#comic is now 7 pages and should stay there until completion | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-bau-quinjet · 3 years

Text

Memories, Pt. II

Summary: You were captured by Hydra. What did they do to your memories?

Warnings: mentions of violence, panic attacks

Word Count: 1982

a/n: Ahh, part 2! I hope you like it :)

I know it's only been a day since part I, but this really felt like it took forever to write. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out though. Again, sorry if it's confusing! Hopefully you understand the concept I'm going for.

Masterlist

Series Masterlist

4 Years Ago

"Y/N!" Steve called out to you from down the hall, a man with dark hair walking beside him. "I'm glad I caught you. Buck came back from a mission last night, and he's the only one left for you to meet."

You eyes lit up at the mention of Bucky. You'd always admired him for the steps he took to recover from his time at Hydra.

"Hi, I'm Y/N." You smiled, trying not to sound too eager. "It's an honor to meet you Sergeant Barnes."

"An honor?" His eyes sparkled with disbelief. "And please, just Bucky."

You nodded at his request before explaining. "An honor, truly. Sorry to be blunt, but you've been through hell and are still out there helping people every chance you get. You're a hero." You whispered that last line conspiratorially, knowing he would get flustered from your brief conversations with Sam Wilson.

"Did Wilson put you up to this?" He questioned, a tell tale flush blooming on his cheeks.

"Just the hero bit." You chuckled when he rolled his eyes. "Everything else came from me." You waited a beat before continuing. "It's true though. You are a hero." You winked before saying goodbye and continuing with your night.

Steve stared at his best friend as he watched you walk away, knowing exactly what that small smile meant. "You like her!" He accused, although lightheartedly.

"Shut up, punk. I just met her." Bucky tried to stop smiling, but your lingering first impression left him feeling giddy.

"Doesn't matter. It's true." Steve easily dodged Bucky's fist. "You don't have to admit it, but I know."

The two men continued down the hall, Steve teasing Bucky when he was still smiling 10 minutes later.

Present

You must've fallen asleep eventually, because next thing you know you are waking up to a room full of people. It takes a minute for you to recognize all of them, but you know the names and reputations well enough to figure it out.

Bucky has his head resting on the edge of your bed, your hand still encased in his. You involuntarily squeeze his hand, as if your muscles have a mind of their own, to gain his attention.

It's comical how quickly his head flies up, gaining the attention of the multitude of superheros in the room.

"You're awake!" Wanda shrieks, beyond relieved to see you home.

"What happened?" Sam adds on, concerned for what you went through.

"Are you okay?" Nat questions as well.

Your eyes flicker between them, unsure how to respond to any of them. Luckily for you, Bucky clears his throat to capture your attention.

"How are you feeling?" Your body instantly relaxes at the softness of his voice, as if remembering things you don't.

It's weird, lying in a room full of people who believe something you know not to be true.

"I, um, physically I feel fine." His eyes on you pull the truth out. "I, um, I'm still kind of confused about what's going on though."

He presses a kiss to your palm, again easing the tension from your body.

"You don't remember anything?" Nat's first to speak up, her typical skepticism peaking through.

"Not about the mission. I mean, I was kept in that room the entire time I was there." Three years flashes in your mind. Why do they think it was only three months? None of this makes sense. "I know all of you though." You're careful not to lie, knowing she would likely spot it.

Their faces relax as they take in your statement, causing a jolt of anxiety and stress to run through you.

Hydra may have convinced you that 38 people died at your hands, but your own personal morals haven't changed. You've accepted "the incident" as they put it was your fault, but that doesn't mean you're a cold blooded killer. They didn't have enough time to change you that much.

Steve, although upset with the lack of information, understands the position you're in. It's easy to see he's still worried about what happened to you while you were "captured".

"Why don't you go up to your room and decompress. The memories could still come back to you."

You can't help but smile at the kindness being shown to you. You give him another small smile while nodding, trying to figure out a way to get someone to take you to "your room" because you have no idea where it is.

"C'mon, I'll help you." Bucky wraps an arm around your waist as you stand, and although it's the first time you've experienced it, it feels completely natural to be in his embrace.

Everyone calls out statements of encouragement and well wishes as the two of you walk out of the med bay. You do your best to not marvel at everything you pass, simply trying to remember the layout of the building.

A few turns later, you've arrived at an elevator where Bucky presses the button for your floor. When the doors open again, he guides you through a hallway to what you presume is your room.

"Thank you, for helping me." You turn to him before stepping into your room.

"I would do anything for you." He whispers back, hand still rubbing your hip. When he leans in to kiss you, you panic.

"Um, I'm going to take a shower. Maybe feeling clean will help with all of this." You vaguely gesture to the air, unsure how to put everything into words.

"Oh, uh, sure. We can talk later?" He hides his confusion at your behavior, understanding how weird it can be to readjust.

You nod before closing the door, leaving him slightly stunned in the hallway. A few steps into your room, and a friendly Irish voice is calling out to you.

"Welcome home, Ms. L/N. Would you like to hear your messages?"

Your heart rate spikes as you rapidly look around the room, trying to spot the intruder.

"Who, who said that?" You continue spinning, trying to spot the voice.

"My name is Friday. I am an AI built into the compound." Your breathing settles as you begin to comprehend the information. Nobody is in your room. You're alone.

"Oh. Okay." You continue taking deep breaths, trying to prevent the panic from settling in now that you're alone.

"Would you like to hear your messages?" The AI asks, again catching you off guard.

"What messages?" You can't deny that you're intrigued by the concept of someone leaving you messages here. "What the hell happened? What is going on?" You mutter to yourself.

"You left for a mission 3 months ago. Communication was cut off 2 days after your departure. All resources were diverted to finding your location and bringing you home." Friday announced, as if it was common knowledge. You would suppose it should be if it was true.

"3 months ago? I was there for 3 years. I've never been here before! Why do they all think I'm an Avenger? None of this makes any sense." Your head is spinning, and all you want is to wash the last 3 years of dirt and grime from your skin.

As you step into the shower, Friday continues to answer your questions, ultimately giving you the version of events that the Avengers all seem to believe.

You joined the team four years ago. Tony and Steve brought you back to the compound after you fought alongside them. Your mutation gives you enhanced senses, allowing you to predict the enemies moves. Despite your lack of true training, the two men were impressed by your skills and dedication.

After getting dressed, you finally bit the bullet and asked to hear the messages. Instantly, Bucky's shaky voice filled your ears.

"Y/N, we lost contact with you yesterday. I just, I needed to feel like I was talking to you." A shaky breath could be heard before he continued. "You promised me you'd come back. I, I can't lose you, doll. Stay strong. We're going to find you."

The next message began immediately. "It's been a week now without you. Steve says we're getting closer, but I know he's just trying to calm me down. I will find you, Y/N. That's my promise."

Tears began pouring down your face as you listened to his voice, sounding battered and broken due to your absence.

"Steve keeps telling me to rest. He says I won't be any help if I'm burnt out. But, I- I can't sleep knowing you're there. Not knowing what they're doing to you. I can't sleep because all I see is you, and it hurts. Doll, it hurts so much. I'm going to find you. I will because I can't lose you. Not like this. Not to them."

The messages continues playing, doing nothing but encouraging your tears.

"Two months. I'm so sorry, doll. It's been two months and we're not any closer. I hope you know we're trying. I'm trying. I won't rest until I have you back in my arms. I love you."

Your breath caught in your throat at those three words, he loves you? How? How can he love you if you didn't even meet until yesterday?

"We figured it out. We've got a location. I'm coming baby. I'm coming."

The last message ended with a beep, but you barely heard it. Your breathing was erratic, your heart rate skyrocketing as the anxiety took over your body.

He couldn't possibly love you. Not when he doesn't know the things you did. The people you killed.

"Enacting protocol 7, paging Mr. Barnes." The AI's voice went unheard by you, muffled by your choked sobs.

Not 30 seconds later, Bucky was rushing into your room.

"Y/N!" He ran to you, pulling you into his arms in a tight embrace. He whispered soothing words into your hair, slightly rocking you back and forth.

Somehow, he knew exactly how to calm you down. His warm breath on your neck, strong arms around your body, and the soothing rocking motion all worked wonders for you.

"It's okay. You're okay. You're home now. I've got you. You're safe."

His words brought fresh tears to your eyes, although your breathing calmed and anxiety lessened after a while.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He whispered a few minutes after your body stopped shaking.

"I, I'm just so scared." You didn't know what to say. You wanted to come clean. To explain who you really were, but the fantasy described to you by the AI sounded like a much better life.

A life you wanted to believe in, but felt like you didn't deserve.

"Scared of what, doll? You can talk to me." He whispered, still rocking you back and forth, rubbing your back with his flesh hand.

Of me. You wanted to come clean, but it was terrifying. You couldn't go back to that prison.

"Of... Was I really only there for three months?" Your voice was shaky, confusion laced with fear.

Bucky's guilt at not finding you sooner multiplied tenfold as he took in your expression. You looked so innocent and afraid, his heart broke just thinking about what Hydra did to you.

"Doll, I'm so sorry I couldn't come for you sooner. I know three months must've felt a lot longer... I promise, I'll do everything I can to help you get through this. You're not alone." He held you closer, tucking your head close to his heart in a show of protectiveness.

"Can you just, stay with me tonight?" Your words were barely a whisper, afraid to test the strength of the delusion you found yourself in.

"Of course." His words were firm, but soothing to your ears. "I love you." You squeezed him tighter, resting your body against his as the two of you laid in bed.

permanent taglist:

@averyhotchner @jesuswasnotawhiteman

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky x you #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fluff #mcu fic #marvel fic

158 notes · View notes

psychedeliagroove · 3 years

Text

Guitar Lessons With Jimmy Page Part 3

It’s been a fat minute… But if you’re reading this after part 1 and 2, thank you. And if you’re new here please go and read part 1 and 2 and then come back here and (hopefully) enjoy part 3.

I love writing these, and I hope you love reading it as much as I loved creating it.

“Shit” I murmured to myself after I messed up my eyeliner for what felt like the hundredth time.

I never was one to spend too much time on my appearance even when my mother used to constantly badger me about how “a lady should always look put together”. I never did find myself listening to her advice, until now.

Finally my hand decided to stay steady as I drew the last wing, completing my eye makeup.

As I reached over to grab the Yardley lip stick sitting patiently on my vanity table I remembered the half-kiss I shared with Jimmy the other day.

The sweet, innocent, and sadly interrupted kiss.

The more I thought about it the more I wondered how far that seemingly innocent almost-kiss would have gone if not for Robert barging through the door and yelling at the top of his lungs.

I let out a giggle as I remembered the almost comical scene from last week.

I was pulled out from my thoughts in a second as my eyes made their way to the clock hanging on my wall. I gasped and hurriedly applied the coral pink lipstick that was in my hand.

Realising I had around 25 minutes to call a taxi and make my way to the gig, I leaped across my bed for the telephone which sat on my bedside table.

A telephone girl with a shrill voice answered the phone. “Hello, where from and where to will you be travelling this evening?” She said in a professional manner.

“From 87 Dover’s Green road to uh…” I grabbed the piece of paper that sat next to the telephone and squinted at the address that I had written down on to it during a phone call I received from Robert the other day.

“…To Ewell college, please!” I replied after making out the words from my messily rushed handwriting.

“Alright dear, your taxi will be arriving shortly, thank you for calling!”

And with that I could hear the click on the other end of the line that signalled the telephone girl had hung up.

I tapped my foot on the soft rug beneath me, already impatient.

“What did she mean by shortly? How shortly is shortly?” I wondered to myself, scared I might miss even a second of the gig.

However I was not let down by the taxi service when I saw the vehicle pull up to the sidewalk outside my window within the span of 7 minutes from the time of the initial phone call.

I grabbed my bag and struggled into my boots before racing out the door, on to the street, and into the taxi.

I stared out the window as the car passed Woodhatch park, then the local diner and then we were on the motorway. I felt my nerves grow the closer the taxi got to Ewell college.

Then they almost went out of control when the taxi driver turned to me and told me in his tired voice “this is your stop ma’am”.

I thanked and payed the man then I hopped out the car.

My heels clicked against the cold hard pavement that lead to the entrance of the college.

With the entrance of the college in view I only realised just how many people were entering, initially I thought that a good chunk of them could just be students but when I heard murmurs of the two names that were familiar to me I realised just how popular Jimmy and Roberts little band was.

With the crowd of college students and teenagers just like me, I made my way into the college, letting the bustling crowd that shifted around me guide me to the location of the gig.

Once inside I was met with a cramped looking stage that had a drum kit and a microphone stand set up atop its hard wooden flooring.

As I looked at the ever growing number of girls and boys in the auditorium, I realised just how many people came to watch the band, far more than I had anticipated.

At this point I couldn’t move an inch within the large crowd, but with strong determination and countless shoulder-shoves followed by apologies, I made my way to the front of the crowd with an up-close view of the small stage in front of me.

To pass the short amount of time before the band came on, some groups in the audience conversed with each other. Another small chunk of the audience gathered around in a corner.

At first I wondered why this group of long haired gals and guys were all huddled around.

That was until I saw the light from a small orange flame protruding from a lighter.

From there it don’t leave much to the imagination.

I leaned against the front of the stage, resting my arms atop the wooden flooring. It didn’t take long for a man that seemed to be the MC to walk onto the stage.

“Good evening everybody!” The man enthusiastically boomed out, his voice filling the rowdy and crowded room.

“It is my great honour to announce tonight’s performance, here in Ewell College, will you all please welcome to the stage, The New Yardbirds!”

Instead of the anticipated applause the crowd mostly went quiet, I looked around the crowd to see what the big deal was and heard murmurs of confusion around me.

“New yardbirds?” A man with a questioning look on his face behind me whispered to his friend to which returned the same confused expression.

“Hang on…. Err, my apologies.” The MC said apologetically as his eyes averted from the audience and to the queue card in his hand.

“Will you please welcome, Led Zeppelin” The man said which, this time round was met with the applause he was looking for.

After the crowds reaction the MC seemed satisfied and with that he walked off stage, and in his replacement three tall, long haired, and rather fashionable men made their way onto the stage.

The three were met with an applause that displayed the crowds excitement.

I spotted Robert instantly just by his golden lion-like mane of hair that tussled around with every movement he made.

Then my eyes met with a man adorning brunette hair that was fairly long but not as long as Roberts’s.

And lastly a man with hair of similar length except a lighter shade walked across the stage.

I looked around the stage for Jimmy, but to no avail.

I stared at the right side of the stage where the three members had walked out of in hopes Jimmy would come out.

And to my delight he did, protruding from the darkness came a tall pencil thin figure adorning a slightly oversized cream button up of crepe fabric and a lengthy satin scarf tied around his neck.

Once the crowd noticed his arrival, they welcomed him on just like they had done for the other three, in a loud and exciting manner.

Among the noises the crowd made for Jimmy, I could hear his name being cheered from all around the audience. I didn’t realise just how big of a name he’d made for himself in the area, he was treated just like any rockstar at a concert.

Sure David had went on and on about his talent, but witnessing the crowds reaction makes him seem more like a celebrity than a local talent.

I watched him as he made adjustments to the strap of his telecaster.

The bright stage lights illuminated his jet black curls and his ivory skin which made it seem almost iridescent.

He looked godly. There was no other description for it.

By now the other members had made their way to their respective spots on stage.

The dark brunette haired man was on the drums, which I thought was quite fitting as he seemed to be the tough type, the light brunette haired man stood on the left side of the stage tuning his bass, and lastly Robert, front and centre, wrapped his hand around the metal microphone stand making adjustments to it to cater to his towering height.

That was as figured. A man as exuberant as Robert just had to be the frontman I thought.

And especially with that loud booming voice I became acquainted with when I had first met him.

The crowd and I waited in anticipation for the four to begin their set, I didn’t know what to expect as a first timer but I knew they had to be good since they had the locally famous guitarist, Jimmy in the band.

Suddenly an explosion erupted from the speakers, except it wasn’t an explosion of noise but an explosion of strategically composed and intricate sounds that were nothing short of electrifying.

The sounds that came from the speakers were from Jimmy and the bassist. Both sounds from their instruments intertwined into one which lead to the crowds eruption of cheers and screams.

Suddenly Roberts vocals came in, just as powerful and loud as the instruments.

Then before I got a chance to breathe it all in, the drums boomed throughout the auditorium. I could feel the vibrations within my own body and I’m sure everyone in the audience could as well.

The four managed to be just as powerful as each other, not anymore and not any less. It was an insane sight to witness.

The set carried on, impressing me song after song and never failing to keep every single individual in the crowd screaming and moving around.

I couldn’t help myself but stare at Jimmy through most of the songs, his face, focused and expressive with every note and chord and yet just as I had imagined it was peaceful. Despite the songs being heavy and upbeat, he had that peaceful expression across his face that I noticed during my previous guitar lesson with him.

I smiled as I reminisced on this.

Then my smile was returned.

While in my thoughts, Jimmy had noticed me in the crowd, gazing at him with wide eyes and with a smile strewn across my face.

Upon realising this my expression turned into a look of surprise to which jimmy chuckle at. With that, his face averted from me and back down to his guitar.

I stood their giggling at myself taking into consideration that I probably looked like an idiot in the eyes of Jimmy.

Unfortunately for both the audience and myself the show seemed to be coming to a close. and once Robert thanked the crowd and went on to bid them all farewell, it was official.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to meet up with Jimmy and Robert for the drinks I was promised, so for now I decided on hanging around the auditorium.

I watched most of the audience members walk out the exit of the room. Chatting about the events they just witnessed with wide smiles as they soon disappeared from my sight.

Like myself, other individuals seemed to be hanging around as-well. Perhaps to meet the band when they eventually come out or to collect themselves after the heavy concert.

I found a place to sit and waited patiently.

I stared at the wooden floor, still in shock, recounting the performance that I had just witnessed.

I had never experienced anything like it despite frequenting many rock and roll concerts.

I felt a subtle ringing in my ears but I didn’t care, it was definitely worth it.

Suddenly a shadow appeared on the spot of floor I was fixed on.

I looked up and there, in all his glory, was a smiley Jimmy, glistening with sweat.

“What did you think about that?” Jimmy said, a smile spread across his face.

I could not find the words to reply, to be honest I don’t even think there are words to describe what I had just witnessed.

I spontaneously stood up from my seat and leaped onto Jimmy, putting both my arms around his neck in a hug.

“Oh Jimmy! It was incredible” I replied finally.

The realisation that I had only ever met Jimmy once before this had set in and attacking him with a hug like I was an old friend probably wasn’t the best thing to do, so I decided to release him, until I felt his warm hands on my lower back, pulling me towards him, returning the hug.

“Im so glad you think so, Y/N” he whispered to me.

It felt like my legs were about to give out at any second after hearing his voice in my ear while he held me in his arms.

I had never grown such a liking to someone like this before. A single, seemingly innocent guitar lesson which lasted around an hour was to blame for everything.

We released each other from our holds which left me with an instant feeling of emptiness, I could see his lips part, about to speak, but instead he was interrupted.

“Get back here Jim! We’re leaving” Robert bellowed in a very Robert fashion.

The two of us turned to where the voice had come from and there, along with the bassist and drummer he stood near the stage.

Robert shifted his face from Jimmy to me.

“Ahh, Y/N, You came! You enjoy the show?”

I was about to respond but before I could Robert spoke again.

“Jimmy bring Y/N along, let’s go!”

Jimmy turned to me and smiled, it was a sort of what-can-ya-do? Smile, I grinned at him and we walked towards the group.

I found myself in a crowded van filled with equipment. Not only was the band and myself here, but what I assumed to be the girlfriends of the two members of the band as well, to which I finally learnt the names of, John Paul Jones - the bassist, and John Bonham - the drummer.

A few roadies who I presume were friends of the band as well also came along for the trip.

The van was filled with conversation and laughter from every individual as the vehicle driven by one of the roadies made its way to a pub the band frequented.

I had never had this much fun in a while, I loved taking peaks at Jimmy’s face every now and then, just to see his eyes wrinkle with laughter and hear his memorable laugh, I did not want this moment to end.

Wow this took a while to post… I’m so sorry for the delay if you happened to be waiting on part 3! Thank you so much for reading I appreciate it so much. I love you.

#jimmy page #led zeppelin #queen #robert plant #queen fanfiction #classic rock #rock #1970s #60s #70s #jimmy page fan fic #the Beatles #paul mccartney #fan fiction #the yardbirds #1980s #80s #music

45 notes · View notes

shannygoatgruff · 3 years

Text

Only Fan(s) - A Thriller

Genre: Thriller

Pairing: Modern Ivar/OC

Warning: Language, sex, stalking, obsession, kidnapping, sexual assault

Rating: MA+18

Summary: Sometimes OnlyFans subscribers want a little more than internet pictures. Sometimes they want to be your ONLY fan…

Header by: @flowers-in-your-hayr

Thanks to @xbellaxcarolinax for being my beta.

Disclaimer: This story will deal with some topics that might be a little uncomfortable for some people. As always, I’ll try to tackle the hard stuff as tactfully as possible.

a/n: I know it’s been a minute. I’m always thinking about these stories because I want to finish them, just can’t seem to focus on writing at the moment. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Part iv - Date with Destiny

Finding Ivar Lothbrok should have been easy. Between the two of them, he was the stable one. He was the one with the iron-clad schedule that consisted of drinking, smoking, and partying. Torren’s schedule was a bit more... fluid. She tended to go wherever the wind, or whatever car she acquired, would take her. Naturally, Ivar had the occasional meet-and-greet, red carpet, and/or Comic-con engagement that he had to attend, still, he was pretty easy to keep tabs on. All one had to do was look at (stalk) his social media accounts, and his whereabouts were posted for everyone to see.

Knowing where he’d be and finding out where he lived were a different story. Torren had done her due diligence when it came to locating the town in which Little Kattegat was located. It only took about two days and a few Google image searches of the background of a few of the photos and she had it narrowed down to a general area in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

From what she could tell, the closest town to where he lived was pretty small, and there were only a few large estates hidden in the woods. How hard could it be to find? She was willing to drive to every single house and knock on the door to find him if she had to. But it would just be easier if there was loud music and a bunch of cars in the driveway. That way she could tag along inside with the rest of the guests to get to her man.

Her shirt landed in the pile of dirty clothes in the center of the bed, as she reached around to unhook her bra. “I really need to tell Baby Boo to stop putting all of his business out in these streets,” her brows furrowed as she shook her head, “What if some crazy, psycho bitch started stalking him, or some shit? Then I’d have to kill a bitch.” Torren’s head whipped around and she narrowed her eyes at his picture, still stuck on her wall, “Is that what you want? Huh? You want me to cut a bitch to prove to you how much I love you? I will, Bae! You know I would do anything for you. I’m your Ride or Die...”

And being his Ride or Die meant that she needed to keep better tabs on him if she was going to protect him from someone crazier than her, God forbid. She was only able to do so much on this prepaid phone, and going to the library to get online was becoming a pain in the ass.

She’d considered stealing a laptop or iPad from the library but was still on the fence about the idea. Of course, the alternative meant going to stupid ass libraries and threatening little kids to get off the fucking computers, and that completely sucked ass.

She always felt rushed when she logged onto her Bae’s Only Fans page from the public library. Without fail one of those little bastard kids would get the library Nazis to kick her off the computer, or bar her from the library altogether for watching porn.

Ivar’s page wasn’t porn! It was art. It was sexy. It was love...his love for her. Stupid bitches.

She had encountered far worse things than getting kicked out of the library, but some of these small towns usually only had one or two within their county limits. If she got banned, how was she supposed to check up on Ivar? In the time it took to log in until she got kicked out, she'd be lucky if she could check 2 of his accounts. What if he had some important information on another platform that she hadn’t checked yet? What was she supposed to do then?

Her relationship with Ivar was hanging in the balance, and she'd be damned if some snot-nosed kid or fucking uptight librarian would fuck that up. She needed a computer. But, on the flip side, when she finally got her man back, she wouldn't need one anymore. She could ask him directly what their plans were.

There was a lot to consider and that took time; time that she didn't have right now.

The thick layer of Nair shaving cream she had applied to her already hairless crotch, was just starting to tingle, signaling she had about 5 minutes left before the sweat-inducing, burning sensation would kick in alerting her to wash the cream off. Until then, she had time to consider an outfit for the night.

She knew Ivar well enough to know that he would want her to be sexy for him, but not so much to distract him from work. She could have gone for something slutty, like those skanky bitches he partied with. She could have gone for more demur, but then she would remind him too much of his bitch ex-wife and completely turn him off. The last thing she wanted on their first night back together was for him to be thinking about that bitch. She could have gone for a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but Torren never did simple.

No, Ivar would want her to be herself. That's what he loved about her. That's what attracted him to her in the first place. She would be sexy without being skanky; she would be demure without being a prude.

Fuck! It was already 7:33 p.m. How in the hell did she miss the beginning of his Live? Now she was running late.

She was supposed to be dressed and ready by the time his Live came on that way she could be out the door as soon as he finished. If she was going to make it to be on his Only Fans live stream tonight, she needed to get to his house before he got too distracted. Now, she’d have to watch his Live, while her cooch burst into flames before she had a chance to take a shower and finish picking out her outfit.

If there was one thing Torren was, it was punctual. It was bad enough that she was about 40 minutes outside of his town, but it could take her up to 2 or more hours to find his house. She only hoped that he didn’t plan on starting any real freaky shit on his Only Fans page until around midnight, cause it looked like she wouldn’t be getting there before then, anyway.

With the smile still plastered on her face, Torren turned on the hot water for a shower, forgetting that the water didn’t get hot. She didn't mind, much, especially since the cold water gave her a break from the heat in her room.

Phone in hand, she watched him, as she planted herself on the dirty bathtub floor, cross-legged, and started to get herself ready. Starting with her toes, she shaved each one, just below the knuckle, followed by her fingers, arms, pits, and each leg, from groin to ankle, three times. When the burning from her nether regions was so intense that she couldn’t tell her tears from the shower water dripping on her face, she quickly washed off the cream.

All she could do was hope that she hadn’t broken the skin this time. The last time she had let that damn Nair stay on, just past burning, the skin broke and she bled. She was not having a bloody hoo-ha tonight.

With that taken care of, she gently used the razor to remove any other pubes closer to the inside that needed to be removed. Then shaved her backside. When she had more time, she was going to get the internal hairs bleached, but she needed to find out what Ivar preferred.

Shaving ate up so much of her time that she only had a few seconds to rub some body-wash that she had stolen from a drug store over her body and hoped it got rid of the smell of the summer heat. Her hair? Fuck it...she’d wash it another day, for now, this cold water would have to be enough. She’d spritz some perfume and hair spray in it and it would smell fine.

Torren finished her shower, and walked out of the bathroom dripping wet, only using a towel to wrap around her hair. She was glad it was so hot in her room that her hair would air-dry quickly. She finger-combed her damp tresses to complete that ‘just got out of bed, but it's styled’ appearance. She knew how much he loved when her hair looked like that. It would remind him of freshly fucked hair.

She spent extra time applying her makeup, even using an extra dark, thick application of eyeliner. She usually went for more subtle warm colors. They matched her tan skin tone better. But, tonight, she had bold, dark makeup, complete with varying shades of purple and blue eye shadows, and dark purple lipstick.

Torren was glad that she decided to match Ivar’s clothes this evening. The swim trunks and smoking jacket he wore would compliment her beautifully. She wanted everyone to know that they dressed alike, the way real couples do. If he was going for less is more, so would she.

She settled on black leather chaps that tied up on the sides, and tight blue boy shorts that left the bottom half of her ass cheeks exposed. The blue shorts brought out the blue swirls in his trunks; she knew he'd appreciate that touch. Her top was a blue bandanna that she wore as a halter with a short black leather jacket with tassels on the sleeves.

They screamed “couple” in her eyes.

Completely satisfied with how she looked, Torren locked the door to her motel room and started down the hall. She deliberately stopped by the window and peered through the partially opened blinds of the people staying next door to her. She knocked on the window to get the attention of the young couple inside. Judging from their appearance, they were too strung out to know who she was, or that it was her music that they constantly banged on the wall about. She didn’t care. She still flipped them off before making her way to the stairs.

Reaching her hand through the busted window of the blue Ford Taurus to unlock the door from the inside. Torren slid into the driver's seat and leaned over to find the two cords that she had pulled out from under the steering column when she stole the car. Flicking the cords together, she listened as the engine reluctantly turned over.

She put the car in reverse, looked in the rear-view mirror at her makeup, then pulled out of the spot. As she turned onto the road leading to the highway, she listened to the knocks, bumps, and hisses that her car made. There wasn't time to do much about it now; not when she was on her way to get her man. But, she made a mental note to do something about it later in the week. The only thing she could do was turn the music up louder to drown out the car noise.

Truthfully, she should have stolen a better car than the piece of shit Taurus that she found in the parking lot of the Quickie Mart while driving through Tulsa, Oklahoma. There were plenty of better cars there to choose from but no one would have wanted to take this one. It was so sad looking that she took pity on it. She had been doing the owner of this crap car a favor, by taking it off of their hands.

The car was truly fucked. The oil light stayed on, and it drank gas like her mother drank liquor. The car had protested every inch of the ride across the three states that she traveled through in one day. She knew that it would only be a matter of time before that piece of shit breathed its last breath.

She needed to get gas again, but fuck that car. She had already refueled four times since she stole it. Gas wasn't cheap and she wasn't putting another dime in that gas guzzler. Speaking of money, she made a mental note to steal another credit card. It would only be a matter of time before the owner of the one that was tucked snugly between her left breast and strapless bra, would eventually realize that it had been lifted from the table in the diner, and canceled.

Laptop, butt bleaching, car, credit card, and more eyeliner from Walgreen's…her To-Do list was growing. She really needed to take some time off and take care of the necessities. Not tonight, though. She had other things to do. She couldn't do anything else, right now, but get to her man. Besides, once Lothbrok was by her side, he would help her remember all the things she needed to do.

As she came off of the highway exit smoke started billowing out from the engine. It backed up through the exhaust system, and came through the vents, inside the cabin. It was ironic – the air-conditioning vents in the car didn't work, but they seemed to work well enough to clog the inside of the car up with thick white smoke. She drove a few more miles before the smoke was so thick that she could no longer see. As she pulled the car over to the graveled shoulder of the road, the car knocked and shook, before it finally cut off.

Just her fucking luck.

She reached under the dash to flick the cords against each other again, trying to force the ignition to catch again, but it wouldn't. The engine had nothing left to give her. "Fuck Murphy and fuck his fucking law," she said calmly as she pulled the hood release.

She opened the car door, taking care to place both black, platform boots on the ground before lifting her backside from the seat. Placing her sunglasses on her eyes, she walked with one foot in front of the other to the front of the Taurus and placed her hand on the hood. It was hot, but not so hot that she couldn't feel under the front of the lever.

As she lifted the heavy metal hood and placed the rod in the slot to hold it in place, Torren let the smoke from the engine engulf her. It was quite a head rush breathing in the thick engine smoke through her nose, and exhaling it from her mouth. She patiently waited for the smoke to thin out before she bent, at the waist, over the engine. She didn't know what she was looking for, but she knew that someone would see her looking over the engine and stop to help her.

Now, if only someone would actually come down this dark stretch of road, she could be back on her way to Ivar.

It didn't take long before a pair of headlights rounded the bend of the road, just off to her right. Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, she accentuated the leather, chaps against her hips, and lifted her ass higher in the air, to catch the driver's attention. She couldn't help but smirk when she heard the tires of a large vehicle turn onto the graveled pavement in front of where she broke down. She didn't turn to face the car or the driver. She didn't care who they were or what they looked like. She had an appointment to keep and this pit stop was fucking up her timetable.

"You need some help?" A deep voice asked as its owner approached her.

Torren took a moment to peer around the hood, noticing that there were no other cars around. "Broke down," she answered, continuing to bear her weight from one hip to the other. She placed her hands on the metal frame of the car, arched her back, and looked at the man over her shoulder. "You know something about cars?"

"Yeah," he replied, moving around to her side, looking at her, and not the smoky engine.

She gave him half a smile, as she noticed him notice her. "You a mechanic or something?" She asked standing up. She rubbed her hands together to remove some of the visible engine soot while considering the guy in front of her. He was about 6 feet tall with a moderate build. He was dressed in blue jeans, a black t-shirt, and Timberland boots. He didn't look like he was more than 25 years old. Judging from the way he was looking at her and from the ring on his left hand, he wasn't too worried about her car, or his wife, for that matter.

"Nah, not a mechanic, but I work on my own car... in my spare time." He smiled when she did. She was gorgeous, in that slutty kind of way. She wouldn't be dressed like that and leaning over the hood of a car if she wasn't looking to have some fun. "Lemme take a look at it."

Did he work on his car? Hopefully, that meant that his ran better than hers did.

Torren moved over to the side and let him take the position under the hood. "I'll be right back," he explained before walking over to the bed of his F150.

Grabbing a flashlight from the trunk, he took a second to admire the view of her, from behind. If he could get her car moving again, she would hopefully follow him to this cheap motel he knew that was just up the highway.

He leaned in close, taking a whiff of her hair, "You overheated…want to check the coolant level."

She had heard him say something else but she had stopped listening; she was too busy watching the street. "You want me to try to start it?" she asked, removing her sunglasses before making her way to the driver's door. She wasn't sure if he answered or not. She had no intention of driving the Taurus again, even if he could get it started. She just needed to get something out of the car.

She slid into the seat and reached down on the floor. She found the hard metal object on the floor of the passenger's side and gripped it tightly. As she walked back around to the front of the car, she heard him talking, presumably about the car, or maybe he was asking her out. Who the fuck knows? She was on a tight schedule and all of his chatting was holding her up. She stood by the side of the hood, looking at the angle he was leaning over the hood. Quickly, she lifted her arm, and with one powerful blow, she struck him in the head with the crowbar that she used to procure her now-defunct car.

Torren stood over his body, looking at him intensely. God, it felt good. The rush of knowing that one minute this dude was towering over her, and the next he was on the ground. She had dropped his ass. She was the one with the power.

"Thanks," she said, digging her hand in his pocket to retrieve his cash, credit card, and the keys to his truck. She wiped the blood on the crowbar on his shirt before walking to her new mode of transportation.

Torren sat in the truck's driver's seat and turned on the engine. She had managed to cross two things off of her To-Do list without even planning to.

Thank God the truck had air conditioning. All this heat and humidity was bound to make her hair frizzy. She cranked the AC up as high as it would go and sat still for a moment enjoying the cool air. After a minute, she adjusted the seat and tilted the rearview mirror to look at herself. She was starting to sweat and her eyeliner was starting to run just a bit at the corners of her eyes. She dabbed at the black liner to even out the lines, and then pushed the mirror back to where she could see. Giving the area another once-over, she made sure that no one else had seen her interaction with that guy on the ground, before pulling out from the gravel and onto the paved street.

"Ugh!" Torren yelled. Chester Bradley, the printed name on the credit card, had shitty taste in music. She pushed the stereo button on the steering wheel to do a scan of the radio. Anything was better than country music. Once she found some trap music on the XM radio, she turned up the volume and pulled back onto the highway.

Part iii/

Tags: @ideagarden-blog1 @youbloodymadgenius @xbellaxcarolinax @a-mess-of-fandoms @didiintheblog @conaionaru @peachyboneless @flowers-in-your-hayr @heavenly1927 @zuxiezendler @waiting4inspiration @saldelys @revolution-starter

#OnlyFan(s)#modern ivar #shannygoat #shannyland #Date with Destiny

25 notes · View notes

ladyc0312 · 3 years

Text

A Jikook Guide to RunBTS: 66-80

Things in this batch start out a little slow, KM-wise, but seriously pick up around the Toronto episodes. It features the episodes where both RM and Jin ask if JK and JM are a couple, so it includes the giggly hand-push game that helped make me a jikook believer!

As usual, let me know if I’ve missed anything or should take another look at something. :)

Ep 66 "BTS in a Comic Book Cafe Part 1" (Ep: 2 / KM: 1)

The one that I can’t help but feel would be more fun if I was more familiar with the comics involved, but the guys make it cute anyway

3:08 - This is a little hard to see because they use weird angles and cuts, but JK sings a piece of a theme song and JM catches his eye and sings with him.

9:23 - JK leans in over JM's shoulder to see how many people are on the comic book page

10:18 - JM does the same when it's JK's turn

BEHIND 10:29 - JM jokes around with JK and does the playful chest tap thing

Ep 67 "BTS in a Comic Book Cafe Part 2" (Ep: 3 / KM: 1)

None

BEHIND 7:28 - JM asks JK if there's a comic book he wants and says he'll buy it for him if so

Ep 68 "Heart Pang" (Ep: 1 / KM: 0)

The one where I can't for the life of me understand the board game they are playing

None.

Ep 69 "BTS in Toronto Part 1" (Ep: 4 / KM: 5)

The Toronto one where Jikook wear matching denim shirts while going to Niagara Falls, getting lunch, and playing games

2:36 - RM says there are certain people who will struggle with the wake up challenge. JK and JM readily seem to admit it's them.

6:29 - JM hangs back (to walk with JK?) when the rest of the group starts heading for the Falls.

8:06 - There's a "teleporting" moment where Jin is in between JM and JK, then the camera cuts away, then it comes back and jikook are next to each other. They stay next to each other as they walk on.

9:52 - You can see jikook interacting in the background.

12:25 - JM takes a photo of JK and gets him to giggle, then they huddle to look at the pic.

13:56 - JM puts his arm around JK and takes a selca in the background, causing RM to ask "what, are you a couple or something? Both wearing denim shirts?" He says it fairly seriously for a line that seems like it's supposed to be a joke and they don't laugh or say anything in response - it looks like JM looks away and flips his hair while JK shifts and awkwardly rubs his forehead. You can also see a quiet exchange after between RM and JM where RM says no to something, then nods at JK. Unclear if it's related, but including it just in case.

15:25 - JK doesnn't try to distract JM while he did the staring contest like he did with Hobi. When Jimin passes, JK is the only one to clap.

18:04 - Quick moment where you can see JK start to rub the arm of JM's shirt before the camera cuts away.

18:50 - JM laughs and touches JK's chest after JK loses the rocks paper scissor game, too.

19:53 - When the other five walk away and JK is doing something with his mic, we don't see where JM is.

22:02 - JK appears to help JM with something with his camera in the foreground.

BEHIND 4:12 - After JHope scolds JK for letting Suga pour everyone's water, JK goes to pour JM some water, then puts the pitcher down. JM seemingly tries to help him out by saying it's a new trend for the oldest to pour water.

Ep 70 "BTS in Toronto Part 2" (Ep: 3 / KM: 5)

The Toronto one where the guys go shopping, pick beds, and play games

1:15 - JK slows down to walk side by side with JM.

2:00 - When JK messes up the game he was confident he'd win, JK laughs and playfully shoves at his chest.

7:23 - When JK loses a game and has to buy the others hoodies, JM sneaks a hat into the pile while JK has his back turned. RM rats him out.

8:01 - JM quietly puts the hat back in the pile, then walks over and hugs JK.

8:40 - JK walks over to Jimin to show him something (sunglasses he wanted?).

20:30 - When they're all joking around about whether they can fit four people on a bed, JK moves JM into an L-shape and then lays down nested with him.

BEHIND 0:09 - JK calls out "Jimin-ssi!" and tosses JM that hat he bought him.

4:49 - When the guys are all stretching and JM is in an inconvenient place, JK calls him "Jimin-ssi" again, essentially feels up his calf, and then pushes his upper thigh, all purportedly to get him to move over.

5:28 - JK kneels down behind JM, who's on all fours, and holds his hips to correct his position (I am literally just describing what happens in the clip, but I kind of feel like I'm writing porn, here...). JK then picks Jimin up to move him over a bit. Both giggle as JK starts to stand up and then the camera cuts away. I can't even begin to think what exercising looks like for these two when there aren't cameras on them...

6:55 - JK reads out the words on the Jimin shirt they're all wearing, which happen to be, "BTS Park Jimin, I love you! I root for you! I'm ARMY!" with a huge grin on his face. Jimin laughs - no one else does - and then jokes that they should wear the shirts back to Korea, prompting JK to tell him "bye!" and wave while giggling.

7:37 - Jimin shows the parts of the shirt design he would change by poking JK's chest, and then JK and JM share a fairly steamy look until RM interrupts.

7:52 - JK folds up the shirt so JM's face looks weird and Jimin points to him doing it and laughs. No one else does. Man, these two were really in their own world this whole Toronto trip, weren't they?

8:02 - JM tries to give JK some advice on the game he's about to play. Before starting, JK starts what seems like it's going to be a silly pose, but ends up being him dragging his fingers down his face, neck, and chest. Sadly for JK, JM wasn't looking. Happily for us, we can look as much as we want.

8:18 - When JM wins a game, JK claps for him. You can probably guess by now that he's the only one who does.

10:09 - JM steals a piece of steak, then JK does some cross-cut teleporting to come over and sink down into a chair next to him. JM overdoes making his eyes look big and innocent (perhaps hoping to get caught and scolded?).

10:35 - JM makes Jin move when he takes JM's seat next to JK I feel like just the Behind for this episode needs it's own jikook rating! And most of it is watching JK lead the guys in a workout. If you're going to watch just one Run Behind, consider making it this one!

Ep 71 "BTS in Toronto Part 3" (Ep: 3 / KM: 3)

The Toronto one where the guys have dinner, have breakfast, and play games

14:28 - Maybe nothing, but just to note it - in this and the next shot, you can see JM heading towards where JK is lying back on the couch after losing a game, then there's an abrupt cut and everyone is in a totally different position.

29:20 - JK tells JM the "super-pancake" he made is for him since he has to do the penalties.

BEHIND 6:59 - JM says that he thinks JK will want to eat and calls out for him.

Ep 72 "BTS and Mafia" (Ep: 3 / KM: 2)

The one in which we learn that BTS is so terrible at the Mafia game that it almost comes back around to being impressive

3:10 - When Jin says JK is suspicious because he isn't talking, JM defends him, saying "you know he doesn't talk much."

8:34 - JM seems to direct his appeal to be spared to JK.

18:16 - JK compliments how well Jimin is doing at the game.

20:13 - After Jimin says he's ARMY, JK asks, "do you like me that much?" Then there's a quick cut and Jin is doing a Jim Halpert face at the camera.

28:03 - Confusing maybe-moment - let me know if it's clearer to anyone else! - but after JH is sending finger heart guns, JM points gun fingers directly at JK for no apparent reason.

BEHIND 2:39 - Before they start playing, JK predicts that JM and Jin will be good at the game.

Eps 73-76 “Run BTS Drama Parts 1-4″ (n/a)

The ones where BTS spend four episodes making a “comedic” skit

01:09 - After JK explains that he had a wisdom tooth taken out, Jimin adds the info that they had to take out the whole root. 09:10 - Even though V is the "director" of Jimin's scene, JK speaks up and takes over the role, saying that directors use informal language and repeating twice in informal language "Jimin, let's go!" He continues speaking informally when Jimin messes up and JK scolds him. 11:40 - When it's JK's turn to deliver a line and he gets nervous about remembering it, JM reads it out loud for him. He also says as soon as JK delivers the line that he did the best job and adds to Hobi, "he doesn't get embarassed, I told you." 16:26 - It's a little hard to see for sure, but it looks like Jimin votes for JK when it's time to choose who should be the skit's director. I'm going to be totally honest with you guys - I didn't rewatch these episodes past this. I first saw it months ago and remember being disappointed and fairly bored through most of it past the first half of the first episode - I don't find the skit funny and the behind-the-scenes stuff isn't amusing enough to make a four-part episode about. I’m sure there are others who completely disagree with me and no judgment if you don't share my opinion! But I'm doing this guide for fun and I don't want to spend two hours rewatching them.

I don't recall a ton of jikook beyond the above - I think there's a moment in part 3 where JK is getting tired and Jimin offers to take over slating for him. So, anyone who is a fan and knows / finds more jikook moments, please let me know and I will update this guide to reflect that. Otherwise, let's happily move along. :)

Ep 77 “Food Guest Part 1″ (Ep: 4 / KM: 5)

The weirdly-named ones that are prob better translated as "food connoisseurs" but the specifics of the foods theme don't really matter because JIKOOK

07:41 - When Jin says JK and JM will be competing in a palm-push game, JM says he's already lost (because JK is strong).

07:55 - I'm fairly certain that, if you're a jikook-er, you've seen this moment. It's so unabashedly flirty a description can't really do it justice. JK and JM are supposed to be playing a game where they put their palms together and shove to see who can make the other lose their balance. JM shoves lightly at JK's chest before they even start the game, then both start giggling. Still giggly, JM asks if JK's ready and JK says he is. JM pushes at JK's palms and JK just swings his arms back as they look at each other and smile. Jin interrupts to ask, "are you a dating couple?" (that's the most direct translation - V app translation is "are you two together?"). JK and JM both laugh, the latter so hard that he spins around, thus losing the game.

17:08 - JK is staring so intently at Jimin on his knees with a blow-pen in his mouth that he completely misses RM trying to give him a high five. Jin has to call for JK to please respond to RM before JK looks away and returns the high five, laughing and apologizing. He looks back immediately after.

BEHIND 0:58 - JK gives JM a shoulder massage while holding his chest as JM makes satisfied noises. I've seen this clip in compilations before, but hadn't realized it was also from this episode. It's really the gift that keeps on giving!

4:29 - Just prior to the above palm-push game, JM reaches out to do something to JK's sleeve (I think?). The camera cuts before we see clearly.

4:31 - Slightly different angle of JM and JK giggling at the start of the palm-push game.

7:11 - Reveals that RM actually tried to high five JK and was ignored TWICE before Jin called JK's attention away from JM on his knees with a blow-pen in his mouth.

Ep 78 “Food Guest Part 2″ (Ep: 3 / KM: 3)

15:00 - JK jokingly asks what the answer is and Jimin giggles at him as the on-screen text says, "how adorable." Unsurprisingly, the others are less enamored. (JK's biggest fans = 1. Jimin 2. Run BTS on-screen text writers)

BEHIND 9:56 - JK watches JM dance playfully, then wiggles his own hips, seeming to want JM's attention. Jimin smiles and starts to say something that gets cut off.

10:03 - JK films JM as JM dances and smiles while looking into the camera. Jimin is doing silly dance, but JK zooms in on his joyful face. He quickly licks his lips as he watches.

#jikook #kookmin #jikook guide to run bts #run bts

146 notes · View notes

longitudinalwaveme · 3 years

Text

Longitudinalwaveme Reviews Old Comics, Part 7

Today, I will be reviewing Flash #307.

The Flash #307 (1982): “Prey for the Piper”, was written by Carey Bates, drawn by the legendary Carmine Infantino, and inked by Bob Smith.

The story stars the Barry Allen Flash as the protagonist and, as the title suggests, the Pied Piper as the main antagonist. This story is also historically important for the Piper-it’s the first issue to give him an origin story. That’s right. Despite having debuted in Flash #106 in 1959, the Piper wasn’t given a backstory (or a real name!) for 22 years!

The story opens with two guys in a helicopter flying a giant gong across the city. Evidently, it’s going to be a new display at the Centrex Museum and...why in the world did they decide to transport the thing by helicopter? Couldn’t they have used a truck? That seems safer.

Regardless, the Pied Piper, who is in a nearby skyscraper, uses his pipe to hypnotize the pilots and get them to fly the gong into a building that’s under construction. Barry Allen, who is nearby buying what I believe is a newspaper but could also be a magazine or, knowing Barry, a comic book, notices the collision that’s about to happen and springs into action as the Flash.

The pilots release the giant gong and it cashes into the building, making a horrible noise but surprisingly not causing any structural damage. Barry stops the gong’s descent and goes to ask the helicopter pilots what’s happening. We then cut to Piper (who, as usual for this time period, looks like a demented elf), who notes that he only needs one more really loud sound to put “Operation Sound-Off” (I’m sure that sounded awesome in his head) into action and defeat the Flash.

Meanwhile, Barry is puzzling over why the helicopter pilots suddenly dropped the gong into the building, as when questioned about what happened, they had no idea. He knows that someone must have hypnotized them, but isn’t sure who or why. Meanwhile, in the police department’s record room, a young officer named Morty, who has been giving a reporter information about some as yet unrevealed story, walks the reporter (who works for Picture News just like Iris did) to her car...only for him to be whacked over the head and her to be kidnapped! We also see that the files she was interested in involve the Pied Piper, who is operating under the alleged name of Henry Darrow.

Barry comes outside just as Morty comes to, and the younger man tells him about what happened. Barry thinks that someone kidnapped her because of the story she was working on, and, because it was about the Pied Piper, Barry assumes that it was the Piper who had her kidnapped. In speaking of the demented elf, he’s in a state park fifty miles outside Central City, known as Summit Canyon, creating an avalanche in order to gather the final decibels needed to enact his evil plan. He notes that, once it’s complete, he’ll “finally be able to rid myself of the two curses which have plagued my life with the most pain and misery: my arch-enemy the Flash-and my despicable family!”

Meanwhile, in his apartment, Barry is trying to work out the details of the kidnapping (which he still thinks the Piper is responsible for), noting that the man’s past has always been a mystery. We then cut to “the posh Ridgeway Hills community easy of the city”, where one of the kidnappers wonder why someone so rich hired them. The other one basically tells him “who cares, we’re getting paid a ton of money and now we can go to Vegas!”

Inside a mansion, the people who paid the kidnappers note that the reporter is waking up, addressing each other as “Osgood” (snicker) and “Rachel”. The reporter tells them that they won’t get away with this, to which they basically respond that they totally will, because they’ve got tons of money to bribe her with. We then see that she’s tied up at one end of a ridiculously long table. The reporter, whose name is Marcy Dunphy, exclaims that she’s seen the people who had her kidnapped in the society pages. The man then introduces himself and his wife as “Hazel and Osgood Rathaway”, which, as this is only two panels after the use of the “Rachel” name, may hold the record for the least amount of time passing before Cary Bates forgot a character’s name. The reporter identifies them as the heads of the Rathaway Publishing Empire and is completely bewildered as to why such wealthy people would have her kidnapped. Their response? She’s uncovered a very embarrassing family secret, and they want it to stay hidden. Which does raise the question of why they decided to have her kidnap before trying to bribe her. Wouldn’t she be more amenable to the idea if you hadn’t had her kidnapped?

While the Flash races to stop the Pied Piper from robbing a museum, the Rathaways for some reason decide to tell Macy the whole story. Their son, Hartley Rathaway, was born deaf, so they spent a ton of money to ‘cure’ his deafness, and because this is comic books, they actually found a doctor who could do it. Hartley subsequently became obsessed with music. Mr. and Mrs. Rathaway had big plans for their son, but, as time went by, it became clear that Hartley wasn’t interested in excelling in anything or in “upholding the prestige of the Rathaway name”. Instead of addressing the problem (or, alternatively, not attempting to force their son to become famous), Osgood decided to start bribing the heck out of people. He bought Hartley’s way into the best colleges and then bribed them into giving him good grades he hadn’t earned. After Hartley graduated, Osgood paid his way into an executive position at a major firm and...seriously, just how rich are these people?

Meanwhile, the Flash manages to get through the sonic barrier that the Piper set up around the museum, only to be attacked by the Piper and his “Sonic Boomatron” which is in the shape of bagpipes because of reasons. The stupidly-named device hits Flash with the equivalent of 50,000 decibels, before we cut back to the Rathaways’ explanation of how awesome bribery is. They apparently gave Hartley a silver-plated flute for his sixteenth birthday (in case it wasn’t clear that they’re made of money yet, I guess), and they tell Macy that their son had always liked tinkering with musical instruments. Somehow, they completely missed that their son was a super genius who created hypnotic and weaponized music until he actually put on the costume and became the Pied Piper. HOW DID THEY NOT NOTICE THAT? It clearly started when he was still a teenager, as he used it to hypnotize his tutor into getting out of a test.

Now with the power to hypnotize people, his life was even easier than it had been before, and Hartley was bored out of his mind. So bored, apparently, that he decided that white-collar crime was overrated and decided to go into the “robbing banks in costume” type of crime. I also find it amusing at how shocked the Rathaways were that Hartley became a criminal. What, do nonstop bribery and literal kidnapping not count? Because they were bribing people left, right, and center LONG before he became the Piper.

Meanwhile, Piper’s weapon somehow turns the Flash into sound, because this is comics and comics don’t have to make sense. He proceeds to walk off with his loot, surrounded by a sonic barrier that protects him from police gunfire.

So yes, the Pied Piper is Hartley Rathaway, his family is rich, and he became the Piper because, at least according to his parents, he was an “emotionally disturbed” child who got bored. Apparently the elder Rathaways have kept the secret through EVEN MORE BRIBERY, giving money to everyone from the local police chief to the FBI to keep things quiet. The FBI were the ones who created the identity of Henry Darrow. By the way, Mrs. Rathaway is back to being Rachel again. Rachel reiterates the fact that kidnapping and then bribing the reporter to also keep things quiet was the only logical solution to the problem...at which point the Piper himself shows up!

Meanwhile, Barry uses his mental control over all his molecules to reassemble himself while the Piper tells his parents that he’s paid his debt to them. Apparently, he turns over most of his loot to his parents in order to pay “back every Rathaway dollar my parents spent on trying to mold me into something I could never be.” The elder Rathaways had to keep all of it because doing anything else would reveal the secret. Osgood tells his son that he and his wife only wanted what was best for Hartley, to which Hartley replies “Not quite, Pop. You wanted what was best for the Rathaway name! What I wanted never really matter much to either one of you.” According to Hartley, then, it seems that he became the Piper not so much because he was bored...but rather because he feels that his parents were more concerned with their reputations than with loving him.

Then the Flash pops up, punches him out, and rescues Macy, who says that they should give the Rathaways a few minutes alone with their son. I guess that we can assume that the Rathaways never got arrested because they’re made of money. Or something. (Could that be why we also rarely saw the Piper in prison during the Silver and Bronze Age?)

Well, it may have taken Piper 22 years to get an origin (and a name), but in this case, I think it was worth it. With the possible exception of the Golden Glider, the Pied Piper has what is by far the most interesting Silver/Bronze Age origin of any of the Rogues, and I’m glad it’s stuck around. Props to Carey Bates for giving the Piper an incredibly memorable origin story.

#flash comics #flash rogues #pied piper #dc comics

16 notes · View notes

rohad93 · 3 years

Text

Worth the Fight: Ch 7

Luz smashed and hacked up training dummies until her arms were too tired to hold her sword up anymore. Normally she could go for longer, but the added weight of the chainmail had sapped a lot of her usual energy. The sun had started to dip below the horizon line by the time she finally got back to the stables, the day had all but slipped away between spending time with her new friends and training, not to mention the brief trip to the nearby river to bathe, she was quite sweaty and King wouldn’t lay with her if she smelt bad, sensitive nose and all. She washed her clothes while she was at it and between the heat of the sun that had been soaking into the rocks all day and its overhead light, neither they nor she took long to dry.

Eda had always considered her habit of bathing as often as she did, which was only every other day, strange, especially since they were always on the move, and getting into messy situations, but that was how it had always been when her mother had been alive, and after the two years between her mother’s death and meeting Eda, she liked knowing she had the option.

Luz yawned as she plopped herself back comfortingly into her pile of hay next to King, who made a grunting sound at the disturbance before he set his head in her lap as she picked up the top book on her stack and opened it, running the fingers of one hand through his fur.

Gus had helped her find a book that was supposed to help her learn to read runes, but she's starting to think that witches begin learning runes at such a young age on the Isles, that even books designed for beginners are still beyond her comprehension.

What sense does it make to have a book that is supposed to teach you how to read runes be mostly in the runes you can't read!?

She slowly, and painfully read through several pages, or skimmed them really, before she can't take anymore and closed it with a snap. Why was this so hard? She was never going to learn any more enchantments at this rate. She can’t understand the book, it references some runes as though she should already know them and of course they seem to be some of the most important ones as the book mentioned them constantly.

She took a slow, deep breath and opened the book again. Luz had never gotten anywhere by giving up, that was for damn sure!

She blinked tiredly at the pages twenty minutes later and grumbled to herself.

“Luft, ild, vann, jord…...Ugh! These make no damn sense!” she held the book up overhead and shook it. King snorted, uncaring about her magical problems. “I keep seeing these four but it doesn't explain what they mean!” she yelled, frustratedly shaking the pages.

“Air, fire, water, and earth, they’re the runes for the four basic elements…,” A sudden voice broke the quiet, and Luz shrieked, dropping the book on her face with a painful thump as King jerked up at the voice. Luz can hear his deep, guttural growling as she bolted upright, whipping the book away from her face to look at the person standing in the entrance to the stall.

Amity is standing there, frozen solid as the very large, black, wolf with skull-shaped white fur on his face and horns, stands between her and Luz, lips curled back over pearly, dagger-like fangs and growling at her as rust-colored eyes bore into her, in the dimness of twilight, she was sure they’re glowing a faint red.

“King!” Luz’s sharp call made the beast back up, lips lowering back down over his teeth, but he’s still growling low and deep in his throat, and his eyes never move off her as he sat back down, body tense.

“He won’t hurt you…,” Luz said with a frown as she sees who exactly has stumbled upon her little area of the stables. What was she doing here?

Amity reluctantly took her eyes off the still growling beast to look at Luz, who is not looking at her anymore friendly

“What can I do for you,... Lady Blight…,” Luz greeted with a frown, the tone isn’t hostile but it certainly isn’t friendly either.

Amity’s hackles immediately wanted to rise in response to the tone, but she shoved it back down. After what happened in the archives, she doesn’t exactly deserve a warm welcome and she’s surprised the other woman doesn’t sic her beast on her.

“I…,” she started, fisting her hands so tightly she can feel her nails biting into the flesh of her palms, creating red, crescent-shaped divots in the skin as she took a deep breath through her nose. “I came to apologize to you,” she finally managed to get out, but her gaze flickered away from those wide, brown eyes.

Luz’s eyes grew comically wide at that as she blinked up at the noble. Surely she misheard that and Amity Blight wasn't here to apologize to her. Amity is frowning and looking anywhere but at Luz as the moment of silence stretched on before finally, those gold eyes land on her again and stay there.

"The things I said to you the other day were uncalled for, I don’t know anything about you and it was unbecoming of me to make baseless accusations, what happened at the market was an accident, and I certainly should never have raised my hand to you and I’m sorry for that,” Amity finished and Luz isn’t sure what to say at first as those gold eyes pierce into her, looking almost alive in a way as the rays of the setting sun bounce off them.

“Thank you…,” is what she finally managed to get out and Amity gave a jerk of a nod before turning to go, but Luz can’t let her go yet, if Amity can be big enough to come and make her apologies, then there isn’t any reason Luz can’t also swallow her pride and do so. “I’m sorry too,” she said, and Amity paused, turning to look at her over her shoulder. “...If my running into you got you in trouble with Sir Bump." She scratched the back of her head. "That and everything I said too, you're right, I don't know you and it wasn't right for me to assume anything…" Luz frowned, looking up at her from the pile of hay she was still sitting in. King's threatening growls had ceased.

"Thank you…," is all Amity said, voice quiet before she turned back forward and walked away, back toward the manor in the disappearing rays of twilight.

Luz watched her go, blinking.

"Well, I didn't expect that…," she said aloud, turning to King, who snorted as he plopped himself back down into the hay at her side.

Luz hummed, looking down at the book still sat open across her lap.

“Air, fire, water and earth…," she repeated what Amity had said. "If these are the four basic elements then…" she dog-eared one of the pages and set it aside before picking up the book she had learned the light enchantment from and flipped it open to a page she had been studying before.

It has a series of lines that look like a glyph, but no circle, and when she tried to draw it, nothing happened. In the corner of the page next to the lines is a rune she now recognized as ild, fire.

If the glyph she’s looking at is fire, maybe it doesn't work because it isn’t complete? She knows that putting something that could easily catch fire in a book, is probably not a great idea. She flipped around the book and can see that the other glyphs, much like the one for light, also have circles drawn around them.

Luz leaned over and dug through one of her pouches, pulling out a piece of charcoal and looking around the stall spotted a broken chunk of a board that must have come from the stables. She grabbed it and glanced again at the book laying open across her legs and drew a circle before carefully drawing the lines from the page within it.

She looked at it for a long second, checking it against the book before nodding to herself and tapped it with a finger. The lines glowed for the briefest of moments before the stall lit up in a flash as fire erupted from the glyph, making King jump up.

Luz jerked, almost dropping the flaming chunk of wood into the pile of hay she was lounging in. she quickly rolled out of it, getting hay in her hair and holding it safely above her till she was sitting in the dirt away from her very flammable bed, and set it in the dirt to burn.

“I made fire… I learned to make fire!” she grinned giddily to herself as she watched the chunk of wood burn. King didn’t look half as excited as her. “You’re just jealous…” she stuck her tongue out at him and he snorted, plopping back down in the hay, pointedly facing away from her.

Luz watched the fire burn with rapt attention till all that’s left is ash and embers glowing in the semi-darkness. When it’s gone she sat back, thinking of the manor just across the grounds.

She has even more questions now than she did before.

Amity Blight was more confusing than ever.

Luz scraped some dirt over the embers, making certain they were good and smothered, lest she wake up on fire and having burned down the manor’s stables. Once she’s certain no errant sparks will light the place ablaze, she shut her books and leaned back into her hay pile, getting herself comfortable and hummed to herself as she looked through the stables open slats at the large manor, gentle light emanating from the home’s windows.

King finally turned over, his big head laying across her stomach and she gently scratched the space between his ears, growing sleepy.

She hadn’t expected Amity to come and apologize, she doesn’t know what to think anymore.

~ ~

After breakfast Amity quickly made her way to Bump's office, she needed to talk to someone and she’s going to need permission to go where she needed to go to do that. She’s hoping to convince him that she can take a simple trip to the apothecary by herself.

The door is closed as it usually is and when she knocked, the older witch’s voice beckoned for her to enter.

“Sir Bump?” she asked as she walked in, shutting the door behind her. At her voice, Bump looked up from the parchment he had been scratching at with a quill.

“Ah, Amity, what can I do for you?”

“I’d like to go to town, I need some ingredients for some potions I’m working on,” she explained, a lie, sort of, she will be buying some things while she’s at the apothecary, but she mostly wants to talk to Willow, it’s been too long since she’s been able to have a peaceful conversation with the herbalist witch since they had to be had in secret.

Her parents had wanted her to break all her ties with Willow years ago, and she had, publicly, anyway.

As a child, Willow had been her only real friend. She had many acquaintances from other noble families all across the Isles, the kind of people her parents wanted her to associate with, but friends? No, Willow was still her only true friend.

Willow was the only person she could be honest with, or as honest as she could ever be with anyone, she thought.

She smiled to herself as Bump nodded.

“You may go to the market…,” he started, and Amity smiled. “...so long as a guard accompanies you,” he finished and her smile fell. It took everything she had to keep the scowl off her face.

She despised this, having to be accompanied everywhere like she’s a child.

“Sir Bump…” she started but he held a hand up, frowning.

“We won’t discuss this again, Amity, until Lord and Lady Blight return from their trip in some months, you are not to leave the grounds unescorted, do you understand?” his narrowed eye locked onto her. Amity clenched a fist but nodded. “Good, take a guard and hurry off to the market.” With that, he picked his quill back up and returned to his writing, a clear dismissal.

She nodded before quickly turning on her heel and made her exit, grumbling curses to herself under her breath.

Most of the guards would never let her dally in the market, it had happened before, they would insist on getting what she came for and then returning her to the safety of the manor, as though she were made of glass and if people looked at her too long she might shatter.

She scowled to herself as she stomped down the manor’s halls, still grumbling as she stopped in front of one of the windows that faced the front gate and gazed out the glass at the warm sunny day outside the manor. One other people were free to enjoy all by themselves.

While starring outside with a sour look on her face she spotted a familiar head of dark brown hair down at the front gate.

Luz.

She bit her lip thoughtfully.

Her nerves over what happened between them had soothed after the apology given and received last night, but now she’s even less sure of how she feels about the human woman, she hadn’t expected an apology, in turn, only further proving that she had been very wrong in her assumptions of the human. Time spent with her might prove nothing but awkward after their last couple of interactions

Then again, Luz also hadn’t been here long and didn’t have any real reason yet to be blindly loyal to her parents like the old guard, she could probably get away with more with the human escorting her to town…

That, over any possible awkwardness, cinched it for her, and she quickly made her way down to the front doors, where Luz and another witch she’d seen, but can’t bother to recall his name, are standing, guarding the front gate.

She grabs the dark cloak from her room first, not the one with the family crest on it that she knows her parents would prefer she wear in public, to make sure people always see her, but they aren't here, and Bump is in his office, so she couldn’t care less right now what they want.

She wasted no time walking out the front doors toward the gate, straightening her shoulders.

Luz and the other guard quickly noticed her approaching and the one immediately straightened, opening the gate for her, while Luz just looked at her curiously.

“I need an escort to the market…,” she announced as she stepped outside the fence. The other guard perked up, but before he could offer himself Amity turned her gaze to the human.

“Come with me, Luz.”

Luz blinked at her, why would she want her? Maybe they had technically made up last night if one could call it that, but even she could clearly see how eager the other guard at her side was, and Luz would be glad to be rid of him for a while. He’d been making snide little comments off and on all day to her.

Actually, this was perfect, she’d get away from him and subtly rub it in his face.

Luz just nodded and Amity seemed pleased by the minimal response as she flipped up the hood of her cloak. She leaned the pike against the gate and followed Amity away, toward town, glancing at her fellow guard over her shoulder. He was glaring daggers at her, lips pulled back over his teeth in a sneer. It didn’t seem like she could make this situation any worse, so she stuck her tongue out at him for good measure before she turned and followed after Amity into the city.

It was quiet for several long minutes, and despite the obvious awkward tension hanging in the air between them Luz just couldn't stand long stretches of quiet.

"Where are we going?" she finally couldn't help but ask.

"I need to visit the apothecary," Amity said. She doesn't really need to explain herself to the guard, but they have only just mended things, so she indulges her for the sake of keeping the peace.

"Oh, maybe Willow will be there…,” she said quietly to herself, but Amity hears and stopped dead, causing Luz to almost walk into her at the abrupt stop. She took a step back as Amity spun around to face her.

“You know Willow?” she asked, surprised.

“Uh, yeah, I spent all day with her and Gus yesterday, you know her too?” Luz asked, tilting her head to the side curiously.

A twinge of jealousy shot through Amity at that. That Luz had spent all of yesterday with her closest friend. She didn't know Gus, but Willow talked of him often. She wished she could just go wherever she pleased whenever she so desired, instead of having to beg permission from her family's steward and then have her every step be watched over as though she were an infant.

She took a deep breath through her nose, trying to reign in the anger that was threatening to rise to the surface, she would only explode if it did and that was not Luz’s fault.

"Yes, we are well acquainted," she managed to say levely but adds nothing more.

“Cool, let’s go!” Without waiting for Amity, Luz started walking again toward the apothecary. Amity blinked at her back for a moment before hurrying to catch up with the other woman’s long strides, grabbing up her skirts so she can move quickly after her.

“Damn tall people…,” she grumbled to herself.

Once they reach the shop Amity quickly moves to the door, turning to Luz.

“Wait out here,” she said and Luz frowned, ready to protest, but remembered herself, she works for this woman, and that is what she’s currently doing, so she bites her tongue, but it is apparent how unhappy she is to Amity as she grunted a response and folded her arms across her chest.

Amity ignored the guards pouting and stepped inside, rolling her eyes.

Willow looked up greeting on the tip of her tongue until she realized who had walked into her shop as Amity pulled off her hood.

“Amity!” she hurried around the counter to hug the noble who smiled into her shoulder as she squeezed back.

“How did you get away from the manor?” Willow asked as she stepped back.

“I had to have an escort.” she rolled her eyes and gestured out the shop's front window where Luz could be seen leaning against the wall, arms crossed and still pouting to herself.

“Oh! I take it you and Luz cleared up your little misunderstanding then?” Willow looked at her knowingly.

“How did you…,” Amity started and Willow chuckled.

“She told me, she was asking how we could possibly be friends since you were… well, I'm not gonna say what she said, but yes, she explained it to Gus and I yesterday.”

Amity scowled at that, crossing her arms in a huff.

“You did slap her…,” Willow reminded, crossing her own arms and leaning her hip on the counter. Which made Amity sigh.

“I apologized for that… and the things I said,” she grumbled like a child being scolded by a parent.

“Did Luz apologize to you?” she asked and Amity nodded.

“She did.”

“Then why don’t we have her join us? Luz is funny.” Willow smiled and Amity knows there's only one right answer.

“Fine…,” Amity sighed as Willow walked over and stuck her head out the door.

“Come on in, Luz.” Willow held the door open for the young knight in training who smiled brightly as she slipped inside. “I know you want some tea, Amity, would you like some, Luz?” she asked.

"Please," Luz smiled as they moved to sit on some stools around the counter while Willow disappeared into the back to make tea.

Amity and Luz sat in awkward silence, Luz slapping her hands against her knees as she looked around the shop.

Amity glanced at her from the corner of her eye as she waited for Willow to return. How did she know her? Their acquaintance couldn’t have been very old because Willow had never mentioned the human before, and she had seen her only a week ago.

She decided it would be easier to simply cut to the chase.

“How do you know Willow?” she turned fully to Luz, who attention returned to her at the sound of her voice.

“Oh, I came in here last week asking for directions and she used an experimental elixir on a wound I had.” she reached up to touch the pronounced scar on her face beneath her left eye.

‘I… see,” Amity wasn’t sure what else to say to that. That certainly sounded like something Willow would do, and she already knew that she didn’t know enough about uz to make any assessments; yet.

Thankfully, Willow came back quickly with a boiling kettle and three cups.

Amity chatted with Willow while Luz sipped on her tea between throwing in her own two snails to everything, they said, which normally, would have annoyed the noble to pieces, but everything Luz added was either a good point or introduced a new way of looking at something she hadn’t considered.

Luz had a manner of speaking that was far above most commoners Amity had met before, not to mention she could read and write, something also very rare in the empire's common class.

The more Amity learned, the less she seemed to know.

They were only able to stay a couple of hours before Willow inevitably had to open the shop back up to customers

They parted with quick waves and promised to return another day as Amity pulled her hood back up.

Amity listened to Luz hum happily to herself as they walked down the street, through the thick of the market and the dense crowds.

It was windy today and a sudden gust shot through the market blowing her hood off. Her bright green hair stood out like a sore thumb among the crowd. She quickly pulled it back up and glanced around.

No one seemed to be looking at her and she sighed in relief. Luz watched her silently from a few feet behind.

While they were here she did need to pick up a few things from another shop to solidify her cover story. She turned down another section of the market, Luz still trailing behind, looking at all the different things for sale as they walked.

Something seemed to catch her interest and she hesitated.

“I’m only going to be over here if you want to look at something.” she gestured to another stall and Luz nodded as she stepped up to a stall selling, Amity couldn’t even begin to guess at, as she moved to the stall at the end of the street.

Amity had been to this particular stall many times over the years when she’d been able.

Several kinds of weapons were laid out across the wooden stand's counter, several swords, and daggers. Their shiny, silver, polished blades gleamed in the sunlight as Amity admired them.

“Back again I see, milady.” the vendor smiled at her and she smiled back. “Perhaps today is finally the day you do more than look?” he asked and Amity smiled sadly at him and shook her head.

“Not today, Lavis, probably not ever,” she admitted, shaking her head.

“Ah, never say never,” he consoled.

She spent several minutes talking with the old vendor and admiring his wares before she finally turned to make her way back to Luz. she could see her still standing, bent over a stall looking at something when a hand wrapped tightly around her arm and jerked her into a nearby alley. Before she could even think to scream a hand clamped tightly over her mouth, muffling her surprised sounds as she struggled in someone's grip. A grungy looking man appeared in front of her, and pressed the tip of a dagger tightly against the front of her throat, she could feel the point biting into her skin.

“Stop struggling and don’t make a sound,” he hissed only an inch from her face. His breath reeks and she can see he’s missing a few teeth in the front while the rest are yellowed and rotten looking.

Another man is standing behind her, one arm wrapped constricting around her waist and his hand is slapped over her mouth.

“Looky here lady Blight, you be a good girl, your parents pay us and no one gets hurt,” he said.

Amity growled under her breath, making the one behind her chuckle quietly.

“This one has some fight in ‘er,” he breathed against the shell of her ear and his warm breath made her skin crawl. “I bet I can fix that…” He squeezed her closer and real fear shot through Amity, her heart pounding in her chest at the possibilities in those words, none of them good.

“I’m sure, but let’s get her back to camp first, we can send the ransom note and then deal with her while we wait,” the one in front of her grunted, taking a step back.

The second the dagger was no longer touching her skin Amity tried to break free, jerking in the unseen witch's grip, but he seemed to have been prepared for that and his grip on her tightened, but his hand on her mouth slid down enough that she was able to sink her teeth into his hand.

He let out a pained yell as she bit down as hard as she could.

“Fucking bitch!” he snarled, jerking her back, his grip on her becoming almost crushing.

“I guess her parents aren’t getting her back in one piece.” the snaggle-toothed with frowned and stretched out his arm and pressed the tip of the blade back to her throat making her settle. “Now we’re gonna cut off some fingers to send with that note…,” he started, then in a flash of light the dagger fell away in a spray of blood and screaming as snaggle tooth’s severed hand fell to the dirt, dagger still clutched in its fingers.

Luz stood there, sword still hovering in the air after the strike, face set in a snarl.

Amity looked at her in surprise, but then she felt the grip on her waist loosen and seized the moment to slam her head backward with all her might, and a loud crunching sound echoed through the alley as the back of her head made contact with her unseen captor's nose.

“Argh!”

She jerked forward, breaking free of his arms to dart behind Luz, who stood protectively in front of her, both hands gripped around the hilt of her sword, muscles tensed, ready should either one of them make another move.

“Leave…,” she growled, while snaggle tooth continued to wail, trying to stop the torrent of blood coming from his new stump of a wrist, while the other, a bald witch in a bandana, looked at her with wide eyes, blood pouring out of his now crooked nose. “Now!” she barked, taking a menacing step forward. He jumped and grabbed snaggle tooth and pulled him along as they took off down the alley, leaving a trail of blood behind them.

Luz sighed, lowering her blade as she turned to Amity, once she was sure they were gone.

“Are you alright?” she asked, looking the noble over. She’d taken her eyes off her for a few minutes and when she’d looked back up she had been gone. She’d figured Amity had ditched her until she had heard one of the men's pained yells coming from the alley only to find her noble charge at dagger point.

Amity nodded shakily and spit, trying to rid her mouth of the foul taste of the witch’s hand. Luz grabbed the waterskin off her belt and offered it to her. Amity took it and washed her mouth out, but the taste lingered.

Liz bit her lip almost hard enough to draw blood. This was why Amity had an escort outside the manor. She hadn’t been taking this very seriously, till now. She felt guilty, another minute or so, and Amity would have been gone, held for ransom.

“I’m sorry,” she said and Amity looked up at her, Luz’s face was set in a frown. “I should have been watching you better… it’s no wonder you need an escort… I should have been taking this more seriously,” Luz admitted, meeting the noblewoman’s eyes.

“I don’t need an escort,” Amity bit out. “That… that’s never happened before…,” she mumbled.

Luz wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth or not but she nodded.

“Well, that was more excitement than I figured we’d have on a trip to town…,” Luz hummed, sheathing her sword and turning to make sure the two wouldn’t decide to come back for more, though she doubted it as she eyed the severed hand slaying on the ground in a pool of blood; Amity looked at it too for a moment before bending down and picked up the dagger, prying it from the severed fingers, Luz watched her turn it over in her fingers before slipping it into the pocket of her dress

“This never happened…” Amity isn’t looking at her as Luz’s eyes whipped up to face her, eyes wide.

“What?” Luz blinked.

“This never happened,” she patiently repeated, finally turning to face her. “No one needs to know what happened here.”

“You were just attacked by two guys who wanted to kidnap you for ransom!” Luz threw up her hands. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I have to tell Bump about…” before she can finish the thought Amity cut her off, gold eyes wide

“No!” She jerked toward Luz, who unconsciously took a step back and Amity leaned back, biting her lip, her hands clenched into the skirt of her dress. She can’t stop her if she really wants to go to Bump, but if she does, even with an escort, Amity will most certainly not be allowed to leave the manor for who knew how long. “Please... don’t tell Bump about this…,” her voice is low and tinged with desperation.

Luz frowned.

It would be easier on her in the end to just tell Bump and have this situation taken off her hands, and yet…, Luz can’t bring herself to do that. There's something in the witch's gold eyes, desperate and pleading, silently begging her not to tell the steward about this that she can't bring herself to ignore.

Luz sighed, scratching the back of her head as Amity looked up at her, beseeching.

“Yeah… yeah, okay,” she finally said and Amity sagged in relief.

“Thank you, Luz…” she said and Luz grunted, crossing her arms, prompting Amity to look back up at the taller woman.

“Seems like this wouldn’t be such a problem if you just got some lessons in defending yourself…” Luz frowned, which made Amity scoff as they finally moved out of the alley, looking around cautiously before they started to make their way back toward Blight manor, Luz walking at her side, rather than the few feet behind her, as was appropriate, but Amity was too tired after that debacle to correct the woman and Luz was not willing to take another chance.

“You don’t need to tell me that, I’ve been attempting to get lessons in swordplay for years…”

“No one wants to teach you?” Luz cocked a brow in question, Amity pursed her lips, trying to decide if she really wanted to talk about this with the guard or not.

“My parents think it would be a waste of time and resources, that a highborn lady like myself should never stoop to such barbaric behavior…,” Amity started after a moment.

Luz made a face at that. There was nothing barbaric about it. Sure, she’d seen some people handle a sword as though it were a giant meat cleaver or kitchen knife, chopping and hacking, but when done right it was...”

“...but I think it’s a beautiful art form,” Amity finally finished, and Luz looked at her with surprise. Amity caught her look, and maybe it was Luz’s imagination but she could have sworn there was the faintest hint of pink dusting the noble’s cheeks as she turned her head away. “I just mean… It takes an incredible amount of skill and grace… I’d love to learn...” Amity’s voice holds a certain wistfulness to it that Luz knows well.

She hummed as they walked. The longer she thinks about it the more she can’t help but think of herself and how it felt to want something so badly, only for everyone to tell you that you couldn’t.

She would never forget the look on her mother’s face when she had told her that she wanted to be a knight when she grew up.

It was surprised, at first.

Then she had frowned and gave Luz that stern look she always used when she broke something or got caught getting into something she wasn’t supposed to. A kind of aggravated, disappointed look, before she told Luz that she couldn’t be a knight, only witches were knights and it was much too dangerous for her.

Luz pursed her lips as she could clearly see that face in her mind’s eye. She had a better understanding now of what her mother meant. It was certainly dangerous, but their whole world was dangerous.

What happened to her mother had proven that to her beyond any shadow of a doubt.

She pushed the thought away as she glanced at Amity, frowning to herself as they walked.

“I could teach you…” She said suddenly, the words slipping past her lips before they can even really register with her brain, especially as Amity came to an abrupt halt, turning to look up at her with wide gold eyes.

“What?” she asked.

By the time her brain is catching up to what she’s actually saying her mouth is moving gain.

“I can teach you, swordplay. If you want that is,” she clarified.

Amity is still looking up at her in silent wonder. Luz can see her jaw working silently, as though trying to get words out.

“Why?” she finally managed to spit out, confusion dripped from the word. “Why would you do anything for me? I haven’t exactly been kind to you…,” she trailed off, frowning.

“No, but I wasn’t either, so...” She shrugged. “Water under the bridge, and because I know how it feels to want something so badly, while everyone is always telling you that can’t…," her voice faded as she finally broke their stare, those eyes looking at her are much too intense and she has to look elsewhere.

Amity continued to stare up at her, trying to wrap her mind around the offer being made to her. It seems too good to be true, there has to be a catch.

“What do you want in return?” she finally asked, eyes narrowing, which did make Luz turn back to face her, her brows dipping between her eyes as they locked eyes again.

“I don’t want anything from you,” Is her reply. “If you don’t want to, that's fine,” she said as she started back down the street toward the manor.

Amity jolted, dashing forward to grab Luz’s arm, stopping her.

“No, wait, I do!” she rushed to say before the woman could change her mind.

Luz glanced down at the small hand wrapped around her elbow and Amity quickly jerked her hand back, folding them together in front of her.

“I do want to learn… but you must want something in return…” she looked up at her in question, not the same accusing kind Luz had seen in her eyes earlier that had made a slight twinge of offense go through her, it’s more curious now, though the shadow of distrust lingers. “Name your price,” Amity said testingly, usually, if someone wanted something from her, that was all she needed to say for them to reveal their actual intentions to her. She’s learned a long time ago that her family name came with many strings, one's people had proven time and again they wanted to be able to pluck at their whim, by manipulating her.

“Nope,” Luz popped the ‘p’ of the word loudly. “I don’t need anything from you.” she shook her head, which made Amity frown, unsure what to say.

It really seemed like Luz had no alternative motives for offering to teach her, which was surprising, and also made the youngest Blight all the more adamant to offer something in return. Blight’s did not let debts go unpaid.

They didn’t get themselves into debts to start with either, though that voice in her head sounds suspiciously like her mother’s.

She scoured her mind, she knew very little of Luz and what type of trade she might be interested in for her time, but then she remembered last night, coming upon her in the stables, reading a basic runic book out loud to herself. The human obviously didn’t know how to read runes, something Amity was more than advanced in. Before Lilith had left she and her mentor had spent countless hours delving into every advanced manuscript of runes the archives and her family’s personal library possessed.

“You’re trying to learn runic, that’s what you were doing in the stables last night, right?” she asked and Luz looked down at her.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” she nodded.

“I can teach you, in return for the sword training, that way we both get something we want,” she offered and Luz hummed, rubbing a hand over her chin.

She may never have figured out the fire glyph last night if it hadn’t been for Amity appearing last night.

“Deal.” Luz grinned, sticking out her hand. Amity looked at it only for a moment before taking hold of it and giving it a quick shake. Luz’s hand is large, her own smaller hand is cradled in hers, and it’s rough and calloused, but warm.

Luz can’t help but notice how much smaller and softer Amity’s hand is than her own, but it’s warm.

Once she draws back, Luz is looking her up and down and Amity can’t help but flush at the obvious eyeing she is getting before she can even get angry and shout at the other woman Luz piped up.

“I hope you have something besides a dress to fight in…” she pointed at the ankle-length black and magenta dress she is wearing.

“I… don’t…,” she finally said after thinking for a moment and Luz made a disapproving sound.

“Then our first order of business is to get you some pants... Let’s go!” she turned in the opposite direction of the manor, back toward the market, and started off before Amity could so much as blink.

“Wh- Luz, wait!” she held up her skirts as she hurried after the would-be knight, who slowed enough for Amity to walk at her side.

#Luz Noceda #Amity Blight #Lumity #eventually #Willow Park #principal Bump #King #the owl house #fic #Worth the Fight #toh #blood #violence

20 notes · View notes

weeklyfangirl · 4 years

Text

Frat Boy Pt. 20

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7 (1), part 7 (2), part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13 , part 14, part 15, part 16, part 17, part 18, part 19

Happy New Year!!!!!! Here’s a party and a hot guy loving on you - and you don’t even have to leave your home ;)

I haven’t been to many therapist offices after I started high school. This one was free, on student-life. Reproduced images of the sea were comforting enough, but it was the dreary stained carpet that reminded me where I was.

“Do you think they’re related to the night you were assaulted?”

“Yes. But I don’t know how to get rid of them. I lose sleep and then when I do sleep, I have these nightmares and I wake up more restless than if I’d just stayed up all night.”

“Hm. And how do you feel about Harry?”

“Harry?”

She nodded. “Yes, the boy in your dreams.” Her French manicured nails squeezed the top of her clipboard.

“That’s not an easy question.”

“Try.”

I sighed. “Okay…” The painted seagull in her office looked like an on-clearance print at TJ Maxx, and suddenly I wished I’d called my mother for her own version of therapy instead. Bargain shopping. “I think I hate him. But then I know I don’t. But then… I don’t necessarily like him either.”

“Do you love him?”

I laughed. “No, I don’t love him.”

“Why do you laugh?”

“I said I almost hated him and you ask me if I love him!” But my voice was a little too loud. The question stayed with me, stirring in my mind. “I think I’d know if I loved him.”

“Love looks different to different people. Finding a healthy version of love for yourself and your partner is where things can go awry. Or right.”

I remembered Harry and I talking at Alta about Madame Bovary, and how I’d told him that people love to the best of their abilities, from what they’ve learnt by their circumstances. Silence weighed in the room, and I knew she was waiting for me to elaborate on my feelings. Bleh.

“I don’t know,” I finally said. “But if this is what love looks like to him… We’re not even technically dating so this question doesn’t even apply!” I laughed again. “But then… even if we were, then... it’s not enough.”

“And what would be enough for you?”

“Stability.”

“And do you think this is possible with him?”

“Umm…” Zayn’s voice popped in my head - Harry was a magnet for infamy - and I laughed. I laughed, and I laughed...“No.”

“And why is that?”

“Because he self-sabotages. And he says things he doesn’t mean.”

“Such as...?”

A puff of breath left my lips. “Like last night, he said I didn’t have a life. And then he was comparing me to another girl. Viv. She’s like his… sister, basically. She grew up with him. But… he got really defensive and said at least she fucks me. But the fact that he said I don’t have a life?? A LIFE?? I mean shit, it’s not my fault he’s infiltrated my dreams is it?”

She shook her head. “It’s very important for you not to blame yourself. Show yourself the same kindness you’d show your friends. Renny, for example.”

Be kind to yourself.

I nodded. Those were the words my mother would say whenever I’d critique myself. Just like all those times before, the words registered, but it didn’t change anything about the frustration I felt. I was the one dumb enough to let him in. I’d let myself be dragged into him, even with every red flag hitting me in the face. I was collecting them for a meme bouquet at this point!

“Do you believe him?” she asked.

It took me a minute to hear her.

“The words he said to you,” she said. “That you don’t have a life.”

A timer beeped on her phone. She muted it. “I’d like you to write out what you want in your life for next time. Not what anybody else wants. But what Y/N wants. When you see it written out, no matter how silly it seems, having concrete answers might help.”

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

I was staring at my notes page, trying to think of what I wanted. I didn’t exactly have the chance to ask her what she meant by that. Did she mean career goals? Education goals? Relationship goals? What did this have to do with ending my nightmares?

A text at the top of my phone distracted me from the blank page.

Kiki: “Don’t worry, we didn’t forget about you. Get your hands on the special airhead pills from Harry’s and bring them to the DG Pretty Please Party next week. On the DL obvi.”

Viv chimed in on the group chat. “Congrats bitch! It’ll be fun for all of us.” She included the devil emoji.

This is what I got for stalling up until the last minute to walk into work. The practice was now a blatant reminder that Harry was out of my life and it didn’t help whenever I saw Lionel. It felt weird that I was seeing his dad more than him. Wrong, even.

Voices carried through the lot along with the clicking of heels. I turned my head.

Boss Lady Samantha was headed towards the elevator.

Shit, Y/N. Shit shit shit.

I got out, quietly closing the door. Better to walk with my boss than walk in late after her, right? Her red hair was let down today, ringlet curls in full effect. I could meet her at the elevator before it arrived.

But right when I was about to shout out hold the elevator Lionel walked right behind her. And I mean RIGHT behind her - there was hardly room for a Bible between them.

I hid behind my car, unsure if I was supposed to be seeing this.

Their voices were too low to hear, but his arm lingered at her lower back before the elevator opened. She got in. Alone. Lionel looked over his shoulder and I ducked further.

Through Grandpa’s windows, I saw the elevator door close. Lionel waved goodbye to Samantha and he pressed the button again.

Before chickening out, my shoulders straightened. I shouldn’t have to be the one hiding. I jogged to make it. His brows shot up in surprise as he held the elevator for me. The kindness I’d gotten used to seeing in his eyes looked hesitant this time.

“A little late today?” he asked, as soon as I’d made it in.

I avoided his eyes, nodded. It was a quiet elevator ride.

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

My family’s house was a ten minute drive from the practice. Enough drive time to sit on what I’d seen outside Coast Shores Medicine. It could’ve been friendly. I didn’t have to do anything about this. But in my bones, I knew that friendly isn’t what I’d seen. Lionel avoided me the rest of the day, assigning me to print out billing statements. I hadn’t seen them make out or anything, but there was a certain intimacy I couldn’t write off right away. Did Mrs. de Saude know about his close work relationships? Did Harry?

The sickening uneasiness dissipated when I heard my parent’s Home Improvement HGTV hour. Dad was already passed out on the couch, snoring at a whopping 8 PM when I walked through the door. Ignoring Mom’s tutting of “they keep you too late,” we went to my bedroom.

“Pick the nude ones,” Mom said, adjusting the spectacles she only pulled out on rare occasions (magazine reading and shoe selections). “It makes your legs look longer.” It looked like there was something more she wanted to say.

I adjusted them in the mirror, wearing the blush dress I’d bought for my aunt’s beach wedding almost a year prior. It’d never been worn. Her Spanish fiancé she’d met three months prior stole her TV set and ran off with his gay lover a week before. As I stood, the dress just barely touched the floor. Simple, really, but the way the thin straps exposed my chest rendered it elegant. I felt like I needed a long cigarette and fur coat to make it complete.

Without context, Mother suddenly burst into an annoyed huff.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Hm?” Her lashes fluttered as if she hadn’t realized she’d made a noise. “Oh, yes. I’m fine. Your father just took another one of those sleeping pills. You should never get too dependent on medication, Y/N. Drink warm milk or something.”

“Mom.”

“I’m serious!” Her stony face certainly wasn’t comical.

“I know.”

She looked me over in the dress again and caught herself, pulling me in for a rushed hug. “I’m sorry,” she breathed. She rocked me a little. “It’s just been a little rough this week.” She squeezed me tighter, then let me go. All negative energy shoved into a box that’d spring open when we all least expected it. “Have a good night tonight. Say hello to Harry for me!”

When I walked to the car she threw out, “And tell him next time he can ask you with a Cartier ring! HA! I’m joking!! ... Kind of!!!”

I smiled, waving to her at the gate as I got into my Grandpa mobile. I didn’t have the heart to tell her Golden Boy wasn’t my date.

---------

There were two cops for every solo cup I could see littered on the ground. They patrolled the streets, but the frat house seemed unphased and restored to its former glory as I walked with Andre. Club music pounded beyond the doors, practically shaking the windows. Girls huddled up outside, holding each other’s hair back and trying to block anyone’s view from the bile, as the guys snickered over their shoulders and some pretended not to see. But the cops weren’t here to reprimand for underage drinking and public intoxication tonight. They were on watch. Stationed around the perimeter of the house and on either end of the street.

They were waiting for something else. For somebody else.

Andre seemed oblivious, practically skipping past them he was so excited. I, on the other hand, was already limping from the nude pumps.

“Wanna switch shoes?” he called back.

“Don’t make a deal you aren’t willing to keep,” I smiled, quirking a brow. “The nude would actually match your navy suit…”

He’d already walked on, fist bumping the bouncer who raised up a professional-grade camera and snapped a photo of us. When my eyes recovered from the flash, I spotted Officer Ramirez from the uniforms just beyond the frat’s ramshackle fence. He was already watching me. He raised two fingers above his brow and I nodded, curtly, even though I wanted to shrink inside myself. I hadn’t had the time to think about what I would say if he contacted me again, or if I should be the one to reach out to him.

Andre led me inside, and for once, I was glad I couldn’t hear my own thoughts. It raised ten degrees just from stepping inside. The boys were in Bond suits, but most had abandoned their jackets wherever they could - on the banister, the couch beneath the staircase, or the entrance hall. The girls had dressed up, too. This was the most covered up I think I’d seen some of them, though others still opted for above-the-knee slips.

“Oi, where’s your drink?!” Niall’s familiar voice shouted above the bass.

He pulled Andre into a side hug before we reached the dancefloor. When he saw me, Niall practically fell over.

“Y/N! What’re you doing here?” He spluttered, whiskey in his breath. The knot of his tie was already to his chest, but he loosened it even more. He looked over his shoulder, then back to me. “Renny’s just gone to the bathroom.”

“She’s my date,” Andre stepped in, placing an arm around my shoulder. It was completely platonic but Niall’s face went to stone.

Suddenly it cracked, and he laughed, running a hand over his stubbly chin. “Oh, shit.” He laughed again. “Shit!”

Andre smiled, unaware of anything else besides the fact that Niall must be proud he showed up with a date. He patted Niall’s shoulder. “We’re going to see the big bro, I’ll find you later.” Andre nodded his head for me to follow, leaving Niall cackling to himself in the entranceway.

“Niall’s THE. MAN,” he put his hands up for emphasis. “He’s my favorite in the house besides my big. We gotta say hi, then you can run off. Oh, Renny’s here too!” He squeezed my shoulders as if to excite me, as if she’d be the reason I’d stay. Loved the girl, but I knew she’d be back on top of Niall five minutes after she was out. I just didn’t want to have to watch.

I wrung my hands together, growing nervous. I knew the reason Niall had reacted that way was because Harry was going to be here. I knew this coming into it. But I’d been expecting him to ignore me the entire night. With Niall’s reaction, I wasn’t so sure anymore. What had Harry told Niall?

Someone sloshed their beer on me as I passed, and I turned sour, rolling my eyes as Andre pushed us forward. I picked up the pace before he could notice I’d stopped and wiped the glare off my face. Or, tried. I probably just looked constipated now.

WHY WAS HIDING EMOTION SO HARD??

I felt bad feeling so annoyed. Andre was excited. I should be excited, right? Sloshed beer and sweaty bodies came with the territory. Though I’d forgotten how humid it got in here. Hell and Florida were probably cooler. I picked up the ends of my dress, hoping for some sort of ventilation to reach parts of me that were on the verge of overheating.

The coffee tables and couches had been moved from the center of the living room to the fringes beneath the stairwell to make designated smoking and dancing sections. I could’ve stayed on the outside of the dance crowd. Hell, I could’ve joined the spaced-out smokers on the couch. But I didn’t. I followed Andre to the middle of the dance floor. I could barely see above the tops of people’s heads until we reached a bit of a clearing. And by clearing, I meant the sweaty dancers in front of us who made a break for freedom and gave us about ten seconds of space before other bodies rushed to fill it.

I felt him before I saw him. A tiny prick of consciousness that directed my gaze. And Andre’s finger.

“AYYYY!!!!!” Andre pointed to the DJ booth, waving his hands as he hollered.

Even with the rocking vibration of the bass that chattered my teeth, each nerve in my body went alert. Harry stood, flashing a white smile to the crowd before downing the rest of whatever potion was in his cup. I hated how my stomach clenched just by seeing him. He saw Andre and his smile grew, grabbing the mic. I was still unnoticed, hidden by dim lighting and nameless peers.

“Who’s ready for us to win tomorrow!?” His voice was low, demanding. It was a question for the crowd, but he was looking at Andre. I could sense the intensity even there, and it was then I realized it couldn’t be just me who feels so vulnerable around Harry. Each person he traps in his gaze stays there, until he lets them go.

The house erupted in cheers, but I was locked in place. The suit he was wearing looked similar to the one from the Halloween gala, and every bit of him looked just as stunning. His beautiful body swayed on the makeshift stage.

“Then let’s see you jump in-” His hand held up 5, 4, 3, 2… He spun another song and the crowd sprung from the floor before crashing back down. They jumped to the beat he made. A modern-day puppet master.

Andre wrapped an arm around me as he jumped. So I did, too.

“That’s my big!!” he yelled, mid-air.

“WHAT??”

He pointed to the DJ booth, but there was no one there besides Harry.

“.... HARRY??! HARRY’S YOUR- your…” I stopped jumping the same second Harry saw us together. It’s funny. It takes only a second to flip a dime on its head. His party boy mask dropped in an instant. The low lighting turned his eyes black, but they couldn’t conceal the daggers he shot straight at me.

“I have to use the bathroom,” I muttered.

Andre nodded. “S’UP THE STAIRS!” He found a friend nearby and latched on to him instead.

The small (okay, medium) part of me filled with nothing but Petty™ wanted Harry to see me with his little. But another part of me couldn’t handle his judgmental glare. Somehow, I was embarrassed. I didn’t want him to think I’d come here tonight to make him jealous. That I was so obsessed with him I’d found another in to the frat. I didn’t want him to think he controlled any part of my heart. What did it say that I ran away at first sight, though?

I’d already done it. It didn’t matter. Either way, I didn’t win.

I raced upstairs, weaving my way between couples sitting on the stairs, hoping that the line for the restroom was really long and Renny hadn’t already left. It was, and she was next in line.

“Oh my God, what are you doing here?!” she screeched, arms out and eyes squinted until I could no longer see her pupil.

“Why do people keep asking me that.”

She pulled me into an extra-long, extra-tight Renny hug. “Love yousoooomuch,” she rushed. Her breath smelled like Niall as she pulled away. She lifted the cup to my lips and I shook my head. She frowned.

“I talked with Niall,” she said. “He says Harry’s just going” - she hiccupped - “through a lot right now. S’best to leave him alone.”

The other girls in line perked up at the mention of his name, subconsciously leaning closer. I huffed. “Trust me. I am.”

When three girls stumbled out of the only bathroom stall, Renny rushed in. “Thank God I was about to pee on the carpet.” She tried tugging me in with her, but my eye was on the end of the hall. And the stupid DG pretty please.

“I’ll be back,” I muttered, squeezing her hand.

“Nooooo,” she drawled.

I squished her cheeks, checked her pupils. She didn’t need me to hold her hair back this time. I gave her cheek a lil slap.

“I’ll go with you next time you have to go. Which will be in like... twenty minutes. You broke the seal rookie!” I teased.

I didn’t even bother looking over the railing at the party below to see if he was watching me. I still had my DG task and a nonrefundable deposit to think about. I didn’t think I’d get many chances to be in this house again unless I swindled Andre or Niall into letting me in. But that would require an explanation, and I wasn’t sure I could tell them that.

Forget explanations. I needed to do it now. Lots of noise. Tons of distractions. I’d just think of it as… borrowing?

His door was locked and I groaned, kicking it and leaving a smudge beside all the others. I reached for a bobby pin in my purse and put it to work. I’d done it before in his bedroom, I could do it again here. The curve of the hallway protected me from onlookers waiting in line in the bathroom. Downstairs was a mixed bag. People could probably see through the railings running along the top floor.

Not that they’d think to look.

My knees were starting to hurt by the time I heard it click. I crept in, and for some reason, I expected his room to look different. But it was still the same. Dusty desk across from a queen-sized bed. Only one photograph atop his bedside mantle. And it didn’t smell like sweaty soccer clothes, but clean. With hints of a woodland spice and books. It felt like eons had passed since I was first here, undressing him like the drunken baby he’d been. As an act of betrayal, my body rushed at the thought of how his fingers had looped around my belt loops, tugging me closer. I swallowed, the image of his tightened pants expanding in my head. He’d almost been hard, then.

It was then, at that moment, that I decided that the one sip of alcohol I’d had must have been spiked with SOMETHING because I would NOT be that girl. I would NOT. I reFUSED TO LET MYSELF-

Seconds later, my fingertips grazed his soft gray sheets. He’d been sprawled out right about here, and the rush of seeing unseen skin on Harry had been too intoxicating an offer to refuse. The ghost of that rush flowed through me again as my memory played it over like a movie. Close-ups and panning shots - Down his toned chest to tattoos speckled along tan skin, tattoos that had been seemingly doodles, but now held much more meaning now that I knew of his history with the ocean. For his sister. My body leant down before I knew what I was doing, and I inhaled. The lingering aroma of his body chemistry altering his cologne: musky, a little spice, and warmth.

Even if every ounce of me wanted to dislike him, the legitimate biology behind my body responded to a chemistry I couldn’t control.

“What are you doing?”

He caught me on my knees, with one hand clutched in the sheets.

Fuckity FUCK-

He could whip out PSYCHO magazine informing people of highly-dangerous murderers with my mugshot plastered across the cover - and I’d believe him in that moment. Oh my gosh. Omgomgomg. He didn’t say what I expected him to say when he swayed in, though.

“Andre. Really?” He laughed to himself, but it was cold. “Fucking” - he stumbled, leaning on the desk chair to catch himself- “really?”

It wasn’t the alcohol that’d put him on edge. I’d seen him handle liquor before, but this time he looked… different. I stood up, realizing his eyes were racking down my dress. I crept towards him, hoping to make it past the door. Not because I was scared of him. But because I was mortified. I’d just looked like an absolute fucking psychopath AND I’d snuck into his bedroom. Maybe I could distract him. Maybe he was too drunk to ask me-

“What’re you doing here?”

“What are we… all doing here? At parties?”

“…in my room,” he clarified.

Welp. My philosophical question fell flat. Wouldn’t be the first time.

I waltzed past him, tight-lipped. In defense of my dignity, I still didn’t owe him anything. Not after how he’d treated me.

“Hey,” his arm jutted out, blocking my way. His brows crossed as he turned to a petulant boy. “S’rude to not answer.”

My blood boiled. “You are not about to give me a lesson on how bad it is to ignore people right now. Nor on being rude.”

“Can give you another one.”

He reached for me, but I stepped back, somewhat living in the hurt that flashed in his eyes at my rejection.

“You’re not leaving.” But his demand sounded like a plead.

“Thought you didn’t want me around you,” I scoffed, tearing past him. “Just because you’re drunk or high or whatever the fuck it is you are right now, doesn’t mean you can just… get a free pass! For a week! A whole week of awful-” I turned quickly, too frustrated to find the words. I took a step towards the door but-

“Y/N.” He was right behind me. His breath warmed the nape of my neck, the delicate hairs standing on end. No matter how much of an absolute mess he was, my body didn’t know better. I could practically feel him behind me, his presence radiating an alarm that blared through my veins. I wanted him. Badly. He trailed a finger down my arm, and his hand brushed against my own against my side. “I’m sorry,” he breathed. “I’m sorry, Y/N.”

His fingers gingerly interlaced with mine, turning me around.

Something wet was on my cheek. I touched it, quickly rubbing it away in horror. Why were tears running down my face?! What unfair cruelty was this!? He saw my tears and leant down, suddenly defeated, pulling my body with him.

“Why did’ya ever want me hm?” His nose went along my jaw. Full lips pressed against the base turned my legs weak. There was an underlying desperation to his words though, a prayer in his kiss. But my thoughts were turning anything but holy.

“Who says I did…” I wanted to pull away, ask him why he’d used past tense or why he’d completely ignored me this past week, but I was frozen by the softness of his hands. Self-respect was surely slipping away each moment I lingered. I could literally see Jane Austen parting the heavens and sticking her angelic head through Harry’s room to shame me with a glare. I do all this mental work to try and figure this guy out and… for what? I should be waltzing out that door, declaring I’d never talk to him again. I should give up messy and confused and pursue my own sanity. But the air only ever turned electric with him, in all his messiness, in all this confusion… and each time the spark appeared, it pushed us closer together until he was here, like this, soft hands gently running along my lower back, skilled fingertips feeling the dress fall slightly inwards at my waist, tracing a map of uncharted waters…

“You’re not thinking straight,” I breathed. And that went for both of us.

“Au contraire, I’m thinking clearer than I ever ‘ave.” There was a swirling madness shining through, but he bat his eyes and it was veiled again, vanished beneath the dark surface. He tilted his head, appraising my body, noticing my legs were no longer tensed to run, but in apprehension for another reason completely. A smirk settled in. “Why do you still want me?” he demanded, pulling me against him towards the bed.

“Arrogant ass,” I sniped, but I landed on him anyway. His fingers tightened around my waist, a hand snaking up behind to entwine with my hair. I felt him harden beneath me as he pulled my head to the side, just the right amount of rough. But he stalled over vulnerable skin, lips ghosting featherlight up to my ear. He let out a soft breath and I clenched in anticipation. For once, I had no thoughts. “You should be with me,” he breathed. “Should be mine.” His voice grew frustrated and he practically growled, lips kissing my neck, steady, before they started to suck in a rhythm. The shock of the sensation masked the shock from his words and my back arched, a spider’s shiver crawling down my spine. He stopped suddenly, shooting back like he’d been shocked. His grip softened ‘round the nape of my neck, and he looked so… confused. “Can’t mark you again,” he noted, despondent. But then the corners of his lips twitched up in a smirk. “Least where it’s visible.” My breath caught. His black ink eyes showed the slightest ring of green. I don’t remember lifting my hand, but fingers trailed along dark circles. These were a new development. I shook my head lightly. Something was wrong. This was wrong. I leant in, resting my head against his. “Harry-” but his lips cut me off before I could mention it.

I felt like I’d been feeling his lips everywhere but my own. They were eager, but kept pace, switching it up just when I was getting comfortable, slowing to make me feel the soft fullness of raspberry-pink lips. They were pillows, and clouds, and everything else soft and wonderful that I’d want to feel forever. He slipped in his tongue, deepening the kiss, and I ground my body against him, using his shoulders as leverage.

This wasn’t me. But I didn’t care enough to think about ‘who I was’ anymore. What did I want?

I felt him pulse between my legs.

“Harry,” I bit my lip, and I knew then. I’ve been wanting more, I’ll always want more. I was more aware than ever of an emptiness he could fill.

“Been hard ever since I saw you bouncing in that dress,” he said gruffly. “With fucking Andr- ahh...fuck.” I rocked my hips against him in spite, putting a hand over his mouth to shut him up.

But his head jutted back and came forward again. He looked at me through hooded eyes, and just like that I was sedated by his gaze, my body pausing. He looked like he was about to scold me. “Do it again.” His voice was low. I stalled, looking at the way his lips barely parted. “Don’t be shy now, Y/N.” My hips replied on command, but rebelliously, slowly, feeling the length of him run between the thin underwear that’d cocooned itself against my ridges and folds. I ran my hips back down against his thigh. “Fu-uhck-” He jutted his hips up, turning something wicked when I moaned. The friction from the dress and pressure from my own body rocking against Harry built a tightly coiled knot I wanted desperately to release. And then we were kissing again. Fervent. Eager. A skilled tongue slipping in to dance with my own. He was rock hard against me. I could feel the full outline pressed tight against his slacks now, creating my own mental map. My hands wrapped in his hair, and I pulled, relaxing our pace, rutting myself up with purpose to rotate in a circle at his clothed tip. The noise from his throat wasn’t human, and I felt heavy and light all at the same time when his thumb dug into my chin just under my lower lip.

“Wanna help you,” he rumbled. “Will you let me? Won’t you do that for me?”

I nodded, wordlessly, and with both hands tight on my hips, he tugged us further back until he was against the pillows, and me, repositioned above him. He pulled us down and we built a rhythm against his thigh, the determination in his stitched brow as he did half the work making it even sexier. He was almost needier than me. There was an urgency to his strong hands as they hiked up my dress, fingertips dancing around and just beneath the band of my underwear. He didn’t pull it off, just gently pushed my hips up and down, then harder, faster, to the damp patch already on his slacks. I was buzzing, every inch of me, the wound coil growing bigger, tighter, the build of release making my heart race. He stared at me as we moved together.

“Tha’s it. So good at this,” he mumbled. “So beautiful.”

My breath caught, and his wide eyes watched wondrously as I moved frenzied above him. His chest rose, bits of tattoo spilling past the white button-down collar. My hand clutched his shirt as I felt myself begin to peak. This was as intimate as I’ve been with someone, and the pressure of being seen through his eyes like this was a lot of pressure. I didn’t want to think about how many other girls had been in this position before. What he spoke to them, how they looked, what they’ve done, or how recently they’d done it. His hand cupped my face and brought me down, lips claiming me to the point of bruising and silencing voiceless thoughts. The pull of his lips, and the sturdiness of his thigh made me whimper. My swollen bud hit his clothed cock with each surge upwards, his hands guiding me, making sure my breath hitched each time. And each time, I’d feel him tense. Again, and again, just knowing his thick hard cock was against me, right against me, almost…

“Almost… Harry…”

“Y/N,” he rasped. I felt his hot gaze as I shuddered above him. He kissed me, slow, swallowing another whimper as a current of electricity ran from the crown of my head to my toes. His hands helped me ride out my high, slowly coming to a halt.

He opened his arms, letting me cuddle up against his chest. Silence stretched on over quiet breathing. “Been waiting a long time for that,” he finally mumbled. I quirked an eye open, realizing he’d been watching me. I almost didn’t recognize his eyes. For once, they seemed sated. Unhaunted. The clouds had seemed, for a moment, to have parted. “To see you cummm.” He hummed the last word, leaning down and nuzzling the nook of my neck. Still nuzzling, he quirked half his face to look at me. We shared a long kiss, then a shorter one to my forehead. “You’re magnificent.”

Though I hadn’t removed a stitch of clothing, I hadn’t felt more naked. And for all the times I’d felt embarrassed around Harry, at least in this moment, he made me feel comfortable about what we’d just done. We lay there, my scent now mingling with the rest of his in the room. I still felt him hard beneath my legs that were strewn across his lap, and I wondered if it was … painful. He stirred, placing one hand behind his head, the other wrapped around me.

I traced shapes into his chest. He hummed, smiling softly. It was his boyish smile. The one I’d hardly seen, the one that you want to wrap up and cuddle and protect from the world to keep this one second of pure happiness intact. I pecked the corner of his mouth and his smile broke, squeezing my side. “Thank you,” he mumbled. I checked to make sure his eyes were still closed when I looked down at the black slacks. Since I finished, he should, too. I swallowed nervously as my fingers traced lower, down the button down as I tried to remember the porn Renny and I had watched together one late summer night. His eyelashes fluttered open, and he watched me, curiously, darkly, until I stopped at the tip of his pants. I slipped my fingers beneath the belt, just barely feeling the coarseness of hair before he took my wrist in his hand. He practically hissed and I stilled, not noticing I was holding my breath. I couldn’t possibly be doing this wrong…

His index finger stroked the top of my hand, and I relaxed.

He looked at me gently. “Tonight was for you. S’all I wanted.” His touch was just as gentle, and he placed his thumb between my lips, running over them gently. I didn’t want him to see me as some pure untouched thing he should be scared to do anything with. My lips parted as seductively as I could make them appear, and I moved to let his finger in my mouth, but he cheekily closed my lips instead.

He stroked my cheek, almost giggling at my attempt. “This just isn’t how I picture it happening.”

The way his eyes were memorizing my lips told me he’d thought about this before, but I didn’t miss that he said how, and not where. Muffled EDC music vibrated his door, and faraway voices travelled through his open window from the yard below. The cops were waiting there, too. Was that the situation he was referring to?

“You deserve a lot, Y/N.”

I heard the hesitancy in his voice, some unforeseen disappointment he wouldn’t just spell out for me. “What’re you saying.”

“Just that there’s few things I want t’be sober for these days.”

The thought hit my stomach like the sharpened blade of a knife, and it hurt worse than any wound from my nightmares. “Why would you say something like that?” I demanded.

“Because it’s true.” His eyes searched mine, and I saw the sadness pulling him in. Like the tumultuous water of the middle of the ocean spirally inwards into itself. A treacherous water hole that’d carry you into its deepest abyss.

I shook my head as if to find a way out, as if that would clear away what I was seeing. “I never… know what’s going on with you,” I admitted. I thought to the interaction with Lionel and Samantha. “Is home life really that bad?”

“What home?” He huffed when I looked at him. “M’serious. I feel more alone when I walk in there than I do when I’m here. And nobody even fucking knows me here.”

“Everyone knows you.”

“You’re smarter than that, Y/N.”

“What’d you take tonight, hm?” I cooed. My hand traced the dark circles under his eyes, and he leant against my touch before looking to the window, still allowing me to touch him. No doubt from whatever stimulant or depressant he’d taken, his words had been more candid than ever before.

“A cocktail of sorts. Will fucking regret it in the mornin’. Probably.”

He looked back to me, and I didn’t have time to wipe the concern from my face. “Hey, don’t look at me like that. It’s okay. It doesn’t matter,” he stated.

He really believed it when he said it, and the way there didn’t seem to be enough energy left in him made me settle back in his arms with a frown. Because it did matter. It mattered a lot. A few moments later, he squeezed my sides. “You didn’t answer my question,” he mumbled.

“What question?”

He waited until I looked up at him, and even then he was hesitant. His voice was quiet when he spoke, intimate, so if even if someone was standing at the foot of the bed they couldn’t hear what he was about to ask.

“Why do you want me, Y/N?”

The vulnerable question hung in the air. And though it was presumptuous of him to ask, he wasn’t wrong. His eyes read me like a book he’d read a hundred times over. He saw me. I swallowed, my brain and heart at an all-out war. Unfortunately for me, they captured my tongue in a stale-mate. “I don’t know what I want.”

And it was true. The dilemma was the following:

The only thing my body wanted was him.

But my brain didn’t know if that’s what I should be wanting anymore.

And my heart was left in the middle of them both, not sure what it was feeling.

I felt him shrug. “I get it. I have so many opinions shouting at me in my head right now. About soccer, my fucked family, about” - he threw his hands between us.

After Niall had greeted me at the door, I was sure Harry had talked about us in some capacity. But how many people had opinions on our relationship? “Let me guess. Viv shares her opinion about us.”

“I don’t listen to hers.”

“But hey, at least she fucks you right.”

He sucked in a breath, shaking his head. “I didn’t mean that.”

“But it’s true, right? So no need to apologize.”

The room froze over. Just the thought of her whispering in his ear was enough to trigger an entire week’s worth of pent-up animosity.

“So maybe people are confused why Viv and I aren’t together but I couldn’t give a fuck about what they think. I fucking hate that we’re even talking about her right now.”

“What do they say?”

He rolled his eyes, hurriedly slanting his voice, “Viv’s gorgeous mate, she clearly wants you. What the fuck are you doing now?”

I flinched. He noticed. “Look, I seriously hate talking about this. Can we talk about the fact that I didn’t invite anyone tonight?”

“Aw, was Viv busy?”

“Alright, stop.”

A chill shot down my spine at the rejection. As much as I wanted to appreciate the fact he didn’t invite anyone, it didn’t help. This wasn’t helping at all. “I’m sorry if I want to talk about your relationships that directly affect me,” I said, rolling out of his arms.

“Y/N, please. It’s not like that.” His voice was tired, pleading, coaxing me to forget.

“But why are you like this? Why did you just say what you did to me?”

“You asked me-”

“It was very belittling.” I changed my voice to a dopey British accent, “Viv’s gorgeous what the fuck are you doing with Y/N?” I ignored his scowl. “Really, thanks for the best compliment of the night.” I pushed against his chest, annoyed. “And why are you being like this now? All cuddly and-”

“It’s not one-sided.”

I felt my cheeks heat. “Not tonight. But it’s one-sided any other time.”

“S’that what you really think of me?” He pulled me closer, and I fought the urge to twist away. His forehead pressed into my hair. “Firstly, you’re fucking beautiful Y/N. You have to know this. And you have to know you’re important to me. And secondly…”

“Thirdly,” I corrected.

His eyes turned somber. “They’re watching,” he mumbled, pleading. “This is hard for me, too.”

The gang, the cops, both, whichever it was, it didn’t matter. The effect was the same. No matter how special he claimed I was to him, we always went in circles. Maybe he had gotten it right. Maybe it was better for both of us if we weren’t together. “Why is it so hard then?” I whispered.

“Nothing good comes easy.”

I remained silent. It was a cop-out response.

He ran a hand down his face and sat up. “Because I’m fucked! I’m fucked, Y/N and there’s only so many people I can hide from. And you aren’t one of them.”

It was the most candid he’d ever been with me, without revealing anything at all.

A knock sounded at the door.

I went to move, but he kept me against him, covering my ears as he shouted-

“FUCK OFF!!”

But even with his hands over my ears, it wasn’t very muted. The knock grew louder, more obnoxious.

“Sorry,” he grumbled, moving to open the door. When it opened, a boy wearing a snapback around the same height as Harry leant against the doorframe.

“Wassup, man-” Snapback almost burst in.

Harry’s back went stiff as the stranger’s snapback practically poked Harry in the eye. If their overcompensating confidence and too-familiar smile told me anything – freshmen. At least Snapback’s friend wore a Bond-inspired bow-tie t-shirt.

Harry put a hand to Snapback’s chest, backing him back out of the room. They watched me walk up behind him.

“Hey, relax man, we just wanted to get some zombies,” Bowtie bargained.

“You’ve got some fucking balls,” he snarled.

My ears pricked. He was looking for the same thing, then. From Harry. My heart sunk to the lowest part of my belly after remembering why I’d come here in the first place. The sliver of hope I’d had was that maybe what Zayn had witnessed was just Harry’s past. A summer blunder. A summer fling with an illegal hobby. You know, some kids did drugs, some kids sold drugs... It was a ridiculously stupid comparison now that I thought about it. But still, I had hope. Now my undeniable denial was being shred up right in front of me.

The cops, the gang, the drugs circulating campus…

Harry had made his bed, and I was lying in it.

I squeezed past him.

“Wait, are you leaving?” He still blocked his doorway.

I ignored the pang of guilt I felt at his boyish disappointment. He looked at me, body still intimidatingly rigid, but his eyes, impossibly soft. Snapback tried to move past him again and Harry whipped his head back with a growl. “Get the fuck out of here.”

“Excuse me?” Bowtie came closer, puffing out his muscled chest. Testosterone, angst and alcohol were never the best combination. I grew nervous at the tension, looking from my escape at the end of the hall, back to Harry.

“C’mon, we have the cash. We’ll pay double!” Snapback whined, cornering him.

The words made me nauseous, conjuring the image of Viv sliding Harry the cash. I didn’t want to see this again. I didn’t want to see anything again.

“I don’t do that shit anymore.” He strode through their barricade, determined, but Bowtie tugged him back. His nostrils flared and I could tell he was trying to keep his cool. He could ruin these guys if he wanted to. I don’t know why he was letting them keep him. But I also didn’t know why I didn’t run away. It was like watching a train wreck seconds before it happened.

I stood alone, in the center of the hall, the only person on Harry’s horizon. A lighthouse hoping to steer the sailor home.

“C’mon, please man, everyone’s talking about them. We just need one,” Snapback exhorted. He put up his hands, pleading. “We’ll split one. We’ll seriously cut it in half.”

Even from here, I could see the muscles in his neck tense. I tried doing to him what he did to everyone else. I trapped him, wide-eyed, anchoring him to me. He didn’t break our stare.

As if each word scraped against his skull, “I said I don’t do that shit.”

“That’s a fucking joke. Mark got some last week,” Bowtie barked.

I saw the moment I lost him. In what world I thought I could be enough to harbor him, I had no idea. Harry snapped, kicking the steroid-pumped kid so hard in the knee, it knocked him down. It wasn’t a broken bone, but it’d leave one hell of a bruise.

“Dude, are you crazy?!” Snapback cried.

Harry raised his fist, bringing it flying. I gasped and hid my face. But I didn’t hear an impact. I faced them again.

Harry’s fist froze inches before his cheek. Facing what would have been a badly broken nose, Bowtie shook on the floor. Slowly, ever so slowly, Harry relaxed his hovering fist and folded his arms, squatting next to the quivering guy. “You’re fucking welcome I was in a good mood ‘fore you came, otherwise I wouldn’t be acting so polite.”

The squeak of a floorboard shook Harry back to Earth. He caught me walking away and his whole body straightened, once again hyper-focused on me, trying to tune in and trap me exactly where I stood. Taking advantage of his distraction, Snapback and Bowtie ran for it. Bowtie limped, running into me and knocking me off-balance as he passed.

In a second, it was just us.

“Y/N,” he began, walking towards me cautiously.

“No.”

He stopped in his tracks. He was tall, but his shoulders hung in despondent defeat.

“You were right, Harry.”

I could see how tired he was. I could see the broken pieces fitting into something beautiful. He looked so sad and regretful, I already felt guilty for saying,

“You can’t hide anymore.” And with one last look at the broken boy before me, “You are fucked.”

Suddenly, the beer on the floor was just stale and sticky. The couches were filthy from strangers’ mistakes. And the air would never be clear. Harry had been right. This entire house was filled with people who didn’t care and if they did, they were trying to forget; a place more empty than if it were vacant. It was a mess just like the boy living in it. And just like the grand house, impressive at first glance, not all of his parts were beautiful.

I ignored the way his broken pieces seemed to shatter as soon as I said it and the way it hurt me ten-fold. I ignored him calling out my name as I maneuvered through the blur of bodies, until I lost his voice on the dance floor. I could breathe better outside and I walked past the cops without acknowledging them.

From complete chaos to relative quiet, my ears rung, filling the new silence.

Maybe this was the last time we’d speak. Maybe this was how it all should’ve ended that first day in September. Because in that house, that wasn’t the Harry I thought I’d knew. That was a boy far-gone, confused, and I was falling down with him. I was ANGRY. I PITIED him. And I was angry for feeling something else I should never have felt for him.

Somehow, in this fuzzy ringing world buzzing with heated thoughts and cop lights that blurred my vision, I heard a notepad scribble as soon as I passed a squad car.

Lucky for me, Momma always said I had selective hearing.

part 21

426 notes · View notes

haiyuta · 4 years

Text

Study Session || Felix

Summary: Failing Transfiguration was not what you expected in your 7th year or having to be tutored by a Gryffindor named Felix.

word count: 4k || Hogwarts au, lots of felix rings, accent, fingering, hj, kissing, teasing,

a/n: I promised a abo chan but here is a felix smut cause he does things to me...I HAD TO look at this boy hes amazing. I do hogwarts au no justice

Placing your bag on the desk you let out a small huff sitting next to your fellow Slytherin housemate and friend. Minho glanced at you taking out your Transfiguration book 7th-year edition. The only subject you were failing at a rapid pace it was almost comical.

"Well good morning to you I didn't see you at breakfast," he hummed taking out his book.

"Yeah I slept in I was studying all night," you replied. The class hummed with talking from your fellow classmates. "I want to get good marks on my newts I just," you huffed leaning back your mind racing.

"Hey maybe I can help you," Minho said pushing his arm at the back of his chair.

"Maybe," you trailed off looking at the group of red robes that entered the room. Gyfindors you rolled your eyes. Pretnigous and cocky. A dark brown hair one Chan he was loud, to say the least, a captain of the quidditch team he boosted often how much they won. Next to him with dyed blond hair the quieter one Felix next to him.

Blinking you rolled your eyes when Chan gave you a small nod toward your direction. His motto this year was trying to get houses more 'together'. Yeah right.

"So full of themselves," Minho whispered under his breath. You grinned agreeing with him. "But I heard that Felix kid has amazing marks recently," he added.

Class dragged on slow you tried to understand how the more advanced Transfiguration worked but it felt like a block like you couldn't understand.

"Make sure to do your 2 feet essay by next week," the teacher said. Huffing you got up putting away your books and papers.

"Miss Y/n could you please stay back," the teacher spoke. Eyeing Minho you clenched your fist already knowing what was coming.

"Save me a seat at lunch," you whispered to him. You went to her desk her hands folded glaring up at you.

"Well miss y/n I've seen your essays and your struggle with this more advanced material," she stated.

Folding your hands in front of your skirt you nodded. "Yes professor I just need to work harder it's almost fall I know I can get back on track," you affirmed.

"As you know this is class is important for the newts I wouldn't like to see you fail this subject," she said. You nodded agreeing silently. "So I asked my best student to help you he didn't have any extra electives and always very helpful," she said.

"Like a tutor," you asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes Felix is a great student and took an interest in tutoring some of the younger students you'll be his first in his year to tutor," she explained.

"Felix," you said his name out loud. The blond that's always with Chan.

"Yes I believe he'll teach you well," she said.

You frown your brows remembering what Minho said "actually Minho said he would be interested in helping me since he's in my house we probably can work better," you quickly made an excuse.

"Minho is almost at risk of being tutored himself now he'll meet you in the library at 7 and I hope to see some improvement," she eyed you.

You rolled your shoulders "I'll try," you said going back to your desk.

"And Miss.Y/n Felix is quite nice don't let house rivalry stop you from learning something new," she said. Nodding you quickly left hoping Felix would just tutor you and leave.

"So after dinner, you have to study," Minho asked picking at the food.

You looked at your close friend "yeah the library at 7 she said," you told him. Eyeing the table Chan was facing you his friend across from him. Even though you've been at Hogwarts a magical school Felix didn't come here till 6th year making him even more of a mystery.

Eyeing the large clock it was already 6 45 seeing Felix wave bye to his house walking out of the great hall.

"Be optimistic," he laughed grabbing a cupcake taking a bite out of it.

"Yeah I'll you see back in the common room," you huffed grabbing your bag. Walking through the halls you eyed the paintings and the movement going down one hall then another till the library came into view.

The library was quiet as you walked in eyeing the large halls looking for Felix. A few rows in you spotted a red tie and blond hair. He was concentrating on the book he was reading a book. Your mind racing for no good reason as you approached him "Hi you must be Felix," you said clutching your bag to the side.

Facing you he had a smile making his brown eyes go into small suns "Yes I am and you're Y/n right," his deep voice made your spine shiver. You noted he had an Australian accent just like Chan you will ask about that later.

You felt heat crawl from the back of your neck up to your ears "Yeah," you said slipping in the chair next to him.

"Okay well I heard you're failing in Transfiguration," he said in concern.

Rolling your eyes away "Not by much it's just," you huffed suddenly feeling inferior under his gaze. "It's a little confusing," you replied.

Nodding his head his deep eyes slide to you to the book "okay well we'll go back to the basics of last year and see where it's all going wrong okay," he spoke fluidly nodding.

Felix spoke smoothly explaining everything with delicate detail. He was amazing at explaining the more difficult system willing more magical power.

"So you see when you use it it's important you reread each spell a few times these are completed any mispronounce or missed word will make it fail," he said pointing to the book. You noted he had a large silver ring on his middle finger. Your heart leaped a little seeing how small they were. You bite your lip trying not to gush at him and focus on his words. "Since we are transforming harder items it takes more will to make them what you want we'll go over actual spells later," he explained.

Staring at him intently you nodded stretching a little you've been in the position for an hour going over the more important topic. "Yeah we should," you agree.

"Now I know we have our essay due soon if you want you can write and I can look over it," with a charming smile on his lips.

"That sounds good I don't have to meet Minho until later," you said taking out some paper.

Working in mostly silence he helped you fix some parts and made sure you kept the essay on track. "Thank you," you mumbled actually learning a lot from this small study session.

"You're welcome how about we study on Saturday," he said.

Giving a small smile back clutching your book in your hands. "Sure thanks again," you said waving bye. Your stomach slightly fluttering for an unknown reason as you quickly walked back to the Slytherin dorms.

The next time you met Felix was night. Browsing the shelves you spotted him sitting by a window seat his blond hair pushed back and his robes were fitted and clean.

Looking up he smiled he waved over to him you blush realizing you were staring at him. Sitting next to him he smoothly opened the conversation up.

"Well good Saturday to you," he said his voice deep slightly groggy it seemed he just woke up. By the wave he had a small red mark on his face he was probably sleeping. His voice and his just woke up voice made you shiver.

"It was the one day we got to go to Hogsmeade so I'm happy," you grinned gliding in the seat next to him.

"Oh yeah here," he said handing you a small wooden case.

Eyeing it you raised an eyebrow "for me," you asked.

"Well I didn't know 7th years still use sugar quills I think this better one will keep you writing better," he winked handing you the box. He looked away going back to his work.

It was a quill inside the box a nice one, to say the least. "Thank you," you mumbled feeling the back of your neck heat up.

"You're welcome," He quirked an eyebrow "I actually wanted to review your essay before class if that's okay," he said.

"Yeah sure," you said still in a daze from the gift, pulling from your bag your essay.

"Oh wow when she said two feet you took that super literally," he hummed his deep voice chuckling as he looked at you two-page essay. You spotted his that was at least 4 pages.

Felix reviewed it making a few notes on the paper. You tried not to stare but he was reviewing your work and he looked so focused. You hope he thought it was good. "I think you should look up more on the human-animal area it's a little unclear but overall good," a wide smile lit his face.

"Um, where would you think I should cut out," you asked wondering where he meant.

Felix scooted closer to you pointing at the area "here," he said. Suddenly he was close to you in your bubble but it felt so good. The scent of him so strong you couldn't place his cologne as he was explaining his mouth had a minty smell.

"What book would I reference," your voice broke out. Realizing your stomach was turning at how close he was.

Felix reached over grabbing a book "I like this one it's the best one for the subject in my opinion," he spoke looking down at you. It was like slow motion as you drunk in Felix's features. From his lightly dusted freckles to his one cute crooked tooth.

"Um," you trailed off wanting to speak but couldn't. All you wanted was for him to capture your lips in a kiss wanting to see if his lips felt as soft as they looked.

"Y/n there you are," Minho said breaking you from your trance. You pulled back looking over at him.

Glaring "this is a library," you whispered yelled at your friend.

He huffed pulling out a chair plopping himself in it "sorry I was looking for you the party in the Hufflepuff dorm starts soon," he grinned leaning back. "They won their quidditch game and invited 5th years and up from all houses," he explained.

"Sorry I can't Felix was looking over my essay," you gently turned down your friend hoping you could spend a little more time with Felix.

"Oh it's fine I know parties are more fun than this," Felix spoke a tightly closed mouth smile he pulled.

"See even your tutor wants you to party," Minho said. "And I think that guy from Ravenclaw Seungmin is going," he teased causing you to glared at him. You knew Minho wouldn't let up if you didn't go.

"I'm sorry Felix cutting our tutoring short I'll finish up my essay tomorrow okay," you said.

Felix gave a look but a smile "It's fine I'll be here all day tomorrow if you have any questions," he said. Grabbing your bag a string of apologies came out as Minho took you by the arm dragging you out the room.

Felix sighed watching you walk away his tight smile slipped into a low frown as the moonlight from the large castle windows filled the area.

"So you like like him," Minho said as you walked to dinner on Friday night. You puffed your cheeks heat rising slowly.

You learned a lot about Felix as he tutored you. He was from Australia and came to Hogwarts in his 6th year, he had freckles a nice laugh and welcoming.

"I just get this fluttery feeling like when I kissed the exchange student Lucas at the Yule Ball," you explained.

"We're friends for now," you added. And it'll probably stay that way you added in your mind.

"Let's eat I have a study session for the newts," you hummed.

"Newts already we're almost out of Hogwarts, he whined sitting down.

You let your thoughts linger You're time at Hogwarts was almost done which was almost done it was a double edge sword. Going and being a wizard getting to work in different world departments. Then the reality of leaving weighed on your mind. Would you a Felix still be friends?

Gazing at him your eyes widen to see Felix facing you eating across was Chan but next to him a female by his side. She had a sparkling look in her eyes as she listened to Chan and Felix but more Felix.

Your stomach turned in distaste at the scene. Felix smiled at both of them as you looked on. You looked at your food trying to ignore the scene.

"So Minho what were you saying about Hogsmead," you said.

Minho gave you a look at you and back at him but decided to not question it "well I was saying," he continued.

Dinner ended and Felix walked out saying goodbye to his Chan and the girl his eyes searching for yours he gave you a small nod in your direction. It was common for him to do this but something about him just cuddling with the girl making you bubble with irrational anger.

"Time to study," you said grabbing your bag heading toward the library. Entering it was quiet only a few people around. You searched through the rows for Felix until you found him sitting in a back row by a window.

"Hey," you said breathlessly,

He gave a small smile back "hey," he responded.

You felt your heart clench looking at his arm where that girl touched him. You wanted to ask him about it but you stopped yourself. Felix isn't yours to claim.

Felix opened up some papers "I have the test newt so we'll go over this," he said putting the paper down.

It was nice to go over the newt the more you studied the more you realize how really hard it'll be.

it went well but as you went you slowly went downhill as you started to get them wrong and wrong. "Y/n you seem distracted," Felix said stopping.

You gazed up at him "More than normal," you joked lightly feeling your heart clench at his handsome face.

"Funny," he gazed at you with those gentle eyes. The moon illuminated his blond hair making it look lavender.

"Is it your boyfriend," Felix asked staring at you.

You straighten your back confused by his statement "what boyfriend," you questioned back.

He pursed those plump lips up "Minho I think," he stared at you. His lips were in a fine line.

"Oh he isn't my boyfriend he's just a really good friend," you defended yourself. A small teasing smile lifted to your face "and what about you Mr. I have a girl cuddling on me at dinner," you teased out your words biting back at jealously.

Felix glanced at you and chuckled "I wish I knew I know she's a 6th year I just couldn't tell her to fuck off," he responded. The tension between you two was growing you could feel it even your magic could feel the underline motive of your words.

"What a gentleman," you smirked but continued "I wouldn't let that happen often people will think she's your girlfriend." Both of you were so close your knees were touching while his face felt so close to his.

“Are you jealous,” he asked leaning closer his eyes so intense.

You hitched your breath deciding to be upfront with him “Kind of,” you quirked an eyebrow.

You felt your hand go to his knee staring at him "May I kiss you," he breathed out he was staring at you he was so close. You felt your cheeks warm wanting to kiss him so bad.

"What a gentleman," you breathlessly said leaning in to capture his lips. It was gentle Felix's hand reaching over to cup your chin into his hand as he tested the kiss. It was soft moving your lips against his moving close. He let out a small moan as you massaged one another in the kiss. Your body slowly heating up from the kissing. Your body responds to his message he wanted you and you wanted him.

You gasped allowing his tongue to lightly enter your mouth ever so delicately you moaned tasting the strawberry shortcake we had for dessert in the kiss.

His other arm wrapping it around your waist pulling you closer to him as you to made out.

His fingers danced around your waist holding you tight. As fast as it happened you heard another Australian accent calling for Felix. You jumped from his touch to see Chan whispering Felix's name.

"There he is," Chan said still clad in his uniform. You blushed gazing at Felix his face flushed and his lips were tinted red. "Oh hey Y/n," Chan greeted.

Biting your lip you gave a small hi back. "I have to show you this new set we did its amazing," Chan said a little too loud.

"Dude don’t you see,” Felix palmed his face.

“Oo sorry,” he said looking at you and slowly getting what you both just did.

“Come on let's go," Felix huffed packing his stuff. Suddenly it hit you what we did you made out with Felix crap you thought. Was he going to stop tutoring you? You hoped he didn’t find you a bad kisser. Self-doubt filled you as Felix and Chan chatted. You got your answer "Hey um Y/n,” Felix paused “wanna go to Hogsmeade with me and then we can study next Saturday," he asked.

Chan raised an eyebrow at the scene "I'll love that," you blushed watching Felix pull his overcoat on giving you a wink picking up his book.

"Dude nice," you heard Chan say lightly bumping his friend's fist as they left. Felix ears a deep red color like his lips.

Touching your lips you grinned you just kissed Lee Felix.

Its been almost a month since you kissed Felix you weren't technically together but it still felt good. You were lucky you got to kiss him when you wanted. You liked this a lot. Nothing too serious yet with the perks of affection.

Currently, you were sitting in the library the spot you always met Felix next to you reviewing for the newts in a month. "What animal is extremely hard to transfigure?" Felix asked pointing to the question

You let out a light laugh "A dragon," you declared. "Come on Felix try a little harder than that," you said.

He nodded "okay okay," his deep voice vibrated out. You felt his hand go to your knee making you straighten you back.

"Okay next question what does vanishment actually do," he asked from the booklet.

Pressing your legs together you lightly bounced the knee his hand was on "its to make things go into non-being" you stated looking at the handsome blond. After a few months, his dark roots shining through.

"Good," he hummed his hand slipping from your knee to the inside of your thigh. Your body buzzed from the warmth of his hand.

Leaning on your arm you shyly looked at him "Felix what are you doing," you asked.

He flashed a handsome grin "giving you a reward for being so smart," he smirked.

"Now the next question "The opposite of vanishment is," he gently rubbed the exposed skin before you got to your skirt.

"Conjuring of course," you said wanting his hand to travel to its destination.

"Good job princess," he mumbled your nickname you glared at him even though you hated when people like Chan called you that something about him made you wet with want at the name.

His hand traveled up past your skirt limits till it reached under panties the slight lace pair at the rim of it.

Placing his pointer finger right at your folds. A small gasp you let out at the new feeling of someone else's fingers and not yourself touching you. The only person who slightly got to this base was at the Yule ball but you stopped him.

"Is this okay," he leaned over and whispered to you. Your heart throbbed at the question.

"More than fine," you replied reaching for his lips for a quick kiss.

"Okay Conjuring being a big part of the newts give me the short definition," he asked his face was twisted with want but also a cute kind of giddy at what his fingers were doing. His ringed middle finger was lightly just lightly stroking your slit causing more wetness to seep through them.

"Conjuring is to "bringing things into being," you stated opening your legs more for him.

He smirked allowing his fingers to move your panties and into your soaking need. He lightly teased with his fingers gently but it did so much to you. Your stomach twisted with want as heat building in you.

You felt Felix come closer and gently kissed your neck. His fingers lazily rubbing your folds in a rhymic manner. "Fuck Felix we should do this here," you whispered turning your head to catch his gaze. Of course, you were worried this was a library and someone could catch you at any time.

"That's why everyone is at the last quidditch match of the year," he hummed in your neck "if you catch two students making out oh well."

Grinning you let out another breathy moan feeling him cup you his rings cold against your heat. "No more questions please," you begged just wanting to let loose on his fingers.

"I think you deserve this Y/n you worked so hard," his deep voice broke out. You leaned over capturing his lips as his fingers went to work. His middle finger found your wetness lightly pressing into you. Your body was warm and his lips were warm and all this was so warm you were addicted.

Your hips pushed onto his fingers wanting more of his touch. "Fuck your wet," he whispered into your ear his warm breath hitting your neck.

"Who are you wet for," his husky voice asked out.

"For you of course," you moaned.

"All for me yes," he groaned his fingers were clumsy looking for the right areas but it all felt good. He circled your wetness making you gasp for me. "Fuck are you close," he hissed. You eyed his slacks they had a small wet mark on them.

"Can I," you asked reaching for his slacks touching the area of where his soft bulge was.

Felix gasped staring into your eyes "please," he barely got out.

Your fingers found his button and zipper greedy to touch him. His black boxers outline a small bulge. Touching him gently he moaned his fingers stopping for a moment.

"Touch me," he moaned. It was probably a site to see two students cuddled up close you would guess we were making out more than touching one another.

Jerking him off lightly you felt his warm dick harden under your touch the tip getting wetter every time you reached the tip. Felix lightly petted you long swipes up and down your slit.

"Fuck Felix," you panted reaching for his lips capturing him trying to keep quiet. "I can't hold it," you panted.

“Let go princess let go on my fingers,” he whispered so sensually. Taking out Felix's warmth you gently pumped his dick as his fingers found his pace. Your heart thudded your mind-melting with pleasure. The heat inside your lower stomach was building and building. Your pumps on Felix were getting sloppy and you were trying to focus on helping him out.

Suddenly you felt yourself let go your legs clench around his hand as you came. A soft moan let out as you clutched close to Felix. Your body buzzed with pleasure as you came just from his fingers.

"God that was hot," Felix deep voice whispered as you leaned on his shoulder aftershock flowing through your body. Wrapping his hand over your he gently moved it up and down stroking himself. The scene itself was hot as you watch him moan.

Between his warmth and his hand, you watched how his dick twitch as he came a second later. Fuck he moaned he was twitching and squeezing himself as he came.

It was silent for a moment as you placed your lips over his. It was a tender kiss one of want and need.

"We probably should get back to work," you hummed in disappointment.

Felix sighed "I think the match will be ending soon want to debut as my new girlfriend," he asked a shy smile on his face. God, he was handsome. "Only if you want," he paused.

Your heart bloomed "I would love that," you smiled back.

#stray kids smut #kpop smut #stray kids scenarios #felix smut #kpop scenarios

382 notes · View notes

vanityloves · 3 years

Note

Storm and ivy + medic

@septemberlove i have. no excuse for how late these are but uh. thank you for sending these in 💕.

[word count: 1.8k+ with the longest 'authors note' bc im mentally ill]

sfw, mmm comfy cozy, general sick hcs,

storm - what are cozy days in with your f/o like?

Whenever I think of cozy days, my brain immediately goes to rainy/chilly weather where we can cuddle up together and my brain short fuses. I'm gonna assume this is just like a day off or something though!

How I visual them together vs how I write them is odd because they technically don't act or accept they're 'together' until after the comics but I always write them like they're in a Steady Relationship while on base. I'm always writing a slight AU if you will. Or maybe it's after they get their jobs back at Mann co - I should highkey adjust that but No ♥️. No more thinking, just content based off my idealized universe.

There's definitely a point in their relationship where it's like 'I think I have to put in a little more work here'. I'm not saying either party is slacking but they're slacking ♥️. Neither of them really take action. Chef doesn't blame him or really complain about it because that's their nature, plus they don't know how romantic relationships really work or flow, especially with a person like him. Medic doesn't see an issue with anything and continues on with his normal business.

What I mean by slacking is, there's not a lot of quality time being spent together which would be fine if it wasn't both of their strongest Love Languages, which could help them strengthen their relationship. It's odd because they're 'romantically involved' but they don't spend a lot of time together for either of them to consider it romantic, simply because it's on company time.

ANYWAYS THATS JUST ME BEING CONVOLUTED. FEEL FREE TO JUST IGNORE ALL OF THIS.

Medic goes to bed pretty late and wakes up at a fairly early hour. Chef is a late sleeper and forced to be an early riser because their Actual Job is to make at least 2 or 3 meals a day (if they want something else, they're on their own but hate when anyone messes up the kitchen and will honestly, stand there and watch said person).

There's minimal time they can spend together if they want to do their own activities - for Medic, it's tinkering around with organs or in Engie's garage, for Chef, they're typically meal prepping or trying to tend to an animal or plant of some sort.

Medic is actually more direct about wanting attention and it's never been a problem because he's cautious about it. Chef is more emotionally inclined and willing to drop hints that they want more attention.

Chef probably has one day off where it's a complete free for all, for the rest of the team, which would be the perfect time to spend with Medic - If he wanted to stop working, that is. Just don't picture it but, Chef will literally sit in the medbay for hours just to be near the guy, but it isn't bad? The drone of machinery or the scratching of his pen is relaxing, or having his doves nearby is always sweet! Plus, he's prone to talking their ear off when he finds something interesting, so they'll chime in and have some back and forth.

But, yknow - sometimes having someone's undivided attention is nice and Chef is pretty dense when it comes to that and wonders why they feel so upset.

They swallow their pride and ask Medic if they sleep in his room one night and Medic's not as dense as Chef, he understands that they'd never ask for something so out of the blue for no reason and he promises to finish up his work early so they could head to bed together. Chef had nothing planned, they literally just needed that affection and closeness - since it was their day off Medic takes the hint and puts his work aside for the time being.

They'd probably sleep in and stay in bed a while longer before getting ready together - no uniform required. Chef isn't so talkative in the mornings, Medic's noticed, but they were happily fiddling with his buttons and tie, humming in thought before answering his questions. Medic's seen them out of uniform of course, but it's always funny seeing them in just a button up and jeans like … mom on the go vibes. Medic leaves his coat behind before making his way to the kitchen with Chef.

The kitchen usually has a couple people loitering around, grabbing their coffee or honestly, waiting around for Chef because they always make extra and these bitches are lazy. But the kitchen has now become A Medic Supremacy Zone and he has first dibs - the benefits of being w/ Chef I guess. The two would work as if the others weren't there, keeping their conversation between each other even if that means Medic tilting his head down while Chef leans in closer to reply. There's a high possibility the other have left them to their own devices, seeing as the couple was ignoring them / knows they won't be getting anything. Breakfast isn't extraordinary but it feels special since they actually get to sit across each other and share the morning today.

It's possible that they'd go out and run some errands today, but it's a cover to window shop and walk around. I'll be honest, they probably haven't had proper dates so it's refreshing. You could ask Chef what they liked the most and they're just like :] Yes.

Other times, they like to curl up and catch up with some reading (well, Medic at least) while Chef rests against him and skim over the words. They're not too invested in what he's reading but likes to have some idea of what he's talking about so they don't ask too many questions. (Very 'these words are big and english/german is not my first language + I can't read as fast as you can so I got lost 7 pages ago). Medic likes to watch Chef garden and tries to help them tend to whatever they're able to grow in the goddamn desert. He overwaters a cactus and looks away if it dies. Chef talks ab how they're growing mint and how it really took off while Medic's standing there like :] Oh, lets make tea with that. Because they're Old People (read: Medic is old)

🕊🐁

ivy - how do you take care of each other when you’re sick?

Chef is easier to take care of when they're sick. They continue working until they're pretty beat but once they feel sick and a break doesn't work, they'll try to finish up what they can before turning in early. They see themselves to bed and inform whoever's near that they won't ne there at dinner and if they really cant figure it out, then come get them - other than that, they're barricading themselves in their room.

When they're sick they're REALLY sick but recovery time is usually a few days (depending on how bad it is). They basically hibernate and don't like being disturbed. They're used to not fending for themselves since they've been on their own for a while but really appreciate all the check ins Medic does w/ them, especially when they're all better.

Medic, being...their Medic, he definitely gives them a check up when they first begin showing symptoms and he can be a stickler when it comes to drinking fluids and eating properly. Chef usually has a finicky stomach as it is so Medic really urges them to drink soups and easy foods like bread and crackers. He checks in on them A LOT, even if that's just peeking in to see if they're asleep or not. He backs off when Chef gives him a cold stare from under the covers and minimizes his intrusions/tries to be more sneaky about it. He has colder hands and they let out a sigh when he puts his hand to their cheek or forehead to check their temperature.

Chef doesn't hesitate to take any medication he has for them, mostly bc they aren't fully coherent but they also don't have energy to care, in fact they have the thought that if he accidentally kills them, maybe respawn will cure them. Unfortunately, Medic debunks this before they can even muster up the energy to ask.

Overall 7.5/10, very good patient. Will refuse to get up and accidently falls asleep in the shower which scares the shit out of him.

Medic on the other hand is very stubborn and doesn't like to stop working unless there's something that physically stops him (ex: vomiting, serious injuries [unlikely bc medigun], etc). If he tricked the Devil, surely the man can beat the common cold or flu! Unfortunately he gets those full body shivers and feels terrible. He can be pretty dramatic when he's sick and everyone's subjected to his bad attitude.

It's Chefs turn to play doctor - they can tell by looks alone that he's under the weather. His face is flushed and he's a bit sloppily put together, which isn't *too uncommon* but his tie isn't tied and his glasses lamely slide down his nose. They tsk a bit while taking his temperature just to keep track of it before ushering him to his room.

He can be dragged to bed if persistent enough. Chef's firm hold on his arm is enough for him to get off his chair and have them tug him along. He doesn't have any room to argue with them as they look up at him, so he relents, stating that a short break would definitely do him good, but he'll be up and at em by tomorrow.

Chef is doting and becomes a bit of a helicopter parent when checking on him. This mostly consists of peeking their head in but not really stepping in the room. Every so often they'll wake him up to drink water and either hand him an ice pack or offer a cold towel and move to dab at his forehead and neck.

Medic hasn't been too keen on having others taking care of him bc that's HIS job, and he often tries to shoo Chef away by saying he's more than alright now. Sometimes he's caught sitting up in bed doing work or taking notes on something bc he's a bit restless when he's sick and stationary for too long.

But he's right. He's very good at taking care of himself - when Chef offers him food he'll force himself to eat some of it and he's drinks plenty of fluids without needing reminders. He kinda bosses Chef around, telling them to grab certain medications from the Medbay. They trust his judgment on his own health and bring him what he asks for but Chef keeps a mental note of what he takes and when. Don't need the doctor accidentally taking too many pills today!

Overall 6.5/10. It's hard to get him into bed and becomes restless fairly easily. He is persistent that he's ok after one day of rest only to be found sneezing himself away in the Medbay.

#tf2 oc #self insert #medic #self ship #tf2 headcanons #my headcanons #my writing #i guess #'have you written enough?' idk you tell me.#s: soul food #if anyone reads even a part of this im sorry #💙 2d's spouse 💙#mars!!!#ahh thank you again.. sorry these are so late ahshhd i get caught up w/ other stuff so this was self care <3 !#im very passionate ab medic YSHDHD like yeah no shit bitch 🦧

7 notes · View notes

northoftheroad · 4 years

Note

Hi! I'm really sorry to bother you! But I was wondering if you could give us a list of recommended stories with dick after his Robin days. Like after bruce fired him and he became nightwing? All up to the time he had to become batman? I really love your content by the way ☺️!!!

Gosh, this turned out to be even more tricky than the Robin list, and it's frightfully long!

One reason is that storytelling has changed since Dick was Robin. Back in the Golden and Silver age, with very few exceptions, comics were stand-alone short stories. In later decades, it's usually arcs that span at least a couple of issues. Some themes can run for a very long time. For instance, Dick was brainwashed by Brother Blood in New Teen Titans vol 1 # 22 (in 1982), and that would have consequences until The New Teen Titans vol 2 #31 (1987).

There are also a looot of stories – apart from guest appearances, Nightwing is a regular/lead character in several books named New Teen Titans/Titans and suchlike, 1980-1996 and 1999-2009; Outsiders vol 3 (2003-2007); Nightwing vol 1 (1995) and vol 2 (1996–2007). In team titles, several characters compete for attention. Also, I have read and know the Nightwing books more than his team titles, so they will be more prominent on my list.

There are a bunch of stories where Dick has a pretty small role and won't be in a lot of panels, but those panels can be "important" and often quoted when it comes to Dick. For instance, Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive, Hush, Under the Hood...

So, you'll have to take this for what it is. A very personal list, with stories I like (and remember), or have some fun panels, or are "important". Because certain stories are essential to the character's history, regardless if you like them or not. (And if you want more of Dick with Kory/Starfire, read the New Teen Titans titles.) If you'd like to see a synopsis before you commit to reading – because did I mention it is a very long list indeed? – the dc.fandom.com wiki page will often provide.

(Or you could do the sensible thing, and see this as more of "the complete history of pre-Batman Nightwing, and ask somebody else for recommendations...)

The Judas contract (when Dick becomes Nightwing). The New Teen Titans # 39-40, Tales of the Teen Titans #41-44, Annual #3. (1984)

Trivial Pursuits. NewTeen Titans vol 2 # 32. (A nice breather, when the Titans try just to relax together. It goes as well as can be expected.) (1987)

Batman # 416. (First post-Crisis meeting with Jason Todd) (1988)

The Cheshire Contract. Action Comics Weekly # 613-618 (Dick helps Roy find his daughter.) (1988)

The New Titans # 55. (Dick learns about Jason's death when the Titans return to Earth after a long period in space. He goes to Bruce to talk and what follows is the infamous scene when Bruce hits Dick, says he should never have had a partner and tells Dick to leave and leave the keys with Alfred.) (1989)

Batman year Three. Batman # 436–439. (Flashbacks with a retelling of Dick's origin, during Bruce's third year as Batman. In the "now", Dick tries to reach out to Bruce and Dick's parents' murderer is about to be set free.) (1989)

A Lonely Place of Dying. Batman # 440-442, New Titans # 60-61. (1990)

The New Titans # 65. (Tim turns up at Dick's place to learn what it is to be Batman's partner.) (1990)

Total Chaos. (In issues of Deathstroke the Terminator, New Titans and Team Titans.) (Mirage, a woman from an alternate future and who has illusion casting powers, takes the form of Starfire and sleeps with Dick, who is shamed by his team members for being unfaithful to Kory, even though this is rape. So, an important fact to know but not something I would recommend to read.) (1992)

Knightfall Prodigal (Dick's first longer stint as Batman. And he takes care of Tim and the Manor on his own!) In Batman #512-514 and three other titles. (1994-1995)

Nightwing Alfred's Return (Kind of fun, when Dick seeks out Alfred, who left Bruce's service because Bruce wasn't taking care of himself, in London.) (1995)

Nightwing vol 1 # 1-4. (I don't love this, but it is a milestone in that it's the first Nightwing solo series, Dick momentarily decides to leave the hero business, and gets his by now classic fingerstripe suit.) #1-4 (1995)

Like Riding a Bike. (Donna checks up on Dick.) The Batman Chronicles # 7. (1996)

(Nightwing vol 2 began in 1996.)

Nightwing vol 2 # 6. (Tim and Dick talk and fight crooks.) (1997)

Nightwing vol 2 # 12-16. (Batman pays a visit and Dick makes his custom made car.) (1997)

The Flash plus Nightwing. (Dick and Wally on vacation.) (1997)

Then & Now. Teen Titans vol 2 #12-15. (The original four Titan boys find themselves fighting their past selves.) (1997)

Nightwing vol 2 # 25. (Tim and Dick talk and ride on train roofs. Dick has decided to become a cop.) (1998)

Detective Comics # 725 (A heart-to-heart between Bruce and Dick.) (1998)

The Technis Imperative. JLA/Titans #1-3. (1998-1999)

The Titans (1999) # 2. (The start of a new Titans team, Dick tells Superman to give them some room.) (1999)

Nightwing vol 2 # 32–34. (Dick at the Police Academy.) (1999)

Nightwing vol 2 # 35–39. (On a mission from Batman: To take control of Blackgate Prison. Afterwards, he recuperates at Barbara's when her place is attacked.) (1999-2000)

The Titans (1999) #15–16. (The original five Titans try to work out some difficulties.) 2000.

Transference. Batman: Gotham Knights #8-11. (2000)

Nightwing vol 2 # 45-46. (The Hunt for Oracle.) (2000)

Action Comics # 771. (Nightwing and Superman hang out and work together – what's not to like!) 2000

Gods of Gotham. Wonder Woman # 164-167. (2001)

Nightwing vol 2 # 54-58. (Blockbuster, Nightwing's main adversary in Blüdhaven, hires an old enemy of Dick's to deal with the vigilante: Shrike. A character from Robin Year One.) (2001)

Matatoa. Batman: Gotham Knights # 16-17. (Bruce adopts Dick.) (2001)

Who Is Troia? The Titans (1999) # 23-25. (A visit from the Titan's children from the Kingdom Come universe.). (2001)

Retribution. Batman: Gotham Knights # 20-21. (2001)

Nightwing vol 2 # 64. (Nightwing as Santa's elf.) (2001)

Bruce Wayne: Murderer and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive (in several titles). (Dick refuses to believe that Bruce can be a murderer and it causes friction with for instance Tim. Also, a big fight between Dick and Bruce when the latter says he is going to abandon his Bruce identity.) (2002)

Nightwing vol 2 # 75. (Flashback's to Dick's early years with Bruce. Plus the first appearance of Tarantula (Catalina Flores; a controversial figure in Dick's history, she straddled the line between vigilante and villain.)) (2002)

Hush. Batman # 608–619. (# 615 for Dick, but it might be confusing only to read one issue.) (2002-2003)

The Obsidian Age. JLA vol 1 # 68-75. (The Justice League members disappear, Dick leads a new team for a few issues. In # 73, Bruce is quoted:" The only time I ever feel pride is when I look at Nightwing. Sometimes I think he's the only thing I ever did right."). (2002-2003)

Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day # 1-3 (Donna is killed. Dick is devastated and declares that the Titans are finished.) (2003)

Nightwing vol 2 # 80-83. (Deathstroke is in Blüdhaven to kill someone close to Dick. Bruce asks when he will quit the force, Dick wants to stay as a cop, but when he saves Amy Rohrbach, she recognizes that Dick is Nightwing and fires him.) (2003)

Nightwing vol 2 # 86. (Dick, forced to rest after being injured, solves crimes on America's Most Wanted and drives Barbara up the wall.) (2003)

The Outsiders vol 3 # 1 (Roy talks Dick, who dissolved the Titans after Donna's death, into leading a new team, promising they will not be a family.) (2003)

Nightwing vol 2 # 87-100. (Definitely one of the darkest periods points in Dick's life pre-Flashpoint. Tarantula breaks up him and Barbara. Blockbuster destroys his circus, his home and kills people just for talking to Dick. Tarantula kills Blockbuster and Nightwing is too exhausted to prevent it, and afterwards, she rapes him (# 93). Not necessarily an arc I would recommend to read, but fans discuss it a lot.) (2003-2004)

The Outsiders vol 3 # 11 (Roy is angsting about going back to the hero business after narrowly surviving being shot, sparring and heart-to-heart with Dick follows.) (2004)

Under the Hood. Batman # 635-641, 645-650, Annual # 25. (2004-2006)

Nightwing Year One. Nightwing vol 2 # 101-106. (I honestly don't care much for this story, but it's good to know that it's one of several retellings of how Dick became Nightwing.) (2005)

Supergirl (2005) # 3 (Supergirl has a huuuge crush on Nightwing... ) (2005)

Silent partner. The Outsiders vol 3 # 21-23. (Dick goes ballistic when he realizes Batman has been funding the Outsiders, Roy admits Batman has been feeding him information. Only it wasn't Batman – it was Deathstroke in disguise.) (2005)

DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy # 1-4. (2005)

Nightwing vol 2 # 107–117. (Dick leaves Nightwing, starts working for the mob and trains Deathstroke's daughter. I think the author has some kind of resolution to the crisis Dick had gone through the last years in mind, but Infinite Crisis got in the way. Blüdhaven is destroyed in a nuclear explosion.)

Infinite Crisis. (DC had planned to let Dick die, he is central to the story even if he's not very visible.) (2005-2006)

Targets. Nightwing vol 2 # 125-128. (Dick hunts for a day job in New York and gets buried alive, which leads to some retrospection on his behalf. There's also fights with a guy with a weaponized armour.) (2007)

The Brave and the Bold # 15. Nightwing and Hawkman. (Deadman, inside Hawkman, says that Dick Grayson is the one guy that every crimefighter trusts.) (2007)

Outsiders: Five of a Kind – Nightwing/Boomerang. (It ends with Batman telling Dick: "Go back to the good fight, Dick. Leave the bad fight to us.") (2007)

Wrath Child. (A story from when Dick was fairly new as Nightwing.) Batman Confidential # 13-16. (2008)

Freefall. Nightwing vol 2 # 140–146. (Dick starts freefalling as a new hobby; Bruce is not pleased. And he gets a new daytime job, as a museum curator. Oh, and there's Talia al Ghul, too.) (2008)

Robin # 175. (Some fun panels with flashbacks with Dick and Tim.) (2008)

The Great Leap. Nightwing vol 2 # 147–151. (Two-Face wants Nightwing to save a life.) (2008-2009)

Titans (2008) # 10. (Dick leaves the Titans because he needs to go back to Gotham and "take care of my other family." (2009)

Nightwing vol 2 # 152-153. (That time when Ra's al Ghul called Dick detective. And Dick packed up and left New York to move back to Gotham.) (2009)

Batman # 682. (Just for the line about how Dick made colour come into their monochrome lives ;-) ) (2009)

Detective Comics # 85, Batman # 684 (Dick mourning Bruce) (2009)

The Secret Six # 9. (Some of the members of the Secret Six feel they should be the new Batman.) (2009)

Battle for the Cowl # 1-3. (2009)

#ash-devito #Dick Grayson #Nightwing #Robin #Batman #Richard Grayson

60 notes · View notes

edge-lorde · 4 years

Text

hp update: its been a long time, boys. ud think that with this plague outbreak id have more time for shitty phone games, and ud be right! however, the time i normally might use to make tumblr posts has been taken up by reading lotr orc fanfiction non-stop for at least 1 full month. id still be in the thick of that obsession even now if only the fics would update. that is how i find you today folks, for the first time in many weeks i am staring at a screen with nothing to do. so come with me friends, theres no better way to fill the soulless void we are all in than reading a nice long tumbler post.

disclaimer, first of all, a lot has happened, i prefer to keep these updates as plot spoiler free as possible but do to extenuating circumstances i feel like it is necessary to say, [SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER BELOW]

that rowan fucking died,

i wont say exactly how, but i will say that her death was animated as were animations of myself and a few others reacting to our friend fresh corpse. obviously meant to be serious moments but the animations made it seem almost comical.

i saw at least one post going around right after this update that was like ‘how could the game devs do this to us..... how could they hate rowan so.... this is punishment from on high’ and its like.... u guys do know what a story is right? the events of a story are not typically done to punish less faithful fans, im pretty sure they were planning to kill rowan off from the beginning. this isnt disney im pretty sure the writers are not writing each chapter the night before its released by popular vote.

that little “are we drifting away..?” scene with rowan makes more sense now. there was a bit in one of the scenes where the kids all reminisce on rowans life and the mc talks about it being the last real one on one time they had with rowan. a nice bitter sweet moment. i dont hate this turn of events. its a good reminder that actions have consequences and we are way past they days of “should i wear a hat or scarf?” its YA time now.

i did manage to take 1 screenshot from this time, i had commented that before that when rowan said she didnt have many friedns that barnaby seemed to be hanging out with her without be there as a friend buffer and here was his reaction to her death:

;_;

the funniest part in all of this however, was of course cedericks reaction to rowans death “but she was so young....” LOL fuckin RIP.

lets see... what else.... i forget a lot of what happened but i think there was a time sensitive quidditch event in there somewhere? if so i dont remember it. what i do remember of the quidditch pals is that im gonna play beater now, skye is being weird and cagey about it, andre is involved.... the others are there.....

sidenote, i love the shitty b characters they throw in to be like yes you know this person but no they are not cool enough for u to even think about befriending. the first one of those is face paint kid, and now we have another, who is a former beater girl with horrible bangs named bean who didnt go to any classes for a whole season so she could just play ball 24/7 and got kicked off the team. this is a character who only exists to provide an explanation as to why there would be a beater position open but i love them on principle.

right now im in the midst of another time sensitive event, this one is a bother-your-brother-at-work-day event where recent hogwarts graduate bill weasley is bullied by myself and his younger brother charlie into letting us go with him on one of his curse breaking jobs.

so for those unfamiliar, bill works for the magical bank of england.... and his job seems to be “retrieving treasure” for said bank. in the books, there is a bit where he takes his family on one of his trips to egypt, where his job seemed to have been tomb plundering indiana jones style for the posterity of the english bank :X. i wont explain here why thats bad but its bad.

the game devs however in this instance, at least SEEM to be doing what jkr couldnt do by attempting to salvage what is left of gringotts bank and form it into not a super shitty implications factory run by horrible jewish caricatures. bills mission is to retrieve a goblin made artifact that was taken by dragons, so no going to foreign countries to steal things from other people! only going to a dragon reserve to rifle through animal nests. they even appear to be providing us with a likable goblin character, egad!

my hope for this event is that we get a plotline about how maybe, goblins arent shifty human haters for no reason, and in fact they hate magic humans for very understandable reasons, like being forced to go into hiding with the rest of the magical world even though only the humans wanted to do that, and maybe despite running the bank in england they still dont have a lot of political sway in the world of wizards and witches, and have to rely on the faith that said wizards and witches wont fuck them over at every turn, even as they see how they treat other non-humans, such as house elves, which they desperately dont want to end up like. and maybe they DONT only care about gold... maybe thats a human stereotype based on the fact that theres a long history of humans not respecting goblin ownership customs.... which i could get into..... but i wont.... i just....... very badly dont want them to suck ;__________;

i know i said its ok to still like a piece of media as long as you recognize the problems with it, and i do, but once this game is done im gonna stop hp posting all together. ive been feeling more and more uncomfortable making these posts lately.

GENERAL GAME NOTES; theres been some new layout changes and such.

most notably the stairs screen has been changed from a bulleted list of all locations to a screen with tiles picturing an image of each location along with the name + icons of all classes at each place. there is one additional location that is new and yet to be unlocked, and the dragon reservation is appearing temporarily as its own tile as well. i prefer this method of getting in and out of a temporary location to how they did it with car during the last christmas special. the stairs icon also now stays in the corner when you scroll through locations, allowing you to open the stairs menu without scrolling all the way back to the left.

they also moved a few of the buttons down into the lower left corner rather than the left side & combined the story button and sidequest button. they added a little camera button as well, just like in the dormitory, that makes all the icons in a location disappear and look better for screenshots.

the daily special add offer thing now has its own button in the top right corner of the screen, and idk if i mentioned it before but now there are daily challenges that appear in the sidequest screen that offer small rewards for completing 3 tasks per day + a better one if u get all 3. the prizes are things like 4 energy, 75 coins, 3 monster food. the better rewards are usually either more coins, 8 energy, 3 gems, or 1 notebook. i think that it does all the different color notebooks but i cant remember for sure if i ever saw the gold one up as a reward. i like this addition in any case. if you dont pick up ur reward by the end of the day, the next time u log on it will force u to stop and accept them, and if one of the rewards is energy and ur energy bar is full, it does not seem to stack beyond the bar so watch out.

the character stats page is now more zoomed out so you can see your full character instead of just from the waist up. no change to the leaderboard. rowans face in the friendship roster is now a still black and white image that says ur friend may be gone but friendship is forever u-u.

rowan has been removed from all classes. in the classes where the minigames involved her, those minigames have passed the mantle onto other friends in the class. in potions that person is now liz helping u find stuff off the shelves and in tranfiguration that person is badeea. bless these girls for helping mc get through it. touched my heart.

theres been a few fun little “i know u have more free time now so uhhhh have some energy” prizes like they do sometimes when they dont update on schedule so thats been nice. just a few days ago they gifted us 3 gold notebooks the same way. :O.

theres also been a few instances of a energy happy hour where for a limited time energy takes less time to refresh. normally it takes 4 mins for 1 energy to do this but during happy hour its like 2:30 mins. :U its all very interesting.

and that will have to do it for tonight my friends, ill do a post for the dragon event when its done because i do like it so far and i do like getting to bully bill with charlie.

until next time, remember.......

#hp #harry potter #hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #bill weasley #goblins #charlie weasley #sirius business #rowan khanna #rambling #Thoughts #so sorry im still making these posts #i just want to see them through to the end now

9 notes · View notes

thecomicsnexus · 4 years

Photo

TMNT #1-4 DECEMBER 2001 - JUNE 2002 BY PETER LAIRD, JIM LAWSON AND ERIC TALBOT

SYNOPSIS (FROM TURTLEPEDIA AND COMIC VINE)

A Fugitoid makes its way across the moon in leaps, passing by Tranquility Base and marveling at how it has stood the test of time. It meets up with an Utrom, and the two discuss their plans to finish completing a large craft and bring these "guests" that they have with them.

In a New York City alley, the Ninja Turtles face an all too familiar scene - carapaces against an alley wall while a street gang - this time, the Madhattan Maulitia - have them cornered. While the four of them are more of a match for the fifteen dullards in the Maulitia, the Turtles decide to take the rooftops as soon as possible to gain some distance between them and their foes. After a moment of reflection, they head on their way, only to find they are less safe than they had hoped, as the Maulitia has somehow followed them up with snowmobiles. After trouncing the Maulitia up on the rooftops and heading back down, Donatello comes across a snowmobile all on its lonesome and steals it. Michelangelo tries to get Don's attention for a ride in the treacherous snow, but his brother doesn't hear him and Mike slips and falls in the street. Moments later, he's hit by a bus, and a costumed character named Magnrok finds him, carrying him into an alley calling someone in to pick him up.

Meanwhile, Don rides the snowmobile into a subway and loses control, crashing it through a wall, where he finds an old, abandoned armored truck.

April and Casey head out to a fertility doctor, while Shadow trains with Metal Head. After their sparring session, Shadow worries about the outcome of the appointment. Splinter dismisses it as the impatience of a teenager, but Shadow has a premonition that big things are in store for the entire world.

Michelangelo wakes up in an ambulance to find paramedics working on him. He freaks out and tries to escape, but the paramedics warn him not to open the door. Mike pays no heed to them and does so anyway, instantly falling out and finding that the ambulance is flying. Michelangelo holds on to a handle to prevent himself from falling, but he is still dizzy and injured and loses his grip. Fortunately, a flying superhero, Raptarr, happens to be in the area and catches Mikey as he passes back out. Raptarr returns him to the ambulance.

Leonardo and Raphael return to the lair, with Raph complaining about how cold he is. Leo turns up the heat and offers to make Raph some hot chocolate, and discuss The Jones' decision to try for a child of their own. Leo then asks if they should look for their brothers, they haven't seen since the scuffle with the Madhattan Maulitia. Raph declines due to the weather and suggests Mikey's having the time of his life in the snow anyway.

Mikey wakes up again, this time strapped to a hospital bed. A woman on a video screen insists he stay put, but Mike just wants to get out of there. The woman says he's free to leave as long as he checks out at the front desk, and that his effects are in a nearby closet. He wonders aloud why the staff hasn't freaked out due to him being a mutant turtle. It is at this moment that Mikey sees that the patients at this hospital are a little out of the ordinary, consisting of various costumed adventurers and non-humans.

A Doctor Singh approaches Michelangelo with some orderlies and tells him he needs to return to his room. Mikey refuses and begins to fight with the orderlies, before they are interrupted by a man approaching in a wheelchair - the Turtles' old friend Pat, aka Zippy Lad of the Justice Force. Pat takes charge of Mikey and lets Singh and the orderlies be on their way, explaining to the turtle that he is in Kurtzburg Memorial Hospital, a special hospital for aliens, heroes, mutants, and other oddities, and one of only three places like it in the world. Pat happens to be on the hospital's board of directors and saw Mike come in while he was at a budget meeting, and vouched for him. Pat convinces Mike to get back in bed and rest up.

Back at the lair, Donatello rushes in, excited, and coaxes Casey and Raph to follow him to a discovery he's made. Leo stays behind so he can watch Junkyard Wars in peace. Don leads Raph and Casey to the abandoned armored truck he'd found, and the three of them examine the vehicle, taking notes of what would need to be cleaned and fixed to get it running again, and finding the moldy corpses of some apparent robbers inside, including a skeleton in the back wearing 1970s garb and still holding onto a gun. Don and Casey leave to get some batteries and cleaning supplies, leaving Raph to bemoan being stuck there with the "dead guys".

Shadow leaves for a clandestine rendezvous with her boyfriend Jay, while Splinter worries for her safety in the snow. When she meets up with Jay, she suggests that they go to the Jones Farm and warm up by the fireplace, but he reminds her that it's supposed to be abandoned and the last time they were there, someone called the police on them. Instead, he pesters her about going back to her place and meeting her "famously reclusive grandfather", which she turns down.

Meanwhile, on the moon, the Utroms accomplish another phase on their mysterious plan.

In the jungles of Venezuela, a research team discovers a strange life form. Meanwhile, in the Big Apple, Casey, Raph and Don get the abandoned armored car running, much to the dismay of the local New Yorkers. Master Splinter and Shadow are enraptured by the television coverage of an invasion of Unidentified Flying Objects.

The Utroms finally reveal themselves to the word in a very public display. Karai fantasizes facing the turtles in battle while her aid keeps her updated on the news about the alien arrival. After watching the tv coverage of the Utroms Michelangelo and Raphael decide to get a closer look when the stumble on a mysterious robot in the sewers.

REVIEW

As I mentioned before, the Archie TMNT comic was my gateway to the world of comic-books. But because of the indie nature of the Turtles, their comics were really hard to get from outside of the US.

As a result, collecting them was frustrating, and in any case, getting all of them was futile. It wasn’t until around 2005, that I started getting TMNT comics for real.

At the time I started with colored collected editions (First), and eventually this and Tales came up, as those were being published at the time. As a result, I got almost all of the issues for both series. I was really impressed, not only by the story, but also by the interaction of Peter Laird with the fans, and how he would keep us up to date with his life. Eventually I started watching the 2003 cartoon (also, not something I had access to at the time it was broadcasted) which was heavily influenced by Peter Laird, and some of its concepts would appear in Tales.

This is a very long story, that as far as I know, it’s incomplete and there is little hope for it to be ever finished. I do hope at some point Peter Laird takes advantage of that “18 issues a year” deal he made with Viacom and make it happen.

While both, Eastman and Laird were fans of Jack Kirby, it is very obvious in this run that Laird may have been even more. Case in point, the “Kurtzberg” hospital sequence. It’s not gonna be the last time we see Kirby inspired things in the book.

When the book starts, we get the idea that there was a time jump since the last time we saw these characters (1995), but when I saw Shadow so grown up, I realized how much time really passed. I mean, the turtles are technically still teenagers, compared to how much turtles live. But they are kind... 30 now?

Perhaps the most significant thing about this run is the Utrom non-invasion of Earth. Whenever I think of Laird’s writing, my mind goes back to this story. The way he looks at sci-fi is very positive (especially considering that the Alien visit happens right after 9-11). In a way, his writing is very similar to that of Jack Kirby, who would often dedicate pages to concepts and ideas that would make life cooler.

Jim Lawson is back, and luck us, he is being inked (and toned) by Laird and Talbot.

Perhaps the main problem with this title is the pacing of the story. As the book is bi-monthly, it takes forever for a ship to land on Earth (7 months). This is not unusual in indie comics, but it makes the first issue a bit uneventful.

I give these issues a score of 8.

#peter laird #michael dooney #jim lawson #mirage studios #comics #review #2001 #2002 #modern age #indie #tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles

24 notes · View notes

lfd072936 · 5 years

Text

Harlequin - Chapter 1

So here is the first chapter of the fanfic I posted about previously. It features a original female character I intend to be “Harley Quinn” later on, although this story is completely different from the traditional comic book one. This chapter barely has Arthur in it, but he will be featured a lot later (obviously).

Word count: 1788

Summary: a young woman named Lola Page starts working at a new wing in Arkham Asylum.

Warnings: none, except that this chapter has criminally little Arthur in it, but I had write a little bit of backstory/building.

@tiredwritersworld asked to be tagged (<3)

Chapter 2 link

Chapter 3 link

1. Fresh Meat

She had been working at Arkham for little over a year now. She liked it although with most things she could make peace and be content no matter what cards she was handed. Of course this wasn’t what she wanted to do originally, she wanted to be a dancer, which she practically was up until a misfortunate misunderstanding (as her mother called it) put her in prison.

- What do you want to do after you get out? – her probation officer asked one week before her release.

- What do you mean? I’m a dancer, I dance… that’s what I’m gonna do.

- Lola, you know you cannot go back to your old company after what happened.

- So? This is a big city, there’s plenty of fish in the sea.

- Look… word’s got around. No sane person would hire you as a dancer. You have to come up with something more… realistic.

- So then what do you suggest? I am not trained in anything other than dancing, I have no skills. Should I sweep the filthy streets of Gotham so that you can check it off of a to-do-list, while telling me how much cleaning up other people’s shit is helping me to get back on my feet?

- Come on, there surely must be something that you would like to do.

The probation officer was too persistent to shrug off so after a few suggestions she agreed to try this job. The hospital was on such a staff shortage that it only took a 10-day training for an ex-convict who was sentenced for assault to start working there. Of course she was not allowed to do anything medical or touch any drugs, but she did help out with anything else she could from feeding to making the beds and mostly interacting with patients. She was placed in the eastern wing due to her past where the lighter patients resided, those who generally did not pose a threat to anyone other than themselves. Lola proved herself to be an excellent employee over the months, despite her criminal record no incidents occurred and she was adored by the patients she took care of and the feeling was seemingly mutual. She surprisingly had immense patience and gentleness towards them.

That day however she was called into her supervisor’s office out of the blue. She knocked on her door at around noon and stepped in confidently.

- Hey, Josie!

- Hey, Angel! Have a seat… - she sat down opposite of her supervisor, a sweet old lady with immaculate style. Lola always adored the intricate braids she could put into her greying hair. – How are things going?

- Amazing as always… you know me – she said with a wide smile.

- Yeah, yeah I do. So – she usually cut straight to the point – you’ve been with us for over a year now… - Lola heard the hesitation in her voice. Something was wrong.

- Are you letting me go, Josie? – her voice wasn’t worrying more confused.

- No, God no… listen the thing is… there was a situation over at west and I need to switch you up with someone.

- Sure, no problem.

- Yeah? – Josie raised an eyebrow.

- Absolutely. It’s even closer to my stop.

- But you know that the west is one of the more, well… problematic wings. And you will get an all new supervisor, new colleagues…

- That’s alright. I think I can handle it.

- Okay – she said with a slight surprised tone. – Thank you for being so understanding.

- No… - Lola leaned forward a bit – Thank you for giving me a chance for change.

The next week she started her shift at the notorious western wing. She was greeted by one of the nurses who was assigned to show her around, although it did not seem like she volunteered for it. Oh, how wildly different this part of the hospital was. Almost all rooms were for one person, the doors were made from metal and heavy latches protected the outside from anyone that was on the inside. Guards were patrolling the floors and almost all patients outside of their cell were at least handcuffed if not forced into a straightjacket.

The nurse led Lola up on one of the lesser used back stairs.

- This is the staff area – she continued her never-ending tale of dos and don’ts. – A little bit onward there is a kitchen and a room with some beds, although I heard that you’re not allowed to take any night shifts – Lola frowned. No she wasn’t, but why did everyone have to be aware of that? Why was her past such common knowledge even on a wing she never even entered before? – But sometime we do like to take naps. A little further back are the women’s restrooms and next to them the showers. Why they put them so far from the beds still baffles me… but make sure to always lock the shower with your keys especially if you’re inside, because we have some incidents from time to time.

- Wait… what kind of incidents?

- Those patients who manage to wander off are especially drawn to this place to give a little surprise visit.

- Oh… we never had anything like that. On my previous wing incident meant someone spilt their OJ – the nurse gave a mocking laugh.

- Welcome to the wild west, Page – Lola did not laugh though, if anything she wondered how can some patients just walk into a staff shower with all these safety precautions.

Their tour continued pretty smoothly, they walked and she talked on end. She finally halted in front of the entrance of the communal room.

- Now about some of our patients. The worst are Flynt, 7-foot guy, pure muscle. He is restrained at all times, but he sure likes to bite and if he spontaneously faints close to you, don’t try to catch him. Then there’s Marigold… she hates everyone younger than her, so more and more people every year, I would just avoid her all together. And last but not least, there’s Fleck. He is currently stable on his meds, but he has some authority over the other patients. If I were you I would put my sunshine and rainbows approach that might have worked back at your old wing aside and be little more tough or else this place will crush you, but… I would try to stay on Fleck’s good side.

- But why do the other patients respect him so much?

- How old even are you? – the nurse laughed again. She was rude, but Lola decided to just swallow it for now. – He is Arthur Fleck… the guy who killed Murray Franklin a while back. Ring a bell?

Lola’s face lit up. She never would have admitted it to anyone, but she adored that clown. She thought he was an icon, the face of the protests she desperately wanted to attend, but her mother forced her to stay in their spotless suburban house, that the garbage strike could not reach. Oh, and that television broadcast that she had the privilege to see live… brilliant. She did not condone murder, but he executed it so theatrical and with much flare. Honestly she wouldn’t mind someone killing her either, if it happened in such a stylish way.

- Wait up… you mean to tell me that you have the Joker in this wing? – she couldn’t hide her excitement.

- Yes, but why are you so happy about it?

- You never met a celebrity, huh? – Lola laughed. Now it was her turn to make the nurse uncomfortable and looked down upon.

- Stop laughing! – she hissed. – He’s not a celebrity, and trust me… you will be disappointed when you see him. Now get in, and do your job!

She forced a serious look on her face as they walked in. The room was more bleak and depressing than the one at her old wing, this one clearly had more insanity in the air. She could feel almost every patient looking at her, those at least who were aware of their surroundings, and it made her uneasy. She completed the tasks upon tasks given to her wondering which one could the Joker be, but she just couldn’t tell. Finally, she approached one of her colleague who’s face seemed familiar.

- Hey, which one is Fleck?

- Don’t look right away, but it’s the one who didn’t stop staring at you ever since you arrived – she said with a grimace on her face. – I mean the one by the window. – she had to correct herself, because most patients were still staring at Lola.

- I surely am interesting.

- Well, you know how it is… you’re fresh meat. – she returned the smile, because the worker had no wrong intentions, but being called fresh meat was not something Lola thrived on.

As promised she did not look at the window’s direction, but rather went back to doing her job, feeding patients, getting them blankets etc., but after a while she couldn’t help herself. Masking it as a simple glance to the clock on the wall above the man, she could finally look at him. The man was alone with nothing but a notebook in front of him, but at the moment he wasn’t focused on that. He was smoking and looking at her. He blew out some smoke as their eyes locked and took another drag. The nurse did not exaggerate; he really was a lot different than she expected. He was thin and frail, his face wrinkly, but that look… oh that was something to die for. He was practically piercing her with his gaze and she could feel blood rush into her cheeks. She quickly looked down unable to do anything else, but from the corner of her eyes she could see him smile with satisfaction. Bastard. It was so amusingly annoying she had to smile, but made sure to turn away, so he didn’t see it.

She went on with her tasks, being sent here and there around the floor. So far she wasn’t too impressed by this wing, how somber and grey everything was, despite the walls being painted to a pretty yellow color somehow the air was grey. But there was one positive thing: Arthur. She was desperate to talk to him, even though he surely was nothing like she expected, but it only made her more curious. How much did he change, how much did the meds tone him down, was that whole persona just for television? It was impossible to tell as of yet.

#joker fanfiction #joker x ofc #joker x harley #sortof #barely any joker sorry #arthur fleck #sort of oc

17 notes · View notes