#because at the point that five left they probably were still in that building awareness of how fucked up their lives were

[its-ya-boi-kaz]

Memories

(a kaz x inej fanfic/fluff/1201 words)

Summary :

Kaz buys a house for Captain Ghafa of the Seas, Freer of Slaves, treasure of his heart.

She is sitting on the same windowsill she had sat on five years ago. Her thick, black eyelashes are fanned across her cheeks and she has braided her hair into a tight coil, the same way she used to five years ago. A welcome memory comes to Kaz, like a dusty glass pane wiped clean, and he could finally see what was on the other side. He could finally see what he had never allowed himself to think upon, until now. A memory so deep tucked into his heart that he had almost lost it.

But now he remembers, he had sat in this same chair and looked at her sitting on the same windowsill and he had heard her laugh and thought if he could've bottled the sound and got drunk on it every night, he would have. It terrified him. Five years ago.

Now, instead of his spider, there is the Queen of The Seas, Freer of Slaves, the fearsome Captain Ghafa. And Inej. Inej who never left behind her faith even when her saints were cruel. Inej who had seen the world in all its endless ugliness and still smiles like she holds nothing but love in her heart. Knowing her, she probably does. And a fraction of it, Kaz flatters himself, is for him.

"Kaz?" Inej's voice snaps him out of his merry daydream and he fumbles for an believable excuse.

"Hmm?"

"You're staring. I asked you what you were staring at."

"There was a crow behind you," Kaz says, and then mentally winces at his inability to think correctly around her.

She laughs, and even years later, Kaz wants to bottle the sound and get drunk on it every night. Though, it terrifies him no more. And he realizes that, without her, this room was too familiar yet so entirely different.

Something clicks inside his head, and Kaz walks over to her. He looks out to the locked up windows of every building in sight. From the corner of his eye, he sees Inej follow his gaze.

"That's because of you," Kaz says.

"What is?"

"The locks. They knew you were coming." Inej looks back to the windows, new steel glinting gold in the sun's light.

"What about old man Mikhael?" she asks, looking at him as though she wants to know if he still remembers. He does. A clerk who made girls stolen from their homes and didn't know Kerch sign wavers of slavery, who got his fingers cut in half one by one by a certain Suli girl.

"He finally repaired his broken pane that has been leaking buckets every rain for three years," Kaz states smugly. The news of the Wraith returning had spread throughout Ketterdam like a wildfire. The barrel bosses and corrupt businessmen have all heard of ships that depart for slaves and come back piled with bodies to be taken to the morgue. As much as they don't admit it, they're afraid. They take precautions against any movement in the shadows. All but one. The lone leader of the Dregs hears their frightened whispers and has to fight the urge to grin.

He is suddenly aware of a weight against his chest. He sees Inej with her gaze turned towards the sunset, though he knows she isn't quite watching. Something in him recoils, but this time, he won't be the foolish boy who thought he had nothing to lose. This time, he doesn't push her away. Instead, he closes his eyes and feels her small figure againt his chest. Her elbow, punctuating a toned arm, jutting slightly beneath his ribs.

And then, maybe out of desire or simple curiosity, he puts his －ungloved－ hand over hers. The poison rises again to his throat, but this time, he has the antidote. He needs to hear her voice, so he asks,

"Do you see that house over there?"

"Which one?" Inej inquires, after a moment of silence. Kaz closes his hand over hers and points somewhere with her index finger. He then has a foolish thought that he can hear her heartbeat.

Inej turns her head to where Kaz is pointing. A house not quite far from the Slat, of adequate space with a small garden up front lined with －from what she could make out－ bushes of wild geraniums. It wasn't there when she had last been here, but it was a lovely house.

"It is ours," Kaz rasps above her.

"What?" she jerks her head up, narrowly missing his chin.

"I mean that I payed for it, but it's in your name," Kaz affirms, still looking at the house instead of her.

"Why? Kaz, why would you- you know i-" he suddenly feels like he is being interrogated, which is not a good feeling for him.

"For when you come ba- when you come to visit." He knew what this meant, but that didn't stop him from saying, "We can't have all of our memories on windowsills and makeshift desks."

Memories. That is what he was asking for, memories of her, memories with her, memories of her and him together. He senses her gaze burning through him, acknowledging the weight of what he had asked her. As he breathes in the scent of the oils she rubs in her hair, he wonders when exactly did she steal his heart, that he had not even known existed. Or rather, when did he offer it to her on a silver platter.

He wonders when did she give him the knife to carve the beating organ out of his chest and present it to her. Was it when she snuck up to him in the Menagerie catching him by surprise for the first and last time? Or when he found her bleeding on top of a crate, ready to die by her own blade? Was it when he was drowning and fighting for breath and his only thought was her? Or when he first brushed his lips against the pulse in her neck in the lush bathroom of the Ketterdam suite? Because when she looks at him with such tender eyes and sweet smile, he knows his heart is there, right in the palm of her hand.

"You built that for me?" The same tender eyes are now flooded to the waterline.

"Yes," Kaz replies.

"Brick by brick?"

He stares at her, stupefied. Then, out of nowhere, laughter erupts from him. It starts in his chest, a giddy feeling, making its way up his throat until he laughs more genuinely than he has ever. She starts to laugh, too. Her voice thick with tears combining with his hoarse, raspy one.

His laughter dies down and he regards Inej while he allows a small smile to stay on his face. Her grin has softened into something so delicate that it might shatter if he didn't shield it with his own lips.

Their eyes meet in the red glow of the dying sun, and Kaz glimpses something so golden, unrestrained, and bright he thinks he might go blind. He leans forward to press his lips briefly on top of her hair. For a moment, he is just a boy whose girl has come to visit.

#this is my first fic #so yeah #six of crows #crooked kingdom #soc #ck #six of crows duology #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #inej gafha #kaz x inej #soc inej #inej x kaz #six of crows inej #kaz brekker x inej ghafa #soc kaz #kanej headcanon #kanej fic #kanej fluff #kanej fanfiction #kanej #kaz x inej fanfic #kaz x inej fluff #soc fanfic #six of crows fanfic

[disaster-biraven]

The Lazarus Problem Chapter 3

Jasonette Ch1 Ch2 Ch3(you are here) Ch4

Ao3 Dedicated to @girl-in-thechair

Marinette didn’t forget, per say, to try and find Jason. It’s just dealing with the Bats takes a lot of attention, and she was afraid of what she’d find. Tikki would call it procrastinating, but Marinette calls it protecting her sanity. It was still bugging her, and it seemed like she was seeing him everywhere. Once she thought she saw him in the background of a video about the latest Wayne Gala, and another time could have sworn he was outside a coffee shop near Wayne Enterprise. Marinette convinced herself in was a reflection or something, cause no one was around by the time she made it outside.

Once she finally got around to looking up his name, she almost cried at how easy it was. Jason had managed to get adopted by Bruce Wayne, of course he did. While she vaguely knew about Bruce Wayne and that he adopts kids, the last time she was in Gotham there was only one. And she didn’t try and keep up with that in Paris, Marinette was busy building a new life. Looking at the timeline, he was adopted really soon after they had been separated. Reaching out to them wouldn’t be easy, much less trying to run into him. ~

Her answer to her problem came in the form of a commission request a week later. She had finally opened them up again after finishing her move. Tim Drake had reached out for the whole Wayne family, needing clothes for the next charity gala. He was a big fan of MDC and had always wanted to commission her. Apparently Tikki’s luck was still working for her.

After reaching out and setting up an appointment, all Marinette was left with was nerves about the meeting with the Bats. But she had found Jason and the two sources of the Lazarus pits. So now all she had to do was reconnect with Jason, and then convince hyper-paranoid vigilantes that she was there to help. Fun.

The meeting with the Bats was setting to take place on Wayne Enterprise, the tallest building around. Most likely to keep random Gothamites from seeing most of the Bat family and an unknown meeting at 2am. It seemed like Lyca had gotten there first, but she knew better. At least one person was surveying the area, and it was only a matter of time til the rest got there.

Sure enough, five minutes later the faint sound of boots hit the gravel. She turns to face Batman and Red Hood. While the Bat sizes her up, Red Hood decided to make introductions.

“Batman meet Lyca, Lyca this is Batman. Uh, and you both already know me…”

“How do we know you really mean to help with the Lazarus pits? You very well could be a spy sent from the League of Assassins?” Batman waits impatiently for her to answer, probably so he can continue interrogating her.

“Do you know Ladybug and Chat Noir? And that they have Miraculous that they used?” Lyca points to her necklace, “I have the Fox Miraculous. I wasn’t Rena Rouge, but I did help the heroes in Paris. Now that Hawkmoth has been stopped, Gotham is the most unbalanced place. And how I can best help with that is helping you with the Lazarus pits.”

As expected, bringing up the Miraculous threw Batman off. She was aware that the Justice League had been looking for her. One of the reasons they hadn’t found her yet was because of the Miraculous magic, and her luck. If partly revealing herself help gain their trust, so be it. She could see the cogs in Batman’s head switch gears.

“I’ve been trying to get into contact with Ladybug, would you be willing to help with that?”

“She is already aware of that, the most I can do is pass along a message.” She wasn’t ready to step back into the earrings, and she figured this would at least get him of her back for now. Red Hood then spoke up,

“How would you even help with the Lazarus pits? I mean, I believe you but we’ve already looked into healing it and hit a dead end.”

“The pits were originally made by a wish using the cat and ladybug miraculouses. Ladybug and Chat Noir have given me the tools necessary to reverse the effects. I can delve more into it closer to when we actually do it.”

Red Hood seemed to accept that. Batman, however, seemed to still have some hang ups.

“I will reach out to Wonderwomen, and look into the fox miraculous. She may want to meet you.” Lyca nodded.

“That’s reasonable, if you want to reach me use this,” She handed Red Hood a phone Max invented that could connect to the miraculous and the Kwamis. “It’s untraceable both ways, and reaches me directly.” She didn’t feel the need to mention she could trace it if she really needed to. In case she ever needed to get the phone back, if it fell into the wrong hands.

Batman obviously wanted to ask more questions, but Marinette needed to go. Her consultation with Tim Drake was early in the morning and she had a lot of prepping to do.

“It was really nice meeting you Batman, but I’ll have to answer the rest of your questions another day.” Before he can respond she calls for Mirage and silently returns home. ~

Jason stared up at the ceiling as he laid back on the couch, waiting for his fitting with the designer Tim had obsessed over for ever. Tim and Bruce had already gone, while Dick was currently in there. Everyone had decided it was best for Damian to go last, so Jason was up next. The phone Lyca had given him was in his pocket, true to her word it was untraceable. Both Tim and Barbra had tried, when it was decided that magic had been used in the process of making it and they called it a night. Jason didn’t allow himself to feel hopeful that he could be cured, as it still felt to good to be true.

“Jason? It’s your turn.” Dick said as he popped his head into the library.

“Thanks, be right there.”

“Great, I’m going to go prep Damian. Try and bribe him to not insult or maim her.” And with that Dick disappeared.

Jason swung his legs over the edge of the couch and stood up. As he opened the door, the designer turned around and froze. She was painfully familiar, but the answer was harder to remember the harder he thought about it. She unfroze, blinking slightly. Immediately the answer came to him. An old friend, long thought dead was right in front of him.

He tried to speak, but he was in shock. Clearing his throat he attempted again.

“Marinette?” His voice cracked.

#maribat #marinette dupain cheng #mlb x dc #fanfic #jason todd #childhood friends to lovers

[prowerprojects]

I certainly wouldn't be shocked if the VS. Nine episode happens earlier than expected in the last batch. (But if so, that will almost 100% guarantee what ending they go with; despite leaning on one outcome more than other. The fact that the Council attack the other verses practically right away, I knew Nine was likely taking over as main antagonist. The seeds were planted already, but it honestly could have happened the next batch or halfway in THIS one.) I just hope everything lands well enough.

Yeah, there were a few moments; despite the projecting, Sonic teased the idea of Nine meeting Tails. Too bad it wasn't done very formally nor in the best light. But I can believe he still might be somewhat curious. (I have been thinking; should the shatterverses survive, would they actually try to merge them into one world that's separated from Green Hill? {Or they just move to fill up the Grim; if it's still going to be called that by the end} Like a loophole that allows both to coexist akin to two planets.)

True, though he did seem to be warming up the affection by the halfway point even despite that: Still doesn't like being hugged but didn't push Sonic away this time, willingly gave a high-five after discovering he kinda liked it, sticking up for Sonic and more outwardly concern for his wellbeing. (Yeah, though it's completely possible they could have met under different circumstances. A two-tailed fox might not be normal, but a fox with multi mechanical tails isn't normal either and probably would have caught Sonic attention regardless. Maybe not to stop and chat, but definitely to observe. Who knows.)

Hmm, now that he does have the shards, I wonder if they'll have Nine be curious enough to give his counterparts another look. (Specifically, their friendships with their groups. Now that he's fully aware, should the thought of having a similar past go through his head. Should he have second thoughts about having companions, or would it double down on his heartbreak? 8 episodes left and I'm more confident in a Tails x 3 episode than one where Nine gives friendship a second chance under different people. Heck, he might build his own friend instead, but I digress.)

Nine as an antagonist would be interesting to see, though I'm expecting halfway through the next third of the season the real "Big Bad" would be tge bottomless pit, so we'll probably get the real Nine confrontation in ep4-5.

Yeah, I do wonder. I'm still thinking of the Shatterverse counterparts as the "shards" of the original characters, and think they would all need to be combined to restore everything, so it's a bit confusing for me how they could exist with the ogs also coming back. Though maybe they'll work something out or I'm just misunderstanding the situation.

Oh, I don't doubt he liked the affection. It's just there was so much and so suddenly, it was overwhelming and stopped him from actually thinking and realizing what's going on.

This is the face Nine makes when Sonic talks about him meeting Tails. His ass is not processing. He kept being in denial until he straight up heard from Sonic that their plans were different, even though he already started to pick up on the signs.

(Well, Nine was trying to be stealthy and Sonic only saw him because he was deliberately looking, and then they were only able to talk because Sonic was able to break in into his lab (because he had the same password as Tails). Well, who knows how that would have gone. Prime Sonic isn't the most observant)

Hey, you know, Nine did say that "the only person he could trust is himself", and he already realized that Sails and Mangey are different versions of him (since he was also able to realize that Shadow is not a different version of Sonic), so maybe he would trust them? Mangey already learned a lesson about how you need to communicate and talk about your feelings, maybe he'll be able to explain it to Nine (I don't think Sails had learned any kind of lesson, the pirates keep being manipulated by Dread with no consequences. I don't know how to connect it to Sonic & Nine's conflict without making it seem like he's obligated to forgive Sonic, which he isn't)

#tails #nine #nine the fox #sonic prime #sonic prime spoilers #sonic #sonic the hedgehog #project.txt #project.ask

[whoslaurapalmer]

what are lemony and ernest doing right now?

lemony and baby bea are staying at the hotel ernest and frank are running post hotel denouement and lemony and ernest are pretending not to recognize each other but the tension is slowly and steadily building and any moment now, one of them is going to snap, and they’ll have a dinner date, because they are classy.

(this is not my best, but i tried!!)

GASP!! no no this is perfect. of COURSE they have a dinner date; both of them ARE so classy it is no less than pretentious and candlelit. babybea picks out lemony's tie. (it is green. lemony is too touched to tell her he's never been one for green. more pressing is, in fact, where did she find the tie?) (lemony, you think your niece leaves home without a bag prepared for any event?? she's probably got a broadsword in there somewhere. it's foldable. she made it herself and she's very proud of it. don't tell violet.)

but first, let's backtrack a little --

lemony and ernest have not spoken since lemony's research for the books, which was, oh that's always a hard timeline to pin down no matter what theory you roll with, but let's say a few years ago at minimum, and it was probably very slim communication anyway. neither of them were probably in a great place to say anything more? it was very formal, barely anything, mostly confirming details. and before THAT, it was many, many years previously, when beatrice and bertrand were still alive, and of course everything was very dicey for a whole host of reasons, nearly half of them schism related. and nothing, special ever happened between lemony and ernest. nothing really at all ever happened between them, nothing like a friendship and especially not a relationship. but they looked at each other and had an understanding, back then. there was a respect, for what they stood for, even if they were not necessarily standing in the same place. and that alone was enough to make even an idle look across a room complicated. and to see each other now is -- it's a lot of things.

neither of them have ever forgotten each other. not just because they're some of the few left of their generation of vfd. how do you forget someone like lemony, especially because, no matter what lemony has done or how he's tried to hide, he's also made it so that no one could ever forget him, or what he tried to do? how do you forget someone like ernest, suspicious and untrustworthy and forgettable to the wrong eyes, but to the right ones, to the people who looked, clever and aware and charming, someone also trying his hardest to do what he thought was best? they were both very dangerous people, once. to other people, to each other, to themselves. but now most of the people that danger mattered to are dead. things are so different, so many people they knew and loved are dead. and now they're -- just two men, older than they ever thought they'd get to be, enjoying a fragile freedom neither of them thought was possible either, pretending not to recognize each other, lemony because he doesn't know if he should say anything, even if the only thing stopping him now is his own eternal anxiety, ernest because he is waiting to see how long it will take lemony to stop overthinking. and both of them are very good at waiting.

frank: why do you keep bringing that lunch table bread baskets? don't they have enough bread by now? ernest: i'm waiting for lemony snicket to stop being stupid frank: frank: wait, w h a t ernest: what do you think? five dollars for another hour, at minimum? ten? frank: w h a t ??????????????? ernest: don't tell me that's steep, you can afford it.

now, babybea poses a minor problem -- if she hasn't met the denouements at this point, this is terribly awkward, because she has not two but three total uncles engaging in a severe lack of eye contact over her head while she and one out of three uncles eat a nice hotel lunch, and eventually SOMEONE is going to go, hold the FUCK up there's a child there, but if she HAS met the denouements at this point, this is very frustrating for her, because she has three uncles engaging in a severe lack of eye contact over her head and she wants to know WHY.

babybea: uncle lemony, why does uncle ernest keep bringing us bread baskets? lemony, thinking babybea is still too young to understand the intense psychological warfare between old, friends?, while picking up a breadstick: you should never pass up an opportunity for bread, beatrice. babybea: why don't you just say hi to him? lemony: oh, well -- he's much too far away. i would not want to bother him. ernest, standing five feet away, casually leaning against a sideboard, going through the afternoon paper: hmm, might rain later.

babybea, who at this point has been given A Phone, texts sunny to tell her what's happening, and sunny sends back '🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖' which babybea interprets as 'please bring the bread home'

violet: sunny, what are you laughing at? sunny: stupidity klaus: i KNEW we should've gone with them.

lunch passes, with little else happening. babybea asks frank if he's finished any new ships in bottles, his current meticulous control-based hobby of choice. he has, and they spend a nice afternoon together talking about tiny craft hobbies and different types of ships. she shows him her foldable broadsword, and he is both impressed, and concerned.

frank, on the phone: violet do you know about the -- violet: oh yes, i know about the broadsword.

so that leaves us with lemony and ernest, now engaging in what could be called high stakes hide and seek, only without quite, hiding, or, seeking. at this point, they, or just lemony in particular, i guess, have passed the 'should i do something' point and now it's more a matter of pure principle, keeping up this not talking not looking game. and ernest will never pass up a good game. they while away the afternoon wandering about the hotel, spending time in the same rooms just not interacting with each other at all, individually reading more of the paper or commenting on the weather or the food or the books in the hotel library (because of course it has a library.) (i've been in a hotel twice in my whole life. i am not. entirely clear on what they could conceivably contain.) (but also, OF COURSE they'd put a library in the hotel, for lots of reasons), just waiting for the other to break first. it's so. goodness, these two.

(let's also assume it's a slow hotel week. i did have a joke in here about other guests watching this go down, but i think it's pushing it a little.)

of course, it does start to wear on them after a while. all the not-looking. it does get silly. they wind up looking at the other when the other one isn't, looking. eventually, they find themselves in the same hallway, looking at the same painting of a frog lamp.

lemony: it's very well done. ernest: had enough, have you? lemony: i do mean it. i am afraid i don't know a great deal about art, but i think the brush strokes are excellent. ernest: ........thank you.

(i think ernest's own hobby of choice is painting. idk, i think he'd find it nice. calming.)

what is there to say? what other games are there to play, really? what do you gain by that? how do you exist as Just Two Guys At The End Of The World, When The World Is Still Going? there's a lot in here. there doesn't have to be. but there is. and it doesn't even matter to talk about it anymore, but it's still There, you know? some habits and old fears die very, very hard.

babybea, from down the hall: uncle lemony, uncle frank gave me one of his ship in a bottle kits!

but there is still so much else in the world, somehow! isn't it something.

ernest: dinner? lemony: that would be nice, yes.

SO, THE DINNER DATE. yes, lemony's green tie. ernest actually thinks it's charming, but fully agrees, it's not lemony's color. but they both look stunning in well-cut suits. they don't eat at the hotel, but go to a restaurant. again, pretentious and candlelit. wine is involved. they share a dessert. it is very much a date and also not a date, because it's a little strange, to think of it as a date, when you've just started talking to someone again. ..........but it's a date. there is a great deal of eye contact. it's very thrilling for both of them to keep looking up and finding the other still sitting there. it's one of the most terrifyingly normal things lemony and ernest have ever done. they can do normal things, now! what a world. wow.

(sunny: update babybea: they went to [restaurant name redacted] sunny: ❗❗❗😡😡😡😡😡🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐 frank, looking over babybea's shoulder, because now he has to babysit, and you KNOW frank eavesdrops on anything. can you eavesdrop on a text? you know what i mean: oh, that's unnecessary. (frank, do you even text. do you even know what an emoji is. frank.) babybea: sunny likes bread.) (anyway, sunny wants the restaurant bread too. that's a fancy restaurant.)

oh, they do bring home the bread. it is reprehensible to not take any leftover bread from a restaurant. they do have a bit of a time trying to sneak it in their suit pockets, until their waitress just hands them a bag for it. sunny gets to eat a great deal of delicious bread, the next day.

#lulu talks about the sad lemon man #so i could not finish this while at the doctors office and had to keep working on it when i got home #however. i am VERY tired. and wound up going back and editing some things maybe more than i should have. idk #see. //i// want them to make out right away. however they have to work for it. so. so must i.............. #and it was getting all that in there that took time. #i've looked at this for much too long is it even anything anymore. i hope so. i still had fun. hits some interesting thought beats #that i should keep in mind for later

[whisker-biscuit]

The Lines We Cross: Chapter 10

Vicious Voodoo

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We're all of us haunted and haunting.

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The swamps where the mystic of the Fiendish Five had hid herself were just as cold, wet, and clammy as the last time Sly had been here. He understood the want for privacy from prying eyes, but god was he almost starting to miss Muggshot’s stupid penthouse as he trudged after Inspector Fox through mud and slime and swiped at mosquitos almost as big as him.

At least their impromptu chicken heist had lifted his spirits. It was like a catharsis after so many years of having to clean coops and feed hens and dodge aggressive roosters every time he was dumped here.

After a few minutes of prowling around buildings, tents, and fences, the two of them found themselves on the edge of a drop-off overlooking another large clearing, where trees had been cut down in swathes to make room for what Sly knew was Muggshot’s personal plane. Besides a few lit tiki torches along the outer perimeter, the area was almost untouched by anything man-made or supernatural.

“That must be where the exchange is supposed to take place,” the fox said as she stared out at the empty clearing. “I wonder why the Fiendish Five would ever drop off such a precious object all the way out here. Wouldn’t they be afraid of it getting dirty, or lost?”

Dirty? No. Lost? Absolutely, but the alligator had certainly known how to scare her captive into staying close to “home” over the years – he had witnessed far too many unexplainable things out here to work up the courage to make a break for it as a teenager. In the distance, he could still see Mz. Ruby’s skull temple even through the swamp’s dark haze. It seemed to follow them everywhere no matter where they were in this accursed place.

Fear and uncertainty suddenly prickled Sly’s skin. If she knew he was coming, she could already be lying in wait for him. He could be walking straight into a trap, right back into the metaphorical jaws of hell. The mystic would snap him right up and then there’d be nothing left of him to ever find again.

“– can’t risk compromising this place.” The cop’s voice filtered into his awareness, still talking despite his silence. “We’ll see what else we can find and come back here when it’s time for Mz. Ruby to show her face.”

Oblivious to the raccoon’s tumultuous thoughts, she turned on her heel and practically marched off to her right, eyes on a cluster of glowing lights a ways away.

“Over there, you see that? I bet that’s something worth checking out. Let’s go see what it is.”

Sly didn’t find it necessary to tell her that he knew this area on a personal level he would have really preferred not to. He knew exactly what had caught her attention and why, but at this point anything was better than the place where he was supposed to be handed off between members of the Five like the stolen goods they liked to pretend he was.

So, he followed her away from the clearing, back into the trees and into a place that was probably not great for two trespassers to encounter, and did so without a single word of protest. He could only hope that Mz. Ruby was too busy to notice any disturbances in her territory until it was too late.

Inspector Fox, to her credit, seemed to pick up on the fact that there was something considerably more off about the area than the rest. Maybe it was because of the strange lack of artificial architecture in what was the heart of Mz. Ruby’s base, or that her superstitious partner had gone from “solemn quiet” to “nervous quiet” the more they walked.

Or maybe it was the sudden appearance of all the gravestones.

She stopped again after a few minutes, when the air had grown thick and almost suffocating around them. Sly stopped behind her, watching a nearby cluster of graves that he thought he had seen glow for the quickest blink of an eye.

“What…what’s wrong with this place?” She asked in barely a whisper, having the actual foresight not to disturb the atmosphere that seemed ready to strike at any disruption. “It feels like we’re being watched, but I can’t see or hear any guards around…”

The raccoon leaned in close, careful not to touch her at all even as his mouth came right next to her swiveling right ear. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

His eyes remained locked on those tombstones.

“Um…” Her gaze followed his, just in time to see a ripple split the air above them. “…Why?”

“Because if you don’t, you’re about to.”

As if on cue, the gravestones glowed a violent turquoise, and a horrible, bone-chilling wail broke across the swamp and through their cores. A blue ghostly body erupted out of the nearest stone, vaguely feline-shaped, moaning with arms outstretched as if its only goal was to turn the trespassers into the thing that it itself had become.

Inspector Fox shouted in shock, swinging her shock pistol up automatically to shoot at the attacker before it could come any closer. The electric charge exploded on impact with the ghost’s chest – and the ghost exploded in turn.

It was quiet for all of three seconds as they tried to process what the hell just happened, and then suddenly every grave was conjuring up ghosts, all dead set on harming the intruders. Sly didn’t have time to think as he grabbed the inspector by the wrist and yanked her backwards before they were surrounded with no escape.

A dozen haunting screams followed them in an octave that shouldn’t exist in the living world.

The fox barely stumbled at his pull; she twisted every which way and shot as rapidly as she could at each and every specter coming after them, either unphased by the supernatural or running on autopilot just to survive. For every ghost that she blasted apart, two more took its place. Sly knew that the only way to stop the onslaught was to either destroy the tombstones they were coming from or escape the ghosts’ “territory”, marked by the glowing lights that had drawn in Inspector Fox in the first place.

A ghost’s breath chilled the fur of his tail from behind and he turned around as fast as he could, backpack sliding off his shoulders into his right hand just in time to slam it into the translucent jaw of the specter before it could grab him. The blow was enough to burst it apart, but he didn’t have time to be grateful for it as he immediately had to swing his pack at another attacker. He didn’t know if the backpack was actually strong enough to blow them up or if it was the Cooper cane tucked inside, but he wasn’t about to question it.

His back hit that of the inspector’s, who was still shooting wildly to keep the worst of the swarm at bay.

“We’ve got to get out of here!” He yelled over the howling around them.

She shook her head and he could feel it against the back of his skull. “No! We have to destroy them all! They’re part of her army!”

“They’ll just keep coming forever! There’s no way we can –”

His eyes landed on a glowing gravestone spewing up ghosts at the exact same time her own body stilled behind him. She had seen the same thing he had.

“Separate on three!” The fox called out. “Break as many as you can, I’ll cover you!”

He nodded, knowing she would feel it, and slammed another ghost out of existence.

“One!”

His body coiled into a spring.

“Two!”

She shifted her weight with a growl.

“Three! Go!”

Sly took off running for the nearest gravestone just as Inspector Fox’s pistol shot an opening for him through the wall of specters. He ducked furious swipes, all his fur standing on end, and smashed his backpack into the stone with all his might and momentum. It shattered with a force that sent tremors up his hand.

But he didn’t stop. Didn’t even slow down.

“Left!” He screamed, veering that very direction towards the next tombstone. The fox took his directional cue perfectly, cutting another swathe down just in time for him to reach it and break it into as many pieces as the previous.

With every step he took he could hear his partner shooting, keeping ghosts off herself and off of him at a speed that must have been a sight to see. But he didn’t dare even turn his head to risk a glance while he kept moving, darting between ghosts in the spaces she left and taking down gravestones the moment he was close enough to swing. Slowly, amazingly, the discordant wailing fell from an overwhelming cacophony to a handful of screeches as Inspector Fox mowed down ghosts and Sly took down their sources.

Finally, after a minute and eternity, he broke the last glowing stone before its final ghost could even pull its moaning head out of the ground. It disappeared instantly, and the dark swamp went quiet.

Breathing heavily, feeling a sheen of sweat on his brow, the raccoon didn’t allow himself to relax until he turned a full circle, looking for any sign of supernatural strays ready to grab him while his guard was down. His companion did the same, and their eyes locked as nothing came up between them. She heaved out a long breath and came up to him with her weapon still halfway raised for more combat.

“That was insane,” she huffed as she began checking the pistol. “I never thought in my life that I’d fight a horde of ghosts. I think that was the most I’ve ever had to shoot this thing at one time.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you know how to use it, or else we would’ve been toast.”

Sly did another glance around just to make sure they’d destroyed every single glowing gravestone. He saw a non-glowing one a few feet away, picked up a large rock, and threw it at the harmless thing. It crumbled just as easily as every other one. Inspector Fox eyed him as he did it.

“What?” He asked, already defensive, “you got a problem with me desecrating graves all of a sudden?”

“No. Just wondering if you’re alright.”

“Course I’m alright. Didn’t get grabbed once thanks to you.”

“Yeah, but it was still intense, even for me. Most people have never experienced anything like…that.”

She gestured to the wreckage around them, seemingly at a loss for words for how to describe it. The raccoon snorted.

“Trust me, inspector, it’s going to take a lot more than a tangle with the supernatural to shake me. I’m not going to be dead weight for you.”

“That’s not what I meant, Ringtail.” Her hand came up and clamped down haltingly onto his shoulder. She patted him a few times, rather awkwardly, before stepping back out of his space. “I’m just checking in. That’s what partners do.”

Something twisted in his stomach that wasn’t entirely unpleasant. He pushed it away to think about when he wasn’t in the heart of Mz. Ruby’s territory. “Sure. I know that. Thanks.”

“Of course.” The fox gave him a small smile before turning back to survey the area. “Now that we’ve gotten that whole ghost…army…thing, out of the way, shall we keep going? There’s probably more of those ghost generators out there.”

“Ghost generators?”

“Don’t start getting snarky! You know what I meant.”

He slid his backpack over his shoulders again as they began to walk. “I know what you meant. I just think it’s funny.”

“It’s an apt description!”

“And it’s funny.”

They went back and forth like that for a few minutes, letting the familiar ribbing smooth their hackles and stop the mild tremors that were still going through both their bodies. One could deal with the supernatural for their entire lives and still feel they were going to have their souls stolen after such a close encounter.

Just as Inspector Fox suspected, there were a few more tombstones that spit up ghosts when they came too close, but all were too scattered to bombard them like the first wave had, and they were easily taken care of by a few of the fox’s well-placed kicks. The pervasive thickness over the whole place lessened with each removed ‘generator’, until eventually they could start to hear the natural sounds of the swamp around them again.

“Well, I think this whole area is probably free of hauntings now,” she announced after another five minutes of leaving no gravestone unturned. “I don’t see any more glowing and we’ve gone pretty far from the camp. Do you think we should turn back now?”

Sly looked ahead, where he could just faintly see the outline of the mystic’s spiky perimeter fence in the distance. Then he looked behind them, where her skull temple loomed in the darkness – still visible even from out here.

“Probably a good idea. We don’t want to stray too far off-course before your rendezvous with Mz. Ruby. Might make you late to your date.”

“Please don’t ever call it that again.”

“No promises.”

A companionable silence fell between them after that. The inspector kept her pistol out of her holster, but she walked with loose shoulders and assured steps that hadn’t been unsettled by what was probably her first real experience with the supernatural, if Sly had to guess. He caught himself looking at her out of the corner of his eye more than once as they began making their way back towards the center of the base. It was the way she carried herself; the way she was simultaneously on-guard for danger and yet so confident in her abilities to fight that danger that she seemed almost relaxed.

A week ago, he wouldn’t have even bothered studying her, much less take note of anything that wasn’t important to his own wellbeing. Now, he found that there was something almost calming about it. Knowing there was someone here who could not only handle herself but also look out for him, who had already been looking out for him. It made the impossible task he was facing feel a little less daunting.

Not a whole lot. But a little. Just enough that maybe he could get used to the idea of referring to her as “Carmelita” in his head instead of “cop”. Since they were partners and all that.

He’d just never admit that to her out loud.

It didn’t take much longer for man-made lights to begin popping up around them again, and they both began trekking more cautiously for fear of alerting any guards in the area. Strangely, however, there was still no sign of any other life despite the fact that all the ghosts were long-gone. It made something itch under Sly’s skin, and he started glancing around more often only to still come up with nothing.

Then they came across the river.

It wasn’t a very large or fast-moving river by any means, but it was thick with green and looked a lot more like a bog than what it actually was. The raccoon poked at the water with a long stick while his companion squinted into the foggy distance.

“I think I see something out that way…” she mumbled, pulling out a pair of fancy night-vision binoculars to help her look. “Yep. There’s a huge compound on the other side of this river, and I can see a bunch of…uh…”

The way the fox trailed off sounded more like she wasn’t sure how to describe something than that she couldn’t see it. Sly held out a hand and was mildly surprised when she gave the binoculars to him without any hesitation. He put them to his face and caught sight of what she was talking about; a group of buildings surrounded a bog not too different from this one, but what really grabbed his attention was the thing in the center of it.

It looked like a giant egg beater. Rotating machine parts in an unnatural combination of technology and the occult, stirring up the soupy liquid making up the bog that most definitely could not be called “water” anymore.

“I see it,” he replied, keeping his eyes trained on the odd contraption. Two guards were perched on a platform in the center, safe from the equipment while they made sure everything was going smoothly. Every now and then, one of them pulled gunk from between the gears while the other checked a large, bouncing lid that seemed to want to jump out of place without the rats’ constant attention to keep it in check.

Sly wasn’t an engineer by any means of the word, but he’d spent a lot of time doing dirty work with Raleigh’s machinery, and he knew how much the frog loved to use pressurized steam on everything he touched. He’d recognize a place for potential build-up in his sleep.

The skull temple’s snout, he also noticed, was looming almost directly above the enormous stirring machine.

“Ringtail?” Carmelita said, breaking him out of his thoughts. “What do you think?”

He handed her binoculars back to her. The way the temple shadowed over that whole area was beginning to ruminate in his head. Not unlike the egg beater, actually. “I think we should head that way. It looks important to Mz. Ruby’s plans.”

“Agreed.” She put her gear away, then grimaced as she looked out at the river in front of them. “Bleck. I’m going to smell like swamp for a month after this.”

The raccoon hesitated as he too looked down at it. “How, uh, how deep does that look like to you?”

The inspector stopped with her boots already ankle-deep in the water. She turned to him with a pensive expression.

“Sly,” she said, very slowly, “please don’t tell me that you can’t swim.”

“Okay. I won’t tell you that.”

“This is not the time for jokes. I’m serious.”

“I know you are.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and ignored the growing irritation on her face. Ignored the way it made him feel inadequate. “Look, it’s fine, alright? I’ll just find another way across.”

“How? We haven’t seen a single bridge and I don’t want you to have to walk until you find one. We shouldn’t split up this deep in enemy territory.”

Sly gestured up towards the trees around them. “I’ll do what I did at the gate. It won’t be hard.”

Despite the dubious look she shot him, Carmelita seemed to accept that he was capable enough to pull it off, because she turned back towards the river and began wading forward with only the slightest hesitation. The raccoon, meanwhile, started climbing the nearest tree.

Once he found his footing, he took a moment before hopping each branch to simply enjoy the fact that he could. Being able to use a technique from the Thievius Raccoonus as it was truly meant to be used – and to use it successfully – made him feel like he was invincible. Up here, surrounded by opportunities on all sides, he could practically feel the itch to move in rhythm with a kind of music that was ancient and extraordinary; a legacy that was so much greater than him, that he was lucky enough to just be a part of at all.

Sly jumped from branch to branch with ease, giving into that hypnotic feeling and being rewarded with a flow of movement that gave him more assurance than anything else he’d ever done before. For the first time in a long time, he felt confident in himself despite everything the Five had done to prevent it.

“Estúpida agua turbia!”

Of course, he couldn’t give the Thievius Raccoonus the entire credit for that.

The raccoon paused on a particularly long branch to glance down in amusement at the inspector, who was cursing out the water that currently sat up to her waist. She wrinkled her nose as she picked a long trail of green slime out of her tail and tossed it away, oblivious to her partner who was silently snickering above her.

“Having fun down there?” He called.

Carmelita threw him a withering glare that only had him grinning wider. He made a show of lightly stepping across his natural wooden tightrope like it was the easiest thing in the world – because it was.

“Lovely weather up here. You should join me next time.”

“If I go up there it will be to knock that smug smile off your face by knocking you off your stupid perch,” she muttered without any heat behind her words. “And then we’ll see if you still feel like laughing.”

“Oh, come on, Inspector! Lighten up! It’s not every day I can say I have the high ground over someone as morally perfect as you!” He reached the end of the branch and angled himself for a jump for the next tree. They were both over halfway across the river, now.

“You’re not going to have the high ground in a minute if you keep goading me, Ringtail. Haven’t you ever heard of the phrase ‘pride comes before a fall’?”

“Sure, but I never fall.”

Sly jumped.

And landed.

There was exactly one moment, as his feet hit what should have been steady wood, for the wrongness to burst up his spine in a familiar chill of dread right before the tree began to move of its own accord.

It came to life under him like some twisted fairy tale straight out of a nightmare – two hateful, glowing eyes opened centimeters from his face as the “tree” let out a noiseless snarl and suddenly there were branches reaching for him from all sides. Sly backpedaled as fast as he can, barely avoiding the angry swipe that would’ve taken off his arm entirely if it had hit, but the thing kept reaching, kept coming, looking to ensnare him in its countless limbs and either tear him apart or trap him forever.

He didn’t think twice. He couldn’t.

He dove for the river.

“Sly!”

It was deceptively warm, the water. He plunged into it expecting the cold and nearly choked when it felt instead like a thick soup, bogging down his body and turning his movements sluggish. He twisted in a circle, trying to find the surface or at least a foothold at the bottom, but the murky water held him tight in its suffocating limbo.

Then there was an arm around his neck.

Sly stopped flailing as Inspector Fox pulled him close against her chest, letting her propel them upwards with speed and power he could never hope to match. Their heads broke through the grimy surface together, but he remained limp as she swam towards the opposite shore, knowing that any attempts to help would only make things harder for her.

As soon as they touched solid ground, the fox sat them both on the muddy bank as they caught their breaths together. Waterlogged and miserable, Sly carefully removed himself from her hold so he didn’t have to feel her heart beating rapidly against his skin.

“Are you okay?” She asked, running a hand through her hair to pull out muck as if she hadn’t just carried him halfway across a river. Good compartmentalizing or trying to get rid of nervous energy; he didn’t know which.

“I’m fine.”

And he was fine, even if his nerves were shot to hell. He glanced up at the trees, but the monstrosity among them had gone back to blending in so seamlessly that he couldn’t pick it out no matter how hard he looked. All of a sudden it didn’t feel like such a good idea to be climbing trees anymore.

“Just got a little spooked. What about you?”

“I’m alright. Also just a little spooked.” The fox peeled her jacket off to shake it out, and he decided he should probably do the same with his own hoodie when he felt slime sticking to his stomach fur.

“Well, at least now we know why we haven’t encountered any guards around here,” he said as he began lifting it up towards his head. “They probably didn’t want to tangle with –”

His shirt rode up with his hoodie before he could realize what was happening.

She gasped.

He froze for half a second, brain stalling on her stunned face, before understanding hit him like a freight train and he hastily brought his clothes right back down again.

“Sorry about that, I wasn’t thinking,” he spoke rapidly, slipping a crooked smile into place with a dismissive wave of his hand like it might erase what he feared she’d seen. “Didn’t mean to flash you.”

Carmelita’s mouth opened, then closed, seemingly at a loss for words. When she finally spoke, it was with a voice softer than anything the raccoon had ever heard from her.

“Sly…what happened?”

Fuck. His hands clenched the hem of the shirt he was still holding onto. “Just slipped and took a tumble in the swamp. You saw it. I’m not hurt.”

The inspector locked her jaw in that way he’d learned meant she was about to be stubborn. “What was that on your chest?”

She took a step forward, and although there was no indication she’d reach for him, he shied away regardless.

“Probably some swamp gunk. It felt like I was wading in a big pot of –”

“The scars, Sly.”

“Oh. Those. Right.” He laughed. The pitch was all wrong. “Accident with a machine years ago. It’s been so long, I pretty much forgot about it. I don’t even notice they’re there anymore. Don’t worry about it.”

His skin burned under his soaked shirt, just like her eyes did as she stared at him with a pinched expression he couldn’t figure out.

“That doesn’t…look like a machinery accident,” Carmelita said tentatively, carefully, like he was a fragile thing about to shatter under the wrong words. “That looks more like a –”

“What can I say!” Sly cut her off a little too fast. “I was young and stupid. It was my fault, anyway.”

The edge in his voice left no room for argument, and the raccoon stood up and pushed past her before she could make one in spite of it.

“We shouldn’t waste any more time. The longer we dawdle, the more likely Mz. Ruby will know we’re here.”

He didn’t turn around when he heard her get to her feet. He didn’t turn around to see if she would follow. He didn’t turn around at the quiet way she called his name again, the plea and worry and apology all wrapped up in one dangerous word that he pretended not to hear. Sly kept walking, ignoring the burning eyes on his back and the burning scars on his chest.

So much for feeling confident.

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A/N: SO sorry for the radio silence. I mentioned this in an ask but July ended up being hectic as hell and I had to rewrite both this chapter and the next because they were a little too similar for my liking. Much happier with this draft, though, and we finally got to something I've been waiting for since well before I was posting. Fun fact: that scene at the end was one of the first things I wrote when I started planning out this fic last November.

It wouldn't be a Mz. Ruby level without ghosts and those stupid tree monsters giving us heart attacks. Hope I did it justice in written form cause it was a struggle to map out.

Anyway, posting schedule should resume weekly again now! I really didn't mean for time to fly by that fast, but what can ya do? Thanks for reading!

#sly cooper #carmelita fox #fanfiction

[the-firebird69]

There are other things happening around town for instance

-there are several people who are blocking roads and they're not supposed to and they're getting arrested a few people are caught doing it early this morning and they're in jail waiting for trial or judge really

-they are arresting people for lewd and lives behavior for vacancy for bivouacking for insulting people if it's to incite violence and they do whatever you people and it is the local sheriff and it is because they're going after each other they're finally enforcing the law of speeding and all sorts of things and the rest of Dave for blabbing to our son and he's not even aware of the rules and laws he's going to get put in jail and yeah they're trying to go after our son for his ebike so we are going after them very hard too we wanted to be home even if he can get food have these people are Mrs ladish and want him to be stuck here

-along with these three idiots here getting nail there's other people who are getting shot each day and they're starting to blab a lot their group is getting decimated it never seems to be fast enough so I'm going out there and we're assisting because we need to take territory and we planning on doing it but Hera pushed it along and Zeus and said we're not going to end up with anything they're going to push us out we need to be everywhere and we're already losing territory it got me motivated and I told ours this is how we're winning and we're going to stop because the empire tells us and they get up and arms and started moving out and we are moving them out too and taking them out of areas believe it or not those pockets all over the place and it's easy now we can use cover we have the same equipment. It's a huge huge exercise for us and taking over and giant areas that they vacated and humongous areas that they're in if you have it together that's really pockets like a mile there's a ton of the house and summer five miles by one mile and it's just a giant amount of areas and we're going after it very hard globally those pockets and areas account for probably 1.5% of their population on Earth and of the general populace and the remainder are in areas that are inter mingles they're not segregated and they're in the outskirts and they're in the suburbs and rural areas and some of the cities but they seem to be moving towards the cities and this morning there's like 2% moved and out of the 7% yes and they moved into the outskirts and it's empty houses and buildings and they said it seems to be safer here when really there used to doing it and it's going to be for evacuation which is really why they don't know it yet but they're going to start evacuating again and get more troops down to the islands and they're moving out pretty fast momentarily we are getting ready and we're getting ready to fight and it is going to be a big one this time a huge evacuation is coming up in moments it is gigantic and it will be one of the largest in history out here for sure and people are saying it too and they'll probably evacuate 2% and there'll be 3% left and everyone says it it's a dangerous number and a son says it's probably 2% or 1% with these guys. It's probably more appropriate but with 3% they can still move around and still get things which makes them more dangerous.

-and this morning going on too Michael too was hit last night in the hospital in the United Kingdom and says they've overrun the United Kingdom it is true and surviving was a miracle and he was surprised he said they were doing it here and we didn't know it and this stuff is subtle and the kid is really riled up because he sees what happens to others he wants Anthony to his so he wants to add them he wants to get at them and he's going after the globally and the rest picked up on it and they are assaulting them and it will knock down another point so they'll be 2% pretty soon and it is a nightmare because they're getting slaughtered and yeah that's really happened they would be very small in moments now they're pretty small but really very small and moments

I'm going to publish there's a couple more things

Thor Freya

Olympus

Zues Hera

[destinyandcoins]

i think my favorite sibling moment in the entirety of the umbrella academy is when five comes to collect klaus to stop the apocalypse before they find allison and they’re talking about how reginald always warned them about the apocalypse when they were kids. and klaus is like “yeah i always thought he just said that to scare us into doing the dishes” and five goes “me too” with that somewhat delighted tone of voice like he’s surprised and validated that he and his siblings were on the same page about yet another one of the bullshit things their dad put them through as kids and i just. siblings commiserating over their bizarre and terrible childhood as adults when they never dared to reach out to each other as kids 🥺

#is anyone surprised that my favorite sibling moment is centered around klaus and five or have you never met me before... #the umbrella academy #klaus hargreeves #five #love them #it's just such a cute and unimportant line but i love the delivery on it #and that feeling of reminiscing fondly about some frankly horrible moments in their shared childhood #i feel like reginald probably tried very hard to build them up as a team and divide them as a family #couldn't have them all bonding too much and getting ideas in their head about opposing him #(let's be real if they had the chance to bond as a unit and the motivation to turn on him reginald would have been TOAST and he knew it) #so they probably spent some of their childhoods slightly unsure of how to acknowledge what they were going through #even after they realized it was Not Normal and not Good #and i don't think five and klaus were SUPER close as kids so they likely never talked about this kind of thing #it just amuses me that 15 & 45 years later respectively they're both like 'oh wait you thought dad was just being dramatic and insane too?' #because at the point that five left they probably were still in that building awareness of how fucked up their lives were #without the open rebellion and rejection of it that came in the later teenage years #so they hadn't ever had this conversation before #okay i think i'm done now i didn't mean to go off quite like that oops

[joshslater]

Dionysus

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I was very hesitant when he picked me up at the nightclub. I could feel the disappointment and outright hostility from all the women and a lot of the men as the God walked up to me, started to make out, and then asked if I was up for some fun. That's what you get away with when no one ever says "no" I thought. With his incredibly handsome face, black hair, and athletic build that was probably not a word he was used to hearing. It would be impossible for him to know I was into guys, and coming on so strong could land you in hot water or rather knocked cold on the floor. Turns out he could know, and there was more to him than just utter handsomeness and unparalleled confidence. Way more.

It was back at his place he asked me if I could look like someone else, who would I pick? That's a game I've played many times before, so I instantly knew to answer Marco Albieri, the soccer player. He raised an eyebrow, took a step from me, and asked me why. "I don't know what it is about soccer players, but something about the game makes their bodies stunningly handsome. And Marco is just a step above the rest." He smiled a bright smile, made a dramatic gesture, and I was Marco. Looked exactly like him at least. It took me a moment to even realize what had just happened, but I could see myself in the full-length mirror. Or I couldn't, I should say. I saw Marco Albieri in full Paris Saint-Germain F.C. game kit. Mesmerized I took a step closer to the mirror, and Marco on the other side of the glass stepped closer as well. I looked just like him, my wettest, wankiest dream. I'd come so many times to exactly this fantasy. There was even a sheen of post-game sweat making all the skin glistening in his hallway designer lights.

He approached me from behind, still handsome but now by a much narrower margin. "You ready to fuck?" I didn't even answer but just turned around and kissed him. He wasn't shy in grouping me back. What followed was the longest fuck fest I've ever been part of. We went from room to room. It was like this body had limitless stamina, though it was the body of Marco after all, but an insatiable horny lust as well. Perhaps he had that too. It wasn't until early morning I fell asleep next to him, exhausted.

It was almost noon when I woke up, disoriented by everything. It was like it wasn't until now the craziness and impossibility of last night hit me. I could see Marco Albieri in the mirror at the other side of the bedroom, without shirt, and the most unkempt hair I had ever seen him with. I knew for a fact the secret hairstyling trick was body fluids. I suddenly felt very uneasy and exposed. Vulnerable even. I was here on vacation. How could I leave if I didn't look like my passport? How could I leave this building looking like Marco? There would be fans stopping me instantly. What the fuck am I thinking about? I'm erased from the world. No one I know, no one in my family would recognize me. Could I convince them I'm me and not a millionaire soccer player? Perhaps. But my life would be so complicated.

That's when he lazily strolled into the bedroom, completely naked showing off his chiseled body, one mug in each hand.

"You did this! How the fuck did you do this? You can't leave me like this!" "Morning!"

He handed me one of the mugs. On reflex I took a large sip of coffee only to discover it was red wine. It took me by surprise and I almost sprayed his white sheets with red mist of wine, but instead got some down my lungs and started to cough.

"Is this really the best you can think of?" he said. At first I had no idea what he meant. Then, still coughing, I realized it was my body again. The one I used to fly here, check into the hotel, and go out to nightclubs with.

"I... It's awfully inconvenient if I tried to leave with a different body." "That's it? That's the only reason?"

I felt stupid and unsure what to say. I liked my body, so why was it so hard to defend it? He took a large sip from his coffee mug of wine and climbed into bed next to me, but standing on his knees looking down on me.

"When's your flight back?" "Eh, in... On Sunday." "Plenty of time to let loose. How about going to the beach like this?"

This time I noticed the shift. The bed sagged down a bit under the extra load and I didn't even have to look in the mirror to see the freakish muscles. Two huge chest muscles peeked into my field of vision, and moving my arm I could see it was thicker than what my legs used to be.

I felt light-headed as we walked down to the beach. Probably the wine. He was subtle and classy, black Nike sneakers, black boardshorts, and a white T-shirt. I was anything but subtle. Probably twice his mass, annoying flip flops that flipped and flopped every step, white compression shorts that looked blindingly bright against my deep tan, a purple thong that peeked up over the rim of the shorts by the hips, visible because the neon yellow tank top was cropped above the belly button to show off the abs. The stringer waved for every step as my obscene pecs push out the yellow fabric like a hanging flag. It touched my body in surprisingly few places. Top of the traps and the nipples more or less.

After spending a few hours getting everyone passing by on the beach to turn their heads to observe the freak show he asked me to play floatation device for him. We went out in the water and did our best to have sex just outside where the waves broke. I think anyone who paid close attention could tell what we did, but no one could be really sure. He didn't appear to care.

"I made you something," he whispered. "What?" "A surfer," he said and begun walking towards the beach. As I wiped my long hair out of my face I understood he changed me again. No more shaved head, no more enormous meat slab. I still had a six-pack, I was still 6'-something, and my skin was deeply tanned, but that's about where the similarities ended. "Why?" I asked as I lied down on the beach towel next to his. "First dive bar opens soon, and I thought this would play better to the crowd." I was feeling woozy. "We want to play to the crowd?" He reached over and squeezed the pec closest to him. "Well, make them jealous at least."

There was something nagging at the edge of my thoughts. Some question I felt I needed to ask. I just couldn't quite put it into coherent thought.

"Did you drug me?" He made a high-pitched "Mmmm" sound. "Just a bit. To fit with the rest. Just go with it."

I shut my eyes, relaxed, and let his hand stroke me. I don't know how long we lied like that. Not too long, because the sun hadn't moved that much, but I sure did dozed off.

"Come on!" he said, like it was asking me to hurry up for the third time. A bit confused I got up from the beach towel. I wore a pair of eye-popping turquoise board shorts with black pattern and trim. Neon turquoise, if such a color was a thing. I knew it had a real trade name, but somehow it kept slipping my mind. They had a good fit, not loose, not tight, but rode low on my lithe body. Fuzzy pubes peeked out over the waistband, like a little forest edge where the treasure trail from the belly button ended. I looked around for a shirt or something to put on, but there was nothing except for a pair of flip-flops. These didn't look as cheap and fit much better than the previous pair though.

"Is that it?" I asked incredulously. "What more do you need?" he said, and looked at me like he wanted me for dinner. "Come!"

The bar wasn't far away and already busy when we arrived. He almost danced in, basically dragging me in, holding my hand. I was woozy from whatever I was drugged with, but in a way that made everything look amazing to me. In any direction I looked I was delighted by what I saw, no matter how mundane. The bar was not even half full and everyone looked as relaxed as you would expect from a bar half a block from the beach, though no one else was bare-chested. The decor was a random mix of styles, as expected by a dive bar. Tables for two or four were lined up in front of the bar at the back of the room. From a backroom somewhere behind it pumped music. I looked at my watch to see if it was already dance time, but I was only wearing a red nylon cord as a bracelet.

"You must be thirsty after a day in the sun," he said and handed me an Aperol Spritz. I could have sworn he hadn't left me for the bar, but then I didn't really trust my senses. We took a table for four and sat next to each other, facing the rest of the room. "So, tell me about your day," he continued, as if he hadn't been there for all of it.

For whatever reason I found it hard to figure out where to start, like it was all jumbled together despite nothing of consequence had happened. I began to describe how I had woken up in bed and how he surprised me with breakfast. How I had mistaken the red wine for coffee. I could feel his hand moving down my abs and into my board shorts. As he pulled out my erect cock from the shorts my immediate thought was of surprise. I hadn't realized I was hard. I continued to talk about how we went to the beach, while he was jerking me off with one hand under the table. It then hit me that I had no idea what my dick looked like, if it was big or small. I had never seen it. He had transformed me somehow into this surfer. How could I have forgotten something so monumental.

At that point I shot my load under the table. Four or five large pumps. I was suddenly aware again that there were people around us, and looking around tried to figure out if any of them could see I had my dick out. At the same time I was still feeling high or whatever it was. "I'll get a refill," he said, stood up and headed for the bar. I decided to put my dick back into the shorts.

"Hey, dude. Is he like your boyfriend?" someone standing next to me asked. How long had he been there? He was handsome, not quite as tall as I was now, but more muscled. The tight billabong shirt didn't hide much. "Him? No. We just..." I was trying to think of a good word. I wasn't sure what he was, or what was happening at all really. "Wanna check out the dance floor?" "Yeah... Yeah, I would."

I followed him towards the bar, and away to the side into the dance room. It was far from packed, but we were not alone at least. Immediately I regretted following him there, even before he started moving to the music. Once he did I knew I would look silly. I started to mimic his moves best I could. He smiled a crooked smile, though not an unkind one, when he saw what I was doing. He leaned forward and barely audible over the music asked "Are you up for a second round?"

"What do you mean?" I asked back. "I saw what that other dude did to you. I live nearby, if you want to try something that isn't over in minutes."

In the door opening I see him standing with two large drinks in his hands. He looks emotionless, which in itself was a scary contrast to how he looked before. He then drinks one of the drinks in one go, then immediately empties the other one as well. No sooner has he turned away with two empty glasses when I feel a desperate need to take a piss. He's fucking with me.

"Don't go anywhere," I say and dash towards to men's room.

It's empty. I go to the lone urinal and yank my dick out of the white thong. I'm confused, but happy I got there in time to relieve myself. Why am I wearing only a white thong to a bar? As the piss is streaming for longer than I can ever recall I look down my bare smooth legs and find a pair of eye-catching red hightops. When I'm finally done I have a look at myself in the mirror. Cute, young Latino boy with a red baseball cap on his unkempt hair, and a grey shirt. The shirt in a way makes the thong stand out even more and look intentionally inappropriate. Perfect!

I return to the dance floor and find the guy waiting. "There you are. Let's go!" he says, almost demanding. He doesn't say anything on the way to his apartment two blocks away. I keep looking his way, and it feels like my dick is growing bigger every time I look at those muscled arms. His pace is brisk without being conspicuous, he clearly wants us to get to his place as quickly as possible without being seen. In through an unlocked entrance, up two flights of stairs, and in through his apartment door.

As soon as he whisked me in and closed the door behind us he grabs me, shoves me into the wall next to us, and forcefully kisses me on my mouth. "You fucking whore! I'm so fucking horny you better know what you're doing."

He snores loudly again. I had tried to ignore it to spend a few more hours in the bed, but it's getting pointless to try to sleep any more. I carefully get up and get dressed. No need for a shower, now that everything dried. I make a final check I got everything with me that I brought in. There is that nagging feeling that I'm missing something. Well, whatever it was it can't be important. Quietly I exit his apartment and make my way out of the building. I feel restless being so quiet and calm, like it is unnatural for me to be that way. I basically explode in emotions as I exit the building and literally dance down the last few steps.

I try to think what to do next. My mind is like a spinning punch bowl of thoughts and I'm only able to fish out simple verbs. Party! Drink! Dance! Fuck! The sun is barely up, but perhaps I can find some nightclub still open.

[honeypiehotchner]

you’re still a traitor (Hotch x Fem!Reader) — one shot

This is all angst because my brain wanted to write something based off “traitor” by Olivia Rodrigo 🤭🤭🤭

Warnings: angst, mentions of sex, mentions of excessive drinking as a coping mechanism, no happy ending (and no there won’t be a part 2 soz)

Hotch Masterlist || Main Masterlist

brown guilty eyes and little white lies i played dumb but i always knew

Your relationship with Hotch wasn’t even a real relationship. Not in hindsight, at least. At the heart of it, though, as it was happening, it felt real. It felt more real than anything you had ever experienced.

Nothing was glorified, over-exaggerated, or unnecessary. You’ve always been a straight-to-the-point person, and so has he, so it struck neither of you by surprise when you began spending nights together on cases.

The tension between the two of you had always been high from the day you started at the BAU. He blames it on the skirt you wore to the interview. You blame it on the way he looked you up and down every chance he got.

No wonder he didn’t look surprised to find you on the other side of his hotel room door.

That first night you had said something stupid, something about the girls being lame and going to bed early. But the truth was that they were raiding the minibar, and as much as you wanted to join them, you wanted to see Hotch more.

You knew he didn’t sleep much. It wasn’t hard to conclude, not with his recent divorce, late hours, entire pots of coffee to himself, and dark circles under his eyes.

Not to mention, of course, the small throw pillow and blanket that magically appeared on the couch in his office one day.

You weren’t surprised when he opened the hotel room door, still fully dressed, minus his jacket. You were barely a fourth of a way through your explanation for turning up at his door when he pulled you inside, lips bruising yours and hands gripping your skirt.

To him, it was always the damn skirt.

That night was the first of many. No one knew. No one knows now. Hotch continued to book you a room of your own, and you continued to spend your nights in his bed.

You mastered the art of sneaking to his room after everyone was in, and sneaking back to yours before anyone woke up.

Occasionally, you’d stay back at the BAU until everyone had left, just to spend a moment more with Hotch.

loved you at your worst but that didn’t matter

No one knows this, but you’re the reason his dark circles left. The reason he didn’t stay as late anymore. Because you always coaxed him away, wanting dinner, or even just company as you walked to your car (where you’d then ask for dinner, or rightfully point out that he’s already at the parking garage, so he might as well go home).

Dinner one night turned into almost every night, except when he had Jack. Sleeping in his bed once became almost every night, except when Jack wanted to spend the night.

A label was never spoken about, but you never felt the need to speak about it. As far as you were concerned, you were the only one he was sleeping with and vice versa. Why did a label matter?

That’s what you told yourself, at least. Labels didn’t matter to you. Exclusivity is all that mattered, and you had that. You thought.

You had suspected Hotch started seeing someone else. But all you had was a gut feeling, and a feeling isn’t enough evidence.

i kept quiet so i could keep you

Soon it wasn’t just a feeling. Soon Hotch didn’t want to go to dinner anymore because he was leaving earlier than you — earlier than anyone else. Soon he started actually leaving for lunch on his lunch hour, and that’s when the rumors started swarming.

“Okay,” Garcia ushered everyone over in the bullpen. “Is. Hotch. Dating?”

Rossi chuckled. “I. Don’t. Know.”

Morgan shook his head. “Nah, that sounds like he knows something.”

“Not really,” you shrugged. “Why do we think he’s dating someone?”

“Are you kidding me?” Garcia gasped. “He just left the building on his lunch hour! I’ve never seen him leave for lunch the entire time I’ve been here.”

“Me either,” JJ agreed, to your horror.

“Maybe it’s just something with Jack,” you shrugged again, not even aware of your defensive tone.

Prentiss narrowed her eyes. “Do you know something?”

“What?” You blurted, eyes wide. “No? Am I supposed to?”

“Answering a question with a question,” Reid pointed out lowly.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” you said. You grimace, thinking about it now, but you didn’t have any energy then to know it was rude. Or to care.

You were paranoid. Horrified. You were in Hotch’s bed two nights ago, and now he was leaving on his lunch hour, and you had no idea what for. All signs pointed right where the rest of the team was thinking, but the thought made you sick.

So sick that the next night, when you found yourself once again in Hotch’s bed, you brought it up.

You tried to be nonchalant. You don’t know where it went wrong.

ain’t it funny? remember i brought her up and you told me i was paranoid

“How was lunch yesterday?”

His eyebrows furrowed. Something you used to gaze at in awe, but in that moment it made you panic. “Lunch?”

“Yeah,” you murmured. “You left for lunch and the whole team thought something was up.”

He merely hummed. Hummed. That was his reply.

“Emily thought I knew where you went,” you continued, tracing circles on your arm. Normally, you’d trace circles on his chest, but that felt wrong all of the sudden. “I told them I didn’t and they didn’t believe me.”

He chuckled quietly. “I went to lunch. That’s all.”

“With who?” You asked, far too quickly. Maybe that was your mistake. You were too accusatory too fast.

“Did it have to be with someone?” He retaliated, and looking back now, you see this moment here, this was the downfall.

“I mean,” you paused. “You normally stay in your office if you’re eating alone. I figured if you left then you were going to meet someone.”

“Oh.”

You hesitated. “Did you?”

“Yes,” he finally said, ripping the Band-Aid off once and for all. “Her name is Beth. But we’re just friends.”

You nodded. “You sure?”

He turned on his side then, facing you with his head propped on his arm. “Why are you asking?”

“Because I’m curious.”

“You’re never curious.”

“You never leave the office to meet someone for lunch.” Especially not a woman, unless for whatever reason, Haley wants to have lunch and brings Jack, but the last time that happened was seven months ago, back when they were still trying to be friends after the divorce.

“I’m allowed to meet friends for lunch.”

“I didn’t say you weren’t,” you replied, probably too harshly. “I just meant...I don’t know what I meant.”

you gave me your word but that didn’t matter

Weeks passed by and you watched Hotch leave every now and again to have lunch with Beth. He never explicitly told you that it was Beth he was meeting every single time, but you knew. You always knew.

Because the look he’d give you as he’d close his office door, phone in hand no doubt to send a text to her, letting her know he was on his way. The look he’d give you said it all.

You knew the end was coming. Truthfully, you knew the end of the two of you was coming from the first day he met her for lunch.

You had never seen him as happy as he looked when he came back. And with every lunch date, it got worse.

Yet, for some reason, he still invited you over. And for some reason, you still agreed without hesitation.

February came and your heart broke with it.

You knocked on Hotch’s office door, bag in hand, the question of dinner on your hopeful lips.

“Can we talk?” He asked, speaking before you had a second to breathe.

You nodded, stepped inside to your demise, not even bothering to sit down. You knew it wouldn’t take long, and it didn’t.

Two sentences. That’s all it took.

“I don’t think what we’re doing is something I want long-term — for me or for you. I think it’s best if we go our separate ways.”

For me or for you. He was always thinking of your well-being. It always annoyed you.

“Okay,” you had said, cracking a small smile to hide the pain. “Fun while it lasted, right?”

“Right,” he agreed. “Well, have a good night. See you tomorrow.”

You couldn’t hold the tears in and they flowed freely before you were even out of the bullpen. You were thankful everyone had left. Imagine the explanation you would’ve had to conjure up. The web of lies he would’ve forced you to spin in five seconds.

Instead, you had to spin an entirely new web. All to explain why you weren’t sleeping, why you were drinking more, why you looked like you had cried all night the next day (you said it was allergies and insomnia; Morgan was the only skeptical one, but he let it go).

it took you two weeks to go off and date her

The real ending came when Valentine’s Day arrived. You were foolish to think he’d spend it with you, but you still did.

The jet landed back in Virginia after a long case, and you thought for sure Hotch would tap you on the way off of the jet, ask you to dinner, then back to his place, just like you did last year.

But he had made plans. With Beth.

You were delusional to think otherwise, but still, his smile cut right through you when he told Rossi he had plans.

guess you didn’t cheat but you’re still a traitor

Derek, Emily, and Penelope wanted to go out for drinks and you were the first to agree, ready to forget the past year of your life.

Thankfully, you didn’t spill any secrets while drunk. You did confess to going through a breakup, but not with Hotch. No one will ever know it was Hotch. The “he” in question will forever remain a mystery to them.

Meanwhile, you watched Hotch fall deeper and deeper in love. He decided to run a triathlon, and he trained every morning -- with her. He left for lunch almost every day to go eat -- with her. He never stayed late, he always had plans -- with her.

He hardly ever spoke to you anymore. And you never spoke to him.

It became an unspoken agreement for you to leave finished paperwork on his desk without a word (if he was in there) or better yet, to drop it off while he’s at lunch.

You sleep in the hotel room furthest from his every case.

The seats next to him on the jet are off-limits and you’ve even gone to make a shitty cup of shitty coffee before to avoid him (and everyone knows you hate the coffee on the jet).

You somehow managed to never meet or hear about Beth until the triathlon — and you were apparently the only one who hadn’t met her yet.

Jack hugged her immediately that day. He had already warmed up to her and it made you want to claw your heart out.

Beth is nice. Beth is an angel. Beth is older, prettier, everything you knew Hotch wanted and wasn’t getting from you.

She shook your hand with a smile, none the wiser to the fact that you’ve slept with Hotch more times than you can remember. That your heart belongs to him even though you don’t want it to. Even though you want it back.

now you bring her around just to shut me down show her off like she’s a new trophy

Once you met Beth, it seemed like she was everywhere. Visiting the office, bringing Hotch lunch, bringing Jack in to visit, having coffee with Hotch in the cafe you used to frequent, at Rossi’s for family dinner nights. Everywhere.

Worst of all, at JJ and Will’s wedding.

You weren’t the only one to show up without a date, yet you felt like it. Especially when Hotch arrived with Beth on his arm, glowing like always, with Jack holding onto his hand.

You avoided Hotch all night — Beth too, but mostly him — yet he somehow managed to find you alone in the kitchen.

The wine was your saving grace of the night, and he happened to walk in as you were pouring another.

“I can hear your liver screaming from here.”

A poor attempt at a joke, really. Maybe it was funny. But you didn’t laugh. “I’ll survive” was your dry reply before downing half the glass.

His face looked softer, but you know now it was the wine in your system.

“You look good,” he had said. “How are you doing?”

You stared at him. “Fine. Thanks.”

You don’t know why he kept trying to have a conversation with you. You felt insufferable and you see now that you were, but it’s all his fault.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

You chuckled dryly. “Not with you.” You paused. “How’s Beth?” Paused again, this time to bring the wine glass to your lips. “How’s a real relationship working out for you?”

Hotch’s face fell. “What we had was real. You know that.”

“I know it was,” you replied. “But do you? Do you really?”

He didn’t answer. His silence was all you needed.

and i know if you were true there’s no damn way that you could fall in love with somebody that quickly

You left him standing there in the kitchen without another word. You had nothing left to say to him, and he clearly ran out of words for you.

Derek found you halfway to the dance floor.

“Woah, I don’t like that look,” he said, taking the wine from you. “What’s going through that pretty head of yours?”

“Nothing,” you lied. “Let’s dance instead. Come on.”

You drug him away, meeting Penelope and Emily for the next song. You danced, you cried, you blamed the tears on the alcohol in your system. You slow danced with Emily, Derek, Rossi, narrowly avoided Hotch by swinging into Spencer’s fumbling arms.

No one knew. No one would ever know.

you betrayed me

#aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner x fem!reader #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner x you #aaron hotchner oneshot #aaron hotchner one shot #aaron hotchner songfic #traitor olivia rodrigo #aaron hotchner angst #angst #aaron hotchner fanfiction #aaron hotchner fanfic #criminal minds songfic #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fanfiction #you will not find a happy ending here #oops

[babymetaldoll]

Stargazing (Spencer Reid/Reader)

Requested: No, but I needed some hardcore fluff

Summary: The team is “forced” to go camping, and Spencer finally decides to make “his move” on Reader.

Pairing: Spencer Reid/ Reader

Category: Hardcore fluff

Warnings: Zero

Word count: 3,2K

Masterlist

-

-

It was the first time the BAU didn't argue Strauss's decision. She had walked into the conference room and explained to the team that the FBI had decided each department had to do a workshop related to teamwork and trust.

- "You will spend this weekend camping together. You will be part of a Team-Building Training Workshop"- Strauss wasn't excited about the idea of her best team wasting a whole weekend. But she was glad her department didn't have to do the activity. She hated camping.

- "Are you telling me we have to spend our weekend in sleeping bags, singing kumbaya?"- Rossi raised an eyebrow and looked at Erin, and she didn't move a muscle- "I'm out."

- "David, I'm not asking you if you want to do it. The whole team has to be part of this activity, that includes you."

- "Come on, Rossi,"- Prentiss smiled and tried to cheer him up- "It will be a nice change from catching serial killers for a weekend.

- "Really, Emily?"- Rossi crossed his arms on his chest and looked at Reid- "Hey, kid. How many dead bodies are found each year in the woods in the country?"

- "Over 2.543 last year,"- Spencer answered. And didn't stop talking, of course- "We can not be sure they were all serial killer related cases. The most common ways to die in the woods are drowning, car accident, and suicide."

- "Suicide it is."- David whispered. He knew it was going to be a long weekend.

Even when he wasn't a person who loved camping and outdoor activities, Spencer was excited to spend the weekend with the team, especially with (Y/N). His teammate, best friend, and secret crush. Ok, it wasn't really a secret.

Of course, everybody knew about Spencer's feelings. He never successfully hid them from the team. You didn't need to be a profiler to notice each time (Y/N) walked into a room, Reid's eyes would follow her, and his cheeks blushed. When they sat together in the jet, Spencer would always be too self-aware of his own movements. He would try not to move, especially when she had fallen asleep, resting her head on his shoulder. And when they were working on a case together, he would always cover her on the field, and he would make sure she was safe, even when the unsub was already caught.

He loved her. Even a blind man could see. Except for (Y/N), of course. Because according to her own words: "There's no way Spencer Reid is in love with me. He would never look at me that way. He is perfect, and I'm a mess. He deserves the perfect genius girl."

-

- "Ok, Romeo, this weekend is the perfect opportunity for you to make your move"- Derek and Reid were alone in the SUV on their way to the retreat.

- "Sure. Because there's no better time to make a fool out of myself than in front of all my friends in the middle of nowhere."

- "What's with the attitude, pretty Ricky? Relax"- Morgan frowned and put on some music, singing along for a moment. Reid looked at him and raised an eyebrow, trying not to laugh.

- "Ok man, picture this: you, your pretty lady, in the middle of the night, gazing at the stars together, alone in the middle of the forest. The full moon is the only light."

- "Who are you? since when are you a romance expert?"

- "Hey! I can be romantic!"

- "I've seen you get girls only by raising an eyebrow"- Reid argued, and he was right. It had happened once, but that was another completely different story.

- "What I'm trying to tell you is that you have the perfect chance to tell her how you feel during this trip"- Spencer was about to start debating that idea when Derek continued.

- "And stop saying she has no feeling for you!"

Reid bit his tongue and looked at the road. Neither of them said a word for the next couple of minutes. Until Spencer whispered

- "But she doesn't"

- "She does!!"- Derek nearly yelled

- "Why are you so sure?!"

- "Because she told Penelope she is in love with you!!"

The silence in the car was as intense as the red in Spencer's cheeks. Derek knew he shouldn't have said that, but he was tired of seeing his best friend's sad eyes each time he stared at (Y/N). Someone had to do something, and he knew neither of them would make the first move.

- "Are you sure?"- Reid's mouth was hanging open- "I mean, maybe she was joking."

- "No, she was honest. So please, this weekend, make your freaking move."

-

How could Spencer ever make his move? He had no idea. He didn't even have a "move"! But something inside of him felt a little more confident now.

That didn't show on the outside at all, 'cos during the whole day, he was more clumsy than ever. He dropped his coffee. He failed the first two attempts to set up his tent and nearly fell carrying logs for the fire.

He wanted to dig a hole and hid.

But (Y/N) didn't notice any of that. Not because she didn't pay attention, but because she was oblivious to any of those things. She just couldn't stop staring: He was wearing jeans. Spencer Walter Reid was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. (Y/N) thought she was going to have a heart attack when he got out of the car.

Sure, yes, she had seen him outside work in a more casual outfit, but nothing prepared her for Spencer's camping clothing. It suited him too well for his own good.

- "Hello? Anybody there?"- Prentiss waved at (Y/N). She and JJ stood in front of her, trying to catch her attention.

- "Jesus! you look like a schoolgirl today!"- JJ teased her, laughing- "Can you be more obvious?"

- "What are you talking about?"- (Y/N) tried to look all innocent and continued setting the logs for the campfire.

- "If Spencer wasn't so clueless about your feelings, I swear you two would be already married,"- Emily joked and helped (Y/N) with the logs. The young SSA just shook her head and tried to keep her eyes from Reid for as long as she could. She successfully did it for five minutes. That day's record.

- "(Y/N), hey"- he stood by her side, and she quickly stood up.

- "Hey, how are you doing?"

- "Good... you?"- she just nodded and smiled. She really was acting like a schoolgirl in front of Spencer- "Great... hey, I thought maybe tonight you would like to do some stargazing with me..."- Emily and JJ heard him and nearly squealed. They tried to look away, but it was impossible. They needed to know what was happening. Where was García? she was going to be so mad she missed that.

- "Yeah! I'm sure tonight we can see way more stars than on your building's roof like last time."

(Y/N) answered, smiling, thinking there was nothing more romantic than being underneath a starry sky, listening to Spencer talking about constellations.

- "Ok, kids,"- Rossi's voice stepping out of his huge camper interrupted them and forced everybody to turn around- "Let's do this trust thing we are forced to do before it's lunchtime. Maybe we can manage to go home early."

-

Of course, they weren't. The whole team had to work as a unit to fulfill a series of activities an expert team the FBI had hired forced them to do. Aaron thought it was unnecessary, considering they worked on the field together, and they trusted each other with their lives all the time. But he was also sure his team needed a break, and everybody could use some fresh air.

- "Great work, team"- Hotch hugged everybody and smiled when the whole activity was done- "I think we've earned a nice dinner."

- "Please don't tell me we have to hunt our food"- Penelope wide opened her eyes suddenly and looked at Hotch- "I can eat blueberries."

- "Don't worry, kids"- Rossi shook his head and pointed to his camper- "Anyone in the mood for a nice steak?"

- "I bought marshmallows for the campfire later,"- (Y/N) said and smiled- "You are never too old for some s'more."

- "Scary stories by the fire eating s'mores? I'm ten years old again"- JJ looked excited- "I need to do this with Henry."

- "Just don't tell him your "I'm scared of the woods because I found the camp director dead" story." - Derek said, smiling.

- "You freaked out!"- JJ chuckled, remembering how she had scared her friends a few years earlier while working on a case in the woods.

- "I need to hear that story!"- Emily said- "I bet it's no better than mine, I'm sure."

- "Battle of horror stories?"- (Y/N) smiled evilly- "You two have nothing on me."

-

The evening was fun and a little terrifying. Garcia was holding Derek's arm so tight it was starting to feel numb. Rossi and Hotch had told a couple of stories that left the team completely frightened, to be fair. Especially Spencer. He had forgotten an essential part of his plan: nights in the woods are dark as pitch. And he was afraid of the dark. How would he successfully take (Y/N) to a nice spot, sit down and stare at the stars with her if he was too scared to move from the fire?

(Y/N) looked at Reid and sighed. Maybe he had regretted it. Of course, he hasn't forgotten his invitation, 'cos Spencer remembered everything. Still, he hadn't made any move or sign to go stargazing. Being alone with him in the dark was scary but in the right way. Maybe she could finally tell him how she felt. No, no way. That wasn't going to happen.

- "Ok, so... it's late, and we are out of wine"- Rossi stood up and looked at the team- "I am ready to go to my comfy bed"- the rest of the team groaned. They were going to spend the night in a tent, probably freezing, while Rossi was going to be in his warm camper.

- "I'm going to sleep too, we have trekking in the morning, and it's going to be a long walk. I suggest you all go to bed early."- Hotch stood up and waved at the team, to then walk to his tent."

- "Sweet chocolate thunder, is there room in your tent for me?"- Penelope asked, and he chuckled immediately

- "Are you still scared of the stories? they are just made up things people create to terrify us."

- "I know. But I'm also scared of bears, psycho killers, and slender man"- Morgan looked at her, raising an eyebrow. She wasn't joking.

- "Bring your sleeping bag."

- "You are my hero. I love you."

Prentiss and JJ went to bed soon after, leaving the two love birds alone.

- "Stargazing?"- Reid whispered, and (Y/N) nodded- "We should find a darker stop... or we can stay here by the fire if you like."

- "Are we going to get a nice view here?"- (Y/N) looked at the stars and tried to see anything.

- "No, it has to be darker,"- Spencer whispered, taking a look around- "There was a nice spot by the cliff, that way."

- "I don't think walking to a cliff in the middle of the night is a good idea"- (Y/N) smiled, and Reid shook his head

- "You are right..."

- "But we can walk carefully and carry a flashlight,"- she added and smiled, looking at him. His brown curls moved with the wind, and his chocolate eyes were brighter than the sparks of fire next to them.

- "That sounds good."

Spencer stood still for a second. He had a blanket in one hand and a bag of marshmallows in the other. (Y/N) put on her scarf and jacket and stared at him.

- "Are you ok?"

- "Yeah."

He wasn't. He was trying to calm himself down, thinking that walking in the middle of the dark was worthy because it meant spending time alone with (Y/N).

He kept telling himself he didn't have to worry because nothing was going to happen. He wished he had his gun with him in case of any danger, though. Maybe that could make him feel better.

- "You can't kill darkness, stupid"- he whispered to himself and sighed. (Y/N) walked a step closer and took the marshmallow bag. Then, she held his hand.

- "Let's go?"

That was all Spencer needed. He was ready.

- "Did you know astronomy is the oldest of the sciences?- Reid whispered as they walked hand in hand to a nice clear spot - "Ancient astronomers were able to differentiate between stars and planets, as stars remain relatively fixed over the centuries while planets will move an appreciable amount during a comparatively short time."

- "And when did you start learning about the stars?"- Spencer loved that. How each time he started rambling, she wouldn't get annoyed like the rest of the people he knew. Instead, she would always ask him something related to the subject. And it was usually something personal. She wanted to learn more about him and how he had ended up being such an amazing human being.

- "When I was four, mom started taking me regularly to the library. That was when I started to learn more about science. I could pick ten books each time we were there, and I decided I wanted to know everything I could about everything I loved."

Spencer confessed and smiled, looking at her. His heart was warm with their conversations. He was never comfortable talking about his personal life, especially about his childhood. But with (Y/N), it all came naturally.

- "How often did she take you?"

- "Every other day"- she chuckled and remembered the pictures Diana had shown her of Spencer when he was a little kid last time they visited her. He was adorable, with his glasses and his messy hair. It was impossible not to imagine having a family with him.

- "This is it... this is a good spot."- Spencer said and stopped walking. He moved a log and tapped on it, smiling at (Y/N). She sat with him, and he wrapped them together with the blanket.

- "So, what am I staring at?"- (Y/N) asked and kept her eyes on the starry sky. It seemed she had never seen so many stars. And they even looked closer. Spencer looked at her, and his heart skipped a beat. He was about to start a lecture on astronomy, but instead, he decided to do "his move." Or the move he could think of. He didn't really know if it was a move, but he was going to give it a shot anyway.

- "Most stargazers learn about constellations looking for different noticeable patterns across the sky"- he made a pause clearing his throat. That was it. He was going to do it.

- "That's how it all started,"- he continued- "Some of these noticeable patterns up there are still the same ones our ancestors noticed while sitting around a campfire telling stories like we did today."

- "Telling stories about the stars sounds a lot less creepy, though" - (Y/N) whispered, and the two of them smiled- "Wanna tell me a story about these stars?"

There was no way Spencer could say not to her puppy eyes.

- "Ok... let's see..."- Reid sighed and thought for a moment, looking at the constellations above them- "Do you see those stars over there that look like a cute bunny?"

- "Which ones?"- Spencer pointed at the sky, and (Y/N) nodded- "I see them"

- "Well, you'll see, there was a comet in love with the bunny, but it could only look at her from a safe distance."- Spencer finally confessed. (Y/N) held her breath for a second and tried not to get her hopes high.

- "Why?"

- "Well, the comet was afraid he wasn't good enough for the bunny"- Spencer was whispering, and his soft voice sent shivers to (Y/N)'s body- "So he stared at his favorite constellation every day and only imagined what it would feel like to hold her in his arms."

- "And the bunny never saw the comet?"- (Y/N) asked softly, while very, very slowly, she moved her hand and reached Spencer's.

- "The bunny thought the comet just wanted to be her friend because he was scared to tell her how he felt,"

(Y/N) kept thinking there was no way on earth Spencer was telling her how he felt about her with that adorable story. Was he? Really? 'cos it was too romantic, and if he wasn't and she was wrong... it would be heartbreaking. But, there was only one way to find out.

- "I think the bunny felt the same, but she thought she wasn't good enough for the comet"- Spencer's heart raced at those words, and he turned to look at (Y/N). She blushed and stared at him with a shy smile.

- "Why would the bunny ever think that?"

- "The comet is too brilliant and too amazing to settle for a simple constellation when he could have the sun."

(Y/N) was embarrassed to confess those feelings, but it was now or never.

- "But the bunny is the sun in the comet's life."- Spencer whispered and caressed her cheek with his thumb carefully.

- "Really?"- her voice was so soft, it melted Spencer completely. He couldn't answer. All he could do was to lean in slowly and kissed her as gently as he could, enjoying the sensation of her lips against his. He cupped her face with both hands and moved a little closer.

It was the sweetest kiss he had ever given. It wasn't just because (Y/N)'s lips tasted like marshmallow, but because it was filled with pure love. He could feel it, even when he still couldn't believe it. She loved him. She really did.

(Y/N) was sure that wasn't really happening. She had probably fallen down the cliff earlier and was now unconscious or dead, living a fantasy. There was no way Spencer Reid was kissing her.

When they slowly moved and looked at each other, neither of them knew what to say. So (Y/N) did what she always dreamed of doing and leaned in and kissed him again. Spencer didn't hesitate and wrapped his arms around her waist, moving her closer to him. Her hands played shyly with some of the curls of his hair, and they simply kissed for what seemed to be forever, even when it wasn't enough time for them. Spencer felt he could kiss her his whole life, and he still wouldn't get enough of her.

- "So..."- (Y/N) whispered after some minutes and looked at Spencer, blushing- "Do you think the comet and the bunny could... maybe try to be more than friends?"

He smiled and kissed her again, rubbing her lips carefully with his; (Y/N) sighed into the kiss.

- "The comet is willing to do anything the bunny asks him because he just wants to make her happy all day, every day."

(Y/N) couldn't speak. She could only kiss him again and again.

- "Bunny just wants her comet to be happy too."

- "Then would Bunny be the comet's girlfriend?"- she giggled and nodded- "Good, because I don't think I could ever live without your kisses ever again, Bunny."

- "Neither do I, Comet"

And after that, stargazing was forgotten. There were enough stars in their kisses to keep the two of them lost in their own new universe. 

#Spencer Reid #Matthew Gray Gubler #Criminal Minds #Fluff #Spencer reid x reader #fanfic #spencer reid fanfic #criminal minds fanfic #mgg #dr spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #mgg x reader #criminal minds x reader #spencer reid x you #babymetaldoll writes

[bigilante]

〖 her best friend ❣ zendaya 〗

「 zendaya x gender-neutral!reader 」 ┅ 「 2.7k words 」

: a.n : back at it again with the unsolicited fics :)) i hope you guys like it 👉🏼👈🏼

⤷ : prompt : separated forcefully or for reasons you can’t control, run into each other again years later on accident.

“Do you think they’ll ever stop making headlines calling us ‘very good friends’?” You halfheartedly laughed at yet another Instagram post by some magazine that showed you and Zendaya out and about LA. “Like, the minute you hang out with any guy they’re like, ‘Oh! Date alert!’ But I’m just your ‘best friend’” You were ranting now, unable to hide the annoyance you felt.

“Why does it matter what they say?” Zendaya quizzed, her hands playing with the waist string of your sweats. She looked up at you from her slumped down position on the sofa, her faint frown making you sigh.

“Because... don’t you feel is a bit homophobic?” You wondered, placing your phone face down on top of your stomach to give her your full attention. The brunette just shrugged nonchalantly and you let out another sigh picking your phone again to close the app, “I’m gonna head out.” It was best to just leave then, you didn’t want to get in a stupid argument with her not before you were set to leave for New York the very next morning. You began to incorporate but Zendaya’s hands gripped your thighs keeping them draped over hers.

“Y/n, come on.” She said, gorgeous hazel eyes pleading at you. What exactly? You had no idea but for a second, you were about to give in however a loud ding coming from your phone stopped you. Your eyes scanned the screen and the reminder that had popped up read ‘PACK ! 4 ! N Y C !’, you sent her an apologetic glance before getting off the sofa, gathering your stuff and petting Noon goodbye.

Zendaya had stood up from the sofa too, watching your every move intently, probably trying to figure out if you were upset with her. The truth was, you didn’t know if you were upset with her or with the media, it was possible that both had a little part in your now sour mood. “See you next week, best friend. Love you.” You joked before swinging the front door open and leaving. The week was going to feel like a month, you knew, but the hope that making that simple joke followed by the declaration would ease things up was strong.

But what did hopefulness ever bring if not disappointment and heartache?

Seeing medium-quality paparazzi pictures of your girlfriend as soon as you landed from a five-hour flight wasn’t exactly the way you wanted to be welcomed to New York. You sat quietly in the back of an Uber trying not to cry as your eyes stared at the images on your phone. A series of pictures of Zendaya and Tom leaving her house, —they must had been taken that morning while you were on your way to the airport— the further you scrolled down the Twitter trends the more you felt like throwing up. Them in his car. Tom’s hand reaching for Zendaya’s jaw. Both leaning in. Kissing. Laughing.

It felt like a punch to the face, it was the worst feeling you had ever endured and the people that caused it were the last you would’ve thought could ever dare to hurt you. Your trembling hands fumbled with the settings on your account, privating it and blocking her and Tom, doing the same with Instagram followed by their numbers on your phone. It felt like doing a cleansing, the pressure in your chest easing only minimally when you locked your phone and looked out into the running city. You wanted to scream and cry, break stuff, throw your phone away and not show to work, you just wanted to go hide in your Airbnb for the rest of the week and pretend you and Zendaya never happened.

The reality was that you two had happened and it was far too hard to pretend it didn’t, your heart ached both physically and metaphorically and you hated every second of it. For that week you spent in New York no one shut up about the photos, every person you worked with had that hot, brand new ‘goss’ about the pair that had hurt you so badly.

You sat in the quiet living room of the apartment you had been living in whilst in the big city, laptop sitting in front of you as you cancelled your flight back to LA, changing the tab to the Airbnb’s one to pay for a few more days. You had been holding yourself together the whole time you were there, work keeping you busy and sleeping pills doing their magic at the end of the day but it could only go so far. Glassy, stinging eyes stared blankly at the empty inbox of your email, the cursed images projecting over the blank space and you just weren’t strong enough anymore, you couldn’t, so you cried and choked and screamed until your throat and eyes were sore; until your whole body was drained of every bit of energy.

Little by little you were sweeping your life clean of her, clearing out your phone’s camera roll, changing your number. Deleting social media was a big no for your job so filtering everything and anything that had to do with them was the only option, that and spending little to no time online. You had stopped to think one night of the what-ifs of the situation, you were aware that Zendaya’s publicist wasn’t so happy about you and her dating publically and Tom’s was obsessed with boosting the Spider-man movies at all cost, still, giving you a heads up about it would had been the right thing to do.

For a year and a half, you made yourself busy, going back and forth wasn’t something you enjoyed but it worked to avoid unwanted visits and accidental encounters. Enough time had passed, you thought as you stopped booking in so many clients across the country and settled back in your LA home. “You know what? I could go for a thick, sugary milkshake, right now.” Naomi told you as you put down your half-empty box of fried noodles on the coffee table.

“Are you serious?” You asked incredulous receiving an enthusiastic nod from your friend. “Naomi, we just had Chinese and you wanna wash it down with a milkshake?” She rolled her eyes at you when you pointed it out.

“Fine, what about Bubble U? Bubble tea is Chinese isn’t it?” She offered, her question prompting you to send her an unamused glare. “Yep, Bubble U it is, then!” Naomi jumped up, going straight to the door. Reluctantly you got up from the floor, groaning all the way to the door where you got ready to go out, “Come on! It’ll be fun!” She chirped while she pulled you out of the house. You hated to admit it but you had completely modified your life after the heartbreak, once you settled back home you barely left it, you didn’t attend parties unless it was for work or go out with your friends unless it was at any of their houses. You didn’t walk around the city that often anymore in fear of bumping into her.

“I miss this.” You sighed as you walked down Chinatown with your friend, the coldness of your drink pleasant against the palm of your hand. “Just walking around town.” You continued taking a sip of the milk tea.

“I still don’t get why you had to stop going out with us.” Naomi said inciting you to turn to look at her, “I mean, I know why it’s just… you didn’t have to stop.” She rephrased it giving you an apologetic glance. You knew how much your friends hated the idea of you not being able to be you after the whole thing with Zendaya and Tom happened but it was your way of coping with it and even though they didn’t agree with it, they supported you.

“Well, I’m outside now, aren’t I?” You nudged her side with your elbow making her giggle as she nudged you back. “Maybe this is me getting back to my old self.” Hope laced your every word as you looked around the busy street. The way the golden light of the setting sun washed over the buildings made the outing worth the risk.

LA was the second-largest city in the United States, with a population of nearly four million that one could think the chances of crossing paths with a lover-turned-stranger was one in millions, yet, there you were rooted to the pavement as your wide eyes stared at the tall and thin figure coming out of one of the many restaurants that dotted the street. “Come on, let’s go back.” Naomi said, placing her hand on the crook of your elbow ready to pull you out of there but something inside your chest told you to keep moving forward.

So you did, you started walking again letting your friend’s hand slip away from you. She was quick to follow, whisper-shouting at you that whatever you were doing probably wasn’t the best idea. The closer you got to her the more nervous you felt, it’s been over a year since you last saw her and god, was she even more beautiful than before; long legs clagged in camel coloured trousers, feet sporting her beloved black converse. Her top was white, a little see-through and you cursed at how much it still drove you absolutely crazy in the most irritating sense.

Curls tucked into an elastic on top of her head in a carefree and relaxed way, a few stubborn strands hanging out framing her face and gracing her neck. She was laughing loudly at something Darnell said, that laugh you had forced yourself to forget but the second it hit your ears, you realised how badly you had missed it. Then everything stopped, Naomi’s panicked telling off, Darnell’s chatting and Zendaya’s laughing. It all had stopped but the rambling around the four of you.

You stood in front of Darnell while Naomi stood in front of Zendaya, your friend’s usually amicable attitude disrupted by the scowl on her face as she glared Zendaya’s way only the brunette’s pupils were set on you with no apparent intention of averting. “It’s you,” She breathed out, hope barely perceivable in her tone. You only hummed at the observation, your eyes moving from hers down to her hands that were gripping the long lanyard that held her phone around her neck. Her nerves were evident then, the intensity with which she clutched it seemed to be draining the blood flow from her fingers. “I— How—” Zendaya tried to speak but failed, letting out a shaky breath. “How have you been?”

“Are you fucking kidding me!?” Naomi protested, you understood where your friend was coming from but you also needed that, you needed to speak to Zendaya just one more time to be able to finally let everything go. You needed her to confirm your theory just so you could move on and Darnell seemed to be on the same page as you for he stepped in between you and Naomi, throwing his arm around her shoulders to guide her away from you two. You heard her object some more but ultimately she complied and walked away.

“I’ve been fine. You?” You eventually spoke after short but agonising seconds of silence.

“I don’t know. There are good days among the terrible ones, so... fine, I guess?” She shrugged a shoulder. With a nod of your head, you looked past her over her shoulder to see a man pointing a camera at you, you were about to warn her when she began speaking again. “Y/n, I’m so sorry about—” Zendaya started but you shook your head no making her stop, you realised then that you did want to talk to her but not on the street in front of that many people and certainly not when there were paparazzi nearby.

“Heard the movie did well.” Your tongue betrayed your brain. Zendaya tried to speak once more but you cut her again. “I’m glad it did. Made it all worth it, didn’t it?” You faked a small smile nearly choking on the words, the anxious lump in your throat threatening to cut your airflow.

“No, It didn’t.” Zendaya denied taking a step closer to you forcing you to hold your breath with the sudden move. “I was a total asshole to you before you left, then Marla wanted me and Tom to do that for a while and I don’t even know why I did it.” She ranted in one breath.

“I upset you.” The statement earned you a furious head shake from the tall girl. “I did. I kept bugging you about the articles,” You carried on, inconspicuously your eyes started to line with tears. The more you talked the more you realised that maybe, just maybe there was a bit of blame in you too, however, that didn’t mean Zendaya was absolved from any. “You never said a thing to me about the stunt.”

“I felt like I didn’t need to, I wasn’t gonna do it.”

“But you did. The morning I left LA.” You mumbled, trying to hide from the second man with a camera that had appeared closer than the first.

“Fuck, I know it was a shitty thing to do and I’m sorry,” She took another small step forward.

“You always told me kissing in public wasn’t your thing.” You exposed, tears irrevocably breaking the surface tension and cascading down your cheeks. Flicking your gaze up at her you saw nothing but hurt and regret written all over her gorgeous face and your heart squeezed at the sight. She had never spoken about it and neither had you asked, you just felt it in your heart that she was scared of how the media would treat you both if they ever found out you were dating, you knew the times had changed but there were still closed-minded people that ran gossip magazines and could make your lives a living hell the moment they caught you holding hands in public or worst, kissing.

The murmuring around you increased, reminding you that you were in a very public place crying in front of your secret ex-girlfriend. “Fuck that.” Zendaya grumbled. One moment she was a small step away from you and the next her hands were cupping your face and her lips were softly pressed against yours. The action took your breath away instantly, still, you found yourself powerless against the familiar taste and feel of her and allowed her to kiss you as long as she wanted to in front of how many people she wanted to. There were yelps and gasps all around the two of you and you started to regain conscience and pulled away.

Wide, watery eyes staring up at the girl mere inches away from your face. “Th-there’s pap—”

“I don’t care.” She whispered before she captured your lips once more, this time deeper and twice as intensely as the first time. Your hands scurried to her waist, bringing her flush to your body as you kissed her back gladly, desperately wanting her lips to make the past year bleep out of your core memories.

The night went by slowly as if the universe was granting you more time to spend in the arms of the girl you loved. She never once let a second of silence go by you, filling it with a whispered apology and a kiss. You talked about everything the time you spent apart brought to both of you, she told you about firing her publicist right after the pictures came out, about how she understood why you had cut her off without any explanation and how bad both her and Tom felt with the whole thing.

Articles flooded the internet that very night as well as the next morning, however, neither of you knew of them right away for any device that could be hooked to a WiFi signal was rightfully turned off while you basked in the presence of each other under the covers of Zendaya’s bed.

“Spider-man Star Zendaya shares intense kiss with BFF, Celeb Stylist y/n l/n in the middle of Chinatown! Swipe to see the pictures!”

It might be 2021 but some things refused to change.

【 thank you so much for reading! ♡ please, consider reblogging and letting me know what you thought of this ♡ kit xx 】

#zendaya x reader #zendaya x you #zendaya imagine #zendaya fanfic #wlw fanfic #softfics #angst to fluff #gender neutral reader

[bigskydreaming]

Brain topic du jour is reflecting on the frankly weird as fuck pattern in Dick’s life where....he barely ever experiences losses one at a time. Most of the loss he’s experienced in his life is compounded by him losing multiple people and other elements of stability all at the exact same time.

1) When his parents died, in some continuities this is coupled with him losing his extended family of his aunt and cousin as well, with his uncle left comatose and on life support for years before he eventually died as well. Even in continuities without Richard, Karla and John, the loss of Dick’s parents is compounded by the additional loss of his circus family in the sense that he was taken away from them by the state and their constant reassuring presences in his life were no longer comforts he was able to rely on.

2) When Jason died, Dick didn’t just lose his brother, as the tragedy was compounded by Bruce’s reaction. I’ll never be able to gloss over the effects of NTT #55, personally, because I think its too key to Dick’s entire characterization and the specific direction his character took in the years that followed this, to like....disregard that Bruce however unintentionally, while lost in his own grief, added to Dick’s own sense of loss for Jason in probably the worst way possible. As by kicking Dick out and telling him to leave his keys, Dick - having no way to know or guess that they’d ever reconcile, just like he never actually went back to the circus being a regular presence for him - to Dick, this was in essence the equivalent of his childhood tragedy all over again. Losing not just one family member, but his whole family in one sweep, and all the comforts and stability offered by a home he was forced to leave. Even Dick’s contact with Alfred was minimal for awhile, because why would the guy who basically JUST saw history repeat itself and was like, well I know how THIS tends to play out.....why would he think that if Alfred felt forced to actually choose between his loyalties to Bruce and Dick respectively, that Alfred would pick Dick over the man he’d known and raised from childhood himself?

3) Titans Hunt. I know I harp on this one a lot, but you can’t deny that it fits the pattern. Dick didn’t just lose one friend and teammate.....he lost Joey, he lost a good four or five lesser known Titans who nevertheless were people he viewed as directly HIS responsibility to keep safe. With these tragedies compounded by the fact that though comics played out a lot more slowburn and extended stories over years back then, like.....the aftermath of Titans Hunt was still everpresent and directly died into Dick’s reactions and emotions during the Mirage storyline and everything that happened with the failed wedding and his breakup with Kory AND the fact that he was literally forced off the team he’d basically founded, by the government agency that took over the team and appointed Roy as its leader in his stead.

3) Graduation Day. The second time the Titans disbanded it was again not due to a singular loss, because Dick didn’t just lose Donna at this point, but also Lilith died in the exact same story and though Lilith is criminally underused, like, she’s also one of Dick’s oldest friends. She was literally the first Titan to join after the original five. This then led into the Outsiders era, where Dick was shown to still be reeling from the losses of this story for an extended period of time, and in a fun parallel to the Titans Hunt aftermath, Dick was also ousted from his leadership of THIS team by essentially a vote of no confidence by his teammates (and uh, Bruce too, literally).

4) The Blockbuster arc. Where Dick’s emotional state was due to a continued string of multiple losses. He lost his apartment building and almost every one of the neighbors he’d built a community out of, as we’d been shown him actively involving himself in their lives and vice versa for YEARS before this point. Then he lost his circus, his childhood home, burned to the ground and with dozens of deaths - both spectators and actual performers Dick had known and loved as a child. Then he lost his relationship with Barbara, his sense of self-security and autonomy to Tarantula, he lost another teen vigilante who died in his colors, the mantle HE’D created, when Stephanie was believed dead in War Games, and it all culminated in losing the city he’d invested himself in as his CHOSEN home, the place he dedicated himself to protecting, when Chemo blew it up.

Oh just for the record - my nonexistent passport to the magical kingdom of Narnia for a fic that raises the point when bringing up Tim’s losses in the Red Robin era, that like.....ALL of the above happened at literally the EXACT SAME TIME as all Tim’s referenced losses occurred. Obviously Steph meant more to Tim than Dick on a personal level, but I also included her largely as an anchor point to the timeline, to show how that death, and not long after that Jack Drake’s and then Superboy’s.... occurred right smack in the middle of one of the absolute WORST periods of Dick’s life. To be clear, I don’t intend this to suggest that no actually, Dick had it harder than Tim - nah. 

No thank you. Hard pass. I hate that sort of thing even in support of my own faves over other characters. No, instead the thing I’d love to see explored more is just in light of the SPECIFIC angle fics take here - that Dick’s actions while Bruce was lost in time showed an obliviousness to everything Tim had lost lately - for literally ANYONE to bring up or introduce into the timeline here an awareness of everything Dick had lost AT THE EXACT SAME TIME PERIOD. To establish that actually, Dick didn’t just ‘not understand what it was like’ - rather, its more accurate to say that nobody in universe around this time ever shows an awareness of Dick’s own losses and says oh wait, that doesn’t track then. 

Because obviously, with this stuff put in proper perspective, Dick understands VERY VERY WELL the exact thing we’re accusing him of not understanding by being oblivious to Tim’s losses that he’s not actually oblivious to because he tries to talk to Tim about them all the time, while meanwhile its everyone else who has absolutely mum to say about the fact that Dick’s emotional state is compromised to hell and back at this point, not JUST because of losing Bruce, but also because *gestures wildly* literally ALL OF THE ABOVE in the exact same time frame Tim’s extended losses happened in.

And okay I am going to indulge in slight tiny itty bitty pettiness and point out my ire that so many fics set during this time tend to recite listicles of Tim’s losses, with Steph, Kon and Jack Drake at the very top of said list....while paying no attention whatsoever to the fact that STEPH WAS LITERALLY BACK BY THE TIME THE RED ROBIN SERIES HAPPENED. She’s LITERALLY a person Dick sends to check up on Tim after Tim turns Dick away when he tries himself. How are you gonna stress the impact Steph’s loss has on Tim when you’re not even acknowledging STEPH’S RIGHT HERE IN THE EXACT SPECIFIC CANON STORY YOU’RE CITING??? I just. afhioskhflafhlafhklfahlfa. 

And not to put too fine a point on it, but you know who ELSE was also back at the same time? CONNOR. Superboy LITERALLY was already back to life by the time the Red Robin series even began. Like, the issue where a resurrected Kon and Cassie (Wonder Girl) have a heart to heart about the fact that Tim and Cassie ‘connected’ during his absence and Connor stresses that this doesn’t bother him or make him feel negatively towards either of them at all, because hello, he was literally dead at the time, why would he mind that two of the people he loves most in the world sought comfort in each other? Yeah, that issue? Literally came out BEFORE Tim even became Red Robin.

I MEAN. I’m just saying, when people constantly take shots at Dick’s choices during this period because of how much Tim had lost before Bruce already, in order to shift focus away from the fact that Dick lost Bruce every bit as much as Tim did......and you repeatedly emphasize the SAME three names as the focal point of Tim’s losses while paying no acknowledgment whatsoever to everything Dick lost at the exact same time Tim lost these three.....it quickly becomes kiiiiiiinda relevant in my opinion THAT TWO OF THE THREE NAMES CONSTANTLY MENTIONED AS BEING TIM’S LOSSES ARE NO LONGER EVEN LOST BY THE TIME THE SUBJECT COMES UP. Again, I’m just saying! Pettily, mind you! I am aware of the pettiness, I just beg awareness of like *again gesticulates wildly at all of the above* ALL THAT!

LOL.

But I digress.

5) When Bruce was believed dead while he was lost in the timestream. Again, Dick didn’t just lose the father who had been the only parent in his life for almost TWICE as long as his first parents......this was coupled with the loss of numerous other sources of stability in Dick’s life. There’s the matter of his personal sense of identity and self-expression....Dick FOUGHT against becoming Batman, trying to handle Gotham in Bruce’s absence as Nightwing for as long as he could, because he knew being Batman was very much NOT going to be good for him. He put so much of himself into building his identity as Nightwing, establishing himself in that role, that self-image, that yes, I maintain it was an actual LOSS for Dick, to feel like he had no choice but to give that up and everything it meant to him and his own life, in order to essentially live Bruce’s life for him in his absence. 

Because it wasn’t just being Batman that Dick was struggling with at this time....he also had to act as the patriarch to the Wayne family, essentially raise Bruce’s ten year old son, step into Bruce’s old role in Wayne Enterprises, all while getting no acknowledgment for any of this, for literally LIVING his father’s life instead of the life Dick had worked so hard to build for HIMSELF....because of course Dick’s actions and struggles couldn’t even be advertised beyond the family and close friends, because the whole point of him doing all this was so that nobody else even realized that Bruce wasn’t really there anymore. Dick didn’t just assume Bruce’s responsibilities. Dick assumed Bruce’s life, so thoroughly that most people didn’t even put together that Bruce was ‘dead,’ between Dick handling Bruce’s actual roles and responsibilities while Hush made public appearances as him. 

Like, when you’re living someone else’s life so completely that nobody can tell they’re even gone....how on earth does that leave any time or space for you to have ANY kind of life of your OWN, y’know? Not to mention the fact that like in so many times previously....all this meant that Dick couldn’t even afford to let his grief for his own losses show, because he wasn’t supposed to be grieving any losses in the first place, that was the whole point of the con!

Additionally, couple this with the fact that throughout this time period, Dick didn’t have Tim to lean on at all, because it was never that Dick kicked Tim out or neglected him or didn’t care....he’d actively stressed how much he needed Tim, because the partner Tim was convinced Dick chose ‘over’ him - Dick was the first one to admit back then that he DIDN’T trust Damian yet, couldn’t afford to, because he was all too aware that Damian didn’t give a fuck about him yet and couldn’t be guaranteed to step in to have Dick’s back - because that required mutual trust that Dick literally just hadn’t had time to build yet. And add to THAT the fact that during this time, Jason was actively antagonizing the family and Dick in particular at every turn, trying to bring them all down and basically write over what all of them saw as Bruce’s legacy with Jason’s own version of what he thought that should look like.

Also also, take into account that unlike how often we see fanon depict Dick as just too stubborn or proud to ask for help, there’s the fact that he actually had very few avenues TO ask for help! As already established, he DID ask Tim for help. Not like Jason was an option at this time, and Dick’s friends weren’t actually just sitting waiting in the wings and groaning about the fact that Dick was trying to do all of this solo....nah, they kinda had their own problems, which Dick was all too aware of?

Like the fact that in the wake of Final Crisis, it wasn’t just Bruce that was believed lost. Many other key Leaguers like Martian Manhunter were dead or lost, with others struggling to fill the gaps left in their absence. Cry For Justice happened right after Final Crisis too....that story where Lian was murdered? So it wasn’t like Dick was remotely going to try leaning on Roy when Roy had just lost his freaking DAUGHTER and very much wasn’t handling it well (and not to overshadow Roy’s loss at ALL, but please let’s not act like Dick - who had literally been the person to put a baby Lian in Roy’s arms for the first time and had known that girl for pretty much her entire life - like, it shouldn’t be used to detract from Roy’s loss at all, but it shouldn’t have to, to just acknowledge that Lian’s loss right at this exact time was painful as fuck to Dick, who’d loved his niece like crazy.)

The pattern of compounding, concurrent losses in Dick’s life. I’m just saying. Its there.

And it extends into the New 52 as well, where Forever Evil came right on the heels of Dick losing his circus in THIS continuity to the Joker, just as a way to hurt him in Death of A Family. And with the aftermath of Forever Evil and Dick’s own literal death, being like....the complete loss of Dick’s entire life, even though he was revived quickly. That didn’t mean he got to live HIS life though, since Dick Grayson was believed dead and he was told had to remain so, so its like fuck whatever he actually wanted to do as he went about on the Spyral mission aka something that pinched his own sense of morality and personal agenda at every turn and was kinda the last thing a therapist would recommend for a trauma recovery period, lol. And like, for all the focus that was paid to how Dick’s family were hurt because they believed they’d lost him when he was actually alive, let’s not forget that for all intents and purposes, Dick DID lose his family in the wake of his resurrection because he was flat out told over and over that due to what ‘he’d LET happen to him’ he was an ACTIVE danger to them, and thus wasn’t allowed by Bruce to contact any of them or lean on them to any degree, until Bruce got amnesia and stopped blocking Dick’s pleas to return home by just not being there to pick up the secret phone line at all. 

(And omg, the obliviousness that just EMANATES off the hot takes that Dick had a ‘choice’ in all this and he still CHOSE to do what Bruce told him....like. LOLOL, stop being pissy about me bringing up the term abuse apologism when its literal victim blaming to paint the guy who had to be beaten into ‘agreeing’ to the Spyral mission in the immediate wake of the trauma of DYING, all while his father vocally blamed him for his own suffering and the ‘threat’ he now posed to his family, keying directly into the guilt complex Bruce knows damn well is at the core of most of Dick’s motivations.....fucking please. There’s no choice in all that. That’s active emotional, mental and physical abuse aimed at directly manipulating Dick’s actions, delivered by the guy who knows Dick best in the world and whose approval - particularly when Dick is at absolute rock bottom aka Current Location - matters more to Dick than just about anything because his sense of self-worth has more in common with dog shit than actual dog shit does. Or something. Idk. That analogy got away from me. But like. You get it.)

BUT. I. DIE. GRESS. (I guess).

Aaaaaaanyway, so yeah! That repeating pattern throughout Dick’s life of ‘loss? What loss (singular)? My losses only come in groups, lolol, fuuuuuun’ - mmmm. Yeah. So that’s what’s on MY brain right now. Thoughts?

[hiddlesbummmm]

Here is the sequel to Catch!! This was requested by a bunch of you, and I had soooo much fun piecing this together! Thank you for the brilliant idea💕☺️

Read part 1 here

Warnings: None, SFW Tickle Fic

Words: 2976 Lee Reader X Lers Steve/Bucky

Some Lee Peter X Lers Thor/Loki

Caught

It had been about a week since you and Peter attempted to prank the rest of the team. You both were a little jittery after your last encounter with some of them. Peter and you decided it would be best to think of a new prank to pull on the remaining members because you both needed time to let the situation air out a little and give you time to avoid a certain pair of super soldiers and Demigods.

You weren’t entirely sure how Peter was doing after his weakness was exploited, but you were not deterred in the slightest. If anything, this made you want to prank the team even more. You were known for having a stubborn side. Although, part of you knew you were going to regret resuming the pranks because mercy was not going to be in anybody’s vocabulary.

One reason you knew this for a fact was that every time you came in contact with one of your previous attackers, they would taunt you, tease you, or flat out just tickle you for no reason claiming that you were “ Thinking” of revenge.

One time you had walked into the kitchen to grab a quick snack, and Bucky was drinking coffee at the table. You gave him a little wave and went to grab a muffin. When you turned around, Bucky had put his coffee down, and was wiggling his fingers at you. This immediately caused you to blush, and you ran out of the kitchen as fast as you could.

Loki seemed to be the one who teased you the most. He was one of your closest friends and so you spent lots of time together. Loki liked to claim that you intentionally hid your ticklishness from him and it was his “ duty” to tickle you to make up for all your lies and deceit. (Eye roll) Luckily, he was kind enough to not murder you, but still.

You and Peter were playing on your switch alone in the common room. Currently, you were kicking his butt in Mario Kart. Once you had completed a few races, you paused the game. “ Peter, I think it’s time we finish our prank battle. I have the perfect idea for it too. It will even help us get revenge on the tickle monsters too.” Peter blushed when you mentioned the T-word, but didn’t hesitate to ask what your new diabolical plan was. He was a pretty sensitive kid and even though you didn't see what Steve and Bucky did to him, you sure heard his screams from down the hall.

Peter surprised you with his next question, as it was poised with some hesitation. “ Y/n, I want to continue this battle just so I can win two years in a row, but what do you think will happen to us if a few certain someones find out about it? Maybe we should stick with our original targets and hope for the best.” You pondered this for a moment before agreeing. If you only pranked the teammates on your original list, then the chances of the men finding out were slim. “ You are right Peter, let’s just prank our original targets and hope for the best. If we do get caught, you can blame me for pushing you into continuing”. Peter stuck his hand out for you to shake, sealing the deal.

Your new idea was to wake up extra early before the team woke up, and instead of throwing water balloons at them, you decided glitter bombs would be much funnier. Your teammates would probably be dazed and not see who was attacking them, so it was perfect. Once the final details were discussed, you resumed your Mario Kart competition with smiles and rosy cheeks excited for the following morning.

Little did you two know that Loki, Thor, Steve, and Bucky had a secret meeting amongst themselves as well. And this time, they weren’t alone. The four men had expected you two not to listen, so they waited for you and Peter to go do “ kid things” and then invited the rest of the team to the library knowing they could conspire a plan without you two walking in on them. Steve, being the captain and all, lead the meeting.

“Thank you all for gathering here today. We have a very important subject to discuss.” Steve motioned to Thor, Loki, and Bucky. “ ’m sure some of you are well aware of a certain duo running around rampant pranking their teammates. Some of us, even got hit with water balloons last week”. Sam spoke up when he heard this. “You people got hit too!? Man, those kids are gonna pay”. Everyone laughed. Steve spoke up again. “ And that’s why you are here today! We found these little pranksters and tickled them pretty good, but apparently not good enough. We overheard them getting ready to prank again. That’s where you come in. If these kids try to pull something on you, please let one of us know and we will make sure this is the last of it. Understood?” Everyone laughed at this and nodded in agreement.

Steve released everyone and headed out to the gym to exercise. Loki quickly caught up to Tony before he fully left the room.

“ Hey, Stark! Might I ask a favor from you?” Tony turned around and grinned at the God. “ No Loki, you cannot have your scepter back,” he teased. Loki just rolled his eyes.

“ I was wondering if by chance we could use your lab once we catch these unsuspecting mortals. I’ve heard it’s the perfect place to get people to behave.” Tony barked out a big laugh and rested his arm over Loki’s shoulder. “ Ya know, I’ve really come to like your way of thinking. Follow me, I got just the thing for these little squirts”. The two walked out of the library together headed toward their new destination.

***

The following morning you were awoken by a bright light shining throughout your room. It was Peter. “ Dude what the Fu—“ you were instantly shut up by Peter’s harsh Shhhing. “ Shhh! Your gonna wake the whole building! Let’s go! “ You groaned slightly and glanced at your clock. It read 3:10 am. There was no way anyone else would be awake at this hour. Perfect.

You slid on your slippers, grabbed your box of glitter bombs, and went in search of your next target.

You and Peter crept up to Wanda’s door. This was the perfect first stop because Wanda and Vision shared a room and you each had one or the other as a target. You gracefully opened the door and peered inside. As you expected, they both were sleeping peacefully. You and Peter each grabbed a balloon and tossed it on top of the bed. You had filled the balloons with water and glitter to make it even harder to clean up. The forceful landing caused them to explode on contact, and you and Peter quickly shut the door and raced down the hallway not wanting to see their reactions just in case they decided to chase after you two.

You both repeated this process until everyone on your list had been glitter bombed. Luckily, no one had ran after you so you were able to head back to bed at a somewhat reasonable hour. You gave Peter a hive five and retired back to your room. It was 3:30 am now which meant you could still get a few more hours of sleep. Once your head hit the pillow, you passed out.

****

You woke up after a few hours to a pair of very strong hands picking you up and throwing you over their shoulder. You were extremely groggy and could only make out a metal arm; It was Bucky.

“ What the hell Bucky? I’m trying to sleep! We can spare later.” You spoke groggily as you rubbed your eyes.

Bucky only chuckled. “ We warned you about pranking again Y/n. Also, you called me old and I don’t think I can let that slide either. You deserve what’s coming”. You immediately started to struggle, even though it was of no use. You knew they would get you back eventually, but you were not planning on them finding out so soon.

Bucky carried you down to Tony’s lab. Once inside, you noticed Peter in the same predicament, only he was being carried by Thor. Bucky gently placed you on the ground and gave you a warning look. You knew trying to run would be pointless, so you stood and watched as Thor put Peter on the ground too.

Steve broke the silence. “ We warned you two about continuing this prank battle. So now you must face the consequences. But don’t worry, we are going to make this extra fun!” You and Peter gulped and tried to argue back. “ Mr. Rogers sir, look we promise we are done now. I obviously won the battle, so there is no need for us to continue!” You shot Peter a death glare. “ Hey! You did not win! I obviously had the better ideas”. Loki spoke next. “ Ahh you see this guys? They are just asking for tickles at this point. I didn’t hear a single apology from either of them. Shall we start this laughter session now?”

You and Peter took a step back from the group. This was going to be bad, realllly bad. Suddenly you were picked up by Bucky and taken over to a cot that was set up in the corner of the lab. Tony liked to work late sometimes so he had a couple of cots laying around for his “ Beauty rest”. You were tossed onto your back and Bucky held your hands above your head. He then gave you a very evil smirk and let go. You tried to pull your arms down but found you couldn’t move them at all. Loki peered over you and gave you a wink. “ Magic! Hold on, that is soooo not fair!!” Loki reached over and pinched your side. “ All is fair when the trickster God is involved”. You let out a squeak and shifted away from him. Your face was already red from nervousness and you stole a glance at Peter. He was in the same boat as you, pinned with his arms above his head but with Thor sitting on his legs. Peter was already giggling at the thought of his near future.

“ How did you catch us so quickly!? No one was even awake when we pranked the others!?” You asked Steve, genuinely curious.

Steve grinned evilly and said, “ Wouldn’t you like to know! As captain, I choose not to tell you as our methods may come to good use in the future”. You groaned as Bucky sat on your thighs holding you in place. You immediately started giggling when Bucky lightly started tracing his fingers around your upper legs. Why on earth did you wear shorts to bed last night!

Thor heard this and spoke up. “ Why brother, the young maiden is already laughing. I bet we can make the boy laugh harder don’t you think?” Steve laughed and said “ Oh a challenge? These two are very competitive so it only makes sense to have them compete for the “Loudest Laughter” award! Bring it on!”

Now you really regretted your decision to continue the pranking.

With the smell of competition in the air, Bucky stopped his light tickles and dove right in. He wanted to make you squeal. These four men were VERY competitive folks, which meant no mercy was to come for either of you.

Bucky wormed his hands up to your belly and started pinching and squeezing up and down your thighs. You snorted every time he squeezed your hips and then let out a chain of maniacal giggles when he got close to your ribs. Steve kept teasing you saying “ Awe does that tickle?” Or “ Come on laugh harder! We have a competition to win”. Soon enough he got bored of watching Bucky do all the work and he drove his fingers into your arms pits. You were losing your mind laughing and squirming to the best of your ability. Loki’s magic made it even worse knowing you couldn't protect yourself. Damn him.

Bucky and Steve gave you a quick breather once they heard a very high-pitched squeal come over from Peter. Thor was pinching up and down Peter’s thighs while Loki drilled into the poor kid's armpits. Peter’s armpits were easily his worst spot and he was screaming pretty loud at this point.

You giggle slightly seeing Peter in such a tizzy, but unfortunately, you didn’t keep that to yourself.

“ Ready to laugh already? We were gonna give you a longer break after listening to Peter sing but I guess it’s time for us to find your singing voice.” Steve winked at you as he and Bucky switched spots. Steve was now facing your feet and Bucky was crouched next to you. You saw Steve reach for your feet and you starting kicking them trying to make it as difficult as possible for him to catch them.

“ Oh, I think I found it! Do you have ticklish feet Y/n?” You blushed and nodded your head. “ Yehehehs!! So please please leave them alone. We are sorry for the pranks we promise!!” You tried to plead but Steve just chuckled and grabbed your left foot. You had no socks or shoes on since you were ripped from your bed. All it took was Steve to slide a finger up and down your sole for you to really freak out. “ NO STEVE PLEAHEHESE IM SORRAHAHY!! NOOO!!” Steve rapidly scraped his nails across your foot and wiggled his fingers under your toes which really made you screech. You were bubbling with laughter and your squeaks were very high-pitched. Bucky walked up to your head and started fluttering his fingers across your ears and neck causjg you to shake your head frantically and squeal even louder. The feeling were maddening and Bucky knew exactly what he was doing to create the butterfly sensation in your stomach. Steve was now not only torturing your feet still, but had also resorted to squeezing your kneecaps and laughing as you flinched and spazed out at each and every squeeze. You were in tickle hell, and your stomach was rapidly jumping up and down as you let out deep belly laughs and shrieks of mirth.

Peter was also letting out shrieks of laughter as Loki methodically rubbed in between each and every rib, but he was nowhere near as loud as you. Good thing Tony had sound proofed his lab, otherwise you were sure the whole tower would be racing down to find the cause of the screaming.

To make things even worse, Bucky gently lifted the hem of your shirt and started rubbing his stubble across your belly. Thanks to Loki’s conversation with Tony, Steve had managed to find one of Tony’s paintbrushes and he was weaving the soft bristles up and down your foot, leaving no spot untouched. Thor and Loki had given Peter a break because they wanted hear and see what got you laughing so hard.

You went into hysterics feeling the two sensations and you used the last of your energy to buck your hips trying to escape the extremely ticklish feeling. Bucky easily held you down and started his cascade of raspberries all over your abdomen. You soon fell silent as tears spilled from your eyes and hiccups exploded from your chest. The boys slowed at this and let you take a breather. Steve was still lightly running his nails up and down your thighs keeping you giddy, but the onslaught was over.

“ Wow. I do believe the young maiden was much louder than Spider kid here. I say you men have won this battle”. Thor said as he got off of a very red and very giggly Peter.

“ What can we say? We are the superior ticklers ya know” Bucky teased back. Loki rolled his eyes and with a snap of his fingers you and Peter regained control of your arms and curled up into protective balls. Even though the tickling had stopped, you could still feel the phantom sensations of the paintbrush bristles attacking your foot. “ Holy Shit Steve. Never touch my feet with a brush eveheher again! You about killed me!!”

The four men laughed a little and helped you two stand up.

“ We are so so sorry. We pr-o-mise to not continue our pranks.” You said with a hiccup. Peter nodded his head in agreement. Deep down the team knew you would pick it back up next year, but no one said anything out loud.

“ Good. Now scurry along so the grown-ups can talk, or we might just start this party back up again.” Loki said wiggling his fingers in your direction. With a shudder, you both bolted from the lab without another word. You were not going to risk another tickle assault by being sassy back.

“ They are just going to do this again next year ya know”, Bucky said watching you run down the hallway.“ “Yup. But that means we have an entire year to tickle them senseless every time they mess up.” Steve said with a smirk.

He walked over and held up the paintbrush for the rest of the guys to see. “ Besides, we now have a secret weapon that I say we use to our advantage. We even have the perfect test subjects. Who is down for another competition?”

#Sequel fic #Marvel tickle fic #mcu tickle #Lee Reader #Lee Peter #ler loki #ler Thor #Ler Bucky #Ler Steve #Open prompts #Thanks for the request #paintbrush madness #Fluff

[yukidragon]

Our Life Snippet - Spoiling Dinner

So... been a while since I shared a slice of my fan novelization of Our Life: Beginnings and Always, hasn’t it? A whole month in fact. Yikes! Don’t worry, I’m still working on it, just, ya know, chronic illness. I’ve been getting less spoons to work with these past few weeks. Don’t be surprised if the next clip takes another month to appear.

Anyhoo, onto the clip itself. I figure why not show off some more drama from Step 2? It was referenced in the Adrift snippet that Jamie chose their thirteenth summer to be the time to reveal the big deal Cliff offered her to Cove, so I figured why not give a peek at that? So here’s another slice of Step 2′s moment, Dinner.

As always, thank you to everyone who enjoys reading my work and giving me such lovely feedback, especially the game’s lovely creators @gb-patch. I can’t thank you all enough for encouraging me to keep working on this self-indulgent little fan project.

...

Despite the fact that Cove and Elizabeth had never been friends, and it was rare they even really got along, it was always interesting to see and hear about how Jamie interacted with her big sister. The relationship Jamie and Elizabeth had was always something he could never quite get a grasp on.

“I can’t even imagine what it’d be like to have a sibling,” he admitted after a moment.

Jamie took some time to give serious thought to that statement. It was a tricky thing to explain to someone without a point of reference. A sibling relationship wasn’t anything like a parental one, and it wasn’t really like making friends with a kid who just happened to live in the same house either.

It was also hard for Jamie to want to touch on a topic that would bring the mood down. Still, Cove did remind her recently that he wanted to listen to her problems…

“It’s complicated,” Jamie eventually concluded. She took her time to choose her words with care as she focused her gaze on the tank again, though she didn’t really watch the fish this time. “I love Elizabeth, and when we were really little, we were best friends. Then she started making friends at school like Shiloh and, well… It’s just over time, I guess we just grew apart. She’s still a lot of fun to be around, but only when she wants to be there.” Her voice quieted a little. “But now, she barely feels like hanging out with me.”

Cove couldn’t think of how to respond right away as he grew aware of the melancholy that had settled over his best friend. He knew Jamie and Elizabeth didn’t spend all that much time together, but he hadn’t realized it was something that bothered Jamie. He took his time to consider what to say, pursing his lips as he tried to figure out the best way to help Jamie with something he never had to deal with before.

“Maybe you should talk to her about how you feel about it sometime,” Cove suggested, though with an uncertain note to his voice. He couldn’t even imagine how that talk might go. “If it’s really bothering you, I’m pretty sure Elizabeth would wanna know.”

Jamie considered that before shaking her head a little. “It’s fine. It’s not really that big a deal. Besides, I don’t think that’d really work.” She favored Cove with a bent smile. “I mean, this is Elizabeth we’re talking about here.”

Cove had to admit Jamie had a point there. Although not intentionally malicious, Elizabeth did have a tendency to overlook other peoples’ feelings when it came to doing what she wanted. “I guess you’re right about that.”

Jamie turned to face Cove properly as she strengthened her smile, feeling compelled to soften the awkward atmosphere she had created. “Don’t worry about it. Having a sibling is still pretty great anyway.” She playfully nudged him with her elbow. “And besides, I already have the most amazing best friend in the entire world by my side.”

Cove felt warmth fill his cheeks at that, and he nudged Jamie back softly in return with a shy smile of his own. “I feel the same way.”

Jamie relaxed a bit now that the mood had returned to something more jovial. “And in case you were wondering what it’s like to have two moms, it’s absolutely the best.”

Cove nodded. Even if Elizabeth could be a challenge to get along with at times, he had always known Noelani and Pamela to be friendly and encouraging, if a bit strict with their rules. The Leimomi family were overall probably the best neighbors he ever had, especially Jamie. “That’s… interesting. I think your family is cool.”

Jamie flashed Cove a grin, glad he agreed. It was impossible not to feel like she hit the jackpot when it came to the family that she ended up with. She couldn’t consider having better parents, or even a better sibling.

Of course, talking about parents brought Jamie’s mind back to the dinner she was going to have with Cove and his. Things were weird between the three of them in ways she didn’t know how to touch on.

The little surprise Cliff pulled at the beginning of summer had just made things even more strained. Things felt tense in a way that reminded Jamie of when Cove first moved to Sunset Bird.

That line of thought brought Jamie back to the first time she met Cliff and the deal he had offered her.

Jamie glanced at Cove out of the corner of her eye, noticing that he had gone back to looking at his fish. He probably never learned that ever happened. She doubted that Cliff ever mentioned it, and as for her…

It bothered her. The incident hung over her head for the past five years, popping up in her mind at awkward moments that left her feeling guilty despite the fact that she never took the twenty dollars Cliff had offered her.

When Jamie was little, she held the secret back from Cove for fear that he might decide not to be her friend anymore. He resented being pressured into becoming friends with Lizzie and Shiloh, so he never did. Granted, that was more because he just didn’t click with either of them than due to parental meddling, but still… In her eight-year-old mind, she was convinced that if Cove ever learned that Cliff wanted to pay her to be his friend, he would be so upset that he would never want to see her again.

That fear had disappeared over time as their relationship grew stronger, but that didn’t make the subject trouble her any less.

Jamie was keeping a secret from Cove - a big one. Usually, they told each other everything from silly jokes to their darkest thoughts. The only other thing she kept from him was just how deep her feelings were for him, and she already had a plan in motion for how she was going to tell him about that.

Much like with her crush, Jamie had sought out Lee’s advice about the incident with the twenty dollars. Her cousin had encouraged her to just tell Cove about it, if only because it bothered her for so long and wouldn’t stop haunting her.

Besides, Cove deserved to know that his dad did something like that behind his back. This incident with Kyra proved that Cliff was still pulling stunts like this, and not just on him.

Jamie knew that if the positions were reversed, she would want to know the truth about something as big as this, and as soon as possible.

It had been five years. They weren’t eight anymore. Telling Cove wouldn’t destroy their friendship.

She had to tell him.

Jamie placed her hands on the mattress to steady herself, drawing one back into her lap when she accidentally brushed it against Cove’s thigh. The unintended touch drew his gaze back to her - she could feel it even through her closed eyes. She took in a deep, steadying breath as she prepared herself.

The quiet that had settled between them was comfortable, Cove thought, finding it a sharp contrast to the uneasy atmosphere that had overtaken his home since the beginning of summer. Jamie’s presence made things easier on him - it always did.

That was why Cove didn’t expect to see Jamie looking so tense all of a sudden. He could tell that she was building herself up for something, but he couldn’t imagine what. When she opened her eyes and looked at him, her expression was solemn and tainted with nervousness.

“Cove,” Jamie said before pausing to wet her lips. “There’s something… I-I have something important to tell you. Something… something you’re not gonna like.”

The undercurrent of unease to the way Jamie spoke troubled Cove almost as much as what she said. He turned to give her his full attention, his knees bumping against hers in the process. “What is it?”

For a moment, Jamie could only stare into her best friend’s ocean blue eyes. Cove waited patiently for her to find her voice again, but the longer it took her, the greater the tension grew. She could see it in the way his brow furrowed and his lips curled down into a frown.

Please don’t get mad about this, Jamie thought desperately, feeling as though her stomach was tying itself in knots. She was already regretting her decision, but she had already said too much; she couldn’t just drop the topic as if it never happened. She had to take another deep breath to steady her nerves as they started to fray on her.

“It’s… um… it’s about way back when you moved here,” Jamie finally said, practically forcing the words out. “Before we met, I actually met your dad first and…” She started to falter as what she wanted to say started to fall apart in her mind, and she scrambled to right herself. “It was… your dad he… um, well…”

Jamie had to pause to gulp down another lungful of air, feeling as though there suddenly wasn’t enough around her.

Cove started bracing himself for whatever Jamie was struggling to tell him. The more she spoke, the more nervous she grew, and it was making him anxious as well, impressing upon him the seriousness of what she wanted to tell him.

Whatever this was, it was big, and he needed to be ready to deal with it.

“Your dad offered me twenty dollars to be friends with you.”

The words came out of Jamie in a rush then hung so heavily in the air between them that the already thick atmosphere turned suffocating.

Cove locked up. For a moment he couldn’t move, couldn’t even think. What Jamie told him made everything else disappear.

His dad… bribed Jamie to be his friend?

Jamie held her breath as she waited for Cove to respond. He sat still, so utterly still. He was no longer looking at her, but through her, as if she ceased to exist. His face, always so easy for her to read, was uncharacteristically devoid of expression.

Then Cove was moving. He said nothing as he rose from the bed before bolting from the room.

For a moment, Jamie froze up as well. Shock kept her rooted to the bed even after Cove disappeared around the corner.

This was… oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no!

Jamie tore after Cove once she could move again, panic giving her feet wings. “Cove!”

Cove didn’t hear Jamie. He didn’t even hear his parents as they bantered while setting the table, oblivious to what was happening. All he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears as he reached the living room.

For a moment, Cove could only stand there and glare at his father. His entire body was a tense coil, ready to spring. His hands faintly shook from how tightly he clenched them into fists at his sides.

Although Jamie caught up to Cove, she froze again just short of him. She didn’t need to see his face to know exactly what he was feeling - he was furious.

“Hey, what’s up?” Kyra asked as she finished setting down the last glass on the table. “When did you start running in the house?”

Cliff flashed Cove a wink as he wagged the spoons he carried at his son. “Are you that famished?”

The friendly banter didn’t register with Cove at all. There was room for nothing else inside his mind but the betrayal he felt towards his father that sent his entire body quaking with rage.

It had only just begun to hit Cliff and Kyra that something was wrong when Cove took a step forward.

“You paid Jamie to be friends with me?!” Cove shouted as he glared daggers straight into his father’s widening eyes.

Cliff froze, the spoons dropping from his hands onto the table with a clatter. He looked like a helpless deer caught in the headlights of a speeding semi.

Kyra recovered from the shock first, and rounded on her ex-husband. “Clifford!” she shouted as outrage overtook her as well. “Are you serious?!”

Out of reflex, Cliff turned his wide eyes to Kyra, blinking at her rapidly. “It was only one time!”

The blurted admission left Kyra reeling back, aghast.

Cliff raised his hands up in a defensive gesture, his eyes darting between his ex-wife and his son as they both stared him down. “I-it seemed like a good idea when it happened.”

As the shock waned, Kyra brought a hand over her eyes. Her jaw was set, her patience frayed, as anger slowly gave way to disappointment.

Cliff bowed his head as he rubbed the back of his neck, almost shrinking in on himself before their eyes. The fact that Kyra accepted that he would do something like this so easily was the most crushing part.

For all his anger, Cove had nothing else he could say to his father after his initial outburst. He could only stand there, fuming silently during his parents’ short exchange. The tension in his body was so strong it was painful, his eyebrows furrowed hard and his eyes trembling as he continued to glare at his father.

That was all Cliff had to say for himself? That he ‘only’ did it once? That it ‘seemed like a good idea’? What part of this could be considered ‘good’ at all?!

Jamie could only watch helplessly from the sidelines at the disaster she had created. She had been afraid that Cove might be angry or hurt to hear about the deal his dad offered to her, but he took it far worse than she ever imagined. That wasn’t even going into how badly Kyra or Cliff were feeling about it all.

Jamie felt so bad for Cove. She wished for the power to rewind time to five minutes ago so that she could choose to just keep her big mouth shut. Having a stupid secret about something she didn’t even agree to hanging over her head was nothing compared to the pain that she had inflicted on her best friend and his family.

Everything was horrible, and it was all her fault.

#Our Life Beginnings & Always #Our Life #ourlifeba #Cove Holden #Jamie Last #Jamie Leimomi #Cliff Holden #Kyra Preece #My Writing

[twentytarot]

wow, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? sorry that i kinda dropped off the map there, but you know how it is. life calls when it does. anyway, today we’re doing a reading on your next five years. for this reading in particular, if you’re drawn to more than one group then i’d suggest you read them both, because 5 years is a long time and it’s definitely possible for bits and pieces of your prediction to be scattered around this reading. devise a strategy that works for you even, for example, if i’m drawn to pile 1 first and then 4, maybe the beginning of pile 1 is more relevant to me but the end of pile 4 will resonate more. enough of my rambling, on to the reading!

*year 1 means from now till year from now, year 2 1-2 years from now, and etc.

PILE ONE: GLASS PANELS

overall, the next five years has you waiting for the right moment to begin living. currently you are stuck in a place where you’ve been hurt and betrayed— yet you cannot leave yet. you’re probably trying to plan a way out, but perhaps, surrounded by the unbreakable glass panels in your life, you’ve come to the same conclusion as me: it’s not going to be any time soon. for the next two years, you will have no way out. however, you will become much more resilient so that 3 years from now, you have the power and strength to break out of your current situation and build your dream life. it seems that there will be a lot of movement leading up to this event; perhaps you will be moving house and leaving most of the people around you now behind. whatever the case, in year 3, you will be building a new foundation for yourself. if there are responsibilities and duties you cannot fully leave behind from your past, you will learn to balance them in year 4. in year 5, you’re building up your finances, having found your footing at home and at work. finally, five years from now, you will finally feel like you are in a place where you can feel stable and secure financially and emotionally.

in other words, the main message for you is “one step at a time”. you will have the life you want, but it will take a while. for now, you will have to heal your inner wounds and learn to brave the coldest of storms on your own. then, the next step will be to gain the courage to forge ahead and create a foundation that will allow you to build your life the way you want, away from the toxic people that you have had to rely on. once you have found your own independent footing, then the next step will be to go after you want, especially in career and life purpose. don’t be afraid if things start coming down, almost no one goes through their 20s and 30s without having to destroy something fundamental. finally, once you have learned to juggle all of this alone, the final piece will fall into place, and that is the rest of the world. friends, a new family, and days that make you so excited you want to sleep early so that the sun rises faster tomorrow. this is a long journey, but i’m confident it’s worth it. you got this! :)

PILE TWO: APPLE PASTRIES

for the next five years, you will ride a wave that brings you to the top of the world, and then you’ll prepare for the next chapter in life. we start off in year 1 with you being a little unsure of what it is you want to do long-term— perhaps you’re aware that it’s about time you start settling on a path with how responsibilities are piling up, but you’re also rather reluctant to let go of all your ideas and inspiration. that’s alright, you don’t have to decide just yet. in year 2, things get a little more exciting in the personal department: you might meet your future spouse, get engaged, get married, or even have a kid, depending on where you are in personal life right now. i’m leaning towards you being pretty young and just beginning to entertain the idea of marrying your special someone. whether it’s navigating a new relationship or wedding planning, you’ll be pretty caught up in it in year 2, and your work life will naturally fall into the background. not for long, though, because someone enters your life in year 3 and they don’t have your best interests in mind. they’re not out to get you, but they also don’t care if they had to step on you to get higher. this person brings you a whole lot of clarity on your life purpose and career, though, and so you transform your life quite rapidly, especially in view of the fact that you’re getting older and it can’t be helped, you’re going to have to start making some commitments. the transition is very successful and in year 4 you reap all the benefits. you are like water, you balance the push and pull effortlessly like the waves, you bring energy wherever you go, you complete the cycle and finish what you start. you’re in a position to give advice now, and people begin to look up to you. life’s... well, it’s actually pretty good.

year 5 is whole new chapter, likely on patience. the bliss of making it through one chapter in life never lasts long enough, and it is time for your life to move on. take care of yourself and always be open to growth. take the people that will betray you as lessons on how to better watch out for and protect yourself. wield the sword of clarity with conviction. before you know it, everything else will follow.

PILE THREE: FLAT WHITE

your next five years is about breaking free. you are often harshly judged by the people around you, and it’s like you can never catch a break. you wished for a peaceful getaway, and your wish is only partially granted. let me stop for a second and explain. for example, if you’re harshly judged at work, you might be able to get out of working with the particular team that makes your life difficult, but you won’t be able to leave the company entirely. something like that. you’ll have to do more than what you’re doing right now to truly get out of this situation. thankfully, towards the end of year 2, your heart hardens. enough is enough, you decide, and with your sharpened sword, you go after what you want.

the battle in year 3 is ugly. you say things you wish you didn’t have to, you do things in ways that keep you up at night. sometimes we don’t have a choice, though, because it was the only way you would be able to take what is yours and run. just in time, too, because in year 4, you will realise the stability you thought you were being offered was as strong as a house of cards. by defying expectations and going out on your own, you have nudged this house and cause it to topple. you get to watch from somewhere a little further away, but it’s still hard to deal with the questioning, the anxiety, the wondering whether you shouldn’t have left in the first place. no, darling, of course you should have left. year 5 is a year filled with so much more stability and happiness, it’s like you can’t recognise the person you used to be, the world you used to live in. if you thought that you will never truly make it out of there, my cards are here to tell you that there is a day where you will stop wanting to cry before you go to sleep, there is a day where the demons will shut up for good. so don’t give up! you’ll make it out of there if it’s the last thing you do, because that’s you: strong, persistent, and forever optimistic in your heart. and this personality of yours is what makes you lucky. when you want something with all of your heart, the universe can’t help but want to give it to you.

PILE FOUR: NIGHT

pile four, your reading is all about finding love! things are about to slow down for you now, and it looks like it will continue to be slow for awhile. and honestly, for you i don’t think that’s a bad thing at all, seeing as you are just coming out of having had to make difficult choices and work hard for what you want. for the next year or so, you’ll simply be continuing what you’ve started and letting the payoff roll in. in year 2, however, you’ll begin to look around at your life again and find out what is it you want next. at that point, perhaps you will come to the conclusion that it is love you’re looking for. or maybe it’s just excitement, since you’re pretty collected yourself. you’re the kind to meditate and sleep on things before you decide, and the person you meet in year 3 is decisively... not that kind of person. they’re hardworking, smart, funny and honest, but they’re also rather blunt and impatient. they’ll jump from one thing to the next without thought; they’ll argue with you through the walls of your room is it means they’ll win. you may wonder if this person is going to force you become their parent. well, no. this person has entered your life to show you that the world has so much more to offer if your just take the leap and jump. this person is here to show you that sometimes, you don’t sleep on decisions. you just go for it. once you begin to see the charm of this person, they will light up your life as a friend, a listening ear, then a worthy partner, then a worthy opponent, and then finally, in year 4... a worthy soulmate. and you will realise that taking risks is actually not as scary as it seemed, because this person is right next to you, and will be there to help you pick up the pieces should you fall. this might be a new feeling for you, because you come from a background of having to watch your own back all the time. being able to take calculated risks is what pushes one up from being a prince to a king. it pushes you and your life purpose to its full potential, and even if the ride of taking risks and forging ahead is rocky with this person in year 5, you will come out hardships closer than ever, stronger than ever.

#pick a card #pick a card reading #pick a pile #pick a pile reading #tarot reading #free tarot reading

[morganaspendragonss]

so so many thanks to everyone who read even one of these stories. i am forever grateful for all the support i've received; every comment, every kudos, every reblog, every like - they all mean so much. i'm overwhelmed, honestly, but in the very best way. ily all 🥰

day one: against all odds (we're still here) for @trkstrnd

Carlos will hate himself for it later, but he’s so focused on his task that the screech of tires coming around the corner barely registers as a blip on his radar. He doesn’t notice anything until TK suddenly barrels into him, throwing Carlos to the side just before something else, something heavy, crashes into them with a blinding flash of pain, and then—

Nothing.

*

a simple trip to the grocery store quickly turns to disaster for tk and carlos

day two: out, damned spot for anon

TK wakes up gasping, choking on air. The sheets are suffocating him and, when he tries to free himself, they only seem to get tighter. The hands reaching out for him, trying to calm him, are the final straw; TK throws himself from bed and sprints to the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind him as he collapses against the sink.

On some level, he is aware that the hands were Carlos’s, that the sheets were theirs, that his hands are clean, and that the dream was just a dream.

But they weren't always that way.

day three: the meetings for those in my wake for @freddieholic

For years after the divorce, Gwyn came to learn that any call from Owen was almost certainly bad news, and almost always about their son. Things have been better in the three years since her time in Texas, which is why she thinks nothing of it when he calls just after she’s put Isaac to bed for the night.

“Owen, hey,” she greets. “What’s up?”

The silence she’s answered with is the first sign that something’s wrong.

The sob that follows is the second.

“Gwyn, it’s TK. He's... They think we should say goodbye."

day four: a friend in me for 📍 anon

Carlos has come to see Nancy as a force of nature, a woman who will let nothing and no-one stand in her way, whether that’s out on the field or during a game of Monopoly. But, right now, as she sits hunched over in one of the interrogation rooms, shock blanket around her shoulders, he's never seen her look so small.

or

the story of how nancy and carlos become the new champions of 126 games nights

day five: truth is heavier than fiction for anon

Carlos pauses with his hand on the doorknob, taking a moment to prepare himself before going inside. TK’s shift finished an hour ago and he’d texted to let Carlos know he was home, which means Carlos is going to be walking right into a conversation he’d rather avoid.

Not that he’d have much choice either way; he might be able to cover his cracked and bruised ribs for a little while, but the arm in a sling will tell on him as soon as the door opens. Carlos doesn’t want to hide his injuries—they’ve had enough conversations in reverse on that theme to make him a hypocrite if he did—but he may have made some choices that he doesn’t particularly want to go into right now. Not while he’s tired and aching and just wants to cuddle with his boyfriend.

He blows out a breath, then opens the door, bracing himself for TK’s reaction.

“Hey— Shit!”

day six: slowly, and then all at once for @pragmaticoptimist34

The realisation that he loves Carlos hits him like a bolt out of the blue.

And at the worst possible moment.

We are getting updates on the active shooter situation at the Four Seasons Hotel. Austin Police Department have closed off the area and officers are currently preparing to enter the building to detain the suspect. It is as yet unknown if there have been any civilian casualties, but—

“Paul, turn the damn TV back on.”

“No.”

*

five times tk can't admit his feelings about carlos, and one time he finally does

day seven: the promise of tomorrow for anon

Up until five minutes ago, Carlos had been terrified of never having TK in his arms again. Now, the thought of letting him go scares him just as much, and TK seems to feel the same, if the way he’s clutching at Carlos’s jacket and pulling it tight across his back is any indication.

Carlos hugs him close, sinking down to his knees as TK falls into the chair behind him, letting the rest of the room fade away to nothing as he realises that they weren’t too late—that TK is here, with him, alive and mostly whole.

day eight: we'll hold each other soon for @221bsunsettowers

“Be careful, please,” TK said, smoothing down the lapels of Carlos’s shirt. “Whatever happens out there, whatever you have to do, just promise me one thing. Promise you’ll come back to me.”

Carlos knew better than to promise something like that, and TK knew better than to ask it. But because it was him, and because it was TK, Carlos just nodded and leaned in to press a kiss to TK’s temple.

“I promise,” he whispered, pulling away.

It's the last good memory Carlos has, and he's going to hold onto it for as long as he has left. If he's going to die, then the last thing he wants to see is TK's smile.

day nine: now i am just but the wayward man for anon

Ben is glaring at him again.

Klaus is very familiar with this specific glare—it’s the one Ben breaks out when Klaus is being ‘stubborn’ and ‘stupid’ and ‘a fucking asshole junkie with no self-respect who only cares about the next high and, really, it’s a fucking miracle you haven’t gotten yourself killed yet, Klaus’.

He has to hand it to him. Ben really does have him down to a tee.

*

winter is approaching and klaus has nowhere to go. his siblings are his only option—meaning he effectively has no options.

day ten: i can't imagine my life without you for 📍 anon

It had come completely out of left field—one minute everything was fine, the next Carlos had turned to him with guarded eyes and a clenched jaw, and said six words that sent TK’s whole world crashing down.

“I think we need a break.”

*

nobody likes to be asked 'trouble in paradise?', particularly when the answer is yes.

day eleven: start again from the beginning for anon

Owen trusts his son. He’s watched TK fight his addiction and stay sober for the last six years, and he has faith that he can handle himself.

But when TK doesn’t show up for work the night after proposing to Alex, Owen knows that something is wrong. After all, they've been here before.

day twelve: let me love you when your heart is tired for anon

TK knows it’s going to be a bad day from the moment he opens his eyes. Slowly, slowly, each twitch like he’s moving mountains, he inches his hand blindly across the bed to reach out for Carlos. If he can just feel his boyfriend, if he can just see him—

But, of course. Carlos has a shift today. TK has a vague recollection of him getting out of bed at five this morning, rousing him with a shift to the mattress and a gentle kiss on the forehead.

If this were a normal day, he might smile at the memory.

day thirteen: couldn't utter my love when it counted for 📍 anon

TK takes his time in the bathroom, stopping to stare at his reflection in the mirror for several minutes and trying to talk himself down from any more-than-friendly feelings towards Carlos.

Later, they’ll tell him that this saved his life.

But that won’t be for a long time, until after the smoke has cleared and the dead have been counted and the statements have been taken. For now, TK steels his resolve and nods at himself, then turns to the door, a hand reaching out for the handle.

That’s when the explosion rips through the building.

*

after the boba date, tk lets carlos go. they're friends, which is working just fine, until a horrific accident threatens to take even that away from them.

day fourteen: if i walk out the door (a thousand eyes) for anon

TK gets this feeling sometimes, a sort of prickling at his back, like someone’s behind him, breathing down his neck. At first, it was only a once-in-a-while situation, so he thinks nothing of it; when it becomes an everyday occurrence, he starts to wonder, but he’s probably just being paranoid. The shooting, kidnapping, firehouse explosion, and the fire at his and Carlos’s house had all taken their toll, and TK’s just generally more on edge these days.

He doesn’t tell anyone about the feeling, not even Carlos. There’s no reason to fuck up everyone else’s peace with something so stupid. It’ll go away eventually; TK’s sure of it.

That is, until one of the lots just down from the firehouse gets occupied.

day fifteen: find you here inside the dark for @fanfic-corner

Yaz has walked this room too many times to count now; she’s traced her fingertips over the walls, searching for any cracks or crevices to indicate where there might be a door.

If the Doctor were here, she’d have her sonic out by now, spitting out words, only half of which Yaz could understand. She’d find a way out in no time. Or, if not, at least she’d be here. Talking a mile a minute, probably annoying the hell out of their captors. Yaz can almost hear her now—

Wait.

She can hear her now.

day sixteen: accidents happen for @ilovemosss

So, Jason reflects, it may not have been the best idea to take Pythagoras out training while they’re all suffering from a severe lack of sleep. Being the more logical of them, Pythagoras, to his credit, had attempted to talk him out of it, but Jason ignored him.

He very much regrets that decision now.

day seventeen: you and me (moving through this world as a two-man team) for @laelipoo

TK does not have a crush on the 126's latest hire.

Carlos Reyes: an Austin local, an incredible firefighter, and—objectively speaking—the most beautiful man TK has ever laid eyes on. Which is, in fact, the entire point; TK has eyes and, yes, he will use them to sneak a look or two when he’s suddenly sharing space with a man who looks like a Greek god.

That does not mean he has a crush, Paul.

(and, sure, maybe he does sometimes dream about how soft Carlos’s lips look and the little blush he gets when he laughs and those little flecks of gold in his eyes, but he’s only human)

(how TK knows about the gold in Carlos’s eyes is none of anybody’s business)

day eighteen: in perfect harmony for @anyotherheartwilldo

Here’s the thing—Carlos doesn’t believe in signs. He used to when he was younger, raised on his abuela’s stories, but as he’d gotten older his father had taught him that what mattered was the choices he made. He’s the only one who has a say in the way his life turns out, and if he wants something, he has to put in the work to get it.

But there comes a point—namely, after his fifth thwarted attempt to propose to TK—when he begins to wonder if the universe really does have something against him.

*

proposing to tk proves far more complicated than carlos had first thought.

day nineteen: whatever here that's left of me (is yours) for anon

“Are you…” TK leans closer, peering at the hoodie Carlos is wearing, and—yep. “Why are you wearing my hoodie? Was there nothing in your size from the crew? You should have said something. We can fix this, you don’t need to be uncomfortable.”

There’s a beat, and then Carlos, studiously avoiding TK’s gaze, clears his throat. “It smells like you.”

*

post-2.12, carlos finds comfort in tk's hoodies.

day twenty: can't smile without you for anon

Carlos would be lying to himself if the possibility hadn’t occurred to him before. He has always worried for TK’s safety, and the knowledge that a serial killer is on the loose in Austin has sent that worry skyrocketing. Especially because he’s the lead detective on the case; he’s spent hours poring over horrific crime scenes, examining all the facts until they’re burned into his brain.

Admittedly, the killers seem to be mostly indiscriminate in who they take, meaning the chances of it being TK are slim.

But there’s still a chance.

*

a before, during, and after of tk's kidnapping in a hole where your memory goes

day twenty-one: lately you've been searching for a darker place to hide for @freddieholic

“Can I ask you something else?”

TK stiffens at the sound of Mateo’s voice, a nervous note to it that wasn’t there last time. Something tells him he knows exactly what Mateo wants to ask; still, he turns to lean against the counter, crossing his arms as casually as he can manage. “Sure.”

“Are you…” Mateo trails off, biting his lip and avoiding TK’s gaze. “I mean, do you… I mean—”

“You can say it, you know,” he interrupts, not unkindly. “If you want to know if I’m thinking about heading out and getting high, then just ask.”

*

five times tk turns to unhealthy coping mechanisms when he wants to use + one time he finally asks for help

day twenty-two: know me crazy, soothe me daily for anon

It had freaked Carlos out the first time it happened.

“It was a seizure,” TK explained, after Carlos had finished telling him about it. TK had been disoriented and confused for about ten minutes after, and couldn’t even remember half of their earlier conversation. “I… It’s because of the drugs. They fucked something up in my brain, especially after my first overdose, and now I get seizures occasionally."

*

in which carlos gets a little over-protective and tk is mildly exasperated

day twenty-three: lover, be good to me for anon

Carlos holds his arms out, and TK comes willingly, setting what Carlos now recognises as a tray of food carefully on the bed. “What’s this?”

TK stares as if it’s obvious. “Date night.”

“What?”

TK pauses, then gasps. “You’re right.” He pats himself down frantically, then pulls an object out of his pocket with a dramatic flourish. It’s a little electric tea light—real candles long since banned from the bedroom—and Carlos watches in bemusement as TK flicks it on and sets it down on the tray. “Now it’s date night.”

*

his fiancé being bed-bound isn't going to keep tk from date night

day twenty-four: bring you in from the cold for anon

As a cop, Carlos has always been uncomfortably aware of his own mortality. He’s considered his own death more than is probably healthy, but when you’re facing down the barrel of a gun almost every single day, it’s kind of forced on you.

He’s imagined himself being shot, stabbed, strangled, and everything in between.

But he’s not sure he ever pictured dying in a walk-in freezer after getting trapped there by mistake.

day twenty-five: heaving through corrupted lungs for anon

TK is itching to go home and check on Carlos, to make sure he’s still breathing and actually resting like he’s supposed to be. On the other hand, Carlos would probably kill him if he left work, illness be damned. It’s just… Carlos had looked so ill that morning, skin ashen and voice all but gone, and it had taken a lot of convincing for TK to still go to his own shift. He’d insisted on making sure Carlos had all the blankets and water and snacks and anything else he could possibly want, but even so, he’s still uneasy.

His gut is telling him that something’s wrong, and TK doesn’t think he can ignore it for much longer.

*

when carlos falls ill, they think it's just a bad cold. but when tk goes to check on him, he's in for a nasty shock.

day twenty-six: slowly becoming lovers for @pragmaticoptimist34

Things don’t get fixed overnight. They agree to give them a shot, but that doesn’t change the fact that TK is still reeling from his break-up and overdose, nor that Carlos is still hesitant and afraid of pushing too hard at once.

But, slowly, they get to know each other. And, slowly, they start to fall in love.

*

tk and carlos, getting to know each other and falling in love

day twenty-seven: and curse the gods for @girlwhowasntthere

Jason knows what it is to be cursed.

day twenty-eight: ignoring every warning for @moviegeek03

TK is fine.

He is absolutely, 100% fine.

And, sure, maybe he’s not supposed to be at work right now, and maybe his hand hasn’t fully healed yet, but it’s nothing. His doctor cleared him to go back to work, which means it’s healed enough, and TK is certainly not going to admit defeat no matter how much he's hurting.

day twenty-nine: can you beat back the night? for @girlwhowasntthere

He misses the bard. Geralt won’t admit it, not even to Roach, but he misses him. After months—years—of Jaskier’s constant chatter and the sound of his lute, the silence, once valued above all else, is too much.

It’s been months since the dragon, since Geralt lost both Yennefer and Jaskier in one fell swoop. He’s cursed himself many times over for the words he said—to both of them—and cursed himself more for the mistakes he made to get in this position in the first place.

*

this is the lot of witchers, to be alone.

day thirty: ease my mind for @silvarafael

Briefly, Carlos considers calling TK and telling him about the accident. But… He only broke two of his fingers and it barely even classifies as a minor injury in his book, so there’s really no reason to bother his fiancé while he’s still on shift himself. He pockets his phone then looks around to figure out where the exit is.

Only, an all-too familiar laugh distracts him from his task, drawing his attention to the nurses station.

Where TK is standing, smiling as a nurse swats at him for stealing one of their lollipops.

Carlos is, beyond doubt, fucked.

day thirty-one: scars turn to memories for anon

Their front door is open. It’s wide open, and the wood of the door frame is broken, splinters littering the driveway and the floor of the front room. TK’s heart stops in his chest as he surveys the scene, his brain going blank, struggling to comprehend what he’s seeing.

Everything is quiet in the front room, not even a table setting out of place. TK creeps further into their home, his every nerve on edge as he barely breathes for fear of alerting whoever’s here of his presence.

And then, he remembers.

Carlos was off shift tonight. He was here. Alone.

#masterlist #holly's august extravaganza #fanfiction #my fanfiction #writing #my writing