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hyuckshaze · 3 years

Text

zoom shenanigans - l.dh

✩‌ haechan ‌x‌ ‌fem!reader‌ ‌|‌ boyfriend!haechan | smut | ‌1.6k+ words ✩

SUMMARY‌ ‌⇾‌ you don’t quite know how hyuck convinced you to sit on him while in a class zoom call

WARNINGS‌ ‌⇾‌ exhibitionism, unprotected sex, dom!sub themes, asphyxiation, edging/overstimulation, spitting, slight humiliation, degradation (use of words such as whore, slut etc.), dumbification, slight dacryphylia, salirophilia, dirty talk - basically pure and absolute filth!

AUTHOR’S NOTES ⇾ i couldn’t stop thinking about this throughout the entirety of my online classes today, so i just had to write about it to get it off my chest. i am an absolute slut when it comes to dom!hyuck, so this is just self-indulgence really. enjoy! not proofread so please message if there’s any errors, or anything missing from the warning list! - lex

You don’t quite know how Hyuck convinced you to sit on him while in a class zoom call.

He’d driven you insane. You’d been sat on his cock since the start of your lesson, for which your teacher, thank God, had decided that cameras did not need to be on. The class only lasted an hour, with you sitting on his lap in his gaming chair because ‘your desk chair just isn’t comfy enough, Y/N’, according to him anyway. You thought your desk chair was perfectly comfy, but he insisted. 60 minutes doesn’t seem all that long in the grand scheme of things, but with a boyfriend as evil as Donghyuck, of course he knew just how to make that hour feel like an eternity, teasing you relentlessly throughout. His lips brushing against your ear as you tried your hardest to complete the set work, whispering unspeakable promises into your ear and sending dark shivers down your spine. Though you couldn’t see his face, you knew the exact expression that was plastered on his face as his wandering hands roamed your body, squeezing and pinching all the spots that he knew would have you squirming in his hold. By far, the most infuriating thing he would do, though, was to snake his hand around your body whenever you had to turn your microphone on, fingers rubbing your clit in circles that had you biting back loud and sensual moans, managing to suppress the noises down to sighs which, as a University student, were not all that uncommon to hear.

It’s when the time hits 11:50am, exactly 10 minutes before the end of the lesson (you know because you began checking it, what seemed like, every few seconds, sensing his growing impatience), that his self-control evaporates. With a raspy grunt, his hand wraps around your neck and he thrusts up into you, hard, fast and rough. You gasp, face contorting in pleasure at the sudden movements which have you crying out and grasping at the desk in front of you in order to stay upright. You whine as his grip on your neck tightens, pulling you back towards his chest in one, swift movement. A yelp escapes your lips, now blindly grabbing at the armrests on either side of the chair in order to stop your legs from giving out. Not that you’d go anywhere, Hyuck’s rigid grip on you made sure of that. His hot breath against the back of your neck caused goosebumps to form on your exposed skin, a shudder going through your body at the overwhelming amount of pleasure. His hand on your neck pushes your jaw backwards, the back of your head resting on his shoulder as he looks down at your flushed face, tears of pleasure collecting at the corners of your wide and innocent eyes, perfect pink lips parted so beautifully, not to mention the dream-worthy sounds escaping them. How could he have ended up with such a perfect little girl? His hand moves for only a split second from your neck, squeezing your cheeks together in order to open your mouth. He spits harshly into your now open mouth, pressing your cheeks shut again afterwards. You let out a sudden and uncontrollable moan at the sound of him doing such a filthy thing, feeling his spit hit your tongue forcefully. You know what he wants. You close your mouth and swallow, his hand creeping back down towards your neck as you show him your empty mouth.

“That’s my good girl.” He rasps, giving a tight squeeze to your neck once more.

With your eyes squeezed so tightly shut, you almost forget that you’re supposed to be listening to your Biomedical Sciences lecturer drone on about Haematology and Transfusion. Almost.

“Right, now that’s done, everyone turn your cameras on for this last task. We’re going to be going through the homework assignment that I set for you all last week, don’t think you can get away without speaking either! I’m gonna be asking you all questions about the task.” His words barely register in your mind, your head fuzzy and body shaking at the feeling of your boyfriend rearranging your insides so delectably. After a few moments, his words seem to sink in and your eyes shoot open, urgently whispering Hyuck’s name. There was no way you could turn on your camera, you’d have to lie. I dropped my laptop; my WiFi is lagging; my room is a mess. A thousand ways to excuse yourself ran through your mind, albeit at a much slower pace than usual. You could only focus so much through the feeling of Haechan fucking into you so hard and fast. Your desperate whines of his name are interrupted as he hums into your ear, not slowing his hips or showing any sign of stopping. If anything, it becomes even harder to think at his words.

“We both know that’s not what you call me when I’m fucking you, baby.” He growls into your ear, pounding into you with even more force, rendering you barely capable of thinking, let alone talking. Your walls clench tightly around his hard cock, a string of curses escaping your boyfriend’s pink lips as he grunts loudly at the feeling.

“M-my professor s-said-” You start, barely able to string a sentence together.

“I heard what your professor said, baby. Turn on your camera. Show your entire class how much of a filthy little slut you are for me. Show them how this perfect A* student cums all over my dick, huh? You’d like that wouldn’t you? Everyone seeing the perfect little teachers pet coming all over her boyfriends cock during her class? Everyone seeing how fucking dumb you get for my dick?” You bite your lip, holding back a scream. You can’t, however, stop a broken whimper from escaping you.

“Fuck! Yes, yes, yes, yes! Please, oh my God!” The hand that isn’t clutching your neck so tightly moves downwards, fingers brushing your clit so delicately.

“Please... Please what, slut?” He spits, tears now leaking down your face, chest shaking as you hold in overwhelmed sobs.

“Please Daddy!” You cry out, mascara beginning to smudge as you clench your eyes shut so tightly. You no longer care about your waiting professor, you no longer care about the entire class, it’s only Haechan. He is all you can feel and think.

“Y/N, we’re waiting on you to turn your camera on...” Your professor presses, but you don’t even hear him. It’s only when your boyfriend stops all of his movement, hand slipping away from your throat, reaching down and reclining his gaming chair into a laying position, that you realise what he wants.

“No, no, no. Please, Hyuckie!” You whine, head spinning at the loss of movement. He’s laying practically flat now, out of view of the camera. You try to move, rolling your hips atop his dick but his fingers dig into your hips hard, almost painfully, as he holds you in place, smirking up at your shaking figure with mirth.

“Go on, baby. Turn on your camera.” He warns, fingers digging even harder into your hips. You send him an exasperated look, to which he gives you the look. You know what that means. ‘Do as I fucking say, or you’ll regret it’.

Your shaky hands reach over to the laptop, clicking the camera button as you let out an uneven breath. After a few seconds, your face appears on the screen. Your eyes widen. What your boyfriend had failed to inform you, was that your face was flushed and sweaty, mascara smudging your cheeks in obvious tear streaks, a drop of his spit glittering as it sat upon your chin. You wiped your face on your sleeve as soon as you catch sight of yourself, moving forward to pretend to be sorting a non-existing wire behind your screen as you try to make yourself look more presentable. As you do so, you hear his voice whisper.

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you called me just then and don’t think you’re getting away with it. ‘Hyuckie’ doesn’t fuck you the way Daddy does.” His low tone causes you to clench around him, taking a deep breath at his teasing words. He scoffs at your silence, squeezing your ass, hard, so that you let out a small whimper. He hums in satisfaction as you plaster an obviously fake smile onto your face before leaning back, clicking on the unmute button for only a moment before abruptly turning it off again, barely having finished your sentence, as Haechan’s rock hard dick twitches inside your sensitive pussy.

“Sorry, Professor. I had tech issues.”

✩ ✩ ✩

Those last 8 minutes of class felt like an eternity, and your boyfriend made sure of that. You thought you’d done a pretty good job at hiding it, though. Not one person gave you a funny or disgusted look as you answered the Professor’s questions and kept a small, albeit forced, smile on your face. You couldn’t help but feel a twisted form of pride at your ability to pretend as though nothing was happening as you sat atop of Hyuck’s dick, enduring his endless verbal and physical teasing throughout.

It wasn’t until after the two of you were finished, long after the class had done so, that your boyfriend checked his phone

“Y/N...” You heard him call from the bathroom. You couldn’t find the energy to move, simply humming in acknowledgement at his hesitant-sounding call. He enters the bedroom in all his naked glory, carrying a small, wet cloth in order to clean you up in one hand, his phone in the other. Your eyes trace his naked body, focusing on the smooth, tanned skin. He really was a sight for sore eyes, somebody that you could never get tired of looking at. You’re disrupted from staring at his body when he holds his phone out in front of your face. You reluctantly tear your eyes from his torso, focusing in on the brightly lit screen, squinting slightly to read the text upon it.

“

MESSAGES

Jaemin

fucking your gf during her zoom class, nice one bro. though, you might wanna make sure that you actually hang up next time. the whole class was still there, apart from the prof. not that they’re complaining, i saw their faces. they’re gonna be getting off to that for the entirety of lockdown, i swear!

“

Needless to say, nobody in class called you the Teacher’s Pet anymore.

✩ ✩ ✩

#haechan #donghyuck #nct smut #nct #kpop smut #haechan smut #nct 127 #smut #leehaechan #leedonghyuck #donghyuck smut #kpop imagine #nct imagine #nct 127 imagine #nct dream #nct dream smut #nct dream imagine #nct 127 smut

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thevindicativevordan · 3 years

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Any thoughts on Manchester Black?

God I love the jackass so much.

He is without a doubt the most successful new Superman Rogue created in the 21st century so far. Part of Black's success can be attributed to Kelly giving him something many Superman Rogues do not have: motivation that isn't just killing Superman. Starting out as a Jenny Sparks expy, with the entire Elite being clear copies of the insanely popular (at the time) Authority team, Black's evolved from "anti-hero" to straight up villain. By far the most popular member of the team he endured and continued to be used even after the rest faded away.

Part of his appeal is obvious, at least to me: He has a really cool design. The purple hair, the Union Jack tatted on his stomach, the way his eyes glow when he's using his powers (in the animated movie anyway), the black leather trench coat, ninety percent of what makes a character take off is their look (see Venom for proof), and Black design wise stands out from the crowd of Superman Rogues.

His powerset is also an asset, they keep throwing new variations of villains who are strong enough to slug it out with Superman, but Black can kick the crap out of Clark in ways other than brute force thanks to his telekinesis as his debut story showed. Rarely outside of Doomsday do we see Clark get as fucked up as we did in that story.

His background also gives him a lot of intrigue. Being a British working class lad is another standout feature that distinguishes him from the rest of Superman's mainly American and alien Rogues,. He worked (unwillingly it seems) for the British black ops division and a lot of what he's done is shrouded in mystery that gives him an aura of "seen some shit mate" that makes him feel worldly. Claiming that he started out as a big fan of Superman and gradually was beaten down and turned into the spiteful creature he is by the cruelty of the world adds some poignancy and tragedy as well.

The ex-true believer in traditional heroism who turns into a deadly antagonist is a path that's made Jason Todd extremely popular after all. Some people have accused Black of just being a strawman, after all the Authority were a lot more nuanced than people gave them credit for. They were even inspired by their own version of Superman in the High! So how can Black possibly be anything more than a caricature? Well while he may have started as an expy, I see Black as representing more than that. Now he represents the endless swarm of people on the Internet who think Superman sucks, who think he needs to be darker, edgier, more violent, more "realistic". In that regard I'd say Black is a perfectly legitimate representation of those people and how they feel about Superman.

Ultimately the biggest appeal of him for me? He's fucking hilarious.

The sheer contempt he treats Superman with is amazing. Lex envies Superman, Mongul gives him a grudging respect, the rest of the Rogues still treat Superman as "Superman", this larger than life icon, although it inspires negative emotions in them as opposed to how Superman's fellow heroes and the population feel. But Manchester Black? Manchester is constantly trying to drag him down to the "real" world by insulting him, embarrassing him, provoking him, which is part of why Clark hates Black so much on a personal and visceral level. For Black, Superman is just a wanker who has pulled the wool over everyone's eyes by selling them that "a fucking dream world" can ever be real. Whenever he interacts with Black, Clark really has to try to avoid sinking to Black's level, which is really hard because Manchester knows how to push Clark's buttons and gets a petty glee out of doing exactly that. It's good to have a Rogue like that for Supes, someone who can remind us of Clark's humanity in a way that isn't positive. Wasn't just the good human traits we taught our alien adoptee after all.

Truthfully I think the best writing for Manchester Black is when you can find yourself agreeing (in part) with what he says, or trying not to laugh at how he goads Superman into dropping the "holier than thou" exterior, while also recognizing that this is a sad broken man who had ambitions and dreams at one point. All of which were kicked out of him to the point he reacts the only way he knows how, by killing people. Telling that neither he nor Superman really have any idea of how to solve the "real" issues, as seen when they argue about what to do with the slavers in Action 775:

Note that Superman doesn't disagree with Black's assessment of how corrupt the American judicial system is, but his solution is to bury his head in the sand. Black meanwhile isn't actually proposing to do anything about the corruption he's called out, he's just going to murder everyone who crosses his path, treating the symptoms and not the cause. Neither one really knows how to handle that type of problem, so they just fall back to what they do know how to do.

That exact overlap in methodology is why Black is such a great foil and why he's stuck around: he's got the power and the charisma to match Superman (he can make Clark bleed on his own, gathered a team to him, and won over most of the general population in a similar way to Superman after all), but what he lacks is the idealism. Manchester Black is what Superman could be if he gave up on compassion, and was motivated only by his wrath. Seems an obvious thing to state, but it's the root of Black's longevity.

Overall I've been pretty happy with how he's been used, he's one of the more versatile enemies Superman has. He can be the edgy anti-hero who competes with Superman as he was at the start. He can work as a straight up villain out to hurt Superman to the point Clark finally has to acknowledge how insufficient his methods are as he was in Ending Battle and Kelly's work on JL. The idea of Black trying to corrupt the next generation of heroes in Jon, to mold him into Black's ideal Superman, was one of the high points of Tomasi and Gleason's run on Superman for me.

And at last we come to Black's current status.

Right off the bat Morrison writing Manchester Black was like a dream come true for me. Who better to write the Superman Rogue who is a working class British lad, who grew up idolizing Superman and caped heroes before giving up on them, than the working class Scot who put in so much work to rebuild Superman and make him cool again? I knew right away that Morrison would be great because they've got an authentic background to draw on to characterize Black with, and so far they have not disappointed me. If anything I wish Morrison was spending longer with this incarnation of the Authority, it really feels brimming with energy in a way we haven't seen from them in a while (with work for hire storytelling anyway).

Reaching old age and realizing he's not content with his accomplishments it makes sense to me that Clark would reach out to Manchester. Chester after all is the guy who made his career in calling out Superman's inadequacies, and if Clark is willing to still try to bury the hatchet with Lex occasionally, I can see him making the same attempt with Black. Black was a "hero" in a way at the start and Superman is always going to believe that mankind's inner goodness will win out ultimately, that he would attempt to bring Black back to the side of the "angels" and maybe get him to brighten up a bit is the sort of "impossible" challenge Superman relishes.

So far I love that Morrison isn't writing Chester as reforming overnight, he's still an asshole to Clark on occasion, he still says crap that is offensive morally, he still has a ways to go before he can be a "hero". Love the interactions between the two of them, they're funny as hell which is what the interactions between the two should be like:

Whether Manchester does reform or slips back into his old ways remains to be seen, and PKJ will probably be the one to decide his ultimate fate (assuming Black being on the cover of Action isn't a fakeout and he survives Superman & the Authority). Either way I'm always happy to see him getting used, I think he's a great foil for Superman no matter which side of the hero/villain divide he's on. Don't know if this turn to heroism will stick, but as long as we get more stories with Manchester, I'll take him as Superman's shittalking partner.

Hopefully he'll start getting more usage in outside media as well, I'd love to see a new take on him for the rebooted post-Crisis continuity of S&L or see him pop up in the upcoming My Adventures of Superman cartoon series or in the new animated shared universe DC is building with their movies. If they redid Death of Superman again they can do another shot at utilizing Black, especially since the art style of Superman vs. the Elite was... weird. Also give me Ending Battle, especially since they're adapting Injustice, it's only fair that we get the story that gives the middle finger to the "if Lois dies Superman goes batshit insane" trope, and we'd get to see Superman fight the majority of his Rogues Gallery! I love when that happens!

#manchester black #superman #dc comics

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midnight-queery · 3 years

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Superwoman

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28476486/chapters/70718184

One second Kara was zooming through the weird light show the universe-jumping device always put on, eyes wide as she flashed through universe after universe on her way back to her own. The next second she blipped into existence right in the middle of an alien brawl and a giant purple fist hit her in the face. The next second? Nothing but darkness.

When Kara came to who knows how long later she was in the DEO, laid up in a hospital bed and with a familiar, worried pair of green eyes looking at her.

“Kara,” Lena sighed in relief. A moment later, however, she was glaring at her. “I know your journalism is very important to you, but you can’t get that close to an alien brawl.”

Kara stared at the dark-haired woman, blinking owlishly several times before finally opening her mouth to speak. “Lena, what-”

“Me? Lena? Pfft, I’m not Lena,” the person who was definitely Lena said defensively, her eyes looking anywhere but at Kara. “I’ll go get the doctor, you must have been hit harder than I thought.”

Just as Lena turned to go, Kara finally letting her eyes drop from Lena’s face to take in her outfit and physique and realizing that this Lena wasn’t her Lena, a commotion began in the control room. Lena turned towards the noise with wide, confused eyes, and after listening in Kara realized why: she was the one causing the commotion. Or rather, this Earth’s Kara was.

“That’s not me!” The other Kara yelled, running through the parting crowd of DEO agents and towards the med bay. “I saw,” she paused and gasped for breath and Kara felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, because if this Earth’s her was out of breath, and Lena was dressed like that, it could only mean one thing. “I saw you save her, on the news. And she’s not me, Superwoman.”

Lena turned to Kara with narrowed eyes, her brows scrunched together furiously, and Kara was fairly certain she was about to be laser beamed. She, however, had a much more pressing issue on her mind.

“Superwoman?!” Kara yelled, jolting to a seating position and pointing at Lena. “Superwoman? HOW? This didn’t make any sense in the first place and now you’re telling me you get to be Superwoman? And you even have pants already?!!” Kara was fuming, so angry the rest of whatever she was going to say was just a series of indignant and unintelligible sputters.

Lena looked taken aback at the blonde’s anger, and she took a few steps to the side so she was standing protectively in front of the other Kara.

Kara’s phone ringing cut off her attempts to form angry words from her angry spluttering and she yanked it out of her pocket, wishing she’d chosen to wear her suit instead of her civvies, discretion be darned. “What?”

“Kar? You good? I’m getting some weird readings from your suit,” Alex’s voice crackled through, broken up and staticky. Kara fiddled with the clunky device strapped to her phone and the yellow blinking light on it turned a steady green. “Kar? You there?” Alex’s voice was crystal clear now.

“Yeah, sorry. I had to adjust the turtle.” Kara’s focus was on her phone, though when a pale hand tried to snatch it away at super speed she easily evaded. “What the heck, Lena?”

“You’re communicating with Alex Danvers?” Lena hissed, her eyes actually beginning to glow blue. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Please tell me you didn’t blip into existence in the middle of one of Lena’s board meetings,” Alex said over the phone. “She was going to be pissed enough that we didn’t tell her you were going to another Earth!”

Lena’s eyes widened at that and she took a small step forward, crossing her arms tightly over her chest and concealing the searing red symbol of the House of El that stood out starkly against the mostly black super suit. “You really expect me to believe this Kara is from another Earth, and not some twisted clone you made, Alex?”

This Earth’s Kara rushed over and stopped beside Lena, her eyes wide. “You’re me from another Earth? A- and your Alex is good?”

Kara’s brow crinkled as she looked between the alternate her and super Lena (she was not going to call her Superwoman okay). “What do you mean, is my Alex good? Of course she’s good. Why wouldn’t she be?”

“Kara,” Lena said quietly, wide, concerned eyes trained on her Kara, whose chin was wobbling from the urge to cry.

“M- my Alex,” other Kara began softly, eyes trained on the floor. “She’s the head of an organization called CADMUS. She hates aliens to the point that it drove her insane. She’ll stop at nothing to kill Superwoman. She- she’s even used me against her a few times since she knows we’re friends.” Other Kara sniffled as Kara’s jaw dropped.

“Kara.” Alex’s voice sounded strained. “Please tell me that doesn’t mean what I think it does.”

“And what about Lex Luthor?” Kara asked, ignoring her sister.

“What about me?” Lex asked, strolling into view. He was wearing very familiar tactical gear. “I’m Lex Luthor, Director of the DEO, though it seems you already knew that. Care to explain how?” He narrowed his eyes at Kara, and she was astounded at how… normal he looked. The Lex in her universe had cold, dead eyes. This one’s eyes were hard, yes, and distrustful, but he stood close to his sister and the other Kara, almost… protectively? What was going on here?

“Oh Rao,” Kara breathed in realization. “Lena and I are switched in this universe. That’s why Lex is suddenly a good guy and Alex is, well, Lillian and Lex from my universe rolled into one.”

“What do you know of Rao?” Lena demanded, just as Alex asked, her voice sounding even more strained, “What do you mean you two are switched? And I am not Lillian and Lex rolled into one, Kara, you take that back or you are notgetting the last potsticker at game night ever again, I swear to god.”

“On my Earth I’m Supergirl,” Kara said, looking Lena dead in the eyes as she yanked her glasses off. The brightly colored suit materialized, and Kara had never been more thankful for the pants upgrade in her life. Being Supergirl was humiliating enough, but a skirt? Oof.

“Not Superwoman?” Other Kara asked curiously.

Kara grimaced at her human self. “Miss Grant wouldn’t budge on the name.” When she turned to Lena the woman’s eyebrows were furrowed.

“So you… grew up on Krypton, then? Like- like me?” Lena asked quietly, her voice vulnerable.

“Zhi,” Kara said quietly, her lips upturned in a small, sad smile. “I grew up Krypton, and I… I watched it explode right before my pod got stuck in the Phantom Zone.”

“Were you-”

“Awake?” Kara interrupted. Lena nodded, gulping. “Intermittently. It wasn’t…” Kara stopped and took a deep breath. “It was cold and dark and lonely and I thought for sure I’d be trapped there forever. Luckily for me, Aunt Astra needed a way to get Fort Rozz to Earth, and she was able to use my pod to do it.”

Lena and Lex exchanged a loaded look at the mention of Astra, and Kara had a feeling Lex had killed Lena’s aunt just as Alex had killed hers.

“Okay, weird as all this is,” Alex’s voice interjected, “The turtle currently has more charge than the device you’re using to get from universe to universe. At the rate the battery is draining you have two and half hours until you’ll be stuck in the universe you’re in right now, and you only have enough energy for one more jump. I think we need to call-”

“No!” Kara shouted, causing everyone gathered around her to jump. “No, Alex, you can’t call in Lena, she’ll be pissed that we didn’t call her in sooner and I’m really trying not to stress her out anymore than she has to be to run L-Corp. We can’t tell her I’m about to be stranded on an alternate Earth because I accidently broke the part of the jumper that controlled which Earth I land on! Maybe, uh, maybe this Lena can help!” Kara turned to super Lena with wide, desperate eyes. “Please tell me you’re as tech savvy here as you are on my Earth.”

“You do run a branch of LuthorCorp,” other Kara chipped in thoughtfully, “so you could probably help her. Me. Whatever, you get it.”

“I- wait, I’m not, what?” Lena spluttered, looking from her Kara, who apparently knew she was Superwoman, to the other Kara and back. “Oh Rao I didn’t correct her earlier! Lex!” Lena glared at her brother for not catching the slip, and he held his hands up in surrender.

“I was as delightfully distracted as you, sister dear,” Lex said lazily. “Besides, we both know Miss Danvers, at least thisMiss Danvers, isn’t exactly a security risk.”

All of their heads turned to the phone in Kara’s hand when they suddenly heard the muffled sound of several voices, most panicked, before it went silent. Then, “Kara Zor-El Dan-” a familiar voice growled. Kara’s yelp cut them off.

“Oh Rao! Alex, I told you not to call Lena in!”

“She didn’t,” Lena’s voice answered smoothly. “And Director Danvers will pay for that later. Right now we are going to get you back to this Earth, and then you and I are going to have a long, long talk about what exactly determines need to know information, are we clear?”

“Yes,” Kara muttered, staring sulkily at her phone, her bottom lip jutting out.

“Kara darling, I can hear you pouting, and it’s not going to work,” Lena said wryly, though she at least sounded a bit amused instead of the previous rip roaring enraged.

Other Lena didn’t seem to have heard a word of the conversation as she was still staring dumbly at her human Kara, and she finally managed to blurt out: “How did you know I was Superwoman?”

“Did I just hear that Earth’s version of me call herself Superwoman?” Lena’s voice purred, and Kara could just see the smirk on her face.

“You told me you flew to CatCo on a bus,” human Kara said, grinning at a now-blushing Superwoman.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Lena groused over the phone. “There is no way I would ever say that. Do Kryptonians have special idiot genes?”

Human Kara gasped as super Lena and Kryptonian Kara winced. “You can’t be mean to Lena,” human Kara scolded. “Even if you are a Lena! It’s still not allowed!” She put her hands on her hips and glowered at the phone Kara was holding, which Kara instinctively cradled closer in case the other version of her got any ideas.

On the other end of the phone Kara was pretty sure she could hear Alex laughing. Her Lena mumbled something that could maybe pass as an apology before telling Kara to stay out of trouble while she made a retrieval device and hanging up.

“Why is your Lena so cranky?” Other Kara asked, her eyes narrowed as she stared her doppelganger down. “Did you do something stupid?”

“I did something brilliant, actually,” Kara replied, smirking to herself. Her audience didn’t get it at all, of course, but she still found it funny. “Now then, since my Lena is working on things, it looks like I’ll be here for a little while yet. What else is wacky?”

“How would we know?” Lena countered, arching her eyebrow.

“It’s not fair that you can still do the eyebrow thing and you get superpowers,” Kara grumbled. “Being a superhero was my thing, darn it! And in one of the universes I accidently landed in, you were also a reporter, but I wasn’t a CEO! And in another one we were both CEO’s but we’d met when you tried to buy out my company! It isn’t fair!” Kara’s lip jutted out and her puppy dog eyes were in full effect now, and Lena looked surprisingly contrite considering she really couldn’t control any of that. Other Kara just rolled her eyes.

“Oh whatever, Supergirl. Put away the pout and let’s go get potstickers while we wait for your ride home.”

And so it was, that half an hour later, full of (literally) otherworldly potstickers and having momentarily forgotten that a pissed off Lena was waiting for her, Kara was perched happily on a chair in the DEO conversing with this Lena in Kryptonese (while human Kara watched enviously), waiting for her phone to ring.

Only apparently her Lena was feeling dramatic because instead of her phone ringing the portal device beeped a brief warning before opening a swirling vortex of light in the middle of the control room and a moment later Lena strutted out, angry eyes finding Kara immediately and one eyebrow already arched dangerously. “Thanks to you I had to wear my heels an extra hour,” Lena said, her glare somehow intensifying.

With a small eep Kara sped over and gently scooped a willing Lena into her arms. “Sorry, baby.”

“My stomach isn’t the one you should be apologizing too,” Lena grumbled, turning her glare to her very obviously pregnant stomach (though the glare immediately melted into a soft, if exasperated, look). She looped her arms around Kara’s neck and let her head fall against her shoulder as her eyes wandered the astonished crowd. When her eyes fell on herself, decked out in a supersuit and looking both hopeful and afraid at this sudden development, she rolled her eyes. “I’m assuming my lovely wife neglected to mention the fact that in our universe we’re married?”

“Uh, yeah,” other Kara said, her rounded eyes not leaving Lena’s stomach.

“Wait so the reason you didn’t want to stress me, uh, her, anymore was because I, I mean she, is p-p-pregnant?” Super Lena stuttered.

“Oh my god,” human Kara breathed in realization. “That why when I asked if your Lena was cranky cuz you did something stupid you said you’d actually done something brilliant and had that weird smirk on your face! You meant you did her!”

Super Lena choked on air at that one, and Kara’s wife gave her an exasperated look. “Really, babe?”

“Is it not true?” Kara counted, smirking at her wife for a moment before pressing a soft kiss to the crown of her head. “I am sorry for not telling you I was aimlessly universe hopping. I was just worried.”

Lena sighed and nuzzled into Kara’s neck. “I know. We’re still talking about this little incident later, though.”

“Where are the rings, if I may ask?” Lex queried, a strange look on his face.

Lena flinched at the sound of his voice and burrowed impossibly closer to Kara as she turned her wary gaze to her not-brother. Silently, she held up one hand, her ring glinting in the light. Kara, meanwhile, shot a significant glance to her own wrist, where a matching bracelet could be seen peeking out of the sleeve of her suit.

“How did I not notice that?” Super Lena whispered to herself, eyes now caught on the bracelet. She only managed to pull her gaze away when she realized her favorite heartbeat (her Kara’s) was pounding especially hard, and she chanced a glance over to see what could only be a look of longing on Kara’s face.

“Go for it,” Lena encouraged, happily going back to ignoring Lex’s existence and closing her eyes. “Also we’re going home now. I need a foot rub. And a nap.” A massive yawn punctuated her statement and Kara gave her an impossibly fond look before shooting her human self a wink and walking through the portal, her wife cradled safely in her arms.

#supercorp shorts #supercorp #supercorp fic #supercorp oneshot #kara danvers #lena luthor #universe jumping #alex danvers #lex luthor #poor superGIRL #supercorp crack

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coeurdastronaute · 4 years

Text

Stud 10

Previously on Stud

“No.”

“I thought we agreed not to look at the price tag.”

“How much does it cost?” Clarke wailed, groaning as she looked at the spec sheet the realtor had given them on the trip over to the building.

“What were you complaining about if not the price?”

“I don’t complain, thank you.”

“You often voice your concern in a loud and disgruntled manner,” Lexa explained as she continued scrolling on her phone, checking her emails eagerly.

The car slowly trickled its way down the busy streets toward their evening appointment. It’d become somewhat of a routine at this point, and Lexa was certain their realtor would get sick of them after a dozen or so showings, and they were none the closer to agreeing on anything.

“It has five bedrooms and six bathrooms, Lex.”

“But the location and the view.”

“We don’t need that big of a place.”

“One can be an office, one is our room, one is an art studio for you, and that leaves two bedrooms for visitors. You know Aden will be dying to stay, and my dad, and your parents when the visit. And what about Raven? She needs a place..”

“We don’t need that much space. Your dad owns a place on the Upper East, so he doesn’t need any room.”

“But the view.”

“Can we at least agree on size?”

“I don’t like to limit ourselves. What if we find the right place but it has like an extra bedroom?”

With a sigh, Clarke tossed the paper between them on the seat before looking out the window of the unmoving scenery. It was a rainy day, and a balmy evening. She hadn’t enjoyed the house hunting as much as she’d thought she would. Something about finding a place together felt more like a nightmare than a dream. They couldn’t seem to agree on much of anything, and Clarke didn’t want to fight anymore. She just wanted to magically find a place they agreed upon and she wanted to not live out of suitcases at Lexa’s because her place sold so quickly.

It didn’t help that Lexa was a little busier than normal with her new pet project, or that Clarke was feeling the pressure of work and her parents and her friends. It was a rough spring, and she just wanted something to work out.

“I don’t want a big place. I want something comfortable, and ours. It can be a studio for all I care.”

Lexa paused and turned off her phone, the back of the car going darker with the absence of its light. It’d been a long few weeks of running around and looking everywhere, and she wasn’t sure why, but it was only right there that she felt a wave of sadness on her chest. It might have been Clarke’s voice, or her optimism despite it all.

There was a way in which Lexa was vastly aware of how much she worked, and with Maggie getting started, she was conscious not to get completely sucked into it. She also knew that she was distracted, and Clarke was kind enough not to hold a grudge. There might have been a tiny part of Lexa that almost didn’t want to find a new place because she loved her place, and she did not like change.

“I take back the thing about you complaining all the time.”

“I don’t think you said all the time.”

“Right,” Lexa nodded and smiled, taking her girlfriend’s hands. “Let’s skip this one. It’s not for us anyway.”

“We already told Elaine we’d be there. I’m not going to make her mad. I kind of like her and she’s put up with us.”

With a dramatic flourish, Lexa sagged against the back of her seat and chanced a peak at her girl to see if a tantrum would have it’s desired effect. It never did, but she always had to give it a try. When it failed, she tried to the grin, the same grin that led to window sex, that grin. It was effective sometimes, though she never tried it in a car.

“I promise you right now, that we will find a place by May first, and we will be enjoying our own place all summer.”

“We’re going to London in June, and I was invited to a family trip to some beach house. And we promised my parents we’d visit.”

“Okay, we will find a home and we will have a place to come back to, just ours,” Lexa kissed her girlfriend’s hand and held it, trying her best to sound as reassuring as possible. “Plus, that’s not a family trip. That’s the annual board retreat and it’s dreadful.”

“What about the family trip?”

“Aden picked camping. So we’ll be hitting a few national parks.”

“But you.... You guys own like mansions on lakes.”

“Dad’s stoked. We used to camp all the time when we were kids. He dug out all the old gear and booked the grounds.”

“Like tent camping?”

Lexa smiled and nodded earning a slight sigh from the teacher beside her.

“For someone who is adverse to the luxury of my position in life, you sure do like the fancy digs and vacations.”

“I know,” Clarke shook her head and looked out the window again. “I’m getting spoiled. I just don’t like nature that much.”

“So you’re bailing?”

“No! It’s a family trip, of course I’m going to be there.”

That part made Lexa feel a bit warm in her chest. Of course Clarke would say something like that, and of course she would like to go anywhere her family did. So she squeezed her hand and picked up the paper to look at the specs for the place.

“Maybe this place will be it,” Lexa offered. “Too big and all. Wouldn’t that view of the park be so nice? And those windows.”

“You do seem to love windows,” Clarke recalled, flushing slightly.

“I think we’re here,” Gus offered as he pulled up to a building. “Nice looking place from the front.”

“We’ll find our way home tonight, Gus,” Lexa informed the driver. “I think I owe Clarke dinner.”

“I can wait.”

“No,” Clarke offered sweetly. “She really does owe me dinner. Have a good night. Thanks for the lift.”

“Good luck in there,” he smiled and closed the door after letting them out.

Before he pulled away, Gus stood by the car and watched. Clarke hugged Lexa’s side and Lexa had her arm over her shoulder. She kissed her temple absently and the driver who had held her in his arms on the day that she was born felt insanely proud at the moment he’d witnessed. He’d always worried about her, especially after the death of her mother. But Clarke was a spark. Lexa knew him well enough to know he’d still be there, to turn around before they moved to the elevators with the realtor and gave him a wave and a smile that he returned. Gus truly did hope they would find their home, because Lexa needed a place to come back to no matter what.

XXXXXXXXXX

The view of the park was spectacular.

Clarke didn’t pay much attention to it, not at the present moment despite her forehead resting on the glass. She felt Lexa kiss her shoulder before her tepid breath moved to her neck and a hand that tugged her shirt higher while another was firmly rooting around in her shorts. There were words happening,but Clarke couldn’t really decipher much of them. Her fingertips clawed and found no traction against the glass.

As sloppy and poorly planned as it’d been, Clarke relaxed, going slightly limp, allowing the window and her girlfriend to support her as she tried to catch her breath and remembering the feeling of the cool glass against her heated skin.

“I love our place,” Lexa whispered, kissing Clarke’s shoulder and earning a chuckle. “So many windows.”

“I don’t know which will be worse,” Clarke stood on her own slightly. “Sore from moving all of the stuff or from christening every surface and new piece of furniture we get.”

“How can you be sore when I make you feel so good?”

There was a mischievous grin there that Clarke kissed in an instant, gobbling a Lexa in such a good mood up deliciously. Even though they were both slightly sweaty, she held her close, not minding the smudges she was sure existed behind them.

“Our place,” Clarke muttered, something she was still not used to saying. “Can you believe we agreed on a place?”

“Yeah, because you’re spoiled and I give you whatever you asked for. It was inevitable.”

“Shush.”

“Our first night, and you’re hushing me. Sounds about right.”

“You make me sound like I’m a demanding brute instead of an incredibly devoted,” Clarke explained, kissing her girlfriend’s neck. “Alluring,” her jaw. “Loving,” her lips. “Supportive partner.”

“You’re a complex woman, Griffin.”

With a shrug and a smile, Lexa relaxed a bit. The sun was setting later as the spring bloomed in the city. There was something sweet to the moment, and she was savoring it because she was someone who held moments tightly.

“We should order dinner. We didn’t unpack anything.”

“The bed is set up.”

“And that’s it,” Clarke shook her head.

“You wanted to do it all yourself.”

“Yes, well, I got distracted by your affinity for--”

“Fucking you against hte window,” Lexa agreed quite seriously. “Yeah yeah. When are you going to stop using that as an excuse?”

“When you stop doing it.”

“So… never?” Lexa pushed forward again until Clarke was leaning against the window. She hissed slightly at the chil as hands moved to her hips. “You’re just so pretty and I have an outrageous amount of affection for you.”

“Don’t sweet talk me.”

Somewhere between the kiss and the complaint, the buzzer went off. And despite Lexa’s idea to ignore it, Clarke slipped from her grasp and pressed the button. She felt her stomach growl and she realized how hungry she was. They did need to eat, and they did need to start unpacking. With a forlorn glance she looked away from the windows once again.

“Your dad is on his way up,” Clarke yelled from the other room. “Please wipe off the window or something. I’m going to clean up in the bathroom.”

Despite the frantic screech and order, Lexa just looked around at the boxes and held up her hands, unsure of how she was supposed to find anything. Instead, she listened to her girlfriend swear as she bumped into something and ran into the bathroom. Lexa just moved toward the door.

“Hey, kid,” Alex grinned and hugged his daughter at the door. “I was just heading home and I thought I’d bring you a house warming present. See if you needed any help hanging up shelves. I’m quite good at that kind of thing you know.”

“I know, I know. Not yet, but I’ll let you know.”

“I ran into Elaine in the lobby.”

When he moved aside, Lexa saw her realtor and nodded politely at her.

“Great minds,” she offered, holding out a bottle of wine. “I tried to drop something off before, but you guys were quicker than I thought you’d be moving in.”

“The reno guys were really good,” Lexa explained, examining the bottle. “Thank you. This is one of my favorites. Come in, guys. We haven’t made a dent in unpacking, but please--”

“Where’s that pretty girlfriend of yours?”

“Sorry, I was just… um… is that wine?” Clarke breezed in and accepted a bigger hug from Alex than Lexa got. She kissed the realtor’s cheeks and accepted a half-hug. “Did you two plan this?”

“No, no, just good timing,” Elain blushed slightly as she looked from Alex back to the pair.

“What do you think,” Lexa turned to the girl who hugged her side. “Our first dinner party?”

“We were just going to order, and these are both very good looking wines,” her girlfriend agreed before turning to her father. “Would you both like to join us?”

“I wouldn’t want to impose,” Alex waited for the inevitable refusal of his refusal.

“Yeah, I just wanted to drop this off. I hadn’t even planned on coming--”

“You can’t let us drink this on our own,” Lexa shook her head. “Come on. We’ll have some food and finally christen this place.”

There was a slight elbow in her ribs, but Lexa was proud of her choice of words. She was proud of her place and she was proud of her girl, and she was proud of being someone who could invite people in for a quick dinner and drinks.

“Please stay,” Clarke offered again. “We always order too much, and you’re saving me from having to do any unpacking tonight.”

“I think we have to stay then,” Alex grinned and looked expectantly at the realtor who finally gave in.

“Perfect.”

XXXXXXXXXX

“It was a very nice place,” Elaine promised.

“You’re being generous,” Alex chuckled as he shook his head. “We thought it was going to be a nice area. We should have listened to you.”

“I can’t believe Mom let you make that call,” Lexa laughed before taking another sip of her wine. “Or that you let him buy it.”

“We were all young and dumb,” the realtor shook her head and took another drink as well. “That would have been thirty or so years ago.”

The foursome sat on a hodgepodge of furniture assembled on the patio overlooking the park and the trees and the beautiful sunset. With take out containers passed around and random plates and plastic cutlery, they shared and laughed and drank wine from coffee mugs. It’d been an evening of good conversation and good wine and good food, and much to Lexa’s liking, she stole food from her girlfriend’s plate and laughed at her father’s stories.

“Your mother never let me hear the end of it, anytime we bought a new property, I wasn’t allowed to even say I like it or not.”

“At least we agreed,” Clarke offered. “I think you eventually had a good eye to find this place.”

“Well, when you finally agreed to live with me, I figured I should provide adequate shelter.”

From her spot, Clarke leaned against Lexa’s legs and looked up at her, smiling and in love. It was a sight to see. Lexa swirled her wine and took it all in, as she was known to do, while her father reminisced with Elaine, barely remembering each other from too long ago. Lexa rubbed her girlfriend’s shoulder and her neck absently.

“It’s almost unbearable, isn’t it?” Alex shook his head after watching the two of them. He smiled at the pair across from him.

“What’s that?” Elaine leaned closer.

For a moment, Clarke and Lexa were making eyes and whispering, smiling, happily unaware that they were now the subject of observation.

“How happy and in love they are.”

She turned her gaze upon them and sighed, amazed by it after finally having the time to observe them.

“It’s beautiful.”

“I’m so proud of her.”

This time, Elaine turned toward the beaming father and smiled smaller, to herself, in awe of such honesty and the source itself.

“Don’t look now, but I think your dad is hitting it off with the realtor,” Clarke whispered after tossing a glance at the pair across from them.

“You’re completely impossible lately. Trying to set up everyone we know.”

“Maggie and Raven could hook up.”

Lexa just shook her head and finished her drink.

“Can I get anyone a top off?” she interrupted the conversation as she stood.

XXXXXXXXXX

“I think she liked him and he was certainly interested in her,” Clarke informed Lexa. “You didn’t pick up on those vibes?”

“My dad doesn’t have vibes.”

The girl at the sink snorted as she continued to rinse out the paltry amount of dishes they’d accumulated in their tiny dinner party. Disinterested in anything at all, Lexa absently played with her empty mug, waiting for the moment to carry her girl to the bedroom and sleep off the inevitable wine hangover.

“Aw babe. He might not know it, but they were definitely hitting it off.”

Despite how amused Clarke was at the whole thing, Lexa felt her cheeks grow warm at the thought of the betrayal. It didn’t sit right, it didn’t feel right, and everything felt heavier caught in the wine-shaded haze of the long night.

“There’s no way. He’s… he’s not interested in anything like that.”

“For someone who likes fucking me against windows, you sure are a prude. He looked like he was having fun. Let the man flirt a bit.”

“You’re reading too much into it.”

“Does he at least know that you’re okay with him dating someone else?”

“I’m not.”

There was a pause. Clarke looked up from the kitchen sink toward the girl at the island, and she waited for the joke, for the laugh, for the punchline. But nothing else came.

“You can’t expect him to be lonely for the rest of time.”

“He has friends. He stays busy.”

Hands were on hips, and Lexa knew it was a fight before she could stop it. But she didn’t care. She was having feelings, and they were burning up through her veins and scorching her neck and cheeks and chest.

“And every night he crawls into an empty bed, Lexa,” Clarke argued. “I don’t know about you, but when you’re gone for a week, by Tuesday I’m absolutely sappy with missing having you near. I can’t imagine how that is for him.”

“He doesn’t want anyone else.”

“Maybe he doesn’t, but don’t you think it’s important for him to know that you don’t want him to be alone?”

“No.”

It was stark and honest for the moment. Lexa wondered if she sounded selfish or confident in her delivery. There was a thin line between spoiled and demanding.

“If it were you, and something happened to me, I’d want you to never feel an ounce of sadness or like you were alone or like I would want to take away one second of your life pining away for me.”

“But you’re you, and you’re not dying,” Lexa shook her head and spoke forcefully with her hands. “I don’t want anyone else. I want you and only you. Ever.”

“Your father has a few decades ahead of himself, and he’s supposed to pine away forever?”

Lexa didn’t like the thoughts in her head or the words that were coming out of her mouth or her girlfriend’s mouth. But they kept happening. There wasn’t a pause button.

“That’s my dead mother you’re replacing!”

“No one could replace her! I can’t believe you’re acting like this.”

“I never thought this would be an actual option. I’m sorry I’m not mature enough to handle the idea of my father with someone else.”

There was something to be said for the honesty. Clarke only ever asked for that from her girlfriend, and when she got it, the actual hard parts, she was always proud, even in heated exchanges or disagreements. Maybe even more so then. And even when she was mad, she softened because it was Lexa.

“I didn’t know your mother,” Clarke began, soft and gentle despite the anger she fought to keep down for the moment. There would be time to be forceful later. “But I’ve heard stories from everyone I’ve met through you. She was a force that I can’t even fathom. Your father’s potential choice of going on a date with a woman does not take away his love or devotion to her. Nothing could do that.”

Lexa grit her teeth and took a deep breath.

“She was my favorite person and sometimes I feel like I’m losing her.”

“Just because you don’t actively think of her every second doesn’t mean that you aren’t. She created your whims and your thoughts and your like and dislikes-- she made you a person and every action you do is because of her. She’s innate to you, love.”

“I don’t know.”

“Gus told me a story about how he saw your mom and dad fighting after some event, and when he mimicked her, he moved his hands,” and Clarke moved it to show what she meant. “And it was exactly what you do when you get frustrated and mad. You just did it two minutes ago. She’s not gone. Your father deserves happiness.”

“He does.”

“Let the man go on a date.”

“I can’t stop him. He’s an adult--”

Clarke gave her a look until she acknowledged her power. Lexa nodded and looked away before flopping down on the still-covered couch, defeated and exhausted from the uproar of thoughts and feelings.

“I’m sorry I yelled,” Lexa offered quietly between them. Clarke didn’t move closer, but just stood across the room until she leaned against a chair.

“I’m sorry I yelled,” she returned. “You’re just insanely frustrating sometimes when you’re purposefully obtuse. And I know your father, so I know who is really to blame for that genetic gift I have to deal with.”

Despite the dig, Lexa smiled to herself and snorted. Sometimes Clarke was too good at deciphering her, and to be left so bare and honest and broken down into her simplest parts was excruciating and wonderful, all at the same time. It’s easy to see what’s wrong with an engine when you take it all apart to find the source of the problem.

“I hadn’t thought of any of this. I don’t know what to think.”

“We can figure it out tomorrow, if you want.”

It was hesitant because the entirety of their conversation had been so heavy and unresolved that Clarke wasn’t sure Lexa would want to go to bed or if she’d be stuck in her head about most of the ideas. But Lexa watched her shy smile and she returned it, holding out her hand before moving.

Clarke crossed the box-mined living room and took a seat on her girlfriend’s lap, carefully kissing her cheek before laying her own on Lexa’s shoulder.

“I wouldn’t know what to do without you anymore,” Lexa confessed, the first time she’d had that thought. “You’ve ruined me.”

“Guess I should stick around then, huh?”

Lexa hugged her close and nodded.

“I’ll talk to my dad.”

“Only if you’re ready.”

“Maybe I should talk to aden first. He’s brilliant.”

“He surely got the brains,” Clarke agreed. “And the talent, and the physical prowess, and the--”

“Okay, okay. I get it.”

“Let’s go to bed. I’ll make pancakes in the morning.”

Lexa smiled and nodded, because nothing in the world sounded better to her than waking up with Clarke and eating pancakes.

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malecsecretsanta · 3 years

Text

Merry Christmas, notquiteascrazy!

For @notquiteascrazy. I hope you'll enjoy it Lex, I tried to stick to your likes as much as I could!!! Merry Xmas, darling!

Read On AO3

*****

The air was thick with snow and the smell of roasted chestnuts and marshmallows, and Alec was staring out from the window of the subway that was taking him home.

He sighed in relief thinking about the fact that at least for the Christmas week, he had a job. At least he wouldn't be forced to stay home alone, drinking a beer and eating a microwave heated pizza, and thinking.

He couldn't go home, not this festivities, not after having left his family business shoving his car and house keys on his father’s desk, shouting that the price was too high for his mental health, seeing all his family's eyes widen in disbelief, because Alec had never said no to anything. Never a quarrel, never an argument, never a sign of disappointment. Anything.

He had endured through high school and university, studying something that made his stomach twitch in disgust still he brought home the best grades, the best results, the best graduation a parent could have ever asked for.

But working more than twelve hours per day for it? It soon became too much to bear.

After two years of sleepless nights, pills, too much coffee, and the beginning of panic attacks, he'd decided to quit and leave that horrible life he crazily had thought he could force himself into.

Sometimes he would say to himself that maybe he hadn't tried hard enough, that maybe if he'd resisted a couple of months more, it would have become a routine, but he was aware that that could have never happened.

Alec hated numbers with all his heart, since he was a kid and that really wouldn't do in his family. For centuries, the Lightwoods held a huge business accountant studio that worked with the most outstanding industries, firms of the country, and even some others abroad. He was the eldest, he was supposed to be the heir. But he wasn't. He'd never been, and he never would be.

Izzy, she was the right one. Strong, sharp, determined, assertive and good enough to bring the best out for the family business. She was, and Alec loved her so much. He loved her fierce steps along the corridor when she was angry at someone, the way her voice turned sharp and hard on the phone when she discovered something she didn't like, the way her decisions were quick and always right.

He, instead, had always loved crayons and pencils. He loved the feeling of wood between his fingers, the smell of paper whenever he bought a new sketchbook, the rustling sound of his sleeve or his arm when it slid on the paper, and the brush of the pencil lead as it traced lines that gave life to the images that filled his head.

He wanted to become an artist, to go to an art school and then to an academy of arts, but he never had the courage to ask, never dared to hope, Alec ended up letting the days flow by until it was too late.

So there he was now, living alone in a one-room apartment in the outskirts, shifting from one temporary job to another. Apparently, he was "too much" for every position he applied for.

Too qualified, too experienced, too well paid, too grown up, too tall, too clumsy, too smart, too handsome, too… everything.

Izzy and Jace promised him they would come to visit during the holidays, but Alec knew that his family’s Christmas celebrations were something that they couldn't escape from that easily, with relatives, colleagues and business partners coming from all over the place and staying there until the late hours.

He dropped off the subway and walked home, grabbing a kebab along the way.

He switched on the kettle and slumped on the small couch he opened to sleep in at night, covering his legs with a blanket, patiently waiting for the little electric stove to heat the small room, picking up his phone and texting his siblings he had found a job for the Christmas’ month.

He stood and grabbed the kettle, pouring the boiling water into a mug filled with tea leaves, letting the steam soothe his icy red nose and warm him up. He looked outside the small window at the snow silently falling on the buildings.

He opened the bed and threw himself on it, still clothed. He took his sketchbook and started drawing, staring at his hand gently swaying on it, until he fell asleep, his head dropped on one side of the pillow, his hand clutching the pencil, as the Christmas lights and decorations glimmered on his black locks.

Magnus strolled into his office, his eyes shadowed, his beard a little longer than usual, his tie hanging loose around his neck, as if he hadn't the time to fix it properly.

"Are you ok?" Raphael asked him, a worried look on his face.

"Yes. No. I'm definitely not. It's been the worst night I had in years. Max has thrown up six times to the point his face turned green and I spent the night on the phone with Cat trying to figure out how to stop it and making him drink small sips of water, so he wouldn’t be dehydrated. I'm... fuck , I need another coffee, Raphael," he stopped and crashed on the huge armchair behind his long desk.

Raphael went to the coffee pot and filled a cup, putting some cream in it.

"You could have taken the day off you know? You're the boss here. No one is checking if you come to work or not."

"Are you insane?" Magnus glared at him as he sipped his coffee, it's December, the mall is going to be full and I have to check everything and I … I…"

"You don't want to be alone, I know."

Magnus' expression turned sad and distant. He sighed deeply, staring into the void.

"Probably not," he added, "Anyway, let's get back to work, is everything fixed? The extra decorations, the elves, the little presents for the kids coming and...oh my god, Santa? Have you found him?"

Raphael nodded smiling.

"Your kind of guy to be honest, dark, tall and handsome."

"Ah, stop this Raphael. He's gonna be dressed in a Santa costume, a huge pillow on his belly and a white long beard. Also…you should know that Mr. no one has become my favourite kind of guy."

"If you say so," he smirked.

Magnus stood up and left the cup on his desk, waving his hands in the air, dismissing whatever Raphael wanted to argue back.

"Anyway, let's go and see the elves, I'm curious," and he opened the door, gesturing to Raphael to follow him.

Alec woke up earlier than usual, waiting like twenty minutes for the water to warm and finally shower.

He knotted the towel low on his waist, cursing the cold wind that crawled from underneath the gaps in the window’s frames and went to the sink, grabbing his razor to shave. He stared at his image in the mirror. Why was he even shaving? He was about to wear a long white beard for a week. He brushed his knuckles on his stubble and smiled. It looked good on him. His father never wanted him to grow a beard. He used to say it made him look scruffy and that wouldn't go over well with their clients and partners. But now, who cared anymore? He put the razor back in the drawer and went to the stove to make some coffee. He dressed up slowly, and ate some toast, while chatting with Jace.

The subway was full of people going to work, some of them dressed in their grey and black suits and he felt relieved; he didn't miss that life at all. He took his sketchbook from his backpack and started portraying their faces, the worried and the sad ones, the abandoned lover and the happy newly wedded one. All of them in their morning run to face the day.

The receptionist stopped him as soon as he entered.

"I'm Alec Lightwood, ehm, Santa Claus…"

"Oh, yes Mr. Lightwood, you're a little early, but since you are already here you can go to the locker room and change. Here's your costume."

She was staring at him, a goofy smile on her face. As he walked away he heard her murmur to the other lady next to her that it was a pity to cover all that glory with a Santa's costume.

He chuckled and took the elevator.

The pillow on his belly was soft but huge and it made him uncomfortably hot, and the faint beard itched a bit on his neck. He wore the heavy boots and realized he was already covered in sweat. It was going to be a very long month.

He entered the Children's Land and spotted the man who interviewed him last week. He was standing next to the most enchanting creature Alec had ever laid his eyes on. He stood frozen in the middle of the large hall of the toy shop, just staring, until Raphael noticed him.

"Oh, there you are! Magnus, he's our Santa Claus," he said and pulled Magnus from his wrist toward the tall red and white figure.

"Alec? Oh, can I call you Alec, right? This is Magnus, the real boss here."

Alec was glad to be disguised when Magnus fully turned to look at him. The man was strikingly beautiful, probably just a little older than he was.

He extended his hand and Magnus mirrored him, shaking it for a split second that to Alec seemed like an eternity.

"Strong grip," Magnus said smiling, "perfect for Santa. Also, your height is just perfect. Let me hear your voice, have you practiced lowering it a bit?"

Alec nodded and was about to let him hear his best Ho Ho Ho , when Magnus' phone rang.

"Cat? How is Max feeling? Better? Oh, thank god, he needed some good sleep. Any fever? No? That's good."

Alec knew he shouldn't have been listening, but he just couldn't help it.

Of course he was married. Of course he had a kid and a beautiful wife waiting for him at home.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when Raphael suddenly asked him to follow him toward the big wooden sleigh they had put on the right end corner of the shop.

"This will be your place. You will have a big jute sack behind where you’ll put the letters and a basket full of candies and lollipops for the kids after they have told you their wishes."

Alec listened and nodded.

"Can I make a little drawing for them? Just a sketch of their name or favourite hero?" he asked.

Raphael looked at him amused.

"You can draw?"

"Yes, I'll be quick, I promise."

"Of course you can Alec. It will be an amazing surprise for all of them."

Alec turned and saw Magnus talking to his kid on the phone. His face was soft and he was smiling as if the child could see him. His mind went back to an image of a younger Robert smiling at him. He felt a rush of longing for those days when he was exactly the son their parents had dreamed of. Responsible, always on track, confident, always in the right place at the right moment.

While they were happy, he was overwhelmed. The more they grew proud, the more he was ashamed of himself. The longer they seemed sure of who he was, the further he didn't even know where to begin.

He spun and found Raphael looking at him, brows up to his forehead.

Fuck! He realized he had been staring at what was technically his boss.

He scratched his fingers on the back of his neck trying to think about something good to say and justify his weird behaviour.

"Ahm… he's good with children...not many men are … ehm… it's kinda rare I mean…"

Raphael delighted in the embarrassment he glimpsed in the young man in front of him, and waited amused until Alec fell silent with a frustrated grunt.

Raphael took pity on him and finally laughed, wholeheartedly.

"Yeah, he is. They love him before he even starts to speak and he can convince them to do whatever he asks. They're kinda spellbound ."

"Yeah I know the feeling."

Alec’s cheeks reddened a bit and he closed his eyes cursing himself for talking without filters, realizing what comment had just left his mouth.

"I mean," he tried, "I know the feeling of being spellbound."

Raphael turned around a little smirking, “Yeah, he has this effect on everyone he meets."

Alec walked toward the sleigh, checked the basket filled with sweets and sat down, adjusting the pillow on his belly and stretching his legs. He knew they would be bent until late that afternoon. He was glad he hadn’t shaved that morning, otherwise, his pale and delicate skin would have been scratchy in the evening.

He took his sketchbook from his backpack and the crayons, the beautiful watercolour ones that he received on his last birthday from Izzy and Jace, and set them on his left side.

Raphael instructed a couple of photographers where to position the cameras and searched for Magnus again, leaving the last decision up to him. He was the best organizer but he really lacked any sense of aesthetics, which, instead, Magnus was overflowing with. The man was fixing the red berry and frosted pine cone garland on the railing of the stairs, fully concentrated on the task.

"Magnus? Have a look here," he said, "our Santa's sleigh is ready. Just waiting for your last touch.”

Magnus revolved toward the voice and stared for a moment at Alec and the setting, his gaze so intense that Alec felt the urge to divert his eyes. Magnus moved slowly toward the sleigh, bending near the footboards to fix the fake snowflakes and the pine branches.

His movements were slow and graceful, the back of his neck was flexing sinuously following the motion of his hands and fingers, and Alec couldn't keep from staring. His nails were painted in a dark green polish, matching the colour of the spikes in his faux hawk. He was elegant and extremely professional, but there was something sensual too in his overall outfit.

His eyes were stuck to Magnus' fingers that were now fixing the red velvet cloth and cushions on the sled.

"You like the color of the polish or my rings?" Magnus asked abruptly without turning his head and Alec rolled his eyes, because of course he wasn’t able to do anything without being noticed.

He didn't know what to say because, honestly, he liked them both, a lot.

Magnus must have realized his embarrassment because he resumed his talk without even looking at him.

"I picked the dark green this morning because it matches the beautiful colour of the pine needles and also because it matches perfectly with the burgundy red suit I am wearing. The rings...well, they are just a sort of second skin, I never remove them, not even when I sleep or shower."

Alec remained still and silent, lost in Magnus' voice.

"I don't bite, you know. You're allowed to answer or say something," Magnus added seriously, just before bursting into the softest laughter Alec had ever heard, "I'm just teasing you, I was joking."

Alec smiled behind the white soft beard, "Both, I like them both," he whispered.

Magnus stopped his movements and finally raised his head to look at him. He was kneeled on one leg, looking at those hazel big eyes standing out from the furry grey brows. They shined like two emerald gems.

Magnus then stood up and leaned toward Alec, grabbing his white fluffy collar and adjusting it around his neck, next his palms swept over his shoulders and tugged at the fabric a little, to make it adhere to Alec's shoulders. They were broad and straight. The last touch was reserved for his hat. He fixed the pom-pom and then his fingers curled up the mustaches above Alec's lips.

He cocked his head and took a moment to check what he had just done, "Now you're perfect, the perfect Santa. Raphael is the best at making real what I have in mind."

"Raphael knows so well what the boss likes," a voice replied.

"He's right," Magnus said to Alec smirking, "he knows me so well. Ok now. I know he already told you what this whole Santa's thing is about, but I will remind you anyway. Kids will queue here, you will take them on your lap and have a little chat, then ask them for a wish, pick up a candy, and offer them to take a picture with you. Remember the pictures are for free, it's just for the joy of the kids, and…"

"And while they are waiting for the print I will make them a little sketch."

Magnus frowned.

"Raphael told me I could. I'll be quick, I promise."

"You draw?" Magnus asked.

"Yes."

"As long as you don't make the people wait too long, I think it's a wonderful idea. Keep the last one for me, ok?"

Magnus turned to Raphael.

"Let the kids come. We're ready for the magic to happen."

Alec's first week flew by quicker than he had imagined. He enjoyed talking to the kids and smiled at the incredible, sweet, improbable desires they shared with him. He gave them the sweets and a quick sketch; an animal, a toy, a star, a word, something he made just for them.

Raphael was amazed by how quickly Alec actually sketched. The queue was flowing regularly and no clients complained about waiting too long. Their Santa smiled and laughed with the kids and he didn't seem to become annoyed or bored.

Alec always listened with the same attention, always gave the children space and time to talk, enjoyed their sense of wonder, comforted the sad ones, knew how to deal with tantrums and tears, and never missed to give an encouraging smile to the parents waiting.

In that week, he fell asleep happily after such a long time.

Working at the mall turned out to be very exciting and interesting. Alec had always been fond of people, even if he wasn't very talkative and extroverted. He mostly loved to observe them, the quick glances between the ones in love, the farewell and welcome embraces, the arguments and the tears, the gazes lost in nowhere, the grandparents holding the hands of the kids, and of course, the kisses.

In the days he spent there, especially at the times his shift started and finished, when the mall was emptying, he loved watching Magnus interact with his employees. He was struck by how different Magnus was from his father.

Magnus was always the first to arrive and the last one to leave, he always had a smile for everyone, he paid attention to all their needs, and always found the right words to say, supportive, encouraging, and caring. He brought coffee and sweets, he offered them lunch and then sat eating with them, laughing and having fun, and whenever he could, he would help them.

There was something in that man that had Alec yearning for his presence whenever he wasn’t around, that had him staring at him when Magnus wasn’t noticing, admiring him. He was beautiful inside and out.

"His wife must be so happy," he absentmindedly said to a cleaner one night as he was helping him pull up all the trash bags. Wei was the oldest one at the mall, and Alec had become his friend. He loved to listen to his stories and his memories, and got his fill of wisdom every day. Alec opened up to him like a father, sharing his personal life, his dreams and his sorrows. He remained with him long after his Santa’s duty was over, listened and helped along the way.

"Who?" said the man.

"Mr. Bane."

Wei stopped moving and cleaning, putting his mop on the floor, smiling at Alec.

"Magnus?"

Alec looked at the old man and smiled, hoisting up two other bags.

"Yes, Magnus."

The man looked back at him, pensively, and then talked.

"Magnus isn't married, and never has been. If you are referring to the fact that he has a child, I will tell you a story worthy of this time of the year. Tea first," and he went to the counter of the locker room and poured some in two cups, handing one to Alec.

"Three years ago, Anne, a young girl that worked at the bookstore, died unexpectedly in a car accident. She was the mother of a two-year-old boy, named Max. When Magnus heard that the social services were searching for a place for Max to stay for the night, he offered to take him home with him, and never left him since then. He applied for adoption, since he was the closest thing to family for that girl and her boy and since he was raised in foster care…"

The man looked at Alec, an unreadable expression on his face, something between awe and seriousness.

"I hope you'll have the chance to know him better, Alec. Magnus is one of the kindest souls that tread on this earth. He's caring, gentle, soft, selfless, he holds a special place in his heart for each of us. He knows all our histories, he never misses a birthday or an anniversary, he covers our shifts when we need a day off and no one can replace us. He's so incredible, that he's almost unreal."

He stood up and took the mop again, "I have noticed the way you look at him."

Alec swallowed, his cheeks getting crimson, "I… I don't…"

"There's nothing to be ashamed of, he doesn't deserve to be alone," and he bent to grab some empty bottles.

"Leave that to me," Alec said and was quickly on his knees to collect them.

"You're just as kind as he is," Wei said and threw some paper cups in the bin.

Alec remained with him, and they talked until Wei had finished cleaning.

"Your dad will understand sooner or later," he said putting his coat and scarf on.

"He might, but he'll never forgive me," Alec sighed.

"He will understand one day that there's nothing to forgive Alec, you don't have to apologize to anyone for giving voice to your true self, he will understand, believe me. Just give him time."

Alec nodded as they went outside and decided to take a walk. He looked up at the grey thick sky, thinking about Magnus.

He opened his drawing book and checked all the sketches and portraits he'd made of Magnus while he wasn't watching. It would have been really nice to know him better, but December was almost over and he did not even have the chance to present himself.

He exhaled. In another life, maybe.

On his part, Magnus realized he was always finding an excuse to go to the children's store. There was something in that Santa that drew him closer, even if he had never seen his face. The way he moved, his soft, tender voice, the way he got lost in his drawing, and the way he answered the kids. Raphael always made jokes about the fact that he should go to the locker room and have a closer look at the man, but Magnus always dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

As Christmas approached, Alec noticed that Magnus was often around and he never missed the chance to draw him on many different occasions.

“You should show him," he heard Raphael say behind his back as he peeked at the sketch Alec had just made of Magnus standing beside one of the Xmas trees of the mall, sipping from a coffee cup, absorbed in reading, his brows furrowed, his lips curled in concentration.

Alec suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him.

"Magnus loves beautiful things, and your portrait is amazing, you really should," Raphael stated as he walked away.

Alec closed his sketchbook when a loud thud tore him out of his thoughts. He rushed and found a crying kid on the floor, his knees up to his chin, a thin rivulet of blood on his wrist.

Alec knelt beside him, his voice soft and tender, "Hey, it's all right, I'm here. Can I have a look at your wrist?"

The boy raised his head and found Santa Claus kneeling beside him, asking him to have a look at his injury. He looked around confused, not really knowing what to do, until his eyes rested on another man standing behind his back.

"I'd let him if I were you, his touch might be magical."

Alec looked up and saw Magnus looking at him, gently nodding, encouraging him to go on. So he took the boy's hand and lifted his wrist to have a look at it; then he took out two small packages from his right pocket. He showed them to the kid.

"What's your name?" he asked softly.

"Tom," the boy whispered.

"Okay, Tom. Now I will wipe your wound and disinfect it, it won't burn or hurt, I promise. Then I am going to put a magical Santa patch on it, how does this sound? Will you pick up the drawing while I clean it?"

"Mr. Bane…" Alec started only to stop when Magnus stepped in.

"Magnus." Magnus corrected.

"Magnus can help you pick one, if that's all right?"

The boy smiled and nodded.

Alec passed the small box to Magnus and for a moment their eyes locked. Magnus smiled at him, wide and open, and his gaze softened as their fingers softly brushed, and Alec felt something cracking inside of him, like an egg breaking to let a new life peek through.

He made quick work of the little wound, covering it with a candy cane-shaped patch.

"Now,” he added, “since you have been really brave, why don’t you follow me to pick some candies out from my basket near the sleigh?"

"And I will go and search for your parents," Magnus added, "remain here with Santa."

Later that evening, he was putting his black coat on ready to go home when he heard someone coming.

"Who are you?" Magnus asked, looking surprised at the handsome man standing outside the locker room.

Alec turned and saw him, he seemed almost in a rush. He was about to answer, but he realized he couldn't breathe.

“You don’t look like a thief, so, care to tell me who you are?”

"I’m Santa. I mean, the guy dressed as Santa. My name is Alec," his voice came out barely a whisper.

"Pardon?" Magnus asked him, almost not believing he had heard well.

Alec swallowed as he felt those chocolate eyes scanning him from his feet to the last of his black locks.

Magnus blinked as his heart skipped a beat. Damn Raphael, he was right.

They both remained silent as the veil was raised, staring at each other as their hearts were fluttering.

Finally, Magnus extended his hand to him, "Actually I was searching just for you."

Alec grabbed his hand and squeezed it, his grip strong and certain, "Why?"

"I wanted to thank you for today. The way you acted with that boy…,"

"It was nothing...”

"You turned a bad event into an amazing one, one he will remember for all his life. Plus, you didn't have to, and you did anyway. This says a lot about the kind of person you are, and I never take such things for granted."

Alec was still holding his hand, stuck in a sort of trance. When he realized that, he retracted his palm, "I'm sorry, I need to go…, my sister is waiting for me outside…,"

Magnus nodded.

Alec adjusted the scarf around his neck and moved toward the exit.

"Ah, Alec? We are having a small Christmas party on the 24th, after the mall closes for the clients, why don't you come? It's an open party, we all bring families or partners…," he stopped, waiting for Alec to say something.

"I'd love to, yes, thank you. See you tomorrow," he left and headed to Izzy's car, his heart racing, his head a bit spinning.

Izzy needed just a glance to understand, "Are you ok?"

Alec looked at her and licked his lips, twice, "I don't really think so."

"What's wrong?"

He pressed his fingers at the corner of his eyes, exhaling, "Fuck, Izzy, I think I've fallen in love."

"And what's so terrible about it?"

Alec looked back at her, almost desperate, "He's the owner of the mall, beautiful and sexy as fuck, smart, and kind, and...what do I have to offer him?"

"Yourself, Alec. And believe me, it's not something you easily find around nowadays." She turned the engine on and drove him away.

After the last bowl of popcorn was over, Max was almost asleep against Magnus' chest.

"Dad?"

"Mm?"

"You were happy tonight when you came back from work, did something happen?"

Magnus kissed him on his head, gently, "Maybe, yes. I was thinking...We have a special Santa this year, do you want to come and make your wish?"

"You'd let me again?”

Magnus nodded and heard Max hum happily.

In that last week, Magnus found every excuse to be around Alec, and Alec always welcomed him with his bright eyes and his soft smile. The more Magnus stayed with him, the more he felt the desire to know him better. Magnus found himself thinking about which books Alec liked reading, what kind of movies did he watch, or what was the food he wanted to eat on a snowy night.

Magnus really wanted to invite him for a drink, but it was Christmas week and Max was at home with Cat the whole day, waiting for him to come home. That was what being a father was about. Putting Max first, every time, and Magnus knew not many would want a committed relationship with a lone parent.

Christmas Eve was really busy. Alec was searching for Magnus, but he never showed up. He wanted to see him one last time, since he’d decided not to show up to the party. He wanted to thank him for having made this month the best he had in years. All the customers had almost left when he spotted him at the end of the queue, holding a little boy in his arms, and chatting with him.

Max was the last kid of the day. Magnus knelt, putting him down and letting him walk toward Alec, to make his wish for this Christmas.

He knew that Max always asked for one thing, no matter if it was Christmas or if he was blowing his birthday candle, or watching a shooting star. All the others Santa had always given him silly answers, -- this is not a thing you can ask Santa, or this is a thing you should ask in your bedtime prayers, or Santa brings only toys-- , leaving Max always sad and deluded.

Why was he expecting Alec to give a different answer, he didn’t know.

As Max came closer, Alec opened his arms and pulled him up on his thighs, looking at him.

“And you are?”

“Max. Dad said you are a special Santa, so maybe you are the one who can finally help me with my wish?”

“I’ll do my best. What is it?”

"Can you bring my mum back?"

Alec felt like he had been slapped by a cold hand right on his face, as his eyes filled with tears.

He raised a hand and caressed Max’s cheek, staying silent as some seconds passed by, conscious of the other pair of eyes that were staring at him, aside from Max’s.

Alec thought carefully about the answer and then he started talking, “I wish I could, Max, but I can't. There are many things that happen in life that we can’t turn back or change, no matter how much we’d want or try to. Your mum has passed now and this means she can't come back, but there is something you can do about this. You can find her in the small things of your life, in the scents that remind you of her, in the melody she used to sing when she lulled you to sleep, in the words of a story she used to tell you at bedtime, in the way your smile probably looks like hers, and…,” he raised his gaze to look at Magnus who seemed visibly touched by his words, "... in the love your dad is giving you. In this way, it will be as if she never really left you. I know you miss her presence, her touch, and her voice, but if you close your eyes and search into your heart, you will find her there.”

Max looked intensely at the man in front of him, processing the words, serious and concentrated, then his face brightened in a sunny smile.

“Dad was right, you’re the best Santa I have ever met.” Max replied as he looked between his dad and Santa. He may not have his mom’s warm hugs anymore but Max did have his Dad’s embrace and bedtime stories. “Thank you Santa. I think you’re right.”

Alec let out a startled laugh as he held the candy basket out for Max, “Now, any other wish I can help you with?”

“Is there something you wish to have back and can’t, just like me?” Max finally asked, picking up a candy cane.

Alec inhaled a sharp breath, “Of course there is.”

Max smiled and looked up at Alec, “Then come and spend Christmas with us, so you can tell me.”

Alec cleared his throat, “Leave a plate with cookies and a mug of hot chocolate, and I’ll see what I can do, ok?”

Then he kissed Max on his head, picked his sketchbook and drew a big comet on it. Giving it to the kid he told him, “Never stop believing Max, the best things come to us when we less expect them. Merry Christmas.”

He stood up, tearing another sheet from it, walked toward Magnus who was still kneeling and staring at him, handing him the drawing, “This is for you.”

Magnus looked at his portrait on the paper. He wanted to say something, but voices and laughters were coming from the hall of the mall, signalling that the Christmas party was about to begin.

“Magnus, Max?” they heard Raphael call.

Alec stepped back, grabbed his pencils and went to change his clothes, leaving Magnus and Max there.

He felt his heart aching at the idea of leaving without a word, but he knew that going to the party would have only meant to feel even worse when he had to say goodbye. He dressed up and before leaving he put a drawing next to the locker of each of the persons he had met and worked with, in those days.

“So you’re not coming,” he heard Wei say.

He turned, his eyes were red with unshed tears, that he wasn’t ashamed to show. “It would only be worse later. I’m already lost. I don’t want this to be out in the open, and if I ever get in there, with him, with them, I won’t be able to disguise it. Thank you for being my friend and confidant while I was here,” he told Wei as he hugged him, “Watch over him and make sure he’ll give his heart to someone worthy. Say goodbye to everyone, it’s been an honour working here.”

He patted the man on his back one more time, and then made his way out, deciding to walk home and let the snowflakes wash away the tears that were streaming down his face.

At the party, Magnus was trying to get distracted, but his mind was fixed on Alec, on the way he answered Max, and on the way the boy had seemed to want Alec in their lives.

Maybe he was the right one.

He would have asked him out, if only the man would show up, but he didn't, and Magnus had lost his hopes.

He was standing next to the bar, drinking and staring into the void.

"Drinking to celebrate or to forget?" Wei asked him.

"Neither of these, just drinking and enjoying the two days of rest we have ahead of us."

The old man hummed and took a glass himself.

"It seemed you were searching and waiting for someone who didn't come," he said, “Alec went away."

Magnus frowned and then exhaled, his voice turning sharp and bitter, "Ah yes, I call it the lone parent effect. It never fails to strike."

Wei looked at him, savouring his cocktail. The man looked to be weighing something in his mind before he spoke.

"He went away because he has feelings, and feared that these weren't reciprocated."

Magnus put down his glass on the counter.

"Who told you?"

"He did, just before leaving. And that's not the only thing I know about him."

Magnus shook his head, smiling, feeling his heart expand.

"Sit here with me and let's have a talk, Magnus."

The morning sun hit Alec right in the eyes and he cursed himself for not closing the curtains enough last night when he’d come home. He remembered feeling sad and being a bit tipsy, after stopping along the way to have a couple of beers.

He wasn't really used to drinking, so he always ended up confused and hobbling, until there was a couch or a bed to fall into.

Alec got up and stretched his arms and legs, staring at the thick snow already covering the roofs, and still falling from the pearly grey sky.

Jace and Izzy were out of reach for a couple of days, trapped in all those pompous meetings his parents always held at their place.

He put the coffee pot on the stove and took a pan, opened the fridge and looked at the watch. Nine o'clock. It was going to be a very long day.

He toasted some bread and cooked two sunny side up eggs, and put the plate on the table. He was scrolling his phone while eating, chuckling at the secret pics his siblings were sending him, before taking the still fuming cup of coffee, and going back to the couch, opening a book.

After a while he went to take a shower and then warmed some other coffee before getting dressed.

That's when he heard the doorbell ring.

He quickly put on a thorn old sweater he used at home and a pair of loose sweatpants. It must have been the old lady on the first floor, she knew he was alone.

He opened the door, threading his hand through his already ruffled hair and lost all his capacity to think and speak when he saw Magnus and Max, hand in hand, standing on the threshold of his small apartment, on that Christmas morning.

He wanted to say something, but didn't know where to start from. Magnus was looking at him, a shy smile on his face, a doubtful look in his eyes, as if he was sorry for showing up without calling him first.

Luckily Max was there too.

"So your real name is Alec?" the boy asked him.

Alec looked at Magnus, asking for silent permission, before nodding back.

"Me and dad had a talk about Santa," Max giggled, "he says that mall Santas are only interns right now. Like high ranking elves! Now I know why no one could help me, but at least, your words were honest, and we are here for a reason," and he elbowed his father on his leg.

Magnus seemed lost for a moment, trying to find the right words, then looked at Alec and said, "We were wondering if you would come and spend these two Holiday days with us. Our home is big enough and we have a spare room."

Alec looked at him and shrugged, incredulous.

"I want you to come, Santa Alec, please."

"And you?" Alec asked Magnus.

"I would love to. I would love to know you better, if you'd let me."

Alec smiled and it felt as if the sun had ripped through the clouds, even if it was still snowing, "I would love that too."

Magnus winked at him, "So that's settled. We will wait for you in the car while…"

Alec grabbed his wrist, pulling him inside.

"I'm sorry I didn't invite you in, I was… distracted. If you both don't mind the small place, I have some warm coffee and I can make you a hot chocolate Max."

As they sat on the couch, Alec warmed the coffee and prepared the chocolate.

The radio was playing in the background -- It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas --, Alec looked at Magnus intensely as he handed him the cup, and maybe, from now on, life was really beginning to look a lot like something they had been waiting for, for a long time.

#notquiteascrazy #malecsanta20 #*fic20 #*gifts20

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supergirl-fanfiction · 4 years

Text

Oblivious

Lena Luthor x Reader

Requested by- @zhellas

Gender Unspecified!Reader, during their first week at Lexcorp (entry-level position of some sort), keep running into a really nice supervisor named Lena and they have friendly conversations about work, the company, life, etc.. Lena Luthor likes having the honest conversations with the Reader as they appreciate that quality in them, the Reader is pretty cute, and also she’s super amused that they somehow don’t know who she is

(Y/N)- Your Name

(L/N)- Last Name

Warnings- None that I can think of

A/N- So I didn't do this prompt exactly how it was suppose to be done but I hope you still enjoy it.

You were extremely excited. Today was your first day at Lexcorp and even though you were really only a glorified intern you didn't mind. You were just happy to get your foot in the door. I mean you had to start somewhere right? Right. You nodded to yourself before walking into the building. You were looking around trying to remember where exactly you had been told to go to. You bit your lip nervously and began to look around slightly confused. Of course you would get so excited to be here that you would forget where you were suppose to show up at. You were looking around for a couple of minutes before a woman walked over to you. You immediately felt your heart skip a beat. It should be illegal for someone to look so good in a suit.

"You seem lost, can I help you?" She asked you. You gave a small embarrassed smile as a chuckle escaped your lips.

"Um yea I'm (Y/N) (L/N), I just got hired. I uh got a little too excited because todays my first day and completely forgot where I was suppose to be going." You stammered slightly as you could feel the blush forming on your cheeks. She let out a small, quiet laugh.

"Well (Y/N) I'm Lena and I know where you are suppose to be headed. I actually just came from there. Would you like me to show you?" She seemed somewhat hesitant to ask you that. You didn't mind at all though. You were happy that she was willing to help you out.

"That would actually be amazing Lena. Thank you." She looked somewhat shocked that you accepted. You didn't know why. I mean why would anyone turn down an offer that would help you.

"Lead the way oh gracious Lena." You said in a joking manner. She let out a laugh and shook her head at you.

"You know most people don't joke around with me like that. It's kind of like a breath of fresh air." Lena told you before turning around and heading in the direction she had just come from. You titled your head to the side slightly wondering why before realizing you should probably follow her. You quickly jogged up to her.

"Why is that? It is because you're one of the big bosses or something? I mean if you are then I meant absolutely no disrespect by my comment." You began to ramble on. She put her hand on your arm to stop you and looked at you in complete disbelief.

"You honestly have no idea who I am do you?" She asked you. You shook your head.

"No I'm sorry I don't. Should I?"A small frown appeared on your face as you looked at her again. She did look somewhat familiar but you had no idea from where. A small smile appeared on her face as she shook her head before continuing on taking you where you were suppose to go. That was basically how your whole week went. You would run into Lena and talk with her for a little bit about anything and everything. You had learned that she had been adopted, she was insanely smart, she loved to travel and been to almost all of Europe, she usually ate very healthy but every once in a while she would spoil herself with a good juicy burger, she had the biggest heart out of everyone you knew, she didn't get along with her adoptive family too much, she used to compete in fencing and was extremely talented, and so much more. Every time after you two talked though people would give you weird and judgmental looks. At least you had thought they were directed at you until you finally decided to confront some people about it.

"Ok seriously what did I do to you guys. Every time I talk to Lena you guys give me nasty looks." The people looked at you shocked. They looked around trying to make sure Lena wasn't around not realizing that she was right around the corner listening into the conversation. She almost wanted to stop it from happening because she was certain after this that you would no longer talk to her and she had enjoyed talking with you and becoming friends.

"(Y/N), those looks aren't for you they're for the Luthor." You frowned slightly before looking at them.

"But I don't talk to Lex Luthor. I only talk to Lena and yea she's like one the bigger bosses or whatever she is. I actually don't know what she does huh. Anyways not the point. The point is that I don't talk to Lex Luthor. I only ever talk to Lena." You shrugged as if to prove your point. They all looked at you dumbfounded.

"Um (Y/N) do you even know what Lenas last name is?" You shook your head.

"Does it really matter? Lenas cool. I mean you should hear about all the cool places she's been and all the cool stuff she has done. It makes me want to join a mission trip or something." You told them with a small fond smile on your face.

"She's a Luthor (Y/N). Her last name is Luthor. Did you honestly not know this whole time that she is Lena Luthor Lex Luthor's younger sister?" Your eyes widened in surprise. Now you realized why she didn't get along too well with her adoptive family. A lot of other things she had told you also made more sense now.

"Well I mean that doesn't really matter. Lena is cool." You said with a shrug before walking away from them. Meanwhile Lena stood where she had been eavesdropping in shock. You hadn't even hesitated before just stating that her last name didn't matter and walking away. Now if she could only gain the courage to tell (Y/N) about the feelings she had begun to develop for them.

#lena luthor #lena luthor x reader #lena luthor imagine #supergirl #supergirl fanfiction #supergirl imagine #x reader #x reader fanfiction #x reader imagine #DC Universe #DC imagine #gender neutral reader #katie mcgrath

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Zack Snyder’s Justice League vs. the Whedon Cut: What are the Differences?

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This article contains Zack Snyder’s Justice League spoilers.

Whether you love or hate his style, there is no denying Zack Snyder is an original. From 300 to Watchmen, and Man of Steel to Justice League, his characters often hover above the screen as much as occupy it. They’re mythic figures who’ve stepped off a Botticelli canvas, or at least Frank Miller comic book panels, and they’re imbued with such a sense of scale from their director that the aesthetic is nigh impossible to duplicate. That is only clearer now thanks to Zack Snyder’s Justice League, a restored four-hour edit of Snyder’s original vision for the DC superhero movie team-up and their universe at large.

Admittedly, you’ve seen the movie’s tale before, back when Warner Bros. released a truncated, heavily reshot version into theaters in 2017. But that two-hour theatrical cut of Justice League, assembled by director Joss Whedon, really is a night and day different film. It shares many of the same scenes and story beats, but it lacks Snyder’s singular grandiosity and tonal consistency.

Comparing all the significant changes between the two versions—which we’ll hereby distinguish as the “Snyder Cut” and “Whedon Cut”—creates a fascinating juxtaposition of the different choices filmmakers can make with similar material, as well as the drastically disparate visions the directors had for these six superheroes and the larger DC Extended Universe. So join us as we contrast all the major changes (and by and large improvements) made by Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

The Opening

One of the most surprising changes made by the Snyder Cut comes immediately. Back when the ostensible Whedon Cut of Justice League opened in theaters, one thing many assumed was unchanged from Snyder’s vision was the opening credits. With imagery clearly filmed by the director—including unused footage from the Superman funeral sequence in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice—the downbeat credits were edited to Singrid’s rendition of “Everybody Knows,” a cover of a song from one of Snyder’s favorite musicians, Lenoard Cohen. I’m also fairly certain only Snyder would film a homeless man with a cardboard sign saying “I tried” in a superhero movie (the destitute figure may still appear in the Snyder Cut in an overhead shot when Cyborg is later surveying the bleakness of the world).

Indeed, quite a bit of the Whedon Cut’s opening credits scenes are used elsewhere in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, including breathtaking imagery of the Superman symbol draped in black over London’s Tower Bridge. But the new edit foregoes a traditional opening credits sequence for a more restrained montage that returns to the climax of Batman v Superman, and to the moment when Henry Cavill‘s Superman dies. In pained slow-motion, we again experience the moment of Doomsday’s spike piercing Superman’s heart and see how his scream reverberates throughout the world.

The Snyder Cut is more directly linked to the previous movie with Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor, complete with hair, hearing Superman’s cries from deep in the bowels of the Kryptonian ship. Meanwhile the echoes of Clark’s anguish reverberate all the way past Zeus’ magical cloak to Themyscira where the Amazons (rather impressively) have an entire army guarding the Mother Box they obtained 5,000 years ago. When the Mother Box hears Kal-El’s death rattle, it begins to crack, drawing a terrified Amazonian closer to its new glowing light.

And finally, we end with the cries being heard by Cyborg. It is on the image of a hunched over Ray Fisher that Snyder chooses to include his “directed by” title card, indicating a strong sense of solidarity with the character and the actor who plays him after Cyborg was largely sidelined in the Whedon Cut. Clearly this is going to be a different movie.

Batman

Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne remains the focal point, at least in terms of leadership, of both the Snyder and Whedon cuts of the film. But right down to how they’re introduced, these are subtly diverging interpretations of the character. In the Whedon Cut, Batman has the first scene of the movie that isn’t shot on an iPhone. It gets Affleck in costume immediately and features archetypal Gotham City imagery as Batman uses a criminal as bait for a Parademon, an alien from the planet Apokolips that Batman is already familiar with. He’s so aware of these creatures that Batman ignores the thief spelling out the subtext of Justice League’s first act: With Superman dead, where does that leave us?

By contrast, you intrinsically feel that absence in the Snyder Cut. Whereas Whedon and WB got Batman in the costume faster for a tongue-in-cheek action sequence with screaming crooks and flying aliens, Zack Snyder’s Justice League ignores the Batsuit for a clean two hours. Instead, it opens with Bruce Wayne already “north” in a remote part of Europe near the arctic. We get the impression he’s been traveling for weeks on a horse and over mountains, sporting a bushy beard as he reaches the fishing village Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) has provided supplies to.

The scene where Batman meets Aquaman is more or less the same, but tonally Snyder evokes a funereal quality by letting the scene breathe in Bruce’s desperation instead of Arthur’s flippancy. And rather than Bruce noticing an inserted mural of Mother Boxes being what upsets Arthur, it’s Bruce pulling a trick from Momoa’s on screen wife on Game of Thrones which sets Aquaman off: he reveals after his hosts have made fools of themselves that he too can speak Icelandic. (There is also no longer a joke where Bruce says, “I hear you can talk to fish.”)

This somber opening is strikingly different and a vast improvement (see the Aquaman section for more). After Arthur rebuffs Bruce’s request to team-up, Bruce’s defeated return trip home is also subtly changed. For starters, we see his journey to his private jet where Alfred is waiting. In the Whedon Cut, the pair’s conversation after Bruce has shaved is a reshot sequence with some admittedly amusing character-building dialogue, like Alfred saying, “I miss the days when one’s biggest concern was exploding wind-up penguins.” The Snyder Cut’s version is more expository and ominous. As neither has seen a Parademon yet in this version, Alfred doubts whether Bruce needs to build a team based on the ravings of a now incarcerated and visibly insane Lex Luthor. Batman says he isn’t just doing this based on Luthor.

“I made a promise to him on his grave,” Bruce broods about the Kryptonian alien he hounded to near death in the last movie.

The next time we see Bruce Wayne is in a scene that appeared in the Whedon Cut, if slightly different. It’s when Gal Gadot’s Diana Prince breaks into his “building” with million-dollar security. However, the Whedon Cut led viewers to believe this airplane hangar-like space was the Batcave (even though it visually looks quite different). The Snyder Cut confirms it is a decrepit warehouse near the docks in Gotham harbor. Gone also is the cheeky line, “Yeah, it looked expensive,” from Diana when Bruce mentions the cost of his security equipment.

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In this off-site Batcave area, it’s also established by Alfred that he and Bruce Wayne have built new gauntlets that absorb energy (they come in especially handy later when they save Bruce from Superman’s heat ray vision).

The first time the gauntlets are used occurs when Batman leads a nascent Justice League beneath the tunnels of Striker Island in Gotham harbor. Up until that point, most of Affleck’s scenes remain the same, even if they breathe or are edited slightly differently. Batman recruits Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) to join the Justice League while talking about competitive ice dancing, and looks positively exhausted when Barry sees the Bat-Signal. The early Commissioner Gordon scenes are also the same, albeit now without composer Danny Elfman’s Batman theme from 1989.

In the tunnels, Batman’s scenes diverge again though. There is more of the misterioso act when Victor Stone (Cyborg) says, “I heard about you. Didn’t think you were real.” The Dark Knight answers, “I’m real when it’s useful.” Additionally, Batman doesn’t really mentor the Flash in this sequence or in any other going forward. Gone is the Flash admitting he’s terrified at seeing Steppenwolf and Bruce advising he “save one” person and will then know what he needs to do.

Instead, the Flash says, “I guess that’s the bad guy” in the Snyder Cut, and Batman stoically responds, “Good guess.” Bruce also drops his sense of humor, losing some solid bits like “Sorry guys, I didn’t bring a sword” when the Knightcrawler starts shooting up Parademons. Now he simply says, “My turn.”

However, Bruce remains the stoic team leader, harnessing a steadier team dynamic. There are no insert shots of Commissioner Gordon telling Batman it’s good to see he’s playing well with others after the Striker Island fight, and rather than berate Wonder Woman and his team members into bringing Superman back from the dead, Bruce and the rest come to the same conclusion, silently.

During the sequence where Cyborg reveals the Mother Box can bring Superman back from the dead, no one says Kal-El’s name out loud. The Flash even asks, “Is everyone thinking it or am I going to have to say it?” The camera pans around the table and lands on Bruce, who is watching Cyborg’s projected image of Superman’s cape. It’s a nice moment for Affleck, who looks much more alert in this version than the Whedon Cut. The dialogue in the Snyder Cut can often be perfunctory and expository, but the vast four-hour running time leaves room for the actors to indulge in quiet moments. The only person who doubts the idea is Alfred who in another scene warns Bruce, “If you can’t bring down a charging bull, then don’t wave the red flag.”

Batman counters, “I’m operating on complete faith now.” Quite the about face from the last movie.

The team otherwise staying on the same page, even after the Superman fiasco (more on that below), is a stark difference with the Whedon Cut. Here Bruce invites the team into the Batcave proper after they lose all three Mother Boxes, with teammates regrouping; in the Whedon Cut there is a strained attempt to create tension. Particularly between Bruce and Diana….

Wonder Woman

Gal Gadot has spoken in the past about how she was unhappy with the Justice League reshoots. While still not knowing the full details of what occurred behind the scenes, Zack Snyder’s Justice League makes apparent why she’d be disappointed with the direction of her added scenes.

To be fair, Wonder Woman is still objectified to a certain degree in the Snyder Cut. Her non-warrior attire still revolves around several low-cut dresses, and there is still a (much more understated) flirtation between Diana and Bruce. In an early scene of her and Bruce discussing their prospective teammates in front of a computer—with an awkward stab at humor where she coaxes out of Bruce that Arthur said no—there’s a moment where their hands trip over the mouse at the same time, like they’re in a teenage rom-com. Similarly, when Barry and Victor are digging up Clark Kent’s grave, Barry asks Victor if he thinks Wonder Woman would “be into younger guys.” Victor dismisses the thirstiness by saying, “Barry, she’s 5,000 years old. Every guy’s a younger guy.”

But these moments are few and far between. In the Whedon Cut, they’re constant with Alfred teasing Bruce about Batman inviting Wonder Woman to a candlelit team-up dinner, and a gross gag where Flash saves Wonder Woman during the Striker Island fight but then awkwardly lands on top of her body and gets flustered. Perhaps most frustratingly though, her character arc is reduced to a lot of flirting with Bruce, and coming to see he is right when he chastises her for “still being hung up” on Steve Trevor. She then helps him undress from his armor and shares a drink with him, like co-workers with a forced “will they or won’t they” chemistry.

All of that is gone in the Snyder Cut, which instead focuses on presenting Wonder Woman as the most ferocious and noble of the film’s six superheroes.

Her first scene is much the same as in the Whedon Cut, although it’s another film school-ready example for what a difference post-production makes. We see a group of eco-terrorists take a school group hostage, and Wonder Woman stops them. But in the Whedon Cut, the scene is nimble and brightly colored with a tongue-in-cheek quality, right down to the way Elfman uses an orchestra to play Hans Zimmer’s previously electric “Wonder Woman” theme. In the Snyder Cut, the sequence lasts nearly eight minutes in a desaturated, gray color scheme. The sadism with which the terrorists want to kill their hostages is belabored, and Junkie XL uses a fearsome version of Zimmer’s Wonder Woman theme while introducing one of his own, which relies on a haunting choral harmony.

In the new cut, Wonder Woman not only throws the bomb through the roof but jumps with it to make sure it explodes faar above the skyline. And when she returns, her power move to stop the head terrorist from killing the school children is to obliterate him into dust, with his hat blowing out the window and before the faces of shocked and unnerved London police officers. Meanwhile Wonder Woman then turns around after slaughtering this man (plus another terrorist who’s head she smashes into a wall) to rather jarringly smile at the school children. She leans down before one girl to say, “You can be whatever you want to be.” It’s actually sweeter than her saying “[I’m] a believer,” but I’m not sure it works given the new tone of the scene.

The next time we see Diana is a longer version of the scene where she discovers her mother has fired a burning arrow into the Temple of the Amazons in Greece. Snyder actually uses an impressive long one-take shot where Diana remains in focus, cleaning a statue at the Louvre, while her co-workers stay out of focus and needle her with questions. It’s a genuinely dryly funny, restrained moment, unique for this genre.

There is also an all-new scene of Diana going to Greece and retrieving the arrow from the temple. It’s one of the better additions that feels like a pseudo-Indiana Jones scene of Diana using the arrow to unlock a hidden chamber beneath the ruins, and then descending with a torch. Below she discovers a spooky room filled with spooky murals containing even spookier images of Mother Boxes and war… and a godlike monster DC fans will recognize as Darkseid.

Diana’s narration of what these images tell her is also different (more on that in the Darkseid section), with no lakeside chat with Bruce. Rather than using romantic imagery, Snyder favors to-the-point storytelling between colleagues as Diana tells Bruce in his new Batplane that the Age of Heroes defeated Darkseid. That age is over.

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While Bruce is recruiting Barry, Diana has a nice scene with Alfred about making tea before Victor Stone summons her by hacking the Bat-computer. She has no idea who he is in this scene (as opposed to having seen him earlier in the Whedon Cut), and there is no conversation where she convinces him to meet her. Instead, he designates location, summoning her. Their next scene together is more or less the same as in the Whedon Cut.

Overall, Diana has few added scenes and is honestly one of the less developed characters in the Snyder Cut despite being one-half of the team’s leadership. So the inclination of giving her more to do than discover Darkseid/Steppenwolf’s backstory was a prudent one, but all it left her with was smiling longingly as Batman drives off in the Batmobile during the third act. Ugh.

The Amazons on the other hand…

The Amazons

While Wonder Woman’s scenes in the Snyder Cut largely remain the same, the Amazons are given subtle but fierce new texture in their few added moments.

The movie opens with the Amazons tirelessly on guard when the Mother Box awakens. The next time we see them, Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen) is arriving to inspect the phenomenon for a prolonged build-up to Steppenwolf’s attack. When one soldier tells their Queen maybe the box will go back to sleep, Hippolyta remarks, “Evil doesn’t sleep. It waits.”

Steppenwolf eventually attacks, leading to one of the best moments in the Snyder Cut. When he says his Parademons will feed off their fear, Hippolyta calls to her Amazons, “Daughters of Themyscira, show him your fear!” In a tribal yell matched by Junkie XL’s score, they chant back, “We have no fear!” Slaughter commences.

The battle is much bigger and more reliant on slow-motion, including shots of Hippolyta flipping off walls and hesitating to bury the other Amazonians alive. Yep, when she tells her sisters to seal the cave, it’s a death trap. The door collapses, and then the whole structure also falls into the sea. There is then A. Long. Beat. of Hippolyta thinking she’s killed Steppenwolf before he and his Parademons ascend from the sea to slaughter more of the Amazons.

The Amazonians’ defeat is largely the same, although there is now a long denouement, with the Amazons having a musical prayer that grieves their dead and brings magic to the arrow they’ll fire to warn Diana. The Amazons and Wonder Woman iconography are also much more heavily featured in flashbacks to Darkseid’s first attack on Earth 5,000 years ago. We get better shots of Zeus and Ares (David Thewlis from Wonder Woman), and Amazonian Venelia (Doutzen Kroes) being filmed like she’s one of Snyder’s 300 Spartans in the ancient war. But all of that is just background for…

Steppenwolf and Darkseid

Steppenwolf is one of the most dramatically improved characters in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Beyond more spikes being added to his armor (and his chin being slightly shrunken from its ridiculous size), the Ciarán Hinds-voiced baddie’s motivations are wholly different. In the Whedon Cut, he was a generic “conquer the world” supervillain who was defeated thousands of years ago on Earth by an alliance of men, Amazonians, and Atlanteans. He then returns and refers to his Mother Boxes as “mother.”

While he still chases magic boxes he wants to use to conquer the world in the Snyder Cut, he’s at least a little more nuanced and a lot more despairing toward the whole endeavor. Steppenwolf is revealed to be a meek middle management malcontent with dreams of coming home. As we eventually learn in dialogue exchanges over BvS’ weird molten metal intergalactic telecommunication technology, Steppenwolf is a pariah back home on the planet Apokolips. Long ago, he was party to a failed coup against comic book creator Jack Kirby’s ultimate space fascist, Darkseid (Ray Porter). Think Thanos before there was a Thanos.

“I fall before you,” Steppenwolf moans during his first conversation with Darkseid’s minion DeSaad (Peter Guinness). “Let me make a plea that I may come home after I take this world in [Darkseid’s] name.” But DeSaad will not hear it, saying Steppenwolf is basically on probation for helping an attempted coup against Darkseid millennia ago, even if Steppenwolf then changed sides and killed Darkseid’s other betrayers. Now Steppenwolf has a debt of a 150,000 worlds he must conquer in Darkseid’s name if he wishes to return home.

Basically, Steppenwolf is a putz. Hence he can be both menacing and pathetic when he first attacks the Amazons and remarks of them, with a hint of resigned boredom, “Defenders? Defenders have failed a hundred thousand worlds. They always fail.” And it’s with exhaustion he decides to create his home base on an irradiated scrap of Russian land because it’s toxic.

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Darkseid, by contrast, is introduced to be Emperor Palpatine meets Sauron. Aye, there’s a real Lord of the Rings level of ambition to Diana’s flashback to the Age of Heroes. Rather than Steppenwolf, it’s Darkseid who first steps foot on Earth, turning some of the soil into the scorched cursive hellscape that Kirby fans will be intimately familiar with. We also get a better look of his foes, including an alien Green Lantern whom Darkseid personally kills by cutting off his hand. The green ring flies away before the fiend can grab it.

The sequence is filmed to mirror the opening moments of The Fellowship of the Ring, with Darkseid’s defeat harkening back to the glorious day the people of Middle-earth were victorious. However, personally speaking, it doesn’t reach that height, with Darkseid coming off like more of an overpowered Orc who’s out-flexed by Ares. Yep, David Thewlis’ villain from Wonder Woman is revealed to be the guy who whoops Darkseid’s ass in the end, planting an axe in his shoulder blade and leading the Greatest Evil to be carried from the battlefield, screaming.

Much later in the movie, Darkseid is introduced properly when Steppenwolf reveals he’s learned Earth is home to the Anti-Life Equation. It’s a pretty vague secondary MacGuffin in the context of the Snyder Cut, although Steppenwolf says it would give Darkseid power over the multiverse—it’s unclear why Darkseid did not know it was on Earth when he lost to Ares and the band of heroes, or why he never could come back for it.

However, Darkseid then appears on the telecom with Steppenwolf, causing the Spiked One to take off his armor for the first time and show his bare flesh in fealty to his space dictator. Darkseid promises Steppenwolf he can come home once he’s taken Earth and brings Darkseid the Anti-Life Equation.

We also get a glimpse of how Darkseid plans to use it. Elsewhere in the movie, Cyborg has an inexplicable vision the moment right before a Mother Box is used to bring Superman back from the dead: It’s of an Armageddon much darker than the Knightmare scene in Batman v Superman. The sequence begins with the Amazons finally off Themyscira. They’re burning Wonder Woman in a funeral pyre after putting two coins on her eyes for the boatmen. Hippolyta cries.

Elsewhere in a montage, Superman grieves over the scorched body that can only be Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and Darkseid appears to place a not-so-comforting hand on his shoulder. Later we see the ruins of the Hall of Justice that diehard Superfriends fans will recognize, with an evil Superman flying over it with heat ray eyes. Finally, we see Darkseid himself murder Aquaman with his own trident…

This appears to be an inevitable future of “the Snyder Verse.”

Aquaman

But that is not the destination of the current film. The Snyder Cut, after all, has to lay a lot of groundwork that’ll make us care about these characters in the here and now.

Aquaman is the first to get that treatment in his early scene with Bruce Wayne (detailed more above). The Whedon Cut includes Arthur Curry saying, “You’re out of your mind, Bruce Wayne” as he gets into freezing cold water to swim away. In the Snyder Cut, we don’t see him shoot off. Rather Arthur disappears quietly beneath bubbles between shots. Snyder’s desire to emphasize the godlike wonder of these characters is then underlined in neon when several villagers see him off by singing a worshipful Icelandic hymn in Aquaman’s honor.

If the point is missed, after several minutes of crooning, one woman walks up to caress the sweater Aquaman took off and sniff it, savoring his undoubtedly godlike musk.

The sequence of Aquaman saving a crew from a shipwreck is almost exactly the same in the Snyder Cut, although there are no added jokes about him calling the captain “Ahab” in the bar. Additionally, there’s a really nice grace note of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ “There is a Kingdom” playing when Aquaman goes to brood stoically before a raging storm. It’s exactly the same as in the Whedon Cut, but Whedon makes it generic blockbuster filler with a White Stripes song playing in the background. Snyder goes for a mournful, reflective tone that resembles the better elements of his version of Justice League.

Afterward Aquaman makes his first of two trips to Atlantis in the film—meeting Vulko (Willem Dafoe) in a scene that was entirely deleted. It turns out the effect of Atlalnteans only talking in air bubbles was always a Snyder affectation, although what was lost in the Whedon Cut (and eventual Aquaman movie) is that all the properly born Atlanteans speak with English accents. Dafoe’s Vulko is a bit hammier, seeming adjacent to Dafoe’s wonderful turn in The Lighthouse. But Amber Heard’s Mera speaking her lines in a purely Posh London accent after a whole movie of her using an American one in Aquaman is a real trip.

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What brings Arthur back the second time is Steppenwolf diving below the waves for the Mother Box. He learns of its location (which is unexplained in the Whedon Cut) by torturing Atlanteans whom Parademons have dragged from the ocean, reading the water dwellers’ minds with some gruesome sci-fi spider robot.

Steppenwolf’s actual attack on Atlantis is much more coherent in the Snyder Cut. With action beats given time to pause, and Steppenwolf’s surprise appearance underwater less hilariously cringe-inducing. Mera also gets a cool moment where the villain has her pushed against the wall and says she can’t run away, “I wasn’t trying to,” she responds. Previously, we saw her use superpowers to suck water out of air pockets; now she uses it to suck the blood out of Steppenwolf’s face. He of course throws her back into the water and almost kills her if not for Arthur’s chivalrous, splash-page rescue of his future love interest.

Most of Aquaman’s subsequent scenes play out the same, although he is much less brutish and frat bro-y. There are at least three fewer “yeahs” and “alrights!,” and there is no scene of him sitting on Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth, blurting out he’s scared and horny at the same time.

The Flash

Interestingly, the Flash is both the least developed of the superheroes in the Snyder Cut and also the most unchanged by Whedon. It appears that Ezra Miller’s seemingly improvised humor was the element of least importance to Snyder, and the most useful thing Snyder filmed for Whedon’s purposes.

Maybe that’s why the Flash’s first scene in the Snyder Cut does not occur until nearly 70 minutes into the film. It’s also a wholly different introduction scene to what we saw in the theatrical cut. In the restored sequence, Barry Allen is applying for a job as a dog groomer at a pet shop when the unnamed woman who just left—or as fans know her, Iris West (Kiersey Clemons)—is almost pancaked by a semi-truck. The driver, in a rather crude cliché, is a simpleton reaching for his food on the cab’s floor when he slams into Iris’ convertible.

Luckily, Barry sees it coming and slows things down for another somber needle drop on the soundtrack. The whole thing plays like a more wistful, alternative rock version to one of Quicksilver’s big scenes in the X-Men movies. In extreme slow-motion, Barry catches a hot dog from an exploding hot dog vendor, placing it in his pocket, and then catches Iris out of her shattered car. When time returns to normal, Iris realizes she was saved by this cute dork, who then rushes back in time for the pet shop owner to be unsure who broke her window in the blink of an eye. Barry’s feeding the hot dog to her canines.

Otherwise, by and large, the Flash’s scenes remain the same until near the end. Snyder has removed Whedon’s unfunny addition of Barry drawing glasses on the eyes of someone in line while waiting to see his dad at prison, but the Miller/Billy Crudup scene remains the same but longer. Bruce Wayne still breaks into Barry’s loft and tells Barry his superpower is that “I’m rich.”

In the Striker Island action sequence, rather than “save one,” the Flash leads an exodus of civilians to the surface. And when debris nearly falls on them, he creates a shield by running so fast he looks like lightning in the sky blocking the falling rubble. He also is wounded by a Parademon laser blast so sharp it leaves him bleeding from the side of his leg, temporarily hobbled.

The one significant change before the climax is Barry and Victor digging up Clark Kent’s grave. It’s a sincerely quiet moment that (Wonder Woman leering aside) is refreshingly earnest and hushed for a superhero movie.

“I could do this in a second,” Barry says. Victor responds, “Yeah.” The implication is they should take their time and give Superman the honor he deserves. After his body is exhumed and wrapped up, Barry says, “He was my hero.”

Cyborg

Of the main five heroes in Justice League, Cyborg turned out to be the most important by far. Whatever occurred behind the scenes between Whedon, the producers, and Fisher, the actor had reason to be frustrated simply because his character arc was removed. In its place, he was forced to say, “Booyah.”

The Snyder Cut restores Victor Stone/Cyborg’s importance from the opening credits onward. It begins by basking in what isn’t sad between Victor and his father Dr. Silas Stone (Joe Morton). Initially, we spend more time with Silas, as the father throws himself into his work at STAR Labs to better understand the Mother Boxes.

Eventually, Cyborg gets his own flashback to a time when he was more man than machine. Under an aching musical theme written by Junkie XL, it’s revealed Victor was a gifted genius (his dean even says so!) at Gotham University. Victor is so intelligent, while also being a football star, that he can get away with hacking into the school’s database and changing a friend’s grades.

We also meet his mother who defends her son’s kind heart from the dean in a sequence that’s intercut with his slow-motion football glory, plus a side of melancholy because daddy wasn’t there. Only mom shows up for the game. Afterward they argue in the car about whether Dad really cares about Victor. A car is then seen rushing (unsurprisingly) into frame, T-Boning their car.

The process of Victor becoming Cyborg is only hinted at in scenes through various other flashbacks. But we do see Silas being told his wife is dead and that he’ll soon have to let his son go, too. Hence the bad blood between the two nearly throughout the Snyder Cut’s whole four hours. When we see Silas come home to Victor at their apartment, the son will not even speak to his father. Instead he reluctantly agrees to listen to a recording his father left for him. On the tape, Silas tells his son that the fate of the entire world is now “in your hands, Vic.”

Thanks to the alien technology of the Mother Box used to resurrect Cyborg, Victor has superpowers, which we see him fumblingly try out by flying on his father’s Gotham rooftop. But that’s “just the tip of the tip” of the iceberg, according to Silas’ voiceover. Victor’s high-end computer body now gives him the ability to control the world’s nuclear arsenals and the world’s economy.

This is visualized in a CGI mind palace created in Cybrog’s digital brain. There Fisher gets to play Victor as whole, and without a red eye. Some of it is effective, like floating missiles above his head. Other bits are just ludicrous, like financial markets being personified by a CGI bear slapping a CGI bull. It’s… weird.

But there are nice elements too, like Victor choosing to use his superpowers to see folks suffering, and giving a struggling single mother $150,000 out of an ATM machine. Through it all, he remains hooded and lonely, catching glimpses of people staring at his glowing countenance. It’s why he destroys his father’s recording when Dad tries to stop talking about Cyborg’s powers and instead address Vic as a loving father.

What draws Victor out of his proverbial cave is of course his father being kidnapped by Parademons. He seeks Diana Prince’s counsel but ignores her when she says his powers are a gift—I did miss the line, “If these are gifts why am I always the one paying for them?” Still, as in the Whedon Cut, he shows up on GCPD’s rooftop to join the team.

The one big addition during all the fighting is that when Cyborg flies now, his famous comic book face armor that protects everything but his red eye is finally used on screen. Plus he gets to save his father. Silas is shocked his son came for him, but Victor only says, “You’re my father.” Nothing more needs to be said.

After the Striker Island fight, however, Victor again takes center stage when Aquaman accuses him of possibly being compromised by his alien tech body. Cyborg reveals in a visual flashback, which Victor walks through in his mind palace, that the Mother Box was acquired by the Allies during World War II, taken from the Nazis’ collection of occult goodies in 1944. For nearly a century, it sat undisturbed in the Department of Defense until his father Silas realized it was similar to the technology used by the Kryptonian ship in downtown Metropolis.

That’s how Silas discovered its power, and in a horrifying flashback, he uses it when he looks at his son’s body on a slab, Vic’s lower torso gone. When Silas uses the magic box on Victor, the son screams bloody murder.

It is Victor Stone who puts the pieces together for the nascent Justice League and gets the heroes to begin acting like a real team. He puts together for the others that the Mother Box can be used to bring Superman back from the dead, and projects an image of Big Boy Blue for everyone to see.

Vic leads the team into STAR Labs to do the deed. And when Silas sees his son, still not talking to him, walk by with Batman and other weirdos, Dad doesn’t call it in. In fact, Vic and Silas are why the heroes win in this version, because after the Superman resurrection is bolloxed up, and Steppenwolf arrives to retrieve the third Mother Box, rather than run away, Silas sacrifices himself by heating the box with a laser so hot, that Batman can conveniently track wherever it goes in the world.

One could argue Cyborg was the most crucial of the heroes in organizing a true team team. Well, him and the legacy of another…

Superman

One imagines Superman’s treatment by Snyder and screenwriter Chris Terrio in what we now call the Snyder Cut, and Batman v Superman before it, played a major role in Warners’ eventual lack of confidence in the filmmakers. The beginning of the Whedon Cut even starts by course correcting where Whedon might’ve thought Snyder went wrong. Hence the awkward smartphone video of Superman talking to some children with a big smile on his face (and mustache unconvincingly erased from it).

Honestly, though? The depiction of Superman in the Snyder Cut is at times quite heroic and sweet. Certainly sweeter than the abysmal “no one stays good forever in this world” line of dialogue from BvS. However, there are major caveats.

Someone who unequivocally benefits from the new version is Amy Adams’ Lois Lane. While she again has relatively little to do, the rare moments where she is on screen in the Snyder Cut count a hell of a lot more. For starters, there is a genuinely heartfelt sequence about grief—one that it’s fair to wonder if Snyder has added special emphasis to. We follow Lois as she begins her morning routine by getting out of bed, buying a cup of coffee, and going to spend an hour or so at Superman’s memorial in downtown Metropolis.

The soundtrack plays Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ “Distant Sky,” and the scene bleeds a dignified sorrow as Lois unfurls her umbrella in the rain and walks up to Superman’s memorial to lay flowers. The cop she gives her morning coffee to asks Miss Lane if she ever skips a day, and she says there’s nowhere else she’d rather be. This is the transition to the Superman flag in London.

Afterward Lois goes nearly two hours before appearing again in the film, while Diane Lane’s Ma Kent (who is seen early in the picture leaving home) vanishes for well over that amount of time. It makes their reunion scene in Lois’ apartment feel awkward and obligatory after such a long pause, but the restored scene is still better than the “Clark told me you were the thirstiest girl he ever met” in the Whedon Cut. At least until the Ma Kent of this scene is pointlessly revealed to be Martian Manhunter. (Sigh.) It’s almost as bad a bit of forced world-building as future Barry Allen warning Batman about Lois Lane in BvS.

Meanwhile the League all comes to the idea of resurrecting Superman at the same time, and there are no second guesses other than Alfred’s skepticism. Thus begins a resurrection sequence where it’s genuinely affecting to hear Zimmer’s Superman theme again as Kal-El’s body is placed into the Kryptonian ships goo-room. Similarly, Snyder achieves another grace moment when Lois sees Superman flying in the sky right after his resurrection. Before this moment, Lois made the decision in bed that morning for this to be the last time she’d visit and grieve Superman’s death at the memorial. We’re also teased to the fact she keeps a pregnancy test on the nightstand. So she made her final trip to his memorial.

And on the same day, Superman came back.

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Unfortunately, his return is much the same as it was in the Whedon Cut, with the gloomy gray cinematography and the outright sinister version of Superman who’s apparently forgotten his identity. In fact, he’s more menacing than the familiar footage of him smacking down Wonder Woman and Aquaman. Now he takes time to study his monument before still coldly attacking the other superheroes and using his heat ray vision to try and murder U.S. soldiers stationed by his memorial.

If not for the interference of Batman, Superman would’ve killed servicemen. For what it’s worth though, he tries to kill Batman too. Gone is the “do you bleed?” callback to the previou cut. Instead Superman uses his heat ray vision to try and cook Batman inside his own cowl—which is only stopped by Bruce’s special “energy absorption” gauntlets.

As with the Whedon Cut, Bruce’s death is prevented when Lois shows up, but now of her own volition, and she and Clark fly away to Smallville. And once there, Superman’s soul returns and we get nice Americana scenes of Clark Kent watching a butterfly land on his hand, and Lois joining him in the wheat field.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he says of the engagement ring he planned to give her before his death, and which she keeps on her hand. Soon Ma Kent joins them and it’s a lovely moment of reconciliation with the women in his life. It’s also far more emotionally effective than the version of Lois apologizing to Clark for “not being strong” after he died in the Whedon Cut.

And yet… it’s compromised by the constant foreshadowing of another heel turn in Superman’s future. The Kryptonian ship keeps warning, pleading even, with Cyborg that there is “no turning back from this action” as he prepares to resurrect Superman. Only then does he have a vision of an evil Kal-El drifting over a smoldering Metropolis. This muddle created by these conflicting sensibilities—folksy domesticity versus foreboding doom—do not mesh. At all.

At the very least, Clark returns to the Kryptonian ship to find there was a black Superman suit hidden all along in the corner. Additionally, he hears both of his dads’ voices, Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and Pa Kent (Kevin Costner). Some of it is old audio about “they’ll join you in the sun” from Man of Steel. Some of it is new recordings, which don’t really make sense as both men are dead. But we hear Pa repeat, “Fly son” and Jor-El intone, “Love them as we loved you.”

Black-suited Superman then flies into the orbit, taking the same Christ pose he had in Man of Steel, visually suggesting the Lord is risen, hallelujah. Superman then flies to the Batcave and meets Alfred, who tells him where to go… for the end of things.

The Ending

It is the ending, when everyone comes together, where the Whedon Cut and Snyder Cut perhaps most definitively diverge. It’s still technically the same ending: the five main members of the League show up in a nondescript Russian town to fight Parademons. Superman returns at a desperate moment and they all prevent the Mother Boxes from becoming one ungodly MacGuffin that would destroy Earth, knocking Steppenwolf on his CG ass.

Yet how these elements are incorporated, and where they leave the DC Extended Universe, are like on different planes of existence. From the top, the gore level (as with the Striker Island fight) is just more extreme in the Snyder Cut. Batman shoots Parademons with his Batmobile and then later uses the aliens’ own plasma guns against them; Wonder Woman beheads and cripples more computer generated baddies than all the armies of Gondor combined. Even Aquaman’s trident tastes blood.

There is also a much stronger sense of teamwork in the Snyder Cut. Batman’s suicide play of driving headlong into carnage makes more sense in this version as he crashes his plane into one of Steppenwolf’s magical machines, which brings down a force field and lets the team enter beneath the villain’s dome. And instead of Wonder Woman coming alone to Batman’s rescue, the whole team fights alongside his Batmobile for a freeze frame worthy of a splash page. It really is bizarre that Whedon, who was so good at these kinds of images in his Avengers movies, took this one out.

Once inside Steppenwolf’s evil lair, things are also far more exciting. There are no civilians (or randomly shoehorned in Russian family) to save. But there are enormous stakes as Cyborg has to stop the Boxes by merging with them. In the process, he enters his proverbial mind palace to face the three boxes in the flesh, as they’ve turned into literal witch crones. At first they appear as his dead parents, promising mom is ready to be reunited with her “broken boy,” but it’s a ruse that torments Victor to an even greater degree.

Meanwhile Steppenwolf has opened a Boom Tube portal to Apokolips where Darkseid, DeSaad, and Granny Goodness are waiting to take over Earth and claim the Anti-Life Equation. It was always “save the world” stakes in both versions, but you actually feel them in the Snyder Cut, particularly since… the heroes fail.

In a development that maybe would’ve left a Flash solo movie with nowhere to go, Darkseid and Steppenwolf briefly win, the three Mother Boxes merging despite Cyborg’s best efforts. The world instantly begins being ripped apart by a CG blur which presumably will turn Earth into a hellscape. The Flash, who is further afield from the action and bleeding from a gruesome wound in the side of his stomach, knows he has only one choice: to run backwards in time fast enough to reverse the flow of time.

It’s a trick that is expected to play heavily in DC Films’ upcoming Flashpoint inspired film, and Barry executes it here to undo the heroes’ defeat. Running into a seeming tornado of blue computer generated lightning, Barry undoes the damage and gives Cyborg a little more time, with Superman’s help, to stop the boxes from combining.

The action prevents the world’s end and allows Aquaman to skewer Steppenwolf like a fish on a hook. In the Whedon Cut, Steppenwolf is slashed by Wonder Woman and unsatisfyingly undone by becoming so fearful that he triggers his Parademons’ scent, and they eat him alive. Essentially, it’s a dippy retread of The Lion King where Scar is devoured by his own hyenas.

While certainly more bloodthirsty, there’s no denying there’s a satisfaction in Aquaman stabbing Steppenwolf, Superman punching him, and finally Wonder Woman beheading him. That is justice for her fallen Amazonian sisters.

Afterward, the whole direction of the DCEU still pivots toward darkness in Snyder’s vision. The Boom Tube to Apokolips stays open long enough for Steppenwolf’s head to return home. Darkseid crushes it beneath his foot. He also accepts that, for whatever reason, they cannot reach Earth through the Boom Tubes due to this defeat. “We will do things the old way,” Darkseid hisses. He summons the armada to head to Earth, setting up a very different future for the DCEU.

Epilogue

Continuing on the divergent paths between the Whedon and Snyder Cuts, the epilogue of the latter (complete with a title card) essentially presents the road not taken in the DCEU. Many of the elements we saw in the Whedon Cut remain, such as Bruce and Diana opening up Wayne Manor to become the headquarters for the Justice League by building a table “with room for more;” we also see Barry tell his incarcerated Dad he got a job at the Central City crime lab; and of course there’s Superman’s beloved shirt rip.

However, there’s so much more added on by Snyder. Some of it is very intriguing, such as Diana taking the arrow from her mother and looking out at the horizon of the Aegean Sea by the Temple of the Amazons. The implication is she’s begun yearning to return home. Could this have once been the plot thread of Wonder Woman 2? Could it still become the plot thread of Wonder Woman 3?

The most effective element is, again, Cyborg as he reconstructs his father’s broken audio recording and hears Silas’ love as a “father twice over.” It’s bittersweet Victor never got to verbally reconcile with his papa, but just saying, “You’re my father” might’ve been enough.

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Yet the epilogue ultimately becomes a teaser for what Snyder’s original vision for a Justice League trilogy might’ve looked like. In the Whedon Cut, the sequence of Lex Luthor on a yacht with Deathstroke (Joe Manganiello) comes as a post-credit sequence. In the Snyder Cut, it’s part of the body of the story. The build-up to Lex’s escape is longer, and once on the yacht he has no quippy joke about “forming a league of our own.” But he does tell Deathstroke that Batman’s secret identity is Bruce Wayne.

That captures Deathstroke’s attention and seems to set up potentially catastrophic events for Bruce’s future in Affleck’s now defunct The Batman movie. It also would appear to further set up the Legion of Doom Justice League sequel with Deathstroke and Luthor.

But that’s pittance compared to the far bigger stinger for the future. In one more “Knightmare,” and another vision of a future where Darkseid has turned Earth into a Mad Max apocalypse, we once more see Affleck’s Batman as a road warrior in a desert, this time with Amber Heard’s Mera, the Flash, Deathstroke, and Cyborg as his road trip buddies. Clearly Cyborg’s vision earlier in the film came to pass, with Mera swearing she’ll kill Darkseid in order to avenge Arthur.

The biggest bombshell here though is that this is where Jared Leto reprises his performance as the Joker. I wish I could say it was better than this grubby, grinning, awkward reshoot moment where he talks about giving the Batman a reach around. Bruce’s dialogue isn’t much better as he mumbles, “When I held Harley Quinn, and she was bleeding and dying, she begged me with her last breath that when I killed you—and make no mistake I will fucking kill you—that I do it slow.”

We’re a long way from Adam West, eh? The sequence ends with Evil Superman appearing with heat ray vision, coming to kill all of them. This clearly stands as a trailer for Justice League sequels that almost certainly will never be. It’s also a vision for the Justice League trilogy Snyder originally planned with Terrio that’s making its rounds across the internet. Part III was meant to be about Batman and the Flash in the ruins of a destroyed Earth traveling back in time so Batman could make sure that Lois Lane never died—sacrificing his life so Superman never turned to evil. Again.

I can’t say this scene adds a lot to this movie, any more than the final, final tease of Harry Lennix’s Martian Manhunter showing up one more random time to give Bruce Wayne a pat on the shoulder. He says your parents would be proud of you and that he wants to join his team. Affleck’s Bruce is strangely not perplexed by any of this and gives off a general “Cool story, bro” vibe.

Martian Manhunter travels into a future we will never see, setting up a sequel that has been abandoned. It’s a shame, but it is so brazenly, defiantly Snyder’s vision—and so far removed from the Whedon Cut’s goofy ending on Superman and Flash having a happy go lucky race to the Pacific—that one can at least give this to to the director: He did it his way. There’s something to be said about that.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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overly-b · 4 years

Text

Love Letters to Jade

This has been in the works for a while now, but Jade is back on tumblr so I thought there’s no better time to post this!!

Hi Jade, Bri here. Lex @marvelrose01 and I wanted to do this for you to show you how loved and appreciated you are by your friend on tumblr. We know that you’ve been going through a hard time, and we wanted to prove just how special and fantastic you are. These are for you to have, to read whenever you want, and for you to remember when you’re feeling low.

Thank you to all of those who sent in their letters! You guys truly made this special!

If you are a friend of Jades and wish to add on, please reblog this with your letter and tag it “love letters to jade”

Without further adieu, here are our love letters to Jade

@midnightmagicmusings @midnightmagicmusingsmain I love you!

Dear Jade,

hiii bb!! just wanted to let you know how spectacular you are! you’ve got so much sunshine in you (literally) and it shines so bright everyday! you’re one of the sweetest, strongest people i have ever encountered and i’m so thankful to call you my friend! i love when you send me jj concepts that always make me soft 🥺🥺 and i love your positive energy! i love that you connect me and my acc with palm trees and i hope it stays that way forever!! you’re a QUEEN don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise!! 💗👑

Love Abby @softstarkey

Dear Jade,

You have no idea how much I love an appreciate you. You became friends with me when a lot of people weren’t anymore. I know you don’t really know about that but I had lost a lot of friends before you started talking to me. I was getting pretty sad and I started watching obx. After that, I joined the fandom and you were my first friend. When we got to talking we had so much in common and I was so glad to have met you. You helped me through more than you realize and I’m so happy to call you my friend. You’re by far the sweetest, most kind person I have ever met. You’re like a big sister to me and I’ve never had someone like they before so I’m very gratful. I love and appreciate you so much, remember that.

—

Brie <3

Dear Jade,

You are one of my closest friends on here and I am so happy I bet you!!! I cant believe how easily we fell into a friendship once I dropped into your messages randomly. You were so chill and rolled with it and we just talked about concepts. I loved that night so much and I cant believe I didn’t know you sooner. You are so so sweet to me, a better friend than I deserve. And as you know, I am always here for you, but your always there for me too. Asking about my day and begin interested in what I have to say. You are amazing and I love you to death. Your writing is amazing, and you mean so much to me babes.

Love, Maggie

Dear Jade!!!

you’re one of the bestest people i’ve ever met and i always want to help you and protect you and when i hear you’re having a bad day i go into attack mode because you should never have to have a bad day. you deserve all the good days in the world and i think you deserve more than that even, only the best, because you’re such an amazing friend even if i dont interact with you too much, and thank u for staying my friend cause i know that i dont message or tag you lots but you still are so happy to interact when i do and sometimes you tag me in things and i think thats so amazing and i love iti’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, i dont care what i have to do for you, i’ll do it in a heartbeat with no questions if it means helping you out of a tough situation or protecting you from a meaniehead. you deal with so much everyday and i’m so proud of you for getting up the next day again and again and still continuing to stay positive and post no matter how many mean anons say you shouldn’t, and im proud that i can say you’re my friend and it makes me happy every-time i see an ask from you in my inbox

you’re the best, jade, and you’re dandy and nice and caring!

and in the spirit of the “Jade, you’re cancelled” anon:

Jade, you’re Squid-approved

and i love u🥺💕

-from squiddy”

Dear Jade,

Hello beautiful how are you? I love your work and just some of your post. I know we aren’t close but if you ever need someone to talk to I’m your girl I promise I’m not a middle aged man who got out of a divorce and living in his ex wife’s basement. Now I have t been following you for very long but I have stalked you a few times and you seem amazing just some people are dickheads and don’t know how to be nice but send them my way I’ll hurt em good. I can’t wait for the Swim School series with JJ it’s gonna be great.

Love, Kelsey aka @k-k0129

hi jade!! it’s me amy(kissessforharryyy)

and i just wanted to let you know how important you mean to me and many people on this app. i love you very much!! i’m so happy we became mutals on your main account!! if you ever wanna talk about anything and i mean anything we can!! i love you very much and i hope you have a great day everyday💝💖💗💘💓💞

@verified-dumbass

Jade,

you are the sweetest person I've ever known. I know the times we interact are few, but everytime we talk you manage to uplift my mood simply by being so genuinely nice. The positivity you radiate is immeasurable and I know it sources from your kind soul. Even though the world has shown you hardships and you've gone through so many challenges- more then I can imagine- you never have taken out your emotions through hate and I have such admiration for you for that. You are so beautiful, (both inside and out,) you are so strong, and you are so loved. Never forget how much you mean to the world. ❤

Hey Jade,

so I know the past few months have been hard on you and I just wanted to let you know how loved and appreciated you are. You're one of the best friends a person could ask for and I'm overjoyed that I was one of the lucky persons who had the chance to meet you. I hope you enjoy the rest of the summer and know that our conversations are one of the things I will miss the most at basic. I love you bunches babe 💜@marvelrose01

Dear Jade,

How insane is it that something as simple as a show can bring two people like us together. Two people who live so far away from each other, and who would have never known each other other wise if it wasn’t for their crazy stupid love for a show and their tumblr blogs. We became friends over a comment about being short, and a second comment about being hard of hearing. I have never been so thankful for a dumb app because that dumb app lead me to you. The friendship and love that you and I have developed in the past two months is truly one and a million and I am consistently amazed by your strength and will. We talk every single day and I wouldn’t change a single thing!! I’ve been with you through some good times and some bad times, and honestly all I can say is that shit gets better, it truly does. Sometimes it has to get worse first, which sucks, but it always always always will get better, and you always have a friend in me. I love you, I appreciate you, I value you and what you have to say, I am thankful for you, and I am lucky to know you and have you be my friend. From Bri+JSquared, to the serious life conversations that we have and the struggles we go through, I wouldn’t give it up for a single thing. I love you to the ends of the earth Jady Baby.

Bri, @overly-b

#bri talks #love letters to jade

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wlw-in-space · 5 years

Note

You should make an oneshot or like explain how it was when Lena first took Little!Luthor in and how r met all the superfriends in the process. Would love to see like a backstory on how r and lena’s bond grew :). ( since you mentioned in the kidnapping fic that in the very beginning r wasn’t used to the touchy affection )

Lex.

Lex had never been involved in your life.

Before he had been sent to prison, you would see him occasionally on holidays when he came to visit Lilian but he would never pay you any attention because he simply just didn’t care enough.

He said he did, but you knew he didn’t.

Lena leaves for college.

You remembered the day Lena left to college.

Not very clearly, but you still remembered.

You were young, seven or eight probably.

Lena had been your best friend up until that point. She knew more about you than anyone and you loved her unconditionally.

She was the perfect big sister.

Lilian didn’t seem to like her very much, though, and you could never figure out why.

Either way, you begged Lilian to let you go to the airport with Lena to say goodbye.

Lilian didn’t want to deal with you being a pain for not letting you say goodbye at the airport, so she reluctantly agreed.

When it was time for Lena to leave, she crouched down to be eye level with you and pulled you in for a tight hug.

In return, you clung to her tightly, “I’ll miss you, Lee. Please come visit.” You said tearfully.

“I promise I’ll come visit, honey. Okay?” Lena released you and brushed away your tears, smiling sadly. “I love you, little one.” She kissed your cheek and stood, waving goodbye to Lilian and blowing you a kiss before she turned down a corner and you couldn’t see her anymore.

As soon as you and Lilian got back in the car, she scolded you for crying like a baby.

Growing up is lonely.

Since Lena was in college and Lex was doing god knows what, you pretty much grew up only being around Lilian.

She wasn’t a good mother, that was for sure.

If you thought she treated Lena badly, she treated you ten times worse.

She was fed up with you and she had never wanted another kid in the first place.

Lilian never failed to tell you that, to remind you of how annoying you could be, to scold you constantly, to tell you to grow up.

You did though. You matured extremely fast and something about that bothered you.

Your innocence had been stolen by your own corrupted family and your mother at its core.

Reuniting with Lena.

The longest you went without seeing Lena after she had left for college was a year and a half.

The reason for that was mainly because she and Lilian had been arguing and Lilian told her that if she bothered coming to visit for the holidays, there was no way she would see would let her see you anyways, so there was no use in coming.

You of course didn’t know that until one day Lena called you on the phone and explained in depth the reason why you wouldn’t be seeing her for a while.

You knew she was upset about it, that much was clear. You could hear it in her voice. That didn’t exactly stop you from feeling upset though.

It was ‘funny’ enough that the next time you did see Lena was when Lilian got arrested.

It was odd for her to see you again. You weren’t the little ray of sunshine and hug machine she’d once shared a home with.

Yeah, when she used to visit you would greet her with a big hug and be attached at the hip, but even when she did visit, you were lucky if she stayed four days at a time and that wasn’t very much anyway.

The only times you had gotten affection was from Lena visiting and spending a whole year and a half completely alone made you unused to people being close to you and getting affection from people.

You were excited to see her though, you’d missed her a lot, you just didn’t know how to express that as well as you used to.

Lena was at the manor in a short two hours once Lilian was in prison.

She’d expected that when she’d gotten there that you would be overjoyed to see her and you guys would have a sweet moment together but that wasn’t exactly what happened.

You smiled when you saw her and waved a little.

Lena rushed over to hug you but faltered a bit when you seemed reluctant to get up.

You noticed and felt badly, so you stood and hugged Lena, sighing softly as you felt her familiar arms hold you close to her, as if you could be taken from her at any second.

It didn’t take long for Lena to realize how you’d tensed up, and she took that as a sign to give you a bit of space.

—

Playing catch-up.

You guys caught up on each other’s lives quickly. There wasn’t really much to say about your own life, since you didn’t do much with Lilian breathing down your neck constantly and being a Luthor, you barely had any friends and had only dated like, three people (and all three of the relationships ended badly).

Since you were older now, Lena told you about how boarding school was for her, and it seems like she was having a much better time that you were or would ever have.

There were times when people would bother her about being a Luthor, but she still had friends and she dated and nothing really stopped her from living her life and being herself in school.

It was clear that Lena felt bad for you. She seemed to look worried while you talked about school and how the people there treated you.

At the same time, she couldn’t help but feel a little at fault, since she was the reason a bunch more attention is being drawn to the Luthors.

“Hey, uh, it’s not your fault,” You said suddenly after Lena had been quiet for a couple of minutes.

“Sorry?” Lena raised a brow, confused at the sudden conversation.

“It isn’t your fault that your experience with the Luthors was better than mine. I just wanted to remind you that, in case you forget or something,” You shrugged.

—

Rushing through high school.

After about a week of living in Lena’s penthouse, you were starting to get more used to being around her.

You weren’t going to school because for the last year, you’d been homeschooled due to all of the drama and conflicts with Lilian.

Since you literally had no friends, you spend your time studying, and sped through two and a half years of high school.

You went with Lena to L-Corp, she didn’t want to leave you alone yet, and while you were there you worked on finishing your last year of high school.

—

The first time you hugged Lena yourself.

It was hard to stop yourself from hugging Lena. You really wanted to.

Sometimes you just wanted to be held in someone’s arms and feel safe and protected.

When Lena got home from work you were sitting at your desk in your room with your history homework in front of you. You’d stayed home because you knew she had to go to the DEO for the majority of the day and you didn’t want to have to talk to anyone besides Lena yet.

You hadn’t managed to get any work done all day, which was unusual because you were usually productive.

Instead of working, you’d spent the day thinking of how much better of a mother Lilian could’ve been, if Lena had taken you with her to National City when she first moved, if Lex wasn’t insane and he’d been a good big brother, if your family was normal, how completely alone you had been for years.

When she came to your room to say hi, your eyes were wet but you weren’t crying.

You turned and looked at her standing in your doorway for a few seconds before getting up and walking over to her, stopping right in front of her.

Her expression softened and right before she opened her mouth, you threw your arms around her neck and pulled her as close to you as you could.

You felt her let out a breath as she wrapped her arms around your waist slowly, not wanting to startle you.

Lena almost found herself crying, so happy that you’d finally hugged her, but concerned nonetheless.

“Is everything okay?” She asked you, quietly as she rubbed your back gently.

“I don’t want to feel alone anymore,” Was all you had to say for her to hug you just a little tighter.

—

Working on your relationship.

After that, you and Lena became closer.

You started to bond more and both of you loved it.

The two of you established a movie night on Thursday night and after a bit of convincing, Lena was able to persuade you to agree to meet her friends.

That was in a week or two though.

Enchanted was the first movie you guys had decided to watch. Lena pulled it up on her tv while you made popcorn and poured it into a bowl.

The reason you guys had chosen it was because it seemed like the last thing either of you would really enjoy, but maybe that was the best part about it.

You sat down, setting the popcorn on the coffee table and grabbing a blanket from one of the baskets underneath the tv, throwing it to the couch beside Lena.

Lena chuckled as she put the remote on the arm rest and unfolded the blanket, patting the space next to her.

You smiled and flopped back on the couch, positioning yourself so you were leaning against Lena and her arm was around your shoulder comfortably.

You sighed contently, taking a handful of popcorn and eating it.

Throughout the movie, Lena was subconsciously rubbing your arm, which you noticed as soon as she started doing it.

It ended up being pretty good, in all honestly. You and Lena both thought it was really cute.

“The songs were really catchy,” You admitted as the credits started.

Lena nodded and chuckled, “Yeah, I have a feeling they’ll be stuck in my head.”

“Thanks for watching the movie with me,” You smiled and buried your face in her soft sweater.

“Of course,” Lena smiled and kissed the top of your head gently. “I love spending time with you.

—

You meet Kara and Alex for the first time.

You and Lena had agreed that it was better for you to meet one or two of her friends before you were thrown into a game night with a bunch of new people, that way you had at least two people to talk to other than Lena.

You guys had planned to meet for a mini girls night of some sort, with pizza and a movie at Kara’s apartment, which Lena told you was where most game nights were held.

As Lena knocked on the door, you stood slightly behind her, fiddling with the sleeve of your coat nervously. She turned around and looked at you, giving a reassuring smile and putting her arm around you.

A second or two later, the perky blonde Lena had shown you a picture of was at the door, bouncing on her heels, standing next to the redhead girl who was an inch or two shorter than her.

She smiled widely and pulled you into a tight hug, “It’s so nice to finally meet you, (y/n)! I’m Kara and this is my sister Alex.”

You laughed at Kara’s enthusiasm and returned her hug the best you could before she let go and grinned. Alex also greeted you with a hug, her more gentle and soft, but it felt protective at the same time.

“I didn’t know people could be so good at hugs,” You chuckled when the four of you had sat down on the carpet around the coffee table to eat the fresh pizza Alex bought. “I just thought Lena was the only good hugger.”

“Well, there’s a lot more where that came from,” Kara chuckled, taking a bite of her pizza.

Lena smiled at you, feeling a bit of pride. She was so happy that you were getting along well with Kara and Alex, even though you guys had just started talking.

You looked up at Lena and smiled back at her, scooting a little closer so she could wrap an arm around your waist with the hand she wasn’t using to eat.

The entire time you guys spent eating pizza, you were talking at the same time.

Kara straight up told you that she was Supergirl, not wanting to start with a secret, knowing how complicated it would make everything since Lena knew and she went to the DEO a lot.

Then Alex explained the DEO to you and told you how she was the director. She also mentioned that her girlfriend was a cop.

“That’s so badass,” You smiled, chuckling when you felt Lena nudge you after you curse.

“Languageee,” Lena teased with a raised brow.

“Oh, come on, Lee, as if you don’t have a worse potty mouth than I do,” You rolled your eyes and nudged her back.

Lena smiled at the nickname. You hadn’t realized that you said it, but she did. You hadn’t called her ‘Lee’ since you were little, and her heart swelled a bit when she heard the familiarity of the way you said it.

During the movie, you sat in between Lena and Alex. They’d decided on watching a horror movie, and since you hadn’t really seen one before, you figured that they couldn’t be that bad.

You were veryyyy wrong though. You hadn’t even caught the name of the movie because you refused to look at the screen.

About halfway through the movie, Alex told Kara to switch off the movie and put something else on because you had ended up sandwiched tightly between her and Lena, holding Lena’s arm around your waist tightly and burying your face into Alex’s hoodie.

You let out a sigh of relief when Kara flicked back to the menu of her tv, making Alex and Lena both laugh, and loosened your grip on Lena’s arm, “Sorry.”

“You’re all good,” Lena shook her head and pressed a comforting kiss to your temple before running her fingers through your hair gently. “Now we know, no more horror movies for you.”

You chuckled, “In all honesty, I didn’t think it would be this bad.”

“Oooh, we should watch UP!” Kara grinned when it caught her eye as she was flipping through the movie menu.

Alex groaned, “Kara, we watched UP last month.”

“Yeah, but it’s so good! Have you seen it, (y/n)?”

“No,” You shook your head. “I’ve only seen like four movies.”

Kara and Alex’s jaws dropped simultaneously and Alex took the remote from her sister, quickly pressing play, “Okay, this might make me a hypocrite, but you need to watch this movie.”

You and Lena chuckled at Alex, and you looked up at her with a smile.

She smiled back at you as you leaned into her more, tucking your head underneath her chin.

Maybe National City was growing on you.

—

Your first time meeting Maggie.

Lena was on a business trip to Europe for a few days, and although she insisted that she wouldn’t mind if you went, you reassured her that you could stay in National City comfortably.

She eventually gave in, knowing that you disliked flying just as much as she did, but made you agree that you would stay in Alex’s apartment (after she asked Alex, of course).

You settled in quickly, it only took you Friday afternoon to get used to her homey apartment and you really enjoyed spending time with Alex anyways.

Alex woke you up on Saturday at 10, wanting to let you sleep in a bit, with breakfast ready.

“You are the best ever,” You grinned and raced over to the kitchen table, sitting in a chair.

Alex chuckled and sat beside you, “Anything for my favorite teenager. You’ve got a fruit bowl, pancakes, and French toast to eat, don’t let it get cold.”

Both of you dug into your breakfast before you washed it down with water, “What’re we doing today?”

“Maggie has the day off today so we could hang out with her if you’re okay with that,” Alex shrugged as you both carried the dishes to the sink and she started washing them.

“Ooh!” You grinned. “Maggie’s your girlfriend, right?”

Alex blushed and rolled her eyes before nodding, “Yes, she’s my girlfriend.”

“Awh,” You chuckled. “I’m totally fine with that, and I’d love to meet her.”

“Okay, perfect, I’ll call her now. Do you wanna change and get ready to head out while I call her?”

You nodded, “Yep!”

When you got out of the bathroom, Alex was sitting on the couch watching some random show called NCIS. You walked over and sat next to her, fiddling with one of the rings on your fingers as you watched the tv.

The moment a knock sounded on the door, Alex smiled and shot up from where she was sitting to go answer it.

You stifled a laugh at how fast Alex reacted and turned around to watch Alex open the door and kiss the shorter woman standing in the doorway.

After a few seconds of them literally making out in the doorway, you cleared your throat softly and Alex pulled away, blushing, “Sorry, (y/n/n).”

Maggie walked into the apartment and Alex closed the door behind her, so you got up to say hi.

Apparently it was like, a National City thing where everyone hugs everyone when they meet for the first time because Maggie hugged you too when you walked up to her, “Hey, kid. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you from Lena, Kara, and Alex.”

You chuckled, “All good things I hope.”

“Yeah, of course,” Maggie smiled.

After a little small talk, things started to get more comfortable and you were liking Maggie more by the second. She had this sarcastic way of joking that you found hilarious and on top of that, she was really really nice.

Soon, you guys decided to go ice skating in one of the nearby ice skating rinks.

You’d never actually ice skated before, so Maggie and Alex taught you.

You were a pretty fast learner and soon you were skating almost as well as they were. Of course, all of you had a few falls here and there (and they were all hilarious), but overall you guys were doing well.

When you guys had finished, you went for ice cream before returning back to Alex’s apartment.

—

Your first game night.

You and Lena were running a little late to game night.

It was your fault, since you’d changed what you were wearing three times before finally settling on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, a white shirt, and a red hoodie.

Lena didn’t mind though, she knew you were nervous to meet the rest of her friends and you really wanted them to like you.

In a short 20 minutes, you were at Kara’s door, standing a little behind Lena, who looked behind her shoulder and pulled you up gently before putting her arm around your shoulder and knocking on the door.

From the outside of Kara’s apartment, you could hear Kara squealing, “They’re here!” and less than a second later, she was opening the door and pulling both of you into a group hug.

Lena went to go around and say hi to everyone, so Kara made it her responsibility to introduce you to everyone. First, you said hi to Alex and Maggie, before Kara introduced you to J’onn, the man who was talking to them.

He was really nice and you got the feeling that he was extremely wise, just from talking to him for a little bit.

Then she introduced you to James, who you’d seen a picture of before. He showed you some of the pictures he’d taken recently, which really intrigued you.

After that, Kara introduced you to Brainy and Nia. You thought they were like, the cutest couple ever. Just the way they looked at each other was adorable.

Finally, you were introduced to Winn, who you’d actually heard a lot about. You were excited to meet him because he seemed like a lot of fun and he totally was. His sense of humor was a bit unusual but funny nonetheless.

The night sped by quickly. You ate pizza, shared stories, and played games with everyone, and you never really felt like they didn’t want you there, or like you didn’t belong there.

Yeah, National City is pretty nice.

240 notes · View notes

lorenzodemedisi · 4 years

Text

Won’t Forget You.

PAIRING.

Steve Rogers x Rachel Summers (Earth-818)

SUMMARY.

Rachel Summers was beyond the state of shock when the famous Captain America felt from the sky and burst open her ceiling to plunge hard on her living room’s floor. She’s been alone for so long that she completely forgot that in the outside world life was going by. Little did she know that by helping the super soldier in great needs she would yield her own shell in front of the bluest eyes and a killer smile.

A/N.

FLUFF, Fluffy, Fluff and a bit of Angst! ( wow i’m shocked )

That’s right I'm writing a fluff piece for a change, I'm impressed with myself. My anxiety and depressive ass can be happy sometimes *O*. Anyway, this one-shot will probably evolve into a series...Maybe. But, I fell in love with Rachel Summers when I was reading an X-Men comic last summer and I really wanted to see more of her but there isn’t so much stuff about this character, so here I am, writing a Steve x Rachel. if you want more information about her, here’s a link or just ask me. As always thank you very much for reading, it means a lot to me. Don’t hesitate to give your thoughts, comments, and feedback! I hope you enjoy my fluffy piece.

A lots of Love. Lex. xxx

WORDS.3597ish.

°°°

Steve Rogers groaned, exhausted and wounded, he felt a cold cloth wiping his forehead. He tried to move his head and opened his eyes, feeling a soft cushion behind him.

« Don’t move. » A soft and feminine voice instructed him. « Your injuries are pretty bad, it’s better if you don’t move. »

But Steve will have none of it. Opening his eyes, he growled low and deep when his vision hit the soft light coming from the rustic windows and a blurred sight of a red-haired woman.

« N-Natasha? » Steve whispered closing eyes, feeling a huge headache creeping inside his brain. « I wished. » The woman chuckled softly, putting the wet cloth in the small bowl on the bedside table. As she saw Steve turning his head toward her, the woman frowned. « I told you, not to move soldier. Don’t let me uses my power on you. » She scolded her eyes becoming gold but when Steve smiled at her words, they turned into a soft blue again destabilized by his reaction, she sighed. « You sound like her. » Steve informed her, his voice raspy and tired. He frowned closing his eyes « W-Where am I? » He asked. « In a safe place. » The woman whispered, looking at the soldier wounds on his hand. « And why… » Steve swallowed, licking his lips. All his body was hurting like hell. Which is good right? It meant that he was healing. « A-And why should I trust you? » He asked, turning his head once again toward the stranger.

He opened his eyes, seeing more clearer, he met her deep and clear blue sight. She was red-haired and a halo of light was around her head, making her looked like an angel. She smiled softly, her eyes were bright and her skin seemed smooth and soft like silk. She was beautiful.

« Because I didn’t kill you when you burst through my ceiling in the middle of the night. » The woman replied shrugging her shoulders.

She smiled one more time before raising from the chair taking the bowl filled with dirty water and leave the room where Steve, tired, get back to sleep. He was badly wounded. Rachel didn’t know from where he came from, but last night he just fell from the sky and dropped on the ground of her living room, making a huge hole on her cabin’s ceiling. Bloody and unconscious, she took him in. Because that was the right thing to do.

°°°

Steve Rogers woke up a few hours later, feeling better. Opening his eyes, fully this time, he could see that he was lying on a bed, in a small but very well-decorated room. The walls were only woods, with very beautiful paintings tied on them. The light was less bright and the sun was still up. He put himself on a seating position and looked at all his injuries. His hands were bruised raw, and he felt his ribs burning a bit. His headache was just a dull feeling at this point, and a few cuts on his arms and legs but nothing that his body won’t heal alone. As the door open, Steve took the green sheet, and cover his naked chest seeing the pretty woman from earlier enter with a food tray in her hand. She laughed looking at his reserved reactions. If only he knew what she had to do, in order to help him heal him last night, she thought shaking her head.

« Don’t be such a prude, Captain » She chuckled putting the tray on the bedside table next to him. « Who are you? » Steve asked dead serious, his tone hard. He was thinking fast. Well, as fast as his brain could allow him right now.

He already had spotted the potential threat in the room and possible exit. The woman, even though she seemed really nice and pretty, was a potential threat.

« I’m Rachel. » She smiled, extending a glass of water to him. « Only a few, sip.» She advised him. « I made chicken soup and garlic bread. I hope you not allergic to either of those. » She winced, tucking on her long blue skirt.

Steve looked warily at the food, but his stomach betrayed him as it growled with hunger.

« I can’t get allergies, thanks to the serum. » He informed her, siping his drink. « Right. » Rachel nodded, then took a seat at her usual spot next to the bed. «Do you remember what happened last night? » She asked gently passing him the hot bowl of soup.

Steve shook his head as he put the glass on the small table and took the hot dish in his hand. He took the spoon Rachel offered him and start to take a hot and huge mouthful of the food. He hummed surprised by the delicious and amazing taste of the meal. Rachel chuckled softly seeing him enjoyed what she had prepared.

« Well, according to the news, you and your amazing friends were attacked on your Quinjet last night. It seemed that it was a terrorist group, named H.Y.D.R.A, I think. » Rachel explained to him, watching him eat.

Steve stopped to move, the spoon mid-air as he remembered everything that occurred last night. His team, the Avengers were going home from a successful attack on an H.Y.D.R.A base, and then dozens of men coming from nowhere attacked them, blowing a hole on the small plane. He remembered sending Nat and Clint to safety inside of two Stark’s capsule thing - it was like a small plane for one person. Thor took the fight outside flying in the sky taking most of the men with him. Tony putting on the suit followed the God. And Bruce took this unfortunate moment to change into the Hulk, compromising the all plane already in a wreck. At that point, Steve had already taken down, most of the remaining men. But the Quinjet was crashing, with the weight and angriness of the Hulk. Steve's only way out, was to jump out of it before it exploded on the ground. He remembered jumping, falling and then nothing. He looked up, his eyes catching Rachel’s gold one. He blinked once and they were back into their original blue one.

« Whoah! You guys can surely make every battle into an epic fight. » She muttered, amazed. « What? » Steve frowned. With his super-hearing, he had heard every word the red-haired woman had whispered. « What? » She exclaimed a little bit louder. « I mean, don’t you want to call someone. I don’t know, any member of your Team, perhaps? » She smiled, licking her lips. « Yeah, sure. » Steve suspiciously watched her. And then he remembered the conversation they had earlier « Don’t let me uses my power on you. » She had said to him. Taking a mouthful of the soup, Steve, almost, forget his thought. Tasting the salty and flavorsome soup on his tongue. « But after I finished this miracle. » He hummed taking another spoon.

Rachel discreetly sighted. She had almost been busted.

°°°

« Stay put. » Maria Hill advised him. How could Steve stayed put? Half of his team was M.I.A. Apparently, Clint was badly injured, his pod crashing on some rocks or something and Maria Hill told him to « stay put » when he called her through the phone and she said that she will call him when she would have more information. Steve will have none of it. Raising, he put back his undershirt lying at the foot of the bed. He walked difficulty but with purpose to the open door but froze dead in his tracks. He was completely and utterly shocked to see this woman, Rachel flying. Yes, she was flying her body floating in the air, her head raised and inspecting the huge hole, oddly it looked just like his body, on the ceiling. Steve caught the sight of his shield, resting next to the chimney. He took it, without making any sound, but he didn’t know about the second wooden plate next to the blue carpet who creak loudly once you step on it. Rachel heard it, lost control of her levitation, and dropped dead on the ground. She aimed the couch, falling on it hard then bounced once and put her feet on the ground.

« Are you insane, sneaking on people like that? » She yelled, outraged. « You will tell me who you are right now before I knocked you to the ground. » Steve command in his Captain's voice, raising his shield in attacking mode and making a fist of his other hand.

He looked dangerous, in front of Rachel who gasped seeing the huge metal disc being waved in front of her face. She backed away raising her hands in front of her chest, protection mode, and bite her lips.

« Ok, ok. I will tell you everything, but please, Captain, put the shield down! » She exclaimed, making a move toward the ground. « Are you with H.Y.D.R.A? » He asked making a stepped toward her. « No! » She cried out, making a stepped back. She took a deep breath, understanding that he won’t let go of his shield. « My name is Rachel. Rachel Anne Summers and I’m a mutant. I know I will sound completely crazy but - » She licked her lips, her hands were shaking a little. « Try me, I’ve seen a lot of crazy and weird stuff happened. » Steve encouraged watching her warily, up and down. « I’m not from this reality ok? » She sighed. She looked at him frowned and tucked her skirt into her hand. « There is a lot of alternatives reality where, alternate us, exist and have done other choices than we do in our own reality. For example, where I’m from you are dead. » She explained, shrugging her shoulders. « What? I-m…» Steve stuttered, shocked by the revelation Rachel was telling him. « Yes, that’s a story for another day, but all you really need to know is that: I’m a mutant and I have powers. » She stated flexing her fingers a bit. « Like flying? » Steve asked nodding at the open ceiling above them. « It’s a little bit more complicated than that. » She grimaced a little thinking about all the Phoenix subject and her statue as an Omega Mutant. « I need to seat down. » Steve informed her, his head throbbing with his headaches from his injuries but also because of thinking too hard.

Aliens, alternate realities, H.Y.D.R.A… the modern world was being more and more complicated. He was about to seat down on the couch, putting his shield on the floor but a boiling sound made Rachel jumped on her feet and clapped her hands together.

« Not here, Captain, the milk is ready! » She exclaimed pulling on Steve arm’s for him to rise from his spot. « I don’t understand, why I can’t seat here if the milk is ready. » He frowned feeling his headache returned in full force.

Rachel smiled before walking through a door behind the couch under the bewildered look of the Captain.

°°°

Steve faintly smiled as he now understood better the excitement of the woman. Seating on the porch of the small cabin next to Rachel, he sighed. Oddly for him, he was happy. A hot cocoa mug in his hand and the beautiful sunset behind the breathtaking landscape of woods was a quiet and enjoyable moment. Rachel smiled seeing him smiling and took a sip of her beverage. It was one of her tradition when the sunset came, she sat alone on the stairs of her porch and watched the beautiful scenery with hot cocoa and only the quiet sound of the wood for company.

« What’s a mutant? » Steve asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

Rachel took a deep breath, maybe it was better to be alone.

« It’s a person born with a DNA slightly different from the usual combo. » She explained looking at birds taking a flight on the pinkish sky. « It’s their DNA, that gave mutant power. It’s completely random, a baby could be born with a mutant’s DNA whereas his parents are normal. » She turned her head to looked at him. « Unlike you Captain, I was born with my super-powers, thanks to mom and dad. They were mutant. » She took a sip of her drink, winking at Steve who only grinned. « Why are you here then? And not on your own Earth? » Steve asked, putting his cup on the wooden floor. « War happened, people who didn’t understand the mutant, killed us or imprisoned us. » She revealed dropping her eyes on his cup. She huffed seeing he had already finished his drink. « I’m kind of familiar with that. » Steve raised his eyebrows, resting his back again the pillar behind him. « My parents where afraid for me, so, with the help of another mutant, they just send me here. I was eleven. » Rachel bit her lips, feeling the tears threatening to fall on her cheeks, but she held them, not wanting to cry. « I was taken by Nick Fury and the S.H.I.E.L.D organizations, that’s how I know Natasha Romanov. » Rachel revealed, nodding her head.

She took a sip of her drink, looking at the trees in front of her house. Soon she would have to cut some of them because of the Winter coming. Steve was surprised, he knew Fury had some very odd and mind-blowing secrets of his own, but he didn’t imagine that kind of secret.

« And so you’ve been alone since then. I mean without your family and friends from your own reality? » Steve asked her, feeling a bit sorry for the woman who rescued him. « I don’t mind being alone. » The red-haired shrugged. « It’s when I do my best thinking. » She replied with a smile.

And I don’t have to hear all the internal thoughts of other people, she sadly reasoned.

« Yes, me too. » Steve sadly smiled, looking at the view in front of him.

It’s been a while since he didn’t just stop, and enjoy simple life things. Like a good view, a good beverage. He turned his head looking at the woman next to him who after putting her drink down had a chocolate mustache on her lips. A good company.

« You have a small something on -» Steve smiled pointing at his own lip. « What? » Rachel frowned, wiping her lips, a soft pink blush on her cheeks. She had taken most of it but not all of it. « Just- » Steve pointed his finger at her own lip, but she missed the spot again. « Wait, here. » He whispered, wiping the chocolate with his thumb, his eyes watching her.

He took his finger into his mouth licking it. Rachel's eyes went back and forth between his pink mouth to his blue eyes. She was strangely closer to him and could see a hint of green into the clear blue that was his eyes. Steve felt drowned toward her, her sweet vanilla and bit spicy scent feeling his nose. Suddenly, he felt dawned by her, and her aura. She seemed to be everything that was holding the epitome of his happiness on her lips and he had to touch them. Rachel Summers was a mystery, some kind of girl coming from another reality. But she seemed genuine and took him in and patched him up when he felt into her house without any question ask. He didn’t know if he trusted her. He didn’t know if he could but right here, right now all Steve Rogers needed was to let go, for once and enjoyed the sweet and romantic moment. So he leaned his head toward her face as Rachel closed her eyes. He brushed hir lips, asking her, a quiet question. She felt butterflies into her stomach before pressing her mouth on his; raising her hand to softly stroke his clean-shaven cheek. Steve kissed her even more but a faint sound made her broke the kiss.

« Umm…It’s my phone and it’s probably for you. » Rachel flushed, her eyes avoiding to look at him. « I’m gonna go answer. » He told her, before rising up and entered into the house.

Rachel took a deep breath. What was that? Eyes wide open, she shook her head and bite her lips. Putting her head on her knees she watched the sunset, a shy smile on her lips.

I just kissed Steve Rogers!

°°°

And now, he was leaving. Rachel’s compass in one hand, and one of the many maps, Nick Fury had given to her when she moved into this small house, in his other hand. His full suit on, and his famous shield on his back, Steve was ready to join back his team. According to Maria Hill, a Quinjet piloted by Tony was waiting for him a few miles away from Rachel’s cabin. He couldn’t lend next to the red-haired woman’s house because they were some kind of shield force around her home. When Steve confronted her about it, she only shrugged turning her back to him. Steve took his helmet and put it around his face. Rachel looked at him in the dim light of her living room, the only sound was of the cover-up brushing the wood’s ceiling. The night was now set around the woods and Rachel for the first time, felt empty and lonely. Strangely, sadness filling her cores, even though she met Steve less than 24 hours ago and he’s been conscious for 5 hours of those. She liked those moments she had been with him.

« That’s ok if I walk through this shield force. It won’t hurt me? » Steve asked suspiciously, sorting his helmet on his neck. « Why do you ask me? I don’t know anything about this shield thing. » Rachel waved vaguely her hand above her head. Steve pursed his lip, knowing deep down that she didn’t tell him all the truth about her powers. « All I can say is that you traversed it last night, just fine and without any complication. » She smiled pointing at the ceiling.

Steve chuckled softly under his breath. She was right. He licked his lips watching her fully. Wearing a long blue skirt with a white crop top, she avoided looking directly in his eyes. Rachel was the kind of woman who was independent, funny, sweet but also mysterious. And he really wanted to decipher every bit of secrecy she was hiding behind these big blue eyes.

« I’m gonna be back, you know. » Steve informed her, with a knowing smile. « No, you won’t, Captain. » She replied, sad. « But that’s ok, I won’t forget you.» She winked.

Steve laughed, before turning around and stepped outside in the cold and icy wind of the woods. She was wrong he will be back, he knew it deep down.

°°°

Rachel Summers was again, levitating by the time Steve was back. But this time, she was flying outside next to trees, with a huge blade in one hand. Steve was looking at her, she hasn’t changed since the night he left her a few months ago. He told her he will be back and there he was. Steve needed some short but good holidays after the Ultron affairs. And after taking the lead of the new Avengers Team, he just left leaving a note to Natasha explaining that he will be back in a couple of weeks. And he couldn't think of anything better place than Rachel Summers’s cottage as a holiday location. Rachel heard a faint crack sound. Someone was there, turning quickly in the air she was ready to attack, her blade up and her fist being immersed into a faint golden mist, but she was shocked to see Captain America smirking at from below. Confused, she lost her balance and concentration and started to fall but this time there wasn’t any couch to fall on to. Rachel started to panic, crying out loud she already saw herself crushed on the floor. But then she saw the outstretched arms of Steve’s as he ran to caught her into his stronghold. Rachel’s body felt right into his figure, but her descent was fast, made the soldier lost his footing and fell to the ground, the red-haired woman above him.

« I told you to not sneak up on him, Steve! » Rachel yelled, hitting, softly his hard chest as she raised to look at his laughing face. « And I told you, I will be back. » He replied still laughing. « Hey, Rachel, it’s the first time you called me Steve. » « What are you doing here? I saw the news! Are you ok? » She frowned looking at him, annoyed but searching for some injuries on his body.

He wasn’t wearing his suit, but a soft blue shirt and a pair of jeans. Steve looked rather normal dressed this way. Not like the bossy and always serious Captain.

« I want to know more about your Earth, the other reality. » Steve softly smiled, pushing a stray of her long red hair behind her ear. « And also, about you. » Steve looked at her blushing under his deep gaze.

She pushed herself from his body, taking his hand into her own and lift him up.

« I told you my story if you told me yours? » She asked, crossing her arms on her chest, smiling at him. « That’s fair. » Steve conclude, taking the blade who fell next to them. « Let’s start with this. » He waved the weapon, raising an eyebrow. « Alright. » She nodded biting her lips. « But I need hot cocoa, do you want one? » « Yes, please! » Steve almost yelled.

Rachel laughed in front of his excited face. She hasn’t forgotten him. But it seemed that he didn’t forget her either.

°°°

Tag List: @jtargaryen18

#Steve Rogers x OC #Steve Rogers x Rachel Summers #Steve x OC #Steve x Rachel #Steve Rogers Fanfiction #Steve Rogers #Chris Evans #Rachel Summers #Fluff #Story; Won't Forget You.

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balorclubbabe · 5 years

Text

Jealous

Seth Rollins/OC (smut): You and Seth have always been flirtatious with each other, but you’re waiting for him to make a move and ask you out. As things move along though, you discover that Seth has a tendency to get jealous and an even worse tendency to never want to admit it. (Includes: so much smut)

Ahhhh I’m so unbelievably happy that this is finally done. (Seth is still Intercontinental champion so that goes to show how fucking long this has taken me oops) For the life of me I cannot believe how long this ended up being. Thank you in advance for reading and I hope you like it!

Tagging the lovely: @1dluver13xx @racingandreigns @nothinginlifebutgreif @godlymissbalor and @never-sawft-princess

A huff of breath escaped my lips as I stood before one of the many tables in catering, eyeing over my options. The selection for the night wasn’t particularly expansive, so I decided on the not so exciting option of a pre-packaged salad. Besides, my nerves seemed to be suppressing my appetite.

As I went to grab a bottle of water, I could see from my peripheral someone moving closer to me from the left. “Hey you.”

My heart fluttered slightly at the voice. “Hey Seth. What’s up?” I turned to face him.

Seth Rollins is someone that I’ve had a massive crush on for I couldn’t tell you how long. I mean, how could you not? Besides being insanely good-looking, he was an absolute sweetheart who never failed to make me laugh.

I don’t know what you could classify us as though; definitely more than friends, but nothing had happened besides some playful flirting on a pretty consistent basis. A couple of weeks ago we had gone out to grab a cup of coffee, just the two of us and I had thought maybe, just maybe, he was going to ask me out but all I got was a kiss on the cheek and the promise of, “We should do this again sometime.”. Since then, the flirting had continued as usual, but that was really it. He hadn’t been acting any differently around me, so I wasn’t sure how to approach the whole situation.

“I caught the end of your interview with Owens. You did great.” He was smiling at me. “I mean, you always do great, but that was definitely one of your best yet.”

I tried to fight off the flushing of my cheeks and returned the smile. “Kevin carried most of it if I’m being honest. He’s great at pretending to be obnoxious. But thank you.”

Seth chuckled, “Yeah. He is.” A brief silence settled between us as we stood there, when Seth grabbed a bottle of water for himself. “I’ll catch you later?”

I nodded, “Yep. Good luck with your match.” And bumped my hip into his ever so slightly as I brushed past him, hoping he’d notice my sort of subtle attempt at flirting.

We parted ways, me heading to take a seat with Nia and Alexa, while Seth walked back to the other side of the room to finish his own meal, sitting down with Roman and Dean.

Alexa leaned closer to me once Seth was out of earshot as I took my seat. “Ooooh what’s happening later?” She was half-whispering, a look of excitement on her face. “A date?”

I rolled my eyes at the short blonde. They were seated fairly close to the catering tables, so it came as no surprise that the pair was able to eavesdrop on my conversation. “I wish. I have to interview him for a segment later, that’s all.” I frowned, suddenly having even less of an appetite as I idly stabbed my fork through my salad. “Besides, I’m pretty sure Seth only sees me as a friend at this point.”

“Oh please, anyone with eyes could see that he’s into you.” She gestured over her shoulder with a nod of her head towards Seth’s table. “He’s clearly not trying to be subtle.”

“I thought so too Lex. I mean after he asked me to get coffee that one time I thought…I don’t know, maybe he’d ask me out.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe I’m reading too much into all of this? I mean, friends go and get coffee together all the time.”

Nia arched a brow, interjecting. “Hold up, you’re seriously waiting for him to ask you out? Girl, do you know what year it is? Just ask him out.” She made it sound like a breeze; I always admired her confidence in situations like this, but I wasn’t so sure I could ever muster up the courage to be so assertive and straightforward.

I laughed, “Believe me, if I had any idea what was going on in that head of his, I would totally consider it.” I pointed my fork in both of their directions. “Emphasis on consider.”

Shortly after I continued picking away at my dinner, my dear friend and fellow wrestler Zack Ryder entered catering. “Hey ladies, what’s going on?” and made himself comfortable, plopping down in the empty seat to my left.

Zack was one of my longest and closest friends, to the point where I’d consider him more like a brother. We had known each other way before WWE and thankfully ended up on the same brand this time around.

“Not much. Oh hey, great match by the way. Are you done for the night?” I quickly posed the question, hoping Nia and Alexa wouldn’t choose to let Zack in on our prior conversation. Mainly because I knew how prying Zack could be with this kind of thing.

“Oh girl I know you’re not trying to just change the subject like that.” Nia shot me a look before turning towards Zack. “Help us out here, Ryder. Don’t you think she should ask Rollins out?”

Zack sipped his protein shake, a giant grin spreading across his features. “Ooooh so you like Rollins huh?”

I shushed him, hurriedly clamping my hand over his mouth. Zack was naturally loud, he couldn’t really help it, but I still didn’t want the entire arena to hear him. “Shhhh!” My eyes darted around the room for a few seconds, relief flowing through me when I saw that Seth remained enthralled in conversation with Roman and Dean, having not heard Zack’s outburst.

Unfazed by my actions, Zack licked my open palm, immediately causing me to retract my hand. “Ugh not cool, Ryder.” I whined, hurriedly wiping my now sticky hand off on the front of his tank top.

“Sorry.” Zack laughed, draping his arm over the back of my chair. “They have a point, though. You should ask him out. What's the issue?”

“Hmm I don’t know, maybe completely embarrassing myself?” I mumbled. Why the hell did everyone make it sound so easy? I couldn’t be the only person on the planet to think asking someone out was hard. Was I just being a baby about this? “Zack please drop it? He probably doesn’t even like me as anything more than a friend.” I let out a sigh, my confidence once again tanking. “Who’s to say I’d even have a chance at all?”

“Hey come on, none of that.” Zack was smiling, but I knew his words were serious. Any time I would feel down about myself, Zack was usually one of the best people to cheer me up. I never knew how one man could be so optimistic so often. “You’re a total catch. Rollins would be a complete idiot to not realize how awesome you are.”

“Thanks Zack.” I smiled and gave his arm a squeeze, a sign that I appreciated his kind words. “Just do me a favor and don’t go screaming it to everyone in catering next time.”

Zack grinned, pressing a kiss to the side of my head. “Aww you love me and you know it.”

I glanced up again, wanting to triple check that Seth hadn’t overheard our conversation. I was met with the sight of his back as he walked out of catering, while Roman and Dean continued to eat. I breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that he probably had to rush off to get ready for his match.

I had just finished sitting in hair and makeup, adjusting the bottom of my dress so it smoothed down at my legs. I was rehearsing the upcoming segment in my mind; Seth was supposed to come backstage after his match with Ziggler, IC belt slung over his shoulder which would prompt me to ask who he thought his next challenger could be. Afterwards, he had a very short window of time before he was supposed to head back out in order to sit ringside with commentary during the main event, robbing me of another opportunity to try and be with him alone.

Meanwhile, Zack was lingering about, grinning at me as I checked my makeup in the handheld mirror one of the girls had let me borrow. “You excited for your interview?” I could tell by the look he was giving me that he was really asking if I was excited to be near Seth. And of course, like the nosey big brother-type he was, he just had to be front row for when it all went down.

I rolled my eyes playfully, “Oh be quiet. I don’t want to hear another word out of you.” I placed the mirror down on the table behind the cameras, affirming to myself that I looked presentable.

Zack laughed, “I’m kidding. It’ll be fine, just relax.” I couldn’t tell if he was referring to the actual interview this time or my impending conversation with Seth that I’d been hyping myself up for.

“Easier said than done,” I mumbled. I could see Seth coming down the hall as camera crew quickly hurried me into the proper position. I gave myself a final once over and took one final deep breath.

Zack shot me a wink and gave me a thumbs up before stepping back behind the camera guys, ready to watch the interview along with a couple of crew members and one of the writers for creative.

The cameras began rolling almost immediately, panning towards a sweaty Seth with a cocky grin spread across his face after I introduced him as “and still the Intercontinental Champion”.

As I held the mic towards him so he could speak, I tried to keep my eyes from wandering over his well chiseled chest. God he was so attractive it wasn’t even fair. There was no way in hell a guy like that could really be into me, right? I did my best to keep my focus on his words though; Seth proclaiming that he was a “fighting champion”, open to any challengers who thought they could take his title.

The cameras cut on the quick segment and I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Besides the usual nerves that would settle in when the cameras turned on, Seth standing so close to me certainly wasn’t helping my anxiety.

Zack wrapped an arm around my shoulders, giving me a brief squeeze before releasing me. “Great segment, as always. You’re a natural.”

I could tell exactly what he was trying to do by his not so subtle over the top tone. Ever the wingman, Zack was giving the opportunity for a guy, in this case Seth, to take the bait and join in on the conversation. This would usually be followed by Zack running off. He’d done this several times at bars, sometimes against my will, mainly so he could pat himself on the back for trying to bag me a date.

My eyes drew to Seth who had a scowl on his face, “Yeah. Great work. Really.”

Before I could say anything else he abruptly made his exit, heading back towards his dressing room.

“Hey don’t sweat it, he has to rush back out there in a little bit.” Zack spoke quickly after seeing the frown form on my face. “Just grab him after the show. It’ll give you time to figure out exactly what you wanna say.” I took his words into consideration despite trying to fight off the disappointment I felt in the pit of my stomach.

I briskly made my way down the hallway, seeking out The Architect. The show had ended about half an hour ago and I hadn’t seen him since his quick exit after the segment we filmed. I knew he tended to take his time at the end of the night, meaning it was safe to assume he hadn’t left the venue yet.

Instead of running around backstage like an idiot, I figured my best bet was to ask someone, and luckily, the next person I happened to bump into was Renee Young. And I knew where Renee was, Dean had to be somewhere nearby.

Renee was out of her interview clothes, having changed into a pair of leggings and a comfortable looking hoodie, most likely belonging to Dean. “Hey girl. What’s going on?” She smiled at me as I approached her.

“Nothing much. Hey is Dean in there?” I motioned towards the dressing room that she had been lingering outside of.

“Yep! Just waiting for him to change so we can head out.” Renee frowned, probably noticing the anxious look on my face. “You ok?”

I paused before answering. I was ok…right? “Yeah. I just needed to ask him something really quick. Promise I won’t keep him too long.”

Before Renee could respond, Dean exited his dressing room, luggage in hand. “Hey. What’s up?” Dean gave me a friendly smile as he shrugged on his leather jacket, planting a kiss on his wife’s cheek.

“Hey Dean.” I did my best to return his smile. “Have you seen Seth around?”

Dean rubbed his chin. “Yeah, he just went over some stuff with Hunter so he should be heading to his dressing room. Don’t think he left yet.” He frowned, sensing that something was wrong. “Everything good? You seem…off.”

“I don’t know.” I finally let out a sigh, leaning against the wall. “I feel like he’s upset with me, but I don’t know what I did wrong or if I did anything wrong.” Dean and Renee had some knowledge of my feelings for the Kingslayer, but I’d be lying if I said I had ever been this obvious about it with them. At this point though, I was desperate. Besides, I knew I could trust the two of them to keep a lid on things.

Dean shook his head, “Don’t know if it’s any consolation but he hasn’t said anything to me about it.” and leaned against the wall as well, “I know it’s none of my business, but mind if I give you some advice?”

I nodded. “I’m all ears.”

“If I’m bein’ honest here, I think your best bet is to just be straight up with him.” At this point it really did feel like everyone was giving me the same words of wisdom, but I let Dean finish regardless. “Just go right up to him and say, ‘Hey, what the fuck is your problem, Rollins?’”

Renee lightly slapped her husband’s arm. “Maybe not those exact words.” before adding her own two cents. “But I agree. Best to be upfront about this sort of thing, you know?” She shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe it’s nothing after all.”

I let out a laugh at Dean’s brazen words but nodded, “Yeah, I may paraphrase a little bit, but thanks you guys. Wish me luck.”

I bid the couple a goodnight before hopefully going to find Seth. It wasn’t until I turned a corner that I saw him, heading towards his dressing room from the opposite side of the hallway. He was out of his ring gear and wore a pair of jeans and a dark hoodie, hair tied up in a messy bun. For a split second, he looked at me, or in my direction, before continuing his venture to his dressing room. That was all I needed to confirm my suspicions at that point; he was trying to avoid me.

“Seth wait up.” I sped up my pace to catch up with him before he could shut himself inside his dressing room. I knew that if I didn’t catch him now that I’d have to wait until the house show tomorrow. That is, if I even saw him there.

“What?” he practically spat, finally turning around to face me.

Ok I could deal with tired or a little moody, but he was being a straight up asshole right now. “What the fuck is your problem?” I hadn’t meant to say it quite like that, but I knew Dean would be proud at the very least.

He looked taken aback before quickly shifting into annoyance. “Are you being serious? My problem?”

“Yes I’m serious. Look, if you’re not interested in me anymore just fucking tell me so I can stop wasting my time. Because right now you’re acting like a dick for no reason.” I was trying my best to keep my voice from rising in volume, thankful no one was around to hear the two of us argue.

“Oh I’m sorry, didn’t realize I was wasting your precious time. I’m sure Ryder won’t be too mad at me.” He rolled his eyes, scoffing.

Wait…what? What the hell did he mean by that? “What does Zack have to do with any of this?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Look I’m not stupid, ok? I’ve seen the two of you together, how you’re always with each other every goddamn second. For fuck’s sake you two were all over each other in catering before in front of fucking everyone.” Seth sounded positively bitter, seething as he spoke. “And you really wanna talk about wasting time? Well you shouldn’t have wasted mine if you were already fucking seeing someone.” I could tell this was something that had been on his mind for quite a while.

Yet, I couldn’t help but let out a laugh at the ridiculousness of the whole situation. It all made sense now. The attitude, the short, rude responses? “You seriously think I’m with Zack?”

He frowned, eyebrows furrowing. “What? Why is that funny? You guys aren’t…together?”

I shook my head, “No, we’re not anything. Not even a little bit, Seth. We’ve known each other a long time, that’s all. He’s one of my best friends.” I gave him a look. “Just a friend.”

Seth blinked slowly, the realization of what was going on suddenly dawning on him. “Jesus Christ I’m a fucking idiot, aren’t I?” He let out a groan.

“Yeah. That sounds about right.” Despite the fact that it was all just one big misunderstanding, I still didn’t quite forgive him yet for being such an asshole. “I don’t understand why you couldn’t have just talked to me about this, Seth.”

“God…fuck I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been such a dick.” He ran his hands over his face, letting out a long sigh. “I just thought we were really…sort of hitting it off and I was getting ready to ask you out, like officially, but I thought I fucked up and missed my chance.”

My façade broke and I couldn’t help but allow a small smile to show on my face. I was still annoyed at his behavior, but admittedly, hearing him confirm that my crush wasn’t one-sided was definitely a step in the right direction for me. “So…did you still want to ask me out?”

Seth’s eyes shot up from the ground to meet mine, clearly surprised by my change of tune. “Of course! It’s just…ah shit I had something really nice planned too.” He frowned again. “Was gonna take you out to this diner nearby after the show. According to Dean and Renee they got the best cheesecake in town and I remember you saying that’s your favorite dessert, so I thought we could…ugh god damnit I’m so stupid.”

I honestly couldn’t believe he remembered such an insignificant detail that I must have mentioned to him months ago. I think I had been bitching about how lacking the dessert table in catering was. I’ve always had a bit of a sweet tooth, but if I was going to have a cheat meal, then I certainly wasn’t going to waste it on subpar cheesecake.

Even though it was something so small, the thought he put into trying to set up our “date” pretty much melted away the rest of my irritation towards him. “Well I’d still be up for trying the best cheesecake in town. If the offer’s still on the table?”

I saw a slow look of relief cross his face. “Yeah. Yeah definitely. Just have to pack my things and get the keys to my rental.” He went quiet for a moment. “You…wanna ride there together? I got a car to myself tonight.”

“Sounds good. I’ll let Alexa and Nia know that I have a ride.” I could tell that Seth was still a little uneasy just by the cautiousness he spoke with. As if he were afraid he’d say the wrong thing. In an attempt to quell his nerves, I briefly took his hand and gave it small squeeze, offering him a smile. “Text me when you’re ready to go.”

I tried to play it cool as I walked away, instead of jumping up and down with joy. I managed to hold it together until I was out of sight, trying to calm myself down before my last-minute, unplanned “date”.

The brief car ride over to the diner was slightly quiet, but comfortable nonetheless. Seth and I chatted and made small talk pretty much the entire way there, and I could tell he was feeling less and less anxious by the minute as he drummed his fingers along the steering wheel.

When we sat down at the table inside the small, vibrant diner, it’s as if we hadn’t skipped a beat, falling into conversation easily, cracking jokes at each other mixed with a healthy amount of flirting. Also as an added bonus, it turns out Dean and Renee were correct because holy shit that was some of the best cheesecake I’d ever eaten in my life.

After our dessert, we drove back to the hotel, silent again as he walked me up to my room, which was on the other end of the hallway from his own. Seth had his hands in the pockets of his jeans, finally breaking the comfortable silence. “So…I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

I smiled at him, “Yep, I’ll see you tomorrow.” We both stood there, unmoving, me waiting for him to walk back to his room and him most likely waiting for me to retreat into mine.

I could tell he felt like he was still slightly treading on thin ice, carefully considering all of his actions and words. “Listen, I was a fucking dick today and I feel awful. So feel free to tell me to go fuck myself but…” He paused, breathing slowly out his nose. “Would it be ok if I kissed you goodnight?”

My face flushed at his words, but I nodded, my smile unable to leave my face. “Yeah. I’d like that.” I did my best to remember the words of confidence that Zack and the girls had bestowed upon me, trying to give myself a bit of a mental pep talk. It’s just a kiss. It’ll be fine. Just relax. You’re an adult, you can handle a kiss.

He moved towards me, hands finding their way carefully around my waist as mine came to rest against his chest. Still, he hesitated, only leaning forward when I titled my head up, our lips finally pressing together.

The kiss wasn’t too long or too intense, pretty standard for what you’d expect a first kiss between two people to be. Yet my heart felt as if it were going a mile a minute.

Seth pulled back slowly, smiling still. “Goodnight.”

I bit my bottom lip, bidding him a goodnight and retreating into my hotel room, trying to contain my excitement as I hurriedly texted both Nia and Alexa, knowing they’d want the full detailed report of my evening.

A couple of days after our date, Seth took me out to dinner and was able to work up the courage to finally, “officially” ask me out. Soon after that, we went public with our relationship, much to the delight of our friends, especially Alexa and Nia, who took nearly every chance they got to let a few “I told you so’s” slip.

I was backstage at Raw, watching the ongoing match on one of the many monitors on display; Zack was in the middle of a heated match against Mojo, one of his first televised ones in a while. Zack had mentioned to me earlier in the week that he wasn’t thrilled with the matches he’d been booked for recently, feeling as if he wasn’t given the opportunity to show his full potential. Zack was usually the one to, well, hype me up if I was down, but lately it seemed as if he was stuck in a rut of his own.

This match, though? I could tell Zack was definitely getting his groove back. He was pulling off moves that I had never even seen him try, which explains his gym routine being more intense than usual over the last week or so.

I hurried to the gorilla to meet him as soon as he pinned Mojo for the three count, practically throwing my arms around him the second he stepped backstage, despite the fact that he was sweating profusely. “Zack that was incredible! You both did amazing!”

“Aw thanks!” Zack chuckled, squeezing me tightly. “Glad all my hard work finally paid off. Here’s hoping this’ll get me to the main event soon enough.”

I planted a kiss on his cheek, pride swelling through me at how happy he looked with himself. “I’m so proud of you, seriously. That was a great match.” and released him so that the others in the gorilla could move to congratulate him and Mojo on a match well done.

As I turned around, I saw Seth, leaning against the opposite wall maybe 10 feet away, looking none too pleased. I brushed it off though, smiling as I approached him. “Hey you. Excited for your match?”

His arms were folded across his chest. “Yeah. Sure.” He said rather curtly, his eyes looking past me rather than at me.

“Babe is everything all right?” My eyebrows knit together in concern as I placed a hand on his upper arm.

“Perfectly fine. Why don’t you go congratulate Ryder a little more, though?” The tone of his voice was cutting as he lightly jerked away from my touch. “I’m sure he’d just love that.”

My concern quickly faded away as I realized what Seth’s problem was. Don’t get me wrong, dating him was beyond wonderful; he was funny and sweet, and all around a fantastic boyfriend. But in the few months we had been together, I discovered that sometimes he could get jealous, to the point where it would cause fights between us. Usually it wouldn’t be so bad, hell I’d even go so far as to call it healthy- but lately it seemed to be happening more and more frequently.

“Really Seth?” I couldn’t hide the annoyance in my voice. “This again?”

“What do you mean this again? Sorry I’m not okay with my girlfriend practically throwing herself at another guy right in front of me.” He rolled his eyes.

“I mean this again as in I thought we went over this. Zack is one of my best friends, and that’s it.” What made the fights even worse was that probably half the time they would be about Zack. Why does he keep texting you? Does he really need to talk to you that much? That, and about a dozen other different complaints that I could rattle off. “You’re really jealous because I wanted to congratulate my best friend on his match?”

“Jealous? Please.” Seth, still very visibly annoyed, scoffed, as if the idea were really that ridiculous. “I don’t get how I’m the bad guy here. You could’ve congratulated him in a way that didn’t involve you being all over him.”

“You know he’s seeing someone right?” I raised an eyebrow at him, my hands now resting on my hips. “Because it’s not enough for me to go ruining my own relationship, but apparently I’m also trying to ruin someone else’s, right?” My words were practically dripping with sarcasm, but I couldn’t help it. I was beyond the point of caring if me dishing an attitude back bothered him.

Seth let out a huff of breath, muttering out a “whatever” which translated roughly to “I don’t want to talk about this anymore”. That was definitely the worst part of the fights; most of the time, Seth would realize that he was being a little ridiculous, but instead of admitting it, he’d stop talking all together, making the entire fight drag on much longer than necessary.

Usually I’d just let him have time to himself to think it over, but I was over him doing this. And when we’re at work no less. I didn’t exactly want our co-workers getting an in-depth glimpse into our relationship. “Yeah, whatever. I’m done talking about this.” Brushing passed him, I headed towards my dressing room, doing my best not to stomp my feet in frustration on the way there. If he wasn’t going to talk this out like an adult, then I certainly wasn’t going to push it. Especially not here.

After a few seconds I heard the sound of quick footsteps behind me. “Where the hell are you going?” Seth had hurried after me once I rounded the corner, away from potential prying eyes and ears.

“I’m getting my stuff and I’m going to the hotel for the night.” I didn’t bother turning around to face him as I continued walking. His match was next, and I had planned to stay and watch as I always did, but right now I didn’t want to deal with him being like this.

“Babe don’t-”

I stopped and turned around once we reached my door and held my hand up, signaling for him to stop. “No Seth. I’m not doing this right now. Not here.” I knew it probably wasn’t the best idea to go too long without talking about this, but this was a conversation that I didn’t want to have at work. “And for the record, you don’t see me getting like this with any female friends of yours. Funny how it only applies to me, huh?”

I hadn’t meant to sound so harsh as I said it, but it was true; we both had friends on the roster of the opposite sex, but I’d never gotten jealous over him talking or hanging out with any of them. Yet if someone like Finn ever said so much as “hello” to me in passing, it would usually lead to another argument between Seth and I.

It was silent between us for a few seconds in the empty hallway, Seth clearly having no idea what to say. We had bickered about this before, but I think he could tell that this time around I was truly fed up with his actions, not so willing to just let him brush it under the rug like he usually tries to do.

I took a deep breath, squeezing my eyes shut (mainly to keep the tears at bay) before looking at him again. “I’m getting a ride back with Nia and Alexa. Good luck with your match.” And with that I closed and locked my dressing room door behind me. Seth was truly stubborn in many ways, and I knew he didn’t like leaving situations like this unresolved, so it was only a matter of time before we’d end up talking about this, but now was not the time.

Alexa and Nia had finished their respective matches for the evening but hadn’t left the arena yet. Thankfully they had room in their rental, so I packed my things and met with them in the parking lot.

“Thanks for giving me a ride, guys. I seriously appreciate it.” I piled my things in the trunk and settled in the backseat of the van.

“No problem girl.” Nia, who was behind the wheel, glanced back at me before starting the ignition. “Sooooo are you gonna tell us what’s going on? Your texts were a little vague.”

I let out a sigh, “Seth and I got into a fight...again. Lately it feels like if another guy so much as looks at me, he gets upset. Usually it passes after a little bit, but I think this was the worst fight we’ve had yet.”

Alexa turned around to face me from the passenger seat, frowning. “Was it about Zack again?”

My phone buzzed, and I glanced down to see a message come across my screen. Speak of the devil, Zack had texted me, no doubt wondering where the hell I went off to. He of all people knew that I usually stayed the entire show unless I was really tired.

You left already? Is everything ok?

I typed out a quick response before answering Alexa.

Yeah. I’m riding back to the hotel with Alexa and Nia. Tell you about it later.

I knew Zack would be worried, but I didn’t feel like going into detail about this whole situation with him just yet. Especially over text. “Of course, what else?” The girls were well aware of the fights that Seth and I would have, so this wasn’t new information to them. “I just thought this would’ve stopped by now, you know? And when I try to talk it out with him, he pretty much shuts down on me.” Another vibration, Zack, who is no doubt the fastest texter I’ve ever known.

Alright. Here if you need anything. :)

“I know it’s frustrating to try and get through to him when he gets like that, but he needs to realize that this isn’t something that is going to get better if it’s ignored.” Alexa spoke softly. “You need to really sit him down and make sure this is a two-sided conversation; it can’t be just you trying to fix it.”

I nodded, “I know. It’s just…I’ve never walked away from him like that. And now I’m wondering if I took it too far.” I hurriedly wiped the corners of my eyes before any tears could fall. I was never the type to let a problem sit and stew for too long, especially something like this, but Seth could be so damn frustrating when he got like this.

Alexa squeezed my hand comfortingly as Nia spoke. “You have every right to be upset with him, especially since this is something you two have talked about more than once. There’s nothing wrong with giving each other some space to think.” She paused, before adding, “I’m almost positive he’s doing his fair share of thinking right now.”

We pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, each of us grabbing our bags and heading up to our floor. I politely declined their offer for an impromptu girl’s movie night, which I would normally be up for, but I was suddenly feeling more exhausted than I had thought.

Alexa pulled me in for one last embrace, with Nia following suit. “I promise it’ll all work out. Rollins is stubborn as hell, but he’s crazy about you. Just give him time.” Nia nudged my arm playfully before letting go of me. “And if you need the two of us to straighten him out, we can do that too.”

I giggled, bidding the pair a goodnight before settling into my room. A part of me wanted to turn on Raw and tune into Seth’s match, which would just be starting, but I decided against it. Stripping out of my clothes, I threw one of Seth’s shirts on and crawled into bed. Initially, I was going to wait up for him to get back so we could talk, but my eyes felt heavy and before I knew it, I felt myself drifting off to sleep.

I don’t know how long it had been since I had dozed off, but I stirred awake awhile later at the sound of the room door creaking open. I could tell Seth was trying to be as quiet as possible as I heard faint rustling on the other side of the room, which was probably him changing for bed.

I kept my eyes closed, hoping I’d be able to fall back asleep. Shortly after I felt a warm body crawl under the covers next to me from behind, followed by a pair of arms wrapping around my midsection. “Hey princess. You awake?” Seth whispered.

I almost wasn’t going to answer and pretend to be asleep, but I mumbled out an “mmhmm” as he adjusted so that his chest was pressed against my back.

I felt the warmth of his breath on my neck as he nuzzled into me, his stubble tickling my skin. “Sweetheart I am so fucking sorry. About everything.” He paused for a second before continuing. “I know I get upset over this kind of shit way too easily. But that’s something I need to deal with. It’s not fair that I take it out on you.”

I stayed silent, still conflicted over the whole situation. Again, a part of me wanted to be petty and ignore him, but I knew the sooner that we had this discussion, the better.

“Fuck baby, please say something? Anything? What do I have to do to make this better?” I could hear the frustration in his voice as he pleaded. I could tell just how bothered he was by my lack of response.

Finally, I flipped over on my other side to face him, seeing the hurt in his eyes as I sat up. “It means a lot to me that you apologized but…this isn’t the first time we’ve had this conversation, Seth.” I took a deep breath, trying to fight back the tears that I already felt coming on. “How am I supposed to feel knowing that my own boyfriend doesn’t trust me?”

He was still laying down, adjusting so that he was on his back, rubbing both hands over his tired-looking face, “Sweetheart that’s not true. Of course I trust you. It just gets…hard for me to watch other guys be so close to you.”

“Seth, I love you, I really do. But I don’t want this to be an issue anymore.” I sighed, running a hand through my hair, my eyes shifting away from him. “If you really did trust me like you say, you would trust that I wouldn’t let anything, or anyone jeopardize what we have.” I paused for a moment, choosing my words carefully. “I’m with you for a reason, Seth. But if I don’t have your trust like you have mine, I don’t know how we can ever move past this.”

When I met Seth’s gaze again, his eyes were wide. “Wait. What did you just say?”

I was about to get annoyed at him for not listening to what I had said and tell him to fuck off and go sleep on the floor, but then the realization of my words dawned on me before I could. To be honest, they were out of my mouth before I even realized it. “Oh shit.”

Seth scrambled so he was sitting up, the light from the moon shone through the window, showing me just how surprised he looked. “You love me?” He asked the question as if he could hardly believe what I had said was true.

I closed my eyes briefly before exhaling through my nose and nodding. “I do.” It wasn’t that I was afraid of him not returning the sentiment, but this wasn’t exactly how I pictured this conversation going. Admittedly, I’d felt this way for a while, but was never quite sure how to bring it up to him.

The brief silence between us felt as if it lasted an eternity, and I was starting to think that this was the beginning of the end. As I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes once again, him saying my name broke through the quiet of the room. “Baby girl look at me. Please?”

I sniffled, hesitating. I didn’t want things to end like this. I didn’t want the gentle, awkward way he was probably going to say that he wasn’t ready for us to use the “l-word” with each other. That it was too much, that we moved way too quickly for the time we had been together. That maybe we would’ve been better off as just friends instead.

The panic within me quickly subsided however, when Seth’s fingers brushed my tears away, tilting my chin upwards so that my eyes met his. “Hey. Please don’t cry.” He scooted forward to gently grasp my face between his warm hands. “I love you too. More than anything. So much that it fucking scares me sometimes.” He paused, sighing. “Maybe that’s why I get like this; I’m so afraid of losing you. You’re the best god damn thing to ever happen to me.”

I placed a hand over one of his, feeling a small smile break out on my face. “Seth you’re not losing me. I promise, I’m not going anywhere.”

He let out a breath, nodding before pressing a kiss to my forehead. “I’ve been such a fucking dick tonight. Let me make it up to you.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant until his mouth moved lower, stopping at my collarbone, causing me to shudder. “Seth-”

“Please, baby?” His lips were warm and wet against my skin, mouthing over the spot he knew drove me absolutely crazy. “Let me show you how much I love you. Show you just how much you mean to me.” He bit down gently, soothing the now marked area with his lips and tongue, while his hand wandered down my back, groping at my ass.

I bit my bottom lip, trying but failing miserably to hold back a grin. “Well how can I say no to an offer like that?”

I could feel him smirk against my neck, “Lay down for me, princess.” I obeyed, falling flat on my back as Seth kissed me deeply and slowly, his thumbs hooking in my panties before sliding them off my legs and tossing them away. I inhaled sharply as his fingers finally brushed against my wetness, providing me with some relief. “Shhh don’t worry, I got you.” Seth chuckled before lowering himself, adjusting until he was in between my legs. “Going to make you feel so damn good, sweetheart.”

A loud moan escaped my lips as he easily slipped a finger inside me, followed by a second one as his other hand squeezed my thigh. Sometimes it felt like he knew my body better than I did, knowing exactly where and how to touch me. I hadn’t even realized just how aroused I was until his hands began to wander.

“Look at you, princess.” I heard him chuckle before leaning forward, delivering a slow, sloppy lick to my clit, causing me to nearly jolt off the bed. He held me still though, pumping his fingers in and out of me so agonizingly slow I thought I’d go crazy. “Already so fucking wet for me. I love that I can get you like this.”

“Only you.” I managed to get out as fingers curled inside me, drawing another moan from my lips. His digits were moving in just the right way as his hot breath washing over my most sensitive area sent a shiver up my spine. One of my hands entangled itself into his dark hair, letting loose the bun he had piled atop his head.

“Oh yeah? Well lucky me.” He mumbled before moving in again, his tongue burying itself in between my folds. It traced zigzags over my clit, alternating speed and direction whenever I’d let out a moan or buck my hips against his warm mouth.

I let out a desperate sounding whine as he continued to devour me, eyes never leaving me as he did so. He always got off on watching me come undone because of him, the noises I’d make because of him. He also loved ordering me to keep my eyes open, so I can see exactly what he was doing to me. “Oh fuck Seth, please!”

“You gonna cum for me?” His mouth was still pressed up against me as he spoke, the vibration causing me to jolt. He chuckled again, clearly not needing a verbal response, “Fuck yeah, you are.”

He continued his actions with fervor, setting a harsh pace as I came against his mouth with a loud cry, my back arching off of the bed.

He didn’t stop though. Even with my thighs squeezing around his head as his beard roughly brushed against me with every lick. “Again.” His tone was rough and demanding, drawing another moan from my lips. “Cum for me again, baby girl. I’m not stopping ‘til you do.”

I was already beyond oversensitive, so it only took a few more harsh strokes of his tongue and his fingers scissoring inside of me before I was crying out again, my second orgasm running through me like a freight train. Having released his hair, my fists wrapped themselves up in the white sheets beneath me as I did my best not to suffocate him between my legs.

Finally, he moved back up, his beard and chin coated with my arousal, a cocky grin spread across his face and he pressed a long kiss to my lips, allowing me to taste myself. He was always so damn pleased with himself after making me cum once, but twice? Seth Rollins called himself “the man” for a damn good reason, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it.

“God I just love the noises you make for me.” He unceremoniously tore his shirt that I wore up over my head and threw it nearly halfway across the room before our lips hungrily met again.

I kissed him back eagerly, my fingers fumbling between us before they found their target: the waistband of his basketball shorts. I couldn’t help but whine as he shook his head, grasping my wrist gently and pressing a kiss to my palm. “Another time, sweetheart. I’m not done making it up to you yet.”

I whimpered in protest, arching my body against his, feeling just how hard he was and hoping he’d cave in. “I don’t know, I think letting me suck your cock would be a pretty good way of making it up to me.”

He growled, nipping my bottom lip. “God damn I love it when you say such naughty things.” He smirked, shaking his head slowly. “But not tonight, baby.”

“Seeeeeeth.” I didn’t care that I was reduced to begging; I was desperate to touch him, taste him, something- but he wasn’t budging. In a last-ditch effort, my free hand wandered down in an attempt to touch him again, but he quickly grabbed my other wrist, pinning them both above my head.

“I’m not going to have to tie you up, am I princess?” He raised an eyebrow at me, anticipating my response. “Unless that’s what you want tonight?”

Usually I’d welcome the idea of him restraining me, but tonight I needed to touch him, needed to feel his skin underneath my hands, and I didn’t want to risk that being taken away from me. “No.” I let out a small huff. “I’ll be good.”

He switched to holding my wrists above my head with one hand, an easy task considering how much larger his hands were than mine, “You sure about that?” His free hand pushed his shorts down, far enough so that his cock sprang out, so rock hard that it almost looked painful. I subconsciously licked my lips when I saw it, and he took notice. “Oh this is what you want isn’t it, baby? You want this cock inside that tight pussy, don’t you?”

I nodded furiously, biting my bottom lip as he grasped himself at the base, rubbing his tip up and down against my folds, coating himself in my arousal. Thankfully it seemed like he wasn’t planning on teasing me for the rest of the evening, and after a few seconds he sunk into me completely, causing my eyes to nearly roll to the back of my head as I practically sobbed out his name. I flexed my fingers, digging my nails into my palms, hoping he’d let me touch him soon. I wasn’t sure I could survive the torture of being restrained while he fucked me tonight.

It felt like an eternity before he decided to move again, rolling his hips just the right way as he drew himself all the way back out before immediately driving his entire length back in up to the hilt. “Ugh shit you feel good.” He buried his face in my neck, sucking and biting wherever he saw fit, not caring that he was definitely marking me up a decent amount. “Never gonna get enough of how fucking tight you are.”

Finally, he released my hands, allowing me to wrap my arms around neck while his hands grasped onto my hips, angling himself so that he could thrust into me almost effortlessly. He let out a low grunt against my skin with every movement, his grip on me only tightening, which probably meant some minor bruising in the morning. “Fucking shit baby. Going to give you exactly what you need.”

As a lover, there were times where Seth would switch between methodically slow lovemaking, and rough, fast-paced fucking. And don’t get me wrong, I was a huge fan of both for different reasons, but as far as him giving me exactly what I need? The day had taken an emotional toll on the both of us and I honestly just wanted him to fuck me so hard that we both forgot about it.

And apparently, I didn’t even have to ask for it. Seth suddenly halted his movements, and before I could complain, threw both of my legs over his shoulders, allowing him to drive even deeper inside of me, brushing against my core with every pump.

With an unrelenting grip on my thighs, he picked up the pace again, bottoming out with each and every thrust. And I knew he had to be tired from his match earlier, but he sure as hell wasn’t letting it show. It felt like he was pouring every ounce of strength into holding me in place while his cock drove into me over and over again.

“Fuck Seth-!” I gasped out, as his movements effectively cut off whatever expletive or noise was about to come out of my mouth.

“That’s right, princess.” His movements began to get more and more frantic as he fell out of his rhythm, and I could tell he was agonizingly close to his climax. “God damn, you feel too good. Not fair you have me ready to cum so soon.” I could practically see the wheels turning in his head as a smirk spread across his lips. “Looks like I’m going to have to fuck you a few more times tonight to really make it up to you.”

One of his arms unhooked from around my leg, only to move between us, circling my sensitive bundle of nerves at a much harsher pace than before, desperate to bring me to another climax before he reached his first. “Think you can give me just one more, baby girl? Think you can cum for me one more time before I fill you up?”

I nodded frantically, biting my bottom lip so hard I swore I could’ve drawn blood. I felt my third orgasm of the night roll over me, my fingernails digging into his shoulders as my head fell back into the plush hotel pillow, a string of wordless moans and noises escaping me as he practically began to drill himself into me.

“That’s right baby, fuck here it comes, gonna fucking fill you up so good.” The rest of his words drifted off into a growl under his breath. He let out one last loud groan as his hips stuttered, emptying himself inside of me.

Pushing his now frizzy and sweat-dampened hair out of his face, he released my legs, setting them back down onto the mattress before collapsing next to me.

I let out a breath, feeling my heart rate starting to gradually slow down. Safe to say, that was one of our most intense lovemaking sessions to date, with both of us lying there worn out and well-fucked.

“Hey.” Seth suddenly rolled me over, pulling me close to him so I was laying on top of him, our skin sticking together. “I know I said it before, but I really am sorry.” He kissed me again, this time softly. “You were right, I was jealous. A stupid, jealous asshole.”

I returned the kiss with a smile, “I forgive you. Thank you for apologizing.”

“I promise I’m going to do better. Not just for you, but for the both of us.” He squeezed my hand, pressing a kiss against my wrist. “I love you so fucking much, and I’ll do anything to make this work.”

I smiled at him, trying to keep myself from tearing up again. At the end of the day, that was all I ever wanted for the both of us.

He kissed me again, standing up and heading towards the bathroom. “Gonna jump in a shower. Wanna join me?”

“Maybe.” I let out an exaggerated moan as I cracked my back, shooting him a flirty smile. “Only if you promise to scrub my back after leaving me so sore.”

I heard him cackle from beyond the cracked bathroom door, “Oh sweetheart, if you think you’re sore now, just you wait. You’re not going to be able to walk to the car tomorrow when I’m through with you.”

I heard the sound of water running and just as I stood up to join him, a knock sounded at the door. I raised an eyebrow; who the hell would be at our door so late? Hopefully not someone from a neighboring room or hotel security complaining about all of the noise Seth and I had made.

I hurriedly gathered Seth’s t-shirt and my panties and threw them back on. I peered through the peephole, seeing that it thankfully wasn’t a disgruntled hotel patron, but Zack. He was definitely more of an early bird, so him being awake and at my door this late was odd to say the least.

Thinking that something could possibly be wrong, I hurried and opened the door to greet him. “Hey, everything ok?”

He folded him arms across his chest, clad in a plain black t-shirt and a pair of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pajama pants. “I should be asking you that. You weren’t answering your phone and I got worried.”

“Ahh shit, sorry Zack.” I frowned, suddenly feeling a little guilty. I had completely forgotten I had promised to talk to him later, and it was now technically way beyond later. “I left the venue and ended up turning in for the night earlier than I thought.”

“Now you’re lying to me? I’m hurt.” He grinned, gesturing to my neck, where some very visible hickeys were now scattered. “Unless Rollins is a vampire that feeds on you while you sleep?”

I felt my face flush, playfully slapping his arm. “Shut up. Isn’t it past your bedtime anyway, grandpa?” Fuck, how was I going to explain this to the girls in make-up? Maybe I could go with a scarf tomorrow? Or a turtleneck?

He laughed, holding his hands up in defense. “Hey, you said you’d tell me what was going on later and it is later. But judging by…” he again used his hand to gesture to my entire face/neck area in a circular motion. “You seem to be doing just fine.”

I opened my mouth to give him a brief explanation of my texts from earlier, but Seth’s voice interrupted me before I could. “Water’s warming up, princess. Hope you’re not too worn out because I’m gonna bend that cute ass over and-”. Seth’s words cut off as he stepped out of the bathroom (thankfully with a towel around his waist) his eyes going wide after seeing that we were no longer alone. “Oh uh hey Ryder.” He awkwardly scratched his beard. “Sorry man, didn’t hear you come in.”

“Sorry bro, I was just leaving. Didn’t mean to interrupt your night.” Zack chuckled, turning to leave, “I’ll talk to you in the morning, we can grab breakfast if you’re not too worn out. That goes for you too, Rollins.”

Trying desperately to hold back my hysterical laughter, I bid my friend a goodnight before closing the door once again.

Seth let out a loud sigh, wrapping his arms around me from behind. “I guess it’s a good thing I decided to put a towel on.”

“Hey at least he didn’t see you naked.” I laughed. “My fault though. Forgot to text him earlier and wasn’t expecting him to come by so late.”

Seth didn’t speak for a second, before shrugging his shoulders. “No worries. He wanted to check up on you. That’s the type of person you should be friends, you know?”

I opened my mouth to respond but decided to say nothing. It made me happy that he was already seemingly more open to Zack. Breakfast tomorrow could also be a promising step in the right direction. Hell, maybe the two of them would end up as friends. “So…what were you saying about that shower?” I asked coyly, tracing my fingers over his forearm.

“The ‘scrubbing your back’ part, or the ‘bending you over and fucking you’ part?” He leaned his head forward, his lips pressing against my skin again. “Because I could go for both.”

“Hmm,” I pretended to be mulling it over, but I think he knew I had already made up my mind. “I think I like the sound of both too.”

“I told you sweetheart,” He paused, giving my ass a light slap guiding the both of us to the bathroom. “I still have a lot of making up to do for tonight.”

#seth rollins #seth rollins smut #seth rollins imagine #Seth Rollins one shot #Seth Rollins fic #WWE Fanfic #wwe fanfiction #wwe smut #wwe imagine

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ecfandom · 5 years

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okay SHORT sneaky peaky because you all have been insanely patient with my crazy long waits between updates.

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Washington D.C. | 2007

Fans. Lex hated fans more than the deafening silence of being stuck awake with her thoughts. More than this time of year that always managed to turn her into something she wasn’t--depressed, angry, victimized. Lexa loved her life. She loved her sister and her job, her adopted hometown, her friends from all walks of life. She loved those hot summer mornings when the lawn mowers grumbled in the distance, and the sky was blue for as far as the eye could see. She even loved the unrelenting winters, with the sounds of snowball fights ricocheting around the neighborhood and the gusts of air so cold it stole your breath away. Life had been hard, at times, but it was a good life. It was a life made up of good memories and even better people, and Lexa was proud of it. She had worked hard for this life. Year and years of intention all focused on finding the positives. And yet, here was this fan. This dusty, old, ugly ass fucking hotel fan with the power to tear her carefully constructed, wonderful life to shreds.

Lexa tore her eyes away from the fan and grabbed her phone from the bedside table. It was two in the morning, but her hotel room that sat practically atop the National Mall, which was washed in fluorescent light all night long from the White House’s various security measures. During her first stay in the capital nearly ten year ago, the Army rep who had driven her to her hotel had talked about the hotel’s proximity to the White House as if it were the dream of all dreams. During her first night, she’d seriously contemplated texting the number he had given her to reach him to ask what shit hole he must have been staying in to think this was grand, and if he might perhaps like to switch.

She sighed and unlocked her phone, bringing up her text messages. She found her sister’s name and fired a message off.

Lexa: There’s a fan in my room.

Being the middle of the night on a weekday, Lexa expected the text to go unanswered. When her phone dinged almost instantly, she grabbed for it like a child grasping out for their parents’ hand after being momentarily lost in the grocery store.

Anya: Can you turn it off so it’s not spinning? That might help.

Lexa: Why are you up?

Anya: Can’t sleep. Did you try turning it off?

Lexa: Tried when I first got in. Can’t figure it out. Just kept turning the light on and off or making the stupid thing spin faster.

Anya: Try not to look at it. Just close your eyes. It’ll be morning soon.

Lexa: Okay. Thanks. Love you

Anya: Love you too. Go to sleep, I’ll see you soon. 3 sleeps.

Lexa closed her eyes and flung the phone aside, not caring where it landed. In five hours it would be 7 o’clock, her alarm would go off, and a car would be waiting to parade her around like a zoo animal.

“Just don’t look at it,” she murmured. “Just don’t,” she reasoned with herself, as if it were that easy. She blew out a breath and pinched her eyes shut, trying to keep out the images of the spinning blades and the growing roar of a phantom helicopter.

Lexa rolled over and pressed her face to the cool fabric of the pillow, but the fan was there behind her lids. The blades spun, the room grew hot and dry like the desert, and with a frustrated whimper, she was tossed back into memories like an unwilling time-traveller.

Kandahar, Afghanistan | 2007

As she spun, Lexa giggled wildly, her long, wavy curls flying behind her like a flag the faster her father spun the playground roundabout. Her cheeks ached from smiling so hard, her throat itchy from the unbridled squeals of delight. She could feel Anya’s body pressed tightly to hers from the strength of the centrifugal force, could feel the frown her older sister was so desperate to have on at all times slipping from her face as a chuckle bubbled up from her chest. Even teenage angst couldn’t keep the delight of this spontaneous summer outing from making its mark on the Woods family.

Her father’s face flashed round and round at imperfect intervals, a smile always there. Her mother’s voice, worried and fond, floated over the rush of the wind in Lexa’s ears, warning her husband to slow down a little, that Anya’s face was turning green.

“Faster!” Lexa squealed in response, desperate for this fun to never end. “Faster Daddy!”

But as she spun, his face began to change. The flash of his pale skin grew darker and course, like weathered leather left too long in the sun. A beard appeared on his face and his voice changed to something low and gruff.

Lexa frowned and strained to understand. “Daddy?”

“Lexa.”

“Daddy, why--”

She felt her hands losing their grip on the bars of the roundabout as it spun faster, and the sound of the wind it generated deafened her. She could no longer hear her mother’s voice, and her side was cold where Anya was no longer pressed to it. Above it all, her father’s voice--only it wasn’t-- grew louder as she began to slip. She panicked, struggling to hold on.

“Daddy!”

“Lexa--”

“Daddy, don’t!”

“Lexa. Lexa, you’re okay. I’m right here.”

Lexa’s vision blurred as hot tears filled her eyes. The world was spinning too fast now. It wasn’t fun anymore. She had two fingers, then one, left on the bar. It hurt. It hurt to hold on, her whole body ached with the effort of it.

“Daddy,” she whimpered, just a fingertip on the bar now, “please don’t go.”

“It’s alright, Lexa. I’m right here.”

For a moment, she saw her father’s face the way it’d always been--his marvelous green eyes, his dark, brown hair so silky it shone in the sun. He smiled at her, and she wished she could reach out and poke at his dimples the way she always did. She clung to the sight of his face as best she could, but as her fingers slipped, so too did his familiar face. The pain of holding on grew until every inch of her body, every miniscule movement was excruciating, intolerable, and she knew she had to let go.

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she whispered. “I love you so much.”

“It’s okay, Lexa. Everything’s going to be okay,” he assured her, letting her know that it was time to let go. “I’m right here, kiddo.”

She let go, her body flung into nothingness until she landed hard, her world slowing to a standstill. She lay there, eyes clenched against the grit blown in gusts over her face. The ground beneath her fingers was cold, and fine. Different than what she’d been expecting. She curled her fingers an inch. Was that sand? She frowned, but it sent a shot of searing pain through her head and she groaned.

“It’s okay. I got you.”

That voice again. Not her father’s, but so familiar. So very familiar. She forced one eye open, confused when she saw nothing. Was she asleep? Why was it so dark? What was happening? She forced the other open, just a crack. Something in the darkness moved, fast, slashing against her vision. She strained to see. Stars. There were stars. Not asleep then, just night. That movement again...she squinted against whatever ran warm and thick into her eyes in a continuous stream. Her vision adjusted as she focused on the repetitive slashing, the gusts of wind sending sand and more of the warm, thick something across her face and into her eyes. Blades. Helicopter blades? She went to push up onto her elbows, and cried out, pain exploding through her shoulder and stomach.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, stay still. You’re alright.”

Lexa turned towards that voice, finding the back of a large man kneeling beside her as he rummaged through something on the ground.

She opened her mouth to speak, but it was sticky and full. Full of metal? She swirled her tongue around. No, blood. Must be blood. She spit, flinching when the gust of wind from the chopper above her blew it back in her face. “Hey,” she tried, but her voice was so weak, so hoarse and nearly toneless. She cleared her throat, agonizing at the pain that rolled through her. “Hey,” she said again, just as hoarse, but this time her voice cracked and the sound of it caught the man’s attention.

He turned, and for the briefest of seconds, she saw her father’s green eyes. Just as quickly, they were gone, and a warm, but concerned blue filled their spots. He leaned over her and smiled.

“Hey, Stump. Welcome back.”

She stared at him, confused and disoriented. “Roan?”

His smile grew, and he nodded, pleased that she could recognize him. “Yeah, yeah, it’s me. We’re gonna get you out of here, okay?”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know, Kid, but whatever it was, it’s over now. I’m gonna get you out of here and you’re never coming back, you hear me? You did good. I just need you to hang on now, can you do that for me?”

She closed her eyes, searching her mind for her father, for the sound of her mother’s voice, for Anya’s warm weight pressed against her side. None of it came. Just pain. So much pain, everywhere.

“Hurts,” she whispered, flinching as something fluttered against her stomach and stung.

“I know, I’m sorry. Almost done.” He tore open a packet of a hemostatic agent and poured the powder over the gunshot wound in her shoulder. “Medics are helping out our guys, and as soon as they’re done they’ll be right here, okay?”

“M’fine,” she mumbled, cold and tired. It was all too much--the sound of the wind, the frigid night air, the pain. She just wanted to sleep. “Just gonna close my eyes for a second,” she mumbled, already beginning to doze off.

“No, no sleeping, Stump. Come on now, Kid. Stay with me.”

“Just one minute.”

“Nope, no deal, Stump. No deal. You hang on for me, and I’ll get you out of here. I’m gonna get you out, okay? I’m gonna get you out.” She was too tired to hear the way his voice cracked, or the way he swiped a massive paw across his face, swatting at tears. “You should’ve never been here,” he whispered. “You don’t belong here.”

She heard the shuffling of sand around her, felt her body roughly pushed onto its side as something probed at the bare skin of her back. New voices entered the mix above the roar of the bird. Was that thing going to continue hovering there kicking shit into everyone’s eyes, or was it going to hurry up and land?

“Don’t you dare give up on me, Stump!” That familiar voice again, so soft now, like a dream. “I know you don’t want to go home, Stump, so I’m gonna send you to my uncle. I already talked to him and he’s waiting for you, okay? He does cars. You like cars, right? You and your sister, you can both go. You’ll like Maine,” he said, stumbling over his words, desperate to keep her listening, keep her conscious. “I just need you to stay awake, alright? That’s the deal, Stump,” he begged. “Just stay awake!”

Lexa’s eyes fluttered. They were so heavy. She would just close them for a moment. Just a second or two. Just to rest.

Washington D.C. | 2017

Lexa woke with a start, her heart beating up in her throat and deep in her ears, her head pounding with each rush of blood pumped violently through her body. The room was spinning as her eyes adjusted to the strangely-lit room. As she focussed and stayed her breathing, the room slowed and she reoriented herself. The hotel room. Washington D.C. Summer, 2017.

Her eyes found the spinning fan above her, it’s rhythmic blades immediately hypnotizing. The helicopter blades of her dream, a memory rather, flashed before her eyes, then the blades of the fan again as she tried to shut it out. She clenched her eyes shut, forcing herself to picture something, anything, else.

“Butterflies,” she said to herself. “Butterflies with clown noses. And googly eyes. Butterflies with clown noses and googly eyes and yellow shoes.” She said it to herself, out loud like a mantra, her brain automatically painting the picture in her mind as her ears heard the words. “Cows in boxers. Boxers with read hearts. Red hearts and--” Phillips’ face, red with blood, his eyes wide and unseeing.

She slammed her fists against the bed and growled at the intrusion. “Cows in boxers!” She yelled, not considering the other hotel guests. “Cows in boxers and butterflies with clown noses!” She saw them again and laughed quietly at herself, groaning at the ridiculousness of her situation. One of these years, she’d get up the courage to say no to this freak show parade and finally leave this all behind in her past where it belonged.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed, and pressed her bare feet to the cold, laminate wood floor, taking a moment to reinforce what was real. Satisfied, she grabbed her phone and slowly made her way to the shower, her battered body stiff and sore as it always was in the morning. “I’m getting old,” she thought, wryly. Her ankle cracked and popped with each step as she shuffled across the bathroom tile and turned on the shower water, kicking the door closed behind her. Three more nights, “sleeps,” as she and her sister had taken to reassuring each other in their youth during periods apart. Three more sleeps and she could go home, get back to her friends, maybe pull her bike out of storage like she’d been meaning to do and get it running again.

She jumped when her phone unexpectedly dinged on the from the counter. There weren’t many people she knew awake at five in the morning who would be texting her on her week off. She stared at the preview of the text message from the unfamiliar number on her screen. Curiously, she unlocked it and slid the message open.

Hi Lexa. I wasn’t sure if you put my name in your phone yet...it’s Clarke Griffin. I’m sorry to text so early, I hope it doesn’t wake you. I’m just getting off a shift, and I was thinking about you. I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted at the parade. I was caught off guard, and I was weird about things. I just want you to know that, despite my stunted social skills, I do want to work on that friend thing and Ellie would love to see you when you get back if you’re up for it. I hope you’re well. We’ll see you soon.

Lexa stared at the screen and read the message over again, then a third time. She couldn’t have kept the smile from her face even if she’d wanted to. We’ll see you soon, she read again, chewing at her bottom lip in barely restrained glee. Someone was thinking about her, waiting for her. It took her completely by surprise that something so simple could make her so impossibly, wonderfully homesick for the first time in a very long time.

***

Clarke stared at her phone and blew out a breath. No going back now. The text was out there, flying through the digital airways straight towards what was sure to be impending doom and embarrassment.

“You okay, there? You look like you just sent a sext to your mom,” said Nylah, toweling off as she walked into the locker room from the showers.

Clarke laughed. “Nothing that terrible.”

“You sure?”

“Actually...not entirely,” Clarke said, laughing again. “I don’t know what I’m doing with my life.”

“Do any of us?” Nyla sat down next to Clarke on the bench in front of the lockers, her skin still steaming from the shower, the smell of Lavender wafting off her. She was a sight to see, wrapped up in the tiny towel that covered the important bits and no more. With all that smooth, golden skin on display, Clarke couldn’t help but recall the way it had felt under her fingertips during their little twenty minute foray in the hallway of the bar next door. A little bit of kissing and a brief stint at second base had been the extent of what her booze enabled, touch starved body had allowed before she’d come to her sense. And yet, as lovely as Nylah had been and was, Clarke found herself shocked to find that it wasn’t Nylah’s slight, feminine curves that she missed, or the satin feel of her skin. She didn’t usually have a type, but as she sat there, taking in the smell of Nylah’s floral soap, the heat radiating off her body from the shower, and all of that beautiful skin on display, it was the handsome sort of ruggedness of a certain firefighter she found herself wanting.

Her thoughts wandered back to the text she’d just sent, and she blushed, suddenly wanting to be alone again to bask in her impulsive stupidity.

“Whatever it is, you’ll figure it out,” Nylah said, squeezing Clarke’s leg above the knee, knowing that she’d gotten all that she was going to get out of Clarke during this particular conversation. Clarke was a painfully private person, and any glance into her personal life was considered a great feat by the nurses that worked under her. Only their boss for the past eight months, they had all come to quickly respect her quiet, sure leadership, and kind smile. At twenty-eight, she was the youngest NP at the hospital, but she had a nurturing quality about her lacking in even the most seasoned veterans. Nylah patted her thigh. “You always do.”

Clarke smiled at her, but her thoughts were already elsewhere. “Thanks,” she sighed, as Nylah got up and disappeared behind another row of lockers.

#polis 433 #pesky sneaky #sneaky peaky #ffau

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bramble-and-blood · 6 years

Text

TDA asks!

I was tagged by @forget-me-not-james-hrndle, the sweetest pal you will ever have the pleasure of knowing! Thanks so much for thinking of me, Deena❤️

1. Are you excited for the TID TV show? Why or why not?

Hmmm I’m just going to be diplomatic and say that I’m looking forward to seeing how it will play it out, but if they make one wrong move with it, I might die.

2. What’s your favorite quote from tsc:

“We fear things because we value them. We fear losing people because we love them. We fear dying because we value being alive. Don’t wish you didn’t fear anything. All that would mean is that you didn’t feel anything.” - Julian Blackthorn, Lord of Shadows

3. Which character is most like you and why? (Physical appearance or personality)

I relate so insanely much to Emma, which is probably why I’ve gotten so attached to her and the series. We have generally similar looks: light hair, brown eyes; though I must admit I am not nearly as beautiful! But most of all we have eerily identical personalities and we both are hopelessly in love with Julian Blackthorn so there’s that.

4. Any theories on what will happen in Queen of Air and Darkness?

No one I love dies, Zara and her racist pals are imprisoned indefinitely, Julian finally takes a nap, and Julian and Emma live happily ever after.

God I wish. But in all seriousness, I loooove the theories that the parabatai curse isn’t actually a curse but will eventually turn Julian and Emma into angels. But that’s mostly wishful thinking.

5. Any theories on The Wicked Powers?

Okay so I’m hella excited for TWP, but since it’s such a long wait, I try not to read too many theories because I’m hype enough as it is. I’m just lit that Dru will have a bigger role and that Kit will be there, because Ive absolutely adored him since we got to know him a little better in Lord of Shadows. I do have a feeling though that the clave and the shadowhunter government structures are going to be in complete shambles by the end of QoAAD. So, I’m thinking there is going to be a lot of repair going on in TWP, and hopefully a less authoritarian structure will arise and maybe the Blackthorns can be a part of making that happen. Lex malla, no malla!

6. If you were going to get a shadowhunter chronicles tattoo, what would you get?

I don’t see myself getting a tattoo, mostly because I’m scared of commitment, but if I did I’d like one of the runes. Maybe prosperity, strength, or loyalty. Something with a positive meaning!

7. Shadowhunters tv show fan or not?

I watched the first season and I have to admit I am not the biggest fan. I don’t like how it deviated from the series and portrayed some of my favorite TMI characters (though in complete honesty, I am definitely in love with Matthew Daddario.) But I certainly don’t look down upon people who do like the show! I think it’s important to respect what makes other people happy!

8. How long have you been a fan of CC’s books and have you been in the Tumblr fandom as long as you’ve been a fan?

I read the first couple of TMI books in 8th grade, as a recommendation from one of my friends. I was really fascinated by it and stayed up all night reading them, but at the same time I was slightly weirded out by the incest and demon stuff. I picked them up again in 10th grade, and read all 5? TMI books in less than a week and got so into them. Since then, I’ve read the other TSC books, which I enjoyed even more! I’ve been browsing the TSC tumblr posts pretty much since I started reading them, but I didn’t actually start my own blog until earlier this summer.

9. Favorite ship, brotp, and notp:

-Favorite ship: Jemma Blackstairs (though I’m sure y’all have figured that out by now)

-Brotp: Kieran and Julian! I actually think they’d be really great friends for eachother if not for their circumstances.

-Notp: Sebastian and Clary. Seriously guys, I try not to be judgement but this was wrong on so many levels. First and foremost, he tried to rape her. Need I say more?

10. Which characters do you think are underapppreciated and why?

Julian gets some serious hate but honestly everything potentially morally gray that he has done has been done out of love and kindness, for the protection of his family. He’s been through so much and yeah maybe he doesn’t always make the right choices, but when do any of us?

11. Three things you associate with/ love about your favorite season:

I love winter time, though I might not have the same opinion if I didn’t live in such a hot and humid climate! But I love warm spices (allspice, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves), Christmas trees and lights, and chilly air!

12. What’s your Hogwarts house, Ilvermony House, and Patronus?

Gryffindor/Thunderbird/Crow

13. What’s your favorite song, lyrics, or band/singer:

I adore Tom Odell. Literally everyone of his songs, but particularly Hold Me, Magnetized, If you Wanna Love Somebody, Long Way Down, Here I Am. Please check him out and talk to me about how great he is!

14. If you’re in high school and you want to go to uni, what do you want to study?

I am thinking that I want to study architecture! I’ll be applying to colleges this fall, so if someone rich out there is reading this: please send money for school I’m so broke.

15. Coffee, tea, water, or soda:

The only thing I drink on a regular basis is water but I have tea quite often too!

16. What’s your favorite mythical creature?

Hmm centaur maybe? I like Chiron from Percy Jackson and Firenze from Harry Potter!

17. What tv show/ movie do you refuse to watch?

I tried so hard to like Riverdale since everyone is obsessed with it (I watched 2 whole seasons) but it’s not my thing and I stopped watching.

18. What could you do a 40 minute presentation on with no presentation:

Any of Donna Tartt’s books, my cat, The Dark Artifices, and any social political issue.

19. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you move to:

The UK, Belgium, Stockholm, or Helsinki. Basically anywhere in Northern Europe that will take me.

20. What dumb accomplishment are you proud of:

As of now, I have a 4.0 GPA; also I have solved a rubix cube!

21. What’s your name:

Katie! But you can call me whatever you like!

So I am officially tagging: the person reading this, @booksandmentalbreakdowns, @daisyrose97, @blxckburn, @halzleeforever ,@pancakegoddess, and @sockmonstergotstyle

Please don’t feel like you have to do this if I tag you, just know I’m thinking of you! ❤️❤️❤️

#personal #ask

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coeurdastronaute · 7 years

Text

Either/Or: Duck III

Previously on Duck

Even with a full arm cast, the CEO worked hard, choosing to devote herself to the distraction of her job. High in the belfry of LCorp’s tower, she toiled and tried not to count on a hero showing up on her balcony, though every single night she promised herself to ignore it, and yet she spent the day waiting eagerly. The days were spent waiting to avoid thinking about what her future might hold, which turned into a more exhausting job than her already exhausting one.

Work was a different kind of obstacle with a full arm cast, but Lena persevered anyway. It didn’t hurt that she got doted on behind the scenes. She grumbled about it, but the hero didn’t take it to heart at all. Little things had a way of appearing when she needed them. There was extra aspirin and her favorite juice one morning. There were flowers when she woke and little notes that had inside jokes. She was someone who had inside jokes. There were lunches left while Lena was in meetings, and there were homemade baked goods to get rid of the afternoon lethargy.

She got in the habit as well. One of her finished books made its way into the hero’s possession as she left it with a note on the balcony at the hotel. She made a sandwich and left it waiting, wrapped up nicely when she fell asleep early one night. When she went to a dinner meeting, extra dessert made its way back to the hero waiting. Lena was someone who thought of things like that, now.

More important than all of it, there were evenings, the deep, dark nights spent up much too late talking and shivering on the balcony. It was a delicate dance, to talk and not push. It felt more intimate than Lena could remember having a relationship in a long time, if that was what she could even call it. It was how she learned that Supergirl had to eat constantly due to her high metabolism. It was how she found herself telling a superhero about what it was like to be pushed against a wall and strangled, what it felt like to feel like nothing because of her mother’s words. She hadn’t meant to tell anyone those things, she hadn’t meant to think those things. But they came out at night, when the world was quiet and the stars were dancing brightest against the city lights.

The computer monitor on her desk had another spreadsheet on it that was important enough, that needed her attention, but the CEO couldn’t find it in herself to care at all. Instead, she just kept thinking about the way Supergirl looked when she talked about her own parents, this joy and this sorry that was so intertwined, so precise, it was contagious in equal measures. Lena thought about the way her face looked when she confessed her own childhood.

For even more reasons, in that moment, the CEO found herself hating the former Luthor owner. Her big brother would have known. No one would believe her if she told them about Lex near his wife, or how he mooned over her the first day he met her practically laying himself out on Lena’s bed while he talked about the girl with soft, red hair who smiled at him and said ‘You need a hat.’ Those words were on his ribs and when she knit him one three weeks later, he wore it proudly in the snow.

When Lena was fifteen years old, she held her nephew while her brother beamed from the other side of the hospital room. Dressed in his slacks and shirt rolled up at the elbows, he crossed his arms over his broad chest and the angles of his naturally stern face turned almost soft.

If she had been smarter, if she had been paying attention Lena always assumed that she would have seen the insanity right there. But it lingered below the surface, already coming out in different ways, but non obvious enough to warrant worry. Who would worry about the brilliant billionaire with a new family?

In her dreams, Lena stared at her brother's face and she looked for the signs and beat herself up so bad she woke up gasping from time to time, when the guilt got to be too much.

Lena watched it happen, watched him fall in love and watched him lose his mind, and as she crawled into bed after a hug from the hero, she felt the coldest shiver of fear and dread creep up her spine. She couldn’t help but wonder if she was capable of the same kind of evil, if she was capable of losing something she hadn’t considered.

“Ms. Luthor?” Jess asked, repeating herself for the twelfth time, and only finally getting a response from the distracted boss.

“Yes, sorry, what is it, Jess?” she sat up a little more in her chair and tapped her pen a few times against her desk.

“Can I get you anything for lunch?”

“No, thank you,” Lena smiled and leaned forward, suddenly self-conscious. “I brought something.”

It was almost a lie. She had sushi delivered to her that morning, fresh from Tokyo, and it made her heart giddy. For just a second, of course. And then the dred. That creeping fear of what it all meant overwhelmed her entirely and she found herself lost in those thoughts and memories of her brother and his descent.

“Will you get the boys something though? They’re growing lads and need a bite,” she remembered her guards who sat in the lobby, waiting for her to leave or move down the hall.

“Of course.”

New files were put on the corner of her desk, but Lena didn’t particularly care. She had too many thoughts for her office.

“When is my meeting with the Beta team?” she finally asked as she stood.

“Not until two.”

Jess moved around the desk, knowingly pick up what she knew needed refiled, organizing what remained while Lena grabbed her purse and moved toward the fridge beneath her bar.

“I’m going out for lunch.”

“It’s hot out there,” the assistant warned.

“I need some sun. I need to be out of this room.”

“I’ll phone down to security.”

“Just one. I don’t want an entire battalion just to go sit alone at the park.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Could you also call the hotel and have them deliver two large pizzas around ten tonight?”

“Pizza?”

“Yes, you know, that round thing with cheese?” Lena smiled as she moved toward the door. She couldn’t help but recognize a bit of amusement in her friend’s voice. “Sometimes I like pizza.”

“Enough to eat two large ones?”

“Thank you, Jess,” Lena smiled and shook her head. “I appreciate it.”

“Anything else? Maybe some bread sticks? Ice cream? Cheeseburgers?” she taunted.

“Just pizza for now. You’re the one who keeps telling me to expand my horizons.”

“That’s true,” she sighed as she stood behind the large desk and set up the rest of the day. “Have a good lunch.”

Lena wasn’t dumb. She knew that Jess wasn’t either, but she certainly didn’t know where to start when it came to her new friend, and so she took the half-hearted needling and she was thankful Jess was easy enough to not push too far.

It wasn’t even particularly normal for her to want to escape the tower, and yet, Lena found herself doing all kinds of things she never expected recently. That was how her brain now worked.

Years passed before Lena realized she hadn’t had time to think. Life just happened, was thrust upon her. And then her heart fluttered back and her head fluttered twice as hard. Sitting on the bench in the park a few blocks away from her building, she nibbled on delicious sushi and dug out the newest book added to her collection by the hero.

By the time her watch reminded her that there was actual business to conduct, she’d reached an almost state of zen. Children played and ran around the trees. People milled about, the world happened in this tiny slice of life and Lena was actually a part of it, she was actually existing and the sky wasn’t falling.

She dreaded checking her phone, though as she made her way back toward the entrance of the park, Lena found herself compelled to check the damage of her extended absence. Behind her, a behemoth of a man in a suit followed, eyes darting around behind dark sunglasses. It did nothing to make her feel safe. Nothing would. Fate just had a way of smacking her right in the fac--

“Golly, I am so sorry,” a voice hurried as Lena felt herself come in contact with an immovable force. She bounced back a step before strong hands grabbed her tightly.

It was those eyes, she realized, the moment she saw them. All warning signals went off like a submarine about to be torpedoed. It might have even been comical if she had the wherewithal to imagine the controllers in her head scurrying around while red lights swirled and warnings blared over the speakers. Instead, she just stared at those eyes.

“Duck!” she tugged a little as she felt her bodyguard approach and try to swing at the person who was currently holding her tight.

Much too quickly, they were tipped down with ease, avoiding the fist of the protector.

“Oh fuck,” Lena sighed, furrowing deeply as she wound her arms around a familiar neck and inhaled that familiar smell. “Not again.”

“I’m so sorry. I should have watched where I was going, and then--”

Both were speechless, both were terrified, both couldn’t figure out how to move again. That moment, the earth-shattering, life-changing moment they experienced amidst burning rubble and an attack copter, was supposed to be a one time feeling. But they felt it change, for better or worse, right there in the park in the middle of a warm afternoon.

Lena forgot how to breathe, and she didn’t know what to do. She knew, logically, that Supergirl had to exist in the world, and yet, seeing her now, was just completely new and unexpected. It was easier to keep a distance, to not think of this.

“Easy, Peter,” Lena held up her hand as she was righted and the guard fret over her. “I’m fine. Just an accident. Give me some space.”

She waited for him to back up before surveying the girl in front of her. Gone was the suit, the costume. In its place was glasses, soft blonde hair tied up in a pony tail, soft colors and starched shirts. She was anything but super, but standing right there, Lena was positive, and she now intimately understood why she was always afraid to ask about the hero’s real identity. Now it was real. Now it was possible. Now it was there.

Those eyes were wide and worried. All kind of blue and happy and different. Lena couldn’t find the rest of the world to save her life. All that existed was the moment between them when she came face to face with the girl of her dreams.

“I’m sorry again,” the not-so-strange, stranger muttered and adjusted her own glasses nervously.

“Come on, don’t pretend,” Lena shook her head. “Fate made us have the same interaction twice. Surely, that’s a little bit funny.”

“Maybe we’re both so dense it knew we needed a second go at it,” she smiled. Lena would know that smile anywhere. She spent the past few weeks mapping it in the dark. “Is your arm alright?”

The worry was new and still very foreign to her. But as the hero reached out and held the cast, scanning it tenderly, with a kind of familiarity that was normal for them.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” she promised, looking down to make sure it was still attached. When she met Supergirl’s gaze, she swallowed and cleared her throat. “We don’t have to… do this or whatever. You haven’t said anything before, and I respect--”

“My name is Kara,” she interrupted, hand sticking out, waiting for the niceties to be met. “It’s nice to meet you, officially.”

“Lena,” the CEO breathed, taking the hand offered to her.

They stood there shaking hands as if they’d never learned how before. It was almost the most contact they had mustered.

“I never introduced myself because I wasn’t sure you were ready.”

“I probably wasn’t,” Lena confessed. “I’m probably not.”

“I wasn’t either.”

There was a weirdness to knowing someone and not knowing them, one that lingered between them so that Lena felt a tangible need to say or do or be something, though she couldn’t. They knew each other as much as anyone who spent nearly every evening together could know, and yet they knew absolutely nothing. The dichotomy of knowing that the hero’s favorite smell was lemongrass versus not knowing what she did as a day job was baffling and confounding.

“I hope we don’t make a habit out of this.”

“At least nothing’s on fire,” Kara grinned. It was purely to the side and all manner of mischievous. “Are you just out for a walk? Could I walk with you? Maybe? I was just… I had to go--- I mean. I don’t have to right now. But we could, if you want.”

“I actually snuck out of the office for lunch. Sushi and a good book.”

“Ah, sushi sounds good. Did you know they make the best sushi at this tiny restaurant on the fifth floor of a building in Tokyo? Right on the corner near the fish market,” she smiled wider, proud of herself. “I was just there not too long ago.”

If anyone else had been watching, they might not have recognized Lena Luthor. She couldn’t help it though, and with those words, she laughed, genuinely, honestly, right from the gut, laughed.

“I’ll have to keep that in mind next time I make it over there.”

The phone still clutched in her hand buzzed with warnings and the inevitable reminders from her assistant, but Lena didn’t want to go back. She wanted to run away with this stranger who was anything but, who was funny and geeky and unassuming, right in front of her. Despite how afraid she was.

“I shouldn’t keep you,” Kara murmured, her own smile growing as she watched Lena recover from laughing. “I’m sure you have business to get to. I was just on my way to do something. Um. Run a few errands.”

“Right, of course, yeah,” she nodded. “If this, uh. We should… talk?”

“Yeah. Definitely.”

“What do you like on your pizza?”

“Um, well, anything, actually,” Kara answered, confused as to the train of thought.

“Try using the front door this time, tiger,” Lena grinned as her phone vibrated, annoyed and ignored and not taking it any longer. “Maybe tonight we finally figure things out.”

“Is this just because we ran into each other?”

“No,” the CEO sighed. “I mean. I planned on…. I planned on having dinner with you tonight.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she smiled, still unsure of herself. But Kara’s giant smile helped put her at ease. If she was going to do one thing in this world, she was going to earn more of those. And maybe that was what this entire thing was all about. The thoughts troubled her for a split second.

Lena Luthor liked to be good at things, and this was unchartered waters.

“Could I walk you back to your office?” Kara ventured, despite knowing it would make her late for work, despite knowing the lashing that would come from her editor.

“Sure.”

“Okay.”

“Good.”

“Yeah.”

“Awesome.”

Both smiled and nodded and were nervous wrecks, but persisted anyway, diving deep and very aware that they had no idea what the landing was supposed to look like.

The night that Lex Luthor was found in a non-extradition country, Kara spent hours holding back her cousin. And when the League found out, they consulted the government and held him back even tighter. In the back of her head though, her first thought was of a CEO who was undoubtedly glued to the television.

The night that Lex Luthor was found, Lena tried to ignore it and failed. When Jess poked her head in and offered to get dinner, Lena smiled politely and told her to head home. And when she went home, she oddly hoped that no one else would join her.

But she knew her soulmate.

The day she met her, officially, in the park, Lena was a ball of emotions. That was the thing she would never want anyone to figure out and worked hard to conceal, that she was a perpetual roaring river of emotions hidden behind the thinnest dam ever constructed, ready and eager to break at the slightest provocation. That was the thing that Kara knew, despite Lena’s best attempts to prove otherwise, and she hated it, and was in no mood for the weakness of her structurally unsound levee in the torrential flooding of her brother’s reappearance.

After two months, knocking had grown obsolete. But the night Lex Luthor was spotted, Kara hesitated.

Inside the hotel room, she heard Lena pace. She heard her set down a glass that, even from the distance of being behind a door, smelled like vodka. Behind the door to the hotel room, Kara watched Lena finally. Watched her cross her arms and finally go into the bedroom before taking off a work shirt in favor of something more comfortable. Kara blushed and cleared her throat before making her way inside with the key Lena told her to use.

“Hey, Lena, I brought dinner,” Kara called. “I figured you might be busy or maybe forgot and I was in the neighborhood, which is actually a lie. I wasn’t. I was actually in Metropolis, but I remembered you said that this place had your favorite--” she paused as she put bags on the counter of the full kitchen. “Golly.”

Her legs weren’t long, but when they were on display, they were all that mattered. Kara stared, and even though she didn’t mean to, she felt her gaze take a long while as it made the trip up from the ground to the edge of a long shirt that hung just below hips. The faintest edge of shorts could been seen there, but Kara had no time for that fact. Instead, she just stared and felt her eyes go wide.

She stared until she heard the sound of a bag hitting the ground and forgot that her hands held things. Her eyes and seeing took up much more brainpower than previously expected, but when Lena rounded the corner, nothing much made sense.

“Duck,” Lena returned with a smile she couldn’t have imagined all day. But then Kara was right there, and Lena couldn’t help it.

“Sorry, I’m. I didn’t. I didn’t mean to barge in, or interrupt, I was just--”

“In the neighborhood?”

“Yes. No. Wait,” she shook her head and scrambled to pick up the take out. “I was. I thought you might like company.”

“I didn’t think you’d stop by,” Lena shrugged as she put her hair up.

The past few months had been a delicate balance of friendship that neither explicitly knew how to navigate. Kara felt a growing attachment, a natural inclination to care about her soulmate. And she also wanted to kiss her which was growing to complicate things immensely because she was certain Lena was barely handling her being Supergirl.

“I was hoping you’d be… I’ll just. Do you want to put more clothes… I…” the hero turned around and blushed, focusing decidedly upon the bags of food. “I didn’t mean to. Golly.”

“You said that already.”

Without a thought, Lena approached and rested her chin on Kara’s shoulder. She kept her arms crossed, she leaned as best she could and inhaled the new familiar, that Kara smell, of sunlight and something fruity, something like a peach, soft and sweet that fogged up her thoughts.

“Today was shit,” Lena acknowledged. “But this smells good. Is this from Ezio’s?”

“The best clam sauce in the world,” Kara nodded. “I had to test out your rave review. Plus, pasta is the best kind of comfort food.”

For a moment, they looked like a couple. Lena knew it. She saw herself, she felt the pause. Kara swallowed hard and smiled at the feeling of warmth against her back. It was the most intimate they had been, and still, Kara didn’t know how to handle it. Thankfully, her stomach grumbled and she earned a chuckle.

“Let’s feed you then. I’m sure your day wasn’t much better.”

The departure of the chin on her shoulder was oddly hollow. Kara turned quickly and furrowed.

“Hey, you’re… how are you?”

“They can’t go get them, can they?” Her arms wrapped around herself tighter. “It’d be illegally obtained. The courts would side with him.”

Kara watched Lena cock her head and squint, and no one else would ever know what a scared person rested in the confident exterior of the CEO. She just shook her head in response.

“I spent all day holding back Clark. And any free moments, we were trying to find a legal way to go about it, but we didn’t… we tried… I mean--”

“You didn’t find anything.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. It’ll… it’ll all work out,” Lena tried. “At least he isn’t trying to kill me at the moment.”

Kara snorted indignantly before her arms moved on their own. She was already hugging Lena tightly, wrapping around the girl tightly because it was the only way to provide comfort. It felt right, and despite Lena’s tensing, she relaxed a moment later, languidly lounging in the reassurance of strong arms.

“He’s not going to hurt you,” Kara promised. Her lips moved against Lena’s hair, against her temple, against the shell of her ear.

“I know,” Lena nodded.

As she pulled away, Kara’s hands fell to her hips, wrapped around her waist. She felt her hips press against the girl who brought her a dinner she’d mentioned weeks ago, just because she thought it would help. Her palms rested on Kara’s chest, her fingertips toying with buttons and collarbones.

“I was weirdly worried about you, all day,” the reporter finally admitted, when staring at lips was too distracting, and those eyes were nothing but an even worse target to keep her mind from taking terribly arousing rabbit holes of thoughts.

“It’s not weird. What do all of the stories say? We’re linked, now, right?” Lena shrugged. The news was welcomed though.

“I always thought that was just part of the story,” she admitted sheepishly. “I didn’t expect it to be so literal. I see my sister and her girlfriend, and they just move so naturally, I hadn’t expected it to be second-nature, or to realize I’m doing it…. Like thinking about you and stuff.”

“I was worried about you, too,” Lena confessed, clearing her throat and trying to stand up a bit straighter, though there were hands still rooted near her spine. “For the record.”

“So long as it’s on the record, you won’t mind me quoting you in my new article, Ms. Luthor.”

“Wait, what?”

“My article, to be titled Beautiful Billionaire Slums with Nerdy Reporter: Does Fate Make Mistakes?” Kara explained, her hands accenting each word as a headline between them.

“Tad lengthy.”

“You’re right,” she nodded. “How about Hot Genius Reluctantly Accepts Awkward Alien Lover.”

“Oh, is that what we are?”

“Oh, um, well,” Kara blanched and stood up a bit straighter. She adjusted her glasses.

No longer was Lena held there, no longer were arms around her waist, but still, she remained rooted, now the force holding Kara against the counter with just the help of gravity and her own hips. It was mighty power to hold.

“How about Wonderful, Patient Hero Saves Heiress’ Heart From Lonely Future.”

“Lengthy.”

“Bespeckled, Kind-hearted Angel Thaws Frosty Bookworm’s Future.”

“A bit hyperbolic.”

“Not entirely,” Lena shrugged. Her hands wound around Kara’s neck, her forearms resting on her shoulder. “Fine. Pretty Girl With 1940s Vocab Wooes Pessimistic Orphan?”

“We’re getting closer,” Kara nodded with a smile.

“Quote me for whatever you want then.”

Hovering close, Lena watched Kara’s chest rise and fall quicker, she felt her tense and swallow, she felt her eyes grow wider and yet focus in on her own face quite quickly. It was a lot, it was close, it was a position they had been careful to not find themselves in, and just as Kara had explained, it happened so naturally, without either noticing until it was too late.

“We should eat then,” Lena finally decided, clearing her throat and letting her hands fall away from the hero’s neck. It was safer this way, she decided.

“We should. We should… yeah. We should,” Kara nodded eagerly, still dazed. “Yeah. Eat. Yes.”

Lena felt at ease for the first time in hours, and just because someone brought her dinner.

Much the way a fearsome jungle cat becomes a kitten when it is time for a nap, so did Lena Luthor remind Kara when she grew weary. The graveyard of their take out dinner remained on the coffee table amidst stacks of books and files from work, while a few of Kara’s notebooks and laptop made it to the mountain range of easily dismissed work activities neither felt the urge to traverse once they had full bellies and a comfy couch to share.

Normally, a prowling, sleek, menacing man-eater of a panther, Kara watched Lena fight against her exhaustion and her worry, watched her argue against herself until she settled like an innocent kitten against her side. The warmth radiated between them, and before Kara could really take the time to appreciate it, Lena was breathing soft and even, her cheek on Kara’s thigh, her arms wrapped tightly around her calf.

With the smallest of movements, Kara pulled the blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over they exhausted CEO who would rather swallow her own thoughts than let them see the light of day, who could never admit how purely exhausted she was, but succumbed to the mere suggestion of comfort and warmth and safety.

There’d been a moment, once, when J’onn spoke of his wife, when he referenced this idea that he was always exactly where he needed to be when she existed. It wasn’t a thought that made sense or seemed relatable, in fact, it often perplexed her, and yet right there, on the couch while some documentary played, Kara felt, for the first time in a long, long while, that she was exactly where she was meant to be.

With only the smallest of stretches, she leaned to turn off the light and settled into the couch, knowing full well that nothing was going to make her move and wake the sleeping executive from what must have been her first solid chunk of rest in --

And then her phone rang.

“Hm? Is that? Where’s my…?” Lena sat up and squinted, frantic and adorable as her hand patted along the coffee table.

Quickly, Kara dug into her pockets, trying to find the offensive device that betrayed what would have been a wonderful moment.

“I’m sorry, that’s me,” she rattled as Lena tried to still her heart.

“I must have fallen…. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean. What time is it?”

“I just have to take this…” Kara pointed at her phone and stood, leaving a confused and disoriented girl in her wake who still squinted and watched her move with only one eye open. “Alex? What’s wrong?”

From the couch, Lena looked down at the blanket and only half heard Kara muttering as she moved out of the living room. It took all of her mental processes to figure out how she’d ended up covered up, and why she was so near delirious from waking from such a deep sleep.

By the time Kara made it back in, she had already adjusted her messy hair and felt somewhat presentable.

“Everything okay?”

“Hm? Yeah, sorry. Alex just stopped by my apartment, and I wasn’t there,” Kara explained. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

“I’m sorry I used you as a pillow.”

“Never apologize for that.”

Though they were quiet, both had words bubbling up in their throats so that they burst out at the same time once they caught the merest look at the other.

“I should--”

“You should--”

Both snapped their mouths shut and stared at the other, willing them to say the next thing they paused.

Lena yawned and pushed messy hair around her head while debating it all. Kara stared back at her and shifted her weight from foot to foot.

“I should head home,” Kara finally managed, rubbing her hand anxiously along her elbow, holding herself together as best she could.

Lena felt her lungs pop at the news, wheezing out like an old party balloon. Still half asleep and very disoriented, the facts of the day swept back into her thoughts.

“Would you… I mean. You could stay, if you wanted.”

“Stay here?” the hero asked quickly. “With you?”

“I could leave if that’d make you more comfortable, but that’d defeat the purpose.”

Still in almost nothing, still very pretty, still doing ungodly things to her heart, Lena had no knowledge of the thoughts in Kara’s head, and for that the reporter was the most grateful. She didn't mean to, or that was her defense, but she caught a glimpse of legs, and then she caught those eyes, and she felt warm all over.

“It is late,” Kara wagered.

Somewhere, in a foreign country, stalked by round the clock surveillance from any number of world governments, Lex Luthor, the more infamous of the Luthor siblings, paced through the halls of his borrowed mansion, plotting and calculating and being utterly miserable and all but dead physically, because surely a man like him did not just appear into the world for no reason at all. There was always a plan, always a motive.

Somewhere else, far away, a more and more dwindling thought, the oldest Luthor heir concocted and hatched and schemed.

RIght there though, in the hotel room on the top floor of the hotel on Twelfth street, Lena Luthor, the youngest of the Luthor brood, the chosen, the adopted, the last one standing, she slid into her bed and kept strict to one fourth of it before facing the middle as, for the first time in a long, long, long while, the other side dipped with another body. Suddenly very much alive inside, she huddled under the blankets and calculated all manner of math that did not make much sense because surely she must be dreaming. A girl like her did not just a hero in her bed for no reason at all. She didn’t have anyone in her bed.

Right there, she swallowed and took a deep breath. The one true heir was too tired to extrapolate.

“I didn’t want to be alone tonight,” Lena whispered in the dark.

Clear on the other side of the bed, what felt like miles apart, the other body rolled to her side as well, and faced the honest voice.

“He’s not going to hurt you,” Kara promised.

“It’s not that,” she bit her cheek and leaned forward slightly. “I just. I’m very good at being alone. But then you… you’re just. I know what it’s like to have someone around now. I didn’t want to be alone.”

God, did it fucking hurt to say things like that.

“You don’t have to be alone anymore, if you don’t want,” a tiny promise came after a few seconds. “There’s no where in the entire galaxy I’d rather be right now than here, in this exact spot.”

With a small smile that she was grateful Kara couldn’t see in the dark, Lena closed her eyes and ran her foot along her calf, adjusting sleepily and sorely into the big bed. For the life of her, she was not sure how to process an emotion like that. She couldn't figure out where to even start.

“That’s a like,” Kara whispered, shifting slightly.

Just as quickly as her mind tried to forget the equation put before her with Kara’s promise, it short circuited. The body beside her shifted closer, until she felt Kara’s knee on her own knee, until she felt soft breath on her knuckles, until she felt a forehead against her own forehead.

“A foot to the left was the real answer,” she explained as she stopped adjusting. “But now, my answer stands. True, too, considering I’ve been to many places in the Galaxy, and the next four.”

“I’m not as well traveled, but I have to say, that on this world, in this moment, I agree completely.”

“Good.”

“Thank you, Kara.”

The only response came in the form of a warm hand gliding along her back, soothing her toward the inevitable sleep.

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