#yes I did keep a version with kyles full hair I just didn’t like them overlapping so | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

spaceskam · 4 years

Text

The Golden Boy

hey look i finally finished that fic i’ve been giving sneak peeks about for months

warning: past child abuse, sexual content

ao3

In Bacchus Year 9 (Earth year 1782), Antar and Earth signed a peace treaty.

The treaty meant requiring many social gatherings on either planet, kind gestures between royals, and many public statements against prejudice of each other's people. It even led to Earth assisting the rebels during the Antarian Civil War in Bacchus Year Final (Earth Year 1834), stating proudly that they signed the treaty for the people, not the monarchs. As one would assume, that line went over fantastically with the public.

They heavily supported the rise of King Atlas Gudrun, a man of great people skills and desire to help, in Gudrun Year 0 (Earth Year 1844). The Gudrun family (which had been anglicized on Earth to Guerin) had been ruling on Antar ever since and had always done their best to keep up their loyal companionship with Earth and its leaders.

It all led to this moment in Gudrun Year 176 (Earth year 2020) where Prince Michael of Antar, fourth of his name, son of King Heinar, known for his charm and wit, had Prince Alex, first of his name, adoptive son of King James Valenti, known for his intellect and beauty, completely strung out and naked against sheets made of the finest Antarian silks.

"How long until the little pest makes you leave?" Michael asked softly, trailing his fingers over the dip of Alex's slightly crooked collarbone. Alex's eyes were closed and his lips were parted and if Michael didn't know any better, he'd think he was asleep. But he did know better and he knew he was simply in a state of bliss that only occured in moments like this.

Their one off tryst had actually occurred more than once, but it wasn't frequent enough to call it a thing. They saw each other a few times a year if they were lucky and could steal a few hours each time to sneak away. If they were supremely lucky, they could even take a night. They weren't this time.

"He said we have until six before we have to be taken to get ready for dinner," Alex whispered, not bothering to correct him for calling his brother a pest while slowly turning onto his side and letting his forehead hit Michael's shoulder. Michael pouted.

"I miss you already," he admitted stupidly, combing through Alex's long hair. He'd seen a picture of him with it all shaved off and had met him when it was short, but apparently he hadn't cut it at all since he'd been given the title of prince. Michael didn't mind.

"You come to Earth in a month, don't you? Ask to stay longer, I’m sure we could easily explain away a reason you should stay in my home," Alex whispered, pressing a kiss to his shoulder.

"If you come up with a good reason for me, I'll do it. I'm bad at excuse making," Michael grumbled. Alex smiled and lifted his hand, his cold fingertips pressing to Michael's cheek and his lips.

"I'll cause a national disaster if it means getting you alone for one night," Alex said. Michael stared for a moment before grabbing him and rolling him into his back, stealing a series of slow, deep, open mouthed kisses that only came so easily because they were with him.

Michael adored the way Alex grabbed at him, hands never staying one place too long because he wanted to touch everywhere. He wanted to remember everywhere. He wanted him in his entirety. He could never find the words for how it made him felt to be wanted so strongly if only for a night.

"Please never leave," Michael begged against his skin. Alex said nothing.

Instead, the bedroom door was very rudely and unceremoniously thrown open. Michael instinctively covered Alex’s bare skin and looked towards the doorway. On the other side, Michael's guard, Adonis, stood with his back to them in some silly act of respect while Kyle stood with his arms crossed while looking really irritated. He walked in farther and closed the door behind him. Or, tried. Adonis stuck his hand to block it from closing entirely. He trusted Alex to be alone with the prince. Kyle was still earning that.

"Get up, we have to go get ready," Kyle said. He had no shame, truly, as he sat on the bed. Michael fell face first into the pillows and groaned. "Excuse you, I'm doing you a favor."

"You're interrupting," Alex corrected, tan fingers idly rubbing over Michael's shoulder.

"I disagree. I think I just lied to two fucking monarchs that we three princes were going to be hanging out and doing princely things when, in reality, I was playing some fucked version of Go Fish with Adonis while you two snuck away for your intergalactic booty call," Kyle explained. Michael groaned even more.

"How vulgar must you be?" he asked. Kyle raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you wanna go there? I've seen your U-Mails to Alex. 'Oh, how I long to get your mouth on my–'"

"Enough!" Alex silenced him, shifting to a sitting position. Michael wanted to cry that it was over so soon. Especially when they still had to sit across the table from each other and pretend he hadn't just had him to himself. "Leave and let me get dressed, then we can go."

"Finally," Kyle groaned, patting Michael on the back before he went, "Good to see you, Prince Sexual Frustration."

The door closed if only because Adonis insisted on the prince being kept away from anyone who might catch him in a vulnerable state. Alex took the opportunity to move back for a few more kisses, all of them feeling more and more like goodbye. He remembered a time when he didn't mind goodbyes. Now they felt like a death sentence.

“Stop pouting,” Alex told him softly as he slowly weaned him off his lips, “This isn’t the end of the night. I’ll still see you at dinner and I still don’t leave until tomorrow morning.”

“But you leave so early,” Michael whined, “And at dinner, there’s people.”

Alex traced a finger from Michael’s temple down to his jaw, moving his thumb up between their mouths. He gently grazed Michael’s bottom lip before pushing down on the sore skin.

“I’ve read countless articles about all the wondrous things you say, how well spoken you are, how you can charm anyone to their knees in four languages,” Alex said, voice hot, “If only they could see the way you beg.”

Michael huffed a sad laugh, knowing Alex was trying to distract him from his sad thoughts and deciding to play along. Alex pushed his face away and went to get up. Michael pushed himself off the bed and caught Alex’s bicep, unskillfully pulling him down on top of him.

“You are the only one allowed to see me beg,” Michael said. Alex smiled at him, honest and bold as ever. He laid his weight on Michael completely, trusting him not to treat that little act with anything but kindness. It was the most beautiful thing Michael had ever been given.

He went to move up for another kiss, but he was horrifically sidelined when Alex dodged him and pushed him back into the bed to get himself up. Michael remembered the first time Alex had pushed him. His first reaction had been anger that a silly little Earth man would dare to touch him that way. But his second reaction had been absolute delight when he realized he’d only been pushed because Alex wanted him against the wall. They were so young then. Somehow, things hadn’t really changed.

Alex got out of bed and grabbed the prosthetic leg that he somehow didn’t mind Michael seeing him without. He moved with agile fingers to put it back on in record time before he stood and stretched his body out in objectively the most unfair way that existed. He was long and lean, muscular and tan. And he was covered in scars. No two scars were more than a hands-length apart, Michael had tried. He kept them hidden usually and he kept their origin firmly to himself (including how he lost his leg), but Michael had been blessed with the sight of them. They were 16 the first time they kissed in the halls of the palace, but 18 before he saw Alex’s body in its full glory. It was a small gift, but one that he treasured on nights he felt more alone than he could bear.

“Stop staring at me like I’ve just ruined your entire day,” Alex laughed as he pulled on those ugly clothes that Earth called formal. His pants were a stiff, tan fabric and his shirt was an equally stiff white thing that buttoned up all the way up to hide his collarbone. The clothing was ugly, but the man inside was beautiful and it simply made him look neutral. How decidedly boring.

“Oh, what the hell is that?” Michael scoffed.

“Don’t act like you don’t know what a belt is,” Alex said, giving him a fond smile as he pulled the folded thing from the deep pocket of his pants. He hadn’t been wearing it when Michael got him alone.

“Yes, but where did it come from?”

“Bold of you to assume I wouldn’t remove it so I wouldn’t waste time when I saw you,” Alex said, flashing a cocky little smile and it reminded Michael all over again why his people had been so okay with making him an eligible heir despite his lack of birthright. How could anyone deprive a face like that of the entire world? “But don’t worry. You and your mother both find Earth clothing to be a personal insult, so I’m sure they’ll have something nice and alien for me to wear.”

And they did. Michael had gotten his sister to see to it that they put Alex in gold if only for his personal enjoyment. Soon, he’d be in loose, silk pants and a long-sleeved, knee-length tunic that happened to be a very specific shade of gold that would probably make it difficult to focus at dinner but it would be worth it. Typically, their tunics would have a deep v-cut neckline (Michael’s in particular going to his navel as a show of both his age and his marriage status) but he knew Alex and he knew he didn’t like his scars on display, so he made sure they knew to keep it more modest and to also have an option to put something beneath it if he wasn’t comfortable. It was the least he could do.

With a flick of his wrist, Michael fastened the upper half of the buttons on Alex’s shirt so he could steal a few more seconds to kiss him. Alex rolled his eyes, but he went along willingly as Michael got to his hands and knees on his mattress and crawled over to him. Alex shook his head and caught his face in his hand, guiding him up and giving him a kiss that truly was too explicit to mark the end.

“After everyone goes to bed, I’ll get Luke to sneak me to Adonis,” Alex whispered, ignoring the sound of Kyle’s sudden annoyed knocking. Michael nodded in his grasp and turned his face to press a kiss to his palm. That should’ve been an unscarred place, but there was an unmistakable line of discolored, raised skin down the middle. Michael kissed it without fear or disgust and Alex pressed his hand against his mouth in approval. “I plan to make it so you won’t be able to walk in the morning.”

Michael laughed, “People will talk.”

“Let them.”

“You know,” Kyle said, busting in again and Adonis quickly stood in the doorway after his entrance to shield whatever incriminating position Alex and Michael might be in, “You two take more time to get dressed than it takes a majority of people in existence.”

“Blame the leg,” Alex said simply, his smile cocky as he pulled away from Michael. He kissed the tip of his nose and patted his cheek in the most loving way he could. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Not soon enough.”

“Never.”

“I’m gagging,” Kyle said in a monotone voice. Alex rolled his eyes and let his hands slip off of Michael, leaving him cold and lonely despite being far from alone. “Let’s go. I don’t want to be asked questions I can’t answer without incriminating myself.”

“We’re going,” Alex said, already following him to the door. He spared Michael one last look and a wink before disappearing with Luke, the final person who knew what was going on between them.

Luke, Adonis, and Kyle only knew out of necessity. It was sort of an unspoken agreement between royal bodyguards and the royal children they looked after that they cover up every stupid decision they made as long as it wasn’t hurting anyone. Michael figured he could actually make an argument that this did hurt him, but that seemed frivolous at best.

“Get up, little prince, you’ve got to get ready for dinner,” Adonis said as he entered the room once Alex and Kyle were gone. Michael pouted and dramatically fell backwards against the bed. Adonis chuckled under his breath.

“Don’t call me little,” Michael said half-heartedly, easily slipping out of English and into his native tongue.

“I’ve been watching over you since you were small enough to get lost beneath your bed,” he said, “You will always be little to me, little prince.”

Michael glared at the ceiling. While he knew Adonis was right, he didn’t feel little. He knew, objectively, he was nearly 21 and he was nowhere near getting any kind of responsibilities outside the ones he had. Max was the one joining the military, Isobel was the one training to be queen, Michael was the baby who was left to do little more than indulge in his desires without consequences and be the face of the younger generation. He was friendly and charming and had women and men alike all screaming their appreciation for his face and his body and his smile all over the internet. He liked that attention and he liked just being able to go to parties and have fun and have people he met make posts about how fun it was to hang out with the prince. His father didn’t exactly approve, but it didn’t matter when the people did. They liked that he was young and real and approachable.

But there was something about Alex that made him feel more like a man than he could put into words. Alex was a few months younger than him, but he had seen more than Michael could imagine. He didn’t party, he didn’t drink, he didn’t do anything that could be a sign of weakness. He was beautiful, but he was a brilliant strategizer and worked closely with his adoptive father for many important decisions regarding the ruling of the kingdom. Kyle was the one who was approachable; Alex could barely spare a kind smile to the press and adoring people. People still liked him, but it wasn’t a secret he was straight-edged and hardened. Michael seemed to be his only vice. It was so… adult.

“Must I affiliate myself with foreign monarchs over food?” Michael asked helplessly, “Isn’t it enough to simply blow his son in my free time?”

Adonis sighed, but he seemed as amused as he always was when it came to Michael.

“Words to live by, little prince.”

“I’m judging you so hard right now.”

“Like I care.”

Kyle groaned and rolled his eyes as Luke followed them to their quarters. The Antarian royal family had a lot of land they resided on that had a secure gate around it, but they didn’t really believe in castles. Instead, it was a bunch of houses and special rooms, all connected by paths that were lined with well tended to gardens.

“What’s even the point? Like, is this gonna amount to anything, or am I expected to die with this secret?” Kyle asked. Alex shrugged his shoulders dismissively. He and Michael didn’t talk about serious things. They were princes and dealt with so much bullshit. They kept each other as a safe place to unwind. “Great, I am expected to die with this.”

“It comes with the title, Your Highness,” Luke said simply. Kyle tilted his head back as he groaned again. Alex simply shook his head in amusement.

When they got back to the visitor’s quarters, three people were waiting for them to help them into their Antarian garb. There were a few different styles for different royal occasions, but, as visitors, they were typically given standard tunics. He remembered one visit when Michael had him sent special robes and wraps his way, ones like he wore when he was feeling extra, and he’d gotten so confused in trying to put it on that they now always sent an extra hand to make sure they wore it correctly. As confusing as they were, though, Alex was sure he would know how to put them on now. He’d taken them off Michael enough times.

“Thank you,” Alex said graciously as he accepted the fabrics. He went into his own room to change and would return back to let them make their adjustments. He wasn’t a big fan of people seeing his body. That meant questions and he wasn’t keen on answering those.

He laid the fabrics out on the bed so he could see what he was working with. As always, since he was 18, all of it was golden. Michael had some weird obsession with him in gold, but he never asked why. He thought it looked nice enough on him.

The tunic had intricate leaf-like patterns embroidered into it that Alex couldn’t even begin to understand how long it took to achieve, but the pants were thankfully plain. Then there was a golden silk wrap and he smiled at whoever paid that much attention to detail. He grabbed it first and stood in front of the mirror as he wrapped it around his chest, covering any scars the low cut tunic might expose.

There were very few people who had seen those scars, most of which were purely out of an inability to hide them. If someone had told him when he was being tended to after losing his leg that one of those people awarded the visual of his skin would’ve been an Antarian Prince, he would’ve laughed in their face. His father had hated the Antarians more than he hated Alex. He was supposed to stay away.

But then the king got involved, Jim Valenti creating a huge uproar as he worked to change the rules that would mean Alex could be an eligible heir. And now he was. Which meant he had to work with Antarian officials at the ripe old age of fifteen, suddenly going from a maimed soldier to a pretty little prince. The first year seemed to be full of rigorous re-training of his brain to be good at the social part of things. The second year he was brought to Antar for the first time.

He distinctly remembered the first time he saw Michael, young and carefree and absolutely shameless. He had outwardly chosen Alex to fawn over for the extent of their stay, constantly sending smiles and winks and batting his eyelashes. He leaned too close when they talked and kept offering to show him where things were. Alex had disliked his abrasiveness to the point that, the closer he got, the more it set off his fight or flight reflexes. He almost hit him three times before Michael seemed to get the memo.

When the Antarian royal family traveled to Earth for their public appearances, Michael was much more tame. Unlike the rest of his family, he’d opted out of donning more of Earth’s style of clothing. There was something so bold about the way he walked around in his wraps and robes, all of it loose and seemingly hanging onto him just barely. It had exposed a good portion of his chest and his arms, even his thighs if he walked a certain way. Earth was too hot to cover more, he’d said. That’s when Alex really saw him. He was annoying as all hell, but he would be damned if someone tried to shame him into changing himself even for a moment. Alex had kissed him before he went home which was absolutely Alex’s fault. It was his favorite mistake.

“Gold always looks good on you,” Fides said as Alex walked back into the main room. He smiled his thanks and she led him to a chair to fix his face and his hair. She was the only one he trusted near him with all the tools that it took to make him look nice enough for the queen.

It seemed to be an hour before she was done, but it was worth it. Alex’s hair was braided into intricate six-strand braids that made a makeshift crown around his head and other tiny ones throughout the rest of his hair while the majority of it stayed down and was loosely curled where it rested against his shoulders. His eyes had thick and bold black eyeliner that seemed to bleed into gold eyeshadow which led to a leaf-like design that matched the pattern of his tunic that stretched to his sideburns, over his cheekbones, and above his eyebrows. His lips only had a thin layer of gloss over them, but he looked good and a part of him wondered if Michael would agree.

He knew he would.

“Thank you, Fides,” Alex said. She gave him a sweet smile and packed up her things. It was in Antarian’s blood to touch, but Fides respected Alex’s taste for it and, although he gave her permission to do his makeup, didn’t push him for more. It made her one of his favorite people.

It seemed achingly long before Kyle was done. He had a similar get-up to Alex, but his short hair was left alone and his face was more of just glittery and not in any particular design. It wasn’t long before their stylists excused themselves and went to do whatever they did in the main house. Alex and Kyle collapsed on the couch in time to Alex’s phone dinging to signify a U-Mail. He flipped through fabric to find which discreet pocket he’d slipped it into.

Eventually, he found it and he put effort into keeping his face straight as he sat Michael’s screen name cross his screen.

definitelynottheprince: My bed is cold and yet smells like your skin. It is the cruelest combination that has ever existed. How am I expected to be presentable at dinner while being mocked by the fabric that refused to keep your body in it’s grasp? My heart aches.

Alex somehow managed to keep his face seemingly uninterested despite the fact he wanted to both smile and make fun of him for being melodramatic.

HRH.AMV: You’re incorrigible.

Michael’s response wasn’t in English, but Alex was thankful it wasn’t if the few words he could pick out from his shotty language classes taught him anything. He understood the words floor, bed, week, and what was technically spoon but was slang for something that Alex knew had to be vulgar. Michael had a way with words in all four languages he knew and all of those ways were melodramatic and raunchy.

HRH.AMV: Does a moment ever pass where you’re not thinking about sex?

definitelynottheprince: Who says I’m thinking about sex?

HRH.AMV: I know you.

definitelynottheprince: You do. Then you should know the things I want to do with you aren’t all sexual.

It was one tiny word that made Alex’s blood run hot and he locked his phone so he didn’t have to think about it. With. Not to. He couldn’t explain why that was so exhilarating.

“Are you seriously making plans to get laid again already?” Kyle asked, “Literally how? Who has the stamina for all that?”

“Clearly not you,” Alex shot back. Kyle made a face mockingly.

“I just don’t get it,” Kyle sighed in exasperation, “Like, if it was Isobel, I’d get it.”

“So you’re homophobic?”

“No, let me finish,” Kyle scoffed and Alex waved him on while Luke watched with a bemused expression from where he leaned against the wall, “Isobel, I get it. She’s hot and could probably crush me. Max, I kinda get it, he’s nice and has that whole good-boy-soldier thing going for him. But Michael? The dude is known for being chill, I get it, but he loses all the charm when you see him five minutes after a party and he’s throwing up in the garden. Or how about the fact that he refuses to learn my name and just refers to me as the pest.”

“In his defense, you are a pest to him,” Alex pointed out.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Sorry, I failed to hear a question.”

Luke snorted and Kyle fixed Alex with a look. He wasn’t quite sure what he expected to get out of him. Alex had never been a secret-sharer, even when they were young and played toy soldiers in the little yard outside the palace. That had only gotten worse as Jim Valenti became king and, instead of listening to his former right hand man Jesse Manes, had him publicly tried for war crimes. His tight-lipped nature extended to his personal relationships, much to Kyle’s dismay.

“The question was how did you get involved with him in the first place? Because I’ve been trying to figure out how you two even get along since you started hooking up two years ago,” Kyle said, voice so honest Alex didn’t bother pointing out that it had been much longer than two years and Kyle just hadn’t noticed. “Just… make it make sense.”

Alex rolled his neck and tried to think about what exactly it was about Michael that made it hard to look away from him but also made it easy to go so long without speaking. As attached as they were when they were on the same planet and as much as they communicated in the weeks before and the weeks after, there were typically multiple days they went without so much as a word between them. They did their own duties and this thing they had found themselves in wasn’t a part of that. Michael spun romantic words for him, but Alex wasn’t his only pastime and probably never would be.

“He’s…” Alex trailed off, trying to find the words and settling on something that did the man no justice, “Simple.”

“Simple as in stupid?” Kyle asked dully.

“Simple as in not a problem,” Luke corrected.

“Simple as in he doesn’t ask questions,” Alex finalized. He meant it to be sort of lighthearted, but Kyle turned to him with concerned eyebrows.

“What do you mean?” he asked, but quickly decided to answer himself with another question, “You mean he doesn’t know about‒”

“No,” Alex said dismissively, carefully pushing himself to his feet and subtly checking his balance, “And he never will. We have dinner to attend to.”

Alex sort of checked out mentally for his own good after that, the walk to the dining hall and finding their seats completely a blur. He only seemed to come back to consciousness when Michael made his grand entrance. His robes and wraps were a dark red, hardly hanging onto his body as always. It exposed his chest more than anything else, the dangerous placement exposing the beginnings of the trail of hair beneath his navel. His head was held high, a thin gold band sitting atop his perfect curls. His eyes had cloudy red makeup surrounding them and his lips were painted gold. Alex smiled carefully to himself as he admired him.

Kyle was really the only one who actually looked forward to the food Antar had to offer. Alex didn’t hate it, but he would choose a pot of mac and cheese over the under-cooked meat of an animal that had no English name. Michael had tried to teach him how to say it, but it had way too many syllables and way too many consonants that Alex just couldn’t keep up. He’d just laughed and kissed him and never brought it up again.

“So, Prince Alex,” the smooth voice of Michael’s mother, the queen, said in her thick accent, capturing his attention. Queen Celeano (Lady No if she liked you) was a beautiful woman, but if that’s all someone took her for, they’d be sorely mistaken.

She ran things more than her husband did, her iron fist impossible to ignore. She was fiercely protective of her children and rightfully skeptical of everyone who entered her home. But she seemed to like Alex. She never raised her voice or gave him that demanding tone she used on everyone else. The tone she used on him was motherly and made him eager to please her. When he was alone, he envied that Michael got that tone of voice from her all the time.

“Michael said you were in school. Are you going to classes with other people or do you have a tutor?”

“Oh,” he said, shifting in his seat and hoping he was presentable enough for her, “Both. I go to only one class in a school every week, typically. I do like being there, but it’s difficult to balance everything with adding travel time and dealing with the stress of being in a crowded area.”

“Of course,” Lady No said, smiling, “And you’re doing well? It’s not easy I'm sure."

"I'm doing well. I'm studying poly-sci and I'm focusing on international relations right now," he explained. Alex's eyes involuntarily slid to Michael, watching him hide his smile by shoving food into his mouth with a two-pronged fork.

"Good. And languages, are you working on learning ours?" Lady No asked, seemingly oblivious to her son's antics. When Alex said he was, she followed it with a sentence in her own tongue that Alex could hardly decipher.

"...no?" he answered half-heartedly. Every Antarian in the room chuckled to themselves and Alex tried not to be offended by that.

"I asked if you were interested in becoming fluent," she said, still smiling easily, "I'm sure it'll come eventually."

"If he was here more often, I could make him learn,” Michael said boldly.

"But obviously that's a bigger discussion to have," Alex covered quickly, hoping for an underlying message of ‘I care about your son but I’m not trying to destroy his innocence I swear’.

"Yes, a bigger discussion," Lady No said, nodding.

"Maybe you could convince him into doing more schooling. I'm sure it'd sound better coming from you," King Heinar said gruffly. Michael gave an award-winning smile to his father which just earned a sigh.

The rest of the dinner went by slowly, but Alex's mind already started coming up with ways to make that suggestion a reality.

Michael was giddy after dinner and he found himself pacing his room while waiting for Alex.

Within the hour, there was a knock on Michael’s bedroom door and he opened it to find Adonis and Alex.

“Thank you!” Michael told Adonis dismissively as he grabbed Alex by the bicep and tugged him into the privacy of his room. Both of them laughed, but Michael didn’t care as he immediately went in for a kiss.

Alex was still decked out in his pretty clothes and his pretty makeup and Michael was high on everything. He was going to get to go to Earth and he was going to get to spend every single night in bed with him. It softened the blow that he would be leaving in only a handful of hours.

“Do you think we can set an alarm?” Michael asked through kisses, “So you can sleep with me for just a little while?”

“Yeah,” Alex agreed, nodding his head. Michael smiled.

“Yay.”

“Before you get carried away, can we get this off my face so I don’t stain your pillow?” Alex asked, pulling out of the kiss a little breathlessly.

“Yeah, of course,” Michael said, leaving Alex with a simple kiss as he went to his vanity where he grabbed a cloth and makeup remover.

He went back to Alex who had sat on the bed. He had the tunic bunched up and was slowly pulling it over his head without getting any makeup on the fabric. Michael grinned and helped get it the rest of the way off with a simple move of his eyes. Alex acknowledged his act with a shake of the head.

Alex scooted back just a little and leaned back on his hands. Michael perched himself on his lap and spared a simple kiss to the spot on his chest right above the wrap he hadn’t removed before getting to work on his face.

Michael had vivid memories of the confusingly slow process that was getting Alex to trust him with his body. He wasn’t sure why, but the search results that came up when Michael looked up his birth father told him it wasn’t due to a loving childhood. Still, he didn't look too far into it because that seemed like an all too obvious breech of Alex's personal boundaries.

Their first kiss had ended in Alex pinning his wrists to the wall whenever he tried to grab his waist. After that was years of every meeting involving gradual progress in Alex’s comfort levels. Hell, they were still making progress. It started with Michael not being allowed to touch him anywhere, his hands always being tucked behind his back or pinned down as Alex kissed him or touched him where he wanted to be touched all while fully clothed. They were seventeen the first time Alex had stripped Michael bare and yet kept himself covered. It was the most vulnerable Michael had ever felt in his life. As a reward for that trust, Alex let him touch his biceps when they kissed and his hair when Alex went down on him.

On Michael’s 18th birthday, Alex had taken his shirt off for the first time. Michael hadn’t been allowed to touch his scarred body with his hands, but he got to be chest to chest with him while he touched himself which had absolutely solidified his infatuation with him.

The next time he saw him, after sharing pictures and conversations from the safety of being on separate planets, Alex had gotten completely stripped too (with the exception of his prosthetic). That time had been a little different in a few ways. There was no touching at all, but Michael got to watch him get himself off and Alex had watched him right back. Then Alex had locked himself in the bathroom for 30 minutes. But, when he came back out, fully dressed, he’d crawled into bed and they cuddled for the first time.

Even though Kyle had ruined it by busting in, Michael remembered that night as the moment things really changed between them. It no longer felt like a game that made Michael feel giddy. It’d taken him a long time, too long, to fully realize the weight of what Alex was giving him and that it wasn’t a game to Alex at all. It never had been. That’s when Michael started laying on the sweet talking as thick as he wanted.

Two years after that realization, Michael was given free reign of Alex’s body with few restrictions. He could touch designated places with his hands: his face, his biceps, his thighs, his upper chest, and his hips. Michael could go down on him, but his hands had to be in visible areas and Alex typically chose to pin them down during it so he didn’t have to think. More often than not, Michael would still lay on his back with his hands tucked beneath him while Alex took over his mouth. No questions asked other than ‘is this okay?’. It made every step hold more weight than his casual hookups had. There was not a single thing boring or pointless about having Alex Manes in his bed.

“Up,” Alex dictated when Michael finished with his face and Michael listened without argue.

Alex removed his pants and got to work to take off his prosthetic. Instead of making Alex uncomfortable by staring, he turned the cloth to a clean corner before pouring a little remover on it and beginning to wipe at his own face. Alex took over when he put his prosthetic to the side.

“So, I may have thought of an excuse on how to get you to stay longer on my planet,” Alex said cooly, holding Michael’s chin in his hands as he wiped his face clean. His eyes were closed while Alex cleaned them, but that didn’t stop him from smiling so wide his cheeks hurt.

“Go on," Michael said, unable to hide the giddy tone in his voice. Alex hummed.

“You could do a semester of schooling there,” he suggested, "More if you like it."

Michael peeked open the eye that Alex wasn’t working on. “School?"

“School,” Alex said, his voice still controlled and face stoic despite literally sitting in nothing but his briefs and a wrap, “You could stay in the palace.”

"That's a long time."

"Yes, well," Alex sighed, "One semester is a few months. Then you could go home. And there's plenty of people who I'm sure would love to get their hands on an Antarian prince."

"Plenty of people?" Michael huffed, "What about you?"

"I'll be there when you want me," Alex said simply, but it was clearly an open invitation.

Michael wasn’t quite sure why Alex was trying to give him the option to opt out. The whole reason he wanted to go to Earth was to be with Alex. Michael already had his mind set on spending all of his free time with Alex while he was there. It would be difficult navigating being Princes from different planets while keeping their relationship a secret, but they could do it. Michael could make anything happen if it meant having Alex. He didn't know why Alex didn't see that.

“I would spend every night in your bed,” Michael said, leaning closer. Alex leaned back and held his face at bay. Michael knew better than to take offense to that and just kept smiling. “Don't be so scared of me.”

"I'm not scared of you."

“You are,” he teased which Alex really didn't seem to like because he glared, "It'll be okay. No one's going to find out. Your home is a safe place for a foreign Prince, all the security. Perfect. And Luke and Adonis will help cover our tracks. We're safe and I want you.”

“You seem so confident that things will work out,” Alex said skeptically. Michael grinned.

“If I’m with you, I’ll always make things work.”

Alex let him come closer for a kiss and he pressed in hard right back. Michael could feel the tension radiating off him and cautiously reached his hand out to place on his thigh. He didn’t add any pressure, but he rubbed his thumb in circles until Alex stopped stressing so much.

“This is good,” Michael told him, “Isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s good,” he agreed, breaking the kiss only to get a good view of his face to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. Alex tossed the cloth off to the side and cupped the side of Michael’s neck in his hand. They stared at each other for a moment as Alex let it sink it. It was easy to forget how nervous Alex was to accept anything good. But Michael was going to make sure he finally started accepting that he deserved them. “Wouldn’t you miss your random one night stands?”

“Why would I when I had you with me all the time?” Michael asked. Alex scanned his face again.

“I’m temporary,” he said. Michael shook his head.

“I want to be with you,” he said honestly. He’d said those words in a lot of different ways, but that was the first time he’d said them so directly. He saw Alex swallow harshly before just going in for another kiss. Michael didn’t mind.

Alex laid him back into the bed, his hands slipping easily into the wraps around his body to get to his skin. Michael put his hand on Alex’s cheek and kept it there. The prospect of getting more of him than little moments a few times a year was exhilarating. Imagining his bed smelling like him at all times was almost too much. Things were going to be better than he could’ve dreamed.

He carefully moved his other hand to the wrap on Alex’s chest.

“Can I take this off?”

Alex agreed without hesitation.

Things happened extremely quickly.

The door slammed open and Alex woke up in defensive mode. Too many nights his father had come into his bedroom as a test, making sure he was alert. That wasn’t something that could ever be un-taught. So, just like his father taught, he grabbed the knife that he always kept within reaching distance and threw it at the doorway with unparalleled precision.

It was only when Adonis dodged it by using his telekinesis that Alex even realized it wasn’t his dad or an intruder. He didn’t apologize, though, and he didn’t feel guilty. Who just busts into someone’s room? So he reached for his prosthetic and started to quickly put it on even though he didn’t know what was going on.

Michael woke up at that moment and lazily started rambling in Antarian. Adonis had already locked the door behind him and was in the process of moving Michael’s armoire in front of the singular window in his room. All that told Alex was that something was wrong and so he picked up the pace.

Adonis answered Michael in clipped Antarian, his voice rugged in a way that it never was and chills covered Alex’s skin. He grabbed the pants that he’d worn the night before and the wrap, putting them on as quickly as he could.

“What?” Michael asked, still in a different language but Alex understood that much. Alex started towards the door to retrieve his knife.

Adonis answered him in that same rough tone, sparing Alex a glance as he did so. Most of the words flew over his head, but he’d overheard enough Antarian’s speak about him that he caught one word. His whole body froze and he looked over at Adonis, feeling every bit of that soldier his father had raised slowly build back up inside him. He’d tried so hard to not be that person anymore, but at the simple word ‘Prince’ there was no keeping it at bay.

“Kyle?” Alex asked carefully, voice devoid of emotion, “Is he alive?”

Adonis sighed and turned to him, an apologetic look in his eyes.

“Yes,” he answered in English, “He was shot at, but the bullet just grazed the side of his head. From where we think the shooter was standing, it looks like it was meant to be a direct execution-style shot, but it was swerved at the last minute when they realized they had the wrong prince.”

Alex lifted his chin.

“How do you do know it was because they had the wrong prince?” Alex asked. Truthfully, he knew he was right. No one wanted to assassinate Kyle. On both planets, the Valentis were well loved. Jim listened to his people and accommodated them and that made him easy to respect and appreciate. Kyle was an extension of that and he was loved even more. Alex was like, sure, but he had one person who would be willinging to put a hit out on him and he couldn’t be shocked to discover it finally happened.

“It’s a theory, but we don’t know why it would’ve missed if it hadn’t been and then there wasn’t a follow up shot,” Adonis explained.

“Right,” Alex said, nodding curtly, “I’ve got to go.”

“What?!” Michael nearly squeaked and Adonis shot him a look to tell him to be quiet, “You’re not going anywhere when there’s someone out there that wants to kill you!”

“I already know who it is,” Alex said, “Or, who paid them. My father isn’t stupid enough to do it himself.”

“Your father?” Michael asked, “Why would the king‒”

“Michael,” Adonis said sharply. Michael looked up at him and then back over to Alex.

“You aren’t going anywhere. Stay here. It’s safe here,” Michael said. Alex huffed a laugh.

“And willingly put you in danger? Absolutely not. You’re already in danger by being affiliated with me.”

“But why would it be your dad, Alex?” Michael asked, slowly stumbling out of bed, “I mean, you got adopted years ago, why the hell would he wait to do it now? And on a different planet? That doesn’t make any sense.”

Except it did make sense. If Michael knew the first thing about his father, then it would make complete sense. But he didn’t. Because Alex didn’t share. He didn’t share anything. He’d enjoyed so much that Michael never asked any questions or prodded, but now it seemed he waited too long for an explanation and all the questions were coming at once.

“It doesn’t matter, I need to go,” Alex said.

“Wait,” Adonis said firmly, his eyes closed as he honed in on whatever other guards were telling him telepathically, “They found the guy. Hired assassin. Give up your dad’s name easy.”

“I believe that,” Alex said. Michael was still staring at him, still waiting for him to explain or do something worthwhile. Alex didn’t have anything to give him.

“Alex,” Michael called softly, holding out a hand to him in hope he’d come back to bed. But Alex was awake and needed to go be with his family. “It’s alright.”

“We’ll talk later,” Alex said, nearing him and giving him a kiss on the forehead, “Luke should be waiting to walk me back.”

“No,” Michael argued, grabbing his hand and holding him in place. Fear shot through Alex’s body at the act, that siren going off in his mind that told him he was trapped. He yanked his hand away and glared at Michael who looked pathetic. Maybe Alex was wrong to think being with a man who’s issues paled in comparison to his was a good idea. He would never understand. “Alex, there could be more than one assassin. Stay until light. Someone could hurt you.”

“Let them try,” he said cooly and he left Michael’s room. Adonis followed to make sure he would be okay, but Luke was waiting at the door. His face was stoic, but he had bags beneath his eyes and a set jaw that told him it’d been a long night.

He led the way back to the visitor’s building where Kyle was being patched up by the medic that resided on the royal’s grounds. They were both on high alert the whole walk, but Alex assumed it was probably for drastically different reasons.

“His Majesty is handling the assassin with Lady No and Sir Heinar. They’re trying to see who failed so spectacularly at their job,” Luke said. Alex breathed a tight sigh as he sat on the bed. Kyle was leaning back in bed with drugged eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” Alex told him.

“Why? If you were here, you would’ve died,” Kyle said, voice slurred by whatever they’d given him. Alex shook his head.

“I would’ve preferred that over you getting hurt in my absence,” Alex said.

“Oh, fuck off,” Kyle scoffed. Alex managed a smile. “You getting laid is clearly a lifesaver, so that thank the prince for me, will you?”

Alex’s eyes widened at his brazen statement in front of ears that didn’t deserve it. He glanced at the medic who was stitching up the side of Kyle’s head. They seemed unphased by the admission.

“Do not worry,” they said, voice thick with an accent that made Michaels’ seem nonexistent, “I am a royal medic for a reason.”

Alex took that as a promise of their lips staying sealed. He turned his attention back to Kyle.

“Where is Prince Boy Toy anyway? Is he all worried about you?” Kyle mocked. Alex rolled his eyes.

“I don’t care about that,” Alex insisted. Kyle quirked a lazy eyebrow.

“Huh? You don’t care that he cares about you?”

“He was a bad idea,” Alex said simply. Kyle snorted.

“Well, yeah, at first, but he’s good for you. Makes you less of a rock,” Kyle said. Alex barely had time to process that before Kyle changed the subject. “Can’t believe your dad tried to kill you. I knew he was an asshole, but, damn.”

“I just can’t understand how he got an Antarian to go through it. Isn’t he still in prison? How did he even pull that off?” Luke asked. Kyle scoffed and they both started brainstorming ways. Alex slowly tuned out the conversation.

His entire life, his father had haunted him. He trained him to be a soldier in all the ways he knew how: tying Alex down and making him figure out how to escape, wrapping a rope around his stomach and having him lug objects like cattle, tying weights to his ankles to make sure he could always run even in times in distress, and that only scratched the surface. He put his hands on him when he didn’t act like he was taught and he had since was little. It only got worse as Alex got older, covering his body in scars until he got to the worst of them all: his leg. During a training session, he’d tied thin wires to each of his limbs. It took Alex hours to get them off, but, by the time he got to his last leg, it’d been virtually impossible to salvage. His ankle had already been broken three times and now it had a severe loss of blood flow. They said they could try to save it, but he’d probably be in pain forever. They made the unanimous decision that it had to go. Which is when Jim finally had enough.

But the damage was done. Alex had already been littered with scars that would never heal, mentally and physically. Alex still remembered his father mocking Antarians for the way they dressed and everything they showed. Part of him wondered if that’s why he was so deliberate about the scars‒with them there, he would never show off his body like that and never get the attention he wanted from other boys. He still got it though. That only seemed to make his father more angry. How dare his only son have an interest in other boys, who would carry on the family name?

The thing was, Alex had biological brothers. None of them really survived his father’s torture like he did. They either broke under the pressure or they really didn’t survive. Alex was resilient though, he was his father’s favorite, he was the golden boy. And wasn’t that just impossible to comprehend? How could he be the favorite and yet still treated that way?

It was even harder to think that he was lucky. Sure, he still couldn’t look at himself in the mirror and he got uncomfortable when men gave him attention and he still couldn’t let Michael touch him in so many places, but he was lucky. And his father knew that. And he was angry.

And his voice was still in Alex’s mind. It made it impossible to accept Michael’s sentiments that he wanted him for more than something temporary. That was painting a target on his back and Alex knew it.

“Alex,” Luke said, pulling him out of his head, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Alex said simply, blinking away the memories that made his blood run cold, “But do you think we could arrange a private meeting between me and my dad when we get back on Earth?”

Luke eyed him strangely.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Do you have a better one?”

And he didn’t, so Alex slipped back into his mind.

Michael’s mind stayed on Alex for so long that it was becoming a problem.

They’d never parted on such tense and negative terms before and Michael had convinced himself that Alex hated him and never wanted to see him again. It was just not good. He’d messaged him twice, but he got nothing in return. It really felt like he hated him. He didn’t know whether he was angry or if something bad had happened. Surely someone would’ve told him if another assassin had gotten to him, right?

“Come here.”

Michael lifted his head to see his mother in the doorway. Her face was as unreadable as ever, just like Alex, and her dark hair had been slicked back in a low bun. She wore all black wraps, inches of her stomach and arms exposed. They were tighter than usual which told him she’d been sparring. Despite that, he obeyed her and stood from the table to go hear her. She placed her hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes as if that would betray all of his feelings. And maybe it did.

She guided his head to rest in the crook of her neck and she hugged him tight. She had a few inches on both him and his father, but Michael didn’t mind. He quite liked knowing she would always be taller than him. She would always be so clearly his mom.

“Did the assassination attempt really scare you this much?” she asked, combing through his hair like she’d done as long as he could remember. He relaxed into her and shook his head. “Then what’s wrong? You’ve been quiet.”

Michael didn’t know what to tell her. He was a terrible liar, nothing would sell as well as the complete truth. But the truth was scary too. What he and Alex were doing wasn’t really allowed. Antar and Earth being friendly was one thing‒but their young princes having an affair? He couldn’t imagine his mother, or the people of either of their respective planets, loving that.

“Alex won’t talk to me,” Michael offered, hoping that would be enough.

His mother breathed slowly and controlled. He didn’t move. She was thinking and probably piecing everything together. Michael said nothing.

“Was there a reason Prince Alex wasn’t in the building when the shot was fired?” Lady No asked, but it was clear she already knew the answer. Michael sunk into her more.

“He was with me,” he confirmed. She sighed.

“Oh, baby,” she whispered, clutching him tight, “What have you done?”

“I didn’t mean to,” he insisted, his voice cracking, “I swear, it wasn’t on purpose. I can’t help it.”

“I know you didn’t,” she murmured, “But you still did it.”

“I want to go study on Earth,” Michael said firmly. He felt his mother suck in a deep breath. “I want to be closer to him.”

Lady No pulled away and grabbed his face in her hands. Michael let her stare and gauge how serious he was being. Because he was serious. Deadly. It didn’t matter that Alex wasn’t speaking to him. If he was on the same planet, he could get him to talk.

“Alex is the son of a very hostile man, Michael. He put a hit out on his own child, do you understand that?” she said. He nodded and she harshly let go of him. “Do you have a deathwish?”

“No,” Michael said firmly, “But I know what I want. I want Alex.”

She scoffed, shaking her head, “You have no idea what you’re saying.”

“Yes, I do,” he insisted, “I’m not a child, I know what I want.”

“Do you know anything about Alex? Do you know why he was adopted or why his father is imprisoned? Do you know anything?” she demanded. Michael swallowed as he looked at her. She was angry.

Michael very quickly realized that he didn’t know much. He and Alex avoided talk of anything of substance and he didn’t ask. The only time he’d asked anything real or they spoke of anything real was that last night they were together. Otherwise, he really didn’t know Alex that well.

But that wasn’t fully true either. He knew Alex. Maybe he didn’t know his past, but he knew did well in school and had great aspirations to be a good ruler. Maybe he didn’t know how he got all of his scars, but he knew which ones upset him the most based on what he could stand being touched and what he couldn’t. Maybe he didn’t know what Alex’s father did to him, but he knew he hated him and that was enough to make Michael agree. He didn’t know him enough to write a biography, but he knew enough to love him and wasn’t that enough?

“I know he’s unhappy and probably scared,” Michael said, “And I know I want to study on Earth.”

Queen Celeano took a step away from her son and closed her eyes. He waited patiently, fully expecting her to pull him into his mindscape so he would be easier to mold. But that didn’t happen. Instead, she opened her eyes and looked at him straight on.

“You are my child. My duty, above all else, is to keep you safe. I can’t do that if you’re on Earth. I’m sorry, but no,” she said simply, shaking her head, “Not while I know you’re affiliating yourself with a man who has a target on his back.”

“We’re discreet!” he insisted, “No one knows and no one will know! It’s no one’s business but mine and his!”

“You’re young, you’ll change your mind. You’ll find a nice Antarian and‒”

“No,” Michael said, firmer this time. He could feel Adonis hovering close by in case he needed to interfere. “I want Alex. And maybe it’s not forever, but if you force me to give him up, I will always feel forever about him and I will always blame you.”

She stared at him, long and serious. He wondered if this was why he liked Alex so much. His mother had instilled something in him that took that controlling seriousness and made him love it. It was never an insult. He took it as a silent ‘I love you’.

“I will talk to your father and I will talk to James,” she said. Michael’s eyes widened.

“Wait, don’t tell them about‒”

“I won’t,” she said firmly, “But we’ll discuss schooling. And I’m sending you with more than just Adonis because I don’t trust Alex’s father.”

“But you trust me?” he said. Lady No took a deep breath and stepped back up to her son.

“I trust you,” she agreed, “But I don’t trust his father and I refuse to have my son return to me in a body bag. So I’ll see what I can do, but please, please be safe.”

Michael nodded in agreement and kept his smile at bay despite the fact he wanted to run through the halls screaming his joy.

“Always.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely.”

Alex waited as the guards hesitantly unlocked the doors to the interrogation room they had his father in specifically for this meeting. He was being put on trial again for attempting to assassinate a member of the royal family, but that didn’t mean it would be impossible for Alex to get him alone. Jesse Manes had been patted down and checked over multiple times to make sure he had no weapons and he was handcuffed to his chair, but Alex still felt on edge.

On edge, but more powerful than ever.

He had been spending the last week trying to think of what he was going to say to finally sever this tie to his father, but, when he saw his face, all of that went out the window. But he had to do this. He had to if he ever wanted something good in his life. Something like Michael.

“Hello, son,” Jesse said as Alex stepped inside. Luke was close behind him. Alex had tried to get him to stay back, but he insisted he was going to be right there with him so he wasn’t alone. Alex didn’t know how to say no to that.

“Dad,” Alex greeted, waiting until the door slammed behind them. Luke leaned beside the door in quiet solidarity. “Took you five years.”

“Not from lack of trying,” he said simply. It was surprising, but Alex still felt that pang of hurt. “You’ve stopped training, I know you have.”

“I haven’t, actually,” Alex said, “I spar every day that my leg allows. I just don’t endure torture.”

“What I did to you wasn’t torture. It was what you needed to become a good soldier, to rise up and finally end that fucking peace treaty. There’s nothing peaceful about it. It’s complacency,” he said. Alex shook his head and stepped closer.

“It isn’t,” Alex said, “They’re good people.”

“They aren’t people.”

“No, you aren’t a person,” Alex shot back, “What kind of person tries to kill their own son?”

“He wasn’t really meant to kill you,” Jesse offered, “You were supposed to kill him when he tried.”

Alex huffed a laugh, shaking his head, “Why am I not surprised that you think that’s better?”

“I spent fifteen years dedicating my life to you, Alex, you’re my son and I love you,” Jesse said. Alex held his chin high and tried not to let those words hit like they so desperately wanted to. “What don’t you see? You’re my pride and joy. Look at you. Infiltrating the royal family on both planets. Do you know what you could do at this rate? You could do wonderful things if you just stayed on track like I raised you.”

“Bold thing to say with witnesses,” Alex said. Jesse shook his head.

“I raised you,” Jesse repeated, “There are only witnesses if you let them be.”

They fell silent for a moment as Alex stared at him and tried to come up with the right thing to say. This was supposed to be empowering, but instead it felt more like he was just opening himself to more manipulation. But he refused. So, instead, Alex unbuttoned the jacket he was wearing and let it fall to the floor. His father eyed the gold wrap made of Antarian silk that was wrapped around his torso.

“What are you doing?” Jesse asked slowly. Alex took a deep breath.

“My entire life you shamed me for the scars you left on my skin. You taught me to hide from them and from what I wanted. But I refuse to listen to you. I refuse to let you stay in my brain, taunting me and making it difficult to let men touch or admire me. Because I want them to touch and admire me. How does that feel, Dad?”

Jesse’s jaw clenched at his words, but Alex felt no guilt. He felt quite the opposite. There was something freeing about getting under his skin.

“That doesn’t make me weak,” Alex continued, “I’m far from weak. I survived you. I can never be weak.”

“If you’re not weak, then you can ignore disrespectful desires,” Jesse said. Alex huffed.

“Disrespectful to who? Not me. And if it’s disrespectful to you, then I don’t care. I refuse to care. I spent so many years of my life trying to be the perfect son, trying to make you proud. And the sad thing is that I did. I was the son you wanted. Except for one little thing,” Alex said. His fingers skimmed the silk, begging it to give him strength. And it did. It felt like laying in Michael’s bed, like being wrapped up in a place where no one could hurt him. He felt invincible. “And I’m done being ashamed and scared.”

“I disagree.”

“Good luck with that,” Alex said, “Because I’m putting in a good word to have you executed.”

“My father is dead and he still lives in my mind, Alex,” Jesse said, smiling a smile that looked too much like Alex’s, “You can kill me, but I’ll never be dead.”

“Maybe not. But I’ll sure as hell do what I can to make sure I never end up like you,” he said simply, “I’m going to be a good king. I’m going to be kind. I’m going to love and be loved. I’m going to have a man in my bed, Antarian men in my bed. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Spite only lasts so long,” he spat.

“Don’t wait and see how long that is.”

Alex decided he was over the conversation and turned to leave, hoping Luke grabbed his jacket on the way out. He didn’t notice his hands were shaking until he got around the corner and Luke draped the jacket over his shoulders.

“Did you get the closure you needed?” Luke asked. Alex sucked in a deep breath and looked up at him. He didn’t really feel that different other than the fact that he felt like he needed to throw up.

“I guess I’ll just have to wait and find out.”

Michael arrived on Earth after three weeks of not hearing from Alex, but that was alright. He was going to take advantage of his time there.

The main reason for coming was for some big party that Michael didn’t really care about, but it was doubling as a time to enroll him in a school on Earth. The same school Alex was going to. He would be returning in a few months at the start of the next semester and, if he and Alex weren’t on good terms by then, then he would spend all of his free time trying to get them on good terms.

What he didn’t expect, however, was for Alex to give him a bright smile when they pulled up to the palace. There were cameras around so they didn’t hug, but Alex greeted him with a handshake that made his mind feel like fireworks were going off.

The next few hours were agonizingly slow and full of small talk. By the time Luke was leading him to Alex’s bedroom, he was already losing his mind trying to figure out what exactly was about to happen.

He was welcomed into Alex’s room and then they were alone. Alex was clothed in his stiff dress pants and his stiff white button up, but he looked nice. He always looked so nice.

“Hi,” Michael said.

“Hey,” Alex said right back. He stepped up to him and gave him that sweet smile that he always had for him. It was jarring considering their last encounter.

“I’m sorry about the last time I saw you,” Michael said, “I shouldn’t have grabbed your hand when I know you don’t like that. I know I sent you a U-Mail that said the same thing, but I keep thinking about it and it makes me feel worse every time. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright, you were scared,” Alex said simply, eying him. Michael waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. So he finally asked a question.

“Alex… What’s going on?” he asked, “With us, I mean.”

“Last time we spoke, you said you wanted to be with me. Do you still feel that way?” Alex asked. Michael’s eyes widened, but he nodded. It seemed too deceptively easy, but it was Alex and he would jump into an endless pit if Alex thought it was a good idea. “Then I think we should talk.”

“Talk?”

“Talk,” Alex confirmed, nodding to his bed, “About anything. I think I owe you some honesty. I felt I had too much baggage for you, so I never shared, but you were kind to me for four years not knowing why I acted that way. So I think it’s time I let you in a little more.”

“Seriously?” Michael breathed. It felt too good to be true.

“Seriously,” Alex laughed, “I’m so tired of hiding from you.”

The two of them sat down on the bed facing each other and not touching. But then Alex held out his hand. Blood pumped in Michael’s ears, but he slowly reached out his hand towards Alex’s. Alex carefully laced their fingers together and rested it on his knee. They didn’t do that. But this was progress. So much progress.

And all Michael could feel was pride.

#malex #malex fic #michael guerin #alex manes #roswell new mexico #my fic #ITS FINALLY HERE #IVE BEEN GIVING SNEAK PEEKS ABOUT THIS FOREVER

106 notes · View notes

project-rosewood-476 · 3 years

Text

Chapter 2 part 4 of 4 Of Every Rose Has Its Thorns is out now! the AU and some of the ideas and characters belong to @creepypasta-shtick and Maplehood Creek, Rosewood, and Tabby Anderson belong to me.

TW: character death, mentions of blood and gore

They needed to find Angelina and Kyle. She looked for landmarks that she saw earlier when Toby was showing her around since she was awful at street names. She kept her hands in her pockets and kept her head down to avoid any attention drawn to them. Jane continued to walk, a little uneasy. Tabby was a lot less safe with her than she was with Toby, mainly because people disliked Jane. Tabby was pretty confident that she could hold her own for a good 20 minutes in a given fight and even protect Jane if she had to. If she died then she dies and that's that. Although she was pretty sure that Jane could hold her own as well for the most part. She walked with a mixture of confidence and lack of self confidence all at the same time. Jane was a very capable person. She was good at what she did. She could easily protect them both but it would get her into trouble. She was disgraced, so her attempting to defend herself from other highly ranked proxies was a no go. Kayla had given them a picture to work off of. Kyle was a sandy blonde with a nice smile. Angelina was a very pretty Korean girl with twinkly eyes, a playful smile, and a large tattoo of a devil on her thigh. Erica was a girl of middle eastern descent, with black hair pulled into a pony tail and a slim physique. Nico was a tall kid with wavy dark hair and a dark complexion. He had a cheeky smile and looked like a very friendly person. They got to the library. Tabby was wringing out her shirt since her anxiety was sky high again. She marched right up the library steps and headed inside and waited for Jane. Jane followed her inside. The cool air sent goosebumps up her arms. She saw the librarians on edge. Tabby took note of the librarians uneasiness to the back of the library. She assumed that not a lot of people go to the way back and she assumed that there would be plenty of hidden places for others to hide in there. If they looked hard enough.

Jane turned and saw one of the librarians right behind her.

"Are you here for the special package?" The librarian asked.

"I beg your pardon?" Jane was a little confused.

"The special package." The librarian stated, pointing at one of Jane's pockets. The pocket the photo was in.

"...I might be. Is..." She whispered the last part. "Is he here?"

The librarian nodded slowly.

Tabby breath a visible sigh of relief and gave a small smile to Jane.

"We got one alive so far. So far so good" she whispered.

Jane wasn't too sure. She wouldn't call him alive until she saw him. The librarian led them to a room further in the back. It was much colder back there.

"He is sedated." The librarian said.

"We are not allowed to kill. That is for you to do."

Jane, thinking quickly, replied, "We won't do it in the library. It will be done in private. You don't have to clean up our mess."

The librarian nodded. Tabby nodded too going along with the situation.

"We'll take it from here" Tabby said faking the confidence that was in her voice.

The librarian led them to a locked room. They unlocked it. Kyle was huddled in the corner, tied up and gagged but seemingly unharmed.

Tabby nodded at the librarian "thank you very much we got our jobs from here on out".

The librarian nodded and slunk out of the room. Kyle looked up at them with fear in his wide eyes. His face was bruised. He looked like he had been through a lot.

Tabby bent down to his level.

"Hey we're not going to hurt you in fact we're going to get you out of here with your friends and try to send you guys back home tonight. Do you understand?" She whispered.

She looked over at Jane.

"Where are we bringing him exactly?" She whispered.

"We take him home. Or I can while you search for the others. Maybe Toby's there with one of the others." Jane whispered back to her.

Kyle was still trembling, but looked hopeful.

"I'll go with you. I mean two is better than one" she helped Kyle up.

In reality she didn't want to be left alone when it's only day 2 in this new life for her. She didn't trust that she would be safe enough by herself. And she certainly didn't want to have the chance of getting caught by herself or worse for Jane to be by herself if they got caught. Jane nodded. She was a little worried that something would happen if either one of them were alone. She waited for a bit before untying his ropes. Tabby helped. She was a master at tying and untying things since she has tiny hands so she can undo any knot and she went through a phase when she was 4 when she would tie her stuffed animals up like they were being captured and then untie them. Soon Kyle was freed up. Jane found something on the floor.

Kyle pointed to it, and said "That's my hearing aid."

Jane handed it to him quickly, looking around. Kyle spoke very loudly. After he had put them back in, he spoke in a whisper.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome" she whispered back. "Now let's get you out of here. We have Kayla she's safe. And we're trying to find the others"

"Oh god..." Kyle seemed incredibly stressed out. "At least you have Kayla-I think Erica might have her phone on her. I could try to call her but I don't want to put her into any trouble-"

"I wouldn't recommend that" Tabby whispered quickly "technically we're not supposed to be doing this. We could get caught and be in serious trouble. It would be easier if you just let us look for them okay?".

Kyle nodded. He understood but was so frustrated that he couldn't help.

Jane handed him a mask.

"Put that on. When we walk, act like you belong here."

"Also keep you head down low, keep your hands in your pockets and don't make too much eye contact".

Kyle nodded again. He wished he could go out looking for his friends but understood that by protesting, he would be endangering their lives. Tabby nodded and turned to Jane

"So where are we going from here?"

"Let's take him back to the apartment. Unless you want to risk taking him with us."

"Apartment is better. Less risky”

"You're right." Jane said.

Kyle looked a little unhappy at the idea of not being able to see the action and try to help, so Jane said.

"Kayla needs someone right now. She would be delighted to know that you were okay."

Kyle's face softened, and he nodded.

"Yeah she seemed really worried about you and the rest of your friends", said Tabby,

"Kayla's like that." Kyle said with a small smile.

Jane smiled at him.

"Alright let's go" she whispered with a mischievous smile.

Jane nodded and led them out. Kyle did his best to look cool and confident as they walked through the library and out the door. On the inside, he was looking around, praying to see one of his friends. God...what would Nico do? He was good at this stuff...

Tabby kept sauntering forward and kept her head low and her hands in her pockets. Jane essentially powerwalked them home. They didn't get any weird glances. Tabby kept checking behind her to make sure that Kyle was still with them and to make sure that no one else was following them. She kept her mind blank too so that no one could read her mind as someone could walk by. Jane kept them clear of areas where there were a lot of mali, or even monsters that had a strong sense of smell. They managed to get to the home without a hitch.

She breath a sigh of relief.

"That wasn't so bad. We actually make a great team".

Jane smiled slightly.

"I suppose we do."

She got to the apartment and unlocked it. Toby wasn't back yet but that didn't mean anything.

"Okay. Kayla is in Jane's room sleeping just stay here and hide and we'll be back with Angelina hopefully. That's the goal here", said Tabby.

Kyle nodded.

"What about Erica and Nico?" He asked quietly.

"Our other....teammate is working on it. Since Erica is on the run always it would be hard to pin point her down for where she is. As for Nico since he likes to try to hide in plain sight it would be hard for us to pick him out. Our other....teammate is good at tracking and picking out people like that" Tabby explained.

She hesitated on what to call Toby since he was Jane's friend but she didn't consider him a friend just yet. He needed to earn her trust more for to be considered that. She just considered him as an acquaintance that she feels like she owes. Kyle nodded. He remained hopeful that his friends were alive. He sat down on the couch right when there was a knock on the door. Kyle almost jumped out of his skin. Jane quickly ushered him into the bathroom and closed the door behind him before going to the door and peeking outside. Tabby felt the familiar adrenaline coursing through her full blast in overtime and felt the familiar dread in her stomach. She tensed up and stood in a defensive potential fighting stance ready to grab her knives out if needed. Her anxiety spiked up again. Jane gave her a look to tell her to put the knives away. She opened the door a crack. An unfamiliar proxy was at the door. He was tall and muscular, and honestly rather good looking, with neatly groomed red hair and grey eyes.

"I'm here for my teammate's mask." He snapped at Jane.

Jane nodded and forced a smile. "Of course. For Styx, yes?"

The man nodded, looking past Jane into the apartment. Tabby quickly put them away and gave a sheepish apologetic look. She looked at him with a hint of nostalgia and sadness. He looked like a male version of her best friend Autumn. With her Auburn hair and her stormy gray eyes. Jane went to go get the mask. The unfamiliar man came inside the apartment and sat down on one of the couches while he waited. He glanced at Tabby. She gave a shy smile and a small wave with her bandaged left hand. The man gave her a small, somewhat approving nod.

"You new?" He asked in his somewhat stern voice.

It wasn't like he tried to sound that way. He just did.

"Yeah my life turned into this last night", She said awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Ah, I see." The man said.

He was the leader of his own group of five, and he had been a proxy for about 20 years. He had been turned at just 12 years old, so this was the only life he knew. He understood that Tabby was probably stressing about it. Usually he didn't care; she would learn. But he was training a new proxy in his own group so he was feeling much more sympathetic than usual. She fidgeted with her shirt slightly looking down. She wasn't good at keeping conversation with strangers.

The man looked away for a bit.

"My name's R." He told her plainly.

"Are you waiting here for a mask, or has Jane not told you what she is?".

She looked up quickly "my name is Tabby. No I already have my own mask. She's just keeping me company until my mentor for lack of better words to come back" which was sort of true. The only form of lying she can do is lying by omission. She looked down.

"Ah, I see. That's kind of her." R said, looking away from Tabby. Jane soon came out of another room with the mask in a box.

Tabby nodded still not looking up. Jane handed R the box. He thanked her and stood up to leave. Tabby said a quick goodbye. R nodded at her and left. Jane closed the door behind him with a big sigh of relief. Tabby also gave a big sigh of relief too as well now that her anxiety died down. She let kyle out of the bathroom. Kyle was physically shaking from nerves. He sunk onto the couch, holding his shaking hands.

"You're okay now" she understood.

When anxiety is sky high it makes her too wound up to the point of attacking every little thing that moves sometimes. Other days it's really bad to the point of where she throws up or dry heaves. Jane got Kyle some water to settle him down. She checked in on Kayla. She was out like a light, snuggled into the blankets. Jane checked to make sure she was still breathing and whatnot due to how peaceful she looked. Kyle looked so relieved to see his friend okay. Jane glanced at Tabby.

"We should probably go..."

Tabby nodded "You're right" she looked over at Kyle "you sure you're going to be okay here by yourself?"

Kyle nodded. "Yeah-I will be." He said, sipping his water.

"Alright...." she said a little unsure she looked like she didn't believe him but left it alone. She looked over at Jane

"Let's go".

Jane nodded.

"If you see a man with goggles and a mouth guard at the door, let him in. If it's anyone else, pretend that no one's home. If you smell Sulphur, hide. If worst comes to worst, every door in this house locks."

Tabby nodded and waited for Jane. Jane left and closed the door behind her. She could have sworn she heard footsteps. Tabby followed her still keeping her head down and keeping her hands in her pockets as to not draw attention to herself. Just as they were about to leave, Toby came straggling up the stairs, holding someone in his arms. Both Toby and the figure were covered in blood. Jane could tell that the figure was a girl, and assumed it was Erica. Toby looked very pale. Neither he nor Jane knew anything more than basic first aid and it was clear the girl needed more than that. Tabby was frantic when she saw the sight of Toby.

"What happened? are you okay?" She saw the the state of the girl.

Tabby knew what to do somewhat she knew slightly more than basic first aid since her mom used to work at a hospital as a CNA before she got fired. So she taught Tabby what she knew when she had the time. The rest was research and figuring it out to patch herself and her friends up after fights. She become more calm and took charge of the situation.

"Alright lay her down. I'm going to need some sort of cloth, water to put pressure on the wounds to stop the bleeding and clean up the blood so we can see just how much damage there is. Possibly some bandages too please".

Toby didn't feel any pain but that didn't mean he wasn't injured. He had come across a malus just about to take a bite of the girl after overpowering her. The girl had multiple deep lacerations on her head and body, multiple deep bite marks, claw marks, a couple stab wounds, and probably even more that Toby couldn't see. Jane opened the door to her apartment and ordered Kyle to go wait with Kayla. Toby laid the girl on the couch and went to go get some water and cloth. Jane took one look at the girl, and left the apartment to go get someone with actual medical training. She knew Tabby would be able to help a lot, but she also knew a medic could ensure the girl's survival. She knew Kate would do it and keep her mouth shut about it. Tabby knelled by the girl's side. She gulped as the sight made her have flashbacks to when her friends jumped and the state of their bodies after. So much blood, and cracked skulls and contortions that wasn't normal for a body to make. Ones that told you that they were most certainly dead. This girl looked worse than them. Her stomach was doing flip flops and she felt like she was going to throw up. her tan skin looked pale and clammy. Toby began wiping some of the blood off. He noticed Erica's breathing was shallow. Cleaning the wounds revealed how deep they were, but thankfully the head wounds were only sort of surface level. Head wounds just tended to bleed a lot. Jane soon came back with Kate, who glanced at both Tabby and Toby, and sort of gestured for them to move so she could get to Erica. She had her medical bag with her. Tabby was helping too getting some of the blood on her hands and clothes. They actually managed to clean up half of the blood. There wasn't so much blood as she started out with. When Kate and Jane got there she moved out of the way along with Toby. She turned to Toby, "Sit down and try not to move too much. I'm going to clean you up. And don't say that you can do it yourself. just because you can't feel pain doesn't stop the damage from happening" She said it in a way that said that it wouldn't be wise to argue with her.

Kate immediately got to work helping Erica. Thankfully, it looked like she would be okay. Nothing was deep enough to get to any organs and no arteries or veins were cut. All of her wounds looked like self defense wounds. Toby didn't protest. He didn't know if he was wounded or not. He had killed the malus that had attacked Erica, mainly so there were no witnesses. Hopefully no one would find the body until his scent was gone from the scene. Jane was helping both Tabby and Kate. Kate was silent for awhile, before speaking.

"Why are you trying to save the human?" She asked plainly. Just because Kate didn't agree didn't mean that she was doing a bad job on Erica.

Tabby was gentle with cleaning Toby. Her bandaged hand was dirty and bloodied and her hands were rough and calloused in general. But that's from fights and working in a kitchen. She and Jane cleaned up most of the blood. He only had a few deep lacerations but nothing fatal. If he could feel pain he would just be sore for a couple of days. She answered Kate while helping Jane Bandaged Toby up. Taking the blame for the both of them.

"It was my idea to begin with. She could potentially have what I couldn't have which was a real family and friends. I recently lost the only people I considered family in one fell swoop. I-I don't know. I guess it was an attempt to make sure that no one else has to go through what I went through the best I can in the circumstances that I'm given" she said quietly.

Which was true that's why she wanted to help Jane in the first place. Not only because it was what she thought was the right thing to do but she saw it as a chance to make sure that they could have what she can't have. Their friends all together, alive and in one piece. Doesn't help that she has has a weird form of a hero complex that she got from her step dad. so she also saw it as a chance to attempt to be some form of a hero in a small sense.

Kate gave her a little nod. She was quiet as she stitched up the girl's wounds, being very neat and tidy with her work. After she finished, she began to apply bandages. As she did, she spoke.

"I understand why you did this, but just know that you can never do this for a human again, alright? " Erica was still barely conscious.

Jane gulped a bit.

"You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"No, of course not. But I won't lie for you either.", said Kate.

Kate finished patching up Erica.

"Jane, do you have any room you can put her in? A bed of some sort?"

"I can put her in my own room. The guest room is being used." Jane said, looking down at Erica with a curious look in her eyes.

Toby massaged his bandaged arm, also glancing at Erica, then at Tabby. Tabby looked down and look everywhere but at the people. some of the color came back to her she was less pale now but she still looked like she was about ready to throw up. She massaged her left hand making sure that there wasn't anymore damage to it. She winced as she felt the phantom cramping pain in her hand. Jane and Kate moved Erica to Jane's room. It would be comfortable in there. They came back out. Jane's living area was covered in blood, but they could clean it later. Toby looked a little uneasy, but at the same time unbothered. Tabby was fidgeting with her left hand and shifting uncomfortably. Kate left soon after. Toby sighed.

"I would have come back with Nico but...but he's dead." He said quietly. "He was the human that was murdered earlier. The one we overheard."

Tabby had that look of dawning realization like an "Ohh" moment.

She nodded.

"Well no one said life had to fight fair. At least we got 3 out of 4, That ain't bad" She sounded harsh, tired and indifferent all at the same time.

"Three out of the five. We still need to find Angelina. Alive or dead." Toby reminded them.

"Right sorry" she looked at them with tired eyes and a small apologetic smile.

"Kayla said that Angelina would hide out in the woods somewhere. The logical places to hide there are in the shrubs or in the trees"

Toby got up to start towards the door, but Jane pulled him down.

"You need to stay here and rest. Look after the apartment for me?".

"She's right. You're in rough shape. I'll go with her" Tabby gave him a soft reassuring small smile.

Toby sighed.

"Alright, fine."

He seemed a little dejected about being left out of the action, almost like a little kid. Jane hid her grin behind her mask, but her eyes twinkled.

"You being here will be beneficial, I think. You can start asking these kids where they live and whatnot. So we can figure out how to get them home”.

Tabby hid her giggle in the guise of a cough. She couldn't help but squeal internally in her head at how adorable Toby was being. Thank god there was no one here that could read her mind. She shook her head to focus. She would not and could not afford to get attached or care. She promised herself that she wouldn't forget her friends and moving on means forgetting. She cleared her throat and became more serious

"we should get going".

Jane nodded.

"Of course." She hoped the girl was alive, but wasn't too hopeful. They had been much too lucky lately. Toby went to go let Kyle out of the bathroom.

She gave one last look at Toby before disappearing out the door with Jane.

Jane sighed.

"You ready to do this again?" She asked.

Jane looked very tired. She checked to make sure Tabby had her mask on.

Tabby had her mask on. Tabby also sounded tired but resigned at the same time

"I'm going to have to be. I've made my choice to help and I'm sticking by it regardless of what the consequences might be".

I mean the poor kid has never made a good decision in her life why start now?

Jane nodded.

"As long as we're not caught, it's fine." She assured Tabby with a smile.

They walked out of the apartment building. Tabby nodded and had her usual walking position and began to humming the prologue song from into the woods since that's where they were heading anyways. Jane didn't know the reference. She didn't ask, however. They soon ducked into the large expanse of woods and began to walk. Tabby relaxed a little since the woods were like her natural habitat. but not by much. Her town was surrounded by woods and at Rosewood in the way back like behind the boarding section of Rosewood there was a semi hidden clearing in the woods where she and Autumn would spend time together ranging from 10 minutes to 2 hours after school together on most days. It was a place where they could be themselves and speak their minds and just relax for a short time. Jane was much more on edge. The woods were where the non-humanoid monsters lived. Large and small, and all aggressive. She knew The Rake lived close by here. She hoped and prayed that Angelina was still alive but her hope slowly dwindled as they got deeper into the woods. Tabby was on high alert at her surroundings. She was looking everywhere. Up at the trees, down and around. Not only looking for Angelina but also keeping an eye out for other dangers that could be sneaking up on them. Jane heard a low groan, and creaking among the trees. She heard the rustling of leaves and the crunching of grass. The forest loved to play tricks on them. Tabby jumped a little and was ready to jump in front of Jane in a fighting stance to protect her. She just continued walking ignoring the forest tricks. Jane heard whispering and crying from deeper in the forest. She ignored it, knowing how the forest worked. It was easy to get lost. By chance, she looked at the ground, and saw footprints.

"Should we follow them?", asked Tabby.

"Well, we have no other leads.", said Jane.

Tabby slowly and cautiously followed to where the footprints lead to. Jane did as well, humming tonelessly under her breath. The footprints led deep into the woods. Honestly with the way the shadows were in the forest. They covered Tabby really well she actually blended in with the forest. Jane soon smelled smoke, which she found was odd. The aura of the part of the forest they were in now was very eerie. Something was seriously wrong in these parts. The trees were twisted and groaned with every breeze. The grass was a sick, almost peach color. The trees' bark was light in patches, suggesting some sort of corruption. Tabby was familiar with the dark aura considering she had one from the darkness of Rosewood following her around. On top of her own raw personal darkness that's just barely beneath the surface. But this....this was different....it was close to the dark, powerful, suffocating aura that the entity who gave her more knowledge on the supernatural had 13 years ago. But not quite it since she could tell it was something else beyond that. She was fighting to keep that flashback from happening. She was more on edge and uneasy. The footsteps seemed to disappear little by little until they became scarce.

"Are you sure we should keep going this way? I mean the footsteps seems to stop right around this area anyways...." , trailed off Tabby.

Jane pointed to the distance. She could smell smoke. And in the distance she could have sworn she saw a small figure, wrapped in a coat, sitting next to the fire. It really did look like Angelina from a distance.

"Should we approach it?".

"I don't see why not..."

Tabby took a deep breath and walked forward. Jane joined her. One of them stepped on a twig and it made a loud crack. The figure turned and looked at them. She didn't flee. Tabby froze and gave a small wave. Jane slowly approached closer. Tabby continued to walk closer. Jane soon saw a girl who looked a lot like Angelina. But something was...wrong with her. Tabby noticed something was wrong too. She stopped walking. Her intuition was screaming at her that to stop and run. But she didn't raise herself to be a coward and it was beaten into her not to be one. So she just froze. She gave Jane a look that said "are you sure that we should continue?". Jane frowned softly. She decided to call out to the girl. "Angelina?" The girl looked up at them. She had some weird markings on her hands that were definitely not on the photo that Kayla had shown them, but otherwise she was a dead ringer.

"Are you Angelina? Because we can get you out of here and somewhere safe" Jane finally said.

Angelina nodded. She turned away a bit and coughed into her elbow before offering them a small smile.

"Let's get you out of here" Tabby offered her right hand to help her up and to show her that they weren't going to hurt her.

Angelina took her hand. Her hands felt very cold. Jane noted the marks and felt a little uneasy. Tabby helped her up and eyed her to see if she had injuries. She began to walk with her. Angelina didn't look injured. Just a bit off. She walked with Jane and Angelina. Making sure that she was still with them. Jane looked at Angelina's hands.

"How long has that been going on, hon?" She asked politely.

"About two days." Angelina responded.

Tabby listened intently. Jane was just chatting to Angelina to calm her down, and get her to open up. Tabby paid attention to her surroundings to make sure that they weren't going to be attacked. Jane learned that Angelina had never met her father, that her mother was a principal at a high school, and that she had a little sister named Amanda. Tabby was making comparisons from Angelina's life and her old life in her head. Tabby had two brothers. One older and one younger she is the middle child. Mother worked a lot so she never really saw her. Real dad died and her step dad was an abusive stay at home dad. Jane could tell by the way Angelina talked and spoke about her life and the events within them that she was a hybrid. There was no question about it. She would be a lot safer there than any of her other friends. Tabby continued to say nothing as she listened and kept walking. They soon got to the entrance of the woods, almost like the forest was trying to spit them out.

"Ah finally it's good to be out".

Jane nodded. Angelina looked at the ground and avoided Tabby's face. Tabby looked at Angelina curiously. Wondering why she was avoiding her gaze. But she assumed it was just a nervous thing. After all she did the same thing with Toby at first. She didn't say anything on it so she dropped it. Jane felt a weird aura coming off of Angelina.

"Are my friends okay?" She asked Jane quietly.

Jane nodded.

"Well most of them are....Nico is well....dead" Tabby put it bluntly and she shifted uncomfortably and looked down.

Jane expected Angelina to break down in tears. To cry. But she didn't. She just kept her eyes on the ground.

"It's my fault." She whispered softly.

"Hey listen it wasn't your fault. You didn't know. From what Kayla told us you kinda all went separate ways after you all landed. How could you have anything to do with his death. He's the one who got himself killed. Not you", Tabby said softly.

"No, you don't understand." Angelina said quietly. "It was my fault-" She stopped talking and looked at the ground.

Tabby nodded.

"You can tell us later once we get somewhere semi safer. Let's keep going".

Jane nodded. They would be much safer with Angelina if she was correct in her assumption that she was a hybrid. Tabby sighed and rubbed her face. Her insomnia was wearing off and it wasn't until now how she realized how tired she was. She kept walking forward. Jane saw the apartment building in the distance. Tabby continued walking, making sure that Jane and Angelina were right behind her. Jane caught up with Tabby.

"Do you see the marks on her hands?" She whispered to Tabby.

Tabby nodded and whispered "yeah but I didn't say anything about it".

"It looks a lot like the corruption of the woods now that I think about it."

"Why would the woods be corrupted by that though?".

“No, that's not it. I think the woods are starting to corrupt her."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think she's telling us the full truth.".

"Well once we get into your apartment we'll ask her again since we're not going to be out in the open"

Jane nodded. They soon got to the apartment building entry. Jane pulled the doors open. A couple of proxies were hanging by the front desk. Tabby stood up straight and kept an emotionless expression and just stared straight ahead not giving any of the proxies any attention. Jane did the same, and Angelina followed suit awkwardly, also ignoring the group. They were picking on a younger proxy. Tabby gave a quick pitiful look at the younger proxy who was being picked on but quickly looked away deciding not to do anything as she had bigger fish to fry with Jane and Angelina. Jane sighed and just quickly ushered them along. Angelina kept her head down. Jane noticed how tired she was, and how frayed she must have been for the whole day. Tabby sighed in relief as it was good to be back somewhere familiar. Jane opened the door to the apartment. Toby was talking to Kyle softly. It looked like Kyle had been crying. Erica had gotten out of bed and was settled on the couch with Kayla, who had also been crying. Tabby sighed and sounded tired.

"What happened?"

Toby sighed.

"I told them the news about Nico. Kid was really popular." He muttered to Tabby.

Tabby rolled her eyes. Which made her look insensitive. Death happens all the time. To her they were acting really sensitive. They should just get over it. In fact they should be goddamn lucky that they only lost one friend and not all of them like she did. Then she gave a guilty apologetic look because she knew better. She understands what it's like to lose a friend. She cleared her throat.

"We've found Angelina. Have you found out where they all live yet?" She said quietly after awhile.

Erica was really the only one who noticed Tabby's eye roll. The rest were too busy in their own grief. Erica drew further into herself, eyebrows furrowed. Angelina didn't go to talk to her friends. She just lingered by the door.

"I have." Toby said. "They live pretty close to Rosewood actually.".

Tabby palled at the mention of her old school.

"Well that's convenient. I know where that is. How do we get them back?".

Toby sighed.

"I'll take them. Don't worry about it."

He wanted this over and done with.

"You sure?" She leaned against the door.

If she took one more step then she would collapse onto the floor and her body would shut down to get the sleep that she desperately needed.

Toby nodded.

"Yeah. You should rest." He said.

He was tired too, but Jane and Tabby had done a lot of heavy lifting that day.

"I'm not tired" but that was a bullshit lie.

Toby saw straight through it.

"Uh huh." He said. "Just stay here until I get back."

"Fine" she said like an annoyed child reluctantly giving in at being told what to do.

Toby sighed, and smiled at Tabby. Jane looked exhausted as well. She wished Toby luck.

"Hey try not to die, okay?", said Tabby,

"I can't make any promises." Toby joked a bit.

"That's why the key word here is 'try'" she said with a slightly annoyed tone but it was more playful and she managed to give him a small smile.

Toby laughed. "I will."

He looked at Erica.

"Can you walk?" He asked her.

She nodded.

"The rest of you good?"

He got nods. Angelina stood near a corner, away from her friends. Tabby looked at all of them and wish them luck. Kayla thanked her softly. Kyle nodded to her. Erica was remembering her eyeroll, it seemed, and just glanced at her with a slight nod. Angelina thanked her quietly but didn't look at her. Tabby gave them all a slight nod back. Toby led the group of teens out.

Tabby was going about Jane's apartment helping to clean up the blood. She felt like she was going to drop from exhaustion and go into a coma for a week like she normally does when her insomnia wears off. She willed herself to stay awake but it was clear that she was struggling. Jane had gotten most of it. The apartment was soon pretty clean. Jane was exhausted. Her feet and body were sore from the long day. It was hot, so she turned on the ac and took off her wig to put it away. Since Tabby was here she would keep her mask on, but when she left she'd take it off. Tabby finished the last bit of it. She stood back up. She swayed back and forth a little. The adrenaline wore off and her anxiety was gone now that it was done and they wouldn't get caught. Tabby felt herself collapsing on the floor. Her breathing was shallow and her mind retreated further into the dark dreamless void that she called sleep. She was out. ane sighed. Poor girl. She gently picked her up and brought her to the guest room. Toby could bring her back to her actual room when he got back. She tucked Tabby into the comfortable blankets and kept the lights soothingly dim but not all the way off. Jane was tired, but she would wait for Toby to get back. Satisfied that Tabby was alright, she went back out to the living area and took her mask off. Tabby was in her natural sleeping position. Her knees were brought up to her stomach, her arms were crisscrossed across her chest with her hands covering the back of her neck, and her back against a corner of the wall and bed so no one could even have the chance of getting to her vital areas while she slept. Because once she actually gets to sleep she's dead weight she can't hear or feel a thing. Which is dangerous to her in the state that she's in. Jane relaxed in the living room for about an hour. Toby still wasn't back yet. She knew the portal closest to those kid's houses was a while away but she was still a little worried for Toby. Toby had only been doing this for at the most two years. He was still, by their society's standards, new. Tabby was still dead asleep she was slightly more relaxed and let a little slack in her sleeping position. She was still curled up in her protective position but she wasn't as tense about it. If you really paid attention you can hear her snoring quietly. About three hours later, Toby came back. He looked absolutely exhausted. He was unharmed thankfully. Jane hurriedly put her mask on and led him inside the apartment. Tabby wasn't aware of anything that was going on. Tabby was still unconscious. Toby looked tired and annoyed with everything. He sat and talked with Jane for awhile about what had gone on, and then offered to take Tabby back to the room. Tabby was still out. She's going to hate herself in the morning more than what she already does. She hates the vulnerability that she showed and was about to show Toby. She's going to have to explain how her sleeping process works when her body finally gives out. In the meantime she was unsuspecting of anything. Jane offered to help Toby take Tabby back to the room, but Toby could do this alone. Tabby was still curled up and she was dead weight when she was dead asleep. But she's generally light for the most part so it should be easier for him to carry her. Toby picked her up quickly to help her to her room. Tabby rested her cheek against his chest and hung on to him him for dear life. It was a weird form of cuddling almost that she was unaware of. You could hear her snoring gently.

Toby smiled to himself. She reminded him a little bit of a little kid at the moment. He set her down in her bed and tucked her in. Tabby still clung onto his hoody, practically pulling him into her bed.

"Stay...please....Autumn....don't....don't leave me again..." she whimpered in her sleep.

It would be cute if it wasn't so sad. She sounded like a hurt lost puppy. Toby let out a surprised squeak, now very confused. But he could tell Tabby wasn't doing okay. He let her hold onto his hoodie as he slowly moved to slip out of it. As soon as Toby was out of his hoodie. Tabby shifted her sleeping position to where she wrapped herself around his body. Or vice versa? But she was cuddling with it and had her cheek to his hood semi breathing in his scent. She actually calmed down a little and her breathing went back to taking rythemetic shallow breaths. Toby decided to let her hold onto the hoodie while she slept. There was no harm in it. The real harm would be if they were caught in a compromising situation. Proxies could have relationships, sure, but they had to be approved. Tabby continued to sleep and was more relaxed after her nightmare had passed. Toby went to go to sleep himself. Tabby would stay asleep for awhile. Normally when her body eventually gives out it's a solid 3 day coma before it's just regular sleeping as much as she can for that week and maybe possibly get into a sleep routine until another bout of insomnia comes up. Toby would check on her in the morning. He figured she was exhausted. He understood that. When he first came here, he rarely slept. If anything needed to be done tomorrow then Toby would have to wake her up himself. If not then its comatose for a week with her to catch up on sleep. Toby would wake her up the next day for the meeting then let her sleep more if she needed to. Tabby was nuzzling Toby's hoody and holding onto it. Almost like a security blanket. Toby let her do so. He was pretty tired himself. He went to his own room and flopped on the bed. The moment Tabby collapsed on the floor of Jane's apartment is the moment that she blacked out. So there's going to be a lot of explaining to do on both parts. Her head and body is going to hurt tomorrow morning from how hard she hit the floor but she'll deal with that tomorrow. Toby hadn't known she'd fallen, but wanted to leave her to sleep. He began to doze off into sleep. He felt...vaguely rewarded helping them. While Tabby was still knocked tf out. For the first time in forever she felt at peace with herself for doing what she thought was right. At least she could give those kids what she couldn't have. The majority of their friends/family back and in one piece. In a sense it made her feel like the hero she once was and not a god awful person that just about everyone else including herself thought of her as. And in a little vague sense she was making it up to Autumn just a fraction. Toby eventually was about to fall fast asleep. But then he heard a knock on the door. Swearing a little, he got up to go answer the door, rubbing his eyes. It was Hoodie. Tabby was not aware of anything that was going on. Hoodie looked Toby up and down.

"You look like a mess. Can I come in?".

Toby wordlessly moved so Hoodie could enter the apartment.

Tabby was vaguely awake. She knew something was going on but didn't care enough about it. She quickly fell back to sleep. She shifted so she could hide Toby's hoody underneath the covers more. So they wouldn't get into trouble..

Hoodie looked at Toby.

"We have a little mission to do before we do the long mission with EJ."

Tabby was still asleep but everything was entering her head subconsciously. Hoodie explained that there was a family that needed executing in the human realm. Tabby hoped that it wasn't hers. Or Horacio's for that matter. She needed to kill him herself. Although she would be grateful to whomever killed him she would be pissed because that was the whole point for her taking this second chance at life. If someone else did it then it wouldn't be her fulfilling her promises that she made. But it would be someone else doing it for her. It wasn't hers. It was a random family. They had specific instructions. The family was five people. A father, aged 36. A mother, 34. A boy aged 12, a girl aged 9, and a newborn. The father and mother were to be killed. The boy would be trained as a proxy. The older girl would be given a trial period to see if she could be a proxy as well, and if not, she would be taken to The Valence Institution. The two men knew what was meant by that so they didn't go into details. The baby was to be taken to the boss himself. At least she didn't have to die. They would be doing it tomorrow before leaving on their other mission. The plus side is it would give them a bit of cash. Tabby hoped that she wouldn't be involved. With the first mission.

Toby looked at Hoodie.

"Anything else?"

"The boss wants Tabby to carry out the killings."

Toby shook his head.

"No. It's too early. I'll do it."

Tabby slept on not knowing about the horrendous things they planned for her to do. Hoodie and Toby argued for a while, but eventually, Toby was just too tired to argue anymore. Hoodie was on the verge of hitting the boy. He may not be new...but he was still young and stupid for a proxy.

"We leave to go in 12 hours. Be ready by then.".

Oh. Poor Tabby. The many more hard choices that she'll have to make come tomorrow.

10 notes · View notes

gra-sonas · 4 years

Photo

➡️ EW interview with Tyler from February 2019, right before 1x06 aired ⬅️

For a small town, a heck of a lot goes down in Roswell, New Mexico.

The CW drama has it all: there’s aliens, murder mystery, and some pretty steamy romances — that tragically are all on hold for the time being as their participants deal with catastrophic secrets and lies that have the potential to keep them apart indefinitely.

One of the relationships on the show that has stolen fans’ hearts and earned its own moniker on social media (#Malex) is the one between human veteran Alex (Tyler Blackburn) and extraterrestrial jaded genius Michael. In desperate need of more dirt on what’s to come between them and ahead of tonight’s high school throwback episode “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (WHERE EVERYTHING CHANGES!!), we caught up with Blackburn to talk all things #Malex and what the future holds as the truth outs.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let’s go back to the beginning a little — what was your initial impression of the reimagining of the series and Alex as a character? TYLER BLACKBURN: I remember the original series from when I was younger so when I heard of the reimagining, I was pretty nostalgic about it. I just thought it was great to have a character in this world that’s extraterrestrial — and pretty unrealistic in many ways — be so real in very human ways and complex. I feel like I can understand his journey a lot; he’s really lost himself throughout his teenage and young adult years. He’s a broken man and I feel like we all understand that idea of needing to pick ourselves back up after losing bits and pieces of ourselves along the way. I just thought it was intriguing to play someone who has so many layers to him in a show that’s also so magical.

Did you then go back and watch the original series or did you want to come at this from a fresh perspective? I actually started watching the pilot of the first run and then I kind of decided that I wanted it to be its own thing and I hope it turns into its own thing, so I didn’t want to be influenced by the old one much. Alex is a very different character and I feel like it wouldn’t have done it justice, so I chose not to.

One of the differences in Alex in this version is that he’s gay. Was the show’s more inclusive nature this time around part of the appeal? Yeah, I feel like the coolest thing that made this very relevant was all of the different topics that were covered, including Alex being gay, including him being in the Air Force as a gay man, his struggle with his own identity, and his struggle with his own emotions towards someone who he feels like he can’t really be with easily. I just found that all to be very appealing. It gets juicer and juicer too, so it’s really cool to play the progression.

Do we get to see more of Alex’s military past this season? This season we do not get flashbacks of that. I actually asked for that, but they were like, ‘It’s not in the budget this season.’

I’m sure that kind of setting wouldn’t come cheap… Right? To create a war zone…So, no, we don’t really get the flashbacks. I feel like what’s interesting this whole season, though, is that he’s needing to confront really old emotions and really the fundamentals of his insecurities. I hope that in season 2 we can kind of see a little bit more of his life as an adult man throughout that time and his journey because even though he never really wanted to join the Air Force, — he was kind of forced to by his father — he found solace in it in a way. I think it was important for him to be part of something, part of a group of people who are fighting for the same thing. In some ways, it was really good for him to be in the Air Force, so I hope that they do explore it a bit more.

Did you have detailed conversations with the writers about his backstory then? To understand where he’s coming from? Oh yeah. One of my favorite things about this whole process was how collaborative it actually was among the actors and also with the writers and with Carina (Adly MacKenzie, show creator). It was fun to sit there and create backstory that isn’t in this season. Some of it’s known by Carina or the writers and we’re just not finding out quite yet, so to get those definite answers was good too. Like, how did he lose his leg? And just learning a little more about that.

Okay, let’s talk about #Malex. Fans are crazy for the romance between Alex and Michael. How has that reaction been for you? Honestly, it just fills me with joy. All of the relationships on this show are complex and have their own nuances to them that I think people can relate to in different ways. But just the fact that a gay relationship is being celebrated in this way — and it’s not even being celebrated because it’s a gay relationship, it’s just being celebrated because it’s such a tangible one that there’s so much history to — I take a lot of pride in that. Working with Michael Vlamis was honestly surprising. I wasn’t sure how it was going to play out and it exceeded every expectation; we created such a magnetic chemistry. We gave permission to each other to just go to the depths that we needed to go to in order to make this a real story. I think that it’s so beautiful that we live in a time where our audiences are celebrating this in that way. It makes my heart so full — it’s progress for sure. Even for Michael, he too is complex. He’s a little more sexually fluid so for him to represent a category of people who aren’t necessarily gay or straight, they just feel what they feel for who they feel it, that’s just a beautiful thing. It really makes his character so juicy too.

How do you think Alex would deal with knowing the truth about Michael? Could a relationship between them withstand that information? I feel like Michael’s being cautious. I think Alex has really given him the runaround up until this point. I don’t think the Michael would have as big of an issue as one might think in telling Alex, I think he just needs to fully trust him first. Because he loves him so much, I think he’d be more willing to be open up. Alex isn’t left completely in the dark for the whole season. You’ll have to watch to see how that unfolds and how that changes the relationship.

Eeek! Speaking of learning new things, let’s talk about tonight’s episode. It’s a flashback to the Roswell inhabitants as teens graduating high school. Was that just so much fun to play Alex as a teen goth kid? Yes! I graduated high school in 2004, so it was close enough to my real high school experience. Honestly, I always secretly wanted to be a goth punk! So I just love that Alex was that. It adds another level to him that I loved playing on where it was like, before all the trauma he was this free-spirited rebel. It’s just really cool to be able to play that then, and now play this closed-off, uncertain version of him. It really takes it full circle.

Was it difficult to leave behind all later traits of Alex’s you’ve picked up over the season? It wasn’t too hard because I feel like I know Alex really well, but it was fun. Some of the content in this flashback was a little hard to shoot. The woodshed scene? That was really crazy to shoot. We spent a lot of time on that scene.

We can’t say anything else about that for now (check back here after tonight’s episode for an in-depth interview with MacKenzie), but one more thing on this episode: Alex’s style! Did you have any say in his hair/makeup/jewelry? [Laughs] Little things were collaborative, like would his nail polish be chipped or would it be solid? Also with costume fittings, that tux really was my favorite suit of all of the ones I tried on for the prom.

We see some tension between Alex and Kyle (Michael Trevino) in this episode, but last week they were bonding a little and Alex seemed to forgive Kyle for bullying him in the past. Can we expect to see more of a friendship between them in the rest of the season? They start to join forces a bit. Trevino and I joked around about being the Hardy Boys going on these little excursions together. They definitely put their differences aside. They always kind of give each other sh—, but they start to understand each other on a different level and care for each other more. They each have skills that can be used to undercover the mystery of what is going on. I don’t want to say too much, but as you saw last episode, Alex found the piece of alien glass and now he has questions that he needs answered, so Kyle’s a source of answers.

Can you tease anything else about what’s to come this season? Tonight’s episode feels like a massive turning point… I’m very excited to see this episode. I remember reading the last script or two and there are some turns that I just really wasn’t expecting in regards to Rosa’s death and things of that nature. I thought we had it figured out and answered, but it’s revealed even more in the finale as far as that goes. So it keeps you hanging until the very end — it’s pretty wild. It isn’t exactly what you think.

~ EW

#tyler blackburn #alex manes #malex #vlamburn #tjb interviews #rnm cast interviews #rnm 1x06 #entertainment weekly 2019 #rnm media #i wish we'd gotten another interview with tyler this year #it's always intriguing to hear what he has to say #♥

31 notes · View notes

angieschiffahoi · 4 years

Text

Reasons why Terminator Dark Fate is a worthy sequel of T2

It wrapped up a stale story and respected its predecessor’s finale

Skynet is dead, long live Skynet. Yes, there is no fate and Sarah was able to kill Skynet, but Skynet wasn’t a product of only its time nor an incident made by rogues: Skynet was a warning of what would become of people if they were too arrogant. It’s a tale of hybris. Men get too self-reliant and create something that will bring about their downfall: they become God, but by becoming God they commit a sin so big, they will need Jesus Christ (John Connor or James Cameron, if you will) to save themselves. I mean, if you don’t see the correlation between the Virgin Mary and Sarah Connor (Sarah is also the wife of Abraham, the quintessential mother in the Bible), y’all are blind (she gets inseminated by an “angel” sent to protect her, by her own son, ergo God). Terminator Dark Fate didn’t become woke, it did what T2 started to do, it de-christianized its message for a wider audience (Hollywood doesn’t pander to white christian americans anymore in 2019, go figure). In both movies, Sarah isn’t the Virgin Mary anymore, she’s the mentor, she takes action and she changes her own future and that of billions of people: she becomes the saviour. In the sequel to TDF she obviously was supposed to be the mentor to the new saviour. By killing John, it gave the story back to Sarah and a new hope for the future, taking out some of those harmful tropes where women are only good to “birth” the father of the resistance and not be them. John Connor was never a character you were going to be satisfied with, because he’s an ideal. You liked the teen version, because he was a rebel-ish punk who did everything he wanted, had a motorcycle and a pet robot. You were never going to like the gritty future version of a man destroyed by everything and also he was never supposed to become that. All of Sarah’s struggles the moment she found out she was pregnant were to protect her son from that future. Hadn’t they killed him off in 1999, he would’ve just been a 45 year old drunk - that’s where his character was going after defeating Skynet.

It isn’t contraddictory to have another AI replace Skynet.

Skynet and Legion are a cautionary tale, they are false gods, Frankenstein’s creature and the devil. It’s not repetitive, it’s not something that can be prevented in full, because humanity IS on that path. Humanity wants to play God and Sarah and John’s effort to stop Skynet was silent, it was secret (despite Sarah’s efforts to have people believe her, nobody did). Do you really think it would be so difficult to imagine another company, working on a similar project, at the same time in the late 90s - early 2000s? The only weak point is the implication that Legion would occupy terminators and the same tactics as Skynet, but I’m guessing if Sarah has been killing Terminators in the past for 30 years, Legion could’ve “read” something about it and developed itself to fit the past or got inspired, I don’t know. It’s not that far-fetched to have another AI use the same tactics.

It introduced a new scary terminator, who is perfect for 2020

The Rev-9, like its predecessors, is an inflitration model (and that’s the only reason they cast a latin actor) who is built to hunt the same way the first two were, but it does it better: because 2020 is a scary time. The T-800 had to look on a phone book and kill three Sarah Connor before getting to the right one. This one? It needs a working internet connection.

Also, to all of you saying that politics should stay out of movies,

- the T-800 was an intimidating male hunting a defenseless woman

- the T-1000 was a cop hunting a supposed “crazy woman and criminal”

- the Rev-9 is an immigration officer hunting a defenseless immigrant.

not that hard to spot the similarities.

It answered the question “what happens to terminators when they fulfill their purpose?”

Arnie is old and that’s what made it so much more believable for me.

People keep using this quote from The Terminator to say how terrible writing and what a huge plot hole it was to make the T-800 a dad: “That Terminator is out there. It can't be reasoned with, it can't be bargained with...it doesn't feel pity of remorse or fear...and it absolutely will not stop.Ever. Until you are dead.”

Here’s a few reasons why their reasoning is biased:

First, off screen reason: this is the first movie, Cameron had no idea what would become of its own sequels. He hadn’t predicted Arnold would have such a following and I’m sure a re-programmed Terminator wasn’t in its plans. The first movie was about the horror of the terminator, we weren’t supposed to feel anything for it but fear, because its purpose was to scare us and nothing else.

Second, in-character reason: Kyle Reese is a soldier in the future. He has only seen these machines kill and maim and knows that, just because this one has skin and hair and muscle on its endo-skeleton, it isn’t less machine than the ones he has been fighting all of his life. He only knows this one’s worse: because he has a single purpose.

Third, non canon reason: Cameron from TSCC. Nobody was offended when she started to develop feelings for John in that series, why is everyone so offended by Carl now? Yeah. But it’s not canon, so let’s go to the last reason.

Fourth, canon, on-screen, in-character reason: THE WHOLE EFFING MOVIE YOU LOVE SO MUCH. Terminator 2 is all about the differences between the T-1000 and the T-800. Yes, it was re-programmed, but it wasn’t programmed to get attached to John, to learn from him, to almost act as a surrogate father, to give him a sign of their relationship as he was lowered to his death. It has been established machines can feel. Even the Rev-9, who’s still fully on mission, has a personality, the same way Patrick’s was. They exist, therfore they are. They have their own thoughts, their own doubts and that means they can develop a conscience and get attached. Carl says he doesn’t love his family the way a human would and it shows, the same way the T-800 from T2 didn’t love John like a Kyle Reese would have.

It gave us a new found family dynamic and used old tropes to tell new stories

Dani, Grace and Sarah have an amazing dynamic. Adding Carl to the mix was a bonus, because it created tension, but at the same time it gave us back that soft T-800 everyone of us fell in love with at 10-13 years old.

It did what TFA tried to do but better, imho. Star Wars fans were starved and when Disney made that movie, it still was considered a good producer of excellent content (now, not so much). TDF was produced by a variety of studios, because nobody wanted to take full responsibility after the disaster that was Genysis (and who could blame them?). Nobody praised TFA for its attempt to start a new saga, re-using ANH’s storyline with new characters and then build from there a new story, but it’s because they didn’t do it right. TFA doesn’t give you time to care about the characters, it’s a messy introduction of what could’ve been a very good trilogy if only they tried harder.

TDF, in my opinion, did try harder. It gave us a simple hunter-hunted storyline, where all of the cast is in the same place at the same time. This way, you can care about the development of their relationships. You care about Grace and Dani, not because the movie told you to, but because you can see Grace’s affection and ammiration from the very first scenes and, by the end, you see the affection Dani has for this stranger who’s sole purpose it taking care of her, when she’s so used to be the one to take care of others (see the first few scenes with her brother and father). You care about Dani and Sarah, because the whole movie builds up to the mentor storyline without telling you. You care about Carl and Sarah, because of all the build up from past movies, but also because of the little things (”I’m never f* calling you Carl” to calling him just that a few scenes later or Sarah calling out the Rev-9 by telling it, “we’re not machines”). Everything it did, it did without telling us what to feel and that’s rare in a world where franchises are constantly telling you who you should like and why, instead of writing a good story and letting you figure it out by yourself.

-----

It is not by far a perfect movie. Having 3 producing companies and six writers didn’t help, the same way it didn’t help that Tim Miller was basically ghost-directing for the ever-too-busy James Cameron.

It could have been better in many ways: firstly, by using smaller scenes and a smaller budget and maybe a little less CGI and a little more practical effects. It was too ambitous and fans hadn’t yet forgiven this franchise for Genysis, because fans are butthurt babies who only want things to be they way they want them (I hated Genysis, don’t get me wrong, but I decided if this movie was going to be worth it once they said it wouldn’t be a sequel and watched a couple of trailers, it isn’t that hard). Another reason it bombed, beside the active boycotting, was the close to absent promotion except for a couple of lines.

Anyway, this messy post is just to explain the reasoning why I believe it is a worthy sequel and, in my opinion, without the nostalgia goggles on and taking out of the equation the “originality” factor, I dare say it’s perfectly on par with The Terminator.

#terminator dark fate #terminator #terminator spoilers #spoilers #angie rants #ignore #personal #long post

11 notes · View notes

noromojustkeith · 5 years

Text

Pippythewriter submitted to noromojustkeith:

Okay, so I’m Pippythewriter. I’m fanwriter who has been lurking in the shadows of various fanfic sites for several years. I’ve been reading fanfic since April of 2013. I’ve been a (relatively) silent part of the Voltron fandom for a little over a year now, and a lot has happened since then. I want you to know that after many years of not understanding my feelings towards other people, your blog personally helped me discover that I’m ace, and that that means a lot to me. Through your Tumblr I’ve found a handful of others in the same place as me. So in return I give you this story. It may not seem like much and it’s very choppy, full of typos and antiquated info, but I’ve never shared my writings and I thought this was a good start. I hope you enjoy. Introducing, October 23rd.

My apologies for taking a little to get to this submission; been away this weekend at a family event. But this was so neat to find when I opened my inbox today! I’m thrilled to hear that this blog has had such a positive impact on you, and flattered to death that it encouraged you to share your writing! (Which, by the way, you did a great job on! You have given me EMOTIONS!)

The fic in question is under the cut!

October 23, 2066

Kyle Kogane knows only 3 things right now. First, he is now 18. Second, he LOVES racing on his hoverbike. And third, because of the other 2 things he’s never felt freer in his life. That is, until he crashes. One second he’s speeding across the desert and he’s feeling the wind in his hair, and next thing he knows he’s got a cut on his eyebrow that’s sure to scar with his arm broken. His parents lecture him on how he should know better than to do things like this at his age. And he and his little brother Kent just nod their heads. Of course, mere moments after his parents leave the room his brother is at his bedside raving about how cool that was. Kyle promises he’ll teach him how some day.

October 23, 2067

A year later and that race seems miles away, standing at his parents grave hugging his sobbing brother close to him. He doesn’t cry, not until his brother’s safe in bed next to him after crying himself to sleep. Then he finally lets go, and makes a tearful promise to his parents that he’ll try his hardest to do better. To be the big brother Kent deserves, and maybe, to someday be even half the father his was.

October 23, 2071

A few more years have passed and now Kent’s on his own, and Kyle’s a firefighter. He’s working hard to save people from what he couldn’t save his parents from. He married a beautiful woman, they had a child that he loves more than all the stars in the sky. He loves her, Krolia, too. He misses her dearly, though he knows that she left to protect them. Which may sound like an excuse, but to be fair the survival of earth actually depended upon it. Now Keith’s a year old and the spitting image of his mother. Keith misses her dearly as well and is making it known by wailing his little heart out. He hasn’t said any real words yet, but Kyle isn’t worried, as Kent didn’t speak until he was 5 and he turned out fine… Well, mostly fine. Anyway, so he does the only thing he can think of and swaddles the kid and takes him out to see the stars. Surprisingly enough, it works, and Keith starts gurgling and laughing happily.

“I don’t know how, but I think you just figured out where your Mama is.”

October 23, 2075

Keith’s 5 now, and is about to start kindergarten. Kyle’s temper flares when they want to put him in the CDC class just because he still has trouble with verbal speech. He tries to explain to them that he taught Keith Morse code, and that if he has a nonverbal episode, he’ll use that. Eventually though, he has to compromise, and they agree that Keith can go to mainstream if he takes speech and if he sees a therapist. Kyle reluctantly agrees and after several hours with the behavioral therapist, they get a diagnosis. Autism. Keith, has autism. They want to put him on medication for it, but Kyle refuses. On the way home from Keith’s first day of school Keith has a thoughtful look on his face.

“Daddy?” He asks.

“Yes kiddo?” Kyle replies.

“What does retard mean?” When Keith asks that Kyle almost crashes the car.

“Who called you that?” Kyle bites out angrily.

“Why?” Keith asks.

“Keith, tell me who called you that.” Kyle repeated, trying to keep the anger out of his voice.

“His name is James, but what does it mean?” Keith asks, nothing but innocent curiosity in his eyes and Kyle sighs. Kyle was hoping this wouldn’t happen at least for a few more years.

“It’s…” Kyle tries to gather his thoughts. How do you tell your autistic 5 year old that he just got called the allistic version of the N word? “It’s not a very nice thing to say.”

“Oh…” Keith replies, eyebrows furrowing. Before Keith can question further, Kyle interjects.

“How’d you like to get a soda to celebrate your first day of school?” Kyle asks, and Keith’s face lights up.

“Can I get strawberry fanta?” Keith asks and Kyle chuckles.

“Okay, just this once.” Kyle concedes, and the way Keith’s beaming is almost worth the headache he’ll get later from Keith bouncing off the walls (red dye number 5 is a truly terrifying foe)

October 23, 2080

Keith will never forget his feelings that day. The utter terror of facing an early death. The pain of the flames licking his cheeks and the smoke in his lungs. The crushing loneliness of realizing that he was all by himself. And the all consuming guilt that his father died saving him. Kyle Kogane died a hero at 31, just 3 days shy of 32. He survived by his 10 year old son and his brother who couldn’t take care of him because of a technicality. Keith remembers his dad’s last words to him.

“Keith, when I’m gone-” Kyle started, but a sobbing Keith interrupted him.

“No dad. You’re not gonna die. You- you can’t! You- you just can’t!” Keith stuttered, and Kyle stroked Keith’s long hair through his fingers like he always had to soothe him.

“Keith, you know I love you more than all the stars in the sky, but this is out of my hands. But no matter what happens I want you to remember that I love you.” Kyle said fighting off his own tears.

“N-no y-you-” Keith stuttered.

“I’m sorry kiddo.” Kyle said, as he closed his eyes for the last time. These are the things Keith will never forget. But there are things that he won’t remember. His first social worker’s name, the first family he was placed with, even the first year after his father died. He won’t remember not speaking aloud for that year, though he frantically tapped out Morse code to anyone he thought might listen. And years later he would forget what their home together looked like before it went down in ashes, no matter how hard he’d try.

October 23, 2085

“Shiro?” Keith asks tentatively, and he gets a warm smile in return.

“What is it Keith?” Shiro asks.

“Can you take me somewhere? Tomorrow?” Keith asks.

“That depends, where do you want to go?” Shiro asks.

“Nevermind, forget it.” Keith says, not making eye contact.

“Keith, I have to know where we’re going. Otherwise how are we supposed to get there?” Shiro tries to lighten the mood but Keith still won’t look him in the eye. Shiro sobers. “Keith, what’s going on, huh? What’s wrong?”

“I… The place I want to go to is a graveyard.” Keith states vaguely.

“Okay, which one?” Shiro asks, and Keith, of all things, blushes.

“I- I’m not sure what it’s called. It’s, the one in the city? For… For ‘fallen heroes’? I think…” Keith asks, unsure.

“I think I know which one you’re talking about, I can take you there.” Shiro replies, smiling reassuringly.

“Thanks.” Keith says.

“Okay well, if we’re going to make that trip tomorrow you better get some sleep.” Shiro states, firm but kind.

“That’s all you’re gonna say?” Keith asks, confused.

“What else would I say?” Shiro asks.

“You’re not gonna ask me any questions?” Keith asks, afraid of the answer.

“Why would I?” Shiro asks curiously.

“I don’t know, just… I don’t know.” Keith trails off. Shiro gives him that same reassuring smile.

“I figure you’ll tell me when you’re ready.” Shiro shrugs, and Keith finally looks at him.

“Thank you.” Keith replies empathetically.

“No problem kiddo.” Shiro says, not knowing what he’s gotten himself into. He finds out at 5 AM when he hears a knock on his and Matt’s door. Thankfully Matt is still (not after waking up, but STILL awake) awake, and answers.

“Why if it isn’t Kashi’s shadow? You want me to get him? SHIRO! Keith’s here for your late night escapades!” Matt yells, Shiro groans.

“It’s 5 in the morning Matt.” Shiro says and winces when he realizes his mistake.

“Well then someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” Matt says and narrowly misses the pillow that Shiro throws at him. “Sorry Keith. But it looks like it’s too early for your hero to do the one thing-”

“I’m up, I’m up.” Shiro protests and proceeds to get up. “Just give me a second to get dressed.” Keith nods and Shiro gets dressed. “Okay, let’s go.” The ride to the graveyard is silent, with Keith looking out the window with a solemn look on his face. “Alright, we’re here.”

“Can… Can you wait in the car? I won’t be long.” Keith asks, the tentative tone returning.

“Sure, take all the time you need.” Shiro reassures. He thinks he hears Keith mumble 'thanks’, and Keith leaves the car. While Keith’s gone Shiro catches up on his emails and gets sucked into a bizzare pun war with Matt and his little sister Katie.

“Okay, we can go back now.” Keith says as he gets in the car, and Shiro can’t help but notice how his voice wavers.

“Buckle up.” Shiro states and Keith nods, once again refusing to make eye contact. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Keith shrugs, buckling his seatbelt.

“Alright. But I’m here if you need to talk.” Shiro says, and is met with a contemplative silence.

“My dad was a firefighter.” Keith whispers so softly that Shiro almost doesn’t catch it.

“That’s cool. Did he save a lot of people?” Shiro says, and quickly realizes it was the wrong thing to say because Keith flinches. “You sure you’re alright?”

“I’m fine.” Keith states weakly, but Shiro’s getting more because Keith’s shaking now. Shiro pulls over.

“Keith, Keith it’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it if you’re not ready.” Shiro tries to reassure Keith, but he’s inconsolable at this point.

“No! No, I… I have to.” Keith states almost resignedly.

“Are you sure?” Shiro is met with silence. “Keith…”

“You deserve to know.” Keith says, and this time it’s said with the determination that Shiro remembers.

“Okay, take your time.” Shiro reassures softly.

“My dad, he… He was the only one who cared about me. For a long time it was just the 2 of us. When I was 10 there was… Our house caught on fire. He gave me his breathing mask… We both got out but… He died a couple of hours later in the hospital. It was a little over 5 years ago.” Keith was trying so hard not to cry at this point and Shiro could tell.

“Keith I’m…” Shiro starts, but trails off. Instead he decides to start stroking Keith’s hair, not knowing that Kyle would have done the same thing. Keith finally breaks down, and Shiro pulls him into a hug. “It’s okay Keith, I’m… I’m not your father but I’m here. And I’ll never give up on you.”

October 23, 2087

Keith hasn’t gotten off the couch in 3 days. It’s been 2 months since the Kerberos went offline. 66 days since the Kerberos crew was declared dead. 1589 hours since Shiro… 3674598 minutes since he became alone. 94608000 seconds since he found someone again. 5720400000 milliseconds since he became alone again. Keith so desperate for a distraction that he used the calculator to do the math. He had to get up, so he did. He took his old hoverbike to the graveyard and visited his dad’s grave.

“H-hey dad I…” Keith trails off and there’s no one to stop his impending breakdown now. He wants someone anyone, to come to him and stroke his hair like Shiro, or like the father he tries so hard not to forget but finds slipping away little by little. He remembers both and cries himself to sleep when no one comes.

October 23, 2088

The day after the incident with Lotor and the storm planet is the day Keith’s been dreading all week. He hides in his room and turns off the lights. He knows that he messed up, that he should apologize to the team, to Allura. But the person he really wants to apologize to isn’t here and it’s his fault. And as if the universe wants to punish him there’s a knock on the door.

“Hey Mullet. Come on, open up!” It’s Lance, obviously. Keith doesn’t have the energy to argue so he opens the door wordlessly and let’s Lance in. “Hunk made those amazing arepas for breakfast you have t-”

“Lance is there something important you want to talk about?” Keith says, feeling guilty but wanting Lance to let him suffer in silence.

“Well I just wanted to cheer you up, but since you insist on being the broody loner why don’t we talk about how you totally demeaned Allura’s idea that she was totally right about, by the way.” Lance states angrily.

“I messed up okay! You try leading!” Keith retorts defensively.

“Here we go again! Keith gets to be leader and he’s pouting about it!” Lance replies.

“Do you think this is easy?” Keith asks.

“I think we deserve better!” Lance answers.

“Do you think I don’t know that?! Do you think I WANT this?!” Keith yells, and Lance is taken aback.

“What?” Lance asks, startled.

“How do you think I feel?! Knowing I’m failing the team, that I’m failing the ONE PERSON THAT CARES ABOUT ME! Knowing that my dad would have been 40 today and that the universe would have been better off if he’d put the STUPID MASK on himself instead of ME!” By the end of his rant Keith is panting and tears are running down his face. Lance doesn’t know what to say.

“What did that last part mean?” Lance asks, afraid of the answer.

“What?” Keith asks.

“The last thing you said, the part about your dad.” Lance answers.

“What are you talking about?” Keith asks and Lance gets upset.

“You KNOW what I’m talking about, the part where you said you SHOULD HAVE DIED instead of your dad.” Lance states on the verge of tears.

“Just forget about it.” Keith blows it off.

“Now you see I can’t forget it, because ONE OF MY CLOSEST FRIENDS JUST SAID THAT THEY WISH WERE DEAD, and that is NOT I repeat NOT okay!” Lance is crying now.

“I’m sorry.” Keith chokes out.

“You don’t have to be sorry, you just need to ask for help.” Lance states firmly.

“I just… I don’t know how.” Keith stutters, still holding it in. Lance pulls him in for a hug, and strokes his hair. Keith finally let’s go.

“… Lance?” Keith mumbles.

“Yeah buddy?” Lance asks.

“I… I need help.”

#fic #vld keith #keith #keith (voltron)#autistic keith #keith's dad #shiro #lance #angst #great work!#pippythewriter

24 notes · View notes

aria-writes · 5 years

Text

Good Morning Westchester

So here’s the first oneshot I ever wrote that I’ was actually proud of.

prompt used: my best friend dragged me to a party some of the senior football players are throwing and it’s really boring and the only interesting thing is the boy playing beer pong on the patio

Words: 1631

Sometimes I wonder why I'm here, as in life and death and existence and all that. Maybe there's meaning somewhere out there, or maybe there's not. Maybe the people out there doing yoga at mountainside resorts seeking enlightenment are just fooling themselves and others, wasting their time and money chasing something unattainable.

Sometimes I wonder why I'm here, as in THIS FLIPPING PARTY FULL OF HUMANS. HUMANS, I TELL YE.

"Hi, I'm Bill Hearst, and this is my colleague, Tyler Josef."

I pasted a well-practiced smile on my face and tuned the oh-so familiar voice out.

Presenting, the reason why. That's my best friend, we've known each other since diapers. Comes from money, but is actually pretty down-to-earth. Though the line starts to blur between eccentric and just plain nuts.

A goth chick looked me up and down. My pastel dress and matching earrings... and nails... and shoes... and purse... probably don't exactly scream 'Tyler'.

"Uh. Nice to meet you both."

I did my best to smile, but I really don't want to be here. I'd rather be reading. Maybe I can hide in the bathroom?

I banished the thought. Who knows what kind of germs are in there.

By the time I fully returned to the real world, the goth girl had left.

I poked Bill on the arm and frowned.

"Why do you always do this?"

"Because it's fun." Bill grinned at me. "I'm still waiting for the first person to question if that's your real name. Besides, gender blender names are all the rage with white suburban soccer moms now. Blake, Spencer, Ryan, Jackson, Connor, Alexander..."

I crossed my arms and waited for him to finish, but he kept going. "Why do you KNOW this?"

Bill shrugged. "Because I google random stuff instead of studying. Noah, Mason, Kyle, Levi, Maxwell, Evan, Oliver, Sebastian..."

I put my hand up to stop him. "Okay, well, Sebastian is a horrible name to give your child, no matter what gender they are."

Bill swung around me and leaned against the wall.

"First of all, Michael, that's offensive to Sebastians everywhere. Secondly, who doesn't want to share a name with a crab?" He cocked his head to the side. "Or was it a lobster?"

Some drunk girl came out of nowhere, running into the wall right next to me.

"Ariiiiana Graaande? Isss that yooouu?" She slurred, reaching out at me a little too enthusiastically for my liking.

I could hear Bill snickering on my other side.

I took a step back, eyes wide. "Very much no."

"Oh." She looked disappointed, then wandered off in a haze.

I shook my head and looked around at the few people milling about.

"This place is so dead. Aren't teen parties supposed to be all, all night rages and burning down houses?"

Bill adjusted his vest and gave me a funny look.

"Don't believe everything you hear. Maybe we should get you somewhere less flammable."

I sighed and leaned against the wall, rolling my shoulders back.

"Is it too much to ask—"

Bill shook his head slightly, cutting me off.

"I am an extrovert, Phineas Taylor, and this may be hard for you to understand, but if I don't get human interaction, I can and will die." He stared at me with complete seriousness.

I furrowed my brows. "...Uh huh."

Bill sighed and tugged at the cuff of his sleeve. "They have a patio? But you have to promise you won't throw yourself into the pool or something crazy like that."

I leaned forward and shook his hand with a little too much enthusiasm. "Deal. Besides, you're more likely to do that than I am."

We weaved around two people arguing about something that had to do with the budget of the student government. I don't understand how people get so invested in this stuff, but okay.

I closed my eyes and leaned out over the balcony as we stepped into the fresh air. "Ah, peace and qu—"

"THIS IS NOT LIKE WII POOL AT ALL!" A high-pitched, but still decidedly male voice yelled.

I raised my head and stared out over the balcony like I was looking into a camera on The Office.

Bill laughed at my disgruntled expression. "You're the only who was complaining about it being boring a few minutes ago!"

"Well, I didn't mean... this!" I whisper-shouted and gestured over to a table surrounded by loud teenage boys. Are there any other kind?

Bill elbowed me. "That would be beer pong, my young sheltered friend."

I rolled my eyes.

"Never mind, that's it. Sorry, but I'm jumping in the—" I was about to head down the stairs of the balcony when something caught my eye. Blonde curly hair, greenish eyes (as far as I can tell from here), and a dazzling smile.

Oh no, he's hot.

I was probably staring for ten minutes straight.

"If you're really bored, we can head out." Bill's voice startled me and jolted me out of my thoughts.

"I, uh, wuh?" I stuttered, pulling my eyes away and trying to appear unfazed. "I mean, nah, I can stay."

Bill saw right through that.

"Finally found something that piqued your interest, eh? Or someone?"

He followed my gaze over to where Blondie was receiving instructions from a slightly confused redhead. "Aha." He pushed off the balcony and started walking over to them.

I eyed him suspiciously. "Where are you going, Liam?"

"WOO! AND THAT'S HOW IT'S DONE, SON!" Blondie pumped his fists into his air and danced around in a small circle, whacking his hip against the table in the process. "Ow!"

Bill waved me off. "Don't you trust me?"

Red rolled his eyes. "I'm a year older than—"

Blondie grabbed his shoulders, grinning from ear to ear. "Shut up and eat in the moment."

I blinked a few times. "...no? Not really? Willy-Billy, you get back here or I'm going to call you even more embarrassing nicknames for the rest of your life—" I looked to my left and my right, then inched closer.

Red reached up and slowly pushed Blondie's hands off his arms. "It's 'drink in the moment', Race."

Blondie shrugged, seemingly undeterred. "I've heard it both ways."

Red pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "No you haven't."

Bill finally reached the table, grabbing Blondie and Red's attention. I'm too far away to hear what's being said over the general noise. What the heck does he think he's—

Blondie looked over at me and we made eye contact. I felt my face flush as he grinned at me.

Wait just a clock tick, is he moving towards me?

Wait, no, what do I do? What do I say? 'Hi, I want your babies'? Absolutely not. Not that. It's probably too late to run and pretend like I didn't see him, but I'm just standing here frozen. At least I know I won't pass out because you have to have a drop in your blood pressure to faint, and mine has definitely risen. That's not helpful, me! I don't need your useless paramedical facts!

Blondie shoved his hands in his pockets as he approached me.

"So, Halo, right?" Even his voice is drop dead gorgeous, if that makes any sense.

"Guh?" I blinked dumbly.

The only good thing about me currently being rooted to the spot is, I don't think I'm going to fall over at least?

"Your friend said that was your name, Halo, like the angel..." He gestured above his head with a small smile.

...Bill, I am going to murder you.

I scoffed in disbelief and shook my head.

"Yeah, not exactly. He never calls me by my real name, though. I should be glad it wasn't anything embarrassing like 'Princess'." I unconsciously picked at the skin at the edges of my fingernails.

Blondie smiled and leaned forward.

"Eh, I get that. I don't go by my real name, either. Everyone calls me Race. Pleasure to meet you."

You know what? He looks like a male version of Rapunzel. Be still, my heart.

I reminded myself to keep breathing. I tried to lean against the balcony and, I dunno, look cool I guess, but I missed and almost fell over.

I felt my heart leap into my throat as I frantically regained my balance.

"Bwuh— I mean, you too. I mean, me too. I mean, the pleasure is all mine and... Is that short for Eraser?"

Race glanced down and snorted, smirking. "That's a new one. No, it's Racetrack. Racetrack Higgins." He took my hand, lips brushing against my knuckles.

Wow. I'm an idiot. Also, I can feel my whole face going red. Error 404 gateway timeout—

"Oh. Sorry." I clenched and unclenched my free hand in an effort to release tension any way I could.

"You can call me anything you want, doll. Oh, speaking of which," He pressed a slip of paper into my palm and winked. "Call me sometime, hm?"

Have you ever seen someone so beautiful you just started crying? I know it sounds weird, but this one time—

I bit my lip and shifted my weight from one side to the other. "Yeah, um, I will."

"Cool." Blondie– I mean Race– did finger guns at me. "See you around." He headed back in Red's direction.

I smiled, awestruck, then turned and walked away in a bit of a daze. What just happened?

I walked right into Bill.

"Yo, Eminem. What can I say except you're welcome?" He did ridiculous jazz hands, which made me laugh despite everything else.

"Shut up, Billiam. But thanks, I guess." I glanced down at my hand, still smiling. Maybe this whole 'socializing with other human beings' thing wasn't completely awful and pointless after all.

10 notes · View notes

chobit92 · 5 years

Text

Small World: Joseph/OC Part 9

Joseph Seed was working as a bellhop in his hometown while searching for his brothers. He met a woman at the hotel who turned out to be his brother John's fiancee. Joe has now lost his job but reunited with John and is staying with him and his fiancee Lillith. Joseph sees firsthand that his brothers relationship with his fiancee is a turbulent one and hopes to help with John's problems. He also now wants to find Jacob as well as make a start on what the voice has told him to do...

(John and Lillith have been in the bathroom for over twenty minutes. Joseph is still sitting on the sofa. He hears Lillith giggle. Then he hears John.). John: Hey! (Lillith giggles again. Joseph finds himself smiling slightly. He is happy that his brother has found someone. He is glad that he hasn’t had to be alone all these years. Lillith seems to care for him a great deal. Even after everything he has done. In the bathroom: Lillith is in the bath with John. He is sitting behind her and she has leaned back resting her head on his chest. The room is lit with candles. John finishes his champagne and puts the glass on the side of the large tub. Lillith closes her eyes and lets out a hum as John starts stroking her hair.). Lillith: This is nice. John: Um. Lillith: We should get out though. We’ve been in here for ages. Your poor brother is sat out there on his tod. John: Yes he is. I still can’t believe he’s here. Lillith: I’m so happy for you John. John: Um. I told him everything. Lillith: You did? John: Yes. He didn’t seem angry. Lillith: He’s your brother. He loves you no matter what like I told you. John: You seem to be right. Lillith: I’m always right. John: Hm. You women thinking you are always right. Lillith: Well we are. (There is silence for a minute.). Lillith: John...Can I ask you something? John: Yes. Lillith: Do you ever want...Kids? (John stops stroking her hair.). John: I’ve never thought about it. (There is a pause.). John: Why? (He sounds slightly suspicious.). Lillith: I just wondered. John: Why? Do you want children? (Tears sting her eyes.). Lillith: I don’t know. I bet a mini version of you would be cute though. (She giggles. He lets out a shaky laugh.). John: We should get out now. (She moves and gets out of the bath. She wraps a white bathrobe around herself and wraps her hair up in a towel. She then leaves the room and goes to the kitchen. Joseph looks up as she walks past him. She puts the kettle on.). Lillith: Did you want a drink? Joseph: Tea would be fine thank you. (He gets up and goes to the kitchen.). Joseph: Is everything alright? Lillith: I guess so. Joseph: You look very sad my child. (Lillith frowns. She wonders why Joseph keeps referring to her as his child. Maybe it’s because he is older than her and that’s just how he speaks to younger people.). Lillith: I asked John if he wanted kids. Joseph: What did he say? Lillith: He doesn’t. He wouldn’t have wanted our baby anyway. (She bites her lip.). Joseph: You don’t know that. He might have thought differently if he knew you were pregnant. Lillith: Or he would have kicked me out. (Lillith picks up her mug and goes to the lounge putting the TV on and sitting down. Joseph picks up the cup of tea she has made him and follows her. She flicks through the channels and finds Jeremy Kyle. She laughs to herself.). Lillith: This show is mad. (Joseph watches the TV. A young couple who have both cheated on each other several times, the woman even slept with her partners brother, and now she is pregnant and has no idea who the father is. Her partner or his brother. After a few minutes Jeremy gets annoyed and starts having a go at the woman then the audience clap and cheer. The two brothers end up having to be pulled apart by security. After another few minutes Lillith changes the channel.). Lillith: Does your head in after a while that show. Nothing on as usual. (She finds an episode of Medium on another channel and leaves that on. John emerges from the bathroom fully dressed and towel drying his hair which is now all over the place.). John: Coffee? I thought we’d have some more champagne. (He goes back into the bathroom and emerges with the two champagne glasses taking them to the kitchen. He pours some more champagne and brings three glasses to the lounge putting them on the coffee table. John then sits down next to Lillith and puts his arm around her.). John: What are we watching? Lillith: Medium. John: Hm. Are you going to get dressed? Lillith: In a minute. (She finishes her coffee and gets up putting the mug in the kitchen then she goes back to the bathroom. She is in there for a few minutes before she emerges and then walks down the hall to the bedroom. John sighs.). John: She’s still upset. Joseph: Give her some time. How would you feel if you found her in bed with someone else? John: Hm. She’s told you everything hasn’t she? Joseph: She was very upset when I met her at the hotel. I believe she needed someone to talk to. John: Hm. Joseph: You haven’t answered the question John. John: What? Joseph: How would you feel if you came home and found her in your bed with another man? (John thinks for a moment. Joseph watches his face scrunch up.). Joseph: Has she ever cheated on you? John: Not that I know of. I went to pick her up from work one night and she was dancing and a man got up on the stage and grabbed her. I broke his nose and his jaw. Joseph: When was this? John: About five months ago. Joseph: So she’s a dancer? (John chuckles.). John: She didn’t tell you? She was a stripper. She took her clothes off so that other men could look at her and then they paid her for her trouble. It’s where I met her. Joseph: It bothers you? John: Yes because she is mine. I hated her job. She doesn’t do it anymore though. I phoned her boss after the incident with that cretin and told him she wouldn’t be coming back. I made her quit. Joseph: So what does she do for a living now? John: Nothing. She is always upset at me for sleeping with other women but she used to take off her clothes in front of a room full of men so... (He shrugs.). John: She said it wasn’t the same thing. (Lillith comes back in wearing a long white cotton nightie and a white dressing gown. John smiles at her. She sits down and picks up the champagne.). Lillith: You been watching Medium? John: No. This show is a load of rubbish. Lillith: Oh I love it. John: I know. (She takes a few sips of champagne and puts the glass back on the table. Then she snuggles against John resting her head on his shoulder. She yawns.). John: Tired? Lillith: Um. (He puts his arm around her and pulls her closer.). Lillith: Um. Hugs. (John grins.). John: I think we should have a toast. Lillith: We should? John: Yes. (John sits up and holds up his glass. Lillith does the same. Joseph picks up his glass and smiles at them.). Lillith: So what are we toasting? John: Family. To Joseph for never giving up on me. (Lillith smiles.). John: I’m so glad we are together again brother. Joseph: As am I. John: To my fiancée. Lillith: Oh? John: For sticking by me through everything and always being here. (Lillith smiles. They all clink glasses and take a sip. Joseph however doesn’t touch the champagne. He instead just places the glass back on the table.). John: Do you not like champagne? Joseph: I don’t drink alcohol. John: Oh. (Lillith suddenly gets up and goes to the bathroom. She emerges a few minutes later looking pale.). John: Are you alright? Lillith: Yeah. I’m gonna go to bed. I’m tired. John: Okay. Lillith: Night. (She walks up the hall and they hear the bedroom door close. John frowns then sighs and shakes his head. He then smiles at Joseph.). John: So what do you plan on doing now you’ve lost your job at the hotel? You can stay here as long as you like of course. Joseph: Thank you. I have told you that the voice has spoken to me again. John: Yes. Joseph: We need to find Jacob first then we need to find somewhere where we can start working to save those from the coming disaster. John: We will find Jacob. I know many things about many people. I also have access to many records. It will be easy. Joseph: Do not be so sure. I have tried for many years to find him and there isn’t sign of him anywhere. As far as I can tell he has no address and no driving licence. I haven’t been able to find a record of him. John: But there must be. He was arrested that night there would be records on what happened to him. Joseph: I have found none. John: You don’t think that he’s...Dead? Joseph: No. John: How can you be sure? Joseph: I have faith. (In the bedroom: Lillith is sitting on the bed looking down at the picture of her baby scan. Tears fall onto the paper as she sobs quietly. She then lies down curling up into a ball as she continues to sob.).

#Far Cry 5 #Writing #My Writing #original character #Joseph Seed #Homeless Joe #Small World #Chance Meeting #Rome Georgia #Atlanta Georgia #John Duncan #John Seed #Lillith Duncan-Seed

1 note · View note

standuphippy · 5 years

Text

2018 Favorite Shows

This year I continued my effort to catch a few bands that I’ve liked for years but never got around to seeing and it was very rewarding. These shows included Saint Etienne, Protomartyr, Agnes Obel, The Love Language, Erasure, Johnny Marr, The The, and The Dickies.

Not everyone comes to Los Angeles on a regular basis so I was thrilled to finally catch Young Galaxy, Dawn Landes, Retirement Party, Samantha Crain, and Sidney Gish.

It’s also worth mentioning that I saw a lot of great openers this year: bands I checked out because they happened to be on the bill and they turned out to be great. Weaves, Thin Lips, Petal, And the Kids, Jess Cornelius, Ed Harcourt (never miss the opening act at an Afghan Whigs show!), and awakebutstillinbed all belong in this category. But the following list is of the shows that were really special to me, in no particular order after The Jesus Lizard.

The Jesus Lizard, Sept. 29, Crystal Ballroom, Portland OR “Happy Birthday, Sabina.” Seeing The Jesus Lizard has always been an incredible experience but the reunion shows they’ve played over the past year were excellent even by their standards. The crowds came with high expectations: you could feel the excitement in the air before the band set foot on stage. (I’ve never had so many strangers strike up a conversation the way they do at TJL shows.) I’ve loved this band from the moment I heard them (thanks, Dad). I saw them play many times when I was in college. They were a standard by which I measured any other rock band. I’ve seen a lot of live music in the 25 years since I first saw them. They are still the standard. They never disappoint. It’s hard for me to articulate my feelings without hyperbole because it’s hard for me to believe that I’ve found a band that’s so consistently rewarding. In Portland, there was a profound synchronicity between the audience and the band. They delivered an epic set that included both “One Evening” and “Lady Shoes,” while the audience did the Dudley dance for half the duration of its namesake song, then staged a clap-a-long during “Fly on the Wall.” They keep getting better and no one else comes close.

Fever Ray, May 25, Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA One of the great debts I’ll always owe Pitchfork is that they introduced me to The Knife. Not only the band's music, but in 2006 they clued me in to the band’s 4-show U.S. tour with a front page exclaiming “THE KNIFE IS COMING”. On that tour, and the first Fever Ray tour three years later, Karin Dreijer hid in the shadows, obscured by darkness and makeup. The Knife had changed their approach by the time they hit the road in 2014, and it was a wild technicolor spectacle for people who wanted more aerobics in their dance party. There were so many performers onstage that it wasn’t always clear who was singing. Dreijer was never more out in front than on this Fever Ray tour, supporting the excellent 2017 release, Plunge. Flanked by backup performers, she seemed jubilant throughout the entire performance. Remarkably, all of the tracks from Fever Ray’s subdued 2009 debut fit neatly next to the new material. The version of the band that was onstage made everything in the catalog uniquely their own. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to last. Dreijer cancelled the second half of the tour citing “general anxiety and panic attacks.” It’s a shame because this Fever Ray show was her best yet. Few artists reinvent their art the way Dreijer does. hopefully she’ll be ready to hit the road again in the future.

Let’s Eat Grandma, Sept. 4, Moroccan Lounge, Los Angeles, CA Every once in a while there’s a show where everyone knows something truly remarkable is happening. The audience is ecstatic and the band shares these glances where you know it’s special for them too. This was one of those shows. Let’s Eat Grandma released one of the best records of the year and delivered a performance to match.

The Dickies, Sept. 8, Whisky A Go Go, Los Angeles, CA I finally saw them after 30 years of fandom and they lived up to my high hopes. They played most of their greatest hits circa 1989′s “Great Dictations”. No “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” or “If Stuart Could Talk,” but a great set nonetheless. Their cover of “Paranoid” is a steamroller live and was definitely a highlight until the woman next to me was knocked down by an errant mosher and one of her pinwheeling arms hit me right in the balls.

I saw them again a few days ago on a bill with Mac Sabbath, PPL MVR, and Captured! By Robots and they played “If Stuart Could Talk”. I guess if you’re on bill with that many high-concept acts it’s time to break out the arms-length penis puppet.

Poster Children, Sept. 18, Hotel Café, Los Angeles, CA Poster Children should be huge. Their first three records, Flower Plower, Daisychain Reaction, and Tool of the Man, are classics, and their latest, Grand Bargain!, was one of my favorite records of the year. Their Los Angeles tour stop was at Hotel Café, a small club known for lighter fare. Upon seeing the tables in front of the stage, Rose asked, “You guys know what kind of music we play, right?” The set was a mix of classics and cuts from Grand Bargain! and I lost my mind when they played “Dangerous Life” in the encore set.

Samantha Crain, Dec. 13, The Echo, Los Angeles, CA An artist I’ve waited a (relatively) long time to see and she was worth the wait. I loved last year’s “You Had Me at Goodbye” and it turns out she has a deep and excellent catalog as well. The Echo wasn’t crowded and there was no one else in my line of sight so it felt very intimate. My only complaint was that she was opening for another act; I would have loved a set that was twice as long.

Basia Bulat, Feb. 23, Bootleg Bar, Los Angeles, CA I’ve loved her music for 10 years and I’ve tried to see every show she’s played in Los Angeles. It’s a quest that’s included venues such as Old Style Guitar Shop, It’s a School Night at Bardot, and even a Bob Odenkirk comedy revue at Largo. I’ve seen her at Hotel Cafe, The Echo, and The Bootleg (3 times). I’m trying to show you what my commitment level is so you can fully understand how embarrassing the following story is to me: The show last February was a gig that she performed while she was in town recording her new album. She effortlessly translated her work for a solo performance where she alternated between guitar and piano. As always, she sounded amazing. The piano was pushed up against the stage, so when she played it, she was only a few feet away from where I was standing. She asked if anyone had heard her most recent record, “Good Advice.” We had. The audience seemed very enthusiastic: before the show I overheard people recounting other shows of hers that they’d attended, one couple had opened for her many years ago, etc. “Well, sing along!” she enthused. “Good Advice” has a bridge where there is a back and forth vocal. The lines are repeated and slightly offset, so that if one person was singing, she’d have to clip the outgoing line to get to the next one, and there are about six of these call and response couplets in that part of the song. I knew this is the part of the song she was talking about. When she got there, I was feeling pretty confident that we were all gonna nail this and it was going to be a fucking magical communion between us, her longtime fans. She hit the first one, and sang “Any sense I had at all is gone,” and I, anticipating being part of a chorus, sang the echo line. Over the course of the five seconds it took to recite the line, I realized that I was the only one singing and everyone was listening. I could feel people turning towards me. Basia Bulat was saying, “Yes, yes, yes!” and smiling as she played. I was shaken and missed the next cue. Now the pressure was on and there was no way I was going to be able to rejoin and not mess up, so I stayed silent. I stood next to her in shame, knowing that every line I didn’t jump in on made the situation increasingly awkward. Basia Bulat shrugged and did the rest of the lines herself.

I humiliated myself in front of an artist that I’ve long admired, but it was still one of my favorite shows of the year, because she’s brilliant. The reason I go to every show I can is that she always seems like she’s about to have some greater degree of success. If there are any casual observers in the audience when she starts, there are only fans when she walks off the stage. I still believe that it’s only a matter of time before she’s playing in a theater or a place with a greater separation between the artist and the crowd, so I'm going to continue to catch all the shows that I can. I’ll just try to do a better job of reading the room.

The Breeders, April 7, Observatory, Santa Ana, CA The last time I saw The Breeders they sucked but they put out such a great album (All Nerve is easily one of the year’s best) that I had to see this show. I’m glad I went because they was amazing. They have so many great songs that a live set is an embarrassment of riches. They even played “Gigantic.” There was a woman standing next to me for the duration of the show and we chatted while The Breeders were setting up. Once they started playing, she would turn to me and say something I couldn’t hear and I would smile and nod and she would issue this crazy laugh. So The Breeders were great but after every song I looked into this mass that was all eyes and teeth and hair in blue light. She looked like Sheryl Lee in Fire Walk With Me and it was terrifying.

Kyle Craft, March 4, Moroccan Lounge, Los Angeles, CA

I have bad luck seeing Kyle Craft in that he’s played here fairly frequently and it rarely works out that I can attend. I’ve seen him twice, once a few years ago when he was on tour for his debut album Dolls of Highland and then this year when he was supporting his follow up, Full Circle Nightmare. Both shows were excellent. He’s got a great band and they’ll give you a full on rock show. Craft is one of those artists that you should see when you can, not only because he’s a great performer, but because his muse moves quickly. His first release was a double album; he played it almost in it’s entirety the first time I saw him. When he came back for this show, he played one song from it.

Lydia Loveless, June 10, Casbah, San Diego, CA Lydia Loveless, June 11, Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA

My daughter had a dance recital on the 10th and when it was over I dropped her and my wife off and tried to break the land speed record to get to San Diego in time to see Lydia Loveless. I arrived just as she started her first song. Forty minutes later, I jumped in the car and drove back to Los Angeles, as I had to work early the next day. It was worth it because although Lydia Loveless has recorded many exceptional cover songs, I’ve never heard her play one live, and at this show she performed her cover of Justin Bieber’s “Sorry.” These shows were solo acoustic performances, and she was opening for Justin Townes Earle. She doesn’t play on the West Coast very often, so I always try to catch whatever I can. I love her records and she’s fantastic live. These shows were excellent but shows with her band are unbelievable.

Belly, August 9, Teragram Ballroom, Los Angeles, CA

I had written Belly off as a live band, I was disappointed with a show that I’d seen two years previous. I liked their new album, Dove, and since I had the night off I figured I should check this show out. I’m glad that I did because it was the best Belly show I’ve ever seen (twice in 1993 and once in 2016).

Loma, April 8, Bootleg Bar, Los Angeles, CA

Silence is respect in Los Angeles, and Loma got a lot of it. Jonathan Meiburg (Shearwater) Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski (both of Cross Record) crafted this delicate record and as captivating as it is, I feel as though I didn’t truly appreciate it until I saw this show. Who knows if the three of them will ever make another record together. See what you can when you can.

#the jesus lizard #fever ray #the breeders #lydia loveless #loma #kyle craft #belly #the dickies #basia bulat #samantha crain #let's eat grandma

1 note · View note

tilltheendwilliwrite · 7 years

Text

Canadian Girl*

Chapter Ten

Previous Chapter

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC | Word Count: 8994 NSFW* Warnings: Smut! (18+), swearing, angst, Steve's dirty mouth, past emotional abuse, Stereotyping of Canadians (I'm allowed, I am one)

The big ranch house, a place used to holding family gatherings, was nearly a hotel which Steve found himself haunting later that night after everyone had gone to bed. He’d managed to contain himself when it came to Kennedy, returning them both back to the house, ignoring the smirking faces of his team who had unanimously decided to accept the Jones’s offer to spend the night. There was more than enough space.

When he’d asked about the size of the house, Jonas had given a small grin, made a comment about rodeo Steve failed to understand, but the gist was Jonas had made his money riding the circuit as a young man, fallen in love with an oilman’s daughter, and followed her home to this little piece of paradise. They raised rodeo stock and loved it, and the family had stuck to the house – why wouldn’t they – even after Matt and Jesse had married. They made it work and the only one to move away had been Kennedy.

The house had been a gift from Mary’s daddy. A showpiece and, at the time, a rub in his face when it came to their financial differences. But, with years and children and family dinners, they had made peace with each other, filling the house with love and laughter and happiness. Mary’s daddy had been gone for years, but the house stood still as testament to what was once his love for his little girl. It was clear Jonas loved his own little girl in the same way.

All around the study he stood in, Steve could see bits and pieces of her life, of Kennedy’s life. Family photos, mementos, knickknacks. He even recognized a few as things she’d talked to him about, quirky little anecdotes of her life. He could see, now, why it was she longed for a home and a family of her own one day. When she’d come from a life like this, how could she not want to give the same in the future?

But now, standing in her life, could he give her all the things she deserved? The way he lived, the danger and the violence, was that really what was best for Kennedy? It was, technically, too late now as she was neck deep in it.

On the mantel above the fireplace, Steve picked up the picture of Kennedy as a smiling fourteen-ish-year-old.

Her hair was in pigtails. She was hugging the neck of a much smaller version of Kyle. It was downright adorable how happy she looked.

“You going to lurk or join me?” Steve glanced towards the door where Kennedy’s youngest brother was standing.

“Sorry, Steve. Just didn’t want to interrupt.” Henry wandered in, hands in his pockets to stare down at the picture in his grip. “She was so damn happy that day. Dad brought home Kyle for her birthday. She went through the roof. Pretty much lived in the barn for a solid month.”

Steve smiled at that. “She seems the type. Puts her heart and soul into whatever she loves most.”

Glancing his way, Henry murmured, “She radiates the same emotion today she did that day. You make my sister real happy, Steve.”

“But can I keep her happy?” The words slipped out, and he sighed, placing the picture back on the mantel. Clearly, he was more tired than he wanted to admit.

“You’re shitting me, right?” Henry scoffed. “You finally get her to say yes, and now you’re second-guessing yourself?”

“I can’t give her this, Henry.”

“Did she ask you to?”

Steve looked up at the door where Kennedy stood staring at him. “Now who needs the bell?”

“Henry, can you give us some privacy?” Kennedy asked.

Her brother kissed her cheek as he left, closing the door behind him, the snick of the mechanism showing he’d locked them in the room lit only by the warm glow from the fireplace.

Pulling the robe she had on tighter around her body, Kennedy sauntered toward him. “What’s going on, Steven?”

He swallowed hard for she stood before him in a silky white robe which swung around her knees, clinging to all those curves.

Bathed in the firelight, he was hard-pressed to hold his focus until his eyes drifted up to her face and the black and blue shiner. Gently, he reached out to cup her cheek, run his thumb below the bruise. “You have a pretty amazing family, Kennedy.”

“I’d like to think so,” she smiled softly, leaning into his hand.

“What if… this is so...” He waved at the room.

She seemed to know he meant more than that. “You make me happy, Steven. Don’t make me second guess that. I’m not a confident person even though I fake it. You can’t ask me to be your girl and then take it back.”

“I’m not, Kennedy. I promise you I’m not.” He brought his other hand up to hold her face gently between his palms. “You’re life has been so… full. What if I can’t give you this? What if I stop making you happy?”

“My grandmother use to have this saying. It was don’t borrow trouble. I could just as easily say someday you’ll get tired of me.” When he made to protest, she held up her hand. “I’m not adventurous. I’d rather sit in the sun and read a book than go for a run in Central Park. I like music over movies. My microscope over television. I like going for a ride in the mountains, and skating on the pond in the winter. I think the gym is the devil’s playground, and I can spend hours in the lab where I forget the world outside it exists.”

“There ain’t nothing wrong with any of those things, doll face,” Steve said. “But can you be happy with me if I can never give you a home like this? A life like this?”

“I have a home like this when I want it, and I like my life just fine. Are you going to change that on me, Steven?”

“Maybe. A little,” he admitted softly. “You’re going to need security. Might be best if you just move into the Tower.”

She sighed softly and placed her hands on his chest. “I think… aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves?”

“What you mean by that, Kennedy?” He liked the way her hands fluttered a little before they landed like she wasn’t quite sure just where to place them because she wanted to touch everything.

“We haven’t even gone out on a date, Steven. You’re talking the future and family and a home, making comments about moving into the Tower, and don’t think I don’t know exactly where you think I should be living,” she sighed. “What if… what if…” She flushed red and looked away from his eyes.

“What if what, doll?” he asked.

“What if you and I don’t… fit?” she whispered.

It took him a second of studying her flushed face to understand she meant what if he was disappointed with her physically. “This coming from the sexy little thing I’m nearly tumbled in the barn?”

“I’m not,” she sighed.

“Not what, baby?” he whispered leaning down to lightly nip at her lips.

“Little… or sexy.”

He frowned, shaking his head slowly in disbelief. “How can you not see it? You’re so damn beautiful. Who broke your confidence, Kennedy? What stupid fool ever told you, you weren’t the Almighty's most perfect creation?” Threading his hands into her hair, he fanded it out around her shoulders. “You have hair like corn silk which has been touched by the blush of a rose. One morning in the Tower I saw you highlighted by the dawn and your hair was the same colour as the sunrise. Later that day, when the sun was bright, it was caught in a shaft of light and glowed with deep red flame. And right now, it’s pinker than blonde in the firelight, like the petals of a peony.”

“Steven…” Tears filled her eyes when her heart skipped a beat, something he could actually hear happen.

But he wasn’t finished. “You have the most vivid green eyes. Emeralds are jealous of their colour. The freckles on your nose are where the angles kissed you. You have this full, pouty lip that juts out a little when you chew the cap of your pen. It makes me crazy with how much I want to sink my teeth into it. Just bite it, Kennedy, and pull it between my own.”

Her breathing was getting faster, heavier, and he smiled softly.

He hadn’t planned on seducing her in her parent’s house – seducing her later, yeah – but he wasn’t about to let these crazy thoughts of being less than the treasure she was linger in her mind.

Tracing his hands over her shoulders and down her arms, he took her by the hands, drawing her down to kneel on the rug before the flickering flames. The crackle of wood and fire was a perfect backdrop to her soft moan when he lifted her hand to his lips, kissing the inside of her wrist. “Tell me what they told you. Let me prove them wrong.”

“I… Steven…” she whispered, voice hesitant.

He reached slowly for the belt on her robe.

She turned her face away.

“Don’t you do that, baby. Don’t you look away.” He captured her chin, turning her eyes back to his. “Tell me who hurt you?”

Sighing, she placed her hands back on the thin cotton of his t-shirt. “My ex, at Uni. I was always… a little too heavy, a little too thick in this area or that. It was a good thing I was smart because I was too big to be pretty. I’d never do better than him, and I should be happy he liked chunky women.”

“What else?” he growled, angry and trying to not to show it, but there was more. He could see it on her face.

“I was,” she swallowed hard, “A disappointment. Cold and… stiff,” she whispered.

“Screw that nonsense!” Steve snarled, dragging the belt on her robe open. “The woman who came for me in the barn tonight was neither cold nor stiff. She was a vixen. All flames and heat and teasing promises of maple syrup.”

She grabbed for the edges of her robe, but he just captured her hands, dragging her forcibly into his lap where she had to straddle his thighs.

“Steven!” Kennedy gasped, suddenly face to face with him. Her arms flew to wrap around his neck as red rushed to her face.

Holding her knees, making sure she couldn’t escape, Steve did what he’d always wanted to and nipped her lip, sucking it between his teeth. He groaned when she whimpered. “Fuck, baby.” Slowly, he moved his hands up her thighs and could have growled when he encountered the bandages which wrapped them. He wanted to touch her, not some fabric. Pulling back he asked, “How bad are you hurt?” He would have to go slow in showing her how desirable she was if her injuries were severe.

“Little cuts, nicks and scratches really. This was just quicker than Band-Aids.”

She gasped when the cold metal of his quickly palmed blade slipped between the bandages and her skin. The knife was very sharp, and he was very careful.

Shoving the blade back in the sheath at the small of his back, Steve slipped his hands beneath the bandages, peeling them carefully open. They fell away to reveal what she’d said, minor nicks and cuts, bruises, nothing as bad as her shoulder. But uncovered, with the white silk gown barely hitting the tops of her thighs, leaving all that skin on display, he groaned. They were sky high gams of perfect flesh which he squeezed lightly, working from the knees up to her hips. “You’re so fucking perfect, Kennedy.”

Sliding his hands around, he gripped gentle handfuls of her apple bottom, moaning quietly. “So soft.” Releasing the handfuls, his hands made quick work to glide up to her hips, slide around to run up her gently rounded belly. She had a soft little pouch that he thought was adorable. “My girl is so soft, so very soft. I want to kiss every inch of your exceptional gams, bite that amazing ass, and sleep with my head pillowed right here.”

Her eyes had long since fluttered shut.

He leaned close to whisper in her ear, “And I haven’t even gotten to you breasts yet.”

Panting, Kennedy said, “You’re a little… dirty, aren’t you, Steven?”

“For you, baby? I could get filthy,” he whispered against her cheek, lowering her slowly back to the rug. He had the feeling she liked a little dirty talk.

“God! Steven.” A whimper escaped her when his lips attacked her throat, and his hands rucked her nightgown up.

“Let me show you. Let me show you what you do to me,” he said, pressing his lips into her soft, smooth skin, which smelled of peaches. He just wanted to bite her, sink his face between her legs, and see if she tasted just as good.

“Steven…” Kennedy moaned, hands sinking into his hair as his hands stroked over her stomach, hips, and thighs.

He touched all the parts of her she was so insecure about, hoping to show her just how beautiful she was. “And, as for the haven’t even been on a date portion of your argument, one could say we’ve been dating for weeks. Coffee dates, late nights of talking and spending time together. You made me a meal, and I’ve met your parents, doll face,” Steve chuckled, tracing his lips over her throat and down across her collarbone.

“But… I didn’t even… know you liked me till four weeks ago,” she panted. Kennedy whined softly when his teeth closed firmly in the straining cords of her neck, a wicked little reprimand.

“We’re going to work on that confidence, baby.” Pulling back, Steve looked down on her laid out in the firelight, all glowing skin and shimmering white nightgown. Her soft belly flowed into rounded hips and strong thighs, while her core was covered in the most beautiful white lace. “You’re like some virginal sacrifice waiting for rescue.”

He’d loved Peggy once, had had something special with Sharon for a little while, but this girl, this sweet, tough, amazing woman, did things to him on a visceral level. He wanted to protect, to cherish, to possess every bit of her and to love her with every ounce of his soul.

She was gentle and good and wholesome. And she needed him to stand as her shield from both the outside world and her own inner demons.

She looked at him hovering above her, her hands still in his hair before they fell to his shoulders. Green eyes, pupils blown, gazed up at him.

He couldn’t help but see the lust, the desire on her face. Everything he was saying to her, all of it, he meant every word which came from his mouth. He could only pray she believed him.

He watched her breathe and then he watched her come alive. The tense nature of her body softened, a smile flirted with her lips, her emerald eyes gleamed with a sultry heat, and she traced her fingers over his chest.

It was fucking hot!

***

Taking a deep breath, letting go of some of her anxieties, Kennedy reached for the girl she’d once been.

The one who had punched Larry MacGregor in the face for teasing her best friend. The one who had done a dead man’s hang off her horse when she was eleven because Matt had said she was chicken. The one who’d walked into Stark Tower her first day of work with a smile on her face even though deep down she was terrified.

Steven was looking at the parts of her she was most ashamed of like he’d never seen anything more glorious in his whole life.

She wasn’t going to turn down Captain Sex on Legs because she had stage fright.

Closing her fists in his shirt, Kennedy whispered, “Are you here to rescue me, soldier?” She didn’t think his eyes could get any bigger, but they did.

“Sweet Jesus…” he whispered, excitement lacing his voice. “Yeah, yeah I can be your soldier, baby.”

“You going to save me, Captain?” Kennedy smiled, dragging her nails down his broad chest. Slowly, she drew them back up, bringing the material with her.

“Hell yeah!” He let her draw his shirt over his head, yanking it off his arms, looking down in time to watch her mouth fall open on a breathless moan. “Kennedy?”

Her hands fluttered, almost afraid to touch once he revealed all that muscle.

He was like a sculpted masterpiece, something carved from marble which had been given life.

“My god, Steven. You’re beautiful.”

Drawing her up, he tenderly kissed her lips, moving along her jaw as he slowly and carefully pushed her robe from her shoulders before gathering the hem of her nightgown in his hands. “You’re beautiful. This is all because I was given the serum.”

“The body maybe, but the serum doesn’t change who you are on the inside.” Lifting her arms, she allowed him to draw the nightshirt over her head. She took his face in her hands. “You’re a good man, Steven. You’ve always been a good man.”

His hands found her bare back. He drew her in to hold her tight against him. “Damn. You just slay me, Kennedy. Is it any wonder my heart falls at your feet every time I look at you?”

“Steven,” she breathed, kissing him with everything she had, her own heart landing with a splat at his.

He took her gently back to the ground, pressing her into the soft, synthetic fur of the rug, drawing his hands over her flesh and up her ribcage. She moaned quietly when his hand surrounded her breast and beaded nipple. Pulling away from her lips, Steven worked his way down her throat to the hollow at the base where he pressed a sweet kiss. Her collarbones got a stroking of his tongue before teeth nipped them. She gave a soft gasp, and he growled. The sound was sexy as hell.

Working down towards his hand, he found the smattering of freckles across her breasts and groaned. “I love these. They’re like a road map of Kennedy. Little marks to show me the way to heaven. And heaven is right here in the form of a breast that is a perfect handful with a pretty berry.” He took it in his mouth, laving his tongue over her.

“Ah!” she breathed out a harsh exhale, a wealth of pleasure pounding through her body. He switched sides and lavished back and forth, squeezing her breasts together gently so he could pop off one nipple and suckle the other.

Her legs went around his waist, but he braced against her tight hold.

“Not yet, doll. Not just yet. You’re such a pretty thing. So perfect. Going to eat you up, baby.”

He made her whimper, moan out his name when he began to kiss his way down her stomach. He stopped at one point, right along her rib cage, sucking a hard mark into her skin.

She gave a gasping cry of Steven, but he only chuckled, continuing down towards the lace covering the last of her.

Tracing his hand over her stomach, lingering on the purple hickey he’d left, he smiled a wicked grin, evidently proud of his handiwork. Skimming his fingers over her mound, he passed his index finger over her core making her groan. “You’re so wet already.” He pressed up, watched her gasp, hands scrabbling for purchase, finally falling to dig into the rug.

Her legs went weak, sliding from his hips. “Oh, fuck, Steven!”

He rubbed a small circle, making her squirm. “You going to come for me again, sweetheart? Come on my hand? Or would you rather I show you what my tongue can do?” She gasped a little moan, causing him to smile. “Dirty little thing. You want my mouth on you? You want me sucking on your sweet pussy? Licking it till you come?”

“Yes!” Kennedy gasped. Her underwear disappeared down her legs.

“All you gotta do is ask, baby. You’re soldier’s just a-waitin' his orders,” he chuckled when she squirmed and bucked her hips.

“Then put that filthy mouth to use, Rogers!”

He grinned at her, eyes heavy-lidded and pearly teeth flashing. “Yes, ma’am.” Shuffling backwards, Steven took her ass in his hands, lifting her up to his mouth.

Her breath broke with the first sinful lick and kiss he placed on her. When he moaned, eyes shutting and face locked in rapture, Kennedy whimpered because, dear lord, she had never seen a more erotic sight.

Steve Rogers, Captain freaking American himself, was tonguing her like a pro and looked to be having a very good time. One particularly hard suck had her arching back, moaning out his name.

“Watch the volume, baby girl. I want to hear you scream for me, but this probably isn’t the best place for that.” Stroking his tongue up her dripping sheath he kissed her clit, sucking the little bundle vigorously.

“Oh my god… Steven…” she panted harshly, latching her hand in his hair. “Less talking.”

“Mmmm,” he hummed softly, watching her eyes go wide before he attacked her clit with single-minded vigour.

It was so good, she had to let go of his hair, so she didn’t wrench it out. “Fuck…” His tongue was flicking and circling, driving her up. She finally had to throw an arm over her mouth to muffle the sounds she couldn’t stop making.

Every muscle in her lower half was quaking, quivering with anticipation, and he shifted his grip, supporting her with just the one hand so he could slide two fingers home, pressing out against her fluttering walls.

“Baby,” he groaned, coated in heat and wet, “You going to come for me, Kennedy? Squeeze my fingers?” Thrusting into her, he sucked her clit in quick little pulls.

Her teeth sank into the flesh of her forearm as Kennedy’s body did exactly that. She’d never had such a powerful orgasm before. One which made her muscles shake and a muffled, keening wail fall from her lips. Her womb clenched so hard she cried out at the force. Tears spilled down her temples to wet her hair as she sobbed little-gasping breaths. Everything faded down to the sensations wracking her body.

Minutes later, she opened her eyes, finding herself wrapped in Steven’s arms, cradled against him, and shaking.

“Shh, easy. I got you, baby.” He kissed the crown of her head.

Taking a deep breath, one that shuddered a little, Kennedy smiled sighing out, “That was… incredible.”

Chuckling softly, Steve rolled her beneath him. “Oh, really? Do tell.”

“And inflate your ego, Captain? I don’t think so.” But she said it with a smile as she stroked her hands over his chest. Leaning up, she pressed an open-mouthed kiss to his heart, flicking her tongue out to taste him.

His skin glowed in the amber light, shone slightly with sweat.

She crooned against him, “You’re overdressed, soldier.”

***

If the words hot damn happened to pass through his mind, Steve couldn’t fault himself but made darn sure they didn’t leave his lips while silently thanked the almighty for his sweet Kennedy. Her hands had already dropped to his belt, but he sat back and took over, letting his eyes wander the wonderland that was Kennedy Marie Jones.

The hickey he’d left was a vivid purple and red. He really wanted to leave a second one on her throat, high up by her tattoo, a mark of his possession for the whole world to see. But… maybe not here in her parent's home.

The Canadians seemed a laid-back sort. Still, he doubted Jonas would take kindly to Steve defiling his daughter on the floor in the study should he learn about it.

Gazing down on his woman, he had to smile. How could anyone have called her, in essence, fat? No, she wasn’t sleek and fit like Nat, but she sure as hell wasn’t fat.

She had muscle in her thighs and ass from years of horses and skating. She walked everywhere as far as he could tell and was relatively toned. Her belly was soft, not flabby but soft, something he thought was adorable. Her hips curved gently into a slender waist. Beautiful breasts with there smattering of freckles were high and firm and round. They were a generous handful, and he had big hands. More smooth muscles banded her arms, there, but not heavily defined. She was the perfect embodiment of what a woman should be, at least in his eyes. She was the picture of soft to his hard, of gentleness to his strength, of home to the hell he often walked. She was beautiful, and in the firelight she was radiant.

“Kennedy.” He stopped abruptly, hands coming to rest on either side of her head as he leaned over her.

“Steven?” she whispered, her heart kicking and racing as she gazed up at him in wonder.

“Kennedy, there’s no maybe for me. I… I love you.” He’d been falling for her since the first. He may have even tumbled down the slope the day he’d stolen her sucker. “I think I’ve been in love with you for some time.”

Green eyes, vivid, earnest, vulnerable, softened with her smile. “It’s why I would have walked away if things had turned out different. Because, I love you too, Steven. Enough to break my own heart if it was what was best for you. I think… no, I know that’s why I reacted so poorly when I found out who you were. I was already so deep, so far gone, it hurt so much to think you’d led me on.” She gently cupped his cheek. “How was I ever to measure up as good enough for someone like you?”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of what’s best for me. I want you, Doc. Just you. I like just you, just fine.” He kissed her then, a soft, tender brushing of lips which reminded him so much of their first his breath caught. His lips slanted, heat burning through his body at the drag of her fingers down his skin.

She moaned into his mouth, making him frantic, wild for her.

Somehow, without breaking the kiss, he got his jeans down his legs.

She squeaked a little-shocked noise when she managed to cast a glimpse downward, taking in the rest of him. “Super-soldier indeed…”Kennedy murmured. “Hung like a horse has taken on a whole new meaning.”

Her face turned red with the remark, but he only chuckled, leading her teasing hand, the one which had been tracing his ribs, to his cock. “How long’s it been, Doc?” he asked, both out of curiosity and the desire not to hurt her.

“Five years,” she whispered, mouth falling a little open when she traced her fingers over the skin and head of his erection.

“Five?!” He didn’t mean it to sound so shocked but damn. Although, he’d once gone seventy years so who was he to judge.

She flinched, but his lips found the spot on her throat that was sensitive, softening his unintended accusation. Tilting her head, Kennedy continued to torment him with her tender touch. “Not since… Carl, at University. S’okay though. I’m clean and on something. Nothing worse than random cycles when you spend days or weeks in the lab.”

He, too, knew he was clean. The serum worked to keep him healthy including a range of STD’s, which, wow, had been a mortifying conversation to have with, of all people, Natasha. Things sure had gotten weirder since his time. But Kennedy’s words meant he wasn’t going to have to scrounge through his jeans.

Wishful thinking? Hell yeah! He’d come prepared to get his girl back, no matter what that took. “I can…” What was it Sam called it? “Glove up if you want me to.”

She snickered softly and shook her head. “It’s fine. I trust you, Steven.”

And he could see that she meant so much more than just he meant what he’d said. She trusted him to take care of her if something did happen.

He hadn’t really thought about kids before. Most of the women he’d known were in the same line of work, and he doubted whether they’d have wanted to give up their careers. Peggy had, but, again, different era. With Kennedy, he knew, someday she’d look at him with those emerald eyes and say five words.

Steven, I want a baby.

The whole idea of it hit him so hard, he was left breathless.

Home. She was his home.

Her hand stroked him a little firmer causing his mind to kick back in from the happy place it had disappeared to.

Shifting back between her thighs, Steve took her hands in his, stretching them above her head slowly, careful in case the bandaged wound of her shoulder pained her. “Going to go slow, baby. Treat you right. You’re going to feel so good. This soldier’s going to show you what it means to be with someone on the serum.”

“Ranch life starts early, Steven. Just so you know,” she warned him, eyes bright.

“How early we talkin’, doll face?” He smirked, eyeing the clock on the mantel.

“Six, sometimes five. When you come home, you help out, which includes dawn wakeup calls.”

The clock read midnight. He turned the smile down to her. “Guess we’ll have to catch a nap later then.”

It was the witching hour.

She had most certainly bewitched him. She shifted beneath him, and Steve moaned at the slide of silky thighs over his hips.

Taking himself in hand, he rubbed his head through warm, wet folds, coating himself in the essence of Kennedy.

She whimpered every time he caught her bundle of nerves, setting him smirking.

“You ready for this, Kennedy?”

She twisted her wrists in his grasp, but his hold was unbreakable and took her legs to his waist instead. “Less talk, more action, soldier.”

Chuckling, Steve murmured, “Yes ma’am.” Pressing his hips forwards, he groaned for she was scorching hot and so tight.

“God! Steven!” Kennedy gasped, arching beneath him. “Fuck!” she squealed when he pressed deeper, and her body gave to the intrusion.

Releasing her hands, they immediately flew to his back, nails finding purchase in his shoulders, but the pain only increased his pleasure. He reached for her thigh, sliding it higher so he could sink deeper. “Breathe, doll face. You feel so good, baby, but you’re so tight. Don’t fight me, sweetheart.” His mouth was pressed to her ear.

She moaned at the sensual nature of his words. “Kiss me,” she groaned when his hips surged. “Kiss me and make me yours.”

He did so, tenderly. Beautiful, gentle, and soft. When he finally slipped home, when his hips rested against hers, she breathed out a stuttering breath of wonder, and he smiled against her lips.

“Steven…” she moaned

“I got you, baby,” he whispered. Fully seated, he had to fight his racing heart for he’d never felt anything so perfect before.

She fit like a tight glove and throbbed gently around him.

“Tell me when.”

Clenching her fingers into his back, Kennedy whimpered giving a small nod to grant consent for she had no voice left. Then he drew back, a slow, slick glide through her folds and she gasped for air.

For the first time since he’d changed, become Cap, Steve felt the hitch of breath which reminded him of when he used to have an asthma attack.

She left him breathless.

It was the most exquisite sensation, her fluttering sheath, gripping thighs, and scratching nails. “Kennedy…” he whispered, overcome as he pressed slowly back in.

***

She’d never seen such a beautiful sight as the way the firelight played over his flexing muscle and glistening skin.

His teeth had caught at his lip, his cheeks had flushed, and his blue eyes gleamed like cobalt behind heavy lids. When his length delved deep, pressed against her core, she arched back in rapture and tightened her hands. “Oh, oh wow.”

“Yeah, baby? You like that?” he breathed against her cheek as he tightened his grip on her thigh, picking up his pace. “Does it feel good, doll face?”

“If I… oh… tell you, you’re… the best I’ve …ever had, will it… give you a swelled head?” she managed to gasp out, moaning when something swelled. “Oh my god, Steven!”

He chuckled and rocked into her a little harder. Plunging deep, she felt him bottom out and hissed at how good it was. She could feel her walls growing tighter, the heat of him scorching hot inside her as he sped up the power of his hips.

Every plunge was a searing drive of sensation, pouring pleasure through her system. He tilted her hip a little more, and his ridge dragged over her sweet spot. The spot inside no lover had ever found.

She cried out in bliss. Her nails scrabbled down his back and a keening sound spilled from her throat.

“Right there, baby? Is that the spot?”

Her eyes closed, her nose scrunching up with her frantic nod, and he shortened his thrusts to stroke over her sensitive sheath. Her grip tightened, legs and hands, and he drew his lips over her cheek to find hers. Kissing her deeply, tongues twining, she felt the quiver in her muscles begin again.

“That’s it, baby. You going to come for me, Kennedy? Come on my cock?”

Drawing her hands down his back, she closed them in the flexing muscles of his ass and groaned, “Fuck, Steven! Harder!”

He obliged instantly, hips slamming down, driving her deeper into the plush rug. “Jeez, doll! You’re so good, so tight. You fit me just right, baby.” Nipping at her lips, Steve whispered, “Open your eyes, doll face. Let me see those emeralds.” When she cracked them open, he gave a rumbling growl. “That’s it, come on, baby. Give it to me. Come for me, darlin’.”

The burn started low, gathered in intensity, exploded outwards in a shower of sparks which had Kennedy straining beneath him. Her breath came out a whispered oh god before she was lost to the sensation of flexing walls squeezing down on the rod that was, suddenly, still inside her. It mattered little for everything clenched and milked, squeezed around him. Her body pulsed, throbbed, ached with how incredible her release had been.

“Damn, fuck.” Steve hissed, paused above her, he watched her gasp for breath and moan his name. Once she was sufficiently recovered, he smiled and kissed her cheek. “Will you do something for me, Kennedy?”

“What?” she asked, a little breathless.

“Show me your skills, baby. I want to watch you ride.” Without waiting for her consent, Steve flipped their positions.

Finding herself sprawled over his broad chest, the thick length of steel still wedged within her, Kennedy gasped softly in surprise. “Steven, I…” She bit her lip self-consciously.

He gently cupped her cheek. “You’re perfect, Kennedy. Show me what my Canadian cowgirl can do.”

Confidence. He seemed to radiate both it and bravery, and she wondered if it came with being the Captain America. But it was the love in his eyes, the way he looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world which had her sitting up and bracing her hands on his chest. “You sure you can handle me, soldier? Wouldn’t want to wear you out.”

His smile was so wide it nearly split his face. “You’d have to ride me pretty hard to wear me out, Doc.”

She shivered when he said it. Pulling her knees into his hips, she smiled wickedly. “Oh, honey, I’ve been riding all my life.” Slowly, she undulated her hips, making him groan.

Large hands landed on her thighs, and he was soon helping lift and lower her as he gasped, “Sweet Jesus!”

She rocked and rolled her hips, sliding up and down his shaft in delightful ways. Her nails bit and scratched at his chest while he let his hands walk the length of her body. Gleaming gold in the firelight, he stroked them over her, up her ribcage, and cupped her breasts. Kennedy moaned when he pulled on her nipples. Her hips jerked but soon recovered their rhythm.

Smiling down at him, she leaned back to place her hands on his thighs, arching her body. The wound in her shoulder was a little uncomfortable, but the way his cock was pulling and gliding, taking her back up this heavenly roller coaster, made up for a bit of pain. “Steven!”

“Don’t stop, baby!”

Releasing her breasts, he returned his hands to her hips, helped her slam down on him. Soon the slap of flesh to flesh and heavy breathing were the only sounds to be heard as Kennedy laboured above him.

Reaching between them, her arched body making things easier, he placed his thumb on her pearl and gave it a firm circle.

“Fuck…” she moaned. The heat was building in her abdomen a third time. “You keep doing that, you’re going to make me come.”

He circled the little bundle a second time. “Then come, baby. I like it when you squeeze me. Strangle my cock, doll.”

He kept going, rubbing, stroking, flicking the tiny jewel until the rhythm of rise and fall she’d established failed and she felt her heart stutter when her body exploded again. “Rogers!” she gasped, arms shaking with the bone shattering climax.

In a show of incredible strength, he sat up, wrapped her in his arms, and kissed her hard. Here, now was the roughness she expected from such a big man, such a powerful man, coming through. She’d broken a layer of the Captain’s control and smirked proudly against his lips.

“Shit, Kennedy. You’re so damn hot, baby. So fucking sexy. Can you take more, doll?” He kissed her all over the unbruised portions of her face between every few words while his big hands were dragging, stroking, and squeezing everywhere. Sweat beaded on his brow, on his skin. It trickled down his temple.

She knew it was matting the hair around her face, as well but didn't care. “What else you got, Cap?”

His eyes gleamed with challenge. “Gonna make you come so damn hard, baby.”

Nipping his lip, she whispered, “Promises, promises, Captain.” It made her gasp when, he just manhandled her like she weighed nothing, finding herself turned to her hands and knees.

He was sliding his big cock back through her folds before she’d really even registered the fact that he’d left, and then his hips slammed forwards, and she gasped. His body draped over her back, arms wrapping tight around her. He drew her up and off her injured arm, onto her knees and over his thighs, spread out with his mouth against her ear.

“Don’t go throwin’ out the challenges, doll face, if you’re not prepared to accept the consequences.” He bit her ear gently, beginning to thrust, full, hard, plunges of his cock into her soaked sheath. “You love this don’t you, Doc? You love my cock inside you?”

“Yes!” she gasped when his hand closed over her breast.

“You should see yourself, baby. All flushed and glowing. You’re fucking gorgeous, Kennedy.” He thrust up with every third word, driving into her hard and fast, taking her back to the edge of orgasm so fast. Squeezing her breast, he sucked at the skin beneath her ear while his other hand drifted lower. “Who do you belong to?”

“You!” She thrust her hand back to grab a handful of his hair, holding his mouth to her throat. The other followed the glide of his hand towards her core.

“Who?” He closed his teeth on her shoulder gently.

“You, Captain!” she groaned out. Her reward was three hard thrusts and his fingers delving between her folds.

“Good girl,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m so close, baby. So close.”

“Me too,” she panted as his fingers played with her and his cock took on a bruising pace. “Oh god! I’m going to come so hard!” Her words drove him into a frenzy.

“Yeah? You going to come for me again? I like it when you do. You’re so fucking tight, Kennedy. You’re a damn treasure. Anyone who said otherwise was a fat-heat!”

Her body arched, stiffened, and clamped down on his, making him moaned behind her.

She inhaled deeply, and he turned her face to his, sealing his mouth over hers, cutting off the scream she was about to let loose. She shook with the intensity. Everything inside her was twitching, burning, clamping down in mind-blowing release over the rapid swelling of his cock, then the hot jets of seed filled her, and she moaned for it set off little aftershocks of spasm which she didn’t even know were possible. Behind her, plastered to her spine, she could feel him quake, his muscles shaking with his pleasure as his hot breath washed over her cheek.

“That’s it…” she sighed moments later when she could find her voice.

“What’s it, sweetheart?” Steve murmured, kissing her cheek. Slowly he pulled away, cock still thick and semi-hard.

“You’ve ruined me for anyone else.” She’d never ever had sex like that in her life.

Chuckling, he turned her to face him and tenderly kissed her swollen lips. “Guess you’ll just have to keep me around then.”

Kennedy threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly, sliding her tongue over his bottom lip when his hands tightened on her waist.

He took them over backwards to the rug, and she landed on him with a quiet umph.

“Not sure what’s harder. You or the floor.”

“Kiss me like that again, and I guarantee it will be me.” Steve chuckled. But when he looked down his body, he groaned for Kennedy was rising over him a second time.

She traced her fingers up his wet cock. “Just how many times do you have to come, Steven, before this relaxes?” How quick was his recovery time? Did he even get entirely soft? She had a theory but wondered if he’d let her experiment with him.

Her fingers skimmed around the head and he was almost instantly fully erect. “Kennedy...” He hissed softly when her wet folds were sliding along his length again. “You’re hurt, baby.”

“I’m fine. How many times, Steven?” she asked softly, a sultry smile on her lips when his eyes darkened, and his head fell back, arching his throat. Leaning over, her breasts pressed flush to his chest as she closed her lips on his Adam’s apple.

“Vixen!” he groaned.

“This is just me being nice, Captain. Don’t you want me to be nice?” She ground her hips down, and he whimpered. It made her grin wildly.

“Fuck! What happened to my shy girl?”

She smiled when he looked up at her in wonder. Sitting back, continuing to undulate against his loins, she gave a smug shrug of her shoulder. “She met you. You give me confidence, Steven. You make me feel beautiful and sexy. I had forgotten what it was like.”

Latching his hands to her hips, he asked, “What, what was like, Doc?”

“What making love felt like. I enjoy sex, and I had forgotten because.... because he’d made it all about him. What he wanted. What he liked. How I consistently failed to please him. But he never pleased me either. I was so wrapped up in the shit in my head, I’d forgotten how good this felt.”

He lifted her up and impaled her slowly down. “It’s always going to be about you first, Kennedy. My mama raised me to be a gentleman, after all.”

She smiled even though every part of her was humming with pleasure so potent she wanted to scream her ecstasy to the ceiling. “With that filthy mouth? You ain’t no gentleman, Rogers.”

He chuckled and squeezed her ass. “You like it.”

“Yes, I do.” Throwing her head back, she pressed her palm to his abs, dear lord those abs, and began to rise and fall above him again. “How many times, Cap?” She felt him surge up and gasped through her grin.

“Don’t know, baby. No one’s ever asked before, and I’ve never thought to test it.”

Biting her lip, Kennedy peered down at him from behind heavy lids. “Being as I’m a scientist studying the effects of the serum on the body, might I pose a hypothesis, Captain Rogers?” She said hypothesis and his hips bucked. “Why, Captain? Have you got a little science jargon kink in there along with that filthy mouth?”

“Only with you, Doc.” He smirked right back. “Can’t say I’ve ever had my cock twitch listenin’ to Tony or Bruce talk science.”

His comment made her chuckle. “And you like to play the soldier card, don’t you.... Captain?”

He groaned and bucked his hips up. “Why did I ever think you were a nice girl?”

“Beats me,” she murmured, tracing her nails over his abdomen.

“You’re a minx! Jeez, doll. You’re killing me.”

Laughing softly, Kennedy squeezed her internal muscles, watching his mouth fall open. “Can I run an experiment with you, Captain Rogers?”

“What’s it entail, doll face?” He was going to say yes, the excited gleam in his eyes made that abundantly clear, but he wanted to hear her say it.

It seemed the more she talked, the friskier he got out. “How many times can I make you climax before you finally lose your erection, Captain? I purpose it will take at least an hour to wear you out.” She stated it clinically just to feel the surge of his hips.

Her fingers flexed, and he groaned. “Aren’t you the one who said we had to be up early?”

“Can’t leave my man only partially satisfied.”

He flipped her to her back so quickly it knocked the breath from her lungs. “Say that again,” he demanded.

She was going to tease him, but a strong slam of his hips and the fire in his eyes warned against it. “My man.”

“Fuck, doll face. Just fuck! I love you so goddamned much already, and then you go and say that.” His hips surged and bucked, and he took her hard and fast, driving her into nerve screaming release which clamped tight around him. “Damn, Kennedy. You sure you can keep up, Doc?”

Panting, trying desperately to take a breath that wasn’t filled with whatever aftershave it was he used, the one which made her head spin with how good he smelled, Kennedy thrust her hands into his hair. “Five years, Steven. A five-year dry spell and I’m coming to see I’ve been sorely misinformed in the quality of my sex life before now.”

He smiled a look so wicked, she felt a skitter of trepidation travel her spine. “Then let’s test this theory, Doc.”

***

Hours later when Steve managed to look up at the clock on the mantle, he laughed softly. “Three hours. That’s got to be a record.” They were both a sweaty, exhausted mess. He was fairly sure they would need to burn the rug as it would likely never come clean, but that had been one of the most memorable experiences of his entire life.

“Definitely.” Kennedy smiled tiredly back. “Going to sleep right here.”

“Don’t think that’s a very good idea, doll,” he said, pressing his lips to the side of her throat.

“My god, Steven. If you tell me you can go another round, it may just kill me. At one point I swear it was just one long, never-ending orgasm.”

“Nah, I’m pretty sure you’ve rung me dry, love.” He could actively feel his lower abdominals cramp. “But I think your dad may have something to say about me defiling his daughter in the study if he should walk in on us in the morning.”

“Defiling, was it? Mmmm,” she hummed and stretched. “We definitely defiled the rug. How the heck am I going to explain this to my mother?”

It was all matted, not at all sanitary anymore and the room itself smelled of sex and exertion. The fire at least had kept the room dry enough, so condensation hadn’t gathered on the windows, but it felt stuffy to him.

Groaning, Kennedy sat up, pressing a hand to her back. “I ached in all the best places. Between you, skating, and getting blown up, I’m not sure I can walk.”

Reaching for the silky white nighty, Steve sat up and drew it down over Kennedy’s head. When it cleared her face, he leaned in, kissing her tenderly on her plump, slightly bruised lips. “Let me, doll.” He helped her thread her arms through the holes, letting it fall around her hips.

She was all hazy eyes and wild hair, and he was fairly certain she’d have bruises on her hips and butt that had nothing to do with her flight through the air.

He was waffling between guilt and pride but was leaning towards pride.

Helping her into her robe, he got her up and sat her on the edge of the sofa before dragging his clothing back up his legs. Her underwear went in his pocket as he tugged his shirt on. Looking from the rug to the window, he glanced at Kennedy when she giggled.

“Probably the best for now. There’s a hedge out there we can toss it behind. I’ll... make something up as to why it’s suddenly missing. Maybe I can bribe Henry into making it vanish. He’s good with that.”

Chuckling, Steve rolled the small area rug up and took it to the window. Shoving it up, he popped out the screen, dropping the evidence outside before replacing it all as good as before. When he turned back, Kennedy had stumbled her way to the mantel, and he was again struck with guilt.

“You okay, Doc?” He was quick back to her side.

She smiled when he wrapped an arm around her middle. “Fine. Matt taught me a trick when we were younger, and I caught him smoking one of dad’s cigars.”

On the mantle, her mother already decorating here and there for Christmas was a bundle of cinnamon sticks. Plucking one from the bunch, she broke a piece off and crouched, groaning a little, to tuck it near a warm bit of coals. They’d fed the fire once between bouts when the room grew dark, but the fire had again burned down to the soft glow of embers.

“Too close and it smells of burning cinnamon, but, if you can get it to warm....” It took a few moments, but soon the rich scent of warm spices was wafting into the room.

“Clever,” Steve smirked, kissing her cheek before scooping her up and heading for the door.

Wrapping her arm around his broad shoulders, she kissed his cheek. “It gives me a little thrill when you do that.”

“Do what, Doc?” He nodded toward the door which she unlocked and pulled open.

“Just... move me like I weigh nothing.”

Grinning, he headed through the house toward a different set of stairs. “If I can catch the force of Bucky’s fist and repel it you really aren’t an issue, Kennedy.” Quietly, against her ear, he murmured, “And don’t go gettin’ in your head, baby. You’re one gorgeous dame. You're not heavy, to begin with.”

“I’ll try, Steven. Just... be patient with me. I’ve listened to that voice for a lot of years,” she whispered back.

They fell silent as they made their way past the bedrooms. Steve faltered at one point, but it was only for a moment before they reached her room. Once there, he set her by the washroom door, smiling at her blush.

When the door closed, he turned to frown at her dresser. Sitting on it was his black go bag. It made him wonder just who had moved his gear. Henry? More likely it was Bucky, especially with the soft comment only he would hear which had come from his best friend’s room.

About damn time, some of us are trying to sleep. And jeez, Steve. Three hours? Really? Give the girl a break!

Evidently, they had not been as quiet as he’d thought. Likely it was only Bucky with his enhanced hearing who’d overheard anything. Hopefully. He cringed slightly but wasn’t about to mention it to Kennedy.

When she returned, looking wiped, he stripped her clothing from her a second time, pulling one of his shirts down over her head instead before urging her into bed. She didn’t protest and went willingly to fall face down over it.

Chuckling, he took his turn in her bathroom, cleaned up and changed shorts, returning to find her still sprawled over the comforter.

“You can’t sleep like that, Kennedy. You’ll freeze.” The fire in her room had long gone out making it chilly.

When she made no sign she’d heard him, Steve simply moved her. She smiled in her sleep as he tucked her in, crawling in with her.

He doubted he should be in her bed, really, but there was nowhere else he’d rather be and set an internal alarm for two hours from now. He’d let her sleep, make an excuse, and help out in her place. He’d rope Bucky into it, too, and if the others were up, drag them along as well.

Next Chapter

#canadian girl #steve rogers #steve rogers fanfiction #captain america #captain america fanfiction #avengers #avengers au #avengers fanfiction

188 notes · View notes

davidmann95 · 7 years

Text

The Current Superman History

So Superman: that guy’s had a wonky time of things in the last few years. He was rebooted, he was rebooted within the reboot by a five-dimensional bureaucrat with a grudge, he died, he was replaced by his own past continuity self, they merged...dude lives a hectic life. And now he’s got a whole new one, as outlined in Action Comics #977 and the new #978.

I’m putting this under a spoiler cut, since some will want to just read the books; I know my dad for instance doesn’t want to know anything until he can get his hands on the comics themselves. But Twitter-pal Kyle Pinion mentioned he was hoping someone would put together a timeline/overview, and I figure that could be useful, especially since there’ve been some important details only shared so far in interviews and minor online statements, or in other Superman Family titles rather than Action or Superman. If you’re perhaps not reading the Superman books right now, but you’re curious what the background of this new-ish version of the character is for whenever you hop back in, here’s the newest edition of Superman 101.

(Ultimately pretty minor) SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

(Note: I’ll be keeping this up-to-date with relevant information post-Reborn via flashback stories and such.)

The New History

* Krypton is still where he comes from - no bold new revelations on that front. Aesthetically it’s a blend of the Silver Age, New 52 and Byrne takes, with maybe a touch of Birthright thrown in; several Silver Age elements like the Vrang occupation of the planet, green comets as bad omens, and the Day of Truth have been restored, and Zod and Xa-Du are known to have been prisoners of the Phantom Zone (the former may or may not have been Jor-El's friend this time around, given in the flashback Jor-El didn’t seem to react to the news of his imprisonment). Bar-El and Lilo went off-planet ala All-Star Superman, but spaceflight was generally forbidden; Jor-El attempted to convince the Science Council to build arks to escape Krypton's destruction, but as "they'd rather count their riches" they ignored his warnings both out of disbelief and the thought that even if it was true they had years to spare. Kal-El and Kara Zor-El were launched into space right before Krypton blew up, as it’s wont to do; Argo City lived on in space for awhile before succumbing to Red Kryptonite poisoning. In all this, Rogol Zaar, who claims to have been responsible for Krypton’s destruction, seems to have been involved to some extent along with the group of powerful galactic figures known as The Circle, and it seems Jor-El survived to become ‘Mr. Oz”.

* Additionally, as far as Superman’s pre-birth background goes, the existence of Superman in the current continuum is also owed to Ahl, the God of Superheroes. Descending from Final Heaven, he touched down on Earth in prehistoric times (in the spot that would eventually become Mount Justice) and imprinted the Earth with the concept of justice, and the platonic concepts that would become Batman, Wonder Woman, and most directly descended from himself, Superman, who would then go on to give rise to all other superheroes. On an additional metaphysical note, Doomsday Clock specifies that the current Superman is indeed the Kal-El of the Golden Age, old-school Earth One, and post-Crisis, who has simply shifted over the years in response to cosmic upheaval rather than being a full-fledged new individual.

* The Kents found Clark in the field, and like in Byrne’s Man of Steel, they decided to pass him off as their own biological child to avoid legal complications. He pretty much lived the childhood we saw in Secret Origin; there are panels from that homaged showing him hanging out with Pete Ross and Lana Lang (Pete’s arm broken from the one time Clark tried playing football), and a red-haired Lex Luthor living there back then with a jar full of Kryptonite he was studying. Also as in Secret Origin he first realized he could fly when saving Lana Lang from a tornado. His life takes a turn though when his parents die the night of his senior prom, same as they did in Grant Morrison’s Action Comics.

* After travelling the world for awhile he settled down in Metropolis, where after revealing himself to the world in the classic costume, Lois named him Superman. His debut essentially went like this:

youtube

There’s a couple differences bringing it closer to how it happened in Secret Origin, but overall this is closer to the movie than that, at least in tone. And while he did not appear in this comic, presumably that dude was still yelling that that was a bad out-fit just off-panel.

* He met Batman at some point, and together they met with Wonder Woman shortly after her public debut (oddly in his Reborn suit, but that can be checked up to some timeline discrepancies given the current history shifts for both him and Diana, or more likely a simple continuity error). All prior to the formation of the Justice League, meaning that however that went, it was probably pretty different from Johns and Lee’s Justice League: Origins given he already knew at least a couple people there.

* He had a whole dang bunch of adventures. It’s clear vast swaths of Silver and Bronze Age continuity are back in play (though many must have happened in radically different forms, such as those involving Supergirl or his own now-nonexistent time as Superboy): the Supermobile - yes, that Supermobile, the flying Superman car with fists he used to fight Amazo that one time - made a cameo in Supergirl #8, a Superman Robot that looked exactly like him drove him, Nightwing, and Batman to the latter’s bachelor party, numerous Kryptonians native to Earth-One with very specific adventures attached to them were citizens of Kandor, and assorted Silver/Bronze Age Superman-associated folks are members of the space team Superwatch. It’s made clear he went through pretty much all the major 80s/90s stories, culminating in him getting engaged to Lois, telling her who he is (though he figures she already knew), his death by Doomsday and return (which is where Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, and apparently Steel showed up), and him getting married to Lois. We also got a look at the Justice League trophy room in the second chapter of The Button, which include artifacts such as the Worlogog and Prometheus’ suit indicating a lot of Grant Morrison’s years on JLA are canon (as emphasized by the appearance of White Martians in the current Justice League), as well as the armor he wore as Darkseid’s brainwashed servant in the finale of Superman: The Animated Series, and elements from DC One Million have been repeatedly referenced. All three major Crisis events have been referenced as occurring in some form. Additionally, it has been confirmed that at some point Luthor served as President of the United States.

* At some point, he switched over to the New 52 armor costume, presumably going through many of those adventures with the caveat of being married to Lois rather than single or dating Wonder Woman (though he changed costumes prior to those adventures, as he was wearing that suit by the time of Batman: Hush). Lois learned she was pregnant and managed to surprise him with the news; nine months into the pregnancy their apartment was bombed by arms smugglers Lois had pissed off, and it was decided it would be safest to conduct the delivery at the Fortress with Batman and Wonder Woman on-hand to insure there would be no intrusions. While Batman waited grumpily standing guard outside, Diana ended up helping with the delivery since she was close with both Lois and Clark by this point (though she and Clark were never a couple).

* Afterwards Lois and Clark took a sabbatical to California, living under the Lois and Clark comics’ status quo for a little while to keep Jon safe, with Superman ducking out of the public eye and League membership, working quietly in the black costume with the beard from that series; he also established a secondary Fortress in the Himalayas, while Lois wrote several famous books exposing corruption as "Author X". Once things calmed down after something like a few months to a year-ish, Lois and Clark returned to work (though they apparently didn’t move back to Metropolis, raising Jon somewhere else before recently moving to Hamilton, commuting by bullet train) and Superman to active duty, where he went through more New 52 adventures; Perry White was named Jon’s godfather. At some point after this, the current post-Reborn suit was permanently adopted until recently returning to his classic look (he also apparently wore the original Rebirth suit, since a version of Bizarro is still wearing it).

* No more than a year or two ago, Kara arrived on Earth. The events of her New 52 series are still to be read as canon, including for instance her time as a Red Lantern, with the exception of her involvement in the events of Final Days since there’s only been one Superman.

* While it’s not spelled out yet (assuming it ever will be), many of the events of the last year of the New 52 seem to have happened to him in some form, with both Truth and Final Days of Superman being cited editorially in New Super-Man in an issue featuring him post-Reborn; he has the Super-Flare, Supergirl says in her book that he was gone for a time, he mentions having power troubles to New Super-Man and fought a villain from Truth during the encounter, Dick Grayson recalls teaming up with him in his t-shirt and jeans look to fight Blockbuster, solar energy was extracted from him to create New Super-Man, Superwoman existed in some form, and Mxyzptlk pretended to be Clark Kent.

* From the “pre-Flashpoint Superman in the New 52 universe” period: most of the events from Dan Jurgens' Action Comics are canon; Doomsday was still a prisoner of Mr. Oz, and Luthor until recently continued to act as the Superman of Metropolis under a truce with his counterpart. Virtually all of the events of Tomasi/Gleason's Superman are canon, specifically the fight with the Eradicator, the excursion to Dinosaur Island on Earth 21, the run-in with Frankenstein and Bride, and the events of Multiplicity. His guest appearance in Deathstroke, his roles in Justice League and Trinity, and Zod’s role in Suicide Squad remain intact. The events of Reborn still happened, though his memory of it is blurred; as of Supergirl #8, he’s aware he was split into two Supermen for an extended period and was recently reformed.

Fine, Great, So What’s Actually His Deal Now?

In spirit, we’re back to the Pre-Flashpoint Superman, specifically I’d say the one before that but after Infinite Crisis: Secret Origin is clearly dominant (though not exclusive) as the narrative of his childhood and early days as Superman, a lot of Silver/Bronze ideas are back in play, and while most of Byrne and Triangle Years happened, he probably didn’t kill anybody in a pocket universe, and he didn’t come out of a birthing matrix. The change - along with Ma and Pa passing earlier - is that after a certain point (apparently before the period equivalent to his mid-2000s adventures) he changed his costume and eventually had some New 52-inspired adventures, and he and Lois ended up having a son who’s now ten and setting out on his own adventures as Superboy. He and the family have moved from a farm in Hamilton County back into Metropolis. Over the years, he’s fought Luthor, Brainiac, Darkseid, Metallo, Parasite, Bizarro, Mxyzptlk, Zod, Toyman, Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, Manchester Black, Mongul, Conduit, Imperiex, Blanque, Silver Banshee, Ulysses, and Xa-Du, among others, so pretty much all the greatest hits. The Fortress is back to having a lot of fun tchotchkes in it again too; the Supermobile’s there, crystal computers that let him Matrix-jack into hologram archives of his life and Krypton’s, Kelex is there, according to a recent Batman arc he’s using the dwarf star key from All-Star, there’s even a full-size train he and the family sometimes have dinner in. In the present though, Lois is currently in Chicago pursuing a story on her own (though she and Clark continue their relationship as normal given his ability to divide his time) and Jon has aged several years due to a time travel mishap on a space trip with Jor-El, and as the original Fortress was destroyed by Rogol Zaar, Superman moved everything to a new location in the Bermuda Triangle.

In terms of the larger world, Supergirl landed on Earth about a year ago, and for awhile lived a teen version of her TV show status quo, but is now in space with Krypto attempting to ascertain the truth of Rogol Zaar’s claims. Lex Luthor, recently semi-reformed though rapidly backsliding, went through events on a recent adventure with the Justice League that convinced him that his more savage and selfish instincts are in fact in accordance with a higher order and destiny for humanity over the supposed folly of Superman’s altruism, forming the Legion of Doom to realize this philosophical ‘breakthrough’ and destroy the League. The New Super-Man of China, Kenan Kong, remains in operation. And Conner Kent has returned with a new incarnation of Young Justice, though even he is unaware at this time how he fits into the current history of Prime Earth.

Which Stories Count?

Stories that definitely happened, whether near-identically to the original telling, or in very different forms to fit the new continuity framework

Secret Origin, And Then There Were Three... in Wonder Woman, The Case of the Second Superman, The Power-Boy from Earth, Superman’s Big Brother!, some of the old Silver Age Superman Robot stories given their presence, The Kents’ Second Super-Son!, The War Between Jimmy Olsen and Superman!, The Super-Family of Steel!, The Lois Lane Doll!, The Superman from Outer Space!, The Second Supergirl!/The Supergirl of Two Worlds!, The Conquest of Superman!, Supergirl’s Secret Enemy!, The Mystery of the Alien Super-Boy, Superman’s Super-Courtship!, The Super-Suitor of Soomar!, Duel of the Super-Duo!, Superboy’s Lost Identity!, Have I Ever Told You the Story About When I Saved Superman? in Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye, Mystery Mission To Metropolis!, It’s A Bird...It’s A Plane...It’s A Supermobile!, For The Man Who Has Everything, Crisis on Infinite Earths, To Laugh and Die in Metropolis, Exile, The Day of the Krypton Man, Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite, The Death of Superman, Reign of the Supermen, The Death of Clark Kent, The Wedding Album, Strange Visitor (from Cursed Comics Cavalcade), Superman Red/Superman Blue, Grant Morrison’s JLA, DC One Million, Legacy (of Superman: The Animated Series), Driver’s Seat and Suprema Est Lex from Action Comics Special, Luthor’s time as President, Our Worlds At War, Batman: Hush, Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, The Return of Bruce Wayne, The Curse of Superman, The Ghost in the Fortress of Solitude, Lois and Clark, the New 52 Supergirl series, Men of Tomorrow, Justice League of America: Power and Glory, Truth, Darkseid War, Final Days of Superman, DC Comics: Rebirth, most if not all Rebirth-era appearances and Superman-family titles, Superman Reborn and forward.

Stories that while maybe not directly referenced are implied or are exceedingly likely to be canon

The Mysterious Mr. Mxyztplk!, The Name Game, and the covers of Superman Unchained (images from these are used to illustrate stories Clark told Jon, and given Jon still refers to Mxyzptlk as ‘Ruppletat’ in accordance with that, these would seem to still be canon by implication), Dominus Effect (Sharon Vance, aka Strange Visitor, is back in canon, her origin beginning here), Of Thee I Sing and JLA/Hitman (Hacken exists and is missing a hand in accordance with Zombie Night at the Gotham Aquarium), What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way? (while Manchester Black had other stories and a New 52 revamp, this is of course his most significant story), Superman at the End of Days (the death of Ma and Pa Kent is identical to how Vyndktvx organized it in this arc, and as lead-in stories The Curse of Superman and The Ghost In The Fortress of Solitude are both some degree of canon, as is the native Earth 45 of major villain Superdoomsday, it’s likely this happened), H’El on Earth and Krypton Returns (Shay Veritas’s presence, the confirmed existence of the Oracle, and the assured canonicity of Supergirl’s New 52 run imply H’El was likely around).

Stories that definitely didn’t happen any way we would recognize them

Last Son (the current version of Lor-Zod bears no resemblance to Christopher Kent and was never adopted by Lois and Clark), all Conner Kent Superboy stories for now (his debut in Reign of the Supermen has been omitted), Superman and the Men of Steel/The Boy Who Stole Superman’s Cape (of all modern origins, this take is most explicitly no longer any form of canon), Byrne’s Man of Steel (numerous details contradicting the major elements of this between Krypton, Luthor, Superman’s debut, etc.), New Krypton (Zor-El was still recently alive and a version of Cyborg Superman, with the fate of Argo City being significantly different), all Legion of Superheroes stories, Return To Krypton and any stories of a similar concept (Superman’s holographic ‘trip’ to Krypton in The New World is clearly framed as the first time he has seen his homeworld or biological parents), Identity Crisis (this has been repeatedly clarified as having not happened), Superman/Wonder Woman.

#Superman #Superman: Reborn #Analysis #DC Rebirth #New 52 #Lois Lane #Jon Kent #Superboy #Supergirl #Lana Lang #New Super Man #Lex Luthor #Krypton #Opinion

73 notes · View notes

lynchgirl90 · 7 years

Photo

#TwinPeaks’: David Lynch Talks About Reviving the Iconic Series

"Cable television is a new art house, and it’s good that it’s here," says Lynch, who talks Showtime, inspiration and the red room.

He dressed like a G-man.

When he arrived for his interview with Variety, David Lynch wore a black suit, a white shirt, a black tie, and wingtips. His hair was styled the same way as always, but what had once been jet black was now mostly white. The only pop of color on Lynch was incongruous; it emerged when he sat down for the interview. As he gestured while talking, a yellow plastic watch peeked out from the sleeve of his white shirt. It was the only item that didn’t make him look like his “Twin Peaks” character, FBI official Gordon Cole.

Lynch was as affable an interviewee as I’ve ever come across, but his answers were concise: His art may rely on the creation of a mysterious atmosphere, but in talking about his return to the world of “Twin Peaks,” he couldn’t have been more unequivocal and direct. When he disagreed with the premise of a question, which was not an uncommon occurrence, he did so in the friendliest possible way. The single longest answer — and it was an impassioned one, at that — revolved around his thoughts on the state of non-tentpole cinema.

The director is nothing if not attentive; he actually closed his eyes at several points in order to focus as completely as he could on his answers. At times, he would knead his hands together as he spoke, eyes closed, focused inward. That intensity seemed appropriate, given that he spoke about how his work is often inspired by images that float up from the deepest parts of his subconscious. Lynch doesn’t take credit for the existence of the strange moods and disjunctive tableaus that fill his work; he says he just channels what he sees, and puts that out into the world.

One more unequivocal thing: Lynch hates the idea of spoiling the experience of watching one of his creations. So in the conversation below, which was excerpted in this feature story on the drama’s return, there are no details about individual episodes of the “Twin Peaks” return, which arrived May 21 on Showtime.

When you’re on the set, are you a director who wants to have a very exact rendition of what you’ve envisioned?

Yes.

Down to line readings?

Yeah, it has to be very specific, or it has to be something that works just as well. If it doesn’t work in the line of things, then you have to talk and adjust things.

Are you looking for the actors to collaborate with you and bring you an idea that they think might execute your vision?

Not really. You know, it’s mostly — they tune into pretty much to what it is, and if they don’t, it’s pretty quick to explain the thing. Then there’s some that are good and some that are great line readings. You just keep working until it feels correct to you.

Kyle MacLachlan has said that you have such a close working relationship that you often don’t even need to speak. Is that something that develops over time?

Yeah, I think so, but I think I’ve known a lot of people as long as Kyle. We’re real close and sort of on the same page. So if I have any kind of doubt, he’ll pick up on that and think about it and he’ll know why. He’ll play back in his head something and say, “Well, off we go again.” We don’t have to say anything.

Because he’s so in tune with what you’re going for?

Yeah, the character is a certain way and Kyle knows what that way is, so he knows if he veered off at any time.

When you were envisioning this return to “Twin Peaks” — actually, I’ll back up a bit. In a more general way, is it images that come to you?

No, an idea holds everything, really, if you analyze it. It comes in a burst. An idea comes in, and if you stop and think about it, it has sound, it has image, it has a mood, and it even has an indication of wardrobe, and knowing a character, or the way they speak, the words they say. A whole bunch of things can come in an instant.

When you began to consider returning to “Twin Peaks,” did you receive flashes of those things, and then it was a matter of finding ways to join them together?

Yeah. I work with Mark Frost, so we talk and we get ideas. We kick around those ideas, and they get more and more specific, and something starts talking to you, and they know the way they want to be, and then there it is.

When you say “they know,” you’re saying the characters know?

No, the ideas. You pick up on the way they want to be. That’s what I always say, it’s like fish. You don’t make the fish, you catch the fish. It’s like, that idea existed before you caught it, so in some strange way, we human beings, we don’t really do anything. We just translate ideas. The ideas come along and you just translate them.

And transmit them to other people.

Yeah. You may build a thing, and then eventually it gets finished, and you show it.

What were lessons learned from the first two seasons of “Twin Peaks” that you wanted to carry forward into this new experience with it?

For me, I wanted to be involved with all the writing and I wanted to direct all of them. Not that other directors didn’t do a fine job. But, it’s passing through different people, it’s just natural that they would end up with [something] different than what I would do. That’s what I learned.

In a perfect world, would you have loved to have directed all of the first two seasons?

Oh yeah.

Showtime first announced this project in October 2014, and now here we are in 2017, so it’s been a very…

Long time. And we were writing before that [he and Frost began collaborating again in 2012].

When you sat down with Mark again and decided to do this, what was it that made you think, “Yeah, we definitely need to do that.” You had an accumulation of ideas?

No.

No pile of fish that you’d caught?

No. It was 25 years later, which was [a time frame mentioned] in the original thing, and that’s one thing. Another is a love for the world and the people in the world. Then, as soon as you start to focus on that, that’s when ideas start coming.

The experience of working with ABC, do you look back fondly on that?

Sure. I mean, I didn’t really know that side of it. I just remember loving the pilot. The pilot to me is the thing. That sets the mood and the characters and the feel of “Twin Peaks.”

I can actually remember the quality of the light in the room the day “Twin Peaks” premiered, because it’s so imprinted on me. Watching it again, that atmosphere in the pilot is still so effective and mysterious. I understand that the ideas come to you and you want to transmit them, but are you also trying to access an emotional state in yourself, or reproduce that in the viewer?

No, it comes with the idea and … emotion is a tricky thing. A bunch of elements that need to come together to conjure that feeling and have it go over into other people. I guess, like Mel Brooks said, “If you don’t laugh while you’re writing the thing, the audience isn’t going to laugh.” If you don’t cry or feel it while you’re doing it, it’s probably not going to translate.

At times, “Twin Peaks” is also a very funny show.

It’s a bunch of things. That’s the thing. It’s like life, actually — you could be crying in the morning and laughing in the afternoon. It’s the way it is.

Were you surprised when it came out how popular it was?

Yeah. You know, TV executives, I guess they worry, so they have some tests they do on shows, especially a pilot. Apparently in those days, it took place in Philadelphia, and there was a room full of regular people. On a scale from one to 100, it did a 52. It didn’t do terribly, but they didn’t have really any idea. Something happened between that test screening and the air date. Something went in the air.

Showtime Gary Levine, who was at ABC then, talked about how it was held for mid-season — people in the media got to see it and some of the buzz started that way. The interest built over time, and people began to hear about before it came out.

People hear about lots of things.

But there were fewer things to hear about 27 years ago. There was a lot less TV being made.

That’s true.

Why was it important to revisit that “25 years later” time frame?

Well, I had a thing happen to me [during the making of the] pilot. A pilot is open-ended. But in case the pilot flops, they ask you to do a closed ending — they call it the European version. Partway through shooting the pilot, people would say, “Remember David, you have to do a closed ending.” I had zero interest in doing that and no time to do it anyway. No ideas. Mark was not having any ideas.

In the editing process, one evening about 6:30 p.m., I think — it was very nice weather. Warm, and it was a nice sun, low in the sky. Me and [editors] Duwayne Dunham and Brian Berdan went out into the parking lot from the editing room, and we were talking about something. I leaned up against the roof of a car, like this [he folds his arms out in front of him, as if resting on a car roof]. The roof was so warm, but not too warm. It was just a really good feeling, and into my head came the red room in Cooper’s dream. That opened up a portal in the world of “Twin Peaks.” A super important opening, and it led to [the idea that it] took place 25 years later — that dream.

Were you worried about what network the new season would end up at and how it would be received?

No. You see the thing is, there are plenty of things to worry about, but it’s so enjoyable. If nothing happens, it’s still okay. This whole trip has been enjoyable.

You and Mark did ended up settling on Showtime. Why was that?

Well, a lot of reasons, but the long and the short of it is now I’m really happy to work with Showtime and [CEO] David Nevins and [president of programming] Gary Levine and [executive] Robin Gurney and all the people there.

So you brought Showtime the entire script in one 400-page binder. What was it like talking about that with them, getting their feedback?

I think, if you asked 100 people to read something, you’d get 100 different things. Like they say, never turn down a good idea, but never take a bad idea. You stay true to the ideas and you can’t veer off from those things.

I talked to David and Gary from Showtime about the problems that occurred in April 2015, when you said you were going to step away from “Twin Peaks.”

What did they say?

David Nevins said that, once it was explained to him what you wanted, he thought you were making a reasonable and rational request to potentially be able to expand what you were doing. But it wasn’t fitting the normal pattern of what business affairs was used to. That’s where he thought the hitch happened.

Basically, that’s it.

And as soon as he could, he and Gary went over to your house and you all drank coffee.

Gary brought treats for me. Some cookies.

So in the main, what’s your relationship been like with Showtime?

Solid gold.

When you went into production and were shooting it, what were some of the most exciting parts of it?

Every day was exciting. Every day. It’s supposed to be that way. It’s like, this is a day you work with this character, and they do this, and it’s this is part of the story, so it should be exciting. It should be a really great feeling when you get it. Each day you try to get it. I always say, in the morning, you have a glass bridge that you’re supposed to cross. It’s so delicate, you wonder if it will break apart. As you go, it turns to steel. When you get [what you want], it’s a steel bridge. Getting it the way you want it to be, that’s a beautiful high, and it’s a high for everybody. It’s difficult to go home and go right to sleep. And it’s murder to get up in the morning.

Did you feel like you had a bit more freedom with Showtime? Although I know you’ve said that ABC didn’t really place too many limits on you in terms of Standards & Practices.

No, we pretty much did what we wanted to do. [We did] what the story wanted. You don’t think, “Oh, I can do this now.” The story tells you what’s going to happen.

Would you do another season?

I don’t know. You never say no. You don’t know what will happen. It depends on a lot of things.

When I think about Agent Cooper, I see him as an optimistic man. He seems like someone who is excited to meet the challenges of life. How much of who he is is reflective of who you are?

Well, I believe in intuition. I believe in optimism, and energy, and a kind of a Boy Scout attitude, and Cooper’s got all those things. I think a real good detective has those things. He’s got more intuition than more detectives, though.

Was he an Eagle Scout, though, like you?

Was Cooper an Eagle Scout? I never thought about it. I don’t know.

Well, that could be season four, then — a prequel. In the main, do you watch much TV?

I watch some news. I watch the Velocity Channel. It’s about cars. That’s my new love, this Velocity Channel and the different shows where they customize cars and restore cars. It’s pretty great. These car guys are real artists, some of them. Some of these cars are so beautiful.

Do you watch any scripted TV?

I loved “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men.”

Are you still going to make feature films?

Feature films are suffering a kind of bad time right now, in my opinion, because the feature films that play in theaters are blockbusters. That seems to fill the theaters, but the art-house cinema is gone.

If I made a feature film, it might play in L.A. and New York, a couple of other places, for a week in a little part of a cineplex, and then it would go who knows where. I built [“Twin Peaks”] to be on the big screen. It will be on a smaller screen, but it’s built for the big screen. You want a feature film to play on a big screen with big sound, and utilize all the best technology to make a world.

It’s really tough after all that work to not get it in the theater. So I say that cable television is a new art house, and it’s good that it’s here.

“Twin Peaks” airs on Showtime Sundays at 9 p.m

link (TP)

#Twin Peaks #David Lynch #Kyle MacLachlan

2 notes · View notes