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softstarlite · 7 months

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The Casualty of Love

CHAPTER 2

Summary: He's back home. You have almost forgotten how warm his eyes were and how big your crush for him was.

Warnings: Age gap (Javier is 40 and reader is 27), talks of baby loss, talks of pregnancy, angst, cheating, mentions of cancer, mentions of death.

Rating: +18 (not explicit)

Word Count: 2.9k

Chapter 1 / Masterlist

A/N: here you go guys!! Second chapter is up!! I'm feeling so much better from my stupid cold. I would like to keep a schedule with posting, my goal is to post at least one new chapter every week but I had a cornea transplant less than 5 months ago (I still have 14 stitches on my right eye) so sometimes I need to rest my eye from screen time or the pain sometimes gets too bad and I need to rest in general, so I don't know if I'll be able to meet my goal every week, sorry in advance. I hope you guys like this new chapter!! <3 <3

Divider by @saradika

Javier wipes the sweat of his hands on the front of his jeans for the fourth time in the last hour since he started getting ready to go to Maria´s house, he looks at his reflection on the mirror, he can feel fear engulf his body, fear of disappointing Maria, he wasn't the same man he was when he left for Colombia. That day…

His mom, Alma, had been diagnosed with lung cancer four months before it happened, when Lorraine had told him that she was pregnant, he was shit scared, how could he be a father? He didn't know anything about being one, he was only 27, he assumed that he had at least 5 or 6 years more before even thinking about having a family of his own.

He didn't hesitate to get on one knee and proposed to Lorraine, part of him was happy that his mom would be able to meet at least one of her grandchildren; the doctors had already prepare them for the worst, the cancer was very aggressive, and even if his mom was still young, only 44, they had detected it very late.

The night before the wedding Lorraine showed up at his parents ranch, crying her heart out. They were sleeping in different houses since it was bad luck to see each other before the wedding. He got really worried, he didn't believe in that tradition, she had been the one very keen in doing it so it was already rare that she had showed up there unannounced but even more that she showed up crying.

“Lor? What happened?” he had been sitting on the front porch when she appeared, he got up from his seat quickly and headed to her putting his hands on her cheeks “What is it Lor? Is the baby okay?” he asked her with so much worry in his voice.

Lorraine only kept saying sorry and shaking her head no again and again. “Please baby, tell me what is happening, are you hurt?” he pleaded her.

“I'm sorry Javi… I'm so sorry… There´s no baby…” she said, not able to meet his gaze.

“What? Baby…” he could feel tears in his eyes already, he thought that she had lost it, he never would've thought that she had done what she did. He tries to make her look at him ¡. “Baby…Lor, look at me. Baby it's not your fault, we need to take you-” he was interrupted by her.

“No, Javi… There's no baby, there never has been a baby…” she took a step away from him, feeling shame in what she had done.

“What? Lorraine, this is not funny… Stop it” that was the only possibility in his head, she must have been pranking him, she would never hurt him this way, she loved him, right?

“I'm so sorry Javi, baby…” she tried to reach for him now but he didn't say anything and just walked inside without a word.

The next morning no one could find Javier, until his mom saw a little note on the kitchen table where he had written that he had accepted the job with the DEA in Colombia that the rest could be explained by Lorraine.

You were only 14 when you were sat down by your mom and Alma and got the news about her sickness, that was your first heartbreak, but definitely not your last. You loved Alma like a second mother, she was there when you said your first words, she had been the one encouraging you when you took your first steps… You couldn't imagine a life and a world without her, without her smile or her kindness… No, it had to be a mistake, the doctors mixed up some papers and they gave her the diagnosis of someone else, she couldn't leave you…

When Javier left, you weren't given the real reason from the adults around you, they told you that he and Lorraine weren't together anymore and he had to go work in Colombia, that was it. Obviously, living in a place like Laredo you heard the truth very soon, and felt heartbroken all over again for him, as big as your crush for him was, when you saw how excited he was when he talked about anything related with the baby in the weekly dinners your families shared, it filled your heart to see him just happy, so you couldn't understand how Lorraine had been able to break him like that, she said that he loved him and wanted to spend her entire life with him but then do that? How can you be so cruel to someone that you supposedly love?

A year later from Javier´s move to Colombia, Alma passed away, you only remember crying for three days straight without even sleeping. You remember your mom telling you that “Javiercito is coming for the funeral, he'll be here tomorrow morning”, then the next thing you remember is been dressed in all black, that made you think that Alma would´ve hate it, then not been able to see the casket through the tears and the last thing you remember of that day was how Javier had put his arms around you, caressing your hair and telling you how much Alma loved you and that would never leave you. It never did, you could feel her love everyday, in little things like the chirping of the birds outside, the warm sun, the little desserts you would bake with her recipes, etc…

That was the last time you saw Javier, when you were 15 and crying for the biggest lost in your life.

He parks his truck on Maria´s driveway and gets out with a nervous sigh. After he knocks on the door twice, you open the door with a big smile, fuck, he thought you wouldn't be here. He didn't have a problem with you being here, on the contrary, he was very happy when he saw you the other day, it had been way too long without seeing you. But the problem was that you had grown up… And fuck, did the years had treat you amanzingly. You were a full on woman now, and he didn't like that, because it made his body feel things that it shouldn't. If Maria or his own father could read what had gone through his mind since he first saw you a few days ago, he would definitely be six feet under.

“Hey! You're here!” you say with that big smile on your face. He doesn't say anything, just nods and gives you a tight smile back.

“Come in!” you move a little to give him enough space to come inside. “Mom is still cooking what must be her twentieth dish” you chuckle. He slips inside but you hadn't anticipated how broad his shoulders were so he bumps one of his shoulders into you.

“Oh, sorry” he apologizes and you can't help but feel a million goosebumps all over your body. “She shouldn't have trouble herself…”

You shake the feeling away, you weren't a stupid teenager anymore. “yeah, tell that to her” you smirk knowing he would never dare.

He walks to the kitchen with you behind, he remembers the way as if no time has passed, as if he hadn't gone through more than a decade without putting a foot in this house. When he makes it past the arch of the kitchen, he sees your mom, her back facing him, he can see the grey conquering her whole hair. For a moment he can almost see his own mom beside her cutting some vegetables.

Seeing his silence, you decide to clear your throat to make your presence known to your mom. She turns around starting a sentence that sounds like a question about who was at the door, but as soon as she sees Javier there, before her, her mouth shuts and she freezes. Knowing they'll need a moment, you walk around them to the stove to continue to stir whatever dish your mom is making now, so it doesn't burn while they catch up.

“Javiercito!” she almost screams, launching herself into him, a hand on the back of his head and the other arm across his back.

“Maria…” is all that he can get out of his mouth, apart from the biggest breath out that he has ever let out. He didn't even know that he was holding that breath for so long.

“Déjame verte bien mijo (Let me get a good look at you, my son)” she pulls away from him and pushes him a little back by the shoulders, then looks him up and down like she was examining that he isn´t missing anything.

“Ma, esta bien, no le agobies (Mom, he's fine, don't bother him)” you say from the stove, not even looking at them.

“¿Bien? (fine?) Have you seen him? Está demasiado delgado, gracias a dios que prepare suficiente comida. Siéntate, mijo. (He's too skinny, thank god i´ve prepare enough food. Sit, my son) I'll bring you some food right away” She says, patting his cheek and signaling with a hand to the kitchen table, then she goes back to the stove and replaces the place you were filling.

You chuckle and shake your head in disbelief. “Do you want something to drink, Javi?” you ask him while opening the fridge to get a beer for yourself.

He talks again after feeling overwhelmed by the situation. “Sure, whatever you´re having” with that you pull out another beer for him and after uncapping them, you hand him one. “Thanks” he says, not meeting your eye.

You sit across from him on the kitchen table and take a sip of your own beer. Your mom puts a bowl of Pozole in front of each of you, and while you eat, she and Javier talk about a million things, how things around the house had been since your dad died, how you and her go to Chucho´s every now and then, how you help Chucho everytime the fruit trees need harvesting (which brings a blush to your cheeks when Javi asks if that's right and looks at you), and of course your mom starts to let Javi know about all the gossip he has missed in Laredo, which by his face, he couldn't care less to be honest but i guess your mom didn't want to pick that up. He just nods and hums while eating, while your mom tells him about how the girl from the Gonzalez´s was seen in the local theater every week casually talking and giggling with the guy working there; after a bit something pricks his ears, specifically when your name is mentioned.

“And you wouldn't believe all the commotion that it caused , pff, nos tuvimos que quedar en casa varios días antes de que ella se atreviera a enseñar la cara (we had to stay at home for a few days before she was brave enough to show her face)” she says while picking up both of your bowls to bring to the sink. You don't know where to hide in that moment, you couldn't believe your mom was telling him about that.

“Ma…” you say, trying to make her drop the subject. She obviously doesn't want to catch your desperation.

“What? Sorry i was lost in my head for a moment” he says not realizing that you don't want the subject to be brought up.

“Ay mijo, te estaba diciendo (i was telling you) about how she used to go out with the Lopez´s boy, Diego, and she heard from Doña Lucía about him and a girl, that no one knew, been seen in Jacinto´s ice cream shop, then she decided to confront him that same day, but she instead saw him and the girl on the town square just there,” she makes a dramatic gesture with her hands like she was physically pointing at them right there. “just sitting on a bench, muy acaramelados los muy sinvergüenzas (very lovey-dovey, those scoundrels). Doña Lucía told me that she just took the lemonade in the girl's hand and threw it to him, allí delante de todos, ¿tu te crees, mijo? (in front of everybody, can you believe it, my son?)” she shakes her head in almost disappointment.

“Well, if I'm honest with you Maria. Creo que le hizo poco, yo le hubiese dado un buen puño” you can see how his hands become fists, and his jaw becomes more tense. Javi feels a fire inside of him that he hasn't felt since he left Colombia, he already knows that if he crosses paths with Diego Lopez, he won't be exactly kind towards him.”Wait, he cheated and you had to hide at home?!” he asks, now looking at you.

“I didn't hide, she did” you say pointing towards your mom, who's washing the dishes, with your head. “I was just going through a breakup like a normal person” you shrug your shoulders to try to take some weight off of the conversation.

He nods, understanding now the situation. “Good, you shouldn't feel embarrassed, it's his loss” he huffs “He must be as stupid as he was when he was a kid” he says more to himself than to you, it makes you blush again.

“Javier Jesús Peña!!” your mom scolds him from the sink, turning her head towards him. Javi for a moment feels like a teenager again, being scolded by Maria and his mom for saying a bad word in the kitchen of Pena´s ranch while they make empanadas.

“What? No podes defender al desgraciado, hizo daño a nuestra vampirita (you can't defend that bastard, he hurted our little vampire” he chuckles sincerely now. You gasp at the mention of your old childhood nickname he gave you for being obsessed with the book Dracula when you were 9 years old.

“You don't want to play that game, Peña” you challenge him, squinting your eyes at him, but a little smile in your lips betrays your facade. He laughs with his whole belly now, throwing his head back. You decide right then that you like seeing him laugh sincerely a lot.

After some hours of more delicious food and banter, Javier informs you that he needs to go back to the ranch before his dad comes looking for him for leaving him all day alone with the chores.

You walk him to the door, his arms full of mountains of tupperware full of leftovers that your mom had insisted him to take for himself and Chucho.

You open the door for him since he has his hands occupied, those hands that you´ve been stealing glances to all day, you wonder how rough they would feel around your own hand, around your neck, around your- “Thanks for um… everything” he says interrupting your thread of thoughts.

“Don't mention it” you give him a shy smile, like he could´ve read what you had been thinking. Next thing you know, your mouth is working by it´s own mind, you ask without thinking.”Are you going to the barbecue at Doña Lucia's house this Sunday after church?” when you realize how eager your voice sounds about the prospect of seeing him again in less than two days you add “I believe she invited Chucho the other day, and i'm sure she did it in person with the sole purpose of having you at the barbecue and confirm the rumors of you being fully back home” you chuckle trying to play it cool, god you felt like you were 15 again, drooling for him.

His dad had told him about the gathering but he wasn't planning on going, but now, seeing the slight spark your eyes got when you asked him about his possible attendance, he couldn't think of a better plan for Sunday. “Yeah, my pops told me the other day. I take you´re going too?” you nod with doe eyes and he can't help his eyes for going down to where you tongue tips out of your mouth to wet your lower lip, he gulps and can feel a drop of sweat going down his spine; his mind wondering how you tongue and your lips might feel against his own, against his neck or his chest…

Your mom suddenly yells your name from inside the house. “Dani is calling you, mija!!” you both can hear her voice coming from the living room where the telephone is.

“Dila que voy ma!! (tell her i'll be right there mom!!)” you yell towards her, turning your head over your shoulder, then you turn towards Javi again. You guys keep looking into each other's eyes for what feels like a second and an eternity at the same time until you decide that if you don't stop it, your mom will come over and ruin the moment even more. “I'll see you on Sunday then?”

He nods and then does something that makes you melt into a puddle of water into the ground, he kisses your cheek and with a breathy and deep whisper wishes you a good day to then turn around and walk to his truck on the driveway. You can't help but to stay right there frozen with your heart going way too fast and an almost shocked expression, watching how he puts the leftovers on the passenger side then gets behind the wheel and drives away; it isn´t until your mom calls your name again that you defroze.

Next chapter

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imnotasuperhero · 11 months

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Show me a garden (that's bursting into life)

Natasha Romanoff x Reder

A/N: IT'S HERE! A day late, but hey! I made it before I dehydrated myself from crying, lol. I hope you like this one and are hooked on a possible continuation? I know I could've added more but I honestly don't know if I could resist any more feelings right now. I did not proofread since I'm running late for work, so all mistakes are mine.

CW: Heart transplant.

"Welcome back," Molly greeted as she checked her vitals.

Natasha couldn't help smiling as her vision became clearer and she realized what was happening.

The surgery has been a success, allowing her another chance at life.

Freeing the tear that had filled her eye, she smiled gratefully to whoever was kind enough to gift her with their life and silently vowed to cherish this new opportunity and live it as best she could.

"May I know their name?" Natasha asked hoarsely.

Fidgeting under the nurse's scrutiny, she hoped to be granted the knowledge to properly thank them.

"This goes against the rules. But just because it's you, I'll tell you." The blonde smiled softly. "Her name was Wanda,"

Closing her eyes, Natasha couldn't help the warm feeling overtaking her whole body. "Thank you, Wanda." She whispered heartfully with all she had in her for those words to reach her savior wherever she was, if that was even possible.

But as any hospital did, these four walls held different stories. And while Natasha was basking in this new chapter in her life, someone else was mourning their lover.

The pain taking over you was nothing like you'd ever felt before.

They say losing a loved one can be the hardest thing to go through, but with time that empty hole will heal.

But how is one supposed to go on when the person who held your heart took it away with hers way too soon? How is someone supposed to keep on living when you've been robbed of your other half?

The falls your eyes were had you sniffing every now and then as your soul rolled out of you with every tear you shed. Your hand hadn't stopped shaking since you signed those damned agreements. Because despite honoring Wanda's decision, knowing she'd be ripped from her organs meant she was gone. Having agreed with her meant that you'd never see those beautiful green eyes and you'd never hear that thick accent ever again.

Having honored her wishes only meant you'd been left alone to pick up the pieces of your shattered heart.

Chuckling sourly, you sat down in the waiting area outside the ICU, where your hospital tour would finish any moment now. And soon enough, a nurse came out through the sliding doors.

"Excuse me," you timidly walked towards the blonde lady. "I just wanted to know if the receiver of Wanda Maximoff's heart was okay," you did your best to keep your voice steady, gasping when the nurse's hand squeezed your shoulder.

"She is in observation, but everything seems to be going perfectly," she smiled warmly. "I know what it feels like, so I thank you for your gesture. Would you like to meet her?"

"No," you voiced weakly. "Thank you, though."

With the confirmation that the heart you once loved kept on living in someone else, you walked the cold tiles of Memorial Hospital, hoping you would never have to come back.

But what once seemed like a faraway possibility had become a reality in just a matter of just a few months.

And if anyone dared to ask how you could love so soon after Wanda, you'd tell them the truth.

Something in Natasha had captured your attention ever since the first time you saw her almost tripping over Puck, like a magnetic field that kept bringing you both together over and over until you decided to feed your curiosity and asked her for a date.

To say the rest was history was an understatement.

And while sometimes you missed Wanda, time and Natasha's love had started to heal your broken heart.

Maybe it was the way she stared at you like you were the only person in the world, or maybe it was the way her eyes wrinkled when she laughed heartily. Or perhaps it was the way she lived so freely like every second mattered.

"You're staring."

"Sue me," you clicked your tongue, earning a laugh.

"We have to get ready," she leaned down and you met her lips in the middle, taking advantage of her position to roll both of you over.

Muffling her gasp with a kiss, you parted away to look at her.

"Or we can just stay in." You wiggled your eyebrows playfully.

"How about no." She pecked your lips before pushing you away.

But before she could stand up, you grabbed her hand, intertwining your fingers together as your left hand caressed her cheek, brushing away a rebellious strand of blonde hair that had faded away to give way to her natural red color. "I love you," you vowed, receiving a soft kiss on your cheek in return, leaving you with a bitter feeling. But you didn't have it in you to dig in.

"C'mon, baby. They're waiting for us." Natasha kissed your forehead sweetly before walking to the closet.

Your worries from earlier that night dissipated as the night progressed, and the music combined with the alcohol only served to blur your thoughts.

Truth be told, it's been a while since you had the chance to go out with your friends since work occupied most of your time lately. So when the invitation arose, you were the first one to agree. Even more so when a certain redhead moved against you in a way that wasn't appropriate for young audiences.

Having your hands found their place at every side of Natasha's hips, you flushed her as close as you could, with your hips moving in sync with the sexy beat of the song.

"You're a sight for sore eyes," you murmured in the shell of her ear, feeling her body trembling even the slightest.

"What you gonna do about it?" Hearing the mischief in her tone was enough to get you into action.

Turning her in your arms, you crashed your lips against hers, blocking any word that would come, with a mission set in mind.

"We should go somewhere more private," her deep moan, as your thigh found her cunt, had you shivering from head to toe in the most pleasant way.

"Your place or mine?" You bit her lower lip before sucking on it.

"You choose." Natasha started walking you backward to the exit, ignoring the catcalls and "oohs" of your friends and who were you to deny her?

Unable to stop kissing Natasha, you clumsily stumbled through your front door, thankful that the Uber had a divisory window to keep your business between you and Natasha only.

But it wasn't until your fingers grazed the skin under her burgundy dress that you realized what you were doing.

Breaking from the heated kiss, you took Natasha's hands from your naked breast, linking your fingers together.

"If we continue I won't be able to stop," you leaned your forehead against hers. But instead of an apology or some sort of plea, you were met with her plump lips taking over yours and you had to fight extra hard to part away.

"I'm serious, Nat."

"I'm ready," she breathed and you searched into her forest green eyes for some trace of a lie, but what you found had your heart squeezing in the most exquisite way. The trust reflecting in those orbs had you closing the distance, kissing her tenderly as if asking for permission at every movement of your tongue exploring her mouth.

Locking your arms around Natasha's neck, you made sure to pour every single drop of love you held for her, making it impossible to fight the chaotic fire spreading through your body. The mix between arousal and gratitude had your fingers running through her creamy thighs, pressing a bit too hard as if intending to mark her.

Breaking the kiss, you smiled shortly as Natasha groaned only to sigh as your lips traced her jaw down to her neck nibbling at the soft skin, just to soothe it with your tongue after.

The needy moans coming from Natasha were a drug you didn't know you needed until now and you surely as fuck didn't want to stop hearing.

But all your determination in making this a night to remember went downward when you heard the lustful way in which your name rolled out of her.

With quick hands, you unfastened the zip on her back, dragging the tight-fitting dress down as your fingers caressed every single inch of soft skin they could reach within their path.

But contrary to your intentions, just as your lips grazed over the big, angry pinkish scar you just discovered, Natasha's moans turned into cries as her whole body spasmed.

"Baby," you shushed as your arms wrapped tightly around her shaking form, walking carefully the short distance to her side of the bed where you lay her down before quickly joining her, bringing her half on top of you, placing her ear atop your chest like she always liked to do when she was feeling down.

"No." Natasha sat back up with her back towards you, stabbing your heart.

"Would you at least tell me what's going on?"

You knew it wasn't the right time to question her. But you've been receiving different signals a few days till now and you were tired of her push-and-pull.

At her lack of answer and her body spams not subsiding, you stood up and rounded your bed, kneeling in front of her.

"Nat," you begged as you took her hands in yours, smiling briefly when she didn't take them back.

"The heart." She spoke after a few moments too long.

"What heart?" You mused softly, not understanding what she meant other than she's had heart surgery as you just had discovered.

"The heart I received. It's Wanda's."

Those two words had your soul frozen, making it impossible to breathe.

The well-known pain you've experiencied a year ago had your body giving up, plopping on the floor with your head tilting to the side as you stared at Natasha trying either to get a confirmation or an…

"Is this why you pursued me? Because you felt obligated?" You spit venomously.

"I-"

"No." You stood up and tumbled towards the door. "I can't hear it." You walked out, leaving her behind.

All in you wanted to scream and burn and just… "Wanda," you cried softly, feeling your tears filling your eyes and your chest starting to close.

Was all this a lie? Had you been a charity case all these months?

Had you been played by the person who saved you from drowning in sadness?

The hole in your heart opened again, consuming all the happy memories you've had with Natasha as you wandered lost through the maze that was your emotions' realm.

The rattling thunder shaking the earth had you jumping back into reality, where you managed to finally deliver oxygen to your tired lungs, allowing every cell in your body to work a little easier.

Walking to the big window in your living room, you allowed your tears to reflect the raindrops as you formed more questions than answers.

But before you could dwell too much into them, Natasha's presence had you facing her. Your gaze settled on the duffel bag in her hand.

"You're not going anywhere. It's storming badly outside," you indicated.

All Natasha could do was nod curtly as she settled her bag on the floor before sitting on the couch, flinching when you did the same a few centimeters away.

The uncomfortable silence filled with unspoken questions and the hurt and judgment she could feel emanating from you had her skin itching in ways she's never experienced before.

Her vocal cords craved to speak her truth. She was dying to reassure you and to make you understand. But the cold demeanor you sported had her silently crying, regretting all her decisions.

"Why you lied to me?" You broke the silence, your words cutting through her soul.

"I didn't-"

"Hiding something is the same thing as lying." You refuted.

Swallowing hard, Natasha spoke honestly. "I didn't want you to think less of me."

"You do realize I'm thinking less of you now after I found out you hold my late girlfriend's heart. Right?" You turned your head and Natasha couldn't help choking at the cold she saw in your eyes. Those same eyes that used to look at her with a warmth that melted her even on the coldest day. "How could you keep something like that for so long?"

Unable to look back at you, Natasha inhaled sharply trying to gather the courage to tell you the truth.

She knew that if she wanted you to forgive her, she must come clean.

"When I found out her name, I wanted to find you to thank you. To show my gratitude to you and somehow to her, too." Natasha sniffled softly. "But when I saw you, something in me lighted up with curiosity. Something about you called me to connect with you," Natasha dared to look at you and her heart shattered in million pieces all over again at the tears running down your face, and even if her fingers itched to brush them away, she kept her hands on her lap. She had no right to comfort you after breaking you.

"I truly wanted to tell you, but I don't know why I decided to omit my intentions and just play it as a casualty. And I know I was wrong," she hurried to say. "But when I noticed your pretty smile appeared because of me, I wanted you to see me as… Me. Not as Wanda's new vessel."

Pausing to gather her thoughts, Natasha turned her body to face you and test her luck, smiling small when you didn't take back your hands from her grasp.

"All I did was because I felt it, not because I pitied you nor anything of that. Y/N, you gotta believe me. My love for you was never a joke." She spoke securely, yet fearful.

"I never ever felt obliged to be with you. Much less to win you. I promise, cross my heart, that I fell for you hard. And I wanted you to feel for me, not for Wanda nor because you thought you owed your life to her beating heart."

Of all the reactions she could imagine, this was never an option.

Closing the distance, your arms locked around her torso as you placed your head on her chest, your ear aligned perfectly atop her heart, and Natasha didn't know if the broken cry she released was because of happiness or sorrow.

"You think we can work this out?" Your broken voice had Natasha's hold on you tightening in relief.

"We will," she spoke strongly. "I believe in us." Natasha released a calming breath as the new possibility of you overcoming this together opened in front of her.

It might take time for you both to be back to where you were before tonight's revelations. But with work, patience, and love, your story with Natasha was far from being over.

Taglist: @summergeezburr @red1culous @wandabear @owloftheshadows

#natasha romanoff x reader #natasha x reader #natasha romanoff x you #natasha x you #natasha romanoff x y/n #natasha x y/n #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff angst #my writing

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loslentesdepedrito · 5 months

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I'm Your Wife- Chapter Seven

Javi gif by: @skyshipper Jack gif by: @javier-pena My Masterlist

Pairing: Jack Daniels ‘Agent Whiskey’x Spanish-speaking f!reader and Javier Peña x Spanish-speaking f!reader (Spanish translations are provided.)

Previous Chapter: I'm Your Wife- Chapter Six

Word count: 9.2k+

Chapter summary: It's time for Ángel's surgery and the transplant preparation. Following the procedure, Jack visits his son, providing some closure regarding your marriage.

A/N: This chapter concludes the final installment of the series and stands as my penultimate post on this blog. Next week, hopefully, I'll be sharing one more post—a Din piece—officially wrapping up this blog. I intend to maintain my writing for another two weeks before ultimately closing my account. Thank you to everyone who has supported me!

Rating: 18+ No explicit content, but this is an 18+ page. Warning contains spoilers, but please read if you'd like!!! They are below the cut, but if you don't want to read them, the story starts after the Whiskey bottles. Also, Jack's texts are in bold.

CW: angst is back again, but a happy ending is guaranteed, some science, mentions of surgery, chemotherapy, and stem cell transplant, Jack cannot use an iPhone, Javi and Jack tension, jealousy, pregnancy, divorce, and childhood disease.

Your conversation with Jack three hours ago left you drained and exhausted, and now you're perched on the chair in the corner of your son's hospital room. You're engrossed in watching Ángel and Javi talk about an upcoming soccer game and the probability of their favorite team winning the match when your phone vibrates underneath your thigh. With a subtle shift, you reach for it and once it’s in your hand, you flip it over. Your phone is illuminated with a family picture of you with your husband and son in the background and there’s a message on your Notification Center.

Jack Daniels: HI. TEXTING YOU FROM MY NEW PHONE.

Another vibration follows, prompting a second message.

Jack Daniels: WHY DID THE TEXT SEND IN UPPERCASE?

The sequence of messages from Jack continues, each notification accompanied by a vibration.

Jack Daniels: HOW DO I TURN THIS OFF?

Jack Daniels: HELP me. Wait, I figured it out. Sorry.

You haven’t clicked on the messages to take you to the chat. Instead, you hold and press, sending him a brief response:

Hi, Jack.

He doesn’t send anything back, and you turn off your phone. As soon as the screen is black, it lights up again.

Jack Daniels: I went to the store and picked up a new phone.

A second later, an image comes through.

You hover over the message once more, and it’s a front selfie Jack took. Well, it’s not quite a full-face selfie. It only captures just beneath his eyes, and his eyes and face are not looking directly at the camera, so you guess he was looking down trying to take a picture of something else.

You’re proven correct when a second picture comes through. This time it’s a box of an iPhone.

There’s a bubble on your text chain, and this time you fully click, opening the message thread with Jack.

Sorry, I don’t know how this phone works. I just didn’t want my phone to fail, and you didn’t have a way to contact me, so I got a new one. Did I miss anything?

You reply back with:

Ángel is already ready to go, we’re just waiting for a room to open up in the OR. Could take hours, though.

How did he take the news?

Very well, actually. Saying he’s excited to go home is an understatement. He sensed that we were worried about his surgery and he kind of gave us a lecture on how important it is to listen to doctors and gave us a small list of the benefits of chemo ports. When we asked him how he knew about the port, he said, and I quote, "some light reading."

Jack doesn’t take long to reply:

Smart boy. He definitely got that from you.

A smile graces your lips at his message, but you decide to shift the conversation:

We never talked about it, but do you want us to tell Ángel that you’re his donor?

Your nerves are on edge, and waiting for Jack’s response heightens your anxiety. Glancing up from your phone, you see Ángel still in deep conversation with Javi. Your phone vibrates again, and you look down at Jack’s response:

No. I don’t want him to want a relationship with me because of the donation. If he wants a relationship with me, I want it to be because he truly wants it, not because he feels any obligation.

You exhale, relieved, and reply:

Okay, we won’t tell him.

Thank you.

A text bubble appears:

How do I send the accent on his name?

Suppressing a laugh, your fingers glide over the keyboard:

Press the letter A for a good two seconds, and a whole lot of options should appear. Click on the third one.

It doesn’t take Jack very long to send a single:

He follows with:

Be honest, does it sound a bit funny when I pronounce his name?

You weigh your options, lie or be honest. You decide to go with the latter:

A little bit.

I remember when you used to make fun of my accent…

Liar. I didn’t make fun of you.

I miss that...

Oh, God, not again.

You’re about to reprimand him when, by some divine intervention, a fist knocks on the door, followed by a man in a polo and khakis. Quickly, you turn your phone off, redirecting your full attention to the man.

“Hi, I’m Will. I’m with patient transport services, and I’m here to take Ángel down to the OR,” he says.

“Come in,” you invite.

Javi stands up and retrieves your thick to-go bag from underneath the sofa. It's filled with water bottles, a variety of snacks, sweaters, sweatpants, and a few changes of clothes—because, as Javi says, uno nunca sabe (one never knows).

Will walks over to Ángel and looks at his hospital bracelet. He takes out a phone with a bulky blue case and scans the ID barcode. Will asks to no one in particular, “Can you please confirm his full name and date of birth.”

Javi does that for you.

Will nods and types something onto the phone. After a moment, he looks at Ángel, “Hey, little man, how are you doing?”

Ángel smiles, “I’m good, sir. I'm just waiting to get my chemo port. After that, I can get chemo and then a transplant so I can go home.”

Will chuckles, “That's a great plan, buddy. We’ll get you down to the OR, and they’ll take good care of you so you can go home soon. Ready to go to the sixth floor?”

Ángel nods enthusiastically, his eyes filled with trust.

“Great,” Will says, glancing at you and Javi. “If you guys are ready, we can head downstairs.”

Javi, lifting the heavy bag over his shoulder, nods in agreement. He glances at Ángel, a mix of tenderness and concern in his eyes, and then turns to Will.

“He’ll be under anesthesia, right?” Javi asks, his voice a bit gruffer than usual.

Will offers a reassuring smile, “Yes, sir. That's what his chart says.”

Javi nods, visibly swallowing some of his worry. “Okay, let’s get him down there.” He moves to help his son get up from the bed. Will positions the wheelchair closer to Ángel's bed, and together, they carefully lower Ángel onto the wheelchair. You reach for one of the blankets—a gift from your father-in-law—and drape it over Ángel. Will takes the IV wire and secures it on the designated hook at the back of the wheelchair.

"Are we all set?" Will asks.

"Yes," you affirm, and then Will wheels Ángel toward the door. Javi, anticipating the need, beats them to the exit, opens the door, and holds it wide open to let them pass. Stepping into the corridor, Javi instinctively reaches for your hands, intertwining fingers not just for your comfort but for his own solace as well. Together, you trail behind your son as Will expertly steers Ángel's wheelchair through the hallway.

Descending from the tenth floor via the patient elevators, you and Javi follow Will, who scans his badge to usher you through the double doors into the pre-op room.

Guiding Ángel to the left side of the room, Will selects a quiet corner and draws back a side of the arctic blue diamond-print curtains, revealing an unoccupied bed. Positioning the wheelchair beside the bed, he assists Ángel in transitioning onto the soft mattress.

"Alright, good luck, buddy. You'll do great in there," Will encourages, raising a fist. Ángel meets it with his own, and as their fists connect, they both playfully mimic the sound of an explosion.

"Thanks, sir," Ángel replies, his voice carrying gratitude. Then, in a quiet and unsure tone, he adds, "I'll see you after?"

Will's smile is reassuring. "Absolutely. I'll be the one taking you back up."

With that, Will takes a step back, giving Ángel some space. He turns to you and your husband, saying, "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Peña, Mrs. Peña. Someone should be with you shortly."

"Thanks for everything, Will," you say, watching as Will, with a warm smile, exits and closes the curtain, providing you with some privacy with your son.

With only one chair in the room, Javi insists you take a seat, not wanting you on your feet.

"¿Y tú? (what about you?)" you ask, concern etched in your voice and face. Maybe it's because you went so long without a partner prioritizing you, or because in the time your son has been in the hospital, Javier has really taken care of almost everything. Sometimes you can't help but feel guilty that he always puts your comfort above his own.

"Me paro (I’ll stand)," Javi shrugs his shoulders as if it's the most obvious choice in the world.

"Papi, you can sit here," Ángel offers, patting the mattress.

"Está bien (it's okay), mijo, I can stand for a while," he smiles, loving that his son is always considerate.

"Baja ese bolso (put down that bag), at least," you plead with him.

"I'm good, someone should be here soon," Javi reassures.

"Pero, Javi- (but, Javi-)" You're interrupted when you hear a woman asking if she can come in.

He smirks and whispers, "Ves (see)." Dropping his cocky look, Javi opens the curtain to let the woman in.

"Hello, my name is Dr. Gaddi. I'll be Angel's anesthesiologist. Can I please get a full name and a birthday?"

Your son happily responds to the doctor's requests while she verifies the information on the computer.

"Great, thank you, sweetheart. Mom or Dad, I'll need your signature on the consent forms. If one of you will please follow me," she says.

"I'll go," Javi says, and to your relief, he finally drops the bag from his shoulder.

"It's just straight this way," the anesthesiologist says, motioning past the curtain where the nurse station is in the middle of the big room.

Javier nods and follows the doctor. "Ya vengo mis amores (I’ll be back my loves)," he says with a big smile before closing the curtain.

Once on the other side of the curtain, where you and his son can't see him, he exhales a shaky breath. The fear is there, gnawing at him, although he doesn't want to show it. He wishes he could share it with you, as he normally would, but you're pregnant. The stress is already too much, and he doesn't want it to affect the baby. That thought terrifies him, and he can't risk it. Through the course of your marriage, he's come to understand that sometimes, marriage isn't a perfect fifty-fifty. There are moments when one partner has to carry more, and right now, he knows it's one of those moments. He must bear the fear and shoulder some of yours. While he wants to share these worries with you, a deep-seated commitment to putting family first holds him back. His protective nature takes precedence, always prioritizing his family.

Javier raises his head back up and quickly turns around to follow the doctor, who is waiting for him.

Once he catches up to her, she tells him the forms are for consent of treatment. The doctor reads the online document, informing Javi about the procedure, the benefits, and the risks it entails.

Dr. Gaddi must have seen the look on Javier's face after she listed the risks and the way he nearly crumbled when she said "or death" because she stopped and turned to him.

"But... everything will be okay, right? He’s in good hands?” Javi asks, his voice cracking as if he's on the verge of tears; even speaking those words makes his throat ache, causing a noticeable strain in his voice.

"Sir, I can't make any promises. Every surgery does come with risks, but my team and I have successfully done this procedure multiple times.”

Javi tries his best to remind himself that everyone in the OR is experienced and has done this procedure before.

"Where do I sign?" he manages to ask, his voice slowly regaining its composure.

While Javi is with Ángel's anesthesiologist, a nurse, and another doctor come in to check on Ángel. He had only managed a short nap, so now, as he rests, you take out your phone and send a text to Jack.

Hey. We're in the Pre-op area. There's a room in the OR now, and I've met his doctors. As soon as the anesthesiologist comes back, they'll take him.

Jack replies instantly as if he's been sitting by, waiting for his phone to ring:

Thank you for letting me know.

He sends a follow-up:

His surgery is only supposed to take an hour, right?

That's what the doctors said. I'm sure he won't be in there for too long.

As Javi, Dr. Gaddi, and a nurse approach, you text Jack:

The anesthesiologist will be here soon. I'll send you any updates I get, and I'm going to send you Javi's contact info just in case.

After adding Javi's phone number and hitting send, your husband and the surgical team arrive.

Dr. Gaddi approaches, “Hi, Mom, everything is ready on our end to take the patient to the OR."

“Okay,” you say, rising to your feet. The staff gathers around the bed and begins to move it. Ángel stirs at the movement, calling for you and Javi before opening his eyes.

Javi quickly rushes to your side, closer to your son, and reassures him, "It's okay."

"Oh, am I going to surgery?" Ángel asks.

"Yes, you are, Angel," the nurse responds as he releases the brakes on the left side.

"Oh, okay, yay," Ángel smiles.

The nurse chuckles at his excitement, "You know, not many kids are excited for surgery."

"I'm excited because chemo ports look more comfortable than the IV. It gets in my way when I do, like, anything," Ángel explains with a huff.

"Well, I've heard from other patients that they prefer the port, so hopefully you will too," says Dr. Gaddi as she stands to the side, waiting to wheel Ángel out of the room.

She turns to you and your husband, saying, "You guys can follow us until that red line, and then you'll be taken to the waiting room."

You start feeling more anxious, and Javier senses it. He begins to rub your lower back, his warm hand moving up and down, offering comfort.

"Okay, ready," says the nurse.

With the curtain open, they go through first, and you and Javi are right next to your son’s bed.

You're so hyper-focused on your son that you don't realize you've made it right before the line that you can't cross.

"Love you, Mommy, love you, Daddy," Ángel says, reaching out for your hand.

You take his little hand in yours, and Javi covers both of your hands with his.

"Te amamos más, mi niño (we love you more)," Javi tells him in a soft voice. Everyone can hear the love pouring out of his words.

Ángel knows this and doesn't try to contradict his dad because he knows it would be in vain. Instead, he simply says, "Nos vemos en un ratito (We’ll see each other in a little bit)."

"Okay, mijo," you say, fighting back tears.

The doors open, and Ángel is wheeled in. You think the tears are coming, but when you hear the light sound of your son's laughter, you're able to compose yourself.

"Would you like to be taken to the waiting room now?" a non-surgical nurse asks.

Thirty minutes pass, and you and Javier are seated in the waiting room, the only occupants at the moment. Purple chairs surround you, and you're on a blue seat cushion against the wall, your attention fixed on the TV opposite. It's a modest 35-inch screen designed to keep you informed about the ongoing surgery. Your son's name is displayed in green, and the message changes from ‘Surgery in progress: Incision and Pocket Creation’ to ‘Surgery in progress: Port Implantation.’

"They're placing the port-disk-chamber thingy inside the incision they made on his chest," Javi says matter-of-factly, pointing at the text.

You turn your head toward him, an amused smile playing on your lips. "'Port-disk-chamber thingy'—is that what the doctor said, Jav?"

He bursts out laughing, placing his right hand over his chest, realizing he was mimicking the tone doctors use when imparting information: authoritative. "Casi me cago del miedo (I almost shitted myself from fear) when the doctor told me step by step what they would do, so I don't remember exactly what he said," he chuckles.

Javier's laugh is contagious, and you can't help but laugh too. Your laughter fuels his, and vice versa. The only thing that interrupts your laughter is when you feel the baby kick.

"Ay, me pateó (oh, he kicked me)," you exclaim happily.

Javi instantly stops laughing too and shifts his hand to rest on your bump. As soon as you feel the weight of his hand on your stomach, your son responds with another kick, right where Javi's palm is placed.

A boyish look crosses your husband's face. He always loves feeling the baby kick, reminiscent of the first time he felt his first son kick.

"¿Hola, mijo, ya te despertaste? (Hi, my boy, have you woken up yet?)" he hums softly.

In response, the baby kicks again.

"He loves your voice so much. I swear he only kicks so you could talk to him. A mi no me quiere, nomas le gusta que le cantes y le leas (He doesn’t love me, he just likes it when you sing and read to him),” you huff out in fake annoyance.

"That's not true. The second-born is always the momma's boy. So the baby loves you the most," Javi says.

"And the youngest loves daddy the most, so no," you refute.

"He won't be the youngest for long," he grins suggestively.

You gasp, “ya me embarazaste, sinverguenza! (You already impregnated me!)"

"But if it was scientifically possible..."

"Shut up," you playfully scold him.

With Javi's hand still over your stomach, your son kicks again, this time much lighter.

"He's upset you told me to shut up," his gaze shifts from looking at you to your stomach as if he could see the baby, and he lowers his voice, “¿verdad, mijo? Dile a tu mami que no sea mala conmigo (right, mijo? Tell your mom to stop being mean to me).”

He looks back up at you, "te acuerdas cuando Ángel hizo eso por primera vez? (Do you remember when Ángel did that for the first time?).”

“Jesus Christ, he scared me, and he made you cry,” you laugh, a smile on your face remembering.

"Oh shit! I forgot to update Jack," you realize and scramble to get your phone. As you start typing to let him know what's going on in the OR, you tell Javi, "By the way, I gave him your phone number."

Javier lets out an unenthusiastic and dry, "Yay."

“Mira (look),” he says while you’re still typing. You look up to where Javi is pointing, and the TV changes to Surgery in progress: Catheter Insertion.

You wince, "They're in his vein now."

"The catheter is the tube that delivers the medicine to his body, right?"

"Yeah," you mumble, typing the next update to Jack.

Javi reaches for one of your hands and rubs soothing circles, “Deja de pensar en eso. Él está bien con ellos (stop thinking about it. He’s safe with them).”

He removes his hand and turns his body to the to-go bag. Javi reaches for the zipper and undoes it. He digs in the back, and you see him pull something out. "Do you need a blanket?" he asks, with a large fuzzy blue blanket in his hand and his soft brown eyes looking at you tenderly. Before you can reply, he places it in your lap and goes back to the bag. Javi fights a little and finally tugs a pillow out of the bag, "a pillow?" he asks with the same puppy eyes.

“I- thank you," you accept both items. You put the pillow behind you so you won't rest your back against the hard and cold wall. You take the blue blanket from your lap and extend it to drape it over the both of you.

"¿Tienes hambre? (are you hungry?)" Javi asks adjusting the blanket.

"Sí"

He goes back to the bag and pulls out some snacks: Goldfish, Chips Ahoy, granola bars, fruit snacks, dry plantain chips, and a pack of assorted nuts.

"Sorry, I don't have any actual food," he looks at what he's offered you and feels guilty at the limited options. Javi gets up quickly, "I can go get you real food. Are you craving anything?"

"Hey," you wrap your fingers around his wrist and grip somewhat tightly. You look up at him and push him to sit back down. "No. I don't want you to leave."

"Okay. I'll stay," he says softly, kissing where your hair and forehead meet.

A knock reverberates in the room, and a nurse comes in. "Hi," she says, closing the door to come closer to you. "Everything went well. There were no complications. They're ready to transfer Ángel to the Post-op room if you guys would like to follow me."

Both of you look relieved at the news, and you feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders.

"Thank you," you tell her, and Javi can't get any words out. His eyes are watering, and he tries his best to not let them fall.

He starts hurriedly putting away the snacks, just keeping the bag of nuts, while you fold the blanket back up into the neat roll Javi had it in. After the snacks, blanket, and pillow are in the bag again, Javi helps you get up. You send Jack a quick text informing him that everything went well, and you're on your way to see Ángel. Javi puts the bag over his shoulder, and you both follow the nurse to go see your son.

Next morning - Day 1 of Chemo:

Hey, Jack. Ángel is awake and doing well. He asked about having visitors and hoped you would come see him. We explained that it's not possible right now. He understood but wanted to call. Would you like to FaceTime?

That's great. What’s FaceTime?

It's a video call.

Yes. How do I do that?

Instead of texting him back, you initiate a FaceTime call and hand the phone off to Ángel when it starts to ring.

As soon as Jack accepts the call and his face takes over your screen, Ángel's little face lights up. "Mr. Jack!"

Jack's face mirrors Ángel's: a smile so wide, eyes so soft looking at his son.

"I just started chemotherapy," Ángel blurts out just before Jack greets him.

Jack's heart glows watching his son's face. "How are ya feeling?"

"Mmm... I feel okay. Oh! I got the surgery last night, and look at my chemo port." Your son takes one hand off your phone and pulls his hospital gown just enough to show Jack his port. "Look! You can see the bump of the port under my skin. Eww, it looks gross. It's so cool."

Jack laughs, and that makes Ángel move the phone back to his face.

"Does it hurt?" Jack asks.

"Nope. It was a little bit like... sore when I woke up, but it doesn’t hurt now. I had chemo in the morning, and it pinched for a second, but it's wayyy better than the IV."

"It's not a pain to use the restroom, huh?"

"It's easier and faster to go now," his brows pinch in the middle, "I almost peed myself once 'cus I had to wait for the wires to detangle from the bed." Ángel trails off, tilts his head to the side, and squints. "What do you have behind you? Is that a needle?"

Jack turns his head behind to see what his son saw. He had picked up the prescription he needed to be Ángel's donor from the pharmacy the previous night. Jack opened the box out of curiosity and took out a needle to look at, but then he got caught up texting you in the morning and forgot to put the small vial and needle back in the pharmacy bag.

"Umm... yeah?" Jack says uncertainly, not knowing how to explain it to his son. He doesn't want him to know that he's his donor, at least not yet. "That is some medicine I have to take in two days," Jack says, trying to keep it vague.

When the words come out of Jack's mouth, Ángel's eyes show pure concern, "Oh, are you sick?"

"No, buddy," Jack blurts out immediately, "I'm not sick. I'm just takin' them for... to... Just takin' them to stay healthy. They're like vitamins."

"Maybe I should take some so I could be healthy. What's the name of the medicine?"

Jack's heart drops at his son's words. His mind starts spinning, but he takes a deep breath. He'll be healthy soon, he tries to remind himself. "You can't take this one, buddy. It's for adults."

"Oh," he sounds disappointed, but his voice goes back to normal, "Well, that's okay. I can't take vitamins on chemo either way. I think. Vitamins can affect chemo because of cancer cells, but I don't have any so I don't know. I can ask later. How are the horses?"

Donation Day - Day 7 of Chemo:

Jack sat comfortably in a green chair, his right hand extended over a pillow, squeezing a small blue ball as his blood cycled through the machine. Two hours had passed since he settled into the chair. He arrived at the hospital early in the morning with the last dose of his five-day filgrastim prescription, and for the first time, someone other than him administered the injection. Throughout the morning, he had been texting you, checking in on his son, and, though he wouldn't admit it, checking in on you. Of course, he cared about his son and wanted to know every detail of what he was going through, but this had been the only line of communication he had with you for years, and he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity while you were willing to entertain his conversations. From you, he learned that Ángel's last day of chemo had gone smoothly.

Jack's head spun when he heard a knock against the door. His heart thumped wildly in his chest at the thought of seeing you. When the door opened, a wave of disappointment washed over him. It wasn't you who set foot in the room; it was fucking Javier.

Jack instantly tenses and clears his throat as Javier walks over to him.

"Hi."

Javi crosses his hands over his thick biceps, "How's the donation coming along?"

"It's goin' well. They think in 30 minutes we'll have enough for Ángel," Jack fills Javi in.

"H-how are umm... how are you feeling?" Javi gets the words out, although with much effort. He sounds physically pained asking a simple question to Jack.

"You sound very concerned for my well-being," Jack quips sarcastically.

Not really, Javi wants to say. Instead, he tells Jack, "I’m trying really hard to not hate you.”

It doesn't faze Jack one bit. "Same."

"So just don't do anything to piss me off. More like don't do anything else to piss me off even more," Javi lowers his voice more, "She's my wife; she tells me things. Don't you ever dare call her ‘baby’ again. You're lucky she's not that uncomfortable with ‘sugar’, but if she ever shows one ounce of discomfort, you will stop."

"She never minded all those names before," Jack challenges, glaring at Javi."

Javi smirks, wearing a shit-eating grin as he nonchalantly shrugs. "Yeah, she never did lots of things before me."

Jack is furious. All he sees is red, and just as he begins to rise from his chair to get up, the nurse walks in.

"Oh! A visitor," she exclaims.

"Hello," Javi greets the redheaded nurse in blue scrubs with ducks all over them.

Seeing the nurse enter, Jack comes to his senses and sits back down. Subconsciously, he squeezes the ball so tight in his hands that his knuckles turn white.

"Mr. Daniels, are you okay?" the nurse questions with concern. All she sees is her patient gripping the ball so tightly that his nails are about to rupture through the material. She moves to him and checks his arm to see if there are any signs the needle is causing pain.

Jack's glare tears from Javi and shifts to the nurse. "I'm okay, thank you for checkin’ in on me," he tells her and moves his hand to signal for the nurse to release his arm. "Nothin’ hurts," he smiles up at her.

The nurse understands and checks the progress of the donation. While looking at the machine, she decides to make small talk with her patient and his visitor. "Are you Mr. Daniels' brother?" She turns to ask Javi innocently.

"No," Jack's words drip with disgust.

Javi smiles at how fast Jack denies the nurse's initial thought and says "Not related," under his breath, mumbling, "Thank God."

The nurse doesn't seem to pick up on their animosity and comments, "You two look alike, what a coincidence. Best friends then?"

"No, nothing like that. My wife and I know him, and he's giving our son a gift," Javi says 'our' while looking at Jack.

Suddenly, Ángel crosses their minds, and they both feel some shame for their earlier behavior. They know they can't go on still hating each other because it'll eventually turn into a fight. They just don't know how to set aside their differences.

"I'll call the doctor to get her thoughts, but it looks like we have what we need for the donation," the nurse says, taking note of the blood volume. "In a few hours, one lucky little boy will receive the cells, and he’ll be one step closer to being healthy."

After Jack was hooked up to the machine for two and a half hours, the staff deemed the collection enough and sent the blood bag to the lab to confirm that Jack’s procedure had collected enough stem cells. Four hours later, it was confirmed that there were the desired amount of stem cells, and the team took the cells to Ángel’s room. Due to your son being immunocompromised, he isn't allowed to have visitors other than legal guardians. So, you and Javi update Jack on the transplant.

Day 11 post-transplant:

Remember how I told you he started grafting on the tenth day?

Yes! How his body was accepting the stem cells, and the cells were growing and making new cells.

Mhm. Well, if everything keeps going at the speed it’s been going, Ángel gets to go home in four days!!

Oh, wow! It’s just day 11 after the transplant, and the doctors estimated it wouldn't happen until closer to day 25! Can I go see him then? I know I was cleared to go five days ago, but because I wasn’t feeling well, I didn’t go. My fever’s still here, but I’ll continue to monitor myself.

Sure! You need to be cleared of a fever for 24 hours and have absolutely NO symptoms.

You have my word, sugar.

Day 14 post-transplant:

You're packing all of Ángel's belongings to take home. It's been 14 days since your son's transplant, and he's cleared to go home. You don't know who's happier— you, your husband, or your son. But that doesn't really matter; all that matters is that your family is together. Just as you're collecting your son's toys and getting them ready to shove into the white personal belongings bag, someone knocks on the door. Javi stops placing Ángel's books into a box and hurriedly opens the door. He was expecting the doctor to come in with discharge papers, but it was Jack waiting on the other side.

"Oh, right, you said you'd stop by," Javi remembered.

When you saw Jack standing there not quite stepping inside the room with a red gift bag, you gasped. "Sorry, we forgot you were going to stop by." You turned your neck and saw Ángel reading the book Jack had gifted him, One Hundred Fun Facts About Horses.

"Come in," you usher Jack in. "Mijo," you call, and Ángel looks up from the book he's got his nose buried in.

"Mr. Jack!" Ángel's face lights up like a Christmas tree. He pats a spot in his bed as he tells Jack to sit down next to him. "I want to show you something," Ángel puts the book aside and lowers his shirt to show Jack that the port is gone. "They took my port out!"

Jack almost reaches out and touches his son's scar but settles for examining it with his eyes. "Are you sore?"

"Not really. I'm just excited to go to my house. Did my mom tell you I'm leaving the hospital today?"

"Yeah," Jack chuckles, "she mentioned it. And here I brought you this," he lifts the gift bag onto the bed.

Ángel tears it open and begins to pull the items out. The first gift he reaches is a book, Her Right Foot. "Oh, my God!"

You see the title and direct your question to Jack, "He's wanted that book for a while, how did you know?"

"Really?" Jack's smiling ear to ear. "I just went to the bookstore and thought he'd like that one." His heart feels like it could rip right through his chest because he feels like he knows his son. Jack had browsed many children's books and read the synopsis of every last book. The one he had purchased was the one he felt his son would love, the book his son is currently holding, and Jack was right.

The little boy takes out the next item, which is a box. "A Lego set!" Ángel flips the black box to the front, and he sees that this particular set is one of horses. The horse in the center looked similar to Andor, one of Jack's horses his son loved the most. "Is this an Andalusian?" Ángel looks to Jack, his eyes sparkling."

Jack nods his head, "It is, buddy. It's like a mini Andor."

Ángel seems pleased with Jack's answer and moves on to the last gift. It was another box, but this one was a shoebox. The little boy lifted the top off, and he was met with boots—dark brown leather boots with beautiful and intricate stitching all throughout.

“Is that a longhorn?” Ángel points at the center of the boots. He doesn’t wait for an answer before speaking again, “My grandpa has longhorns on his ranch. Do you have them on your ranch, Mr. Daniels?”

"I don’t have any longhorns, but umm... I have the same boots," Jack looks down at the floor like he’s suddenly interested in the simple pattern of the hospital floor. He wasn’t sure what reaction he expected, but when his son's sweet voice reached his ears, Jack looked up.

"You do?" Ángel was beaming, a smile brighter than the sun. He leaps to move sideways so his legs would hang from the bed. He took his left boot and put it on his baby blue non-slip sock-clothed feet and did the same for the right boot. When both boots are on, he pinches the tip to feel where his toes are. Ángel drops to the floor and begins to walk, showing all three of you his new footwear.

"How did you get his shoe size?" You're amazed at how they seem to fit perfectly.

"I asked him," Jack nods his head towards your husband, who is smiling broadly, showing his perfect teeth. Javi squats down to Ángel's level and presses his fingers on his son's boot toe box to feel if they're pinching Ángel's feet. "Perfect fit," Javi smiles up at his son, dimple on display, still on the floor.

Once Javi's hands are removed from Ángel's boots, he runs to Jack, "Thank you so much, Mr. Jack," he says, jumping up and down. Ángel runs back to Javi, who is now standing up straight, "¡Papi, quiero una foto! (Daddy, I want a picture!)" Javi complies and takes out his phone from his back pocket.

You turn to Jack, and your voice falls to a whisper, "We're hosting a dinner in a few nights to celebrate Ángel coming home, and we'd love it if you'd join us."

Jack's head reels at the prospect of seeing you and Ángel in a few days, but beneath that excitement, there is fear, "Is your family going to be there?" he asks.

"Yes, and Javi's too."

"It's your family I'm worried about," he confesses, looking into your eyes.

You take in the way his face pales slightly, his eyes widen, and his eyebrows shoot near his hairline. "No. You're more than worried; you look genuinely scared, but you'll be fine."

"'Course I'll be there, Sugar," he says, looking at his son laughing while Javi takes his pictures. If Ángel was a happy and giddy boy before the transplant, Jack now sees how his innocence is amplified now that he's healthy, and Jack can't wait to see more of his son's childhood joy outside the hospital.

"Hey, can I talk with you alone before you leave?" Jack asks you, hoping you'll agree.

"Um, yeah, we can go outside," you agree, noting his urgent tone.

"Javi, Ángel, I'll be back soon. I'm just going to walk Jack out," you say, moving to the door with Jack on your heels.

"Okay, we'll keep packing, amor," Javi tells you, brushing his hand with yours. You lean into your husband for a while until Ángel and Jack say their goodbyes, promising they'll see each other at the dinner.

You and Jack exit the room, and you take him to a little corner further down the hall.

"What did you want to discuss?" you ask resting your back on the wall with brown and cream diamond wallpaper.

Jack's nervous to tell you what he wants: a father-and-son relationship with Ángel. You two never went into detail on how you would tell Ángel the truth about Jack and he's terrified of asking you for something this big so soon after a big weight of stress has been lifted off you.

"Jack?"

"Sorry," he clears his throat, "I wanted to talk to you about telling Ángel that I'm his dad- biological."

"Oh," you sound surprised. "Yeah. We didn't really discuss that, did we? I haven't thought about it in so long, I'm sorry. Maybe we can get some pointers from Ángels counselor?" You suggest. "Javi and I thought about making an appointment with a child therapist because of this entire hospital stay. We were hoping to get your opinion on that actually."

It's Jack's turn to be surprised. "I think that's wonderful, Sugar. Thank you for including me in the decision."

"Of course. I think it would be great if we could get the counselor's opinion on how to best handle the situation. And we too can figure out how this new dynamic would work. For example, medical decisions moving forward. We'll tell Ángel about you and I have no doubt he'll want to have the relationship you want to have with him. We can talk more about the appointment in a few days. We haven't set an exact date for the dinner but it will probably be this upcoming Sunday."

"I'll clear out my entire schedule," Jack says sincerely

"We'll have food for you that won't send you into a choking fit," you tease.

Jack covers his eyes with his hands, "God, 'M so sorry."

You laugh at his embarrassment, "No, it's okay. I understand the food we serve can take some getting used to." You continue to tell him about the plans for the dinner that is slowly turning into a party and he just stares at you while you keep talking he gets lost in the moment. He thinks about your laugh and the consideration you still have for him and suddenly Jack blurts out, “I love you."

The smile you had vanishes.

“Jack,” you warn dangerously. “We were doing so good, Jack.” You don't want to—can't see him now, so you close your eyes. The words only needed to be said once for them to threaten tears to spill. "How dare you say those words to me now?” You hiss, your tone now angry but more than anything, filled with frustration and pain. You thought you could handle seeing him, so you open your eyes. "What do you expect me to do with that? I won’t leave Javi if that’s what you’re hoping for.

"S-" Jack opens his mouth, but you cut him off immediately. "No, Jack, let me speak."

"Once, those three words would have made me the happiest person in the world, but now? They’re only causing pain,” you pause, exhaling a shaky breath. “You humiliated me, Jack. Time and time again. Even if I didn’t have Javi, I wouldn’t go back to you.” You sound defeated, your voice carrying the pain of past wounds, and it crushes you to keep thinking about the past.

“I did love you, through everything,” Jack whispers, his eyes searching yours. They are watery and dazed.

“I think…” you run your tongue over your lips and then purse them, “I think you loved me in your own way. But that’s not how I wanted to be loved. During our engagement, and more so during our marriage, I never really felt loved by you. Can you blame me for that if I can count with my fingers the amount of 'I love yous' you gave me?” Your words are like shards of glass, cutting through the air with the sharpness of your pain.

“When you did show me your love, I was so happy, Jack. So happy that I thought, hoped, you would give me more love, so I stayed with you. I longed for the morning you woke up and things would be different, better. Because that’s exactly what happened. You woke up after the night of our engagement, and you were a completely different person, and I couldn't comprehend what I did wrong. I was willing to stay with you forever for the odd chance one day you would feel for me how I felt for you.”

“And I stayed because I always hoped you would go back to your old self. Sometimes there were indications that you were going to become the old Jack. Well, I don’t know if I fooled myself, but sometimes I thought you were happy. Like right before I told you I was pregnant, you had this smile on your face….” Your voice trembles with the weight of those memories.

“Other times I genuinely thought you hated me, and then I thought that’s not possible. ‘Why would he ask me to marry him if he couldn’t stand me?’”

“Did you always think that?” He sounds sad, a quiet plea for understanding. But your heart, scarred by the past, struggles to find solace in his remorseful gaze.

“Yeah. When… when we were together, it was rare you would look at me in my face. The majority of times you had me face down. How do you think that made me feel? You made me feel used and disposable.”

“I wanted to be loved by you," you continue, your tone a mix of vulnerability and strength, "and you always made me feel like I was the other woman. Then I decided I should stop trying and let you go.”

“What changed?” Jack's question hangs in the air. Everything you’ve revealed up to this point has felt like glass shards embedded in his heart. He knows you still have a lot left to say, and it will continue to hurt him, but he owes it to you to hear everything you went through.

“I was at a park one day after you didn’t come home," you recall, emotion tinging your words. "I came across this older man, and he showed me pictures of his family. When he talked about his wife…” you pause, emotion catching up with you. “It was beautiful. And I realized that would never be you. You wouldn’t talk about me that way. Since that day, I took off my rose-colored lenses and thought everything through."

"I thought about your behavior but also about mine. I hated who I was because it sounds ridiculous, but I was jealous of someone who wasn't here anymore. And I swear I never wanted to replace her or erase her from your life, I just wanted you to love me too. I loved you so much; I would've settled for half the love you had for Allison, but you couldn't even give me that. I never told you you couldn't love or mourn Allison. She was your wife, I get that... but I was your wife too, and knowing you would never love me like you did her was slowly killing me.”

"I thought about one night, which I don't know if you remember," you confess, the vulnerability in your voice palpable. "But one night on her birthday, you got extremely drunk, and you kept slurring your words. I couldn't understand half of what you were saying, but I heard loud and clear when you yelled at me that you didn’t choose to stop loving her; you were forced to. And you said that you would’ve never looked at me otherwise. That you wish she came back and I disappeared… That we s- switched places,” you confess, exposing the scars engraved into your heart, and the pain of that night that is still etched in your memory—a wound that refused to fully heal. You were surprised that you weren't sobbing, because the night he told you those words, you felt your world had ended.

Jack was appalled, his face reflecting the shock and guilt that surged through him as he listened to your words. The heaviness of the past, the pain inflicted, all rushed back to him as a floodgate of memories suddenly opened, each carrying the weight of its own hurt.

"I always felt I was the third person in our marriage. You made me feel things I hated, and maybe even worse, I became someone I didn't recognize. After that day in the park, I was going to ask you for a divorce because I didn't want to be the person you settled for… then I found out I was pregnant. I wanted to give us one last try, and well, you remember what happened after I told you the news,” you say, the bitterness of the past lingering in your words.

"You kept hurting me, and you're smart, Jack. Did you not think I would leave you?"

Jack exhales, the reminder of his own mistakes heavy on him. "I think I couldn’t let ya go, so a part of me hoped you would leave me if I treated you horribly. Every day I fought with myself to treat you like you deserve, but I wasn’t strong enough to open up to you."

The silence lingers, and Jack takes the opportunity to share a piece of his truth. "The night after I proposed, I had a dream about Allison. She told me I was replacing her, and I dunno, instead of working out through my issues, I took it out on ya.”

“Over a dream? You... you let our relationship go to waste because of a dream,” you say, a mix of disbelief and frustration in your voice. You want to be angry at him because such a trivial thing ruined the chance of happiness, but then you put yourself in his shoes. "Oh, Jack," you add, this time with a tone of understanding and sadness.

“Have you been to therapy?” you ask him, your tone a mix of curiosity and concern.

“Yeah…” Jack admits with a small, self-deprecating laugh.

“Can I be honest?” you tilt your head, your fingers playing with the collar of your shirt.

He nods.

“I don’t think it helped.”

Jack smiles, a sheepish expression on his face, “If we’re being honest, I went in for two sessions and never saw my shrink again.”

“Well, your therapist probably knew what they were doing,” you playfully scold, but then your voice softens, "Please see a therapist so Ángel can get to know the best version of you. When I knew that Jack, he was amazing, and that's the man I want my son to know."

A sad smile greets Jack's face, "Yes, Sugar."

There's another thing you've always been curious to know but never had the stomach to ask, and this seems to be your window. "Can I ask, did you, um, did you ever sleep with someone else while we were married?"

"God no," the words tumble out of his mouth.

"Well, that's something, I guess," you say, a sense of relief evident in your voice.

"I'm really sorry about everything, sweetheart. I can't believe I ever hurt you. I just miss you so much. I’ve never regretted anything in my life as much as I do not telling you I loved you when we had a chance," Jack confesses, the weight of regret heavy in his words.

"It’s okay, Jack. I’m not your wife anymore, but we had some good times. Sometimes love doesn’t work out how we thought,” you tell Jack, your gaze turning when you hear footsteps that are familiar to you.

And Jack would forever kick himself for driving you away and not accepting your love. The only piece of solace is that Ángel will have a happy and full life, and you finally got the love you deserved and dreamed of.

Javi starts calling your name, and you answer him so he can walk over to where you are. Once Javi comes into view, he tells you that Ángel’s been discharged and that they're ready to go home.

Jack looks at you once more, his gaze lingering, as if trying to capture every detail to hold onto. He sees the love in your eyes for your husband, a love he once had the chance to cherish but let slip away. It hurts, but at the mention of his son, it gives him the slightest glimmer of hope. Maybe, just maybe, he has learned from his mistakes, and he'll find a way to be a part of your lives, even if it's not in the way he once dreamed. The love of his life and his son are happy and healthy, and that will have to be enough for him.

"Bye, Jack. I'll let you know what time we're having the dinner," you say, while Javi wraps his arms around you—a protective gesture that Jack once held the privilege of doing, but did so sparingly.

"Take care," Javi tells Jack over his shoulder, his voice firm but not unkind. He then leads you to Ángel's room, leaving Jack standing alone in the corridor, grappling with the ache of what could have been.

You both start heading down the hallway, and Javi pauses halfway. His eyes search yours, concern written all over his features.

"Are you okay?"

"I am now," you lean into him and smile. "Jack and I were talking about when we were married," you begin, and Javi tenses involuntarily.

"Hey, no, you don’t have anything to worry about," you reassure him, cupping his face with both of your hands. "Our talk was more about what went wrong, and the bottom line was that I‘m okay with the fact that he wasn’t the one for me."

Javi takes a deep breath, visibly trying to control the surge of emotions within him. "It’s just- me cae mal ese - (I don’t like that-)” You can't help but chuckle lightly at your husband's choice of words.

"As stupid as it sounds, I wanted to make it work when we were married. I saw it in his eyes, I felt it in his words and actions; he didn’t love me, and I couldn’t stay in a marriage like that. I wanted a life with him... It didn't work out, and it's okay. Everything I dreamed of having, I found it with you. I'm the happiest I've ever been at your side. You’re the love of my life and I love being your wife, don't ever doubt that, okay?" Since the beginning of your relationship, you always repeated your love to Javier, not because he was insecure, but because you knew how it felt to be second place, second best, a consolation prize, and you never wanted Javier to think that you settled for him after Jack.

"Say it again," Javi requests, a genuine smile softening his features as he looks down at you.

"What?"

“That you’re my wife," Jack wants you to repeat the words that make his heart flutter.

“I’m your wife," you say.

Javi, still reveling in the warmth of the words, spins his finger in a playful circle, silently requesting you to say the words again.

“I’m your wife," you repeat, the pride evident in your tone. You take Javi's hand and begin walking to your son’s room.

"Again," Javi insists, stopping you in your tracks.

“I’m your wife.”

“Otra vez," he requests, this time in Spanish.

You comply, “Soy tu esposa," you tell him and drag him further down the hall to your son's room.

When Javi playfully asks you to say it once more, this time it's you who stops. “Por dios, Javi, ¿en cuántos lenguajes quieres que te lo diga? (My God, Javi, how many languages do you want me to say it in?)” you feign annoyance.

He shrugs, answering with a mischievous grin, “En todos (in all of them).”

Amused, you grab him by the collar of his blue button-down shirt and bring him to a level where you can whisper into his ear, “Ay, Jav, apenas y hablas español (Oh, Jav, you barely speak Spanish).” You kiss his cheek and pull back, leaving him slightly offended but oddly proud. He had hoped for a different outcome when he saw you pull him down; the glint in your eyes made him believe you were going to kiss him on the lips. But, to his dismay, you chose to tease him instead.

"Take it back!" he demands as you stand right outside the door.

“Si lo dices en español (if you say it in Spanish),” you tease with a grin. Javier contemplates for a moment, and in the brief silence, Ángel's laughter and Dr. Navarro's voice echo from inside the room.

"Please?" Javi implores, wanting to savor one more of those heart-skipping phrases before joining his son. Unable to resist his pleading eyes any longer and mindful of the precious moments with Ángel, you relent.

“I’m your wife.”

END

Extended Note: The end! Thank you, everyone, for your kindness throughout the series. I truly appreciate every interaction 🥹.

As for my departure, I'm unsure whether I should deactivate my account or just private my writing. There's one post I received only positive comments on, especially from people with SPD who found it relatable. Apparently, there's a shortage of such stories, so I'm conflicted. Hopefully, I'll have a definitive decision next week.

I'm planning to post the Din story next Thursday; it's just one part, a sex pollen with Virgin!Din, titled 'Paleta.' I'm a fan of El Alfa, and I recently discovered that a song in his new album was sampled from the one I used for the Din story. It got me thinking about what I had written, and I wanted to share it with y’all before I bow out.

Thank you for reading 🫶🏽!

Taglist: @kchavez666 @ttupelohoneyy @mishasminion360 @ilovetaquitosmmmm @stileslvr @pedrostories

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bethanydelleman · 8 months

Note

I forgot if I already asked you or just thought about it:

Do you think Adele is Mr. Rochester's biological daughter? He doesn't think so and Jane couldn't find any resemblance between them but maybe she just takes after her mother a lot? But I have to admit it's a better look for Mr. Rochester if he takes in the illegitimate daughter of the woman that cheated on him out of pity than his own child out of obligation.

Either way I think Adele is a very sad character although it doesn't seem to bother her. Then again, she's only seven when we meet her.

I think it's impossible to know if Adele is Rochester's or not, because some kids don't look much like their father and DNA testing won't be around for about 150 years. I will always find his confident denial ridiculous.

That said, I think he denies Adele is his child because that makes him more of the hero of Adele's story than just someone acting out of obligation. However, it would also be pretty impossible for anyone to force him to take care of Adele, what with international borders and proof that Adele's mother was unfaithful, so I do think that Rochester's care of his maybe-daughter is admirable, no matter what you believe about her parentage.

Adele does seem to have landed in good hands, so I don't exactly feel sorry for her. She is doing better than the majority of natural children born in this era. Also, I find her characterization freaking hilarious. It's VERY revealing of Charlotte Brontë's prejudices. Here are two quotes:

I e’en took the poor thing out of the slime and mud of Paris, and transplanted it here, to grow up clean in the wholesome soil of an English country garden.

As she grew up, a sound English education corrected in a great measure her French defects; and when she left school, I found in her a pleasing and obliging companion: docile, good-tempered, and well-principled.

It's pretty heavily implied that Adele, either by nature or very early FRENCH nurture, is going to grow up into some sort of harlot unless they ENGLISH her away from the depths of Hell. And the way Jane Eyre talks about the French mother seducing the poor English Rochester, as if he didn't wander into France with the exact intention of finding a mistress... Well Charlotte Brontë seems to think very poorly of the French is all I'll say, despite the fact that she could clearly speak and write French herself.

#question response #jane eyre #adele #rochester #charlotte brontë

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desultory-novice · 1 year

Note

what do you think of magolor soul’s true arena desc? makes me think he isn’t truly sorry.

I wanted to save this ask to write something MUCH more comprehensive about this but, um, serious RL stuff (it's positive stuff, no worries. I'm just kinda anxious about it...) popped up during my break so since I'm going to need to duck away for a few days to cool down (and because I'm currently super mega obsessed with True Arena Magolor) I decided to hit this one quickly.

So, in brief, this game has an excellent translation. Forgotten Land quality. I'd say even a little bit above that, since Magolor's writing in the epilogue is so good. (Biased?)

But there is a slight shift of TONE in Magolor Soul's True Arena description, the 2nd phase, where he talks directly to Kirby. (Honestly, this is probably just an issue of spacing. Magolor talks a LOT and you can see this screen is packed with text. Amusingly, spacing was my guess for the loss of a few details from Magolor Soul's pause screen in the original game.)

(Photo nicked from willidleaway)

Here is a quick "alternate" translation from me:

"Kirby, frankly, I found you a pain to deal with. And the way you looked at me with that blank stare even after I betrayed you? It irks me that I keep having to rely on you but... I've had enough. Kirby of the Stars, hurry up and destroy this thing on my head. When you do, I'll come back and... heheheh...I'll tease you plenty!"

The part TumblingPotatoes is referring to is probably the part I translated as "...found you a pain to deal with." The word in question can mean "dislike" as in "We've invited Magolor to dinner tonight!" "Ugh, I really dislike that guy!" but it really just means someone that, for a variety of reasons, you may struggle to deal with.

The fact that Magolor is a consummate liar but Kirby approaches everyone with honesty and openness is a quick and easy answer for why Magolor might feel that way about Kirby. Not to mention, as he says in both versions, Kirby is SO honest they didn't even react with shock or hurt when Magolor betrayed them. It's hard to say WHY Kirby didn't have that kind of emotional reaction, maybe they just knew better? Maybe Kirby figured, "Huh. I guess it's just time to beat the evil out of you like I've done with all my friends to date!"

The reason I prefer the Japanese slightly is because the English had to combine the "...it irks me to rely on you" and "hurry and break this thing on my head" into one line which, while Magolor is meant to be speaking from a place of pride (he doesn't want to admit he needs help. But of course, he really, really, REALLY needs help) it does sort of give him a cocky attitude in English. (The addition of "Ugh" does something similar. It does a wonderful job showing he's having to fight his own nature to admit this.)

But in Japanese, his desperation ("hurry") comes off better. It makes him sound a little bit more sad too (Something about Magolor using "this thing" in Japanese, 「頭のコレ」, even though it's the same phrase in English... but the context behind refusing to identify the Crown always gives me the feeling that at this point in the soul-consuming process, he's too frightened to even say it's name.)

...And this all hits especially hard because he uses the key phrase "Kirby of the Stars." Any time anyone invokes Kirby's "full name" you know things are serious.

His last line, his "threat" to toy with you/tease you is basically just the same Magolor you see in the epilogue. He can "turn over a new leaf" and still be a villainous & mischievous little egg. Saving his life isn't going to give him a personality transplant. It isn't going to mean he doesn't like playing pranks on people - or that he thinks that hitting a bomb with a frying pan isn't one of the multiverse's greatest games and definitely needs a space in his theme park. ^^

Again, he may also be trying to preserve some of his tattered dignity there. The long and short of it is... Magolor is being "tsundere" (I hope I don't need to explain that one...?)

Yes, he cares about Kirby as a friend. (Will he say it? No.) Yes, he feels bad for what he did. (Will he say that? Also no.)

...He CAN'T. It's not the way he communicates. But remember that Magolor has lied to you throughout the whole game. And it's the Liar Magolor that always tells you how "thankful" he is, how "happy" he is you two met. How "wonderful" and "amazing" Kirby is.

The fact that Magolor is willing to say "yeah, you kind of annoyed me" is a sign that Magolor is giving Kirby something he's potentially never given ANYONE before...

The truth.

So yes, this experience HAS changed him for the good and he absolutely, undeniably cares about Kirby.

Last Minute Addition:

It's interesting, in light of the very likely sounding theory that Magolor has already been fully consumed by the crown in this fight (his eyes disappear right as he uses "the last" of his ability to fight against the crown to leave you a single apple) and CANNOT be saved that the English text "...then someday..." and "...I MAY get to toy with you..." when the Japanese doesn't have these vagueties on Magolor's behalf. (I was influenced enough by it that even I included the phrase "when I come back" when Magolor just says "I will again...tease you")

Does he know it's already too late? It kind of gives you the feeling that Magolor is either lying to sooth Kirby from what the puffball has to do (kill him) or he's trying to goad Kirby on into finishing this. Really just makes the whole thing more heartbreaking.

#Kirby #Magolor #RtDL DX #rtdl dx spoilers #kirby spoilers #long post #...I wrote something long anyway #Dess Text Post #Speaking of the True Arena...#...my next/last post is fanart...#...yeah....

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mullettaegi · 3 months

Text

incoming: another fucking voltron rant because i watched a langst edit and now i wanna cry😭😭

they did not take time. they did not slow that show down for a little bit. especially for lance. cause he did not getting a fucking moment to find himself again after he FUCKING DIED. we saw him homesick, we saw him missing his family, we saw him insecure about his position on the team, we saw him insecure about himself, but we never actually saw him go anywhere else but being sad. he really did get barely any character development.

and tbh i feel like in a way just all the characters didnt have a moment to slow down. and i know, i know, its a kids show, its about fucking robots for fucks sake, theyre in the middle of a war. which, yeah. youre right. but there couldve been so much more, for him, for all of them. what about them? as people, with feelings. where are there emotions. why is it only sadness and happiness and not the enitre confusing spectrum of emotion between. does pidge not feel lost after she finds her brother? yeah, hes back, but i bet she didnt imagine she would be fighting an intergalactic war, and now matt is too. she imagined family dinner, brother barging into her room, dad making corny jokes, house happier and full of life.

hunks family was put in a fucking work camp. he had seen this across the galaxy, zarkons army imprisoning people, making them work, killing them. did he imagine that for earth ? did he imagine that for his family? how the fuck did he cope fighting a war, anxious as he is? how did he cope at all?

shiro isnt even in his fucking original body. thats fucking weird. im not saying that in a rude way bc like yeah, organ transplants are a thing irl, and a major life saving thing they are ! but like, how odd it must be to have someone elses kidney or heart in your body. nevermind to have your entire soul and conciousness put into another body, you but not really you.

keiths life,,, dude probably just doesnt even give anything a second fucking thought anymore. but like, could they not have shown him showing some more emotion. fair enough if he doesnt always cry in the moment but rather late on, but you'd think seeing allura die, they wouldve at least put some tears in his eyes. he had fucking no one before he had voltron. only shiro, and even then he was alone for so long when shiro had been on his mission. you cant tell me he didnt want to think of voltron as his family. they bonded :(

and lance, gosh lance. i feel like, if we looks at this as it is, lance would be the character that people think back on and go "oh yeah, he helped me accept my emotions, he helped me become the best version of me and gain confidence in who i am". in the fandom hes seen as someone with big emotions that he wears on his sleeve, but also someone who will put everyone else and their needs before himself.

he's a story of self-sacrifice, quite literally. he's the story of sincere love, of casual admiration. he's the story of the most wonderful friend, of loyalty, of no, I'll step down because there's a cause bigger than me, and im not the one for the job when there's people like my friends and you on the team.

and no one wanted to explore that? no one wanted to see him do more than just, what? flirt and literally die and fall in love and barely find his place on team voltron? that was it for him. it shouldn't have been, but it was.

#just... im no professional qriter but like #there couldve been more humanity to it yknow #to all of their emotions but most importantly lance who was brushed off time and time again #he was destined for greatness #hes so much more than what he shows people but the people just cant be bothered to look past the mask #:(#vld lance #lance mcclain #voltron #vld #mullettaegi #long post #i may be talking no sense but yall will be seeing it cause i cant be keeping this shit in my brain itll eat me up #i care about this show far too much and am not gonna hide anymore it means so much to me :(#and theres so so much more that im forgetting bc its been a while since i watched the show #so alls i can say is lance deserved better he deserved more he couldve been such a character!!#but ik there is so much more to it and i have more to say about his death but i just dont have the words

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boundinparchment · 4 months

Note

How about Coffee Shop AU and Accidentally Married with Dottore (with anyone; reader, oc, etc)? I can't resist a good coffee shop au!

You scribbled the name of your patron on the cup and began their order, knowing the exact ratio of espresso and milk foam and pumps of flavoring.

For the last few days, the diamond and aquamarine ring and its band felt more natural than it originally did. They were slim things, unobtrusive, and thus couldn't get caught on anything or accidentally smashed. So simple and yet both spoke volumes about the thought that went into them, considering the circumstances.

You owned this place yourself, a little hole in the wall with enough seating for ten and a small desserts display. Regulars were your bread and butter in the cold Sneznhayan town, tucked below the Palace, but over the years, you couldn't help but notice that visiting dignitaries seemed to end up here specifically. An honor for any business, but a strange one.

One followed up by the world's weirdest encounter and the only time you ever saw the Tsaritsa up close.

"Can you take the next customer?" you asked your coworker as you steamed milk.

Or tried to. The stupid machine was on the fritz again. You muttered to yourself as you tried the usual fix of hitting it, which did the trick. Over the hiss of the bubbling milk, you caught a familiar timber at the register, his wording the same every time.

As soon as you passed off the latte, you plucked the cup from your coworker before they could shakily write on it, and fixed the cup exactly as apparently only you knew how to. On a whim, you grabbed the two remaining pieces of baklava from the display, tucked them into a bag, and held out both to the man waiting.

He rarely smiled when he visited, a facial expression most probably found terrifying considering who he was. A transplant from another nation, you hadn't a clue, and you treated him as any other customer. Your coworker busied themselves cleaning, clearly trying to listen.

You pointed to the bag. "New recipe, by the way; let me know how the flavor is."

"More honey or different nuts?"

"I managed to get a hold of Ajilenakh Nuts before they sold out this morning. You mentioned the variation and I wanted to try it."

He nodded and you watched the tops of his ears turn pink. As controlled as he was over his expressions, you were beginning to pick up on small cues that gave him away. That was your favorite so far.

He took your hand and kissed the spot above your rings, breath tickling your skin.

"I have time later; I'll come look at that," the customer said. "Repair services are expensive and they'll tell you a new model is needed. Should be an easy fix."

#juni chats #Basically he likes your coffee so much he marries you without ever introducing himself properly #and always sent people over to your shop as a way to thank you because he hates thanking people verbally #but these two idiots could definitely fall in love if I let them

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jessepinwheel · 30 days

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parex is deliciously dark, love it!

what happens during the coup and who survives it? im picturing three or more assassins after jango (one from the obi-clones, one from death watch, one from the rebellion, others from other factions) all showing up having picked the same assassination time lol

well, you're not entirely wrong. the coup does involve two assassination attempts happening at the same time--one by the obi-clones and the rebellion, and one by death watch

basically what's going on is that every year on empire day there's a ceremony where someone can challenge the emperor for the right to rule. if the challenger wins, then they get to be the new emperor. obviously, because this ceremony takes place in keldabe, the only people who are available to make this challenge are generally high-ranking mandalorians. anyways, the emperor generally does not lose these fights because the emperor is allowed to use the darksaber which is kind of an unfair advantage. basically this is a public way to defend your legitimacy to rule as well as kill people who disagree with you. jango, for all his faults, is still very good at fighting, so this has worked very well for him despite death watch sending people year after year to try and take the throne from him (because if they assassinate him the normal way, right of succession goes down to cody, and death watch doesn't want the emperor to be a clone)

anyways. the very start of parex begins on empire day right after jango kills his last challenger, duke adonai kryze, a leader in the traditionalist movement that basically hates everything jaster and jango have done. they thought that would work because jango was recovering from getting horribly poisoned during the conquest of zygerria, which led to him needing an organ transplant. obviously didn't work out, jango still killed the shit out of adonai, but obviously killing a major leader in death watch and friends shook things up and they decide that they need a new strategy to get rid of jango and seize power for good

in the meantime (I'll get to the coup in a bit don't worry) jango hates the jedi so much that he has a secret weapon developed: a giant space laser that will be able to wipe their entire settlement off the map. this is why he's hankering so hard to try and find where the jedi are hiding because he needs to send the death laser there to kill them all. as you might expect this death laser plays a pretty major role over the course of the story

well, death watch has a plan to seize control of mandalore: they kidnap cody and steal his armor, then use fox (who's brainwashed all to hell by the empire and then brainwashed again by death watch) to identity theft cody and challenge jango for the throne. death watch has been training fox to fight with a lightsaber, so he won't get unilaterally fucked over by the darksaber. the idea is that if he wins, he takes power as the new emperor and acts as death watch's puppet ruler. if he loses, then death watch uses the death laser that they have seized control over, and blast keldabe off the map.

meanwhile, the obi-clones and friends have a more traditional assassination/coup plan, which is to have cin snipe jango in the face on live television, and then simultaneously kill pretty much everyone in the line of succession as well as all the major leaders in the empire, which will cause a huge power vacuum which hopefully leads to mandalorian factions infighting as they are wont to do, causing their eventual collapse. there's also a bunch of jedi and friends who are going to infiltrate the death laser so that keldabe (and all the people inside it) don't get atomized

well, cin gets interrupted and isn't able to shoot jango in the face, and fox is about to stand up and challenge jango, which is when kote makes the snap decision to step up and make the challenge himself. jango, who was under the impression that kote was in love with him, is obviously completely taken off-guard by this. kote lists out all the reasons jango sucks on live television, and jango's like 'you're not a real mandalorian etc' to which kote is like sure I'm not, and strips all of his armor so he can fight jango with just himself.

anyways, kote kicks jango's ass. kote's been sparring with jango and helping him put on his armor for a year now, so he knows exactly how jango fights and this time he's using the force to help him win. with jango defeated, obi-wan takes over kote's body and destroys the darksaber on live television, then beheads jango with his own lightsaber (which jango has been keeping as a trophy for the last fifteen years) which kicks off the coup

after that is chaos. a whole lot of death watch get murdered by their obi-clones including pre. satine kills bo-katan because she found out that bo-katan killed ben. ventress kills her handler. rex has to fight fox and gets his arm cut off. myles gets boba and obi-wan out of the palace. cody gets backstabbed by his obi-clone (but not killed). a lot of obi-clones die though not our named ones (who are still alive at this point anyways). the end result is that obi-wan finally gets out of jango's torture basement, while mandalore is in complete shambles with the entire line of succession taken out and the darksaber destroyed leading to massive infighting and the collapse of all the empire's main enforcement mechanisms

so basically, obi-wan's plan to make 2000 clone sons to help him destroy the mandalorian empire totally worked :)

ask me questions about parasitic extraction, the role reversal mandalorian empire au that I have

#ask jesse #fic: parasitic extraction

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ashes-writing-corner · 4 months

Text

Hey guys! Im back with another update. This one starts a bit heavy and ends with a little bit of sweet-spice. At least in my opinion, but I think im biased!

Trigger warnings: talks about suicide, mentions of organ transplant, and slight groping I guess (consent is asked, cause that's important)

Taglist: @stargatenovus

Ghosts That We Knew

Part 12- Confrontations and a (not so) confession

Ellie was asleep. There was a heavy, quiet tension in the air. Something had been brewing all day since you got home. Ghost could feel the tension since you got home, despite your best attempts to hide it from your little girl.

You hadn't talked to him today. Not even a hello when you came home. And now here you were, sitting in your bed with your phone in front of you, looking tense as hell. Something was wrong.

It felt like a prelude to war to him.

“Can you manifest?” You asked, “we need to talk”.

He didn't like the sound of that. Regardless, the soldier did as you asked of him, fully manifesting at the foot of your bed. His arms were crossed and his seemingly sunken eyes seemed to be taking in the whole sight of you. Almost like you were someone to be revered and respected.

But your eyes projected a mix of emotions. Sadness, a bit of anger…and was that treachery he saw? The spirit raised a brow under his mask.

“What's wrong, love?” He asked.

You hesitated a little. “I know who you are. I know what you did, for me and for the world” you answered, trying to keep your tone even, “Simon…”.

You knew his name. You KNEW his name. Which only meant one thing.

Fuck…

“Did you know?” You asked.

“Y/N, it's not-”.

“Did. You. Know?” You asked again more firmly.

Ghost blinked softly. “Not at first”.

“So you lied by omission then”.

“What? No!”.

“Bullshit! You should've told me the minute you found out”.

“Why? And kill your sense of self worth further?! You already hate that thing-”

“I hate that it doesn't feel like my own”.

“Exactly! I didn't want to reinforce that thought, that feeling. I wanted you to come to terms with it first. You've had more than enough time to”.

“Oh I'm sorry my trauma is FUCKING inconvenient to you-”.

“Language! Ellie is asleep in the other room. Keep your voice down”.

“Oh so now you wanna tone police me? I don't think so”.

“Look I had my reasons, alright?! You were hurt and I didn't want you to hurt further. I already did enough hurting to people around me…I didn't want to add you to the list”.

There was a brief moment of silence between the two of you. The tension was being released somewhat, so at least this was helping a little.

“You had a home. You had friends who loved you. Why would you do that to yourself? Is that how you repay people who care-”.

“Ex-fucking-scuse me?! Repay?! Are you kidding me-”.

“Language!” You hissed sharply.

“But repay them? You think this is repayment for them? No! This was a punishment”.

“For you or for them?”.

“For me!”.

“Really? Cause that's not how Johnny feels I'd imagine!”.

Shit. You accidentally let it slip that you had been in contact with him. Well…the cat was eventually going to get out of the bag.

There was a look of anger and sadness in the ghost’s eyes. Carefully though he calmed himself before speaking again.

“Look this isn't about my friends right now. This is about us for the time being. I'll admit I didn't know at first. I had…suspicions. But I couldn't confirm them for a while. And then you told me it didn't feel like yours, that it felt like a chunk of lead” he pointed out, “I didn't want you to know that you felt that way because of me. Because I knew this would happen”.

“What did you want to happen? What did you expect?” You asked, blinking back tears.

“That you'd get some bloody help, first of all. I thought you'd have a therapist by now”.

“I don't trust therapists”.

“Why?”.

“Well first of all, ever realized how therapist is spelled?”.

Ghost mulled it over for all of two seconds. “Oh for fucks sake, seriously?”

“Sorry had to add a little humor there. But no seriously, I don't trust therapists. I refuse to be just another paycheck for them”.

“You need it”.

“Don't you dare tell me what I need!”.

“Do you wanna wind up like me? Because that's exactly how you wind up like me!”.

You scoffed. “You really think I'd do that? I have Ellie. Why the hell would I traumatize and abandon her like that?!”.

You were going to make a jab about how he had abandoned his friends and team. However you knew that was low and unnecessarily so.

“Because in that bloody moment you don't think” Ghost stepped toward you, “because in that moment it doesn't feel like abandonment. It feels like you're relieving them. You get that thought in your head that you're nothing but a burden to everyone around you. Don't you dare tell me you've never felt like that. Because you have. Everyone and their mum has. I don't want that for you, or for Ellie”.

That was a twisted way to think about it. But at the same time you figured it made sense. Mental illness could make someone feel like a burden. Was that what he was thinking at that time? That he was little more than a burden to his friends? You were thoughtful for a moment.

“Okay…I will see about therapy. If it puts your little ectoplasmic mind at ease”.

“Ellie as well…” Ghost practically growled.

“She's already in therapy”.

“Good” he crossed his arms, moving away from you.

He felt like a scorned dog if he were being entirely honest. He saved your life, having already lost his, and this was what he got for it? Maybe it was best he went back to that damn closet-

“I'm sorry” you said, your tone softening, “It's just…I never thought this would ever happen. I didn't expect to meet my donor, or even the ghost of my donor. It just feels…crazy. Like something out of a book or something”.

“Did you read the letter I wrote?”.

You looked up at him. “I saw the envelope. But I didn't read it in the moment. I was too shocked”

“You should. It's for you”.

“I will. I just need a little time to process” you moved so you were sitting on the end of your bed, legs over the edge, “who are you? Or maybe a better question is who WAS Simon Riley?”.

“Did you read the file?”.

“I did but that only told me medical stuff. Physicals, mental evaluations, that whole thing. You're very good at lying, you realize that right?”.

Ghost shrugged a shoulder. “Kinda had to be in order to do what I did. Didn't always enjoy it but I'll admit it was useful”.

“Okay but seriously, who were you?”.

“Someone who died in every way that mattered before his actual death. It's why I was ready to go at any given moment, and why I was a donor”.

“I think I've asked this before but, do you miss being alive?”.

“Sometimes”.

You thought for a moment, a heartbeat, before asking: “why the mask?”.

“To hide my face”.

“I asked a simple question”.

“And I gave a simple answer”.

“Cheeky little fuck” you thought, “but why hide? You're dead. You have nothing to hide, well no reason to”.

“Trust me, you don't wanna see what's under here now. Ghosts tend to look like how they did in death…”.

“I'm not scared, Simon” you told him, “if I'm allowed to call you that”.

“I'm not taking it off, love. Sorry. Be as brave as you want but-” he stopped mid sentence, “what the hell are you doing?”.

You were taking off your shirt, an idea having struck you. Not only revealing your chest, but also the scar that was left from your surgery and his death. Talk about making a mark…

“showing you what you did…what I guess we both did”.

You weren't wrong. He had a similar, gnarled scar on his. You both had left your mark on each other. It was poetic in a way, like a full circle sort of thing. You were a part of each other…

Without thinking, Ghost, no, Simon took a step forward. His eyes steely, fixated on your chest, and you could tell more than just the scar. Oddly enough, it didn't bother you. When he was close enough, Simon looked at you, his hand outstretched.

“Is…” he hesitated, “is this okay, love? Is this allowed?”.

You nodded. “It's okay” your voice was barely above a whisper.

Surprisingly he pulled back, and for a moment you thought he was going to leave. But relief washed over you as you realized he was actually taking his skeletal glove off. The skin of the ghost was a light gray, reminiscent of clouds before rainfall. Only when it was off did he move forward in caressing the scar that bordered your left breast.

Using a single, cold finger, Simon traced the scar from the top of your chest down the whole length of it. His finger was definitely cold, colder than anything you'd ever felt. You assumed that death really was as cold as believed. Gently, he pressed his whole hand to your breast, feeling all of it. Not in a groping, sexual manner, but more like…reverence perhaps? Regardless it made the heart inside you practically leap, from both the cold and anticipation. Your eyes never left him.

His touch was gentle but cold. A strange combination that wasn't entirely unpleasant. The heart inside you pounded, responding to the cold hand of its previous owner.

“You alright, love?” Simon asked, “I can stop, if you want me to”.

His voice had no right to be like that, gruff and yet gentle at the same time. It just made you feel things. Things you hadn't felt in a long time.

“No…no it's okay” you shook your head, “it's yours anyway”.

“No” Simon replied, his tone sharper than he intended it to be, “it's yours. It was always meant to be yours…in some form or another” he looked you right in the eye when he said it, like he had never been more sure of anything in his life…well, afterlife.

“That…felt almost like a confession. Something you wanna share?” You asked, your own tone playful.

You could see the smile in his eyes as he withdrew his hand. “Not quite yet…gettin’ there though”.

“What's that supposed to mean?” You asked as he put his glove back on and picked up your shirt.

“It means go to bed. You've more than earned some sleep”.

You took it from him, a part of you feeling a tiny bit disappointed. “Alright…but only if you hold me”.

“You never gotta ask twice for that, love”.

You put your shirt back on and laid back against the pillows. Simon was soon at your side, arms around your waist. His cold was now more a comfort than anything.

“Good night Simon” you closed your eyes, smiling a little as his hands wandered your torso a bit.

The ghost pressed his head to your shoulder and you swore you felt ice cold lips kiss your neck.

“Good night, lovely. Dream of me…”.

If you guys enjoyed this please consider liking, commenting, and reblogging ^^ if you're feeling generous, feel free to give me a follow! I greatly appreciate it :) thank you so much and I'll see you in the next part!

#fanfiction #cod fanfic #simon ghost riley #ghosts that we knew #ghost x reader #ghost!ghost #paranormal friendship #eventual paranormal romance

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balkanradfem · 1 year

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So, some of you might remember, how I found an abandoned 'banished settlement' where people used to live 20 years ago, and they left plenty of cultivated and edible plants behind, including one huge rose plant. It was spread more than 10 meters in both directions, made thousands of roses, I used to decorate my entire place with them, dry them, they didn't have a scent so I didn't make food from them. However, the city has decided to build some ugly buildings in that place, so they flattened half of the area to the ground, made it into nothing but empty dirt. Needless to say I was devastated when I went foraging and found most of my plants, including the rose, gone.

However, the rose wasn't just a plant you can run over and destroy; in the spring I found new shoots, it's starting up again from the roots, and it's not going to get exterminated so easily. I do believe they're intending to destroy it completely, so I'm going to try and rescue it by taking some cuttings and propagating it.

Here's what it used to be vs what it is now.

I took a few of the most sturdy stems I could find, I had to get plant cutters in order to do it, they will not break easily. Here's me propagating them at home:

All of the leaves and growth is stripped down, because a plant without roots cannot support foliage. For roses, I think stems of 12-15cm in lenght are reccomended for propagation, that way they have enough stem to try and grow roots from, and not too much to support. I stabbed them in a pot of soil, and then covered with this big glass thing, because cuttings will usually only grow in high humidity, they need to be supplied with water from air, because they don't have roots yet. I had to cut them down a bit more to fit them in, but I think that will be okay. I watered them excessively, and sprayed the cover with water too, so it would create super humid conditions.

I left this on the kitchen window, so it doesn't have to deal with a lot of sun or heat, it's best for cuttings to be put in mild conditions so they can focus on development of roots. If they start growing new foliage, that's the sign that the propagation is successful!

Here they are 10 days later:

To me it looks like all of them are already growing new foliage, but, it's suspicious, I don't think they would have managed to grow new roots so soon, in my mind it should take a ~while~. Maybe they're just using the plant power they had stored in the stem, and haven't figured out they've been turned into cuttings yet. The only way to really check would be to pluck them out and check for roots, but I won't do it yet, I'll leave them in here for at least 2 more weeks before trying to transplant them somewhere else. But for now it looks hopeful! I might have roses on my balcony!

Here's the first post I ever made about this rose, if you wanna see more pictures of how it looked.

(edit: I later looked into how long do rose cuttings take, and it said 2 months, but it also said that in late spring, you're supposed to only take young, flexible, and not-woody cuttings, and they'll grow faster. So I have messed up a little, sturdy cuttings are to be taken in the fall and winter and they're the most difficult ones to root. It also said you need 25cm and to bury them 70% in the ground. But it seems that it's still going well so do not follow the rules! I did have one that was young and flexible and that one is showing the strongest signs of growth.)

#propagating roses #roses #cuttings #gardenings #propagating plants #rescuing roses #male parasitism #i cant believe someone would destroy that plant #that plant was like a sister to me #its ok i will make sure it gets to wild again #but still its a big loss #my rosee

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viviannesmonster · 1 year

Text

CHAPTER ONE OF "POISON"

You sighed and you walked out of your apartment.

"Morning Mrs. Chen." You said as you walked into the small convenience store by your apartment.

"Good morning (Y/n), have you found yourself a date yet?" She asked.

"Hahahah." You laughed sarcastically as you grabbed your favorite drink from a freezer.

"How's your job going?" She asked as you walked up to the counter.

"Great. The people I work with are great."

The bell rang again and a man walked in.

"Good morning, Eddie." Ms. Chen said.

"Morning Ms. Chen." Eddie, your friend and neighbor said walking in.

"How are you and Annie?" She asked and he walked towards you quickly.

"We broke up."

"Oh dear." She said.

Eddie walked up to you and grabbed you by the shoulder. "Eddie, what happened?" You said.

"I went to report that damned criminal who sent those people into space and-"

"And let me guess. You insulted him to his face, got Annie fired and then she broke up with you."

"How did you- did she already tell you about it?"

You nodded. "Yes."

He sighed. "I need you to help me."

"With?"

"Breaking into his lab."

"Eddie!" You said. "I'm not breaking into the guy's laboratory!"

"Please (Y/n), I need to prove to my boss that this guy's a criminal and so that Annie can get her job back and get back with me."

"Eddie even if she gets her job back I don't think-"

"I'll buy you dinner afterwards."

You stared at him for a few seconds before sighing and crossing your arms.

"If you do that and pay for my rent for the next month then I'll do it."

"Yes! Oh thank you (Y/n). I could kiss you!"

"Please don't." You said pushing his face away from yours. "Let me buy my shit and then we can do whatever it is you want me to do."

"Alright, fair enough."

After grabbing your stuff, Eddie had you hop onto his motorcycle and he drove to the lab.

When you two arrived, there was a lady waiting by a car.

"You're here." She said. "Who's this?"

"My photographer." Eddie lied.

"Very well."

She had you and Eddie disguise yourselves under the seats and then she drove inside the lab.

Once inside she explained to the two of you what was going on.

She explained that Carlton Drake, the founder of the project, was trying to find a place for humanity to live since Earth was on the brink of collapse.

While doing so, one of the ships found a Comet that supported life on it, and the astronauts brought some specimen back.

She explained Drake believed that the key to human survival was to bond with these specimen, which are known as Symbiotes.

"Drake is having poor people sign up to be volunteers and he is killing them because the symbiotes need a match in order to survive. If it's not a match, then the host will die." She said.

"Like an organ transplant?" You asked.

"Exactly."

When you three got to a specific door. The lady said she would keep guard while you two grabbed evidence.

You two walked inside and Eddie started taking pictures of some people who dies.

"Oh my god..." You said.

Suddenly someone pounded on the glass and it scared the both of you.

"Marie?!" Eddie asked as he put his hands on the glass.

"Isn't that the poor lady who always gave you newspapers?!" You asked.

"Yeah!" He said as he began putting in codes to try and open her door.

When it didn't work, an alarm began blaring and Marie began violently twitching.

"Help me break the glass!" He said as he grabbed a fire extinguisher.

You looked around for something to grab but Eddie already broke the glass.

Marie jumped out and landed on you.

"(Y/N)!" Eddie yelled as she began to choke you.

"I'm your neighbor Marie..!" You wheezed. "Stop it..! I'm your friend..!"

Eddie pushed her off you and when he did, she collapsed and died.

"Marie?!" Eddie yelled holding her wrist.

You stood up, rubbing your neck. "Eddie we have to leave!" You yelled as you two ran out of the lab.

The alarms were blaring and you began to get a headache.

You and Eddie ran into the woods.

"You okay?" Eddie asked as you two were far away from the lab.

"I'm great." You said sarcastically. "Couldn't be better."

•

The next day, you got a terrible headache and you felt super dizzy and awful.

"What the hell is going on?" You asked yourself.

Suddenly you had a craving for chocolate and you grabbed some Nutella from your cabinet and you grabbed a spoon and started eating it.

After eating so much Nutella, you began to feel nauseous and you threw up in the toilet.

"What's wrong with me?" You cried as you stood up to brush your teeth.

After brushing your teeth, you looked in the mirror and sighed.

"(Y/n)."

You screamed after you heard the voice say your name because not only that, but your face distorted as well.

"I'm never drinking again!" You yelled.

You backed up, tripped over your shower curtain and hit your head causing you to pass out.

•

When you woke up again, you readjusted your shower curtain and picked up your phone.

You had two missed calls from your boss, and so you called him.

"Hey Mike." You said. "Sorry I don't think I'll be able to come into work today. I threw up last night and I'm not able to move. I think I caught the flu or something, I'll see you when I can." You left him a voice mail.

"Food."

You yelled when you heard a voice say "food".

"Who said that?" You asked, looking around your apartment. "Hello?"

You sat down on your couch and sighed. "What the hell is going on?"

You picked up your phone again and called Eddie.

But he didn't pick up.

"Damn it Eddie!" You yelled throwing your phone across the room.

You began feeling all sorts of weird and you rushed out of the apartment to Mrs. Chen's convenience store.

You grabbed a whole bunch of shit and began walking out with it.

"(Y/n)-!"

"Eddie will pay for it when he gets back!" You yelled.

You rushed back up to your apartment and slammed the door and began eating all the junk food.

"Do not open the door."

"Who is in my house?!" You yelled.

After you yelled that, someone knocked on the door.

You went over and opened the door and a bunch of men rushed in and held you at gun point.

"Who the hell are these people?!"

"Do you guys hear a voice or is that just me?"

The man who was supposedly the leader pulled out a walkie-talkie. "The girl has the symbiote, arrest Eddie Brock and we'll bring her back."

"Wait, I have a symbiote?!" You said. "I'm a host?!"

"Shut up!" One of the men said with a gun.

"No need to get violent." You said putting your hands up.

"What are you doing?"

That voice must be the symbiote. "I'm putting my arms up?"

"You are making us look bad!" It said, putting your arms down.

"No I'm not!" You said putting your arms back up.

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not man! Stop trying to get me killed!"

"I will take care of this myself!"

"What?!"

"(Y/n). The bug." One of the men said.

You let out a little laugh and then long black tentacles shot out of your back and threw all the men against the wall.

Then you were pulled against the wall as more men rushed in and the symbiote knocked them out too.

"Outstanding! Now, let's bite all their heads off and pile the bodies up in the corner. Piles of bodies...piles of heads..."

"No!" You said. "I don't wanna eat anyone!"

Another guy tried to shoot at you but the symbiote stopped him as well and you ran out of your apartment afraid.

Then when you were cornered, you were forced to jump out of a window and you landed in someone else's apartment.

"Woah what the hell girl?!" Some dude said.

"How did you do that?!" Another dude said.

"I have no idea..."

Police started shooting at you again and you ran off.

You ran out of the apartment and found Eddie's motorcycle, with the keys still in the engine, conveniently.

"(Y/n)."

You stopped after you passed a car and the symbiote forced you to back up and look in the car window.

Instead of seeing your reflection, you saw a monster like creature.

The symbiote.

"Woah...What the hell..." You said touching your face.

"Like what you see?"

"What are you?" You asked.

Before the symbiote could answer, a drone started flying at you and ran to Eddie's motorcycle.

You started driving it and more drones flew after you.

"Oh shit!" You yelled when you symbiote started driving much faster.

"Duck!" He yelled when a drone flew above your head and a tentacle pulled your head down

"Thank you!" You said after the drone crashed and exploded.

"You're welcome."

As you continued driving, more and more drones tried attacking you.

Then cars started chasing after you.

"What do we do?! What do we do?!" You said as cars drove towards you.

The symbiote then had you fall to the ground as he gave you cover from any marks and he changed your direction.

Then you started driving up a hill and he picked up the speed.

Which sent you flying over the hill.

Thankfully, the symbiote caught the bike and brought you back to it before you both hit the ground.

You two continued driving away from the cars and suddenly two cars closed in at your sides.

"We're going to die!" You yelled.

"We're not going to die!"

Suddenly the bike crashed into one of the cars and you felt a wave of blackness wash over you.

When you opened your eyes and you were much taller and a black lines were around your vision.

"Woah woah what's going on?" You said.

"Eyes, lungs, pancras. So many snacks, so little time." The symbiote said as his hand lifted up the guy from earlier.

"Woah I've got claws now."

You leaned closer to the man, until you felt someone poke you in the back.

You turned and bit someone's head off.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH WE JUST BIT THAT GUY'S HEAD OFF!"

"Fuel in the tank, get used to it."

"Get on the ground!" Someone yelled and you jumped into a river and swam off before they could catch you.

You jumped back up to a bridge post and leaned up against it, turning back to normal.

Then the same face you saw earlier, made of the same stuff the symbiote is made of appeared out of your shoulder.

"Who are you?" You asked, holding your stomach.

"I am Venom. And you are mine."

"Don't you think you should take me out to dinner first?" You joked.

"Listen carefully, (Y/n). You did not find me, I found you. Consider yourself my ride."

"Ride to where?"

"Back to Drake's ship, remember him?"

"How do you know about him?"

"I know everything." Venom said getting close to your face.

"Oh, you do?"

"Yes. I know everything there is to know about you."

"How?"

"I know what you love and what you hate. I know who you love and who you hate. I am inside your head, and every thought you have. I have."

"So you mean, back at the when I saw your reflection in the car you-"

"Yes. I knew exactly what was going on inside your head in that moment. Freaky human."

"Okay okay!" You said, shutting your eyes. "You don't have to go any further."

You sighed and looked up at Venom again. "Anything else I should know?"

"If you do not feed me, I will eat your insides."

"Oh...great..."

"Listen to me (Y/n). Cooperate and you just might survive. Do as I say, and I will protect you. Understood?"

"Sure.." You said. "So where do we go now?"

"We go get food. I'm hungry."

"Very well." You said.

Venom pulled you up onto the bridge and you began walking to a fast food place.

While walking there, you noticed a car pull up to you.

Annie and Eddie walked out.

"Shit..." You whispered.

"Who are they?"

"Friends. Do not hurt them." You said.

"(Y/n)! What happened?!" Eddie said walking up to you.

"We tried to go to your apartment but the police wouldn't let us! The whole building was evacuated what happened?!" Annie said.

"Annie...go home..."

"But-"

"Now!" You yelled.

She stood there for a few seconds, then backed away to her car.

You grabbed Eddie by the collar. "I'm only involving you in what's going on because you got me involved."

"What did I do now?" He asked.

"Do you remember when you took pictures of the dead people at Drake's lab?"

"Yes?"

"Do you remember that one scientist lady talking about symbiotes and hosts and shit like that?"

"Yes???"

"I'm a host. Eddie. I have a symbiote!"

"You do?! How is that possible?!"

"Because you dragged me into this! And now you're going to get arrested and I'm going to be used a lab rat!"

"No you're not."

"Oh be quiet, I'm not in the mood."

"I didn't say anything?" Eddie said.

"Not you! The symbiote's talking to me!"

"It is?"

"Yes! It speaks to me in my head!"

"...are you sure you have a symbiote and you're not just going crazy?"

"YES!" You said, making Eddie jump back.

"Y-Your face. It-It-"

"I know it does that sometimes!" You said.

"Freeze!" The police yelled.

You and Eddie put your hands up.

"Not again.." You said.

"(Y/n)." Eddie said. "What do we do?""

"I want to eat them." Venom said.

You sighed and let Venom take control of your body.

"Go hide!" He said to Eddie.

Venom started biting off the heads of the some of the officers before he turned around and saw Eddie being dragged away in handcuffs.

"Eddie!"

Venom turned around and grabbed Eddie, pushed the officers away and started climbing up the building.

"Careful Venom!" You said. "You better not kill my friend!"

"Oh calm down. He's fine."

Venom jumped into one of the rooms and Eddie started throwing up into an office plant.

"Sorry." You said, taking control of your body.

"Your world is quite beautiful. I'm a little sad to see it go."

"What does that mean?"

Venom didn't answer.

"(Y/n)?" Eddie asked.

You turned to see Eddie wiping his mouth.

"Thanks for helping me get those pictures." He said as he wrote something down on a piece of paper.

"What are you doing?"

"This is my boss's office. I'm leaving the evidence against Drake here for him to see."

"Okay?" You said. "Weird time, but okay."

"Can we go back down?" Eddie asked.

You nodded as Venom took control of your body again.

He grabbed Eddie and slid down the wall.

When he reached the ground, you heard someone scream.

"It's okay Annie!" Eddie said.

"Annie?!" You said.

"Annie." Venom said.

"That thing is talking to me!" She screamed, backing into her car.

"It's me!" You said taking control of your body. "It's (Y/n)!"

"How- you- what?!"

"I thought I told you to go home!" You said.

"I did, but then Eddie called me saying that you needed to go to the hospital!"

"Eddie!" You yelled.

"What?!" He said. "You obviously do! You just turned into an alien!"

You groaned.

"I can't go with you Annie! It's not safe to be around me!"

"I don't care (Y/n). Get in the car. Right now."

You sighed. "Fine." You said as you and Eddie got into the back of her car.

"Now someone explain to me what the hell is going on." Annie said as she started to drive.

"Eddie and I broke into Drake's lab to steal some evidence against him-"

"Eddie!" Annie yelled.

"And while we were there, I got infected by one of the alien symbiotes there."

"So, you have an alien living in your body?"

"I guess so. He talks to me in my head and he takes control of my body sometimes and I get stronger and faster and shit like that."

"Are you in pain?" She asked.

"No, I'm just hungry. All the time."

You saw an extra shirt in the back seat. "Can I put this on?" You asked. "My shirt's wet and cold."

"Of course." She said.

"Thanks."

"So, I'll have Dan take a vital scan and then he can do an MRI."

"No! No MRIs"

"No MRIs." You said.

"Why not?"

"High pitched noises are very bothersome."

"High pitched noises hurt his ears."

"Anything else?" Annie asked.

"Fire."

"Fire." You repeated.

"Is he talking to you now?"

"Yes."

After some silence, Eddie spoke up.

"Ann? I just wanted to say that...I'm sorry about everything I did...and...I love you."

"Aww that's nice."

"Thank you Eddie...but now is really not the time..."

•

When you arrived at the hospital, Dan, Annie's new boyfriend, ran a vital scan on you.

"(Y/n). Your body is dying..." He said.

"What?!" You all said.

"Do not listen!"

"This parasite you have-"

"I am not a parasite!" Venom yelled, making you pound the desk.

"Please don't call him a parasite, it makes him angry."

"This thing you have, whatever it is, it's killing you." Dan said.

"No I am not!"

"Wait- I-I'm dying?"

"NO!"

"Yes!"

"Venom's killing you (Y/n)!" Eddie said.

"He needs to get out of your body!" Annie said.

"Your body is slowly shutting down, he's killing you!" Dan said.

"BE QUIET!" Venom yelled taking control of your hand and choking Dan.

"I'm sorry! I can't control him!" You said, trying to get Venom to let go.

"Wait! I have an idea!" Annie said as she started playing a loud high pitched noise on her phone.

You and Venom started screaming as you knelt down and covered your ears.

Venom began thrashing around and eventually was forced out of your body.

Dan closed the doors on the room Venom was in and Annie managed to get you out before he closed the doors.

Venom latched onto the glass trying to reach you and you stared at him.

"Are you okay?" Eddie asked.

Ignoring him, you stood up and pointed your finger at Venom.

"You were poisoning me? Killing my body?! What happened to protecting me?! What happened to "we"?!"

"I'm leaving." You said, walking out of the room.

"Wait!" Eddie said. "I still need to take you out to dinner!"

You walked out of the room and to the elevator, but when you got there, the police were waiting for you.

Without Venom, you had no chance of fighting back and let them taze you.

•

When you woke up, you were strapped down to a chair and the man who broke into your apartment earlier was standing in front of you.

"Well look who's finally awake."

"Hi." You said.

"You've been a major pain in the ass, you know that?"

"Out." Drake said, walking into the room.

"But I-"

"Out!"

After a few seconds, the man walked away and Drake looked at you.

"Comfortable (Y/n)? I'll get straight to the point. Where's the symbiote?"

"I don't know, we parted ways."

"Look, I'm trying to save humanity and give it a chance to survive-"

"You're insane." You said.

"That hurts. I'm not insane. What's insane is how humans live. All we do is take, take, take, take, take. But this time, I'm giving humanity a chance to grow, to survive with these symbiotes. Now I'll ask you again, where is the symbiote?"

"I'll say it again, I don't know."

"WHERE IS HE?!" A symbiote taking control of Drake's body yelled.

"Holy shit! That is the scariest thing I have ever seen!"

"WHERE'S VENOM?!"

Drake took control of his body after the symbiote roared at you and ordered the man to come back in.

"Dispose of her in the woods, we'll find the symbiote without her."

"Great." You said.

•

After walking in the woods for a while, you were kicked to the ground and held at gun point.

You closed your eyes, when suddenly the man holding you at gun point screamed.

You opened your eyes and looked around.

"Hello?"

Suddenly, his body fell from the sky without his head.

"Oh."

Just after you said that, Venom dropped down from the tree.

"...That's what you look like..."

"Hello (Y/n)." He said, picking you up.

"Woah...hi..."

Venom opened his mouth and you grew worried.

"You're not going to eat me are you?" You asked.

He didn't answer.

Instead he leaned down and kissed you.

You closed your eyes, confused as hell but you weren't complaining.

After he pulled away, you realized Venom was back in your body and that you just kissed Eddie.

"Eddie?!" You said, wiping your mouth.

"Your heart rate has quickened again."

"Shut up..." You whispered.

"I just somebody's head off..!" He said.

"Yeah, I know. It's not fun." You said.

"The one with Drake is Riot, he is our leader." Venom said.

"Drake has his own symbiote." You told Eddie.

"Shit." He said.

"We have got to go!" He said.

"Go where?" You asked.

"I'm going to!" Eddie said.

"No! It's too dangerous!"

"What's he saying?"

"Venom says it's too dangerous." You said.

"Well I'm going anyway!" Eddie said.

"Not today!" Venom said, taking control of your body.

Venom ran off and started climbing trees.

"Wait what about Eddie?" You said.

"He'll be fine. It is not safe for him." He said, letting you take control of your body again once you were far enough away from Eddie.

"We have to stop Riot. If we fail, he will return to earth with millions more of my kind and take over the planet."

"So is that why you wanted to go back to the rocket in the first place? So you could feed on the planet?!"

"Yes! But it is different now!"

"Oh. Really? Why?"

"On my planet, I am kind of a loser. But here we could be more. Besides I am starting to like it here."

"Oh really?"

"Yes! But there will be nothing to like if we do not stop him."

"Cut the bullshit. What really made you change your mind?"

Venom took control of your body again. "You did (Y/n). I have grown very fond of you. I cannot live without you. Figuratively and literally."

"Thank you." You said as he jumped over to where the rocket was. "But how can I trust you? You were killing my body."

"I was not killing your body. Like I said, I cannot live without you. What would I gain from killing you?"

"...Fair point."

After you said that, Riot jumped out of a window towards the rocket.

"Holy shit! You can take this guy right?!" You said.

"He has got shit you have never seen." Veom said.

"So what does that mean? Are we gonna lose?"

"Probably."

"Oh fuck it. Do your thing Venom."

"Gladly."

Venom jumped and started crawling towards Riot then got in front of him.

"Venom! Get in the rocket!"

"No! We won't let you destroy this world."

"Then die."

Riot created a spike ball with his hands and Venom gasped.

Then he created a spike with his hands and almost hit the both of you.

"Holy shit!"

"Told you."

They started fighting and eventually Venom fought back.

As they fought, they were ripping each other apart and eventually Riot knocked Venom back.

"Get up Venom!" You said. "You got this!"

Suddenly, Venom was ripped from your body and Riot held him up planning to eat him.

"Venom!" You said, standing up and reaching for him.

He connected with you and took control of your body again.

They started fighting again and eventually you and Venom were consumed by Riot.

That was cut short however due to the fact that a high pitched noise started playing over loud speakers.

Separating all four of you.

You landed on the rocket and Venom was a few feet away.

However Drake got up quicker and started kicking you away from Venom.

You tried fighting back but Drake overpowered you.

He soon connected to Riot again and he stabbed you through the chest.

You fell to the ground and watched as Riot climbed onto the rocket.

Just as your eyes closed, you saw Venom crawling towards you.

When you opened your eyes again, Venom was in control and was climbing onto the rocket.

"Thank you for saving my life!" You yelled.

"Of course!" Venom said. "You are my host!"

He started tearing up the rocket which caused it to explode.

The fire surrounding you during the explosion forced Vemon to leave your body with the parting words: "Goodbye (Y/n)."

"Venom!" You yelled as you landed in the water.

•

"So you're finally taking me out to that dinner you promised me?" You said as you ate your food. "More like Lunch, actually."

"Yup." Eddie said. "I know how much you love this place."

"Yeah." You said.

"Look." Eddie said. "I'm sorry about Venom."

You smiled. "Thank you Eddie."

"So...next week, I'm going to need you to come with me to some big event."

"What for?"

"Well. You were one of the reasons as to why I got those pictures so...I need you to be there so I can give you credit."

"Thank you Eddie."

"So about the kiss.." Eddie said.

"He had better not take credit for that. That was my idea."

You smiled, hearing Venom's voice.

"Yes?" You said to Eddie.

"That was Venom's idea."

"Good."

"I would never do that to you, because I'm still trying to win Annie back."

You nodded. "I understand. Well, I better head home. My new cat is waiting for me. Bye Eddie!" You said rushing out of the restaurant.

After the explosion, Venom had burnt and supposedly died.

That was until you were walking home the other night and he had approached you while controlling someone.

You were happy to be reunited with Venom.

Ever since he returned, he has been acting a little different with you. Flirty almost. You can't exactly explain your relationship with Venom, but you're happy with it.

"You said there were some ground rules you wanted to talk to me about now that I am staying?"

"Yes." You said, putting your phone to your ear so you didn't look crazy.

"You can't go around eating anyone you want to, okay?"

"Why not?"

"Because there are good people and bad people."

"You can never ever eat the good people. You can do whatever you want with the bad people because I now know that the heads you eat are not going into my stomach."

"Very well. No good people."

"Exactly." You said.

"I'm very happy you're back Venom." You said.

"I am happy to be back as well."

"Question?"

"Yes?"

"How do you tell the difference between good and bad?"

"I'll show you an example when we get to one." You said, walking into Mrs. Chen's convenience store.

"What do you want to eat for dinner later?" You asked. "Because I can tell you're getting hungry."

"You know me well (Y/n). I don't have to even threaten to eat your organs anymore."

"Yes yes, what do you want?"

"Tator tots and chocolate."

"Whatever you want V." You said, looking at some brands of chocolate.

Suddenly the door opened and someone held Mrs. Chen at gunpoint.

"Please, I can't keep doing this!"

"The money, Chen. Now."

"That's an example of a bad guy." You whispered.

"Got it. Can I eat him?"

You nodded and let Venom take control of your body.

He grabbed the man by the arm and walked over. "You come in here again. In fact, if you go anywhere in this city, preying on innocent people, we will find you."

"We will eat both of your arms, both of your legs, and then we will eat your face right off your head, do you understand? So you will be this armless, legless, faceless thing, rolling down the streets, won't you?"

"Like a turd in the wind. Do you feel me?" Venom said, making you laugh.

"What the hell are you?" The man asked.

"We are Venom."

"On second thought..."

Venom leaned down and ate thr man entirely. Not just his head.

You regained control of your body and turned to Mrs. Chen. "Sorry about that."

"What was that?" She asked.

"Oh nothing. Just a little uhhhh...Night, Mrs. Chen!" You said leaving the store.

"I forgot how funny you were." You said, putting your phone up to your ear.

"I suppose I am pretty humorous."

"I ready to go home and watch TV." You said walking to your apartment.

"What is "TV"?" Venom asked. "You seem to be very fond of it."

"I'll show you. I'll show you all the things we humans do."

THE END OF CHAPTER ONE

-> Chapter 2

#venom symbiote #venom #venom x reader #venom 2018 #female reader #fanfiction #chapter 1 #monster fucker

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archoniluthradanar · 9 months

Text

I woke up this morning to find you gone

I woke up this morning to find you gone : a Volturi one-shot

The Twilight "Zone" series-these stories have a bit of strangeness about them.

Caius' human mate - First person POV

Caius' mate goes to bed with him, then falls asleep with him at her side as he is most nights. She awakens the next morning to find him gone. Not away, but really gone. And no one in the Volturi castle has ever heard of him. Or her. How will a human convince the Volturi she belongs there, and that her mate is real and is now missing.

oooooooooooooooooooo

My name is Allie Carson. I was an American who had lived in Washington state all my life. It was a fairly normal life, that is, until I met Caius. He was handsome, almost regal in his carriage, rude when it suited him, and an old-fashioned gentleman when he chose to be. I could tell right off he was...different.

I had bumped into him on the street, literally. He had been sent, he later told me, to keep an eye on a local family here in Forks.

"Are you a cop or FBI agent? I asked him, curious.

"Nothing so mundane," he replied curtly. "Why do you care?"

I ignored the snark. "Mundane? Now you have me really interested. I would never say the work of a detective or an agent of the government was mundane."

He only smirked, which intrigued me more. I told him I was on my way to have lunch at a local diner and asked him to join me. He agreed after looking around the main street. I briefly wondered what he was looking for, but by the time we reached the diner, my mind was on the hamburger lunch deal my stomach was demanding.

We sat at a table, and the waitress came by with two glasses of water. She set them down and took out her pad. "Hello, Allie, I see you found a friend. Stranger around these parts?" she asked Caius, her eyes obviously admiring him. "What can I get you both?"

"Marsha, I'll have the hamburger lunch deal, with a Coke." I looked at my impromptu companion. "Can I get you anything...uh?"

"Caius," he said, finally smiling.

"Caius? Ok then, Caius...did you want anything?"

"No, thank you. I've eaten already," he replied, leaning back against his chair.

There was that smirk again. "I guess I'm the only one eating, Marsha." After she went to put in my order, I looked the blonde man over. "Caius is a strange name."

"It's an old family name. I rather like it," he said.

"Oh, I do too. Unusual names run in my family. Even though I ended up with 'Allison', dad once told me he wanted to name me Athena, but mom objected."

"The Greek goddess," he said knowingly.

"Are your parents historians or something? Your name, the fact you instantly recognized one of the Greek gods."

"Actually, I am a historian so to speak. I...read a lot about history. Do you like history as well?"

I was so impressed to meet someone like Caius. Here in Forks, the library had minimal books on ancient history, so I had to buy a lot of used books online. "Yes, I love history, I don't even care what era. It all interests me."

His brilliant blue eyes lit up at my words, so I must have said something right. Just then, Marsha came by with my lunch plate and a glass of Coke.

"Here you go, Allie." She turned to Caius, asking him, "Sure you don't want anything?" When he shook his head, she nodded and left us alone.

We talked about anything that came into our minds until I had finished everything on my plate. "How long will you be in town?" I asked my lunch companion.

"Two days, maybe three. Then I'll return home."

"Where is home, if I may ask." I wasn't sure if he had to keep that secret, his job and all.

"I'm from Volterra." He must have seen my frown, since he immediately clarified. "Tuscany region, Italy.

"Wait. So you're not an American officer? Interesting." His accent didn't sound Italian, but perhaps he was a transplant.

We left the cafe together, but I had to get home, and Caius seemed distracted, his eyes again scanning the streets. We bid each other goodbye and went our separate ways.

I walked across the street, still watching Caius. A young man, whose face I didn't recognize, walked up to him. They seemed to speak to each other as if they knew one another. The stranger was dressed in what appeared to be clothing from another era. He was handsome as well, and I wondered who he was. I sneezed, which forced my eyes closed. By the time I opened them, Caius and the stranger were gone.

The next morning, I left my house to find the blonde stranger standing on the sidewalk out front. He smiled when I walked over to him. "I just wanted to see you before I left," he said.

We spent the rest of the morning together. I asked him if he could reveal the name of the family he was watching. Were they criminanls, I asked him. He laughed.

"Not exactly criminals. The Cullens tend to do their own thing with no concept of the law."

Did he mean Carlisle Cullen? "Caius, Dr Cullen is highly respected here in town. We feel fortunate to have such a...a skilled physician in our small hospital, when he could find a better paying position anywhere in the country. And his family's great. I don't know them very well, but we have spoken at times. Alice is so sweet, and Emmett is a hoot."

"They've done nothing wrong...yet. I was only sent to watch them," Caius replied, trying to reassure me.

I admitted to myself I was intrigued by this man, a foreigner to my country. But I was stunned when the last day of his stay, before he was supposed to leave for good, Caius demanded to see me. Demanded.

We had gone for a walk into town and ended up at the park. We sat on a bench beneath a tree. I didn't say much, unsure how I felt about his leaving. His next words stunned me.

"I want you to join me in Volterra. Come with me and be my mate. I know it sounds strange, but it won't when I explain everything."

"It's been three days! I hardly know you, Caius! What is this all about?" I looked up at him while he stood and paced in front of me.

"I cannot tell you everything, Allie. You have to trust me when I say we belong together. I confirmed this with Marcus."

"Who the hell is Marcus? Caius, are you crazy?" I shut up when he took my hands in his and sat beside me.

"I...work with Marcus. He has a gift of recognizing relationships between people, a hundred, fifty...two. He told me you and I are destined to be mates."

"Mates. As in spouses?"

"If you wish to call it that. All I know is what I feel when I am with you. My previous mate died long ago."

Long ago, he said, when he barely looked thirty years old. My head was spinning, yet when he suddenly kissed me, my brain took the time to stop thinking while I let this man gather me in his arms and continue to kiss me. When he pulled back, I gazed at him in shock. Yet could it have felt more natural.

So I left Forks forever, binding my life with Caius', before I even knew much about him, or what he was.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was like any other night, Caius and me lying in our bed while we talked about the day's events. We were laughing about something that happened, when he moved to hover over me, pressing his lower body against mine. I smiled up at him while wrapping him in my arms. then kissing him. I was still human, so he had to be careful he didn't accidently bite the tip of my tongue off. Soon he would change me, and he would not have to hold back any longer.

We made love until I was tired out. He let me lie against him, our fingers entwined. "I love you, my heart," I said.

"I love you, amore mio," he replied, pulling me closer.

I closed my eyes and Caius held me until I fell asleep.

Sunlight poured through the window, waking me. I turned to my left to see an empty spot in our bed. I sat up, calling for Caius. Maybe he was in the shower, but he usually asked me if I wanted to join him. I got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. No Caius. I touched the shower wall. It was dry.

Had he been summoned by Aro for a last minute meeting or trial, and didn't want to wake me?

I quickly dressed and went in search of my mate. I entered the door of the throne room, and found no one. Perhaps they had gathered in the larger audience hall. I was on my way there when strong arms grabbed mine, pulling me back against a tall, marble-hard body.

"Felix, you startled me." When I turned to look up at him, his expression frightened me. It was as if he didn't know me. When he grabbed my arm, I struggled against the pain. "Felix, you're hurting me." Even the fearsome Felix had never harmed me since I arrived here. This was very much out of character for him.

I was unceremoniously dragged to the smaller throne room, where Aro now sat with Marcus on the dais that lacked one chair. This was crazy. Where was Caius' throne?

I was about to ask what was going on and where was Caius, when Aro rose from his throne and walked down the three steps to stand before me, Felix still holding my arms but less tightly.

"Who are you and how did you get inside this place?" His red eyes bore into mine.

"Aro, I've been here ever since Caius brought me here. And where is he, by the way. What have you done to his throne?"

I saw Aro glance back at Marcus, who was sitting still, as he usually did. The quiet one merely shook his head.

"Aro, can you please ask Felix to let me go."

Aro gave the tall guard a blink and Felix stepped back, but not far from me.

I rubbed my arms and glanced around the room to see most of the top guards standing against the wall. They all looked at me as if they didn't know me.

"What is your name, my dear," Aro asked.

I had to laugh. "You know me, brother. I'm Allie, Caius' mate?"

Aro looked aback when I called him brother. He stepped back, turned and walked slowly back to his throne, sitting once there. 'You say you are Allie, mate to Caius. Yet we know no Caius...nor you."

This was insane. I was in a nightmare it seemed.

I pointed down the line of guards. "That's Demetri, Chelsea, Afton, Santiago, Jane, Alec. Heidi is most likely out fetching tourists for your next meal. You're Aro and he's Marcus. If I hadn't been here awhile, how would I know your names or theirs? I also know you're vampires." I looked over at the empty far corner. "Where is Caius' throne? It usually sits there, at your left."

"There has never been another throne, my dear. Marcus and I are the sole leaders of the Volturi. There are no others." He spoke gently, as if to a child.

"Yes, there is! Caius helped you form the coven ages ago." I had lost my composure by now.

Aro asked me a question, I think to test my story. "And who are you to this Caius?"

"I'm his mate, from America. He brought me here 10 months ago. You promised me one year before you insisted I be changed. I have two months left. And now I don't even belong here, so it seems."

I gave a pleading look at Marcus. who was always kind to me. He stared back at me as he would a stranger.

Aro appeared to be thinking, when he suddenly stood, walked down the steps, and grabbed my wrist, saying tersely, "Come with me."

I was suddenly afraid. "Where are you taking me, Aro?" Very afraid. "Aro, please don't kill me. Give me a chance to explain!"

"Foolish human, I'm not going to kill you, or you would have been dead already." We stopped in front of our chambers, mine and Caius'. "You say these are the rooms you shared with this Caius?"

I opened the right door and walked in. "These have been Caius' rooms for longer than I know. I have lived here with him for the last ten..." My heart dropped. I looked around to find an empty set of rooms. The furniture was gone. Our belongings were gone.

I ran to the bedroom, then searched the massive closet. It was empty of our clothing and the large jewelry case Caius had bought me to hold all the beautiful necklaces, earrings and rings he had chosen for me over the months. There was nothing left behind to bear witness to his extreme generosity.

I turned to Aro. "I don't understand. It's all gone. But it was here when I woke up this morning. I dressed and left to look for Caius." I thought for a moment. If Caius had disappeared from this place, perhaps time itself, all the things he had bought for me would be gone too. It was a logical assumption that if he never existed, anything tied to him would never have been here. And I would not be here. But I was. I am.

I started to walk back to the outer door. While I stood in the corridor, I felt Aro move behind me. I awaited execution, but instead, he took my elbow and led me back the way we came.

"You're not going to kill me, Aro?"

"I said I would not. You know too much, but what you know proves some of your story. For now, Marcus wishes to speak with you."

"No problem. I know the way." He let go my arm and we walked side by side to Marcus' chambers. When we came to his doors, Aro left me there with a pleasant expression, reassuring me.

I reached up and knocked on the heavy wooden door. It opened to reveal the tall melancholy vampire.

"Welcome, my child. Come in." He stepped aside to allow me in and led me to the settee. I sat down and tried to get comfortable.

"It's good to see you again. Marcus. I'm glad you asked me here since I want to ask you, do you see me with your gift? Am I with anyone?" Caius maybe.

Marcus looked a bit surprised that I mentioned his gift. "Yes, I know about your gift. When I arrived here from America, you confirmed with Caius and me, that we were mates and belonged together. Why don't you remember that?"

Since I had arrived here in Volterra, Marcus had always favoured me, and his lack of emotion basically made him more relaxing to be around. When Caius was off on some mission with the guards, Marcus would invite me to his rooms and read to me while I lay my head on his lap. Sometimes he would comb my hair with his fingers in a soothing manner. Anything to calm me during my mate's absences.

"Sit here, child. Aro asked me to talk with you about your delusion..."

"Marcus, it's not a delusion! I'm telling you all the truth. Caius met me in America, and we spent some time while he was in Forks. He asked me to go home with him because we belonged together." How many times did I have to say it. "He checked with you, telling me you have the gift to see relationships." I shut up, too tired to speak anymore.

"I have something to ask you, child. If you want to stay here, Aro has given his permission, as long as you stay with me. Eventually if you wish, you can become my mate and I will change you myself. For now, I will ask nothing of you."

I knew what he meant. I looked over at Marcus. Dear Marcus. I had no where else to go. I nodded silently.

I stayed with Marcus for the next 4 days. He was true to his word, asking nothing of me. Instead, he did what he could to make me feel better.

He had chosen a favourite book, reading to me while my head rested on his thigh. His fingers caressed my head while he played with my hair. His soothing voice became an even drone of words.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

I must have fallen asleep. I rose up on one elbow and looked around me. I was back in my bedroom, Caius' bedroom. Everything seemed as it should be. I turned to see Caius walking from the bathroom as he was drying his hair with a towel while completely naked. I stared up at him with what must have been a look of utter shock, before I jumped out of bed and ran to him, grabbing him and kissing his face and mouth.

"Oh my god, where have you been? I have been looking all over for you and no one knew who you were and everything here was gone..."

Caius dropped the towel when I had grabbed him. "Whoa, my love, what is all this? What do you mean I was missing and everything was gone."

"Am I dreaming now?" I grabbed his hands and looked at him, my expression serious. "I woke up five mornings ago. You were not in our rooms, so I went in search of you, thinking perhaps Aro had called for you. Felix found me and dragged me to the throne room. I asked Aro about you, and he acted like he had never heard of you. No one had. I was sure he was going to kill me since I had no reason to be here and was still human. I think the fact I knew so much convinced him I had been here for the last ten months." I would have rattled on hysterically had Caius not stopped me.

"Allie, shhhh...slow down, love." Caius cupped my cheek gently, then pulled me to him. He was here, back with me, and yet it was like five days ago all over again, only Caius was the one who didn't believe me.

"I spoke with Marcus and he offered to take me in so Aro would not have to kill me. He promised me if you never came back, he'd take me as his mate and change me himself."

"Wait, Allie, what are you talking about?" He gripped my upper arms with his hands. "Who the devil is this Marcus?"

Frowning, I looked at Caius in disbelief. "God, not again."

#the volturi #volturi fanfiction #aro volturi #caius volturi #marcus volturi #Short story 4th place winner

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