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dottiechan · 3 years

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ICEBREAKER Pt. 1

Read on AO3 (link in bio)

Pairing: Crosshair x Reader x Hunter; Tech x Reader (platonic)

Wordcount: 2389

Summary: Tech watches on helplessly as his brothers' affection for you threaten to ruin the squad.

Warnings: cursing, yearning

You’re just as cold on the inside as the ice is under your boots. It crunches with every step you take, and your heart seems to beat along with the fall of your boots, aching. You feel unsteady, almost enough to miss the tracks running in the snow right in front of you. You pause and crutch down, gloved fingers dipping into the indentations as you grumble to yourself. It’s not even your turn to scope out the area where you’re setting up camp, and besides, there is a literal tracking genius in your squad - it really shouldn’t be you who’s out here in the snow and ice, eyes straining against the blinding white of the planet, fingers freezing off as you set up perimeter alarms. And yet you just volunteered for the less than ideal task without explanation, not understanding your own decision either.

At least Tech offered to tag along, but you suspect he’s simply had enough of his brothers for a while. Not that you can blame him.

“Fascinating.”

You sigh, internally begging him to stop talking as you stand, abandoning the tracks after deciding they most likely belong to a lone whitefang. You have enough on your plate right now, with Hunter still being pissy and Crosshair avoiding you like the plague, and silence would be much more preferable right now to listening to one of Tech’s rambles.

“Did you know that this moon’s surface is almost entirely composed of water?”

“No.”

“Despite the subzero surface temperature, there are subsurface oceans underneath the ice that are warmed by the moon’s internal heat.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I wish we could stay long enough for me to study the subsurface flora and fauna. There might be plants underneath the ice that-”

“Tech.”

“-that use chemosynthesis-”

“Tech!”

“What?”

He has the decency to look flustered, one hand gripping the datapad tightly, the other flying up to adjust his goggles as he peers up at you. You didn’t mean to sound so harsh, but sometimes you just can’t help it. Sometimes, the confinement of the Marauder is enough to turn you into a ticking time bomb, irritated by the slightest seemingly innocent things. And you’ve had more than just mere sparks to flare your temper as of late.

...

His rifle is spotless, and yet he’s still scrubbing it as if his life depended on it.

Maybe it does, because if he jumps up and lowers his guard for a second, he’s out the ship and off to find you and Tech. Maybe you’re a fool sometimes, a god damn nuisance, a person he still couldn’t grow used to, but you belong with them now, you’re theirs, you’re his, and that means something to him. You frustrate him beyond reason, and he often grows callous and agitated because he refuses to allow himself to feel the emotions you elicit from him whenever you’re near him.

Even now, on an ice planet, the mere thought of you infects him with a sweet, sweet jungle fever that knocks him off his feet.

And he’s supposed to be angry now, Crosshair reminds himself. After all, you almost gotten yourself killed on Bracca, and almost broke him in the process.

“They’ve been gone for too long,” Hunter grumbles as he paces up and down like a caged nexu craving to run free. But lately Crosshair began to suspect that he craves something else, someone else, and the thought has his throat tightening in jealousy. He’s been watching, and he convinced himself that he’d misread the signs until he saw the same agitation reflect in his brother’s eyes that he himself has to wrestle with every day.

If it ever came down to your choice, he knows he wouldn’t be it, and he hates living with this knowledge.

Hunter has all the things you seem to like - unlimited kindness, longing looks, smirks that turn a little too soft when directed at you, broad shoulders he caught you staring at more times than he can count. Deep down, he’s still hoping it will never come to you having to choose, but it’s impossible not to wish to be in the centre of your attention. You drive him insane, but you also make him want to commit and stop fighting and lay down his weapons for once in his god damn life.

“Relax. They’re probably fine.”

The screen to their left lights up, and Hunter rushes across the ship in long strides before exhaling in relief. “The proximity alarms are online. They should be heading back soon.”

Crosshair sucks in a breath, worried about seeing his own emotions sitting behind Hunter’s eyes as well.

...

You were assigned to assist the Bad Batch for an unspecified period of time some months ago. You’re a versatile field agent, specialising in both stealth and combat casualty care, one of the few volunteers who were qualified enough to join the GAR. Oh, and you’re also clearly mistrusted by your new squad as they flip out the very moment you risk yourself in the line of duty. You’re not stupid, you weighed the risks carefully, and you trusted your abilities to see you through the job unharmed.

But ever since the incident on Bracca, you’re given the cold shoulder by most on the squad, and for once, the scenery matches your mood.

And yet Tech deserves better than to be cut off like that. He deserves to be listened to, and appreciated as the good man he is. You’re friends, but in moments like these, you think you don’t deserve his friendship.

“Look, I’m... I’m sorry, okay? But right now, I have too much on my mind to think about, umm, chemo...”

“Chemosynthesis?”

“Yeah, that.”

“I think I understand,” he nods, satisfied with your half-assed apology for the time being as he goes back to scanning the vast icy desert stretching as far as the eye can see. The Marauder’s lights blink in the background, orange against the dark blue of the growing darkness that surrounds you. It’s like a beacon, a sign that promises warmth, and you gaze at it longingly until you remember that you’ll have to go back to Crosshair’s scowl and Hunter’s disapproving frown and Wrecker’s awkward little smiles. Somehow, the ice is preferable once more, and the snow that just began to fall in soft flakes is little more than a mild annoyance.

“Well, aside from a few distant life forms-”

“Whitefangs.”

“Yes, most likely whitefangs - aside from those, we should be quite safe inside the ship for tonight.”

“Yeah,” you sigh. “You might be. I’m not the most popular with the squad right now, remember?”

“You are a valued addition,” Tech declares, and the certainty in his voice releases inside you the emotional equivalent of a sucker punch. All you can do is stand, and fight the sting of tears in your eyes. You’re confident, but you never in your wildest dreams imagined how difficult it would be to live up to the expectations of a special unit. You also know your worth, but it’s hard to keep on believing in yourself steadfastly when the rest of your squad doubts your every move. “Which is why the prospect of losing you elicits a rather severe emotional reaction in us. It is rare for regs to warm up to us as well as you have, let alone volunteers. Aside from the obvious tactical disadvantage losing you would mean, I believe it is a little more personal than that.”

...

Hunter knows something is off even before one of the alarms is triggered - whatever it is, it is within five clicks of the ship, making you and Tech plenty exposed before he could do anything. He was straining his ear simply to keep you all safe - so what if he accidentally heard your muffled voice, or the soft crunch of snow underneath your boots?

But now is not the time to be idle, and he knows it. He would never forgive himself if something happened to his squad. And to you, he corrects himself almost softly as he grabs his helmet and checks his weapons quickly. Despite the fact that he’s still angry about your previous carelessness, he cannot deny the forbidden yearning coiling in his stomach whenever you’re on his mind, making him just as nervous as hopeful. And to be fair, it happens more and more often as of late, which is both alarming and exciting as he never thought he’d ever have the luxury to feel this way about someone else. Sure, he knows love, he loves his brothers with all his heart even if he isn’t very vocal about it, but this is different. New, scary, exciting different, an effervescent and persevering tingling blinding all his senses.

Crosshair is beside him in less than a second, rifle in hand, silent, and they share a nod before lowering the ramp and rushing out into the freezing dusk.

When he picks up on your muffled voice, he seems to ignore everything as he breaks into a sprint towards you, hoping to reach you in time before you’re in danger. He almost misses the way Crosshair’s heartbeat picks up, the usually stoic man reeking with genuine worry as he looks through the scope of his rifle.

He can deal with this later, Hunter promises himself as he pushes down this uncomfortable feeling. But then he sees you and Tech, and he seems to forget about anything and everything - you have that unfortunate and awfully distracting effect on him.

...

“But Hunter yelled at me for being reckless for a solid hour. And Crosshair said he didn’t care if I wanted to get myself killed, but I should do it in a way that didn’t interfere with the mission. Seriously, what an asshole.”

“Nevermind what they actually say,” Tech waves his hand in mild annoyance. “Hunter was worried sick. Crosshair almost went after you. And they’re both too pigheaded to admit the real reason why they’re so worked up.”

“Which is?”

“Obviously they both view you as a potential romantic partner.”

There’s a moment of pause as you two stare back at one another before you snort and chuckle, shaking your head and crossing your arms over your chest as a futile attempt at staying warm. “Tech, you need to work on your sense of humour.”

“And you need to work on your observational skills and situational awareness.”

“My observational skills are exceptional,” you defend yourself, a finger held up in the air defiantly. “And my situational awareness is-”

“Lacking, as you didn’t seem to notice the whitefang return. I suggest we head back to the safety of the Marauder.”

Sure enough, the wild cat is there lurking amongst the ice dunes, its eyes glowing in the dark as they reflect the light of the ship. It shouldn’t pose a threat to you as it is alone, and relatively small, but you still consider wrestling with it instead of returning to the ship and facing the rest of the squad - somehow, even that feels like a fight more fair than the ones that await you upon your return. So you hold its gaze as it curiously inspects you, wishing to swap bodies and run away and avoid any more conflict. Before you can even think of returning to the ship, you hear quiet footsteps catching up to you.

“I thought I heard something.”

“It’s probably more curious than anything.”

Hunter unsheaths his vibroblade and twirls it in his hand so theatrically it makes you roll your eyes. He glances at you, shoulders all tense, ready to pounce at the slightest sign of danger, and even though his face is obscured by his helmet, you can almost see the disappointed frown sitting on his features. “You want to test that theory?”

“My money would be on the whitefang winning.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Tech.”

“Any time.”

“Relax.” The distorted rasp of your commlink is not enough to drown out the smugness of the sniper. The stand-off ends when a single well-placed shot right before the big cat sends it sprinting away into the darkness. You all turn to find Crosshair standing by the ship, his rifle still aimed at the retreating form of the whitefang.

“Well, there goes my opportunity to finally have an interesting patrol,” you mutter to yourself as you all make it back to the Marauder.

“Do all of your patrols end in you staring down carnivores?” Crosshair snorts, clearly unamused.

“Only the good ones,” you fire back, deciding not to wait for any of them as you head inside. Crosshair is hot on your heels, another string of mockery sitting on the tip of his tongue, because fuck, you’re stubborn, but he’s not going to cave in and tell you how it makes him feel to see you in danger. He can’t, however, put up with being away from you either.

Hunter lingers a little outside. He has to set himself straight, to contain all the things he wants to say you that have nothing to do with scolding you about Bracca, to kill all the feelings that suddenly demand to be felt so desperately. He clenches and unclenches his fists by his side, pretending to survey the surroundings of the Marauder. Tech moves in the periphery of his vision, but instead of following you and Crosshair, he steps closer to Hunter.

“I believe the threat’s been averted.”

“Yeah. Good job on setting up those alarms, Tech.”

“No problem. Is there anything else you need?”

“No. You should head back inside. The last thing I want is for you to keel over with hypothermia.”

“That’s not how hypothermia works,” Tech mutters, his voice trailing off, eyes uncertain behind his goggles. He suddenly places a gentle hand on Hunter’s shoulder, making the sergeant glance at him.

“Hunter, I’m only asking this because I care about you all, but... how long do you think this can go on before one of you gets hurt?”

Tech’s words echo in his mind long after he’s rejoined the squad on the ship. And Hunter just stands outside in the snowfall, watching the last rays of light disappear on the horizon, wondering which one of you he’ll have to hurt when the push comes to shove.

#dottiechan writes #hunter x reader x crosshair #hunter x reader #crosshair x reader #the bad batch #the bad batch x you #the bad batch x reader #tbb x reader #tbb x you #crosshair #tbb hunter #tbb fanfiction #star wars #tbb tech x reader #tech x reader

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hookingminor · 4 years

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close quarters (4) - andre burakovsky

a/n: y’all I'm so fucking sorry this took so long to update school started and has really thrown me for a loop and I had some bad writer’s block and shit so I'm not super proud of this chapter but oh well the next chapter will be the final one! this isn’t proofread bc I couldn’t be bothered and I know that the hockey season doesn’t coincide with warm weather but be quiet and imagine

word count: 2,767

one / two / three / four / five

True to his word, Andre got smashed. It didn’t help that Mikko had asked him if you were seeing Tyson after the two of you had left together. So, Andre threw back another whiskey in record time, and everyone got the hint to not bring you up.

And what made it worse was that he knew he didn’t have any right to be upset about the situation. He chickened out and scared you off because he was stupid and didn’t know how to communicate his feelings. And it’s not like Tyson was a bad guy, but Andre didn’t think he was the right guy for you. Andre was the right guy for you.

Not that he had any justifiable reasons for thinking that.

Gabe and Mel had to give Andre a ride home after the charity dinner. It was nearly eleven in the evening and everyone had left the event, but he was still drinking. He knew it was unprofessional. All his teammates knew it was unprofessional. Odds are he’d probably get yelled at for it come Monday, but he had bigger problems to worry about right now.

“You know you did this to yourself, right?” Gabe asked after he’d safely gotten Andre into the backseat. Gabe was the only one who he’d told about this whole predicament. Andre didn’t have a lot of friends in Colorado outside of his team, and he couldn’t help but spill his guts to his captain.

Mel slapped her husband on the arm, signaling for him to shut up or at least show some sympathy, but Gabe shrugged his shoulders in defense as if to say ‘What? It’s true.’

“I know,” Andre slurred sadly, “I’m a fucking idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot,” Mel consoled with a comforting tone, “You just made a mistake and need to fix it.”

“How can I when she’s with Josty now?” Andre asked.

“Dumbass, she’s not with Josty. He’s just trying to help you out,” Gabe explained as he pulled out of the parking lot and in the direction of Andre’s apartment.

“Helping me how? By asking her on dates and sneaking out early with her?” Andre scoffed in disbelief. He saw the way his hands lingered on your back and the sly glances he thought no one saw.

“Helping you so you can finally apologize and win her over,” Gabe said, but Andre was too focused on imagining you and Tyson back at his place to really register Gabe’s words.

The rest of the ride continued with Andre ranting about you. Honestly, he didn’t remember what he said but it was probably along the lines of how beautiful you were and how he wished he would’ve kissed you. Gabe and Mel exchanged about a million looks between each other, but Andre didn’t notice. The one night they were supposed to not worry about a child, they still ended up babysitting anyway.

When Monday came, his hungover had passed, but he still felt like shit.

“Someone have a rough night?” EJ teased when Andre dropped his bag on the floor in the locker room. Andre flattened him with a glare to tell him he wasn’t in the mood. Everyone had to have known what was going on by now.

Tyson entered the locker room about five minutes after he got there, and everyone went silent. Andre didn’t look at him while he put on his gear, but he could feel the eyes of Tyson and the rest of the team burning a hole into the back of his head. When he finished lacing up his skates, he marched out of the room without another glance back.

“You dumbass,” JT said, breaking the tension that clouded the locker room. All eyes flickered over to Tyson who didn’t look like he was looking forward to getting on the ice.

“You better fix this shit, Jost,” Nate piped up from behind him, and there was a chorus of grunts of agreement in response.

“Fine, I’ll handle it!” Tyson groaned exasperatedly, “God forbid I be the only one with a romantic bone in my body.”

Once again, Tyson had to do everything himself, it seemed.

“I just don’t know what to do, Taylor,” you said over the phone.

“Are you still going on about this?” She whined.

“He’s so cute!” You exclaimed, “If you didn’t want me to fall for him, you shouldn’t have introduced us.”

“I didn’t think dumb hockey players were your thing,” she scoffed, “You were never interested when I offered to set you up with one back in D.C.”

“I wasn’t interested,” you emphasized, “but times have changed.”

“And you’re choosing Burky of all guys?” She asked.

“I just don’t know why he’d be so concerned about me living with him for a short period of time. I mean, I literally threw myself at him for nothing,” you replied, “Do you know if Tom said anything to him about me?”

You were met with silence as Taylor didn’t answer your question.

“So you do know something,” you accused as you moved into a sitting position, “What did he say?”

“Uh,” she started, “It wasn’t Tom, exactly, who said something.”

“Wait, what? Did you say something?” You asked.

“In my defense, I was looking out for you! I didn’t think he was your type, and I knew he’d try and make a move,” she answered defensively.

“What the hell did you tell him?”

“I may have told him to keep his hands off, and Tom may have relayed the message,” she said quietly.

“Why would you do that?” You sighed in defeat, “Do you really think I can’t look after myself?”

“No, it’s not that. I didn’t want you to be overwhelmed with the move and have Andre hitting on you and then get ghosted or led on…,” Taylor explained. You let out another sigh because you couldn’t really fault her for that. She knew hockey players better than you, so who were you to argue with that logic. And the fact was Andre could still ghost you or lead you on, you still weren’t sure, but you figured his unwarranted jealousy had to be a good sign, right?

“Well, can you back off now?” You asked finally.

“I didn’t think he’d actually follow through with this. All my threats were pretty meaningless; it’s not like I could do something about it if he did try something,” Taylor said, “but I guess if he took it seriously he must not be that bad of a guy.”

“So I have your permission?” You questioned hopefully.

“You never needed my permission in the first place,” she answered, and you could see her rolling her eyes back in D.C.

“Clearly I did if Andre wouldn’t kiss me,” you muttered, and Taylor chuckled in response.

“Oh, hold on, Taylor, I’m getting another call. I’ll talk to you later,” you said suddenly, noticing the incoming call that was interrupting your conversation. You waited for her acknowledgement before you ended the call and answered the other one.

“What do you want, Tyson?”

“You’re both idiots, and it’s time I took things into my own hands. Be ready at nine in the morning on Saturday. No, I will not be answering any questions. Dress cute but comfortable.”

And with that, he hung up the phone before you could even begin to question what the hell he meant.

You tried texting and calling Tyson, but he never answered your messages.

He told Andre the same thing. Well, he did get a little more information but not much. Tyson had pulled Andre off to the side on Monday after a practice of angry glares and not passing him the puck though he was instructed to.

“Listen, man, I’m gonna explain this to you once. Me and Y/N? Not a thing. She wore that dress to make you jealous because she knows you like her and that you’re a dumbass,” Tyson said quickly, and Andre had to take a few extra seconds to process what he was saying, “So what you’re going to do is pick her up on Saturday morning and take her to the farmer’s market. Get her some fucking flowers or something and buy her shit, okay? If you screw this up again, I can’t help you bounce back from that.”

Every day after practice Andre tried to ask Tyson more questions about how you were doing and if you knew about this, but Tyson reiterated the same thing he told Andre the first day: that he needed to pick you up at nine and to not dodge you if you tried to kiss him again.

So, Andre did just that. He arrived at your apartment at 8:55 on Saturday morning dressed in a casual pair of jean shorts and a white t-shirt. You, however, outshone him by a mile with your flowy skirt and loose sweater.

“Oh, Andre, hello,” you greeted him curiously, “Are you here because of Tyson?” Over the past few days, you had time to process Tyson’s confusing phone call. After running over his hurried sentences in your head, you came to the conclusion that it was some kind of set-up. His use of ‘you’re both idiots’ could only be about you and Andre, and it wasn’t unlike Tyson to insert himself in other people’s business. You only hoped Andre had more choice in this than you did, otherwise you were in for an awkward morning.

“Hi, yeah, hey,” Andre stuttered out, “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” you blushed as he complimented you. You opened your door wider for him to enter as you retreated back into your kitchen. “What are we doing? Tyson didn’t really tell me anything except to be ready by nine.”

“Yeah, he kind of pulled me after practice and told me about this plan,” Andre explained, and you felt your shoulders sag while your smile dropped. So he didn’t get a say in this, he was here as a favor.

“I see,” you said quietly.

“But I also wanted to apologize,” he said, noticing the way you suddenly got shy, “about the whole… you know.” You did know. You had been trying to talk to him about it for weeks now to no avail.

“Listen, about that… I didn’t mean to make things weird. I misread the situation, and I’m sorry that I made you uncomfortable,” you apologized after he trailed off, but Andre was shaking his head before you could finish.

“No, that’s not what I wanted to talk about,” Andre said, interrupting you, “You did nothing wrong. I was in my head and panicked and then it was too late…” he took a breath, “I’m sorry about that. I wanted to kiss you, and I screwed it up.” Your heart sped up a little at the last part.

“Taylor told me about how Tom said to not mess with me,” you continued.

“I was just trying to be a good friend,” he insisted, and you nodded your head.

“I know,” you replied, “I told her to back off when she told me.”

“And then the whole Tyson thing happened…” he started.

“I’m sorry about that. It wasn’t fair to make you think we were together,” you said sheepishly, but you only felt partly sorry for doing that.

“Honestly, I needed that,” he chuckled, “He knocked some sense into me, and that’s why I’m here. To make it up to you.” Well, if Andre had finally come to his senses and wanted to make it up to you, you weren’t going to object.

“So what are we doing?” You asked, and Andre answered your question with a wide smile.

You spent the whole morning walking through the downtown farmer’s market with Andre. You threaded your way through the many vendors and tents that were set up in the street, stopping occasionally to buy some produce or because Andre wanted to try some local foods. He treated you to an iced coffee the minute upon entering the market, and you spent most of your time catching him up with work while he updated you with hockey.

Work was going fairly well considering you were new to the company and area, and the team was doing pretty well at the moment considering it was the beginning of the season and they had yet to be really challenged. Not that you understood much of what he was saying regarding stats, but you listened with interest anyway.

You don’t remember when it happened, but at some point you had started holding onto his arm as you worked your way through the market.

You introduced Andre to your favorite stand of any farmer’s market ever: the chili-lime mango tent. Andre didn’t care much for the spice, but you had a fun time watching him chug down the rest of his coffee while he choked on the chili.

Around eleven thirty and on your way out of the market, Andre bought you a large bouquet of sunflowers. You had left him alone for three minutes to buy some tomatoes, and when you turned around to find him, you could barely see him behind the sunflowers.

“You didn’t have to buy me this many flowers,” you chuckled when Andre returned you to your apartment. He had insisted on carrying whatever groceries you had bought there as you carried the flowers.

“Well, I never got to buy you actual flowers for our first date, so I figured I had a bit to make up for,” he smiled as you set down the bouquet on your kitchen counter.

“I didn’t know you counted that dinner as a date,” you joked, unpacking the produce you’d bought from the bags.

“It would’ve been a perfect one had I ended it properly, but I’m an idiot,” he said, “So I’m officially counting this as our first date.”

“Well, as far as first dates go, this is definitely one of the better ones I’ve been on,” you agreed. You hadn’t noticed it until then, but Andre had taken a few steps closer to you until you were nearly chest to chest. As if mirroring the same position you were in that fateful night, you couldn’t help the feeling of deja vu wash over you in waves.

Except this time you were sure he wasn’t going to run away.

“Can I kiss you?” Andre asked, reaching his hands out to pull you in by your hips.

“That depends,” you replied, “Are you going to follow through with it?” He rolled his eyes at your snarky comment and squeezed your side in response.

“I’m never going to live this down, huh?” He asked, tugging your hips flush against his as his hands moved to your lower back.

“No,” you agreed cheerily, “but to answer your question: yes you can kiss me. I’ve only been waiting three weeks now.” Connecting your hands behind his neck, you gave him the same wanton look you gave him that night.

Andre took that as his cue to lean forward, and you pushed yourself up on your toes to meet him halfway. Your lips met in a soft kiss, Andre’s lips light against yours as he tested the waters. You made the first move by gripping the back of his neck a little tighter as you pressed yourself more forcefully against him.

Andre’s hands slid up slightly over your back as you moved your mouth against his. You didn’t know if it was fifteen seconds or fifteen minutes that had passed by the time you pulled apart.

“And to think you had kept that from me for so long,” you teased almost immediately after the kiss broke.

“And you’ve ruined it,” Andre laughed as he tried to push you away in protest, but your hands were stuck behind his neck.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” you whined, pressing a kiss to his cheek that was turned away from you, “I won’t bring it up again, I promise.”

“I don’t believe that,” Andre said, but he didn’t say anything as you continued to shower him with affection.

“I promise I won’t, but I can’t make any guarantees about Josty,” you repeated.

“Damn, he’s never going to let this go, is he?” Andre groaned loudly, as if he just remembered who Tyson was.

“Definitely not,” you agreed, “And you know he’s going to take credit for this.”

“He can have it,” Andre said wistfully, “As long as I can have you.”

“You have a bit of slack to pick up for making me wait forever, but I’m willing to give you a chance.”

#andre burakovsky #andre burakovsky imagine #nhl imagines #hockey imagines #nhl fic #my writing #avs95

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kindredspiritsarentsorare · 5 years

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Post episode 6 (It’s messy and unedited but will hopefully inspire someone to write something better)

Anne was furious, livid, enraged. She was so angry she couldn’t even think of any other synonyms for her anger. How could her classmates so easily dismiss Josie’s ruin? Anne couldn’t work on an entry for the paper, not when something so unfair, so wholly wrong, something so… so… unjust had happened! She had to do something. Clearly no one else was going to. Something must be done. But what? What could she do? She couldn’t even bake a cake right. But surely, there must be something.

Anne slowly sat down, but she did not begin to write. She merely sat and thought. She watched everyone else writing and happily discussing the quilts and treats and dances. Trivial, she thought, how trivial all of that seemed when Josie’s entire future was ruined by something she had not consented to.

“Anne,” at the voice Anne felt color rising in her cheeks, drawn from her thoughts she found Gilbert staring at her intently.

“Anne?” He repeated.

“What?” Anne asked, rather sharply.

Gilbert winced slightly at the venom in her voice. His feelings still stung from her earlier comments. He was uncertain of what had caused this new rift in their relationship… their friendship. They had been getting along really well since he’d returned from sea. But now it felt as though everything had regressed back to when Anne had first arrived to Avonlea. She looked at him with anger and loathing when she looked at him at all.

“I was only going to tell you that we’re all leaving for the night.” Gilbert said. When Anne only glared at him in response, he cleared his throat awkwardly, “I also, uh, told everyone to save the hot air balloon piece for you to write.”

“How gracious of you,” Anne said coldly, standing and turning on her heel to gather her things and pointedly ignoring Gilbert’s presence.

“Balloons!” She scoffed to herself, “That had been the only good thing about the fair and even that joy was short lived. How could I write about that with what Billy has done. How could I…write…”

Suddenly an idea grasped Anne so fiercely she nearly shouted. She could write! She grabbed her things as quickly as she could and practically flew from the schoolhouse.

Anne hadn’t noticed she and Gilbert were the only ones left in the building. Gilbert had noticed, of course, as had Diana. And when Anne ran, Gilbert could only assume that it was because of him. He looked after her as she ran, feeling… he didn’t even know what. He met Diana’s eyes and she nearly glowered at him. Diana was never unkind with him, and she hadn’t really glowered, but the lack of her usual kindness felt just about like it.

“Diana, I- I must confess I don’t understand what I’ve done-

“No, I expect you don’t” Diana said quietly, cutting Gilbert off and hurrying after Anne.

----

Everyone else had left the schoolhouse. Anne rubbed her eyes. It had been a long night. But she had done it. She had written and made copies of an article she hoped would change things. At least for Josie. She had hidden the papers in a desk after they had dried. She was planning on secretly inserting them into the papers after everyone left the school house today.

She watched as her fellow writers left the schoolhouse after assembling this week’s papers. She listened as the door to the schoolhouse swung shut, and then she leapt into action. She pulled her articles out and dashed to where the neat stacks of completed papers rested.

“Anne, what are you doing?”

Anne was halfway through inserting her articles and had been so absorbed she must not have heard the door open again. She whirled around to see Gilbert staring at her. Why was he always staring at her? Why did his eyes always look like... Like that.

They stared at each other for a moment before Anne finally shook herself back to reality. This was a matter of ethics. Not about her feelings toward Gilbert Blythe.

“I wrote an article.” She said, standing tall and jutting her chin out a little.

“About the balloons?” Gilbert asked, “We could have helped you earlier to put that in the papers.”

“No, actually,” Anne said, “It’s actually about the unfair expectations we hold towards women and how easily blame and shame is placed upon them for things they did not choose.”

“Oh,” Gilbert said, furrowing his eyebrows, “Is this about Josie?”

“As a matter of fact, it is,” Anne said, “But also more than that. It is unfair that Josie must suffer for something Billy did to her. It’s unfair so many women have to bear the burden men force upon them.”

“Anne, I don’t understand,” Gilbert started, but Anne cut him off. She had had enough of whatever it was that was going on with him.

“I don’t see what is so hard to understand, Gilbert Blythe,” Anne snapped, “Josie Pye has been wronged. Billy... He forced himself on her. And even if he hadn’t, he should not be able to walk around with his head held high when Josie is hiding at home and is utterly shamed! I would think you of all people would understand! You see the injustice Bash faces because of the color of his skin! You saw what Miss Stacy was up against when she first arrived. How can you not see what Billy has done and be enraged!?” Anne felt tears pricking her eyes.

“Anne,”

“No! I am not finished. I do not understand what has changed you, but I- I don’t like it. Bad things happen when good people stand by and refuse to act. How can you watch this unfold? How can anyone? How is everyone able to just forget about this as though it never happened!?”

“Anne, I’ve had a lot on my mind. I haven’t... I didn’t think-

“No, clearly you didn’t.” Anne snapped, “You know what happened to Mary. You know how Elijah was conceived. That could have happened to Josie! But I suppose you have more important things to think about. More important people to impress.”

“Anne, I don’t see how Winnie has anything to do with what has happened to Josie.” Gilbert cried.

“She has nothing to do with any of this. This has to do with you. You haven’t been acting yourself. I thought you more understanding, more empathetic. I never expected you would just ignore what happened. I thought you of all people would be my ally in this.”

Gilbert was floored. He gaped at her, unable to find words. He’d never been so thoroughly called out before in his entire life. Had he really been acting differently lately? Was Anne right?

Anne let out a short breath and turned around, continuing to insert her article into the paper. Gilbert had never seen her so disappointed before. And she was disappointed in him.

“Anne,” Gilbert said quietly. She didn’t respond.

Gilbert walked over to where she was working and silently he began unfolding a paper. He grabbed one of her articles and placed it inside. Maybe Anne was right, he had been acting out of character, but he could at least help her now.

---

“That’s the last one,” Gilbert said, placing it atop the stack. It had taken them the better part of an hour to get all the papers fitted with Anne’s article.

“I hope these will awaken people to the injustice. It’s just so unfair. Poor Josie. She didn’t deserve this.” Anne mused.

“If anyone could write something to change their minds it would be you, Anne,” Gilbert said quietly, “And I’m sorry I didn’t recognize the injustice sooner. I just... I wasn’t thinking. But you’re right. It’s unfair.”

Anne glanced up. Gilbert was staring intently at her. She couldn’t seem to pull her gaze away from his. She couldn’t help but think of the dance. When he looked at her so... softly.

“Thank you.” Anne said shortly, shaking herself. She turned away quickly, feeling her face heat, and after gathering her things, made for the door.

“Anne!” Gilbert called. She kept walking.

“Anne, please! Wait!” Gilbert called. Jogging after her, “I’m sorry. I haven’t been thinking like myself lately. I’ve just... Everything has been so very complicated.”

“Yes, I suspect courting must be quite complicated,” Anne said quietly

“Courting?!” Gilbert was flabbergasted.

“Yes. Courting. That is what you are doing with Winnie, isn’t it?” Anne asked.

“I. I mean. we.”

“Forget about it,” Anne said. She couldn’t handle having him looking at her any longer. His eyes were always saying something, peering into her. It was too much.

“Anne!” Gilbert grasped her wrist as she started to leave. “Anne, please wait!”

“What is it, Gilbert!?” Anne asked, exasperated.

“I can’t help but feel you are angry with me over something more than Josie. What have I done to wrong you?” Gilbert asked.

“I- You- Nothing.” Anne said, “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Then why are you avoiding me and acting like you hate me again?” Gilbert asked, “I thought we were friends?”

“I. I did too. But I suspect I have misunderstood.” Anne said.

“I don’t understand,” Gilbert said, gazing down at her.

Anne was aware he was still holding her hand.

“I don’t either. But I have clearly misread... It doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter,” Gilbert said firmly, “It matters to me.”

“I just. When we. At the dance. I thought. You looked. Can you just please stop!?” Anne snapped, pulling her hand from his.

“Stop what?! What have I done?” Gilbert asked.

“Can you stop looking at me like that?” Anne snapped.

“Looking at you like what?”

“You know what. And it really is unfair when you were clearly otherwise involved and I can’t.... I have misread this relationship and I would kindly ask you ensure that you do your part to not give me the wrong idea again. For both mine and Winnie’s sakes. And for the record, she seems lovely. But I need to go. Marilla will be beside herself.” The words rushed out of Anne and before Gilbert could respond she had ran down the steps of the school and was on her way to Green Gables.

Gilbert remained standing by the open school house door.

“Looking at her? Winnie? Wrong idea? Misread the relationship?” Gilbert could not understand what was happening. He closed the door to the school slowly, walking toward home.

---

“He didn’t!” Cole gasped.

“Yes! He chased after me and I was foolish enough to think he knew I was upset about her.” Anne buried her face in her hands.

“I thought Gilbert Blythe was clever.” Cole sighed, “Wasn’t that just like a man?”

“I thought he was... for a moment... It seemed like... I thought there was something there. I thought he felt it too.” Anne whispered, “But, how could I ever stand a chance against a woman like Winnifred?”

“Anne, if Gilbert Blythe is stupid enough to let you go for a woman way too old for him then he isn’t worth having.” Cole said firmly.

“I thought unrequited love was romantic, but really it is just sad, Cole!” Anne cried.

---

“Here are the nappies and her bottles are in there too!” Anne said, sitting the bag onto the kitchen table as Bash greeted Delphine.

“I hope she was good for you,” He said with a smile.

“Oh she was lovely as always,” Anne grinned, “Perfectly charming in every way a baby possibly could be.”

“I saw the article you wrote,” Bash said, “It was good. Important. It would’ve made Mary proud. She would have agreed with you.”

Anne took his hand. “Thank you. That means so much. Truly. She is part of the reason this feels so important to me.”

At that moment the door opened and Gilbert walked in.

“Bash! I’m home! You won’t believe what Winnie’s father said today-- Oh. Hello Anne!” Gilbert grinned as he walked into the room.

Anne stiffened.

“Hello, Gilbert.” She said, “Well, anyway Bash. I’ll just be going. I’d hate to interrupt your evening.”

“Won’t you stay for dinner?” Gilbert asked, “We’ll have plenty. I’ve brought the most amazing cookies from Charlottetown-

“No!” Anne snapped, “Marilla will be expecting me. And I’d hate to take your special Charlottetown cookies. Goodbye!” and she practically flew out of the room.

“I- What- Why?” Gilbert turned to Bash looking utterly confused.

“You’re clueless, Blythe.” Bash rolled his eyes.

Gilbert let out an exasperated sigh and dropped the cookies onto the table rather aggressively.

“Do you know what’s going on?” He asked finally.

“I think everyone knows what’s going on except for you.” Bash said, bouncing Delphine on his leg.

“Well?” Gilbert asked, looking at Bash expectantly, “What has Anne said to you? Why is she so angry with me?”

Bash sighed.

“Blythe, she’s jealous.”

“Jealous? Jealous of what? What do I have that she doesn’t have? What could Anne possibly be jealous of? The cookies? I’d go into Charlottetown and get them for her myself. Or have Winnie get some for her if she’d just be my friend again.”

Bash laughed. “Oh Blythe. It isn’t the cookies. And it isn’t you she’s jealous of. It’s Winnie.”

“What on earth are you talking about? Jealous of Winnie? Why on... earth... wo...” Gilbert trailed off. Suddenly his eyes flew up to Sebastian’s.

“That seems like a look of understanding.” Bash laughed, “Now what will you do about it, Blythe?”

#awae #anne with an e #anne x gilbert #shirbert #season3ep6 #awae fanfic #awae fanfiction #awae s3 spoilers #I didn't edit this sorry!

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nadiestar · 4 years

Note

May I request a fluffy fic of all the sides (and Thomas, if you can fit him in) just having a fun little family bonding night? Like, movies, board games, a cooking/baking party, or something? (Though I wouldn't mind if you manage to fit some angst in there somewhere... 😉 Or not, whatever floats your boat.)

Thank you for the request! It's gonna have a few parts so stay tuned^^

Here the link on AO3

Part 2

When Janus came out of his room, the Mindscape was awfully quiet. It had been in the for the last two days and by now he was fairly certain that that had been enough cool down time for all sides. Something needed to be done.

That might not have been Janus’s strongest suit but he was willing to do what was necessary. And so he was on his way into the kitchen where he was certain to find Patton and talk with him about a possible bonding activity.

___

Roman felt anything but glittery. He felt stupid and, quite honestly, betrayed. Betrayed by Patton and maybe to some extend by Thomas. But Patton was the one who hurt more. He had tried to understand him. To take him seriously. To act like Patton always had preached. Or what Roman had thought Patton always preached. Maybe it was more implied and Roman just had misread what he meant and it all was his fault-

Roman punched the wall. In the past two days every single thought he had, ended in that conclusion. It was his fault. All of it. And it exhausted Roman. It exhausted him to pity himself this much. He didn’t want to pity himself anymore. He wanted to stand tall, to move on and to help the others move forward too.

But instead he had been unable to leave his room. He had locked himself up and Patton had stopped knocking on his door. Virgil had tried three times. Logan once. That had been expected since Roman had let him down too…

Click. Roman listened up. Click. Clack. Living room? Click. Click. Click. Entrance hallway? Clack. Click. Click. And the door was slightly pushed open.

Somebody had just broken into his room.

Roman summoned his sword in reflex, thinking about what he would shout towards his intruder, how deeply they had sunken to overstep his boundaries like that. But all that anger and frustration and hurt which swelled in his chest froze in the moment when the door opened a little more and he saw nobody behind it.

Until he cast his look a little down and found a small boy in huge black t-shirt with an alien face on it, a green cape and no trousers standing there in front of him. He was maybe five years old and snot was hanging down from his nose and his eyes were puffy and red.

At once, Roman let his sword drop and he tried to make himself look smaller, less threatening, seeing this poor excuse of his brother looking up at him in such dismay.

Remus had regressed. It was not a first and he had come to Roman before in such a state but this one seemed to be more serious. Remus began to sob. Yes, this was really bad.

Swiftly, Roman closed the door and kneeled down before his now littler brother, carefully assessing what the smartest next move would be. Little Remus usually liked it when he could chew on something and was held. And so, before anything else, Roman conjured a plush bunny and handed it to the little Duke, who took it without question and started to chew on its ears. It seemed to calm him a little and Roman felt a little tension drop from his shoulders.

“Want a hug, buddy?” Roman then asked and carefully held his arms out in case Remus wanted to hug him.

With no word said, Remus catapulted himself in Roman’s arms and the Prince let the child nuzzle against his chest. Carefully he stroked Remus’s little, curly head, mindful of the black cardboard crown and tried to figure out what to do next.

He could have dealt with this every other day. Well, not the last two days but probably any other ones. He could not do this on his own. Didn’t know how to help Remus on his own. But who had he to turn to at this point? Patton and Janus were certainly angry with him, Logan hurt by being not listened to once more despite compromising so much and Virgil probably was disappointed in him for failing to stop Janus.

No, he had nowhere to go and he needed to help Remus now.

No matter if he could do it our not, he had to.

And so, Roman squeezed Remus a little before he pulled gingerly away and tried to catch his look. Bravely he shot Remus a smile, when he finally returned to look, stroked over his tiny upper arm to soothe him a little.

“Do want to tell me what’s wrong?” Roman tried softly.

Remus opened his mouth. Then he closed it and pressed the plush bunny against his chest and started chewing harder on the ears of it. He wanted to explain it but apparently, his ordinarily so chatty brother had gone non-verbal. Which was exceptionally bad and Roman had to admit to himself that he really wasn’t able to do this.

He had to ask for help. He would do it for Remus.

“Okay, buddy, I know you came here because you need help and want me to help you. And I wanna do that. I am just not in the best mental state to manage this on my own and I will have to get you to somebody else so we can figure out together what we can do to make you feel better. Do you understand that?”

Remus looked at first as if he wanted to throw a tantrum but then his eyes grew watery and he began to nod. It wasn’t ideal but he still understood that Roman could only do so much.

Roman nodded and then conjured four holographic symbols in front of Remus; a yellow snake, a frog with a cardigan and round glasses, an owl with a tie and square glasses and a black cat with purple eyes. Remus got to choose, the little Duke realized and frowned thinking about who he wanted to see the most besides Roman. After some deliberation, much more than the grown-up Remus would have done anyway, he pointed to the cat and Roman bowed his head, picked Remus up and sunk them both into Virgil’s room as requested.

They were met with a surprised yelp and Remus immediately started to bury his head in the crane of Roman’s neck. Roman meanwhile turned to Virgil and saw the anxious side stare at him in a mixture of anger and confusion.

“I can explain!” Roman ushered and stroked with one hand over Remus’s back. “I know you don’t want to see me and that I am not supposed to just get into your room and that you have never done that to me but Remus picked the lock at my door and came in and you see he’s regressed and in a lot of distress and usually I could deal with this myself but right now I can’t and you’re the person he agreed to let him help so that’s why I’m here and I am sorry.”

Virgil had caught about half of it, because the level of stress and anxiety from Remus but especially Roman hit him completely off-guard. Mouth agape and eyes wide he stared from Roman’s stressed face to the little back of the child he believed to be Remus who clung to his brother like a little koala to its mother. Carefully, he got closer to the two and suddenly his head registered what Roman had said. Everything what Roman had said.

“Wait. What? Why would you apologize? And what’s Remus in distress about? And did you just imply that he did that before?” Virgil asked and noticed how dark circles around Roman’s eyes appeared and sensed the panic rising in him.

“He always does when something really upsetting happens and I am his usual go to, I suppose and-”

“Ro-” Virgil uses my nickname. My nickname - “I’ll help you and Remus but we need to get you out of my room. You’re only going to get worse.”

Virgil paused for a second. Roman seemed to follow his words closely. Stuck even to them as if they were a lifeline. Oh boy. This was serious. Who could they go to?

Patton? No, not with the twins in this state.

Janus? No, Virgil disliked him and he had been harsh to Roman.

Logan it was then.

“Let’s go to the pocket protector. Would that be okay? Roman? Remus?”

Virgil watched Roman nod but waited in vain for Remus to react. The little child was nervous. Uncertain. Virgil needed his consent as well, otherwise they could not hope for it to actually get better.

Careful Virgil made another step closer to the twins and carefully touched the little Duke on the shoulder. He didn’t flinch but grew stiff and Virgil thought about pulling back, retreating before he was able to push through and say: “We’re not on the best terms but I don’t want you to suffer, Ree. You don’t deserve that. And Logan is really good when it comes to panic stuff; He’s always helped me when I needed it.”

A tiny bit of tension left Remus’s body and Virgil saw how the boy faintly nodded into his brother’s chest. That had to be enough for the moment and Virgil exchange a look with Roman and they both sunk out into Logan’s room.

“I am preoccupied Pa-” was the immediate reaction from Logan who was sitting at his desk and just turned away from his laptop to stare at the trio before him.

Well, it took him a second until he realized it was a trio and not only Virgil and Roman, who both looked rather stressed. No, there was also a little child clinging to Roman’s chest and Logan blatantly stared at the little person.

“Please tell me that this is not one of us,” Logan begged the two with an enormously tired look.

Roman was about to explain but Virgil held his hand up as a sign that he would take over, since for once Virgil believed to be the calmer and more reasonable between the two. And so, Virgil stepped forward and confessed to Logan: “Hate to disappoint, L, but that’s Remus. And we kinda need your help to figure this out.”

Mechanically, Logan stood up stepped towards the trio eyes fully fixated on Remus. He had not known that it was possible for a side to regress in age. Now that he thought about it, it made sense, they were imaginary after all and anything Thomas was able to think about could happen to them, so it followed at least something resembling reason.

“Do we know why this happened? What has Remus told you?” Logan finally asked and lifted his focus up to Roman, who immediately pressed the little boy closer to his chest.

Roman shook his head and said: “I know he’s in distress; this always happens when he’s in distress but he couldn’t explain why because he’s non-verbal right now and I – I really can’t deal with it on my own right now. I - I need your help to figure it out. Please.”

Before Logan could say anything further, a tiny sob silenced all three immediately. Big eyed Virgil and Logan stared at the little boy in Roman’s arms. This whine sounded nothing like the usually so loud and confident Duke. Nothing eccentric or eye-catching. Just the lost weeping of a little boy and in a way that was far more terrifying.

Roman didn’t stare though. He slowly lowered himself and kneeled down to the floor, while pressing a soft kiss on the top of Remus’s forehead. And as Roman came closer to the floor Remus pulled his little legs away from Roman’s sides and carefully let his feet be lowered to the ground. And so, Remus now stood, arms still pressed around Roman’s neck, tears streaming down his cheeks afraid of being shouted at for interrupting. Or worse. Of being ignored because he was not important. Just a nuisance.

“It’s okay buddy. It’s okay.”

Remus nodded and slowly released Roman from his tight hug and let his brother have a proper look at him. It was so strange seeing Roman’s face and it not looking like his own. That didn’t feel right. His big hands gently brushed over his wet cheeks. The touch was warm and nice and Remus knew why cuddling Roman was the best. Janus might have had more arms to hug but nobody could give such beautifully toasty hugs like Roman did.

“Hello,” it at once come from Remus’s left side and he turned to see how Logan had sat himself down next to the two.

Remus knitted his brows together in confusion and Logan sighed.

“Yes, I assume that was an awkward start for a conversation, but I couldn’t come up with anything else and it occurred to me that I could not blatantly start talking to you without properly addressing you first.”

Remus squinted at the explanation and sniffed his nose, which was still running. Watching this Logan summoned a handkerchief and held it in Remus’s direction. The little boy didn’t budge and Logan stretched his arm further out, brought the handkerchief to Remus’s nose and waited until he finally blew his nose.

“Very well done, Remus,” Logan added then and let the dirty cloth disappear and gave Remus a rather soft smile in return.

“We were rather loud and quite frantic just a few moments ago. Did this upset you?” Logan questioned kindly and watched how he nodded and stopped himself from sighing any more.

“In that case, is there something we could do to make you feel better?”

A nod.

“Can you show me what you would like?”

Remus frowned adorably hard and started chewing again at the rabbit’s ears. Then he touched the skin between his nose and his upper lip and drew a line over it. Logan had no idea what it meant.

“You want your moustache back?” Virgil said from behind Logan and the teacher turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Got it emo! Get your make up and we’ll draw a terrible little moustache on Your Grace’s face, huh?” Roman chimed in and put a hand on Remus’s shoulder who started to excitedly bounce on the spot.

Virgil exchanged a confused look with Logan, then shrugged and snapped his vanity case into the room. The three men, position themselves around Remus, Logan ending up as Remus’s seat, Roman to Virgil’s right in front of Remus so he could hand Virgil the make-up utensils as he worked and Virgil close up to the fidgety boy drawing a moustache with eyeliner on his tiny child face.

And thus began a quite curious evening for all sides, which would only get weirder as time would tell.

___

@aprincehasgotoslay

@varthandi

@sickeningly-deceitful

@sammy-is-obsessed / @exhaustedfander

@unoriginalgayboyalex

@alexisrealgay

#platonic drlamp #sanders sides #sanders sides fic #janus sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #Drawing Unicorns And Train Wrecks #mim rambles #Mims Requests

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binbons-character-stuff · 4 years

Text

1K FOLLOWER EVENT!!!!

I am so grateful that 1000 of you wonderful people want to read my stories about Benny’s characters! For the celebration, I wanted to do something a little different from the title fics, so we’re going to do Prompt Improv! Those of you who follow @hermioneshandbag and @logans-chestnuts may be familiar with this, but for my new friends, here we go!

How it Works:

There will be a list of dialogue prompts, places and scenarios. You will pick one or two dialogue prompts, one place and one scenario. I will improvise a drabble or short fic based on your choices.

Choose a Ben Barnes Character

Choose one or two dialogue prompts

Choose a place

Choose a scenario

Also:

Please follow this blog

Reblog this post

Check out my other blogs if you’d like

Send me an ask with your choices

No anons this time around so I get to everyone’s request, but if you let me know, I will post without your name.

Send in as many as you want, and I may write more than one of your choices!

Blacklist #binbons 1k follower event if you don’t want to see more about this

The Lists

Characters

Billy Russo

Ryan Brenner

Benjamin Greene

John Whittaker

Sam Adams

Caspian X

Nick Tortano

Tom Ward

Dialogue

“Well! You always know how to brighten up my day!”

“I’d rather count the freckles on your nose.”

“Who’s a good boy??!!”

“Is this seat taken?”

“The bed is taking up the whole space. What exactly did you have in mind?”

“Wellll!! This just got really interesting.”

“Did you really just say that?”

“Are you bleeding?”

“Please pass the cyanide, I don't want to go on living.”

“I hope it was worth it.”

“No, you don't get to say that, not now.”

“I can do this all day.”

“I need a nap.”

“Do you really think that's a good idea?”

“I’m allergic.”

“Clean it up!”

“Was that supposed to make me swoon?”

“I can't stop!”

“We need a lot more practice.”

“If we survive this I am going to kill you.”

“Oh, and I suppose it's my fault?”

You sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Yeah, right there.”

“You gonna eat that?”

“Do you ever stop talking?”

“Look, don't ask any questions, just run!”

“Are you crying?”

“My eyes are up here.”

“What is that purplish mark on your neck?”

“Am I going to run into you everywhere now?”

“I never thought closets could be so exciting.”

“What in the world is that?”

“Please give me a chance to explain.”

“It’s not what it looks like.”

“I can’t believe you kept this all these years.”

“Why is your hair orange??!!”

"What's in it for me?"

“Are you planning to wear that in public?”

“Oh, no you don't!”

“How dare you!”

“Chocolate solves everything.”

“Exactly how drunk are you?”

“It wouldn't be the same without you.”

“Stop that, people will see!”

"Sorry, one's more than enough for me."

"Scoot over next to me and nobody will see anything."

"Do you always have to take everything too far?"

"You're dead to me!"

"You are quite possibly the very dumbest person in the long and storied history of dumb people."

“Ma’am, is this your dog?”

“No, it’s really not that complicated. He’s a bad person.”

“Hey… what’s wrong with your face?”

“The king is missing.”

“Ah yes, come in. Close the door behind you.”

“How could you do this to me?”

“Um, sorry. That one’s not for sale.”

“You’ve got thirty seconds to explain to me what you’re doing here.”

“Ain’t nobody ever told you who your real daddy is?”

“I know this may be hard to believe, but I’m on your side.”

“Never heard of that being used as a murder weapon before.”

“Just sit around and cry, then. I don’t have that luxury.”

“I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.”

“That’s the nice thing about telling the truth. You don’t have nearly as much to keep track of.”

“Of course we’re best friends. No one else would put up with our shenanigans.”

“That’s the least of your worries.”

“Do you trust me?”

“You found it on the beach? You know, when most people take a walk on the beach, they pick up seashells.”

“Sir. This is for children only.”

“I haven’t tried this on a human yet, but it should be very similar.”

“What? I meant it as a compliment.”

“Who put this in my coat pocket?”

“I can’t do this any more."

“I know you did your best, but it just wasn’t enough.”

“Even if I could stop it, I wouldn’t.”

“You have got to see this.”

“I don’t really think of myself as a thief…”

“Are you just going to keep walking by or are you going to come in?”

“Please return to your assigned seat.”

“Dude. It’s 3 in the morning.”

“I can’t believe I used to think he was attractive.”

“Where are your clothes?”

“Well, you have me here. What now, pray tell?"

“I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”

“I should have told you this a long time ago.”

“I am only telling the truth when I say that you have not behaved completely as a gentleman in this matter.”

“I thought we were friends!”

“I thought I loved you, but I don’t even think I know who you really are.”

“She’s evil, but she does have a point there.”

“I didn’t know you could talk.”

“Sweetie, what were you thinking?”

“What makes you think it was an accident?”

“I know you’re here. You may as well show yourself.”

“This isn’t going to be a typical best man speech.”

“We thought at first that it was part of the performance.”

“I would break his thumbs right now if I could.”

“Why are you helping me?”

“That’s the worst reason I’ve ever heard to have a baby.”

“I didn’t even recognize you!”

“Is it worth breaking your vows over?”

“I told you not to read that.”

“Put the turkey down.”

“I didn’t ask to be abducted.”

“That’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Where did you learn how to do that?”

“I thought you had him!”

“Humility is not one of my many virtues.”

“How can you stand living here?”

“You don’t have the correct paperwork.”

“Careful not to break the—oh.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything, but yes.”

“Well aren’t you the cutest little thing?”

“Please don’t use sarcasm. It confuses me to think you're capable of wit.”

“After we lost you, things just weren’t the same.”

“If you were logical you would’ve killed me already.”

“Well, that could’ve gone better.”

“Sometimes I feel like she’s still at my side.”

“We’ve been waiting two hours.”

“Your services are no longer required.”

“I feel like we’ve met before…”

“Does he hit you?”

“Yes, it’s a questionable line of work, but I’m good at it.”

“She’s in the building.”

“Wow! It’s an honor to meet you.”

“I’m cured. I swear.”

“My chances of living to a ripe old age are unfortunately excellent.”

“Let’s face it, you don’t exactly blend in.”

“Forgive me if I’m misreading things, but do you want to kiss me?”

“Seriously?”

“That does not look good.”

“You were in an accident. Can you tell me your name?”

“Pretend to be here with me, this creep won't leave me alone!”

“Is that a gun/knife/crossbow in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

"I can't believe you did that!"

“That is the worst line I have ever heard.”

“The next time you break the law, don’t do it in front of so many witnesses.”

“Sometimes being a total bookworm pays off.”

Places

Hallway

Sidewalk

Lake cottage

Hospital

Your residence

Restaurant

Wedding

Funeral

Jail

The beach

A Society function/ball

The Forest

A cave

the mountains

A ship

A shop

a park

Library

An attic

A bar or pub

Scenarios

Reunion

Injured In a fight

Best friends to lovers

Stranded together

Drunk

Jealousy

You’re his tutor

Meet the parents

Waiting Room

Cooking/baking

Kidnapped

Blackmail

Mistaken identity

Both reaching for the last one

Forbidden love

Belated love epiphany

Road trip romance

Second chance

The one that got away

Marriage of convenience

Lose a bet

Wingman fail

Bodyguard

#binbons 1k follower event #ben barnes #billy russo #benjamin greene #johnny whittaker #sam adams #Ryan Brenner #Caspian X #tom ward #nick tortano

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finefeatheredfriend · 4 years

Note

For the character meme: Romana?

oh my god i somehow maybe misread the ask meme thing and thought it was just gonna be one of those questions plus a character but nope, apparently it’s all of those questions - and now i feel a bit weird about sending someone A Lot of asks with just one question and a character but ANYWAY

Romana! my wife! my starblazing queen of the night! i love her! so thank you for sending me her! here you go:

what i like about them - every single thing. on a more serious note: her smile, her intelligence, her faces, her laughter, her humour, her endurance, her fashion sense, when her voice goes soft... there are just so many things

what i dislike about them - that whole imperiatrix business

favourite moment - the chair. definitely the chair. and The Scene, especially her growled ‘Braxiatel!!!!’ (and if this counts, the way she laughs when it’s actually Lalla and not Romana in the outtake). and lalla/romana trying to imitate leela. and the fanfiction. if i have to choose a moment from the tv series then maybe when she solves that “unsolvable” riddle box and grins all proud,

least favourite moment - when she approved the use of the oubliette of eternity (cause i don’t like what she did) and when she had to spend decades as a prisoner of the daleks (cause i don’t like what she had to go through)

a situation with this character that i’d like to see explored more - Brax’s dream au

an interesting au for this character - Brax’s dream au

a crossover - okay so how about iris wildthyme meets her and romana does Not know how to deal with this chaos

otp (or ot3+ etc... just favourite ship) - this was difficult cause there are two ships i love almost equally - and that’s Leela and Romana, and Leela and Romana and Narvin. okay fuck this it’s still too difficult i’m choosing both

other ships - the OT4, and, of course, Romana and Brax. i also really kind of like Romana and Livia...?

BROTP - i used to ship them before i got into gallifrey, but really the Doctor and Romana have to be the brotp, and they are

NOTP - hmmmm so. Romana and Rassilon. Romana and Pandora. and Romana and prydon (that’s the vampire dude right)

an assortment of headcanons - okay so i’m just gonna write whatever pops into my head cause idk if i have any headcanons i always think about...?

- one headcanon that i’m just gonna steal is this really cool situation where leela narvin romana and brax are on this planet that’s basically a magical paradise, and when narvin and leela announce their wedding plans romana gets a proposal from braxiatel but because he doesn’t have his white charger with him and so can’t carry her off into the sunset, she yells at him

- okay okay i’m gonna get serious now

- romana is the fanfic author that has the highest hits and kudos count on her stories on the gallifreyan go to fanfic site, maothreeix (i’m so sorry it’s 2am)

- she loves knitting and knits all of her favourite people all these sweaters and scarves and hats and gloves and i can’t decide if i like this more: a) she’s amazingly talented at it and comes up with complicated patterns herself cause knitting is basically just maths and science (one time she manages to get a secret message to her friends by convincing her enemies to let her send them a knitted scarf which they don’t know is actually knitted in code (knit=0, purl=1 so like binary code)) OR b) leela teaches her but she’s better with all the thinking and her hands won’t quite do what they’re supposed to do so everything ends up being kind of crooked but her favourite people love those knitted gifts with all their hearts and look at those little crooked parts fondly

- she put hallan in the freezer on one of the tardis’s and then forgot about him

- she’s secretly providing both the doctor and brax with blackmail material about the other one

- she, like any normal time lord not associating with those blooming ceruleans (hehe) (not as funny as you think eileen. go to sleep), she can’t stand plants - but she will fill her quarters with plants of all kinds, and spend days in forests and gardens filled with plants, cause it makes leela feel at home

- she keeps sending Narvin and Ace out on missions together cause she secretly enjoys watching him struggle to deal with this human but also loves how he slowly turns slips into the dad role with ace

okay there’s probably so much more but i almost made myself fall asleep thinking about all those cute adorable headcanons

thank you so much!! this was more fun than expected!! (i thought having to answer them all would be difficult and overwhelming but it really was fun!)

#wow this is loooong #this was a lot of fun #and i really do love romana so much #i love getting asks #thank you!!#romana

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jewels2876 · 5 years

Photo

When: 7/24 to 7/31

Asks only - no comments, messages or reblogs to participate - comments or reblogs are always appreciated after the drabble is submitted however! Spread love and words!!

Trying for fluff/humor/slight angst/implied smut only since theses are drabbles!

Who I Will Write For:

Steve/Chris

Bucky/Sebastian

Sam/Anthony

Loki/Tom

Scott Lang

Stephen Strange/Natasha/Clint/Bruce/Tony/Thor/other Marvel characters - will try my hand at, so be kind if you ask, but for now no ships please

For some of the prompts with 2 speakers, I will take two characters you choose so

Prompt list:

“Ma’am, is this your dog?”

“No, it’s really not that complicated. He’s a bad person.”

“Hey… what’s wrong with your face?”

“I know this may be hard to believe, but I’m on your side.”

“Never heard of that being used as a murder weapon before.”

“Just sit around and cry, then. I don’t have that luxury.”

“Of course we’re best friends. No one else would put up with our shenanigans.”

“You look a lot different from your profile picture.”

“You have got to see this.”

“Guess who made the evening news?”

“I don’t really think of myself as a thief…”

“Are you just going to keep walking by my house or are you going to come in?”

“We do things a little differently in the 21st century.”

“Please return to your assigned seat.”

“Dude. It’s 3 in the morning.”

“Well, this contest isn’t going to rig itself.”

“She’s evil, but she does have a point there.”

“What makes you think it was an accident?”

“Sorry. You’re the first person I’ve spoken to in ten years.”

“I don’t suppose you’ve got a blowtorch around here?”

“Put the turkey down.”

“Where did you learn how to do that?”

“Are you banned from all Taco Bells, or just that Taco Bell?”

“I thought you had him!”

“Humility is not one of my many virtues.”

“Sometimes being a total geek pays off.”

“Careful not to break the—oh.”

“Please don’t use sarcasm. It confuses me.”

“We’ve been waiting two hours.”

“Forgive me if I’m misreading things, but do you want to make out?”

“Y’know… That’s not what an apology sounds like.”/“Bite Me.”

“Sorry, I have a clingy and feverish assassin on my lap. I’ll call you back when I’ve convinced him/her that a cold doesn’t mean he/she is dying.”

“Well that didn’t end the way I expected, but at least nobody important died.”

“Don’t breathe on that, it’s expensive.”

“Oh, you’re still alive.” / “Don’t sound so disappointed, I might think you don’t like me.”

“I think I’m having a feeling. How do I make it stop?”

“How do you remember that? You were very unconscious at the time.”

“I am way too sober for this.”

“ Sorry I’m not reacting to this new with appropriate excitement, I’m really hungry.”

“That’s disgusting. You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“No, I’m not buying you a knife for your birthday.”

“Why are there WEAPONS in my bathroom?”

“I’d agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong.”

“What’s the word for that infestation of tiny creatures over there?” / “Those are children. That’s a school.”

“Lord give me patience or an untraceable handgun.”

“This is the first and LAST time I’m giving you permission to punch through walls.”

“You going partying tonight?” / “I’m going home and taking my pants off, that’s a party in and of itself.”

“You’re not my favorite person today.” /”I’m not your favorite person on any day.”

“I am NOT going to help you take over the world, not even if you try to bribe me with cookies.”

“How many times have I told you not to list me as your emergency contact?”

Tagging everyone on my list - I’m really excited to do this!! @patzammit @jamesbarnesappreciationsociety @sarahivi @thenormreedus @courtmr @ticklikeabomb @octo-cow52 @xxloki81xx @woodworthti666 @greenarrowhead @lovely-dreamer19 @moonbeambucky @yafriendlyfangirl @after-avenging-hours @white-chocolate-mocha-fan @marvelc00kie35 @thejemersoninferno @bitsandbobsandstuff @readitandweepfics @lokilvrr@lostinthoughtsandfeelings-blog @theimpossibleg1rl @princess-evans-addict @sherrybaby14@lokiandbuckyaremine @stuckyfox @loricameback @moondancewrites @halcyonrogers @writing-for-a-chance @ruckystarnes @angryschnauzerwrites @221bshrlocked @suz-123 @senoritastucky @devilbat @caramell0w @spookyscaryskeletonsus @jpat82 @until-theend-oftheline @becs-bunker @theoneanna @inlovewith3 @mrs-captain-evans @crazybutconfidentaf @kentuckybarnes @kenzieam @nerdy-bookworm-1998 @sillyboyscomicsareforgirls @shield-agent78 @mackevanstanfan80 @the-wayward-robot @renanyx @notyourtypicalrose @boldlybeardedgiver @time-travel-bouqet

#1100 followers #DRABBLE celebration #drabbles #drabble prompts #come celebrate with me #send me drabbles in my asks please

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escapingreality1992 · 4 years

Text

The Competition of Misdirection Ch. 3

Nina’s POV

The following day I woke up still reeling from what occurred last night with Bucky. A simple touch, maybe, but it left me with an unanswered question; Did he have feelings for me? If he did it meant I could allow myself to confess my true feelings towards him. If not, then it could mean I misread the signs and things might get awkward between the two of us.

Nina, stop this. Stop it right now. You’re over-analyzing things as always. You’re… I broke off mid-thought realizing where I was. Still in the theater with Bucky, I thought. We must have dozed off during the movie and spent the night under the makeshift fort, lying down next to each other.

“It’s certainly not the first time we stayed together during the night,” I mumbled aloud. I tried to stretch but cold metal brushed against my fingers. Looking down, I noticed we still had out hands linked, resting against my hip. I slid my fingers out from his, gasping as the metal of his fingers grazed a spot where my tank top had risen a little. I forgot I had changed into pajamas upon returning to the compound for our movie marathon and made a mental note to stick to t-shirts when we had out next sleepover.

Rolling over slow so I didn’t startle him, I placed my hands against Bucky’s chest. I trailed a finger over his collarbone to his shoulder, down his sleeved metal arm to the metal of his hand, splaying my fingers over his.

“Bucky. Wake up, Bucky,” I whispered. He stirred a little and I repeated the same motion; our routine we found the more we stayed the night with each other. He had terrible nightmares; the first night he arrived at the compound, I found out for myself of how terrible they really were. It began a series of nights after that particular night where I’d be up and go to him for a sense of calm he needed.

“Bucky. Open your eyes, sweetheart,” I whispered. He released a deep sigh, cracking open his eyes to peer into mine, a sleepy grin gracing his lips.

“Good morning. What time is it?” he greeted me.

“I’m not sure we fell asleep in the theater room during our marathon,” I told him. He pressed the side button of my fitbit, the tiny screen lighting up with the time, my steps taken, and my heart rate.

“10 a.m. We need to get up. The movie starts at 12:30. It gives us enough time to change and eat something before we head out,” he said, glancing over at the screen. He stood up, helping me to my feet, his arm draped around me as we walked upstairs to our rooms. We passed the lounge where Steve, Sam, Natasha, and Thor sat. Steve glanced up from his newspaper at us, a concerned look on his features.

“Everything okay?” he questioned.

“Yeah. We fell asleep watching Lord of the Rings last night. We’re going to freshen up and eat before we go see IT: Chapter Two,” Bucky answered, not removing his arm.

“Okay. As long as everything’s alright,” Steve stated.

“Question before you leave. How is it you two are always touching but not dating?” Natasha asked, motioning between the two of us.

“We’re very affectionate people. Besides it helps if I have human contact and Nina doesn’t mind providing that,” Bucky answered.

“That’s me. Comfort girl,” I acknowledged, slipping from his grasp to go down the hall to my room. His room happened to be on the second floor, all the rooms being taken before he joined the team. I showered, the water hot on my skin as I mulled over the events of last night. First, the musical with Strange had been entertaining and he turned out to be sweet. Second, Bucky had pulled me closer to his body during the movie, stirring up the butterflies in stomach when I was around him. Third, though normal, we had fallen asleep together, the small graze sending tingles through my body.

I sighed, finishing up and getting out to dress in dark blue jeans and a light blue t-shirt, going with brown slip off sandals; I always took them off in the theater as they had a habit of sliding off my feet anyway and I wanted to be comfortable. I dried my hair and brushed it out, the straight, dark locks falling over my breasts.

I met Bucky downstairs to eat something; my choices were limited to a sandwich or soup, so I went with a standard ham and cheese sandwich, water to drink.

“Ready to head out? We should have enough time to get snacks before the previews start,” Bucky commented when we finished our lunch. I nodded and we exited the compound to get on his motorcycle. I wrapped my arms around his waist, riding with him to the theater, loving the closeness. What we hoped would be a thrilling time at the movies would turn into an interesting situation.

“What’s going on between Barnes and Nina? Over the past few weeks, they have been going to places together non-stop. First the horror show, then the diner and now the movies. On top of all those outings, they were seen to be more affectionate with each other,” Tony asked upon seeing them leave for the movies.

“They’re really close friends. Best friends like I am with him. It’s not unusual for them. She’s become a big part of his life since he first joined us,” Steve answered.

“I don’t know Steve. It’s almost as if something’s brewing with those two. I’m certain they’re falling for each other. Whether they know about their feelings for each other, I’m not sure,” Natasha chimed in.

“Bucky needs human contact every once in a while. Nothing’s going on,” Steve stated.

“Really? Has he ever asked you for a hug? Draped an arm over you?” Nat asked, raising her eyebrows.

“No, but-,”

“He only asks Nina for those things. She doesn’t ever say no even though she could. I’m telling you only it’s only a matter of time,” Yelling from the entrance interrupts Natasha, capturing everyone’s attention in the lounge. “Before they get together. Who’s shouting?” she finishes, looking over the couch. Tony peers around the corner, finding the sources, or sources yelling at each other. He rolls his eyes and turns to the group consisting of Nat, Steve and Thor.

“Who do you think? Strange and Loki. Again. I don’t know what’s going on with them. They’re never been this bad before,” he replies.

“Loki too has a crush on Nina. I suspect Stephen does as well. I think they’re arguing over who’s going to ask her out,” Thor commented, shocking everyone. A crack of magic burst through the next room, prompting everyone to run in the front entrance to stop the sorcerers from tearing the compound a part.

“Try and stop me from taking Nina out again wizard and I’ll make sure you won’t get to see her again,” Loki snarled.

“The competition isn’t over, but I should be able to take her out in the same week. You don’t own the entire week for one date,” Strange growled, getting up. Loki had sent out a force strong enough to send the Sorcerer Supreme to the floor.

“Could you two try not destroying the compound, please? I like this place. I don’t want to move again,” Tony stated, arms crossed over his chest.

“Tell that to Loki. He’s-,”

“If you had your chance, you’d fight back as well. You sound like children when you argue. Get your act together. Act like adults. What’s this competition you’re talking about?” Steve snapped.

“Nothing. We both like the same girl. That’s all,” Loki stated.

“Nina. You’re…you’re having a competition over Nina? Seeing who ends up with her. I’ve got news for you. She-,”

“Don’t let her catch you doing this. Keep it secret. You wouldn’t want her to catch on and lead each of you on, just to break your hearts. Be civil around her. She hates seeing her friends argue,” Natasha interrupted Steve, elbowing him in the ribs.

“Oh. Alright. Does anyone know where she’s gone off to? I haven’t seen her all morning?” Strange states.

“She went out to the movies. She-,”

“She’s gone to see the second IT movie. Maybe you two should see if she needs company. You know, if she gets scared,” Tony interjected, cutting off Steve this time.

“Good idea. One of us can hold her hand while the other watches,” Strange and Loki said in unison. Scowling at each other they left to go find Nina and…someone else they wouldn’t expect.

“Why did you two do that? Nina’s to be put in a middle of a competition she didn’t ask for. She’s not a trophy to be won,” Steve said, disappointed in his friends’ action.

“You’re right. Which is why we did it. They’re going to slip up. Say something about it. It won’t matter. She won’t end up with either one. She’ll end up with Bucky. He’s not in the competition. He’s winning her over by being himself. I told you. They like each other. Strange and Loki have always been friends to her,” Natasha comments. She happened to be right. The feelings – though still secret – which both Bucky and Nina shared for each other outweighed the friendship she had for Loki and Stephen Strange.

Bucky and I got out tickets at the theater; he bought them even though I offered to pay because the movie was my choice, surprising me. We found our seats, Bucky again offering to purchase drinks and popcorn, thought I insisted. I usually agreed to pay for whatever the other person chooses not to pay for when seeing a movie. If they want to get tickets, I get snacks, if they want to get snacks, I get the tickets.

“Save my seat. I’ll be right back,” he told me, descending the steps out of the auditorium we were in. I settled in my seat, playing on my phone while waiting for him to come back. Unknown to me, I received two visitors, both who sat on either side of me.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Someone is…Loki? Stephen? What you two doing here?” I stated, surprised to see them.

“We heard you’re seeing IT and wanted to keep you company. Especially since you’ve come alone,” Stephen answered. They both rested an elbow on both arms rests, chins in hand; they pressed closer to, making me a little uncomfortable.

“I’m not alone. Bucky came with me. He’s gone to get popcorn and drinks. Someone is going to have to move. He’s supposed to be sitting next to me,” I stated.

“Don’t lie. If he were here, you wouldn’t be sitting alone in a dark theater. Plus, it’s going to be full of people in a few minutes,” Loki stated.

“Guys, I’m serious. He’s coming back we planned this together,” I argued.

“Nina, come on. We’ll keep you from getting scared. It’s okay to be alone but you’ve got us,” Loki commented.

“Okay, one I don’t scare that easy. Horror is something I love and two-,”

“Strange? Loki? Did you take my seat?” Bucky’s voice asked, his arms full of drinks and popcorn.

“I tried to tell them you were here. They chose not to believe me. I needed one of them to move since the theater’s full apparently, but again, they chose not to listen,” I stated.

“No problem,” he put the two drinks in the cup holders. “Here, hold this. I’ve got a solution to fix this,” he told me. Handing me the large tub of popcorn. His solution, as it turns out, was to lift me out of my seat and sit down with me in his lap. He angled me in such a way, so we could both see the screen; I was tucked in against him, his chin resting on my head, legs tangling with each other’s.

“Comfortable?” he asked. I lifted my hands up to his face, positioning it so his cheek rested on my head instead.

“Now I am,” I answered. The theater darkened and the movie began. Bucky and I eating popcorn throughout the movie until we had enough, he let me move forward to place the tub on the floor, our hands free this time. Glancing over at both sides, I noticed Loki and Stephen had their palms upturned. Subtle, I thought, knowing exactly what they expected.

Their efforts went for naught when one scene caught me off-guard. I jumped and linked fingers with Bucky. The contrast of heat and cold of his hands gave me comfort, bringing over a calm I could’ve applied to myself if I wanted to make use of my powers. Once the movie ended, I shifted carefully off Bucky to the floor, waiting for him to get up after he pushed the reclining seat back in. I picked up the tub of popcorn while he got the two drinks, walking out to the theater lobby, disposing of our trash.

“Want to walk back to the compound with me?” Loki asked.

“She could take a walk around the city with me if she wanted to. What would you rather do?” Strange stated. Frustrated with the arguing and the fact thy crashed movie plans, I turned to Bucky.

“It’s almost four. Do you want to grab coffee and then pick up dinner?” I asked him.

“Sure. Strange, Loki. See you guys later,” Bucky accepted. We left the two men standing in the lobby in shock. I guess rejection wasn’t really their thing.

“What’s up with those two?” Bucky asked me at a café a short distance away from the theater.

“Who? Oh, you mean Stephen and Loki. I don’t know. Why?”

“They’re arguing a lot more and they’re crashing a lot of our activities. Not to mention, they’re flirting with you,”

“Flirting with me? I don’t think so. Maybe Stephen but, that’s just how he is around other people. If Loki’s flirting, he might want to cause mischief or to get something he wants. I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about,” I told him, taking a sip of my tea.

“Nina, would you mind coming to my side of the booth?” he asked me. A simple question, but I knew what he needed. I slid over to him, hot tea in hand and he draped an arm over my shoulders, pulling me close.

“Was it the movie?” I whispered, pressing closer still. I never reached out to my powers with him, the touch usually calmed him down better than my power ever could.

“Maybe a little. You were too far away. I want you close to me for a little while if that’s okay,” he responded.

“Of course. You know I don’t mind. Do you want to lean back, stretch out a little? It might provide more comfort for you,” He nodded, shifting us against the wall, me in his lap, legs stretched and tangled with mine; It mirrored our position in the theater but warmer, more intimate.

“Thank you, Nina,” Bucky whispered, pressing a kiss to my head, proceeding to place his forehead on top of my head. We sat there for half an hour more, finishing our drinks and eventually heading out to grab dinner, talking and enjoying each other’s company.

Loki and Strange returned to the compound still bewildered of what happened at the theater.

“Why the shocked faces? What happened?” Natasha greeted them, a smirk on her lips.

“Did you know Barnes would be with her at the theater?” Strange asked.

“You both didn’t ask if she went alone. Yes, we knew. He left with her before you two started arguing. It still doesn’t answer why you look shocked,”

“We wanted to take a walk with her. Instead, she invited Barnes out for coffee and dinner,” Loki commented.

“So, she rejected the both of you. Don’t take it too hard gentlemen. I’m sure one of you will win her over. Remember stay civil around her. More importantly, don’t let her catch on,” Nat told them, walking away.

The two sorcerers still have hope Nina will end up with one of them. Still blind to Nina’s feeling for Bucky, they will try not to argue too much. However, one day they fail to take the advice to heart and someone gets injured during a battle.

Nina and Bucky return to the compound a few hours later and chose to hand out with their friends. Their bond grows stronger leading to another fateful night in which it becomes stronger still.

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ill-be-istj-if-no-one-else-is · 5 years

Note

I did my best to put it in some kind of order but it got messy and I'm helpless about what I should write even after having read the FAQ and more than 20 pages of your posts so bear with me, please. The more I studied the functions, the less I know. So I'm really annoyed when people do things in a certain way because that's how it was done - there's nothing wrong with sticking to tried ways but everyone should think why they do it instead of mindlessly following a set path. (1/???)

A note to readers: if I may ask, please hold back your own sarcasm and such.

I don’t explicitly set a length limit anywhere for asks as most people stop at a fairly reasonable 5 or 6 - I’ve gotten extremely long asks only a few other times and those were mostly overnight for me so I didn’t get to weigh in in medias res, so while this person definitely needs to work on editing there’s some good content. Had there been anything egregiously offensive, ignorant, or annoying I’d have been much more brusque or I’d just have blocked them; this was a genuine misread of the situation. It’s really hard for me to define what’s good to send for typing; it’s very much a case of knowing it when I see it and I know that can be difficult for some people to interpret. Answer is below the jump.

Hi anon,

I may have had some mild fun at your expense; when I see someone is 10 messages deep and talking about Mamma Mia I have to say I have concerns about their ability to decide what is relevant information.

Anyway I’m going to answer this piece by piece. This will not be my, uh, least snarky answer; the cost of doing business of mbti typing with me for no money is that I like to enjoy myself. But I will attempt to also provide a good faith answer as you have some solid examples within all this.

I did my best to put it in some kind of order but it got messy and I'm helpless about what I should write even after having read the FAQ and more than 20 pages of your posts so bear with me, please.

As you can see I will not really bear with you but I do appreciate you doing some research

The more I studied the functions, the less I know. So I'm really annoyed when people do things in a certain way because that's how it was done - there's nothing wrong with sticking to tried ways but everyone should think why they do it instead of mindlessly following a set path. (1/???)

I feel like people use this sort of language to be like “please don’t type me as a high Si user” when in fact this is EXTREMELY high healthy Si user. Thought it could be a lower Si user as well. Anyway, moving on

For example, it's sad how many people believe in God just because thats how they were raised without actually reading the Bible (no hard feelings to believers, I also believe)

I’m...not going to unpack that

I like to speak out loud some ideas with no thoughts of acting on them but some people tend to believe I'm dead set on the idea and it causes some misunderstandings. Also, I have at least 6 back up plans for my future in case some of them won't fly. (2/???)

Here’s the deal when people say they’ve studied EVERYTHING and then ramble on for a long time and can’t type themselves I often suspect the issue isn’t that they don’t know MBTI but that they need to learn themselves. Contingency plans tend to be Ne-Si; speaking out loud with no plans to act is pretty normal.

I plan on going to a country abroad in 2 years from now and I've already made plans what I want to see there. I have a list of places I need to visit arranged in order so I could visit as many places in the most effective way because I don't want to waste my precious time spend there. I also enjoy telling people about my plans of going there as it makes me really excited. The unknown excites me and I enjoy wandering around a city I visit for the first time because I don't know it.

I can’t type off of this specifically yet but it’s interesting because you have extremely detailed plans (more of a sensing thing) but for a trip that I can’t imagine you’ve finalized if it’s that far off.

Wandering around cities is great though, I agree with you there.

I'm also really good at remembering routes and getting to the destination. I like figuring out how to get there.

Maybe immature Si user actually? Getting really indignant about poor use of Si, plus that bit about the bible I said I wouldn’t unpack sounds like it could be as well especially if paired with Fe and/or Christian views of religion.

I'm a bit reserved at first as I need to test the waters before I decide I like someone. It takes me sometime to warm up but I actually enjoy small talk and feel tempted to speak to a cashier at shop or a fellow passenger at bus which isn't as socially acceptable at my country so I don't really do this - I don't want to come across as a weird person but at the same time, (4/???)

I'm not really bothered to play a social game and I often seem to be rude (resting bitch face, actually I'm not judgmental and I'm quite chill about most of things). I know in mbti e vs i isn't perceived in a traditional way but I identify as ambivert as most of people, heh. My introverted friends say I'm an extravert but extraverts find me a quiet girl. I'm also 9w1 if that helps.

Yeah I’m thinking ISFJ now honestly, not wanting to violate social norms, introverted but enjoys small talk, and 9w1 goes with ISFJ a lot.

I've been also always thought to be a smart one who knows a lot of stuff about many things (5/???)

I could say I'm a walking contradiction as I mentioned in my previous post btw I'm sorry I asked you to type me with a vague info, this time I put a lot of effort ♡ Oh god please don’t say you’re a walking contradiction, I truly believe your intentions are good here and I do not hold this against you but that phrase is what guys who think they’re going to make it in a band despite having no talent say in their tinder bios.

At first I was sure I'm Ne/Si but now I see a possibility of being Ni/Se.I often forget what I'm supposed to do as I've just done because I had this super relevant thing to write but I forgot, damn it.

You seem very nice and perhaps just sort of young so I would suggest...writing this in advance instead of stream of consciousness which might help you organize your thoughts and edit yourself a little? I’m writing this response in advance. Like 90% of my answers I write in a Google Doc and then paste it into the Tumblr askbox later. It’s great.

(6/???) I'm getting lost in the numbers

Hard same.

I'm also quite stubborn and I'll study a thing as long as it's needed for me to fully understand it - it drives me crazy when I study for an exam, I ask my friend for help because I don't understand the concept and she tells me I don't need to understand it, I just need to memorize it.

Sounds very much like Ti here, which fits the earlier typing of Fe-user.

I do things for 101% or I don't do it at all.

I’m guilty of saying this too; I think many people see this quality in themselves unfortunately and I’m not sure it ultimately means much.

I also have a friend who helps me to stay grounded as she remembers some stuff for me and I'm pretty sure I'll be lost without her (7/???) I didn't think I wrotesomuch

yeah...about that.

I'm quite oblivious on daily basis, I went through school hallway and didn't notice a big ballot box. I only notice things when i want to and it's not a natural thing for me. But when I do pay attention, I'm sometimes mischievous on purpose and enjoy pushing buttons of others. I work on not doing it, I promiseI have a great talent to focusing on irrelevant things and I struggle to do well in my infp teacher classes - even though I know I need a shitload of details from readings (8/???)

So here’s the thing: I really don’t think you use Ni. First of all, the stream of consciousness thing tends to be something Ni users don’t like to do in my experience: they like to edit. They also just...don’t sound the way you do? Like this is rambly but it’s coherent in a way an INFJ ramble of this nature wouldn’t be. You could be an INTP actually with rigid low Si and Fe instead of immature higher Si though. But I’m pretty confident at this point you use the Fe-Ti and Ne-Si axes.

One thing I do find funny, even though I suppose I set people up for it, is when I get asks that are like “here is the detailed description of when I didn’t notice a detail and here is what I didn’t notice”. Like, we do all miss things and while it’s more common in intuitives, my legally-blind-without-glasses Si-dom mother does this too because she can’t see for shit, so.

to do well in exam, I always choose things that aren't relevant to her. She's an excellent teacher and I enjoy her insights. As for Ni/Se, I'm amazed how many things my peers do without thinking about consequences. For example, I wouldn't drink till I'm unconscious because I know I would upset my parents. I perceived it as ni, might be wrong though.

You are wrong in that this isn’t Ni, it’s called basic self-preservation. I’ve gotten extremely drunk from time to time in my life but I have never gotten drunk to the point of involuntary passing out because that is when you fucking die. Your instincts are correct here, your reasoning about your parents is probably Fe, but your decision itself is not Ni.

(9/???) Now, I'm geniually sorry I wrote so much even though I'm not usually but this case is special

I appreciate the apology but this is something I often observe with people who use Fe: they’ll apologize several timesfor long asks or asks that ignore the FAQ or whatever, but like, they still do it. I’ve had to have this conversation IRL with Fe users actually, of “I’m really not looking for an apology, I’m looking for the thing you’ve apologized for to stop.” That is a whole other post about communication though that I may make tomorrow.

I'm also really into helping others[(what contradicts with my mischief, here we go again (I didn't like the 2nd part of mamma Mia as much as the first - it was too sad, I cried in the cinema and the holiday-happy-vibe was missing, it's off topic, isnt it, the second part is called mamma mia: here we go again and I liked the first part so much I watched it like 20 times and know all the songs by heart)] (10/???)

This was the point where I decided to start fucking with you and to turn off anon, not going to lie, because I hadn’t read the rest but I saw 10/??? after an off-topic post about Mamma Mia and was like “okay we’re going to finish it now”

Anyway from this whole thing I cannot decide if you are an ISFJ or INTP, but I’m going to guess INTP as the 9w1 might be what was making me think high Fe before.

#mbti #long post #Anon ask #answered asks

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siriusstarx · 6 years

Note

33, Saint/Cardia!

The Night Visit

Post-Finis route. No spoilers for Silver Miracles.

(Sorry for the long wait! This is the PG-13 version. I will post the R rated version shortly!)

The late summer days passed warm and peaceful. I could feel the softness of the breeze and the gentle sunlight as I dozed in my favorite reading nook, propped up by cushions. The trees outside my window just barely fading from the lush, bright greens of summer into the wan golds of autumn. Lately the nights had been growing cooler, the insects changing their song, becoming more urgent with the promise of colder nights to come.

How long had it been since I noticed such things? The simple, normal signs of time’s passage. How many countless seasons had I witnessed them unaware and unfeeling? A ghost passing through time. Experiencing nothing. Feeling nothing.

I pressed my fingers against the cool glass, the dappled sunlight filtered through the tree branches flickering over my hand. I always thought this world’s beauty was what I was entrusted to protect. In order for all humanity to live in peace, to enjoy the beauty of flowers and dappled sunlight. To hold their families close and feel the gentle touch of their lover’s hand. To live without fear of strife or war.

I would bear the pain of those sorrows for everyone, so they could live in peace. It was my reason to still exist, thousands of years past my natural death, so others would not need to suffer as I did. It was a worthy cause. The anguish and heartbreak of my duty… even the deaths of a few lost souls was a small price to pay to protect the happiness and peace of thousands of people, for millions yet be born who would only live because those few perished.

So I always believed.

I closed the book on my lap, watching the shadows play over its cover, wondering if I had really done any good at all. If I was worthy of this space of peace and happiness that I was allowed. If there were others like Miss Cardia who could have defied their fate, given the chance. If I could have helped the lost souls change their fate, as Miss Cardia helped her little brother. A truly lost soul, brought in the world only to help destroy it. If one such as he could smile and eat sweets and love his sister, what of the countless others I unquestioningly condemned?

I shook off my melancholy thoughts. Useless things brought on by her absence. She who was so much stronger than I. She who saved lost souls, like her little brother.

Even as she also saved me, more lost still. A ghost, living- no- pretending to live. My existence only lies and false smiles. A monster. A true monster who would have taken the life of that brave, kind girl. She who forgave even that sin.

I reached for the envelope that held her last letter and held it to my lips. Could she feel my thoughts, far away in the cozy home she shared with her little brother? Did she miss me as I missed her? It was selfish to hope so, or to wish any shadow over her gentle happiness.

Even so, if the words of her last letter held a little more loneliness than before, or the stain at the bottom of the stationary was not a stray raindrop, but a tear. If the way her hand lingered on the back of my neck at our last meeting meant that she needed me as I did her… would I not be hurting her to be blind to her need? If she was too nervous to speak, was it not a gentleman’s duty to offer his hand?

I gazed at the envelope, tracing her neat, girlish handwriting with a fingertip. The way she wrote my name reminded me of the way she spoke it when I forgot myself and let my hand caress her naked back in the dancing dress she wore to the palace ball. The way she trembled and clutched my shoulder… was it embarrassment or desire? Was I, who prided myself on human understanding, who had used this borrowed body and the physical desires of others to help fulfill my duties countless times, been so blind as to misread my beloved’s flushed face and breathless words?

I shook my head and laughed bitterly. It was foolish, romantic nonsense. I was not a heroic young man like Lupin. I was no prince in a fairytale, or a romantic hero to sweep a maiden off her feet for a passionate tryst. What story tells of an old assassin who loves the gentle damsel he was meant to kill? What happy ending could an old sinner like me offer a strong, innocent girl like Miss Cardia?

I closed my eyes against the pain in my chest. Despite that truth, she said she loved me. Of all the people she lived with in London, by far the least worthy.

Her perfume on the stationary tickled my nose. Her scent was sweeter than any rose garden. I could see her in my mind’s eye, gazing into the distance, the sun dappling her face as it did the letter in my hand. Was she sad? Were there tears on her cheek right now? She also held a letter in her hand. I recognized my own stationary. Was she thinking of me? Was this pain hers as well?

It had been nearly a month since her last visit. That time when her hand lingered and her goodbye kiss was longer and… more desperate, than before. Was I being foolish not to have acted then? Or was it just my own selfish desire clouding my judgement?

I could hear my old friend Trismegistus laughing at me from wherever he was. My foolishness was not in doubt. It never had been.

I rose from my cushions and tucked the letter into my robe. If I was such a coward that I would hesitate if there was even a possibility that she was sad or that her heart was hurting, I would never be worthy of being her lover. Even an old assassin has pride.

“Please wait, Miss Cardia. I am coming for you.” I whispered with conviction into the empty room.

…….

(Cardia)

‘…..I am coming for you.’

“Sister…? Hey…! Are you even listening?!”

Finis’ harsh voice shattered my reverie. I thought, just for a moment, that I heard his voice in the breeze as I dozed off, felt his touch drying the tears that had fallen on my cheek.

“Huh?” I roused myself, “What is it?”

Finis sighed in exasperation, “ I SAID TWICE that I’m going to need to stay in London for a few days to make sure those fools don’t set off anything in their idiocy and flatten the city!”

“Oh… all right. I won’t wait up, then.” I stretched and rubbed my eyes. The letter fell from my lap.

Finis looked down at the letter with a complicated expression, “I suppose it was inevitable.” he muttered, “We’ll talk about it later. I have to go back inside before that idiot Hansel eats everything in the house.” he stomped away in an unusually foul mood.

“What has got into him?” I murmured, picking up the letter and gazing out over the garden. The season’s roses were especially good this year, perfuming the air with their soft fragrance. Butterflies flitted among the astors and marigolds. All was beautiful and calm. A serene place to read or sew, or just have a cup of tea and watch the butterflies.

I would always cherish the warm, cozy home Finis and I had made of this sad place that had once meant only tragedy and endless loneliness to me. I thought our mom and dad would be happy to know that we reclaimed their dreams like this.

Even so…

I sighed, staring down at the letter in my hand. It just… wasn’t enough anymore to meet Saint for a few days at a time every month or two and exchange letters. I wanted to have breakfast with him every morning, I wanted to have tea in his study in the afternoon… to walk around London and go to the opera in the evening, or just to sit by his side and talk or read books. I wanted his presence… the touch of his cool, gentle hand on my back… his kisses every night before bed…

I trembled a little. I thought there was more I wanted, too. I had read about it in books; the strong feeling that grows between people who love each other that makes them crave a deeper connection. I wanted to know more about it, but it was just too embarrassing to ask anyone.

I wondered if Saint felt like that about me, too. My heart raced to think about it.

I stood up from my chair, gathering my tea cup and plate to wash in the kitchen.

I finished cleaning up, dusting and neatening. Then I went to my room to take a nap, but I wasn’t tired, so I went to the library to find a book to read. The days I was alone in the mansion sometimes reminded me too much of the endless days I spent there huddled in my chair waiting for father to retrieve me. That room was used for storage now, my new bedroom was in another part of the house with plenty of sunlight, nothing like that dark, cold room. I was nothing like that sad girl, denying her emotions and hiding away from a bewildering world that saw her only as a monster.

I wasn’t a poisonous monster anymore. I could wear pretty clothes, sleep anywhere. I could touch whatever I wanted… flowers, books, the silky bathrobe I bought in London, the soft rose soap I found at a country market. Most of all, I could touch people. I could hug my brother and friends, I could feel the warmth of my loved one’s lips. I was living a life that seemed an impossible dream to me who used to sit clutching my knees in that musty room.

It had been nearly a month since my last trip to London. It already seemed much too long since I saw Saint. His smile was even more beautiful than before, waiting at the gate to hug me and ask how my trip was. The light in his eyes was something new for him, too. The naturalness of his expressions. His grace and beauty were unchanged, but he had also become more than he was. He was kinder and quicker to laugh, more joyful, and vibrantly alive, and also quicker to cry and show sadness. I loved all of his expressions. The many ever-changing facets of him. I loved him more every time I saw him.

Every time It was harder to leave, every time I returned I felt more homesick for the liveliness of London and the mansion where I became human. For the place Saint waited for me, and the arms of my beloved.

I wandered aimlessly through the library, too unsettled to choose a book. I looked at the titles without really seeing them. I had read most of the books in the library, even all the new ones Finis and I had bought over the past two years. I idly ran my hand over the spines, thinking about Saint’s libraries and the many treasures they held. Everything from ancient knowledge to modern novels. Saint could never resist adding more books to his collections. I thought I would never exhaust the wonders they held.

I turned away from the shelf, becoming frustrated by my wistfulness, when my eye was caught by a unfamiliar title tucked in a permanently shadowed corner of a shelf at the back of the library, “The Art of Love.”

I picked it up curiously. It had no author listed. The red leather cover was embossed with a pair of ornate overlapped gold hearts. Most of this shelf held romantic novels and poetry books that had once belonged to my mother. Finis had little interest in anything there, so it was mostly left to me.

I opened the book to an illustration… Of two naked people with their bodies entwined around each other and their lips pressed together.

“Ah!” I gasped, nearly dropping it, before closing the cover in a hurry.

I reached to return the book to its shelf, but hesitated. Isn’t this what I wanted to know? No one was home. I could read it without embarrassment and return it to the shelf before Finis came home.

Deciding so, I took the book to my room, vowing to be sure to return it as soon as I finished.

……..

(Saint)

I silently crept through the forest surrounding my beloved’s pleasant home. I caught the scent of her garden of roses in full bloom and had to stop myself from running to her door. My need to see her and hold her growing by the moment. I felt like a boy meeting a lover for a secret assignation. It was unseemly and foolish for an old man to act this way. I nearly turned back in shame more than once. It would be far more proper to send a note announcing my intent to visit, not inflict myself unasked and certainly unwanted by at least one of the household’s residents.

Still, I continued, feeling my quest more urgently with every breath. I easily avoided Finis’ traps and alarms, proud that Lupin himself could have done no better. I had no wish to frighten Miss Cardia, but the desire to make a dramatic entrance was strong. I wanted to see her first before facing the understandable disdain and ire of her brother, if at all possible.

The house ahead of me was almost completely dark. The only light a single lamp in an upstairs bedroom I thought to be Miss Cardia’s. I approached the front door like a civilized person before changing my mind and turning for a dark first floor window.

I quickly disarmed the alarm and unlocked the window. If I were discovered and shot by Finis it would be just punishment for my rudeness. I only didn’t want to upset Miss Cardia.

The house was dark and quiet, the ticking clock the only sound I heard. I wondered if Miss Cardia and Finis were away. She wrote that they stayed in town sometimes if they had a lot of shopping to do. I would feel suitably foolish if I were to have rushed out here to an empty house with two siblings out shopping happily.

I closed my eyes for a moment to sense if anyone was present nearby.

Yes… there it was. Just one presence upstairs. A precious, gentle warmth that could only belong to one person.

I moved swiftly up the stairs. A ghost makes no sound when he wants to remain unheard. I could almost hear her breath, nearly smell her sweet perfume.

God, what was becoming of me?

I stopped at her door. My heart beating fast. Why was she alone in the house with such an untrustworthy visitor? Where was her staunch little protector in her time of need? What would she say when she saw me, unannounced and reckless as a boy. Would she be disgusted with me?

Cursing my foolishness, I raised my fist to knock on the door.

…….

(Cardia)

I put the book aside firmly, having read it for the fourth time through. I felt hot and my nonexistent heart was pounding. I had never imagined that people could touch each other in so many different ways. It was embarrassing to think about some of them, but still… I wanted to feel those things the book described. I…. wanted to be touched like that. I wanted to… touch Saint like that.

“Saint..” I whispered to the empty house, “Would you… touch me that way?” I felt even hotter at the thought. It was so embarrassing. I couldn’t imagine speaking those words to him.

I heard a sound outside my bedroom door and panicked. If Finis returned early I would be mortified! I couldn’t face him with all these strange new thoughts and feelings…

No… those weren’t Finis’ footsteps. That scent… clean and sweet, with something warmer underneath could only belong to one person. My heart leapt in my chest. I couldn’t imagine why he was there, as if summoned by my need to see and touch him. I rushed to the door, “Saint!” I cried, before throwing it open with a crash.

He stood there looking stunned. It was another new expression for him. I filed it away in my heart.

His brow creased with worry, “Cardia!? Is something wrong?”

“No, no! It is just… You’re here! You’re really…”

He gave me a radiant smile, “Yes. As I promised, I have co—“

That was all I needed. With a cry I leapt into his arms and pressed my lips against his. My unnatural body had never known hunger, but I thought vaguely that this must be what it felt like to be starving.

He staggered from the force of my leap, but caught me firmly, kissing me with hunger to match mine, maybe more, though I couldn’t think very clearly just then. I only knew that I needed to feel his arms around me, his body against mine. I wanted all of him. I wanted to know everything he could teach me.

“Cardia…” he said breathlessly when he finally pulled away, “That was… quite a welcome.”

I felt my face get even hotter, “I missed you.” It wasn’t enough, but that was all I could think to say.

His expression was profoundly kind, “I missed you, too.” he kissed my forehead, “with every thought,” he kissed my lips gently, “every breath,” he gently opened my robe and kissed my chest just below my horologium, “every heartbeat.”

I sighed to feel his lips between my breasts, his hair tickling my skin, “y-yes… Me too.” I was so nervous, “I…I need you, Saint. Will you… will you… please touch me a little more?”

He gazed up at my face as if to gauge my meaning… or maybe my conviction, “Do you know what it means to ask that question of a man?”

I looked away, “I… I know I want you to touch me… e-everywhere, and I want to feel… more of you.”

As expected, it was horribly embarrassing.

His expression was as unreadable as when I first met him, but then he gave me his gentlest smile, “hehe. I understand. You don’t need to be embarrassed.”

I thought that was easy for him to say. I watched him remove his jacket and hat, loving the grace of his movements, the care with which laid them on the chair. I knew if I thought about my brazen request, I would lose my nerve. It seemed so sudden, but it was building in my heart for a long time.

“Oh… I see.” he said, smiling wryly while looking down at the table by the chair.

My book, “The Art of Love,” lay closed on the table.

I covered my face with my hands, feeling unbearably embarrassed, “Um… that is…”

“Hehe, I am relieved. I didn’t want to frighten you.” he kissed my ear, “I have a secret to tell you.”

I looked up at him curiously, “What do you mean?”

He didn’t reply, but his eyes sparkled mischievously as he leant down to scoop me up into his arms, “I’ve had the same wish as you, Miss Cardia. For a long, long time…”

I could hear the truth in his words and was relieved, I put my arms around his neck and pulled his face close to mine so I could kiss him again, “Then please… I want you to… touch me. Please.”

“Aha I am sorry not to have realized…” he pulled back, a new light in his eyes, ”It will be my pleasure, beloved lady.”

…..

(Saint)

…Truly, I do not deserve this happiness.

I could feel her breathing begin to slow. Her small hand laid on my chest, as soft as flower petals. Her damp, tangled hair fell around her beautiful flushed face. Her eyes were already closed.

I combed her silken hair with my fingers, gently untangling the knots, working carefully so as not to hurt her. It was unchivalrous to leave your lover’s hair a tangled mess, and allow her to cry with pain when her hair was brushed.

That was also written in the book.

“Hehe. Have I satisfied you so much that you are already asleep? I am deeply pleased.” I said when I finished with her hair.

“Mmm…” she mumbled sleepily, cuddling against my chest, “I am… very happy…”

I kissed her forehead, “I am relieved that you are happy, Cardia. That was my only wish.”

She smiled shyly, “I hope… you feel good, too. And… please…” she closed her eyes, “I want to stay with you from now on. If… if you still want me to come to London.”

I felt tears come to my eyes at her soft, uncertain declaration. At the way her hand clutched my arm as if she was afraid I would refuse. I knew that I should have distanced myself from her. I should have encouraged her to seek love from one better able to give it to her unconditionally. Someone without the weight of my duties and past…but I was too weak… too selfish for such an act. I was completely unworthy of the priceless gift she gave me from her innocent desire to know love and touch, but to refuse now was unthinkable. I would show her in the time to come, for however many years we were allowed together, how happy she made me. How she had saved me from endless darkness and suffering. I vowed in my soul, more strongly than any vow I had ever taken, to protect her light, to nurture it and hold it close. I would become worthy of the honor of this joy, of the softness and sweetness she offered to me alone. If I could use all I learned to nurture and protect her precious life, to bring pleasure to her delicate body, more beautiful than any jewel, I would consider all of the sorrow and suffering worth the cost.

“Saint? Are you crying? Is everything all right?”

I hugged her tightly, not bothering to try to stop the tears, “I am… overwhelmed to hear you say those words. I promised myself to respect your time with family, and not to interfere with your wish to stay here with your brother.” I held her head against my shoulder, “If you are ready… I am overjoyed for you to come home with me.” I took a breath, feeling unaccustomedly nervous to say words I had never spoken, “Will you please marry me, Miss Cardia?”

She pulled back. Her beautiful eyes were adorably shocked, “Marry…?”

I laughed through the tears that still wouldn’t stop, “Yes, I want to marry you. Did the book not say that the joining of bodies was the most profound intimate expression of love? Is marriage not the public declaration of the same?”

Her innocent face passed from shock to joy, “Yes! I will marry you, Saint!” she hugged me tightly, then pulled back frowning a little, “Didn’t the book say lovemaking was supposed to happen after marriage?”

“Hehe. You seemed much too impatient to wait.” I kissed her, “I made a vow to you in my heart a long time ago. We will speak our vows before God. We will celebrate our love with our friends… this…” I kissed the pure crystal flower on her chest, “is our vow to each other. It is our own intimate promise to be repeated many, many times.” I lightly stroked her back, “It will only get better… so much better… from now on.”

It was difficult to speak seductively while weeping. I thought I must seem a fool.

She reached to tenderly wipe my tears away with her slender fingers, “I-I think that is impossible…!”

“Hehe. It is true.” I took her face between my hands and kissed her trembling lips slowly, “This is only the beginning.”

I delighted in how soft and gentle her kisses were, how she shivered when I let my tongue mingle with hers. Yes… it was certainly only the beginning.

We were both gasping when we finally parted. After a few moments she gave me a suspicious expression, “Saint… you said earlier that you had a secret. What was it?”

I smiled in a way I hoped was enigmatic, although I was afraid that skill was beyond me at that time, “Ah… yes. I have told you much about my secret throughout the night.”

She blushed so prettily, “It is… the book. You wrote it, didn’t you?”

I laughed at the sternness of her expression, impressed that she figured it out despite all I had done to distract her, “Ah, you are right. I did indeed write it.” I picked it up off the nightstand, “As you see, there are many more chapters than those I showed you tonight…” I paged through the book I had written over seven hundred years ago, “I think that deserves a reward, perhaps chapter… 17?”

“Chapter…. Oh!”

I put the book back on the table and took my precious lover in my arms, “Hehe. As I said, we have only just begun.”

…..fin

#code realize #code:realize #code: realize #code realize fanfic #saint germain #cardia x saint #saint germain x cardia

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fangirlinglikeabus · 6 years

Text

Strings

Summary: In a bar in the middle of nowhere, two women meet. Frenchman’s Creek/Jamaica Inn crossover. Vague space AU. F/F. Mentions of rape, war, torture.

ao3 fanfiction.net

Mary Yellan was born and grew up in the fields of Agros, learning from childhood all of the skills of farming. Then, when she was older, she stayed by the sea a while; she soon left there. But it wasn't in either of these places, although they shaped her in their own ways, that she met the woman - the laughing woman, full of life and happiness and sadness all at once. That happened years later, in a bar on the other side of the galaxy.

"Erna's a dangerous place for a lady to be, Miss. 'Specially round here."

Mary kept her eyes trained on the door; she was waiting, with some apprehension, for Jem's return. Any moment now she expected him to come waltzing through the door, a smug grin on his face, to take her rocketing off somewhere else before his customers had realised that the ships he had sold them were, underneath their new coats of paint, rather similar to ones recently reported missing.

"Is that so?" she said distractedly.

The man who had taken it upon himself to come and warn her nodded. "Oh yes," he said solemnly. "There are pirates operating in these parts."

This made Mary pay more attention. "Pirates?" she asked sharply. "What sort of pirates?"

"Why, they've been a terrible trouble to us here recently. Stealing the merchant-men's stock and everything. Causing havoc with the local women." He blushed at the thought.

A memory stirred in Mary's mind, of Joss Merlyn and his crew luring low-level ships to come crashing down onto the planet, killing the survivors. "Have they hurt anyone?" she asked.

"Oh, well, not as such, Miss, but we're awful fearful that they will. Foreigners, you know. From the outer reaches. There's even rumours that there's a woman on board."

Mary thought of her own adventures with Jem, and it occurred to her that this man would be horrified beyond belief if he heard of them. Perhaps if she were in a slightly different situation, she would've challenged him on it, but she needed to keep a low profile for Jem's sake. Instead of saying anything, she smiled and sipped at her drink. She noticed her hand was shaking slightly; places like this always made her skittish.

The man noticed. "Are you alright, Miss? I haven't scared you too much with my talk of pirates, have I?"

Mary smiled, but it felt insincere, even to her. "Oh, no," she said. "I'm not easily frightened."

"Quite right, too."

Mary turned around in her seat. It was a woman talking, one of the nobles in the place, by the looks of it. She smiled down, something of mischief in her eyes.

"You shouldn't talk so light of it, Lady St Columb," the man said gravely. "What with them taking advantage of our girls and all."

Lady St Columb leaned on the table so that she could better talk to the man; Mary watched her ringlets swing in front of her face, Jem momentarily forgotten. "Is that so?" she asked, in a tone of faux-politeness cultivated carefully over many years. "I rather thought they were enjoying being taken advantage of, myself, but I suppose it's always possible that I've misread the situation entirely."

The man stared at her in open mouthed shock, and she seized the moment to take Mary's arm. "Come on," she said in a low voice. "I'll take you somewhere quieter. You mustn't mind the tales of the men here, really. They're just frustrated because their wives prefer the pirates to them. I think if you spent enough time here you'd understand why."

Mary protested weakly - she'd really got to wait for someone, she wasn't planning to stay long, but Lady St Columb waved them away.

"Nonsense. And if your friend was the one trying to sell my husband a repainted stolen ship, he's already left. Not everyone is quite as gullible as Harry, and he was foolish enough to try and resell a man his own property."

Mary felt a familiar sense of frustration rise within her. The lady caught her expression.

"Done this before, has he?" she asked casually. At this point, they reached her table, and she pulled a seat aside for Mary, who dutifully sat down.

"Yes," said Mary. "But I can catch up with him, if I find someone that will take me soon."

"And deprive me of your company? How inconsiderate of you. There's no need to leave quickly, anyway; I have a friend with a fast ship that'll allow you to stay an hour more, at least."

In any other situation Mary might've coldly refused and left to find her own way back to Jem. But there was something about this woman - something in her smile. The same thing, perhaps, that had attracted her to Jem - a sort of wildness, although in her it was reserved, tied down by something else, an awareness of duty unfulfilled, perhaps, or merely less of a need to explore far and wide, to get a rush from law-defying activities. So she agreed, and stayed where she was.

"What did that man call you? Lady -"

"St Columb," the woman said smoothly. "But I really insist that you call me Dona. It makes everything so much more cosy, don't you think?" A smile tugged at her lips. "I don't think I ever caught your name."

"Mary. It's Mary." Even as she said it, Mary was aware of the danger in giving her name away to a complete stranger, but the smile drew her in, and she found herself ignoring every warning that Jem had ever given her.

"Well then, Mary -" the smile grew wider - "tell me about yourself."

Now she became distrustful. She remembered a man met on the moors, long ago, whose manner had encouraged her to pour her heart out; she remembered his snarling face as he dragged her away from safety. "I don't think I should," she said warily.

"No? Well, that's probably for the best. I doubt the line of business you're in is entirely legal. And my husband - bless him - likes to think that he's an important member of the local law enforcement. How do you know I won't just go running to him after I've seduced you for information?"

A smile tugged at the corners of Mary's mouth. "Seduce me?" she said.

"Well, of course. Didn't you realise that was what I was doing?"

"I think you're joking."

"Hm." Dona acknowledged the accusation with a shrug. "You might be right. Still…" She leaned forward in her chair, elbows on the table, head resting on her hands. "Don't you want to know what drew me to you?"

"Go on," Mary said cautiously. She couldn't let herself trust this woman, no matter how appealing she might seem.

"There's a sort of defiance in your eyes, in the way you hold your chin up. I think you could stare down a man holding a gun to your head and he'd apologise."

Mary shook her head. "You've read me wrong. I'd be scared." She thought of that night, the blood on the floor, being dragged across the moors.

Dona hummed again. She picked up the drink that had been resting on the table and sipped at it, never looking away from Mary. "Then why," she said, "did you choose to take up with a cheating ship thief? There's a lot of risk in a job like that. And I doubt the sex appeal alone would be enough to convince you."

That caused Mary to pause. "I don't know." She remembered Dona's flippancy at the talk of pirates, her friend with the fast ship, and made a wild guess. "Why did you choose to take up with a pirate?"

Dona didn't even flinch. But there was something more serious in her eyes as she said, "Perhaps I'm trying to run away from myself."

"Are you?"

"I've yet to find out. But don't you, sometimes, find some inexplicable dissatisfaction with your life that dogs you, no matter how hard you try to escape it? Maybe, to avoid it, you do some foolish, shameful thing. You hope with all your heart that by acting out you'll get a glimpse of what it means to live. And yet, there it is, that same dissatisfaction."

"Maybe you should travel," Mary suggested. A year ago, she'd never have thought it. A year ago, all she wanted was to head back home to the fields, even if there wasn't a place for her in her old house.

Dona shook her head and smiled; this time there was a sadness to it that Mary hadn't noticed before. "I'm too tied down to this place."

"By what? Your husband?"

She nodded. "And children. I have two: a boy - oh, he'll be marvellous, as marvellous as any mother thinks her son is going to be, as marvellous as any of the men here - and a girl. She's a silly thing, but I suppose it's cruel to mock her when it's a miracle that she'd be anything else in a place like this."

"You don't seem foolish to me."

"Well, you've only known me for less than an hour, so maybe you're not the best judge. You don't think my acquaintance with the most wanted man on the planet is foolish?"

"Only as foolish as travelling with a ship thief," Mary shot back. "I don't think either of us is in the position to judge."

"That's true," Dona mused. "That's very true. Perhaps, though, it gives us something in common." She looked Mary dead in the eyes. "Don't you think?"

"There are very few people I have anything in common with any more," Mary said quietly.

"Oh, come now, don't be like that." "Like what?"

"You're brooding. What happened? Something wonderfully gothic, I hope?"

"Gothic, maybe. But there was nothing wonderful about it." When she'd woken up after days lying unconscious and bruised, she'd been angry. Furious, even. Ready, despite her aunt's protests and the risk of further injury, to go downstairs and face Joss Merlyn. He was a monster, a dictator in his own home. She held no sympathy for him, even now. That didn't mean that she couldn't remember him pathetic, drunk, confessing his sins for her in some misplaced search for forgiveness. Or him dead on the floor of his house.

He'd been a fool to think he could be absolved of his crimes, and he'd been a fool to think he could survive making a deal with a man such as Francis Davy had been.

"How can you associate with pirates?" she asked. She hoped the question would distract Dona from her.

"How can you associate with a thief?" Dona shot back.

"No, but I mean - pirates do have a reputation for violence." She was thinking of the wreckers, not quite pirates but near enough, who had once lured only sea-ships to their doom, but had extended their work to the sky when ports were installed on that part of the planet; it was more dangerous, the crashes more explosive unless you could manoeuvre everything to just the right place, but maybe that was why they liked it. The added risk gave a wilder tint to their eyes.

"That's true," Dona conceded, "but fortunately for me these particular pirates happen to be of the honourable sort. Stealing from the rich to - well, stealing from the rich, at any rate. I'm not sure they've worked around to the other part yet." She smiled fondly. "Their enigmatic leader does, however, make a lovely soup. You should try it."

"You're sure he'll take me?"

"If I bat my eyelashes at him for long enough then yes." Dona leant forward on the table. "And I'm hoping that if I bat my eyelashes at you for long enough then you'll yield to my superior charms."

"And do what?"

Dona reached across to take Mary's hand. There were still old scars on it - she couldn't remember from where, maybe struggling across the moors, or something from her happy days and years of farming - and Mary flinched slightly when Dona's fingers brushed it. It was only a momentary reaction; she soon relaxed, and let herself enjoy the sensation of another's fingers playing across her palm.

"Whatever you want, darling," said Dona with a wink and a smile. Despite herself, despite the suspicion she felt, forced herself to feel, on any new acquaintance, Mary's heart fluttered. Always finding herself attracted to the wrong sort of people: a thief; a married woman who consorted with criminals. People who would be sure to get her in trouble.

"No strings attached," said Dona when she saw the expression on Mary's face change, thinking of her husband and her children and her pirate, all but the last inevitably tying her down to this place.

"No strings attached," Mary repeated back, only half-knowing what it meant but meaning it anyway; because of her dead parents, because of her dead aunt, because of a home lost for no reason except a change in herself.

"I know a place where we can have some more privacy," Dona told her.

Dona ended up batting her eyelashes at her pirate friend in a little under the hour promised. Mary could never remember his name, even after he'd introduced himself - in conversation with Dona he was always 'her friend', 'her pirate', like calling him anything else would create a gulf between two strangers, people who had never met before and really had nothing to tie them together, except for perhaps a dubiously similar taste in men and in each other.

Mary wasn't in love with Dona. She wasn't even sure if she was in love with Jem, and she'd known him for far longer. It wasn't like what they had could be called a relationship by any reasonable person.

Still, she could have been in love with Dona. Her wit, the way she spoke, was appealing, drawing Mary in; but she also felt something underneath, something that she couldn't quite put a name on. "Perhaps I'm trying to run away from myself." Dona's words stuck in her mind. Mary, on the other hand, wasn't trying to run away from herself; only her past. Seeing the ships crashing down, the murders of her aunt and uncle, being dragged across the moors by Francis Davy. The memories haunted her mind, waking and dreaming. After one of Joss' cronies had tried to rape her, it had been almost a year before the idea of being that close to Jem - or anyone else for that matter - stopped making her feel sick to her stomach. It was like a wound that would never quite heal - even the slightest of jolts would force the closed skin back open. Maybe she'd made the decision to go with Jem because she'd thought, subconsciously at least, that travel would help. It hadn't, but a large part of her now found the idea of returning to places of the past repulsive.

The pirate's ship was styled after the old sailing ships that Mary had sometimes seen rotting on the sea-shore near her uncle's inn, left there as technology advanced and more and more people stopped caring about the upkeep of such ancient things. It seemed Dona's friend had a taste for the old-fashioned. Of course, it couldn't be a perfect facsimile, given the added need for air in space, and the differing propulsion systems of a space-ship. He kept the sails, though. He claimed that it wouldn't look right without them.

True to Dona's word, the ship was surprisingly fast. Mary sat on the deck for the journey; after a while, Dona came to join her.

"I thought you'd be staying with your friend," Mary said.

Dona shrugged. "I can see my friend any time I want. You, however, I have only a limited amount of time left with." She sat down next to Mary and pulled herself closer, wrapping her arms around her companion.

"What did you mean earlier when you said 'no strings attached'?" Mary asked, her proximity to Dona focusing her mind onto their previous conversation.

"You mean you didn't know?" Dona asked, amused. "And yet you replied in kind. That's very trusting of you." She hesitated; Mary could hear her steady breaths, feel them as they fluttered the hair on the back of her head. "What I meant was - imagine, for a moment, that there are only two people in the world. You and me. We have no lovers, no reason to hesitate in whatever we choose to do. But once the moment is over, we return to being two strangers, free to move on with our lives and forget each other. It's very simple, really." She laughed. "And I think rather fanciful of me."

Mary didn't say anything. She watched the stars go by above them. Perhaps privately she agreed with Dona - it sounded like something out of the pages of a novel. But at the same time maybe she needed something fanciful, something to cheer her up.

Dona became quiet. She hummed slightly under her breath. Mary let herself melt into the sound, and they stayed like that for the rest of the journey.

In too short a time, they had caught up with Jem. He seemed relieved to see her, in his gruff way; there was no laughing, no embraces, with Jem Merlyn.

Dona said goodbye to her with a kiss. "It was nice meeting you, Mary," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

And soon after that the war began.

Really, they should have been prepared. There had been mumblings about danger in most places Mary and Jem had visited; minor conflicts, scraps over trade, moral arguments about the things being traded. But no-one had thought there would be a war. No-one ever did.

It was a mess that caught up nearly the whole system in alliances so convoluted that after it was all over there probably weren't many people who could figure out entirely what happened. At the end of the day, they made little difference: both sides had wanted land and control; both sides saw great destruction. And the people who won - the people who were now in charge of the entire system - had clamped down on government sanctioned slavery but turned a blind eye to the ships that scoured planets for people to kidnap, and which had seemingly doubled in number in the aftermath of the war.

Mary had - miraculously - managed to escape the whole thing relatively unscathed. She'd once more been separated from Jem, for much the same reason as before, but this time it hadn't been safe to catch a ride - movement between planets was, by law, extremely limited when the sky was peppered with the debris of people who had lost fights, and there wasn't anyone willing to risk legal action just to carry Mary somewhere. So she'd whiled away her time with a nervous young woman and her much older husband, immigrants to the particular outer reaches planet that she'd found herself on. Apparently some trouble at home had necessitated the move - she hadn't paid particular attention, mostly choosing to keep herself to herself, and they hadn't said much on the subject anyway. And when everything was over and an uneasy peace had settled, she said goodbye and set off in search of - something. She couldn't say quite what - Jem, maybe. She just knew she couldn't bear to sit still anymore.

Mary would never figure out what coincidence brought her to the exact same bar in Erna where she had met Dona three years earlier. Pirates were no longer plaguing the area - the war had played a part, as had the local authorities' eventual success in clamping down on their activities. Mysteriously, their arrested leader had managed to escape the prison on the day before his execution for the death of a man visiting from the city. No-one had managed to work out how he'd done it, but Mary gathered from a few resentful murmurings that Dona had been seen around the house where he was kept at the time.

"I always knew it was her," one man declared to Mary once he saw she was interested in the topic. He stared - very conspicuously - at her chest.

"No you didn't," his friend scoffed. "None of us did. It weren't till after she got caught for spying that any of us knew a bloody thing. Excuse my reaches speak, ma'am." He addressed this last remark to Mary.

Mary wanted to tell him that she'd heard much worse on her travels, but she bit her tongue. Instead, she asked, "Spying?"

"Yeah. It's the general feeling here, ma'am, that if it weren't for that damn - if it weren't for Lady St Columb, we would've done a bit better in the war."

"Might even've won!" His friend chimed in.

The man ignored him. "But it's alright, see, because she got her comeuppance for that. There's some here that think she could be punished more, but I'm a fair man. If you see what happened -"

He was cut off by the sound of the doors opening.

Mary could finish his sentence for him: "If you see what happened, you'll know what I mean." She got caught for spying. Mary sucked in a deep breath and tried to stop herself from trembling.

In the doorway stood Dona St Columb. A dark scar that barely missed her left eye crossed her face. It had never properly healed, and gave the impression that it could split apart the entire front of her head at any moment. One of her hands glinted in the sunlight; Mary guessed it was a replacement. There was a lot of demand for those nowadays. But her physical appearance wasn't the most shocking change. As Dona grew closer, Mary caught the look in her eyes. She could still remember the sadness in them before, and mingled with that the joy for life. Now they were just dead.

When Dona walked past her she stood up almost involuntarily. But what would she say to her? They'd met once, years ago. And once you'd gone through a horrible experience, whether it left scars on the outside or not, there was nothing anyone could say that wouldn't feel false. Mary knew that.

Dona slumped down at the bar and ordered a drink. Someone had left a newspaper there; she picked it up and began to flick through the pages. The front cover had an article about depowering the androids left after the war - 'androids', which implied artificial life rather than the near resurrection of the dead pioneered in the midst of fighting, was the accepted term now. Many people - including the writer - felt that it was unnatural to continue human life after death. These poor souls had died in the war, or not long before it, and they should be allowed to stay at rest. It occurred to Mary, as she read it from her position hovering at Dona's side, that no-one in this discussion had bothered to ask the 'poor souls' what they thought about being 'deactivated'.

Dona yanked down the newspaper, startling Mary out of her thoughts. "If you really want to read it," she said, "you could have asked me to give it to you, rather than standing so close by." There might have been a glimmer of recognition in her eyes; Mary couldn't tell.

"Hello," she tried. "Do you remember me?" She sat down next to Dona.

Silence.

Dona turned over a leaf of the paper. "It's funny," she said, "the disconnect between using such an impressive piece of technology -" here she waved her right hand - "to handle something so primitive." She flapped the paper. "But then again, this has always been a place that firmly believed in tradition, and everything that that implies. I had to call a man from off world to fix my hand up."

She finally turned to Mary. "Does it sound ridiculous that I missed you?" There was a flicker of a smile on her lips.

"What about your pirate?"

"He had other business during the war."

"Your husband?"

"He…" Dona paused. "When I was uncovered, he was really very sorry at what was happening - I could tell, he was, and shocked too, that his wife could do such a thing - but he didn't do anything to stop it. He told me that everything would be alright if I just confessed, he practically begged me to confess because he hated seeing me in pain. Unfortunately for him, I've always been stubborn. Then he died fighting. Brave enough to defend his homeland; not brave enough to defend his wife. I suppose it takes different types of strength to do either. I've been forgiven, you know, by the new government, but nobody trusts a spy, not even after an official pardon. My children were taken away after Harry died. So if you're thinking how extraordinarily ridiculous it is of me to miss a woman who I've only met once in my life, the truth is that I have nothing else left."

"I -" Mary hesitated, knowing she couldn't say 'I'm sorry', couldn't apologise for whatever horrible things had happened -"I wish I could do something to help."

"You're here. That's more than anyone else is. And please - don't tell me that your coming here was a coincidence. I'd much rather think that you sought me out on purpose." Dona's drink arrived, and she took a moment to taste it. She made a face. "This bar has always made terrible beer. I don't know why I bother anymore. What happened to your thief?"

"We got separated," Mary said, and left it at that. Dona let her.

"I need to get off this damn planet," she muttered to herself.

An idea occurred to Mary. "I have a ship," she said.

Dona looked up. "You do?" she asked. She seemed surprised, like she hadn't expected anyone to be listening to what she'd said.

"The Mary Anne. It's how I got here. There were people I stayed with, on the outer reaches, during the war. They gave me it. It's a bit patchy - a while ago there was some accident with it, don't ask me what because I don't know - but it could get us away."

"You're asking me to come with you?"

Mary hesitated. But she knew the necessity of leaving the places of the past behind you. "Yes."

"Well." Dona thought for a while. "You've lost your thief, I've lost my pirate. We could go looking for them." She glanced at Mary, and again there was that hint of a smile. "And have some fun along the way. I'm sure I can still remember how to enjoy myself, if I have you to help jog my memory." Hope was in her voice now. Cautious hope, but hope nevertheless.

"We can go straight away," said Mary. "After you've paid for your drink, that is." A memory came to her. "No strings attached?"

Dona dug around in her pocket for money, which she gave to the man behind the bar. "I don't have any strings left," she said. "Nothing to forget for the moment I'm with you." She tilted her head, sizing Mary up, admiring her. "So I think I can afford to make some new ties."

She stood up unsteadily and offered Mary her arm. Mary took it without hesitation and, together, they left the bar.

#frenchman's creek #jamaica inn #daphne du maurier #fanfiction #femslash #writing fanfiction like a bus #me? writing fic for niche literary pairings? it's more likely than you think

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illustratedbydae · 7 years

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Writing Prompts #2

In honor of 500 followers, I’ve put together a new writing prompt list ! Request anything you’d like ( fandoms; Disney/Descendants/The Lodge , Once Upon a time, The Flash, Supergirl , Pretty little liars, Riverdale, Shadowhunters, DC, Marvel, The 100 etc ) and please when you request add the number & the phrase along with the request itself , thanks !

also dont worry, I’ll also finish writing the requests I already have 🙊🙈 + my own fan fiction, just be patient !

This is a new writing prompt list, as a thank you for getting me to 500 followers !

1. “ We’re not gonna talk about this ever again, okay? Okay. ”

2. “ You really try to get me killed, don’t you?”

3. “ I’m not a thief, I never knew I stole your heart !”

4. “ I always wanted to see you once more, but I never thought it would be like this . ”

5. “ Please, just let me be there for you, once. ”

6. Person A: “ I’m bitter and complicated. It’s one of my charms. ” // Person B: “ I don’t think you know what that word means. Or how to count. ”

7. “ Whether you believe in me or not, I continue to exist. ”

8. “ You keep pointing that sword at me and blabbering on about how much you’ve wanted to kill me, I’m beginning to doubt your commitment. ”

. 9. “ Why is it so hard for you to accept that I do love you?”

10. “ You loving me is the scariest thing on earth. ”

11. “ I never thought you’d be doing something like this. ”

12. “ I beg your pardon? I can be bad-ass, just like you. ”

13. “ Don’t you dare leave me again. ”

14 . “ I never liked you in the first place ! ”

15. “ You took everything I had, how can I forgive you ?”

16. “ You’re acting happy all of the sudden, who died ? ”

17. “ I can’t love him. He’s the enemy. ”

18. “ Leave me alone! Can’t you see I’m a monster ?”

19. “ You bought me an isle, how did you even made the money for it ?”

20. “ I didn’t agree with this kind of shit when I said I’d be your fake boyfriend/girlfriend. ”

21. “ I don’t do ‘dating’, sorry. ”

22. “ I never believed in love, until I first saw you. ”

23. “ Who had this crazy idea ? We’re all going to die here !” / “ It was your idea, idiot ! ”

24. “ Any more dragons that need to be slayed ? / No, thank you!”

25. “ She/He is the biggest risk in my life. ”

26. “ I don’t choose pain. I choose life. ”

27. “ All my life I was afraid of water and you threw me into the damn ocean !”

28. “ Slow down, I’m not going to have more than two kids .”

29. “ You’re my extraordinary relationship. ”

30. “Of course we’re best friends. No one else would put up with our shenanigans.”

31. “That’s the nice thing about telling the truth. You don’t have nearly as much to keep track of.”

32. “Never heard of that being used as a murder weapon before.”

33. “I know this may be hard to believe, but I’m on your side.”

34. “You’ve got thirty seconds to explain to me what you’re doing here.”

35. “How could you do this to me?”

36. “Ah yes, come in. Close the door behind you.”

37. “Hey… what’s wrong with your face?”

38. “No, it’s really not that complicated. He’s a bad person.”

39. “You think you’re so good-looking, but deep down, you’re the kind of ugly that PhotoShop can’t fix.”

40. “What? I meant it as a compliment.”

41. “You found it on the beach? You know, when most people take a walk on the beach, they pick up seashells.”

42. “That’s the least of your worries.”

43. “Do you trust me?”

44. “Let’s face it, you don’t exactly blend in.”

45. “Forgive me if I’m misreading things, but do you want to make out?”

46. “I feel like we’ve met before…”

47. “Does he hit you?”“After we lost you, things just weren’t the same.”

48. “If you were logical you would’ve killed me already.”

49.“Well, that could’ve gone better.”

50. “Sometimes I feel like she’s still at my side.”

51. “Well aren’t you the cutest little thing?”

52. “Careful not to break the—oh.”

53. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but yeah.”

54. “I thought you had him!”

55. “Humility is not one of my many virtues.”

56. “Where did you learn how to do that?”

57. “I didn’t ask to be abducted.”

58. “Why are you helping me?”

59. “That’s the worst reason I’ve ever heard to have a baby.”

60. “I didn’t even recognize you!”

61. “Is it worth breaking your vows over?”

62. “I told you not to read that.”

63. “I would break his thumbs right now if I could.”

64. “I know you’re here. You may as well show yourself.”

65. “Sorry. You’re the first person I’ve spoken to in ten years.”

66. “What makes you think it was an accident?”

67. “Sweetie, what were you thinking?”

68. “I love you, but I don’t even think I know who you really are.”

69. “I thought we were friends!”

70. “I should have told you this a long time ago.”

71. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”

72. “Where are your clothes?”

73. “I can’t believe I used to think he was attractive.”

74. “I hope that what I’ve said hasn’t hurt you too much.”

75. “No! I’m tired of doing what you say.”

76. “Well, this is where I live.”

77. “She’s been missing since Friday and you’re not worried?”

78. “Go and live with her, then! See if I care.”

79. “You must be mad, coming here like this.”

80. “Sweetheart, what did you bury in the garden?”

81. “I’ve been waiting a long time for you.”

82. “You were always the quiet one.”

83. “This isn’t just about you. It’s about what’s best for all of us.”

84. “Am I supposed to be scared now?”

85. “ You’re paying a small price compared to what she’s/he’s going through. ”

86. “If you do this, you will be dead to me.”

87. “Try focussing more on your life and less on mine!”

88. “I don’t think I could live alone again.”

89. “I’ve been checking you out.”

90. “You’ve only heard his point of view. You never asked mine.”

91. “What a thing to say - and on my birthday!”

92. “Oh my God. You’re in love with her.”

93. “I don’t often get the chance to talk to someone like you.”

94. “ Of all the people, you fell in love with him/her. ”

95. “ If we’re going to do this there’s no turning back.

96. ” I’m my own hero. “

97. ” Never, ever, in your life do that to me again !“

98. ” I can’t trust you, you tried to kill me !“

99. A; ” We’re like Romeo and Juliet,“ / B; ” You’re aware they died in the end, right ?“

100. ” You left me. You left me alone ! How could you?“

101. ” He’s/She’s the biggest risk in my life. “

102. ” You’re everything I want. “

103. ” We’re going to be parents ?“

104. ” If she’ll find out you’re here, she’ll kill you.“

105. "Don’t be scared. I just need you to come with me for a minute.”

106. “You came back!”

107. “Oh yeah, you really told him, didn’t you?”

108. “I just want a nice, easy life. What’s wrong with that?”

109. “What’s your problem?”

110. “You first.”

111. “In my next life, I want to come back as a butterfly.”

112. “Why do you have that look on your face?”

113. “You should have seen it coming.”

114 “You’re going in there right now and apologize"

115. “When was the last time we had a real conversation.”

116. “You’re big and strong.”

117. “I’m so sick of all this gloom and doom. Why can’t people just be happy?”

118. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the thought.”

119. “I never, ever want to hear you say that again.”

120. “Don’t just stand there looking at me.”

121. “ I choose you. I’ll always do ”

122. “ Please come back to me, you’re all I have. ”

123. “ I thought you were different. ”

124. “ I can’t let myself love you anymore. ”

125. “ Is she/he my child ?”

126. “ I wasn’t able to forget you, what we had, our love. ”

127. “ I beg your pardon ? I can defend myself pretty well!”

128. “ You made me addicted to you !”

129. “ He/She broke my heart. I don’t know if I’ll ever want to feel that again. ”

130. “ You’re my future. ”

#disney descendants #disney #shadowhunters #supergirl #the flash #dc #marvel #the lodge #ouat #pll #hevie #jayvie #carlos x evie #writing prompt list #writing #request #pls

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nomanicsdak · 4 years

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New Post has been published on https://manicdak.com/oh-balls/

Oh, Balls!

aN OILY ESCORT MISSION

So, we are back to escorting Testikles to the Olympics, and he is wherever the fuck he is on some Hades forsaken island in an uncovered part of the map. Like, yo, game—I don’t want to uncover another part of the map yet along with all its fetch quests and forts to defeat or whatever, because you know I will be compelled to do so. I guess I must though. I will try to power through without getting too distracted.

First I have to get some oil though.

Only the Oil maker’s slave lady is there though, and she is frightened that his wrath will come down on her if she dares help me by—giving me oil that I am going to pay for? Does this dude want business or not?? This guy already sucks, if I ever meet him… I convince her to just sell me the recipe and I make it myself—hopefully the right way. Which seems way worse for business than just selling me the oil. Oh, well. I succeed in remembering the recipe, and now I have to find Testikles on his island. I once again misread the map and also just guess at where he’s supposed to be instead of going directly to the clearly labeled point on the map. *shrug*

SNAKE SHIP!!

Ssssssssssssssssssssss!

This time it pays off though, because I find a sunken temple and it’s one of the locations of the treasure feathers! I’m sure stumbling ass backwards into them is how I’m going to solve this quest. It is the best way, I think. I also find some gold colours for my boat! The look I find is called the Hound of Hades. I like a Cerberus themed boat! Since I’m heading for the bay of Hades anyway, I think it’s fitting.

I’ll miss my pink and white boat though!

Before I talk to Testikles, I take the time to explore the nearby shipwreck of the Nestor. I find a new figurehead for my ship. It’s a serpent one, and although I already have a blue one and this is just a normal, I switch them out, because snakes are my jam.

TESTIKLES

The Man, The Legend–

So, there is also some treasure chest that is either underwater or underground, but I don’t see a cave entrance? I try to find it, but I can’t, so I just go talk to Testikles, who is flexing and carrying on about being the best. He may or may not be super drunk or super dumb or both. Who can say?

I have to convince him to get on the boat by giving him the oil now, or bribing him with it. I still feel kind of bad for leaving those Spartan kids to spar with wolves on their own a while back, so maybe I’ll just give it to him and not become an extortionist.

Great, he wants me to rub it on. What did I tell you about oil? We’re off on our escort mission now though, because I don’t get a choice in whether or not to oil down the big guy. Alexios is not gonna do it!

SHARK BAIT

Ahoy, Ace, why are you here?

Back on the boat, Barny is fanboying over Testikles and Herodotus recites poetry at him. We arrive at our destination with the man of the hour whooping about Sparta, which is about the extent of this guy’s discourse, and for some reason I have to talk to Alkibiades who is here too. I’m going to guess he wants me to somehow throw the games in Athen’s favour in direct contradiction to what I should be doing to prove my Spartanness?

Let’s find out! He’s enthusiastically jumping up and down and clapping at me.

If your wondering why he is here, it is to welcome us, actually compete in the Olympics, and flirt shamelessly, of course. Testikles burps in his direction. Herodotus and Barnabus share a confused look.

There’s some good natured ribbing and more sex puns made even more inappropriate by the peanut gallery watching behind me. Huh. Nobody’s asking me to do anything I don’t want to do yet— I’m feeling good about this cut scene for a few seconds until I duck out of Testikles’s grasp as he wants me to oil him up again and he falls off the dock and gets eaten by a shark.

I just—I die laughing at this point, because that’s the most absurd thing that has happened in this game so far. Will I have to step in for Sparta now? Alikbiades is definitely interested in seeing Alexios compete anyway. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more. He gives me the nickname “Lexie”, so how can I say no? I probably can’t. *shrug*

QUEST TIME!

We get the day off to explore around Olympia though, so that’s cool, let’s do that. I very nearly knock Barnabus off the shark pier on my way out the door to the nearest location. Sorry, my man!

I spend most of my time trying to defeat this huge ass fort and failing. I only get lucky because some bounty hunters show up and they start fighting the guys in the fort, so I can finally get it done. I’m a bit irritated that it took so long, so I just get back on my sudden quest for Olympic gold. I have to go find the organizer for this, I suppose to inform him that our contestant got eaten by a shark. *shrug* It happens?

I wander around Elis for a while, wreaking havoc on the Athenian forces. When I finally get to the actual Olympic Valley, I’m notified that I shouldn’t get caught doing anything illegal there. Great. We all know how good I am at sneaking and not doing illegal things. There are a bunch of new quests here that I can do before we get back to the story too, so let’s see who wants me to commit crimes so they don’t have to!

JUMPIN’ JAVELINS

First a sad bookie.

He’s sad because some dude named Pithekos is not on his game and it’ll cost him a lot of money if this guy loses (I hope he’s not in my event?) In any case I can offer to maim his opponent or cheer his spirits. Obviously, I’m not going to maim a guy undeservedly. The bookie isn’t keen on my plan to recite poetry at the guy. Since Pithekos is not the kind of man for poems, I just go talk to him.

Okay, he’s broken his “lucky” javelin. I attempt to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he just straight up admits to cheating. Like, I know I’m not suited up to the nines in the gear of my homelands, but that’s probably not the info you should just be imparting to rando-could-be-your-opponent-Spartans. Of course, I guess I’ll get him his javelin. Hopefully I won’t end up in jail.

I can steal it, which is probably the wrong choice, so I just talk to the vendor lady and buy one. There is also an old one in a corner. I bring both and I don’t get a choice on which to give him, so I guess I chose right by bringing both. The bookie offers to let me place a bet, but I decline to bet on the cheater.

SEEING THE SIGHTS

My next exclamation points leads me right to Barnabus who is being a total tourist. Lol, what is this quest, just sightseeing with Barny? I mean—Okay, I’ll take the easy XPs Why do you keep trying to make me learn stuff, game?

Zeus Beef in the wings

First: Altar of Zeus where we see them slaughtering a bunch of bulls for him. I buy Barnabus a slice of Zeus beef. He is delighted! Then we’re off to the next sight. The organizer for the event I’m supposed to be competing in must be around here because I keep being alerted to an untracked quest nearby, but I’m going to finish what I’m doing first.

Over in the temple Barnabus tells me the statue of Zeus was crafted by a sculptor I’m supposedly friends with, but I don’t know the name. Is he the dude I saved way back when I first came to Athens? Alexios says something sarcastic about the Gods that gets Barnabus’s dander up. I choose apologies. I don’t need to rain on his parade when he’s being such a fanboy and having a great day.

DISTRACTIONS

On the way to our next destination, I pick up another quest: Herodotus is trying to keep the peace, because I assume a Spartan and an Athenian are fixin to throw punches and break this Olympic truce. (One is wearing red, and one is wearing blue, so I can only assume. I remain, ever and always in neutral snake-tones) I agree to help them.

some dude

Back to Barny…or not. I stop again for a quest. A guy wants to tell my fortune, but it’s all a ruse to steal my money. He distracts me while a little girl steals my purse! She reminds Alexios of Phoibe and now everybody is sad. I’m even more sad when she tells me her story…some Captain made her thieve and is going to hurt her apparently. Obviously, I am going to help the girl that reminds me of Phoibe. The Captain is going dowwwn!

He goes down! I return to the kid to give her the necklace Captain stole and she’s happy that they can keep all they steal now. Heh. Go get ‘em, girl!

I finally catch up to Barnabus where he gives me the low-down on this special tree that the Olympic wreaths are made out of. We hug it out and I get my XPs! Thanks, Barny!

On to the next mini-quest!

A TALE OF OILY DUDES

Out on the street a poor woman is being browbeat in public by a priestess. Her crime: Being married and wanting to watch the games.

She is Kallipateria who wants to see her son compete. This is nonsense. Why is it a crime, I ask?

The priestess tells me its because all the oily men will be too tempting.

Uhh— Well, my only choice now is to say that’s not fair, which it’s not, so I’m not fussed about that pathway.

Turns out the punishment they want to dole out for attempting to watch the games is to throw her off Mount Olympus. The fuck???? That’s the punishment??? Priestess Lady, you’re going the way of Chrysis if you keep it up. She gives me the chance to prove Kallipateria’s heritage and save her, so I’m off to go look for her son in the green room as it were.

There’s a old lady there projecting her own thoughts onto every other woman in Greece. She’s clutching her pearls over all the hot oiled dudes. Yes, of course, because there is no other reason for women to enjoy sport, but also, who cares if she wants to scope some dudes? The only useful clue is that Kalli met with a man here often. Like…is the man her son?? The next person I talk to is her son. He confirms her story.

However, I also find a love letter seemingly addressed to her.

The plot thickens.

Regardless, nobody needs to be thrown off a mountain. Unless it’s me, throwing myself. I’m immune to fall damage after all.

Next a rando dude confirms her story and also—that her husband is dead???? What? Widowers got to stay married from beyond the grave here? I guess so. Kalli is still devoted and makes offers to the Gods for him. I find yet another letter confirming the story of Kalli’s son and their heritage. Time to stop this priestess and her hateboner for people who enjoy a nice oily dude. I guess what I find is enough for her to let Kalli go. Good. Damn her for making me schlep all the way the hell up this mountain though. I’m going to jump off it!

LOVE GONE WRONG

Alright, time to help out those fighty dudes from earlier. This quest is called the Drachmae of Romance, so let us see what this is all about. I find a note. Looks like a couple of lovebirds stole money from the fighting dudes to escape—something. Slavery? Crushing debt?

Next I find a really suspicious guard who is terrible at lying. He fell asleep on the job, but he does know the thieves headed east apparently.

Third clue—no forced entry to the treasure vault the guard was supposed to be guarding. Hmm.

Well, the game tells me exactly where to go, so at least I don’t have to wander Eastward with nothing but hope and a bird to go on.

It turns out this a Romeo and Juliet situation and the couple that stole the money are the son and daughter of the dudes that hired me. Those two dads also got the info from the guard and find us here. There is no conflict resolution for them. In fact, they are ready to kill their children over this feud. I got news for ya, dudes. You picked the wrong mysthios. I can either kill the poor kids or these two toolbags.

The good news is that the kids can forge a new peaceful future for their families now. A job well done as far as I’m concerned!

SCULPTING SUSPICIONS

My next and looks like last quest is to visit my sculptor friend. He is indeed the man who I saved from cultists. He does think cultists are still after him and for some reason did him the courtesy of leaving a coded message before they do away with him that I now have to traipse around all of Greece to figure out for him. I’m not going to do that right now because these statues with secret code are all over places that haven’t been uncovered yet. Sorry, Sculpto, you must wait!

Paranoid Sculptor Friend

I think it is time for some wrasslin’ or whatever the hell I’m competing in (The Pankration) because I am fresh out of exclamation points! I arrive at the organizer and he’s surprised to see me instead of Testikles. He lets me go ahead and replace the poor guy rather than cancel the whole event. Since I have nothing left to do, we’ll get right to it. I beat up a couple of dudes and now we get a pause before the big match against the Athenian champ. It is a break where we meet up with Barny and Alkibiades only to find Alkibiades has probably been poisoned. Damn! You can’t die yet, Ace! It’s not in the history books! (I know, I know, tell it to Perikles, right?) I am off to find the supposed poisoner!

PICK YOUR POISON

Somehow, Alkibiades of all the people, is super scandalized about how his upstanding good-time drinkin’ buddies could be shady double-dealing murderers. Sorry, my dude! Suddenly, my pause screen jumps out at me without prompting to give me some news. Kallias, Olympic hero, is now marked on my cult family tree. Does that have anything to do with this quest? Is HE the poisoner?

Let us investigate!

Clue #1: I visit the site of the party and, Yep. Poison. Lots of the party-goers are dead now.

Clue#2: More poison supplies in the kitchen. I find the name of the merchant who delivered them.

Clue#3: There is a bigger bad. Who is it? The merchant doesn’t know, but at least he gives me a place where I can find the antidote: That accursed fort from earlier? Nope, a new accursed fort. Probably at the only undiscovered location left in the Olympic Valley. Let’s Ride, Phobos! No time to lose! I am in and out without the guards catching me, and Alkibiades is up and at ’em as soon as the cure touches his lips.

A WIN FOR SPARTA

Now it’s time to finish wining the day for Sparta and defeating a cultist. Like—we know it’s him what ordered the poison, right? It has to be?

Back to the organizer, who laughs at me for not being oily enough. Heh. I’ve got some delightful cinnamon oil that I made myself, dude. I take this guys advice and use it. Why not? Testikles doesn’t need it. I have a tense moment with Kallias the cultist before things start, and I defeat the champion handily. Alexios looks extra shiny during the crowning, but whatevs. We won!

Oily, Oily, Glory

Next on the list: Cult dude, who I find just wandering outside the hippodrome alone. I sneak up on him and that’s the easiest cultist defeat ever.

Olympia is complete! I guess. I don’t even get to say goodbye to Ace this time, or find out for sure who the poisoner is. Bah.

Oh, well. I’m heading of to Boeotia now, because A: I have a king quest there and B: I have some mysterious Sphynx quest that I don’t even remember picking up, and we all know how I feel about Sphynx quests! (I love them. Hit me with your riddles, cat woman!)

#assassin's creed #odyssey #Assassin's Creed #Games #Odyssey

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emilyplaysotome · 7 years

Text

Part 48 - The Final Rose

Down the Voltage Rabbit Hole is an ongoing story about our MC, who could easily be anyone in voltage fandom. She woke up in hospital bed only to discover that she’d somehow been transported Voltage universe.

This story is ongoing, so if you missed a part, or are new to the story, please use the link to the masterpost below to catch yourself up:

https://tinyurl.com/k4rrxna

Part 48 - The Final Rose

I waited anxiously for his arrival as I paced in yet another luxurious suite.

It’s fair to say that as hard as the breakups had been, not knowing if he’d agree to come back with me was far more nerve wracking than anything I’d ever dealt with in my life.

The last time we’d seen each other on the street, he’d claimed to be willing to make the leap, but I wasn’t sure if he’d changed his mind since then. Just as space from him had brought me clarity, I worried that space from me might make him want to walk away altogether.

My heart was overwhelmed with fear that that after everything I’d been through would be for naught, and with every minute that passed I fretted over whether or not he’d even show up.

Last night, my goodbye to Shun had been difficult but necessary. When he realized what had happened, his shoulders slumped and he insisted that we should still have dinner together as friends.

I sniffled through most of the meal, unable to eat much of what was placed before me. At the time he struggled but maintained his brave face, continuing to tease me in an attempt to cheer me up which only made me feel worse seeing as how I knew he was suffering just as much in silence.

He was, on paper, so perfect but at the end of the day I just didn’t feel for him what I felt for the man who I knew was the one.

He twisted the knife even more during our goodbye, where he asked to hold me one last time outside the McDonald’s garish neon lights, and whispered in my ear that it would be impossible to see me as nothing more than a subordinate tomorrow at work. He thanked me for not leading him on, and teased me again by offering up a night of no-strings-attached sex, “seeing as how it’d been great and all”.

I politely declined, admitting that as tempting as it was, it would only be a burden on my conscience.

He maintained that brave smile of his, but was unable to hide how crestfallen he was as he held me a bit tighter and told me again that he’d meant every word he’d said and that he still loved me.

We kissed each for what I knew would be the last time, and it was only when we pulled away that I saw on his face how he was really feeling. He hung his head and quickly turned away, not wanting me to see exactly how miserable he was, and I found myself walking in the opposite direction, equally miserable.

I pulled it together at the front desk of the hotel I was supposed to have spent my last overnight date with Shun in, and checked in to my room before falling apart.

Instead of having a night of passionate sex I collapsed on the bed, sobbing into the hotel pillows as I prepared for what I believed would be my final night in this world.

I opened TalkTime and sent Jin a message letting him know where and when to arrive tomorrow. He immediately saw it and sent a thumbs up emoji which made me chuckle. I knew that he must be just as stressed as I was, but he still responded with a goofy emoji like he usually did. I loved his maturity and the fact that he never felt the need to put on airs. Wearing a small smile on my face, I let him know that I’d plan to see him tomorrow.

I put my phone back on the nightstand, and took out the card I’d bought at a local convenience store. I started to write my invitation for Altair to give to Zyglavis, outlining when and where to meet, as well as specific instructions for the front desk upon arrival.

With every stroke of my pen, I found my eyelids growing heavier and heavier until I felt compelled to close them. It was then that I was struck by an odd, dizzy feeling which forced me to keep them closed and it was only when I reopened them that I realized I was in the king’s throne room in the Heavens.

“What a wonderful show you’ve put on for me!” he exclaimed happily. “The drama! The heartache! The tears! And now...you are making your final decision are you not? When should I tell my Chief Minister...or it ex-Chief Minister to arrive?”

“No spoilers,” I said, still sniffling as I tried to get my emotions under control in the presence of the king.

I handed the king my half written invitation, filling him in on any additional information that I hadn’t been able to write down before being summoned. He snapped his fingers, making sure everything I’d said was in the card, and called for Altair.

The little God was on his best behavior upon entering the king’s throne room, clearly uneasy as he stood before him.

“Your highness,” he squeaked. “What can I help you with?”

“Altair, please give this invitation to Lord Zyglavis.”

“Yes, your highness.”

Altair didn’t say anything more as he approached the king and took the invitation from him. The only time he felt like the Altair I knew was when he glanced up at me just before exiting and flashed me his big, boyish smile. He was so cute that I couldn’t help but give his head a little pat as he walked by.

Seeing him calmed my nerves a bit, and I realized that my sniffling had subsided. With both invitations sent out, all that was left for me to do was wait for tomorrow evening and hope for the best.

Once Altair left, I thought the king would send me back to my hotel room immediately, but instead he ended up letting me know his favorite moments from my week as the Bachelorette. It appeared almost as if he’d become a fan of mine, and considering that we were the only ones privy to the events of the week, he seemed eager to discuss everything that had happened.

Surprisingly enough, the king struck me as a bit of a romantic seeing as how his favorite parts of the week were the parts that were etched into my memory as well.

Being a bit of an instigator though (and to the surprise of no one), he’d loved the part earlier in the evening when my three suitors had come face to face with each other. Outside of the inherent drama that came with the men meeting, he’d also relished the fact that Zyglavis had gone to Leon for help.

The king gabbed to me as if he were one of my close friends, and I tried my best to entertain him without giving away who I’d be asking home.

“I think I know who you’ll pick, but I can’t be certain...oh! It’s just so exciting.”

“He could still say no...”

“Of course! That’s what makes this so entertaining. You’ve really done well Goldfish.”

“I’m glad you’re satisfied.”

“More than satisfied! I haven’t had this kind of fun in years! And I suppose I should thank you properly...”

With a mischievous look, he snapped his fingers transporting both he and I to Storm Bar where I watched as Shun drowned his sorrows with brandy.

It was clear that Shun could not see me, nor the king and judging by the empty glasses in front of him it was also clear that this was not his first drink of the night. His eyes were bloodshot and droopy, and he’d unbuttoned another of his shirt buttons causing him to look a bit sloppy.

Truthfully, I’d never seen him in such a disheveled state and it hurt my heart to see him like that.

The kind bartender watched on with concern, finally noting that he thought it might be best if the drink before Shun was his last. As the scene played out I turned to the king, horrified that he’d be so cruel as to force me to watch this heartbreaking scene play out before me.

"Please - I don’t want to see this!”

“Hush, hush. I said I would thank you properly.”

“But...”

The king put his hand up, interrupting my pleas, and just then a young woman approached the dejected Shun at the bar.

“Mr. Tachibana?” she asked with trepidation. “Are you ok?”

“Not really,” he mumbled.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He looked at her, and I watched as recognition flashed behind his eyes.

“You work for me, don’t you?”

She nodded, all the while blushing demurely and he invited her to join him, defenses completely down as he slurred his words ever so slightly.

He shrugged off his upset, claiming it was just a personal matter and that he’d rather she distract him with a story about herself. She thought for a moment, before tucking a rogue strand of hair behind her ear and looked bashful once more before admitting a secret she’d no doubt held close to her heart.

“I...have admired you for some time,” she admitted. “There was a commercial you did for a camera...it made me want to make advertisements...it’s why I wanted to work at Addison & Rhodes...so I could work with the man I admired most in this world.”

For a moment, Shun looked emotionless but then, almost as if he had been rebooted, turned towards her with a smile that I’d thought he was only capable of showing me.

To be honest, I did feel jealous of her, but I knew that this for the best and I was surprised that the king had shown me this scene for my own benefit, as a kind gesture rather than a malicious one. He’d surprised me considering I thought that his “thanks” was simply orchestrating another moment of entertainment at my expense for him, but as it turned out I’d misread the situation.

When I turned back towards the king, he merely smiled at me and said, “His heart will recover. Do not worry Goldfish. Just focus on finding your own happiness now.”

With the snap of his fingers, I was back alone in my hotel suite and thanks to his highness’ meddling, I didn’t feel quite as terrible as I had before.

I woke up alone for the first time all week, and proceeded to go about my morning routine.

At kendo, Shu and I said nothing about Namba and focused on the lesson. When it was over, I bowed deeply expressing my gratitude should the king keep his promise and send me back home tomorrow.

Shu wished me well (should I choose to return to New York), and I found myself giving him a hug goodbye despite his obvious aversion to being touched so intimately by his boss’ love interest. I thanked for pushing me to figure out what it was that I wanted, and I also let him know that I’d always think of him fondly.

Even though I’d been chasing a way home since the moment I arrived, I found myself feeling incredibly sentimental about this otome world and the people I’d met in it.

As the ladies at the salon got me ready for my day, I sent my restaurant club a message letting them know that I was planning on going back to New York for some time and that I hoped they’d continue to meet up without me. I also opened FriendFind and decided to make a quick post that let everyone know I was planning on returning to the states and would most likely be out of touch for some time.

The girl doing my makeup kept scolding me, as I heard the well wishes pour in with every vibration of my phone, causing my eyes to tear up. My entire journey had been an emotional one, and even though I was prepared to go home it was sinking in how much I’d miss the people here.

By the time my appointment had wrapped up, and I was on my way to the office, I’d accumulated personal notes from the bidders, the friends I’d made at Conte, and a few members of the MPD.

I’d just ordered a latte from the barista when a message came in over TalkTime, and my heart stopped upon seeing the name attached to the note.

“Ami - I didn’t realize you’d be going back so soon (Eiki told me). I now understand why you weren’t ready. I’m sorry if I pushed you - I just couldn’t help but fall for you. If you ever return, I hope we can grab a drink at Station as friends.” - Hiroshi

It was then that tears I’d been holding back fell freely, and I sniffled all the way to the office.

My last day at Addison & Rhodes was spent basking in the afterglow of a successful Tweeter takeover.

In the morning Toshiaki stopped by to give me his personal thanks for executing the takeover perfectly, letting me know that Mira Black had seen a huge bump in sales and with Revance now attached to the brand everyone was confident that this trend would only continue. Having been praised by the evil exec, my coworkers in my area presented me with their own praise, including Toma. When the accolades had subsided, he’d whispered to me that he looked forward to working with me in the future and I simply nodded in response, too melancholy to lie about a collaboration that I knew would never happen.

Only Shunichiro knew about my plan to go back to New York, and other than a quick glimpse of him in the hallway after lunch, the two of us didn’t interact. We’d said our goodbyes the night before, and with the wound still fresh it was simply too hard to pretend with each other.

I saw him getting out of the elevator on the creative floor, as the woman I’d seen yesterday at Storm bar chased after him. I felt the sting of the jealousy I’d felt the previous night but even so, was unable to avert my eyes.

Even though I had cut him loose I hadn’t let him go, and seeing him with another woman so quickly after being with me hurt more than I wanted to admit.

It struck me that Shun had always said that he liked my independence and the fact that I didn’t allow him to always take the lead, yet he’d clearly returned to his old ways of dating a woman who gazed at him with hearts in her eyes. As much as I judged him for it, I knew that it was safe and I understood wanting safe after what we’d had.

He turned and saw me watching him from down the hall, and our eyes met for a split second where I saw the same pain in them that I’d seen yesterday. I felt my own vision become a bit blurry thanks to the tears that were welling up, yet I forced myself to smile and whispered, “be happy” even though I had no idea if he’d understood what I said.

He gave me a small nod of acknowledgement that was so slight the woman next to him didn’t even notice, and I watched silently as the two disappeared into a meeting room together.

It was then that I returned to my desk and not caring that it was only 3 in the afternoon, packed everything up and left the building without saying a word to anyone.

It was five past eight, meaning that he was either running late, or wasn’t coming at all.

We hadn’t spoken since I saw him last, and I worried that after he’d left he’d become consumed by his thoughts surrounding my other suitors. I was reminded what Shun had said after my date with Namba - how seeing us together had shaken him, and I worried that he might have felt the same about Shun.

In his mind, even though he’d said his peace he’d also been under the assumption that I was going on a date and potentially spending the night with another man.

What if he felt led on? What if he decided that I wasn’t worth it after all?

Just then, the phone in the suite interrupted my negative thoughts with its piercing tone, and I quickly grabbed the receiver. The front desk let me know that the gentleman I’d mentioned to them had arrived and was heading up to my room.

I thanked them, and hung up, only to continue to pace around the room like a wild animal trapped in a small enclosure.

When I heard his knock at the door I practically tripped over my gown, before I gathered myself best I could and let him in with a smile.

Just as I had an hour ago with the man I’d broken up with, I led him towards the lounge where I requested that he let me speak first. It was only fair, considering the past few days he’d poured his heart out and I hadn’t so much as offered anything in return.

As I started to speak, I struggled to look him in the eyes for fear that he’d come here to end things between us - the time apart making him realize that he was unable drop his everything in his life and return with me.

“Crap. I’m so nervous,” I finally said. “I guess this is karma for what I put you through all week, huh?”

He looked at me and nodded nervously, unclear if he was the last man standing or if I was about to end things. I took a deep breath, mustered all of my courage, and tried to speak from the heart as eloquently as I could.

“In looking back, I liked you from the moment we met. This whole week, I’ve been wrestling with my own emotions - trying to think about what was best for everyone and to be honest, it’s been a struggle.”

I could feel the tears coming but I did my best to hold them in. My voice wavered a little, but I pressed forward with my speech.

“I’ve been so afraid of making the wrong choice and ruining someone’s life but I realized something with you - you’re the only one who from the beginning really understood me. With you, there was never anything to hide. I could just be myself and seeing as how that’s all I’ll ever be, if you love me as much as you say you do, then I will consider myself very lucky to be loved by a man like you.”

I watched as his face lit up with recognition, and he looked at me wearing a cautious expression.

“You mean?”

“Yes. I love you too. I want to spend my life with you. Will you return to New York with me?”

Jin looked up and I watched as he wrestled with everything that he was feeling.

He was wearing his usual suit, having come straight to my room from work and ran his fingers through that full head of hair I loved so much. Even though he was sitting across from me, I could still smell traces of tobacco mixed in with that clean detergent smell.

After I’d finished talking, we’d sat there together in silence. I could tell that my speech had left him a bit shell shocked, and after what felt like an eternity he finally spoke.

“I can’t believe it.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m sorry that I made you go through all this but...”

“No,” he shook his head. “It’s alright Little Bird. You should know that you were worth it.”

“You’re amazing too,” I said, and as I continued, the tears I’d been holding in freely streaming down my cheeks. “I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t love you...because I do.”

“You just love him more.”

“I’m sorry,” I said again, hanging my head as I watched the tears fall from my cheeks to the floor.

“So this is really goodbye, huh?”

I felt sick to my stomach, but I had to nod as much as I didn’t want to.

Outside of the McDonalds when the cyclist whizzed by, Zyglavis’ face flashed through my mind.

Right before we’d gone to the planetarium, before I’d run away and before I’d distracted myself with Jin and, he’d saved me from being hit when I hadn’t been paying attention. It was in that moment that I realized I saw him wherever I went - every time I ordered a latte or looked up at the night’s sky, he was in my thoughts.

It was him. It was him all along, and I became even more certain of that fact when I’d smelled the cigarette smoke the cyclist had wafted my way.

Jin was a smoker, and if I was going to ask him to give up everything in his life, it would be some time before I could ask him to give up smoking as well. As an asthmatic, in a small studio apartment, choosing him would be a bit problematic but honestly that wasn’t the real reason why I wanted to choose Zyglavis in the end.

I chose him because I loved him more than anyone.

I realized that I loved him if he were a God or not. I loved him if he sucked in bed, or if he forgot how to kiss the second we got back to New York. I loved him for being this weird mishmash of stoic and sweet, and I realized that he was the only man I could picture by my side for the rest of my life.

If all that wasn’t enough of a reason to pick him, he also happened to be the only man who had offered to return possessing a full understanding of my circumstances.

Jin wiped the tears that fell and joked that should I change my mind, he’d be beside me no questions asked.

“I don’t deserve that,” I said to which he’d kissed me.

It was a soft, sad kiss that was void of the usual passion we shared and when he pulled away he winked and noted, “Yes you do. You deserve everything you want in this lifetime. I’ll miss you.”

Unable to respond for fear of reopening the floodgates I found myself frozen as I watched his silhouette walk towards the door, as he let it close behind him.

He didn’t look back.

“Zyglavis,” I said, worried as to why he wasn’t saying anything. “I love you. Just you. Please tell me you’ll come back with me.”

“Ami Mizuno, I…since I last saw you I spoke with the king. He told me everything - that he’s been watching this play out since the beginning. To be honest, I don’t care to know how much he’s watched, or the amount he’s seen but I know what the stakes are. I came here ready to hear what you were going to say and to be honest, I was worried.”

“Worried? About what?”

“Everything. Being rejected. Being picked. That king of mine has an uncanny ability to meddle as I’m sure you know.”

“I…”

“Please, let me finish. I have thought about the logic insofar as what is best for the both of us, and I’ve come to the conclusion that love laughs in the face of logic. I am better off saying goodbye to you logically, however...I love you. I meant what I said yesterday, and I am...relieved to say the least.”

For the first time in days, I cried tears of joy.

Zyglavis smiled kindly at me after having delivered such a heartfelt, yet simultaneously logical speech. It was exactly that kind of contradiction that made me love him as much as I did, and I found myself in his arms as I buried my crying face in his chest, relishing in the fact that he was mine from this day forth.

I sniffled slightly as I pulled away from him, gazing up at his handsome face and addressed him, “That speech of yours was perfect...except for one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“My real name’s not Ami Mizuno. It’s Naomi Lee.”

“Well. I stand corrected. Naomi Lee...I love you.”

My tears of joy, gave way to laughter and smiles, and then sweet kisses followed by passionate ones.

We found ourselves in bed, free from the all the pressures that loomed over us both the last time we’d made love and I relished the fact that my mind, free from its usual chatter, had given itself over to the experience of being with the man I loved.

It felt like a do-over of our first night together in the best way possible, and I was happy to see that Leon’s lessons in love made our night a pleasurable one.

I stirred the next morning and looked over to see the man I loved beside me. He’d been gently stroking my hair as I slept, and upon opening my eyes retracted his hand, concerned that he’d woken me.

I cuddled up next to him, and inhaled his perfectly clean scent (with just the slightest hint of lavender), as I felt confident that I’d made the right choice.

He was just about to say something when a bright light flooded our hotel room, and we found ourselves properly dressed and in front of the king.

As always, the king looked at the two of us with his usual, omnipotent smile, and clapped his hands as he praised how moving the finale had been.

It was just the three of us, as we chatted briefly in his chambers before he announced that there was no need to drag things out any further. From there, he escorted us to a door in the heavens which he assured would lead me home to where I belonged.

When I asked about Huedhaut, and the park in which I was found he merely waved his hand uninterested and let me know that this would do just fine.

“You’ve had your fun in this world Naomi. Now it’s time for you to go.”

I looked at Zyglavis and reached for his hand to which the king smirked and shook his head.

“Silly me I forgot - say your goodbyes. This is the end.”

“Excuse me? But you said…”

“Did you actually believe I’d allow a Goldfish to take him away from me? Do you realize how important he is to this world? To the heavens?”

“But…”

“No. You both had your fun as did I. And now everything goes back to normal.”

I turned towards Zyglavis, and in seeing the genuine surprise on his face realized that we had both fallen prey to the trickster king.

To be continued...in Part 49!

http://emilyplaysotome.tumblr.com/post/161238498622/part-49-theres-no-place-like-home

If you’ve enjoyed the story, please show your support by sharing it with a friend or buying me a coffee! My goal is to create an original web series so if you like my characters please consider donating something to help me get it made.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned...last chapter will be up on Wednesday!

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crazy-grrrl-on-the-computer · 7 years

Note

2, 3, 10, 16, 17, 18 for the fic writer thing!!

Aaaaah,thank you~!!!! >w

2. what fics (that are currentlyupdating) are your favorites in the fandom you’re in

…I haven’t been actively readingfanfic in over a year because I haven’t had the energy to keep up withmulti-chapter fics. Occasionally, I still read oneshots, though. ;;n;;

3. name 3 underratedfic authors in your fandom

There are alot, I’m sure! I haven’t been keeping up with fics lately, so I really can’tanswer this question accurately. (Also, questions like these are so unfair, ohmy goodness, I just end up wanting to name everyone and promote their work andshower them with all my love because they deserve it!) I’m… actually not evensure how many of the underrated fic authors from back when I was still activelykeeping up are still writing Boueibu fic now. But… I think I can name a fewfrom that time. Sorry if I’m too out of date!

@freezingdreamer- This s1e10 Yumoto metahad me hooked and I still think about it a lot! I regret that I haven’t readmore of their fics yet, but I was skimming some of the writing on their blogand I just absolutely adore the creativity and cuteness in them! But the ones that really get me in the feelsare the ones that explore a character’s inner thoughts and how that contributesto their actions in a situation. I am a huge sucker for it!

@feicastro32- I love how they write about Io and Ryuu! It’s either so sweet and precious itmakes your heart explode from cuteness or so bittersweet and angsty it breaksyour heart instead. ;;w;; I wish I had the energy to keep up with everythingbecause I feel like I’ve been missing out on so many amazing things all thistime. >v

As for somenewer (or at least more recent) fic authors, I also very recently came acrosssome writing from @cupkayke and @yufuin-ens and I love the way they portray thecharacters so well! Both of them write very cute fics focusing on characterdynamics that are so intimate and intriguing I can’t help but get drawn in. Theygive my heart a warm fuzzy feeling~

10. alternate universes, canon divergence,or in-canon?

ALL OF THEABOVE! I LOVE ALL OF IT! HOW CAN I LIMIT MYSELF TO JUST ONE? I WANT ALL THE THINGS!*grabby hands* They are all excellent ways to explore characters, differentdynamics, and story arcs~

16. first fic you remember reading inthe fandom you’re in?

I think one of the first Boueibufics I read was from the very early days when there were maybe only 2 or 3pages of fic on FFN and AO3. (Aaaah, nostalgia~ ;;v;;) After I binged the first6 eps (which were all that had come out by the time I found the show anddecided to watch it), I immediately went to FFN and found the few fanfics thatwere there.

The first one I remember reading wasIoryuu, of course, and I remember it being about the two of them as kids at aschool dance together because everyone was big on speculating how they couldhave met as kids around that time. And I think it was Ryuu who kept gettingpicked on by the other kids for looking too much like a girl, so Io decides togo up to him and asks something like “Will you dance with me,Cinderella?” Forgive me if it was actually the other way around. It hasbeen about 2 years since I read it, so my memory is fuzzy.

It was a really cute short fic, butI can’t remember what it was called (it may have actually been called“Cinderella”/“Dance with me, Cinderella” or something alongthose lines) and when I went to look for it again I couldn’t find it. So, Iwonder if it was deleted. *cries* It was really adorable and one of my favoritefics. ;;v;; Seriously, if anyone remembers/recognizes what fic I’m talkingabout, please let me know!

But the first Boueibu fic I read on AO3 was World Domination by starwhale97 and tbmd1066. At least that’s what myAO3 History tells me. (If that wasn’t it, then the actual first fic I read onthere may have been deleted long ago before I noticed and I just don’t rememberbecause my brain is just a jumble of fond memories with no names attached.) The beginning of this fic has a “Pinky and the Brain” kind of vibe to it, which is hilarious.It’sa lot of crack and it made me laugh. Kinshirou is disgusted, Arima is high, and Akoya is passive-aggressive and very gay. Zundar did not sign up for this. XD

17. any crazy first-time fanfictionexperiences?

For Boueibu? Not really, I don’tthink. My experience with fic in this fandom has been pretty tame. Thankgoodness.

But in general… back in my HighSchool Musical days at the height of my obsession, I officially got into fanfic(although I was technically writing fic years before I even knew what it was)when I created and account on FFN. Somehow, I ended up hopping between HSM fic andFlight 29 Down fic (among other mostly Disney-related things), and I ended upgetting really into one Flight 29 Down fic that the author stopped beforefinishing.

So, I was really excited when theauthor said they were going to rewrite the fic. And when the first chapter wasposted, it was definitely a really great start, but I misread the author’s noteand thought they said the rewrite was just going to be that one chapter.Basically, an entire multi-chaptered fic condensed into just one chapter thatdidn’t resolve any of the plot. So, because I was young and inexperienced (onlya wee inexperienced teen who was so new to being able to use the internet foranything other than school research), I ended up leaving a review saying that Iliked the first chapter but I thought it was a letdown that they were onlygoing to stop with the one chapter after all the hype they built up for it(that review was mostly incoherent drivel).

I was dumb and I only realized mymistake MUCH LATER when I had already embarrassed myself by getting into a passive-aggressiveargument with an “anonymous reviewer” who called me out for beingrude. (Rightly so, mind you. I had been pretty rude and undeservingly bitter withthat first review.) This argument went on for some time through each of thesubsequent chapters that were posted and it basically went something likethis…

Anonymous (who I’m almost 99%certain was the author or one of their friends calling me out for being an assfor everyone to see): *throws insults at me about how I’m immature,self-entitled, and clearly need to get a life*

Me: *tries to defend myself for myfandom interests while simultaneously apologizing to the author for how rudethe anon was for arguing in the comments WHILE I WAS ALSO ARGUING IN THECOMMENTS*

Me, eventually: *apologizes to theauthor for being an ass and genuinely begs forgiveness for my sins*

Yup. *shudders* I never did anythinglike that again because I learned my lesson and I’m still entirely embarrassedthat this incident happened in the first place. I feel awful for causing theauthor so much trouble and being an ungrateful little shit. u-u

18. a detail you’re really proud ofputting in one of your fics

UM, I can’treally answer this one either because all of the details I’m especially proudof are foreshadowing… and, by talking about them, I’d completely ruin thesurprise. And of course most of the fics those spoilery details pertain to areones that are still in-progress or haven’t been posted yet. Aha. ^^’

Feelfree to send me more~

#Ask That Dork #boueibu #Disney #okay wow how long has it been since I was sent this Ask? months? something like that //shot #I am so sorry #life and stress have been relentlessly unforgiving with me lately #the questions I got stuck on were 3 and 18 because I wasn't sure how to answer #and I ended up needing to refresh my poor memory ;;v;;#of course I ended up cheating and mentioning four people for question 3 heheh #I have no regrets

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