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euphoric-melancholyy · 4 years

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Manual Override

A/N: Written for the wonderful @blondsak for the irondad fic exchange!! She actually gave me this idea and I like to think I twisted it and made it my own. Angst and fluff ahead friends.

Also on Ao3

“FRIDAY has already scanned the area. There’s no civilians. Give me the mission rundown.” Tony says. He’s hovering above a rooftop with Peter, surrounded by dusty warehouses that look like they haven’t been visited in at least two decades. It’s a low grade mission for Iron Man, but he’s been trying to train Peter more. He’d been tipped off that more of Toomes weapons were being sold here, and Peter has seemed to make it his personal responsibility to keep them off the streets since The Vulture fiasco.

“Okay I swing in while you stand guard out here. The tracker said the computer that we want to hack into is somewhere in the middle of the building. We just have to get to it first. So, we take out the guys, or girls - girls can be super villains too! - guarding it, and then have FRIDAY or Karen download all the info. And then, get out and bust the bad guys. Easy peasy.” Peter smiles, fingers drumming against his leg in anticipation.

“I think you’ve got it. Let’s go. You’re gonna do great, kid,” he says, trying to encourage Peter in a way he never was as a child. Or even an adult. He really doesn’t want to mess this up, whatever this is.

Pepper had immediately coined it as co-parenting over dinner one night, much to Tony's denial.

("So you're co-parenting the kid now?" she’d quipped, her brow raising as she suppressed a laugh.

"No. I'm not a parent. A co-parent or a co--"

"You spent dinner last night telling me about his chemistry project and academic decathlon meets. The only other person you talk about more is yourself."

"Not true."

Her amused smile turned smug as she cast her gaze to the ceiling. "FRIDAY?"

There was a pause as the A.I. gathered her data. "In the past 5 months, you have talked about Peter 40% more than anyone else. Most of your conversations with Happy Hogan revolve around Peter Parker as well."

"That doesn't prove anything."

"You picked him up from school, Tony. Because he was sick."

"I was being a responsible mentor. "

"Parent."

"Mentor."

"Fine, live in denial. Tell May I said hi at your monthly dinner where you talk about your kid.")

Tony smiles at the memory. And yes, maybe he had bought back the tower on impulse after Karen called him while Spider-Man was half out of his mind with pain and a knife wedged six inches into his leg. And if he thought the sight of blood seeping profusely from the wound was awful, it was nothing compared to his mentee's muffled cries as he held him against his chest during the flight over. After that, Tony had upped his training. Which brings them here. He’s brought out of his reverie with the sound of said kid quietly singing “Private Eyes” to himself. Under his mask, Tony smiles as he sighs.

“How stealthy of you, Spider-Man.”

Peter mutters an apology, but continues to hum the song at a lower volume. A few minutes pass before he speaks up. “I found it! It’s not even guarded. Okay, Karen, just do your thing.” A beat. “Okay, Mr. Stark. It’s downloading. I’ll just...wait here.”

"Boss. I think -" FRIDAY stops mid sentence, her constant, faint humming silencing completely. He calls out for her, and nothing happens. He calls for Peter and Spider-Man. Nothing. His stomach drops, a panic coiling it’s way up his throat, constricting his airwaves and he has to get out, has to help Peter, Peter --

"Confused, Stark?" A voice taunts into his comm. It’s an older, male voice, raspy and definitely not the voice he was wanting to hear. "Just consider me an old friend.”

“You’re not FRIDAY,” Tony bites. It’s not, and as he says it he realizes shit, FRIDAY is gone. He racks his brain for anything, any sort of recognition or plan. This voice, it’s not entirely foreign. He’s heard it before somewhere, he knows. He’s had to. He’s --

“I always knew arrogance would be your downfall, Anthony. Thinking no one could ever replicate or hack your tech. Though I gotta admit, this suit is incredibly impressive. Who knew I’d have this much fun watching your vitals? The way your panic is increasing every time I speak, it’s just pure joy. I mean, I didn’t plan to take you out via heart attack, but can you imagine the headlines? Scaring Iron Man to death. Now that’s a feat.”

“How the fuck did you even hack my suit?”

“It was easy as soon as you hacked into my system. Getting you here was laughably easy, too. I can’t believe you fell for that whole Toomes weapon bullshit. And now, I own you.”

“Like hell you do,” Tony spits. But as soon as he says it, he realizes he can’t leave the suit. He’s trapped, a powerlessness seeping in that he hasn’t felt since Obie ripped his arc reactor out or since he watched Pepper fall into a fiery explosion. He swallows past the lump in his throat, breathing in and out twice, praying to whatever god or gods that Peter stays hidden. As if mocking him, the voice says.

“It's a pity that Spider nuisance has to suffer too. Seems smart, young. Is that how you like them, Stark?"

Dread pools in his gut, burning hot and wrathful. He tries to move, but the suit remains still. Stuck. Trapped in his own creation.

"You touch him and I'll gut you from the inside out," Tony spits.

"Oh I wouldn't dare. You will though."

Tony's blood runs cold. Against his will, he flies through the window, shattering it. Spider-Man is a few rooms over. Tony stares, terrified, as his screen outlines his figure in neon red, underlined with the word TARGET.

The Iron Man suit fires, and Spider-Man dodges, the eyes of the mask widening.

“Woah, Mr. Stark! I know -”

The gauntlet fires again, this time grazing Peter’s arm. Tony can see angry red blisters that rival the color of his suit. The younger hero stumbles and falls back, shooting a web at Iron Man’s extended arm.

“I’m so sorry I can’t control it!” Tony pleads. He was wrong, and in this moment he knows it more fiercely than he has ever known anything. He cares for Peter, feels it deep in his bones as the metal around his hand makes contact with Peter’s mask. He hears a crack and a curse muffled by red spandex.

Tony’s own nerves are fraying, the earlier panic threatening to spill over into a full blown attack.

He, the suit he tells himself, not me, the hacker, yanks Peter up, repulsors burning angry through the suit and into his skin. Tony thinks of all the times he’s picked him up to protect and rescue him. He thinks he might puke as he throws him across the room, denting the wall.

It was only a month ago that he gave Peter the-worlds-most-awkward-talk on panic attacks in existence.

("Pete - you know," he stops, running a hand down his face and pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm the world's worst example of how to handle emotions and um," he swallows down the urge to divert the conversation. "Trauma. But it unfortunately comes with the job. The wormhole might have looked cool, but it really fucked with my head - sorry I shouldn't say fucked, but - dammit." He sighs, finally directing his gaze to Peter. He's curious, face reddened with embarrassment, but he's hanging on Tony's every word. So he barrels on. "My therapist tells me it's good, to you know, talk about this shit. And it is - I've learned. I was having panic attacks nearly every day, but the last straw was when I nearly killed Pep after waking up from a nightmare. After that, I knew I needed help. Anyway, it's actually been really good and I can set you up with a therapist, which I think you should see because panic attacks suck. You can also talk to me, if you want. You aren't alone and I care about you and all that jazz." Tony claps his hands together before placing one on Peter's shoulder. "Okay, great talk." He pats his shoulder, looking away from the sheen in Peter's eyes.)

A hysterical laugh bubbles to the surface at the memory. Some fucking mentor he is. Parent, he clarifies, Pepper’s accusation ringing more true with each second. Peter’s finally defending himself against Tony’s advances. Still not fighting back, even as he screams at him to.

Peter himself has been uncharacteristically quiet as he fights, and Tony feels a rush of guilt. He can’t do anything, trapped. Peter, Tony realizes with horrifying clarity, is probably afraid of hurting him.

“I swear to god, kid, if you don’t start fighting back I’m going to-”

The fist to his stomach has him seeing white. It’s the most welcomed pain he’s ever felt in his life. His head falls against the concrete, and Tony smiles, tasting metal. Spider-Man looms over him, head tilted to the side in worry. “I’m so so sorry, Mr. Stark. Are you okay?”

Tony grunts. The voice comes back.

“I wonder what electrocution will do to your heart,” it teases. He thinks this is already the worst thing that could happen to his heart, but he protests against the suggestion anyway.

“Now wait a second!” He hears the suit charge up.

Everything goes dark.

Peter watches, as the suit jerks, and then slumps, an unfamiliar voice speaking. “Tony Stark isn’t here anymore.”

-/-/-/-

“Mr. Stark!” Peter screams. It’s guttural, the crack of his voice echoing off the empty walls. He drops to his knees in front of his mentor, hands and lips trembling. “No, no, no. Mr. Stark. I’m so sorry, please be okay. Please be okay, sir. You’ve gotta - Mr. Stark,”

The air around him tastes stale and his breaths come in short, shallows gasps. There’s a deep, piercing throbbing in his head, like fingernails engraving their crescents into his scalp. He focuses on the pain, on the taste of salt and blood on his lips. His fingers tremble as he reaches for the suit, gently at first. The red metal is smooth and warm from battle. He caresses it, whispering a prayer.

Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. Tony I need you. -

Mr. Stark had told him he was strong once, but he can feel himself crumbling now. He shuts his eyes tight, scrunching his face as the memory resurfaces.

(Peter sits on the kitchen island at the penthouse, legs dangling back in forth, a bowl of Frosted Flakes in his hands. “So who do you think is the strongest Avenger?” he asked. “And you can’t say Iron Man. That’s cheating.” Tony raises a brow.

“Well that’s just no fun. But just between you and me? Bruce. If you tell him I said so, I’m stealing your baby pictures from May and sending them to the team.”

Peter drops his spoon. “You wouldn’t.”

“Is that a bet you wanna take? You know what, actually. There is someone who gives him a run for his money.”

“Thor. Obviously Thor.”

“What is it with you and Point Break, kid? No. It’s you. You - savor this moment Pete. I will deny if asked, but kid? Saving Toomes after he repeatedly tried to kill you? After everything he did...I...That’s strength. Not to mention the whole lifting a building that collapsed on top of you too. In your underoos suit.”

Peter ignores the last bit, lets disbelief and pride mingle together as he considers his response. “Thank you,” he whispers just loud enough for him to hear.)

Peter swallows down the lump in his throat, opens his eyes and looks at the unresponsive suit in front of him. The eyes of the Iron Man mask are black. Peter grips the metal around the suits abdomen and pulls. It rips, pulls crimson from the skin of his finger. Underneath the metal, he sees one of Tony’s workout shirts stretched over his stomach, slightly torn. He pulls more. Again

The offbeat thump thump of Tony’s heartbeat and gasp for air as Peter carefully removes the mask, sends relief flooding Peter so fast he practically falls into Tony.

“I thought you were -” Peter stops on a sob. “You weren’t responding. Mr. Stark and the voice--” Peter buries his still masked head in Tony’s neck.

“I’m okay, kid.” Tony’s hand cradles Peter’s head and he melts into the touch. They sit like that for a minute, relishing in the others aliveness. “Hey, Peter? Can you look at me for a sec?" Reluctantly, Peter sits up, pulls away just enough for Tony to reach out and remove Peter's mask. Tony curses at the sight of his face, blotchy red rimmed eyes. Blood trickles down his temple, cheekbone a mixture of purple and yellow. His nose is crooked, broken. “Peter, I’m so so sorry--”

“You’re sorry? No, I’m sorry. I had, I had this feeling but I just thought, I don’t know what I thought. I should have known something was wrong sooner-”

“Nope. No we aren’t playing this game. In no universe was this your fault.”

“Well then it wasn’t yours either.”

“Kid…”

“I heard him, the dude who Pod personed you. I know you’d never try to hurt me like that. Besides, I’ve had worse face planting into a brick building while swinging and making a tik tok. It’s fine, Mr. Stark.” They both know the latter part is a lie, but Tony’s lips quirk into an almost smile at the memory.

“But I-”

“No. Can we just...go home?” Peter’s thumb circles on the pulse point at Tony’s wrist, and he exhales on a deep breath. His whole body aches.

“Yeah, Pete. I just gotta do something real quick.”

Tony calls Rhodey, has him track the hacker down. They later find it was a former SI employee, William Riva, whom Obie had fired over not being able to replicate the arc reactor. It only intensifies Tony’s guilt, but he stirs in it quietly. Peter’s enhancement leaves no scars for Tony to ruminate over. And though Tony had expected Peter to distance himself, quite the opposite happens.

A week later, after spending every other afternoon at the Tower, Peter finds himself with a real, official internship with SI. He’s more of Tony’s personal assistant than any of the other interns, but it gives him a chance to work in the labs with Tony. To Doomsday plan suits and run codes to prevent any sort of future hacking. Briefly thinking his mentor might have died, had solidified a scary thought, but when Tony wraps Peter in a hug like it’s the most natural thing in the world, he accepts it. Mr. Stark is a friend and a teammate and a mentor. But more than that, Peter sees him as the closest thing he’s had to a father figure since Ben. He’s pretty sure Tony feels the same, with all of his mother-henning and safety protocols, but he’s not going to be the one to bring it up. When it comes down to it, Peter will do anything to protect that, no matter where it takes him.

#irondad fic #irondad and spiderson #spiderson fic #iron dad & spiderson #my writing #what are the tags #Iron Man #tony stark #peter parker #I'm actually kind of proud of this one #I worked really hard on it #and owe a bunch of thanks to a bunch of people I pestered with it #and the entirety of my discord group #I love them so much

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wannabemobwife · 3 years

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Guns, Glamour, Goodfellas - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Make You Feel My Love

Dad!Mob!Tom x Mom!Mob!Reader

-Pairings: Tom Holland x Reader, Rosie Holland x Henry Osterfield

-Warnings: Amnesia, Sadness, Language, Fluff, Dialogue, Typos

-Words: 6.6K

A/n: Sorry this chapter is long. Heads up, always a lot of dialogue. I get tired of only writing imagery lol. Thanks for reading, I love all your comments so dearly.

Chapter 12: Make You Feel My Love

Words: 6.6K

Everyone’s faces stood emotionless. More than a deer caught in headlights, there was no expression. Tom’s jaw slacked open, standing heartbroken in front of you. How could you not remember him?

After everything he couldn’t even hold you in his arms. No words could describe the room. You had just woken up and said 3 measly words that rewrote history.

“Who are you?” You questioned.

“What?” Tom gasped, his eyes starting to water.

“I don’t know who you are. Where am I?… Who are you people?” You fretted, confused to why you were lying into a hospital bed surrounded by strangers.

“Mom? It’s me. Roo,” Rosie stammered, moving to grab your hand but you just flinched away.

“Harry go get the doctor,” Nikki called out.

“No, I don’t know who you people are. Please get out.”

“Y/N it’s me?” Tom pleaded.

“Who’s Y/N?”

“You, darling,” Tom whispered. Was this all real? It had to be some sick joke.

“No, no! I suggest you all leave. Please, just leave me alone,” you asserted, pressing the nurse call button.

“Mrs. Holland what seems to be the problem?” asked the nurse.

“Who’s Mrs. Holland? I don’t know where I am or why I’m here or who these people are,” you fretted, heart rate starting to spike.

“You don’t recognize anyone here?” Pestered on the nurse.

“No, maybe the young boy and girl, but no,” Tears flooded Rosie and Parker’s eyes.

“Mrs. Holland you’re awake,” called the doctor, Harry brought in.

“Why do people keep calling me that?” You questioned angrily.

“She can’t remember anyone, doctor,” explained the nurse.

“Why don’t we clear out the room and I’ll speak to you all privately outside,” the doctor announced.

“It seems she is suffering retrograde amnesia. It is possibly temporary. You need to talk to her but be careful not overwhelm her. She will feel like her entire life passed her by because she can’t remember it. For now, only a few people in the room. May I suggest her husband and her kids,” explained the doctor.

“What do you mean it might be temporary? She might not ever remember her entire life?” Tom inquired.

“It is uncertain, but yes. Mr. Holland, we are very hopeful that her memory will come back. For now take it slow, showing her photos of you together can help greatly,” concluded the doctor.

“Dad, will mom ever remember me?” Rosie asked teary-eyed.

“I don’t know, baby.”

“Now, come on. We just have to be patient with her.”

“Ok, dad. I’m ready,” said Rosie, trying to hide her tears.

“Parker? Are you with us?” Tom inquired.

“I know she doesn’t remember me but, I don’t want her to see me and not know who I am. If she doesn’t remember me then who am I? I owe my entire life to mom. I don’t understand how she just forgot 16 years of my life,” Parker lamented.

“Hey, we just need to patient. One thing you need to have is faith. That’s all we had waiting to be rescued. Hope, hope that we would see you and your sister again.”

“I’m scared, dad.”

“I know me too. But we have to do this for mom. Ok?” Tom admitted. Parker just nodded in response. They made their way into your room, standing by the foot of your bed.

“Hi, let’s start over. I am Tom. You are Y/N. I am your husband. Your name is Y/N Holland,” Tom began. “This is our son, Parker. He is 16 years old, along with his twin sister. This is our daughter, Rosie….We just want to let you know we will be here for you. Through everything, we want to help you remember if you will let us.”

“Okay,” you whispered. That was the first step, having people to support you.

You were soon discharged a few days later. All set to travel back to London, the home you once knew. Back to the life you shared little to no importance for. All the things you once loved, lost in translation.

The plan ride was painfully long. Tom had yet to hold you in his arms. After watching the life drain out of you, waiting for someone to come, he just wanted to hold you and love you. Let you know you are safe.

He watched as you sat there a few seats away from him. The spark in your eyes non-existent. He didn’t know how to call you over there his when you couldn’t remember him. Almost 20 years of being together, down the drain. He just wanted you back.

Not being able to hug you or hold you or whisper sweet nothings in your ear was killing him. He felt like a recovering drug addict experiencing the process of withdrawal. Everything hurt inside, knowing you forgot him. It was so unfair. How could you survive the helicopter crash but not recognize your own family? You were a shell, a husk of the person you used to be.

Jared, was the one to pick you all up from the airport. The plane ride was nothing compared to the awkwardness of the car ride. You had always been very close with Tom’s staff. William and Jared specifically because you’d see them the most. Jared used to be more your driver but, Tom snatched him up after he saw how close you two were getting. He couldn’t help but be jealous.

You sat next to Tom, almost like a statue. You didn’t know how you were supposed to act. Pulling up to the manor, you were a combination of terrified and astounded. Terrified and astounded at the sheer size and security measures taken.

“Tom, did you pay for the cab?” You asked, hopping out of the car.

“Darling, this is our car. This is our driver, Jared. You two are close,” Tom explained.

“Oh, sorry. Jared it’s nice to meet you,” you waved to him.

“We’ve met before, but it’s nice to see you Y/N,” Jared said, trying to address the elephant in the room.

“Right, sorry.”

“No need to apologize, ma’am.”

“Love, why don’t I make you a cup of tea and you can relax in the living room? The plane ride probably wore you out. However, I know Parker and Rosie have something planned,” Tom interjected.

“Ok, tea would be good,” you responded, walking to the mansion.

“Where’s the living room?” You questioned, afraid you will get lost.

“Oh, it’s ok darling. I’ll take you there,” Tom said, leading the way.

Being here, seemed like an out of body experience. The only thing you knew about yourself was what people told you.

“Here mom. I-I mean Y/N. Please come sit. These are a bunch of photo albums and scrapbooks about our lives. Maybe showing you them will bring something back.”

“Ok… You could call me mom. I don’t mind,” Rosie just nodded in response.

“Look this picture is of your wedding day. It was at this really pretty garden. I wish I could’ve been there,” Rosie reminisced.

“You weren’t?” You asked, confused at her remark.

“No, Parker and I weren’t born yet.”

“Oh, is that you?” You asked, gently raising a finger to a picture captured a perfect moment in time. Parker had just gotten out of a bath and was running naked through the house, he had to be about three or four years old.

“No, that’s Parker,” Rosie remarked.

“Here’s a photo of me. It’s the first day of kindergarten.” Rosie pulled out a photo of her dressed in a blue dress with pink bows in her hair, one on each side hugging her pigtails.

She stood in front of a large gate along with Parker, holding their tin lunch boxes high. Rosie’s lunchbox was a homage to My Little Pony and Parker’s was Transformers. They were all grown up, no longer spending the days with you while Tom worked.

“I’m crying, why?” You questioned, seeing yourself adorned with red puffy eyes in the photo.

“I don’t know, maybe you didn’t want to leave me or Parker,” Rosie explained but was soon cut off by a large clash coming from the kitchen. CRASH, CLANG, THWAP.

“What was that?” You asked, a little startled by the noise.

“I don’t know, I’m going to go check on something. Feel free to keep looking at them.”

You flipped through the countless pages adorned with family photos that documented the milestones. It killed you that you couldn’t remember. You were said to be their mother and if you were anything like your mother, you loved them till it was too much and kissed them and held them. You loved them more than life itself but couldn’t remember why.

About 12 pages in, there was a photo of you in the hospital holding a baby. The caption read “my little Roo.” It was of you and Rosie shortly after she was born. She looked so small, so delicate. Her skin was pale with a hint of rose colored cheeks. The little baby girl in your arms was wrapped in a pink cloth with a pink colored beanie on her head.

She was sleeping so peacefully and you just had the biggest smile imagined on your face. You brought this little girl into the world and couldn’t remember that moment. What own mother can’t remember her baby? Tears pricked at your eyes as you gazed into the picture.

“Dinner is almost ready—Love, what’s wrong why are you crying?” Tom said, coming out of the kitchen.

“I’m sorry. This isn’t fair to any of you,” you cried, letting the tears fall.

“Hey, it’s ok. We are here for you,” Tom whispered, grabbing a hold of your hands.

“I’m still sorry, I don’t remember anything.”

“It’s not your fault. It will come with time,” Tom said, only holding your hands. His main goal was to not overwhelm you and pulling you into a warm embrace may be too much too soon.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. What’s for dinner, smells great?” You said, quickly changing the subject.

“Your favorite and specialty so we can’t guarantee it will be as good as you make it but, spaghetti and meatballs,” Tom joked.

“Ok, I’m sure it will be lovely.”

Everyone was dealing with your amnesia differently. Parker would take you on special outings to places you loved and Rosie could barely stand to be in the same room with you. Your sweet and affectionate girl couldn’t as much give a real smile. The only time you spent with her was when she showed you the photo albums. Something clicked in her when you didn’t recognize her in the photo of you holding her a for the first time. Rosie proceeded to cry herself to sleep that night, she couldn’t handle you not recognizing her.

As time progressed it had gotten too hard for Rosie to be around you. Looking at you just reminded her of all the things she had lost. She would stay in her room from dawn till dusk, refusing to see or talk to anyone. Rosie shut everyone out, including Henry. He’d come by quite a lot, begging to see Rosie.

“Hi, can I help you?” You said, answering the door.

“I’m Henry, Harrison’s son and Rosie’s boyfriend,” Henry explained.

“Oh. Sorry I can’t remember anything. Were we close?” You inquired, yet another person you have disappointed by not knowing your own life.

“Yeah, you and Tom were a big part in raising me, aside from my dad. I love you like a son would loved his mother.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll work on it. But I believe Rosie is upstairs, come in,” you responded, inviting the boy in.

“Thanks,” Henry said, quickly making his way upstairs. “Roo, it’s me. I’m coming in,” He said whilst knocking on her door.

“Henry what are you doing here?” Rosie asked, trying to hide her tears.

“You weren’t returning any of my phone calls.”

“There is a reason for that,” Rosie snapped, building a wall that Henry was bound to knock down.

“Hey, I’m here. Talk to me. Talk to me about your mom,” Henry whispered, coming to Rosie’s side.

“What’s there to talk about? She doesn’t remember me. She was my best friend and she doesn’t even know who I am!” Rosie yelled. Needing to let out all her emotions in one single blow.

“Hey, it’s ok. I’m here,” Henry assured.

“Henry, I just want to be alone right now. Could you please leave?” Rosie begged.

“No, I won’t let you push me away. I’m here to help.”

“I want you to go,” Rosie demanded.

“No.” Henry said, holding his ground.

“I’m serious Henry, leave.”

“No, Rosie you need someone to talk to.”

“Can you get out and leave me the fuck alone?” She screamed, this time being pushed over the edge. Flailing her arms back and forth in anger.

“No. I’m not leaving,” Henry knew she needed him, he couldn’t leave anytime soon.

“Really? I’m here screaming at you and you are still here. Why?” All her anger drifted only leaving her sadness. She fell into his arms, breaking from the weight of pain, sobbing.

“Yes, because I love you and I’m staying for you,” Henry reassured. He knew Rosie would need this. Someone who promised to never leave.

“Henry, what do we do if she never remembers? I’m not ready for that. It’s like losing my mom even though she is still alive. All those fun memories of shopping or baking or just talking, gone. I don’t know who I am without her.”

“Rosie, you have to look on the bright side.”

“What’s the fucking bright side? There is none. We took her to all her favorite places today and she still doesn’t remember. There is no fucking bright side!”

“Roo.”

“I lost her. I lost her but she is still here. I’m lucky right? She’s still here living and breathing, but she doesn’t know who I am,” Rosie lamented. “Henry, I love you to pieces but I just need to be alone right now.” Pleading for him to leave, she wished he could stay and comfort her but nothing could do that right now.

“Baby, I don’t want to leave you so upset,” Henry whispered.

“Please. I’m begging you, just go.”

Rosie, didn’t mean to push Henry away. But she couldn’t help it. She needed to release her frustrations out on someone, but there was no one. There was no one to blame for the crash or the loss of your memory. It was all an accident. Henry knew her well enough, where he knew what she needed before she did herself. He already lost Rosie once and promised himself he wouldn’t again.

Parker was the opposite of Rosie, not consumed by his sadness, he was looking for a solution. Anything that could help bring back your memory. He had been taking you to your favorite places around the city. The beach, the library, a coffee shop, and a park you always you took Parker and Rosie to as kids.

To no end, he couldn’t and wouldn’t give up. He couldn’t leave you stuck in that misery. He approached Tom with something that might work.

“Dad, I have an idea. I thought we should create a memory for her.”

“Ok, that might work. Any memory in mind?”

“I was thinking your wedding day,” Parker explained. Tom just nodded in response with a smirk strewn across his face.

Tom was willing to try anything to get you back. It a been a few weeks from the crash and he’s so scared of terrifying you or being too forward. He won’t even lay a hand on your shoulder to comfort you, in case you get scared.

Even though he had yet to hold you once again, Tom refused to leave your side, in case having him around so much would bring your memories back. Have them all come flooding back.

Tom just wanted you by his side. You were sleeping in your bedroom and Tom was in the guest room. Feeling like nothing had changed. It was the same before the accident, you barely acknowledging Tom and Tom sleeping elsewhere. Granted it wasn’t because you were mad at him, it was worse, you couldn’t remember him.

The nights were different, half way through the night you would wake up. Scared wide awake from nightmares that plagued your mind. One night you found Tom taking down a big bottle of scotch by the fireplace.

“What are you doing up?” You asked,

“Drinking,” he said rather harshly, you just brushed it off though.

“Oh, the fireplace is really lovely. I could just read a book out here for hours.”

“You used to. I’d find you asleep in front of the fireplace all the time.” Tom chuckled, reliving those memories.

“Oh, sorry.”

“Y/N! It’s not your god damm fault. STOP FUCKING APOLOGIZING!!!” Tom screamed, chucking his glass at the wall. It shattered into a thousand tiny pieces much how his heart was now.

“Ok, I’m sor—, I just came down for some water. Good night,” you said, trying to mask the tears about to fall. Reverting back to the catatonic emotionless person you’ve been lately.

“Y/N wait!” Tom called after you but you were already gone. This was a side of Tom you’d never met. The old you had and learned to deal with it but it was completely different now.

It was scary, Tom reacting like that. You quickly got your water and made your way back upstairs. If he had that much pent up anger, you were worried he would take it out on you. You didn’t know what to think, everyone were stranger to you and you were a stranger to this life and family.

Coming back to bed, you locked your door and tried to fall back into blissful sleep but it was hard. You stared at the ceiling for quite a while. Begging to go to sleep and wash away this entire night. Tom came to knock on your door about an hour later.

“Y/N. I’m sorry, let me explain myself,” he said, through the thick wooden door.

“I guess you’re asleep by now. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, sweet dreams sweetheart,” Tom whispered, going back to his bed in the guest room. You couldn’t find the will to get up and talk to him.

You came down for some morning coffee, hoping you wouldn’t see Tom. You were scared of the man presumed to be your husband. In truth, you didn’t know anything about him. Only what people had told you. It took you hours to fall asleep after his outburst.

“Oh, you’re up. Y/N could I talk to you?” He asked, coming into view.

“Sure,” you responded. Who are you to say no?

“I’m sorry for my outburst last night. Everything is just so frustrating, nothing you did, ok?” Tom apologized.

“Ok.”

“I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m really sorry. I know you don’t know it but I love you so much and at a time, you loved me just the same. I need you to know that I have never physically hurt you or will in the future.”

“Ok. Thank you. I know you don’t like me saying it but I really am sorry. This shouldn’t be happening, you should be able to love your wife.”

“I do love you,” Tom assured.

“Tom, I’m not the same person and you know it. There’s nothing I can do, it’s just the way it is and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m not the person you fell in love with,” you exclaimed.

“You don’t have to be sorry. You are here, trying to remember for all of us. That’s all that matters,” Tom said, made at himself that you even thought those things.

“Thank you….Could you tell me more about me, I mean the person I was before?” You asked.

“Yeah, darling. I’d love that,” Tom agreed.

“Ok, start with how we met.”

“Well..” Tom started and went on to tell the story of how you met.

Tom was set to meet someone new, a future contact possibly. He was supposed to meet with their assistant to take him to them. He was given strict instructions on what to look for, she would be dressed in a gold mini dress, hair down. Unbeknownst to him, you were the person he was meeting. The most feared mob boss, next to who you had a meeting with, the one and only Tom Holland.

“Hey doll face, I’m here to meet with your boss. Someone they call the Ace of Spades,” Tom said, cornering you at the bar. “Oh, really. Do they know what this is concerning?” you said, smirking. “I should hope so. Can you just take me to him?” Tom demanded. “Certainly, right this way.” You were so ready to eat this guy alive. You lead him to a back room with a bar and large round table. “Wait, there’s no one in here. We’ve been set up,” Tom yelled, alerting Harrison behind him. “What do you mean? There’s you and me, also your consigliere I presume. Why don’t you tell him to back off?” “Alright enough with your games. Where is he?” Tom barked, growing more frustrated by the second “I’m right here, doll face,” you said, in a mocking manner. “Pleasure to meet your acquaintance, I’m Y/N Y/L/N or do you know me as the Ace of Spades,” you sneered, holding out your hand for him to shake.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was misinformed, well they’re dead. Why don’t I buy you a drink after to make it up to you?” Tom said, he has never been caught off guard before. Barely keeping his cool.

“How about we finish our business here and then you and I go get something to eat, just you and me without your puppy dog, then we call it even,” you smirked, referring to Harrison who always stood so close to Tom.

“How could I say no to having dinner with the most gorgeous woman in the room,” Tom grinned.

“Smooth talker I see, but I’m the only woman the room,” you pointed out

“Doesn’t matter, doesn’t change what I said,” Tom chuckled.

He was starstruck just being in your presence. You were a force to be reckoned with. For him and you it was love at first acquaintance. Couldn’t of been sight because he thought you were a completely different person.

But once he formally met you, he was whipped. The rest is history.

You and Tom talked the day away. Living through your life like you were reading a book or watching a play. The night soon fell and you bid good night.

It was a regular night, but ever since Tom exploded you started to have nightmares. Being jolted out of sleep, trying to catch your breath. One night Tom heard you screaming, he rushed in to check on you.

“Y/N? Darling, are you okay?” Tom asked, concerned after being woken up by your screams.

“I keep having these horrible nightmares,” you choked out, shaking with fear.

“What are they about? You can talk to me.”

“One where I was trapped inside a huge room, tied to a chair. There were scary looking men saying they were gonna kill me, however I couldn’t speak. Like it hurt to speak,” you explained. Tom knew about your common theme with nightmares, unable to make any sound.

He just believed it was because you tried to repress thoughts like that. However, this wasn’t a nightmare, it was a memory. He was trying so hard to suppress his smile. Knowing you were starting to remember things even if it was trauma. It made him hopeful.

“Shhh, it’s was just a dream. It’s ok. I’m here now… can hug you?”

“Mmhm,” you nodded having him pull you into his warm embrace. “It felt so real though. Didn’t you say we were in a helicopter crash?”

“Yes, we were. Do you remember that?”

“I don’t know. My nightmares feel more like memories. I remember the feelings I had, like I felt pain and weak.”

“Well, try and go back to sleep. Just remember they are only figments of your imagination,” Tom said, he was torn between wanting you to remember everything and not scarring you.

“Tom, could you sleep with me tonight?” you asked, not wanting to be alone.

“Yes of course, darling.”

Tom climbed into bed and you moved closer to him. Snuggling right into his side and nuzzling your head by his neck. He rubbed soft circles into your arm as you dozed off. Feeling your soft breaths on his neck as he fell into deep sleep. He finally got to hold you.

Just for a moment, everything was right again. You were his and he had no intentions of letting you go. You felt safe with him, like you were home.

You woke up to a blinding light from the crack in the curtains.

“Tommy, the blinds it so bright…. Screw it. I’m up, can I bring you some breakfast?… What?” You asked, confused as to why Tom was gazing at you with a puzzled expression.

“You called me Tommy,” Tom croaked out.

“I did,” you said, confidently.

“Y/N, do you remember me?”

“Is this a weird game? Of course I remember you, you’re my husband,” you chuckled, playing off his antics.

“Quick, what happened last week?”

“Our helicopter crashed, but we were rescued. I don’t really remember how we got home but, here we are. You were right, we made it. I remember the moments leading up to being rescued, you holding me.”

“Kids come quick!” Tom shouted, loud enough to wake up the entire house.

“What’s going on?” Rosie came in, scared something happened.

“Tom, what are you doing?” You queried.

“Ask her,” Tom said.

“Who am I?” Parker asked, hoping you were his mom again.

“You guys are so weird. You’re Parker, my son. And you are Rosie, my daughter.”

“Mom, I’ve missed you so much,” Rosie shouted, throwing herself into your arms and sobbing.

“Oh, honey. I never left,” you signed, caressing the back of her head.

“I know, but the helicopter crash, I was so scared,” Rosie sniffled.

“Tom, why are you looking at me like that?” You questioned, catching a glimpse of pure adoration streaked across his face.

“Oh, nothing. I just love you, more anything.”

“I love you too…. Parker you’ve been awfully quiet.”

“I missed you mom,” Parker chimed in.

“I missed you too. Ok, I’m really confused, did I go somewhere? Someone fill me in,” you proclaimed.

“Well darling, our helicopter crashed on our way back from Barcelona—” Tom began.

“Yeah, and we’re ok,” you nodded.

“You are now. We were both badly injured and didn’t know if we would make it. You lost your memory. You didn’t know who any of us were,” Tom finished, his tone growing softer.

“What? I-I forgot all of you?” You gasped, your voice breathy.

“It’s ok, love. You’re back now, that’s all that matters,” Tom encouraged.

“Parker? Rosie?” You exclaimed.

“You looked at us and didn’t know who we were,” Parker mumbled.

“Oh babies, I’m sorry,” you whispered on the verge of tears.

“Y/N listen to me, it’s not your fault. Love, it’s ok. You are here now,” Tom reassured. “Kids why don’t you go make mom some tea,” Tom said, needing to talk with you alone.

“Alright dad,” Parker agreed, taking Rosie along with him.

“Y/N? Darling, talk to me,” he said, watching you beat yourself up inside. You head hanging lowly in your hands.

“How could I not remember them?” You cried.

“It was just your mind playing tricks on you. It’s ok.”

“It’s not okay. I put you through all of that.”

“Not on purpose darling.”

“Tom, I have something to get off my chest.”

“Yes, love.”

“I really thought I was going to die. But you were there and you saved me. You brought me back to them, thank you,” you recounted.

“Oh, baby. I was never going to just let you die. There was a moment where I looked over a battered body leaning against me after the crash. Your eyes were closed and I had accepted that you were gone. At that moment, I vowed I’d go too,” Tom concluded.

“Tom, they couldn’t lose both of us.”

“I know, I’m just glad they didn’t lose either of us.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what, darling?”

“For everything. Our fight. Giving in you a hard time in Barcelona. I love you so much, Tom. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” you cried, letting yourself be completely vulnerable with him once again.

“Hey, you're not going to lose me. I believe it’s the other way around. I can’t live without you and I don’t want to, ever,” Tom said, smashing his lips on yours. God, how he missed you.

And with that, Tom had got his girl back, you. Your lips entangled with his was exactly what he needed. You were back. The love of his life and mother of his children. You were you again with the same spark in your eyes.

Something flipped in your head like a switch during the night. After falling asleep in his arms you dreamt of your life. Almost like a movie played in your head showcasing all the greatest memories.

Parker and Rosie’s first steps, the kids’ 5th birthday, the day you told Tom you were pregnant with twins, Tom’s proposal and so much more. Your memories are what made you who you were, even the bad ones.

All the fights and near death experiences came flooding back. But it wasn’t a feeling of drowning or being held down by the weight, begging for air. It was a feeling of renewal like the water had washed away all the pain and sins. Leaving faint stains of bad memories to be remembered for another day but never forgotten.

Tom brought you back. He was your anchor to the life you once knew. Resting in Tom’s arms felt like home. You knew you were safe.

“It’s so good to have you back in my arms,” he said, savoring every moment.

“I never want to leave,” you said, coming in for another kiss. Shorter this time but still full of longing and unconditional love. Tom broke away as he remembered something.

“Wait,” remembered Tom.

“What?”

“Come on, let’s go downstairs.”

“Why the kids are bringing us tea in bed?” You questioned.

“Just trust me,” Tom concluded.

“Okay,” you said, letting your husband lead the way. Descending the stairs and once reaching the bottom he asked for you close your eyes. You hesitant at first but agreed. He pulled you to the backyard for a much needed surprise.

“Ready. Open your eyes.” You just stood there in complete awe, speechless.

“We had a plan to bring back your memory. We set up the backyard to look just like our wedding,” Tom explained.

The backyard was full of the wedding essentials, an archway at the end of the aisle, chairs for the guests, and so many flowers. Flowers that decorated every pillar and fence, blooming with beautiful shades of lavender.

“Oh my god, it’s as beautiful as I remember it…. Tom I have an idea,” you smirked.

“Yes, darling,” Tom acknowledged.

“What would you say to us renewing our vows?” You asked, hoping he’d say yes.

“I love that idea, sweetheart. When would you want to do it?”

“Today.”

“Today?” Tom asked, stunned by your response.

“Yeah, it’s already all set up like our wedding. Why not?”

“Ok, yeah. Yes. I’m going to re-marry you today. I love you so much,” Tom exclaimed.

“And I’m going to re-marry you today. I love you too,” You grinned.

“Alright we need guests, just family,” Tom beamed.

“And I need a bridesmaid. Rosie?” You cheered, excited to share this day with you daughter.

“You serious?” Rosie asked

“Of course, honey. Now come on, I need a dress,” you said, pulling Rosie upstairs. Even though you were already married you wanted it to be as much as a real wedding as possible. So for the next few hours, you couldn’t see Tom.

Tom was tasked with inviting everyone. Sure it was last minute, but all the family would be there. He found it pretty awkward because he had to tell everyone that you got your memories back and getting married again in one phone call. He called Nikki, Dom, Harry, Sam, Paddy, your parents and Harrison and Henry.

“Haz, come quick. I need you at the house.” Tom left a message on Haz’s voicemail.

“Tom? What happened? I came as soon as I got your call,” Haz screamed, running through the mansion.

“Y/N got her memories back,” Tom cheered.

“That’s amazing. You called me all the way down here for that?” Haz asked, slightly annoyed.

“No, you div. I have a favor to ask….Will you be my best man?” Tom asked.

“Ok, I was already you best man at your wedding years ago,” Haz sneered.

“We are going to renew our vows. I wanted to know if would be my best man?”

“Are you serious?”

“No, you’re only my best friend aside from her. Yes, I’m serious,” Tom remarked sarcastically.

“I honored mate, of course. When is it?”

“In 3 hours,” Tom said stone faced.

“In 3 hours?” Haz screeched. It was so soon.

“Yeah, we set up the backyard to look like her and I’s wedding to bring back her memory.”

“Wait.. who’s officiating?” Haz wondered.

“Harry,” Tom said, trying not to burst into laughter.

“Oh, I’m so ready to watch him fuck that up.”

“Me too, mate. Now come we have a wedding to put on.”

The house erupted in wedding central. Tom had tasked his cook with cooking for 15 people for the reception, he had ordered a cake and called his personal tailor for two matching suits preferably black, just like at your first wedding.

Tom made his way upstairs to tell you about Harry officiating but was stopped by the maid of honor, Rosie.

“Why is this door locked?” Tom asked, angrily shaking the door knob.

“Dad what do you think you are doing?” Rosie asked sternly.

“Wow honey, you look beautiful,” Tom admired his daughter dressed in a light blue dress that dragged on the floor.

“Thanks, dad, it’s mom’s dress.”

“I remember, you look just like your mom.”

“Thanks, but I ask again what are you doing here?” Rosie interjected, not letting his endearing comments distract her from the more important matter. Tom wasn’t allowed to see you before the ceremony.

“I need to talk to your mother.”

“You can’t see the bride before her wedding it’s bad luck,” Rosie exclaimed.

“Please, I don’t believe in stuff like that. Plus we’re already married and happily might I add,” Tom interjected.

“Oh really, no bad luck? How do you explain all the bad things that have happened,” Rosie reminded.

“Umm, that’s not important right now. I need to talk to your mother.”

“Too bad, now shoo,” Rosie said, shooing him away with her hands.

“Fine, I guess she’ll never know THAT HARRY IS OFFICIATING,” Tom shouted as he left.

“Rosie, what did dad want?” You asked.

“Umm, nothing. Just to tell you that he found the most amazing officiant on short notice,” Rosie sneered, trying to keep it secret from you.

“Oh, good. Now, come here and let me do you hair,” you said, motioning her to the restroom.

It was now time, to remind everyone of a vow you once made.

You were dressed in a white floor length gown, not as near glamorous as you actual wedding dress but it was still beautiful. Your wedding song played again, Make You Feel My Love by Adele, as you came out from behind the corner.

All eyes turned to bask in your beauty. You could see Tom stop breathing, made you laugh a little. You noticed Harry up at the altar and wondered what had Tom done.

Rosie went up first, slowly gliding through the aisle. You followed behind her. Everything was once right with the world. You were about to re-declare your love for your best friend.

“Friends, family and Sam,” Harry said, taking a jab at his brother only to be returned with Sam sticking his tongue out. “We are gathered here today, to celebrate and re-marry Tom and Y/N Holland. If anyone has any objections please speak now or forever hold your peace,” Harry announced.

“I have problem. They’re already married,” Sam yelled from the audience.

“Sam, sit down you div. It’s a vow renewal,” Tom called out from the altar.

“Harry, they don’t ask that at actual weddings,” you whispered to him.

“Well, fuck,” Harry whispered.

“I’ve just been informed that I’m not supposed to say that, my apologies, I’m basing my entire speech on TV. Now I will continue with the proceedings. Can you believe this div, needing two weddings. Two fucking weddings when I haven’t even had one. Can we skip the vows? You’re probably going to say the exact same like thing you said 17 years ago,” Harry announced.

“Absolutely not, that’s the whole purpose. I’ll go first.” You started, taking a minute to breathe and share your heart with everyone there.

“Tom, these past 17 years being your wife have been a dream come true. You are my best friend and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I know it is fucking cheesy but, I can honestly say I found my soulmate, my better half. You make me be a better person and mother. I owe you everything and promise to give you all my love. What do you say, still want me as your wife? Please say yes, because I’m choosing you for then rest of my life. Couldn’t dream of anyone else. I love you, a thousand times over.”

“Y/N, just thinking about everything our love has survived and I’m amazed you have stuck with me through thick and thin. I want to thank you for the beautiful life you have given me and my two beautiful kids. This a declaration of my love for you but also a promise. I promise you will always be appreciated, that I will make you laugh and cry sometimes, appropriately. Falling in love with my best friend and marrying her has been the best decision of my life, I love you and I promise to always keep you safe and always stand by your side.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. But that one I know you’ll keep,” you cheered.

“By the power vested in me by a shitty website online, I now pronounce you still husband and wife. You may kiss your wife. Children avert your eyes,” Harry concluded as Tom pulled you into a deep, passionate kiss. Nothing will ever be more perfect in that moment.

“Who else needs a cootie shot? Or some booze?” Harry called out, while you and Tom pulled apart.

“Fuck off, Harry,” Tom said, pulling you back in for another kiss.

“Where are we going on our honeymoon?” Tom whispered to you.

“I vote somewhere, we don’t have to fly,” you remarked.

“I second that. God, I love you.”

“You’re just lucky I said yes, Holland.”

“God damm right, I am.” Tom said, his lips getting caught in his smile.

There are moments where words have lost all their meaning and this was one It wasn’t full of sadness, quite the opposite. Nothing could ruin this perfect day. You were his once again.

Guns, Glamour and Goodfellas Masterlist

Taglist: @dummiesshort @thenoddingbunny-blog @adriannauni @bi-lmg @allthisfortommy

#tom holland #tom holland imagines #tom holland series #tom holland fanfic #tom holland mob au #tom holland au #tom holland x reader #tom #mob tom #mob!tom #dad!mob!tom holland #mob!tom x reader #mob!tom holland #mob!tom holland x reader #mob!tom x mob!reader

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queenlua · 3 years

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hey, i started following you recently and ur bio says ur a hacker? any tips on where to start? hacking seems like a v cool/fun way to learn more abt coding and cybersecurity/infrastructure and i'd like to explore it but there's so much on the internet and like, i'm not trying to get into anything illegal. thanks!

huh, an interesting question, ty!

i can give more tailored advice if you hit me up on chat with more specifics on your background/interests.

given what you've written here, though, i'll just assume you don't have any immediate professional aspirations (e.g. you just want to learn some things, and you aren't necessarily trying to get A Cyber Security Job TM within the next three months or w/e), and that you don't know much about any specific programming/computering domain yet.

(stuff under cut because long)

first i'd probably just try to pick some interesting problem that you think you can solve with tech. this doesn't need to be a "hacking" project at first; i was just messing around with computers for ages before i did anything involving security/exploitation.

if you don't already know how to program, you should ideally pick a problem you can solve via programming. for instance: i learned a lot back in the 2000s, when play-by-post forum RPGs were in vogue. see, i'd already been messing around, building my own personal sites, first just with HTML & CSS, and later on with Javascript and PHP. and i knew the forum software everyone used (InvisionPowerBoard) was written in PHP. so when one of the admins at my RPG complained that they'd like the ability to set multiple profile pictures, i was like, "hey i'm good at programming, want me to create a mod to do that," and then i just... did. so then they asked me to program more features, and i got all the sexy nerd cred for being Forum Mod Queen, and it was a good time, i learned a lot.

(i also got to be the person who was frantically IMed at 2am because wtf the forum is down and there's an inscrutable error, what do??? basically sysadmining! also, much less sexy! still, i learned a lot!)

the key thing is that it's gotta be a problem that's interesting to you: as much as i love making dorky sites in PHP, half the fun was seeing other people using my stuff, and i think the era of forum-based RPGs has passed. but maybe you can apply some programming talents to something that you are interested in—maybe you want to make a silly Chrome extension to make people laugh, a la Cloud to Butt, or maybe you'd like to make a program that converts pixel art into cross-stitching patterns, maybe you want to just make a cool adventure game on those annoying graphing calculators they make you use in class, or make a script for some online game you play, or make something silly with Arduino (i once made a trash can that rolled toward me when i clapped my hands; it was fun, and way easier than you'd think!), whatever.

i know a lot of hacker-types who got their start doing ROM hacking for video games—replacing the character art or animations or whatever in old NES games. that's probably more relevant than the PHP websites, at least, and is probably a solid place to get started; in my experience those communities tend to be reasonably friendly to questions. pick a small thing you want to do & ask how to do it.

also, a somewhat unconventional path, but—once i knew how to program a bit of Python, i started doing goofy junk, like, "hey can i implemented NamedTuple from scratch,” which tends to lead to Python metaprogramming, which leads to surprising shit like "oh, stack frames are literally just Python objects and you can manually edit them in the interpreter to do deliberately horrendous/silly things, my god this language allows too much reflection and i'm having too much fun"... since Python is a lot of folks' first language these days, i thought i'd point that out, since i think this is a pretty accessible start to thinking about How Programs Actually Work under the hood. allison kaptur has some specific recommendations on how to poke around, if you wanna go that route.

it's reasonably likely you'll end up doing something "hackery" in the natural course of just working on stuff. for instance, while i was working on the IPB forum software mods, i became distressed to learn that everyone was using an INSECURE version of the software! no one was patching their shit!! i yelled at the admins about it, and they were like "well we haven't been hacked yet so it's not a problem," so i uh, decided to demonstrate a proof of concept? i downloaded some sketchy perl script, kicked it until it worked, logged in as the admins, and shitposted a bit before i logged out, y'know, to prove my point.

(they responded by banning me for two weeks, and did not patch their software. which, y'know, rip to them; they got hacked by an unrelated Turkish group two months later, and those dudes just straight-up deleted the whole website. i was a merciful god by comparison!)

anyway, even though downloading a perl script and just pointing it at a website isn't really "hacking" (it's the literal definition of script kiddie, heh)—the point is i was just experimenting a lot and trying a lot of stuff, which meant i was getting comfortable with thinking of software as not just some immutable relic, but something you can touch and prod in unexpected ways.

this dovetails into the next thing, which is like, just learn a lot of stuff. a boring conventional computer science degree will teach you a lot (provided you take it seriously and actually try to learn shit); alternatively, just taking the same classes as a boring conventional computer science degree, via edX or whatever free online thingy, will also teach you a lot. ("contributing to open source" also teaches you a lot but... hngh... is a whole can of worms; send a follow-up ask if you want that rant.)

here's where i should note that "hacking" is an impossibly broad category: the kind of person who knows how to fuck with website authentication tokens is very different than someone who writes a fuzzer, who is often quite different than someone who looks at the bug a fuzzer produces and actually writes a program that can exploit that bug... so what you focus on depends on what you're interested in. i imagine classes with names like "compilers," "operating systems," and "networking" will teach you a lot. but, like, idk, all knowledge is god-breathed and good for teaching. hell, i hear some universities these days have actual computer security classes? that's probably a good thing to look at, just to get a sense of what's out there, if you already know how to program.

also be comfortable with not knowing everything, but also, learn as you go. the bulk of my security knowledge came when i got kinda airdropped into a work team that basically hired me entirely on "potential" (lmao), and uh, prior to joining i only had the faintest idea what a hypervisor was? or the whole protection ring concept? or ioctls or sandboxing or threat models or, fuck, anything? i mostly just pestered people with like 800 questions and slowly built up a knowledge base, and remember being surprised & delighted when i went to a security conference a year later and could follow most of the talks, and when i wound up at a bar with a guy on the xbox security team and we compared our security models a bunch, and so on. there wasn't a magic moment when i "got it", i was just like, "okay huh this dude says he found a ring-0 exploit... what does that mean... okay i think i got that... why is that a big deal though... better ask somebody.." (also: reading an occasional dead tree book is a good idea. i owe my firstborn to Robert Love's Linux Kernel Development, as outdated as it is, and also O'Reilly's kookaburra book gave me a great overview of web programming back in the day, etc. you can learn a lot by just clicking around random blogs, but you’ll often end up with a lot of random little facts and no good mental scaffolding for holding it together; often, a decent book will give you that scaffolding.)

(also, it's pretty useful if you can find a knowledgable someone to pepper with random questions as you go. finding someone who will actively mentor you is tricky, but most working computery folks are happy to tell you things like "what you're doing is actually impossible, here's why," or "here's a tutorial someone told me was good for learning how to write a linux kernel module," or "here's my vague understanding of this concept you know nothing about," or "here's how you automate something to click on a link on a webpage," which tends to be handier than just google on its own.)

if you're reading this and you're like "ok cool but where's the part where i'm handed a computer and i gotta break in while going all hacker typer”—that's not the bulk of the work, alas! like, for sure, we do have fun pranking each other by trying dumb ways of stealing each other's passwords or whatever (once i stuck a keylogger in a dude's keyboard, fun times). but a lot of my security jobs have involved stuff like, "stare at this disassembly a long fuckin' time to figure out how the program pointer got all fucked up," or, "write a fuzzer that feeds a lot of randomized input to some C++ program, watch the program crash because C++ is a horrible language for writing software, go fix all the bugs," or "think Really Hard TM about all the settings and doohickeys this OS/GPU/whatever has, think about all the awful things someone could do with it, threat model and sandbox accordingly." occasionally i have done cool proof-of-concept hacks but honestly writing exploits can kinda be tedious, lol, so like, i'm only doing that if it's the only way i can get people to believe that Yes This Is Actually A Problem, Fix Your Code

"lua that's cool and all but i wanted, like, actual links and recommendations and stuff" okay, fair. here's some ideas:

microcorruption: very fun embedded security CTF; teaches you everything you need to know as you're doing it.

cryptopals crypto challenges: very fun little programming exercises that teach you a lot of fundamental cryptography concepts as you're going along! you can do these even as a bit of a n00b; i did them in Python for the lulz

the binary bomb lab is hilariously copied by, like, so many CS programs, lol, but for good reason. it's accessible and fun and is the first time most people get to feel like a real hacker! (requires you know a bit of C beforehand)

ctftime is a good way to see when new CTFs ("capture the flag"s; security-focused competitions) are coming up. or, sometimes CTFs post their source code, so you can continue trying them after the CTF is over. i liked Stripe's CTFs when they were going, because they focused on "web stuff", and "web stuff" was all i really knew at the time. if you're more interested in staring at disassembly, there's CTFs focused on that sort of thing too.

azeria has good ARM assembly & exploitation tutorials

also, like, lots of good talks out there; just watching defcon/cansecwest/etc talks until something piques your interest is very fun. i'd die on a battlefield for any of Christopher Domas's talks, but he assumes a lot of specific x86/OS knowledge, lol, so maybe don’t start with that. oh, Julia Evans's blog is honestly probably pretty good for just learning a lot of stuff and really beginner-friendly?

oh and wrt legality... idk, i haven't addressed it here since it hasn't come up in my own work much, tbh. if you're just getting started you're kind of unlikely to Break The Law without, y'know, realizing maybe you're doing something a bit gray-area? and you can cross that bridge when you come to it? Real Hacking TM is way more of a pain-in-the-ass than doing CTFs and such, and you'll learn way more with the latter, so who cares lol just do the fun thing

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n0-eyedtaissa · 3 years

Text

Ruthless, Bad Decisions, and Why They’re So Fun (Serpent Siblings!AU) — Malachai x OC

A/N: A beautiful nightmare pairing, courtesy of @hughstheforcelou‘s willingness to go along with any of my ideas lmfao. Also featuring multiple of their OCs and their version of the Ghoulies. Spawned from this idea here, part two coming soon-ish (maybe don't hold me to this)

Word Count: 3,016

Part One: The Before

It starts after homecoming. CD Rhodes comes to school on Monday morning with a split lip and a mischievous glint in his eye. None of his friends had seen, nor heard from him since late Friday evening after returning to the Soh-Peterson household after ditching the football game. Technically, she was the last person to know CD’s whereabouts. Ruthie catalogued the details in her head the best she should, not wanting to be a witness or an accomplice to something that had happened when CD was left unsupervised: Ruthie remembered the car ride back from the homecoming game (where she was left to her own devices as Dante went on Serpent business, all while CD and Spyder entertained themselves), and afterwards the four of them lounged around the living room watching movies until Ruthie silently excused herself for bed. The details get fuzzier here, as Ruthie swears she remembers CD sneaking into her bedroom, but for the life of her she can’t think of anywhere he mentioned going. CD snuck out the front door any no one saw him after that.

“Where you been all weekend man, we thought you died,” Dante claps a hand over CD’s shoulder and lets out a loud laugh to try and cover up the relief.

CD struggles with the combination of his locker, one quick rasp on the metal and it springs open. “Nah, you oughta know by now that nothing can kill me!” He laughs, chucking some beat-up textbooks into his backpack.

“Fool’s got that cockroach mentality.” Spyder pipes up from where he’s leaning against the locker bank with his black sunglasses covering his already bloodshot eyes. CD slugs him in the shoulder as retaliation and everyone laughs.

The school bell rings overhead and none of them move right away.

“No but seriously, where’d you go?” Ruthie asks curiously, pulling CD’s jacket sleeve so he can’t run away without evading the question. Yeah he was prone to wandering, but it was weird (even for CD) not to check in with his friends multiple times of the day, even if only for the most menial reason. None of them would ever care to admit that his absence made them worried.

“Don’t you worry about it, Ruthless” CD winks, giving Ruthie the inclination that he’d explain later.

Rounding the corner and beginning her walk to history, Ruthie tried her best to dodge around the heaps of students who were still half-asleep yet already angry. Someone rams into her shoulder roughly but it doesn’t stop her. That kind of thing was commonplace at an overcrowded high school so she never really thought too much about it or took it personally. Another much harder shove is enough to make Ruthie swear under her breath, but it’s the wave of hot coffee that’s splashed onto her that really wakes her up that Monday morning. “Oh what the fuck…” Ruthie sighs angrily as she shakes the brown drips from her hand.

“Watch where you’re going next time!” A harsh voice bites from around the corner, despite the fact that they were the one who ran into her.

Looking up from behind her curtain of hair, Ruthie comes to find herself face to face with the always sly looking Malachai Martinez. Their interactions had always been few if any, and before Friday night at the game, Ruthie couldn’t think of a single time where she’d made conversation with him. She hated the fact that she remembered the key points from their time together during the homecoming game, when they sat under the bleachers together. She had to recount them in great detail to Dante, who’s feathers always got ruffled by Malachai’s presence. Need a light? Malachai had asked her that night when he held up his zippo lighter and Ruthie grabbed his hand for leverage as she ducked her joint towards the flame.

Ruthie doesn’t say anything for a moment as she replays the details again.

Malachai looks down at her and quirks a curious smile. “You know, I never realized how short you are” He chuckles, his tone sounding drastically different from the moment before. He sounded playful and casual, friendly almost. He rustles around in the pockets of his studded leather battle-jacket and retrieves a wad of cheap paper napkins and hands them over.

Ruthie’s eyebrows furrow. “You know I’d say I never realized how rude you are, but then I’d be lying.” She takes the napkins cautiously and is surprised when Malachai laughs at her observation. She dabs half-heartedly at the coffee that had already soaked into her cheap cotton t-shirt but ultimately decides its a lost cause.

In a sudden moment of selflessness, or perhaps a personality shift, Malachai pulls a pack of cigarettes from another of his many pockets and offers one to Ruthie. “Lemme make it up to you with a smoke? That’s not coming out ‘til you wash it” He flicks his lighter, looking both dangerous and inviting all in one.

“I’ll just have to go try and wash it in the bathroom,” Ruthie counters, already not liking the idea of wearing a cold, wet t-shirt around a bunch of her male classmates but still not wanting to give Malachai the satisfaction of knowing that he helped her. Because that meant that in the future she might owe him something, and if there’s anything Ruthie was starting to realize as Dante was starting to work closer with the Serpents, was that the last thing you wanted to do was to start owing people favors.

“Or you could just stop being stubborn and let me get you a shirt? I know I have one in my car somewhere…”

Ruthie contemplated for a second. “Thanks but no thanks, I should probably get to class either way…” She bites at the corner of her lip as she looks nervously between Malachai and the clock. It was history class and her teacher was a notorious asshole, so Ruthie knew that the later she was the worse things would end up for her.

Malachai laughs too loudly and it reverberates around the emptying hallways and bounces off the cold, graffiti-covered lockers. “You’re already late, what’s the worst that could happen?” He raises his pierced eyebrow at Ruthie and takes a cigarette out of the pack, lighting it in the hallway. He takes a long drag as he challenges her, a silent question. What was she going to do?

She was asking herself that same question.

Ruthie rolled her eyes and grabbed the cigarette from between his lips, ducking out the emergency exit before anyone could spot either of them (though she wasn’t all that sure anyone would do anything even if they were to be caught). The metal door whispers closed and Ruthie feels herself breathe little easier. She leans against the brick-walled building and shivers at the cold mid-morning air as she takes a long drag from Malachai’s cigarette, not bothering to give it back. He smirks at that, the leather of his jacket creaking as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“You know, I was pretty surprised that I didn’t see you this weekend, considering that your friend was part of the late-night crowd at our little soiree…” Malachai steals a quick glance in Ruthie’s direction before returning his attention back to grinding a littered cigarette butt into the pavement with the toe of his boot.

Ruthie looks over at him, confused. Malachai goes to clear his throat before explaining, “Things tend to get a little out of hand when the late night crew comes around. People like to be a bit rambunctious, you could say…”

Ruthie thinks she’s putting some of the pieces together. She thinks about CD’s split lip, remembers him winking at her as she pestered him further about where he disappeared to over the weekend. Rambunctious might as well have been CD Rhodes’ middle name. “So you said that CD was there?” She leans a little bit closer to Malachai, hoping that she could shake some details from him.

“Romulus? Yeah, he’s no stranger to our turf these days” Malachai taps away his cigarette ash and starts walking towards the parking lot, offering no more information.

“Yeah? What kind of trouble did he end up in to get himself that split lip?”

Malachai clicks his tongue. “Sometime’s your friend’s big mouth gets him into trouble, that’s all…”

Ruthie goes to open her mouth to protest and ask for more details but she stops because she knows exactly what Malachai means. The question that was weighing on her mind though, was whether or not Malachai was the one who punched CD. Because Ruthie was okay with pushing her friends buttons by hanging around with him, but if Malachai laid a hand on any of her friends she wouldn’t be able to refrain from giving him a piece of her mind.

“It wasn’t me, you know” Malachai says, as if he could read her thoughts.

“What?”

“I’m not the one that hit Romulus.”

“I didn’t think you did…” Ruthie lies, biting the inside of her cheek. She takes a drag off of Malachai’s cigarette and looks away from him, watching as the PE classes ran up and down the rickety set of bleachers.

“I mean,” Malachai pipes up after a second “I wouldn’t blame you if you did.” He shrugs his shoulders and slides against the wall, taking a step closer to Ruthie so their shoulders were touching.

“You don’t party, do you?” Malachai asks, blowing smoke through his nose. Ruthie raises her eyebrow in question so he expands: “I never see you around anywhere that isn’t school or over at Pop’s…it’s like there’s a ghost in our midst.”

Ruthie can’t help but break a smile, laughing through her lungful of smoke. “I’m too busy for shit like that.” She makes a loose gesture towards the school, the bike racks, and the parking spots filled up with motorcycles bearing Serpent and Ghoulie insignias. “None of this shit matters to me.”

Malachai nods and curtly and is silent for a few minutes, like he was pondering what it would be like for someone not to be tied to anything, no gangs or turf war or anything. He kicks off the wall and starts towards the cars in the parking lot. Ruthie picks up her book bag and scrambles to follow him a few paces behind.

“Where the hell are you going now?” She huffs, annoyed that here she was, following Malachai around like one of the many other girls who were constantly on his heels.

Malachai weaves though the rows of bike racks and parked chop-shop motorcycles, wandering like he forgot where he parked even though school had only started a handful or hours ago. He walks up to one car specifically, black vintage and boat-like, and smiles as he stands by the passengers side, like he was surveying any and all visible items he could see though the dirty window. He rolls up one of his pant legs and pulls a long, thin piece of metal out of his sock. He takes the metal slim jim and shimmies it through the gap between the window and its weather stripping, the notched end first. Malachai roots around for a minute, trying to find the right angle to catch onto the door’s locking mechanism before suavely pulling the thin strip of metal up and out of the door frame. The door unlocks easily and Malachai makes a content-sounding noise as he opens the car door and starts rooting around.

“Is this even your car?” Ruthie asks nervously, looking over her shoulder back towards the school’s side exit. She knew that no one was coming, that no one cared if two Southside High students were skipping class, but a part of her wanted someone to find the two of them and tell them to go back to their classrooms, to get Ruthie in trouble before Malachai had the chance to.

Malachai scoffs. “Really Ruthless, did you think I’d be breaking into someone else’s car right now?” He feigns disappointment as he rolls his eyes and tosses a t-shirt over his shoulder, making Ruthie rush to catch it before it hits the ground.

She can’t help but laugh because yes, she did think Malachai would be breaking into somebody else’s car, but the idea that this was how he got into his car every day was so in-character for him that Ruthie couldn’t picture him doing anything else.

“Do my ears deceive me or did I just get a laugh outta you?” Malachai raises an eyebrow, taking a final puff from his cigarette before flicking it away on the asphalt.

“First and only one at the rate we’re going here” She jokes. Ruthie takes the thin black shirt in her cold hands and surveys it a little, like she had to make sure it was up to par with her outfit standards. When she deems it clean enough, she shrugs off her jacket and tosses it across the hood of Malachai’s car.

“What’re you — oh” He stutters as Ruthie peels the coffee-stained material up and over her head, using the clean fabric to pat at her bare, sticky skin. It’s cold enough outside that goosebumps erupt over Ruthie’s flushed chest, and Malachai finds himself blushing, turning away and averting his eyes to give her some privacy as she re-dresses (though he couldn’t help but take note of her sharp collarbones and her meager black bra).

Just as Ruthie goes to thank Malachai for the shirt and the cigarette, or to laugh and comment about how the material tented on her much smaller frame, but she’s interrupted from a strained sounding voice from across the parking lot.

“What the hell are you two doing?” Dante calls out as he walks closer, the anger in his voice palpable.

“It’s not what it looks like Dante, chill out” Ruthie rolls her eyes, putting her jacket back on and leaning against the front end of Malachai’s old car.

“Then what is it, Ruth, cause it looks like you’re out here skipping class and stripping down to damn near nothing!” Dante raises his eyebrows as he gestures wildly at Ruthie. She could tell that he was biting back some venomous comment about how she was hanging out with him of all people, but her patience for Dante’s short temper was already wearing thin.

Malachai can’t help but chuckle in response as he hears Ruthie’s sigh of exasperation, so he waves his hand graciously between her and Dante. “Allow me to explain,” He clears his throat, stepping closer to Dante with a smirk, knowing that his presence did nothing but keep Dante on edge. “It was rather careless of me, you see, this morning I was so caught in up my own thoughts and feelings that I accidentally plowed straight into our friend Ruthie here, taking out her shirt and my morning coffee in the process” Malachai pulls his pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket and takes a dramatic pause to light it.

“Our friend?” Dante repeats, looking over to Ruthie as if he needed confirmation that what he heard was true. Ruthie shrugs…If Malachai said that they were friends, she guessed that they were friends.

“It was all my fault, really, so I just thought the gentlemanly thing to do in this scenario would be to offer her an apology cigarette.” Malachai pays no attention to Dante’s small outburst, or if he did notice it, he just didn’t care.

“That don’t explain what you’re doing stripping in the fuckin’ parking lot…” Dante looked over at Ruthie with narrowed eyes.

“He felt bad about spilling so he’s letting me borrow a shirt.”

“Huh…” Dante laughed, low and mean sounding. “Didn’t know you and Malachai were good enough friends to be sharing clothes and shit.”

“Seems like there’s a lot you don’t know these days.”

Something had been tense between Dante and Ruthie lately, like they were tectonic plates converging and pushing against one another until something catastrophic happened. The tension had been building for weeks now; Dante had been blowing off school more often than not, running errands for the Serpents who were sinking their teeth further and further into him and as a result of that, he’d been short with Ruthie lately, if he even bothered to hang out with her at all. Hell, this so-called friendship with Malachai only blossomed when Ruthie’s friends ditched her at the homecoming game, letting her sit alone under the bleachers while Dante slunk around with his new Serpent buddies, doing god-knows-what.

Ruthie opens her mouth to answer but is cut off by the long, drawn-out sound of the school bell ringing, signaling the end of the class period. She spent more time outside with Malachai than she thought she did. “Saved by the bell” She sneers, her face unreadable as she locks eyes with Dante for a tense moment.

“Well, before we all go on our merry way” Malachai pipes up, blissfully immune to the budding tension between the two friends, “My friends and I are having another one of our get-togethers this weekend…Ruthie, you should come.” He smiles, wry and cat-like. Dante doesn’t like the way that he looks at her, but Ruthie knows that boys always looked at girls that way, saw them as supple flesh to sink their sharp teeth into.

“She’s busy” Dante says, at the exact same time Ruthie says,

“I’ll be there.”

The two of them whip their heads around to look at each other, eyes blown wide. Malachai chuckles and shakes his head, his curls falling into his eyes. “You can give me my shirt back when I see you on Friday” He begins his retreat back towards the school building. “If anyone asks…you’re with me” Malachai calls out over his shoulder, unable to feel Dante’s hard eyes baring into the back of his head.

#riverdale malachai #malachai x oc #ruthie x Malachai #serpent siblings au #oc: ruthie soh peterson #lou's oc: dante fogarty #lou's oc: cd rhodes #lou's oc: spyder de la cruz #ocappreciation #riverdale ghoulies

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losers-yurio · 4 years

Text

Road Trip With the Crue

Mick x Reader

the guys show up at your house with a weekend of fun planed

i honestly have no idea what this is-

and also warning bc its probably shit

But The first issue arose when loud banging on the door brought your attention to the front of the house. “Okay okay I'm coming calm yourself!” so both Mick and you lazily made your way to the door, it wasn't that unsurprising when you were met with the faces of your three idiotic friends. “Goddamnit, you three what part of ‘for the love of all that is holy please don't bother us this weekend’ did you not understand” although we had woken up a few hours prior, it was evident from his voice that Mick was still exhausted. Though you couldn't tell for sure if this was because he wanted to go back to bed or if the sudden appearance of his three band members had annoyed him, from prior experience you were almost certain that it was the second option you definitely understood why he was upset though, with all of the shows him and the guys had been doing the two of you hadn't really been able to spend much time together so this weekend was supposed to be catching up on all of the lost time. While on the one hand you absolutely adore Mick’s friends you were quite looking forward to your weekend together as well. “Well haven't heard why we’re here yet” Vince protested in an almost childlike manner.“Nope, not interested” stated in his usual monotone voice as he began to close the door, in response you reached your left arm out in front of him to stop the door from closing. He gave me an eye roll but said nothing more “now what were you boys going on about?” And so the guys (mostly Vince being the loudmouth that he is) told you about their plan which was as followed, the five of you were to leave at ten(which was horrible planning considering it was already nine) then stop at the nearest gas station for snack and drink essentials, from there you had a three-hour drive down to the amusement park. “No way, absolutely not” you looked over at mick who had a worried expression on his face, “guys we just need a minute to pack if that's alright” the three men nodded as I shut the door. “What, why not?” he looked at you with confusion “what happened to a nice quiet weekend at home?” “But when was the last time we went out for something other than a gig?” “I could say the same for staying home” “oh please Mick it could be fun!” “and if it isn't?” “ then I owe you big time” It wasn't long before we finished gathering what we needed for the trip and had packed it into the back of the van. While it was the band's van you really couldn't trust Vince, Nikki, or especially Tommy with the task of driving and Mick got to sit in the front because of his back issues. Tommy and Nikki were sitting together in the middle and Vince was in the very back with the luggage. Luckily the gas station wasn't that far from the house so we arrived in no time at all, the other three went inside to get the snacks which in hindsight was a terrible idea but hey they needed to get a bunch of moving around in before being cooped up. I had gotten out to refill the tank so we wouldn't have any issues on the road, which surprisingly didn't take very long so I had more time to talk with Mick.

“Are you really sure about this? We can just ditch now and walk home” there was a touch of amusement on his face as you looked at him “I'm sure, besides don't you think they'll just come and pester us at the house?” “we’ll just ignore them” you laughed and shook your head slightly Before I could say anything else the rest of the guys were hopping back into the van with a bunch of bags “for the lame-os,” Nikki said as he handed us two water bottles with a slight smile “I hope for your sake this isn't all you got for us bassist” Mick’s cold look had returned to his face “ um no of course not” I looked over to see a small smirk on Mick's face, what a man.

The trip was pretty smooth considering the party in attendance, with only 3 hours left I was honestly ready for the trip to be over. Both Nikki and Tommy were passed out, Vince was jamming quietly as to not wake the boys, upfront Mick had pulled out a book of his that he had been reading. At Least everything had been going well until the van sputtered to a stop. “Hey Y/N everything okay up there?” “Yeah Vin I think so, well actually..” “what happened?” by now Mick had looked up from his book “ well we’re out of gas” “huh that's weird I thought we just got some” “yeah I thought so too” you reached around and nudged the two sleeping men “huh what” Tommy answered groggily, “I thought I had the two of you fill-up the tank” “ I certainly wasn't, I thought Nikki did,” he said in an accusatory tone “well I thought you did it” “oh for the love of- you know what it's fine since this is both of your faults both of you get to walk the three miles back to the gas station” “fine” “and no distractions!” “you know we can't promise anything!” Tommy called back “idiots” mumbled Mick and you smiled

After about twenty minutes Mick started shifting more in his seat and making small grunting noises “hey are you good?” “yeah just my back acting up again, do you know where we put the other bottle of pills?” “I think it was in the backpack” a quiet “on it!” came from the back as Vince tossed the bag to me “thanks Vin”. “ um Mick they aren't in here” “ah damn I knew I forgot something” “hey its okay ill look for a drug store as soon as we get to the hotel and we can look for some store-brand pain killers” “ah ok, I just wish the guys would come back already” “I'm sure they'll be back soon” which wasn't entirely a lie as the two of them turned up ten minutes later with a full gas can and Tommy with suspiciously red lips. “And what kind of fun did you two get into?” “oh you know the usual” Tommy replied with a smirk “okay jus- just get in the van, Mick’s having back issues” “ah sorry man if it helps we got candy” “ill except it”

And so we were off once more. Thankfully Mick was able to fall asleep so he was able to get relief even if it was for just a couple hours. By the time you reached the motel, it was already dark out so you got the guys checked in and rushed over to the pharmacy with Mick for painkillers which was difficult until the guy realized you genuinely needed them. Then on the way back to the hotel to rest up the two of you were walking through the parking lot when some guy started yelling ”Hey old man hearing the noise both Nikki and Vince emerged from their shared room. Seeing what was happening Nikki immediately Joined the fray “Hey man that's totally not cool” “Yeah? And what are you going to do about it ninnyhammer?” “listen I have no idea what that means and I'm sure it was bad but regardless you said some shit about my guitarist and we can't have that now can we” you didn't see it coming but by the time you realized Nikki’s fist was already colliding with the guys face and he was being pulled to the ground. Immediately you rushed over to help tear them apart from each other. With the help of Vince, you managed to pull them apart “while I do appreciate the thought I would kill you if we got kicked out because we don't have anywhere else to go” The five of us ended up having a wonderful time at the park with no more incidents. In the morning we left bright and early much to the guy's dismay. Somewhere along the way, Vince had convinced me to let him drive and I promptly passed out for the rest of the trip. I awoke parked in our driveway with the guys talking “oh come on Mick, please? We’re still exhausted ``''Well that sounds like a you problem, not a me problem``'' what's the matter, guys?” “don't you dare ask them you know they'll say yes” “can we stay over for a few hours to catch up on some sleep?” “ of course you can, just don't cause any trouble” from your view Mick appeared to be rolling his eyes and the rest were high fiving. It was an odd bunch of people but they were your idiots and you wouldn't trade them for anything.

taglist: @makemeyourwife-loveofmylife

#Motley Crue #motley crue x reader #mick mars #mick mars x reader #my writing

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wonkasmissstarshine · 3 years

Text

The Chocolate Prince and The Lovely Maiden {Willy Wonka x Rose Bucket AU}

Chapter 5

A Girl and her (Secret) Fairy Godmothers

Tagging: @holdmeicant @frozenhuntress67 @pastelmoonwitche @arinnasweetslove

Rose finally reached the sisters’ cottage. It was small, but it was very lovely home. There were a bunch of colorful flowers and oddly beautiful fungi that grew in the garden. It made Rose think of a fairy garden. Rose had heard stories about fairies. There was debate as to whether they existed or not. Some people say that they were small; some say that they’re the size of humans.

And then there were those that said that fairies born with an evil heart aren’t fairies at all. They were called witches. Rose had never seen a witch either, but she was sure they were real. Hell, she was positive that Avonmora was secretly a witch.

Rose and Honkers approached the front door. The clanging of various pots and pans could be heard coming from inside. “What in the world is going on in there?” Rose wondered out loud.

“It sounds like some kind of party in there” Honkers somehow thought. “How come we weren’t invited?”

Rose giggled at her goose friend. “I don’t think they’re having a party, Honkers. I’m thinking it may be chore day” She knocked on the door. Everything fell eerily silent and then a voice spoke.

“Who is it?” It was Fiona’s voice, the eldest of the three sisters.

“It’s Rose”

Suddenly, there was a loud crashing noise. And someone also made a shrieking noise. It sounded like Briona, the youngest sister. After a moment the door was opened by Liona, the middle sister. A smile graced upon her beautiful face. “Hello dear”

“Liona, is everything alright?”

“Yes. Everything is fine” Liona said.

Rose peeked over her shoulder. There were a whole bunch of dishes, utensils, and pots and pans scattered all over the floor. “Really? Because it seems like you made quite the mess in here”

Briona popped up beside Liona. “It’s dish day for us! Our messiest cleaning day”

“Girls, step aside and let our Rose inside” Fiona said. The two sisters stepped aside, and Rose and Honkers entered the small home. “Hungry? We’ve made a few sandwiches”

“Please!” Rose took a seat at the table. “I’ve been cleaning all morning. I haven’t the time to make myself even a small meal”

Honkers hopped onto one of the other empty chairs. “Just bread crumbs for me. I’m looking a little puffy these days and it isn’t from my feathers”

Briona giggled at the goose. “You’re not puffy. You’re pleasantly fluffy” She placed a plate of bread crumbs in front of Honkers. “You’re adorable” Briona gushed over the goose. Honkers’ feathers puffed out. That was his version of blushing.

Fiona placed the sandwich in front of Rose. “What brings you by today?”

“A couple of things, actually” Rose began, pausing to take a bite out of her sandwich. “One, I was hoping to pick more cherries from your tree today”

Liona smiled. “You’re always welcome to, Rose! Remember, the cherries are fresh everyday”

“I’ve always wondered. What does make your cherries to fresh everyday?”

Fiona and Liona shared a look with each other. Then they looked Briona, ignoring the way her two sisters were staring, answered. “You could say it’s just a bit of gardening magic”

“Briona!” Fiona and Liona hissed.

“What!?” Briona asked, confused as to why her sisters said her name so condescendingly.

Fiona rolled her eyes and then smiled at Rose. “What is the other reason for you seeing us today?”

“I wanted to ask you all about something. Or rather, someone” Rose explained.

“This isn’t about Avonmora, is it?” Briona asked suddenly. Fiona and Liona gave her warning glares. “What?”

Rose became confused. “Is there something about her I should know?”

“No” Liona quickly answered. “We just don’t like to talk about her in this house. From what we hear from you, she’s a cruel woman”

Rose huffed. “You don’t know the half of it. Anyways, no this isn’t about her. This about a man I met this morning”

“You met a man?” Fiona grinned. “Is he handsome? Was it love at first sight?”

Rose snorted. “Love? No way! That man has an ego so big, the only person he could ever truly love is himself”

Briona’s face scrunched in confusion. “Well, that doesn’t sound anything like Pri-” The pink haired sister shrieked when Liona smacked her in the back of the head. “Li! Why!?”

“You talk too much sometimes, Bri” Liona sneered at her younger sister.

“Oh” Briona muttered, now realizing what she was doing.

Fiona sighed, and then pressed Rose for more information about this mysterious man. “Tell us all about him”

“Well, like I said, I only met him this morning” Rose disclaimed. The sisters all leaned in with interest as to what Rose had to say. “His name is Harry. But, just from our brief meeting, I already feel like I know everything I need to about him. He cornered me in the garden, backing me up against the wall. He said that he had been admiring me for quite some time. He gave me a gardenia, I told him that they weren’t my favorite, and now he’s going to bring me a different flower everyday until he brings me my favorite”

“And what happens when he does bring you your favorite flower?” Fiona asked.

“He said that I owe him a romantic stroll”

The three sisters exchanged looks. This poor girl. As if having to deal with her step-mother wasn’t bad enough, now she’s gained the unwanted attention of a man who doesn’t seem to understand the word no. “Sweetheart,” Liona spoke up. “You know you don’t owe that man anything, right?”

“I know” Rose sighed. “I just fear the continuous pestering I am to receive from him”

“Well, hopefully he learns to back off” Briona spoke up. “Because, he isn’t the one you’re destined to be with anyways”

Rose furrowed her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

Fiona gave a stone cold glare in Briona’s direction. “Yes, what do you mean, Briona?”

Briona, realizing she had said too much again, nervously giggled. “Oops. There I go again. Uttering complete nonsense”

Rose shook her head, ignoring what Briona just did. Having finished her sandwich, Rose stood up, grabbing her basket. “I’m off to the cherry tree” She announced. “Thank you for the sandwich. Come on, Honkers”

Honk! “But I want to hear more of Briona’s nonsense” Honkers said as he hopped off the chair.

“You just want to stay because you think she’s pretty”

“What? No!” Honkers quickly denied as he followed Rose out the door.

As soon as Rose was out the door, Fiona whipped out her wand. With a flick of her wrist, the mess on the floor was quickly cleaned up. “Briona, you need to be more careful about what you say in front of Rose” Fiona chastised.

“Otherwise we’ll have to put a zipping spell on your mouth” Liona added.

“I’m sorry, sissys” Briona apologized. “I don’t mean to”

“We know” Fiona said. “We’ve managed to keep the secret from Rose for this long. We just need to hold out a little longer”

“And how much is a little longer going to be?” Briona complained like she was a young child.

This time, Liona pulled out her wand. She pointed it at the table. Glittery magic came out of the end of it, and conjured up a large piece of parchment. “According to my prophecy, Rose and the Prince should be meeting very soon”

Liona was what was known as a psychic fairy. She had the ability to see the future and all it’s possible outcomes. Fiona was an alchemy fairy. She was very skilled in making all kinds of potions and tonics. Then, Briona was a garden fairy. Her magic specialty was with wildlife and plants. In fact, she had been the one to enchant the cherry tree that Rose was so fond of. Briona could also interact with animals and give them the ability to speak.

“Does this prophecy of yours include this Harry idiot?”

Liona skimmed through the parchment. “Hmm. I see his name here. But not much is said about him” Sometimes, Liona wasn’t able to tell the whole future. Some things only became clear the closer the event would come.

“And Avonmora,” Fiona piped in. “Anything about her?”

Liona took another look. “Fortunately, no, but I suppose that could also be a bad thing. Dark magic is unpredictable. I wouldn’t be surprised if she interfered with the parchment somehow”

Yes, Avonmora was a witch and the three fairies were very aware of that fact. The reason the fairies chose to live in the forest was to keep tabs on Avonmora. But, they knew that they couldn’t keep their own eyes on her at all times. So, enter Honkers the goose.

“Not only do we have our evil sister to worry about,” Briona started. Ah yes, Avonmora was related to the three fairies. Avonmora was the bad apple of the family, cursed with an evil heart. “But now Harry? What if he tries a love potion on Rose or something?”

“That is not going to happen” Fiona assured. “And we’ll make sure of that”

Liona nodded. “It is destined for Rose and the Prince to meet. It is destined for them to fall in love. That is what fate lies in store. And no matter what happens, no matter what Avonmora or Harry do, they cannot change fate”

Liona took another look at the future telling parchment. “And, it is also fate that the Prince will finally slay that witch once and for all, with the help of a mighty huntress, and a young boy. Then, everything that once was, will be restored”

#willy wonka x oc #willy wonka #rose bucket #my oc #rose and willy #tcpatlm

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changingourdestiny · 3 years

Text

Season of the Hunt Part 5: I Promise

Summary:

While investigating the EDZ, Crow show’s Blaze a hideout of his within the ruins of the dam. There, Crow opens up to Blaze about his feelings towards his past.

Previous Part: Here

Next Part: Here

“I must say, you and Crow have very similar…er, flying styles.” Glint commented as Blaze and Crow transmatted into the EDZ. “Believe it or not, Rae’s worse!” Blaze laughed, “You’d be surprised how many times Ghost has scolded her for flying too fast!” Blaze glanced around the ruined remains of Trostland, “So where to?” “The Traveller sent us coordinates that seem to lead to the dam.” Crow replied. “Then lets go to the damn dam!” Crow let out a small chuckle at Blaze’s poor attempt at a pun, “That was awful.” “They only get better from here, bud.” “She means worse!” “Firefly!” Crow laughed as Blaze scolded her Ghost, which caught her off guard as she hadn’t ever heard him fully laugh. Not in Crow’s lifetime anyway. She couldn’t help but smile, happy that Crow was seeming to become more comfortable around her. “Anyway, let’s go before the Taken welcoming party show up.” “We’re going into the deep inside, so there should be less activity.” Crow nodded, “Follow me. I know a shortcut.” Crow lead Blaze through a series of old ruined buildings. “Do you come out here often?” Blaze asked. “Not as much since we met, but I used to when on assignment.” Crow replied, “It’s quiet out here. No one to bother me…hmph, or for me to bother.” That’s when Blaze realised it. Crow has bound to have run into other Guardians before being found by Spider. Guardians who weren’t as forgiving or willing to move on as she and her Fireteam were. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what he had gone through since being revived by Glint. “Watch your step.” Blaze was brought out of her thoughts as she and Crow arrived at a large, broken pipe, “It’s through here.” Crow entered the pipe and slid down it into another ruined area of the dam. He turned around to make sure Blaze had made it in. “…whooooooOOOOOOOOHOOOOO- WHOA!” “ARGH!” Blaze came flying out of the pipe and crashed straight into Crow, the two tumbling to the floor. “Ow…sorry…” Blaze groaned, rubbing her head. “Um, Blaze?” “Hm?” That’s when Blaze noticed she was laying on top of Crow. “A-ah! Sorry!” Blaze quickly got off him, her face a dark blue, as she helped him up. “It’s alright.” Crow replied, “Be careful up here, we need to cross on a thin pipe.” “R-right!” Blaze grinned, trying to hide her blush. ‘Blaze, you idiot, you’re supposed to be over this!’ Blaze scolded herself in her head as she followed Crow across the pipe. She brushed it off as seeing things, but she swore she had saw him blush too…

As they made their way further in, Crow suddenly stopped, “Hey, do you mind if we take a detour? I want to show you something.” “Sure!” Blaze replied as Crow led her through a debris filled hallway and into a room that was visible through a fallen-in wall. “Don’t mind the mess. Glint’s a terrible maid.” Crow joked. “What is this place?” Blaze asked, glancing about the objects scattered about the room. “This is just where I come to…get some distance when I need it.” Crow sighed, “Someplace to call my own.” “It’s his Crow’s Nest.” Blaze could hear the smile in Glints voice as he popped out beside Crow. “It absolutely is not.” Crow glared at Glint who went back to hiding in his hood. Blaze looked around the room before her eyes landed on a cluster of wine bottles. “Crow, do we need to have an intervention?” Blaze chuckled. “I didn’t drink that by myself.” Crow rolled his eyes, “In fact I didn’t have any of it. After Glint brought me back to life, I quickly came to realise that Guardians recognised me as whoever I was before.” Crow paused for a moment, “They…weren’t always kind. So I took to wearing a helmet to hide my face. Before Spider.” “Unfortunately, not all Guardians are good people.” Blaze sighed, “There have been Guardians who’ve used their powers for ill or have given into temptation. Some are just straight up cruel.” “Guess I was lucky to get a kind bunch.” Crow smiled. Blaze smiled back before something caught her eye, “Hold up.” She walked over to a blue bowl with golden markings on it, “These are Dawning patterns.” “Oh, right. Glint gave this to me.” “It was a gift.” Glint added, “It was the Dawning. Your first Dawning.” “This year’s Dawning should be starting soon.” Blaze suddenly had an idea, “I should see if Rae can convince Spider to let you come to the Tower for Dawning! You’d love it!” “As much as I appreciate the offer,” Crow sighed, “I fear I might not be welcomed by the Guardians there.” “In the words of a certain kind old lady that comes to visit us, ‘The Dawning is for everyone’. That includes you. And if anyone tries to say otherwise, they’ll have me and my flames to answer to!” Crow seemed surprised at first before giving a small smile, “Thank you.” Blaze grinned back in return before noticing the sheet underneath the bowl. Crow followed her gaze to it, “My first memories are of waking up under this shroud. The first thing that was mine.” He placed a hand on it, “It was comforting somehow. I couldn’t bring myself to throw it away. Someone cared enough to lay me to rest. I meant something to them, whoever they are, and that…means something to me.” Blaze tried not to let Crow the sombre expression that had sneaked onto her face. She remembered how much she had to pester Petra to allow her to hold a proper funeral for Uldren. If it weren’t for Jolyon also proposing it, she probably never would’ve succeeded. Blaze wanted to tell Crow so desperately who she was, but she knew it would only hurt him. Besides, he wasn’t the same person she had fallen for in her past life. It wouldn’t matter. So why? Why did she feel…? “I’m not stupid.” Blaze was brought back again by Crow, “I know…the person I used to be, he did something terrible. I can feel it when people look into my eyes and see him. The way Rae and Adam looked at me when we first met. I don’t ever want to know him. However…” Crow looked to Blaze, “The look you gave me was…different. And I couldn’t figure out how. That was…” Blaze watched as he removed something from under his cloak and hand it to her, “…until Rae told me your name.” Blaze looked down at what Crow had handed to her and let out a small gasp. A silver ring with a fire agate, the words ‘Blaisel Kiria. My phoenix’ engraved on the inside, hanging from a silver chain. “You kept it…” Blaze muttered. “I asked Rae about it. She said it should be up to you if you tell me or not.” Crow continued, “Like I said, I don’t want anything to do with who I used to be. But…I feel like giving this back to you might at least give you respite.” Blaze stared down at the ring, thinking over her choice of words carefully. “I…” she began, “I’m not too good with words. Saying comforting and meaningful stuff is usually Rae’s department. I just add the optimistic side-commentary.” Black chuckled, “But the person you used to be…we were close back then, until…something really bad happened. I know you’re not him. I came to terms with that a long time ago.” Crow gave a nod. “But who you were doesn’t matter.” This caught him by surprise as Blaze continued, “What matters is who you choose to be now. That person died a long time ago. He’s gone. And now you’re here. Only you get a say in who you are now. Not me. Not Spider. Not any Guardian. You.” Blaze smiled, “And I’ll be right here if you need me. I promise.” Crow searched her eyes for any deception or misleading, but all he saw was genuine honesty and kindness – something he had rarely seen in any of the Guardians he met. It was Blaze’s turn to be caught off guard as she was suddenly enveloped in a hug. “…thank you.” Crow’s voice was barely above a whisper – Blaze probably would’ve missed it if she wasn’t paying attention. Blaze smiled and gently hugged him back, “You’re welcome.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Somethings happening.” Glint alerted, “I’m detecting massive gravity distortions in the dam!” “I know. We can see them!” Blaze and Crow watched as large boulders floated about the large room. “Savathûn likes zero-g apparently.” Blaze half-joked. “You think she’s capable of this?” Crow asked. “It’s Hive. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had means to make the entire Last City float. Here I thought doing the impossible was more of a Paralight trope.” “That would explain why you’re so good at taking them down.” “Taken welcoming committee inbound!” Firefly chirped as the tell-tale glow of incoming Taken appeared. “Shall we?” Crow offered his hand. Blaze smirked, taking his hand, “Hell yeah!” The duo jumped down as the Taken appeared, weapons at the ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You could nearly hear what that last Taken was thinking when you threw that grenade! ‘Nooo! Why would Sava-loon send me to such a horrible fate?! Curse you, Blaze and Croooooooooow!’” Blaze yelled dramatically as she reloaded her gun. “You’re so strange.” Crow laughed. “Hey. I’m one of the more normal people in the Tower. You think I’m strange, wait ‘til you meet the grenade-obsessed Titan that is Shaxx!” “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Blaze stuck out her tongue as she holstered Firelight, “So now what?” “As we finished that last Taken, I…felt something.” “Was it actually saying that telepathically to you?” Crow stifled a laugh, “Blaze, I’m serious!” “Sorry, sorry! Go on!” Blae giggled. “It was a yearning. For change…for adventure.” Crow smiled awkwardly, “It feels childish, but it’s like the gun – or maybe the Traveller – wants us to experience triumph.” “It might have something to do with elevated states of emotion.” Glint added, “Like you need to attune your minds to a specific wavelength.” “Like a happy radio?” Firefly asked. “Something like that.” “I think we should try.” Crow asserted before turning to Blaze with a determined expression, “Together?” “Together.” Blaze smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“There’s increased Taken activity here.” Glint alerted as Blaze and Crow traversed the grove once more, this time staying together, “It’s going to be much more dangerous than last time.” “Good thing we’re here to back you up.” Crow added. “Yeah! Savathûn’s got nothing we can’t handle.” Blaze smiled, brimming with confidence, “C’mon. The shard should be right…over…” Blaze’s smile fell as they turned the corner. Where the shard once was, was now a large orb of Taken blight as Taken began to appear. “What have they done?!” Crow exclaimed, “What are they doing?! We have to stop this!” “I’ll take left side, you take right!” Blaze called out as she made a dash for the Taken on the left of the blight while Crow began shooting at the Taken on the right. Blaze sliced through some of the smaller Taken with her dagger before focusing on some of the larger ones with her bow. “Blaze, behind-!” Crow’s voice didn’t reach her on time as Blaze felt a searing pain in her back while being thrusted forward into the rocky wall. A loud snap was heard, but it didn’t come from Blaze. “Oh no, NO!” Blaze exclaimed as she picked up her bow. Or rather what was left of it. It had snapped in half from the force with the fiery feather snapped from the chain holding it to the bow’s frame. She failed to notice the large Taken captain about to fire at her from point blank. “BLAZE!” Blaze felt a wave of heat as the Taken screeched out in pain. She looked up to see it growling at something off to the side. Across the way was Crow surrounded by a fiery golden glow with a furious expression and a flaming handcannon pointed at the Taken captain. Not just any hand cannon, though.

Hawkmoon.

To Be Continued…

#Changing our Destiny #blaze kiria #the crow #destiny crow #ghost #destiny ghost #glint #destiny glint #destiny 2

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hyperionswrath--archived · 4 years

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@onepartbrave

Gaze innately drawn to the weapon still grasped in his former rival’s hand, Squall felt his brows raise at watching the aforementioned disappear. Well… wasn’t that a neat trick? He’d heard of the way the Glaives could summon forth an artillery from thin air but witnessing it first-hand was mystifying in sense. Almost surreal. If he didn’t already live in a world filled with profound magic and enchanted beasts, he’d have questioned his sanity. Alas, his rationality was sound as was his physical form once again… thanks to Seifer. Head tilting as the fact bounced around internally, he wondered on why it felt almost too strange to him. Like an obscure dream.

Shrugging away the counterproductive reflections, his attention was snatched up by the abrupt change in demeanour of the blond. Gone was the cocky persona he’d expected and in its place was… frustration? Huh? Yup. The burning in those green eyes indicated enmity and it was directed at him. Concern popped to the forefront of his mind—for the man, not himself—and he was about to voice the worry but was beaten to it. What the fuck was he thinking?

Jokes on you, even I don’t know.

Consciously ignoring the unhelpful jibe in his head, Squall failed to respond in quick succession. In fact, he failed to do anything except appear as unhelpful as he felt. Face creased into a prominent frown, he tried to piece together what had gotten Seifer so peeved at him (honestly, it didn’t take much) but faltered when the blond inched closer. Aptitude drew his bewildered eyes down when the other’s hand moved to and his body tensed from muscle memory, prepared to defend should a hit come sailing his way. As it were, nothing did. The Glaive’s intended path was cut short and Squall’s weary gaze returned to the blond’s face, surprised to see it turn away and glare metaphorical daggers at an unfortunate chair.

…Why did he feel as though he was to blame for this, too?

Chewing inwardly on his cheek, Squall mindlessly took a few steps forward, closing more of the distance left between. Safety concerns were thrown out of the window for now, he wanted to know what was ailing Seifer. Because, correct him if he was wrong… but he swore that was genuine concern he’d discerned. For him. Getting shot was a good enough reason for anyone to fret over another person, but Seifer too had been wounded but hardly seemed to care? Had it… been because he’d picked up on the fact Squall had no remedies? Ugh. Another one he owed the guy.

“…I wasn’t thinking,” Squall offered cautiously, head cocking a little to try and bring Seifer’s line of sight back to his own. “I acted irrationally. I just…” He sighed, feeling regret and shame pool in the pit of his stomach. Seifer got injured on his behalf and he hadn’t even the necessities to right that wrong. “I slipped up. It’s not a common occurrence so…” What? Don’t worry? D’you wanna patronise the guy and get decked? Just—shut up. “Forget it,” he said in substitute, a little too snappy for its intention. “I’ll make it up to you. Drinks on me in another place?”

Perhaps his olive branch would settle any debt. He hoped so. Last thing he needed was to be owing anyone. Hands clenching in and out of nervous fists at his side, he scowled lightly when noticing and jammed them harshly in his pockets instead. The less he embarrassed himself in the aftermath, the better. Although, when examining the aftermath properly, a little light in place now with temporary lanterns being set around, he winced on the inside. This might be a pricey fix…

As though hearing his plea for something to distract him, Squall’s phone began vibrating. Scrambling to grab it, he yanked it out of his pocket with unnecessary force, nearly dropping it with a fumble of fingers. Pushing the button to answer the private number, he said a rushed, “Yeah?” before grimacing at who he answered. Listening attentively despite the abrupt drop in his already abysmal mood, he waited with wavering patience as the tone on the other end delivered a short, sharp set of instructions amidst a bunch of reprimands. In the end, he was hung up on and his face was set in stone, looking like he’d swallowed a lemon.

Switching off the display, he rehoused his device and ground his teeth together. If the night couldn’t get any worse… “My team will clean up,” he relayed in a toneless drone, thoroughly fed up with the day and wanting it to end, “and we’ll cover any costs. I’m—bye.”

About facing, Squall rudely didn’t wait for any response as he headed for the exit. God, he was in dire need of some fresh air and distance from the absolute nightmare of a mission end. …And no, he wasn’t running from Seifer, thank you very much.

If there hadn't been this inherent boiling under his surface, Seifer might have caught the glance of curious eyes watching as the amiger took his weapon in. For him, too, it had been a rather strange experience when he witnessed it for the first time. More so even as he learned he would be able to connect Hyperion with the powers he was able to dip in to once he was sworn to the King of Lucis. If anything, it was able to give him a certain edge in any fight, sometimes even granting him the upper hand, but only if he played his cards right. As it were, he still could feel more words dance on the tip of his tongue at this moment, only partly aware that he in some way must have flustered the brunet with his outburst. Yet if he had been after exactly this kind of emotional display before to file it away or even better, take jabs at it, he didn't seem to care that much about their usual bickering this very moment.

Of course he hadn't missed the way Squall had reclined, ready to defend himself as soon as his hand had risen just about an inch, maybe reason for him to halt his move in the end and let his arm fall to his side again. A hum rolled from his lips, surprised in its tonation, as Seifer registered the other one step closer towards him instead of bringing more distance between them. His gaze flitted to the corners of his eyes to perceive the man, muscles on his jaw twitching slightly as the brunet set to speak. And what he heard... it was enough to make his face turn towards Squall again, his expression softening just so. Again, the muscles around his mouth tensed as he seemed to rephrase whatever wanted to slip out of it before he let out a huff. "Doesn't sound like you at all...", he quietly admitted, lips pressed thin now. He didn't like the way the brunet acted at all, because for all he knew, something was very off about it. The famed Lion was no one who did not think, or slipped up, or acted irrationally for that matter. All those years of consequently pestering the guy to harden him for the world out there and this was what came of it?

In just that brief moment of reflection and honesty Squall directed at him, Seifer felt he could sense a whole range of emotion and, most notable, words coming from the other than he had ever witnessed before, in such a way it only helped to deepen his concern. Nope, he didn't like this shit one bit. At all. ‘Forget it’, he said, as if that was even possible if you knew Squall Leonhart for as long as he had. Shit, not even his friends would be able to let what had happened here go. "Sure.", he said nonetheless, letting just enough sarcasm drip into his voice to leave it up to the brunet if he really meant to forget about it or not.

Again, unexpected words came following up just mere moments later, rising Seifer's brows in astonishment. He actually wanted to spend more time? Together? Now, that really wasn't what he had expected when they ran into each other this evening, battles and a destroyed Glaive Bar aside. "I could just sneak out a bottle or two.", he commented helpfully with a nonchalant shrug, trying to get his bearings again and sound as much as his usual, cocky self. Vocalization maybe playing along, his eyes didn't, still shooting probing looks at the man. "But yeah, sure. Could use a drink or ten now." he agreed, knowing full well that good old Squall certainly wouldn't approve of stealing pricey alcohol from a bar they had just smashed to smithereens. At least he was slowly able to calm down again, the rush of the fight driven out of him leaving him only with the afterglow of sore muscles and a faint sting in his shoulder that would pass in time. Thus, he glanced the nervously clenching fists of his former rival, just a mere second before the clever boy hid them inside his jacket. The mere move was enough to tug at his lips. He was just opening his mouth to say something when the brunet's phone rang, shutting him up, but not stopping him from laughing, to his surprise rather softly, at the fumbling that commenced as Squall tried to take his call. Fuck, if someone had told him he would ever in his life be able to see the famed Lion so beside himself and that all it would cost was to take a bullet for him, shit, he'd done it sooner.

Turning his body just a little to grant Squall some privacy, he leaned down to pick up his glove he left on the floor, slowly slipping it back over his hand. From the corners of his eyes he could see enough to grasp that whatever this call was about, it wasn't Rinoa whispering sweet nothings. Well, if anything, someone else was having a shit day with their superiors, so maybe he could feel a little less sorry about himself now. Rubbing his chin at the thought, he lifted a brow when he detected the sour expression on Squall's face. "Bad call?", he asked then, an air of sympathy in his voice. Damn didn't he know what a pain in the ass people in charge could be? But instead of an answer he received a pretty curt dismissal and, as if the brunet didn't know better, he left Seifer standing. Back to ignoring him again was it now?

Biting on his tongue to not call out to his former rival, he instead stayed behind for a moment, trying to grasp what the fuck had just happened here. "Ungrateful shit.", he muttered, steering resolute steps toward the bar and waving off Glaives trying to initiate a conversation with him about the attack they had just faced, not understanding where it had even come from. That he would take care of tomorrow. Tonight, however... Swiftly he ducked behind the bar counter, already knowing his poison and unceremoniously fetching a new bottle of Galahdian Whiskey from a shelf before turning to the exit himself. Sauntering down the flight of stairs, the cool night air brushing his face, he flicked the bottle open swiftly, taking a deep swig.

#onepartbrave #they are both so confused omg x3 #rp #long post

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lunatens · 5 years

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felix felicis (ii)

word count: 2.6k

part ii/iv

genre, fluff, harry potter au

pairing: hufflepuff!felix x ravenclaw!reader

a/n: here’s pt. 2 finally!! i had a hard time feeling inspired to write for this lol, but i got some ideas and wrote a whole bunch today so here it is!!

edit from october 2020:

just a disclaimer, this part includes w**jin as a very minor character, as i wrote it in july 2019 before things happened. if this bothers you by all means dont read it, but i won’t edit him out because it is still a part of the story i wrote!

“are you sure i look okay?” you ask, turning to your small audience consisting of seungmin, woojin, and chan in the ravenclaw common room (as a ravenclaw prefect, woojin was hesitant to let your Gryffindor best friend in, but you were able to sway him with promises of helping clean the common room for a week).

“yes, y/n, for the billionth time, you look great,” chan reassures you.

“really, we have no reason to lie—we’re your friends, we want to help you get ready for your da—“

“it is NOT a date, seungmin,” you cut him off, holding up a finger. the three boys stare at you; seungmin raising his eyebrows as he peers at you over his book, chan smirking at you, and woojin with a blank expression. “first of all, he said some of his other friends are gonna be there, not just him. and second of all, i’m just curious to see how he’s so good at literally everything and the only way to do that is to get closer to him. besides, i don’t have any hufflepuff friends, so maybe it’s time i branch out a little,”

“is there something wrong with your current friends?” chan asks, feigning hurt and placing a hand over his heart in shock. you give him a look.

“yes, none of them have told me my hair is a MESS,” you grumble, leaning closer to the mirror to fix it the best you can.

“accio pin,” you hear chan mumble. suddenly he’s behind you, pressing two tiny metal hair pins into your hand. “hey, it’s really gonna be okay. you can relax and take a break for a bit; hanging out with a cute boy is not gonna kill you.”

“i don-“

“y/n, i’m your best friend,” chan says, placing his hands on your shoulders to look at you reassuringly—it’s a small gesture, but you really appreciate it. “i know what you’re thinking sometimes more than you do, you can’t hide your feelings that easily from me. believe me, there’s nothing wrong with liking felix, other than the fact that i’ll finally have something else to tease you about,” he says, almost ruffling your hair but realizing you might hex him for it.

“i don’t like felix,” you mutter, although it’s a little less convincing this time. he rolls his eyes, and you giggle at him, feeling a little more relaxed. you pull chan in for a quick hug, mumbling a quiet thanks before pulling away to leave the common room.

“don’t stay out too late, you know the rules!” woojin calls after you, and there’s a chorus of “be safe” and “we’ll miss you!” and “use protection!” (you hear a dull thwack followed by a groan from chan at that last one) after you as you leave, a smile on your face.

“y/n!!” felix calls as you walk over to where you were meeting him, his face lighting up at your approach. you smile and give a shy wave, looking around a little.

“where are your friends?” you ask. felix’s cheeks burn red at your question.

“oh they uh.. they couldn’t make it. things came up, you know how it is. is..is it still okay to hang out..?” he asks, and it’s hard to stop yourself from spontaneous combustion at felix’s awkwardness.

“no, yeah, it’s still okay,” you say with a small smile. felix lets out a sigh of relief and beams back at you.

“okay, cool! cool. well, there’s lots to do today so let’s go,” he says, and you follow him as the two of you head off to hogsmeade. the awkwardness fades away as you get to know each other on the walk to hogsmeade—you find felix is actually really interesting and thoughtful and funny, and he has a lot of wild stories to tell you. you find yourself laughing, blushing whenever you accidentally bump into him as you walk. it’s not too long before you reach hogsmeade, surprisingly empty despite the fact that it’s a weekend.

“ooh, let’s go in here! i still owe you those chocolate frogs,” felix says, taking your hand as he pulls you into honeydukes. both of you smile at the shopowner, cheeks rosy from the cold (although you suspect the sudden contact also has something to do with it). there’s a few other customers milling about the store, but it’s fairly quiet.

“they’re over here,” felix says as he pulls you towards a little display of the frogs. “jeongin collects the cards, so i’m here a lot to get them for him,” felix tells you as he picks up a couple of the little boxes. “how many do you want?” he asks—he’s already got about 5 in his arms, and he’s reaching for a sixth. the whole stand is starting to wobble precariously, like a giant jenga tower ready to collapse.

“uh—“ you start to point this fact out to felix, but it’s too late; the frogs seem to fall in slow motion, little boxes scattered over the floor.

“oh my,” felix says, burning with embarrassment. “sorry!” he calls to the shopkeeper, who’s glaring towards you two at the back of the store. felix starts placing the frogs carefully back how they were; you sigh and cast a small spell, watching the frogs fly back to their places with a small smile towards a sheepish felix.

“thanks,” he mumbles, 7 frogs clutched in his arms.

“i guess you aren’t always luc—“

“ooh look! someone dropped a sickle!” felix says, excitedly picking up the silver coin and holding it out to you. “what were you saying about luck?” he says cheekily.

“it’s just a coincidence, felix, you aren’t lucky,” you grumble, remembering why felix was so annoying. he shrugs, too happy with finding money to care about your comment.

felix pays for the frogs, apologizing again for the mess and receiving a free peppermint toad from the shopkeeper (god knows why, but it only irritates you more—although you can’t complain too much when felix slips it into your bag with all the frogs he bought you).

you open the door and are met with a gust of cold wind, causing you to scrunch up your nose and close your eyes. felix laughs at the face you make, and you shoot him a glare (which doesn’t do much).

“don’t laugh at me,” you whine, giggling as you shove him lightheartedly, which only makes him laugh more as you walk down the quiet streets of hogsmeade. a noise from behind you startles you both, and you turn to see what’s there only to be met with silence and an empty street, save for madame puddifoot sweeping outside the door of her tea shop (she gives the two of you a friendly wave; you wave back and keep walking).

“felix, can we go in here?” you ask excitedly as you walk by scrivenshaft’s quill shop. you don’t give him a chance to answer before you’re already eagerly darting though the door.

“oh, hi y/n! what a pleasure to see you,” mr. scrivenshaft welcomes you, kind eyes smiling at you from behind round glasses.

“did you get any new arrivals??” you ask excitedly, and he chuckles softly as the two of you converse about the latest stationary products. felix looks curiously at the shelves filled with bottles of ink, feathery quills, and rolls upon rolls of parchment. as he admires the various items on the shelves, he can’t help but be amazed at listening you babble excitedly with scrivenshaft—how someone could be so fascinated with such a mundane thing, felix doesn’t know; he’s got one worn down quill and whatever spare ink he can find, usually pestering his friends for parchment; he doesn’t recall ever even glancing through the window of this shop before, let alone actually going inside. seeing the way you light up as you talk about various thicknesses of parchment makes felix want to live in here, though, finding a sudden comfort in the dusty air that smells of wood and fresh ink.

“see you later!” you call as you guide felix out of the store, a gentle hand to his elbow.

“what?” you question; felix is staring at you with a strange look on his face. “is my hair messed up? chan tol-“

“oh, no, your hair looks fine! it’s..really pretty actually,” felix says, snapping out of his daze and looking down at his feet shyly.

“oh...okay,” you say, short circuiting a bit at the compliment.

“did you find what you were looking for?” felix asks, changing the topic.

“oh, i did! i got a couple extra quills i can lend to chan, and some new ink—this one’s got a plum tint to it, it’s going to look so nice for my notes in potions class, and then there’s the new quills he has in stock...i’ll have to save up for one, they’re a little too expensive.” felix listens in awe as he watches the way your fingers, red and numb from the cold, fumble as you open the ink to show him. you dip your pinky finger into the ink slightly to show him.

“see?” you say as you hold it out for him to see, bubbling with puppy-like excitement. he wants nothing more than to take your hand in his or squish your rosy cheeks or tousle your hair, but he keeps these urges inside as he smiles and nods at you.

you continue walking down the cobbled road, chatting and window shopping and occasionally saying hi to people you know. you catch felix’s breath hitch as you pass by the quidditch shop; felix presses his face and hands against the window, his hot breath fogging up the glass. you do the same, trying to see what he’s looking at.

“wow, look at those gloves!” he says, tapping the glass in the direction of the gloves. your gaze slides from the broomstick display over to the wall of gloves, easily spying the ones he’s pointing at, as they seem to be the newest, most expensive pair.

“they look...nice?” you say. your knowledge on quidditch equipment is admittedly quite limited, which shows when felix laughs at your attempt.

“they’re the best quality out there, they’d be so nice to have…”

“do you wanna go in and try them on?”

“what? oh no, no; my hand me down pair will work just fine, i’ve gotten used to the hole in the thumb,” he says dejectedly, and when you glance at the price you realize why felix is so hesitant.

“it’s okay, you’re already a great quidditch player anyways,” you say, trying to comfort him as you tug on his sleeve to lead him away from the window.

“come on, let’s go for some hot butterbeer—i could really use some in this weather,” you suggest, and felix gives one last longing look over his shoulder before following you to the three broomsticks.

butterbeer in your bellies and full of giddy happiness, you and felix begin the trek back to the castle. the sun is starting to set now, and it’s getting even cooler outside. your breath leaves your mouth in puffs of billowing frost as you and felix quickly walk along the path.

“youngjae’s gonna be so mad if he catches me out late again,” felix says, and you’re laughing with the exhilaration of possibly breaking the rules.

“again?? wow felix, what a rebel,”

“well, he’s only caught me once...have you ever been out past curfew?”

“no, because i’m a good student and i don’t want to deal with woojin’s endless teasing and scolding.”

“we’d better hurry then,” felix says, looping his arm through yours and speeding up. you’re walking along the edge of the forest when you hear a rustle in the bushes, followed by hushed whispers.

“homenum revelio!” you shout in surprise, pointing your wand towards the bushes (you don’t even realize you’re clutching onto felix’s arm, your heart racing from fear and his from your touch).

“...jisung? changbin?” you question, lowering your wand.

“hyunjin, minho, what are you guys doing?” felix asks. the four boys come clambering out of the bushes.

“oh, you know, we’re just hanging out! having a good time!” jisung explains. he grins over-enthusiastically at you, supported by nodding from the rest of the boys.

“hanging out..in the bushes..”

“ah yes, well you see-“

“chan asked us to spy on you,” changbin cuts in, earning a sharp elbow to the ribs from jisung.

“i see,” you say cooly, making a note to yell at chan later.

“what about you two? i thought you were busy,” felix asks, turning to hyunjin and minho.

“uh, we were busy…. and then we saw these two sneaking after you two and decided to join them,” hyunjin explains.

“what kind of friends are you??” felix says with a sigh. “well, me and my new best friend y/n have to get back to the castle, so we’ll see you later,” he says, although he still doesn’t sound too upset. you and felix turn and begin walking again, wordlessly as you try to comprehend what just happened.

“i can’t believe they were spying on us!” you eventually blurt out. “chan’s just nosy,” you say with an annoyed huff.

“i know, i can’t believe my own friends lied to me! i know there was no way they were too busy studying, they never study! i don’t know why they’d cancel on me just to come spy on us anyways though..” felix says with a tone of confusion. “we had fun anyways though, right? well i mean, i had fun at least, it’s okay if you didn’t though,”

“felix, today was the most fun i’ve had in ages. i guess you were right; there’s more to life than studying and schoolwork,” you say with a shy smile. “don’t let that get to your head,” you warn. felix laughs, and the sound makes you forget about how cold the air is for a moment.

“you know, you’re not so bad after all, lix...maybe..we could be friends? wouldn’t that throw everyone for a loop,” you comment. you look over to see felix beaming widely at you.

“yeah, i’d like that. you’re really cool, you know. maybe i can show you some more fun things other than books sometime--today was nothing,” felix responds, and you nod enthusiastically.

“i’d like that!”

“cool!! great! we should go watch the gryffindor vs. ravenclaw game coming up, i can actually explain things to you and you can watch instead of having to take notes for once?”

“...okay, fine. i’ll give quidditch a try. only if you cheer for ravenclaw though,” you tease.

“anything for you,” he says, and your heart melts. “goodnight, y/n, see ya!” he calls as you part ways to your respective dorms. you sneak into the ravenclaw tower, grimacing when you see woojin sitting on the couch, arms crossed beside seungmin (who hasn’t seemed to move since you left).

“you’re late.”

“i’m sorry woojin!! it’s just-“

“i’ll allow it this one time,” he says with a sigh. he can’t hide the smirk on his face from seeing how excited and happy you are, knowing all too well the reason behind your joy, and he’s not about to ruin your night by getting you in trouble.

“thanks woojin, goodnight!” you say, racing up to your dorm and flopping onto your bed. your mind is buzzing, replaying moments from the day, unable to get felix’s laugh and smile out of your head, and you think maybe being friends with felix isn’t such a terrible idea after all.

[click here for part iii!]

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animeniacss · 4 years

Text

What I Want - BadBoy! Taehyung x Reader - Chapter 17 - Spring Day

Synopsis: You are an innocent, excitable new girl, moving all the way to Korea due to your dad’s new job. As you anxiously learn about the new world around you and how you’ll make your mark, you stumble into none other than bad boy Kim Taehyung and his band of six crazy friends. He seems to be bothered but you, something he doesn’t even understand. Will you be able to tolerate the shenanigans of Taehyung and his rowdy friends, or will you fall victim to his charms just like everyone else?

Featuring Jihyo and Dahyun (TWICE) as your friends, and BTS members as Taehyung’s group of friends.

Genre: Romance, BadBoy!V, BadBoy!BTS, High School Romance, Drama

Length: approx. 4.1k words

Chapter 17 - Spring Day

It took most of the next day to handle the situation with Ji Seok. They were tempted to get the kid in cuffs and bring him in once they looked everything over. They even looked up the complaint from you about the concussion in December, and did some investigating at Ji Seok’s school, with his friends, family, and yes, and even Hyuna. It looked like Ji Seok was going to finally go away for something, face the consequences of his actions. That is until Daddy was done waiting. He gave the cops the day to do their job, but when it looked like Ji Seok was in hot water, he pulled the Sergeant and working Detectives into a meeting. It was only a matter of minutes before the Sergeant as well as Detectives Dong-Wook and Da Min sat in the Sergeant’s office with Ji Seok, who looked annoyed as his father sat beside him and watched the video Jungkook sent involving the fight with Taehyung. The Sergeant paused it and the man took a deep breath, hitting Ji Seok over the head.

“Ow!” He frowned.

“Shut up, Ji Seok.” He said. “Now, Sergeant, what do you suggest? I really don’t want to have to involve my lawyers in this, but I will if I must.”

“Well, Mr. Na, based on what the video shows, your son initiated the fight with Mr. Kim, who only responded after the second punch was flung. My Detectives spoke with both parties and that is why Mr. Kim was released.” Mr. Na looked at his son, who was staring out the window in annoyance.

“Look. The way I see it is two teenagers getting out of their hormonal rage. Luckily, both got out with a few bumps and bruises and nothing more serious.” Mr. Na leaned forward. “I assume we can just leave it at that? I’m sure that…Taehyung kid and his parents would prefer it that way too?” The Sergeant took a deep breath, nodding. “My son needed to be knocked around a bit, maybe it’ll keep his head on straight for once.”

“I can agree, this time. But, I assure you, if your son ends up in my station again, I don’t intend to make it just…go away.” The Sergeant said. “I know it’s happened before in other stations, but not in mine.” Mr. Na chuckled, reaching a hand out to the Sergeant as the duo gave a firm shake. Mr. Na also reached out to Dong-Wook and Da Min, shaking their hands as well with a smile on his face.

“I can assure you that this won’t be happening anymore.” He said. Ji Seok snickered.

“Whatever.” He mumbled, only to get another smack upside the head by his father.

“Apologize, Ji Seok.” He said sternly. Ji Seok rolled his eyes, nodding his head slightly as he murmured a half-assed apology. “Thank you, officers.” He grabbed his son by the shoulder and practically dragged him out of the room. Both detectives saw Ji Seok turn around and look at them, flipping them off as the doors closed behind him.

“What a prick.” The Sergeant huffed.

“At least his Dad seems to understand the consequences, unlike him. God, I wish we could’ve just put him away.” Da Min said. “That other kid looked like hell when he arrived.”

“Trust me, he’ll be back.” The Sergeant said, sending both Detectives out of his office and back to work.

-----

As the weeks went on, March turns into April, Taehyung recovered from his injuries. But now he had a new, and to him, much bigger problem to face. It had been one month since you told him that you loved him, and he has tried countless times to say those same words to you. But every time he did, he would clam up and say something else instead. Over time, you kind of figured out what he was trying to do, and it meant a lot to you that he was trying. But still, you hadn’t said it to him since the first time, thinking that if you did so, it would make him even more anxious about it.

Since the upcoming week was going to be filled with nice weather, you decided that it would be fun to invite all of your friends over for a nice little BBQ. You knew how much spending time with friends meant to Taehyung, so you thought it would be a good idea for everyone. Getting permission from your parents, you got all of the necessary ingredients at the grocery store, and made sure to get enough to feed a whole bunch of people. It was exciting, the idea of having all of your friends over for a fun afternoon together on a nice day. Saturday seemed like the best bet, most people were free then, and the four oldest boys were readily prepared for their entrance exams in the next few weeks. So, you called every person up and invited them over on Saturday.

Everyone kept their schedules open, if they even had anything planned, and your house was packed with teenagers starting Saturday at noon. You had woken up early to prepare different finger foods, snacks, and a whole bunch of BBQ that your father offered to help prepare. Your mother made giant pitchers of lemonade and put out water for easy access. It was nice. Everyone was in the backyard, your brother running and playing a Nerf gun shooting game with Jungkook, Taehyung, and Namjoon. Jin had offered to lend your father a hand with the cooking, and you were sitting on the porch with Jihyo, and Dahyun, sipping lemonade as you watched the gaggle of boys make fools of themselves. Yoongi was acting as a referee for the Nerf gun war, making sure all shots were fair and keeping points. It seemed he was ruling in favor of your brother and Jungkook.

“That’s not fair, Hyung!” Taehyung said, lowering his gun. “That totally hit him!”

“Nah,” Yoongi said. “Missed.”

“What kind of a referee are you!” Namjoon shouted. Jimin and Hoseok were cracking up at the argument that was breaking out.

“The best kind!” Your brother shouted. “Yoongi-Hyung has good eyesight!”

“Oh, can it!” Taehyung grinned, shooting a plush bullet at your brother. Jungkook quickly scooped him up and moved him away. “THAT’S CHEATING! AUGH!” He fell to his knees as Jungkook as your brother joined in with the loud laughter.

“No, it’s not, we’re on the same team! You guys just suck.” Jungkook said. Taehyung and Namjoon lowered their guns.

“My turn!” Jimin shouted as he and Hoseok ran towards the guns and lifted them up. You watched Namjoon sit beside Yoongi, who snickered at his playful frown.

“You definitely played favorite, you can’t fool me.” He said to Yoongi. Taehyung approached you and the girls, leaning on the porch as you handed him your lemonade. He took a sip of it and handed it back to you.

“You’re sweating.” You said, pointing to the bandana on his forehead that looked like it was getting soaked in sweat. “Hot hard did you play? It’s just a Nerf gunfight.”

“Tch, tch. You don’t just play a Nerf gunfight. You do it to kill your enemy.” Taehyung teased. You smiled at him and Jihyo poked the side of his head.

“Please don’t kill the ten-year-old, okay?” she asked, and you and Dahyun smiled. As Taehyung continued to playfully pester you three, and the boys were continuing their Nerf gun fight, Jin looked up.

“Guys, the food is done!” He called out, both him and your father bringing the plates of BBQ to the table and setting it down.

“SWEET!” Jungkook and your brother shouted, dropping their guns as everyone gathered at the table. Your mother set up enough plates and everyone took a seat. You went to seat yourself between Jihyo and Taehyung. Taehyung quickly stood up, pulling out your chair for you. You smiled.

“Aww, thanks.” You said, sitting down as he pushed you in.

“Will you push my chair in too, Hyung~?” Jungkook teased playfully as he went to take his seat across from Taehyung, and Hoseok and Yoongi began to laugh. Taehyung sat down, quickly extending his foot and kicking the seat back, making Jungkook fall back and grab hold of the chair for support. That only made the table laugh harder, and Taehyung smirked.

“So brutal.” Namjoon sighed. You watched your brother poke his head in to see what was on the table, and Jin turned to him.

“Mom said I have to eat inside because sis has her friends over.” He pouted. Jin simply scooted his chair over and motioned to the extra stool that was put out for extra seating.

“Come join us. You’re not bothering anyone.” He said, and your brother beamed, taking a seat between Jin and Namjoon. All of you said a quick thank you for the food, and then began picking at the different plates. There was a spread of different meats, sides, rice, drinks, and anything else a bunch of hungry teenagers could dream of. You all began to pick and eat, chatting amongst yourselves. You didn’t participate too much in the conversations, but you did eavesdrop. As you put a mouthful of meat into your mouth, you saw Jihyo and Dahyun talking with Yoongi about the taste of the meat, Jungkook and Hoseok were still laughing about Jungkook falling off the chair, Jimin was talking across the table to Taehyung about the Nerf gun fight, wanting to go against each other after they ate, and Jin and Namjoon were talking to your brother, trying to learn more about him. He was eager to please, telling them about school and his friends, as well as all of the new video games he got. You saw your mother come poke her head out, looking for your brother.

“Come back inside, leave your sister with her friends.” She said. Your bother whined, but Jin waved a hand.

“It’s okay, ma’am. He’s not bothering us.” He assured. Your mother smiled a bit.

“Okay, but be respectful, okay?” She said. Your brother agreed, his mouth full of rice as the boys chuckled a bit. Your mother retreated inside. Your father was watching over you all, making more food so that way he could supply it right as what was already served had been devoured. As he watched the food cook, he made sure he angled himself to see out the kitchen window at the group of kids at the table. More specifically, you and Taehyung. He saw you both talking, mostly Taehyung. He also saw you lift up a mouthful of rice, before turning to Taehyung and offering it to him as your hand waited underneath. He hesitated, blushing as a few of his friends teased him, but in the end, he leaned forward and accepted the bite of food. It made you smile.

“My turn.” You said, grinning. Taehyung laughed a bit, reaching over a bit to take some chicken in between his chopsticks. He brought it up to your lips and you opened your mouth, grinning as you quickly covered your mouth to catch the bit of sauce that dripped out. Both of you began to laugh. Your father couldn’t help but smile a bit, turning back as he plated some more food. You reached over to get some more water for yourself when you realized the pitcher was empty. “I’ll be right back. I need to refill this.”

“I’ll do it,” Taehyung said, taking the pitcher from you as he stood up.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.” He said. “Gotta walk off what I ate so that I can make room for more, you know?” He smiled as he headed into the house, closing the screen door behind him. As he walked into the kitchen, he saw your father plating the food that he was about to serve. They looked at each other for a moment, and Taehyung simply nodded his head in acknowledgment, before going to the fridge to get more water. He pulled it out and filled up the pitcher without a word. As he closed the door, he saw your father approach him. Mentally preparing to be intimidated, he turned to your father. “Yessir?” he asked curiously.

Your father didn’t say anything. He simply stuck out his hand. Taehyung looked down at it for a moment, a bit shocked. He wasn’t expecting this. He lifted his hand, taking your father's hand as they firmly shook.

“My daughter is happy with you.” He said simply. “I still am not a fan of this but…you treat her well. I can’t deny that.”

“Thank you. I care about her a lot.” Your father nodded.

“I see that. Just remember, I was the first man she ever loved. I showed her how she deserves to be treated ever since she was brought into my life. She knows how she deserves to be treated, and if you expect me to allow this, you’ll understand that.”

“I do,” he said.

“Good.” He released Taehyung’s hand. Taehyung nodded. It was extremely awkward for a moment, but Taehyung stepped back and took the pitcher in his hand. He nodded his head a bit towards your father before returning outside. He set the pitcher down and took his seat beside you once again.

As food was continuously served and everyone ate themselves full, you and your mother gathered up all of the plates and utensils. The boys all moved from the table, sprawling themselves out across the backyard as they groaned.

“I ate too much.” Jimin whined.

“The food was so good.” Hoseok added.

“I may never walk again. I can’t move.” Jungkook mumbled, groaning.

“Why did you guys eat your weight in meat?” Dahyun asked, watching them from the porch.

“Meat is amazing, that’s why.” Namjoon hummed. You stepped back out onto the porch with your mother, both of you placing bowls of chips and other snacks out on the table for people to pick at through the day.

“Dessert will be out in a little while.” Your mother said. You heard the seven boys collectively groan in agony at the mention of dessert, and it made you laugh. You watched your brother go over to the porch steps and pick up his Nerf gun. He loaded it up, with exactly seven of the foam bullets. He glanced at you and grinned devilishly. You pulled out your phone, stepping onto the grass as you hit record and nodded. You knew it would probably hurt, but you had to admit, the idea was too good to pass up. Your brother went up to the boy closest to him, Jin, who was covering his face with his hands as he murmured about his stomach ache. Your brother pointed the Nerf gun at him and-

Ping.

“AH! Christ!” Jin grunted, holding his stomach as he rolled over. You brother began to laugh as he hurried over to the next victim, Jimin. Jimin opened his eyes to see the gun pointed right at his stomach.

“What are you do-“

Ping.

“OW!” He held his stomach, groaning as the laughter from you and your brother intensified. He saw your brother head towards Namjoon and groaned. “Hyung…look out.” He said dramatically.

“Huh?” Namjoon glanced over, seeing your brother rush up and pop a foam bullet right in his side. “Auuugh! You monster!”

“What’s going on?” Hoseok rolled onto his side as your brother approached him next. “What the? What are you doing?” He was next. “Owwwwww. So meeeean.” He pouted, putting his face in the grass.

“Don’t you dare...” Yoongi said when he saw your brother approach. “Don’t do it, kid.”

Ping.

“Ah!” He bit his finger as he muffled a swear word. Two more targets. He hurried to Jungkook, was trying to sit up, but his stomach was to full. Taehyung was lying next to him. Your brother towered over them, both looking up.

“…You wouldn’t.” Jungkook said. “After I saved you from your demise earlier!?”

“I need to get all seven of you.” Your brother said.

Ping. Ping.

Taehyung and Jungkook groaned in pain, a bit of laughter mixed in as well as you ended the video. Your brother collected the Nerf gun bullets and set the gun aside, before you two exchanged a high-five and laughed.

“You’re so cruel…” Jin groaned. Satisfied with himself, your brother went back to the porch to sit with Dahyun and Jihyo, who also found enjoyment in his spontaneous decision to torture the boys.

After that, some time passed where everyone just kind of relaxed, allowing the nice day to just go by. The boys lounged on the grass, some even falling asleep, while you, Dahyun and Jihyo sat and talked on the porch, occasionally sitting in silence as you scanned your phones and showed each other funny things you found during your searches. Your brother passed out on the couch inside for a little while, and your parents were in the kitchen doing the dishes. It stayed this way for about an hour or so, but nobody minded. As the sun began to set, dessert was brought out by your mother. She brought out the cookies, refilled the bowls of chips and pitchers for drinks.

“Desserts ready. Want to go wake those guys up?” She asked you, pointing to the seven boy’s unconscious in her backyard. You nodded.

“I have an idea.” You got up and went into the living room, shaking your brother awake. He woke up and you led him outside, handing him the Nerf gun. “Go ahead.” You said, giggling. Your brother hurried onto the porch as the boys slowly began to wake up from their naps.

“Who's ready for round 2?!”He shouted, purposefully hitting the Nerf gun loud enough for them to hear. Almost immediately, each boy sat up.

“NO!” They said in unison. You and the girls began to laugh at how frantic they looked.

“Desserts out, boys. Come on.” Your mother said. The boys got up and headed to the table. Your brother was scooped up and Taehyung and the duo horsed around for a minute in the grass, your brother howling in laughter.

“Come on.” You called out to them, motioning to the desserts. “There won’t be any left for you at this rate.” The boys eventually stopped their little wrestling match and joined everyone else at the table after you called them a few more times. “Enjoy. I made the cookies myself.” You beamed, and everyone began to reach around, taking what they thought looked good. It was another little while of chatting and eating, just relaxing together as a group of friends. You saw how happy Taehyung looked as he spoke to his Hyung’s, or ate some snacks, and how excited he was when he put his arm around you and held you close to him. You were glad he was at such peace, and that you were able to bring him here.

You all were having such a good time in each other’s company that when it got dark, you didn’t want the day to end. Jungkook was the first to leave, around 6 p.m. after getting a phone call from his mother.

“Bye guys. See you at school.” Jungkook said as he grabbed his backpack. He looked at your brother. “I’ll be sure to get back at you for that Nerf gunshot. My stomach still hurts.” Your brother playfully stuck his tongue out at him, and you hit him over the head, frowning.

“Don’t do that.” You said. “Bye, Jungkook.” Everyone waved him off. The next to go was Yoongi and Hoseok, around 6:15 p.m. Jimin was close behind them.

“We need to make more plans to study,” Namjoon said to his friends as they were heading out.

“Yeah, we will.” Yoongi said, fixing his hat.

“Thanks for today.” Hoseok said, smiling at your mom. She smiled back. “It was great~.”

“Come back anytime.” She encouraged, taking his. “Summertime we can do this again.”

Namjoon and Jin spent some time with your brother, who was excited to show them his new video game. They didn’t mind staying back for a bit, but they too had to leave around 7.

“Come back and play soon, okay?” your brother asked.

“We will.” Jin said, ruffling your brother’s hair as he and Namjoon got their stuff. They thanked your parents before making their way out the door, leaving just you, the girls, and Taheyung. You glanced between them.

“…Do you girls want to stay the night?” you asked Jihyo and Dahyun.

“Sure.” They said happily. Taehyung frowned, wrapping his arms around you.

“What about meeeeeeeeeee?” he whined playfully, making you giggled.

“Goodnight, Mr. Kim.” Your father called from the kitchen. Dahyun and Jihyo laughed as Taehyung pouted.

“Goodnight, Sir…” he called out. You took his hand and led him to the door as he waved to your brother and grabbed his sweatshirt off the back of the couch. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Okay.” You said happily, getting on your tiptoes as the two of you shared a kiss goodbye. “You going home?” you asked.

“Yeah, probably. I should make sure my mom isn’t dead, you know?” You frowned a bit, and he chuckled, patting your head. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I haven’t been home in a few days, though. No harm in…stopping by I guess.” He shrugged.

“Well, call me if you need anything, okay?” You said, smiling up at him. Taehyung nodded, planting a kiss on your forehead. He looked down at you for a moment, taking a deep breath. “What’s wrong?” you asked curiously. Taehyung shifted in his spot, biting the inside of his cheek. Was now the time? Could he finally tell you that he loved you? You deserved to hear him say it, and he didn’t want to make you wait any longer. You saw him struggle and took his hand. “Tae?” You said gently. He looked down at you. “You look tired. Get some rest.” You lifted his hand up, kissing it. “Okay?” Taehyung nodded.

“Okay.” He said. “See you at school.” You nodded, closing the door behind Taehyung as he headed down the steps and onto the street. He ran a hand through his hair as he went down the street. “Fuck….fuck fuck fuckfuckfuck!” He kicked a wall angrily. “Unbelievable.” He pulled out his phone and dialed Jimin’s phone number, listening to it ring as he headed down the street.

“Do you think Taehyung said it after we left?” Hoseok asked Yoongi, the duo taking a sip of a beer that Yoongi had in his car. They were parked outside Hoseok’s house.

“Doubt it.” Yoongi said, reaching over to take a swig. “He’s never ever said it to us in a friendly way.” Hoseok chuckled.

“Do you want him too?” Hoseok teased. Yoongi hummed. “I think it’d be adorable if he did that.” Yoongi chuckled, taking another sip.

“Yeah, it would be kind of cute.” Yoongi agreed. “Alright, I’ll see you at school.” He said, nudging Hoseok towards the door. Hoseok frowned.

“Uh, no?” he asked. “You just finished like two beers.” Yoongi looked over.

“So?”

“So tell your mom you’re staying here. I’ll set up the guest room.” He patted Yoongi’s shoulder as his friend groaned.

“Alright.” He said, turning off the car as they stepped out of the car.

-------

“So you chickened out again?” Jimin asked, laying on his bed and tossing a little stress ball in the air, catching it in his hand just to throw it up again. He had his phone on speaker as he listened to Taehyung.

“Yeah…” Taehyung sighed softly. “Every time I try, I just clam up. I don’t know what to do. If this takes any longer, I’m worried she’ll really get upset.”

“I doubt that,” Jimin responded. “You’ll do it at the right time, and I’m sure it’ll be romantic and she’ll cry and you’ll be happy you’ll say it fifteen million times over.” Jimin smiled.

“I hope so.”

“Why don’t you practice on me?” Jimin asked. Taehyung huffed as he heard his friend laugh.

“Dude, stop…” he said. He had to admit to himself, he was a bit anxious to try. But, he had never told his friends he loved them, even though he did. He just…it wouldn’t ever come out.

“I’m only kidding,” Jimin said. “You really shouldn’t stress.” He said. “…Why don’t you take her on a nice date? Just the two of you? Maybe the romantic air will give you the courage to say it.”

“You think so?” Taehyung asked.

“Didn’t you want to take her on a picnic back in December?” Jimin asked curiously. Taehyung nodded, grinning.

“Yeah. Yeah, I did. That’s a great idea. Jimin, you’re the best!” He said.

“I love you too, Taehyung~.” Jimin teased. Taehyung hung up and hurried into his house to plan.

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365daysofsasuhina · 5 years

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[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Two Hundred Sixty-Nine: Contacts ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Oil and Blood ] [ AO3 Link ]

“...I don’t like owing people, so…you’ll get compensated, either way.”

What a string of events this has been. First, one Hyūga Hinata - a simple young woman working in the claims division of a body modification insurance company - couldn’t sleep a few nights back. Then, she went for a walk to try and wear out her mind to get some rest. But before she could finish, she happened upon a member of the Uchiha crime syndicate, beaten and stripped of his (very expensive) mods, and proceeded to ignore every self-preservation instinct in her body, and instead haul him to a half-legal, half-very-illegal medical facility.

Upon going to check on him the following day, the Uchiha - given name Sasuke, as she’d found out - told her in no uncertain terms that he now owed her a debt. One he intended to pay.

And now she’s left wondering what exactly that means: to be owed a debt by someone who’s part of one of the largest and most powerful underground factions in Japan, let alone her home city. The past several days have seen her tired, tense, and tentatively awaiting a bunch of gang members to just...show up and ask her if she needs anything ‘taken care of’.

...okay, maybe she’s watched too many dramas, but she really has no idea what this Sasuke fellow means. And not knowing something makes her already nervous disposition all the more unnerved.

The day after her visit, she gets a call from the doctor that runs the clinic she took him to, informing her that he was cleared and sent him with a (mostly) clean bill of health.

“He just needs some time to recuperate from his beating, and me installing the new eye socket fitting. I managed to get him the replacement mods, so he’s all ready to go. He said to give you his thanks again for dragging him to me.”

“He, um…” Hinata hesitates, not sure how to phrase her question. “He doesn’t know how to, um...contact me, does he?”

“Well, I didn’t give him your information...and I think I only addressed you by your family name. But honestly given he saw your face and knows your last name, he’ll probably be able to find you if he really wants to...why? Did he threaten you?”

“Oh, n-no!” Hinata backpedals at the hard edge in her companion’s tone. “No, nothing like that!”

“Good...I’d have to have words with him otherwise.”

“He just - he, um...he said he wanted to pay me back, and that sort of...w-worries me?”

“Ah...understandable. Not exactly keen to interact with yakuza, right?”

“R...right. I mean...I appreciate your help, but even talking with you is a big risk. I don’t want to l-lose my job, or get in some kind of...l-legal trouble.”

“No, I understand. Well...I can send word through the contact I have, but...in the end, I doubt I have much sway. Debt is a pretty serious thing to people like them. Take my advice: ask for something small, and just get it out of the way. He’ll feel like he repaid you, and you’ll be in the clear.”

“...I guess so...I just don’t want to be, um…” ‘Associated’ seems like too strong a word… “You know...caught up in a-all of that.”

“As someone who is, I get that,” the medic replies with a dry laugh. “Don’t worry - they know what their presence means. If he’s smart - and I daresay he is, despite his attitude - he’ll bear that in mind, and not want to cause you even more trouble and increase his debt. Don’t worry, Hyūga-san.”

“...you know, I think we talk enough you can p-probably call me Hinata by now, ne?”

“Well, I try to always be professional, especially since we trade clients, you and I...but sure. I can do that, Hinata-san. But don’t worry about Sasuke. It’ll be fine.”

“...I hope so,” Hinata sighs before letting the call end.

...why does she get the feeling that isn’t going to be the case?

Several days later, scrolling through the holographic social media feed from her palm, Hinata startles and nearly drops her coffee as someone steps out in front of her, snapping her eyes back up. “Oh, I-I’m sorry, I -”

Glancing to her coolly, Sasuke doesn’t reply, just...looking expectantly.

Hinata immediately balks - they’re in public! Just...out on a sidewalk! “ I- ? Y-you shouldn’t -!”

“Relax, Hyūga. This is Uchiha territory. Cops are paid off. Otherwise I wouldn’t bother you.”

...oh. She...hadn’t known that. Blinking wide eyes, she nonetheless glances around warily. “D-do you, um...need something? How did you...find me?”

“I have contacts,” he replies vaguely. “Wasn’t that hard to track you down, in all honesty. To get to the point, I’m here about that favor I owe you.”

“Uchiha-san, really, I don’t need you to -”

“I don’t like being indebted. So just...give me a task, and I’ll do it.”

“Well, I...I don’t…” She struggles to think of something to occupy him...and in the interim, asks, “...how are you feeling?”

“Fine. Got all my tech replaced, the new fitting healed nicely...and the bruising’s about gone. I got off lightly, in all honesty.”

“I’m glad you’re all right. You looked, um...very out of sorts.”

That earns a snort. “Funny way to say ‘beat to hell’.”

She flushes a light pink.

“So, what’ll it be, Hyūga? I don’t have all day.”

“I...I really don’t know. I don’t really have any, um...issues? That need to be...dealt with?”

“No coworkers you have any beef with? Family? Exes or past friends?”

Hinata quickly balks. “Oh, g-gosh no! No. I...I wouldn’t want to cause any trouble with anyone, a-anyway. And it might get back to the wrong people, and...no. I-I’m fine.”

“Hm...no enemies you need protection from?”

“...not that I know of? Really, Uchiha-san: I’m just...a very run-of-the-mill person. No enemies, no...beef. I just work a basic job, live in a basic apartment, have basic mods…”

“Sure about that?”

“...what do you mean?”

“Cuz it didn’t take much digging to find out about your disinheritance. Not bitter about that?”

Hinata’s expression instantly shifts, becoming stonily blank. “...no.”

“Quite the fortune you’re missing out on.”

“I don’t care about money.”

“...well, damn. Paying you off was my second option. Strong-arming your dad was my first.”

“My father is n-none of your business. And I don’t want your money, either.”

“One of the largest mod manufacturers is, in a way, my business. And if he’s doing you dirty, then that’s also my business...if you want it to be.”

“Well, I don’t. So please, just...leave him out of things.”

Sasuke sighs, arms - one biological, one technological - crossing across his front. “Well then what do you want? It’s gotta be something, Hyūga. Otherwise you’re going to have to deal with me dogging you about it...and my temper getting shorter the longer I have to keep pestering you and wasting my time.”

She’s almost tempted to pout - why can’t this man just...leave her alone? “...any other suggestions?”

“None that immediately come to mind, no.”

Well, drat. Glancing aside, Hinata mulls this all over a little longer. And then an idea worms its way into her head. “...can I request something...specific? As in...a one-time favor, but only when it comes up?”

“...depends on what you mean.”

“Well, I...you probably guessed by where I took you that I have a few c-contacts of my own. Since the company I work for can’t always - or...won’t always - help people, I’ve taken things into my own hands before and refer them to underground technicians. And sometimes I have to meet them in person, which is...risky. If I ever feel like a meeting is going to be dangerous...could I enlist you as, like...a b-bodyguard?”

Sasuke perks a brow. “...not what I expected you to say, but...yeah, sure. Just give me a day or two notice if you can, and I’ll be there.”

“...really?”

“I do protection details sometimes, sure. Wouldn’t take much. And I guess that would be enough to call us even.”

She perks up. “Well...good! Um…” Teeth nibble her lip in thought. “I...guess I would need to be able to contact you…?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll give you my call signature, if you’re good with that.”

“...sure.” Watching him lift his modded arm, Hinata withholds a flinch as he hovers his palm over her right ear. In an instant, the information is traded wirelessly.

“Mind sharing yours? Promise not to bug you unless it’s important, but...something might come up.”

“Okay.” Modded hand lifting, Hinata does the same. “Just, um...avoid it if you can during business hours, in case I get screened, okay?”

“Will do. So...we even?”

“I guess so. I’ll let you know when I need you.”

“Sounds good. Hopefully sooner than later so we can get this squared away.” Giving a mock salute, Sasuke shoves hands into his pockets and just...disappears into the crowds.

Hinata watches, having completely forgotten about the now-cold coffee in her hand. Well...at least that should be a simple enough trade. She’ll call him in for her next arranged meeting, and have a little more peace of mind...and he’ll be free of his debt. Then they can both move on with their lives.

...but for now, they wait.

.oOo.

(For previous works in this 'series', see days 250 and 254!) Well, I'm officially back to being two days behind OTL I ended up with a majorly long, tiring day...and fell asleep early nursing a toothache. My bad ^^; But, we're back with more of the cyberpunk AU! With a little more interaction between these two - and it seems they have a plan on how to get things even between them. Seems simple enough, right? Riiight :3c Anywho, it's very late, I'm still very tired, and I have even more to do tomorrow! Life is very busy lately, but I'll do by best to catch up soon. Either way though, thanks for reading (and for your patience)!

#sasuhina #uchiha sasuke #hyūga hinata #oil and blood [ au ]#365daysofsasuhina

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wndamaximov · 5 years

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iron man[1]

Masterlist

Summary: Joseph Rogers stole from The Iron Man, landing himself and his son in deep debt with the mobster. The only way to work off the debt is for Steve to start dealing for the crime lord. But what happens when he starts to fall in love with Tony Stark?

Words: 1, 513

Pairing: Tony Stark x Steve Rogers (stony)

Warnings: Mentions of (dealing) drugs, angst

Characters: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, James Rhodes, Joseph Rogers, Pepper Potts(mentioned), Obediah Stane(mentioned), Sharon Carter(mentioned)

Ask to be tagged in this series here!

Tony stood in the center of the corner cafe that never seemed out of the ordinary. It had started the morning mundane, a steady flow of customers streaming in for their morning coffee, not enough for the place to be considered popular, but just enough to pay the bills. Except it wasn’t enough to pay Stane’s debts.

The once pleasant ambiance was destroyed, several chairs knocked over, scuff marks all over the floor, booths on their bellies, and as the cherry on top of a bloodbath sundae, bodies strewn haphazardly throughout the room, their owners last pleads for mercy permanently plastered on their faces.

Once, such a scene would’ve made Tony feel something, anything, but now it meant absolutely nothing to him. Another day, another guy who couldn’t pay what he owed. The same routine over, and over. Tony used to feel sympathetic to his debtors’ plights, but now it all just seemed futile. If they missed one payment, they’d miss the next. No point in giving them a second chance.

“You want us to clean this dumpster, boss?”

“As usual, Colonel. You know the drill.”

“You ever think about getting a girlfriend, boss?” Tony grimaced. Rhodey had been pestering him to get a girlfriend ever since the love of his life had died. The memory of Pepper was still so fresh in his mind that he could still feel her sometimes. Her presence would hit him out of nowhere, and it made him wonder if life was truly over after death. Luckily for him, no one else from his tainted past had ever come back to haunt him.

“You know I haven’t, Rhodes,” he quipped, throwing up the facade of the most feared mobster in New York.

“I think it’d do you some good; I hate the thought of you prattling around that big, old mansion all by yourself. At least with a girlfriend, you won’t be lonely.” Rhodey clapped Tony on the back and walked past him to hoist one of the many fallen corpses onto his shoulders. Before walking away to do his job, he stopped in front of his boss. “It’s been a decade since Pepper died. You’re not doing her any favors by being unhappy, and you know it.”

Anyone else. Had anyone else dared to rack up the courage to ask him that, they would have been dead before the end of the sentence. But it was Rhodey, his best friend from childhood, the one person present for every up and down in his life. His right-hand man was his number one confidant- but only in his business. The one person that he could trust more than anything, and the one person he couldn’t trust at all- and he couldn’t care less. After all, they didn’t call him the “Iron Man” for nothing. He was cold, calculating, and ruthless. And he just couldn’t find it in himself to care.

━━━━‎⎊━━━━

Tony leaned back into his chair and stretched. It had been a fairly slow day for Stark Industries and its countless side-businesses. It was like this most days; not as many people dared to mess with the guy who was rumored to bite the heads of those who crossed him off, and not in the figurative way. Tony’d always wondered who had come up with that interesting myth. Just another thing to ponder as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

The weather outside didn’t help his boredom either. All he noticed about it was the bleak gray fog settling down on the traffic like a blanket of dread. Not good enough for rain, but Tony was high up enough that little droplets had formed on his window, fragmenting the world below him into pieces not nearly interesting enough to put together. New York- the city that teemed with life. No corner was occupied by just a single person, except for his little bubble. No one bothered to venture far enough inside, and why would they? Tony’d built a fortress around his corner, making it impenetrable. His reputation made him a god, a cruel, capricious god who was only to be worshiped, not loved. Only one person had ever taken the time to get to know the man underneath the beast.

Suddenly, the intercom buzzed, the piercing sound shaking Tony out from inside his head.

“Yeah?”

“Boss, we’ve got someone who stole something from you. Would you like to see him, or should I tell the War Machine to deal with him?”

“Send him up. I want to hear his story.” Not like Tony had anything better to do anyway.

━━━━‎⎊━━━━

The shaking man was deposited on his knees in front of the emotionless king. That’s what Tony realized he was. A king with his cowering subject awaiting judgement in front of him.

“Please sir,” he sobbed, “I only did it for my son.”

Tony laughed. Children. That was always their excuse. “What’s your name?”

“Joseph, Joseph Rogers, sir.”

“Tell me, what’d you take for your… son.”

“Just a packet of rush. I needed money, to buy my son a birthday gift,” the man said, his voice gradually raising in volume, “but I swear on my boy’s life, I had no idea the coke was yours! I thought it was a small time dealer’s, please sir, you have to believe me!”

Tony sat back down in his chair and undid the top button of his suit jacket. “Take him to my mansion and lock him up. Make sure he doesn’t see the light of day until he can find a way to pay me back. And get me the son too.” Maybe he’d order in some pizza when he went home. Yeah, pizza sounded good. Even a merciless king needed to eat.

━━━━‎⍟━━━━

It was Steve’s 30th birthday, and so far, not off to a great start. He’d been looking forward to seeing his dad soon, but it turned out that he was late- by 4 hours. Steve would’ve been worried, but this was a common experience. His deadbeat drunk of a dad was probably getting wasted at some random bar in New York- as per usual.

As Steve was about to settle on the couch to channel surf with his beer and pizza in hand, he heard a rapid knocking at the door. It was probably Mrs. Carter downstairs asking him to stop being so loud. The crazy woman hated even the slightest sound that he made.

He yanked the door open and was surprised to see a bunch of men in black suits and sunglasses standing around. The one in front looked down at the gun tucked into his waistband warning him to comply. They looked like mobsters.

“Sir, we need you to come with us.” What had his dad gotten him into now?

━━━━‎⎊━━━━

Tony ate his pizza into his mouth in a robotic way. Lift, put in mouth, chew. He couldn’t taste any of the flavors in his mouth. It was all bland in his mouth; like eating water. Eating wasn’t even the same anymore- he needed help.

His phone rang, and he knew that Rhodey had done what he had told him to. “You got the boy?”

“Man, sir. He’s somewhere around his late thirties.”

“Still living with his dad?” Tony wanted to get a feel for what this guy was like.

“Yeah. Dad’s an alcoholic- looks like he was there to take care of him.” Fathers. Nothing good ever came out of them.

“Hmm. A stealing alcoholic. What does the son look like?” Hopefully the son was a better person.

“Someone who’s trying to do his best in a bad situation.” Tony flash backed to his own childhood. It was a struggle shaking the past off of himself.

“I’ll see that for myself. How far are you?”

“15 minutes out.”

“Hurry. I want to see whether this son is worth all the trouble.”

━━━━‎⎊━━━━

He didn’t look like much, just your stereotypical blonde, tall, and muscular guy. “You know why you’re here?”

A guy who looked down with a set jaw and back up with contempt in his eyes. “What’d my dad do this time?” Not contempt for him, but his father.

“He stole something from me. But let’s talk about you. What’s your name?”

“Steve.” As if an afterthought, he added, “Rogers.”

“Well, Steve, I’m willing to let your father go. He’s an old man, and I don’t think he’d last long here.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Rogers started to get up.

“But.” Steve sat back down. “In exchange for his freedom, I’ll need your service.”

After a couple seconds of deliberation, he replied, “Fine. Just… let him go. What do you need?”

“One of my dealers got himself arrested.” Tony had that idiot shot by one of his men in the LAPD. “I need a replacement. You following?”

“Yes sir.”

“So we have a deal?” They both rose and met hands like equals.

“It seems that we do.” And just like that, the smallest bit of color seeped back into Tony’s life.

━━━━‎⎊━━━━

next >>

Thank you for reading! If you made it all the way through, please don’t be afraid to like, reblog, comment, or better yet, all of the above!

Angels: @rebelwriter95 @freshly-painted-duck

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porkchop-ao3 · 5 years

Text

Unpicking

Here is another character study type fic that nobody asked for, this time mostly focusing on Tailor Rick. This one delves into his back story, his marriage to be precise. It’s a little angsty... But I.C makes an appearance towards the end for some fluff :)

Some fics that I reference in this include this masterpiece by @hoodoo12, and this one by myself that is NSFW (this one was mentioned real subtly but what’s the harm in some self promo, huh?).

5.5k words. Enjoy!

Tailor and I had been going non stop all weekend. He'd been nominated for an award at a men's fashion event, and it'd been non stop dinners, networking events, talks, presentations, cat walks, interviews… all sorts. He wasn't doing well, I could tell that much. Despite his fame, Tailor really didn't 'do’ people. He liked to keep to himself, being surrounded only by people he trusted and could tolerate; but this weekend he'd been hassled by hundreds of people he didn't know from Adam and I'd watched him get more and more agitated as the event went on.

He didn't even seem to cheer up after he'd been announced as the winner. He was brought up in front of a crowd, expected to give a speech. When the time came, he walked up to the microphone and said;

“I'm not one for long speeches, and I know none of you really want to sit here and listen to me thanking a bunch of people who I supposedly wouldn't be here without…” He'd started wistfully, everyone in the crowd was rapt, hanging on every word as he stared at the etched glass plaque in his hands. We were all expecting a 'but’, followed by an inspirational outpouring, someone so articulate such as Tailor would surely leave a lasting impression!

“So, thank you for the award.”

Then he just gave a nod, and walked off stage.

There was an awkward stretch of silence. I began to clap, and as social cues were hard to ignore, so did everyone else.

And now we were in an almost empty bar, far from the event (not even on the same planet), and Tailor was necking glass after glass of whiskey. I was still on my first glass of wine, unable to keep up with him even if I tried. I'd attempted to make conversation, but he was responding in grunts and nods, clearly exhausted. If not physically, mentally. So now I was quiet, enjoying the music playing in the background. It wasn't like music from earth, it was more tinkly sounding and didn't have any lyrics; just this constant, calming burring sound that changed in pitch with the beat.

Tailor made me jump, slamming his hand down on the table to push himself up. I noticed him swaying on his feet, but he managed to get himself over to the bar to order another glass. I frowned. What was with him? He'd won an award, had been showered in praise and congratulations all weekend. Surely he was at least a little bit happy? Instead he was looking like he was drowning his sorrows.

When he came back and slumped down into his chair, he leaned his head in his hands, staring down into his glass boredly. I leaned forwards on my elbows and looked at him for a while before deciding to speak.

“Hey.” I said quietly. He didn't even react. “Everything okay?” I asked.

“Everything is perfect.” He told me.

“Then why've you got a face like a slapped arse?”

That got his attention. His gaze snapped up to me, a frown creasing his brow.

“I'm just having a quiet evening, okay? Leave me be.” He grumbled, his voice a little slurred but still stern as usual.

“You don't look happy.”

“I'm not particularly happy.” He admitted.

“Why's that? Aren't you pleased about your award? The prize money alone must be good.” I asked tentatively, keeping my tone careful; I didn't want to set him off.

“Money is inconsequential.”

“Oh.” Was my pathetic response. What was I to say to that?

“Sure, I'm pleased I won. Though it was a no-brainer. I'd have been offended if any of the others had won over me. It'd be an insult.” He murmured, though it sounded like he was talking mostly to himself. “I'm just sick of being pestered. I never started this to acquire fame. I d-don't particularly want it.”

“I get that.” I nodded sympathetically and he narrowed his eyes.

“Do you, now?” He hissed in annoyance. I thought about it for a moment, and shook my head.

“Well, no, but I understand why it would bother you.” I corrected myself. Despite being by Rick's side for most of the event, nobody had batted an eye at me. I couldn't comprehend being actually famous, the center of attention, the object of a whole crowd of people's undivided admiration.

He grunted an unaffected, wordless response and swallowed down half of his drink.

“Why don't we go back soon, hmm? Just get in bed and sleep it all off. It's done now and we're going home tomorrow.” I suggested.

“You wanna go? I c- I can portal you back, no problem.” He replied, his expression never shifting from a combination of boredom and irritation.

“No, it's okay.” I sighed, if he was going to drink himself stupid, I thought it best I be here to help him get back. Not that I had a clue how to work his portal gun.

We fell into silence again for a long time, and I finished off my wine. Tailor seemed to be taking this glass of whiskey a little slower, for which I was grateful. I picked up a coaster from the table; it looked incredibly familiar in that it was cardboard and reminding me of the kind we had back at home in the pubs. Stained and dog eared and advertising alcohol; though there wasn't a Fosters logo in sight. This was all in a foreign language I couldn't understand. Still, it reminded me of home, and I wondered if that's why Tailor picked this place of all pubs in the universe.

“They asked me about my marriage.” Tailor broke the silence and I was startled into looking at him. “At- at that interview this afternoon, the one you weren't allowed in for.”

“Your marriage?” I repeated.

“Yes. Y-you are aware I was married, aren't you? Six years.”

“Yes, I know. You've never really said a lot about it, though.” I nodded slowly, my attention completely grasped by the topic. I had always wondered about his marriage, but never dared ask.

“Hmm. Well in that interview I- I-” He stopped and sighed. “It was the first time I simply didn't know what to say.” He admitted.

“That's okay. You don't owe anyone answers about your private life.” I said leaning my cheek on my fist as I watched him twist the ring on his middle finger.

“While that may be true it- it caught me off guard. I told them I wouldn't be answering anything like that and they moved on, but it completely cocked up the rest of the interview. I couldn't answer anything properly, I-I-I just sounded like a blithering idiot, stumbling through my words.” He heaved a sigh and slumped back in his chair roughly, his body going lax in a way I'd never seen before. He looked startlingly like any other Rick I'd ever seen, no longer holding himself with his particular brand of poise.

“I'm sure it wasn't like that; we tend to remember things being much worse than they actually were.” I tried to reassure him but he flicked his hand at me, waving away my response.

“That isn't my point, dear.”

“Oh. What did I miss?”

“Nothing. I suppose I am just surprised and irritated by how much it affected me. It was such a small thing, a thoughtless question that I was under no obligation to answer. And yet I…” he was spinning his ring again.

“I don't know anything about your marriage, but whatever happened, it's understandable that being asked about it at such an unexpected time would be jarring. Don't beat yourself up. Your marriage… it’s personal.”

He looked at me for a while, his brow arching in mild worry; he very rarely showed any emotion on his face other than annoyance, and it was weird. His bottom lip twitched once, twice, then he cleared his throat and picked up his glass, finishing off its contents.

“My marriage. You wanna hear about my marriage? P-put it this way.” He lifted his hand, the back of it facing me. The gold band around his middle finger caught my eye. “I s-still wear the ring as a reminder to never, ever do it again.”

My face must've betrayed my surprise, and I continued to stare at the ring even when he lowered his hand.

“But not on your ring finger.” I observed.

“Absolutely fucking not.” He seethed, narrowing his eyes. I could feel his bitterness permeating the atmosphere, and I couldn't help but pity him despite knowing the last thing he wanted was my pity.

“I think we should go back to the hotel.” I said. I was expecting him to lash out, but instead he nodded his head. He searched around in his inside suit pocket to retrieve his portal gun, then hauled himself to his feet unsteadily. The man was hammered, I'd seen him tipsy before but never like this.

He fired the portal gun at the nearest wall and slowly made his way through it; I followed close behind, poised to act if he stumbled. It was pretty sad, actually, seeing him in such a state. Tailor always carried himself with so much dignity and class, he never appeared anything but perfectly composed, it was difficult to swallow watching him stagger across the floor of our shared hotel room to collapse face first on his bed.

“Christ, I am fucked.” I heard him mutter into his pillow.

“Yeah, don't puke in here cause I'll use your credit card to book out a room at the Ritz for myself.” I warned, deadly serious. He grunted in response. “Take your shoes off. And your tie, I don't want you strangling yourself in your sleep.” I added, slipping my own shoes off and leaving them by the door.

He sighed heavily and pushed himself up just enough to wriggle out of his suit jacket. He let it drop to the floor, soon followed by his tie. I picked them up for him, knowing he'd freak out if he found them like that in the morning; that was if he wasn't too hungover to notice. I hung them up in the wardrobe for him, then turned to watch him attempting to remove his shoes. He was on his back, and when he lifted his leg up, his hands missed his foot once or twice before he managed to get ahold of it. Eventually he managed, throwing both shoes over the end of the bed. I sighed defeatedly and made my way over to my own bed.

There were two single beds in the room, placed a couple feet apart. Tailor'd been pissed about that when we arrived, complaining that we might as well be sharing, but he didn't seem to care anymore. I took a seat on my bed, leaning up against the headboard with my legs stretched out in front of me. I looked down at my toes, wiggling them back and forth to try and stretch out the arch of my foot; we'd been on our feet practically all weekend and they were aching terribly.

“I wanna dirty kebab.” Came from beside me, startling me a little. I thought he'd fallen asleep.

“A dirty kebab.” I repeated incredulously. Copious amounts of shredded, reformed lamb drizzled in thick garlic mayonnaise, perhaps with a little salad and wrapped up in a pitta bread, served in a yellow polystyrene tray… was not exactly the type of meal I pictured Tailor ever going near. But then, everyone had to treat themselves once in a while…

“I could see if they're still doing room service?” I suggested, searching around for the menu they'd given us amongst the pile of papers on the bedside table; all itineraries and leaflets we'd collected over the weekend.

“Th-they won't be. But I want a kebab, I-I-I'm craving doner meat.” He slurred, rolling onto his side to face me. His hair was messed up, his shirt ruffled and unbuttoned down to his chest… my stomach seemed to drop at the sight. I'd never seen him look anything like that and I was ashamed to realise that I felt a seed of something frighteningly close to arousal blossom in my gut.

So, sue me. Blame it on the fact that with the messy hair he looked just a little more like my boyfriend; I.C.

“What do you want me to do about it?” I asked, quirking a brow.

“Call them. C-call down to reception and tell them to bring us one- two. I'm not eating alone.” He instructed, regaining just a smidgen of his composure and let's face it; his authority over me.

“Will they even do that?” I questioned.

“Sure they will. They'll have some useless gorm go out and fetch it, tell them to charge whatever they want for it a-and the delivery.” He murmured, sitting up and mimicking my position, leaning against the headboard.

With a sigh I picked up the phone. I suppose it was far better to just do it myself than insist he do it if he wanted it so much… I dreaded to think what he'd be like speaking to hotel staff drunk. He was rude enough sober.

To my surprise the hotel staff were extremely accommodating, and had no trouble agreeing to the odd request. Though I did wonder what figure would come up on the bill. While we waited we put the TV on and sat staring numbly at it, mostly in silence until, surprisingly, Tailor broke it.

“S-so how're things with Mr. Whippy?” He murmured. He didn't really seem interested in my answer, but he rarely seemed interested in anything and I now just chalked it up to his mannerisms.

“I.C? He doesn't know what that nickname means, by the way. He's always so confused…” I mused. Bless him, the adorable man. “But things are fantastic. They always are, he's a sweetheart.”

“You mean you haven't told him what it means?” He questioned, then rather uncouthly snorted. “Good, don't. He looks cute when he's confused.”

“Oi.” I warned, turning to narrow my eyes at him.

“What? I-I-I can't compliment your boyfriend? Don't worry, my dear, I'm not interested in stealing him from you. H-he's too nice for my taste. Bit of a doormat, I presume.” He explained monotonously, rolling his eyes at me. “But I do see what you see in him. That little bow tie is just darling.”

“Damn right it is. He's the cutest thing ever.” I said, twisting my fingers in the bed sheets below me with this weird sense of frustration… maybe it was because he wasn't here and I wanted him to be.

“Besides I think you two are good together. As much as I can't stand to be around you two when you're acting like you do… perhaps I'm just a little happy for you. You seem to have found happiness in each other and not many people manage that. Well done.” He told me dryly, like he wasn't even taking notice of the words coming from his mouth.

“Oh, I don't know. I'd say it's pretty common. Lots of people are in relationships.”

“Relationships don't equal happiness. You'd be naive to think everyone in love is as happy as you are.” He retorted a little scathingly. “You're one of the lucky ones, don't forget that.”

I looked down at my feet and pressed my lips together, uncomfortable and not sure how to respond. I didn't bring this up, Tailor did. I heard a sigh coming from beside me, then a rustling sound as he rolled over to face me.

“H-hey. Don-don't listen to me. I didn't mean to make you feel bad just for being happy, okay? Ignore me. I'm just a bitter old bastard who didn't have it so good.” He slurred. I glanced over at him, taking in his forlorn expression, the down turned edges of his mouth and his furrowed brow.

“Do you want to talk about something? I know you- you've mentioned some stuff before and I get the impression you're kind of dripping all this information because you…” I paused, taking a breath and considering the best approach. “Because maybe you want someone to listen.”

“No. It's fine. I'm fine, forget about it.” He grumbled, rolling onto his back.

A knock at the door signified the arrival of our food, and I got up to answer it since it didn't look like Tailor was going to. The smell of doner meat hit me as soon as I opened it, and my mouth began to water. We hadn't eaten much all day, just snacks since breakfast, so I was ready to demolish anything. After a short exchange with the hotel staff, I closed the door and handed Tailor his box of cholesterol. I would've sat at the little dining table in the corner, but when I saw Tailor was happy to eat in bed, I just shrugged and joined him. He was one of those people who somehow managed to pick up the whole thing inside the pitta bread and eat it like a sort of sandwich. I always had to use a knife and fork, my hands were too small and I'd end up wearing more than I ate otherwise.

Our earlier conversation hung in the air, and I wasn't exactly sure how to shift the mood. If Tailor didn't want to talk about it then that was up to him, but I couldn't help but feel a little sad; I knew just from looking at him that he wasn't happy. All this stuff bottled up from his marriage clearly had him hurting, and as his friend I felt powerless to cheer him up when I didn't actually know what the problem was.

I'd managed to get garlic mayo down the side of my hand, and was licking it off when Tailor spoke.

“Alright. I suppose I can trust you with this information. Lord knows I know enough about your relationship, you flaunt it enough.” He rambled, staring straight ahead at the TV.

My mouth was full and so I simply waited for him to continue. It took him a while, but he did.

“My marriage dissolved a long time ago now, before my business really took off. At the time I was working out of an old laundrette; bit of a shit heap, really. But that's besides the point. Di- My wife. She… wow, she was something.”

A small smile formed on my face as I watched his expression change at the thought of her. It was softer than it usually was.

“She had me wrapped around her talon.” He snorted, that softness gone in an instant, replaced with resentment. “Fucking bitch, sh- she- God, I loved that woman like nothing else. Would've had my knob chopped off if it meant she'd smile; hell, she probably would've. She'd have been doing the chopping.”

The room went quiet, save for a thud in his tray when a piece of doner meat dropped from the pitta bread he was holding, but not eating.

“Six years we were married. We had the wedding when she was pregnant; everyone at the ceremony knew that was why it was happening. But I was over the moon. Maybe I knew she'd never marry me otherwise, I thought I was lucky, that the universe was being kind to me by having her fall pregnant.” He sighed, dropping his kebab back into the box and leaning back, deciding to just pick at the meat instead. “I don't know, maybe that was selfish of me, being happy about the fact she was trapped between me and our kid. I should've seen it coming really.” He muttered.

He didn't continue for a long time; so long that eventually I felt the need to prompt him.

“Seen what coming?”

“Isn't it obvious?” He questioned dryly, glancing over at me. My blank expression gave him his answer. “I came home to her bouncing around on top of some sweaty fat bastard in our bed. Stupid, dumb whore.” The poison in his voice was palpable, and I recoiled. I had to remind myself that he was well within his rights of insulting her in such a way.

“Rick.” I said softly. I didn't know where I was going with it, but I didn't need to go anywhere cause he spoke again.

“Then it turned out she'd been doing it from the start. Fucking other men left and right, before we even had Beth. Sh-sh-she was so fucking honest about it too, like she had no shame. It was people I knew, half the time. Fuck!” He slammed his head back into the (luckily) cushioned headboard. “I'm surprised I n-never fell into that gaping hole of a cunt of hers.”

I felt a little sick, suddenly losing all interest in food.

“An-and for a while, I didn't even know if Beth was mine.”

“What?” I hissed. Somehow, that was the most shocking thing I'd heard.

“She wouldn't let me have a paternity test, wouldn't tell me if she knew. That nearly- shit, I've never said this out loud before, b-but that nearly killed me. To this day, I don't have any physical evidence. The only reason I believe she's mine is because I found other Ricks. Y-you know most of them have Beths, right? Your boyfriend does, doesn't he?”

I nodded my head.

“So unless all Dianes are cheating slags, well… well Beth's gotta be mine.”

“I'm sure she is. Either way, though, you're the man who brought her up. She's your daughter no matter what.” I said softly. He didn't respond verbally, he just sighed and plopped another chunk of meat in his mouth. “Where is she now?” I asked.

“Fuck knows. Last I heard she'd moved to Spain with her new fella.” He told me boredly. “Even Beth hasn't seen her for years. I'm glad about that; at least she hasn't managed to turn her into a poisonous clone of herself. My Beth's a princess.” He mused quietly.

“Does she take after you?” I asked, a little smile forming on my face as I tried to steer the conversation more positively.

“Thankfully, yes. She's got a good head on her shoulders, she's a vet, you know?” He explained, and I nodded. Just like I.C's daughter. “For a while I wished I'd never met Diane but then I wouldn't have Beth. It might've screwed me up royally, but at least some good came of it all.”

“How did you meet her, if you don't mind me asking?” I questioned and he glanced over at me. He looked at me silently for a while before deciding it was safe to answer.

“Sh-she was a client of mine. She was a bridesmaid at a wedding and they all came to me for the dresses. I thought as soon as I saw her that she was the prettiest thing I'd ever laid eyes on. I should've known. Nobody's that attractive without being a total cunt.”

I winced again at his language.

“Is this why you told me you don't date clients?” I asked, remembering when I had my dress fitting with him, right after we first met. Tailor snorted.

“I told you that because I had to tell you something, and – I’m completely terrified of women – just didn't seem to cut it.” He admitted dryly.

“Is that true?” My eyes widened. Tailor terrified of anything just didn't seem to compute in my mind. He sighed.

“What do you think? Did you ever see me responding to the countless come-ons from women this weekend?”

“Well, no. I thought you thought you were better than them.” I replied, causing him to scoff in mild offence. “I never thought it was cause you were scared of them.”

“I'm not scared of women in the sense I'd run away from them, screaming at the top of my lungs. I just don't trust them. Quite frankly I think the majority of them are evil. My mother included. Present company…” he gave me a suspicious look. “Possibly included. I haven't decided yet.”

“Huh. Well I guess that makes sense that you'd feel that way. And for the record I hope you don't decide I'm evil and toss me out of your life.”

“Why's that? So you can slowly destroy me from the inside out?” He cocked a brow. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

“No. Cause I've grown to like you, and I consider you a friend.” I told him seriously. He gave me a brief dirty look, then turned to his kebab.

“Well I suppose I can divulge that my estimated odds of you being a soul sucking she-demon are only at around twenty percent.”

“I love you too.” I smirked. We fell into silence again and each of us finished off our kebabs. I took his trash from him and binned them both. He was laying with his eyes closed, his head tilted back and up towards the ceiling. “Are you going to sleep? Shouldn't you brush your teeth and get changed first?”

“One night won't kill me. I'm fucked.” He murmured.

“Alright.” I shrugged. I wasn't his mother.

I peeled my socks off and tossed them onto the floor and shimmied out of my jeans. Tailor had seen me in my underwear multiple times during dress fittings and such, so changing into my jammies in front of him didn't bother me in the least.

“Rick?” I said, before he could fall asleep. He hummed in acknowledgement. “Thank you for telling me.”

“Telling you what?” He tiredly mumbled.

“About your marriage. It's nice that you opened up to me, even if I couldn't exactly say or do anything to make it better.” I explained. He hummed again.

“Well, I'm drunk and sad and I overshare when I g-get like this.”

“It's okay. I won't bring it up when you're sober.” I promised, pulling on the oversized t-shirt I wore to bed.

“Much appreciated.” He opened his eyes and sat up a little. “Next time we drink together, I'm getting you totally rat-arsed.”

I snorted. “Yeah, I'd like to see you try. When's your next sesh?” I asked.

“I’m planning on heading back to that bar I dragged your whining ass to before. The one with the bar-lady who quite clearly wanted a slice of your boyfriend.”

My eyes narrowed at the thought and I hmphed in response.

“But I'm not extending the invitation to you. It's quite the Rick hotspot and I need to get myself laid. It's been a while.” He admitted to my surprise.

“Wow. We're real open tonight.” I observed.

“Well it's like you said. You won't bring it up when I'm sober.” He said – no – warned. “Shut up and turn everything off, will you?” He grumbled, rolling onto his side and flipping the duvet over himself.

“Fine.” I sighed, turning the TV off, then the light. I fumbled my way towards the bathroom to brush my teeth. “Night, Rick. See you in the morning.” I called behind me.

I was used to his non-verbal responses, and smiled when I saw him waft his arm dismissively in the dark, letting loose an irritated grunt.

…

It was good to be home. The journey back Tailor was acting his usual self; nothing of the night before had been mentioned. I knew that would be the case, so it didn't come as a surprise and I certainly wasn't about to be the one to bring it up. Tailor had put his trust in me; opened up and told me his pain and that took a lot. So quietly I felt closer to him; and despite his silence on the subject I could feel a slight change in him. He appeared a little more relaxed around me, and it was nice to see.

He'd dropped me off at my home and left with a simple nod as his goodbye, and I told him to drive safely. A statement he always rolled his eyes at like I was an overbearing mother. Thankfully his sarcastic responses had died down over time.

When I entered my house I.C was already there; I'd been expecting him, but it still set my heart racing when I laid eyes on him. I wordlessly crossed the living room carpet and climbed onto his lap, sitting sideways and wrapping my arms around him, burying my face in his neck.

“Tell me about Diane.” I whispered to him. His ex wife was someone who had come up in a number of conversations since we'd been together; it was to be expected, she was the mother of his daughter. Still, I didn't know an awful lot about their relationship, and I was curious now more than ever.

“Diane? Wh-why'd you want to talk about her?” He asked, completely befuddled.

“I wanna make sure she treated you right.” I explained, leaning back so I could look him in the eye. He chuckled softly at my reasoning.

“She did. She's a nice lady, perhaps one of the nicest I've met.” He admitted, looking down at an invisible spot on my chin. “But she wasn't my forever. And I wasn't hers.” His shoulders lifted and gently dropped.

“So your divorce wasn't a bitter one?” I asked, tilting my head as I played with the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Oh, not at all. W-we parted mutually when we realised that being together was only holding each other back from what we wanted to do. I wanted to travel a lot for my business, she wanted to stay put, she hated that I was all over the place. Never wanted to come with me or anything, so towards the end we barely spent any time together.” He trailed off, looking back up to my eyes. “So we realised we were incompatible and simply moved on as friends.”

“Do you still talk sometimes?”

“Occasionally, but we both have our own lives now, really the only thing we have in common now is Beth. When we see each other, it's when doing something for her or the grandkids.” He explained. “She's still dear to me, of course. She always will be, but like I said. She wasn't my forever.”

“What is your forever, your business?” I questioned. He laughed at some silent punchline.

“Baby, I hope you're joking.” He smiled.

“No, why? Your business is everything to you, you've put so much into it-”

“I'm hoping that it's you, truth be told.” He interrupted. “I'm no spring chicken, I'm getting to the point where I just want to enjoy the rest of my life with my favourite person, and that's you. So, as far as I'm concerned, you're my everything. For as long as you'll keep me.”

I blinked at him. Rick and I's relationship had blossomed rather suddenly, and falling for each other had taken no time at all. Things just flowed between us, it all fell into place. So in a way, I wasn't surprised by what he was saying. Conversely and somehow at the same time, I was completely and utterly surprised. He just came out and said it so easily, didn't stutter once. Sometimes it astounded me just how open and honest he was, never scared to share his feelings. I thought about it for a moment and realised that was a big part of why I loved him.

“I'm not planning on tossing you out anytime soon. I think I kinda like you.” I mumbled in response, feeling my face heat up as I struggled to deal with his words. He smirked in amusement, then pressed a kiss to my cheek.

“I’m glad.” He whispered. “God, it's good to have you back. I'm starting to resent that guy for keeping you away from me.”

“Don't go too hard on him.” I giggled.

“I th-think we need to work out a schedule between us; for how many hours he gets versus me. I'll have more, of course. I have boyfriend priority.” He told me and I snorted, shaking my head. He grinned and leaned in to kiss my neck, his goatee tickling me like it always did.

“Or maybe I need to get a second job being your assistant.”

“Hmm are you sure that's a g-good idea? Remember last time?” He pulled back to give me a meaningful look. My thoughts immediately turned to the time I tried making an ice cream cone in his truck, and promptly blushed.

“Good point.” I nodded. He licked his lips, his expression turning just a little flirtatious.

“We'd never get any work done but it sure would be fun.” He said, his tone low and rumbling in my ears so wonderfully. I shuddered.

“I should probably stick to juggling rolls of fabric for Tailor.” I chuckled.

“Maybe it's for the best.” He agreed. “As long as you can put up with me turning up as soon as you clock off every day.”

“Hmm, I'm sure I can deal with that.” I nodded, leaning in for a kiss before my huge smile had a chance to fade.

#rick and morty #rick sanchez #rick sanchez x reader #my ocs #ice cream rick #tailor rick #oc ricks #fanfiction

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bluebird167 · 5 years

Text

The Sinners and Their Saints Chapter 3: A New Home Part 2

The wisps began cleaning the kitchen, living room, and dining room. Frida began looking for a room to sleep in and unpack her bags but every room with a door in the house was locked and Manny had left without giving her the key.

"Where are you going Frida?" Dusk asked.

"To find that useless devil boy and bring his ass back here!" She cried marching out.

"But Frida you don't even know where he is!"

"That is true." Frida said walking back.

"Don't worry we'll find him." Dawn said. "We wisps are excellent trackers."

The two wisps then flew around in different directions then quickly returned back.

"We found his trail." Dusk said. "Follow us."

Manny's trail led into the city and it ended at a local nightclub. Inside a bunch of men where drinking and fooling around with women.

"Where is he?" Frida asked.

"Let's ask." Dusk suggested flying up to a bar tender. "Excuse me sir but have you seen a Mr. Manny Rivera here?"

"Ahhh! Ghost!" He shouted. In blind terror his eyes popped out of his head and he ran away while his eyes hopped into an automobile to drive away.

"Hey I'm no ghost! The nerve of that guy and his driving eye balls."

"How rude." Dawn scoffed. "Humans can be such disrespectful creatures no offense Frida."

"None taken." She said.

"Hey Sister what are you doing here?" The bar tender asked. "I don't think a nun would really be interested in drinking or working as a prostitute."

"Oh no it's not what you think." Frida said. "Actually I'm looking for someone who might be here. Did a young man going by the name of Manny Rivera come by here?"

"Messy dark hair? Wears a belt? Has a scar on his eye?"

"Yes."

"He's upstairs but a sweet little nun like you shouldn't be here. You could get raped by one of these drunkards, so don't stay too long."

"Thanks for the advice."

They went upstairs to find a corridor full of doors.

"Manny!" Dawn called.

"Mr. Rivera! Where are you?" Dusk called.

"Quiet you two!" They heard his voice call from one room. The wisps followed his voice and entered the room to find him drinking and flirting with two women.

"Can I help you?" He asked casually.

"How deplorable!" Dawn scolded. "You are supposed to protect and watch over Frida!"

"Yet you abandon her to get drunk and fornicate!" Dusk scolded.

"Leave me alone." He groaned.

"Mr. Rivera you must stop drinking immediately while you still have your senses." Dawn said.

"And you harlets remove yourseleves now!" Dusk said.

"Ahh! Ghosts!" The women shrieked running for their lives.

"Well thanks a lot." Manny said sarcastically taking another sip of his drink.

"So this is what you've been doing!" Frida barged in angrily. "How dare you ditch me to clean YOUR house! While you go drinking and sleeping with prostitutes!"

"Hey I saw you pick pocket three people on the train so don't you start lecturing me on morals nun girl!"

"Correct me if I'm wrong but I remember you telling me that you were turned to stone for a hundred years for womanizing yet here you are doing it again!"

"Who said I was gonna stop? Besides it's not like I can just sleep with you, you're a nun and I've got wants and needs that a nun just can't fullfill."

SLAP!

"Ow!"

"You're disgusting! Go and drink yourself to the point of unconscious! And while you're at it sleep with whoever want! Maybe one of them will turn you to stone again! I'm out of here!"

She then marched downstairs and out of the club.

"Frida wait! What about the key?" Dusk asked.

But she was already long gone. Unfortunately after leaving the city she had no idea how to get back to the manor. Being the genius she was (hint the sarcasim) she decided to take a short cut into the woods alone at night. Isn't that smart? Anyway she ended up getting hopelessly lost so when she didn't return to the manor the wisps went to inform Manny and they pestered him to go find her.

"I can't believe this." He said. "Is this my life now? Baby sitting a little girl? This can't get any worse."

Following her scent he went into the woods. He had just set foot in there when he saw something, it was white. A white dress being worn by a woman running into the woods, a woman who Manny would recognize in a heart beat.

"Analia?"

She turned around and flashed him a playful smile.

"Can't catch me Manny." She teased before running away again.

"No! Stop! Analia wait!" He ran after her. "Analia don't go into the woods! It's not me! I'm not there!"

He called out her name but she didn't seem to hear him, he tried to run after her but she only seemed to get farther and farther away.

"Analia! Don't!" He kept running and running, reaching his hand out to desperately touch the woman who was fading from his sight. "Analia please! I can't lose you again!"

Finally his hand touched a shoulder, he pulled the woman's body to his chest and held her close.

"I caught you." He breathed. "I caught you this time Analia."

"Who's Analia?"

He looked up and realized that woman he was holding was Frida.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm...I'm fine." He said releasing her. "What were you doing in the woods?"

"I thought I could find a short cut back."

"Don't ever go into these woods by yourself again especially at night! Don't ever do it! Understand?!"

"What is your problem?"

"Just don't do it! It's not safe!"

"Okay I won't but quick question."

"What?"

"Who's Analia?"

"She's...No one."

"That's not true! You called me Analia and you were acting like I was about to die. If she was no one to you then you wouldn't have done that. So who is she?"

"Someone long gone." He sighed. "I'll tell you everything later but for now can we just go back?"

"Sure."

They went back to the manor where the wisps had cleaned up the entire manor and already started on dinner. They sat down, ate, and later sat by the lit fireplace to talk.

"She was a woman I knew a hundred years ago. A holy woman with the gift to heal others." Manny said. "We were gonna get married after I got back from the war. When I returned I was told that she received a letter from me asking her to meet in the woods. Only I didn't send the letter but I knew who did and I knew what was going to happen. I ran into those woods as fast as I could but I wasn't quick enough and by the time I arrived she had been fatally stabbed. I held her while she was bleeding and she told me that we'd see each other again, then she died."

"Oh my God. That's terrible, no wonder you were so upset that I was in there. But if she could heal people why couldn't she just heal herself?"

"That's the downside of the gift. She could heal others but she couldn't heal herself. So how is that fair?"

"Maybe it was to prevent her from living forever."

"Doesn't make it right! She died and it was my fault!"

"How was it your fault? You didn't stab her."

"No but I made a mistake and that is what led to her death."

"I'm so sorry."

"It was a hundred years ago. I've learned to block it out."

"There's nothing wrong with being sad."

"There is in my opinion. Look it's late I wanna go to bed."

"Alright so where do I sleep?"

"I have a room that might work."

He took her down a corridor and unlocked the door to a bedroom. It was an elegant bedroom holding a canopy bed draped with cream colored curtains and blue quilts lying on it. The room had a vanity, closet, mirror, and stain glass window of a blue flower that opened to a balcony.

"Wow. Nice." Frida said. "Who's room is it?"

"Analia's."

"You okay with me sleeping in here?"

"What's the big deal? She's dead, what's she going to use it for?" He said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

He closed the door and she went to sleep. As for Manny before going to bed he went to speak with Steven who had messaged him. They went to meet on top of the manor.

"Alright what you two call me here for?" Manny asked.

"We heard that you were now working with that little nun girl we saw the other night." Steven said. "Please tell us that you're not planning to seduce her as you do to all lovely women?"

"Don't be stupid! She's a nun and besides I'm only with her because of this." He pointed to his belt.

"What is that?"

"A belt that reduces me to following her orders."

"How did that happen?"

"None of your business. You have your reason so may I leave?"

"Are you sure you don't have any other plans for her?" Steven asked. "We know you can't resist a pretty face."

"Who said she was pretty? And besides don't act like you and Dipper are still virgins. Let's not forget the night we went out to celebrate our return from the war I stayed sober and refused to touch any woman while you two spent the whole night drunk and in the beds of several women."

He blushed and looked at him.

"Point taken." Steven said. "But the main reason I called you here is because Dipper think this nun might be pyschic."

"Where did he get that idea?"

"People said she would talk to things that weren't there."

"So that means she's just crazy. And suppose she can see dead people what's it to you?"

"Dipper thinks his sister's ghost is haunting him and he wants to use the nun to try and contact her."

"And you're here why?"

"Because it's a full moon, he's busy, and he asked me to get her."

"Yeah...No. Sorry but if I remember correctly I told you two to stay away from her. So I'm afraid he can't use her."

"I wasn't asking for your permission."

"Oh really?"

"Look I owe Dipper and if he wants me to do him a favor that might help him find his sister I'm going to do it."

"So you're just going to take her? Is that right? Let me remind you that bats are just mice with wings and as a cat devil I must rid my house of all mice." He snapped his fingers and instantly turned Steven into a mouse then grabbed him by the tail. "Did you know that in some countries mice are considered a delicacy? And it's been so long since I've had something new to eat."

The mouse screeched and tried to scurry away. Manny then changed him back.

"Alright now do you understand?" Manny said. "Tell Dipper that he will not use her and that the both of you are to leave her alone. If not then you're both cat food."

Without another word Steven changed into a bat and flew away into the dark night.

#el tigre the adventures of manny rivera #el tigre #el tigre au #steven universe au #steven universe #gravity falls au #gravity falls #cartoon crossover #fanfiction #the sinners and their saints

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