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#If You Wanna Start A Fight Well You Better Throw The First Punch Make It A Good One (Fisher Giffard)
skaye44 · 29 days
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The Old Barnes Charm
Summary: Bucky likes you but doesn't know how to tell you. Steve tells him to use his "Barnes Charm" on you, but...it doesn't go so well....
Content warnings: MILD language (if any), Clumsy Bucky, some injuries-but you're fine, fluff
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You had passed all the necessary tests and had joined the team – like a month ago and Steve paired you with Bucky for your training and future mission partner. You weren't complaining by any means since you know who he is and he's a great agent and skilled fighter (plus he's easy on the eyes).
While you were making your way up through the levels of being a top field agent, you and he would occasionally run into each other at the gym, or throughout the compound, and he always stopped to chat with you so being paired with him made you feel a little less anxious since you kind of knew him already.
Your room at the compound was down the hall from Bucky as you were the only ones on that floor which suited you just fine. You weren't one for socializing much and from what you could tell, neither was Bucky so you were happy about your living arrangements. Bucky on the other hand was a little more concerned with his new partner.
"I don't know Steve; you think this is a good idea?" he asked Steve as the two of them sat down in the common room and each cracked open a beer. 
"Why not Bucky? Her test scores are off the charts both physically and mentally, she's new like you are, and you're practically roommates since you are both on the same floor. It kind of makes sense to me" he sipped his beer. 
Bucky had met you a few times throughout the compound and he always enjoyed his time chatting with you. He found you funny, witty, strong, kind, and he also thought you were really pretty but kept that to himself. He didn't want to come off as a creep to his new partner, but Steve sensed there was more his friend wasn't telling him.
"I don't know" Bucky grumbled into his bottle and Steve eyed him. 
"What, you like her or somethin'?" he asked. 
"No" Bucky quickly said and shrunk into his seat a little more. 
"She's a strong member of our team. Show her the old Barnes charm" Steve nudged his friend in the arm. 
"That's not a thing" Bucky glared at Steve. 
"Oh, it's a thing" he laughed as he continued chatting with his best friend. 
The more he thought about it, the more he could get to know you better since you're going to be partners and everything. Maybe he would use some of that Barnes charm after all.
"Hey Y/n, wanna spar with me?" asked Bucky as he caught up to you in the hallway. 
You had just returned from an early morning hike in the woods. 
"Sure thing, let me change my shoes and I'll meet you in the gym".
Bucky nodded and left for the direction of the gym. 
You got your correct shoes on, grabbed some water, and headed to the gym.
Bucky walked to the gym and thought about what kind of Barnes charm he would use, only making himself more nervous. He wasn't this way when he would train with anyone else, only you.
This wasn't your first time sparring with Bucky, it was your second. You were a little nervous since there would be others in the gym watching you, but you brushed it off. You met Bucky at the mats and proceeded to stretch. 
"Gonna go easy on me Barnes?" you asked as you got up from the mat. 
"No, I don't think I am" he smirked and joined you in your fighting stance. 
You were holding your own against the super soldier, punching and kicking your way through the drills as Bucky twisted and turned himself at you, making you think before you countered with a move.
He showed you a few things to work on and you thanked him for helping you. He really was a great partner you thought to yourself as you stopped for a few seconds to think. You didn't notice Bucky throw his fist at your face, and your nose instantly made a crack sound then the blood started flowing. 
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"
Bucky grabbed onto your shoulders and helped you sit down on the mat to collect yourself. 
Steve ran over with a large towel to contain the bleeding while you took it and put pressure to your nose. 
"I think you broke her nose" Steve said then he patted Bucky on the back. 
"Good one Cyborg, way to injure your partner" Sam yelled from a treadmill and Bucky grimaced.
"I'll be fine guys. Hurts like hell but it's ok, really. I wasn't paying attention" you squeaked out while still holding the towel.
You didn't want to show weakness in front of your teammates but your nose hurt like heck.
"I'm so sorry Y/n" Bucky pleaded with you. 
He felt horrible and hung his head in shame. 
"It's ok Bucky. I'll go to the medical bay and see if they can help me".
Sam helped you off the mat and walked you to see a doctor.
"What were you thinking?" Steve slapped Bucky on the arm. 
"Owe! I thought she saw it coming. I honestly thought she would block it like she did all the other ones!" Bucky stammered. 
Steve narrowed his eyes at Bucky and turned around to head back to the punching bag.
Way to show her the Barnes charm idiot Bucky thought to himself while he cleaned up the blood that was on the mat. 
After cleaning up, he decided he would visit the medical bay to see how you were doing.
You were on a hospital bed with Sam by your side as Doctor Smith cleaned up your nose and braced it. You were grimacing from the q-tips the doctor was using on your face, Bucky walked into the room. 
"Haven't you done enough?" Sam said patting you on the back and glaring at Bucky. 
"It's ok Sam, really".
You offered Bucky a re-assuring smile. 
"I just came to see how you were doing" Bucky whispered. 
"Just a broken nose Bucky, no big deal. I've had one before and it wasn't that bad. I'll be ok".
You reached out your hand and patted him on the arm. 
Sam rolled his eyes and left the room leaving you and Bucky with the doctor.
Doctor Smith gave you some pain meds and an ice pack to help with the swelling and released you. 
"Get some rest and take it easy" the doctor said before you left the room. 
"Will do doc, thanks".
You put your arm through Bucky's and left the medical room. 
"I feel horrible".
Bucky walked you back to your room. 
"Bucky, it's ok, really. It was an accident. I wasn't paying attention, that's all. I forgive you". You gave him a side hug outside your door. 
He smiled a little and felt a little relief as you turned the hug into a big one.
"There, you looked like you needed a hug". You released him. 
"I think you're the one who does".
"I'm going to rest for a bit, but I'll see you later?" you asked, and Bucky nodded. 
You closed the door and left Bucky in the hallway. He stood there for a few minutes, feeling completely mortified for what he had done, but he was thankful you didn't hate him.
The next few weeks you spent relaxing and resting your broken nose. Bucky was constantly at your side, asking if you needed anything and of course, you didn't. You were grateful for his assistance but felt like he was hovering a little too much, so you escaped the compound for a few hours to go for a hike. When you returned, Bucky ran through the halls and ripped open your bedroom door. 
"There you are!" he said in between breaths. 
"Um, hi?" you looked weirdly at him. 
"I didn't know where you went to. I got scared" he admitted then sat at the end of your bed. 
"Bucky, I'm fine, just went for a hike to clear my head and get away for a little bit. Nose is practically healed so I'm feeling much better".
You tapped your nose for re-assurance.
"In fact, I was looking to make a training and sparring schedule with you, if that's aright?"
"Oh, sure".
The two of you sat down with your computer and made a calendar of when you and he would train together. 
He preferred early mornings which you were fine with. The sooner you could train, the sooner you could relax you thought to yourself. 
"There, in a few days, we can return to sparring with each other".
You closed the lid to your laptop. 
"You sure?" Bucky asked. 
"Positive". You patted his leg. 
He blushed a little before getting up and leaving your room.
FRIDAY called everyone into the conference room for a meeting and as you were leaving your room, Bucky came up behind you. He startled you, so you jumped, and he chuckled a little. 
"Sorry".
You both walked down the hallway. 
Sam was in front of you heading down the hall to the conference room and Bucky was right behind you. Sam stopped suddenly to check his phone and you slammed into his back and Bucky slammed hard into yours, making you fall flat on your face since you were sandwiched in-between the two men. 
"Oof, ouch". You fell to the floor. 
"Are you ok?" Bucky asked as he bent down so he was eye level with you.
"I'm fine Bucky".
He helped you up off the floor. 
Sam turned around and said he was sorry for stopping abruptly. 
"It's ok, really". You brushed yourself off. 
"Smooth one Barnes" Sam rolled his eyes at Bucky. 
Bucky was mortified he made you fall and felt bad but again, you re-assured him you were fine, which you were. 
Way to show her more of your Barnes charm he thought to himself and cringed. You finished your meeting and headed to the movie room for the night.
You and Bucky were going to watch a movie before heading to bed, something the two of you started to do when you were resting your broken nose. You liked your movie nights with Bucky. You would be snuggled under a blanket, eating snacks, and commenting on the various scenes and actors, laughing and joking. Hearing Bucky laugh always made you feel good since he was usually more tense and stoic rather than carefree and outgoing. Little did you know, you were slowly breaking down the White Wolf's walls and staking a small claim in his heart.
A few days later, you were cleared for sparing so you met Bucky in the gym thanks to your newly formed training schedule and the two of you started sparring with each other. You were really holding your own against Bucky as you were giving it all you got. It felt good to spar again and get in some punches and kicks seeing as you missed doing that since your injury. 
"Nice move".
You spun away from him and swiftly kicked out his leg from under him, causing him to fall. 
He jumped up and proceeded to grab your right arm and swing you down to the mat, but he must have used a bit too much force as he grabbed your arm, you turned suddenly at the contact, and when he brought you down to the mat, you fell awkwardly, and you heard your shoulder make a 'pop' sound. 
"OW!" you winced as you were laying down on the mat. 
"Oh my god, are you ok?" asked Bucky.
He was trying to see what was hurting you.
"My shoulder...I think it's dislocated" you winced.
He looked you over while you sat back up. 
"Y/n, I'm going to pop it back in" Bucky said grabbing your shoulder and arm. He then proceeded to pop the joint back in its place. 
When it popped back in, you let out a scream and collapsed onto the mat in pain. Steve came running into the gym and saw you lying on the floor with Bucky next to you. 
"What happened now?" he asked as kneeling next to you. 
"I dislocated my shoulder" you grimaced.
Steve looked over at Bucky who had his head down. 
"I didn't mean to" he whispered. 
"Bucky, it's ok. I'll just go to the doctor again and get a sling for this. Thanks for popping it back in for me".
You got up from the mats. 
Steve helped you, but you shrugged him off and insisted you could visit the doctor without their 'help' and left the gym. 
"Maybe lay off the Barnes charm Buck" Steve said slapping a hand on his friends back as Bucky glared at him and left the gym with Steve chuckling behind.
Doctor Smith gave you some more pain meds, put your arm in a sling, and told you to take it easy so you left the medical wing and headed to your room for a bath. You figured a bath would help relax the muscles and not be too strenuous on your shoulder.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Bucky was nursing a cup of coffee with Steve at his side.
"What is wrong with me? I keep injuring her and I swear I'm not trying to!" Bucky said into his cup. 
Steve chuckled lightly and Bucky scowled at him. 
"It's not funny you punk. I don't know why I keep injuring her. I don't mean it obviously; I just don't know why it always happens" he said as Steve patted Bucky's back.
"It's ok. Y/n is a sweetheart and she's not mad at you. It's all been accidents" Steve said. 
"She should be mad at me" Bucky mumbled into his coffee. 
"Maybe I shouldn't be her partner?"
Bucky put his head down on the table with a loud thud. 
"You and Y/m make a good team, trust me".
Steve left his friend sitting at the table.
Bucky thought about it. He liked you as a partner, and perhaps something more.
Your smile, the way you tuck your hair behind your ear, the songs you listen to, and you go out of your way to see if he's having a good day all make him feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. He'd hate to lose you as a partner because of all of this and he hoped you wouldn't leave him to partner with Steve, or worse, Sam.
You managed to get into the bathtub for a soak as you thought about your time with Bucky. You really liked Bucky as your training and mission partner as you found him funny, kind, witty, and had the right amount of sarcasm you liked in a guy. You wouldn't want anyone else as a partner, even if Bucky had accidentally hurt you a few times. Things like that happen and you were determined not to make Bucky feel bad for his actions.
You stayed in your room for the next few days, resting your shoulder. Bucky would come by and check on you every so often. He even brought you a bouquet of flowers which made your heart skip a beat since he seemed so genuine and shy when he gave them to you. You took them and put them right by your bed so you would have something nice to look at.
Bucky, Sam, and Steve were watching TV in the lounge when they saw you walk into the kitchen.
"Hey girl!" Sam called from the couch. 
"Hey Sammy!" you rummaged around the pantry.
"What are you looking for?" asked Steve. 
"I feel like some cookies" you said as you were bent down looking for some treats.
"I don't think there are any. Grocery run is tomorrow and they're on the list" Steve said from the couch. 
You came up empty handed, frowned lightly, then went back to your room when Bucky got an idea and stood up abruptly. 
"Where are you going?" asked Sam from the couch. 
"Be back in a minute!" Bucky rushed out of the room. 
"Barnes charm" Steve said to Sam as they both nodded and smirked.
A few hours later, you heard a knock at your door. 
"Come in" you said from your bed, too lazy to get up. Bucky walked in with a plate. 
"Hey" he came into your room and sat down in the spot next to you.
"Hey Bucky" you smiled brightly at him. 
"What do you have there?" you asked eyeing up the plate.
"Oh, I made you some cookies since we don't have any and you wanted some" he said proudly. 
"What? You made them?” you asked looking at the treats.
"Yeah, found a recipe in one of the cookbooks and I went out to get the ingredients, then made them" he shrugged then smiled. 
You looked at the treats and noticed there were M & M's in them. You took a bite, and they were delicious. 
"Wow, these are yummy. Thanks Bucky."
You finished your cookie.
Bucky took a bite of his cookie and was about to ask if you wanted to watch a movie with him, when he noticed your face was a little red and blotchy.
"Um, Y/n?" he asked. 
You felt a little funny, and it was getting warm in the room and your throat was scratchy. 
"Um, Bucky, what was in those cookies?"
"The recipe said they were monster cookies. I don't really know what qualifies them to be monsters since there's decent ingredients in them" he said as he was looking at a cookie. 
"Oh my god!"
You bolted out of your bed and rummaged through your drawer to dig out your epi pen. 
When you found it, you immediately jabbed it into your thigh then relaxed.
"What the hell?"
"I'm allergic to peanuts".
"Oh. My. God."
Bucky watched you with wide eyes, making sure you were ok. 
"It's ok Bucky, you didn't know. It's not a death sentence as I only get a few hives and feel warm and sweaty, but I won't die from one peanut laced cookie. Even though M & M's aren't technically peanut free, I have eaten them before and have been fine. I just know monster cookies usually have peanuts or peanut butter in them. But to be safe, I’m going to head to the medical bay".
You re-assured him. 
"Are you going to join me?" you asked.
"You want me to after I tried to kill you?" he asked quietly.
"Of course!" you smiled and grabbed his arm and walked to the medical bay.
"You again?" asked Doctor Smith as he was sitting at a desk doing paperwork.
"And you?" he pointed at Bucky. 
Bucky nodded and walked with you to a bed so Doctor Smith could examine you. Bucky stood by your side with his head down and you snuck your hand in his to hold it, squeezing it every so often in the hopes it would make him feel better. He would squeeze it back occasionally which made you smile brightly at him, and he would blush a little. Doctor Smith examined you and got you another epi pen and determined you were fine. Your red and blotchy face was fading so Doctor Smith released you from the medical bay.
Bucky walked with you back to your room and you turned to look at him. 
"Bucky, please don't feel bad about all of this" you said and patted his arm. 
He nodded and smiled lightly. 
"I'll see you later". You walked into your room, leaving Bucky in the hallway.
Steve walked by and stopped outside your room. 
"Heard Y/n was in the med bay again. What happened?" he asked as Bucky turned to him. 
"The cookies I made for her had nuts in them" he said and put his head down. 
Steve looked at him weirdly. 
"She's allergic to peanuts" Bucky softly said, and Steve nodded with a pat on his friends back. 
"She's not mad at me which I don't understand. I've injured her this entire month and she keeps on smiling and telling me it's fine" he cringed as Steve walked with Bucky back to his room. 
"I know pal, she's a good person" he said as Bucky walked into his room.
"See you tomorrow?" Steve asked and Bucky nodded, closing his door.
You were feeling a little restless having spent most of the day and evening in your room, so you headed out to try and find a quiet place to relax. You wandered to the lounge and saw the large balcony with a few outdoor couches spread around, so you made your way to them. When you got outside, you saw Bucky sitting in one with a book. 
"Hey".
You sat down next to him. 
He smiled and went back to his book. 
The two of you sat there in comfortable silence with Bucky reading and you were watching the sky. After a while, you looked over at Bucky and smiled. 
"What?" he asked, putting the book down in his lap.
"Nothin'" you smirked. 
"Come on, what is it?"
"Just waiting for you to give me some of that Barnes charm of yours" you teased as Bucky rolled his eyes and slumped back into the couch cringing. You laughed hard and turned to face him. 
"How did you know about that?" asked Bucky. 
"Sam" you said and winked at him. 
Sam had mentioned the Barnes charm to you a few days prior and you giggled while he told you what Steve said. You thought about all the times you and Bucky talked, laughed, and flirted a little. You had no idea why he thought he would have to use his charm when he was already charming, but you shrugged it off.
"Sorry, I think it's cute". You nudged him with your good arm.
"Ugh" Bucky groaned and shook his head in shame. 
"I just don't get why you felt the need to charm me. You're already my partner and everything".
Bucky looked away from you. 
After a few minutes of silence Bucky turned to you. 
"I like you" he blurted out, causing you to open your mouth in shocked silence. 
"Wh-what?"
"Y/n, I like you, like-like you like you" he said and looked down at his feet. 
"What are we in grade 5?" you giggled.
Bucky shook his head with a smirk. 
"I like you too, even though you busted my nose, made me fall on the ground, dislocated my shoulder, and almost killed me with nuts" you said and chuckled lightly. 
Bucky's face was blank when you answered, still processing the fact that you like him too. You leaned to him and put your head on his shoulder. 
"It's going to be ok. We'll figure everything out between us" you said, and he put his arm around you and squeezed a little, making you whimper slightly from your injury.
"Sorry". 
"It's ok. You can stop with the Barnes charm though; You don't need it anymore" you whispered as the both of you looked out into the quiet night, snuggled in close to one another.
539 notes · View notes
sovereignjojoz · 11 months
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hi! i really enjoyed your headcanons about the Bucci gang and reader with a scary but nice Stand. would it be okay if i request that same thing for Josuke, Okuyasu, Rohan, and Jotaro? :D
Scary but sweet stand: part 4 edition.
Pairings: Josuke x reader, Okuyasu x reader, Rohan x reader + Jotaro x reader
Notes - I’m so sorry this request took so long anon! I’ve had writers block for a while. Hope you like it🤍
Higashikata Josuke
He jumped back and covered his eyes, your stand literally looked like something out of his nightmares.
Unfiltered, he blurted out, “the heck is that thing!”
If you become saddened by his reaction, he immediately changes his tune and puts on a lopsided grin (as best he can), he doesn’t wanna make his s/o sad.
But even so for the first few times he meets your stand he’s going to keep his distance until he gets over his wariness.
But believe you me once he’s over it there’s no separating him and your stand, like when it hovers over him he’ll become a chatterbox even though the stand can’t verbally response.
“I know! But then you won’t believe what Okuyasu did next, the idiot-”
He might punch someone if they insult your stand.
And I can’t get it out of my head that crazy diamond would love to play fight with your stand all the time.
And chase your stand around too.
Definitely has tried to play fight your stand.
Honestly your stand definitely squished cd’s cheeks in a scolding manner at some point, it’s just obsessed.
Oh, and if it wasn’t obvious before if you ever get injured the first one by your side is cd, ready to heal you.
Nijimura Okuyasu
Initial reaction: run.
He doesn’t mean to! It’s just he’s never seen a stand of the sought and he didn’t know to react so his first reaction was flight.
He definitely ran straight to Josuke’s house and Josuke gave him a look like: wtf is up with you.
After he apologises and depending on how mad you are he might take you to Tonio’s as an apology.
But when he finally warms up to your stand, he really warms up to your stand.
Like almost to the level that they’re inseparable.
He’ll use the hand to erase the distance between you guys if he thinks your too far away.
And he likes to try and scare your stand too to see the reaction it will bring out.
Probably tries to prank it too like by throwing water on it only to get scared after it reacts.
Tried to hug it a ton.
Honestly just a new bestie for him.
Kishibe Rohan
When he first met your stand, he couldn’t really hide his emotions very well.
His throat constricted and he let out a strangled gasp, just taking a long look between you and it.
He really didn’t understand, you were muse like material so what was that! Why did you manifest such a stand.
He doesn’t really sugarcoat so he might be a bit blunt!
He loves you, but not your stand (at first) so when it tries to come into contact with him he’ll dodge.
After a while though he see’s it’s not that bad and best believe if his actions are making you sad he’ll stop his diva-ish act.
He’ll pat it’s head and stuff and say thank you for all the additional acts it does.
I feel like an activity he’d like to do with your stand is clean for some reason, he likes that it’s silent and gets the job done (better than you too, he might even tell ya that!)
He loves drawing you however every one word in a while he might draw your stand too, sometimes when he thinks fondly of it, or to get character inspo since it’s so unique looking.
other times he’ll just leave a drawing around the house of it and notices how your stand jumps for joy.
Overall he does quite like your stand, but he likes you more.
Jotaro Kujo
He grimaces. Hard.
But he tries to keep a straight face and a neutral reaction as best he can, he’s seen weird stands before but yours is something he never would have even thought of.
Star platinum on the other hand mirrors his true expression.
He’s gonna act like your stand doesn’t exist for a good while as a result until your stand starts doing nice little things for him like readjusting his hat.
He’ll still act unbothered however he might give a nod of appreciation.
However one day your stand wasn’t how wrong around him like usual and immediately he noticed something was off.
He supposed he had gotten rather used to your stand assisting him he hadn’t truly approached it’s value.
Definitely see’s that your stands value in battle which makes him come to like it a lot more.
So the next time your stand was there he pat it’s back in an effort to show his appreciation.
Honestly though your stand just looks to star platinum to see his feelings and is quite pleasantly surprised to see they’re mostly positive.
Oh! And your stand most definitely plays catch with star when there’s time.
And probably also plays with it’s hair.
619 notes · View notes
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Imagine taking UTA and Luffy trick or treating with Shanks
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Shanks: thanks for doing this, I know you probably had other plans for tonight.
You: *a friend of Makino's who volunteered to take Luffy for the night* It's really no problem, my plans changed when my friend got sick and had to cancel her party, so figured I take Luffy for the night, so both he and Makino could have fun.
Shanks: A party? Is that why you're in costume? Well, Uta'll be pleased, she was very insistent about all of us dressing up for her first time trick or treating.
You: Oh it's her first time?
Shanks: yeah it's something that's only practiced here in the East Blue
Luffy: Hurry up you two, people are starting to go already.
Uta: Yeah! If you take too much longer there isn't gonna be any candy left!
Shanks: Yes, yes, we're coming.... I like your costume by the way, it suits you.
Uta: ( TT n TT) What about my costume?
Shanks: Yours is gorgeous my sweet.
You: *nods your head* I can tell you put in a lot of work into it.
Uta: whatever, I have candy to collect. *runs off *
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An hour later
Uta: *notices the way Shanks is looking at you*
Luffy: *runs to you and jumps into your arms* Look! Look! That house was passing out full sized candy bars!
You: oh wow, never seen that in this neighborhood before.
Uta and Shanks: *come over from playing a game at a neighboring house*
Shanks: what's going on?
Luffy: Uta, this house is giving away full sized candy bars. Jumps down*
Uta: EHH! No way! I want one! *pulls Luffy towards the door and rings the bell.*
Old lady: *answers the door*
Uta and Luffy: Trick or treat!
Old lady: *looks between Uta and Luffy, before glancing up at you and Shanks* Oh my, how scary! Who do we have here?
Luffy: I'm a pirate
Uta: and I'm a pop star. *Throws up a peace sign and winks*
Old Lady: I can see, you're very sparkly, dear. *let's Uta pick out a full sized candy bar from a selection* Now I believe I already gave you candy bar.
Luffy: *grins and nods* he he, yeah, thanks, I just came to bring her. You've already paid the toll.
Shanks: *wraps his arm over your shoulders and sighs*
Old lady: *catches the red head out of the corner of her eye and hands Luffy two more candy bars* Why don't you take these to your lovely parents. *Gestures towards you and Shanks*
Uta and Luffy: *look over at you two*
Uta: That's my dad! Keep your hands to yourself!
Luffy: but he's the one touching them?
Uta: and you're not my brother *shoves Luffy and marches over to you*, and you're a stranger.
Shanks: *mutters* Hopefully not for long.
Uta: What was that!
Shanks: I mean, I know we've only met a few times, but I want to get to know you.
You: really?
Uta: What!
Shanks: yeah, *ignoring his child* if that's okay.
You: okay, sure.
Uta: This is not happening!
Luffy: what's the big deal, it's not like they'll be setting sail with you... wait! If they get to go, take me too!
Uta: *throws the first punch* You're not coming either.
Luffy: You wanna go, fine, winner gets to go with Shanks, loser gets to stay here with my Grandpa. *Dodges Uta's fist and throws a punch of his own*
Shanks: Uta, knock it off!
Uta: More like, knock him out, cause that's what I'm gonna do. *gut punches Luffy
You: Luffy, you don't hit girls.
Luffy: no, you don't hit people weaker than you, which makes her free game, because she's older and bigger, and she knows how to defend herself.
You: does she?
Shanks: yeah, I wanted to make sure she could stand up for herself, and others *Pulls them apart and has to wrestle back Luffy.* Stop moving, ya damn brat!
Luffy: Never! *Flails harder*
Uta: *knows better than to fight Shanks on this and sulks beside you,* He would never choose you over me.
You: I promise I would never ask him to choose me over you. Okay? *Holds out your pinky*
Uta: *hooks your pinky in hers* I'll hold you to that while making no promises of my own.
You: I want you to get to know me as well, for Luffy, you're an important friend of his. So that makes you important to me too.
Uta: Fine, I guess I'll be doing you a big favor, because I'm gonna be famous one day. I'm gonna become the best singer in the world.
You: Well I guess I'll have to get tickets to your concert when it comes to this island.
Uta: You'd come see me perform!
You: I'd love to hear you sing, you could even pick the song.
Uta: I'm performing at Makino's bar tomorrow night at three, don't be late. Oh, and ticket cost a candy bar.
You: Yes, you make have my bar, and I'll be there a two thirty, and you can tell me the tales of the adventures of Uta and Luffy.
Uta: *points* HA! They agree with me, Luffy!
Luffy: Wait what?
Uta: They agree with me that "Uta and Luffy" is a much better than "Luffy and Uta."
Luffy: What! (Y/n), you're my friend, you're not supposed to agree with her!
Shanks: Sorry kid, "Uta and Luffy" flows better.
Luffy: I'd suddenly rather be home with Makino.
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List of Up-and-coming works
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Part 2: Adam
This is part of my first series! If you missed the first part, please feel free to enjoy Part 1: Kellen before you continue on with Adam. In terms of content, this is rather new territory. There is a bit of violent content, bullying, slurs. This is likely to be the only part of this series with that kind of content.
Kellen knew about Adam long before he found himself in academic turmoil. The poor kid was the perfect punching bag. Kellen took pride in the fact that this kid skirted the perimeter of any campus space where he saw any jocks. Unfortunately Adam couldn't avoid Kellen when they lived on the same floor of the residence halls. Even when he'd change schedules or leave out the fire escape stairs instead of the main entrance, Kellen would still manage to find him and insult him, shove him, dump out his backpack, throw him in a trash can—basically everything besides throwing outright punches.
Adam came to the bottom of the fire stairs and found his path blocked by Kellen. All he could do was freeze—his fight or flight reflexes worn down to nothing but paralysis.
"Hey nerd, I need something, and you're gonna do it for me."
Adam continued to quake, unable to muster any further reaction.
Kellen smiles. "Glad to see you won't object. I have a paper due tomorrow in my history class. You're gonna do it for me. Here's the rubric," he balls it up and throws the paper in Adam's face. "I'd better get a good grade."
Kellen punched his fist into his other hand to emphasize his point. "See you tomorrow with the essay, right dweeb?"
"Uh... yes." Adam barely manages to get out. He knew the only way to get out of this was giving in and playing along.
"Just yes? I thought I'd taught you respect by now." Kellen took a menacing step closer.
"Yes, sir." Adam looked down as he said it, hoping it would be enough to appease the menace. He waited for Kellen to say more, but he just laughed and walked away. Adam collapsed on the landing. He'd be late for class again but he needed a few minutes for the fear to leave him.
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A week later, Adam is loosing sleep. He already maxed out his workload on his own school schedule and now he had another one—well, it wasn't quite as rigorous as his own work but it was demanding, demeaning, and had to always take priority or... well he didn't wanna find out.
Two weeks later Adam is deep into mid-terms. He barely sleeps, his anxiety has risen steadily, and he was starting to slip on his own workload. His roommate Ben is a nerd like him with ambitions to be valedictorian and president of the student senate, etc.—a much more high-profile brainiac. His campus-wide notariety is probably why he never manages to face the wrath of the school's star jock. Ben sees Adam's mental health slipping and tries to check in on his roommate, but he evades. After a few times, Ben gets more insistent and manages to get the truth out of him.
"But that breaks so many rules. You've gotta turn him in."
"You don't understand, Ben. I don't know what he'd do to me and... it's terrifying." Adam breaks down crying for the third time in the course of the conversation.
"Then I can," Ben volunteers, "and he won't take it out on you."
"You're my roommate. He'd still make me pay for it."
"Then we could—"
Adam shuts down his roommate. "Don't do anything. Please, don't do anything. I can't risk it. There's nothing either of us can do that doesn't result in me facing consequences."
Ben, still visibly not over it, decides to let it go. He leaves for the library so Adam can have the room to himself.
Working late into the night and the early morning, Adam gets all the work done but the conversation with his roommate still weighs on him. It's cheesy, but he even looks out his window at a particularly bright star and wishes he could do something about Kellen, wishes there was some way out. But that was never going to work.
Ben returned at a rather late hour—2:30 am—but Adam was still awake even after his room mate returned and went to bed. He finished up around 4:30am and went to get even just a few hours of sleep.
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The next day brought sun and warmth. Adam had no time to take it in or enjoy it as he sent the daily batch of assignments to Kellen that morning before breakfast. The jock would send him a message through Snapchat—since nothing was saved there—telling Adam where to meet, or from time to time, where to drop the assignments. He fell asleep in both his morning classes, one of which was review for the midterm test coming up later in the week. Adam was so defeated and exhausted that he didn't even bother with lunch, choosing instead to head back to his dorm for a nap. He hoped that would help him get through the test he had at 2:30.
Ben returned shortly after. He barged into the room expecting to find it empty and found Adam just drifting off.
"Oh, sorry. I wasn't expecting you to be here." Ben said from the doorway.
"Yeah, I just needed a nap. Hopefully I don't get too hungry in my afternoon classes."
Ben clearly wanted to say more. Adam was sure that his roommate was still holding back his urge to do something for him with his Kellen problems, but Adam was grateful Ben decided against bringing anything up. After mulling it over for a moment, Ben settles for a different approach: "I'm getting lunch, but I can bring you something before your next class."
Adam was so tired he could cry and the simple showing of kindness. "That would be great. Maybe a burger?"
Before exiting, Ben left Adam with an obviously coded statement of support. "Adam, you know I would do anything in my power to help you right now." But ultimately Ben seemed to respect Adam's requests to stay out of things with Kellen and ducked out without pushing the matter further.
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Adam woke up an hour later feeling quite refreshed. He looked over at his desk and saw Ben had returned at some point with a salad. Adam sat up and looked out the window, taking in the nice weather for the first time. He had a half an hour to kill with some last-minute studying and then he had to pick up some assignments from Kellen before his test.
He sits at his desk, eats the salad, then opens his textbook and class notes... but despite feeling renewed by his nap, the words on the page still danced around like he was tired and he couldn't settle in. He must still need more sleep... or he must want to feel the sunshine before his class. It was just so nice out—of course he was distracted. Maybe he'd benefit more today by "touching grass" instead of cramming—after all, mental health was just as important as studying.
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At 2:05, Kellen was ready to shove Adam against a wall. At 2:10, he was ready to throw punches at the little punk. This dweeb was always way too afraid of him to ever show up late, but today Kellen knew he'd have to teach a more impactful lesson since respect had clearly not yet sunk into the mind of this geek. He messaged Adam over Snapchat:
WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!!!
After progressively more threatning messages, he finally gets a response—accompanied for the first time by a photo from Adam.
It was a nice day out Thought I'd go out for a run
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Something was seriously off. Since when was Adam a runner? Since when did he take selfies, or wear tank tops. Hell, did he have all that muscle tone before hidden under his conservative clothes, or was that somehow new? Now Kellen was as confused as he was angry.
YOU NEED TO GET HERE NOW!!!
Another response, and another picture from Adam:
oh hehe i totally forgot i can be so dumb sometimes i'll run over to you quick, ive already worked up a sweat i can't wait to see you😜
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Kellen was dumbfounded, though not as dumb as the new Adam seemed to be. He was suddenly some homo. This was either an elaborate prank or something fucked up was going on here. Before he could process further, Kellen receives another message:
see u soon daddy
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Kellen stared in shock. This was a prank for sure, but he wasn't going to stick around for part 2. Instead, he was going to teach this geeky fucker a lesson tonight—and whoever else helped him with this. No one humiliates and defies him and gets away with it.
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Despite his fury, Kellen was kinda impressed with the depth of the prank. This fake Adam had set up social media accounts. That last selfie he sent Kellen was even cross-posted on all his socials in their stories and somehow there were bots set up so the pages had thousands of followers and the posts had hundreds of likes and comments. This imposter even looked more muscular than before—probably yet another fake in on the scheme.
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Even so, Adam's fate was sealed. Kellen waited until after dinner. He knew the nerd would be studying. After 7pm, he stormed down the short hallway to the geekling's door and pounded on it.
"Open up. You know who it is, so you'd better not ignore me."
The door opened and in a split second Kellen was inside with the person at the door shoved up against the wall, hitting the brick hard.
"Ungh." he moaned.
Kellen had acted so quickly he hadn't taken stock of who had answered his knock. The sexual moan broke his blind rage in an instant and he registered who he had in front of him. He only had a brief moment to register the blonde from the social media pages before he responded.
"Oh, Daddy, that felt so good. I was waiting for you all day."
Kellen is struck by a wave of repulsion. Was he turning this little twink on? He goes to push the imposter harder against the wall, but the homo looks him dead in the eye, bites his lip, and grabs Kellen's dick. He's immediately hard. His rage mixes with his horniness and his desires become carnal. Kellen whirls the little slut around and pulls out his thick cock. Adam is ready, as usual, wearing nothing but a jock strap allowing for immediate access. He thrusts inside his submissive twink and roughs him up as Adam moans louder and louder. At this point the hall was used to it since it happened at least once a night.
Kellen has had such troubles keeping his grades up since receiving a warning from financial aid threatening to kick him out. He's still on the search for a nerd to do his homework, but at least he found Adam. Adam could take anything from Sir as long as Sir didn't leave a mark. Adam made sure he set his boundaries, after all, they both should know respect always goes both ways.
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starcrossedxwriter · 8 months
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Built for Love Part 11 (MBJ x Famous Black OC)
Warnings: a bit of angst, lots of fluff, NSFW
A/N: I don't wanna give a single thing away about this chapter so I'm just gonna say enjoy!
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“What are you doing outta bed?” Michael paused scrambling eggs on the stove to throw her a glance that matched the exasperation and annoyance in his tone. “I told you I’d bring it to you.” 
Charlotte’s slippers made scuffing noises across the hardwood floor as she made her way to the kitchen island. 
“Thank you but you’ve sequestered me in that bed since Saturday and I didn’t fight you on it once. It’s Wednesday and if I lay there for one more second, I was gonna lose my mind. I’ve slept enough for a lifetime.” She glanced down at the kitchen island, heavy laden with breakfast. She spied breakfast potatoes, bacon, sausage, fruit, and biscuits. “Now who is all this food for??” 
“You,” he responded simply. “You needed sleep and now you need calories. You’ve been losing weight since we moved here and that stops now.” 
Charlotte could not deny that was true. It was unintentional but her soft curves had certainly lost much of their curviness since she moved to New York. She was not at her skinniest by any means, but the rigorous performances and practices, her regular workout routine, and the stress caused the pounds to shed without her even realizing it.
She popped a piece of cantaloupe in her mouth as she walked up to him. “This is very sweet and everything smells delicious. Thank you.” 
“You’re welcome. Now go sit.” 
Charlotte moaned. Dr. Jordan was the strictest fake doctor she had ever met in her life. He barely gave her a chance to stand and stretch her legs. 
“Babeeeee,” she whined, wrapping her arms around his midsection. Her forehead rested on his back. “I can stand for a few minutes. He fucked up my upper body, my legs still work just fine.”
“You need to rest and relax, Charlotte. Damn,” he muttered under his breath. “Worst patient I’ve ever seen.” 
“How many girls have you nursed back to health from near death, babe? Damn, I thought I was your first for once,” she joked. However, when it fell flat, she grimaced. “Too soon?” 
“Wayyyy too soon, baby. How’re you feeling?” 
“Fi-” she started to say but remembered her promise. It included this. She pressed her lips to his back, his taunt and bare muscles flexing at her touch.“B-better. Nightmares weren’t so bad last night… just a couple so that’s progress… torturously slow progress,” she added. “And I made an appointment with my old therapist. We’re gonna do virtual sessions till I get back to LA.” 
Michael turned from the stove, still in the grip of her arms, to face her. He gave her an encouraging smile. “That’s great, Els.” He was proud of her, he knew how hard that was… that she likely felt as if she was backtracking or starting over. “Why didn’t you wake me last night?” 
“You need to sleep too, Dr. Jordan. All this taking care of and fussing over me, I know you’re not resting.” 
“I’ll rest when those heal.” He lifted her chin lightly to look at the bruising on her neck. He knew they would get worse before they got better but his eyes glazed over with rage every time he looked at her bruises, particularly the ones around her neck. He could make out exactly where his hands were, a temporary brand to what he tried to do. 
Charlotte rubbed his arm, an attempt to soothe the brewing emotions she could feel inside him. She always admired his emotional intelligence, how he was able to reign in his emotions and rage even when he so clearly wanted to find the nearest punching bag or Shaun’s face and have at it. “I’ve had worse. It always looks way worse than it feels. Well, that’s not true. The first day, it felt worse than it looked. But it’s not too bad now. I promise. And I’d rather you rest now. I really am ok.”
Despite her assurances, she could tell he did not believe her. She sighed, wondering when she would earn his trust again. That was honestly the hardest part in all this for her, knowing that her actions had caused her to lose it in the first place. 
“How long is it gonna take for you to trust me when I say that again?” She asked quietly. She wasn’t angry, there were consequences to her actions and this was one of them. But it did break her heart. She hated the idea that he did not trust her words. This was their first real issue as a couple, the first time she had to contend with them not being on the same page. 
Michael sighed, his hand going to scratch the scruff of his beard for a moment. “It’s not a question of trust, Els. Because I do trust you. And I’m not tryin’ to hold this against you. But this taught me that for better or worse, your default is to deal with your shit alone. To hide and, if needed, lie to avoid bothering or worrying other people. And I get it, I understand why. But I won’t lie and pretend like this shit didn’t shake me up a lot. Being stuck in LA knowing something wasn’t right even though you promised it was. Seeing you after the show shaken and scared and not knowing why… seeing you nearly dead on the floor when I was one room over. That ain’t shit I’m gonna get outta my head anytime soon. When you say you’re good, I wanna know that’s true. But I also know it’s gonna take a lot more than a promise and a few days for that to happen. You gotta work on trusting me with your problems and your pain and that shit takes time. And in the meantime, I’m gonna work on taking you at your word but I might also just need… some reassurances that you’re really ok.”
 She understood why Michael was being so protective. She could tell he still felt guilty, though he shouldn’t, about not being there to protect her in the first place. And now, he acted as if she needed to be wrapped in bubble wrap at all times. He barely let her out of his sight and if it was not an absolute necessity, he barely let her out of bed. She understood the impulse. If it made him feel better to fuss, she would not deny herself or him that.
“I understand. I didn’t think about how all of that would affect you… scare you. And I am sorry. Whatever reassurances you need and fussing you wanna do for as long as you wanna do it, I won’t fight you on it. Promise.” 
“Thank you.” He kissed her nose, her face scrunching up a bit. “How’s the pain?” 
“Manageable. Head is still pounding, everything’s a bit stiff but I feel like I can get up and move around a bit. Or at least move from the bed to the couch for a change of scenery. Maybe convince the best and sexiest doctor in New York to take me on a walk after breakfast so I can breathe some fresh air?” 
He eyed her suspiciously. “You sure you're up for that?” 
“Probably not up for a long one,” she admitted. “But even if it’s just 10 minutes… the cameras and reporters have finally moved on to bothering someone else. We could escape for a bit. I’m going a little stir crazy, Bakari.”
“Fine. Just for a bit then Avengers on the couch?” 
“Thank youuuu.” 
She ate quickly, finishing two plates at Michael’s insistence.  
As they went into their bedroom to change, she raised an eyebrow in shock as Michael handed her one of his favorite sweaters. She had stolen quite a lot of his clothes in the last few months, in which they basically became her clothes and he never saw them again. However, this coveted sweater had always been out of her grasp. He had always made it clear it was one of the few items that were off limits because he knew he’d never get it back. However, she had tried it on one or twice when he wasn’t home and it was like wearing a cloud, so insanely soft.
“Wow… so this whole time all I needed to do was almost die to get this?? Chile, I would’ve done that months ago to get this sweater,” she joked. Though she could see the corner of his mouth twitch, he did not laugh. “Still too soon?” 
“If it was too soon 20 minutes ago, it still is, Els.”
“Sorry, Jackson wasn’t a fan of my dark humor about dying the first time either. But it helps to find some humor in it… somewhere. And you gotta admit, it is kinda funny…” She remarked as she pulled on a pair of leggings. They still had to bundle up, one thing Charlotte did miss about LA was the perfect weather year around. 
“Ain’t a single humorous thing about any of this, babe.” 
“I dunno… I mean no, it isn’t funny. But also, it’s kinda crazy… Since I met him, Shaun’s gone out his way to try to kill me twice… and each time, I’ve survived. Like he is really bad at murder… terrible. I mean, not complaining… Thank God for it. But I would just stop trying if I was 0/2 with the same person, you know? That’s embarrassing??” That did make a small chuckle escape Michael’s lips. “See!! It is kinda funny when you actually think about it.”
“I’m ignoring you,” he called as he went into the closet to pull out their winter coats, baseball caps, and shades. Thankfully, the press and paparazzi surrounding their building had started to dissipate. They had gotten a couple glimpses of her family and Michael coming and going but none of her, thankfully. That was the only thing that would have made this whole ordeal worse, her bruised and battered form thrown across the front page of every newspaper. She knew it was still a possibility, pictures of her injuries from the hospital could leak. The downside of fame, nothing was truly private. 
She shrugged as he helped her pull on her coat. 
“I’m just saying he’s bad at killing or I am just that good at surviving,” she muttered. “Maybe they should cast me in Black Panther too?” At his confused stare, she smiled. “Cause I clearly have 9 lives like a cat? I could be like your sexy evil accomplice… The Golden Cheetah?”
That did make him laugh for the first time in several days. His hands grabbed her jacket to pull her close to him. “I’ll talk to Ryan about it, how about that?” 
“That’s all I ask.” She stretched on her tiptoes to kiss him before he took her hand to lead them outside. 
Their walk did not last too long as Michael knew it would not. Not because Charlotte was not up for it but because neither of them wanted to be out in the cold long. But she still appreciated his willingness to acquiesce to her small request. A walk was really the only public thing she cared to do, at least, until all the bruises faded. And she did appreciate the activity, she wanted to keep her limbs from going too stiff. She’d be back on stage next week, the one thing she did have to fight Michael on. Chris was on the verge of an ulcer every day she was out. He called to check on her everyday. She knew he actually cared about her but she also knew he wanted his leading lady back… ASAP. She already felt guilty ruining his opening night, the least she could do is not send him to the hospital from the stress. 
But Michael did not push back too much once she promised to have security with her, given that Shaun was officially out on bail. Restraining order or not, she and Michael were not interested in testing whether Shaun would adhere to it. She let Michael pick and vet the guy, who came highly recommended.cHis accolades included knowing more than an acceptable amount of ways to kill someone with his bare hands so she could not deny she would feel more safe in his presence. And the theater security and box office had been alerted and prepped to ensure her ex did not step foot on the premises again. And he no longer, thankfully, even had a legitimate reason to, Chris letting her know he had been fired from his investment firm immediately after the news broke. 
Charlotte knew she would not know real peace or be able to fully move on until he was behind bars, which the DA warned could take a year given the docket unless he accepted a plea. But she would accept the small wins and forms of justice that she could get, she knew it was far more than many in her position would ever see. 
As she pulled her outer layers and hat off, she got a glimpse of her hair in the mirror. 
“Ugh.” 
“What?” 
“My hair… How can you stand to look at me like this? I look like a troll doll. I’m gonna have to go to the salon or pay someone to come and wash it. I look crusty as hell.” 
“How about we relax in the bath and I’ll wash it for you?” 
Her face lit up. She remembered when they talked about a similar scene in Creed, the intimacy of helping Bianca do her hair. Her heart swelled at the idea of recreating such a moment. The role of victim and caregiver over the last few days had stripped a layer of emotional intimacy the pair was accustomed to. She knew it would come back eventually but she hoped, perhaps, this small act would speed things up a bit.
“Really?” 
He gestured toward the bedroom, taking her hand to get ready for the tub. 
Soon, she found herself resting against Michael’s chest in the bath, bubbles surrounding both of them. He did all the work, his fingertips softly massaging shampoo and conditioner in her tresses, Charlotte could’ve fallen to sleep right there.
“Can I ask you something?” Her soft voice breaking the silence between them as Michael worked diligently and carefully to avoid causing her pain. It had been on her mind since they got home, stationed at the forefront for the hours and hours she spent resting or recovering in his arms. Several days removed, the shock had worn off for both of them, she felt like enough time had passed to finally talk about things unrelated to what happened or her safety. They could talk about the future, one she prayed to God she did not completely destroy.  
“Shoot.” He took note of the nervousness in her voice. He did not know what she could be about to ask him, what could cause her to be nervous. He was an open book. 
“At the hospital… you said you wanted to marry me…” her voice grew quiet, one of her legs drawing into her chest. “Did you mean that? Do you still mean that? Or was it just, you know, you caught up in the emotion of everything?”
His massaging stilled for a moment before he answered, “Yes, yes, and no.” Simple and to the point as he resumed his task. 
He could feel her body relax against him again at his answers. 
“You don’t wanna elaborate on any of those answers?” 
He laughed. “Nah cause it’s pretty cut and dry to me. I’m pretty set on spending the rest of my life with you.” 
And that was not him just trying to assure her, it was the truth. He knew in his soul Charlotte was the end game for him well before they went on their first date. He had just been waiting for her to catch on. And once she did, every step he had taken since, including this move to New York, was with the intention of spending every day of the rest of his life with her. 
“Even after all this? After I lied to you?” 
Michael knew she still felt guilty. Between the two of them, there was much guilt to go around in their household over the last 72 hours. Some of it was fair and some of it was not. But just as he was trying to work through his own guilt, he did not want Charlotte to continue to hold onto hers when he had forgiven her.  
“Els, I meant it when I said I forgive you. And when I say somethin’, I mean that shit. Stop beating yourself up over it. I’ve loved you since the moment you walked into the studio for our screen test. And I’ve just fell more and more in love with you with every passing day. All of this changed nothing for me, except reminding me that whatever time we have together, I don’t wanna waste it.” 
Her hands played in the tall bubbles of the bath as she contemplated his words. 
“That been on your mind since I said it?” 
“Yea,” she admitted. “You know, all my time in bed gave me lots of time to ruminate,” she chuckled lightly. “It’s just… I mean we just have never talked about marriage a-and the long-term stuff. I mean and I get it, we haven’t even been together a year. But w-when you said that, it made me really happy because I feel the same about you. B-But then I just… you know, obsessed over it for the last three days wondering if all this changed your mind or made you question whether I’m the person you wanna spend the rest of your life with.”
“Nah, I would’ve married you after our first date if I could’ve.” 
Charlotte chuckled and shook her head, small droplets of water spraying everywhere. “We would’ve been skipping about 10 steps there. I want a proposal,” she laughed. “Knowing you, it’ll be something sentimental that makes me break down in tears.” 
Thank God she could not see the giant smirk that fell on his face. 
“And a big wedding, I assume?” 
Charlotte tilted her head as if to contemplate. She knew he expected the answer to be yes, after all most girls dream of a grand wedding. But that had never been her. “Honestly? I was never the girl to dream about the big princess wedding… just the prince,” she teased. 
Michael ran a comb through a section of hair, working to detangle it. He was trying to be as gentle as possible, knowing her head still hurt, which meant the whole endeavor took longer than it should have.  
“Am I living up to the childhood fantasy?” He asked. 
“My wildest dreams couldn’t have conjured you up.”
“I aim to please.” He kissed her shoulder. 
“I don’t even really care about planning it. I had to endure J and Lauren’s wedding planning and whew… miserableeee. And they couldn’t even enjoy the day that much. I dunno, I don’t want to be more worried about whether some elaborate affair is going according to plan instead of actually enjoying my wedding day? I wanna be celebrating our love and the first day of our life together. I mean yea, I want a wedding of some sort but it could have 25 people in your backyard. As long as I’m in a drop dead gorgeous dress and you’re waiting on me at the end of the aisle, I honestly don’t need or care about anything else. I’d be fine with a big one if you want one but someone else’s gotta plan it.” 
“I’ve never put much thought into my wedding so you won’t get much argument outta me. I would push back on the backyard thing though. Maybe a small destination wedding or a small venue in LA, something like that.” 
“I like the sound of that.” 
“Speaking of destinations,” he mentioned, shifting gears of the conversation. If they went too much farther down this road, Michael would find a wedding planner to plan a small intimate ceremony for next week. “I think we’ll both finally have some time off in September when you finish here. Let me take you on a trip.” 
“Oooo you tryin’ to fly ya girl out?” Michael rolled his eyes at her antics. “Where would you want to go?” 
Michael immediately shook his head. His sweet girl was the opposite of decisive. She would let Michael make every decision if she could. And this time, he wanted to go where she wanted to go. 
“Nahhh ma, it isn’t to celebrate me. It’s for you. Where do you want to go?” 
“It should also be to celebrate us both… a bit delayed sure but we never really did anything to celebrate Creed. That’s your first big leading man blockbuster.” She flipped the script on him. 
“Fine, it can be to celebrate us both but you still need to pick.” 
“I really hate you,” she laughed. “Well, at least, help me narrow it down. What kind of vacation vibe would you want?”  
“Preferably somewhere relaxing where I can have you naked or only in a bikini for most of the trip.” 
She could not hide the sly grin on her face at his words, the heat that rose throughout her entire body. She forced the feeling to dampen. They had not had sex yet and given how the other night went, she imagined Michael would pump the brakes again. She understood, but she did not want to deal with the rejection again. 
“The Caribbean is an option but September is dead in the middle of hurricane season, so we’d have to be ok with it being canceled potentially.” Michael smiled, he was never one to consider weather patterns before traveling. He barely checked the weather before he stepped outside each day. But of course, Charlotte would think about that. “We could do something like a spot along the Mediterranean? Or something like that. I’ve been wanting to go back to the Amalfi Coast but maybe we should go somewhere we both haven’t been?” 
He learned something new about his girl every day. “When did you go there?” 
“My first birthday after Shaun… My family surprised me with a vacation there. I had spent most of that whole first year miserable and in bed. The first six months were the hardest. But by the time my birthday came around, I was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel but still wasn’t there. I was in therapy and still struggling to find me in all of it? And I was just really depressed so the trip was supposed to cheer me up a bit. Lauren, Jazz, one of our other friends, Chelsea, and I all went. And we had a ball,” Michael could feel her entire body light up as she spoke, as if the mere memories of that trip were fuel and power.
“We just ate and drank and ate some more and swam and went on boat rides and just… lived. God, it was the first time I felt uninhibited happiness and relaxation in years. It was kinda my Eat, Pray, Love moment as corny as that is,” she admitted. “One morning, I got up super early and went down to the beach by myself while we were in this town, Ravello. I had this necklace he gave me for my last birthday. Hideous, gaudy silver thing I’d never pick or wear myself. But I couldn’t let it go and clung to that stupid thing since the break up. Anyway, I watched the sun rise and I realized that I’d never be me again. The me before him was dead and gone. But I also realized that maybe that wasn’t a bad thing? Cause the me before him needed that necklace as proof that someone loved me, no matter how hideous and awful that love was. The me before him and during him needed any type of love, no matter the cost of it. And that part of me needed to die. So, instead of trying to resurrect the old me, I decided I would reconnect with the things that made me happy and forge something new. And then I ran into the water and tossed that terrible necklace into the sea. And then I regretted polluting the sea with something that was definitely not biodegradable,” Michael’s deep baritone filled her ears with laughter. “So long way of saying, it just represents new beginnings to me in some way. So even if we don’t go this time around, I’d want to go back with you at some point. But I’d honestly be fine with anywhere as long as I’m with you. So why don’t you just surprise me?”
“Fine. Don’t think I don’t realize you’re using my love of surprises against me.” 
She turned and winked at him before he helped her stand and get in the shower to effectively rinse out all of the products. Their afternoon of hair styling continued as she sat between his legs on the couch, Avengers playing on the tv as he moisturized and styled her hair. She savored the help, she hated dealing with her mane of hair. And the intimacy it had created was exactly as she had hoped. And he did an excellent job. Though she could tell his arms were exhausted by the time he finished tying her scarf around her clean and moisturized curls and coils into a pineapple on the top of her head. 
“You could’ve been a hairstylist in another life.” 
“You didn’t tell me it was such a work out. Boxing didn’t hurt my arms this much,” he laughed. 
“Well when you’re prepping for Creed 2 and wanna help me with my hair for extra arm training, let me know. I quite enjoyed not dealing with it for once.” 
Her injuries made it difficult to cuddle on the couch as they wanted so Charlotte laid with her head on his lap, his hand resting on her arm as they watched the movie. 
“Can I ask you something?” This time it was Michael’s turn, a question that had been on his mind for longer than a few days. He did not know if now was the right time or if there’d ever be a right time. And he did not expect an answer but he wanted her to know he would listen if she was ready to ever share it.
“Of course.” 
“And you don’t gotta answer if you don’t want to. But you never told me… what made you finally decide to leave? Was it whatever you dreamed about that night you got sick?” 
Charlotte’s eyes clenched shut. It was always a delicate balance. What of Shaun’s brutality to share and what not to. But she knew this was one of those things, the things she needed to learn to trust Michael specifically with. He was home and home was where you could bare it all… your whole soul. He asked and she would answer, no more hiding. 
“There’s a lot I haven’t told you about him. I mean a lot of it was the same old same. But somethings, I said I’d never tell anyone, Jackson, Lauren… even you. A-and that nightmare, it was bad, don’t get me wrong. Definitely made the ‘the CIA couldn’t get this out of me,’ shortlist. But the breaking point was, he saw me talking to a reporter after a show one night and thought I was cheating, God he accused me of cheating like twice a week, which just made me so upset. We argued all the way home. He asked me if I wanted to leave him a-and in my frustration and anger, I told him he wasn’t giving me many reasons to stay. Looking back, it was a real stupid thing to say, like pouring gasoline on a fire. But I w-was just so tired, tired of feeling like I was killing myself every day to be perfect and love him and getting so much pain thrown back at me. When we got home, he beat me. T-that wasn’t the bad part, that was par for the course. But then… he dragged me out onto our 11th story balcony. He picked me up and threatened to throw me off until I swore I’d never leave.” 
She watched as his entire body stiffened, his fists clenching with anger. She wanted to offer him some assurance, something to ease the feelings that brewed but there was not really anything that could be said. That story and her life just were what they were, upsetting and enraging and all. 
“He played God with my life for a few minutes, though it felt like an eternity, my body balancing on the railing like a rag doll with only him holding me there. There was one point, I tipped so far back, I actually thought he had let go and I s-saw my whole life flash before my eyes. I always thought people were being dramatic when they said that. But it’s true. Like a movie in fast forward and all I saw was every mistake that led me to that moment. When he was satisfied that I had begged for my life enough, he let me down and drug me back inside to finish the night. He knew I didn’t have much fight left in me after that,” she whispered, her hand wiping a tear. “Ugh,” she could not contain the groan of frustration at her own emotions. She hated that he still had this effect on her. “I don’t know why I’m crying over this o-old shit,” she shook her head. “He doesn’t deserve it. A-anyway, I decided that the next day that I had to leave or I’d d-die. I made a p-plan and left a week later.” 
“I’m sorry, honeybee.” There were no other words he could offer, though those sounded inadequate in the space. With every story she told him, he felt like a layer of the complex onion that was her peeled back. “I should’ve killed him,” he muttered, more to himself than to her. And it was true. The fact that he still drew breath was enraging, another thing he felt guilty for. For not ending the monster that haunted her. 
Charlotte reached over and grabbed his hand, their fingers interlocking. “Your soul is too good to be tainted by him. Besides, you did quite a number on him from what I heard. I didn’t know you had hands like that in real life, baby Creed,” she teased, thankful her joke caused a small smile to grace his features. “God, I wish I could’ve seen it… Saying that makes me feel like a terrible person,” her head fell into her hand, propped up against the back of the couch. “But j-just to see him, for once, feel a fraction of what I felt. Feels like a bit of justice for it all.” 
“That doesn’t make you a terrible person. You’re far from a terrible person. If he dropped dead tomorrow, you would be justified if you threw a damn party. Hell, I would throw a party and I only met him once. You’re allowed to want justice for all of it.” 
“Thanks.” She shifted, bringing her feet under her. “You know what’s crazy about it? I always regretted him… Regretted meeting him, agreeing to that first date, staying through all of that. B-but the last couple days, I’ve been thinking about my life right now… the last few months are the first time that I’ve felt like I was at home, like I know who I am and my soul is at peace. It’s pretty damn good. A little damaged around the edges, sure, but still so amazing that… If I had to go back and do it all again, I know in my soul I-I’d walk that same jagged path through all the pain, a-and landmines, and everything else if it was what I needed to do to end up here again, if it meant I would find home again.”
“And where’s home?” his voice was quiet as if he was worried the answer would not be what he expected, as if he were afraid to hear it. 
Charlotte tilted her head to study him, her hand going to cup his cheek, the scruff of his beard tickling her palm. 
“You.”  
Waves of guilt crashed over him, causing a tear to fall. The first one he had shed since the hospital. Charlotte whisked it away with her thumb. 
“Not feelin’ like I deserve that right now. You were in trouble and I didn’t even see it till it was too late. I never should’ve left you here. I couldn’t even keep you safe. What kinda fuckin’ home is that?” 
The guilt in his voice broke her heart. She moved, slowly and stiffly, but moved to slide into his lap. Her hands rested on his shoulders as she looked at him.
“Look at me.” It was her turn to demand as he so often did, demand that he overcome the guilt and shame that forced his eyes away from hers. She knew it was difficult, had struggled to find his eyes too many times for fear she would see confirmation of her guilt, her shame, her unworthiness. But it was never there and he would not find that in her eyes today either. 
“Every single time I’ve ever needed you, you were right on time. This was no exception. The truth is, you’ve been keeping me safe since the day I met you. I was so lost before I met you. I-I had healed my heart a-and my mind and my body as best I could. But my soul, I had vowed never to let someone so close to it again, had boarded it up with walls so high it would be impossible to let someone in again. To let someone see me again. And that was fuckin’ lonely,” she admitted. “A-and exhausting to force myself to keep my guards up like that, to deny everything I’d always wanted… a partner who saw me in my entirety and loved me for all of it. But I did it b-because it w-was better than the alternative. A-And then I met you. And you instantly knew the me I hid from everyone, you knew my soul and what it needed to finally mend. And you slowly but surely broke down every wall and barrier I had fought so hard to keep up so you could ensure I got what I needed, a safe place to land. And every day since, you’ve seen my soul in its entirety, all its light and darkness, its hopes and fears, its permanently damaged pieces and those that’ve healed. And you’ve loved me beyond my wildest dreams for it all. You are my peace and my solace and my safety every moment… that is the best home I could’ve ever hoped for.” 
She wiped her tears that fell before offering. “He w-wanted me to deny t-that. Before he…” she lifted her own eyes to the ceiling as she re-lived that moment. “Told me it was him or no one, wanted me to tell him I would c-choose him. And I couldn’t. It’s insane,” she acknowledged. “And I knew you’d p-probably tell me just to lie to save myself. But I couldn’t deny what I’ve known to be true since we kissed in your apartment in Philly. You are it for me. You are my choice every day, every time, no matter.” 
His lips crashed against hers, his arms wrapping around her tightly to pull her into his chest. Michael knew the depths of Charlotte’s love for him without a doubt. And he loved receiving a tear-inducing speech about it as much as he enjoyed doling them out on her. However, to know that, even in what could’ve been her last moments, she chose to love him loudly and unapologetically, hit his soul harder than he had ever experienced before.
No more words passed between them, each touch was a silent declaration of love between them that they did not have the words to capture. The day had laid them both bare in a way they had never experienced before or expected. And it was not their trauma guiding them, it was pure love. A desire and need to connect mind, body, and soul.
“You want… need me to stop?” He whispered as she sucked on the soft skin of his neck. In his heart, he knew the answer before the words left his mouth. He could tell in her movements that stopping would be near impossible this time. But he had to check, had to double check before they went down this road. 
She immediately shook her head. Charlotte’s brain was mush, a complete fog of desire, need, and pleasure as she kissed every inch of exposed skin she could find. She had never yearned for a person as much as she yearned for the man beneath her. She wanted everything, all of him. She knew now, in hindsight, that the first night, she had wanted him for all the wrong reasons. And she was grateful that he, once again, saved her from herself. But now, in this moment, she wanted to feel him, feel his gentle touch and caress, and savor every moment of his love for her. And she wanted him to feel her, not her brokenness and fear, but the life pumping through her veins, the love she held for him, that he was her choice. 
“No,” she whispered back, he was thankful to hear that word leave her lips. “Do you wanna stop?” 
“Not this time.” 
“Good.”
Michael immediately wrapped his hands behind her thighs and hoisted her up to carry her into their bedroom. She let him guide her to their bed, laying her down gently as he removed both of their clothes. Charlotte instinctively wanted to shrink up and cover herself, hyper aware of the bruises that littered her form. 
Sensing her thoughts, Michael immediately leaned over her and started to press his lips to each one, gentle and lingering kisses on every cut, scrap, and bruise that sent jolts of electricity through her form. A silent but touching reminder that she survived and told her he did not care how they looked. He worked his way down her body slowly but this time it was not the usual teasing he liked to do. He simply wanted to savor every second of it. 
He handled her with such care, as if she were perfectly sculpted glass that would shatter if he pushed too hard, too fast. She was not fragile, he knew that. She was strong and powerful. But her wounds were fresh. Fresh enough that he used every moment to assure her that his touch was different, would never hurt her as he had, and would never treat her body and soul with such pain and callousness. It had taken great restraint not to taste her or bury himself inside her the last few days, to be as close to her as he could, feel the life pumping in her veins. But she needed time and so did he, to reckon with what they both almost lost. 
He could feel the frenzy beneath him as he worked, her body writhing with silent pleas that begged for more.  But he did not want to rush. He remembered their first time, slow and measured as he took her apart piece by piece. He understood the impulse to rush but they had time, he kept reminding himself. Time with each other. 
He returned to her lips, a quiet directive to slow down landing on her ears.
“Slow down, baby,” he muttered, “Slow down.” Their foreheads rested against each other as he forced her to take a breath. 
“I need…” her words trailed off as she whimpered, her fingers twisted in the soft fabric of his t-shirt as if he’d turn to dust before her eyes if she let go of him. Her eyes searched his for understanding, that he knew exactly what she so desperately needed.
“I know, I know.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek, her head leaning into it to find his lips again. “Hey, hey. Look at me.” Their eyes connected, brimming with tears as she took in his undying love for her. “We’re both here, safe and sound, and no one’s going anywhere. I promise. Let me take care of you.”
At her nods, he resumed his touching until he found himself at the treasure trove between her thighs, her flower dripping and begging to be touched by the man she loved. And that was all he needed as he spread her legs and wrapped his lips around her bud.
Charlotte’s back immediately arched off the bed as he feasted on her. It had only been days but she had missed the feeling of his tongue on her and inside her. He spelled out his love for her in gentle caresses that made her head spin. 
She melted against his mouth like chocolate, her cries of pleasure crescendoing with every movement of his skilled tongue. 
“That’s it baby, let me hear you.” He slid two fingers inside of her, increasing the sensations that already threatened to overwhelm her. 
Charlotte felt as if her body was in overdrive. Her hips rocked to meet every thrust of his hand, her thighs clamped around his head as he feasted on her. It did not matter how many times his mouth found its way to her core, he managed to reduce her to a mewling puddle begging for more, every time.
And usually, she let him stay between her thighs as long as he wanted, pulling out as many climaxes as he could. But this time, she needed more. She knew he wanted to take his time, take her apart and put her back together. But she could not wait. Her soul could not wait. She needed to feel him inside her. So much had been taken from her, so much had left her feeling empty in this life until Michael. Michael filled her up where her past and present trauma only drained her. And right now, she wanted to be filled. The emptiness ached and she wanted to be filled to the brim and overflow. 
She pulled him from between her thighs, bringing his lips to hers. She relished in the taste of herself but only for a moment before she whispered. 
“I need you. Inside me. I c-can’t… can’t wait,” she panted. “W-we have all night b-but I need to feel you now.” 
He acquiesced, the vulnerability in her voice more than enough to forgo his original plan. 
He kept her eyes on his as he thrust inside of her slowly. Charlotte moaned at the delicious stretch he always provided. Months, it had been months since she first felt that stretch and it still caused a gasp to escape her lips, her eyes to see stars, and every thought in her head to shatter. 
“J-Just like that,” she whimpered, all her senses squarely focused on him and the pleasure he graciously provided. All she could feel was the sparks of bliss at the end of every stroke and the trail of fire that marked where his hands roamed as he explored her body. All she could hear were the symphony of their moans, his deep grunts as he fucked her and her screams of pleasure. All she could see were his brown eyes, a look in them that made her own eyes mist with tears. She did not know why she was crying, whether it be from the intense pleasure or the look in his eye, a look that no man before him had ever given her, a look she would have never deemed herself worthy of. The look of pure love and adoration. 
Michael’s hips drove into her over, a primal growl escaping him as her muscles clenched around him repeatedly as he curved into her g-spot, their bodies made for each other. His eyes never left hers with every push forward and retreat. 
As he pulled out every trick he could think of to please her, pour his love into her, Michael could not help but think about how he almost lost this. How he almost lost her. He had plans for this insanely beautiful woman beneath… plans to grow old with her, to celebrate every milestone and moment of his life and hers together, to build a life and family with her. And all of it could’ve been gone. He had never experienced this before, a year ago he could not even convince Charlotte to go out on a date with him but now? He could not fathom his life without her. And that brief moment where he had to consider such a life… it had shattered him in ways he never knew a person could be shattered.
“I love you,” his voice shook as tears sprang to his eyes. “Fuck, I love you so much.”
“I-I l-love… you,” she moaned back, her words choppy and broken between her pants and moans. 
His mind drifted to the ring that he kept stashed in his bedside table, hidden in a box he knew Charlotte would never bother to open or examine closely. A ring he had started to design the day after that gala, the night she told him about her ex and decided to overcome her fears to choose him.
He knew she did not believe him when he said he had known he wanted to marry her since then. It sounded far-fetched, he recognized, to know that so early. Afterall, his friends called him foolish for designing and buying a ring for a woman who rejected him mere months prior. “Take your time,” they had all cautioned. “Make sure she is what you want.” But Charlotte was the one thing, the only thing, in this universe that he did not need time to consider, that he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wanted. And he used this moment, every second spent in her sanctuary to show her how deeply his love for her ran, past his mind, past his heart. He loved her with every fiber of his soul. 
“You know how beautiful you are?” He asked as he draped her legs over his shoulder and leaned over to rest his forehead against hers. Charlotte gasped at the angle, he had not changed his pace one bit but this position allowed him to reach the depths of her pleasure center. Those tears she had kept in now spilled over as his words filled her heart and he filled her body with every stroke. That ache of emptiness? Gone. She was overflowing. “Do you know how much… I love you?” 
She cried out, unable to form real words or thoughts beyond obscenities and his name, which flowed without thought from her lips. 
“I’ll spend every day of my life loving you, keeping you safe. There’s nothing in this world I won’t do for you, Els. Nothing. ” His word was punctuated by a particularly deep thrust that turned Charlotte into a babbling mess as she came. “That’s it, baby. Cum for me.” 
“More. Harder. Everything you have, please,” her voice was strained, trying to speak while her body calmed down again. She understood his gentleness, appreciated it. But now, she wanted to feel him in the depths of her bones. She was his and she wanted to feel that in every ounce of her being.
Michael helped her flip over onto her stomach, this time instructing her to hold onto the headboard so she did not have to lay on the bed. He allowed her a moment to situate herself in the position he so enjoyed. He still practiced some restraint, refusing to unleash his usual power onto her still healing body. But he loosened the reins just enough to give her what she wanted and needed. 
There was nothing slow about how he rammed into her, her body thrusting forward with every delicious slam of his hips into hers. She was thankful he thought of the headboard, giving her the leverage laying face down on the bed would not have and protecting her bruises. 
“Yes! Y-Yes! T-thank you,” she moaned out as he fucked her with abandon. She surrendered to the pleasure, her screams bouncing off the walls as he made her cum again and again and again.
He took her in any and every position that would not cause her pain. He buried his face between her legs and feasted off of her before plunging into her again, Charlotte allowing her body to be at his mercy. They had all night and all the time in the world and she wanted him to use every moment of it. 
***
When Charlotte stirred again, she glanced over to find Michael sound asleep next to her. It was still dark outside, the clock reading 4:30 am. She laid there for a few moments, letting the soft sounds of Michael’s soft snores fill her ears. She turned and watched him for a few moments, the steady rise and fall of his chest. As she listened to him, the final part of a song she had been writing swelled in her heart. And when the pen called her, she did not dare ignore it. As quietly as she could, she climbed out of their bed and wrapped herself in her robe. 
She tiptoed out of their room and into the living room, grabbing her pen and notebook before retreating to the balcony of their apartment. She had rarely been out here, her own fear of them and the frigid New York winters keeping her from enjoying this one feature of their home. But tonight, not even her past or the cold chill could send her back inside. She curled up in a blanket in one of the chairs as she listened to the bustling sounds of the city fill her ears. 
It did not matter what time of day it was, New York City was always awake, always moving, always alive. Her lungs breathed in as much of the frigid air as they could before she breathed it back out. She knew she could not stay out there too long, it was freezing. But she also knew this was the only spot her singing would not wake up her sleeping boyfriend. 
Baby, the sound of you
Better than a harmony
I want you off my mind
And on me
Holding me closer than we've ever been before
This ain't a dream
You're here with me
Boy, it don't get no better than you
For you, I wanna take my time
All night
She closed her eyes, curled in a small ball, as her siren song filled the night sky though she knew no one but her and God would ever hear it. But that was fine, she preferred it. This was just for her, just for her to commemorate the love she found and was grateful to God for.
I wanna love you in every kind of way
I wanna please you, no matter how long it takes
If the world should end tomorrow and we only have today
I'm gonna love you in every kind of way
Give you all, give you all of me
Her eyes only opened at the faint creaks of a door, surprised to find Michael standing in the doorway of the balcony as she finished the last line. However, as she started to stand and finish singing, he shook his head. 
“Don’t stop. I wanna hear you.” 
And so she continued, this time, her eyes on his as she finished her song, the second verse she had been struggling with flowing from her lips as if it had lived in her heart all along. 
When you need it
'Cause I need it
I wanna fall like your favorite season
I'll never get up
Stay here forever, babe
It don't get no better than this
Your kiss
I wanna love you in every kind of way
I wanna please you, no matter how long it takes
If the world should end tomorrow and we only have today
I'm gonna love you in every kind of way
I wanna love you in every kind of way
I wanna please you, no matter how long it takes
If the world should end tomorrow and we only have today
I'm gonna love you in every kind of way
When she was finished, she sat up in the chair and glanced at him. 
“I’m sorry, thought going out here wouldn’t wake you.” 
He shook his head. “Bed’s cold without you, went looking for you and heard your voice. Wanted to hear you.” 
She smiled. “I’m glad you heard it… it was about you anyway,” she winked. “Back to bed?” 
“Umm… before we g-go,” he stammered slightly, Charlotte surprised to find a nervous energy suddenly surrounding him. He was usually so confident and assured, nervous was a rare emotion on him. “I have something for you.” He meandered to the balcony railing, standing directly in front of her before he pulled out the arm that he had bent behind his back, a small black velvet box in his hand. 
“You didn’t need to get me anything,” she offered with a small smile. If he had not been so nervous, he would have laughed at how she missed the obvious. The size of the box really only lent itself to one thing and she had not picked up on it yet. “Though I’m sure it’s beautiful.” 
He slid the box into her hand, Charlotte expecting to find a necklace or pair of earrings or something small nestled in the luxury box. However, all the wind seemed to knock out of her as she opened to find a sparkling and mesmerizing engagement ring, a giant pear shaped diamond set in the center with elegant but subtle diamonds nestled in the rose gold band around it. It was simple and yet, the most gorgeous ring she had ever seen in her life.
She glanced up from the box to find Michael in front of her on one knee. Every question that rose to her lips immediately vanished, caught in her throat as shock swept all of her senses. Her heart was beating so hard, she wondered if it was possible for it to beat straight out of her chest. 
“A-are you serious? I-If this is j-just a dream…” she whispered, her eyes moving to the sky as if she was talking to God. 
“N-No, this is real. Charlotte, I’ve loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you. Every day, you love me with your whole being. You support my dreams, however far fetched and foolish they may seem, you push me to be the best man I can be. Not just for you and my family but for myself. With you, I’ve always been right at home. Falling in love with you is both the greatest decision of my life and the easiest one I’ve ever made. And every day, I thank God for bringing you and your beauty, your laugh, your spirit into my life. I don’t know what the future looks like, I don’t know how much time we have with each other. But I know that I want to spend every moment of my life loving you and being loved by you. So, this is me being sentimental and making you break down in tears,” he joked to their earlier conversations. “Charlotte Elsbeth Bennet, will you marry me?” 
Charlotte’s breathing was choppy as she took in his words. Tears flowed earnestly as she tried to form a sentence.
“M-Michael… God I love you so much. B-But are you s-sure about this? I k-know with everything that’s happened… W-we haven’t even been together for a year. Are you s-sure I’m what you want?” 
“I’ve had this ring for months… I started designing it the day after the gala last summer. I was waiting for the perfect moment, wanting to plan the perfect proposal for you back in LA. But what happened reminded me that I don’t want to waste our time planning perfect or ideal moments. I just want to live in all those moments with you, by my side. All day, something kept pulling me to this ring, telling me that this was our moment. And I think it’s because our best moments, the realest ones for us, are just us… being us, comfortable and safe with each other. No planning, no overthinking, no obsessing. Just being home with each other. So here I am, unsure about so much, the future and where this life will take me and us. But this moment,” his hand rubbed her knee, her face covered by both her hands as she quietly cried. “This decision is the surest I’ve ever been in my life. I am sure about you. I’ve never been so certain that you were the woman for me. Marry me.” 
Charlotte immediately launched herself from her seat and into his arms, the small box still wrapped tightly in her hand as she held him. 
“I love you so much,” she whispered before kissing him, her body resting on his bent knee. 
“I love you too…” he paused, realizing he never actually heard the magic word. “So is that a yes… or?” 
She let out a watery laugh. “A million times, yes! Yes, yes, yes!” The box fell in her lap as she cupped his face in her hands. “ Now you’re really stuck with me, Mr. Jordan.” she teased as her hands wiped the tears that flowed earnestly from her eyes.
He took the box from her and slid the ring on her finger, his heart swelling at how she admired the piece. She was not much of a jewelry wearer so he went for a ring that was simple, one she would not mind wearing every day, but was worthy of her hand. 
He wiped a tear from his eye and chuckled. “Good, that’s what I was hoping for. Mrs. Jordan has a nice ring to it.” He pressed his lips to her ring finger. His deep baritone filled the cold air as he let out an excited yell, standing and spinning Charlotte around. “Wanna go to the courthouse tomorrow?” 
“Slow downnnnn. Another surprise this week might actually kill me,” she laughed. “Anndddd I wanna be my usual flawless self for our wedding photos,” she gestured toward her bruised face. 
“You’re always flawless to me.” 
“Alright I already said yes, don’t lay it on so thick,” she offered in jest, causing him to pepper her face with kisses. 
“Well how about I take you back to bed and warm you up and I can make you say yes a couple more times?” 
She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, “I think I’d rather you make me scream it.” 
“Oh that was always the plan.” 
And before she knew it, Michael had her on her back, their hands interlaced on the pillow as he made her scream that beautiful word over and over again until the sun came up.
Tag List: @certifiedlesbianbaddie @bangtanxmegan @reelwriter19 @prettyisasprettydoes1306 @hi888888sworld @msniaimani @destinio1 @lynaye1993 @chaoticevilbakugo @blackerthings @pipsqueak-98 @miyuhpapayuh @passionxwrites @gopaperless @injerafiend
A/N: Our babiesssssss!! I went back and forth on the proposal scene for a while lol and this just felt right so I hope you all enjoyed it! Every Kind of Way by HER is one of my favorite songs. This is not the end of our story buttttt we are getting close. Just three or four more chapters to go.
Drop a comment and let me know what you think/let me know if you want to be tagged!
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hazashiovo · 5 days
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imagine sparring with Korra and ended up with a heated makeout session
I can see it, like angry sparing which turns into heated kisses😶
Korra x Reader
Warnings: suggestive towards the end, fighting, making out, pouring out your feelings.
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Maybe pushing Korra's buttons all day long wasn't such a good idea,and what brings you to this conclusion? Well maybe her pissed off face as she enters the training ring.
But it's not your fault! You were just bored,and what other entertainment was better than annoying the girl you hate? (Are deeply in love with but deny it) Yes,maybe you'd get a kick out of seeing her face red with anger,it's funny really!
Not to her it isn't, ever since this morning you were on to your mission to make her day insufferable,and imagine how happy she was when you proposed sparing with her,oh yes. How happy she was to blow off some steam , caused by no one else but you.
Korra knew, she knew you only wanted to piss her off further,but maybe you should've thought that she's the avatar,able to use all four elements,while you can only bend one element. This is going to be entertaining.
"Gonna keep staring at me like you wanna eat me up or you're gonna actually fight me?" Oh that smirk,that stupid smirk plastered on your face , matching with your raised eyebrow,she just wants to rip it off your face and throw it on the ground and stomp-
"Bring it on." Her stance changes, ready to attack. Fists clenched tightly urging to get you on your ass. She smirks only thinking about it.
You smile , running towards her with hot fiery fists,one punch, she dodges, taking advantage of her exposed position you trip her,a grin taking over your face.
"What's wrong Korra? Can't handle little old me?" You chuckle at her furious expression.
The brunette groans, bending herself of the ground using earth. Silently cursing you for taking her down in the first place. Oh you wanna see what she can do? She'll show you what she's can really do.
Hit with a sudden surge of adrenaline,Korra sends your way multiple earth spikes, almost loosing your balance you bend yourself a fire wave , sending it her way.
Korra scoffs, dodging the wave with an air ball. You roll your eyes, can this girl be any more frustrating? That's one of your best moves!
"That's so weak! Lame." The girl mocks, smirking down at you,a feeling of satisfaction taking over her frustration.
You roll your eyes, she's the lame one ,not you! "You wanna see power privileged girl? I'll show you power."
The avatar watches as fire starts surrounding you, slowly taking the shape of a huge snake.
How the fuck are you able to do that?! Is she capable of doing this to? She must admit ,even if she despises you,it's pretty fucking cool. Maybe one day you could teach her that.
During the time she spaced out staring at your fire creation, your snake lunged at her fast. Surrounding her with hot red fire.
Korra furrows her brows annoyed, resulting to water bending. She could hear you chuckling in the back round as she tries to fight off the huge fire monster.
Once she figured out she has to get away from the beast she uses earth bending, creating a small tunnel to pass your snake.
"You like my power now, Avatar?" Her eyes land on your amused face. With one swift move she runs towards you, using earth bending to give her a boost, and with her iced fists she punches you, in the stomach making you stumble to the ground. Your snake of fire disappearing in the clear air.
So in order for you to lose control of the created beast,you must take physical damage? Noted.
What really didn't help your case was your physical health. Unfortunately for you, you were weaker in hand to hand combat. It's mostly why your fire bending is so much stronger then Korra's.
You start coughing up, holding your stomach in pain. "No fair," you mutter through coughs, Korra towers over you, her anger eyes taking in your fallen form.
"Maybe you shouldn't have been so cocky." Her hands hang loosely on her hips,a victorious glint in her eyes.
Once you finally regain your breath you're able to stand on your feet. Glaring at her trough your furrowed brows.
"You're the one to speak." You scoff, she's the one acting like a bitch...damn your stomach hurts.
"Admit that I'm better than you already! It's the least you can do after I kicked your dumb ass!" You grit your teeth at her totally untrue words.
You take a deep breath in, turning your upper body to attack Korra again, after all you're not one to give up that easy.
One strong kick with your fire laced leg sends Korra flying into a wall. While trying to recover from your strong attack ,you stroll towards her. Your stomach no longer hurting as it did before.
"Look at you," your hands land on each side of her head, caging her in. "The all mighty avatar at my mercy." She can't help but stare,a proud smirk stuck to your face like a medal. How could you of everyone beat her?
The dark haired girl grits her teeth in anger, yet one taught hangs around her mind, why are you so eager to prove her wrong?
"What's it to you? Don't forget I'm stronger than you'll ever be." Now she's the one holding the smirk, Korra tried raising her hands,but you're quick to stick both of them to the wall.
"What's it to me? Everything!" You huff out at her obliviousness. One eyebrow raised,she waits for you to continue your blabbing. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
"Everything fell to your feet ever since you were a child! And me? I had to work for it. But no matter how long I trained or how strong I became,I was never truly acknowledged,but you? Their precious little avatar?" Korra huffs annoyed, taking a hold of your hands and swiftly switches your positions, making you the trapped one now.
She inches closer to your face,"I had to work for everything! I had to prove that I am the avatar, nothing came to me for free,so stop assuming I'm some stuck up princess!"
Her words make you scoff. What did she ever have to fight for? She could master all the elements as a kid, Korra never had to worry about being enough,you did. People called you weak ,you allways had to prove yourself to the world,that's why you became a pro bender in the arena. This way they could finally see,that you're enough.
"You? Funny you're the one that cries about having to work,but I'm the one who was judged for not being strong enough! You have no idea how hard the weight placed on my shoulders was."
You squirm under her, trying to break free,but Korra doesn't budge. You try kicking her with your leg, yet your efforts are shut down by her knee that's now placed between your legs, holding you down in place.
"Why are you so damn stubborn?" Korra grits her teeth,your faces mere inches apart, the arguing leading nowhere,just back and forth bickering.
"You're so annoying!" You groan out, resisting the urge to head but her. Korra's face looks like she's about to blow up,smoke practically coming out of her ears.
Korra pushes you further into the wall, drawing a gasp out of you. "Can't you shut up already? You're so insufferable!"
You raise a brow,a new idea popping in your mind. "Oh yeah? Why don't you make me? Bet you can't." She watches as your expression fills with mischief,a different look shining in your (e/c) eyes.
Korra stands in front of you, thinking of what to say now,you practically put her in a corner. Ironic since you're the one backed up.
"Nothing to say n-" before you could finish your sentence shock creeps into you, the feeling of her soft lips forcefully attached to yours silence the snarky remark that was about to be said.
She pushes in,hear leg rising up as a warning once you try closing your thighs.
Her hands tighten around your caged wrists, you push your chest in hers making her whine groan in your mouth.
The kiss is hungry and lustful,yet there's no denying that passion burns as hot as your fire.
Starting to feel light headed,you pull your head away from Korra's. Taking rapid breaths to chase away the light headiness.
"I wasn't expecting you to shut me up like that." You tilt your head away from her burning gaze. Cheeks pinkish and warm.
If she's honest, Korra doesn't really know what took over her,but she knew this was something she was hungry for,deep inside. Is this the reason why her glares would be directed to people getting overly friendly with you, lingering touches on your shoulder or waist. But never did she really get to grasp the reason why.
Korra releases your hands, instinctively your hands rub against one another, already feeling the future bruises.
"It worked, didn't it?" Korra raises a brow to match with her smirk.
You roll your eyes, mustering up a snarky answer to get back at her,that thought fades once she closes the distance between the two of you again,this time her hand wrapping on your neck,one finger holding your jaw in place, her other hand wrapped around your waist.
Your lips move in sink,both of you fighting,yet again, for control. Your tongues rubbing against each other while the kiss becomes more lustful and needy.
Your hands find themselves entangled in Korra's hair,then moving lower towards the back of her neck, pulling her in even more than before. Craving her touch.
You moan when her tigh rubs against you middle, of course she knows what she's doing. Korra takes that split of a moment to gain full control, dominating the kiss shared between you two.
Maybe ,just maybe the two of you don't despise each other as much as you claim.
.
.
This was such a fun thing to write! Come at me with more requests of the sort :)
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katana-no-neko · 4 months
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Call Me By My Name
Chapter 5 | ao3
"Natsu, Lucy!" a waitress greeted as the two entered Fairy Tail.
"Lisanna!" Lucy ran to sit and chat with the girl, the younger sister of Mira. "Natsu brought me to Hargeon the other day, like you suggested. I had no idea it was by the ocean!" Natsu sat down next to her and grinned at the way Lucy's eyes lit up as she chattered to Lisanna about her first time seeing the ocean. "I mean, I'd read about it, I knew the ocean was big, but wow! The water just went on forever!"
"I'm so glad you enjoyed it!" Lisanna responded, happy her suggestion had gone over so well. "What's on the agenda for today?"
"I thought I'd show Lucy this waterfall out a ways!" Natsu replied, excited to see Lucy's reaction to the enormous feature. "Looks really cool, I think you'd like it!" he told Lucy.
The front door slammed open, interrupting Lucy's response.
"HEY FLAME BRAIN!"
Lucy jerked at the shout and watched someone enter and stomp over to Natsu. The man was shirtless, she realized with a blush, with some kind of dark marking covering his arm and much of his torso. When he reached the place she and Natsu sat, Lucy shivered as a cold chill filled the air.
"Ugh, whaddya want, Ice Prick!?" Natsu shouted back, standing up and greeting the newcomer with the same fierceness, his heat ramping up to rival the other man's cold.
"You been trying to blow me off!? I haven't seen you in ages!" the dark haired man yelled, fist raised. "What, realize you can't ever beat me?"
"Ha! As if! Just didn't wanna see your ugly mug!" Natsu laughed, fire bursting from his fists. "Had a better person to hang out with than your dumb ass!" He pulled Lucy up, clutching her to his side. "This is Lucy, she's my best friend and she's awesome!"
"Uh... Hi," Lucy hesitated. Her eyes were wide, trying to make sense of this situation.
The man raised an eyebrow at the way Natsu held her, but said "Hello," in acknowledgement. Bringing his attention back to the dragon, he started yelling again. "Now you're using a girl as a shield? Real low for you!"
Natsu carefully sat Lucy back down in her chair before punching the other man across the room. He tumbled into several tables before crashing into a wall, the restaurant patrons laughing as if this was normal. "What were you saying!?" Natsu shouted again with a grin before his opponent launched himself at Natsu, punching him in the jaw. And with bursts of fire and ice, the two continued fighting, throwing the restaurant into disarray.
Lucy looked to Lisanna in concern. The woman laughed. "That's Gray. Half-demon. This happens most of the times they're both here, ever since we were kids. He and Natsu try to deny it but they're actually pretty good friends."
"Seems like it," Lucy deadpanned as she watched them fight. Natsu was tossed against another table, this one falling apart with a loud 'crack'. A door in the back slammed open, and a tiny elderly man that Lucy had come to learn was the restaurant owner named Makarov stomped out, kicking the boys out the front door.
"COME BACK WHEN YOU CAN CALM DOWN!" Makarov shouted, slamming the door behind them and grumbling back to his office.
"I should..." Lucy started, moving to leave her stool.
"Ah, he'll be fine," Lisanna smiled. "He and Gray have been kicked out before, they'll find something to do. Besides, you and I never get to talk alone! Natsu is always stuck to your side when you're here!"
Lucy chuckled. "I suppose you're right."
~~~
"Good going, moron, now I can't see Lucy!" Natsu growled to the ice demon as he picked himself up off the ground.
Gray rolled his eyes. "Oh no, you can't see your girlfriend," he replied mockingly.
Natsu flushed. "Why does everyone assume that!? She's just a friend, my best friend, it's not like we're dating!"
"Really?" Gray quirked an eyebrow. "I guess that makes sense, she was too pretty to be dating you."
"Hey, that's not true!" Natsu growled.
Gray smirked. "What, you don't think she's pretty?"
The dragon seethed, steam coming from his nostrils in his frustration. "Are you blind!? Of course she's pretty! She has hair the color of sunshine and gold, and adorable sparkling eyes, and a gorgeous laugh, and her smile is the prettiest thing in the world!" Natsu's frown became a smile and his tone lightened as he described her. "But she's not just pretty, she's so nice and fun and I wanna be with her all the time, which you prevented!" he punctuated with a glare to the ice demon.
Gray burst out laughing. "Wow, I was joking before but you really are smitten."
"For fuck's sake, I already told you, we're friends."
"If you say so," Gray laughed again, this time interrupted by a punch in the jaw. "Hey, don't get mad at me because you don't know you like a girl!" Gray growled.
"Obviously I like her, she's my best friend!" Natsu shouted, exasperated and confuddled.
"Not the 'like' I meant, idiot."
"Tch, whatever," Natsu grumbled. "I'm going back inside. I got stuff to do with Lucy. And no, it's not a date!"
Gray raised his hands up innocently. "I didn't say a word," he snickered.
~~~
"Natsu really set Gray's hair on fire!?"
Lisanna nodded with a giggle. "Yup, Gray was completely bald. And completely pissed."
"I can't believe he did that!" Lucy laughed. "Well, no, I can." Natsu was somewhat careful and less impulsive when it was just the two of them, but Lucy had been with him around other people plenty enough to see how wild he could get.
"Mhm, and I've got a thousand more stories like it," Lisanna grinned. "Erza, Mira, Elfman, and I were all raised in Makarov's family, and Makarov is friends with Natsu's parents and Gray's mom, so we all spent a lot of time together as kids."
"Yeah, Natsu mentioned something about that," Lucy commented. "It must've been great having so much family."
Lisanna rubbed Lucy's hand in comfort. "And now you're here, too," she smiled. "I'm speaking for all of us when I say it's been so nice getting to know you."
"Thanks, I needed to hear that," Lucy grinned. "When I ran away from the fae territory, I was terrified of going anywhere, meeting anyone, accidentally learning their name... I only ever spoke to others when I had to. I didn't think anyone would ever be so friendly with me..." She admitted. "But then I met Natsu and he just pushed all those fears away. He insisted on being my friend, he brought me to meet you guys, and he's shown me all sorts of things I could only dream about cooped up at home." Lucy smiled bright as her heart swelled. "I'm just so happy to have met him."
"Happy to have met who?" Natsu questioned innocently as he strolled back in, but the smile on his face told Lucy he had heard her perfectly. Lucy jumped and flushed brightly as he sat down next to her, grasping her hand and squeezing it. "I'm really happy I met you, too," he told her, grinning widely while his heart thumped loudly.
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storiesofsvu · 2 months
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Happy Thursday hoes, let’s get to it!
Todays pros: citytv thinks im in TO so I’m getting it started at six!
Cons: no subtitles.
Alright, OG up first.
Love this new detective that’s a fanboy of everyone, makes me miss rollins lol
Pls let it be a female perp. We love a good female perp.
Okay seriously, this very subtle shaky cam is fucking terrible and hurts my head.
The GROAN I let out at the sight of Samantha in her well fitted pants suit sitting there like a fucking badass pissed off look on her face. Ma’am. Please. (yes, she is the only reason I watch this show)
Okay, the pedo may be the only eye witness, but they still have blood on the murderers pants, don’t they? Would that not tie it together enough? Or is it because the eye witness was the one who lead them to him? God I hate the legal system.
I REALLY wish this show would show more of the arguing between Nolan and Sam, like these two do NOT see eye to eye or have the same opinions on basically anything. And while I know major fighting would be called unprofessional, we at least used to see the lawyers get into it, or bantering. There’s so many times that you can tell just by the look of her face that Sam’s pissed, that she doesn’t think highly of him or his decisions on cases, like she hates him. I wanna see that play out on screen LOL
SVU time!
Let’s see if this week is any better than the last ones
Liv back in therapy, we love to see it.
A crumb of EO? Will that keep the crazies at bay? (like, I don’t even ship it but fuck am I sick of it now, the baiting is hella annoying and terrible, make it happen or not, don’t keep leading the actual ship fans on…)
Uhhh… is there not some kind of patient dr confidentiality? Like this bitch could have just lost her job (esp with someone like mcgrath involved… wtf..)
ITS THIS KIND OF SHIT THAT MAKES ME FERAL. In previous episodes they’ve had situations where shrinks couldn’t testify when they were the ONE witness, and like the entire case went into the trash because of it based off this exact type of situation… where TF is the continuity??
Okay… so she’s a minor so I can see the loophole here, BUT the therapist should have told her parents….
I knew it wasn’t the math tutor…
Ok… so mcgrath threatens to kill the math tutor, but when they’re picking up the son across the street he goes rage on benson?? And the iab captain? Shouldn’t you be attempting to punch the kid or something? God I really hope this ep is his last…
“can you drop that to me?” good thing Bruno’s there cause fin would have ZERO ideas on how to do that…
“until the age of 25 the male brain is about as useful as an electrified meatball” jfc… that wins for best line of the night.
Where the fuck is Velasco? Like.. man deserves his paycheques too..
Okay, mcgrath’s wife needs to shut the fuck up, liv’s trying to help her daughter and she accuses liv of gunning for mcgrath’s job.. jfc..
I was expecting mcgrath to throw hands not pull out his fucking GUN jfc… and like.. that was infront of two cars, that’s gonna be on a dash cam somewhere…
This is one of those one case turns into 4 but there’s only 5 mins left of the episode… cmon…
“I guess I didn’t see it in myself…” THANK YOU I was just gonna bring up the whole half assed back plot of mcgrath being abusive… (which is on par for cops, and ironic that the woman playing his wife was the wife of a cop who abused/raped her in 1.o)
This very much seems like a good bye. Pls let it be a good bye. Petition to bring back Garland!
Okay… im confused, I looked at my phone for 5 seconds and lost track of what was happening. Is the iab captain joining svu, cause that doesn’t work…theyre both captains. Or is she saying she’ll be filling in for mcgrath in the meantime??
Onto OC!
Okay, I am incredibly thankful for carisi on oc, but he’s the *sex crimes* ada.. not the only Manhattan ada, he wouldn’t be prosecuting this case… lol
Me: “wait I thought he was an officer.”
Reyes: “detective?” *side eye*
Me: ah yes, okay he was promoted the writers didn’t forget between weeks.
God this entitled pos teenager… wtf… its not *your* house bitch.
Ah, thank god, here’s the arguing that was missing in OG, not surprised its Elliot. Lol.
Oh god..the bratty teen overheard that didn’t she? Fuck..
God… this girl is gonna blow the entire thing, isn’t she? Like, in todays day and age with all the social media and how teenagers (and some adults) don’t know how to go without it, there’s no way they’d cut contact with everyone and delete socials and keep things quiet.
Aaaaaannd here we go. 5 seconds in and she’s blown their new location. (also WHY would the cops even tell them the location? That seems like something they wouldn’t do until they were halfway there…)
Okay… we’re missing a daughter.. I don’t know if this is supposed to be Maureen or elizabeth but I’m assuming liz as it looks like her kids are twins and she was the twin… Also where’s dickie? (I know the brother said something about someone not being able to get a flight? Im just deaf and without subtitles I couldn’t tell ya what exactly was said lol)
How old is this younger brother supposed to be? The only info online I can find is the actor is 50 which im not sure I believe.
Okay there’s dickie he’s in the background!
These guys KNEW they were in a high risk situation and none of them have a vest anywhere near them? ARE WE DUMB?! IS IT OUR FIRST DAY ON THE JOB?
Okay, there’s the other kid.
Maureen and Kathleen giving side eye while sipping their drinks while the tea is being spilt is the highlight of this moment.
This is SOOO awkward for everyone else at the table jfc… ESPECIALLY Eli’s poor girlfriend.. like. Welcome to the family drama, don’t worry we never have to come back…
Why the fuck did jet not grab the other gun?!
Me: unfazed at Elliot body slamming a teenager.
Bell: *casually* “I’m shot”
Me: ARE YOU FUCKING FOR REAL RIGHT NOW
THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING IF WE FUCKING LOSE HER I WILL ACTUALLY RIOT.
(BUT ALSO MAY WE STEP BACK TO 8 LINES EARLIER WHERE I WAS YELLING ABOUT THEM NOT HAVING VESTS ON?!)
I knew this other captain was going to be coming more into play, but im pissed its cause bell’s out with a gunshot wound.
Christ.
Okay well, another week and OC is continuing it’s reign as superior of the three!
Some pics for context/hilarity
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augustjustice · 1 year
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Better Than That
AO3 Link
This is the first part of a college AU that I got inspired to write after seeing many mentions of a Steddie Legally Blonde AU. This...isn’t that, really, though the first two scenes, as you will see, take their inspiration directly from the movie. I’m not entirely sure where this is headed, so who knows what form a continuation will take. But I still had a fun time writing this and thought I would go ahead and share what I have so far!
(Just as a heads up, Billy Hargrove and Tommy Hagan do make appearances here, but solely in an antagonistic fashion.)
Steve hears a whoop in the hallway, followed by a deep voice calling out, Friday night! Trust me, ladies. It’s gonna be a rager you won’t wanna miss.
It perks Steve’s interest enough to stick his head out of his dorm room.
“Man, is somebody on this campus actually throwing a par–”
The words, like the excitement that had welled up at the thought of finally having some good old-fashioned college fun, dies in his chest when he catches sight of the pair standing in the hallway–Billy Hargrove and Tommy Hagan, the absolute last people on this entire campus Steve wants to see. Too bad he didn’t have better grades, so he could have gone off to school in Boston or New York like Nancy and Jonathan, or–Siberia, which was, as Steve understood it, pretty far away from Tommy H.’s infuriating smirk and Hargrove’s even more punchable face. Instead, he’s stuck here in a dorm hall at Tech with the absolute worst people from the Hawkins High graduating class of ‘85.
"It's a costume party," Hargrove eyes him up and down, words slightly muddled from the toothpick clamped between his teeth, "but you wouldn't be interested in something like that, would ya, Harrington?"
There’s a bit of a challenge to the glint in the asshole’s eyes, the smirk curling at the corner of his mouth and, well. Steve has made a bad habit, lately, of not backing down from the challenges thrown across his path.
“Sure I would,” Steve shrugs, feigning casual even as his shoulders stiffen, instinctively gearing up for a fight, “I mean, costume parties, they’re…cool.”
The last costume party Steve attended was Halloween of ‘84. Nancy had spilled punch all over herself and then called him bullshit in the bathroom.
But Steve shakes off the memory now. This is college. He’s here to put all that high school shit behind him.
Starting with attending a cool college party. Even if Hargrove and Tommy H. will be there, there’s no reason to pass up the opportunity. After all, they won’t be the only ones there, and a house party is a great way to meet people, dust off his now rusty social skills.
He’s not lonely. He has Robin. But…he’d still like to make something of a name for himself here. On his own terms this time around, not as King Steve Harrington, son of Warren and Corrine Harrington, but as just…Steve.
Hargrove taps his fingers against Steve’s doorway, lurching suddenly into his space. Steve doesn’t waver, not taking so much as a single step backwards, well used to his tactics by now.
If he thinks he can scare Steve off, he’s in for a rude awakening. Steve has seen shit way worse than Billy Hargrove and his frayed mullet.
“The old house on the end of Washington. 7 o’clock, Friday.”
“I’ll be there,” Steve says, giving a single, quick nod of his head.
“See you around, Harrington,” Tommy H. shoots over his shoulder as they disappear down the hall, laying on thick that same sneering tone he always uses for Steve’s name these days.
“Yeah, see ya,” Steve wiggles his fingers in goodbye as he leans against his doorframe, dropping his hands with relief when he realizes they had turned the corner before they caught him.
God, Dustin is right. He really is turning into a dad.
---
“You’re on your own, Steve,” Robin had sing-songed for the fourth time that week when the fateful Friday rolled around and found Steve sprawled out on the floor of her dorm room, costume tucked away in his bag.
The truth was, Steve spent more time in hers than his own–practically lived there, to the point the floor RA was clearly convinced he was Robin's boyfriend, an insinuation which always set her off gagging.
“Robin Buckley did not do high school parties, and I'm not about to break the streak now. Not even for you. But let me know how it feels, bringing King Steve out of retirement.”
She had given his cheek a condescending pat, all teasing.
“Yeah, yeah,” Steve had rolled his eyes, “now tell me, on a scale of 1 to 10, how stupid it is to bring this out of retirement.”
Robin had sent him off with a thumbs up and a 3 out of 10–not anything you haven’t worn before, sailor boy! her parting reminder.
He’s feeling less certain about it as he stares up at the shabby split level Victorian, fashionably late at ten minutes after seven, the brisk autumn air hitting his thighs just below the clingy blue fabric of his shorts. Barely registering the other party goers swirling around him, Steve takes a deep breath and lightly jogs up the steps to the front door.
He really should have paid more attention, he realizes, slow dawning horror creeping over him as he steps inside.
There he is, decked out in the full Scoops Ahoy sailor uniform, the stupid little hat cocked jauntily on one side of his head.
No one else is wearing a costume.
After shooting a few thin, closed-mouth smiles at the other gaping attendees, it doesn’t take Steve long to weave through the house and find Tommy H. and Hargrove piled together on a ratty sofa, cans of American Colonial clutched in their hands.
When Hargrove’s eyes light on him, he all but spews out his beer, a near spit-take, big and over the top like they’re in some raunchy, slapstick frat comedy.
The heat of embarrassment floods Steve. He doesn't even know why he feels it so acutely. This barely cracks the top five of the most humiliating moments of his life thus far.
It's just…it stings, even though he should have seen this coming.
He thought college would be different. He's an hour away in the big city lights, and it still feels like he's stuck right back in Hawkins. Like he's never really going to be able to escape.
Beside Hargrove, Tommy H. is cackling like a hyena, falling all over himself as his shoulders shake with laughter. He looks…stupid, Steve thinks sourly, and then feels pathetic that even the comebacks in his head are that bad.
“Nice outfit, Harrington,” Hargrove manages to choke out once he’s stopped coughing, wiping at his mouth before he gives Steve a nasty, wolfish grin.
Steve plants his hands on his hip, letting out a mocking, exaggerated laugh of his own.
“Aww, I like your outfit, too, man,” Steve chirps, mockingly saccharine. “But when I dress up as a washed up deadbeat? I try to make sure my hair doesn’t look like a greasy rat’s nest.”
Hargrove stands up, then, rage flying from zero to sixty just like always as he looms into Steve’s face.
“You need me to remind you who’s the real big man on campus, King Steve. Cuz you couldn’t take me in high school, and I seriously doubt,” Hargrove’s breath is hot where it gusts into Steve’s face, his voice low and dangerous, “you can take me now.”
Tommy H. leaps up, too, just behind Hargrove’s shoulder. Ever the lap dog, always yapping at somebody else’s heels.
Steve’s whole body slumps, boneless and defeated. He’s so tired. Tired of fighting, tired of stupid high school bullshit.
His head has taken enough beatings. Even if he wins this fight, it’s not fucking worth it.
Wordlessly, Steve turns on his heel, heading out of the house. Over the roaring in his ears, he can hear Tommy shouting that he’s a coward.
The taste of déjà vu is bitter on Steve’s tongue.
---
Almost like the car takes itself there on autopilot, Steve finds himself parked right outside the record store downtown. His body knows the routine, he guesses, carrying him where he needs to go with Steve barely having any conscious input.
As Steve steps into the shop, the first thing he spots is the mess of dark hair, followed by big brown eyes that peer up at Steve from where the guy at the register's got a thick paperback cracked open on the counter.
Steve blinks as that dark gaze meets his own. He…recognizes those eyes.
Shiiiiiit.
Steve blanches.
It's Eddie fucking Munson.
After the night he's had, Steve thinks about turning back around and walking right out again.
But at this point he’s already been spotted, and he tries not to run from his problems. …Not usually these days, anyway.
Steve approaches the counter slowly, trying to appear casual as he gives Eddie an awkward, half-hearted wave. Eddie pulls his finger quickly out of his book, seemingly heedless of losing his place as he props his chin in his hands and leans languidly against the counter. A slight wicked glint appears in his eyes he takes Steve in, especially when he catches sight of just what it is he's wearing.
Eddie smirks, giving him a mock salute. He looks like the cat that caught the canary.
"Ahoy, sailor."
Greeeeeat. His already awful night is shaping up to be an even worse one. Steve definitely should have just walked out, cowardice be damned.
Eddie doesn’t let Steve’s silence deter him.
"Steve Harrington," he elongates Steve's name in his mouth, "as I live and breathe."
Steve can’t help himself. He’s too far at the end of his rope tonight already. Now that he’s in range, he puffs out a breath of air and lets his head fall dramatically onto the counter with a thud.
"Jeeze, did everyone in Hawkins move to Indianapolis?" he murmurs, before peeking up at Eddie from beneath the fringe of his bangs.
Eddie’s staring down at him with a bemused expression, like Steve’s a pesky puzzle piece whose edges he can’t fit into place. Steve had been known to hammer those kind of pieces into their spot with his fist when he got frustrated, which usually got Robin to call him a barbarian for his efforts.
“Feels that way sometimes, doesn’t it?” Eddie asks dryly, drumming his fingers against the glass not far from Steve’s head. "Surprised you recognize me, Harrington."
Steve shoots him a disbelieving look.
"Seriously? You're kidding, right? Everyone in Hawkins knows Eddie the Fr–"
Steve manages to choke the word off, but only barely. He's trying to be a better person. He's trying.
"I'm just saying, you and your little table top speeches? Kinda hard to miss, Munson."
"So the king did notice the little people," Eddie presses a hand to his chest, gasping, "I'm so flattered, your highness."
Steve rolls his eyes.
“Could you just…lay off with all that ‘King Steve’ shit, man?” Steve grumbles, but he tries to let some of the bone-weary exhaustion he feels seep into his voice. He’s suffered on the other end of customer service plenty, and he really isn’t trying to come across as an asshole. “I’m just really…not in the mood for it right now.”
Propped up on one elbow, Eddie grins at him, all teeth. There’s a challenging glint shining in his eyes.
“While I’m in the presence of a monarch? Absolutely not, my liege.”
But then, Steve guesses the guy must take some pity on him, because something in his face softens slightly.
“Rough night?”
"Yeah, you could say that," Steve mutters.
Eddie eyes Steve's uniform again, eyebrows raised.
"Didn't know they had Scoops Ahoy here in Indy."
"They don't. It was for a," Steve gestures down to himself with a frustrated huff, "stupid costume party, which then actually turned out not to be a costume party."
"And now here you are, duped back into returning to your full sailor glory day,” Eddie makes a sympathetic little sound. “That sucks, dude. Pretty shitty move to pull on somebody."
Steve blinks in surprise.
"Wait, you remember when I worked at Scoops?"
Eddie’s eyes widen slightly, going a bit owlish. It’s the first time since Steve stepped through the door that he’s the one who looks put out.
"Well, yeah,” he shrugs, tone airy and casual as he waves a hand around in the air dismissively. “The former King of Hawkins takes a fall from grace complete with an embarrassing minimum wage uniform? The peasants are bound to come around and gawk."
Steve looks at him with narrowed eyes for a long beat. Eddie shifts on his feet, clearly unsettled under the scrutiny.
“Come on, don’t tell me that’s the first time you’ve heard that.”
“No, no, it’s not that.”
But Steve’s scrutinizing stare still doesn’t let up. Then, suddenly, he snaps at Eddie.
"Oh, wait, I remember now! Two scoops, strawberry and mint chocolate chip. In a cup, right?" he taps the side of his temple, even though Eddie has neither confirmed nor denied his statement. "I never forget an order."
Eddie whistles, rapping his knuckles against the glass.
"Impressive parlor trick, man."
“Now that I’m thinking about it, you came in quite a bit, actually, didn’t you?” Steve’s got his chin propped on his fist now, contemplative as he eyes Eddie. “You got a sweet tooth, Munson?"
They’re close enough, leaning on the counter from opposite directions, that Steve’s arm is almost brushing up against Eddie’s.
Eddie leans a little closer, grin crooked, like he’s almost…amused with himself.
"Guess I just liked what was on the menu."
That smile combined with Eddie’s teasing tone might almost be mocking, but there’s a warmth to his eyes that gives Steve the sense he's not laughing at him, which is a…welcome surprise, given the rest of his night.
“Yeah, well, you can thank Tommy H. and Billy Hargrove for this little blast from the past. They clearly think they’re hilarious.”
“Fuck those guys,” Eddie says with genuine feeling, making Steve feel weirdly vindicated. “Shitty in high school and still shitty now, huh?”
“Looks like it,” Steve agrees. “I guess what they say is true. Lions…or, wait, no. Leopards! That’s it! Leopards don’t change their spots.”
Eddie cocks his head to one side, still watching Steve with those dark, piercing eyes, expression considering. The look makes Steve want to shift on his own feet now, but he holds his ground until Eddie finally speaks again.
"...Guess not. Well," Eddie slaps his hands against the counter, jerks upright quickly and claps his hands together, making Steve jump slightly, "what can I do for you this evening, good sir?"
Steve straightens up, too, rubbing a hand over the nape of his neck.
“It’s silly. Robin–Buckley, you know her, used to go to school with us, too–we’ve kind of got this routine going. Whenever one of us has a really crappy day, we get together and have, like, a…silly dance party and then load up on junk food. But since we both only moved up here back in September, our shared cassette collection isn’t quite as big as it once was. We’ve made a game of filling it out, picking up a new random tape every time one of us is in a shitty mood. Like a double pick-me-up.”
“That’s cute, Harrington,” Eddie’s voice is warm and genuine, though, for some reason, his smile looks a little stiff around the edges. “You gonna go get a pint of ice cream too for you and your girl to share after this?”
"After a summer of slinging it? No way. We're both sick of the stuff." Steve rolls his eyes. "And she's not my girl, man. I’m surprised she didn't somehow teleport into the shop just to whack you for saying that. Why does everyone assume me and Rob are a couple?"
The last part is muttered more to himself than anything, but Eddie clearly takes it upon himself to answer.
"I don't know, Stevie boy. That's what everyone around school said during Buckley's first and my last senior year. You know, when you dropped her off at school, like, everyday? You gotta admit, you two were pretty much attached at the hip."
"Yeah, we still are," Steve admits fondly, "but I promise it's not like that."
"What, Buck too nerdy for former Hawkins High royalty?"
Steve snorts, gesturing around himself.
"Seriously, do I look like royalty to you? Plus, you think I really still give a shit about that stuff, Munson? I've left behind the…uh, social construction of the high school hierarchy, or whatever."
He parrots one of Dustin's common tirades to the best of his ability, the words sounding clunky in his mouth.
It's worth it, though, for the way Eddie raises his eyebrows, seeming impressed.
"Damn, Harrington. Maybe you’re wrong, and you really can teach an old jock new tricks."
It's a bit of a jab, but the grin he shoots Steve is dimpled, and, this time, looks pretty sincere.
It's a nice smile.
“Wait here,” Eddie jabs a finger in his direction as he rounds the counter. “Let me see what I can get for you.”
Then he disappears down one of the aisles, a bit of a spring in his step as he leaves Steve to wait patiently in his wake.
Steve hears it the moment he finds whatever he was looking for, the sound of Eddie crowing Aha! in his excitement ringing through the shop.
He practically sprints back up to the front of the store, extending the tape out to Steve. Eddie taps the cassette with one finger after he’s taken it, the plastic casing pressing further into Steve's palm.
"Try that one. You wanna rage against the injustices of the world? Thrash metal’s the ticket, Harrington."
Steve flips the cassette over in his hand and squints down at it, reading the front cover.
“Iron Maiden?” he asks uncertainly.
The Number of the Beast is scrawled below the band’s name in shaky red letters. Yeah, they’re definitely outside Steve’s comfort zone now.
He places the tape gently on the edge of the counter, turning his attention back to Eddie.
"They're a favorite. Well, one of them, anyway. I could have you a list of recs that spans the length of my arm,” Eddie snaps his fingers, “just like that.”
The mere mention of music clearly has Eddie’s enthusiasm bubbling over, infectious. His head bobs as he begins babbling about Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and Metallica and a handful of other names Steve doesn’t recognize. The motion makes his wild hair shake, flashy rings calling attention to his slim, pale fingers tipped in black polish as he gesticulates broadly, his big, doe brown eyes bright, and…oh, shit, he’s actually kinda pretty.
Fuck. That's not good.
Steve’s sexuality crisis is long in the rearview mirror, but the last thing he needs is to develop a crush on Eddie Munson of all people. The guy probably hates him, beneath the forced polite veneer of customer service, and with good reason.
"You know, when I walked in here, I kinda expected you to give me a harder time,” Steve blurts, before he can say something totally stupid, like commenting on the color of Eddie’s eyes or rattling out some completely cheesy pick up line.
Eddie’s smile turns mischievous.
“Oh, I can totally be hard on you, Harrington, if that’s what you want. Just say the word,” he winks at Steve, “And I’m your man.”
Heat rises to Steve’s cheeks. Flustered, he clears his throat, deciding to circle back to his point.
“Seriously, though, why're you being nice to me, dude? I thought you'd be first in line to celebrate the 'king,'" Steve puts the title in quotation marks, his tone dripping with sarcasm, "getting his just desserts or whatever."
"Welllll, your highness, honestly? When you walked in here, you looked like shit, man. Not as bad as that time you showed up with a black eye and everyone said Hargrove beat the shit out of you, but…still pretty damn down. And, between you and me?” He leans closer, eyebrows raised and voice lowered, like he's about to share a secret. “Hagan and Hargrove were way worse back in high school than you ever were. Some of us preferred the reign of King Steve, tyrannical and unelected though it may have been."
There's a teasing lilt to Eddie's voice, to his grin, to his warm brown eyes that has Steve smiling sheepishly, even though he isn't sure he should be.
"...Thanks."
"No problem. Now, you gonna take the cassette or what?" Eddie grabs it off the counter, shaking it at him.
"Yeah, dude," Steve wiggles his fingers, "Hand it over."
Eddie extends it towards him, then snatches it back teasingly as he basically shimmies his way over to the cash register.
"Cash or credit, Harrington?"
Steve shakes his head and pulls his wallet out of his back pocket.
When Eddie passes Steve the Iron Maiden tape, now safely tucked into a shopping bag, their fingers brush, and Steve definitely doesn’t feel a little spark of electricity shoot up his spine at the contact, nope, not at all.
“Thanks again for the recommendation, man,” Steve says sincerely. “And, for, you know. Taking it easy on me.”
Eddie’s lips part for a long beat, mouth open like he’s gearing up to say something. Then, he drops his head, shaking it for a second before meeting Steve’s eyes again.
“Any time, Harrington. Don’t be a stranger, now,” he drawls the words out in a thick, over-the-top Southern accent that makes Steve snort softly.
He cocks a finger at Eddie in farewell.
“Yeah, sure. See you later, alli…gator.”
Steve cringes internally, but Eddie just throws back his head and cackles. Like his smile, it’s a nice sound.
“Afterwhile, crocodile!” he shouts as Steve pushes back through the front door.
---
Stepping out onto the sidewalk, his plastic shopping bag swinging from his finger, Steve finds himself whistling, spirits…weirdly lifted.
He shakes his head as he tosses his purchase into the passenger seat, laughing softly.
Eddie Munson. Who’d have thought?
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clanwarrior-tumbly · 2 years
Note
(Pina Colada Anon) Mark: SHOOT HIM! HE'S THE IMPOSTER! Dark: No, he is the imposter! Shoot him! Y/N, setting down the gun and walking over to both of them: I have two hands, don't worry.
(Hope you dont mind I turn this into a fic ghdhgh bc I haven't done any for ADWM on here)
.........
“You’re never, ever going to escape me. Not now-?!”
Out of nowhere, Mark ran in and tackled Dark as the world reverted back to its normal colors. 
You wondered where he had gone this whole time, but you could only stand there in bewilderment, watching the two pretty much fight to the death over you. Humorously enough they tried throwing punches with bags over their heads, which were quickly discarded. 
Dark tried glitching around to confuse Mark and gain the upper hand, though it ended up confusing you too as they were both identical, voices sounding the exact same.
Eventually one of them pulled out a gun, which got knocked away and slid directly towards you.
You huffed and picked up the weapon, looking up to see them still fighting and started to get annoyed. This isn’t what you signed up for.
“Alright. That’s enough! I’m settling this once and for all.”
Hearing a click, they froze and backed away from each other, seeing you standing there with the gun. Immediately they pointed at one another, once again yelling as they begged you to shoot the “Dark Mark.”
“He needs to die!”
“Shoot him!”
“No! Shoot him!!”
“He does bad things to good people!”
“He’s got weird eyes!”
You feel like you’ve seen this trope in dozens of movies--with identical clones forcing you to decide who’s the “fake” and praying you’re right if you kill them.
But then you wondered..
Why did this have to be like a dumb cliché movie? Can’t you make your own choice? Your own story?
Besides, you weren’t too keen on killing anybody on a first date. Maybe you can figure out some sort of compromise if these two really loved you that much. You knew Mark did but you weren’t sure about Dark.
Eh.
You made up your mind..
And calmly put the gun down.
Once Mark and Dark realized you weren’t aiming at them anymore, they slowly stopped arguing and just stared at you, confused. At first they thought you were gonna just walk away from the situation, leaving them with broken hearts, but no...you were walking towards them.
“Boys, boys..I’m flattered you’re fighting over me. But I have two hands, y’know.” You chuckle, taking Dark’s hand in your right and Mark’s in your left. “And I'm not gonna use them to kill, but to love you both."
Mark was taken aback by your smooth pickup line, a warm blush growing on his face. But he huffed and stared at the copycat. "What’s there to love about this idiot who interrupted our date? He's a liar and a cheat."
"As if you're any different." Dark snarled, reverting back to his original self. "What kind of fool "forgets" his wallet on the first date? You clearly have no shame in making them do everything for you. You can’t keep forcing them choose again and again!”
“Well at least I didn’t keep them hostage in a scary dark void-!”
“Hey. Nobody forced me to choose anything.” You huffed, making them both turn their gaze back to you. “So what if neither of you are perfect? You are to me, and that’s okay. Dark..I’d like to get to know you better. You seem a bit creepy but I’m not one to judge books by their covers.”
The entity’s shoulders visibly relaxed a little as he quietly nodded.
“And Mark, today has been fun and I don’t wanna end it on killing someone. Not a good impression to leave on a first date. Let’s talk about this over dessert and you guys can prove yourselves to me in your own ways, yeah?”
For a long moment they just stared at each other, then they looked at your hands. As much as they despised being together and having to share you, they didn’t wanna disappoint you on your first date.
Finally they sighed in defeat.
"Fine."
"Alright..but just this once. Maybe this won’t be so bad."
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
ENDING 11: Swirl
TRY AGAIN?
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Text
Isle Connections Ch4 Familiar Faces
(Warning: Y/n has a fight with Avery. Mentioning of toxic relationships/families. This chapter will probably cover a period expanding over a few weeks to a few months. Will slightly reference the Twilight Wings series.)
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You were confused about both of those guys to say the least...but you weren't sure about anything right now. And Gloria was right. So far the most either of them had done was be rude and try to cheat, even though Kara's way could've gotten someone hurt. Plus they did apologize and they were being punished instead of Mustard brushing them off which was good..
But you'd still be keeping a VERY close eye on both of them!
Bit enough of that. You were excited to see what surprise Mustard was going to gift Gloria. So after some rest and a quick lunch, you and Gloria both gathered back in the main training room to meet Mustard and see what he had to say.
"Ah. There you are, Gloria," he greeted you both with a smile, "Keeping this old man waiting huh? Since you completed all three trials, I give you the secret of the master dojo." You were expecting him to pull out a new uniform or maybe actual armor but instead he held up a...pokeball? "Now then. Come on out."
The pokeball was given a light toss. Light sparkled out and revealed to you both a... Little bear cub wearing a white sash tied around its head? The strange pokemon got you both to look wide eyed in surprise. It was SO CUTE!! The absolutely adorable little pokemon struck a pose immediately like a martial artist kicking and throwing a few punches before it paused finally seeming to notice you two and Silver staring at it. It froze before gaining a frightened look, and turned to flee and dove behind Mr. Mustard's legs. After a few seconds peeking out from behind him.
"AW! The wee thing's so cute!," Gloria gushed making Mustard chuckle.
"This pokemon is in fact the secret armor of the master dojo," he explained, "Say hello to kubfu. I know. I know. It's tiny. But raise it with diligence and it'll become strong enough to see you through any battle like a suit of armor. No opponent will ever get past it. This one in particular has amazing potential. Problem is it's a bit shy. It doesn't seem to have much confidence in itself.  So I was thinking maybe if it joined you I'm your training here, that'll help break it out of it's shell a little bit. So take good care of kubfu, Kay? It's now in your hands." He held the pokeballs out to her...and she slowly accepted it in awe. 
Wait...The kubfu has a similar problem to Gloria. Did that mean that Mustard planned this out in the beginning? This could actually work out really well for Gloria! 
"I won't let ye down, Sir!," Gloria gave a determined face clutching the ball to herself. "I promise ta train extra hard and help em out!"
Mustard smiled wider. "I'm glad to hear that because the special training I'm going to give you will be hard, but if you're willing to work then I'm sure you'll surpass it soon! Now then the first thing for you to do is to become best friends with Kubfu." Said Pokemon perked out a little more from behind his leg. "You need to build trust. Kubfu really hasn't had the chance to explore the world outside the dojo so maybe it'll help you become better friends if you let it have a look around. Once you're best buddies, we'll start harder training in earnest! Just stop by and let me know once you think you're ready for that." 
Gloria nodded at him before looking down at the kubfu and kneeling slowly. "Hi, lik guy. Oh you're so cute. Do ya wanna have a snack with me?" The pokemon looked back to Mustard who just nodded before it slowly shuffled out and nodded up at her. "Kay then! Let's go n' get us some grub!" 
"Gloria." She looked at Mustard. "You're real training will begin next Monday. If you're really are serious about this training then you shall need to listen to what I say."
She nodded standing back up. "Ya got it! I'm as ready as I'll ever be!"
He smiled wider. "Good. For now focus on bonding with Kubfu over the weekend."
"Oh! M' not done with my dex challenge yet!," she excitedly looked back to you. "We can all go exploring together an' finish it! And we can also go explorin' for those guys missing digletts!!" 
You nodded. "Yeah. I bet exploring places together would be a great idea for you guys to bond."
And so it began. Gloria started training hard with the kubfu and you tagged along on her adventures of finding random digletts and taking pictures left and right. The shy pokemon was still shy hiding from everyone but it seemed to warm up to Silver a bit the longer they were out together and Gloria's contagious adventurous spirit seemed to rub off on it a little bit. Then Monday came and her real training started. She was woken up bright and early with everyone else and made to train alongside all the others including Avery and Klara. Sit ups,push ups, running laps, but most of all battles. Hard battles that Mustard initiated between her and the older more experienced students in front of a crowd always. Forcing her to get out of her comfort zone and work hard to defeat them while everyone watched. It was pretty hard work like he promised it would be but Gloria as you learnt was VERY determined and stubborn so she would push through it in time. You were just stuck watching from the sidelines cheering her on as she did so. You also saw Avery and Klara take part in their punishments. Sometimes you'd see them doing exercises until they were sweating like crazy as Ms. Honey or Mustard watched to make sure they did it. Sometimes you passed a room in the girls' wing and heard Klara whine and grumble as she scrubbed a toilet. Other times you saw them taking care of the dojo's pokemon. One particular day you heard music coming from the kitchen. Wait. Not music singing.
"Hush Little poke don't say a word ~ Avery's gonna pick you a oran berry.~"
It sounded like a pokemon twist on the classic hush little baby song.  And it was coming from the kitchen area. Curious you poked your head in and paused at what you saw. Avery was knelt petting the slowpokes and hummed to their happy faces. You continued to stare at them for a moment before Silver just walked up to you and chirped . Causing you to jump and Avery immediately turn around and you broth froze as you made eye contact. For a long moment none of you said anything before you sputtered.
"Uh...S-Sorry," you held up your hands, "I was just getting a snack for my drizzle! I didn't know you were using the kitchen."
"I-... I-It's perfectly alright," he squeaked out looking embarrassed.
"Yeah..Um. Gloria's waiting for me to help her find digletts. Ok. Bye!"
You quickly fled the awkward scene snatching Silver up in your arms with a loud squeak. Avery still paused watching you retreat before shoving his face in his hat and screaming in embarrassment. It seemed Avery started to avoid you more after that awkward encounter which you also didn't mind. To get over the embarrassment you just focused on helping out Gloria with her side quests outside of her training to put it in the back of your mind. However you both were again be surprised a week later. You'd both just gotten back from your little expedition to find more digletts and their trainer was so happy he kept gifting Gloria Alola Region pokemon. He must've really valued his digletts. When you both walked up to the dojo with your pokemon, you ran into none other than Klara who was sweeping the steps by herself with Ms. Honey watching.
"G' afternoon, Klara!," Gloria greeted waving a hand to her catching her attention. "Tis a nice day huh?"
Klara sighed. "I guess so. If you don't mind working."
"Yikes! Ya still working on that punishment?"
"Master has the last day of our hard work literally marked on his calendar. Until then I'm gonna have to work hard ...But if it means I'll be a gym leader then I'll happily train hard and accept defeat!" Your brows rose. Well..That was certainly a positive response considering how she was before. "Again sorry for everything. Hey. Do you think we can battle again sometime? Fairly this time! I've been training hard and I bet I can beat you this time!"
Gloria lit up! "Yeah! I'd love too! We can totally battle again!"
Klara smiled. "Hehe. I'll be looking forward to it-"
"Look out, Ladies!"
You three jumped back as two of the male students attending the dojo struggling to carry ..A giant vending machine? Behind them two delivery men wheeled past another vending machine and behind them was two more delivery men carrying a rotomi machine. You all watched as the eight men walked by with Ms. Honey guiding them. 
"What the world is that about?," you asked.
"Oh. A couple corviknight came by with a big delivery and a new visitor just a few minutes ago," Klara said. "Apparently Ms. Honey is updating the dojo."
"OH! That's what Ms. Honey meant by a delivery with the watts." You both looked at her. "Y'know? That power supply that comes from the wishing stones n' dynamax dens. Ya can use 'em as currency n' Galar. Ms. Honey said she needed a lot so I gave 'er all the watts I had. I was nay usin' them anyways."
"How many did you give her?"
"Um...I think three million three hundred eighty thousand." You both gawked at her. The broom slipping from Kara's hands and onto the steps. "....What? I told ye I never used 'em."
"Uh...Right. Anyways..You said there was a visitor here?" You looked back to Klara.
Klara shook her head. "Yeah. A short kid like you." She pointed at Gloria. "Only he had this hair color that reminded me of poison types. It was all purple-"
"That sounds like Hop!" Gloria's suddenly yell had you both wincing as she beamed brightly before turning to the dojo. "HOP, HOP, HOP, HOP!!" Throwing up her arms she dashed for the dojo.
"Wow...She sure has spirit."
"Tell me about it. Try stopping her from jumping into danger all the time." You took a moment to look Klara up and down... before sighing making a choice. "Hey, Klara." She looked at you. "I just...Wanted to apologize for how I acted towards you." She blinked surprised. "I was pretty mean to you too and I wanted to apologize for everything I did. Do you think we could forget everything that happened and start over?"
Klara still stared before smiling. "TOTES!! I was a jerk too so I totally deserved it but like now I can start over with everything! I'm still gonna beat your friend though!"
You smiled. "Thanks. I look forward to IT-"
You were interrupted when Gloria just grabbed you by the arm and yanked you by the arm behind her. "C'MON Y/N!! DON'T KEEP US WAITIN'!"
You were yanked along by Gloria across the way and right up to the door that she threw open hard enough to make it slam loudly against the wall catching everyone off guard and to look over as you both came in but stopped just a few feet in the middle of the room. Mustard was there as well and didn't even flinch as Gloria came crashing in only smiling at you both. However you both interrupted him talking to someone. That someone had purple hair and turned to look at you both with bright golden eyes blinking. There was a moment of silence as the two stared before a smile graced his features.
"Oh. Hey!" Hop smiled brightly at Gloria. "Welcome back, Glory."
"HOP!!" Before anyone could stop her, Gloria rushed him. Practically tackling him in a hug that had him teetering back waving his arms before the two friends fell backwards onto the ground. "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!"
"It's nice to see you too, Gloria." Hop managed to say from his now sitting position smiling brightly despite having been half tackled to the floor hugging one of his best friends back. "I missed you too!"
"Let him get some breathing space, Gloria."
Hop snapped up hearing a familiar voice. "Y/N!" Smiling he pulled both of them up standing and broke the hug to smile widely at you. "Boy! It sure has been a while! Things haven't been the same without you guys and Victor back at Postwick." He then smiled at Gloria again. "But it looks like you've been working hard keeping up your training here at the dojo eh?" 
"What are you doing here?!," Gloria piped up completely happy. "I thought ya was studyin' under Sonia!"
"Surprise!" Hop held up his hands with a bright smile. "That's just the reaction I was hoping for! I'm here at the Isle of Armor to research more of that dynamax phenomenon and gather a few max mushrooms samples for Sonia."
"Why isn't Sonia doing that?"
"She's doing some really important research in the Crown Tundra for the Chairwoman, so she asked me to take care of things here! And I'm glad I did. OH!" He turned back to Gloria. "I almost forgot! You're never gonna believe this! Victor got picked up as a gym leader in training too!"
You both gasped. "No! Really?!" 
He nodded. "Nessa hand picked him herself right after we saved Galar again!"
"You did what again?!"
"Oh right! You both dunno.  I'll be happy to tell ya everything but first I gotta get settled in." 
"Yes." All of you turned back to Mustard now who smiled ever patiently. "I heard that you two were friends. How delightful! Hop here was just asking permission to camp out on the Isle. But where's the fun in mucking about in the mud? I was telling him he should just stay here at the dojo."
"I mean it'd be loads easier than camping  out for a long while, but are you sure I wouldn't get in the way?" 
"Everyone's welcome to stay here at the dojo. Don't be shy, My Boy. Besides we're practically family already. You're the little brother of our Leon after all! Hmm...We still have some max mushrooms stored away that Gloria got us a while ago. I'll dig those out so you can bring this Sonia person some samples. In the meantime feel free to make yourself at home! I'll have Honey set up a room for you and get you a room key later."
"Yeah. It's true. Lee did train here when we were both kids. Alright. You twisted my arm. Hope you don't regret it because I'm staying." 
Mustard laughed. "The more the merrier. I'm as pleased as a gold plated punch bowl!"
Hop bowed. "Thanks so much, Mr. Mustard!" Hop blinked looking upside down at Silver and Gloria's kubfu. "No way!" He snapped back around startling the tiny bear pokemon. "Is that a kubfu?!"
Said kubfu dove behind Gloria's legs before peeking out. "Yeah! Yeah! I've been trainin' with him forever!"
"That's so cool! They evolve into ursifu but they can only evolve a certain way...but I forgot what that is."
"Ah! That reminds me." Mustard again spoke up. "I've got something I've been meaning to tell you about Kubfu, Gloria. Or it's evolution ursifu. The truth is the lovable rascal is capable of gigantamaxing too."
Gloria looked shocked. "Wait really?!"
"Yes but it's a bit tricky since it can't stand the taste of max mushrooms so max soup is off the menu unless you can find a way to make it more appealing. There's a certain something you can find here on the isle though that'll make even ursifu gobble up the soup. And that certain something is.." he paused for a long time giving you all a serious look..... Looking at them so long Gloria and Hop exchanged glances. .....Mustard suddenly smiled goofily again. "Actually. I forgot what it was. Oopsie daisies."
"Are you kidding me?!" "No!" Both looked defeated. 
"Hahaha! You're more fun to tease than your brother ever was!" Mustard chuckled making Hop give him a deadpanned look. "But the certain something I'm thinking of is sure to make the soup more palatable to kubfu once Gloria manages to evolve him and it has something to do with another pokemon." Another pokemon? That was a big clue right there! "Now I think I'll leave you two to figure out just what it is! Give it a good think! You're on your own kiddos! he world is your cloyster so get cracking!" He turned to leave but paused and turned back to Gloria. "But don't think you can slack off on your training just because your friend is here. I still expect you to join me for training."
Gloria nodded. "Of course, Sir!"
Mustard smiled again before he walked off making Hop shake his head. "Uh...Is this how you're training usually goes?"
"Pretty much."
"Yikes." Hop shook his head again before smiling. "I've got no rapidash in this race, but even I'm curious about this certain something. I think I once read something about ursifu in a book too.." he hummed thinking hard and crossing his arms. "It's the wushu pokemon right? The book said it lives in the mountains of a far off region." 
"Does it really?"
"Huh? You didn't know? Don't you have one?"
"Tis still just a kubfu."
"Oh..right. But I read somewhere ursifu is mad for some kind of sticky honey!" A 'AHA' look of realization came over his face. "Gloria! Honey is made from the nectar of flowers and plants right?! And Mustard said the special thing comes from another pokemon! So maybe we need some nectar made by pokemon that look like flowers and plants!"
Gloria lit up. "Hop, you're a genius!!"
"And if we're looking for those kinds of pokemon I'd reckon they'd be in the forest! I'll be able to look into dynamaxing along the way so count me in on exploring! There's a forest beyond that big marshland right?" Gloria nodded and he lit up. "Bet I can beat you there!"
"You're on!"
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" You held out your arms making them both stop. "It's too late in the day to go out again and we just got back, Gloria! And Hop hasn't even gotten his room yet either!" You rose a brow crossing your arms. "Besides, you also have training tomorrow with Mustard. Remember?"
Gloria groaned. "That's right. I totally forgot."
"It's ok!," Hop assured her with a smile. "We can go the day after tomorrow and look around! And then I can tell you guys everything that happened to me and Vic!"
Gloria again lit up like a firework. "An' I can tell you everything that happened here! And ya can help me find all these digletts and finish up me dex challenge!"
"I'd love to!! This is gonna be awesome! Just like old times!"
Indeed it was. Just like old times. The day after the next you had to stop the two from just taking off without you and grab them back to stick together. Hop and Gloria didn't right away go to try and find this mysterious nectar. Instead they spent most of that day looking for digletts and catching up. Gloria told Hop all about her trials and new rivals here and in turn Hop filled you both on everything that happened back home. Apparently two troublesome twin who you met before had discovered the ancient grave of one of the heroes because they just so happened to be descendants of said heroes and had a book from him passed down. And then they went around Galar releasing wild dynamax pokemon on a rampage in the gyms AFTER stealing the ancient shield from Zacian and Zanazenta. Then Hop and Victor with help from Sonia and Piers had to go around and fight all these pokemon and chase them down only to finally corner them in Hammerlocke where they forced poor Zamazenta to power up painfully. So they had to battle and calm them down. Luckily they were able to get the ancient shield back and have the two troublesome twins arrested and returned the ancient weapons to the pokemon.
..... Y'know. Typical every day hero stuff in the world of pokemon.
You were shellshocked for a while by this but considering every you've been through up til now, quickly had just accepted it. Oh. Also apparently Hop decided to be a scientist like Sonia(which you already knew would happen-) and was studying under her. Good for him! Also apparently Nessa had taken an interest in Victor after seeing his actions during the gym challenge and helping to save her gym. She had offered to train him as the new water type gym leader which he happily accepted and you thought that actually suited him nicely. However Victor had his own problems battling. Being too serious and not having too much confidence in his battling skills unlike Gloria who was VERY confident about battling and only suffered from stage fright. Which she was really getting better at! Mustard's training was really working! Leon also sent him to get training with someone in the Crown Tundra. According to what Hop told you, Victor actually seemed to be getting much better too. He was actually letting loose a little and having fun battling and building up confidence. Good. You were glad Victor was getting better too. 
But back to the present day...
When not training the three of you explored the Forest of Focus. Hop suggested you find a liligant first to try it's nectar. And you all found one...Sorta. You all managed to find a lost petilil. The poor thing had apparently been separated from it's mother and had clung to Hop's leg until you all managed to find her. Gloria laughed the entire time and you had to admit it was funny and pretty cute. The grateful liligant was more than happy to allow Hop to take some nectar from the giant flower on her forehead. Unfortunately it wasn't the nectar you were looking for so Hop suggested you all find an applin instead since apparently they also were a pokemon that created nectar and were actually pretty common pokemon on the isle of armor. You all managed to find an applin but it rolled away quicker than you expected it to and all three of you lost sight of it before you knew it. Stopping at a fork in the clearing of trees. 
"Crud!," Hop stomped down a foot looking left and right down the paths. "Which way did it go?!"
"I don't know. Ugh. What do we do now?"
"The fastest way to find it would be to split up and cover more ground."
"What?!" You snapped to Hop. "Absolutely not! What if you two get lost?!"
"I'll stick with Gloria and we'll go together!," Hop easily assured you. "We have our phones so we can call for help or use a map to get back! And Glory has her cinderance! We can have them shoot fire in the air like a flare if nothing else works!"
"Yeah!" Gloria piped up. "C'mon Y/n. Relax and help."
Well...Mustard did say Gloria needed to do more things herself. You groaned but nodded. "Alright. You guys go that way and I'll go right. But keep your phones handy and call me if you find it or need help. And try not to get lost."
"Don't worry, Y/n! Besides getting lost is Lee's thing not mine."
"Well don't pull a Leon." Both laughed but agreed before turning and excitedly making their way down the left path leaving you with Silver. With a sigh you turned to start walking down the right way. "C'mon Silver. Let's go find that applin and get back with the others. Keep your eyes open for an applin.
With a chirp Silver loyally followed you down the right forest pathway. The warm sun beat down on you and the sun shown brightly above the sky. A lot of wild pokemon could be seen running around the forest between the flora and fawna. Playing, sleeping, eating, and just living out here in general. It was beautiful. You wished you had more of this peaceful life growing up. Such bliss. However you didn't see a single applin anywhere. Darn it! But you kept looking and looking and looking. Farther and farther you went. Looking everywhere and pushing apart tall grass and bushes to peer behind them. No such luck. Only finding every pokemon besides applins. Ugh! Where could it have gone?! You were just about to turn around and call it quits since clearly the applin didn't come down this way or if it did it was already long gone when-
B O O M-!!
What sounded like a giant crash sound sent pokemon running away from you and Silver diving behind you once again as you turned up to the sky. You knew what that noise was by now. Someone was having a pokemon battle out here. But...who? You were practically in the middle of nowhere! Maybe someone was catching some wild pokemon? For whatever reason your curiosity got the better of you and you started to head towards where the sounds came from. Bushes and grass pushed out of your way as the sounds of a man's desperate pleas cutting through the air making you feel a wave of panic and run faster. Someone was in trouble! They needed help!
"Where do you think you're going?!," a familiar man's voice asked. "You WILL battle me again!"
"Aaah! P-Please put me down!", another man's voice yelled out. 
You ran and ran until you eventually rounded around a giant tree and froze at what you saw. A beautiful clearing stood before you beautifully covered in wild flowers however that wasn't what caught your attention. It was the two men in the middle of the field. Standing there clear as day was Avery with his back to you and one hand held up. Above him in the air was another man who bore a panicked look surrounded by the same blue aura that was levitating Avery's pokeballs. He frantically ran through the air kicking his legs and arms about to no avail not able to escape Avery as he levitated him in the air. 
"Please put me down!," the floating man pleaded again almost on the verge of crying. "I-I don't want to battle anymore!"
"Not until you battle me again! I barely have any worthy opponents on this isle so you'll do!," Avery refused bringing him closer. 
You stared in disbelief before you scowled hard at the sight. "YOU PUT HIM DOWN NOW!!!" Avery jumped as whirled around wide eyed. Freezing as soon as he saw your form stomping up to him only to stop right in front of him and pointing at his face. "What the heck do you think you're doing?! Put that guy down!"
Avery still seemed in a state of shock before shaking his head and frowning. "Now you see here! This man is my opponent and I will have another battle!"
"Are you confused?! Or insane?!," you shouted back to him pointing at the still panicking man. "That's holding someone hostage!"
"I don't expect you to understand of course. No one would understand my problems with-"
He didn't get get to say anything else when two hands grabbed his shirt front and YANKED his tall form downwards to stare deeply at your snarling face as your hands balled into tight fists holding his still. "Alright. Listen up you wannabe psychic psycho! Since apparently you can't read minds I'll spell it out for you instead! What you're doing is basic kidnapping and holding someone hostage! You don't seem to realize how bad that is! It's no wonder you never were able to be a gym leader!" Avery flinched. Hard. His face falling into a shocked look of hurt. "You. Put. Him. Down. N O W!!!" You ended your yell with a little shove to Avery.
....The man instantly fell to the ground with a loud thud. Taking the opportunity, the man scrambled up and immediately fled as fast as he could. Dashing across the field and disappearing quickly into the treeline. You waited until he was safely away from Avery before releasing the blonde man and stepping back still scowling.
"Don't you EVER do that again!," you snarled at him pointing, "If I EVER see you doing that again to ANYONE not only will I tell Mustard but I'll tell Leon and the Chairwoman too!"
With that you turned around and stomped away from his hurt face with Silver running to catch up to you. Avery continued to stare helplessly at you before the pokeballs fell from his head pathetically falling to the ground before the first few years filled his eyes.
You didn't see much of Avery after that day. You met up with Hop and Gloria who had managed to indeed find and capture some nectar from the applin after it fell out of a tree and onto Gloria's head. Turns out the nectar wasn't what they were looking for either so it would take Hop and Gloria some research and brainstorming to figure it out. In the meantime as days passed, they buried themselves with FINALLY being able to finish Gloria's dex challenge and going around finding more and MORE run away digletts and trading them back to the guy. Gloria was also able to trade a bunch of other people for other different regional pokemon. Some of which she gave Hop who blushed a bit. Ah. Looks like the crush was still strong with him. Which reminded you-
"Hey. What pokemon did Gloria give you?," you asked him one day while Gloria was busy training. "I know she gave Marnie a purloin and Bede and Victor a pokemon too. So what did she give you?"
Hop blushed deeply and rubbed his neck as he did before chuckling. "well....I guess you'll know anyways once she finally confesses her love to me."
"Say what?"
"She gave me an applin before she left!," he smiked widely. "I knew she liked me better that that cotton for brains Bede! I haven't brought it up yet cuz I wanted her to focus on her training! HA! Take that Befe! In your face!!"
You facepalmed hard. First she gifts Bede a lovdisc without knowing the meaning of that and now she mistakenly gifted Hop an applin. Sigh. Gloria's love rivalry continued. At least you knew what happened to the applin Gloria left in her backpack for so long. Days also passed. Gloria still trained hard and you and Hop Always helped her with her turn in chores. Kubfu and her was getting bolder and bolder and she even got to battle Ms. Honey whom gifted her a special pair of league cards as a thank you for helping to spruce up the place. She also gave Hyde a lot of watts too to power up his strange machine and had gotten a polygon pokemon from his as a thanks. Gloria also seemed to have gotten along better with Klara even having a rematch battle with her. Klara lost but she seemed to be taking it a lot better than she did previously. However...Avery was barely present at all. In fact it was like he was mostly invisible. When he was doing training or some of his punishment chores, he would either turn away from you or do everything he could to avoid eye contact, and would pretend you didn't exist when he was assigned to do chores alongside Gloria. Silent and keeping to himself which was... actually odd. Maybe you scared him a lot more than you meant too. You had found out that Avery did end up rebattling Gloria again too after her training but that was the extent of it. Until one day you spotted something strange. You exited the kitchen after getting Silver a snack and found Gloria and Hop posing with Klara for a picture before she signed something for Gloria and haded her another league card.
Confused you walked up to them as Klara left. "Hey guys. What's up?"
"Y/n!" Hop smiled brightly at you. "We finally found out what that certain something Mustard was talking about is!"
"That's great but what was Klara talking about?"
"Oh! We finally figured out who they are! Turns out Klara n' Avery are gym leaders from the minor division!"
You stared stunned. "Really?"
Hop nodded. "Yeah! Klara just started out a year or two ago but she wasn't exactly ready for the position yet, so she came here to train. Looks like she'll be ready though in no time!"
"What were they doing in Postwick then?"
"They were having a meeting with Lee to see if they could run the gyms again but he didn't think they were ready yet. So they came back here for more training." Smart choice on Leon's part. Hop sighed putting his hands behind his head. "I do feel kinda bad for Avery though."
You rose a brow. "For Avery? Why?"
"His family was really hard on him and they didn't treat him well from what I overheard Lee talking about." Both you and Gloria looked shocked.
"Ah. Ye poor lad."
Hop nodded with a sigh. "You see his entire family has always ran the psychic type gym but once he started making everyone who beat him levitate well ...From what I heard they almost disowned him after nearly getting kicked off the league circuit. Lee was the one who saved his position and Avery came here soon after. I think he's doing a lot better too...But it's weird. He's been really down lately. I wonder why?"
You knew exactly why.  A very bad and guilty feeling settled deep in your guts as you realized that-....You had really messed up. You had messed up BIG TIME. 
"So anyways we can find what we need by taking a flying taxi over to the honeycomb shaped island off the isle. Wanna come, Y/n?"
You numbly shook your head. "Nah...You guys go ahead...I need to think over something."
"Alright then. C'mon Glory! Let's go get that max honey!"
They both left leaving you shellshocked and numb for a while. Somehow you managed to stumble your way outside and sit on the steps of the dojo putting your head in your hands. Arceus you messed up badly. You didn't know Avery was-...That he-...That his family-..You buried your head in your hands groaned loudly again. What were going to do?!
"Y/n?" You jumped up and looked right at none other than Ms. Honey. She was giving you a concerned look. "Sweetie you look down. Did you get into a fight with someone?"
You stared wide eyed. "How did you know?"
"I have my ways." She slowly sat down next to you. "What happened?"
You groaned looking away. "I got in a fight with someone because he was doing something really bad but now I found out he came from a bad family life and now I feel bad but at the same time I don't think I was in the wrong because what he was doing was back. But now he's been down a lot and someone told me he has been working hard to get better so now I feel even more bad and he's avoiding me like the plague. So I have absolutely no idea what to do!!" You grabbed your head frustrated.
Honey blinked and didn't say anything for a real long time before looking down. "You know when my hubby told me he wanted to open a dojo of his own, I have to admit I had a lot of doubts. I was still working at my previous job at the time and there was simply so much work into getting the dojo built. Let alone the question of whether anyone would want to move to an uninhabited island like this just to train at an unknown dojo."
You stared at her blinking widely at her. "What.. happened?"
..She gave a soft huff shaking her head. "We got into a couple fights. I didn't want to put everything in this in case it failed I thought he was crazy to try and start this idea all those years ago going about this all the wrong way...and he was throwing everything at it instead of taking time out to plan it out. But..I eventually realized that fighting with someone who was trying hard in the wrong way wouldn't help them. You have to talk it out and help them." You stared at her wide eyed. "So we did and I finally agreed to give it a shot. My hubby and I put our all into this place and years later when Hyde came along all our previous students pitched in and helped us through it. We've made it to where we are today because we got help from so many people. This has been an entirely different chapter of my life, but it's turned out to be a great one." She looked at you with a smile. "So you see...Whether people need a little or a lot of help, they'll always be better afterwards. For some people it just takes a little bit longer and a bit more help."
You stared at her for a long, long moment before sighing and turning away. "Yeah. I guessed I messed up there."
"Well it's not too late," she assured you patting your back. "You can still apologize."
"I don't even know if he'll forgive me."
"Oh I bet he will. If I know Avery, he'll shake it off and bounce back quickly."
You whipped to her wide eyed. "How did you know it was Avery?!"
She smiled. "I have my ways." She stood up again. "Just think it over. Ok, Sweetie? I'm sure you both would feel better if you talked it out. If you want to find Avery just talk to my hubby. He always knows where he's gone training."
With that Ms. Honey left you sitting there staring.. before you sighed again.
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racerchix21 · 1 year
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Why Wasn’t I Good Enough?
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{GIF isn’t mine but I needed something of Mox and Yuta being cute together and this is my fave 🤷🏻‍♀️}
Word Count: 1,178
Summary: After watching his boyfriend get betrayed by their mentor on a PPV, Wheeler Yuta wants to start plotting their revenge but first he needs to convince Mox there’s not a single thing wrong with him.
Warnings: Lots of f-bombs and some angst
A/N: I needed a little comfort fic for my own sanity because Regal’s betrayal of Mox on such an important weekend broke my heart and who better to comfort him than Wheeler “The Sweetest Boy” Yuta.
Tagging: @sunnyfleur23 (thanks for listening and advising 🖤❤️) @paradoxunknown (don’t know if you wanna read this or not, if not let me know)
Work Text:
They go out there after the “Devil” leaves, they have to go check in with Mox and it hurts Wheeler’s heart to see his friend, his lover look that defeated. He has to keep it together until they get back to the hotel because no one outside of Claudio and Bryan know about their relationship. Regal knows and Wheeler isn’t sure that they aren’t gonna get outed on Wednesday but he’ll deal with that later on because it’s already been an emotionally exhausting night and Wheeler really doesn’t wanna out them on a big PPV when Mox can’t confidently consent to it. Jon needs him to be strong and if there’s one thing that Wheeler’s good at it’s taking care of his man.
Letting Bryan and Claudio take the lead in telling Mox what happened, Yuta watches the play of emotions on his boyfriends face and he silently vows to end everyone involved in this stunt. Seeing him throw a “fit” does make it a little better for Yuta because if Mox is being dramatic then he can’t be too bad off. It still hurts to see him upset but he can deal with it and put on a brave face until they’re safely behind closed doors away from the world and they can finally drop the pretense of being Moxley & Yuta friends and coworkers and go back to being MoxYuta boyfriends.
It hits Wheeler at the exact second that he helps Jon stand and his boyfriend gives him a half hug and a kiss to the side of his head that it’s the Shields 10th anniversary weekend and how badly Seth’s betrayal still haunts him. Almost 9 years later and his boyfriend still has nightmares about that night watching his, at that moment thought to be, soulmate hit their best friend with a steel chair and then having that same steel chair bent and broken over his own body. Wheeler doesn’t know what it’s like to have someone you love and trust like that stab you in the back but he’s for damn sure gonna make sure it doesn’t happen again even if it means he has to fight the entire fucking world and Seth Rollins himself.
Bryan raises Mox’s hand and it causes Wheeler’s heart to break a little more when he leans against the ropes and looks like he’s gonna cry or maybe that’s just his eyes playing tricks on him. Following his boyfriend and friends through the crowd, he decides to say something to the others about his slight suspicion about Wednesdays show but not until he knows that Jon’s been checked and released by Doc.
It’s a relatively easy endeavor to get Jon to medical but that’s where it stops and becomes a fucking venture in Wheeler’s patience and temper when they all stop short seeing Regal talking to Kenny and the Bucks. Feeling his boyfriend tense from where he’s been pressed up against Mox’s chest by Bryan, it takes everything in Wheeler to not walk up to their mentor and punch him in his stupid British face. Well that and the fact that Bryan’s already beaten to the metaphorical punch already in Regal’s face angrily demanding answers that none of them are truly listening to.
“Wheeler, come on let’s get Moxie in to see Doc and Bryan and I will go gather up all our stuff and meet you back here, okay? We’ll go back to the hotel and then we can figure out a plan for Wednesday and how we want to approach the rest of the year,” Claudio quietly whispers to him grabbing his hand and guiding him to lace his fingers with Mox’s.
Taking a deep breath and nodding Wheeler lets himself guide his boyfriend into the waiting area with Doc and prays that they can make this quick because he wants to get Jon back to the hotel ASAP and let him break down like Wheeler knows he wants to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wrapping Mox up in his hoodie and getting him back to the hotel, Wheeler lets himself finally relax and accept that Regal is a fucking snake. He fucking used all of them, more specifically used Jon again, to get what he wanted and then he threw them all away when the next pretty little thing came along and none of them saw all being too wrapped up in their problems. Wheeler was so wrapped up in his feud with Danny for the Pure title and then with Bryan that he couldn’t see his own boyfriend was pushing himself so fucking hard, trying so fucking much to be Regal’s perfect boy, trying to right a ship, fix problems that weren’t his to fix and all it got them was Mox being betrayed once again.
Betrayed by someone who promised he was different this time, someone who was supposed to protect them all from themselves. Looking down at the man softly crying in his arms and at the two men on the opposite bed seeming just as lost, Wheeler decides the next time he sees William Regal he’s beating the holy hell out of him regardless of anything TK says.
Stroking his fingertips up and down Mox’s arm, Wheeler lets himself get lost in thought about the nights events and he almost misses hearing Jon whimper. Almost because before he knows it he’s got Claudio and Bryan curled around them too and he can’t focus on anything when he can hear both Claudio and Bryan murmuring back and forth planning their own revenge.
“Why wasn’t I good enough? Why doesn’t anyone ever stay for me? What didn’t I do that Maxwell did,” Mox whimpers again and Wheeler feels his heart break even further.
Pulling Jon up farther onto his chest Wheler wipes away more tears and confidently tells his best friend, “Baby, there was absolutely nothing wrong with you back when that scumbag broke your heart, broke Roman’s heart and yeah I wasn’t around back then but I know that if Dean Ambrose was even half the man that you Jonathan Moxley are right now back then you didn’t do damn thing wrong. And there is absolutely no fucking thing wrong with you right now and I’ll be damned if you’re gonna blame yourself for that SOBs actions tonight. That goes for all 3 of you whether you see it right now or not. Okay, Moxie?”
“Okay, Yoots. What are we gonna do about Wednesday night and Regal? I thought he loved me this time. Thought I was his favorite again, no offense Bry.”
“You let me worry about that and you just keep being your pretty little self. Sleep for now and we can figure out everything later okay?”
“K, Wheels. Love you. You idiots too,” Mox sleepily rumbles snuggling further into Wheelers arms, drifting off.
“Love you too Moxie. You’re still my favorite even if Regal can’t see how good you are,” Wheeler says stroking Mox’s arm again as he lets the warmth of his boyfriend and teammates lull to sleep, “you’re still my favorite,” he says again.
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cactusxwren · 4 months
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50 to 54 for your spotify songs?
50. The Good the Bad and the Dirty - Panic! At The Disco
One of my personal favorites off this album, and also a Rhela song!
"If you wanna start a fight You better throw the first punch Make it a good one"
This is one where the lyrics fit her, but also one I could see her enjoying the hell out of it. Rhela is fight-y, and she's not afraid to lose... but she is also ten fulm tall and bullet proof so if you come looking for a fight against her you better make damn sure you're not holding back. Because she will absolutely wreck anyone who steps to her. 54. Dying in LA - Panic! At The Disco
Well. I listen to the same playlists over and over and over again, and it shows. This one is on Rhela's playlist, mostly for these lyrics:
But nobody knows you now When you're dying in LA And nobody owes you now When you're dying in LA
Two reasons. One: I have said previously that Rhela feels about Ul'dah the way some people feel about LA. So this fits. Two: This fits into Rhela's low periods, when she is very much on her own and feels like no one would notice or care if she simply stopped coming around.
Thank you so much for the ask!
Original post here
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gaygryffindorgal · 11 months
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vanya kavinsky + playlist
listen to the whole thing here!
the sharpest lives by my chemical romance
i'm the one that you loathe you can watch me corrode like a beast in repose 'cause i love all the poison away with the boys in the band i've really been on a bender and it shows so why don't you blow me a kiss before she goes
the patron saint of liars and fakes by fall out boy
and when it all goes to hell will you be able to tell me "sorry" with a straight face? and when it all goes to hell will you be able to tell me "sorry" with a straight face?
it’s not a fashion statement, it’s a fucking deathwish by my chemical romance
do you remember that day, when we met? you told me this gets harder, well, it did been holding on forever promise me that when i'm gone, you'll kill my enemies
numb by linkin park
i'm tired of being what you want me to be feeling so faithless, lost under the surface don't know what you're expecting of me put under the pressure of walking in your shoes
the good, the bad and the dirty by panic! at the disco
if you wanna start a fight you better throw the first punch make it a good one and if you wanna make it through the night you better say my name like the good, the bad, and the dirty
ignorance by paramore
if i'm a bad person, you don't like me well, i guess i'll make my own way it's a circle, a mean cycle i can't excite you anymore
kill all your friends by my chemical romance
'cause we all wanna party when the funeral ends and we all get together when we bury our friends it's been ten fucking years since i've been seeing your face 'round here and you're walking away and i will drown in the fear
bury me face down by grandson
when i go into that ground i won't go quietly, i'm bringin' my crown and when i go into that ground oh, they gotta bury me, bury me face down
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lifeofafangirl1234 · 2 years
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The New Girl (Pt.7)
Eddie opened his truck door and helped me into my seat.
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“Lost my keys a while back.” Eddie laughed. “This is how I start my car.”
“Wow, what a man.” I smiled.
“You know what I’m most excited for?” Eddie asked.
“Tell me.”
“Some buttered popcorn.”
“Ooo, me too.” I smiled. “Maybe some cotton candy?”
“Even better.”
We arrived at the drive in and found a good spot.
“Wanna go sit outside for a bit before the movie starts?” 
“Sure.” 
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“You know, I’m really happy we are finally doing this.”
“Well, you gotta make this first date amazing boyfriend.” I joked.
“Oh I plan on it.” He winked.
“Eddie?” We heard from behind us.
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“How do you keep finding us?” Eddie moaned.
“Sh.” I snapped. “Hey Dustin, what’s up?”
“My mom wanted to come see the movie so here I am.” He smiled. “I was just about to go get some snacks when I saw you guys.”
“Smart idea.” Eddie said. “I’ll come with you. Do you want to come (Y/N)?”
“I’ll wait here.” I smiled. “Maybe sit on the swings until you come back.”
“Alright, stay safe.” Eddie said before he gave me a kiss.
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“Let’s go kid.”
I sat on the swing and waited for them to return. I waited and waited. After 20 minutes, they still weren’t back. The movie started and they were no where to be found. I got up and started wondering around the drive in. Out of nowhere, Dustin ran into me.
“It’s Eddie.” Dustin cried. “They’re beating up Eddie. Please hurry.”
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I followed Dustin to the woods behind the snack shack.
“Knock it off!” I screamed.
Before I could see who was attacking Eddie, they ran away.
Dustin dropped down to help Eddie.
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“I’m good, I’m good.” Eddie said as he wiped the blood from his face.
“This isn’t over freak!” One of the guys yelled.
“What the fuck happened?” I asked as I wrapped my arms around him.
“Careful (Y/N).” Eddie said as he stepped back. “They got some nice shots at my ribs.”
“Shit. Sorry.”
“They just came out of nowhere, was talking some shit.” Eddie coughed. “Started throwing punches.”
“Fuck Eddie.” I whispered.
“At least we’ll always remember our first date.” He laughed.
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“I’m sorry I ran.” Dustin whispered.
“Don’t worry about it kid.” Eddie said. “I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”
Eddie rubbed Dustin’s head and we walked him back to his mom’s car.
“Hi Mrs. Henderson.” Eddie smiled.
I wrapped my arm around Eddie and helped him back to our car.
“I’m driving.” I said.
“Oh no you’re not.” 
“Shut up and get in the passenger seat.”
He climbed into the car and moaned as he positioned himself correctly.
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“You’re not gonna know how to turn on the car.”
“Shut up Munson.” I sighed as I hot-wired the car.
“Holy shit.” He whispered.
“There’s a few things you don’t know about me.” I winked.
We drove home in silence.
“(Y/N), you passed my house.” He said.
“You’re sleeping over.” I ordered.
“(Y/N), honey, I’m fine.”
“For the billionth time today, shut up.” I smirked. “You’re sleeping over.”
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“Fine. But don’t think you’re in charge now missy.”
We got back to my house and I helped him out of the car. My parents still weren’t home so I took Eddie up to my room.
“Stay here.” I demanded.
I went to the bathroom and got the first aid kit. 
“Shirt off.” I said as I entered my room.
“Alright Ms. Bossy.”
I rolled my eyes as I watched him rip his shirt off.
“Holy shit Eddie.”
“It’s a couple of bruises, I’m fine.”
“This is going to sting.” I said as I poured rubbing alcohol onto his cuts. “Gotta make sure you don’t get any infections.”
“Fuck.” He groaned.
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“I’m sorry.” Eddie whispered.
“Why are you sorry?”
“I promised I wouldn’t fight again.”
“Sh.” I said. “I’m just happy you’re okay.”
He just stared at me and the guilt set in.
“Eddie.... did they do this... because of me?” I asked.
“No princess.” He faintly smiled. “I was just in the right place at the wrong time.”
I could feel tears forming in my eyes.
“Come here.” He whispered.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Sh.” Eddie said as he pulled me onto him.
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“I love you (Y/N). More than anything in this cruel, sick world.” He smiled as he took a deep breath. 
“I love you too Eddie. I just want you to be safe.”
“I will be.” He promised. 
“It’s getting late.” I said as I stood up. “Let’s get to bed.”
We crawled under my sheets and Eddie pulled me into his arms.
“Eddie.” I whispered. “Are you okay?”
“I have you in my life princess. I’ve never been more okay.”
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We fell asleep and stayed cuddled throughout the night. We were woken up to my mom knocking on the door. I opened my eyes and was met with Eddie’s.
“Shit.” I said as I frantically got out of bed. “Mom, I'm so sorry.”
“Come downstairs for breakfast.” She said.
“Fuck.”I moaned.
“I’m sorry (Y/N).” Eddie said as he rubbed his eyes. “I should have left this morning.”
“No, I'm glad you stayed.” I smiled.
We made our way downstairs and sat at the table. My mom and dad were sitting there waiting for us.
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“You wanna explain yourself missy?” My mom asked.
Then she looked at Eddie and saw his black eye.
“My god sweetheart, what happened!?” She got up and got him a frozen bag of peas.
“We went on our date last night like we planned.” I explained. “Eddie went to get us snacks from the stand and he got jumped.”
“Did you see who did it?” My dad asked.
“No.” Eddie said. “It happened so fast.”
“Oh honey.” My mom sighed. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“We came back here and I cleaned him up. It was late and we fell asleep. I swear to you nothing happened.”
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“It was my fault.” Eddie said. “I was too weak to walk home.”
“Under the circumstances we will let it slide but don’t let it happen again (Y/N).” My dad said.
“I know dad. I’m sorry. I just didn’t know what to do.”
“Do you need to see a doctor?” My mom asked.
“No ma’am. I’m okay. Just a few bruised rips and a busted eye.” He smiled. “I’ll be okay.”
We ate the eggs my mom made.
“Thank you for letting me crash here.” Eddie said. “And for breakfast.”
“Of course.” My mom said. “We’re just happy you’re not badly hurt.”
“(Y/N) helped me a lot.”
“We always said she’d be a fantastic nurse.” My dad said.
“I definitely agree.” Eddie smiled.
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We finished breakfast and I helped my mom clean up.
“(Y/N), what are you doing today?” My dad asked.
“I was planning on stay at Eddie’s for the day. You know, helping him do stuff and heal.”
“Okay, just be home by 5:30. My boss and his family are coming for dinner.” 
“Yes dad.” I smiled.
“Eddie, you are more than welcome to come.” He offered. “Just dress up a little bit.”
“Thank you sir.” Eddie smiled. “See you tonight.”
We made our way back to Eddie’s and I took out a fresh bag of ice from his freezer.
“Fuck that’s cold!”
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“Stop being a baby.” I laughed. “This will help your ribs.”
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“The second I can move normally, I'm going to punish you.” He said as I pushed the ice down on his chest.
“Yeah, yeah.” I smirked. “We’ll see.”
“Fuck.” He sighed. “Wanna pick out my outfit for tonight?”
“I’ll go see what I can find.” I smiled.
He followed me into his room and laid on the bed.
“Eddie, do you own anything besides jeans, t-shirts and leather?”
“I should have a dress somewhere in there.”
I pulled out a nice pair of black jeans and a blue button down shirt.
“This is perfect.” I smiled.
“Come here.” He said as he pulled my hand.
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“Thank you.” He whispered. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too baby.”
We spent the rest of the day cuddling and relaxing. At about 4:30 Eddie got up to shower. I cleaned his room and organized his clothes.
“(Y/N), what did you do?”
“I cleaned up.” I smiled. “It was a wreck in here.”
“It looks amazing. Wow, you really are perfect.”
“Anything for you baby.” 
He got dressed and we headed back to my place. He chilled in my room as I showered and did my hair. 
“Hello beautiful.” He cooed as I walked back into my room.
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“Shhh.” I blushed. “Gotta let me get ready. Company will be here in 20 minutes.”
“Well, before we go down. I have something for you.” He took his pick necklace off from around his neck.
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He put it around my neck and stared at me.
“My perfect princess.” He whispered.
“I love you.” I smiled as I gave him a quick kiss.
I got dressed and we ran down the stairs once we heard the doorbell ring. I never expected to see him standing there.
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juliensolomemeta · 2 years
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julien  solomita  meme  003:   trying  celebrity  alcohol  (ft.  jason  sulli) .       feel  free  to  change  them  up  as  you  see  fit !    *cw  for  language
“ooh boy.” “what are you talking about?” “nice. nailed it.” “i’m always here, but s/he’s here now.” “i don’t know the rules.” “who let us in here?” “i just licked the air.” “what did it taste like?” “do you like my glasses? they have a visor.” “so, we’re drinking right now.” “oh boy, it’s gonna get real bad.” “i didn’t know i was making choices.” “i don’t hate it.” “no you start, you go ahead.” “it’s better than that.” “oop- second sip wasn’t as good.” “giveaway. who wants it.” “let’s bang another one out.” “what if you don’t like it?” “oh no, i already smelled it.” “is this for kids?” “this is... this is... terrible.” “i give it ‘is this for kids’ out of ten.” “if you would like to have a hangover, drink this.” “do we have a spit bucket or do we just do that on the floor?” “it’s been like... hours.” “let’s try some more stuff.” “george washington? i don’t fucking care.” “i’ve literally never said fuck.” “is it not sweet?” “finish that up, first of all.” “it looks like they messed up a little bit.” “you can just imagine where it’s from.” “do you like those? are those fancy?” “mambo number five!” “our opinions don’t matter.” “has your pallet been cleansed?” “i can lick the air, i forgot i’ve been doing that.” “i really wish i didn’t see that.” “i didn’t try it yet, uh-oh.” “it’s actually kind of not awful.” “ew it’s getting worse.” “i kind of wanna be done with that.” “wait no, the rules are you gotta clear out the cup.” “just pour it on the floor.” “no just, just sniff the air.” “they did not cancel out each other like i was taught in math.” “two negatives make a worse negative.” “no but who is it for? who’s the customer.” “turn the garbage disposal on and then pour it down.” “was that three nipples? i mean boobs.” “if you’re still with us, thank you.” “listen, here’s the thing: i have my feelings about all of what we drank tonight, but i don’t have my memories about all of what we drank tonight.” “in the moment i was like mmm but now i don’t know.” “we are quite literally very drunk.” “i’m drunk, i’m pretty sure __ is kinda drunk.” “it’s tasteful, it’s classy... right?” “just send it, don’t worry about how it’s gonna sound.” “hey, welcome to the crevice chat.” “well, normally you cleanse, but that’s fine.” “don’t say fuller body.” “it’s thick in my mouth.” “it’s too sweet.” “the smell of it’s nice.” “it’s like, uh, you know you’re driving on the street and there’s a little lemonade stand and they decided to infuse some strawberries, and then you’re like, wait a minute, is this gin? no it’s lemonade, and then they’re like, you’re an alcoholic move along.” “that is the worst thing ever, dude!” “that is such a jabait it smells so good and it tastes like fucking gas.” “it’s so bad, dude.” “i feel like that like, violated my trust, i don’t know what it was.” “we’re gonna move on.” “i used to be able to dunk.” “it’s not bad. it’s actually not bad.” “it hits you early, and often, and then kinda backs off a little bit.” “it gives you like  nice fuckin’ punch in the nose and then is says ok, let me know how you feel.” “first they’re sour, then they’re sweet.” “you know what i like about it? is it’s not straight forward. you have to kind of dissect it.” “it doesn’t taste like a college dorm room.” “alright, so, we have tasted many, many famous people.” “that made me wanna throw up ten years ago.” “interesting, interesting, i like that there’s the complexity to it.” “would you like a hangover, please?” “s/he’s amazing, s/he’s my best friend.” “but as of now, we’re gonna finish drinking our cups of whatever the fuck is in here.” “i’m not gonna fight you because i love you.”
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