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plaid-shirtsandvibranium-arms · 3 years

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Nemesis: Retribution (2)

Summary: 10 years after the Avengers had left you for dead during a mission gone wrong, you unexpectedly re-enter their lives. Wholly unrecognizable from the person they used to know and now with a new team behind you, they ask for your help to stop a chain of syndicates who were manufacturing and peddling the super soldier serum. You were determined to say no until the chance at the vengeance you had been chasing for years was added to the offer.

Fandoms: Avengers, Marvel, MCU, The Punisher, Daredevil

Pairings: Female Reader x (Frank Castle, Billy Russo, Matt Murdock, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Pietro Maximoff)

Warnings: MENTIONS OF SMUT FOR THIS CHAPTER. SHAMELESS SEXUAL BEHAVIOURS. (18+ ONLY), polyamorous relationships, reverse harem, blatant disregard for canon timelines and events, mentions of illnesses, momentary fluff, bit of angst care of Bucky, Punisher canon level of violence and gore, rejection, bullying, heartbreak, character death

A/N: I couldn’t resist not posting this early. Here you go. Next ones will probably take a while coz I have to be an actual adult for a bit.

No permission is granted to repost, steal, or translate my work. Not even a credit makes it okay. Tumblr is the only place I post my writing. If you see it anywhere else please report it.

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1:2 Dark Chocolate

A few days of rest was required to recover from a super soldier's punch. The doctors had said that you were lucky Steve hadn't punched you with full strength or else you would probably have a whole cracked rib cage. You were anxious to jump back in to training, not used to being idle for very long.

You were given some painkillers at the clinic and ordered to stay there for the rest of the afternoon for monitoring. When you woke up, it was early evening and a blonde super soldier was napping on a steel chair next to your bed. He jumped when you moved to sit up, his heightened senses alarmed and disoriented for a second before he quickly switched to repeatedly apologizing to you. You laughed out loud. It was just a little ridiculous to you to see such a commanding presence in the field so charmingly boyish and adorably embarrassed.

Steve was a comforting presence but to be honest you were hoping to see Bucky. You didn't get a chance to thank him since he left immediately after the doctors had ushered you into the examination room. Once you were cleared to return to training, you caught sight of his long brunette hair and the bright smile on your face couldn't be stopped. It was the glare he pinned you with that made you halt your approach.

He was back to his disapproval of your very existence.

You had to admit that it stung. You thought that you were getting somewhere with him after he helped you. At least somewhere outside of the realm of outward disdain. And maybe you were hoping just a little bit that it could lead down the road to him feeling the same about you.

The timing was perfect when you were assigned to your first official mission with the Avengers. It was a chance to prove your worth to the team and to Bucky in particular. A chance to maybe make him see you as more than just a troublesome recruit.

You came back from the mission with your head held high and absolutely glowing with confidence at the kudos from Sam and Natasha. The great Natasha Romanoff had complimented your sniping skills, picking off enemies in her area even before she could aim her own gun at them.

The first thing you wanted to do after getting back to the Compound was to tell Bucky. You wanted to brag a little bit and maybe even thank him for the mentoring. If he hadn’t been so hard on you then you wouldn’t have pushed yourself to be at this level. You were skipping down the halls of the Compound in search for him, clutching the bullet casing from your first official Avenger kill.

FRIDAY had informed you that he was in the training area and you were bouncing on your feet with excitement. As you entered though the place was empty, the rest of the agents having retired to the mess halls. You ventured further in, trusting FRIDAY’s intel until you heard some noises coming from the adjacent armory. You smiled, he must be cleaning his guns again.

As you got closer, the noise began to get louder until you could make out what was undeniably pleasured moaning, one low and gravelly while the other more high pitched. You should have turned away, if only for the privacy of the couple who was wrapped up in their passion, but your curiosity pushed you to come closer and peak through the small crack in the door.

The brief image that you saw made you instantly draw back, a shaking hand pressed to your mouth to silence the shocked gasp. You backed away slowly, your mind struggling to process what you had just seen, then your flight response kicked in and you ran like hell out of there. The scene was burning a hole in your brain and caused your skin to grow cold. Sergeant Barnes rutting hard against a woman wrapped around his waist, his glinting eyes locked with yours, and a cocky sneer on his face.

You didn’t go to dinner that night or to the team celebration for a successful first mission. You chose instead to lay in your bunk with tears burning in your eyes and trying to erase the memory of your discovery. Of course he was already dating someone. A man of his caliber was sure to have a line-up of gorgeous eager women at his disposal. He probably had no interest in boring recruits like yourself. The woman he was throwing into bliss must be some supermodel or high ranking spy. How did you even end up deluding yourself that you could possibly catch his eye?

The rest of your roommates filtered in after a few hours, chatting away noisily about the party. Anna had come to sit on the edge of your bed and ran a comforting hand along your arm, concern clearly etched on her face.

“I’m fine. Just tired. The mission really wore me out,” you muttered with a small smile. You weren't ready to talk about it yet.

“Personally I think I had better success today than all of you,” Kim’s shrill voice cut through the good natured conversations in the room.

She wasn’t part of the group taken on the mission, claiming beforehand that she was ill. A chorus of curious why’s rang out through the group and she preened at once again being the center of attention.

“Well I just had the fuck of a lifetime from none other than Sergeant James Barnes.”

The room of women burst into chaos; squeals of disbelief, rapid fire questions on how big he was and how good of a lay was he, were they dating now or was this a fuck buddy situation. Of course Kim was more than happy to entertain each question.

You tuned all of it out, the noise turning into an annoying ringing in your ear. You turned around to face the wall as the silent tears that refused to be contained any longer fell to wet your pillow. You barely registered Anna squeezing your shoulder or the words that Kim threw your way.

“Sorry, Y/N. I guess I was just more Bucky’s type.”

You curled yourself into a tighter ball as the pain in your chest radiated across your whole body. You had assumed wrong about Bucky. It seemed that he wasn’t opposed to dating new recruits.

He was just opposed to you.

The taunting from Kim continued on and you just couldn't take it any longer. You brushed the tears away, grabbed your sweater, and marched yourself to the door. You needed to get some air. You needed to get away. Anywhere but there. You wrenched open the door and almost came crashing straight toward a solid chest. Your eyes travelled up to lock with the kind blue gaze of Captain America. You wondered why Steve was standing at the doors of your bunkers holding a pack of beer in his hand.

"Good evening, ladies," he said to the room of now suddenly speechless females. "I'm just going to borrow Y/N for a bit."

The crowd remained in shocked silence while you stared at him in confusion as he smiled sweetly down at you. He had gone looking for you when he didn't see you at the celebration after Natasha and Sam had sang your praises to him at your performance. He wanted to congratulate you and bring you a drink for a job well done.

"Come on. I know a good spot," he said, placing a hand on your back and guiding you out.

Steve brought you to the top of an observatory in the Compound. It was quiet, peaceful, and offered a great view. He cracked open a bottle for you and the conversation just flowed naturally. He kept making you laugh until your sides hurt with stories about his time as a performer in the military and all the unfortunate videos that came with it. You were crying with pure joy when he relented and re-enacted his buy military bonds act, your earlier darkened mood forgotten for the moment.

Steve felt like he did something right when your glassy eyes and defeated expression was replaced with clear amusement. Even if it was at his expense. He wouldn't ask what the reason was, but he felt happy he made you feel better.

"Thank you, Steve," you muttered before you parted ways. Somehow both of you understood that it was more than just for the drink.

You promised yourself then that you would give yourself tonight to weep over your unfortunate romantic feelings. Only for tonight. Come morning you would focus all your energy on what you actually came here to do; become an Avenger. You slept fitfully that night, the shell casing from your first mission still gripped in your hand.

You made a conscious effort after that day to limit your interactions with Bucky and Kim to polite clipped conversations. At first Bucky had been surprised at your change in attitude, your blank expression and sparse words causing a momentary guilt to flash in his eyes. You had chosen instead to spend more time with Steve and the twins, your mood obviously brighter around them.

You were sitting now in a large conference room for a briefing on the next mission with a handful of other recruits when Sam Wilson sent you out to fetch the rest of the Avengers who were running late and not responding.

"Can you get them for me, sweetheart?" he chuckled, knowing that you blushed uncontrollably each time he used a nickname on you.

FRIDAY had directed you to the private common room exclusive for their use. You were about to knock on the door when you heard your name in the middle of what sounded like a heated argument. Against your better judgement, you leaned in closer.

"I don't think Y/N's cut out to be part of this team."

Your heart dropped. The conviction in Bucky's voice was clear. It was one thing for your infatuation with him to be forcefully thrown back at your face, but for him to explicitly state to a set of people that you held at such high esteem that you were not good enough was a whole other vicious heartbreak.

Lily was wrong. This time you should have known when to quit.

You forced yourself to crack the door wider and step inside, clearing your throat to announce your presence. You didn't see the startled look on their faces or the guilty one that followed when they realized that you had heard. One look at your sad glistening eyes that refused to look up confirmed it. Natasha and Steve both threw Bucky a deadly glare.

"Sam wants you all at a briefing. I was sent to come get you."

Your voice was so small and unsteady, none of the easy happiness and optimistic determination that it usually carried. Bucky felt the shame burn through him, the guilt drowning him in an instant. You weren't supposed to hear that. He took a step towards you, instinct driving him to do anything to wipe that defeated look off your face, but a threatening look from the twins pinned him in place.

"We'll walk back with you, little star," Pietro said softly, appearing beside you and wrapping an arm around your shoulder. Wanda came on the other side, looping your arm with hers.

For the rest of the briefing, you strained with the effort of focusing on Sam while blatantly ignoring Bucky. You knew he was staring a hole at the back of your head, but you couldn't allow yourself to give him any satisfaction by looking back. You were soon assigned your tasks, you being placed on sniper duty again having performed well the last time.

It was supposed to be a run of the mill mission for intel and taking out a criminal base, but with the expectation of more hostiles so a slightly bigger team was necessary. You practically flew out of the room when you were dismissed, not giving anyone a chance to talk to you. A decision was solid in your mind now for when you got back.

This would be your last mission.

The ride on the jet to the location was spent with you cleaning your gear and checking your weapons. You were sliding a few knives in place when Bucky came in front of you holding out another set of knives for you to take.

"You know if you tilt the hilt to the left you can fit more in one holster," he said.

It was odd hearing him with almost warmth in his tone toward you. If it had happened yesterday, you probably would be celebrating this fact. You nodded at him, but didn't say a word.

"Remember to keep your head low and stay on your post. Okay, doll?"

You nodded wordlessly again. Because you made a point not to look at his face, you missed the way he was struggling to say more to you and the disheartened look when you obviously weren't going to answer him. You ignored him for the rest of the ride, choosing to focus on reviewing the intel.

As far as bad intel could go, this had to be the worst. You were perched up on a densely covered hill a good distance away from the base that the rest of the team were storming. You were picking off as many hostiles coming out of the base as quick as your hands would allow. Your fingers were starting to ache from the constant reloading, your eyes stung from the gunpowder, and your lip was already bleeding from biting down on it.

The noise in the comms was pure mayhem. Each team member trying to ask for help, for backup, for a plan. You had all come expecting a fight but not an army prepared to defend. You were certainly not expecting HYDRA.

"They have Bucky."

Three words spoken that sent a cold dread to wash over all of you. HYDRA couldn't be allowed to take Bucky. You abandoned your post without a second thought and sprinted down toward the base, pistols at the ready for anyone coming your way.

"Last location," you asked urgently as you slipped into the building shooting down two agents immediately.

"West wing. Near the last corridor," Steve grunted, clearly having a hard time on his end. "Y/N, do not engage!"

"I'm the closest one, Cap."

"I'm close too. Just a little busy," Natasha huffed. "I'll follow, Y/N. Steve, we need to get the hell out of here."

Steve had reluctantly agreed, seeing that there was no other choice. He quickly barked orders and commanded you to keep safe. You nodded although he couldn't see it as you wove through the corridors at full speed in search of your teammate. The moment you barged into that last room, your eyes found an unconscious Bucky immediately.

Seeing him in that chair horrified you; shirt ripped, bleeding in several areas, skin pale and cold with sweat, chest rising and falling far too rapidly, and eyes that were unresponsive. You were so distracted by the jarring image that you failed to notice the operatives across the room until the bullets were burning through your soft flesh.

You screamed from the pain, but raised your gun and fired back until you heard their bodies thud heavily on the floor. You clutched at your side, the amount of wet blood pouring out was alarming. You pushed your own welfare aside and hurriedly undid Bucky's restraints. It was a struggle to sit up a semi-conscious super soldier and when you took his weight on your shoulders, you collapsed to the floor at the intense pain in your arm. You hadn't realized that you had multiple shots there too.

You gritted your teeth and groaned at the effort of lifting you both up, your blood soaking through your gear as well as Bucky's. You huffed painfully with each step but you just had to get him out of there. You could have kissed Natasha square in the mouth when you saw her come barreling towards you.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Y/N!" she winced at your state before taking Bucky's other side. Apparently you looked as bad as you felt. "We gotta move fast. I hear more of them coming up this way. This path is clear."

Having Natasha's help in carrying Bucky alleviated some of the burden from you and made you all move faster, but the blood loss was already starting to make your vision blurry and the adrenaline was wearing off. Through the haze, you could also hear the rapidly approaching footsteps. Soon you would be basically useless and you knew there was no way Natasha could carry you both out while fighting off a hoard of enemies.

"Natasha," you said quietly, your steps faltering.

"No. Keep going goddamn it!" Natasha cried.

She knew what you were thinking. She had assessed the situation too and come to the same miserable conclusion. You smiled sadly at her angry eyes and shaking head as you let go of your hold on Bucky. Her eyes widened further as you limped toward the doors behind you and locked them tight before raising your guns to aim right at anyone who would come through them.

She didn't miss how your hands were shaking and your shot arm could barely hold up, the way you scowled deeper in pain with each movement, or how your uniform was soaked in your own blood and slowly forming a pool at your feet. Ghastly as you looked, you turned your head and tossed her another gentle smile. You were basically going to use yourself as a human shield for them and yet you were comforting her. You were reassuring her.

"Check on my sister for me, yeah?"

Natasha wanted to insist on another plan. Anything other than leave you behind to hold off the nearing enemy units. Shouting and gunfire from the other side of the door forced her to make a decision. She cursed sharply under her breath and dragged Bucky away with her, the regret heavy on her heart for having to leave you behind.

You stepped further back and supported your weak body against the wall after Natasha had thankfully left. The enemy was trying their hardest to barge through the door, ramming into it and shooting their guns at the locks. It wouldn't be long now before they manage to breach it.

You took a moment to spare a thought for your sister. A part of you was saddened to think of her grief after she finds out that you had done the most heroic thing anyone could ever do.

Sacrifice.

Another part of you was relieved knowing that she had Jill and she wouldn't be alone in that grief. When you decided this morning that this would be your last mission, you didn't necessarily expect it to be in this way.

"I'm sorry, Lily."

Natasha managed to get Bucky back to the jet where the rest of the team were all converging, still fighting off operatives chasing after them. There just didn't seem to be any end to them.

"I'm going back for Y/N!" she yelled to the team as she dropped Bucky on the floor of the jet. There was no time to be gentle, she had to hurry back to help you out.

"What do you mean? Where the hell is Y/N, Nat?" Steve shouted as he grabbed her arm.

"She stayed behind to hold off the ones chasing us so we could get out. I have to go back!"

"I will go. I can get her out," Pietro volunteered at once but he doubled over immediately from the extensive wounds on his torso.

Natasha was already sprinting back into the compound, not willing to waste another minute. She made it only a few feet before the entire facility exploded into a fiery inferno that quickly ravaged it and threw her farther back.

The entire team watched in horror as the explosions continued on several parts of the structure. The area was quickly getting engulfed by the flames and smoke. Steve had to force everyone onto the jet and bodily carry a shell shocked Natasha.

No one could have possibly survived that.

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Natasha steadied her breath as she quietly landed on a perch high above in the rafters of a seedy warehouse. Wanda joined her seconds later, weaving her magic to better cloak them. The other twin was running a lap around the perimeter and would join them later.

She was assigned weird missions all the time. Missions that had very little to doubtful intel was common. This mission though was by far the strangest she's ever gotten. There was a very small list of vague things that were told to them; the time and location, not to intervene, to remain unseen until the target was ready, bring the target to the Compound.

She was slightly annoyed, but she complied anyway. She was curious too as the mission was given in secret to only the three of them. A million questions was speeding through her mind as she observed the activity below. It looked like a regular run of the mill drug den filled with busy workers and roving guards.

"How many, Wanda?" Natasha whispered.

"I sense more than 25 of them. All armed, but with much fear."

A gust of wind signaled the return of the other twin. He had a frown on his face and a concerned look in his eyes. "There is another one, but this one does not seem to be with them."

Natasha was starting to sincerely doubt this mission when a fast movement from the shadows caught her eye. By the way the twins perked up too, they surely had seen it. They followed the figure as it slipped through the darkness, almost losing track if they hadn't noticed that the guards were quickly dwindling in number. Natasha was growing worried, this was surely a highly skilled group of assassins. Pietro must have been mistaken. They were clean and efficient too.

All of a sudden a gunfight broke out below them. A figure completely clad in black, strolled casually out from the shadows with a pistol in each hand firing precisely at their targets. They confidently charged closer, unfazed as they greeted the gunfire. They continued to tear viciously through the crowd with a deadly mix of combat, bullets, and blades.

The workers had drawn their weapons by now as well, but they were quickly killed off with barbaric aggression. It did not take long for the floor below to become a sea of blood and lifeless bodies. One person remained barely alive, hanging on to his middle to keep his internal organs from spilling out from the wide gash. The attacker came to him, nonchalantly stepping over decimated bodies. They couldn't hear what was exchanged from this distance, only the choked scream that followed as he was stabbed straight through the throat. His blood spurting out like a broken faucet.

Natasha had been in this profession for a while, but she has never seen this level of unrestrained violence.

One person.

One single person had cleared out a base of approximately 30 people. Natasha was growing more and more worried. Clearly this person was at the very least an enhanced and even with the twins with her, they were not prepared to face someone powered.

What kind of bloodthirsty lunatic does this?

"You can come down now."

All three of them froze in place. Looking down, the attacker was staring right at them with cloaked eyes. Reluctantly and very slowly, Wanda used her powers to float them down carefully keeping a good distance from this murderer.

From this close they could now see that they were in full military tactical gear in what was originally all matte black, but now had an explosion of dripping red. Combat boots, fitted cargo pants, a long sleeved shirt underneath a tight bulletproof vest, gloves, a loose hood over their head, and a cloth mask around the lower half of their face.

"Should have known something was up when my team mentioned seeing a really fast man."

The shivers that travelled through every expanse of skin on Natasha, was a reaction to that voice. It sounded strangely familiar yet unknown, but something in her mind was denying her from piecing it together. The moment the hood was dropped to reveal their eyes was when she spiraled into a complete icy shock. They were eyes that had haunted her for the past ten years. Haunted all of them. The only difference was that the eyes in her memories were smiling warmly.

The bloodied face mask was lowered to reveal a face they mourned, unmistakable and yet completely different. White raised scars branched out like weaving vines from the right side of the neck to just above the jaw and the ears. They were obviously old and healed but still raised and prominent, adding an even more dangerous edge to the menacing look on their face.

Your face.

"Hello, Natasha. Pietro. Wanda."

10 years after they had watched you tragically perish in a burning HYDRA facility, you stood before three of a group of people you had unknowingly tormented all these years.

The earpiece you wore crackled to life. "Blackbird to Hedwig. I have a visual. Should I shoot them?"

You smirked. There was no need for that. At least not right now.

"Hey, Blackbird. Tell Raven I'll be late for dinner. I have a reunion to get to."

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A/N: Tell me which pairing or combination in this harem you’re most looking forward to. Smut or otherwise. I’m still rearranging scenes and working out smut. There is a long list of kinks. I need help.

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elsanna-shenanigans · 4 years

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June Contest Submission #7: there is a light that never goes out

tags: underage drinking, drunk driving

They could hear the booming music almost before they even left the town, despite Elsa’s car radio trying its best to drown it out. She tried turning the volume up again, but the old system simply couldn’t compete with the apparently gig-class speakers Anna’s classmate put out for the party.

“I still don’t get why you wanna go there,” she groaned when the last song on their cassette ended and the car went silent, aside, of course, for the newest pop sensation or whatever they were blasting out right now still half a mile ahead. “You don’t even like these people.”

“Cause I’m fucking bored!” Anna shouted, head halfway out the window, catching that cool early summer night breeze.

“I don’t get why you want me to go there.”

Anna crept back in and looked straight at her. “Cause you’re fucking bored too, Els.” She placed a hand on Elsa’s thigh and put some pressure on it, shifting in her seat like she wanted to climb into Elsa’s lap. “Come onnn, it will be fun!”

Elsa groaned again. “Get off me, I’m driving–”

“There’s nothing happening ever,” Anna continued, absolutely disregarding Elsa’s comment, with her face just inches away from her ear. “What else would we be doing tonight? Mope in your room? My room? Play fucking Scrabbles? Let’s go to a party for once!”

“Doesn’t sound like your kind of party.”

“I don’t care,” she huffed, dropping back onto her seat. Forcing Elsa to go somewhere with a guaranteed crowd was not easy, but she wasn’t going to back down now. “If it sucks we can just leave, but at least try, okay?”

Elsa grumbled something in response.

“And then we can do anything you want.” Anna rolled her eyes. “I promise.”

“Anything?”

“Yeah, anything. As long as it’s not super illegal.”

“Just a bit illegal, then?”

“No more than one night in jail illegal, I have a test on Monday that I have to attempt to learn for.”

“Deal.” And then, a deep sigh. “We’re here.”

Anna looked up ahead at the solitary house on the side of the road. She’d never even thought about it before, but Kristoff, despite his usually ragged looks, did come from a pretty wealthy, big family. So she shouldn’t be as shocked to see the sheer size of the house, but there she was, mouth agape.

And in spite of the house’s size, people were still mostly lounging on the front lawn and the driveway, even though a quick glance through the windows told her it was packed inside.

He had to invite the entire fucking school, or at least a huge part of it. Some birthday party.

Elsa parked on the side of the road, a safe distance away from the pooling lights.

“We can still–” she started, but Anna was already jumping out the car, and running round the front to open Elsa’s door.

“Come on,” she hurried her, grabbing hold of her sister’s arm to drag her out before she had the chance to do the usual Elsa thing and just freeze in her spot. “It’s just drunk teenagers.”

They were walking towards the light, gravel on tarmac crunching under their shoes. “I don’t think I know anyone there,” Elsa said quietly, trying to wring herself out of Anna’s steel grip.

“I don’t think I do either.”

“What about your classmates?”

“What about yours?”

“I don’t really talk to them.” She made a sour face. “And besides, I don’t think they’d come to an underclassman’s–”

“I’m pretty sure everyone that’s less than twenty and lives in a thirty mile radius from our town might be there.”

She could see Elsa go paler, even in the still sparse light, but before she could protest or turn around and run they hit the driveway, and Anna spotted one of her classmates nursing a red cup while sitting alone on the lawn. She waved at her.

The girl jumped up, notably barefoot, and practically ran towards them. “Anna! You made it! And uhm, Elsa, was it?” Elsa nodded stiffly. “Nice to uh… meet you? Cool, cool, anyway, there’s more people inside, Kris should be somewhere there too if you wanna sing him Happy Birthday or whatever, if you have any gifts then you can put them on the pile in the guest bedroom, first door on the right, but it’s totally fine if you don’t have any, I’m sure he’s gonna drown in all the shit people brought at this point, you can grab some drinks on the porch or in the kitchen–”

“Punz, punzie, hold up,” Anna cut in, putting both of her hands on Rapunzel–bless her parents’ imagination–shoulders. “Are you on doorman duty or something?”

“What? Oh, oh no, I just helped him set things up earlier and I came out now to get some fresh air, you know how I hate being locked inside for a long time.” She laughed. Anna had no idea about what she was talking about, but she laughed along. “So just a coincidence.”

“Okay, well, thanks for the rundown.” Anna put her arm back around Elsa’s waist to steer her gently around the apparently tipsy girl. “See you inside?”

“Sure thing!”

***

They didn’t see Rapunzel for the next… half an hour, maybe more. Didn’t see Kristoff either, only bumped into some of the classmates Anna wasn’t particularly fond of, not that there were many of those she was. Or any at all, for that matter.

Elsa stayed glued to her side, not really making any effort to strike conversations or join in those Anna held with other people, just quietly sipping some very spiked punch from her red cup. Anna was currently going through her third beer, sitting uncomfortably on the armrest of a chair Elsa miraculously found unoccupied some while ago, resting her elbow on Elsa’s shoulder and looking over the crowd in the room.

Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to come here. Sure, there was music, and free alcohol, and people looked like they were having fun, talking and dancing, but… Anna just didn’t feel like one of those people.

Not that she felt better than them, either. Just different. Just like neither she nor Elsa really fit in this teenage dream picture.

“You want some more of that?” she asked Elsa, pointing to her now empty cup. Given that Elsa was technically her designated driver, it wasn’t the best idea to pour lots of alcohol in her, but the night was young, she had time to sober up. And even if she didn’t, it’s not like anyone was going to stop them on their way back.

Elsa nodded, not looking at her, eyes transfixed somewhere above the heads of the people in front of them.

She had to brush past at least fifty different bodies on her way to the kitchen and back, and god only knew how much time passed, but when she came back to the chair Elsa was in the exact same position, as if she never even blinked while Anna was gone.

“I took a sip out of your cup,” she admitted, shoving it in Elsa’s hand. “I have no idea how you can drink it, it tastes like an entire distillery. Disgusting.”

She sat down in her previous spot and watched her sister for a few heartbeats, before reaching to fix her pulled-back bangs, finally getting Elsa to look up at her.

“Lost in thought?”

“Somewhat,” Elsa answered, scrunching up her nose when she took a sip from her fresh punch. “This sucks.”

Anna laughed. “The punch you’ve been drinking since we got here?”

“No, this one’s worse. But I was talking about the party.”

She turned her head back to observe the people, and Anna followed suit. The same people she’d see every day in school, that she knew for all these years but never really knew, could recall the names and faces but not their voices, or what they talked about last week, or that Important Thing that happened to them in fifth grade that everyone talked about since.

The same boring people. Every day.

Why did she want to come here?

“You’re right,” she agreed after a moment of silence between them in this room of booming music and loud shouts. She then turned fully towards Elsa, brushing her outer thigh against her arm. “You wanna ge–”

Before she could finish anything, the music stopped and lights went out. A single second passed where nobody uttered a single sound before the crowd erupted in a cacophony of swears, oh mans and come ons.

Kristoff appeared in the doorway about a minute later, his phone flashlight blinding everyone looking in his general direction.

“It’s the fuses!” he shouted over the groans of the crowd, waving his phone-bearing arm to try and get everyone’s attention. “We’re already trying to fix it, don’t worry, the music and light will be back on in a moment!”

Anna chuckled. Of course the oaf had to go all the way out and actually overload the circuitry.

“In the meantime let’s just– let’s all go outside, you can grab some more drinks on the porch, don’t go in the kitchen cause someone dropped a glass and there’s shards everywhere now and…”

He kept talking, but Anna wasn’t listening anymore. She turned back to Elsa and leaned down to finish her question in a whisper. “Wanna get somewhere else?”

“Fuck, yes,” Elsa breathed out, then downed the entire cup of distillery juice in one go, much to Anna’s surprise. “I’ll just take one of these on the go.”

***

They made it to the car, despite Kristoff noticing them leaving and almost begging them to stay, promising the fuses situation would be dealt with soon, that some of ‘his boys’ were already on it. Anna wished him good luck, but, sadly, she could not stay due to some emergency back at their home that they really had to quickly attend to.

She watched Elsa buckle in, both of their full ‘on the go’ red cups in the cup holders. Fuck. This was supposed to be a fun night for both of them, not some lame-ass party that ended even lamer than it should. She slumped in her seat in defeat.

“So… home?” she asked, unable to keep the sadness out of her voice.

Elsa laughed, loud and sudden, making Anna jump in surprise. “Jesus, Anna, you sound like that would literally kill you right now.”

“Well, because– I fucked up, okay? I thought it would be better, but I don’t want the night to end.” She felt so goddamn fucking stupid. “I just wanted something else.”

Elsa nodded, and hummed. “That’s actually what I was thinking about before the… you know, the lights went out and all of that.”

She started the car and rolled out of their parking spot, then drove past Kristoff’s house. Then kept going. And kept going.

Now, Anna was buzzed, but she could swear that wasn’t the right direction.

“Elsa? Our house–”

“I know. We’re not going home.”

Anna furrowed her brows. “Elsa, you’re drunk–”

“I’m not that drunk. We can drive around for a bit. The worst that can happen is we’ll die in a ditch,” she laughed, then noticed Anna’s worried face. “I was joking, Anna, I’m fine to go. And you promised me anything.”

She took their cassette out of the radio and flipped it to the other side, then blasted their song as loud as she could. Without Kristoff’s booming bass in the background.

***

Twenty minutes, maybe more later, Anna found herself standing barefoot on a wild beach, staring at the moon reflecting on a lake. Not the lake they used to go to with their parents in the next town over because it was cleaner, not the one almost everyone in town would swarm to during summer.

This one was smaller. And calmer. Quiet. And wild, yeah, even though there was this small, decrepit pier and what once could have been a fishing hut, but was now only a few planks and metal rods threatening to fall at any moment.

She’d been here only once before. When they were both young, and bored, and the night was full of fireflies and deep talks.

Now, they were still young-ish, and even more bored, and a few fireflies were flying in circles above the water.

She made her way past their parked car and to where Elsa sat on the pier, the wood moaning with every step she took until she reached the end and sat down next to her with her legs over the ledge, toes just grazing the water.

“There must be so much more out there.”

And there was the deep talk. She turned her face towards Elsa, waiting for her to go on, but she simply stared straight ahead, eyes unfocused and face flushed from the alcohol.

“Out where?”

“Anywhere. Outside this town,” she almost whispered that, as if there was anyone there to listen to them. And as if what she said was a crime.

“Oh, you mean you don’t simply love it here like everyone else?”

“I’m serious, Anna.” She gripped her hand resting on the pier. “I want to leave.”

Anna gulped. “But–”

“I want you to leave with me,” she breathed it out with a tinge of fear, intertwining their fingers, just in case Anna wanted to move away. “You hate it here, too.”

“I do.”

“We could do– be so much more somewhere else. Get some nice jobs, rent a place in a big city…”

Anna rested her head against her shoulder and smiled teasingly. “We? Or do you just mean you.”

“No, we!” Her sudden shout carried on the water and brought goosebumps to Anna’s skin. “Sorry, I– I couldn’t do it alone. I won’t do it alone, not even if I had to spend the rest of my life in this god-forsaken town otherwise. I need you.”

Was this something binding that she was just agreeing to? Sure, she’d fantasized about skipping their town many times, with Elsa at her side, but she never actually sat down and thought about how to do it. Elsa was not her, though. If she said this out loud, she already had a plan.

A plan she might just agree to carry out.

“You know I’d follow you even if you didn’t want me to.”

“I… do know,” she admitted softly. “But I wanted to hear you say it.”

Anna rolled her eyes. “You’re silly.” She pressed her forehead into Elsa’s and closed her eyes, slowly inhaling the scent of the summer night, the lake, the still noticeable alcohol and something that was just Elsa. “I need you too, you know. I’d probably have gone crazy here a long time ago if I didn’t have you.”

She moved upwards to kiss her nose softly, like she did when they were kids and tried to comfort each other. “And I would go literally to the ends of the world if that’s where you wanted to go.”

And then she opened her eyes, and looked into Elsa’s–uncertain, hopeful, loving–and she realized just how true what she said now was. She would. She would go anywhere, anytime and do anything to be with her, just as long as her being there made Elsa look at her like this.

There was so much more. And she wanted so much more for her.

And in that one moment, the cool summer breeze that blew around them could no longer touch their lips.

She pulled away fast as lightning. “I’m– I– s-so–”

But Elsa pulled her in again, harder, enough for her to feel the precise softness of her lips and taste the faint, lingering ghost of the distillery juice on her breath.

This was happening. They were kissing. She was kissing her sister, on a rotting pier on an eerily still lake.

And it felt so wrong, but so much more right than anything she’d ever done before in her life.

Elsa’s tongue slipped into her mouth and stopped all train of thought that wasn’t focused on her.

Elsa, her Elsa, the only anchoring point in this life that kept her from going insane.

And yeah, maybe they just did cross a line they couldn’t come back from. And maybe in the next second, next minute, next hour or the next morning some voice in her mind will scream at what she’d just done, but at this precise moment all she wanted and needed was to pull Elsa closer, taste more, feel more, have more of her. Dig her nails into the back of her arm while their hands stayed on the pier, supporting, fingers intertwined so close she wished they could never break apart.

And maybe this could be the worst decision in her life, but damn it if it wasn’t also the best.

The night wasn’t so lame afterwards.

When she pulled away and opened her eyes, it was dark. The clouds gathered to cover the moon and stars, so bright just moments ago. The fireflies were gone. Just as if the fuses of the world went out from their own electric overload.

And in the dark, in the absolute pitch blackness, all she could see was Elsa.

#elsanna #june 2020 contest #prompt: more #submission

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archivednerdfics · 6 years

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“Misery Loves Company” Summery: Selina goes to a Wayne Enterprise event and finds a stubborn Bruce in need of help. (Just a super fluffy sickfic — can take place anywhere in s3 or even certain parts of s4 — I will leave that up to you, dear reader) Word Count: 3,000 ________________________________________ She didn’t make a habit of going to Wayne Enterprises events, not because it was hard to get in (she fit in perfectly when she wore one of Barbara’s fancy — and uncomfortable — dresses), but because she found the whole thing rather boring. However, these events were always full of easy marks, so when she ways running low on funds, she made a point of going. She had been there from the start, hitting several marks within the first half-hour, so there was really no reason to stay this long, except for the fact that she couldn’t stop watching Bruce. He hadn’t noticed her, but she’d been keeping an eye on him since she’d arrived. Something was... off about him, but she couldn’t quite place her finger on what it was. He was mingling and making small talk with people — because he had to, she thought, not because he actually wanted to — and to anyone who didn’t know him, he would’ve seemed completely normal. ...But she did know him, and he certainly wasn’t himself. It became obvious to her, however, when he made his speech, just what was wrong with him. He was doing his best to hide it, but he looked and sounded miserable. His voice was rough, as if he had swallowed sandpaper, and there was a distinct sheen of sweat covering his forehead by the time he had finished speaking. No one else seemed to have noticed this, however; or if they had, they were too polite to say anything. Selina rolled her eyes and made her way over to the young man, thinking that if nobody else was going to do anything about this, then she would. “Alfred let you leave the house like this?” she asked, coming up behind him and placing a hand on his shoulder, noting that even through his jacket she could feel the heat that he was radiating. Bruce jumped slightly in surprise and turned to face the young woman. “Selina?” he asked, and she could see that despite his surprise, he was relieved to see her, “What are you doing here?” “I was running low on cash,” she said, holding up a small purse that was filled with jewelry, watches, cuff-links, and anything else she found that seemed like it might be valuable. Bruce gave her a disapproving look, though it was made significantly less effective when he suddenly turned away from her and sneezed into the crook of his elbow. He did his best to stifle it, but still earned a few looks from the crowd — some sympathetic, others disapproving, but he ignored them. “You should go home, Bruce,” Selina said, her tone changing from one of indifference to one of concern, “Where’s Alfred? I’ll go get him.” “I’m fine; and Alfred isn’t here, anyway.” “Where is he?” “Visiting someone in England — a friend, I think — I told him he should go.” Selina sighed, Alfred was the only other person who could talk sense into Bruce and she could’ve used his help now. “You know, it’s just gonna make more work for him if he comes back and has to take you to the hospital ‘cause you don’t take care of yourself.” “I’m fine, Selina,” Bruce said, irritation clear in his hoarse, congested voice, “It’s just a cold, and I am perfectly capable of caring for myself.” Selina thought for a moment before making a decision and grabbing the young man’s arm. “Let’s go,” she said pulling him towards the exit. “No, Selina, I can’t. I have to stay an—“ “—You gave a speech and talked to people. You did what they expected you to; nobody’s gonna get mad that you left. Especially since you’re the richest person in Gotham.” Bruce hesitated for a moment, caught between the obligation to stay, and the fact that he wanted nothing more than to go home and collapse into his bed. Finally he nodded slightly in response and allowed himself to be dragged out of the building. They made it to the young man’s car after several minutes of walking and he pulled his keys out of his jacket pocket, which Selina grabbed from him. “What are you doing?” he asked in confusion. “I’m driving — you’re too sick.” “...Do you actually know how to drive?” Selina shrugged and unlocked the doors, “I know enough. Now get in, it’s freezing out here.” They were on the road for some time — Selina driving and Bruce sitting in the passenger seat, trying not to focus on Selina’s driving — before Bruce realized they were heading in the opposite direction of his home. “...Wait, where are you going?” he asked, looking over at her. “What, you thought I was gonna leave you alone at your place like this?” She gestured at him and he took her hand, leaning over and placing it back on the steering-wheel with a pointed look before sitting back again. Selina rolled her eyes, but otherwise let it go, “We’re going to my place.” By the time they reached Selina’s current squat, Bruce was beginning to doze off, having finally gotten used to Selina’s reckless driving. The young woman parked the car and leaned over to Bruce, shaking his shoulder gently with a quiet, “We’re here.” Bruce groaned slightly as he sat up and held his hand out to Selina expectantly; she rolled her eyes as she handed him the car keys. They got out of the car and looked up at the tell building in front of them for a moment before Selina pulled down the fire escape ladder. “...You’re okay enough to climb up here, right?” She asked, glancing over at the young man who was looking more exhausted with every passing minute. “Yeah,” he said with a small nod. His voice was barely audible and he cleared his throat in an attempt to get it back to normal. It didn’t do much. “Yeah, I’m fine.” It took them several minutes to climb up to Selina’s apartment — longer than normal. Selina didn’t say anything, though she did give Bruce a few concerned looks, worried by the fact that he was going so slow. Selina slid open the window and climbed inside, Bruce following close behind her. The apartment was small but surprisingly comfortable, even though it was sparse. There was a queen-sized mattress with some pillows and a blanket thrown onto it haphazardly in the middle of the room, a small table in a corner of the room with a hot plate set on top of it, a couple saucepans, plates, bowls, cans of food and silverware beneath it, and a small pile of folded clothes in another corner. “...It’s nice,” Bruce said, giving Selina a small smile. “Thanks,” the girl replied, returning the smile, though it faded as she took in the boy’s appearance. He was trying to hide it, but she could tell that he was worse off than he had been earlier that night. He looked significantly paler than before, and there was a sheen of sweat covering his forehead even though he was shivering. Selina placed her hand on his forehead, frowning at how overly warm he was. He leaned into her hand for a moment before sighing and pushing her away. “Selina, I’m fi—“ he began, but was cut off by a harsh coughing fit that hurt his throat. “Uh-huh, you’re fine,” Selina said with a tone of sarcasm as she crossed her arms, “Bed. Now.” He was stubborn, which she should have expected, but after a couple minutes of coaxing, Selina managed to get him to sit down on the mattress. “I’m gonna change,” Selina said as she rummaged through the pile of clothes, “‘Cause I hate everything about what I’m wearing right now. —Here,” she added, tossing Bruce an oversized t-shirt and pair of pajama pants that she often wore to bed, and then leaving to another room, the bathroom presumably, through a door that Bruce had failed to notice when they’d entered the apartment. She reentered the main room only a few minutes later to find Bruce curled up under the thin blanket she’d left on the bed, already nearly asleep, the clothes he’d been wearing earlier now folded neatly and placed next to the mattress. Selina smiled a little and shook her head. Seeing him like this, in her home, brought back memories of the brief time he had lived with her, and it made her happy. “...You cold?” she asked after a couple moments, noticing how he was shivering under the single blanket he had wrapped around him, and Bruce nodded slightly in reply. “I’ll get some more blankets.” She found several blankets, including a thick quilt that would be big enough to comfortably cover both of them, and brought them back to the bed. She covered Bruce with a couple, which he gratefully wrapped closer around his shoulders, and then wrapped herself up in one as she made herself comfortable next to him, pulling the large quilt over both of them. Once Selina was settled in, Bruce moved over slightly and rested his head on her shoulder with a soft sigh of content. “...Thank you,” he said, and Selina smiled. “Hey, I wasn’t gonna let you suffer alone with the flu or whatever you got. ...Whether you wanted me to or not.” “Well, I appreciate it.” “Any time. ...I...like having you here, Bruce. —Now get some sleep,” she added before he had the chance to respond, “If Alfred comes back and you’re dead—“ “—I’m not dying, Selina.” She gave an internal sigh of relief; maybe he hadn’t heard her admit that she wanted him around. “Still,” she said, and ran a hand through his short, but thick hair, “He’ll kill me if anything happens to you.” The boy smiled slightly as he snuggled up closer to her, “I’ll be fine. I promise.” …… When Bruce woke up the next morning it was late and Selina was already out of bed, which he realized when he turned and opened his eyes to find the spot where she’d been laying the night before, completely empty. “...Selina...?” he asked as he sat up a little and looked around the small room. “I’m here,” Selina said from a corner of the room where she was placing a bowl of milk in front of a small cat. “...What time is it?” “I don’t know; noon, maybe? You slept late. ...Alfred called earlier. You were totally out, you didn’t even hear it ring, so I answered. —I told him you’re okay, but he said he’s coming back to Gotham tonight.” Bruce sighed. He should’ve known that Alfred would cut his trip short as soon as he found out that Bruce wasn’t well — even if he wasn’t alone — and it made him feel a little guilty. “You feeling any better?” Selina asked as she crossed the room and sat next to him on the bed, placing the palm of her hand on his forehead to see if his fever had gone down since last night. “A little,” he said with a small shrug. It was a lie, but for once Selina didn’t seem to notice this. “Are you hungry?” “Not really?” “Good, ‘cause I don’t have any food,” the young woman said with a laugh. Bruce followed her lead and laughed slightly, which turned into a small coughing fit. “You don’t sound so good...” Selina said with a look of concern as patted his back gently. “It’s fine — just a cough.” “Do you want some water?” He nodded slightly and she stood up, heading over to the small table with the hot plate and grabbing a glass before going to the bathroom to fill it with water and then bring it back to the boy. “We should get you home,” she said reluctantly as he drank, “Alfred’s gonna be mad if you’re not there when he gets back tonight.” Bruce nodded a little again, though he seemed equally reluctant, “...I need to change first,” he said as he sat up. …… It didn’t take long for the two to leave the apartment and climb down the fire escape to the car. “Give me the keys — you’re still not driving,” Selina said and Bruce sighed but, surprisingly, did not argue. Instead he just reached into his pocket and pulled them out to give to her. “When I’m better I’m teaching you how to drive,” he said as he pulled open the passenger-side door. Selina rolled her eyes and gave him a small smirk, “Just for that I’m gonna go extra fast.” “Then you’re paying for the ticket you’ll inevitably get.” They both slid into their seats and Selina started the engine. “Bruce, we both know that you’re the one who pays for stuff in this relationship.” “So this is a relationship now?” the young man asked, giving Selina a small smirk. “...Shut up.” They sat in comfortable silence for the rest of the ride after that, small smiles on both of their faces. When they made it to Wayne Manor Selina went inside with Bruce, who was beginning to look as worn out as he’d been the night before. They made it into the study and sat down on one of the sofas. “...What is it about this room?” Selina asked, “Why are you always in here?” “It... makes me feel safe. Almost like... I can still feel my parents when I’m in here.” Selina smiled a little, sadly, and took his hand in her own, “That’s... really nice, Bruce.” …… They sat together for some time before Selina realized that Bruce was half-lying on the arm of the couch, his eyelids heavy. “...I should go,” she said as she stood up. “And you should go to bed,” she added. Bruce stood up as well, giving Selina a small smile, “You can stay if you want, Selina. You don’t have to go.” “I’ll come back in the morning, don’t worry.” She returned the smile and hesitated before leaning forward and planting a kiss on his lips. When she pulled away he was staring at her in happy surprise, and she could see that his cheeks were tinted pink, but she wasn’t entirely sure if he was blushing, or if it was just his fever. Selina smiled again and cupped one of his cheeks in her hand for a moment, tracing his cheekbone with her thumb, before pulling away and heading for the window while Bruce watched her go with a mixture of awe and amusement. …… Selina did come back the next morning, as she’d promised, although not in quite the manner Bruce had expected. He was sitting at the kitchen table, his head propped up on one hand as he stared down at a half-eaten plate of scrambled eggs and a mug of steaming tea. Alfred had insisted he eat breakfast, and Bruce agreed without complaint, still feeling guilty that he was the reason his guardian had cut his trip short. He was startled out of his train of thought when he heard Alfred calling him from the study, “Master Bruce, I think you’d better come and have a look at this.” Bruce sighed and slowly stood up, grabbing his mug of tea off of the table before making his way down the hall to the study. “Alfred, wha-?” he asked when he entered the room, but cut himself short when he followed Alfred’s gaze to the sofa nearest the window. Selina was lying on it, a blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders. “...Selina?” Bruce asked, as he sat on the edge of the sofa and gently shook her shoulder with his free hand, “Are you alright?” The girl groaned softly as she opened her eyes to look up at him. “...I hate you,” she said in a hoarse voice, a scowl on her face which became much less effective the moment she turned her head and sneezed into the armrest of the couch. Bruce smiled sympathetically. “I’m sorry,” he said, “...But I do have to point out that you kissed me,” he added with a small smirk. “Not the point,” Selina said as she began to sit up, “...Does the offer to stay still stand?” “Of course. —You’re always welcome here. ...I like having you here, Selina.” The girl’s eyes widened when she realized that he had heard her admit that she liked having him around two nights earlier after all, and Bruce laughed slightly. “Shall I prepare a room for miss Kyle, then?” Alfred asked. He smiled slightly at the two. He had, of course, been skeptical of the young woman’s intentions when he’d heard that she was caring for Bruce, but seeing them together now, put his fears to rest — at least for the time being. There was no denying that there was something between the two, and this confirmed that they did, in fact, care for each other. Bruce looked back at his guardian, and smiled, seeing the approval in the older man’s expression. “Yes, thank you, Alfred.” “Very well, sir,” Alfred said to Bruce, then nodded to Selina with a, “Miss Kyle,” before leaving the room. “...I think he’s starting to like me,” Selina said with a small smile as she stretched her arms and laid down, resting her head on Bruce’s lap. He smiled down at her and combed through her curly hair with his free hand, bringing the mug he was still holding with his other to his lips and taking a sip of tea. “...If you get better before me, I’m gonna kill you,” Selina said after several moments of silence. “You do understand that scientifically, since I was sick first, I’ll most likely get better first.” “Don’t care,” she said with a cough, and Bruce shook his head with an amused smile. With her stubbornness, he didn’t doubt that she could force herself to heal before him; but in the meantime, he couldn’t be happier that she was here with him. —Even if they were both miserable, at least they would be miserable together.

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adventureswithedmund · 6 years

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Carbon Fiber Cycling Shoes

Long time no see! Introducing some homemade cycling shoes!

I’ve always wanted to use carbon fiber to make something. It’s a pretty cool material and was less boring sounding than wood working and less costly than metal working. Find practical applications was actually more difficult than I thought. With my current cycling shoes wearing thin, I figure carbon fiber could reinforce a pair of soccer cleats making it a cycling shoe!

Carbon fiber can be used and processed in many ways. Because I had limited access to equipment and don’t have a bunch of fun money, I took some shortcuts and trade offs to make the carbon fiber cycling shoes work.

The Plan

The plan is to use a donor shoe as the upper, add carbon fiber to make the sole stiffer and add bolts for cleat attachment. I have only found one forum post where someone else attempted this so prior information was sparse. Found some cheap orange cleats on ebay so next was getting the carbon fiber materials.

Using Carbon Fiber

Carbon fiber itself is a flexible cloth which is great to warp around things. Like cloth there are different weaves. I picked a 2x2 twill carbon fiber weave because it was more flexible for tight bends. To cure the carbon fiber, I used Max 1618 epoxy which did not require high heat curing temperatures.

Because I didn’t have an oven in which I can cure the carbon fiber nor did I want to invest in a vacuum pump, I opted to just let my carbon fiber cure in the garage while being tightly wrapped in saran warp. The trade offs from not using an oven is that the epoxy may not cure as hard or impregnate the epoxy as well. The trade offs for not using a vacuum pump is that the part may end up being heavier as excess epoxy will remain in the part.

I did research pre-preg carbon fiber which was essentially carbon fiber with epoxy already in it. While this was nice, pre-preg was quite expensive and also had a shelf life. Perhaps if I really knew what I was going to make with carbon fiber than I would opt for pre-preg carbon fiber down the line.

Regarding wrapping the shoe in saran wrap, I also used a layer of peel ply between the saran wrap and carbon. This allowed me to easily remove the saran wrap since it would not be in contact with the epoxy. The peel ply doesn’t stick to epoxy so that was easy to remove too.

Preparing the Shoe

I used a Nike Mercurial as a donor shoe primarily because it looked cool. To create a smooth bottom, I removed the studs from the bottom of the shoe with a dremel and sanded down the surface. I kept the rear studs so they balance with a cleat on.

To prove that this concept will even work, I measured out 3 holes for cleats with my current pair of cycling shoes. To receive the screws from the cleat bolts, I bought a Shimano cleat nut replacement part SH-R121 which is normally for a Shimano shoe. This part is amazing because it had the correct 3 screw spacing and curvature already set in one piece of thin metal! I took a test ride in the the proof of concept and they functioned! They felt a but sloppy because the bottom of the shoe was way to flexible but they did clip in and out on command :)

Carbon fiber could be added in a couple ways to the shoe.

I originally wanted to remove the sole of the shoe and cover that completely with carbon fiber. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the sole off the shoe. I even tried several methods including boiling water but it wasn’t budging.

Another method was to create a carbon fiber insert inside the shoe. The great thing would be that the insole may be transferable and I wouldn’t damage the outside of the shoe. I needed to get a mold of the inside of the shoe with a material that also would durable and not be brittle. I came across epoxy clay which is amazing! I was able to model the inside of the shoe. The biggest issue I realized afterwards was that an insert, even replacing the original insole, would have taken up too much space inside the shoe. As a result, I never made the carbon fiber insert.

The most obvious method is to epoxy carbon fiber on to the bottom of the shoe. I prepared a template for the carbon fiber cutout but taping masking tape on the shoe and removing it. This way, the masking tape perseveres the 3D aspect of the shape. I cut out three pieces of carbon fiber of the same shape which turned out harder than expected. Intricate parts of the template were hard to create because the carbon fiber just fell apart when there wasn’t enough material to hold it together. Sharper scissors or using pre-preg carbon would have helped.

I prepped the shoe with masking tape to protect the upper and started epoxying the carbon fiber to the shoe. Overall it was an easy process. I wrapped the shoe in peel-ply and saran wrap and then let it sit outside for a day.

The results were pretty good! I did notice some areas where the carbon was more bare. I think my distribution of epoxy wasn’t too even as I tried not to add too much epoxy. It felt pretty stiff even with 3 layers of carbon fiber. What surprised me was how sharp the carbon fiber became after the epoxy. I was pricked so many times that I wonder if it was a safety hazard. Carbon fiber splinters are probably not good. I sanded down the shoe and tried to remove as much masking tape as I could. Looking back, I probably didn’t need the masking tape anyways. I drilled the 3 holes again for the cleat and added some skateboarding tape for grip and we were off to try it out!

The Review

I bravely took the shoe out for a shop ride on Sunday as the first ride. It was 50 miles but I also took my regular right shoe as backup. The new shoe clipped in and out easily and even made the nice snapping noise. It felt stable and secure even during the climbs. From a functionality point of view, they worked. From a comfort point of view it left a bit to be desired.

Here were some of the comfort problems. Because I used a soccer shoe, the toe box was smaller than most shoes; I guess it would be beneficial for a soccer player. This wasn’t great for cycling as it felt a little too snug after my foot warmed up. The Shimano cleat I used ever so slightly elevated the area around the ball of my foot but I didn’t offset that with something at the heel of my foot. This cause a hot spot problem which actually led me to swap back to my regular shoe. The last problem was a comfort and usability problem. Soccer cleats don’t have the best lateral stiffness so unclipping took more force than I would like. It wasn’t difficult; when the heel moved out-bound, it would unclip the shoe a little bit later than usual. As a result, it didn’t feel very ergonomic and was a little annoying.

What’s next?

Well, the shoe worked. Though not super well. I think using a soccer cleat as a donor shoe because it looked cool helped spark conversations but wasn’t the best donor shoe. I probably will not make the left pair with the soccer shoes and may find a new donor shoe. To be honest, my current cycling shoes are going to hit the bin soon so I might just go and purchase a new pair of cycling shoes.

Overall this was a very fun project. I was glad I got into carbon fiber and now have the materials on the ready for new projects. Maybe next time i will have something more permanent to share :)

#carbon fiber #diy #shoe #cycling #epoxy #project #custom #soccer #shimano #bike #pre-preg #adventure #fun #create

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