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3 tickets for the Barbie movie please
#my art#help me b4 i lose my mood to draw again#honkai star rail#march 7th#hsr#stelle#hsr march 7th#hsr stelle#trailblazer#NAW I FORGOT TO TAG DIFFERENT#dan heng#hsr dan heng#i really forgot his ass#stellemarch#trailblazer trio
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Share a Lair 14 || Share the Details
Max was honestly stressed out for nothing. He spent all of this time trying to talk his way up to the news, and whenever he actually finally spit it out, Charlotte was relieved and surely didn’t seem any of the things he’d been afraid about. She laughed a little and said, “I honestly thought that you were about to break up with me moments after your mother posted me dancing and tagged me to it on her page.”
“I’d never break up with you,” he said, then, “Wait, what?” He checked his mother’s birthday album for the twins and sure enough, there was a post of Max dancing around Charlotte, who was way more reserved, but so dang cute! Max loved it and almost went through to read all of the comments, but Charlotte cut into that mission.
“It’s just that sometimes, I can’t tell if you’re as deep into this as I am. You just have so many important things to do. By comparison, I’m kind of relegated to something fun on the side,” she said.
He put his phone into his pocket and sat down next to her, “That’s never been the case for me. Mostly, I haven’t wanted to scare you off, because my feelings for you are SO intense that I have to rationalize and reign myself in, like, “Max, this is NOT the way to handle this. But, I don’t have a huge frame of reference, because I haven’t had many serious relationships and this is only the second time that I’ve been in love…” As soon as he said it, they both gasped. But, while this apprehensive expression poured over his face, hers lit up at the same speed and they looked at each other, both became confused and expressions switched to match the other one’s, then again they both realized that they were inadvertently making statements with their faces and they both started laughing at this. They leaned towards each other, laughing and Charlotte reached out to collect him into her arms and moved him to lay back on her chest.
“I’m in love, too.” She said it very softly and stroked his hair with even more gentleness.
“I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of me, just being able to admit that out loud, and hearing you say it too, is like… The perfect birthday present.” She kissed the top of his head and hooked her arms under his. He rested his hands on hers and whispered, “Can I spend the night with you?”
“Of course,” she said and rubbed his chest, one of her legs now comfortably wrapping around him, as well. He sat up and she was momentarily missing his body.
But, he turned to face her, hands sliding up her party dress as he stared into her eyes, “No… I meant… I want to spend the night with you, Charlotte…” She shifted to allow him better access beneath her dress and nodded her head, unable to break eye contact with him, as intense as it was. Had that been all that he had been waiting for? To be able to say he loved her? To have her say it, as well? She wasn’t sure. But, that didn’t matter. It was go time! He leaned forward and she leaned back.
“My bed is pretty small,” she whispered. But Max simply extended his hand, and within moments, the spare bed had been slid across the floor, right next to this bed. She smiled. “That was hot.” He just smiled. He loved when she said things like that to him, and he was ready to prove himself to her.
.
Whenever Charlotte came into the “Danger Column,” she was humming joyfully and carrying a ton of stuff with her. “Hey Char, what’s all that stuff?” Jasper wondered.
“Just some things that I got from home over the weekend,” she said. “Sort of officially moving in with Max.” She continued on her way and Jasper squinted his eyes as she set her things on the rolling cart, “I know that they’ll be gone soon, but what we might wind up doing is me living here for however long they’re here, then when it’s time to relocate, I’ll be looking for a place for us outside of Share-A-Lair.”
Jasper nodded his head, then wondered, “Who’ll be gone soon?”
She laughed a little then looked at his genuinely curious face. “Umm.,, the guys, from this site. Or at least Max, will be. Maybe not Henry, if he hasn’t said anything. He’d certainly tell you before he would anybody else, I’m sure.”
“No. He’d probably tell YOU before anybody else. What do you know, Charlotte?”
She fumbled her hands around packing the cart and tried to find something that MIGHT distract Jasper from the suggestion that Henry might be leaving and hadn’t said anything to him. It probably was a misunderstanding on her part, so she definitely didn’t want to add to that fuel, But, there were very few things that could distract Jasper from the subject of Henry, and if her moving in with Max wasn’t enough (hell, that only caused more questions), then she was probably about to open her mouth and insert and poorly constructed lie foot. “I know what it feels like to have thunder coursing through my body.”
“Don’t change the subject. Thunder can’t course throughOHMYGODYOUANDMAXFINALLYDIDIT???” And just like that, she had deterred him away from the Henry subject and she texted Hen a warning about it as Jasper had to know everything, “How’s it shaped? Is it as perfect as we imagined through the gray sweatpants? Can you draw me a sketch of it? Better yet… Did you get pix?”
“I… had already seen it before. Calm down there, Bud…”
“Did you sing Happy Birthday to him like Marilyn Monroe? That’s what I would’ve done.”
“I didn’t. Honestly, it was just really slow and sweet and steamy,” she said, nodding.
“Awwww. You went easy on him. You must really be in love!” Jasper gushed.
She smiled hard enough to hurt her face, “I did!… And, I am. It’s really cool. I haven’t been this close to anybody in a while, and even then, it was you know, just… not like this is. I’ve never had to take things slowly, and I’ve never had to learn to trust or have someone learn to trust me after the emotional connection. I’ve never had to be patient for a guy to be ready for me and I certainly have never had to go easy on somebody. It’s equal parts centering and exciting!”
“Did you at least warn him that you were a raging ball of aggression in the bedroom?” Jasper asked.
“I am NOT!” She said, then giggled a little, “I mean, I haven’t had any complaints!” She gasped, “You think that I’ll frighten him if he gets Take Charge Char?”
“I think Take Charge Char is far more hot than she is scary, but the scary is a good scary. That “roller coaster ride scary,” not “a bear in the woods while you’re camping” scary. But, more about the di-”
“Naw. I gotta get this stuff to my new place!” She said and began rolling the cart out of the tower, with a huge smile on her face.
.
Henry looked at Max approaching and wondered, “Are you late, or am I uncharacteristically early?”
Max looked at his watch and said, “I’m late…. Wait, why did I look at my watch? OF COURSE, I’m late. Like you’d ever be early.” Henry laughed and rolled his eyes, then heard his phone and checked Charlotte’s text. “Uh uh. Phone away. It’s training time,” Max said, setting his things down.
“You’re one to talk. You were late today!” Henry said, then groaned at the text message, “Your delightful girlfriend just told Jasper that I might be leaving soon. Why would she do that?” Henry had taken to sarcastically using positive words for Char whenever he was irritated by her, to avoid interference from Max, that he was certain could result in either his own derision or demise. Better safe and sarcastic than sorry.
“Have you not talked to Jasper about possibly leaving here?” Max wondered, stretching.
Henry put his phone into his bag and said, “I’ve brought it up a few times that I was probably gonna go on some far off missions with you, but I think that he’s not hearing that I might be leaving soon.”
“Are you SAYING that you might be leaving soon to him?” Max asked.
“Did you SAY it before you told Char over the weekend?” Henry asked right back.
“Are you and Jasper in the same situation and Char and I?” Max wondered.
“No, but… you can’t be pot kettling or whatever.”
“Different situations, Dude,” Max said. “I wanna marry Charlotte someday, but as it stands, she’s technically not my best friend. I mean… That’s a goal, definitely, but it isn’t our reality. You and Jasper have been together your entire lives and he follows you everywhere. Not telling him that somewhere may be another country is a little different from me having anxiety about admitting to a short term girlfriend the same thing… He is gonna come with you, right?”
Henry shrugged his shoulders, “I kinda want him to figure out his own thing. I’ve been doing some soul searching and I realize that while I’ve been putting everybody else first and working on saving other people, Jasper’s been doing the same thing, but for me.”
They continued stretching and Max commented, “Maybe that’s what he wants to do.”
“Maybe. But, I’ll feel better if he has some time to look inside and really determine that, you know? Would you want Charlotte to just pack up and leave and come along with us to Russia?”
“Yes. But, yet again - not the same situation.”
Henry sighed, annoyed and commented, “I am so ready to swing punches at your face now.”
“I am ready to watch you fail to land them.”
.
“Okay. I am ready to do THAT for the rest of my life,” Max said. Charlotte simply laughed. It was nice, but she was certainly sore. She hadn’t had to work her thigh muscles like that before, or at least in a while. She forgot about all of the “additional” that came along with this. It didn’t matter, though. Max was here with her, and he wanted her, and he wanted this. She had no complaints.
He laid in Charlotte’s arms, ready to forsake Russia, the T Force, the Hero League, anything else that dared to come between him and this feeling that he had right now, in this very moment, wrapped up in her, bodies connected, spirits aligned.
“Whether it’s 3 months or 6, I want to be with you, okay?” She whispered.
He nodded. Of course. He wanted to throw a ring on her and pop a baby in her, but that was a bit much for right now, so he just said, “You could move into the lair, if you want. That might give us a little more time together before the changes happen.”
“Wouldn’t you have to run that by Share-A-Lair?” She wondered.
“Running it by them for me includes sending them a message that it’s happening.”
“Oh, so you got it like that, huh?”
“I’m the man.” He kissed her fingertips and asked, “Do you not want to?”
She smiled, “I think that’d be cool. I mean, it’s only for a few months, then you’re off to Russia, so it isn’t like there’s a danger of us growing sick of each other. Besides, I practically live there now and gas to and from for when I’ve gotta come back here is pretty pricey.”
“You think that we’ll grow sick of each other when we’re around each other more?” he wondered. “I can’t imagine ever being sick of you. I imagine you being the main thing that makes me feel well in a very sick world where I have to battle sick people.” She just smiled. He was strumming her skin lovingly with his fingertips and seemed like he had a lot going through his mind.
“Will we be able to visit each other at all? When you’re in Russia?” She asked.
“It’s not final that I’ll be in Russia… but, I will have a lair, hidden beneath the property of my secret identity. If you want, you can certainly visit me, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to leave during the tour.”
“Cool. I’ve never really thought about Russia, but I’m going to look into it. Add it as a place for me to be able to visit a time or two in the next few years… You are only gonna be gone for a few years, right?”
“Three,” he said.
“Yeah, I’ve done this long distance thing for longer before. We’ve got this.”
He looked at her and gave her a kiss. “Can we…”
“Again?”
“If it isn’t asking too much…”
“It’s not!” She smiled. “Come here…”
.
Each day, Charlotte came in a little less chipper and a little more sore looking. Jasper smirked every time, until one day, maybe about a week later, he straight up asked, “You can’t handle the D, can you?”
She let out a relieved sigh and a chain of word vomit, “Dude, I can’t even get to the point where I’m at my usual performance level with Max, because whenever we get down to it, his physical superiority and stamina outrun my experience and prowess. What does it matter if you can do fun little tricks, if after a few minutes, you’re ready to pass out, just as he’s getting warmed up? He is a leading world superhero, with nearly perfect health, and impeccable bodily preoccupation! He can do some GLORIOUS shit with body. I mean, leave you speechless tier. And… I can handle about 10 minutes of him, then I’m just there because if I move, I might collapse. I have GOT to add cardio to my daily schedule!”
Jasper nodded his head, cordially the entire time she was speaking, but as soon as she stopped, he simply asked, “Okay, but how big is it?” She stared at him for a moment before walking away. “Bigger than Henry’s? Surely.” He gasped, “Is it bigger than mine? Are there other personality traits to it? Like a curve or a slightly fatter top? OH! He’s… cut, isn’t he? You know what, you should see if he’ll let you take a photo of it, so we can research.”
“Jasper!” She finally shrieked. “Shut. Up.”
“Right. You’re having a crisis. Here’s a solution! You let him take control until you get your own physicality up. Those are essentially pleasure filled workouts. He’ll like being in charge all the time, at least for a while, then whenever it seems like it’s boring and dull, POW! You’ll hit him with your modulation. He’ll be like… WHAT? There was a higher pleasure setting? Huh?? And you can stay on that level until you gain more endurance, and then, guess what? POW! Another modulation on him.” Jasper shook his head, “But, that’s probably not gonna work.”
“No, no… That’s… I can work with that. My legs haven’t burned this much since I started marathon training in junior high!”
“I forgot that you used to do that!” Jasper said.
“So did my thighs.”
He laughed and said, “RIP Charlotte’s hamstrings.”
“Rude!” she snapped. They looked at each other, “But, accurate.” He laughed again and she tried not to, because it wasn’t funny and she didn’t want to encourage him. But, in spite of herself, she had to laugh a little.
She definitely regretted it when a moment later, Jasper slid a pencil and a piece of paper to her and said, “What if you just sketch it for me? As true to life as possible, please?”
She gave him a small, tight smile, picked up the pencil and said, “Imagine for a moment that this was one…” Then, she snapped it in half with her thumb and threw it down on the table. Jasper gasped as she got up and walked over to her work area in the lab.
“He… He has a pencil one?” He wondered, in horror. She just left it alone. Maybe if he thought that, he’d give it a rest! “I’ve been sweat-fished!” He whined. That sounds disgusting.
#Share a Lair#Henry Danger#The Thundermans#crossover#crossover fanfic#Nesha Crossover#Thundanger#Thunderbolt#Share a Lair Repost#Nesha HD Fanfic#fanfiction#Share a Lair 14
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Share the Details
Shout out to @adorkable-blackgirl for helping me brainstorm with this a little. Even used one of her lines. My @chenoahchantel has had so much going on and I really needed backup, so I had some and I’m thankful for that and all the support and readers that I get. CW for sexual themes in this chapter.
Share-A-Lair 14
Max was honestly stressed out for nothing. He spent all of this time trying to talk his way up to the news, and whenever he actually finally spit it out, Charlotte was relieved and surely didn’t seem any of the things he’d been afraid about. She laughed a little and said, “I honestly thought that you were about to break up with me moments after your mother posted me dancing and tagged me to it on her page.”
“I’d never break up with you,” he said, then, “Wait, what?” He checked his mother’s birthday album for the twins and sure enough, there was a post of Max dancing around Charlotte, who was way more reserved, but so dang cute! Max loved it and almost went through to read all of the comments, but Charlotte cut into that mission.
“It’s just that sometimes, I can’t tell if you’re as deep into this as I am. You just have so many important things to do. By comparison, I’m kind of relegated to something fun on the side,” she said.
He put his phone into his pocket and sat down next to her, “That’s never been the case for me. Mostly, I haven’t wanted to scare you off, because my feelings for you are SO intense that I have to rationalize and reign myself in, like, “Max, this is NOT the way to handle this. But, I don’t have a huge frame of reference, because I haven’t had many serious relationships and this is only the second time that I’ve been in love…” As soon as he said it, they both gasped. But, while this apprehensive expression poured over his face, hers lit up at the same speed and they looked at each other, both became confused and expressions switched to match the other one’s, then again they both realized that they were inadvertently making statements with their faces and they both started laughing at this. They leaned towards each other, laughing and Charlotte reached out to collect him into her arms and moved him to lay back on her chest.
“I’m in love, too.” She said it very softly and stroked his hair with even more gentleness.
“I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of me, just being able to admit that out loud, and hearing you say it too, is like… The perfect birthday present.” She kissed the top of his head and hooked her arms under his. He rested his hands on hers and whispered, “Can I spend the night with you?”
“Of course,” she said and rubbed his chest, one of her legs now comfortably wrapping around him, as well. He sat up and she was momentarily missing his body.
But, he turned to face her, hands sliding up her party dress as he stared into her eyes, “No… I meant… I want to spend the night with you, Charlotte…” She shifted to allow him better access beneath her dress and nodded her head, unable to break eye contact with him, as intense as it was. Had that been all that he had been waiting for? To be able to say he loved her? To have her say it, as well? She wasn’t sure. But, that didn’t matter. It was go time! He leaned forward and she leaned back.
“My bed is pretty small,” she whispered. But Max simply extended his hand, and within moments, the spare bed had been slid across the floor, right next to this bed. She smiled. “That was hot.” He just smiled. He loved when she said things like that to him, and he was ready to prove himself to her.
.
Whenever Charlotte came into the “Danger Column,” she was humming joyfully and carrying a ton of stuff with her. “Hey Char, what’s all that stuff?” Jasper wondered.
“Just some things that I got from home over the weekend,” she said. “Sort of officially moving in with Max.” She continued on her way and Jasper squinted his eyes as she set her things on the rolling cart, “I know that they’ll be gone soon, but what we might wind up doing is me living here for however long they’re here, then when it’s time to relocate, I’ll be looking for a place for us outside of Share-A-Lair.”
Jasper nodded his head, then wondered, “Who’ll be gone soon?”
She laughed a little then looked at his genuinely curious face. “Umm.,, the guys, from this site. Or at least Max, will be. Maybe not Henry, if he hasn’t said anything. He’d certainly tell you before he would anybody else, I’m sure.”
“No. He’d probably tell YOU before anybody else. What do you know, Charlotte?”
She fumbled her hands around packing the cart and tried to find something that MIGHT distract Jasper from the suggestion that Henry might be leaving and hadn’t said anything to him. It probably was a misunderstanding on her part, so she definitely didn’t want to add to that fuel, But, there were very few things that could distract Jasper from the subject of Henry, and if her moving in with Max wasn’t enough (hell, that only caused more questions), then she was probably about to open her mouth and insert and poorly constructed lie foot. “I know what it feels like to have thunder coursing through my body.”
“Don’t change the subject. Thunder can’t course throughOHMYGODYOUANDMAXFINALLYDID???” And just like that, she had deterred him away from the Henry subject and she texted Hen a warning about it as Jasper had to know everything, “How’s it shaped? Is it as perfect as we imagined through the gray sweatpants? Can you draw me a sketch of it? Better yet… Did you get pix?”
“I… had already seen it before. Calm down there, Bud…”
“Did you sing Happy Birthday to him like Marilyn Monroe? That’s what I would’ve done.”
“I didn’t. Honestly, it was just really slow and sweet and steamy,” she said, nodding.
“Awwww. You went easy on him. You must really be in love!” Jasper gushed.
She smiled hard enough to hurt her face, “I did!... And, I am. It’s really cool. I haven’t been this close to anybody in a while, and even then, it was you know, just… not like this is. I’ve never had to take things slowly, and I’ve never had to learn to trust or have someone learn to trust me after the emotional connection. I’ve never had to be patient for a guy to be ready for me and I certainly have never had to go easy on somebody. It’s equal parts centering and exciting!”
“Did you at least warn him that you were a raging ball of aggression in the bedroom?” Jasper asked.
“I am NOT!” She said, then giggled a little, “I mean, I haven’t had any complaints!” She gasped, “You think that I’ll frighten him if he gets Take Charge Char?”
“I think Take Charge Char is far more hot than she is scary, but the scary is a good scary. That “roller coaster ride scary,” not “a bear in the woods while you’re camping” scary. But, more about the di-”
“Naw. I gotta get this stuff to my new place!” She said and began rolling the cart out of the tower, with a huge smile on her face.
.
Henry looked at Max approaching and wondered, “Are you late, or am I uncharacteristically early?”
Max looked at his watch and said, “I’m late…. Wait, why did I look at my watch? OF COURSE, I’m late. Like you’d ever be early.” Henry laughed and rolled his eyes, then heard his phone and checked Charlotte’s text. “Uh uh. Phone away. It’s training time,” Max said, setting his things down.
“You’re one to talk. You were late today!” Henry said, then groaned at the text message, “Your delightful girlfriend just told Jasper that I might be leaving soon. Why would she do that?” Henry had taken to sarcastically using positive words for Char whenever he was irritated by her, to avoid interference from Max, that he was certain could result in either his own derision or demise. Better safe and sarcastic than sorry.
“Have you not talked to Jasper about possibly leaving here?” Max wondered, stretching.
Henry put his phone into his bag and said, “I’ve brought it up a few times that I was probably gonna go on some far off missions with you, but I think that he’s not hearing that I might be leaving soon.”
“Are you SAYING that you might be leaving soon to him?” Max asked.
“Did you SAY it before you told Char over the weekend?” Henry asked right back.
“Are you and Jasper in the same situation and Char and I?” Max wondered.
“No, but… you can’t be pot kettling or whatever.”
“Different situations, Dude,” Max said. “I wanna marry Charlotte someday, but as it stands, she’s technically not my best friend. I mean… That’s a goal, definitely, but it isn’t our reality. You and Jasper have been together your entire lives and he follows you everywhere. Not telling him that somewhere may be another country is a little different from me having anxiety about admitting to a short term girlfriend the same thing… He is gonna come with you, right?”
Henry shrugged his shoulders, “I kinda want him to figure out his own thing. I’ve been doing some soul searching and I realize that while I’ve been putting everybody else first and working on saving other people, Jasper’s been doing the same thing, but for me.”
They continued stretching and Max commented, “Maybe that’s what he wants to do.”
“Maybe. But, I’ll feel better if he has some time to look inside and really determine that, you know? Would you want Charlotte to just pack up and leave and come along with us to Russia?”
“Yes. But, yet again - not the same situation.”
Henry sighed, annoyed and commented, “I am so ready to swing punches at your face now.”
“I am ready to watch you fail to land them.”
.
“Okay. I am ready to do THAT for the rest of my life,” Max said. Charlotte simply laughed. It was nice, but she was certainly sore. She hadn’t had to work her thigh muscles like that before, or at least in a while. She forgot about all of the “additional” that came along with this. It didn’t matter, though. Max was here with her, and he wanted her, and he wanted this. She had no complaints.
He laid in Charlotte’s arms, ready to forsake Russia, the T Force, the Hero League, anything else that dared to come between him and this feeling that he had right now, in this very moment, wrapped up in her, bodies connected, spirits aligned.
“Whether it’s 3 months or 6, I want to be with you, okay?” She whispered.
He nodded. Of course. He wanted to throw a ring on her and pop a baby in her, but that was a bit much for right now, so he just said, “You could move into the lair, if you want. That might give us a little more time together before the changes happen.”
“Wouldn’t you have to run that by Share-A-Lair?” She wondered.
“Running it by them for me includes sending them a message that it’s happening.”
“Oh, so you got it like that, huh?”
“I’m the man.” He kissed her fingertips and asked, “Do you not want to?”
She smiled, “I think that’d be cool. I mean, it’s only for a few months, then you’re off to Russia, so it isn’t like there’s a danger of us growing sick of each other. Besides, I practically live there now and gas to and from for when I’ve gotta come back here is pretty pricey.”
“You think that we’ll grow sick of each other when we’re around each other more?” he wondered. “I can’t imagine ever being sick of you. I imagine you being the main thing that makes me feel well in a very sick world where I have to battle sick people.” She just smiled. He was strumming her skin lovingly with his fingertips and seemed like he had a lot going through his mind.
“Will we be able to visit each other at all? When you’re in Russia?” She asked.
“It’s not final that I’ll be in Russia… but, I will have a lair, hidden beneath the property of my secret identity. If you want, you can certainly visit me, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to leave during the tour.”
“Cool. I’ve never really thought about Russia, but I’m going to look into it. Add it as a place for me to be able to visit a time or two in the next few years… You are only gonna be gone for a few years, right?”
“Three,” he said.
“Yeah, I’ve done this long distance thing for longer before. We’ve got this.”
He looked at her and gave her a kiss. “Can we…”
“Again?”
“If it isn’t asking too much…”
“It’s not!” She smiled. “Come here…”
.
Each day, Charlotte came in a little less chipper and a little more sore looking. Jasper smirked every time, until one day, maybe about a week later, he straight up asked, “You can’t handle the D, can you?”
She let out a relieved sigh and a chain of word vomit, “Dude, I can’t even get to the point where I’m at my usual performance level with Max, because whenever we get down to it, his physical superiority and stamina outrun my experience and prowess. What does it matter if you can do fun little tricks, if after a few minutes, you’re ready to pass out, just as he’s getting warmed up? He is a leading world superhero, with nearly perfect health, and impeccable bodily preoccupation! He can do some GLORIOUS shit with body. I mean, leave you speechless tier. And... I can handle about 10 minutes of him, then I’m just there because if I move, I might collapse. I have GOT to add cardio to my daily schedule!”
Jasper nodded his head, cordially the entire time she was speaking, but as soon as she stopped, he simply asked, “Okay, but how big is it?” She stared at him for a moment before walking away. “Bigger than Henry’s? Surely.” He gasped, “Is it bigger than mine? Are there other personality traits to it? Like a curve or a slightly fatter top? OH! He’s... cut, isn’t he? You know what, you should see if he’ll let you take a photo of it, so we can research.”
“Jasper!” She finally shrieked. “Shut. Up.”
“Right. You’re having a crisis. Here’s a solution! You let him take control until you get your own physicality up. Those are essentially pleasure filled workouts. He’ll like being in charge all the time, at least for a while, then whenever it seems like it’s boring and dull, POW! You’ll hit him with your modulation. He’ll be like... WHAT? There was a higher pleasure setting? Huh?? And you can stay on that level until you gain more endurance, and then, guess what? POW! Another modulation on him.” Jasper shook his head, “But, that’s probably not gonna work.”
“No, no... That’s... I can work with that. My legs haven’t burned this much since I started marathon training in junior high!”
“I forgot that you used to do that!” Jasper said.
“So did my thighs.”
He laughed and said, “RIP Charlotte’s hamstrings.”
“Rude!” she snapped. They looked at each other, “But, accurate.” He laughed again and she tried not to, because it wasn’t funny and she didn’t want to encourage him. But, in spite of herself, she had to laugh a little.
She definitely regretted it when a moment later, Jasper slid a pencil and a piece of paper to her and said, “What if you just sketch it for me? As true to life as possible, please?”
She gave him a small, tight smile, picked up the pencil and said, “Imagine for a moment that this was one...” Then, she snapped it in half with her thumb and threw it down on the table. Jasper gasped as she got up and walked over to her work area in the lab.
“He... He has a pencil one?” He wondered, in horror. She just left it alone. Maybe if he thought that, he’d give it a rest! “I’ve been sweatfished!” He whined. That sounds disgusting.
#Share a Lair#henry danger#the thundermans#crossover#crossover fanfic#Nesha Crossover#Thundanger#Thunderbolt
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Crack the Paragon, Chapter 8
Fandom: Steven Universe
Rating: General Audiences
Words: 6.5K~
Summary: In another world, he doesn’t have his mother’s sword or shield to hide behind when Bismuth lands her strike. The bubble pops.
Steven falls apart.
Chapter summary: In which together breakfast can’t solve everything.
You can find the first/previous chapter and AO3 links in the reblogs! (I have to omit them from the original post these days to ensure this will show up in the tags.) If you enjoyed this, I’d greatly appreciate your support through reblogs here, or kudos on AO3 as well.
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Chapter 8: Fissures
In time, the rest of the household bursts to life.
His dad wakes up an hour or so later on his own accord, rolling out of bed and groggily stumbling into the bathroom to soak in the shower for a solid twenty minutes. Steven eagerly shares the good news— I’m whole again!— after he finally emerges, and while it takes a fair moment for his still half-conscious mind to fully grasp what he’s attempting to explain, when the message finally lands Dad lifts him off the floor and spins him around in his arms, laughing with joy. Compared to Pearl, his reaction to the gem’s rotation is minimal, which comes as a sweet relief.
“I’m just glad to see ya’ smiling and in one piece again,” he says, holding him close.
After sharing an amicable nod of greeting with Pearl, his dad sets out from the house to check on his van, promising he’ll be back in a few minutes. Apparently he needs to lock it, because he totally forgot last night. Again. Also, he did say he’d grab the waffle iron before he went to bed, so fingers crossed for that. Steven’s mouth waters at the mere thought of Dad’s homemade waffles, golden, crisp, and stacked sky high, their flavor— buttery, with a hint of lemon zest— bursting like fireworks against his tongue. Nobody makes waffles like he can, not even Pearl. While waiting for Dad to return with breakfast materials, he changes into clean jeans and a shirt. Lazily, he flops onto his belly on the couch with plans of playing Splashy Shark on his phone, only to find...
Steven groans, dropping his head face first into the middle of the cushion. His phone’s battery is so low it won’t turn on at all. Dead as a doorstop! It seems he forgot to plug it in before falling asleep once more, for the umpteenth thousandth time, even though he tried to remind himself early this morning on the beach. Typical.
“Is the world ending again over there?” Pearl— currently lounging at the kitchen counter— asks with a playful lilt to her voice. “Do we need to call in the rest of the resistance?”
“Noooo, it’s fine,” he replies, drawn out. “This is a path I must walk alone, for I’m the lad who forgets.” He rolls over onto his back, stretching his free arm towards the ceiling as if desperately reaching towards the stars. “And to forget is the dark burden I bear,” he whispers dramatically.
“You didn’t plug your phone in last night, did you?”
“Whoa, how’d you guess??”
“Steven, you do realize I’ve lived with you for almost three years, yes?”
“Oh,” he says, brows shooting up. “Right!”
Humming, he pulls himself off the couch and trots up the steps to the loft. He sets his phone on his nightstand and connects it to the charge cord. Unfortunately, it'll take a while for it to build up enough juice to turn on again. That’ll teach him. Or maybe it won’t, time will tell. He hopes it won’t be out of commission for too long, though, because he really should call Connie about all this…
The temple door begins to open. He rapidly turns upon hearing that familiar sound, just in time to see Amethyst emerging from the depths of her room. Her hair is a mess, her eyes droop in exhaustion, and for a moment one of her fingers digs halfway up her nose. More than anything, she looks like she needs a great big hug.
“Hey,” she mutters, and yawns. “Any word on ol’ Steven 2?”
“Amethyst, Amethyst, Amethyst,” he hollers, beaming from ear to ear, and leaps from the loft to greet her. He doesn’t even bother floating, with no need for a soft landing from this height. The impact of his bare feet against the floorboards reverberates through the whole house. “Guess what??”
He flings himself around the purple Gem, almost knocking her clear over in the shock of surprise affection. (Although by this point, if she’s not used to his hug attacks that’s her problem.)
“Uhhh, what?” she says, face blank even in the wake of his effervescent enthusiasm.
Pearl’s hands go to her hips. “Steven, what have I told you about jumping from the loft?
“I’m the full package again,” he declares, and throws his arms wide, pointedly ignoring her for the moment. “My gem reformed and then we fused!”
Despite her low energy otherwise, Amethyst cracks a grin at his good news. “Whoa, really? When was this?”
“This morning! I was up super early. Couldn’t sleep.”
“Sheesh. You and me both, bud.”
“At least you don’t actually need to sleep. Lucky.”
“Yeah, but I’ve been making a habit of it for so long that not sleeping pretty much has the same affect,” she says, and crosses to sit on the couch. She stretches back, body sinking into the familiar curves of the cushion she always claims. She props one of her hands behind her mass of lavender hair. “Ah, that’s more like it! So… after everything,” she begins cautiously, balling the other hand up against her gemstone, right against the facet she herself cracked about a year and a half ago. “How do you feel now?”
He shrugs one shoulder, the corner of his mouth twisting upwards. “Okay, I guess. I’m in one piece, but… everything’s different now, y’know? Even though I don’t want it to be.”
Her expression grows more downcast, the fringe of her hair shadowing her features. “Yeah.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Steven catches Pearl watching their conversation from the kitchen. It’s painfully obvious she’s trying to keep her dutiful surveillance on the down-low, her side glances interspersed with time spent washing raspberries and gathering waffle ingredients for his Dad, but he doesn’t get why this secrecy is necessary on her part. It’s not like they’re not openly discussing this in the middle of the house. If he and Amethyst really wanted to talk privately they’d wander outside, or into her room. Nonetheless, there’s nothing he could say that Pearl hasn’t already heard.
Although now that he thinks about it, there’s plenty of stuff he hasn’t told Amethyst yet. He purses his lips, unable to shake the thought of her visceral reaction to the reveal about his mo— about Rose— that dropped like an anvil on their family last night. With that in mind, how will she respond to the permanent visual reminder of this change that he now embodies?
With a quick glance between Pearl and the doorway his dad left through, his mind is made. If he isn’t forthright now, she’ll find out eventually. He figures it’s better she hears it from him rather than through the grapevine.
“Y’know, I should probably mention,” he says with a half laugh. “My gem did a bit of a weird thing. It kinda… flipped?” To prove his point, Steven lifts up the hem of his t-shirt, barring the diamond for all to see.
Amethyst squints as she peers at his gem. “What the fu—“
“Amethyst,” Pearl interjects sternly, crossing towards the pair of them.
“—uuuuuudge is that? Gems can do that??”
She rolls her eyes. “Somehow I doubt that every Gem can—“
“Oooo, lemme try!” she gleefully squeals, leaping to her feet in one bound and throwing her arms aloft.
Her gemstone begins to glow a soft purple as the finer details of her form blur into an indistinguishable mass of light. The edges of this light bend and wobble, and she seethes in intense concentration, but despite her efforts her gemstone refuses to budge.
Gasping for breath, her hard light form snaps back into its customary shape like a rubber band. The light fades, revealing her scowl. “Aww man, no fair! Everyone else gets all the cool powers.”
“Haha, well I didn’t exactly do it on purpose,” Steven says, shrugging nonchalantly.
The screen door slams open, prompting everyone in the room to sling their attention to the man standing tall and proud with the cast iron kitchen appliance brandished like a sword in his hands.
“Who’s excited for waffles??” he asks, his grin contagious.
Steven shoots his hand in the air. “Oooh, me, me! I’m excited for waffles!”
“Then guess today’s your lucky day,” he chuckles, moving across the house to the counter. “Pearl, ‘ya wanna help a man out here?”
“Ah, yes!” she chimes, raising en pointe as she triumphantly jabs her finger in the air. “Of course! I’ve even taken the liberty of gathering the ingredients for you already.”
Dad stutters for a moment, clearly not expecting this turn of events considering her former animosity towards him. Their family trip to Empire City— the night the tides forever changed— wasn’t that long ago, after all. He threads anxious fingers through a thick length of hair.
“Wow, you, uh- thank you.”
Steven follows them to the kitchen area, stars in his eyes as he rapturously watches their amicable interactions. Showcasing a surprising capacity for teamwork, they set up the waffle iron and start to prepare that gooey, delicious batter. His mouth waters at the mere scent of the lemon his dad squeezes into the bowl. Acting on unspoken impulse, Pearl grabs a whisk and accepts the bowl from him, beating the mix of ingredients until it’s reached the perfect consistency. The tastiest pancakes and waffles come from batter that’s still a little lumpy, his dad always says, since that causes them to rise better. In any case, his taste buds can hardly wait.
“I’m so hungry I think I could eat like, four bazillion waffles,” he tells Amethyst in the most candid voice he can muster, relocating to the couch she’s lounging on with a hop and a skip.
“Heh,” she says, a suitably up-to-no-good smirk framing her face. “Not if I get to all of ‘em first!”
“Whaaat? Naw, come on, you wouldn’t do that to your favorite Steven!”
“Are you kidding? I’d steal food from myself! After I swallowed it.”
“Ewww,” he laughs, his nose scrunching up.
They continue to laugh together for a solid few seconds, but the enthusiasm holding their facades together so precariously soon fades. Meanwhile, in the background Dad and Pearl converse as easily as if they’d never carried a decades-long feud to begin with. (Oh, the sweet irony of this reversal!) Steven clamps his lips together, for once clueless what to say to Amethyst to make everything better. Their conversations aren’t usually like this. They aren’t so… stilted, like he has to traverse across a lake of thin ice. He sighs, feeling his chest rise and fall with a weight almost heavier than the memory of the last few hours. That’s the one thing he fears most, if he’s honest about all this— that as a consequence of the mess Rose left him, his relationships with the Gems will never be the same again.
He can only guess Amethyst heard his sigh, because she’s the one who first moves to break the silence.
“Hey, uh,” she begins quietly, and shoots a quick glance at Pearl, meeting her eyes briefly before looking back at him. “I’m sorry for… well, everything, really. That I said last night.”
He frowns, the memory of her words’ sting suddenly looping itself in his mind like a broken record.
“And then, what? She creates you just so she doesn’t have to deal with the fact she’s a liar?”
“Oh. You, uh,” he scratches at the back of his neck, “you don’t need to apologize for that. We were all pretty stressed, I get it.”
“No. I do!” she insists, her expression stretching wide. “What I said, it wasn’t just mean, it was wrong. Like, I still feel like I don’t know anything about Rose, or Pink, or whatever anymore, okay? But just because I don’t get anything doesn’t make you— gah, forget it,” she says hurriedly, waving the thought away. “The point is, I’m sorry, y’know? For real.”
The earnesty of her apology covers his wounds like a salve. Blinking heavily, he throws his arms around her, burying his face into her hair.
“Apology heartily accepted,” he says, muffled.
The stiffness in her form eases up, and she finally, truly allows herself to hug him back.
“Thanks, dude.”
From that point forward, the atmosphere of the house grows lighter. No longer needing to worry about the state of his relationship with Amethyst, Steven throws himself into the nuttiness and excitement of family time feet first. The two of them horse around while Dad and Pearl continue making breakfast, wrestling each other in front of the warp pad. It doesn’t take long for a stack of waffles to pile up on the counter, cooked to a golden brown perfection. Catching his breath from all the play fighting, he eagerly rushes to sit himself at the counter next to the purple Gem, empty plate and utensils already set in front of them. His legs freely dangle, not long enough yet to reach the foot rest midway down the stool. He’s not paying attention to hear it, but his dad must have said something witty because Pearl is chuckling breathlessly. It’s probably one of his corny dad jokes. Pearl will never admit it, but she has a secret sweet spot for his puns.
The temple door slides open— a rush of slightly stale air wafting in to greet them— as Dad removes the last waffles from the iron. Beaming, his attention immediately peels away from the promise of food in favor of the entrance of one of his favorite people.
“Garnet!” he calls, throwing his arms wide.
“Good morning, Steven,” she says with a slight sing-song lilt in her voice, crossing the room towards the rest of the family. With a slight smile, she places her hands solid on his shoulders. “I presume you figured out how to fuse back together with your other half.”
“Yup! All together,” he grins, titling his neck back to peer up at her.
“Except his gem flipped, and now it’s all funky,” Amethyst interjects in a flash, playfully jabbing him right at his navel.
Garnet’s comforting grip slackens, her hands slipping free.
“Hey!” he giggles, smacking Amethyst’s arm away. “No tickling!”
“It’s not tickling, it’s revenge!” she says with a loud raspy chortle, and puts him in a headlock, scruffing at his hair until it’s a frizzy mess. He kicks his legs in futile protest as she mounts her attack, laughing until the pressure in his lungs is too much to handle and tears prickle at the corner of his eyes. It’s the most he’s laughed since… well, since before he was cracked.
The others, however, aren’t smiling. They don’t seem to be paying any attention to their antics at all. Pearl’s hand is balled at her chin, her soft blue eyes pinned on the Crystal Gem leader. Even his dad’s peering at her with concern, the spatula dangling off one finger.
“Garnet?” his dad asks, his frown deepening the faint wrinkles around his eyes.
“Are you all right?” Pearl chimes in.
“I…” She clenches her fists, averting her glance. “I don’t understand. Your gem—“
Amethyst scoffs. “—is all diamond shaped now, and it’s totally weird. Steven, show her!”
He gives a slight scowl, subtle enough that the others wouldn’t pick up on it right away. It would be nice if she wasn’t being so pushy about this, if he could find the right moment to tell Garnet himself. But with everyone here watching in anticipation, there’s really nothing else he can do.
Sighing heavily, he lifts his shirt, exposing his gem. “After I fused with my gem half, it was just like this. I still don’t get why.”
Her visor may cover her eyes, but he knows the spectrum of her expressions well enough that he doesn’t need to see them to know all three pupils have shrunk into pinpricks. Her mouth widens into a circle, crystallizing in her shock.
“Oh,” she breathes heavily, grinding her teeth against each other hard. “I- I never foresaw this possibility.”
Sweat beads at his brow. Even though she’s trying to mask it (probably for his sake), he can tell she’s struggling to keep from falling apart. Her hands are visibly quivering, and the gems inlaid in her palms pulse with light. He swallows hard, lump hanging in his throat. “Heh, what can I say?” he shrugs with a nervous laugh. “Guess I’m just really unpredictable!”
“Perhaps,” she says quietly, thankfully managing to pull herself together again. She flexes her fists, their tremor receding. Crossing her arms, she moves to lean against the wall by the fridge.
The household falls so quiet that Steven can hear his own stomach gurgle, everyone staring at the fusion in wordless worry.
His dad coughs. “Well, anyways,” he says, spinning the spatula in a circle. “Who else wants waffles?”
“Lay ‘em on me,” Amethyst says, holding out her plate. He serves her two to start. She shoots him a pair of finger guns, and digs in.
“Okay. I’m assuming none for Pearl?”
“That would be correct, thanks.”
He promptly turns towards the Crystal Gem leader, a weak grin stretching across his face despite the soured atmosphere.
“What about you, Garnet?” Wanna try the ol’ Universe family recipe?”
She shakes her head in singular motion. “No.”
The churning in Steven’s stomach fades into obscurity in light of the bitter prospect of his guardian’s emotional instability. So much for daring to hope that they could all make amends where needed, refrain from obsessing over their problems, and move on. He slumps on his stool. Dad deposits a pair of golden, buttery waffles on his plate, artfully garnishing the stack with a dollop of whipped cream and a cluster of raspberries from the bowl of them that Pearl washed earlier, but the idea of together breakfast no longer sounds very appetizing anymore. After all, it’s not the food that makes a together breakfast, it’s the company. And with Pearl and Dad standing nervously to the side, Garnet struggling to remain stable, and even Amethyst sapped of her usual spunk in the light of their demons, this is about as far from together a family can get. What did he do wrong? Why isn’t this the sunny future Garnet showed him last night?
Leaning his cheek into the palm of his hand, he aimlessly picks at his breakfast with his fork.
Amethyst glances over at him, already neck deep into her own meal. “Eat up little man, they’re super good!” she declares.
His mouth turns up into a small grimace the longer he stares at the food. It looks wonderful, but...
“Actually, I’m not all that hungry anymore.”
“Steven, you need to eat,” his dad says.
“I just said, I’m not hungry.”
Dad’s brow furrows as he leverages one of his rare father knows best faces at him. Steven looks to Pearl for rescue, but she (perhaps wisely) averts her eyes, choosing not to interject herself into Greg’s parenting.
Amethyst, however, is more than willing to take up the charge. “If you don’t eat up in two minutes, I’m claiming them,” she threatens, deadpan. “I’ll lick them, nice and slow, with lots of slobber, and then they’ll be mine.”
“Okay, okay!” he says, holding his hands up defensively. “Geeze.”
He blows a weary burst of air past his lips, grabs his fork, and begins digging in to appease his dad. The first bites settle like stones in the pit of his empty stomach. He has to admit, even if his appetite is zilch, at least they’re good tasting waffles. All his guardians visibly relax upon seeing him start to eat breakfast. Amethyst’s tensed shoulders drop. Pearl allows herself to lean back against the counter. Garnet uncrosses her arms. Out of the corner of his eyes, he catches a glimpse of the fusion picking up the can of whipped cream and squirting some directly into her mouth when she thought the other two Gems weren’t looking. The corner of his mouth perks up. Looks like someone has a secret sweet tooth!
He’s halfway through the second of the pair of waffles when the short quartz sitting next to him grins devilishly.
“Hey, Steven…”
“Hnn?” he utters, muffled through the food in his mouth.
She flicks a raspberry at him. “Catch this hide!”
He yelps, just barely ducking in time to miss the fruit. It falls apart upon impact on the floor, its juices exploding outward across the wood.
“Touchdown,” she says, and blows off her finger as if it were a pistol.
The edge of his lips curve up, chipping away at his melancholy. “Oh, I see what you’re steppin’ in!”
Pearl groans, throwing her hand against her temple. “Must you two really—“
“Let them have this,” Garnet says coolly as she leans back against the fridge, the whipped cream can still dangling at the edge of her grasp.
“But we just cleaned this place!”
Amethyst chucks another cluster of berries at him, but this time he’s expecting her fruity projectiles. He cranes his neck back, letting his mouth fall open wide. One of the raspberries bounces off his chin. Close, but not quite. If he’s quick enough, maybe he can catch one in his mouth. That’d be pretty awesome! Thankfully she seems to catch on to his ploy, because she starts to toss them underhand. He stifles giggles as he successfully snaps one— no, two— berries right out of the air.
“There’s some days I feel like we’re raising two children,” he hears Pearl comment to his dad offhand, as they watch them fool around with their food from the sidelines.
“And there’s some days I feel like I’m raising four,” he mutters under his breath.
“What?”
He coughs into his fist. “Uh, nothing!”
She raises a vaguely disgruntled brow at him, but doesn’t say anything more on the matter.
He and his quartz sibling gleefully continue messing around with their edible projectiles until they grow bored of it, soon returning to eating their food like (mostly normal) beings. Really, he can only speak for himself, since she’s recently taken to eating the paper plates along with her breakfast. He grins through a mouthful of whipped cream. This is one of the many things he loves and admires about her, that she always knows how to cheer him up when he needs it. Before their little food fight, the soured atmosphere of his household left him almost feeling sick, but he already feels a lot better now. Needless to say, with his restored appetite the last waffle doesn’t take long to disappear.
“Next time you really gotta try one!” he enthuses to Garnet as he discards his paper plate, weaving between Pearl and his father as they begin to clean the kitchen. “Dad’s waffles are batter than anything!”
He contorts his features into the most exaggerated expression he can muster, waiting with baited breath for the shoe to drop. On the other side of the counter, Amethyst snorts.
Her nostrils twitch with an uncertain air, the straight edge of her visor casting a deep shadow on her face. She stands with her arms wrapped tight around her torso, like a tourniquet wrapped around a bleeding wound. “Hmm. Perhaps one day.”
And in the space of those three simple words, his little heart breaks into pieces. She almost always chuckles at his corny puns, always! So for her to barely even acknowledge them, for her to bottle away all her usual joy and confidence and quiet wit and hide it under a rock solid mask of falsified indifference, it stings more than anything. He thought she’d grown past this.
“Garnet, what’s wrong?” he asks, voice cracking in his anguish. The others all look up from whatever they’re doing with obvious curiosity, all of them silently asking the same question but none of them having the courage to approach their leader directly. “You’ve been like this all morning, ever since—“
With a shallow gasp, his eyes grow glassy. Her mood drastically changed the moment she saw his flipped gem. He clamps his hands over his mouth.
Oh, shards.
He did this.
Both Pearl and Dad move on automatic at the sight of emotional distress, the Gem solidly clasping his shoulder, and his father wrapping his arms around him. Across the room, Amethyst bites at her bottom lip, expression alight with genuine compassion.
“Steven.” Garnet kneels to address him face-to-face, sighing heavily in her exhaustion, worrisome as that is. He quickly blinks through the burn of unshed tears, glancing up at her. “The truth is, I— we have something we need to share. With all of you.”
The room fills with uncomfortable tension, the shock of her admission and its concerningly specific wording sinking in like maple syrup soaking through a waffle’s airy layers.
He rubs at the corner of one of his eyes. “W- we? I don’t—“
Pearl steps towards her, shaking her head in a daze. “Garnet, no, surely you can’t mean that…”
“Ruby and Sapphire have decided they want to take some time apart. Indefinitely.”
His mouth falls ajar, but there’s nothing he can think of to say. Steven’s chest rumbles, shaken with cries anchored too deep in his soul for him to actually express. In a heartbeat his dad pulls him closer.
“But… why?” Amethyst asks, face painted in shades of faint betrayal.
She adjusts her visor. “Because in the wake of recent revelations, we’ve realized that we only remained Garnet because of her.”
“Garnet, you—“ Pearl stammers— “now you know that’s not true! You saved each other’s lives, you fell in love with each other, you—“
“We stayed fused because a diamond took us by the hands and ordered us not to question who we were as Garnet,” she corrected. “Ruby and Sapphire, they never truly got the luxury to seek self fulfillment as individuals, not like you or Amethyst did. We… we both need time to reflect on what’s happened.”
Slowly swaying in his dad’s embrace, hugging those sturdy, dependable arms to his chest, Steven quietly speaks up.
“If both of you have been hurting ever since last night, then why didn’t you unfuse already? Why push through it just to come to breakfast?”
The fusion pauses, probably considering her phrasing. She briefly balls her hand at her chin, fingers pressing against one of her gems, and then taking a breath, allows her visor to shimmer away entirely. Her eyes glisten as she imparts her honest answer.
“If I unfused earlier, I wouldn’t have gotten to hug you goodbye.”
He can’t stifle his sobs any longer. Breaking away from his dad, he throws himself at Garnet and— pressing his cheek against her chest— gives a keening cry, the mounting pressure abruptly releasing from his chest but manifesting across his features as dry as a bone. He’s cried too many tears in such a short span of time that he almost wonders if he’s finally hit the bottom of the well. His fingers grip at her familiar form as if he can single-handedly keep her here together with him forever. He dry sobs in her arms until he aches, vying to burn the comforting sensation of his guardian’s solid hold, the assurance of the even thrum running through her hard light body, into his memory forever more.
The other two Gems join in the embrace, kneeling on the floor with him and wrapping themselves around him like a blanket.
“You- but you can’t just leave us,” Amethyst whispers brokenly. “Not now!”
Her voice hitches. She sighs, pressing her forehead against the smaller Gem’s. “I know this is gonna hurt you, I know. And we’re sorry. We’re so, so sorry. But we need time to reflect, to understand who we are apart from Garnet."
“Yeah, but…”
“Listen to me,” she says gently, pulling back and lifting her chin. “You are enough. An inimitable cut of quartz, just as you are. Please. Even in your darkest moments, never let yourself forget the depth of your worth.”
She nods, her lip quivering.
“And Pearl.”
The ebony Gem peels away from the hug at her beckoning to catch a glimpse at her, her pale blue irises glinting through the liquid pooling over them.
“In my absence, I need you to be strong. Not only for yourself, but for all of us. The Crystal Gems will do well under your leadership.”
She hums in confirmation, taking her new mission to heart. “Of course,” she says, straightening her back and sniffing away her tears.
Garnet turns her saddened gaze to him next, passing her fingers through his tangled mop of hair. “Steven.”
“Y-yeah?”
“None of this is your fault.”
“B-b-but—” he blubbers.
“None of it. The past is not your burden. And any time you begin to fear it is, I want you to pause… take a deep breath… and remember how much we all love you. You are your own Gem."
He bobs his head slowly, sniffling as his breath evens out.
The fusion sits back on her heels, ending their long embrace.
“Greg,” she says as she stands, leveling her three eyes directly at him. Though Steven has no clue what, some silent conversation passes between the two of them— like charge passing through circuitry— in a series of subtle, indecipherable expressions. “Take care of my family.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replies evenly, wiping a stray tear away from his own cheek.
Closing her eyes, Garnet begins to glow white, the gems at the core of her being shifting and separating into two smaller light bodies. They’re still holding hands at the moment the glow fades. Sapphire is the first to let go, letting her gloved fingers fall loose against the skirt of her dress.
Ruby’s face is a blank stone wall, one that’s been visibly chipped away at. Her eyes clearly glisten, as if she’s about to fall apart at any moment yet is stubbornly holding this outburst of emotion back until she can escape to a place of privacy. Sapphire, on the other hand, makes no attempt to mask her distress. As always the fringe of her hair covers half of her face, but the tracks of her tears flow down her cheek and to her chin, threatening to drip onto her bodice.
Despite the unfortunate nature of their appearance, Steven can’t deny he’s still glad to get a chance to see them.
“Um… h-hi, Ruby, Sapphire,” he stutters with his best attempt at a smile. “Long time no see?”
“Hello, Steven,” the blue Gem responds in amicable but still relatively formless monotone, as she clasps her gemless hand over the other. She sniffs, wiping the stray lines of hard light based fluid away from her eye and nose before allowing her expression to crystallize again. Gathering herself, she turns to face the group. “If all of you will excuse me, I need some time to think. Alone, for once.”
With not another word— not even an attempt at greeting the others, or consoling Ruby, who looks ready to cry at a moment’s notice— Sapphire turns on a dime and effortlessly glides across the warp pad to the temple door. She holds her right palm to the crystals embedded in the stonework, the blue one glowing bright in response. The seldom used entrance unlocks with a sonorous click. They all watch in stunned silence as she disappears through the opening, into the vast depths of the Crystal Temple.
The group stands ramrod straight, no one budging an inch as they stare vacantly at the doorway. Ruby folds her hands tight together, pressing them to her chest.
Pearl, thankfully, is the first to break the spell. (He’s thankful because he isn’t sure if anyone else here could’ve gathered the courage in the light of everything that just happened, himself included.)
“Oh Ruby, I’m so sorry,” she whispers, balling her hand against her mouth.
“D’ya wanna go punch some stuff in the Kindergarten with me?” Amethyst offers softly, slinging her arm around the shorter Gem.
Steven weakly raises a finger in suggestion. “Or we could play some games here. I finally found that limited release console version of Fight Fighters a few days back, if that’s up your alley.”
“And I could always take you for a quiet drive up the coast,” Greg says.
She shakes her head, shrugging away from Amethyst's attempt at comfort. “I- I don’t really wanna talk to any of you right now, to be honest. S’ not your fault, but—“
Ruby pauses, her small form nearly shaking as she averts her gaze from them all, staring into the middle distance with glassy eyes.
“I think… for now, I jus- I just need to run away,” she croaks. “Sorry."
Not even bothering to hold back her sobs anymore, she barrels across the room in a flurry of anguish and climbs the steps to the warp pad. Everything happens so fast that no one can react quick enough to stop her before she activates it, a burst of cyan light springing forth to whisk her away into the stream. In seconds, she’s gone.
Steven shuffles his feet, feeling for all the world as if some antagonistic force of the universe just stole a decent chunk of his heart away.
“Well, now what?” Amethyst says with a big shrug.
Pearl crosses her arms, her lips curving into a subtle sneer at the glibness of her attitude. “What do you mean, ‘now what?’ We’re going to go round them up, sit them both down, have a calm, rational discussion, and fix this!”
“But you can’t just— ughhh,” she groans, throwing her head back. “They’re not inanimate objects for you to sort into piles, P! You can’t expect to throw them together and like, make them fuse again! That’s not how it works!”
“Now, that’s not what I meant, I—“
“Bull! It’s exactly what you meant!”
She haughtily turns up her nose, aghast. “I don’t appreciate the accusatory tone you’ve taken with me!”
“And there you go, gettin’ all defensive,” she says, throwing her arms up. Her form glows white as she effortlessly shapeshifts into a picture perfect purple doppleganger of her. “Blah, blah, blah blah blah,” she spits in the most exaggerated voice she can muster, twirling the bottom ribbon of her sash on her finger. “I’m Pearl, and I know better than everyone else ‘coz I’m always right!”
“Amethyst! That’s enough!”
He pales as he watches the two of them outright self destruct. In many ways, it’s a disappointing step back. He hasn’t seen them spat this badly for almost a year. His feet shuffle awkwardly beneath him, bare toes twitching as his mind yearns for some brilliant idea that could stop this fight in its tracks, but at the current moment he’s got nothing.
“Daaaad,” he whispers lowly, obscuring his mouth from their view with a cupped hand. “Help me out here?”
His father grits his teeth, nervously stepping forward between him and the two Gems at each other’s throats. “H-hey, you two, how about we all take a deep breath a—“
“Shut up, Greg!” they shout in unison, whirling on him.
He throws his palms up, immediately backing away from their vitriolic spat. Steven grabs onto his arm once he’s returned to him, hugging it close to his chest, which is growing tighter and tighter by the second. He absolutely hates seeing his family fight, more than anything, but when they refuse to listen to reason, what can he do about it?
“As I was trying to say, you’re completely taking my words out of context,” Pearl hisses, advancing on her.
“No, I’m not!” she hollers, her voice echoing into the rafters of the compact beach house. She jabs her finger under the other Gem’s nose, the action violent enough in its intensity that Steven can’t help but flinch at the sight. “You still wanna think you can wave your little hand and have everything go back to the way it was, poof, like magic! But guess what?! You can’t!! Garnet’s gone, we have no real leader, Ruby disappeared to shard knows where, you can barely explain a single thing without locking up, basically everything we ever knew about Rose was a complete lie, a-and, and—“
“And now it’s Steven’s turn to leave,” he declares abruptly, the tension held in thick knots within him easing at his bold decision.
This is apparently enough to snap Pearl out of her emotional tizzy, his guardian whirling to face him with an embarrassed flush blooming blue across her cheeks. “Oh, Steven, I—“
Spinning on his heels, he scrambles away from the others as fast as he can, heart racing, only pausing to retrieve his phone from where it’s been charging and to slip on sandals. “I’m sorry, can’t talk, I’m headedtotown, needsomefreshair, bye!”
He lets it slam behind him as he races out into the arms of Beach City’s breezy, overcast morning. His flip flops clap rhythmically against his heels.
“Wait! Steven!” his dad calls after him, but it’s already too late. He’s not going back in, he refuses. Not now, not with everyone being so sullen and argumentative and weird.
He thought they could move on, he thought all this repressed pain and feelings of betrayal could heal and they could all grow closer for it, but apparently he’s wrong. Nothing about this messed up situation is ever going to get better, is it? He doubles over as he passes the mailbox, his sprint slowing to an abrupt halt. His teeth clench, his fingers digging into the fabric of his jeans like rose barbs through delicate skin as he catches his breath. Steven digs into his pocket for his phone.
“Hoh geeze,” he mutters, holding down the power button to force restart. “This is such a mess.”
At least he was wise enough to grab his phone in the first place. Blessedly, the screen finally lights up.
And as feared, he’s met with a hefty cluster of missed notifications from Connie. Sweat beads on his brow as he begins to scroll through them, even though he knew darn well this was coming.
Connie: Um?? How was any of that supposed to not make me worry?
Connie: Are you okay?
Connie: Steven? ???
Missed call- Connie Maheswaran, 7:02 am.
Missed call- Connie Maheswaran, 7:04 am.
Connie: Pls call me when you can
Missed call- Connie Maheswaran, 7:51 am.
Missed call- Connie Maheswaran, 8:47 am.
Connie: Seriously I’m kinda freaking out rn what’s going on over there, I’d come over as backup if I could but I’m packing for the India trip and mom won’t let me leave
He purses his lips, silently smacking himself for sending that stupid, stupid text early this morning in the first place. “Yeah, I should probably clear this up,” he mumbles.
Steven swipes to unlock his phone, navigates to Connie’s contact, and presses the video chat button. Forget calls. This is definitely a scenario in need of face-to-face communication. If they can’t be in the same place at the same time, a video chat is the second best thing.
He plops himself down in the sand, and patiently waits through the first and second dial.
____
Notes:
Woo, this was a fun one (see: heart wrenching) to write. I enjoyed tackling a wide variety of family interactions here.
Some random notes for this chapter:
-HC: while Pearl hates eating, she's actually a fairly good cook. She's the one who makes sure Steven's getting some good ol' healthy food in him.
-Uhh, that game Steven was gonna play before he realized his phone was Dead with a capital D, 'Splashy Shark,' is just this universe's version of Flappy Bird, honestly. Don't ask why, haha, I thought it'd be amusing. XD
-I HC that non-diamond type Gems wouldn't be able to flip their gemstone like Pink/Rose/Steven can. It's something that requires a whole lot of power to carry out. Thus why even Amethyst, the shapeshifting master, can't manage it. As an added point, Rose was able to shift the color of her skin to a far lighter shade and completely change her eyes, whereas other Gems tend to retain their color scheme when they shapeshift. Rose definitely had an extra strong shapeshifting ability in the first place.
-After chapter five, the insinuation is that Garnet went into the temple, unfused, and Ruby and Sapphire had their little falling out there. They only fused again to come out for breakfast because they realized Garnet never got a chance to hug Steven goodbye for now- and they weren't sure when (if ever) they'd be fusing again. Whether this softened the blow or made it worse for the kid is up for debate.
-That being said, I want to clarify that this definitely isn't the end of Ruby and Sapphire's relationship. I'll tag more thoroughly once I start diving into specifics, but their arcs will be about self discovery, both about who they are as individuals and in relation to each other.
-I did not expect to end up writing a Pearl and Amethyst spat in this chapter when I first planned it, but I'm certainly not complaining. It just sorta... organically happened. XD
-The title of this fic actually has a double meaning... the word 'paragon' can refer to both a diamond, or something that is an example of perfection. The divergence in this world led to Steven's gem being cracked, but it also essentially shattered the perfect little family dynamic that he'd had for so long at this point.
#su#steven universe#su fanfiction#su fanfic#crack the paragon#garnet#amethyst#pearl#greg universe#ruby#sapphire#my writing stuff#i swear if this doesn't show up in the friggin tags... *grumble grumble*
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I feel like I need to justify why I haven’t posted any writing at all in like a month or two, so here’s the first part of a WIP.
No Title yet. I’m shit at titles.
Fandom: Batman, Red Hood And The Outlaws, Red Hood/Arsenal, Grayson, Nightwing
Relationships: Jason Todd/Dick Grayson, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Damian Wayne
Characters: Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson, Timothy Drake, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Talia Al'Ghul, Roy Harper, Helena Bertinelli, Tiger | Agent 1
Tags: No Capes AU, Jason was never adopted by Bruce, Spyral Agent Dick, Bodyguard/Mercenary Jason, Child Soldiers, PTSD, Survivor’s Guilt, Talia is a good-ish mom, Tiger is so done with Dick, Brief elements of Racism and American Imperialism in the Middle East.
Summery: When Spyral Agent Dick Grayson accompanies his brother Tim to his school science fair, he meets his brother's stuffy arch-rival Damian and realizes he's the son of Talia Al Ghul, heir to the Al Ghul international criminal empire that has its tentacles in everything from high-profile political assassinations to weapons trafficking. Concerned about the danger the association poses to his younger brother, Dick decides to find out more...and comes up against Damian's dangerously attractive bodyguard, Jason Todd.
- - -
Timothy was sighing as he lead Dick to his school auditorium. “I'm telling you Dick, it's fine.”
But Dick was not having it. He frowned and pulled his suit blazer a little closer around him in the chilly night air as they crossed the parking lot, approaching the lights and bustle of the school building.
“How is it fine?” he asked Tim. “You're getting a first place prize for your science fair project and Bruce doesn't even have the decency to come!”
He wasn't mad about this a few minutes ago, but seeing all the families spilling out of the building, children hugging parents and vice versa for a job well done or consolation at having underperformed, made Dick feel like a half-assed chaperone. Bruce should have been here with them, and Alfred, and Steph and Conner and all Tim's other friends, but instead it's just him and he didn't feel like he was doing a great job of being support, even if it was just for a high school science fair.
Tim rolled his eyes. “This is my fourth one, Dick. And he had an important business meeting, I already told him it was okay that he couldn't make it. I meant that. It's just the district-wide competition. Now if I get one from the state, then his ass better show up.”
Dick didn't think a business meeting was a great excuse—he'd been privy to it enough in his own youth to find it played out—but Tim seemed sincere so maybe it really was important. “Well, you could have had Alfred come at least. He wanted to, even.”
“He's still pretending he doesn't have a cold. I'd rather he just rest,” Tim argued, and okay, Dick could see that. Neither of them wanted Alfred to exert himself when he wasn't feeling well and the night air could be hard on an old man.
“Besides, having a brothers' night out isn't so bad,” Tim added with a shrug. “We don't get to hang out much, especially just us.”
Dick beamed and Tim smiled back. Technically speaking, Dick should have more time with family since he'd quit the Blüdhaven police force (more like he was drummed out for being against the corruption and refusing to fall in line) and moved back to Gotham to work for Spyral, but in practice he'd been out of town for months at a time on field work until just recently. So maybe this was fine. Just him and Tim, brotherly bonding. It wasn't half-assed, it was exclusive. Okay.
Suddenly Tim's smile fell, avoiding looking at someone in the crowd as he half hid behind his older, taller brother. “Actually, let's just skip the awards ceremony and go straight to sushi,” Tim suggested with a suspiciously too-pleasant voice. “I mean, one big fancy ribbon is just like another, right? And who needs jealous, begrudging applause from the Gotham Academy Science Club Captain? I'm so over the rush of smug superiority it gives me.”
Dick narrowed his eyes. “Okay, the Timothy Drake-Wayne I know would never say that. What's going on?”
Tim tried to manhandle Dick into turning around, but Dick was curious enough at his adoptive brother's behavior to stand his ground.
“Damn it, too late.” Tim winced and stepped back out from behind Dick to paste a tight smile on his face.
A dark young boy with flashing jade eyes strode up to Tim and somehow looked down his nose at the taller boy from a few inches under five feet tall. He was clearly younger than Tim, but he held himself as if the whole world was his to command and his shoulders were as straight as any boardroom executive. Despite being fairly sure he'd never seen the kid before, Dick found him uncannily familiar, though he couldn't say why. Then Dick had an odd flash of Bruce icing out an idiot at a Wayne Gala, and comparing Bruce's general demeanor to some jumped-up little kid had Dick choking back a laugh. This was probably exactly what he was like as a child, Dick suspected. He'd run into Bruce's tiny doppelganger.
As the child stopped in front of Tim, Dick realized he had a shadow. Behind the boy stalked a man who made Dick feel small and somehow still managed to slink smoothly at the boy's heels like a massive guard dog with movements that spoke of training and deadly skill that put him on high alert. Dick found himself frowning as his muscles tensed, his brain leaping automatically into Agent Thirty-Seven mode as he assessed the man's threat potential and realized it was way too high for their venue. This wasn't the kind of person he expected to run into at a school function. This was more like the kind of people Dick dealt with in his day job.
“Drake, I see you've made an appearance at this shabby competition,” the boy spoke in an imperious tone, his accent something like Britain colored by the Middle East. “First place in the High School division was it? The standards for schooling in this country must be even lower than I'd been lead to believe for someone of your caliber to rise to the top.”
“Damian, so you're here,” Tim droned. “And you've pinned your first place ribbon in the Junior High division to your blazer like a prize pig at a state fair. You look pretty proud of yourself, despite those so-called low standards you're delusional about.” Tim's eyelids had lowered at the boy, Damian, in an annoyed, dismissive way that surprised Dick. Tim was generally a friendly, understanding person, even the loathed Franklin Debauer the Third, the Science Club Captain, didn't get this level of hostility.
Damian clicked his tongue and gave a haughty scoff. “Please, Drake. It's clear to me that you're basal intellect couldn't stand up to real competition. I'm only disappointed that our age difference is such that you'll be ineligible to participate in the judging when I've graduated to the high school division.”
Timothy sneered. “Yes, I'm sure it's such a relief for you to know I'll be above such petty concerns as a high school science fair competition with children when I'm in college and can't utterly crush you and your cute little excuse of an experiment. Being surrounded by small fish is where you excel, isn't it?”
Dick's eyes widened. Wow. What the hell was going on? Dick had never seen Tim engage in this kind of sharp repartee and as entertaining as it was, Dick wasn't sure he liked seeing Tim this way. “Tim,” he hastily interrupted, “why don't you introduce me to your friends.”
Tim sighed and gestured vaguely at Damian, who was now looking Dick up and down, measuring him against some invisible standard and finding him wanting. “Dick, this is Damian. Just a kid at my school. He recently moved to Gotham from outside the country. And that's...Mr. Todd? He's Damian's bodyguard, or his babysitter. One of the two.”
Dick's attention snapped back to the man standing behind Damian with an easy stance that to his trained eye concealed coiled violence. Bodyguard, huh? Dick chewed on the idea for a moment before he decided it was a reasonable explanation for the man's presence. Gotham Academy was a rich school, plenty of paranoid billionaires here employed some kind of personal security. They just weren't usually at this level of ability. Mr. Todd was the real deal, he could tell that much by the way his eyes swept over the parking lot and calculated the vectors of people passing by.
Dick decided to work under the assumption that Mr. Todd was who he said he was—for now.
He reached out to shake hands with Mr. Todd and found himself examining the man's large, rough hands with too many scars, filing every detail away in the back of his mind. His gaze followed those hands to the man's muscular arms and broad shoulders filling out a brown leather jacket like a dream. Mr. Todd's face was no less distracting to Dick. He was much younger than Dick would have expected, with a wide mouth, a thin nose that showed signs of having been broken, and dark, hooded brows cut by a scar, shadowing eyes the color of sea glass.
Dick found himself drawn in by those eyes that seemed to gaze deep into him, down to his bones. For a few seconds he forgot that he'd just labeled this man a 'dangerous individual to be watched closely' and indulged himself in the attraction.
But then Mr. Todd pulled back his hand and Dick saw the subtle cling of his jacket over those shoulders and he realized the man was carrying a gun.
Dick scowled.
“He is not my babysitter!” Damian objected with a pout.
Mr. Todd's laugh was gravelly and deep, sending shivers up Dick's spine. “Naw, I'd say that's accurate. But don't ever call me Mr. Todd. Jason or Jay is fine,” the man said in a thick Gotham accent, wearing a smirk that would have had Dick's stomach doing flip-flops if he wasn't trying to subtly undress the man in a way that was much less fun than Dick wanted it to be—instead of imagining the man's assets, Dick was looking for more concealed weapons. Now that he knew to look, he suspected there would be a few.
Anger boiled within him and Dick glared up at the man who had the nerve to bring a gun into a school. “Okay, but do you have a permit for those firearms, 'Jay'?”
Mr. Todd—Jason—frowned and all the charm drained from his expression. From the subtle changes in his stance, the set of his shoulders and the way his eyes went dark and hollow, Dick could confirm he was dealing with a very dangerous man. He had met dictators, mercenaries, psychopaths and assassins that didn't have a fraction of the menace as this Mr. Todd was aiming his way. It would have been impressive if it wasn't so unnerving.
“You a cop, or something?” Jason said, now looking over Dick in the same minutely analytical way as he had moments before, though Jason wouldn't find any weapons on Dick, outside of a pocket-perfume sprayer filled with the most potent mace Spyral's R&D could concoct. He didn't carry a gun outside of the field. He wouldn't carry a gun at all if he could manage it.
“Or something,” Dick acknowledged, but by the highly competent way Jason had taken in his shoes, clothing, haircut, lack of weapons and general demeanor, Dick figured he'd already come to a conclusion that couldn't be far off the mark.
“Dick...” Tim warned him through hissed teeth.
Jason clenched his jaw and gave Dick a glare that he fully believed could stop men's hearts in more ways than one.
“Yeah, I've got your permit right here,” he growled. And while Dick held himself back from attempting a disarm, Todd reached one hand into an inner pocket in his jacket to pull out what Dick recognized as a diplomatic visa from Qurac that might as well have been a get-out-of-jail-free card.
With his other hand, he firmly flipped Dick a middle finger.
Dick raised a brow. “That's not a permit, that's a visa. But it's a good head start on some of the other documents I want to see from you now.”
Jason released a put-upon sigh and flashed Dick a smile with too many teeth. He stepped right into Dick's space and nearly backed him up into Tim, trying to intimidate Dick with his threatening bulk and delicious looking mouth—wait, no, not that last one. The intimidation was only sort of working, since Dick fully believed the man was as dangerous as he was portraying himself to be, but Dick had never been properly scared of anything in his life, and he had the skills to back up his bravery.
“So it's going to be like that,” Jason said, low and quiet and far more frightening than shouting could ever be. “Fine. Look, buddy, this is a fucking school. The kid just got his science fair award, he's not a goddamn terrorist, he is a child. You and all of your pals are wasting your time and pissing me off—and I'm sure you've got a whole stack of files that explain exactly what happens when you piss me off. Now you turn yourself around and tell whatever ABC-soup agency you're from to leave Damian the fuck alone, or I'm going to test how far this diplomatic immunity extends. And I don't know what you did to get Timmy in on your cover, but leave him alone too while your at it.” He turned his head and spat directly on Dick's shoes with a curled lip of disgusted and stepped back. “The government using kids in my own damn country. It's sick. It's fucking reprehensible.”
Dick frowned in confusion, feeling as if he was missing a piece of the conversation, and not just because he'd had trouble tearing his eyes and imagination away from Jason's dynamic mouth. “I think we have a misunderstanding here,” he realized.
Jason just snarled, ready to tell Dick off again, but his charge interrupted him. “Drake! Do you always let your bodyguard interrupt your conversations? It's unprofessional.”
Tim's eyes were flicking from Dick to Jason with suspicion, but it seemed he couldn't resist the other boy's taunts as he turned to the kid with a sniff. “Dick isn't my bodyguard, he's my brother. I'm not such an asshole that I have people trying to kill me twenty-four seven, like you.”
Dick's brows snapped together as he warned, “Tim...” It was one thing to exchange clever banter with one's rival, but flinging bald insults was crossing a line.
Damian snorted, oddly unperturbed at being called an asshole, as well as the suggestion of his life being under threat. “Despite your complete lack of class and intellect, you are a Wayne heir, are you not Drake? Clearly your adoptive father isn't particularly interested in your well-being if he sends you around alone. On the contrary, my mother cares for me.”
Tim shook his head, his face flushed with anger. “Yeah no, Damian. You don't get to imply that Bruce doesn't love me because he doesn't make me walk around with an armed thug at my back.” Said armed thug raised a brow, looked vaguely amused at being labeled as such. “He had a really important meeting, but he offered to ditch it just for me, and my brother worked all day but he showed up just to see me get a dinky award I've already won three years in a row. Who came with you? No one. Just your bodyguard, and he's paid to be there. It seems like you're the one no one cares about him, not me. Where's your precious mother? Do you even know who your father is? What are you even doing here, Damian, you ever think of that?”
Dick gasped, “Tim!” at the same moment as Damian rose on his hackles like a pissed off cat and snarled, “You—!”
“Okay,” Jason interrupted, stepping between Tim and Damian before either could make a move as Dick just found himself staring at Tim in shock that he would say something so cruel. Whatever was gong on with his bodyguard, Damian was still just a kid.
Jason cast a displeased stare Tim's way, and Dick realized that Timothy must like or respect Jason somewhat because his brother ducked his head in shame. “This little rivalry thing you kids have got going on here is cute, but that's enough with the trash talk.” Jason bodily turned Damian toward the parking lot and started guiding him away. “You've already got your prize Dee, so let's bounce the fuck out of here. I'll make us a late night snack at the penthouse.”
Damian scowled and shot Tim one last dirty look before he turned to follow Jason, jogging to keep up with his much longer legs as they walked. “Apple crumble and vanilla ice cream?”
“Sure. You got it,” Jason agreed, but his attention was fixed on Dick, shooting him an 'I'll be watching you' stare before turning away.
Damian snorted but said, “Fine, let us depart,” and Tim and Dick watched their interaction with open interest as the boy and his bodyguard walked over to a powerful-looking motorcycle that Dick had admired when they'd walked passed it in the parking lot.
“You want my jacket? It's pretty cold,” Jason asked, but didn't wait for an answer before he took off the garment and dropped it around Damian's shoulders where they nearly drowned the kid in leather, it was so large.
Damian wrinkled his nose. “It smells like cigarettes,” he complained.
Jason's hand moved to take it back. “If you don't want it—”
“Mine.” Damian hugged the jacket around him possessively, with a pout that made him look even younger than he probably was. He burrowed his face into the leather of the collar before making a face. “Ugh. Todd, do you ever wash this thing?”
Jason smiled, rolled his eyes and ruffled Damian's hair while the boy tried to shove his hand away, and Dick felt his knees go weak as he stared very unprofessionally at the man's broad back, covered by a loose red flannel over a gray shirt and snug shoulder holsters built for concealed carry from the way they seemed to disappear into the lines of his body.
“Shut up,” Jason said with amusement in his voice as he put on a shiny red racing helmet and passed Damian a smaller, similar one. “You've never washed a thing in your damn life, Dee, you just have the maids do it. Besides, you don't wash leather, brat. You dry clean it.”
Damian snorted and accepted the helmet, tugging it in place with a practiced motion. “Since I have never once seen you enter a dry-cleaning establishment, then I suppose I know the answer to that question.”
Jason laughed as they both got on the bike, bright and genuine sounding, and he turned the key and revved the engine before roaring away out of sight.
Suddenly Dick was aware that he had pretty much been drooling over himself for the last few minutes, watching an admittedly blisteringly hot, but obviously dangerous and armed man drive away with a minor. Tim and Damian clearly knew the guy, and both seemed comfortable in his presence, but Dick felt he still should have asked for more documentation or something. Or enforced the revelation of the documentation he did ask for.
Well, too late now. And he knew the man's name—or the alias he was using currently at least—that was enough to get him almost any other information he needed, back at Spyral.
Dick turned to Tim, who was suspiciously quiet. He found his brother considering Dick himself, the gears in his genius brain spinning over something he'd witnessed. “So, Tim,” Dick asked, “are you going to tell me what that was about?”
Tim didn't quite manage to be casual as he shrugged. “Nothing to tell. Damian is a hyper-competitive little ass who makes it his hobby to get on my last nerve. Jason is his bodyguard for everything outside of actual school. He's usually pretty nice, even if he's kind of paranoid. You really must have pressed his buttons because I've never seen him act like that before.”
Well, from what Dick had gathered, the man thought Dick was some kind of government agent who'd attached himself to Tim to stalk and harass a junior high schooler, so he figured the hostility from Jason was understandable.
“The kid really looks familiar to me, for some reason,” Dick admitted. “Has he been to one of Bruce's galas or something?”
Tim huffed. “No, thank God. I can't even imagine having to be civil to that brat for a whole night.” And neither could Dick, considering the two had only managed tonight for about five seconds before it all went downhill. “Maybe you've seen him in the news?” Tim suggested. “His family is pretty important in the Middle East, apparently.”
The Middle East, huh? If that was the case then Dick knew exactly who to go to for answers tomorrow. “What's his last name?”
“Al Ghul.” Understanding flooded Dick. He knew that name, it was attached with one of the largest and most successful criminal empires in the world, and Dick had run into them on more than one occasion. It explained a lot, from the boy's familiar appearance to why he had a bodyguard with a Quraqi diplomatic visa.
Tim eyed him knowingly. “So they really are important, then. Political, business or criminal sector?”
“I can't talk about sensitive intelligence, Tim.” It was the answer he had to give, but it wasn't enough to put off Tim, it never was.
“Hm. Criminal, then,” Tim deduced as Dick kept his face carefully blank. His younger brother gave a gallic shrug. “Well, despite how much he talks himself up, he's just a brat, nothing dangerous, and I wouldn't think you can get any information out of him, either. Clearly his mom sent him to the U.S. to keep him out of the business or something. Or people are really after him. Or both.”
“What? Of course not, Tim.” Dick said. “That's not even my department, I'm just...concerned.” As in concerned why a kid was in such danger than he had a guy like Jason Todd following him around.
Tim was unconvinced. “Sure. Now forget work for a moment while I get my award and rub it in 'Franklin Debauer the Third's dumb face.”
#Jason Todd#Red Hood#Dick grayson#Agent 37#Nightwing#Tim Drake#Red Robin#Damian Al Ghul#Robin#No Capes AU#Spyral AU#Fanfiction#Batman#batfam#robincest#Alfred Pennyworth
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Fic: Home Sweet Home
Post ep: Rm9sbG93ZXJz. I debated writing this. I debated posting it. I'm in one of those ruts right now where I think everything I write is crap (blame school) including this. Really no plot. It's just a jumble of words. Fluff. Pure random fluff. Anyways, enjoy? No beta. Tagging @today-in-fic
"Did you honestly believe that a smart house was going to be a good investment for us?" Mulder asked as he drove them down the country roads to the unremarkable house.
"Well, we've been talking about maybe investing in another home that was closer to the Hoover building. That smart home in Bethesda was not only a good investment but it was closer to the Hoover, seven miles, 20-minute commute closer. Farrs Corner is a 45-minute commute, without the traffic. I'm tired of giving us 90 minutes just in case we hit a traffic accident. I want to stay in bed longer," she explained, looking out the window.
He smiled as he took in her side profile. Unconsciously, she reached for his free hand and held it lightly. "I am upset that you didn't get to save that photo," he chuckled. "That is a picture I wouldn't let the world seeing."
"I did save it to my cloud," she said, gazing at him. "I'll put it on Instagram later."
"I forgot you had one." He squeezed her hand lightly. "Well, I'm sorry the house of the future didn't work out."
She shrugged noncommittedly. "That is what insurance was for, and lucky for us we only paid one month's rent on it. Besides, I've missed you too much. You should have come with me to experiment living in the new house to see if it fit us. It was only a week, Mulder."
"I knew it wasn't for us." He laughed softly. "Did our years on the x-files teach us nothing, Scully? One of our first cases. That AI in the office building?"
She winced. "I forgot."
"How could you forget?"
She shrugged coyly. "Does it really matter?"
"Don't trust Skynet?"
"You're using Terminator references now?"
"I'm a nerd, Scully."
"We're both nerds, Mulder," she clarified. "You just happen to be a geek too."
"Looking at you being all adorbs and hip."
"Mulder, do you remember the conversation we had about you trying to use today's lingo."
"Don't."
He grinned and she rolled her eyes.
"That's right. Don't."
Mulder slowed the SUV and turned down the gravel driveway. Scully found herself smiling. Wordlessly, they got out of the chair, Mulder unlocked the door and they took a moment to inspect their living room. "Aren't you glad you didn't take a lot of our things to that robot hellhouse?" he asked sarcastically.
"It would have been better if you came to stay up there with me for the past week to try it out. The commute was better. And shorter."
"I would not have been able to save my queen then."
He strolled past her, planting a kiss on her cheek, and headed into the kitchen. She bit her lip to keep from smiling. "I lost quite a few of my favorite suits."
"Well go shopping tomorrow." He was banging around in the kitchen, instantly going for where they kept the wine glasses and to the fridge to pull out a bottle of white wine. "See, I know you better than some dumb house," he called over his shoulder.
"Mulder, it's one in the afternoon," she cautioned.
"So," he retorted. He was already opening the bottle. "It's Saturday. Our sushi date did not go well, almost being killed by robots and artificial intelligence, not to mention the blobfish!"
"You learned to always tip your server, even if it was shitty, or else they'll kill you." She giggled and toed off her boots and slipped off her jacket. She took a deep breath as the smell of dust, pine, and whatever scent that made up them filled her nostrils. "You haven't cleaned, have you?"
"I was waiting for my wife to come home," he chuckled. She took a few steps forward and took the wine from his outstretched hand. "I missed having you home, Scully."
"I'm glad to be home. If I bring up the idea of trying to find somewhere closer to Washington and splitting our time between residence, shoot me."
"Naw," he replied. "I'd think of something better."
He took her hand and led her to the couch where she automatically melted his side. Mulder wrapped his arm around her and she brought the wine glass to her lips. As the cold liquid went down her throat, she nodded slightly. "This is home," she said absently, not really minding Mulder. "Here."
"Do you remember when we bought the place?" he asked softly. She rested her head against his bicep and continued to sip the wine. "Twelve years ago?"
"It was fixer-upper. Remember I had to sew back up your hand?"
He lifted his left hand for her inspection and she traced the long scar between the webbing of his thumb and index finger. "One of my favorite scars next to the bullet wound," he said. "Show all the other woman that I am marked, claimed, and if they even try, my special agent doctor wife will shoot you and make it like an accident." He kissed her hair. "I miss your long hair."
"You don't like the bob?"
"I didn't say that," he shrugged. "It's just different. I always loved you with long hair." She smiled endearingly. Scully leaned forward, sitting her wine glass on the coffee table before snuggling against Mulder. "Another thing I love about you is snuggling like baby cats with you."
She chuckled and slapped his chest playfully. "I missed you and being home, Mulder."
Mulder nodded and sipped his own wine. "There is one thing that is bothering me though, Scully."
"What?"
"The vibe."
He said the word like it was a cursed one. She smiled and rubbed his chest soothingly. "Well," she cleared her throat. "You weren't readily available and I had to satisfy my needs. Besides, I thought it pertinent research for us, later on."
He grinned. "Always thinking ahead."
"Always."
"Are you glad to be home?"
"Very," she sighed, closing her eyes. Scully took a moment to listening to the sounds and experiencing everything around her. Mulder's heartbeat, the subtle movement of his muscles against his shirt, the worn feel of the couch's fabric, the smell of pine, the faint scent of wine, and the distant noises of their obscure property. "I'm very glad to be home with you."
#xfiles#xf fic#msr#msr fic#fluff#s11#mulder and scully#mulder#scully#unremarkable house#post ep#rm9sbg93zxjz#fluffy fluff#random words
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Holiday Magic Part Two
Summary: Christmas is a magical time of the year. Bucky and Y/N meet under odd circumsta
Pairing: Bucky x Reader
Words: 1,672
Warning: slight angst; fluff
A/N: This is part two of my submission to @caplansteverogers Christmas Challenge. Thank you for being patient and understanding stuff happens out of our control!!! You’re a gem!
New Year’s Eve 2017 (6:00 p.m.)
Time Square was abuzz with revellers. People crammed together, trying to keep warm in the arctic New York weather, anxiously awaiting the famed Crystal Ball to begin its descent. Most partygoers are decked out with 2018 hats, plastic glasses and horns. Even at this early hour, confetti litters the street and sidewalk. Musicians ready their voices to perform, in spite of the frigid temperature.
Tony suggested an impromptu gathering. Nothing glamorous. GQ casual. Everyone gathered around the common room and murmured. Steve spoke up.
“What???!!! Are you feeling alright, Stark?”
“Yes, Father Time. I wanted to celebrate with only the team. Why do you find that so unbelievable?”
Nat couldn’t resist. “It’s so not like you Tony. What gives really?”
Sipping on what is undoubtedly an expensive bottle of bourbon, Tony responded “Listen, the past year was shit for the Avengers. Guess a fresh start is in order. Food’s on the way; alcohol’s already here. Even Capsicle and Popsicle have their Asgardian whatever the hell it is.”
Wanda clapped her hands. “Well, I love the idea of a team only gathering. Small and intimate.” Turning her gaze towards Bucky, “Of course we can bring a date?”
Y/N had become an important part of the team. Bucky was a totally different person when she came around. Everyone loved her. Nat and Wanda were ecstatic for another female amongst the sea of testosterone.
“I don’t see why not? Will Y/N be joining us tonight, Popsicle?” The brooding super soldier nodded ‘yes’, leaving the room.
Sam prodded Steve. “What’s wrong with Barnes? Trouble in paradise?”
“Naw. I’ll go check on him.”
Sitting on the floor, head in this hands, Bucky wondered why Y/N agreed to spend New Year’s Eve with him.
“Bucky, tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. Do you have any plans?” Y/N hoped they’d spend time together, ringing in a new year.
Shrugging, “Nope. Why?”
“Why? Because I’d love to spend the evening with you. I mean if you want.”
“Okay. See ya at 8?” Kissing his cheek, Y/N rushed towards the elevator. “Call you when I get home. Byyyye”
Raising his hand to knock, Steve caught a glimpse of Bucky on the floor. His door was slightly ajar. “Buck, what’s going on?”
“She’s a great gal Stevie. Y/N’s a real peach. Wonder why she’d waste her time with me?”
Steve leaned against the wall, “Pal, you gotta give Y/N credit. The woman genuinely cares for you. Why don’cha give her chance?”
Bucky raised his head, “M’sorry man. It’s been years since I’ve felt this way ‘bout a dame.” His eyes welled up.
“Are you falling in love with her? It’s only been a few weeks.”
“I dunno if it’s love, but when we’re apart, my heart yearns for her. Am I wrong for feeling this way?”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Steve sighed. “You’re not wrong. Take your time and get to know her.”
“Get to know her?” Bucky scoffed. “What do you think we’ve been doing? Hell, I’m familiar with her whole family!”
“Calm down Bucky. It’ll be fine. I’m gonna shower and get dressed for the party. What time is Y/N gonna be here?”
“Eight.” He exhaled sharply. “Guess I better get dressed. Thanks for talking me down.”
“Anytime pal. See ya later.” Steve made the trek to his room across the hall. It was obvious how Bucky felt about Y/N. He also knew she shared the same feelings.
After showering, Bucky dressed in a pair of stone washed black jeans, a pale blue button down shirt and ankle boots. His damp hair was pulled into a neat man bun.
Opening the nightstand drawer, Bucky rubbed his calloused fingers across a black velvet box. Y/N had a thing for dolphins. He purchased a silver dolphin necklace with miniature diamond eyes. “M’gonna give this to her tonight.”
Bucky put the necklace on the top shelf of his closet and locked the door. Sam managed to creep in his room snooping from time to time.
New Year’s Eve (8:00 p.m.)
Y/N took one last look at herself in the elevator mirror. Hair, makeup? Flawless! Her tattered blue jeans hugged her curvaceous frame. Paired with a cream, back out midriff sweater and black flats.
Bucky waited nervously in the hallway. The elevator was slower than usual. Finally, Y/N turned letting her gaze fall on the fine specimen in front of her.
“Hey Doll. You look, wow!”
Kissing his cheek, “Why thank you Sgt. Barnes. I must say you clean up well.”
Offering his arm, “Shall we?”
Tony kept the menu simple and self serve; Hot, Mild, Atmoic, Lemon Pepper, Tereyaki, and Bourbon glazed wings, Spicy Smoked Potato Salad, New Orleans style coleslaw, Garlic Parmesan wedge cut fries, Chicken Bacon Ranch casserole, Twice baked cheddar biscuits. The desserts were to die for: New York Style Cheesecake in chocolate, strawberry, tequila and caramel.
Confetti, 2018 hats, horns, plastic glasses, and feather boas were on the ready. After feasting on delectable delicacies, the time had come for copious amounts of alcohol.
Y/N, Nat, and Wanda enjoyed extra strong martinis, dancing around the room. Tony, Steve, Sam, Bucky, Thor, Bruce and Viz engaged in a rousing discussion on traditional New Year’s Eve traditions.
Once in a while, Bucky would stop talking to take in the angelic sight before him; Y/N with her head thrown back, giggling like a teenager.
Steve nudged his arm, “Y/N’s having a blast.”
“Yeah, Stevie. M’happy she’s here with us; with me.”
Bucky loved the sound of her laugh and blinding glow of her smile. Taking a break, Y/N grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. She felt a pair of strong hands on her waist.
“Hey Sarge. I missed you.”
Kissing the top of her head, “Missed you too. Having fun?”
Swallowing the refreshing clear cold liquid, “Bucky, I’ve NEVER had this much fun on New Year’s Eve!!!!” Pushing up on her toes, Y/N grazed Bucky’s lips with a kiss. “Thank you.”
Wanda pulled her back onto the dance floor. “C’mon girl, let’s paaaarty.” Bucky froze, relishing in the unexpected kiss.
New Year’s Eve (11:58 p.m.)
In preparation for midnight, everyone donned some form of 2018 wear. Bruce poured champagne for an already inebriated bunch.
Bucky held Y/N close to his side. The time had come to start the countdown……
10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..1…..HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! There were hugs, tears, and kisses!!! Steve offered the toast. “I don’t know what the year holds for us, but dammit we’ll be together as we were meant to be!”
Slurring a few words. Sam started a somber chorus “Auld Lang Syne”
♫♪♫Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne.
CHORUS
For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne.
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.♫♪♫
Bucky chose this moment to slip away with Y/N. “Why are we leaving Bucky? Is something wrong?
“No Doll, jus’wanna spend some time alone with you.” Opening the door to his room, “Ladies first.”
Taking in the sight in front of her, Y/N was transformed into the 1930’s. Bed neatly made, two hanging bookshelves, bedside lamp and nightstand. Nothing fancy but it all screamed James Buchanan Barnes.
“It ain’t much but m’okay. Guess old habits die hard.” Bucky never fancied extravagance. Plain and simple, like him.
Chuckling, Y/N motioned towards the closet. “What’s in there?” Turning the handle, unable to open it. “Why do you have your closet door locked? Who’s in there?”
Bucky brows drew together. “What? No one! Sam’s on the nosey side. Don’t want him messing with my stuff is all.” Part of that was true, part wasn’t!
“Excuse me while I use ‘the little girl’s room’ Sarge.”
“Sure thing doll. I’ll be here waiting for ya.” Tipsy, Y/N swayed into the bathroom, locking the door.
Wasting no time, Bucky unlocked his closet door, taking down the dolphin necklace, hiding it under his pillow. Hearing the commode flush and water running, a bead of sweat trickled down his forehead. “Shit, that was close.”
Kicking her shoes to the side, Y/N joined Bucky on his bed. ”Penny for your thoughts Sarge.”
Digging deep into his reservoir of courage, Bucky opened his mouth. “Y/N, since the night of Tony’s Christmas party, I can’t get’cha outta my head. I care for ya a lot.”
Laying her dainty hand atop the metal coolness, Y/N fluttered her eyelashes. “Sarge, I feel the same way. I can now laugh without wanting to cry. You’re good for me; we’re good for each other.”
“I, uh saw ya liked dolphins. Here’s something from me to you.”
Gasping, Y/N carefully opened the box. “Sarge! Oh my gosh, it’s breathtaking. Would you please put it on me?”
Standing in front of a floor length mirror, Y/N admired the necklace. Her smokey grey orbs glistened with tears. “Sarge, I love it and truth be told, in 5 days, you’ve managed to crawl into my soul and take root.”
Bucky lifted her chin. “2018 is our year. I’ll protect’ya with m’last breath. Y/N Y/L/N, would you do me the honor of being my best girl?”
Y/N scooted to his lap, getting a better angle on his soft lips. The kiss deepened as tongues fought for dominance. “Does that answer your question?” Bucky laid back on the bed with Y/N nestled against him.
2018 began where 2017 left off; filled with holiday magic for a promising new year so richly deserved, filled with endless possibilities.
TAGS: @caplansteverogers @omalleysgirl22 @rebelslicious @pegasusdragontiger @suz-123 @debzybrazy @love2rhyme @shy2shot @papi-chulo-bucky @magellan-88
#caplanschristmaschallenge#bucky barnes#bucky x reader#thanks for reading#james buchanan barnes#steve rogers#tony stark#sam wilson#wanda maximoff#natasha romanoff#thor odinson
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Pumpkin Pie Pains
SPN Rare Ship CC: Round 14 | @vampamber vs. @gilded-lady
Prompt: allspice and pumpkin pie
Ship: Dean/Jimmy
Word Count: 2420
Tags/Warnings: divorce, family drama, mild angst
Summary: “Pie! We forgot to make the pumpkin pie, Dean,” Jimmy fretted as he fussed with all the other foods that were in different states of completion. “You can’t have Thanksgiving dinner without pumpkin pie for dessert!”
Dean hugged his fiance from behind and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Jimmy, seriously, you need to chill,” Dean gently reprimanded him. “Claire’s bringing the pie. You know that. Amelia’s told you that at least half a dozen times in the past few weeks. Everything is fine. We got this.” Dean smiled when he felt Jimmy finally relax a little in his hold.
“I know,” Jimmy sighed. “It’s just… Everything has to be perfect. When me and Ames were still married, Thanksgiving was this huge, elaborate deal every year. That woman would put Martha Stewart to shame with the turkey and all the trimmings she’d put on the table. Claire’s never had a Thanksgiving that wasn’t like that. Your food’s good, Dean, but it’s not her mom’s,” he explained.
AO3 Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/12862812
Dean let out a sigh as he watched his boyfriend pace back and forth nervously. No matter how many times he’d reassured Jimmy that everything was going to be just fine today, he wouldn’t listen. As much Dean he loved the guy, he would never deny that he had some massive anxiety issues. Today being the perfect example.
They’d been together for almost two years now, but this would be their first Thanksgiving with Jimmy’s daughter from his former marriage, Claire. And they’d been engaged for over a month, but Jimmy was still worried that Claire would be upset that Dean was trying to take her mother’s place. Mind you, at sixteen Claire was upset over just about everything on the planet in some way or another, but that was another thing that Jimmy didn’t listen to when Dean kept telling it to him over and over.
“Pie! We forgot to make the pumpkin pie, Dean,” Jimmy fretted as he fussed with all the other foods that were in different states of completion. “You can’t have Thanksgiving dinner without pumpkin pie for dessert!”
Dean hugged his fiance from behind and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Jimmy, seriously, you need to chill,” Dean gently reprimanded him. “Claire’s bringing the pie. You know that. Amelia’s told you that at least half a dozen times in the past few weeks. Everything is fine. We got this.” Dean smiled when he felt Jimmy finally relax a little in his hold.
“I know,” Jimmy sighed. “It’s just… Everything has to be perfect. When me and Ames were still married, Thanksgiving was this huge, elaborate deal every year. That woman would put Martha Stewart to shame with the turkey and all the trimmings she’d put on the table. Claire’s never had a Thanksgiving that wasn’t like that. Your food’s good, Dean, but it’s not her mom’s,” he explained.
“She’s sixteen, she’s a big girl. I’m sure she can handle one Winchester-made turkey without crumbling to dust and blowing away in the wind from disappointment,” Dean told him, hugging him even tighter. “Besides, isn’t her mom doing the whole shebang for her side of the family on Saturday?”
“Yeah,” Jimmy replied, relaxing the rest of the way. “I’m just nervous. I really want her to like you.”
“I could be saint-like and she’d still see me as the evil step-father, I’m sure,” Dean joked. “I remember being sixteen. Dad had been married to Kate for a long time by then, and I still hated her because she wasn’t Mom. At least Claire won’t have to deal with any half-siblings like me and Sam did. I’m sure we probably left Adam with some permanent emotional scars with how we treated him growing up. To this day he still shudders if he sees pancake syrup whenever me or Sam visits.”
“Adam seems fine now,” Jimmy pointed out as he stirred the pot of boiling potatoes that would probably need to be mashed fairly soon.
“Only because we lived in different states and could only torture him during the holidays,” Dean said with a snort.
“The fact of which he was most likely thankful for on a daily basis, I’m sure,” Jimmy responded, smirking. Dean laughed and nodded his agreement.
“I’m sure me and Claire’ll get along just fine,” Dean said into Jimmy’s neck before giving him a few more G-rated kisses. She’d be here in less than twenty minutes, and Dean sure didn’t want to traumatize her by seeing her dad’s tented trousers.
“She’s refused to even meet you until now, and she only agreed this time because her mother bribed her with very expensive concert tickets,” Jimmy reminded him as he stopped stirring to lean into the kisses.
“Remind me to pay Amelia back for those soon,” Dean said as he switched to nuzzling.
“She already told you no when you offered the first time, so I’m not asking again.” The contented sigh Jimmy let out as soon as he was done speaking kind of ruined the stern tone, though.
“But I feel guilty,” Dean whined.
“Buy her an awesome Christmas present, then. She can’t refuse that,” Jimmy suggested. “I know she still hasn’t bought that new mixer she’s been drooling over.”
Dean turned Jimmy around and gave him a loud, theatrical kiss on the lips. “You are a genius!” He proclaimed just as loudly. “This is why I love you, you know.”
“So you don’t have to think of your own ideas?” Jimmy teased.
“Exactly,” Dean said before kissing him one last time. “Gives me more time to do the important stuff. Like check on the turkey.” He pulled away to do just that, and the two spent the next few minutes in comfortable silence, getting everything ready for dinner.
When the doorbell rang, Jimmy held Dean’s shoulder to keep him from answering it. “Let me get that.”
When Jimmy opened the door, his daughter pounced on him and gave him a suffocating hug. “Daddy!” She shouted. Jimmy had the distinct impression that she was just putting on a show to let Dean know who he really ‘belonged’ to, since she had stopped calling him daddy by the time she was ten. But he let it slide this time, because he wanted to forestall any arguing for as long as possible today.
“Heya, Claire-bear,” he said instead, then stepped to the side to let his ex-wife into the house as well. Amelia greeted him warmly with a hug of her own, then went to put the pie she was carrying in the kitchen.
Their marriage had been a relatively happy one, and Amelia had been completely understanding and even supportive of Jimmy when he had realized that he was actually gay five years ago. There were no hurt feelings, which Jimmy was very glad about. They’d stayed friends after the divorce, and she’d even ended up befriending Dean. The two Food Network addicts were probably discussing turkey in the kitchen at this very moment.
Claire had been completely supportive as well, until Jimmy had started dating Dean. He’d gone on plenty of dates before then, but Dean had been his first serious relationship. She never actually complained to her parents, but she acted like Dean was the worst monster that had ever existed. It was obvious that she was jealous, but knowing why she was acting so mean didn’t make Jimmy feel any better about it. “I think there’s a boy at school that has a crush on me,” she bragged, dumping her coat next to the coat rack instead of hanging it up, just like she always used to do. “He blushes every time I talk to him.”
“But you can’t date yet,” Jimmy responded with an over-exaggerated gasp worthy of a soap opera. “You’re still my little girl.”
“Dad, I’m sixteen,” she said in an exasperated teenager voice.
“See? Still little,” Jimmy said in triumph. “Maybe after you graduate college, I’ll consider it.” Claire stuck her tongue out at him as he chuckled at his own joke.
“I had my first girlfriend when I was fourteen,” Dean said, leaning against the doorway to the kitchen, Amelia behind him.
Claire’s expression immediately hardened. “Maybe sixteen is too young to be dating, after all,” she said stiffly, before going into the front room and flopping down on the couch. The sounds of the television being turned on showed exactly the kind of holiday dinner Dean and Jimmy could probably expect.
“She’s been running hot and cold all day,” Amelia said in apology. “Sorry for dumping this on you guys.”
“No worries, Sam had his bitchy teenage girl moments often enough when we were growing up. I’m used to it by now,” Dean joked, and they all laughed.
“Just remember that if things get too bad, I still have those tickets and I made sure to ask about their refund policy,” Amelia said as she gave them each one last hug before leaving. “Just because she’s a teenager, that doesn’t give her the right to ruin your holiday.”
“We should be just fine, Ames,” Jimmy reassured her. “I’m used to Claire’s moods, remember?”
“This one’s shaping up to be the worst, though,” she warned them. They both nodded, and she finally closed the door behind her.
“Should we be worried?” Jimmy asked, his bravery demolished now that his wasn’t trying to reassure Amelia.
“Naw,” Dean dismissed the thought with a wave of his hand. “She’s grumpy now, but nobody can be grumpy when eating my delicious cooking.”
Dean was proven terribly wrong a few minutes later, when dinner was served and Claire was magically in an even more sour mood than before. It takes a pouting teenager to be able to glare at you while simultaneously eating turkey and stuffing. She ignored every attempt Dean made at starting up a conversation, and only answered Jimmy’s attempts with monosyllabic answers and the occasional grunt or nod where appropriate.
“My mom’s food is better,” she said as she picked at the green beans that Dean had taken great care in making as perfect as possible.
“Good for her, then,” Dean grumbled, his mood shot to hell after almost an entire meal of stony silence intermingled with the occasional thinly veiled insult.
“My mom’s pretty much better at everything,” Claire said, putting her fork down. “And if you think you could ever take her place, you’re insane.”
“He’s not trying to take Amelia’s place,” Jimmy started, but Dean held up his hand to silence him.
“I got this, Jimmy,” Dean said, giving his fiance a kind look. Then he turned towards Claire and asked “What makes you think I’m trying to take her place?”
“You guys are gonna get married,” Claire responded, as if that explained everything.
“Just because your dad will be my husband, that doesn’t mean I’m trying to take your mom’s place,” Dean said back. Not exactly normal dinner conversation, but at least now they had a chance of actually working things out and he wasn’t going to pass that up.
“Yes it does, because you’re gonna try and be a dad to me, and I’m perfectly happy having just my parents,” she said, giving him a death glare. “Nobody asked me if I was okay with any of this. At least when Dad was just dating randomly, I didn’t have to worry about step-parents or any of that stuff. My friend Krissy has a step-mom who’s annoying and constantly trying to get her to do stuff she hates. I don’t want any more parents because I have enough already.” Her volume had gone up the longer she spoke, until she was quite loud by the end.
“Claire-bear, I wish you had said something before now,” Jimmy said, any anger he’d been feeling completely washed away.
Claire sniffled lightly. “Why’d you have to leave Mom, anyway? You guys were happy together.”
Dean sighed as Jimmy got up to give his daughter a hug. It all made sense now.
“We were happy, but not with each other,” Jimmy explained.
“You could’ve been, if you’d just tried harder,” Claire said.
“I love your mother, but I wasn’t in love with her,” Jimmy pointed out. “It took me a long time to realize it, sweetheart, but after I figured out I was gay it wouldn’t have been fair to either of us to stay together.”
“Sometimes people just aren’t right for each other, and they end up splitting up a family when they discover that,” Dean said, coming over to stand next to them. “They don’t want to split the family up, but they don’t want to be together either. It’s a crappy decision either way, but they still try to do what they think is the best way. My own mom and dad split up when I was a lot younger than you, Claire, and it was weird in the beginning, but I got used to it. My dad’s happy with his new wife and I got another brother out of that, and my mom’s happiest by herself. It’s just how things go.”
“It’s not how I wanted it, though,” she said weakly.
“If I could have made any of this easier, I would’ve Claire,” Jimmy promised. “But this is how it is, and there’s nothing that can be done to change it.”
Claire hugged her father harder. She wasn’t crying, but she looked pretty close.
“Was my food really that bad, or was that all just an act?” Dean tried joking to lighten the mood. Claire let out a tiny laugh, though, so it apparently worked.
“It was pretty good,” she said, muffled by the fact that her face was still pressed against Jimmy’s shoulder. She pulled away to smile teasingly at Dean. “But my mom’s is still better.”
Dean and Jimmy both laughed. “I’m sure it is, Claire,” Dean said, still grinning.
“How about some pumpkin pie to celebrate this new understanding?” Jimmy suggested as they all sat down again.
Jimmy reached for the pie to start cutting pieces when Claire grabbed his hand and shouted “No!” When her father gave her a confused look, she explained. “I, umm… may have sabotaged the pie when Mom wasn’t looking?” She gave a hesitant smile that begged them to not be angry with her.
“You ruined pie,” Dean said in an overdramatic way. “That’s practically a sin.”
“I’m sorry,” she said softly, looking it. Until Dean started laughing.
“Gives me an excuse to make another one later, at least,” he said, still chuckling a little.
“You were prepared for this?” Jimmy asked.
“Not really,” Dean admitted. “I just wanted to make sure there was enough pie for leftovers.”
Jimmy smiled at his pie-obsessed fiance. “Of course you did.”
“Can we still watch a movie after we finish cleaning up?” Claire asked, back to herself now that she didn’t have to play the part of the angry teenager any more.
“Of course we can,” Jimmy said, getting up to start clearing the table.
“We always watch my favorite Christmas movie after Thanksgiving dinner,” Claire explained as she got up to help Jimmy.
“Christmas already?” Dean groaned. “I’m still digesting the cranberry sauce. Can’t it wait at least one more day?” He complained.
“Die Hard is a freaking classic,” Claire argued.
“Wait, Die Hard is your favorite Christmas movie?” Dean asked. When Claire nodded, Dean’s face split into a wide grin. “I like her,” he said to Jimmy. Jimmy only shook his head and laughed. He knew they’d get along. Eventually.
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[C-1 / M-18] Text One
i tried to write a short bio about myself and my music project
but
Bio
Kharkiv
13
too yolo for being a DJ
ambient, noise
Weaponized naivness, helpless attack
Kanye West, PJ Harvey
Bee Pole EP
Pure EP
Love LP
NII, Powerhouse, Plivka, Zhyvot
A/V
CHSZM - experimental electronic project of Aleksei Podat, based in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Started producing music at the age of 13 after being an EDM DJ at St. Petersburg pirate radiostation for 2 years.
Now he creates melodic noise which he describes as sound of “pure naviete weaponized by haunting helplessness of logic&QUITE-EMOTIONAL-APPROACH-TO-ANYTHING&O - V - E -R -R RE-ACTING"T[M]. His greatest influences were Kanye West and PJ Harvey, as for now among them appeared some Kyiv(NO)-meta-based artists like (Ivan Skoryna) - is - (actual artist name) John Object, and Moscow (Still-NO;still-meta) based media-artists AWN-naw
(wowww, an artist doesn’t have a PAGE, HOW’S THAT, MR. Цукерберг, Марк, Mr TAG EVERYONE ON EVERY BIT OF YOUR tinyDaATa ttmmm] soundcloud.com/awn_naw
so: and Zurkas Tepla
[the..articles are so difficult, I know how journalists may feel, sometimes, about posting a klikByte-headed material about poverty, war, or numerous G20 Ideologic rave party, I AM CHARLIE, CHARLIE SHEEN CAUGHT ROBBING WALLtm-MART NEAR THE FREEDOM ST., BUT luckily, the casser worker! had called the police last night, when they! heard some "sounds of (violent) noise.. haha great my friend got a vynil of this, which i have no possibility to actually hear, my sounds of noise are shaped by the bloodstream of mine and the clone of Mine[tm] who hopes, i hust buy it as fast as he could be tauht, at their trial lol trial, you have noone to feed, don’t you, family-less, dropped out of nowhere worker huhhh]
NEXT PARAGRAPH is/was/will be ABOUT - ( WHINNING ABIOUT UKRAINIAN BANK ACCOUNTS NOT ACCEPTING BANDCAMP TRANSACTIONS TRHOUIG PAY PAL DAM)….
I GOTTA MAKE THOSE FUCKING CASSETTES NOBODY REALLY NEADS, EXCEPT ONE ( you are dramqueened, lolll) Ph.D of USA University, which i respect, for the interest in New East culture. [I’d like them to show me. where’s the new east, so i could finally show em the old one]
Me Respect Professos, what’s wrong with that huh?)))), I am studying at Karazin University, I AM studying political sciences, without a bit of post-truth politics, just post-truth patriot-oriented education, it’s quite depressing. (UBA - shorter, smarter look, more modern than the actual modern term Ukrainian Bank Accounts, and it sounds like UBER, like not the taxi service, which robs every piece of his stuff, including the clever-auto-routed-cars. of course. If they are clever, they are good enough to be credited as stuff, AND BE TAKEN SERIOUS SUPPOSEDLY I GUESS MAYBE i don’t kno, tho, lo ve16/03/18 first LP has been self-released you kno, i gottaa promote it, and i do my best at it, since i left label with audience in Facebook of 3k people - next kp - k people, not k-pop,; Soundcloud like 7+kp (non k-pop also, they don’t even use it, u must be kidding, kidDO - kidDO - essential mobile app just for YOUR smartphone, to get you a proper kid. Look at you(r,) "kid” and look at “kidDO"TM!!! - exclamaiton marks are here to gain psychical pressure on our deer, hi that’s was bad jokey…like your kiddo, dear, dear, very dear, and precious customers, not to exclaim that we have registered this trademark with absolutely obvious "misunderstandings” with law, and fully understanding with the power….forces..FORCES OF POWER, OF
LOVE,
U
KNO, TO OUR CUSTOMERS…so, not to seem a little bit weird but I don’t feel lonely, I have a great support of my family and friends, I sometimes do just awful things to them, like…idk…being an artist with great not only the creative potential, but a POT(i’d smoke this sh1t on 3v3ryday bas1s in case I would have agreed on following the path of using potential #2, it’d be weird if i liked a chance to be a person like in example NUMBER TWO, u kno, TWO, 2, LOSER, FUCKING LOOSER,) ential of sitting my ass out near shitty PC on windows XP (Mhhmhmm, safety, in Ukrainian IT companies… is quite interesting quiestion, wee(d) n(w)eed to look at it from different perspectives, different angles…) (actually i do the same at my dorm, or at mama-house(TM haha, no, sry, i’m not THAT misogynistic human being, to EVEN Imagine™ my mother, as a woman, first of all (fck offff my “i-understood-Freud-wrong-but-1-read-it-ironically-so-fuckk-you”-mates, I understand these great postmod(ern)(ehhh)(snobbyy)(but i like it) possibilities that came out as a pale garbage, like from the corpse, the corpse of a most pale kidDO (of course if our company be mistakeyy just a lil bit, like “oops”), as soon as you got a thought in you head like “Oh, over-using (that small dash as a reminder - if you misread oversueing somehow, goto "mylawyer” and think a bit once, than a little bit more, and than turn your MINDPOWER [LP3, 2026 new demos never, I know, I’m a bit of paranoid about showing my stuff to anonymouses like ISIS or Presidents, like very very bad presidents, like, I even don’t kno who to mention, but you’ve got the point, they could rip off my MASTERPOWER [LP0 It was already released, and you are not talanted in googling enough to find it eat my t-shirts, to be more accurate, not shirts, i’m not that “kid” if he could be reffered like this too, since 29 years of struggle through average mid-class family “oopsey-woopseys”, Hey, CC [NoN-creative-commoned-Comedy-Central, so “™”], wanna see an episode dated 1999 where Bart SimpsonS, using his MINDPOWER, obviously"TM", becomes a high-school breakbit-techno-house-electro DJ BioSex [in reversed order, please, mix, but do not shake, please, to make a cocktail which our modern “underground electroni#css” music scene like really deserves
ADVERTPERVERT ROUBRIQUE [le]
Fill a collins glass with ice. Add tequila and midori, fill rest of glass with sour mix, and garnish with an orange slice and a cherry. Then drink it by yourself if you truly believe, that you are great at mixing 4/4 tracks, OH GOSH HOW MEAN I AM, I WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE MEAN TO A PERSON WHO JUST MAKES A LIVING ON DOING EVERYTHING HE WANTS, LIKE VINYLL FLIP-FLOPS, AND CD’S CHANGINGGGG [REALLY HOT DOWN HERE, YOU NOW, HEATING IS GOING LIKE SHUSH, ITS JUST SO HOT UNDER THE DJ TABLE FUCK IT, IKEA, YOU GOTTA DO SMTH WITH IT]..sorry,..fck, almost forgot about this phoney thingy [IKEAtm - more than trade, more than marks, IKEA rules, here are scandinavian workers tired sparks (around head) (from amusement, how GOOD, it TASTES, to eat CHICKEN, at the TABLE, you know you PRODUCED, but you DON’T CARE [mArXXXattention - marxists fukof, i know i’m using some kind of “not really accurate” info!! about your DAD’S BOOK, i’m sorry, I never gonna touch it again, I promise, peace] [Fuck xxxtentaciwho, i don’t stand public image of a talented musician to be spoiled with so fucked up facts, like beating someone for a long time, or having sex with a person against their will, and that’s not a joke. Pretty sad that talented freshmen will never be a talented human being for me, but he still is for someone, and those are might be fucked up as hell also, not as much as a person, who fucks another with a fork, or other objects [even if he does it in postmod, that’s cruel to kids, think about what happend to WW2 kids, and X it on the quantity of eyes that never seen the damn piece of war [lucky ones, would be like to feel a bit like that] [i’m lucky too, but not that much, you kno, “Sloviansk"TM, or how it frequently was trasliterated from "local-pronounciation” - Slavinsk [CC license] - [src: telegraph.co.uk/…/Donetsk-police-chief-forced-out-as-Ukrain…, BTW! using a chance of such a productivity FUCK Telegraph, and probably fUcK BBC News [can’t find a source, but i remember this LE GOOGLE-LESS JOURNALIST REPORTAGE for not having a MINDPOWER, and what’s more important, for them, as professionals, of “dividing"TM "bad people"TM and "good people"TM - a MASTERPOWER ability. Purchase Love LP. LP is for Pl which is for [sorry, my polish friends, and people who don’t understand slavic-english-writing-stYLO [stereotype], sorry, I’m very very sorry, that IT HAPPENED[TM], yeas, Pl - which is for Please! Sorry! I admit, I took you to the really dark place, but I Love you, and I really want you to survive. [really enjoying’ my time with those funny Latin letters, playing with them, omg, i don’t even kno what doessss the DAMN.[really liked it, but TPAB was way better, please take a note, Kendrick, i’m your fan for 3 yrs, my opinion weighs smth, huh? I don’t even have fans which are able to notice when i delete a bunch of my “First Relaeses” from bandcamp. That’s for good, actually, I’d like not to get any messages containg things like “Hei Aleksei! Your first release Ножові was great and thought-provoking, and your last LP called..let me think, Laugh? Life? Ah, I remembered it’s called] half of my words mean
And yeah
Love / OUT NOW
CHSZM - noise music project of Kharkiv based media-artist Aleksei Podat.
Hometown: Sloviansk
Birthdate: 25/08/1996
gosh, i got these voices sequenced to 4/4 again, moom. I need a PROFESSIONAL HERE
if you got some psychologist help to advice, i’d be shy, but greatful
__________________________________________________________
Telegram Channel
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2017 was a year to be reckon with. Beyond the obvious, political environment, on a personal level, on all levels, this year was one that I would prefer to use as a learning lesson. So, just as warning, this will be a long post.
BOOKS, BOOKS & MORE BOOKS
I reached my Goodreads goal of 200 books this year 😀 Super excited about that because not only did I not reach it last year but I hit constant book walls this year. Between books that couldn’t keep my interest, books that did not live up to the hype and my own expectations and finally books that were poorly written, my book year has been full of highs and lows.
However, I did hit some fantastic reads, some good reads and some pretty covers, that I want to share.
Fantastic Reads
Crown Books for Young Readers Published Sept. 12, 2017 384 Pages
Algonquin Young Readers Published Sept. 19, 2017 272 Pages
HarperCollins Published July 25, 2017 288 Pages
Why were these books fantastic reads? They were engaging, diverse, honest and creative. The plot kept me on my toes, the characters had development and growth. The world, in which the story is set, felt real like opening my front door. Some of these reads fed my love of history and mythology, while other fed my love for a sappy love story. Either way, my fantastic reads of 2017 are highly recommended.
Good Reads
Dutton Books for Young Readers Published Sept. 26, 2017
Kodansha Comics Published Oct. 25, 2016 304 Pages
Why were these books good reads? They didn’t hit all of my points previously mentioned in Fantastic reads. But they did keep me engaged for most of the book and I loved the character. Also these good reads, have a very strong foundation and although not 5 Pickles perfect, I am happy to have read them and read the next book in their series if it applies.
Pretty Covers
Algonquin Young Readers Published Sept. 19, 2017 272 Pages
Flatiron Books TBP Jan. 30, 2018 368 Pages
What’s a year in review, if I don’t display some gorgeous covers. Some of these books I have read, while others I have not been able to get to yet. But aren’t they just beautiful to look at!
WHAT TANYA HAS BEEN UP TO THIS YEAR
So as mentioned this year has been a unexpected force that put a lot of things in perspective. Firstly, I was able to visit my husband in Japan for two weeks and I was able to go to Dominican Republic this year as well. Both were amazing and it made me realize how attainable traveling can be, if you put your money in order. Because of these adventures, I have the wanderlust bug and actively planning a bunch of trips for 2018.
On a emotional level, I have been a mess. I have been missing my husband dearly and the toll of living on the other side of the world was heavy. It’s still heavy but it is much more manageable. We made celebrated two anniversaries this year. 6 years when we started dating or when I stopped being a butt and said sure (October 3rd) and 4 years when we said I do (December 6th). I tend to get a bit emotional when its comes to my Husband because when we met when I was emotionally and spiritually in bad shape. He stuck around even when I didn’t want him to. He means a lot to me and I can’t wait until his deployment is over and he is home for good.
On another note, school has been kicking my butt and the back and forth of if I should even keep going with my masters degree has been a unanswered question for months now. I am leaning towards banging out this final year (InshaAllah) but I am just not into this classes like I thought I would be. But I did better this semester, so hopefully I can keep that going.
I struggled a lot with past Tanya and current Tanya. Past Tanya was getting bored and tired of being in the past and wanted to explore some newfound freedoms, while current Tanya is not for that mess. But because of certain life changing decisions it was hard to stop those thoughts and move forward with the obvious right and better choice. Past Tanya has taken a step back and I pray that it will be for good. Because when I say she was a mess…smh just so messy.
I learned that self-care is needed not every once in a while but all the time and that it can take different forms. For me going to the library or bookstore, taking a bath and disconnecting from social media, have been the best methods I have learned and used a lot this year. I am still growing in this area because me and emotions aren’t the best of friends but I am proud of myself. I had less panic attacks than I did in 2016, so that counts right? Lol
On a second note, I saw my first ballet, went to a Harry Potter experience, watch old anime in a movie theater, met new people, started wearing lipstick, won a few arc giveaways and a bunch of other stuff. Although this year had some downs, the highs were highs but most importantly I lived and got to thank God for that everyday.
Social Media
As of today I have the following followers on each channel I run:
Instagram: viewsfromthe_desktop : 78 Followers
WordPress: motif by Tanya : 122 Subscribers
Twitter: @motifink 408 Followers
I have been participating in various twitter chats and hash tags. Social media is taking a lot of my time and I had made it my mission that every month, I will take a week vacation from it. However, despite the overload, I have been putting myself and Motif by Tanya out there and it is visible in the increase of followers. I even began writing monthly updates and topic specific blogs. During this year (2017) I forgot how much I enjoy writing and started making time for it despite my growing responsibilities. I love this renewal and in 2018, I tend to work on my writing more.
What Tanya Wants 2018
There are several goals I am reaching for this year, book related and in real life.
Book Goals:
Start posting regularly for Quick Five© interviews
Begin posting The Frustrated Reader© monthly
Clear out my arc queue on Netgalley
Attend book conventions and festivals
Book Con
Bronx Festival
Y’all Fest
Book Expo
Novateen Book Fest
Well Read Black Girl Fest
Begin posting on either Amazon or Goodreads
Start a YouTube channel
Travel Goals:
Baltimore
Bday Cruise
Seattle
Paris
Chicago
Personal Goals:
Pray 5 daily prayers on time
Quran reading
Learn Arabic
Start rockclimbing again
Learn to fence
Learn to bake bread and make a pie from scratch
Volunteer
Learn to drift & drive a stick
Professional Goals:
Begin freelance writing
Move up in my current company
Own a business
What Tanya Wants New Releases: January 2017
Now what can be a end of the year, beginning of the year wrap up without my anticipated reads for January 2017 🙂
I do plan on participating in #unreadshelfproject2018 but with so many new reads I am waiting for this year, I am going to modify my goal. For every 3 tbr books, physical and digital, that I have, I will read one of wants. Sounds fair right 🙂
In Conclusion:
I know that this was a long post and it could have been several posts spaced out during the week but it was great therapy. What is that saying, speak it into existence? Not only am I doing that but praying first and foremost. Is this considered a new year’s resolution? Naw not really. Motif by Tanya is a book review and author interview website but it is also my baby that I put a lot of time in. It’s time to make her stand out and if that means showing a little bit more of me every so so then so be it.
Peace and Blessings, Ya’ll ❤
Year in Review: 2017 2017 was a year to be reckon with. Beyond the obvious, political environment, on a personal level, on all levels, this year was one that I would prefer to use as a learning lesson.
#fantasy#favorite reads#festivals#holly black#instagram#New year#personal#twitter#what tanya wants#Wrap Up#YA books
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Rules: complete the questions and say who tagged you in the beginning. When you’re finished, tag people to do this survey. Have fun and enjoy!
tagged by @goldenxeyedxfamily
Are you named after anyone? I believe I was originally named after my great grandmother? Honestly she was such a sweet woman... My new name I just chose myself... it ended up meaning “Friend” in a native language ^^
When was the last time you cried? *sigh* Yesterday... sort of forgot to take my meds and was having a hard time;;
Do you like your handwriting? It’s alright??? It’s kind of messy tho;;
What’s your favorite lunch meat? I LOOOOVE Bologna <3
Do you have kids? *WHEEZING LAUGHTER* nah- haven’t even dated yet and even if I were to adopt, never this early, especially without a S.O.
lf you were a different person would you be friends with you? Honestly? I think I would actually... I do try to be the kindest I can be to everyone I meet so... I think I would :)
Do you use sarcasm? Nah, me what?! Nawww! NEVER! =w=
Do you still have your tonsils? Yes.
Would you bungee jump? HELL TO THE NAW! TO THE NAW NAW NAW!
What’s your favorite cereal? Cinnamon toast crunch ovo
Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Nah, just slide them on
Do you think you are a strong person? I can put a 20L office water bottle over one shoulder and go up stairs with little trouble and give people taller than me piggy back rides soooo- yeah I think I am
What’s your favorite ice cream? Changes from time to time but right now I am craving Neopolitan
What’s the first thing you notice about people? Their eyes, it’s how I get a basic read on what they are like really.
What’s your least favorite physical thing about yourself? My weight is the only thing I can really think of... but even then I don’t dislike it as much as I used to.
What color pants and shoes are you wearing right now? navy blue pants and just socks :P
What are you listening to right now? “This is Gospel” by “Panic at the Disco”
lf you were a crayon what color would you be? seafoam/mint green
Favorite smell? Fresh laundry <3
Who was the last person you talked on the phone with? My mom I think...?
Favorite sport to watch? I don’t watch sports;;
Hair color? Brown
Eye color? Also brown.
Do you wear contacts? No, glasses
Favorite food? Sushiiii ovo
Scary movie or comedy? Comedy for sure (unless a scary movie is so bad it’s funny because THEN I’ll watch it o3o
Last movie you watched? “Face Off” with Nicholas Cage and John Travolta
What color shirt are you wearing? drab green
Summer or winter? Summer.
Hugs or kisses? Both GIVE ME BOTH DAMN IT!!!
Book you’re currently reading? None right now really;;
Who do you miss right now? Seto-kun TwT
What’s on your mouse pad? It’s just a plain black
What’s the last tv program you watched? I don’t watch TV, just youtube
What’s the best sound? The wind in the trees or windchimes
Rolling Stones or The Beatles? The Beetles
What’s the furthest you’ve ever Traveled? I think the furthest was either PEI or Cuba;;
Do you have a special talent? I draw really well ^^
Where were you born? Tamiskaming shores, Ontario, Canada.
I tag anyone who wants to do it ovo
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Blind nuzlocke: Black(Part 1)
I was gonna make a comic but honestly? I’m good with it as just tumblr posts.
this is basically just me reacting to the story but w/e
*professor appears* WHAT, A LADY PROFESSOR?
cool
(J)uniper: “people call me the Pokémon professor!” How many “the Pokémon professor"s are there??
sorry dude but Hilda looks cool and you look super lame
J: "I’m going to introduce you to your two best friends” lololololol
(B)ianca: “they were delivered to Hilda’s house so she gets first pick” sure that makes good logic sense
Tag: “please settle your choices politely”…great, that’s foreshadowing isn’t it
(H)ilda: *looks at three balls* uhhhhhhhhhhh *grabs one blindly* THIS ONE! C:“you can look inside you know” H: NOPE TOO LATE NOW I PICKED ONE
B: “This one’s mine, that one’s yours!” C:“that’s okay, I wanted Oshawott anyway…” sure you did, Eeyore
B: “LET’S FIGHT RIGHT NOW!” C:(background flaily) “not inside!”
B: “aaah how is it stuck in my purse already!”
*room is fucking DESTROYED*
C: I FUCKING TOLD YOU
B: dang! Look at this shit! Pokémon are amazing!
C: *facepalm*
B: oh, right, sorry Hilda…
C: well, I suppose I should heal your Pokémon…
B: hey Cheren, you’re so smart that you can totally battle without trashing the room!
C: you are completely… 100% RIGHT, BRING IT ON
H: wait noooooooo
C: “ah! So that’s a Pokémon battle!” YOU DIDN’T KNOW??
C: “I made a strange blunder” naw dude you actually just got unlucky
Mom: who needs to clean?? Consequences?? Nah just go meet the professor you scamps
Mom: ah, Pokémon battles are so much fun..
Mom: “oh, don’t forget your smart watch!” well that’s fancy *puts in backpack* “uh… you’re supposed to wear it?” H: NOPE
C: ugggghhhh, bianca must be spacing again, can you go fetch her? i need to stay here to keep you from running out of town
Rando: “science is amazing! you can use infrared! to do… stuff” well that’s amazingly informative
B’s dad: NO! NO ADVENTURE! FUN IS TERRIBLE! A THOUSAND TIMES NO!
B’s mom: honestly. you can’t NOT go on a Pokémon adventure as a kid. it’s part of the natural life cycle. i’m pretty sure you would literally die.
B: ugh, parents. come on, let’s go.
J: let me introduce myself again! My name is- C: Juniper. Why. J: ah you’re no fun. MY NAME IS JUNIPER, AND I AM RESEARCHING HOW AND WHY POKÉMON CAME FROM
all kids: seriously…?
J: “oh! You already battled?” are you honestly surprised?? “But… You didn’t name them?” uuuuhhhhhh…
J: nice, subtle! Sure beats “grasshole” over here! B: hey, it’s clever!
J: but anyway, I gave you Pokémon because- C: the pokedex. J: stop interrupting me!
B:… Pokedex?
J: wow. How do you not know about the pokedex? B: I’M SHELTERED OK?
J: “Well, anyway… The pokedex is blah blah blah…” yeah yeah get on with it
J: “and here you go!” PINK? NO WHYYYYYYYYY
J: also I gotta teach y'all to catch Pokémon so meet me outside
B: “since the professor asked me to go adventuring, SHE gets to convince my dad.” yeah sounds fair.
B: “and I can finally discover who I’m meant to be” slow down kid you’re just ten right?
WHO COULD THIS MYSTERIOUS SMILING MAN IN THE PICTURE WITH JUNIPER BE? gee, i wonder
Mom: Juniper asked you to complete the pokedex? I can’t believe it! What a shock! Wink, wink! I’m so surprised! But I just happened to have maps of Unova on me and you should take them.
Mom: “ah, Pokémon, so cute, but with the power to destroy a bedroom!”… you could just ask me to clean up, you don’t have to be all passive aggressive “no foe could stand in your way! not with the power of bedroom destruction!”
Mom: “now go become wonderful adults!” me: again… Ten? H: “actually we’re 14” me: you can hear me???
C: “if I use the map, I can know where I am” yes that is how maps generally work
B: “well we’ll go ahead, catch up Hilda!”
right… well… can we check out that map? I don’t know Unova. H: sure.
B: “okay now let’s all take our first step together!” how is this our first step H: shhh
C: sorry we kept you waiting, bianca is a silly bucket and hilda was inordinately fascinated by the map H: hey, you’re the one who was all “ooh a map now I won’t get lost! Best present ever!”
J: “Well… Now that you’re here, I can explain how the pokedex works!” me: ugh, seriously? H: hey, bianca is very sheltered!
J: “and now, how to catch Pokémon!” at least the local rattata looks cool.
J: and here are your starting pokeballs!
J: “now I’ll be waiting in the next town!” is… she going to accompany us the whole way?
C: bianca, she forgot to say Pokémon live in the tall grass B: I know that! Geez cheren I do live in the world you know!
C: anyway I’m headed to Accumula also B: “me too! What a coincidence” gee it’s almost like there’s no other place you can reach from here
B: hey I got an idea! C: oh god I’m out of here B: “hey jerk, listen! I just wanted to say we can have a Pokémon catching contest!” me: welp, we lose H: ?? Why?
C: okay, sure. but only because it’ll fill up the pokedex. B: you just don’t want to admit I had a good idea :P
H: *throws poke ball* *it doesn’t open* “what the..?” me: that’s my fault H:“???” poke balls only work for one encounter per location when I’m around H: “what? No fair!” me: yeah it can make things difficult H: “go away then!” me: well i can’t but i can at least give good advice H:“I don’t care how good of advice you have if I can’t catch Pokémon it’s useless” me: you might reconsider when you hear who I’ve advised before H: “… Okay ill bite, who” me: oh, you know, just ash, lyra, brendan and dawn H: “…The Nipponese champions? You’re kidding right?” me: cross my heart
H: “Well… Fine, you can stick around… What even are you though?” me: I dunno, some kind of spirit. but how come you can hear me when no one else could? H: “how should I know. what’s different?” me: well… you’re older I guess. H: “see, maybe that’s it.” me: yeah… I guess
H: “so… We really can’t catch another?” me: no, sorry, only the first valid one on a route. H: “hold up what makes something valid?” me: worry about it later, i can see your friends up ahead
oh, there are level 2s, good H: “there are whats” never mind
B: “we each have two!” oh I thought… well of course not this early H: what?
*ring ring ring, phone call*
J: hurry up, y'all! I want to show you around town! C: that’s not- B: oh thank you! I’ve never been! C: ..right
end part 1
*i am not using standard nuzlocke rules
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