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holylulusworld · 5 years

Text

Secrets, lies and love

Summary: When Natasha the woman you only know as Natalia, not as an Avenger asks for your help. You agree only to feel the wrath of Captain America

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader, Natasha Romanoff x Reader (platonic), Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes, Scott Lang

Warnings: angst, love-hate relationship, arguments, Steve being a douche, mentions of sexual intercourse, language, smut, unprotected sex, biting, hair pulling

This fics is post CACW with nomad Steve

“Trust me, Steve, Y/N is the best. She can fix Sam’s wound. I owe her my life. One last thing before we pick her up – she doesn’t know about the Avengers and crap. Y/N spent the last years isolated in a research base in Antarctica. They needed a doctor and she agreed. Don’t tell her how Sam got injured.” Natasha says and Steve looks at her, brows furrowed.

“She doesn’t know about the Avengers?” Steve asks. “Nothing?”

“UH, nope.” Natasha shrugs, chuckling. “She won’t know about Captain America, that I’m Black Widow and the crap about the Accords. Just keep it hidden till we can bring her back home. Y/N deserves a good life.” Steve nods, not convinced at all.

“Steve, get the stick out of your ass,” Sam mutters. “Y/N is cool. Now let’s get her or I will bleed to death.” Sam pants and finally Steve nods.

“Then let’s get this girl.” Bucky chuckles starting the engine.

“Why did I agree to help you?” Scott groans rubbing his forehead. “I could’ve had a great life. My company was on it’s way to the top and now…”

“Dude, your company was a dead-birth.” Sam retorts. “Now shut up. We are in this together. Barnes, drive faster.”

“I’m on it, Wilson,” Bucky mutters, cursing under his breath.

“No swear words, Buck.” Steve orders and Natasha grins at the tall Avenger.

“We broke the law, are on the run but swear words still concern you, Cap?” The former redhead asks sliding her fingers through her now blonde hair. “I miss my red hair…”

“We all had to sacrifice things,” Steve says.

“Dude, you grew your hair and a beard. I left my company, daughter and all I knew.” Scott retorts.

Spending two years with half of the Avengers on the run is get on Scott's nerves by now.

“Take a turn to the left and park at the end of the alley. She will wait for us with her luggage.” Natasha explains.

“Luggage?” Steve asks quirking a brow.

“Yeah. I told you she was away for a while. Her apartment is empty, and she only has the things in her suitcases. She bought everything new and wanted to move in today. I called and axed her plans. Now be nice, Cap.”

----

A car passes you to park at the end of the alley. You still got a bad feeling about this. Out of the blue, Natalia called you, telling you one of her friends got her. This smells like crime. Years ago, after a bad break-up – was it even a break-up? She was there for you, encouraged you to go to the Antarctic and forget about this certain asshole – her words not yours.

Now the door of the van opens, you can see Natalia and a man with dark long hair. Something is off with his arm, it’s made of metal, a prosthesis you guess.

Natalia waves at you, nodding and you take one of your suitcases as the dark-haired guy shakes his head, grabbing all three suitcases as if they weight nothing.

“Whoa, I guess he always ate healthily.” You chuckle hugging Natalia tightly. “How worse is it?”

“Sam is bleeding heavily. Needs more than a few stitches. We’ve got a safe place to do so.” Your friend explains and the pit in your stomach grows.

“Okay.” You reply, either way, following her into the van as your eyes meet ocean blue ones. The eyes you…then you see Sam, bleeding heavily.

“Hey, strong guy. I need the smaller suitcase. Open it for me, I need something to stop the bleeding, for now, sanitizer, hand gloves, and the prepared IV.” You order ignoring the tall blonde man staring at you, gulping.

“Steve, that’s Y/N,” Natasha says, and you nod. Steve does the same, not giving away anything.

“Nice to meet you, Steve.” You reply. “Can someone start the car? I think all of us being here is a bit…dumb.” You chuckle and Scott nods, getting into the driver’s seat.

“First question – will there be a scar?” Sam asks.

“Seriously? You’re not concerned about surviving?” You joke, still ignoring Steve’s boring looks. “Sure but…the scar?”

“Don’t worry, Sam. I’ll fix you and there will be barely a scar, okay.” You explain, cleaning the wound. “That’s a shot wound, Natalia.”

“I know, Y/N. I think we have to explain a lot to you but right now…” Natasha sighs.

“I get it. In that case, I’ll need to get the bullet out right now before he’ll get an infection. Handle me the small bag in there. In need…” Natasha nods. “I know what you need.”

----

Three hours later you finally arrive at your destiny. The day dawns as Bucky carries your luggage into the ‘compound’ before you can protest.

“We need you to check on Sam for a few days and maybe on my broken ribs,” Natasha says.

“You guys live a dangerous life.” You sigh. “I need to check Sam’s temperature and wound. He needs antibiotics. We need to go to a pharmacy.”

“No,” Steve says and you roll your eyes.

“Listen, Steve, if you want your friend to survive, I’ll go to a pharmacy and get the stuff. I can go alone if you are concerned anyone can see you.” You retort glaring at the tall man. “Whatever you messed up it must be something worse than stealing a chocolate bar. I’m not a criminal, so no one will get suspicious. I’ll go in and get out in a blink. We meet at a safe place and one of you brings me back here.”

“Sounds like a plan, Cap…” Scott says and Natasha glares at him. “Capital city…is a nice town…” He tries.

“Let’s do this then.”

----

Two hours later you found everything you need. Waiting in line you glance at a monitor hanging over the checkout. You can see Sam flying…and Steve throwing someone into a wall.

“That’s a tragedy, hun, …huh?” An elderly woman says. “Captain America is still fighting for us, but they want to catch him like a criminal.”

“Captain America…” You gasp. “Oh…yeah. It’s is, I guess.”

“See, he made the mistake to not sign some stupid stuff…” She chuckles. “I’m old, I can say what I want. I saw him when I was a young girl, back then in World War II. He was a hero, and still is a hero.” She whispers and you glance at the monitor once again.

“I didn’t know any of this. I was out of…life, I guess… It was the time when they found him in the ice, I think.” You whisper.

“He’s a sexy man,” The elderly woman says.

“Yeah…I guess…” She smiles now, paying her things.

----

“What took you so long?” Steve mutters and you shrug.

“I told you we shall meet me at a safe place, not in public.” You whisper. “They showed a video of you and the others in there, Captain America.”

“I guess the cat is out of the bag, Stevie.” Bucky chuckles. “We should…” Steve can’t end the sentence as he sees four cops walking toward your position. “Stay behind me…I’ll handle this situation,” Steve says.

“Ma’am I need you to come with me. You are arrested for conspiracy with Captain America and the Winter Soldier.” One of the officers says. “Captain, Sergeant Barnes, please come with us on free terms.”

“I’m sorry, son but we are not able to follow your orders,” Steve says shoving you behind his back. “The lady is innocent. She was only asking about the way…”

“Sir, Captain we know about her connection to Black Widow. She was observed since the moment she entered American soil. Now come with us, Ms. Y/L/N.” The officer says and you start shaking.

“Into which kind of trouble did Natalia drag me into?” You ask.

“You wanted answers…now you’ve got them.” Steve mutters and you punch his back.

----

“Let me down, Rogers.” You mutter slapping his back. “I can walk!”

“You wanted to go with the cops and tell them about our hideout,” Steve growls.

“I don’t even know where it is, Captain. I got no clue why they knew about me…and why did they call Natalia, Natasha?”

“As I lied to you, Y/N. I’m sorry they were after you because of me. I thought I covered my tracks.”

“Natasha, I lost everything I tried to build up here in one night. This is…” Screaming you wiggle in Steve’s tight grip.

“Calm down or I will lock you in a cell. You’re not one of us – we can’t trust you.” Steve says.

“Steve, are you kidding me? She lost everything as she helped Sam. Now let her down and act like a normal guy for once. Y/N is deep into it now…just like Scott.” Natasha sighs and Steve drops you to the ground.

“Ouch…”

“Steve!”

“She will have to work to get food and a room.” He orders now full Captain. “We don’t need another hungry mouth.”

----

“How do you feel?” Natasha asks.

Still mad at your friend you shake your head, wiping away some tears. “I’m in this compound for two months. No sunlight, now friends…no job or hope. I lost everything as you lied to me. You should’ve been my friend but you are no better than this guy breaking my heart.” You sniffle.

“Who was he?” She asks. “You never told me anything about him.” Sitting down onto your bed she looks at you, waiting for any information.

“Honestly, I got to know I didn’t know him at all, Natal…I mean Natasha. I never knew him. I was a toy to play with…”

“Why are you chatting? You need to clean the kitchen and check on Bucky’s shoulder.” Steve barks.

For over two months Steve acts like you are the enemy as if you destroyed his life, not the other way around. He’s always nagging, yelling and glaring at you.

“Steve!” Natasha tries but you place one hand onto her shoulder. “It’s fine. Captain America barks and I follow…such a hero.” You say bitterly before your friend leaves your room.

“Get your shit together, Steve.” She whispers through gritted teeth.

“Y/N hurry up! Bucky is waiting.”

“I know…” You sigh. “Why are you treating me like this?” The question surprises Steve and he steps into your room, towering intimidating over you. His eyes search your face and he scoffs.

“You know why…you acted like you didn’t know me in the van.” He snarls.

“I acted like that? You did the same, Rogers.” You retort.

“Do you even remember?” He asks tilting his head. “Or were there so many others?” Now he’s licking his lips, waiting for you to say something. The slap hits him by surprise.

“Many others? If I do remember?” You spat, angrily clenching your jaw. “I remember everything. I remember our dates, the kisses…your promises, Steve. I remember giving you what no other man had before.” You yell now.

Steve is looking at you, surprised about your outburst. “Y/N, we shouldn’t…not now!”

“Not now? The hell! Right now! You took what you wanted and the next morning you were gone, Rogers. I woke up in a cold bed, alone. I called you but your phone was unreachable. I drove to your apartment, but it was empty. Don’t tell me I forgot the heartbreak, the betrayal, Steve Rogers. Fucking Captain America!” You scream slapping his cheek again and this time Steve growls.

“Stop hitting me!” Steve orders and you kick his shin, but he doesn’t even flinch.

“Fuck you! I left my hometown to live in goddamn Antarctica because of you! Now you have the guts to accuse me of having sex with random guys. Thanks to you I never trusted anyone ever again. I hate you. Lying son of a bitch!” You curse.

Ready to scratch his eyes out you jump onto the bed to reach his back. Steve tries to shake you off, but you tug at his hair, scratching his scalp.

“Fuck, get off me, doll.” Steve curses as Natasha and Sam run into your room, watching you fighting with Steve.

“UH-Cap? Is this your way to do foreplay?” Sam asks as Natasha is cheering for you. “This is not the way to do it…Stevie…” Bucky adds glancing over Sam’s shoulder. “Ask her for a date or cuddle her.”

“She attacked me!” Steve pants trying to get you off his back, but you are fighting him, scratching his neck, biting his ear. “Ouch, Y/N…I like it rough but no like that.”

“I know, pervert!” You mutter tugging at his shirt.

“Guys, we should…leave the room and…whatever.” Natasha says as you started biting Steve’s neck and he stopped yelling and started moaning.

“Why? It’s getting interesting.” Sam says. Natasha is glancing at Steve, grabbing your legs, squeezing the tender flesh. “Now Wilson.”

“What a pity. Best show ever.” Bucky chuckles.

----

“Get off me now, doll or you won’t like the answer,” Steve warns as you started tugging at his hair again.

“No way! Your hair is longer, and I’ll rip it out! Every single strand.” You threaten and Steve grabs your leg, dragging you off him to toss you onto the bed.

“I’ll teach you a lesson!” He warns striding toward you with an angry look on his face.

“I survived your bad behavior for two months! Asshole!” You talk back. Steve is watching you, licking his lips before his shirt gets tossed aside. “UH—why are you…fuck…” Your eyes watch Steve undressing and you unwillingly stare at his half-hard cock.

“I left that morning for a mission. I got captured my Hydra…spend six months in a cell, thinking about you. When I came back you were gone.” Steve says walking toward the bed.

“You could’ve said something…” You gasp as he unbuttons your pants, dragging the fabric down your legs, along with your plain cotton panties. He’s admiring the view before your shirt hits the floor, along with your bra.

“I wanted to, but Shield was against it…now I know it was because Hydra infiltrated Shield…I want to see what’s mine, spread…” Steve orders and you let your legs fall open.

“I would’ve waited for you…”

Rough hands slide over your legs before he wraps them around his waist. His cock is nudging at your entrance but he’s waiting, kissing along your jawline instead. Your hands caress his broad shoulders, moaning into his mouth as he slips his tongue in.

Pulse starting to race you move one hand between your bodies, stroking him slowly. Growls leave Steve’s lips when you angle your hips to let the tip slip into you. His body is pressed firmly against yours. Hands holding each other, lips united to an all-consuming kiss as he sinks into your heat, causing you to shiver.

“You’re still so tight.” Steve groans against your soft pillows, claiming them once again before his hips start moving. He goes slow at first, testing the waters before you dig your nails into his shoulders, urging him on to go harder.

“Harder…”

Now his hands grip the headboard. Knees dug into the mattress Steve starts pounding into you. He still holds back, his inhuman strength would hurt you so he does his best to make you scream, but only in pleasure.

Your back arches, hands fisting the sheets with every hard thrust of his dick. The noises grow louder, skin slaps against skin. His eyes meet yours as you slide your hands over his chest, crying out for more.

“I’ve missed you…” Steve growls sliding into you in a maddening pace. He’s holding back his high, trying to make you come first. You are lost in pleasure, in the feeling of Steve above you, inside of you, making you moan in desperation.

Your nails scratch over his chest, down to his abs to leave angry red lines but Steve doesn’t care, he only grips the headboard tighter, now bottoming out after every long stroke. He stills for a moment, enjoying the feeling of your pussy contracting around him, squeezing him tightly.

He’s moving faster, angling his cock, pressing another high out of you before he grips the headboard tighter, crying out your name as the wood breaks.

“Shit, you destroyed the bed…” You gasp.

“Worth it…” Steve shrugs tossing the wood aside and the door bursts open.

“Dude! Did you just…” Bucky trails off as his eyes dart between the destroyed headboard on the floor and the scene on your bed. “I’m out…”

“Did he…? Crap, Cap…Jesus…” Sam chokes, covering his eyes. “Damn, warn a man, Barnes.”

“Why should only I suffer?” Bucky retorts.

“Is Y/N, alright?” Natasha asks running toward your room only to see you pawing at Steve’s back as he tries to cover your modesty with his taller frame. “Way to go, girl! You tamed Captain Grumpy.”

“Guys, Nat…can you get the fuck out of Y/N’s room!” Steve yells.

“No swear words, Stevie. I hope you used protection, cause…ya know…wrap it…” Bucky teases as Natasha grabs his ear, and Sam’s to drag the men away.

“We didn’t wrap it…” Steve whispers.

“I’m on the pill, Captain…”

“Did you have a boyfriend?” There is jealousy plastered all over Steve’s face now and you shrug.

“Nope…”

“Why the pill then?” His eyes meet yours as you wrap your arms around his neck. “Thought I’ll get lucky, Steve. I mean Black Widow is calling me, so I assumed you would be there too…” You chuckle.

“You knew?” Steve gasps.

“I was in the Antarctic, not on the moon. I had to play my role to make sure no one knows Tony sent me to help you out, my hero.”

“Tony?”

“Now let’s talk about redemption…” Lower lip trapped between your teeth you glance at Steve, waiting for his reaction.

“You knew I got captured?” He asks. “Tony told me after he contacted me some days ago. He told me everything and asked for help. I thought I’ll give you the chance to make it up to me. Now…how about destroying this bed for sure…”

“I’m on it. But later we will talk about lying, doll.” Steve grunts snapping his hips against yours. “Now I’m going to make sure you can’t walk for a few days…”

----

“Stop standing in front of my friend's room.” Natasha scolds hearing you moan Steve’s name.

“Shit, I haven’t had any for months, Nat. Let me get some inspiration.” Bucky mutters. “I need something for lonely nights.”

“Lonely nights, Barnes? Hm…follow me to my room…I’ll give you a helping hand…”

All works Tags

@yolobloggers, @meganywinchester, @shikshinkwon, @miraclesoflove , @mogaruke, @shatteredabby

Marvel Tags

@stuckys-whore, @notyourtypicalrose, @voltage-my2dlove, @thedoctorscamanion , @officialmarvelwhore, @randomgirlkensy, @juniorhuntersam, @lumar014, @doctorswife221b, @badboysdoitbetter2, @sister-winchesters99

Steve Rogers/Chris Evans Tags

@hhiggs, @roonyxx, @stylesismyhubs

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bittysvalentines · 4 years

Text

You Can’t Hear My Soul

From: @eatallofthepumpkinthings

To: @corgiberus

Rating: T

Tags: Soulmate AU, Angst, mentions of anxiety, mentions of loneliness, mentions of defamation of character, mentions of paparazzi being rude, OC, ASL/RSL/Sign language, NHL Chowder, NHL Whiskey, Open Ended, mentions of Zimbits

Note: Sorry I can't write fluff! I hope you like it anyways.

Alexei wakes up groggy. The night before he'd tried to stay up until midnight, his heart racing with anticipation, yet he'd fallen asleep at some point. As soon as he is awake enough to realize why he's so groggy, his heart starts running again and his face splits with a grin. Immediately he feels for that space in his head where the connection to his soul mate should exist. When he finds it, nestled just behind his eyes, his heart sinks.

There is wind blowing past his ears and he knows he won't be able to hear his soulmate. He'd hoped that they'd fall into that small statistical chance and have the same birth date. He knew it was unrealistic, but he still had hoped to hear his soulmate. He often stayed up at night wondering if their voice would be airy and melodic or deep in soothing. Would they be Russian like him, or would they be foreign and the translation weird and distressing. Of course, it wouldn't matter if his soulmate was foreign, living half way across the world even – but it would be so much easier if they were Russian. If they were, then the likelihood of them being close by would be higher. They could be together sooner.

His daydreaming didn't matter now. The connection was open. He could tell his soulmate all about himself and maybe they'd come and find him before their 18th birthday. Even if they didn't come and find him – he had to stop himself . There were only 24 hours in the day and he'd already wasted several sleeping.

“HI! I'M ALEXEI!” He shouts into the connection. His cheeks heat. Why am I shouting? I'm going to sound desperate. he thinks.

He tries to reign himself in, but he knows its going to be difficult. “Uh sorry for shouting. I'm just really excited to talk to you. I've been dreaming about this day for a long time. I can't hear you now. But I'm sure in no time I will be able to hear you. We will talk non-stop on your birthday. I just know it.”

He stays up until midnight telling his soulmate everything about his life.

********************

Months pass and Alexei's hopes fade. He throws himself into his hockey career again. His father is right, if he's going to transition to the NHL he should do it now. He's been working with agents and talking to teams. By the end of the regular NHL season he's secured his spot with Falconers.

********************

Nervousness sits in the pit of his stomach everyday. Without any games to play, he refocuses his energy into learning English. It's profoundly frustrating. After a particularly disastrous lesson, he decides to take out his feelings the only way he knows how – on the ice. He's laces up and heads onto the iced over pond behind his family home.

Who knows when I'll get to do this again, he sulks.

He's skating laps, pushing himself as fast as he can. Suddenly he's tripping over himself. There are words flashing behind his eyes. As he falls forward, he becomes aware that the room where his connection lives is open and the wind rushing past his ears is just from the fall.

“Hello, can you hear me?”

“Are you awake? I hope I'm not waking you.”

“I'm really excited to talk with you Alexei.”

As he catches his breath and tries to push up off his knees, his mind is racing. After a few minutes he realizes he hasn't said anything back and he probably should do that.

“OH, HELLO... Hi. Uh... Happy birthday!” He replies awkwardly.

“Thank you! I'm so happy to finally talk to you.”

Alexei is excited but he is so very confused.

“Why can't I hear you?” he asks.

“WHAT?” his soulmate replies.

“It's like I'm seeing your words. I... I don't hear them. Is there something wrong?” Is he sick? He's heard that colds can sometimes mess up these conversations. Or maybe it's because of his concussion. He hopes that that isn't the case. Concussions have all sorts of long term affects, and in his line of work, its likely he'll have another if not more.

Suddenly he feels a door close. He frantically feels behind his eyes for that space where his soulmate just was but its gone. The void is overwhelming and he's back on his knees. What just happened?

********************

Alexei's 19th birthday couldn't come sooner. He's managed to stay up all night this time. Midnight finds him sitting up straight as a board, staring out the window of his senior teammate's guest bedroom. The city lights are stunning. He feels the connection open and he's speaking as fast as he can. Every question that's swirled in his head for the last few months spews out of him. He gets silence in reply and in just a few minutes the door is slammed closed, the connection lost. He cries himself to sleep.

********************

When he decides to put his mind to something, Alexei always manages to see it through. Going into the NHL, learning English, making friends with his teammates, becoming rookie of the month – he set his mind to those things and he did them. He makes his mind up to be as positive as he can about his soulmate. He may not know why they've hung up on him, why they've not talked to him, why they haven't tried to find him, but he knows he can't control what they do. He can only control himself.

With his mind set on positive, when his soulmate's birthday comes back around, he keeps it casual and light. He talks about his life. He talks about hockey. He talks about his teammates and friends. Every birthday flies by like this. His soulmate never speaks, but the connection stops closing right away.

********************

A few years go by. The Falconers win the cup. But his soulmate never talks to him.

********************

There is a movie playing on the plane. It was a tough game against the Capitals and every muscle in Tater's body is beat. He thinks that the movie is a romantic comedy, but he isn't really sure. The actors all seem to be mumbling or talking too fast. Lulling his head to the side, he asks Poots to translate again for the 5th time.

“Dude, Aren't you paying attention?”

“Yes, I'm just very tired.” He gives him his best puppy dog eyes.

Poots smiles. Tater sees a light go off in Poots head and suddenly Poots is climbing over him and stumbling towards the front of the bus.

“Hey who has the remote.” Someone produces the remote up front. Tater watches Poots struggle with it. Eventually Snowy gets up, rather reluctantly, and helps Poots with whatever he was doing.

When Poots returns, Tater turns back to the movie and is amazed. There are words steaming at the bottom of the screen, highlighted in black, and in Russian.

“Now I don't have to translate.” Poots says victoriously. Tater nodes dumbly. This is what my soulmate's voice looked like.

********************

Its been awhile since he's thought this much about his soulmate when it wasn't his or their birthdays. Stewing on this new information is easy. Making any sense of it, that isn't easy. He tries to Google for some answers but he must not be using the right search words because none of the search results make much sense to him. Once again he finds himself wondering if there is something wrong with him.

After a couple of weeks, he decides to talk about it. He trusts his friends, and the old guys have worldly experience. Maybe one of his teammates will know something that can help.

He's hanging out with the guys, having a few beers when he musters up the courage to bring it up. They're all silent for a few minutes. It unnerves Tater. Am I the only one this has ever happened to?

“Maybe they speak a different language?” Poots says.

“If they speak a different language he should just hear them in Russian. That doesn't explain why he sees the words and not hears them” Snowy refutes.

“Oh right”

“Ive never really heard of anything like this before” Marty says. A couple guys nod in agreement.

“Maybe they're sick all the time?”

Thirdy brings up, “I read a story once that a guy started hearing his soulmate's voice in a whole different language than either of them knew and it turned out he had a tumor.”

“I just had a scan when I had that minor concussion” Tater replies exasperatedly.

“Maybe they're deaf?” Jack offers.

“What?” Everyone turns to Jack.

“I read a book on historical figures with disabilities and it explained that many deaf people and their soulmate's see each others thoughts.” That makes sense.

He goes home and googles some more.

********************

On his next birthday he tries to casually slip in “Are you deaf?”

It doesn't come off casual. Thankfully his soulmate responds.

“Yes”. Then the connection drops.

********************

His family and friends start to worry about him as the years go by. Its not uncommon for people in their early 20s to be single or dating around. But when you're close to 30, people notice. His parents set him up with a Russian National figure skater. She's nice enough but they don't last long with their mismatched schedules and distance between them. He hooks up regularly with a goon on the Bruins for almost two years before he gets traded to the Lightning and meets his soulmate.

On home game nights, when his teammates head home to their soulmates, he returns to his empty apartment. The silence is overwhelming. When he feels like the loneliness will crush him, he turns on ASL and RSL tutorials and clumsily signs along.

********************

It's the off season. Usually he tries not to schedule anything on his soulmate's birthday. But admittedly he's starting to give up hope. When Jack invites him to his summer home for a cookout and a friendly game of hockey with friends, he accepts. Its made easier by B's promises of pie and jam. He's pretty excited until he gets there and is slammed with regret.

Milling about and taking pictures are several PR people from the Sharks, the Aces, the Baby Penguins, the Belleville Senators, and of course the Falconers.

“Sorry guys, I was just so excited.” He overhears Chowder saying. A few Samwell alumni and Falconers are huddled around Chowder and the keg.

“It's alright Chowder. This is good PR.” Whiskey assures him aloofly.

“Yeah and its not like they are staying the whole party – right?” Poots asks.

They all shrug.

Tater makes his rounds. He gives crushing hugs to his teammates, the wellies, and the players from other teams that he has grown to care about. He shuffles in and out of the house. He helps Bitty keep the tables full – and subsequently helps to empty them of their contents. He plays games on the living room's Nintendo Switch, pongs it up with the Pong Master, and gives piggyback rides to the various little ones. He's enjoying himself, but he can't shake the feeling that he's being watched.

He's pouring himself another beer when he glances up and catches the stare of a Shark's photographer from across the room. The guy is lean, with broad shoulders, and flaming red curls. He's also wearing a serious expression aimed right at Tater. His unnerving blue eyes bore into Tater and suddenly Tater feels very self conscious. He trains his eyes on his cup as he takes a drink. When he looks back up, the photographer's face is buried by his curls. The guy is looking down at his camera. Tater is suddenly filled with the fear that he'd just had his picture taken. For years tabloids have tried to make him out to be a heavy drinker. It wasn't true and he didn't need a photo of him chugging a beer to stoke those flames.

He makes his way across the room and stops a few feet from the photographer. “Hey” he says lamely. He was upset a moment ago but now up close, with the man's pale face turned towards him, he can make out the freckles on his nose. He always had a weak spot for freckles.

He was hoping the guy would at least say hello back. Instead it seemed like Tater had returned the favor and unnerved the guy. His eyes were wide and frantically searching around the room, looking everywhere but at Tater. Finally they seemed to settle on something behind Tater. Turning Tater sees Chowder and his soulmate chatting with another couple.

“Uh, hey Chowder” Chowder turned to Tater and Tater pointed his thumb at the photographer. Out of the corner of his eye, he could make out movement behind him, but by the time he had turned back to the photographer the movement had stopped and Chowder had materialized between them.

Then Chowder started introducing them and signing.

“Hey Tater, this is Cody. He's one of our team photographers. Cody this is Alexei Mashkov.”

“Nice to meet you” Cody signed. He offered a handshake.

Tater shook his hand, then he signed back “Its nice to meet you too”

“Oh you know sign language?” Chowder asks exuberantly.

“Yeah, a little” Tater replied sheepishly.

Cody's expression relaxs somewhat, but he still looks apprehensive.

“How do you know sign language?” he asks.

Surprisingly without hesitation Tater responds “I learned it for my soulmate.”

He regrets it almost immediately. He had almost managed to forget that it was his soulmate's birthday. It felt like he just dropped himself in an ice bath. Cody looked about how Tater felt.

Chowder doesn't pick up on the tension.

“Is your soulmate deaf?” He asks.

“Yeah”

“I didn't know that! Are they here with you? I don't think you've ever introduced us! I know Caitlin would love to meet them too!”

“Well I haven't met them myself so.”

“Oh”

Tater wishes the floor would open up and swallow him.

“I'm sorry” Cody signed. His face looks pained, like he felt what Alexei was feeling.

Chowder offers an escape. “We should probably get padded up for the game. I think I overheard a couple guys talking about starting it soon.”

Tater was about to agree, when Cody cuts in. “Wait, can I get a picture of you both before you're all sweaty.”

Tater chuckles at that. “Sure”

Cody maneuvers them to stand beside some of the Zimmerman's tall houseplants and underneath one of the living room's skylights. Tater is a bit disappointed when Cody takes a few steps away to take their picture. Up close he could see the sun bouncing off of Cody's curls. He even got to see his eyes light up when he joked that Chowder and himself should pose like a falcon and a shark respectively. He's still smiling when he aims the camera. Tater is smiling too.

Cody raises his hand and counts down from 5. With the click of the camera shutter Tater sees words flash behind his eyes.

“Wow he really is a sweetheart isn't he.”

Tater's heart jumps and flutters wildly. He watches Cody's face transform from embarrassment to terror, flaming red cheeks turning to ghostly white. They both stand still, staring at each other.

Finally, Tater asks “It's you isn't it.”

“Yes”

#tateroc #bv2020 #bitty's valentines #omgcp fandom #omg check please!

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olicity-fanwork-exchange · 5 years

Text

Broken Bones And Porcelain Dolls

This one is for Jesse, @spaztronautwriter. I have always loved your stories and I am so grateful that you share them with us. This is no way as good as your original fic Broken Bones Lead Me to You but I hope you’ll have fun reading it all the same.

From: @tangled23works

Rating : Teen

Archive Warnings : No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationship : Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak, Mia Smoak/Connor Hawke

Characters : Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak, Mia Smoak, Connor Hawke, William Clayton

Additional Tags : Future Fic

Words : 3896

Sick people made a lot of noise.

As someone who had been blessed with excellent health, Mia had never noticed it before. The last time she had visited Starling Memorial she had been too young to pay attention to the smell of disinfectant and constant groaning around her.

A man in a red hoodie that reminded her of an old photo of her Uncle Roy was brooding in the corner while a young girl with spiky black hair wearing a leather jacket was threatening the nurse with bodily harm if they didn’t treat his injuries soon. Mia couldn’t actually see an injury but she supposed that people got hurt in amentionable locations all the time. An older guy - she had made sure to stay far away from that one because she could feel his creepy eyes following her - was complaining constantly about inefficient nurses and female doctors. If Mia’s Mom was there she would have donated this slimy dude’s money to Greenpeace in a heartbeat.

“Mia?”

She looked up to find her older brother with a sad look on his face that could only be described as contrition.

“I’m sorry but the nurse said this is gonna take a while.”

“It’s fine, Will.”

Her brother sighed as if he knew she was lying and sat next to her. The plastic chairs weren’t exactly comfortable but the place had been so crowded that Will had been forced to stand at least for an hour while they were waiting.

Mia turned towards him. In all the years she had known Will, she had never seen him look like that. She had been about five years old when a trip to Central City had revealed that her father had another kid. Things had never been the same after that. But despite all the sibling rivalry, Mia wouldn’t trade her older brother for the world.

She leaned on him. “Remember the last time we were here?”

Will closed his eyes. “Yes.”

She could hear the smile in his voice. “Lucas was screaming the place down. Our parents were afraid that the nurses would kick us out.”

Will chuckled. “Felicity always said that you were so quiet. It was so easy to keep you happy. You were fine as long as your belly was full. I think Lucas surprised them. They hadn’t expected a baby to be so loud and demanding.”

“And now, he’s the best of us. Always zen and shit.”

The old lady in the next seat shoot her a reproving glance.

“Mia Smoak Queen. Don’t make me call your mom.”

Mia stuck her tongue out. “You wouldn’t dare. Because then I would have to tell her we’re in the emergency room. And she would want to know why,” she threatened in a singsong voice.

Will blanched at the reminder. “Shit, Mia. I’m so sorry.”

“Really, young man!” the old lady chided.

“Sorry, Ma’am. I’m so worried for my sister. She’s in excruciating pain.”

He grabbed Mia’s hand and pointed to her dislocated thumb. The sight made the old lady shudder. She nodded accepting Will’s apology and promptly turned the other way.

Mia tried to suppress a laugh and failed. “Aren’t you laying it on a bit thick? I have dislocated my thumb plenty of times before.”

“First of all, shush. And second, we all know you’re a badass,” he whispered the word, afraid that the lady was still listening to their conversation, “but you can’t know for sure it’s dislocated. It looks broken to me.”

Mia rolled her eyes. “So dramatic.”

“Shut up. It’s all my fault.”

“It’s not your fault, Will. And it’s not Addie’s fault either.”

Will rubbed his thumb and forefinger in a nervous gesture that reminded Mia of their father. She had told him plenty of times that the whole thing was a stupid accident but her stubborn brother refused to believe her.

It had all started with a text message. Mia had been hanging with Will at Queen Inc. when her brother’s husband had to leave for Central City in a hurry. Josh was a reporter and he had been following a story about some guy who kept running around dressed in a red suit pretending to be a superhero. What the police hadn’t anticipated was that the guy had unknowingly stumbled onto a human trafficking cartel and had even managed to get photos of their operation. Josh had sources all over the country so when one of them called and said that the CCPD was about to make an arrest, he had been forced to leave Addie in a hurry and catch the first train to Central City.

“Wanna hang out with me and Addie tonight?” Will had asked her. “I’ll even let you guys play that ancient video game that Felicity loves so much.”

They had left QI and after picking up four different kinds of ice-cream (in order to appease Addie), they rushed to Will and Josh’s home to spend a quiet night in with her niece. Josh warned them that Addie was in a bad mood because her Daddy was leaving but they didn’t listen. After all, they were both grown ups, perfectly capable of taking care of a grumpy four-year-old, right?

Little did they know how wrong they were…

At first Addie had been pleased to see them but that had quickly changed when she realized that she still had to say goodbye to one of her parents. She had stomped her foot and refused to eat her dinner. Will had to ply her with ice-cream even though Josh had told Mia repeatedly that giving sugar to Addie when she was having a temper tantrum was a recipe for disaster.

Addie on a sugar high was not a pretty sight. She had climbed every possible surface, she had stormed the bedroom and pretended to be a pirate called Slade Wilson, she had opened every single cupboard and thrown pots, pans and other kitchen utensils on the floor. Then she had decided to jump down from the oak China cabinet yelling “You have failed this city!” at the top of her lungs; which of course was the moment when Mia decided it was time to intervene. She tried to catch her niece mid-air but instead Addie’s little foot managed to kick her right hand at a weird angle dislocating her thumb. It hurt like a bitch despite what she had told Will but she had reigned it in so as not to scare the baby.

“How’s the munchkin?” she asked as she remembered Addie’s inconsolable cries when she had noticed her favorite aunt’s injury.

“She’s fine. You know she loves spending time with Josh’s parents.” Will’s leg jumped restlessly. “I really hate it that you got hurt, Mimi.”

Mia scoffed. She had never liked that nickname but the more she protested against it, the more Will used it. Plus, she couldn’t stand her brother’s guilt-ridden face any longer. “You know what I would like to have?”

“What?” Will asked, willing to help in any way he could.

“Can you get me some ice? It’ll help with the swelling.”

Will jumped up from his seat before she could finish her sentence. Mia leaned back and closed her eyes trying to relax. It had been a really long day and she couldn’t wait to go home. She didn’t open them again until she felt someone take the seat beside her. A glance to her right told her that it was not her brother.

A guy was now sitting next to her. She supposed he was what her grandma Donna would call “Hot with a capital H” if not for the fact that his nose was broken. Chocolate skin, tall, athletic wearing a pair of jeans and a dark green t-shirt. He was trying to fill in a hospital form but it was obvious from the way he was squinting that he couldn’t see very well.

“Excuse me,” she said after a minute of watching him struggle, “do you need some help?”

The hot guy dismissed her offer without even looking up. “It’s fine. Thank you, though.”

Mia shrugged and was about to turn away when he raised his head and noticed her. He scrutinized her from the top of her blonde hair to the bottom of her shoes. Mia decided it would be a good idea to try again. “Are you sure you don’t need my help?”

He went on the defensive. “And how would you help? Your thumb’s broken.”

“For your information, it’s not broken. Just dislocated. And I could read the questions for you so that you don’t have to squint like a knitting grandma but whatever.”

Hot guy sighed in defeat. “If you’re sure you don’t mind?”

“I don’t,” she said and looked at the form. He had filled in his name and phone number in neat handwriting. “Okay, so next question is the reason why you’re here.”

“Apart from the broken nose? My pride has taken a hit but this is not something the doctors can fix.” He wrote down the medically relevant answer.

Mia examined him closely. She didn’t understand what he meant with that comment about his pride. Unless he had gotten into a brawl and lost. “What happened? Did you get into a fistfight?”

“I wish.”

“You wish you were in a fistfight?”

“Being injured in a fight would be more manly,” he grumbled.

Mia couldn’t help but smile at the admission.

After much internal debate, he said quietly, “Actually, something fell on my face.”

She moved closer. “What was it?”

“I’d prefer not to say.”

“You have to! I have to know. Mysteries bug me, hot guy.”

He quirked an eyebrow.

“Well, I don’t know your name so I call you ‘hot guy’ in my head. At least, I’m guessing you’re hot beneath all the bruising and swelling.”

He almost laughed before he winced and took a deep breath through the mouth.

“I’m sorry,” Mia said. “It’s probably not a good idea to laugh with a broken nose.”

“I’m Connor, by the way. I would shake your hand but your thumb’s-”

“Dislocated,” Mia supplied before he could say that her thumb was broken. “So Connor, what was it that fell on your head and broke your nose?”

He mumbled something she couldn’t hear. “A what?”

“One of my Grandma’s vintage porcelain dolls.” He spoke so fast that the whole sentence sounded like one long mumbled word.

Mia blinked for a second before she started laughing so hard she nearly fell off her chair. She couldn’t help it. He was such a macho guy that the image of him being defeated by a doll was ridiculous.

“Was the doll dressed as a sheep herder?”

Connor didn’t appreciate her teasing. “I’m sorry,” she said even though it was obvious her apology was not sincere, “but it sounds like you were in an MMA fight with the doll and lost.”

He seemed exasperated for a second before a self-deprecating smile appeared on his face. Ugh, the smile made her pay attention to his lips. Biteable, pretty lips, like fluffy pillows… Mia was struck again by his hotness. She had forgotten about it in the midst of the doll fiasco.

“How did you break your thumb?” he asked.

She was about to explain for the umpteenth time that her thumb was dislocated not broken when she saw Will return holding out an ice pack.

“Thanks, Will.”

“Sorry I’m late. I had to check on Addie.”

Connor’s eyes darted to her brother, then fixed on Mia again. It was obvious that he was wondering if he was about to meet Mia’s significant other.

“Will, this is Connor. He has a broken nose. Connor this is Will, my older brother.”

Her brother threw her a questioning glance. “Nice to meet you.”

Will’s reserved greeting wasn’t lost on her new friend. Mia narrowed her eyes at her brother’s overprotectiveness. Sure, she had been approached by creeps all of her life just because her last name was Queen but she didn’t get that vibe from Connor. In fact she was pretty sure that he had no idea who she was.

“Miss Queen?”

“Dammit,” Mia growled.

“I’m so sorry for the delay, Miss Queen,” the nurse said. “If we knew you were here-”

“You would have done the exact same thing, I hope,” an authoritative voice said.

Mia shook her head in denial. She knew that voice. But it couldn’t be. Her father could not be here in the hospital when she had just met Connor, the hot guy who up until a moment ago was blissfully unaware of her last name.

“Of course, Mr. Mayor,” the nurse lied.

Mia could feel her father’s stare boring into her back. Before she could face him, another voice rose above the hospital noise.

“Mia Smoak Queen who did you punch and why?”

Mia turned towards her mother. She felt like a ten-year-old kid again insisting that she didn’t eat the last piece of her father’s birthday cake.

“I didn’t punch anyone.”

Felicity Smoak-Queen did not look convinced. “Really?”

Her father looked amused. “She’s telling the truth, honey. Her thumb’s broken. Mia knows better than to punch people with her thumb inside her closed fist.”

Felicity frowned, considering this information.

“It was my fault, Dad,” Will admitted.

“Don’t be absurd,” her mother said, dismissing Will’s confession. After all these years, Mia couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. Her mother had loved Will from the moment they had found out about him. It didn’t matter to her that he was not her biological child. It also helped that her brother was a certified genius and computer geek so alike Felicity it was scary. Even Samantha, Will’s actual Mom, said that Will was like a mini-Felicity. Mia didn’t begrudge her brother his relationship with her Mom. She only wished it were that easy for her.

“Actually, it was both our faults. We gave Addie ice-cream after Josh left for CC.”

Her father chuckled. “Hurricane Addie strikes again.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” the nurse said reluctantly, “but we need to examine Miss Queen’s hand.”

“Right,” Mia said.

She looked at Connor who had been quiet through the whole Queen family drama.

“I’m Mia.”

“I know.”

“Anyway,” she offered him the ice pack, “this might help.”

“Thanks.” He took it but averted his gaze.

She hated asking but she had to. If he said no, then he said no. Her pride would take a hit - worse than any porcelain doll accident - but it was important that she try.

“See you later?”

“Bye, Mia.”

That went well, Mia thought and followed the nurse, feeling like she was shot through the heart with an arrow.

Connor Hawke was not having a good day. Sure the porcelain doll incident was somewhat responsible for that but mainly it was because of a beautiful, sassy, intelligent woman and her ridiculously wealthy, overwhelmingly famous family. No one went to the hospital expecting to meet the Mayor’s fascinating daughter. No one. These things didn’t happen. Specifically, these things didn’t happen to poor kids, born in the Glades.

Will Queen sat down next to him. The family bodyguards stood close by, not intervening but noticing everything and everyone. The old lady next to him got called by the nurse and the Mayor showed his wife to the seat. She smiled at him and he softened. Mayor Queen was notoriously in love with his wife. And incredibly overprotective of his only daughter.

“So, how is it you know my daughter?”

Connor looked at the Mayor’s wife. She was a really beautiful woman. Age had honed her features and if rumours were to be believed, her professional skills as well. But her beauty was not skin deep. He had seen her in numerous press conferences and heard so many stories about her from his mentor that he knew not to underestimate her. Felicity Queen was special.

“Hello,” she said when he didn’t respond. “I’m Felicity and I will be your interrogator for the night.”

Connor snorted and immediately regretted it. “Pleased to meet you, Ma’am. I’m Connor Hawke.”

She took her husband’s hand in hers, pulling him close and smiled at Connor. “Did you know that I met my husband in this very room Mr. Hawke? It was two days before Christmas and…”

“Umm, Felicity,” Mia’s brother interrupted, “I’m sure this guy doesn’t care where you met Dad.”

“Will,” his father chastised. Oliver Queen had a way with words. He didn’t speak a lot, not like his loquacious wife but when he did you couldn’t help but listen.

“As I was saying,” she went on as if the young man hadn’t even spoken, “we met in this room. Believe it or not, I had a broken thumb much like my stubborn daughter and he had a broken nose. Despite our broken bones, he didn’t hesitate to ask me out on a date-”

“Which you declined at first because you said that people would think you punched me.”

Felicity Queen’s eyes crinkled and a smile played at the corners of her mouth. “I was right, wasn’t I? The paparazzi got a photo of our dinner at Big Belly and had a field day thanks to our injuries.”

Oliver Queen smirked. “I always wanted to be an MMA fighter.”

“Dreamed of dating another fighter?”

“Nope. Dreamed of dating a cute IT girl.”

She blushed at his retort and he smiled cheekily. The older couple shared such an intimate look that Connor felt really uncomfortable.

“They’re always like that. After the first twenty-five years, you get used to it,” Mia’s brother murmured.

The Mayor winked at his wife. Connor had to give it to the Mayor. He was really good at flirting with his own wife. It kind of reminded him of John and Lyla.

“So, Connor Hawke are you planning to ask my daughter out on a date?”

“What?” he asked, startled. “Mrs Queen, I-”

“It’s Smoak-Queen.”

“Mrs Smoak-Queen, I just met Mia and I don’t think that-”

“Listen, Connor. You seem like a nice boy. I hope you’re smart as well.”

Connor couldn’t help but think of his upbringing. He supposed he was smart. Once he had applied himself to his studies, he had managed to make something of himself. He definitely wasn’t nice, though.

He was the son of an ex-convict and a kindergarten teacher, not the son of the Mayor and a CEO. He had grown up dirt poor in the worst part of the Glades, bullying smaller kids for their money, candy and books. The only reason why he wasn’t a gangbanger now was because of a man called John Diggle who was like a second father to him. When Dig had opened a youth center in their neighborhood people had laughed and scoffed at the soldier’s naivete. He had agreed with those people at first. The irony was staggering because Dig’s decision had saved Connor’s life. And the fact that Dig had used Oliver Queen’s money to make it happen was part of the reason why Connor could not ask the Mayor’s daughter on a date.

“Mia is out of my league.”

The Mayor scoffed. “Of course, she is. Like my wife is way out of my league.”

“You don’t understand. You were a Queen. I’m a nobody.”

Connor looked down. This was so awkward for him.

Felicity Smoak-Queen grabbed his hand. “Never say that about yourself. Never.”

She sounded fierce, like a small, protective Valkyrie. Sweet and sunny on the outside, badass on the inside. He nodded and she got up, satisfied with his acquiescence.

“Come on, Will. Let’s call your inlaws. I wanna make sure Addie’s fine.”

“I just called ten minutes ago.”

Felicity gave him a little push. “Let’s go, Will. I wanna talk to my favorite granddaughter.”

The two of them moved away, bickering. “She’s your only granddaughter, Felicity.”

One of the bodyguards followed them quietly, shaking his head.

Oliver Queen approached Connor taking the empty seat. He sat down gingerly.

“The chairs haven’t improved over the years.”

Connor tried to think of something clever to say. What did one say to the man who had changed the fate of an entire city? His mind drew a blank.

“You’re one of Dig’s kids,” Oliver Queen announced suddenly.

“What? How…?”

The Mayor leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. “There’s no point in denying it. I know all of John’s kids. He is so damn proud of each and every one of you. He sends me cards at Christmas updating me on your lives.” There was a wistful tone in his voice.

“So you know who I am.”

Oliver Queen didn’t even open his eyes. “Yes.”

“You know where I come from.”

“Yes.”

“You know who my father is,” he pressed.

“Yes. Ben Turner, mercenary, assassin and former member of the Triad.”

Connor threw his hands in the air. “And you still don’t mind if I ask your daughter out on a date?”

That seemed to wake the Mayor up. He stared intently at Connor, taking his measure.

“You hurt my daughter’s pride today. What makes you think she’ll agree to go out with you even if you do ask?”

Mia was beyond ready to leave this hellish place. Her parents had asked her repeatedly if she needed help and she had repeatedly declined. Will had left a while back when his mother-in-law had called to say Addie was getting restless again and that Josh was on his way back from Central City. The little munchkin needed to sleep in her own bed where she could have her parents close and forget about her aunt’s accident.

The vultures had been alerted about the Mayor’s presence in Starling Memorial and a flock of paparazzi was waiting for her outside the front entrance. Mia of course was about to exit through the back when she noticed him standing alone in the corner. Her blue-green eyes widened in surprise.

“Your face isn’t messed up anymore. Not that it was messed up before. Your face is fine. Very attractive,” she paused and cursed her Smoak genes for a moment, “what I meant was, before my brain and mouth disconnected, they fixed your nose.”

“They did,” he said, amused. His voice sounded like one of those old Smurf cartoons that Lucas liked to watch when he was little.

They stood, facing each other quietly. Connor was looking a bit uncomfortable but not distant like before.

“Mia would you like to grab a burger with me? Like a date?”

“I bet you ask all the girls you end up in the ER with.”

“Please, don’t make me laugh. It’s still painful.”

She shot him an amused grin. “But…” She took stock of the situation. “It might be better if we wait until your nose is healed a little.”

“What?” he asked alarmed. “Why?”

“Because with my busted hand and your busted nose, the reporters will think I punched you.”

He beamed at her as if she had said something funny. Suddenly, she realized they were standing so close that she had to lean her head back to be able to look him in the eye.

“Let them think what they want. Getting beat up by the Mayor’s daughter is still a better story than getting knocked down by a vintage sheep herder porcelain doll.”

“I knew it!”

#OFAE #OFAE fanfic #submission

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ontherockswithsalt · 5 years

Text

A Made Man

/1/ /2/ /3/ /4/ /5/ /6/ /7/ /8/ /9/ /10/ /11/ /12/ /13/ /14/ /15/ /16/ /17/ /18/ /19/ /20/ /21/ /22/ /23/ /24/ /25/ /26/

A/N: It’s soft, it’s Christmas time. It’s Jamie and Noble opening presents on the phone together because why not? Thank you to @cards-onthetable whose idea it was for Jamie to include a gift for Bianca. I hope this eases your mouth pain even for a moment.

Chapter 27.

“I’m gonna be pissed if it’s broken. Is it broken?” I wonder, propping the phone between my ear and shoulder as I drag a retractable blade across the top of the box that I had come home to the day before.

“I don’t know,” Noble chuckles. “I can only see something sitting propped up against my door. I just pulled in the driveway. Don’t open yours yet!”

“Alright.” My shoulders lift and I leave the box there on my coffee table without peering inside. “I’m excited, okay?”

“Were you the kind of kid who tore through like, five presents on Christmas morning before anyone realized you weren’t waiting for everyone else to take turns?”

I grin, pacing over to the living room window. “No. Are you kidding? That was Danny.”

“Oh, right right,” Noble muses. “Then you probably took the longest because you’d open one thing and be immediately obsessed with it, reading the instructions or whatever and couldn’t bring yourself to move on to the next one.”

“What is this analysis of my personality? I thought you were just using me for my body.”

“For the most part I am. But then I went and fell in love with you.”

“Rookie mistake,” I mutter. “And yes, that’s exactly how I was.”

“Alright, there’s a box,” he lists. “And then another like, big rectangle thing here from you.”

“Okay, I just hope the rectangle thing’s not broken.”

“We’ll find out.” He manages and I can hear him move to get everything inside the house.

A few weeks ago, Noble and I had briefly considered not exchanging gifts for Christmas. The oh no, I don’t need anything excuses didn’t last long, though once the season really hit and we both just sort of gave in to the temptation. Usually gift buying stresses me out. It’s too much pressure. My rational conscious always overanalyzes whether something is practical or necessary, or something they already have, or something they wouldn’t use, and it takes the fun out of the whole process. But this year, I couldn’t help but get excited. Figuring out something Noble would like was fun for me and it had been a long time since I’d put that much sentimental effort into getting a gift for someone.

Once I found out he was going on vacation over the holiday, I scrambled to get everything shipped in time for him to open it before he left.

“So am I opening yours, or are you opening mine first?” He wonders, then decides, “Open one of mine.”

Amused, I make my way back over to the coffee table and assess the contents of the large box he sent, pulling out the brown packing paper. “Okay, I’m opening the big one.” Inside are three wrapped gifts and a card. “And I'm putting you on speaker.”

Sitting on the couch, I pull the wide, shallow gift box onto my lap and begin to tear off its pine green paper. I take off the lid, move aside the tissue paper and find a black canvas, almost tactical looking backpack. “Oh sweet.”

“Is that the backpack?”

“Yeah man.”

“I thought it'd be good for all that weekend traveling.”

“To visit my side-piece poolboy? It's perfect.”

“Hey, it's lawnboy not poolboy. There's a difference,” he corrects. “And I'm making a mental note because side-piece lawnboy is definitely some role play I'm down for.”

“Yeah, same here,” I muse while I inspect the zippered pockets. “Hey believe it or not, the backpack I've been using I've had since college so--”

“Oh I'm in total shock, sweetheart,” he deadpans.

I have to laugh. “But this one is way better. Thank you.”

“You're welcome.”

“Open one from me,” I instruct. “And there’s one in there for Bianca. Just… if you want to give that to her when you see her.”

He utters this rumbling “Aww--”

“Yeah, yeah,” I sigh.

“That’ll mean a lot. That’s sweet.”

“It’s like an etched, stemless wine glass and I put a bunch of red Starburst in it, so--”

“God,” he exhales, almost miffed. “You little shit. You’re gonna make me have feelings for you.”

I smirk. “Hopefully that one didn’t break either.”

“And hey, she drinks wine out of a coffee mug, so that’ll be a definite upgrade. She'll love it. I’ll make sure she gets it before we head to the airport tomorrow.”

“Alright, good. Now open one of yours. The big rectangle.”

“You mean the broken one?”

I panic. “It's broken?”

With a soft chuckle he assures me, “I'm kidding. No I don't think so.” Then I hear him go to work pulling off the paper until it's quiet for a second.

“Oh hey now--” He starts. “It's your neighborhood. Did you take this picture?”

“Yes.”

“And you had it framed. Dude, this is dope,” he raves in almost this sing-song. “I love it so much.”

“Good.” I sit back on my couch and think about the photograph, blown up to sixteen-by-twenty, that I thought would make a cool print for his house. “A little Brooklyn for you down in Miami.”

“Well when I really need some Brooklyn down in Miami, I'll get your ass a plane ticket.”

“Since you can't hang my ass up in your living room, that might be a better alternative.”

“Look at you,” he muses. “With the photography skills. I love that street, by the way. Damn, that's some homesick shit I wasn't ready for.”

The historic district where I live, with all it's charming pre-war rowhouses and quiet streets, looks good captured in black and white. Down my block, it's only a short walk to the promenade that stretches along the East River where we had roamed around a little one morning the last time he was here.

“Your turn,” Noble speaks up. “Open another one.”

“There's a card here--”

“No-no-no, open that later. Don't open that on the phone with me. It's gross.”

With a pleased little smile, looking forward to reading that on my own, I set the sealed envelope aside. “Mmkay. I'll do this medium-sized one.”

“Don't give me a hard time about it,” he warns. “I think I have a firm grasp on what kind of nerd you are but--”

“Hey,” I groan in protest as I tear open the package. “You got a complaint?”

“No, you didn't hear me complain--”

“Oh good because I was about to tell you where you can put it.”

“You can always tell me where to put it, Jamie.”

Tilting my head back, I dig my teeth into my bottom lip and take a moment to appreciate him. “Are you really about to leave the country for five days? Because I… miss you in such a dumbass way.”

His laugh through the phone makes me smile as I finish pulling off the paper. “I miss you regardless.”

“Yeah but you'll be off swimming with dolphins and snorkeling or whatever and too busy to remember me suffering in this city at Christmas time.”

He scoffs. “Oh please. Don't you know me at all? I'll be day drinking and taking naps on the beach.”

“Strangely, that's a hotter visual for me,” I reason. “Okay I'm opening this. Let's see what kind of nerd you think I am.” Tearing open the package, I inspect the rattling box, my eyebrows lifting eagerly. “A wooden fractal puzzle? Hell yes, bro.”

On the other end of the line, he cracks up. “That thing looks like torture, so if you want nothing to do with it, I understand--”

“No way, man. I'm gonna do it right now.” After I pull off the plastic wrapping, I examine the intricately cut geometric looking design on the lid.

“If nothing else, it'll look cool on your coffee table.”

“I really do like it though,” I decide.

“Well good.”

“Now do the bigger one from me.”

“Alright,” he agrees.

“You’re gonna give me shit about this one,” I preface while I hear him tear the paper. “But I know you don’t have one and I’m kind of upset about it.”

After a moment, he laughs. “You got me a flashlight.” He states it with amusement more than curiosity.

“Because you’ve said before you don’t even have one. Which I can’t believe considering you live in a damn hurricane capital--”

“And you sent batteries with it!” Then he groans, “Ugh, you’re cute.”

“I’m prepared.”

“This is a pretty badass Maglite, though.”

“There’s more,” I tell him.

“Oh my god,” he mutters as I hear him shift around the paper inside the box to find it. “Is this a fucking Swiss Army knife?” And then he cackles one of his loud laughs that triggers one of mine.

“Hey, you needed one of those too!”

“Oh, who’s gonna fuck with me now?” He teases.

“Nobody when you’re carrying that piece.”

“I’ve never had one of these,” he says and I can tell he’s inspecting it. “Shit, this thing’s kind of intense. Out on the town and need a screwdriver? Check. Carving wood on the go? Check.”

“You can gut a fish with it,” I suggest.

“With a blade like that? Good lord,” he laughs.

“I'm just saying you could. If you had to.”

“You fucking savage,” he murmurs and the low note in that accusation makes my lips twitch. “I’ll leave that to you when we up and move to the frontier.”

I glance down with a satisfied smile. “Mmkay. Well we've got a flashlight and a puzzle. So let's go.”

“The last present for you is very important, then,” he notes. “It'll come in handy when we’re in the wilderness.”

“Oh jeez.” I take out the remaining package from him. Pulling off the paper reveals a black and red metal canister with little silver hearts all over it. “Sexy Truth or Dare?” I question him and just hearing me saying it elicits another heavy chuckle from him.

“Hell yeah.”

I shake my head with a laugh as I give it a glance and screw off the top. “You’re ridiculous.”

“You wanna play?”

I consider it. “Next time you’re here, maybe.” My answer is murmured absently since I’ve already started to pull out the flat sticks printed with the various prompts. “If you had to choose between only oral sex or only penetrative sex for the rest of your life,” I recite, “which one would you pick?”

Noble can only answer with a disapproving groan.

I continue, pulling out another one. “What is the largest age gap you’ve had between you and someone you’ve had sex with?”

His next groan is even louder. “Oh shit--”

“Ha!” I cough. “Do you know the last name of everyone you’ve had sex with?”

“Damn!” I can hear the grimace in his voice and it cracks me up. “I feel attacked.”

I let out a weary moan and rub my eyes. “Oh man, I’m gonna get answers to so many things I never wanted to know.”

“Wait, read a dare. I’m way better at those.”

Clearing my throat, I flip the sticks over that I had pulled out. “Do your best to make me orgasm in the next five minutes--”

“Easy. I could do that from here.”

“Mm-hm,” I hum, before I read the next. “Fuck me in a room where we’ve never had sex before.”

“Oh-ho! Now we’re talking.”

“That’s hard. I don’t have many rooms.”

“Next time you’re here, we’ll go do it at Bianca’s place while she’s at work.”

“Nice.” The I pull out another one. “Wait a minute. Pretend you’re a cop and arrest me for the crime of being too sexy--”

He shouts another laugh. “Yes, please. I’ve always wanted to.”

“We’ll see if I let you.”

Gradually, his amusement tapers off and he lets out a heavy sigh. “Those are hilarious.”

“Yeah, they’re pretty good,” I agree.

“If I come up there and we get snowed in, we can have a game night.”

“I like that.” Clearing away some of the wrapping from my couch, I move to consolidate all the unwrapped gifts on my table.

“Well thank you,” he starts. “For my awesome presents. I love everything.”

“You’re welcome. Thank you for mine,” I tell him, getting up to take some of the trash to my kitchen, bringing the phone with me. “You all ready to leave tomorrow?”

“Pretty much. It’s like an hour flight. And then it should be a pretty chill few days.”

“Take lots of pictures.”

“Of me in a lounge chair? Alright I will.”

“I wouldn’t turn those down.” I smile. “But it is Christmas, so I hope you’ll be more generous than that when it comes to the pictures you send me.”

#jamie x noble #festive gift giving joble #this chapter is unnecessary but fun and they have so much love to give

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cerastes · 5 years

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mind-blaze: An amusing story and some sage advice.

To give some more detail, keep in mind we ain’t raunchy in our sessions, I mean, if things happen, they happen, but we don’t go explicitly looking for the H scenes, if you will.

Now, if they find us, that’s another story. Everyone’s pretty virile in the party, Rasmus being no exception.

Now, we usually mess around in a city where we have a lot of influence by now, but for Plot Reasons and to expand our horizons with some well paying jobs and knowledge we wouldn’t learn here, we went to an Elf kingdom reasonably close. In there, we took a mission the NPC made it clear would be hard and dangerous, but man MAN the rewards are really worth it, so hell, we’ve done the impossible a couple of times already, why would this time be any different.

So we go into this corrupted swamp and Oh Boy the things here are tough, the terrain pretty inhospitable to us, and yeah no this is fucking us up. We thankfully played it safe and bought a damn load of provisions and supplies, but it’s still Hard Fights, we gotta try and avoid fighting as much as possible. After a while, we meet another party involved in this request, of which one is an Elven Priestess. We talk it out, determine we would benefit far more from working together even if it means less of the still very considerable reward for each party, and so it’s eight of us now. Yay. During one particularly difficult midboss, Elven Priestess and Rasmus do some real good teamwork, and they’ve been more or less friendly since the start, so they start interacting more, y’see, and she shows some Very Real Interest in our strapping Rogue, which is naturally followed by powerful flirting. One fucked up boss and relic recovery later, we complete this bulldozer of a request, we get our fat reward, and we even form a useful connection with this other adventurer party. Elven Priestess and Rasmus in particular stay in contact, and well, he sneaks out of the inn where the party’s staying at one night to go hang out with her. It just so happens that that very night, a unit of hired thugs of an enemy of ours found our party (which explained a couple of mysterious rolls our DM was making here and there in a particular street in the city: it was their stealth checks and they nailed all of them the FUCKERS) and they planned to carry out the hit in the night. So, while Rasmus was dating a cute Elven Priestess which in turn became a Sexy Night at her place, the party was fighting for their lives against these hooligans, and they even thought Rasmus had been killed and his body taken for a second, but the complete lack of struggle signs in his room spoke otherwise.

So the next morning after doing the nasty with Elven Priestess, he’s having some Elf Scrambled Eggs with Tolkien Bacon or whatever when, uh, the Elf Magnate that impulsed Rasmus’ backstory in the first place finds himself face to face with our favorite Rogue, they both kinda “uh”, the synapses finishes, and they both “UH”, Rasmus shoves him and breaks into a sprint upstairs (a shove that, by the way, knocked the Magnate on his ass and sent the cake he had brought flying), grabbed his pants and gear, gave the Priestess a kiss and a fast “HEY, THINGS CAME UP RATHER SUDDENLY, I’LL MEET YOU LATER IF YOU DON’T WANT MY HEAD ON A PIKE AFTER YOU GET SOME CONTEXT IN LIKE 5 MINUTES”, jumped out of the fucking window into a veranda, and then Parkour’d out of there in just his undies and a wifebeater through the historied rooftops of the Elven capital’s rich people residential area.

When Rasmus got back to the inn, he got greeted by his VERY CONCERNED party, with the Orc Barbarian asking “HEY DUDE ARE YOU OK? THEY DIDN’T GET YOU, RIGHT?”, and just judging by the signs of battle around the inn, Rasmus’ quick brain immediately screamed “oh no, I was pounding a cute Elf while they got fucking attacked, oh god, they are going to pulverize me if I tell the truth”, so he was like “OH, MAN, IT WAS TERRIBLE, THESE FUCKERS ATTACKED ME AND TOOK MY CLOTHES, LOOK AT ME, I JUST GOT ‘EM BACK JUST NOW AFTER TAILING THEM ALL NIGHT”, to which our Wizard, Claudia, who happens to be Rasmus’ friend since they were kids, calls a big fat BULLSHIT, Insight rolls against me, wins, and makes it clear I was lying.

Now the party wasn’t too happy.

Rasmus came clean, and was promptly punched in the gut as Claudia yelled “WHILE WE FOUGHT FOR OUR DAMN LIVES, YOU WERE FUCKING AN ELF?” (”¿MIENTRAS NOSOTROS LUCHABAMOS POR NUESTRAS PUTAS VIDAS, TU ESTABAS CULEANDOTE A UNA ELFA?”) and Rasmus got grounded grounded grounded for day.

And that’s the story of how Rasmus sprinkled kerosene on a fire and made it ten times worse.

#mind blaze #rasmus

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anthropologicalhands · 5 years

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ceg fic: josh reaches out!

title: josh reaches out! characters: josh & greg summary: josh wants to reconnect. notes: given josh’s recent bouts of therapy and the fact of greg’s return, I am DYING to see them interact. one of the weaknesses of the first season was always the fact that josh and greg’s relationship did not seem like a close friendship, so I’m curious how it will play out in s4. i’m sure we’ll see it before long now, but then i got impatient. technically takes place post-series. Ao3

Therapy has been going great for Josh. Sure, Dr Man Akopian still gives him weird looks sometimes, like when he first mentioned that he had moved in with Bex. But it’s not too bad — progress is supposed to be two steps forward, one step back (even if he sometimes stumbles over which is which) and their sessions have already given him so much new information about how he interacts with the world and the people in his life.

Hector has been super supportive about it, which is great, and Whijo is Whijo: snarky and always texting Vic (who’s really awesome, actually. Between Darryl and Vic, Whijo has definitely upped his boyfriend game these last few years).

But then there’s Greg.

Greg’s current place in his life is hard to define. Sure, Josh has seen him when he visits, when they get together with Whijo and Hector, but they haven’t really talked much. Not like they are sitting in silence or anything: Greg will talk a little about life in Atlanta, but he always falls silent the second Josh says anything, and they haven’t hung out one-on-one since he moved.

With a little self-reflection (and some gentle prompting from Dr. Akopian), Josh kind of gets why. The uneasy undercurrent between them has existed for years; they might have boiled over relatively recently, but the envy and slights and resentment had simmered there for a long time.

They haven’t had a chance to talk about any of that. And that isn’t right. Even if their paths lie in different directions, that doesn’t mean they can’t be close, that they have to let a gap widen between them. They have been best friends since kindergarten—they should act like it.

Josh has a plan to fix that. And a Gesture, with a capital ‘G’.

(which is perfect, because it also stands for Greg)

All that’s left is to see if his childhood friend is open to the idea.

He finds Greg at Whijo’s gym, gingerly testing out one of the leg press machines. Josh gives him a bright wave and tries to pretend that he doesn’t notice how Greg’s shoulders slump a little at the sight of him.

“Hey, Serrano! Nice form,” he says, starting off with a compliment. “How’s it going?”

Greg’s mouth twists into a wry half-smile. “Not sure. Whijo says I’m doing all right, but then he also compared my technique to Hector’s mom, so I’m questioning how good it can actually be.”

“Dude, don’t worry, that’s totally a compliment. Hector’s mom is super spry for her age.”

Greg just shrugs, like he’s not entirely sure one way or the other. A slightly awkward pause ensues.

Josh takes it as his cue.

“Hey, uh, did you know Charles Bukowski died on March ninth?”

Josh beams when Greg twists around to look sharply at him.

“…yes, he did,” says Greg, a little confused, eyes narrowing. “I know that. How do you know that?”

“I Googled it.”

“Right. Why did you Google it?”

“That’s next weekend, right?” Greg nods cautiously, and Josh continues, “I’ve been thinking—we haven’t really been spending much time together. Like, actually talking.”

“Yeah, by choice.”

“Not mine,” says Josh firmly, and Greg’s eyebrows arch up and he blinks, surprised. He disengages the machine and stands to face Josh properly.

“Okay, yeah, that’s kind of true.” He crosses his arms. “Why are you bringing it up?”

Josh takes a deep breath. “Just because a lot of stuff has changed since you left: first you went to Emory, and then I almost got married, then I didn’t get married and tried to become a priest instead, then I moved in with Hector’s mom and became a go-go dancer—”

“I mean, I did hear about those things,” interrupts Greg. “Not from you, but like, from everyone else. And, you know, the Daily West Covina, which is garbage but also surprisingly thorough.”

Josh winces. “Yeah, exactly. And I mean, sure, we hang out together when we’re with the guys, but you and I really haven’t been talking with each other. So, I’ve been talking to my therapist about that, and I think that maybe we should make…time. To talk.”

Greg nods, his forehead all wrinkly the way it gets when he’s seriously thinking something over, his hands fiddling with the towel that had been draped over his shoulder.

“…Okay. What does Charles Bukowski have anything to do with it? I had no idea you knew who he was.”

“I mean…” Josh rubs awkwardly at the back of his neck. “You used to mention him a lot.”

Greg cocks his head to the side, like a confused seagull. “Really? You remember that?”

“I heard you,” says Josh defensively. “I just, well, I wasn’t paying that much attention most of the time. But I know you get bored just staying in town during break, so I was thinking that maybe we could go to LA and spend a weekend driving around. You know, visit all of those literary landmarks or whatever.” He starts to tick them off on his fingers. “De Longpre apartment, Skylight Books, Wacko’s Soap Factory, University of Philosophical Research, Green Hills Memorial Park—”

He stops abruptly when Greg holds up his hands, shaking his head.

“Whoa, slow down.” He eyes Josh, clearly confused. “You don’t know anything about Bukowski. How long did it take you to look all of this up?”

“I mean, I didn’t look it all up myself, I found some lists online and kinda went from there…”

“Oh, okay,” Greg nods sagely, in the way that used to annoy Josh, shifting his way like he’s about to impart some new wisdom. “Look, I’ll admit, it’d be cool to visit some of those landmarks, but I know those tours, and given that Bukowski was a functioning alcoholic, I honestly don’t think—”

“Oh, don’t worry, I know!” Josh rushes to explain, eyes wide. Greg pauses, surprised, and Josh continues, “Yeah, I thought that might be a bad idea, so I went through the list and took out all of the liquor stores and made some substitutions.”

Huh, it’s rare to see Greg at a loss for words.

“Oh.” He blinks and clears his throat. “Really, you did that? What kind of substitutions?”

“More bookstores, mostly.” Josh grins and starts counting off his fingers again. “There are specialty bookstores from all over the county: secondhand, antique, New Age, cat-friendly, romance—hear me out, there’s this massive store, The Ripped Bodice, in Culver City that is the place to be—”

“Not everyone can remember names like you, Chan Man. Do you have those written down somewhere?”

“Yup! Here.” Josh produces his phone and passes it over to Greg, watching as he scrolls through, lips moving silently.

“This seems to be less of a Bukowski tour than just a bookstore tour of LA,” says Greg, forehead wrinkling in a very Greg way. He doesn’t sound mean about it, though, just like he is trying to confirm that he understands what Josh is saying.

Josh hadn’t thought about it like that. “I guess so. You’d, uh, still like that though, right?”

“…I would, actually,” admits Greg, and he even sounds surprised, though it’s hard to tell when he’s staring down at his shoes. When he looks up to Josh again, the lines on his face are no longer quite so tense. “Josh?”

“Yeah?”

“Not that I don’t appreciate the thought,” Greg says, again shifting his weight, though not nearly as sanctimoniously as before. “But this doesn’t seem like it would really your thing.”

Since when do you care about what I like? is the unspoken sentiment, and Josh winces at the not-unearned sting.

He shrugs self-consciously, rubbing the back of his head. “I mean, I wouldn’t do it alone. But my therapist been encouraging me to get out of my West Covina bubble, and one way of doing that is by exploring stuff beyond my interests. I know you love old bookstores, and there are books on everything, right? I’ll probably find something cool. Except art history — I tried learning about it for a date and it didn’t really work out. But forget about that—the important part is that we get to really hang out, since we really haven’t had the time what with…everything. We were best friends. I hope we still are. I want this trip to be our chance to reconnect.”

He’s trying not to be pleading, because he knows he does that—that he has a tendency to make decisions without feedback—and this suggestion is supposed to be an olive branch, but it won’t be if it sounds like he just dumped it on Greg and expects him to go along for the ride.

“So…what do you say?” Josh finishes lamely, his shoulders sagging a little.

Greg looks pensive, as Greg often does, and Josh sucks in a breath, waiting.

“Yeah, I would. This sounds awesome, man,” says Greg at last, though his forehead is still wrinkled as he looks between Josh and the phone still in his hands. “Thanks for putting it together. I’m in. Let’s do it –let’s go on a road trip.”

When he passes the phone back to Josh, it almost feels like they are in communion—for once, on the same page.

“Awesome!” Josh beams, delighted. “I knew you’d be into it. Bex said I’d probably have better luck just kidnapping you to have ‘a spontaneous bonding session’,” he deploys air quotes, to convey Rebecca’s precise phrasing, “But I said, dude, Bex, that’s like illegal.”

“Yeah, it super is, I’m glad you didn’t do that.”

“I’ll drive though, don’t worry, I’ll get us there in no time. I’ve had a ton of practice—remember, can’t stop, won’t stop!”

“…Yes, because I don’t have a car anymore, you are still in charge of driving,” says Greg, though now he sounds a little doubtful. But that’s just classic Greg—not everything was gonna change just because he’s in recovery.

Josh grins at him and feels a small spark of delight as Greg meets his eye, and after a moment, offers a hesitant smile back.

#crazy ex girlfriend #josh chan #greg serrano #ellie writes fic #...not gonna lie in an alternate universe this would be the start of a slow-burn road trip alternate reality #where there would be much sharing of feelings hashing out old hurts and realizing they kind of want to make out #if only so that #greg freaks out and calling Whijo and wondering aloud why if he has to fall for his friend josh it couldn't be Whijo instead #why did he fall for the WRONG JOSH #Meanwhile Whijo is just like thank god it wasn't me #anyways that's the cracky continuation #seriously though i want to see if this josh and greg can seem like they will be friends

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lightsandlostbells · 6 years

Text

Skam NL episodes 4 and 5 reaction

This is incredibly late but there was no way I was not going to write about Engel’s detour into waxing hell.

Episode 4

Clip 1 - Piesiepoepselaar

Isa and Kes are lying together in the morning and it’s very serene. He’s had the same nightmare as Jonas did in the original, though I think the context is different … russ is like a thing that Jonas objects to on principle, would Kes be against just taking a city trip?

He’s like, “You took off your shirt and made out with everyone, boys and girls.” Lmao, I don’t think Isa is going to get that wild in Tallinn.

Isa replies that she’ll only take off her shirt for Kes. So this isn’t really a hint of an actual problem or any condescension on his part, they’ve re-purposed this exchange into some purely flirty interaction.

This cute moment is interrupted by Isa’s mom unexpectedly popping in. She calls her daughter “pissing pooper”? Hands down the best/worst nickname I have heard a parent call their child. And of course Kes loves it.

Clip 2 - Orgy preparation

Isa gets a call from “Pap” soooo her dad is still kind of in the picture?

Engel bounds up to Isa, she looks very happy to see her. And when Janna and Imaan come up, she also looks happy to see them. Engel is so cute.

Except LMAO, GOD. She addresses Imaan with “Salaam-Alaikum,” and seems a little proud of herself, as if she Googled “how to speak Muslim” over the weekend. So I guess instead of being an outright exclusionary racist, she’s going to be like … a well-intentioned white ally who goes too far and ends up othering her Muslim friend by not treating her the same as the non-Muslims? That’s a pretty interesting take. It certainly puts Engel in a better light than Vilde, since she is trying to be inclusive rather than rejecting Imaan, but it also explores Imaan’s struggle with having to deal with people treating her differently than her peers, or changing their behavior toward her since she’s a Muslim.

Imaan is just like “.... Hi.” I feel like at some point she’s going be like, “Look, you can just treat me like you’d treat anyone else.”

Janna starts coughing, and at first I thought she was trying to salvage the awkward moment, but she’s actually gesturing for Engel to look over yonder because GUESS WHAT, a certain dude is climbing the stairs.

Dutch William has a very long coat and seems more like an artsy edgy hipster kid, maybe, than a regular king-of-the-school fuckboy. His head is down so we don’t get a full view of his face, it’s like he’s ~mysterious and gives no fucks.

That blond dude from the party, Gijs, is part of Dutch William’s (Noah’s) crew, of course, and nods in recognition to Isa. They’re like, HOLY SHIT, Isa, what happened there?

Apparently one of them (Gijs or Noah) the wildest parties, with orgies. And not some weak-ass orgies where people sit in the hot tub together. Full-on power orgies with naked bodies. Janna sure knows her orgy classifications.

Engel’s facial expressions when Janna mentions orgies, lmao. This little frown.

The girls are like, “There’s a party this Friday,” and Isa’s like “...OK?” Imaan has to explain that Janna and Engel want Isa to flirt with the guy so they can get in to the party. She takes Isa’s phone and does her thing. Well, that’s interesting because Imaan doesn’t seem so invested personally in going to the party? I mean, there’s no real benefit to their city trip. Is she doing it because Janna and Engel want to? Like she wants to be in with these girls and have friends?

Janna is amused and laughs at Imaan’s liking all of Gijs’ pics. Engel just seems stunned. A Muslim did that???? Maybe she had Imaan all wrong. Maybe she needs to consult Google again.

Clip 3 - BUY YOUR OWN GODDAMN FRIES

Isa, Kes, and Lucas go out for food. Isa is the only one to order fries, and when she asks if they want fries, they’re like nahhhh. IMMEDIATELY my bullshit detector went off. They’re going to steal her fucking fries, aren’t they?

At one point the word “EVEN” is visible through the window, heh.

Lucas has injured his left hand, which I am assuming is a thing the actor did IRL and they had to explain it into the story. Kes roasts Lucas about his injury (which happened while skateboarding) and Lucas is like, “At least I take risks.” Yeah, some of those risks will apparently involve fucking up your friends’ relationship?

Kes asks Isa if they’re going to hang out at her place, I am assuming just the two of them, while Lucas gives Kes a long look. Actually, those are some high-quality Looks that Lucas has been serving to Kes. Make sure this show gets to season 3, okay? So he can put his pining face to good use.

Kes says the whole thing about Isa’s mom not knowing about him, and that Isa is ashamed of him, and Lucas is like, well, she’s right!

But of course Gijs is now sending her messages about Isa’s IG stalking. Just as Kes is offering to cook for her and her mom. Isa, let him cook for you! That’s more proactive than any Jonas has offered yet, right?

Gijs is turned on by Isa stalking him. You know, I’ve never just how many kinks the P-Chrises have, like he’s into nerds, being stalked, pretending to be the Eva’s dad/mom/whatever ... he’s just up for anything.

Lucas mentions that Isa has too many new friends, maybe even a new boyfriend, and THAT is some snake-ass shit, planting that seed out there. Even if he’s just talking shit and kidding. He doesn’t know he’ll be kinda right, but man, will Kes remember that when shit hits the fan? Kes seemed so indifferent though, like he’s all “lady friends” and not taking it seriously.

I WAS FUCKING RIGHT, THEY STEAL HER GODDAMN FRIES. Taking advantage of her distraction while messaging Gijs.

This is the realest shit though, like nothing Jonas and Isak said about Eva’s involvement in russ compared to this disrespect. Teenage boys are the WORST.

But yeah, there’s not nearly as much putting down of Isa’s friends or activities (since who is gonna be like “it’s so CAPITALISTIC that you want to take a fun trip to a city”?) apart from some passive-aggressiveness about Kes not meeting Isa’s mom and Isa being too popular. Still, it feels less mean, and Isa didn’t seem as attacked.

Clip 4 - The most important conversation I’ve ever heard

The title of this clip was “full bush baby” and I was like … is that really going to refer to what I think it is? Like either we are talking about a small primate, or someone’s private hedge maze.

I love Janna looking like a hot mess in every scene. Like she literally rolled out of her bed, which is an ostrich nest, and went to school. She’s telling a story about opening a beer in class while Engel looks bothered about something in the background.

OH MY GOD, Engel looks troubled not because of any angsty Noah pining or Imaan drama or any of what you’d expect, but because she shaved her pubic hair and it itches. WE STAN.

…. Is this taking the place of the birth control conversation??? Instead of Engel asking about birth control, she wants the girls to tell her how they remove their pubic hair?

I am not remotely surprised that Janna is a full bush baby.

Imaan saying she dyes hers red, white, and blue = MY LOVE.

Engel takes that completely seriously judging by her confused little face. Engel’s life is 90% confusion.

Janna says if she waxes, she can wax a lightning bolt. Please be a Harry Potter reference. (You know, I’m sure wizards have hair removal spells and all, but I’m imagining someone being like ACCIO PUBES and ripping out everything at once.)

Engel is nervous about waxing. Oh my God, instead of the nurse, are they going to go for a bikini wax together?????

Isa gets a text. Turns out they’re going to the party! Engel gets excited and starts throwing out outfit possibilities.S he rambles a bit and then Imaan does the “shhh, you talk too much” moment.

Now it feels a little out of place, because Engel, while not behaving perfectly, has been way less of an ass to Imaan? And I get that this is for Engel’s own preservation, sort of, but they’re not trying to gain social capital at the level that Vilde and Sana were. The OG girl squad wanted to attract cool people to their bus and hook up with popular boys; NL girl squad isn’t concerned with getting cool people on their trip, and while they want to go to parties, they don’t have this firm objective of hooking up with the popular dudes. So the moment seemed a bit out of nowhere. I mean, Engel rambling about her outfits is tedious, but harmless.

Imaan has some gorgeous lashes, by the way.

Clip 5 - This is a very serious show

Oh my God, they DID go for a bikini wax. So is the state of Engel’s pubic hair going to be a plot point? Does she want it to look groomed for him?

Okay, I’m laughing that Norwegian-style bush is a heart (ALT ER LOVE), French pubes are a mustache, and Dutch hedges are … flames? A flower? A flower for the ladygarden.

THE GRAVE IMPORTANCE OF THIS SCENE. The music and the cherub mural really add to the atmosphere.

Janna talks about an ass wax because of course she does.

I love that you hear a scream from the other room. Perfect.

I laughed out loud that Engel just shakes her head and runs. And that Imaan puts her arms around the girls and eggs them on.

I like Skam to have a plot and all but I would thoroughly enjoy 10 episodes of just random calamities in pubic hair removal.

Clip 6 - Orgy time

OH DAMN, I LOVE

This is my favorite episode 4 (or equivalent) power walk other than the original. I LOVE it. The song choice! The girls look like they’re having a blast. Engel jumping on Liv’s back!!! Imaan yelling in sync with the rooster crying!!!

ESPECIALLY with the juxtaposition of this badass power walk, the girls getting hyped and feeling cool on the way to the party - because yeahhhh!!!! Young and free, bitches!!!!! - with the pause where they’re actually standing in front of the door, debating over who has to ring the bell. That’s utterly beautiful, I love it. Expectations vs. reality right there.

Liv being like “It’s open,” lol.

Engel knows Olivia and company, I don’t think they said how?? Because we knew how Vilde knew Ingrid. But I mean, they go to school together, soooo. (Or did Engel get kicked off a city trip group?)

Janna, you promised an orgy, and this is a bunch of teenagers drinking and dancing in a basement. The clothes are most definitely on.

I was spoiled for Janna’s making out with a girl, but I still got hella excited when she and this girl were sticking out their tongues at each other.

Lmao, is Engel rambling about her car malfunctions to Noah? Maybe Imaan was right to shush her.

Also, Engel’s dad is in the picture. Or was, at a certain point.

Okay I don’t know if maybe this is fashionable for Dutch kids, but I love that Noah is wearing this baggy old man shirt.

And that his kiss with Engel is a little awkward.

Who is this kid. Why is he like this.

Lmao, Liv telling Isa to talk to Gijs about Tallinn so he’ll leave. Does not bode well for their city trip if that’s what she thinks?

WHOOPS, Isa forgot that dinner with Kes was supposed to happen.

Gijs does not know Tallinn is a city, so he’s like, “Who’s Tallinn?” lmao.

JANNA AND THAT GIRL GOING TO TOWN, YESSSSSSSS

So in terms of Skam remake wlw content, I believe we have:

Skam France: Alexia is bi. Of course I appreciate this but they haven’t really spotlighted it outside of like one or two comments, and they don’t really integrate her sexuality into the story or into the dialogue even when it would be relevant (which is a big problem with Skam France as a whole). It’s canon by the actress’ Word of God.

Druck: Mia is bi. In canon she “doesn’t like labels” and is shown to make out with Hanna, though that was for telling off Alexander. Bi by word of God.

Skam Austin: Shay takes Isak’s place in the story, having a crush on Megan which is her character’s motivation. This is the biggest wlw content, clearly, since Shay will hopefully get her own season. The character is a lesbian and her sexuality plays a role in the story, plus I’m pretty sure the actress is a lesbian herself (and is a black lesbian so we have intersectional diversity).

Skam NL: Janna makes out with a girl at a party. HOPEFULLY she isn’t straight and this isn’t just a drunken makeout because girls kissing at a party is hot. I hooooope.

Hmmm, you know what? I actually buy Imaan’s throwing water at Olivia a lot more, because Engel has at least tried to be nice to Imaan. Like I understand that Sana is fiercely loyal and once she’s on your team, she’s with you 110%, so once she’s with the girl squad, she’s ride or die. But assuming Imaan was throwing water at Olivia because Olivia called Engel a slut, I get why. Engel has been awkward and othered Imaan but she’s tried to be nice. (But for Engel, you know she’s going to be like WTF?)

I love this closing song as they run away into the night!

Is it wrong that I kind of like Noah so far? Because I get that he’s likely going to come with all of William’s bullshit, but ... he’s fucking weird, man.

Episode 5

Clip 1 - Making a family party awkward

Kes’ sister is a cutie!

Oh, I love that we got a little glimpse of his family? His mom, and his grandparents.

This really changes the tone of this scene from the original, because Eva goes over and encounters Jonas when he’s just hanging out with his friends and being passive-aggressive, and it felt like having the boys there made Jonas ramp up his attitude. Kes appears to be relaxed, he’s having a good time with his family. I wonder if these are the actor’s real relatives? The boys look like they could be his brothers.

But Kes does get in a passive-aggressive comment about her friends, and he’s been ignoring her for a few days.

Also, Lucas isn’t part of this moment where they’re ganging up on Isa, when the Isak is typically snickering at what’s happening.

We cut inside where relatives are having a pleasant time while the Youths fight. We don’t hear their argument but I mean, we know what they’re talking about.

Kes is like, “I forgot about the dinner,” as if he’s not upset, which makes Isa storm out, and his family notices that she’s upset.

Isa is out on the street and she once again puts in her earbuds and listens to music to get out her feelings. I like that as a stress release/coping tactic/whatever you want to call it for her.

This is a Sigrid song, by the way! “Strangers,” a totally appropriate song for relationship dysfunction and dismantling the perfect movie romance. Really interesting with Isa’s somewhat romanticized view of love - sometimes you just know, that’s how it’s supposed to be, etc.

Is Kes going to run out after her?

Nope, he doesn’t run after her. Not like in the movies. Isa just does a walk down the street. She’s not happy but it seems like listening to music steadies her a bit and gives her an outlet for her emotions so that she’s not a total mess.

Clip 2 - Engel does not know how the pill works, sigh

The title of this clip was Het is Zover and there was a still of Liv so I was like … are we finally headed down this f/f romcom route? Het is Over? (I know, I know, it has an actual meaning in Dutch.) But it ended up referring to something heterosexual, lmao.

I like Isa’s little toucan key chain.

Isa is not in a good mood, Liv looks fondly at her girl and asks about Kes. Liv knows what’s up with 17-year-old boys.

Engel pops up and says it’s time for her and Noah to go to the bone zone. Isa is like, that was fast. So I guess they are going down this sex storyline; the wax was a fun bonus.

Engel being like “I know It’s Time because I DMed with Noah all weekend and he’s perfect” - God help us.

Engel asks for the pill like she’s asking for ibuprofen, and when she says eh, it’ll be nothing then, Liv is like nuh uh, you’re going to the doctor. Thank you, Liv.

Engel gets them to agree to go by offering a bottle of wine each. When Isa tells Liv that she (Liv) doesn’t even drink, Liv is like, two for you, right? WHOOOOOOA. True love right there.

I had the worst thought and wondered if Engel’s failure to get her pubes waxed is going to lead to Noah making a shit comment about them later, like when Engel confronts him. Because teenage boys think girls should be completely hairless, like porn stars or babies!

Clip 3 - Isa can’t sleep

Isa is watching a video on her phone when she gets a notification about something her dad posted. It’s a little kid getting a swimming certificate, so I’m guessing that’s her dad’s new family.

Isa gets up to go sit on her mom’s bed. She asks for a foot rub, which her mom gives her, until her mom starts asking about Olivia and Tess. Then the feet come back up to Isa’s chest.

Her mom’s like, I’m just trying to show interest. Isa is probably thinking that’s more than her dad does. She extends a leg again.

Perhaps that’s why Isa opens up to her and tells her she has a boyfriend. When she tells her mom his name is Kes, her mom doesn’t comment on it being Olivia’s boyfriend’s name or anything, so maybe she didn’t know Kes and Olivia dated?

Isa asks her mom whether she thought she and her dad would be together forever, and then when she change her mind. Isa’s mom says that sometimes things go differently from how you expected. I really like this scene. It goes in with Isa “just knowing” that you’re meant to be with someone, as mentioned in episode 2, and then this reality that crashes in on you. It’s awesome that they tied in these elements of Isa’s absent father and divorced/separated parents, Isa’s relationship with her mom who’s locked out of certain elements in her life, and Isa’s relationship with Kes to the overall idea of being with someone forever. I think Isa questioning the nature and longevity of love could end up being a really satisfying part of her arc. I can’t wait to see the final clip of the season; I hope they modify her speech to Kes so that it fits with all these moments and what she’s learned.

She gets back into bed and apologizes to Kes for being a bitch sometimes, because obviously she doesn’t want their relationship to end, and then stares at the ceiling with that one damn glow in the dark shooting star.

Clip 4 - Doctor visit

The girls go to the doctor with Engel. Liv and Imaan entertain themselves by playing with a model of a torso. Kes and Isa make up via text, he says he loves her even when she’s angry.

I love that Engel looks small in that big chair against the giant window, truly mimicking how overwhelmed she must be feeling.

Where’s Janna? I have to say that I look forward to her reactions on anything vagina-related.

I guess she had to miss the fun because she had to make up for being late to German, but it’s really cool how Imaan volunteered to join them considering I think the Sanas usually sit this excursion out.

The doctor comes out and IT’S A MAN THIS TIME??? Oh fuck!

I mean I know plenty of women don’t have a problem with a male OB-GYN, but for a girl who’s perhaps afraid to get a bikini wax, I think she would be a little shy about talking about birth control with a dude.

This doc is handsome, not gonna lie. I can’t imagine if that would make it more or less awkward. I do think that it’s less awkward with your friends, so good call, Engel.

The doc is asking Engel some basic questions and Engel answers more confidently than I expected, so good for her. Imaan rats out Engel by saying she’s only known the guy for a week. Well, maybe it’s not the wisest choice, Imaan, but that means Engel should definitely be on birth control!

Liv also shares that Noah sleeps with the whole school, and the doc mentions that the pill only helps with pregnancy, not STDs. Bless him. I mean he’s just doing his job, but bless. This is a good message to include on the show.

OH MY GOD when that doc brought out the dildo for the condom demonstration. He was completely matter-of-fact and professional but geeeeez I would have found this to be the most embarrassing thing at 16.

Clip 5 - CONDOMS, ENGEL, CONDOMS CONDOMS CONDOMS

The girls evaluate condom choices. Strawberry, banana, glow-in-the-dark. Don’t get the banana ones. I love real bananas but artificial banana flavor on anything is a gamble.

I can’t tell, who said that king-sized wasn’t for Noah? Janna? I want to give her an award.

This clip was so short but I loved it! Just sweet and funny, wonderful girl squad dynamic, adorable.

As an aside, please watch the first 30 seconds of this scene and imagine it with Engel as Rose, Janna as Blanche, and Imaan as Dorothy.

Clip 6 - Engel’s softcore fashion fantasy

Janna has the right idea by blowing up a condom into an elephant trunk.

Janna doesn’t remember anything from her first time. That bit never stops being alarming, tbh.

Janna is also adamant that Noah needs to do his best and make sure Engel has an orgasm. Good job, Janna! That’s something I’ve always wondered with the Williams of the show: do they actually try to make the experience pleasurable for the Vildes? Because Vilde is like, “It was great!” but she’s also speaking from inexperience, and she might just be overcompensating, who knows? I mean, I don’t think she would actually tell the girls if it sucked.

Engel doesn’t know what an orgasm feels like, she doesn’t know how to get wet, she doesn’t want to get horny. Look, everyone should learn at their own pace, but my professional opinion is that this poor girl should take some time on her own before sleeping with a random dude she has known for a week.

Who hasn’t even arrived on time to get laid. Oh God, please just blow her off completely? Don’t make us and Engel go through this again. Lesser of two evils.

Janna eats a banana. I just wanted to write that.

Liv is there to administer horny-making fantasies to Engel. Lmao, Isa had to get up off her chair and go sit on the bed next to Liv while Liv is talking dirty. I wonder why….

Ohhhh my God. This fantasy of Engel’s? WOW. It is really not “allowed” within the Skam format but honestly, fuck it, this is too weird not to appreciate. This is some ’90s music video realness, I expected 98 Degrees to walk out. Except it mostly focuses on Engel’s attire and makeup and hair, so maybe it’s more like a perfume ad?

Lmao, Engel getting turned on by herself more than Noah really stands out when you see the visual.

Janna tells the anecdote about getting turned on by donkeys, but it was supposedly just a whole other village that had the donkey kink rather than her. Bless her.

The girls need to get out because Kes is supposed to arrive, but of course, when Isa opens the front door, it’s Noah, come for his booty call. Isa’s mom is really cute in how she’s excited to see “Kes.”

Engel is? “Not my girlfriend.” Noah, you dumb fuck. Why do you need to clarify that shit to someone’s mom who you’re only going to know for like two seconds?

I mean, it’s foreshadowing as to Noah’s fuckboy ways, and that Engel will get her heart broken, but duuuuude quell your ass down.

Isa is like, nah mom, those girls tripping on the stairs and babbling weren’t drunk! Lol, sure.

When Isa calls Kes, it absolutely sounds like he was at a party with the level of background chatter. You hear Olivia’s voice clearly but they’re definitely surrounded by people.

Of course Kes is not coming, and Isa’s mom overhears enough on the phone conversation to realize. She tells her that they can eat, just the two of them. I really like Isa’s mom, she’s cute.

Great sad closing song.

General Comments/Social Media

Engel stuck Liv’s own song on their Tallinn playlist and Liv’s like, time to delete that!

I love Janna naming the group chat weird stuff, and everyone acknowledging that group chat names are never normal.

This remake makes my heart so warm! The girl squad is so lovely and fun. I adored the pubic hair side plot, lmao, and the twists on the doctor visit and the condom retrieval. Little moments like that with the girls have made the dynamic so entertaining.

As for the boys, I think Lucas is a fantastic Isak. Kes has his typical Jonas S1 dickhead moments, but he’s also got charm, and God help me but I am enjoying Noah’s whatever-the-fuck-ness. Like I’m aware he’s going to be a creep, but currently I like taking the piss out of him and his wardrobe and attitude.

As I mentioned previously, I think they’re doing some great moments with Isa’s character arc and tying in her family issues to her relationship issues, and having her talk about love or question love in the abstract.

I am not Dutch, so feel free to correct me if I missed anything.

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

#skamnl reactions #skam nl reactions

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muneertaufeeq · 3 years

Text

first salary

“this city of Hyderabad is too crowded for me.” Akshay thought to himself looking around the station, “people rushing everywhere and in every possible direction, hope Uday has come to take me.” For Akshay, this multitude was as rare sight as a white traveller touring his home town, Belsar.

Akshay digs deep into right pocket of his only ripped jeans that he wears on every big occation, to find that his phone is gone.. “i pity this pick pocketer for running off with my Jio Phone, what a terrible welcome i got from this city. dude Uday, get me out of this chaos.”

dissapointed with his luck Akshay hears a loud cry of his name from behind. He turns around to find a saviour in his friend. Akshay, with a grin on his face and a frown on his forehead, goes.. “Uday, man! your voice is still uniquely annoying. I lost my phone dude.” Uday walked close to Akshay acknowledging to what all Akshay said with a nod on his head. At this moment, Akshay was expecting a hug from Uday but instead he got a reverse handed slap on his growin. As Akshay bent in agony reaching his crowch with both of his hands, Uday held his hands apart to hug him. Now this was an awkward hug. Akshay bent forward with his face almost buried into Uday’s chest and Uday trying to control his center of gravity that was disturbed by Akshay’s weight.

Akshay stood at the door as his friend was arguing with the auto driver over a rupee. The trip charge was 129 and the auto guy didn’t have the change. “here, take these 9 and give us back a 10 rupee note,” said Akshay.. “dude Uday, stop getting into arguements over trivial things.”

Uday opened the lock to a one bedroom hall or one hall kitchen or one kitchen bedroom rented place. Name it whatever, it had 2 rooms with attached bathroom. “so, this is it. this is our place. get comfortable dude” said Uday while going into the so called kitchen.

Its 8:23 in the night. Both of them sitting on the floor, scanning through the channels. “turn the TV off, Uday. tell me how the work place is going to be? i lost my phone, when will i be paid? give me your phone, I have to call home to let them know my whereabouts.” Uday, surprised with the stream of questions.. “woow ooh! thats too many questions. here, take my phone and call them first.”

“thik hai maa, abhi rakta hoon. kal jaldi uthna hai.” Akshay hangs up.

“to answer your questions, all the things are taken care of. your friend is a supervisor dude,” bragged Uday.. “you will be paid weekly wages, now relax and go to bed.” Uday called it a day. Akshay scanned for a good show for a while before turning the TV off.

“necessity can make a man do unthinkable. its hard to lie to your family that you are doing a desk job in a metro city while actually you are loading and unloading boxes in a factory,” said Akshay to his fellow labourer while wiping sweat on his forehead with his shirt.. “whats your story?”

6 days later..

“excited for your first pay?” Uday asked Akshay.. “we will go out later in the day to buy you a phone, what say?”

“sounds perfect” Akshay responds unethusiastically.. “will i be left with any money to send to my place after buying a phone?”

2400 rupees is what the value of 6 days of sweat and back pain. Getting those 2400 as his first salary, Akshay was a mixed bag. As mixed as a monther of a twin would be when only one of the twin is crying and the other is stillborn. Akshay was confused whether to mourn for the degree he had or celebrate for the first salary he got.

Uday and Akshay got out of the factory, got into an auto, got out of it at the market of used phones.

Akshay was clear that he wouldn’t buy another psuedo smart phone. His eyes locked on a phone whose tag was 3099. Uday craked the deal for 2300 and made Akshay pay almost all of his capitalism-cursed salary.

Now Akshay is left with 100 in one hand and the phone in another. “Happy?” asked Uday. There is no adjective to describe what Akshay felt, “do i have a choice of feeling not Happy?”

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allbeendonebefore · 6 years

Note

What are your favourite head/canon things about Alberta

[cracks knuckles] [stretches fingers]

so i’ll just start with a disclaimer - i use sherry’s/iamp/whatever alberta and i realize ive been getting a lot of followers who are part of rp groups and whatever or people who might be interested in adding some depth to their own ocs so feel free to like… think about these things if you want if you’re thinking of doing an alberta oc?? I guess

so since that mysterious slash implies what are my fave canonical things about AB too I’ll say that there isn’t much- I go with what sherry says on canon rather than IAMP and PC because while there are a lot of things I had influence over in both projos there are a lot of things I would have done differently so we’ll start with the bio

Canon Stuff

literally all the things are accurate sooo its hard lol. Obviously the political situation has changed and the economic situation is its usual rollercoaster (WELL… but thats another time). I gotta say that the ‘alberta beef is the best thing that’s ever happened to me’ is really hitting home right now because i didnt realize how SPOILED i was by AAA beef until I got to Ontario ToT (ngl the pork here is super good and saves me money but the BEEF aAAA)

also my edmonton bias shines through at ‘he hates a part of himself called calgary’ thats by far my second fave B)))

Headcanon Stuff

ok where to start I will try to not make this an essay and i can elaborate more if you’re curious

- a lot of people will wonder about whether a province lives in the capital or the biggest city etc. and I have to say in Bertie’s case it is NEITHER. He’d never willingly live in (d)E(a)dmonton (sorry ed ilu) because Ed represents Government which he Hates and while he would spend a fair bit of time in Calgary he gets claustrophobic/exhausted - he still in my mind represents more of the rural bits of the province than the cities. I think he might move around a little, but he probably lives on a ranch between both cities but within sight of the mountains. I’m sure he has a place to stay in each city, but he’s a country boy at heart and appreciates his space, peace and quiet.

- Particularly space because Where else is he going to keep his 3 trucks + 2 ATVs + horses + 100000 cows + boat + canoe + kayak + all his camping junk + motorbikes + dirtbikes + tractor + other junk that people leave at his place

- that said his ‘birthplace’ is the southern ‘half’ of the province so he tends to kind of hover around there more- as i said he owns a ranch rather than a farm because the Quality Ranch Land is in the south and the Good Farm Land is in the north (and being eaten up by ugly houses ugh)

- still I think he spends a fair amount of time working up north in the Fort Mac area because Why Not make All the money. Even if you’re a rancher boy in the middle of nowhere, everyone in this province has ties to the oil industry one way or another. It wouldn’t make sense for him NOT to work in Oil and Gas because it’s literally the only job in the province lmao.

- His driving playlist consists of: Dean Brody, Corb Lund, Keith Urban, Ian Tyson, and the obligatory Nickelback which he listens to Un-ironically but also to piss off/drown out passengers when they’re annoying him

- He’s easily annoyed. By Everything. And Everyone. He’s the current national scapegoat and he takes it Extremely Personally depending on the context but also he has a relatively affectionate relationship with everyone and usually expresses his affection by pointed jabs.

- like he literally gets along with everyone on a personal level and not just because he buys them drinks- his worst relationships are probably with BC and Ontario and that’s just because he lives to irritate them and they respond with an appropriate amount of salt. He still doesnt mind hanging out with them and bc/ab/on/qc is an unstoppable team. He just gets extremely sensitive when anyone asks to borrow money from him and will give you an earful of ‘i work SO HARD for this money to put FOOD on YOUR TaBLe’

- generally really tight fisted with money………. only when other people are looking. he makes a big deal about how little he spends on essential services and you just look at him like ‘so you’re saying you have the money to get all this crap for this rodeo coming up but you dont have the money to take yourself to the hospital after’ and hes like [coughs up blood anime style] ‘im ok i have whiskey and benadryl at home’ [adjusts his diamond studded hat]

- really big on loyalty and straightforward conversations and has NO patience for any hypocrisy or doublespeak no matter how small. The slightest of things can send him reeling with Betrayal. Also this makes him either tight lipped or TMI, there is no in between.

- like literally reeling he’s very top heavy and you could blow him over with a sneeze, he’s all bark and only some bite. When he’s good he’s Real Good but when he’s bad he’s like a foot in the grave bad

- he’s the baby of the prairie bros but also the one with the brains- and i don’t mean in an academic sense i mean in the ‘so crazy it just might work’ sense.

- literally he’s an idiot he doesnt understand how equalization payments work no matter how many times you explain it to him. He doesn’t understand a lot of things re: the economy but he never shuts up about them.

- the easiest way to piss him off is to threaten his autonomy in any way, he will stop whatever he’s doing to put a boot up yer ass if you Dare suggest something like ‘why don’t you let ontario/canada take care of that for you’ even if he knows the way he’s doing something is garbage he will go out of his way to keep doing it because its ‘my way or the highway’.

- ‘why do you have all those guns’ ‘oh you know hunting deer and stuff’ [really its because he’s terrified a rat is going to sneak into his barn or something] [but he does actually hunt] [and he’s the type of guy to have the ‘trespassers will be shot’ signs]

- I haven’t figured out WHAT truck he drives yet but i am PROUD OF HIM for no longer putting truck nuts on it, THANK GOD that went out of fashion. (That said he does not have the stacks- his truck is lifted and Shiny and also has a handful of Alberta Strong decals/stickers.) Newf probably gave him a sticker of “The Rock” or a nfld flag and he Loves it. On a scale of most to least obnoxious trucks its Mac - Bert - Cal - Ed. It’s probably a white truck.

- i should think about things he loves more, this headcanon list is mostly things that make him angry oops xDD he loves animals a lot, and not just to eat i swear. The bigger and the more horns the better.

- he really loves driving a lot, it’s like a big part of his independence factor. I think sometimes he will just drive aimlessly late at night/early morning when it’s not busy and just go and find somewhere to look at the sky.

- he looooves digging up fossils in his spare time, or just interesting rocks in general. If you say the words animatronic dinosaur he is ALREADY THERE

- he watches a lot of sci fi and really loves star trek. So Much. he’s totally attempted mowing crop circles in his lawn/fields probably multiple times. he’s still waiting for the ufos to come land. Also has a thing for spooky places and cryptids and those weird inexplicable twilight-zone like events that only happen on road trips. did i mention the Giant Roadside Attractions.

- he has this persona of being a traditional/small-and-big-c conservative but he’s actually really into innovation and trying new things, meeting new people, etc. He interacts with so many different people lately that he’s trying to take the time to really re-evaluate himself and move away from the Klein-era “Severely Normal People” image because it doesn’t reflect him. The issue is he’s more likely to vote on economy rather than social issues so his actual progressiveness gets hidden by lack of political representation (and lets be honest he has Always hated politics). He’s got a lot of crap to sort through but he catches people who underestimate him off guard.

- was probably raised methodist/protestant/whatever but is mostly pretty secular, but he has some definite strong holdovers that make him uncomfortable about certain subjects and his first reaction to being uncomfortable is always anger.

- completely oblivious to being hit on or something or really gay situations around him but is that type of person who is like [cant walk too close to another dude because what if it looks gay bro].

- his fave cow is named buttercup

- he has definitely woken up after a night out with friends naked and alone duct taped to an air mattress and floating in the middle of a lake. true story.

- he will macgyver his way out of any situation. doesn’t mind getting down and dirty in the mud when it’s necessary. exactly the type of person to shove his hands in bitumen and squish it around or to pick up a rock and lick it or to shove a thermometer up a cow. When he gets squeamish he does his best to be bullheaded and pretend like Nothing is Wrong until he faints.

- his french is crap but he Tries- the french he knows is backwater northern AB french which he’s too shy to bring up so he feigns ignorance. His german is good and his ukrainian is passable, his spanish is fine, he’s trying to get the hang of some other languages but doesn’t tell anyone he’s practicing because he hates getting made fun of xD

- the hat and boots are Absolutely to make him look taller than he actually is. He doesn’t wear inserts but he does make sure the sole/heel on any boot he buys is Thick. Smol insecure man with a Big hat. Will spend 300 bucks on shoes, but he actually does ride/work so its an investment for him.

- heads to Arizona/Mexico in the winter when he’s not working, otherwise Banff/Jasper are his ‘budget’ vacations lol.

i love this stupid province pls ask if you have any more questions because i love to talk and i feel like i’ve said too much already lol

#pc: alberta #hapo rambles #projectcanada #iamp: alberta #iamp #iammatthewian #Anonymous #pc headcanon

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fabermemorialrink · 7 years

Text

some mistake, part 3

This part marks the end of what would be chapter one! Still a good handful of sections to upload after this one, but uh I should warn you I probably left off in the middle of writing the most important part, so I hope y’all don’t mind some suspense later on haha. Thanks again for reading!!

So Derek takes Dex’s advice to heart and tries, he really does, and...it kind of works. There are some people in each of his classes that he becomes friendly with, that he can grab a bite with or have study sessions with. And the team has several guys he's pretty close to now. There's Shitty, who’s easy to talk to and shows his support for Derek in his free-spirited, oft-naked way, and Ransom and Holster, who take him under their defensive wing. Ollie and Wicks, Indy and Alph and manager Sierra who treats them all like her out-of-control little brothers.

Derek likes them all but just even being in school drains him every day, over time. There's nothing wrong with any of them, per se, but they're all part of the same system, and it's like a vortex of bleakness that everyone at Andover is caught in. So he goes to class and talks to the tolerable people, and re-learns every single morning how to ignore the intolerable ones, and he goes to practice and bonds with the guys, and when it starts cascading into the always present shadow of pressure and prejudice, he escapes to where he can take a moment, just to be himself without being berated for having the audacity to exist.

He doesn't usually see Dex when he's just meditating in his hidey-hole, his head poking out to rest on the roots and stare up at the treasured glimpses of sky that are revealed to him through the shifting leaves. But he realizes soon enough, shortly before he heads back to the city for Thanksgiving break (because all three of his parents are actually going to be home simultaneously for once) that when he dares to delve deeper, and the woods entangles itself around him slowly and imperceptibly until he's lost in a dark corner again, Dex appears like clockwork to rescue him.

It's an accident at first, just a genuine attempt to try and teach himself more about the outdoors. He read up on camping and shit, and some Thoreau for good measure, but putting what he read into practice doesn't seem hugely successful for Derek. Inevitably, he ends up stranded in the unknown - in the inner ring, as Dex finally tells him one day when they're sitting by a pond Derek's never seen before and eating trail mix he swiped from the dining hall - where his sense of direction fails him.

Dex is nothing if not supremely reliable and strangely, suspiciously, always aware of Derek's whereabouts, so Derek is never left waiting long before Dex storms out to chastise him for endangering himself. Derek still doesn’t get it, because literally nothing seems to live in the goddamn woods except his ginger stalker/self-appointed bodyguard/friend, so he continues to tell Dex to chill and make half-baked promises to not get himself murdered. Dex always does this hilarious hand-clench of frustration when Derek brushes off his concerns, but nevertheless semi-reluctantly puts up with his company until he deems it too dark or too cold for Derek to stay any longer.

Soon it becomes habit to search Dex out whenever Derek's feeling numb. On good days, they get along, talking about the junk they’re interested in. Dex isn’t up to date on the newest shows or movies that Derek likes, but they bond over the nostalgic films of the past, and Derek gives quick and dirty summaries of all the shitty books he’s read on long plane rides. If he exaggerates the inanity of some of the plots, well, it gets a laugh out of Dex, so whatever.

On not-so-good days, at least he has someone he can argue unapologetically with. Sometimes it's important stuff, because Dex is still very much a know-nothing white boy who doesn't understand what Derek goes through on a daily basis. And though Derek still doesn’t actually know much about Dex at all, he does know that Dex thinks he’s too damn rich to understand his hang-ups about buying nice but frivolous things, and dropping more than eight dollars on brunch. So they fight about these things sometimes, but because Derek can’t physically find his way back home without Dex’s assistance, it becomes a forced learning experience for the both of them, to learn to listen to one another without tussling like elementary-schoolers. It works more than it doesn’t, but they’re also both dumbass fifteen year olds who don’t know when to quit, so there are nights that Dex dumps Derek at the field without another word and Derek spends the next day moping in his bed, then moping in his hollow until one of them has enough guts to go and apologize.

And sometimes, their arguments are about whether the pet rock was the best cash grab of all time, or how much money it would have cost to fake the moon landing, or whether it’s a terrible idea for Derek to try a backflip on the ice.

What it comes down to is this: even when they fight, at least Derek feels alive. At least he knows the person he’s talking to cares, about something. They’re not always in sync about how they see the world, but Dex is real in a way the kids at Andover never are, and willing, in his mulish way, to consider Derek’s point of view after a shouting match. And, for all the faces and weird noises he makes, he’s a good listener. Derek practices his public speaking assignment on him and his oral presentation for Spanish; Dex claps in the right places and throws pebbles at him when he’s avoiding eye contact too much. He asks after Derek’s family and his team, and almost always remembers to ask Derek about his games. Derek thinks he probably follows Andover hockey more closely than Shitty’s parents do. Several invitations to their home games have been extended, but Dex always apologizes before turning them down.

Derek doesn’t put it into words until the day Dex sets him to work gathering herbs “for reasons” and they’re sitting in the dirt and fog picking through weeds and chirping each other about their bad hand-eye coordination. Derek has mist in his face and there’s soil caked under his nails from digging up tiny sprouts and silvery roots, but it’s been the best part of his day by far.

“How’d you get dirt on your nose?” Dex asks when Derek delivers another handful of shoots to him.

“Just living that natural life, Dexy.” Derek swipes at his face with the back of his hand, but from the look that crosses Dex’s face he’s not finding much success. He makes another attempt with the heel of his palm this time.

“No, you- there’s even more now,” Dex says irritably. He reaches up, as if to brush the smudge away himself, but aborts the motion halfway and digs him hand harder into the ground instead.

Derek grins, and tries again. “Did I get it?” he asks as he deliberately streaks dirt from the bridge of his nose across his cheek. The corner of Dex’s eye twitches as he fights with himself, until Derek slowly and deliberately digs up a solid handful of muck, ready to plaster it to his own face.

Dex dives for him as he brings his hand up in slow-motion, flattening him to the ground as they battle over Derek’s hand.

“You’re a literal child, I swear to god,” Dex hisses, wrestling Derek's arm in place long enough to smear most of the dirt off.

“Lots of adults enjoy the rejuvenating properties of a mud mask, bro.” Derek pats his cheeks gently with what's left of the soil on his hands, and offers the remainder to Dex. “Give it a try. Refreshed skin will bring out your freckles more.”

“Why would I ever want that.” Dex has to pin Derek’s arm down with his shoulder to protect his face.

“Seriously? People would kill for the Look you got going on, dude.” Dex’s eyes narrow when he hears the capital L, but Derek continues. “You're like a concept painting of autumn. All gold and red and orange.”

“What does that even mean, you weirdo?” Dex groans into the dirt as he rolls away from Derek, ending in a patch of brambly leaves that stick in his shirt.

“It means you’re beautiful inside and out. Own it.”

“Were you put on this earth to torment me?”

“Maybe! Aw, that's cute. Like we were made for each other.”

“What.”

“Well, like, if I exist just to annoy you, and you exist to be my bff, then it's kinda like we were made for each other, right?”

“Wait- are we even having the same conversation right now?” Dex asks, confused. He bounces up like a pop-up book insert to give Derek his classic squint of suspicion. “Who's what now?”

“You’re my best friend, Dex, is what I’m saying,” Derek tells him, smiling at him sideways from where he's still tipped over into the mud. This is what it should feel like, right? This comfortable, unfiltered ease that Derek has grown used to in Dex’s presence. No pretenses, no fear of letting his chill slip or his anger surge. Derek is Derek, and Dex, even with all his secrets, is Dex, and that's all they need.

“Oh. That’s not where I thought this was going. Are you sure?” Dex asks, scratching awkwardly at his hair tucked under his cap. He cut it recently, choppy and slightly uneven; Derek suspects he may have done it by hand himself. Hopefully not with the hatchet. He seems to be in disbelief, so Derek solves the problem the only way he knows how: by being extra annoying.

“No, actually, now that I think about it more, I don't know if I can be friends with someone who’s afraid of barbershop quartets.”

“Oh my god, I'm not afraid of them, I just think the striped vests are fuckin’ weird! And the hats, too, Jesus. It's creepy, okay?”

“You are legit the strangest dude I know. You scared of 90s boy bands too? Leather pants, frosted tips?”

Dex undergoes a deep, full body shudder of disgust, visibly trying to shake the memory off himself. “Quit it, Nursey-”

“Matching track suits! Bandanas and denim overalls!”

“I don't understand how the hell we’re still friends,” and Derek’s smile must be embarrassingly real, because Dex flushes that nice shade of red he gets when he's flustered but not angry, and half-heartedly gives Derek a “yeah, okay, me too,” which, in the current flow of the conversation is a non-sequitur, but Derek gets it.

When it draws close to six, Dex packs up his basket and walks Derek back out, even though Derek has got a pretty good handle on navigating the outer ring by now, where the forest isn't yet labyrinthine and dim. Like always, he halts at the edge, but this time, he stops Derek with a hand to his arm, his skin warm despite the biting coldness in the air.

Dex is about to say something, but Derek word vomits on him before he can speak up. “You wanna come visit my dorm? We could watch Netflix, eat stale pop tarts.” It's such a fantastic proposition that Derek is surprised Dex doesn't immediately begin heckling him.

“Sorry, but I, uh, also gotta get home. Besides, you know they'd never let me into your prep school dorm room. Blue collar cooties,” he says with the sort of uncasual shrug that says he's accepted long ago there are places he isn't meant to go.

“I can't believe you just used the word cooties in a sentence,” Derek says, trying to lighten the mood, because even he's more than willing to sneak Dex in, doesn't mean his friend wants to go. He probably wants to keep their lives compartmentalized. They can share the woods; everything else is off-limits. That's okay. Derek can handle that.

“Some of us have to make do with our dollar store vocabulary.”

“I didn't say I didn't like it. You have the best cooties,” Derek says solemnly and clasps Dex’s shoulder.

Dex shakes him off, but cracks a smile, so it's a solid win. “Shut your face, Nursey. You know I wouldn't fit in with those guys. You'll just have to bring your pop tarts here. Not the laptop though; electronics don't work right in the woods.”

Derek swallows thickly, suddenly overcome with this invitation. It's new. Dex almost always sees Derek off with a demand that he watch his back and stay in school, like some kind of twisted after-school special. He never makes any indication that he actually wants Derek to visit, though Derek’s learned enough of his tacit signs by now to know that Dex doesn't mind his company. “Yeah? What flavor?” he asks when he unties his tongue.

“Wild berry. Extra stale.”

“I'll open a pack and leave it in my math binder for a week.”

Dex must remember that Derek avoids even touching his math materials if he can, because he laughs, and gives Derek a little shove closer to the field. “I'm counting on it. Hey, we need to make some ground rules though.”

“Rules? Like the name prohibition.”

The first couple of times they ran into each other again Dex had reiterated the ironclad importance of Derek never, ever uttering his name while in the woods. Dex nods now, relieved that Derek’s been bludgeoned with that information until it stuck.

“Right. Never tell anyone your name; that’s the most important one. Rule number two: don't trust anyone you meet in the woods. Got it?”

“Uh, what's that supposed to mean? Didn’t I meet you in the woods?”

Dex makes a complicated face and a jerky, ambivalent motion with his hand that Derek does not understand at all. “There's just some strange people in here sometimes,” he says, still hedging around something. “Be wary around them. If they ever try to make you break rule number one, get the fuck outta there. Even if it’s me, okay?”

What? Why would Dex ever…”Okay? If you say so?” What’s Dex afraid of? Brainwashing? Doppelgangers? Clones??

“Promise me, Nursey,” Dex says intensely, gripping Derek’s elbow tight. “I might not always be around to watch out for you.”

Derek must look too hesitant still, because Dex pinches his arm and he lets out a yelp. “Alright, chill, Dex. I promise.” Then, narrowing his eyes, he ventures to ask, “Is this a cult thing? ‘Cause my parents know people. We can help.”

“It's not a cult thing. And if it were, it’s not like I’d admit it.”

“Hmmmm.” Derek looks around, giving the woods a leery once-over, before leaning in to hiss, “Blink twice if they’re watching us. Blink three times if they’re holding you against your will.”

Dex stares at him for a few seconds before blinking deliberately twice (!), then a few more times for a total of five. Derek’s brain flies into overdrive as he tries to decipher this. Is it five as in two plus three? Is he giving Derek a signal? Or is he just messing around?

While he dithers over this, Dex purses his lips and blows a sharp stream of air right into Derek’s eyes. He recoils, clutching at his face.

“Ow, what the fuck, Dex!”

“That’s enough cultist bs for one day. Time to go home, Nursey. Walk slowly; wouldn’t want you to trip on literally nothing again and ruin your pretty face, city boy.”

“Ha ha,” Derek grouses, still rubbing his eyes. He’s well aware of his bad skin and awkward legs. Dex doesn’t need to rub it in. “D’you practice those lines on the squirrels before you try them on people?”

“Don’t be dumb. You ever seen a squirrel around here?” Dex snipes back, but the corners of his eyes crease in a smile and he mutters, “I practice on the trees.”

Derek is still laughing as Dex shoves him out onto the field toward home.

#nurseydex #nursey #dex #omgcp fic #some mistake #nursey's parents are a beautiful loving poly triad if that was not made clear yet

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custer-mp3 · 4 years

Text

long-ass general life update for you nosy bitches // tw: men, my bad legs

so boring to say i’m settling in but i am, i just wish there was something better to call it

there was somebody camped out in the back of the park across from our house down by the railroad tracks, on what we think is technically railroad property, and the parks department came today and tried to haul their shit away without a police order cuz “it’s just trash” no dude it’s a tent that’s someone’s home you leave it the fuck alone so Agatha screamed at them until they went away but then the cops came by & tagged it so now they have 3 days to move or the parks department’s allowed to come back & take their shit away

when we were trying to figure out whose site it so so we could reach out to them thru the drop-in center we noticed the tent was locked but had been cut open and the rain fly was ripped off and Agatha says it’s probably fine but it looked like somebody rolled their shit hella bad & i’m just worried about whoever it is, it looked like multiple people (or at least a guy and a girl) and i hope they’re okay like. physically

thanksgiving weekend launched me into the flare of the century i’m still not recovered from. i dared unpack my boxes of books yesterday (which were all small!! 6 free USPS boxes!!) and my knees had just. Had It. from that 20 minutes of activity. my wrists and elbows are flaring rly bad rn too & i had to buy ankle braces cuz my Achilles was already super fucked up from moving & like. whole body hurts.

i was limping around super bad at work--like unable to actually walk, just kinda toddling around in slow-mo if they needed me to move somewhere--and my manager made fun of me to my face IMITATING MY LIMP ON BLACK FRIDAY when i requested a break then my ASM and tenured keyholder ALSO made fun of me on Hell Saturday and i’m going to burn the entire store down

marina says report them to HR but that’s not very anarchist of me and i just don’t care enough to ruin their lives cuz it’s a temp job anyway and i can make it thru the holiday surely but it’s also like. i am the most able-bodied disabled person i know. i get more shit done in a day with 2 nonfunctional legs and fucked up arms and guts that are trying to escape my body and The Brain Fog TM than most people in full health do. if you’re being this awful to ME to my fkn FACE, ON THE CLOCK, how awful are you to “““actually disabled”““ ppl like out in the world on your free time

i just hate that there are no buses on sundays, no buses after 7, and i keep getting put on these dumb fucking late closes that mean either paying $15 for an Uber or walking the 3 miles home in the dark and the cold and some days i just physically Cannot with my Body and have to pay for the Uber which sucks ass cuz i’m making barely above federal minimum wage again

but i’ve been walking dogs and stuff with Kara. she’s got a hot friend who saw the picture of my halloween costume she threw in the groupchat and apparently thinks i’m cute and has been inquiring about my existence ever since so she asked me if she could give him my number and like sure bro i’ve met this dude exactly once AND I DIDN’T HAVE EYEBROWS ON AND WAS STANDING THERE RUBBING MY EYEBROW STUBBLE IN MY OVERSIZED SLIPKNOT HOODIE AND PAJAMA PANTS but i would like him to throw me thru a brick wall so sure but then he tEXTED ME and we set up a hangout which was supposed to just be coffee but turned into a whole-ass actual lunch date which like. worm. and made out in my living room cuz why not.

yesterday we hung out again (the coffee i was promised) and walked dogs with Kara in the cemetery and went to Kinko’s and the sketchy Halloween store that’s still open in fkn December and also made out, and then he was like “we should have an Actual Date For Real People” and i was like mfkr what?!?????? is that not???? no??????????????

so that occurred t o d a y cuz you can’t call me anything but efficient and spoiler alert, it was NOT a Real People Date, it was a fkn punk shitbag date, we definitely smashed then cuddled and tried to get Parsnip to interact with the other cat in a peaceful fashion and listened to Ministry and helped Agatha with the camp/park service situation and dealt with the cops when they showed up and had the aUDAciTY to park in front of our house to pull that shit then ran errands and cuddled and went to a Food Not Bombs meeting like. mfkr. that aint a date. that’s hanging out. how. is the prior 2 things with designated start times and wearing Nice Shirts and Going In Public Together Solo and shit not dates but tODaY was a date. fkn. WHAT

anyway he’s simple and sweet and hilarious and pro-SW anarcho communist and insanely hot and self-deprecating and i want to climb him like a tree but he too is divorced once over and we’ve Talked about it & it’s made me feel Better about my own shit & like. i want him to throw me through a brick wall and buy me food and leave me alone, and he’s in a non-monogamous relationship with one of Kara’s friends and his partner’s like “bro u need to date other ppl so i don’t feel bad” and y’know, that’s fuckin stellar imo. for me.

like what this whole fkn Ordeal has made me realize is i actually hate being in capital-R-Relationships. i do NOT want the pressure of being somebody’s whole world, i do not want the EXPECTATION of being solely responsible for somebody’s emotional happiness and well-being, i just wanna be friends with people and hang out and make art and occasionally make out and otherwise be left alone to do my own thing so this is like. rad as fuck. that this just sorta fell into my lap fully-formed and i didn’t have to do a bunch of screening and dealing with fuckboys and everything i was dreading abt y’know. finding someone to make out with in the midwest

and it was all because of my dumbass pun-based nu-metal halloween costume, which is the best thing that’s happened to me in decades, so. thank u jonathan davis

but i’m making friends--mostly thru Kara, but the other fellow new KH at work is the oldest person in the store (older than me by a couple years) and ALSO super into all things manson-adjacent and ALSO super queer and everything and has given me a ride home a couple times and i love her so maybe we’ll end up being friends in the long run too--and like living with Kara’s been good cuz there are always people around and she doesn’t mind me inviting myself on stuff sometimes so

there’s some sort of Krampus parade thing this Saturday in which for $2 you can actually be beaten with sticks and the squad’s going to that and we’re all doing FNB on Sunday and i know aforementioned dude is gonna be there but also so is his partner so like. that’ll be Inch Resting. but. we’ll survive. ‘we’ meaning me.

idk if it’s some sort of fucked up coping mechanism from coming dead last in my own monogamous relationships for uhhhhhhhhhhhh my entire fucking life but y’know. i kinda just feel whatever abt it!! like cool!! there is the dude i am fast friends with and def have a mutual crush on and am also currently fucking! and there’s the person he’s been dating for 3.5 years and owns a house with, and they’re a Thing!! and idk where i fit and what the vibe’ll be idk if the partner’s other ppl are gonna be there too so it’ll be weird fr all of us or it’s just me and like honestly how do y’all NAVIGATE i just don’t wanna make fkn heart eyes at the wrong time or NOT make heart eyes at the wrong time U FEEL ME

but also y’know what, whatever, fine. i’m like the least possessive person in the universe. like. i like that it’s all out in the open and people aren’t running around on me or anybody else. can’t believe this is my life, honestly. idk if the squad was conspiring on this or what cuz kara has terminal Nice Person disease but. good job fam.

i was in a real dark place this time last week and it only got worse over Hell Weekend, like. feeling directionless / unmotivated / isolated / lonely / traumatized / failure. it’s really been hitting me hard that i’m [redacted] years old & getting d*vorced & back in a punk house in a city i’d never set foot in before & working the shittiest shit job in the history of shit jobs and i’m never gonna see this person that was my best friend for so long again (cuz, y’know, i know i don’t talk abt the Private Life on here very often/in very concrete terms ~~this post being the exception~~ but. we were Best Friends. for a very long time) & i’m officially losing this friendship that meant so much to me and does mean so much to me, because i do care about him as a friend. like. fuck him as a spouse, he’s terrible at that, but as a friend i don’t want to see him struggling. which is bullshit. cuz he was abusing me and my life was a living goddamn hell in VA. but it’s hard to let go of the basis of the whole goddamn Ordeal to start with, and it’s hard to reconcile My Friend Whomst I Adore with My Ex-Husband Who Triggers Me On Purpose & Reads My Instagram Messages & Has Been Blackout Drunk For Months & Won’t Let Me Have Space Even In My Own Office, and it’s hard cuz the only people i know who’ve gone through something like this are dead. and all of that’s hitting at once. and i can put up with a lot of shit but i cannot put up with feeling like a failure within myself. and shit was truly fucking bleak.

so the whole social life thing just came at a good time y’know & even if things otherwise aren’t going the way i want there’s at least one good spot in my life. i got friends, i’m getting out of the house, i figured out where the good cemetery is, people are buying me food & talking me through all of this & rubbing the shaved part of my head & i’m happy

kara’s got a dr’s appt tmrw AM & the dude is apparently our designated Responsible Adult With Car so he’s picking her up from that & will be in my house once again tmrw morning & i fully plan on hiding in my room and pretending to be asleep cuz fuck that lmao don’t make me socialize i was not emotionally prepared for that

hayden sent me a 1995 Marilyn Manson gig poster and an enamel pin of a jackalope wearing a cone of shame & honestly??? i do not deserve him, talk about great friends

we need to get a frame for the poster but then me & kara are starting a MM wall in one of our living rooms & it’s gonna be great. the dude’s gonna come over with a drill & help me hang shelves in my room some time soon so i can finish getting unpacked cuz i’m just down to the boxes of art and getting all my shelf crap squared away & then i can finally finish Unpacking For Good

me & kara cried on the kitchen floor together last night from laughter bc i still have not learned my lesson in How Much Soup A Bowl Can Hold and my lizard brain was convinced if i got the beans under the liquid it would all fit, which, spoiler--it did not, and all my makeup ran off my face. it was that good. i love her so much

anyway thanks for listening check out the distro so i can buy groceries until my food stamp paperwork clears which will probably not be for almost another goddamn month i’m so pissed

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askaphmaine · 6 years

Text

“With that, that’s the end of the meeting. I hope everyone will be prepared for next time. We have a lot more to talk about.” With that statement from D.C., another long capital meeting was over. Monty groaned, shoving his ‘paperwork’ and ‘notes’ into his bag. Most of the papers were simply scribbled on, so he would appear as if he cared. A couple had drawings, simple pencil sketches of what had been happening, D.C. yelling at everyone to shut up, Concord making and throwing paper airplanes, Augusta pointedly avoiding everyone by hiding under the table, anything interesting.

“Oh, Montpelier~!”

‘Ah, shit.’ Just the person he didn’t want to see. He liked Los Angeles, he really did. She was stunning, with dark golden hair curling around her shoulders and deep blue eyes, not unlike a lake or the ocean. The problem was her flirting. She seemed to enjoy his discomfort, taking every opportunity to jump on him, occasionally even kissing his cheek. While some may have enjoyed the attention, for someone used to four wheeling and mudding, it was overkill to an extreme. The worst part, though, was her comments.

“You know, you’d look so much nicer in a suit! Or anything out of that disgusting plaid. You should let me take you shopping!” Like that one. He couldn’t understand how she thought those kind of comments were okay. He liked his shirt, it had been a gift from his brother. Sure, it was a bit worn but it fit fine and was warm. And he would never wear a suit. Never. “U-um, Montpeli-?”

Maybe storming off wasn’t his best idea. Maybe flipping L.A. the bird wasn’t either. Regardless, Monty didn’t stick around to see the aftermath of his actions. He had soda to drink and cars to work on. He didn’t have time to deal with western drama. Sadly, it seemed to be finding its way to him.

“Okay, I get it. She pissed you off. But you and I both know she didn’t mean it like that, asshole. Now I’m getting dragged into your lovers-spat.” Concord hissed, glaring at the other capital. Montpelier stayed under the truck, rolling his eyes.

“It’s not a damn lovers-spat. Just toss me my fucking wrench and shut it, dude. She’s old enough to deal with the consequences.” A dull thud hit the area to the left of Monty’s head. “Thank you.” A sigh followed.

“Alright, listen. I understand she gets on your nerves. I really do. But you literally made her cry. Maybe you should explain what pissed you off so much. It might make things-” Loud clanging interrupted Concord’s nagging. Monty slid out from his work.

“Explain? EXPLAIN? YOU DON’T THINK I’VE TRIED? SHE LITERALLY IGNORES ME.”

“Dude, stop yellin-”

“NO! SHE ACTS ALL HIGH AND MIGHTY JUST BECAUSE SHE’S BASICALLY RICH AND THINKS SHE CAN WALTZ INTO MY LIFE AND COMMAND ME TO CHANGE? SHE DOESN’T WANT ME, SHE WANTS A LITTLE BOY TOY SHE CAN ABANDON ONCE SHE GETS BORED.”

“You’re crying.”

“Fuck.” A soft sob. “Off.”

“Yeah, no can do. Like it or not, you’re part of Northern New England. You’re stuck with me.” Concord wrapped an arm around the other boy’s shoulders. “We’re family, like it or not. I know she doesn’t listen. But here’s my plan, okay? Trust me, it’s a doozy.”

::A couple days later::

Silence. Never had L.A. felt more uncomfortable. Monty was acting odd, showing no emotion. After what had happened, she had begun to think he was avoiding her before she got a text asking for them to meet up. She wasn’t expecting an apology from him at all but she also certainly wasn’t expecting him to be emotionless and cold.

“You need to stop.” Monotone. A small shiver went up her spine. She only ever heard stories about the people who fit this description, the ‘Mainers’ as they were called. They were only a state away from him, though...

“Stop...what?” She winced at how small she sounded. She was one of the largest cities in America!

“Acting like a lovesick idiot. Grabbing me. Kissing my cheeks. The flirting and the attempts to command me need to stop.” Com…mand? She could understand the ‘lovesick’ part but when had she ever tried to… Oh. Slowly everything clicked. Her comments on his clothing and his pastimes. He felt like she was trying to control him.

“I’m...sorry. I never meant...Nevermind. I’ll stop. I swear on everything I own, I’ll stop.”

::Later::

“Connor, you’re a genius. How did you know acting like those three would work?”

“I’ve spent enough time with the Mainers to know it’s an act and how they manage to do it. All it takes is some practice. I am glad to hear that it worked!”

“Yeah, she promised on everything she owns that she’d stop. I don’t think I’ve been this relieved in ages!” Monty’s grin widened. “It’s like a weight has been lifted!”

“I’m glad for you. I really am. Now, where were we on the truck?”

::Elsewhere::

“Um, hey, Izzy? Can we, like, talk?” Braids swayed slightly as the capital of California glanced up.

“Sure, Liz. How did the talk with Montpelier go?”

“See, that’s the problem.”

“…I see. Well tell me all about it.”

“For starters, you know the stories of the Maine Trio Allison will tell us?” A nod. “Well, that’s how he was acting. Cold, emotionless, distant, you name it. He fit the tale perfectly.” Sacramento gasped. Montpelier had never acted like that before. “Exactly. But that’s not the real problem. He thought I was being…controlling. I didn’t mean to be but you know. I guess I came across as someone trying to change him and he didn’t take it well. Problem is, I have no idea how else to talk to him? But then I had an idea!”

“Oh no. Lizzy, please tell me you’re not thinking what I’m thinking.”

“Please?”

::Another time skip because I am the worst::

Normally, Monty was left alone outside of meetings and his fellow New Englanders. He had woken up as normal, ate breakfast, the entire works, all without interruption, even from his older brother. His pajamas, a t-shirt and plaid sleep pants, got to stay on for once. Normally he had to be ready for anything with Liam and that included being dressed and ready for a hike.

Then he heard the doorbell. No one, not even his ‘family’ visited this early. They all had things to do and they all understood that the Vermont Mounties did not like dealing with anyone besides each other before noon. A glance at the stove clock told him it was only 8 am, four hours before the barrier was lifted. There were only three options. One was that Liam got locked out and was either drunk or hungover. The second was an emergency. Third, some flatlander was annoying him. Monty didn’t even want to think it was the third.

The world loved proving him wrong. Apparently, either karma or fate hated him. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he took in the sight before him. L.A. in a ponytail was cute, sure. But the muddy jean cut-off shorts, torn plaid-like shirt, and baseball cap 3 sizes too big really didn’t suit her. He didn’t even have the energy to produce the ‘Mainer’ personality. Hell, he didn’t even have the energy to listen as she tried speaking about trucks. Something about…mud driving? He held the bridge of his nose, leaning on the doorframe.

“L.A. stop. It’s 8 in the morning.” Silence. “I’m too tired for this whole ‘interaction’ thing and would really prefer to just eat my breakfast in peace.”

“Oh…sorry. I guess I must be annoying, huh.” He felt a sigh escape. She sounded so sad. Why did she have to act like this? As cute as it was, she looked incredibly awkward, tugging on the odd clothing.

“Listen, no one, and I mean no one, is allowed to visit Vermont and I until 12pm.”

“Ah, I’m so sorry, I didn’t-“

“If you annoy me, I’m kicking you out. No second chances.” A soft ‘huh?’ floated to his ears. “Look, you’re lucky it’s fall. It may not get cold in your part of the country but here? You’ll freeze in that. I also doubt you’ve eaten. Not to mention you look ready to burn that outfit. Just get inside, you can borrow some of my clothes. They may be big, but at least they’re clean. And actually cover you.” He shoved himself up, not even glancing behind him to see if she was following. The door closed, though he didn’t hear any footsteps. “Just take your shoes off and follow me.”

Silently, she listened, much to his shock. He had to admit, he was expecting resistance. It didn’t really hit him what was happening until he was standing in his room, looking for clothes. “You’ll have to wear some sweatpants, nothing else I own will fit you. Any complaints?” He questioned, glancing at her. A shake of the head. “Good. Here, try these.” With that, he tossed her a pair of gray sweats, a black shirt, and a plaid button up. “You’ll want to wear all of it. It’s cold.” Monty didn’t hang around, vanishing downstairs to the kitchen. It took a couple of minutes for L.A. to reappear, keeping her head down. Monty was a bit pleased she kept the ponytail.

“I’m sorry for showing up and making you feel like you had to help me.” He felt himself groan.

“Listen, just sit. This batch will be done soon. And trust me, someone showing up at my door first thing in the morning does not make me want to help them.” He could hear the sharp intake. “Alright, I don’t have the energy for the ‘Maine’ thing, so just listen. I get you’re trying to connect with me for whatever reason. I’m not that dumb. While you may have gone about it in an awful way-“

“I should’ve listened to Izzy…” He paused at the whisper.

“I have no clue who ‘Izzy’ is but yeah. You really should’ve. Not that it was offensive. Just obnoxious. Do you remember what my point was during our meeting?”

“You felt like I was trying to control you. I promised I’d stop but here I am…”

“Yea- What?” Confused, Monty turned, setting a plate in front of the blonde.

“Was I…wrong?”

“Uh, yeah? I never said anything about control. I said you were- oh.” Silence. Slowly, he sat across from her, staring at his plate. Placing his elbows on either side, he dropped his face into his hands. Here he thought it was over. “I didn’t mean you were controlling me. Trust me, Vermont tries to all the time.”

“Then what was I doing?” The almost begging tone nearly got him to lift his head. Nearly.

“You were trying to change me. Even if you didn’t mean to, you were. I’m not a suit and tie kind of person. I’m not into fashion, I actually couldn’t care less. Vermont and I are outdoorsy guys who wear a lot of plaid. We go mudding- wait, is that what you meant by mud driving?” He looked up, shaking his head. He pressed him palms into his cheeks. “Never mind. We go mudding, hiking, and hunting. I fix cars and trucks for fun. I’m not someone like what you’re used to, L.A.” For the first time, he looked her right in the eyes. “I’m not a toy you can dress up. I’m not interested.”

“Can…Can I speak?”

“Sure.”

“I never…I never meant to come across like that. My comments, though out of line, were meant to mean that you’d look great in one of those outfits. I never thought of forcing you to wear any. I never…” With a deep breath, she closed her eyes. Monty blinked. He hadn’t realized he had been staring. “I never saw you as some sort of ‘toy’. In fact, you remind me of Izzy and Nathan- I mean, Sacramento and Northern California. I guess I got caught up thinking you’d react to the comments the same way they do. But they grew up with SoCal and I. They’re used to it and know we don’t really mean it. I’m very sorry for coming across that way.” She slowly opened her eyes, keeping her head down. For a couple of minutes, the two of them sat there, L.A. picking at the pancakes and Monty watching her.

“Alright. And the lovesick attitude? I doubt you treat your family that way.” If anyone asked, both would swear to the grave that L.A. didn’t blush. L.A. to keep her image. Monty to keep the ability to see it to himself. The stuttering only helped further the redness. “I see. Well, it should be noted that I hated the outfit you wore here.”

“I, uh, kinda figured…”

“Good, so let me make one think clear. Changing someone for someone else is stupid. And that ‘someone’ includes yourself. So, we both know you know nothing about trucks, mudding, ect. What do you enjoy? Besides fashion, I mean.”

“Well, I can, like, surf. Even in heels.”

“See, now we’re getting somewhere. That’s an actually interesting fact. What about movie-“

“I am literally Hollywood. I know all the easter eggs, the classics, everything.” She scooted closer, a gleam in her eyes. Monty smirked.

“Oh? Well, then we have something in common. I just so happen to have a movie collection. Shall we pick through it?”

“You. Are. On.” Lizzy practically launched herself from the chair, food all but forgotten. Monty chuckled, grabbing both plates. Might as well eat as they watch, right? “Oh, and Montpeli-“

“Just call me Monty.”

“Alright, Monty. I just wanted to tell you to call me Lizzy.”

“Deal.”

“Dude, you have BeetleJuice? Guess what we’re watching first!”

“I mean, it was filmed here in Vermont. We have a system. ‘Filmed in A New England State’, ‘Takes Place in a New England State’, and ‘Other’. 13 different groups, some overlap. Maine’s are best viewed around Halloween.”

“Oh, please. Carrie is a classic and is perfect for viewing year round. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar.”

Hours later, Liam staggered up the steps to his home. He wasn’t drunk but he was tired. The trip to Mass left him exhausted. Dealing with Mass left him exhausted. Opening the door, he faintly heard the sounds of a movie. It sounded like the selection screen, though he had to doubt this. There was no way Monty would just leave a movie running, not even for food. Slowly, he crept towards the entrance to the shared living room. Sneaking a glance in, he saw a lump under a blanket, larger than his brother would be. Carefully moving closer, he took note of all the food bowls scattered around. Once he reached the sofa, he saw something he knew he’d hold over Monty for a while. Curled up, fast asleep, was Monty and a girl. But not any girl, oh no. Los Angeles herself was curled up on his chest, slumbering peacefully. ‘My little brother, off falling in love with a westerner.’ Liam thought, leaning over to pull the blanket up further. It was going to be a cold night. A smile found its way onto Liam’s lips as he glanced down at the two. Tugging at Monty’s was a soft smile of his own.

#aph los angeles #aph Montpelier #fanfic post #wow this got LONG #warning this is 6 pages on google docs #at 12 point font normal spacing #aph montpelier #lospelier

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bluboothalassophile · 7 years

Text

Give Me Back My Mind!

And This is Why I’m Not In Charge

Victor Stone, he'd admit that eight years ago, when Darkseid had taken to invading Earth and whatever happened to him had happened, he had thought his life was officially over. All his dreams of University, the Pros… it was all gone. And for a while he had thought he had found his place with the Justice League, but it turned out the moment that the crisis was over he was alone. He was back to being a sixteen year old cyborganic freak, one of a kind, and his father's pet project. It sucked. Then there was everything with Atlantis and Victor accepted that he was never going to be accepted anywhere outside the hero world. Even the odd Billy Baxton fit in the civilian and hero world; for that Victor envied the kid, truly envied the kid.

Which was part of why he left, left his father, his home, his city, and the Justice League. He didn't fit in anywhere and at sixteen he had been done with not fitting. He had come to San Francisco, because that was where all the weirdos and whackos lived (well, here, New York, Las Vegas, and Gotham, but here was furthest from his father), got a job as a mechanic and intended to just fade away.

What he never expected was to be dragged into a team by a twerp who had been Batman's protégé, and find a home. Garfield was his best friend, the green dude was filter broken, genuine, and caring; but more than that Garfield was accepting and never bugged him about being a cyborg. Starfire, Kori, his best girl friend, was an alien princess from another world; she didn't even know that here he was weird. Robin, now Nightwing, Dick, had just shrugged and said there was weirder out there; Dick was a great pal to have.

However, the only one Cyborg dared to take in the family way, and even going so far as to shout she was his sister, was Raven. Raven he understood, and she understood him, it was as easy to be around her, as it was frustrating, but she caught on fast. Ever since that first car they had rebuilt together he had found a little sister. And there was nothing he wouldn't do for her: harass unworthy suitors, glare at boys staring at her, hang with her in the garage, complain, listen, annoy, and prank (lots of pranks). She in turn told him everything; there were no secrets between them, it was the only rule, and while she had the empathy link with Dick, she had secrets from him too. Victor and Raven had none of those, it was their sacred rule and what had made them more than friends. It was also why he was her second in command.

Actually, now that Victor thought about it, Raven was more of Team Leader than anyone in the Titans organization. Dick tried but between Blüdhaven, Gotham, the Titans, the League, and the entire Batclan, he was stretched thin and Raven often came through to pick up the slack on Dick's part. And Raven did a damn good job keeping them all together, Dick of sound mind, the Titans in one piece, and the world safe. It wasn't easy for Raven to be seen as a leader, but she was the defacto leader, and he her right hand by default.

And right now, Victor's little sister had a problem at the moment which was why he was fully willing, and able, to take over Raven's team; well his team too, but Raven was Team Leader.

Walking into the gym after talking to Raven he looked over the files of the kids on Raven's Team:

Jaime and Damian he knew, knew very well as he had been trying to help them out with their training. However it was the rest of the line up which had him arching his brown and rubbing his temple. Raven and his' team consisted of:

-M'gann M'orzz

-Timothy Drake

-Stephanie Brown

-Kaldur'ahm

-Bart Allen

On the bright side, Terra had been put on Star's team, which meant Raven and he didn't have to deal with her, but everyone else on this team… oh brother. They were going to have their hands full with the younger spectrum of the recruits.

"Where is Raven?" a voice had him jumping slightly as he spun around to look at one of the resident ninjas of the Bat clan.

"Don't do that Damian! Nearly short circuited me," Victor groaned.

"I apologize," the boy reluctantly grumbled and Victor smirked. Raven had taken to Gibbs' slapping the younger kids when they had no manners; and Gar when he had no common sense, and her training appeared to be working. "Where is Raven?"

"She's looking for someone," he admitted.

"What is going on with her?" Damian asked, Victor frowned a bit. Damian had become unusually attached to Raven, quickly too because of the incident when Jaime's armor hadn't taken to Damian's attitude well and blasted the young Robin.

"Why don't you ask her?"

"She said she would tell me only after speaking with you, and since you are here I presume you know what is going on with her and can debrief me," Damian stated.

"Dude! I'm not taking your word on this matter, and if Raven should wish to discuss what's going on with her she will tell you herself, or better yet go ask her!"

"You and Raven are very close, are you not?" Damian asked. Anyone else the question would be innocent but it was Damian Wayne asking.

"She's my little sister," he grounded out.

"I presume through adoption then," Damian muttered.

"Heyguys! Readyfor training!" Bart shouted appearing then and Victor had never felt more relieved seeing the kids filing in. "Where is Raven?" M'gann asked as she floated in.

"Raven's dealing with something right now so I'm in charge!" Cyborg announced.

"No way! Yes!" Jaime bounced then and Victor frowned; it was going to be a long day.

~~~*~*~*~~~

"Whoa!" Wally shouted as they slid into a vault on the lower levels, Project Kr. The door shut and sealed shut then, Dick let out a shuddering breath as he hugged his ribs. Fuck this hurt! He had not been expecting… well, any of this!

"Next time Bats asks a favor of us the answer is no, N-O, in capitals!" Wally blurted out.

"I don't think he was intending to run into this…" Dick tried to defend. Honestly it was like something out of a bad sci-fi film. Monster, giant, small, razor clawed, telepathic, and electric had been roaming all about, these leaves were even mushy and a bit organic, and honestly Dick did not want to know what other surprises were laying in these levels.

"Whoa, um… dude, you're going to want to see this," Wally said. Reluctantly Dick looked up, his ribs singing in protest as he stood then and moved to where Wally was, there was pounding on the other side of the vault door but that wasn't what had his undivided attention. No, what had his attention was now before him.

"Holy…" Dick trailed off.

"That can't be…" Wally started, Dick was hunched over the control panel then as his fingers flew over the keys, his eyes scanning the data as he worked.

"The Superboy," Dick informed Wally. "Weapon designation. A clone force grown in sixteen weeks! From DNA acquired from Superman. Solar suit allows him to absorb solar radiation twenty-four-seven."

"More like stole!" Wally argued.

"Well, now we know why Bats was keeping Supes out of it," Nightwing muttered as he looked at the young boy who looked about seventeen or eighteen. Honestly it was freaking him out staring at this boy and seeing Clark there.

"We can't leave him," Wally pointed out.

"Agreed," Nightwing muttered as he continued his hacking to break the kid out of the container he was in. There was no way in hell he was leaving a kid here to be raised as a weapon, it was what had happened to Damian and it was taking a family effort to try to straighten Damian out.

"Uh… the door?" Wally whispered.

"Already disabled," he smirked.

"Don't do the creepy laugh thing or I'll call Raven," Wally warned.

"When we get communications and out of here, I'm calling her here to get us the hell out of here!" Dick countered.

"Why?"

"She teleports, it's an easy escape and a fast way to get the kid," he gestured to the Superboy clone. "To the Tower."

"Well then hurry up on the hacking!" Wally hissed as the door rattled dangerously then. Nightwing frowned as he worked, there was something bothering him about this. However, he'd discussing it with the Titans after he got the hell out of here!

"Get him!" Dick shouted as the pod opened then. a blur of yellow caught the falling boy just as the doors blasted open.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Damian looked over the other idiots he was now going to be on a team with and he felt like gouging his eyes out. This wasn't going to be… whatever it was supposed to be. Groaning internally he thought about what Victor was saying about how they were going to be working in a team and they would be a unit with their own missions without League guidance or supervision.

He knew all this which was why he stealthily slipped out of the gym leaving the losers behind.

Mostly he was curious about whatever was going on with Raven; he had never seen her move so fast. And he'd seen her in battle. Riding up the express elevator he came to the roof and poked his head out, he was surprised that Barbara hadn't spotted him sneaking around the tower and trapped him somewhere then summon Raven to collect him. Dick had done that a week after bringing him here.

Looking around he spotted Raven levitating just off the edge of the roof.

"What are you doing?" he demanded as he walked over to the edge. Raven didn't look at him.

"I'm seeking out a person," Raven answered flatly.

"What happened last night?" Damian demanded sharply as he glared at her and folded his arms. Raven turned around so she was now floating across from him and then she stepped onto the ledge.

"Last night an old… pain, decided to resurface and broke into my room," Raven answered.

"I thought that wasn't possible," he grounded.

"It's not impossible, it's just exceedingly difficult. I am not surprised that of all the people on this planet he'd be the one to get around my wards and magic," Raven shrugged.

"Who was he?" Damian demanded. He felt a cold fury filling him with curiosity as he listened to Raven.

"That is what I am figuring out," Raven said calmly.

"Do you require assistance?" he asked, malicious delight filling him at the anticipation of a fight.

"No," Raven stated.

"Why are you after him?"

"Because he stole something which is genuinely irreplaceable, and I need it back," Raven answered.

"Then you do need an assistant!" Damian argued.

"Go train with the team, Damian, I will handle it, it's personal," Raven shrugged.

"But!"

"I will tell Dick that you skipped training with the team," she warned, he shuddered at the thought.

"Fine, but if you are not finished with this by the end of tonight I will tell Grayson and demand to help you," he warned as he stalked off.

"This isn't his fight, it's mine, and you'd be wise to stay out of it," she murmured as he walked into the elevator. Damian pressed the button to the gym and watched as Raven leapt off the edge and started levitating again.

Truthfully this was one of the things he found irritating about Raven, the entire independence and demand to work in a team. It was as if Raven had another set of secret responsibilities; it was annoying to be left in the dark about them too.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Raven settled again as she again centered her mind and spirit and again focused. Her breathing was steady, her heart slow, her mind empty and her shields were down as she started again focusing on the emotions and filtering them out. She was focused on something specific as she worked. Stretching her mental wings, she flew through the city, her mind touching everyone. Everyone was unique, she was focusing on a particular flavor of emotions.

It was something few outside of Hell possessed, and when she encountered it, it was something she filed away for later worries.

The Lazurus Pit, for all it gave, it also took, but something particular that it gave to it's victims was a particular emotion. Ra's al Ghul had been drowning in it, lost to the Pit, his daughter had it, Oliver Queen also had it, as did his sister, Thea. Raven never liked feeling what the Lazurus Pit left in others, it was something closer to what her kin were like, bloodlust, the anger, the fury, the uncontrollable red nature. It was like her own rage or her father, it did not scare her, but it was wild, uncontrollable, and unstable. But worse, it was something which twisted the mind, the heart and the soul.

Raven did not like the Lazarus Pit, but the ones who had been healed by it varied. Opening her eyes she felt a surge of her powers as she reached out and felt the pull of the Lazarus Pit.

Her mind and emotions reaching for the pulse of the Lazarus Pit she continued familiarizing herself with the young man. His emotions were coiled, guarded, she pried as she looked for a latch so she could pull herself there.

Standing in the air she reached a hand, felt her powers slip through her blood to the tip of her fingers as she opened the shadows and let them consume her as she latched onto the Lazurus Pit.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Everything he'd been researching about that fucking book revealed nothing as he read up on everything the JL had on Azarath. Funny, he'd have thought there'd been more.

Sighing his head fell back on his couch as he stared at his ceiling.

Fuck it, it wasn't important, and he'd been paid to do a job. A job he had done.

It was over, he was not going to be like the Bird Brains or like Bats, nope, it was not happening. Obsessing got him killed; literally and figuratively, and he was not ready for the return trip to Hell. Standing up he walked to his kitchen as he glanced at the stove time, it was around ten in the morning. Two more hours before he checked on Sunshine to make sure she was out of the warehouse.

Picking up his latest book he decided he would not worry about Azarath or anything about the previous job, as he started making a sandwich and looking through the list of available jobs.

There was an itch in his skin which had him wanting to kill something, frowning he thought it over. It wasn't like he was bound to the same morals as the Bird Brains or Bats, he had killed before. His only problem was the black outs. The black outs concerned him, and it made him avoid taking hits; for now.

No one knew he was alive, no one knew he was here, and no one was coming after him, he'd like to keep it that way for the time being as he planned out what he would do next. Black outs where he woke with everyone dead were not conducive to keeping a low profile. And if Bats found out he was alive… well, he had no desire to go to Arkham unless he was killing a particular clown. But until he had his head on straight(ish), and he didn't have a panic attack just hearing the laugh on the television, he wasn't going near Joker.

Yet.

Sighing he decided he hated having to wait on his revenge again because his mind raced back to the fifteen year old he had been whenever he heard the Joker laugh.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he had a gun in hand, turning he saw a small shadow circle on his wall.

FUCK!

He didn't freeze, but everything happened so fast he was slammed back as a small force hit him.

~~~*~*~*~~~

She'd been paid to impersonate a magician, she'd been paid to deceive a young man who would recognize her anymore, and she was now being paid to kill him.

It was a very good thing she had known who she was hiring to steal that book. Now she was looking down the scope of her rifle her mind cold as her eyes looked over the windows of the young man's hide out.

Her eyes tracked him as he walked through his home, he grabbed a gun, and then there was a flurry of motion, her head snapped up as her eyes widened a fraction then she focused again. Looking through the scope she saw the young man she'd once known and a woman fighting.

A light breeze had her adjusting as she took another steadying breath and let her finger rest on the trigger.

It was just a job.

It was just someone she used to know.

It meant nothing.

Cold filled her, her mind cleared and she squeezed the trigger. Her sight on the center of the young man's back. Glass shattered, there was blood, she fired five more times, there was nothing. Pulling away she looked at the building without her scope. Smoke started billowing through the shattered window and she looked back through her scope.

He was good.

She knew, she had trained him.

But she was better. There was a flash, she gasped as bullets flew past her head and she dove behind a wall.

~~~*~*~*~~~

"Give Me Back The Book!" Raven shouted, his gun clattered out of his hand as he grabbed her wrists. She snarled ferally, but he knew he had the upper hand.

"I gave it to the buyer!" he snapped.

"Who!?" Raven roared, her leg lashed out to catch his bad ribs, he grunted as he stumbled, releasing one of her wrists. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" she shouted.

Her black energy filled his apartment as pans started flying at his head, he jerked her around as he avoided them.

Glass broke behind him, then there was a whistle of something slicing through the air before there was a sharp sting of something tearing through his shoulder. Spinning Raven around, her back to his chest he dove over his couch for cover and he saw her energy stop. There were more shots, Raven flinched as he tightened his grasp on her as shit splintered and his couch was shredded.

"What the hell!?" he growled as he reached under his battered coffee table and grabbed a smoke bomb he had there, pulling the pin he tossed it over the couch as smoke filled the air.

"You'd bring a sniper!?" he snapped at Raven as he dragged her with him and the ducked into the small hall.

"No, I didn't know who or where you were until two minutes ago!" she snapped.

"Fucking double crossing buyers!" he hissed, ignoring the burn in his shoulder he ripped open a side panel he had tucked his rifle case in and pulled out the gun. Assembling it quickly he loaded it before looking at Raven.

"Stay put," he growled.

"What!?" she gasped he moved to his kitchen and settled his riffle on his island bar as he scanned for wherever the shot came from.

He found what he was after, his eyes narrowed and he opened fire. The return fire came after he stopped.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Raven opened her fingers as she whispered her chant and she felt for the largest object in the street. She found a dumpster which was just barely within her reach as she pulled it up. The weight of it was startling but she didn't slow as she dove out of the hall and threw her hands at the window where the shots were coming from, something burning sliced her leg which had her hissing as she kept her focus on slamming the dumpster through the wall of that building.

The crashing had her gasping as she looked over to Red X.

"Well fuck," he muttered. "Come on! now they know you're here so come on!" he snapped. The man shoved past her.

"Wait! What!?"

"Come on Sunshine, we have to get out of here!" he snapped as he grabbed a bag, shoved a jacket and helmet at her, Raven reluctantly took them as he jogged out of the room, she stiffened as he grabbed her, but the pillow on the couch exploded as the glass truly shattered and then she was out the door. zipping the jacket, she pulled the helmet over her head as they ran down the stairs.

She wasn't leaving Red X until she had her book back but for now she was running because she preferred being alive.

"This way," he shouted as he tossed her his pack, she yanked it over her shoulders and secured it as she ran after him, her blood sliding down her leg. He leapt onto a black bike, she hopped on after him, her arms slipped around him as the engine roared and then they were blasting out of there.

"No powers!" he shouted over the engine.

She didn't bother to respond, using her powers would draw unwanted attention which would not be wise right at this moment. She ignored the throbbing pain of her thigh as they wove through traffic, another engine roaring like theirs caught her attention as she twisted around. There was another motorcycle, but Red already did a hard turn.

"Turn into an ally!" she shouted.

"What!?"

"Just do it!" she snapped, she threw her hand in front of them, her mind picking a city to go as she felt the energy slice through her fingers as a portal appeared, she twisted around as they flew through it and shut it just as the other biker caught up to them.

"What the fuck!?" he groaned as he skidded to a halt and then Raven noticed the blood on his shoulder, soaking through his jacket.

"Who the hell did you steal that book for!?" Raven spat as she already focused her attention on Red X and examining the wound.

"Fucking double crossing bitch apparently," he snarled.

"And it couldn't be your past client?" she asked blandly as she looked at her thigh.

"No fucking way. What the hell is so fucking important about that book anyway!?"

~~~*~*~*~~~

Dick stumbled out of Cadmus with an arm of the unconscious Superboy slung over his shoulder and Wally supporting the boy's other's side. Ripping out his communicator he flipped it on.

"Nightwing to Titans!" he shouted.

"Yo," was the answer.

"Get Raven to get us the hell out of here!" Wally shouted.

"Raven's not here at the moment, but I'll Boom-tube over and get you, I'm getting your coordinates," Cyborg replied calmly.

"Where's Raven?" Dick demanded.

"Dunno, she was looking for something, I'll be there in a sec," Cyborg answered. There was a furious roar behind them which had him and Wally groaning.

"He's still alive!? we dropped a building on him!" Wally complained.

"Come on!" Dick shouted as he started dragging the unconscious boy as fast as he could; Kyrptonians weighed a fucking ton when they were unconscious.

"What no asterous or whelmed jokes now?" Wally tried.

"So not the time!" he shouted, the giant thing which had once been a scientist roared as it leapt after them. Dick dropped Superboy then as he dove under the beast, and knocked it off balance. The thing grabbed him by the waist and hurled him into Superboy and KF which had them smashing into the rubble. The loud boom then a blaster as blinding light formed into a tunnel had Dick looking up at Cyborg.

"Thank God! We're saved!" Wally shouted and grabbed Superboy as he dove back into the Boom-tube, Dick limped after him quickly with Cyborg following.

The beast stayed down.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Raven's eyes narrowed on Red X before she slid off the bike and folded her arms.

"That book was mine! And you stole it, I'm not tell you what about it is so important!" she spat. She felt his emotions rolling off him as he sat there.

"Where are we?" he decided. Raven looked up and then around her, and then she looked back at X.

"New York," she answered and poked her head out the ally to see the familiar sign. "Brooklyn to be exact."

"Alright," he sighed.

"Who'd you steal that book for and where are they?"

"Seriously?" he demanded as he took his pack from her.

"Yes! It's vital that I get that book back!" she grounded through clenched teeth. Her mind was in that book, and she was genuinely terrified of someone; whoever had hired X to steal the book, poking around and finding her mind.

"Ah, hell," he groaned.

"I'll help you, I'll heal you, if you tell me who has the book," she bargained then as she saw him tugging his jacket off and examining his wound.

"Don't bother," he countered.

"Please! It's vital that I get that book back!" she huffed, then slapped his hand away from his wound as she examined it. Clean, a through and through, he wasn't going to die, but it had to hurt. Looking through his pocket of what was clearly medical supplies she found sutures, a needle, alcohol, and a set of gauze, plus tape. His pain was distracting her, and if he could ignore it, she couldn't; which was why she threaded the needle and got to work.

"Why are you helping me?" he spat out as he tried to jerk away, she wrapped her energy around him to keep him still.

"Your pain is distracting, I need to think," she answered as she worked quickly, she was shocked that though he was sitting she was still hovering off the ground to see the wound well. His eyes were bright and familiar behind the helmet. She felt like she should know him, not just as Red X, but as something more.

Suddenly it clicked in her memory where she'd seen his face, and it had her smirking as she found the upper hand then. Since she had tracked him down she'd been trying to face his face, even if it had mostly been a blur, and the young man with her was clearly taller, but he was the same man. Both from memories and photos she'd seen. The plan started formulating in her mind, and she was relieved that he was silent as she worked.

"Help me and I will not tell them you're alive, Jason Todd," she said slowly as she knotted the suture.

~~~*~*~*~~~

They had Superboy in the med-bay, Cyborg was looking him over. Dick was getting stitches from Kori at the moment and Wally was healing his broken leg.

"Well, according to the DNA, he's partially Superman's son," Cyborg spoke then.

"Partially?" Dick asked, wincing as Kori tugged lightly on the thread.

"Yeah, it'll take longer to figure it out, but he's part Kryptonian," Cyborg answered.

"OW! Kori!" he hissed.

"Stop moving!" she snapped.

"Dick never was any good at taking his stitches," Babs announced as she rolled into the lab. "I can do it."

"I have it covered," Kori answered. He looked at Cyborg for help only to find his friend drawing Superboy's blood, and Wally found the ceiling very interesting all of a sudden.

"Where's Raven?" he asked then.

"On the roof last I checked," Barbara answered.

"She isn't," Damian appeared then looking agitated. "And her tracer isn't working."

"You put a tracer on friend Raven!?" Star shouted. Dick winced as it echoed in his skull.

"Yes."

"Damian, we talked about this," Dick sighed.

"I like knowing where my friends and enemies are, and you will thank me one day," Damian defended. Dick just groaned. The kid was going to start a war one day.

"I'll go check to see if I can find her," Babs sighed before she rolled out.

"Who's he?" Damian demanded as he walked over to Superboy.

"Uh…" Wally started. "Star do you have a communicator I can call Jinx on?"

"I will fetch it after Nightwing's stiches are complete."

"Superboy," Cyborg filled in. Damian poked the young man then, and before anyone could move or blink there was a blur of white as Cyborg threw Damian away and Superboy punched him through the wall.

"Whoa! Wait!" Star shouted as she lunged for the boy, who looked scared now.

"Easy!" Wally shouted.

"We're your friends!" Star said softly. The boy looked confused.

"We pulled you out of Cadmus, I'm Nightwing, that's Kid Flash, that's Starfire, and that's Robin, and the one you punched through the wall is Cyborg, we're not here to hurt you," Nightwing stated as he stood, wincing a bit at the pain. Now would be a good moment to have an empath, the Superboy glared at him and lunged for Damian, Star crashed into him.

~~~*~*~*~~~

Jason stiffened hearing his names off the lips of his 'elder brother's' friend. Then he slowly slid a sideways glance at her.

"Same face, the eyes, and though you're definitely way taller, more filled out, wiry muscles too, than the memories and Robin footage, you move the same. I'm surprised Dick hasn't noticed it yet," Raven smirked as she then taped pads over his wound before she leapt back and sat in thin air.

"Been a really long time since anyone called me Jason," he smirked as he pulled off his helmet. His hair flopped a bit in his eyes as he looked at Raven then.

"I bet, and I'm betting you don't want Batman to know you're alive," Raven said.

His lips curled up a bit, perhaps she wasn't all that much of a goodie-goodie if she was blackmailing him to help her. It was kind of amusing.

"And what makes you think Bats would believe you about my supposed life?"

"Because he has trusted me with all his Robins," Raven murmured. He frowned.

"You're sure about that?"

"That and I can just bring him with me the next time I have to find you, you can't hide from me."

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burndownthehousetonight · 7 years

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((Me and @last-of-my-bloodline are almost to the conclusion of the search, are y’all ready for some vital information? >:^{3c))

Seven months. Light's pregnancy was nearing it's final months, and in spite of the problems it presented for the young king, it had some very bright points. Such as his baby shower, which unfortunately, was coming to a close. Despite being a small, mostly formal get-together, some of Manic's old friends and family had come from far. Sonia, her husband, and two fellow thieves, Rouge and Nack, had all made the trip, and usually with some kind of a gift. Most of them were baby supplies, toys, even a few craving foods for Light. But as everyone was trailing out and saying their goodbyes to the couple, Rouge came forward with one last present.

"I hope it's a little girl I can spoil." She said, handing over a book of fairy tales. From the slight discoloration and art style, it was clear it was almost a century old, but it was kept in virtually perfect condition. "It was a hard find, I hope you appreciate it."

"Ah, man, that's- Wow, that looks like it's worth a fortune." Manic said, barely even touching the pages as he looked over the art and hand calligraphy. He was sure he'd seen some of this art before reprinted, but these were clearly the original artworks. Ink and watercolor with elegant, whimsical style. "Is this the original art? This has gotta be priceless, how'd you-"

Manic realized exactly how she got it as she gave him a coy grin. "You're shameless, dude." He gave her a firm slap on the shoulder and laughed as he let Light look through the art. "Really, that's an awesome find! Thanks, Rouge."

She gave a coy smile and left, leaving Manic and the king on their own.

Light was sitting in a comfortable chair while he accepted the gifts from his n’ Manic’s friends. “Its still a mystery, but I’m sure you’d still want to spoil ‘em even if its a boy” he had said chuckling softly as he then looked through the pages curious of what they had. He had started to find it more difficult to wander far on his own in the last month n’ though he was thankful for the fact it didn’t start till recently, he still found it bothersome.

He looked up to Manic n’ smiled a bit. “I’m glad we got to see them today, all this stress had left me in a slightly sour mood before they were here.” He replied to Manic n’ placed a hand over his stomach. “He’s gotten plenty active recently.” "I've noticed," Manic said, gently papping his hand over Light's stomach. "You always make a cute squeak when they move." The small, intimate gathering was finally over, leaving Manic and Light along in one of the castle sitting rooms only changed slightly by minimal paper decorations. "Hey, I guess those guard guys didn't wanna interrupt the meeting, but I've got some good news." He handed over a small, formal piece of paper in professional handwriting. "All that paperwork nonsense finally went through. We're cleared to warp to Downunda." Hopefully, the last place they would need to search to find Scourge. "They said they wanted to meet with you on your own time, we could head there whenever you're ready." But the midday sun was hanging high in the sky, meaning it must have been sometime before midnight in the city they were aiming to visit. "Do you think you'll be able to visit like this? We'd have to leave in the evening to get there when it's still light. You sure it's not gonna hurt the kid?" He gave a sigh of relief as he had never hated paperwork so much as what he had to do in order for them to warp there. “Yeah, I’ve talked with my brother about it, n’ the rings have been used before to get around, even with those expecting, he just told me to be mindful of my energy as it has been limited.“ He said to Manic, hoping to ease his worry "Alright, that's great." Manic said, sitting down on the couch next to Light's chair. "The warp ring's in the royal vault, we can warp down to Priscilla any time the next two weeks. The location's locked in and everything." Manic gingerly put the book down on the coffee table, not wanting to damage something that valuable. "Do you wanna rest and get those security discussions done soon? We could always get to searching real soon, I could get Shadow to come with and we could tell you everything we learn over the phone. Maybe we could even get it all done before my show at Red Onyx on Friday?" He chuckled lightly as he looked over to him. “Some rest sounds good at the moment, n’ then we can set out when it is time tomorrow?” He said to him, leaning against him n’ looked to the book once more. “It is a good find isn’t it?” He asked him. Manic stood up just long enough to help Light to his feet, and sit him down gently so they could lean against each other more easily. "Hell, that's an awesome find. Our baby's gonna have really highbrow taste in fairy tales, ain't they? And hell, you've got other kids who'll probably love hearing them, too." Manic smiled and let Light lean on him, though his smile was starting to turn more somber. "I'm been thinking, dude..." Manic started. "Like, you had kids really young, right? That can do some messed up things to you. I'm not trying to worry you, but... do you think you'll be able to give birth normally?" The worries had been only overheard from Sonia at the party, but they stuck in Manic's mind, even if his version didn't carry the same eloquence Sonia's telling did. “I had them just under two years ago…but I’m not sure if any real damage was done or not,” he said to him. “But we are healthy n’ I know there maybe possible bumps in the road ahead, but I am not gonna let that stop me.” He then sighed softly “If it comes down to it n’ I need a medic to keep the child n’ myself alright then I’ll take that risk.” "You're a king, dude." Manic said, leaning over and smiling to offset some of the heavy mood. "You can get the best medics, you'll be fine! And if it comes down to it and you need a medic..." He gave a slightly goofy kiss on his nose. "I'll be right there with you." The baby shower might have been over, but the celebration wasn't quite over. The two sat with one another for quite a while, kissing and joking and wondering just what they were going to do when the baby was finally born. Whatever it was, they were going to do it together. King and prince, raising a new member of the royal family. Royals did need their rest at some point. And after the last details of the warping clearance would get described to Light in waves of detail, Manic would end up walking Light back to their room, the two sleeping together against their warm bodies and the comfortable early August air. It was winter in their destination, and they made sure to savor the warmth while they could... as though they didn't savor every quiet night spent together. He was glad to have him around to sleep with, as he had been worrying about things in the last month. Thankfully he was able to sleep the night through without waking up till early light. 'Let us pray things remain well n’ that we don’t run into a speed bump,’ he thought as he lay there half awake. Manic normally wasn't the type to get up early, especially when he was comfortable cuddled against someone, and Light found them quietly laying together for a short while. But a sudden hit to Manic chest and a yelp from Light shocked him enough to pull him through his sleep, and process what had just woken him up. "Morning," Manic said simply, smiling and looking at Light's stomach. "Did this little dude kick me awake again?" The sun was barely beginning to rise. It wasn't light enough that they'd show up in Priscilla after dusk by any means, and there had certainly been security meetings late into the night. "You think you'll be ready to warp down today? Shadow said he'd come along when I'm snooping. ...Or just wanna lay around and cuddle?" Light gave a soft chuckle after being surprised once more by the active pup. "You’d think that I’d be used to this by now n yet I’m not,” he said as he lightly kissed Manic on the cheek. “It depends really on what should be done?”

Eventually, he did get up to clean himself n get ready for the day, which took longer then he used to with the pup. Manic didn't take half as long to get ready, leaving Light to get dressed as we went outside only to get another info dump from Altitude, who seemed to have been waiting for her King. She perked up the moment he stepped out. "Good morning, your highness," she spoke. "We've been informed that the paperwork to finish-" "We already know about the warp ring," Manic said. "Uh, you know anything about what we're going to actually have to do while we're there?" Altitude would have said something, but Light would always reiterate that he was fine with Manic being present for more secretive information. "The Prime Minister had been called for a meeting about security measure regarding Chaos gemstones, after an attempted theft in the capital city. Representatives will also be present from Spagonia and... ..." Altitude didn't spare any details until she noticed that Manic seemed to be just the tiniest bit confused with all the information. "At it's core, this is a conference lead by G.U.N. regarding security measures. Prime Minister Waratah insists we take lodging in a hotel in the capital city. All the details have been handled for you, your brother, Manic, myself, and several other security specialists to visit. Will any others be present?" Listening to the details, he shook his head to the question on if there will be others than the four of them. “No just the four of us will do. I’m sure there will be stressful details of what has been going on since the thefts began to happen,“ he replied in return. He wondered just how bad though things have been, but chose to wait n’ see if he was requested to be at this meeting or not, he may learn more there. "More than likely," Altitude admitted as she started to walk alongside the two. "Although if you ask me, this doesn't seem a string so much as a coincidence. Thieves are always after them, there's bound to be successes here and there, no matter how good security is." "Now!" Altitude clapped her hands together, and spun around on her heel. "It's seven in the morning. The meeting is at 10 pm their time, so we'll need to warp down within the next two hours to give you time to prepare. Will an hour be enough time to prepare?" And the two split off their own ways through the castle. Light to gather papers, clothes, and more personal possessions... and Manic to gather strange devices and tools usually used for his thievery. By the time the clock struck eight, the two had reunited with several others at the entrance to the royal vault. Guards stood at attention to protect, among many other things, the warp ring humming on a table in the center of the room. Once his things were packed for the trip, he had come down with the rest n’ looked over to his brother n’ Manic. “You think a bit early wouldn’t hurt them, will it?” He had asked, unsure n’ still a little nervous of what lay ahead of them when they get there. "Don't worry." Manic cupped Light's head in his hand. "You're going to be juuuust fine." He gave him a gently kiss on his nose. The head-cupping gesture was strangely cuddly for something Manic would do in public. And that's because it wasn't meant as cuddly. He slipped a tiny earpiece into Light's ear. Nothing to transmit messages, only to accept them. "And we'll tell you about all the trouble we get into," he promised. "Come on, no point in waiting." Two guards stepped forward in a clearly rehearsed manner to handle the ring. Altitude's glare was stern and protective, making sure everything went right. Both guards seemed to press patterns, almost morse code style, into a button on either side of the ring. The void started as tiny, but started to swirl and rip until it had become a large, amorphous royal purple warp, sparkling and shimmering with no indication what was on the other side. Altitude stepped forward first, leading the other guest through. There weren't fancy effects or a bizarre transportation. They simply stepped through the warp... and were there. "There" appearing to be a hall in a governmental building. Pedestrians, employees and guards all stared as the strangers walked through the warp, which seemed to disappear into nothingness as soon as all were through. The first real sign of life they would see would be a flamboyantly dressed man in red exiting through an office door of some kind. "Your majesty," the prime minister greeted. "Welcome to Downunda." Taking note of the new place entirely, he could tell this was far different from what he was used to seeing. He then looked to the stranger n’ slightly bowed his head a bit in respect. “Thank you Prime minister, I do apologize for the things that had come up so suddenly,“ Light said shifting his wings a bit for comfort, having to wear his royal attire he was never really comfortable in anyways. Shadow seemed quick to show a sign of respect. Manic had to watch the others do this before taking the hint himself. "That's perfectly alright!" The prime minister said with more pep and vigor than any of them had expected. His accent was thick and yet strangely elegant. "This isn't any fault of yours! Here, we'll have some of our men bring your things to your hotel. Now, there are going to be a few formalities first..." The 'few' formalities ended up being a series of paperwork for some of Light's advisers to handle, and a formal introduction to some of the other foreign representatives present. But Manic was already getting sick of all the political nonsense, and wanted to get to his own searching. "Other matters?" Minister Waratah seemed a bit disappointed at the news. "Yeah, Prince Shadow and I came along to speak with some charities who've helped us with reconstruction," Manic said. Not entirely a lie, but not their main motivation, either. "Plus, uh... I'm kind of not gonna be allowed into the meeting?" That was absolutely not a lie. "Oh, what a shame!" He closed his eyes, but didn't take off his pep. "Well, you're free to return whenever you wish! Good day, you two!" Shadow looked over to Light. “Take it easy for now brother, hopefully things turn out to be alright n’ we find some good news” he said n’ Light nodded slightly to him. “Alright, but do try n’ stay out of trouble yourselves, I don’t need to have to explain any reasons for mischief,” he chuckled softly as he looked over to Manic. "We might," Manic promised. The two walked out of the building, Manic's casual and bright appearance a stark contrast against the harshly dressed regal companion. Priscilla was the perfect city to end up in. They were on the other side of the city, but it worked out fine for them both. Their destination was maybe twenty minutes away by car. Sure, they stood out, but they were able to get across the city easily and quickly. Pedy Memorial Rehabilitation Hospital. The words were engraved in the sign in front of a large clinic on the outskirts of the city. The square structure seemed to contain a large inner courtyard. A more than pleasant location. Of course, the royal and his envoy were anything but normal looking in this area, so subterfuge was out of the question. "Alright, it's all ready." Manic said simply, handing over his ID. "Just like we practiced." Shadow sighed slightly as he took the ID. “Are you sure we can pull this off?” He asked him he may have been a skilled fighter, but he still wasn’t fully sure of things to come. He looked ahead to where Manic had said they intended to check out. "Totally," Manic said confidently. "You look intimidating, and you are a government dude. You can just flash your ID if they want proof, anyways, we'll be good. You are a prince, right?" He nudged Shadow slightly. Even if he wasn't the best at showing friendship, he was still fun to tease just a tiny bit. The short walk to the door was enough time for Manic to prepare. He pulled out his hairpins, and pushed the fallen hair back into a long yet formal style. His vest was reversed and closed, leaving him with a plain black outfit. And bits of purple eyeliner were placed under his eyes to make him look tired through his stern expression. For once, he kept his mouth shut to keep up appearances. The viper behind the counter looked aesthetically frightening, but her actions seemed delicate and comforting, as expected from a nurse at a rehabilitation facility. "Good day, gentlemen," she said, not sure how to feel about the two stern men before her. "Can I help you?" Walking up to the counter he nodded a bit. “Yes we are here to check on some details revolving around one of your patients.” He asked, hoping that things go smoothly n’ that they don’t draw too much trouble to themselves. “Is it possible to see any files on him perhaps?” "Sorry, but patient data is confidential." The woman informed them. "Do you have a warrant?" Manic held out his altered ID card. His photo had been covered with one of Scourge. Also with it was Shadow's, an ID card he hadn't handed to Manic. "We're investigaintg a fugitive disappearance." Manic added a level of grit to his voice and tone pitched lower. "Prince Shadow wants results immediately." The woman glanced over the cards, and on seeing the title 'prince' almost went completely white. "I'm sorry, your majesty." She said meekly. "I could find some more information on- On the suspect. For you." She shakily typed in Manic's name, pulling up his patient data. "Your suspect was here, but it appears he left three months ago without a word." A few more buttons were tapped in quick succession. "He left without paying, or taking personal possessions. Would these be useful?" “They may be, any possible clues as to why he would leave abruptly?” He had asked her, since it could be helpful if he knew what may have been going on at the time n’ to make him leave his belongings as well. ‘That is strange to just leave without warning, why I wonder?’ He thought as he waited with Manic himself. "There was a police investigation, but we weren't given any answers," the woman admitted. She ushered for the two to follow her through a door behind her counter, and through an employee hallway. Manic leaned over to speak quietly. "He always skips out on payments," Manic whispered. "But I don't know why he'd leave his things here..." The viper didn't seem to hear. She opened the door to a medium-sized storage room, filled with a number of large moving boxes under various names and labels. She scanned the name on Manic's ID with the names on the boxes, rushing to the end of the alphabetized names and finding 'Yezek' easily. "You can take anything you think may be important evidence, but please leave Manic's belongings in case he returns for them." She said simply. With a smile and a nod, the woman was gone back to the front desk. "Hey, Shadow." Manic was hesitant to open the box, instead running his finger over the seam and trying to get himself to open the flaps of the box. "You've been doing along with all this, but what are you really thinking? I'm your brother's boyfriend... why are you helping me?" He gave a soft chuckle. “Being my baby brother’s boyfriend n’ soon to be father, I feel your family even with your odd quirks,” he said calmly. “Light had been talking about possibly helping Scourge out as best he can so that old pains can be mended n’ that the future would be brighter.” Shadow then opened the box, mindful of what all was in it, looking to the various things of clothing n’ papers seeing if any clues were somewhere in this box. “Light worries he can’t do enough, but I’m sure that is not true.” He sighed slightly as he wondered how his brother was doing at the moment “Anything seem odd in this Manic?” Manic was relieved at the response. He wasn't begrudgingly doing this, at least, even if there was an off-handed insult thrown in there. At least he legitimately wanted to help. All that relief was going to go away once they started searching the box. Manic kept fumbling with Scourge's old leather jackets, his old shits, his bass guitar and records, everything. Whatever memories they brought back were enough to make him nervous. It was only when they reached the bottom of the box that they would start getting somewhere of note. There were piles of takeout menus, old brochures, receipts for small purchases, and at the heart of the pile, old photos. Photos of Scourge with Manic as a couple, Scourge with his old crew, even one of Scourge with his Fiona and a photo of their son as a baby. Manic leafed through the photos with a melancholy glare. He was so close, he just needed one hint, one... Anything! That would come in the way of the back of one photo, with a wire ring piercing the corner. There was a message scrawled on the back in sloppy handwriting. "Manic, Finny's looking for me," it began. "Talking to you'd put you in danger, he wants me dead. If you're reading this, he already knows what you're doing. Find me here June 14. I love you so fucking much." Manic undid the wire ring and looked at the receipt it was attached to. A gift shop receipt for a historical museum in the heart of Priscilla. "That was a month ago..." Manic mumbled, clearly overcome with emotion. “He may have hoped you would find this sooner…” He said in return before looking to the details. “There is still a chance we can find out from there what could have gone on, possibly another clue.” Shadow wanted to try keeping his spirit up on this. They may have been delayed this time round, but hopefully this hasn’t been a dead end. Manic seemed to be holding back trembling the best he could as she read over the note again and again, scribbled out in Scourge's distinct scrawl. When he turned to look up at Shadow, his voice still retained the same indecipherable mash of emotions, but his face exuded an outpouring a joy. "We've found him." Manic reached into his pocket, searching for a tool... the best he had being an eyeliner pencil. He drew out a simple heart shape, his own message to Scourge as he placed the photo on top of Scourge's old possessions. He started to stand up, wary but completely hopeful. "We've gotta get there soon, dude, we've got a lead! We've got something new!" He almost tugged Scourge out into the hall, remembering his persona and putting on his act before leaving the building. He readjusted his appearance when they were out of sight of the building. "Hey, dude." Manic said with a shake in his voice as they walked towards the bus stop. "I still don't get why you're helping me, but... thanks." "No problem, if you’ve been to that last know area before lead the way,” he replied as he gestured to him as they returned to the front. Shadow did thank the woman for letting them have a check of his stuff. “We found some clues to whom we are inspecting on, thank you for letting us have a quick look.” "Absolutely, your highness." She replied, even bowing her head slightly. "I hope you find Manic soon." It was back to the downtown area of the city. Museum Priscilla wasn't far from where the two had arrived in the city. Banners outside advertised the various wings of the museum- natural history, cultural history, distant cultures, all variety of exhibits and showrooms weaving through one massive structure. What wasn't advertised was the wing roped off with police tape or the reporters present. Manic way eyeing that part of the building while paying for ticket. "We're sorry about the rigamaroll," the duck at the admissions desk said in a thick local accent. "But the PM showed outta nowhere and now no one's getting into that wing." “Hopefully they will let royalty through, or at least escort us to explain the reason for the blocking,” he said to Manic as he looked to the spot n’ made his way over to the roped off section of area. He was sure they wouldn’t be too polite at first if at all, but he had to try. “Excuse me sir, is there any reason for this to be blocked off?” Something seemed odd. The guard in front that wasn't wearing museum uniforms looked oddly familiar. "Prince Shadow," she greeted. The officer in museum dressed seemed surprised at the title. "Minister Waratah has already started talks about improved security measures, and they're looking over the exhibit now." Sure enough, they could see Light far down the hall, in the entrance to some kind of special exhibit room. Manic glanced at shadow. This couldn't have been a coincidence, right? "Uh, sorry, we had to step out. Are we allowed to like, hop in last second?" "Certainly." The woman stepped aside with the other guard playing along. The hall leading to the natural history wing stood wide open before them, harrowing in the height, length, and lack of life between them and whatever room the foreign diplomats were in. Nodding to the officer, they made their way over to listen into the issues. They overheard Light speak up. “Has there been any clues as to whom stole the emerald or what motives for it?” He had asked.

Shadow looked to Manic. “Any ideas as to why Scourge wanted you to visit him here?” He had asked, knowing just at the moment who knew, but this finni guy sounds concerning. Manic had a very good idea as to why, exactly. But he didn't want to say, nor did he need to. They silently stood near Light as they listened to a G.U.N. representative speak. "Not yet. Though the thief themselves aren't a major threat. This 'emerald' was only a topaz. It doesn't carry enough chaos energy for either thief to use it on it's own. But there have been too many thefts recently, and some of them have targeted the real chaos emeralds." "And they carry 1C of energy exactly... enough to summon chaos control." Manic said out of nowhere looking down uncomfortably. The bear speaking looked surprised. "You've studied chaos gemstones?" "I know enough." Manic said softly, speaking through a great deal of concern. "How many thefts have happened?" "This is confidential information," he said. "In the last three months, a minimum of 21 chaos gemstones have been stolen or attempted to be stolen. Your dire opal and the theft here on the fourteenth were some of the only widely publicized cases." Light looked to the two, surprised slightly that they turned up, but looked back to the other person. “But still no clue as to whom was targeting them?” He had asked once more. It was concerning that these thefts were so many already to Shadow, but he kept silent to listen. "It's a case by case basis, but we're looking at the same rough MO for both methods," the bear continued. "Security officers, police, they always end up anywhere from injured to restrained. Other displays get destroyed as well, always happen at night. A few needed hospitalization. Sometimes two thieves come, sometimes one. Witnesses say they always come dressed and covered in white. No proof as to who they were." The date on the note Scourge left was enough proof for Manic. At least, enough proof to say who one of the thieves likely was. But he kept mum... and hoped Shadow would, too, as a representative from Chun-Nan spoke up. "Regarding the G.U.N. RHR46 defense system, we've heard mention of... ..." Manic stood close to Light and held his hand, but leaned over to whisper to Shadow. "This can't be a coincidence, right?" “That they are trying to snare the culprit or culprits responsible n’ that whom we are looking for could be one? I’m sure it can’t be…who knows,” he whispered back to him. “I am a bit concerned what this defense system is though.”

Light listened in on what was being said to maybe throw in his own opinion to the subject if he felt if may or may not be of use to his home. "...expressed concerns of contradictory codes injected into the... ...light refracted through the crystals activating an alarm..." It seemed that they were getting more in depth with the code than the royal brothers couldunderstand. Manic whispered to light again as they spoke, careful not to be heard. "He left a note that said if we were looking for him, we'd wanna look here... on the day of the theft." Manic mimicked the private body language of the intelligence advisors speaking to their respective foreign representatives. "It's... It's gotta be him." "...do we think that these other thefts they're committing are part of a larger plan?" The Spagonia representative chimed in with, when she finally had a chance to segue out of the technical babble. “If that is the case, see if he may have left any clues around.” Light had said looking back to Manic. “There has to be something if he wanted you to meet here.” He then spoke up himself. “The theft in my region didn’t seem to be related…but things seem complicated. I’m not sure myself.” Shadow looked to Manic. “Should we go look?” He whispered, unsure if they would find something, but there had to be a reason for the theft n’ wanting to meet Manic in the same area. "We ain't getting any closer to the thefts," Manic said. They were at the crime scene after all. But the real information came in with how the bear who seemed to be in charge said in response to Light. "You said the thief was captured," he started. "They were acting alone and didn't steal anything else. We've got men looking at all the thefts. We're here to talk securing the chaos gemstones before things get out of hand." "Other items?" Manic asked. "Irrelevant to the matters at hand," the bear responded. Manic nodded at Shadow, his cue to follow him back out. "Alright, we ain't the CSI or whatever over here." Manic said. "If he left a clue, it's in whatever else he stole. And I think we know where to start looking," he said as he looked to the entrance to the Priscillan Culture exhibit. Even from a far distance, they could see the standee with the neon yellow sign reading, "WANDERLUST EXHIBIT INCOMPLETE - OUR SINCERE APOLOGIES." He speedwalked ahead, so close to an answer her could almost taste it...! And he stopped all of a sudden, holding his hand over his mouth and breathing heavily. He hadn't realized how worked up he was getting. "Sorry, mate," Manic said with a barely-audible crack to his voice. "We're just so close, it's kinda terrifying." Shadow had followed him n’ could see he was getting all riled up about all of this. “I can understand that, if it were my lover I’d maybe feel the same way,” he replied as he placed a hand on his shoulder. “So let's go check this out n’ see if its what we are looking for.” Manic smiled and nodded, thankful for the kind words. Him and Shadow headed towards the culture wing of the museum. By the looks of the entry call, it was mostly the belongings of local artists, performings, entertainers, and all variety of miscellaneous historical objects. But there was one incomplete exhibit they knew had to hold some clue. "We're looking for any kind of a hint," Manic said. "Anything about a location, or the other thief, or where he could target next," Manic reiterated. "Scourge has to have left something behind, or we won't know where to look or who to... talk to... ..." The 'wanderlust' exhibit appeared to be the affects and works of an illustrator who once lived in the city. The art style of his work was distressingly familiar, and the incomplete display at one wall of the room was enough to tell them why. Shown in the small images surrounding where it once would have sat were photos of a book he'd illustrated for. In fact, a book of fairy tales. The book of fairy tales that Rouge had given the king just the previous day.

#Last-Of-My-Bloodline #Show's Over #There's A Melody Playing

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gaperezmakes · 6 years

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Original Fic Fest Day 2 & 3 – Romantic & Non-Romantic Relationships (Black Empire | Iblan Light)

Oof, that’s a title. Anyway, it’s day 3 one of them of @originalficfest and I missed yesterday because I was enjoying a lovely day on the beach with my girlfriend and dogs. The dogs are not fans of waves.

Anyway, I’m gonna condense my Day 2 and 3 posts into one (two, really, but this one is the first one) to try and keep things less cluttered on your end! Hooray!

Anyway, Day 2 is Romantic Relationships day, where you get my Black Empire entry which talks about Synoth and Orvyn. A little background on their relationship:

At this point in my writing, Synoth and Orvyn are not yet in a relationship (mostly because I haven’t figured out how to get them there). They find themselves coming together because they are outsiders. They’re not ostracized--both command the respect and admiration of their subordinates, peers, and superior--but there’s just something that separates them from everyone else (my clichéd vagueness is intentional, as this is revealed in the next book in the Black Empire series).

Eventually, I’ll get to the point where they’re like “Dude, I think I’m like, into you, man. Like, romantically?” “Aw, dude, really? I thought it was just me, bro.” (It will be more eloquent, of course.) And then they have to play the we-are-but-we’re-not-gonna-tell-anybody game (you know the one). And then they’re found out and Dante’s like “Guys, whatever. I’m 300 years old, you don’t think I’ve seen two dudes fall in love before? What do you think this is, some [insert reference here]?” And then he says some Deadpool-esque 4th wall breaking witty thing BECAUSE DANTE IS A FUNNY AND ORIGINAL CHARACTER DO NOT STEAL (oh gosh, my bad, that was way more aggressive than I intended).

(Also all of that will be better worded, but I need to get there first.)

Anyway, you’re not here for me talking. You’re here for hot Synoth/Orvyn action! Well, I can’t deliver that, but I can give you this:

Orvyn sat down at his desk, rubbing his eyes. What even was the point anymore? What even were they fighting for anymore? The incident report sat opened, the pictures inside scattered around. It was a brutal scene. A group of paladins had been caught attacking a couple of magi. In their statement, the paladins all said the magi started the altercation, but the magi claimed the attack was unprovoked. The Deathwatch Guardians said they would look into the incident, but the Warriors of Light also wanted to conduct their own investigation. He had just left a joint meeting between him, Ellis, General Trace, and the King. Nobody was happy with this situation.

He heard a knock at his door. “It’s open.”

Synoth peeked his head inside, “You busy?” Orvyn shook his head, still covering his face. Synoth walked up to the desk and noticed the photos. “So you saw that too, huh?” he sighed.

“Yeah,” Orvyn rubbed his scalp. “This is not what I wanted to deal with today.”

“I know,” Synoth walked behind the chair and put his hands on the paladin’s shoulders. “This isn’t even the first time this week.”

“I can’t feel anything through this jacket, and you know that.” He didn’t even try to take it off, shrugging Synoth’s hands away instead. The mage moved to stand by him instead. They looked at the pictures together. “Where did we go wrong?”

Synoth just shook his head, “I have no idea. Everything all seemed so much easier before--well, you know.”

“Yeah,” he sighed, “I just wish the General would trust us to handle this. I feel like we’re only seeing an increase in incidents like these because of their constant interference.”

“I don’t know if it’s the General as much as it is the King,” Synoth picked up one of the pictures of the magi. He winced, “Those are some nasty bruises.”

“I just don’t know what we’re going to do.”

“You’ll do what you do best, love.” Orvyn looked to Synoth, who was smirking, “You show them that you’re the boss for a reason.”

“Sure, the boss,” he rolled his eyes, “At one time, maybe. Now I’m just a glorified doorman.”

“You are not.” Synoth gave Orvyn a serious look, pointing at the rank on his shoulder, “You are Grand Paladin Sigurd Orvyn. I don’t give a damn which high-and-mighty full-of-themselves over-glorified paladin wants to come on down here and say he’s better than you. You were not given these stars and bars--you earned them.”

“They are not over-glorified paladins.”

“I’m gonna be honest: I don’t see much of a difference. My point is that you can’t let them think you’re just as small and insignificant as they are. You’ve stood up for yourself against everyone else on your way to the top. Sure, it turns out another mountain peak was hiding just behind this one, but that’s no reason to think that what you’ve done isn’t amazing.” Orvyn still didn’t look convinced. “I’ll be right back.” Synoth took a step back and with a snap, he was gone.

Orvyn was about to look back at the incident report when Synoth suddenly reappeared and slammed a huge sheet of paper onto his desk. The paladin was startled, but then looked at it. His eyes darted around the intricate details of the divine spell circle. His fingertips ran across its edges. Synoth walked around and pulled up one of his sleeves. The white lines of his (supposedly) temporary tattoos were a stark contrast against his black skin.

“When we went into the past, just before Retribution closed the Gates, do you think any of those people would have believed you if you said that you--an Ancenian--are the Grand Paladin of an Order stationed here in Capital City? No, and why? Because”

“Ancenians can’t be paladins.” They said in unison.

“That’s right. And you know who else would have agreed with them? Every. Single. Paladin. In. This. Army. And you’ve proved them all wrong at every step of the way.” Synoth looked Orvyn dead in the eyes, “You know who didn’t say you couldn’t do this? Iblis of Creation. You weren’t told: ‘Here, give this to somebody else.’ You were told: ‘Do this because I know you can, and you know you can’.” The mage took him by the hands, “Time and time again you forget to believe in yourself. But that’s okay, because even when you can’t, I will.” Synoth held Orvyn’s face for a brief moment, then gave the paladin a light slap on the cheeks.

“Now, get out there, show the Warriors your spine, and show your paladins that you are still the same old boss that they know and--tolerate, really. You’ve come out on top before, you just gotta do it again.”

Yeah, I’m not great with huge, passionate, character-to-character moments. These quiet, intimate moments are more my speed. But that’s okay. If you’re still interested, feel free to keep reading below!

Anyway, now we move into the next day’s prompt: Non-romantic Relationships. For this prompt, I want to focus more on the friendships that get less attention in the books (enemies and rivalries get lots of attention because they’re great for conflict). So for our Iblan Light entry for Day 3, we’ll look at the dynamic between Swift and Cerina. I don’t think there’s ever a moment where these two just hang out with one another. So let’s make that moment!

“HOI!” Cerina jumped up in her seat, yelping as Swift suddenly popped in behind her. She whipped around and tried to punch him, but Swift, ever aware, caught it. He just grinned stupidly at her.

“What--why--how--?” She brought her fist back, taking a second to realize just exactly who was there with her. Cerina looked at her fist, opened it, and opted to slap Swift instead.

“Ow,” Swift rubbed his cheek, “Fair’s fair, I get one next time.”

“I wouldn’t hit you if you didn’t surprise me like that. What are you doing here?” Cerina picked up her chair, which had fallen back.

“I believe your man needs you to babysit me for an hour or two,” Swift sat down on her bed and looked around. Cerina had at least three calendars posted on her wall. Upon closer inspection, there was one for the Union, one for maritime, and one he didn’t recognize, but assumed was local for Uwaye. A small bookshelf was filled with about fifteen thick books, filling the shelf not only side-by-side but stacked on top of each other where they fit. Otherwise, her room was kept fairly neat.

“Where do you keep your clothes?” He asked, noticing there were no dressers in the room.

“In the closet and in the drawers under the bed. What do you mean ‘babysit’?”

“Babysit might be a generous term. I have found myself in a situation that I can’t get myself out of, so Iblis and Dusk have to solve my problem for me.” He frowned and shrugged, “I don’t like it, but I am a little more fragile than they are. It shouldn’t take them too long.”

“So, what do you expect me to do? I have to finish this paper.” Cerina’s desk was full of papers and books, just as thick as the ones on her bookshelf. Several crumpled sheets of paper surrounded the desk.

“On what exactly are you writing about?” Swift picked up an errant paper ball near the bed and opened it up. It was full of crossed out numbers, a scribbled-through chart, and a couple of half-erased drawings.

“Whether it is beneficial to incorporate fertilizers and use magic to boost the growth of plants or, if not, which is better.” She shook her head, “It’s a question we’ve already conclusively answered, but my professor demands we do a lot of first-hand research.” She pointed to four pots sitting on her windowsill. “We’ve been working on this all semester. It’s the biggest paper I’ve had to write all year.”

“If it’s such a waste of time, why are you doing it?”

“Because it’s a huge portion of my grade, and I have this same teacher next semester for a much harder class.”

“Ah, sucking up, I see. It’s a good thing I’m an expert in that.”

Cerina chuckled, “No, I’m taking this class to figure out how she teaches and grades. Plus, it does help that she knows who I am going into her next class.”

“Alright, well if you’re busy, then I want to stay out of your hair. So, tell you what, you take a break for ten minutes. I don’t know how long or hard you’ve been working, but a break can’t hurt. So you take a break, escort me somewhere where I can eat, and just leave me with like 20 Qiiv, or whatever the equivalent is around here.”

“I’ll do you one better since you need somebody to babysit you.”

“Rude. I already said I don’t need babysitting.”

“We will go and eat dinner because I haven’t yet and Iblis has told me multiple times that I need to stop skipping meals.” Swift suddenly stopped her as he grabbed onto her shoulders.

“You’re skipping meals? Is everything okay? Are you doing alright?”

“I’m fine,” she pushed his hands off. “I just get wrapped up in my schoolwork, or actual work, and just kinda push meals aside. I’m not starving myself on purpose.”

Swift just started shaking her instead, “No girl, no! You do not skip meals you need to eaaaat!”

“I. Got. It. We’re. Going. To. Eat.”

“Good.” Swift stopped and walked to her door, “Let’s go!”

“Well give me a second, I have to get dressed.” Cerina was wearing a plain t-shirt and a pair of black sweatpants with “SNU” printed on the left leg. “I’m not going out in this.”

“I figured, but I will wait outside.” Swift stepped out. As he looks out from the door, he sees another young woman sitting at a small round table. She was staring at him. He stared at her. He raised a hand nervously, “Hi?”

“INTRUDER. DOGGO, ATTACK!” Suddenly a log that had been laying on a chair sprang to life. It took on the rough facsimile of a dog and pounced on the ground before Swift. Swift, not one to be intimidated, immediately lit his hands on fire. The woman, surprised by the flame from what she assumed was a frost mage, quickly stood up and started casting some kind of spell. The three of them waited in a tense standoff, the air growing hotter in the room.

“Okay, I’m rea--” Cerina opened her door and bore witness to the fight about to break out. She sighed. “You stop,” she shoved Swift aside, ruining his focus and canceling his spell. “You sit,” the dog-log immediately sat down and started mimicking a pant. “And you calm down; he’s with me.” Confused, the young woman also stopped casting her spell. “My boyfriend teleported him here to keep him out of trouble. This is Swift. Swift, Lindsay. We’re going to eat dinner and when I come back, hopefully he will be gone.” She turned to Swift, “Let’s go.”

I’m gonna cut it off there because otherwise it’ll get just kinda long-winded and boring. But I do think I’d like to have more Swift & Cerina fun times. Anyway, that’s it for my first entries for Days 2 and 3. I’ll have Entry 2 (Romance - Iblan Light, Not-Romance - Black Empire) over here if you want to check it out cause you’re a cool person who likes checking things out.

#originalficfest #original fic fest #relationships #romantic relationships #non romantic relationships #day2 #day3

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