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#can’t wait to see what bullshit she gets up to in the future with this game
fractallogic · 1 year
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You know, I haven’t fully wrapped my head around how I’m going to incorporate it, but I had a great idea for this grant proposal that’s making me very excited
Because I think. finally. I will be able to justify testing arabic-speaking children. I will get to find out what kinds of errors THEY make learning my arabiclike made-up language.
And plus I’m realizing that I like portland more than eugene, and oops, the two Islamic schools and the one Arabic-medium school are all in the portland area oh no I will have to spend so much time in portland if I get this grant oh well
…plus I just really want to be able to stay in one place for three more years, and let scone live in Oregon like he’s really wanted to for YEARS.
I love arabic and I love my pastry and I love how kids do language. I am very excited about this part of the project and I just. The likelihood of it happening is vanishingly low. But it’s more likely to get this grant than getting a TT job. So.
#a ~10% hit rate for grants sucks yes; but compared to the ~0.5% hit rate I’ve had for prof jobs…#also new PI maybe you can support me for a year like you suggested you might be able to in a lab manager-cum-postdoc kind of role#that would be great. I would do that too.#I will happily continue leaning on my network to keep me in academia#as full of toxic bullshit as it is. sigh.#it hurts to feel like I’m so full of promise and so good at what I do and for some reason everything is just arbitrary#maybe I get to do this study; maybe I get to HAVE A JOB#like even working with this PI; everyone before has been all ‘mmm idk that doesn’t sound like a good use of resources’#and so I was like oh okay this is never gonna happen that’s fine#but I’m talking to her one day (because when you get the chance to chat with the dept head you should!)#and she’s like ‘but wait why would it be not a good use of resources? I think this is potentially an interesting idea#so write me up a proposal and we’ll see if we can flesh it out some more!’#so even the answer of ‘sure!’ to ‘maybe I can do this study… maybe’ I’d foreign and strange#same thing for this hockey concussion etc stuff#like I say ‘this is my INCREDIBLE pie in the sky idea; maybe someday#…but seems unlikely’#and my current PI goes no yeah wait here are some things I’ve thought about in that direction#…and I happen to live next to retired NHL players… but it would be very weird of me to ask them so can’t do that right now; but future!!#and so I’m just walking around UO going ‘wait I really can just. do things? people are interested in my ideas?’#(please remember that at a formative time in my research upbringing my advisor called me boring and also that he might not pass me#and like. you get rejected from research jobs and TT jobs and grants and everything#so it’s no WONDER I’m like ‘ah yes my ideas are stupid and boring and why would anyone else be interested in them!’ like any academic is)#anyway it’s amazing how little we as academics ask for#and still get told lol no that’s very extravagant of you#because it’s supposed to be a ~vocation~ and a ~calling~ so we should live like monks#but you know what monks are actually respected members of society and have food and shelter and care provided to them#so yeah if you want me to be a monk of linguistics then you need to fucking treat me like one
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foreveralbon · 4 months
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“table for two” - op81
pairing: oscar piastri x reader
in which a stranger finds him all alone at a table meant for two
word count: 1.7k
content warnings: swearing
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oscar could have sworn he had the day right. january 26, 2024. australia day. he was pretty damn sure they’d agreed on australia day, and judging by the loud shouts of aussies in the harbour, and obnoxious australian-flag themed clothing,  mixed in with the smell of fresh sausage, it was exactly that. 
so where is she?
he checks his phone for what is probably the fiftieth time in fifteen minutes and tries to make himself unnoticeable, desperate to avoid the pitiful gaze of the waitress, who somehow just knows he’s this close to being stood up. 
he fires another few messages to her, before taking a few sips of his coffee to appear as normal. his eyes flick to the door of the café every few minutes, praying that she’s the next person to walk in. 
to becca 
Hey, I’m getting worried
Seriously
Where are you?
from becca 
I’m stuck in traffic
give me 20 
and though her response is meant to reassure him, it just confirms what he’s been worried about: she’s not coming. 
he wonders briefly, when does often become too often? when does someone finally decide that they’ve had enough of looking at an empty chair opposite them, the one that’s meant to be filled by the person they care most about? he glimpses the pink bouquet of flowers beside him, the ones he had the florist handpicked especially for her. he tries to imagine them in her arms as she smiles graciously at him. 
he used to see the image perfectly. in fact, he could see them in the future as a lot more. but now, for some reason, as much as he wants to picture it, he can’t. 
his thumb hovers over her contact to call her before swiping out of the app, then back again. he does this a few more times and he knows he looks pathetic to anyone who might’ve realised what he’s been doing. 
“fuck, i’m such a loser.” he whispers lowly to himself, groaning, hanging his head in his palms. 
“hi.”
oscar jerks up when you tap his shoulder, and sees you standing awkwardly at his table, bag slung over one shoulder, coffee in hand. “hey.”
you point to the empty chair in front of him. “i’m so sorry to bother you, but is anyone sitting there?”
“uh, no.”
“do you mind if i sit?” 
“uhh…” actually, i’m waiting for someone. the words linger at the tip of his tongue, half so he could convince himself she’s still coming, half so that he can be alone. but his manners and logic get the best of him, so he just smiles tightly. “nah yeah, go ahead.”
“thank you so much.” you drop your bag at the floor by your feet, before slipping into the chair. “it’s so hectic out today.”
“it is,” he responds politely, and you quickly sense that he doesn’t want to talk, so when he turns his attention back to his phone, you do the same. 
he can feel your stare though, and he tries to brush it off by sending her another message. 
to becca 
If you’re not coming soon, I’m leaving
from becca 
soon Osc, i told you i’m in traffic
but he knows her too well, just knows that she’s out somewhere, halfway across the city. out somewhere with someone else, most likely. 
“hey-”
you’re giving him an expectant look when he meets your gaze. “yeah?”
“if you want, i can stalk her for you,” you shrug.
“what?”
“you know, online stalk her? find out where she is?”
he doesn’t believe what you’re saying. “are you bullshitting me?”
“maybe.” you take a sip of your coffee before stating simply, “you’ve been stood up, haven’t you?”
he rears back, as though moving away would stop you from guessing correctly. “yes. how’d you know?”
“a guy sitting alone at a table for two with a bouquet of flowers who probably hasn’t taken his eyes off his phone since he got here. you’d have left ages ago if you were just getting coffee, but you’re still here. so i’m assuming you’ve been stood up.” you finish off plainly with another sip of your coffee, leaning back as if giving him the floor to talk.
he just blinks at you slowly, both shocked and impressed at the accuracy of what you’d said. “that’s… right. i’m sorry, but stalking?” 
“it got your attention, didn’t it? you wanna tell me about it? sometimes it’s nice venting to a stranger.” you offer.
and maybe it’s the way that you both rolled so seamlessly into the conversation -  almost as if you were friends - that he finds himself admitting his situation.
“it’s not the first this has happened. she’s a situationship. a friend of a friend. we were, fucking, to put it simply, but i guess i wanted more? and i was planning to tell her how i felt today. i was going to give her flowers now, we would eat, and then walk along the boardwalk. i wanted to tell her there and…” his face flushes a deep red, “hopefully kiss her when the fireworks go off.”
you let out an aww. “like a not-new year’s eve kiss? that’s so cute.” and then your tone turns serious. “she’s a real bitch for that, though. you seem like a nice guy, no one deserves that.” 
his face reddens more at your compliment, scratching the back of his neck as he denies it. “it’s not her fault if she doesn’t feel the same way.”
he doesn’t like the look of pity on your face, the way your brows furrow in concern. he doesn’t know why - he brushes the feeling off as discomfort over seeing someone else worry over him - but he’d much prefer to see you happier, to see the cheeky smile you’d been giving him the whole conversation. 
“i can leave if you’re still hoping she’ll rock up,” you say softly. 
your offer, your kindness, surprises him. how is it that a stranger can show more empathy to him than a girl who he’s spent endless nights with? how is it that you, a girl he’s just met, cares more about him than a girl who’s known him for months? 
he startles himself when he tells you to stay. when you relax back into your chair, the now-familiar smile settles on your face, and just the sight of that has him feeling more at ease, less stressed than he had been moments ago. 
the peace doesn’t last long though, disturbed when a message from a friend pops up on his phone.
Hey, just letting you know, becca’s here at the bbq at my house. I know you guys planned something so I thought I’d lyk
he’s not prepared for what he sees when he opens up the photo attached to the message: a photo of her pressed up against another man’s body, drink in one hand, the other pressed up against his chest.
he should’ve seen it coming - he did, he’d called it - but that doesn’t make it hurt any less.
he can’t help but think how stupid he was to hope something could happen between them, something more than sex. he wonders what went wrong. did he treat her wrong? was he too late? was she in love with someone else while fucking him too?
you notice the way his face falls almost immediately, can see the way it clouds over with uncertainty. “hey.” you reach out to take his phone, assuming it’s the cause for his mood change and slip your hand into his now empty one in an attempt to ground him. “hey. look at me.”
you never would’ve expected the sadness in his eyes when he does, and in that moment, you’re determined to make his day better. 
“come on.” you stand up, picking your bag up off the floor. you take both your coffee cups and tuck the flowers under your arm before trying to drag oscar up. 
“what are you doing?”
“you’ve had a shit day, and i’m going to help make it better,” you say simply. 
he frowns at you. “i don’t even know who you are.”
“hi, my name is y/n and i’m going to make the rest of your day a great day.”
your bluntness cracks a smile out of him and he finds himself standing up beside you. “hi y/n. i’m oscar.”
that tiny exchange is more than enough to convince oscar to walk out of the café by your side, and you spend the rest of your evening letting him show you around sydney.
i’m not actually from here, he admits sheepishly an hour into your journey and you just laugh. “that’s okay. all the more surprises for us to find.”
he takes photos of you in front of the harbour bridge and the opera house, where you hide your face behind the flowers in some and smile sweetly at oscar in others, and you snap candid shots of him as you walk. 
eventually, you make your way from the quay to darling harbour where the australia day fireworks take place. the sun’s began to set when you find a spot on the boardwalk and oscar leaves you to buy you both ice cream with a quick promise of, “please, don’t go anywhere”. 
he finds himself holding becca’s flowers - or rather, your flowers now - while he’s separated from you, but he’s less than bothered by it because well, it’s for you. 
and then he smiles to himself as he realises: what started as a shitty day because of becca, becomes the happiest evening because of you.
you don’t question his lightened mood when he comes back, just sit silently with your head on his shoulder as you wait for the fireworks to start and his heart warms at the small symbol of affection.  
but it’s when you give that smile, ice cream in one hand, the other held tightly in his, just as the fireworks go off, that he decides that it’s you he’s going to kiss under every firework for the rest of his life.
author’s note: is it australia day? nope. did i just want to add in fireworks? yep.
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greatooglymooglyyy · 23 days
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If We Were Vampires (C.S.)
summary: chris learns to look past his fear of growing up for a future with the girl of his dreams
contains: angst, lots of emotions, chris pov, 3rd person, a bit of fluff, some suggestive content, cussing, 1.5k words
“So what, Chris? You expect me to just sit around waiting for you to man up?”
“I never said you had to. If you feel like you wanna go, then go.”
Chris replays the moment over and over again as he lies in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. It’s been a week, and he still can’t figure out what went so wrong. He doesn’t even know how it started. But then again, he doesn’t know how any of this started.
Everybody knows what he thinks about relationships. Or more accurately how much he never thinks about them. There were just a million other things he found more interesting than chasing after some fairytale of finding the one.
But then he met her. She’d come out of nowhere, like a siren in her flowy white dress, and he’d been stuck in her orbit ever since.
He tries to call her again, but the phone goes straight to voicemail. If it wasn’t for his texts going through, he’d be sure he was blocked. Frustration floods over him and he goes to make another call before realizing she is the one he’d normally call when he felt like this.
“God, I feel so stupid.” He says, sniffling and burying his face in her neck.
“It's not stupid. You’re allowed to be sad.” She replies, her voice soothing as she runs her fingers through his hair.
“Over the fucking ninja turtles?” He asks, laughing a bit at himself at how dramatic he feels.
“Over your childhood coming to an end.” She supplies, pulling away so she can look him in the eyes. “You’re allowed to be scared of what comes next.”
He lets out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding as his eyes bounce between her kind warm ones. Somehow this girl he never went looking for has become one of the only people who can talk him off the edge.
He rests his head on her chest, listening to her heartbeat for a while before he speaks again.
“Come with me to what’s next," he requests quietly, a prickle of fear rising when he realizes how much he means it.
She's silent for a beat before she holds him tighter. “If you let me,” she whispers, the slightest tinge of sadness coating her words.
The only thing in his head now is her face. Her face when she lay next to him, wiping away at his tears. Her face when he’d agree to watch one of her lame shows just to see her smile. Her face before she stormed out of his house, her hand swiping over her eyes to fight back any tears. It makes him sick to think of her like that. But it makes him even sicker to know it was his fault.
He wants to go to his brothers’ room for advice but he knows what they will say and he needs to figure this out for himself. Opening up his notes app, he begins a list of pros and cons, making the title her name and typing until his fingers ache. He stares at the list, his vision going blurry with emotion. One side is so much longer, it’s almost comical and he chokes out a laugh that turns into a sob.
There’s only one thing that haunts both sides of his list and it makes his chest ache. ‘one day, I’ll lose her.’
It’s the truth no matter which way he spins it. They might get months. They might get forty years. But one day one of them will be left behind.
Chris closes his eyes, resolve taking hold of him suddenly. He might lose her eventually. But it doesn’t have to be today.
He picks his phone up to send her a voice memo, hoping against hope that she’ll listen and understand. “Hey…I tried calling but…um…I guess you don’t want to talk to me yet. Which I get.” He sighs, annoyed at himself for how bad he’s rambling.
“Listen, I’ve been an idiot. All that bullshit about labels and dating, I didn’t mean any of it. I was just scared. But I’m way more scared of letting you walk away from me. I’m ready to grow up… or at least I’m ready to try.” He pulls his finger up, letting the memo send as he cringes at his stupid way with words.
Shaking his head and letting go of whatever morsel of ego he has left, he records another message. “Anyway, if you think you can give us another shot, please come tonight. We’re still having our craft night. It will be fun. I know Nick wants to see you… and I.. I need to see you too. Let me know.”
Hours later, he’s leaning against the kitchen counter staring at the nonexistent replies in their thread when Matt walks over.
“You alright, man?” He asks, a hint of concern in his tone. He takes a spot next to his brother, peering over to see what has his attention. Matt sighs when he sees her name and places a hand on Chris’ shoulder. “You gotta stop torturing yourself.”
Chris looks up at his brother, trying and failing to hide the shine in his eyes. “I really fucked this up, didn’t I?”
Matt can’t quite find the words for a moment, stunned at the hurt on his brother's face. He composes himself quickly, biting his lip and shaking his head. “It’s going to be okay. She’ll come or she won’t. And then we’ll know.”
As their friends start to pile in and crowd around the table, Chris forces himself to stay in the moment. After his third time of running to the door at a knock and it not being her, he stays glued to his chair, trying to focus on his diamond painting.
He tries feebly to be a good host, making small talk and mild quips about Madi’s technique, but he’d like nothing more than to head downstairs and rot in his room.
Nick catches Matt’s eye, the two exchanging a brief “what the fuck do we do” glance before they head over to him. Nick leans over his shoulder, commenting on how hard of a pattern Chris chose but he just gives a disinterested nod in return.
Determined to make him laugh, Nick starts to go big, starting down rants that he knows Chris will love. He considers it a personal win when he hears Chris’ trademark laugh and places his hands on his brother's shoulders.
Chris looks up at his brothers, knowing despite their efforts to be sly exactly what they are doing, and gives them a small weak smile. He places his phone face down and gives his friends his full attention. There will be plenty of other nights to miss her.
“Must be the pizzas,” Nick mutters when he hears a faint knock on the door. He jogs down and swings the door open, stopping in his tracks when he sees her. A smile of relief breaks across his face and he pulls her into a tight hug, whispering a soft “thank god.”
They go up the stairs together, anxiousness taking hold of her when she spots him across the room. “Hi everyone.” She says quietly, the chatter pausing for a second as they look up at her.
They call out greetings but she doesn’t hear a word because Chris meets her eye, blinking slowly as if he’s convincing himself she’s really there. She wants to apologize. For being late, for ignoring his calls. But there are so many people here so she waits.
He wants to go to her and sweep her up in his arms. He wants to kiss her until they run out of air, make her understand exactly how much he wants this. But there are so many people here so he waits.
But it’s okay. For the first time, he’s confident that they’ve got time. For the first time, he’s relieved with how much time left there is to give her.
Tonight he’ll tell her for the first time how much he loves her. Tonight she’ll tell him back in a thousand different ways, her nails leaving small trails down his back as his skin meets hers again and again. And tonight he’ll watch her chest rise and fall until he can make himself believe she’s real.
But for now, he just breathes out a ragged breath and holds out his arms for her. So she goes to him, settling into his lap and starting a painting of her own. And even if he can’t make this last forever, he can have it now. And maybe it will even be enough.
🏷️: @sttzee @tillies33ssss @miloisdone1 @sstvrnioloo @junnniiieee07 @sturnioloslurps @mrsmiagreer @asturniolos
@teapartyprincess4two @whicked-hazlatwhore @sukiipjs @fratbrochrisgf @sturniolosmind @imfromthediningtable @rootbeerworshiper @st4rswrld @thvvluvr @sturnssmuts @littlenerdybee @sturniolossss @iloveneilperry @eclipzw @chrissloverrrrrrr16 @sstvrnioloo
@clemlament @maryx2xx @fwskullz @luv4kozume
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samkerrworshipper · 5 months
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pain, sweet, pain | leah williamson x arsenal team
leah’s return from her acl injury is nothing like what she wanted nor expected, but her team are there to help her up when she’s down.
content: hurt/comfort, angst, sadness, pain.
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Leah’s never been a good loser.
Whether it was U8s playing with the boys, or playing for Arsenal, or playing for England.
She knows this, it’s both her biggest strength and weakness. She likes to think that it makes her a better player and person, because she experiences the highs and lows like nobody else, but realistically she knows that's just the part of her that hates that she feels so inherently deeply worthless when she team loses and it feels she's somewhat at fault.
Captain Leah would never in her wildest dreams blame a loss on anyone, because she plays an eleven person game, a team game, one person cannot take the sole blame for a whole 90 minutes plus stoppage time.
Leah, 26 year old Leah, who's just coming back from an ACL injury and feels like her world is ending, can’t do anything but blame herself.
Never in her life has Leah felt so worthless, so scared for the future.
She’s worked so hard, worked every single day of recovery, for her knee and for her mind.
She’d thought she was ready, and physically she is, but mentally absolutely nothing prepares you for the moment when you step back on the field for your first game as a starter and you play like absolute shite.
Leah’s worked for over a year, tirelessly, to get to this point, she’d dreamt about it her whole recovery, dreaming of a pinnacle, a perfect moment at the end of the treacherous path, it had seemed perfect.
Realistically, Leah knows that it was never going to look exactly like that, but she’d hoped for something more, happiness, joy, a good game, fulfilment above all else.
Yet, she’s left feeling the complete opposite.
Leah didn’t wait around on the pitch, she was inconsolable, and she knew it, she didn’t need fans seeing her vulnerable, she didn’t need Sarina who had travelled all this way to see Leah play look at Leah with that look of disappointment that you could always catch in the corner of her eye. Leah just couldn’t do it, she couldn’t ever bear to look at Kim, her captain who cared so deeply at her, she couldn’t face that, couldn’t face a woman who was the person who was supposed to keep her accountable but also pick her up when she’s down.
So Leah slips away, slips into the tunnel before she gets stuck in some stupid surface conversation with Alex or Jill, even though she’s desperate to catch up with them, she just can’t do it right now. Drawing with Man City feels like a loss, Arsenal are second on the ladder, the only team they should be drawing or losing to is Chelsea, or at least that’s what Leah’s brain is telling her.
She slips into the bathroom, going unnoticed by anybody in the tunnel and keeping her eyes on her cleats as she makes her way into the away team lockers.
Leah doesn’t sit down, she moves straight to the bathroom, stepping into the first stall and locking the door behind her before she slides down onto the floor, bringing her knees to her chest and her head down onto her kneecaps.
Leah can’t breathe, Leah can’t think, all Leah can do is sit on the floor, contemplating whether it was all really worth it, whether the fucking months of blood, sweat and tears amounted to this. She doesn’t think so, Leah’s telling herself that all of that time, all the wishful thinking, all of the bullshit that she put up with is pointless.
She is Leah Williamson, England Captain, European champion.
Yet she had never felt more like an imposter in her own body.
Alex and Beth had told her about how playing her first full game would be the best moment of her life, especially after sitting out for a whole year.
It was a big step, sure, she’d been getting on the pitch, but being on for ten minutes of stoppage time hardly counted as playing, when Jonas had told her that he planned to have her start the Man City match Leah was excited, ecstatic even, in hindsight it was false confidence.
“Le, honey, are you in there?”
Leah realises that there are tears rolling down her cheeks, subconscious tears of anguish that she hurries to swipe away with the hem of her jersey.
Leah tries to silence herself, for long enough that Lia will leave her be, but she inevitably knows that even though Lia phrased it as a question, she knows Leah is hiding in the stall.
Leah and Lia are…. confusing.
Especially for Leah.
It’s this weird friends with benefits arrangement that somehow started after Caitlin and Lia broke up, it wasn’t very long after Leah and Jordan had broken up and one drunken celebratory night they fell into eachothers bedsheets.
It was blurred lines, sex and emotions that neither of them were ready to face.
Leah loved Lia, in so many ways, but she couldn’t do this, she couldn’t be vulnerable in front of a person that she had frequent casual sex with.
The sex was a confidence booster, for both of them, it made them both feel better, stronger, and Leah was fairly certain that Lia seeing her like this would wreck that.
“Le, baby, open up for me?”
Leah knows that she’s shaking, it’s the middle of fucking winter in London and she’s sitting in a tiled, cold bathroom in nothing more than her uniform. She doesn’t care though, she doesn’t care about anything, the only thing she is thinking about is how the fuck she is going to return to the locker rooms without looking like a complete fucking wreck.
“Leave me alone Lia, I’m fine.”
It’s a blatant lie, both women know it. The breakage and croakiness in Leah’s voice is enough of a sign.
“Don’t be like this Le, whatevers up, we can sort it out together, just open up the door.”
Leah can feel the sickness rising up in her throat, can feel the pain and anxiety coursing through her bloodstream.
“Lia I told you to fuck off, get the fuck out, I’m fine.”
Leah only just manages to get the expletives out before reaching for the bowl of the toilet, the sound of gagging filling the silent bathroom.
Leah hates the acidic flavour that rises up from her throat and directly out of her mouth into the bowl, the clear white being tarnished with the slightly orange tinged bile, Leah supposed it was probably from the gatorade that had been handed out at half time.
“Le, honey, you can open the door for me, I won’t judge you.”
Leah knows that Lia is just trying to be nice, that the Swiss woman really does have a heart of gold and would never judge Leah, not even at her darkest moment. But her mind is betraying her, everything she believes in seems false.
“Lia get the fuck out.”
It’s almost a scream, definitely a yell.
The overwhelming silence that comes after it is deafening.
Then Leah’s ears are blessed with the sound of cleats slowly trailing away from her, it’s the first time since the whistle blew at the start of the game that she feels just a smidge of peace.
Leah tries to pick herself up from the floor, at least the toilet bowl, but it’s a losing battle, the uneasiness in her stomach suddenly forcing more bile up her throat.
Leah hadn’t eaten this morning, so most of it was just bile and liquids that she’d had before the game and at halftime, it burned her throat, making the already abundant ache so much more prominent.
It’s just as Leah is finally pulling her head out, swiping her long blonde ponytail out of the way that she hears the sound of a loud and deft knock against the stall door.
“Leah Williamson, open up, right now.”
Leah’s body shivers more than it was before, whatever gods are up there, she just prays that Kim didn’t hear her vomiting, or crying, or anything.
“I’m fine Kim, leave me alone.”
Leah sounds even more of a mess than she did a few minutes ago when she was trying to convince Lia of the same thing.
“I didn’t ask if you were fine, I told you to open the door.”
Kim’s Scottish accent is so deep, so enunciated in the way it always seems to be when she’s using her stern captain's voice.
“Kim, please just leave.”
Leah is pleading, something that she hates to do, but if Kim asks her once more with that voice she knows she’s not going to resist. So she’s not necessarily pleading to be left alone, but she is pleading for Kim to not push, to not force her to do something she doesn’t want to.
“Leah Cathrine, open the door now, if I have to ask again I will exercise other options to get to you.”
Leah hates how responsive she is to Kim’s voice, she doesn’t manage to get herself up from the bowl, but she does manage to reach one of her long and gangly arms up to the lock and flip it to the side, leaving the door unlocked.
It takes Kim a total of a second to fling the door open.
She doesn’t waste time in the doorframe looking Leah up and down, she steps into the stall, locking the door behind her immediately and sitting down against the door, where Leah had previously been sat.
Kim doesn’t say anything, pretends that she doesn’t notice the tear tracks and snot all over Leah’s face. Instead she extends a windbreaker out towards Leah. Leah shakes her head and Kim just shakes her head, still holding her arm out.
“Leah take the fucking jacket, I won’t be the one to tell your mother that you got hypothermia because you refused to put a jacket on after a game.”
Then it hits Leah, there are people here, at the game, for her.
Her mother, grandmother, father, brother.
Keira even managed to make the trip down just for this game, and yet Leah is crumpled over in a loo, having a fucking breakdown.
Kim shoves the jacket at Leah, and Leah just gives in, pulling it around her shoulders but leaving her arms out so she doesn’t have to remove them from the toilet seat, out of fear that whatever is left contained in her stomach will arise.
Leah and Kim stay that way for a while, Kim just sitting and watching Leah carefully, whilst Leah clutches onto the toilet seat.
She vomits once again, but this time it’s just stomach acid, it burns but it makes her stomach rest a little bit easier, easy enough for Leah to push herself up from the toilet bowl and rest against the wall beside her, so she’s diagonal from Kim.
“Don’t you have teammates to pep up?”
Kim just furrowed her eyebrows at Leah.
“Yes, you.”
Leah grimaces at that answer, she isn’t normally the consoled, normally the consoler, taking up the same job that Kim is right now.
“There are people who have bigger problems right now than I do.”
Kim nods, which throws Leah off a little bit.
“Yes, there are, but I think you’ve been needing this a lot longer than you’d care to admit.”
Leah can’t look at Kim’s eyes, can’t bear the amount of concern that is being directed at her, so she keeps her eyes on her cleats.
They’re muddy, and sopping wet, and Leah’s feet are shivering like crazy, her toes numb from the cold.
“Needing what?”
The question hangs in the air, empty but yet also so full with wonder.
“Needing attention, comfort, vulnerability, needing to not be the invincible Leah Williamson for a minute.”
Leah can’t disagree with Kim, even if she wanted to, it’s just a lie that Kim would catch her out on, and she’s dealt with enough disappointment today.
“I should be happy, on cloud nine, it’s my first game back.”
Leah’s voice betrays her, betrays every single thing that she’s wishing she was feeling.
“There isn’t anything you should be, there are things you can want to feel, but there’s no exact way that you should be feeling right now. Remember Viv’s comeback? Recovery isn’t linear Leah, you know that.”
Kim’s scolding her a little bit, she knows how to get through to Leah, she needs tough love, none of the soft pity bullshit.
“I played like shit, you should be yelling at me not sitting on the bathroom floor with me looking at me like I’m a kicked puppy.”
Kim cocks her head, this is how she works her way in, she doesn’t even have to ask the questions, she just slowly works the answers out, she can play the long game.
“You missed a few passes and intercepts, it's not the end of the world, so did everyone. Do you think I should be yelling at them? We had a bad game Leah, it happens.”
Kim’s words are strong, passionate, but Leah knows there is a lingering question hanging beneath them.
“Leah, how are you doing?”
It’s such a bleak question, so simple but yet so impossible to answer.
“I’m fine, I’m good, I’m back on the pitch, I’m happy.”
It’s all lies, Leah is fairly certain that she hasn’t felt fine or good in a few weeks now, and definitely not happy. She doesn’t think she deserves to feel happy, especially not when she’s been playing how she has.
“You know that you don’t have to sugar coat things with me, you don’t need to lie to me for the sake of trying to get me to leave you alone, it won’t work.”
Kim is probably the most stubborn and selfless person Leah knows, it’s normally the thing she admires most about the Scot, but right now she couldn’t detest it more.
“Leah, you do know it’s okay to be upset, or annoyed, you're coming back from a major injury, I’d be concerned if you weren’t feeling some of those things.”
Kim’s words are reassurances, she’s trying to send Leah into a false sense of comfort, enough comfort that she’ll start to open up to Kim, that she’ll finally let all of her walls and mental barricades down.
“Kim, seriously, I’m fine.”
Kim exhales, deeply, she’s letting go of her lenient side, breathing it out and expelling the soft part of her that was dancing circles around Leah’s mental state, hoping that she’d open up on her own, but it was crystal clear that was Leah was not going to be volunteering that information.
“Leah, have you been struggling?”
It’s a blunt question, and as Leah looks up at Kim with complete shock and fear on her face she can’t find anything besides concern and questioning in her eyes.
“What does that matter?”
It’s a deflection, a weak one, an attempt at trying to pivot Kim, Leah knows subconsciously though that it’s not going to work, Kim sees through it.
“I’m worried about you, I know a lot of the team is. I know you’re struggling Leah, whether you want to admit it or not.”
Leah forces herself to take a deep breath, the unwavering depth in her Captain’s eyes is unmissable, tormenting her from a metre away.
“Leah for the last month you’ve looked like you’re on the cusp of a nervous breakdown, and that’s okay, there is nothing wrong with that. But feeling that way for a whole month isn’t normal.”
Leah knows Kim is right, the older Scot is hardly ever wrong, she’s only seven years older than Leah, but sometimes Kim seems wiser than her mother, sometimes she treats Leah like her daughter, this moment is one of those moments.
“Kim, please just leave me alone.”
Leah is pleading, begging, praying that Kim will just leave her be, stop trying to make her feel things that she doesn’t want to.
“I’ll shut up but I’m not leaving you alone, not when you feel like this.”
Leah feels like Kim knows what she’s feeling better than Leah does, and that’s a weird feeling, knowing that Kim knows exactly what swirly weird thoughts are happening in Leah’s confusing brain.
“Leah, you’re obviously not doing very well.”
Leah cuts Kim off before she can say much more, because she’s honestly sick of hearing Kim’s half lecturing half concerned voice in her ear.
“Thanks for stating the obvious Kim, no, I’m not doing fucking well, I’m pretty sure a blind man could figure it out, so please, for gods sakes, leave me the fuck alone.”
In some strange way, it’s like music to Kim’s ear, hearing Leah openly admit her problems, because it means that Kim is slowly easing her up, slowly getting her to hone in on her emotions.
“Leah, talk to me, what’s up?”
All of a sudden Leah’s face contorts into one of genuine pain, and Kim feels her gut drop for a second.
“Kim I need you to just leave me the fuck alone like I’ve already fucking asked you too.”
Kim likes to think that she’s fairly lenient, she knows how much her girls, her teammates, can take. She knows how to handle most situations, and to an outsider, in this situation they’d probably say that Kim should leave Leah alone.
Kim knows Leah, just like she knows everybody else on the team. She knows that Leah, in all of her stubbornness and masking, often needs someone there for her, although she’d never admit it.
“Leah Cathrine, you can be as angry as you’d like, but you won’t talk to me or anybody like that, especially someone who is just trying to look out for you. Now, I’ll ask you once again, and give you the opportunity to answer me honestly before I haul your ass out of here and onto the bus. Leah, you know that I would never judge you, nobody on this team will ever judge you, and if they do they’ll have me to deal with. We all love you so much, you’re our Leah, our baby girl, and we all just want the best for you.”
Leah forces herself to take a breath, she feels more tears falling down her face as Kim’s words truly start to impact her.
“Sarina’s here, and I played like shit. My knee fucking kills, the olympics are in two months and I’m playing like shit. I’ve never had anxiety, never had a panic attack besides the euro finals, and all of a sudden, I’m a emotional fucking wreck and can’t get my shit together, I need to be better.”
Kim takes a good look at Leah’s franticness, it’s so unlike her, but also not unexpected.
“Leah, take some deep breaths for me honey, use your diaphragm.”
Kim’s voice has dropped a few octaves, and it’s lost all of the tension that was previously in it.
“Everyone on the team thinks I’m weak, stupid and weak, fucking useless.”
Kim stops Leah’s ramble before she takes it too far.
“Leah, listen to me. You are not weak, or stupid, or useless, or anything that your brain is telling you. You are recovering from a devastating injury. You are not perfect. You are doing your best.”
Leah looks up at Kim, with big doe eyes full of tears, she looks so helpless, like a young child.
“You are Sarina’s captain Leah, she’s going to pick you for the olympics. She’d be crazy not too, and if she doesn’t, which isn’t going to happen but with the off chance, then we can go watch them, or we can stay in London and work on your recovery. There will be people around, friends, family. You will not be alone.”
Leah doubts Kim, even though her captain sounds so sure she can’t help but feel a little bit insecure. Millie’s been doing her job for almost a year now, and she’s been doing a bloody good job of it, it makes Leah wonder if Sarina is even going to want her back, especially when her and Millie play the same position on the pitch.
“Leah, honey, I say this as someone who loves you and cares about you more than you’ll ever know. If your knee is hurting, then you should be telling the trainers, and not pushing it. You know your body, and if it’s hurting you need to rest. I know that you want to be playing, and you're finally allowed to so it’s this big deal, but you need to listen to your body and not hurt yourself further. I don’t want to have to tell Jonas and the trainers that you are playing through pain, so I need you to do it, before I bench you for endangering yourself.”
Kim hates how broken Leah looks, and if she could she’d pick Leah up and give her a big hug and say sorry for everything that she’s going through, and she’ll get to that, but right now, Leah is the most impressionable, and this is Kim’s chance to get through to her.
“Leah, every single person on this team loves you, no matter what. This team, this family, all of the love is completely unconditional, you don’t have to put on a brave face for them, I can guarantee you that if we walked into that locker room right now all they would want to do is make sure that you are okay. Nobody is here to condemn you, or make you feel like shit. We all care about you Leah, we’re all worried about you, not mad or angry.”
Leah looks up at Kim, her wobbling bottom lip between her teeth and tears, she looks so gutted, so much smaller than she really is.
“I failed them.”
It’s the first words that have left Leah’s mouth in a while, and it sends a sob barrelling directly from her lips.
This sob, this breakage, this sign of outward weakness speaks volumes to Kim, and it has her scooching over so she’s sitting beside Leah, their shoulders brushing up against each other. When Leah leans into the contact Kim raises one of her arms, putting it across the back of Leah’s shoulder blades and bringing the younger defender into her body.
Kim leans down, pressing her lips to Leah’s forehead, letting them linger for a little bit.
“Leah, honey, no matter what, you could never fail any of us, even if you had ten own goals in a final, none of us could care less, your our Le, our super star. You could never fail us.”
Leah forces herself to take a deep breath, to compose herself, Leah Williamson does not cry.
Except today, today she does, for so many different reasons, and yet absolutely no reason.
“I just don’t want to disappoint anybody, everyone needs me to be good, everyone expects me to be good.”
It’s like a mantra to Leah, a reminder, it’s her bible.
Leah Williamson does not lose, Leah Williamson does not disappoint, Leah Williamson cannot be a failure.
Yet today, it feels like she’s done all of those things, and it’s too much for her, too much for her heart to handle.
“Leah, I’m not wanting to rush you, we can sit here for as long as we have to for you to feel better, but the bus is waiting for us, and I know the girls really want to see you. Plus, my old lady knees are starting to cramp up in here.”
It’s lighthearted, but Leah feels the pressure fall down on her chest like a stack of heavy bricks.
Kim sees the change, and she does exactly what Leah needs, she brings her into her lap for a bone breaking hug.
“They’re going to be mad.”
Leah’s voice is a murmur, low and so quiet that Kim almost misses it.
“Leah I can promise you nobody in that room is going to be mad at you, proud, happy, overjoyed, yes. But one hundred percent not mad. We’ll go out there, get you changed out of these freezing clothes, you can talk to whoever you’d like to. We’ll leave the changerooms, there will probably be people there to talk to you, maybe Sarina, maybe so people from the press, probably your mum. Talk to whoever you want to, then we’ll hop on the bus and get back to the hotel. Okay? I just need you to be brave for me and do it, because I know you can, all of us girls know you can, okay?”
It takes Leah a little bit to nod in agreement with Kim, but eventually she does, her head lifting from its spot buried in Kim’s windbreaker.
“C’mon then, let’s get you up.”
Kim uses all of her strength to lift herself up off the floor, the pre match soreness has settled into her bones and muscles and she makes an internal joke about the old age really starting to get to her.
Once she’s stood up properly she reaches to pull Leah up, even if her back is aching and her knees are sore.
Leah’s unsteady on her legs, like a baby with sealegs, or a newborn baby horse. Kim has to quite literally manhandle Leah into leaning onto her, her arms wrapped around Kim’s much smaller form.
It’s uncomfortable, but Kim makes do, unlocking the stall and dragging Leah over to the sink.
“Wash your face off honey.”
Leah takes one look at herself in the mirror and is instantly shocked, her eyes are thoroughly red rimmed, puffy and altogether Leah just looks like a complete mess.
She leans down to the sink, turning the faucet and washing some of the ice cold water over her face. It doesn’t do much, it doesn’t really do anything besides wipe the tear stains from her face and make a little bit of the redness subside. Not enough to make it look like she hasn’t been crying herself sick, and definitely not enough to make it look like she has her shit together.
She wants to tell Kim to go ahead without her, but one look at the Scottish captain through the mirror tells Leah that anything she says is going to be useless.
So she swallows and spits a little bit of water to clean the acid taste from her mouth and then she stands herself up, righting her uniform and leaning herself back onto Kim, her legs and stomach feeling as uneasy as her current metal state.
When Kim makes it to the door of the bathroom, Leah feels her stomach drop, plummeting to her feet. Kim doesn’t hesitate, even with Leah draping her studs down against the concrete.
Leah keeps her head down, completely ashamed and unable to look at the faces of any of her teammates.
Kim leads her over to her cubby, sitting her down on the seat gently before sitting herself down in front of Leah, pulling off her soaked cleats and leaving them on the floor for later.
“Leah, honey, look at me please.”
Leah struggles to take her eyes from her lap, where her hands are sitting, fiddling aimlessly with the skin around her nail beds.
She eventually does though, keeping her eyes solely focused on Kim’s face, not letting her eyes travel to any of her teammates.
“You need to get changed, but my knees are really sore so I don’t think I can hold you up by myself, I need to go see one of the trainers. Who would you like to help you?”
No one.
That’s the answer that bounces around Leah’s head.
“I can do it myself.”
Leah’s words come from a stubborn mindset, the mindset that is making her feel even sicker for being so openly vulnerable.
“How about Viv and Beth, or Katie, or Jen?”
Leah hates all of the options, because they all include her having to be vulnerable with more people.
“I can do it myself.”
Kim rolls her eyes, her face still as stern and set as ever.
“It’s not up for argument Leah, I’m going to go get Viv, okay?”
If Leah had to make a choice, it would have been either Beth or Viv, because both of them have been through what she has, but Viv is the better option, because she won’t try and make jokes with Leah.
So Leah allows Kim to get up from the floor in front of her, and wander off to wherever she has too, to find Viv.
It’s about thirty seconds later that a pair of white nike shoes show up beside Leah’s sock covered feet.
“Leah, liefje, kom voor mij op?” Leah, love, stand up for me?
Leah’s not fluent in Dutch, she can’t speak a word of the language besides some simple conversation and basic terms of endearment, but for whatever reason she understands Viv perfectly.
Using the wall of her cubby as a crutch, she stands herself up, looking at Viv with a lot of questioning in her eyes.
Viv doesn’t wait for permission, she just reaches for the bottom of Leah’s jersey, lifting it up until Leah’s forced to put her arms up so Viv can pull it over her head.
Before leah’s left shivering, Viv’s helping her pull a long sleeve top and hoodie over her body, making her once freezing body a little bit warmer.
Once Viv has the hoodie pulled around Leah tightly she moves to her shorts, once again not waiting for permissions and tugging them as well as her compression shorts down.
Before she tugs the sweatpants on though, she secures a knee brace and ice pack to Leah’s knee.
Leah’s almost embarrassed about the fact that she nearly moans when the ice makes contact with her knee, the cold contrast feeling so incredible on her inflamed and sore skin.
Viv then moves onto the sweatpants, pulling Leah’s feet through the bottoms of them and then pulling them up and over her knees gently before securing the pants loosely around Leah’s hips.
Once her clothes are on, and Leah is feeling a little bit happier and spacey from the welcome warmth, Viv sits her back down on the bench.
She pulls Leah’s socks off, dutch simplicity leaving her lips as she gently applies, newer and softer socks to Leah’s feet, Viv’s warm hands gently rubbing over Leah’s feet as she pulls the socks over her toes and ankle, before pulling out a pair of ugg boots that Leah has never seen before and tugging them onto her feet.
Normally, Leah would revolt against the break of uniform, but she’s too tired, too vulnerable, too broken to care.
Viv can apparently tell, because in a few seconds time there is a group of girls flanking her, all with the same soft, calm expressions on their faces.
Katie, Beth, Viv, Jen and Lia.
“Hey baby girl, time to get you to the bus hey?”
It’s Beth’s gentle voice, quiet and soft.
“M’ sorry.”
It’s the only thing going through Leah’s brain, endlessly repeating like a record that keeps replaying.
“Hey, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for and we’ll talk about it on the bus, but we just need to get you there, okay? So Viv and Jen are going to help you, Katie will grab your things and I’ll make sure that any press stragglers stay away, okay?”
Leah feels defeated, and broken, but she nods anyway.
Jen and Viv reach down to pull her up, Beth leading the way out of the change rooms and back into the tunnel. Luckily, there are no stragglers, and the trip is fairly easy, Kim joining the group somewhere along the way with ice packs secured to both of her knees but she looks as if she's in good enough spirits.
They manage to manhandle Leah onto the bus and into a seat, cocooned between Kim and a window.
Kim whispers sweet nothings in her ear the whole ride home, reassurances that Leah doesn’t really hear with her ringing ears.
It’s actually Viv who brings Leah out of her trance, pulling Kim out of her seat beside her so Viv can sit down.
Leah, liefde, listen to me for a second please.”
Leah takes a deep breath.
“You did everything you could have, we all did everything we could have, this is not your fault nor your burden to take. None of us will accept you taking the burden for this. You can’t allow yourself to, because this,” Viv’s hand falls on Leah’s puffed up knee, covered with an ice pack, butLeah understands what she means.
“Is not going to get better if you don’t allow yourself to heal mentally. We’re all here for you, we’re all going to carry you when you are down, please Leah, for me, for your mum, for anybody, just let yourself rest. We’ll review, and as a team we will get better, but we need you beside us getting better as well, we need you out here leading the team, like we all know you can. Take a night, reflect and then come back tomorrow with the mindset that you have something to prove, to us, to Jonas, to Sarina, yes?”
Leah looks at Viv, looks at how genuine she is, how she definitely knows exactly what Leah is feeling.
The words linger for a few seconds, before a mass of Arsenal hoodies are piling on top of Leah and Viv, a struggle of arms and hands securing themselves around Leah.
It’s warm, happy and loving.
It’s everything that Leah has been working to create in this environment for years, not for herself, for everyone around her. But having it come back to her, it hits her like a freight train, and suddenly, or not so suddenly, Leah realises that she’s not doing everything by herself, she doesn’t have to when this is her team.
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thepersonnamedsam · 10 months
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graduating - cl16
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pairing: charles leclerc x fem!reader
summary: you graduated and charles attends your graduation
face claim: emma watson
warning: one hate comment
note: I GRADUATED, omg i can’t believe it, i’m done with school, but still more to come for me, and more posts to come for you <3
masterlist / taglist
yninsta
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Liked by charles_leclerc, pierregasly and 46‘729 others
yninsta i did it! bye brown, hello world 🌎
View all 9‘735 comments
charles_leclerc so proud of you, mon chéri
yninsta merci, je t‘aime bébé
charles_leclerc you did so well, forever proud
username she graduated from bROWN?
username i knOW
username omg, my sister had a class with her and she was soooo sweet
username what did she study?
username marine biology, i think
username we love women in stem
pierregasly congrats! we’re all proud of you, y/n
yninsta thank you, pear
yninsta is kika proud too tho?
pierregasly yes… why?
yninsta good
username she looked so good
username u should’ve seen charles, i almost fainted when i spotted him, he looked soooo proud
username you saw him?
username yes, he attended together with pierre i think
arthur_leclerc we finally have someone to finance us when we don’t make it in racing, thank you
charles_lecerlc i’m literally in f1…
yninsta thank you arth! and charles, be kind
username the way she’s so mother
username can you adopt me, pls guys
username yea, me too please
bestie omg girl, you looked so gorgeous !! ahh can’t believe i get to see you more often now !
yninsta i love you so much and i miss you, let’s meet up soon, now that i have more time
lilymhe look at you? pls be my girlfriend, i need someone smart
alex_albon im right here?!
yninsta shhh 🤫
yninsta i’m all here for you, babes
charles_leclerc whut?!
charles_leclerc
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Liked by yninsta, username and 368‘527 others
charles_leclerc celebrated her masters with a little karting
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username excuse, masters?!
username she slays so hard
username srsly, her masters? wow, you go girl
danielricciardo we all thought she’d flunked out with how many races she attended
yninsta thank you dan, thank you so much for you enthusiasm, love you - honestly
charles_leclerc hey, what about me?!
danielricciardo sorry mate
yninsta i won
charles_leclerc i let her win
yninsta no u didn’t
landonorris he so did
mickschumacher we all saw it, y/n. sorry :/
username they all went karting with them and they let her win?! she won in life and karting
leclerc_pascale so proud to have you in our family, y/n
yninsta thank you so much, pascale! forever grateful for your family
username can you believe she’s done her masters? bc i can’t honestly, sooo proud of her
username charles is so lucky- can he fight?
username yea charles, can you fight?
scuderuaferrari he’s actually fighting for the championship right now, so it’ll have to wait
username so that means he can’t fight..?
username time wise and fighting wise
username savage
f1_wag_updates
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Liked by username and 3‘378 others
f1_wag_updates charles and y/n seen kissing on her graduation!
she recently graduated with her masters in marine biology. she attended brown for her 5 years of study, but still made time to attend many races of the ferrari golden boy.
she is a very talented and smart women and we are all looking forward to what she will achieve in the future!
we’re all proud of you, @yninsta
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username we are really proud of you!
username 24 and already did her masters? cant be true, she’s so full of bullshit
username she started studying at 19 tho, so a five year study plus 19 equals 24, no? don’t hate just bc you can’t achieve it
username makes perfect sense to me, she is a smart woman
yninsta oh wow, omg, it was my biggest wish to be featured by one of the wag updates! thank you so much, you don’t how much it means to me
f1_wag_updates we’re really proud of you <3
°°°
taglist: @ironmaiden1313 , @topguncultleader , @biglittlesecret , @gulabjamooon , @lovelyy-moonlight , @peachyplumsss , @mistrose23 , @copper-boom , @love4lando , @champomiel , @serenityleah , @iloveyou3000morgan , @angelwithoutmywings , @elleeeee21 , @youkissedareaderinthedark , @mikauraur , @thybulleric , @lpab , @fdl305
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chestnutelm122 · 5 months
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I have never felt more connected to Carol than in The Marvels. In the first movie, the main thing that drew me in was the scene where a man told her to give him a smile and she just brushed it off, because that very same thing happened to me years before Captain Marvel. I was in a public transport, minding my own business, when a man suddenly came up to me and said, “what’s with the long face? How about a smile?” I just gave him a stink eye and ignored his bullshit but believe when I say all I really wanted to do was what Carol did in the deleted scene. This shit happens irl and for men to think that Carol breaking The Don’s hand was over the top was just mildly infuriating.
And then The Marvels happened.
I’ve seen the movie twice now, and despite its flaws and a couple of loopholes, what struck me was how Carol deal with the challenges and emotions, and not wanting people to see her vulnerable side. I’ve never seen any superhero in the Marvel universe that is deeply flawed and relatable as Carol. She was intimidating and somewhat introverted, yet funny, smart and brave.
I especially liked the tender moments between her and Monica, and her and Maria. Those scenes hit me like a motherfucker.
When Monica had that look in WandaVision about not wanting to talk about Carol, it puzzled me what happened between these two that made it seem like she hated Carol. So when she finally confronted Carol in The Marvels about Carol breaking her promise, it just made me think about my own parents. About how they kept saying they—my family—will always be there for me, yet never fails to leave me hanging when things get tough. When Monica repeated to Carol what she promised her when she was a little girl it broke my heart because I could totally see that little girl still hurting over the fact that the person she looked up to growing up weren’t even there when she came back after the blip. But then we panned to the next scene, explaining what really went down between Carol and Maria.
I lost my mother to cancer as well, so seeing this scene for the first time really put tears on my face. The way Brie’s voice cracks as she delivers Carol’s line, as well as how she wants to appear tough for Maria was so heartbreaking. It made me appreciate Carol Danvers more. In the first movie, one of people’s complaints about Captain Marvel was how “stoic” and “wooden” Brie’s acting was—which, let’s all be honest here, was a total lie because that’s exactly how Vers should be: devoid of emotions—The Marvels perfectly showed Carol’s human side. And if you can’t see that just based on these two scenes alone, then perhaps you’re right, The Marvels is not for you.
With the movie not doing as well as we wanted it to do in the box office, I wouldn’t be surprised if Brie tries to avoid doing any more movies with them (unless, of course, she signed a five movie deal or sth), but I hope she’ll come back for future marvel movies. She’s perfect as Captain Marvel and I can’t wait to see what Carol Danvers does next.
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f10werfae · 1 year
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My wife is fine, thanks
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pairing: Husband!Henry x Wife!Reader
summary: I LOVE YOUR HENRY CAVILL POSTS!So can I request an Instagram blurb for wife!reader (obv for Henry Cavill), where fans react to wife!reader and henry having an age gap (10+). (requested by @chaotictwig)
requests are open/likes, comments and reblogs are appreciated♥️
Full M.List, Henry M.List, Taglist Form
︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
@/hellostarsky: Can everyone stop hating on Henry, so what if he’s 39 and she’s 28?? They’re both legal consenting adults, he did not groom her and treats her with the utmost respect. She does not need the stress of you guys while she’s pregnant with their baby.
@/caviilll: I don’t care what anyone says, Y/n and Henry are so mf cute. The way he spoils the hell out of her and just always holds her close♥️♥️ If only
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@/relatimefr: Ok but their age gap is so weird, she was being born when he was like 11 wtf
>> @/Prettyprincess: They lit started dating at 24 and 35, you can calm yourself honey, they did nothing but fall in love☠️
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@/Henry Cavill: Happy 29th birthday to my lovely beautiful wife, the future mother to our baby(ies) and my best friend in life. Glad to be doing life with you and no one else, can’t wait to see you when I get home tonight, both you and baby Cavill ♥️
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@/Holymacsncheese: But their age gap suits them sm, Y/n makes sure Henry keeps up to date with all the new things today, and he grounds her to a sense of comfort and love. They compliment each other so much, match made in heaven I say
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@/Polypockets: yall acting as if he groomed her straight out of highschool, they literally met on set where she had to play his wife, yall just jealous cause it ain’t you 💋
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@/Y/nCavill: 35 Weeks today! Baby Cavill is now officially nearly here, unfortunately i’ll be taking a break from future projects for some time, I want to finally settle down and accept my new role. The role of motherhood. Hope you all understand, Y/n xx
>> @/HenryCavill: I’d like to follow this by saying that, after this new movie I will also be taking a break for the next year or so, who knows. Just would like you all to know that I appreciate those who support us wholeheartedly, and I can’t wait to start this new journey!
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@/User19204726: That picture of Henry showing Y/n new dresses in the maternity shop while she’s sitting watching him, is the cutest thing. She was too tired to walk about the shop, so he literally went around and got everything to have a mini fashion show for her
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@/pumpituplease: God bless Y/n for posting pictures of Henry painting the nursery, that man is giving real dilf material now, and we can’t forget about the milf Y/n. Sexiest Power couple for realsies
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@/geraltlovers: Omg I thought we were over the whole age gap thing?! Why the hell are papers still calling him all these names and calling Y/n naïve?? They lit have a child together, get a grip
>> @/petalsforpeps: omg ikr, like get over yourselves because they don’t care about what you have to say
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@/Y/nCavill: Henry and I would like to welcome baby Penelope into the world, she arrived on September 25th and is currently rocking it! No pictures will be shared, hope you all understand that ♥️
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@/cpatainsy: HENRY IS A DAD GUYS OMG, HIM AND Y/N’S BABY IS GONNA ACTUALLY SLAY THE REAL WORLD. WE BETTER PREPARE OURSELVES!!
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@/rainbowsncakes: Omg that photo Y/n posted with Henry’s back to the camera, you can just see the tiniest bit of baby Penelope’s hair out of the corner of his arm, AND ITS DARK HAIR, SHE GOT HIS CURLY HAIR I BET
>> @/lotsoocks: YOO ACCORDING TO HENRY’S MUM’S POST, BABY PENELOPE CAME OUT ROUGHLY THE SAME SIZE HENRY WAS WHEN HE WAS BORN. POOR Y/N
>>> @Y/nCavill: NO BECAUSE THIS IS TRUE, 38 HOURS OF PURE HARD LABOUR. Thankful for all the nurses, doctors, midwives and especially my bear of a husband who didn’t leave me alone once♥️
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@/user823783: Fuck this family bullshit, when is Henry gonna back to our screens?!
>> @/HenryCavill: i’m sorry but I don’t tolerate anyone speaking about my family like that, a fan of mine wouldn’t speak of people I love like that. We want to live a peaceful life full of love, if you can’t respect that then i’m glad i’m not back to work yet. Family comes first.
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@/HenryCavill: I love my wife @Y/nCavill and my gorgeous daughter Penelope, the exact double of me I must say (sorry babe) I also love the people who support me, and it hurts me to say that it’s a minority of you that seem to keep harassing my family. Please respect our lives, not only has our relationship been through enough, but our privacy has been violated more than enough times. Enough is enough.
>> @/jellyjumpbean: What sorta losers are still hating on them?! Can we please grow up and stop being delusional, the man is happy with his own family now. None of then deserve this abuse and especially not little Penelope who hasn’t even been here 5 minutes
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@/Dcornarvel: Y/n is absolutely growing post pregnancy, you would never guess that she’s edging 30, Henry is one lucky man for real
>> @/HenryCavill: That I am. Thank you very much my friend ♥️
———
Taglist Tags (Form is up there^^): @fdl305 @alexxavicry @bookfrog242 @alina02 @aerangi @i-beg-your-pardon-laufeyson @sparklemarysunshine @oliviah-25 @mischiefhasbeenmanaged @nikkitc0703 @misshale21 @hallecarey1 @girl-of-multi-fandoms @mansaaay @princess-paramour @stormcloudss @uwiuwi @marvelgurl @taramaria @mysticfalls01 @kebabgirl67 @athena-roy @tinyelfperson @madebylilly @dumb-fawkin-bitch @vrittivsanghavi @beck07990 @kimhtoo17 @thereisa8ella @pandaxnienke @marvelstarker-mha98
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strawberrysturniolo · 1 month
Text
never grow up part nine
summary: after the same back and forth for six months, sunny finally decides its enough, until she's given the same hopeful moment again
part eight
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Chris and I will never see a day where we aren’t best friends. No matter what our relationship or our friendship levels out as, I know he would take a bullet for me, and I can’t imagine a world where I don’t look for him first in a crowded room. 
Of all the people I meet in my life, it all goes back to him. Every friend I make, every boy I meet, every person I try to love, they will never be him. It’s not even comparable. It will never be a fair battle. It will always be him. 
The last six months have been eventful to say the least. 
I turned 22. I celebrated in Boston. Chris wasn’t there. Said something about wanting to come and making an effort to fly back out. Last minute he said he couldn’t because he had to work. I said whatever, got mad for a bit, then got over it and got drunk with my friends. 
I drunk called him, weeping some bullshit about how my birthday is never the same when he isn’t with me. Cried over how badly I wished he would move back home. He may have cried a little too, but I was too drunk to notice anything other than the pain in my chest from him being gone and the nausea coursing through my body as I held back every gag.
He apologized profusely, promising that he would make it up to me. The same broken promise I’ve lived with for three years now. 
I shouted at him and told him to stop lying to me. He insisted that he was being honest. He promised that things would be different. They never were. 
I slept with someone else. Had a short fling with someone that I thought could pull me out of the rut I was in, only to realize it was making me feel worse. Every time we fucked I imagined it was Chris. I then felt like shit because I knew it wasn’t fair to either of them, nor was it fair to me. I couldn’t move on. I was stuck on someone who couldn’t make up his mind. 
Chris kept promising that we would end up together. Maybe he was right. I was getting too dizzy and exhausted going around in that whirlwind to even let myself be optimistic about our future. 
I can’t keep waiting. I know he’s what I want, but I can’t put my life on hold for someone who isn’t sure of me. 
So, I called it quits. Told him straight up, I can’t do it anymore. No more back and forth. We go back to being friends and only friends. I cut the ties that he had knotted between us, forcing us to stay attached no matter how hard we pulled. I always fell to my feet and he dragged me through the fucking dirt and I got up, dusted my pants, and let him do it over again. I took the sharpest scissors I could find and cut it in half, sawed at it until my hands bled, and watched him walk away and leave me behind, because finally, I wasn’t attached anymore. 
I’ve managed to be okay with calling him my best friend with no underlying meaning. I’ve buried that higher level of us so low in myself that I can look at him across the country and feel nothing but friendship. I like it that way. 
I’m graduating today. 
Four years of college, stress, and long nights are over.
I let my mom curl my hair, let her pamper me and make me feel like a kid again before it all flies out the window. She puts gentle braids in my hair and curls the strands that fall down my back. She tells me to pucker my lips, and she swipes lipstick over them, making me feel like a little girl playing in her moms makeup again. 
“How excited are you for today?” she asked me with a smile.
I smack my lips together, coating the lipstick over every inch. “More nervous than anything. It’s awkward. I just want to get it over with.”
She frowns at me. “You’ll remember this day forever, I know it,” she promises, and I let her think she’s right. 
My mom and dad drove me to my school for graduation. I had one other ticket available, which I extended to Mary Lou, hoping she would make it. I grew up with her like a second mom to me, or maybe an aunt considering how close she is to my mother. Either way, she’s family. Always will be no matter how stupid her son can be at times. 
When I sat in a folded chair in the middle of an auditorium and waited for us to line up, I turned around and found an empty seat next to my parents. 
I for sure thought she would be here. She never missed an event for me. She was there for every sporting event, every birthday party growing up, everything. She wouldn’t leave me hanging like that. 
It was empty when I crossed that stage, and it was empty when I sat back down. 
I don’t know why it hurt so bad. Maybe she had something come up. Maybe she got stuck in traffic. 
All I knew is that I wanted at least one Sturniolo there. And I kept getting let down. 
The long day had finally come to an end, and I searched for my parents in the cattle of students and families trying to find each other after the ceremony. 
“At least one of us graduated.”
My feet halted. I froze, not even able to bring myself to turn around and search for the voice that I knew all too well.
“Do you think you could copy that paper?” he asked next. I turned around, and the first thing he did was take the book from my hands. He opened it up and inspected my diploma inside. “My mom would love to have this on her fridge. Oh! By the way. She couldn’t make it, so she sent me instead.”
I swallowed, suddenly nervous, like he wasn’t real.
He grinned at me, the same cheesy, childish, and adorable grin I’ve watched remain the same while the rest of his face aged as we grew older. 
“Give me a hug, Sunny,” he sighed. “I just flew the whole day away to be here. Think you can crack my back too? It’s killing me.”
My first instinct was to punch his shoulder, playfully of course. He let out a fake wince before grabbing my arm and pulling me into him.
My head nuzzled into his neck out of instinct. That spot was made for me.
“What are you doing here?” I managed to get out.
He laughed. “What a dumb question. I’m here for you, you goof. You thought I’d miss this?”
I pulled back, looking at him closely, like he was something from a dream. He straightened the cap on my head like he found all of this entertaining. “You weren’t here during the ceremony. I looked for your mom, and the seat was empty.”
“I got here on time. I promise,” he assured me. “I waited up top so you wouldn’t see me until now, but trust me, I got here and saw everything. I have pictures and videos to prove it.”
He pulled his phone out and swiped through his camera roll, which were screenshots of me walking across the stage while the rest of his family watched through FaceTime, cheering me on from home. 
My eyes welled up, unsure of my emotions at the moment. All I knew was I was feeling something, and crying seemed like the only logical answer.
He held my chin and pulled me to look at him, wiping my tears once my gaze settled on him. 
“I came, Sunshine,” he nodded. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world. You’re my number one girl, always.”
My lip trembled at his promise, seeing that he kept it. He shook his head at me, silently telling me to stop it, that him being here wasn’t supposed to make me upset. He wrapped an arm around me and led me to my parents instead, letting me stand awkwardly in photos with the three of them as they gushed and let out their excitement for me.
We all went to lunch after, nothing fancy, but we were together, and that was enough. 
Chris came back to my apartment with me, which was now boxed up as our lease was coming to an end. I managed to find somewhere for us to sit comfortably in the clutter and eat our leftovers for dinner in my home. 
We talked about the last six months – our lives, things we’ve done, what we missed out on.  
“Did I surprise you?” he smiled. 
I nodded. “Yeah, especially since I haven’t heard from you in a week.”
He sighed. “I’m trying, I really am.”
I shrugged, tired of this already. “Can we just drop it?”
“No, we can’t,” he insisted. He grabbed my thighs and turned me towards him, and I hate the way my body sparked when his hands were on me again. “I love you, no matter what, you know this. Stop making me feel like you don’t love me anymore.”
I don’t respond.
“Do you still love me?” he asked, now worried. His face softened enough to prove that. 
“You know I do,” I mumbled. “Stop making me say it. It upsets me. It hurts, actually.”
“Well it hurts me that you don’t want to say it to me, because I would do anything to make you know I love you.”
Something in me snaps, because his answer isn’t fully true, and we both know that. 
“Then maybe that’s all we know how to do,” I throw at him. “We hurt each other but promise to be with each other somehow for the rest of our lives. And you know what, Chris? I know for a fact I’ll be at your wedding, but the idea of being there in any other dress other than the white one I’ve had picked out since I was twelve keeps me up at night. And the idea of walking down the aisle and not being the one makes you cry makes me fucking vomit. So please, for me, make up your fucking mind. Stop playing these games with me.”
He kisses me after that, and I want to push him off, but my body has a natural reaction to him.
My hands find his cheeks and I pull him closer. My fingers eventually thread through his hair and pull on him until my back is pressed to the tile of the kitchen floor and his hands are on my waist, but we know it can’t go further because there’s nothing sexy about us fucking on my floor with boxes surrounding us. 
He pulls back, catches his breath, and says, “No more games.”
I believe him, and I regret how quickly I do. “No more?”
“No more,” he repeats. “You and me. That’s all that matters.” 
tag list: @ev3rgreenxtrees @thottie777 @plasticferal @angelworldspost @alluringsturniolo @sturniolho @sturniolopowers @sleepysturnss @sturniolovoid @sturnslcver @gamermattsgf @freshluv @flowerxbunnie @luverboychris @luvsturniolo @lacysturniolo @luvmila444 @luv4kozume @christinarowie332 @bernardenjoyer @bellybumm @nicksbf @n6ptunova @mbbsgf @mattsneezing @mangoposts @mattitties
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kurim-chis · 9 months
Text
this post in a nutshell: the Vidyadhara cycle can get a bit fucked up. sometimes. a lot of times. all the time, if you really think about it.
Note: i also blame my philosophy teacher. he was an awesome teacher, but philosophy class always made me question my own existence…
i think Dan Heng is right in wanting absolutely nothing to do with Imbibitor Lunae’s past and very clearly states he is NOT Lunae. However despite Dan Heng’s wishes and many people empathizing with him, in my opinion, it boils down to this:
the mentality of being a Vidyadhara
A case of “shut the fuck up and don’t spout bullshit, you don’t know how it feels, experience it yourself and then you know how hard it actually is”
First Note: Vidyadhara are just built differently — physically, mentally, and psychologically
For the vidyadhara, it’s their natural life cycle to be reborn with a clean slate every 700 years, possessing no reproduction capability and being immortal as long as they underwent the reincarnation process. They see it as normal and a “matter of fact” thing, and xianzhou natives do too, but can other non-vidyadhara species truly understand this? It’s kind of like how other species see things differently and have different morals from humans.
It’s a bit of a mind-fuckery because a vidyadhara is always the same person, but they always will get a clean state, and yet depending on each incarnation they might turn out completely different.
So they’re the same, but they’re also not.
Second Note: don’t say any bullshit until you’re the one going through it, then you will realize how hard it is
Basically this. Perhaps some aren’t going into a breakdown when their vidyadhara friend just deletes them from their life (or well, the vidyadhara is deleted and born anew), and they try to accept it because they’re too old and are wise enough to accept their lot in life, but there are others who are just bamboozled by it, even though they must have thought they were prepared for it. exhibit 1) Jing Yuan
Even the vidyadhara are not excerpt from this.
There’s a vidyadhara mirage who says his vidyadhara lover just went into an egg. To the race, this is a normal cycle of life. She won’t remember him. She will be the same person born anew. She will be a different person too. She can’t be burdened with anything of her past incarnation. He knows she is not dead, but he stares at the rolling waves and feels as if she is because he cannot and as a vidyadhara he must not see her reincarnation as HER.
But his feelings won’t matter, do they? This mirage said he couldn’t wait for his turn to come, but this wouldn’t guarantee him another future with his lover because CLEAN STATE you know? After returning to his egg, being reborn anew, then all of this — his grief, his solitude, his love — won’t matter anymore because he will also stop caring about it as well. It won’t matter. They won’t matter. The only thing that matters is their new life, but at that point that is NOT going to be the life of their incarnation, is it?
This is such a contradiction, isn’t it? Perhaps in “another life” he had also thought this, had also grieved for someone else or been grieved in return, but those lifetimes don’t matter in the same way his current one won’t matter after he reaches 700 years old.
“So you’re gonna be reborn after another 157 years? That’s how your race keeps being immortal and wards off the mara disease? Just the way you were created by Permanence? Cool.”
“So you’re the SAME but also a DIFFERENT person every time you go into an egg? That’s kinda trippy, but OK.”
“What will happen after that? Will we still be friends when you wake up?”
and the next time your friend appears, they are a child and you are absolutely no one to them
(…)
(how is this immortality?)
(my friend/brother/sister/parent/mentor/student/comrade/lover has not forgotten, because this is not something as simple as forgetting, this is a clean state — in a way only the vidyadhara, transcendent and celestial, can achieve. a cruel severing of everything you had to do with them.)
(they are gone, and in their place is a child with a clean state)
(it’s as if they are dead and you’re left to deal with a legacy—)
So despite what Dan Heng says and the Vidyadhara culture, I can also see why Jing Yuan struggles and is pained by the sight of Dan Heng. And also why Xianzhou deems Dan Heng guilty.
I also can understand why Blade is so enraged at Dan Heng and refuses to back down or stop trying to kill him (Blade being insane put aside) due to his incarnation’s sins, because how UNFAIR would it for Imbibitor Lunae to get a clean state just like that? What, they’re same person? But they get to start over as a NEW person? All his sins like that, gone? What sort of bullshit is that?
Just. This whole vidyadhara reincarnation thing can get very, very fucked up, you know?
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babiebom · 5 months
Note
Hey brother, I am humbly requesting a SDV Sam (or Alex) fic about the harvest festival & the fortune teller. I just think it’s a cute idea to see what the fortune teller says to Sam before/after meeting the farmer
A/N: this is such a cute idea!! Since this is more of a one shot request I can do both on this post? Hopefully by the time you see this it isn’t too far into the future!! Hopefully you enjoy how I wrote this!! Sorry it took a little while!
Genre:oneshot, fluff, some angst.
Tw:mention of death, mention of depression/insecurities, cursing, 2 mentions of the war that goes on in the game.
Wc: 0.5k for Alex / 0.5k for Sam
Sdv Masterlist
Alex
Alex was never one to go visit the fortune teller. He simply doesn’t really believe in magic, or the ability to see the future. Sure, there was the weird wizard that lived near the forest, and the monsters that live in the caves, but those were just outliers and didn’t have anything to do with the general population. The first and only time he went to it as an adult, was with Haley. He hated his fortune then, it tore down all his dreams and put him into an even more insecure place than he was in before.
No mom, no dad, and aging grandparents and now the woman in the tent is telling him that his current girlfriend isn’t his soulmate or the one he will end up with, and they’re saying his gridball career won’t take off and he’s going to end up in Pelican Town for the rest of his life? Actual dogshit.
It’s his own fault that he asked in the first place, he thinks. Haley wasn’t too mad with her fortune, and she didn’t seemed all that torn up about the fortune teller saying they weren’t meant for each other. It just pissed him off even more. Did this mean they were going to break up? Should they? Did he even have to listen or believe the fortune teller? It was probably just bullshit anyways, a scam to get idiots to spend more money to find out their future because she scared them. He’s never doing the stupid fortune thing again!
“Let’s do the fortune teller!” Your eyes are shining so brightly with excitement that he can’t say no. Obviously he hates the damned scam, and he didn’t have to agree but he liked you too much to disagree with visiting the woman one last time.
You shove him inside first, already looking through your backpack for your coin bag. “You go first.”
He swallows and steps up to the woman, glaring at her openly. She makes no move to react to his obvious discontent, instead waiting for him to dish out money so she could say something else to crush his hopes and dreams. At least you’re in here with him to hear what actual bullshit this is…you’re kicked out of the tent while he’s getting his fortune read.
“Hmm…I see you in the town’s square…it looks like you’re receiving a mermaid pendant. Looks like someone wants to marry you!”
“Marriage? To who?” He hopes that it’s you. You weren’t really in a relationship right now, but he does hope that it’s you giving him that pendant.
“Hmm…you’re watching a gridball match with the other guys in town…looks fun! It seems like you’ve brought everyone together.”
“The crystal ball has moved on…I see you and the farmer. You’re laughing together on the beach, looks like you’re holding a ball. The way you’re going it looks like you two are quite close! Ah…the crystal ball has gone dim. That’s all I can do for you, young one.”
Stepping out of the tent, Alex somehow feels better. He’s going to get married at some point, and you and him are going to be on good terms for a while. Maybe the fortune teller isn’t totally uncool.
Sam
The fortune teller was one of the creepiest attractions of the fair to Sam by far. Magic was something that he thought was cool, inspiring even, but that doesn’t mean he wants anything to do with it. Him, Abigail, and Sebastian get their fortunes read every single year, paying attention to whatever has changed, what has and hasn’t come true. It’s fun and sometimes a little scary when things turn out how the fortune teller said it would.
Abigail liked it the most out of the three. The year before he meets you is the first time in a while that his fortune had changed. The woman had said specifically that “someone was coming to the valley that would bring the budding success of his music.” All he really heard then was that his music career was going to take off at some point, and that’s all he really needed to keep working towards his goal.
You hold his arm tightly as you walk around the fair along with Abigail and Sebastian. It’s your first fair since you’ve come to Pelican Town, and Sam is all too willing to show you around. Besides, Pierre was probably going to win the stupid competition, again, and he wanted to be able to support you closely. Not because he has a crush or anything (he does), he’s just a good friend! “We should show the Farmer the fortune teller! See if they get a good one or not!”
This starts your groups trip to the tent. You seem a bit anxious about getting your fortune read, so like the good friend Sam is, he offers to go first and tell everyone his fortune to show you it isn’t so bad.
The woman smiles at him as he enters, and he immediately returns her positive energy. She always said good thing(except when she predicted his father was going to be deployed because of the war) so he liked her. He paid her quickly and watched as the crystal ball begins to glow.
“I see you performing on a small stage, the person who is going to support your music career is front and center. They are going to be the reason that you are performing so passionately. They buy some of your cd’s to help support you.”
He wonders for a second if that’s you. He had been feeling a little more inspired since you came around, and you never hesitated to praise him and his music when you get a chance to listen to him play in his room. “Hmm…I see you in a big house, something is playing on the television. The children seem excited about whatever is playing, so do you and the farmer. They’re smiling so brightly at you, don’t let them lose that light.”
It absolutely has to be you. He wonders what you’re so happy about, and who the kids are. Are they your kids? Maybe his mind is going too far, especially since a relationship wasn’t mentioned.
“The crystal ball is shifting…your father returns from war. He is safe, and unharmed…but he is not the same as he was. It seems that he is unhappy…oh…”
The crystal ball grows dim, maybe the last bit wasn’t totally good, but the rest of it was. He gets to perform, and you’re there cheering him on. His heart thumps as he exits the tent and meets your eyes. The way you’re looking at him is so bright. He feels excitement full his body, he has so much to look forward to.
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toracainz · 8 months
Text
Driver Picks the Music, Shotgun Shuts Their Cakehole
Masterlist
Summary: You and Jake decide to go on a road trip.
Warnings: Inaccurate depictions of DID (only knowledge from the show and some light research). Swearing. Established relationships. Spoilers for Case 63. References to the boys past trauma with water. Mild miscommunication. Verbal conflict due to frustration.
Word count: 4.1k
A/N: I am not fluent by any means in Spanish so if there is anything incorrect please let me know.
A/N: beta read by the wonderful @luvpedropascal and another friend that doesn’t have a tumblr lol.
A/N: this was for a fic exchange for the anniversary of Moon Knight, but as you can see I'm kind of late lol oh well! hope you enjoy!
Translations:
Mira, amor. = Look, love. Corazón = heart Mi tesoro, ¿qué pasa? = My treasure, what’s up? Cariño = Dear Dios, ¿eso es todo? = God, is that all? Lo lamento…realmente. = I’m sorry…really. Amor = love mierda = fuck Se lo juro. = I swear it. Nuestro amor. Nuestro sol. Nuestro corazón. = Our love. Our sun, our heart. luz de mi vida = light of my life
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The eerie music of the podcast played in the background as the characters spoke. A man, who was apparently a doctor, talking (though he sounded just like the patient from the earlier part of the podcast) with the confused woman, a doctor herself…from the future?
“Let’s see, ‘Case 63’. It says your name is Eliza Beatrix Knight. You were admitted at 7:22 p.m. on November 24th. You were found naked at JFK airport in one of the bathrooms in Terminal 8 with paranoid ideations and confusion. You told a curious story about the end of the world in the future—“
“But the—the future??” She definitely sounded confused and a bit distressed.
“Yes, the future.” The doctor answered.
“Oh…wait. Wait. Okay. Wh—what year is it now?”
“You don’t know what year it is?”
“What year is it?” The woman repeated, a little agitated.
“It’s 2012, Ms. Knight.”
The only sound, other than the credits of the podcast, was the droning of wheels on pavement as you and Jake headed down the road. You had nearly begged Jake to listen to the podcast after you got back on the road from the last stop. You looked over to Jake, smirking as you studied his stoic, contemplative look. He suddenly let out a huff of a laugh, shifting in the driver's seat a bit.
“What?” you asked him, a little unsure of what to make of his reaction.
“That’s like…2 hours of my life I’ll never get back.”
“What?! Oh come on, you can’t be serious. That was a good show!” You insisted, mock offense on your face (though not entirely mocked).
“Mira, amor. It was…interesting, but just not my kinda thing. I mean, the guy was just bullshitting the whole time.” He shrugged, keeping hold of the steering wheel, his other elbow propped on the ledge of the window.
“Bullshitting??? Ugh, whatever. Putting it back on your old man music. Keep listening to this and I’ll have to put you in a home soon.” You teased as you reopened the music app and started his playlist. Frank Sinatra came to life in the speakers.
“‘Old man music’? These songs are classics and timeless. So are the dance moves.” He smirked glancing over at you, seeing your pout fighting off a grin. “I know you like it when I dance with you, corazón. Don’t hear you complaining then.”
“Because I have you to distract me from it.” Looking at the map on your phone, you tried to see how much further until the next stop.
You and Jake had been planning this trip for a while, just you, him, and the open road. The only thing that wasn’t accounted for, though, was Jake’s determination to pick the music, the snacks, and the places to stop. It wasn’t too obvious at first, especially when he was pointing out some pretty fun locations to go to, but it seemed like any time you made a suggestion, he would try and convince you to do something else. It was cute, with a bit of poking and some laughs about Jake being hard-headed, but the further into this trip you got, the more it started to bother you. Looking at the map, the both of you would be arriving pretty soon at the last motel before making the last trek to the final destination on the trip “itinerary”, Antelope Canyon.
~*~*~*~
Weeks Earlier
After you had mentioned going on a road trip, Jake took it upon himself to check out potential places and possible things to do there. Nothing had been discussed in earnest yet, but Jake's (and his headmates’) curiosity got the better of them. Vegas was discussed, San Francisco, and the Rocky Mountains, among other potential options. It wasn’t until Marc suggested the Grand Canyon that things really started rolling. Jake had in his mind that the Grand Canyon, while grand was honestly boring. He hadn’t expected Steven to agree with him, so the three began to look at other locations.
That’s when they found it. Antelope Canyon. Now that was a destination.
Steven offered to do the research since he actually enjoyed reading endless pages of websites or books, but Jake insisted that he would take care of everything. Looking through hiking reservations and things to do in the area around the canyon, Jake had started to really enjoy planning it all. He just knew you’d be excited for it all.
That is…until he read an article about some of the facts about the canyon and its geography. According to the article, the canyon was prone to flooding. Seeing that word made his blood run cold and his heart begin to pound. When he noticed his hand clenched tightly into a fist he had to consciously relax it. It was fairly understandable that if it rained in the area of the canyon then of course water collected, but the part that worried him and his headmates was that it could be dry in the canyon but rain elsewhere, and the canyon could still have a flash flood. There had even been ladders installed in the canyon for people to grab onto and climb to higher ground. At first, they were wooden, but those broke all too easily. They've since been replaced with metal ladders. Plenty of people had lost their lives to this all too familiar force of nature.
Once Jake learned about this, he began looking heavily into the weather of the area and the best time to go. Planning for the driest possible month that he could and making sure the projected weather was clear as it could be. Jake’s not delusional by any means, he knows that weather can be unpredictable so far in advance, but he had to try. Jake started to check the weather religiously to make sure things would work in his favor. He wasn’t taking any chances, wasn’t going to put the system in danger, and definitely wasn’t going to pull you along with them. He wouldn’t let that happen…not again.
So it was settled. Route. Destination. Activities. And the window of time they had to arrive.
~*~*~*~
Present
You both had been talking about taking a road trip for a while now and it wasn’t until a week or so ago that the two of you started talking and planning in earnest. Jake was the one that picked the route since he insisted on driving the whole way, but to your surprise, he also picked the destination -  even going as far as to look at weather reports for the times that you two would be there. That left you to pick the snacks and the fun touristy stops along the way, giant rubber band ball-type attractions, that’s what road trips are all about right? Hearing you get excited by each new place you found along Jake’s route gave him the softest and warmest smile. This was how every night was spent leading up to the trip, you and him sitting on the couch, your legs over his, or laying in bed, his arm around you and getting giggly from all the excitement, an extended trip with your partner, your Jake.
What you didn’t know, and what you’ve rarely seen, was how Jake was stealing glances at you. He wasn’t exactly the talkative one in the relationship, but he didn’t mind, not when he could just observe and admire your energy. The smile on his face was content like waking up at your own pace in a comfy, warm bed. These simple moments were what Jake enjoyed most, these mundane, everyday moments. He never asked for much and he never needed much, so when he found you and you decided that you would give him your love, well that was all he could have ever asked for.
~*~*~*~
Pulling into the motel parking lot, the silence that Jake thought was comfortable was not so for you. Stewing away at how nitpicky Jake was being, how he was nearly dictating what you both did on the trip with almost no regard to what you wanted. You knew it wasn’t because he was trying to be mean.  Jake liked to have control of situations. Having control meant a certain level of safety, and that’s just how his mind worked, protecting himself, protecting the system…protecting you. What you couldn’t understand was why. What sort of danger could come from the wrong kind of chip or soda being bought at the gas station?
You both grabbed your bags from the trunk and went into the room, starting each of your nightly routines…still, in silence, save for the small T.V.  that had been turned on to some local news station. Then Jake chimed in on what side of the bed he would be sleeping on. You didn’t need him to tell you. You knew he would take the side closest to the window and door, that’s the side he always took.
“I know what side you sleep on. You don’t have to tell me!” you snapped not too unkindly. Funny how the bed would be the final straw. Jake stepped out of the bathroom. He was only half undressed as he was getting ready to shower (he thought showering with you, but the tone in your voice had him second-guessing).
“Mi tesoro, ¿qué pasa? If you want to skip the shower that’s fine, babe, just say so.” He fixed you with a confused look.
“Oh? So that I can decide?”
“Cariño, what are you saying? I don’t play head games, get it out. Start making sense or I’m go–”
“This whole trip…the whole trip, you have been so picky about everything. Where we stop, where we don’t stop, what snacks to get, where to stay and almost every time I suggest something you shoot it down. If it’s not your way it’s the highway is that it?” That was one thing that you were happy for in your relationship with Jake, and it certainly took some time to get to this point. Jake was right, he didn’t like playing head games. He didn’t like the whole “you should know what’s wrong” bit. He was never fully open about his own feelings, but clear communication? He was a staunch advocate. He wanted to know what was wrong, what was right, how he could meet you in the middle, all of it.
Hearing this outburst, his muscles tensed ever so slightly, his jaw tensing more. Jake tossed his shirt on the bed as he came over to his duffel bag, grabbing his toiletries bag, and starting back into the bathroom. “I’ve been picky. Picky. Dios, ¿eso es todo? And that’s what’s got you all worked up, just because I’m picky.”
“Just because. Worked up. This was supposed to be a fun trip and it is, it was! But damn it, Jake, it’s not fun for me when you can’t let go for two seconds. Nothing’s going to happen if we stop at some honey farm or a fruit stand or a fucking huge ball of twine!” The floodgates open, as you let out the building frustration from the past couple of days. It felt good to get it out, so it wasn’t buzzing around in your head any longer. Jake had been leaning against the bathroom counter, shoulders tense and hunched as he looked at himself in the mirror. You don’t know if Marc or Steven has anything to say about your outburst, if he’s listening to them, and right now that’s the least of your concerns.
You could see his jaw flexing and clenching as the gears were turning in his head, trying to come up with something to say.
“You want me to let go? Want me to just let things happen? Fine,” he threw his hands up. “Yeah, I’ll let go as soon as you learn some restraint. Think you can handle that for one more day? Hmm? You knew what you were getting into when you looped me into whatever you want to call this relationship.” He looked at you in the reflection as he grabbed what he needed and went to finally get in the shower.
“Fine. Sounds fantastic. Maybe tomorrow you can work on getting the stick out of your ass and actually enjoy the hike instead of worrying if a lizard’s going to be within thirty feet of us. Yeah, enjoy your shower.” You huff, going and sitting on the bed to watch T.V. while you wait for your turn with the shower. Flipping through the channels didn’t produce anything worth watching so you settled on the news again. Sometimes on the trip, you and Jake would shower together, make out, actually bathe, or both, and just enjoy those little moments. That was not in the plans tonight and you weren’t even sure how the bed situation would work tonight, there being only one, probably not a lot of cuddling.
Relationships have their rocky moments, that’s to be expected to some degree, but talking to each other and coming to an understanding…maybe once you both cool off you can have a more constructive conversation. Until then, you both needed some time to let the emotions come down from their boil, maybe on the drive tomorrow you two could talk, sort things out, otherwise it was going to be a long trip back to New York.
Jake eventually got out of the shower, curls wet and slicked back, and only in his underwear. You were upset with him, so stop looking at him like that…with all his muscles and tan skin and inky curls that started to spring back from their slicked state. You tried to shake it off as you got off the bed without a word to go for your own shower. Jake watched you go and once he heard the water start he sat on the edge of the bed, head in his hands as he and his headmates tried to help come up with a way to salvage the trip. Sounds like partly cloudy days in the future.
~*~*~*~
That morning, after a not-so-pleasant night of sleeping as far away from each other as possible, though you're certain at some point in the night you could feel a strong hand gently caressing your shoulder, the two of you packed your things and got back on the road. It wasn’t much further to Antelope Canyon so the drive wasn’t terrible. It was certainly quiet though.
As Jake pulled into a parking space, he was the first to break the silence, gently grabbing your arm, stopping you as you started to get out of the car. When you look back at him it all started to flare up again. He’s stopped you from getting out of the car, decided things for you. You don’t mean to be on edge, it all just feels so raw.
“Lo lamento…realmente.” He says withdrawing his hand, holding it up to show he’s not keeping you, he only meant to get your attention, “We can talk about it on the hike, I just…I wanted to say it now. Before we get out there. I’m not expecting you to forgive me just because I said “I’m sorry”, I know I’m not the easiest person to live with, just ask Marc and Steven…” he paused, not entirely sure what else he could say. He really felt he was difficult to live with and he knew that his hypervigilance could get overbearing, but that’s something he intended to work on.
You listened to him, still feeling that boiling frustration, knowing that he meant it, he always means it. Jake clenched his fist, resting it against the gearshift trying to put the words together. “Let’s get out there…” He nodded, more to himself, gently hitting the gearshift with the side of his fist before getting out of the car to get the backpacks. While you grabbed yours Jake headed over to the information kiosk for maps, a weather radio, and to check in for the hike
~*~*~*~
It’s kind of amazing how being in a place like this could distract from the stresses you both came with. The smooth, waving walls of the canyon in those bright red and orange hues. It looks so ancient, mystical, alien, and absolutely breathtaking. You both were able to relax as you worked your way through trails, well you more than Jake who seemed to be clenching his jaw or muttering to himself (or Marc and Steven) a lot. Whatever it is they’re talking about, you hoped it wouldn't crop up into another argument, not when the hike had been going so well.
And that’s when it happened.
You suggested that you stop for a break, just to drink a little water, maybe eat a snack, take some pictures, or something, but Jake trudges ahead.
“We can go a little further, come on.” He said, pulling ahead now. It was as if the argument and his apology meant absolutely nothing to him. What in the hell was happening?! You never took Jake to go back on his apology or his word. Yes, the man would fib on occasion but he wouldn’t flat out lie like that…not to you.
“What? You have got to be kidding. After all that? For God’s sake, Jake you just couldn’t handle i,t could you? The whole hike you’ve been acting so uptight. Are you even enjoying this? This whole thing was your idea and now you have a look like someone just smelled the most gag-inducing stench.” You weren’t going to let it slide like you had in the car ride, you were going to call him out on it. This was your trip too and you wanted to go out and have fun. Which you were, but having a muttering cloud of gloom accompanying you was not helping.
Jake stopped, tilting his head back and looking to the sky, muttering more things (you couldn’t quite make it out, but it vaguely sounded like Spanish swearing), definitely a bit cloudy now but nothing too bad for now. Slowly, he lowered his head as he turned to look at you, regret clear on his face. “Amor, I swear this is the last time today…I uh, had looked up the trails online—just to be safe—I only meant…mierda…there’s a cool place up ahead. You've probably seen it in pictures, a beam of sunlight coming in…we can break there and after that…” he makes the motion of zipping his lips, tossing away the key, and holding up his hands in surrender.
Well, that was…unexpected. The worst part was, it was a good idea. With a huff you crossed your arms, contemplating the options and the fact that he really did mean what he said…he was trying, but you were still frustrated, and maybe(?)  going to this special place meant that the whole rest of the time Jake would just lighten up and you could actually contribute to the trip.
“Fine. Yeah, fine, let’s go to this “cool place” and we’ll take a break there.” You shook your head, conceding. “But after that, you have to let me have some say, Jake—“
“I will. Se lo juro. Just thought you would like it and taking a break there you can take it all in like you do.”
He stood there waiting for you to rejoin the hike. Thankfully the place wasn’t much further, just as he said, and you looked around in awe at how nature could make such enchanting views. You were enjoying it and taking it all in, just as he said.
You both started to take off your backpacks, taking out a blanket and some snacks and drinks for the little makeshift rest stop this little place was about to become. The thing that was most mesmerizing was the beam of light in question, and yet again, he was right. You stood there drinking your water watching this marvel of nature, this beam of light so precise and almost like a sspotlight The sunlight almost looked tangible, so letting the inner kid in you come out for a little fun, you stuck your hand into the sunlight. That wonderful, imaginative part of you almost expected to feel it, well feel something other than the warmth it brought. Like it should have been hard like a stone column or fluid yet weighty like a stream or waterfall.
“Alright, I’ll give it to you. This is a really cool place to rest for a bit. Sorry for blowing up like that again. If you know any more places like this we should stop at, let’s make a plan okay? Together. We’re supposed to be enjoying the hike right? Just like you s—“
When you turned to look at him, you were met with a sight that that imaginative part of you was absolutely not expecting.
Jake.
Down.
On one knee.
Holding a small, velvet-covered box.
You didn’t know what to do, so you just gaped at the sight. Nerves were clear on his face as he opened the little box.
“Nuestro amor. Nuestro sol. Nuestro corazón. I know now that I wasn't being fair to you on this trip and I truly am sorry. You’ve put up with me, with Marc, and Steven when we were absolutely not the easiest to put up with. You accepted us, all of us, and everything that comes with being with someone like us…and we couldn’t be more thankful to have such a patient, loving, and strong partner. Because God knows you have to be strong to have to deal with three grown man-children.” Jake chuckles breathily, hoping the joke would help his nerves (it didn’t), not until he heard you chuckle too. The corner of his mouth quirks slightly, letting that little moment of levity give him the breathing room for what was about to come next.
“Will you marry us?”
You stood there still stunned, but now tears were trickling down your cheeks. Yeah, there was a lot to deal with, mostly due to their collective tempers and vastly different ways of doing things among other quirks…but you weren’t perfect, not by a long shot. There were plenty of things you did or said that they had to put up with too. But that’s the beauty of it, right? People are flawed. They mess up. They find someone to love them and they grow together…to work at being together, because it’s not easy, nothing in life is ever easy…but loving them…even after every argument, disagreement, or misplaced frustration…that was easy. How could you not?
You stepped closer to Jake. The last of the system that you met and once you had, everything just felt complete. Now, here he was before you, on behalf of himself and his headmates, asking you to love them for the rest of their lives. And you said yes…how could you not? You said yes again, nodding your head as he came to his feet, a nervous smirk blooming into an ecstatic grin as he plucked the ring from its box and slipped it on your finger.
It was a simple silver band with three diamonds set into it…one for each of them. You held up your trembling hand to admire it, your heart thrumming with what it represented. Looking at Jake, you wrapped your arms around him, as he did the same to you, your lips meeting each other. So much love and passion shared between you. It felt too soon when you both pulled away to catch your breath. When you looked into his eyes you saw his own tears threatening to slip away and down his cheeks, and you also saw the tenderness and deep love that he and his headmates shared for you.
After another kiss (and another), you both stand there in the beauty of the moment.
“I love you,” you finally say.
“I love you too, luz de mi vida. Like you wouldn’t believe. So much, that I made sure to plan as much of the trip as I could to try and make it memorable…turns out I made it exhausting and should have just had you help plan it.” Jake couldn’t wipe the smile from his face if he tried, you said yes and now you had the rest of your lives to plan more trips.
“Definitely should have consulted me. I have a keen sense for adventure, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“And we have plenty of time to plan trips, annoy each other, love each other…and on the ride back, we will be having the best adventure.” You smile wide before Jake leans in, giving you another kiss which you happily reciprocate.
“I can’t wait.”
A/N: Antelope Canyon has a tendency to flood. This can apparently happen even if the rain occurred miles away. The boys were not only nervous about the proposal but also flooding, hence the weather research, monitoring, and radio.
taglist: @spacecowboyhotch @marc-spectorr @juneknight @mccn-bcys
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satantica · 1 year
Text
someone hitting on you — with haikyu boys
characters: coworker!kuroo, roommate!oikawa
cw: fem!reader
coworkers!kuroo
“What?” you asked irritated by Kuroo staring at you with a smirk on his face. “Just trying to figure out if you are this tough at home.” You stared back at him wordlessly saying to fuck off. “I swear you are at your sweetest at home” Kuroo finally turned to his computer but never got the smirk off his face.
“Hey, Yn. I need your help with filling out these forms.” It was your coworker who made working in the office less insufferable although you couldn’t say that it was just a friendly intention. “Yeah, sure” you smiled at the man who made Tetsurou wait to start a small talk again. “I can help you with that. She’s already all truly evil with getting all these papers done. Wouldn’t want to see a murder right next to my desk” Kuroo rolled his chair over to be closer to your coworker than you were. “I really want Yn to help me with this” the guy said obviously confused. “Oh, that’s really not a problem. I wasn’t busy anyway.” Tetsurou smiled disarmingly while taking all the papers from your coworker.
You were observing interested in what was going to happen next. Kuroo has never been that extremely friendly to anyone. He was always saying that this job was never going to be his future but yet he was still there sarcastically treating everyone especially you. “So, Yn, I was just wondering if you are busy this evening” your coworker interrupted your track of thoughts.
“I—“ you started. “She can’t.” Tetsurou was still looking at the forms he usurped. “Why are you speaking on my behalf?” It was unbelievable. Kuroo was already a pain in the ass but that was way out of line. “You forgot about our date tonight?” Tetsurou looked at you finally distracted from looking at the forms. “What?” you asked losing you patience. “Oh excuse her she almost forgot with all this work. I asked her almost a week ago if she would go with me to this new italian place.”
Tetsurou even remembered your phone call to you friend and you telling how much you wanted to go try italian food but had to work. “You didn’t ask me, moron” you said and watched the coworker walking away. “Heartbreaking. Sure I did. You just never liked the idea. But don’t worry we will work on this. Now please stop distracting me, I am trying to help our coworker, so he wouldn’t steal my date.”
roommate!oikawa
“Tooru, what the fuck. When are you going to go to sleep?” you said furiously looking at the volleyball player. Oikawa was drilling the screen “This tone doesn’t scare me, sweetie. It’s the last match.” You stood up “You said that 40 minutes ago and I didn’t see the lights go off.” Tooru almost started the answer when your cell rang. “Who can be calling you this late?” Oikawa looked up in confusion. “Watch your match” you said and answered the phone.
“Yyynnnnn, honey, you finally picked up. Listen, before you say anything, I wanted to tell you that I loooveeeee yooouuuuu.” The drunk voice was very familiar despite that it was an unknown number. “Is that your fucking ex? Give me the phone” Oikawa paused the match and jumped out of the bed. “What?No” you tried to resist so Tooru wouldn’t reach the phone. “Listen, fucker, you are not allowed to call this number. Isn’t it fucking obvious that if someone blocked you they don’t want to hear your bullshit. You had your chance so suck it up and stop bothering my precious roommate. Ciao!” Oikawa gave you the cell back.
“What the fuck was all that?” you were waiting for an explanation. Tooru was closing his laptop and innocently glanced at you a little surprised “What? I’m very protective of my space. Luckily, you’re a part of this room so I think I’m kinda protective of your stupid ass too.” You were still shocked with his reaction “I didn’t ask you to do this.” Oikawa turned to you and made face full of true suffer and almost whined “And that’s all what a knight gets for saving the princess.” You rolled your eyes and then noticed Tooru’s clothes “Oh my god, you are sleeping in this shirt for two months. Tooru, that’s gross even for you.” Oikawa looked confused and gave you a frown “Do you want me to take it off?”
You giggled but felt a bit excited by that offer “Yes, sir. I missed those abs. Haven’t seen them in 7 hours and 34 minutes.” Your roommate covered the body with his hands being absolutely terrified “Why wasn’t I warned that I would have to live with such a pervert? If only I knew that overprotective guys turn you on.” You opened your mouth pretending to be offended by the comment “That wasn’t your move on me? I happily thought that words “you had your chance” meant it was your turn. I’m so sorry, mister protector, for misinterpretation of your speech.” You noticed a quick serious look on Oikawa’s face as you said it. He was getting in the bed saying only “I thought you desperately wanted to sleep.”
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Text
Don’t Lie To Me (newt)
Summary: i can’t rly fill this out without it spoiling the story
Warnings: angst, language, gun, tdc spoilers. tdc plot
Word Count: 1.2k
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You, Newt, Thomas, Gally, Fry, Jorge, and Brenda were in a beaten down building. Home of Gally, Lawrence and the rest of the right arm trying to figure out another way into WCKD.
“Same dick who betrayed us?” Brenda blurted.
“I like her.” Gally finished. Newt huffed before standing up straight and speaking.
“What’re you afraid your little girlfriends gonna get hurt? Hmm?” There was a pregnant pause and awkward silence before he spoke up again. “This has obviously never been about rescuing Minho. Has it?”
“What are you talking about?” Thomas questioned, obviously confused at the sudden outburst.
“Teresa!” His volume increased. “She's the only reason Minhos even went missing in the first place. Now we finally have an opportunity to get him back and what? You don’t want to because of… her?” You had never seen Newt like this. So demanding and aggressive. It was sort of intimidating. “Because deep down inside you still care about her. Just admit it.” He pressured backing Thomas all the way against the nearest wall.
“No I-…”
“Don’t lie to me!” Newt yelled, earning a gasp from both you and Brenda. “Don’t. Lie. To. Me!” He repeated.
You could see it on his face, the guilt and regret. You could tell something was wrong. But as he ran out all you could do was watch as Thomas followed.
After a couple of minutes when you gathered enough courage to go talk to him you walked into the cool air revealing a hunched over Newt sitting on the edge of the roof.
“Newt, are you okay?” You asked walking over and sitting down. “I’ve never seen you so upset.”
“Y/n i’ve been hiding something.” He gestures at his arm. “Don’t think I can hide this anymore.” He says pulling up his sleeve to reveal black and blue veins stretched from his wrist to his elbow. You gasped and covered your mouth. You were shocked to say the least. How could your boyfriend hide something so crucial? “I was going to tell you. Not like this. I’m sorry.”
“Newt. I-I it’s okay i’m just not sure what to say. It’s a lot to take in.” You sighed, staring at his forearm.
“Y/n i’m sorry I yelled back there. I didn’t mean to scare you. I love you.” A simple tear trickled down your face as you predicted your boyfriend’s inevitable future.
“I love you too. I will make sure we get through this. You deserve to live Newt.”
“Thank you Y/n.”
~
Newt was panting trying to catch his breath as you had stopped to rest.
“We’ve got to get the serum. Minho you’re the fastest go!” Thomas ordered.
“I’ll go with him for protection.” Gally said, chasing after Minho.
“Newt stay with me baby. I need you. You’re okay I promise. Stay with me. I love you.” You pleaded keeping Newt's head upright so he could look at you.
His head dropped without your support, eyes bloodshot black liquid running down his chin.
“We have to go Y/n!”
“Y/n.” Newt groaned. “I need you to take this.” He said, grabbing on the bullet around his neck.
“Newt not right no-…”
“Just take it!” He yelled. “Just take it.” He said quietly, almost ashamed of his actions. “In case I don’t make it.” He assured.
“Newt I promise you’re going to make it. I just need you to help as much as possible.” He nodded as he placed the necklace in your hand.
Shoving the necklace into your pocket you and Thomas decided it was time to keep moving so you gathered Newt under his arms and carried him as far as we could until he became dead weight.
“Newt, come on.” You sobbed. “Please.” You collapsed with him.
“Y/n.” Thomas kneeled with you a comforting touch on your back. “All we can do now is wait okay? I promise he will be okay.”
“Yeah like you promised Chuck?” You snapped. “Or Winston? How about Alby?”
“Y/n you know you can’t blame me for this. I didn’t do this. It was WCKD.”
“Thomas.” Speak of the devil. Somehow Teresa was speaking on the overhead speakers telling us some bullshit story again. “You are the cure. Your blood kills the virus. Come back to me.”
“Don’t you dare Thomas.”
“We have to save Newt!” He yelled as he ran back to the lab. Just as he was running off you were greeted by a not so happy guest, Newt.
“Newt?” You questioned inching closer. “Newt is that you?” Before you could get any closer Newt turned around and lunged at you. “Newt what the hell! Newt get off me!” You sobbed.
Newt shrieked eyes, fully blackened hair sticking up in different places trying to kill you.
“Newt please.” You kept pushing. “Please stop.” And suddenly as if the real Newt could hear you his eyes cleared and he stopped holding you down. You took this chance to flip the two of you over and pin him down in case of another episode.
“Y/n? Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
“No Newt you just held me down. It's okay. I love you.”
“I love you to-…” He was cut off by a shriek.
Newt started thrashing under you almost as you were minutes before.
“Newt, please just calm down.” You pleaded. “Minho!” You yelled hoping he heard you.
“Kill me!” Newt yelled from under you.
“W-what?”
“Kill me!” He repeated flipping the two of you over once again. “Before I turn into one of them.”
“Newt I-…” But before you could finish he pulled your gun out of the gun holster on your leg and cocked it aiming for his head. “No!” You yelled before knocking the gun out of his hand.
Newt was not happy. He charged at you and tackled you hard.
“Newt please.” You pleaded. Just as Minho and Gally arrived and punctured Newts back with the serum.
“Thank you.”
“Where is Thomas?” Gally asked as Minho tended to Newt.
“I-I don’t know. Teresa said come to the lab. I-I need help.” You said as you felt the back of your head luckily there wasn’t much blood, just a pounding headache and memory loss.
“Y/n I need you to stay with us for Newt.” Gally say you up. “Y/n?” He questioned but you were already unconscious.
Gally carried you all the way to the burg Minho doing the same with Newt.
~
You woke up to a blinding light. The sun. Your head was pounding and your body was sore.
You looked over to see Newt opposite of you “Newt!” You exclaimed running over to him ignoring the soreness. “You’re alive!”
“What the hell? Where are we?” He asked, hugging you back.
“The Safe Haven. I love you so much!” You hugged him tighter.
“Y/n I can’t breathe baby.”
“Sorry.” You pulled away. “I-I just thought you wouldn’t make it. I thought I wouldn’t make it.”
“I love you Y/n. I will never leave you.”
You crawled in his bed and snuggled into his side. “I love you too Newt.”
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dynamic-power · 7 months
Text
Arrivals
Prompt: airport confessions
Words: 1.6k (listen, it got away from me, okay?)
5 airport proposals flight attendant Ian Gallagher witnesses
“First time?”
Ian looks away from the newly engaged couple standing and kissing in the middle of arrivals, close enough to the bottom of the escalator that they are causing a bit of a traffic jam to instead stare at the pilot who has just materialized on said escalator, two steps above him. 
Ian recognizes him immediately; Pilot Milkovich. He’d been one of the pilots on the flight that had just flown Ian from Austin to Chicago. He’s shorter than Ian, but the steps give him height advantage. His eyes are a bright, warm blue and his smile is tense, but in a way that’s tired, not forced. He's tattooed, the most notable of which are the "fuck u-up" across his knuckles with a bandaid censoring the word on his right hand, but Ian already gets the feeling he's a bit softer than he let's on.
“First time…?” Ian trails off. First time flying as an attendant? No, but it’s only his fifth, so he’s new enough. First time in Chicago? Fuck no, he grew up here.
“First time witnessing this sappy bullshit,” Milkovich says, nodding towards the couple who are now fully making out. 
Ian steps off the escalator, wheeling his small bag closely behind him. Milkovich steps off after him, and together, they squeeze through the gathering crowd to head towards the taxi corral. 
“Does that happen a lot?” Ian asks when they’ve stepped outside. 
Milkovich shrugs. “Not a lot. But it does happen. I don’t know what it is about airports, but people find that shit real romantic.”
“Blame it on the romcoms,” Ian muses. 
Milkovich opens the door of a waiting cab. “Headed to the hotel?”
“No,” Ian says. “I’m crashing at my brother’s place.”
“You from Chicago?”
“Southside.”
“No shit,” Milkovich says, thumbing at an eyebrow. “Me too.”
“No shit. Not staying with family?”
“Fuck no. ‘Sides, I got a flight in about twelve hours.”
“Me too.”
Milkovich smiles. “First leg headed to New York?”
“Uh, yeah, actually.”
“I’ll see you there, Red.” Milkovich climbs into the back of the cab with a wave and a charming smile and Ian almost doesn’t notice the next cab pull up, too busy watching the back of Milkovich’s head through the window. 
---
“Y’know,” Mickey says as they are walking through arrivals side-by-side, both bags on the outside so that they are close enough that their hands brush, “It’s kind of a shitty thing to do.”
“What is?” Ian asks. 
Mickey waves a hand towards a woman standing off to the left. She’s holding a great big neon yellow posterboard that says, “Anna, will you marry me?” in loopy script. Ian’s been flying for two months, and already this is the second proposal he’s seen.
“I dunno,” Ian says with a shrug. “I think it’s kinda sweet. The grand gestures, and all.”
Mickey grunts. “Of course you would, Ian. You’re a real romantic at heart, aren’t you?”
“What’s your problem with it, then?”
Mickey swings open the back door of a cab. Ian grabs their bags and motions for the driver to open the trunk. He tosses their bags in the back before climbing in beside Mickey. “It’s all so public,” Mickey says after Ian shuts the door. “What if poor Anna doesn’t want to marry her girlfriend? She becomes the asshole if she says no. But she’s also the asshole if she says yes and has to tell her girlfriend later that the answer is no.”
“Why does the answer have to be no?” Ian challenges. 
“It doesn’t have to be,” Mickey says with a shake of his head. Sacramento comes to view in the distance. “But I’m just saying, if it is.”
“I think, if you’ve been in a relationship long enough to consider marriage, you’ve probably talked about it before. I don’t think people actually ask without already knowing the answer.”
“Thought about getting engaged a lot, have you?” Mickey teases. 
“No,” Ian insists, but he feels his face flush. “Whatever, fuck you.”
“I’m sure your future wife is just as much of a sap as you.”
Ian can’t help it; he laughs. “Uh. No. No, you’ve got me wrong. There is no future wife.”
He can feel Mickey staring at him, considering him, and he wonders briefly if he made a mistake. He stares down at his feet, waiting for the tense silence to come to an end. 
“Oh. Me, too,” Mickey says softly. 
Ian’s head whips up, eyes wide and mouth open. “You mean you’re…” he trails off, unable to get the word across his tongue. 
“Gay?” Mickey supplies for him, cheeks turning pink. He turns away from Ian and stares out the window. “Yeah, not a big deal.”
But Ian can’t help but continue to watch Mickey as though he’s seeing him for the first time.
---
“I’m meeting up with Carl for drinks,” Ian says as he and Mickey step onto the escalator. They are on one step, their bags on the one above them. “Would you wanna come?”
“Don’t you have a flight tomorrow morning?”
“Nah,” Ian says with a grin. “I traded with Lisa. She wanted to see her new niece, so she’s headed to Indy. I’ll be on your flight to Portland the day after.”
“Will you ever let me fly in fuckin’ peace, Gallagher?”
It’s been nearly six months, and Ian has enjoyed his flights with Mickey the most. “Nope.” They step into arrivals, and Ian asks again, “So, drinks?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Mickey says, but Ian can see by his smile and the glint in his eyes that he’s pleased to have been invited. 
Ian’s pleased, too. He’s about to open his mouth, tell Mickey that Carl will be there with a date, and that he’d really like it if this was a date for them, too, when a man rushes by them. Mickey and Ian both turn just in time to see the man scooping a woman into his arms just a couple feet behind them. When he drops to his knees, Ian stops entirely and Mickey groans under his breath. 
“Lea,” the man says, shouting over the noise of people gasping and muttering and cheering around them, “will you marry me?”
Ian doesn’t get to see the reply because Mickey is gripping his elbow and pulling him away. “Come on, Red,” he says, sounding annoyed, but he’s smiling softly. “We gotta get to the hotel to clean up if you really want to go out tonight.”
Ian follows Mickey. When Mickey goes to pull his hand away from Ian’s arm, Ian catches it. He steels his nerves and twines their fingers together. “Mick, about tonight.”
---
“Of course I think we should keep living in Chicago,” Mickey says, gripping Ian’s hand as they step onto the escalator down to arrivals. LAX is busy today, people crowd them from every side, so he doesn’t hesitate to squeeze Mickey’s hand and pull him closer. “Your family is there, Mandy is there. I’m not saying we should move. I’m just saying you should move in with me.”
It makes sense, Ian knows it does; they’ve been together for a year, and his lease is coming to an end, and he hardly spends any time there, anyway. 
“Make it all official, and shit,” Mickey says.
“We should get a dog.”
“Who will watch the dog when we aren’t there?”
“We’ll share custody with Lip and the kids.”
“Lip would fuckin’ hate that.”
“Exactly.”
“We should think about making it really official.”
Ian freezes, nearly tripping as they get to the bottom of the escalator. “What?” he says, sure that Mickey couldn’t possibly mean what he thinks he means. 
“Yeah,” Mickey says, keeping a step ahead of Ian. His voice is soft, unsure. “I mean, it’s the next step, right? Get the house, the dog, then get-”
There’s a shriek to their left, and two men are hugging and crying and kissing. Mickey usually rolls his eyes and pulls Ian along. But this time, Ian nearly runs into him as Mickey stops and turns to watch. They linger, watch as one man slips a ring onto the other’s finger, watch as they kiss, and accept congratulations from people around them. Ian thinks, not for the first time, that it’s a rather sweet scene.
“Get married,” Mickey finally finishes. He sounds distracted, but looks up at Ian with wide, blue eyes. 
Ian’s heart is pounding. “You wanna marry me, Milkovich?”
Mickey shrugs and thumbs at his nose. Ian knows Mickey is nervous, too. “I might, Gallagher. I dunno.”
Ian reaches out and grabs Mickey’s hand, tangling their fingers together. “We can talk about it, if you want.”
“Let’s start with moving you into my place, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
---
Ian is glad to be back in Chicago. He’s only been away for a couple of days, but Mickey had been away for a few days before that, so it’s been a week since he’s seen his boyfriend and he’s really missing him. 
He’s scrolling through his messages as he takes the escalator down to arrivals, wondering why he hasn’t heard from Mickey, when movement ahead of him catches his eye. 
The crowd is parting, because Mickey is standing there, holding a bunch of flowers, with the entirety of Ian’s family standing just behind him. Ian suddenly can’t wait, takes the last few steps down and runs towards Mickey. He abandons his bag in favor of wrapping Mickey up in his arms. The flowers press akwardly against his back, but that doesn’t matter because his face is buried in Mickey’s neck and he’s home.
“I know you like this romantic crap,” Mickey mumbles, pushing Ian back so he’s at arms length. He hands Ian the flowers, which he eagerly accepts, and digs around in the pocket of his jeans for a moment. When he pulls his hand out again, he sinks to one knee, offering the silver ring out to Ian. 
Ian laughs. He laughs so hard he cries, or maybe he just cries. 
“This, uh, kinda felt appropriate, I guess,” Mickey says as he grins up him. “Marry me?”
Ian pulls Mickey up and into a kiss, wrapping his arms around Mickey’s shoulders, digging his fingers into his hair. 
“Is that a yes, Gallagher?” Mickey pants when Ian lets him go again. 
“Of course that’s a yes, Milkovich.”
123 notes · View notes
heartnanase · 6 months
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it’s a privilege to be ignorant
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Angst cuz i’m silly like that sorry guys basically xinyan threatens to tell childe you like him and you were like no hahah stop then backflip
they/them pronouns used once
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“childe asks why you unfollowed him on instagram..” xinyan catches up to you, couldn’t she take the hint? you were walking as fast as you could.. kinda….. you had a feeling she would ask. her and childe are bestfriends, they tell eachother everything. you chuckle to yourself as she glares at you in disgust. what? did his ego get wounded? “cause he sucks.” you mumble. really you only unfollowed him because, you were upset by his teasing when he said he was going to delete the photos of you and him for storage on his phone. lame isn’t.. it… you actually… liked him.
never. in. a. million. years. would you imagine liking childe. it’s pretty simple how you fell for him, when he first gave you advice seriously. it was like seeing a side of him that you never did before. when you went home that night you were circling your room figuring out ways to not fall for someone the thing is, before you fell for childe you already knew he liked someone else. actually you already knew who it was. that’s why you SWORE to yourself you wouldn’t let him find out. xinyan grabbed your phone, “hey stop day dreaming, why do you keep shutting childe out!” you look at her.
“listen xinyan..” you grabbed back your phone as she stops trying to fight for it back after hearing you speak. “everything’s fine i’m fine me and childe are fine.” she didn’t look very convinced, you hated people like this. ones who act like they can see right through you, because xinyan will never understand how you feel. “i won’t leave you alone til you tell me what’s-“ you groan to shut her up. “i like him. i like him okay now can you leave me alone!” she smiles in excitement jumping up and down planning how you should tell him and that she could set you up with him. this was exactly how you thought she’d act. “this is so cute how are you going to confess!” you raised your eye brows as she clings onto you yapping and blabbing oh my goodness “no this was a bad idea let’s just forget about this”
“fine if you won’t tell him i will.” she was about to walk away and you grab her wrists as you stumble on your words. you sigh, “wait! i will! but only because i will never let my feelings be said from someone other than me.” you walked away from her as you tried to find childe, and when you did you gulped. you guys were already on awkward terms and now it’s going to be even worse. you tapped on his shoulder “i like you” he pretended not to hear you and turned around and offered you a dumpling, it broke your heart. “are you seriously going to ignore what i said you did everything to not tear up. “i-i just don’t know what to say look i’m sorry i’m not ready for a relationship.. maybe in the future?” bullshit bullshit bullshit. you already knew he wouldn’t like you in the future he’s just being nice. you already knew what he was going to say, you already knew he was going to reject you. but it still hurts.
for months your bestfriend has been telling you to get revenge on xinyan for driving you confess, but if you did get revenge. you would’ve been the reason he doesn’t have a bestfriend anymore. so you never told childe about it, how you never actually wanted to confess. well you and childe haven’t spoken since. usually you just send him glares and insult him when he tries to make conversation. you were only doing this so he’d think you hate him and so that maybe he can hate you too, it’s beneficial to him. the more you pretend to hate him, the faster he hates you then forgets about you.
a year later and you can’t forget about how you ended. it wasn’t easy for you, it was eating you alive when you saw childe. you turned your back to a wall and listened on him, you overheard him saying “i just don’t get how you could let go of someone close to you so easily? it took me 3 months to get over it and it took them a day.” you smile as you look down because you were still deep into it a year later, and the thing is you cant even blame him for being angry about it because he doesn’t know that you risked your reputation all so he doesn’t think you care. does he know people have been staring at you like a heartless creature?
at the same time you’re happy because, at least he got over it. there was nothing in this world that you wanted more was to be selfish, to tell him everything you’ve been dying to admit. but if he found out the truth he’d feel guilty. so you stayed silent. it’s better this way anyways, he’s happy.. he’s moved on. and you’re…. yk. you.
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i love xinyan
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noodyl-blasstal · 12 days
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Not that kind of apocalpyse!
Sometimes you might ask yourself, “What if Taakitz kissed in the historical fish castle during the zombie apocalypse?” Well I answered it.
Happy Birthday @ceilingfan5!
Read below or on Ao3
-
“There’s someone outside!” Lup shouts from her spot at the periscope.
Fuck. Of course Taako was going to have to deal with this on his watch. The trouble always waited until Magnus was busy flexing somewhere else and Merle was off doing unspeakable things in the garden. 
“Someone, or something?” He asks. He tries not to let the weariness creep into his tone, but Taako’s so tired of this bullshit. First he got called in on his first day off in weeks… months? Who fucking knows any more; then he got zombie apocalypsed; and now everyone’s trying to eat him and not in the good way. Not that there’s any chance of boning down with anyone in the near future because he’s related to, or may as well be related to, everyone he knows is currently alive - well, apart from the peppy idiots on the radio who keep advertising their ‘zombie free wonderland’, but Taako doesn’t trust easily and whatever they’re selling seems too good to be true. 
“Cha’girl said what she said.” Lup doesn’t move away, just adjusts the scope.
“People?”
“Person, singular, a guy I think.” 
“Are you definitely sure he’s people?”
“Are you definitely sure you want to keep asking me?” Lup doesn’t pull her eyes away from the periscope, but she does give him the finger. It’s artful really, her spatial awareness is a thing of wonder.
Before he can think, Taako opens his mouth to pretend to bite it off, it’s reflex as much as anything, but he closes it gently, doesn’t snap his teeth. That bit is a lot less funny than it used to be. Watching a loved one nearly get chomped will do that for you.
“Can I see?” Taako asks instead of answering, he’s not going to do anything completely out of character like admitting fault.
“Hang on…” Lup turns the scope side to side. Fuck.”
“What?”
“Shush a minute.” Lup hisses.
Ah yes, telling Taako to shush, the thing that works every time. “What’s going on?”
“Shit! Run, dude, run” She mutters.
“Lup! What’s happening?”
“Biter.” She turns the scope slowly. “Two… At the moment. I don’t know if he’s seen them.”
“Do you want Taako to…?” Taako gestures at the ladder up to the harpoon gun.
Lup stays fixed to the scope but still manages to nod. “Be ready, see if he needs it. He’s by the unfortunately shaped hill, but he’s moving fast towards the tree that looks like it’s doing a high kick.”
Taako climbs up the ladder into the ramparts and pulls the shutter back from the slightly-wider-than-intended crenellation (thanks to Magnus’ enthusiasm). He zeroes in fast with Lup’s directions. There’s definitely two of them, if not more, lurking behind the dude as he walks. Taako hopes he’s aware of them. He could be, the guy’s walking with purpose. He’s glad, Taako hates dawdlers, not least because he used to be one by choice and now he has to zoom everywhere because he’d like to keep living actually please and thank you.
“You didn’t tell me he was hot!” Taako bellows down to Lup. A crime of the highest order, frankly, it’s been a while since Taako’s had anything good to look at and he could have been looking much faster.
“You can’t see him well enough to know if he’s hot or not, he’s too far away.” Lup yells back. 
The guy turns his head in their direction. It’s a nice face, a really nice face, that he’s working with there.
“See! Hot!” Taako refuses to let her get away with this on a technicality. He knew in his bones the guy was good looking, Lup should have too. He sticks his tongue out in her direction. She might not be able to see him, but she’ll know.
“He’s coming this way.” She shouts up.
“What?” Taako looks back, using the wildly inaccurate harpoon sights that Barry was definitely getting round to fixing (it was for the best he left them alone at this point, Taako automatically adjusted for it now.) Hot boy had changed trajectory and was heading their way. “But there’s… fuck!”
Taako slides the harpoon to the side, sees the biter who was lurking on the guy’s tail. Shit. It’s close, too close. He jumps up and bellows with everything in him. “Hey, hey handsome! Watch out!” He’s too hot to die. 
They make eye contact and this is it, this is the thing they wrote about, that they sing about, that’s on the TV. It’s electric, it’s perfect, it’s… 
“Run you absolute dickhead!” Lup bellows from beside Taako. He needs to get her a bell. “Stop staring at my idiot brother and run!” She elbows Taako and mutters. “Idiot.”
The man shakes out of it and glances round in time to see the biter on his tail. Taako hears the faint “Oh fuck!” on the wind as the guy starts running. Thankfully in the direction of the drawbridge. Shit. The drawbridge.
“We need to let him in.” Taako says, urgently.
“C’mon.” Lup’s already heading for the ladder.
Taako scrambles after her, slides down the ladder, and lands in a roll. He jumps up and does the ‘tah dah!’ arms, but Lup’s already gone. That’s fine, he can appreciate his own talents, he doesn’t need adoration from the masses or anything.
Lup yanks on the lever that releases the drawbridge and the portcullis raises at speed, narwhal horns raising up to hang like as many sharp teeth. They’ve saved them all a few times.
“Go go go!!!” Taako yells, hopefully encouragingly. He’s sure not going out there, but shouting he can do.
“I’m going to get my gun.” Lup mutters.
The man’s close, really close, when the zombie lurches out from behind the tree. Not high kick tree, it would never betray Taako like that, one of the bog standard ones. One of the ones he’s going to burn down because it just killed Taako’s new boyfriend. It’s fine, he’s allowed to get ahead of himself, this dude’s going to be nothing but a ‘what if’ now.
The zombie grabs the man’s arm and tries to bite his hand, the guy twists away, punches it in the face, gives it his best shot. Of course he does, he’s got something to live for, he’s trying to survive, trying to make it to Taako. The biter grabs his ankle and drags him to the floor.
Two spears take down the other zombies before they can reach the man and join the feast.
“I can’t get a clean shot.” Lup says mournfully beside him. She glances round, then walks carefully forward, spear gun raised.
“You have to stop doing that.” Taako hisses and steps along beside her. He’s trying to have a moment here, to give his dying future husband the reverence he deserves. They were going to adopt so many cats. It would have been beautiful. He’s not in the mood to be spooked.
“Counterpoint, you have to work on your awareness.” Lup nudges him.
“No need when I have you, sister mine! Taako’s all good.” He walks carefully beside her, remembers to step over the crack in the resin flagstones left after The Incident.
Lup does the face she does when he pretends he’s not training (he refuses to give up the possibility of being blase about the zombies, even if he’s been doing endless crunches, and parkour, and whatever other nonsense Lup and Magnus insist is going to save their lives, at night when no one’s watching. Well, apart from Agnes, but if he wants Taako to ever bake the cookies he likes again he’ll stay quiet.)
They’re close enough now to see that the zombie’s still gnashing, but the guy’s clearly fighting back. Maybe he’s not a goner yet?
“Maybe we can… you know, help?” Taako glances round and can’t see any others nearby.
“He might be infected… I guess I could…” Lup’s mouth tightens into a hard line.
“No! Don’t help him dead, like, help help!” Taako steps closer gingerly. As he gets into range of grabbing and pulling the biter off, it shudders and goes still. There’s no movement underneath it either. Of course. Brilliant, fucking brilliant. “Just Taako’s luck. The first hot guy cha’boy sees since the apocalypse apocalypsed, and he immediately gets himself chomped.”
Lup pats him sympathetically on the shoulder. “Next time ‘Ko”
“You think I’m hot?” The man asks, rolling the un-undead corpse unceremoniously to the side.
“Fuck!” Lup and Taako jump back as one.
“Stay there!” Lup aims the spear gun squarely at his head. “Did you get bit?”
“You have to tell us if you did, otherwise it’s entrapment.” Taako adds. Because why shouldn’t he have a little fun, honestly. He winks, so the guy knows Taako’s not going to be waving any spears at him… well unless he plays his cards right…
“Who enforces zombie entrapment law?” Hotboy asks as if he genuinely cares, as if he’s passionate about legal rights and wants to make sure the lawyer provided is up to the job. He probably does care. It’s the end of the world and Taako meets someone who’s hot and funny and willing to play legal zombism so of course Taako’s also going to have to put him down or, more likely, watch while Lup does it and try not to cry about it until he’s alone in bed later.
“You’re not allowed to distract us with legalese, that’s also entrapment, probably.” Taako adds authoritatively.
The man  smiles brightly in his direction. “I didn’t get bit.”
“Prove it.” Lup’s aim doesn’t waiver.
The man sighs. “My name’s Kravitz.”
“What does that prove?” Lup makes a ‘get on with it’ gesture with the gun.
“I usually like to make sure a guy knows my name before I strip in front of him.” He doesn’t break eye contact with Taako.
“Taako.” Taaok stares right back. He’s not a looking people in the eyes guy, but this? This is competitive looking, and if there’s anything Taako loves it’s winning.
“I’m Lup and this is gross, break it up right now!” Lup sounds genuinely disgusted. Good, honestly. He’s been living with her and Barold since this all started, he deserves at least a little revenge for his trouble.
“But you said…” Kravitz’s hands still on his leather jacket’s zip.
“I said prove you didn’t get bit. Like, show me your hands and arms and the bits that were actually anywhere near the dead guy. The medic can fully assess you after that.”
“Fine.” He shows her his hands and his collar bones, and his arms, they’re nice arms. “But what if I got bitten earlier?” 
“Did you?” Taako asks quickly.
“No. But I could have been and you wouldn’t know. Someone should check.” Kravitz glances at Taako.
“Cha’boy will do it. You know, to save you having to, Lu.”
“Uh huh, sure, yeah, a brave sacrifice. Now move it, both of you, I want to get the drawbridge up and the portcullis down.” Lup finally lowers the spear gun.
“Portcullis… So… uh… I did want to ask.” Kravitz begins gingerly as he walks across the bridge and into the castle.
“Uh huh.” Taako tries to look like he couldn’t possibly imagine what Kravitz is about to ask.
“I couldn’t help but notice…” Kravitz says gently, carefully.
“You noticed something?” Lup asks sweetly, as she begins to turn the crank.
“That you’re in a castle.” Kravitz finishes as the portcullis falls into place and the drawbridge is lifted.
“It’s not a castle!” Lup and Taako say as one.
“It’s not a castle?” Kravitz asks, warily eyeing the fish themed portcullis.
“It’s so much more, Kraveroo. Welcome to SeaBlaster, we’ve got fish, and the things you use to squish… them.” Taako does his best business smile, the one that they paid him slightly above minimum wage for, and does an adequate job of jazz hands (those didn’t come cheap.)
“It’s not really squishing though, is it?” Kravitz asks, like that’s the only problem with anything that’s happening right now.
“Hey, hey Kravitz, just to check, the only problem you have with the aquari-museum we now live in is the tagline not quite making sense because most of this stuff is used to stab and not squish?” 
“No!” Kravitz says indignantly. “Whales also aren’t fish. There’s no way the harpoon you were at was used on anything that wasn’t a marine mammal!” 
Lup snorts.
Taako groans. “You’ll get on well with Angles.”
“Who’s Angles?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“But I…”
“Ssssh.” Taako pats Kravitz’s shoulder reassuringly. Plenty of time for that.
There’s a long beat of silence as Lup begins to stride back to the staff room. Or, well, the common room as they call it these days, it’s homier, apparently.
Taako inclines his head and Kravitz follows obediently. Good to know.
“So how long have you been here?” Kravitz asks, falling into step beside him.
“This doesn’t seem fair. You’ve already had a load of questions.” Taako looks at Kravitz and smiles, just to be sure he knows it’s a joke.
“You can ask some things.” Kravitz looks positively overjoyed at the prospect.
“How’d you kill it?” Taako asks. He didn’t hear a gun or anything.
“Er…” There’s a long pause.
Taako stops dead. “Kravitz?”
“No wait, it’s not weird.”
“If you have to say it’s not weird, Taako’s inclined to think it’s gonna be weird.”
“But I said it wasn’t!” Kravitz protests, as if that has ever worked.
“People are asking a lot of questions that my “the way I killed the zombie wasn’t weird” tshirt already answered… C’mon, just tell Taako.”
“Staked it.” Kravitz mutters.
“You fucking what now?” 
“I staked it.” Kravitz over-ennunciates, spitefully, Taako loves it. Can they keep him forever?
“My question stands.”
“I used a stake. I staked it.” Kravitz shrugs nonchalantly like that’s not completely ridiculous. “You use what very much looks like a historical whaling harpoon!” He adds, as if that’s relevant right now. He’s right though.
“You just…” Taako mimes stabbing Kravitz through the heart. It’s slightly more dramatic than it needs to be, sure, but how often does a guy get to go full Dracula-murder?
“Obviously not, that doesn’t work. I…” Kravitz steps towards him and mimes stabbing Taako through the eye. It brings them close, nearly touching close.
“Show cha’boy again? I missed it.” Taako leans forward.
Kravitz looks confused for a second, there’s a beat where Taako thinks he’s pushed his luck too far. Before he can apologise though, Kravitz is cradling the back of Taako’s head with one hand.
“Like this.” He says softly, barely a whisper, as he fuels whatever is crackling between them and brings his fake-stake wielding hand towards Taako’s eye.
“Urgh, quit it!” Lup yells back at them and flings the door to the common room open. “Taako’s got a…” the door swings blessedly shut before she can finish her sentence, but Taako can hear the chorus of questions immediately rumble up in response.
“Er…  you wanna shower? Before you, you know, meet the gang?” Taako gestures expansively at the door which is currently rattling. He can just about hear Magnus’ protests and mentally thanks Lup (or whoever it is) preventing him from barrelling into the hallway, hugging Kravitz to death and asking him a bajillion questions before without giving him a chance to answer. It’d still be better than Merle appearing though.
“You have one?” Kravitz sounds suspicious.
“Are you trying to say Taako smells?” Taako tries not to be offended, but it should be obvious to anyone he has a shower. The apocalypse has never looked so good!
“No!” Kravitz’s indignation is reassuring at least. “I just… It’s…” He peters out.
“Been a while?” Taako asks, giving Kravitz a deeply un-subtle once over.
“Not for lack of wanting.” Kravitz replies, and the want is palpable.
“Taako can definitely help you out there, handsome. Don’t you worry. If Kravitz wants, Kravitz can get.” Taako hopes he’s inflected exactly enough emphasis to be sure Kravitz knows which page they’re on. The sex page of the sex book. “It’s this way.” Taako leads Kravitz down the hallway and towards the stone staircase to the aquarium. They figured the geothermal heat would be good for bedroom temperature as well as the tropical fish. It was a solid bet. “So, how’d you end up with stakes?”
“Is that a fish tank?” Kravitz’s attention is immediately gone. He’s pressed to the tank and marvelling at the clownfish darting around and Taako hates each and every one of them because Kravitz should be looking at him instead.
“Taako wasn’t kidding about the ‘aquari’ bit in the welcome spiel, my dude. We’ve got fish, we’ve got historical fishing weaponry, and all of that comes with a ridiculous part fibreglass, part stone, largely fish themed castle. Buy now for the low low price of spending the rest of forever here, or at least until the bugs eat all the zombies to death or whatever.”
“I’m sold!” Kravitz says, worryingly enthusiastically, as he presses himself to the fish tank viewing window. It’s disgustingly adorable and Taako hates himself for the way his stomach clenches in the ‘going over a bumpy bit of road and loving it’ way.
“So… how’d you get the stake?” Taako refuses to be deterred from finding out.
“Whittled it.” Kravitz says too quickly. 
“Why?” Taako asks. There’s something here, there’s a string to pull at and he’s gonna.
“You know, end of the world.” Kravitz flaps his hand dismissively.
“C’mon. You can tell me, the shower’s just over here.” Taako opens the door to his quarters. Well. His ‘office’. They all just picked their favourite and took over. Taako’s is set a bit further away from the others and had a bathroom next door which is now an ensuite, because there’s not a chance in hell anyone’s coming back for this place after, and if they do they’re gonna be owed so much back pay that it wouldn’t be worth the counter-suit for the wages to try and make him repair the wall.
“Here’s the bathroom.” Taako nudges open the door and wishes that he’d spent literally any time cleaning his room in the last mmm… day…s…week… It’s fine. It’s the end of the world, you don’t have to be neat and tidy when humanity’s clinging on by a thread. Not that he was before, but Kravitz doesn’t need to know that. “And here’s a fresh towel.” He shoves one at Kravitz. 
“This smells like mint?” Kravitz says like Taako’s magic. Taako could get used to this level of adoration.
“It’s antimicrobial.” Taako says, because apparently apocalypse flirting is letting the guy you like know your towels don’t have diseases.
“But how did you get it?”
“Hydroponics.” 
“How did you…” Kravitz starts to ask. 
“Not questions for Taako. I deal in fish and harpoons, you’ll need Merle for garden questions and I can guarantee that he’ll answer with more detail than you want and you’ll regret it as much as everyone else does when they ask.
“I don’t mind getting to learn new thing.” Kravitz sounds worryingly interested.
“It’s not about the plants, well it is… but not, you know… in the way you want… it’s not about the things you want to…” Taako squinches his face up remembering The Onion Incident. He hasn’t cooked with them since.
“You’re making it sound like it’s a sex thing.” Kravitz laughs heartily, poor sweet fool. Taako’s silence clearly speaks volumes. “Wait… you mean…?”
“Anyway, here’s the shower.” Taako says quick, loud, and brokering no further vegetable sex questions. He refuses to let Merle ruin this for him. He points at it, just in case Kravitz somehow missed the cubicle, and starts to leave.
“Wait!” Kravitz says quickly. “You needed to check me out!” Kravitz grabs Taako’s arm as he turns away. “I mean… you know, for safety.”
“Well, if you insist.” Taako steps inside and closes the door behind him. “For safety, of course.” 
“Of course.” Kravitz says smooth as butter. Then immediately fumbles his zip in a rush to get his jacket off.
“You okay there, Kemosabe?” Taako tries not to laugh.
“I’m fine!” Kravitz’s voice has the slightest hint of desperation. “Absolutely fine. I’m trying to get naked in front of the most handsome man I think I’ve possibly ever laid eyes on, which is, may I say, an achievement at the end of the world as we know it, I knew guys who had access to, you know, stuff.”
“Ah, stuff.” Taako says wisely, trying very hard not to flick his hair dramatically and show Kravitz just how correct he is.
“Stuff.” Kravitz continues. Tugging at his zip again. “... and now I can’t get out of…” he gives a dramatic wiggle “...this stupid…”
“Let me.” Taako steps forward. “Taako can look after you.” He looks Kravitz dead in the eyes as he slides the zip down slowly, and thanks fate that it actually works. He probably could have dragged the jacket up over Kravitz’s head, but this way is so much better, this way means Kravitz is looking at him like he wants to eat him - in the good way. The good good way.
“Thank you.” Kravitz says, close, very close. Close enough for Taako to breathe him in and…
“Wait… shit. Hang on. Is that <i>garlic</i>???” Taako immediately abandons all thought of getting off, because if this is what he thinks…
“Er… I can expl…”
Taako pats at Kravitz’s chest. “There!” He thrusts his hand into the jacket’s inside pocket, hopes he’s right, he’s rewarded with a tight white bulb.
Garlic! It had been months, months, since Lucretia overwatered his stash and killed the last hope for flavour. He still hadn’t forgiven her. “I could kiss you.”
“You can if you want.” Kravitz looks so earnest, so hopeful, that Taako does, presses his lips firmly to Kravitz’s, brokering no room for confusion. He wants this, he means this. It’s intended as a quick thing, a temptation, but the way Kravitz melts into it though, the way he pushes himself forward into Taako, it’s delicious, it’s intoxicating, it’s… deeply uncomfortable.
Taako pulls back. “How much stuff have you got in here?” He flicks the jacket, then his hands are on the buttons of Kravitz’s shirt, working away, before Kravitz can reply. “Why is this cross so massive? It really digs in.” Taako lifts the ridiculously sized, heavy, solid silver cross that’s hanging round Kravitz’s neck and lets it drop again. Maybe he loves Jesus? Although he also seems pretty into boning before marriage… hmm.
“Er…”
Taako pulls Kravitz’s jacket open to reveal a series of inside pockets full of stakes. “How many of these did you make?”
“I… uh… Look, Taako.”
Taako reaches into the external chest pocket and pulls out a vial of clear liquid. “Small water bottle, my guy. Couldn’t find anything else to drink from? Glass doesn’t seem practical.” Taako narrows his eyes. 
“It’s…” Kravitz looks panicked. Taako should have known he was too good to be true. “It’s good for the environment…” 
Taako raises an eyebrow at him.
“...and also It’s a back up.” Kravitz smiles, winningly. It doesn’t work.
“Why do you have so many of them?” Taako pats at his pockets again. “Wait, is this more garlic?” It is… four more bulbs. Kravitz leans in as if he thinks Taako’s going to kiss him again. He does, obviously, because garlic at the end of the world is garlic at the end of the world, and it would be rude not to.
It’s distracting, the kissing, he definitely means to ask more questions, but also Kravitz is so handsome, and so… there. It’s been a long time. Taako pushes the jacket off Kravitz’s shoulders, it lands, loudly, but means it’s much more comfortable this time when Kravitz pushes his chest against Taako’s. It’s only natural that Taako slides his arm to Kravitz’s back, pulling him closer. The noise Kravitz makes when he does it tells Taako he’s just as desperate for this, for connection, for the press of bodies, for hot breath and moaning in a context unrelated to someone who’s recently dead and trying to bite your face off.
Taako drops his hand lower… “Kravitz, what the fuck?” Taako steps back, holding the stake tucked into his back pocket.
Kravitz sighs, heavily. “If I tell you, can we keep doing that?” He gestures between them in what Taako assumes is supposed to be an approximation of the heavy petting he’d very much like to get back to.
Taako raises an eyebrow.
“It’s not weird!” Kravitz protests too much.
“We’ve talked about this. Remember? You’re making it sound weird again.”
Kravitz squinches his face up, then shrugs. “I’m a vampire hunter.”
“What?” Taako doesn’t even know where to start with this one. Usually he’s got words, he’s full of them, they’re happening without checking in with him first, but he’s bereft, devoid, left wanting. In multiple ways. Is being unhinged a deal breaker for him? Taako’s unhinged. At least the guy’s prepared, dedicated to his imaginary craft.
“So…I told you…” Kravitz’s face is inches from his again.
Taako’s tempted. Sorely tempted. But he should probably definitely ask at least two more questions so Lup doesn’t shout at him later.
He places his hand firmly on Kravitz’s chest and definitely doesn’t cop a feel in the process. “You’re a vampire hunter?” That’s one. Nearly back to hot-boy-make-out-session followed by maybe-moving-things-to-the-shower-if-it-goes-well time.
“Yes.”
“And you think vampires are real?” Taako asks as gently as possible.
Kravitz steps back this time. “Hang on. Wait. We’re in a zombie apocalypse!”
“Vampires aren’t zombies.” Taako says with confidence, there’s not too much he knows about zombies short of the whole ‘they don’t get back up if you harpoon them in the head’ thing, but that’s one of the other facts he’s got.
“Obviously not.” Kravitz says, like Taako’s stating the obvious.
There’s a moment of intense eye contact. Kravitz nods as if what he’s just said was in some way conclusive, point proving, debate winning.
“Exactly.” Taako says. Because yeah, zombies aren’t vampires. “Wrong kind of apocalypse.”
“I didn’t think it was a vampire apocalypse.” Kravitz looks indignant as if Taako’s being ridiculous here. “I’m familiar enough with biting to know what’s gone wrong here.” He gestures expansively to the whole of everything.
“Sure…” Taako’s lost again.
“I was a vampire hunter before the zombies happened.” Kravitz says, as if that’s the same as Taako’s Underwater Fun-gineer role. Taako’s clearly still looking at him blankly because he adds. “You can’t believe in zombies and not vampires! I bet you thought biters weren’t real before this too.” Kravitz had a point, a good one. Fine, Taako can believe all kinds of things for him.
“Did that… pay well?” There. Okay, maybe now he believes in vampires because a handsome man said they were real, but he asked three questions, three! Lup definitely can’t shout at him.
Kravitz levels him with a confused look. “I had a day job, Taako. It’s just that I also do this… did this. They’ve fucked off since, well…”
There’s a long pause while Taako processes. “So, just to clarify, you’re… you’re a vampire hunter without any vampires in a zombie apocalypse?” Taako tries really hard to keep his voice straight, he does. He’s unsuccessful. Wildly unsuccessful judging by the look on Kravitz’s face. It’s positively stony.
Taako tries desperately to choke the laughter back. “Just… one more time.” His voice is thicker than normal, but he thinks he just about manages to play it off as regular. “One more.” He adds.
“No.” Kravitz’s bottom lip does something dangerously close to pouting. Taako wants to pull it between his teeth, but he should probably ease off anything biting related right now.
“Go on.” Taako bats his eyelashes, he may as well go for broke.
Kravitz’s nose twitches. “Fine, fine! I’m a vampire hunter in a zombie apocalypse and all the vampires fucked off.” He says huffily.
Taako’s mouth quivers as he presses his lips together, but he can’t stop the snort that escapes. That’s it, there’s no hope, he’s howling, tears streaming down his face, doubled over and wheezing. “S… Sorry.” He gasps out. “I… Fuck. No… no vampires… zombies… wrong… wrong thing.”
“I guess…” Kravitz says slowly. “I guess when you think about it that way…” He lets out a small chuckle. “... it’s… it’s pretty funny.” And then Kravitz is laughing too and they’re leaning against each other, propping each other up as the ridiculousness washes over them. It’s stupid. It’s perfect. Taako’s going to keep him, he can definitely stay.
The laughter subsides, eventually. One of them stops and then they set each other off laughing again over and over again. Taako wants to pin the memory of it to his wall so he can look at it whenever he wants.
“Were there many, you know, before?” Taako’s curious. Why can’t vampires exist?
“Yes. Yes there were.” Kravitz’s face is stony again.
“But less when you…” Taako mimes staking Kravitz through the heart dramatically.
“Yes… Yes. Less when I…” Kravitz grabs Taako by the thighs, pins him to the wall, and pretends to drive a stake into him. 
Taako’s not unwrapping his legs from Kravitz’s waist any time soon. “Do it this way often?” He looks down at Kravitz and smiles as coyly as he can manage, which he’s assuming isn’t very.
Kravitz noses Taako’s chin. “Not really.” He presses a line of kisses across his jaw. “I was just showing off.”
“Speaking of showing.” Taako says, drawing his hands over Kravitz’s biceps, strong, good, very good. “I believe I was supposed to be checking you out.”
Kravitz looks puzzled for a second before he catches on. “Of course. Yes. Very important health and safety process. I’ll have to put you down.”
“I’ll live. Probably.” Taako sighs. Then decides he’s at least entitled to some aerial kisses while he’s up here. “Actually, wait no, hang on.” 
It’s good, it’s very good. It takes a while before Kravitz starts getting wobbly and Taako starts worrying about them collapsing into a pile of horny limbs because there’s no easy way to explain those injuries. He taps Kravitz’s back. “Okay. C’mon. Inspection time. I’ll warn you, I’m very thorough.”
Kravitz groans, and lets him down. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Taako helps him out of the rest of his shirt, stops to give him some more kisses when another bulb of garlic rolls out. He helps to shuffle all the stakes onto the jacket so they stop rolling around the floor. He helps kiss Kravitz’s collar bones when they look lonely.
“Taako.” Kravitz hesitates, hands on the button of his fly.
“Uh huh?” Taako doesn’t even pretend to look him in the eye, surely they’re past that point now.
“I was thinking…” 
“Dangerous thing to do.” Taako lifts his eyes from Kravitz’s stomach and tries to focus on something that isn’t thinking about running his hands over it, grazing his nails through the hair there, kissing his way downwards.
“I have another safety concern.” He says, so earnestly.
“Uh huh?”
“How do I know you haven’t been bitten?” The corner of Kravitz’s mouth lifts as his eyebrows raise in challenge.
“You make a compelling point, handsome, I guess you’d better inspect me too.” Taako’s top is off before he’s finished talking.
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