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xalygatorx · 4 months

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A Very Worthy Christmas 4: Adventures in Babysitting

Christmassy bonus chapters for Worthy (posted a bit early because we're sneaking up on that time of year)!

All take place after the main story, so if you don't want spoilers, save these for a cozy, snowy day. x

Summary: Thor, Jane, and their son Erik arrive at Cora and Loki's on Christmas Eve. An impromptu run to the store leaves Loki alone for the first time with his little nephew.

Pairing: Loki x Fem!OC

Warnings: None

Word Count: 3.5k

"It's just fun, okay?!"

"There is no such thing as 'Yuletide Eve,' the concept itself is ridiculous, why celebrate the night before the actual event just because it's before it?!" Loki demanded as he watched her hook the last of the new ornaments onto the tree after spending a good two hours stringing lights and adding on her old decorations. He'd been testy all day because it was Christmas Eve and Thor, Jane, and their son, Erik, were due to arrive at their home today—in less than an hour, in fact, which was likely why his mood had taken a dip within the past twenty minutes.

"Well, there is here, so get used to it!" Cora fired back, cursing as she misstepped on the ladder and stumbled off the rung. Loki had just enough time to growl his exasperation before he snagged her in the crook of his arm and swung her onto her feet. She probably would've been able to catch herself, but it wouldn't have been graceful and she'd been en route to the floor all the same. "Thanks. Besides, Christmas Eve is more for kids than anyone else. Because of Santa Claus and all that."

"Santa Claus?" he repeated dubiously. "Is that a game like Marco Polo?"

Cora started to say it wasn't, but then she thought about it considerately. "…You know, it kind of is. But not quite. Marco Polo is actually a game. Santa Claus is kind of a make-believe thing for kids." Loki stared at her, waiting for an explanation, and she pursed her lips as she thought of how to explain it. "See, when you grow up here as a kid—at least for the most part—you grow up believing that Santa Claus brings you all or some of your presents rather than your parents and family members."

"Why? Then they do not get credit for their gifts."

"No, but children get a lot of joy out of it. There's a whole story about it and you leave a plate of cookies and some milk out for him, and he comes down the chimney…"

"He sounds like an odd burglar. And Midgardian children actually believe this?"

"Mostly, yes. At least in the States, that's how we do it, I'm not very informed on how it's done in other countries and cultures… It's fun. But eventually, usually from each other, kids find out he's not real and then they just kind of let it go."

"So, the lie of Santa Claus is passed down from generation to generation… To end up in disappointment?"

Cora's brow creased and she sighed. "Well, it's still fun for a while… It's worth the little bit of disappointment later…"

Loki grimaced and shook his head. "No. It sounds like a horrendous idea."

"Listen, you, I swear by all that is holy if you say a word to ruin Santa for that little boy when he's old enough to understand, I'll—"

"It would be to save him some grief, I'd be doing him a kindness!"

"Bit out of character, don't you think?" Cora tossed flippantly and Loki was bearing down on her when they heard the doorbell ring. Cora paused before glancing up at him, tentatively asking, "Ready?"

His lips curled a little, more out of frustration with the situation than actual anger. "As I ever shall be."

Cora nodded and stood on her tiptoes to kiss the tip of his nose before she went to answer the door. She smoothed her shirt as she turned the knob and greeted their guests, grinning when she saw Jane holding Erik and Thor standing behind them both. "Hi, guys!"

"Hey, how are you?" Jane enthused back, stepping in and using her free arm to hug Cora.

"We're great, thanks. Oh, my gosh, he's getting so big!" It was true, Erik had grown even more since the last time she'd seen him, even though it had only really been a few months ago. She wasn't completely sure if it was the Asgardian blood in him that was causing him to grow faster or if she'd just been around kids so little she wasn't aware of how fast they actually grew up.

Probably a mixture of both, she decided as she scooped Erik out of Jane's arms, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Oops, sorry, I didn't see you had stuff with you."

Cora hastily moved aside so Thor could come in, his hands teeming with bags, mostly of food. "It is no trouble at all, little sister," Thor smiled, unable to give her a hug and instead leaning down and kissing the top of her head before looking at his brother tentatively. "Hello, brother."

"Hello, Thor," Loki said quietly. Not agitatedly or even somberly, just quietly.

"You can put that stuff away if you'd like, come on," Cora offered before the silence set in, leading the way to the kitchen and the living room.

"Oh, Cora! Your tree's gorgeous!" Jane complimented. "I'm too lazy to do one properly."

"I usually am, too, but Loki insisted we get a real tree."

"Did he?" Jane wondered with a smirk. "Getting into the Christmas spirit, eh?"

"The thing she had was not a tree," he remarked and when he got a laugh out of Jane, he seemed to relax slightly. Thor laughed as well, though he was more concerned at the moment with unloading the bags and not dropping anything. "What is all that?"

"Cookies and mini pies, mostly," Jane replied easily, smiling when she saw Cora making silly faces at Erik and causing him to blubber a few giggles. "Just treats. And presents for you both, of course."

Just then, Erik started to cry and Cora murmured a quick, "Oh, jeez," and hurriedly started to hand him back to Jane. However, Thor swooped in and plucked him up in his huge hands, grinning and lifting him up into the air before bringing him back down to kiss his pudgy cheeks.

The little boy was giggling again in no time and Cora's heart melted a little at the sight. She saw Thor glance to the side and then pause before cradling Erik in the crook of one muscular arm, his enthusiasm calming a bit. "Erik, do you know who this is?" he asked the little guy with eyes like the summer sky, blue and shining and wonderfully new. Cora followed Thor's gaze to Loki, who she realized in that moment had not yet met the child once. Cora had gone to see them alone and only once in the past year or so had they bumped into one another when Loki had been present, and that had been an accident.

Loki's expression was conflicted and landed somewhere between anxiety and uncertainty. He wasn't feigning indifference though, so that was a start. Even so, that just meant whatever he was feeling in that moment was too difficult to hide. He was watching the baby boy calmly, a faint crease between his dark brows that deepened when Thor quietly stated, "This is your Uncle Loki."

His jaw tightened slightly at those words strung together, his gaze only lifting when Thor asked if he wanted to hold his nephew. Loki looked hard at Thor for a moment and then back at the child before shaking his head. "No," he said a bit coldly, which he noticed and attempted to make up for by adding, "thank you."

Cora glanced at Jane, who looked as disappointed as she felt. Maybe with time though. Thor just nodded though and nuzzled his son's cheek before they all helped Jane get organized with her treats, which were arranged around the breakfast bar, and the presents they'd brought, which were stashed under the tree with the rest. They'd all relaxed, assuming they were almost done, when Jane looked aghast and murmured, "Oh, my god."

Cora glanced at her, somewhat alarmed. "What?"

"I forgot your lemon cookies at home…," Jane groaned, running a hand down her cheek. There were these sugar-crusted lemon cookies Jane made that Cora loved—which they'd found out at her baby shower—and ever since Cora had been receiving random care packages via mail and other methods namely containing a box of those cookies and a little note.

"Oh, that's okay, we—"

"I can run to the store and make them here if that's okay! Come on, please? Mom brain or some such, I don't know how I forgot them!" Jane insisted, looking like she felt awful about forgetting a box of cookies, which Cora couldn't quite comprehend. "No, you don't understand, those were going to be your main Christmas present. Otherwise, I wouldn't feel so badly."

Cora pursed her lips. "Could you have put them in one of the gift bags then?"

Jane's eyes widened a bit. "Good idea, I'll go check."

She left the room and Cora glanced thoughtfully at Thor. "You know, I should probably head out to the store anyway for some extra breakfast things. That's not a bad idea…"

"They're not in there," Jane sighed as she walked back in. "I probably left them on the counter at home like a dunce, I'm sorry." She shot a glance at Thor. "I thought I told you to take one more look around before we left." Thor glanced helplessly at Erik, who hiccuped in his arms, apparently at just as much of a loss as his father was. "Doesn't matter, I can head out to get whatever ingredients you don't have here."

"I was thinking I had some things I want to pick up, too, so I'll go with you," Cora offered.

"You can give me a list if you want."

"Nah, I'm not sure I'll know what I want until I see it."

"I will join you both," Thor said, gently patting his son's back absentmindedly. "It is getting late and I do not like the idea of—"

"Are you forgetting how much ass I kicked during that Ragnarök fiasco?" Cora asked dubiously, earning a snort from Loki. "Give me a little bit of credit."

"I give you a great expanse of credit, I would just feel better if I came along," Thor rephrased and Cora couldn't really argue.

Cora's phone buzzed in her pocket and she plucked it out to see what she'd gotten while Jane and Thor hashed out what she'd need to pick up for the cookies. It was from Pepper and the moment she opened the text, Cora burst out laughing. Inside was a picture of a highly unamused Tony Stark, though it was hard to see his expression under the accumulation of red and green glitter on his face and in his hair. Accompanying it was a text that just said, "Got him!"

After passing around the picture and sharing quirky remarks, Cora went to get her coat from the bedroom while Jane and Thor picked up their coats where they'd set them temporarily by the couch. Thor started to pick up Mjolnir as well, but instead left it on the sofa, not thinking he would need it in the next hour or so. He looked at Erik crawling around on the floor, a humble, loving smile crossing his face before he turned to Loki, who was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "Coming?"

"I do not think so," Loki replied. "I have no reason to and I daresay Cora does not take well to my accompanying her to the grocery store."

Thor smirked. "Jane normally leaves me home as well." It earned a faint smirk from Loki as well until silence fell gently between them again. "Are you well?" Thor asked abruptly, startling his brother a little. "I mean to ask… You are…happy here?"

"I…," Loki began but was interrupted when Jane came in and Cora appeared down the stairs. Instead of finishing, his lips formed a thin line and he just nodded in response, retreating from the almost-moment.

Jane got on her knees with Erik's coat and as much as she tried to put it on him, he kept wriggling his way out of it. After a moment, she looked so frustrated she was on the verge of tears. "Sweetie, I can't take you outside without a coat, now come on."

Cora watched them struggle before a thought crossed her mind. "You know… We wouldn't be gone more than a half-hour, I imagine…" Thor and Loki both looked at her quizzically, but her eyes found the God of Mischief first. "You could watch him for a little while, couldn't you? Since you're staying here anyway?"

Loki looked like she'd stabbed him rather than asked him to babysit his nephew. He floundered for words, but Jane grasped at the straws. "Would you, Loki? We won't be gone long, I promise. It's been such a long day, a long week, actually, and—"

"All right, all right," Loki grumbled as he stepped back from her hopeful advances. "Just…hurry."

"Absolutely," Jane said quickly before nodding for Thor to head toward the door.

Thor looked down at her, letting his tiny wife push him into the hallway even as he glanced at Loki with some worry. "Are you sure you will be alright?"

Loki shrugged. "I suppose I'll live," he said dryly. Thor seemed to bite down a laugh as Jane finally got him past the doorway.

Loki felt a quick touch to his cheek, which turned out to be Cora giving him a light kiss goodbye. "Relax, you'll be fine. I'm sure they appreciate it."

"Sure, sure," he said just a tad patronizingly but added a faint smile to soften his words. Cora smiled and waved after asking if there was anything specific he wanted or needed. Her retreat was followed by the closing of their front door and then silence apart from the tiny thuds and wet sounds from the child on the floor.

Loki's gaze dropped to the golden-haired boy and though he had not joined the family until after Thor was a few years old, he knew that this was how Thor must have looked at just a year of age.

He sighed and sat down on the couch, watching Erik crawl around on the area rug. Loki wore a bored look on his face, his pale hands folded against one knee. "Just us now," he murmured thoughtfully. Erik looked up at him as he sat back on his bum, touching the fabric of the rug curiously and observing his surroundings. "I feel rather sorry for you, having that oaf as a father," he remarked, even while knowing he was lying to himself. Thor was a great father, his actions earlier had only proved what Loki had known for years would be true one day.

Loki watched as Erik crawled quickly toward the kitchen doorway, letting him explore as he would and just keeping an eye on what he was heading toward. "You know, this isn't so hard," he scoffed easily just as Erik smacked his elbow against the doorjamb. There was a thud and then one beat of pure silence before he erupted into a fit of tears, his face and eyes red and wet in an instant.

Loki had a moment of paralyzing panic before he got up and walked over to the child, warily picking him up under his arms and holding him a couple feet out in front of him as he murmured noncommittal noises resembling, "There, there," and, "Oh, calm down, you're fine." He gingerly set Erik upright on the couch and sat at a slight distance in front of him, scrambling internally for a way to fix this. "Erm…," he murmured before trying to pull one of the faces he'd seen Cora making earlier, but that stunt only made Erik cry harder.

Murmuring a small Nordic curse, Loki quickly snapped his fingers and a flash of green light appeared above his hand, an illusioned rose growing from the light. Erik stopped after a moment, his chest still emptily heaving from little sobs as he watched Loki fashion the flower, mesmerized by the light and the intricacy of the formation. "There, see? Not so bad…," Loki sighed with some relief, changing the rose into a tree and the tree into the constellations he'd grown up beneath, above Asgard. Seeing the light of those stars reflected in Erik's eyes stirred something in him and he slowly realized he was being suckered into liking the little one.

"Of course," Loki grumbled, though he had to admit that this development was a rather interesting one. "Someone has got to get you to love books, it certainly will not be your father… Perhaps your mother though." Loki smirked and nixed the galaxy illusion, transferring the light to just above Erik. "Perhaps me," he murmured softly, smiling as he fashioned an illusory, shrunken version of his golden horned helmet onto his nephew's little temper-pinkened head.

Loki chuckled as Erik looked up, seeing the glints from the helmet and marveling at them. "Yes, I could teach you quite a—" Just before he could finish, Erik raised one of his hands to touch what he perceived as a shiny piece of real attire and it dissipated beneath his fingertips—as illusions did—causing him to return to his waterworks and send Loki back into a controlled panic.

"It's just an illusion, you did not—oh, by the Nine…," he sighed, running a hand over his hair and looking down at his lap sullenly. When he looked back up, Erik was still teary, but he'd found something to occupy himself with, which Loki was thankful for until he saw what it was. Erik tampered with the strap at Mjolnir's base idly and Loki could see it starting to tilt faintly from their combined weight on the couch cushions making an indent. "Erik, that is not a toy."

His stern tone earned him a glance from the boy, whose tiny fists were wrapped around the handle of the ancient hammer. Loki was about to warn him once more when the boy pulled and the hammer tipped up into his clumsy grasp. "Oh, no," Loki had time to murmur before attempting to contain the situation as soon as possible. "Erik, put that down, no."

Erik stopped and looked between Loki and the hammer, his lower lip pouting out even as he let the hammer fall from his little hands. Loki felt the couch shudder when the hammer bounced on the cushions, sighing his relief and leaning against the back with a tired glance at the disappointed boy. "Thank you."

Erik sniffled in what was almost a passive-aggressive response and Loki felt strangely horrible for his reddened eyes and tear-streaked cheeks. Children cried all the time—and more often than not, at least when he was present, it was intentionally his doing—however, this one was different. Of course, he was different.

Thor's son rubbed at his eyes, snuffling again and clearly exhausted. Loki watched him a moment more before sighing and picking him up, more carefully this time. The boy weighed next to nothing and snuggled to Loki's chest as soon as he had him in a position to do so. Loki looked down at him with an almost sad expression that branched from something he didn't even understand, but Erik was asleep within moments, breathing evenly after wearing himself out.

Very meticulously, Loki held the boy in one arm and used the other to ease himself back to lie down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling with Erik sleeping atop him. He barely had time to wonder why such small gestures from a boy not even old enough to speak properly yet meant so much to him before he fell asleep as well, the dotting of lights on the Christmas tree casting little spots beneath his closed eyelids like the constellations he'd drawn for Erik.

Cora, Thor, and Jane returned no longer than forty minutes later, as promised, arms teeming with a few bulky grocery bags. They were talking, but when they heard the silence that greeted them, they all stopped, immediately suspicious.

Cora crept in ahead of the others, peeking around the corner into the living room, at which point her jaw dropped at the sight before her. She then grinned and continued into the kitchen, silently setting down the bags she held. She heard Jane and Thor make their way in behind her, both looking shocked, but thoroughly pleased.

"Is there a door we can close?" Jane whispered as she started to unpack the bags.

"Way ahead of you," Cora replied, silencing her phone before creeping up on the two and taking one perfect, adorable picture of Loki fast asleep with his nephew dozing on his chest. She put her phone back her her pocket and just looked at them for a long moment, smiling softly.

"Destroy my ovaries, why don't you…," she grumbled to herself before heading back to the kitchen, very quietly sliding the hideaway door in the jamb between the kitchen and living room shut so they wouldn't disturb the nappers.

"Send that to Jane, would you?" Thor requested quietly and Cora looked up at him. His eyes glistened, and he looked more touched than she'd ever seen him. More touched than she'd ever seen any man, really. It positively tore at her heart.

"Sure thing, big bro."

Next chapter: A Very Worthy Christmas 5, The Proposal

#loki laufeyson #loki x fem!oc #loki x oc #loki fanfic #loki fanfiction #loki fluff #thor odinson #thor movies #thor the dark world #avengers #marvel cinematic universe

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autumn-foxfire · 1 year

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Oh that. Yeah it's been a hot minute so your anons might have forgotten, but the villains never came back for Twice's corpse. It was a fear Hawks had yes, but remember this guy zoomed right back to clean up the corpse and blood. He knew for damn sure nobody found Twice. If Twice's body was missing he would've sounded an alarm about it, but it wasn't. He found the crime scene intact, and that's why as soon as he sees Toga use SPM he knew it was Dabi who must've done it, because he was the only one present and near the body. And I wonder if Hawks asking him all those questions was also partially to distract him from the body? Because he only started asking after Dabi said "with Twice around, my dream had a way better chance of coming true!" that would've made him fear Dabi realizing he could just take Twice's blood and give it to Toga. He was right too, but after he heard the League got grabbed by Machia, and found Twice's corpse undisturbed when Compress could've marble-d it, he must've thought it was safe.

What happened was that after Tokoyami left, and right before Machia grabbed the League, Dabi says in chapter 341 that that was the moment he nabbed some of Twice's blood. Idk what that anon is on, there was no blood taken from the Twice clone, it was all goop. Dabi's word choice is interesting, because he strictly says "original body" so I don't think Toga can use clone blood, or if she can, she just won't think to. She has a 30-40 minute then SPM is over.

And Hawks couldn't have found Ujiko's hideout no matter what he did. Because he only knew what PLF was planning, not what AFO and Ujiko were planning with freeing AFO's main body and making him healthy again. He had no involvement in the OFA-AFO plot bullshit, neither Shigaraki nor PLF knew about it either. It was all secret. And tbf, on Ujiko using the Double Clone idk if the heroes knew about that, but it's not important. He's captured, Miruko found the original, the Nomu with the quirk was killed, it caused absolutely zero issues for them and was cleaned up neatly. Hell, thanks to them finding the fake Ujiko before the real one, it led them to Ujiko's lab with Shigaraki's tank. Worked out fine in the end, it's not really something to bring up. I will say tho, the Jeanist revival is definitely some insanity we have no answers for. That's a fair complaint. The least Hori could've done is said the docs revived him, but he went and had Hawks say that he, personally revived Jeanist, and last I checked he wasn't a mad scientist capable of reverting Nomu death states. So what gives Hawks?!? As for finding him despite the cameras on his wings, I suppose he could've sent a feather to drag Jeanist's corpse out of the fridge or sweet talked Skeptic into shutting the cameras off for a bit to steal him. Or just taken the whole wings off and made it seem like he was chilling on the roof, facing one way while his wingless body zoomed in and out of the storage, before sneaking up behind his own wings at an angle the cameras couldn't see and carefully reattaching them.

Yeah, I thought that was what happened in regards to Hawks and Twice's body. Also it points towards Dabi's planning that not only did he go into the fight with a camera to film Twice's potential death, he also thought to bring something to store his blood just in case as well (yet this goes ignored by fandom because Dabi has to have been so broken up about his death...)

Sadly the anime never made Hawks finding Jeanist any clearer T-T In fact he was there in person for his rescue, something I don't really know how he accomplished with the cameras considering Hori had him be so careful when creating a code for the heroes. My guess is that he never really thought much about it even though he wanted Jeanist to be rescued and revived.

You're theory about how he removed his feathers to make Skeptic think he was somewhere is probably the soundest theory over how he succeeded. Makes you wonder why they kept them on his wings though when they should know that Hawks can remove them XD

Again, it probably wasn't Hori put much thought into.

#bnha #bnha spoilers #thanks for the ask!!

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spinachgarden · 1 year

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I posted 7,773 times in 2022

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Blogs I reblogged the most:

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I tagged 421 of my posts in 2022

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Longest Tag: 103 characters

#me ignoring my 30+ abandoned wips in favour of starting a new one that will inevitably end up abandoned

My Top Posts in 2022:

Spinach my dear this ask is random as hell so feel free to ignore! I dont even know if you care abt the howlies- I just thought you might be into the angst/eerie vibes.

After his unit was captured in ‘43 and forced to work at Hydra’s weapons facility, apparently Bucky was beaten within an inch of his life by one of the head goons running the place. Then his cellmates (some of whom would become howlies) planned an “accident” that killed the goon. Idk that just struck me? they were so loyal to Bucky that they risked something like that when they knew how nuts Hydra was? And then Bucky still gets taken away from them to be experimented on… But I wonder what other absolutely crazy shit they pulled that we don’t know abt.

hello friend!

I absolutely love the howlies!

this is a long answer so it's below the cut

and yes! this is all canon! if you're a comic book person, this is all detailed in Captain America: The First Vengeance - the companion comic to the movie. The guard, Lohmer, singled out and beat Bucky up pretty badly while he already was sick (I think they said he had pneumonia from poor conditions in the cells) so the Howling Commandos staged an 'accident' for Lohmer and crushed him under a bunch of metal. By doing so, another guard took his place and allowed Bucky to take a day off from work at the prison camp.

And then yeah, Zola found out he was sick and took him to the isolation ward. So there's that. Which sucks.

I think that the movie did us a disservice by not showing the bond between the Howling Commandos. Even in the tie-in comics, they really emphasize that they were very close, almost like brothers, and that they were 100% willing to do absolutely insane shit for each other. (including murder)

ON ANOTHER (darker, of course, it's me) NOTE:

y'all ever think about how Steve said 'sometimes we did stuff that made us not sleep so good'?

I heavily headcanon that the howlies didn't take prisoners. They operated quickly, quietly, behind enemy lines, and couldn't have brought prisoners back with them. Following this train of thought, the Commandos would've had to be pretty ruthless.

yeah, I think that the murder of Lohmer, the prison guard, kinda shows that the Commandos had no issues with doing what had to be done to achieve their necessary ends. Need the guard to stop bothering Bucky? Alright, we kill him.

Can't bring prisoners back to base? Alright, we don't leave any survivors.

ANOTHER SAD HEADCANON I JUST THOUGHT OF

Sgt Barnes probably has a higher kill-count than the Winter Soldier

oop

29 notes - Posted February 1, 2022

Okokok here’s a lil excerpt from the modern!Bucky/Cap!Sam fic I’m working on right now

“So,” Barnes drawls. “You’re the new Cap. Guess you’re going to have to get used to stuff like this.”

Sam groans. “I hate stuff like this,” he says.

Barnes grins and takes another long sip of his drink, and then sets the empty glass on the bar. “Aw, c’mon,” he teases. “It’s not so bad. Open bar, good food in tiny portions. And hey, it’s raising money for the VA, which if I’m correct, is right up your alley. What’s not to love?”

“Feels like every single conversation is a minefield,” Sam says. “Everybody’s trying to figure me out, see what I’ll do now that I’ve publicly taken up the shield. I’m tired of politicians.”

“Between you and me,” Barnes says quietly, “it’s not the politicians you should be worrying about. It’s the regular lookin’ guys. Everybody reports to somebody.” And then, as if that’s not the most daunting thing Sam’s heard all day, Barnes grins and shoots Sam a mock-salute. “Have a good night, Captain Wilson.”

36 notes - Posted February 12, 2022

Ok, but in light of the recent fic with Bucky having a nightmare and Sarah taking care of him. How about Bucky taking care of Sarah? idk, maybe Sarah is sick and Bucky makes here some soup and does all the house chores. Or Sarah has a nightmare about losing Sam or Bucky and Bucky comforts her. Imagine the possibilities. You don't have to write anything, if you do you would be amazing and wonderful. And I'd thank you so much! But really, I'm only here to share thoughts.

friend thank you!

I've been meaning to write some Bucky taking care of Sarah <3333

(If u think about it, this could absolutely be a sequel to either the nightmare fic or the Aftermath from AO3, I'm just saying)

Lighten the Load - SarahBucky

probably rated T for some language

Sarah wakes, groggy and disoriented, head throbbing something fierce. Her throat feels like it’s on fire, dry and scratchy, and a hoarse, wheezing cough rips itself out of her throat as she struggles to sit up. God, what time is it? It feels like she’s slept either way too much or not enough, but judging by the sunlight pouring in through the window, she’s thinking it’s the former.

Wait.

Shit.

The bedside clock reads 10:30AM, and she’s certain she didn’t wake up and drive the boys to school without realizing it. Sarah scrambles, barely remembering to throw on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt before running out of bed, down the stairs, and-

Straight into Bucky’s chest.

“Whoa,” he says. “What’s the rush?”

“Where are the boys?” she asks around another coughing fit.

“School,” Bucky says, one eyebrow raised. “I dropped them off for 8:30. They supposed to be somewhere else?”

Sarah shakes her head, still resting against Bucky’s chest. He’s warm, and Sarah feels so, so cold, so she doesn’t bother moving. After a long minute, he wraps one arm around her waist, pulling her a little closer and kissing the crown of her head.

“D’you wanna sit down?” he asks. “You were pretty out of it this morning, so I didn’t bother trying to wake you up.”

“I had things to do this morning,” Sarah groans. “Errands. Chores. Work.”

“You had a fever of 102.4,” Bucky says patiently. “And I called the restaurant, let them know you wouldn’t be coming in. Chores are done, but I didn’t want to leave the house to run errands until you were awake.”

Huh.

She’s not really sure what to make of that. “The laundry,” she says.

“Done,” Bucky replies easily. “Well. The last load is still in the dryer, but it’s almost done. Everything else is folded and put away.” Strong arms steer her in the direction of the couch until she drops gracelessly down onto it, and then the throw blanket is wrapped around her shoulders, all one-handed. When she looks up at Bucky, she sees that he’s holding a mug, tea bag wound around the handle, and he offers it to her.

“Peppermint,” he says, “should help with your throat. You were coughing in your sleep.”

“I need to do the dishes,” Sarah says dumbly.

“They’re done,” Bucky replies. “And the garbage has been taken out. How are you feeling?”

“Did the boys get something for lunch?”

“Sarah,” Bucky says, voice calm but serious. “I can get the boys ready for school. Lunches packed, at the front doors twenty minutes early. You need to rest, you’re sick.”

There’s a part of her that doesn’t know how to let go, though. Part of her wants to see that everything has been done properly, to do it herself, even though she feels like absolute shit.

“Cass needed his soccer uniform,” she says.

“I know,” Bucky says, his tone now slightly amused. “Sarah. Hey.”

He cups her cheek and forces her to look into his eyes, wide and blue and genuine. “Yeah?” she says.

See the full post

38 notes - Posted February 17, 2022

things I am currently doing instead of sleeping:

1) writing a fic about Bucky taking Sam’s jeans off using his mouth

2) eating a family sized box of goldfish crackers

it’s not much, but it’s honest work

39 notes - Posted February 22, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Sarah/Bucky - Bucky has his first night terror in front of Sarah?

Absolutely!

Night Terrors - Sarah/Bucky, 730 words

She falls asleep warm and content, the feeling of Bucky’s arms wrapped around her waist, his nose buried in the crook of her neck, breath warm against her skin. There’s no better feeling in the world - he fits behind her like a puzzle piece, a warm weight behind her, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm that Sarah matches until she feels her eyes closing, the space between blinks getting shorter and shorter, her mind drifting off into the pleasant haze of dreams.

Waking is less pleasant, though - she’s not sure what startles her at first, too disoriented from being suddenly roused to piece together what’s wrong. It’s still dark outside, the cool night breeze gusting through the open window, moonlight barely illuminating the floor on her side of the bed. It’s not until she pulls herself into a seated position and settles her breathing that she realizes Bucky has turned away from her and curled up into the fetal position, breath laboured and frantic, muscles locked completely taut, arms curled over his head as if he’s defending himself from invisible blows.

“Bucky,” she whispers, reaching out slowly with one hand. She stops, still hovering above his shoulder, suddenly unsure.

I don’t want to hurt you, he’d said three months ago before they shared her bed for the first time. I don’t always sleep very well, and I don’t always know where I am when I wake up.

Startling him awake might not be a great idea, then, but she doesn’t know what to do. It hurts to watch him like this, softly whimpering and shuddering, curling impossibly tighter onto himself, punctuated by quiet pleading in a language she doesn’t understand.

“Bucky,” she says again, louder this time. Slowly, very slowly, she eases herself out of bed and takes a step away, all too aware that he’ll never forgive himself if he lashes out at her upon waking. “Bucky, you’re having a nightmare. Wake up.”

Still no response. His pleading gets a little louder, more desperate, and despite the fact that she doesn’t know what he’s saying, she thinks he switches languages.

“Bucky, please,” Sarah says, loud and clear. “Wake up. You’re in Delacroix. You’re safe. Nobody is going to hurt you.”

“Stop,” Bucky croaks, his hands fisting into his hair, “Stop, please.”

Sarah’s heart breaks at the hoarse sound of his voice. She’s heard him angry before, she’s heard him sad, she’s heard him in all sorts of different moods, but she’s never heard him beg, never heard him plead for mercy like this. It’s one thing to know, factually, that he experienced awful things before they met, but she’s never seen him like this before, terrified, and she wants nothing more than to find a way to comfort him, to pull him out of the hell he’s trapped in.

“Bucky,” Sarah says, loud enough that she’s sure the boys must be awake by now. “Wake. Up.”

For a long moment, she thinks it hasn’t worked. Then his muscles begin to lose their tension and he slumps down with a soft, hurt noise, his hands moving away from his head until he’s got his arms wrapped around his midsection, face buried in the pillow.

“Sarah,” he says, voice hoarse.

“I’m here,” she says, because she doesn’t know what else to say. “I’m here, Bucky, you’re safe.”

Carefully, she crawls back into bed, mindful to keep a few inches of space between them. If he wants her to reach out, he says nothing, so she keeps her hands to herself.

“I’m sorry,” Bucky whispers into the pillow.

“Don’t apologize,” she says. “Can I-”

“Just keep talking,” he says, “please. I… I know where I am, when I can hear you.”

So Sarah does. She talks about everything and nothing, stories from AJ and Cass’ childhoods, from her own, stories that are bright and cheerful. She tells him about growing up in Delacroix, about the family business’ slowly improving profit margin, about her plans for breakfast tomorrow. Sarah talks until the sun starts to rise, the first golden rays of sunlight streaming in through the window, until Bucky’s arms loosen their hold around his midsection and he unfolds his legs, until his breathing finally evens out again and he lets out a soft snore, peaceful and content.

“Goodnight, Bucky,” she murmurs, and then lets herself drift back off to sleep.

43 notes - Posted February 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #spinachgarden

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nakamoto-aesthetics · 3 years

Text

Guardian Angel | Johnny

synopsis: on the way from a friends house you bump into a man who was trying to harm you but luckily a guy named johnny saves you before you were taken. from there you get to know him a bit and things get… interesting. (the synopsis makes the story sound boing but i promise it’s not :)

pairing: johnny suh x fem!reader

genre: angst, fluff, a lil smut

warning: something similar to human trafficking in the beginning (if you’re sensitive to that topic please don’t read this fic), heavy make out shesh, not proofread!, other than that there’s nothing i can think of

a/n: also remember that this is a FIC and not real life, please don’t welcome strangers into your home :))

word count: 4.1k

“where do you think you’re going in that cute little dress baby?” an unfamiliar voice is heard as you walk down the fairly dark street. you don’t say anything and continue to walk not paying any attention to the voice. there was no one else really around, barely any cars passing by, let alone people.

“I asked you a question, I expect an answer” the tone was firm, his footsteps getting faster and so do yours. you hurriedly pull out your phone, quickly forming a plan that involved some of your friends but that all crashed and burned once you saw the dead battery flashing on the screen. your heart sink and tears instantly pooled in your eyes, threatening to fall from your eyes. that was your only escape, what were you gonna do now?

you were just trying to get home that was all. maybe you should’ve let your friend drive you home but you didn’t because you didn’t want to cause your friend an inconvenience. you were beginning to regret that decision, all because of that small reason. at least you would’ve been home safe and sound but no, you decided to be the unselfish and independent person you are, and look where it got you.

“hey!” a hand grips your shoulder from behind and swings you around. “I asked you a question when I ask a question I expect an answer” the guy wasn’t a foreigner, he was most definitely korean. he seemed to be in his mid-30s, the age definitely showed. there were creases and wrinkles in some areas of his face and his clothes were all black including his shoes. you try to pull away from the grip but he only grips your shoulder harder, hurting you more than you would like to admit.

“maybe I need to refresh your short memory,” the guy chuckles lowly, his finger shifting your head up to meet his eyes. “where are you going in that cute little dress?” his eyes looked you up and down, his free hand gliding down your waist, slowly traveling to your ass. your face stayed straight the entire time even while tears fell down your face. you knew who had the upper hand power in the situation, you knew there was little you could do even if you didn’t dare say it aloud.

“still not talking? well maybe I should force it out of you huh?” he tilts his head. no, because the whole time you were creating a plan b in your head since plan a failed. there was no way you were going to allow yourself to be trafficked.

“well then, you made this choice for yourself. i’m sorry to do this sweetheart” his hands grope your ass and that's when you strike. you move your leg up to kick him in the balls but he’s faster than you, grabbing ahold of your leg before it collided with his area.

“is that what you were doing this whole time, creating that wack-ass plan? you didn’t think i’d see it coming that’s so cute,” he fake coos. “i’ve been doing this longer than you, i’m smarter and faster than you love” he throws down your leg and in the blink of an eye, you are turned around in his grip with an arm around your neck. your hand flies to his arm and you pull on it, not wanting to be choked to death.

“is there a problem over here miss?” another unfamiliar voice calls, making both you and the guy look over to where it came from. it was a tall guy with light brown hair. he had tan skin and different pieces of clothing put together that oddly worked. his eyes were a soft brown, not too harsh. he was… kinda cute if you were being honest. he was also In the process of taking his headphones out of his ears, for what reason? you didn’t know.

“there’s no problem here, keep on walking buddy” the male answered for you.

“I asked the lady not you” the new stranger spoke harshly to the trafficker and look at you once again. “are you okay?” he knitted his eyebrows. your eyes caught his, filling with tears, threatening to spill from your eyes. he nodded softly understanding how you were feeling through your eyes. he then looked at the male behind you.

“let her go, I don’t wanna hurt you” he said firmly.

“oh yeah, what can you do?” he looks him up and down and laughs at the guy, walking back to his original place, which was a block or two away.

“Im can do a lot” the stranger walks in front of you and the guy, making you both stop once again.

“listen man, this is my girlfriend. we’re just having a little disagreement aren’t we honey?” the guy tightens his hold around your neck. you open your mouth trying to suck in more air but his hold gets tighter. you tap on his arm in hopes that he’ll release you but he doesn’t. there was no way you were gonna agree with him.

the stranger doesn’t think furthermore and before either of you knew it, your head was being moved out the way carefully and a punch was thrown at the guy's face. you heard a crack of a bone and quickly moved away from the area, running out the man's hold.

it was like an action movie, the man was the villain and the stranger was the hero, and you were the one in need of help. the fight ended with the stranger still standing and the man now on the floor. he wasn’t moving but his chest was still rising and falling. he wasn’t dead although you weren’t sure what was gonna happen in the next few minutes but you weren’t gonna find out either.

“are you okay?” the stranger rushes over to you, sliding off his jacket and handing it to you.

“that won’t be necessary” you chuckle and wave your hand at his jacket.

“please, I insist” he places the jacket around you, not wanted to make you feel uncomfortable by touching you.

“thank you” you look down and smile softly.

“it’s no problem, I could never just walk by if I saw something like that” he smiles gently. “do you want me to walk you home? you know, to make sure you get there safe?”

“uhh… why not” you smile and begin to walk in the direction, he comes up beside you and walks along with you.

you pulled his jacket closer to your body for warmth as you kept your eyes glued to the sidewalk, scarred by what had just happened. you’ve never experienced something that traumatic before. you could’ve been snatched up a while ago if it hadn’t been for the guy walking beside you right now.

“thank you” your voice was quiet in a way it had never been before.

“anytime” he glances over to you, seeing your small frame wrapped in his jacket.

“I really do mean it, if you wouldn’t have been there I don’t know what I would've done”

“yeah, i’m glad I was there too. it hurts me to see things like that happen” he shakes his head. “I wish I could protect everyone around the world,” he breathily laughs. “that’s probably why I want to be a police officer” your ears perked up when you heard that. you looked up at him with surprised eyes and he looked at you nodding his head.

“it’s always been a dream of mine ever since I was a kid. when I read my first comic book I loved everything about it, I knew I wanted to be some kind of hero after that. I wanted my parents to buy me every single superhero costume so then I could feel like that character, with all the powers and stuff.” you breathily laugh at that, he notices and laughs with you. “anyways that’s enough about me, I wanna know about you” he looks attentively to you.

the conversation continues until you got home. you learned that his name was johnny and that he was 25. he grew up in his hometown chicago but his parents are both korean, and he moved to seoul for better job opportunities. you gotta admit, the guy was interesting and you wanted to know more about him, you thought he was pretty cool.

“so… this is it?” johnny stuffs his hands in his pockets and looks up at the house.

“yep” you look at the house and back to him. it got quiet for a few seconds, neither of you wanted to say bye to each other. johnny wanted to get to know you more and you wanted to know him more also.

“listen, I don’t know if the feeling is mutual but I wanna talk to you some more so how about this, I give my number and you get to choose if you want to text me” he offers and you instantly take it up. he smiles softly and enters his number in your phone. once you receive it back you see the name option blank.

“you’re not gonna name yourself?” you cock your eyebrow at him and he lightheartedly chuckles.

“I want you to have free will and set it as whatever you want. I want you to always feel like you have a choice when you're with me y/n” a smile was blatant on his face, allowing the corners of your mouth to pull up also.

“well thank you very much johnny,” you say, staring into his eyes, which seemed to catch the light from the streetlights in a way you’d never seen before. would it be weird to say that you wanted to get to know the sweet guy in front of you more?

“um.. i guess i should get going, it was nice meeting you y/n” his hypnotizing but kind eyes still staring into your soul. you never wanted to part away from them, from him. johnny was captivating, too captivating to let slip through your fingers.

“it was nice meeting you too. see you later johnny” you dismiss him yet his feet don’t move, they stay in place and so does he, looking at you with eyes of fondness. this continues for about a minute before you break the silence/slight sexual tension.

“uh- actually, do you wanna come in? i’m not going to sleep right away, honestly might have some trouble falling asleep” you shake your head, looking down and pretend to find your nails interesting.

“a-are you sure? i wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable-” he seems caught off guard by your words, obviously snapping him out of whatever trance he was in.

“not at all, now come on. i’ll put on a movie and get some food and drinks. it’ll be good” you smile brightly, grabbing his hand without thinking and taking him up to your front door. you unlock it quickly and turn on the lights, stepping into your clean house.

“this is a very nice environment you have y/n” he looks around staying still in his place, nodding his head, seeming genuinely impressed with it.

“thank you, it took a bit of work to get to this point” you chuckle, taking off your shoes and then his jacket. “oh, here you go” you hold the piece of heavy fabric out to him. he utters a ‘thanks’ once he sees it and takes it.

“you can put your shoes there” you point to the shoe rack beside to door. “and your jacket can go there” you point to the coat racket right next to the shoe rack. he doesn’t say anything and does as you say.

“now make yourself comfortable i’ll be right back” you point to the couch and then walk away but not before you caught his eyes. damn those eyes..

“now why did she do that? i swear horror movie characters are so fucking dumb” you roll your eyes and johnny laughs, agreeing with you.

“i mean what would you do in her position” you look at him. the light from the tv illuminating him perfectly. it was dark everywhere else so the only light you had was from the tv.

“i would’ve saved the friend and then booked it not stand there like an idiot waiting for someone to kill me” he looked at you right back, giving you that same look from earlier but his eyes were a bit brighter, filled with joy.

“exactly! so why can’t she do the same?” you sigh.

“y/n it’s just a movie” he chuckles.

“i know, i know but they really irritate me yk? like why stand there knowing damn well a killer is in the house with you i mean it’s-“

“alright it’s time to turn this off” he backs out of the movie, returning to the netflix screen where you started.

“hey!” you look at him with confused eyes.

“you were way too into it, it‘s not good for your blood pressure.” he says and looks at the tv, going through the comedy section.

you kept your eyes on him watching the way his eyes watch the screen attentively. you nibble on your lip, beginning to get lost in your thoughts. he could be your friend, best friend, boyfriend... husband- too far y/n, too far. you just met the guy but you felt like you’ve known him for a long time. you could see him being a potential boyfriend honestly. it’s been a while since you’ve had a boyfriend, really only focused on work. it wouldn’t be a bad idea. johnny seemed nice and he was interesting in a way nobody has been before, you could stay up talking to him and it wouldn’t get boring ever. what if you guys-

“y/n?” his head turns toward you and he catches you staring back at him with your lip between your teeth. he smiles softly and that’s when you are dragged out of your thoughts.

“here” you say out of nowhere making johnny laugh harder than before, his head is thrown back and his eyes are closed, filling the atmosphere with his beautiful laughs. meanwhile, you sat there a little confused and startled, blinking multiple times.

“huh?” you furrow your eyebrows.

“nothing” he waves his hands continuing to laugh.

“yah!” you hit his arm playfully. “i was lost in my thoughts im sorry” you look down feeling your cheeks heat up.

“while staring at me? what were you thinking about?” he says after his laughter dies down.

“uh.. nothing important, what did you pick?” you look at the tv trying to change the subject and you’re thankful that it works.

“that was a great movie, what’d you think?” johnny looks over to you and you nod tiredly, letting out a yawn. “oh somebody’s tired” he says and you don’t know if it was because you were tired but you thought it was cute.

“i enjoyed it and yes i am tired” you lazily chuckle and rub your face.

“alright, i’ll leave-“ he goes to stand up.

“no-“ you say abruptly and grab his wrist and his eyes shift down to your hold on him. “i mean… no you don’t have to, it’s late and i don’t want you going home at this time of night” you checked your phone with your free hand, completely forgetting about your grip on his wrist.

‘4:08 am’

“damn it’s four already?” your eyes bulge out your head and look up at him, his eyes still watching the way your skin was touching his. “you mister aren’t going anywhere, wouldn’t want anything to happen to you” you move closer to him and he notices this. you take your hand off his wrist and interlock your arms, resting your head on his shoulder. maybe it was the sleepiness that put you in this position but you didn’t mind it one bit, too tired to care.

he seemed surprised tensing up almost immediately but relaxing once he realized what was really happening. you were like the little bear that found comfort in the big bear. johnny brushed the extra pieces of hair out the way, how was it that he’d just met you but he felt so connected to you as if you were a lifelong friend he hadn’t seen in a long time. he didn’t under but at the same time, he didn’t want to understand it. he’d rather just let whatever this was flow at its own pace.

“do you think we’re moving too fast?” you say out of nowhere, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“i was just thinking about that and i think we should just let it happen naturally. whatever happens, happens” he says in a sweet voice and caresses your arm gently with his free hand. “if it feels right then act on it right? anyways, that’s the motto”

you move your head to look up at him and nod, intending to catch his eyes and you do. you’re only inches away from each other’s faces, eyes shifting from his eyes to his lips and so do his before either of you knew it your lips collided. johnny holding your jaw between his index and thumb. you wrap your hands around his neck and sit up slowly shifting onto his lap. your heart began to race as you kissed him deeper, johnny too, feeling his heart pumping with adrenaline, moving his hands down to your waist and gripping it. you moan softly against his lips as his hands travel inside your shirt. he felt like pure ecstasy against you. his touch, his lips, his words, everything him felt so good with you.

his hands then slid down to your hips and he gripped them, continuing to kiss you like no tomorrow. he pulls away from your lips, you following his lips for more, and he chuckles; before you knew it his lips were on your neck, pressing soft kisses to it making you moan softly. when his lips found your sweet spot he attacked it, leaving a dark red hickey in that place. you began to move your hips against his, hungry for some type of stimulation down there. his hands fly to your hips and he rests his head in the crook of your neck, letting out soft grunts.

you bite your lip and pull him up to kiss his neck, one of his hands rest on your shoulder. once you find his sweet spot you do as he did and leave a dark red hickey. you pull back and look at it proudly.

“an eye for an eye” you wink at him.

“yeah, yeah” he smiles and pulls your face closer, kissing you again, this time using a bit of tongue. you moan instantly, letting him win and he explores your mouth as your hands glide down his chest, you could feel all of the contours and lines of his muscles and abs, letting you know he was fit. which only made him sexier. your hands slip under his shirt and you explore the area. he was too hot for you to handle, you could pounce on him again even though you kind of already pounced on him. he’s just too hot.

you pulled away abruptly and he looked at you with a confused expression. you smirked and stood up, him still looking at you, obviously confused. he reached for your wrist but you pulled it away and before he could say anything, with the help of his thighs you got on your knees. his confused expression was now gone as he watched the scene unfold, his jeans were so tight against him and you knew that. his hard-on wasn’t small either, it was actually pretty big, you could still see his print though it was dark and you wanted to help him out so you teased him by gliding your fingers up his thighs and then teased his dick by running your finger up and down his hard-on.

“stop t-teasing” he breathily moans, watching your every move.

you smirked, looking up at him and unzipped his jeans.

did you guys fuck? no. just oral sex, that was all you guys agreed to. johnny thought it would be a bad idea to have sex during the initial meet. he said it would be best to give it at least a few weeks. he truly did wanna get to know you some more as did you and that’s why you were okay with not going that far.

you slept in your room after you guys were done giving each other head. you’d given him a blanket to sleep with and a comfortable pillow instead of making him use one of the uncomfortable decor ones on your couch.

“thank you johnny,” you said as he grabbed his coat. you let him stay for breakfast, that you and him cooked together. (he wasn’t going to let you cook it by yourself)

“for what? i should be thanking you. i had fun” he says as he puts his coat on.

“because i had fun too. the most i’ve had in a long time so thank you for that”

“it’s nothing really, i’m glad i could reflect some light on” he laughs and slips his shoes on.

“i hope we could do that again” you hint your fondness toward him.

“of course we can you just gotta let me know. i’m always free” he looks at you with that look once again and you can’t help but let it slip out.

“why do you keep looking at me like that, you’ve been giving me the same look since you met me” you say softly so then it doesn’t one out harsh and you know it doesn’t when he responds.

“because...” he moves closer to you which makes your heart skip a beat. “i actually like you y/n, and i mean it. you’re so different from other girls i’ve met. i’m not just another handsome guy to you. you take an interest in the things i say and the stories i tell you, not many girls do and i thank you for that alone. thank you for listening to me.” he moves even closer to you, grabbing your hands which makes your heart begin to race. “so when i look at you like this, i’m thanking you.” he doesn’t say anything after that continuing to stare deeply into your eyes.

you felt so drunk in the moment, hypnotized by his eyes and soft words. you could already feel how head over heels you were gonna be for this guy, that's if you guys kept it up, which you think you will. the chemistry was way too strong for either of you to let go of.

“thank you” you whisper and he nods gently not breaking eye contact. “you should get going, i wouldn’t want you to be late for work. you still gotta get home in time to change out of these clothes... do you need a ride or?”

“kind of... only if it’s not too much trouble” he answers.

“of course it’s not, come on” you quickly get your stuff on and take him home.

“this is it” he says and you stop the car once you’re in front of the house.

“okay, i’ll see you later” you look over to him and he’s already looking at you. nothing happens for a few seconds but then johnny leans over to you and kisses you. you sigh into the kiss and grab ahold of his neck and kiss him back as his hand rests on your neck, he kisses you just as deep as last night but before anything serious happens he pulls away and lets a ‘text me’ roll of his tongue before he exits the vehicle and walks to his front door, unlocking it and walking inside. all without looking back.

you however, were in complete awe. he kissed you like that and then left. damn was he a good kisser, you could still feel the sensation of his lips on yours even after he was gone. you touched your lips and then smiled, pulling off.

bonus: later that day; the evening

you decide to pick up your phone and do exactly what he said earlier.

you: what was that all about earlier? - y/n

johnny🥰😫: so you decided to finally text me😊

johnny🥰😫: and what was what about👀

you: you know what i talking about. the kiss in the car

johnny🥰😫: you know, it was just a see you later kiss

you: mhm, okay mr. suh

johnny🥰😫: what?😂

you: imma give your ass a ‘see you later’ kiss and then walk away. see how it makes you feel

johnny🥰😫: bring it on then sexy, let’s see what you got

you: oh i’ll show you what i got👀

johnny🥰😫: are we still talking about kissing?😳

you: maybe, maybe not🤷‍♀️👀

NCT Masterlist

236 notes · View notes

peachyteez · 4 years

Text

death’s grip ≫ DAY FIVE, YES.

the tiger hybrid managed to escape from south korea’s top illegal hybird ring fights. of course, they didn’t let him go so easily. losing his chasers in a forest, covered in blood—his and others’—he decided to accept his fate of death from his wounds until a female and two other hybrids managed to take him from death’s grip.

PART OF THE HEAVEN SERIES.

✧ taglist: @defsoul15, @jaeminbluee, @joongiebug, @sunsethw4, @t-tbinnie, @chanyeolol, @danibookmarks, @hello-its-ya-boi, @murralyn, @alienmashup, @panini, @moon8894, @koasworld, @taetae123094, @luv3rxcha, @treasure-hwa, @etherealbyeol, @hwaseongzzz, @lovely-sanie, @orbitiiny, @deep-ocean-dweller, @babydolljo, @ms-starlight

can’t be tagged: @yoongisleftboob

feel free to let me know if you would like to be added to the list! :)

✧ notes: perhaps i kinda teared up while typing this up...

✧ WARNINGS: mentions of killing, death, and blood

back。| next。

“what do you mean, you know?” jiyu asked. she definitely isn’t expecting the news this early in the morning.

“they told me yesterday,” hongjoong explained. “how i almost...died.”

jiyu didn’t say anything, only letting out a small sigh before dryly chuckling. “that would explain why they were so nice yesterday at home.” she did find it strange how seonghwa and yunho were so behaving and nice when they came home the previous evening.

sensing her shift in mood, hongjoong worried that they had upset her and that the two could end up getting punished because of him. “wait, please don’t punish them—”

jiyu’s eyes widened at his words and she put her hands up in front of her. “woah, woah, woah, it’s okay, hongjoong. i’m not mad nor am i going to punish them,” she reassured. she softly smiled. “they didn't do anything wrong. i was actually trying to find a way and time to tell you without upsetting you, but i guess they beat me to that.”

hongjoong shifted his gaze out to the window. “you, know...they helped me open my eyes a little,” he meekly admitted. intrigued by his words, jiyu took a seat on the chair next to the bed. “i don’t know what they went through, but they seemed to have put their faith in you. i’ll be honest, at first, i didn’t know why—why trust humans again when all they’ve done is inflict both mental and physical pain on you? but...they seemed so earnest to defend you when i asked why you never told me i almost died.”

jiyu intently listened.

“and surprisingly enough, i couldn’t be mad at you for keeping that from me. even though i thought you were trying to defend my former owners by keeping my potential death a secret. i think deep down, i had unconsciously given you my trust a long time ago. i was just too prideful to admit or acknowledge it.”

jiyu licked her lips before carefully explaining her intentions. “you had just woken up a few days ago and i didn't want to suddenly drop the bomb on you that you were literally teetering between life and death. you could’ve gotten too emotional to think rationally and hurt yourself and others on accident...that’s why i kept it,” she slowly reached up and gently rested her hand on his head. he didn't flinch away. “but i guess, in a way, i was trying to defend humans, too. it would’ve been hypocritical of me to tell you that you almost died from humans when i’ve been telling you that there’s good ones out there,” she wryly smiled.

“but never forget. i always had your well-being in mind, hongjoong. i never had reasons to hurt or go against you.”

hearing her confession, along with relief, hongjoong felt a small tug of guilt in his gut. he never told her who he was or where he came from. his presence in her life could be a danger, yet he never said anything.

he took a deep breath before looking into her eyes. “i used to be part of an illegal hybrid ring fighting group.”

jiyu’s eyes widened again. searching his face for any signs of a joke, she found none. but she did notice his hesitance on continuing. “you don’t have to—”

“no...i think you should know,” he insisted before taking a deep breath. “i was part of the...blood pirates.”

jiyu could’ve sworn she almost fainted right there and then. blood pirates? that one illegal organization that never got caught? the one that illegally collected hybrids for their fights? she had so many questions. how did he escape? where were the blood pirates based?

hongjoong told her everything. “my parents were also part of the blood pirates. but there was a catch...i had to kill them as my final test for my training. i had to kill them...or they would kill all three of us.”

jiyu gasped in horror. hongjoong took a deep breath and continued. “after that, i locked all my emotions away. i lost touch with myself and i just...killed. i killed one after the other with no remorse. i thought that’s how life worked—only the strongest could survive, and that’s how i managed to survive for the past who knows how many years,” his ears drooped in sadness at recalling such chilling memories. “i hated it. the chanting and cheers of the crowd, the look of my opponent’s face right before the life slipped out of their eyes, how my hands were stained red after—” his voice broke with emotion. peering over at his face, jiyu realized he was holding in his sobs.

“i didn’t want to kill them...” he whimpered, staring down at his hands. hands that had once been stained with the blood of his opponents as he fought for his life. “i just fought to live. to see the sunrise the next day. but then i remember that they couldn’t; they couldn’t see the sunrise like i could. they weren't in the basement with me anymore. instead, they come back in my dreams, and i hear their voices haunting me. i’m a monster. a killer.”

listening to hongjoong and watching him bring his knees up to his chest as he cried, her heart broke. no one should have to go through that. no one should have to fight just to see the next day...no hybrid should ever have to live in fear and constantly think that today might be their last. nor should they ever have to think they were a monster.

before he could react, she stood up and wrapped her arms around him. she rested her chin on his head and comfortingly pat his shoulder. she couldn’t see his face, but she knew he must’ve been surprised with how he had tensed up.

“you’re not a monster, hongjoong. you did what you had to do to live. anyone would've done that,” she reassured. “it’s in our nature to do whatever it takes to survive. life’s precious, you only get one chance. and i’m sure your...opponents knew, too. it’s not your fault, hongjoong. you’re not a monster or a killer. the guilt you feel for having to take their life—that just shows that you have a heart, feelings,” she peered down at his glossy eyes. “have you ever considered that they might’ve come back to watch over you? rather than haunt you?”

by that point, even jiyu was crying. crying at the thought of how the tiger hybrid had endured so much pain by himself. he had no one by his side to help him. the other hybrids with him had the same goal. to live. befriending each other would’ve made them too emotionally attached to each other to kill.

feeling her tears land on his cheek, it only prompted his unshed ones to fall. he buried his head in her neck and cried. cried out all of the tears he had for the ones he killed, cried out the despair and hopelessness he’s felt ever since he was old enough to process the world around him. but most importantly, cried at the thought of being finally being safe and away from the bloody, heartless world he came from.

she held him close. despite being an adult, he seemed so small, so childlike as he hugged her and cried. rocking him from side-to-side, she ran her fingers gently through his hair and whispered comforting words to him. “they’re in a better place, joong. i promise. they’re free from the pain.”

feeling his body shake in her arms from his sobs, it took every ounce of strength for her to not sob along with him. she had to stay strong. she had to keep him grounded. a while had passed; hongjoong’s cries filling the room with jiyu comforting him.

she suddenly stopped combing through his hair. “would you like to come home with me?”

hongjoong pulled away from her at the question. “w-what?” he sniffled.

she grabbed a tissue from the nightstand and gently dabbed his tears away. “i know it’s sudden...but would you like to come live with us three?” she asked. “i’m not forcing you to, it’s a hundred percent your decision. i just realized you don’t have anywhere to go after you’re discharged here.”

hongjoong blinked, slowly processing her offer. his heart raced with happiness. he wanted nothing more than to spend his days in her safe presence, to spend his days getting to know seonghwa and yunho. but deep down, he felt something holding him back.

“b-but the blood p-pirates...” he managed to stutter out. he was terrified of what could happen if they found him again. he didn’t want to endanger three innocent people just because he was selfish and wanted to experience heaven for a while longer.

“don’t worry about them. if they ever show up, i have a lot of connections,” she smiled, a mysterious hint to it. hongjoong grew curious. connections? what kind? who was she?

“besides, if you were alone in the forest that day, they probably presumed you were dead,” she reasoned. “bottom line is...you’ll be safe with me, hongjoong. with us; me, seonghwa, and yunho. i swear on my life. so...what’s your answer?”

hongjoong stared deep into her eyes, trying to find signs of uncertainty—heck, he was even waiting for her to say it was a joke and that she would never adopt him for who he was. but she didn't. she stared back; an unwavering and determined expression. she was dead serious.

was he ready to start a new life? was he ready to leave his old life behind and start again from scratch with a new family? does he deserve this second chance after all the lives he’s taken?

suddenly, a little voice, as clear as day, rang next to his ear. yes. all of a sudden, it was like every fiber of his being and soul was pushing him to accept. feeling a slight breeze blow past him, he felt at ease. maybe jiyu was right; they were watching out for him, looking over him despite their tragic ending by his own hands.

“hm, where did that breeze come from?” jiyu frowned, seeing that the window was still closed. she looked back down to the hybrid on the bed in front of her before smiling and extending her hand towards him. “so? will you join us?”

with his ears perking up with a newfound burst of energy and his tail waving around with anticipation at his new future, he slowly reached out with his own hand and clasped her’s. “yes.”

she grinned. “well, seonghwa and yunho will definitely be excited as i am about you joining our family.”

#9th member of ateez #ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #ateez angst #ateez fluff #kim hongjoong #kim hongjoong imagines #hongjoong imagines #hongjoong scenarios #ateez hongjoong #hybrid au #kpop hybrid au #ateez hybrid #hybrid!ateez #ateez au

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midnxghtsunwrites · 3 years

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LAID OFF

PAIRING —

Andy Barber x Black Reader

SUMMARY —

You get fired from your workplace of eleven years and Andy tries to comfort you.

WARNINGS —

Just good ol' fluff and angst, ignorant people doing ignorant things — yakwtfgo

It was midday when Andy received a text from you saying that you were on your way home from work. As far as he knows, your workday definitely does not end at twelve pm. Immediately, he called you and the conversation went as vague as he expected.

"Why are you going home, sweetheart? You okay?" He questions. You can't see him but you can tell that he has those crinkles in between his eyebrows that usually come with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Do we have anything on our grocery list? I'm gonna stop by Walmart on the way home." He doesn't have a chance to answer before you cut him off, "Never mind, I'll just go to the house and grab it."

"Y/N —"

You hung up.

A day of shopping went by with you trying to take your mind off of what happened just hours before. Your boss of eleven years called you into his office, handed you a termination packet, a crappy explanation, and a company pen.

A pen.

"It has your name on it," He'd quipped.

As you now stand in your bathroom, twisting your hair into bantu knots, you wish you would've stabbed that motherfucker in the eye with that pen. You're absolutely taken aback by his audacity — it followed you throughout the day.

Even when your son came home from school and greeted you. You were in the kitchen at that point, aggressively stirring up some chicken soup — your comfort food. He gave you the weirdest look and retreated to his room.

During dinner (without Andy) you listened intently as your son recounted his day, trying to get your mind off of how much time you'd wasted in that company.

Now, you can hear the security system speak that the front door is open. Andy's home.

You try not to think about the packet you left on the bed — he has to know somehow and you don't want to say it out loud. Part of you feels he'll be disappointed in you.

When he enters the bathroom, the packet in hand and a thoughtful look on his face, you try not to let it faze you and get back to spraying leave in conditioner in your hair.

You can feel his stare burning into the side of your face.

You blink and meet his eye in the mirror, "I don't wanna talk about it."

"We have to talk about it." His voice is calmer than you thought it would be.

"No, Andy, we don't have to do anything — I, on the other hand, have to finish these bantu knots that I started way too late in the day. Should've done this tomorrow. Not like I have anything else to do —"

Andy scoffs, "Y/N, stop doing your hair for a minute and talk to me."

"What?" You question, beyond irritated, "What is there to possibly talk about? Huh? I wasn't good enough at my job and I lost it. There's not much else to it, Andy."

"Y/N —"

"No." You deadpan, slamming the bottle down on the granite counter top and turning to face your husband, "I gave eleven years of my life to that place. Just to get a letter of termination and a pen. A stupid pen? Is that what my life has come to? They could've had the decency to send me to fricking Jamaica or some shit — they're good for it."

Andy leans back against the wall and watches you as you rant.

"If I'm that replaceable, why the fuck didn't they just fire me ten years ago when they saw what a crap job I was doing?" You know you're a great employee but the rage is pouring off you in waves, "I was sacrificing my weekends with family to go to that bum place — for terrible fucking pay, mind you — and this is what they do? This is how they pay me back for wasting a decade of my life? I'm just so —" A frustrated groan finishes your statement.

"And I know you're disappointed in me. You're disappointed in the fact that I didn't work hard enough. I didn't fight hard enough. Well, fuck that. I'm fucking over it."

"Are you?"

"Yes, I'm over it." You reiterate.

Your husband knows you too well to think that you're over it. He counts down from five in his head.

Five..

Four..

Three..

Two..

One..

"Is it because I'm black?" You ask, suddenly.

Right on cue. Andy whistles lowly, proud of himself.

"Fucking hell," You scoff as if just realizing something, "I knew there was some shady shit when they took us to a damn plantation for a mixer and only asked me to bring food."

Your husband's head shoots up in surprise, "Wait, they did that? Why didn't you tell me?"

You shake your head, "I wasn't thinking too much of it. Plus, it was like six years ago — I was naive as hell."

Andy furrows his brows in thought, "What was the reason they gave for firing you?"

"My disruptive behavior. Apparently, they don't like when someone accidentally drops their stapler." Saying it out loud pissed you off even more.

"Those assholes." Andy comes to your defense, biting his bottom lip, irritated. Finally, he nods, "Okay. We'll sue for wrongful termination. I'll call someone in the morning so we can get this sorted out."

You pause for a moment, glad your husband is there to fight by you and defend you. A part of you is tempted to do just that — get a couple thousand from that hating ass job. But no, you don't even want to think about them anymore.

Begrudgingly, you shake your head, "Nah, baby, I just wanna wash my hands of them. I'll send out my resume in the morning and I'll probably take a couple more days to mope, but I don't wanna think about them anymore. Just the fact that I'm jobless."

"There's my girl," Andy jokes as he wraps his arms around you. Your hair is haphazard on your head seeing as you haven't finished the knots yet, but Andy doesn't care. He's obsessed with you either way. "And I'm not disappointed in you, Y/N. You're the best at what you do. Them letting you go is their loss and they'll definitely realize what they're missing out on when you're out there doing your own shit. We have enough in our savings to spare — you can start that restaurant you've been dreaming about."

"And you'll be my greeter when you're not putting criminals in jail?" You ask, sweetly, a bright smile growing on your face.

Andy pecks your glossed lips, "Wouldn't have it any other way." He taps your ass, "Now, how about I help you finish your hair, we can drink some hot cocoa, I can give you a massage. Plus, I can take tomorrow off, we can pull Y/S/N out of school and we can go on a hike to clear your mind."

You almost cry at how much Andy is willing to do for you.

"Ugh, how did I get so lucky?" You rest your hand on his chest, right where your name is tattooed and pull him down to kiss you.

He pulls away, slightly, his beautiful blue eyes lighting up with such joy and admiration, "I ask myself that everyday."

general taglist : @gwenspacy @saccreigns @complacentviawattpad @rosenoirwrites @random-ficreader23 @kyla-queen @neealicious @islandgyalwrites

let me know if you'd like to join any of my taglists! feel free to like, reblog, and comment! also, my asks are open — and im taking requests!

#andy barber imagine #andy barber x black reader #andy barber x y/n #chris evans #chris evans imagine #chris evans x black reader #defending jacob imagine

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whentherewerebicycles · 3 years

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hi! i wanted to say i love reading your reflections on teaching, and in general i really look up to/am inspired by your thoughts regarding education and academia. if it's not too much to ask (completely understandable if it is, in that case please disregard!) i would love to get your advice on college related things?

i had pretty significant academic struggles throughout grade school, and ended up dropping out of college after a year. i would've graduated this may, so lately i've been considering going back and finishing my bachelor's. but i've been waffling on this decision because of 1) anxiety about having to drop out again, and 2) some confusion about what i actually want to study. i guess i'm wondering, is it worth it to start from scratch? my struggles were mostly about mental health stuff & difficulty keeping up with coursework—i loved being in the classroom, working with professors, learning from other students. i like being challenged intellectually, but if i have issues with followthrough, is there a way to work on that??? i know these are Big Questions, lol--whether they are answerable or not, cheers and thank you and i hope you are doing well these days. <3

hey! happy to give my thoughts, for what they're worth. you know your situation better than i do so the specifics may or may not be relevant, but i can give some advice just based on seeing lots of students pass through four-year programs!

i've worked with a number of students who took time away from college and came back to finish later. i took a year off myself in the middle of college for mental health reasons, though my school allowed you to take a two-semester leave of absence for any reason (so i always had the safety net of knowing i could come back without having to reapply or start over). in my experience, time away is almost always a good thing. sometimes people just really need that break from the stressors of the college environment! but more importantly, i think people benefit from having a few years' experience living and working in the world.

even though it can be intimidating to come back to college as an older student, i think older students or nontraditional students who took time off and came back tend to underestimate how much more confident and assured in themselves they'll be once they're back in the classroom. working out in the world for a while, even if it's not a job that you especially love or feel is relevant to your long-term goals, tends to help you build more trust in your own ability to get stuff done, manage responsibilities, and be an adult person in the world. in your time away, you've probably grown more than you think, and you may find that some of the things you struggled with at 18 just don't feel as daunting anymore. or they might feel daunting, but you also have more experience talking and working with other people, and you may feel more confident in seeking out & using your college's various academic success resources.

have you considered a two-year college as a possible next step? one of my advisees this year was an adult student who went to college for a year, dropped out, served in the military for four years, came back to do an associate's degree, and decided he liked school enough that he wanted to transfer to our university and finish his degree. (now he's going on to do a phd next fall!!!!) he's one of the most passionate advocates for community colleges i've ever met, and he's stayed actively involved in our local CC community & now mentors recent transfer students at our university. he's talked at length about how CCs are this amazing way for students to explore their interests without having to take on the huge price tag of a four-year degree, within a learning community that's much warmer, more responsive to student needs, and more accepting of the diverse paths that lead people to & through higher education. i wonder if you might consider taking a semester or a year of courses at your local CC, to dip your toes back in and see if you're still feeling energized by the experience.

you might find that some of the courses aren't intellectually challenging enough, but this might also be a wonderful opportunity to create the kind of learning experience you want to have. i was a full-time community college student for a year during my year away from yale, and while i'm sure i was just INSUFFERABLE in many ways, i had a prof in my Western Civ course who was really generous with his time/energy and met with me outside of class to help me figure out how to make the papers into something that i found really exciting and challenging to write. so the class kind of became what i made of it, and i got to read some stuff (dostoevsky!!!) that sent me down all kinds of interesting unexpected rabbitholes. the former CC grad i mentioned above was an extraordinarily bright student who would always go to office hours and ask his profs for more recommended readings, and he ended up becoming a TA for one of his courses and helped them redesign basically their entire intro humanities curriculum as a student advisor. so your CC experience can absolutely be what you make of it. and even if your profs can't give you that kind of support, you could practice doing it for yourself, setting little challenges for yourself either focused on the intellectual aspects ('I'm going to read and cite two scholarly sources in this paper, even though it's not required') or on developing strategies for effectively managing the workload ('I'm going to schedule a writing center appointment on Thurs, so I have to finish this paper two days before the deadline—and then I can devote my weekend study time to practicing for my Spanish test').

CC would be a slightly lower stakes environment for you to try out college again— lower-stakes both in the sense that it's cheaper (so if you decide you don't want to continue, you're not out as much money / don't feel compelled to go on to justify the debt you've taken on) and in the sense that the workload might be more manageable for you as you readjust to academic life and build systems & structures that work for you. as you probably have gathered from this blog, i am a HUGE believer in doing lower-stakes things many times over to build your own confidence and your trust in yourself, and then gradually scaling up the difficulty. by the time you reach the hard thing, you've already built up this strong image of yourself as a person who can handle challenges (and you've also had the chance to identify areas where you struggle & experiment with developing workable solutions).

if a two-year college isn't something you're especially interested in, i think it's definitely possible to start a four-year degree again. if that's the path you choose, i would strongly recommend reaching out to students in some of the degree programs you're tentatively interested in. people are almost always happy to share their ~wisdom~ (see: this ask response, lol) and most people love being asked for their thoughts on the pros and cons of something they know well. so you could get an honest sense from students of what the program is like, what the workload is like, and how useful or engaging people find the required courses for the degree. but also know that it's pretty normal to take courses all over in your first year or two (you have the advantage of having done a freshman year before, so you probably know this!), so you might just want to plan to try out a bunch of different things, with the goal of narrowing your focus by the end of your first year, or midway through your second.

i would also HIGHLY recommend spending lots of time familiarizing yourself with the resources your university has to offer. learn everything you can about the kind of mental health counseling and support they offer to students, and see if there are things you can set up in advance for yourself before you even step foot on campus. for instance, our university offers individual counseling, but they also have free groups that meet every week or two around different topics (coping with stress, students in recovery, etc) that are led by a counselor. check out your university's writing center or peer tutoring centers, too, and set up a standing appointment once a month or once a week or whatever, to bring in something you're working on—so that you know that every week, you're going to talk with someone about what's going well and what you're struggling with in your assignments.

you might also want to look into your university's services for students with disabilities office, as they can help you figure out if you are eligible for various kinds of accommodations or additional support (extra time on exams, notetaking services, recorded lectures, etc). i know you mentioned that you've dealt with academic struggles in grade school, too. if you think it's possible that there may be underlying learning differences that are affecting your academic work, it might be worth seeing if they can help you find lower-cost testing, so you can get a diagnosis that qualifies you for additional accommodations and university support.

many schools, esp large public universities, also have resource centers and mentoring programs for students from specific demographics who may benefit from additional structure and support in their early years of college. my university has a variety of resource centers and programs for students from low-income backgrounds, first-gen students, students who transferred from community college, etc. you don't have to take advantage of ALL of these resources, but proactively establishing a support network long before you need it is a really good way to set yourself up for success. and even just doing the research will probably help you feel more confident in your capacity to 'follow through', since you'll know that you're going into this with your eyes wide open AND with a detailed plan for what to do if you run into some of the same obstacles you encountered the first time around.

speaking of detailed plans: i find it helpful sometimes to do IF-THEN exercises with students when they're stressed about something on the horizon or unsure about whether they can handle some new challenge. IF-THEN is just what it sounds like: 'IF this thing I'm nervous about happens, THEN I'm going to do X, Y, or Z.' what i like about this exercise (i use it with myself too aha) is that it acknowledges that sometimes the thing you're dreading DOES happen. sometimes the professor you emailed for an extension says no. sometimes the TA doesn't understand why you're confused about the assignment. sometimes you don't have time to finish the reading before class. sometimes you overschedule yourself and you have to pull an all-nighter to finish two papers on the same night. scary things, confidence-shaking things, happen all the time, but they are rarely fatal! and there can be something really powerful about acknowledging and naming the thing you're concerned about, and then generating a few next steps you could take, should the thing you're dreading come to pass. i could see you doing something like this as you start thinking about the things that tripped you up last time, or made it difficult for you to balance the workload. if X happens, then what could you try next? giving yourself a few options means that you already have backup plans, too, which can make the whole situation less terrifying. if this happens, i might have to try this, or this, or this, and those things might not be the most fun or the easiest to do or the 'best' thing academically, but they'll get me through this difficult moment mostly in one piece, and once i'm through it i can look back on it and learn from it, or adjust the structures i've built for myself moving forward, to reduce the chance that X happens again.

PHEW!!! sorry this got so long but that is just the RISK YOU TAKE when sending me anons 😅 i hope that some of this is helpful to you, or at least sparks some useful thinking for you, even if it's not all directly applicable to your situation. i would say that if you love learning and find being in the classroom exhilarating, then you should absolutely go back to college! but that doesn't mean you have to go back right away, or that you have to go back and do it exactly the same way you did the first time. there are lots of possible paths to higher ed, and there's no particular rush—college will always be there, if it's something you decide you want now or at some future point in your life. i would also just reiterate again one of the core Themes of This Blog, which is that the brain is NEUROPLASTIC, and that humans have a truly astounding amazing capacity to change, grow, and learn new things (including new ways of getting around old obstacles or working through old challenges). just because you struggled the first time doesn't mean you are doomed to repeat that pattern. if you can spend some time thoughtfully reflecting on what you found most difficult to manage the first time through, you are better equipped to make plans, design new structures for yourself, and build the support networks that will help you thrive in college.

#long post #mw #teaching #(kind of)

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somersetmummy · 3 years

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(A/N): This fic takes place immediately following book 1 chapter 11 (after being rescued by Sam from Sofia's closet). Not going to lie, I originally posted this monster fic (7000+ words) on Wattpad as a whole (my first fic, I didn’t know better!) so I’ve taken the opportunity to re-write and condense but thought it read better as two parts.

Series/Pairing: The Nanny Affair (M!Sam Dalton x MC Katie Hide)

Original characters - all property of PB: Katie Hide (MC), Sam Dalton, Mason & Mickey Dalton, Jenny Blake, Robin Flores (Part Two only)

New characters: (Present in Part Two) Serena-Rose Warren, Tessa Finch, Lucinda Hansen

Rating/Content warning: 18+ Light sexual language

Word Count: 1880

Summary: Driving home together, Nanny Katie Hide and her boss Sam Dalton get a little hot and steamy after she receives an offer of a night out with the girls.

Find Part Two here.

Part One -

The companionable silence within the car provides a stark contrast to the chaos of rush hour on the streets outside. Sam leisurely meanders through the traffic seemingly taking care not to rush the journey, enjoying a rare opportunity for the two of them to steal a fleeting moment to themselves. With their fingers laced together resting on his thigh, as his other commands control of the steering wheel, she steals a lingering glance in his direction relishing in the flutters which catch in her stomach as he notices her watching him. His lips curl into a comfortable smile in reply of her unspoken affection and it takes all his might to keep his eyes on the road.

In the footwell below her feet the distant hum of a phone, neglected in her bag, buzzing faintly to itself punctuates the quiet once again, as it has been for the last ten minutes. Tired of being ignored, the buzzing transforms into a piercing ring causing its owner to startle and refocus. Untangling her fingers from Sam's she reaches down to collect it, her frustration at being interrupted quickly forgotten when she sees her friend's name on the home screen.

"Finally!! So you are alive!" Jenny squeals down the phone without restraint. The smirk on Sam's face is unmissable as he recognises the shrill voice on the other end of the phone. Katie returns his glance with an eye roll of her own as she braces herself for an interrogation.

"Ok, ok I get it, I'm here now. What's up?"

"You need to ask that gorgeous boss of yours to give you Friday night off, we're taking you out and I won't take no for an answer! It's about time we had a girls night, we've barely seen you since you've been living it up with that sex god."

Katie winces hoping Sam hadn't heard that last bit, subtlety was never Jenny's strong suit. She knows she doesn't need to consider her answer, just thinking of how much she's missed her friends the last few months sparks a pang of guilt deep in heart. A night free from the drama of fiancés, stolen glances and torturous longing sounds perfect.

"That actually sounds great Jen, I'll try my best to come. Aren't we pushing it to get a spot at any of the good places though if we're leaving it this late..."

Jenny scoffs, feigning disbelief that Katie would think she didn’t already have a master plan. If she wasn’t her best friend she’d feel a little insulted.

"You don't think I'm already all over that?! And I mean literally, I've got Josh on the case for us and I definitely got all over that!"

The smugness in her voice carries her words and Katie can't help but giggle as she pictures how her unabashedly forward friend would've convinced her current flavour of the month Joshua Demarco, to use his connections to get them access to the hottest new bar in town. She'd no doubt that while a few flutters of eyelashes and some kind words would have sufficed, it was more likely that Jen would have insisted on giving him something more in return. And that something would most definitely not have been PG.

As the more outgoing and vocal half of their partnership, Jenny has always had a way of charming everybody she meets, her connection with people is effortless, something which Katie finds both admirable and terrifying.

While some could argue that Katie too could charm and impress people effortlessly, she is undoubtedly more comfortable in the background, observing and understanding how things work before weighing in. She notices the details, picking up on key points of conversation, getting to know people on a personal level and drawing on their connections to help assert herself. Jen needed to be visible at all times, she was like the sun, drawing people in to her warmth and reflecting her own energy back at them in return.

"I'll leave it with you then Jen, just text me with the details and I'll see if I can make it. And I don't mean the steamy details of you and Josh, you can save those to share with me over cocktails!" Sam's intensely brooding gaze falls upon her, no doubt trying to glue together the pieces of conversation he'd just overheard. She turns to him realising he probably already suspects there’s a further story to be told. They’d not yet shared much about their lives beyond the penthouse but he’d heard enough to know that she could be easily influenced by her impulsive friend.

"Jen I'd better go, speak soon."

Returning the phone to the depths of her bag, she catches Sam's eye, his expression warm but curious, clearly waiting for her to elaborate.

"Would you mind if I took the night off on Friday? Jen's asked if I can meet her and some friends, we haven't seen each other for ages...."

Unsure where the feeling comes from, the urge to say more rushes over her like a wave crashing on the shore. It’s the same as the feeling of nervousness she had that night a few weeks ago at the diner, almost like first date nerves. Perhaps, she realises, they’ve resurfaced because her whole life has been tangled with his for the last few months, she's not really sure how to break out of it and step back into her own, or whether he'll let her.

"Obviously I'll make sure I get the boys dinner sorted, the place tidy, laundry done and get them to bed before I head out....and I won't stay out late, I wouldn't want to cause any disruption....unless you've got any pressing work or meetings which means you'll be home late... I can cancel, I know it's short notice..."

"Woah, who are you, Cinderella?!"

The mirth in his tone instantly relaxes her as she realises he's only teasing. While attempting, and failing, to look defiant her nose inevitably crinkles, unable to contain the laughter bubbling to the surface at the silliness of her outburst. He leans over gently resting his hand on her knee to placate her, stroking her delicate skin with his thumb.

"Of course you should go out with your friends."

"Really?"

"Definitely." He continues, "as much as I would love to keep you to myself I know that you have a life of your own to live too and you, more than anyone, deserve to go out and enjoy yourself."

Sweeping his hand into her own, she gracefully brings it to her lips, tickling featherlight kisses along his knuckles.

"Thank you....but I don't know that you'd really want me to let my hair down if you knew how our girls nights usually play out..."

A wicked smile casts on her lips as she looks at him from under her long eyelashes, she continues to caress his hand, her lips teasing his skin with every word. He struggles to keep his eyes on the road, his mind racing with the many possible indiscretions which he imagines could take place on girls night, especially with Jenny at the helm. The visions in his mind entrance him and he can't decide whether he wishes he was part of them, or that she wasn't.

"I see, a bit of an every man for himself situation is it?!"

He pulls her hand over to his lap where he secures it on his thigh under his own. His hope that by keeping his hand on hers he can keep her grounded to him before losing her to the inhibitions of the impending night out.

"Let's just say it'll be a hot mess of short skirts, high heels, cocktails and getting sweaty on the dance floor."

Realising that the car has come to a stop at a red light she turns to Sam looking him straight in the eye as she slides her hand brazenly up his thigh. She can feel his pants straining to contain what's growing within them while his chest visibly rises and falls more rapidly, struggling to control the pulsing hunger running through him.

"But don't worry, we usually only break a few hearts".

Unable to restrain himself any longer, he launches across the centre console, holding her head in his hands and devouring her mouth with his hungry wet lips. She lets herself fall deeply into his kiss, smiling against him as she thinks to herself that she should ask for time off more often.

The light turns to green and then red again, disgruntled drivers behind sounding their horns in annoyance as the immaculate silver Audi blocks their path, but neither occupant notices as they loose themselves in one another.

Her gentle hands press against Sam's muscular chest, marvelling in the ripples beneath her fingers, before sliding them up into his hair pulling him deeper into the kiss. He keeps one hand firmly at the back of her neck, anchoring her to him while the other roams down the curves of her body, his thumb tweaking a now erect nipple before grasping at her hip.

Intruding on their entanglement, the sound of the in-car phone system echoes around the plush detailing of the car, with 'Home' appearing on the display. Breaking apart in surprise, they finally catch a breath. Sam rests his forehead intimately against hers as he gives the voice command to answer the call and Mason's innocent voice pours out of the speakers.

"Hey dad, are you gonna be home soon? We're staaarving." It's impossible for Katie not to break into a smile as she thinks about the boys at home with Carter, no doubt teaching him all sorts of tricks which she'd never let them get away with. Sam notices her thoughtful smile and matches it with his own as their minds work as one imaging the same scene. Their eyes once again meet as they resign themselves to the intimate moment being lost, instead committing it to memory to recall again when the urge to immerse themselves in thoughts of each other inevitably come to call.

"Yeah buddy, I've just picked up Katie and we're heading home now."

The smile in Mason's voice is evident as his tone becomes more upbeat.

"Oh great, Katie's with you?...Hey Katie!"

"We missed you today, why'd you have to spend the day with Suck...I mean with Sofia anyways?!" Mickey interrupts, his fear of missing out pushing him to insert himself in the conversation.

Sam and Katie stifle their giggles at Mickey's slip of the tongue, aware of the microphone above their heads. Sam places a soft kiss on Katie's forehead before pulling away begrudgingly as she in turn adjusts her position, smoothing over her now crumpled skirt.

"Hi boys, I missed you too. I was just helping her with some grown up work stuff, definitely not as fun as a day with you monkeys though.”

Much to the relief of the drivers behind them, Sam's already breezing through the now green light towards the penthouse, this time with more urgency as the sky above begins to melt into dusk.

"How about your dad and I pick up some pizza on our way back...."

Without even a moments hesitation the twins excited voices burst through the speakers once again.

"Score!"

Tag List: @shewillreadyou @txemrn @silma-words @thefrenchiemama @secretaryunpaid @sfb123 @fanjessfic

#sam dalton #sam dalton x mc #tna #the nanny affair #fanfic #choices

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mournus · 3 years

Note

"Ya woulda done the same." Just a guess, given their history. His assumption could have been wrong, but keeping Luke's things had been an act of respect. The alternative, throwing his things in the bin at the curb, hadn't been considered but for a moment. "You're not a reaper," Fletcher finally said. "If they had some fuckin' disaster t'reap, that's one thing." A single finger pointed, "What's your excuse?"

Yes, that's most likely true. He couldn't even throw his feelings for Ronan away until they reunited decades later. Luke had no doubt Fletcher would have lingered with him, had he been left alone by someone he loved once again.

The question made him go limp. He rubbed his face and looked to the floor. The nightmare had only just ended, it was only his first day free. To relive it all... he wanted to avoid the question, but knew Fletcher deserved answers.

"Angels were pulled to the same place. With death comes prayers, people asking to be saved. I was taken similarly to them, in instinct rather than thought. I hadn't even taken my phone with me, I hadn't been able to think about anything other than my destination." Fingers found their way into his hair, and as he spoke his grip became tighter and tighter on strands. "It was all over within a year, maybe. But the rest of them couldn't come back. We were all turned by the same reaper, and they are still owned by him. Ownership for reapers... means full control." He started to squeeze into his knee. "They can move your body, force you to go places, they have the power to destroy their reapers. The..." his voice caught in his throat. "The reaper who owns them, Seth, kept them there. He... um..." Deep, shaking breaths. "I couldn't leave them. They'd still be there if I hadn't stayed! He probably would've killed them all... he kept Conor unconscious and would hurt Ronan and anyone who tried to help Ronan... he tortured them daily and I couldn't do anything sooner because how could I? How could I when every time I got close he'd threaten me with their lives? I had-had to wait. I watched..."

And now he had returned. And Fletcher is married. And his heart hurts. And everything has changed. And he wondered why he never got the chance to be happy.

Luke turned his face away, gritted teeth and eyes squeezed shut to stop himself from sobbing.

#meet luke #v: light!luke #anedendarkly #answered #luke x Fletcher

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morkhan · 5 years

Text

Will Byers is Gay: The Evidence So Far

With the release of Stranger Things 3, there has been a lot of discussion kicked up about the character of Will Byers and his sexuality (or lack thereof). I've seen a lot of takes about what "it's not my fault you don't like girls" was intended to mean, many of which seem to take it in isolation, so I wanted to make a post putting it into what I think is its proper context; not an isolated incident, but the latest carriage in veritable train of queer themed language and imagery that has followed Will Byers since episode one of season one, and before that. You ready? Alright, let's go.

Season Zero: the Montauk Files

Before Stranger Things became Stranger Things, it was called Montauk. Like many would-be show makers, the Duffer Bros put together a "show bible" describing the premise, setting, tone, and characters of the show they intended to make. Like many shows, a lot of these ideas changed or were lost on their way to the screen, but it's always worth looking into their original concepts. Here is their description of Will Byers in the Montauk show bible:

Obviously, the major whammy there is in the first line "sexual identity issues." But there are some other interesting notes, like his "colorful clothes" that you might want to keep a lookout for on your next rewatch. Now, onto...

Season 1

The thing to pay attention to regarding Will in season 1 is in the language used to refer to him when he is not present (which he isn't for most of the season).

Episode 1: the subject of bullying comes up right away in the conversation between Joyce and Hopper. "The kids, they're mean. They laugh at him, laugh at his clothes, call him names." "What's wrong with his clothes?" "I don't know!" This harkens back to the Montauk show bible, but it's arguable, since it's never made clear what about his clothes draws ire.

She also mentions that he is "sensitive," "not like most," and that his dad said he was "queer" and called him a "fag." Hopper asks "is he?" to which she replies "He's missing is what he is!"

Episode 3: Troy says he's not missing, he's dead. "Probably killed by some other queer."

Episode 4: Troy, again "Will's in fairyland, flying around with all the other little fairies, all happy and gay."

Sensitive, queer, fag, fairy, and gay are all used to describe Will in season 1, but perhaps more notable is the fact that they aren't used to describe anyone else. If the show were truly period accurate, let's be real; the whole party would've been called queers on a pretty regular basis, because "queer" doubled as a generic insult back then. But in season 1, these words are only ever used in relation to Will, with one exception; in episode 6, Steve says to Will's brother, "I used to think you were queer." So it's not even an active accusation in that moment; it's used in the negative.

Hell, Troy walked up to Lucas mockingly proposing to Mike and proclaiming his love for him, and he still didn't call them queers. That language is reserved for Will.

Now granted, most of these are used as insults by characters who don't like Will, but still; as a writer, if you want your audience to remember something, repetition is an excellent way to embed it in their minds. There's a reason for the specificity of language surrounding Will, and a reason that language keeps coming up over and over and over again.

Season 2

Season 2 retires much of the homophobic language used to insult Will, replacing it with "Zombie Boy." The only homophobic language used in season 2 is the word "faggot," used by Billy's father to refer to Billy, who expresses a clear interest in women (and an arguable interest in one particular man, but that's the subject of another post).

Still, there is an arguable bit of queer theming in Will's conversation with Jonathan regarding the benefits of being a "freak" and how normal people never accomplish anything. Jonathan even invokes bisexual icon David Bowie to make Will feel better about his "freakishness."

The clearest piece of queer theming for Will in season 2 comes in episode 8, in this beautiful speech from Joyce to Possessed Will:

"When you turned eight, I gave you that huge box of crayons, do you remember that? It was 120 colors. And all your friends got you Star Wars toys, but all you wanted to do was draw with all your new colors. And you drew this big spaceship, but it wasn't from a movie. It was YOUR spaceship; a RAINBOW Ship, that's what you called it. And you, you must have used every color in the box. I took that with me to Melvald's, and I put it up. I told everyone who came in, 'My son drew this.' And you were so embarrassed, but I was so proud. I was so, so proud."

This is one of the most powerful memories of her son that Joyce has, an image so strong and distinct that she uses it to invoke his true identity against the monster that is slowly subsuming him. She notes very specifically that it's not something he copied, but something that came entirely from Will himself, an image that she felt represented him so perfectly that she took it with her to work and proudly touted it as his to everyone she knew. The Rainbow Ship is Joyce's picture of her son's very heart, and surely I don't need to explain to you how powerful a piece of queer imagery the rainbow is.

Some subtextual stuff; in episode 9, when the girl asks Will to dance, he stammers "I... I don't..." and only goes to dance with her when Mike literally pushes him towards her.

During the final montage, the scene cuts to different characters in time with appropriate lines from the song: "every move you make" cuts to Mike and El (as he is teaching her to dance), "every vow you break" cuts to Nancy dancing with Dustin (as she technically cheated on Steve with Jonathan), "I'll be watching you" cuts to Lucas dancing with Max (as she has playfully called him 'stalker' all season). What line cuts to Will? "Every smile you fake," specifically on the word fake, while Will dances with a girl wearing this expression:

That is not a real smile, that is not a comfortable boy, and that is not an accident; Noah Schnapp is one of the best actors in the entire show, and of the young boys, he is the one the Duffers trust most to do dramatic heavy lifting.

Do you want it to be a little more explicit? Okay, here is that scene in the script:

I mean, that pretty much speaks for itself. It's less explicit in the actual show, but it's still there, you know?

Season 3

And now, the biggest and most explicit thing to date; The Scene. I mean, you could discuss the obvious subtext in the simple fact that Will is the only male main character who has yet to find a girlfriend or express any interest in girls whatsoever, but that pales in comparison to The Scene.

The setup for The Scene is pretty simple; after declaring "a day free of girls" in order to get his friends to run the D&D campaign he's probably spent a significant amount of time creating, his friends have blown him off to continue bemoaning their girl troubles, so Will has decided to leave. Mike, realizing too late that he has genuinely upset his friend, chases after him to try and get him to come back.

A back-and-forth argument ensues, where Will accuses Mike of ruining the party and abandoning his friends in favor of girls, and Mike, in the heat of the moment, responds with "It's not my fault you don't like girls!" After which, everything stops. There is a full second of silence, and a close up on Noah Schnapp's face so you can take in his reaction.

There is a lot to unpack here. Now, acting is up to interpretation to a degree, but to me, that expression conveys two primary emotions; shock, and betrayal. That face says "how could you?" Because here's the thing; regardless of what Mike does or doesn't know about Will's sexuality, Mike knows for a fact that Will has been called a queer all his life by everyone from his school bullies to his own fucking dirtbag father. By invoking even the specter of that, Mike has crossed a fucking line, and he knows it. And we know he knows it, because he immediately backtracks and tries to mitigate the damage. But it's too late. The damage has been done.

I also think there is a tinge of fear in that image. Just a moment of soul raking panic that pretty much every closeted queer person knows intimately. It's very brief. But I think it's there, if you look.

This scene sends Will into an emotional tailspin that culminates in him tearing down the literal last bastion of his childhood in a fit of sorrow and rage. His innocence has been destroyed. He cannot regain what he has lost, and he can never go back to the way things were before. This is the emotional climax of his arc for season three. It's a powerful one-- shame it comes in the third of eight episodes, but that's neither here nor there.

And that's pretty much it for now. Any one of these things taken in isolation could be very easily dismissed, but here's the thing; they aren't isolated incidents. They are part of a clear and consistent pattern, one that goes all the way back to the show's inception, before even one minute of footage was filmed. And this pattern points to one very obvious conclusion; the Duffer Brothers have always intended, and continue to intend, for Will Byers to be gay.

Now, for the obvious question; why haven't they made it explicit yet?

The answer is as unfortunate as it is obvious; I don't know.

It's entirely possible that there is some external force that the Duffers have to answer to that is preventing them from actively pursuing this particular storyline. This happens all the time in Hollywood, and it could be anything from Netflix to Noah Schnapp's parents to Noah Schnapp himself just being uncomfortable with it. Many are the creators who dream Big Gay Dreams only to run into the horrors of our Forced Hetero Reality. If the Duffers ultimately submit to these pressures, I hope you won't be too hard on them. This shit is harder than you think to get to the screen sometimes.

But it's also possible that they just aren't ready for it yet. That they have been saving this for a future storyline, that they just want their characters (and the actors) to get a little older before they pursue this particular storyline explicitly, but they've been busily laying groundwork for it so that anyone paying attention will know it's coming.

I don't know. Only time will tell for sure.

For now, I can tell you this; I see a great deal of evidence that the Duffers still intend for Will to be gay, and precisely zero that they have changed their minds.

I hope that holds true.

#stranger things #will byers #mike wheeler #lucas sinclair #dustin henderson #stranger things spoilers

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spinachgarden · 2 years

Note

Spinach my dear this ask is random as hell so feel free to ignore! I dont even know if you care abt the howlies- I just thought you might be into the angst/eerie vibes.

hello friend!

I absolutely love the howlies!

this is a long answer so it's below the cut

And then yeah, Zola found out he was sick and took him to the isolation ward. So there's that. Which sucks.

ON ANOTHER (darker, of course, it's me) NOTE:

y'all ever think about how Steve said 'sometimes we did stuff that made us not sleep so good'?

Can't bring prisoners back to base? Alright, we don't leave any survivors.

ANOTHER SAD HEADCANON I JUST THOUGHT OF

Sgt Barnes probably has a higher kill-count than the Winter Soldier

oop

#spinach answers #howling commandos #headcanon #sorry for getting so angsty on this one lmao

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ncturn-e · 5 years

Text

❛❛ ¡cherry bomb! ❜❜

❛ el mañana ❜

✰ ‘verse

⤷ sɓuᴉɥꓕ ɹǝɓuɐɹʇS

♡ pairing

⤷ dr. alexei / laura garcía (oc)

☹ warnings

⤷ none

word count

⤷ 1,845

tags

⤷ @justice-for-dr-alexei

a/n: this is the shitty start to hopefully something lovely for a man who never received the love he deserved. lemme know if you would like to be tagged on updates to this story :)

╔═.✵.══════════╗

╚══════════.✵.═╝

If there was one thing to be anticipated upon opening the bunker doors and lumbering inside, Laura knew the mean end of a shotgun was not the first on her list. Her first reaction was an ungodly squawk as she stumbled onto her backside, the guitar case clattering off her back and the bag of paints spilling onto the ground.

“Son of a bitch, Murray!” was her second, her anger rightly placed as she struggled to get to her feet while simultaneously gathering her strewn paraphernalia. Her hair was in massive disarray, and her tanned hands were splotched and smudged with still-drying paint.

“‘Knock before you walk’,” Murray seethed as he withdrew the shotgun, tugging on his beard in a sort of annoyed manner. “You know you're supposed to buzz the warning before sashaying in unannounced - you know that!”

“And I also know I'm the only other person besides you who knows how to get inside,” the Latina mumbled. The man slid to block her back before she could walk inside, and she produced a loud, tired huff. “It's been a long day, Murph. I just need a place to crash for the night. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“If you would've buzzed before bursting in,” Murray stated, clearly tense as the short Latina tried to bob around him. “You'd know that I was a bit busy at the moment -”

“- busy fucking around with the Girl Scout at the door when there are more important things to -”

Laura cut off the unfamiliar voice, “Another human being! Murph, I thought I was your only connection to the world above, you minx!” She seized the opportunity to dart past the eccentric and his shotgun just as he opened his mouth to object. The girl skipped through the armoured doors and into the main room, halting in her steps to visually greet three brand new individuals with a weary-but-still-pleasant disposition. There was a short, bleary-eyed, and oddly expressive woman, an angry moustached wall of a guy who resembled a father at the end of his wit, and a very unsettled, dishevelled man curled up in one of the loveseats. Naturally, Laura was not at all surprised by the oddities of the company - after all, she was friends with Murray Bauman of all people - and she set down the case of her guitar with a smile.

“Of all places a nice girl would be, I would never have guessed the home of a paranoid hermit,” the first man grumbled, placing his face in his hands and rubbing at the weariness lining his expression. The woman beside him sent her elbow into his arm lightly, shooting Laura an apologetic look, though she didn't appear to disagree with his assessment.

While the first stocky slab of a man ran a thumb over his moustache with an utterly exasperated noise, the woman next to him quickly got to her feet, moving to attempt an awkward introduction as she began to consolidate a clutter of wrappers and fast-good carnage together on the coffee table. The third man, likely younger than the other two, was staring at the newcomer through his glasses, wearing an aura of newly introduced confusion.

As Murray came bumbling back into the room, he seized Laura by the shoulders and attempted to steer her back towards the front door. She wriggled free with a wince, and, after casting another quick look at the trio around the table, quipped, “You never have company. Either you're doing something illegal, or convening to stop something illegal illegally.”

“How about Russian translations and a wild goose chase?” Murray muttered, massaging his forehead before nodding in the vague direction of the younger man. “This is Dr. Alexei, our very own foreign menace, graced by the company of Officer Jim Hopper and Joyce Byers.” He added in a tired tone, “Ne bespokoysya Ona bezvredna,” waving his hand. The young man, Alexei, loosened his shoulders slightly, still eyeing the little Latina with both wariness and interest.

“Okay. So, Jim -”

“Hopper,” the first man grunted.

“Oh - okay, Hopper. Joyce. Alexei.” Laura recited each name. “Neat. Anyone want something to drink?”

“You're not - Laura, I swear to Christ - can you at least stay in the other room?” Murray spoke exasperatedly, trying and failing to guide her out of the area.

Laura feigned offence. “You haven't even offered your guests a drink besides that crap Burger King calls edible?” she scoffed as Murray threw his hands into the air. She looked at the doctor, saying with playful sympathy, “I'll bet he didn't even get you water.”

“Apparently a strawberry Slurpee was worse than water,” Hopper growled before Joyce yanked at his arm as if to say ‘shut up, you big oaf.’

“He said strawberry was fine now!” the woman protested, but he waved her off. They then descended into what was most definitely a lover’s quarrel before Murray made a loud and obnoxious shhing noise through his teeth.

“Shut. Up.”

The others complied, except Laura, of course.

“So, what is going on here?” she queried, picking at a spot of dry paint on her knuckles. She moved to hoist her guitar case over to leave against the nearest wall, still observing the others.

There was a beat of silence, puckered by an annoyed whine from Murray before Joyce began to speak up. “Are you from Hawkins?”

Laura shook her head. “No. I'm just two towns over. Read what happened last year, though - that's some crazy stuff -” She cut herself off. “Byers. Byers - you're the woman who found her son two years ago! Er, what was his name -”

“Will.” Joyce showed a soft smile. Murray seemed to have given up on trying to reign in the conversation and had gone rooting through the kitchen, presumably for alcohol.

“Yeah! I'm glad you found him,” Laura went on with a shrug before perching herself on the armrest of one of the empty seats. When she caught the man called Alexei watching her with friendly intent, she shot him a grin before turning back to Joyce. “How's he doing these days?”

“Good - well, better!” Joyce answered, the smile remaining on her features before she was interrupted by an unintelligible grumble from Hopper. “Oh, what is it now? Do you need a Slurpee now? You big - baby - man.”

“Just saying,” the policeman said slowly, tone wavering with restrained irritation. “Not solving the Russian situation with small talk.”

“Russians? So they've finally broken through our defences?” Laura sounded only half facetiously.

Hopper gestured halfheartedly to Alexei. “Ask Smirnoff over here. He's the one with a big-ass base under the goddamn mall.”

Laura creased her brows, turning back to Alexei and repeating, “Base?”

“He can't understand you,” Joyce piped up, just as Murray came strolling in with a glass of what was probably whiskey.

“Doesn't know a lick of English,” Murray confirmed tiredly before falling back into the seat adjacent to the Latina. “I'm the nearest local translator, apparently,” he added with a gallon of absolutely sarcastic glee before tossing the whiskey down his throat. He winced before smiling way too widely.

Laura outed a small ‘ooooh’ as tucked a curl of hair behind her ear, looking at the scientist apologetically. Jamming a thumb into her chest, she made a clear introduction by saying, “Laura.” The Soviet repeated it slowly, thick and hesitant from his tongue. The grin that lit up her features sent a blossom of red spiralling into the young man’s face.

“Alrighty then. Since everyone knows my name now, why don't you all get me caught up on what the hell is happening?”

She humorously took the gurgling sounds of malcontent from Murray’s glass as an affirmative.

»»»

When all was said and done, it was an understatement to say Laura was baffled, if not utterly blown away by the massive import of information that had just been funnelled into her brain, all in a little less than an hour. However, visibly to Murray’s amusement, the presumed couple - who made it a point to announce that they were, in fact, not involved - went off into another minor argument before Murray had cordoned them off into another room.

Laura had taken it upon herself to sit on the floor beside the coffee table and sort out grocery baggie of paints, attempting to clean her hands off in the midst. “Russians have invaded America, and they chose to do so in the ass-end of nowhere. That was clever on their part, I will admit,” the woman mused over the muffled shouts coming from the other room. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, watching Murray come out of the kitchen and situate himself next to the Russian scientist on the sofa across from Laura. ”And he really doesn't understand English?” she requested confirmation, gently nodding her head at Alexei.

”Not a word.”

”Ah,” she murmured, drumming her paint-stained fingers along her leg. She sounded disappointed.

Alexei appeared to notice this, sitting up a smidge as he looked between Murray and Laura, eventually mumbling something to the other man with raised brows. Murray shook his head and replied, pausing in the middle before finishing with the babbling syllables, “Yedinstvennyye drugiye yazyki kotoryye ona znayet eto ispanskaya i umnaya zadnitsa.”

When Laura looked at him expectantly, Murray rolled his eyes and translated, “I told him you only speak English, Spanish, and Smartass.”

The Latina held up a very special finger. Murray chortled tiredly, muttering, “Yeah, you too, Lottie.”

After a reprieve, looked up again and asked slowly, “Do you, ah - do you think I could talk to him? Through you, I mean -”

Before she could even finish, Murray was out of his chair and fleeing to the kitchen for what was presumably more alcohol. “No, no, no, no, don't get me started. No. You already never shut your mouth as it is.”

Laura raised her hands in defence. “Jesus, Murph … I just want to talk to the guy. And I think you owe me for putting your thing in my face.” A pause, then through a sly grin, “Me pregunto cómo reaminará la Mamá cuando escucha cómo trataste a tus invitados.”

Murray gripped his glass with white knuckles and resignation, staring down the young woman - plus Alexei, who had no idea what was going on - before leaving the room, only to return with an armful of paper and a few dull pencils. “Comprise. Knock yourself out with a round of Pictionary first. I'll ‘repay’ you by being a translator tomorrow. Deal?”

Laura clicked her tongue and scrambled over to fetch the supplies, responding with a coy, “Es un acuerdo,” before watching Murray dramatically excuse himself. Looking over to the confused Russian, she smiled, scooting closer to his seat as his eyes followed her movements curiously. He opened his mouth to ask a question but shut it after remembering only one person in the bunker understood him. His brows furrowed, and he sat back with a faint little huff until Laura edged up next to him. He appeared a bit confused by her smile. Nevertheless, she raised a pencil and said anyways, “Let's play some Pictionary, comrade.”

#alexei #alexei stranger things #stranger things #stranger things 3 #smirnoff #fanfic #alexei fanfic #fanfiction #ficlet #imagine #imagines #drabble #alexei drabble #alexei x oc #i love alexei #please help me #latina oc #latina pairing

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turtlycute · 5 years

Note

Honestly while I find Shigure and Akito's actual dynamic to be incredibly interesting the whole foundation to the relationship leaves me cold as it seems forced. So Shigure only loves her because of the curse instead of who she is as a person through natural chemistry? He basically states in chapter 111 that that dream could've been about anyone, Tohru for example and he would've fallen for them and why did the dream affect him so much in the first place compared to the other boys?

Hello nony, thanks for the ask. Sorry it's taken so long to answer but my life got very hectic for a bit and I wanted to give this a thoughtful answer.

**My standard disclaimer here: It's been years since I read the manga. So, most of my answer is based on memory and some personal observations and head canons. If I get any facts wrong or mixed up please feel free to let me know. I do plan on a reread this summer so I'm interested in seeing how my thoughts might change. This is a long post so beware. Now let's get to it!

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!

I don't think Shigure loves Akito just because of a dream and a curse. Some of what you point out is true when taken at face value. All members of the zodiac must obey and love Akito because of the curse. For Shigure that love and loyalty seems to be deeper than that of the other members. The older members of the zodiac all dreamed of Akito at the time of her conception. This has given them all a stronger bond and understanding towards her than the other members. Once again for Shigure this bond is the strongest. Looking at such basic facts Shigure's love does indeed appear rather shallow. But let's look a little bit deeper.

In chapter 111 Shigure does state that he feels he probably would have loved anyone who came to him in that dream. But, when we look at a few facts about Shigure, I think it's possible to interpret this statement a little differently. Shigure is known for making rather flippant remarks. He tends to do this as a way to disguise, deflect or manipulate. Then, we also need to consider his relationship with Akito up to this point. I think most would agree, it's pretty dysfunctional. They've both done a lot to hurt each other. He's been driven to a point where he both loves and hates her. It sometimes feels more like obsession than love l. He basically sees his love and bond with her as his part of the curse. So yes, to be in love with anyone else would probably seem to be a much easier path. I really think what he was saying here was more frustrated wishful thinking than a true indicator of the strength of his feelings.

Fruits Basket is a story at it's core about destiny and curses; the power love and redemption. Shigure's dream was never going to be about anyone else. Just as the curse was destined to be broken with this generation of the zodiac, Shigure was destined to love Akito. Without that love driving him to a better future, Shigure would have never pushed others to break the curse. They are all tied together.

"Shigure only loves her because of the curse instead of who she is as a person through natural chemistry"

To answer this I want to take a moment to discuss some aspects of Shigure's character that I feel get overlooked in regards to his relationship with Akito. All of them can be seen through the lens of Shigure's choice of career as a author. At his core Shigure is a natural fit as a writer. Like most writers he is an observer of human nature, a necessary tool for writing convincing characters. A skill he also uses to manipulate those around him. Shigure also has a bit of a god complex, it's a common trait among fiction writers (don't believe me, ask your friendly neighborhood fan fic writer). Every author is the god of thier own little world, they have control of the story, the characters, and their destinies. We also see this trait manifest itself in how Shigure strategically maneuvers Tohru and those around them to breaking the curse. Finally like many a fiction writer, Shigure is a bit of a dreamer and a romantic. This is possibly the most important trait listed because it is the ideal of a better future that is Shigure's main motivation throughout the story. We can also see it evidenced in some of his melodramatic comments and his choice to write romances for fun.

So what does any of that have to do with Shigure and Akito? Consider it as a character witness for making my case about Shigure's feelings being more than just the curse. First let's start with the dream. Shigure's dream about Akito was the spark. But, that spark could have easily smothered and died if it wasn't for his imaginative and romantic nature. This was the foundation for his feelings, the lure to move forward.

Now, so far this is sounding more like an intense crush than real love. That's appropriate, they were both young and lasting emotions take time. It's at this point I'm sure Shigure would have behaved like anyone with a crush. He would have observed and learned about Akito. As stated above, this is a skill that comes very naturally. Then when combined with the nature of the curses bonds, by the time we meet them, Shigure probably knows Akito better than anyone else. He knows the good and the bad, he knows what will please her and what can hurt her most. It is what leads him to jealousy and betrayal. It is also this knowledge that makes him long to be by her side. This is the body of Shigure's love for her, his intimate knowledge of who Akito is and perhaps the potential of who she/they could be without the curse.

Finally, we come to the proof of the depths Shigure's feelings. That's simple, it is the underling current to the story we all love. It is Shigure's determination, no matter the cost or the pain, to push destiny forward and end the curse because he can see no other way for them to be together. (Though I will add that I believe Shigure also sometimes questions if his love for Akito is part of the curse. So his ulterior motive for breaking the curse is to test their bond and perhaps gain some freedom from a sometimes toxic relationship.)

So, while Shigure and Akito's story begins with a dream and a curse, sometimes deviates into a nightmare and pain, it with ends with love and redemption. I just can't imagine that they could survive all of that without a more powerful emotion pulling them together.

Okay, I feel like I could go on but this has gotten long enough. Once again thank you nony for a very interesting question. I hope that the answer was a little worth the wait. Please feel free to stop by anytime or make a comment below.

Side note: the fact that the zodiac god figure and the character with a bit of a god complex are destined for each other makes me laugh. Really who else is going to balance either of these two? It's almost a case of be together or destroy each other.

#fruits basket #fruits basket manga #furuba character study #where i answer stuff #shigure soma #akito sohma #shigure x akito #long post #a little meta #a little head canon

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shall-we-imagine · 5 years

Text

Through thick and thin. (ShiroyaxReader *AU*)

Requested: 46. "Dance with me." + 48. "Why are you crying?" From this prompt list. Also it's perfectly fine don't worry about sending another it's good you clarified cuz I almost wrote for the wrong prompt list 😅

Genre: Fluff/Angst

(Third person point of view)

Fingers curled in a delicate fist, the princess knocks on the glass window. She secretly sent a wish to the god above that her boyfriend wouldn't ignore her for some sleep or worse- knock her off the ladder while overenthusiastically opening the window.

After a few seconds of no response, she brings her soft knuckles to the cold, glass barrier once more. "Come on, Shiroya." She mutters under her breath.

The sound of shuffling, followed by a loud thud brings a grin to her face. Due to it being dark in his room, she couldn't see what was going on inside, but the scene including her goofy lover falling off the bed wasn't foreign to her at all. She could see it all in her head.

A few moments of silence follow, making the brunette fear he merely decided to finish his beauty sleep on the floor, but just as she considered knocking again, the window flings open.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing her boyfriend flung.

In a rush to avoid the baseball bat, (Y/N) ducks, immediately losing her footing on the ladder. A squeal escapes her lips before she regains composure along with the help of the reason she almost fell in the first place. Shiroya had managed to catch her arm, adding more balance for her to stand straight.

"Thanks a lot for that, ninja-san." She mockingly tilts her head forward; she would've given a full 90 degree bow if she weren't trying not to fall and break her neck.

"Hey, it's not my fault!" Shiroya laughs, helping her inside his dark room through the window.

"Yes, I'm the one that almost knocked myself off the ladder with a baseball bat." She nods. Amusement and disbelief glimmer in his eyes; not wanting to give in to her tactics, he looks away, hiding his grin.

"I meant I wasn't expecting you today; shouldn't you be preparing for the ball or something?" Tension spreads like fire; she'd almost forgotten the reason of her surprise visit.

The princess laughs nervously, "Yeah, about that.."

"Yeah?" Shiroya may be the biggest dork you could meet, but he wasn't stupid. He immediately caught on to the fact that something is wrong.

She blinks away the tears beginning to well in her eyes, "You know, it's actually not that important; I'll tell you later. There are other things we need to do now." She gives him a mischievous smirk.

It's clear the boy remained sceptical, but he didn't find it necessary to press the matter if she doesn't want to talk about it now, so he gives in with a matching smirk. "What things?" He wiggles an eyebrow at her.

"Nothing dirty, you pervert." (Y/N) pokes a finger at his chest. "Come on; change into something presentable and follow me." She begins exiting the window the same way she came in.

"But there's a perfectly good bed here- and you're already out, okay." He stops protesting with a sigh and follows his girlfriend down the ladder after changing out of his pyjamas.

"Where to, m'lady?" Shiroya bows down, a teasing grin plastered across his face.

"You're such an idiot." The princess shakes her head in content disbelief. "To an adventure of a lifetime!" She dramatically throws her fist into the air, earning laughter from her companion.

"Off we go then!" He links his arm with hers.

▪︎▪︎▪︎

"You sure this is a good idea?" He takes his eyes off of the convenience store to stare at his girlfriend in uncertainty.

"It'll be fine, Shiroya; don't be a pussy." She smirks and marches past him and into the store.

The main reason she'd picked this specific store was because of how old it is- same goes for its owner. In fact the owner is so old, she doubts he even knows how to use a cellphone. The only step he'd taken towards keeping his store safe was the giant security mirror hanging at one corner of the store.

She struts towards the owner confidently, pretending to browse items along the way. She doesn't react when she hears her boyfriend enter the store and walk to a different, more hidden aisle of the store, but a few seconds after it, she proceeds to walk to the cashier and smile at the grumpy man behind it.

"Could you help me out with something?" She begins directing the man's attention to herself and not the giant mirror, for example. She just hoped her boyfriend wouldn't do something dumb and get them both arrested; it wouldn't do her any good if her face was all over the news for stealing. Her father would never let her hear the end of it.

After multiple hopefully subtle glances behind her, she could finally see Shiroya was done. "Hey, I'm sorry, but where did you say the m&m's were again? Could you show me?"

Frustrated by the amount of unnecessary conversation the girl whose real identity he'd never guess was making, the owner sighs but complies anyway, probably in hopes to get rid of her as soon as he could.

She follows the old man to a different aisle, queuing Shiroya's exit. The sneakiest of all, Shiroya, had stuffed some items into his shirt and took off running outside the store. The princess silently prayed for the street to be as empty as it was before they went inside, because if not, they'd be in huge trouble to say the least.

"Just who takes off running after sneakily stealing something from a store?" The princess laughs before placing a gummy bear into her mouth.

"I panicked, okay?" Her boyfriend blushes.

"It's good no one saw you, and we made it here safely." She sprawls onto the grass, taking in the beautifully dotted sky.

"Yeah." Shiroya follows.

A few moments of silence pursue; it was normal to Shiroya by now, since he and the princess had gained a habit of lying down to gaze at the sky, but he knew something wasn't right the second he heard her take in a sharp breath.

His head jerks to the side, panic taking control of him quicker than he'd like. "What's wrong?! Why are you crying?"

She sits up; giving no answers, she continues to sob into her palms. Shiroya could do nothing but hold her close to him, rubbing his hand up and down her back soothingly in hopes she'd calm down.

"It's okay. We can fix it; whatever it is, we can fix it together, remember?" He assures gently.

The princess's sobs merely get more violent, but her shaky hands find their way to the front of her boyfriend's shirt. She clutches onto the fabric tightly, sincerely scared of letting him go.

She takes a few deep breaths to steady herself, but it all fails her when she tries to speak, "They want-"

Her sobs fill the air. Shiroya's panic could only increase by now; he didn't know what could possibly do this to his girlfriend, who's always glimmering with joy and mischief, but he knew if it would break her like that, it wasn't gonna do any less to him.

The princess began to mumble; most of her speech sounded like gibberish to Shiroya, but a few comprehensible words already gave away the reasond of her misery. Marriage. I don't want to. I love you.

Shiroya visibly trembled at the thought of having to give up the princess for a royal wedding, but he couldn't let her down; he couldn't be discouraged so easily. He fights the urge to break down in tears and curse the universe out for his own misfortune. Instead, he puts his every bit of energy left in him to keep a positive and comforting attitude. His voice audibly shaky, Shiroya hugs the princess tighter and speaks up, trying to keep the quivering of his lips to a minimum. "We'll figure it out. We'll figure it out like we always do. It's okay." To him, it felt like he was assuring himself more than anyone, and perhaps he was, but he couldn't afford to break down- not now, not here.

And for a while, they silently held each other, wishing the world would go away along with their problems, leaving nothing but their happiness and love to prosper.

"We'll figure it out." She finally looks her lover in the eye. "We always do." She nods.

"Yeah." He gives a weak smile.

The princess tears herself away from Shiroya's embrace. She gets up and smiles at him, extending her arm towards him. "Dance with me."

It takes him a few moments to recover and react; he was used to his girlfriend's spontaneous behaviour, but he hadn't expected anything at this very moment.

But, surely, he takes her hand and gets up. "No music?" He teases.

"I am the music, Shiroya." She beams, placing a hand on his shoulder while the other tangles itself with one of his hands.

Shiroya's free hand reaches her waist, gently pulling her closer to him. And soon enough, her soft voice pleasantly captures his heart for the billionth time. Their bodies sway gently to the melody she effortlessly brought upon them, hypnotizing him into only focusing on her in that moment and nothing else. No problems, no pain, just the beautiful woman he'd somehow won over.

He eventually joined her singing, and even though his voice couldn't compare to hers, he could see the happiness she felt in his actions, and that was enough to keep him satisfied. It was the only thing he could hope for, to always see that happiness dancing in her eyes.

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the-huntress-songblade · 4 years

Text

The Owl and the Raven

Part 2

"I go by Reth." He said, offering no further details.

The huntress tilted her head to one side before looking at the satyr, then back to the man called Reth, "You are not one of Salis' hunting trainees... what is your mission?"

He tilted his head slightly, as if confused by her question. "I do not know any such person." Then he nudged the stirring leader, who groaned from his injuries. "My mission? Who needs a mission to hunt these abominations?" Then he blinked at her. "And what is your mission, you sound quite official."

Arrianna looked the man up and down before retraining her bow on the satyr instead, pausing only long enough to pull down her mask so that more than just her amber eyes was visible, "I am Nightstorm, huntress aspirant under Salis Ashenbow's cadre." She looked about at the various crystals, then back to Reth, "The satyr here have been performing Fel magick and it was my mission to collect at least one of these crystals so that we could discover their intents."

He lowered his hands. "Well then, feel free to take your fill. I have no interest in demonic jewelry." The smoldering satyr was groaning and gripping at Reth's boots, like he was struggling to pull himself up. Reth kicked his hand away. "If you don't mind, I'm going to have a conversation with our friend here about where his comrades are hiding. And he's going to be very helpful if he knows what's good for him."

Arrianna's grip on her bow loosened, the string coming to rest back in its ready position as she looked between the elf and his prisoner. She glanced about at the crystals she'd been tasked with collecting, then back to the satyr again. If she had the information from the leader of the satyr about the rest of the vile creatures... Salis would be sure to not only reward her but she also could show her parents that she didn't need to be a druid or priestess to be successful. With several long moments taken to get to this train of thought, she looked back at Reth, voice still stern, "You mind sharing? That information would be invaluable to our people, after all."

Reth the hunter arched an eyebrow as he stared at her, the satyr still uselessly clawing at the ground. "Are you asking to interrogate a prisoner together? Strange idea for a first courting." He said with a chuckle. "What do I get in return for sharing this information?"

Arrianna recoiled slightly, the look on her face clearly one of frustration at his mention of courting, "Excuse me? First courting? You're a bold one..." She pursed her lips together in thought before answering, "What would you want from someone like me... and don't think about cracking wise." Her bow was now back in its sling, but her polearm was at her side, the blade so sharp it looked like it could shave the hide off the satyr before them in a scant second.

He held his hands up apologetically. "Relax, huntress, I was only jesting." He pushed the satyr with his foot, rolling the creature onto its back. "Since I assume you wish to know the information to hunt the satyrs yourself, how about you agree to leave any valuable items they may possess to me." There was a small sound of his stomach growling. Spending so much time in solitude, honing his skills and hunting demons was not precisely a lucrative career decision.

Arrianna looked the man over again, catching the sound of his stomach in her sensitive ears. She frowned, looking back to the satyr before nodding, "Of course... assuming the items are not helpful to my superiors, they are yours." She turned her attention to the satyr, baring her fangs at the creature as he stirred. "Looks like this one is about ready."

Reth planted his foot on the demon's chest, none too gently. "You heard the lady, demon. Speak. Tell us where your disgusting comrades are." The demon managed to raise and turn his head slightly, the better for him to fire a glob of fel-glowing spit onto Reth's boots. "So rude... suppose I shouldn't be surprised." He drew one of his blades and held the tip down against the satyr's throat. "Lets try that again... with a little more civility." The demon unleashed a stream of demonic, what could only be insults.

Arrianna watched the exchange in silence. With a quiet inhale, she grabbed her polearm and brought it to the satyr's foul hide, making a two-inch cut on his arm, drawing blood and a sharp hiss from between his teeth. But she seemed unfazed by his reaction, saying only, "I'd suggest you answer his question, foul beast... and every time you don't, I'll add another cut... a single one won't kill you, but you won't last past the thousandth."

The hunter glanced up at her with a bit of surprise at her ruthlessness. Reth pressed his foot down harder. "It seems my new friend here is even less in the mood for impoliteness.” The satyr swore again and began to speak, entirely in demonic. And though his words were unintelligible, he turned a charred arm and pointed northwest, seemingly in the direction of the woods at the western base of the mountain. "That wasn't so hard was it?" He removed his blade and his foot and turned to the woman. "Any other questions?"

Arrianna thought about it for several moments before shaking her head, "No... no, I think not." She tied her polearm to her back before moving to tuck the glowing crystals in the vicinity into a leather satchel.

The satyr had a momentary look of relief. A look that was short-lived. Reth nodded and looked down at the demon. "Thank you." His sword sliced through the air and cut across the demon's flesh, trachea, and arteries. Blood flowed from the wound and pooled around his body as jerky thrashes overtook him for a moment. Then his strength gave out and he fell still. "Been hunting this one for three days,” Reth mused.

Arrianna's face held an impressed expression, and she looked him over again as she tied the satchel to her waist, "Only three days? I wasn't even sent here for him... just the lesser satyr. Salis will be quite impressed that we got to one of the leaders." She tilted her head again, looking Reth over in confusion, "How is it you don't have a superior officer to report to?"

He arched a brow again, equally confused and amused by her question. "Because some of us have no interest in following along like a child. I'm quite fine pursuing my own goals, on my own schedule." He paused for a moment, blinking. "And what's this about 'we'? Did we become partners at some point?"

The huntress made a scoffing noise at him, hands landing on her hips, "I'm sorry, did I confuse us as being of the same people? Can't imagine why I would've done that." She stared at him for several long seconds and retorted, "And using 'we' is just a... a habit, I suppose..." She frowned, looking the man over again, taking in the full sight of his form wrapped in worn leather armor.

He sheathed his blades at his belt and moved to spy around one of the tents at the rest of the camp. The satyrs seemed to have assumed he'd escaped into the woods as the camp was mostly empty save a few sentries left behind. "Yes, well, my 'people' aren't really my people. So you might say I'm better off on my own. Now, WE should probably make ourselves scarce before they come back even angrier."

Arrianna blinked as he started looking about the rest of the camp, and gave a nod, following after him quietly, "Yes, you're probably right."

Reth glanced over his shoulder as she followed him, then quickly stood and made his way out of the camp, heading west.

She had little trouble keeping up with him, pausing only to grab more crystals on their path - she knew the fewer the satyr had, the more advantage her people could get over them, however small that might be. But as they walked, her mind was on something else... something he'd said. "Thank you." she offered simply as they made their way west.

The hunter looked over his shoulder as she spoke, making their way around the shore of the lake. He looked mystified. "For what?"

"For sharing... you didn't have to do that."

He shrugged, as if it didn't seem like a big deal to him. "Uhm... you're welcome. It’s just information, as long as you're not going to get in my way, I don't see the problem... and I'd prefer if you not tell any one of your... superiors about me."

Arrianna frowned more, tugging her hood from her head so she could shake out her short silvery-white hair. Her golden eyes shone back at him confusedly, "What exactly is your issue with our people?"

He cleared his throat as they walked through the forest paths, toward the northern woods. "Those people have an issue with me. They think me corrupted simply because I refuse to hide timidly in the trees. Fine with me, I can get more done without 'orders'."

Arrianna tilted her head to the side, brow furrowed deeply on her visage, "Why would anyone think you corrupted? You are as talented a hunter as any of the rest of us... perhaps more, considering how quickly you located the leader of that group of satyr." She sounded genuinely confused as to why anyone would feel alienated against him. She thought about it further, remembering the look in his silver eyes and suddenly wondering where she'd seen that look before.

He remained silent for a moment, a bit longer than he usually took to answer. "Because they seem to think that hiding like frightened children is preferable to employing ALL possible weapons in order to drive the terrors from our home. Stormrage was right to turn the demons' power against them... and they call him Betrayer."

At this Arrianna blinked in surprise, staring at the hunter's back as they stopped in their walking. "... you... I know where I've seen you... I saw several of you whispering amongst yourselves some weeks ago... something about the Stormrage brother... the one who traded away his sight." She frowned again, jogging to stand before him and look at him more fully, her tone both stern and reassuring, "There's nothing wrong with seeking to destroy our enemies, you know." Her piercing amber gaze was unwavering as she looked back at him, her youth betrayed with her face fully visible - she could not be much more than three hundred years old, barely past her Coming of Age. Her facial tattoo still looked fresh on her face, framing her eyes like the feathers of an owl.

He glared at her from beneath his mask and hood, and after a moment finally pulled both free to reveal his smooth face and mane of messy, shoulder length black hair. "Yes. And a waste of time. Some of the more... zealous followers seem to believe they can break Illidan from his prison... a fool's errand. I would rather seek out his source of power directly." He paused in his explanation as he looked over the girl, apparently younger than him by a small amount. "You would think that would be true, but apparently leaving ourselves vulnerable is a fine price to pay to remain 'honorable'... which I'm sure the thousands who've died appreciate."

Arrianna looked taken aback at the hunter's brazenness. And at his overall physical wildness. But seemed ensnared by his sharp mercurial gaze. It took a few times of her mouth opening and closing before she said, "That... that's exactly right! Where our elders continue to try to stick to outdated traditions... where someone like me should be dressed in a priestess' garb and singing prayers to the White Lady, or at the very least training under her father to follow in the footsteps of Cenarius' teachings, to be of any value to society... why must we hide and remain passive in our pursuit of safety and happiness in life?!" She looked him over again, a slight hint of color painting her purple cheeks. "You... you said your name was Reth?"

He nodded along, seemingly impressed with how agreeable she was. "Reth'lazar. The whole thing is a bit much. Reth is fine." He cleared his throat again. "Nice to meet someone who seems to see some sense. Besides, I don't think you'd look as good in a priestess’ robes." Then he raised his eyes as if he were trying to look at himself. "Not that I can talk much."

Arrianna smirked at his comment, shaking her head. "No, that's... I think you look just fine." Even as she said it, she averted her amber gaze to one side awkwardly, glancing back up the path they'd been walking. She looked back at him curiously, hand motioning toward Hyjal, "Where, eh... where do you call home? Near the base?"

He ran his fingers through his wild hair, as if somewhat surprised at the compliment. "Thanks. And... not exactly. I live wherever I find a piece of cover to sleep beneath."

The huntress took a turn to run her gloved hand through her own hair, glancing up the path, "Well, Reth'lazar... I still need to turn these crystals in to my superior... are you hungry?"

"Reth, please. Ahem... I suppose a meal wouldn't go amiss."

Anna smirked again, nodding, "Well then... my name is Arrianna. Arrianna Nightstorm. And I'm inviting you to dinner. As thanks." She looked back up the path, "The glade a little further north is where I call home... and anyone who helps hunt the satyrs is welcome."

He nodded with a slight grin. "So long as you don't plan to try and recruit me, I'll be glad to accept."

"Psh." She chuckled and shook her head, "I'm not an officer, I'm just an aspirant... a trainee. I'm a nobody."

He moved to follow her this time. "I don't think that's likely."

#origins #Arrianna Nightstorm #Tawny's mother #Reth'lazar Songblade #Tawny's father #the owl & the raven

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