Tumgik
#a bit disjointed but i just got done with a lab and have homework to do so we're rushing today
mt-words · 3 years
Text
As a fan of Niki I love her section of Techno’s will.
“Tell Ranboo &Niki that they’re stronger than they know.”
So much of Niki’s story is about what it means to make an impact, what it means to belong. Does making the best choice you can matter if no one knows or cares either way? Does kindness make a difference if people don’t accept it? Does it matter if you fight if you don’t succeed?
Niki frequently feels invisible. It’s why she ultimately left L’manburg, she went there for her best friend and was promised that no one fights alone, where was that promise when she was left standing alone against Schlatt? Even once they reclaimed the country she felt like there was no family for her there, so she left.
Niki struggled to make the choice to join the Syndicate because she wasn’t sure what she wanted, she had unfinished business she wanted to sort out first. The deciding factor was that she wanted a place to belong.
By having Philza pass her this message if he dies, Techno doesn’t only assure her that he sees her, she’s one of the only four people he mentioned by name (aside from pets), he values her friendship, he also makes sure Philza will reach out to her if he’s gone. He makes sure she won’t be left alone and that belonging won’t be gone with him.
And Techno uses these couple of words to tell her how strong she is.
After all those sleepless nights in an uncomfortable, small room in her underground city, surrounded only by her doubts and fearful thoughts, don’t you think that would mean the world?
385 notes · View notes
geminiwritten · 3 years
Text
heatwave ; bucky barnes
fandom: marvel
pairing: bucky x reader
summary: you’re not a huge fan of the hot weather until a certain super soldier finally gets his arse out of bed and gives you a reason to love it
notes: i wrote this over quite a few days so i’m really sorry if its disjointed, and i’m so sorry if its repetitive of my last piece! i’m still trying to get through a bit of writer’s block, so i hope y’all enjoy!
Tumblr media
word count: 3359
The heat seemed to wash over you in waves. Pulses of warmth rolling through your body and stealing your breath. Every inch of your skin glistened with a thin sheen of sweat, drawing all the hydration from your body and draining any energy you might have possessed if it wasn’t for the heatwave currently sweeping through New York City.
“Ugh,” you groaned, your head lulling to the side where Natasha laid, “I think I’m dying.”
She let out a breathy laugh, “You’re not dying.”
“I might be.”
“Oh, come on you two,” Sam hollered from the pool a little way across the balcony, “have some fun for once in your lives!”
Natasha propped herself up on her elbows and squinted over the top of her sunglasses, “With you idiots? No thanks.”
“Why are you always such a killjoy, Romanoff?”
“Why are you always such a pain in the ass, Wilson?” you called back, mimicking Natasha on your elbows.
He scoffed, “That’s rich coming from the whiniest member of the team.”
Your frown deepened, this time out of anger and not because of the bright glare from the sun.
“Watch it, Wilson,” a voice called out from behind you, “or she’ll come over there and kick your ass.”
Both you and Natasha whipped around to find Bucky. He had probably only just woken, his mop of hair tied up into a loose bun with escaped tendrils sticking to the hot skin of his neck and forehead. This time, it wasn’t the heat that knocked the air from your lungs.
“Nice to see you’re alive, Buck,” Steve chuckled as he waded through the pool toward where Sam was leaning against the edge.
Bucky rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to say something smart but having his breath stolen as he stepped out of the shade and into the sun. “Holy shit,” he gasped, “it’s hot.”
“Sharp observation skills, Einstein,” Natasha quipped.
“At least Barnes will get in the pool unlike you two party poopers,” Sam said, before copping a volleyball to the back of the head thanks to Bruce’s poor aim.
He spun around quickly, ball in hand and ready to hurl it back at his attacker.
“Well then,” Bucky sighed, now standing beside you, “I guess it’s time for a swim.”
He looked down at you sprawled across your towel, one arm draped over your eyes to shield from the sun and the other resting on your bare stomach. You suddenly felt exposed, nervous under the gaze of his pale blue eyes.
“Want to join me?”
Your pulse thudded in your ears, and you wanted nothing more than to get in the water with him, but the sound of shouts and spraying water reminded you of the rest of the team.
“I’m sorry, Buck, I’ll have to pass,” you replied.
He pushed his bottom lip forward, “It’s your loss, doll, this heat is a killer.”
Your limbs turned to jelly at the sound of that pet name rolling off his tongue.
“Ugh,” Natasha scoffed beside you, “you two are sickening.”
You wanted to turn around and bite back at her, but what happened next had you paralysed. Every nerve in your body ignited, goosebumps rising across every inch of your skin in spite of the steamy weather. Bucky’s fingers curled under the hem of his shirt, tugging it up and over his head to reveal his sculpted body beneath. His abs rolled and tensed as he rid himself of the material and discarded it on the ground, making your mouth water and your head spin with a thousand different unholy thoughts.
A shriek from the red headed woman beside you broke you out of your trance, and only then did you notice the spray of pool water that had washed over you and most of the balcony.
“You’re an arse, Barnes!” Natasha yelled, standing and angrily snatching up her towel.
You pushed your sunglasses further up your nose as you let your gaze settle on the giggling men in the pool. Bucky’s now wet, broad shoulders glistened under the sunlight, his alabaster skin taught across the landscape of muscle.
“Do you want some lunch or are you just going to keep staring like a creep?” Natasha asked as she stood over you.
Your gaze hardly wavered, “I’m not hungry.”
“Are you sure?” she pressed, her lips curling into a smirk, “because I think you’ve got a little bit of drool on your chin there.”
If Bucky wasn’t pulling himself out of the water right at the moment, you might have turned around to poke your tongue at her, but instead you opted for flipping her the bird while your eyes remained trained on the pool area.
The rest of the steamy day went by far too quickly. Despite your hate for the heat, you stayed out on the balcony until the sun began to set. Only when Bucky and Sam wrapped themselves in towels and declared that it was time for dinner did you finally put your book away, not that you had managed to read even a single page of it.
“Is it supposed to be this hot again tomorrow?” Sam asked as the three of you stepped inside.
“Yeah,” you replied, “and the day after.”
“I bet you’re happy about that,” he chuckled, watching disappointment sweep across your face as Bucky pulled his shirt over his head
“Shut up.”
He chuckled at your feeble attempt to jab his side, easily evading your attack.
“Alright, children,” Tony called from the kitchen, “dinner’s ready.”
Like moths to a flame, the rest of the team gathered around the kitchen bench where Natasha and Tony had laid out the pre-cut ingredients for everyone to make their own burgers.
“I’m going to have a shower before eating,” Bucky said, to no one in particular as he draped his damp towel over his forearm.
“Do you need any help?” Sam asked, his grin evil, “Because I’m sure Y/N would love-”
“Sam!” you snapped.
Thankfully, Bucky remained oblivious, his brows knit into an adorable frown.
“Never mind, Buck,” you said, “I’ll make sure they save you some food.”
His face broke into that familiar smile that melted your heart, “Thanks, doll.”
Once again, your legs wobbled like jelly and you had to steady yourself on the back of the lounge.
“Ugh,” Sam groaned, “I can’t wait until they day you two finally fu-”
“Language,” Steve interrupted with a disapproving glare at Sam.
You poked your tongue out before turning toward the array of burger ingredients, your empty stomach rumbling at the sight.
The next day rolled around just as the weather forecast had predicted. The air was thick with humidity and the sun blared down just as it had yesterday. Once again you found yourself on a towel beside the pool, half of the team splashing around while the other half laid languidly in the shade.
“Still not getting in today?” Steve asked as he approached the bar fridge near where you had placed your towel.
You shook your head, “I’d rather not get caught in the crossfire of an overly aggressive game of chicken.”
“I mean, you could play the game with us, maybe even get to climb onto Bucky’s shoulders.”
You whipped around, your glare lethal, “What the fuck, Rogers?”
He chuckled, “Sorry, Sam told me to.”
“You are the last person I would expect to stoop to his level,” you said, crossing your arms indignantly.
He shrugged, “Well, no one has told Buck, if that makes up for anything.”
“I’m guessing everyone else knows, though.”
He didn’t respond, only smiled sheepishly.
“Ugh,” you sighed.
“In my own defence, Natasha told me about your crush months ago and I haven’t let it slip once. It’s been-”
“Sam,” you interrupted him, “I know.”
He took a generous sip of water before crouching beside you, “For what it’s worth, I think you should tell him how you feel.”
“Yeah, right,” you scoffed.
Steve knew he couldn’t say anymore. He knew nothing he said would convince you to tell Bucky how you felt, and he knew he couldn’t betray his best friend’s trust by divulging the fact that Bucky really had confessed his feelings for you before. He decided to let you be, gathering three more bottles of water before heading back to the pool.
The day passed almost identically to the one before it, and so did the next. It wasn’t until two o’clock in the morning on the third night of the heatwave that you felt a sudden change. You awoke abruptly, a shiver running down your spine as cool air blew through the open window and brushed across your bare skin. You frowned at the night sky before tiredly pulling your duvet up to your chin and falling back asleep.
By morning, the heat was well and truly gone. Clouds blanketed New York City, threatening to rain as they rolled angrily across the grey sky.
“I guess it’s back to work today, Avengers,” Tony said from behind his tablet.
Almost everyone was awake, crowded around the kitchen bench awaiting Clint’s famous French toast.
“What work?” Peter asked.
“Homework for you, kid,” Steve replied, earning an indignant frown from Peter.
You couldn’t help but giggle into your mug of coffee, before almost spraying it back out at the sight that then exited the elevator.
Bucky. Shirtless. Again.
You began to wonder what you had done to be so lucky, your heart thrumming against your rib cage so hard you worried that someone might hear it.
“Oh, my, Barnes,” Tony gasped, “you know it’s still in the A.M., right?”
Bucky simply rolled his tired eyes before slumping onto the lounge, mumbling, “Hungry.”
It wasn’t long before Clint served breakfast, everyone scoffing their food as if they hadn’t eaten in days, and soon after that, Peter dismissed himself for school and Tony and Bruce made their way to the lab.
“I think I need to get back into the gym today,” Clint sighed, stretching his arms above his head.
You sighed, “Same.”
“Bucky and I were planning on heading down there in the afternoon actually, we could do a group training session,” Steve said as he filled the sink, ready to wash everyone’s dishes.
“I’m in,” Natasha replied, “I was going to head into town for some groceries this morning, so the afternoon is better for me.”
“Yeah, alright,” Clint added, “Count me in.”
“Me too,” Sam said through his last mouthful of toast, “and obviously Y/N will be there too.”
You turned to him quickly, a frown already etched between your brows, “What the hell does that mean?”
He chuckled, “Steve said that he and Bucky were planning it, so obviously you-”
You elbowed him sharply in the gut before standing from your seat at the dining table and stomping over to the kitchen.
Natasha sighed, “You better be careful, Wilson, you’re playing with fire.”
“But it’s so obvious that they both like each other, why can’t they just fuck already.”
Steve’s ears turned red and Natasha laughed, but neither of them seemed to notice as Bucky finally made his way over from the living area.
“Who needs to fuck already?” he asked, brows knit.
“No one,” Steve answered quickly, “Tony wants help moving a new delivery, I said we’d help him out. Come on.”
He ushered the confused Bucky out of the room, but not before shooting daggers at Sam.
After breakfast you decided to go with Natasha into town. The compound was running low on a few things that Tony always forgot to add to the weekly grocery delivery, so you took your time shopping and chatting. It was nice to simply enjoy the feeling of not having sweat drip from every inch of your skin, though you couldn’t help mourning the sticky weather that would encourage Bucky to constantly walk around shirtless.
It was almost four o’clock when you finally changed into your workout gear and headed for the gym. Most of the team were already in there, and those that weren’t had kindly declined the offer of a group training session.
Steve, Sam, Tony, and Bucky were gathered around the sparring mats each taking turns at attacking the training dummy, while Clint was over by the weights alone. You quickly found Wanda and Natasha on the treadmills and decided to start there.
“Afternoon,” Wanda greeted you, her smile sweet as she swiped the sweat from her brow.
You grinned back, “Fancy seeing you out of your room.”
“I don’t do heat,” she said, “but Nat has just been telling me about how much you’ve been enjoying it.”
You tossed your gym towel at her, gasping, “Oh, shut up!”
The two red heads giggled, thankfully too amused to notice the way your eyes drifted across the gym to where Bucky was training.
After almost an hour on the treadmill, chatting idly about nothing in particular with Nat and Wanda, Steve called the team to attention. Everyone moved in from around the gym, forming a misshapen circle around the sparring mats that he and Clint had just hauled from the storage room.
“It’s a bit stuffy in here,” Sam said as he plopped down on the floor and began stretching his legs out in front of him, “is the air on, Tony?”
Tony, who was chugging half a bottle of water, simply shrugged and waved haphazardly at the control panel by the main entry doors.
“I’ll check it,” you offered before turning on your heel.
You tapped the screen and it came to life, but the display wasn’t the same as the one in your room. It had more options and dials for more variables than just the temperature, but on the top right of the screen was a little green button that you assumed meant it was on. You chose the dial that looked like it controlled the fan speed and turned it all the way up.
“All good, Y/N?” Steve called.
You nodded before hurrying back to the group, bending your right leg up to your buttocks in a quick stretch. Steve and Nat then took their positions in the middle of the circle and began demonstrating the fight sequences that they wanted the team to practice.
“Now partner up, pick a mat, and practice until you can do it as fast as you can,” Steve said, before looking directly at Sam, “without hurting each other.”
Sam sighed with exasperation as he turned to his partner, Bucky. You turned to Wanda while Nat joined Clint on a mat and Tony stepped up to where Steve was. Each pair started slowly mimicking the moves that had just been demonstrated.
“It is hot in here,” Wanda said, her breath heavy as she ducked your fist.
You simply nodded, too focused on your movements to be able to speak.
Grunts, huffs, and the thud of heavy feet on the vinyl mats echoed throughout the gym for fifteen minutes before Steve called a break. You practically dove for your water bottle, only to choke on the first mouthful of water when Bucky yanked his sweat-soaked shirt over his head. Wanda caught your eye, giggling as you spluttered.
“I thought the heatwave was over,” Clint said.
Tony nodded, “It is, I think the air-con is playing up.”
“It’s broken?” Wanda gasped.
He shrugged, opening his mouth to respond but stopping when Steve spoke first, “Alright, enough chatting, let’s get back into it.”
Over the next thirty minutes, Wanda’s fist made contact with your shoulder, your abdomen, and almost your jaw if she hadn’t quickly noticed that you were too distracted to block her swing. Her foot then collided with your hip twice before she finally gave in on trying to get your attention.
Your eyes were glossed over and glued to the super soldier duelling Sam. His exposed skin glistened with sweat, muscles rippling under taught, alabaster skin. His stare was hard, eyes almost grey as they narrowed on every move that Sam made. Your palms began to sweat, knees wobbling as you watched his tongue swipe quickly across his pink lips.
“Y/N!” Wanda snapped, her fingers gripping your chin and forcing you to face her, “focus.”
“Shit, sorry,” you muttered.
You raised your shaky hands, trying to block out the shirtless man still in your peripheral vision.
By the time Steve called the training session to an end, the air was almost as dense as the storm clouds outside. Everyone was soaked in their own sweat, hair clinging to sticky skin and muscles beneath burning from use.
“I swear to God, Tony,” Wanda said as she draped her towel over her shoulder, “if the air-con is broken, I’m not going to let you sleep until it’s fixed.”
He chuckled, fingers already moving swiftly across the tablet in his lap, “It’s not broken.”
“Then what the fuck is this?” Sam exclaimed, arms gesturing wildly toward the gym’s huge windows that were completely veiled in condensation.
Tony nodded toward you, “Y/N turned the temperature up instead of down.”
Heat blossomed in your chest, crawling up your neck and to the tips of your ears. Every pair of eyes landed on you, a mixture of irritation and amusement etched across the faces of your teammates.
“I’m sorry,” you mumbled, “I got confused.”
Most of the group simply chuckled or shrugged, collecting their things and heading for the door, but Sam took his time. The devilish smirk adorning his lips made your pulse begin to race.
“Far out, Y/N,” he said, “you didn’t have to torture all of us just to get Barnes to take his clothes off.”
Your eyes went wide, brows shooting up toward your hairline as every coherent thought left your head. Your heart pounded deafeningly in your ears.
The team was suddenly silent, those closest to the door hurrying out and the rest quickly rushing after them. Wanda stuck her elbow into Sam’s side before dragging him out by his shirt collar.
Bucky remained, paralysed feet still glued to the ground as he quickly tried to catch up on what had just happened.
“Sam was just joking,” you finally managed to speak, “he’s an arse.”
Bucky blinked slowly, “Yeah… such an arse.”
You nodded, mouth dry as you tried to swallow the lump in your throat, “Okay, well, I’ve got to-”
“He is an arse,” Bucky interrupted you, blue eyes wide with curiosity, “but he doesn’t usually lie.”
You didn’t know what to say, your nervous fingers tangling behind your back. His stare was heavy, pressing down on your shoulders and holding you still as he slowly stepped closer.
“Do you like me?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper.
“Of course I like you, Buck, you’re-”
“No,” one last step and his breath fanned the exposed skin of your neck, “do you-”
This time, it was your turn to interrupt. Every bit of pent-up tension and suppressed desire propelled you toward him, coming up onto the balls of your feet and wrapping your arms around his broad shoulders. Your lips crashed into his, so hard you might have worried about bruising them if the thought of a mark left by Bucky wasn’t so thrilling.
He hesitated only for a moment before his hands found your waist, practically lifting you off the ground and squashing your body against his. Your fingers tangled in his hair as his tongue glided across your bottom lip, begging for entry. A low, almost feral growl rumbled up from his chest once you allowed him in, tongues clashing.
You only parted when breath became absolutely necessary, your lungs burning for air. He let you back onto your own feet, though his strong arms stayed wound around your waist.
“Um, yeah,” you said between gulps of air, “I really like you, Buck.”
He chuckled, “Well, that’s a relief because I really like you too.”
He pressed his lips to yours once more before pulling away completely and wrapping his gym towel around his shoulders.
“I need a shower,” he said, taking your hand in his and tugging you toward the door, “and it’s your turn to take your clothes off now.”
END.
177 notes · View notes