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sequinsmile-x · 2 years

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The Way Home - Chapter 4

A fresh start. That’s what she needed. Not the turn of a page, or a new chapter, but a brand new book.

She left everything behind, and just hoped that she had better things ahead.

A Hotchniss College AU

-x-

Words: 2.8k

Rated: M

Warnings: References to stalking in this chapter

Full list of warnings and previous chapters can be found on the Series Master List

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

“I know you’re in there, love,” Ian yells through the door, his words punctuated by his fist pounding on the door.

“Go away, Ian,” Emily replies, her eyes fixed on the chain across the door, hoping it holds out as it should. “Don’t make me call the police.”

“Just let me in,” he says, his voice softer now, the shaking of the wooden door stopping, “we can talk about it.”

“I don’t want to talk about it. I want you to leave me alone.”

There’s a beat of silence, and she briefly thinks he’s gone, that for once he’s listened to her, but then the loud banging on the door starts again. The frame almost shuddering with the force of it, a photo of her and her mother on the side table next to it inching closer to the edge.

“You’ve ruined my fucking life,” he yells, his anger clear, almost sharp enough to cut through the wood itself, “I’m going to ruin yours.”

The door splinters open, and she screams.

___

Emily shoots up in bed, disorientated for a moment as she heaves in a deep breath her hand over her mouth as she tries to steady herself.

It was a dream. A memory twisted by her subconscious, made worse by her thinking she’d seen him a couple of weeks ago. There had been a few moments since, the back of her neck burning as she half convinced herself she was being watched. A feeling that had ultimately driven her to move in the first place, restart her life yet again.

He didn’t know where she was. It was something she kept repeating to herself. Over and over again like a mantra, until she could believe it.

He didn’t know where she was.

Even if he did, she had a restraining order out against him. He wasn’t allowed within 50 feet of her, a court order she’d had put in place after the incident she had just dreamt about. Her mother using her influence in a way Emily deemed helpful for once, although she was sure she would never be allowed to forget it.

There were still 5 months left on the order, the 12 months she’d been granted slipping by quickly. Ian wasn’t stupid. He was a lot of things, but that wasn’t one of them.

He wasn’t stupid, but he could be cruel, and she knew he’d get a kick out of her being on edge like this.

The knocking on her front door, gentler than it had been in her dream, makes her jump. She forces herself out of bed, her hopes of a lie-in dashed, and she slowly makes it out of her bedroom. Quietly approaching the door, hoping whoever was on the other side didn’t hear her.

She looks through the peephole and feels relief flood her system when she sees it’s Aaron, the last bit of what now felt like irrational fear leaving her. She undoes the chain of the door, and it’s only when she pulls it open she remembers she’s still in her pyjamas. The small pair of shorts and tank top she is wearing leaves her feeling exposed.

“Aaron, hi.” She says, internally cursing herself when she hears the slight shake in her voice, the slight crease between his eyebrows giving away the fact he heard it too. “Is everything ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He replies, his frown deepening. “Are you ok?”

“I’m ok.” She says quickly, flashing him a tight smile. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s 9am,” Aaron explains as if it was obvious, and she continues to stare at him. Her brain still not fully online after her dream and her abrupt awakening, “we both have class.”

“Oh,” she breathes out, chuckling, “right, sorry. Mine was cancelled. I meant to mention it.”

“Ok.” He says, still frowning at her, licking his lips as he looked at her as if he was trying to read her. “Are you sure you’re ok?”

“I told you, I’m fine.” She crosses her arms over her chest, clearing her throat as she looks to the ground, avoiding his gaze. “You should go, you don’t want to be late.”

“Emily-”

“I’m fine.” She snaps, cutting him off. His kindness and concern felt like needles sticking into her skin, something about it making her feel unsteady, a slight discomfort spreading through her veins as she realises it was something she could get used to. She looks back up and sees the hurt flash across his face, and she sighs, wiping her hand over her face. “I’m sorry. I’m ok,” she says, knowing they both knew she was lying, “you should go.”

Aaron looks at her for a few seconds, briefly looking like he was going to argue with her, before he nods, conceding to her request. “Ok. I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah. Later.” She smiles tensely at him, nodding as he gives her a slight wave as she closes the door on him.

She blows out a breath as she walks away from the door, barely getting a few paces away before there's another knock. She turns and opens it without checking who was there, fairly sure she knew anyway. She sighs and closes her eyes when as expected Aaron is still standing there.

“Aaron-”

“Do you want to go for coffee?”

She opens her eyes and looks at him, raising her eyebrow at him. “You have class.”

“I can skip just this once.” He replies, a soft smile spreading across his face. He must see her doubt because his smile widens as he leans against her door frame. “My treat.”

A small part of her, that sounds remarkably like her mother, screams at her that she should say no. That she should insist he go about his day, carry on as if he hadn’t walked in on her clearly spooked by something he hadn’t seen, something he did not know about. She knew she was already edging into dangerous territory with his man. His very presence was a comfort to her that she did not entirely understand. His rare smile and his seriousness were something she found herself craving, seeking them out whenever she could. Doing everything possible to pull smiles from him whenever possible, despite the fact she still barely knew him, his otherwise hidden dimples as close to a solace for her as she had known in some time. She was walking a fine line already, sure she was going to find herself on a path she couldn’t afford to follow.

One she’d walked before more than once. Each time changing her life, leaving her unrecognisable from the person she had been before.

“Ok,” she says before she realises she’s speaking, agreeing to his request before her brain could fully catch up with her, “but you’re getting me breakfast too.”

A laugh peels out of him, and those dimples make a brief appearance. “Breakfast it is.”

___

Wherever she was expecting him to take her, it wasn’t the old-school diner he guides her into. It was pink and white, the leather on the seats faded slightly, a neon sign in the window letting everyone know it was open 24-7.

“If Pen was a place, this would be it.” Emily says as she stops just inside the door, Aaron standing just behind her, the bell on the door ringing as it opens and closes.

“You get used to it.” He replies, taking a step past her, indicating that she should follow him as he walks towards a booth.

“You come here a lot?” She asks as she follows him, sitting down opposite him.

“You could say that.” He quips, pushing a menu from the table towards her. “Pick your breakfast.”

She raises an eyebrow at him, a retort on her tongue about how he didn’t have to treat her like his five year old interrupted before she can even open her mouth.

“Aaron, it’s unlike you to be here on your day off.” They both look up to see a blonde woman standing at their booth. She looked young, hopeful. A genuine spark to her smile that instantly made her likeable. “Even more unlike you to have a friend.”

“Thanks, JJ.” He deadpans, narrowing his eyes at her. “This is Emily, my neighbour.”

JJ turns to look at her, her smile widening. “Nice to meet you.” She looks back and forth between the two of them. “Coffee?”

“Yes please,” Aaron answers, staring at JJ as she winks at him, clearly unaffected by his attempt to be stern. She walks away, going to get them their drinks, not even hiding that she was looking back at the two of them.

“So, you work here,” Emily says, drawing his attention back to her. She makes a show of looking around, the gaudy decorations making her smile. “When you said you worked in a coffee shop this isn’t exactly what I was expecting.”

“It’s good for shifts around classes and Jack.” He explains, obviously trying to fight a smile. JJ wordlessly comes back over and puts two cups of coffee down, saying she’ll give them a few more minutes to think about food before walking away again, her pink uniform a flash of colour as she leaves as quickly as she arrived.

“Is your uniform pink too?” She has to bite her lower lip to stop herself from smiling, a battle she loses when he rolls his eyes at her.

“Em.”

“Sorry,” she says, the word lost in a laugh. “I appreciate you bringing me here.” She flashes him a brief and tight smile. “I think I needed to get out of the apartment more than I realised.”

She’d felt on edge the moment they’d left their apartment block, and if Aaron noticed he didn’t say anything. He simply carried on filling her in on Jack’s latest antics, how the little boy kept asking to see her again, as she looked around them. Desperate to see if there was a familiar face, a pair of eyes she was once in love with.

“It’s no problem.” He replies, his smile turning serious. “Are you sure you’re ok? You seemed on edge when you answered your door earlier.”

“Aaron,” she sighs, her hands wrapping around her cup of coffee. “I’m ok.”

“That’s clearly not true.” He says firmly, reaching for his own cup. For a second she sees his hand twitch, as if he had stopped himself from reaching out for her. She lets herself imagine it. The heat of his skin against hers, something she had only fleetingly felt as he reached for her book bag some mornings, carrying it for her despite her protests.

She wanted to tell him. Wanted to get it off her chest, the weight of it threatening to crush her, already having stolen the breath from her lungs as soon as she woke up that morning. She wanted to let him know about her ex-boyfriend and the mess she had found herself in through no fault of her own. Dragged into a situation by a charming smile and promises she now knew Ian could never keep.

But she couldn’t.

Aaron had a son, he was going to be a lawyer. He couldn’t afford to be dragged into her mess.

“I appreciate it,” she says, her lips in a firm tight line, “but I don’t need you to save me from whatever you might think I need saving from.” She takes a sip of her coffee, the bitterness of it matching how she felt for a moment, wishing she could fight against her instinct to push him away. “We barely know each other.”

It’s mean and she knows it, but it has the effect she was looking for. They fall into silence, and it’s awkward. The playful spark that had existed between them in the last few weeks extinguished, gone before it could truly catch fire.

She thinks it might be for the best.

“November 2nd.”

She looks up at him from the table, moving so quickly she almost strains her neck. She scrunches her nose up at him in confusion, trying to figure out what he meant.

“What?”

“My birthday.” He says as if it was obvious, looking at her expectantly. “So we can get to know each other.” She chuckles at him, shaking her head. He continues to look at her as if he was waiting for her to say something, and she sighs.

“October 12th.”

“Only a month to go then.” He replies. “I’ll keep that in mind. Favourite colour?”

She rolls her eyes, “Aaron-”

“I would have always said blue,” he explains, his gaze flicking over her outfit, her shoulders exposed in the red tank top she had changed into as he waited outside her apartment before they headed out, “but I’ve started to like red a bit more recently.”

She smiles at him, her own dimples emerging when his eyes widen slightly, as if he had realised what he had said after he had said it. His cheeks flushing a little, in a way she knew was uncharacteristic from the few weeks she had known him.

She suddenly finds herself unable to resist his kindness any longer, any remaining fight in her fading away.

“Red.” She says finally, smiling at him when their eyes meet. “Red is my favourite too.”

He smiles at her, the widest she’d seen it yet, and her stomach flips in a way she can no longer ignore. ___

She’s running late. Again.

She rushes around her apartment, grabbing the homework that she’d been up until 2 am finishing from the dining table as she goes, unceremoniously stuffing it into her bag as she goes, the door leading to the hallway already half-open.

“Thanks for watching him,” an unfamiliar voice says, “I know it’s not usually your day.”

“He’s my son Haley, I’m always happy to see him.”

Emily looks up as she hears Aaron’s voice, the conversation he’d been having with the blonde woman standing outside of his apartment coming to a sudden stop when they both realise she is there. She can now see where Jack gets most of his features from, his light colouring clearly inherited from his mother.

“Emily!” Jack exclaims, running towards her and hugging her legs like they were old friends. Giving the impression they had met more than the one time they had, the disjointed conversation they’d had in her living room as Aaron fixed her kitchen sink.

“Hi Jack,” she says, patting him gently on the back as she looks down at him, hyper-aware of Haley’s firm stare. “Good to see you again.”

“Jack, Emily is clearly going somewhere,” Aaron says, encouraging his son to let go of her. They lapse into silence so tense it reminds Emily of dinners at her mother’s house, the air full of things people wanted to say but couldn’t.

“I’m Haley,” Haley says, taking it upon herself to start introductions when Aaron fails too, “Jack’s mom.”

Emily smiles politely at her. “I’m Emily, it’s nice to meet you.” She clears her throat as the tension returns, and she looks down at her watch. “I should go, I’m running late. It was nice to meet you.”

She walks away before she can catch Aaron’s eye, not sure she’d like what she would find there. She’s still within hearing distance when Haley asks who she is, and Aaron explains that she’s just his neighbour. His attempts to placate his ex-girlfriend a stab to her chest that she doesn’t expect. The pain sharper than she knows it should be.

She’s still thinking about it when she makes it outside, and that’s why it takes her a second to see the man down the street, carefully keeping his distance from her. She freezes on the spot, her air stolen from her lungs as her eyes meet his.

Ian stares back at her, a sly smile on his face as he lifts his hand to wave at her. One of his ice-blue eyes closes in a wink before he turns and walks away, disappearing into a crowd of students just leaving their class.

She’s rooted where she stands. Unable to move as her body betrays her instinct to go back into her apartment and lock the door. She takes a deep breath and pushes the fear down, swallowing it, the taste sharp. Like acid in her lungs. She walks forward, continuing her journey to class.

She’d already run away from him once. Hiding away from him in a way she hated.

She makes it to class but doesn’t absorb any of it. Looking out of the window as if she’d spot him again, the familiar paranoia sinking in. Its presence almost welcome, like meeting an old friend after too long apart.

He’d found her. He’d fucking found her.

-x-

Tag list:

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#hotchniss #hotchniss fanfiction #hotchniss fanfic #aaron hotchner fanfiction #emily prentiss fanfiction #hotchniss fan fic #aaron hotchner #emily prentiss #aaron hotchner x emily prentiss #TWH #AU

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frankiehagg · 1 year

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writing journal: i'm restarting my manuscript from scratch, again

i just finished the fifth week of my second go at grad school. i am studying to become a translator! it is so great and uses my skills as a researcher, writer, and editor SO well, in ways i hadn't predicted. it has also, until this week, DECIMATED my capacity for non-school reading and writing. it's been so nice to pick up a non-assigned book, of fiction, about people who aren't real. missed this.

as my skills develop away from the crisis mode of learning a new skill, lean into my existing editorial skills, and leave me more free time, i find myself having time to fall into The Bad Mood, which happens when i'm not being sufficiently creative. so tonight is my rip roaring friday night of... starting the seventh draft of my six-years-in-the-making book manuscript, from scratch, again.

some FAQ about my intense journey with this manuscript:

Q: WHAT KEEPS GOING WRONG WITH THIS BOOK?

A: fundamentally, nothing. the story was too character-heavy in its first incarnation and dealt with themes that have been progressively less interesting to me. more accurate to say that my skills develop at a pace faster than the manuscript does. i don't mean this as a flex; i've averaged ~7k a month on this manuscript for years & other projects have naturally developed my skills along the way

Q: SEVERAL OF YOUR LAST DRAFTS HAVE ONLY BEEN 5-10k BEFORE YOU SCRAPPED THEM. WHY? ARE YOU *SURE* NOTHING'S WRONG WITH THIS BOOK?

A: i uh... ok, everything's wrong with this book. the themes are wrong. the beloved characters i have retained along the way no longer fit the story—at least one of them, the main character as i imagined her, needs to join the 350k pile of killed darlings, and the others need to undergo serious relevance editing. the logic of the setting is quite thin. my style is also "broke" on the scale of broke to bespoke; my skills are better now, so now every time i write this piece the voice is unbearably weak and uncompelling. fixing voice has been the main impetus for these endless restarts, and i haven't found one that both sounds good and works with the setting.

most egregiously: as the themes and setting are developed, the plot breaks and breaks and breaks.

i've been aware of these issues for a while and i hoped writing through them would fix my problems. not so. now that i've had a nice monthlong break from writing (at least, anything that wasn't translated from the original french), i opened my document and... didn't like what i saw. i opened my wiki and didn't like what i saw. i opened my file of short story ideas and—saw a theme. a theme that works very well with the setting i've been trying to develop, overhauls everything, and gives me a fresh lens from which to spawn new characters or refresh old ones with new purposes.

the first thing i am doing is scrapping everything. all meta material—gone. new scrivener file. new wiki file (i use obsidian for wikis, which i wrote at more length about here). i'll keep the old stuff for reference, but this is a new world for a new story. i am entering only with a vague understanding that this is a science fantasy story, both hero's journey and tragedy, and... isn't NOT about the john searle–jacques derrida debate.

it'll be good, i swear!

the second thing i am doing, for the first time in my life, is attempting to write a COMPLETE, COMPREHENSIVE outline—i am normally a cheerful planner-pantser combo—before i write a single word of prose. i am hoping this will help me identify areas of weakness before i invest a ton of words only to meet a dead end. since my time is at more of a premium than it used to be, i'll be able to mull things over longer-term and hopefully come to the file on weekends with developed ideas.

the third (and final?) thing i'm doing is to identify elements of style that i particularly vibe with in *reading* and make a point to run 20-minute style drills when i can carve out a spare moment, and keep them in a separate file for reference when it comes time to actually put down prose. i'm hoping this will help me hit the ground running with a style that motivates me to keep writing it, and prevent more style-related dead ends as well.

there are a lot of different ways to outline. beat sheets have helped me in the past, including save the cat and romancing the beat. increasingly i am moving away from beat sheets as structural crutches, but having a visual guide for the outline stage is still useful to me.

there's the kind of intensely complicated outlining tool like MOTT, but every time even i, a detail-loving methodical research type, open this spreadsheet, get scared, and close out again. instead i'm going to try a combination of the snowflake model and the ring structure as i try to feel my way toward a setting-relevant plot: my snowflake is going to have five act-sized points to start, and from there i will develop smaller and smaller details until i have a narrative outline that is also symmetrical for that "the hero comes home but they can never come home again because their home is NOTHING LIKE THEY THOUGHT IT WAS" kind of journey i'm going for.

i do NOT know if this is a good idea, it might NOT work, i might wind up with a rambling scrivener outline that is basically just a summary of the plot the way i have tried and burned out of in the past. but it'll be fun! let's try new things! failure is liberating in that failing again doesn't feel that bad! that's true, right? that's definitely true.

if you don't hear from me again i've gotten lost in the outline mines, but know i died as i lived: upset that my manuscript still isn't working.

(first posted in a slightly simplified format on mastodon).

#writing journal #outlining #method

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rikalovesrice · 3 years

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My Thoughts on Trollhunters : Rise of the Titans

WARNING : ALL THE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW

Mmmmm. Okay. So I just finished the movie. I’m fatigued as always so this’ll be a bit of a mess lol. Gotta spew the thoughts while they’re still fresh, y’all know how it is.

Right out the gate, I definitely want to talk about the things I loved.

The animation was, of course, phenomenal and gorgeous!

Voice acting was incredible as always

MUSIC SLAPPED

Douxie. I just loved seeing Douxie again and honestly kept my eyes trained on him for most the of movie lol

OK DOUXIE AND NARI SWITCHING?? BODIES??? Definitely didn’t see that coming and I legit started screaming lol

Nari in Douxie’s body is the most precious, chaotic, and wholesome thing like holy cow that was so adorable LOOKIT DOUXIE CROUCHING AND CRAWLING AROUND ON ALL FOURS WITH THOSE NOODLE LIMBS OF HIS I CAN’T --

We called Nari’s mind control and Douxie trying to reason with her!

In the very few scenes they were together, Douxie’s love and affection for Nari really came through. You could really feel how much he cared about her. ALSO THAT TENDER HUG AND NARI’S LITTLE HAPPY SQUEAK MY HEART NO--

Loved Barbara. Always love Barbara.

Walter and Barbara getting engaged

Nomura back in action

Claire being the powerful sorceress she’s become

Loved seeing Aja, Krel, and Varvatos all together again.

NARI VS SKRAEL WAS ALL SORTS OF EPIC AND CRUSHING EMOTIONS.

The way Douxie yelled Nari’s name and ran to her after she died and the remnants of her magic falling all around him, like she was saying goodbye, just *UGLY CRYING*

It was so cool to see Charlie out of his den and flying about like the mighty dragon he is

Loved the Guardians of Arcadia pulling Excaliber out together.

All the gang all going after Bellroc together

YES JIM MY BOOOOOOY

BLINKY DIDN’T DIE

Aarrgh I love you so much

Stuart, what a bro!

We saw a hint of mercy in Bellroc towards the end.

Toby’s death... That was a huge curveball. Jim might as well have cut my heart out with Excaliber as he sobbed over his best friend.

Uh.....um....and.....Er...what else........ .___.

..........Alright so.......It’s about to get a bit brutal from here on out as I talk about the things I didn’t like at all. And the really sad thing is, at least to me, the cons far outweigh the pros in this movie. Because I’m actually having difficulty picking out things I enjoyed, they were so few and far between...which really sucks.

So here we go.

Gosh, where to begin... I guess I’ll go ahead and say this : I’m really disappointed.

Like as I’m here typing this, I’m just thinking, “...That was it? That was the movie?? The big finale???”

So much of this movie just felt....unnecessary. I hate to say almost like filler. The entire intro re-caping the series really wasn’t needed. And then Toby went and restated it all again when he was being interrogated. The pacing, oh my gosh...Guys, the pacing in this movie was not good. The action started and it never seemed to stop. There wasn’t a single moment of rest, of levity, of our characters just being themselves, getting to know each other, being friends outside of the battle. No Reckless Club Segment. No fun, just... I mean Claire and Aja didn’t speak to each other at all. Douxie and Toby hardly interacted. Steve was turned into a gross male pregnancy joke. Jim and Krel barely spoke. Douxie and Aja had nothing to say to each other. Even Aja and Krel didn’t have any moments together. The list goes on. The whole movie was just go, go, go. And it’s so frustrating because there was time for it but it was poorly executed.

Like was the whole break-in to the Chinese Trollmarket really necessary?? Guys, I really found myself not caring. I didn’t care to see this random side quest involving an insignificant new troll character and a Trollmarket that had little to no bearing on the plot. Did I love seeing Charlie, Archie, Blinky, and Claire? Of course! But these scenes were so pointless. So needless. They could’ve written other ways for all our heroes to go after the chronosphere (Maybe we could’ve had Zoe for crying out loud). But instead this vital artifact was the hands of a character we don’t know and don’t care about in a place that turned out to have basically nothing to do with anything.

Deaths. The deaths in this movie. Because of the pacing in this movie, there wasn’t nearly enough time for the emotional impacts to sink in. Nomura? Gone and the only ones mourning her are Aaarrgh and Douxie, who barely knew her. Walter’s death was handled better since we got to see Jim and Barbara actually having a moment to mourn him. The weight of Nari’s death was singlehandedly carried by Douxie, but even that was over before it started. The immense gravity of Toby’s death, which really got to me, was also short-lived to make way for an ending that...I don’t know.

ALSO DOUXIE JUST??? BEING OKAY WITH HIS FAMILIAR, THE ONE WHO RAISED HIM AND WENT THROUGH SO MUCH WITH HIM FOR CENTURIES, LEAVING HIM FOREVER TO BE TRAPPED IN THAT DUMB TROLLMARKET WITH CHARLIE LIKE???

“I hope he’s happy.”

WHAT. THE. EVERLASTING. FRICK.

Douxie’s reaction objectively doesn’t make a shred of sense. Geez, it’s almost like Douxie was expecting Archie to up and leave him someday to be with Charlegmane. Just...what???

What also frustrates me so much is how this movie undid so much characterization and development that happened in Wizards. Or more like all that development didn’t even matter.

What was the point of Steve’s arc in Wizards if he was just going to be reduced to...this?

I was so excited to see Douxie really being a Master Wizard. To see him lead the Guardians of Arcadia alongside Jim. To see him in action as Successor to Merlin and Protector of this Realm.

But no.

Douxie, who had such an incredible arc in Wizards and a character who’s come to mean so much to me in my life, was nerfed and sidelined.

And then time restarts and I can’t help but wonder why any of this mattered at all. What the heck was the freaking point of the suffering, the loss, the pain, the growth, enduring and overcoming so much, the friendships and family spanning across three shows... All gone. Starting all over. Undoing everything, except what Jim went through. As much as I love Jim, I didn’t think he’d be the only character I’d be getting closure for at the grand finale of this entire franchise. But that’s what happened and I really hate it.

Just...all in all, this movie wasn’t satisfying. Not to me. It had its good moments. But not nearly enough. The comedy was misplaced and fell flat. The climax was sorely anticlimactic and didn’t hold a candle to Eternal Knight. The writing, the direction, characterization...For some reason it was all lost and confused and none of it felt right and so much didn’t make sense.

I’m not at all upset with the writers, though, because they still pulled through and did what they could. When the movie did something right, it was beautiful. The things I loved about it I truly adored. No, I’m not upset in the least bit with any of the creative team.

I’m upset with Netflix. I’m upset that Wizards was robbed of the seasons it should’ve had. I’m upset with big cooperations stifling creators. I’m upset that this’ll be it. This is the ending we got and nothing can be done about it.

Aaron did say there’s every possibility for the franchise to continue in some capacity, and I’m hoping for that someday. Because so much, too much, has been left unanswered. So much left to be explored that couldn’t. But until then....I guess this is it. This is what we get.

Now, I want to remind everyone that this is my own personal experience with the movie. These are all my opinions. If you enjoyed every second the movie, that’s wonderful! And who knows how my thoughts will change upon another viewing. But in the meantime, Rise of the Titans really missed the mark for me. I wanted found family badassery and fluff. But nope. Just fighting and heaviness and no payoff. It’s such a letdown...a real shame.

But yeah...Thanks to any and everyone who read to the end of this haha

I still love Tales of Arcadia. It’s a series that has blessed and inspired me so much as an artist, writer, and as a person in general. I do want to keep making ToA content for a while. Cause this movie isn’t the end. Not my ending, at least.

I’ll continue to hope for more Tales of Arcadia in the future (a Douxie spin-off series please Lord pleaaase). We shall see. Until then, fics and fanart fixing this mess galore haha

Until next time everyone! God bless!

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imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl · 3 years

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White Lies (Pt. 06 of 21)

Pairing: Keanu Reeves X Reader

Word count: 2.2 K

Summary: Keanu found the girl almost dead, in the wrecks of what was once her car. While she was in surgery, stuck in a coma, he gathered the best doctors of New York to attend to her. They told him she is likely to have some kind of brain damage, what may lead to memory loss. And this possibility added up wit the fact that she's pregnant, made the council come up with an odd idea. They asked Keanu to pretend to be her husband, since the stress of finding out everything that happened could put the baby in danger. He reluctantly agreed, but only if she does has some kind of memory loss. He still goes she'll wake up soon, with her memories intact.

But when you finally wake up, there's nothing inside. You're quick to find your head is empty, void, like a blank canvas. The only thing that brings you some relief, that makes you feel less lonely is the mention of a husband. And you can't wait to meet him, because you know you can't deal with this by yourself.

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{Keanu Reeves Masterlist}

{John Wick Masterlist}

Being Held

“I don't care what you think, you'll do what's best for (Y/N).” Keanu didn't want to be this rude with Mrs. Davis, but she's giving him a hard time. The doctors have already spoken to her and she agreed on not telling (Y/N) the truth since her health and the baby's depend on it. But still, seating on the first floor's balcony, as (Y/N) showers and changes after the morning walk, Lucia doesn't seem very happy about it.

“Of course not, Mr. Reeves. Or whatever you fancy people rather be called. But this isn't fair, and it isn't right. Do you plan to have this going on for how long?” She raises her voice, what makes Keanu's heart skips a beat. He looks over his shoulder, just to make sure (Y/N) isn't anywhere near. “My son is dead, but this is his child. You can't steal it from him.”

“Everything I'm doing is to keep her healthy.” He whisper-yells, both hands resting on the circular wooden table as he stands up, bending forward, trying to look as intimidating as he can. He doesn't give a damn if Lucia is her mother-in-law and the child's grandmother, he won't let her do anything that may put (Y/N) or the baby in danger. “You weren't here. You didn't see how desperate and lost she was, but I did. Breaking the news to her may lead to a miscarriage. Is this what you want? To lose your grandchild?” He spits the words out, tired of this stupid conversation. This woman is an idiot, he thinks, because he knows she had a meeting with both Dr. Wright and Dr. Harris about (Y/N)'s situation. But Keanu's last words make the woman sink a little, eyes softening, but he can still see some anger. Lucia Davis doesn't like him, that much is clear. “I'm not trying to steal anything from your late son, I'm just–”

“Keanu?” Her soft, low voice calls from the inside, cutting his words short. He takes a deep breath before turning around, watching as she shyly walks to the balcony, curious eyes already looking for Mrs. Davis, and she stops when her eyes find her. “Hi.”

“(Y/N), this is Lucia Davis. Your mother's friend.” He says, reaching out his hands, which she quickly takes, moving to stand next to him. “You were somewhat close.”

With a hand on the small of her back, Keanu listens to the small greetings, thinking if he should go away now, unsure if it's safe to let Lucia alone with (Y/N). But he quickly remembers that the first floor bathroom is close by, with high windows that will allow the conversation to reach his ears. He doesn't want to spy on them, but this is (Y/N)'s health, and he'll do whatever is necessary.

“I'll take a shower.” He tells her in a low voice, offering a small smile when she nods. Placing a kiss on her forehead, Keanu touches her belly gently, at the same time shooting a hard glance at Mrs. Davis. It's a warning, a reminder of what's at risk of she opens her mouth. Then, he leaves, heading to the bathroom after quickly grabbing some clothes, the low voices successfully making their way inside the bathroom.

You're bouncing your leg lightly, wondering how long Keanu will take. This woman is weird, she hasn't stopped asking about your husband, if he's taking good care of you. At first, you thought she was a fan, but now... There's anger in her eyes, like she's pissed off. Ten minutes into the conversation and you want Lucia to go already.

“Has he ever tried to... Force you?” She asks, leaning forward on the table, across from you.

“What do you mean?” Sighing, you play with a strand of hair, twisting it around your finger.

“Has Keanu tried to get intimate with you?” Lucia speaks faster now, grabbing your hand over the table. “Because that's not ok. Even if... Even if you're married–” She spits the last word as if it's something disgusting. “–you don't remember him, so he can't force you to do anything. Don't let him trick you into it.”

“Mrs. Davis, Keanu has been amazing.” You repeat, the conversation draining your strength. “He hasn't forced me into anything. I'm still sleeping in the guest room and so it'll be as long as I want. He's giving me all the space and time I'll need to get things together.” You really hope she can't see you blushing, because there's heat spreading through your face. You haven't thought about any on this yet, and you do hope it won't get into your head. “I assure you everything is great. He's taking good care of me.”

She sighs, shaking her head slightly. “If he ever does anything you're not comfortable with, you call me and I'll take you with me to Argentina.”

A laugh escapes your lips because you can't believe your ears. “I'm not going to leave my husband.” You tell her, crossing your arms over your chest. “I'm completely fine, you don't have to worry about me.” The headache that had just vanished is starting to come back, and you begin rubbing your temples.

“I'm just–”

“Headache?” Keanu speaks suddenly, startling you a little just before you're filled with relief.

“Yeah.” He knows you well. “I think I'll take another pill and get some rest.” Hoping Lucia will get the hint, you stand up, taking Keanu's hand.

“Mrs. Davis, I'm sorry, but I think you should go now. The doctor's said (Y/N) has to rest whenever the headaches get bad.” He says, and you nod, giving the woman a small smile and a wave before heading inside.

That was beyond awkward, and you don't think you'll want to meet with her anytime soon. Making your way to the bedroom, you sit on the bed, back resting on the headrest. It's terribly hot in here, and you jump back to your feet just to push the two windows open before going back to bed. You were expecting Keanu to come to check on you, but long fifteen minutes or so pass by before you listen to his heavy footsteps, and then it doesn't take much until he's opening your door. You're fanning yourself with your hands, the wind coming in not enough to push the heat away.

“I didn't like her.” It's the first thing you say. “And she doesn't like you one bit.”

“I noticed.” Keanu sits next to you, furrowing his eyebrows. “It's probably the age thing.”

“What age thing?” As you speak, you get irritated, pulling your hair off of your shoulders and pinning it above your head with both hands. “Damn it, why am I so hot?”

For some reason, it amuses Keanu, who smiles. “It's called a hot flash.” You were just about to snap at his smirk, but when he leans forward and blows on your neck, the fresh sensation makes you close your eyes and relax just a little bit.

“That's so good.” You mutter, closing your eyes. Then, an idea flashes through your head. “Oh! Go get some ice cubes.”

“Ice cubes?” He asks, quite uncertain.

“Yeah. I had an idea.” Playfully, you give his leg a light kick, smiling when he gives in and stands up.

A couple of minutes later your husband is back with a glass bowl full of ice. You're still fanning yourself and the moment he sits on the bed, you take two cubes, one in each hand, placing them on your neck. “Damn, this is good.” Giggling, you close your eyes to take in the cool sensation against your burning skin. “Help me out.” You ask him, eyes opening again to give him a look. “If you want of course.”

He hesitates a little, eyes lingering on you before he takes an ice cube too. “Where?”

“Uhm...” Thinking for a while, you sigh. “Here on my chest.” Pinching his eyebrows together, he hesitates again. “C'mon, I'm burning up.” With your hands slightly wet from the melting ice, you put the thin straps of your shirt down your shoulders a little. A smile comes to your lips when he finally gives in, softly brushing the cube on your skin, bellow the collarbones. “Thanks.” You mutter, feeling as the heat slowly starts to fade. “What was that you said before? The age thing?”

Keanu sighs, eyes on his current task as you run the cubes through your neck. “Some people are very judgmental about the age difference between us.” He starts, and you're sure he gets a little sad. “It got me thinking too, of course. You definitely should be with someone your age so–”

“Yeah, but here we are.” Deciding to cut him off, you stare at him even though he won't look at you. “I can't speak for myself before, but whoever I was, I married you. So it's probably everything you gotta know about it. And now...” Maybe you shouldn't say it, but you know it's true. And when his eyes meet yours, filled with doubt, and something you've never seen before, you know you have to say it. Keanu needs to know where you stand now because this is like a forced restart. “...I find it really hot.” Muttering, you feel a different kind of heat spreading through your body.

Keanu's lips break into a smile, and a soft giggle reaches your ears. You absolutely love the sound, it makes you want to kiss him. Wait, what? You knew that what Lucia said would somehow get into your head, but you never thought it would be that fast.

“You know what else is hot?” Keanu asks as you pull the ice cubes away, throwing them back in the bowl Keanu placed on the nightstand.

“What?” You inquire, wondering if there's a joke coming your way.

“This,” Keanu answers, tilting his chin slightly, pointing out at you. Now your burning again, cheeks red for sure, looking away from him.

“Don't tease the pregnant woman, Keanu.” You warn him, voice suddenly and unexpectedly weak. “Lucia also said that she'd take me to Argentina with her. As if.” You didn't want to bring her back into the conversation, but you're willing to talk about anything else, eager to calm yourself down and get rid of the thoughts of kissing Keanu.

“If you want to go, you know I won't stop you, right?” He puts the ice cube away, and you sigh, turning your attention back at him. “I'm sure she'd take good care of you.”

“I doubt that. She'd never rub ice cubs on me.” Taking his hand, you give it a little squeeze. “I'm happy, Ke. Living here with you is great. There's a lot to get used to and a lot of things to work on but... This is good. I feel good and safe with you around.”

The smile he has on it's amazing, beautiful. It's the most beautiful smile you've ever seen. “This makes me happy too.” He mutters, bringing his free hand to caress your cheek.

“So don't worry. As if I was going to leave the father of my child behind.” Changing to a joking tone, you place his hand on your belly. “I don't even speak Spanish.”

He giggles again, but soon enough Keanu gets all serious. “You have no idea how much it means to me that... That you're feeling fine. Happy...”

It's true that sometimes you even forget about the accident. It never lasts for more than a couple of minutes, but it means that you can move on from it. But you don't think the same happens with Keanu. You feel like the accident is everything he thinks about, and you hope that taking care of you isn't overwhelming to him. You wish there was something you could do to ease his burden.

“Ke, I... I really want us to work out. If I remember or if I don't, I want things to be completely, one hundred percent fine here.” Moving to sit on your legs, standing closer to him, you touch both his shoulders. “You worry too much. And I get it. My body is still recovering, and there's the baby too, but... I don't want it to become too much and... Ruin things.”

“You're not ruining anything, beautiful, I promise.” With his index finger under your chin, Keanu makes you look into his eyes. “I'm doing this because I love you. I worry because I love you. And nothing will change that. It's not too much, I can do this.”

“Alright, but... Share things with me, you know. Let me help as much as I can being... Well... Like this.” There's a lump in your throat, and you feel tears starting to form in your eyes.

“Hey, don't cry. Come here” Keanu gently pulls you into his arms, and you don't even try to fight it. You had planned this, you decided to fall for him again, but you didn't know your feelings would start to grow by themselves, without you having to force them. You want him, you want to be in his arms, so you don't think much before placing your legs over his, allowing him to hold you. This is everything you need right now, everything you want, to be held by him.

@multific @inumorph @aestheticallywinchester @bvbwestfall @liviiii98 @allie1804-fan @gian-giannina @playboygeniusphilanthropist @partypoison00 @mariafetamina @fortheloveoffanfic @trin303

#keanu reeves x reader #keanu reeves imagine #keanu reeves fanfiction #keanu reeves fanfic #keanu reeves #imagine keanu reeves #john wick #john wick imagine #john wick fanfiction

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hotspringfairy · 3 years

Text

March 16, 2021

I've been staying right around 200 pounds since December. Before that, I was steadily losing from being 237 last May when I restarted my weightloss efforts. Things are going well, but I'd like to keep moving forward. I don't think my body likes being under 200 pounds.

I told my best friend and roommate that I'm having trouble because we're moving soon and it's hard to want to make changes when everything's about to change (we're both living at his parents' house, sharing one room in their basement, don't even have a closet). I would have to come up with solutions that will hopefully never be relevant again after we move.

He's very much a "no- excuses" kinda guy, so I thought he would help me come up with some solutions or push me to try harder. Instead, he agreed that it sucks. We want to come up with permanent solutions for things (we're having frustrations with the living situation outside of my weightloss of course), but we really can't until we move. He's also feeling frustrated.

Even just clearing out enough space to exercise has been difficult. I've had a nice space cleared out, but we've recently needed it for storage/ moving things around/ getting ready to move, and it's the only space we have. I tried to play Beat Saber in a different spot, but my roommate asked me to stop because he was worried I was going to punch the TV- perhaps a valid concern.

As far as food goes, his parents make it very difficult to use the kitchen. It's hard to explain exactly. My roommate and I wanted to make our own separate meals when we first moved in, but they insist on cooking for us (which, don't get me wrong, is sweet and appreciated). They don't really like us to use the kitchen, and it's a big deal if I even want to make a sandwich.

The food they make is ok most of the time. I use to take leftovers to work with me as lunch, but I've had to stop doing that. The vegetables they make are often inedible (I can't eat soggy, waterlogged broccoli- I can't), or the food is just more calorie-dense than I would like- I.E. they often make pasta, but they mix it all up together because they know that I would take just a little pasta but a bunch of veggies/ protein/ whatever's going on it. I've been taking my own breakfast and lunch to work with me, and trying to eat a serving size of dinner that fits my calories.

This has been working ok, but I struggle with my weekend eating, as they don't cook breakfast or lunch for us, but also make it difficult to use the kitchen, if I'm able to at all. It's also hard to meal prep around them cooking, even just having some chopped onion or extra rice in the fridge.

There's limited room in the fridge, and his dad is in a constant state of flipping out about any uneaten food. They rarely buy fresh ingredients probably because of this. Really, he stresses about bananas going bad, when I buy more and more each week because they never last me until Friday! I'm trying to keep my bananas around all week, and he's desperately trying to make sure someone eats them before they go bad. They never go bad. It's madness.

Anyways, these are just some of the trials I've been facing. Once we move, I'll have full control over my own food. It'll be easier to prep my breakfasts and lunches, and I'm so excited to start making my own dinners again! Cooking is often a chore I don't want to do- but I like my own cooking and will make things that align with my goals. I want to get an exercise bike and we definitely want to reserve some space specifically for exercise.

So I'm kinda giving up on moving forward right now, but I have to keep trying my best to maintain the weight I have lost. Then when we move, I'll get a fresh start and be able to establish healthy habits from the get-go!

Until then, I'll be fighting as hard as I can, and checking out all these inspiring and motivating Tumblrs to keep my head in the game!

#weightloss

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footballfanfictions · 4 years

Text

Think that I like her - Phase Three

Mason

It has been three weeks since Molly declined his proposal and I haven’t seen her since. I can’t even remember what phase two of my marvellous plan had even been because the proposal had completely blown everything. I had been so sure that she was going to say yes that my confidence had really been knocked.

‘Bud!’

I didn’t look up, not sure whether Ben was talking to me or one of the others.

‘Hello, Mason...you in there?’ Ben asked.

I looked up at him then, and by now the guys must have known that I wasn't ok, I was very visibly sulking.

‘Your mate has been blowing up your phone’ Ben pointed out the flashing screen that could be seen through the pocket of my jeans.

‘Yeah it’s Kara, her flatmate is that girl I was telling you about’ I explained.

‘Invite them both?’ he suggested. ‘Doesn’t then seem like you’re singling her out because she’s now single. Tammy’s girl is coming over and bringing a few of her mates so they won’t be the only girls or anything.’

I knew what Ben was angling for. He was single too and he was looking to hook up with someone. He had been complaining of blue balls all week in training.

‘Eh go on then, I’ll text her though’ I shrugged as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I did feel guilty that Kara had been calling but I just didn’t really feel like speaking to her. She had tried to help me since Molly’s break up but I just felt awkward even thinking about talking to her when her break up was so fresh. I wasn’t looking to be anyone’s rebound.

I had just finished typing my text to Kara when a sheepish looking Christian came over and sat next to me, clutching a nonalcoholic budweiser in his hand.

‘I just heard who you were inviting. Ben is excited that your friend might be fit. What does that mean?’ Christian asked.

That actually made me smile. I liked it when Christian didn’t get english terms or slang, it was kind of funny. ‘It means that he wants to know if she is attractive’ I explained.

Christian’s face fell. ‘I don’t want him to think that!’ he said in a hushed tone, leaning closer to me while he spoke. ‘I fancy her.’

‘I know!’ I laughed. ‘Wait where did you learn that term? You don’t say that in the US do you?’

Christian shook his head, laughing.

‘Oh man, I hope she isn’t Ben’s type.’ I mumbled, knowing full well that girl was Bem’s type, especially as he was feeling lonely after the lockdown.

‘Do you think he would be much of a threat?’

I looked at Christian and then over at Ben, considering which one I thought might be more of Kara’s type. ‘She has dated a few tall guys and he’s taller than you so he has that but… she is a big sucker for dimples so you win on that one and she liked your accent. The one thing he does have you on though is that he is really confident and girls really like that.’

‘Ok well what does that mean for me?’ Christian was looking really nervous now and I knew I had knocked his confidence a bit which wouldn’t be good if he was about to try to talk to Kara.

‘It just means that if he likes her he is really going to go for it and do more than just kind of stare awkwardly at her, and he will actually flirt really obviously’ I explained.

Christian stood and I laughed, looking up at him. ‘Where you going?’ I asked.

‘To swap this for a real beer. I need all the confidence I can get because tonight I’m telling her that I fancy her’.

As quickly as he came over he was gone again and I sighed. My phone had pinged a few times while I had been talking to Christian but I had been ignoring it up until now trying to counsel him on how to pull a girl as if I were some kind of expert myself.

Kara

Molly took ages getting ready. She had carefully styled her hair into big bouncy curls and applied a heavy amount of make up.

‘Are you sure you want to go out? We don’t have to go you know. Mase will understand’ I assured her.

She shook her head, spraying a large cloud of hairspray and declaring she was ready. ‘I want to see Mase, I missed his cute face. He’s going to cheer me up and I want a drink!’

I rolled my eyes.

We arrived at Mason’s friends flat in just under 20 minutes, with it being only four tube stops away. Molly had smuggled a bottle of pre-mixed lemonade and pink gin with her in her bag and had been chugging it both while we waited for the train and while we were on it and was slightly tottering on her high heels, linked arm in arm with me which was just about holding her up.

We knocked and a good looking guy with dark brown hair opened the door. I had been guilty of not watching many Chelsea matches since the restart because my job had been so busy so I didn’t recognise him.

‘I’m Ben’ he said with a smile, stepping aside and allowing us entry to the flat.

‘I’m Molly and this is Kara’ Molly said, flashing a smile and holding out a shaky hand. Ben missed her hand and pulled her into a hug.

‘Mason is sulking over there’ Ben laughed, pointed Mase out to us.

‘Thanks’ I said, catching Ben’s eye. He gave me a little look up and down and smiled at me and with that I steered Molly over to where Mason was sitting.

‘Mase!’ she cried, plonking herself down onto Mason’s lap, making him jump a little as she wrapped her arms around his neck and starting hugging him.

Mason looked over his shoulder at me with wide eyes and I shrugged and then mimed a bottle being drunk. He nodded to show that he had understood me and I sat opposite them, smiling at the pair of them as Molly cuddled into Mason and started to tell him about the proposal and how it had been the most mortifying moment of her life.

I felt slightly uncomfortable being in such close proximity to them while they were acting rather coupley and shifted uncomfortably in my seat, looking around the room to see if there was anyone that I knew. That’s when I spotted Mason’s team mate Christian who I had met before. He was probably the only member of the team, besides Ben now, that I actually had met.

He was stood across the room from me chatting to two other guys who i assumed played for the team too. One had dark curly hair and the other was tall, blonde and shy looking. I caught Chritian’s eye and gave him a little wave. He grinned and waved back at me before gesturing for me to go over.

Gladly I got up and left Molly and Mason to talk, walking over to where Christian and the other guys were.

‘Hey nice to see you again’ Christian greeted me, putting his arm around my waist and squeezing me against his side briefly. I blushed like mad, enjoying the feeling of his arm around me. No one had been intimate with me in any way for a long time and his arm around me had felt really comforting and nice but he quickly withdrew it to introduce me to the other two.

‘Kara this is Kai.’ The tall dark haired one. ‘...and this is Timo our new striker’ the blonde one smiled and gave me an awkward little wave as if he were nervous and muttered a quiet ‘Hi’.

‘Are you both new?’ I asked, looking back to the curly haired one and trying to work out if I had seen him before.

‘Yes’ he responded in very good but thickly accented English.

‘They used to play in Germany’ explained Christian.

‘Oh like you? I try to follow Dortmund but even following one team is hard so I kind of haven’t kept up with them in a long time.’ I said, smiling at both of them.

They both laughed and started shaking their heads. ‘No...No Dortmund!’ the blonde one - er Timo said.

‘Oh oops, you guys played for other teams right? Shit, sorry, put my foot in it’ I laughed and then spoke directly to Christian ‘I don’t know what phase of Mason’s plan we are on but it’s working tonight’.

Christian looked over at Mason and Molly who were still talking on the sofa, their heads very close together. ‘It must be that couch. Ben said that’s where he hooks up a lot’.

I laughed, trying to avert my eyes from Christian who I would very much like to snog, eer.. hook up with and bit my lip.

As if I had given them some sort of signal both of the germans shuffled off to speak to other people and left me and Christian alone.

‘So how are you enjoying London? Or is that a silly question as you’ve technically been here over a year now’ I asked.

‘That is true but I’ve hardly seen any of it. We were locked down and I didn’t have anyone to show me around’ he grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. I ran my eyes from his elbow upward, admiring his sleeve of tattoos distractedly.

‘Remind me to have a word with Mason about that then, he should have shown you around when you got here.’

He looked between me and Mason as if he were trying to decide whether to do something or not before he spoke. ‘I think you would make a much prettier tour guide’.

Christian

I had felt stupidly confident after a couple of beers, asking her to show me around London. I couldn’t believe that she had agreed and insisted that we leave Ben’s immediately because so much of London was better at night. I didn’t object of course, just downed the rest of my drink for courage and followed her out of the flat onto the street.

I was slightly regretting it now that I was fifty feet up in the air on the London eye, or whatever it was called now. I wasn’t the biggest fan of heights, but we had one of the huge bubbles all to ourselves and the view really was incredible.

Kara stood with her back to me, leaning against the rail which gave me a really great view of the curve of her ass, causing me a great amount of distraction from the landmarks that she was pointing out to me.

‘Over there is the new Wembley stadium. I don’t really know what was wrong with the old one… ooh and you might be able to see the Olympic stadium from here too. That one is West Ham’s now’. She was pointing now, the tip of her finger grazing the glass as she pointed out the stadiums.

‘This was a great idea, thank you.’ I said.

She turned slightly then and looked at me. ‘Can I confess something?’

I nodded and she blushed, a hint of pink gracing her cheeks.

‘I don’t really like heights but I thought I would come up here for you so that you could see everything. I’m glad we did this rather than the cable car though, that looks way more unsafe’.she blushed again as she spoke, her words were coming out faster and faster and she was starting to babble, definitely at least half as nervous as I was.

That’s when I decided that I was going to try to kiss her. Even though if it went wrong or if she didn’t want to we were pretty far off the ground and there was no getting away from each other.

Even so I took a step closer to her and put my arms around her waist, mumbling softly ‘come here’ as I pulled her against me.

She smiled at me shyly as she put her arms around my neck and I could tell that she quite liked how assertive I was being.

‘I think you’re more beautiful than any of the sights out there’. I said, gently tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before I put one of her hands on the back of her head and leaned in. I paused for a moment, with our lips about half an inch apart hoping desperately that she wouldn’t pull away and when she didn’t I pressed my lips against hers. At first it was just a light brush and I felt giant butterflies erupt in my stomach. I was so nervous and the alcohol really hadn’t helped with that. I started worrying about how bad my breath might be and how that might put her off, but she started to move her lips against mine and pushed a hand up into my hair, grasping a handful of what was left of it after I had cut it short.

I could feel how fast my heart was beating as I held her slightly tighter and pressed her back against the railing, slipping my tongue into her mouth where it met hers.

I had never really kissed anyone with as much passion as this, let alone a first kiss and when I pulled away I looked away for a moment before I could bring myself to look at her, for some reason expecting some sort of rejection.

‘Wow’ was all she said but it had me blushing.

‘Yep’ was all I managed in response and I felt like such a doofus. ‘Sorry’.

‘Never apologise for that. I’ve never been kissed like that before.’

#christian pulisic fanfic #christian pulisic #mason mount #football fanfiction #think that I like her #ben chilwell

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bonecorn · 4 years

Note

WAIT PLEASE INFODUMP ABOUT YOUR DERMESTIDS!

I’m going on 11 years of vulture stuff, way back before i knew it was a thing people did.

Here’s a quick pic of my room from several months ago. There’s more stuff now but my room is messy so no pics. This shows maybe 1/3 of my collection from this angle and I’ll show more if you want.

Charles the human is plaster, don’t fret. Everything else is real.

Infodump about my Cleaning Beetles below!

Uhh my colony! Quick info! Demestids are nature’s cleaning crew for dead animal matter. Usually when you think of decomposition you think of maggots, which are fly larvae. They’re fine with rotting or unhealthy flesh, and will sometimes infest living creatures with open wounds (fly strike.) Generally, they’re gross. They smell bad, they look bad, and they Sound bad. Have you ever sat next to a deer being munched on by thousands of maggots? It’s like the world’s worst serving of rice krispies. They DO have a place and many vultures like them and affectionately call them “disco rice.” I’m ok with them and find them valuable members of the ecosystem, but I don’t love them.

I LOVE dermestids. They’re a cute little black beetle species with adorable larvae. They’re larvae are small, dark, and fuzzy like caterpillars. They do not like to eat rotting flesh, and will never eat anything living. Dermestids prefer fresh deads or dried deads, and tend to move in after the maggots have come through. These ones will stay with a carcass until it’s bones are clean, pupating, adulting, mating, and laying the next generation in the same critter. I had a fox whose entire insides were replaced with empty pupa shells it was really cool and artistically inspiring! It’s a really beautiful process.

My colony! It’s a wild colony that I’ve had for a couple years. I got a raccoon with dermestids in it and put it in a cage in the woods, and it’s been going ever since. I keep them fed with a steady supply of critters, removing the old ones and cleaning them up. Whenever I transfer bones from the cage to water for further maceration, I pick off and shake out as many as I can, then I dunked the skull for a second, bring it up, and scoop off everyone who was inside and now needs to abandon ship. I know I have plenty left but I don’t like killing even the smallest living things, so I rescue them.

I love them so much. When you start fostering something you get very affectionate toward it and want to keep it healthy and happy. I will often pick up critters I don’t really want just because my colony hasn’t eaten lately and I want them to do well. I have SO many dried squirrel feet for this reason.

It’s very meditative, actually. They don’t smell bad, they just smell like dead leaves or a log turned over to see the air. Their food smells musty, like old mummies if you’ve ever smelled that. Sometimes I go out there every day just to sit and watch them. I leave a spray bottle out there full of water, because hydration is important, especially in the summer. So I’ll head out there, sit down and see how everybody’s doing. Sometimes I’ll turn over the deads or rearrange them to get the part I want processed into the heart of the colony. They like eating things that are covered, so some critters are partially skinned for access and they use the hide as shelter. The fastest way to get them to process something is to put it in the center of a couple deads and lay another dead on top of it.

When everything seems good and they’re doing ok, I just sit there and mist them with water. they LOVE IT!!!! It’s so exciting and endearing to see a few bugs resting on the surface of a dried dead, and then everyone comes out to party when the water comes out. They’ll hang out around droplets and you just watch them stick their little faces in and drink up. Everybody moves around and comes out to play and you can really see how many there are. I get the whole colony hydrated to give them water and to make the dried deads palatable again. It’s a little harder for them to eat jerky than to eat soft flesh, so keeping it hydrated helps them eat faster. This is especially important for deads that have been skinned first, as they dry out quickly. Demestids can still eat the dried stuff, but it takes them longer, and some may move on to greener pastures if they feel they’ve done all they can. They’re perfectly fine with waiting for rain and they don’t need my water to survive, but I find it really helps them thrive.

My colony is completely wild, and I don’t do anything to keep them with me. They are free to come and go through the forest cage. In nature, when they’re done with a dead the adults move on to find a new one and stop laying eggs, and the skeleton is left to nature to bury and have the bones spread around by scavengers or weather. Mine have a steady supply of food, so the adults choose to stay, lay their eggs, and raise generation after generation in my back yard. I help them along and I cherish them, but I don’t own them. Some people have captive colonies where they control the humidity, temperature, food source, and health of their dermestids, but I’m just fine with my wild ones.

Earlier this year, they slowed down a LOT. I looked closely and found that a whole bunch of mites had moved in and were crowding out my dermestids and crawling all over them. This is a huge problem for domestic colonies, but for me, it’s just nature. I stopped providing deads and now my colony has moved away to find better things, and I’ll let nature clear up the mites and wait for them to realize there’s nothing more for them to eat. Once they’re gone, I just need to put out a critter and restart my colony to bring it back to its full glory.

Nature is wonderful and I’m so privileged I get to be a part of it. You can spend hours out there just watching and listening, and learning what it has to tell you. I adore my little bugs, but I’m alright with nature running its course. They’re free to come and go as they like.

I have a forest for a backyard, but you can have a wild colony if you live in the city and just know somebody with a patch of woods, prairie, or really anything wild. As long as you can set up a cage a decent bit away from houses to reduce smell, all they need is a dead thing to get started. For best results, find something dead and kind of dry looking and it probably has demestids inside it. You can’t always count on them spontaneously moving in, but it’s worth a shot! You also don’t need to mist them as they can take care of themselves.

I just love them so much. They’re so good to me and I’m good to them back. They’re adorable and sometimes finding a newly hatched or newly shed baby makes me so proud I cry.

I love them!!!!!!!

#vulture culture #dermestids #dermestid colony #infodump #tw insects #tw animal death #long post #shire screams #my stuff #clean bones

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monochromemedic · 3 years

Text

“Get the hell away from me you freak-” the man’s exclamation was cut short as a wet force shot into his legs, his body slamming against the pavement with a loud thud. A direct slime bullet shot, and the last of the gang was contained within their gooey prisons. I sighed in relief, lowering my arm. ‘I should quip, that’s what all the good heroes do right?’ “You kiss your mother with that mouth?” I said softly before realizing that no one, not even the gathering crowd could hear that. “You kiss your mother with that mouth?!” I repeated before realizing how weak that was. Baby steps... just needed to not show my face around here for a week so they’d all forget how much I fucked up. I rubbed my neck, fingers gliding along the cryo collar as it released a blast of cold air, waves of relief flooding my body. The crowd erupted in clapping, something that startled me back to the situation at hand. A small rising gang had been causing havoc over the city, something larger heroes would only keep their eyes on before attempting to resolve. They were there to help with big tasks, real villains or aliens, something that would cause real devastation. It made sense but that didn’t mean that some real low lives could sneak under the radar and cause some damage as long as they spaced what they were doing enough or kept it the damage to a minimum. The Graveyard Gang was playing with that line and it was obvious that if it wasn’t stopped some hero would have to come down and take them out themselves. If not for me. I raised a hand sheepishly, waddling to the side of the street to meet the crowd that formed around me. “Hey... hello. Did someone call the police already? Is everyone ok?” My words were met by the sound of sirens drawing near, a large news van trailing not too far behind. A frantic woman nearly rolled out of the van, mic at the ready as she bolted through the crowd, ushering a small man lugging a camera to follow her. “Hi, hello, out of the way, Channel 9 news. Hi, I’m Sandra Stevens of Channel 9 news would you mind giving an interview about the heroic deed you just committed?” Her words were fast and rehearsed, like she had either done this a million times or dreamt about doing it so much, the words burned into her brain. Her mic was pushed into my face, knocking against my chin and drawing a thin strand of goo onto the mic. The woman didn’t seem to notice however, her eyes laser focused on me. “I... I su-sure. I’m just not very good on camera-” “Don’t worry honey, editors make everyone look good. Cameron! Start rolling, everyone please clear the place we need a nice shot of...what do you call yourself, Miss?” “G...Grey Matter.” “Grey.” she repeated, a eyebrow raised in silent judgement. “Well Grey Matter, hope you’re ready for your 5 minutes of fame because we’re rolling.” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My fingers ran across the laptop keys, restarting the video again for the 11th time in a row. I couldn’t stop, my first interview, my first well known appearance as a hero. And the interview was... terrible. The comments didn’t say that but I couldn’t help but notice how nervous I looked, how much I stared into the camera at times, the way I showed my powers and how one guy said it was like a bad hentai. I knew that but god when others said that made everything feel ten times worse. However other commenters were nice, saying how cool I looked, how good it was to see another hero on the streets, taking care of baddies that the others didn’t get. I felt like my ego was a metronome switching from feeling like a god to feeling like a dumbass. I readied my finger to press the replay button as the video neared the end when a knock came to my door. Strange, I didn’t expect anyone, and not many people knew where I lived. Maybe it was a neighbor coming to congratulate me? Not like I could easily disguise myself and not many other people had the consistency of tar. I slid my pants on and walked to the door, opening it to a face almost 3 inches away from mine. “Hello-” I jumped back, arms raising and balling like huge slings, ready to attack only for them to deflate and fall to my waist as I realized who it was. “You really do stretch! It’s like you’re one big sticky hand toy. Neat, Neat...” Plastic Man commented, his neck extended to look at me further. “Mind if I come in? I’d like to talk.” “I... Y-yes of course Mr... Mr. Plastic Man I... Um.” I could feel myself beginning to melt as I went to close the door behind him, gesturing to my messy house before him. He towered over everything easily, walking past my fridge and ducking to get into my living room to observe more of the house, making eye contact with the laptop. He smiled widely to himself before shifting his eyes back at me. “Please, Mr. Plastic Man was my father, just call me Plas. And I assume you know about me from the way your fangirling?” “I... yes of course you’re an inspiration to me ever since I became like this. The way you quickly maneuver and creatively problem solve with an air of ease is inspiring. Not to mention the way your so cheerful with the public, it puts alot of people at ease, I...starting researching you because we have such similar powers.. not in a weird way just, how you do things.” I rambled trying to literally hold myself together as I felt my body begin to dribble to the floor. “I’m sorry can you excuse me-” “Go ahead, you need... help there?” He asked as I sped past him to my room, grabbing the collar and placing it around my neck. In an instant it came to life, a release of cold air wafting over my body. I returned to the living room, head craning to look at the tall hero. “No thank you, I’m alright. Sometimes when I get nervous or overheated I start to lose my form. The cold from the collar helps me keep me together.” He lowered his head, neck stretching once again to look closer at the device. “I get that, hell sometimes on summer days I gotta put myself in a freezer and become a Plas Pop or else I nearly melt down the storm drain. That’s just another thing we have in common I guess. And that’s what I came here to talk to you about.” I swallowed hard, his hand gesturing to the opened interview on the laptop. “Everyone’s been talking about the girl who took down the Graveyard Gang and word gets around fast. So fast that even I got word of it almost as soon as it aired. Boy was I surprised when I saw you on camera, showing of a little of what you could do. Another stretcher like me! And one who’s new to the game, a fresh face. It got me thinking.” He paused, crossing his arms as he glanced towards the ground. “Things have been quite in the League, least for ol’ Plas. Much as I love my job and helping the universe, seems like I’m always backup number 54 on the list of who to call when the world’s gonna end. Which isn’t bad but it leaves a guy with alot of time on his rubber hands. So I was thinking maybe I should give the whole mentor thing a shot, take someone under my wing. Just haven’t got the chance to meet someone I could actually teach anything to, till I saw your little stunt. So what do you say? Willing to make what the Batman described as ‘A horrible decision that no one would agree to’?” This was crazy. A proposal like this? And so soon? Learning under one of the League, one of the bests? “Yes, I’d be honored to be mentored by you Plastic Man- er... P-plas. I hope I don’t disappoint you, um... you know I can’t shapeshift like you right. I can’t turn into lions or trucks... I... I can’t do alot of those things actually, just basic stretching and modifications.” “Hm? Oh well that’s ok, besides I didn’t expect you to be exactly like me, that’d just be crazy thoughts. Also that’d make you my son, and that’s just weird. You got something else that I don’t have, you got that goo shot. I can’t shoot bullets of myself at people and you said you can set up traps and knock people out in a hail of slime. That’s kick ass, we just gotta embrace that side of you and you’ll be up there with Superman at the table, talking about what multiverse crisis was your favorite.” He grinned, lowering himself to my level and wrapping an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close against his body. I felt my face grow warm as I looked away from him, my chest pounding despite the lack of heart in my breast. Now he was touching me? Telling me how cool I was? I felt myself begin to drip again, knees beginning to buckle. “Y-you really think so?” “I know so. You got spunk kid, we just gotta polish you up and you’ll be golden, Pony Boy.” The force of his palm hitting my back sent me jolting forward, his shadow looming over me. “How about you meet me outside of your place, tomorrow. 1pm. We’ll assess your abilities and work from there. Sound good? Too bad, crime never waits. I’ll see you there.” And with surprising grace he dipped out of my apartment, leaving me like it was just a frantic dream. If it wasn’t for the sting from his palm I’d assume I was merely daydreaming, but it was real. Plastic Man and me, working together. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Come on, haven’t you ever seen Spider-Man. Leap of faith!” “I don’t know if you’re legally allowed to reference that...” I muttered, eyeing the large gap between buildings before staring back at Plas. “I haven’t really done much uh... traversal practice. What if I fall and hit the ground I... I mean I don’t think I can die like that but-” “I won’t let you fall, I promise you. I’d be a real bad trainer if the first person I mentored became a permanent stain on 4th street. You got this!” Plastic Man grinned widely, flashing a thumbs up and stepping back. His words echoed in my head, as I stepped back a few feet, already making my plan as I dragged a line of slick slime in front of me. ‘I’ll run forward, using the slime to propel me even further to close the gap. Then when I get as far as I can, I’ll stretch my arms out, attach to the building and slingshot my way up to the roof.’ I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, waiting until every last bit of air left my lungs. And then I ran. My feet slid against the slime trail like a skater on the ice as I raced towards the edge. Before I could even attempt to jump, I hit the edge, my body fling more downward then I expected. I felt the air leave my lungs, my head snapping up towards the roof top I was aiming for and snapped my arm forward, splatting against the brick a few feet down. Damn it, Damn it, I got this. I got this. I felt the tension build in my arms, threatening to snap under the pressure. Just when I thought it was going to be too much, it released. And I found myself ascending just as fast I was falling. Up against the building. A wave of pain shot through my body as I was bashed against the wall, slowly feeling the way my body spread and slowly began to peel away from the window. Just as I felt the last few strand of myself start to detach, I felt a warmth wrap around my body, lifting me up to the roof of the building. “Hey you good? I never saw anyone but me rubber band that hard into a building before.” I tried to nod my head, wheezing and groaning as I laid on my back, staring up at the titan of a man before me. “I’m ok... just the wind got knocked out.” “Mm, yeah I’m not surprised. I mean if anything I guess we found out that a fall from here would be a-ok. Painful but... if you can survive going mach one into a building a fall should be no sweat.” He stretched his arms and sat down beside me, hands forming something just out of my range of vision to mess with. “Take your time, and we can try again. Maybe something with less of a gap to fall down.” I closed my eyes, a sickening knot forming in my stomach. I fucked up the jump, and fucked it up bad. Was he disappointed? Rethinking his decision to choose me? He had been teaching me for 2 weeks now, and I couldn’t help but think that I wasn’t enough by the way he’d sometimes look away, seem upset, maybe wanting to be anywhere else but here. My body slumped forward, lingering pain in my core. “Plastic Man?” His head cocked to the side, eyes unidentifiable behind his goggles. But I couldn’t bring myself to ask him what he thought of me. The words caught in my throat, my fear too great to hear the truth. I didn’t want to seem too pitiful, too... “I’ll try better next time.” “That’s what I like to hear.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “GM what were you thinking?! You know you can’t handle that kinda heat, why did you head into a burning building?! No one was in there! Everyone was safe!” I ducked my head away from Plas’ rage, watching the soot swirl around the remains of my arm. I was hurt bad, nearly melted and burned in a raging fire me and Plas tried to contain. But I was careless, eager to please a man I thought was losing interest in me. Despite the fact the building was clear I thought if I could help put out the fire before the firefighters came he would praise my boldness. But I only ended up making a fool of myself, having to had Plas rush into the building and collect me himself. He didn’t fair well himself, parts of him still goopy from harsh heat damage. “Look at me when I’m talking to you! Why did you do that.” His eyes were angry, his usual smile twisted into a disappointed frown. “I wanted to impress you-” “Impress me?! Yeah your new power to turn into a corpse was real freaking impressive Jenna. Why the hell are you trying to impress me like that-” “Because I don’t think I’m good enough to be taught by you!” I exclaimed, shocked by how I raised my voice at him. “I... I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to... I just... I feel like ever since you started to mentor me I haven’t been good enough. I’ve always been messing up and-and I feel like if I don’t do anything to impress you, you’ll just abandon me and I’ll fuck up the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I-I look up to you so much, and I feel like it’s such a privilege that you chose me I... I feel like it’s a mistake. And so I’m just waiting for you to realize that and I feel like you’re catching on so I had to do something to make sure that you didn’t fuck up with your choice.” Plas’ face immediately dropped, a look of concern replacing his scold. “Christ... I gave you Imposter Syndrome. Is this what the other people with sidekicks have to deal with... Woozy was never like this. Er...well, no he was he just didn’t have powers.” He bit his bottom lip, and sighed, inching to take a seat beside me. “I’m not good at this teaching stuff, I don’t know if you noticed. So if I made you feel like you weren’t impressing me, I swear it isn’t true. I remember when I was first getting the hang of being a hero. I was dog shit. The amount of times I did somethings stupid or tried to impress others without knowing what I was doing myself, god... and when I was part of the league? The first month was a hell, I didn’t get anything done. I still mess up, I just make it seem like I don’t cause I play it off. We all screw up, even Superman. I would know, I was there for a couple of those times, etched em right into my head.” He glanced away, tapping the side of his head where the words ‘Pantsing Incident of 05’ appeared. “Point is we all started somewhere and we were all ass at it. You think Flash got the hang of dodging every car while he ran down the road? No, it was just that no one remembers those times cause he’s too busy kicking ass now adays that no one cares that one time he ate asphalt. No one accept me who uses it to blackmail him occasionally because I’m petty and like to knock him down a peg every once in a while. You’re doing great.” I could feel the tears dripping down my face as he spoke, using my palm to desperately hide my emotions from him. His arm wrapped around my shoulder in a cautious, yet caring touch. “Can we just not... run into burning buildings next time we’re trying to prove something? I might not be able to get you out next time.” “Yeah, of course sir. Thank you, for believing in me, after I did that, and that you believed me in the first place.”

#self ship: plas #have my scraps

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stealthy-like-a-ninja · 5 years

Text

A Silent Vow

Where Steve reflects on what has happened and what’s to come.

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Henderson!reader

Steve laid back down beside you and let out a sigh. Although he was ridiculously tired, he just couldn’t fall asleep.

The lamp on your bedside table flickered a few times beside him, indicating its need for a new light bulb sooner rather than later, while Sting’s soothing voice played quietly from the record player that sat on top of your dresser. He lost count of how many times he’d gotten up to restart your vinyl copy of Synchronicity by that point but didn’t really care as he mindlessly tapped along to the rhythm and stared at the ceiling.

He was pretty sure that he was the only one awake in the house, seeing how late it was. Ms. Henderson had gone to bed fairly early that night while you and he were cuddled up on the couch watching Grease with Dustin. It was your turn to pick the movie so neither he or Dustin really had a choice in the matter, but your little brother still made sure to express his annoyance in not being able to watch A New Hope again as he flopped into the lazy-boy recliner and grumpily stuffed his mouth full of popcorn.

Once the movie concluded, Steve was reluctant about not waking you from the peaceful slumber you had dozed off into so that the two of you could go up to bed. Dustin, on the other hand, was less considerate and wasted no time in throwing a pillow at your head so that you’d get up.

“We’re helping the Byers’ and El move tomorrow, and I don’t want to listen to you complain about how sore you are because you slept on the couch all night,” your little brother grumbled as he climbed out of the chair. Steve was about to scold him for being a dickhead, but didn’t get the chance to before Dustin muttered a quick goodnight to the two of you and made his way upstairs to his bedroom because she was tired; even though you all knew he was really just calling his girlfriend, Suzie.

You and Steve, however, followed suit and made the trek up to your bedroom as well, deciding to call it a night with just how exhausted the two of you were.

It didn’t take long for you to fall asleep with how drainingly busy you had been. It was your last year at Hawkins High School along with Nancy, and you had been up to your ears in homework and extracurriculars. However, even with all the time you spent studying and doing other things, you never let Steve or any of your friends fall under the radar. You helped him create a new resume that he was to use to apply to jobs with Robin the following day, drove Dustin and the rest of the party to and from school almost every day, and insisted that you’d help with whatever the Byers’ would need as they prepped for their departure from Hawkins in the upcoming weeks.

Although you tried to hide it, Steve (and everyone else) was able to see right through your facade of not being too upset over the Byers’ and Eleven moving away. Jonathan was one of your oldest friends, Will and Eleven were two more little siblings you never had; as were the rest of the party, and Joyce was very much a motherly figure to you and always had been. It was only natural that you’d see them off despite how tired and worn out you truly were.

As the next song started playing from the record player, you unconsciously snuggled closer to your boyfriend, and he couldn’t help but grin warmly. You looked so peaceful. However, Steve couldn’t help but think about how that was a completely different story leading up to the events that occurred three months earlier. Soon leading him to let his thoughts begin swarming.

To say that you and Steve had been through a lot would be an understatement. In fact, the two of you had basically been dragged through hell and back, but still managed to function as if nothing had happened. Well, almost. A lot occurred since the two of you started dating around Christmastime the year prior, not to mention everything that happened before that too.

Soon enough, Steve was overcome with the fresh memories of his entire relationship with you.

The two of you always knew each other, Hawkins was incredibly small after all, but you were never really close. However, that all changed in the fall of 1983 when Will and your friend Barb were sucked into the Upside Down, and the first Demogorgon wreaked havoc on your beloved town... The stupid thing almost got you too, but Steve came out of nowhere with that nail-filled bat of his during that fight.

After that, things were quiet, and life resumed as regularly as it possibly could. Steve started seeing you a lot more, thanks to the budding friendship you formed with Nancy after losing Barb, Dustin’s friendship with her younger brother Mike and fighting the monster from the Upside Down together. You, her, and Jonathan grew insanely close after everything, which naturally led to Steve being around much more often as well since he and Nancy were still dating.

After what Nancy said to Steve at the party, he was crushed, but you were there. You went out of your way to try to cheer him up because you refused to pick sides when it came to him and Nancy. He appreciated it more than he could explain, and couldn’t help but notice a warm fuzzy feeling that formed whenever he was around you after that.

He never acted on those feelings, though. Instead, he tried to bury them deep down in hopes they would never surface; but, things changed once Dustin unknowingly brought home a cat-eating, future Demogorgon called Dart.

Steve soon got a firsthand look at just how badass you were when the two of you fought off the demodogs in the old junkyard after you demanded that the Dustin stayed on the bus with Max and Lucas. You naturally had each other’s backs during the whole thing and him fighting with his bat, and you with your trusty crowbar sure put a dent in those bastards from the Upside Down.

Billy showing up at the Wheeler’s house after the junkyard was probably one of Steve’s least favourite memories that you were involved in. It wasn’t because of how he got royally beat up, even though that sucked, but because of how helpless he knew, he made you feel. The sounds of you sobbing and screaming at Billy to stop as Dustin, Mike, and Lucas held you back was on a sickening loop in his mind for days after that, but he really couldn’t think about it at the time seeing he was only barely conscious.

The rest of that night happened in a blur. Steve woke up in the back of Billy’s car while Max was driving, and you nowhere to be found. He soon figured out that Dustin and Mike somehow locked you in the trunk because they knew you’d try to put a stop to their plan, and although they could all hear you yelling and thrashing in the back, none of the kids answered when Steve asked where you were.

“She’s fine, we’re almost there anyway,” Dustin assured while Steve just shook his head, that was until it dawned on him that Max was driving the car and he started freaking out.

He remembered how livid you were as soon as the car came to a stop, and kids opened the trunk again. But, even that anger was short-lived when you looked over to see him awake and basically falling out of the car. You were by his side in an instant, helping him stay upright, and joining him in telling the kids that they were not going down into those tunnels. Brave of both of you to assume any of them would actually listen.

Down in the tunnels, Steve led the group, and you went to follow at the end of it. However, Dustin said he’d go last; and despite your protesting, your baby brother was firm and did not take no for an answer.

“As the man of the family, it’s up to me to make sure you’re safe,” he argued.

“But Dusty-.”

“No buts, Y/N. Follow along.”

Steve watched as you smiled before reaching over to take of Dustin’s hat so you could ruffle his curls, even though you knew he hated when you did that.

“My hero.”

“Whatever,” he grumbled as he snatched his hat back before following behind you and Max.

Once the group was further into the caves and the six of you were a bit more spaced out from one another, Steve was still able to notice your distressed reaction to Dustin yelling from somewhere further behind. The commotion instantly caught his attention, and when he quickly whipped back around, he was able to see, from was what was visible, of your face go pale before you took off in the direction of your brother while he and the rest of the kids followed. When you all reached Dustin, and he started coughing and claiming he was ok, you immediately thumped him in the head and gave him shit for scaring you like that, something Steve couldn’t help but smile at before continuing on again.

As soon as the hub was on fire and everyone was running back to the entrance, you were so focused on getting the kids out first and making sure that they were ok. When a tentacle type thing wrapped itself around Mike’s ankle, you ripped Steve’s bat from his hands and used it to free the youngest Wheeler, and almost started swinging again at Dart once it showed up; but Steve held you back as Dustin took control of the situation. You instinctively gripped onto his hand as you watched your brother interact with the demodog out of fear, which Steve would tease you about after the fact, although the gesture secretly made him a little flustered.

Your little group passed Dart and started bolting back towards where you entered the tunnels originally, you were all aware of how fast you’d have to move based off the screeching of more demodogs approaching. Once everyone reached the rope used to get down there, you helped Max, Lucas, and Mike get out as soon as you could. Just as you were about to help Dustin up, Steve’s arms wrapped around you and started lifting you up so you could climb out.

“You’re next,” he muttered as a surprised yelp left your mouth, but you were quick in recovering as you grabbed ahold of the rope and climbed the rest of the way.

As soon as you were above ground again, you immediately went back to the hole and looked down to help the other two, but much to your dismay, they were frozen as a massive pack of demodogs came rushing at them.

“No!” You yelled as the other kids called for Dustin to come on before watching in horror as Steve stepped in front of your brother to keep him protected from the oncoming heard, but then, the demodogs started running past them without attacking. Steve pulled Dustin close just in case one did attack, but you all knew they wouldn’t because they were too focused on something else. Eleven was closing the gate.

Steve and Dustin were quick in getting out of the tunnels after that, and you wasted no time in pulling Dustin into a bone-crushing hug and repeating the same thing over and over again.

“Thank god you’re ok.”

As soon as Dustin assured that he was indeed ok, you let him go and stepped back so his friends could take over.

Steve lingered nearby, watching the exchange happen between you and Dustin with a small smile as he patiently waited for the next step. But before he knew it, a pair of arms wrapped around his middle, and he was met by you crashing into his chest in a tight embrace.

“I’m so glad you’re ok too,” you stated, shaking your head as Steve instinctively put his arms around your waist, pulling you closer. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if something happened.”

“Hey, it’s alright,” he soothed as he started rubbing small circles on your back, his heart clenching when a choked sob left your mouth. “You’re ok, no one got hurt. We’re safe.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” you replied as you started pulling away. Steve could tell you were embarrassed about breaking down like that as you reached away to wipe away the tears spilling from your eyes, and that made him feel even worse. “God, I’m such a mess.”

“No, you aren’t, Y/N. You are one hell of a badass, though.”

A small gasp left your mouth as Steve gently placed his hand under your chin so that you’d be facing him. He didn’t say anything else as he used his thumb to wipe away a few of your stray tears before eventually meeting your gaze, and feeling himself soften. An unfamiliar feeling started swarming in his stomach as you two stood there, staring at each other. Although he had yet to admit it, you caused him to feel massive amounts of butterflies whenever you were around, and that little predicament was no exception.

Slowly, his gaze moved to your lips before fluttering back to lock eye contact with you and letting out a sigh.

“I might regret this,” he started. “But fuck it.”

His grip on your waist tightened as he started leaning down towards you, and you gulped. There was no denying that you had feelings for Steve by that point, but was he really about to kiss you? Your brain screamed at you to move away. He was your brother's best friend and mentor, not to mention one of your best friends exes, but still, as you watched his eyes flutter shut again while he moved to brush his lips against yours slightly, there was no way you were going to stop him.

However, something else did.

The headlights from the car parked only a few feet away grew extremely bright, causing you and Steve to move away from one another just so you could shield your eyes from the beam. You both stepped closer to the kids, confused as to what was going on as the brightness increased, but then it all clicked once the headlights shut off on their own. Eleven closed the gate.

After that, life went on to somewhat resume normally, well, as normally as it could in Hawkins.

Will ended up being ok for the time being after El took care of the Mind Flayer, and before anyone knew it, a month had passed.

During that month, Barb’s funeral happened, which was tough, but you all powered through it. Eleven officially became Jane ‘El’ Hopper, and you continued life as a high school junior. Fall soon turned into winter, and although it was hard to just forget about everything that happened, everyone tried their best to do just that. And to top it all off, you and Steve had barely spoken.

It was awkward as hell. You’d see each other in the hallways at school, and just avoid each other. Neither of you was sure how to even initiate a conversation after the almost kiss you shared, and it was obviously eating away at the both of you.

Jonathan, Nancy, and Dustin were the ones to pick up on how weird you and Steve had gotten to be around each other, not that it was tough for them to tell either. Dustin approached Steve about it (even though he wasn’t too keen on the fact that the girl his friend was fawning over was his sister at first) and told him to man the hell up (even though he didn’t), while subtly trying to get you to hang out with them; to which you consistently declined. You felt really bad about it all and continued avoiding Steve until Jonathan and Nancy called you out on it.

The first thing you did was apologize to Nancy for being a shitty friend, but much to your surprise, she just chuckled. She explained that it was ok if you liked Steve, but what wasn’t ok was how mopy you were because you hadn’t talked to him. Jonathan backed up her on her statements and explained how they were pretty sure Steve felt the same way, but still, neither of you spoke to the other.

When it came time for the snowball, Steve dropped Dustin off at Hawkins Middle School and was completely not expecting to see you all dressed up and helping out Nancy at the punch bowl. Sure he knew you were going to be there. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been needed to drive Dustin, but still, just the sight of you allowed the familiar feeling of a weight being placed on his chest form, and he just simply could not look away. As he watched you, he couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at his lips as you smiled at whoever came up to get some punch, or how you stuck your tongue out at Dustin once he entered the gym. He became entranced. So focused on you, that he actually jumped when you moved your head to the side and ended up locking eye contact with him through the window.

He froze instantly, as did you, but once Nancy noticed what you were gawking at, she smiled a little and nudged you to snap you back to reality. Steve watched as Nancy said something to you before you nodded in response and started walking towards him, almost as if you were on a mission. He remained parked in his spot as you pushed through doors and right up to his car.

“Uh, hi.” Was all he was able to blurt out as he got a better view of how good you looked in your dress.

“Hey,” you replied back and crouched down so you could be eye to eye with him. “We need to talk.”

Slowly, he nodded, not having it in him to avoid the situation any longer. “Yeah, hop in.”

You did as he said and climbed into the passenger seat, not saying anything else as he pulled away from the door and into a parking space on the other side of the building.

Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time started blaring from the gym as you and Steve got out of his car and moved to sit on the hood. Neither of you spoke up, but the silence was deafening, and you knew you’d lose your mind if you didn’t speak up sooner or later.

“So…”

“We almost kissed,” Steve finished, and glanced over at you. Your cheeks instantly flushed red, and you were extremely thankful it was a bit chilly out because it helped mask your blush a bit better.

“We did,” you replied, unsure of what to say next.

“I’m not sorry about it,” he blurted out and caused your gaze to snap to him.

“What?”

“I said, I’m not sorry about it,” he repeated, as you shook your head.

“Steve-.”

“I like you, Henderson. A lot. I’m not going to apologize for wanting to kiss you, regardless of how shitty that makes me seem for doing such a thing to Nancy…”

He trailed off on the last part of his sentence and slowly dropped his gaze to the ground. You blinked twice, wanting to make sure you processed the fact that he actually said those things before speaking up again.

“Is that why you were avoiding me?”

“Yeah,” he answered with a nod. “And I wasn’t too sure how Dustin would feel about the whole thing at first.”

“What do you mean, at first?” You questioned while furrowing your eyebrows.

“Pretty sure he’s been spending the last couple of weeks trying to set us up,” Steve laughed and looked back to you. “But I was still too nervous to actually talk to you.”

“Well, you had no need to be.”

“What?”

“Cause I feel the same, Harrington,” you explained and could’ve sworn you saw his eyes light up. “I was chicken too. I didn’t want to hurt Dusty or Nancy, but in actuality, they were the ones pushing me to not be such a coward and just speak to you.”

“Oh, wow,” he replied with wide eyes and let out a breath. “So, what now?”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind if you actually kissed me this time.”

He smiled at that before facing you again and shaking his head. “Don’t need to tell me twice.”

You didn’t have time to react before Steve was leaning in and crashing his lips against yours. Although you always expected to like the feeling of kissing him, you didn’t think you’d miss the sensation so quickly when he moved away. The two of you stared at one another before immediately reaching out and pulling the other closer than you already were. His arms wrapped around your waist, and your hands tangled into his hair as your mouths collided once again.

The two of you made out for a minute or so before the song in the gym changed and was replaced with the familiar riff of Every Breath You Take, causing you to moan slightly before slightly breaking away from the kiss.

“I love this song,” you mumbled against his lips with a smirk.

He let out a laugh before kissing you again and slowly leaning you back onto the hood of his car. “Sure sets the mood, alright.”

Before things could get any steamier, a deep voice called out and caused the two of you to instantly move away from one another.

“Is that you over there, Harrington?”

Of all people that could have noticed the two of you, it just had to be Hopper. Turned out, he was only a few feet away talking to Joyce, who was giggling as she realized what had just happened. “Oh, leave them, be, would you?”

Hop just shook once he saw you slowly stood up beside Steve and tried not to laugh. Steve could tell the sheriff wanted to say something but didn’t as he looked to Joyce and started walking in the other direction.

“Just stay out of trouble, you two.”

“And have a good night!” Joyce chimed in before following after Hopper.

Once they were out of sight, you and Steve glanced at each other and burst out laughing. After a few minutes of trying to catch your breath from laughing so hard, the two of you agreed to go get some food at the diner before having to come back and pick Dustin up.

And that was how it all began. As Steve looked down at your still sleeping figure, he smiled as he thought about just how hard and how fast he fell for you. It’d been a year since then, and he didn’t even have words to describe how happy he was just with you, even on top of what happened during the summer months.

It was supposed to be an uneventful summer. Steve started working at Scoops Ahoy, and you were working at a clothing shop on the upper level of Starcourt. Seeing as there wasn’t anything ever really going on in Hawkins anymore, and Dustin was away at camp, you and Steve tried to make the most of it, and spent what free time the two had together; even planning to save up and take a little weekend trip together before you started school again up to Chicago or Detroit, you guys hadn’t decided yet. However, that never happened.

Instead, your summer was filled with Russians, the return of the Mind Flayer, lots of death, and just overall a ton of traumatic experiences. You were kidnapped, and had to witness Steve get beat up, again; although he did win one fight, which you did give him credit for. The two of you, along with Robin, were injected with a truth serum that just created a mess of things when your boyfriend told your captors your brother's full name and resulted in you almost taking matters into your own hands by murdering him yourself.

Along with all that, many people you knew actually did die. Whether it had been because of the Mind Flayer and his army made up of people you knew (like Billy and Heather), the fall of Starcourt itself, having to fight off the Mind Flayer and face the possibility of losing any of the people you cared for most, or how everyone had to accept the loss of Hopper after he closed the gate to the Upside Down once again to prevent anything like that to happen again. It was sure one bitch of a summer, but still, somehow, you and Steve managed to survive.

It truly amazed Steve what the two of you had been through together when he thought about it. It’s been a shit show of a ride, but the two of you, Nancy, Jonathan, Robin, Erica, and the party, all ended up being ok, which is all either of you could have really asked for.

The sound of the record coming to an end once again brought Steve back to reality from his thoughts, and he let out a sigh. He glanced over at the alarm clock to see that it was almost three in the morning and let out a groan. With a roll of his eyes at himself for staying up so late, he sat up so he could reach over to turn off the lamp and call it a night, but froze when you started whimpering and moving around beside him.

You were having a nightmare. Steve had them too. He knew first hand how terrifying they were, filled with images and memories of all the things he’s had to face, and he absolutely hated the thought of you going through that.

Your whimpers turned into pleas. You were begging for your boyfriend, Dustin, and the others to be left alone so that they could be safe, but with the way, your movements got more aggressive, and your breathing came more sporadic; Steve knew he couldn’t let you suffer through that.

“Y/N,” he whispered and started shaking your shoulders gently, not wanting to scare you even more. You began thrashing by that point, and his heart broke. “Y/N, I need you to wake up. Please babe, just open your eyes for me.”

After a brief moment, you gasped loudly and finally woke from your dream. Steve watched as you took a few deep breaths to calm yourself and blinked as your eyes adjusted to the light-filled room. Once your heart rate steadied, you finally looked to him and sent him a small smile.

“Hey,” he said softly and reached out to hold onto your hand.

“Hey,” you replied with one more deep breath and squeezed his hand. “Did I wake you up?”

“No, I couldn’t sleep as it was,” he explained before moving to brush some hair away from your face. “Nightmare?”

You nodded tiredly, tears welling up in your eyes. “The Mind Flayer almost got you in that one.”

“Hey, it’s alright,” Steve soothed as he shifted his position so that he could lay back down beside you and pull you into his chest. “I’m right here. Not going anywhere, ok?”

You nodded again.

“But what if something happens again, Steve? What if it’s worse next time?”

Your voice was barely a whisper as it was drowned out by a few sobs, killing him just a little bit more inside as he thought about what you said.

“You can’t think like that,” he told you firmly before placing a kiss to the top of your head. “We’re going to be just fine with whatever life throws at us. You know this.”

“I do,” you replied softly. “As long as we’re together.”

“Exactly. Now try to go back to sleep, you need rest.”

“Aye aye captain,” you chuckled before cuddling up even closer to him. He just smiled in response and reached over to turn the lamp off. Once he was done, he returned to his spot next to you and wrapped his arms protectively around your waist again.

It didn’t take long for you to fall asleep again, Steve even stayed up a little while longer just to make sure you didn’t have another nightmare. As soon as he was sure you were resting peacefully, he let himself drift off into sleep, but not without mumbling a quick ‘I love you’ while making a silent promise to himself to keep you safe from what life could possibly throw next at the two of you.

#stranger things #stranger things imagine #steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x reader #dustin henderson imagine #will byers imagine #lucas sinclair imagine #max Hargrove imagine #eleven imagine #mike wheeler imagine #nancy wheeler imagine #dustin henderson #henderson!reader #henderson!y/n #jonathan byers imagine

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fourangers · 4 years

Text

Fate and Choices (ch.05)

Summary: When Naruto discovered who was going to be his soulmate, he jumped straight at this opportunity, looking forward to spending the rest of his life with his better half. Sasuke well…he was less eager in this regard though. NaruSasu. Soulmates tattoos. M-rated.

AN: A little warning that the full philosophical conversation will go exactly in this chapter. It can get a little too heavy (in the sense that it’s a lot of topics to talk about).

Chapter 04

AO3 link | ffnet link

--.--

Naruto’s blissful dreams of swimming in a Ramen pool were suddenly shaken awake when he heard loud tumbles and Sasuke running to the bathroom. There were noises of retching and agonized groans, as Naruto wondered if he should go to his aid, or if it would be better to let Sasuke have this private moment, since he was always the grouchy bastard.

After long minutes of silence, the faint light from afar showed that Sasuke wasn't returning to bed soon. Closing his eyes with a long inhale, Naruto stood up, went to the bathroom, already expecting the venomous glare coming from Sasuke. He smiled in commiseration.

"You need any h⏤"

"No."

"Not anythin⏤"

"Get out."

One blond eyebrow was raised. "Gotta remind you that you're in my house, sleeping on my futon, puking in my bathroom…"

Sasuke sighed, flushing the toilet. "I'm feeling better, thank you for your attention." Now scram wasn't voiced out but heavily implied.

Naruto picked a hand towel, dampening it with water and offered it to the brunet, as the latter silently grabbed and dabbed on his mouth, frown in place.

Sasuke sagged his shoulders, leaning on the bathroom's wall as he calmed himself down. Thinning his lips, he mumbled. "I'm sorry."

Naruto blinked wide, uncrossing his arms.

Sasuke continued grumbling, glaring at the ground. "You were worried over me and I was rude to you. I apologize."

Well…seven years do change a person. Naruto grinned, positively surprised by the outcome. "Don't worry about it. You need some water? I mean, taste of vomit is always unpleasant."

Sasuke nodded, sighing. "I'd appreciate it." He waited when the blond man went to the kitchen and returned with a fresh glass of water, downing the liquid with gusto. They later returned to their respective beds, with Naruto keeping an eye on Sasuke while he gingerly placed the cover over his body.

The rays of sunlight filtered through the blinds, allowing a gradual awakening. Naruto yawned, stretching his limbs wide and turned his body around, catching Sasuke’s peering gaze. He immediately stood up, muttering a fast greeting and slipping away from the room. Though Naruto could swear that he saw the pale face tinged in red.

While Sasuke was in the bathroom, Naruto prepared their breakfast, toasted bread, coffee and milk. Naruto wasted no time waiting for the bastard, there was no way he’d let his precious food go cold for nothing. He ate with his face leaning on the palm of his hand wondering if Sasuke took a huge dump or what because he’s taking way too long to remerge.

Sasuke showed up at last, pushing the chair in front of him with a sharp noise and sat sideways. He quickly picked the nearest mug and sipped his coffee, looking everywhere aside Naruto.

“Morning bastard.”

Sasuke grunted back, emptying his mug. “I apologize for my drunk behavior yesterday. Thank you for being so understanding and helping me out.”

“It’s okay, I’m pretty used to handling drunk people back in my college days.” Naruto grinned, unflapped. He cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. “So…are you the type that forgets everything that happened while you were drunk or you’re one that regrets about everything once you’re sober?”

Sasuke inhaled deeply, fingers tightening his hold on the porcelain cup. Both men jumped when they heard loud ping coming from Sasuke’s phone. First he tsked, noticing the low battery then unlocked to read the new message.

Sasuke, I wanted to apologise for my behavior yesterday but you weren't home. I asked Neji-kun regarding you, however he just said you've been taking care of. You want to talk once you're comfortable? I'll make your favorite onigiris.

“It’s nii-san.” He muttered. “He wanted to talk about yesterday.”

Naruto gave out a long thoughtful hum, eyes moving to stare at the table while he drank his milk.

Sighing, Sasuke reflected for a second, mulling the best way to handle this situation. “I promise we’ll talk about what happened between us later, because I don’t think it'll be beneficial to us both if we did this now. I guess I didn’t understand myself enough, or else I wouldn’t have acted the way I did yesterday, so I need some time for adjustment and give you a fair explanation.”

Naruto gazed back, then nodded. “You promise then.”

“Hm.”

“You’re not going to use this opportunity to run to Antartida or some shit like that because I will hunt you down if necessary.”

“I promise Naruto. I’ll talk at least in one week. And well…I guess I’m worried about my father and nii-san.”

“Yeah, sure, family is important so it should have a higher priority. I’d have done the same.” Naruto picked Sasuke’s plate and put some toast. “Don’t go with an empty stomach okay? You’re so skinny.”

Sasuke shook his head, despite obeying him, munching the crunchy food.

⏤.⏤

Naruto lived in a city that was outskirts of Tokyo, required around forty minutes by train and subway to reach downtown. The rent was cheaper so he could afford a bigger apartment, and the neighborhood was pretty calm and cozy, a contrast to Tokyo’s frenetic urban streets. Sasuke saved the location for later use, also messaged Itachi so they could meet in his home.

“Are you feeling better?” His older brother enquired as Sasuke was unlocking his door.

“Vomited a little, nothing out of ordinary.”

“You vomited?” Itachi exclaimed, alarmed.

“Neji didn’t say⏤? Oh, I got drunk, that’s all.”

“Otouto-kun, what did I say about how alcohol is really hazardous to your health when⏤” When Itachi saw the glare directed towards him, he rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll let it slide for now. Where were you last night then?” Itachi barely managed to catch his brother’s mutter, so he asked again. “Sorry, come again?”

Sasuke huffed, pursing his lips. “I said, I spent the night in Naruto’s apartment. No, shut up, I’m not in the mood listening to your smartass comments.”

“Perhaps I should start making onigiris then?” Itachi smiled easily, picking up a bowl of rice and began washing it, while Sasuke sat on the kitchen’s table.

Staring at his older brother’s back as the air turned somber, Sasuke’s fingers tapped on the table for a while, waiting till Itachi turned on the rice cooker. “Anyways…” He mumbled. “Sorry for storming out yesterday. You and father didn’t kill each other after I was gone right?”

“No…he was quite shocked to restart any argument. You know how I’m not a fan of defending father but…” Itachi sighed, picking up some salmon. “He felt really guilty for almost hitting you, he kept asking your whereabouts throughout the night. And it was much easier to placate him after that.”

“Oh…really?” Sasuke relaxed his shoulders, also sighing in relief. “So how did you two settle in the end? Is he ok with us putting our company to the stock market now?”

“Oh no, he’s still very much against it, though he said that it’s too late to go back now. He did admit that since we managed to return the money he lent in such a short span of time, we are more skilled than he expected, so he’ll be trusting us more from now on.”

“Wow…Father actually said positive words about us.” Sasuke muttered in mild awe.

“Right? It’s been years since he has done that.” Itachi snorted. “He also said that he’s going to buy some of the company’s share too. I know, I know it sounds pretty alarming…” He raised a hand to calm his younger brother. “He assured me that he’s only buying to attract other potential investors, and he won’t buy much.”

“It’s probably another weird tactic he’s doing to control us.”

“Probably…I’m not worried about it for now. Oh! I brought some Mentaiko for us!” Itachi brightened up, showing the air sealed package.

“Aren’t you using way too fancy ingredients over some staple food like onigiri?”

“Nothing wrong with indulging ourselves every once in a while. Okay…” He picked some fancy soy sauce. “So, I’ll make onigiris with Sha-ke, mentaiko and nozawana fillings, you also like yaki onigiris.”

“You’re overcomplicating some simple dishes nii-san, just onigiris with umeboshi is fine.” Sasuke chuckled.

“I did promise I’ll cook your favorite onigiris.” Itachi lifted his chin with a prim sniff, cutting the vegetables at a deft speed.

They waited until the rice was cooked, sprinkling with some sesame seeds as they spread on a piece of plastic wrapper as it was cooling down. Sasuke helped his older brother by molding into the triangular shape, placing neatly on the ceramic dish as they got ready to eat it.

“Sasuke, I’m sorry for my behavior yesterday.” Itachi said while they were nibbling the food. “You were right about me hiding the whole plan instead of facing father.”

“It’s okay, I understand pretty well why you did that.” Sasuke shrugged. “It’s not like I didn’t hide something from father too in the past, I just don’t know…you’re my older brother, I expected you’d behave better than me and wouldn’t lie over something of this magnitude. There’s a difference between lying to go to some friend’s house and lying over our company’s future.”

“I know and I regret this. It’s just that…you know how father can be really inflexible. He won’t hear anyone else unless we comply with his ideas. He always believes that he’s the wisest, the most experienced and honestly it drives me crazy. Talking to him was a chore because he’s not listening to you, he’s trying to find a way to show that his point of view is better than yours. So…I got used to lying with him to avoid this. Lying was the easier path even if it had the worst consequences in the end. I didn’t include you in this because of this foolishness, so you got caught in the middle of this skirmish.”

Sasuke sighed, recalling memories from yesterday. “You two have been on each other's throats lately. Whenever father would open his mouth you’d disagree with him, it’s almost a visceral reaction.”

“I know…”

“And fortunately, father lent us this money without any interest. You remember when we went to the bank? The interest rate was very high. Say what you want about our parents, but he did sign the contract believing in you⏤”

“Yes, I understand the pitch, I heard this already, I get it.” Itachi sighed. “I guess I still feared that father would harm us some way or another so I just…well. You were there when that happened. I think we always have some trouble with communication, and we have the habit of avoid facing our problems even if it’s there right under our noses. So…”

Sasuke frowned from the sudden change of subject. “So?”

“Since it’s clear that you can manage the company better than myself, and I should stop postponing important occurrences in my life well…” Itachi adjusted on his seat, interlacing his fingers. “I have some news to deliver. My soulmate found me, also using Shinrei, so I plan to visit him soon.”

Sasuke blinked rapidly, taking time to absorb his words. “Well, that is quite…surprising.”

“Yes, and I already booked the ticket for tomorrow⏤”

“Tomorrow?!” Sasuke interjected.

“Indeed, because I considered your words too, Sasuke. I don’t want to run away any longer, and I believe my soulmate will give me the everlasting happiness that I’ve been looking for too long.”

The younger Uchiha huffed, curbing a sarcastic comeback, not wanting to ruin his brother’s good mood.

“Whatever negative thought might be inside your mind, otouto-kun, I assure you that it won’t break me. And since I don’t want to waste my time with any long debate…Sasuke, I’m leaving the company for you, for now. I trust you. I promise that I’ll continue to work remotely, however, handling the employers and all, will be your responsibility.”

“I don’t get this. You put someone you’ve never met on a pedestal and believe that whatever relationship you’ll have with this person is perfect when we know that it’s not a definite fact.”

“I don’t think I do that otouto-kun, and each relationship is different.” Itachi explained, his voice calm and confident. “Also, he was the one who searched for me, I thought I should do the courtesy to see him with my own eyes.”

Sasuke wrinkled his nose, taking the last bite of his onigiri.

“Despite your own beliefs, in this system…” Itachi touched the tattoo on his neck. “There’s another person involved, invariably. It’d be really heartless if I kept hiding from him, despite knowing his exact location. He’d keep looking for me his entire life, so the least I could do, even if I don’t believe in soulmates, is to give him a proper explanation.”

Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke picked the dirty plates, walking past his brother and went to the sink.

“You are ignoring me huh, but you know I’m right. You shut him out all those years and he’s still pretty patient waiting for your statement. Well, if it’s not the best example about why he’s your soulmate, I don’t know where else it would be. Plus…I always felt that you two had a special connection.”

That picked Sasuke’s attention, as he turned around with an enquiry. “How so?”

“Even back when you two were kids, it seems that you were constantly talking about him, you two were inseparable. Whenever you were sulking being stuck in our house, Naruto-kun would somehow goad you to come out so you two would do…I don’t know, do whatever two boys would do at that time. So I wasn’t really surprised when I saw your matching tattoos. Naruto-kun cared for you no matter what, right?”

Guilt churned on his stomach as Sasuke recalled last night, when he was so engulfed in a myriad of emotions that he acted improperly. The moment their tattoos connected, he could feel Naruto’s concern, warmth…affection. He craved for those positive feelings for so long that he kissed the blond man before he could stop himself.

He was also shocked that Naruto still held those emotions, even after that many years amiss. This just multiplied his remorse tenfold though.

“You’re right.” Sasuke mumbled, staring at the ground. “It’s time to make myself clear.”

“Well then…good luck to both of us.”

⏤.⏤

I’m ready to talk. What time is best for you tomorrow?

Naruto stared his cellphone for the umpteenth time, moving in circles around the sofa before sitting with a huff, shaking his right leg. He rubbed his hands to wipe the sweat off, standing up once again and emptied a glass of water in fast gulps.

He jumped from the noise of knocking door, breathing several times to calm himself down. Opening the door, there stood Sasuke in front of him, with his usual cool face, elegant cheekbones, kissable lips, stupid Sasuke, why did he have to torture him so?

“Hello.” Sasuke cleared his throat. “I brought some beer.”

“Ah. Um, yeah.” Naruto stepped sideways, allowing him to get inside. “Feel free to sit whatever makes you comfortable.”

Sasuke took a long look at the sofa, so long that Naruto actually gazed at the furniture too, with a raised eyebrow. He settled leaning on the kitchen table then, crossing his arms.

Another silence. Bewildered, the blond man decided to put the beer in the fridge, grabbing some of his cans that were cold enough and offered one to Sasuke. He studied closely as Sasuke accepted the beer with a nod, sipping and pausing, not once looking back at Naruto.

After another couple of minutes with them just drinking their beverage, Sasuke placed the beer on the table, exhaling. “So…”

“…yeah?”

“First of all…” Sasuke coughed dryly, knitting his eyebrows. “I have to apologize for my abhorrent behavior yesterday. I forced myself on you despite you not wanting⏤”

“Whaaa⏤wait, why are you saying as if I’m just some weak ass guy who can’t defend myself? And I wanted. I mean, in better circumstances, but I definitely wanted that.” Naruto interjected.

“Maybe, nevertheless in that case you were right, and I didn’t listen for a while. The effect of the soulmate system lingered in us and made me do that irrational act that should be condoned in any case so…”

“What the hell…Sasuke, you’re not making some terrible mistake and I stopped you in time so⏤”

Dark grey eyes glowered. “Just accept my apology will you?”

Naruto slackened his jaw, pondering upon Sasuke’s whole speech. “You feel like you forced upon me…because you view the Soulmate system as a negative thing.”

“…if I ever want something more with you, I wanted to feel it solely come from my own feelings, not spurred by some friggin’ tattoos with weird powers. So…” Sasuke sighed. “You were right. I was going to regret it if we went too far yesterday.”

Naruto felt a stab in his heart, exhaling tiredly. “Yeah…I figured.”

“I mean, I’m also sorry for forcing you in that ordeal.” Sasuke strayed his eyes to the ground, a tint of red flushing his cheeks. “Uh⏤so are you doing alright now?”

Aside giving me the bluest balls in history…fine. “I managed.” Naruto shrugged on one shoulder, gulping his beer.

“Anyways, after what happened to us, and analyzing it all…I really felt like I needed some overdue explanation why I refused to maintain contact with you. It’s a mixture of wanting to avoid you and then having too much on my plate while in college.”

“Sasuke, I get it, you parents divorced, I knew you wanted some time with yourself. I just never thought you didn’t plan to get in touch with me after that.”

“Because⏤!” Sasuke growled, before schooling his features and maintained an even tone. “Because my parents are soulmates. You don’t understand Naruto, my mother always loved being independent, wanting to get a job, using her intelligence. When she met my father though, he kept insisting for her to become the perfect humble wife, meek and feminine. She did try to persuade him to give her more agency, in the end because of society, because of my father, she obeyed him, believing that since he’s her soulmate-” He spat venomously. “It’s the right thing to do.”

“I know, but thankfully she divorced him right? It’s not that bad⏤”

“It was bad, because the soulmate system can manipulate your feelings for a human to maintain being faithful to his partner. You felt what happened when we touched our tattoos. My father belittled her, limited her, and she never really saw it before it was too late. And even now, it’s hard for her to move on, because my father is still her soulmate so she believes that no matter which man she would date, it’d never work. She went on some dates, unfortunately I don’t think she had any boyfriend for over a month. Even though Nii-san and I kept encouraging her.”

Naruto stared on his own hands as he twirled his fingers, fidgeting. He stammered, unsure. “I mean, yeah. It was an unpleasant experience, I won’t deny that. Was this enough for you to change your mind about this system completely?”

“It opened my eyes Naruto. Seeing that it’s not perfect, it’s not as great as everyone had claimed. So while I was in college I studied a lot about it, searching for more failed relationships. And did you know what I found?” Sasuke waited for Naruto to shake his head before proceeding. “That there’s way more bad examples than popular belief. The soulmate system is just a way to stimulate human procreation.”

“Oh c’mon, really?” Naruto rolled his eyes. “Same-sex soulmates existed since dawn of ages. Same-sex, polyamory, we have famous powerful couples in history, like emperor Hadrian and Antinous. Or Oda Nobunaga with Nohime and Mori Ranmaru. And that was way before artificial insemination.”

“Yes, and even if we do exist, unfortunately we’re not the majority in human history. Being with your soulmate just gave a fortuitous marriage, so there were some couples that wanted to secure their lineage and forced women to have their offspring. Unwillingly.”

“Wha⏤okay, that’s terrible.” Naruto blanched. “How come we never studied that?”

“Because society doesn't want to see blemishes in the soulmate system, it’s always swept under the rug. After studying, I saw that soulmates tattoos appear with people that are not related at all. Sometimes even forcing them to find their soulmate on another side of the planet. The only time that it was ignored was back in feudal times in Europe, where nobles wed their relatives, their offsprings ended with many deformities and diseases. Mixing different types of DNA, as proven, gives humanity a higher chance of survival and the soulmate system have a hand in it.”

“So…so far you’re saying positive things about the soulmate system, what’s your deal?”

“What I’m really saying, is that this system is not some grand, beautiful and magical system from a higher plane that grants eternal happiness to the couple.” Sasuke rolled his eyes, uncrossing his arms and sat on the arm of the sofa. “It’s just a biological need, an instinct. Like mothers who protect their children to ensure that bloodline will continue.”

“Sasuke, that’s cold. Are you seriously telling me that you believe 100% that your mother just cares for you for some bloody ‘instinct’???” Naruto raised both of his eyebrows.

He closed his eyes, curling his mouth down. “Fine, I overstepped it. I do admit that it goes beyond just some objective science. My main point remains though. That soulmate system is just a necessity to preserve our species, and people keep over-glorifying for nothing. And because it’s just a biological tool, you know where the system fails the most? Exceptions.”

He cleared his throat, shaking his now empty can. They went back to Naruto’s fridge while still chatting.

“What do you mean by exception?”

“Exceptions of the rule, was something I took most of my time studying in college Naruto. Think about it, since the system wants humanity to procreate, what about asexuals? Are they forced to have sexual intercourse just because they have a soulmate?”

“Maybe they can settle with a platonic relationship.”

“Yes, but people criticize them for choosing this path. What about people who want to stay single? The tattoo forbids them so. Here’s the thing, since every human has a tattoo, society keeps pressuring them to find their other half because⏤” Sasuke used a mocking tone. “Oh, it’s not fair to keep their soulmate waiting for them, because it’s your destiny to have someone by your side and it’s ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous, how people can shun anyone who doesn't want a partner. Either they would say that they would change their mind one day, or they are fool. That’s why this tattoo is a burden.”

At first Sasuke expected Naruto would keep interrupting his explanation, refusing to see his point of view as many others had in the past, including Itachi. However, the blond man kept the pensive face, completely listening to him. This gave him more courage to express freely.

“Also, you know that everyone has a tattoo right?”

Naruto made faces, recalling it, before nodding briskly. “Yeah, I think so.”

“That means each human after the age of 18, young, old, lawyers, beggars, prostitutes, priests, everyone has a tattoo.”

“True, so that further proves my point of view right? You have the tattoo, you can choose what to do with it. Priests chose to devote themselves to their religion instead of their soulmate.”

“Maybe, there’s also the darker side on the other hand.” Sasuke consented. “Even with the soulmate system, people commit wrongdoings. So you know what that means; criminals, murderers, pedophiles, rapists…they have a soulmate.”

Naruto cringed in commiseration, admitting. “Yeah…you’re right…”

“And can you imagine the heavy burden of having a pedophile as your soulmate? This system is terrible! Forcing someone to fall in love with a monster that went beyond salvation? How is that supposed to be right?”

“But…in that case you don’t have to accept this person then. Live your life differently.”

“This tattoo would keep taunting you, haunting you…making you remember that you need to follow this fate or else. Limiting us from free will.”

“No, okay…lemme think.” Naruto raised his hand, rubbing the bridge of his eyebrows. “Those tattoos can provide you a path, it’s not all set in stone. Also, since you said that the soulmate system is a biological need, that means that it’ll never know right from wrong. It’s the human society to set what is morally wrong and what needs to be punished, and it’s also the individual choice to decide what to do with it. And…you know. There’s no way we would know, who the hell would become some crazy murder maniac, and which one would be some regular dude growing up.”

“Well…changing your destiny or not…some people believe that once you’re a criminal, there’s no turning back.”

“Fate can’t be changed? No, I don’t believe that. We were born in a blank canvas, with people changing us, and we changing others and ourselves. We can shape our lifetime. I think that’s why there’s a tattoo in each human…” Naruto shrugged awkwardly. “I mean, at some point in their lives, it’s not that they deserve love, however they deserve a chance of being loved. So maybe when they go too far, they lose this chance so I say, let the justice system do its bidding then.”

“You were always the optimistic usuratonkachi.”

“Yeah whatever, and you’re the negative asshole.” Naruto grinned.

“I prefer the term realistic.” Sasuke harrumphed, though there was an upward tug on his lips.

“Also…how are we going to measure which person needs a second chance or which doesn’t? Or which crime is unforgivable? I mean, it’s easy with heinous crimes like raping and pedophilia but…you know that my dad was the captain of an army right? He even met my mom in the battlefield, when she was patching his subordinate up. Under his command, he killed thousands of soldiers, let others be murdered…he even killed some people with his own hands. Are you saying that he no longer deserves a soulmate?”

Sasuke hummed, swallowing his beer.

“Are you saying that he shouldn’t meet my mother, that I shouldn’t have been born?” Naruto asked.

“No, you’re right. It’s complicated. I don’t have an answer to that, I admit.”

“Right? It’s a blurred line, I wouldn’t get angry if you said that my father didn’t deserve a chance of happiness after that. I mean…” Blue eyes acquired a somber color, and he murmured quietly. “He was even killed by one of the enemies out of revenge. Because he ruined many lives and destroyed families.”

“…” Sasuke pursed his lips, finger tapping on the metallic can. “And even after this tragedy, why do you think that the soulmate system is a positive thing?”

“Because well…okay, at first it was mostly because how much my mother told how good it was okay? How much she loved my father, how it was the best thing of her life…” Naruto curled a sad smile, voice watery. “I guessed I wanted that. Having this experience, as some sort of homage, to relive her best years.”

Sasuke waited patiently while the blond man recomposed himself, sniffing and wiping his eyes with his arm, exhaling loudly. “I understand and I respect that. I guess we had very different opinions based with how our parents’ relationship turned out, mine ended badly, while yours finished with a positive note.”

“I guess.” Naruto sniffed again. “And I do understand your point of view, I really do. Actually, this conversation we’re having has been very eye-opening so far. I guess I do look at the soulmate system in an idealistic way.”

“Hn.”

“But…I think we can find a middle ground, right? Despite all the bad examples you told me, the soulmate system still has a very high rate of long-term, satisfactory relationships. If I ever treat you badly, I’m sure you’re smart enough to detect it.”

Sasuke regarded him for a while, deciding to drop the last bomb. “The soulmate system blinds people from seeing the obvious. Like I’ve said, people accept or even normalize abusive relationships because they think, well, he’s or she is my soulmate, I have no other choice. And it’s fucked up that it’s some outside force actually makes people give up on their own happiness, let some screwed up natural law be above their own freedom.”

“You really believe that? I think we can be above that…”

“Fine, then why did you wait for me for over seven years? It’s insane! Normally anyone else would have just moved on instead of waiting for me.”

“Wait, so you admit that what you’ve done was bad?” Naruto chuckled dryly.

“I admit that I was focused in my research about the flaws of the soulmate system that I took you out of my life.”

“Okay, let’s just look in another angle…if you were sure that the person is the one, that person that you want to spend the rest of your life, you could wait no matter how long it’ll take because there’s no one like him right?”

“You would wait for seven years?” Sasuke returned the quip with a knowing eyebrow.

“No, I’d beat the shit out of you in the first month, okay, fair point.” Naruto rolled his eyes. “But we’re talking about possibilities, Sasuke, different scenarios. From what we know, this system has always existed and we’re just talking about how it might work if it didn’t. Maybe you’re right, I’d move on. Then I’d see you again by coincidence and things might reignite between us. See? Different paths, same result!”

“Ah… again with the foolhardy optimism, dumbass.”

“Whatever. Sasuke, I see this system as a shortcut to find you more easily. Can you imagine if this didn’t exist? I’d probably, I don’t know, have lots of failed relationships and maybe never find you in my life. Or I’d find you, though I’d live my whole life wondering if you’re my other half. This tattoo is a reassurance that you’re the right one for me.” Naruto declared, tapping his tattoo as emphasis.

“This tattoo is a prison. People lose their sanity, wasting their entire lives searching for their soulmate when they could use their time for better use.”

“It’s their choice to make Sasuke, just like it was my choice to wait for you while you were in your own journey of self-discovery.”

“Right. And, again may I ask, why did you decide to return to this pursuit after many years of peace?”

"Because, in some way, I agree that we are one person and we have our own friends and other people to connect, I don't think we need to be so attached to each other." Naruto shrugged. "On the other hand, I also thought we were in agreement that we're soulmates then, we gotta be together."

"Naive thoughts back when I was as gullible as you are now. Just because I'm your soulmate doesn't mean that I need to act upon it."

"Yeah well…you're right. But you didn't include me in this conversation until today.”

“I know, hence the reason I decided to explain myself to you. We got involved back when we were teenagers, I know that the least I should have done is contacting you to express my point of view back then. I still keep my belief⏤”

“That you don’t want me in your life?” Naruto finished the sentence, breath stuttering.

Sasuke showed a pained and difficult expression. “I…don’t know Naruto. I guess all those years seeing only failed relationships made me believe that the soulmate system is fraudulent. Even though I know that most cases are happy ones. Then…why do you want me back after all those years?”

Caught by the sudden enquiry, Naruto widened his eyes, then lowered his gaze for some introspection. He straightened his back, opening his mouth. “Sasuke, because I lov⏤”

“Don’t.” Sasuke glared, growling through gritted teeth.“Don’t say that set of words Naruto.”

His blunt hostility shook Naruto’s ground, as he muttered meekly. “Why not?”

“Because it doesn’t make sense!” Sasuke roared, voice thundering. “We’ve known each other forever Naruto, though we only have gotten romantically involved back when we were teenagers. It makes absolutely no sense saying those words based on a relationship where we weren’t mature enough for it. And now that we’re adults, because we restarted talking in about…one month or two? So saying those words in such a short amount of time doesn’t make sense too.”

His words stung sharp, even if logically it had a hint of truth. Naruto knew that he wouldn’t want to pressure Sasuke any longer, not when he had solid motives to keep on his own beliefs. He mumbled, fully prepared to have his heart shattered. “In other words, you’re not looking for…our relationship? Or any relationship?”

“I…I don’t know.” Sasuke acquiesced, noticing tanned fingers interlacing with his own, although he made no move to reject it. “We worked well together in the past Naruto, there’s a strong possibility of working well in the future.”

Naruto felt a weight falling off his shoulders, breathing lighter.

“And well…even if I defended the right to be single…I’m not sure if it’s the lifestyle I want.”

“That’s…okay, that’s great.” Naruto beamed, squeezing Sasuke’s hand and savoring how the brunet blushed in response. “Sasuke, even if you don’t believe about how I feel about you…I’m sure of it. Maybe you’re right, maybe it’s because of the soulmate system, but I know that even if I spent one second or one hundred years, it’d never change. And that has nothing to do with the matching tattoos in our palms. So can you give me this chance to prove this to you?”

Sasuke glanced back at him, before grunting wordlessly.

“You are looking for a relationship though right? How about we go all the way back, like going on dates, watch movies, chat while we go on fancy dinners, all that? Then you’re proving your point that we can build something outside the soulmate system, and I can prove my point that my feelings are unchanged.”

Sasuke grumbled again, narrowing his eyes.

“Alright…let’s just admit that we’re not asexual, that we both have sexual urges that are influenced with physical appeal. So, besides ignoring the, you know, the obvious thing, am I attractive to you?”

Sasuke glared and grunted, blush darkening on his cheeks. “You’re exactly my type.”

“See? Then it’s perfect for some test performance.” Naruto perked up, a wide smile stamped all over his face. “We’re free to try if it’s good, tweak possible issues and if everything goes bad, we’ll stop.”

“We’ll really stop, and then you won’t bother me again.”

“Yep.”

“We’ll be very careful seeing if it won’t work.”

“Definitely. Pinky swear.” Naruto raised his hand with his finger curled, waiting for Sasuke to seal the deal.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes. “Well, I guess I made my point and clarified everything to you. I better go before it gets too dark.”

Naruto nevertheless, walked with him on the way to the subway, one constant grin playing on his lips. It took all his willpower not to whack on the blond hair as customary back when they were younger. Sasuke sighed. Some things never change.

“Anyways…thanks for listening to my long diatribe about how much the soulmate sucks. It must be pretty terrible having a soulmate that firmly doesn’t believe in such things.”

Naruto wrinkled his nose, shrugging. “Not really, I liked it. I like whenever you challenge me some way, back when we were brats was by fighting with me, and now it’s intellectually speaking. It’s always good for everyone’s personal growth to listen to opposite opinions, even if you disagree with it.”

Sasuke snorted. “Well then…” He was almost turning around when Naruto tapped his shoulder.

“Wait, can I kiss you before you go?”

“Why not usuratonkachi, you’ve always done it before asking me and that never stopped y⏤” Words died on his throat because Naruto didn’t kiss him on the cheek, those full lips caressed directly on his mouth.

Naruto retreated few inches, eyes half mast as he whispered, curling a shy smile. “Thanks.”

“...hn.” Don’t kiss him back, don’t kiss him back, don’t kiss him⏤Sasuke cleared his throat, voice husky. “I better go.”

Naruto watched as his back disappeared in the crowd, taking a deep breath and knitting his eyebrows in determination. He better create the best date in the universe next time they meet.

Chapter 06

⏤.⏤

AN: Alright, here we go, revealed Sasuke’s point of view at last. I hope I made a satisfactory explanation!

#SasuNaru #NaruSasu #snstext #sn fic #sns fic #snsfic #drabble

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queenoficeandfire · 5 years

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Restart Your Heart - Christopher Pike (Modern Medical Romance AU) - Chapter 1

A/N - So this idea spontaneously popped into my imagination last night, and it’s too good not do this. I should, however, point out here that I am not medically qualified in any way shape or form, so things may be slightly inaccurate.

Disclaimer: I do not own Christopher Pike or any other Star Trek character who appears in this fanfiction. I own Emma and my ideas only.

Chapter: 1/?

Chapter 2

Warnings: None, unless you include the intensity of a medical situation/medical procedures and one mention of nudity.

Words: 806

@x-wingwarriorbbpoe8 @carrie-85 (if anyone else wants me to tag them feel free to let me know)

It had started out as a normal day for Emma.

She went about her job as a secretary, doing the things she did for her job on a day to day basis.

Then came the journey home. She had a walk between her offices and the train station.

She set off in the usual direction, in plenty of time for her train, but it was as she was crossing the road that a speeding van driver came down the road towards her.

Emma didn't know about it until it was too late.

The next thing she knew she had been flung up in the air like a rag doll and was now lying on the cold hard concrete of the road.

People started to gather around her. She could vaguely hear them talking to her, and then everything went dark.

Later that same day at the local hospital, Dr Christopher Pike had just finished attending to one of his elderly patients when his pager went off.

He excused himself and made his way to the trauma unit of the emergency room.

If there were two places he thrived in his job, it was the trauma unit and the operating theatre.

For he was known for his ability to save lives and for his good looks, but the latter was beside the point.

Upon entering the trauma unit he found the paramedics had brought in a young woman, who looked to have extensive injuries

“So, what's the situation here?” He asked pulling on a fresh pair of latex gloves as he entered the cubical

“29-year-old female. Hit by a speeding van. Suspected broken bones, massive bruising and some loss of blood.” One the medics briefed him

“Do we know her name?”

“Not initially but police managed to find an ID in her bag. Seems her name is Emma.”

Good. At least that would help bring up her medical record and previous history.

With a name and the situation briefed to him, he, the paramedics and his team of medical professionals then moved Emma from the ambulance trolley to the hospital gurney.

Together they set about hooking her up to a heart rate monitor and a blood bag.

Everything was going as it should until Emma’s heart stopped.

Every doctor's most adrenaline-filled, literal life or death scenario.

A code blue.

Dr Pike immediately sprung into action.

“Tilly Ambu bag. Burnham chest compressions. Una, I need a shot of adrenaline. We are not losing this patient” He ordered.

If there was one thing he hated about his job was losing patients. It was inevitable and did happen from time to time, but he very much preferred not to lose them.

Upon his orders, Nurse Sylvia Tilly began giving Emma rescue breaths with the Ambu bag, after every two Nurse Michael Burnham would give her chest compressions. Meanwhile, nurse Una prepared a shot of adrenaline to inject directly into Emma’s system.

Between them, they worked to save her life, but after five rounds of CPR and a shot of adrenaline later, there was still no change in her.

Time to amp things up a bit.

Upon his orders, Una charged the defibrillator paddles to 200 volts before handing them to him

“Clear,” Pike yelled as he rubbed them together and then pressed them against Emma’s now bare chests.

He watched as her body bounced as the electricity was fired at her unbeating heart.

Still no change.

CPR was then resumed, with Pike taking over chest compressions and Michael taking over rescue breaths through the Ambu bag which had been hooked up to a ventilation tube.

As he pounded away on Emma’s chest with his interlocked hands he urged her through gritted teeth

“Come on!”

CPR was once again followed by further shocks from the defibrillator paddles, which he again personally used to shock her heart back to life.

Whatever it took, he was determined that he would not lose this patient.

But then much to his relief her pulse returned, reflected on the ECG line on the heart rate monitor and so too did her breathing.

She was still unconscious. But at least she was stable.

He thanked the team and felt relief fill him, as Emma was sent off to the x-ray unit to have x-rays.

As she was wheeled off on the hospital gurney he turned to Nurse Tilly

“As soon as she wakes up I want to be informed ok?”

“Of course Dr” Tilly smiled. Like many of the nurses at the hospital, she couldn’t help but find him attractive

“Oh, and try and see if her family and friends can be contacted. I’m sure they’ll want to know she’s in good hands here.”

“I will see what I can do.”

With that said, he then went off to carry on his day’s rounds.

#Christopher Pike #Modern Medical AU #Medical Romance #road accident #emergency room #trauma unit #cpr #ambu bag #defibriliator #medical procedure #please leave feedback

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tamgerines · 5 years

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KH3 First Impression and Complete Thoughts

BACKGROUND: i've played kh1, com, kh2, bbs, 2.8, and a bit of khux. i've watched coded and 3d on yt, so i know the story relatively well. this is an impression of my first playthrough. i did my run on standard mode and watched the secret ending on yt. i mostly did this for story, so this will have my initial impressions based on my run that will not cover extra content like the phone mini games and cooking. my opinions are subjected to change if i ever do any later playthroughs. pls, feel free to disagree w/ me.

!!! WARNING: THERE WILL BE A LOT OF STORY SPOILERS!!!

AUDIO:

Music: utada is queen!!! that opening song!!! also i kept noticing how lit the songs are in each world esp frozen??? and aqua's. worth a replay just for the soundtrack alone.

Voice Acting: everyone sounded great for the most part. sora’s va have certainly improved and sounds less strained. his vanitas voice has suffered significantly though lolololol. i think i read that someone called it a wannabe dark knight voice? the organization sounded incredible, w/ my fav being xemnas, marluxia, and larxene. the disney and pixar va’s are incredible w/ my fav probably being randall in monster’s inc.

some ppl did not get vas like xaldin and laxeaus. and phil in hercules. which were all very disappointing bc in the scenes that they were in, they would just stand around woodenly, and it’s very noticeable.

VISUALS:

mostly a+. environments are beautiful. water and frost textures are amazing!!! you can really feel that waterga and blizzaga. fur textures in monster's inc. could use some work. little details like the sails moving in potc rly make the worlds come alive. this could be a me prob, but environments in certain worlds make it very hard to see map markers, treasure chests, and disney emblems (which are supposed to be hard to find, but still). mostly in tangled.

strangely enough, this is the only game where i prefer in game graphics to cgi. it's already highly expressive and there's something creepy and uncanny about the cgi esp in the final fight. and it's mostly bc sora's thin chapped lips throughout the entire game suddenly becomes full.

DESIGNS:

i don't love everyone's outfit or sora's outfit changes in this game besides toy story. this is something i alrdy knew going in, but i've always felt like the outfits in kh1 and 2 rly suited each of the character's personalities. and this is not just destiny trio but even chars like roxas, the twilight town kids and the hollow bastion crew. the move towards a uniformed look makes no sense to me like is it to unify the key bearers as one force against the organization? i could understand why destiny trio was wearing plaid but why the twilight town kids also? by the end of the game, almost everyone was wearing black and it's just boring to me. like there's a right way to do uniform while retaining characters' individual looks, and that's the wayfinder trio in bbs. in this game, not so much.

an aside, but i'm sort of disappointed in the hud moving to 3d too. the 2d portraits have always been part of kh so it's kinda a bum to see it go away.

i don't love the lvl designs but it might also be due to a narrative and pacing issue that i'll expand on. any case, vertical maps are a challenge to figure out. i don't consider myself bad at directions but there are so many moments, esp in hercules and tangled where i would be like where the heck do i go next (and i have the map) only for me to look up and find a shotlock teleport point (and this isn't so much a thing that heightens the difficulty but a time waster).

lvls and bosses in previous kh games have always been known for their gimmicks and mechanics, but in this game particularly i found it to be more tedious? and this mostly applies to frozen: who the fuck designed frozen? who the fuck thought it's a good lvl design to have sora climb a mountain, get kick off it twice, and climb it again as good lvl design? who?

all the disney bosses started blending together for me bc they're literally all giant monsters and rly easy. i think the mistake here is the fact that the disney worlds are put back to back whereas in kh1/2/bbs you have the interruption of original worlds and an actually playable important parts to the main story, in this game all the important storyline in radiant garden are locked in cutscenes interspersed throughout the game between finishing disney worlds.

a lot of ppl might disagree w this, but i miss the cinematic reaction commands and limit attacks. we still have them but i find them to be on a much smaller scale in the form of drive finishers and situation commands, but i find them to be less imaginative in kh3 in order to be less """"disruptive""" to the gameplay. i've always found cinematics charming in previous games as a way to show sora interacting with his party members during combat. little things like beast putting a hand on sora's shoulder, aladdin leaning on him, or riku bumping his fist have a way of making the friendships he forms feel organic. outside of link commands/ summons, in this game, he........just throws a lot of ppl around or is thrown around?

GAMEPLAY:

already sort of went through parts of it in the previous section, but overall combat was smooth. i love how mobile sora is in this game. the improvement to his running speed and addition of all the mobile skills like dodge roll, super slide, flow motion, blizzard skating, etc. makes combat feel fast paced and juking so easy.

magic is super improved on ever since 2.8 and feels satisfying to use esp bc i feel like ur given a lot more mp now and with the ability to save the last of your mana for cure, it feels like you're not always budgeting your magic.

underwater combat was smoother than i expected.

it's a mistake putting almost all the commands on the triangle button. there's so much options you can do in combat and you'd mean to activate one thing, but then an attraction flow comes out and you just want to die. it gets a bit easier as i went on and got more used to the controls, but in general, i still think it's a mistake to not to have an ability or something to disable certain features like in kh2 fm.

gummy ships continue to be a thing. why. i don’t like how i have to turn the camera myself now ;;;.

i'm not a speedrunner or anything, so i can't say too much else about fighting. the physical combos to me did feel like he was spinning a bit too much tho.

STORY: oh, fucking boy.

i'm not mad, i'm not disappointed, and i'm not even surprised. i already knew that post bbs, kh has already departed far from the franchise i loved as a kid and still today, at least story wise. but let's walk through it.

Disney Worlds: the disney worlds was literally a retelling of their movies. and unlike in kh2 and bbs, where visits to disney worlds were split into two parts, with the first part following the disney story and the second part being heavily tied to the main kh story and thus having original content, the disney worlds in kh3 only get one long visit. and the integration of kh into disney was just done so poorly. remember how kh villains used to kidnap princesses? remember how they used to actually conspire to take disney characters' hearts and turn them dark? remember, you know, when they were still evil and actually interfered with the worlds? in almost every world in kh3, an org member just comes says vague menacing things to sora, calls him stupid, and then leaves. yeah. and oh, maleficent and pete looks for a black box only to not find it, and leaves. AND THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING ELSE FOR THE REST OF THE GAME.

the pixar worlds + bh6 were the only ones with any actual new content and they feel so fresh. i esp loveeeeeeeed toy story omg. the script was so good, funny, and heartwarming. the pixar consultants should have helped kh all the way tbh.

like previous games, there's an attempt for each disney world to thematically tie into the main kh story. in this game, it was as heavy handed as ever, probably even more so.

Original Worlds: onto the meat of kh, the main story was rushed up until the end. you have a slew of disney worlds, then bam, they slam you with all the human bosses and the important story stuff.

the ‘awakening’ of roxas, xion, and ventus were very rushed. you literally have one moment they’re no there then two seconds of white screen and all of a sudden they’re there.

there’s a shit ton of shoehorned character redemption arcs: vexen, demyx, saix, eraqus, xehanort, xemnas, ansem. all were done either offscreen or by some miracle, they reached an epiphany after sora beat his keyblade into their heads.

the only death scene that i actually liked, that a lot of ppl complained about, was vanitas bc yes, although i thought his character had so much potential, it was at least a consistent and sympathetic death. bless him, born a villain die a villain. same with xemnas bc i loved his last speech.

xehanort was a shitty villain through and through. no one understood his motivation; it’s like nomura took a page from thanos’ guide of how to write villains, gave him some stupid ass goal to have a keyblade war to restart the world, and then just have him...get everything he wanted? his estranged friend comes back in ghost form for whatever reason and is just like ok we’re cool man even tho u took my student and indirectly murdered me and then gets taken up to heart heaven, like O K. and like what’s the most frustrating is that it’s implied they’re keeping him as a villain??? bc fucking ymx is like ooohh imma just go back to my own time via time travel. it’s too late for u sora hurdur.

and the younger members of the organization, the ones that we do know were in khux. we don’t get to know how they became nobodies and they don’t get a redemption??? really???

you can tell they tried, TRIED, hard to give everyone closure. and they miserably failed to close plot points. they actually opened more. who the fuck is the unnamed girl in lea and isa’s storyline? why the fuck did you mention her if you were going to play the pronoun game and not name her??? what the fuck was in the black box??? why are they looking for it when no one know what’s in it??? why the fuck was repliku inside of riku the whole fucking time??? why have org members be norted if they can still have agency and choose to betray xehanort??? why the fuck was BOTH sora and riku in different worlds in the secret ending????? ? ? ?

and tho i’m very glad that wayfinder and sea salt trios get their happy ending, the destiny trio had their characters assassinated. kairi was teased to become an independent character of her own and fight alongside sora, only to get shafted to become a damsel in distress, again, literally replaced by xion in one of the last battles, AND referred to as ‘motivation’ for sora by xehanort lol. sora, the guy who’s always going my friends are my power, ONLY grieves about losing kairi, accrediting all of his strength ONLY TO HER. riku, who spent the first game desperately trying to get kairi’s heart back, and who protected her from saix in the second, suddenly doesn’t give a shit about her and is just there as sora’s moral support. it’s so frustrating that nomura has the audacity to say that this series is primarily about friendship and then pull this shit lol. it’s transparent.

CONCLUSION:

i think for me, the quintessential kh trilogy has always been kh1, com, and kh2. as far as i’m concerned, the story should have ended there for destiny trio. and it’s like nomura said, how he feels more sympathetic towards villains now, i think nomura’s ideas have outgrown his main character.

sora’s journey worked in 1, com, and 2 because he had an overarching goal to find kairi and riku and return home. not everyone has to understand heartless vs. nobodies or dark vs. light but at least, anyone can understand the desperation of saving your friends. when that framework is taken away, sora’s goals and motivations become unclear; he’s a kid and has little reason to be caught up in xehanort’s plans, the keyblade war, or the organization’s agendas. and his failure to grow with the increasing complexity of the plot, to investigate for himself the bigger picture or even come into a similar realization of his own darkness/ balance like riku, makes him unfit; he’s a reactionary character instead of an active one. that’s why this game, being experienced from his point of view, felt mostly like a catch up to speed for sora and a set up to nomura’s next big thing instead of a genuine ending. i honestly don’t think nomura knows what to do with him and with kingdom hearts anymore.

kh3 is a game wrapped in nostalgia and promised something bigger than it could fulfill. and aside from better graphics and improved gameplay, the story wasn’t worth the wait.

#kh3 spoilers #my thoughts #i didnt mean for my ramblings to get so long but #yeah im im sad

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cryingbilldenbrough · 7 years

Note

hi i want to request some ryers from you. idc what it is, i just want to read something about that beautiful ship written by you. literally. you can write about anything you want. please and thank you. (i deserve this for the number of times you’ve made me cry thanks)

ok so just remember that u asked for this

i feel like a lot of ryers stuff has the idea that richie moves to hawkins so let’s switch that

will byers moves across the country to derry, maine and the fresh start isn’t quite what he thought it would be

johnathan isn’t with them, having graduated high school and gone off to college

joyce rents a two bedroom house and there’s no Johnathan’s Room anymore, no place for will to go and lay on the floor and turn on the boombox and let The Shins drown out the biting wind in his ears

it’s two stories, with stairs that creak under his feet and the basement isn’t like theirs was back home, solely for storm shelter. there’s shelves all along the walls for canning and storage and will spends a whole day down there exploring

anyway he rolls up to derry high school on the first day of sophomore year, his mom sitting in their idling car near the buses, and shoulders his backpack

he keeps his head up

because this is the first time he’s been able to restart and no one in derry knows, man. he’s got the chance to reinvent himself which is every teenagers dream!!

he slides into his first period homeroom class and there’s a kid in the back who looks as apprehensive as will feels and the boy introduces himself as ben hanscom after class, offering to show will around

“ive been the new kid before” he says, warm and with a smile and will gets a big lump in his throat because he misses dustin SO BAD

ben hanscom invites him to sit with his friends at lunch and will stands through the lunchline for what feels like forever, anxiety swimming in his stomach

but the Party (not a party, will, they’re not the same try not to think of that) is so welcoming and kind?

eddie kaspbrak is a small boy who pauses mid-rant about the disgusting boys bathroom on the third floor to offer his hand out for will to shake

beverly marsh has max’s firey hair and el’s powerful nature and she winks at will and says something about his haircut and will blushes and ducks his head because while he’s not really interested in women, beverly marsh is everyone’s weak spot/exception

stan uris is quiet and will almost glosses right over him until stan says something wry out of the corner out of his mouth, stopping the entire group in their laughing and joking and they’re deathly still until stan’s facade cracks and he grins at them, all dimples

will notices the air of tension during the pause wasn’t apprehension, more like the group was simply Waiting for stan to give in and accept that he’s told a joke

mike hanlon is quiet with an air of serious consideration, like he’s cataloging everything they do and say to save for later

he looks a little haunted, a little fucked up, and will thinks he recognizes the dead look in the boy’s eyes

mike reminds will of sheriff hopper, kind and haunted and sad

bill denbrough is will’s favorite right away. his eyes are alight and he smiles out of the side of his mouth, guarded, and he makes will feel kind of like the only person in the world when he talks to him

he compliments will’s notebook which is covered in little doodles and will has a weird moment when he’s like Wow i would do anything for bill denbrough? whom i have just met?

basically bill denbrough has +20 charisma and will saves that thought in his back pocket to revisit later

and finally

there’s richie

richie laughs while eating and sprays milk all over the table and has coke bottle glasses and a dumb goofy grin

he ruffles will’s hair when bev compliments it, sticking his hand across the table and rubbing down just a little too hard

will slaps his hand away, so used to johnathan doing it, and richie laughs and laughs

stan explains richie to him while the other boy is turning his attention to eddie kaspbrak who swears at him, saying “whenever richie needs to shut up, we just say beep beep richie and that does the trick”

will doesn’t get the chance to try out the trick until lunch is almost over, warning bell ringing and everyone scrambling to wrap up the rest of their lunches for later or to throw away

and as will stands up, a book falls out of his backpack

it’s a Dungeons and Dragons guide, the one mike used to map out their campaign

(”take this with you,” mike says, thrusting the book into will’s hands. they’re standing in the bare byers living room, hands stuffed in pockets and surrounded by cardboard boxes.

“no, you need it,” will argues “you gotta finish the campaign” and man this hurts really fucking bad

“i bought a new one,” mike says quickly, making will take the book and wrap his fingers around it “besides, we all signed this one”

will opens the front cover and there’s writing all along the inside, little notes and drawings from the Party to him

will holds it to his chest and then brings mike into a hug, the last one before he leaves hawkins for probably forever)

“what’s this?” richie says, holding it out and will tries to snatch it back but richie’s fast “this is some next level nerd shit” he says

and will knows he’s kidding but years of being called freak dont do well for self esteem and will is blinking back tears before he can stop himself

“beep beep richie” he says in a choked voice and nobody else but them is paying attention which will is thankful for because crying in front of his new friends is NOT COOL

and as soon as he says it, richie’s fingers go lax. he gives the book back without a second more of fight and will blinks and tries to calm down and richie’s just looking at him

“it’s from my friends” will explains and richie nods, little and thoughtful. there’s a beat, a moment of peace and silence, and then richie’s throwing his arm over will’s shoulders

“welcome to the losers club,” he says, warm and understanding

and will byers has a new party, a club full of laughter and love and a power he doesn’t yet understand

for the first time in a long time, will belongs again

but this is derry and in derry the dead don’t stay dead and that includes dead pasts

will opens his locker one day and a balloon floats out

it’s red, almost transparent from how overblown it is, and it drifts at exactly his height out into the hallway

will reaches a hand out, to touch and figure out who the fuck put that in his locker and what the fuck it is

and the balloon spins

ZOMBIE BOY it says in happy white letters

and will blinks and he’s in the Upside Down

it’s not real it cant be real but the cold is biting and the wind is chilling him to the bone and derry is covered in vines but it’s different this time? theres a smell of decay in the air that hawkins didnt have, the scent of actual real death and it smells like brick and concrete and a sewer and the bodies of hundreds of dead kids

will’s hyperventilating, crying and stuck frozen and the balloon is still there and it drifts towards him and it’s getting closer and the demogorgon isnt there but there’s something else, a presence of evil he can FEEL and it sounds like dripping water and fingernails on steel and breaking bones and wheezing breath

there’s lights in the distance, three of them swirling together in a drifting dance

just when will thinks it’s real, just when he’s giving into the swirling lights and blowing wind and the shiny red balloon

the balloon pops

the sound is a gunshot, shocking him out of the trance and will blinks and he’s back

he’s in the hallway and the balloon is gone and the Upside Down is gone and richie tozier is there

he’s got his hand outstretched towards will and he’s saying something that will cant hear over the rushing wind in his ears

“are you okay?” he thinks he sees richie mouth and he forces himself to nod

later, after he’s explained it all, richie tells will he found him staring at the wall, catatonic and crying

will wants to be embarrassed but he’s only grateful for richie for bringing him back

“it was a balloon?” richie says, voice hushed. they’re in the boys bathroom, crowded together in the furthest stall while they skip class

richie had stuck his sneakered foot on the toilet and hoisted himself up to open the window

he pulls a pack of cigarettes out of his back pocket and offers one to will, which he declines, before lighting up and taking a drag

“yeah” will responds

“fuck” he breathes out, smoke leaving his lungs and it smells strong enough that it erases the scent of this new Upside Down from will’s nostrils, replacing it with menthol and richie

“did you see…. a clown….” richie says and will wants to laugh but he looks serious

not just serious

richie looks downright scared

he’s shaking a little, the cherry of his smoke bobbing in the air and will knows that kind of fear, the primal urge to fight or flight and richie looks kind of tired and weary too

“no” will says and richie sighs, relieved

he doesnt want to tell richie he saw the past and the future at the same time, an alternate and adjacent universe far beyond anything either of them could comprehend

richie takes another drag off his cigarette and sets his jaw and will thinks he’s making a decision

“meet us at the clubhouse after school” he throws the cig out the open window and leaves will, the bell ringing in the distance

when will shows up in the barrens, backpack over his shoulders, they’re waiting for him

the clubhouse is hidden and will has been to it a few times and still sometimes has trouble picking it out, camoflauged with brush and leaves

he drops down into the ground and the whole Club is there

he draws his knees up to his chest as richie tells them all of how he found will, explaining the dead look in his eyes

(”they almost looked…. grey” he says and all the blood drains out of bill’s face in the light of a few candles)

richie hands it over to will to explain what he saw and will struggles through his explanation, trying not to let onto the fact that he’s some freak with Now Memories and a haunted fucked up past

but the Club doesn’t look… surprised? scared?

they look frightened and tired and weary and sympathetic

stan uris has his knees drawn to his chest and is running his fingers over the sides of his face, over faint scars will never noticed before

“sounds like…” eddie trails off

“i k-know what it s-s-sounds like,” bill says

“sounds like what?” will asks and hes kind of pissed off because they all look shifty

they’re hiding something, some secret related to balloons and death and fucking clowns and will byers is so FUCKING SICK of being out of the loop

of being left out of the plans because he’s weak and people are afraid of him getting hurt

“sounds like what?” he repeats and the group collectively flinches

“look, we don’t know exactly” ben starts

“it’s hard to pinpoint exact memories,” bev finishes for him and they share a look “we can’t keep track of all of it,”

“they c-c-come and go” bill says and eddie nods and richie looks sick and angry

“what happened here?” will asks, voice low

the group look at each other, the lucky seven sharing their cosmic energy and deciding to pull another into their chess game with death

they make a decision, an election, to tell the story, the history of their haunted town and the fog that covers it, the story of a manifestation of Evil and their ever-tiring fight against It

will feels richie’s hand slip into his, sweaty and shaking but grounding

he turns to look at richie and the boy is smiling at him, soft and guarded and will thinks he’s very lucky to have met this group, haunted pasts be damned

“derry,” mike hanlon starts, licking his lips, “is not like other towns”

send me headcanons/prompts/requests!

#ryers #richie tozier #will byers #stranger things #it #it headcanons #stranger thing headcanons #this isnt suuuuper ryers but its a start u know?#my writing

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diyunho · 7 years

Text

The Joker x Reader - 10 Things The Joker Randomly Does That Kind of Prove He Cares

1. J is in a good mood more often. It strangely happened after he met you: the first year he had two good days the whole year, the second year he had four and this year is about to have the sixth day and the year is not even over yet! A new record.

The King of Gotham calls you Insanity when he’s in a good mood; that’s the signal you can ask for pretty much whatever you want and he won’t say no.

“Hey Insanity,” J greets when you open your eyes in the morning.

You gasp. OMG, he’s gonna be in a good mood today, such a rare occurrence!

“Hi handsome,” you kiss him super-fast and don’t waste a single moment so you start your tirade:

“Can we spend the day at the beach?”

“Yeah.”

Jackpot!

“Can we make love instead of having sex?”

“Yeah.”

Jackpot!

“Can we hold hands more than 20 seconds?”

“Yeah.”

Jackpot!

“Can we say lovey-dovey things to each other?” “Don’t push it, Insanity.”

Crap.

But you remember your secret weapon and sweetly smile. J squirms, uncomfortable. “Ummm…maybe…no guarantees.”

Jackpot!

“Can we make out for more than 10 minutes before you undress me?”

“Yeah.”

Jackpot!

“Can I call you “my sexy Metal Mouth” after you undress me?”

“Don’t push it, Insanity!”

Crap.

Oh no, here’s the sweet smile again and your boyfriend fusses under the covers, uneasy.

“Ummm…maybe…just once…no guarantees…”

Jackpot!

2. The Joker never buys you flowers but he makes sure fresh ones are delivered for each room at the penthouse every three days. He likes to break a random one from the bouquets and places it behind your ear.

You’re usually reading a book but stop when he does that.

“Thank you baby,” and you smile in such a sweet way it catches him off guard. You go back to your reading and he sits there, staring and mumbling words. “Want me to get you anything?” you offer, turning the page; can’t really tell what he said.

“No, I have stuff to do!” he sulks, slowly walking away. What J actually said was that you look very cute with that flower but got pissed at himself since you almost heard him. A very unique way to give his girl flowers but it counts; gets a solid E for Effort.

3. He is reeeaaally straining to do something nice for you once a month.

It’s July, 95 degrees out there; scorching hot and The Joker places his jacket around your shoulders. He saw that in a movie once and figured chicks dig it.

“I’m so hot already,” you try to give it back and see he’s getting angry and then it hits: must be that one nice thing he does monthly. “On the other hand, the air conditioning in the car is going to be full blast and you know I get cold easily.” You keep his jacket and J keeps his cool.

For August he plans to outrun every single nice thing he ever did for you: since you can’t swim he’s going to push you in the river, leave you in there for a bit and save you before you drawn. My God, you will love that for sure!

4. He takes you to casinos because you like to gamble.

His business partners own your favorite so they close out and seal a whole room just for you two to play the slots machines.

“Baby, I’m not winning!” you stump your foot, pouting.

J loses his shit.

“Why is my girl not winning, hm?” he yells at the guys.

“Well, sir, it’s just luck,” one comments and The Clown Prince of Crime is not happy with the answer.

“My woman needs no luck, SHE HAS ME ! If she doesn’t win in the next 15 minutes, you’ll see what happens !!!!” and J hands you over another stack of 100 dollars bills because you like to play maximum bet and you run out of money pretty fast.

Fortunately, you win $100,000 and it makes you so excited you jump up and down, clapping and laughing. The Joker is excited too for a different reason: he keeps on glaring at your cleavage and your boobs almost bursting out of the tight fabric.

You don’t collect the money because you don’t need it: you just like to win. The blue eyed devil just KNOWS you will be this enthusiastic next month also when he will toss you in the river to let you drawn. You will certainly jump up and down after he saves you.

Probably J’s gonna have a huge surprise regarding his plan, but for now we’ll let him believe in his dream; gets a solid D for Delusional.

5. The Joker goes insane if he only gets a hint somebody is disrespecting his Queen.

Once he shot somebody because the man said “hello” to you and J didn’t like the tone of his voice. Actually, the dude had a cold; that’s why he sounded weird. Oops!

Another time J thought a guy was giving you the evil eye and stabbed him on the spot.Actually, the dude just had corrective eye surgery and was blinking faster than normal. Oops!

Today is legit though. Both walked in at the meeting right when two smugglers were talking garbage about his Princess. They were saying you look average, not that attractive and The Joker could do better.

He absolutely lost his marbles ! Beat them to a pulp while screaming:

“My woman is not that attractive?! By whose standards you pieces of shit ?! Every time I look at her, my pants are getting tighter !! Do you understand what I’m saying?! I like her and that’s the only standard there is!” and he keeps on kicking them and punching them, completely out of control.

After he’s done and your henchmen take bodies away, you have to ice his bruised up hands; the skin is scraped too.

“Thank you,” you kiss his knuckles and emerge them back in the iced water, smitten by his actions. “Nobody did this for me before, you’re my hero,” you point out, drunk on euphoria.

“This town already has a hero; goddamned Batsy takes all the glory! The bastard is selfish, hates to share the spotlight!” J rolls his eyes.

“Who cares about him?! You’re my hero,” you kiss him and have to say: “I think your pants are getting tighter,” and he growls:

“Either I need new pants or I need to get laid.”

“We’ll go with the second option, OK?” you sweetly smile again and he’s feeling warmer even with his hands in ice.

“If you insist,” he sighs, hating the fact that he did two nice things for you this month instead of just one.

6. The Joker can’t cook but once a week he makes breakfast in bed.

Takes him an hour and a half to finish and you are famished. Finally shows up with toast, a boiled egg and salt.

“What took you so long? I’m starving!” you whine, seeing there is almost nothing on your plate…again.

“You can’t rush these things, Kitten ! It has to be perfect, OK?” he raises his voice and you realize you talked too much.

“It is very good,” you take a bite of your toast. “You are getting better and better at this!” you praise his aptitudes and strike his ego.

“I am basically a chef,” J concludes and you peck his cheek, mesmerized by how he has such an outstanding opinion about himself.

“And my hero,” you add and he takes a deep breath, pride making his chest go up and down faster. “Batsy can’t even compare to you.”

“Precisely, Pumpkin. He’s just a psycho out of control.”

“Indeed,” you agree, wanting to emphasize that nobody is sexier than your sexy Metal Mouth but you already used the opportunity when he was in a good mood the other day so you shut up.

7. J is aware you love his purple coat so he custom ordered an outfit for you made of the same crock material, this way you match.

It’s a two piece ensemble: a very skimpy little bra and an equally flimsy thong, only for him to see. You were thinking you’re getting a halter top and a skirt or something? Ha! Forget about it!

8. The Joker comforts you when you cry.

“Seriously, Kitten, you’re not ugly,” he caresses your hair while holding you in his arms.

“I am ugly!!” you continue to bawl, making a mess of his favorite silver shirt.

“Hey, look at me,” J lifts your chin up, forcing your eyes to meet, this way maybe he can save whatever is left of his shirt also. “When I wake up in the morning and I see you, I don’t get scared. If you were ugly, I would freak out. But I don’t, which means you look fine.”

“You mean it?” you sniffle, squeezing him harder.

“Absolutely. It could be much worse.”

“So now I look bad and I could look worse in the future?!” whaling restarts.

He walked right into this one unprepared.

“Nahhhh, it can’t get worse than this,” he kisses you and then adds since you cry your eyes out. “ What the hell, I’m teasing; calm down woman! Crying makes you very ugly!”

You stop instantly.

I guess he was prepared after all.

9. He gives you massages even if you don’t ask for them.

For some reason, his hands always slip in your undies.

“That’s not my back,” you utter and J is quick to respond:

“My bad, Pumpkin.”

For some reason, his hands always get to your boobs afterwards.

“That’s not my back.”

“My bad, Princess.”

“Did you just say my Bat?” you tease and your butt gets pinched.

“Hilarious! Want him to come and give you a massage too?!”

“I wouldn’t mind,” the reply makes The Joker turn you around and you get pinned under his body.

“Watch it, you bad girl!” he snarls, smelling your freshly washed hair.

“Did you just say Bat girl?” you giggle and he grinds his teeth:

“Are you starting to get a kink for Batsy?”

“Me?! No way! I like my hero,” you stretch your neck to kiss him and he purrs, wanting to get the most out of it.

“I am your hero; remember that next month in August,OK?”

He is surely referring to that nice thing he’ll do for you when you’ll be pushed in the river to drawn and he’ll save you in the last moment. Oh, yeah, you’ll enjoy it tremendously!

10. J learns French just for you.

Spent the whole day fussing around with the dictionary, three laptops and five books until he realized he got what he wanted out of it.

“Princess, I’m done,” your boyfriend announces, victorious.

You can’t wait to hear everything, you’re gonna lose your mind. The Joker takes a deep breath and pronounces with perfect accent:

“Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir?” (Do you want to sleep with me tonight?)

That’s all he knows.

Holy Commissar Gordon! That’s sooo hot because it’s the only French you know too. Plus the answer:

“Oui, (yes)" you wink at him and he is totally turned on.

“Oh my God, Y/N, you didn’t tell me you speak French fluently!”

“Surprise,” you grin, signaling him to come closer. “We gotta compare notes, don’t you think?”

“Definitely,” J licks his lips, ready to comply since his pants are getting tighter.

Hmmm…either he needs new pants or he needs to get laid. I suppose you’ll go with the second option one more time.