once and for all.

Narcissa was crashed.

She wished she had enough power, enough money, and enough bravery to ask the Potter boy for mercy for Rodolphus. Because he saved her from the same fate, he had the power, so technically he could do it again, right? But she knew The Boy wouldn’t because she had never been as deep within the Dark Lord’s inner circle as Rodolphus was. Narcissa had never had His Mark etched on her skin, on her very being—because she promised, she promised Rodolphus she would never do it.

“He’s all I have.” She wanted to come to the Potter boy and say exactly that because it was the painful truth she admitted for the first time in months. “My son is dead, my sister is dead, my husband is dead, I don’t have anyone—” She put a hand over her mouth to contain a gut-wrenching sob at the mere thought of everyone she loved and everyone who she couldn’t possibly have anymore.

Narcissa knew there was nothing she could do about this. She realized the only way to prevent this from happening was to go back in time and maybe run away with every person she loved, with every person who was now dead. She should’ve done it, Narcissa thought; they all should have when Sirius offered it. She thought of the last day she saw him and how he caught her in Lestrange Manor’s garden. There was a girl with him, with dark-blonde, giant curls, tiny freckles all over her face, and in hideous clothes Narcissa had never seen before, even on Sirius. She thought the girl looked like an embodiment of the sun, of the light. She wasn’t a big fan of the light, never had been, but somehow, this self-assured, fearless smirk on the girl’s face made her smile in response.

Her smile had slipped the minute Sirius introduced her as Marlene McKinnon, the part of the Order; the minute the words left his lips. “We can get you out if you want, all of you—you, Rod, Bastan, Lucius—hell, even Bella.” His words were a hushed whisper, soft and gentle, but firm, as if he had known for sure he could actually do it. Sirius wouldn’t be asking if he wasn’t sure, Narcissa had known it perfectly well. She wondered how bad the war would get when she registered Bella’s name leaving Sirius’s lips—he loathed the sister she loved so much, so there had to be something he had known would happen extremely soon. “Just say a word, and we’re gone before anyone knows it,” he said, grasping at her wrist somewhat desperately.

Narcissa closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. She felt panic crippling at her whole being. And suddenly, everything she had seen was black, before flashes of images—memories—started evading her mind against her own will.

She remembered how Bella couldn’t complete one of His tasks and arrived home barely conscious and with blood everywhere. Narcissa thought it was the day Bellatrix started losing her mind completely, dwelling into complete and utter madness. She wasn’t surprised, not really—that’s what hours and hours on end with Crucio Crucio CRUCIO could do to you. This torture would kill everyone else, but Bella—her stubborn, sweet, caring Bella—was too strong-willed for it to break her entirely. Still, with every curse thrown her older sister’s way, with every life Bellatrix had taken per His orders, Narcissa felt Bella slipping into the deep end until the person she cherished so much was barely recognizable.

She remembered the day Rodolphus got his Mark, how he cried, her strong, strong Rodolphus. How he was falling apart in her arms, with the rumblings of, “Please, Cissa, make it stop, make it stop,” because there was just too much pain, and with a broken, “Now He will always know where I am, now He has just a right way to hurt me.”

Narcissa was pulling him into the tightest hug ever, whispering sweet nothings and the string of everything is going to be okay, we will get through this. And so many years after that day she knew her words were cruel, because she hadn’t even believed it herself, but she still said them, hoping the person who made her life better every day would be hurting a little less.

The pain from His Mark started fading away about four hours later, and they were still sitting on the floor in the hallway when Rodolphus pulled away and looked at her. Narcissa gasped immediately because that very moment she knew for sure—it wasn’t her Rodolphus anymore, not the way he used to be. His eyes were the darkest of brown, even darker than Bella’s, and they weren’t shining, not with light and love and happiness that had always been there every time he had looked at her before. She had seen that look in his eyes only once, the day when Adrastia and Raoul were killed, and Rodolphus was destroying everything in his path out of pure, blinding rage. He had stopped only when one of the flying glasses or books or Merlin knows what almost hit her, and just like that, all energy he had had was gone. They had sat on the floor of Raoul’s study for what felt like hours, with Rabastan grasping at them both as if he was afraid he would lose them next.

“Promise me,” he croaked, his voice barely audible, a strangled half-whisper and half-sob. “Promise you won’t… you won’t ever…Cissa, you can’t! I never you want to feel that, that—” Rodolphus couldn’t find the right words for this pain and this utter despair, but she understood. Narcissa had never wanted to cry as much as she did now. She bit her lower lip to stop herself, but the next thing she knew was the taste of salt and iron on her tongue. Because it was unbearable—the way Rodolphus was hurting, the way his life was on the way to being destroyed by the man with a cause and probably too much power for one person. It was unbearable that he was still thinking about her, about her safety, as if it was the only thing that mattered to him.

Narcissa shook her head stubbornly, because what could she possibly say? It wasn’t fair; she knew this. It wasn’t fair to each and every last one of them—to Rod, Bella, Lucius, and Bastan, who all were in too deep to stop now. Because some part of her had known all along they would be a significant part of this impending war. Because how could they not be, with all the expectations of their parents laid on their shoulders? Adrastia and Raoul were the only parents who loved their kids unconditionally, loved Narcissa as if she had been their own. They both were good people, kind-hearted and supportive, who didn’t deserve to die, not like Narcissa’s mother or aunt or uncle.

So they all were doomed from the start, or at least from the day Lestranges were murdered, Narcissa thought, but what Rodolphus was asking of her right now—she knew it meant much more than she could possibly comprehend, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint what exactly it was.

Rodolphus saw her hesitating almost right away, because after nearly two decades of friendship and being a family, he had known her all too well not to notice. “Cissa, promise me.” There was a shadow behind his eyes, and his voice was the firmest she had ever heard. “Keep the focus off of yourself no matter what, do you hear me? Don’t let Him think you’re valuable to his cause, just—just be Lucius’ wife and Bella’s sister and my best friend, Bastan’s best friend, but nothing more.”

Narcissa wanted to protest right that instant because his words were hitting too hard. Rodolphus knew she had always wanted to be exactly more than someone to the people she loved. And Rodolphus saw it, so her hesitation. He gripped her shoulders, hard, making her wince in pain, but it got her attention enough for her to listen to him. “There’s absolutely nothing you can do to get rid of the mess Bella and I are in, but you can actually prevent yourself from—” He let out a shaky breath, and somehow, Narcissa realized there was something important he wasn’t telling her. “I don’t want you to experience even an ounce of what I did, of what Bella did. I won’t let you. I want you to be safe, happy. I need you to be, more than anything else in the world.”

Narcissa chuckled darkly, tears still streaming down her cheeks. “Safe? Happy?” she asked, trying to keep herself from laughing hysterically. “How can I possibly be any of this? How can I, when you are—when Bella is—” It was a how can I possibly be happy when you’re suffering and breaking and disappearing right in front of my eyes she couldn’t bear to say out loud.

“Cissa, I’m fucking begging you!” Rodolphus was screaming now, still gripping her shoulders so hard as if he had thought she might vanish from his arms any moment. And he was so, so broken, and Narcissa was so, so exhausted for any of this. Because every time the Dark Lord was taking a piece of Rod’s and Bella’s soul, it felt like he was cutting out the largest parts of her heart.

“I—I promise,” she forced out, lunching forward and throwing her arms around his neck. “But you have to promise me something, too,” Narcissa said next, and Rodolphus replied that he would promise her anything in the world. “Promise me to stay alive.”

She didn’t know how long she had waited for the answer that never came.

Narcissa’s eyes shot open, and suddenly it wasn’t Rodolphus who was right in front of her. It was Sirius with his timid smile and the girl—Marlene—with something hopeful in her eyes. And this softness, the way they looked at her, made her question everything for a second. It made her hope. Maybe, maybe they all could get away and be safe and happy, just like Rodolphus wanted her to be.

Reality hit her heard, and Narcissa scolded herself for even letting this tiny piece of hope crawl into her heart. Remembering all those things about why they couldn’t just go away and start over in the middle of nowhere might have brought tears to her eyes if she was someone else. But she wasn’t. So Narcissa stood there with a stoic expression, her lips pursed, reciting all the why-nots in her mind. They couldn’t just disappear, because Rodolphus had already had his Dark Mark, and she would never leave without him. Bella was days away from getting her own, and there was so little of the real her left. She would never, ever agree to leave her master. There was Rabastan, who was too young and innocent for all they had been going through, but somehow, the Dark Lord had already had his sights on him. And then, there was Lucius, who had been one of the most significant followers for the better part of the past year.

So, it all came down to this. Rodolphus couldn’t leave as well as Lucius because of their Dark Marks. The Dark Lord would find them in a split second, and then kill them all. Rabastan had been watched closely, and it seemed he couldn’t even take a breath without Him being notified about it. And Bella wasn’t even Bella anymore; she was Bellatrix, on the way to becoming His most trusted and most loyal.

People she loved most in the world couldn’t leave, and that meant she couldn’t either.

So Narcissa hadn’t said anything to Sirius that day. She just left without another glance at her cousin. She felt his gaze linger on her back, and she felt Marlene’s eyes—so piercing, so intense—too.

A few days later, she had found an envelope in her room at the Manor. There was a coin of unknown origin, a coin she had never seen before, with the words “If you ever need help, just let me know -MM” scribbled on a piece of paper—actual paper, not parchment. She burned it right away, all the reasons why it was so dangerous to keep it flashing in the back of her mind.

In the end, it brought her here. Now, a small part of her wished not even for the Potter boy to show mercy to the only person she had left. For a moment, she wanted to go back in time and change her decision; to do something, anything so they all could just go away with Sirius and Marlene and start something new, and be safe and happy and together.

Now, most of them were dead, and Bastan—this sweet boy with his dark curls who was more like a brother to her—didn’t even have his soul anymore.

Narcissa glanced at the large clock on the nearest building, which had been counting down hours and minutes and even seconds to the moment when Rodolphus would get his soul destroyed.

It had been a minute and a half left when they took Rod out of the nearest building, chained and ragged and so, so small; a shell of the man she knew once and will always remember. Narcissa barely held back a gasp when her eyes landed on him. He wasn’t even looking at her, choosing to stare at the pavement instead. And it hurt. Merlin, it hurt so much that he was refusing to do it when all she wanted was to look him in the eye and actually see him. Suddenly, Narcissa regretted their last meeting deeply, because she should have told him how much he meant to her, how much she loved him; that the things he had done, the things she hoped—suspected—knew Rodolphus wished he could undo hadn’t changed anything. Because it was this kind of love they shared; unconditional, deep, and truly never-ending.

Narcissa blinked rapidly in a weak attempt to keep the tears from falling. Suddenly, the whole world was moving too fast, and Rodolphus was already standing on the scaffold. She kept looking at him, at his bowed head and longer hair, with a string of please please please just look at me playing on repeat in her mind. And then, he actually did.

Shacklebolt listed a brief version of the crimes Rodolphus had committed as Death Eater and then asked a famous, “Do you have any last words?”

Their eyes met for the first time in months. Narcissa felt as if her throat was closing up all of a sudden. Because Rodolphus, her best friend in the whole world of more than three decades, was there. His eyes were a lighter shade of brown than they had been in a long, long time, and there was something in here that had been missing for years. It was a small glint Rod would get every time she had come over, and he had tilted his head and asked, “Wanna go see the horses?”. It was a small glint he would get every time before lifting her off the ground in the middle of the garden, and then there was laughter and smiles, love, safety, and happiness.

Suddenly, it was all back, and it felt like her first time on the back of the horse. It felt like coming home—which was Lestrange Manor for as long as she could remember—and finding Rodolphus with tons of cookies, a wide, radiant smile plastered across his face.

Then, Narcissa saw something else in his eyes, something she longed to see. The question she asked him yesterday crawled back into her mind, in the depths of her heart, a silent plea in the form of whispered, “If you knew this would happen, would you do it again?”

Rodolphus looked at her with this glint and that something in his eyes and said as loudly as he could, with all the confidence he could muster, “I would never.”

He looked at her, and he kept looking at her while this monstrous creature was sucking out his soul until there was absolutely nothing left. There was no glint in his eyes, nothing in his expression, and suddenly, he wasn’t even Rodolphus anymore—just a shell.

Narcissa let out a strangled sob, bringing her hand to her mouth to try and contain it, but it was too late.

She knew the next day there would be an article in the Prophet with her picture on the front page, with the picture of her crying. And Merlin, she was. Because losing Rodolphus felt like losing the last remaining piece of her whole world.

Narcissa wanted to be mad at him, wanted to hate him for the promise he had broken, for not staying alive for her. But suddenly she realized Rodolphus couldn’t have possibly broken a promise he had never made.

#narcissa black #narcissa malfoy #rodolphus lestrange #bellatrix black #bellatrix lestrange #rodolphus x narcissa #narcissa x rodolphus #eva actually fucking writes #malfoy #answered

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