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upsidedownwithsteve · 2 years

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I love your writing it’s so amazing!!! You are just so incredible and have an amazing talent of capturing Steve’s character! And Eddie! Oh wow so freaking good!!! 😍🧡🧡🧡

I was wondering if you’d possibly be willing to write a little blurb where Steve sees reader admiring flowers while shopping and he buys them for her and surprises her with them. Just something cute and wholesome and not at all a fantasy I wish a boy would do for me 👀😅

Thank you so much my lovely, you’re far too kind! 🥹

It’s not exact to what you sent, I’m sorry! I saw flowers and started rambling but I hope you like it 🧡

You’d had an awful day.

The worst in a while, actually. The morning had started with your alarm not going off, the sun shining through your bedroom window a little brighter than usual, higher in the sky and god, it had been almost eight o’clock before you’d tumbled into the shower.

You’d argued with your mom over breakfast, a half slice of toast between your teeth as you mumbled back your argument, because ‘no mom, I don’t have time to go to the post office, I’m already late’ and ‘yes mom, I know that’s my own fault.’

Then your car had broken down before you could even get it out the drive way, the engine clunking and sputtering before falling silent. Later, the sky had turned from blue to grey on your lunch, the wind whipping up from a light breeze to a colder burst and you’d pouted through your bowl of pasta, unable to sit outside and enjoy the warmth that you always missed when working in Hawkins book store.

But then Steve had popped in on his own break, always a little out of breath when he approached the counter ‘cause Family Video was four blocks away and he only had half an hour free.

But the boy would press his elbows to the counter and beckon your close, hands cupping your cheeks as you smiled, pressing a kiss to your lips for as long as you could both get away with it.

That’s all he usually had time for, but that day, Steve took note of the pucker between your brows, the downturn of your mouth and the heavy sigh of relief you gave him after a sweet kiss.

“Y’okay sweetheart?” He’d asked, voice laced with soft concern, “rough day?”

You felt stupid when you nodded, because the store was empty and quiet as always, just you and your piles of favourite books at the counter. But the frustration and rush of the morning caught up to you, tears brimming pathetically at your lash line.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Steve soothed, voice dropping to a low murmur, “baby, what’s wrong?”

You shook your head, a self-deprecating smile on your face as you waved away your boyfriends concerns. You wiped at your eyes, sniffling as you worried with a stack of papers on the counter instead of looking at Steve.

“It’s fine!” You told him, voice a little too high to be considered fine. “I’m fine, I’m just…” you blew out a breath, tired. “It’s just a bad day Steve and I think I’m getting my period and my tummy hurts and-”

You stopped, sighing again before deciding against your ranting. Steve looked worried, lips turned down into a pretty frown and he reached for your hand, making little sounds of comfort.

“Baby,” he soothed, “I’m sorry.”

He had nothing to apologise for and you both knew that but you nodded anyway, feeling smaller and softer and more delicate than you needed to. Your heart ached to look at him, brown eyes gentle on you, a thumb sweeping over the back of your hand.

“I’ll be fine,” you told him, smile still too watery for Steve’s liking. “I just need to give myself a shake.”

Steve frowned, reaching out to push at the soft of your cheek with his palm, a comforting touch that had you leaning into him immediately. His thumb stroked over your cheekbone and you could’ve whined with how nice it felt; warm touch, rough callouses, gentle intentions.

“How ‘bout I pick you when you’re finished? See if I can make it better.”

You didn’t doubt that, nodding with a smile that felt more real than it had before.

So when the clock above the cash desk turned to six, you said your goodbyes to your boss and eagerly stepped out into the quiet street. The sun had come back out, low and warm in the blue sky as if it returned to apologise to you.

Steve was already waiting, BMW parked on the curb, his body leaning against the passenger side door as he grinned at you, a pretty bouquet of flowers clutched in one hand.

You gasped, unable to help the shy smile that crept across your lips. You felt warm, startled at the gesture but your feet carried you over to the boy with quick, light steps. A flush fell on your chest, eyes coy, hands clasped together under your chin as you gazed up at Steve, your toes touching his.

“There’s my girl,” he greeted, voice all low and warm and it washed over you like the end of a summer day.

“Are those for me?” You couldn’t help the tone of surprise that laced your question. Steve had bought you many flowers before, amongst other gifts and treats, but usually for holidays, birthdays and sometimes just when you were stuck in bed sick. “They’re so pretty.”

And they were, delicate blooms of all the summer shades, lilacs and peaches, soft pinks and pristine white daisies with bright greenery mixed in. They were wrapped in brown paper, tied at the stems with a ribbon and they smelled incredible.

“‘Course they’re for you,” Steve murmured, smiling at your excitement. “Thought you could do with some cheering up, sweetheart.”

He inclined the flowers to you, laughing when you grasped them, pressing your face into the plush of petals. Steve took the opportunity to press a kiss to the crown of your head, stole another one when you looked back up at him beaming.

A low hum, a happy noise, slipping from the back of his throat when you pushed yourself up on your toes to chase him, a hand clutching your flowers as the other one fisted in his jacket collar, pulling the boy back to you.

He tasted like lemonade, smelled like lavender and peonies.

You smiled against Steve’s lips, nudging your nose into his, touch molten, soft and gooey with adoration. You wanted him to wrap you up in him.

“Thank you,” you murmured, messy kisses pressed onto his lips, his cheek, the corner of his mouth, along with your words.

#steve harrington #Steve baby blurb #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington fic #stranger things fic #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington blurb #ask

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rapha-reads · 2 years

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My problem actually is that when I want to write a story, I gotta do tons of research on even the most unimportant of details. It has to be correct. Even if nobody will care, I will know what I've written is not factually correct and it will upset me.

Wanna write a Torchwood/Doctor Who story ? Gotta learn everything about astrophysics, atoms, time travel, radiations, the aliens in the show, how the Tardis works. "It's science-fiction, who cares if you take liberties with the science parts?" ME, that's who.

Years ago I wanted to write a novel about a modern day girl traveling back to Elizabethan times and befriending Shakespeare (yeah, basic, whatever). Started reading whole biographies of Liz 1st and the Bard, and the theatre and life back then.

Wrote a fic about Tybalt and Mercutio from R&J ? Studied the play under every angles, wrote 8k words of academic essay on these two, researched Italia in the 11th-12th centuries, Verona's geography, Italian language, etc.

Trying to write - actually handwrote 30 pages of notebook on DDLJ ? Waiiiit, before you start editing all of it, you gotta learn EVRYTHING about India. So here I am compiling a whole word doc of anything and everything about India because gods forbid I get one detail wrong about weather, food, traditions or language.

I like to make my life unnecessarily complicated.

Tho the good news in all of that is that, hey, look at me, I'm writing again consistently after years of dry spell.

#anyway let's put a halt to the wiki dive before i go mad #i'mma learn the whole wiki page about punjab before i type one word of this fic if i go on like this #can't find any information on the timeline and places of ddlj so i'm gonna be creative about it #and if anyone has anything to say i'mma just point at google and say 'buddy there's no info out there' i did what i could #reminds me of that time i tried to write the shakespeare/lizzie 1 time travel novel - what a mess that was #i was literally reading and annoting super complete bios instead of doing my uni work - yes i've always been crazy thanks for asking #i'm getting mad because i keep getting interrupted (i'm at work) for stupid things and i can't do research properly or write #i don't know what i'm ranting about anymore - stupid work being stupid and time consuming for nothing ?#my inability to write stories without going way too deep into research and details nobody will care about ?#my worry that i'll get anything wrong and it'll upset someone ? sorry 'bout that #anyway okay let's see if i can start typing some pages already #this has turned out into a very messy and non-sensical rant - you can just ignore me - go ahead and scroll past that mess #rapha rambles #rapha writes #(rapha tries to write)

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cakeslildumpster · 2 years

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I legit have no place i feel comfortable renting bout my fic, and as much as i wanted to do it if ppl wanted to listen then I'd be stuck, so whoever stumbled apon my account and is reading this, hello and thank you....and also sorry

This rant is specifically for my fic "please date our mother" if you'd like to check it out, it's on ao3

Anyways, i watched like a few video comps about mumza, bc i haven't really had time to watch lives, so my only knowledge is from ppl ranting and video comps ive seen, BUT like, mumza and Tommy's relationship?? Like it looks so fun, they both seem chaotic, and idk if it just these videos but I've seen some favouritism from mumza to Tommy, maybe it's just me, but i find it funny

I mean there was one clip where she legit agreed with tommy to use phil's belt against him if he didn't clean his clothes from the floor like-

And i remember someone mentioning how, they do act alike, and all especially for tiktok ideas

And i want that for my fic, desperately, like there isn't enough of this in my opinion-

SO i wanna play with this idea a bit, and i have already, i plan on making it a one shot for the series, cuz even tho they will have a moment on chap6 i don't think is enough so yeah

This is gonna be a lot of rambling lmao

But basically, as april 1st is usually prank day or whatever, it's the same in this world but our dear mumza decided to make it her own day with her sons, it's a special thing they do instead of pranks...kind of, so like on April 1st mumza has a water gun, and they live on a castles, on top of a mountain, of snow, and she plans on shooting it on her sons, so every time, they wake up earlier to escape their mother's grasp, and not get shot, or they forget and gets shot in the morning, but it isn't just in the morning, it's through out the day and at random moments, and they have to keep an eye out

Now, their mom is good enough as it is and all, but imagine, after Tommy comes in their lives, and when he comes to visit, (or well, spoiler live with them, but that's more in the future lol) and msybe they would have an allay, but no, Tommy joins mumza in her schemes, but wait?! What's this?! Ah yes, dada decids to help out the two poor boys, hut ends up on both mumza and Tommy's wrath lol

It's all in fun and games, and they enjoy it lol, if tehy get sick the next day? Well it's an excuse not to do work i guess :)

#tommyinnit #mumza #wilbur soot #technoblade #philza minecraft #dadza #please date our mother #dsmp #crime bois #bedrock bros #just sbi being a family #ain't it nice?#just wholesome family bonding #bc we need more of that #sbi #sbi fanfic #sbi family au #sbi just being family

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puppymaggotz · 3 years

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so like i rewatched the training camp arc recently cuz why tf not its one of my fave arcs and before it was revealed that koda doesnt hate heroes per say it was thought he hates all quirks right? and izuku had a flashback of shigaraki. this drove me to start thinking of shiggy and his back story

for anime only’s here’s your spoiler warning

anyway as we currently known shigaraki hates heroes but hes cool with quirks so rly he and koda dont have anything in common from there.

shigarakis backstory makes me extremely sad fro a lot of reasons the main of which being his upbringing. he WANTED to be a hero but his dad had his own vendetta against heroes which led to so much abuse and pain in regards to shigarakis dream. this right here couldve honestly been enough to be a driving factor in his villainy. yes he was young enough that if he had been taken in by someone else (my fave au for this being inko) he could have possibly gone after his hero dream. but this also got me thinking.

we know hero society is monumentally fucked in a lot of ways and i was wondering if shig would still have his same views if he hadnt been taken in by all for one? while yes those views are extreme hes right, to an extent.

honestly this was just meant to be a rant about how sad my shiggys backstory is but then it became a nonsense ramble sorry bout that.

#mha #bnha #shigaraki #mha shigaraki #bnha shigaraki #tomura shigaraki #tomura #mha tomura #bnha tomura #mha tomura shigaraki #bnha tomura shigaraki #ramble #comfort character #comfort villain

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damedamedame · 4 years

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okay so like, bruh school started and like i legit forgot to buy my books like 👁👁 sigh sbjwnxnsn doe im not here to tell u my embarrassing story 😔 so like um can i request headcannons of teru, hanako, and kou reaction to their s/o ranting bout school and stuff and like bout how they would comfort them or smth 😗👉👈 (also i’m the one who requesting the ‘for real’, anon today or maybe forever cause i’m suddenly feeling shy 🙈) anyways yeah hope you’ll have a great day/night :3 <3

VARIOUS X READER - HEADCANONS

- “Breaking Point.”

NOTES: OMG HI I LOVED YOUR REQUEST SO I’M GONNA ALSO DO MY BEST IN THIS ONE WAWAWA and yes i’ve actually also forgotten to buy my books last week too anon-chan 😔

TERU MINAMOTO X READER

Ah... Teru.

He’s literally appeared in every single one of my posts omg--

LET’S BEGIN ;DDD

I don’t know why?? but he seems like the type to enjoy your rambling.

He’ll enjoy everything you say, let’s be honest here—

BUT IF YOU RAMBLE ABOUT SCHOOL??

YOU BEST BELIEVE THAT THE PROBLEM WILL BE FIXED IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS

Perks of being the girlfriend of the ‘Prince’ and the ‘President’, am i right??

Right??

Am I—

Problems about a certain spider-sensei giving you a hard time??

He’ll gently ask threaten and or blackmail Tsuchi, of course! :]

What was that about people bullying his love??

The next day the entire school gathers for an assembly about anti-bullying :D

But if there’s a problem that he really can’t fix??

WHICH IS LIKE EXTREMELY RARE BY THE WAY

BOY REALLY DO BE HAVING HIS CONNECTIONS

He’ll happily listen to your rants about anything !!

Although he gets distracted by your lips often 😳✨

*cOuGh* *cOUGH* You heard nothing from me :))

Sometimes, you’ll catch him staring too— embarrasses the hell out of you so dang much gURL I S W EA R

“D-Did I bore you—?”

“Quite the opposite actually.”

HANAKO-KUN / AMANE YUGI X READER

THIS BOY

THIS BOY BE DJSNSSB

I liked him but then Teru just went brr brr and I fuckin fell 😳✨

At first, he’ll probably just brush your rants and ramblings off like,,

“It can’t be that bad, (Y/N)!”

b u t b o y

IT IS THAT BAD >:(((

*Flaunts because he’s never had to do math since he’s,, yknow,, d e a d*

uH so— :))

This goes on for the entire day until

Sees

You

B A W L I N G

“IT’S TOO HARD— LIFE IS TOO HARD :(((“

AND THIS BOY FEELS SO BAD BECAUSE HE THINKS HE REALLY HURT YOUR FEELINGS AND HE DOESN’T WANT THAT. AT. ALL.

THAT’S THE LAST THING HE WANTS

He’ll def call in a personal favor— aka Tsuchi gets bothered for the second time this day.

Being petty i mean i am, you may or may not get Tsuchi to include Hanako with his tutoring.

“Ah, (Y/N), why am I here too?”

“Suffer.”

KOU MINAMOTO X READER

I love him. You love him. We all stan Kou 😌👏✨

HE’S SO DANG PRECIOUS OMG AAA

AND HDBS AGHHH WAHHH :’DDDD

i can’t— i cANNOT

SIR

YOU’RE SO BEAUTIFUL AND ILY MY BABEY BOY

omg chill

You’re rambling off about how many assignments the teacher gave you and he’s :< whenever you’re troubled.

STILL

Kou will definitely help you with homework... even if he doesn’t know anything—

Suffering together is couple goals though ✨

If your room is a mess because of the many many papers filled with notes?? He’ll help you clean it.

Maybe gives you hot cocoa/coffee for late night study sessions??

Whenever you’re studying late at night, he really does try to not sleep to keep you company...

Except he does fall asleep.

YOU DON’T MIND AT ALL I MEAN HE’S ADORABLE >:00 !!

“Did you stay up late again, (Y/N)?? Should I make—“

“KOU I LOVE YOU”

NOTES: this is so late T^T I’M SO SORRY ANON AHDHSHSHS (btw didn’t @astrxrism request the ‘For real’ hcs or am i just?? blind??)

#minamoto teru #kou minamoto #tbhk hanako #tbhk x reader #toilet bound hanako kun

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apffee · 4 years

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My Thoughts Rewatching TGWDLM and Black Friday:

*btw the section for tgwdlm is much shorter than the one for black friday because it’s less new so more people have already said almost all there is to say about it i guess*

The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals: - in the first scene the same phone rings about 32/33 times wow (i counted) - when charlotte is talking about sam singing in the shower, let it out plays real quiet and it's cool - i’ve always wondered what emma was gonna say before join us and die, and to me it seemed like she was gonna talk about paul’s crush on her and maybe reject him (she was acting remorseful, like she was sorry for being about to hurt his feelings maybe), idk if anyone tweeted nick lang about this yet but i wanna know - emma seems to jinx herself every time she says "we made it" or along those lines, like in the helicopter she says "we got outta there!" and before inevitable she says "paul! we made it!" - fuck nora :)

***

Black Friday: - the sniggles deserve betterrrr also lauren sniggle <3 - mnfnmggghfht them <3 paulkinsss <3 - silent night playing while we enjoy paulkins - "oH SHIT A BABY" - emma has beanies shopping bags so she either still works there and brought snacks or she just went there with paul idk - paul like "it's christmas time in hatchetfield isn't that fun" and im having flashbacks - i love paul's awkwardness but emma, he's your boyfriend ok (ok? ok. ok.) - emma copying bae like - how does lauren turn into an entirely different person with emma and linda ik it's acting but I CAN'T ENVISION THEM TOGETHER AS THE SAME PERSON - if i think about videos and streams of lauren, it seems like emma's personality is kinda similar to lauren's own personality huh - i think this part with emma and paul is so funny not just cause them and their wonderful delivery but also cause the paulkins content is more condensed in smaller amounts of time since they aren't the protagonists anymore, so it's more funny at once, while tgwdlm is probably more funny in total but it's more spread out - i love emma’s adorable laugh snort thing when tom tells her about the surprise it's so lovable <3 - tom just getting in emma's face when he says "he was sledding. WITH HIS MOTHER" ;-; - they just sneak off while tom sings like - what if emma has a different hairstyle in each musical? anyway lauren is so pretty no matter what her hairstyle is but her hair looks even more amazing down in general, i should probably stop now or i'll keep rambling on about lauren - but like lauren and jon are so cool i'm just more attracted to lauren in general but they're probably my two favourite starkid and YES I AM BIASED, SO WHAT? - tom teleports to the parking lot of the mall during what tim wants - tom: what tim want? tim: JUST ASK ME WHAT I WANT - why does linda look over when sherman says "omg its becky barnes" like u just spoke to her and hate her guts lmao why do u care -adore me plays when linda belittles becky bout stanley -webby: hey hannah do the thing ethan's doing with his hands hannah: *does it and gets scolded* webby: *wHeEEeEzeee* - paul in wdywp "i want what everyone wants, money, a partner, kids someday, maybe.." and linda talking to wiley "i want what everyone wants, to be loved" - linda is holding one of her boots, why did one come off? the camera doesn't show below her waist while she's talking to wiley so idk - lauren lopez as jingle the elf doing a bugette voice is attractive as hell - tom: "i'd do anything for him" me: awwww thats sweet! tom: "even if it means pounding the guts outta some little twerp!" me: :/ - what would happen if tom managed to give the doll to tim? tom: take this doll son. tim: i don't want that lmao? tom: W-WHAT? tim: i want u but ur distant and sad now :c tom: :'o - sHE'S hEaVY! D: - do ya think it's a coincidence that wiley AND xander call the president the nickname howie? maybe xanders dead and this is a fake idk lol - the sniggles are still cute in made in america (especially lauren sniggle) and lauren looks so good with her hair like that actually her hair always looks good why DOES HER HAIR ALWAYS LOOK SO GOOD AND HER NOSE AND (this is just a rant about lauren now whoops) - at 1:42:55 when wiggly is talking to john the "look what happens nightmare time" riff (i think its a riff) plays hmmmmm; also someone else mentioned how the light in not your seed is green, so i think grace chasity (yeah apparently it’s chasity) is the connecting thread in all these things and since she is likely the protag in npmd its probably important. oh also maybe grace and jane are connected somehow? idk just trying to think of stuff that could be in npmd - when wiggly gasps after his hiccup laugh thing it's so uncomfortable and creepy i love it good job jon! - you have pOonies?? - i threw em in the FUCKING TRASH! - you killed the pOoNIES! -"she can go on her own" NO LEX HANNAH NEEDS YOU ;o; -lex: reach? like this? *gun flies towards her and smacks her in the nose* ARGH! - lex: patiently waiting for tom to finish singing - i remember something about either the song a meteor hits or just the wiggly jingle scratch track or something being to the tune of if i fail you, so thats cool - jon is so damn feral as gary and it's wonderful i'm having so much fun - gerald's such a good dramatic device - she's drunk AGAIN? what would you know about becky being drunk linda? im imagining drunk becky and linda talking in a bar idk how else linda would know about that eh - behold the wonderful shriek of lauren lopez - i can sing the range of adore me and califorMIA since im an alto and yet lauren can do her high octaves as well as my own comfotable octave she's just destroying the song wiggle and my belief in what singing ability i have with her TALENT!!! - *obnoxious laugh* bECkY BaRNeS! - lets just appreciate jon and lauren sneaking off stage and doing a quick change into their paul and emma outfits in like 40 SECONDS WHAT also everyone else saying their lines slower so they had more time to quick change - "taaahm?" (i love lauren's midwestern accent) - emma and tom never got to talk about jane :'( but also her grateful little smile when he says it and ghfighdfisdfskh emma and paul <3 - why does emma always want to go to hidgens tho lmao like how trustworthy is he really? aw but i guess emma doesn't have anyone else in hatchetfield except paul and jane's family :'( - PAUL SMILING AT EMMA TO COMFORT HER AWWWWWW I LOVE THEM SO MUCH (2:14:02) like i don't mind about how well lauren and jon know each other because their acting is so good that it gets me so invested in paulkins <333333333333333 - i wanna see the paulkins hug D:< i can just see emma in her cute ass bobble beanie hat thing coming over and then the camera pans away WHY - i love that at the end everyone's just squinting at the sky in confusion and paul's just doing a bug-eye face of shock like O-O - ok at the end of tgwdlm it was sad and scary that emma was still in character and screaming for help but i'm just imagining as everyone bows in a line emma just screaming and staggering around again even though this is black friday and it would be really weird but my brain's also weird - tim died alone in the car :( - fuck nora

#i'm sorry for this massive pile of word vomit #this really doesn't matter lol #tgwdlm #black friday musical #paulkins #starkid

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flintsjohn · 5 years

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courtesy of my chats with @villanellve, have some snippets of alex dating and living his best gay life, and michael being possibly the lamest, most oblivious and pining idiot in history. the last five minutes of the finale have been cancelled in this, i don’t care.

“Wait, wait, back up a second,” Liz waves her drink at Alex, interrupting him, “Go back to the first one.”

Alex sighs, eyes closing for a second. He ignores the snicker coming from Maria and starts listing off again, counting on his fingers. “There are two main categories, bears and twinks. Bears are usually also divided into-“

“What are you guys talking about?” Alex freezes at Michael’s voice, shaking his head once at Liz and Maria to signal for them to shut up.

Of course, Liz ignores him outright and scoots over in the booth so Michael can sit. “Alex is teaching us about gay culture.”

“Oh, is he?” Michael smirks, head tilting to the side. Alex glares at him.

“Yup,” Liz says, turning back to Alex, “So which type do you fit in?”

“Oh he’s a twink,” Michael says before Alex can even open his mouth.

“You’re a twink!” Alex can’t help himself. It comes out way too loudly and startles Maria and Liz into a bout of laughter. Michael simply arches an eyebrow at him, thoroughly unimpressed, and gives him a self-satisfied smirk when Alex blushes under the attention.

“Whatever,” he says after a second, pushing Maria out of the booth so he can get out. “I have a date to get to.”

He waves at them and Michael stares after him as he walks out of the bar. “Another?” The word is out of his mouth before he can think better of it.

Liz shrugs. “He’s- how did he put it?”

“Living his best gay life,” Maria fills in. There’s a knowing look on her face as she studies Michael that makes him shift uncomfortably. Things have been going well between them after they both agreed to call it quits. Their relationship had been short lived, but fun and easy, and they still enjoy each other’s company as often as they can. All in all, Michael knows he can’t complain. Still, she knows him way too well.

“Right,” he says after a second, clearing his throat. Both Liz and Maria have been very enthusiastic about recounting Alex’s numerous dates as of late. Michael just bites down on his tongue and lets them ramble and pick apart the latest flame, because that’s apparently how best friends work. He rarely contributes, even when they ask his opinion as only other queer guy in their friend group. He knows better than to get himself involved in speculation over Alex’s love life.

“Alex, hey, I forgot to ask- how did it go with Mark?” Michael looks up from his beer to follow the conversation. Kyle is currently looking expectantly at a dumbfounded Alex.

“Who’s- Ah, right.” Alex flushes a little at Kyle’s pointedly raised eyebrows. “He was alright, I guess. Last week’s news, though.”

Michael suddenly becomes very interested in the list of ingredients on his beer. It’s not that he’s not happy for Alex and his new found sexual prowess, per se. A big part of him is proud of him for having gotten there. But another, love sick side of him, the one that whispers in his ear at night after he’s back in his airstream after watching Alex walk away with his nightly hook up, wishes that that could be him. He’s not, and he can’t, because he was too late and Alex has moved on, as he deserves.

“What’s up with you?” Kyle asks after he’s been silent for a while. Michael focuses back on the table only to see that Alex has moved to the bar, where some guy is whispering in his ear and making him laugh, head thrown back. Michael frowns.

“Nothing.”

“Guerin.”

Michael groans and lets his head drop on the table with a thud. He doesn’t know exactly when Kyle became someone he trusted enough to rant to about his love life, but apparently that’s where his life’s at.

“You can just say you’re jealous, you know. We all know, anyway.”

Michael snaps his head up and sputters, “Wha- I’m not- That’s not- I’m not jealous! And, frankly, who’s saying that you’re not jealous, hm? You’ve been spending an awful lot of time together and- and- Yeah, maybe it’s you who’s jealous, actually. Checkmate, Valenti.”

Kyle levels him with the most unimpressed stare Michael’s ever being on the receiving end of, and he’s friends with Maria DeLuca. “Sure, whatever you say, Guerin.” He gets a pat on the shoulder and then Kyle is off, leaving Michael to stare mournfully at the spot where Alex has just disappeared from with the new guy.

“Dude, I’m telling you, it was amazing.”

Michael looks up in confusion, giving the table a cursory glance. No one of his friends is paying him or the guy next to him any attention, so he guesses it’s him the guy is talking to. “Uh, who are you again?”

“John.”

“Right,” Michael drawls, going right back to his beer. Alex’s latest conquest. This one’s lasted a couple of nights, apparently, because otherwise the guy wouldn’t bother talking to him. He doesn’t remember being introduced, but he’s found that not focusing too hard on the faces of the men circling Alex these days is what helps most.

“He did this thing, with his tongue, I swear-“

Michael flinches at that and mutters around the rim of his beer bottle, “Oh, I remember the thing.”

The guy – John, his mind supplies helpfully – gives him a look that translates into aren’t you two friends though, to which Michael shrugs. He’s not about to explain their whole history to someone who’ll last no more than a week on Alex’s arm. He just ignores the guy until he eventually leaves him alone to his moping.

“So, Liz and I were thinking of maybe trying to ask Max to check on my mom, you know- hey, are you listening to me?”

“Uh? Yeah, of course,” Michael nods along to what Maria is saying, but his eyes are fixed on the door, where Alex has just walked in, hand in the back pocket of some handsome stranger.

“God, you really need to get over that.”

“Hm? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He swivels on his stool to face her, though thanks to the mirror hanging behind Maria he can still see the booth where Alex sits.

“You’re pathetic.” Maria swats at him with the rag she’s using to dry glasses and ignores his pout. “Just talk to him, jeez.”

“Yeah, see, that’s kinda where the problem lies.” Maria rolls her eyes at him and goes back to clearing glasses off the counter.

“You’re not subtle, Guerin,” she says after a moment, “Literally everyone knows how you feel but Alex, because he’s oblivious and busy trying to fuck his way through all of Roswell, and you’re too stubborn and chicken shit to say anything.”

He frowns at her but it doesn’t deter her. She points a finger at him, which makes him gulp. “Get. Your shit. Together. I’m done watching you pine. Ah!” She raises her hand when he opens his mouth to interject, “Nope. First chance you get, you’re telling him.”

She gives him one last look and moves on to other patrons, leaving him to stare sadly into the mirror to follow Alex’s date. He’s apparently graduated from town slut to town creeper. Fantastic.

“And then, I swear to God, he spanked me.” Alex tells the story with his hands more than with his words, gesturing wildly. Michael never wants to take his eyes off of him, but at the same time his brain is supplying the wrong images and he’s finding it increasingly harder to concentrate. He clears his throat, unable to keep looking.

“That’s- um. How was it?” He tries, wincing at his own lame attempt at conversation. He’s trying hard, he swears, to be a good friend for Alex, but it’s a little hard when the man he’s in love with has suddenly grown comfortable in recounting his sexual escapades to him.

“I didn’t hate it.” Alex gives him a dirty smirk that makes Michael’s entire body flush. That’s – nice to know, he guesses. It’s cool, really, that Alex has grown out of his shame. Not that Michael expected the enthusiasm, or that he can handle the numerous flirty lines Alex slips in there with more and more frequence.

“So, how’s it going with Maria?” Alex asks. The change of topic almost gives Michael whiplash, not to mention Alex’s purposefully casual tone.

“Oh, um. We broke up, like a month ago.”

“What?” Alex sits up straighter, beer forgotten to the side.

“Yeah, we’re better as friends anyway. We’re good.”

“Oh.” Alex frowns. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Michael opens and closes his mouth around at least three answers, before finally settling on, “You were a little busy.”

That makes Alex blush, but he doesn’t latch on the bait. “We see each other every two days, you could’ve mentioned it.”

“I-“ Michael starts. He shifts, thumbnail fidgeting with the label of his beer. “I didn’t think you’d care.”

“Michael,” Alex says, admonishingly.

“Look, it’s cool, ok? I’m good, and you’re doing great, apparently, with all these dates. We don’t have to discuss me.”

“Yes, we do.” Alex sighs after a second, hand reaching across the table to catch Michael’s. “We’re friends. And friends share life updates. This isn’t a one-sided conversation.”

Michael looks into Alex’s eyes, finally, and swallows before whispering, “What if I don’t want to be friends anymore?”

Alex’s hand retreats immediately, hurt flashing across his features, but Michael is quick to grab it right back. “I mean- shit, sorry. I meant just friends.”

Alex looks at him, clearly uncertain, so Michael takes a deep breath and soldiers on, “I don’t want to hear about all your one night stands. Not because I don’t care about your life, but because I’m jealous,” he hears Alex inhale sharply at that, but he doesn��t stop, “I’m jealous of whoever gets to kiss you, and hold your hand, and dance with you, and f-“ He snaps his mouth shut, eyes falling to his hands still clutching Alex’s.

“I’ve been such an idiot, Alex. I thought that because of all the shit we’d been through, that loving you and being with you wasn’t worth the pain. But it was, it is.”

Alex licks his lips and shifts so his head his closer to Michael’s. “What are you saying, Guerin?”

“I’m saying I want to be with you. I want to take you out and introduce you as my boyfriend, I want to overshare about our sex life just to make our friends uncomfortable. I want to kiss you, and hold you, and make love to you, and fall asleep next to you.”

“Yeah?” Alex’s voice comes out a little choked, but he’s smiling widely.

“Yeah.” Michael nods, squeezing Alex’s fingers in his own. “So what do you say?”

#malex #malex fic #rnm fic #IDK GUYS! MAKES NO SENSE BUT YOURE GETTING IT ANYWAY #thanks cait for always bringing in the best content #let alex date and be his gay little self and then he can figure shit out with mikey boy #this is still from michael's pov bc it's the only one i can write im sorry hgdkjsl #my writing #my ficlets

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lefaystrent · 5 years

Text

Variants ch.2

Fandom: Thomas Sanders, Sanders Sides

Pairings: none

Summary: Patton was surprised by the mutant robbing the jewelry store one night. It was a “right time, right place” circumstance for Patton in that he happened to be there to see them break into the store. And by break in, he meant that they seeped into shadows and appeared on the other side of the windows without breaking anything at all.

Chapter Navigation: one

AO3 Link

“Well this isn’t ideal,” Logan muttered to himself before ducking at another gunshot.

Yes he was being shot at. No this was not according to plan.

If he had the option, Logan would simply use his powers to shove the dumpster he hid behind down the alley and at the angry drug dealers currently shooting at him. There was just one problem.

He didn’t have his glasses.

Telekinesis was certainly a useful and powerful ability, when one could see what and where to move things in the first place.

“Wonderful,” Logan growled to himself. “My greatest weakness: the Velma complex. I should reconsider my thoughts on investing in contact lenses no matter how repulsive the idea is. Then again, it is perfectly suitable for one to be squeamish about foreign objects touching their eyeballs, but I digress. Contacts would not be able to be knocked off so easily from one’s face, and with them one would be able to see where to aim a dumpster at. But jinkies, I’ve lost my glasses. And would you hoodlums stop shooting at me! I am trying to rant, please and thank you.”

“Get out here mutant freak!” one of the shooters yelled from the mouth of the alley.

Logan’s eye twitched. “How polite of you.”

With no other options available and Logan’s patience snapped, he chunked the dumpster down the alley anyway. It would leave him exposed for more time than he was comfortable with, but hopefully his pursuers would be distracted long enough for him to run deeper into the alley system and lose them. Also, for lack of a better term, fuck it.

Logan sprinted at full speed, the sound of gunfire blasting into the night once more. Luckily, he rounded a corner without any bullets hitting him. Beyond the huffing of his breath he could hear the pounding of footsteps following behind.

Objectively, the situation was not good. Logan’s heart thrashed so erratically in his chest at the thought that he might just die here. Adrenaline worked overtime to keep him going, but the world had been reduced to a dark blur and his breaths hitched painfully sharp in his throat.

Logan rounded a corner, scrambling against the brick wall he nearly face-planted into. He picked up the pace when he saw that the end of this particular alley led to somewhere lighter, presumably a street. It’d be more out in the open, giving the gun-wielding criminals the advantage, but there was no going back now.

The yells and pounding steps behind him never stopped. The muscles in his legs burned and threatened to cripple him. Logan cursed himself for not practicing cardio more.

As he reached the mouth of the alley, Logan tripped on something, and next his palms were skinning against the harsh surface of concrete to minimize the damage of his fall. On instinct, Logan rolled over onto his back, ready to use his powers on anything that so much as approached him.

But that’s the thing. Nothing happened.

Over the roaring in his ears and his ragged breathing, Logan squinted at the mass of shadows in the alley, unable to make out anything, sight or sound. There were no more yells, no more gun fire.

Any moment now, one of them would jump out to kill him. He couldn’t let his guard down. His body tensed, a live wire ready to spring into action. All of his senses screamed at him that any second now . . .

Any second . . .

Logan cautiously sat up, gaze never straying from the alley. He didn’t dare hope for a second that his pursuers suddenly lost interest and called off the chase. And the longer he sat there, the more he realized the possibility of a surprise attack from them was also unlikely, given their noisy chase. If anything, they would have ran out and shot him dead.

The fact that Logan wasn’t dead right now meant that something must have gotten to them first.

“Hello?” a voice called out from the alley.

Immediately Logan stiffened. His mind buzzed frantically from thought to thought, unable to settle on anything concise. All he could do was wait until something happened.

“Is that you, Logan?” the voice spoke again, coming closer.

The buzzing in his head stopped. That was his name. This person knew his name.

Friend?

Or foe . . .

A figure finally emerged, completely unrecognizable except that his shape was vaguely human. And tall, much too tall-looking from where Logan sat vulnerably on the ground.

He was half a second away from letting his self-preservation win out and throw this person with his powers, but they said carefully, “Hey, it’s me, Patton, remember?” and the world stopped.

“Patton?” Logan blurted.

The jewelry store. The reaper. The bespectacled man who rode in his car, the one with kindness in his eyes that nearly hid the cleverness underneath.

“It’s really me, kiddo,” came Patton’s reassuring reply. “Guess it’s a small world after all.”

Logan barked out a laugh, caught up in both relief and bemusement. He wanted to flop backwards in an exhausted heap, but he had to know. “My pursuers? What about them?”

“The bad guys with the guns? Oh, I gave them a time-out! Firearms are serious business, and they didn’t even have any carrying permits!”

Logan stared at him incredulously. “You took the time to rifle through their pockets to confirm that?”

Patton’s hands flew up to his mouth in a gasp. “Did you just make a pun?”

“What? No, I mean, at least not intentionally.”

“Well shoot, it sure did seem like it.”

Logan really did flop on his back this time. “I just nearly died and you’re partaking in the lowest form of comedy. Unbelievable.”

Patton leaned over him. This close, Logan could discern an apologetic smile. “Sorry ‘bout that. I’m just glad I managed to cut them off in time.” He held out a hand in offer.

Logan took it and was on his feet quicker than he thought he’d be. Patton steadied him. “Your assistance is appreciated. When you say ‘cut them off’, by that you mean . . .?”

“I uh . . . kinda knocked them out? Don’t worry though! They should be okay after a while. It’s just that I heard the gunfire and came running, and when I saw them chasing someone down I knew I had to act fast.”

“Wait, so you just happened to be in the area?” Logan asked, because surely not . . .

“How else would I have known to come help?” Patton responded, eyes bright with a sincerity that Logan didn’t doubt. While Logan was beside himself processing this, Patton busied himself checking Logan over for injuries. He still had hold of his arms and turned his hands over, palms up. “Logan! Your hands, you’re hurt!”

“Just scratches,” Logan murmured absently.

For days on end, Logan had been tracking down the drug dealers, surveying where they operated, finding them to work out of a shabby motel downtown. And here Patton had just been in the right place at the right time?

Of all the odds . . .

“Patton,” Logan cut him off mid-ramble. Patton trailed off and looked at Logan questioningly, worryingly, his eyes warm in the glow of the street lamp.

“You’re not wearing your glasses,” he stated.

“Indeed. We need to get out of here. Did you happen to drive here, by chance?”

Logan had parked too close to the motel. He had intended to make a quick getaway after putting a stop to the drug dealers. Now it would be a risk to return to it in the event that the authorities had been alerted and were already there (which was highly likely, with that much gunfire giving them away). Thankfully, Patton had parked some streets down in the opposite direction.

“But what about your car?” Patton asked him as they walked at a brisk pace.

“I’ll have to come back for it at another time, when things have quieted.” Logan only hoped that it wouldn’t be broken into or stolen until then. “In the meantime, I shall find alternative transportation to get around.”

“If you think that’s best . . .” Patton conceded reluctantly.

They were traversing through a neighborhood of apartment buildings and homes now. A couple of them had lights on inside, but most were silent and the only other sign of life the two saw was a passing truck.

“So what happened back there?” Patton asked, filling in the silence. “Are you really okay, Logan?”

“Rest assured, I am not injured.” Logan winced after saying that. Now that the adrenaline was easing off, he could feel a throbbing in his head. “Mostly, at least. I had planned to confront those criminals in the motel room that they were running drug deals out of. What I did not account for was the motel manager being involved. They snuck up behind me, distracting me enough that one of them threw something at my head, knocking my glasses off. I could not locate them before I was forced to . . . before I initiated a tactical retreat.”

“You mean ran away?”

Logan scowled and coughed. “While not completely inaccurate, I believe the way I phrased it has better connotations.”

“It’s okay. People waving around guns can be scary,” Patton said, and the way he smiled reminded Logan that he was walking beside someone who probably had worse experiences than what he had faced tonight. With his cheery disposition and his deplorable love of puns, Logan had almost forgotten that Patton was a veteran.

“Quite,” Logan agreed. Curiosity lingered, imploring him to ask Patton about his service time, but he refrained. It would be intrusive.

Resisting temptation, he automatically went to straighten his tie only to drop his hands. While his current attire was more suitable for crime-fighting, he would rather be in his usual business-casual wear than a hoodie and jeans.

He cleared his throat again. “Though your assistance has been most useful tonight, I would typically have been fine managing on my own, if not for my lack of glasses.”

“Wowzers, that must be tough. I can’t even imagine not being able to see well enough to get around.”

Logan looked at him in deep confusion. “What are you talking about? We’re the same, or even if you are closer to twenty-twenty than I am, we are still in a similar state.”

Patton just stared at him with a ‘huh?’ expression, completely lost. Surely he was joking.

“Patton, you wear corrective lenses the same as I do. Therefore, it should not be all that hard to imagine yourself in my situation.”

It dawned on him slowly, the dots connecting one by one. Patton stopped walking and blinked at nothing, eyes wide. Then in a flurry of over-dramatic gestures, he laughed and talked fast. “Oh right! Completely forgot there for a sec, so used to wearing my glasses. Yep, can’t see a thing without them!”

Logan said nothing, but he couldn’t shake the distinct notion that Patton was lying. It would be an innocuous thing to lie about, so why would he? And yet, it reminded Logan of that night they first met when Patton denied being a mutant. There was something about his mannerisms, a vague thing that Logan loathed himself for not being able to pin down. He worked best with concrete evidence, but he couldn’t deny that Patton struck a familiar cord in him.

After all, when Logan wasn’t out patrolling the city at night, he pretended to be an ordinary citizen as well.

The two vigilantes made it out intact that night. To be sure that the police located the drug dealers left in the alley, Logan phoned in an anonymous tip. Patton gave him a ride home. More than that, he gave him his number.

“It’s good to have friends at your back, and we make a good team. Don’t ya think?” Patton offered with a wink and a smile.

They weren’t friends. Not really. Allies would be a closer term to what they truly were. And in this line of business, even those could be a liability.

Then again, if he learned anything that night, his own shortcomings could leave him at risk. And he’d rather not experience such a blind panic ever again.

Patton’s number found a place in his contact list. Logan told himself that this would be the alternative to contact lenses.

Weeks went by, crime in the city ensued, and Logan and Patton faced it together more often than not. As Patton had said before, they did indeed make a good team. While Logan had a knack for tactics, Patton was startlingly adept at reading people. More than once Logan had watched him disarm people by words alone.

“Do you have powers of persuasion?” Logan asked at one point.

Patton laughed as if he had told a good joke. “No, I’m just a dad.”

It frustrated Logan. Because for one, Patton had no biological children to speak of. For another, Patton’s true power continued to elude Logan, leaving nothing but inklings for him to trail clumsily after. When he had initially begun crime fighting, it had been out of a strong sense of justice and the ability to do something about it. Nowadays, Logan chased after the mystery Patton presented for him. If he paid attention, he’d notice when Patton slipped up.

When the time came, it wasn’t so much that Patton slipped up.

Logan had been grocery shopping when it happened. He perused the fresh produce, almost absently answering his phone.

“Logan!” Patton said before he had a chance to greet him. It had only been one word, but it was hurried and frantic.

The produce immediately lost all his attention. This was more important. “What’s wrong, Patton?”

“Hartview Bridge, possible bombing, too far away to confirm yet. I’m almost there, where are you?”

A . . . terrorist attack? Patton sounded as if he were running, running straight to the potential terrorist attack. There had been a potential terrorist attack and Logan just stood there, staring at zucchini, wondering where he fit into all this.

Still processing, Logan answered mechanically, “I’m at the grocery, the Miller’s Fresh Foods on Second Street.”

“Good, that’s not too far. Hurry, Logan.”

Logan shook his head, brows furrowed. “Why? What can we do? It’s the middle of the day. Surely the proper authorities are already handling it. We would just out ourselves—”

“Oh my God,” Patton gasped, cutting him off. Logan knew that it wasn’t because of what he had been saying. Ice prickled in his stomach.

“Patton? Patton, what happened?”

“It’s collapsed, the bridge, I see it,” he responded, voice thick with emotion. “Parts are still collapsing, they’re falling in—”

A rush of background noise filtered through. Then the line went dead.

Logan abandoned his shopping cart without a second thought and booked it to his car. He didn’t even put on his seat belt. He floored it through traffic. Any cops that would have pulled him over for speeding were already speeding themselves. But closer to the river where the bridge crossed, a wall of traffic halted any more progress. Logan couldn’t see much from here, but other people were getting out of their vehicles or running down the sidewalk, some away and some towards the bridge. Logan jumped out as well.

The sun was shining bright, not a cloud in the sky, mocking in its ideality. There were people everywhere, many of them pulling out their phones to record the chaos. There would be nowhere to hide here, not like he was used to during his nightly patrols.

But Patton was up there, and if he waited any longer the police would section off the entrance in a security perimeter.

Pedestrians either ducked out of his way or were pushed through. Logan didn’t have time for politeness. As he neared the bridge, he could see where vehicles had crashed into each other, some of them toppled, some on fire, creating a mess of mazes and barriers. Up towards the halfway point, the overarching steel beams had collapsed where the bridge caved in, making the structure look as if a giant hand had smashed down through the center.

Logan didn’t realize he had stopped running to take it all in. He’d never seen such chaos and destruction. Smoke filled the air and people ran past him in various states of injured. He swallowed roughly, forcing himself to stay composed.

Muffled yelling broke through to him. Nearby, a damaged car sat. The driver’s side door was bent from some form of impact (a collision with another vehicle?), and the woman behind the window beat frantically to get his attention.

Logan ran over to it, stumbling over debris. He tried the handle, but the door was too damaged.

He cursed. Now that he was here, there was no choice.

“Lean back!” he yelled to her so that she could hear him. She did as told, too scared to do otherwise.

It would be too risky to mess with the glass. Logan held his hands up, focusing on the seam of metal where it should open. A wave of blue-green energy washed over it. He balled his glowing hand into a fist and yanked with all his might, forcing the door to open, almost tearing it from its hinges. The woman screamed, covering her face with her right arm. The left one was held against her as if hurt.

“Can you walk?” Logan asked, willing away the light from his eyes so as not to scare her further. She looked at him, shakily nodding. “Good. Here—”

He helped her stand, and once she had her feet under her, she gave him a watery smile. “Thank you,” she said before fleeing as fast as she could off the bridge.

Logan picked his way through the wreckage, yelling for Patton when he could but becoming quickly distracted each time his help was needed. A group of people were trying to move rubble off an unconscious man. Logan moved it with his powers. A car exploding sent shrapnel flying. Logan sent a wave of force to push someone down before they could be decapitated, and at the same time he caught a child before they fell through the bridge’s broken railing to the river below. One of the steel arches above groaned and snapped with a horrible shudder. Logan threw up his hands, wrapping the broken beam in light. The weight of it proved to be too much, but he managed to slow its heavy descent enough and maneuver it to fall safely.

One thing after the other, Logan saved whoever he could and prevented further injury when possible. Surprisingly, the first responders neither feared nor stopped him. In fact, they grasped that he was there to help and soon were directing him to where he was needed next. At one point, a firefighter hopped onto the bed of a truck, waving his arms to get his attention.

“Over here! Mutant guy, over here!” he yelled, and Logan followed. He had been gravitating towards the middle of the bridge all this time, where a sizeable chunk had caved in and nothing but empty space lingered. For the first time, Logan got an unobscured view of it.

The road ended in an abrupt jagged edge, pieces of it still crumbling off. On the other side of the gap, there was just as much disorder and people trying to survive.

“LOGAN!” a voice screamed, jarring him out of his shock.

He looked to his right where a city bus had plowed through the railing. The length of it was almost entirely over the edge, the back of it held up only by Patton himself. He gripped it underneath and somehow kept it from tipping over. His biceps bulged from the effort. Patton’s feet dug into the ground, leaving behind warped tracks as he was pulled forward minutely.

Patton’s glasses were cracked and a line of blood seeped down his face from a cut on his temple. His eyes were pleading. “I can’t hold it.”

However strong Patton truly was (and it was now apparent that it was supernatural), he couldn’t pull the bus up.

Surging into action, Logan held up his hands. His telekinesis, while strong enough to lift a dumpster, couldn’t lift something as heavy as a bus. Not alone, that is. With his powers and Patton’s superior strength, they managed to pull the bus backwards, inch by painful inch, until all of its wheels sat on a stable surface. The first responders dove in after that, helping people off the bus and escorting them to safety.

Both he and Patton were panting from their combined effort, hands on knees bent over as they tried to catch their breaths.

“Not a mutant, huh?” Logan gasped out.

Patton sent him a tired glare. “Lo . . . shut your ever-flapping gob smacker.”

Logan snorted, but agreed that now wasn’t really the time to have this conversation. Not with people dying and everyone starting to look to them for answers.

“Oh, would ya look at that bird,” Patton commented, and Logan stood up straight to see a helicopter hovering in the near distance. A news helicopter, filming everything including them.

He groaned. “You do realize that we’ll never be able to return to our regular lives now, don’t you?”

Patton pulled off his glasses and tossed them aside carelessly. He didn’t squint after, proving that he never truly needed them. He stood there proudly, hands on hips and back straight.

“It’s a little scary, isn’t it?” he grinned, bumping shoulders with Logan. “But I don’t regret it. How ‘bout you, partner?”

“I regret many things,” Logan deadpanned, making the other laugh.

“That’s the spirit!” Patton clapped him on the back. “Handle things on this side, okay kiddo? They look like they could use some help over there.”

“What do you . . .” Logan began in confusion before Patton performed a running leap over the broken gap, launching himself high into the air before landing safely on the other side.

Logan adjusted his tie, disgruntled.

“Incredible. He calls me ‘kiddo’ and then proceeds to yeet himself over a broken bridge. I am a grown man, you know.”

He turned away to get back to work.

tag list: @spectralheartt @a-pastel-pan @merlybird500 @mirror2thespirit (let me know if you want to be added or removed from the tag list)

#I guess I'm writing a full story now?#because I was inspired and hate myself #and people seemed to like this au?#gee wiz #sanders sides #superhero au #patton #patton sanders #logan #logan sanders #virgil #virgil sanders #writing #fanfiction #vairants

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noonmutter · 5 years

Text

I Want a New Duck

( Immediately following the events laid out here ... )

Inventory day was not Rhodryn’s favorite day, but neither was it her least favorite. Customers could be vile creatures in need of a few days with no tongue, but they could also be bundles of sweetness as capable of brightening one's day as any pastry in the shop, if you let them. But inventory day was quiet, and rewarding, and now that the shop's owner had returned, it was guaranteed to be an easy day in pleasant company, doing little more than looking for places missed in the regular cleanup.

Or it usually was. Today might not be so pleasant, to judge by the rambling voice of her employer drifting back from the storeroom.

"...still too bloody riled. I din't--Darlain said if, if I was fixatin'--this's def'nitely fixatin'--if I was fixatin' an' I'd already run outta mad an' there was nobody around an'--this's def'nitely fixatin'. So I'm fixatin'. That's wrong. Somethin's wrong. Cuz I got played? ... no. Not now, tha's not it. Why th'fuck're you still mad day after, bruv..?"

So the ren’dorei put on her gear with the ingrained stealth of decades of servitude, and listened. She was not particularly intent on spying, but what was there to drown him out in the empty shop when she was scrubbing the floor?

At least he wasn't just babbling in there, to judge by the sound of boxes and bags shuffling back and forth and his boots clicking across the floor. "...so she'n'er guy invite you up, an' that's fine, we're fine, s'great, an' then there's idle dumb chatter an' that's fine too, tell 'em th' dumb stories, good laughs, all's great...when’d we start talkin' about my arse? ...well they liked my arse anyway..."

Everyone likes your arse, idiot; it's a good arse. She worked intently at a particularly stubborn stain in a floorboard under the edge of a cabinet, though she was becoming suspicious that it was not chocolate, as she had always assumed, but something more like blood. What had been going on in this shop lately?

It could very well have been blood! ...up till it finally worked loose enough to peel back, and reveal itself as some form of fossilized berry sauce. At least, it had probably been berries... it was sauce, anyway. Blood didn't... stretch... like that.

"...good a time as any t'mention th' missuses, right, nat'ral part o' th'talkin', chattin' about ev'rythin'...she's gotta rule 'bout married men, fine, 'ear tha' plenty, so nah, ours is open, they like 'earin' stories later anyway, but she's got 'er rule so fine, Iggy's still comin' at me...least I think 'e is, gods only know now--no, no, that's uncharitable..."

Could be meatjuice, that could get a bit stretchy. Should be able to smell - Light's sake, did I really just sniff ancient--

”--still comin’ at me--” Her ears perked up in surprise, and then back down low as she scowled hard. Someone had threatened her boss? And just like that, he had her full attention, halfway through peeling mystery gunk off the floor.

"--'ave t'call it a hamhock? yeah 'e was tryin't'be flat'rin' but hamhock? ... gettin' off-track. 'E 'as a lovely 'amhock of 'is own anyway, tha' wasn't a problem, stop that... wierd word choices are not th' issue, Leon, stop. Stop."

For a little bit, he was quiet, apparently forcing himself to actually take a break from his odd little conversation and do work a bit more efficiently. The mystery gunk briefly gave off a faint stench of scotch gone horribly awry, but that might've been her mind playing tricks.

Leon was messing with his adding machine by the time he started talking again, so he'd clearly made something resembling progress.

"She's still comin' at me right along with 'im, but she's got rules about married men... din't stop 'er any, did it? But I come at 'er back, I'll be th' prick, won't I... an' dammit Iggy's all about it, too... damn fine kisser fer a clown, tha' man..."

Oh. Not threats. How this man loved to abuse his language's idioms... She relaxed and resumed peeling. It couldn't be scotch, scotch wouldn't peel like this. Unless he'd made a sauce of it...

All this grumbling and anger over flirting? That can't truly be the whole of it…

"...got rules about married men, don't y', but yer fine teasin'em after th' fact...cruel thin', y'were speakin' plain an' I were speakin' plain an' then y'still go go go..."

She sighed silently and rubbed at her forehead with the back of her hand.

You're better than this, Mister Ambroce. Please be better than this.

A brief pause, and then a soft thump, most likely his fist on his desk. "All that an' Iggy too! Again th' guy's a wash! Augh!"

The void elf rose to her feet, took a deep breath, and said, "You are an idiot."

"F--!" There was an awfully loud bang and ruckus in that storeroom. A few seconds later, Leon's head peeked around the doorframe at floor level. Spooked horses looked less rattled than he did in that moment. "...Rhodryn?"

The effect of arching a single brow was magnified when that brow was about three times as long as a human’s and trailed shadows from the tip as it moved. She turned away from him, going to wash her hands. "That sounded painful. Do you need healing?"

"No...no." There was a resigned sigh in his voice. He had very quickly learned not to expect any sort of sympathy from her, not that he'd hoped for it anyway. "Mostly th' chair scuffed up th' wall."

No sympathy, but she did offer a hand up once her hands were no longer sticky. "Good. Did that knock some sense into you, or am I going to have to do it?"

Blinking owlishly up at her, he reached up to take the hand almost on autopilot. "What?... why're you even here?"

"It is inventory day, is it not?"

"I..." Grimacing, Leon got to his feet, and brushed off several large dust bunnies from his shirt. "...Sorry. I thought it was earlier." Because it was either that, or admit he'd forgotten he had a manager again. His memory had been unreliable ever since his brain took a vacation in Kul Tiras.

"I always come in early." She patted his shoulder and went to retrieve her cleaning rag. "However, it sounded like you had distracted yourself, so I will forgive you the oversight."

Around people, she nearly always had a pleasant little smile on an otherwise inexpressive face, which made her difficult to read. Now, though, he heard the grin in her voice as she teased him. Though he'd heard her no-customers-all-day voice before, it was rare. He was even less familiar with her being openly amused at him. A bit of a mental rewind as he rubbed the shoulder that'd been briefly pinned between his chair and the wall reminded him of what had started it. "...an' 'o's an idiot, exactly?"

"You and I are the only two people here, and I was not ranting to a sack of flour about flirting that didn't go my way."

So rare to get Leon to the point of fish-mouthing, and yet look at him go, jaw dropping and closing again with an audible clack. After his skin had already taken on a couple extra shades of red, he looked away and grumbled, "Wasn't rantin'. It's a de-escalation exercise. ...S'posed t'ave a duck."

"You do not have a duck. You have an elf, capable of asking questions, such as, 'What is so wrong with aimless flirting that you are so angry at these people?'"

He almost groaned, but stopped himself at the last moment. As a side note, expressions normally accompanied by the groan of someone who sincerely wished they could disappear through a floor that are not accompanied by a groan are very silly-looking. "Y'were list'nin'."

"It was difficult to not."

Desperate for something to do with his hands and, coincidentally, also wanting to hide his still-flaming face, Leon turned and headed for the pastry cases and the cabinets underneath them, pulling his notepad out of his back pocket. "Aimless flirtin's not a problem."

With a sigh, she returns to her hunt for dirt. "What made you think it was not aimless?"

He knelt in front of the cabinet just as she asked that, and there was a clunk as he accidentally cracked his knuckle on the edge of the door. Really? This was what she wanted to express interest in? "...some people think it's fun t'flirt with a guy t'make 'im look stupid."

"Some people just like to flirt."

"An' that's fine! Flirtin's fun if ev'rybody's clear onnit! But not after y'say it's not gonna 'appen!"

Rho stopped hunting under the tables and stood so she could look at him, head cocked to one side. "That is what I don't understand. She said it was not going to happen - that is what 'rules about married men' means, yes? Would that not make it aimless flirting, with a stated lack of intent to follow through?"

The cabinet door thunked shut. "I put it plain I woulda liked t'roll with 'er, she put it plain she wouldn't be rollin' with me. Keeps right on goin' after me an' not just with words, so does 'er buddy. Y'think that's okay?"

She stared, and then blinked slowly. "I do not flirt, and this conversation makes me more grateful for that choice by the second. Let me make certain I understand. You told her, plainly, that you would like to sleep with her, she told you plainly she would not sleep with you because you are married, yet she and her friend continued to flirt and... prevented you from leaving?"

"What?" Finally, he looked up at her. "No, o' course not."

Rho crossed her arms and drummed her fingers against her cheek, then held out her hand in a ‘stop’ gesture. "Wait. What rules?"

"Wha' d'you mean?"

"Her rules about married men. What are they? I assumed she meant 'no married men,' because that is my rule about married men."

He started to answer, but his face fell just slightly as the words "That's what I figured, yeah" came out of his mouth. Finally, the gears appeared to be turning. "She din't want wives comin' after 'er, she said."

"That is my reasoning, as well. That is not a problem in your situation. Your situation that you are very happy to talk about at length. As such, you would be an exception to that rule."

"Yeah, an' I said tha', an'--" He paused, and slowly looked up at the ceiling. The gears reached full speed, and ground through a particularly stubborn chunk of rust that dislodged with such force that he sighed. He’d gone and made assumptions and hadn’t caught himself and it’d bitten him and he’d totally failed to notice until it was too late. "...first of all, Rhodryn, yer now my duckie. Second of all, please slap me upside th'ead."

Rho blinked again, then crossed the room and slapped him upside the head. "Never call me your duckie again."

He asked her to do it, so while surprised that she did do it, he made no attempt to stop her, only rubbing gently at the spot once she'd done it. "Yes'm."

"Now. How will you set this right?"

"I'm...fuck." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fuck I'm so bloody stupid... Mngh. Apologize, obviously, but'm not sure 'ow."

"What apology would you have accepted if they had been wrong?"

"That's--well, yeah, that's a trick too, but tha's not what I meant, actually." Walking back into the storeroom for a moment, he brought her a flyer from the Ironforge Craft Fest, where he'd circled 'Sarah Hadley' on the list of entertainers. "Aside from askin' 'er sister, which is grossly inappropriate I'm sure I don't need t'tell you, I'm not sure 'ow t'get in touch."

She took the flyer and stared at the name for a moment, again drumming her fingers on her cheek. "Why is it grossly inappropriate to ask where you should deliver an apology?"

"It's-- Iunno, is it a social etiquette thin' fer elves at all, not goin' through a middleman fer pers'nal matters?"

She peered at him. "Are you speaking of having the sister deliver the apology, while I am speaking of asking the sister for... 'Sarah's' location?"

"No. Just th' latter." For all that Leon was a worldly man, he was frequently painfully Gilnean. Even Vember would’ve been hard-pressed not to laugh at him.

"I see no reason it should be inappropriate, as long as you only tell the sister that you need to deliver an apology, not what it is for." Rho handed the flyer back. "If speaking to her bothers you overmuch, what options do you see other than asking the sister for Sarah's contact information?"

Leaning against the counter, he stared at the flyer and bit his lip. "...mmf. I spose there's tha'."

"You could wait and hope you see her again. I do not think you would like to let this gnaw at you for that long, though. You could hire someone to find her, but you would have to phrase your explanation very carefully if that is discovered. Or, you could ask the sister, perhaps provide her a token of appreciation for her help, and get this behind you."

"She's gonna punch me." Wry laugh. "Prolly deserve a couple more o' those."

"If you reacted harshly in public, yes, you do deserve a few punches."

"...less 'arshly an' more... um... well, I kin think o' plenty of other less charitable words than tha'.” Childishly, foolishly... was bitchily a word? Bitchily seemed like a good word. “But yeah." Brain finally settled into something resembling a course of action, Leon sighed. “Thank you.”

"Of course." Rhodryn bowed her head slightly, and went back to cleaning, taking the thank-you as a dismissal.

Hours later, as they checked each others’ final counts for accuracy, Leon burst out laughing when he got to the end of her overstock list. ‘One (1) too many romantic fools who have apologies to make.’

( @dwyndel @darbiebot @tirasiansails @tirasiantrouper )

#modified chatlogs #collab #leon #rhodryn #the cookbook

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sjru · 6 years

Text

[Blog] Bday wishes, whereabouts, etc

Ding ding, is that time of the year for me again! The time where I ramble about my upcoming birthday and whatnot.

I recon I "could have" writen more blogs in this year, but the reality of which is that I feel more compelled to write when I feel slightly down and I want to rant about something.

This time I don't feel down or want to rant about something 'particular' but more about talking this year whereabouts and wishes.

You see, from last year to this year, I DID have several wishes accomplished, some very good actually~ and fortunately that made my mood to be overall much better and have a somewhat better perspective on my own life itself.

It could be much better, however. It could have been MUCH better, and that comes with regret.

Regret of past choices, because now I focus on art, I could have, focused on art before but instead I chosed another path when I just got out of high school that did not end up being the path in the end I wanted and I literally wasted almost 5 years of my life.

Had I have the same drive at that time right now I would be much ahead and instead of playing "catch up" I would be just at the same level of the art pals I get inspiration from (And often sadly treat me like an NPC instead of an equal).

Sadly I did not. There's nothing much you can do about the past I guess, is not like you can go back or something and change things for the best (I would certainly go in bitcoins ahha). And while, yes, I recon I look back to the past and ramble too much time about the "what ifs" specially when I go to sleep, (I know I spend at least 30 mins rambling in the bed with my mind, I shouldn't do that).

Yes, I have to look into the future, I guess. For better or worse, if I compare myself to peers of my age I am what you can call a borderline "loser". Because, in theory I don't have a formal job (Does freelancing a lil count ?), no friends IRL I can hang out with (Well I know people but they never want to do something <.> !!) aaaand in a 'somewhat small town' that is too far away from everyone I relate to be feasible visitations without a vacation size budget. (Which I don't have, mind you I am not rich!)

No, I don't know how to drive (I could have if I wanted or needed, but I don't, there's good transportation on this 'lil town'). And yes I live in a comfortable place. So there's not any sort of urgency or whatever the like unlike many friends I have that do have issues and I don't want to sound petty or anything so I don't complain about how things are here.

Because yes, being in a relatively comfortable place and situation does make me sound entitled or petty if I dare to desire something such as visiting friends that live far away. Or does it? I dunno, I guess my goals from now are somewhat set on

Getting better at art

Getting an actualy active art pals group that I can relate, learn from, help and chill with. Online and IRL if possible

Actually getting noticed by those that admire and I want to learn from and not being just an afterthought NPC that's too cheerful usually and annoying.

Somehow manage to visit those friends that live a lil far away and I'd love to meet anyways like in a con? (I mean I'd love that)

Getting a real group of friends that I actualyl feel comfortable with doing voice or other activities, art or not, that's something I haven't really achieved or have.

For short/long term material goals I think for now I am pretty much satisfied; mostly?

Getting the GPU that got fried properly repaired is a priority for sure, otherwise save up and buy a new one, along with new PC parts.

I have an Ipad that I managed to save up by drawing lines, so my another desire of a somewhat cintiq thing done. (It's not perfect but I like it so far with that duet display app, it "works" let's say the least)

So I guess that ultimately would be a way to go to a con, and that's pretty much it, for sure I'd like a new phone down the line haha, mine's getting really short on battery life lately, like 1 hour or so it lasts! Crazy! And it has a cracked screen so... (While I love the latest tech gear I am not really convinced about dropping dunno how much on the latest sanmsung and geeze the latest iphone is more than a thousand haha)

Anyways, if you managed to read up till here (Without skipping), you are either genuinely interested on what I'm saying, just care enough to do so or dunno, maybe I am an interesting dragon after all?

I'd say this cuz, despite what others may think, I am not talked to by that many people, I'm never at the point of being overwhelmed with chats and unable to haggle everyone. This is important cuz I heard some ppl are maybe, dunno, afraid of "bothering me"? I am usually the one that bothers so if you feel like that don't worry XD I don't bite (But I feel that if you aren't into the things I am into probably I won't be able to relate to you that much, sorry 'bout that :v.

So yeah, closing notes, yes my birthday is this 28th november and I'll be going to brazil (Yeahh!!) for a week, since 2003 I don't go there... mind you, long time <.>.

And via bus, wish it would be via plane, I never been into a plane... (Or seen snow uwu). I have some friends on brazil, shame they can't go to the place I am going cuz it's far away, bleh. There's so many ppl I would like to give a hug and talk a lil.

Last words, I know I can 'be a lil annoying' and a tad hyper with some ppl, and ultimately anxious if I see they read a message and don't end up replying on a messenger like telegram. Yass, I know, blabla. A weakness of mine. Can't help up getting paranoid when other ppl actually just been actively ignoring me and y'know it gets kinda hard to not wonder if you did something to upset that person or not that you don't get a proper reply at all.

But if I DO get annoying just let me know, I'll try to tone it down, if it's your workflow or things you do. I do understand, I know I am not perfect and I don't pretend to be, but I had too many bad experiences from ppl that did these things to me that it gets a sour tate on my mouth of doing the exact same thing again that I am trying to avoid.

The same way I am tolerant and I try to understand others that have certain issues, I expect a reasonable same treatment uwu. (FYI I never block people, noone on twitter, telegram, shame not everyone shares the mantra of "the block button is to stop dedicated harrassment" not a 'I win discussion" button.)

So yeah haha, that's pretty much it for now, probably I would end up writing when I'm back from the vacation thing? Would have been my bday and all that sazz.... I AM bad with dates so I don't really expect ppl to remember mine bday unless I actually broadcast it somewhat frequently so there you go. I do usually forget other's dates. I am not a bad person okay xd, too much things to keep up with uwu.

If for whatever reason you want to gift me something, I prefer non material gifts like art, stuff that you can actually share with others =3. Not games! I already have enough of those haha. (I get stuck with Stellaris anyways). But of course, a nice lil message makes my day ^^. And if you forget ,that's fine too, I do forget stuff too, don't feel bad if you do!. I know you don't hate me! (I hope hah...)♫

So thanks for reading this up, I guess this ended up sounding more personal? That's not bad right? Oh and yeah, I'll make a new ref of me. Yes I'd do 4 fingers, lil toony dragon~. And a feral version. That's all!

#about me #blog post #blog #journal

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