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miraculouscontent · 3 years

Text

(miraculous asks)

Anonymous said:

Oh My Gosh!!!! I was just thinking about Party Crasher and man I hate how they had Ladybug get captured for the men to save! It's a continuous thing you see in media: strong heroic woman gets put in peril so that the men can shine. I didn't even realize it until you said it! I get that it was probably meant to be a "role reversal" of Chat always getting kidnapped or brainwashed for Ladybug to save, but the fact that this is the "guys' episode" it read like "well damn, we can't have the guys be strong if a girl is in the way; let's have the girl get captured so the boys can prove their worth by rescuing her!".

At least in Sandboy, Ladybug was still competent and came up with the plans, but this?! It makes me sick, and it's all too easy to fall into these traps; even Kim Possible did it! In my magical girl story, the heroine does get put in a magical coma and require someone to bail her out, but it's her female friends AND her boyfriend who save her, so it's not just a girl being weakened so a boy can be powerful, especially since said boy actually does a minority of the work required to save her; the focus is on the female characters so it's her girl friends who do most of it. I still ended up scrapping that side plot anyway, and do you know why? Because regardless of who saved her, I still didn't want my female protagonist to be put in distress at all due to the unfortunate implications! Needing help in a fight? Sure. But outright being captured or kidnapped? Nah fam.

I was honestly thinking about that when the first episode came out. Like, they could’ve just had Marinette NOT SHOW UP in time so the guys take care of things, which at least gives more of a message that Paris wouldn’t go to hell just because Ladybug is a little late or something.

And yeah, the “boys squad episode so gotta toss the girl out” is... sigh.

Anonymous said:

I think the writers were trying to show Chat angsting to show his regret instead of an actual apology. Still doesn't explain why Aeon didn't bring up her death afterwards. Did Olympia delete that from her memory banks?

I guess? :|

I don’t know why Chat can’t just apologize without fishing or trying to earn sympathy. Like JUST SAY YOU’RE SORRY, DAMMIT.

Anonymous said:

If you haven't read Maribat, then you won't regret it. I am not in the DC universe but I started reading it and WOW. Literally every single time Marinette is a badass queen and gets her complete revenge and is actually happy! Even if you absolutely love Lukanette (which I have nothing against) you should totally try it.

Appreciate the comment, but I find it hard to ship other Marinette ships outside of Lukanette. Ivanette is a very loose exception and it’s not like I ship it hard or anything.

Anonymous said:

Despite not being a Lukanette shipper I love you. Why? Because you amazing, so right in literally everything and I love you <33

gkdfjgfdngjkfdg thank you

bat-anon said:

The NY Special made it so that Max is literally the only Black/Brown kid that doesn’t exist to make Love Square happen and that just makes me hate it even more.

I wish you didn’t make me have this realization because I hate it.

At least Delmar existed in the New York special???? I guess???? I dunno, I’m trying here, I don’t recall him doing anything love square centric.

Anonymous said:

I honestly don't mind Alix's outfit as Bunnix! I feel like it fits her, plus she's an adult so its not much of a problem, not saying it can't be improved however. I DO have issues with the designs for the underage girls outfits however....those are very sus

Yeah, the problem I take with Bunnyx’s is that it’s a bodysuit. If there was just more definition, like having actual boots, I wouldn’t complain as much.

Anonymous said:

I actually just really like the idea of the new bee being a genuinely nice person who becomes friends with Marinette. Not exactly close friends (since I like the idea of friendly working relationships without actual personal stakes in them). I also enjoy the idea of the new bee having some small animosity for Chat Noir- just because their personalities aren't the greatest mix. I also think that it would make sense for the miraculous of subjection to be at odds with the miraculous of destruction

Full agreement but we know how much the writers are resistant to have characters go against Chat.

Anonymous said:

Not gonna lie the scene where the girl squad gets akumatized almost makes it seem like they got akumatized on purpose, similar to Manon in Puppeteer 2(although she was a little kid who was probably just imagining she could enact revenge). And why can't they have a uniformed design, like they're a team but wear different colors, similar to the Sailor Senshi(like, Alya's the leader and wears orange, Rose wears pink, Alix wears green, Juleka wears purple, and Mylene wears yellow). It's so boring.

Mood.

Not to mention that WE ARE SO TIRED OF THEM GETTING AKUMATIZED INTO THE SAME AKUMA.

AT LEAST PALETTE SWAP THEM.

Anonymous said:

Relating to the Didn't Need Burrows and Treatment of Marinette bingo cards, have you considered making one for whenever the show fails at girl power? It could say things like "sexualized frames of teenage girls" "boy tells girl what to do" "girls don't get to keep Miraculouses", and "girls are forced to apologize whenever a situation goes wrong". And in the center, it could say "Don't show this to your daughter!"! Lol! What do you think?

lol I feel like I have enough cards, otherwise I would.

Anonymous said:

I saw another post that talked about Miraculous New York, and they theorized that it was rewritten to focus more on Marinette and Adrien in order to get viewers invested in the Love Square again after more people started to lose faith in the ship. Do you think that's a possibility?

I think so. The whole special comes off as trying to reassure love square shippers because of how hard it goes for him. I cut out Marinette’s crushing and it cuts like 18% from the episode, meaning it’s even worse than Season 3 (15%).

Anonymous said:

Maybe the point of the [break-up episodes] is meant to discourage people from shipping Lukanette and Adrigami too?

Spoiler alert: didn’t work.

Anonymous said:

Are we not gonna talk about how in one ask, somebody legit said "(long dreamy sigh) Viperion"? Like same.

RIGHT????

Same.

Anonymous said:

Ml fandom: I hate how Ladybug keeps secrets from Chat Noir! He sacrifices himself for her all the time and she never appreciates him for it! He has EVERY right to get mad at her!!

ML Fandom when Chat Noir does the same thing in the special: ....Wow Ladybug was way to harsh on Chat Noir!! She doesn’t appreciate him at all!! Shes so mean to him!

i hate it

Anonymous said:

Idk if it's just me, but a majority of the fandom is split in two; it's never one or the other "MARINETTE SUCKS AND IS A HORRIBLE PERSON GUARDIAN MARY SUE WHO SEXUALLY HARRASSES" or "ADRIEN SUCKS HE WAS NEVER ON MARINETTES SIDE" but im personally on the latter, but not to that extreme. i hate videos bashing marinette and then never acknowledge adriens faults

Yeah, the fandom gets more divided as time goes on because of the writers trying to increase the drama/tension.

Anonymous said:

I am PERSONALLY offended they gave Luka the snake miraculous. Snakes have such a negative connotation. A lot of people insult Lila by calling her a SNAKE. And now those ML writers DARE insult the best character in ML?! HOW DARE THEY!?????

I adore Viperion but I agree that I first heard he was getting snake and was like, “BUT MY BOI???”

It gets awkward too because other animals like the pig have negative connotations, like how Daizzi basically means “idiot/stupid” and they’re giving it to the freaking blond character, really???

Anonymous said:

I think that Ivanette would be even better if Marinette was plus-sized character.

I see why you’d think that. I just disagree because then it turns the ship into “let’s pair the heavyset characters together because they heavyset.”

Anonymous asked:

On the topic of romance failures and general series salt, my main issue right now is how the series puts so much focus on romantic relationships while failing to consider other levels of relationship or what they affect.

On the L² front I can completely buy Marinette being in love with Adrien. Most of the time she genuinely wants him to be happy and is ready to take a step back for him, however much it hurts. But in terms of romantic love? It. Is. A. Crush! But if we step back from the formula, what is there left between them? Their civilian relationship is held together by a “comedy” of errors and without that there is surprisingly little left. Well, besides two “best friends” desperately trying to make it happen because somehow they lost their individual characters and instead of being friends became matchmakers?

I too like Luka and Marinette together. Their relationship is pretty nice to see and all. But sometimes it feels like it happens in a dimension of its own, like the writers want to make the endgame clear in that the “sideships” can be easily cut out of the big “how they got together”-recaps. I especially miss reactions from and interactions with Juleka. She is Luka’s sister, Marinette’s friend, and IIRC someone aware of if not even a bit player in the great shipping game. She is in a prime position to step up and bring progress on all fronts: She can talk with Luka. She can either give Marinette helpful pointers or go “All in or nothing”, i.e. trying to make Marinette get her Adrien-feelings in order as she does not want her brother to get less than Marinette’s full heart. Similarly, she can counteract “friendly acts” and stop humiliating situations from escalating, or she herself can escalate them in the “All or Nothing”-scenario. Yet she remains basically a background character who gets little attention from the camera and almost no “non-focus identity”

As for Kagami, I may be too biased. *Any* positive Kagami/Marinette relationship is to me what Lukanette is to you. So naturally I have lots of opinions when it comes to her role ;) But can I just say that Adrien/Kagami is the weirdest ship for me? They have a few cute scenes and I think if they’d spend a lot more time together, they’d do each other good but I don’t know how they work. “No Hesitation” Kagami would lob Adrien’s head straight off with all his…everything. If we are meant to take Adrien’s love for LB seriously (and I guess we have to because how in the name of sanity is any form of the stated endgame gonna work otherwise???), how does Kagami fit into that picture as a girl who can hardly express emotions while Adrien is the definition of a guy who can not stop flirting or goes for all kinds of romantic gestures? Sometimes it feels more like a “social fit” and “Mommy/Daddy approves” kind of deal which is quite the shame! Normally I like these kind of relationships in fictions but they need a solid underlining or good development. One they haven’t and one the series has not been giving to anyone so far.

Yeah, the whole thing with the love square versus side ships ends up feeling extremely forced. Keeping Luka away and forcing Adrien into Lukanette episode are the biggest giveaways, basically a big fat sign that says, “We know Marinette would forget that Adrien exists if she hung around Luka for more than five minutes.”

AND YEAH, KAGAMI WOULDN’T PUT UP WITH ADRIEN’S GARBAGE. I liked Adrimi but it’s definitely more flawed than Lukanette.

Anonymous said:

Watched your opinion on the New York special and I agree with you. It was mediocre at best. It could have been something nice, like if they added Kagami and Luka, for example, so that we can get a bit of development from the new couples on season 4, so that it doesn’t feel rushed when they start dating on season 4. It could also be a good opportunity to see the other temporary heroes one last time, since Marinette technically has the miracle box.

They could have had an epic fight with the American Superheroes, maybe even giving the bee miraculous temporally to Aeon or Jess so that we didn’t need to see their awful and uncreative superheroes designs. It would have been nice if they made something more useful other than being characters that believe that Adrien and Marinette are “Meant to be”, like, we already got a ton of these already, couldn’t we get someone who didn’t feel something about this ship? It has so much wasted potential that I don’t even know how to start. Do you agree with anything I said?

I agree, yes. They could’ve easily thrown Luka/Kagami into the mix (or had Marinette/Adrien stay behind while flipping perspectives or something; flawed but they could make it work).

Anonymous said:

I'm rereading ladybugout and wow... the moment of silence after "chat deserves that kiss" gets me every time. Everyone stopping and just staring because wow he really just said that

Me whenever Chat Noir opens his mouth in the show.

Anonymous said:

I saw the Backwarder post you just talked about and yes, it is so totally ridiculous. They forgot another thing, though. Miraculous isn't just about comedy, action, and romance, it's about embarrassing Marinette. And the fact that almost everyone in the comments was acting like the medicine scene at the end was funny was just stupid and saddening to hear or read about, because it shows how people have been conditioned to hate and rally against Marinette without even realizing it. Granted, there was one lady who said it reminded her of her husband, so I guess that's okay(but all it means is that Adrien will be Marinette's--aka "his lady's"--husband like eeerrrgh!). And there was one person who said they liked that Juleka's advice because "If you're friend isn't willing to commit crimes for your happiness, is she even your friend?". But everyone else liked the ending. And I don't get the person who said we got "Subtle progression with Adrien and Marinette". We're right where we started.

Weeeeell, I understand the “comedy, action, romance” comment because all of those basically boil down to embarrassing Marinette or invalidating her. Comedy and romance goes without saying while action involves her dealing with Chat “Nice Guy” Noir.

Anonymous said:

Is it just me, or does Snow White's "Red Shoes" form look a lot like Marinette. I know, I know, Marinette is Chinese and Red Shoes is Korean, but they still look strikingly similar. They're bodies are really similar, too, but that might just be because animation tends to use eerily similar body types for its female characters on a whole. It's sad and it makes me think of how cute Marinette would be if she was fat. I also think Snow White was cuter than Red Shoes but that's kind of the point.

I think it’s the body type thing but that’s just a guess since I didn’t immediately make the connection.

I agree that Snow White is cuter.

Anonymous said:

Am I the only one who's never liked "destined to fail" characters? Basically this is when characters aren't allowed to be good at/succeed at something or else the whole universe will somehow fall apart. Think of how in The Amazing World of Gumball, if Richard gets a job, the world will be in complete and utter chaos. So he's better off as a lazy, bumbling dad. In Phineas and Ferb, Candace is always trying to rat out her younger brothers but if she gives up or succeeds something bad will happen.

TV Tropes put it the best: "Not only is she not allowed to succeed, but she's also not allowed to stop trying!"(conveniently under the Cosmic Plaything trope). I just don't like it because it shows that the writers just want to lead them on with the promise of success then snatch it away at the last minute. And now we're back at Miraculous Ladybug, where Marinette is humiliated every time she doesn't sign a gift that's for Adrien, and yet when she does, everyone in Paris DIES. Except for...HIM.

you: *mentions Candace*

me: [a million awful flashbacks]

Also, yeah, it’s so hard to watch, especially in “Chat Blanc” because it’s like, “Oh, you want to give a gift to a boy and you dArEd to use your powers for it? Congrats, but everyone else is DEAD and you can hang out with him as much as you want! You’re welcome!”

Anonymous said:

I think it’d become a “faintest idea blackout card”rather than a bingo.

(referring to my “Faintest Idea” card)

We’re getting there.

darkmoonravewolf said:

I hate that everything on that list could happen and very likely will

(referring to “Didn’t Need Burrow”)

Yeah, and it makes me sad :’)

Anonymous said:

That’s be real here. Miraculous ladybug is not a show about Marinette; Miraculous Ladybug is a show about Adrien. Adrien is the real main character.

Notice that when they focused on Adrien in “Lies,” they only cut back to Marinette (IN A SCENE THAT CAN’T EXIST) to have her fawn over him.

Anonymous said:

Is it just me or are Lady Noire's eyes huge? Maybe it's just the green but they seem way bigger than Marinette's

I’m not sure, but considering Rena’s facial structure being different from Alya’s, it wouldn’t surprise me.

asexual-individual said:

With what you've said about Adrien lacking a reason to exist outside of development for Marinette and Gabriel, I have to wonder how different the show would be if Chat Noir's identity was also kept from the audience. Adrien would still be there as himself, but he only gets as much focus as Alya, and Chat Noir's identity is treated as a mystery (a Tuxedo Mask type mystery, but a mystery all the same).

I see what you mean but it might cause Adrien+Chat’s screentime to feel excessive once the reveal happens, because suddenly their screentime gets combined and it’s like, “oh wow so the combined screentime is his then.”

Anonymous said:

I know that the kwami's really only exist so we can hear our protagonists' thoughts outloud (like what the Coraline movie did with adding Wybie to the story). But honestly, what's the point in having magical gods in the jewelry if you're not going to do anything with them?

Marketing with “cute” side characters.

guisendisguise said:

It's funny, originally, I had shipped Marichat in the sense that Chat and Mari start hanging out and both fall in love with the other's supposedly less perfect, more real selves. Then Luka was introduced and I ended up putting both lukanette and marichat at the same level. Then S3 hit and killed any love I had for Marichat. The writers themselves killed the Love Square for me. At this point, it's very clear they are living in a delusion where the Love Square could ever work narratively without Deus ex Machina or Deus Lo Vult (God wills it). Basically, they've gone past scraping the bottom of the writing skills barrel and are now shoulder deep in the hole they dug thru the bottom of said barrel. I'd like to point out that the bottom of the barrel is writing poop and now they're digging thru the useless plastic landfill the barrel was sitting on top of

Uggggh, yeah. Any appreciation I could’ve had for Marichat died in “Weredad.” I already didn’t like Adrien/Chat and then “Weredad” just showed his complete lack of... well, ANYTHING.

cosmostellar said:

Honestly feels like MLBs writers are going based off the "JUST IMAGINE EVERY POC CHARACTER YOU'RE WRITING AS WHITE" instead of, yknow, fleshing them out while developing them also in the context of their cultures and giving them these little things that the audiences who belong to the same minority can identify with. I don't mean "have Marinette walk in qipao 24/7" bcs thats just... bad on its own but man, /some/ casual acknowledgments of her culture would be nice.

Reading the sentence “JUST IMAGINE EVERY POC CHARACTER YOU'RE WRITING AS WHITE” physically hurts me.

Anonymous said:

Ok, I've always thought that Chloe was robbed of redemption (they held it in front of us, but then jerked it away while Astruc says, "She's irredeemable! We thought she was redeemable, but she wasn't :)!" What are your thoughts! Also, I just recently found your blog and I really like it :)

Thank you!

But I have no sympathy for bully characters, so I didn’t want Chloe redeemed. Maybe I’m still bitter about my own bullying experience, but I just wasn’t here for Marinette being forced to forgive Chloe, which is basically what they did until they backpedaled.

The time spent on her was wasted though and that I can agree on.

Anonymous said:

Me: Writes a 1k rant about how the tweet makes no sense as the "mistake" is about motivation and not the critical plot. Also me: Remembers that in MLB the plot always comes back to the romance. Finally me: Wonders why he got involved with the series post-S3 when all the red flags were already everywhere.

Mistakes were made.

Anonymous said:

I'm semi-catching up on miraculous, and- is it my impression, or does Kagami rebel against her mother more in few episodes she's in (even though her mother's influences on her seem to be stronger in general), than Adrien in the entire show? I /know/ that I don't want to see Adrien free himself from his father w/ the desperation I want to see Kagami free herself from her mother and realize that the standards she's held up to are unhealthy and too strong.

Yeah, I’m way more invested in Kagami than Adrien.

Anonymous said:

Am I the only one confused about whether the staff stopped caring and half-asses the series or cares too much and over-produces the hell out of it?

Nah. It really feels like they secretly hate the love square so they have to keep forcing it.

Anonymous said:

ngl I haven't watched any new episodes since Chameleon and I've been getting all that Miraculous News via tumblr to avoid that Marinette Brand Second Hand Embarrassment™

Understandable.

Anonymous said:

If they aired the 6th one first WHAT WHAT HAPPENED TO LEAD UP TO THIS???? WE ARE ON SEASON FOUR WITH TWO SPEICALS, GETTING A THIRD, AND ANY DEVELOPMENT WE HAD HAS GONE BACKWARDS, SUCKED, OR STATUS QUO YO-ED AWAY!!!!! HOW THE HECK DO WE GET ADRIENETTE FROM FOUR SEASONS OF NOTHING?????? I USED TO FANGIRL AT THIS NOW I AM TERRIFIED.

Answer: We don’t get Adrienette. We get forced love square and rushed/fake “development” of it while being constantly confused as episodes air out of order.

Anonymous said:

im sorry But adrienette has been suck in this limbo of one sidedness for 3 seasons. neither of them have become closer, neither of them have confided in one another, but somehow people still ship it? at least luka was able to make a move on marinette lol adrien still repeats the same boring “shes just a friend” line. adrienette is a really boring ship.

lol don’t apologize, you’re absolutely right.

nahte123456 said:

Very minor bit of salt to throw to the pile, but can this show just decide on how strong Miraculous holders are? Yes it's a cartoon and not the focus but in the Furious Fu episode we literally get Ladybug dodging lighting and then Su who seems mostly human and is at least slower then Fu was outspeeding her. It's distracting trying to figure out what is and isn't a serious threat in this show.

The deciding factor in the strength of the miraculous holders is “whatever works for the plot.”

Anonymous said:

At this point the only thing I'm excited for concerning Miraculous Ladybug is when it gets a reboot in like, a decade with actually competent writers

Best case scenario is that Zag goes bankrupt and Disney/Netflix picks up the series and gives it to competent people.

Problem is that the love square has been ruined so badly for me that even a “good” version of it wouldn’t be something I’d be into, but still.

Anonymous said:

Honestly, the problem with having all of Marinette's mistakes result in huge disasters (ex. Feast), is that is gives off the impression that teenagers aren't allowed to make mistakes. This show clearly doesn't like giving second chances to the protagonist, so why would life give one to you? Am I right, kids?

Exactly.

Marinette makes mistakes and suddenly the world is ending.

Anonymous said:

If your gonna watch the show, at least pirate the episodes so the writers dont get your support

Don’t worry, I have no interest in financially supporting the show.

Anonymous said:

ml in a nutshell: wasted potential, then giving themselves more potential, only to turn the rest of it into a dumpster fire

Yup, that’s it.

Anonymous said:

u know, when My Little Pony, Sofia The First, and fanfiction carries out character development, respect, romance, and the main plot better than the original show, especially when the shows mentioned above are aimed more at little girls and the original show is aimed at slightly older audiences... somethings wrong

*sigh*

And then it’s like--people will excuse the show because “it’s a kids’ show” and then I’m just “okay then, why are there actually good kids’ show?”

If shows get a pass for being for children then all childrens’ shows should just not try and be garbage since the standard is so low.

Anonymous said:

ive seen some cool fic ideas/concepts/reviews that made me think: ml could use so much more looking into how a character thinks in some situations. one fic i read had alya in chameleon (i know its been forever since the ep came out but hey) not question lila cus she thought: "hey, lb wouldnt befriend a bad person" w and added a plot line of lila making her think lb was cobsidering replacing rena rougue. like, just a few lines to make them seem better pls?

YES. Like, show us characters’ perspectives and why they’re rolling with the facts that they’re rolling with, otherwise they just end up looking like jerks.

We sort of got it in “Ikari Gozen” with Kagami but of course it was just to make Marinette look bad.

Anonymous said:

You know I’m honestly considering making reviews of this show and if I do I could create hour long rants about the show just from that mans twitter.

Yeaaaaaah, once you had in the Twitter stuff, it just becomes, “okay so this is going to add another hour or two then.”

Anonymous said:

Okay one thing that bothers me is how plain marinette's suits are despite being a DESIGNER. Her multimouse suit it just blocks of color and her ladynoir suit is just grey with green lines. I think the lines are supposed to represent actually clothes. Like the limes on the calves are supposed to make it look like boots but why not actually GIVE her boots. (Right, because she has to have a skintight suit unlike the boys who get some layers.)

THE SHEER DISRESPECT OF HAVING THE FASHION DESIGNER WEAR SUCH A PLAIN SUIT.

It also goes to show who really designs here, like oh, interesting, the girls get skin-tight simplistic bodysuits and the boys gets all the cool stuff--

Anonymous said:

I heard some people in my class saying they watched Miraculous Ladybug for the first time, and they were saying how good it was, and I was like: 'Oh you poor fools. You have NO idea what it's truly like.'

You know what they say: ignorance is bliss.

bat-anon said:

Isn’t it INTERESTING how in Frozer, Luka understands that Marinette is torn between her crushes and continues to support her even though he knows she probably won’t chose him, and in the exact same episode Chat Noir refuses to help save the city because Ladybug told him AGAIN that she wasn’t romantically interested in him? HMMM 🤔😑

dbfgjbdfjkgf

I’M REMINDED OF “FELIX” WHERE IT’S LIKE--THEY WERE CLEARLY TRYING TO SHOW HOW MUCH “BETTER” CHAT NOIR IS THAN FELIX, BUT LUKA WAS THE RESPECTFUL ONE.

Anonymous said:

You know what I want to see? An evil kwami, like they just want to commit crimes. No moral high grounds, just chaotic evil.

That’d be amazing just because I wouldn’t be able to take them seriously.

Anonymous said:

Watching S1 and S3 episodes back to back, it feels like reading salt fics at times, especially in regards to the L². Like, Marinette was happy about weird plans, she both needed and wanted the final push, and most of the time there was at least something coming out of it. Nowadays it just makes her sad, Alya and the girls act *against* her, and we get shipping for shipping's sake.

That’s a good point. The shift from Seasons 1 to 2 to 3 is rather noticeable.

Anonymous said:

I hate how Adrien's busy schedule seems to only matter when it's used to make Marinette feel bad, but the second Marinette has a bit more to do, it somehow has a negative effect on not only her, but also everyone/everything she cares about, like, what's up with that??

I’m reminded of “Lies” here and I hate it. :|

Anonymous said:

Honestly, the way the show treats teenage girls is horse ass. The show treats the teenage girls of this show as if they're stupid, naive, emotional, clumsy, and need a boy to tell them what opinions to have. Marinette is always treated like the show's punching bag and blamed for everything that goes wrong because she's "emotional" or "obsessed with Adrien", Chloe could've been redeemed but the writers would rather keep her a brain-dead Alpha Bitch Valley Girl(even though Gabriel and Felix, the latter of whom is a teenage boy introduced in one episode, get to be treated as redeemable, despite the things they do being far, far worse), and Lila is a conniving, self-absorbed fox.

And even though Kagami seems better, she's still roped into the "girls catfight over an oblivious guy" cliche and so far, all of her akumatizations have been because of Adrien. Whenever Marinette tries to move on from Adrien the other characters tell her what's good for her and steer her in the "right" direction because she apparently can't think for herself, and the writers LOVE to use the girl squad to tell us who Marinette should be with, because they apparently know better than she does.

Plus the show loves to treat all the girls as the same, making them all either fight over Adrien or be obsessed with shipping, as if teenage girls are all one assimilating, homogenized group(also when they treat Marinette as if she's "just as bad as Chloe", rinse and repeat for the other ladies.). Honestly, the show feels like it was written by those types of people who think "teenage girls are the worst" so they make them all mood-swingy, obsessive, showoffs, emotional, and downright clingy.

Plus the way Thomas Astruc talks about the female characters on Twitter is even worse, and only serves to make this more evident: he claims Marinette "has poor control over her emotions"(all the while calling Adrien "perfect"), that Chloe was racist in Kung Food "because she's stupid"(so rather than having that scene serve as a lesson on respecting other's cultures, he just did it to pick on Chloe and make her look "stupid"), that she's incapable of being redeemed, that Lila's unlikable but Gabriel and Felix aren't(even though he claimed Felix was a terrible character and a "cliche", that's not what the show says my guy), and other such nonsense.

Other Twitter users have also called out Miraculous Ladybug and its stereotypical treatment of teenage girls. The only shows I've ever seen do this worse are those pretentious "darker" Magical Girl "deconstructions" aimed at grown men such as Madoka Magica and Yuki Yuna, as well as most shonen/seinen shows such as Naruto and Death Note, which says a lot. Honestly, whenever I feel like watching a show with empowering and respectful depictions of teenage girls that treats them as bright and intelligent and actually unique from one another, I just watch Equestria Girls, Liv and Maddie, LoliRock, ANT Farm, Moesha, PreCure, or Sailor Moon. Because the way the show acts towards them is deplorable, absolutely deplorable.

Yes to all of the above. Almost all of the girls are involved in love affairs in some way, the two teenage girls are irredeemable while Felix got a sympathetic backstory right away (Chloe took forever to get hers which is a failure), and Marinette is flawed because she’s “too emotional” (a misogynistic stereotype).

Anonymous said:

Hi, I'm the anon who got upset at the lady who made the "Miraculous Ladybug is a Mess" rant, and yes, thank you zodiacspirit17 for liking and agreeing with my rant! I'm glad someone else saw that video! And ugh, Marinette learning to love Chat Noir? Really? I don't remember that line but I also don't want to go back and revisit it to make sure so I'll take your word for it. Ew. That was actually one of the things I hated about the Glaciator scene. Chat was supposedly comforting Marinette by taking her to the rooftop where he planned Ladybug's date, and yet only Marinette finds out about Chat's crush on Ladybug and comforts him on that(while rethinking her feelings), while all Chat knows is that Marinette's heart was also broken. He never asks who it is, or tries to help her get over her crush even if he doesn't know it's coincidentally him.

I know it's because of the "love square" but it's unfair that only Chat's love problems are directly addressed. Come to think of it, the reason Chat took Marinette to the rooftop...I know he was doing it in-universe to help her instead of intruding on her personal feelings(which might have also been why he didn't ask her who her crush was, he was probably thinking along the lines of "we don't have to talk about it right now, we can just have fun!"), but meta-wise, since we know she's Ladybug, the writers were probably trying to tell her "See? This is what you could've been doing, but you missed it. Shame on you!" That's a huge issue I have with the show: characters will do things in-universe to help Marinette, but the show has a different motive in mind. Compare to how Tikki gave actual advice to Marinette in Puppeteer 2, but the writers intended that for the statue scene so they could embarrass her in front of Adrien and the thousands of eyes watching the show(except we're not laughing.). Even if characters do support her, the writer is using them as props for her ritualized humiliation. And yet Luka is the problem somehow.

If Marinette needs to learn how to love Chat Noir, then it should at least be balanced out by Adrien learning to Marinette. I'm sick of this double standard that "girls need to learn to accept boys who like them but guys can do what they want". Another thing she said was that "Marinette needs to learn to define herself outside of who she's crushing on." NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. You see, unlike Adrien, Marinette HAS a life outside of who she's crushing on: she has school, she has Kitty Section, she has her "girl squad", she has her parents, she has her outside family, she babysits Alya's and Nino's siblings, and she has OH YEAH HER FASHION DESIGNING! I didn't even count being a superhero since Adrien does that, too. She has so many things to do outside of Adrien, and yet the fact that she makes gifts for Adrien or dreams about Adrien or wants to have kids with Adrien somehow makes her nothing but an "Adrien fangirl"?

First of all, she's the bloody protagonist?! That's such a "Real Women Don't Wear Dresses" argument, that she can't have her own life AND be in love at the same time! And somehow her crushing on Luka also means her life revolves around him, too! But Adrien's life doesn't revolve around Ladybug even though he doesn't really have anything going for him in his ordinary life? Outside of being rich, hot, white, and male, that is? What are his interests and hobbies, besides what Gabriel lets him do to pass the time? He doesn't even like modeling! And the Agreste plot is more about Gabriel, Emilie, and Nathalie than it is about him.

And what about his friendship with Nino? He didn't even care that Nino was getting strung along by Lila with the others! What about his friendship with Chloe that also waxes and wanes? Granted, Chloe's not a GOOD person, which that lady acknowledged, but she at least tried to change and has more development than him, the writers just won't let her change. I hate when people come for Marinette for doing literally anything when the show won't let her have agency and progress. It's so unfair of her and I wish they could see that. These double standards are driving me insane and they're sexist(maybe even a little bit racist, too), and it hurts even more when a woman's doing those things.

(I had to cut off some of this ask because I didn’t get all of it, so I cut it off at the point where it still seemed like a full ask.)

I FEEL THE “GLACIATOR” THING SO BAD. It hurts even worse when you realize that “Frozer” has to take place after “Glaciator,” so Chat Noir heard that Marinette has love problems and then ignored it to ask her for advice about his own love problems later on. The total lack of insensitivity???

Also, the idea that Marinette’s life would revolve around her crush on Luka is stupid. It’s the exact opposite, in fact.

Meanwhile, Adrien has so little going for him and the “interesting” parts of him involve who he’s connected to or what his father has forced him into.

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shihalyfie · 3 years

Note

How would you describe the relationship between each respective goggleboy and 'rival'? Ive seen different interpretations but im curious what you think! Not to mention that the fans are sometimes arguing over who the 'rival' actually is, like with Daisuke where some people say its Ken and others say its Takeru. (I dont think there are actual rivals in the show, except for maybe Manga!Kiriha who outright says he will be just that with Taiki.)

One thing to keep in mind is that the word "rival" has kind of integrated itself into anime lingo as a full-on English loanword, so it comes from expectations of anime tropes more than anything. While even official staff has used that word in talking about Digimon, as you say, it never really fit to begin with, because not only has Digimon TV anime never been a particularly conventional shounen series in many ways, that term was also mostly coined in light of series where that term made a lot more sense. As in, they were more likely to be actually competing over something (in sports, or something tournament-based like card games); in that sense, a "rival" would be someone who might be antagonistic by being on the other side of the field, but would have a mutually positive relationship with the other person overall because the competitiveness would keep both of them on their toes and allow both of them to improve together. Digimon is not the first time this term has started getting overapplied to contexts where it doesn't really fit at all (it's been going on in Super Sentai for years), so people generally have a greater perception of it broadly meaning "two characters who have differing opinions on how something should be done due to their differing personalities, and sometimes fight over it", but in Digimon especially, it really does seem like trying to smash a square peg into a round hole.

The short answer: Xros Wars is probably the only one you can make a real argument for.

The long answer, in detail:

Adventure: I cannot emphasize enough that Adventure, being a series that was really big on that whole trope subversion thing, is a series that casts the trope of "rivalry" as "getting in a lot of fights" as a bad thing -- it's actually pretty unsubtle about it, because the word "rival" itself is explicitly used in Adventure episode 44, by Jureimon trying to manipulate Yamato. Or, in other words, "hey, if you saw someone who's supposed to be your supportive friend as someone you had to constantly compete against for no good reason, wouldn't that be really messed up?" Adventure does not even bother with or remotely believe in the idea that fighting somehow is a sign of how good friends you are, at least, not as long as that fighting is a sign of genuine hostility and refusal to communicate (which is why Yamato punching Taichi in 02 doesn't count). Every time Taichi and Yamato got in a fight back in Adventure, it was heated and ugly, and everyone in their presence was horrified, and once they sorted out their issues in Adventure, their appearances in 02 and Kizuna involved properly talking things out and making an active attempt to understand each other's feelings. There's a bit of bickering between them due to said opposing personalities, but it's never over anything serious (see the contrast in Kizuna between them having a bit of a minor row at the beginning, but high-fiving right after and spending the rest of the movie practically counseling each other).

02: Straight-up does not exist. Daisuke may have seen Takeru in that way due to the Hikari issue at first, but he was really running in circles getting absolutely nowhere about it, Takeru was mostly like "okay, you have fun with that," their only major argument about anything was the very serious issue in 02 episode 11, and it still resulted in Daisuke trying to understand Takeru's feelings. I think all of it boils down to Daisuke himself just not having that kind of personality to begin with, because he's friendly and supportive before anything else, and the whole thing with Takeru became a non-issue after a fashion (way before we even get into Kizuna, at that). Ken has the word "rival" sometimes applied to him in official franchise media, but nobody ever believes it. Sure, Daisuke and Ken have fairly complementary personalities, but they seem to both be aware of this fact and actively using it to help each other. It's very, very, very hard to imagine them ever getting into any kind of fight the way Taichi and Yamato used to in Adventure. It's just not happening! They're "best friends" who enjoy each other's company and actively hang out, and...yeah, that's it.

Tamers: Also does not exist! I know a lot of people really try to say it's Ruki because she's the one with the lone-wolf attitude and aggravated Takato at first, but my impression of Takato's attitude with her wasn't out of any competition but more that he'd like it if she didn't try to pick fights with him. Which she does actually stop after a while, mind you, and you could even make an argument that she's more of a foil to Jian than Takato, because Jian's the one who was completely pacifist at first, with Takato caught in the middle. In the end, Ruki never actually attains a particularly close relationship with Takato compared to Jian, nor does she really keep up a particular competitive streak with Takato; she kind of pops in and out at her leisure because of her more independent streak, and Jian ends up more of Takato's right-hand man (which is why the franchise presumably picks him as the secondary character to feature whenever they do "secondary characters"), but neither Takato nor Jian are prone to conflict and the entire trope is just fundamentally absent. The Tamers trio, is, ultimately, a trio.

Frontier: Takuya and Kouji are probably the first pair to really look like a proper execution of the trope, and at the very least they align pretty perfectly to how it's known in Sentai: a more hot-headed, aggressive lead with a more cool-headed and cynical right-hand man, where they end up often prone to conflict over dispute on how to best lead the team. However, while it's much more of a conventional execution than Adventure (since Adventure had Yamato actually be more prone to being an emotional fuse bomb whereas Taichi was often too chill more than anything), there being any conflict isn’t gone into that deeply beyond just "their personalities are complementary", and in that sense it's not far off from Adventure itself.

Savers: The series kind of baits you into thinking it might go this way when Nanami taunts Tohma about how he had to resort to a Masaru-esque tactic to beat her (it's one of its early red herrings about Tohma supposedly betraying the group), and it does have traces at the start because of how blatant of a foil Tohma is to Masaru, but one thing important to consider is that while the "rivalry" of what's being competed over is barely even relevant in most Digimon series to begin with, Masaru and Tohma don't even have a "group" to lead -- they're the employees under DATS who are being given orders from above, and are dealing with situations as they come. Masaru ends up leading the charge a bit, but he's not actually a leader in any shape or form, and Savers is more of a story of Masaru's coming-of-age than anything else, so while the series mostly has to do with his personal philosophy more than Tohma's, it ultimately lets the two of them pursue their lives their own ways. Masaru's worst bout of infamous anger is at being hurt over Tohma's apparent betrayal, not against him personally.

Xros Wars: I would say this is the only series to date where the term "rivals" properly applies, and it's because they're fighting over something concrete: the Code Crowns, and eventually Digital World territory. So in this case, for the first two parts, the answer is obviously Kiriha; Nene was a rival at first, but after various events happened she allied with Xros Heart early into Death Generals, and while Taiki and Kiriha had a relationship of mutual respect, Kiriha still considered him an opponent over what they were competing for until eventually the Xros Heart United Army fully came into formation. In the manga version, Kiriha does invoke the word "rival" in the above sense of competing to polish one's skills, but ironically, its version of the Death Generals arc involves them being much more in-tune with the same goals, so it might actually apply less because Taiki kind of responds with "uh, sure...?" since he's not nearly as interested in self-improvement. In Hunters, while it initially seems like it might be Yuu, the answer is really Ryouma, and note that Ryouma never really forms a particularly close relationship with Tagiru; it's just that he's the person most at the forefront for competing with Tagiru in the Hunt, to the point he's the first person chosen to wield the Brave Snatcher and turns out to be a bit of a foil for Tagiru in terms of actually having admired Taiki this whole time.

Appmon: Also does not exist. Rei tried to do the whole schtick in terms of competing for the Seven Code Appmon at first, but Haru was having none of that and immediately reached out to him emotionally, worrying about his welfare, and although Rei had a bit of a detached relationship with the other Appli Drivers thereafter, it really was friendly more than anything, just a bit awkward. Haru and Yuujin aren't even on the table, since their relationship is "best friends" akin to Daisuke and Ken.

Adventure: reboot: Also does not exist, considering that Taichi and Yamato bickering over the best way to approach things is limited to the very beginning of the series (and one of those times was with Yamato and Sora, not Yamato and Taichi, at that). In fact, I think most of these kids have been acting separately for most of the series anyway...?

#digimon #shiha's ask box #timelessanimo #digimon multi series talk

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squidlyskeet · 3 years

Text

Joy Ride -.002

Pairing: StreetRacer!Bakugou x Fem!reader

Genre: TokyoDrift!au, Noquirks!au

Status: Ongoing

TW: violence, blood, firearms, eventual nsfw, 18+, mentions of anxiety and OCD disorders, grand theft auto, gang activity.

Summary:

It started with a simple question, “what do you say Y/n? You coming?”

After the sudden death of her mother, Y/n is sent to live with her estranged aunt halfway across the world in Tokyo, Japan. Weary of what this new adventure might hold for her, she decides to let loose the first night she was there, but how was Y/n supposed to know it would lead to a car chase? A car chase in the the passenger seat of a very angry, very hot, street racer’s super car?

A/n: yall im still so frickin bad at summaries😭😭😭 word. ✌🏻-squidlyskeet.

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I have no idea what I was expecting when we finally made it to where we were headed for the ‘meet’. Whatever it was though, It absolutely was not this. When we finally made it to the huge parking garage about an hour out of Tokyo it was difficult for Mirio to move his whole squad through the crowd. He pointed out that every side of the huge square space was where the designated side riders were parked. Naturally we pulled up and backed into the space next to the east wall. Mirio’s car parked in the middle and the rest of the squad parked on either side of him.

Right now I was standing next to Noel, while she patiently waited for Mirio’s attention. He was greeting his friends, or squad, as he called them while we were pulling in. Maybe coming here wasn’t such a good idea after all.

There were so many people of every kind, predominantly Japanese but others as well. Men and women parked in the middle of the garage lined up with their hoods open and showing off their engines. Young girls maybe even the same age as me, wearing tiny little outfits and throwing themselves on drivers. Music low and thumping pumped into the open night air.

I did notice that not all sides were here yet, but the ones that were were just as impressive as Mirio’s squad. In fact the only squad that hasn’t shown yet was the west side, as no cars lined the walls on the other side of the building.

My mood was tense, the light atmosphere of having fun leaving me almost instantly when I got out of the car. I could Noel was picking up on it too.

“Come on, lemme introduce you to the squad.” She grabbed my arm again, dragging a circle of people standing in front of their cars.

“Hey guys! This is Y/n, she’s my niece and she just moved here from the US. She doesn’t know Japanese, so try to be easy on her okay?” Her mischievous smile playing at a self introduction as she turned to me.

“Uh- Hi,” I waved awkwardly, “I’m Y/n.”

I didn’t know what to say, and I was mentally beating myself up for being so weird. Especially now that I was getting a good look at everyone and realized that Mirio wasn’t the only walking god.

These people were obnoxiously gorgeous.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here, Hmm?” A deep raspy voice cut my focus to a tall lanky man with bright red hair and the bluest eyes I've ever seen. “You seem to be a little lost princess, I could show you around if you’d like.”

I instantly recoiled at the blatant insinuation, heat spreading across my neck. Another voice interjected before I had a chance to reply.

“Dabi for fucks sake, leave the kid alone. Hi Y/n,” This man was short, comically short compared to the six something beanpole standing next to him. “I’m Keigo Takami, and this asshat is Touya Todoroki, Dabi for short.” He ran his hands through his wavy blonde hair, before bowing low and rising with a wink in my direction.

The heat in my neck spread to my face, and I avoided eye contact. The wall seemed extremely interesting.

“Don’t listen to either of them Y/n, this is a tactic they use to pick up women.” A woman with powder blue hair stood off the side checking her nails with a fist on her hip. “Nejire.” Was all she said in any way of introduction.

Her nonchalant attitude put me off even further, but I was quickly distracted when I felt another presence slink up beside me.

“They don’t know how to interact correctly. Sorry about that. Amajiki. It’s nice to meet you.” He pushed his hand forward in a jerky movement, offering a handshake, eyes directed at the wall.

I placed his face as the man who was riding most of the way with us and I could feel the excitement bubble back up when I remembered how skilled he was at driving. I felt my anxious shell break before I could get it under wraps.

“Oh my god, Amajiki, you were so cool out there. I couldn’t believe how well you handled your car. When we were drifting onto the highway you were so close. I’ve never done anything like that before, and you just made it look so easy-” I didn’t notice until then how red his face was getting, and instantly felt bad. He dropped his unshook hand and backed up a few paces before turning to face the wall.

What..?

“T-t-thanks Y-y/n,” He said.

“Hey now, don’t get worked up over something like that Jiki, she thinks you're good!” Mirio yelled over to the nervous boy facing the wall. He walked over to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, Noel’s hand latched in his other.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you nervous Amaj-”

“Please, I j-just need a m-m-minute.” He stuttered before I could finish my apology.

Mirio giggled, and the sound shocked me, to watch a full grown titan giggle was wild. At least he wasn’t in a bad mood anymore.

“Anyways, Y/n we’ll make this quick cause I want a drink. That crusty weirdo over there is Tenko Shimura, Shiggy for short, and his little sister Toga. Over there is Kamui, he’s a good friend even if he has the emotional maturity of a wet sock. Over there,” Mirio pointed toward the north wall, “Is the North Side Riders. A guy named Monoma leads them and honestly, they really aren’t much of a threat. On and off the pavement.

Down there, is the South Side Riders. Ten out of ten do not recommend. Just like avoid the south wall at all costs please. In case we lose you. And oh yeah, over ther- Hmm? Where are those westies? I think out of all them you’d get along with them the best. Bakug-” He started saying a name but stopped when he leaned backwards to look at the entrance of the parking deck.

The noise in the giant concrete balcony quieted to a low murmur. Music was shut off, and surprisingly people were getting out of the way. Trying to squeeze next to the walls as far as they could get. Well every wall with the exception of the west wall.

Mirios squad all migrated to the spaces in between their cars, but Mirio looked as if he refused to budge from the spot leaning against his front bumper with Noel still tucked into his side.

I looked back at his squad and then back to where my aunt stood with her boyfriend. I wanted a front row seat to whatever was about to happen too and, with as much confidence as I could muster, I walked up and stood next to Noel. I looked around nervously, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Tch. Westies. Always on some dramatic entrance bullshit.” The beanpole muttered from beside what I presumed was his car. A black hatchback, with blue flame decals.

The silence on the roof of the parking garage was deafening now, and a ripple of anticipation rolled through the crowd.

Just when I thought I couldn’t wait any longer, sounds I was quickly becoming familiar with sounded off in the distance. Motors, wide open and bouncing of rev limiters causing a chatter of turbo whistles. Screeching tires, and the low thump of a deep bass blaring out of a subwoofer system.

I could make out that they’ve made it to the garage and started their accent up the spiral entrance, the sounds mixing together and sending a thrill through my body as the anticipation of seeing the display.

The sound of the music was becoming more clear and as it got closer, I was shocked to find out that again it was english, and that I knew it. Was that..?

Here comes the Boom? By Nelly?

Whatever system they were using was loud enough to compete with a concert, cause it drowned out the sounds of the cars drifting to the top of the building. I tried to guess when one of the cars would pop up over the small bump at the top but I was wrong with every timing.

I looked at Noel in confusion, but she was paying attention to the entrance intently too.

The music cut off, until-

BOOM.

The first car practically launched itself over the bump. It hit the ground front bumper first, creating a light show of sparks. When the tail end hit the ground, the driver didn’t waste any time, they hit the Ebrake and swung the rear bumper sideways before stomping on it and accelerating again. I noticed the cars color, a deep burnt orange. It was sleek, made for speed and the driver -as far as I could tell- knew exactly how to handle it. The windows in the car were down but I couldn’t get a good look at the driver while they were gliding their car through the makeshift aisles of cars.

BOOM.

The second car launched itself over the bump, this car smaller and red but just as nice. They took the first cars movements, synchronizing perfectly, and mimicking the maneuvers with accuracy. More cars came out of the bump and played follow the leader but my eyes were glued to the orange car in the front.

When the car finally rounded the corner Closest to our designated wall, they revved the engine and shot forward, gaining speed and everyone’s attention. Somehow, I feel like they did that on purpose.

Halfway through they changed tactics again, stomping on the brakes and threw the car into a full one eighty, never stopping. They accelerated backwards with their driver side window facing us speakers blaring.

For me, it was like time stopped all together as the driver finally came into view.

A spiked mess of pale blonde hair came into focus first, and broad shoulders holding up a thick muscled neck. The next glimpse I got was of his face. A chill shot through me, when I made eye contact and noticed he was staring directly back at me.

Ruby red eyes narrowed in obvious disdain, and a sneer twisting his face, he never broke the hold. It felt like he was burning holes into my head with his clearly disapproving expression. And while it was only a few seconds, it felt like I was standing there, under the scrutiny of his glare for a lifetime.

When he was finally too far away to keep the eye contact, I dropped my line of vision to the concrete under my feet. How could someone just outright glare at another person they didn’t even know? Did he hate me? No that’s probably not right. He doesn’t even know me, for all he knows I’m just another inconsequential girl here.

I argued with myself in my head, debating on whether I should just give up on this night entirely and call a taxi or wait and see if tonight gets any better. It was so fun on the way here, the laughing and the drifting lifting my mood to a height it hadn’t been at for months. I was peeved to find out that all it took to deflate my mood was one insignificant glare from a boy I didn’t know. All I wanted to do was retreat back to the safety of Mirios car, where I had fun and could breathe easily.

“Y/n you okay?” Noel broke me from the spell I was under, and placed a hand on my arm. “Hey, don’t let Bakugou bother you. He is like that with everyone.” She said as she smiled at me.

“Bakugou?” Finally lifting my gaze from the ground to let her know I appreciated her attempt at comfort.

“That’s his name, the guy in the orange car. He’s the squad leader of the Westies and he by far is the biggest dick I’ve ever met.” She answered, gently rubbing circles on my arm.

“Did something happen Y/n? I swear I’ll go drag his bulky ass out of that car right now.” Mirio popped his head into our comfort bubble and smiled. I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, so I just shook my head and kept my answer vague.

“Nothing that constitutes a fight, hah thanks though Mirio.” I replied, hoping to evade him getting into ‘one of his moods’ as Noel described it.

“Good good. Well if we are done standing around, I’m gonna go get a drink before the races start,” He pulled his phone from his pocket to check the time, and turned his attention to Noel. “Ten minutes to go baby, make sure you’re strapped in and ready to beat these amateurs, we’re in the first round.” He leaned down to give her a kiss, and turned to go find something to drink, looking at the cars on display on the way.

I turned to look back at Noel, that soft look on her face again as her eyes followed his retreating figure.

“You really love him don’t you?” The words fell out of my mouth before I could stop them, and I felt my cheeks flush at my directness.

“I do, I want to spend the rest of my life with him,” She sighed happily before shaking her head and clearing her throat. “Anyways though, not all of the East boys are going to be racing the first round, so try to stay with them, okay? I think only Keigo and Dabi will be sitting it out. Make sure you tell me if they give you any trouble.”

“Wait, you're going to race with Mirio?” I asked, shocked.

Isn’t that dangerous?

“Well of course honey, I’m his navigator duh? Look,” She turned around to point at the passenger seat inside his car.

My eyebrows lifted in surprise to see that there on the bucket seat headrest, in fancy swirled English letters, was Noel’s name.

“What’s a navigator?” I was curious now, and I wanted to get the question out before my brain told me to shut up and that nobody cared.

Her eyes lit up when she heard my question, her hands clapped together and she grabbed me by the arm once again dragging me further into the mess of cars and people. I tried to relax my limbs, but I could only feel them tense. She was pulling me further away from our wall and further away from the comfort of Mirios car. I knew that, rationally, I had no right to feel like Mirio’s car was a comfort. I couldn’t help myself from latching onto things that brought me out of my anxious shell. It was a habit I knew was bad for me, because everything leaves eventually, but I’d still like to squeeze as much of the feeling out of anything I could.

It made me wonder if it was Mirios car specifically or if it was any car that could be handled like his. The last thing I needed was for Noel to get mad at me, thinking I was trying to make a move on her man, when in reality it was just his car. Or more accurately, the escape it could provide me.

Noel stopped me in front of a car that looked a little out of place around all these over the top machines surrounding it. I actually recognized this make and model as it was from the US. A Ford Taurus. A two thousand and one if I’m right. It was tan and had a few dents, but still looked drivable.

The trunk was open and inside it lay a few piles of different things. One pile were maps, all folded the same way with handwriting on them. The next item was a scanner of some sort, I put two and two together to realize this probably wasn’t the most legal of events, and if Japan was anything like the US then those were most likely police scanners. The third item, were stacks of boxes, all of them had an image of a plastic gun on them.

I watched as Noel took one of each.

“What the hell? A gun?” It seemed the shock value was a never ending escalation for me tonight.

“Let me start by explaining that a Navigator is exactly what it sounds like. I ride shotgun for Mirio while he races. I have the map to tell him where to go, and potentially make last second changes to our route. The police scanner is for knowing where they are before we are on top of them, and the gun. Well the gun for when you cross the finish line,” She held up the box, as if that would make it clearer as to why she needed it. “You put your driver's color in it, and the Navigator shoots it off when they cross the finish line. We won’t be able to see anything, but the spectators will be keeping track from on top of the parking deck. That’s how they tell who won.”

“That sounds like a really important job. Do you do it often?” I felt like I was finally starting to get a read on this. This was street racing.

We lingered around the Navigator car, talking quietly. I occasionally glanced at the people coming and going from the trunk, noticing mostly women but some men.

“Normally a Navigators job is really important. When they actually do their job. A lot of these girls have romanticized it to the point of competing to see who gets the coveted passenger seat of one of the better drivers. Most don’t even grab the stuff they need. They just flail around, and take credit.” She rolled her eyes, scoffing. “I don’t think some of these brats realize, the reason some of the drivers win as much as they do is because they have good Navigators.”

“I’m sure you’re great at it, I’ll be watching for you guys when it’s time to-“ My voice cut off and I jumped when I heard a loud gong.

“Ladies and scumbags, five minutes to first line up!” A voice blasted through a set of speakers, and the crowd began dispersing.

“Oh shit, that’s my cue. Gotta go get strapped in. Don’t take drinks from anyone, and don’t wander too close to the south wall. Be safe, and cheer for us!” Her voice drifted as she ran back to Mirios bright yellow car.

I felt my body tense again at being by myself, I tried to make my body move but working up the courage to walk anywhere and have people notice me kept my feet planted in place. I knew that the thought was stupid and redundant because standing here by myself while the cars needed to get out down the ramp would bring way more attention to me than anything else.

Alright deep breaths, one, two, thre-

“Hey, are you okay?” A sweet feminine voice said from behind me.

“U-uh sorry, I don’t understand Japanese.” I shot back without turning around.

A genuine laugh sounded off from behind me, and without forcing myself I felt my muscles relax at the gesture.

Before I could think too much about it, I held my breath and turned around.

“Hello, I’m Ochako Uraraka. And you look like maybe you need a bottle of water.” The tiny girl waved at me with a friendly smile.

Oh my god she’s adorable.

She couldn’t be any more than five feet tall and her angular brunette bob complimented her round baby face. Her outfit is similar to mine, with a cropped t-shirt and high rise shorts.

“Sorry, about just standing here like an idiot. I’m a little l-lost.” I decided feigning like I didn’t know where to go was better than admitting I was frozen in anxiety.

“That’s okay, who are you here with? I can help you try to find them. I know almost everyone here, and I’m sure my boyfriend wouldn’t mind me helping, we don’t race until the second round anyways.”

I debated on telling her. What if she was like some kind of bait to be kidnapped. I quickly decided against it, she seemed too sweet. Besides, she's already offered me a bottle of water, and to help me look for Mirios' squad. I knew in which general direction they were and could probably find them myself but I didn’t want to be alone.

“I’m with the East boys.” I said, hoping she’d keep the conversation going.

“Oh Mirios squad?” Her voice rose an octave with her revelation. “Oh my gosh, I’ve never seen you with them before. Are you new? Who did you come with? Please don’t tell me it was that toaster oven Touya…”

She rambled on while I tried to hold in a laugh at her quip. Toaster oven Touya? Looks like beanpole has a new name.

“No I’m with Noel and Mirio, I’m her niece.Y/n L/n. I just moved to Japan.” I replied, hoping that would cover her rapid fire questions about where I’m from.

“You’re a part of the squad? Do you want to meet mine? Sometimes we team up on jobs from the south side and it might be helpful to know we finally have another girl,” She leaned into me and whispered like someone would overhear us. “We are outnumbered by like, a lot.” She was laughing as she leaned back and turned to grab things out of the Navigator car.

I noted her comment about jobs from the south side, and filed that away too. Man, Noel list of questions is adding up quickly.

So she’s a navigator too, probably a half decent one since she was actually using the equipment provided.

When she finished she motioned for me to follow her, and like the lost puppy I was, I did exactly that. I realized we were headed in the opposite direction of my designated wall, and felt my stomach clench. Isn’t this the way that angry guy parked? I really hope she’s just making a detour and she isn’t a part of the west side.

When she didn’t stop walking though, that fantasy went directly out the window. My last option was to hope he wasn’t here or was distracted by something.

“Hey guys! This is y/n, I found her over by the Nav beater. The East side Riders have a new member, can you believe that?” She jumped into her explanation, catching the attention of a group of people leaning against their cars.

“A new member?” Said a red head with hair spiked to the gods looking up from his phone. They looked sharp, but upon further inspection not nearly as sharp as the man's teeth. He was leaning on the hood of a red and black car, and his non threatening position put me at ease a little.

He was built like a brick shithouse. Towering over everyone else in the group, and If it weren’t for his gentle voice, I’d probably be running for the hills.

“That’s Ejiirou Kirishima. Complete himbo and about as smart as a bag of hammers, but he has a heart of gold.” The man waved from his place, perched atop his car, and a heartwarming smile on his face.

“Call me Kiri.” Was all he said before he returned to his screen.

“Sweetheart why are you speaking English, you know I don’t catch on to it that easy.” A deep Japanese voice called out from under a green hatchback.

“Because Deku, y/n doesn’t speak Japanese.” Ochako said from beside me.

“What?” A tuft of fluffy green hair popped up from behind the car, standing probably a foot and a half taller than it. I jumped backwards at the height even though he was on the other side of the car.

“Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m Izuku Midoryia, but you can just call me Deku.” He said before looking at Ochako, his face squished up, and looking for approval.

She nodded at him with a sweet smile on her face.

“That’s my boyfriend, don’t take him too seriously. He just doesn’t know what’s going on most of the time.” She leaned over to tell me the second part, and then pointed behind two cars parked obnoxiously close to one another.

A laugh burst out of my mouth as my eyes followed what she was pointing at. Behind the cars, laid two lawn chairs. One huge umbrella hanging over top of them and two men sitting in each one. Both looked like they were sucking down a yellow slushie.

“That’s Denki and Shinsou. They are best friends and are doing their pre race routine of getting mildly shitfaced. Denki is a Shinsous Navigator and they claim it helps them get in the game. Uhg. You’d think they’d learn but they never do.” She paused to go to the passenger door of Deku’s hunter green hatchback and pull something out from the dash.

As she leaned down, through the windshield, I could see another example of a stitching in the headrest. But this one was in Japanese. I assumed it had something to do with Ochako but didn’t want to press and look stupid for asking questions.

When she walked to stand back next to me she handed me a water bottle and I thanked her with a small voice.

“Shoto, Jirou, and Sero are getting ready to race the first round,and they have Mina with them so they aren’t here right now or else I’d introduce them as well, and I’m not really sure where Bakug-.”

“Oi. What the hell is this.” A deep gravelly voice gritted out from behind us.

For some reason I felt like-

Oh shit.

___________________________________________________

-.002 💥MASTERLIST💥 -.003

A/n: Keep in minds, this is U N E D I T E D. Word✌🏻 -squidlyskeet

#my hero academia #mha #this took a lot longer than i thought it would #uhgggg #bakugou x fem!reader #bakugou katuski x reader #bnha bakugou #bakugou x y/n #someone love me #i love him #bnha fluff #bnha au #tokyo drift #bnha angst #mha smut

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dearjamesxo · 3 years

Text

[drabble under cut]

They’re on their way to wish Bea luck when it happens.

Billy, Spike and Jessie trudge against the midafternoon crowd, Spike boasting a story from his childhood – no doubt exaggerated to the moon to impress Jessie. Billy listens with half an ear, hands stuffed in his pockets and eyes on the ground. He doesn’t react when someone bumps into him.

“He’s in a mood,” Jessie teases to Spike when Spike tries, for the fourth time, to include Billy in the conversation.

Spike snorts, “I can see that. Which is why I’m trying to cheer ‘im up.” He sidles into Billy’s space, claps a friendly hand on Billy’s shoulder and asks, “Come on, mate, who shoved that monumental stick up your arse?”

Billy’s jaw twitches. He tucks his chin into his chest and hunches further into himself, hoping to relay how much he doesn’t want to talk about it.

“Is it the whole we’re not good enough tripe?” Spike questions, rolling a hand in the air to encompass the tripe he’s referring to. “Because the way I look at it, we got lucky. Who wants to go to a stuffy old ball anyway?” Spike’s tone suggests he does, but Billy refrains from pointing it out, “Let Bea and the good doctor go and deal with all that crap, while we—” He leans back and grins across the breadth of Billy’s shoulders, winks at Jessie, “—get to enjoy ourselves!”

Billy doesn’t respond, simply shrugs and keeps his pace, his shoulder colliding with another man’s. Again, Billy doesn’t even seem to register that the man told him to, watch where yer goin’!

Yes, Billy’s in a mood, definitely, but it doesn’t have anything to do with Bea or Watson or the ball Spike mentioned. In fact, it was Billy’s idea to go find Bea before Watson collects her at Mrs. Smith’s shoppe.

As usual, Watson’s swanning Bea off to perform for another investigation, some undercover business that apparently, “Only Beatrice has the maturity and patience to pull off,” thanks for the confidence, “the rest of you will merely serve to attract unwanted attention.” As if Bea done up like a gateau de savoie won't attract attention. Although Bea has learned to carry herself less woodenly than she did, she isn't exactly graceful when laced into a gown. Jessie's the better candidate, equipped with supernatural powers to boot, but Watson's mind was made up. Besides, Billy's noticed that he and Bea have some sort of connection; they seem to get each other in a way that leaves everyone else behind.

Howbeit, Watson’s condescending remark isn’t what gets Billy’s dander up either. That honor goes to His Royal Highness, Prince I-Have-To-Escort-Helena. Not that Billy wants to go through the trouble of pampering and primping for a ball he’s sure he’ll hate every minute of. But Leo could’ve at least had the courtesy to pretend he was regretful, since he already has so much experience pretending to be something he isn’t.

Billy scowls at his shoes, kicks a pebble harder than he means to. He ducks his head and picks up his pace when he hears a strangled yelp and sees, from the corner of his eye, a man clasp his ankle and hop on one foot.

Oops.

It’s then that the short hairs at the back of his neck rise, his scalp tingles, the sensation of being watched shivering up Billy's spine. He lifts his chin and, immediately, his gaze is drawn to the end of the street.

“Isn’t that—?” Jessie starts, tugging Billy’s wrist to get his attention. Then, much quieter, under her breath, “Oh,” as if she's figured something out.

Billy yanks his wrist out of her light grasp and squares his shoulders, ignorant of the utterly baffled Spike sends Jessie behind his back. “Wait here,” he gruffs and stalks toward the end of the street. Or more precisely, toward who lingers there.

“We’ll meet you!” Spike calls after him and wraps an arm around Jessie. She tries to resist, head craning, but Spike guides her down the cross street in the direction of Mrs. Smith’s shoppe.

Like a wolf preparing to lunge, Billy stalks toward Leo, expression hard and fists clenched. Leo returns the sentiment with a rigid, neutral set to his features, stare unwavering. Billy inwardly chastises himself for the heat of desire that rushes through him upon seeing Leo. No matter how pissed he is with the prince, Billy can never deny how attractive Leo is like this, all lofty courage and attitude, golden against the smutty backdrop of the Marylebone rookery. God, Billy wants to strip Leo of his finery, fuck him until he remembers who he really belongs to. And it isn't, Billy thinks in a possessive growl, Helena.

Theirs will never be a public romance, a reality Billy understood from the start, only it didn't feel so impossibly cruel until the moment Leo casually mentioned he would be attending the very ball Bea and Watson would with Helena on his arm. As if he wasn't lounging between Billy's legs, his back to Billy's chest, his fingers laced with Billy's. It never ceases to amaze Billy how terrible Leo is at reading a room because Jessie's discomfited expression alone should've been a clue that something wasn't right. Even so, Billy kept his mouth shut because he's supposed to be fine with it, isn't he?

Easier said than done, Billy knows now.

As much as they - Billy and Leo and Leo and Helena - have an agreement, it still cuts deep when Billy has to step aside so Leo can appease his mother by flaunting the person society deems Leo's best match.

“What’re you doing here?” Billy demands to know the instant he’s within earshot.

Leo flinches slightly, then musters the confidence to say, “I’d like to have a word.”

“With your side piece?” Billy mocks disbelief, “I’ll bet.”

“Billy, please, if you would just listen—”

Billy’s in front of Leo now, standing at the closeness he’s grown accustomed to since he and Leo became he and Leo. He didn’t mean to narrow the distance so quickly, wants to hold on to the anger because it’s easier, except that to put himself anywhere else in Leo’s orbit feels intrinsically wrong.

“Better make it quick, your highness,” Billy sneers, “I’m sure your lady doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

“For goodness’ sake,” Leo erupts through gritted teeth, though his tone maintains a respectable volume as propriety demands, “I’m not going.”

This stops Billy's mounting rage in its tracks, all at once replaced with a confusion that shows itself on Billy's face. A simple “What?” tumbles out of his mouth as he frowns at Leo as if Leo told him the sky is actually green.

“I’m not going.” Leo repeats.

Billy grabs Leo by the upper arm and drags him out of the middle of the crowded street, into a narrow lane that separates the butcher’s and an Indian-owned tearoom. Leo doesn’t resist, allows Billy to manhandle him, and stops moving altogether when Billy pushes him against the brick wall just inside the lane. Suddenly, Billy’s flooded with concern.

“What happened?” Because it has to be something awful if Leo can shirk his responsibility for the evening. “Is Helena alright?”

Leo’s brows furrow, eyes flickering between Billy’s, down to hover on Billy’s mouth before they slip to the ground where they remain. He huffs a humorless laugh, “Helena’s fine, you massive boor.” and slumps against the wall Billy has him pinned to by the shoulders, defeat obvious in his posture.

“Then what—?”

“It’s you!”

Well, that can't be right. Leo's never missed an engagement his mother's insisted upon for Billy in the weeks they've been, well, them. Billy has to make sure, “Me?”

Gesturing helplessly with one hand, Leo explains, “How can I go and act as though I care about anything my mother’s contemporaries have to say when all I can think about is you, here, upset with me?” A tiny smile curls Billy’s mouth, “I love you, you idiot.” Leo says as though he's said it a thousand times - he hasn't, this is the first and Leo doesn't appear to notice he's shared such an important declaration in the middle of a rant. Billy wants to say it back all the more for it. “Helena made a fuss when I told her, practically pushed me out the window so I would come find you.”

Floating on a wave of giddiness, assuaged by Leo's words, Billy remembers how much he likes Helena. Helena who has her Henrik in Münster and swore not to intrude on Leo's relationship with Billy as long as Leo issues her the same respect.

Billy leans in and places his forehead against Leo’s, hands sliding from Leo’s shoulders to cradle Leo’s jaw, resting the pads of his thumbs gently at the corners of Leo’s mouth. A small chuckle escapes him, unable to contain it, and Billy shuffles forward to press their bodies flush from waist to hips to knees, fondly brushes the tips of their noses, then tilts his head and captures Leo’s lips in a sweet yet hot-hungry kiss.

When he pulls back, he wonders, “Or maybe it’s Helena I should be thanking?” He hooks a thumb over his shoulder, smiling playfully, “Should I be kissing her instead?”

Eyes in grumpy, feline slits, Leo protests, “Don’t you dare.”

“Mm, you’re right, she’s really not my type.”

Abruptly, Billy untangles himself from Leo, bends enough to grab Leo by the back of the thighs and lifts. Leo cries out shrilly, startled, the action forcing his legs to wrap around Billy’s waist and his arms to lock around Billy’s neck. Cackling, Billy pins Leo with his body, his fingers kneading the sensitive flesh just below Leo’s arse, eliciting a moan that he swallows greedily.

“Is this really the appropriate time?” Leo pants, throwing his head back when Billy grinds their hips together, making them both groan.

“Not even a little bit.”

As Billy leans in for another kiss, Leo interrupts by putting two fingers to Billy's lips. “Perhaps,” He says, voice pitched suggestively, “We should take this elsewhere,” Here, Leo kitten licks Billy’s parted lips, darts his tongue into Billy's mouth quickly, moves on to dot Billy’s jaw with a trail of dry kisses. He reaches Billy's ear and continues in a whisper, “Somewhere you can spread me open,” A nip to Billy’s earlobe, “And show me what happens when I upset you?”

Billy's cock twitches in interest. He takes in Leo’s pink cheeks and glassy, blown eyes, decides, “Sounds like a marvelous idea.”

In a swift sequence of motions, Billy drops Leo to his feet, carefully repositions him, crouches, and then hoists Leo over his shoulder. Spike was right, Billy grins, patting the swell of one of Leo's arse cheeks in victory, who wants to go to a stuffy old ball, anyway?

#The Irregulars #netflix #Billy x Leo #Billy/Leo #Billypold #Billy #Billy (The Irregulars)#Leo #Leopold #Leo (The Irregulars)#drabble #writing #my writing #photo prompt

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turinn · 3 years

Text

Naive

Ray Blackwell x M!Reader

Summary: An invitation at a party reveals that Luka had no idea you’re gay, and brings up a concern you hadn’t had before. Tags: Crack, fluff, secret relationship, mention of homophobia, alcohol consumption A/N: This is based on a dream I had where Luka and I had this exact conversation and when I woke up and remembered it I nearly threw up laughing. I did actual research for the girls outfit and hair bc im a fashion history nerd. the pocket watch i just thought was cute. Fenrir calls the reader fruity but its okay bc hes gay too god bless Word Count: 1.5k

The party was the usual affair expected of the Godspeed's, an air of elegance- present but not too overbearing- hanging over the large hall. Music drifted gently to your ears as you took everything in, a small smile settling on your face.

You couldn't help but feel a little underdressed. The officers had, of course, kept their uniforms on, but everyone else present was dressed to the nines. You'd thought the suit you wore was lovely when you and Seth had seen it last week, dark blue with a white trim, paired with a pale cyan tie and pocket square. The gold watch that settled comfortably in your pocket had been a gift from Blanc, supposedly made by Oliver to look similar to his own, to commemorate your decision to stay in Cradle. Compared to everyone else, it felt rather simple now, but you pushed the thought aside. Nobody was judging what you were wearing, they were here to enjoy themselves same as you.

"Would you like a drink?" Ray asked, voice soft enough not to startle you too much. This wasn't too effective, as you'd gotten lost in your thoughts, and sort of forgotten there were people around you, but it was kind of him to try. "Oh, yes, please." You smiled at him and a moment later he'd walked off, talking to Sirius about something, leaving you alone with Luka. Fenrir had disappeared to greet his family when you'd first arrived, and Seth was who knows where, but you didn't mind it being just the two of you. Luka rarely came to these, in fact this was the first he'd been to since you'd arrived in Cradle, despite it being your fifth, and you decided someone should stick with him so he didn't feel quite as nervous.

As you turned to say something to him, you noticed a lady making her way over to the both of you, looking rather flustered. Her fists were clenched at her sides, and she seemed to be muttering something to herself, but it was clear she had intent to speak to one of you. Perhaps she wanted to talk to Luka? He was cute, it wouldn't surprise you. What did surprise you, however, was when she walked up to you instead.

"Um, excuse me if this is far too forward, but... would you be interested in dancing with me?" She sounded so nervous, and you almost wanted to say yes. Any other man would have been lucky to get such an invitation- she looked stunning. She wore her hair in curls, gathered at the back of her neck, with a hairpiece of pale blue flowers was pinned at the front, a necklace donning the same type of flower hanging just above the neckline of her gown. The gown in question matched the colour of the flowers well, though the width of the crinoline supported skirt would have made you concerned about the logistics of dancing with her- if you'd had any intention of saying yes. Her cheeks were tinted pink as she chewed her bottom lip and waited for your answer, avoiding your gaze. A hand on your chest and a sincerely apologetic look on your face, you began to respond. "Oh dear. I'm terribly sorry, but you seem to have gotten the wrong end of the stick. You're a very attractive young lady but I'm afraid... how should I put this," You glanced at Luka for help, but he seemed to have no idea what you were trying to tell her, "I'm afraid I don't tend to set my eye on the ladies, so to speak." "You're... gay?" A sympathetic nod. "That's the ticket. Sorry, love." "Oh, it's not a problem! I'm really sorry to have bothered you!" She suddenly looked much less nervous, though a little embarrassed, and scurried off. You sighed. "I feel a little bad. I really hope she finds someone to dance with." Luka looked at you quizzically. "Why did you lie to her?" A confused laugh escaped you. "I'm sorry?" "You told her you were into guys. Why lie?" As he said this, Seth and Fenrir came up behind him, and hearing his question their eyebrows shot up. So did yours. Was he kidding? "Luka, sweetie, you have got to tell me what part of my personality made you think I was heterosexual, so I can set about changing it immediately." Seth choked on his drink, and though you flashed him a grin, you weren't entirely kidding. Going from Victorian London to a world where being gay was perfectly acceptable had been quite the change, but you'd been certain all of your friends had known. It's not like you were quiet about it, and sure, Luka was naive but... come on, now. "Wait are you... you were being honest?" "Yes?" "Luka," Fenrir began, stepping next to you and resting an elbow on your shoulder, "How have you seriously not noticed that he's gay yet?" "Well- there was no reason for me to assume!" "You watched me drunk make out with at least 2 different Black Army soldiers in my first month here!" Luka looked flustered, and utterly dumbfounded. The expression was one he wore often, usually when people insinuated that someone was in love- but somehow about five times more confused. He was unfortunate enough that Ray and Sirius returned at this moment, just in time to hear both your last remark, and his next one.

"I thought that was just something you did when you were drunk?" In another moment you were on your knees, legs shaking so much from laughter that you couldn't hold yourself up any longer. Fenrir was right there beside you, practically convulsing. Everyone else was laughing too- except poor Luka. You felt a little bad, truly you did, but this had to be the funniest thing you had ever heard. "He's completely straight, but watch out! Get a couple drinks in him and he turns fruity!" Fenrir managed to get out between cackles, and Ray was glad to have put your drinks down when Luka had last spoken, because he too nearly fell to the ground at this.

"Luka- Luka I'm sorry." You pulled yourself to your feet, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "We aren't laughing at you." Another fit of giggles overcame you. "Okay we kind of are, but it's not malicious or anything. That was just... hands down the funniest thing you've ever said." It took most of you 5 or so minutes to fully calm down from what he'd said, and anything that jogged your memories of it would bring you back to a state of uncontrollable laughter for the rest of the night. Luka came round to it being pretty funny after you talked him through the dozens of times you'd mentioned your sexuality to him since you'd met- every one of which had gone over his head.

Hours after the party had worn down and you'd all made your way home, you lay in bed, your head pressed against a familiar chest, and sighed. "What's up?" "I just... D'you think anyone else just hasn't realised?" Ray cocked his head, confused. "I'm gonna need a little more info than that, kitten." "I suppose I just... Back in London, it's not even legal to be gay, and I don't know if it ever will be. When I first came out to Fen, he told me that it was fine here, accepted and even celebrated. So, I guess I just thought that people wouldn't make the automatic assumption that I'm straight, y'know? I mean I talk about it a lot among you guys but- when I’m out and about... where do people think my final destination is? When I pick up a silly cat themed gift for you does the shopkeep think I’m buying it for my wife? It shouldn't be a big deal, I guess, but I'd never been able to be myself until I came here, and now it's like I can be me but... people will still only see who I am if I tell them. It's just weird is all. I dunno. Maybe I'm drunk." "You're not drunk. It's an understandable concern. I guess I've never thought about it, because whether or not people would accept that part of me has never been an issue, but the fact that you've had to hide it for so long and now that you're able to be open people still aren't seeing it must be hard. If you want we could... come out, so to speak?" Your eyebrows raised, and you moved back, propping yourself up on your arm so you could look your partner in the eyes.

It had been decided at the very start of your relationship, which had officially begun a few months after you'd made the choice to stay in Cradle, that the two of you would keep it under wraps for a while. Being from the Land of Reason was more than enough reason for people to take an unwanted interest in you, and you didn't need the extra attention being the King of Spades' partner would garner. Plus, anyone with a grudge against Ray would see you as a target the second you announced it. It had been a sensible suggestion on his part, one you hadn't hesitated to agree to, and as far as you knew only Sirius and Fenrir knew about your relationship. Fenrir because he had walked in on you sitting in Ray's lap while he worked late one night, and Sirius because- well, can anything get past that guy? And now, Ray was offering to tell the entirety of Cradle you were his, just so that you didn't feel like you were hiding your identity anymore? You could feel your eyes starting to burn, and you cursed the late hour and the alcohol in your system for making you cry so easily, but... "I don't think we need to be that drastic. You were right when you said it would keep me safe for us to not be in the public eye, at least for now. I'm sure Seth can come up with some better way for me to tell the whole world I'm gay." "I don't doubt that at all." Ray grinned, placing a gentle kiss on first your forehead, then your nose, and finally on your lips. "Tomorrow, though. You need your beauty sleep." "Ah, yeah, can't risk getting ugly. My boyfriend might not want me anymore." You quipped. "Exactly." He smirked at you, turning out the light and pulling you into his arms.

#🌙. by me #new fandom lads lets go!#i had a migraine earlier and now i cant remember how i tag fics help #ikemen revolution #ikerev #ikerev x reader #ikemen revolution x reader #ikerev x mc #ikemen revolution x mc #ray blackwell #ray blackwell x reader #ray blackwell x mc #☆ ikerev #♥️; ray blackwell

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ad1thi · 4 years

Text

@starklysteve me?? spamming you w recs because i love talking about my ships?? more likely than you think :)) (here’s some rhodeytony to get you started on what is objectively the best tony ship)

i place your hands around my neck: @fanfictiongreenirises

"Rhodey could practically feel his lungs getting heavier again, weighed down by roots of plants that he’d thought would never take hold in him again."

Or: the one where Rhodey's been pining over Tony for much longer than either of them realised and develops the Hanahaki disease

Pretend We’re In Love (The Heartache Still Hurts): @marvelingjules

Rhodey's dad is dying, and what he's always wanted is for Rhodey to be happily married. Tony and Rhodey were best friends, and haven't spoken in years. But after a chance meeting at the airport, and a desperate, insane idea on Rhodey's part, they end up pretending to be engaged.

But how much of it is really pretend?

i can’t seem to get a grip, no matter how i live with it: @psikeval

Tony knows he's got no business being a father.

A Million Shades of Blue: @notfknapplicable

“I just know that if I could get to wherever he is, I could find him. Dead or alive, I'd bring him back to us.”

James Rhodes will never stop searching for Tony Stark.

Twenty Five Years: @notfknapplicable (part of a series)

Nobody knows how long this has actually been going on. (Tony Stark has pretty much been in a monogamous relationship since he was 18 years old.)

Leave The Light On: @notfknapplicable (part of a series)

He was never doing this for fun. He'd just wanted to stay awake. And whatever you do, please don't tell that guy he's been fucking. He kinda likes him.

coloured in sun: @heleus

The one in which Anthony Edward Stark, having just reached the warm age of seventeen, realizes that he's in love with his best friend.

(The idea is terrifying.)

the planets that bend us: @deathsweetqueen

When Antonia Margaret Stark wakes up on her sixth birthday, it’s to the words: I didn’t get any sleep last night after that fucking lawn mower decided that 7 in the morning would be a perfect time for him to start his day, right outside my room.

She runs a thumb over the long string of words, wrapping around her wrist like a thick leather band.

She smiles.

She’s fourteen when she meets James Rupert Rhodes for the first time.

Written for the "more than a partner" square (S3) for the Tony Stark Bingo 2019 and the "soulmate" square for the Iron Husbands Bingo 2019

we rattle together in a bed of honey: @deathsweetqueen

Toni first met James Rhodes in Cellular Neurophysiology and Computing, when she was fourteen and trying very hard to stay in the shadows. She stumbles into the classroom, clutching her books and binders and pencil case close to her chest, as she stares at everything, wide-eyed and hungry and terrified. She seizes on the contempt, the confusion, the incredulity of the other freshman who look at her like she’s an incongruity – she’s used to that look, all that hate and derision.

She eats it up like chocolate cake.

Much to her luck, all the seats are filled, all except for one towards the middle of the row, a table shared only by a tall, handsome black boy, sleeping on top of the counter.

a winding road that stretches to the truth: @/coulddaughter (this author ostensibly has a tumblr but im unable to locate it -- so if anyone knows what their tumblr is please let me know so i can tag them!)

“Why do you need a date? Also, no offence, but why did you come to me? I stole, like, four of your girlfriends and at least two boyfriends, remember.”

“I do remember that, Tony,” said Jim, pinching the bridge of his nose. “No, I need you to come on a date with me.”

Love in the Eyes: @child-of-sunshine

The moment each of the Avengers realized Tony and Rhodey were in love.

The Curious Case Of The Discarded Condom: @/AssvengersArsemble

Natasha, Clint and Steve get just a little nosy about Tony's love life. Tony finds it extremely amusing they can't see what's right under their noses.

takes a lot of love and compliance: @gyzym

She's born breech, feet kicking out before the rest of her screams free; she's born breech, and never stops running. (Rule 63!Tony)

Targeted Persuasion: @galwednesday

Jim opened Tony's most formal closet and started pulling out tuxedos. "Put one of these on.”

"Why?"

"We're getting married."

Tony froze. "No, we're not."

"Oh yes we are." Jim tossed three tuxedos onto the bed. Three was a good number of options, enough for Tony to make a choice, but not so many that he'd get lost analyzing the ramifications of navy pinstripes vs. charcoal paisley. Tony did best with clear, specific expectations rather than an unlimited universe of possibilities that he would inevitably filter through his neuroses and obsess over, and Jim was really kicking himself for not considering that, oh, ten years ago when they’d first started this, but there was no point in beating himself up about it now when he could put that energy towards solving the problem instead. "You brought this on yourself, Tones. Pick a damn tux."

Five thousand roses: @/forestgreen

She is broken and all the more dangerous for it. The world should tread carefully around the shards of her former self lest they cut themselves on Antonia Stark's sharp edges.

A Guide to Handling the Unhandleable Tony Stark: @/nightrider101 (this is ab a/b/o verse)

Written for the following prompt on the Avengers Kink meme: The rest of the Avengers assume Tony is an unbound Omega by the way he acts. He's reckless and carefree and does what he wants. Imagine their surprise when they find out that Rhodey is Tony's Alpha. They're all confused at the way Rhodey lets Tony act and how they can be away from each other for long periods of time and Rhodey's just like 'He didn't want to give up his career and I didn't want to give up mine. And I gave up trying to tell Tony what to do years ago.'

It’s Not Bacon Until It Ceases To Be Bacon: @sobebold

Tony has lived with his best friend Rhodey for fifteen years, and everything is perfect.

Until Rhodey finally gets a boyfriend, and Tony's world gets turned upside down.

by any name: @machi-kun

Tony calls him ‘mine’, sometimes.

And he also calls him platypus, honeybear, sugarplum, all those stupid nicknames; but James’ favorite will always be ‘mine’.

Tutor Me: @wisiaden

Tony really wants James Rhodes to be his math tutor. The guy was hot, and if he had to play dumb, well, he can say he hates math.

run and hide: @/starksrhodey

Tony may or may not have a crush on football captain James Rhodes.

Or, Tony is extremely insecure, Pepper knows best, Steve likes to bake, Bucky loves red heads, and Rhodey keeps trying to talk to Tony.

This Is The Real Life: @blancheludis

It takes doing the laundry for Tony to realize he is completely, irrevocably in love with Rhodey. Who knew that the way to Tony Stark's heart is to teach him how to wash his clothes.

Anything For You Darling: @areiton

Tony is sitting on the balcony of his palace in Malibu, and Rhodey hates it, more than he's ever hated anything, watching his best friend stare at the water, limmed by the sun and utterly alone.

"She's dead," Tony says, before Rhodey can ask and he feels his breath catch, his heart stumble.

There's--

Grief. For pretty, troubled Maya with her big eyes.

Heartbreak. For a sweet infant who will never know the mother who gave him up, whose life will never be exposed, now.

Relief. Because Harley is safe. Safe. Gods, he's safe.

Rhodey helps Tony raise his son.

it goes like this (just like heroin): @quandongcrumble

He’s twenty-six and you’re twenty-eight and you get a midnight phone call from Obadiah and between the two of you, you manage to beg and bully until you can fly back to the States and sit beside the white hospital bed while they say words like heroin and accidental overdose and that Tony should pull through but Tiberius might not wake up.

It goes like this—for almost sixteen years Tony’s addiction problems are a blight on Rhodey’s relationship with him. Friendships crack and trust is shattered, over and over again.

motor oil and coconut oil: @/halfasgoodasanything

James loves his best friend. He's entirely supportive of his friendship and his almost relationship with Steve Rogers. He is! He is. Carol and Pepper seem to think otherwise, but he's cool. Loving Tony doesn't mean no one else can. Even if he wanted to.

lost and found: @starkslovemail

“Are you lost?”

Tony jumped at the voice cutting into his thoughts. Turning around, he saw another teen, maybe a year or two older than him, decked out in Team USA gear. He shook his head, flashing what he hoped was a disarming smile, “Nope.”

“Are you sure about that?” The athlete raised a disbelieving brow as he stared down at Tony. “You’ve been walking up and down this hallway for the past ten minutes, and the least embarrassing reason why is being lost.”

The blunt honesty startled a laugh out of Tony. He grinned cheekily, rocking back on his heels, “Guess I’m lost then.”

Written for the RhodeyTony Mini-Bang! Art can be seen on twitter here!

two boy geniuses walk into one frat house: @starkslovemail (part of a series)

There were too many white people at this damn party.

The Other 'Mr Stark': Iron Man’s Mysterious Paramour: @presidentrhodes

Clint leans over to Tony and whispers. “For the record, I know you’re lying. You’re describing the perfect man and he doesn’t exist. You might as well say you’re dating Superman because at least Christopher Reeve was a looker.“(Based on this prompt: Tony keeps telling the avengers how awesome his husband is but they don't believe he exists because it has been months and they still haven't met him yet and then finally, Rhodey comes home.)

#adi's rec list #rhodeytony #ironhusbands #james rhodes/tony stark #james rhodes x tony stark #this got long 😳#but all of these fics are so worth it #twenty seven recs #I HOPE YOU ENJOY THEM RHAE

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keoghans · 4 years

Text

Hey Chuck

Hello and welcome to this Chuck Grant fanfic. I always loved this dude, and I see little to no work about him, so, I took it upon myself to do fic about him. I invented a character, his love interest, because I cant write reader insert, I just, it bothers the fuck out of me to write like that lmao.

Special mentions for @notmykirk @liebthots @hellitwasyoufirstsergeant @alphapockets for proofreading, giving ideas and helping a distressed, nervous writer lol, you lot were brilliant!

This is super angsty, but also filled with fluff and stupid cliches.

Pairing: Chuck Grant x OC

Warnings: angst, shitloads of angst. Mention of rape. Slight, non-explicit smut. Cursing.

Word Count: 12k (I know, IM SORRY)

Epilogue

Three knocks and an anxious wait.

The door was opened by the tall ginger that didn’t seem to ever age.

“Hannah Davis! What brings you here?” he exclaimed with a broad smile as he hugged her smaller frame.

“How are you, sir? You look great!” she replied and he furrowed his eyebrows at her answer.

“Hannah, the war is over, it has been for a while, I go by Richard, Rich, or Dick, please,” he said, as he let her in his house. He sounded the same, warm, emphatic, funny.

“Old habits die hard, I guess,” she replied, checking out his living room. He lived in a beautiful, tall house, very homey. It had a fireplace on and a half finished drink on the nearby table.

“My wife went to visit her brother, a man that’s never approved of me, so I stayed back,” he explained, serving another drink for her.

“I remember when you first told me that he wasn’t fond of you and I wondered, how the hell does someone not like Dick Winters?” she replied and they both chuckled.

“Her parents like me, and so does she, so… it doesn’t really matter”.

Hannah didn’t marry post war, and it had been only a year, but most of Easy Company was already having children, marrying or at least dating.

She had her heart set on someone but she had lost all contact with him and the Army didn’t help her trying to get what she needed.

So, after an hour and a half of reminiscing about the war, about Austria and the Eagle’s Nest, Winters caught up to her.

“Hannah, with all due respect… I know this isn’t just a casual visit, or you would’ve brought Luz or someone else with you,” he started, trailing off for her to speak.

Hannah chuckled cynically, the man had always been prone to read people like a piece of paper. She struggled for a few seconds, her nerves coming back to her, scratching the back of her head absentmindedly.

“I’ve been trying to find someone… Someone from the Company, and I don’t want to ask the rest of the men because… Well, if this fails, I don’t want it to be gossip between them; and the Army couldn’t help me, they cannot give out information about former paratroopers,” she explained.

“I have all of the men’s information with me, so, who are you looking for? Though—some information can be outdated, I haven’t updated it in a couple of years,” Dick said, looking for an old black book that had ‘Easy’ embroidered in the front.

“Say the name.”

“Uh… Charles Grant—NCO Chuck Grant.”

Rick smiled softly, looking down as he looked for his name in his book.

“What?” she asked, slightly embarrassed. He knew.

“Nothing. Sergeant Grant is an exceptional man, I felt deeply for him when he got shot,” he explained and placed a ruler under his name, handing the notebook to Hannah.

“I know he is, that’s why I’m looking for him,” she said, looking down at his name, copying the information of his address and phone number.

Richard looked at her with his usual witty, warm smile.

“Thank you, Dick” she said, closing the notebook and giving it back.

“Like my wife would say, ‘go get him’.”

///

Hannah had Chuck’s address and phone for a month and a half.

Every time she thought about calling him, or showing up at his place, fear shook her body and threw her back to square one. She had taken a cab to her former Major in the Paratroopers for forty five minutes to find a man’s address and she couldn’t actually talk to him.

Hannah laid in her bed, after a long day at the hospital. She was eating leftover carrot cake she had made a week ago, feeling dreadful, looking at the little paper with Chuck’s name sitting on her bedside table, and remembered the many times they shared.

Bastogne was the coldest hell Hannah had ever experienced, and she knew it was never leaving her head after everything that transpired.

The trees exploded every now and again. As desperation settled inside each mind, everyone started wondering which was getting killed next.

Then the casualties came: Joe Toye and Guarnere lost each other one leg to mortars, Don Hoobler accidentally shot himself in the leg and the blood loss took his life. Muck and Penkala got blown to pieces by another mortar.

She had tried to save as many lives as possible as she had to shoot Germans from afar, fearing death every single second she moved around the snow covered forest.

She had short moments of peace, and most were laying in a foxhole, trying to gather some warmth, next to Chuck.

Her body shook as she blew into her hands, trying to gain back feeling on her fingertips when Charles looked at her and grabbed her hands without a word, covering them with his calloused fingers, scooting closer to her.

She was slightly taken aback.

Chuck wasn’t a man of many words, he communicated more with his eyes and small expressions. He politely smiled at her as he rubbed his hands against her.

“Thanks,” she muttered, nuzzling her chin deeper into her scarf that was tucked into her jumpsuit.

Chuck just looked at her and kept rubbing their hands together. She noticed her blue eyes looking bright from the full moon shining down the forest.

“I always hated the winter time, back in the states… and now more,” Chuck said, breaking the silence between them.

“I know, I prefer to be burning under the sun rather than freezing my butt off.”

“Cold beers,” he added.

“The beach.”

“Dipping into a river or the sea.”

Both exchanged small smiles.

Chuck had always noticed Hannah, and stared silently at her many times, but barely exchanged a few words in the second year of their training, when she arrived in Toccoa. He knew she was Shifty’s friend, and someone who Winters relied on and trusted from what Powers had said to help her get into the Paratroopers.

And she had proved herself useful, not only as a doctor, but as a sharpshooter, taking down snipers that others didn’t notice at first. She used to compete with Shifty on how many Krauts took down each.

Hannah always knew who he was, she remembered every and each name of the company, by nicknames mostly. He definitely called for her attention; he was polite, shy, only mustered a few jokes here and there, not like Luz, who couldn’t speak without joking.

But she was never as interested in him until he helped her find warmth in a shattering cold in Belgium.

Hannah remembered that with a smile—their first and probably closest interaction. It only took snow, people dying around them and a whole war for it to happen.

Friday, she thought, Friday would be a good thing for me to approach his house if, luckily, he didn’t move out before.

///

Anxiety. Lots of.

Hannah wasn’t on call at the hospital on Friday. She and her best friend, scheduled everything.

Angelina made sure she couldn’t back out of looking for the former paratrooper. She had helped her pick an outfit, helped with her hair, the whole ordeal.

“Okay, go, go! It’s barely past noon, it’s a beautiful day, maybe y’all can go for a walk,” angelina said, taking a sip from her lemonade.

Hannah was barely talking, her hands shook, she felt her pits damp with sweat, with a tight knot in her stomach.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, okay… I’m going, whatever, what could go wrong, what the fuck, he could only think I’m a fucking stalker, whatever right? Fuck—.”

“Oh my god, get out, I’ll take care of Trigger, let him have a stroll, and if by any chance you spend the night there—” she said, with a wink— “call me so I’ll stay and give Trigger his morning walkies,” Angelina commanded as she pushed Hannah through the door.

“Good luck, honey!” She yelled as Hannah dragged her feet through the hot cement under the July sun.

Every little thing that could go wrong played in her mind as she walked. Grant lived roughly twenty blocks away from her but she still wanted to walk there, to make it as slow as possible.

Hannah checked the address in the small, torn piece of paper she had it written on and looked for 1612 for a bit, until she finally saw it.

It was a beautiful, tall white house, with a dark grey roof, a small porch with a couple of rocking chairs. A lot of small pots with flowers and different plants covered most of the front of the porch, which made Hannah think that there was clearly a woman living there.

That made fear struck her again.

He’s probably married, there are rocking chairs and plants… none of the men of the paratroopers cared about fucking plants, why would Charles be any different?

Fuck it.

Hannah shook her head, her curls moving along, stomped the ground after pondering for a couple of minutes, away from the house and took a few deep breaths before she walked up the three steps before the door and, with a shaky breath, knocked three times and took a step back, giving the door her back.

She could sense her muscles completely tense, everywhere, arms, legs, stomach, and wondered why the hell she never got her anxiety completely treated like her PTSD from the war.

What if a woman opened the door? I’d pretend I got the wrong house and run for the fucking hills.

“Yes?” a deep voice said from behind her.

Hannah could’ve swore her heart stopped for a split second.

She turned in her heel with the riddled feeling in her stomach when she met those bright blue eyes and the permanently tanned skin of Sergeant of Second Platoon, Charles Grant.

His usual disheveled look was intact, she noticed, the droopy eyes and the resting annoyed face that was his trademark was still there, but it did change in a moment when he realized quickly who she was. His eyes widened as his jaw dropped slightly.

“Hannah? Hannah Davis?!” he exclaimed, opening the door wider, taking a step forward shyly.

Hannah swore her heart was thumping against her chest like a hammer, and was actually afraid Chuck would notice it. But all he did was try to find the words, stuttering slightly as he took a look at her.

“Hey, Chuck,” she said, trying to find her voice back from somewhere in her throat.

Charles let a single chuckle out of his mouth before, sort of awkwardly, pulled her for a hug, crossing his left arm around her torso and the other one, around the shoulders.

Hannah was a hundred percent sure her heart could arrest at any moment and die right there. The man was hugging her. And she was hugging him back, the same way, when his perfume surrounded her and she closed her eyes for a moment, lingering her head above his shoulder, every single feeling she had ever felt for him rushing back into her stomach, untying the knot slightly, filling it with butterflies.

“What a surprise! Come on in,” he said, as they parted, moving aside so she could walk inside first.

Clean, super clean. The fact that the house was so clean yelled wife! in Hannah’s face. But she shook the thoughts aside, trying to focus on walking and trying not to bump into anything and make a mess of herself in front of Chuck.

“You like it? I’ve been trying to decorate myself but… I don’t know, looks shitty to me still,” he added, standing next to her as she looked at old signs of tobacco brands, and a couple of paintings up white walls, complemented with an olive couch with three seats, a coffee table and a TV in front.

And books, everywhere. Different sized, colored, some put in a small library in the corner, near the couch. Some were sprawled over on the coffee table and one on the couch, open and faced down.

She took the books as the cue to find out and get it over with.

“You and—and your wife must read a lot,” she said, sniggering internally as she awaited for an answer.

Chuck let out a hearty chuckle, looking suddenly a bit embarrassed at her.

“Uh, I’m not married,” he said, forming a thin-lipped, awkward smile on his lips. Hannah felt how her shoulders relaxed at the information.

“Oh—sorry, it’s just… It looks very homey, and you know, women do that work mostly,” she said, trying to sound innocent.

“I learned a bit from my mom, and I found out that I really enjoy gardening and plants in general, that’s why there’s that many on the outside porch. Luz told me I was becoming a woman, I said, ‘what’s wrong with being a woman’?” Chuck said, scratching the back of his neck.

“He fought side by side with one, and he still says that crap?” Hannah asked, remembering George Luz, the clown of the company. “Fuck him, I like how it looks, it’s homey and… looks warm, you know?”

Chuck nodded his head proudly, trying to shoot down a smile that tried to creep up, slightly blushing.

“Listen, I was roasting some chicken, are you hungry? I have beers, too,” he said, pulling her by her wrist softly. This touch sent electricity up Hannah’s arm as she nodded silently, following him.

She was sort of surprised by his cheerfulness. He was a very lowkey man, never spoke too loud, unless he wanted to mock one of his peers with Luz or Guarnere. He fumbled around the kitchen for a bit, before going through the back door to the backyard, where he had a barbecue against the wall.

And she could see him work, cutting up the chicken while it was still roasting, and noticed how he hadn’t put up any weight since coming back from the war, or losing any from the anxiety and PTSD. He had kept in form, his arms still big, as his shoulders, the black sleeves of the shirt sticking tight against them.

Jesus, stop that!

Lost in her thoughts, looking around the kitchen, she didn’t notice Chuck was back with two small sandwiches in hand, leaving them on a couple of plates as he quickly moved to grab two Crystals.

“My brother taught me this amazing sauce, and it’s like pulled pork, but pulled chicken,” he explained, almost proudly of his handiwork. Hannah smiled and took a bite on it.

Instantly, she had to suppress a moan that was about to fall out of her full mouth, as she widened her eyes at him. He smiled as he chewed and nodded his head like saying I know, right?

After downing her bite with a bit of beer, Hannah finally breathed out to compliment his food, making Chuck blush again.

“So, uh… what brings you here? Did you need anything?” Chuck asked, taking a sip of his beer again.

I wanted to confess that I had feelings for you since you helped me warm up in a foxhole in Bagstone and you saved my ass when I got shot and you dragged me into a jeep to be taken away for a bit to heal, and I always wanted to kiss you for that but I’m such a fucking wuss, I never even dared to flirt.

“Oh, no, no, I didn’t come to ask any favors, no,” she replied, chuckling nervously, “I—I’m gonna be honest with you; when we came back from Europe, I knew you had to do some recovery from the shot you took, that would need rehabilitation and… I was dealing with so much I couldn’t stay and I felt like shit for a long while for that—Shit, this sounds like I’m doing this to sleep better at night but no, I just want to say: I’m sorry, I should’ve been there like you were when I lost my ear to a kraut bullet, Chuck, I’m really sorry, and I wanted to check on you, see how you were doing…”

It wasn’t a complete lie, Hannah knew that, but she still felt like what she needed to actually say was heavy in her chest.

Chuck smiled, and turned his head slightly, pulling his hair up a bit.

“The scar goes all the way to the back of my head, I—I should’ve died by the extent of my wound, but, it was mostly sup—superficial. My left arm is partially paralyzed,” he explained, lifting both arms at the same time but the left one was left behind as the right kept going up. “And sometimes it’s hard to s—” he closed his eyes as he struggled to say the word, his tongue frozen in the roof of his mouth for a couple of seconds— “speak, like, right now.”

Hannah looked sorry, like a dog with a tail between its hind legs, feeling ashamed.

“Don’t feel bad, I had my family and some of the men to help me, and very good doctors too, really, it’s not like you had to take care of me, you know,” Chuck added, grinning warmly at her. “George, Doc Roe and Speirs came almost daily to help, I was set; speaking of wounds, how’s the ear?”

Hannah moved her hair away to show him the scarred and dusty pink skin that reattached to her head after it got blown off in the Battle of the Bulge.

Bullets and mortars were falling down the territory Easy Company covered. As much as anyone avoids talking about fear, they were all terrorized; the lack of winter gear, clothes, ammo, and food kept them all weak.

Hannah and Chuck were shooting non-stop, both with shaky breaths as they were still covered under a wool blanket, where only the gun and their eyes could be seen.

“Hannah! Hannah, go help Shifty!” she heard Lip call her as he ran past. She sighed, not wanting to be any closer to the flying gunshots that were showering horizontally on them.

“Go, it’s okay, go!” Chuck exclaimed, looking at her swiftly as he kept shooting.

Hannah groaned in annoyance but still climbed up the hole.

Chuck watched at her go, though her walk got cut short. She froze in her place and he knew something was wrong, and in a split second, she was on the cold ground, yelling her lungs out.

“Shit, shit, shit, hold on, Hannah! Medic!! Medic!!” he yelled as he let his rifle in the hole, crawling to check on the brunette.

As soon as he turned her body around, his face grimaced in shock. She had blood flowing from her side into her cheek, eyes and mouth, as she gasped for a breath, steam coming from her mouth from the sheering cold.

He moved her hair slowly, uncovering what was left of her ear, hanging from skin threads, almost completely shredded from her skull. It was an awful view, and the crimson liquid kept flowing and flowing.

“What is it? Let me see, Grant, move!” Eugene Roe exclaimed, pushing the other soldier aside, checking the wound thoroughly. Hannah had stopped yelling, shock had settled in her body, covering her from the pain.

“It’s superficial, but you will need someone to cut off the rest. Help me get her to the jeep, Grant,” he said after covering the hole with sulfate and a white bandage that went across her face.

“Hannah, you’re going to be just fine, stay with us, come on!” Eugene yelled as Chuck lifted her from her back and legs, her face falling into his shoulder, bleeding on his jacket.

Chuck glanced at her every few moments as he ran to where her ride was stationed, she looked paler by the second that passed, her eyes were closing and he had to keep calling at her to stay awake.

“Hannah, come on, come on, stay with me, stay with me!”

When she was finally strapped down the bed on the front of the sheet, he held her hand for a second before she was pulled away, disappearing into the woods as he had to ran back to his foxhole and keep defending their territory.

But he kept wondering and wondering about her, until she came back two days after.

“You came back almost good as new, ear-less, stitched up,” Chuck said, reminiscing.

“And I had to tolerate thousands of ear related jokes for weeks, and got called ‘Earnnah’ too” Hannah said, making them both laugh.

“Fucking Luz and his nicknames,” Charles said, shrugging.

“Anyways, I still don’t have an ear, but the flu I was going through had clogged my eardrum and saved me from being deaf on one side, right?” Hannah added, lifting her beer bottle to cheer for that.

“To the flu, baby!” he said and both drank.

A couple of hours went by and both Chuck and Hannah were already feeling more comfortable in each other’s presence. They laughed about some anecdotes, and updated on their current lifestyles.

“So, a tobacco store?” Hannah said, standing under the sun in the backyard, enjoying the warmth of a summer afternoon, much more relaxed.

“Yeah, it was my post war dream, and I finally gathered what I needed to open it, it’s in downtown, 5th ave and Charleston. It’s cosy, small, but good enough to sell small things,” Chuck explained, clearly proud of his achievement. “You should come by sometime”.

“I would, but I quit smoking a few weeks ago,” Hannah replied and Chuck looked surprised.

“Really?” he asked, propping himself against a column he had set to sustain a small roof he had put up in his yard.

“Yeah, but I’ll probably hit withdrawal soon and I’ll go back to square one quickly,” she replied, mocking herself and her power of will, making Chuck laugh.

“You still sing?” Chuck asked, and she knew exactly why he asked. “I still remember when we found that piano in the Eagle’s Nest, and you sang a few songs to us,” he said and a very small grin creeped up his lips, looking down at his hands.

That was one of Hannah’s proudest moments.

“I do remember that, and I still sing, yeah.”

The war had lightened up, somehow.

Easy Company was on the works to clear the way into the old Nazi Town of Kehlsteinhaus, where they knew, at the top of the mountain, resides the crown jewel of the Nazi Party. A very glamorous house made only for Hitler and his closests friends.

Winters dictated for the Easy Company to head straight to the Eagle’s Nest, after raiding the town and finding a place to settle for a bit.

Hannah heard Speirs yelling the orders and they didn’t even think for a second before they started running up the mountain road towards the House. She ran next to Chuck, Popeye and Malarkey.

They entered the premises slowly, looking around for Krauts, their guns up in arms. And all of them were surprised by the size of the place from the inside.

It had grey walls, with bay windows every few meters, the sun shining through, illuminating the whole place. There were a few tables with a few chairs each, some silver plates and vases scattered around the living room, a fireplace, and on the far end, a grand, black and shiny piano.

Hannah was immediately drawn to it, forgetting about the men popping bottles of champagne they found lying around, remembering instantly the songs her grandfather had once taught her when she was younger.

The boys weren’t paying attention until they heard the first few notes Hannah pressed on.

“Davis, you can play?” Spiers asked her as they got closer.

I waited till I saw the sun, don’t know why I didn’t come

Hannah started singing, as a way to reply Speirs.

Chuck was certainly taken aback by her singing voice, she had never mentioned before she could do that, that she had even learned or anything she did apart from training for the paratroopers and hang with Shifty.

When I saw the break of day

I wished that I could fly away

Instead of kneeling in the sand

Catching teardrops in my hand

Her fingers seemed to be dancing around the keys like she had been doing that for a lifetime, as her voice shone through the notes she played. There was a sudden peace brought by the song, which no one could remember having heard before that moment.

Chuck sensed his body relaxing, as he looked at the brunette who met his eyes not too long after.

My heart is drenched in wine

But you'll be on my mind

Forever

For a fleeting moment, Chuck felt no one was there but him and Hannah, as she kept singing, his breath catching in his chest, leaving him breathless. He knew he had been looking at Hannah with different eyes for a while, but he never actually realized it completely until that moment.

Something has to make you run

I don't know why I didn't come

I feel as empty as a drum

I don't know why I didn't come

“From then on, you guys would ask me to sing every time we found a piano laying somewhere in the abandoned cottages,” Hannah remembered, smiling at the memory.

“Well, you do have a beautiful voice that puts everyone at ease, you know,” he complimented and Hannah could feel how her pulse accelerated at his compliment, cursing herself internally for being so weak for her former NCO.

“It's mid-afternoon, care for a tea?” Charles asked, when he noticed her blushing, not answering his compliment, knowing he had hit somewhere inside her with it.

“I can make a quick cake with anything you have in your kitchen, if you want to…” Hannah said, almost rushedly, trying to cover her tracks. Yeah, that doesn’t sound weird at all, Hannah, you fucking wuss, offering to bake a cake after a couple of hours chatting and trying to cover your stupid feelings, sure, yeah.

“Kitchen’s all yours,” Chuck said with a grin, looking for his kettle to boil water while Hannah looked for her ingredients for a classic vanilla cake.

As Hannah whisked the ingredients, Chuck served two mugs with boiling tea, placing one next to her as he watched her focused in his kitchen.

“I swear, most men of the company don’t have all this stuff laying in their kitchen,” she said, still looking down at the mix.

“I’m not most men,” Chuck replied and both chuckled at his comment. “Oh, look here,” he said suddenly, making Hannah turn around.

A black cat with a small bell in his neck walked in, stretching its legs, and walked up to Chuck, placing its front paws in the dirty blonde legs.

“This is Roe, I got him a few months ago, he walked in with a broken hind leg and never left this house,” Chuck explained, taking the cat into his arms, which made him start purring loudly. Hannah proceeded to pet him, sliding her fingertips slowly in the soft fur of the head.

“He’s so handsome!”

“Thank you,” replied Charles, earning a small slap in his arm by Hannah, who chuckled as she kept petting the kitty.

“You saying you took care of this kitty reminded me of that nun who changed my bandages in Foye, in that church, remember that? She came straight to me, wondering how a woman is in the Forces, and silently, pulled my face and cleaned me up,” Hannah said, remembering the face of the woman in the black typical suit of a nun.

“She didn’t treat anyone but you, which was either great or very selfish of her,” Chuck said, jokingly.

“She was in a convent, they take care of women mostly, and I am one, so…” she trailed off, wanting to slap the grin out of his face as she felt her heart melting to the view of Chuck, holding a cat between his arms like a child. My uterus is flipping about. “It’s not like no one took care of you boys.”

“What are you talking about?” Chuck wondered.

“Holland. All those women, and food, and drinks, and praising,” Hannah said as she put the mix in the oven. She could hear Charles laughing at her comments.

“I wasn’t doing anything there, I did accept food though.”

“Oh, Chuck, come on, I saw you with that blonde that was taller than you, kissing you non-stop,” Hannah exclaimed, way too quickly for her comfort, and turned around, pretending to check on the oven temperature; Could you be any more obvious, Hannah, dear?

“You sound jealous,” Chuck replied, with a smirk and furrowed eyebrows.

“I—okay, yes, I was; everyone was treating you all like goddamn heroes and whatnot, while I got questionable looks and fingers pointing at me for being a woman in a uniform… Hell, they must have thought I was the squad’s whore or something,” she defended herself, trying to not blow her cover that easy in front of his intense eyes looking at her from a few meters.

Chuck felt bad for a moment. He knew she was proud of being the first woman fighting alongside men in a war, knowing she had earned the respect of many, many people, but there was still a long way to go to be accepted by the population in general.

“Yeah, I wanted someone to kiss me too and give me drinks, I deserved that too, I didn’t have any physical contact with anyone as much as y’all in that time,” Hannah kept going, the anxiousness to cover herself up from showing feelings almost drowning her.

“I’m sure you would’ve gotten a kiss if you just asked,” replied Chuck, taking a sip from his tea while still holding Roe. “I would have if you asked me.”

Did my heart just stop? Did it just… really stop? Quick, don’t linger in silence too much!

“You’ve always been such a gentleman, Grant, but that was impossible. First, we were in the Forces together and that was very forbidden. Second, I couldn’t ask people for that, that’s just sad and I didn’t look like any of the women there, my hair wasn’t done, I was wearing our uniform and probably didn’t smell the best there,” Hannah clarified, trying to not sound too rushed again.

“Okay, yeah, partially true, but you don’t need to be all fixed up to be pretty, though.”

He knows and now he wants to play soccer with my fucking heart. Goodness, I hope he doesn’t know.

“To be honest, it’s not like I came back to the states and started dating and whatnot… I did adopt a dog, his name is Trigger, like the one Tab had back in the day,” Hannah said, trying to clear herself. “Oh, and Tab asked me out like a year ago,” she suddenly remembered.

“Floyd?! R—really?” Chuck asked, clearly surprised.

“Yeah, he showed up once, with flowers and everything. It was so sweet but Tab is like my little brother, so I let him down slowly and luckily, he accepted it and we’re still friends,” she explained, remembering how disappointed he looked for a second before she explained herself to him and he took it with humour and saved their friendship from awkwardness.

All the while, Chuck laughed heartily.

“What? Oh, don’t laugh at him! He’s so sweet, he was always nice with me, even when most doubted the presence of a woman at war, come on,” Hannah defended Talbert, throwing a paper towel ball straight to his face.

“Hey! No need to get violent!” Chuck retaliated, throwing it back at her. “I can’t believe little ol’ Tab asked you out,” he added, chuckling.

“You’re all always making fun of people who ask me out or flirt with me,” Hannah added, a sneer creeping up her lips. “Remember that one British soldier?”

The Company had saved a hundred and forty brit soldiers, without any casualties. Everyone walked back to camp cheerfully but in silence until they entered the barn.

Hannah didn’t feel as cheerful as the rest. She had been carrying a small infection under her tongue for a few days and cramps were attacking her every now and again, which she didn’t share with anyone trying to avoid some sexist comment about the nature of women.

Booze was being passed around the brits and the company as everyone cheered and applauded for their exceptional work. Hannah did enjoy seeing all the grins and wide smiles spread around, while she stood in the side, leaning against a thin wooden column, rubbing her back to ease the pain.

“Moose Heyliger and the American 101st have done the Red Devils a great service, making it possible for us to return and fight the enemy another day,” the captain of the British soldiers exclaimed to the crowd of paratroopers and the Red Devils. “To Easy Company, victory, and Currahee!”

Everyone cheered, drinking profusely, laughing and all around happy, until the same captain interrupted them for a second.

“Oh, and let us not forget to cheer for one more thing: the first woman in the Forces who was part of this mission, Miss…”

Hannah wasn’t paying attention, she was completely zoned out on the side, until she heard her name being called a few times. She looked up to the Captain, who had his drink up and looking at her.

“Oh—Oh, Hannah, Hannah Davis!” she replied, a little startled.

“To Hannah Davis!” The cheers erupted once again, but everyone was now looking at Hannah, who blushed furiously at the attention she was receiving. She just gave them all a tight lipped smile, her eyes drifting from one side to another.

“So, congratulations are in order, ma’am.” A thick British accent interrupted Hannah’s thoughts a while after she had been cheered on. She turned around to find a tall man with a buzz cut, his red beret and a pointy nose. And a very warm smile.

“Thank you, private…?”

“Joe Seaward, and it’s Sergeant now,” he clarified, taking his beret off as he took a drink. “How is the Force treating you? Good, I hope?”

“Very good, sir, they feel like family already. At first it was weird for them, but I was vouched for by the Battalion chief, and one of the men, who is an old friend from his hometown,” she replied, feeling slightly intimidated by the brit.

“I’m glad you’re feeling comfortable. And hometown! Where would that be, if I may ask?”

“Atlanta, Georgia. Can I ask you where are you from?” she asked, looking up at him. Hannah could feel the eyes of Easy on them, but she didn’t dare to look back at them.

“Birmingham, born and raised,” Joe replied, looking proud. “Uh, anyone expecting you back home?” he suddenly asked, and Hannah understood what he was referring to.

“No, apart from family, no one special,” she replied, and just got interrupted by another voice yelling at them.

“Sergeant Seaward! We’re leaving, come on!” Joe looked annoyed all of a sudden.

“Well, ma’am, if this isn’t too forward, when this war is over, and luckily, we’re both still alive and well, why don’t you stay in England for a while and… maybe we can go to dinner together?” He said, rushing as he took a few steps back.

Hannah thought for a second and, feeling like she had nothing to lose and after not being flirted by anyone in two years, she replied “Sure, Sergeant, if we both survive…”.

Joe smirked deeply and quickly found a paper and a battered small pencil, scribbling in it and placed it in her hands, before kissing the back of it.

“You’ll find me with that. Take care, Hannah Davis! Cheerio!”

Hannah felt like a child meeting her first crush, blushing, with a dumb smile in her face, until she heard the sniggering paratroopers behind her.

“What?” she asked, already looking annoyed at them as she turned to find them in a half circle around her.

“What was that ‘bout, Davis?” Bull asked with one lifted eyebrow.

“Nothing–”

“Not nothing, that brit was flirting with you!” Liebgott exclaimed, his lip curled as his eyes darted between the door of the barn and her.

“The fuck is the problem with that?” Hannah asked.

“No fraternization with soldiers in the Forces,” Chuck added, looking down at his hands.

“Oh, fuck all of you. It’s the first time someone comes and tells me I’m pretty in two years, when y’all had women throwing themselves at you back at Eindhoven!” Hannah defended herself, shutting them all up. “It’s not like I’m actually going to do something about it, I might be dead tomorrow anyways”.

“He looks stupid and he’s a brit, we’re all a better catch than him!” Martin added, inflating his chest.

“The only decent man here is Doc Roe, and you all know that for a fact. I’m going to sleep for a bit, goodnight” she said, walking away from them, breaking the half circle without looking back.

“I still have that small, battered piece of paper with me, but I never went to see him,” Hannah added, smirking at the thought. “I should’ve stayed in England and find him, honestly”.

Chuck frowned, “why? Was he really that interesting?”.

“He was sweet, he had a very attractive accent and hell, how many men do you know that say ‘cheerio!’ When saying goodbye?” Hannah defended Sergeant Seaward.

“Oh, stop talking talking about him already” Chuck said, dismissing her comments with a frown.

“Who’s jealous now, huh?” Hannah joked, pushing him slightly. Chuck just laughed bitterly.

///

Chuck showed her around the house, apologizing for forgetting to do a tour when she first came in.

He showed him some old pictures he had from high school that his mom had taken of him, some of his own family, and even a photo from a high school girlfriend he still had. Charles told him they were still in contact because her family was close to his, until he went to the war and she moved out of the usual address.

“It’s like the time I was away, fighting, home became a black hole in my memory, like…It couldn’t possibly exist at the same time I was away.”

Hannah enjoyed learning more from his past, and suddenly wondered if he had ever known what happened and how Easy reacted when they found out he had gotten shot.

Charles was looking down at a picture when she popped the question.

“Chuck, did you uh—did anyone ever tell you what happened with Easy when you… When that replacement shot you?”

He suddenly took a seat on the couch, looking up at her. There was something on his eyes that she couldn’t decipher, but it was between fear and curiosity; his fingers went to linger over his scar absentmindedly.

“No, I—the guys never told me anything, and I didn’t dare to ask, honestly.”

“Do you, uh… Do you want to know?” Hannah asked. Chuck nodded, his lips seeming sewn shut. She took a seat next to him, the air suddenly completely filled with tension.

“Well, you had patrol and we were relaxing in the house, playing cards, some asleep, most smoking and chatting about the end of the war. Also about the points, but, that’s not important.”

“Then, the door of the living room burst open with a pale, very pale and shook Tab. ‘Grant got shot in the head’ was the first thing he muttered. You know, there wasn’t any music around us, but it seemed like it had stopped. The relaxing atmosphere was cut off like when the lights go out with a switch.” Chuck was staring at her, his attention fully on her.

“But we didn’t have that much time to like… process. Floyd had received orders to find the shooter, and we practically went around the whole town and the ones nearby looking for him. We had the order to bring him alive but neither wanted to lose the chance to put a bullet in him. We were organized in groups, and we divided in three or four people each.”

“We ended up finding him still in Zell Am See. Malarkey found him with Bull and Lieb, they found him trying—” She took a pause, her stomach turning slightly at the memory— “trying to rape an Austrian girl. She was saved, thankfully, and he was brought back to the house where he took the beating of his lifetime”

By that point, Chuck jaw was opened, but his eyes seemed calmer, somehow.

“Did you beat him too?” he asked. Hannah suddenly broke eye contact, looking down at her fingernails fidgeting together.

“Yes, but I only punched him, the rest did the real beating… I was so angry when I found out he was in the house, I burst through the door and went straight with my knuckles to his jaw. I had my hand bruised for weeks. You were away at that point, Speirs and Roe had found a Kraut brain surgeon and got him to work in you as soon as they could. But we didn’t know if you were alive or not. After the rest took their turn with the replacement, Speirs had come back, saying the surgeon confirmed you were going to be okay; then they dragged the son of a bitch over to the MP’s.”

Hannah felt ashamed, her body seemed to be burning when the memories of that moment revived in her.

“I was so scared you were gonna die, Chuck… I wasn’t there when Speirs confirmed you were going to be okay, and I just—I lost it at that moment,” she added, a knot forming in her throat. “Lieb found me, while I was sitting in a room upstairs, on a bed, in the dark, cursing and crying. It wasn’t only you that made me cry, but… I cared about you, you know. You were my friend, we went through the worst together and I thought I had lost y—,” Hannah’s voice broke, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

“Hey, hey, Hannah, I’m here, aren’t I?” Chuck said, scooting closer, placing a hand on her knee and another rubbing her back. “I’m sorry for scaring you like that…”

At that, Hannah snorted while she teared up.

“What are you apologizing for? For getting shot? Jesus, Charles, you didn’t ask for it, did you?” she joked through the tears and broken voice, making both laugh cynically. Hannah lifted her head and looked at him, and noticed how his eyes were watery. He sniffed as he tried to recompose himself, his hands never leaving the brunette.

“No, I know, but… I’m okay, you s—see? I just speak like I’m dumb or something now,” he joked.

Suddenly, something took over Hannah and she hugged him, with her arms surrounding his shoulders completely. Chuck was taken aback at first, but he then wrapped his arms around her waist and stayed there for a moment, neither muttered a word, only sniffs and breathing could be heard.

Hannah laughs, then smiles down at the picture of a younger Chuck. Some things change, and some things stay the same forever. Chuck is one of those things that never changes.

After a while, after a hug that helped both recompose and even sort of heal wounds that can’t be seen, they went back to rummage through old photos.

“Oh, look at this one,” Chuck said, pulling a picture from his teenage years, where he was in just his underwear, surrounded by kids holding different pieces of clothing cheerfully “that was in the middle of summer, we were trying to fight the heat with water balloons and I got so soaked, my brother and my friends convinced me to take them off so they could dry. Me, being stupid and young, did so and they stole them and ran away.”

Hannah laughed loudly, looking at Charles with apologetic eyes.

“How could you be so naive?” She asked, between laughs.

“Hey, if I remember correctly, you got your clothes stolen once, in Haguenau! And you know it sucks, doesn’t it?” Chuck replied, jabbing his index on Hannah’s arm.

Hannah had survived Bastogne, with the scarring of her life and one less ear. Everyone was changed, they had lost many men there, including Toye and Guarnere, Muck and Penkala, and lost Buck to shellshock.

These days passed with nothing much to do but waiting for orders, some training, and finally, after the snow had passed, winter clothes.

Second Platoon was stationed in a tall, two-story house, with many rooms, filled with beds and some tables. It was battered, most wallpapers looked torn, and the smell of humidity and gunpowder filling everyone’s nostrils.

On a cold morning, Hannah came back to the second floor, where Malarkey was introducing the new Lieutenant Jones to the men.

“Sir?” her voice, smaller than ever, turned everyone around. Some had to take a second look to be sure what they were looking at.

“What happened to you?!” Don exclaimed, his jaw dropped.

Hannah was shirtless. She was holding herself trying to keep the warmth of her body, with only a bra, pants and boots on. She looked red in the face, from the shame. Hannah could sense the eyes on her body, taking notice of every single scar she was sporting, and the bandage that was covering one on the side of her hip.

“I was changing bandages, I turned for a second to get the sulfate and I heard someone running and laughing. I thought there were just some men playing around but they had taken my clothes, sir…” she explained. Everyone could hear the anger in her voice, her jaw clenching tight.

“Jesus fuck,” Malarkey muttered, while Chuck proceeded to pull the sweater he used under his jacket and quickly helped Hannah put it on. “Lieb, MccLung, Jackson, go find the fuckers who did this, report to Speirs”.

“I’m sorry, Malark, I—I didn’t want to make any trouble, really, I—,”

“No, don’t apologize. This isn’t your fault, okay? Here, it probably smells but it’s better than nothing, I’ll have someone find some clothes if they don’t find yours,” Malarkey said, giving her his scarf, and went back to speak with Lt. Jones, who only nodded to her as a salute.

“Come on, we made some coffee,” said Chuck, pulling her to where the kettle was in a corner. “Are you okay?”.

“Yeah,” was all she said, hiding herself in her copper mug, drinking the awful coffee they have been given. Then Chuck did something that she wasn’t expecting, but calmed her nerves quite quickly: his palm met the top of her head, and ran down her hair slowly.

Hannah had seen the men do that to each other, when they had panic attacks or after the death of a fellow soldier, they would hold their heads or run their fingers through their hair. It seemed like a paternal way to hold them close and not let them fall into the abyss of desperation war brings in people.

And now she felt it herself. Chuck’s fingers brought peace into her body, into her mind. She closed her eyes he kept going, enjoying that as well as the steam from the coffee meeting her cold skin.

///

Not too long after, and from a window, Hannah and Chuck saw MccLung and Lieb dragging two soldiers from their jackets to Speirs and Winters. Joe talked furiously, clearly explaining what the two men did.

Hannah chuckled cynically, knowing Speirs would have them doing the worst jobs for the Platoon.

Her happiness didn’t last long, though. After getting new clothes, returning Chuck’s sweater, she found out, alongside the rest, that they had a patrol to get to at one past midnight.

Everyone dreaded it, mostly because Second Platoon had lost the most people since Bastogne, and they still wanted them to do a senseless mission. They were ordered to cross the river into German territory and take prisoners to get intel.

They still had hours to kill before heading to enemy territory, so Hannah decided to find some place to nap, after fixing and cleaning her guns and getting more ammo.

She wandered around Second Platoon’s house until she found a room on the second floor. She opened the door, walking inside, and instantly found a sleeping body on top of the bed.

“What? What?!” it said startled and looked up. Hannah didn’t notice at first but as soon as some light shone through the bullet holes on the wooden panels in the window, she saw Grant’s face.

“Oh, sorry Chuck, I was looking for some place to sleep, I’ll leave you to—,”

“No, no, it’s fine… we can share,” he said from the dark, she could hear his hand patting the bed.

Hannah thought for a second. She was exhausted, her body was still cold and there probably wasn’t a better bed in the whole house to nap in.

So, she closed the door behind her and left her jacket and rifle on the floor, and climbed under the wool blanket.

Under it, she was met instantly with Chuck’s warmth, her side wasn’t cold, as she expected it to be. There was calm, so much calm it was a bit unsettling for Hannah; last time she felt it, mortars fell from the sky and took her friends with the blast.

But there was something about the gentleness of Chuck’s breathing that helped her, which she couldn’t explain, but silently thanked him for it.

A few minutes passed when Hannah turned to her side, facing Chuck, who was already positioned on his side. She was unable to fall fully asleep, which was normal when someone tries to relax during a war.

Hannah just stayed there in silence, eyes closed, her hand dropped on the mattress near her face, when she felt Chuck’s hand a few inches from hers.

For a moment, she wanted to grab it.

Hannah had noticed for a while that she was closer with Chuck than with the rest of the men. It was an odd friendship; it’s not like they talked for hours and hours on end but mostly in silence or with hushed, short conversations. But when she was with him, she didn’t feel as much fear as with the rest or alone in a foxhole.

But he had always been there for her, like she was for him. Through every loss, through every problem. There was an implicit deep trust between them that neither acknowledged with words, but with simple actions.

And to her, he was certainly an attractive man; with dirty blonde hair, an inviting smile, always polite and shy. And Hannah knew she had felt sometimes a bit of a butterfly in her stomach when he smiled at her.

Suddenly, her thoughts were hushed when she felt his fingers wrap around hers.

Hannah didn’t open her eyes, afraid they would show how much speed her blood pressure gained in a split second. But she did reciprocate, after a moment, moving her hand so his fingers intertwined with hers.

Neither moved, neither spoke nor opened their eyes. And finally, both fell asleep until Liebgott woke them up a couple of hours later.

He opened the door loudly, letting in some light. Both Hannah and Chuck sat up quickly, startled and disheveled, looking at Joe like he was crazy.

Joe looked at both with a deep, playful smirk before saying, “We have the meeting at CP in ten minutes, let’s go, come on.”

Thankfully, Joe didn’t notice that Hannah and Chuck were still holding hands under the sheet; but when they caught it, as Lieb left, they quickly unwrapped them and rushed to get their things, without saying another word to each other.

///

Night came around nicely.

Both Hannah and Chuck were enjoying their time. Hannah had clearly relaxed, mostly after they had talked about what happened to the NCO, feeling like she had let go of a heavy weight she carried on her shoulders.

Charles offered for her to stay for dinner when the brunette said she still had to walk her dog, even though she knew Angelina had probably done that already. He insisted, saying the leftovers taste even better reheated on the grill.

Hannah laughed and agreed to stay, as long as she could help with it. Her day has been better than expected, way better. But she still had that small pebble in her shoe about her feelings towards Chuck. A part of her yelled that she should come clean to him, and be done with it, no matter the result. The other part also yelled that his friendship was more valuable than risking it for something more.

But the tiny voice in her head still insisted with No, no! He doesn’t feel that way. He hasn’t flirted with you, or showed some clear sign of attraction, Hannah! Have dinner and pretend it’s all good.

“Hey, can I ask you something? This might sound a bit weird,” Hannah said, with a sneaky smile while Chuck revamped the grill. The former NCO just nodded in response. “Why aren’t you married?”

Chuck snorted, looking surprised and slightly offended. “Aren’t you the one that used to complain that women are always pressured to get married, and maybe they shouldn’t if they don't want to?” He asked, almost complaining.

Hannah laughed and put her hands up in her defense.

“I don’t mean it like that, Charles Grant! I just… I’m surprised a man like you, who does all this, isn’t at least dating someone,” she clarified.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t dating someone,” he replied, without looking at her.

There it is! So, that’s what it's like to get your heart punched, huh?

“Oh, yeah, I mean—Of course, sorry–,” Hannah added, suddenly stumbling upon her words as she felt her hands shake slightly.

Chuck snorted again, this time a hearty laugh escaping his lips.

“I’m not Hannah, I’m not seeing anybody at the moment,” he added, smiling as he moved the charcoal around the grill.

Hannah had a rush of anger suddenly, wanting to throw something at him and yell you fucking asshole, I’m in love with you, do not do that to me!!!

But she held herself in, looking rather unphased, and just nodded disapprovingly.

“I, well… I haven’t met the right woman, you know? I’ve seen some people, yeah. Babe set me up once with this redhead who could’ve been Malarkey’s sister for all I knew and it was going good at first but… Fuck, I was so bored!” he said, showing the annoyance in his face at the memory. “She was nice and all, but she was just… so fucking boring. She talked about her hair and stuff she does with her lady friends and she hated when I told stories about the war.”

Now it was Hannah’s turn to laugh. “She hated it? Why?”.

“Who the fuck knows, maybe it was too g—ory for her, or she didn’t want to hear that one of the men was being called ‘Gonorrhea’. Hell, she didn’t even want to hear how I got the scar in my head or rather, the explanation of my slurring when I speak and my lack of strength on my left side,” Chuck said and sounded rather offended.

“Someone has to either appreciate your scar and the sequels, or get the fuck out of your way,” Hannah said, approaching him with a beer in hand. “Don’t ever feel ashamed for that, Chuck, I’m not ashamed of having one ear, honestly. I think it’s pretty nice. Who can say that is different when their bodies are complete and in perfect state?”.

“It’s boring, isn’t it?” he added.

“You and me, Chuck, are different. And that’s good. Toye and Guarnere have one less leg each, they’re fucking awesome too.”

Hannah’s heart leaped at the sight of Chuck looking suddenly proud of himself, and when he looked at her to clink their bottles, she could’ve sworn that, if she had the ovaries, she would’ve kissed him right there and then.

///

After dinner and a few more laughs, Hannah called it a night.

Her heart felt slightly heavy for not having dared to confess what she was there to do in the first place.

“Well, my dear Grant, I have to head home,” she said, as she put plates down the water in sink.

“Already?” Chuck replied, looking surprised.

“It’s almost ten in the night!” she exclaimed, drying her hands on a towel that hung from the oven door handle.

“Want me to call you a cab? Lieb is probably still around working with his.”

“No, don’t worry, I’ll walk. It’s fine,” Hannah replied, and started walking towards the door with Chuck on tow.

Both stood on the porch, looking around the calm neighborhood. Hannah was feeling so ashamed of herself, slapping herself mentally every second that passed.

“Well, Hannah, this was a great surprise,” Chuck started, breaking her thoughts for a moment, “we should do this more often, maybe with the guys, sometime, before winter leaves us secluded in our homes.”

“Of course, but let’s not wait two years this time,” she replied, with a smile creeping up her lips, looking at him. God, how can someone dare be this good looking?

Chuck proceeded to hug her like when he opened the door past noon, when she showed up at his doorstep. Hannah reciprocated, and drowned herself once again in his cologne, not wanting to let go or stop feeling his hands around her body.

“See ya, Davis,” Chuck said as she walked down the steps and she took one last look at him before heading home.

You fucking wuss, you fucking wuss, you fucking wuss, you fucking, pathetic w—

“Hannah! Wait!”

Chuck’s voice startled her as she was reaching the crossroad, when she turned around to find him running towards her.

Her heart raced, wondering why the hell was he yelling at her for. Maybe she had forgotten something. Yeah, that’s all, I might have forgotten my… keys?

“Hannah, wait, I… I have to tell you something and this can’t wait…” Chuck started as soon as he caught up to her. “Listen, this might sound weird but… a while ago I—you appeared in a dream of mine. You were talking to me after I got shot and you were begging me to not forget you.”

“Hannah, I took it upon myself to find you but I was meeting only dead ends, the Army wouldn’t help me so I had to… fuck, I had to find Winters and ask him for your information. God, that was embarrassing, but you know Winters, he didn’t hesitate to help. I had your address and phone numbers for months, but I never had the guts to go knock on your door… I thought you might have forgotten me, but… I never forgot about you,”

“I never forgot how we shared a foxhole during our hardest time. I never forgot how we slept in that bed and held hands in the dark. I never forgot how you took care of me when I had that one panic attack in Bastogne, and everything else,”

“What I mean, Hannah, is… I love you. I can’t date other women because they’re not you, and all I want is you. So… please, don’t leave. Not now. I couldn’t believe my eyes when you showed up at my door, fuck, I thought I was dreaming or dead. You had found me and I—,”

Before Chuck could follow through with his speech, Hannah took him by the face and kissed him.

It was bruising, it was desperate and filled with love. Chuck wrapped his arms around her body, bringing her impossibly close to his body as her fingers found his hair.

The anticipation was their favorite feeling. They both sensed how long they waited for that to happen, so they sank deeper into it.

It went on for a few minutes, the night time seemed to have stopped for both, like everything had disappeared except for them.

After they parted, both panting, their foreheads connected, Hannah opened her eyes and found Chuck’s cheeks stained with tear trails and that explained the salty taste in his lips. That made her smile widely as she still held his hand between hers.

“Can you—do you want to s–spend the night with me?” Chuck asked, opening his eyes finally.

Hannah just smiled widely, pecking his lips as she pulled him by the wrist towards his house.

///

Making love to someone you have craved for years makes the hours longer.

Both Hannah and Chuck were sure of that while the latter moaned loudly as Hannah rode him; his hands were bruising against her hips as she moved, holding herself in his shoulders, kissing him every now and again.

Hannah never thought she would see Chuck like this. With sweat rolling down his forehead, his lips swollen and his eyes squeezed shut; to see his naked torso and his chest heaving up and down, which was covered in different scars that only made him even better looking in her opinion.

The man was almost ethereal in the dim light of his bedroom.

She enjoyed every bit of him as much as she could, like that could’ve been a fleeting figment of her imagination that she had to hold tight between her fingers before it could slip away.

But reality brought her back when she felt the pain of his fingers digging into her hips. Hannah didn’t mind one bit.

She just loved to see how overwhelmed with pleasure he was, how he propped himself into his elbows, wrapping a hand around her bottom to carry both into the bed frame so he could sit and find her lips with his as he rode into his climax.

Of course, Chuck being the gentleman he was, caring, he helped Hannah ride into hers, enjoying how she cried out his name loudly like it was the best song he had ever heard.

///

Chuck’s fingers ran down Hannah’s bare shoulders, enjoying the dampness. It was soft, it was warm and it also a tad bit freckled. His fingertips followed down her arm until they met her face, that laid upon the back of her hands as she laid in her stomach.

Her eyes were closed but she was still awake. Hannah was just soaking on everything that happened through the day, and now, through the night, as the clock ticked into two in the morning.

Chuck sat parallel to her, and his fingertips went all the way back to walk down her shoulder blades, into the deep line of her spine, meeting a few moles spread out here and there, which sent very slight tickles to the brunette.

“I kind of can’t believe this just happened” he muttered, turning to lay his head on the small of her back. He could feel the vibration of the small laugh she let go at his comment.

“Me neither, Chuck… but I, uh… I have a confession, which I think will make you laugh,” Hannah replied.

“Do go on…” he replied.

“You told me you looked for my information with Winters, right?” Hannah asked.

“Right”.

“Well, when I looked for you too… I did the same,” she said and felt his head suddenly turn to her at her words, “and when I said your name, he gave me a weird look, but now I know it was a ‘I know something important about this that you don’t know’ look”.

“So, wait, we l—ooked for each other in the past few months, and we did exactly the same shit?” he said, struggling slightly.

Hannah heard the clicker of the lighter and looked back at him, lightning a cigarette with a shit eating grin sprawled upon his lips.

“Exactly what I’m saying,” she replied, laying her head back down.

“Another reason why I would like to marry you, then,” he added, like it was nothing.

What he didn’t notice was the speed in which Hannah’s eyes widened and her heart started thumping inside her rib cage.

“I’m sorry?!” she asked, sounding a tad bit anxious. Chuck was never one to say rushed things like that.

“The first reason is how powerful and relentless you were and still clearly are. You know how I know that?” he asked, and she could feel his smile still in his lips.

“No, how?”

“When you confronted Sobel before we went to Holland. Of course, I didn’t know at the moment the amount of feelings I had for you, but… I think I did have some of them roaming inside me,” Chuck said, like he was the one who stood up to Herbert Sobel, “but that was just plain hot,” he finalized, and turned to look at her; Hannah was just looking at him like he was crazy.

The night before, everyone was cheering for their job. They were done, they were bound to the States and all the Easy Company wanted to do was drink and laugh.

For everyone’s demise, Lipton announced how they were heading back into war, to Holland, killing the mood instantly.

As the replacements were getting helped and guided by Bull, rather than Cobb, who could only brag about stuff he never ever did; Chuck was packing her stuff near Malarkey, Bill and Hannah.

“I swear I thought by this time I was gonna be home, with a hundred in my pocket, flowers for my mama and nearing Christmas with my nieces and nephews” Malarkey said, fixing his bayonet. The rest scoffed, still bitter by the news.

“I miss the coffee from hometown, there’s this beautiful place in Hamstown Square, it’s very small and cozy, and the pastries are the most delicious I’ve ever had” Hannah said, looking like she was talking about the love of her life.

“Guys, look!” Bull said, interrupting them, pointing to their right.

On a jeep, carrying some stuff behind it, sat Herbert Sobel, their former CO, the nightmare that trained them back in Toccoa. Hannah knew she didn’t train with him as much as the rest, but a year with that man was more than enough.

“Fuck, no…” Hannah whispered so just the boys around her heard her “No, not him”.

“Don’t—Pretend he’s not here,” Malarkey said to her, tying the loose ends of her parachute to her shoulders as Skip came to them scowling like the rest. “Y’all too, do not look at him”.

Neither obliged, all of them stared at the man passing by.

“The hell is he doing here?” Skip wondered, without getting an answer.

Sobel walked in a straight line near the men as the truck behind his jeep unloaded, looking between the men with his usual air of superiority untouched.

Unlucky for Hannah, he had met her eyes not too long after, and the man approached her, before the rest could make themselves scarce.

“Still alive, uh… Davis?” Sobel asked, scowling at the brunette.

“Pretty much, sir. Still teaching at that school… somewhere?” she answered, provoking a few small gasps around her. Sobel scowl just deepened.

“Do not disrespect me with that tone, private” the taller man threatened, his jaw clenching tight.

“Earn the respect, like you once taught us, and I won’t,” Hannah replied, her tone dripping with bitterness and irony. She felt a hand in her shoulder and knew one of the men was probably trying to calm her down. “You came here and act surprised that I’m still alive? No, I deserve more than that, sir”.

“You shut your mouth right now, private! This—this is the reason why women shouldn’t be allowed in the army; they’re too emotional!” Sobel exclaimed, almost yelling to get attention, which only made Hannah even more furious.

“If you were in our command, if you were our leader, we would all be dead right now. Don’t you remember that drill we did back in England? Why do you think you were ‘promoted’? And no, I’m not scared of you, go write me up if you want to; Winters is south of the camp, third tent on the right. Colonel Sink is in the next tent to his, the fourth one,” Hannah felt like she couldn’t stop, her anger overcoming her; mountains of words and feelings that were accumulating, finally leaving her chest.

Chuck couldn’t believe the words that came out of her.

Everyone awaited without breathing for an answer, a yell from Sobel, something. But nothing came, he just scowled, breathed hard, and before anyone took a breath again, he turned around tight in his heel and left to the back of the truck.

Hannah took a breath and turned around to finish prepping, when she found many of her fellow paratroopers smiling at her, some nodding in approval even. Johnny Martin crossed by her side, squeezing her arm, as he whispered a small “good one” for her.

“I fucking hate him, that felt really good”, she said to Chuck, turning to adjust his jumpsuit.

Chuck just stared at her, feeling hard to believe what just went through. Their former NCO was just bashed in front of everyone, and no one, not even one paratrooper came in his defense.

His eyes roamed through her face as she fixed his suit and talked about something he wasn’t paying attention to. Suddenly, he was looking at her in a different way, one that would grow over time during the war.

///

The night caught up to Chuck and Hannah, both deep asleep on his bed. The brunette laid her head in his shoulder, on her side, while he was laid in his back, with his cheek against her forehead.

Though around dawn, Chuck’s body started to shook. It came softly at first, just a few twitches, until it became a whole storm inside him.

Hannah stirred up and saw how every muscle in his arms and chest were clenched, and he muttering something she couldn’t comprehend. Clearly, he was having a nightmares. The nightmares that seemed to never end, which felt like a punishment that everyone had to endure post war.

The brunette placed her hands around his head as she whispered, “Chuck, Chuck, it’s okay, it’s just a dream, wake up, love, wake up.”

His eyes shot open, looking terrified as he gasped for air, his hands fumbling to find her.

“Hannah, Hannah!” He exclaimed, as he finally met her eyes. His body was shaking until he realized she was there, looking down at him, with a tired, disheveled smile.

“It’s okay, love, I’m here, I’m here,” she replied, running her fingers through his hair, kissing his cheek before looking down at him again.

The first light of the sun shining through the white curtains, illuminating both with such warmth it made Hannah’s heart swell.

“I’m sorry, I’m s—sorry, Hannah, this still happens…” he explains, his hand tight on her side.

But Hannah just smiles sweetly at him, “it still happens to me too, Chuck, it’s okay, there’s nothing to be sorry about,” she explains, admiring his deep blue eyes.

“Can you… can you sing to me?” He asked, sounding almost embarrassed to ask for it.

The touch of your lips upon my face

Your lips that are cool and sweet

Such tenderness lies in their soft caress

My heart forgets to beat

The touch of your hands upon my head

The love in your eyes, ashine

And now at last, the moment divine

The touch of your lips, the love in your eyes

The touch of your lips on mine

Chuck closed his eyes as her singing filled his ears. He haven’t felt peace like at that moment, not since the war. Hugging his mother, playing cards with his brothers or the men from the Company brought joy, but peace; peace came from Hannah, wearing his shirt, at dawn, singing to him.

And it was the same for Hannah.

Both knew the nightmares will continue to haunt them, and that their lives will go on, but at least, they were going to go through it together.

And that was more than enough for them. ///

#band of brothers #band of brothers fanfic #band of brothers fanfiction #band of brothers imagine #chuck grant imagine #chuck grant x oc #chuck grant fanfic #charles grant #charles e grant #fanfiction #hbo war #war fanfic #my work #joseph liebgott #richard winters #nolan hemmings #eugene jackson #eugene roe #dailyreblogs

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hergan416 · 3 years

Text

For the Chocolate / Kisses prompt in the MF Discord server

Written in the YGO/One Piece Crossover universe created for Seek and Ye Shall Find.

While the main fic is rated M, the work below is rated T.

I ended up just giving up and deciding to post it. Sorry for any mistakes that still exist. Hopefully Japan is accurate enough--as a dumb white American I know nothing except what google, and a very nice person from the Yugioh mini-exchange discord server, have told me.

(I reserve the right to edit this before I add any of it to the main story).

Katakuri stood in front of the proffered address, passed from Pegasus’ hands to his own, warily. His presence no longer seemed to be jail-worthy, as he’d been released, but he was sure that it had something to do with the influence of the white haired man and the conversation they had had.

He could see into the window of the bedroom above the shop from his full height, the bright red lettering reading “Kame Game” above the shop’s door passing his chest like a t-shirt slogan. A small man sat on a bed, zoned out in front of one of the square boxes he'd learned to call TVs, a corded remote in his hands. His face screwed together closely in concentration, and his whole body moved as he pushed the buttons on the controller.

Katakuri crouched, feeling intrusive. The glass panes on the store's doorframe revealed an equally miniscule shop interior. Katakuri would never fit inside, even if he could make it past the front door. He raised a hand to knock twice on the glass, rattling the frame a bit, despite the fact he'd attempted to be gentle.

The noise attracted the attention of the shopkeeper behind the counter. The short, graying man glanced up, widening his eyes in shock. He paced slowly towards the door, pushing it open hesitantly.

“May I help you?” he asked.

“I’m looking for Yugi,” Katakuri stated, glancing down at the short man, who was still nearly half Kakauri’s stature when he bent in two like this. “Is that you?”

“Oh no,” the man chuckled fondly. “That’s my grandson. I’ll get him for you.” The man glanced up at Katakuri curiously, but made no comment as he turned back inside the store. Katakuri watched him shuffle to the back of the shop to open a door, yelling up the stairs behind it.

Momentarily, the short man from the bedroom bolted down the stairs past his grandfather, glancing out the shop door with a confused expression. As soon as he saw Katakuri, however, some understanding crossed his face.

Katakuri would normally have predicted someone to have turned away and become worried based on that look. Yugi, however, smiled widely and walked out the door to talk to him.

“Hello!” Yugi greeted, and Katakuri blinked.

“Hello,” he responded, wondering what Yugi’s gambit was, and wishing once more that using his future sight under this world’s conditions didn’t make him feel so ill.

“Jounouchi told me about meeting you,” Yugi said again, grin not leaving his face.

That made Yugi’s response even more confusing. Katakuri needed control over the conversation. To try to preemptively dispel any of Yugi’s worries, displayed or not, he asked, “Did he tell you that I’m visiting from another world?”

Yugi only shook his head excitedly. “No, just that you first appeared in the Kaiba Dome, and that you were strong. But you don’t seem dangerous.”

Not dangerous? What was wrong with him?

“What can I do for you?” Yugi asked, looking up at Katakuri patiently. He had to crane his neck, even with Katakuri bent over like this, not being much taller than his grandfather.

Either way, if Yugi wanted to get to the point of the conversation, Katakuri had no issue. “My mom likes sweets,” Katakuri started. “Before I go home, I want to bring some samples back for her, as a present.”

“Oh! That makes sense!” Yugi beamed. He couldn’t really be that gullible, could he? “I can help you find some treats to bring her. There are a lot of interesting candies in Japan.”

Katakuri nodded. “Thank you.”

Yugi smiled broadly. “I think my partner might be helpful too, if you don’t mind another tagging along?”

Katakuri blinked. “Sure?” he replied.

“Great! Ryou loves cream puffs, I don’t want to show you the best bakery in town without bringing them along. Let me call them!”

Yugi was so cheerful. Katakuri could so easily kill him, why was he so carefree? And why did Yugi say Ryou was a “them?”

Yugi had pulled a small, shiny purple device from his pocket and flipped it open, pressing a few digits on the interior keypad of the phone. While the ringing Katakuri could hear faintly was different than a den den, the familiar "clank" proceeded the voice of another human answering was reminiscent of the creatures.

"Hey Yugi! What's up?"

"Wanna get some cream puffs?" Yugi asked excitedly, not mentioning Katakuri.

"Always! What's the occasion?" came the muffled voice on the other line.

"I have a new friend that is shopping for sweets for their mom." Yugi glanced at Katakuri, as though making a mental note.

Katakuri had been struck by the turn of phrase in which he had been also called they, and had stopped listening momentarily to Ryou’s response.

"I forgot to ask," Yugi replied guilty, loudly enough to interrupt Katakuri’s thoughts. He put his hand over the phone and gestured up at Katakuri to get his attention.

"What are your pronouns?"

His what? Katakuri blinked.

"I use he/him," Yugi continued, gesturing towards himself. "Ryou uses they/them." He gestured at the electronic device. Ryou was not a she or a he, it seemed like. Intriguing. He wondered what a person like that would be like. This world was interesting.

Why did Yugi think he might be a they/them too? Was something off about his masculinity in this world? Everyone at home was quick to call him a him. Having an option now seemed...interesting. Maybe he should try it, try to be a they/them. Not have to be a brother for a minute.

But what if they found out? There had to be some classification for being a they/them, unique to this world. And not being from this world, he likely didn’t have it.

"He/him," Katakuri replied, his voice expressing doomed finality.

"He, sorry," Yugi said into the phone, repeating the information without comment as to how long it took Katakuri to answer, or the tone of his voice. Katakuri felt a pang of regret at the pronoun choice, then shoved all the feelings about the conversation away. It wasn’t fair to Yugi, or his family, or anyone.

Katakuri listened intently as the information which had seemed so important moments ago was glossed over. All that, just to be met with smiles and grins, and questions about where they should meet.

"We're in front of Kame Game right now, but we could probably start heading towards downtown and meet you there. I don't think he will fit in a taxi."

"Oh! Is this that giant guy from the news?!" Ryou sounded excited. "I thought it was just a myth. Maybe he has information about other cryptids!" Katakuri blinked. Why would he know anything about this world’s cryptids?

Yugi chuckled into the receiver. "Meet you at New Domnio Baked Goods. We should head out sooner rather than later."

Ryou assented, and the phone call ended.

"My name is Katakuri," Katakuri added, realizing he had not said so before.

"Nice to meet you. It seems like you at least knew of me, I'm Yugi," Yugi replied, holding out his hand.

As Katakuri took it, he was conscious not to squeeze at all. He doubted that anyone on earth had the constitution to withstand a proper handshake, and Yugi was even smaller than Pegasus had been.

"We should start walking," Yugi said, gesturing forward down the street. "The bakery is going to be downtown."

Katakuri nodded, standing back up to his full height with a stretch. A few moments later, he’d fallen into step behind Yugi.

As they walked, Katakuri was struck by how little dichotomy there actually was between the two of them. Yugi was obviously quite short, and trusted far too easily. But they had a similar fashion sense, all leather and belts and blacks, with outlandish hair color. Yugi walked confidently through the world, but the confidence lacked arrogance, like Seto Kaiba possessed. Further, Yugi seemed to love a challenge, already puzzling through the best route to get candies.

“We’ll stop at Lawson on the way. That way you can see some of the convenience store treats, and Lawson’s the best for those. We’ll get a Baschee, and see if there’s also a real one left at the bakery, so she can tell the difference. And I think they’ve got the sake Kit Kats in stock right now, and you’ll have to try the Banana and Rum Raisin ones, those are the ones from our region…”

Katakuri simply nodded along, content to leave the planning to Yugi. There was one thing he cared about, however. “There are donuts at the bakery, right?” he asked.

“Of course. I can make sure you get some,” Yugi smiled up at Katakuri brightly.

“What’s your budget like?” Yugi asked, face falling suddenly, as though he’d run into an unexpected roadblock.

Katakuri blinked, then pulled out the paper money Pegasus had given him in exchange for a few Berri to study. He handed it all to Yugi, not understanding the difference in the colored slips of paper. “I don’t normally pay for things, so you’ll just have to figure it out.”

Yugi’s eyes widened, ignoring Katakuri’s comment. “Oh, wow! We could even buy admission to Kaiba Land and try all the duel monsters treats there with this!” Yugi’s eyes were gleaming, looking excited. “You can get the Blue Eyes White Dragons and the Dark Magician treats anywhere, but all the other duel monsters are Kaiba Land exclusives. Marshmallon is my favorite, but the Kuribohs are good too. Oh! And there are these little heart-shaped candies that the lady dressed up like Injection Fairy Lily makes at the bake store….”

Katakuri shook his head, interrupting Yugi. “I don’t think Kaiba Land is a good idea,” he warned, frowning behind his scarf. “I don’t want to make him any angrier than he already is. Plus, my mother is even larger than me. Imagine how many sweets she’ll need just to try them. And I would like enough to taste as well.

Yugi shrugged, but nodded, taking Katakuri’s response in stride. “That makes sense, I guess,” Yugi said.

“Just buy a lot of everything,” Katakuri replied. “Lawson’s and your bakery should be plenty.”

Yugi nodded, beginning the conversation about the various Lawson’s snacks anew as they walked.

----

Soon, the pair had arrived in front of a large, brightly lit storefront, a blue banner stretching across the top of the building. Glass windows showed rows and rows of products (from food to clothing, and everything in between) stocked in neat rows inside. Katakuri, of course, could not fit.

“Can you uh…” he trailed off, and Yugi smiled up at him.

Yugi shuffled into the store, pulling items off the shelves in bulk. Katakuri watched Yugi through the glass for the nearly fifteen minutes it took Yugi to find all the items, wait in line, and check out. Yugi shuffled out, the mound of sweets stored in several plastic bags. Katakuri couldn’t wait to try them, once back in Brulee’s mirror. His mouth watered, and he had to force his stomach to stop from rumbling.

“I’ll come back soon. Did my list sound ok?”

Katakuri just nodded. He wasn’t going to tell Yugi that the list didn’t make any sense to him, and that he’d stopped listening to Yugi’s ramblings pretty soon after shutting him down about the theme park, since they were making him hungry.

Walking to the bakery was even worse. Even though he knew that he’d be acquiring donuts, the weight of all the things Yugi had bought at the convenience store was taunting Katakuri, who had yet to eat since he’d arrived in Dominio a few days ago. But, with his goal so close, and the promise of returning to Brulee to eat them so near, he knew he needed patience.

The hunger made his height even worse, however, and gravity was weighing heavily on him by the time they had arrived at the small building, simply labeled in small, white letters "New Domino Baked Goods.”

Ryou had already purchased cream puffs and was eating them outside when Yugi and Katakuri arrived. Katakuri tried not to let his mouth water, as he thought about how close he was to acquiring donuts. Yugi ran to greet Ryou, who gave Yugi a hug as he got within range. Katakuri tried to distract his hungry belly by closely examining the other person, trying to figure out what was different to make Ryou a they.

However, this seemed to be a bit of a mystery. There wasn’t anything exceptionally different about them. Ryou was just another short person, with long white hair, and a flat chest. If Katakuri had seen Ryou at home, he’d have assumed Ryou was male. But, Ryou, evidently was not.

Katakuri’s hunger and frustration with the train of thought was making him cranky. He wanted to pound down the door to the store, grab as many sweets as he could, then escape through Burlee’s mirror. Money took so long to use. He forced himself to wait, remembering his promise to Pegasus when he was let out of jail. Stupid people and their PR.

Impatient, he decided to pull out the pocket mirror and mime examining himself in it to give Brulee a heads-up that he was growing impatient. He needed to eat. Soon. She appeared in front of him and he sighed. “I just need to wait a moment for the rest of the food,” he murmured, head angled so that no cameras in the area would be the wiser to the woman he was speaking to.

Brulee nodded, grinning widely. “Please have safe donuts and a tent ready when I get into the mirror,” he requested, and she agreed again.

The shop door opened and a bell rang to signal Yugi and Ryou leaving. They handed him several paper bags, and a few boxes of treats. He didn’t even listen as Yugi tried to give him his money back, or Ryou tried to ask him questions about where he came from. Instead, he simply thrust the mirror towards Yugi until he was holding it.

“Goodbye,” he announced to Yugi’s startled face. “Thank you.”

And then Brulee’s hands reached from the mirror, gripping the sides of his leather jacket, pulling him through the small surface in a convolution of physics. Yugi and Ryou were left staring at the street where Katakuri had stood in blinking confusion. Yugi yelled at the mirror, which appeared overly-large in his hands, that he hoped his trip was safe and it was good to meet him, Katakuri was barely listening. It was time to get away from the awful, tiny, cramped world with it’s omnipresent cameras, and eat.

#katakuri #seek and ye shall find #my writing #yugi #ryou #pegasus #(mentioned only)#ygo #op #heartshipping #forgot that one

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moved-glowfaery · 4 years

Text

Them Brooklyn boys is big (Rewrite)

Era: Canon

Prompt: Spot but not how we know him.

Words: 1958

Notes: once upon a time I wrote this, and i decided i wanted to rewrite it. Also im incredibly bad at proofreading so i hope its readable.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

For the first time in the seventeen years Davey had roamed around on this earth, he had crossed the Brooklyn bridge. It seemed odd to him, how it had taken him so long. but everything he needed was in lower Manhattan. He had never before needed to leave the small island for anything. But here he was, entering in Brooklyn domain. Davey was not a scared kid. He had a little brother and a sister to look after. He had no time to be scared. But when earlier today the group of Newsies had looked terrified of the mere idea to enter Brooklyn. It scared him. The newsies weren't afraid of a fight, he had seen that. He had figured they weren't afraid of anything. Yet the idea of Brooklyn settled fear into their hearts. Even Race, who sold in Brooklyn daily, had avoided going to Brooklyn. Maybe it was not just Brooklyn. Maybe it was the idea of having to propose this idea of a strike to the leader of Brooklyn. Spot Conlon. Davey did not know what to except for him. He must be a tough man to make the newsies scared.

It did not help Davey’s nerves when he noticed the small group of boys following them on a safe distance once they stepped foot in Brooklyn.

"Jack," he muttered, tugging on the boy’s sleeve. The Manhattan leader grunted but did not respond. Les was walking in front of them, almost skipping of excitement. The boy had looked like he won the lottery when Jack had promised to take him along. If Jack hadn't offered, Les would most likely have caused a scene, his little brother could be quite dramatic when he wanted to.

"I can't wait to tell papa about this!" Les bragged. Jack led them to the docks. The further they went from the bridge, the more kids showed up, sitting on boxes, or walking around, every eye on the three Manhattan newsies.

"We're almost there" Jack muttered softly towards Davey. The path they were on ended on one of the platforms of the docks. Surrounded by wooden boxes.

"Jack Kelly," a sugar-coated voice sounded. Davey's eye fell on the girl. She was seated on one of the boxes. Her hands rested next to her, her legs crossed. The girl tilted her head as the looked at the trio, dark brown curls dancing around her face as she moved.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" The accent was heavy but did not make her voice any less sweet.

"We kinda needs ya help," Jack started. Davey raised his eyebrow, just slightly. This girl would probably bring them to Spot,

"Well I is assuming it is bad news," she twirled a curl around her finger as she talked, playing with the piece of hair. "Otherwise ma second woulda come,"

Jack rolled up his sleeves, exposing his sunkissed lower arms.

"I still don't understand why Elmer has to sell in Manhattan," he complained.

"Racer sells in Brooklyn all the time. It's only fairs that one of mines can sell in your borough," "Wait, you're Spot Conlon?" Davey asked. The words escaped from his lips before he could stop it. The girl's gaze moved towards Davey. She lifted her chin up a bit as she ran her gaze over him, observing him front from head to toe. She pressed her lips together for a second before her gaze moved back to Jack.

"Who is the new kid?" she asked.

"This is Davey," Jack sighed, the boy clearly did not want to waste his time here.

Spot jumped down from the box she had sat on. Her black skirt moved around her as she walked towards Davey.

She rolled up her dark red sleeves before she spat in her hand, holding her hand out to Davey.

"Nice to meet ya, Davey," she smiled, a soft sweet smile. It reminded Davey of the girls in his class.

Now that she stood in front of him, he noticed how tiny she was. She was at least a head smaller then he was and her body was so petite he wondered if someone could break her in half by a simple hug.

Davey swallowed the lump in his throat, before he spat in his hand, shaking hers. "Nice to meet you," he said, trying not to frown in disgust.

"Ya don’t belong on the streets, do ya?" she turned her attention to Les and Davey saw the opportunity to wipe his hand on his pants. "Y'all look to clean to be on the streets," she crouched down in front of Les, although she barely had to with her height. "Aren't you a Minchin," she smiled towards the boy. Davey could see the excited beaming of his little brother. "If ya ever get tired of Manhattan and those boring lads, we can find ya a nice place here in Brooklyn,"

Davy placed his hand on Les' shoulder. He fought the urge to push the boy behind him, back into safety.

"We don't have all day, Spot," Jack grunted.

"Of course, Kelly. Always in a hurry aren't ya?"Spot walked back, now leaning against the box she sat on earlier. "So, what ya need my help for?" she played with a curl again, her eyes roaming around the boys watching them from the boxes and back to Jack.

"We are on a strike," Jack started.

"So I've heard," she interrupted him, Jack sighed behind him.

"We send boys around every borough, but we's all know that at the end of the day they all listen to ya," This brought a smile on Spot's face. No not just a smile, more of a confident smirk.

"Whatcha plan?"

"We stop the wagons from delivering to the city, this way no one can sell, not even scabs,"

"That is all?" The curl dropped from between Spot's fingers, the girl now folding her hands together.

"We’ve got a reporter willing to write about it. She is at the square tomorrow, promised us a headline," Davey added, their hope was settled on the headline. Without a headline, there was no news.

"A reportah? A female reportah?" Don’t get me wrong, boys. I'm all for working girls. But I don't recall no female reportah writing headlines. The men on top are far too afraid of us to allow that,"

"Our story will convince them," Jack spoke, his voice beaming with confidence.

"I got a few problems with ya plan," Spot started. The confident smile dropped off Jack's face.

"First, scabs will sell. Even if you stop the wagons, they will find ways to let scabs sell. That’s why them is scabs.”

“We convince-” Davey started, but Spot did not let him finish.

"Only way to stop scabs is with a good ole soakin'"

"We can't beat up other kids," Davey stated. She did not send him a sweet smile this time. She only stared at Davey for a second before returning her gaze to Jack, ignoring Davey’s comment.

"Second, no matter how good ya reporter is, do ya really think the papes will write a headline about kids refusing to sell the papes?"

"it's about competition," Davey explained before Jack could. "If we stop the World from selling, the Sun will want to write about it. And without the World, more people will buy the Sun. So more people will know about the strike."

"Where did ya pick this kid up? Ya plucked him out of his school seat?" There was nothing left of the sweet flirting girl from a few minutes ago. The gaze in her eyes was cold and she sounded annoyed.

"He knows what he is talking about," Jack defended the kid next to him.

"Then explain this to me, Davey," she crossed her arms. "Why should I lose a day of sale, will the kids selling the Sun, get all my customers. Yes, the new prices suck, but we've got mouths to feed,"

“It’s not about us against the kids selling the Sun. It’s about the World bringing back their pricing,” Davey tried to turn the conversation back to their point. His palms were sweaty as he tried to figure ways to talk him out of this. Jack’s entire posture was tense. His brow was furrowed and Davey could see the muscle’s in Jack’s arm tense up as Spot started talking again.

"Davey, have you ever had to look after a borough full of kids? Six-year-olds starving cause they made a bad sale that day? You can come in here, talking like the posh schoolboy you are, but I guess that at the end of the day you go home to your family and get a nice meal. We have to go to bed hungry cause we were on a strike. I will not let any kid of mine starve for your stupid games," Spot walked towards Davey as she talked, stopping a few centimetres from the boy’s face. He could feel her hot breath against his face. He could count the freckles on her face and see the strike of green in her brown eyes. She ran a finger across his shirt, tracing the plaid pattern.

"Spot-" Jack tried to interrupt her. He grabbed Davey’s sleeve, ready to pull him away if needed.

"We won’t join ya stupid strike," Spot spoke, turning around on her heels, her eyes moving down all the kids on the boxes.

'"Spot we need ya," Jack pleaded. Davey had not before seen that desperate in Jack’s eyes. But it seemed that Spot was immune to that.

“That is my decision, Kelly," she was already on her way back towards her box, climbing back on top of it to sit down.

"No other borough will join us without you,"

"Then so be it," She pressed her lips together for a second, once she sat down. Then her lip curled in a smile like she was amusing herself. Davey was not the one to get angry, but she was smiling while they were practically begging her to join. That did not sit right with him.

“But, if ya make that headline if ya prove this thing can work. We will join ya,”

“You don’t understand-”

“Get your kid under control, Kelly,” Spot hissed. “He may be smart but he is a pain in the ass already.”

“Davey,” Jack muttered under his breath, a soft warning.

“I think it’s time for you go back to Manhattan,” Spot crossed her legs, sprawling out her skirt.

“But-,” Davey started again, Jack softly hissed at him, urging him to be quiet.

“I said, it’s time for you to go back to Manhattan,” she tossed her hair over her shoulder, shooting him a cold look.

Jack pulled on Davey’s sleeve, a silent command. The Manhattan leader then grabbed a hold of Les’ shoulders and turned the boy around, away from Spot.

“Oh, tell Racer I said Hey, we missed him today,” The sweet voice was back, almost like the conversation hadn’t happened.

Jack didn’t respond to it. Another tug on Davey’s sleeve, urging him to keep walking. He could hear the cuss words rolling over Jack’s lips, as soft as possible so not even Les could hear them by accident.

“What do we do now, boss?” Skittery asked. The boy was the first to jump off the box he was seated on, his eyes on the Brooklyn leader.

“We tell the other newsies the same when they come and asks. We won’t join no strike before they have proven themselves,” Spot stated, her eyes were still on the direction the boys had left in, even when they were out of sight.

“Anything else?”

“Get everyone back to work. We’ve got papes to sell!”

#Newsies #Newsies fic #writing #my writing #newsies fanfic #newsies prompt #spot conlon #jack kelly #davey jacobs

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abloomntime · 3 years

Text

A Bloom In Time Ch18 R. King Arc

(This is gonna take place based off the easter egg known as R. King who leaves notes around Hat Kid's ship and you can find all the stuff he turned into gold if you looked it up on youtube. I thought it'd be a fun adventure to add to the story. Im not going to include other easter eggs or references from the game after this one because to me it's hard to keep track of them and most are references to other popular things. As is the message in the ward robe code is not cannon to the story as it's a reference to Undertale. Also since practically everyone on Snatcher's planet has some kind of magic ability Poppy has super-ish strength.)

Video link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG1unk-2d_4

Y'know. She suspected cleaning to be a rather easy thing to do. Sure it was hard work on it's own and she shouldn't really be complaining about anything she agreed to do in the first place, and yeah these kids could use some clean space to live and run around in, but she guess she didn't really take into account having to crawl through any small spaces today dragging all sorts of things behind her to do the job the ghost had asked of her to do. Since she thought the control room wasn't in any need to be cleaned considering Rumbi had been cleaning it nonstop for a long time as she came to know and it's not like the attic or kitchen needed to be recleaned except for the few dirty plates and forks from whatever those kids had for breakfast. But forget that. From the get go she knew this wouldn't be an easy job one being she had to drag a whole bunch of things from the attic down to the small hallway towards the storage room crawling which took about three trips since the kids and Snatcher weren't around to help. Thank goodness her wrist didn't hurt at least. At one point she could hear the distant screeching of a familiar door opening and inwardly cringed remembering the loud nail on chalk bourd sounds the ground door made. Must've been Bow going into that metro room whatever a metro was. She would've thought to do one of the other rooms first but she didn't know what were through the other doors so it was better to start somewhere she already saw. .....Which happened to be in a big mess. The storage room was still so chilly and there was snow...LITERAL. SNOW. In piles on places around the room which to be honest she didn't know what do to with, but she guessed the best thing to do was to sweep all of it into a big pile. Starting with the smaller and easier piles up by the doors leading into the potion room and the one leading back into the control room. Which honestly went over a bit smoothly if not only annoying with the big broom. Sweeping the snow and whatever dirt there was onto the lower storage room floor. The green floor like the doors looked a lot like the carpet in the control room but it didn't feel like carpet, just cold floor. Unfortunately it didn't take too long for her to get finished with such a small area and sighed as she looked towards the much bigger piles of snow in the corners almost engulfing the barrels or crates or whatever was stored down there. Oh well. She'd get it fixed, she was used to fixing her father's and Uncle's messes on the farm. Once having to fix a door the cow shot his horns through. Easier said than done, but she was sure it wouldn't be too big of a problem. It was like when she had to shovel snow in the winter. She just wished she had a coat to drape over her shoulders to keep the cold away. She had started on the biggest pole of snow in the top left corner in the room, struggling with the broom a little bit sweeping a chunk at the time trying to force as much snow away as possible with each sweeping motion. Maybe a courter through the pile she finally got company in the form of Bow bounding in through the potion room door and getting a look at the supplies Poppy had to drag along with her crawling around.

"Hey, Poppy!," She called down.

"Yes?," she shouted back without looking up from her work.

Bow pointed towards the mop and bucket. "Can I borrow this please?"

"Sure! Just bring it back!"

"OK! Thank you!," Bow called back grabbing the things she needed before rushing off back through the small door, the mop's long handle smacking against the top of the tiny doorway with a thump sound.

She was about half way through the biggest pile and was just starting to heave out a couple wooden planks stuck in the pile when she received yet another visitor in the form of a hat wearing child bounding through the control room door just as she pulled out the second plank and started leaning it against the wall. A proud smile on her face.

"I'M DONE!!," Hattie called down to her in a happy tone leaning a little over the railing.

"Already?," she asked grabbing the third and as far as she could tell the final plank and pulling it out. She heard Hattie hum a yes and she sighed pulling the plank out of the snow, man her hands were freezing! " Is your robot friend done sweeping that big room already?"

"Yeah! It was already clean anyways. Sometimes he sweeps there...OH!" She reached around behind her and pulled out a small white piece of paper out of her back pocket and held it up to look at it. "I found this behind a chair and I think it's some kind of letter, and there was another one under my tool box."

"Good, good. Uh..tell you what. Do all these halls have carpet?"

"Pretty much!"

"Why don't you start having the little robot start sweeping those then?" The final plank was placed back up against the wall and the broom regrabbed.

''Would that make me a good helper?," she asked.

"It sure would since it'd be one thing I wouldn't have to crawl around myself doing," she said going back to sweeping the snow away from the corner and towards the entrance to the bathroom a floor below them, and the green ladder that lead up towards the doorway way above her which to be honest she had no idea where it lead.

But Hattie smiled and turned off. "SURE!! I'll do that!" Shoving the notes back into her pocket she turned and began running back into the hall.

"Thanks! Your the best!"

Her. Arms. ACHED!! By the time the giant pile was all the way swept over by the ladder her arms were starting to ache a lil bit from how hard she was gripping the broom and shoving the darn snow around. But it was all worth it when that corner was cleaned out at least....One big pile down one more big one to go and unlike the other pile which only had three planks, this one had bigger things stuck in it. Which she had to literally drag one after another dragging loose snow with her over to be placed in the cleared corner and then sweeping up the loose snow. HOLY PECK WHAT WAS IN THOSE THINGS!? It felt like they weighed five giant bags of fertilizer each! But like always she did what needed to be done without a fit. But her hands were still cold so of course she took a moment every so often to stick her hands in her pockets to let them warm up. She wasn't no dummy. About Midway through shoveling out the second pile guess who showed up again? Well she momentarily stopped again to cringe at the screeching metal sound...Before shaking her head with a sigh and going back to her work. A moment later the potion room door reopened and a smiling curly haired girl walked out dragging the mop behind her.

"I'M DONE!!," Bow called out happily to her dropping the mop to the floor.

"That's great! Uh...*huff* W-Why don't you go a-and clean another room to pass the time?," she suggested still shoving the snow in the direction towards the already bigger pile.

Bow being the polite child she was grabbed the smaller mini broom with a smile. "Ok! I can sweep the potion room!"

Poppy paused for a moment and looked up at Bow past her messy hair up at the child. "Uh..I-I don't think that's a good idea! You shouldn't be around those witch's brew."

"They're not dangerous. Except for the one that turns everything to gold...But Hattie said it went missing a long time ago."

"......." She shook her head again. "Sorry sweetie. But it's best I do that one. I know." She turned her head towards the entrance way to the bathroom and Bow followed her movements seeming to understand. "Think you can go do that room? It'd be a big help."

She nodded again and set off to there dragging the long handled tools behind her. Jumping down and landing with a thud to Poppy's level and paused to glanced at the ever growing pile of snow and dirt in front of the long green ladder. Gazing in awe at the sight as Poppy just happened to push the last of the second largest pile into the ever growing hill of dirty snow, and ironically the control room door opened yet again and Hattie smiling and walking in, Rumbi beeping curiously in her hands, but she stopped dead in her tracks seeing the giant snow hill in one part of the room. Giving a 'Whoa' of surprise but both girls jumped when Poppy let the broom drop to the floor and huffed.

Placing her hands to her hips, she held her head back up towards the ceiling with a chuckle. "HOO BOY!! What a work out! Haven't moved things around this much since I built my stand in the town square!''

"Wow! That's a big pile of snow!" Hattie gaped at it in childhood wonder while Bow stuck her tongue out and wrinkled her nose at the sight of dirt.

"Yuck! And dirty!"

"Yeah?" She huffed and glanced back towards the other half of the room and the smaller piles of snow that obviously wouldn't take too long but shouldn't be left unattended anyways. And it wouldn't finish itself, and that rather large crate was in the way...Not for long tho. Stretching her arms out, she walked towards the crate at least three times her size. "Now. Let's get this annoying thing outta the way."

Hattie already turning away from the action and going over to put Rumbi in the potion room hall. The door opened with a whoosh sound and she placed rumbi down. "Ok! It's all yours!"

Rumbi happily beeped and and began to happily go down the halls towards the potion room and disappeared as the door closed behind him. With a smile she turned to go ask Poppy about those weird notes again, but paused seeing what the older woman was doing. Poppy squeezed her way past the gigantic pile of snow and Bow had already made her way into the elevator down, using the broom handle to reach the red button to lower herself down a level. Waving bye to them as she did so. Poppy was looking the giant rectangular crate up and down, with a studious look, brow raised, and hands on her hips. Silently staring at the giant thing before the woman placed her hand on the wooden side and givin' it a lil nudge. The wood creaked a lil bit as it stayed still, whatever in it was unboutfully heavy just like the crates and barrels. Like that would stop her though. Hattie watched confused as the older woman walked to one of the sides facing towards the clear corner she had previously swept out and placed either of her hands on it. Bracing her side against the giant crate and taking a breath. She pushed.

The hard wood creaked against the sudden pressure being pushed against it and it's frame tilted lightly towards where Poppy was attempting to push it towards. The older woman making a grunt of annoyance when it didn't budge. The child watching from the floor above there could only watch feeling a little bad the poor lady wasn't waking any progress on the crate's position at all. She was pretty strong herself for a child....Maybe she should offer to help-

SCCCCRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-!!!!!

The AGONIZING sound of a wooden chair being scooted across the floor but ten times louder and more annoying filled the whole room and the crate. FINALLY moved. Blue eyes stared in wonder at the sight while cringing and holding hands over her ears as they watched the giant wooden box be moved slowly across the room. Poppy gritted her teeth and slowly pushed along this giant thing one step after another towards the corner. THIS THING WAS MOVING WHETHER IT WANTED TO OR NOT!! Step after step she took, the sound hurting her ear drums and making her even more annoyed until she felt something solid stop it. Poppy stopped for a moment feeling the something blocking it...Pushing against it a few more times to really make sure it wasn't just stuck on something before grunting and heaving her body off it. The red head sighing and huffing some air back into her lungs as she stepped back to look at her handy work. Arm coming up to push those bangs and wipe the sweat off her brow. Now she was kinda glad the room was cool to help after that warm up, seeing she had completely pushed the pecking thing in the corner like she intended, Poppy nodded, sighed and turned back towards the other half of the room that was now more spacious since that larger crate wasn't randomly in the middle of it anymore. But paused when someone awed in astonishment.

"WHOA!! You moved that all by yourself?!," Hattie asked staring at her with wide eyes of amazement. "How'd you do that?!"

".......Oh. T-That." She chuckled and gave a slightly sheepish smile. "Well, working on a farm always working and hauling around large bags of feed and bails of hay can help build up muscle. But promise me you won't try copying me."

"That's so cool! And I don't want to be a farmer! Too boring."

Poppy snorted. "Well that's one way to describe it." She turned back to the rest of the room and sighed. "This might take a little while."

Hattie immediately lit up at that. "Need any help? I can help!"

"Uh...." She sighed stretching her aching arms out and turning her attention to the random curled up rugs lying on the floor...Making her way over to them. They didn't look as heavy as the barrels. "Well, I suppose you can go clean somewhere else?....Btw I don't think you've told me where that leads." She pointed towards the long green ladder going up towards that opening in the wall above them both.

"That's the boiler room and where the ship's water is stored. I can totally go clear it out!"

"Eh. If it isn't really too much trouble. But I don't think if it's just water in there it'll need to be cleared out." She grabbed one of the rolled up red carpets in the corner and lifted it up, as suspected it didn't weigh much at all.

"Should I get the carpets out?"

"......" Poppy looked at her. "You have carpets floating in the water in there?," she asked making sure she was hearing right.

"Only two!," the small child shouted back defensively.

.......Poppy sighed and shook her head. "It's not good to have carpets floating around in your water supply. You go better get those out and you be careful young lady!"

Hattie saluted her and made a jumped over the railing and hopping to the floor below with a thud. Poppy watched as she ran along past her and waded into the giant pile of show, giving off a soft 'brr' and causing some loose snow to tumble out of the pile as she reached the long green ladder and shimmied up it rather quickly surprisingly for a child. Sending the loose snow from her body floating down to the pile below. Shaking her head she went back to work, throwing the random rolls of rugs, three red and two blue, on top of the giant pecking crate she pushed over along with another random barrel, her sights were set on sweeping the last of the smaller piles of snow into the bigger one which just grew with the added snow and picking up the smaller random things stuck in the smaller piles. Two woven laundry baskets and pink bottles that looked like the shampoos she had seen on the bathroom shelves. Those were placed on top of the washing machine until she could put those away properly. It was a pain to get the snow out of the corner from behind the DLC elevator thing but luckily the long broom was skinny enough to reach behind there. She finished it all up in no time! Hard work really did pay off it seemed. But the strangest thing happened when she discovered something behind the washer, it was easy enough to move both giant machines away from the wall to sweep under and behind them, but when she saw the small piece of paper she paused. Blinking at it and giving nothing but a side glance to it before shrugging and absent mindedly tucking it into her apron's front pocket for safe keeping just in case it was important later-

THUMP!!

Poppy jumped and turned around feeling the chilling feeling of snowflakes falling on her back and blinked at the pile of snow behind her. To her mild surprise there was a rolled up, obviously soaking wet, red carpet sitting on top of the snow pile- With another thump and spray of her, Poppy slammed her eyes shut at the spray of snowflakes coming towards her. Blinking them back open to just slam them shut again as a second wave of snowflakes waved over her face with a blur of blue and she kept her head down..........When she was sure she wasn't about to get sprayed with anymore snowflakes, she opened her eyes to the snow pile. There was two more carpet rolls and a red pillow in the pile as she sighed. Looking up the green ladder at where they dropped from and shaking her head.

A few moment's later the small hatted girl appeared in the small entrance above her, a smile on her face and teddy bear clutched in her arms similar to the one Poppy found in the attic, looking down she spotted said red head stuffing the wet sky diving rugs into the dryer. "POPPY!!" When the lady looked up she waved down at her and jumped. She heard a yell as she fell fast and landed in the pile of snow with a thump splashing snow everywhere and giggling like a maniac. "I'm done!"

"What did I tell you guys about doing that?!," Poppy stared at her with a worried expression and groaned leaning back. "*sigh* You know...Fine just PLEASE don't do that again. It freaks me out."

"Whatcha doing?" She asked crawling out of the pile and giving a little shake to expell the extra snow off her.

"Throwing these into this high tech drying device," Poppy said turning back to her duty and shoving those carpets in. Thank goodness all the buttons had labels telling her how this thing worked. "Can't leave them soaking wet and have 'em grow moldy now. Not healthy at all. The real question is what am I going to do with all that snow."

She mumbled the last bit to herself but the child was quick to get another one of her crazy ideas hopping to the floor and unknownst to Poppy about to change into a completely different hat. "I know how to make that snow get lost! Can I help?"

She shrugged trying to figure out which one of these buttons to press exactly. "If you have an idea be my guest. "...before just pressing start button. A small beeping noise hummed from inside the device before a small red dot popped up and it started moving all over by itself. Slowly she took her hands off it and sighed. "Well...It seems to be workin'. Now what idea did you ha-"

BOOM!!

It was as if a canon went off directly behind her. The loud explosion like sound combined with the vibrations going through the ground was enough to make Poppy yelp loudly and fall to the ground, scrambling back on her bottom away from the source of the noise but only found the small girl there smiling, clutching that toy, and .....wearing a pink witch hat?? She smiled and pointed in the direction of the once giant snow pile. Now literally nothing from......Whatever she had done completely gotten rid of the pile of dirty snow and reduce the space in inhabited to nothing but clear air........Slowly rising to her knees, Poppy stared at the small smiling girl in front of her. Placed her hands on her shoulders gently. And in as calm tone as she could muster said.

"Please. Don't EVER do that again without warning me."

Well, despite that one scare, things were running along actually pretty smoothly and hopefully they would all be finished before the day was out. She wasn't exactly sure how much of the ship was really left since she technically hadn't see all of it but not too long after that Bow had returned with that broom she oh so needed and when asked again to help, Poppy just sent Hattie to get Rumbi and go do one of the other rooms her own way. Whatever the lil alien did spooked her and she wasn't too excited to have it happen again, But Bow was another story. She insisted to come along with her to the potion room too and not having the energy to argue agreed but insisted Bow would NOT be going anywhere near those dangerous looking potions. The young girl happily agreed and skipped behind her on the way there. The potion room though didn't seem as troublesome as she originally thought. To keep Bow away from trouble she gave her the job of sweeping the floor CAREFULLY and as she watched, as she would be the one to wipe down these tables. Safe to say things went really smooth and Bow was such a kind helper quickly working sweeping up the metal flooring. Poppy had to admit she was enjoying this too. Wiping up the small sticking spills under whatever was in these bottles, some were a blue sparkly liquid. A couple were red. And other random colors from pink to yellow, blue, green, orange a one or two purple. And they all smelt of burnt rubbage! Yeah. She was so glad she was the one handling this part of the cleaning. Every few moments Poppy would look over at Bow and smile at the little girl sweeping away at the other side of the room. Bow was a natural at this it seemed. At one point Poppy was carefully scooting over what looked like a weird looking television set with a permanent green screen and paused. Another small shopping list? Without reading it again she deposited the small paper with the other she found behind the washer in her breast pocket without so much as another thought. She'd ask Hattie about it later just in case it was an important alien document. By the end of all their efforts, the storage room was still quite cold but without so much snow piled up(never mind how snow could end up in a space ship in out space of all places) and pretty neat looking. By the time Poppy crawled her way out of the potion room, admiring the work it must've been to weave the realistic blue gear patterns in the carpet looking a slightly brighter blue after Rumbi got done with it, the drying machine had already stopped. Which meant that whatever was inside was dry right? Well that just meant she better get down there and see to it they were taken care if. Bow was nice enough to start dragging all the brooms and other cleaning things back to the kitchen closet and cabinets she originally found them all in while Poppy was putting these rugs back up there with others. And like the usual pattern she'd figure out, out came the hatted child from the door to the control room.

"Hey! I'm all done!...Well, Rumbi's not done, but I don't have to do anything else. Right?," she asked leaning over the railing to watch poppy pick up the rolled up now dry carpets and carry them to throw them up on top on the big crate with the others.

Poppy smiled up at her. "Really? Already? Wow. You're a fast worker. I guess this ship ain't as big as I thought it was," she mumbled as she just tossed the three rugs on top there with the others. With that finished any work she had down here in these sections of rooms thanks to the help of these two lovlies.

"Can I ask you something now?"

"Sure! What is it?," Poppy asked turning back around and walking towards the small ladder to climb back up to the doors.

"Do you know who R. King is?"

"Our King? Hm. Well I wouldn't have the faintest idea who's ruling in this time period, maybe that Snatcher fella knows." Her red head peeked over the ladder as she climbed up. "Have ya tried askin' him?"

"Not 'our' king! R. KING!!," the child insisted before taking off her hat. She stuck her hand into it and a moment later pulled out two wrinkled small pieces of paper, holding them out to her. "I found these in my room."

Poppy gazed at the small notes confused but reached out and took them from her. They were wrinkled from being handled by the little girl who plopped her hat back on her head as Poppy rose a brow and read the notes. They were both written in black pencil and had similar hand writing. "Check Under red box. Signed R. King?" She read over the note confused before turning her head to the other one. "I. O. U....One half cookie?? Check kitchen. Signed R. King." Confused she looked back to the little girl before holding the notes back to her which she took. "Exactly where did you find these?"

"In my room. Rumbi was sweeping under this chair and the note got stuck in his filters. And then when I was cleaning my desk to prove I could be cleaner I found another one under my tool box." She stuck the notes back into her hat. "But I couldn't find anymore."

"Do you know anyone called R. King?"

"No. That's why I asked you. ...Maybe Snatcher's playing a prank again."

"I wouldn't even know where to start. I've only known ya'll for a few days now." She paused.....getting a thoughtful expression and humming. "But funny how it mentioned the kitchen. I think I found a note behind the trash can in there."

Her eyes widened. "REALLY?!"

"Uh huh. I noticed there was some green goop, so I moved the trashcan to mop it up and found it. I placed it on that refridgarator in case it was importa- HEY! Where are you going?"

Hattie didn't say anything but instead turned and belined it out the control room door and leaving Poppy. The woman stood there for a moment before huffing and shaking her head. Looks like she'd have to go after her, she was heading that way anyways. Fast forward one crawl later and she popped back into the control room stretching out her back, thankful for the warmer air hitting her body instead of the cold air back down there. But she didn't get much of a break before Hattie came back running towards her waving a small piece of paper to her. Poppy stared at it for a moment before taking it from her and reading it out loud for the child.

"I. O. U....Pencil?? Enjoy the cookie. Check Basement? Signed R. King. " There was both a smiling face and frowning face on the paper and she rose a brow looking over at her. "You have a basement?"

Hattie shrugged and reached back up indicating she wanted the note back and Poppy handed it back, watching as the small child looked over it curiously in her hands. "What does it mean?"

"I'm not sure exactly." A flashed of recognition came across her face and in a flash she reached back into her breast pocket and pulled out the two notes she found while cleaning back in the rooms down that way. "Could these be useful to our little mystery?"

Hattie blinked at them and asked, "I don't know. What do they say?"

Poppy looked down to the papers in her hands and read, "I. O. U. Vial. Sorry to keep borrowing your stuff. Check lab. Signed R. King." There was a frowning face on this one too as she turned to the second one she found in the potion room. "I found these in the potion room and behind the washer while cleanin'. This was says I. O. U. Nu-clear rod?? The peck is that? Check machine room. Also signed by our Mr. R. King." The second one had some strange lines on it as she looked to the child reaching her arms out for those too which she was glad to hand over. "What do you suppose that means now?"

She hummed an 'I don't know' and looked over the papers in her hands before turning her head towards the doorway at the far wall. It was red with some kind of strange symbol she didn't recognize and pointed. "Maybe they mean the engine room!"

"Engine room?" Poppy turned to where Hattie pointed and after a moment she followed the little girl.

The door opened with a whoosh sound and immediately when she got close enough she heard the strangest noise. The best way she could describe it was if a whole bunch of men were repeatedly hammering away at something metal but that wasn't exactly what it was. Curiously she bent down to peer inside the hall and she noticed this hallway was different from the others. It was red and what looked like ....train tracks?? Boy. These aliens keep getting weirder and weider don't they? The loud grinding sounds got louder as she got further into the hallway crawling after her and when she got to the other si-...OH. MY. PECK!! WHAT DID SHE JUST STEP INTO?! GIANT gears lined the entirety of all the walls and ceiling when she stood up to gawk around at everything. The grinding gears made the noise she had been hearing and there was red wood lining the walls matching the copper n silvery gears everywhere and in the middle was another ramp Rumbi was currently happily sweeping away on. It too had a few gears on it, a telescope, and some kind of closet thing connected by large metal wires going up and into the ceiling. Gawking and staring at the entire thing, Poppy took a few steps in and turning around in circles here and there. Paying no attention to the little girl running around moving things and looking for anymore of those small pieces of paper from R. King. Stopping only to give a look over at the staring woman.

"HEY!!" Poppy jumped and blinked at the little girl looking between books on the bookshelf. "Come help me!"

........She blinked. "Uh...R-Right." She walked towards the little girl and couldn't help but notice the other mini little control panels and other things as Hattie soon got impatient with the books as any child would and shoved whatever books she had in her hands back and went to the crate next to said bookshelf. Curiously looking behind it, a wrench and tool box on top of it. "Uh....So t-thing is your ship's..engine?"

"Half of it. The other half is in the boiler room....Hey! I found one!" The crate was shoved forwards a few inches enough for her to squeeze behind it and a moment later her smile reappeared and she held her arm up. In her hand was another small piece of paper. "HERE!"

Poppy blinked and slowly leaned down to read it as she held it. Looking at it as Hattie squeezed out from behind the crate. " I. O. U. Gear. See you soon. Check my castle in the attic?? From R. King again.....What does I. O. U. even stand for?"

She shrugged excitedly. "I dunno. But let's go check the attic! I didn't know there was a castle!"

She ran towards the door and Poppy blinked after her....Slowly going after her while taking a look around at the strange room one last time before following the child out and back to the control room. Back in the control room Bow was happily munching on an apple but paused as Hattie excitedly ran past her without a word and ran towards the lift to the attic and a moment later Poppy followed closely behind groaning from all the unexpected working out she'd been doing all day. When she looked up to Bow and saw her eating- She gave a sheepish look as a rumble came from her stomach and to save face, stood to stretch out. She needed a lunch break. Wasn't a ghost's employee entitled to that?

"What's all that about?," Bow mumbled through another bite.

Poppy sighed and glanced up towards the ramp noticing the other little girl riding the platform up towards the attic. "Trying to solve a mystery. We found these strange notes everywhere and she's trying to find a 'castle in the attic."' She started walking slowly to the ramp to go up there too and Bow followed right behind her.

"Can I come?"

"Sure. But I don't think we'll be finding any castles up there. Didn't see any when I cleaned it out." The two made their way up and as soon as their heads poked up the top of the platform, they could see Hattie's form over near the wall opening the drawers and looking inside for any castles or notes as the other two ladies came in and Poppy crossed her arms as she stepped into the attic floor. "You're a quick little searcher aren't ya?"

"Help me find it!," She yelled excitedly back slamming the drawer closed and quickly opening another one which turned out to also be empty.

"I didn't find any castles when I cleaned up here, Kid. But I get the feeling if I don't help you won't stop."

"You're not wrong!"

Poppy chuckled and walked calmly towards the ward robe. "Alright. But then we get back to our wor-'' Her stomach rumbled again and she stopped for a moment. "Correction. Food and then back to work."

Bow stood there munching on the apple in her hands as she watched the two go about. Hattie digging through the dresser like a rabbit, and Poppy just opening the ward robe and moving over the two dresses that were in there gazing at the inside of it. Neither noticed Bow just casually walking along the orange carpet up towards the stairs leading up towards the windows and the stars of outer space twinkled at them from outside. The curly haired gal kept munching away as she walked past the part of the carpet that formed into a giant circle and kept walking towards the stairs, but instead of walking up the stairs she walked towards the right side of the stair case and looked up and down the wooden side of the stairs. After a moment of her eyes scanning over the side slowly going down to the about the middle, something twinkled between two planks of wood to which she blinked and leaned closer to look at. After a moment of peeking between the two square shaped bourds, she quickly bit down into the apple to keep her hands free and managed to get her hands into the gap between the bourds and pulled. The creaking of the wood caught the attention of the older woman who turned with a confused brow and froze at the sight of Bow on the other side of the large room pulling at what seemed to be a very large wooden bourd. She quickly went to yell at her to stop but it was too late. A giant snap like sound sounded out finally making Hattie snap her head up and Bow fell back onto her behind. The wooden plank fallen a foot to her left.

"BOW!!" Poppy quickly ran towards the little girl who did nothing much but shake her head and stand back up. Dusting her dress off before reaching back up to take another bite of the apple and hold it. She looked up to Poppy who dropped to her knees and grabbed her shoulders worriedly. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?! WHAT IN TARNATION WERE YOU THINKING!? YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN HURT!!"

Bow looked at the worried look on Poppy face and giving an apologetic look. ''I'm sorry. I was watching Moony Penguin and he found a secret passage way under the stairs."

"Sweetie. I understand that, but you don't do that kind of stuff!" She scowled lightly and pointed at her. "Now you promise me ya'll NEVER do somethin' like that again."

"Ok. I'm sorry, Poppy."

Hattie had ran over when Poppy had but when she realized Bow was ok, her head turned to the hole in the wall and INSTANTLY her jaw dropped. Her eyes went wide. And shiny gold reflected in her eyes.

Poppy sighed and patted her head. "It's alright. But please don't scare me like that."

"WHOA!!" Hattie went up to the hole in the wall and peeked her head inside...Which was gently pulled back when Poppy grabbed her cape and gently pulled her back away from it.

"Hattie. Now you also know better that to do that!" She glanced at the hole. "Now I gotta fix-....HOLY MOTHER OF MOON PENGUINS!!"

IT! WAS! GOLD!!! LITERALLY REAL GOLD!!! Shiny gold objects shined from inside the hole in the wall and all three ladies gazed inside unmoving. Just staring at the wonderous things inside...Until Poppy seemed to snap out of it blinking and moving both girls beside her before shuffling on her knees and leaning into the hole looking in....Before reaching her hand in and pulling out the gold items. The first thing to be pulled out was a golden trophy, Poppy looked at it for a moment. Reading the bottom it said 'Doka DW King 1st to 111'. She had no idea what that meant but when she looked inside it she blinked and pulled her face away a little bit. After a few seconds her hand reached into the top of said trophy and pulled out a PURE GOLD SKULL. The girls awed wide eyed at the sight. What was this? Did this mean they found a pirate's treaure!? Was this buried treasure going to make them rich?! Poppy set both of them to the side to which the excited kids quickly took them for themselves to hold and look at in wonder, and she reached back into the whole pulling out even MORE gold goodies. A cheese wheel with a missing slice and then said missing slice of cheese with the letters BT carved into it. She heard of yellow cheese but gold cheese? A small gold statue of a mafia man. A literal gold cookie. A gold pencil. A gold gear! All of which the girls grabbed and took turns smiling and staring in amazement. But Hattie pointed at the pure gold potion she pulled out next.

"HEY!! The gold potion." She grabbed it from Poppy and held it up to her face. ".....The potion turned itself to gold too! WOW!! ....Hey! My nuclear rod's stuck in it!" She scowled at her reflection in the now useless potion.

"Gold potion?"

"Uh huh. It can turn anything into gold!...Well it used to!"

"What was it doing under the stairs?"

Hattie shrugged. "Beats me. Is there more gold?!"

"Uh..." Poppy looked back inside. "Yeah actually." Reaching back in Poppy pulled out a golden candle with a golden flame still looking like it was on fire and both girls gawked at it, Bow grabbing it from the older woman as she pulled out something much larger than everything else. "Hang on a second?" She pulled out a square looking sculpture turning it over a bit..before smiling and holding it up to them. "Hey. What does this look like?" Her smile widened as Hattie gasped again.

"THE CASTLE!!" Dropping the gold gold potion that landed on the floor with a thud, she quickly held her hands out for it in a silent plea and Poppy happily gave it two the girls. Hattie's eyes shined with happiness and wonder at finding this giant gold castle and Bow leaned next to her to look at the small golden castle sculpture with her.

......Until Bow giggled and pointed at their reflections in the gold. "Look! We're making funny faces."

Both girls giggled at the images the reflections caused making Poppy smile even more at them. They were so happy!

"Is there anything else?"

"Uh...Y-Yeah. Hang on a sec. I don't think it's gold tho."

"Not gold?"

Both girls watched silently as Poppy reached back inside....and a moment later pulled out three things, two pieces of paper that weren't gold and a small golden insect statue wearing a tiny crown. Her blue eyes gazing at the papers curious like. "I wonder what this is all about." She went to place the gold insect statue down but Hattie reached out a free hand and took from her not that she noticed looking at the letters. "It looks like they're letters."

"What do they say?"

"...I had all the gold in the Roach World and yet I was unhappy. I learned that gold tarnishes and turns dull, but a mind filled with gold is safe from tarnish, and can hold limitless wealth. You have a heart of gold, Hat Kid." Hattie blinked in surprise at the mention of her name in the letter. "I have evolved. Sorry we didn't get to meet. Signed R. King." Poppy paused for a moment staring at the letter before turning her eyes to the tiny bug statue Hattie was holding. "R. King and all the gold in the roach world...I think we found Mr. Roach King."

"What does the letter mean?," Bow asked as Hattie looked at the statue in her hand.

"Roach King?"

"It means he's saying that Hattie has a good heart." She smiled. "And a good heart is better than gold. Like what you two have."

"Your heart is gold too, Poppy," Bow insisted making Bow giggle at the cute insistance from the child.

"THAT'S SO COOL!! What does the other one say?"

"Huh? OH! Yeah! Other one." She looked back to the other letter in her hands and skimmed over it before pausing. "....Huh...It looks like this one is talking to Bow too."

"Me?"

"It has been a long journey. Watching you all grow up into young adults was a pleasure. But soon this story must end. Life moves on and new moments await you. We will meet again someday. I look forward to that day. Farewell. Signed...R. King." She smiled and looked over to the two confused looking children as they looked to each other then to her as if in question. "It means...He was probably expecting you to find his treasure and finally meet him even if he 'evolved' into this gold statue. ...And you three finally met like he wanted I reckon."

Both children looked back down to the small statue in Hattie's hand and gave him a neutral look...before Hattie put down the castle and pointed to the letters in her hands. "Can we keep those?"

"Of course you can. These are adressed to you two after all." She held them out and after Bow bit into her food to have a free hand again, they reached out and each took a letter from her looking at them and seemingly happily beaming at the exciting adventure's rewards they had. Making Poppy chuckle and smile more before she looked over at the wall behind her with a sigh. "Well, I reckon I oughtta fix that hole and then finish up the job for that ghost friend of yours."

Her stomach rumbled making all three look at her stomach.

".......But first a lunch break."

#ABloomInTime #florist x snatcher #snatcher x florist #Snatcher #a hat in time snatcher #a hat in time florist #Florist #The Florist #A hat in time the florist #flowercrown

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the-digimon-tamer · 4 years

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Chapter 37 - The Shinjuku Quarantine is out now on FanFiction.Net and ArchiveOfOurOwn! Check them out with the links or find it after the break!

Title: The Tamer v2.0 - In HIs Name

Fandom: Digimon

Rating: T

Synopsis: In the next adventure of the Digimon Tamer, the lives of Juri, Rika, and Henry change forever when digimon begin crossing over into the human world. But it’s all just a story, right? Just a book series by an author no one has seen in a long time. Why are they here and can they save their world before something worse follows the digimon?

Renamon gazed down at Impmon’s unconscious form, laying on his back on the tree branch in the garden of the Makino household. Or Izumi, or Nonaka, or whatever it really was. As frustrating as it was to deal with, she knew that was at the bottom of their list of issues. First was what they were going to do when they got back to the Digital World. Second was what they were going to do about Impmon. She’d helped him out of a moment of pity - but was unsure if he deserved it after what he did. She closed her eyes and ruminated on it briefly, trying to reach a conclusion but unsatisfied with everything that came to mind.

He had killed Leomon - one of the partner digimon of the children who were going to save their world. And he’d done it for what? To test his power? She was unsure what to make of it since he’d always chosen to avoid fighting in the past - claiming that the smartest would survive. So was it really smart to run head first into a battle out of pure blood lust? And why his hatred towards the humans? His distrust for them far exceeded anything demonstrated by the Devas or the Sovereigns. And they had more reason to be weary than Impmon.

“Hmm?” Impmon cracked an eye open and looked around, still in a daze and struggling to stand up right. She crossed her arms, “Welcome back to the land of the living.”

“I’m alive?” Impmon looked down at himself, carefully inspecting every inch of his body for some damage. Renamon nodded, “Yes, although there were some of us who were unsure you deserved the courtesy. You’re alive only because Juri decided to show you a moment of mercy. The girl whose partner you killed.”

Impmon gave no answer, obviously still amazed that he was here and alive to be having this discussion. There was a distraught look in his eyes - a haunted gaze she’d seen only in the most traumatized of digimon before they were destroyed by other, stronger digimon. She tilted her head, “Regretting what you did?”

“I don’t…know how to say it…I saw so many…so many…” he was struggling to put into words. Whatever the Digimon Tamer had done to him clearly did a number - Impmon was reduced to rambling like a madman. After a moment, he shook his head, “I don’t know.”

“Use your words,” she pressed. He massaged his temples and closed his eyes so hard she was sure he was going to pass out again, “I don’t want to. Whatever that was. Whatever I saw. I don’t want to see it again. I don’t want to think of it.”

She should’ve suspected as much, “The Digimon Tamer said he put a bad memory in your head. If it did that to you, one can only imagine what it did to him.”

“That was a memory? I thought it was a nightmare!” Impmon protested angrily, “What the hell kinda human is that? He’s a kid!”

“He isn’t. He’s a digital being - like you or me and he’s even older than either of us,” Renamon explained, “I thought you said the smart would survive. The smart thing to do would’ve been to not run into that situation head first without a plan. So why’d you do it? What possessed you to attack us?”

Impmon fell quiet again, staring down at his hands and then looking skyward. He jumped up upon seeing the skyline, “We’re back in the human world!?”

“Yes, now answer my question. What happened?” Renamon pressed, becoming annoyed, “Why did you attack us!? You wanted to test your power but why on us?”

Impmon averted his gaze, “I wanted to prove that digimon could become strong without humans. That we didn’t need partners. I guess I was right, though. In the end, that old kid and his insane red dragon were the only ones who could beat me - one’s not even human and the other ain’t any kind of digimon I’ve seen before.”

Renamon felt herself shaking from his answer. Was that it? That was why he did all this? It was taking all her effort to restrain herself from doing anything rash, “You killed Leomon to make a point?”

No answer.

“You took a life, prevented it from reformatting, killed a good digimon in front of a ten year old girl…definitely traumatized her forever. All to make a point,” Renamon repeated quietly, shaking with uncontrolled anger. He still wouldn’t look at her. This must be how Rika feels any time she has to be around the Digimon Tamer. It was no wonder she was prone to fits of anger. Still, she needed to know, “Why do you have so much animosity towards humans!?”

“BECAUSE WHY COULDN’T I GET ONE OF THE GOOD ONES!?” Impmon snapped at her. That was not the answer she was expecting from him. She recalled Tamer mentioning he had a bad partner but bad enough to make him like that? What kind of human was capable of making Impmon like this? It didn’t excuse any of his actions - they were still unforgivable - but she had no idea that he’d been hurting this whole time.

“The Digimon Tamer said you had a partner. We determined that much,” she said quietly, more repeating the fact than anything else. He nodded, “I had partners. These two kids. And they fought over everything! Toys! Food! Clothes! And everything they fought over, they eventually broke. It was only a matter of time until they broke me. Hell, they probably already did. So I ran from that place before they could make it any worse and never looked back. And I don’t regret it for a moment.”

Renamon notes the hesitation in his voice, “Even after everything you did? Killing Leomon? Forcing a little girl to watch?”

Once again he gave no answer and just stared off into space. She was getting really annoyed with his evasiveness, “Did you ever try talking to them? Working things out?”

“What do I look like, some kinda counselor?” Impmon raised an eyebrow, “Y’know what? We’ve been answering all your questions so how’s about you answers one o’ mine?”

That was fair, “What did you want to know?”

“Why are we back in the human world?” Impmon asked quietly. There was a lot to answer there, “We figured out the cause of all of this and it isn’t good by any measure. We returned to this world to regroup before we headed back to deal with it. After all, everyone was tired and Juri was in no condition to continue. Not after what you did.”

“Will ya stop tryin’ to guilt me? That’s the last thing I need!” Impmon protested angrily. Renamon remained passive, “I answered the question. Now answer mine! What are you going to do now?”

“Wha!?” Impmon gave her a quizzical look. Renamon picked the digimon up by his scarf, “You got your power and it amounted to nothing. Your own stated distrust of humans was built on your past experiences with your partner. But you were clearly the exception, not the rule. You said it was all about survival. So are you going to continue out on your own, as much good as it’s done you. Or are you going to go back to your partners?”

Impmon stared downward at the garden in silence, clearly contemplating the answer. Renamon waited for it eagerly until she felt a sudden energy in the air that made her fur stand on end. She looked upwards, over the horizon and saw a massive red blob in the distance. The red mass that they’d fought in the Digital World. It was here. It was in the human world. Impmon saw it too and his jaw fell open, “Well I know what I’m doing first. I’m getting away from that!”

She didn’t try to stop him, letting him run away. It seemed that was what he was best at. Running away from danger.

But there was no time to dwell on him. That thing was here now. She knew now that there would be no going back to the Digital World. Not if it was here.

…

“This was the scene today in downtown Tokyo as the gelatinous red mass continues to expand. It’s been five hours since the mass first appeared and now the mass has absorbed three square blocks of the city. Government officials have declared the area a quarantine zone and are advising citizens to stay at least a mile away. The Self Defense Force continues to evacuate citizens to camps outside the city, however unrest grows as questions go answered. And now we go to our resident expert at the studio-”

Yamaki switched off the news and groaned angrily at the situation. The Minister of Defense was breathing down his neck to solve the problem and he had no solutions. He had no idea what this problem even was. It wasn't like with the wild ones - they could at least be captured and contained, or put down if that wasn’t an option. But this thing - this mass. It was too big to properly contain and none of the weapons they’d developed to fight ‘digimon’ were proving effective.

They couldn’t tranquilize it, it didn’t respond to magnets or electrical shocks or anything. If he didn’t come up with something soon, it would be his ass.

His phone rang, pulling him out of his thoughts, “Director Yamaki speaking.”

“Director, this is the Prime Minister,” the man on the other end said. He froze up, feeling the color drain from his face as the nation’s leader spoke, “Tell me you have a plan for this.”

“We’re exercising all our options, sir,” Yamaki answered, “We’re readying to fire Juggernaut again, and currently have our scientists working around the clock to better study what we’re up against.”

He doubted the Prime Minister appreciated his assurances, especially with his current track record regarding the wild ones. He massaged the bridge of his nose as he prepared for whatever answer the Minister would give, “Your department hasn’t had the best of luck when it comes to dealing with these other worldly threats. Since discretion is no longer a factor, I’m authorizing the Defense Force to step in. Im giving operational command to the general and I Hypnos providing support and intelligence.”

“Sir, with all due respect, that’s in violation of the Morpheus Project,” Yamaki reminded him, “If you don’t want the United Nations Security Council coming down on us, I strongly recommend operating within our-”

“We both know that’s a crock of shit, Yamaki. Be realistic. The Chinese, the French, the British, the Russians...hell, the Americans violate more UN agreements before breakfast. Who gives a shit about the UN right now? Let’s focus on dealing with the problem with everything we have. I’m not having another Odaiba Incident. Do you understand?”

Yamaki hesitated, unprepared for this specific scenario. Agreeing meant breaking several international agreements, which he was sure the Prime Minister would happily blame him for to save face. Alternatively, refusing would lead to his arrest for treason. He would need to play his cards carefully going forward. And he could only do that if he was in charge of his team, “Whatever you need sir.”

Carefully chosen words. He could argue that he was following orders from the Prime Minister if this ever came back to bite him.

“Good, get it done,” the Prime Minister responded. The line went dead and Yamaki took a moment to consider his situation. Time for reflection like this was enough to make him understand that his situation was infuriating. He needed to stay calm and think rationally. But he had nothing for this. He was being set up as the fall guy. But that was going to happen over his dead body. He could afford to be emotional, if only for a moment. All that anger and rage and frustration erupted as throwing the phone as hard as he could at the wall - smashing it to pieces and denting the dry wall. He would not take the fall for these men. Not after everything he'd done to keep this nation - this world safe.

This was no longer just a mission to save the world. This was a mission to save the world and destroy their of these feckless politicians - he was going to burn all his bridges and leave them standing in the ruin.

...

Henry couldn’t believe his eyes as his parents watched the news over breakfast. The red mass that had threatened the Digital World was now in their world. But how? Had it followed them when they came back? Was it their fault?

As his mind raced in a panic, the news reporter went on, “Military personnel are quarantining the area and preventing anyone from getting closer but the mass absorbs all barricades placed to contain it. If you look over my shoulder, the trucks parked on the street and walls erected to contain the mass are now partially absorbed. They also appear to be setting up weapons for a conventional attack on the target - we’ve seen tanks, helicopters, transport vehicles and-”

The reporter was cut off as a soldier appeared behind him, “Hey! We told you to back up! Shut off that camera! This is a designated quarantine zone. You will move back now!”

Before either the reporter or the soldier could say anymore, gunfire could be heard followed by terrified screams. As the news cut back to the reporters in the station, Henry heard a loud bang followed by the apartment shaking. Terriermon ran to the window, “Well that’s not good. We thought we’d be safe here but it followed us.”

Henry turned his attention to the window and saw smoke rising over the buildings, in the direction of the red mass. Of the D-Reaper. He shuddered, knowing what he had to do but still terrified by what he would have to do. His partner elbowed his leg, or did something similar to it and Henry regained his resolve, “We need to go help.”

His mom didn’t take to that and she roared, “Henry, are you insane!? You’ll get yourself killed!”

He should’ve expected his mom’s disapproval, “Mom! That thing is destroying the Digital World! The world Terriermon came from! If I don’t go...if this isn’t stopped before it gets out of hand, then our world will be next! Terriermon and I need to go out there now while we can still do something about it.”

“It’s not just you two. I’m going to hurry back to the Metropolitan Building,” his dad added anxiously, hurrying to grab the phone, “I’m going to call Yamaki now. The sooner we get involved, the better.”

“Again!? Dear, don't tell me you’re involved in this!?” his mom cried out in anger. His dad shook his head sheepishly, “Honestly? If it’s anything to do with the digimon, then I made the problem! Henry! Make sure you and Terriermon come back safe!”

“Will do dad!” Henry called out, scooping up his partner and rushing for the door. As he slipped his shoes on, Xiaochun ran up along side him and tried to follow suit, “I’m coming too! We can help!”

“Am I the only one who thinks this is a terrible idea? I mean, I’m literally a fraction of my size right now and she wants to rush out there with you!” Lopmon asked from behind them.

“That’s why you guys are going to stay here!” Henry said so loudly, he nearly shouted. He didn’t want his sister getting involved in this mess and gently nudged her back inside, “Sorry, I don’t mean to shout. But you need to stay here.”

“Henry! I want to help!” she whined, “I have a digivice too! I can help! And Lopmon will come too, right?”

“Don’t you dare put words in my mouth,” Lopmon protested with folded arms.

“I-” he paused, knowing she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She was as stubborn as she was small. Although, he supposed that meant she was going to be very strong willed as an adult. He needed to convince her to stay with another reason, “You can help by protecting our family while I’m out, okay?”

She glared at him, catching on to the lie right away. Of course she did. It was obvious. But he wasn’t about to let her rush out into danger like this. Not when their lives when in danger. Finally, she huffed, “Fine!”

“Don’t worry, okay? I’ll be back!” he said, finishing putting on his shoes and running outside with Terriermon on his head. There wasn’t any more point in discretion. Not anymore.

The streets were just short of being full of panic, with armed soldiers keeping everyone calm as they directed traffic down set roads to help clear the city. Buses packed full of people moved along side those who’d packed their families into cars while everyone else walked. He must’ve looked crazy going in the opposite direction - but he ran as fast as he could through the crowds until he came across a soldier blocking him off, “Hey! Watch it kid! We’re evacuating! You’re heading in the wrong direction!”

Henry looked past the soldier at tent where more soldiers worked at a makeshift command center. Computers were hooked up to various radios and antenna that all fed into a rocket truck. He panicked at the sight of it, “You’re not planning of shooting rockets in the city, are you?”

“That’s not your business, kid. Now get back! I’m not saying it again,” the soldier warned again. Henry tried reasoning him but he didn’t expect it to go anywhere, “You don’t understand! Those won’t work! You can make it rain missiles all you want, they won’t do anything against a monster like-”

The soldier raised a rifle and pointed it at him, making a point of clicking off the safety. Henry raised up his hands and stepped back quietly, “Okay! I’m getting back!”

“Kids these days have no respect,” the soldier muttered quietly.

He stepped backwards several steps until the soldier lowered his gun, then turned and ran. There was no getting through to this soldier. And he definitely wasn’t going to get past this soldier either. He would need to change his approach - otherwise he’d risk getting shot at.

“Psst! Henry!” Rika called out to him from a nearby side street, poking her head out around the corner. He nodded and ran to join her, ducking into the side street to see Ryo there too with Monodramon and Renamon. Ryo crossed his arms and groaned, “Don't bother talking to them. We already tried that and they just got mad at us.”

“What are they even doing? They don’t seriously think that’ll work, do they? It’s literally absorbing everything it touches. It’ll probably just absorb the bullets and missiles too. And I doubt the explosions will do them any good,” Monodramon observed.

“Okay, take a running start!” a soldier called out. They poked their heads around the corner again to see a soldier holding a model plane in his hands. It was probably about half his height, but the wings were wide enough to mount what looked like small cameras. He raised it over his head and took a running start towards the red mass, throwing it with all his might as the propellor kicked on and it soared straight into the mass, “UAV is in the air! Receiving a signal in five!”

“UAV?” Renamon repeated.

“You got me,” Henry shrugged. The soldiers were too far away to hear properly and it was hard to make out anything else. After a few moments, one of the soldiers jumped out of his chair and threw his helmet on the ground in a fit of anger, “Piece of shit! How did it lose a signal? It’s fifty feet away! I could fucking see it with my own eyes if that stupid red jelly weren’t there!”

“Sergeant! Watch your language!” another of the soldiers barked at him, quieting the soldier down. Rika scoffed and turned away, “Saw that one coming a mile away. Of course it absorbed it. What’s over there anyway?”

“Apartments and I think some tracks,” Henry answered, peeking over again to see the soldier getting scolded by what must’ve been a superior. Rika scratched her head, “Okay, but why here? None of us were anywhere near here last night…”

“Wait, didn’t that one lady take Juri home last night?” Ryo asked aloud. Renamon’s tone changed, “You don’t think that she’s in there, do you?”

“Wait, I’m not following. What’s going on?” Terriermon asked quietly. Henry realized all too quickly what Ryo was getting at and was horrified by the realization explained, “The teacher from my school - Miss Asaji or Kari Kamiya or whoever - she said she was going to take Juri home since they didn’t need to hide a digimon and her parents weren’t there. I bet you they were on that train!”

“So that thing followed us here? How would it have come through though?” Terriermon asked, still not following the conversation. Henry scratched his head, “I don’t know. Juri was acting weird after everything that happened with Leomon. It could be connected. It could just be a really random coincidence. We have no real way of knowing at this point. Anything’s possible. For all we know, Tamerkato’s the one responsible for all of this!”

“You guys should really lighten up on him,” Terriermon frowned. Renamon looked upward, “It doesn’t matter for now. We’re on our own. We should fight.”

“And how are we going to do that with the military right there? They’ll shoot you on sight!” Rika gasped in panic, “I don’t want to lose you or see you get hurt because of them!”

…

The sergeant threw his helmet in a fit of anger. That was several million yen down the drain with no chance of being recovered. Still, they needed to know what was going on in there. They needed to be able to see what happened to anyone who would’ve been absorbed by this thing when it first showed up. But there was no way to do that safely. And the drone was their only chance.

He looked at the ever expanding red mass and wondered just what it was - where had it come from and what was it after? Was it even alive? Or was this some really weird magma flow? That couldn’t be possible. Ambient air temperature was the same. It wasn’t hot. It wasn’t radioactive. It just…was. It existed.

An amorphous blob that was growing faster than it could be contained.

Part of its surface bubbled like something was trying to escape. Then a golden eye appeared. He took a step back and blinked in surprise, “Hey guys? The thing has an eye now.”

“An eye?” one of the soldiers repeated. Some of his squad approached, each with their hands on their pistols for safety - not that it would do them much good against this thing. If it was this big, there was no doubt bullets wouldn’t even hurt it.

The eye blinked, bulging from the red surface until a face of purple skin protruded from the surface. Then another. And another appeared. Each broke free from the surface of the red mass - taking the shape of something like a bird. Or what a bird might look to someone who’d only ever heard of a bird.

The basic shape was there - but the proportions were all wrong and it didn’t seem to understand how birds worked. Eyes on the wings, claws coming from its body, and legs that seemed more like wires connecting it back to the main red mass. And the wings - they didn’t flap but the bird creature was able to hover in the air in defiance of every natural law. Like the wings were just for show and they flew of their own accord.

And before anyone knew it, there were hundreds of them just hovering in the air. Then they scattered, flying in hundreds of different directions around the city all at once. They couldn’t be allowed to get away. They had to be contained. They couldn’t be allowed to wreak havoc on the city.

…

“OPEN FIRE!” a soldier shouted from around the corner. Everyone poked their heads out again to see soldiers firing aimlessly at a flock of bird like creatures flying above in the sky. Ryo blinked and did a double take of what he was seeing. They weren’t birds - they were something else. Something completely unnatural. And there were hundreds of them. But with all the bullets flying in the air, it didn’t seem to matter. The bird things zipped around the hail of bullets like nothing and proceeded forward - scattering around the city and going in many different directions.

Rika leapt out from behind the corner and declared, “If Juri is in there then we can’t leave her hanging. We have to help! Come on Renamon!”

She stood there for a moment, holding her digivice in the air and striking an odd pose. Renamon poked her in the side, “What are you doing, Rika?”

“Is this one of those living statues things?” Ryo asked, unsure of what Rika was doing. Rika looked up at her digivice and frowned, “What gives? Why isn’t it working?”

“Why isn’t what working?” Ryo looked at the digivice in confusion, still trying to understand what she was doing. She turned to both boys and held up her digivice for them to see, “That bio-digivolution-dna-merge thing? It worked in the Digital World! Why isn’t it working here? We need to become Sakuyamon!”

“Let me try,” Henry said, raising up his digivice. After a moment with nothing happening, he started swiping cards at random to no effect. It did make Terriermon twitch in excitement with every single card swipe as he complained, “Henry! Knock it off! I’m getting dizzy from all the power ups!”

“It’s not working for me, either!” Henry gasped. It was a shame. This would have been a really good time to have both Sakuyamon and MegaGargomon. After all, those two seemed to be the only digimon fully capable of actually harming whatever the hell the red bio mass was. However, they couldn’t afford to give up now. There were people in trouble. He gently nudged both Rika and Henry, “It doesn’t matter! We’re just going to have to get in there and support our partners. Monodramon, promise you won’t go crazy?”

“Only on whatever those things are,” the little purple dragon cheered ecstatically, “I’ve been waiting for a good fight!”

“Okay!” Ryo charged out first, his partner following close behind and then rushing ahead of them. Ryo stopped just a few feet from one of the soldiers and took out the red card, “Digimodify! Digivolution Activate!”

“Monodramon! Warp Digivolve to! Cyberdramon!”

The dragon digimon roared to life with a flash of bright light and leapt up into the fight, soaring over the soldiers heads to attack the bird-like creatures. For all the good it did as they were moving too fast for him to catch up to. He swiped another card, “DigiModify! Speed Boost Activate!”

With the new power up, Cyberdramon was able to close the gap with one of the bird things. He tore into it with his razor sharp claws but was barely able to hurt the thing - in fact, it hardly seemed to notice that it was being attacked at all. Before Ryo could swipe another card through, one of the soldiers picked him up, “What the hell are you doing here, kid!? This is an active combat zone! Cover me! I’m getting the civvie out of the fight!”

“Squad! Fall back! Igarashi! Toyotomi! Cover our retreat” the lead soldier barked out, ironically further back from the fighting than the rest of the soldiers. Two of the soldiers turned their weapons on Cyberdramon, trying to get a bead on him as they fired, “New contact! Open fire!”

“NO!” Ryo shouted at them, but his cries were drowned out with the sound of gunfire.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Renamon said, appearing beside some of the soldiers and kicking their weapons out of their hands. A few of them reached for their pistols and took aim at her but were unable to fire before she moved beside them, hitting the weapons out of their hands. Rika and Henry finally stepped out from behind the alley and called out to the guards, “Seriously? She moved so fast that none of you saw her until it was too late. What makes you think pointing a gun at her is a good idea!?”

“Go easy on them,” Henry chided her, nodding to his partner who finally ran into the fight with a great big smile. Henry swiped his cards through his deck and called out, “DigiModify! Digivolution Activate!”

Rika followed his lead and did the same, swiping her own card through her digivice. Both partners rose up into the air as they digivolved in bright flashes of light.

“Terriermon! Warp Digivolve to! Rapidmon!”

“Renamon! Warp Digivolve to! Taomon!”

The two ultimates joined along side Cyberdramon, trying to inflict some harm on the flock of bird like creatures before any of them could get away. Together, the three of them actually were able to hit some of the creatures but it didn’t seem as if their attacks actually did anything to harm them. The soldiers were too caught up by what they were seeing to actually notice how ineffectual their attacks were. The soldier carrying Ryo finally set him down on the ground, “Who the hell are you kids?”

Ryo, Henry, and Rika exchanged glances. Ryo wasn’t sure how to explain anything to these soldiers. After all, the whole situation was absurdly fantastic. Then again, they’d probably believe anything too. Ryo stammered, “We’re…um…we’re…”

“Here to help,” Henry answered for him, “Right, guys?”

“Yeah, but who the hell are you?” the soldier asked again. Rika scoffed, “Those are our digimon. And we are digimon tamers!”

...

Kari finished cooking some eggs and ham, setting up bowls of rice for herself, Guilmon, and Tamer. Once the table was set, she called out to him only to be met with Guilmon instead. He sniffed the food and asked, “It looks yummy! Can I have some?”

“Of course. I cooked it for us,” she said, barely finishing her sentence before he started to dig straight into the food. Kari felt her appetite go away in disgust with how quickly and disgustingly the dinosaur made the food go away, “I said us, Guilmon. Us!”

As she looked away from his eating spree, she noted Tamer still hasn’t joined them, “Where’s your partner?”

“Takatomon was in your bedroom drawing on your window,” Guilmon said with a mouth full of food. Kari sighed and pushed her plate his way, “Go ahead and have mine. I’m going to talk to him.”

She made her way into the bedroom, watching him draw on her window with a red marker and massaged her temple. Not once in her life did she think she would talking to him like a disappointed parent. Then again, she was sure he’d had enough of that in the last few days, “You better plan on washing that off.”

“I will when all this is over,” he promised, not even looking up from his work. That was hardly reassuring to her, especially since the drawing consisted of what looked like a crude map of the city along with some numbers. It was curious, “What are you doing?”

“Measuring the rate of growth and expansion. It’s slow but it’s expanding at an increasing rate. It could swallow the city in a matter of days,” he crossed his arms, “Which makes the whole thing more complicated. The country in the week. The whole world in a month. Time is a factor and we don’t have a lot of it.”

“Okay, but why the window and not a piece of paper?” she asked. He gave her a quizzical look and called her over to have a look at the window from his perspective. The map may have been crude from where she was standing, but it drawn so all the streets and landmarks lined up with where they could be seen from her window, “My math might be off but it should be accurate enough to get a rough estimate.”

She smiled at him, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were playing dumb with your math homework this entire time.”

He smiled back at her and went back to continuing doing math on the window, “I made you some eggs and bacon but I imagine that Guilmon has eaten it all by now.”

Tamer shrugged it off. It seemed he was focused solely on his business at this point whatever his business was. And she didn’t like bring left out of the loop. Not anymore, “Tell ME you’ve got a plan to save Juri. To save both worlds.”

“I probably did. I just can’t remember it. My memories are still off but being in the Digital World helped clear my head of the static. It comes in flashes. And not all of its good,” he paused, stopping his drawings long enough to look back at her with the the biggest puppy dog eyes she’d ever seen, “For whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry. For everything. From when you were a little kid to now. I really am sorry. I was a jerk back then. And I don’t want to be a jerk now. I want to be better. I’m sorry.”

Words she never thought she’d hear him say so genuinely. But that wasn’t important now, “That’s in the past. Right now, all I’m worried about is saving Juri and the world. What is the plan?”

“Right now? Wing it and hope for the best. That thing is called the D-Reaeper. And a long time ago, the guardians couldn’t kill it. We threw everything at it. It evolved and learned so quickly that it was impossible to try the same strategy twice without it adapting. So we did the next best thing. We sealed it away with another equally powerful monster,” he answered, “I’d say we try that again, but I don’t know where we’re going to get that many strong digimon to trick it and an equally strong monster - not digimon, monster - to fight it for another...I don’t know. Another eternity.”

He started pacing frantically, “Okay, plan. Plan. I remember I’m supposed to be good at this stuff - being unpredictable. Winging it so that stuff just kinda works out. So why can’t I think of anything? Gah! Okay, think. Think.”

BOOM!

The apartment shook and Tamer latched on to her to keep from falling over. There was a loud crash somewhere in the distance that must’ve been Guilmon falling over in the kitchen. Once the apartment settled, Kari looked down at Tamer, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, you?” he asked. She nodded, turning her attention out the window, “What the hell was that?”

Her answer came in the form of smoke rising in the distance out her window. It was accompanied by the sight of a strange flock of birds and digimon: Taomon, Rapidmon, and a strange dragon digimon she didn’t recognize. She looked back down at Tamer, “It looks like the rest of your new friends are out there fighting for their lives.”

Tamer’s expression sank, “What? Oh no. Okay, that changes things. I could help but…no, they definitely don’t want to talk to me right now. So change of plan…back up! They need back up! We need to help them! Guilmon! We need to go!”

He collected himself and hurried for the door with Guilmon in tow. But then he paused, stopping just as his hand turned the handle. He didn’t open the door. He didn’t run out to help the others. He just stood there, staring at the door. Then he let it go, stepping back from the door quietly, “Maybe I shouldn’t.”

“What?” Kari blurted, “Tamer, what happened to all that enthusiasm you had a second ago?”

“I’m just realizing something. Any time I help, things just go from bad to worse,” Tamer threw his hands up in frustration, “I could help. I could! But my help tends to cause more problems than it solves! And let’s be fair! With my helping streak, I’ll probably get them killed!”

“So what. Your plan is to sit here and do nothing?” Kari asked, unsure of what exactly he was thinking. Tamer shook his head, massaging his temple as he began pacing in her door way, “Sure! Why not? It’s not like I’ll help them any more than I helped Juri. Who knows, maybe they’ll get kidnapped too! Maybe Ryo will get to spend another twenty years in the Digital World. That’s how destiny seems to be working itself out anyway. I’m supposed to be the Guardian of that and I can’t even remember what I’m supposed to do!”

Kari looked at Tamer pitifully, recalling all her previous adventures in the Digital World and noting how this must’ve been what it looked like from the other side. He seemed genuinely lost and had no idea what to do. All resemblance to the one who always had a plan melted away, all that remained was the misbehaving student from her class with a frustratingly short attention span. As a teacher, she’d always tried using a mix of discipline and learning moments in the hopes of getting through to him. But what exactly could she say now? What should she say?

What would he need to hear? Probably Agumon at this point. She looked over at Guilmon, recalling everything he’d told her. Agumon would be of no help, not in this state. But if he were still around with all his memories intact, what would he say? Of course.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kari said. Tamer looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, “Excuse me?”

Kari mused “It was something Agumon said to us back when you were being ‘Taichi’ that one time, as annoying as it got. Don’t worry about it. Do what comes natural and destiny will usually work itself out. That’s what he told us when we went looking for you. And it’s definitely what you need to hear. Just do what comes natural. So...what do you want to do?”

He looked up at her quietly with big sad eyes. It was easy to forget that he was over a hundred thousand years old when he had those big, sad, childish eyes looking up at her. She put a hand on his shoulder to calm him, “Tamer, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. What should I do?” he asked her quietly. He didn’t know. He was on their level. The apartment shook again as another distant explosion rocked the building. She looked back out her apartment window at the chaos outside. If only she had her partner, “I know what I’d do if Gatomon were here. I’d run out there and try to save the city.”

His eyes widened and a small smile cracked on his face, “When did you get so good at this?”

She smiled back at him, “Someone had to step up when you weren’t around. We all did, honestly. You weren’t around to save the world.”

He nodded silently, still smiling in simple agreement, “You guys really did. And you did a great job of it too. I...I’m sorry for how I was before.”

“You already apologized Tamer. Otherwise, I’m glad we’re having a moment, but the city is in danger! So stop talking and get out there!” Kari said just short of shouting at him. He nodded in agreement and threw the door open, “Yeah, come on buddy! Let’s go get some help.”

“Thank you for breakfast! It was super yummy!” The red dinosaur cheered as he followed his partner back out the door. Kari sighed - those two were the best shot they had right now. She just hoped they were able to do something. That Tamer would come up with a plan before it was too late and all of this would be over soon.

#The Digimon Tamer v2 - In His Name #Digimon Tamers #Fanfiction #Chapter 37 #ArchiveOfOurOwn

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breanime · 5 years

Text

Heartworm (Part One)

Guess who got her internet baaccccck! This gal! So @songtoyou sent me this request and I IMMEDIATELY started getting ideas. This could be up to or past 5 parts, I don’t even know! It all depends if you guys like it and want more! This is kind of a soft re-imagining of season 2.

Request: How about instead of Billy going to his stupid psychiatrists place to seek refuge, he goes to the home of a girl who he was in a serious relationship with. Like, this girl is the only person Billy could ever see himself settling down with. However, once he got money, status, and power from Rawlins he pushed her to the side and eventually dropped her from his life. But once she sees the state Billy is in and how sad, scared and alone he is she wants to help him.

Part One is based on Halsey’s Without Me, particularly these lyrics:

Found you when your heart was broke I filled your cup until it overflowed Took it so far to keep you close (Keep you close) I was afraid to leave you on your own

I said I'd catch you if you fall And if they laugh, then fuck 'em all (All) And then I got you off your knees Put you right back on your feet Just so you can take advantage of me

*gif not mine* (I gotta stop using this gif lol)

You stood frozen in your living room, eyes glued on the TV. The news was saying that Billy, your Billy, was a murderous traitor and a danger to society. You watched as they showed footage of Billy’s apartment up in flames. They said he bombed it himself after killing a handful of Homeland Security agents, they also said that he hired mercenaries for his Anvil staff. The government seized his assets. He shot Curtis in the shoulder. He knew about Frank’s family. He set them up to be killed. Billy. Your Billy.

Except he wasn’t your Billy anymore; he hadn’t been your Billy for three years. You sat down on the couch, legs numb with shock, as you took in what the newscaster was saying about your ex-boyfriend, the only man you’ve ever loved. They flashed a picture of him on the screen. The caption read: “Armed and Dangerous, Do Not Approach”. The newscaster was saying something about Homeland and Frank going after Billy, but it was all starting to sound like white noise to you. Your mind said to get out of town and run until it was all over, but your heart wanted to reminisce, wanted to remind you why you even cared in the first place.

“…and I’m gonna have a Rolls Royce,” Billy said, one arm behind his head and the other wrapped around your waist, “I’m gonna drive it to meetings, rich assholes love a power play.”

You smiled up at Billy, you loved listening to his grand plans for the future. “Are you gonna be a pocket square kind of rich asshole or a ‘Maureen, hold my calls’ kind of rich asshole?”

“Mm,” Billy pulled you closer to his naked chest, “I’m gonna be a pocket square kind of asshole,” he answered, “that’s the best way to run a business.”

“Of course,” you agreed, snuggling up against him, “you’re gonna be a big shot. And I’m gonna have to make an appointment with Maureen just to see you.”

Billy tsked and put a finger on your chin, lifting your face so you were eye-to-eye. “That ain’t never gonna happen,” his dark eyes bore into yours, “I’ll always have time for you.”

You smiled and pressed your lips against his. You felt Billy’s arms tighten around you, lifting you up until you were laying on top of him. You kissed him again, slowly parting your lips, inviting his tongue into your waiting mouth. His eyes were heavy-lidded with lust when you pulled back. You rubbed your nose against his. “I love you.”

His smile made your chest heave with adoration. “I love you too, Y/N.” He kissed you again. “I promise I’m gonna make you proud one day, baby. I’m gonna get us outta this shit hole and out you somewhere nice, where you belong.”

You shrugged. Money and status meant a lot to Billy, meant success, but you were happy enough where you were. Yeah, your apartment was kind of small, and yeah, the heat stopped working every few months, but you’d lived in worst places. Besides, you had Billy. He made you so unbelievably happy; you could have lived in a cave—as long as Billy was with you, you’d be fine. “You know I’m already proud of you,” you told him, “You’ve accomplished so much already.”

“Mm,” Billy kissed the top of your head, “I can do more.” He kissed your nose. “I’m gonna get this security shit together.” He kissed your right eyelid. “I’m gonna get us a place uptown.” He kissed your left eyelid. “And I’m gonna make it so you don’t ever have to work again.” You sighed as he kissed your cheek next. “I ain’t gonna let anyone look down on us anymore.” He kissed your other cheek. “I’m gonna make you so happy, baby.” You felt yourself melt when he finally kissed you on the lips. “I’m gonna take care of us…

…I’m gonna take care of you.”

You turned the TV off, cradling the remote to your chest. You felt your breath getting shallower and casually recognized your erratic heartbeat. You didn’t know what to do. You believed the news—you weren’t sure about the details, but you knew Billy well enough to know that he would do anything for power. You had seen the change that money bought him firsthand, and you didn’t like it at all. You thought about calling Curtis, but you didn’t want to bother him. He was probably up to his neck in cops and paperwork and…Homeland Security, apparently. You wondered how it came to this. Frank was alive. Billy was a wanted man. Curtis was wounded. And you…were alone.

You spent the night on the couch, too numb and confused to get up. You dreamt of Billy and woke up shivering. You got up and made yourself a cup of coffee. Your phone was on the counter, and you frowned as you picked it up. You had missed calls from your mom, your best friend, your boss, and your sister. You had no desire to speak to any of them. You also had a call and voicemail message from an unknown number. Hitting the speaker button, you played the message.

“You’re gonna hear some things on the news.” Billy. “They’re true. I…I did all those things they say I have. By the time you get this message, I’m either gonna be on the run or dead.” It sounded like he took a breath before continuing. “I wanted to see you before I go, but…that’s not gonna happen. So just… Just know that I…” A sigh. “…I think about you all the time. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, a lot of bad choices, done a lot of shitty things, but… I only regret one thing: letting you go. I wish… I should have fought for you more. I should have…” There was some shuffling, and you thought Billy might have put the phone down for a moment. “Listen, they’re gonna say a lot of things about me, and people are gonna try to tell you that I’m heartless and evil, but I want you to remember…You loved me once. You’re the only one I could ever be honest with, the only person in this world who knows who I am. Just… Remember that. And… I’m sorry, Y/N. Goodbye.”

You stood in your kitchen and listened to Billy’s message for at least another 30 minutes. By the time you went back to the couch and turned the TV on, Billy was pronounced near-death and was being kept under constant surveillance at the hospital. Frank Castle was said to be ‘in the wind’ and Anvil was being torn down and all the profits split up. The news interviewed a medical professional about the chances of Billy making any kind of recovery. They predicted he would be dead in six months.

You turned the TV off and wept.

It had been nearly a year since everything went down with Billy. The coverage for Billy’s case had pretty much stopped after a month, and people were onto the next scandal now. Curtis had stopped by your place and told you that Frank left town. The visit had been brief, but he told you what Billy had done—confirming what you’d heard on the news—and said that his orders had come from someone named Rawlins. Rawlins, you understood, was dead. Curtis had word from Frank to tell you that he had been given a new identity by the government and was going to hit the road for a while. When you asked why he’d want you to know that, Curtis had just said: “you needed to know it was over”. You should have felt anger, or pity or sadness but… you felt nothing. You had been operating on auto-pilot, swimming in a thick fog of numbness, since Billy had been arrested. The last thing you could remember feeling, really feeling, was a deep and intense sorrow when you listened to Billy’s message. He had broken your heart, left you, and then revealed himself to be a monster and you…You were just tired.

“I don’t know what you want me to say Y/N,” Billy’s back was to you. You had barged into his office at Anvil, demanding to see him, but now that you were there… The way he was talking to you was cold and detached. His stance was rigid, his focus was on the recruits below him, not on you. This Billy—CEO Billy—was not what you had signed up for.

“I want you to say you’re sorry,” you said, “I want you to say you care.” Billy didn’t say anything. You clenched your fists. “Look at me, Billy.”

He turned. He was wearing an expensive three-piece suit and his hair was impeccably cut. His eyes, the eyes you loved, the eyes that looked at you with such care and affection, were hollow.

“What happened to you?” You asked, looking him up and down with disgust. “You never come home, you barely spend any time with me—”

“What do you want, Y/N?” He said, irritation clear in his voice. “I’m busy. I’m working. I’m trying to afford the penthouse we live in and the car you drive.”

“I bought my own car,” you reminded him, eyes narrowed as you glared at him, “And I work, too, but I make time for the people I love.”

Billy sighed, rolling his shoulders. “I told you, you don’t have to work.”

You sighed then. He was missing the point. “Billy,” you tried again, “I’m tired of this. I can’t keep being an afterthought for you. I need you.” You tried to look in his eyes, but he avoided your gaze. “I miss you.”

Billy walked over to you and put a hand on your waist. He pulled you towards him and kissed you. “I miss you, too,” his voice was husky as he moved his lips to your neck, “I know I’ve been working a lot lately, but we’re so close…”

You closed your eyes. You wanted to have a conversation, but it was hard to think of words—let alone form any—with his mouth on your skin. “Will you come home tonight?” You asked, breath short and voice heavy with lust.

“Mm hmm,” his hand slid to your ass as he kissed you again, “I’m gonna be all yours tonight.” He licked into your mouth and smiled when you moaned.

You felt his hardness pressing against your front and you deepened the kiss. “I don’t know if I can wait that long,” you whispered.

Billy chuckled and released you from his grip. You glared as you watched him walk over to his desk. He pressed a button on his phone and leaned over to speak. “Hold all my calls,” he ordered, smirking over at you, “I don’t want any calls or interruptions for the next hour.” He walked past you and you heard him lock the door behind you. His eyes were gleaming when he turned back to you and he looked like himself, like your Billy, again. His smile made your heart skip a beat. “Take your clothes off, baby. I want to spend some time with you.”

You sat up with a start. It had been months since you’d last dreamt of Billy. You looked around you and cursed under your breath. You had fallen asleep on the couch. No wonder you were off. You hadn’t been able to have a full night’s rest without sleep aids since…since Billy had left that message on your phone. If you didn’t take a pill before you went to bed, you would dream about Billy. You didn’t want to dream about him, you wanted to ignore the ache in your chest and the emptiness in your life and just… Get over it. Get over him. You felt a headache coming on, so you shuffled to the bathroom for a quick shower before bed.

Your mind kept going back to Billy as you got ready for bed; you remembered the strain in his voice in the message he left you, how he used to laugh when you stuck your cold feet on his back, the way he stared down at you as he shifted inside you, driving you wild. You could see his eyes, dark and expressive and so full of love when he looked at you, every time you closed your eyes. You gave up on sleep and went back to the couch, deciding to just spend the night watching horrible night time TV until you could get Billy out of your head.

You were finally getting into the Real Housewives marathon you had been watching when you heard a knock on your door. You glanced at your phone: it was 11 pm. Who the hell would be at your door at this time? You grabbed your phone in case you needed to call the police and stood on your tip-toes to look into the peephole. Your mouth fell open at the same time your phone hit the floor with a dull thump.

Billy Russo was standing in the hallway of your apartment. And he was covered in blood.

*************************************************************************************

I have the next two parts locked and loaded! Pleaaase comment and let me know if you want the rest. The more feedback I get, the more I update! Thanks for reading, and may Billian be with you.

BTW, I got the title from this “emotion that’s hard to describe word”: Heartworm: a relationship or friendship that you can’t get out of your head, which you thought had faded long ago but is still somehow alive and unfinished, like an abandoned campsite whose smoldering embers still have the power to start a forest fire.

TAGLIST: @delicatelilyflower @doneobrien @ladyblablabla @banditthewriter @something-tofightfor @starsfragments @blackcoffeeandgreenteaforme @hisgirlwednesdayaddams@fictionwillneverdie @maria-beretta @sadnessxvodka @ymariejp @sunnycolors @moonlightsay @its-all-o-kay @damagelove @keyeluh @itsmylife98 @funerals-with-cake @littlemermaidprobz @teacuplotus @king4thesirens @mrsjaxtellerfan @thebabblingbook @tartelette-aux-fraises @madamrogers @charlylama @iaintnofurry @k-buggz2001 @whitewolfslittlesilverfox @drinix @elanor-of-imladris @floralpeaceofmind

#billy russo #billy russo x reader #billy russo imagine #the punisher #heartworm

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