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lick-me-lennon22 · 3 years

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How they calm you down when you're very stressed/having a breakdown 💜

thanks so much to @betchq who requested this one! hope you enjoy :) 💕

(these ended up wayyy too long.. whoops :P)

Paul:

it's all too much- you can't take it anymore

one minute you're sitting on the bed venting to Paul about work and family troubles- frustrated, but not devastated- and suddenly you've spiraled again

you're practically hyperventilating, gripping the duvet so hard your knuckles turn white, sobbing about how unfair the world is and how you'll never truly be happy

"Woah, woah, what's this all about darling?" he interjects tenderly, a gentle finger lifting your chin up to look at him, briefly breaking you from the hope-devouring clutches of your panicked mind

"It's -*hic*- just too m-much to handle Paul, I -*hic*- c-cant do it anymore," you manage to squeak out between sobs, your voice wavering and your lip quivering

Paul gazes into your tear-filled eyes, scanning them with his own in an attempt to gain understanding, a deeply concerned expression on his face

he places a firm, loving hand on each of your shoulders, eyes still locked on yours

"Listen to me, my love- nothing, and I mean nothing, is so wrong or bad that you can't take it on, or that this world would be better off without you. I know things are difficult for ye right now and it's completely understandable that you're overwhelmed- but you will get through this. And I will stay glued to your side every step of the way"

you inhale shakily, the cascade of tears that once flowed down your cheeks slowing to a halt as Paul continues his pep talk:

"Regardless of how daunting and scary it seems and no matter what it takes, you are going to be okay- more than okay, you are going to get through this and emerge from it even better off and happier than ever before. Ye hear me?" he says sincerely- his gaze stern, piercing, and comforting all at the same time

you nod slowly, eyes glimmering with residual tears, and sniffle once more

"You are the strongest, most capable, and most resilient person I know. I don't ever want you to feel that the days are becoming too heavy for you to handle. And if you do you know you can always, always come to me, no matter how insignificant you think your struggles are- they're not. I don't care if I'm 'busy,' nothing ever takes priority over you and your wellbeing, Y/N. I mean that."

you smile up at him with appreciation as he wipes your cheeks with his thumbs

"T-Thank you, Paul. It all just gets so overwhelming.. I don't know what I'd do without you"

"It's no trouble at all love, that's me job"- he gives you a small smile and pulls you in for a long, gentle hug

"I adore you Y/N, you are my whole world. Promise you'll come to me if you ever feel this way again?"

you nuzzle into Paul's chest: "I promise"

"That's my (girl/boy/love). I love you more than anything in this world- don't you ever forget that" ♡

John:

you don't even hear the front door open and shut, the sound drowned out by your sobs combined with the melancholy tunes coming from the record player on your dresser

"Y/N, I'm home!" John calls out, kicking off his shoes and coming to find you

he searches for you on the couch, at the dining room table, and then in the kitchen- but you're nowhere to be found

That's strange, he thinks, Y/N's almost always sat on the couch waiting for me when I come home...

"Where's my sweet birdie?~" he tries, striding briskly down the hallway to your shared bedroom, still in pursuit of his partner

John raps his knuckles against the wooden door and waits a few moments for a response

when he doesn't get one he turns the doorknob and pushes his way in, panic flooding his mind and senses

nothing could have prepared John for what he sees- the love of his life curled up fetal-style in bed, clutching the blanket for dear life, cheeks glistening with tears and features screwed up into an agonized expression

he rushes to your side immediately, placing a firm hand on your shoulder and shaking you softly to alert you of his presence

he spooks you and you startle, eyes snapping open in shock

"Are you alright, love? What happened- did somebody hurt you?? If someone upset ye I swear I'll make 'em rue the day they were born-" he seethes, interrupted only by you sitting up against the pillows and taking his hand in yours:

"J-John, calm down, I'm fine.."

"Did.. did I do something? Was it me? Tell me what I did wrong Y/N, whatever it is I'll fix it I promi-"

"No John, you've done everything right," you sigh

"It's j-just.." you trail off, unable to meet his gaze

he waits for a moment before encouraging you with a "Go on darling, you can tell me anything"

you take a deep, shaky breath before continuing- "Everything is so overwhelming and heavy.. just living feels like too much some days. I don't know what to do John, I'm downright miserable!!" you exclaim, your eyes once again welling up with tears

"..Oh sweetheart, come here" he opens his strong arms, pulling you in for an emotionally charged hug

John isn't the greatest at discussing feelings, so he offers comforting words instead

"Shh, everything's alright... I'm here, Johnny's got ye" he soothes, stroking your hair as you quiver in his arms, your body wracked with sobs

"I-It's just one of those days where I don't know how I'll ever b-be -*hic*- happy" you croak out, clutching his body close to yours

John draws in a deep breath before responding: "I understand how you feel- I've had plenty of those days meself," he confides in you

"But we can't let them stop us from living. Sometimes your perspective gets all screwed up and ye can't see through the bullshit your mind hurls at you,

"But one bad day is still just twenty-four hours, ye know? It helps me to think about that- that this too shall pass," he reassures you candidly, rubbing gentle circles into your back

"I know it seems impossible right now, but you'll- we'll," he corrects, "get everything sorted- including that pretty little 'ead of yours- and you'll feel like yourself again sooner than you know. Got that?" he asks

you simply nod, beginning to calm down but unable to speak just yet, and nuzzle further into John

he squeezes you tightly: "Y/N- ye know I know what it feels like to be stressed and depressed, and I just.." you hear John start to choke up and feel him tremble as he begins to cry, himself

"-ah don't ever want ye to feel hopeless like I 'ave, you know I'd take it all away in an instant if I could" he says, trying and failing to mask the wavering of his voice

"Even if it meant I'd have to take it all on meself instead, I can handle it- I'd do anything for you Y/N, I've never loved anyone or anything like I do you and it hurts me to see you in such pain"

John's voice breaks at the end of his monologue and you hear him sniffle

with that, you finally speak up: "Oh John, I'll be okay- I promise. Thank you for changing my perspective, it's just so difficult to pull yourself out of despair sometimes.. some days are just so.. heavy" you say, pulling back and looking up at him; "I didn't mean to make you cry too"

you dry your face with your sleeve and John takes your hands in his

"Y/N you know I understand completely, and I want ye to come right to me when the days get too overwhelming- I'll be sure to set your perspective straight. Don't you ever worry about making me upset or anythin' of the like, okay love?"

you nod- "And besides, I ain't crying" John says somewhat defensively and shifts his gaze away from you, still clutching your hands in his larger ones

you chuckle softly and roll your eyes at him- "Whatever you say Johnny.. you can't fool me, I know you're a softie" you tease, booping him gently on the nose

he pulls one hand back from yours, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly- "Yeah, yeah, that's enough" John says, expression hardening as he tries to disguise the grin making its way across his face

you place a hand on his cheek and turn his face to look at you

"Thank you, John. I feel so much lighter now"

"Ahh, don't mention it darling. Anytime at all- you mean the world to me. I love you, Y/N."

"I love you too, John." ♡

George:

to your boyfriend George, it's a day like any other

he walks down the hallway to your shared bedroom, fizzy drink in hand, intent on watching some cartoons in bed with you

he knocks and upon hearing your, "Come in!" enters the room with an "'Ello, gorgeous!"

"Room for one more? I was thinking we could have a cartoon marathon this evening- what do ye think?" he proposes, approaching you and taking a sip of his drink

you hesitate a moment before answering: "Yeah, that's fine Geo" you say flatly, punctuated with a quiet sniffle

"...Are you feeling alright, dear? What's got you down?"

George sets his glass on the nightstand and sits beside you in bed

"Nothing's the matter babe, I'm okay" you mutter unconvincingly, avoiding eye contact

George studies your face, just now noticing the red and puffy appearance of your eyes

"Have you been crying..?" he asks gingerly and places a gentle hand on your cheek

you finally turn to look at him, sighing: "...yes but before you freak out, it's really nothing- just one of those days, you know?" you offer George a weak smile, downplaying your stress

"Y/N." he begins sternly, "I can tell when something's wrong. Do you want to tell me about it, doll?"

"I would, but there really isn't much to talk about... it's just life, I guess. Nothing specific" you shrug

"It's not 'just' anything- if it matters to you, it matters just as much to me," George reassures you sweetly

"Thank you Geo, but I don't know what to tell you. I just feel...tense and pessimistic, you know?"

George nods in understanding: "Really just that sort of day then, eh? That's the worst- ye can't target anything to fix it," he sympathizes and you nod in agreement

"Tell you what- I don't care if it takes all night, I'm gonna do whatever it is I can to make you feel comfortable and calm, all right? Starting with getting some food in ya- I know that always makes me feel better" he grins

you offer him a half-hearted smile, as much as you can muster in your state

"Of course it does, George" you chuckle, "that sounds lovely"

George disappears down the hall and returns just moments later kicking the door open, arms full of snacks and sweets (including jelly babies)

your face lights up at the sight of him

he unloads everything, opening his arms and dumping it all on the bed for you to choose whichever item you please

"Thank you, Geo" you giggle and grab one of the bags of crisps, opening it and promptly reaching in for a handful to munch on

"Anything else I can get you, darling? Anything at all?"

"Hmm.. no, I don't think so-" you start, but George cuts you off before you can finish your sentence

"Oh I know! You need a nice, warm cuppa- that'll be sure to soothe you. Be right back, love" he says and with that, he's out the door once more

you wait patiently in bed for a few minutes and graze on the treats George had brought you until he reappears, a ceramic mug in one hand and a box of tissues in the other

"Here you are dear," he says, handing the mug to you and placing the tissues on your nightstand- "I thought you might need these"

"You really didn't have to do all this, my love- thank you. It really warms my heart" you tell him earnestly, "I already feel so much better"

George beams at you: "Of course gorgeous, it's no trouble at all. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Hmm..." you contemplate his question for a moment before responding- "Just one more thing, I think"

"What is it, Y/N? Anything at all, just say the word"

"Get over here and cuddle me!"- you lift the blanket and invite him to lay with you

"I thought you'd never ask" George says cheekily and hops into bed, pulling you close to his chest to spoon you

(and reaching over you to grab an overflowing handful of crisps, shoveling them into his mouth)

you can't help but laugh and snuggle into George, your worries forgotten

"Thank you, Geo. You're the best"

"What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't look after my (girl/boy/love)? And besides, it's no inconvenience at all- don't you worry. I love you, Y/N"

"And I love you, George" ♡

Ringo:

Ringo has always made you feel safe, heard, and loved, and he's assured you that you can confide in him whenever you need to

he's made it a point to tell you to come to him whenever you need him, and that he'll drop everything to help you in any way he can

on one particular evening, nothing seems to be going right for you

you're beyond stressed and overwhelmed, and you can't help but break down from the pressure and weight of the world

at first when you step out into the living room, face red and tear-streaked, Ringo is oblivious

he carries on watching the television, gaze locked onto the technicolor screen

"Ritchie..?" you say meekly; "What is it, my love?" he calls out, eyes still fixed on the telly

upon seeing how invested he is in the program, you suddenly feel like a burden despite what he's told you numerous times before about coming to him when you're upset

"Umm.. nevermind" you squeak out, about to turn and drag yourself back to the bedroom when Ringo finally whips his head around to face you

his wide eyes take in your pathetic, hunched frame- hair tousled, eyes puffy and blanket pulled tight around you

"Oh my- sweetheart, are you okay? What's wrong?" he scrambles up off of the sofa and rushes over to you, panic evident in his expression

he places his hands on your shoulders and looks you over, eyes searching yours for answers

"Yeah, I'm okay" you sniffle, "but.. remember all those times you told me I should come to you if I'm ever stressed out?"

"Of course I do love, what's got you so stressed?" he inquires delicately, rubbing your shoulders

"Life, existence, everything!" you confess, exhausted

"Oh honey, everything's alright- I promise! Come here" Ringo beckons you closer and smothers you in one of his renowned bear hugs

you begin to sob quietly into his shirt

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's come over me today, I don't want to burden you-"

"Love, don't you ever worry about being overbearing or burdening me- I am always ready and willing to help you, please understand that. Managing your stress is so important and I'm thankful that ye came to me. That's what I'm here for" he reassures you as he holds you close to him

you sniffle and tremble, your tears soaking through his cotton t-shirt

"Shh, everything's going to be fine. It's okay to cry" Ringo soothes

"It's just a bad day. It doesn't mean that everything is falling apart, I promise. I'm right here. We've got this, together- you and I could take on the whole world if we had to!"

you pull back from his embrace and gaze into his eyes; "Really?"

"Of course we could, baby! Now let's get you to bed, how about that?"

you nod and Ringo lifts you up, carrying you bridal style to your shared room and setting you down gently on the bed

he swaddles you in a blanket burrito and proceeds to kiss your tears away, peppering your face with little smooches that make your heart flutter and your mind go blank

"Ritchie!!" you exclaim, giggling

"What? Kisses are the best medicine"- you agree, as long as they're his at least

once he's finished administering your treatment, he asks: "What else can I fetch ye, cutie? Anything?"

"You!"

"Why, of course!" Ringo's grin widens, lighting up his face as he pulls you close to him in bed

you rest your head on his chest and close your eyes, the dull thud of his heartbeat lulling you into a serene state of mind

for the remainder of the night Ringo refuses to leave your side, even when you drift off into peaceful slumber at last

"I love you, Y/N" he mumbles, the last thought occupying his mind before he too dozes off to sleep ♡

#beatles #the beatles #beatles x reader #john lennon x reader #paul mccartney x reader #george harrison x reader #ringo starr x reader #beatles imagines #john lennon imagines #paul mccartney imagines #george harrison imagines #ringo starr imagines #john lennon #paul mccartney #george harrison #ringo starr #richard starkey #LMLBeatles

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interstellarflare · 4 years

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Bend and Break || Homelander

-PART ONE-

Warnings: Gore, violence, course language, angst.

Summary: People can only bend their morales so far before they break. Homelander is the world’s greatest superhero, and you, a tech analyst, somehow become entangled in his world when he learns that you provide intel to The Boys. He makes it his personal mission to find out exactly what you know, but he never expected such resistance from someone as damaged as you. But broken things can be mended, sometimes in the most unexpected ways possible.

Author’s Note: As a bit of a disclaimer, I have only seen snippets of The Boys. I haven’t actually watched all of it, so forgive me if there are some details that are wrong, as well as the many spelling errors that will undoubtedly be in this series. There is a tag list open for those who wish to be added. Gif by @stream

You had no idea how you ended up providing intel for The Boys. You didn’t even know how they managed to find you.

You were a nobody, a nobody who so happened to be very knowledgeable around technology. You hacked into secure companies that were affiliated with The Seven, media outlets, private companies and the like, and gained whatever information you could before passing it on to the leader of The Boys himself, Billy Butcher. He stopped by your apartment at random hours during the day and night, giving you set deadlines to complete certain assignments before he came to retrieve the intel. No one knew who you were. You were so mysterious in fact, that the general public had even given you a name. The Watcher.

Not long after you were given your name, The Seven were notified of your existence. Madelyn Stillwell explained to The Seven that their servers had been hacked, and several files of important information had been taken in a matter of seconds. It was a serious security breach, and Madelyn wanted whoever did this killed. Homelander couldn’t help but agree. He volunteered to personally to do it himself, to a send a message to The Boys. It would be a good publicity stunt. If The Watcher was stopped, then The Boys would lose their only source of information. Plus, the public would love him even more.

But unfortunately for you, you had made a mistake. Vought International traced the IP address to your apartment a few days after your cyber attack, and Homelander was en route within the hour. It was a shitty apartment complex, fitting he supposed, for one who would commit such a crime against him and his colleagues. A huge uproar occurred outside the building, drawing your attention toward the ground floor. When your eyes met the form of the famous superhero waving to the adoring crowd as he entered through the lobby, a string of disgusting curses escaped your lips. There was no point in running, he could catch up easily. There was no point in hiding, the fucker could see through walls. There was nothing you could do except panic internally, and hope that maybe Billy and the others knew about this conundrum.

Before you had another second to think, heavy footsteps echoed down the hall, eventually stopping in front of your apartment door. You stood in the centre of your apartment, debating whether or not to open the door and atop that horrendous knocking, or answering Billy’s distress call on your laptop. If you made a run for your laptop, he would know. There was no doubt that the son of a bitch was using his x-ray vision to watch you sweat. He was probably reviling in the fact that he had caught you, and that there was nowhere for you to go. Regretfully and hesitantly, you moved towards the door, steadying your breath before throwing it open. You swallowed thickly as your gaze met Homelander’s blue hues, as he stared down at you with that stupid fake Hollywood smile of his. With his hands braced on his hips in that cliche superhero stance, he pointed accusingly at you, trying to keep up his heroic image as a crowd began to gather in the hall. “You, are one hard person to find Miss L/n...” he began, laughing mockingly as the crowd gathered around your apartment door.

Your eyes flickered around the crowd, some tenants you recognised, others you didn’t. Biting your lips nervously, your shrugged your shoulders as calmly and nonchalantly as you could. “I like to keep it that way...” you responded confidently, holding his gaze despite your growing fear “to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”. Homelander grinned, and without saying a word, he pushed past you into your apartment, his eagle shoulder pad deliberately knocking you out of the way. You clenched your jaw, giving the gathered crowd one last warning glare before slamming the door in their faces. You heard several muffled shouts, and hushed voice talking. What could Homelander possibly want with her? What makes her so special?

“So, you are The Watcher?” He spoke tauntingly, folding his arms intimidatingly over his chest as you turned to face him. Pressing your lips into a thin line, you nodded slowly, your eyes landing on your laptop screen once again. Billy was still trying to contact you, and it was by sheer dumb luck that the tyrant in front of you didn’t notice. Homelander’s eyes narrowed, glowing a faint red as he approached “You know, you’ve done a very bad thing...” he spoke lowly, moving so close to you that your back hit your apartment door with a loud thump. Homelander could hear your heart beating rapidly in your chest, though your breath came out even and slow. “I want back what you stole from Vought International, now” he growled stepping closer so that there was barely any space left between you. You looked up at the superhero in front of you with a shrug of your shoulders, slipping out of that small space and making your way over to your laptop.

“Sorry, but I don’t have it anymore...” you responded blatantly, pressing the ‘decline’ button to Billy’s call. Homelander’s eyes returned to their normal blue out of shock, as he turned to face you bewilderedly. You leaned against the desk beside your laptop, your head tilted to the side in an almost carefree nature. In a matter a seconds, your demeanour had changed entirely. How? You were just terrified of him...he could hear your heart beating like crazy. “I’m sorry, what?...” he asked in disbelief “where is it then?”. “It’s long gone by now, The Boy’s probably have it now, so I don’t think you’ll be getting it back anytime soon”. How dare you. He was Homelander, the world’s greatest superhero, how dare you, a mere human speak to him this way. Downplaying your words, you watched as Homelander’s expression darkened, before he used his superhuman speed to suddenly appear before you in a burst of wind. You released a sharp cry as Homelander gripped your forearm, using his superhuman strength to apply agonising pressure to your limb. You winced, tears flowing freely from your eyes as he leaned forward, his breath ghosting the shell of your ear.

“I’ve changed my mind, I don’t even want the information anymore...” he began, tightening his grip which made you release a pained cry “I just want Billy Butcher. Now, I know you have contact with him. If you don’t tell me where he is in the next five seconds, I’m going to break your arm”. You shrieked, trying to pry your arm from his grip to no avail. “Five..” Homelander began, slowly squeezing your arm “four-”

“I don’t know where he is! I’m telling the truth!” “I don’t believe you, three...” He continued, as you screamed for him to let you go. You squirmed, you kicked, you tried anything and everything to get him to let go. “Two...” he whispered tauntingly, no doubt enjoying your pain. You were panicking by now. What could you do? What could you say to get him to believe you? “STOP! He comes by my apartment at random times of the day and night. There isn’t a set schedule, that’s all I know I swear!”. Silence enveloped the apartment, the only sound heard was your soft cries as the pain in your forearm became unbearable. But just like that, it disappeared as Homelander released you from his hold. You collapsed to the floor of your apartment, sobbing quietly as you held your arm to your chest. Through your tearful gaze, you could already see your arm starting to bruise, the vibrant red slowly turning to a deep purple.

Heavy footsteps approached as Homelander knelt down before you. Cupping the side of your face with his gloved hand, he lifted your head up to meet his gaze. With a small victorious smile, he spoke authoritatively “Then how about you and I make a little arrangement. I’ll stop by at random times of the day and night as well, that way, I’m bound to catch him at some point right? And when I do, I’ll kill you to set an example. How does that sound?”. You said nothing as Homelander stood up, his touch lingering as a silent promise to his threat. “Oh, and I forgot...” he called out, turning to face you with a smirk “Don’t even think about warning him, I’ll know” he continued, motioning to his ears in reference to his superhuman hearing before walking through your apartment door. As he disappeared through the adoring crowd still gathered outside, you began to sob loudly.

You had never been more terrified in your life. Your arm still hurt like hell as you trudged towards your phone, which had been vibrating non-stop the entire time. There were five missed calls from Billy, and about seven texts, all of them containing a stunning variety of swear words which you didn’t know existed.

‘Answer me damn it, fucking hell woman. What’s going on over there?’

Your hands trembled as you replied, your breath uneven as your heart thundered in your ears.

‘Not safe to talk. He knows’.

#homelander x reader #homelander #homelander imagine #the boys x reader #the boys #the boys imagine #antony starr

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hopeshoodie · 3 years

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Part 7 of my Pros and Cons of dating the different islanders (yes I’m finally coming back to this :P)

Gary

Cons

He doesn’t have a whole lot of thoughts about things that he’s not actively excited or annoyed by, and he doesn’t really feign interest. If MC buys a new top, or is invested in a new show, or anything that Gary doesn’t really care about, he’ll really disinterestedly say “that’s cool babe,” and make her feel like it’s unimportant. He’s not patronizing/embarrassing her on purpose, he just doesn’t have a lot of tact. You would have to really talk to him and work with him to get him out of this habit, because he doesn’t see how it’s hurtful or care that much to change.

He gets really defensive. If you call him out on his behavior or point out how he’s really stubborn, he’ll argue with you without really considering if his behavior is bad. Arguments with Gary suck because it gets to a point where he’s not hearing you and will just say “whatever” and refuse to engage. The best way to change Gary’s behavior is some pavlovian shit- you need to offer positive reinforcement without him really noticing. When he communicates really well, shower him with affection. When he picks up after himself, tell him how much you appreciate it.

He’s very willing to walk away from things that challenge him instead of trying to grow as a person. We saw that with him and Lottie- whenever she or MC offered valid criticism of his behavior he would just walk away. That applies to most areas of his life- if he tries a new hobby and isn’t good at it immediately he’ll drop it. He doesn’t really like trying new things or going to new places, and if something challenges his worldview he’s more likely to ignore it than engage.

I’ve said this already but he buys MC heart shaped jewelry and pandora charm bracelets...

Gary’s a lad. While he doesn’t intend to hurt anyone’s feelings, he never really engaged with social justice issues and he hasn’t done the work needed to be anti-racist. He’ll laugh along to sexist, racist, homophobic, and ableist jokes without really thinking about the implication. He’s loath to call anyone out. If MC points out ‘hey that thing you/your friend said is hurtful,” he’ll get defensive and say “why are you ruining a good time? It was just a joke” If MC sits down and explains to him how the things he says are actively hurting her, he’ll internalize that and not do it. But he’s really hesitant to say the same to other people- he doesn’t want to ‘ruin the mood’ and get made fun of for being ‘PC’.

Gary’s super dense. He doesn’t really pick up hints very well, so MC needs to explicitly tell him “I need you to compliment this dress” or “we haven’t gone on a proper date in awhile and I’m feeling undesired, can we go out for dinner tomorrow?” I firmly believe that the reason Gary tolerated all of Lottie’s passive aggressiveness was because he didn’t pick up on it, so MC needs to be direct.

He doesn’t appreciate all the effort it takes to get all dolled up, even though he loves it when MC goes all out. I know he SAYS he doesn’t like high maintenance women, but in canon when given the choice between Hannah (seemingly low maintenance) and Marisol (very outgoing and done up), he chooses the higher-maintenance option. Every woman he dated on the show was a glam kind of girl- MC, Lottie, Marisol. So while he loves when MC has a full face and outfit done, he complains about how long it takes her and how she always sneaks away for touch ups during the night. He’s one of those dudes who is like “wow you’re so pretty without makeup” but you’re literally wearing foundation, contour, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, blush- he thinks the difference between makeup and not wearing any makeup is red lipstick. This is super annoying because MC puts a lot of effort into her look only for him to downplay that effort but still enjoy the results.

Building off of the above, Gary severely underestimates how much effort it takes to do “domestic work” like cooking, cleaning, and administrating for the household (I imagine pre-MC he forgets to do the basics like renew licenses, register to vote, schedule appointments, etc). So if MC points out how she spent the whole day cleaning, he’ll be like “that seems a bit much? You just cleaned the kitchen?” and doesn’t really get it until MC breaks down “I swept and washed the floor, I disinfected the dishwasher, I ran cleaners through the sink link, I cleaned out and organized the fridge, I dusted and sanitized the chandelier, I organized the spice drawer, I wiped out the cabinets…” He’s not really motivated to learn how to clean or do laundry or cook.

He doesn’t communicate. This is canon- he doesn’t tell Lottie where his head is at in the game, he strings Lottie and Hannah along, and he doesn’t reassure MC when other girls are clearly cracking on with him. So most of the problems in a relationship with Gary come from MC not knowing what he wants and him never initiating emotionally vulnerable conversations.

He’s not going to do well if MC needs to travel a lot for work, and he’s not going to move to live with her. Even after his nan dies, I don’t see him leaving Chatham. So if moving to a new place is important to you, this is a dealbreaker.

Pros

If something goes really wrong, he’ll never do the same thing twice. This applies to physical mistakes as well as emotional- if he forgets to wear eye protection and gets sawdust in his eyes, he’ll be religious about wearing glasses from them on. If he forgets a birthday or anniversary and makes MC cry, he will be SO diligent from then on about remembering dates. On that thought, he HATES seeing MC cry. He will move heavens and earth to stop whatever’s upsetting her or fix it.

Hugs and cuddling from Gary? So comforting. He just has that vibe, like he’s a really good cuddler. Not to mention that he’s really good at the nasty in canon, so it would stand to reason………

All of that internalized masculinity has an upside- he wants to take care of his family. He’s on top of all the ‘masculine’ caretaking stuff like buying a home, maintaining the landscaping, fixing the tires on the vehicles, shoveling, fixing stuff up around the house, managing the cable/internet/tech. Which is nice because I hate doing those things, but also I’m absolutely teaching him how to do laundry and pick up after himself.

Gary is SO calm in emergency situations. I have this headcanon for Rahim too, but the more panicked those around them get, the calmer they are. Especially in situations where they’ve prepared/considered before like tornadoes or floods. They’re not the kind of guys who take the lead normally, but in these super dire situations they find it in them to take over and calm everyone else down. I can see him having a lowkey stockpile of food, an emergency first aid kit, and a go-bag.

I know people don’t like this headcanon, but too bad. Gary is catholic. That’s the law. Sorry I don’t make the rules. That’s not so much of a pro for me, an atheist nihilist lesbian, but I can recognize a religious man has a certain amount of charm. He has a close knit community, is super consistent about attending services, and has a certain level of taking morals really seriously. He definitely donates a fair bit to charity and is always the one saying “love thy neighbor” when people are being shitty.

Gary’s spontaneous, but in a controlled way. He very much likes his routine and respects MC’s need for consistency. But periodically he’ll just be like “we have nothing planned for today- want to go rent a paddleboat?” or he’ll pick up flowers “just because”. If MC and he are going on a vacation, he much prefers to only plan 1 or 2 things to do a day and then once they’re in the place see interesting things and suggest ‘let’s do that’. He’ll do really thoughtful stuff like text MC if she has anything planned for dinner then randomly bring her favorite restaurant food home. Thursday nights are date nights!! Doing formal ‘dress up nice and go to a proper dinner date without the kids and movie’ is really important to him.

Gary’s a really good dad. Like yeah he has a lot to learn about not telling his son to ‘stop crying’ and not telling his daughter ‘no boys until you’re married’, but he genuinely wants the best for them. He’s really supportive of their hobbies/sports/interests, and will happily pay for summer camp/field trips/conventions. He might not ‘get it’ all the time, but he’ll smile and nod.

He gets a lot of delight out of really little things. If his kid draws something for him, he’ll pin it to the fridge and smile at it every time he sees it without fail. If MC says she likes a certain shirt on him, he’ll triple the amount of times he wears it. He keeps the bird feeders outside their dining room window full, because he can happily sit with a cup of coffee and watch the birds for hours. It truly is the little things.

He’s really good at remembering MC’s favorite things, or even things she mentioned liking once. This is to the point where it’s a bit confusing. MC will compliment Gary’s nan on her christmas poinsettias one year, then two years later Gary buys a ton of poinsettias and is like “I thought you loved poinsettias” and not be able to remember why he thought that. So MC has to be careful with fake compliments, because Gary cannot tell the difference. But that’s still, like, super endearing and nice of him.

There’s a few LIs that I feel like could get bored in a long-term relationship. I can see Lucas, Felix, and Rahim feeling like they’re ‘falling out of love’ when the intensity of a new relationship fades and they struggle to settle into domesticity. Gary is NOT one of them. He’s one of those “I fall in love with you more every single day” kind of guys. As MC gains weight/ages, he’ll insist “you age like a fine wine” and “I like you more with meat on your bones”. He’ll insist to their kids that “your mom is the most beautiful woman on earth”. Gary was built for long-term relationships.

#pros and cons #headcanons

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voidstilesplease · 3 years

Text

In light of a recent discovery, here's another demigod au ficlet :)

---

It's not that Theo is jealous, he's not, but it's getting annoying how closely Stiles is studying the head counselor for cabin seven, Apollo's cabin: Brett.

They're gathered around the nightly bonfire, passing chocolates and roasted marshmallows, as they listen to Brett playing the lyre. The instrument is a gift from Lord Hermes to Brett after a fruitful quest (just as Hermes gifted the first lyre to his brother Apollo to appease the sun god of the former's thievery - yes, Stiles, Theo listens to your lectures, thank you). Brett plays the instrument well, and he carries a decent tune to accompany it, all right, but there's no need to stare at his fingers on the strings, is there? It's starting to get to Theo's nerves, honestly.

When Stiles absently takes the s'mores that Theo hands to him, Theo snaps. "What's so captivating about Brett?" He tries to sound curious, but he can't mask the edge on his voice that gives him away entirely. "You've seen him play with instruments before."

Stiles sends him a curious glance, picking up on Theo's tone and then back to Brett's performance. He takes a bite of his treat, smearing the corners of his lips with sticky mallows and graham crumbs. "The strings are glowing, idiot," Stiles says without heat.

Theo scowls at the name-calling but reaches out to clean the smudges from Stiles's face anyway. Stiles mutters a soft thanks and gives Theo a small smile before carrying on with his observation.

When Theo begrudgingly turns and watches Brett strumming the lyre, there are indeed different colors glowing from the instrument as the Apollo boy plays. And if Theo pays a closer look, there's also a pattern to these colors. He huffs. Of course, Stiles will be distracted by this. Something is gleaming, and it has hypothetical value he can obsess about later. Stiles is a goner.

So, his boyfriend is not, in fact, watching Brett or his fingers. But he's still paying Theo no notice, which is the pressing matter here.

"Are you going to be distracted the whole night?" Theo says through gritted teeth.

That makes Stiles drag his gaze back on Theo, squinting his eyes at his boyfriend. The orange firelight from the bonfire dances in his brown eyes as Stiles's mouth turns up in a playful smile, "You're so clingy,"

Theo's answer is a loud scoff. He swivels away, the fire burning just a little more on his marshmallow, detaching it from the stick to plop uselessly on the ground. Theo swears under his breath.

Stiles scoots closer to him, stuffing his food into his mouth and brushing the crumbs off his fingers. He slides an arm around Theo and pulls him close. Stiles props his chin on Theo's left shoulder and grins up at him, immediately forgetting the lyre. Theo continues to glare, dropping a small kiss on top of Stiles's nose before he reminds himself that he's annoyed. Theo still grumbles when he impales another marshmallow on his stick. "Next thing, you'll be asking Brett to teach you how to play it."

Stiles snorts, nuzzling the side of Theo's neck. Stiles is not the most openly-affectionate person, but on the rare occasions he is, Theo takes everything he can. Stiles swallows his food, smiling lopsidedly, "Are you saying I can't learn it myself?"

Theo rolls his eyes.

The reaction earns him a chuckle. "Anyway," Stiles says, turning to the bonfire. "It's just good music, Theo. Brett's dad is a professional singer, so that's why even his singing is not abysmal."

"Is that what 'god of music' is downplayed to now? A professional."

"No, not Apollo, obviously," Stiles sends him a flat look. "I mean his human dad."

Theo pauses, staring at Stiles, uncomprehending.

Stiles catches the confusion on his face after a moment and arches a brow, "What?"

"You said 'his human dad',"

A short nod, "Yeah,"

"I don't understand."

Stiles straightens, "Wait. You didn't know? Of course, you didn't. You're wearing your dumb look."

Theo glowers for the heck of it, "I don't have a dumb look,"

"You do too," Stiles tells him. "But yes. Brett is an offspring of a male god and a male mortal," he says it as if it is common knowledge. It isn't.

It's not adding up inside Theo's head at all. It's like Stiles is speaking in gibberish, and the gears in his brain are creaking in an effort to translate. "How," he breathes out after a while. "How is that even possible?"

Stiles turns to him, unimpressed, and shakes his head. "I swear you forget you're half a divinity sometimes."

"But it's not-" Theo sputters, wanting to say it's not possible, but of course, it is. Almost everything is possible with the gods. He thought that going two years in this demigod business that nothing will surprise him anymore. But then information like this knocks him back to square one. He finishes with a loud exhale, eyes wide and in utter disbelief. "He doesn't have a mom? That's very weird." Theo manages to croak out.

Stiles whips his head sharply at that statement, narrowing his eyes dangerously. "I resent that," he says. "You saying that about Brett is insulting me too, you know, considering how I came to be."

Theo feels another breath is about to be punched out of him, "What do you mean?" His voice is embarrassingly panicked and desperate. "You have a mom,"

"Yeah, but do you remember who my mother is?"

Theo is almost offended, "Athena! The goddess of battle-" he cuts midsentence, realization dawning on his features. Stiles is merely raising his eyebrows, giving him time. Theo shakes his head, feeling a headache creeping upon him. "She's a virgin goddess." Lifting his head to seek Stiles's eyes, he flails with his one hand, a very Stiles gesture that he's quickly adapting, especially in stressful situations. "Then how-"

As Theo lets his question hang, Stiles shrugs, "I guess we never discussed this. But do you, at least, remember the tale of how my mother was born?"

"Zeus lusted after Metis, a Titaness and a goddess of wisdom, prudence, and deep thought. She was Zeus' first wife, but when she was pregnant with their first child, an oracle of Gaea prophesied that Metis' first child would be a girl and that her second child would be a boy that would overthrow Zeus, similarly to what had happened to his father and grandfather. Zeus took this warning to heart, so the next time he saw Metis, Zeus swallowed her and her unborn child.

After a time, Zeus developed an unbearable headache, which made him scream out of pain so loudly that the entire world heard it. The other gods came to see what the problem was. Hermes realized what had to happen and directed Hephaestus to take a wedge and split open Zeus's skull. Out of the head sprang Athena, fully grown and in a full set of armor. Due to the way of her birth, she became the goddess of intelligence and wisdom." [x]

Theo blinks at Stiles. Stiles blinks right back.

There's a quiet tension between them as Stiles waits for Theo to speak. Then, dully, Theo says, "You did not spring out of Athena's skull."

Stiles, for his part, looks a little bit sheepish, at least. He gestures at his siblings nearby, confirming, "We all did."

Theo doesn't know how long he gapes, but one thing is for sure: he'll never see Stiles the same way again. He's dating a literal brainchild - a gift. It's part astonishing and part ludicrous. And Theo thinks he just fell in love again.

He sits on the log, unmoving and stunned that he doesn't notice his marshmallow falling off of his stick again.

Theo feels a nudge from his right, prompting him to move. He snaps his mouth shut and turns, still in a slight daze, to see Boyd, son of Hephaestus, procuring a screwdriver from the magical tool belt around his hips. It's enough to clear his head, and Theo takes the object and looks at it uncertainly, "What's this for?"

Boyd smirks, making a twirling gesture with his finger, pointing at his temple. "So you can fix the loose screws in your head,"

Stiles doubles over in laughter at his side.

•••

Sometime later:

"So, does this mean we can have a child coming out of your skull, too?"

Theo barely misses Stiles's dagger.

~•~

#steo #steo au #steo fic #teen wolf #demigod au #stiles stilinski #theo raeken #just fluff #word count: 1420 #teen wolf demigod au series #fics tag #lmao I just couldn't get this out of my head 🤣#demigodseries

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hurricanery · 3 years

Text

a million ways

A/N: So I know I was supposed to be posting the first part of a multi-chapter AU with amelink as interns next, but I got distracted with this idea from another prompt I saw. I also want to have more chapters planned out before I start posting that AU one! So here’s something else for now- feedback and prompts always welcome! Thanks so much for all the support it truly means a lot :)

_______

There are a million different ways to tell someone you love them without actually saying the three words ‘i love you.’

Amelia and Link utilize several of these alternative ways before they realize what their words and actions actually mean.

_______

1) “Text me when you get home okay”

Amelia laughs in disbelief as she checks her phone. A voicemail from Meredith lets her know that her ride home from the airport has just fallen through. And of course Meredith would tell her this last minute.

This small inconvenience would normally bother her a lot more, but for some reason, her mood had significantly improved over the weekend. She’d even been sat next to an overly-chatty passenger on her flight home from San Diego, and usually that would put her over the edge, too. But, something about her weekend at the conference had undoubtedly affected her outlook.

Maybe it was the fact that she’d run into a particular coworker at said conference. Maybe she’d been impressed by his knowledge of alternative pain relief methods. Maybe it was the fact that they’d flirted all weekend.

Or maybe it was the rebound sex.

Yeah, that was definitely it, Amelia thinks to herself as she walks through the Seattle airport, a smile subconsciously adorning her face.

She makes her way outside of the airport, rolling her luggage behind her, and pulls her phone out of her pocket to attempt getting a cab.

“Dr. Shepherd?” An inquisitive voice gets her attention and her head snaps up to meet it.

Link is standing right in front of her. Equally inquisitive blue eyes match the tone of his voice. Amelia only falters for a moment before her brain seems to catch up to her.

“We slept together less than 24 hours ago and you’re referring to me as ‘Dr. Shepherd’...?” she mutters quietly, smirking at him.

He laughs sheepishly in response, rubbing at the back of his neck and nodding his head in agreement. “Amelia…” he continues, matching her smirk. “Were we....on the same flight home?”

“It seems that way.”

“Well,” he smiles, “I just got a cab, you want to share?”

Amelia nods quickly. “Actually yeah, Mer was supposed to pick me up, but she cancelled.” She looks up at him, and for some reason the eye contact is making her heart flutter. She tries to suppress it. “So, yeah. That’d be great.”

Link stores their luggage in the trunk of the cab and they both settle into the backseat. His apartment is slightly further out of the way, so Meredith’s house is the first stop for drop off.

Amelia tries to restrain a huge smile as Link gets out of the car and lifts her luggage out for her. “Thank you,” she murmurs as he sets it down in front of her on the driveway.

Link just smiles in response. He moves to get back into the cab and some sort of feeling dawns on Amelia. Somewhere between concern and care.

Link almost shuts the car door before Amelia quickly steps forward.

“Link, wait!”

He pauses, hand on the door handle, and looks up at her incredulously.

“Uh,” she pauses. Racking her brain for reasons she’d just stopped him. The sudden anxiousness over Link’s journey home doesn’t make sense to her at all.

Link’s eyebrows furrow in question as he watches Amelia try to make sense of what she’s feeling.

“Just….text me when you get home okay.” Amelia has no idea why she says this or where the sentiment is even coming from.

A smile grows wide across Link’s face at her words. He chuckles.

“What?” she laughs, blushing. Not at all understanding her own words or actions. “Just let me know you got home, alright?”

“Okay, Amelia. Will do.”

“Okay.”

Link shakes his head slowly in amusement as he closes the door and Amelia watches as the cab pulls away down Meredith’s street.

_______

2) “It reminded me of you”

They start seeing each other a lot more often. They work cases together. They have surgeries together. They even fly out to New York together for a particularly ground-breaking case. And all the while, their friends-with-benefits situation progresses.

Link even manages to meet some of her family. In a twisted scenario that includes Amelia attempting to make her family believe she’s still married to Owen, Link ends up witnessing some pretty personal details of Amelia’s life.

But Amelia remains convinced that the relationship between them is very surface-level.

Amelia is in a particularly good mood on this Monday morning. As she walks into the hospital, she notices the new coffee shop across the street is having it’s grand opening. And she decides to treat herself.

She places an order for a latte and while she waits for her drink to be made, she browses the cafe and all it has to offer. She’s particularly captivated by the variety of donuts displayed behind the glass-encased shelving behind the counter.

Amelia doesn’t know why she does it, she’s not even that hungry, but the idea of a box of donuts excites her. And the next thing she knows, she’s asking the woman behind the counter to add a dozen donuts to her order.

When she walks into the attendings lounge a few minutes later, she’s immediately relieved to see Link.

“Hey,” she grins. “Happy Monday.”

“Hey,” he smiles back, equally happy to see her.

She lifts the box of donuts into his view “Want one?”

“You got donuts?!”

Amelia bites her lip, laughing at his ability to get so excited over food.

“Yeah,” she responds. “The coffee shop across the street just opened. I just went in for a latte but then I saw these and-,”

She opens the lid to reveal a dozen glazed donuts.

“It reminded me of you,” she murmurs, surprised by her own words. She instantly attempts to downplay what she had just admitted. “So anyway, here’s to a sugar high to start your Monday off right.”

If any sort of reaction appears across Link’s face, it’s only for a moment.

He reaches in and grabs a donut, finishing it off in two bites, much to Amelia’s amusement. She eats one too, trying to suppress her laughter as Link impressively goes in for a second one.

_______

3) “Put your seatbelt on”

It’s the first snowfall of winter in Seattle and Amelia and Link both happen to be working the night shift. It’s around 5am when Link wraps up his last surgery and goes to find Amelia in the on-call room.

She’s dozing off in the dark room when he enters.

“Hey,” he mutters, approaching the bed. He shakes her shoulder gently. “You want a ride home?”

Amelia sits up slowly. “Mhm,” she mumbles.

When they get out to the parking lot, there’s so much snow they almost can’t find Link’s car. It’s still dark outside, the sun not yet rising, and they walk carefully through the lot until they see it.

Link opens the passenger side door for Amelia to get in and warm up while he shovels the snow off the car. When he finishes up and climbs into the driver’s side, he turns to Amelia and notices she’s dozed off again. He smiles to himself as he begins to drive.

The roads are slick and Link drives slowly down the main road. He curses to himself over the traffic, the road too busy for 5am.

Out of nowhere, the car drives over an unseen patch of ice, and Link loses control of the steering wheel. The car slides into the other lane quickly, and Link subconsciously reaches a protective hand out toward Amelia as he slams on the brakes. He gains control of the car again but slows down immensely.

The force of the moment causes Amelia to rouse from sleep. She sits up slightly, and that’s when Link notices.

Anger flashes through him hot and fast.

“Amelia!” he practically shouts, panicked by another slippery part of the road. “Amelia, put your seatbelt on!”

Amelia takes a moment to adjust to being awake, realizing her surroundings. “Shit,” she mumbles, “Okay…” She slowly pulls the seatbelt across her chest, clicking it into place and then staring ahead of her at the dangerous road ahead.

The car swerves unwillingly once more and Amelia grips her seat. She turns to Link, who has now gone red in the face out of anger and panic. “Dammit,” he mutters.

Silence falls between them as Link concentrates completely on the road. They are only about a mile from Meredith’s house, but at this rate, it was going to take them twenty minutes to get there.

Link sighs heavily, pulling Amelia’s attention once more. “What were you thinking?!” he mutters angrily. “Why wasn’t your seatbelt on?”

She blinks, pausing. “I...I’m sorry. I was asleep before you started driving. I didn’t even realize-”

“You should have had it on!” He cuts her off, voice raised again.

Amelia looks at him in disbelief. Completely taken aback by his reaction.

“Link, I-”

“Forget it, I’m sorry,” he mutters, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

“It’s on now,” Amelia whispers assuringly, gesturing toward the seatbelt and staring back ahead at the road.

“It’s on now,” Link repeats, more to himself.

Amelia looks at him, noticing his features begin to relax a bit.

“It’s on now,” he says again. “You’re okay.”

_______

4) “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you”

When Amelia finishes up a consult in the pit, she notices Link standing near the nurse’s station. She tries not to think about the instant smile that spreads across her face at the sight of him.

“Hi!” she approaches him.

“Well, hi,” he greets her. “How’s your day?”

“Good,” she grins, “uneventful….I was going to grab lunch in a bit. Want to join me?”

“Uhm,” he pauses, a weird look on his face. “I can’t today. I’ve got a thing.”

Amelia frowns at his sudden indifference.

“Rain check?” he offers, trying to seem upbeat.

“Sure,” she mumbles.

“Alright,” Link exclaims, setting down his tablet at the nurse’s station. “I’ve gotta go, I’ll see you later?”

Amelia frowns, watching Link turn away from her and toward the hallway.

“Wait, Link!” she calls after him, following him. “Your ‘thing’ is now?”

He stops in the empty hallway outside of the ER. “Yeah and I should really get going, I’m going to be late.” He smiles reassuringly. But it doesn’t work on Amelia.

“Wait, stop. What’s this thing?”

Link sighs, pausing again. “It’s just an appointment.”

“An appointment?” Amelia frowns, concerned.

Link just stares at her for a moment, before he explains. “It’s just a scan, Amelia. I get them once a year.”

“A scan?” she repeats, trying to catch up with her own thoughts.

Link just smiles at her again, gripping her shoulders comfortingly. “Yes, Amelia. That’s what happens when you beat cancer as a kid….You still have to go back in to make sure everything’s….still good. It’s just a regular checkup. Come on, you know that.”

Amelia nods. Yes, she knows that. But, for some reason she’s currently filled with dread. She smiles through the feeling. “Okay, go. Go. Don’t be late. I’ll see you later!”

_______

Later that night, Amelia stays over at Link’s apartment. The appointment went well. Nothing to be concerned about. But for some reason, Amelia is wide awake. A nagging feeling fills her chest as she stares up at the ceiling, Link snoring softly next to her.

She rolls into his side, nuzzling her face into his neck until he stirs awake.

“Hm?” he mumbles sleepily. Waiting until his eyes adjust. When they do, piercing blue eyes are staring into his. “What time is it?”

Amelia glances at the clock behind him. “2:30.”

“Why are you awake?”

Silence.

“Link,” Amelia breathes, and her voice is laced with vulnerability. “Will you let me know ahead of time, the next time you have an appointment?”

Link just stares at her in question.

“Amelia,” he speaks slowly, “what’s going on.”

“I just-” Even Amelia can hear her own voice falter as she speaks. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“Oh, Amelia,” Link gasps, pulling her into him and squeezing her against his chest. “Everything is fine. Nothing bad is going to happen.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I know that for now.”

Silence falls between them again and Link starts to think Amelia has fallen asleep.

“Just tell me next time,” she whispers eventually.

Link rubs her back up and down comfortingly. “I will.”

_______

5) “I wanted to make sure you’re okay”

Link overhears it from an intern in the gallery. That ‘Dr. Shepherd had to leave in the middle of surgery,’ that she ‘almost threw up in the OR,’ that it was most likely ‘food poisoning.’

Link frowns as he listens to the interns gossip. He pulls his phone out to send a quick text to Amelia to check in.

He doesn’t hear back for an hour.

When an hour turns into two he decides to just drive over to Meredith’s when his shift ends.

When he gets there, Maggie answers the door. She lets him in and Link immediately makes his way to Amelia’s room. He knocks briefly before peeking his head in. Amelia rests back against the headboard, eyes opening as he makes his entrance.

“Hey,” she croaks, “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to make sure you’re okay,” he states, taking in her appearance. Pale skin and dark circles under her eyes. She doesn’t look great. “You didn’t answer my text.”

“I’m sorry,” she mumbles. “I have such a bad headache I can’t even look at my phone.”

Link frowns, sitting on the end of her bed, near her feet.

“You think you have the flu? Or food poisoning or something?”

“Yeah, or something,” she mutters, trying to keep her eyes open.

“Okay,” Link thinks, “Can I get you anything? I’ll go to the store, what do you need?”

“Um,” she pauses. “I can’t think of anything I need right now.”

“Okay, well I’ll just go see what I can find. And I’ll check with Maggie, too.”

Amelia just hums at him appreciatively.

_______

Link re-enters Amelia’s bedroom an hour later.

“Alright,” he exclaims cheerfully. “So I went to the pharmacy. I got you ginger ale and anti-nausea,” he starts pulling items out of the grocery bag. “Advil for your head,” he continues.

Amelia smiles up at him as he starts setting the items down on her bedside table.

“Oh!” he laughs as he pulls the last item out. “And tampons for Maggie.”

Amelia’s eyes widen briefly at the mention of tampons. Link stares back at her. “What? Did I forget something?”

“No, no,” Amelia quickly responds, but Link notices the brief panic she’d tried to hide. “Thanks for getting all of that.”

_______

6) “I brought you breakfast”

When Amelia tells Link she’s pregnant, it happens quickly. In a rush. A passing moment in the stairwell.

It’s a shock to both of them. But, Link’s immediate concern is Amelia. How she’s dealing with it. He can tell it’s not quite real to her yet, like she’s still processing it. And he wants to be as supportive to her as he can be.

So while Amelia does what she can to process, Link does what he can to help. No matter the outcome of the situation, and what Amelia decides, he wants to be there for her in the moment.

So he starts with breakfast.

“I brought you breakfast,” he greets her as he walks into the lab.

Amelia groans.

“You have surgery in an hour, Amelia. You need to eat something.”

“I can’t keep anything down.”

Link sighs. He reaches to rest his hand on her shoulder and she avoids the contact completely. He frowns at this. “Here,” he pushes forward. “Drink some water first. Then maybe a power bar in like 20 minutes?”

Amelia lets a small smile play at her lips as he passes her a water bottle.

A few hours later he brings her a snack. This time he finds her headed to the ER and he stops her, handing her a banana and another water bottle.

Amelia rolls her eyes. “Stop doing this.”

“Stop avoiding it.”

They stubbornly hold eye contact for a moment before she finally takes the snack from his hands. She gives him a smirk before she turns away from him, continuing toward the ER.

“Amelia!” he calls after her, “I’m ready to talk later if you are!”

_______

7) “A little bit in love” / “I think I’m in love with you”

It takes time before the sentiment is actually spoken out loud. And even so, it isn’t fully realized. When Amelia says it for the first time, she tells Link not to say it back.

There’s a lot that factors into Amelia’s decision about the pregnancy. She’s riddled with anxiety and self-doubt when she opens up to Link about Christopher. She isn’t expecting Link’s reaction. And she especially isn’t expecting his words.

He says things that make her feel less scared. And “a little bit in love.”

And she pleads with him not to say it back.

_______

“I think I’m in love with you.”

Link does say it back. But it’s not a surprise. Because they’ve been saying it for so long without actually saying it.

“And I know you said not to say it back, but it’s not something I feel very often.”

Their light-hearted ‘gravity blanket’ situation had suddenly taken a more serious turn and Amelia, focusing her eyes on the ceiling above as she lay across Link’s chest, begins to realize just how much they have been saying lately.

She listens carefully as Link embarks on a similar realization. And she knows she doesn’t have to say it back. Not in those three words. Because there’s a million different ways to say ‘i love you.’

And they’ve both been saying it the whole time.

So this time, she settles for “okay,” and she places her hands on top of Link’s as they come to rest across the slowly forming curve in her waist.

There are a million different ways to tell someone you love them. Link and Amelia intended to try every possible way.

#amelink #amelia shepherd #atticus lincoln #maggie pierce #greys anatomy #greys anatomy fanfic #amelinkfic #amelinkfanfiction #amelink fanfic #amelia x link #my writing #grey’s anatomy

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codename-mango · 3 years

Text

Clarice's Story - Season 2

I recently finished Clarice's canon route in Season 2, and I'm currently replaying Season 3 to give myself a refresher on Seb and nail down the details of Clarice's story in that Season. So this will have a Part 2, but I want to write out the decisions made that ultimately led to The Least Satisfying Ending of Season 2™, and the reasons behind them that are informed by her past and personality. I know I care more about this than literally anyone, but I'm doing it anyway. So let's get started!

Before the Villa

Raised by Ursula, a famous actress with Antisocial Personality Disorder. She was very loving to Clarice, but wanted her to grow a hard shell like she did.

Ursula gets a participation trophy in parenting for trying her best, but alas, Clarice has severe anxiety that she can't properly express.

Didn't have any friends before going on the show.

Clarice applied for the show with the hope of finding someone nice, though she had very low expectations. She expected all the girls (and fans) to hate her because she went in planning to be ruthless. She was very aware that her mother will be watching, and wanted to make her proud.

Day 1

Friendly to Hope right off the bat - No reason not to be, right?

"I need to look after Number 1." - Clarice isn't underhanded. She tries to be as honest as possible, and this is no exception. The girls need to know where she stands.

"I'm more the quiet and mysterious type." - Outside the Villa, Clarice is much more reserved due to her upbringing.

Picked Noah - He's handsome and doesn't try some cheesy line right off the bat.

Objected to Hope picking him immediately - First day and she's already been screwed over. Her pride is hurt, and she's not going to take this lying down.

Thought Bobby was nice, but there was blatantly no sparks there. He didn't even step forward. She gave him no illusions that she's interested, and flirted with Noah and the other boys at every opportunity. Prioritized grafting over making friends.

However, she welcomed Priya and condemned Lottie for being unnecessarily nasty.

Clarice didn't make any outright enemies except Hope for stealing Noah.

Participated in Lottie's celebration of the Moon - Strategically important to be civil with the girls of course

Day 2

Stayed friendly with Priya, and tried to be with Lottie

Confronted Priya for stealing Bobby - Yeah, she didn't like Bobby herself, but this was the second time she'd had her partner stolen. She was angry and embarrassed.

Day 3

Helped Hannah during breakfast and encouraged her to toughen up - This isn't Friend Island.

Told Rocco to pick her - It wasn't enough to steal Bobby back. She didn't even like him. But there was no chance of getting Noah back from Hope. Rocco was her real second choice on Day 1, and taking him helps her save face.

Told Hannah that Gary won't choose her - She thinks Hannah is totally naive, but has been friendly thus far and respected her couple.

Day 4

"If there's no spark, you've got problems."

Insisted Gary apologizes to Marisol

Grinded on Noah during the Slime Challenge - She's not sure if she's actually interested in him yet, or if she's just trying to piss off Hope.

Spoke up for Priya doing the same thing, and ignores Lottie

Tried to keep the peace between Lottie and Priya, and helps them resolve the issue - It's easier to live in the Villa without needless drama. Clarice's anxiety is hiked up enough as it is.

Day 5

Clarice went down to the pool alone to meet Lucas and Henrik - Why wouldn't she?

While she never cheated on Rocco, she did connect with Lucas like she never had with anyone before. She found him charming and kind and admired his humility despite his obviously posh background.

She definitely suspected Marisol and Rocco having a thing, but hoped he would talk to her about it before acting on it.

Day 6

Clarice was furious about Rocco kissing Marisol during the Kiss and Tell challenge.

She confronted Marisol afterwards, but wasn't aggressive about it. Marisol was by far the girl she's closest to in the Villa at that point. Despite feeling hurt, she wasn't about to ruin the start of a genuine friendship over a man.

Day 7

Worked with Lottie to ice out Rocco, but does agree to speak with him privately.

She was honest about why the girls were upset with him, and unleashed a bit of fury upon him.

Helped Noah win Mr. Love Island - She started to genuinely connect with him and found him very sweet, even though she thought his devotion to Hope was over the top and completely irrational.

Day 8

Extremely worried about the Mean Tweets challenge. She's had more than her fair share of Mean Tweets outside the Villa. She was worried how she came across to the public. She was even worried the producers would throw in one of her mother's.

Oh yeah, Ursula livetweets every episode.

If I had to include one of her tweets in the challenge, it would be:

"It's like Bobby isn't even trying"

She hated that Lucas went home. He was the one person besides Noah that she could see herself having feelings for.

Day 9

Confused by why Lottie wants to get with Gary, but doesn't say anything discouraging. Agrees to not pick him at the next recoupling.

Picked Noah to go on the date - They turn out to have great chemistry, and Clarice was even hopeful that she might be able to choose him at the recoupling.

Clarice fell back on picking Henrik after Hope chose Noah. She didn't see herself with any of the other OG guys.

Day 10

Clarice agreed to work with Priya on Operation Nope - She wanted to be with Noah, and this was the perfect opportunity to really crack on with him. Obviously she knew that Priya fancied him too, but may the best woman win, right?

She didn't tell anyone about ON.

She actually related to Hope acting snappy out of fear, but Hope's insistence on focusing on her rubbed Clarice the wrong way. She tried finding a common ground, and Hope ignored the gesture. She used that as (very poor) justification for...

Clarice kissed Noah. She knew they were having a moment, and went for it. She regretted it after he panicked and left.

Clarice dodged Chelsea's first hug - Why would she want a total stranger touching her without asking?? Though she sort of regrets it in hindsight, because of how close they are now.

"So he's just going to pretend he's innocent then?"

Day 11

She downplayed the severity of Lottie's kiss with Gary - "Hannah only knew him for 3 days." Besides, she's not a hypocrite who would condemn someone else for doing the same thing she did.

Said no to helping Bobby and Marisol resolve the conflicts in the Villa - She didn't trust herself to not make things worse. If things get better, then they'll get better on their own.

Brought Hope the hot chocolate - She knew she was one of the biggest reasons Hope was miserable. They didn't get along, but Clarice never did any of it to hurt Hope. That being said...

She refused to apologize - That's not the kind of woman Ursula raised. She needed to remind herself that she is her Number 1 priority.

Clarice barely interacted with Jakub. He was never her type.

She did apologize to Henrik. She had an obligation to communicate her feelings to him, and didn't. So she apologized. She told him that she fancied Noah and wanted to pursue him, and they broke up.

Bobby was the one to come comfort her and start grafting. She shut it down pretty quickly.

After Marisol asked about it, Clarice told the truth and that she wasn't interested in him. Marisol asked who she is interested in, and she told her Ibrahim just to put a stop to the conversation.

Day 12

Clarice eavesdropped on Noah's conversation with Priya. She was so excited that Noah said he had feelings for her, and that it was all worth it.

No secret of Clarice's was exposed during the Down in Dirt challenge. But if Henrik had opened hers despite her insistence not to, it would've read:

"Clarice was once escorted out of her own great-aunt's pub."

Clarice insisted Priya apologize and make peace with Hope, but refused to back down herself after it came out that Noah wanted to pick her.

"Priya stirring the pot and getting away with it. Can't say I disapprove."

Day 13

Clarice ate the whole cake. Canonically. I don't care, it's one of my favorite parts of the game.

Clarice coupled up with Noah at the Disaster Recoupling.

She was so excited to finally be coupled up with him. She savored every kiss and every touch. That was it for her.

Day 14

Said goodbye to Noah before sneaking off to Casa Amor

The only guy who caught her interest was Kassam, but he clearly wasn't interested, so she never acted on it.

Arjun was basically the leftovers from the other girls, and he seemed like he would be respectful of her space, so Clarice ended up with Arjun for the entirety of Casa Amor. (Even though he didn't give her nearly enough space for her liking.)

Day 15

Clarice didn't volunteer for any extra Villa vs. Villa challenges.

Clarice insisted on remaining loyal to Noah throughout CA.

She enjoyed getting closer to the girls, but was otherwise very reserved.

Day 16

Clarice indulged in Lottie's tea reading, but refused to believe it.

Clarice was shocked by the video the girls received, but still refused to believe Noah would go and sleep with another girl. He wouldn't do that to Hope, and he wouldn't do that to her.

She tried to comfort Hope the rest of the time there. Hope was obviously still upset about the Disaster Recoupling, but she appreciated that Clarice had remained loyal during CA.

Day 17

Clarice spent breakfast with Kassam. She really enjoyed it.

Clarice stuck with Noah.

Day 18

Obviously, Clarice was hurt by Noah bringing back Blake.

Ursula had this to say about Blake's "trying so hard" comment:

"The cheek of this one. Good luck with your career after this, babe."

Looking back, she regards it as karma. Something she deserved.

She didn't really know how to handle it. She kept her distance from Blake as much as possible.

Agreed with Shannon that you get what you deserve in the Villa - She thinks about this conversation often, especially after how she finished the season.

Helped the girls figure out what happened while they were away, and sort of regretted it after...

Noah went back to Hope. Clarice's grievances were ignored and criticized. She was frustrated and hurt.

Clarice saved Elijah from the dumping. She thought maybe she could start to move on from Noah with him.

She said goodbye to Priya, and sort of hated Bobby for letting her be sent home.

She had her first anxiety attack at the Villa that night. Gary and Chelsea were the only ones who knew about it, because they were the ones who stayed up with her until she calmed down.

Day 19

Confided in Chelsea and Shannon that she wished she could've been with Noah

Rather than Shannon teaching her how to read body language, Clarice challenged her to another game of 2 Truths 1 Lie, claiming Ursula raised a perfect liar. (She lost. But Shannon said she should try poker.)

Day 20

Scrambled eggs! It was the only kind Ursula could ever make.

Clarice was nervous about the arrival of Elisa and Jo. Although Jo seemed friendly enough, and Elisa was someone she briefly worked with before.

Didn't agree to talk to Ibrahim for Shannon after the double dates - Shannon needed to talk to him herself. And if he lies, why waste your time with him?

Insisted that Jo be given some space; Defended Chelsea while disagreeing with her actions

Day 21

Had to take multiple breaks from the girls day out - Good lord the fighting was exhausting and nerve-wracking

Helped Hope untangle the mess

Laughed out loud when Jo called her a people pleaser - "I might just be adopted then!"

"A people pleaser! Good on you, love!"

Legitimately almost cried when Chelsea called her amazing??? And when Hope praised her for taking the high road??? She might actually be a good person????

Got the girls to all make up

Cooked 🌟creamy garlic pasta🌟 for the group with Elijah

Started thinking she might have a chance with Noah again

Day 22

Asked Elijah to choose her at the Recoupling - Gave no promises that they'd be the next epic love story

Pining for Noah...

Day 23

Agreed to help Rahim ask Jo to be his girlfriend - Mainly for Noah's sake, because they're best friends

Went shopping with Elijah - Got Jo's nachos, chocolate, and blanked Elijah's flirtations

First pillow fort!

Grinded on Noah's lap during the Heartrate Challenge, then went to Elijah

Went to bed early

Day 24

Excited and relieved to have Lucas back!

Hugged Hannah upon her arrival - Overall, she was proud of Hannah for coming back more willing to get what she wanted.

Named the spider Todd

Reassured Lottie about Hannah

Clarice reassured Elijah after her date, but went up to the terrace and kissed Lucas.

Later at the party, she went back and slept with him. - After he came back, she thought maybe she was finally over Noah. She can be with Lucas and finally be happy in a couple. And she definitely rushed it.

Day 25

She told Elijah everything, and she felt horrible that he was more into her than she was into him.

Confessed to the girls after

Obviously bombed the Happily Ever After challenge

Clarice was left to couple up with Lucas.

Day 26

She was noticeably distant from Lucas - She wrote it off as guilt for cheating with him, though she was still happy to be coupled up with him.

Lottie's snide comments about her cheating made her distance herself from Lottie too.

Became Bra Sisters with Chelsea! And made up a handshake!

Lost the Couple Trouble challenge, so she and Lucas didn't go on the date in the Hideaway

Talking to Gary about his body image and therapy inspired her to go to therapy herself once the show was over. She really related to him when he said this:

Helped Marisol pack - Marisol was still one of her closest friends in the Villa. And she honestly thought it should've been her and Lucas going home.

Day 27

Babies? P A N I C M O D E!!

Clarice does want kids in the future, but doesn't trust herself to not fuck them up.

Very irritated by Lucas's refusal to help with the baby. It stressed her out more than it really needed to, so their unsteady relationship took a hit.

The beach break was a relief. And by the end of it, she was really happy to have made actual friends on the show.

Sent Ibrahim and Jo home - Sure, they're a better couple, but Chelsea is her emotional support bra!

Day 28

Finally got to talk to her mother. She "praised" Clarice for not letting "peer pressure" stop her from getting the guy she really wanted. (It was really a reminder that she still doesn't have him, and she should still go for him. However, what Ursula called peer pressure is what most people consider respecting relationship boundaries.)

Felt awkward talking to Lucas's family

Said no to being his girlfriend at the Final Date - They hadn't been together long enough, and his text conversation with Ursula was fine, but cryptic.

Privately relieved that Noah hadn't asked Hope to be his girlfriend yet

Day 29

Dress shopping was... An experience. She's definitely not unfamiliar with formal wear, but she spent a long time deciding who she should dress for. She ultimately chose a dress she knew Lucas would like.

Hopeless at dancing. She never got any of the steps right.

She tried to be as lighthearted with the speech as possible - She has a hard time opening up, and really, there wasn't many deep feelings to express for him.

Jumped in the pool

Sent Hannah and Elijah home - It was a tough decision, and it came down to Lottie and Gary's relationship being stronger.

Went up to the terrace with Noah, but she decided she was done with him leading her on, struggling to make a decision. She ended it once and for all, as opposed to sleeping with him.

Day 30

Still reeling from the night before

Helped Chelsea make breakfast - She told Chelsea that she wasn't feeling confident in her couple and their chance of winning.

Clarice and Lucas made it all the way to the end, but Noah and Hope won Love Island.

Lucas acted happy to be with Clarice until they went back to the Villa for the After Party. Then, he dumped her. - Clarice was furious, but she felt as though she absolutely deserved it.

Noah decided it would be best if they stayed away from each other.

Clarice told Hannah about what Lucas did, and Hannah promised to give him hell. That solidified their friendship for after the show.

Clarice pulled Chelsea aside, Chelsea nicked a bottle of champagne for them, and confessed everything to her. Her thing with Noah, his lingering looks, the terrace, Lucas acting for the cameras, everything.

Clarice went home with her mother. And cried almost the entire way to the airport.

After the Villa

She faced backlash for her actions in the Villa, but the Islanders she befriended came to her defense.

She had a long talk with Hope after everyone had a chance to watch the season back. It was a miracle Hope and Noah won, considering how much of his time with Clarice had been included in episodes. Hope broke up with him shortly after, and she and Clarice started to repair what they could. They agreed that they absolutely would've been friends if Clarice had made different choices. But for now, they're just being civil.

Ursula apologized for all the biting remarks about people in the Villa, except Noah and Lucas.

Clarice managed to keep her from running a full on smear campaign against them.

Clarice started therapy, and even got anti-anxiety medication.

The producers of Love Island offered her a second chance.

#litg #litg s2 #clarice figg #long post #this took forever #but it's done

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lillabeast · 4 years

Text

Brontophobia (wandersong au fic)

This is my first Fanfiction, and its for my wandersong sibling au.

Characters are kawn baron (the bard) and audrey redheart (the hero)

It’s a stormy night and Kawn and Audrey talk about the past.

It was midnight in the sleepy little village of Langtree. Everyone was sleeping to the sound of a heavy storm passing over. Everyone, but Audrey Redheart.

She sat sharpening her blade, listening as the rain poured heavily on the little shed-turned-house the ex-hero built. Her mind was wandering as she slid the whetstone across the blade. How long has she been in Langtree? One month? Two? It felt like she’d lived here much longer. It was a miracle they even accepted her, after she tried to-

She shook her head. She did not want to relive that.

She thought instead about her job.

Lumber work, Bronson offered it to her. She was very grateful for that, although it’s thanks to the bard she even got a place to live. They offered to let her live with them, and was the one making dinner and all that. She looked over at their house. It was small, barely able for even one person to live in. Her eyes drifted down to Marmalade’s chicken pen.

The witch, Miriam, had gifted a chicken to the bard. According to her, Kawn kept getting confused by egg labels, and was spending 20 Dollars on a 6-egg carton.

Audrey still can’t believe they outsmarted her.

Despite Marmalade being the bard’s chicken, she very much loved her. It reminded her of a simpler time when she lived with the other orphans in the monastery. It was bittersweet, the only people who seemed to actually care who Audrey was, was her sister and the sky seals. She still missed the sky seals. She told Kawn about them, and when she returned from a Lumber work trip from Xia-Tian, Kawn had surprised her with a small stuffed animal sky seal. She never deserved any of this. She tried to hu-

A crack of thunder brought Audrey’s attention back to the chicken pen. Marmalade was probably cold and scared in this storm, The pen isn’t the best at protecting her from rain (Boni promised to come fix it when they had time off work) but it was a good temporary arrangement.

Audrey sheathed her sword and hung it up on the wall before grabbing her scarf and putting her boots on. She didn’t bother with the gloves, They were just to protect from the cold, and to protect her hands from blistering while using a sword.

She trudged out into the cold, dark, and wet night. She was almost immediately drenched by the rain

“Guuugh…” She hated being soggy, it was the worst feeling. But she had to do this

She had to save Marmalade.

She carefully opened the pen, and heard marm’s clucking. Carefully, she reached in and wrapped her arms around the sopping wet bird. The feeling of wet feathers was… indescribable.

“Eugh… Boni had better get time off soon.” Audrey muttered, as she pulled the chicken out of the pen. There was another crack of thunder, and Marmalade started flapping her wings and struggling while making distressed clucking noises.

“Wh- HEY! I’m trying to help you!!”

She ran into the shed, struggling to hold a panicked and very upset hen without hurting it. Audrey was very glad no one was awake at this hour.

She burst through the shed door, and put marmalade on the ground as quickly (and carefully) as she could. Marmalade sat on the ground, shivering while looking around. Her beautiful feathers now depressed looking as the water dripped off of her. Her usually plump and fluffy appearance was now sleek and weighty on her slightly less plump form (she is a well fed chicken, afterall).

She wrapped the sopping hen with her scarf and set her in a corner. She decided to turn in for the night, It must’ve been close to one am at this point. However, as she went to close the door, there was a loud crack of thunder that made her stumble back a bit, and then soon after she heard a very familiar scream.

She jumped into action, grabbing her sword and running towards the small house, and she burst in as another bolt of lightning illuminated the sky.

She was greeted not by danger, but by her friend.

They were on the ground, shaken and trembling. They looked up at her in terror, tears glinting with the brief flashes of light in the sky. Both of their hands were gripping their chest- almost digging into it.

They let out a small whimper, and tried to scoot away

Quickly, Audrey dropped her sword, but didn’t move beyond that. She barely even recognized that disheveled and fearful figure to be the annoyingly happy-go-lucky bard that played along with her antics and helped give her a new life.

After what seemed like forever, Audrey found the strength to break the silence.

“Kawn? Is everything alright?” Audrey you fool of course they’re not alright, they are on the ground shiv-

“Y-Yeah! I’m f-fine!” ...Are you Serious?

Audrey couldn’t believe it. Do they really think she’s gonna believe that??

“Kawn, you are on the floor shaking like a leaf and crying. You can barely even smile!”

The shaky smile that the bard had formed, quickly faded. It didn’t look right, she’s seen the bard without a smile before but there was at least some form of.. Strength? Hope? She wasn’t sure. Whatever it was, it wasn’t there now. They seemed to be at their weakest point, and she had no idea how to help. She only knew how to fight.

And there was no way to fight this problem.

The bard seemed to know she was at a loss at what to do, they didn’t want to be a burden. They attempted to stand, but their legs threatened to give out under them.

“Wai- No! You’re shaking too much!” Audrey exclaimed as she ran over to go support the shaken singer.

Kawn let out a yelp, and stiffened as Audrey supported them. They were expecting a rush of unpleasant memories, but instead they found themself comforted by Audrey’s embrace. Other than her initial appearance a few moments ago, they didn’t seem to connect their friend with The Hero that threatened to end the world. They softened after a second, before attempting to hug Audrey.

She panicked, she was not expecting this. She started to quickly get Kawn to their bed, but stopped when she heard another whimper. She looked down at her whimpering friend, a wave of more awkwardness and worry washed over her. The whimpering got more frequent as the bard buried their face into their friend. Audrey, now being clinged to, awkwardly shuffled herself and her friend to the bed.

Carefully, she sat on the bed, having to pull the bard onto her lap as they started to full on sob. There was another crash of thunder and the bard dug their fingers into Audrey’s shirt. She swore that they were about to rip a hole in it or something. This was not how she expected her night to go. She should have just gone to bed.

Except… that would have been cowardly. Kawn would have been stuck cowering on the floor!

...Wait what was kawn cowering from?

Audrey looked at the sobbing bard, it occurred to her it probably wasn’t the best time to talk to them about it. Instead, she carefully started to rub kawn’s back, and tried her best to hum the Overseer song the monks taught her and the other orphans. She never had to use it, since the Heart Overseer’s castle appeared in the real world.

Her voice was nowhere near as good as Kawn’s, but they seemed to start to calm down. Their sobbing eventually quieted down, and Audrey carefully started to finish her song.

“...Y..you have a very pretty voice.”

Audrey blushed.

“Thanks.” She wasn’t used to genuine compliments from anyone other than adoring fans, despite however many months she’s been there.

“What scared you?”

“...I don’t want to talk about it.” The bard’s voice was barely audible as they looked away.

Audrey groaned, she would threaten to call Miriam, but it was still dark outside.

“Kawn. It would help me help you if you would tell me what’s up.” That...came out way more aggressive than she wanted.

“I-I can help myself Audrey. I’m ok.”

“Bull.” She would swear if it didn’t put the fear of Eya in her.

The bard responded with silence. She really reminded them of Miriam right now, but they didn’t wanna say that. Instead they debated on wether or not they really wanted to share their thoughts.

“I...I’m just scared of the thunder, that’s all.”

“Oh. why would you hide that from me?”

The Bard paused again. They wanted to word it without making Audrey feel bad. However, before they could speak, A flash of realization crossed The Ex-Hero’s face.

“Wait, it's because of me isn’t it?”

“No! I mean- yes but-”

Audrey glared at the floor, what was she thinking? She could’ve killed them. That was a fully charged shot! They-”

“Please, don’t be upset with yourself…”

What? How could she not Be upset!?

“Kawn, I shot you!” she was mad. Not at him, just… just mad that they were trying to downplay her actions.

“I… I know.” Kawn shifted off of Audrey, now sitting next to her. “But, I ran at you, you just reacted.”

“I was charging that shot long before you ran at me.”

“...”

“Besides-” Audrey was now choking back tears “Aren’t you mad that I hurt Miriam?”

Kawn paused. They were mad, but...not at her. They were mad at what she did, and they were mad at how she reacted. But she acknowledged that she was wrong (albeit, she made him question if she was even sorry after she killed the Heart King) and she obviously wanted to be better now! It felt wrong to still be upset.

“I...Yes. I’m still upset but… I shouldn’t be.”

“...What.”

Kawn was tense, They hated being open about this, but Miriam said that sharing these thoughts helped her. They could help Audrey! They’d just have to take that chance.

“You are trying so hard to change. You have come so far from the egotistical and snooty hero, and actually resemble the compassionate and capable hero i knew you could be!”

Audrey huffed, she did feel like she has improved but she didn’t feel like a hero anymore. She wasn’t saving anyone, she was just a lumb-

“But…”

Oh no.

“I’m still… upset by your actions. I’m upset with Eya for telling you to kill the overseers.”

“That’s bold. Being angry at a Goddess I mean.”

Kawn gave out a small laugh, it somehow sounded musical, and it made audrey feel a little bit better.

“Yeah… but again I’m just mad at her actions. I’m mad that you didn’t listen to Miriam and I, or even Eyala. I know why you didn’t listen, and I completely understand why you did all this! It’s just… It still makes me upset when I think about it.”

Kawn looked at the ground, and swung their feet back and forth.

“I-I know, it’s unfair to you and i have no right to-”

“Are you kidding? You have every right to still be upset.”

Kawn looked up in surprise. Audrey was looking at them with a soft look that they’ve never seen on her before.

“I hurt so many people, and I’ve disfigured you for life!”

Kawn carefully put his hand on their chest.

“It’s ok to still be upset. You can forgive me and still be hurt by my actions.”

She put a hand on Their shoulder. Kawn looked back on the ground and put their hand on the hand on their shoulder.

“But… I don’t even see you and the past you as the same person.”

“Huh?”

“I see ‘The Hero’ as someone completely different. When I see her in my nightmares, I don’t think of you.”

Audrey blinked.

“I...but we are the same person.”

“I know but I can’t see it that way. I don’t think of you when I think of all the things you’ve done. Maybe I’m just broken or someth-”

“Don’t say that.”

“Huh?”

Audrey turned Kawn to make them look at her.

“You are not broken. You are just trying to cope in your own way.”

“G-Gosh I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make you upset!” Kawn cracked a very awkward smile.

Audrey sighed.

“It’s just… I don’t like when you put yourself down. I’m sure Miriam also hates that.”

Kawn frowned.

“I’m sorry, I’ll try not to do that again.”

“...You’re a very funny person, you know that?”

“Huh?”

Audrey Leaned back.

“You were completely willing to help me, just as you would anyone else. Despite everything i’ve done to you.”

“Well… yeah! I believed you could be better and you seemed like you needed a place to stay!”

“...You didn’t even want my money or anything. You help while not wanting or expecting anything in return. Despite me questioning why you would do that, I think I’m beginning to understand why you do it.”

Kawn gave Audrey a confused glance. To be honest it just made them feel good to help others.

“You just like spreading happiness. You want people to remember you for being kind and caring, and maybe even pay it forward by helping someone else.”

Kawn thought about it. It made sense but they didn’t think of it that way.

“Actually it just feels good to help people…”

“Well yeah but still.”

“...Yeah maybe you’re right.”

Kawn stared at the ceiling, thinking about what Audrey had said. Suddenly a snoring sound brought him back to the real world.

“Audrey?”

They looked over and found audrey passed out, half hanging off the bed. Kawn smiled softly and properly tucked Audrey in (remembering to remove her boots). They then pulled the sleeping bag out and set it up, and tucked themself in after grabbing a book and a flashlight.

They weren’t particularly tired, they would probably take a nap today.

For now they would just read through the night, hopefully they’ll doze off soon.

#wandersong #fanfic #wandersong fanfic #wandersong au #wandersong sibling au

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crimsonbluemoon · 4 years

Text

Working For Love: A TerrorMoo Story 9/17

LOOK ma I did it! I got it up on Sat! Look at me somehow managing myself. Remember when I used to upload at the same time every week haha where the fuck did that Crim go?? Anyways, enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think!

Previous Part

Start from the beginning

Brock, contrary to popular belief, liked surprises.

He tended to prefer being the one in control of the surprise, like giving Marcel a birthday party he didn’t know about or showing up to Craig’s job with his favorite muffin and coffee (the unicorn frappuccino, because of course). But being the one surprised could always be nice, too. He certainly got a thrill whenever he stepped onto the scale to see the weight he’d lost over the week, a sensation that used to always be tinged with dread or guilt. Now, twenty pounds smaller, Brock enjoyed looking at his progress, and he added it into the pile of surprises that he did enjoy.

There were some surprises, however, that he didn’t like to think about. So when he opened his twitter to his ex’s ‘single’ status being switched to ‘in a relationship’, the rising feelings that bubbled inside of him were not welcomed. He didn’t give the negative thoughts time to grow before he was snatching the gym clothes off his bed, rushing to the gym. He needed distractions, needed something to shove the feelings down.

He needed Brian.

“Stop that.” He tried to keep the smile off his face when he stared at his reflection in the mirror. The free-weight was getting easier to lift as the days went by, but he still needed to focus on his form. Brian had told him that a good work-out could be ruined by not curling his arms properly, and he didn’t want to put his friend’s lesson to waste. The word friend echoed in his mind, the flash of the earlier status change hitting his chest. It wasn’t welcomed, so he took a slow breath, trying not to let his eyes flicker to the face popping up over his shoulder.

“Nice shirt, muscles.” It was a stupid nickname from Brian, whose arm looked like a cover of health magazine. It was true that Brock had caved to Craig’s pestering and went to get actual work-out clothes, though it took one embarrassing slip of his baggy sweatpants off his hips the week before to agree to it. He’d been thankful that he hadn’t swiped a pair of his older pair of boxers that day, as Nogla and Anthony both confirmed they’d caught more than a peek at what he’d had underneath his waistband. Brian hadn’t been working on the weekend, though he was sure the others told him about the incident.

“You’re distracting,” he muttered, forcing out another huff of concentrated air when curling the bar down for another rep.

“You have no right to say that. Have you seen yourself in the mirror? Oh, wait...” The snicker and mischievous grin reflected by his shoulder showed that Brian knew he was being stupid. Brock tried not to blush at the flirtatious remark with a roll of his eyes. The gym was empty, Sunday nights never hosting many members. Brian was there to work-out himself, which Brock had known when making the rash decision to go to the gym that night. Though it was nice to have the support from Brian, it could also be...distracting. The flush he’d been avoiding before started to leak out when his eyes dipped to the collarbone uncovered by Brian’s shirt, lips twitching at the exposed skin. The thoughts he’d been trying to keep hidden in their interactions were growing with each day he got to spend with Brian. Brock hated the clash of shame and desire that mixed through the crevices of his ribcage with each smile and kind word Brian showered over him.

It’s okay. He flirts back with you. This is okay. You are happy. You’re okay. His mind badgered the word into his head, but the mantra felt wrong today.

“I have two more sets, then I’m all yours to bother.” Brock tried to placate Brian’s need for attention with a shaky smile. The strain of him arms was starting to hurt, but he didn’t want to give in yet. Each time he managed to push harder, he felt another piece of himself fit into place. His eyes closed to try and block out Brian’s distracting image behind him, fingers tightening on the bar to pull it up again.

“You’ll be all mine, eh?” The murmured tease was probably meant to make Brock laugh, but the hot air that swept to the side of his ear sent a jolt of heat rushing through Brock’s body. Jerking at the sensation, his fingers released the bar in a panic. The pleasure that twisted in his stomach was suddenly doused with pain, his foot screaming. Brock’s eyes shot open when he hissed, his foot yanking out from the weight now crushing it.

“Shit!” Brock didn’t like to swear in public, but the agony that rushed through his toe was enough for him to forget his manners. Tears rushed to his eyes, and Brock nearly stumbled back to the floor to grab his foot. Instead, he fell back into Brian’s chest, a strong arm quick to wrap around his waist to steady him.

“Brock, you okay?” Concern was nice to hear over teasing, but Brock struggled to focus on the tone with his foot burning like it was. With his teeth clenched, air struggled to get through the gaps when he bore the grimace at the floor.

“I’m...okay.” Which was a lie, since he was sure he couldn’t put any weight on his foot without pain tearing through his leg. He didn’t want to move his toe, and his stomach twisted when realizing he’d probably sprained it. How long would that keep him out of the gym? Why had he let himself be so clumsy?

“Yeah, and Nogla’s the queen of Ireland. Scotty, get me some ice packs and meet me in the locker room!” Brian’s voice showed no room for complaints when he barked the order out behind them.

“I’m not sure I can walk that far right now.” It was embarrassing to admit, but Brock didn’t want to make the injury worse.

“You’re not gonna.” Brian’s arm moved without hesitation, and it took Brock far too long to realize what Brian’s plan was. Panicked, Brock clutched at Brian’s shoulders and shook his head when feeling a warm forearm brush the back of his thighs.

“Yo-you can’t be serious! You can’t lift me, I’m too-”

“You’re perfect.” The serious edge in Brian’s voice drained the life from Brock’s self-deprecation, eyes looking for a fight when they stared down at Brock. “Whatever was going to come outta your mouth was going to be wrong. You aren’t anything but Brock, you got that? And if you think, for some reason, that I’d have any problem with carrying you…”

Brock’s chest expanded with fear and excitement when his legs were swept off the floor with ease, Brian’s arms barely flexing at the additional weight in his grasp. Brock had looped his hands behind the strong neck to help steady himself, but Brian didn’t look bothered by any of it. His gait was steady, body moving with an ease that wouldn’t be possible if it was under extreme strain.

The fact that someone to lift him, could carry him, was both terrifying and amazing. Then again, thinking back while Brian moved them into the locker room, he couldn’t come up with a time that any of his exes had tried. None of them looked at Brock and had the desire to try. Brock had been okay with that, because he was always downplaying the romantic parts of his heart that dreamt of being small enough to be carried like that. But he hadn’t lost that much weight, and Brian had swept him up like it was nothing. Maybe it wasn’t a Brock problem, but an ex problem. Maybe they didn’t trust they’d be strong enough to carry him.

Or maybe he’d never trusted someone not to drop him before Brian.

“Put your leg up on the bench so I can check out your foot.” He was eased down onto the cold metal with enough room to prop his leg up, and Brock followed the command even as he shook his head.

“You don’t have to, I’m sweaty and my foot will-”

“Brock, I will kiss your foot if you don’t shut up.” Brock’s face finally fell victim to the heat he’d been trying to hide when Brian peered up at him from where he knelt, showing how ready he was to follow through with his threat.

“Why would you do that?” He mumbled out, eyes too shy to stay on the honest gaze. They dropped to his lap, where twitchy fingers entangled themselves to keep from pushing Brian’s gentle touch on his ankle away.

“Why does it surprise you that I want to make sure you’re okay?” The question wasn’t accusaroy, but curious as Brian took his time unlacing Brock’s shoe. The slow slide of the shoe and sock filled the silence as Brock’s mind flipped over the question, wondering what answer would be best.

“Because…” His first intuition was to deny the claim, or to point out times that could pass as allowing help. But there was a caring slide to Brian’s palm against his ankle bone when he kept the foot imobile that showed more consideration than a simple gym buddy should have. A second set of tears hit Brock’s eyes as emotion overwhelmed him, the wave of loneliness crashing hard into his chest.

For months, he’d been okay. Everytime someone asked, each time he saw his ex’s name pop up on his social media, every time someone brought up a memory of their relationship or a joke that made him think of their happier times, Brock was okay. That was just how Brock operated. When he wasn’t okay, others worried and were sad, which didn’t help anyone. He was healthier now, growing from the break-up and finding himself. Plus, his ex was a jerk. Brock was “better off without him” and “ready to find the right person” now that he’d moved on. His heart was already so warm with feelings that Brian gave him. So he should be okay, better than okay, because Brock was always okay even when he wasn’t okay. That was who he was supposed to be. The put-together friend that could take everything piled on his shoulders with a smile and a gentle shrug of his shoulders. To show he was okay, to let everyone else be okay, because he was okay okay okay-

But he wasn’t.

“I’m not okay.” The confession was raw in his throat, shoulders hunched forward and eyelids blinking too hard not to show how badly he was trying to keep from crying. The gentle rubbing of Brian’s thumb on his ankle kept him grounded, but he couldn’t look up, fearful of the expression he’d receive. He felt like he was on the treadmill at the highest level, gasping for air that wasn’t ready to show itself. His fingers clutched the fabric of his pants when he closed his eyes, focusing on the circular patterns being drawn on his skin.

“You don’t have to be. I’ll take care of you either way.” Brian’s voice didn’t sound panicked or dismayed at Brock’s breakdown. Brian somehow knew this wasn’t just about the injury, but he didn’t care. He said something nobody else had before him; Brock didn’t have to be okay. A chord that’d been stretched tight in Brock’s spine snapped as he slumped forward, head bowed down to hide the relief he felt at being given permission to crumble. His back shook from the pain in his foot, which was dwarfed by the agony that burst from his chest. The levy he’d held back with music and weigh-ins broke rapidly, and he drowned in it.

Scotty said nothing when he came in with the ice pack, thankfully leaving quickly after. Brian kept quiet, only using soft words to let Brock know what he was doing in regards to Brock’s foot. He let Brock fall apart, let him put himself back together, and figure out how to be actually okay. Even when he walked Brock to his car, satisfied that the toe was simply bruised and not sprained, he did so with care. Because Brian did care, probably more than most before him.

And somehow, Brock wasn’t surprised by that.

Okay this one was a little sadder than the others but its okay because love and stuff! this is a part of healing, is recognizing you’re human with emotions and expressing them appropriately. I hope that you enjoyed this! As always, like, reblog, and let me know what you think!

#Terrormoo #Soft boys #Terroriser #Moo Snuckle #<3 #Crimson drabblez

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sparkly-angell · 5 years

Note

klaus/dave + "You deserve so much more then you think you do."

(you can also find this story on my AO3)

“Are you sure you want to do this, Klaus?” Dave asked, hovering on his right shoulder.

“Yes.” Klaus answered absentmindedly, “I mean, not really, but here we are, right?” he let out a dry laugh.

Behind the closed doors, sitting on the couch, were all his siblings, probably getting irritated by how long Klaus was making them wait. He’d been surprised when they all agreed to meet him, specially Luther, who never seemed to listen to him.

Klaus breathed out and frowned at the door. The dark wood seemed to be mocking him today more than usually.

He hoped they would let him speak. Most times he was fine whenever one of them would talk over him, but this was important. Klaus had the feeling they would listen, though, since they all came.

The door swung open and Klaus was brought back to the moment. Diego was standing on the other side, looking at Klaus up and down with a frown on his face. He probably looked like a maniac; he would give Diego that.

He’d been pacing the hall for the last ten minutes, worrying his lower lip between his teeth. His hair was also probably a mess from all the times he combed it anxiously. All that, plus the fact that he didn’t get a wink of sleep the entire night.

“We were wondering where you’d gotten yourself into.” Diego said. He gave a quick nod in acknowledgement to Dave’s presence before turning his attention back to his brother.

“Uh, yeah, I was— yeah.” Klaus glanced quickly at Dave, who smiled and nodded approvingly before the two of them Diego to the living room.

As he expected, all his siblings were waiting for him, not exactly sitting on the couch, but close enough.

In fact, only Vanya was sitting down. Five was lying on the couch next to her, occupying the rest of it and not caring for the sour looks the others were shooting in his direction.

“So, what was it that you wanted to share?” Luther said, voice ringing too harshly on Klaus ears.

“Uh…” now, with all of them looking at him with impatience badly hidden in their features, Klaus was rethinking the importance of this meeting. Maybe he should have called them instead of asking to come personally, God knows how busy Allison was with her work and child.

Before his mind went spiraling downwards, Dave interlaced their fingers and squeezed his reassuringly. Klaus met his gaze and smiled, knowing that he had support no matter what.

“I’ve been going to AA meetings.”

There. He said it. He felt a heavy weight lifting from his shoulders.

He’d been to five sessions in total until now and they’ve been working like magic. That, and the never-ending support of the most amazing boyfriend. He has already been able to let go of the heavier drugs, and tone down the amount of alcohol he drank daily. All in all, his life was finally getting better.

The AA instructor had been so proud, Dave had been so proud, and more importantly, he was proud of himself. He never believed he would be able to get sober again, but things were starting to change.

Dave suggested telling his siblings, but he was the one who decided to bring them all together and commemorate. After all, they never been kind on him about his addictions, so he thought they would be pleased to find out Klaus was changing for the best.

So, Klaus was taken aback when Luther answered in the same tone as before.

“You act like this is a big deal.” He said, breaking the silence.

He frowned at Luther and said, as matter of fact, “It is.”

He looked around the room, not believing what he heard, waiting for one of the others to take a stand, because surely, they couldn’t possibly agree with Luther.

But no one said anything.

His throat closed and sweat started forming on his palms. Klaus was expecting a lot of reactions, but apathy wasn’t one of them. He dared a look at Dave and the pure rage he found there was grounding, even if he did feel helpless.

“I can’t believe this.” Dave said, probably because Klaus didn’t find it on himself to speak up.

“Congratulations?” Vanya tried, shrugging slightly.

“You must be joking.” He deadpanned. Dave was now shaking next to him, so Klaus tried to calm him with a nudge of his hand.

It worked for approximately five seconds before Diego opened his mouth.

“What do you want us to say to Klaus?” he pointed an accusatory finger at Klaus, who felt it deep in his soul, “Congratulations on doing something you should have done a long time ago? For getting your shit together?”

Klaus felt numb. He didn’t want this; he just wanted his siblings to know how he was doing. But turned out they didn’t care as much as he thought they did, and really, even before he didn’t think they cared a lot.

“Don’t speak to Klaus like this.” Dave’s voice was so sharp it could cut diamond, “You have no idea how hard it has been for him. God, I cannot believe I was the one to suggest he told you guys. You clearly don’t care. How DARE!” he shouted, and breathed in, closing his eyes and calming down before speaking again, more level this time, “You know, I never believed when Klaus said you were jerks, but now I see it. Klaus deserves so much more than you all. Until you try and put yourself in his place, we aren’t speaking with you. Bye.”

And they left. Their steps through the mansion hall was the only sound the house made until they shut the front door with a loud thud and walked back to Dave’s apartment.

The entire trip back was spent in silence. Klaus didn’t know what was going on in Dave’s head, but the man still hadn’t let go of his hand, so he wasn’t completely lost in rage.

Klaus himself didn’t know how to feel. He should have expected his siblings to react poorly, he really did. But that still didn’t damp the hollow numbness inside of him. On the other hand, Dave had stood up for him.

And that was…

Well, it was—

They only spoke again after their apartment door shut close with a gentle click.

“I’m sorry I lost my temper back in the mansion, Klaus.” Dave slumped his shoulders, face growing miserable. “I’m—”

“I love you.” Klaus blurted out. Uh oh, Klaus felt his spine growing cold, that was not something you blurt. Ohhh boy.

Dave froze, blinking dumbly at Klaus.

“What?”

“I, uh—realize I’ve never said before, and I didn’t mean too, but now that out, I need to own it, right?” He laughed nervously. When Dave continued to stare at without saying anything, he panicked. “It’s just, what you said. Back in the house. I’m… well, I’m not used to having people standing up for me. Ever. So uh, it’s a nice change. And that’s not only why I love you. But it’s great that you care for me—Yeah. I’ll shut up now”

“I love you too.”

“Yo-you do?” Klaus could feel his heart beating out of his chest.

“I do. And that’s why it hurts so much watching all your siblings downplay you like that. Klaus,” and now Dave was right in front of him, breathing from the same air. His hands found Klaus’ and squeezed them gently, “you are the love of my life. I know you’re not perfect and neither am I, but you march on, you endure, and you survive. And I love you because of it.”

Klaus felt his lips trembling downwards and his eyes stinging with tears. Next thing he knew, his lips were on Dave’s as they shuffled their clothes off with clumsy yet anxious tugs. They stumbled on furniture until they found their way to the bedroom.

Dave pressed Klaus gently against the mattress and shucked the last of Klaus clothes, leaving him embarrassingly exposed with a hard on against his belly.

“I want to show you how much I love you.” Klaus shivered as Dave’s lips brushed against his ear. He kissed softly Klaus’ neck and caressed his naked torso, hands going south but halted once they got to his pelvis.

Klaus groaned and buckled his hips, trying to make Dave’s hand slide downwards, but the hand stayed stubbornly in place, playing with his pubic hair.

“How is this showing love.” Klaus grunted, before nibbling at Dave’s ear. In retaliation, Dave moaned and bared his neck for Klaus.

“Never said love doesn’t tease.” Dave refuted once he recomposed from Klaus’ neck attack.

But even though he said that, Dave finally moved his hand past the pubic hair and wrapped it around Klaus throbbing cock. His entire body shivered with pleasure at the small pressure Dave was applying with his hand, and Klaus couldn’t hold back a moan escape his lips and into Dave’s mouth the moment he gave the first strokes.

He could come just like that, Klaus realized in midst of all the pleasure fogging his mind. With only Dave’s hand and long kisses and the warmth of his body against his own. He would take whatever Dave would give.

“I want to worship your body.” Dave declared out loud, “I want you to know how much I love every, inch, of, you.” He said in between kissing his way down Klaus’ body. “Because this is what you deserve.” And now his face was centimeters close to Klaus’ dick, breath catching against the flushed skin, making Klaus’ have goosebumps.

Klaus only moaned in answer to his declarations. There weren’t words he could say that could express what he was feeling, so he just nodded and tangled one of his hands on Dave’s short bangs.

Dave’s lips brushed fleetingly over the head of his cock before his tongue pressed against the tip. Klaus hissed and tossed his head back, enjoying the feeling of the soft tongue lapping over the crown and down its length until it found the balls.

A shiver ran through him when Dave took one of his balls in his mouth and sucked it, making Klaus’ grip on Dave’s hair to grow tighter.

“Fuuuuck, Dave.” He whined, opening his eyes –when did he close them, he wondered– to look down at Dave. His eyes were pouring lust and love and when he looked back at Klaus while fondling his tongue between the balls, Klaus almost came at the expression alone.

Without any more preamble, Dave took Klaus’ entire cock into his mouth and Klaus moaned breathlessly when he started sucking. He usually was the one giving the blowjobs, and really, he enjoyed it, but receiving them gave him another kind of pleasure mixed with a warm feeling in his heart.

It wasn’t everyone who cared enough for him to pleasure him with care. Or at all.

For Dave to be sucking and bobbing, giving Klaus gratuitous pleasure because he wanted to, meant as much for Klaus as their declaration of love. It showed that Dave cared, truly, about him.

Klaus could feel his orgasm building up in his belly not long after that. Dave was sucking and lapping his tongue over his sensitive head, looking focused on his task when Klaus’ hips started to thrust forward on its own.

“I—I’m coming, D-dave.” He warned and tried to get Dave’s mouth away from him, because any second now he would be spilling, but Dave shook his hand away and stubbornly worked his way down on Klaus’ cock again, until his nose was buried in dark hair.

Dave let out a moan and the vibration was enough to tip Klaus off edge. He came with a shout, hands tight on Dave’s hair as the man slurped through Klaus orgasm, giving him a few more waves of pleasure before backing away.

When he came back to himself, Dave was breathing hard next to him, arms wrapped around Klaus’ waist and bringing him closer. Klaus frowned and turned in the embrace, so he was facing Dave.

“What about you?” Klaus asked, looking at Dave’s waist and frowning even more when he saw his boyfriend was soft.

“I, uh, came while sucking you off.” Dave blushed.

Klaus burst out a laugh, feeling giddy with love and happiness.

“Gosh, I love you so much.”

Dave smiled fondly at him.

“I love you too.”

#ask #cunning-and-cool #fic #prompt #klave #tua #ua #the umbrella academy #dave #klaus hargreeves #dave x klaus #mine #tua fic

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lightsandlostbells · 5 years

Text

Skam France season 3, episode 9 reaction

Okay, I finally did this one! I’m not sure how many people still care since Skam France S3 ended back in March, but I wanted to complete the whole season. Sorry for the delay, anyone still interested! I apologize if I forgot some crucial details in writing this since there was such a large gap between viewing the rest of the season.

Episode 9

Clip 1 - Guru advice for a sad boy

Lucas is lying on the couch after his rough night. Are they still going to make him sleep on the couch after this shit went down? Why is he even there anymore after he told them sobbing that this was his room now a few episodes ago? Or when he stumbled in with his boyfriend to fuck on the sofa and Lisa was like, yeah, make Manon sleep on the couch instead since she’s not getting any? Because I refuse to believe that Lucas chose to camp there voluntarily either when he was a) getting laid or b) in the throes of despair.

Mika checks in on him and tries to comfort him. There’s a nice, humanizing part where he says just because he seems happy all the time doesn’t mean he’s never sad, and just because he sleeps around now doesn’t mean he’s never been in love. Lucas apologizes for saying a dumb thing and Mika says it’s OK to be dumb when you’re sad. But don’t be dumb too long, meaning don’t be sad too long. He gives Lucas a kiss on the forehead. So at least we’re getting some of this affection between them later in the season.

Lucas asks Mika how you move on and Mika is just like … shrug. Like he literally shrugs. I mean, I get that there’s no easy answer, but you could have said that instead of leaving Lucas hanging, dude, give the guy a little relief.

Clip 2 - Lucas’ dad suuuuucks

Lucas is doing laundry and looking up bipolar disorder on his phone when Eliott sends him a picture, kinda similar to the one on IG of his raccoon fursona throwing away crumpled drawings? I think it’s be the same one. It’s like he’s trying to say something to Lucas but doesn’t know what. He sends another pic where the raccoon seems to want to call out to hedgehog but the hedgehog spurns him and doesn’t want to talk. Eliott then sends him a bunch of photos at once and Lucas texts him not to contact him because he's not dealing well right now. Which is kinda different from Isak’s reply to Even the night after? It might be lost in translation, but Isak was more “I don’t know what’s going on” and Lucas is like “I’m not dealing well with this,” so confusion vs. hurt/upset feelings.

More dramatic piano music as Lucas gets another text. not from Eliott, but from his dad, asking if it’s true he has a boyfriend. OK, so Dad is a homophobe? Because he sure took a while to answer his son (compared to Isak’s dad who answered him immediately). Like did he need almost a full week to process that his son was dating a guy, he didn’t text or call in the meantime? Dad says if that’s true that Lucas has a boyfriend, it’s not a good idea to bring him to church. He attributes it to Lucas’ mom not being able to understand, but this seems way more like Lucas’ dad’s problem.

Isak’s dad wasn’t a great guy, but I think he genuinely didn’t have a problem with Isak being gay, or at least not a huge one. He responded to Isak’s coming out right away, said it was nice if Isak had a boyfriend and he would like to meet him, and checked in with Isak about whether he was sad about breaking up with his boyfriend. It’s very possible he wasn’t 100% fine with it, but it seemed like he was awkward at worst rather than actually disapproving. Lucas’ dad feels like he is seriously not OK with it even if he’s trying not to come across that way. He waited almost a week to respond to his son coming out to him and then didn’t say anything nice like “I’m happy for you” on top of that, he just said went into how it wasn’t a good idea to bring his boyfriend to church. Lucas’ mom’s possible reaction felt like an excuse for his own problem. And I don’t think it was even her potential response as a religious person, but maybe the dad thinking that Lucas should keep his gay relationship away from the church as a general rule.

Lucas starts to type out that it was a joke (about having a boyfriend), but deletes the message and doesn’t reply, then seems about to cry again. So like Isak, he can’t bear to say it wasn’t real.

Also, by this point in Isak’s season, Isak had come out to both his parents, and he got his mother’s acceptance text right at his lowest point, when he needed it. So at least that weight was off his back. Lucas hasn’t even told her about having a boyfriend yet, so it’s just pure misery for him with no relief. He’s probably even more anxious about his mom rejecting him because of his dad’s text.

Clip 3 - Charles is THE ACTUAL WORST, NO EXAGGERATION

Manon and Emma are talking about Charles when Lucas gets home. Can we please inform the remake writers that this storyline is not even necessary in adaptations where the William actors don’t leave the show? Remember how much Noorhelm there was in S4? If it’s like this in S3 what will the Manon and Charles drama be in Imane’s season? Or will it be toned down in that season and is only more prominent in this one as a way to incorporate the girl squad more in a boy’s season?

However, Manon says Lucas can stay to hear about what happened with her and Charles, which is seriously a sweet moment since it shows how close they are and how much she trusts him. Additionally, he gets to return the favor (of sorts), because Manon supported him and Eliott and was there for him when he was falling apart, so now Lucas can listen to Manon’s story and support her in her time of need.

Manon tells her story. At first it was great with her and Charles, then he got busy working for his dad and Manon had classes, and she didn’t make many friends. I like that she’s all “not my strong point” to Emma; that’s nice continuity, since Emma was the first friend she made at her new school, and they bonded over not having friends, heh. Manon got summoned to testify against Nico and she was upset about it; Charles noticed but she couldn’t talk about it. Then Charles went back to Paris to see his mom and Nico was invited without warning. They talked, Nico cried a lot, he was depressed and regretted what happened. Charles thought Nico needed therapy, but prison would fuck up his life. Especially because Nico didn’t even rape Manon. Yes, that is what Charles actually said to Manon. The fuck.

Charles said he would support Manon in whatever choice but really, while he didn’t impose anything on her, he also didn’t support her. The day of the trial, she went to court but ended up leaving before it happened. Charles asked how it went and she told him the truth, but that she wasn’t coming home, either. Manon didn’t tell anyone what happened because she was embarrassed about leaving for London with her dream man and coming back after only a few months. She felt so stupid. Manon cries, Emma is supportive, Lucas suggests they all drink. Emma is like YESSSSS. Lucas is not surprised Emma wants to drink.

Manon is like, the last time I drank wasn’t exactly great. I mean ... good point, maybe not the best idea to remind her of Nico right now. Except Emma is like, I won’t make out with you, OK? Lucas is like, neither will I. Heh.

I’ll pay a compliment before I get into my rant: Marilyn Lima did a great job depicting Manon’s breakdown. I really felt for her. And that made me angrier at this narrative choice, honestly.

OK, I’m just like ... exasperated. And disgusted. I am not a Noorhelm fan. I didn’t like this story in Skam about why Noora left London. I think it illustrated why Noorhelm were not compatible as a couple, because the same mistakes were happening in S4 that happened with them in S2; just like when he ditched Noora at school when he heard from Niko and then ignored her texts telling him it was rape for days as she begged with him to talk to her, this incident again showed that William was not capable of supporting Noora to the degree she needed it. Sure, it’s a lovely moment when he holds her as she’s panicking, but what about when he cruelly removes that tenderness and love when he finds out why she’s panicking? It was her sexual assault, not his, and I know it’s more complicated because his brother was the perpetrator, but he still needed to put his own feelings aside and support his girlfriend, the victim. When he can’t do that, repeatedly, then we really need to question whether he is the right person for Noora. Not to mention that this issue was resolved off-screen, with Noora being vaguely like “we talked and I understand him so much better now” as if Noora’s failure to understand William’s feelings is the real problem here. Not to mention any other criticism I could say about Noorhelm. And in some ways I think Marles was worse than Noorhelm; there were times when Charles was more of a domineering asshole than William (the scene where he leaves Manon crying on the ground, for example, is even nastier).

So I say this as someone who doesn’t really care about the pairing … did they have to make Charles so much of an irredeemable asshole here?

Charles probably has some “good” reason for his behavior that we’ll find out later. Too bad I don’t give a fuck what it is. He minimized his girlfriend’s sexual assault because the attacker - his brother - didn’t technically rape Manon, because the brother is just so upset about it and crying and he needs therapy, not prison. Fuck Charles. Nico is probably manipulating him, or maybe Charles is doing this for his mother’s sake so her son doesn’t go to prison, who knows, but whatever the reason, he basically planted the idea in Manon’s head that Nico didn’t need to go to jail. He downplayed her need for justice. He downplayed her trauma. Like … the only acceptable explanation is that Charles was replaced by a pod person or an evil clone in Paris, and in S4 the real Charles fights his way out of the underground secret laboratory where he’s being held hostage and tells Manon the truth. That is the only way I will accept Charles and Manon endgame after this.

I would not have a problem with this development were I confident that Manon and Charles were going to break up for good. Okay, that makes sense as a factor that permanently separates them. I do still think it’s kind of frustrating and pointless, like why the fuck did we spend a whole season on their supposedly great and epic love if Charles was going to commit the same selfish and hurtful mistakes he did in S2? I think it would be fine to do a storyline where Marles/Noorhelm doesn’t work out because Charles just can’t be the guy Manon needs him to be, but like … that should be the story of S2. When they’re the focus of a season. When you can develop that idea clearly because the POV allows it. You could get them together earlier in the season and do an arc similar to Eva’s where the Noora realizes that while she loves William, it’s best if they break up because they don’t work as a couple (even if this might be a redundant storyline after S1, I think it could still have value in trying to portray girls not putting up with their boyfriends’ bad behavior). But not “we spent a full season trying to convince you they belong together, but something happens off screen and they broke up.” That’s narratively unsatisfying. And anyway, this whole rant is probably pointless, because my issue is that I don’t think they’re going to break them up for good. Charles will come swooping back later in S4 just like William did. He’ll likely have some weak excuse that we’re supposed to accept as justified for putting Manon through all of this pain. For fuck’s sake, even if, IDK, Nico was threatening Manon if she testified against him, or something dire like that, so Charles had to find a way to discourage her - in what world is it not better to tell Manon about this than to keep it to himself?

You know what? Even if you have sympathy for Charles, even if you think it’s understandable that he doesn’t want his brother to go to prison, however loathsome said brother might be - that still doesn’t mean he’s right for Manon. Maybe they love each other, maybe it’s not fair, but if he cannot support Manon entirely over his brother here, then this relationship will never ever be healthy. She is a victim of sexual assault; Nico is the one who assaulted her. There is no grey area to this situation. So if Charles cannot accept that, then he and Manon cannot and should not be in a romantic relationship; Manon deserves someone who can support her through her recovery of a harrowing experience wholeheartedly. I do understand if Charles has complicated feelings about the issue, but frankly then he needs to go to therapy and work them out with someone who is not the victim of a traumatic crime.

I mean, shit happens, sometimes you have to account for sudden unplanned factors, like when Thomas Hayes left the show. But Michel Biel didn’t as far as I know, so there was no reason to insert this frankly evil drama into the narrative. There was no reason to send Manon to London at all? She was going to move in with Charles. That was literally what was planned for them after S2 to free up a room for Lucas. It’s just so goddamn dumb.

I’m trying to consider if maybe the purpose of this crap was to make a parallel to Lucas’ situation, maybe to show Lucas how Eliott must feel to be abandoned by the one he loves by showing Manon breaking down? But nah. If that was the case, it’s really not highlighted enough, I don’t think we see Lucas clearly link it to Eliott. I know subtlety isn’t this show’s strong suit, but this would have been so subtle as to not be present at all (which is why I don’t think it was intended). And it’s also way too big as drama not to have drastic consequences in itself.

God. I just. Why. Whyyyyyyy.

Clip 4 - Pity party turns to pity rave

They’re all hanging out and drinking, nice to see all three season leads so far get a scene together. Manon’s lying in Lucas’ lap, that’s cute. They’re bemoaning their love lives and it’s Emma’s turn to vent about her relationship with Alex. Manon suggests talking to him to find out if he has good qualities other than sex. See, I would buy this if all we knew about them was that they were hooking up, but we’ve seen through social media that they do hang out together outside of the bedroom? They go places together enough to document their experiences on IG. So they would’ve attempted conversations already, they would’ve tried to bond. I think it’s time for Emma to call it like it is: a satisfying sexual relationship, nothing more.

Lucas is like, you’re lucky, you have a boyfriend unlike Manon and I. Dude, Lucas, come on. Emma is just FWBing it with Alex anyway, according to her. He’s drinking and getting sloppy and telling them about Eliott’s freak-out and him being bipolar and Emma is like, I have it worse. Lmao shut up, no you don’t. I get it in the sense that having a bipolar boyfriend is not a terrible thing, but Eliott’s manic episode is certainly a more drastic and serious thing than just being with some conversational dud who knows how to maneuver his penis. Even Lucas is like BUT MY BOYFRIEND IS BIPOLAR, though in his case I think it’s still the ableism peeking out.

Manon is like, excuse me, I have it the worst. They agree. I also agree. Charles is undoubtedly the worst.

Mika and Lisa come home and join in the debauchery. They put on a disco light and everyone dances. It’s very tonally jarring and I think it’s supposed to be kinda not actually happening? Or rather, some version of this is happening but Lucas’ POV is exaggerating or distorting it because he’s drunk. The lyrics are like “Take control” so I suppose this is his desperate way of reclaiming his messy emotional state

I do like the shot of Mika showing off his nipples and Lucas seeing it and being like … nope.

Manon and Emma make out and Lisa and Mika make out and I’m kinda cranky about it, because I don’t need more straight girl hawt drunk make-outs or a gay guy kissing his female roommate, like what a double dose of bullshit. More generously, I can attribute this to Lucas hallucinating and being out of sorts while he’s drunk and so imagining “wrong things” like everyone around him standing still, Manon and Emma kissing when they’re not a couple, Mika and Lisa kissing when Mika is gay, etc.

It’s all fun and games and party electronic dance makeouts until Lucas slows down and gets miserable. Things get blurry. He can’t drink his angst away, not for long.

There’s a shot spliced in of Eliott making eye contact with him on the dance floor in episode 3, as Lucas is coming down from his high. Nice inclusion as Lucas is trying to escape his problems but of course he can’t get over Eliott or his sadness that easily.

There’s possibly more you could analyze about the composition of the ending but the editing kinda gave me a headache so I only watched the clip once, sorry.

Clip 5 - Basile isn’t a dumbass for once

Lucas is very hungover at school on Monday. Yann is like oooo, night out with Eliott? Lucas explains that it’s because of Eliott that he got drunk. He says Eliott is bipolar as Arthur and Basile sit down. Arthur is like, Kanye West is bipolar. Maybe not the best example to use in 2019, bro.

Honestly they’ve ruined Basile SO FUCKING MUCH with his horrible creepy sexism that I can’t even enjoy this moment from him where he talks about his mom. I mean, this is easily the best Basile has been all season, and if they hadn’t made him so disgusting, it’d be a great scene for him. And I completely understand people liking him in this moment. Hell, divorced from anything else in this season, I like him in this moment! But I cannot get over how atrocious their depiction of him has been elsewhere in the story, like I’m glad he dropped some wisdom on Lucas but this isn’t some magical fix-it that will erase my negative feelings about him.

Like for example, Basile says the first time his mom saw a Tom Cruise movie, she fell madly in love with him and flew to LA and went to his house and got removed by the cops. And not to be insensitive since this is an example of her mania, but my first thought was, “Oh, stalking runs in the family.”

The rest of the dialogue is pretty similar to OG where Basile inquires about how Eliott is doing and he suggests Lucas talk to Eliott, Lucas is a dumbass for listening to Eliott’s ex, etc. Basile says it seems like Eliott really wanted to be with Lucas, and that there are times when it will suck, but if Lucas wants to be with Eliott, he’s got to do it, you have to take people as they are. I dislike the music intruding over the end - I don’t think it’s well-timed and it feels forced - but other than that, the message is fine.

Clip 6 - Bye bye foyer

I like how Lucas and Yann are kinda cuddled into each other as they share earbuds and the couch. Lucas is still wearing his ROMANCE sweatshirt despite being deep in heartbreak. I admire his commitment to love.

There’s a little meta joke because they’re watching a show on Yann’s phone, and he says it’s episode 9, and it’s almost over. Which is of course a reference to it being episode 9 of Skam France with the season almost over, heh.

Lucas gets a text from his mom about going to confession and how God forgives those who deviate from the path as long as they come back to it. This leads into the coming out from his mom, and THAT GODDAMN TINKLY PIANO MUSIC starts up again. I do think it’s been used appropriately at times, but at other moments it feel so soap opera-ish and overly dramatic. Sometimes it seems like Skam France is a really insecure show, like how they have characters state the obvious like they were afraid the audience wouldn’t get it, or they go for the OTT music as if the writing, acting, and directing won’t be enough to elicit an emotional reaction.

I mean I realize it is Bad and Wrong to compare Skams but remember in the original version of this scene where Isak just sat and typed out this entire, very long message, and it was silent except for the cafe noises and the camera stayed still on him the whole time, because Julie trusted the audience not to fidget and for Tarjei’s acting and the importance of the scene to hold everyone’s attention? And in Skam France we get the music and the camera will not stop moving like they assume the audience is made of easily bored toddlers who need stuff swirling in front of their eyes at all times. Speaking of, WHY ALL THE FUCKING PANS, why does the camera need to move so much, whyyyyyyyy. It’s distracting and doesn’t even fit for the emotional tone of the scene, really? Like isn’t he actually pretty steady writing this to his mom? Shouldn’t the cinematography reflect that?

Lucas starts to type a text about how he met someone and don’t get mad at him, but he deletes it and just types out a message saying he’s gay, sorry if it hurts or disappoints you, see you on Friday, love you. And Lucas’ mom texts him back immediately to tell him she loves him, too, and that she’s proud of him.

Heavy sigh. I feel bad being negative about this scene because it is important and beautiful for Lucas to hear, he’s profoundly touched by his mother’s acceptance, but boy oh boy did they minimize the impact of this scene, even aside from my gripes with the cinematography and music.

So the Religion clip was the catalyst for Isak coming out to his mom, and he specifically uses Sana’s words to come out to her. None of the S3 remakes seem to understand that clip’s importance to the Isak character except that hey, talking about religion and homosexuality is good! It aggravates me because it makes it seem like the writers missed a basic connection within the story; they think stuff just happens in the season Just Because and don’t get the cause and effect (like the generalization dialogue earlier in the season, something both France and Italia included without really seeming to get why it was there other than “the message is important”). And I mean, you can adapt the religion scene so it’s not the same! You can adapt the message, it doesn’t have to be verbatim. But not connecting the religion clip to Lucas coming out to his mom makes that relationship between Lucas and Imane less meaningful. It makes the scene more of a tangent rather than an important stepping stone in Lucas’ coming out narrative. It’s just there.

Again, I hate being sour about this but it just makes me grumpy, like I feel this is a demonstration of the differences between Skam and Skam France. Skam did this simple, quiet coming out scene where we just lingered on the actor for a while and which was built up to within the narrative by a prior scene that linked the two thematically, and which delivered the “punchline” with some excellent pacing (where Isak’s mom didn’t reply until when we least expected it, and with powerful timing and execution, when Isak most needed to hear it), and Skam France flies by this pivotal scene and does it in under two minutes like it’s getting it out of the way, with nothing remarkable about pacing and timing, but with dramatic music and camera movement.

Part of my problem is that honestly, I feel like Skam France kind of ... doesn’t care about this moment. Consider the amount of time given to Lucas’ coming out to his mom and her acceptance, versus the amount of time for the foyer stuff that takes up the rest of the clip. I feel like other than Yann’s random initial rejection, all of Lucas’ coming out stuff has been so smoothed over and easy, not just from an outsiders’ perspective, but from a personal psychological perspective. And it’s not that I expect CONSTANT TORMENT but it feels massively oversimplified, like these scenes are just obligatory. I hate to say this because I know the screenwriter is gay and I don’t want to diminish any personal anecdotes on coming out he brought to the story, whether this reflects his own experience. But I almost feel like they knew the Evak fans would flock to this season (which is true, we know with all the behind the scenes stuff and cast interviews they were doing that were blatantly to appeal to shippers) and so they allocated some screen time to getting in the shippy romantic content while pushing aside some of the pesky, less exciting stuff that doesn’t have to do with romance. Like for instance, coming out to one’s mom.

I do like that when Lucas is crying, Yann asks him if he’s OK and Lucas is just kinda like, yeah, I’m fine, and Yann smiles at him. It’s a simple, nice moment.

But here I go again. Just the fact that this incredibly pivotal and meaningful scene is cut off so we can get to the fucking common room drama?? The common room is more important that Lucas coming out to his mom?? They could have at least made the coming out moment a separate clip from the foyer stuff with the principal. It’s not like they haven’t been doing that all season, splitting up big scenes into two or more clips. (And yeah, Isak’s coming out to his mom didn’t have its own clip, but the content surrounding it was at least extremely important and concerned Isak on a very personal level, compared to the foyer stuff.)

The principal storms in and yells because the students have been snatching the Wifi. Daphne takes the blame and gets in trouble for it. Then the principal hears giggling from another room and there is the nerd dude who set up the Wifi and Chloé’s friend Maria, getting cozy on the mattress. They get up and run off when the principal yells at them. Okay, who the FUCK thought it was a good idea to put a mattress in a room behind a closed door, in a school full of hormonal teenagers??? Did you not think this is where it would lead? Idiots.

The principal is roaring mad and yells at Daphne more. What’s next, a Fight Club (lmao, I wouldn’t be surprised) or a heroin den? He singles out the mural as peak bullshit and tells the students to pack up their things. The foyer is closed. And they have to come in on Saturday to repaint the mural.

Lucas is like, no, that’s where I lost my virginity! It’s a monument to my first experience with gay sex! No, actually he just defends it as an homage to Jackson Pollock. Yann defends it more calmly, but the principal gives them both detention. Well, that’s not fair, Yann didn’t deserve that.

Imane stands in front of the principal and gives a speech about how they all participated in the mural and how it means something to them and represents their differences, difference races and sexual orientations. It shows how they can all live together. And now he wants to paint over the mural in white, of all colors? It’s a good speech not because she means it, because L M F A O they did not all paint that fucking mural, Lucas and Eliott splashed some paint on the wall before fucking against it, but because it appeals to the principal’s sense of self-preservation. Does he really want to erase the mural that represents his marginalized students and the harmony and diversity of the school? Does he really want to risk the backlash?

The principal backs down from the mural and leaves. Wait a minute. Imane didn’t actually mean that speech did she? Because lmao, this mural did not mean anything about diversity. There’s an ass print on the wall, for fuck’s sake.

I think she was definitely manipulating the principal and going over-the-top, but the issue is that the rest of the season then tries to play her words as sincere, like that’s the whole point of them standing up for the foyer in the finale, that it’s a place that brings different people together.

Anyway, they’re all sad. The foyer is closing! Daphne says there will be a solution, the others comfort and reassure her.

Maybe because I’m in a bad mood from the coming out part of the scene but: I do not care about the foyer. Actually, I care about it a tiny bit in that Daphne would be sad if it closed and Daphne is my girl but other than that? Nah.

And you know what? The principal had a fucking point! Multiple points! They did host a party after school hours where dozens of students broke into the school and potentially caused mess or damage. They were stealing Wifi to the point where it was slowing down the network. They did have a room with a mattress where two students were just caught in the act of trying to hook up. He was being petty about the mural, but other than that? He’s not wrong. I love Daphne but looking at it from the POV of a meanie adult, she’s enabled a lot of irresponsible actions with this foyer regardless of possible negative consequences.

But mostly? I don’t care about this. I’m weary of how the foyer has encroached on Lucas’ season the way the bus took over Sana’s season. I only gave a shit about the bus because as it meant something to Sana with reconciling her Norwegian culture with her Muslim/Moroccan culture, and because I wanted to see the girl squad have fun in the bus, not because I cared about the bus in itself and how big it is or whether it has certain features or if they can afford a bus as opposed to a van. Likewise, I care about the foyer only in how it relates to the main characters, and so far mostly it’s just Daphne’s investment in it. Lucas’ investment in the foyer is mainly that he and Eliott did the mural and fucked there, a scene that was ridiculous in itself, so I have a hard time caring about it.

But like … if Lucas really cared about this foyer instead of seeming just along for the ride for most of its development? It would make more thematic sense in the season. Like if he and Eliott were more actively involved in fixing up the foyer all season instead of just the mural scene, if it really represented something to them. Say he and Eliott had more meetings and flirtations in there. Or Lucas secretly crashed here when he was having problems at home. If this foyer really felt important to Lucas. Because honestly, I feel like his involvement is mostly “the girls asked him to do something and he did it because he had nothing better to do/got railroaded into it.”

He does text later that the mural is all he has left of Eliott. But the mural is now safe? The principal backed down from painting over the mural. So again … who cares.

IDK, I feel like there were so many ways this could be better. For example, if the foyer was more actively a place that represented diversity and LGBT rights and anti-racism and political activism. If the mural had some legitimate political commentary behind it, or they’d hung a pride flag somewhere and the principal came in and told them to take it down. Or maybe he just got word that a gay couple (aka Lucas and Eliott) were being snuggly in here - not that they banged, just that they were kissing and holding hands in a place that made them feel safe and welcome, and he came in to shut it down in a way that was loaded with microaggressions against them. Then the foyer would genuinely feel like something that needed to be protected. As it is, I’m just like … he’s not wrong about anything he said, lmao, and the idea that the foyer is some haven of diversity and different people coming together feels totally tacked on.

Clip 7 - Lucas’ mom is great

Lucas goes to church and meets with his mom. His mom greets him warmly and hugs him, so that’s very sweet. But it turns out Lucas’ dad isn’t coming. Mama blames it on leaving too many voicemails for him, and that she thinks he doesn’t want to see her anymore since the separation. Nah, I think Lucas’ dad is just a turd, and probably a big homophobe.

Mama says people are the way they are, you can’t try to change them, they have good qualities and their faults. We just need time to understand. So kinda similar to what Basile said earlier about taking people as they are. Lucas ponders that and they go inside the church.

I’m kinda ehhh on them using a church for this scene, considering there hasn’t been as much religious symbolism in this season? Lucas’ mom did send him Bible texts, and there was the Lucas light/dark stuff, but that didn’t seem explicitly tied to religion the way the Isak birth/rebirth stuff was through the 21:21 reference, or the baptism imagery, Even’s Halloween costume, the presence of Christmas? However, I could totally just be missing something. And I don’t think it’s wrong for them to use a church, just that I think it’s a church because it was a church in Skam, rather than because they built up the religious symbolism in this season.

Clip 8 - Run for your love

Lucas and his mom are in church. There are some shots of candles so I guess that’s a tie-in to the light/dark imagery. Or that Lucas is finally seeing the light, heh.

The mass starts and soon Lucas gets a text from Lucille about how no one can find Eliott and they’re freaking out. So Eliott himself doesn’t send Lucas a text, let alone a goodbye text. He’s totally gone off the grid.

We get a montage through Lucas and Eliott’s relationship as the priest talks about how believers can find peace and comfort in God, God gives us the strength we need. No matter your sorrow, God accepts you and you’ll never be alone because God is with you. The church is your shelter. Mixed in with the priest’s words are images of Eliott, so it comes across pretty clearly that Eliott = God in this scenario? Lucas finds peace and comfort in Eliott, he gets strength through him, he’s not alone with Eliott.

I think this would come across a bit stronger if they had built up that religious symbolism throughout the season, because otherwise the Eliott = Lucas’ God thing is a little ... random. I get that they probably just wanted the priest’s words to resonate with Lucas rather then trying to say Eliott = God as a metaphor, but it’s one of those those things where they could have subtly planted connections all along. (I don’t remember any but I’m also finishing this recap like two months later, so I could’ve forgotten something.)

The montage is kinda funny if you consider that Lucas is in church, flashing back to the better times of him boning Eliott. I mean ... who wouldn’t, really.

I enjoy Seinabo Sey and appreciate Skam France using so much of her music, but at first I wasn’t sure how I feel about this choice of song. Is it too on the nose (“I’ll remember you” for a flashback montage)? Skam used plenty of songs with lyrics that described what was happening on screen. Does it fit the church setting? Eh, I don’t think a church scene needs a religious soundtrack. So the song choice has grown on me a bit since then.

I think the reason I was somewhat hesitant about the montage is that Lucas gets a text that Eliott is missing and he just sits there for a few minutes flashing back to the good ol’ days instead of reacting immediately like oh shit, Eliott’s disappeared. Even if they’re not in a relationship, that’s still cause for concern. Whereas with Isak, he didn’t quite understand Even’s text at first; he just smiled and sat down because Even loved him and he read the text in a purely positive way. It was when he realized Even’s text was a possible suicide note that he left the church to go after him. I guess because Lucas was remembering his relationship with Eliott, he was able to figure out where Eliott might be? But still, seems like he should’ve reacted instantly to Eliott possibly being in trouble.

Lucas decides to go and tells his mom. They exchange I love yous, which is sweet and a great closing note for this relationship. The shot of him walking down the aisle feels like a direct homage to OG.

“Remember me under the sun” - OK so I guess that’s another light reference.

The growing intensity of the music is good and I was getting into the scene but dear lord, the slow mo of Lucas running is ABSURD. Why did this turn into Chariots of Fire all of a sudden? Why is Lucas running through the actual street and not the sidewalk, he’s going to get by a car!

OH MY GOD HE ALMOST DID GET HIT BY A CAR, WHY WAS THAT NECESSARY, I STARTED LAUGHING MY ASS OFF

Like was that some outtake where Axel Auriant almost got mowed down because they asked him to run in the fucking street and they decided to keep it in for the ~drama? Talk about a mood killer.

I do like that Lucas knew where to go because he knew it was a place special to Eliott, and to the two of them. And that he found Eliott in the dark and that Lucas brings the light on both of them (literally, with his cell phone). Maxence does a nice job of crying and looking heartbroken.

This scene isn’t bad (except for the running and almost getting hit by the car…. why) but it does makes me think the remakes really need to start from scratch with the climax of this season. Not just recreate an O Helga Natt-ish clip with similar setting, music, dialogue, or story beats, but to look independently at what the themes of the season are - not OG, their season - and then build up something that’s consistent with that. That’s a big part of why O Helga Natt is such a masterpiece: It ties together Isak’s main lessons throughout the season, as well as paying off foreshadowing and incorporating multiple motifs and threads of symbolism that have been developed along the way.

So for example, just a small observation: Lucas tells Eliott he’s not alone anymore. Which is of course a line from O Helga Natt, and a line that does have a powerful meaning in this context. I’m not saying it’s a bad line in the slightest. But in O Helga Natt, Isak was saying it as a direct response to Even’s text message, in which he says “everyone is alone anyway.” And also in response to something Even said back in episode 5, about “the brain is alone” and being alone with your thoughts and the only way to escape is death. And to some degree in the hotel clip when Even said the alone way to have something forever was to lose it, just after they were talking about Isak and Even in infinite universes, as if Even was talking about losing Isak and being alone. It was established that Even had a fear of being alone. Here, Eliott does not send Lucas a text, so “You’re not alone anymore” is not a direct response to anything. And I don’t remember Eliott saying anything about being alone in episode 5, having that line of Even’s, or in episode 8 (Again, I took a long break between recaps so it’s very possible I just forgot Eliott’s prior comments about being alone to Lucas, feel free to remind me.) So while the line is sweet and supportive and powerful, IMO it lacks the extra punch that Isak’s “You’re not alone” did simply because Skam’s writing was tighter. I mean ... if Isak hadn’t said “You’re not alone,” would Lucas have said it to Eliott? Might he have said something else relevant to their relationship, rather than recreating an existing iconic line? I don’t know if I’m explaining myself clearly, and I truly don’t mean to make a mountain out of a molehill, because the line is perfectly fine here. It’s just that I think the remakes need to not lean on O Helga Natt so much, and instead rely on their own ingredients in the season to craft this climactic scene, if they want to create something with the most impact.

Social Media/General Comments:

Lucas doesn’t text Mika after the boat clip, he texts Manon. Which seems completely in line with those relationships, in my opinion. Isak texting Eskild and Eskild dropping everything to go home after the hotel is a testament to that relationship’s strength, but Lucas and Mika still don’t seem to have that degree of closeness, even if their relationship has gotten stronger. It’s Manon who Lucas seems closest to, the one who can cry with him and sit in silence together just for comfort.

However, Lucas doesn’t give Manon the details or even imply something is wrong in his text to her; he writes a (typo-filled) draft where he explains what happened on the boat and then deletes it. I’m assuming he told her afterwards, but this is a really good detail! Skam France and other remakes sometimes miss innovative ways to use social media to enhance the story, and I think this small touch is quite clever. Lucas is shaken and distraught after the boat and writes this messy draft of a text to Manon, spilling everything, but he deleted it and went with a neutral text, holding back the information. The reason I think he deleted his explanatory text is not just because of how messed up it was, but because writing out everything - Eliott disappeared, he’s bipolar - would make it more real, and Lucas cannot handle that it the moment, it’s too much.

Mika sends Lucas a link to a sad song, for help with his wallowing, I guess. Maybe not the best thing to send tbh, but it was kindly meant. And Lucas posted on his IG story that he was listening to it, so perhaps it helped him.

The pity party was documented quite well on IG. I wonder what Eliott thought if he saw any of it? Lucas drunk and dancing ... could go “he’s upset” or “he’s glad to be rid of me” which tbh I could see happening in a depressed mindset.

Eliott posted colors to his IG - like just colors - and deleted them really fast. Which is another good use of social media here, possibly to illustrate his changing moods, to hint at his mindset (like his depression being just a dark gradient) I’m kind of like ... why didn’t they do something like this last week to hint at his mania?

Lucas contacted Eliott via text, saying he wanted to see him or talk. That would’ve been good to see in a clip, really.

People using Imane’s BS speech on IG to promote the common room cause = LMAO.

Lucas says the mural is all he has left of Eliott, which is at least some reason he’d care about protecting it and the foyer. The boys encourage him to go to Eliott’s place, and Lucas is hesitant, saying he was told to stay away. However, then there’s an IG story of Lucas outside Eliott’s building.

Lol, OK, that’s something that definitely would be better as a clip rather than a stalker-y IG post. I mean, when you think about it, isn’t it kind of weird for him to broadcast that to the world? I guess he hoped Eliott would see it and know Lucas cares and wants to talk to him?

But sooo many questions. Like ... did Lucas try to ring the bell or contact Eliott while he was there ... or did he just stand looking up at his window like a creep ... how long was he standing there ... I don’t think they thought this one through. Yeah, absolutely should have been an actual clip so we know what the hell happened.

Ok I realize it is sooooo after the fact, and regarding this topic that has already been discussed to death, I hate to come back with another rant like AND ANOTHER THING!!!! but at some point I came to another realization about why Yann’s reaction to Lucas’ coming out is bad and stupid and I wanted to get it out because it has been bugging me.

Yann’s reaction is bad and stupid because the “you weren’t honest with me/told everyone else but me” reaction is often fake and disingenuous. Like I hate to generalize and I’m sure that somewhere in the history of the world, someone has genuinely been hurt that their friend came out to other people before them, but also, sorry, I don’t think it’s a common authentic reaction. It’s a smokescreen for homophobia.

So let’s talk about Please Like Me. Please Like Me is one of my favorite non-Skam shows ever. Like Skam S3, its protagonist, Josh, is a young gay man just accepting that he is gay and coming out (although he’s older than Isak). Like Isak, Josh has a mentally ill mother. Like Skam S3, Josh gets into a relationship with a mentally ill person. It’s less idealistic and more painful than Skam, but still completely worth a watch, I highly recommend checking it out.

At one point in Please Like Me, Josh goes with his boyfriend, Arnold, to Arnold’s birthday party with Arnold’s family. Arnold is not out to his family yet and is planning to come out to them at the party. However, in a previous episode Arnold told his friends that his dad has said he doesn’t like gay people and told Arnold to quit singing in a choir because people would think he was a (homophobic slur) and beat him up. So, Arnold’s dad is an established homophobic asshole!

At the party, Arnold announces to his family that he’s gay and dating Josh. Arnold’s brother and mom are like “Yeah, we knew,” which is not the best thing to say but they’re overall chill and supportive. Meanwhile, Arnold’s dad stands there with a sour look on his face. When he does finally speak, he says that he’s been “backed into a corner” - presumably because the rest of family supports Arnold, and because they have other guests with them looking expectantly at him waiting for him to say he’s OK with Arnold being gay. Like he’s basically saying he doesn’t have the freedom to react negatively. You know, something a total non-homophobe would say! Then he starts going in on Arnold for lying to him, and saying the biggest problem is that Arnold didn’t feel he could be honest with him. (Then he knocks over a croquembouche.) Arnold’s dad leaves, but not before telling his wife that Arnold should be gone when he gets back.

Why am I bringing up Please Like Me? Because Please Like Me, created-written-directed-acted by real-life gay man Josh Thomas, is smart enough to recognize that homophobes often direct their disapproval into other excuses to be upset when someone comes out. Arnold’s dad didn’t stand there and rant about how homosexuality is wrong or gross. He didn’t say anything about homosexuality at all. Instead, he funneled his feelings into the weaselly excuse of “you weren’t honest with me.” (This right after Arnold has said, in his coming out speech, that his best chance at happiness is to be honest. Honesty in this case acknowledging he’s gay and has a boyfriend.) But let’s be real: if that were the case, if Arnold’s dad were upset about the lying rather than his son’s sexuality, would he really get that angry? Enough to effectively kick his son out of the house? To knock over a goddamn croquembouche? No, this scene is obviously about a father being pissed that his son is gay. But he feels “backed into a corner” and it’s not like he can say he’s upset that his son is gay in front of everyone else, in front of the guests, his son’s boyfriend, his wife and other son who have known for a long time and are fine with it.

Circling back to Skam France: we had Yann upset enough with Lucas coming out to him, for Totally Non-Homophobic Reasons, to walk away from him because he was hurt Lucas didn’t come out to him first. And I do believe the writer intended for Yann to not be homophobic at all! But it’s such a shitty, cheap excuse for drama, such a flimsy rationale for Yann’s reaction, one that doesn’t fit his prior behavior at all, that frankly, it pings too close to a smokescreen. Like Skam France is trying to pass off this blatantly artificial reaction as genuine. If someone reacted like this IRL, my gut feeling would be that they were a fucking homophobe. They’re most likely homophobic but aware that openly saying bad things about gay people, openly expressing their disapproval, is not a good look for them. Or they’re homophobic but trying to tell themselves they’re not by channeling their disappointment into other reasons that don’t rely on discomfort with homosexuality. It’s completely plausible and even probable for people to have some homophobic hangups under the surface, that in theory they were OK with gay people but when your best friend is staring you in the face telling you he’s in love with another man, those hangups might suddenly rise up.

And if somehow we give these reactions the benefit of the doubt, that someone is truly upset because “you lied to me” or “you didn’t tell me first?” - that person’s still a selfish asshole. Think about it. Your friend is confessing an extremely vulnerable secret about themselves, something that may have caused them great internal stress and pain, and you’re mad that they didn’t tell you sooner? Fuck off.

Anyway. The point I’m making is: in a Doylist sense, I think Yann’s reaction is not homophobic. The Skam France team really didn’t think of it that way. In a Watsonian sense, I call bullshit. Yann walking off during the coming out scene is most plausible if Yann actually had a homophobic reaction to Lucas’ coming out, and needed some time to process it before accepting Lucas’ sexuality. His explanation to Lucas is weak and unlikely. If it is true, that makes Yann a self-centered asshole. I know people don’t react perfectly and obviously Yann stepped the fuck up for Lucas afterwards but let’s acknowledge it for what it is, prioritizing one’s entitlement to someone else’s deepest, most painful secrets over their comfort and safety in keeping those secrets.

To be clear, I don’t hate Yann, not at all, and I attribute this mess solely to bad writing. It’s one of those things where the intent is different from the finished product. In analysis of Yann or Skam France or whatever, I’d acknowledge the intended purpose of that creative decision to make Yann walk away. But I’m also acknowledging that this creative decision is some stupid shit, lmao. And I’m aware the screenwriter is gay, and for all I know this is based on personal experience, but for now this scenario feels fake and manufactured only for drama, and inauthentic to how people would genuinely think and react in these scenarios. Someone who walks out on their friend when said friend comes out is probably homophobic to some degree, or else self-centered as fuck. Simple as that.

I am not French, so please feel free to correct me on any translation or cultural notes that I missed.

Like I said, I took a break from recaps, so I also might have forgotten certain details of this season, feel free to remind me of any of those, too!

If you got this far - and if you are still reading this after all this time - thank you very much, I love you!

#skam france reactions #skamfr reactions

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claire-xiv · 5 years

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Echo Flashback III

Claire's arrived in Ul'dah for the first time. She's dressed quite similarly to how she dresses now, but not quite the same. She wears form-fitting slacks, the same style of shirt she favours now, and form-fitting boots, along with the same gloves. Her hair was a bit longer and left to hang free without any styling, almost as though she didn't bother paying attention to it at all.

The crowd on the streets parts and begins to line the way as a massive caravan makes its way toward the markets. Whoever they are, the merchants are well known, either respected or liked. Many people in the crowd cheer at them and these individuals stand up in their carts to wave at the passing faces.

Suddenly, most of the chocobos from nearly every cart in the caravan break from their bardings, and begin to charge through the streets, panicked and making trill shrieks as they nearly trample the bystanders. Without a word, Claire reacts along with another familiar face further up the avenue - a white-haired bard who also charges into the fray, carefully subduing chocobos.

Claire tackles chocobos, and she wrestles them into submission before knocking them out, moving from chocobo to chocobo, making her way toward the other man subduing the rampaging birds. A third gentleman joins them, a thaumaturge who begins to just sleep each bird his casting can reach. It takes several long, dangerous minutes, but the three manage to get all the chocobos under control - most of them are passed out by the time they've finished.

The white-haired man stares at the scene with a strange expression before thanking the thaumaturge, suggesting he approach the Sultanate for a reward in a few hours. The man then makes his way over to Claire, who's standing to the side of the road, brushing yellow feathers from her hair and clothing.

"When I rose with the morning's light, I did not expect it to be eclipsed by brilliance from the homelands that would shine so bright, it would blind, confuse, and lull a running of the chocobos into sleep," he said playfully, inspecting the marks upon her face carefully. "But one must wonder why such a beautiful shining light is compelled to hide her wonder from the world, so tell me, love - why the subterfuge?"

Claire, naturally, looked like she was ready to put him through the nearest wall. She seems to be noting the marks upon his neck just as carefully as he is observing the marks upon her face.

"One would think another from the homelands would know better than to be so forward with someone whose name he doesn't even know," she replied, coldly, glaring at the man. "I have my reasons, and if you value breathing, you'll not say a word about what you've noticed to anyone - clear?"

He merely grinned at her, clearly seeing her cold response as just a challenge. He bowed to her, a somewhat flourished affair, winking at her as he did so; the man is clearly a flirt, if not an outright letch.

"As you wish, my dear," he replies, mid-action. "The name's Thancred, by the way. And we're in Eorzea now - may as well do as those around us do."

She was not amused by his response, huffing slightly as she continued to glare at him. Crossing her arms tightly, she leaned away from him, taking a very closed stance to his advances and friendly nature.

"Bullshit. Most Eorzeans haven't treated me as such at all, but nice try, Thancred," she replies, emphasizing his name, harshly. "I know precisely who you are, although they really downplayed your...mannerisms a bit. Outdated reports, I'm sure."

Thancred spread his arms wide to each side of his head, looking wounded. "You have me at a disadvantage then - you know my name, and you know of my reputation. I must guess you were sent here after us then, love?"

Without warning, Claire stepped forward and punched him square in the upper arm, hard and fast. He half-turned from the force of the impact, and it was clearly going to leave a bruise. His eyes went wide, and then he gave an even fuller smile as her eyes narrowed further.

"Knock it off with the overly-friendly names, boy," she said sharply. "No, I'm not here after the lot of you - I'm here of my own volition. I just bothered to study up on the, how shall I put it, notorious Sharlayans in the nation before venturing off."

The bard gently placed his hand over the place of impact, wincing a bit as he grinned at Claire, which only made her angrier. The few people who had tried to be forward with her were usually scared off with a dark look and a few threats, while the single other person to require physical violence backed off after she punched him in the shoulder, much like this. But not this man, no...he just seemed amused by her reactions, which unnerved her.

"Well, at least there is that," he replies. "May I at least have the name of the woman who injured my arm? So that when the conjurer I ask to heal any subdermal damage you may have caused asks me, I may tell her that I at least got that far?"

Claire rolled her eyes, dropping her hands to her sides.

"Fine," she growled. "It's Claire."

Thancred pouted a bit, "Damn. There is likely a thousand Claire's back home - finding any information about you is going to be impossible."

Though her eyes were still narrowed, Claire quirked the corner of her mouth as she replied, "Exactly."

"You wound me so, dear," he said, moving away from her. "Until we meet again, my lovely Claire."

She moved as though she was going to punch him in the back, but instead just turned and started storming off in the other direction. Thancred, on the other hand, continued off towards the Chamber of Rule, his smile growing wider with each step.

"Such a fiery thing," he murmured, "she's going to be fun..."

#The Oncoming Storm #Echo Flashbacks: Claire

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keefskneef · 6 years

Text

Intelligence - Klance (Spy AU)

Writing prompt requested by @king-of-the-rain-and-wolves! ♥

“Remind me again why we're doing this?”

Keith lifted a hand to muffle the sound of Lance's tired voice in his earpiece, and leaned back against the wall he was currently crouched behind. He kept his knife poised at the ready in the other hand at his side.

“You know why,” he muttered back; quiet enough to not be heard by the two patrols at the end of the hall, but loud enough to be picked up by the little microphone tucked away against his neck, hidden only by his bodysuit. “This mission is important, and everyone knows we can do this. That bastard has--”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. But why not just try to get the information out of him somehow? Without... breaking in and risking our lives or whatever.”

“Because we're supposed to be spies? And he could kill us without even listening to what we have to say?”

“He's gonna kill us if he finds out what we're doing now.”

“Then we'd better keep quiet and get on with it before he does. Are you at your post yet?”

He heard a few shots from a gun on Lance's end. One, then another two in quick succession. Keith didn't even flinch; only crouched further to lean in closer to the corner, taking a peek at the patrols. They were still blissfully unaware of his presence and murmuring unintelligible things between them.

Lance started breathing a little heavier on his side, most likely from dragging off whoever he had shot to cover his tracks.

“Perfection can't be rushed, Keith. We're still on time anyway, aren't we?”

“Maybe. But the sooner we get out of here, the better.”

He heard Lance's hum of agreement, then allowed for silence to reign for a short period of time whilst Lance worked on masking the cameras' feeds throughout the building.

Lance was tense and wanted an easier option, he knew that. Hell, even Keith was tense. But deep down, he knew that Lance knew just as well as he did why this mission was so important – And their only option, unless they wanted to attract some unwanted attention.

“Okay. I'm about to enter the ducts now, so be ready. And don't make some sassy comment about how you've been ready since forever.”

Keith smiled and huffed a breath of amusement. “You know me so well. Be careful.”

“When am I ever not careful? Don't answer that.”

Perhaps it was best to keep quiet anyway, because mere seconds after that, Lance was climbing into the ducts that passed through the ceiling. Keith could hear how his breaths came out slow and steady – Concentrated, but clearly masking nerves. He almost wanted to murmur soft reassurances, but it was probably best not to break Lance's concentration.

That, and Lance would never let him live it down if he was 'too soft' towards him. Again. He really wasn't very good at hiding his ever-growing crush on the Cuban, and he already knew that Lance was suspicious. Keith would do whatever he could to prevent Lance from ever finding out, just to save himself the embarrassment and shame.

Several minutes passed, and Keith was beginning to feel his own stomach twist in anxiousness. They both knew that it was quite a distance from Lance's point of entry (the surveillance room) to the control room, but it wasn't that far...

He took in a small breath and tightened his hold on the hilt of his blade. He tried to resist voicing his concerns.

Just a few minutes. That was all he needed to be able to retrieve the intel they needed, before they could both get out of there for good.

Keith would have been with Lance in the vents right now if it weren't for the infrared cameras he had to place down along the way, and the guards that stood in the way of the door he needed to enter. Flat-out running at and attacking them would only garner the attention of those on the inside of that room, which they wanted to avoid if possible.

Besides, Keith and Lance were not the type to attack innocent people. Whether the people here worked for a criminal organisation or not, some didn't have a choice.

Some of these people were simply struggling to support themselves and their families on a decent living wage. They had no say in what went on here, or around the city – They were probably completely unaware of the implications this place had on their lives, or anyone else's. Probably fed lies about what they were actually guarding.

But Keith would defend himself and Lance if he had to. If they were caught now, they would be attacked without question. They wouldn't be given a chance to explain themselves or try to worm their way out – It was a kill or be killed situation. Both himself and Lance were skilled enough to not leave obvious clues behind that could trace back to themselves, or their agency.

Keith had been in too many of those situations to count. Most having occurred before he had been paired with Lance.

In an attempt to soothe his frayed nerves, Keith busied himself by pulling out his black gas mask, and slipping it on over his face. He was in the middle of securing it around the back of his head when he heard a breathless voice in his ear.

“Keith, I'm here. You ready for the fun to begin?”

“Do it. But don't forget your mask – I don't need you passing out on me again.”

“Already on it. And that was one time!”

Keith grinned at the quiet yet exasperated huff from Lance's end. His hand curled around the small gas grenade attached to his belt, working to carefully and silently unclip it as Lance took in a small breath.

“Okay. Three, two...”

After hearing the final number in the countdown sequence, Keith swiftly pulled the pin and tossed the grenade around the corner. He heard it land with a clatter over by the guards' feet; gathering their attention, but not leaving them with enough time to call for help or flee. The gas was quickly expelled due to the built-up pressure inside the grenade, and within seconds, two heavy thumps could be heard against the hard floor.

Keith stood up and briskly walked towards the passed-out guards, knife still in-hand. “Is the room clear?”

“All clear. You gotta be quick – Someone might walk into the surveillance room and notice the cameras aren't working any minute now.”

“I thought you said we couldn't rush perfection?” The raven-haired man retorted, smirking under his mask. He heard yet another huff from Lance.

He pushed open the doors to the control room and hurried inside, only sheathing his knife when he was certain that there was nobody conscious in the room. Gas was still pouring out of the few grenades Lance has tossed down, but it would die down soon. After that, they only had a short amount of time before the first of their victims would begin to wake.

“How are the heat sensors looking?” Keith asked as he tapped into one of the computers, staring at the large screen before him with a concentrated frown.

“The halls are looking good for now. Nobody's moved from their positions yet... I'm pretty sure one guy is asleep or something. He's been stood in the same place without moving ever since I switched my computer on.”

Keith had a feeling he knew who Lance was talking about – It had been easy to set down a small camera in one particular hall nearby. “Let's hope he is. One less person to worry about.”

He worked quickly and barely made any chitchat with Lance after that. Only small hums of acknowledgement came from him as Lance babbled on and joked about whatever he could – How two of the guys' heat signatures looked kind of suggestive, or something along those lines.

Several passwords and encrypted folders later – thanks to the hacking software he had been given by Pidge – Keith finally found the information he was looking for.

“I'm extracting everything to our memory stick now. Get ready to bail.”

“Aww, but I'm kind of having fun up here. I've given everyone names now – I'm mostly attached to Jeff, I think.”

Keith rolled his eyes but smiled at his partner's antics. “You really know how to downplay a serious mission, don't you?”

“Only trying to lighten the mood. You get stressed enough as it as back at the office – I don't need you flipping out on me here, too.”

“I only flip out on you if you deliberately try to get on my--”

“Keith, someone's coming. They're about a minute or two off from seeing the passed-out guards at the door, hurry.”

A string of curses was muttered under Keith's breath as he stared up at the progress bar. 90%.

The gas had mostly dissipated by now, which meant that anyone else who stumbled upon the hall or room would no longer be affected by it. The gas would be too weak by now to fully knock someone out.

“Come on, come on...” Keith muttered, nervously glancing over his shoulder to the closed doors behind himself. He quickly glanced back to the screen. 93%.

“Keith? He's getting closer. Any minute now and he'll see the guards--”

“I know, Lance.” He hadn't meant to snap back at his partner, but he was sure he was used to it by now. He'd apologise later, after this was all over and they were away and safe.

96%.

Keith could hear Lance's breath, growing heavier and shakier with each passing second. His own heart was hammering against his chest – This was the one place he did not want to get caught in.

98%.

“Keith--”

“Pack up your shit and get ready,” Keith all but ordered. He heard Lance scrambling around in the vents for a few moments after that, and could hear just how panicked he was getting up there.

100%.

Immediately after the pop-up had appeared to alert him that the transfer had been successful, Keith ripped the memory stick out from the machine and shut it down altogether. He knew it would be enough to hide what he had been looking at – Even if they switched it back on again, it wouldn't open the folder up automatically.

It would leave behind a hint that they had been using the computers, but that much was obvious already, with the amount of unconscious guards and workers lying around the area. He couldn't bring himself to care much about that for now.

He grabbed a nearby chair after pocketing the memory stick and dragged it over to the corner of the room, towards the vent which would be his exit. Immediately it opened and Lance was reaching down for him, clearly desperate despite Keith not being able to see the expression on his face. Keith jumped up onto the chair he had brought over, then reached up to grab the extended arm.

“Hold on tight,” Keith warned. He didn't wait for Lance to reply – Didn't need to, to know that his partner had his back. He leapt up and kicked the wheeled chair away from beneath himself simultaneously, ensuring that he left no visible evidence that he had escaped through the vents. His free hand had managed to reach up enough to just about grip onto the edge of the vent, and he used that to heave himself up with Lance's help.

The whole ordeal was over within just a few seconds – But that person, whoever they were, was still heading for the room. Keith quickly reached down to close the vent, and then nodded to Lance. They needed to get out of there, before anyone noticed the passed-out guards outside, and the room full of unconscious workers.

Their movements were shaky but quick, and somehow still relatively silent. Lance led Keith down to where he had first entered the ducts, and helped him out once they reached the surveillance room. It was still empty, thank God.

Both Keith and Lance were breathing heavily once they were out, but still they had to keep moving. Lance worked on closing the vent whilst Keith pulled off his gas mask and hurried over to the window, pushing it open as wide as he could manage.

A loud, ear-piercing alarm began to blare out through the building.

“C'mon, quick,” he urged Lance to hurry over, not even sparing him a glance as he stuck his head out of the window instead. The breeze that blew through his hair was enough to tell him that they were relatively high up – Paired with the distant street-lit roads and pavements that surrounded the building.

A single black car was hidden in the darkness of the alley down below.

“You know I hate this part,” Lance whined from behind him. Still Keith didn't turn to look at Lance, even as he climbed up onto the window ledge.

“Then come jump with me,” Keith replied, still a little breathless. He finally turned back to look to Lance, just in time to see him grin.

“So romantic. I expect like, some flowers or something in the car. Or something nice on my desk back at the office.”

“I'm going to push you out of this window if you don't hurry up, Lance, come on.”

Lance laughed merrily, as if they weren't on the run from robbing intelligence from one of the most dangerous organisations around, and hopped up onto the ledge at Keith's side. Two ziplines were shot and secured to the opposite building, and then to the window they were currently stood in.

They intertwined hands, then jumped without another word – Allowing their zip lines to carry them down a couple of storeys, until it was safe enough to drop down the rest of the way to the floor. It was a heavy landing, and Keith knew they'd both be aching tomorrow, but they quickly recovered and retrieved their equipment before jumping into the waiting car.

Their first mission gathering intelligence about their missing co-worker had gone down a success.

It was highly likely that their missions would only become harder and more dangerous the deeper they went into this – But Keith and Lance were willing to do whatever it takes, just like the rest of their agency.

Shiro was still out there, somewhere. And with Lance by his side, Keith had no doubts that they would one day find him, together.

Send me another writing prompt! ♥

#personal #my writing #klance #voltron #vld lance #vld keith #voltron spy au #lance mcclain #keith kogane #vld shiro #shiro takashi #voltron fanfic #voltron fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #I wrote this in like 2 hours lmao #I hope it's good enough though!#Thank you so much for sending in your request!!

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fanficwriter013 · 7 years

Text

The Tower - Chapter 11

The Tower: An Avengers Fanfic

Chapter 11

Chapters: one / two / three / four / five / six / seven / eight / nine / ten / eleven / twelve / thirteen / fourteen / fifteen / sixteen / seventeen / eighteen / nineteen / twenty / twenty-one / twenty-two / twenty-three / twenty-four / twenty-five / twenty-six / twenty-seven / twenty-eight

Word Count: 2035

Warnings: Angst, mild violence, crazy people coming back from the past.

Synopsis: Elly gets kidnapped by someone from the past. What are the repercussions?

Author’s Note: Co-written with @emilyevanston

Chapter 11 - Taken.

I’d noticed the two people following me when I stepped off the train at the 116th Station. A man and a woman. She about my age and he maybe ten years older. He was wearing a suit whereas the woman looked more like a tourist. She had an I heart New York hoodie on over a pair of jeans. I’d gotten up fairly last minute and let the crowd of students drag me off the train with them. They’d almost panicked and jumped off just as the doors were closing. At the time I had written it off as two people who hadn’t been paying enough attention to where they were going.

I saw them again while I was in my office. I'd been typing away, writing up a paper and I got up to open the window to let some fresh air in. They were out on the lawn at the front of the building talking to each other. The guy was smoking a cigarette and they both looked really bored.

That time I was a little more concerned. Not strongly but I took note. It was strange they were out there when I’d noticed them on the train too, and on the train, they didn’t seem to know each other. I put them at the back of my head and went back to work. When I came out from lunch they were still out there, standing on opposite sides of the lawn out the front of the building.

I pulled out my phone as I walked to the cafe I was head to and texted Tony.

It felt like my heart was trying to escape my chest it was beating so hard. I put my phone in my pocket and just kept walking. Making my way out onto Broadway where there were lots of people moving around getting themselves lunch and doing all the little personal tasks you do during your lunch hour. A van pulled up just ahead of me and the back burst open. I turned suddenly right into the arms of the guy in the suit.

I opened my mouth to scream, but he brought something to it and everything went black.

I woke later nauseated and fuzzy. I was sitting in a chair my arms bound behind my back and my legs tied firmly in place. I raised my head slowly as the room spun around me. It took a moment for my eyes to focus but when I did I saw I was in a dimly lit room that was bare except for the chair I was sitting on. There was a door in front of me and a large mirror that I assumed was two way.

The door opened and a tall woman walked in. She wore a black and white catsuit and a gold mask that was framed by her black hair. “Finally awake, Doctor Cooper.” She said. She had an Italian accent, though it wasn’t thick.

“Who are you?” I asked looking up at her.

“You can call me Madame Masque.” She replied. “Are you comfortable, my dear.”

“Not really,” I answered. “What do you want? I’m not anyone.”

She laughed and crouched in front of me cupping my jaw. “Now that’s just not true, darling.” She purred. “You’ve got to be something quite special to attract the attention of Anthony Stark.”

I barked out a laugh. I couldn’t help it. “Tony Stark? The Playboy? I think you just need to have a heartbeat.”

She slapped me across the face. It made my neck wrench to the side and heat blossomed in my cheek. “I will not have you speak about him like that.” She hissed.

I shook my head trying to clear it, as tears pricked my eyes.

“Now look what you made me do. You’re bleeding.” She ran her thumb over my bottom lip and then sucked it clean. “What does he see in the likes of you anyway?”

“I hardly even know him. We’ve only been out a couple of times.” I said, trying to downplay things. Hoping she didn't know anything more than the lunch and the gallery event.

She ran a finger down my cheek. “Now, now. Why is it you’ve been hanging around the tower like a bad smell for weeks now?” She cooed. “Why have the Hawk and the Falcon been showing up to your little apartment if not to keep an eye on you? Why when we looked back was the spider lurking around you all the time?”

“I’m friends with Natasha. That’s all. She introduced me to Tony and we had lunch and then he had some event and wanted a date for it. You’re reading too much into it.” I argued.

She raised her hand to hit me again and I flinched. She held her hand up for a moment and slowly lowered it patting me on my cheek. “See now, you nearly did it again. Let’s call Anthony and see what he thinks?”

She took out a phone and pulled the screen out into holographic mode. She dialed Tony. It was less than a full ring before he answered. His face displayed above me as Madame Masque intentionally kept me out of frame.

“Giuletta,” Tony said tersely.

“Hello, Anthony Darling. It’s good to see you.” She replied.

“I don’t have all day, dear,” Tony said.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Maybe you have more time for your friend.” She said crouching down beside me so I was in frame. She pulled a knife from her belt and ran the flat of the blade down my cheek. “Do you have time for her, Anthony?”

The muscles in Tony’s jaw twitched. “Why don’t you let her go? She’s nothing to you.”

Guiletta tsked him. “Now, now. She may be nothing to me, but she’s something to you. You know what I want. When I have it, I’ll let her go. I’d hurry though, my love or I’ll start sending her back to you in small pieces.” To emphasize the point she flicked the knife just enough to knick my skin and disconnected the call.

“Oh look at you, my poor darling.” She said, waving her hand. A man and a woman walked in dressed head to toe in black. The man handed her a cloth and she dabbed my cheek with it. “You’re very brave and you did your job very well.” She stood up and turned to the others. “Take her to her room. Make sure she has food.”

The woman untied me and they led me to what was really a grey brick cell and just locked me in it without a word.

I think I was there for two days before I saw anyone again. I was freaking out about really stupid things. Like who was covering my lectures and how much my dad was going to rip into me for not calling on Sunday like I always did. It was like my mind didn’t want to go to the worst possible scenarios.

At the end of the second day, Giuletta stormed in the room mid-conversation with Tony. I sat up suddenly and she came over to me grabbing me by the hair and yanking my head back. I tried to fight my way off her and managed to yank some of my own hair out but two guards were on her heels and they grabbed me and held me down.

“Time’s running out and you seem to think I’m playing games here.” She said, holding her hand out. One of the guards opened a bottle and dipped a large dropper in it, sucking the liquid up and handing the dropper to Giuletta. “Maybe I’ll make your pretty friend’s face match mine. See how infatuated you are with her then.” She let a small drop of the liquid fall. It hit my cheek and the burn that followed was so intense I bucked back violently, screaming.

“Giuletta. Stop!” Tony cried out.

“Am I going to get what I want?” She seethed.

Tony sighed and his shoulders slumped. “Yes. Anything. Just stop.”

“Tomorrow, Anthony. Or you’ll be fitting her with her own mask.” She disconnected the call and handed the dropper back to the guard in exchange for a cloth. She cupped my face as I was still being held and wiped the mark she had made. There must have been some kind of lotion or numbing cream because it instantly felt better and I started crying. I was so mad at myself for showing that weakness, but it was that one piece of relief opened up the floodgates to everything that I had been trying to hold back.

“Shh… it’s okay, my darling. It will all be over soon.” She soothed as she wiped my face.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I sobbed, doing that hiccuping thing where you can’t quite take a breath properly.

“I know. I know. This is what happens when you love Tony Stark. It hurts doesn’t it?” She cooed.

“I hardly even know him.” I cried.

She wrapped her arms around me cradling my head. “But you do love him, don’t you?”

I nodded my head and let myself cry.

*****

I was woken by a loud explosion. I sat up suddenly and huddled into the corner. I wanted to look out and see what was happening but the door was sold steel with just a couple of latched openings that could only open from the other side. There was shouting and the sound of running down the hall outside. The door was thrown open and Giuletta stormed in again. I tried to dart out past her but was caught by one of the guards who just passed me back to her. She put a knife to my throat and pushed me forward.

“Your boyfriend broke his word, my darling.” She hissed as she dragged me down the hall. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to pay the price for his continued lies and mistreatment of me. But for now, you’re going to make sure I get out of here unscathed.”

I tried to struggle free but she just pushed the knife into my skin. “Enough of that. I’d rather not kill you before I get where we’re going.”

She dragged me down the hall and through a door. We were headed to an exit when there was the sound of jets and a loud bang behind us followed by some shots and the guards around us all dropped to the floor.

Giuletta turned around holding me close to her and pressing the knife close to my throat. “Now now, Anthony. Stand down or I’ll decorate that suit of yours with her blood.”

“Is that really what you want, dear? Why don’t you let her go and we can talk?” Tony said, he still held his arms up, the stabilizers glowing blue in readiness to attack.

Giuletta backed towards the exit. “This could have ended peacefully, Anthony. You know me. We could have been happy. Now, whatever happens, is all on your shoulders.”

The knife pushed against my throat and I gasped, sure this was it. “It’s not. It’s not your fault.” I yelled out in a panic. Terrified that Tony was about to carry the burden of my death on him too.

The knife slipped from her grip and clattered on the ground and she slumped behind me. I turned and saw Natasha behind me with a syringe in her hand. I launched myself at her. And she dropped the syringe and caught me wrapping me in her arms while I broke down into tears. “Shh… Mishka. We’re here. We’ve got you.” She soothed as she lowered me to the ground and sat stroking my hair.

Tony walked over to us and looked down without opening his visor. “Is she okay?”

“She will be,” Natasha said into my hair.

I looked up at Tony and reached my hand for him. “It’s not your fault.”

He turned away from us. “I’ll go secure the area. Cap clean up on the North exit.” He said and flew off.

I didn’t see Tony Stark again for another three weeks.

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eternalstereksecretsanta · 6 years

Text

I got you, babe.

@hazelestelle | AO3 | I saw you were a Cherik fan as well, so I hoped this au might be a good fit. Mutual pining, a touch of fake relationship, some hurt/comfort, and mostly-sfw fluff to finish. Hope it works for you, and that I got your AO3 name right!

I went with sort-of Rouge/wolverine powers for the boys (derek is p much still a werewolf). Lydia is telepathic, probably. XD

Rated M for light gore.

X-Men AU/fusion where Sterek are on a mission, pretending to be on a date. It all goes sideways, of course.

“Target on the move, headed for your six.”

“Stiles.”

“I mean your ten.”

“Stiles.”

“Noon.”

“STILES.” Derek hissed, trying not to let his face betray his frustration. “Stiles. I can see him in the mirror above the bar. And do you even know how to use those directions? Noon and six are directly opposite each other.”

Stiles waggled his eyebrows in a manner that Derek assumed was supposed to convey something significant, but managed to mostly convey: Dork. He sighed.

“It’s easier to pretend to be a couple on a first or second date when you don’t make me want to strangle you. Or pull your guts out. With my claws.”

“Aw, sugarwolf, I know you don’t mean it.” And Stiles grinning through, ugh, a mouthful of pasta should not have been as cute as it was, but he was right. Derek didn’t mean it.

Derek didn’t mean it so hard that he’d been dodging Lydia out of fear she’d “pick up” on his disgustingly sappy feelings for weeks now.

It had been fine, Derek thought, until Stiles had gone on the Chicago mission. He’d had to subdue some actor who was in league with the brotherhood, and she’d put up a hell of a fight. In the end, Stiles had had to pull more from her than he intended, which Derek knew he hated doing, since it usually meant he pulled a little personality along with the energy and mutation.

But in that case… Derek had suddenly realized just how screwed he was. When Stiles walked off that jet, he’d almost been swaggering. He’d later confessed to Derek that although her actual personality (liked honey mustard, hated butterscotch, could never turn the television off if a dog show was on), had faded very quickly, but her confidence had lingered. Stiles had tried to explain to him what that felt like, that certainty that all eyes were on you, and for good reason. The pride in her work, her art, her desire to convey the authenticity of her character. Stiles explained that there was a particular way of walking that just… people would move. And that knowledge, that of course they would, that of course you were… all of that… yeah.

Derek was screwed. He’d known Stiles for years, both more or less growing up in the Xavier mansion for most of their teenage years, and for more than a few of those years, Derek had been harboring, maybe, a tiny little crush on him. Just a little one. Just, like, a desire to see him happy, every day, forever, and if Stiles would let Derek be the one to make that happen??? Well. Derek wouldn’t have turned that down.

But the little flashes and sparks of feeling and desire he’d been fighting off for years, those had nothing on the instant surge of heat he felt went Stiles walked off that jet like he was headed for murder. That comfort, that physicality…

Yeah. Derek was fucked.

So he’d been avoiding Lydia, until he could figure out how to downplay his sudden an overwhelming desire to Have Stiles on any surface that would support them, and then feed him cookies after, even knowing Stiles would probably have made some stupid joke about “mating” and “providing”.

But Stiles, he’s pretty sure, isn’t interested in him that way. Oh sure, Derek knows he’s bisexual, but just because he likes guys, doesn’t mean he likes Derek. And Stiles has had a pretty good string of one-night stands over the years, as far as Derek can smell tell. And he never picked up any of the hints Derek has dropped.

Which, that’s fine. Derek was mature enough to know that if Stiles wasn’t interested in long-term relationships, at least right now, starting something with him would be foolish. And selfish. And sad.

But oh god. He wanted.

So he’d been avoiding Lydia, right up until she cornered him that morning, told him he was stupid and gross (which he knew), and ordered him to report to the hangar like she was his general or something (she kind of was).

And now they were here, “undercover” on a “date”, trying to figure out if some mutant the Professor had seen was causing trouble on their own, or in connection with that group of assholes led by the professor’s ex husband Magneto.

“… which I was not responsible for, by the way, no matter what Danny- Shit. He’s moving.”

Derek tried not to let his eyes flash, as he focused on the disappearing coat of their wayward telepath in the mirror.

“Into the back alley,” he asked, quietly, “or the bathroom?” and Stiles nodded.

“Bathrooms, I think. Well, I kind of-”

“Nope.” Derek cut him off and then, for show, made an apologetic face as he appeared to excuse himself, and head for relief.

Stiles scowled for a very brief moment, sensitive about Derek’s continued insistence that he be the most physically vulnerable one at all times, before schooling his face, and returning to his pasta.

Derek didn’t give a shit about Stiles’ feeling on that subject, and they’d had that fight a few times. Stiles’ case was always that he could take care of himself… which he absolutely could. Derek didn’t disagree. There was a reason they were both so often used to fill out missions that required a more combat-heavy team. Stiles was more than decent at hand-to-hand, and he could knock out his opponent flat, if he wanted, with a little skin-to-skin contact.

But Derek had a goddamn Healing Factor. So. Stiles could suck it up, and eat his pasta, and watch Derek’s back as he ventured into the potential trap.

It was not a trap. The man was in front of a urinal when Derek entered, so he courteously took one several dividers away and proceeded about his own business. The man finished, and washed his hands, and Derek followed suit, very carefully thinking only about the meal, and the restaurant, and Stiles. When Lydia had debriefed them, she’d explained that the Telepath seemed to be more intra-skilled, than inter, likely to pick up on a deliberate move on his mind (hence why no other telepaths were assigned to the mission), but not particularly gifted outside of his own head, and so unlikely to “eavesdrop” on them and see them coming.

Very carefully still focused on Stiles, Derek waited a moment for the other Mutant to leave, and then exited the bathroom himself.

And was immediately tackled.

“I’ve got you, you piece of-”

By Stiles.

“Shi- Derek. Hi. Crap.”

Stiles had one glove three-quarters off by the time he realized who he was on top of, and in the surprised silence that followed, they both heard the click of the door too the alley closing.

In a moment, they were both on their feet again, stumbling towards it as quickly as possible, Derek shoving his way in front, and shoving Stiles down towards knee height, which Stiles turned into a roll, just as Derek had intended. Come in at different heights, and at least the enemy couldn’t get you both-

The door slammed open, and Derek slammed into a fight.

He popped his claws and pulled back, blocking a punch (sizzling with electricity) that was aimed at his face, deflecting it with his coat-covered forearm, ducking the next one, trying desperately to figure out who the good guys were… if there were any.

He recognized all three of the black-clad folks (including the Kitsune, who he was fighting, and a scaly mutant who was swinging at Stiles) as members of the brotherhood, meaning the new mutant, who, it seemed, had a knife and was making a reasonable show of holding off (aw hell. shit) his bloodthirtsty cousin, a temporary ally.

Derek spotted his opening and, already lamenting the loss of his second-best shirt, hooked his right foot behind his opponent’s left knee, swept her feet out, and threw himself at Malia Before the Kitsune hit the ground. Her claws tore through sleeve, forearm, jacket, shirt and torso, but he grabbed on, took advantage of the surprise, and spun her while taking out her knees as well. With her suddenly face-down in the dirt, he pulled both arms behind her, not being particularly careful of either of their claws, and put a knee in the middle of her back. Even as solidly muscled as he knew her to be, he was still bigger.

He looked up to find the new mutant with his hands on the Kitsune’s face, as the guy’s eyes rolled up and his head lolled, and to see Stiles finally shove his opponent into the wall hard enough that he dropped like a sack of rocks.

But then Stiles dropped too.

Derek flinched, desperately wanting to go to him, but knowing he couldn’t let Malia up. He pulled cuffs out of his remaining jacket pocket and slapped them on her, giving the new mutant the side-eye, and then gesturing him over with his head.

“Put your weight-”

But the man ignored him, instead sliding his hand into her hair, closing his eyes, and looking serious.

Her body went lax.

Derek practically leapt up, dashing across the alley to Stiles, knowing their backup had heard the fight and was probably moments from them… close enough for everyone but Stiles to be someone else’s problem.

Derek dropped to his knees, and gingerly lifted one of Stiles’ arms so he could see what Stiles was hunched so protectively over.

Oh. Okay.

There was a fair amount of blood, and Stiles’ face was pretty white, but although the rents in Stiles’ formerly nice green shirt showed deep cuts, some of them deep enough that Derek could identify dermal and fat layers… the cuts were all high on his chest, and most of the major vessels had been missed. He’d taken the hit largely on his sternum, which explained the pained gasping of a person struggling to regain their breath after having the wind knocked out of them.

“Hey, hey,” Derek said, catching Stiles’ more-than-a-little-panicked gaze, “Hey, they aren’t that bad. You’re gonna make it.“

Stiles didn’t quite look like he believed Derek, maintaining both the pressure he had on his chest with his left hand, and the grip on Derek’s sleeve (What was left of it)), with his right.

Derek saw their temporary comrade slump against and slide down one wall, obviously exhausted, just as he heard the static come through his earpiece.

“Wolfman,” a voice said, tinny and more distorted than usual, “We’re engaging a group of Brotherhood, probably the backup for the guys you two have hopefully taken out.”

“Copy,” Derek replied, knowing whoever was in the jet still, porobably Lydia, could hear. “Dyson is down”, and clearly in rough shape, since he didn’t bother reacting to the code name, “But alive. We won’t be moving anywhere yet, but we can wait until you clean up your share.”

“Copy. You’re such a dick,” came the reply.

Derek did not bother responding, just started tearing apart the remaining clean-ish parts of his former dress shirt to press against Stiles’ lacerations.

Stiles gave him a half-hearted smile.

“Some day,” he panted, “ you two. Are going to. Learn to. Like eachother!” he ended on a gasp, clearly not yet stable enough for speech.

“Shut up. Don’t be stupid.”

Stiles looked a little smug, but it was quickly lost as the strain of his wounds caught him again.

They sat like that for a few more minutes, Derek trying not to wonder if the make-shift dressing was getting warmer, wetter, soaking through.

Stiles’s eyelids drooped for a moment, and Derek was on him.

“Don’t you dare pass out. I am not sitting in this alley with your unconcious body all night.

Stiles’ eyes popped open a little.

When they drooped the second time, Derek leaned over and blew cold breath right in his ear.

Stiles’ eyes popped open again, but Derek didn’t straighten up, staying hunched half over him, hands pressed as tightly to his chest as he could, he thought, without making it harder to breathe.

They locked eyes like that for a moment, but then Stiles’ started to close again.

Derek was done.

“Fuck it,” he said, moving one hand away to take hold of Stiles’s gloved hand. Stiles’ eyes widened, and he shook his head.

“No,” Derek insisted, “Fuck that. If maybe getting a little bit of my mood or whatever is really so bad, I won’t make you.” Derek stared straight into Stiles’ still-clear (but fighting) gaze. “But I live with it all the time, and I don’t think it’s worse than slowly bleeding in an alley. Christ.”

Stiles looked scared, and then mutinous, and then resigned.

“Fine,” He choked out, stating to cough, face screwing up in agony as they both tried to keep pressure on his chest.

Derek barely waited, whipped the glove off Stiles’ hand, and lifted Stiles’ arm by the wrist, encouraging him to grab Derek by the bicep, through the convenient holes in his clothing, over the newly-pinked skin.

Stiles gripped weakly for a moment… and then he let his mutation kick in, and his hand clamped down like a vise.

For Derek, the alley started spinning as he went light-headed with exhaustion. He started to sway, but then Stiles’ other hand, now somehow de-gloved as well, came up to grab him at the juncture of his neck and shoulder, steadying him, keeping him in place.

By the time he felt the cuts on his own chest start to open again, and saw the deep lacerations on Stiles’ getting shallow, he was seeing double. Stiles let it go on for another moment, until Derek could feel the hand on his bicep start to loose traction in the blood, before he let it go, and returned his hands to safely clothed parts of Derek’s arms.

They both sat there panting, holding eachother up, bleeding sluggishly as they came back to themselves.

“You,” Derek gasped a little, “You didn’t finish-” He gasped again. “You’re still…” Stiles shook his head, and then leaned in again, and rested it on Derelk’s shoulder.

“I’m no worse… than you are now… buddy.”

Derek wanted to object.

“But I will heal-”

Derek felt Stiles shaking his head.

“Not while I’m… Holding this… much of you… hostage.”

Derek still wanted to argue, but he was just too tired. Instead, he dropped his arm down to Stiles’ waist and pulled them parallel, leaning back towards the wall he was mostly certain was right behind him.

It was. They both slumped.

“You guys,” the new mutant said, from his mirror position ten feet away, “are strange as fuck.”

Derek didn’t bother with a response.

fin

PS: The backup shows. The whole mess is dragged into the jet, telepaths, brotherhood, stubborn asses and all.

PPS: They both spend a night in the infirmary, healing faster than Stiles normally would, but slower than Derek. They make significant eye contact, but don’t really talk.

PPPS: Derek sleeps for eighteen hours when he’s finally left alone in his bunk, with no well-meaning folks poking him and checking his bandages and shit every hour.

PPPPs: Derek starts getting worried when he returns to his regular duties, and Stiles is no where to be found. Everyone assures him that Stiles is just fine. Derek figures Stiles is avoiding him.

P(5)s: Stiles shows up at his door two weeks later, at 10 at night. He has two churros, one half-eaten, clearly stolen from the kitchen, clutched in his left hand. He thrusts them at Derek and shoves his way in.

P(6)s: Their first kiss tastes like cinnamon and sugar.

P(7)s: Stiles explains that it only took so long, because he was waiting until he could be sure that the him that started something was just him, not Derek-flavored him. It took that long to clear most of his Derek-draw from his system. To be clear: it wasn’t that he didn’t want this, or wasn’t sure if he did. But he knew the quickest way to kill anything they might have, was to give Derek reason to doubt Stiles was acting 100% consensually and of his own free will.

P(8)s: Stiles hadn’t needed the Derek-spiced thoughts in his head to figure that out. He’d enjoyed the little bits of his friend in his head, but he’d already known, he was pretty sure, an unhealthy amount about Derek. Certainly everything important.

P(9)s: Their Second kiss also tastes of cinnamon and sugar.

P(too many)s: There are still crumbs in Derek’s bed the next morning, but there is also a Stiles in Derek’s bed the next morning, So he doesn’t care. Even a little bit.

They sleep in.

#eternalstereksecretsanta17 #esss17 #fic #submission #sterek

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paganinpurple · 7 years

Text

A Crushing Revelation - Ch 2

“She just acts super-different around me. Nothing like how she acts with everyone else. It’s…odd.”

“Oh Kitty,” she said turning to look at him with a sort of pitying humour in her eyes, “you really don’t get it, do you?”

“Uh, no,” he said rolling his eyes at her, “That’s why I’m confused.”

Ladybug held her smirk and sighed, putting her face in her hand for a moment before lifting it again and giving him a piercing look that said to take note of what she said next, that it would be important.

“She has a crush on you.” ______________________________________________

Adrien has often been confused by Marinette’s odd behaviour around him and Ladybug can tell when something is on Chat’s mind so he decides to confide in her as vaguely as possible. Marinette might not recognise herself but she definitely recognises the signs of a girl in love. How does Adrien react to the new realisation that one of his closest friends likes him as more than a friend? And what will he do with this information when Ladybug points out that it seems like he likes her too?

Read on AO3 or FF.net <<Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3>

Chapter Two - Adrien is in Denial

“She has a crush on you.”

“Wut.”

“She has a crush on you.” Ladybug's words continued to echo in his head.

Chat stared blankly at her with wide-eyed confusion. His eyes burned but he couldn't quite bring himself to close them. He searched for something to say but all of the eloquent words his brain usually contained seemed to slip away from him as he grasped out at them, like tadpoles swimming hastily from the net that was intended to catch them.

“Uh sorry, did you say...did...WUT!?”

He finally blinked as Ladybug began to guffaw at his lack of articulation and slowly came back to himself a little. He snapped his gaping mouth shut and his eyes narrowed. He wrinkled his nose as he tried to think of a good retort for such an obvious joke as it seemed as if she was just trying to make fun of him. After all there was no way Marinette was crushing on him. That just...wasn't possible. This wasn't his Lady's usual brand of teasing though and he couldn't help feeling a little annoyed by her laughter.

“I said,” Ladybug said interrupting his thoughts, “she has a crush on you. It's so obvious, don't tell me you haven't even considered it.”

“She does not have a crush on me,” he huffed at her and gave her the dirtiest look he could summon, which wasn't all that convincing. Despite how she was always accusing him of being an alley cat, he was actually pretty pathetic at throwing shade. “She can't,” he insisted when she didn't seem all that convinced, “she doesn't act anything like the other girls who do have crushes on me.”

Her eyes sparkled frighteningly and a teasing smirk returned to her laughter flushed face. Oh no.

“Oh, so there's more than one girl you know who likes you? With your horrible flirting and terrible puns? Really?”

“Hey!” he said indignantly, “I'll have you know that my devilishly handsome face has many admirers. And my flirting and puns are a meow-sterpiece!”

She scoffed at that and pulled her legs up from where they were dangling over the edge of the building to sit facing him, crossing her legs once she was comfortable.

“So how do your admirers act then?” she cocked her head to the side as she awaited his answer, humour evident in her expression.

“Why?” he asked hopefully, “Jealous?”

“Dream on Minou.” She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and dropped the smirk to give him a confused half-frown. “If you're so sure this girl doesn't like you because she doesn't act like the others, it makes me wonder how the other girls act. I mean, if it's made you so oblivious-” she raised an eyebrow and her mask creased with the movement, “-to teenage girls and how they usually act around boys they like, it's got to be good right?”

“Oh.” he mirrored her and raised an eyebrow back in her direction, but he guessed there was no harm in telling her about Chloé or Lila, as long as names weren't mentioned. They were the only two with crushes on him who had actually spoken to him for longer than about five minutes. He was sure there was plenty other girls who were crushing on him from his magazine spreads but he didn't know any of them personally. They probably just thought they knew him from interview bios and whatever crap his publicist put on his official social media accounts. To be honest, he found that a little creepy.

“Um...” he cleared his throat loudly as he began to feel really awkward. He was discussing other girls who definitely liked him with the love of his life. He glanced down at his knees and scratched at the back of his neck. He gave his leg an experimental kick over the edge as he considered how to phrase his thoughts. God this was weird.

“Well, they-they're all over me.” There. That was the gist of it wasn't it? But she was just staring at him, waiting for more. He took a deep breath and tried to ignore the heat he could feel across his cheeks. “They get all touchy-feely. Linking arms with me, grabbing my hand when they talk. Obvious flirting, like heavy flirting. Pet names for me-” he grimaced and glanced up to meet her eyes nervously when he heard her chuckle, “And getting in my personal space. And it's pretty obvious someone likes you when they make a big deal about wanting to kiss you. In front of everyone.” He added the last part as an afterthought as he remembered Chloé's many attempts.

It was that same last part that had Ladybug scowling angrily. It made his heart soar sweeping into his throat like a wave had engulfed it. He wondered if this was finally a sign of the green eyed monster? Was she finally starting to get annoyed by the idea of someone else trying to lock lips with him? He smiled toothily and watched her lips purse as she prepared to speak. Her screwed up face reminded him of when Plagg got a particularly foul piece of Cambert too close for comfort.

Meanwhile Ladybug's mind was whirling unpleasantly. She wasn't liking the sound of this. To her it seemed like these girls were just trying to show Chat off as some kind of trophy, or make it hard for him to say no when so many people would be there judging his rejection.

“That sounds more like them trying to guilt you into a kiss than genuinely caring about you as a person,” she said, “That's not very nice. Most girls might think of getting a kiss as a big deal but they'd try to downplay it in case they scared you off.”

He frowned at her words and tilted his head in confusion, cat ears pricking up like a curious kitten. That definitely didn't sound like something Chloé or Lila would do. They didn't seem to know how to do anything without drawing a crowd. They were 'centre of attention' type girls.

“Really?” he asked, “Not in my experience.”

She glanced down and gently bit at her bottom lip as she contemplated how to explain what she was thinking. His eyes immediately caught the motion and stayed rooted to her mouth, eyes mesmerised and chest tightening. He sensed her movement a half-second before she looked at him and glanced up, not wanting to be caught staring.

“Chat, I think you're right in that these girls do like you...but I think you're overlooking that there's other ways for girls to act when they have a crush too. These girls sound like they're very confident when it comes to, well, acting on their feelings. Not all girls are like-”

“But the other girl,” he exclaimed suddenly, “the one who acts weird, she's really confident!” His voice had become desperate and high pitched again. He could sense how serious she was now and the thought had him somewhat panicked. There was no way Marinette liked him. Not someone he was such good friends with. None. Right?

“Around everyone except you!-” she extended her index finger and gently prodded him in the chest as she spoke, “She doesn't have a handful of people she acts differently around from what you've told me. She's just insecure about how she acts around you. The one person it matters most that she looks good around. It makes her shy and unable to think straight. And the more she likes you the odder she'll act.”

Chat stared straight ahead, unblinking and wondered if his stomach had jumped off the Palace without him. Maybe it had leapt up into his chest instead? Was he still breathing? He had to remember to breathe. He felt light-headed. This couldn't be true. Marinette...had a crush...on him? Marinette!? Eyes wider than they'd ever been, he launched himself to his feet and took a step away from his Lady in disbelief, nearly stepping to the wrong side and slipping off the edge of the Palace in the process.

“No! No-no-no-no-no! That's not possible!” he told her, hands coming up to grab fistfuls of his hair right beneath his cat ears, “She doesn't act like she likes me, she acts more like she's embarrassed! She doesn't want to spend time with me on her own, it makes her freak-” his hands dropped as did the pitch of his voice as he started to come to a shocked realisation- “ooouuuuut.”

He glanced at Ladybug as he dragged out the last low word of his outburst and recognised the sympathetic look she shot him as one she often used whenever he was feeling down about himself and needed the comfort. He shrieked embarrassingly, a hand flying to his mouth to smother the sound. He could feel his cat ears and tail standing perfectly upright and shuddering. He started to wobble, his knees feeling like they were about to buckle beneath him.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Just...need a minute,” he told her, both hands suddenly covering his face, “Maybe a week.”

He abruptly remembered how Nino had acted when he'd had admitted to having a crush on Marinette. He'd found it strange but funny that his friend had suddenly been too frightened to go anywhere near her without lots of prompting and had completely lost his ability to talk coherently around her. Why had he never managed to make a connection between his best friends behaviour towards someone he knew he liked and a girl who acted the same way towards him? And oh God, that day, she'd seemed super excited when he'd asked her to meet them at the zoo on Nino's behalf. And she'd seemed very eager to know where he was when Nino had shown up alone. Had she thought he was asking her? Her behaviour was slowly starting to make sense a little bit at a time.

Marinette liked him. Marinette liked him.

She always seemed embarrassed to him because she was always blushing. She was blushing because she liked him. She freaked out about being left alone with him. She was freaking out because she liked him. She stammered and mixed up her words. Because she liked him. Marinette had feelings for him, and apparently it had been obvious.

He let out a whine. “I'm such an idiot.”

He dropped his hands, shoulders drooping with the movement. He slumped back over towards the edge and sat himself down cross-legged in front of Ladybug, head bowed low. All those weird comments Alya and Nino always made that he didn't understand were suddenly making a whole lot of sense. They knew. And they knew that he had no idea. They'd been teasing Marinette and they'd done it right in front of him.

“So...just how weird does she act? Scale of one to ten?”

Wow. That was a pretty open question. He lifted his head a tiny fraction and looked up at her through the hair that had fallen into his eyes, trying to use it as a shield against the inevitable taunting to come.

“In comparison to what?”

“To whatever is normal when she's around everyone else.”

He groaned. “Oh God. We're talking an eight or a nine. Maybe just starting to hit a ten.”

There was an aborted snicker from her and he noticed she'd clamped her lips together in an attempt to keep her giggling silent. It was somewhat ruined by her shaking shoulders.

“Oh just get it over with,” he mumbled, lifting his head and glaring at the tower in the distance behind her in a childish attempt to avoid her gaze.

“This girl loves you, Kitty!” She exploded in a fit of laughter, doubling over to hug her arms and leaning her elbows on her crossed legs as she howled through the tears quickly collecting in the corners of her eyes.

He screwed his eyes shut. His Lady wasn't perturbed by this in the slightest. On the contrary, this was giving her a ridiculous amount of joy if her unladylike snorts were anything to go by. Well, maybe it was just too much to ask that there would be something for him to tease her about in return.

“I don't see what's so funny about this.” he told her when she had started to relax somewhat and had begun wiping her eyes and face.

“Oh Chaton, it's hilarious. This girl might potentially like you more than any of these other girls and you had absolutely no idea. Especially since you say she didn't like you at first. You must have done or said something when you fixed it. Something so huge it made her start fawning over you right away.”

When he'd given her his umbrella, he realised. He'd poured out his soul to her trying to explain that it wasn't him that had placed the chewing gum on her seat and that he just wanted to make friends like everyone else. He'd been so sure that baring his emotions so rawly would help her to realise he was sincere, but it hadn't occurred to him she might become enamoured with him because of it. And he'd given her his umbrella because she had to walk in the rain and he had a car waiting for him. He didn't mind getting a little wet if it saved her from getting soaked. In hindsight he could see how that might be something that would make somebody a little infatuated. Oh God, she'd stammered when she'd tried to say goodbye that day.

“I thiiiiiink I know when that was. Now that I'm thinking about it,” he groaned again, “What am I going to do?”

Ladybug looked at him, no longer laughing but a large grin still planted on her pretty face. “Is she cute?”

“What!?”

“Is she cute? Pretty? Totally disregard the fact that you know her or whatever you feel for her. What do you think of how she looks?”

Was it usually this warm outside at this time in the evening? He swore his face felt sunburned, and he was half expecting his mask to start smoking. Ladybug leaned forward to examine the pink flush dusting his cheeks and it bloomed darker than before, this time due to her proximity.

“Why Chat Noir, are you blushing? I would say that means you do think she's a pretty girl.”

“What!? I don't–I mean, yeah she's pretty but–that's not why-that is I-I don't-I DON'T THINK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT!” he stuttered out. She was so close, too close and this line of questioning was so unbelievably awkward. His stomach was fluttering as if a swarm of akumas were taking up residence there and he clenched his fist, his claws pricking into his palm as a distraction from her radiating body heat.

“Why not?”

“What?”

She leaned back again and he exhaled, not even aware he'd been holding his breath until then.

“Why don't you think about her like that? Have you ever even considered it? 'Cause if you have and then decided you don't like her that way then that's fine. But if not, how do you really know you don't like her?”

“But surely if I'd thought about it at all, it would mean I liked her? Wouldn't that be like admitting that the person I love isn't-I mean, there's only one person I want to think...” he trailed off suddenly, becoming aware of what he was admitting and who he was admitting it to. He cleared his throat loudly and tried to pretend he didn't see the way Ladybug's brow furrowed or her eyes widened as she started connecting the dots in her head.

Ladybug tried not to think too much about the implications of what he'd said combined with the way he'd trailed off like that. Maybe his slight crush on her wasn't so slight after all, given the way he seemed nervous about how he'd mentioned it. And he'd used the word love so casually. It wasn't his usual style to say something like that so seriously, it was mostly flirty teasing or over-exaggerated devotion that made her feel it was a bit of a joke to him too. She's have to be careful now not to be too harsh in the way she turned down his advances from now on.

“So,” he said suddenly, clearing his throat and trying for a light-hearted, somewhat embarrassed tone to lighten the awkward mood, “how do you even go about acting around someone you know has a crush on you? You know, when they have no idea that you know?”

“What?” she said looking at him like he'd just handed her an octopus suddenly and without explanation, “Just act like you always do. Why would you need to change?”

Because I don't think I'll be able to ignore her acting weird now that I know why.

#PIP writes #miraculous ladybug #ml fanfic #a crushing revelation #adrienette

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