#(also 2 sets in one day lets gooooo)

[storiesoflilies]

school bus love (3)

synopsis: a plan of action was hatched. the only question was, did she have the guts to do it?

pairing: teen!toji fushiguro x teen!f!reader

warnings: none.

a/n: my friends are hilarious. we are all still besties to this day, despite the distance. isn’t that wonderful? @mxrgxth @asa-23 also yes, i watch food wars. i regret nothing lol xo

drabble series link // part 2 //

“girl, just do it.”

“i- yeeeeeesh- no! i can’t.”

“why the hell not? it’s not a big deal.”

“it completely is!”

“adding someone on snapchat is not a big deal, bitch. just do it.”

she had been carefully been scheming away in the haven of her pile of marshmallow-soft pillows, feeling like a naughty little witch brewing all sorts of potions over a bubbling black cauldron. the plan had been simple: add more and more of her new classmates on snapchat, patiently biding her time until toji’s username inevitably popped up in quick add. and finally, after what seemed like forever, his profile was there – his little bitmoji staring at her like it knew exactly what she was up to.

she picked the sides of her nails, staring a hole into her glowing phone, yet another re-run of food wars! playing on her laptop amidst all the emotional turmoil.

“this has been quite the extensive operation,” morgoth piped up, the almost deafening background noise from his end of the line muffling his words. “don’t pussy out now.”

“exactly,” asa sighed wistfully, a rare moment of agreement, probably sick of hearing about any and all interactions she had with toji over the last two months.

she stared at his bitmoji for just a moment longer, quite certain that toji was spying on her through its overly green eyes, and hoped for a cataclysmic event that would actually be him adding her instead.

although, waiting for that would have been more torturous than taking a brave leap of faith.

her finger hovered over the ‘add’ button, trembling delicately.

something caused her breath to catch in her throat, and her fingertip edged closer.

morgoth snorted, the sudden loudness echoing through her headphones, and startling her out of her wits.

a chain reaction has begun.

the dominos were falling one by one.

and she pressed it.

she pressed the button.

a gasp, accompanied by a shriek, and she flew off the edge of her bed, staring at her phone, wondering if toji was looking at his screen with his lip curled in disgust.

“did you do it?” asa asked, clearly bemused by her antics.

“uh huh,” she squealed, her eyes still locked on her phone that had turned black.

she felt a churning sensation in her stomach, nerves setting her whole body tingling as if she was in a bath filled with electric eels, and bit the inside of her cheek.

why did crushes have to feel so damn delirious?

it was debilitating, yet so very addictive. she loved playing the game, chasing the high of a victory tantalizingly out of reach.

“and now we wait,” morgoth said, almost bored. “that was kinda anticlimactic.”

she huffed in annoyance, feeling a flare of irritation as her already frazzled nerves riled her up more than they should have. “listen, you dickh-“

her phone vibrated and lit up.

a familiar yellow ghost popped up.

badum! boom! badum!

she yelped and grabbed her phone, clambering back onto her bed.

toji fushiguro has added you as a friend!

“oh my god,” she gaped, a hand clasped over her jaw as it swung wide open. “guys.”

“what? what?” asa giggled, the rustling of sheets audible from his end of the line. “did he add you back?”

“uh huh,” was all she could muster in awe.

“let’s gooooo!” morgoth cheered.

“fuck, guys. what the fuck do i do now?”

well, whatever she decided to do, it absolutely had to wait. she couldn’t immediately respond in any sort of way; otherwise, she would seem desperate. no, she wanted to exude coolness, suaveness, and seem without a care in the world – especially not about gorgeous boys, with gorgeous eyes, and gorgeous…

“message him?” morgoth suggested, quite naively.

her and asa hissed in annoyance almost simultaneously. “absolutely not. are you stupid?” she snapped.

“well, i don’t know. what was the point of all this then if you weren’t going to message the guy?”

she made a string of incoherent noises, sputtering out, “i didn’t get that far!”

“listen,” asa interjected, the grounding voice of reason and calm. “leave it for five minutes, then send him a streak.”

a metaphorical lightbulb sprung to life above her head.

“fuck, you’re smart,” she whispered with reverence, taking a deep breath and unlocking her phone.

she spent that time deciding on what sort of snap she would take. would she do a classic forehead picture and just say ‘streaks’? or should she opt for the standard blacked out picture with just the letter ‘S’? no, if she was to catch toji’s attention, she had to stand out from the crowd.

she snapped a perfect frame of soma’s flourishing cooking technique and typed out a quick ‘streaks 🍳’.

and hit send.

for the second time that night, she dramatically fell to the floor with a loud thump. “i did it!”

“so proud of you,” morgoth remarked sarcastically. “when’s the wedding?”

“m, shut up,” asa huffed, tutting before asking. “girl, how do you feel?”

“on fire, but what if he ignores it? then that means he definitely doesn’t like me.”

“not really, hun. maybe he just doesn’t bother with streaks like m.”

“i agree, i always forget them.”

“don’t worry, we know.”

buzz!

toji fushiguro sent you a snap!

“guys, guys! he answered!” she exclaimed, rolling over and kicking her legs in the air.

“don’t open it!” asa screeched. “leave it for a minute.”

the next sixty seconds were absolutely agonizing, each second clawing its way through muddy trenches as shells rained down from the sky. she was breathing hard, a live tripwire, a bazooka ready to explode. as soon as the minute was up, she tapped on the red square to open toji’s snap.

she sucked in a breath.

there he was, wearing a tight grey t-shirt, with a close-up picture of his forearm and bicep, and a simple ‘streaks’ across the screen.

“guys,” she giggled. “i think i won.”

general taglist (open): @tadabzzzbee @wannapizzamymindposts @stromynight

school bus love taglist (open): @badbyeyoongi

©storiesoflilies 2024, all rights reserved. please do not plagiarize, translate, or repost any of my work on other sites! i only post on ao3 and tumblr.

#toji fushiguro x reader #toji x you #toji fushiguro #toji x reader #toji x y/n #jjk toji #jujutsu kaisen toji #toji zenin #fushiguro toji #toji fluff #jujutsu kaisen #jjk drabbles #jjk x reader #jjk fluff

[isa-ghost]

OMG i would love to hear more qphil headcannons!

SET 5 LETS GOOOOO

Previous Sets:

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Set 4

When he's alone he gives so many less fucks. Anytime he passes a Federation camera or building or whatever he flips it off. Sometimes he'll stop to do it, do a funky mocking jig out of spite. If Fit has Fuck The Catfish (FTC) then Phil has FTF. Fuck the Feds

Besides the fact that he's sentimental about stupid shit, he also hasn't deconstructed the shitty dirt shack yet because he treats it as rent lowering gunshots. That's his wall. Bitch.

He's a teeny tiny bit sad everyone who lived IN the wall is sorta gone for one reason or another. It's a bit lonely. And eerie, considering a lot of the time they lived in there was before the worst of what's happened to everyone happened. The insides of the walls feel like a fucked up time capsule now...

We've seen this in canon but he LOVES to wander. Wanderlust his beloved. Find cool shit, collect cool shit, get cool pictures. It's just nothing but Ws. ... He feels a lot of deja vu doing it. He'd be able to place it if he could just fly...

Ever since that taste of flight in Purgatory, he's been aching so much more for it again. His stomach fills with dread at the thought of saving Tubbo's life costing him his wings. He'd make the decision he did again & 100x over, but flying is so core to who he is. He can't fathom being grounded for the rest of eternity.

If it weren't for the constant danger he feels like he's in, he'd LOVE to just lay down on his stomach on Chayanne's old house's roof & just sun his wings. Mmmmmm warmmmm

He'll never admit it to Tallulah, but sometimes he switches up what he eats between his avocado toast phases so he never gets sick of it. She thinks he just infinitely enjoys the stuff.

He's convinced the Baker is a paid [Federation employee? Cucurucho 3?] actor that can't, no matter what, break their stoic smile. Phil spends SO much time when he has no other responsibilities trying to get them to crack. He flips them off, he makes faces, he threatens them, he rambles off the wildest most random shit. He did the DK prank. He dances in front of them. Nothing. But one day he'll get them.

Just like cc!Phil, he loathes a lot of stereotypical British stuff, like tea. It's so funny. Fit & Tubbo especially like pushing his buttons about it, his food rants are the best.

When he heard someone on the island made up a rumor that Eggza is legit because Phil taste-tested a cookie out of curiosity, he took that and RAN. Yeah. He's egg sometimes. Who's his parent you ask? Well that's a secret (it's Rose).

The moment Fit told him he has a thing for Pac, Phil instantly launched into wingman mode (pun intended). No more,,,, Hitting The Gym Together. Fit wants more than a fwb, Phil is SO here for it

Cellbit & Baghera take priority over everything. But GOD is he not ready for the flashbacks when he gets to Egg Island to save them. He didn't know Etoiles left that scar on his back...

In very dad fashion, his sneezes and yawns are fucking atrocious. Unnecessarily loud.

(With the idea that Purg2 is canon): He can't help but think about all those new people going through the hell he did. What if he knew some of them? What if there were friends there he forgot about because the Federation meddled with his memory? It makes him sick.

The islanders closest to him + the kids are starting to think he's got some kinda sleep disorder. He sleeps for an awful long time sometimes... (when his hc streams get long :) )

This idiot sleeps in the worst places I bet his back cracks and pops like fucking bubble wrap (same tho)

#qsmp #qsmp philza #q!philza #philza #qphil headcanons

[ineffable-human]

Season 2 Hot Take - We're Being Manipulated

Yes I know this is going to sound like a conspiracy theory, but is it really a conspiracy if its true? So, as someone who spent the last four years obsessing almost entirely about Gabriel's character and arc (do not get me started on him in S2) and not much else, I feel like I have a different approach to Aziraphale and his actions. I mean, I'm sorry but I just don't buy the fact that Aziraphale is so deeply traumatized that he would return to heaven just like that. I just don't.

Like, c'mon, season 1 Aziraphale, the utter bastard who straight up lied to God's (metaphorical) face, who got gut punched by some 'bad angels', who was sentenced to death, who tried to talk to God for help and got the run around, merged with season 2 Azirpahale who saw that heaven would just let kids die and not understand why it's bad (also please don't get me started on his 'you really were truly awuful' line, I cannot), who learned the that line between right and wrong is blured and that sometimes graverobbing can be good, who found out he could do magic the real, human way, would not just be like fuck yeah heaven is the good guys let's gooooo. I just don't buy it. And I want to trust that the writing in season 2 was purposeful and for a reason, because I want to trust that Neil Gaiman knows what he's doing (weird plot-device of the miracle block aside of course because idk how that could possibly be explained properly). And one of my friends pointed out to me that season 2 was/felt very influenced by the fandom. So what makes the most sense? That Neil Gaiman would just write some really weird and off-character stuff to match what the people want? Or that he would use the fandom's expectations to influence how they react to a situation and event in order to hide what's actually going on? I mean, look at all the information we're missing.

We don't know what Aziraphale's relationship was like with heaven between seasons (and I'm thinking he had to have some kind of relationship for the Bookshop to still be considered an protected embassy. Because let's face it, vindictive lil heaven isn't gonna keep a triator safe for no good reason).

We don't know the full conversation between Aziraphale and the Metatron (and the fact that Aziraphale's response after the whole Crowley as an angel thing is blocked off is the most interesting tidbit of all. We never actually find out what Aziraphale said, and we know he hadn't given Metatron a real answer before he went to talk to Crowley {yet the Metatron walks in after as if Aziraphale already said yes})

We don't know how and why it was so easy for Gabriel to sneak off after the trial. (Like, I know all the other angels are clueless, but the Metatron has clearly shown himself to have a strategic mind and, let's be honest, he would have seen something like that coming).

There's so much we don't know about, that's being hidden and held back, and we don't question it too much because it's easier to just fill in the blanks with our four years of headcanons and ideas.

And all the posts that Neil Gaiman interact with just further these ideas! I mean, let's face it, he's not gonna like this one because it's too close to the TRUTH (and also because he's busy and there's like a million posts a day but MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH)

Aziraphale is a smart character, who knows that heaven is toxic. He's strong and stubborn, and I truely don't believe he's going to just slide right back into that abusive relationship without a Plan. Aziraphale doesn't want to go back to heaven because he knows they aren't really the good guys, but that's the argument he uses because that's the only one he knows how to use. It's his default setting. (and the Metatron is most definitely probably listening in on them so Aziraphale clearly can't say what he actually wants to say, which only contributes to their horrible communication skills).

Aziraphale doesn't need to learn that heaven is in bad shape. He already knows that. But what he didn't know was that he could fix it. He's spent 6,000 years seeing all the cracks in the foundation and not having the power to do anything about it. That's his whole arch in season 1; taking control and doing what he can to fix the wrongs he sees.

But even now the idea that he actually has the power or influence to make the changes he knows are needed is a foreign concept. And the Metatron offering him the job is kind of like Crowley offering him the food. Azirpahale didn't know he could want to actually change things. That he could be the one to put in a suggestion box. He's not going back to learn the hard truth, he's going back to change the hard truth before others have to suffer a similar fate.

Our ideas and expectations were shattered, but that's only because we were coming at it with those expectations. We let them cloud the real story and distract us from the TRUTH.

This whole entire season was a magic act of the highest form using fan-service and shotty writing (dear god please let it be on purpose) as smoke and mirrors. and we're falling for it.

(And while we're on the topic, may I just slip in as an added bonus, Crowley has only himself to blame for Aziraphale thinking him becoming an angel would be a good thing, because how can he expect to go around calling Aziraphale angel all the time and looking at him the way he does and NOT expect Aziraphale to just assume that Crowley thinks being an angel is the best thing since sliced bread????)

#good omens #good omens season 2 #good omens season 2 spoilers #good omens theories #good omens season 2 theories #you're not a conspiracy theorist if your theories end up being real #just sayin

[hikennosabo]

#tristampparty day 3, episode 3: bright light, shine through the darkness

DAY 3 OF @tristampparty!! this episode was the one that hooked me lol, LET'S GOOOOO

the radio dj here is vash's jp seiyuu, masaya onosaka!! the voice of the humanoid typhoon talking about an approaching storm... but it's knives who's the storm...

also i LOVE how knives just saunters slowly towards the city. we barely know anything about him but it immediately sets him up as an imposing presence.

once again roberto is quick on the uptake. like he not only knows exactly who's responsible for all this but he's got him fuckin PROFILED. truly a senior reporter.

also is it just me or is eg the mine the most forgettable gung-ho gun. i keep calling him MC Bomber (<- that's an ace attorney reference)

he looks very good here

he just prepared this ahead of time i guess...? for dramatic effect i guess??? and it happened to be in the right spot, where everyone was watching??? this is what the ghg's budget goes to???

the plants are pretty goddamn resilient, aren't they? like obviously it would be a bad idea to contain them in glass that could easily break, but this poor plant has been through so much today, and there isn't so much as a crack.

i love how roberto puts his whole pussy into meryl's plan. he's always chiding her for her reckless behavior but he goes all in on this.

this scene reminds me of that one scene... yknow the one where the guy is like, "this guy killed my daughter" and vash is like, "don't kill him!" and... oh, it was the scene after vash sings his total slaughter song!! yeah!!

"whose side are you on?" count: 1

okay i'm obsessed with knives's introduction scene because

nobody noticed him enter the city. granted, they were distracted, but still.

he made a BEELINE for the piano?!?! WHY... THAT'S SO FUNNY OF HIM... he was really like "okay before i do ANYTHING else i have to find a piano and play my little tune" he's such a fucking drama queen

lost arm count: 2

wait this is in the diner?! i didnt even notice there was a piano in the diner. goddamn.

"whose side are you on?" count: 2

i'm just... putting a pin in this line for later.

i still don't fully understand what knives did to vash's gun...? honestly i also still don't really understand how gates work either...? orange probably has it all written out to the last detail in their lore bible...

also god i just. love how knives moves. he's so imposing. ouuuahahghghh

lost arm count: 3

i have some questions about why this is happening in this order. so mine scoped out the city beforehand and prepped all his bombs so he could have fun killing and steal the plant. then knives arrives afterwards which i don't think mine anticipated? like based on how he reacts, he seems surprised that knives is there? and then ninelives + conrad + elendira ii* (*she is not my elendira) show up and knives says:

did knives actually not know he was coming or is he being sarcastic LOL. also because he says "good timing" like did he not expect them to be there?! why did they all arrive at different times. are the ghg just that disorganized.

also i'm so concerned for rosa in these episodes LOL she's getting tossed around so much while pregnant... is the baby okay?!?!

lost arm count: 4

i love how we never actually get a proper look at knives's face this episode - this is the first "good" look we get, and it's only half.

"whose side are you on?" count: 3

his EXPRESSION here AAUAHGHGHGHGAHAOAHGHHG

i just wanted to point out vash fully reloading his gun because earlier in the episode when he shot at eg mine's vantage point he only put one bullet in his gun.

godddd when knives destroys the city. i can't do it justice with screenshots but it's such a gorgeous scene and it was the moment i became enthralled with this character LOL. that was over 6 months ago... actually wait. *checks* it was SEVEN months ago TO THE DATE. EXACTLY SEVEN MONTHS AGO. I'VE BEEN MICROWAVING KNIVES FOR SEVEN MONTHS. WATCHING HIM SPARK IN THERE.

oh also hey we see that gofsef is still alive actually. father nebraska did all that for nothing smh.

lost arm count: 5

rosa says this but honestly... knives would have stolen the plant regardless of vash's presence. like he didn't really engage vash that much in this episode. like he said what he wanted to say but it's clear his priority was the plant. which, considering what i said in my first post about the subs and dub script... yeah i think those were wrong.

and the fact she calls him humanoid typhoon, not by his name... oof

okay i can't focus on writing this post anymore cause i'm distracted by vtubers again so we'll end it here. WOLFWOOD INTRODUCTION NEXT EP LET'S GOOOOOO

#tristampparty #trigun talk #june speaks

[mars101]

Act 7: -> Scene 2: Whatever!

WRITTEN PART -> (0.4) -> no ss after text

“Oh you have got to be kidding me. Why are they here if not to ruin Yin's wedding? Twenty years and they've done nothing for her-”

“I thought you didn't like the idea of Yin getting married so quickly?”

“Well yeah but I also don't want them spoiling it. They have no right to turn up like this and act like normal.”

Heels click against the stairs they're walking on, one set of feet walking more frantically than the others as arms are in the air while talking.

“y/n, they also didn't know that she existed..”

“Well whatever! They never needed to know, did they? I've done a great job raising Yin all by myself, no help needed from any stupid man.”

The two women glance at each other with a look in their eyes as Y/n storms off ahead of them mumbling to herself.

“God I'm so unlucky, consequences of my own fucking actions.”

They make it to Y/n's bedroom and slump down on her bed, “Someone up there is dreaming of my downfall. I bet, it's my mom. She never liked the idea of me traveling instead of getting married. Now she has to ruin my daughter's happiest day”

She bolts up off the bed, “You know what, I am going to go straight down there and get them to leave-” Before she can stand, Miyeon and Jiwoo pull back on her shoulders to keep her down.

“no! if you go straight in there and kicking them out there’s going to questions from all three of those men and yin too.”

“And Y/n, look what are the chances that she'll instantly know once she sees them? Yin has never once mentioned anything father related at all. It’s always been mom, mommy, and mama. Her first word was literally ma.”

Despite Miyeon’s words, Y/n still has a worried expression on her face as she starts to take off her boots.

“you know what, today- no wait tomorrow morning, me and miyeon will take them fishing and-”

“Fishing?? Oh, please, no. Wait, can you help me with my zipper”

“miyeon what else would we be doing with three men?? anyways, we’ll interrogate them on why they’re here, what do they want, and what do they know. good plan right?”

“No. They’re here longer than needed.”

“Oh alright, just ignore them once we go down, doubt they’re still here.”

last/next

synopsis = a day before her wedding day, Yin decides to find her father so he can walk her down the isle, the problem? There's three candidates: Lee Juyeon, Kim Younghoon, and Lee Hyunjae.

author’s note: under 0.5k for the new year lets gooooo 😭😭😭

masterlist

taglist:

@boomhoon , @sanasour , @loonaluvz , @jaerisdiction , @cowsmicwu , @jundundun , @piripurora

#deoboyznet #tbz imagines #tbz smau #tbz x reader #the boyz drabbles #the boyz imagines #the boyz smau #the boyz x reader #the boyz scenarios #hyunjae x reader #juyeon x reader #younghoon x reader #younghoon smau #hyunjae smau #juyeon smau

[blacksapphhicmaddonna]

I WOULDN’T DREAM OF IT.

Chapter 2 - Roll The Dice

Black!Carol Danvers x Maria Rambeau

Ft. Monica Rambeau

CW: slight mentions of- homophobic slurs(not written out), deciding not to report harassment in the military, one mention of a security/police officer, being drunk/partying, minor cuts/scrapes/bruises, parenting, loss of a parent, childhood trauma, regaining lost memories. also, a big part of this chapter is set in a flashback. nothing too crazy for any of this, but I just want everyone to know that these things are mentioned!

A/N: hey y'all! so, I wrote this like a book. it's long per usual, and this one's a bit angsty but nothing too serious. also sooooo sorry this is so late lmao, life comes at you hard and fast sometimes but we getting it together every day! I'll try to be quicker w/ updates🫡. much love, muahhh. thank you for reading! x ps. this isn't proof read bc I stayed up til 6:30 in the morning to finish writing it LMFAOO.💀 I'll come back at some point and proof read it, but sorry for any typos/grammar/syntax oddities as always.

Word Count: 19,078 (jump scare🫣)

Link to AO3!

title header & mood art by me⋆˙⟡♡ pls don't use/post elsewhere without asking! (lmk if y'all like it though! i'm thinking about doing stuff like this for all/most of my fics maybe)

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ Taglist⋆｡ﾟ ☾ﾟ ｡⋆｡︎☁ﾟ｡⋆:

@mybonafidefeelings @maysflourish @nanajen8

also go read @mybonafidefeelings's new danbeau/carolxmaria series RIGHT NEOWWWW if you haven't already🥰

and while you're at it, go check out all the fics everyone in the taglist have written! they never disappoint!

here we gooooo, I hope you enjoy part two.💗

Once Monica finished her breakfast, she helped Carol clean up while she told her stories about her friends at school, all the inventions she'd come up with, and any other story her mind mustered up. She wanted to fill in as many blanks as possible for her other mother. Carol listened intently, taking in every moment of her daughter. She wanted to remember everything, even the things that might not seem important to other parents in different circumstances. She wanted to be able to reference these stories, prove that she remembered, that she cared enough to listen. Partly because her own parents never showed an interest, instead always finding the time to show their genuine dislike for her for whatever many reasons they had, or just disregarding her altogether. But also because Monica had always been so welcoming, so ready to receive her back like nothing had happened - or maybe like everything did happen and she still chose to hold on tight to her mother, choosing not to let the time separate them. So Carol held on tight too, wanting to prove she was reliable to the girl. She appreciated how open Monica was to her returning, but she also knew she had been gone for a long time. Longer than she should have been, she often thought. She knew that Monica was young, and might eventually change her mindset on the matter. She had every right to. It would make sense to feel some kind of way, and that scared Carol to her core. So she wanted to at least try and show up in the best way she could. Be present, be a mother - not just someone who literally drops in every now and then. She wanted to give the girl something she could hold onto, something she could trust.

Carol was always so in awe of both of the Rambeaus. Even though Maria always said that she and Monica were so much alike, she loved how much she was just like her mother too. Stubborn, but sure of herself. Interested in everything, always ready to learn and push forward - but soft, in her own way. Gentle, patient and kind. They both would go out of their way, even if it didn’t always seem like they were. She looked like her, too. Her brown eyes, her hair, the way she walked. She was just like Maria in the best ways (not that there was a bad way to be like Maria Rambeau), and also very much just herself. Just Monica, and she was the most amazing child the world had ever managed to produce. Carol was sure of it. 

When they had finished in the kitchen, Carol decided to take a shower too. The hot water should be filled up again, and she was starting to feel the leftover sweat from last night mixing with the approaching heat from the day. Monica sat on the couch and turned on some cartoons, feeling fulfilled from breakfast which made Carol feel proud of herself for a lot of reasons. Cooking was something she always struggled with because she never had anybody to teach her. Maria thinks she might just naturally be a clutz in the kitchen too, but regardless, she worked with her for years as they grew up trying to teach her how to cook, giving her the gentle instruction and patience she never had. Usually to no avail, but it was a fond memory for both of them. Carol smiled, thinking that if her success in making pancakes this morning was any indication of the kind of day she would have with her daughter, she was sure it would be a good one. She wandered back upstairs, running her hands along the walls that still had blue and purple marker stains on them in some spots. As she walked through the hallway towards her shared room, she passed Monica’s room and couldn't help but smile. The girl’s room was what anybody would expect if they’d met her. A little messy, super colorful. She had her personality everywhere. A model of the solar system she had made when she was a little younger for a school project hung from the ceiling over her bed. A stuffed animal Carol had won for her at a carnival when she was a toddler, Maria had one to match that she secretly kept hidden in the drawer next to her bed still. She had drawings on blue construction paper all over her walls, mostly of her inventions (she called them her blueprints). The one picture that was on regular white paper had the word “Family” written on it. A crayon picture of Maria and Carol, with Monica in the middle. Carol’s heart skipped a beat seeing it. She was so lucky, she thought again. She passed the door and made her way to the end of the hall with a happy stride. The day had just begun and she was already doing better than she expected. 

She stepped into the room and paused, her smile growing inward in an almost shy way. She was greeted with the scent and feel of Maria. She inhaled deeply, feeling a level of comfort roll through her body and pang in her chest. Mmm. Carol whispered to herself, almost embarrassed. But she couldn’t help it. She was everywhere. As much as they had kept Carol present in their lives, making sure she was alive and never erased from her fingerprint on the home, it had still been years since Carol had been gone so it made perfect, almost comforting sense to her that they had made it their own. They had to make it comfortable, they had to fill in the empty space. Just like Monica’s room, Maria’s was a perfect snapshot of her personality. It was well kept, everything had a place to be. If it ever did get messy, Carol was sure it didn’t last long. She looked over the room, noting the books next to the bed where Maria slept, all of them half read with bookmarks Monica had made her in them. She looked at the tray of jewelry sitting on the dresser, full of small dainty necklaces and a few pairs of stud earrings with different shapes, and a few pairs of hoops Maria would only wear if she was going out. She looked at the closet, one side open from this morning. All the clothes are organized by color, with a few boxes sitting on the top shelf. Even the bed they had slept in, it was already made perfectly to military standards with the edges tucked in perfectly - except for the top where Maria had extra pillows, all with light purple pillow cases contrasting the perfect white ones underneath.

She looked at the picture frames sitting on Maria’s perfectly organized desk as she walked over to it. On the left side was a picture of her and Monica at a park that had to be fairly recent, a picture of Maria standing outside the SWORD office smiling huge next to an older man in uniform, and a picture of Maria with her brother which must’ve been years old because Maria looked like she was in middle school maybe, making Carol reminisce about the girl she used to know. On the right side of the desk sat two pictures that didn’t face in all the way like the other two, as if they were put there intentionally but also intentionally not looked at as much. One, in a light purple frame, was Maria’s mother. Carol had never met the woman but had seen her face many times growing up in Maria’s father’s house. It was the same then, almost like the woman must have put the pictures of herself up and they didn’t have the heart to take them down, but they tried their best not to look. Next to that sat a framed picture of Carol and Maria smiling at the local bar they used to go to, their uniforms half undone and Carol’s hair out of regs with her aviators pushed back and a red bandana around her head. She remembers the bar more now, Pancho’s. She had been there with Fury and it jogged a lot of things for her, but she so badly wants to remember that day specifically. She runs her fingers close to it, but doesn’t dare to touch. She tries to remember the song they would sing together, all the lyrics. She can’t but she remembers how it felt to jump around for hours and then walk home, too drunk most times, bumping into each other and letting touches and looks linger a little too long, and then having to get up early the next day. She remembers that they would take turns walking each other to their barracks, sometimes daring to sleep in each other's rooms when they thought they might not get caught, always leaving one of them to sneak out in the morning. Carol laughs, thinking about how Maria was right last night, and how she was always better at leaving quietly than Carol.

When her eyes refocus on the photo, she can’t help but wonder how many times Maria had flipped the frame over, hiding the memory from herself. She wonders, just for a moment, if she would’ve been able to live through the grief she put her through. She would never know just how bad it was for Maria, she would never be able to see from her eyes what the woman went through or how she pulled herself out of bed every day and raised a child by herself, kept working, started SWORD. She wondered if Maria ever went back to that bar, or if she ever listened to the song again. She would never know how the woman truly felt in those years or what she did to keep herself busy, and she didn’t think she’d ever feel right asking. She wanted to think about the past few months, after everything. She wanted to think about how it must be even worse, in a way, knowing that Carol was out there saving other people while Monica grew up and Maria trudged on with no choice. She wanted to think about it but couldn’t, knowing what would happen if she let her mind attach to the thoughts and feelings. She gazed at the photo again and turned away, deciding that maybe she didn’t need to remember everything right now. 

She walked over to the box they had pulled out last night for her and started going through some clothes, looking for something to change into. She realized that while she was in space, her suit did all the work for her - she never had to worry about pulling an outfit together. It did the heating, drying, cooling, protecting her from any number of threats - all while containing her powers in a comfortable way for her. So as she sorted through her belongings, she was now also coming to the realization that it also had built in underwear. She only had two pairs of regular underwear to her name and she was wearing one of them. She frantically sifted through the big box to no avail. She questioned why she would only have two pairs of underwear, rather than all of her undergarments or none of them at all. She guessed that the Air Force had something to do with it, remembering that they had packed everything up for Maria to come pick up instead of letting her do it. She cursed them under her breath, mad that once again Maria had something taken from her, deciding that she had no option but to wear the pair of boxer briefs she had found and figure it out later. She grabbed the boxers, an old band tee shirt and a pair of jeans and headed for the bathroom. 

When she walks in the bathroom, she can hear Monica’s cartoons from the living room. 

“I’m gonna bathe myself, Lt. Trouble! Come get me if you need anything, okay?”

 She yells down. She waited to hear Monica’s response and when she didn’t she paused completely, silencing herself and the air around her, cartoons still playing. She could feel her heartbeat pick up its pace.

“Mon? Did you hear me?” 

She shouts again, a bit louder, trying not to let on to her anxiety.

“Okay Mom!”

 Monica yells back, mind focused on her shows. Carol exhaled deeply, relief flowing through her body. She chuckled at mom, gratitude buzzing through her whole body. She was still a mom to Monica and that meant more to her than she could ever explain. She added “go to therapy” on her mental to do list and started stripping.

Once all the layers were off, she chucked her socks in the pile she had made and stepped into the deep tub, pulling a purple shower cap over her hair and bending down to turn on the shower. She pulled the stop up before balancing out the water and heard the water make its way up the long pipe to the shower head slowly as she pulled the curtain closed around her. She immediately screeched, feeling freezing water run over her body. She had forgotten that Maria took cold showers in the morning to wake her up. She scrambled, trying to avoid as much of the frigid water as possible while she flipped up the hot water handle with her toes, jumping up and down, somehow not slipping. As the water began to warm and steam up, she found herself laughing. Out loud. She couldn’t stop. Captain Marvel was giggling like a child (Once again proving Maria right). She slid down and sat on her butt, pulling her knees into her chest and let the water run over her back. She eased into the warm feeling, still feeling laughter bubble up inside of her. She closed her eyes and remembered the last time she felt the shock of cold water all over her.

It was late, or maybe early. Carol felt herself getting tired, but she wanted to keep dancing. She wanted to keep singing. She wanted to keep seeing Maria, feeling her brush up against her while they danced and twirled in sloppy, drunken harmony, singing poorly to whatever song was playing. She didn’t want to go to work tomorrow just to test planes she would never get to fly outside of base. She didn’t want to sleep in her own bed, unless Maria was in it. She just wanted to keep living in this moment for as long as she could. She looked over at her equally drunk copart, dancing freely with her eyes closed. Maria rarely let loose like this, but when she did it was beautiful. She commanded the room, everyone tuning into her wavelength, feeling her all around them. She made everything beautiful, and when she was carefree, it was like no one on earth had a care in the world either. 

Maria opened her eyes to see Carol looking at her and she smiled that toothy grin she had, making the heat from Carol’s chest rise to her face. She smiled back, pushing herself closer to the woman through the people dancing around them. The dark liquor they had both been drinking was coursing through them and burning off with every move, sending sparks through both of their bodies while they watched each other bop to the music. Carol made her way over and laughed, making some comment about how only they could make old white men’s music sound this good. Maria giggled in agreeance, grabbing Carol’s hand and twirling her around. She was tired too, but she was happy to have a break. They had both been working their asses off and both felt the same frustration with the position they were seemingly stuck in. They were making their way up in rank, one then the other, every time. But two facts always remained. They were both Black Women. So the Air Force didn’t give them much reign, despite the fact that they were statistically and literally the two best pilots the Air Force had ever seen and a lot of people knew it. Despite all their talent and gusto, they did their diligence day in and day out. So, when they got the chance to be free from the monotony, they took it, hand in hand, happily. 

As Carol spun back into the woman’s arms with a heaving laugh, they both smiled at each other widely. Maria couldn’t look away, she felt stuck as her eyes moved down from her friend’s eyes to her lips. Carol surprised her by grabbing her other arm and spinning her just how she had done, and pulling her in with a dramatic dip. Everyone around them cheered, drunk too. They laughed with their bellies, feeling the song in their chests. Carol pulled Maria up slow, just as the exciting song ended. The next song started and it was slower, and most people around them coupled up, only some seeming annoyed as they made their way off the dance floor and back to the bar and stools. The two women looked around them, then at each other. They both shrugged with a small laugh, and Carol pulled Maria in to dance. She made some joke about being proper while she found her hands at Maria’s lower back, making the woman laugh as she made herself comfortable around Carol’s neck and shoulders. They laid their chins on eachother and swayed, letting the joke of it all dissipate into the air. It was moments like this that they relished in, secretly. Every now and then, they’d allow themselves a second to breathe each other in. Usually when they were drunk and their inhibitions were low. For both of them, it felt like everything melted away. Just like when they were younger and neither had been asked to the school dance, so they took each other. They shared one slow dance that night, making the excuse that it was tradition and neither should miss out on their first slow dance. They had wanted to dance together at prom, but they had both regrettably had dates for once. Maria had been asked by a boy from her science class, he played on the basketball team and told her she was pretty AND smart (wow, how romantic, Carol thought when she heard the story).

Carol hadn’t been asked but when she found out Maria said yes after being pressured by her father and not hearing Carol make a strong argument against it, Carol forced some kid from one of her classes to come with her. All four had danced that night, split into the ‘correct’ gendered pairs. Carol couldn’t keep her eyes off her bestfriend, and the feeling was mutual. During the final slow dance, they were all on the floor swaying in and out of rhythm with the song playing. Carol and Maria locked eyes and didn’t unlock them until the song was over. They had danced again during their first military ball, quietly in the back behind a pillar where no one could see them. It was unspoken but well understood. They didn’t talk about it after, they just went about their business. They always did. And they would again after tonight, carrying on like time didn’t stop when they touched like this. As the music played, Carol’s hand rubbed Maria’s back absent mindedly, while Maria rubbed small circles against Carol’s neck as they swayed, both in and out of daydreaming, both drunk and leaning a little too heavily on eachother. They both fought the urge to look up at each other, so they let their heavy heads rest on each other as they danced, feet in perfect timing with eachothers. This is what friends do, right? They were so comfortable with each other, it wasn’t weird to slow dance. Right? They almost stopped moving entirely, leaving just a small rocking between them as the music played through them, syncing their breaths. You feel so good, they both thought at the same time, almost forgetting that their freedom in this moment was due to the cognac surging through them.

When time started again and the song stopped, an upbeat one replacing it, they both lingered for a moment longer trying to hold onto the comfort they felt, and trying to collect their drunk selves. Over the sound of the music, the bartender announced last call and they looked at each other with a mischievous smirk. 

“Last one to the bar pays for the shots!” They said in unison, falling gracefully back into their routine. They ran over, both making it there at the same time, so as always they paid for each other’s shots and continued jamming to the music and letting the ambiance of the bar carry them through the rest of the night. Everyone knew everyone, so they felt safe, which was nice. As they finished their last two shots each, they both felt the drunkenness take its strong hold on them and they decided this would be their last song. They grabbed the karaoke mics that no one else wanted and belted at the top of their lungs, horribly but everyone loved it. They jumped up and down, bursting at the seams with laughter and lyrics, dancing with whoever danced with them. Once the song ended, they grabbed each other’s hands and ran for the coat rack, bounding forward despite their lack of balance. 

Pulling on their jackets, they stepped outside into the cooler air and took it in. Carol checked her watch and was astonished to see the time, despite the fact they everyone knew last call at Pancho’s meant it was 2am and the bar would be closing at 2:30. She looked over at Maria who was staring up at the sky.

“What’re you look-”

“Shh! Make a wish! Right now before you miss it!” 

Maria rushed Carol, keeping her eyes closed and her hands clasped together like she was praying, maybe even begging. Carol smiled, knowing the shooting star that must’ve passed was already gone, but she chose to believe the energy would linger for Maria and her. She closed her eyes and spent no time trying to figure out what to wish for. She knew exactly what she wanted, what she needed. They both did. Carol kept her eyes closed after she was done, letting her body relax and fully feeling the disorientation of her drunkenness. She felt woozy, almost nauseous. Maria stared at her while her eyes were shut, allowing her body to relax at the sight. She felt her body move for her, without permission. She grabbed Carol’s hand, shocking the woman’s eyes open and started running without any explanation. 

“What are you doing Rambeau? Where are we going?” 

Carol asked, confused, dizzy and feeling a familiar spike of excitement rise in her. Maria was even more daring and much less prudent when she was intoxicated. She was taking her on an adventure and she was ready to go. She would follow the woman anywhere, drunk or not.

“You’ll see. Don’t you trust me, Danvers?” 

Maria called behind her, laughing and out of breath the whole time but never stopping. Carol didn’t need to answer, they both knew the answer. They kept up laughing, thankful for all the PT they’d been forced to do by the United States military. They ran down quiet streets for a few minutes, until they made it to a dirt path with a bunch of trees, leading them off the main road. Maria looked back at Carol with an excited and sly smile. Carol pulled her hand back and made her face her. 

“You’re not trying to serial killer me, right? Where are you taking me?” 

She laughed, but meant the question.

“C’monnn.” Maria tugged, wanting to live in the moment while she could. 

“Don’t you trust me?” 

She asked again, looking in Carol’s eyes with a glint, but soft. Penetrating, Carol thought to herself. She knew she couldn’t say no, she never could. So, she smiled and signaled for Maria to keep taking her wherever she was.

“Lead the way.”

This made Maria smile excitedly, adding an extra skip in her step. They weren’t running this time but they were walking fast, Maria jumping around Carol who felt like she was in a movie or a trance, eyes never leaving Maria’s dancing body as they made their way down the dark path, leaving her feet to trust whatever path Maria made for her. Maria saw a clearing in the trees ahead of them and she started running again, creating too much space for Carol’s comfort. She snapped out of her trance and ran after the faster woman, feeling anxiety and frustration rise in her for a moment. 

“What the hell, Rambeau? It’s dark out here! You can’t just run o-” Carol started while she wiped the sweat and dust off her face. When she opened her eyes, she saw Maria standing at the edge of a lake surrounded by thick brown sand and trees. Maria waved her over and the frustration fled Carol’s body faster than it arrived. She jogged up to Maria who was already undressing, making Carol choke when she saw glimpses of Maria’s dark skin that she didn’t usually see. I mean, sure, they’d seen eachother in bathing suits and naked before, when they were kids, but it had been a while. A long while. Carol had to force her mouth shut before Maria could see it hanging open.

“Cmon, hurry up! We gotta jump in before my better judgement takes over!” 

Maria rushed as she pulled off her socks and yanked her pants the rest of the way down, pulling them over her ankles. Carol was still frozen watching her.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared Danvers? Cmon! It’ll help with the drunkenness and it’ll be a story to tell our kids!” 

Maria exclaimed, pulling her shirt over her head. All the was left was her bra and perfect light purple underwear. Carol snapped out of it and laughed.

“HA! What the hell are you doing? Don’t tell me you’re about to-”

“Skinny dip? Yes the hell I am. And so are you. Hurry up!”

Maria finished her sentence as she grabbed her hand, pulling her over and pulling the bandana off her head and tossing it with her own clothes she had made a pile of. She started pulling at Carols shirt sleeves until Carol brushed her away, laughing but really just unable to let Maria help undress her. She was suddenly feeling very shy but as always, Maria was going to get what she wanted from Carol because that’s what Carol wanted. Maria looked at her with that So, are you gonna do it or not? look that Carol was usually giving her and waited for Carol’s face to break into a smile she couldn’t help.

“I can’t believe I’m about to do this with you. Don’t cry to me when you regret it tomorrow and have to blow your hair out in the morning!” 

Carol said as she pulled her shirt over her head and exposed her own body, one that Maria wasn’t sure how to fully take in either as she fought back a smile at Carol’s comment. She thought about the last time she’d seen Carol completely naked, or at least as naked as she almost was standing there. They used to get dressed in front of each other all the time and they’d been in matching bathing suits a bunch of times growing up but it had been a while, since they weren’t rooming together in the barracks. She forced her stare away while Carol undid her pants and slid out of them, leaving only her boy shorts, a bra and socks. She kicked her socks off to match as Maria finished pulling the rest of her underwear off, and by the time they both turned around, they were stark naked in the middle of nowhere, right in front of each other.

The silence sat for a moment before they both laughed, the tension easing away like it always did. Maria grabbed Carol’s hand and ran for the water, looking back only to ask You ready? as her feet made their way into the moist sand, inching towards the cold water. Carol shot back As I’ll ever be before making her way in too. They both plunged forward, swimming out a bit but not too far. They both shot under the water and looked at eachother, grabbing hands again before popping back up. The water rolled off of them as they broke through the surface, blinking it from their eyes and feeling their hair. They laughed loudly, finding their bearings in the freezing water.

“Holy shit!” Carol swore, bobbing a bit as she figured out how to float again. Still laughing.

“More like Holy FUUUCK!” Maria shouted out with a laugh in her voice, lifting it into the trees around them. She couldn’t stop laughing, and she couldn’t stop shivering. Carol looked at her as she held her free hand that she was using to balance herself with as she floated out to Maria who happily took it in hopes it would help stabilize her as well.

“You’re a god damn maverick, Rambeau!” Carol laughed as she spun Maria around, swimming in circles trying to keep her blood pumping to warm them both up. Maria swam gracefully, still holding onto Carol’s hand. She was laughing but she was also quieter now. Carol questioned if it was the cold or if it was whatever made her jump into a freezing lake anyway. She pulled her back in and held her hand tight as she pulled her onto her back, pressing her front to her back and taking deep breaths trying to stay warm while still enjoying the fluidity of movement the water provided. They both felt like they were flying, finally.

“What’s going on in your head?” Carol asked as she swam in different directions for a little bit, back and forth as Maria clung to her back, clearly the drunker of the two now. The shock of the water had helped to sober them both up but Carol always had a higher tolerance to alcohol as it was. She was still drunk but not as drunk as her bestfriend, whos head was resting on top of Carol’s wet curls. She knew the humidity and however she planned to get sleep that night wouldn’t help with her process in the morning.

“I just want to fly. I just wanna feel free, you know?” Maria started, not exactly slurring her words but they weren’t as uniform with her natural cadence as they usually were. Carol nodded slightly with a Mhm to assure Maria that she was listening.

“I just… I just wish we could do whatever we wanted to do. I’m so tired of living by the same rules every day. I wish I could just fly into space and stay there, sometimes, you know?” Carol smiled at the thought of Maria being able to fly how she was meant to. High up, above the clouds. Away from everyone and everything that constantly tried to tie her feet to the ground. She did know, she felt the same way about herself.

“You’d leave me here on earth to deal with these bastards?” Carol asked, joking but also not. Maria half laughed, half hiccuped at the thought.

“Wherever I am, you are too. That’s how it’s always going to be, Danver’s. I fly, you fly. You fly, I fly. That’s never gonna change.” Maria said, meaning it. She was always more emotionally open when she was drunk and Carol almost felt bad listening to her, knowing she wouldn’t normally open up like this - especially naked, freezing, clinging to her best friends back with all her might and drunk in a lake they had no business being in. But she couldn’t help but revel in what the woman was saying. She felt the same.

“I know. I know. Come on, lets go home.” Maria wanted to put up a fight but she was shivering and suddenly very sleepy, so she let Carol swim them to shore. When they got out the water, the warm air offered some support in their drunken attempts to pull on their clothing over wet and suddenly sand covered bodies. They weren’t sure if they were putting on the right things but they knew it was covering their important parts and that’s what matters. 

“Can we stay at look at the stars for a little bit?” Maria asked, even though she was the one in charge, whether she knew it or not. Carol knew it. She nodded, knowing it wasn’t a good idea but one she couldn’t deny the soft woman in front of her. She spread their jackets out on the beach for them to lay down and they both did just that, scotting their bodies close to each other instinctively. They peered up at the stars above them, seeing them clearly in the huge circle the trees made. It was perfect, they both thought. Some moments went by before Carol asked a question.

“What did you wish for earlier?”

“Shh. I can’t tell or it won't come true. It was something I’ve always wanted, so it has to come true.” She explained, sleep and bourbon clouding her voice.

“Mine too.” Carol whispered, her own eyes growing heavy. They held hands and both thought that the other woman must’ve wished for them to finally be able to do their jobs the right way, to be able to fly for real. Little did they both know they were wishing for the same thing. Each other.

They laid there, staring at the stars until they weren’t. Sleep came easy for them that night, as odd as it was. It got odder when they woke up, facing each other with only a nose length between their faces, feeling the warm sting of the sun in their eyes. They looked at eachother and started laughing until they heard the familiar sound of security keys dangling and a radio in the nearing distance. They knew it had to be the wannabe cops that patrolled the area and they knew it was their time to get the hell out of there. They ran back down the same path and back onto the main road until they made it to Pancho’s. They slowed to a casual pace after that, trying not to draw attention to themselves even though they had sand all over and their hair was nowhere near what it looked like the previous night. They walked, quietly, but happily together back to the barracks and passed out in Maria’s room. She wanted the comfort of her own space to ease through her impending hangover, but she needed the comfort of Carol’s arms too. Carol put up no fight, trying not to be too obvious that she wanted to be there too. Though she’d never tell, Maria positioned herself perfectly to be held and went right to sleep.

Carol stayed up until she fell asleep like she always did, making sure she was on her side in case she threw up or needed water. She watched as Maria slept, looking like she was floating again. She was so beautiful and Carol was so tired. She laid down and held the woman, her arms perfectly fitting into the space that was left, like it was made for her. They slept most of the day away and when Carol woke up, she set medicine next to Maria’s bed and snuck out, quieter than normal. She thought about what Maria had said when she was in the water as she walked back to her room to take care of her own hangover and messed up fro’. She promised herself that day that no matter where she flew, she would make sure Maria would be there too. Behind that promise, she knew that she would follow Maria to the end of the earth, even the end of the universe without a second thought. She tried to shake some self respect back into her own dreams, smiling despite herself and went to sleep. She dreamed of Maria, because Maria was her dream.

Carol’s day dreaming was interrupted by a cold surge through the shower head again, and the sound of the downstairs sink running before being cut off. Her super hearing alerted her to the sound of Monica filling a cup and going to sit back down. She buzzed under the cold water before it eased back into the warmth she had set for herself. She felt more fond of the cold now. She stood back up and washed her body, letting the water run over her face. The soap smelled like both Monica and Maria and she felt comfort knowing she would smell like them now, too. She finished up and got out, drying herself with her powers instead of making more laundry for herself with the towels she had been looking at the night before. She grabbed her clothes and located her underwear and bra from the pile. 

When she grabbed the pair of boxers, she looked at the inside hem and saw “DANVERS” written in smudged black sharpie on the white tag. She laughed with an edge of old frustration, remembering how she had to do that because people kept stealing her underwear in the laundry room as a prank because her and Maria had ranked up before a few of the other men in their unit. Maria’s clothes never got stolen, but they didn’t refrain from trying to get to her in other ways. None of which she ever humored, but Carol knew it got to her a few times. Some of the guys had called them ‘lesbos’ a few times, and eventually it evolved into the d slur. Both pilots always had different comebacks that consistently left the immature weasels with little to say back. Carol knew both of those words well having heard them most of her life, and she had taught herself not to internalize it.

Maria, on the other hand, let the first one roll off her for the most part - but the second one sometimes picked at scabs she had long covered up. Scabs she wasn’t ready to look at yet. They both decided not to report the harassment because it would probably end up worse if they did, and eventually it died down. They both continued to rise in ranks slowly but surely, and finally Mar-Vell came and they felt some reprieve from the monotony they were used to. Carol shivered at the thought of what came after that, though. 

She slid the rest of her clothes on and walked back into the bedroom. She put her dirty clothes in the laundry basket next to the closet for her to do later, and walked back over to the box of her things. She’d seen a bunch of stuff Monica had shown her the first time she came home, but she wanted to know what was in the other boxes Maria had kept. She went through the bottom of the box that had her clothes in it not finding anything she hadn’t already seen, and then pulled open the other one they had left out. She presumed this is one Maria hadn’t shown Monica as it had light dust on it when she opened it.

She sifted through, halfway hoping to find another pair of underwear, but instead she found a bunch of papers and trinkets. Some necklaces and a silver chain bracelet, wristbands from carnivals and bars they had been to together, a pair of dice from a board game they had stolen from a store one time when they were younger and had kept as they grew up. She ran her hands over everything, trying to take in as much of her former self as she could like she always did when she had the chance. She fumbled at the bottom of the box and pulled out a bunch of papers, some folded, some grocery lists with toiletries and snacks crossed off here and there, some half done crossword puzzles that Carol was never good at, and a few opened envelopes. She sat the rest down and looked over each envelope with care. 

Some had cards in them, birthday and christmas cards, one from valentines day. All of them had silly characters or jokes on the front. They had made a good habit of buying each other cheesy cards for every holiday they could think of, Carol strained to remember as she read through them. She rubbed her finger over Maria’s perfect signature, wondering if she kept the ones Carol had gotten her, too. She filed through the papers curiously, flipping through piece after piece of paper that held a small snapshot of moments in her life. Mundane, ordinary moments. She cherished them, and she was grateful to both Maria for keeping them and herself for never being organized and keeping all this stuff that most people would’ve eventually thrown away or allowed themselves to misplace over time. Her eyes fixed on a thicker envelope. She grabbed it, reading the red script labeled across the front.

To: Danvers

From: Rambeau ♡ 

Carol smiled at the little heart Maria had drawn next to her last name. She opened the letter, finding another heart on the back of the envelope where it was once sealed. Carol reads over the letter, feeling emotion and memory rise up in her chest, spreading through her whole body. The letter is dated, of course because Maria is ever punctual. It was from when they had been stationed at two separate bases for the first few months. It was agony for both of them, being in two separate states. Carol had sent Maria a letter when she first arrived, thinking she would be the first one to write. She was shocked, however, to find a letter waiting for her when she arrived at the post office on base. She had opened it the second she got back to her barracks room. It was an envelope inside an envelope, the outer one having had their full names and ranks and official military postage, the second one having the cute little hearts Maria drew perfectly when she wrote. Again, she was softer than most people expected her to be.

The letter expressed pretty much exactly what Carol had in hers, which came to no surprise to either of them when they both read what the other had sent. They were always on the same wavelength. They both had so much more they needed to say, but they were so grateful to hold something physical that the other had taken time to write for the other.  Maria asked how Carol was doing, explained what had been going on with her, and complained about the men on base per usual. Just as if they were together in person. 

As Carol read through it, she laughed, probably how she had the first time, at a lot of the letter. Towards the end though, she felt a tight ball of heat sitting in her chest restricting her breathing. She almost couldn’t read through what was left of the letter. Was she embarrassed? 

“Anyways, I hope you’re still kicking ass. I KNOW you are, that always came easy to you. 

I hope we can call soon, hopefully without being interrupted by the other idiots needing to use the phone every single time you do. I can’t believe there's only four on your base and only two that actually work (what happened to ‘The Air Force’s finest?’). You’d think with all the money the military has.. You know. I know it’s hard for both of us to find the time right now but I just really miss you, Carol. I miss shitty karaoke a lot, I can’t do it with these clowns here without you. Friday nights just aren’t the same haha. I miss renting the same movies every weekend and staying up all night eating too much. I even watched Fame the other day without you. I still hate it but it was nice, I just wish you were here to act out all the scenes. And I’ll deny it if you ever tell anybody, but I even miss your shitty cooking (burn this after reading), and not just because it makes it easier for me to be the better cook, but just because it’s you. I never used to hate writing letters but I do now, because it reminds me how far they have to travel to get to you. I hate that we’re not together, we’ve always been together. And as much as I act like I know what I’m doing, sometimes I feel lost without you here. And I know we’ve been pretending everything is the same but it isn’t, at least not for me. I wish we had more time to talk before you left. I wish we had more time in general. Damn the Air Force. Regardless, I just want you to know that I love you. And I’m so proud of you. I always am.

It’ll all be better soon. I believe that, just like you always do. We’ll be up in the air in no time. I’ll meet you up there. I’ll be the one whipping by you. Catch up if you can.

Take good care of yourself, because I’m not there to do it for you. 

You’re the best damn pilot in the Air Force (second only to me, of course), and don’t let anyone convince you otherwise! Call me when you get the chance. And hurry up and write back!

Always, 

Rambeau.

Ps. Things wont always be this way. Don’t forget that. And don’t forget that round of shots you owe me, either, goofball.”

Carol felt the heat of a blush running to her cheeks. She was thankful for her dark complexion hiding it, although no one was there to see her anyways. Why did she feel so giddy, and also… embarrassed? She felt like she was reading someone’s diary, even though the letter was clearly addressed to her and she had already read it. Years ago. She scanned over the text again, regarding Maria’s perfect handwriting. She felt like she was reading a love letter. Maybe it was, but she was too anxious to entertain the thought too much. She wasn’t exactly sure what that would mean, and she wasn’t sure if this year's old letter still even meant anything other than friendship.

Maria had been tight lipped about a lot of stuff, even though she pretended like she wasn’t. Her and Monica always answered Carol’s questions openly, happily for the most part unless it was about the ‘missing period’. They all tried to avoid that subject now, as time had gone by, but they all also knew that it would come up naturally sometimes and it couldn’t be left unanswered all the time. Aside from that, to the untrained eye, it seemed like Maria was willing to give up any bit of information that would help get them all back to how they used to be or at least help figure out what life looked like moving forward. But Carol knew better, she had a very well trained eye for Maria Rambeau, it was second nature for her - with or without the gaps in her memory. There had been a few moments,  just brief enough to almost miss, since Carol came back the first time with Fury and even more recently on some of her visits, when the unshakeable Maria had gotten flustered or nervous, where the heat currently in Carol’s cheeks had been in hers. When her heart threatened to beat so hard it would leap from her chest. Granted, she hid it well but again, Carol could always see through her. She seldom was at a loss for words or made quick, messy cover ups in conversation. Usually the people around them didn’t even notice. Monica didn’t even catch it, or at least didn’t acknowledge it. It happened once or twice when Carol and Maria were alone, too. Carol knew things like that only happened when Maria felt unsure, or when she really didn’t want to talk about something. Anyone who had ever met Maria knew she was as straightforward as they come, so that’s what made Carol pay extra attention when she was avoiding something. 

The thoughts of romance danced around Carol’s brain tauntingly, aching for her to pull them forward and examine them. But knowing how Maria was, and knowing that she only got that way when she was purposefully avoiding something, Carol settled on a quiet feeling of rejection instead - against her better judgment. She let it swell through her, enflaming the previous feelings of embarrassment right along with it. She put the letter away, resigning that she should just be thankful to have a friend who cares for her so much and that she wouldn’t allow herself to think anything else. She did this often, rejected herself before other people could to avoid the stinging feeling of embarrassment or disappointment her parents and the people she grew up with often supplied her with.

Maria never made her feel that way, and maybe that's why she would accept this quiet, self imposed feeling now instead of facing it in person with the other woman. She couldn’t risk ruining something she had just gotten back, anyways. Right? Right, she forced herself to agree in her head. She decided to go find Monica and clear her head of the letter. As she walked out, she glanced at the picture of Maria and the child again and sighed softly, letting a small smile of gratitude cover her face. This could be enough for her, if she would let it be.

Monia was sitting on the couch still, no longer paying any mind to the tv playing in the background. She was eagerly reading through the huge phone book they usually had sitting on the coffee table, bracing it against her bended knees as she flipped through the yellow pages quickly. 

“What’re you looking for, Lt. Trouble?”

“Someone who sells the parts I need for my next invention! What letter do you think that would be under?”

Carol laughs, deciding to humor the girl.

“Hmm, you know I’m not sure. Have you tried under sales? Or maybe…a junkyard?”

“I could try the junkyard! I didn’t try that yet!”

“Maybe I can get you a hook up from Fury, orrrr maybe your mom knows someone at her job? What’re you even looking for?”

“I already asked her last week! She said she would check but I think she was just saying that. Here’s my list.”

Monica handed Carol a surprisingly long list, with a few things checked off that Carol assumed were already laying around the house. She wondered if Maria knew that these things had been checked off, which gave her a good chuckle. She set the list down and turned to Monica.

“Okay, I think I can get you some of these but the bigger things are definitely gonna need some work. Maybe we can roll down to the junkyard this week?”

“YES! And no take-backsies!”

“Wouldn’t dare. How about you come help me handle the laundry and dishes and then we can head outside?”

“Deal. I think you might need help figuring out the detergent set up Ma’ has anyways. She’s very particular.” 

Monica explains, leaping up into action and grabbing Carol’s hand to pull her along.

Monica was right, Maria had a very elaborate and strict laundry system. The two of them likely didn’t get it exactly right but they did their best to pay attention to details neither of them really cared about but knew Maria did, wanting not only to please and respect Maria, but also wanting to avoid what she would have to say about it if they got it wrong or chose to ignore it. Carol tried to use her powered speed and agility to help make the process move quicker, but it only hindered the experience. She noted that the chance to move slowly and be mindful was probably why Maria seemed to enjoy the routine of laundry and such. It probably helped calm her down and help her be present after long days working to protect the whole world, while still having to be a full time mom to a rather rambunctious child, on top of whatever anxiety Carol added throughout her week. She smiled and decided to try and match the attentiveness. Her and Monica spent a while switching between loading and unloading, doing the dishes left over from dinner last night and breakfast - eventually returning to sort and fold the clean clothes and linens. It smelled lovely in the laundry room, reminding both of them of Maria. It comforted them in a way only she could. 

Once they finished with the inside chores, they decided to mix and match to-do lists. Monica needed to catch some frogs just as much as Carol needed to mow the lawn, she insisted. Carol agreed to help her catch some frogs if she would agree to help her patch up some of the paint that Maria had been avoiding doing. They shook on it, running off into the field that would be mowed down later in the day. They went at it excitedly, jumping around in the tall grass and dirt, painting not so gracefully and splattering white paint on each other by “accident”.

By the time they finished the side of the house and Monica had caught, released and named at least eight frogs that she swore were all different despite being nearly identical, they had both created more laundry to do and were both definitely in need of a bath but neither minded in the slightest. Even once they were done, they chased each other around tirelessly until Monica was hiccupping and giggling at the same time. Carol marveled at Monica’s intrinsic wonder and love at the world around her. In her Hero heart, watching it solidified her sense of duty to protect the galaxy, making sure nothing and no one could ever bring harm to the world her daughter so loved. But in her Carol heart, it made her giddy too. Almost envious in a way. She missed the days when she could roll around in a yard and only worry about trying not to crush too many bugs. Now she had to worry about whether someone was going to crush a planet or not. She often longed for a childhood she never really had, and sometimes even the one she did have when she could piece it together. She knew it wasn’t a good one, but she had Maria. She just had Maria. And now Monica does too, and god was she glad about it. 

Carol picked the younger girl up and flew her to the front porch in a flash, something Maria would swear she didn’t approve of as she fought back her own giggles. Monica shouted with pure glee as her feet landed back on the wood she knew well. They zipped in the house and ran to the kitchen, ready for lunch. Monica decided she would handle making it, promising Carol the best turkey and cheese sandwich she would ever have. Or at least better than she could make herself.

“Mayo or mustard Mama?”

Carol beamed a grin across her face, feeling a familiar hot blush swipe across her at the word mama but she tried to play it cool.

“I want whatever you’re having, Trouble!”

Carol responded happily, only after registering the fact that she hated mustard and hoped that Monica did too. She watched as the girl ran through the kitchen, leaving a small mess across different surfaces. She whipped up the two sandwiches like she did it very often, and sat two plates down in front of Carol with a big toothy smile. 

“Wa-La! The Trouble special!” 

She exclaimed, nudging the sandwich to Carol and taking a big bite out of her own, leaving a smudge of mayo on the inner side of her finger. Thank god, Carol laughed to herself. Before she could remind the girl to make sure she cleaned up, Monica was already stacking up her ingredients and propping open the fridge with her foot. This made the woman smile, knowing she had probably heard one too many times from Maria about cleaning up after herself. 

“Take a bite!” Monica mumbled, chewing down another bite herself and gesturing to Carol with her hands. Carol bit into the sandwich and began mimicking the fancy chefs they would watch on tv together.

“Mmm! Magnificent work yet again, Chef Rambeau!”

Monica smiled before straightening her face and standing up straight before taking a bow, nearly dropping her own sandwich. They both laughed and enjoyed their sandwiches, Carol deciding to sneak Monica a coke in thanks for making the best sandwich she’d ever had, saying "this ones on me” and promising to tell Maria she drank them if she asks. Once they both finished and decided that Monica won the burping contest, they decided to tackle the lawn and climb the tree. Monica ran back outside like she had all the energy in the world, and Carol followed behind at a much slower pace as if she didn’t literally have all the energy in the world.

They took turns pushing the mower up and down the huge yard in different directions, trying to make different drawings with the pattern it created. Carol figured Maria wouldn’t mind much. Once they finished, both sweating under the direct heat of the sun, they were both happy to have some reprieve when they made their way over to the trees. Carol laid down in the grass underneath the biggest tree, grateful for the shade it provided.

She breathed deep, taking in the soft wind that was blowing. It wasn’t as humid as she had expected, another thing she was grateful for. Monica plopped herself next to her, pulling up her tee shirt sleeves to match Carol’s rolled up sleeves. She poked at the tan line appearing where the shirt sat for most of the day. Carol pointed to her own, kind of happy to have a tan to her brown skin again. She spent a lot of time in her suit, so it always felt nice to have regular clothes on. She thought about how the sun on earth felt so different than on other planets, who all had different sources of heat and light. She looked over at Monica, who was now laying down too, watching a lady bug crawl through her hands. She was brighter than the sun, Carol thought, before she pushed her sunglasses up her forehead to tangle in her fro’ again.

“So, you’re gonna conquer the big one today, huh?”

“Absolutely. Mom always gets nervous so she told me to wait until you came home again. The whole super power thing and stuff.”

Monica rolled her eyes and continued looking at the lady bug with curiosity.

“Well, she kinda has a point kiddo. Let’s do it.”

Monica jumped to her feet, pausing only to gently place the lady back in the grass and hopped over to the foot of the tree. She walked around it, looking for the perfect place to start. She found her footing and called Carol over to spot her from behind.

“Alright, pay attention and be careful. Let me know if you get stuck, okay?”

“Gotcha gotcha. If I get stuck, will you fly up to me?” 

Monica asked while climbing up the first couple inches, hoisting herself up to find a sturdy hand hold between two branches and bracing her legs against either side. 

“We’ll see.”

Carol watched intently, squinting her eyes against the sun and smiling with her teeth, hands ready to catch Monica. The girl climbed up a few feet and held on tight.

“So, this is how far I got last time with Mom. I just have to streeetchhhhh over to the next branch.”

“You got this, just pretend your arms are made of elastic and reach.”

Monica tried a few times to stretch over with no success, before deciding to just leap as far as she could to connect her hands. Carol’s heart nearly jumped out her chest, not even realizing her own feet had ended up off the ground, floating next to the girl who had successfully made the jump. She smiled at her mom, ignoring the small scratches on her forearms that were starting to bleed just a little bit.

“Jesu- Good job, Trouble! Just maybe tell me next time?”

“We’ll see.”

Monica shot back with that same toothy grin her mother has. She made her way up the rest of the tree and sat on the highest branch she felt comfortable with, kicking her feet with pride. Carol decided to climb the tree next, doing it with ease to meet Monica on the branch. She sat on the one next to it, as to not add too much weight. 

“Why didn’t you just fly or float or something?” 

“That would be cheating! Plus, I wanna be as cool as you are. I wish I had a camera so we could show your mom!”

“I’ll just have to do it again!”

“Sounds like a plan, kiddo.”

Carol laughed, squeezing Monica’s cheek just a bit before letting her climb on her shoulders to fly back down and head to the house to clean up. 

After washing up, they decided to play some video games for a bit until it was time to start setting up for dinner. They had about two hours until Maria got home and they both wanted to at least be started on food when she arrived. Monica pulled out all her favorites and told Carol to pick which one to play first. They took turns picking after the first few rounds of operation, shutes and ladders, and jenga - all of which Monica won.

Carol insisted on playing something she had a fighting chance at, so they grabbed the deck of cards from the coffee table and played Go Fish. Carol won the first round, but Monica won the last three. Finally, admitting full defeat, Carol asked if they had anymore games. Monica grabbed two more from where they kept them, splaying them on the table. Carol’s eyes caught something familiar, pulling it to herself without a thought. She stared at the worn box and tried to remember. Monica watched, offering an explanation just as Carol was finding one of her own.

“Mom says she always used to beat you at this. She wouldn’t play it with me for a while but one day she brought it out after dinner and taught me. She beat me too the first two times, but I beat her after that. You wanna play?”

Carol wasn’t sure if she was biting back a smile, a laugh, or tears. She nodded and let Monica set the board up. Monica read the instructions out loud just in case Carol didn’t remember it, which Carol wasn’t sure if she did. She decided to just play and see what sticks. Monica handed her the light blue piece without asking, and Carol saw that it had her initials written on it. She watched as Monica sorted through the colors, passing over the purple one that had M.R written on it. She felt a tug in her heart as she watched Monica choose the red one that had a small, barely legible M.R on it too. She watched as Monica pulled out cards and then a set of white and black dice. Carol stood up abruptly, leaving Monica no time to question it.

“Hang on, there’s two pieces missing. I’ll go grab them.”

Carol ran upstairs almost embarrassingly fast and b-lined for the box she had looked through earlier. She grabbed the two colorful die she had left there earlier and headed back downstairs, feeling a mixture of excitement and belonging, along with a deeper, quieter sense of yearning. 

Her and Monica played several rounds, Monica winning the first one until Carol remembered all her strategies from all the times she had beat Maria’s ass at the game. Carol agreed to another game, rolling the dice first since she lost the last round. She rolled doubles, and took her turn. While Monica was doing her lucky roll ritual of blowing on the dice and kissing her small hands, Carol felt herself slipping into a memory she had long displaced. She let herself remember slowly, recalling the reason the dice had even been separated from the game board in the first place. 

“You take the board, I’ll take the dice. That way, we both have a piece, neither of us can play, and then no one else gets the chance to whoop your ass. That’s reserved for my talents.”

Carol laughed, but she was being serious. She was desperate to hold onto anything that could be just for them. Something she could carry in her pocket shamelessly, that no one would understand if they saw. They might think she had a gambling addiction or something, no one would suspect she was trying to hold onto any remnants she could of the woman she loved in her everyday life. She watched as Maria chuckled, probably formulating a sarcastic comeback, Carol assumed with a smirk. Maria never just accepted defeat, that's why they had played the game so many times. 

“Sounds good to me, Danvers. I wouldn’t let anybody else win, anyway.” 

Maria quipped back, knowing she never actually let the other woman win but she couldn’t resist making her think about the possibility. She, too, was happy to keep as many tangible reminders of what they had with her. They both had been fighting with themselves for their friendship to be enough, that having that ripped away from them sent them both reeling. She rubbed her finger over the ripped up pricing sticker on the back of the box waiting for Carol to respond.

“Yeah, OKAY. Like hell you let me win. No one loses that many times, THAT bad and is just letting-”

Maria wrapped her arms around the other woman, letting the box and a few pieces fall out on her bed. She held on tight and fought against sniffling. She wouldn’t let herself let it go. Let her go. She felt Carol choke on the words she didn’t get to finish and relax her body into the embrace. It was almost too relaxed. Neither wanted to admit they were fighting back tears that might never stop flowing if they let them start.

Carol didn’t mind being cut off, she was just finding words to string together anyway. There really wasn’t time for small talk but what else were they supposed to do? Leave it up to Maria to figure it out. To do the thing no one else would. To make the move everyone was afraid to - the one Carol was afraid too. Most people thought Carol was the fearless one just based off her usual demeanor and what people saw her do. Little did they know that she had never been more terrified than in this moment. Not knowing when they’d be able to play the game again. Not knowing when they would be able to touch like this again. Not knowing anything other than that they were afraid and loved each other so deeply.

They sat like that for longer than they both figured they should’ve, but neither felt any regret or shame in the moments as they piled up. They both ignored the awkward angle they were in, they both ignored the sounds outside the barracks room, they both ignored the clock as it ticked cruelly forward. They sank into each other, both laying their chins on the other's shoulder, letting the sides of their faces touch. It was close enough to look over and kiss. Neither dared to let the thought get too loud, choosing to let the contact be enough. It always had to be just enough, between them.

They didn’t say much after that, just small hums and sniffles here and there as they rocked slowly trying to find any sort of comfort they could. They laid down after a while, and before Maria could protest through her tears, Carol promised she would get up early enough to make it back to her room before the bus left the base. They laid there, quietly fighting sleep, wrapped as close together as they could be. Maria kept her face down and her forehead on Carol’s chest, Carol kept her arm under Maria’s neck and pulled her as close as she could with the other. Eventually she reached for Maria’s hand, this time it was her turn to do the thing that they both needed someone to do. Maria eventually cried herself to sleep, and Carol stayed up just rocking her softly until the sun came up. 

When she stood up to leave, grabbing her bags and smoothing a hand over her braid, Maria turned over to take her in. She tried to glare at her, but it softened itself against her will into a sad smile. 

“Don’t you dare leave without saying goodbye, Danvers.” 

They both felt a warm tear or two tear itself across their cheeks. Carol tried her best to match the smile Maria was bravely offering her but it came off even weaker. She walked over and kissed the woman on the forehead before turning to leave, afraid that if she stayed even a minute longer she would never leave. Thoughts of going AWOL floated through her head for the billionth time since she had gotten her orders four days ago. She fought them off with as much strength as she could muster and took another step into the door frame.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

She felt the glare of a rising sun sear into her eyes and she stepped through the threshold, choosing not to look back at the woman on the bed she had just left. Maria wondered if she would’ve looked back either, as she let herself curl into herself and let out the sobs she was fighting back before. She silenced them as best as she could and stayed that way until she had to get up, leaving her no choice but to pull herself together into something that resembled the woman she was just a few days before. 

Carol stood outside the door, trying hard not to listen for Maria for a moment before forcing her feet forward. Step after step, more tears fell from her as she grit her teeth to fight back the screams sitting in her chest. She, too, had to be put together in the next few minutes and it seemed the most impossible task. It almost was.

“Ma’? It’s your turn.”

Carol shook her head, only then registering the wetness in her eyes. She picked up the dice and rolled them, trying to refocus on the game infront of her. She shouted when she rolled doubles again, meaning she got to go twice now.

“Looks like I still got it, afterall!”

“Yeah.. sure. Let’s ignore that I beat you all the other times.” 

Monica laughed out, observing the change in her mother.

“I was just letting you win!”

Carol laughed, mostly to herself, as she moved the blue piece across the board.

“That’s what mom always says. I don’t believe her and I definitely don’t believe you!”

Monica shot back playfully. This made them both laugh, knowing it was true. Some things don’t change.

They kept playing a few turns until Monica finally decided to ask the question she had been formulating the whole game so far.

“What were you thinking about?”

“What do you mean?”

“Just now, after you took your first turn. It seemed like you weren’t really here for a little bit.” 

Monica, just like her mother, ever to the point. Carol hesitated before choosing to just answer truthfully.

“Sometimes, when I’m home with you guys or even when I’m out there in space.. If I touch something, or smell something or someone says a certain somethin’... I remember stuff. Sometimes its just a quick second in my mind, sometimes its like flashbacks. I have a lot of rememberin’ to do, so sometimes I get stuck trying to see it clearly.”

Monica stared at the woman in front of her with understanding eyes. She waited a moment before responding.

“That makes sense, you know. I heard on TV that amnesia can make it take a while to get all your memories back.”

Carol shifted in her seat at the word amnesia, because it was so medical. She never actually did get checked out by a doctor on earth, trying to avoid a conversation about why she was super charged 24/7. She didn’t want to draw attention to her family but she had heard the word being tossed around by Fury and Maria a few times. She nodded at Monica, motioning for the girl to take her turn as they talked. Monica continued.

“Ya’know… I like when you remember stuff. Sometimes I get sad thinking you don’t know all the stuff I do. But then I just remember that it's still in there somewhere. There’s a lot of good stuff waiting for you.”

The girl smiled reassuringly, finishing her turn and deciding to pat Carol’s hand softly just like her mom does to her when she’s upset by something.

“You’re pretty smart, you know that?”

“Of course I know that. I’m actually a genius, but that’s all just semantics.”

“You got me there, kiddo.”

Carol said while rolling the dice again and moving her pieces. She might actually win this round.

“If you ever have any questions about stuff, you can just ask me. Mommy doesn’t always tell you or me everything, but I remember. Sometimes I think I know more than both of you combined.” 

Monica smirked, looking over the board calculating precisely how to take Carol out now that she had her where she wanted her. She took her turn calmly, trying not to alert Carol to her master plan. Carol watched mindlessly as the girls piece glided across the board. Maybe she wouldn’t win this round, actually.

“That would be nice, Mon. Thanks. You can ask me stuff too. Also, just spare me and take me out now!”

Carol smirked back, knowing she would have to roll doubles again to beat the red piece.

“It’s no fun if you just give up!”

Carol decided to do Monica’s good luck trick this time, blowing on each die separately and then kissing her hands when she brought them together. She tossed them on the board aimlessly, trying not to focus on the numbers so she didn’t jinx it. They both watched as both die rolled a 3.

“No way!”

“Haha! Maybe your lucky trick does work!” 

Carol laughed as she moved her piece past Monica’s and into the goal. Finally, a win. She stood up and did a goofy dance around the table like Monica had done before her when she was winning. They both started the giggles again, deciding it was probably time to start cleaning up and getting everything ready for dinner.

As they sorted through the cabinets together, Monica standing on the counter despite what her mother would say, Monica began telling Carol stories to see if she could help jog her memory since Carol hadn’t asked any questions yet. She ran through her baby years, her toddler years - especially her ‘troublesome two’s’ as Maria calls them, and everything up until when Carol went missing. They both chose not to talk about why there was such a gap in time. Carol listened quietly, laughing here and there when the story almost always resulted in some hilarious mishap on Carol and Monica’s part. Monica felt successful as she could see her mom piecing things together while they attempted to boil noodles and mix together pasta sauce on the stove. They both tried to keep it from getting messy, not wanting to add any stress to Maria’s plate when she got home. 

Monica told as many stories as she could while Carol took them in happily, filing some away to focus on later when she could fully process them. They were all happy moments, usually funny. It was nice to know that life was good before the accident. Finally, when they started grating the cheese together, Monica decided she would ask some questions now since she had told so many stories. She had a lot she wanted to know too. 

“Here, you do this one and I’ll do this one. Just be careful with the grater, it can get tricky towards the end.” 

Carol motioned to Monica as she walked over to the table with a bowl to put the cheese in when they were done. Carol picked up some cheese and got to work, being mindful herself. Just because cuts healed up quickly for her didn’t mean they didn’t sting when she got them. She knew this well, especially being in a kitchen. Monica started grating too, trying to perfectly time her question. She had been through the boxes upstairs too, always making sure to leave them how she found them so she didn’t tip her mother off. She never understood why she kept them private from her like she didn’t already know about most of the stuff in there. 

“So, why don’t you and mom kiss anymore?”

Carol’s hand skidded to a stop, a choke coming up her throat that ended in a cough she could barely get out. She stood there stunned for a moment, unsure if she had heard the girl correctly. She didn’t notice the small cut on the side of her finger from the edge of the grater yet.

“W-what?”

“Why don’t you and mommy kiss anymore? I don’t know why she keeps all that stuff in the boxes upstairs a secret like I didn’t always see you guys. It was normal when you guys acted normal, now it’s weird seeing you two act different. Did you guys get into a fight or something?”

Carol was still too stunned to speak, standing over the more than half grated cheese that was now no good to use since her finger was bleeding a bit more. Monica looked up at her and noticed the blood, then stared at her with those same curious eyes, only now a touch of concern in them. Carol could feel the stare so she forced herself to shake her head again, clearing her throat in the process.

“I, um, I don’t really know what you’re talking about I don’t think.”

“Right. Here, your blood is ruining the cheese.”

Monica handed her a towel. Carol looked down and finally noticed all the blood. It wasn’t a crazy amount but definitely enough to have ruined the cheese. She wrapped the towel around it and walked to the sink, rinsing it off with cool water while she felt like she was in a daze. She started thinking about the letter Maria had sent her again. She read through the words in her head again, over and over while the water stung her finger. She could hear Monica in the back cleaning up her mess and she felt bad. She felt bad for ruining a part of dinner per usual, but also for reacting this way. And for not actually having an answer. She couldn’t have been sure before this but now she could.

Maybe? Maybe Monica meant cheek kissing or forehead kisses. Maybe her child mind was more innocent than Carol’s confused one. She turned the water off and looked in the junk drawer for some bandaids. She pulled out a pink barbie one and wrapped it tight over her new cut. It would probably be gone in a few hours but she wanted the security of the bandaid in the moment. For some reason, she felt shaken up again. Her face felt hot and her chest felt tight. She turned back to Monica who was finishing up her grating now, adding it into the bowl. As Carol walked back over to grab it to put with the rest of the food, she was searching for something to say in response that actually made sense. Before she could get anything out, Monica chimed in again.

“I’m sorry I asked, I wasn’t sure if it would make you feel funny. But please don’t tell mom I was snooping. I just wanted to see as much of you as I could. But she’ll be upset with me if you tell, I think.”

“Don’t worry about it, Trouble. Secrets safe with me.” 

Carol said, smiling weakly at the girl. Monica did feel bad, but she also kind of knew this would be the reaction Carol would have. It only confirmed one of her theories, that Carol didn’t remember that her and Maria were in a relationship. She was almost tempted to say something else when they both heard the sound of Maria’s car pull in the long drive way. They looked at each other and nodded quickly. Monica started cleaning off the table while Carol started making plates. Finally, something her super speed could help with. She made all three plates and set them on the table right as Maria opened the front door. Monica ran over to her, hugging her tightly as she hung her bag on the rack near the door. She hugged back, running her hand softly over the girls forehead with a smile. 

“Smells good in here. Did Monica cook?” Maria laughed, kicking off her work shoes and slipping on the sandals she wore around the house. 

“Haha, very funny!”

Carol shouted from the kitchen where she was borderline having a panic attack, trying to figure out how to act normal enough to get through the rest of the night with Monica’s question looming over her head.

“Nope, I only helped! Mama Carol did most of the work. I made lunch though. Mom said it was the best sandwich she’d ever had anywhere in all the galaxies!”

Monica exclaimed, only half telling the truth, as she nearly dragged Maria to the kitchen table. 

“I said something like that, yes.”

Carol laughed, her mouth forming into a smile when her eyes met Maria’s.

Maria smiled back before quickly looking around the kitchen, half expecting to see a new scorch mark somewhere. 

“It looks… the same as I left it, in here, minus a few dirty dishes. I’m impressed, Danvers.” 

Maria smirked, walking to the sink to wash her hands before sitting down and letting Monica get in her lap. She was certainly growing, she barely fit between the table and Maria anymore but she always made it work. 

“How was your day?”

Monica asked her mother, once again kicking her feet excitedly, being back in the presence of Maria. It meant a lot to Maria that she still got excited to see her. She hoped it would last through puberty.

“Ya’know, same ol’ same ol’. Protecting the world from aliens, which oddly enough usually is just a bunch of paperwork no one else reads or signs. So, pretty successful I guess.”

Maria laughed, pulling Monica’s cheek in for a small peck.

“I’m more interested in how YA’LL’S day went. The lawn looks… great, by the way.”

Before Carol could chime in, which she wasn’t going to being that she was staring at Maria’s toned arms the entire time she’d been in the room, Monia answered for them both.

“It was AWESOME! We caught so many frogs, I named one after you, and then I finally climbed up the whole tree!”

Maria chuckled, noting the small scrapes on her daughter but not worrying. It wasn’t a normal day if Monica didn’t get at least one scrape or bruise from her exploring.

“Well, I’m flattered. Did you get any help from a certain superhero, by any chance?”

“Nope, she did it all on her own. Much faster than I did, too.”

Carol answered while shooting her hands up like finger guns, shooting a wink to Monica who delighted at the remark.

Maria looked at the pink Barbie bandaid on the woman’s finger and half laughed half frowned.

“Seems like no one made it out without a few cuts today, huh?”

Carol looked down at her hand, almost embarrassed. She laughed.

“She got that from grating cheese, not climbing the tree!”

Monica answered, once again saving Carol from trying to find words. 

“Why am I not surprised? Well anyways, thank you both for doing such a good job with the chores today. Looks like you both really earned that extra tv time tonight.” 

Maria winked at them both before letting Monica scoot off her leg and back into her own chair, ready to eat.

“Thank god, I’m so hungry. I forgot to pack lunch last night so all I had today was a bunch of coffee and some nasty as- mm, some gross altoids my secretary had.”

“Sheesh. I hope it actually tastes like food this time then! Oop, I forgot the forks.” Carol said, about to get up and grab them. Monica beat her to it and ran over to the counter, leaving the two women with a moment or two to take each other in. They both held back a sigh, and just smiled at each other. The eye contact felt too much for both of them, for the same and different reasons. 

Monica returned and they broke their shared gaze, both feeling a mixture of missing it and thankful that it was over. Monica handed everyone a fork she had picked specifically for them and they all ate, swapping stories of their days back and forth. Maria laughed feeling relieved hearing how well the day went, she was hoping she would still have a house to come back between Monica and Carol. As they were all finishing their meals, Maria noticed the stack of games left out on the coffee table. 

“Make sure you put those up, Mon’.” She said softly, taking a sip of some iced tea. 

“I will. Also, guess who won the most games tonight? Guess, guess!”

Carol shook her head with a laugh.

“Hmm, if I was gonna take a wild guess… You?!” 

Maria smiled widely, pointing at her daughter playfully.

“You betcha’! I whooped Mama Carol’s butt like eighty billion times at all the games. Even the one you taught me that she was supposed to be super good at, even with the new fancy dice! She only won that one three times, and the last one was just pure luck cause’ I almost had it!” 

Carol and Monica laughed together, and suddenly Maria’s eyes unfocused. The laughter in the background melted into one sound, and everything else started to go quiet. She thought about the dice. The colors on the dots. Where she had left them sitting, in the box, in her room. She thought about why they were in Carol’s belongings and not her own. Then she thought about everything else that was in the box with them. She only came to when Monica and Carol’s laughing slowed down, reminding her that it would seem weird if she didn’t respond in the next second or two.

“Well, it looks like the mighty do fall sometimes. I used to let her win that game every time we played it.” 

Maria half heartedly laughed with a smirk, almost instantly regretting bringing up the past. Carol looked down at her almost empty plate for a moment before fixing her own face to shoot back something well timed and sarcastic enough to play off the shudder that sentence sent through her spine.

“Hmm, crazy cause when it comes to everyone else in the world, meaning you, I’m still the world champion. Monica just had that lucky dice trick.” 

Before Maria could even laugh, Monica jumped in.

“Hey! It’s not just the lucky dice, I just also happen to be the smartest person in the whole wide stinkin’ world too!”

“You make a good point.”

Carol and Maria said in unison, both with an adoring laugh. All three looked at each other and broke out laughing, feeling thankful for the lack of awkwardness that probably would’ve left in the air if it wasn’t so funny.

After that, everyone finished and avoided the different subjects on everyone’s minds happily. Carol cleaned up the plates, grazing by Maria’s arm while she walked to the sink. Monica pulled Maria over to the couch with her while Carol washed the dishes, quickly putting away all the games they had left out and positioning herself on the couch while Maria flipped through the channels for her. She had sat right in the middle, leaving just enough space for either woman on both sides of her. She really did live up to that nickname sometimes, both mother’s thought. When Carol made her way over, they were just settling on a show to watch. 

“Remember, you get 10 extra minutes.”

“Does that have to count commercials? Can we pause the timer when they come on? Pleeeeeaasssshhhhh.”

Monica pretended to beg to both women who laughed. 

“We’ll see what we can do. Time starts now, though.”

Maria answered her. Monica turned towards the tv and leaned back, wanting to take in every minute she had. She normally would get about an episode and a half in during her nighttime tv, maybe two if her mom dozed off in between. She was sure she was going to get at least two this time, since Maria looked sleepy. She didn’t account for Carol’s super powers making her have a longer stamina, but she figured she wouldn’t snitch. She looked up at her as they watched and she shot her down a wink in return, solidifying their silent agreement. As long as it was still summertime, Carol didn’t have an issue with it. Of course, she wouldn’t go against Maria, though, unless of course she fell asleep. Which she usually did. 

The three sat through an episode, choosing not to count the commercials in their internal timers, and started the second one. A few minutes in, Monica had positioned herself with her head and back on Carol’s lap, with her legs and feet on Maria’s. She watched the show quietly, not noticing herself dozing off. Once the second episode was over, she was fast asleep, nearly drooling on Carol. Both women laughed quietly at the sight. Maria reaches for the remote to turn off the tv while Carol effortlessly lifts Monica up and begins to walk her to her room. As she walks away, Maria fights the idea of Carol lifting her that way and carrying her to bed. She shakes her head and stands up to go to the fridge.

When Carol makes her way back downstairs after carefully tucking the young girl in, she’s greeted with Maria passing her a beer and a bottle opener. 

“Not sure if you still need to use these, but c’mon.”

Carol doesn’t need it but she chooses to use it anyway. She follows Maria without question through the front door and onto the porch. The sun is down now and it’s not quite as warm as it was the night before. 

“God, I’ve been waiting for this all day.” 

Maria says, taking a long swig from the cold bottle. She sits down on the steps and leans back on her elbows, beer still laced between her fingers. She looks like she’s relaxing but Carol wonders if she is. She stands against one of the posts for a moment, opening her beer, before sitting down next to the woman but not too close. She hopes she’s the only one who can feel the tension in the air. It’s different than last time she was home.

“Long day, I take it?”

“Always.” 

Maria sighs with a short laugh, taking another sip. 

“But that’s the job. I’m sure you get it.”

Maria finishes, not sure if what she said sounded shady or not. It wasn’t meant to be. Or maybe it was, but it wasn’t coming from the part of her she was trying to show up as it. It was coming from the part she was burying inside of her.

“I do, but I also don’t. You have a lot to handle all the time. I’m happy I… can help, I guess.”

Carol wasn’t sure if that last part was a question or not. They both almost flinched at the word help. Carol was more than just a friend who liked to help. She was a parent and neither wanted her to take that away from herself just because of how long she had been away. Both decided not to say anything in the moment, though. They both just sipped their beers and looked out in front of them, gazing up and out at the world around them. Somehow, it felt bigger now that they were both on it together.

Maria thought about the box again, trying to keep it from her mind to no avail. She also thought about Carol’s skin grazing against hers in the kitchen earlier. She wondered if their contact would be minimal. Despite the late night and early morning they had shared, they hadn’t really touched or even been this close since. The first night never counted, that was their unspoken rule since the second time Carol had been home.

She was exhausted when she arrived, fighting to stay awake long enough to talk to both Rambeaus’ even though she wanted to so badly. It had been a particularly grueling mission and she had flown directly back to Earth after the conflict was over, not taking a break. So, when Maria offered to watch some TV with her on the couch, she sank quickly into the cushions. Before they knew it, they had woken up to the sun coming through the living room windows, curled into each other. Neither thought it was weird then, so why was it weird now? 

Carol thought about the box too, rereading the words from the letter in her mind again. Thinking about the pictures on Maria’s desk. Then she thought about the dream she had, with everyone sitting on the porch. She was so deep into replaying it that she almost jumped when a frog hopped by, startling both women from their respective day dreams.

“I think that’s the one Monica named after you.”

Carol laughed, remembering the day she had fondly.

“I’m flattered.”

Maria laughed back, the laugh jumping up her throat. It’s like she needed to laugh, after a long day of dealing with domestic and intergalactic bullshit, along with the mark Carol was burning into her brain.

It started to go quiet again until Carol spoke up, feeling the bubbles from the beer in her brain even if it wasn’t going to get her tipsy.

“You know, I dream about sitting on this porch a lot.” “Yeah?”

Maria asks, not looking at Carol.

“Yeah. With you and Mon. There’s always a shit ton of bubbles everywhere and it’s always a really nice day. I have that dream a lot. Except for when I’m actually here.”

Carol explained, partly relieved to share it with Maria. She leaned back, taking a sip before setting the beer down on the step next to her. She waited to see if Maria would answer, unsure if she wanted her to. 

Maria sat with a small smile, unsure if she would be able to keep herself composed through the moment. She dreams about home. 

“You know, when you first came back with your powers, I wondered if you still even needed to sleep.”

“Ha, you know I had the same thought when I realized I wasn’t actually half Kree. On the planet, I slept but I never felt tired. I only started to feel regular human things when I came back here. It was nice to feel sleepy again. It made rest feel satisfying, instead of just kind of necessary.”

Maria looked over at Carol, daring to meet eyes if she looked over too. She wanted to run a hand over the woman's thigh, comfort her for all the things she was sure were running through her mind. She wanted to reach out, pull her into her chest, and hold her there like a child. She wanted to rip all the pain of being conditioned and having to fight to undo it from her, stop it out on the ground and set it on fire for her. With a regular match, not fire from her hands even though sometimes she was convinced she could produce some magic power from her own hands too if she let herself feel enough. She hadn’t realized she had been staring and hadn’t responded until Carol finally turned to look at her. 

“I’m okay, you know. You don’t have to look at me like I’m gonna burst into flames any second. I’m okay, I feel normal being here.”

Carol smiled reassuringly, almost shyly.

“I know, I just hate those bastards.”

Maria sighed, letting her shoulders fall as she looked down at the space between them.

“I feel you. But, you know, someone once told me hate takes up too much room.”

Maria’s heart skipped a beat. Of course Carol would remember one of her wiser parables now, when all she wanted to do was be angry for her. It was usually the other way around, but despite her usual craziness, Carol always had a way of saying the right thing at the right time, even if she didn’t mean to. A superpowered space warrior was right two times a day, it seemed. She let herself laugh, but it came out rougher than she had expected. 

Carol reached over instinctively to grab her hand, squeezing it tight. That’s the second time. Maria thought, wondering if Carol was counting the times they touched too. She felt a dangerous warmth push its way to her chest. She would blame it on the beer like she always did but she couldn’t. Why was she on the verge of tears?

“Hey.” Carol whispered, trying to look at the woman’s face. She tried to smile, squeezing her hand again. This time, Maria squeezed back before pulling it away and picking her empty beer bottle up. 

“I think I’m gonna take a shower, long day, you know. If you wanna borrow some pajamas again, feel free to grab some from my dresser.”

Carol sat still for a moment, wondering if she had gone too far. Normally conversations like this would flow with ease and mutual fluidity. They would hang on each other’s every word until the inevitable came when the sun rose. Maria would wake Monica up to say goodbye, they’d share a cup or two of coffee and by the time the sun was almost at it’s peak, Carol would be long in the distance, no longer even in the atmosphere. So now, having more time than normal, she hoped she hadn’t over stepped. As Maria closed in on the door, only half a step before entering, Carol turned around to look at her.

“Where do you want me to sleep?”

Maria paused, not sure what to say. How did she communicate that she would rather pull her own hair out strand by strand than lay in her bed alone, without Carol Danvers, for another night? How did she explain that she didn’t want to sleep, she was tired in a way only Carol’s skin and fingers and mouth could heal her of? How did she communicate that this was her house too, and she could sleep wherever the fuck she wanted - on the roof if she pleased - as long as Maria could be next to her, without saying any of that?

“Wherever you feel comfortable.” She turned and smiled as best as she could before letting the screen door close behind her, trying to keep a normal pace as she made her way to the bathroom.

Carol sat on the steps for a few more minutes, giving Maria time to get her things for her shower ready and giving herself time to ponder what she should do. Should she sleep on the couch? Should she tell Maria that there’s no where in the universe more comfortable to her than next to her? Should she pretend she didn’t read the letter and see the pictures and hear what Monica said earlier? Should she just sleep on the god damn couch? Having not made up her mind yet, she wandered upstairs and pulled out an old teeshirt from one of the boxes she had been in earlier. She shivered when she looked at the box with the letter in it. She forced herself to focus, shuffling through to find anything appropriate to wear and pulled out some old PT shorts. They were certainly going to be shorter on her now than they were then, given she had put on some much needed muscle in certain areas but they’d have to do.

She felt too embarrassed to go through Maria’s drawer, wear her clothes and then awkwardly make her way to the couch downstairs, only to have to face her in the morning when breakfast time came. She didn’t feel right marking Maria’s belongings, even if they were just a bunch of holiday themed pajamas that she didn’t wear that often anyways. 

Carol decided to change as quickly as she could, and wait to say goodnight to Maria when she came in. She figured she should probably sleep on the couch, suddenly feeling very much like a guest who didn’t want to overstay their welcome. She switched out of her bottoms and underwear, jumping into the shorts she had found. They were snug but not uncomfortable. She took her shirt off quickly and as she began pulling her sports bra over her head, Maria walked in.

Shit.

Shit.

They both thought in unison. Thankfully, Carol’s back was to the door, so she pulled on the t shirt she found quickly while scolding herself for not paying attention enough to hear Maria coming down the hall. 

“S-sorry! I didn’t know you were in here yet. Didn’t see anything.” 

Maria assured, despite the fact that she was still staring at Carol’s once bare back while the woman folded up her clothes in a hurry. To Carol’s surprise, when she turned around, all she saw was Maria’s naked shoulders, moisturized perfectly, with a purple towel wrapped around her. She turned back around almost quicker than Maria could register. It was Carol’s turn to stutter.

“Oh shit, s-sorry! I didn’t see anything either! I didn’t hear you coming!”

Maria accidentally laughed.

“Don’t you have super hearing?”

“Shut up! It only works when you pay attention to it! I thought you were still in the shower. I’m surprised you were so fast, Lt. Trouble told me you use all the hot water.”

Carol quipped back confidently, although she was still turned around and suddenly felt very warm.

“Oh, Trouble indeed. What else did she tell you?”

“A bunch.” 

Carol responded with a smirk in her voice. She sounded like a middle schooler, again reminding Maria how alike her and Monica were. 

“I’m sure. You can turn around now, if you want.”

Carol turned to see Maria smoothing a big white shirt over her belly button, quickly covering up the top of her thighs that were barely covered by the blue boy shorts she was wearing underneath. Carol stared down at the clothes in her hands trying not to seem as anxious as she was. She bent down to pick up the black pair of underwear and a sock she had dropped when she heard Maria chuckle.

“HA! What the hell are you wearing? Are those PT shorts? And does your underwear say Danvers? You still do that?” 

She was practically giggling at this point, a sound that sprung butterflies up in Carol’s stomach. It also taunted her, leaving her no choice but to rebuttal. 

“Listen man! I’m working with what I got! And no, I don’t still write my name in my underwear. I got these from the box of my old clothes.” 

Carol quipped, but found herself almost giggling too. She would’ve found it funny if Maria had on PT shorts from bootcamp too. 

“Whew. That is hilarious, Danvers.”

Maria breathes out, barely recovering from her fit of laughter at Carol’s expense. 

“Oh yeah, I’m flattered!”

She rolled her eyes playfully at Maria. They both sat down on the bed trying to collect themselves, both feeling lighter than before by a small margin.

After a few moments, Maria broke the impending silence before it could secure itself between them.

“Seems like you an Mon’ had a good day. Hopefully she didn’t give you too much trouble for one day.”

“Nah, it wasn’t too bad at all. She did whoop my ass in pretty much every game you guys own though.”

Carol smiled to herself. Maria fought hard to avoid bringing up the board game and the dice again. She quickly found a new topic to latch onto.

“You know, I must say, you also really did a great job not burning the place down with all that cooking you were doing. Are the aliens teaching you how to handle a kitchen or have you been practicing?”

She laughs, almost forced but she was actually impressed.

“Mmm. Id say it was pure dumb luck, but I’m gonna try to replicate it tomorrow.” 

Carol chuckles, not knowing that the mention of tomorrow was sending Maria’s heart into a frenzy. Silence weasled it’s way back between them for a few moments, although Carol didn’t pick up on it as much this time. It wasn’t until Maria broke it again that she realized it was her turn to figure out how to not let it freeze the warm air between them.

“So, there’s a tomorrow?” 

Maria asked timidly, not wanting to latch too tightly onto the idea that Carol might be staying for longer than coffee in the morning.

“Uh, yeah. I’ll be here tomorrow. I wanna try my hand at making waffles this time.”

Carol tries to cut the returned tension she felt. 

“I was thinking about working on my old car in the garage too, if that’s okay with you of course.”

“Yeah, of course. You know you don’t have to ask. This is your house, too. And it’s literally your car.”

Your house, too. Carol reached into the pocket of the pants she had on earlier, pulling out two colorful dice. She rolled them around in her hand for a second. 

“Yeah?”

She said, turning to finally face the woman sitting once again a bit too far away from her. The feeling of being a guest in her own home no longer sat in her chest. She allowed her eyes to make their way up Maria’s frame before meeting her eyes. Carol felt her hand move towards the woman, who was now looking down at one of the die in her non moving hand. Maria was almost terrified to meet her gaze, breath caught in her throat. Carol felt their hands connect, dropping the other die in her hand before closing her fingers around Maria’s. The woman next to her squeezed tight, almost too tight even for the superhero. 

Maria finally met Carol’s eyes with her own, finally releasing her breath, allowing her chest to move. 

“Yeah.” 

She said softly, almost too soft to hear but just enough for Carol. They both looked like they might burst into tears, both of them having to break eye contact but refusing to release each other from their grip. Third time, Maria counted in her blurring mind. She suddenly felt like all she could hear was her own heartbeat and Carol’s breath. They were close again, it was all she needed. She needed to feel Carol’s skin, know she was real. Know she wouldn’t let go.

Carol struggling against her own breath, finally let the desperation sitting inside of her take control. 

“What’re we doing, ‘Ri?”

She asked, in almost a whisper. She heard Maria’s breath get choked in her throat, just like she had earlier in the kitchen with Monica. She was still worried that she might have pushed too far too fast, but she needed something. Anything Maria could give her. An answer, a rejection, anything. She couldn’t sit still in the stifled confusion much longer, she feared she might actually implode. She waited, listening to Maria’s breathing. In and out, in and out. Like she was trying to quietly catch her breath. She heard her heart beat, it matched her own. Like they could beat out of their chests and find the other heart. Like they needed to be pressed together. So, Carol did just that. Finally listening to what her body was telling her. Hoping it wouldn’t be the wrong thing.

Just as Maria tried to whisper I don’t know, she let go of Maria’s hand and pulled her in, chest to chest, nestling her face in Maria’s shoulder. Maria whimpered, almost in shock. It took her almost 10 seconds to return the embrace, finally crushing into Carol the way she needed to. She knelt her face in the warmth of Carol’s neck, creating a tsunami in Carol from the graze of her lips against the side of her neck alone. They made themselves impossibly close, quieting the sounds of the world and honing in on each other’s heart beats. They took in each other’s scent, filling their lungs with the air surrounding each other. They let their hair tickle each other, finding comfort in the familiar feeling of Blackness around them. They rocked into each other to a rhythm that was so natural it almost felt like part of breathing. Finally, Maria let it drop.

A single tear rolled down Carol’s shoulder, sliding down as far as it could carry itself. Maria choked back what was sure to be her own tsunami.

“Mar-”

“I miss you. -- I miss you I m-iss you I miss you.”

She whispered with a drawn out sob. It was so quiet, it felt tragic to them both. 

Carol was silent, letting the woman release whatever she was ready to, feeling her chest heave with the impatience to relieve itself from the pent up emotions. She felt the woman in her arms shake softly, trying to fight back anything she convinced herself was a weakness. She had things to do, a person to be, a child to raise. She couldn’t let the grief get her again. But it was always there, maybe even more now in some ways. She hadn’t let this happen in so long, and the weight of pretending had pushed her to the edge of herself. She was the strongest woman in the world, and it was because she was soft. 

Carol struggled against her own tears, trying not to let them come so that she wouldn’t center her own pain in the moment. They were both too similar for their own good. She listened to Maria’s body pull the words up her throat and out her mouth, betraying her as they saved her from the pit she kept forcing herself into.

“I miss you ss-so much.” She repeated several times over. Like it was the only language she spoke. Eventually, she stopped, letting her fingers relax from gripping into Carol’s skin as tight as she could. She leaned into Carol more, feeling the weight of her body’s exhaustion mix with that of her mind. Carol let her, holding her firm but gentle. She lifted the woman up just as effortlessly as she did Monica, and carried her to her side of the bed, never moving her face from her shoulder. She laid her and herself down, sliding easily over top of her until she was on her side, careful not to put any weight on Maria’s body. She pulled the cover over them, that being the only time her hand left Maria’s body. She cradled the soft woman, giving her all of herself. She rocked her gently, counting her heart beats. 

As Maria’s breath finally got slower and deeper, she knew she would be asleep soon. Maria didn’t want to sleep but she needed it. Carol needed it to. They stuck to each other like glue, once again paying no mind to the heat stuck between them. Carol whispered back, finally.

“I miss you too.”

She felt Maria squeeze her tighter, then release and finally relax her body all the way. 

No more sniffles, no more sounds, just the weightless feeling of being together. It was easy again, for the moment. Carol rubbed her thumb lightly over Maria’s back, comforting them both enough to rest. She let the thoughts she had been fighting release from the walls of her mind, daring to look at them. She thought about the night in the lake, laying in the sand. She thought about the night before she left for a new base, with no idea when they’d be together again. She thought about the first time she came home, the gentle uncertainty between them melting away like it always did - no matter how much still needed to be figured out. She wasn’t sure how much progress had been made, but she knew that this is where she needed to be. As she finally let herself drift off to sleep, knowing that Maria was alright enough now, she knew she wouldn’t dream. She released herself to the peace of belonging, only to be startled one more time.

“Don’t you even think about leaving until you finish that car.” 

Maria commanded, even in her softest state. Carol smiled, feeling even more in place now.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

#Maria Rambeau #Carol Danvers #Carol Danvers is Black #black sapphic #lashana lynch #sapphic #black wlw #captain marvel #danbeau #carolmaria fic #Carol x Maria #monica rambeau #Carol Danvers x Maria Rambeau #Maria Rambeau x Carol Danvers #Carol's POV #Captain Marvel is always Black in my mind #Black main characters #Black Women main characters #Black Children are geniuses #Marvel #marvel fanfic writer #Marvel Fanfiction #marvel fanfic club #MCU #mcu fanfiction #my writing #my work #original work #original fan fiction

[whysojiminimnida]

WHAT THE ABSOLUTE HELL BIGHIT (said nicely because we live for content)

but DAMN. LET'S GOOOOO:

btw hello Jeon Parks yes Jimin's Butter photocard was "extremely sexy" I pulled that one too, I know. THERE ARE LIKE 29 OR SO OF THESE OMG OMG

So I just picked out the ones I like best which as we all know means the ones where the Jeon Parks are jeonparking it up like THIS

"But they're not even sitting together" you say. "The angles of rotation are not even fully in play here." And that is true because: (a) actively working, and (2) posed group shots BUT Go look at Jungkook's peace sign which he could literally have angled ANY OTHER WAY. I call it the "DID YOU SEE MY JM TATTOO" pose.

Let's move on.

I love the Seasons Greetings photoshoot because Koo was on his gay shit that day. Fight me, idc, look at the set of that pout and tell me I'm wrong. I AM NOT WRONG. (I mean I am, a lot, but not about this.) But wait there's more.

Baby is pouting and Jimin is in what looks like Chanel, it's a whole selfie within a selfie and I am living

OH LOOK

Are they... looking at each other through the camera lens? I mean it's a hard maybe, I'm not taking it to the bank or anything. And Jungkook... his body has an entire INABILITY to stay directed anywhere other than Jimin. I have said that moon and sun thing is reversed and I stand by it. Satellite Jeon was in effect that day.

Yeah. Like I said.

BUT ALSO MIN YOONGI IN THIS HAT DESERVES MORE SPACE because he might be one of the top three Yoongis ever

And Seokjin's apple hair HELLO PARK JIMIN HOT DAMN HOLY HELL SIR. Bonus points for Yoongi.

And whatever happened here don't yell at them they're just looking at each other through the camera it's fiiine pay no attention to Jungkook's wrist that's a false stereotype anyway

PTD where they are ALL GORGEOUS WHAT I am never surprised, they are all always gorgeous but I love the lighting.

AND I hit my image limit dammit I wanted to post Imperious Jimin but I guess you'll just have to go click to Weverse and see for yourselves. They're so beautiful they made me touch up my roots and put on mascara.

Here's the Weverse link. I have to go see what else they've done while I blinked.

#ot7 #but also jikook #must be 2021 at the jeon park house #must be 2022 at the jeon park household #the jeon parks #that peace sign thing #jeon park angle of rotation #and general chaos #jimin #jungkook #jikook #jikook just jikooking nbd #kookmin #min yoongi #also ot7 #2022btsfesta #21/22 selfies #good lord

[prismatic-glow]

Xianyun Guide || Kit explanation, Builds, and Teams

FIRST BUILD GUIDE IN AGES LET'S GOOOOO

In today's post i'll be explaining Xianyun's kit, best builds + teams, and my own thoughts on her power level

let's get into it!!

part 1 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ kit overview Xianyun is an Anemo catalyst support. By increasing jump height for all characters with her burst, she enables a new plunge attack playstyle for any character who can use her well! Skill - enters a special state. Upon using the skill, she leaps forward unleashes "skyladder" once to deal Anemo damage. She can then leap forward and unleash skyladder up to 2 more times. She is able to unleash skyladder while mid-air. In this state, her plunging attack has her turn into a bird and rush towards enemies to deal Anemo damage. This attack cancels the state. So you basically get to do a special cool jump 3 times and then get to do a special cool charged attack Burst - Deals Anemo damage and heals all party members. Then creates a mechanism with the following effects - follows the active character - periodically heals all characters - grants 8 uses of jump height enhancement - each plunging attack triggers additional Anemo damage Passive 1 - Each opponent hit by her skill’s special plunge will grant party members 1 stack (max 4) of plunging attack crit rate Passive 2 - while under the effects of her burst, the active character’s plunging attack will gain a flat damage bonus. This bonus works similarly to Shenhe’s icy quills simple summary - skill gives her 3 jumps and a special plunge attack. Burst heals all characters, grants a jump height bonus, and deals damage. Passives grant buffs to plunge attacks.

part 2 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ artifacts/weapons Artifact Sets ╰┈➤ as an Anemo support, 4pc Viridescent Venerer is one of the best choices. Use this set if your DPS is a Pyro/Cryo/Hydro/Electro character. If your main DPS isn't of these elements, this set can still be a viable option if you're also using a strong Pyro/Cryo/Hydro/Electro DPS ╰┈➤ 4pc Noblesse is a good choice but doesn't stack so you may have better holders of it in your team. If you don't have a P/C/H/E DPS and no other good noblesse users in your team, this set is one of your best options. ╰┈➤ 4PC Ocean-Hued Clam is a great option as well. It will give her a nice chunk of personal damage and can also help her healing a bit ╰┈➤ 4pc Song of Days past is a good option if you have it but it's not that good of a set to farm. Bubble damage from clam is greater than the damage of this set's buffs (shoutout to keqingmains i was actually curious abt this) ╰┈➤ 2PC/2PC is an okay option if you don't have any other sets. She can use attack, er, or healing bonus 2pc effects Artifact Stats ╰┈➤ Energy Recharge sands, Attack Goblet, Attack Circlet Weapons ╰┈➤ Crane's Echoing Call is her signature weapon and insanely good on her. However, it is quite niche so don't feel forced to pull for it ╰┈➤ Favonius Codex is a really awesome choice. It helps her with her ER% needs and provides energy to her often energy-hungry teammates like Xiao ╰┈➤ Other ER% weapons are good choices, esp if they have high Base Attacks or Attack stats ╰┈➤ Thrilling Tales is a good choice to buff your DPS but it does have a very low base attack which hurts her buffing capabilities

part 3 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ teams/teambuilding guide Xianyun is quite versatile so to do this section, I'll explain some other supports that are good with her and then what gives a DPS synergy with her, as well as some examples ╰┈➤Xianyun's team-wide healing makes her an amazing choice in Furina teams ╰┈➤ Characters such as Chongyun, C6 Bennett, and Candace can work well when paired with DPS characters that don't infuse themselves or who have significant downtime with their infusions ╰┈➤ The best choices for DPS characters in Xianyun teams are those with their own infusions. Characters such as Diluc, Hu Tao, Ayaka or even catalyst characters will work great with this new plunge attack playstyle! ╰┈➤ Even though Xiao and Gaming already enable their own plunge attacks, Xianyun's buffs to plunge attacks and synergy with Furina still allow her to be an amazing support. Her 2nd passive's flat DMG bonus allows her to almost function as a Shenhe for plunge attacks which makes her a great support choice for these characters ╰┈➤ When playing her with Pyro characters like Gaming, Hu Tao, or Diluc, you can still use Xingqiu and/or Yelan! Just weave in a normal attack in between plunges.

part 4 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ overall strength/is she good? warning: this part is gonna be a lot less objective than the other three sections. In my opinion, Xianyun is a strong support who is, most importantly, incredibly fun! She provides such a unique gameplay experience that creates tons of new possibilities. So, should you pull: Sure! If she seems fun to you, she's a great choice. And another great thing about her is that she will definitely get even better with time as we get more and more characters with infusions!

and, that's all for today! I hope you found this guide helpful!! Feel free to leave any questions in the comments or send in an ask! Have a great day and stay hydrated <33

˗ˏˋ statuses ´ˎ˗

upcoming posts ・❥・ gaming guide, should you pull

asks ・❥・ open! I also want to start doing build reviews so send those in if you want me to review your characters! If you send one in, pls lmk how harsh you want me to be and how constructive I should be

#genshin impact #genshin #genshin ask blog #genshin help #genshin guide #genshin impact advice #genshin advice #new to genshin #˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ build/guide #genshin builds #xianyun #genshin xianyun #cloud retainer #genshin cloud retainer

[parasiticjustice]

[RGG Online Translation] Character Story · Teru Yamada (OC)

Summary: Ichiban is suddenly attacked by a girl who seeks vengeance for her dojo, and has mistaken him for a member of the Omi Alliance. Featured Characters: Ichiban Kasuga (RGGO version), Teru Yamada (OC) Spoilers?: Nope!

On this episode, himbo meets herbo.

Yamada is one of the original characters who came at launch, and has enjoyed her fair share of cards and events - she even got another story with her seasonal alt. She’s also notable for being a female character who’s an Attack Type, which was basically non-existent in the first year or so of the game (and is still pretty uncommon now). Since this is a launch story, it’s pretty simple and short, but I like her spunk!

Usual Disclaimer: I'm coming at this with little more than crude Japanese knowledge, a machine translation cocktail, and an insatiable desire for more RGG content. This will by no means be a decent translation, but it should at least be serviceable.

Notes:

This is RGGO Ichiban, which means this story is set in 2018 when he’s fighting against the Omi in Kamurocho instead of getting hustled over to Yokohama like in Y7.

------------------ CHAPTER #1 ------------------

Scene #1: Kamurocho · East Shichifuku Street

Ichiban: [scratches head] Phew, I’m getting sleepy... Time to head home...

???: Let’s gooooo!

[a girl tries to kick Ichiban, he dodges out her way]

Ichiban: [yelling] Whoa?! What are you doing, kicking me all of a sudden? Who the hell are you?!

???: [yelling] This is revenge for my teacher! Prepare yourself!!

Ichiban: [raises eyebrow] Teacher? What are you talking about?

Yamada: I’m here to settle the grudge that destroyed our dojo! You’re up against Teru Yamada, assistant instructor for the Kamuro Dojo! No more questions, ya-ah!

[she attacks him again]

Ichiban: [yelling] I told you to wait!

Yamada: Hah, hah... what’s wrong with you? Come at me like you mean it!

Ichiban: I’m not gonna fight with a girl. And what’s this about a dojo and a teacher?

Yamada: You’re from the Omi Alliance! You’re the ones who ruined my precious dojo...

Ichiban: [raises eyebrow] Omi? No, I’m...

Yamada: [clenches fists] Be quiet!!

Omi Yakuza: Oi! Kasugaaa!

Ichiban: [yelling] Tch! Hey! They found us cause you were making a fuss!

Yamada: [surprised] Huh? They’re also from Omi...?!

Omi Yakuza: Die! Kasugaaaa!

[Battle]

Omi Yakuza: S-Shit! We’re outta here!

[they run off]

Ichiban: Heh, and don’t come back!

Yamada: ...Hey, why is an Omi guy fighting other Omi guys...

Ichiban: [raises eyebrow] I told you, I’m not from Omi.

Yamada: [frown] ...I won’t believe it. Teacher, I’ll definitely avenge you. Just you wait and see!

[she runs off]

Ichiban: What was with that girl... “Just you wait and see”? Does that mean she’ll be back? This is gonna be a hassle...

------------------ CHAPTER #2 ------------------

Scene #2: Kamurocho · Public Park 3

Ichiban: [smoking] Ugh, it’s cold today... I should head home quick... Hm?

Yamada: [yelling] Yaah! Hwah!

Ichiban: [raises eyebrow] That’s... the girl who fought me the other day, isn’t it?

Yamada: Hwah! Hoh!! Yaaah!!!

Ichiban: (...She’s young, but she’s got some sharp moves. She must be training seriously.)

Yamada: Hah... hah... damn it, I can’t get the dojo back like this...! Hwah! Yah!

Ichiban: ...

Omi Yakuza: There you are, Kasuga!

Ichiban: [raises eyebrow] Ah?

Yamada: [surprised] Hm...? Oh, it’s the marimo head from before...!

Ichiban: Ah, shit, I’ve been found.

Omi Yakuza: Get him!!

[Battle]

Omi Yakuza: Ugh...

Yamada: You... are you really not with the Omi?

Ichiban: That’s what I said. How did you get “yakuza” from such a good-natured guy like me?

Yamada: [frown] No matter how you look at it, you’re yakuza... Still, I’m sorry.

Ichiban: [neutral] Well, at least you understand now. You said something about your dojo being destroyed?

Yamada: Yeah... last year, the Omi started this ridiculous land grab. Our dojo was evicted in no time, and now there’s a new building in its place. But I won’t give up. I’ll drive those bastards out of town and take back the dojo!

Ichiban: Even if you want to take it back, the land’s already been given up, right? If there’s nothing left of the dojo, what exactly are you gonna do?

Yamada: [yelling] That’s... I’ll think about it after I get rid of them!

Ichiban: [raises eyebrow] Good plan.

Yamada: S-Shut up! I said I’ll think about it! I’m leaving now, goodbye!

Ichiban: ...She’s a dangerous young lady.

------------------ CHAPTER #3 ------------------

Scene #3: Kamurocho · Shichifuku Parking Lot

Ichiban: The shops around here have changed a lot...

???: Dammit! Let go!

Ichiban: [raises eyebrow] Hm? That voice just now...

[he moves over to the Parking Lot]

Omi Yakuza: You wanna take back your dojo, eh? You’re a feisty little girl.

Yamada: [yelling] I won’t forgive you guys...! Our dojo... our teacher...!

Omi Yakuza: Ohh, scary. I feel for you, but it was a bad idea to pick a fight with us. Doesn’t matter if you’re a woman or a kid, you don’t go against the Omi. I’ll make you see why...

Yamada: [frown] Kuh...!

Ichiban: Hey, you look like you’re in a pinch.

Omi Yakuza: Huh...? Kasuga...?!

Yamada: [surprised] Why are you here...?

Ichiban: [smile] I heard someone crying and shouting “Help me!”, so I had no choice but to come and lend a hand.

Yamada: [frown] Hey, I’m not crying...!

Ichiban: [raises fists] Well, anyway, I’ve come to get you out of here. And I’ll knock these guys on their ass while I’m at it.

Omi Yakuza: You think you’re funny... Kill the both of them!

[Battle]

Ichiban: Hey, you all right?

Yamada: I-I’m fine...

Ichiban: You’ve got some pretty good moves.

Yamada: ...You don’t need to flatter me. I get it now. It’s impossible for me to take down the Omi on my own...

Ichiban: So you’re just gonna give up?

Yamada: [yelling] No way! If I train more and get even stronger...!

Ichiban: You still won’t be able to face them alone, you know.

Yamada: Then what should I do?!

Ichiban: Why don’t you rely on the people around you? Like me.

Yamada: [surprised] Eh...?

Ichiban: [smile] Just recently I went through the pain of running off on my own. I thought I’d lost all my family and friends, but I was wrong. It’s nice to have someone you can depend on.

Yamada: [frown] ...

Ichiban: Besides, I was planning to drive out the Omi too, so it works out. What do you think?

Yamada: [surprised] You're also trying to...?

Ichiban: Yup.

Yamada: [smile] ...Alright. I’ll recognize your skills and become your friend! You should be grateful! I, Teru Yamada, assistant instructor to the Kamuro Dojo, will be your comrade!

Ichiban: [smile] Hehehe, I’m counting on you. Even if you were crying earlier.

Yamada: [yelling] I wasn’t crying!

Ichiban: [raises eyebrow] Ow! H-Hey! Don’t kick me! Agh!

Yamada: [smile] Be quiet! From now on, let’s do our best!

Ichiban: Ouch! Don’t kick me! Let’s do our best!!

------END------ ------------------

#ryu ga gotoku #ryu ga gotoku online #ichiban kasuga #teru yamada #rgg #rggo #rgg online

[buzzmcnab]

LEVERAGE APPRECIATION WEEK

ELIOT - DAY 5 - FAVORITE OUTFIT

specifically this look from tap out job

image ID under the cut

[IMAGE ID: A series of 5 gifs from the Tap Out Job episode of Leverage. They all take place in a barely-lit boxing gym. They feature Eliot Spencer, a white man with long brown hair tied half up in a small ponytail, wearing a dark red t-shirt, black gym shorts, sneakers, and lightweight black boxing gloves with white tape. He is sweaty and winded. They also feature Sophie Devereaux, a brunette white woman with a bob hairdo, wearing a flowing, white, long-sleeve shirt. The lightest parts of the all gifs radiate sparkles to make the images appear glittery.

[IMAGE 1 ID: A gif of Eliot standing in the boxing ring, silhouetted by the few lights on. He bounces on his toes for a few seconds before practicing a series of hits on an imaginary opponent using his fists, arms, and knees. Sophie approaches the boxing ring. END IMAGE 1 ID]

[IMAGE 2 ID: Eliot–now seen from below–turns and winks at Sophie. He says something to her, but there are no captions. He smiles and turns back around. END IMAGE 2 ID]

[IMAGE 3 ID: Eliot leans his elbows and hands on the ring ropes as he looks down and says something to Sophie. He smiles as he speaks, but there are no captions. END IMAGE 3 ID]

[IMAGE 4 ID: Eliot stands in the same position as above, still speaking to Sophie, though he looks more serious now. He lifts his right hand and taps his chest twice with it while he speaks, but there are no captions. END IMAGE 4 ID]

[IMAGE 5 ID: Eliot–now seen in a wide shot from slightly above the boxing ring–watches Sophie leave. He then turns from the door and stretches his arms out wide on either side of him, leaning back so he is supported by the ring ropes. END IMAGE 5 ID] END IMAGE ID]

#leverageappreciationweek #eliotappreciationweek #leverage #leverageedit #eliot spencer #eliotspenceredit #christian kane #christiankaneedit #tap out job #flashing gif #flashing tw #mine #gifs 2021 #eliot gets sparkly gifs tooooo!!!!! #this is more of a favorite look than a favorite outfit #but i think it should count bc look at him #LOOK AT HIM #(also 2 sets in one day lets gooooo)

[heauxzenji]

How about an NSWF alphabet for Miya Osamu?

Hi Nonny! I hope you enjoy this- I know it was a long time coming but I had a lot of feelings and just wanted to make sure this was as perfect as could be 💖

NSFW Alphabet: Osamu Miya

gn!Reader focused

obvs nsfw under the cut... Let’s gooooo!

𝕬 - 𝕬𝖋𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖊

Ok, it’s not that you’re not going to get ANYTHING, but you’re not going to get a lot. He will definitely clean you up, hold you in his arms, and cover all the basics, but the man is also going to be napping so you have about 5 minutes of his absolute attention once you’re done. 

𝕭 - 𝕭𝖔𝖉𝖞 𝕻𝖆𝖗𝖙

Is an ass/thighs man at his simplest. Will 100% also do the “let me get past you” thing where he holds your hips as he moves. 

Your favorite feature of his is his back/shoulders. They’re so broad, and watching him flex his back muscles makes you clench. Also- your phone’s home screen is definitely a picture of his back riddled in your scratch marks.

𝕮 - 𝕮𝖚𝖒

Likes to do so on/in/around your mouth. He has an oral fixation, bonus points if you do too tbh. If he isn’t going to cum on your face, he’ll definitely cum inside of you instead, stuffing his fingers into your mouth so that you can suck them. 

𝕯 - 𝕯𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖞 𝕾𝖊𝖈𝖗𝖊𝖙

Would 10000% cuck his brother if given the opportunity. Just to see the color drain from his face. He’s kind of a shithead for that but at the same time, it’s not something he’s ever said out loud- so he’s chilling and just sitting on that.

𝕰 - 𝕰𝖝𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖈𝖊

He’s reserved, but I would say he has a decent amount of experience. He knows what to do, and he knows what he likes. I feel like he also is less experimental- preferring to stick to what he knows works for you both. He’ll try new things, but sparingly. 

𝕱 - 𝕱𝖆𝖛𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖙𝖊 𝕻𝖔𝖘𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓

He likes to be ridden. He likes to have you on full display from all ends as you bounce on his cock. He can easily grip your waist and thrust you further down onto him, and loves watching you practically impale yourself on his length. Also likes to rub circles into your thighs or lower spread your asscheeks apart as he helps you keep a rhythm on his cock. 

𝕲 - 𝕲𝖔𝖔𝖋𝖞

He’s much more serious during, but afterward it’s very lighthearted. 

𝕳 - 𝕳𝖆𝖎𝖗

It’s neat. He doesn’t really trim much, but his hair isn’t super hard to manage, surprisingly. He’s not as hairy around his chest/torso either, but he does have a happy trail that he shaves fairly often, even though you think it would be nicer if he didn’t. 

𝕴 - 𝕴𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖆𝖈𝖞

He’s not conventionally romantic, but he does savor the moment with you. He likes to gaze into your eyes while he’s taking you, and will place soft kisses to your hairline and jaw when he’s getting close to finishing. 

Will murmur that you’re wonderful/amazing/beautiful, or whatever compliment comes to mind first when he’s finished with you and ready for his cuddles

𝕵 - 𝕵𝖆𝖈𝖐 𝕺𝖋𝖋

He doesn’t much- honestly the frequency varies depending on his stress levels. When he does though, he’s the classic shower jerk off guy. It’s cleaner and honestly a lot quicker for him to finish that way. Definitely will be more aggressive when he’s more stressed as well, whether you’re there or not. He is a fan of mutual masturbation as foreplay. 

𝕶 - 𝕶𝖎𝖓𝖐

MARKING, loves leaving hickeys and bruises. He doesn’t care if anyone can see them, or how many you have by the time it’s over. He gets so entranced that he doesn’t realize how many he leaves behind Biting goes hand in hand with the marking- definitely has an oral fixation. 

Size, bc he’s so broad. He likes the feeling of being bigger than you because he feels like he’s your protector- but he also likes the feeling of stuffing your much tinier frame so full of his cock that you go stupid.

Dirty Talk, not super degrading dirty talk, but things like calling you “dirty” or “messy”- and especially “sloppy” really get him going. He also just likes to hear you beg for him, so he’ll egg you on and ask you if you like how deep he’s fucking you or if your tiny little hole can fit all of his cock inside. Again, size kink, so he loves calling you little/tiny. 

Temperature Play, specifically with the cold. Will eat ice prior to going down on you, or change the blistering hot water to icy cold when you’re having sex in the shower, just to see the shock on your face at the difference in sensation 

Sensory Deprivation, blindfolds? He said say less. He likes watching you writhe in anticipation as you feel him ghost touches and kisses all over your body. And it also drives you crazy waiting for him to strike- it usually leaves you begging for him to touch him. 

𝕷 - 𝕷𝖔𝖈𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓

Primarily bedroom only, but he has been known to have quickies in the restaurant with you after closing, and also loves getting road head. 

𝕸 - 𝕸𝖔𝖙𝖎𝖛𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓

Osamu likes to hear you. Likes to know what he’s making you feel good, and the moans you make encourage him to keep going. Definitely also motivated by begging. He’s a little smug, so it inflates his ego that you’re begging him to tear you apart- it’s the feeling of knowing that his cock makes you absolutely drunk and you’ll do anything for it. 

𝕹 - 𝕹𝖔!

I don’t think he’s into food play! Not that he would NEVER do it, but it’s really not something he’s super into. Food is kind of his art form if that makes sense… it’s also work and he definitely seems like the type to try and keep his work separate from his personal life to an extent . But you have fucked in the restaurant at closing too many times to count.

𝕺 - 𝕺𝖗𝖆𝖑

He’s very good with his mouth. He has an oral fixation so this comes naturally. He could go down on you forever if you let him, and he won’t stop even if his jaw locks up. If you’re going down on him, sometimes he will get a little ahead of himself and fuck your face just a little. Most of the time he catches himself and will apologize for not warning you first… most of the time. 

𝕻 - 𝕻𝖆𝖈𝖊

It differs! He personally loves the buildup of having a slow burning session, but there are times- especially when he’s frustrated, where he can just take it out on you. And when he does need you for stress relief, you should go ahead and cancel any plans you have for the next 2 days or so, because you’re not going to make it. 

𝕼 - 𝕼𝖚𝖎𝖈𝖐𝖎𝖊

He’s not fond of them, but he’s also not against them. For him, he’d rather use them as foreplay, or something to hold you both over until you’re alone and he can really have you the way he wants you.

𝕽 - 𝕽𝖎𝖘𝖐

Is into semi-public sex for sure. Things where he knows you won’t possibly get caught- but there’s that inkling of a chance that you could get caught are his favorite. He’ll also give in if you just can’t wait… but he really tries to restrain himself. It’s a little bit less so when he’s been drinking though- he’s much more likely to let you escalate things and will probably go as far as some clothed sex with you if it’s dark/crowded enough that no one will notice or see 

𝕾 - 𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖆

Can go about 2 rounds max in a day,  but they’re long... When he says he wants to spend the day in bed, he means the whole day. Everything he does is about the sensuality of it all. He loves foreplay, it’s the perfect warmup to the main event for him. The main event itself... can go for hours tbh. He’s literally a slow burn loving bitch, but when you beg for him, he’ll waste no time absolutely destroying your walls. Needs a longer break in between rounds for snacks so he can keep his energy up. 

𝕿 - 𝕿𝖔𝖞

Not too fond of them. Prefers to get you off using his own body. But he’s not against things like silks to use as restraints, and he does own a flogger that he likes to drag along your body when you’re blindfolded. 

𝖀 - 𝖀𝖓𝖋𝖆𝖎𝖗

Osamu himself IS the tease. He’s always so calm and collected, even when you’re all over him, begging for him to bend you over and wreck you. It’s that calm and control in itself that’s a tease because you know that once he gives in, you and your insides are done for.

𝖁 - 𝖁𝖔𝖑𝖚𝖒𝖊

Not loud, but not quiet either. His voice literally goes an octave lower which is insane. He holds back his moans in the beginning, instead he pushes air out of his mouth and takes more sharp, hissing inhales. But when he’s close he’ll lean into your ear to spew absolute filth into it so that he can feel you clench around his cock and send him over the edge 

𝖂 - 𝖂𝖎𝖑𝖉𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖉

He has an Onlyfans but he makes sure his face is never in the camera. Camboy!Osamu is literally in their top 8% of creators and no one knows about it because he’s just that good at flying under the radar... but hey, that’s how he was able to afford the restaurant- so now he slings dick and onigiri. Win-Win. 

𝖃 - 𝖃-𝕽𝖆𝖞

Isn’t as thick as Atsumu, but he is more veiny and honestly all around prettier. His dick is probably also a good 7 inches, but I feel like he’s a grower, so you’d be surprised at how much he’s really working with. He has a freckle on the shaft, which is very adorable and endearing. He has a pretty dick. Like, aesthetically beautiful... it’s much prettier than Atsumu’s- much neater/more cleaned up too.

𝖄 - 𝖄𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌

Never lets on just how much he wants you. He would rather have you come to him instead so he doesn’t look needy. But he wants to be balls deep in you practically all the time. He just is very prideful, so he’s going to wait for you to come to him- which… tbh you always do.

𝖅 - 𝖅𝖟𝖟

Yeah, you have about 5 minutes after he cums to get anything out of him- bc he’s taking his ass to sleep. But that’s an advantage For you because he’s kinda delirious and will say yes to anything you ask him for… Is also a clingy sleeper so would definitely hold onto you and make you his little spoon.

Taglist Starseeds (check ur privacy settings if your url is in bold): @super-noya @crushzone @yumekosgamblingroom @boujiesav @onesingleravioli @ushijimasfarmhat @trouvelle @nekoma-hoe @right-shoe-jpg @makemealive @ukaic @nivky0-0 @animoozies @charmarsmith

#haikyuu headcanons #hq headcanons #haikyuu!! #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu smut #miya osamu #osamu x reader #osamu smut #hq headcanon #hq smut #hq x reader #hq x gn!reader #haikyuu x gn!reader

[fruitcoops]

thinking about the team learning that remus moved into sirius’

God I missed the Lions groupchat. Hope you enjoy! Sweater Weather credit goes to @lumosinlove!

I

“Rookie!”

Leo paused halfway down the hall and turned, raising an eyebrow as Sirius jogged to catch up. They bumped forearms in greeting, then continued to walk. “What’s up?”

“Can I borrow you on Saturday for a couple hours? Just to move some boxes, nothing huge.”

Leo shrugged. “Sure. Do you want me to bring Finn’s car, too?”

“Nah, that’s alright. Transport is taken care of.” Sirius ran a hand through his hair, looking strangely nervous at the thought. Is he moving? Remodeling?

“Are you okay?”

“What? Oh, yeah, I’m good.” A softer look came over his face and Leo added Involves Remus to his mental checklist. “Thanks, Knutty. Nice saves today.”

“No problem, Cap.”

II

There was a knock on the doorjamb of Moody’s office and he frowned when Remus ducked inside. “You don’t have to knock, Lupin.”

“Sorry, I was distracted.” He waved a vague hand in the air and concern crept into the edge of Moody’s mind.

“You’re not quitting, are you?”

“What? No!” Remus looked positively scandalized at the thought. “Hell no, I was just going to let you know that I’ll be busy on Saturday. It’s moving day and I won’t be able to help unload the pallets.”

“Oh.” Did he tell me he was moving, earlier? “I’m glad you’re getting out of that hamster cage of yours. See you bright and early on Monday, kid.”

III

The phone rang twice before it connected. “Hello?”

“Hey, Loops!” Talker held the phone between his ear and shoulder as he pulled his food out of the microwave. “Are you free on Saturday? The new X-Men is coming out and Noelle can’t make it.”

“Are you asking me on a date?” Remus teased. “Talkie, I’m flattered.”

“Very Romeo and Juliet, I know,” Talker laughed. The plate was just hot enough to make him wrinkle his nose. “There are showings at ten, 12:30, and three, and then a late-night one at nine. Do any of those work?”

“I think—shit, wait, you said Saturday?” Something rustled on Remus’ end and he sighed. “Sorry, I’m busy moving that whole day.”

“Congrats, man! It’s about time!” Talker carefully set his food on the table and put the phone on speaker so he could eat without completely grossing Remus out. “Doesn’t Cap have to duck to get through the doorway to your place?”

“He’s got about an inch of space, yeah,” Remus snorted. “Is there a showing on Sunday that we could go to? Unless you’re going to ditch me for your girlfriend, in which case, rude.”

“We could make it a double-date,” Talker suggested around his pasta. “How about the ten am one, and then we can grab lunch?”

“Sounds good, Talkie. See you then!”

IV

“Did you guys know Loops is moving?” Finn asked from the living room armchair, splaying one leg over the armrest and tucking the other underneath himself.

In the kitchen, Logan frowned. “That’s…weird. I thought Cap was moving.”

“Yeah, he asked if I could help him with some boxes on Saturday,” Leo added as he walked out of their bedroom with a toothbrush in his mouth. “I figured he was just remodeling.”

Finn gasped, sudden and sharp, and almost fell off the armchair. “Holy fuck, are they moving in together?”

Leo choked on his toothpaste; Logan nearly dropped a plate. “Oh my god they are,” Leo whispered, then scrambled back into the bathroom to wash his mouth out.

Logan fumbled for his phone.

Message To: Hockey Brain Go Brrr

HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE HELPING CAP AND/ OR LOOPS ON SATURDAY

Message From: Hockey Brain Go Brrr

Me?

Me

Me

I am

Loops ditched on our date :((

Logan frowned.

Message To: Hockey Brain Go Brrr

Talkie if you’re ditching my sister for Loops we’re going to have a problem

Also CAP LOOPS GET IN HERE

Message From: Hockey Brain Go Brrr

It’s Thursday that’s their date night

Pots why do you know that

It’s called being an attentive friend dumbass

Tremz what is happening????

Message To: Hockey Brain Go Brrr

We’re all idiots

They’re moving in together

That’s why they’re both busy

Message From: Hockey Brain Go Brrr

OH FUCK

YESSSSS

AHAHAHA FINALLY

FUCK YEAH LET’S GOOOOO

Are we ignoring the part where they tried to keep this a secret or

Oh my god can you all SHUT THE FUCK UP

Hey Loops!

Looooooooooops

LOOPS LOOPS LOOPS

Yes hello is there an emergency?? Did someone die??

“Yes, I died from the suspense and betrayal,” Finn groaned from the other room.

Message From: Hockey Brain Go Brrr

YOU’RE MOVING IN WITH CAP???

??? Yes???

And didn’t tell anybody???? Bitch

There were a few moments of silence in the groupchat. Logan glanced up and saw Finn and Leo standing near each other, both glued to their phones.

Message From: Hockey Brain Go Brrr

Okay so it seems we forgot to tell you guys

In my defense I thought we did

Oh my GOD Loops

Jesus Christ

How are you two so smart and so dumb

Surprise?

I mean congratulations but also fuck you guys for not telling us sooner

Yeah the housewarming party is going to be short a few fireworks

Jackson Nadeau if you bring fireworks to my house I’ll end you

Oh hey Cap

Oh captain my captain you absolute dumbass why didn’t you say anything???

1) Yes we are moving in together 2) Thank you Pots for remembering it’s date night 3) We’re leaving now and if anyone tries to call us you’re doing extra sets on Monday

That is such a captain thing to say you’re so lame

See you Saturday

Finn’s phone pinged softly. “Siri, where is the nearest fireworks shop?”

V

Remus groaned as Sirius pulled up to the house. The entire team was gathered in the front yard; someone had taped streamers to the front door.

“I’m going to kill them,” Sirius said.

“I’ll visit you in prison.”

“CONGRATULATIONS!” the guys cheered.

Sirius gritted his teeth and Remus fought back a blush as they began unloading boxes from the trunk of the car, desperately ignoring the confetti poppers and the whoops of their idiot friends. “Don’t make eye contact,” Remus muttered, making Sirius laugh under his breath. “They can smell your fear.”

They squeezed through the front door and set the boxes in the entryway—as soon as Sirius opened it again to get the rest of Remus’ things, six different people tumbled through, already carting his dishes, clothes, and a variety of other things.

“Fuck, Loops, what the hell is in here?” Nado grunted as he set it down and stretched his back.

“A super neat invention called ‘books’,” Remus sad drily around his grin. “Thanks for carrying it for me.”

“Is this all you brought?” Talker looked back at the car, then to the boxes.

“Pretty much. It’s not like I needed to move furniture or anything.”

Leo clapped his hands together, smiling bright. “Great! That means we can all go to lunch now and roast you in person for neglecting to tell us about this.”

Sirius threw his hands in the air. “It was an accident!”

“Yeah, and?” Logan linked their elbows and all but dragged him outside with Remus hot on their heels. “Come on, Captain, I haven’t made fun of you in a whole day!”

[flashflashhundredyarddash]

LET'S GOOOOO it literally typed this all up in a google doc to answer this question lol

HAHAHAHA YES

okay so wikipedia tells me very little about barrys childhood so i know nothing about it and the cw backstory doesn’t work for what i want to do so this is just rubixburd’s (trademark) barry allen backstory

when barry’s mom dies he first gets bounced around from distant relative to distant relative and then finally he’s placed with a foster family

by the time he’s like 16/17 he starts working on becoming an emancipated minor because he gets moved around so much and he’s just over it and wants to finish school

one month they set up a seminar for a bunch of foster kids at the police station and it’s shitty for most of it because the cops take one look at them and are treating them like theyre already criminals until they get to the crime lab section and barry is like !!!!!!

so he gets an internship and just spends the whole time following around this old and grumpy doctor that kind of just lets barry do whatever so barry gets to do his own thing

so in the midst of 1) focusing on keeping his grades good until he graduates 2) applying to be emancipated and get his own place 3) applying to colleges 4) balancing an internship 5) working part time at the local grocery store and 6) realizing he probably has adhd barry allen gets superspeed

barry is going through A LOT

his first suit is just an all red tracksuit and his shoes are pretty much ruined every single week lol

the superspeed helps him in that he can now finish things SUPER QUICKLY and clears up his schedule BUT he now has to eat A LOT and his current foster family aren’t dicks but his sad little check from the grocery store doesn’t really cover a lot

so he’s stressing about ALL THIS until one day he’s out on patrol and takes down captain cold (who is the father of leonard snart aka cold jr, who was a former Fellow Troubled Foster Teen with barry and he DID manage to get his own place and his life set up to take care of his sister until his fucking dad broke out of prison and recruited len for his shitty operations so barry beats cold up and then him and len go eat hot dogs or whatever)

when JAY FUCKING GARRICK, FLASH AND MEMBER OF THE FORMER JSA shows up and is like hey are you that new speedy kid and barry is like WHAT THE FUCK, YOU’RE JAY FUCKING GARRICK, FLASH AND MEMBER OF THE FORMER JSA, and jay is like awesome you’re my kid now

jay garrick and joan garrick adopt barry at the ripe old age of 17 lmao

so while all this is going on, the justice league trinity have now become Besties and go around and beat people up together and joan is like oh honey you should go try and make some friends :) and barry is like i am 99% certain that isn’t how this works

(that is how this works)

so he’s not sure what do about That so he just does his own thing with jay (who is retired but still mentors barry and also gave barry like three panic buttons on his suit lmao) ((maybe not retired actually because everyone is younger in this au so maybe jay is younger???))

OH MY GOD BARRY ALLEN IS KID FLASH ELIFNEIL

Flash (jr) meets iris west who runs Central City’s High School Journalism Club and is also a REALLY big superhero fan so all her articles and blog posts are just about the justice league lol. She has a big ass JSA poster.

Yes iris west and lois lane have journalism crushes on each other and follow each other on twitter

Barry winds up meeting green lantern who ends up in central city following some corporate espionage (the rathaways set up a shell company on the west coast to try a hostile takeover of queen consolidated by killing and bribing people, so hal is in central city to bust some heads).

Green lantern runs into (kid?) flash who is investigating the same thing so they spend the week adamantly NOT working together to try and solve the case until finally they’re forced to take down a bunch of bad guys together and then they are BFFs for life.

Jay and joan are convinced hal is barry’s boyfriend despite barry saying ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO GIVE THEM THAT IMPRESSION

Yes jay and joan give hal a shovel talk yes its absolutely terrifying

So anyways yes flash jr and green lantern quickly cement themselves as a duo and then suddenly everybody on earth is being attacked by parademons so they team up with the Justice Trio to stop a hostile takeover of earth and also holy shit there are MARTIANS AND ATLANTEANS NOW

They all decide to become a Formal Team but really they just hang out in bruce’s mansion and eat pizza (because bruce has an allowance and he is Not Allowed to build a superhero hangout club so if he wants to hang out with his friends- I’m sorry, have Strategy Sessions with his Super Serious Justice League, they can do it under the watchful eye of Alfred Pennyworth) ((alfred, jay, joan, martha, and john are the Real Justice League))

Barry knows very little about Actual Fighting because jay and barry are fast enough that they never… actually… learned how to fight so the first few months they know each other is just bruce and diana (and alfred) kicking barry’s ASS while sparring because they’re all used to clark’s superspeed so they can actually fight barry and barry is like :(

Literally EVERYONE on the Teen Justice League is bi it’s so fucking funny

Like obvs regular justice league has so much drama but Teen Justice League just has off the charts levels of drama someone cries over something every other week lmaoooo

#barry allen #jay garrick #teen justice league au #justice league #joan garrick #flash #the burd squawks #dc #flashfam

[teamsarawatshusband]

@negrowhat​ found this, and got me really excited to try it. So here we gooooo!!!

Day 1: My Favorite BL

The Untamed

It probably will be this one forever and ever and ever for me. Because it’s just sooooo goooooood. And so painful. And Beautiful.

Okay, let me put it in words that make sense...

This one is long (50 episodes) and epic, with a fantastic story line with twists and thrills. It has beautiful scenery, architecture, wardrobes, music etc. - it’s just soooo wonderful to take it all in. (Also super beautiful actors, like... breath-taking beautiful, omg).

The TV series script couldn’t follow the original novel 100%, due to the Chinese ban of homosexuality on TV, so, officially the two main characters are... enemies to besties? But the cast and crew made sure to do it justice and make it BL as much as they possibly could under the circumstances. It is VERY clear what’s really going on by the way the characters look at each other and by all the little subtle (and not so subtle) hints that the makers of this series put into it. And, honestly, they don’t need to say or physically express it to show the love. It’s clear as day. And it’s done so beautifully that it grabs your heart and won’t let go. (And if you need the physical stuff, you can just go and read the uncensored novel chapters which are... VERY graphic)

It’s a beautiful love story that also revolves around a mystery of intrigues and war between clans, with a perfect cast, perfect locations, perfect score and soundtrack, and, last but not least, perfectly imperfect characters.

Be warned though, if you do watch this, you WILL 100% be confused when watching the first 3 episodes. Make sure to keep a character cheat sheet handy (google is your friend) and to know the basics:

1) The main character (Wei Wuxian) dies in the first episode when falling off a cliff and is resurrected 16 years later by Mo Xuanyu whose identity he takes on to stay under the radar.

2) After three episodes there is a flashback to 16 years earlier on how the whole story began and that flashback lasts for 33 episodes.

3) This is a Xianxia series, which means: martial artists, based on the teachings of daoism and buddhism, cultivate their inner golden core through practice and meditation until they have beyond-human abilities (flying on swords, spells, etc.). It is always set in ancient China during an unspecified dynasty/period of time. As common in period dramas, each character has several names (personal given name, official formal name, cultivation rank title) - This is confusing at first, but you’ll understand it soon, trust me.

4) In this story there are 5 big clans which are worth knowing to understand the story better:

I) The Yunmeng Jiang Clan (located at a river, residence is called Lotus Pier, symbol = lotus flower, colors = purple, known for being courageous and less strict on rules) - Wei Wuxian was adopted into this Clan but isn’t technically a Clan Member (which is why he wears different colors)

II) The Gusu Lan Clan (located in the mountains, residence is called Cloud Recesses, symbol = cloud, colors = white and light blue, known for being very strict and obedient to rules, studious and humble/laid back, always wear headbands)

III) The Qishan Wen Clan (located on a volcano, residence called Nightless City, symbol = fiery sun, color = red, known for being power hungry, violent and enjoying to torture others)

IV) The Lanling Jin Clan (located at the so-called “Koi Tower”, basically a huge castle-city, symbol = white peony, colors = gold and cream, known for being rich and proud, have dots on their foreheads)

V) The Qinghe Nie Clan (located at the so-called Unclean Realm which is a huge fortress with a giant wall at its the front, symbol = head of a beast, color = grey, known for being fighters, use sabers instead of swords)

If you have not watched this, omg, you have no idea what you’re missing out on. OMG OMG OMG

#10 day BL challenge #the untamed #cql #mdzs #day 1 - favorite BL #negrowhat

[trashyswitch]

Horror Movies on Valentine's Day

Thomas is celebrating Valentine's Day with all the sides individually before the 14th actually comes around. Today is his 'date night' with Virgil and as it turns out: horror movies have become the new romantic genre!

This prompt was put together during a roleplay with Pumpkinpaw. With her permission, I could create (and edit the hell out of) this fanfic! I hope you enjoy the fanfic, Lu!

And Happy Valentine's Day to all my friends, online friends, and followers on AO3 and Tumblr! I know there are some people who don't like Valentine's Day because it's turned into a money grab and expectation creator, but hey: the whole holiday started out in Rome and included sacrificing 2 men named Valentine. This happened a few times during the third century! 

Sooooooo: Fuck off love! (THIS IS A JOKE!)

Thomas had been trying to hang out with all the sides as Valentine's Day showed up. He often tried to save the Valentine’s family/friends stuff on actual Valentine’s day, and would celebrate with the sides before the day. He adored them and wanted to show his appreciation for all the parts of him that made him Thomas Sanders.

He had started out with Patton because he had known him the longest. He made Valentine’s crafts and cards with the Dad, and had a snuggle party with all of Patton’s stuffed animals! They even made little palm-sized heart pillows! They were so cute and a couple of them ended up with googly eyes and pink lipstick!

For Logan, Thomas had put together some board games to play and shared a cup of red wine with him. Logan often liked simple and enjoyable, so Thomas offered that to him. He also...may or may not have drawn little hearts and cheesy messages on Logan’s face by the time he fell asleep from the wine...

When he moved onto Roman, Thomas threw a red-themed Valentine’s Day fiesca for him. Roman happily enjoyed the endless chocolate bits, the cute little edible hearts and absolutely loved the roses he received for Valentines day. “I no longer feel single this Valentine’s Day!” Roman had reacted, crying a tear or two.

Now, it was Virgil’s turn. He didn’t really know what exactly to do because of his ‘darker’ aesthetic. But, he knew Virgil would help him figure out what they could do together. Thomas called him and had him summoned in front of him.

Virgil stumbled a little as he was summoned. “Oh- Jeez! Warn a dude, Thomas!” Virgil reacted, thrown a little off guard by the sudden change of scenery.

Thomas bit his lip in both guilt yet amusement. “Hi Virgil. Sorry about that.” Thomas replied, waving.

Virgil adjusted his sweater and moved his bangs back into his eyes. “‘Sup Thomas. Whatddya need?” He asked.

Thomas chuckled and handed him a card that said ‘Valentine I’m batty for you’ with a cute bat and a few black and purple hearts below it. Virgil smiled a little at the gesture. “Thanks Thomas. You didn’t have to.”

Thomas laughed at that. “I wanted to! I wanted to hang out with you!” Thomas told him.

Virgil raised his eyebrows. “Say what now?”

Thomas giggled. “I want to hang out with you.” Thomas repeated.

Virgil looked around a little and shrugged his shoulders. “Alright.”

Virgil took his invite, but his eyes said something a little different.

“You okay?” Thomas asked.

Virgil bit his lip and looked away. “Why the hell do you wanna hang out with me of all people?” Virgil asked.

Thomas’s face softened as he opened his arms to him. Virgil reluctantly took the hug, and grew surprised when he felt Thomas sit him down. “Because I’m celebrating Valentine’s day with all the sides!” Thomas replied.

Virgil lifted an eyebrow. “But...Why me? Anxiety? Hello?” Virgil asked, a little more bluntly. “Why not Patton?”

Thomas smiled at that. “Cause I’m in the mood to hang out with you!” Thomas replied. “And I already hung out with Patton recently.”

Virgil blinked in surprise. “Uh…okay…”

Virgil shifted in his seat, not sure what he had planned. “So...What do you wanna...y’know...do?” he asked.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea. What do you do on Valentines day?” Thomas asked.

Virgil scoffed and smiled. “Horror movies are usually my go-to.” He admitted.

Now it was Thomas’s turn to be surprised. “Really? You watch horror movies?” Thomas reacted.

Virgil smirked and snickered. “I watch them all the time.” Virgil replied.

Thomas bit his lip. “I...but you’re…”

“I’m fight or flight? Yeah, funnily enough: I don’t get spooked easily.” Virgil added.

Thomas widened his eyes and clapped his hands. “Alright! Let’s watch a horror movie!” Thomas replied, turning on the TV. “Any specific horror movies you wanna watch?” he asked.

Virgil shrugged his shoulders. “It doesn’t really matter.”

Thomas soon came up with ‘The Silence of the Lambs’.

Virgil laughed when Thomas considered that one. “Do I look like a Remus to you?” He asked.

“No, but I do know you like cult classics. And this is as classic as it gets.” Thomas replied. “And: it was released on February 14th.” He added.

Virgil looked at the screen with a confused and surprised face. “Why was that the release date option for this thriller movie?” Virgil asked.

“Maybe we can watch and find out ourselves?” Thomas offered.

Virgil chuckled. “Oh BoY! I cAn’T wAiT!” Virgil declared in his best Remus impression. Thomas bursted out laughing at that. “Oh! I have an idea.” Virgil added suddenly. Thomas slowly stopped laughing and looked at him. “Let’s turn this into a game. First person to get scared gets tickled for an hour.” Virgil suggested.

Thomas raised his eyebrows. “Really?! Where the heck did that come from?!” Thomas asked.

Virgil froze up a little and bit his lip. “Remus and I used to play it.” Virgil admitted. “It was a challenge option that suited both of us, and we would make challenges based on the movies.” Virgil explained.

Thomas smiled and poked his side. Virgil jumped and shot him a warning look with a smirk. “The movie hasn’t started yet! That’s cheating!” Virgil yelled at him.

Thomas threw his hands up. “Fine, fine! Okay.” Thomas turned on the movie.

“Good luck.” Virgil purred in a teasy, smug voice.

Thomas smirked. “Good luck to you too.” He replied. Virgil gave Thomas a push as the production logos finished playing.

The movie started off with Clarice training and running in the woods. The movie moved right along to Clarice getting the case all the way to her seeing the information about Dr. Hannibal Lector and meeting him. The meeting was mostly quiet and as a result, it had been turned up quite loudly to catch the dialogue.

Partway through their first meeting, Clarice calmly throws a comeback to Dr. Lector’s personal and over specific observations about Clarice. Virgil smiled at Clarice’s intelligence. The feeling of satisfaction filled him as he looked away for only a minute, before the sound of something screeching made him jump and look back over.

The screeching was only a desk. A bloody desk. The movie had been so quiet until then.

Thomas laughed at this and started wiggling his fingers menacingly. “60 minutes of tickles is a gooooo!” He declared excitedly.

Virgil yelped and leaned back. “N-No! Nah! I-I wasn’t ready!-”

Thomas giggled and brought his fingers closer and closer to Virgil. “No one’s eeeever ready for jumpscares…” Thomas reminded him slyly.

Virgil bit his lip as a wobbly grin appeared on his face.

“Hey Alexa! Set a timer for 60 minutes!” Thomas yelled to the Alexa in the kitchen.

Virgil widened his eyes and punched his arm lightly. “You ass!”

[Setting a timer for 60 minutes.] Alexa replied.

Thomas immediately started tickling his sides and ribs first. Virgil grunted and bucked his hips, refusing to give him what he wanted without a fight. Thomas snickered at his determination. “I should’ve known the ticklish emo would hide his giggles.” Thomas said with a sly voice. “Am I gonna have to work to get any laughter out of you?” He asked as well.

Virgil glared at him, pushing Thomas’s shoulders while he fought. In response: Thomas grabbed his wrist sleeves in one hand, and pinned them a couple feet above Virgil’s own belly.

Virgil fought to pull his wrists away. “You won’t get me laughing.” Virgil angrily vowed, struggling to pull his sweater sleeves out of Thomas’s hand.

Thomas giggled at that, and took a mental note of the unzipped sweater. “There there, we’ll see about that!” Thomas dug his fingers into the open armpit. “A tickle-tickle-tickle-tickle-tickle!” Thomas teased as he moved his hand down to his upper ribs.

Virgil blushed a bright red from the teasing alone, and bit his lip hard as he writhed under the man.

Next, Thomas moved his hands to his belly and started drumming and squishing it. “Look at dis wittle bewwyyyy! It’s so squooshy and adorable!” Thomas teased even further in a baby voice.

By now, the teasing and tickling was starting to get to him. Virgil had started letting out a few little giggles here and there. “Shuhut uhup!” Virgil shot back.

Thomas gasped excitedly. “Was that a giggle I heard?” Thomas teased, still treating Virgil like a little kid.

Virgil just growled at that. “F-Fuck off.”

Thomas just continued to tickle him, going higher and higher pitched to baby him even more. “Was that a giggle I heard?” Thomas moved his hand to his side and started squeezing. “Was that a giggle giggle giggle I heard?” Thomas teased with his face closer to Virgil’s. Virgil clenched his teeth and started slightly tittering as his lips stretched and loosened. “I think it was!” Thomas answered his own question.

Virgil’s throat was letting out little titters and giggles while his lips were working against him and creating a smile despite his attempts to stop it. “Sh-Shuhut uhup! Ahass!” Virgil shot back hollowly while kicking and bucking to get Thomas off of him.

Thomas giggled and took another look at the unzipped sweater. The reality of the situation was that Virgil could easily get out of there. He could easily slip his hands out and run away without his jacket. So Virgil was either super connected to his jacket, or Virgil didn’t want to escape!

“Hey Virgil?” Thomas asked.

“Whahahat?” He responded.

“Do you like being tickled?” he asked him.

Virgil scoffed at that. “Whahat gahave yohohou thahat idehea?” Virgil shot back with a deepening red blush.

Thomas smirked and leaned in. “Don’t make me do it…” He warned. “Dooon’t make me do the raspberry thing!” Thomas warned, leaning closer and closer with a big smirk on his face.

Virgil glared defiantly at him. But...there was the slightest smirk on his face that told him everything: “Fuck. Off.”

Thomas smiled as he listened to that reply, and blew a BIG raspberry on Virgil’s covered belly. Virgil threw his head back and SCREAMED!

Thomas bursted out laughing at him as he lifted his head away from his belly. “Here lies Virgil Sanders. A beloved person with a blunt yet secretly caring attitude towards life. May his soul and cohohonfidehehence-” Thomas had to pause to let himself laugh at his own stupid joke, “Rehest in peheheace.”

Virgil punched Thomas in the arm with his ‘bound’ arm lightly. “Shuhuhut the fuhuhuck up!” He yelled back at him.

Thomas smiled in pure amusement as he resumed tickling his side. The man leaned in again and blew another belly raspberry on his ticklish victim.

Virgil started squealing and kicking as his laughter finally broke free from his lungs. “FAAAHAHAHAHAHAHACK!”

Thomas gasped excitedly and threw his fist in the air! “YES! I DID IT!” he shouted before returning back to tickling. Virgil just hissed through his laughter and shook his head.

Thomas quickly started tickling up and down his ribs and sides. He wanted to get as much laughter as he could out of Virgil, before the hour ended and the movie resumed.

Virgil threw his head back as he laughed harder, while squirming and shaking his body back and forth.

“Listen to his laughter! You can surely tell he’s experiencing heaven!” Thomas declared proudly.

Virgil glared right at Thomas again, kicking his legs uselessly behind Thomas.

Thomas took this as evidence to the truth. “Or maybe, this IS his heaven!” Thomas offered. “Is getting tickled by your main Sanders your ultimate choice of heaven?” Thomas teased.

Virgil’s face was bright and shaded with blush from forehead to collar bones. “I HAHAHATE YOHOHOHOU!” He shouted back.

Thomas sent Virgil a fake pity face. “Awww, I don’t think you hate me that much, do you?” Thomas asked, before giving Virgil’s belly button a poke.

Finally, Virgil pushed against him and tried sitting up. “Yehehehes!”

But Thomas gasped in hurt and offense. “How DARE you!” He reacted. “That hurts my poor, weakened heart! How dare you say such nasty things!” Thomas reacted dramatically, almost replicating a Roman move.

Virgil completely paled at his expression and immediately tried scrambling off the couch. But Thomas was fast! The man wrapped his arms around Virgil’s waist and pulled him right back into his ticklish demise. This time: in his lap.

“Screw you dude!” Virgil shot at him.

“The hour isn’t up yet, Virgil!” Thomas reminded him.

“I don’t care!” Virgil argued, squealing as Thomas was already getting back to work.

Thomas wrapped one arm around Virgil’s waist and used the other hand to squeeze and dig into Virgil’s hip. Virgil threw his head back against Thomas’s shoulder and laughed his heart out. This made Thomas smile happily. Listening to Virgil’s laugh was like a treat to anyone. So Thomas made it a point to listen to it without his own teasing drowning out the pretty sound.

Virgil continued to push against him, but his force had lessened quite dramatically from earlier. As an ending finale, Thomas made his other arm join around Virgil’s waist and blew a raspberry into his neck.

Thomas was expecting a loud scream, a burst of cackles or a snort of some sort!

But all he got was a short giggle fit. Though it was a lackluster finale, Thomas still applauded the sound of Virgil’s giggles.

Thomas lifted his head back up and noticed there was STILL no alarm going off to indicate the end of the timer. So, he decided to ask. “Het Alexa! How much time is left?” He asked.

[There is 10 minutes left on the timer. Would you like to stop it, Gay Lord?] Alexa asked.

Virgil wheezed at the unexpected nickname. THAT WAS THE ALEXA’S NICKNAME FOR THOMAS?! IT WAS PERFECT!

“GAHAHAHAY LOHOHOHORD!”

Thomas snickered at that too. “Ihi forgot I set that as my nickname!” he admitted.

Virgil snorted at that and continued to laugh hysterically at the nickname.

Yehehehes, stop the tihimer!” Thomas replied to Alexa.

[............You will need to connect to the internet first-]

Thomas leaned forward and bursted out laughing at that, while Virgil shook his head. “FUHUCK YOU, ALEXA!” Thomas yelled at the AI.

[But...But…]

Virgil leaned his head back against Thomas’s chest and laughed himself to tears. Virgil’s entire body was shaking and spasming from how hard he was laughing. Thomas was also just allowing himself to die of laughter. As it would turn out, the tickling he got from Thomas was nothing compared to Alexa’s stupidity! Alexa’s stupidity seemed to make him laugh even more!

Well, make that both of them.

Thomas soon stopped laughing and patted Virgil’s back to help him get it out so he could breath. Virgil had been tickled AND thrown into more fits of laughter after. So he was in more dire need of breath now than before.

Virgil eventually stopped laughing and was left with heavy panting. “Ahahaha...oh...oh my gosh…” Virgil tried to speak. “I...I’ll admit...I…” Virgil was starting to confess something to him.

Thomas allowed him time to get his words out and rested his head on the back of the couch. Thomas took the time to stop the movie that was still playing while they had the tickle fight.

Virgil bit his lip. “I...had a lot of fun…” He finally got out.

Thomas smiled genuinely at that. “Yeah?”

Virgil turned to look at Thomas behind him, and nodded. “Yeah.”

Thomas hugged Virgil from behind and rested his chin on his shoulder. But Virgil turned himself around and gave Thomas a tight hug. Virgil’s eyeshadow had turned a purple color from the love and affection he was getting. But there was still one more thing he wanted to tell Thomas.

“Thomas?” Virgil called.

Thomas tilted his head. “Yes?”

Virgil purred. “Uh...I uh…” He closed his eyes. “I love you.”

Thomas smiled and gently fluffed his hair. “I love you too Virgil!” Thomas replied.

Virgil cuddled up against Thomas and allowed him to play with his hair more. Virgil started to purr and melt into the touch he was being given. Before they knew it, both the boys had fallen asleep.

Later on, Roman had walked out of the room and noticed the two cuddlers. He giggled and took a picture before sending it to the others. After that, Roman draped a blanket on top of them and sat down on the other side of the couch.

Logan: [I’m delighted to see Thomas and Virgil spending time together.]

Janus: [This is totally not the cutest thing I’ve seen in ages.]

Roman laughed at Janus’s reaction and replied: [I know, right?!]

Remus: [Awww! Cuties! 💚💚]

Patton: [Look at my two adorable kiddos cuddling!! 💖😻 I set it as my lock screen!]

#valentine's day fluff #valentine's 2021 #silence of the lambs reference #ticklefic #ler!thomas #lee!virgil #family bonding

[terriblygrimm]

Drop some of your Zukaang headcanons! ❤️💛

*rupaul voice* OHHHHHH GURL

here we fuckin gooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

1. zuko is fascinated by aang’s meditation techniques. whenever aang meditates he giggles and cracks and eye open because he spots zuko watching him from across the room

2. he happily invites zuko to join him and he teaches him about each chakra. he tells zuko that he believes he has excessice third chakra energy (the solar plexus chakra- the center of personal power, self-esreem, identity, freedom, choice). he tells zuko this is the source of his emotional outbursts, his stress. zuko scoffs initially but as aang teaches him empowering phrases to repeat to himself that tempers that energy, it’s transformative for him (i love and accept myself, i stand up for myself, i choose the best for myself, i honor myself, i direct my own life, i am free to choose)

3. they start to regularly hang out and zuko (in attempts to be romantic) brings aang to the cliffside on the beach around sunset. he knows the wide, expansive ocean, open sky and breeze will strike him as an airbender, and aang is truly speechless. after being so earth-bound upon the destruction of the air nations, aang was beginning to get homesick and restless. but the vastness of this view fills him again with wonderment.

4. aang promptly jumps off the cliffside to glide through the air in freewheeling fashion- zuko has a heart attack. aang eggs him on and zuko takes a chance- for once not overthinking and being guarded and (stupidly) jumps off the cliffside believing aang will catch him.

5. aang does, of course and he lands them softly on the beach after a minute of gliding. there’s a quiet moment of exhilaration, panic and heavy breathing before zuko kisses aang on the cheek. aang looks up to zuko with his big, happy eyes in the red and orange (ahem, sunset light that is fire nation/air nation colors) and tells him he missed. zuko is puzzled, but not for long before aang pulls him in for a kiss on the mouth.

6. during one of their firebending training sessions, zuko sets the corner of aang’s robe on fire in an attempt to get aang to stop carefully thinking about his moves and instead act- as firebending is rooted in pure passion. aang doesn’t know how to put out the fire since he’s not entirely advanced and asks zuko to put it out! but zuko gets too carried away and let’s it continue to burn. eventually as aang starts to panic he puts it out, and aang is crying because these robes are historical artifacts at this point and it’s all he has left of his people. zuko is crushed and this causes emotional strain on their relationship. zuko eventually scores the air nation temples and finds scrolls and prints of the air nation textiles and sewing patterns- and he presents aang with new robes carefully and newly crafted.

7. iroh has totally lost it and never knows what tea leaves he puts in his drink, is it poisonous? he guesses he’ll find out! but thankfully aang is great with herbs and one day he labels all the loose leaf in the cabinets and it warms zuko’s heart. iroh loves aang even more after that

8. iroh and aang play pai sho every weekend. iroh is thrilled that aang was taught by his elders and knows how to play

9. momo and appa LOVE zuko. i know it’s not exactly a hc based on some scenes from the show- but momo eventually makes a nest in zuko’s bedroom when he realizes aang stays over so frequently. he’s also always crawling all over him because zuko sneaks him biscuits when aang isn’t looking. aang giggles because he knows zuko thinks he doesn’t know.

10. when they’re older they have kids. now bear w me on this one but raava is in aang right? the spirit of light and life? i have a hc that aang can create life by nature of having this force inside of him. the life would have to be transferred somewhere in order to grow but i hc them as being able to have special spirit babies together ☺️

#zukaang #ask #anon #boom! ask and you shall receive #these are my cute hcs ok im not claiming to be any sort of religious expert or even have these be in the atla timeline #just general hcs #i hope you like them!!!! #also i hope you understand the funny rupaul tone of voice i used in this lol