#yes I agree that in the process he's hurting Simon | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

arialerendeair · 2 years

Text

Alec Lightwood Birthday Bash - Prompt Fill

Prompt from Lucyyagami on Twitter!

Magnus and Alec use the Alliance rune during a fight or something,b ut then it won’t fade because Magnus’ magic got too excited in the process and got mixed with the angelic runic magic/energy

~!~!~!~!~!~

The first time Alec wore the Alliance Rune - he didn't hate it, but he didn't like it either. Lorenzo's magic felt wrong, and like sand running through his veins. (Later, finding out Magnus felt the same about his magic was an unexpected moment of camaraderie and love in the aftermath of Edom and everything else.)

The second time Alec wore the Alliance Rune… he never wanted to take it off.

Magnus' magic surged through him and Alec had to gasp under the loving touch of it. It was a combination of the magic he knew better than any other that kept him safe, that healed him, and that he felt faint touches of around Magnus all of the time, and that it was Magnus. He could feel Magnus through his magic, could feel how he felt and he had to hope that at the very least, the runic magic wasn't hurting Magnus.

"Everything okay, Alexander?" Magnus asked, smiling at him.

Alec reached out and pulled him into a kiss and felt sparks escaping from his fingertips. Magnus chuckled against his lips, and there was a soothing press of his magic in return, helping him to control the surge of power. "My, the runes, they aren't hurting you?"

Magnus shook his head. "As when we shared energy for the first time, there's no harm done to me at all. In fact, I think they are working the same way they are for you. I feel like I could run a marathon, even in heels." He gave Alec a cheeky grin and kissed him. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, quit the makeouts, we have a mission!" Clary called, laughing. She zoomed across the room at vampire speed and flicked at Alec's shoulder before dashing back.

Alec rolled his eyes and took a deep breath, centering himself and the magic that he could feel surging through him. "All right everyone, time to get ready. No heroics, and Fray, no last minute rune creating without request, got it?"

Clary saluted Alec and grinned. "Sir, yes sir."

Alec gave her a nod and waited for Magnus to summon the portal. Like this, waiting for what they were about to go into, he could feel Magnus' magic settling into him, sinking through all of him, not just his chest, down to every inch of him, like it was exploring. Alec kept that thought firmly to himself, but Magnus' magic seemed determined to touch every part of him, all over and that was a thought Alec was going to make sure that they shared in the bedroom later.

Right now, they had a mission, and they needed to focus.

~!~

Luckily - that focus came far more in handy than he expected.

Alec cursed when the Duke of Hell that they had come to have a chat with (Magnus called it strong-arming, but was that really the case when he wouldn't do anything asked or agree to any of their terms?), summoned several demons for them to deal with before disappearing. Alec heard Jace swear, and as Jace, Clary, Isabelle, Simon and others stepped up to meet the demons with a shout, he turned to look out at the window.

Magnus' magic was tugging at him, pulling him toward the window, ordering him to be alert. With a quick glance to make sure his siblings and Magnus were all right, Alec darted over to the window, loosing several arrows to help drive the demons back and create opportunities for the others. Magic was gathering around his fingertips, but it didn't feel out of control, or ready to burst out of him. It was simply readying itself for him to use it.

Alec looked out the window, and at the demon hordes that were approaching and surging up and over the castle. While they wasted time here, they were about to get swarmed. "Magnus!" he shouted. "It's a trap. We have to get out!"

Magnus' eyes swung to him, wide, wild, and golden before he cursed and a wave of blue escaped from his hands, pushing the demons back far enough that he could be much more concentrated in his attacks. "We'll hurry, keep them off!"

Alec took another deep breath and drew an arrow. Magic was about forming it to your will, and right now, he wanted to fire an arrow that would push the demons back. He waited until a large knot of Magnus' magic had formed around the tip of the arrow before he fired it, watching as it hit the front line and exploded, knocking wave after wave off the building.

"Alexander, was that you?" Magnus called, looking over at his husband in surprise. He'd felt a large eruption of magic, but there hadn't been any concern through the rune, or a shout for help. "Do you need help?"

Alec drew another arrow, this time at the wraiths that were descending. "I got it, but we need those things taken care of in the immediate future, Magnus! There must be thousands of demons descending on the castle."

Magnus growled in irritation and dashed towards Alexander, picking up the seraph blade from his belt, before jumping into the fray next to the other shadowhunters. His magic, here, was too edomite in nature and the demons weren't being dispatched as quickly as he would like. The blade glowed bright in his hand, and thankfully that made quick work of the rest of the demons - right as another concussive blast of his magic hit the air.

"Alec!" Magnus hurried forward, magic gathering around his fingertips, but Alec was calm and there was no explosion, but there was concentrated power gathering around the next arrow that he was holding and ready to let loose. "What are you…"

"I don't know, your magic is doing most of it, we need to get out of here. Can you summon a portal?"

Magnus frowned and pulled more magic to his fingertips, focusing on the wall, trying to summon a portal, but the realm (and the Duke) were resisting him, blocking him from being able to punch a hole out of there. With a grunt, he faced it and threw more power at it, but the portal fluctuated and warped, showing just how unstable it was and Magnus could feel sweat gathering at his temples as he tried to stabilize it. If he couldn't get them out of here, they were going to die, he just needed to focus and-

"Let me help," Alec coaxed, stepping up behind Magnus. He could feel the others staring at Magnus, waiting for him to save the day like usual, and the pressure was making Magnus' ability to concentrate almost impossible. He stepped up and wrapped his arms around Magnus' waist and pressed his face to his neck. "Breathe in, breathe out, Magnus." Alec repeated the mantra until Magnus was breathing with him. He felt Magnus draw on his magic, just like he intended, and the added angelic elements solidified the portal seconds later.

Magnus' eyes snapped open. "Go!" he ordered, waving everyone through the portal. Once the rest were through, he felt Alec grab his hand and yank him through, just as the demons burst through the window and into what had been the throne room, as they all collapsed on the floor of his loft. He sagged in relief and dropped down to one of the couches.

"All right, Jace, Isabelle, you're in charge of doing the write up on this. Simon, get some sleep and wash your mouth out. I'm going to handle getting in touch with the Clave, so I expect the report to be thorough, and Jace, I swear if you try to slip swears through it I will put you on ichor duty with the grumpiest teenagers you have ever seen in your life," Alec threatened, looking at him. He pushed a hand through his hair and looked at Clary. "Fray, I need you to document those demons we were just fighting. They're not in the encyclopedia, and you've got the eye so you can draw them - if those are going to come through the veil, we need to be ready."

With orders given, Alec let his shoulders relax. Now he just had one more order of business before he could relax properly. He turned his attention to Clary and raised his eyebrows. "How long does the bonding on the Alliance Rune last? I wasn't paying attention last time?"

Clary looked at the rune on her arm that was already starting to fade. "Give it another two hours and it should be completely gone. Take it easy, Alec, we've got things." She saluted him and led the others out of the loft.

Alec let his shoulders sag and took a deep breath, looking down at the rune on his arm. At least his was still bright black. He traced it, smiling at the sparks that were bleeding out of his fingertips. "I know," he said softly, talking to Magnus' magic. "I don't want you to go either, but you belong to Magnus, just like I do. You need to be with him." He stroked over the rune again and turned back to Magnus, giving him a rueful smile.

"Give me about an hour to get the report to the Inquisitor so she knows about the new demons and I'll be free for the evening?" Alec offered, looking at Magnus.

Magnus nodded and took a hesitant step forward, reaching out to Alec before pulling his hand back. "Alec, my magic, it isn't… hurting you, right?"

Alec blinked and his eyes widened. "Angels no, Magnus, your magic would never hurt me. We have an understanding about keeping you safe. Don't worry, I'm fine." When Magnus only nodded at him, slowly, his eyes still concerned, his raised his eyebrows. "Is there something that I should be worried about, Magnus?"

Magnus shook his head. "No, no, of course not, Alexander. I just…" he took a step forward, resting his hand on top of the alliance rune, leaning into Alec's space, his magic surging happily through the connection and he smiled. "My magic likes being able to take care of you like this. I think it's going to be very cross when it can't any longer."

"Your magic always takes care of me, Magnus. Whether I'm able to wield it is a different manner, but. I can feel it in me, like this. It's protecting me, just like you do." Alec leaned in and stole a soft kiss, then another. "An hour," he promised. "Summon something you want for dinner?"

Magnus nodded readily enough. "Of course, Alexander, I'll have things ready as soon as you're finished."

Alec relaxed and went to go deal with the Clave.

Of course, it wasn't until he was waking up the following morning (after he and Magnus had gotten decidedly distracted debating optimal pizza toppings for what felt like the hundredth time), that Alec looked at the rune on his arm and blinked in surprise. The Alliance Rune was still there, still as stark black as it had been the moment he'd drawn it. It hadn't faded, it hadn't gone away, and if he focused, he could feel the faint touch of Magnus on the other side of the bond.

Shifting just a little, Alec took in the sight of the rune still on Magnus' arm as well. His breath caught and he flopped back against the pillows again, pulling Magnus in tighter. He lifted his fingertips and watched as a spark of bright blue magic chased around his fingertips. "I guess that's one way to make sure to keep an eye on me," Alec said, his voice soft. If he wasn't mistaken, Magnus' magic brightened further and danced even more eagerly, confirming his suspicion and making him chuckle. Absolutely ridiculous and he loved it, so much.

"Alexander?" Magnus muttered, yawning and stretching against him. "Who're you talking to?"

"Your magic," Alec said simply, looking at his fingers again. "The alliance rune hasn't faded from either of us yet." And in an instant, Alec felt Magnus go from sleepily content to wide away and worried. He groaned when Magnus sat up and began poking at the rune, frowning at it. He turned just enough and raised his eyebrows. "There's nothing wrong, it doesn't hurt, it just… hasn't faded away like it's supposed to."

"But there has to be a reason for that," Magnus said with a frown. He turned his attention to Alec and narrowed his eyes. "I know your penchant for dismissing your own health, but are you sure there is-"

"I wouldn't hide something this important," Alec said, his voice soft as he reassured Magnus. "I can feel your magic in me, and it's protective, just like you are, but I promise, there's nothing that feels anywhere in the remote vicinity of wrong."

Magnus let out a small breath of relief. "Well that's good. And we know that the bonds do fade, because yours with Lorenzo's faded almost instantly." He nodded and traced the rune on Alec's arm again, watching it, curious. "But why wouldn't this one…" he whispered.

Alec flopped back into the pillows and gave Magnus a sly look. "I bet that it's because your magic wants to hang with me and make sure it can protect me. It's just as possessive as you are. And I love it."

"You do talk to it all of the time," Magnus agreed, giving Alec an indulgent smile. He reached out to touch his magic that was settled around the rune on Alexander's arm and tilted his head as he studied it, stroking slowly.

Alec let his eyes fall to halfway shut as Magnus ran a handful of magical diagnostics on him, until his frown was very pronounced and Alec had to sigh, because he refused to say a word about why he was frowning. "All right, out with it. What's wrong? Do we have to get Clary to remove them?"

Magnus looked up at Alec and hesitated, before looking back down at the rune. "I don't think that biscuit would be able to do anything in this instance, Alexander. The fault here, I believe, lies entirely with me, and I didn't do this on purpose."

Alec raised both of his eyebrows and stared at Magnus. Magnus, who, looked approximately thirty seconds away from fidgeting like he was a child. Whose magic was clearly uncomfortable and making it known by the sparks that were leaking out of him. "Magnus?" He drew the word out, settling in closer, reaching out to touch Magnus on the thigh, stroking in reassurance. "Tell me what's wrong."

"I…" Magnus covered his face with a groan and shook his head. "You're never going to let me live this down and while I might be fine with that, even still."

Concerned, now, Alec sat up properly and turned to face Magnus. "Magnus, tell me what's wrong." When Magnus gave him a nervous look, Alec blinked in surprise. Magnus… was nervous? Magnus "I've done things that would make courtesans blush" Lightwood-Bane didn't get nervous. That was entirely in Alec's purview.

Magnus took a deep breath. "My magic… didn't want to leave."

"Okay," Alec said with a nod. "I can feel as much, it's still in me. What does that have to do-"

"The alliance rune, it builds a bridge between our magics. So we each get a little bit of each. Enough so Nephilim can go to hell, and enough so I can use your runes in some ways," Magnus said, clearing his throat. "But that bridge is meant to be temporary, to wear down after enough time has passed."

Alec's eyes widened. "But our bridge isn't temporary?"

Magnus bit down on his lip and sighed. "My magic ensured that it was not. It took what was temporary and… made far more permanent. It was partially acting out of my own desire to keep you safe, and it's attachment to you in general."

Alec blinked and looked down at his arm. "What does that mean?"

Magnus let out another hard breath and looked at the sheets between them. "Before I answer that, know that I can reverse it and take this back, you're not stuck with it, with-"

"Magnus," Alec interrupted, frowning. "I'm already very happily stuck with you, as you well know. You don't… what's going on? Is it hurting me?"

"No," Magnus said, smiling faintly. "It means that we'd… we'd share lifespans. You'd share my magic permanently, that we'd be tied in a way that only soul-bonded creatures can manage, which is the rarest type of magic that exists."

"So your magic…" Alec started. "Took an alliance rune, and turned it into a soulbond between the two of us?"

Magnus took a deep breath, his shoulders lifting and then dropping at the question. "Yes."

Alec swallowed and scooted closer to Magnus. "Magnus, look at me?" He waited until Magnus had tilted his head up and golden eyes were meeting his. "Do you not want this?"

"Alec-"

"No," Alec interrupted, shaking his head. "Tell me, if you want this. Because if there's even a chance you do…" he swallowed and stared at the rune. "I'm not letting you reverse this. But I don't force you-" Alec barely managed to wrap his arms around Magnus when he was tackled back to the bed.

“If you think,” Magnus said, his eyes desperate. “That I don’t want - Alexander, my magic did this bond without us even talking about it.”

Alec started to grin. “So what you’re saying is that your magic makes your feelings on the subject very obvious.”

Magnus took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes, I did.”

Alec reached up and brushed some of Magnus’ hair off of his forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Magnus breathed out the words, soft and honest, into the air around them. “More than I have ever loved anyone in my life.” He leaned into Alec’s hand now cupping his cheek. “And for the first time in my life, there is someone my magic loves just as much.”

Alec sucked in a breath, that declaration and the truth ringing behind it enough to have him ready to fall apart and into Magnus’ arms all over again. “So it’s staying?”

Magnus paused before whispering, stroking over Alec’s cheek once again. “If that is what you want, Alexander.”

Alec reached out and pressed his fingertips to Magnus’ heart, breathing in deep as he reached for the bond between them. Magnus’ magic responded under the touch, lighting up and like this, Alec could see the faint bridge that had been built between them, that tied them together, and just how strong the ties were. He grinned, leaning in to press their foreheads together.

“I think we’ll cross that bridge together.”

Magnus’ answering groan that trickled into a laugh meant everything.

#Aria Posts #Malec #Alec Lightwood Birthday Bash #ALBB2022 #Alec Lightwood #Magnus' Magic Loves Alec Lightwood #Magical Bonding #Alliance Rune

32 notes · View notes

altruistic-meme · 1 year

Note

Hmmmm so I think that season one and season two have very different vibes if that makes sense?? Season one feels quieter simpler and more intimate somehow, like there's only a few main plot lines to follow and the focus is almost always on Simon and wille, whereas with season 2 it feels like SO MANY THINGS happened! Maybe it's bc I just watched the show so quickly and haven't really processed it yet but there were so many ups and downs and so many revelations and twists and it felt very chaotic and dramatic and angsty and messy. It's not necessarily worse or better than the first season, it's just different! And kind of unexpected. Like s1 is what you watch if you want a really nice quiet story that tugs at your heartstrings and makes you want more, and S2 is what you watch if you're in the mood for revenge and drama and lies and betrayal and chaos. What do you think?

I fully agree that the vibes are so so different, and it’s something i’ve been thinking about since my first watch. And I actually kind of really like the contrast between them! It's exactly what we were told it was: Season 2 was darker than season 1.

This is what I meant when I said that “they were all so baby” in s1: Season 1 feels incredibly hopeful. It’s very much lighter, and although the stakes aren’t necessarily any lower we don’t tend to notice them as much. Season 1 does have Wilhelm and Simon as one of the biggest focuses and their relationship, while definitely having its downs, also has enough ups to balance it out pretty well. Even though we have so many moments where they break apart, we also almost always see them come back together again either in that same episode or in the one right after. Even after the final break up in epi 6, we get the hopefulness that came with their hug and Wilhelm’s “I love you”: yes, they aren’t together, but we can see that they want to be, and now Simon knows how Wilhelm feels, and we know that Wilhelm is getting ready to fight for it.

In season 2, all of this hopefulness is gone. It’s a lot more somber. We see early on that it won’t have that same back and forth that season one did. Simon admits to thinking of Wilhelm all break, but he also shrugs off his hand and tells him he doesn’t want them talking. There are only downs, for a while, between them. Every conversation is painful because you want them to be together, to be happy again, but there is too much happening between them and around them for us to have that. They don’t get a moment of joy together until epi 4, and even then that moment is disrupted and the beginning of the next episode shows that we’re back to having that space.

We do come to a much more hopeful ending than we did in season 1 though: Simon confesses in return, he wants to be with Wille even against his desire to not be a secret, and Wille is finally in a place where he has found out that he wants nothing more than to be with Simon, even at threat of the monarchy. Wille had all-but-directly told Simon he would give up the throne for him already. He’s told Simon that he is more important than that, and with the belief that there is a backup, the final scene is him risking that for Simon. It’s the return of that hopefulness for a future that we had had in s1 and had been robbed of throughout s2.

I use hopefulness to describe it because that’s what it feels like to me. But lightness is another way you could go.

As far as the actual contents, i don’t actually feel like we were truly short on Wilhelm/Simon content, just joy. Like I said, most of their interactions hurt. And there was definitely a lot going on but I feel like it was more of a culmination of everything going on in season 1. It didn’t feel messy to me, story-wise. It was messy in a very real way. When all of these things begin at the same time, they’ll all come crashing at the same time too. S2 was that crash. It was everything we had worked on in s1 falling apart and coming together and the result was messy because life gets messy sometimes.

S1 is definitely what to watch when you want that heartstring pull, but I don’t think s2 was only about drama and revenge. It pulls your heartstrings too. Again, especially between Wilhelm and Simon. The way they so clearly want each other but can’t have each other.

So yeah, I definitely agree with you that they are incredibly different seasons. I think they work well together though. I had the joy of being able to watch them back to back and honestly, the shift isn’t as drastic as I thought it might be. Because like I said, s2 was a natural crash after s1. I loved both seasons so much. I really hope we get a third, because there is definitely more we could see, and like many have said before me I think a third season would be the perfect way to wrap things up.

#not that i would be opposed to more than 3 seasons >>#anyway this has been on my mind too!#i hope you enjoy my thoughts they are plentiful. this is certainly not all of them #young royals #yr s2 spoilers #young royals meta #askers #anon #shh ac #(also im crying im so flattered that im getting asks ksdfhksdhfks this is interesting and unusual for me)

10 notes · View notes

super-unpredictable98 · 2 years

Text

Heavenly | The Mortal Instruments AU

Chapter 3: You Must Be an Angel

Warning: Strong language, blood and period talk, mention of violence and death

(Masterlist)

"Wow! I've always wondered what this building was, is this the Institute?" you looked up at the enormous gothic style construction.

"She can see it," Simon whispered to Clary.

"Some mundanes are born with the sight, that doesn't necessarily mean anything," she replied.

"Try to open the door," Jace instructed.

You shrugged and pushed the door open, it was unlocked, but everyone seemed really surprised by your achievement.

"Okay, that might mean something," Clary agreed.

"Where have you guys been? He's up and doing great, Bane said he would come and- Who is she?" Isabelle stopped when she noticed you.

"This is y/n," Simon introduced. "y/n, this is Isabelle, but we call her Izzy."

"Nice to meet you," you shook the girl's hand. She was insanely beautiful as well, you weren't crazy about the way she looked at Simon, but you had to remind yourself he wasn't your boyfriend, at least not yet.

"The famous y/n," Izzy said, with the slightest hint of bitterness. "Si told us all about you... Why did you guys bring the mundane girl?"

"That's the thing, she might not be a mundane," Jace explained. "She could see me when I was invisible, and she could see the Institute, she was able to open the door."

Isabelle's brows furrowed, looking you up and down. She picked up a thin stick with a silver snake wrapped around it and a crystal on the end.

"Ugh, again? Where do you keep finding these people? But there's an easy way to know," she chuckled.

"Don't!" Simon stood in front of you. "Are you crazy? What if she..."

"Hey, I have one of these, but mine doesn't have a snake, it has some weird drawings on it," you pointed.

"You do?" Jace asked skeptically.

"Apparently my biological parents left it with me when they dropped me off at the orphanage, it was my favorite toy growing up."

"This is not a toy," Izzy scoffed. "It's a stele."

"I used to play with it all the time, it's a temporary tattoo thingy, right?"

"Temporary tattoo?" Simon turned to you in shock.

"Yeah, I used to draw all over my arms with it, it gives you a temporary tattoo, sometimes I tried to imitate the drawings on the stick. I still got a few scars-"

"Well, I guess that answers our question," Jace sighed heavily. "We don't have to rune her, she's been doing it to herself all along."

"What do you guys mean?" you laughed. "What's a rune?"

"Give me your hand," Izzy demanded impatiently.

You did as she said, placing your hand on top of hers and she used the stele to draw a shape that resembled a diamond with a pair of wings on your wrist. You giggled with the tingly feeling on your skin and Clary widened her eyes.

"Doesn't hurt?" she asked.

"It tickles," you smiled.

"Tickles..." she shook her head angrily, letting go of your arm.

"So it means she's a Nephilim?" Clary asked.

"Yes, yes it does," Jace nodded, incredulously.

"Sorry, I'm a what?" you grimaced.

——————————————————

"I don't think Alec likes me..." you wrinkled your nose taking a seat at the enormous library.

"Alec doesn't like anyone besides his siblings, Jace, and his boyfriend," Simon mocked. "Don't worry, it's nothing personal."

"Am I going insane?"

"No, I know how it feels, it's too much to process, but if you think about it, it's just like RPG in real life, it's like you're inside Dungeons and Dragons."

"Am I really part angel?" you gazed down at the mark left on your arm, the angelic rune, as they called it.

"I think so, but I guess I already knew that," he grinned, leaning over to place a kiss on your lips.

"Silly... Were you really kidnapped by vampires then?" you held his hand, frowning at the thought of him in danger.

"Yeah, I was at a party, I took a sip of a weird drink and next thing I knew they took me to this abandoned hotel. It was really scary," he shivered. "They wanted to turn me."

"So you're a vampire?"

"A little bit."

"How can you be a little bit of a vampire?" you didn't wanna drown him in stupid questions, but curiosity got the best of you.

"I'm partially vampire, but luckily I wasn't turned completely."

"What happens if I hold a crucifix in front of you?"

"Nothing," he huffed a laugh.

"Can you eat garlic?"

"Yeah... But I don't think it would be a wise choice seeing as I want to kiss you."

"Why don't you have fangs?"

"I do, they're just not out," Simon seemed to be having fun with the interrogation.

"Do you drink blood?"

"Sometimes, regular food doesn't hold the same nutritional value to me anymore."

"Can you become a bat?"

"Not that I know of..."

"Is that why you don't wear glasses anymore?"

"Yep, I got better vision, I'm stronger, faster..."

"Is that why your skin is always so cool?"

"Yes."

"Is that why you smell so good and I can't stop looking at you? And when you kiss me I feel drugged?"

"You feel what?"

"It makes sense," Izzy came in, scaring the pair of you. "Vampires have encanto, they can be very charming, hypnotizing even and some of them use that ability to control people. Their saliva acts as a muscle relaxant and euphoric, so it might make you feel a little high."

"I can do all that?" Simon seemed surprised with himself, leaving you wondering how much did he really know about this entire shadow world.

You and Izzy nodded at the same time, you were slowly getting addicted to that feeling, that's why it pissed you off so much to watch all these gorgeous girls around him.

"But I already liked you before, when I first started working at Java Jones," you were quick to clarify, you didn't want him to think you were under some kind of spell.

"But you didn't talk to him until he was bitten..." Isabelle murmured under her breath.

"Excuse me?" you turned to her. Seems like both Lightwoods hated you. At this point, you were scared to meet their little brother, because with the way things were going, he would Children of the Corn all over you.

"Don't listen to her, angel," he turned your face back to him.

"Did you and Isabelle have a thing?"

"Um... Not really a thing, more of-"

"We did," she announced as she left the library, heading to the weapon's room and leaving the awkward silence behind her.

"It was like one night, it didn't mean anything," Simon looked down, embarrassed.

"It's fine, Si, we've been on one date, we're not exclusive or anything," you made an effort to make your voice sound neutral even if you wanted to cry.

"It was the best date I've ever been on," he murmured sheepishly.

"Was she the one who broke your heart that time?"

"No, you don't need to worry, y/n, I like you."

At these words, you lifted your head, meeting his green eyes.

"I like you too."

"And I would like to be exclusive if that's something you'd want..."

"Yes!" you didn't even let him finish the sentence before exclaiming.

"Good, then that settles it," he placed his slightly cold hand on your cheek and pressed his forehead to yours. "Are you still jealous?"

"A little bit," you admitted. "She's so beautiful and charming and-."

"So are you," he thought for a second before sticking his tongue out and licking your lips playfully. "Better?"

"You can't abuse your powers like that," you shuddered as you felt a jolt of electricity rush right through your spine.

"Or what?" he pulled you onto his lap with a laugh. "You're gonna use one of your glowing swords on me? Treat me like the downworlder I am?"

"No, or you'll get me hooked."

"That's the plan, angel," his lips met yours once again.

——————————————————

After nearly three weeks together, you decided it was time to invite Simon over to your place, it was a tiny little studio in Williamsburg covered in art pieces made by you or your friends.

Usually, you just went from work straight to his apartment, since Clary was almost never there, but since she would be bringing Jace that night, you thought it would be a good opportunity.

"Wow, that's a nice place... I still think we should've dropped by my apartment to get a change of clothes though," Simon looked around, silently analyzing the paintings and drawings.

"You won't need any clothes," you jumped into his arms, wrapping your legs around his waist, knowing full well you weighed as much as a stuffed animal to him.

"Jesus, this encanto is really working, isn't it?" he didn't even move, placing his hands on the small of your back.

"No, it's just you, Si," you kissed his neck teasingly. "I've been thinking..."

"About what?" he walked to the window, carrying you effortlessly, to look at the view.

"Do I have to become a shadowhunter? Like Clary and Jace? Do I have to go around battling demons and risking my life? Cause I kinda just wanted to be an art teacher and maybe do pottery on the weekends."

"I don't think so. I mean, they are probably gonna try to drag you into this, but you don't have to do anything you don't want to, you don't see me running around biting people's necks."

"Only mine?"

"Only yours," he chuckled.

"I think I'm too much of a chicken to become a proper shadowhunter," you rested your face on his shoulder. "I'm scared."

"You don't have to be," Simon kissed your cheek. "I won't let any demon get close to you."

"Do you know how to fight demons?"

"No, but I could always learn..."

"Are you hungry, demon hunter?" you let go of him, getting back on your feet.

"Very."

"Grilled cheese with tomato soup?"

"Sounds good."

"Alright, make yourself at home," you said as you ran to the kitchen.

You quickly grabbed the ingredients you'd need, it was quite simple. All you had to do was cut the tomatoes, throw them into the pot and... Of course, that was already asking for too much. Just as you were almost done with the first part, the knife you were using slipped and cut your finger instead.

"Shit, I'm such an idiot!" you dropped the knife and squeezed your finger trying to stop the bleeding.

"What happened?" Simon came in running after hearing the sound of metal hitting metal, but as soon as he smelled the blood he shivered. "Oh God..."

"Should I run?" you nearly cried.

"No, it's fine," he shook his head, though his mouth was watering and his voice was a little strained.

"You don't look fine," you trembled.

"Can I... Have a little bit? Please? It's been a while."

"Isn't that gonna turn me into a vampire as well?"

"No, I'm barely a daylighter. I can't turn anyone."

"You really think you can control yourself? You're not gonna suck me dry or anything?"

"I'm not a monster, y/n," he was almost offended, but your freak out was so cute and funny. "And it's gonna feel better once I do it."

"Alright, go ahead..."

You offered him your hand, he licked his lips before taking your finger in his mouth. Soon his saliva made it so the cut wasn't hurting at all, and you relaxed, taken by that familiar excitement.

The way Simon looked up at you while gently sucking on your finger made your knees go weak, he seemed so devoted, so... Grateful. Humming softly as if he was enjoying the most delicious dessert.

"Wow," he let go, the cut wasn't that deep so it soon stopped bleeding. "You taste... Perfect."

"Really?" it was a weirdly flattering compliment.

"I don't know if it's from being a Nephilim or if it's just you, but it was the best blood I've ever had," he grabbed your other hand to lick the leftovers from when you were holding on to your finger, he even licked the knife, hoping to get every last drop.

"You've been having a lot of blood lately?"

"I need it sometimes, I know I have to feed when no matter what I eat, I'm still hungry. I just usually take animal blood from the meathouse, or I get my hands on some samples from the lab. Last month I visited a blood bank and they were about to throw away a few bags, oh God, it was delicious... But I don't hurt anyone, my fangs aren't even strong enough to get so deep, they are so dull and tiny."

He hesitantly opened his mouth to show you his quite discreet fangs. You had never seen them out, so you just assumed they emerged whenever the blood-lust was activated or something.

"They are so cute!" you cooed, making him look away flustered.

"Well, they can penetrate skin, but not veins or anything... So they're pretty much useless."

"How come you didn't become a full vampire?"

"They were going to, but Clary and the others arrived just in time. Honestly, I'm happy about it. I can still walk in the sun and I would miss pizza too much."

"So you're like Bill Weasley after he was scratched by Greyback?"

"Exactly," he wrapped his arms around you kissing your neck lovingly. "Do you think I could... Do that again sometime?"

"Am I supposed to keep cutting myself like Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors?"

"No, of course not, I don't want you to get hurt, especially not because of me," he innocently rested his chin on your shoulder. "But you know, every month a woman..."

"Simon! You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting!" you cackled hysterically.

"What? It's not like you're gonna need it! You're throwing it out anyway, why not put it to use? I mean, unless you're uncomfortable, which I completely understand..."

"No, I guess you're right. It's just like any other blood, after all."

"It's arguably better, because of all the nutrients," he purred, you could almost hear his pout. "So what do you say? Wanna feed the cravings of your poor vampire boyfriend?"

"Alright, fine," you rolled your eyes playfully. "But just because you're so cute... Only you could ask me something like that."

"Lucky me," he boasted.

"You and your encanto... It's really unfair that you have this much power over me."

"Is it? I think it's great."

Tag List: @holidayspirits @firstpersonnarrator @seanfalco @salvador-daley

#mortal instruments simon #mortal instruments fanfic #mortal instruments #city of bones #city of bones fanfic #simon lewis x reader #simon lewis #fanfic #robert sheehan character fic #robert sheehan fanfic #tw: blood #tw: menstruation

43 notes · View notes

superlocktvd · 2 years

Text

Anthony Bridgerton | Jonathan Bailey

Its been almost 36 hours since the release of Bridgerton Season 2 aired and I have binged it, processed it (to a certain extent) and have read multiple multiple opinions and even though it wasn’t what I expected it to be, it wasn’t as bad as some of the people have made it to be. Yes it was faulty at some places, but for all that is, for me it really lived it up to the name Bridgerton after all it is what the show’s name is (I am looking at all those who have repeatedly stated if Simon is not there it is not worth watching) and honestly maybe I would have once agreed maybe, but Jonathan Bailey is chef’s kiss and nobody can take Anthony Bridgerton from him. He was convincing, captivating, charming, caring and cruel in the best ways possible.

This is an Anthony Bridgerton appreciation post and I will not be accepting any slander or libel towards him because he was amazing in season 2. Hell I loved in season 1 with his hellish and boar of an attitude because even then he was always there for his family. His bond with Violet is something I have loved from the very first exchange they had. She has always been there to put him in his place and guide him even after his father’s death.

This para is for those blaming him for asking Edwina’s hand in marriage. Did you forget what happened the last time he acted on his heart, Sienna with all her reasoning did shut the door on his face. Even after all the close calls with Kate , he never did receive a verbal consent of yes she would be willing to accept him, because just like him for her too family, Edwina came first which she had repeatedly made clear. Again he was ready call off the marriage, it was Kate who asked him not to. Anthony’s action after that were nothing but a way to fulfil what we saw in the first episode, a task that he his supposed to do and expected out of him much like all else.

The show did actually show us less Anthony and Kate (which again 1 fault) but it did show us Anthony Bridgerton and for that I am grateful. To see him going from a child to becoming a viscount within a few hours was indeed painful, and to having it relive that experience not once but twice with Kate, yes well Jonathan Bailey you made me cry. (Goes and watches the scenes because I like to hurt myself apparently). Anthony had to become a viscount, take care of all his siblings, be there for his mother and practically play father for Gregory and Hyacinth. Anthony did what he thinks was right and just like always it was about his responsibility and duty and to ensure he lives up to the name Bridgerton.

Jonathan Bailey you are a work of art and I cannot wait for the heights and praise you achieve and receive in the coming future.

#netflix #bridgerton #bridgerton season 2 #bridgerton books #the viscount who loved me #anthony bridgerton #kate sharma #kate sheffield #edwina sharma #edwina sheffield #jonathan bailey #simone ashley #anthony x kate

53 notes · View notes

vacancy90 · 2 years

Text

Merry Christmas @ski-jumping-is-my-aesthetics !🎄🎅

Here's your secret Santa gift. 🎁 I hope you have a wonderful Christmas time and can enjoy some quiet days and yummy food with your loved ones. All the best, and I hope you like your gift. I had lots of fun writing this! 🥰👋

Holly Jolly Christmas

aka Teams Germany, Norway, Switzerland and Slovenia are having a Christmas party.

He can't remember how or when exactly they all had agreed on having a Christmas party in Engelberg, but Cene certainly doesn't mind when he opens the ovendoor and the hot air escaping hits his face and fills his nostrils with a spicy ginger scent. He's been busy going about his kitchen all morning, rolling out dough and cutting out shapes of gingerbread men, snowmen, stars, hearts and whatnot. He simply loves baking and especially baking for his friends and colleagues. He's adjusted his go-to Christmas cookie recipe to suit everyone's diet, especially since he's been reminded about Halvor's gluten intolerance and other people's nut allergy and damn, he even made sure to use vegan chocolate for decorating the cookies so nobody had a valid excuse to not try them. Yes, he is pretty proud of himself and happy to contribute such an important part that can't be missed at any Christmas party. Besides Cene, Timi had agreed to contribute his part for team Slovenia by providing a taste of his accordion skills - but only if Karl and Markus promised to dance their famous Schuhplattler dance for everyone to enjoy. They did. And this way eventually also convinced Domen and Peter to join the party despite their rough start to the season and them mumbling something about sleep and responsibility and… Cene forgot the rest. Unlike his brothers' seasons, his own has started out well and now he's especially looking forward to Engelberg.

***

It's Thursday evening and one by one members of the various invited teams are entering the designated function room. Team Switzerland come first, Simon had made sure, because somehow they feel responsible as hosts in their home country.

"Whoever decorated this room, they did a wonderful job," Killian remarks as his gaze travels around.

"Beautiful indeed," Domink agrees winking at Simon who smiles contentedly at the praise. He hadn't exactly done it by himself but he decided on colours and the reindeer and angels sitting on the shelves and maybe another little detail he's sure will make this evening an interesting one.

"Thanks guys, but honestly, this is the hotel staff's work, I just told them we needed Swiss red tinsle and baubles and some fairy lights."

"Grüezi!" An ever beaming Andreas followed by his shadow Stephan and joined at the hip pair Markus and Karl greets them in an attempt of Swiss German. They're about to take their seats when team Slovenia can be heard from miles away. The sound of Timi's accordion and the Planica song is blasting down the corridor, announcing their arrival.

"Hey," Markus protests. "This is supposed to be a Christmas party!"

"Whatever song makes you dance!" Timi retorts and switches to a Christmas tune causing Markus and Karl to move their hands and feet in sync.

"Stop, guys! Not before the Norwegians are here!" Domen chimes, already bursting with laughter.

"Here, have some of these while we're waiting for the show to start." Cene places a gigantic cookie jar on the table and catches sight of his older brother Peter cracking a smile. He can feel his heart filling with warmth and can't wait for the party to start.

"Heyyy!" A faint voice can be heard from afar.

"Oh, damn! I forgot I promised Gregor to help carry the fondue here." Dominik jumps to his feet and hits his head on the shelf above him in the process. A wooden reindeer lands in his lap as he's rubbing the hurt spot.

"Wait, I'll go," Killian offers while Simon is already on his way to grab a napkin and some ice cubes from a jug of water on the table.

"Are you looking for someone in particular?" Cene addresses his younger brother who's standing by the entrance now.

"Huh?" Domen turns his head in confusion.

Cene just smirks and points his finger at the little green branches hanging from the doorframe.

"Oh my god, look! There's a mistletoe!" Andreas nudges Stephan excitedly. "How cool!"

"I wonder who put that up there?" Markus remarks and Karl just shrugs, reaching for one of the cookies.

"Probably Domen himself," Peter whispers in Cene's direction and they giggle in unison. Meanwhile Gregor and Killian return with the fondue and the odor of melted Swiss cheese and freshly baked bread adorns the room.

"May we present: Switzerland's finest." Gregor puts down the tray with a dramatic gesture. "Props to the head chef who helped us with this and provided the equipment."

"Can the Norwegians hurry up already? I'm starving!" Cene reaches for a slice of bread which earns him a strict look by Peter.

"I'll check," Domen announces and takes a step outside.

"Oh right, now I know who you're waiting for," Cene teases in Slovenian which Domen appreciates but makes him blush anyway.

"Shut up!" The younger Prevc mutters and turns to leave, however, he is instantly shoved back inside.

"Where do you think you're going?" The distinctive voice of a tall blond Norwegian can be heard before he can be seen, causing Cene and Peter to laugh out loud.

"He's been looking for you," Cene explains when Daniel steps inside and for the second time this evening he points at the top of the doorframe.

Now the Germans and Swiss join the giggles and Simon who's been stroking the sore spot on Dominik's head and holding the makeshift ice pack in place can't help a comment. "Two people at the same time under the mistletoe. We don't make the rules."

"Well, then…" Daniel smiles and without hesitation pecks the Slovene's cheek, causing the blush to turn a deep red now.

"Yes!" The other guests clap and whistle approvingly. "Woohoo!"

"Where's the rest of your team? We're hungry!" This time it's Timi speaking for all of them.

"They should be here any minute. Halvor and Johann are bringing the Gløgg and Marius the music. Don't know about Anders and Robert. Robert's probably video calling his daughter as always," the Norwegian muses and takes the seat next to Domen.

"Look who I ran into." Anže suddenly appears in the doorframe accompanied by Halvor and Johann.

"Did someone say Gløgg?" Halvor happily lifts a large jug of an athlete friendly - meaning alcohol-free - Norwegian version of mulled wine. Johann places two bowls with almonds and raisins on the table and is about to grab some of the provided glasses to fill them with the hot drink when there's yet another round of cheering fillling the room. He turns around to find the source of the commotion.

"Oh my god, look at you!" Andreas exclaims, mesmerised by the two oldest members of team Norway who just showed up in Christmas sweaters and antlers on their heads. Anders and Robert are giving a little performance of… whatever this is supposed to be. Andreas guesses it's some sort of traditional dance but it could as well just be moves straight out of a TV ad. Anyway, everybody applauds them and of course the fact that they're standing under the mistletoe together must be mentioned. This time it's Stephan who points it out and Andreas all of a sudden is thrilled by the idea of accidently running into someone under the mistletoe, too. That someone possibly being the older German right next to him, radiating this all-encompassing glow of cosy, beautiful geniality and-

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

Andreas has a hard time averting his gaze and thoughts from Stephan but manages eventually, just in time to catch Robert planting a smooch on his shorter colleague's forehead. And just like Domen earlier, Anders is turning a deep red and the sound of everyone cheering and clappingcan be perceived once again.

"This party is so much fun and it hasn't even started properly," Gregor says, rising from his chair. Simon does the same and starts a little speech. "Welcome, friends, to our little pre- Christmas get-together. I'm very happy to have you all gathered here and, yeah, enjoy the food and drinks! A big thank you to all of you who contributed their part to make this happen. And now, let's fill our glasses and plates and have a lovely evening!"

Simon's speech is applauded by everyone present and soon all the boys are scrambling to help with pouring gløgg, distributing plates and arranging everything. Only Andreas is thinking of something else…

"Sorry, I'm late! Did I miss anything?" Marius, to complete team Norway, enters the scene with a Bluetooth box in one hand and his phone in the other, already busy connecting the two.

"You bet!" Halvor retorts and imitates the previously witnessed dance and kiss act of his fellow Norwegians.

"Oh crap, but I didn't miss Markus and Karl, did I?" Marius presses play on his phone and the air is filled with universally known Christmas music in an instant. Yes, he's taking his DJ job very seriously.

"No," Domen replies, since he's the one nearest to Marius now. "I stopped them and told them to wait for you guys." He directs a smile at Daniel who mirrors the smile and nudges his shoulder in response. "Thanks, buddy."

Soon everyone is praising the delicious fondue and the yummy gløgg. Jolly chatter is filling the air as the bunch of ski jumpers are indulging in an easy evening before the next competition day. Today everyone is just enjoying the party. Cene's cookies are gone in the blink of an eye and Johann has been recording bits and pieces here and there and is currently setting up his camera for the grand finale of the night.

"Alright," Timi murmurs, hitting the keys of his accordion. "Let's go! Markus, Karl, the stage is yours."

Under the cheers of their colleagues the German duo take to the dancefloor and as Timi starts playing, indeed perform an impressive display of Schuhplattler. Markus has taught Karl since the last time and made sure they'd keep their promise. Another round of applause concludes the show and Timi switches to Christmas songs which everyone seems to enjoy just the same.

Dominik is feeling much better, the damage held off thanks to Simon's rapid care. Gregor and Killian are swaying next to them, just like the Norwegians. Johann is still taking artistic photographs and capturing the magic of this special night.

Timi ends his little gig with a shy bow and is naturally applauded, too. Marius presses play on his phone again and as soon as Wham!'s Last Christmas echos from the speaker, people either choose to leave or hit the dance floor.

"It's late, imma say goodnight. Thanks, guys, for the wonderful evening." Peter is first to retreat to his room. The rest of his teammates follow shortly, except for Domen who's in deep conversation with the Norwegians. One in particular, as Simon notices. He smiles to himself. Maybe his special decoration item is working his Christmas magic after all. The oldest Swiss is the next to say goodnight, his own teammates following him. Karl and Markus are leaving next.

"Awesome show, guys," Daniel pats them on the shoulders when they pass by him and Domen.

"Thanks, man. Next time we wanna see Dirty Daniel as main act," Karl insists.

"Dirty Daniel and Domen," Markus adds, winking at the two. "Better start practicing!"

With that they're out the door, leaving a once again blushing Domen and grinning Daniel behind.

"I want what they have," Andreas who watched the scene mumbles to himself.

"Who? Markus and Karl?" Stephan enquires.

Andreas flinches because the other had heard him when he clearly wasn't supposed to.

"No, silly. Nevermind." He gets up.

Team Norway are saying their goodbyes as well, which leaves the two Germans plus Domen, the latter also inclined to leave now.

"For old times sake." Daniel catches him by the sleeve of his sweatshirt when he's walking under the mistletoe, twirling the young man to land a proper kiss on his cheek this time.

"We should meet again more often," he says softly and Domen is covered in goosebumps, unable to say a word, however, he feels himself nodding. The next moment they're out of sight and Andreas sighs dramatically, making Stephan stop in his tracks.

"What?"

"Nothing," Andreas whispers and longingly stares at the green magical branches above his head. It only takes a second for clever Stephan to realise what's up.

"You know we don't need a bunch of weed to tell us when and where to do whatever you may be thinking of doing, right?" The older man raises an eyebrow.

"We… we don't?" Andreas's lips are trembling, his heart pounding madly.

"No, silly." Stephan's trademark smile forms on his face as he's closing the distance between them. "But since we're here anyway, we might as well…"

#wsss2021 #sorry i couldn't keep it completely neutral #because that's not how i roll 🙈#hope you enjoyed it anyway #my writing #sj fanfic #team germany #team norway #team slovenia #team switzerland #ski jumping

20 notes · View notes

mollyolikeme · 3 years

Text

Any Way The Wind Blows SPOILERS

Okay. Here are my ramblings in no particular order. Proceed if you care and/or dare. They a lot.

- I am emo shit. (I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again. Brilliant.)

- Honestly the ‘break up’ is important even though it HURTS

- Holding the wand together. I CRY. Knocking foreheads. STAP.

-The first real snowbaz conversation during the make-up. Was just …......… FAN-TAST-TIC. Just real conversation and being patient and listening. Like they were both being so SOFT and UGH!

- Fuck yes the emotional intimacy!

- The first night in bed… like simons trauma and love and how they interact and how he can’t cross the lines right away but wants to and he’s just trying to process NEVER having to ever make a decision for himself and think about his own emotions in his life. Boy thought he was never gonna grow up. He thought he was gonna be dead! UGH. He just. Can’t handle the emotions and I FUCKING RELATE!

- SNOWBAZ MAKING OUT. GIMME MORE.

- Snowbaz hunting that first time and the conversation about simons sexuality (no label!) and further talking about how Simon thought (but really never thought!) about his relationship with Agatha

- The fact Simon wanted to JUMP ON baz and never thought past that

- Simon telling baz he would let him drink him. Yup. Good boy. Good bois.

- The mutual OBSESSION they have for each other!

- NANDOS! Yes sir.

- Penny and Shepard. Penny and Shepard. Penny and Shepard.

- Penelope deserves SO much. She is such an amazing friend/family to Simon AND to baz. Ugh their LOVE for each other.

- I think Shepard is v good for her

- YES bitch get him out of that engagement!

- Shep reaching slowly for penny and then penny just moving his hand to reach her cheek. I CAN NOT!

- KISS HIM! You go Penny! GET. IT.

- DOMESTIC SNOWBAZ DOMESTIC SNOWBAZ DOMESTIC SNOWBAZ

- IKEA trip. Just get out. That’s my dream for them.

- MORE KISSING. KEEP KISSING. I LIVE FOR IT.

- every damn time Snowbaz goes to lady Ruth Salisbury’s. I love it!

- I love lady Ruth! Like YES grandmama you are an open minded and smart powerful woman!

- SNOWBAZ MAKING OUT AT WATFORD! DO IT AGAIN!

- TEAM SOLVING PROBLEMS! YES TEAM.

- Smith smith Richards can accept my foot in his ass. I agree with Baz’s reactions. Like yes son.

- I get simons too honestly. For him as a character, as the guy that he is, ya know.

- Smith smith is a HILARIOUS and TERRIBLE name.

- LOL. What a scammer though eh?

- CULTS! Why is it ALWAYS cults these days!!!

- The whole bring the magic up and then burn it out thing smith does. Like fuck you. Why do you think your special because you made up a new spell?! Lots of people do that!

- The kind of first time?!?!?!?!?!!?!?! MY PRECIOUS BOYS. YOU DESERVE THAT AND MORE IM SO HAPPY!

- Fuckin GET. IT.

- The conversations the communication! KEEP IT UP MY GUYS!

- They just love each other so COMPLETELY. Despite everything and especially INCLUDING each other’s ‘flaws’ (I weep with joy for it)

- Honestly the Britishism’s in this book were prime!

- GETTIN THE TEAM BACK TOGETHER! Legit gives me ENERGY!

- GREAT Watford action. Simon being Simon like ‘nope imma lie to keep my people safe’

- His people then being pissed at him. lol yup

- Fuck you smith you deserve to be embarrassed by Simon!

- You look like a fool because you ARE a FOOL!

- GO PIPPA! Spell em like you see em! LIAR!

- KAY. The character growth for all of our mains …….. you guys I caaaaaant, stop it! (Don’t ever stop. Keep improving yourselves you guys are magical beauty’s)

-omg and AGATHA. girl you get your fucking story how you like it. this is about you now! your life is your life and you get to do what you want with it! Herd goats and just chill! uhuh uhuh!

- WERK HEADMISTRESS BUNCE. YOU ARE QUEEN AND YOU ARE SMARTER THAN EVERYONE!

- Simons true nature just being protective boy to people who are assholes to him. Yes sir you are too precious.

- V interesting that rainbow gave us an open ended thing with smith. Like at least somewhat. I’m assuming the coven will be like ‘yea you are a fraud and we will not have you around people anymore’ but also she leaves it with him still being delusional and like ‘I chosen one. Uhuh dat me’ … ya fuckin’ knob. You aren’t it Smith!

- ALSO WOAH WOAH WOAH! On the MF SLY Nico (good for Fiona. Marry your angry boy. You deserve it. Whatever it is.) being like ‘you can’t be immortal only drinking animals’………………

- IM SORRY!

- That is a BOMB!

- WHAT. WUT.

- OUR BOYS CAN LIVE AND DIE HAPPILY EVER AFTER!?!?!? You are fucking kidding me! THAT IS ALL I EVER WANT IN MY LYFE! (Healing healing healing emotional healing)

- Beautiful addition with the Excalibur sword to give us the Simon Salisbury reveal. Just Beautiful. Thank you thank you thank you Rainbow. I think that is exactly as we need it. Like obviously a lot for Simon to work through. And he and baz LITERALLY have that conversation (‘it’s too much.’ ‘It would be too much for anyone’) I REALLY appreciate that scenario as the reveal. Like Ruth already knows all the important things about Simon and now they can just be a supportive and CONSISTENT presence in his life. BAWLING IM BAWLING.

- And Simon has his sword!!!! Yes boy! You look good with it! Baz thinks you’re Hot! Because you ARE!

- THESE BOYS ARE HANDSOME! WE ALL WISH!

- Okay but also the moment it hits Simon (and baz) that he killed his father…… noooooooo. POOR THING. (Crying real tears. Crying real tears in the park reading. It’s true.)

- HE WAS NEVER YOUR FATHER SIMON! NOT REALLY!

- ROSEBUD BOY!

- Yes that is the pet name and henceforth will be the ONLY pet name! (Actually baz should keep saying love because I SWOON)

- my thoughts are Simon is gonna keep his wings.

- Like he likes them and so does baz and honestly everyone does. I actually love that every time anyone who is important to Simon thinks about him without his wings they get a bit sad about it.

- I think he’ll keep them.

- I like that they left things with the nownext like….. those Vegas vamps will probably fucking kill them, let’s not get involved. And then literally didn’t talk about it. HA. (Fair enough. Not their problem.)

- Our baby’s get normal lives now!

- Like normal for them

- But they get to GO ON! ITS AMAZING!

- AH IM SO HAPPY FOR THEM!

- HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY

- Penny and shep are getting his passport and moving to LONDON! They gone be cute cute cute together and it’s LOVELY

- SIMON AND BAZ LIVING TOGETHER FOREVER!

- MY BOYS (crying crying crying crying crying)

- I can just picture Simon doing Sunday night dinners at the Salisbury’s and coming home with HEAPS of take home leftovers for his week because grandmother Salisbury would NEVER let him leave without it

- He’s got an uncle! And probably/maybe cousins!? Sweet baby aaaaaahhhhhhh!

- Daphne at home again. THANK HEAVENS!

- I really enjoy that baz calls her mum. I think it’s so soft and important on so many levels because she did raise him.

- BAZ DRESSING SIMON! COME. ON.

- I CANT HANDLE ALL THIS BOYFRIEND BEHAVIOUR THAT I AM CONSUMING! IT. IS. PERFECT. I AM EATING IT UP.

- every time each of them comments on how sexy the other is.

- Simon thinking about Baz keeping his wand in a holster on his wrist. And it being dead sexy without his shirt on. FUCK. ME.

- Okay okay okay but MORE physical intimacy!!!!

- Like Clothes. Get rid of em. Don’t need em. Confident with where things are going. Check. Communicating consent and checking in. Fuck yes check. Sexy sexy sexy. Check. Kissing kissing kissing. Check. (I’m dying just about here) (get it my sons)

- What does Simon say? Just like ‘do you trust me’ ‘yes’ ‘can I touch you’ ‘yes’

- I. HAVE. DIED.

- (I’m dead)

- (Me being dead) AAAAAHHHH

- I LOVE the on going ‘is this what people do?’

- That makes me feel so many things.

- FUCK

- Simons like ‘we just get to keeping trying and working and being close and trying and working and making each other happy’

- I WEEP!

- These. Boys. Have. My. Heart.

- They have it they have it they have it they have it

- UGH

- okay better leave it there. I need to READ. THIS. AGAIN.

- LOVE ❤️

#awtwb spoilers #awtwb #snowbaz #rainbow rowell #simon snow #baz pitch #penelope bunce #shepard love #agatha wellbelove #i am no longer a functioning part of society...#i breath and think only rainbows words

25 notes · View notes

exn0bisstudios · 3 years

Note

As a preface: no need to answer if you don’t feel comfortable with it,I know people sometimes don’t like these questions so no pressure if you’re one of them! Who likes kids, who would like to be a parent (if their partner also wanted that of course!), and who is good with kids? Thank you!

Well, firstly, thank you for your concern! I'm okay with these topics so long as it's not about me personally, so don't worry! That said, though, I'll put this under a cut since the topic might be uncomfortable for some people.

CW for: talk involving conception, infertility, pregnancy, miscarriage

Edited 5/16 - Changes to include more inclusive language. My apologies!

Since we're talking about the ROs and kids, let us talk about MC too for a sec.

It should be noted that it is typically challenging for a Seer to bear children/impregnate someone. The corruption that comes with their Void powers usually renders them infertile, or at least close to. However, it's not unheard of for a Seer to have children. Still, it usually results in a difficult pregnancy and can be dangerous to both the carrier and the child. Additionally, any child born from a Seer (either parent) would be Dream-touched.

That said, as we know, MC is a very special Seer. Canonically, their powers have not rendered them infertile, though their kid would still end up Dream-touched. However, I will be leaving it up to players to decide if their MC can or can't have biological kids for other reasons. And, obviously, adoption is also very much an option!

Now on to the ROs!

Mira

Mira likes kids well enough, and they're usually very good with them. They struggle a bit with dealing with noble children. Still, Mira's kind and empathetic nature tend to have children warming up to them regardless. They used to help take care of the young recruits back at the Order, both daily routine stuff and some training.

They would absolutely love to have a family one day, but it's something they kinda push to the back of their mind and try not to think about. Their lifestyle doesn't lend itself to the stability and safety necessary for raising children, considering they could be killed in action any day. They think it would be grossly irresponsible to have a family, then end up dead somewhere and leave them hanging. Mira was an orphan themself, and they know firsthand how hard life is for kids on their own. They have no desire to contribute to that lifestyle or put their own potential child through that.

If there ever came a time where they could lay down their weapons for good, though, then yes. They'd want to start a family in whatever way they could. Though not opposed to having biological children, both masc & fem Mira would prefer to adopt. Again, being an orphan themself, they would choose to take in a child. Mira would ideally like 2-3 kids so they can have a big family to grow old with, and they'd be a very supportive and doting parent. They'd probably struggle with discipline.

Nova

Children confuse the absolute shit out of Nova, and the way mortals procreate admittedly terrifies them. Nightmares are not born in the same sense that mortals are; they just kinda pop into existence fully formed. When Nova first learned about mortal procreation, they had a minor mental breakdown. The idea of another, smaller living thing growing inside someone strikes them as distinctly horrific. They've done their best to accept the idea at this point in their life, but mainly they cope with it by ignoring its existence. They see a pregnant person and basically go, 'suddenly I have no eyes.' Babies and children continue to confuse them despite their best efforts, and they have no idea how to interact with them. You put a child around Nova, and you're liable to hear them genuinely asking the kid why they are so small and dumb.

Nova's mortal body is also infertile by design. They chose this shortly after they realized they actually enjoyed sex and would do it again. They don't know if it would be possible for them to become pregnant/impregnate someone, considering they're not actually mortal. Still, they didn't want to risk it.

The only time Nova would consider starting a family is if it was something their partner(s) really, really wanted. They'd sit down and have an honest talk about how it's something that they know nothing about, that the process scares them, and that they are absolutely going to need help learning how to handle it all. But, if their partner is willing to accept all that, Nova would be willing to try. Though again, they don't know if they can procreate with a mortal, so they'd probably recommend going for a surrogate or adoption. Eventually, Nova'd grow into a good parent, very supportive, and surprisingly level-headed.

Stella

They don't have too much of an opinion on children, which shows in how they don't really know how to interact with them. Stella feels super awkward around kids, and they're more likely to tell them to shoo. Their own childhood has tainted their views, and being around children brings up things they'd rather not think about. Honestly, the fastest way to make Stella disappear is to put a child nearby.

Deep down, though, they like the idea of starting a family. It would take a lot of encouragement to get them to admit that. It'd take even more to help them process long-ignored family-related trauma and unlearn a whole lot of unhealthy habits. With the proper support from their partner(s), though, they'd really like to give things a try. Fem Stella wouldn't mind carrying a child. Still, both fem & masc Stella generally don't care if their kid is biological or adopted.

Stella would make for a very nervous parent, and they'd be absolutely terrible at discipline. They'd probably helicopter and be overprotective and would have to be reminded by their partner(s) that things will be okay.

Désiré

So a bit of history: Dez is one of the only two ROs who already has child-rearing experience. His best friend and second-in-command, Alix, was born and raised in the brothel with him. While he grew up to be an errand boy and bodyguard, she became one of the courtesans. He took up smuggling and worked his ass off to get them out of there, but unfortunately, Alix became pregnant before they could escape. Alix's son, Dimitri, was born in the cabin of the first ship Dez ever owned.

Alix eventually married Catarina, the crew's healer, who has acted as Dimitri's other mother. Thus, while Dez is 'officially' Dimitri's uncle, he has always been his only father-figure. Dimitri is 14 by the time of the game and is still a very active part of Désiré's life. You'll actually get a chance to meet him in-game since he's got a place on Dez's crew (he's the cabin boy)!

Now that history is managed, it's safe to say that Désiré would love to start a family one day. It doesn't matter to him how, though going the biological route, let it be known he's excellent at tending to pregnancy needs. He's a wonderful parent, generally gentle while supportive and encouraging, and is comfortable being stern when it's called for.

Vittore Simone

Sadly I can't get into the specifics of Vittore Simone's thoughts on kids and family without it becoming a spoiler. However, I can say that he vowed when he was young that he'd never have kids and has never thought of it since. Going forward, it would never be something that crossed his mind unless brought up by his partner and would be something he'd defensively refuse at first. Later, he'd come back with apologies and to have a more open conversation on the matter to express his reservations and fears.

Suffice to say that the idea of being a father absolutely terrifies him, and he has always taken great pains to avoid it ever happening. Even just the thought is enough to send him into panic attacks. His partner will need to be patient with him and accept that this is something he may genuinely never be able to do for the sake of his own health and any future child's. It would take a lot of time, reassurance, work, healing, support, and understanding before Vittore Simone ever agreed to give parenthood a shot. It will not be an easy road for him or his partner. It would likely be a road that never truly ends, and he'd need to be sure that they can both accept that without damaging their own relationship. He would try, though. He would do his damnedest. And, thankfully, there will never be any doubt that he genuinely does love his kid.

As a father, initially, he would constantly be terrified he was hurting his kid somehow. He would struggle with being overly permissive & overprotective at the same time. He's liable to have a panic attack any time the kid cries for the first several years. His partner will have to help him get through 'I'm a terrible father, this was a mistake' breakdowns periodically. Slowly, though, he'll build some confidence and be more comfortable interacting and expressing himself with his kid. He'll always be supportive, and he'll work his hardest to be sure his family knows he loves them unconditionally. His partner will have to accept the role of disciplinarian, though. That's never going to be something he'll be able to do on his own (but of course, he'll be there to support them in those conversations. He doesn't want to make them the 'bad guy' by any means).

Andrai

The other RO with child-rearing experience! Andrai has 15 younger siblings (yes, you heard me correctly) and absolutely adores them all. They're all grown now, but he loved taking care of them when they were little, and he still dotes on them whenever he can, in his own way. In general, he loves kids. He just thinks they're adorable. And, despite appearances, he's excellent with them. Kids love this man, they flock to him, and he has no problem with that. It confuses most onlookers.

The idea of starting his own family turns him to absolute mush. And, he'd love to, so so much. Adoption, biological, and surrogacy are okay with him. It would be up to his partner to limit exactly how many kids they have since Andrai would just say he wants them all. He makes an excellent dad, albeit quiet, and is unwaveringly supportive. He's comfortable with discipline and is the type to encourage self-assessing behavior. He's excellent at giving advice and genuinely just likes spending time with his kids and being involved in their lives.

He's probably not the one you would peg as the 'domestic bliss' type, but he absolutely is.

Vzridmi

She's very comfortable with kids since communal rearing is very common in ork communities, and she'd love to have a family one day. Some kids unused to orks might find her a bit intimidating just because of her size, but in general, children think she's fun to be around. She doesn't necessarily think about it too much, though, at this point in her life. It's not something she sees as being on the table for quite some time - she has research and exploration to be doing, after all.

Whenever she was ready to settle down for a family, she'd be comfortable with carrying a child herself, surrogacy, or adopting. She would really like to have at least one biological child if possible, though. She would make for an entertaining mother, excited about her child's life and ever-supportive of their interests and pursuits. She's comfortable with all the aspects of child-rearing. Still, She would definitely need her partner's advice if they ever discovered their kid was dealing with bullying. She'd need to be reminded by her partner not to be overprotective - she's not above threatening others with her war-hammer if they upset her baby.

#none of the ROs would be bad parents and they'd all love their kids #but some will definitely need more time adjusting than others #Anonymous #answered #TTO: Main Tag #TTO: Lore #TTO: Answers #TTO: RO Asks #Mira Twilight #Nova Dreamreaver #Stella #Désiré Desrosiers #Vittore Simone Armati #Andrai Freestrider #Vzridmi Ri'kho've #pregnancy cw #infertility cw #miscarriage cw

42 notes · View notes

echo-three-one · 3 years

Text

Whatever It Takes : RELOADED

Ghost fights his hurt feelings and discovers something in the process. Could this be the key to locating Samantha?

Table of Contents

Previous Chapter : Delayed Flight

Chapter 18 to another story made by Ray (echo-three-one) Comments and Reviews appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Love you all ❤️

Lurking in the Shadows

Simon "Ghost" Riley

Task Force 141 - Disbanded

400 meters east of Safe House 110197, Brazil

Ghost checked his phone by the hotel nightstand. It's 3:34 am and not a single notification from the team. They probably believed he was out to get intel and didn't bother to look for him. He was fine with that.

"What time is it?" a female groan murmured beside him as she circled her soft arms around his bare chest.

"3:34" he whispered, making the girl giggle as he ran his hand on her hair.

"We aren't supposed to be cuddling like this, remember?" She said, sighing as she got up slowly. Ghost immediately followed, groaning as well.

"I'm sorry Alexandra. It's just…"

"Don't worry. I know this sounds too odd for you at the moment. To be honest I got carried away too…" the interpol agent frowned and wrapped herself up with a towel, making her way to the showers. Ghost trailed his eyes at her and sighed.

"What have you gotten yourself into, Simon?" he murmured and turned to his phone, rereading their conversation.

It was as clear as day that they both agreed to this whole "No strings attached" thing together and he only said yes because he was too broken about France. He needed someone who could treat him well but this was the closest thing he could find.

Sure, he had no regrets about the woman, she was amazing, but while his body was happy, the heart yearned for something more. It was getting worse every day especially when he woke up to see the two lovebirds chasing against each other around the house.

Just as he placed his phone beside hers, Alexandra's notification tone beeped and her screen lit up, as it showed a message from an unknown number.

Simon wanted to take a peek but the message itself is encrypted, his mind wandered more as the security detail of such a message meant that it was of high importance. It might've been from the EMP machinery they're still investigating on which could also be a lead to Nero. He's debating whether he's going to ask her for information just as he intended to, but he's scared that she'll think he's just using her.

"Hey, you got a message." Simon called her from the bed.

"Who's it from?" she asked, her voice was faint as the shower sounds concealed it. Ghost wore his pants and grabbed her phone, leaning by the bathroom door as he announced the details.

"It's encrypted." he murmured. The water stopped pouring and the shower curtains peeked open.

She didn't even bother how she looked as she quickly wiped off her fingers and grabbed her phone.

"Shit." she cursed scrolling to the contents of text, which Ghost observed as very lengthy.

"Wh-" he paused and hesitated. He didn't tell her of their little rogue act so any questions might come off as suspicious.

"Shepherd wants to exchange Samantha for the I.P. Address." she mumbled, looking at Ghost.

"What's his deal?"

"To fund his EMP Nuke that he'll get from Nero." she replied as she continued scrolling.

"With New York already in chaos, the President would most likely be desperate enough to fund this, now that the economy is in shambles."

"What's stopping them from fighting against the New York attacks?"

"We have no idea where the small EMP interferences are, and our strongest lead is that the missing persons are being manually controlled to travel and situate themselves near the stock exchange where they blindly emit blasts through their phones. Like the one we found back in Europe."

"They walk and interact like normal civilians, so with millions of people around the city. It'll look like we're looking for a needle on a haystack." She added, wrapping herself with a towel and quickly dressed up.

"Where are you going now?" He asked as she walked past him.

"I'll try to talk some sense into someone who can talk some sense to the president. The EMP nuke is not a joke." She spat, the worry in her eyes made Ghost want to console her. But now was not the time for that.

"Can I ask a question?" Ghost said.

"Be quick." She said, putting on her jacket and collecting her stuff.

"Do you have any idea where Shepherd is?"

The sun wasn't up when Ghost decided to return to the Safe house. He expected that it'll still be closed but it looked like Price and Jack were already sipping coffee by the balcony.

"Where have you been?" Price asked, his tone wasn't that strict so Ghost decided to lie.

"I just took a walk around the town." he replied, hoping that there will be no more follow up questions.

"For Twelve hours. Okay." Price noted as Ghost got inside the house. Ever since he started this little team of rogue soldiers, Price became protective. And Ghost knew that it was bound to happen. Any injuries under his care will not be funded by any higher department and they need to be careful.

He immediately accessed their little command center and began searching. He got two locations to research on, and he needed to act fast.

He did the best he could, hacking into public and unsecured CCTV footage, squinting his eyes over the poor quality videos just to look for Samantha. She was last spotted in Moscow about 30 minutes ago. Ghost had to admit his cryllic knowledge is a little low and his fingers were trembling in panic. He needed help.

He slowly creaked the door open and saw Alex, Soap and Roach peacefully sleeping, Roach was upside down and clung onto Alex's metal leg, a sight worth taking a photo on but he didn't. It almost made him guilty to wake John up, but knowing the guy, he'll understand the urgency.

"Psst." he nudged his shoulders. It felt very awkward now that he's still frustrated about the guy winning France's heart but he needed to act professional, besides no one but Alex knows about his emotions toward the duo.

Soap groaned and slowly opened his eyes, flinching at the skull face that woke him up.

"Bollocks!" he exclaimed, making Alex and Gary shuffle and reposition while Ghost quickly pulled his mask and shushed him.

"Sorry Soap. But I need your help." he whispered as he slowly got up and collected himself following him outside.

"What about?" his heavy accent echoed against the quiet halls while he rubbed sleep off his eyes.

"Russian Alphabet."

"Okay." he murmured lazily. "What for?"

"A lead on Samantha." he said. The expression on Soap's face changed from sleepy-scotsman to what-are-we-waiting-for as he jumped to the control center and began typing.

The two teamed up together translating codes of texts and typing commands on different kinds of webcams all across Russia, all they had was a barely readable plate number of a black van which allegedly housed Samantha and three of Shepherd's men which were designated to protect her.

Hours passed and they barely got through any possible lead. The rest of the team woke up one by one and slowly helped the duo. Once Alex woke up, they got another additional pair of hands to help and it made them more efficient. If only Ghost knew that Alex knew Russian, it would've been less awkward. But then again, he needed this kind of interaction with Soap, so he could finally be comfortable around them.

Then there it was. The first solid lead with Samantha's face on it. A hotel not far from the airport. Alex couldn't help but creep his head close to the monitor, his eyes had that longing look on the blurry screen. He was sure it's her.

They later reported their findings to Price and Jack, and it was indeed a lead worth pursuing. But when asked how they got such info overnight, they all turned to Ghost to which he said that it's still within the phone's encrypted messages. Price and Jack nodded and Ghost sighed in relief. He didn't want anyone to know about his little fling.

"Then let's have breakfast and have a little briefing after. I'll make calls to Nikolai to arrange us a visit to his homeland." Price announced as everyone, especially Alex's, face lit up and felt energized.

HAPPY TRAVELER INN PARKING AREA

MOSCOW, RUSSIA

8:52 PM

Ghost set up his little command set up at the back of the van. The plan was easy, Alex, Soap and Roach sneaked inside her room, silently knocking down the three guards, taking their clothes and escorting her back to the van to safety. While Price would take down their driver and replace the getaway vehicle with this one.

The group of five didn't bring any weapons so as to not raise suspicion, after all they're just sneaking Samantha from Shepherd's hands. No need for violence.

"Can you hear me, lads?" Ghost muttered softly against the microphone.

"Loud and clear, mate." Gary responded.

"Yes pal." Alex commented.

"Aye lad. I can hear ye." Soap added.

Price gave a thumbs up from the driver's seat. Ghost pressed some buttons and after a few moments, he now had access to the whole building's cameras and some controls.

"Chuckles, I'm in." Ghost commented to which Gary snickered. It looked like he was the only one who understood the reference.

"Okay lads. The janitors are on their break. They're inside that incoming elevator." Ghost informed as he looked at the live feed. The three carefully grabbed the janitors without intention of hurting them. Carrying some rope and cloth, they quickly tied the janitors and hid them on a blind spot away from the camera's eyes. Ghost could hear Alex muttering something to the three in Russian, he couldn't translate it fully but it had the word sorry, don't worry and okay in it. After that, they immediately wore their janitor uniforms and the janitors were already on their way to the 10th floor.

"I don't have cameras inside the rooms. But your hallway is clear."

"Okay. Your ride home is ready." Price muttered, Ghost never noticed the old man exit the van but apparently he already took care of the driver.

"Great. It's all on you three now. Let's save Samantha." Ghost said as the cameras show three janitors knocking on Samantha's room.

Next Chapter : Vlad the Janitor

Notification Squad my Beloved

@samatedeansbroccoli @smokeywhalee @ricinbach @enderio @beemybee @whimsywispsblog

#horrayfic #john soap mactavish #john price #simon ghost riley #alex echo 3 1 #gary roach sanderson #whateverittakes #horRAYfic

34 notes · View notes

cuthian · 3 years

Text

Universal Language

“Vic,” Benji frowned, “These guys are a big deal, okay? They managed to get a record deal at seventeen and they’ve been openly LGBT the entire time, and when their old record label dumped them and tried to poach their rhythm guitarist, they found a new lead singer and reinvented themselves.” Benji glanced back towards the stage before he added, “They’re living every teen musician’s dream.”

—Love Victor & Julie and the Phantoms crossover

... I have no idea what this is.

Please blame the JatP discord server, I have absolutely no clue where this came from 😅 This is unbeta'd, and I hope no one is horribly out of character, but if they are... oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Enjoy!

Love Annaelle

Universal Language

“Music is the universal language of humankind.” —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Victor smiled lightly as Benji bounced up and down beside him, fidgeting with his bracelet as he eyed the stage hard, like if he visualized them hard enough, the opening band for the Battle of the Bands would just appear out of thin air. “Relax,” Victor told him, tentatively reaching out to slot their hands together—he’d only been out for a little while and they’d only been officially dating for a little over a month and Victor wasn’t quite used to being allowed to hold Benji’s hand in public.

Victor chuckled and squeezed his fingers around his boyfriend’s. “I know, Benj, you’ve told me—”

“Us,” Lake interrupted as she popped up beside them, Felix not far behind her, “You’ve told us this all before—it’s all you’ve been able to talk about since they announced they’d be hosting the Battle of the Bands this year.” Lake laced her arm with Felix’s and smiled up at Victor and Benji. “Their manager agreed to let me take a few pictures and ask them a couple of questions for Creek Secrets later too.”

“Really?” Benji very nearly squeaked and Victor’s chest went warm and tight with affection, because he remembered not so long ago, thinking that Benji was so incredibly effortlessly cool—and he was—but he was also a massive dork and Victor adored him.

“Yes, really,” Lake grinned. “If you’re good, I’ll even introduce you.”

Victor laughed when Benji made a tiny noise of excitement. “I wonder if they’re going to perform their old songs or their new songs,” he wondered aloud, eyes straying back towards the stage. “For smaller venues they’ve been known to use Sunset Curve songs rather than Julie and the Phantoms ones, but—”

“Whatever songs they use,” Victor grinned, tugging Benji closer, “I’m sure you’ll love it anyway.”

Benji hummed in agreement, and though he seemed a little distracted still, he still set his hands on Victor’s waist and pulled him close, tilting his head up to press a chaste kiss to the corner of Victor’s lips.

Victor felt his cheeks flush and he had to stop himself from glancing over his shoulder to check no one was watching them because he knew people were probably still watching—coming out and subsequently starting to date Benji (officially) only a month after he and Mia had broken up had fueled the Creekwood gossip mill for days, and at first, people had even tried to come into Brasstown just to sneak pictures of him and Benji doing something as mundane as working together.

Of course, back then, Victor had just been relieved that he and Benji were working together again at all.

“So,” he said quietly when Benji pulled back, sliding his hands down Benji’s back until they rested on his boyfriend’s waist, “Go ahead. Talk about the band, I know you want to.”

Benji grinned up at him, biting down on his lower lip before he said, “Their bassist can play… a truly absurd amount of instruments, apparently, and he loves country music.” He wrinkled his nose and added, “I saw an interview with him and the lead singer once, and they mentioned that he’s always slipping country songs into everyone’s notebooks and pockets—it’s a running gag at this point.”

He glanced at the stage again and bounced on his toes, “Also, no one knows which of the band members are dating. Like,” he clarified when Victor frowned in confusion, “There’s pictures all over the internet of literally every single one of them on dates with each other, and they’re super affectionate on stage and in interviews, and I’m pretty sure I heard they all live together as well.”

“Huh,” Victor frowned. “I guess that’s pretty rare, right? Them being able to keep their private lives somewhat secret?” He couldn’t imagine having to live like that, with a spotlight constantly on him—although he guessed that he did in a way. Being openly gay, even in a fairly liberal town and a very supportive school, kind of felt like living under a spotlight too.

Benji shrugged. “Yeah. I mean, everyone kind of knows that the lead singer and the drummer used to date, but that’s just because they were dating when they signed their original label. I don’t think they’re still dating, I’m pretty sure the drummer’s dating this international skateboarding champion now.”

Victor nodded slowly. “Like Tony Hawk?”

Benji laughed. “Yeah, just like that, but you know—younger. I think he’s just a couple of years older than we are. Closer to Bram and Simon’s age. Super hot too.”

“Really?” Victor chortled. “Should I be worried here?”

Benji laughed, spinning around and wrapping his arms around Victor’s neck. “Oh no,” he grinned. “No, Vic, don’t worry. I’ve only got eyes for one tall, handsome brunet.”

“Okay, good,” Victor leaned in to press a short, hard kiss to Benji’s lips, relishing in the fact that he could.

“Hey you two,” someone crowed from behind them, “Stop being so damn cute, you’ll rot my teeth.” Victor pouted as Benji pulled away and stepped back, waving at Mia and Andrew as they approached them and Lake and Felix. Victor managed an awkward little smile Mia—things weren’t exactly back to normal between them, and Victor and Benji had held off on making their relationship official for over a month to give Mia some time to adjust, some time to deal with the mess Victor had made of their relationship.

He’d apologized, of course, had apologized until he was blue in the face and had given her whatever she needed to process everything. She’d forgiven him, had forgiven them, but things were still a little awkward between them, even though she was dating Andrew now and claimed to be over Victor.

Andrew had been surprisingly supportive when Victor came out, had had his back with the rest of the basketball team, had stood up for him when people tried to be shits in the hallways or in the cafeteria, and had made the whole experience of coming out and being open about his relationship with Benji ten times more bearable, especially in the light of his parents’ utter refusal to discuss his sexuality at all.

Victor had to admit the other guy probably wasn’t so bad at all.

“Fine, fine,” Benji replied playfully, leaning in to hug Mia briefly. “But only because you asked so nicely.”

That had been the most surprising thing about this whole thing. Mia and Benji had bonded, were actual legit friends now, had more inside jokes than Victor and Felix did, and liked to joke about how much of an idiot Victor was on a daily basis. Victor didn’t mind, really, although he wasn’t sure how to feel about his ex-girlfriend and his boyfriend getting on this well.

“You excited for the show?” Mia asked Benji, grinning up at him brightly.

“Yeah,” Benji nodded eagerly, going off on another hilariously detailed rant about the band and the songs that they were most likely going to play, and Victor couldn’t help but smile, because Benji’s enthusiasm for the band and his own impending performance was infectious and he was so damn adorable.

“What’s up everybody?!”

Victor turned to the stage, finding it finally occupied by a tall, gorgeous dark-skinned young woman with thin, long box braids swept up into a playful ponytail. “Oooh, I love her outfit,” he heard Lake whisper audibly, and Mia’s affirmative mumble. Benji, on the other hand, was back to bouncing up and down on his toes excitedly, his fingers tight on Victor’s wrist.

“You guys are in for a treat,” the young woman grinned broadly. “Tonight, you’ll be getting a taste of the original Sunset Curve to open the Battle of the Bands! Our lead singer Julie is unfortunately down with a horrible cold and can’t sing, so we brought in an old fan favorite for a small reunion performance!”

“Oh my God,” Benji whispered. “Bobby’s here!”

Victor frowned in confusion, because he was pretty sure he’d heard Benji mention the name before, but then Benji had been talking about Sunset Curve and Julie and the Phantoms non-stop for the past three weeks and Victor had tried to keep up, tried to keep them all straight in his head, but much as he enjoyed their music, keeping up with the band members was more than a little confusing.

“Give it up for Sunset Curve!” The young woman cheered, and the crowd roared excitedly back at her as the band members filed onto the stage. Victor clapped, grinning at the way Benji was screaming in excitement beside him, the way Mia and Lake were both jumping up and down and Felix was clapping so hard his hands had to be hurting.

He returned his attention to the stage, to the band members that were taking up their places by the instruments and he realized another reason Benji was probably so enthralled by this band—they were all undeniably and stupidly attractive.

“Nothing to worry about, huh?” He asked playfully, nudging Benji in the side.

His boyfriend grinned back at him unrepentantly and winked. “Not a damn thing,” he chuckled, leaning up to press a kiss to Victor’s cheek. “But you gotta admit the eye candy is a great bonus.”

Victor just shook his head and laughed, just as the band’s lead singer bounced up to his microphone and greeted the crowd excitedly. “Hi everyone, I’m Luke, just for tonight, we’re Sunset Curve, and this is Now or Never.” The other band members began playing almost before he finished talking, the music loud and lively, stirring up the crowd of people.

As soon as the lead singer—Luke, Victor reminded himself—started singing, Benji sang along, as did a fair few other people in the crowd, and Victor saw why these guys had landed a record deal at seventeen. They sounded even better live than they did in their recorded songs, and Victor found himself bobbing his head to the beat, impressed by the way the band played together, the way they moved together, like a unit, like they knew exactly where everyone was going to be—

His breath caught a little when the bassist skipped across the stage to Luke and Luke moved naturally so they could share the mic between them, both of them pressed so close together there was hardly any space between them at all—they were a hair’s breadth from kissing and somehow Victor didn’t think either of them would mind if the mic, the only thing separating their lips, would disappear altogether.

“I get it,” he shouted at Benji. “Why they can’t figure out who’s dating who. They look like they’re a second away from jumping each other.”

Benji laughed and nodded. “Yeah, that’s part of it.”

The bassist skipped back to his own microphone with a massive grin for the chorus before jumping up onto the little platform with the drummer, who grinned at him with a bright, fond little grin before he jumped back off and they launched into the final chorus, and Benji started singing along again, ecstaticly shouting the lyrics back at the band.

As soon as the last note rang out, the crowd burst into raucous applause and Victor found himself cheering along with the others because he got the hype now. These guys were amazing and they were really entertaining to watch too.

“Thank you,” Luke shouted into the microphone, fingers still curled around the neck of his guitar, grinning wildly. “We’re Sunset Curve!”

“Tell your friends!” The bassist quipped with a cheeky smile, causing a smatter of laughter amongst those gathered there, even as the rest of the band laughed and rolled their eyes as they set their instruments down—or, in the drummer’s case, jumped down from his little platform to join the others.

“Right,” Luke said cheerfully, “I wanna thank Bobby here,” he dragged the tall, darkhaired young man closer with an impish grin, “for coming out of retirement at the ripe old age of twenty-one to join us tonight because Julie couldn’t make it.” Everyone cheered, and Victor clapped too, even as the singer continued, “And we want to welcome you to this edition of Battle of the Bands!”

The crowd cheered again, and Luke beamed. “We’ve got five really great bands lined up for you,” the bassist continued, and the drummer nodded beside him, smiling lightly as he looked out at the crowd, taking a clipboard from the dark-skinned woman who’d announced them.

“First up, there’s—” he glanced down at the clipboard and frowned, glancing towards Luke incredulously. “Dude, did you write this?”

Luke glanced over with a pout. “No.”

Victor glanced towards Benji, but he didn’t seem to understand the dynamic anymore than Victor did. Before either of them could comment though, the drummer snorted a laugh and said, “Can’t blame me for asking, man, when stuff is weirdly illegible, it’s usually you.”

Victor laughed at that, before the drummer said, “Anyway, first up is the Sticky Beaks!”

Benji gasped as the crowd applauded, swallowed thickly and turned to Victor with a nervous little smile. “Wish me luck,” he breathed, and Victor tried to smile encouragingly, leaning down to press a swift kiss to Benji’s lips, smiling against his boyfriend’s lips when Benji’s hands came up to clutch at the back of his neck for a long moment before he leaned back.

“You got this,” he told Benji, grinning back before his boyfriend bounced up to the stage with the rest of the band—minus Derek, who had quit the band after his and Benji’s break up.

“So,” Felix said as they watched Benji take the microphone from Luke, “You know what he’s playing?”

The other three pressed closer too, eager to hear Victor’s answer. “Some country song,” he replied, watching the band set up as the guys from Sunset Curve stood at the edge of the stage, chatting quietly amongst themselves. “I think he mentioned he chose it because it was uh—” he gestured towards the bassist, who was now tucked under the blond drummer’s arm.

“Reggie,” Mia supplied.

“Right,” Victor nodded. “Reggie’s favorite. He mentioned it in an interview or something.”

“Hah,” Andrew snorted. “Who knew your boyfriend was such a fanboy, Salazar?” Victor shook his head with a smile, because that was indeed quite the revelation—if not a very delightful one.

“It’s cute,” Mia said, smiling lightly as Benji began strumming the guitar, taking up his place at the microphone as the others set up next to and behind him. Victor remembered the first time he’d watched Benji play at one of these, when he’d still been desperately trying to convince himself he could be into Mia romantically, when Benji had sung ‘Call Me Maybe’.

He wondered if this time would be just as mesmerizing.

“Hi everyone,” Benji exclaimed happily. “We’re the Sticky Beaks, and since we aren’t allowed to do original songs this time, we prepared an old favorite of ours. Enjoy.”

When Benji started playing and singing, Victor noticed the darkhaired bassist—Reggie—perk up immediately, slapping excitedly at the drummer’s arm and tugging on Luke’s hand with an eager grin. Victor couldn’t help but grin, because not only did Benji and the band sound amazing, but it looked like his intention of getting Sunset Curve’s attention by using Reggie’s favorite song was working.

“I just need you to know,” Benji sang, eyes fastening on Victor, and Victor’s breath caught in his lungs for a second as his heartbeat sped up. “I love you more than a California sunset, more than a beer when you ain’t twenty-one yet—”

Victor remembered to breathe when Felix elbowed him in the side, smirking at him and wiggling his eyebrows playfully when Victor managed to look away from his boyfriend.

Victor blushed, biting down on his lip as he looked back toward Benji, who winked at him as he sang, “Yeah, I love you more than the feeling when the bass hits the hook, when the guy gets the guy at the end of the book—but, baby, this might be the last time I get to lay you down, 'cause I can't love you more than my hometown.”

Victor shuddered when Benji drew out the final note, and he was the first to burst into loud, raucous cheering when the music died down, and he noticed with some satisfaction that the Sunset Curve guys all looked really impressed too—Reggie was practically vibrating in excitement, held in place only by his bandmates hands on him.

“How about that?” Luke cheered as he strutted back onto stage, clapping Benji on the shoulder jovially. “That’s a tough act to follow,” he said as Benji very nearly floated off the stage, throwing his arms around Victor as soon as he was within reach.

Victor stopped paying attention to the next band almost immediately, focusing instead on his jubilant boyfriend. “Having you in the crowd is like a good luck charm,” Benji laughed, leaning in to press a more passionate, deeper kiss than they usually shared in public to his lips. “You have to always come to performances from now on,” Benji decreed as soon as they’d parted.

“Sure,” Victor chuckled. “If you can convince Sarah to give us time off on the same nights.”

Benji wrinkled his nose. “As long as I never have to go shopping with her again, I’ll do whatever it takes to convince her to let us have time off at the same time.”

Before Victor could say anything to that, the rest of their friends pounced on them and the rest of Benji’s band, congratulating them on a good performance and teasing Benji for his choice in songs. The band joined in teasing Benji mercilessly, bringing up the time Benji had asked them to learn ‘Call Me Maybe’ in less than a week—both Victor and Benji blushed hard at that—and Mia pointing out with a smirk that even she had thought there might be more to the way they looked at each other until Derek popped up.

“Dude!”

They spun around to find the Sunset Curve bassist—Reggie, Victor reminded himself—standing behind them with an absurdly excited expression, practically bouncing in place.

“Uh,” Benji said slowly, and Reggie grinned. “I can’t believe you played that—it was so good, where did you hear it first? Like, lots of people ignore country music as a whole at these things but you managed the sound so well I’d almost believe you were Wallen himself, but you know—” he waved a hand at Benji and Victor’s entwined hands. “—younger and gayer.”

“Uh,” Victor said, this time.

“Reg, baby,” the drummer strolled up behind him casually and slung an arm around the bassist. “Are you scaring the baby gays again?”

“No, ‘lex,” Reggie pouted up at the blond. “I was being nice.”

“He—he was,” Benji managed, although he still looked a little like he was about to faint. “He said he liked the song we played, he was just—asking us about it.”

The drummer nodded, keeping his arm around Reggie’s shoulders, and said, “That really was a great performance—we don’t get a lot of country at these. I think Reggie nearly expired with excitement when he recognized the song.”

He jostled the bassist playfully and Victor was fascinated by the interaction, because earlier he’d been convinced that Reggie had something going on with Luke, the lead singer—that chemistry when they’d shared a microphone was insane. Now, though, seeing him with the drummer, seeing that casual affection between them that he’d only seen with couples who’d been together forever, like Bram and Simon, he wasn’t so sure anymore.

He abruptly understood why no one knew which of these boys were dating.

“I’m glad you liked it,” Benji managed, a little flustered and bashful like he usually got when people gave him compliments. “That’s—that’s why we picked it.”

“Oh,” Reggie looked at them with wide eyes. “Really? That’s so cool though, how’d you know we—”

“He’s a fan, Reg,” the drummer pointed out. “You’ve mentioned it’s your favorite song in like ten interviews in the last year alone.” Reggie’s cheeks flushed with a splotchy blush and he looked down for a second with a pout—Victor hadn’t even said anything and he still felt like he’d kicked a puppy—before the drummer grumbled and shook his head.

“It’s not a bad thing, Reg,” he said, but before Reggie could say anything, Luke the lead singer popped up beside them, grinning excitedly.

“Hey man,” he told them, “Don’t tell anyone yet, but you guys were definitely the best ones so far.”

“Thanks,” Benji choked, and the band made similar appreciative noises behind them. “You guys are… so cool,” he then blurted, much to his own shock, it seemed. “I just—” he squeezed Victor’s hand hard, and Victor squeezed back just as tightly as Benji said, “Just—you guys coming out, being proud about who you were, especially you, Alex—” he gestured towards the drummer, “It helped. A lot.”

Reggie’s mouth had fallen open into a tiny ‘o’ and Alex’s expression looked complicated, but Victor got it too. The first time someone at school had cornered him and told him his coming out had made a difference for them, he’d been overwhelmed and shocked too.

“That’s—uh,” Alex stuttered, “I’m glad it made a difference.”

“Told you,” Luke grinned, patting Alex on the shoulder. “Making out on stage after our manager told us to pray the gay away is still the best thing we ever did.”

Victor snorted an ugly laugh at that, and when everyone turned to look at him, he winced, “Sorry, it’s not funny, it’s just—that’s exactly what my grandparents suggested I do when I told them I was gay and that I had a boyfriend. They even sent the priest to our house.”

Alex shook his head and Luke pouted. “My parents disowned me,” Alex said quietly, honestly. “Reggie’s tried to beat him up—Luke’s mom was the only one that accepted us.”

“Yeah, ‘cause she’s awesome,” Luke snorted, and then nudged Reggie before turning to Benji. “Wanna show us the chords to that song? I bet anything Reg’s been dying to ask you that since he first heard you play it.” Before Victor knew it, his boyfriend was whisked away, back to the instruments, chattering excitedly with Luke and Reggie, leaving him standing awkwardly with Alex, who was shaking his head fondly as he watched his bandmates.

“So, uh,” Victor tried, feeling desperately awkward and completely out of his depth but also deeply curious, “how’d you figure out you were gay?”

Alex blinked at him in surprise before chuckling and shaking his head. “You’ve seen my bandmates, right? I’ve known them since I was eight. Hard not to notice.” He deadpanned, gesturing towards Luke and Reggie. Victor glanced towards them too and flushed, eyes catching on Luke’s impressive biceps in that stupid shirt with the sleeves cut off, and the curve of Reggie’s lips.

“Yeah,” he agreed faintly, “Yeah, okay, that’s fair.”

Alex laughed, running his fingers through his blond hair. “They’re idiots,” he said, but he sounded fond as he said it, and Victor watched curiously as Alex glanced back towards Reggie and Luke, who were watching Benji attentive as he played something on his guitar and then mimicked it.

The smile on Alex’s face went soft and fond, and Victor vaguely wondered if he looked like that when he looked at Benji, wondered if Alex was looking at Luke or at Reggie and wondered about the skateboarding champion Benji had mentioned.

Whatever else, he was glad his own love life was—now—not nearly as complicated as Alex’s seemed to be.

“Does it get easier?” He asked quietly, so quietly that for a second he was sure—and glad—that Alex hadn’t heard him at all.

“Sometimes,” Alex replied suddenly, and Victor nearly jumped when the drummer patted his shoulder lightly. “Sometimes it’s easier—and then others it’s just as terrifying as the first time you have to say it out loud.” He bit his lip and shook his head lightly. “All I can really tell you to do is to find your people. Once you got those in your corner… I’m telling you, the world feels a lot less scary when you’ve got good people in your corner.”

He gestured towards Reggie, who was still talking animatedly with Benji, and Luke, who had apparently gotten bored and was bothering their fourth band member, hanging off his shoulder and chatting in his ear. “They’re idiots, but they’re my idiots. Find a couple of your own and there’s nothing you can’t do.”

Victor glanced over his shoulder at his friends, who were actually dancing to whatever band was on stage now, watched Felix try to spin Lake into an unneccessarily complicated spin and nearly trip all over himself while doing so and watched Mia and Andrew laugh at them before they switched partners and tried again—with mixed results—and found himself smiling.

“I think I already have,” he admitted.

When he looked back, Alex was smiling at him, patting his shoulder again. “Good on you, kid.”

“Alex!” Reggie was bouncing back towards them, dragging Benji behind him with a slightly manic grin. “Alex, tell him I’m not allowed to drive the truck, he won’t believe me when I tell him you hide the keys.”

Alex shook his head and gave Reggie an exasperated look before he turned back to Victor. “So much work, these idiots, no matter how much we love them.” He ignored Reggie’s indignant squawk and pulled him close, planting a kiss on Reggie’s lips before he shoved him back. “I hide the keys from you because the last three times we let you drive, you almost crashed the car because you got distracted by a cute dog, a cloud shaped like a hot dog and cows in a field. Not neccessarily in that order.”

Reggie pouted. “Cows are cool.”

Alex rolled his eyes again, yanked Reggie closer for another quick, hard kiss before he pushed him back, and said, “You’re so lucky you play bass.”

Benji chuckled and patted Reggie on the shoulder comfortingly before he sidled up next to Victor again. “It’s okay, man, Victor won’t let me drive anywhere either.” Victor rolled his eyes, because they’d had this conversation several times, and he was glad they could joke about it now, could laugh about it now that Benji had his license back, but he did remember the days that the subject had rendered his boyfriend sullen and withdrawn for days at a time.

“Last time you drove, you drove straight through a Wendy’s,” he deadpanned.

Benji pouted. “That was one time.”

Reggie huffed and grabbed Benji’s hand, dragging him back towards where Luke and Bobby were still talking. “Come on, Benji, let’s go somewhere we’re actually appreciated.”

Victor laughed a little as Reggie dragged Benji off, watching as the darkhaired bassist jumped into Luke’s arms as soon as he was within reach, planting a long kiss on Luke’s lips before slinging an arm around the shorter man’s shoulders and starting to talk with large, exaggerated gestures, making the three others laugh almost instantly.

Felix popped up beside him and immediately started talking a mile a minute, excited and enthusiastic and entirely unaware that Victor only caught about every four words of his long speech—it had something to do with food and a double date, but that was all he managed to glean from Felix’s speech before the other boy turned to Alex.

His eyes widened before he held out a hand and said, “Dude, you were so cool up there, with the whole—” he mimed beating the drums and Alex snorted a laugh as Felix continued, “And like, you were singing too, that’s some prime multitasking, man, I don’t think I could do it, I’d probably forget to drum half the time or forget the words I’m supposed to sing—”

Alex was staring at Felix with an expression that bordered between awed and mildly horrified, which was a pretty standard reaction after a first exposure to Felix’s… big personality, and Victor was a little impressed by how well Alex seemed to handle the abrupt changes in topics before his gaze drifted over to Reggie, who was still talking to Luke, Benji and Bobby and it suddenly clicked.

He glanced towards Alex and found Alex staring back at him with wide, horrified eyes, and Victor didn’t need to know him very well to know they were thinking the exact same thing.

“We can never let them meet,” Alex said decisively, as soon as Felix abandoned them to go dance with Lake again.

“Nope,” Victor shook his head. “The universe would implode.”

“It probably would, Christ,” Alex laughed, shaking his head. “It’s fine. I’ll go manage my village idiot—I’ll send your boyfriend back to you to help you handle yours.”

Victor huffed a laugh. “Thanks, man.”

Alex patted him on the shoulder one more time and added, “It was nice meeting you, Victor.” He walked off before Victor could reply, but Victor smiled anyway.

Benji turned to smile at him when Alex joined the group, slotting between Reggie and Luke like he belonged there—which he probably did—and Victor smiled back, his chest going all warm and tight again before he turned and went to join his friends.

Benji would probably be caught up with the band for a while, and Victor came to have fun.

He took Mia’s hand when she reached out and let her guide him into a simple spin before he settled into rhythm with the rest of the group, grinning wildly at his friends—his people—as they danced.

Things were going to be fine.

End Notes:

The song Benji sings is ‘More than my hometown’ by Morgan Wallen

Some HC’s that didn’t make it into the fic:

* Luke, Alex and Reggie have been dating since before they managed to get a record deal, but they figured it’d be easier to keep their romantic life private if they kept fans guessing.

* this was then helped when Alex met Willie and fell head over heels in love with him too. He’s cool with Alex’s relationship with Luke and Reggie.

*Luke and Julie dated for a while too, but they split up because they kept clashing over the stupidest things — they work better platonically. Julie and Flynn are now dating.

* Their original record label was run by a bunch of homophobic assholes that tried to convince Bobby, the band’s token straight, to sell out his friends. Instead he told them and they figured something out

* Bobby retired because he was done with showbizz and the other three met Julie and reinvented themselves before getting signed to a new label.

#love victor #Julie and the phantoms #jatp fanfic #venji #peterpatter #alexreggie #alexlukereggie #willex #Luke patterson #Alex mercer #reggie peters #victor salazar #benji campbell #my writing #Lisa writes

30 notes · View notes

itsthestutterforme · 3 years

Text

Married Mistakes (All American)

Summary: Y/N is Jordan's best friend but they used to date. She finds out that Jordan married Simone and she is heartbroken.

Characters: Spencer x reader (platonic), Mrs. Baker x reader (platonic), Mr. Baker x reader (platonic), Olivia x reader (platonic), Jordan x reader (romantic)

Sitting next to Jordan at the sports bar, you scrolled through Instagram lazily. "Hey, you okay?" Jordan nudges your shoulder and you snap out of your thoughts. "Hm?"

"You alright?" "Yeah I'm just tired." You say with a small stretch. "Maybe shark week's comin',". Resting your head on the table, you say, "Probably."

"Come on, I'll stop by the store and get everything on your shark week care package." You hum as he rubs your back softly. "Such a life saver," you say softly. You've been best friends with Jordan since middle school and dated through most of high school until junior year.

Things got complicated and stressful from him getting recruits attention and you getting recognition from law firms, you didn't have time for each other romantically.

So you decided to take a break before you remained as friends. There were moments where the flame was reignited but you didn't want to go through the motions again once the college life rolls over.

He stands up from the table and takes your hand into his as you advance towards the door. You both stop in your tracks when you see Simone walking in with a tight grip on her purse. Her eyes falls to you and Jordan's intertwined hands and you pull away from him.

He looks at you with confusion and hurt as you rub the sides of your arms nervously. Simone sets her purse on the ground and takes off her earrings. "I'd had enough of this." "No, baby. Please." Jordan says, stepping between you and Simone.

"She doesn't know boundaries. I don't care if you two used to date, you're dating me now. So either she respects that or I'm gone." Simone says.

"Aren't you taking the girlfriend label a little too seriously?" "I'm more than just his girlfriend," "Simone, don't." Jordan interrupts. "I'm his wife. We're married and we've been married for months." She snaps and it felt like a dagger piercing your heart.

"What?" "I'm sorry, Y/N. I was going to tell you," "Obviously not because you kept it secret from me for months. God, do your parents even know?" "I'm working on it," "Unbelievable," you say, anger burning your cheeks.

You push passed Simone and you hear footsteps behind you. He tries to hold you back by your arm."Y/N, please. Just listen to me, don't shut me out."

"You did that all on your own. Let go of me and lose my number." You snap out of his grip and wipe away your tears angrily. You walk down the street to your car and drive away.

Since what happened at the sports bar, you've been as distant as possible. Which was harder than you expected, because you were more than just Jordan's best friend, you were a close friend to Mrs. Baker, Mr. Baker and Olivia.

You had family nights all the time and made a lot of fun memories. Now you had to distance yourself from them and that broke your heart.

But pushing passed all of it, you know it's for the best. You were walking out of the gym when you feel your phone vibrate in your bag. Pulling it out of that bag, you click answer and said, "Hello?" "Y/N, it's Jordan. He's in the hospital. He's hurt and he woke wake up." Olivia rants.

"What? How did that happen? You know what, nevermind, I'll meet you there." "Okay," "Y/N?" "Yeah," "I missed you," she says after a small pause. "I missed you too, Liv. I never meant to shut you guys out."

"When Jordan gets better, you're going to make up. I don't care what either of you have to say," "Agreed," you say with a chuckle.

"See you when you get here," she says. "Hey Liv," "Yeah," "He'll be okay." There were perks of Beverly Hills High School being a few blocks from the hospital, and for good reason. Within five minutes, you're rushing into the ER and run straight into Spencer.

"Oh, sorry, Spence," you say. "You're good. Come 'er girl, I've missed you." He says, opening his arms. Wrapping your arms around his, you sigh as he rocks you back and forth. "I'm sorry for distancing myself from you guys." "Don't be, you were hurtin' 'cause of Jordan. I understand that." He states.

"Never change, Spencer James. Never change." "You gotta it, ma. Hey guys, come over and show Y/N some love." "Wait, guys, you don't have to. I-" "Believe me when I say we all need this," Olivia says. Olivia, Mrs. Baker, Mr. Baker and Spencer all embrace you at once and sigh in unison.

"We missed you," Mrs. Baker says. "I missed you too." Simone stares at the bunch hugging each other and she crosses her arms. Y/N will always be a part of Jordan's family, she sees that now. "Y/N, is there a Y/N here?" A nurse asks.

"Uh, yes, that's me." You say, pulling away from everyone reluctantly. "He's asking for you," she says. You look to Mrs. Baker and she nods. "It's okay." You rush into the room to see Jordan staring at you. "Y/N," he says as he sits up on the bed.

You click the button that pulls down the bed side and pull him into your arms. "You scared the hell out of me," you says with your voice muffled against his shoulder. He tightens his grip on you but you were careful not to do the same and potentially hurt him more.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I made a mistake-" "Sh, let's leave the past in the past. You just worry about getting better." "Thats the thing, the doctor just told me that he doesn't think I'll be able to play football for the rest of the year," he explains.

Pulling away from him, you say, "What? Did he say why?" "Apparently I've taken too many hits to the head before the previous concussion had a chance to heal. Any more hits and it could lead to permanent brain damage," "Oh my God, Jordan. He doesn't know does he?" You ask, referencing to Mr. Baker.

"No, you're the first to know." "What? Not even Simone." He shakes his head. "Why?" "You're family, Y/N. Not even an argument can take you away from the Baker family." He says, taking your hand into his. "When do you want to tell them?" "I'm not sure, but until then." He motions to the empty space next to him on the bed.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea. I just got out of the gym when Olivia ca-" Jordan continues to pat the spot until you huff annoyingly as you sit down next to him. Still holding your hand, he asked, "Do you know what I dreamed about when I was under?" "What?"

"Chris' party." You shot him a look and say, "Out of all the memories, you chose a party where you clocked a guy and he clocked you back and I had to bring your unconscious body back to my house."

"Well that part wasn't in the dream, you were. You looked beautiful, you still do." "Thank you," "Y/N, I made a mistake." "Jordan, I don't please. Not here." You say, pulling away from his hand.

"Then where?" "Jordan, are you okay?" Mrs. Baker says with Olivia, Spencer, Simone and Mr. Baker rushing behind her. "The doctor came with some not so great news." Jordan says but trails off as he looks to me.

You explained what happened to the lot of them and they called the doctor back in to give them all the options to consider.

You fell asleep in Jordan's room until Mrs. Baker woke me up. "Hey, honey, you're more than welcome to go home and take a shower. Jordan is asleep." You nod and stretch your body as you stand up from the chair. "So when are you going to tell him," she asks.

"About the internship," she adds. "Right, I forgot you were well connected in Boston." You rub the back of your neck nervously.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you. You'll do great in Boston. But I think you should tell him and soon so you can get a chance to say goodbye." "You're right. Maybe over dinner? He's discharged within two days right?" She nods and you add, "That'll be enough time."

The dinner went better than you thought. Everyone was understanding when you announced that you would be moved to Boston by the end of the month. They wished you the best and said that they believe in you.

Jordan was more quiet on the manner than you expected, but it went better and you didn't feel guilty anymore.

Walking down the stairs from your bedroom, you rubbed your hair dry with the towel. A knock on the door raises your suspicions as it was twelve o'clock in the morning. "Y/N, it's me," Jordan says through the door. "Jordan," you say to yourself before answering the door.

He walks in and walks a few paces down the hallway before turning back around to face you. "Why are you acting weird?" You ask. "Why are you leaving?" He retorts. "Because it's what best for me and my future. Summer is here in a few weeks and I earned the credit for the school year already." You explain.

"I.." he trails off before running a hand over his face. "I made a mistake marrying Simone," "Jordan, don't-" "No, Y/N, let me talk for once please." He interupts. "I have feelings for you and I thought that dedicating my entire life to someone would make that go away but it only made things worse."

"This is marriage we're talking about. Commitment. It's not something that you can just jump in and jump back out."

"I know," "What were you thinking!" "I was thinking about you! Getting over you was the first thing on my mind when I married her." "That is so messed up, Jordan! Simone is a human being, you can't just use her like that."

"I thought I had no other choice. She's in love with me and wants to be around me every second of every day. I felt pressured..." He trails off.

"So what should I do?" He adds. "Stay with her. Try to make things work, and I mean physically and mentally." You state. "And what if that doesn't work?"

"You're asking the wrong person about this. Your parents are married, ask them." "My parents want to murder me for marrying Simone and not telling them,"

"They'll forgive you for that, and they'll forgive you for this. Just give them time to process." "What about us?" "Us? There is no us? Not anymore." "Don't say that," "I'm serious, Jordan." You drape the towel over your shoulder and walked into the kitchen. You grabbed a pan and set it in the stove.

Instead of turning the stove on, you press your hands on the cold surface of the counter top and sigh deeply. You feel his hand graze over your bare shoulder and your body betrays you as it eases under his touch. Leaning your head into his chest, his hands trail down your arms and interlace them with yours.

"Tell me you didn't miss this," he whispers into your ear and you pull away from his warmth. "You're married," you say softly. "My heart doesn't belong to her, and it never will." He holds your face in his hands and you look away from him. "Look at me." You slowly meet his gaze and he doesn't think twice about kissing you.

He takes his time trailing his hands up and down your body. When he finally pulls away from your lips, you were gasping for air. He leaves soft kisses down the base of your neck and you cup the back of his head encouragingly. He hooks one of your legs around his waist and rubs himself against your crotch, making you moan out.

He wraps your other leg around his waist and lifts you off the ground. His lips locked with yours as he advances up the steps and into the bedroom he knows so well.

#allamerican #cw #jordanbaker #spencerjames

26 notes · View notes

thegreatobsesso · 3 years

Text

A longer bit feat.: Callie and Simon angst. :)

Talking with @drippingmoon got me thinking of some cornerstone scenes in the enemies-to-friends slow-burn I do with these two idiots and this one, I think, stands out as the dead-center point, so I’m gonna not second-guess myself and just post it. 🥴

Tagging @thelaughingstag too! (I remembered!)

Context: Callie broke into Delaney to steal an ancient magical artifact and, believing she meant nothing but harm, Simon stopped her. But while waiting for the cops to come and drag her back to prison, Simon asks her to just tell him the truth, once and for all. Callie agrees to let him read her mind all the way back to the beginning, thinking she’s got nothing left to live for. Simon gets hit with a truckload of tragic backstory he wasn’t prepared for and is asked to follow them back to Downing Bay, the prison she’s being held in.

They’re still mentally connected, even after Simon has let go. He can hear her, and she can hear him too, which definitely isn’t normal.

Word count: 3,200

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

failure. failure. failure

She wasn’t even doing this on purpose and it wasn’t just the word reverberating through his skull.

More like a full-bodied feeling flooding his consciousness as he left Delaney, a steady stream of self-hatred punctuated only by expletives.

Stop, he begged her.

i can’t, you stop listening

I can’t.

She laughed, out loud in her cell. He heard it and felt it, over the miles that separated them, the ocean and metal and glass.

He’d overextended; that’s what caused this. It took him awhile to put it together because he’d been so upset - maybe even been in a mild state of shock, in retrospect - and he spent a lifetime being so careful with his powers that he’d never done it before to know what it was like.

And so that was bad, yes, but come on. How much longer could it last?

He was stepping onto the boat to Downing Bay when the pain started - hers, and not the torrent of existential agony he was struggling to adjust to but pain, physical and substantial.

What’s happening? he tried to ask, but it got lost - she could barely think, suddenly, let alone focus on sending him mental telegrams.

The cluster of metal buildings hovered threateningly on the horizon, and as they got closer, minds inside got louder, almost drowning Callie out. He wanted to tell them to turn around and take him away; the claustrophobia was overwhelming, the collective sense of being trapped.

The boat brought them underneath the smallest building; a scorched sign read Diagnostics in block letters with an arrow pointing up. What might’ve once been a loading dock was sectioned off with caution tape and hanging sadly down into the water, barely still attached to the rest of the infrastructure. They laid a make-shift bridge between the boat and platform to walk across.

Once inside, they asked him to empty his pockets and leave all his belongings in a small box.

“This stays with me,” he said, holding his Headmaster’s key, bronze and solid, in the palm of his hand.

“No, sir,” said the tired corrections officer, unaware of who he was. “All belongings.” She shook the plastic container for emphasis, rattling the rest of his stuff around.

“I’m the headmaster of Delaney of School for Magicians,” he said. “This is a master key and it doesn’t leave my neck. If you need to call your superiors about it, please do it, but I won’t leave it here.”

A few minutes later, he put the chain back around his neck, dropped the key down inside his shirt, and was escorted inside.

“No one’s suppressed me yet,” he said to one of prison officers. He waited until the last second; surely they knew their own duties better than he did. He didn’t wanna insult anyone, but they hadn’t done it and they were bringing him though thick, reinforced doors to the warden’s office and if not now, when?

“We’ve not been asked to, sir. This way.”

The warden smiled when Simon entered his office, waved everyone else away. He introduced himself as Warden Prescott and extended his hand - it was thin and cold when Simon shook it, despite the muggy warmth.

“Thank you for coming so quickly,” he said. “How fares your school?”

“It’s seen worse. It looks like she hit this place harder, to be honest.”

The warden smiled, and Simon caught an image of a collection, varying people with differing characteristics on display in tiny boxes, one of them out of place. “Yes, she put on quite a show on her way out. Destroyed all our boats and did a significant amount of superficial damage, but nothing structural, thankfully.”

Of course not - living her memories alongside her showed him she made sure she didn’t hurt anyone, only crippled their ability to pursue her.

It was too warm in here and he wondered how the warden could be so buttoned up in thick polyester when he had to unbutton his own light jacket.

“A hearing will take place tomorrow morning and your presence will be required,” he began. “I suspect I know at least part of the reason why. News reached my ears that you behaved quite badly.” He made a tsk-tsk sound and shook his head at Simon like he was a naughty child.

“I did what I did,” he said flatly. “I shouldn’t have read her mind, and I accept the consequences for it, whatever they’ll be.”

“Oh, I meant absolutely no disrespect,” the warden said. “The opposite, in fact. I daresay if I had your powers, I’d like nothing more than to take a stroll through that mind of hers. She’s an interesting one. The fact that you did so might work to our advantage, in fact. You see, we’re in a bit of a bind with all this. May I speak plainly?”

“I wish you would,” he said. The warden was carrying his collection of dolls in his mind, all unique and valuable and distinctly dehumanized, and Callie’s thoughts were still flowing like a steady IV drip, making him feel irritable and short.

“Well, Mister Bennett, the facts are as such: we’ve got a limited testimony from you that the authorities will need expanded upon, that says you’ve seen the original crime in the first person, and your account differs wildly from the one she’s given. There are additional crimes stacked up past that - her escape from prison and attempted theft of an undisclosed item from your school. And the world wants to know how an infamous killer managed to become the first person in history to escape Downing Bay.”

“It’s a valid question for them to ask.”

“With an undesirable answer. But I think you’re in pain, Mister Bennett. Do you need a doctor?”

He was, but it wasn’t his own injuries that made wince.

“It’s her,” he groaned. “You’re hurting her, what are you doing?”

The warden sighed. “Come,” he said. “I’ll show you.”

He took Simon down the hall, into a sterile room filled with recording equipment and a solid wall of glass. On the other side of the it, Callie. She sat a bare table in prison scrubs, hands cuffed to its surface. IVs were inserted in both her arms, the needles taped down, liquid flowing from bags hanging behind her. The metal collar around her neck flashed blips of red, yellow and green, reminding him absurdly of a Christmas tree.

She bit her lip and shuffled restlessly, an involuntary response to the pain she was trying to ignore.

“You’ve got to stop this,” he said.

“To be fair, this isn’t what diagnostics usually looks like,” the warden said while he swallowed down a wave of sickness. “Typically, we focus on finding a long-term suppressive solution that both nullifies abilities and has minimal side effects for the prisoner. We are, unfortunately, in disaster minimization mode rather than long-term maintenance with your friend here.”

This was the strain being put on her body - the combination of every drug known to medicine that could hold back the expression of magic for any amount of time at all. “She’s not my friend,” he muttered. “Isn’t this unethical?”

“Should we allow all her power to rush back in so she can kill my people and escape again?”

“She’s not killing anyone,” Simon said with certainty.

“That’s not what she said a few hours ago,” the warden recalled. “We had no less than five guards trying to process her and she threatened their lives.”

Dammit. “What we you doing to her?”

“Attempting to place her segregation.”

He resisted the urge to groan in frustration, to punch the glass in front of him. “She didn’t mean it,” he muttered, not relishing the job of being her translator. “She’s terrified of solitary confinement, she just didn’t wanna go.”

“That’s unfortunate, given that we can’t very well place her back into general population. This is all that’s left, a quarantine unit, meant for contagious disease.”

On the other side of the glass, Callie squeezed her eyes shut and dropped her head. A fresh wave of pain ran over him too.

how much longer, how much more?

“How long can you keep this up, these stop-gap measures? Surely they won’t work forever.”

Warden Prescott raised his eyebrows. “These measures aren’t even working very well, Mister Bennett. I daresay if she wanted to, she could be gone before nightfall. I’m afraid she’s only here at her pleasure.”

Pleasure? He looked back at her in the next room, her face contorted. “You’re kidding me.”

“I wish I was,” Warden Prescott said, with a small smile. “We’re in the dark here, fumbling through uncharted territory without a map. She’s got my best techs feeling like children when they try to interpret the results of all this treatment. She’s a thing that isn’t supposed to exist: a hybrid. Focused magic and Eclectic, all at once.”

The implications of the warden’s words began to stack up in his already overtaxed mind and part of him thought, ridiculously, of a vacation. Of sitting on a beach with a book getting a suntan, drinking something with a slice of pineapple on the rim, smoking a cigarette or two or fifty - of not having a care in the world, for just a little while.

A hybrid, then. Focused and Eclectic.

He’d walked through her life with her and even she didn’t understand that, not really, not in such terms. She, and everyone else who knew what she’d done to Peter, had thought of it like an acquisition of new powers; not a fundamental genetic change.

Did Riley know this? Riley, who gathered Callie’s DNA and did extensive testing on it, who still had it?

“Has anybody been in touch with the family?” he asked, unwilling to explain why he was asking.

“I know someone’s reached out,” the warden said. “I don’t believe there was any reply.”

No, he supposed not. Riley would want nothing to do with any of this. Still, she had to be sweating, didn’t she? How could she know Callie still held up her end of their deal?

“I wonder,” Warden Prescott drawled, “if your trip through her mind was quite so extensive that if she were back inside your school, right now, you’d trust her not to hurt anyone.”

“It was,” he said. “And I would.”

He couldn’t imagine this would be easy for anyone else to swallow. He certainly wouldn’t believe it himself without first-hand insight. “I want to talk to her.”

The warden nodded his assent at the guards lining the wall.

“As I said, everyone wants to know how she managed to escape,” he said, walking Simon around to the entrance of the adjacent room that held Callie. “The thing I’m most curious about it why she even waited so long to do it. Is that something you know, from your jaunt through her mind?”

“Yes.”

“Are you inclined to share?”

He decided earlier, definitively, that he didn’t like the warden: the way he looked at his inmates like specimens, pinned inside a case. “No,” he said.

“Fair enough,” he agreed. “Although you might be asked tomorrow, by someone more powerful than me, in a much more formal capacity. We’ll be leaning on your expertise considerably to entangle that mind of hers.” He shook his head in admiration. “The unsuppressable Callie Ray.”

“I wouldn’t toss that around,” he muttered.

“Why not?”

The guard undid a stack of locks on the quarantine room door. “I don’t want her hearing it,” he said as they pushed the door open. “She’ll like it too much.”

—

Little black cameras dotted the corners of the room; he knew the warden would be listening on the other side of the glass where’d they’d just come from, and he was certain they were being recorded too.

She lifted her head, smirked at the sight of him. “I’d say hello,” she said, her voice scratchy. “But it’s like I never left you, isn’t it?”

She looked awful. Her red-rimmed eyes matched her hair; one was still swollen, decorated in bruises. “I am sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean for this.” He gestured between his head and hers.

he just says it, just like that

“Did you get a good spanking for it? I’m sure nobody expected that from their golden boy.”

Her words were hollow to him now; they washed over him uselessly and left him thoroughly unimpressed. He pulled up a chair and sat opposite her at the steel table, mirroring her position with his hands folded in front of him, except for the absence of cuffs, obviously.

We could talk like this, he said, if you don’t want them to listen.

A jumbled negative reply came across their connection. He nodded.

“There’s a whole team of people on the other side of the door, trying to figure out the best ways to keep your magic suppressed on a minute-to-minute basis,” he said.

“Can you believe it?” She tried for a smile, but it was poorly constructed. “All this for little old me.”

“Well, you’ve convinced the world you’re a dangerous monster and now you’re being treated like one. You did this to yourself.”

“Did you hear me complaining?”

Another wave of gnawing pain; she was sweating, her jumpsuit damp in the armpits. It hit him too, surely just a fraction of what it felt like for her, and he’d already had enough.

“Just tell them,” he said. “Tell them what I know, that it was an accident from the start and you don’t wanna hurt anyone else, and they might let up.”

“I don’t want them to,” she said, voice strained, hanging onto composure by a thread. “I like the pain.”

if I’m in pain I’m getting what I deserve I don’t have to feel guilty

He’d never felt a mind twisted up into knots like this, how did it get this way?

“Is that why you’re still here?” he asked. He looked toward the glass where he knew Warden Prescott was still standing, watching and listening. “They know you’re letting this happen. That if you wanted to, you could stop it.”

She blinked; a powerful emptiness surged up inside her. “Where else am I supposed to go?”

It wasn’t a rhetorical question - she was interested in an answer if he had one, but he didn’t. He lived her life alongside her in a compressed whirlwind of tightly-packed failures and she had no family to take her in, Delaney certainly wouldn’t have her, there were no relationships, no friends…

He pulled back; it hurt to be near.

“Just because you say you’re not gonna try to escape again…” He fumbled, trying to lay out the mess. “They still can’t hold you on your word, Callie. You’ve got the public frightened that Downing Bay can’t hold you and the authorities are scared you’re gonna prove it.”

She nodded and winced; something crossed her mind too quickly for him to get a good look. “What are they gonna do to me?” she asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t think they do either.”

“Why don’t they just kill me?��

The way she said these things - it was infuriating. “They can’t just execute someone because they don’t know what else to do with them.” He narrowed his eyes like it might help him see her clearer. “Is that what you want? To die?”

She rolled it around in her head. “Not really,” she shrugged. “But I don’t really wanna live either.”

Hopelessness emanated from her; he felt her future the way she saw it, a vast, meaningless chasm of nothing. It made him want to scream.

“Don’t,” she snarled, her awareness of their connection snapping to life. “Don’t you feel sorry for me, you jackass. I don’t want your pity, I’d rather you spit in my eye.”

“I can’t help it,” he groaned. “You sit there acting like this while… it’s, it’s like two different radio stations blasting into each of my ears, I can’t think.”

She swallowed thickly, like she was nauseous. “Do you wanna know exactly how much sympathy I have for you right now?”

“No.”

“Zero,” she said anyway. “Nobody made you drill yourself your own personal pipeline into my brain.”

“That’s not what I was trying to do.”

“Oh, so sad,” she pouted, turning her bottom lip out. “You made your first mistake. Feels like shit, doesn’t it?”

he’ll tell everybody, then everyone will know how stupid, how useless, how embarrassing, and he’s listening to you RIGHT NOW, he knows it all, i wish i WAS dead so i didn’t have to, would be easier than this-

“You let me think you did it on purpose,” he bit out, too overwhelmed to hold it back. “You let me think the absolute worst of you.”

“The worst of me is the truth, the shit you know now.”

“No, it’s not. What you are is not worse than a cold-blooded killer, a, a liar, somebody I could spend the rest of my life feeling like a fool for letting in, how do you justify doing that to me?”

She shrugged, blinked slowly, helplessly, like she couldn’t believe she had to put words to something so simple. “I… the damage was done.”

He scoffed - he couldn’t help it. “It wasn’t. There was a lot more damage left to do, and you did it. You did it all.”

Anger, fresh and bitter, burned through their connection.

i was trying to fix it if you would’ve just walked away none of this would be happening i could have made it go away-

“At what cost?” he asked. It would sound like a non sequitur to everyone listening but he didn’t care. “Even if the orblex could do what you were planning, you can’t possibly predict how it would’ve worked. Did you think it would just drop you off on Christmas twelve years ago and let you start again? No one knows how Time magic works and you wanted to just unleash it. For all you know you could have ripped the world apart.”

Disbelief. how could he say something like that?

“Wouldn’t you?” she asked. A crack in her voice - a tear springing from her eye that hadn’t been there a moment before, rolling down her cheek. “You wouldn’t take that risk, Bennett? To bring him back?”

He wanted to say no, but it got stuck in his throat. She still grieved for him, as hard as he ever did, and it annihilated the space between them, blurred the final lines.

He pushed his chair back and got up - he needed a second. Not to be looking at her, not to be sharing feelings.

“Where are you going?”

are you leaving? don’t leave

He clasped his hands behind his head, breathed in and out, shut his eyes.

say something say something say something say something-

“There’s gonna be a hearing tomorrow,” he said, cutting off the flood of her thoughts she couldn’t control. “Or, not a hearing. A discussion, I guess.”

He turned to face her again; she was listening with rapt attention. She hadn’t been told yet.

“They’re gonna talk about whether there’s any kind of precedent they can fall back on for this, anything at all. I don’t know if they want me there as a witness or a human lie detector, but they asked me to stay for it and I’m staying. After that, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll see you again, maybe I won’t. I have to think this-”

He gestured to the space between their heads again, at a loss for what to call it. “This’ll fade with time and distance. It’ll have to. It can’t stay forever.”

It couldn’t, could it?

#tw: suicidal ideation #tw: swears #tw: prison #writing #writing snippet #writing excerpt #original novel #my wip #oc: callie #oc: simon

7 notes · View notes

seanfalco · 3 years

Text

Cooking Lessons | Misfits Timeline Anomaly’verse

an oc x oc collaboration between @seanfalco & @super-unpredictable98

Word Count: 3.2k Warnings: Language, Smut, a teeny tiny cooking related accident Summary: Lydia teaches Win in the kitchen and they get up to a little more than just cooking. a/n: This chapter is mostly Win/Lyddie.

[ masterlist ]

——

"So, Lyddie's gunna actually teach yeh t'cook for real, huh?" Win's Nathan asked, leaning against the counter as Lydia helped Win tie the cute yellow apron she'd gotten for her around her waist.

"Yes," Win answered testily, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Good luck with that," he exclaimed, looking past Win to Lydia.

"Thanks, Natty," she gave him a quick kiss. "I believe in her." Or at least she really wanted to...

"So, what would you like to make? A dessert or maybe some fresh pasta... I have all sorts of family recipes," Lyddie sighed. "Sorry, I can't get over how adorable you look in that apron! But I'll try to focus, I promise."

Win's face lit up and she swung her hips, making the apron swish like a dress. "You think I'm adorable?" she asked innocently.

"Focus, Lyddie," Nathan teased, getting up from the counter to press a kiss to each girl's temple before heading out of the kitchen to go find his clone.

"Focus Lyddie..." she repeated in a mocking tone. "I'm absolutely focused!"

As he left she took another look at Win and couldn't help but smile. "You're more than adorable though," Lydia wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. "You look like every childhood crush I ever had."

"Oh?" Win asked, craning her neck to look at her over her shoulder. "I guess we were meant t'be then."

"Yeah, I guess so... God, I love you!" Lydia smiled, pressing her lips to Win's forehead. "So, what are we cooking today? Dinner is on us tonight."

Win smiled as Lyddie kissed her before sobering, thinking hard about what they should make. She wanted to impress her girlfriend, but she also didn't wanna choose something too hard and bungle it horribly. "Uhm... you said something about dessert? Maybe a pie? Though that doesn't really help with dinner..." Win mused with a frown. "Do you have a favourite recipe?" she asked instead.

"How about we make a dinner pie?" Lyddie shrugged. "My mum has this great recipe for cheese chicken pie. Plus I get to feel like we're in Waitress."

"That sounds really good actually," Win agreed. "What do you need me to do?" she asked, going to the sink to wash her hands.

"Cool, first of all... I need you to get the chicken, the cheese, and the butter from the fridge," Lydia instructed, turning to open the cabinets. "I'll get the rest of the ingredients."

"Yes, ma'am!" Win exclaimed with a grin, turning to go to the fridge. Leaning over to find what Lyddie'd tasked her with, she pulled out the cheese, butter, and chicken before spinning back around to shut the door with her hip.

"Very good! See, you're already learning..." Lydia teased as she grabbed the remaining ingredients. "Okay, since the dough will need some time to rest, we should start with that first. I need you to cut the butter into cubes, Winnie."

"Right, I can do that," Win exclaimed, hyper focused on her task as she reached for a nearby knife from the block and got to work, the tip of her tongue peeking between her lips as she cut the butter.

Lydia watched with a grin as Win put her heart and soul into cutting the butter -- it was too cute. "Nice, now here I mixed flour and salt, I need you to take the pieces of butter and mix them in there with your fingers until it looks like wet sand," she instructed.

Win nodded, taking her cubes to the flour to work into with her fingers. “This feels weird,” she giggled as she worked, glancing over at Lyddie.

"Yeah, I know, but you gotta trust the process..." she laughed. "It's like making sandcastles, but we can eat it." Lydia held Win from behind, watching over her shoulder and humming the melody of "I Love You Like a Table”. This was really turning out to be her Broadway fantasy.

“What’s that you’re humming, hmm?” Win murmured, swaying slightly to the music as she worked.

"It's um... It's from Waitress. This musical doesn't even exist yet and I'm already geeking out about it," Lydia rolled her eyes. "It's one of my favorites, and there's a lot of pie making in it."

“You’re adorable,” Win exclaimed. “You’ll have to take me to a musical sometime. I’ve never been to one.”

"YOU'VE NEVER BEEN TO A MUSICAL?" Lydia's surprised shout echoed all over the flat. "Oh my God, I have so much to show you!"

Win jumped slightly at her exclamation before a smile returned to her face as Lyddie began to sing softly. “It sounds nice,” she mused.

"It’s such a cute song," Lydia mused as she poured cold water into the dough to give the right consistency. "It goes: I will express this if I'm able, I love you like a table. My legs were carved for you, I love you like a table. I'm wood and you are glue, cover me with stuff..."

Lydia thought for a moment. "Yeah, I do love you like a table... whatever that means,” she murmured as she watched as Win kneaded the dough. "I think we have it, the texture looks right."

“I love you like a table too,” Win murmured, raising up on her toes to press a kiss to Lyddie’s jaw. “So, what’s next?”

"Since I'm nice and all, I'll chop the onions and garlic, while you grate the cheese," Lydia handed Win a bowl and a grater. "Careful with your fingers, I would hate for something to happen to them..."

“If I hurt myself you can kiss it and make it better,” Win teased, though she carefully put the cheese to the grater.

"Yeah, I suppose... but you need those fingers for extracurricular activities," Lydia laughed as she worked on her task.

Win’s grin turned wicked. “Oh, and what extracurricular activities do you mean?” she murmured innocently.

"Well, you gotta play your guitar, and be able to text me good morning messages when I'm at work, and... finger me," Lydia's voice nearly disappeared as she neared the end of the sentence.

“What was that last part? I didn’t hear you, Lollipop,” Win asked cheekily, pausing in shredding the cheese to look over at her.

"Yes, you did..." Lydia countered, trying not to laugh. "To finger me," she repeated louder, her face turning red and she quickly looked down at the counter to continue what she was doing.

Win’s grin grew as she saw how red Lydia had turned. “Yeah, we wouldn’t want me to not be able to do that anymore.” Not looking at what she was doing suddenly she hissed, bringing her finger to her mouth. “Fuck...”

"Oh okay, very funny Wi..." Lydia rolled her eyes, but when she realized it was serious, she dropped everything. "Baby! Aw, Winnie, let me see!"

She took Win's hand to analyze the damage, luckily it wasn't that bad, but she felt terrible anyway. "You gotta be more careful, sweetheart," she gently kissed her finger.

“Sorry,” Win chuckled ruefully, going to the sink to clean the scrape, “I was a little distracted,” she said pointedly, exaggeratedly running her gaze up and down Lyddie before drying her hands and returning to the grater.

"It's okay..." Lydia sighed, somehow she knew something like that was gonna happen. "You're just too cute to get hurt, I worry about you." Lydia glanced over at Win as she got the chopped onions and garlic in the pan with some olive oil. "Here, I'm just gonna cook the chicken first, then you can mix in whatever you want really."

“Aww, I worry about you too, babe,” Win murmured, coming behind Lydia to wrap her arms around her, pressing her lips between her shoulder blades. “It’s probably a good idea you didn’t let me have a big knife,” she laughed.

"Yeah, seems I'm the only person in this house that can be trusted with a knife," Lyddie let her head roll back, trying to concentrate on the recipe. "Okay, so, you have to cook the chicken all the way, but you already know that, salmonella and all...."

“Right right, salmonella bad,” Win agreed, releasing Lydia and coming to stand by her side, not wanting to distract her too much. As much as she wanted to tease her like the last time they’d been in the kitchen together, she did actually want to learn something, to prove to the Nathans that she could do this.

"Yeah, don't recommend it," Lyddie laughed. "On the same note, that's why I don't eat raw cookie dough anymore... It was Simon's fault, he said it was safe." She added the cheese, some seasoning, and a can of corn. "I know it looks kinda weird, but trust me, it's delicious."

“It looks delicious, my mouth is watering already,” Win replied, peering into the pan.

"Here, we always have to try it to check if it needs anything," Lydia handed Win a spoon. "Be honest, huh?"

Win took the spoon from Lydia and took a bite, savouring the taste. “Could use a little salt?” she wondered.

"Alright, why don't you do that for me while I roll out the dough?" Lyddie smiled before stealing a quick kiss and turning back to the counter.

Win stood still for a moment, watching Lydia as she moved away to fetch the dough, smiling softly to herself before shaking herself out of it and adding a little salt before tasting it again. “What do you think?” she asked, holding out the spoon for Lyddie to taste.

Lyddie tried the filling and cocked an eyebrow with a cryptic look before softening her expression. "It's perfect, babe. See? You're getting the hang of it... can you turn the oven on for me? 230, please, but be careful, for the love of God."

Win’s face lit up at her girlfriend's praise and quickly turned toward the oven. “I’ll be careful,” she insisted. “I had one little accident, Lyds, I’m not gunna burn the apartment down,” she teased.

"Yeah, yeah... I trust you, you just can never be too careful." Lydia quickly transferred the sheet of dough to an old cake pan. "When you're making the crust, you have to make sure it's not too thick or it won't cook all the way, nor too thin or it will burn, about half an inch is good."

Win watched carefully, still in awe that Lydia could do all this on her own. “So, do we put the filling in now?” she asked.

"Yeah, just make sure it's not too hot or the crust will get oily and gross," Lydia felt so proud of Win, she seemed to be really interested in learning the recipe. It had been so long since Lyds had a student, she missed being a teacher sometimes…

“Gotcha,” Win mused, checking the temperature of the filling before transferring it to the pie crust and spreading it out evenly. “Now what, babe?” she asked, her stomach rumbling.

"Now we sprinkle a little more cheese on top," Lydia finished it off and quickly popped the pie into the oven. "Forty minutes and we're done!" she pulled Win into her arms.

“Sounds good!” Win exclaimed, snaking her arms around Lyddie’s waist. “Now what can we do for forty minutes?” she mused, a cheeky grin twisting her lips.

"I can think of many interesting things to do in forty minutes..." Lydia bit her lip, pressing her forehead to Win's. "You were amazing today, you know? I can't wait to see Nathans’ face."

“I didn’t do all that much, you did most of the work,” Win pointed out humbly. “I still have a long way to go before I’m cooking all by myself.”

"Shhhh," Lydia put one finger on Win's lips. "You did great, I was just your assistant for the night," she chuckled, lifting her girlfriend up so she could sit on the counter.

Win laughed as she pulled Lydia closer, smiling against her lips as she kissed her. “You’re too sweet, what did I do to deserve you?” she murmured fondly.

"That's funny, I ask myself the same thing every day..." Lydia shook her head, letting her hair fall down her shoulders. "How did I get so lucky?"

“I’d like to think it was meant to be,” Win said, running her fingers through Lydia’s hair.

"Yeah, not even the laws of physics and the fabric of time and space could keep us apart," Lydia sighed, placing a kiss to Win's neck.

Win hummed, melting as Lyddie‘s lips pressed to her skin. “You’re gunna turn me on if you keep kissing me there,” she murmured, though she knew Lydia knew that.

"We've got forty minutes to kill... So if you want to..." Lydia didn't move from Win's neck, biting her gently. "But if you want me to stop, by all means, let me know."

“Don’t you dare stop Lollipop,” Win moaned.

"Yeah, that's what I thought..." Lyddie giggled, grabbing Win's thighs to slide her closer. "You deserve a reward for being such a great student, what do you want, Winnie baby?"

“Oh, hmmm,” Win thought. “Do you still have that strap-on I used on you?”

"Don't move a muscle," Lydia threw her apron on the dinner table and disappeared into the room, coming back a few seconds later with the toy her Nathan had made especially for them.

“Would you like to fuck me against the counter, Lyddie?” Win asked, slipping down to help her put the toy on.

"Yes," Lydia moaned softly, starting to feel quite aroused herself. "Let me know if I'm doing it right, okay? I've never done this before..."

“I thought you might,” Win mused, a grin playing at her lips as she unbuttoned her jeans to slide them and her knickers down. “Don’t worry, babe, I’ll guide you. Now, do you want me bent over or sitting on the counter facing you?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I wanna see you, I love watching you come for me," Lydia wet her lips teasingly before catching Win's lips, slowly circling her clit with one hand while the other was buried in her hair. It felt very odd to have a cock between her legs, but at the same time it made Lyds feel powerful in a way.

Win moaned softly as Lyddie touched her and she slid back up atop the counter, spreading her legs and scooting down to the edge. “You look good with that on,” Win said, tilting her head to kiss Lyddie’s neck roughly, hoping to leave a mark.

"Not as good as you," Lyddie gasped softly, feeling her entire body tense up from the way Win kissed her. She was equally turned on and nervous as she thrusted slowly into her girlfriend, not wanting to hurt her or anything. "Does that feel good?"

“Oh,” Win breathed as Lyddie slowly slid into her, filling her with the toy, “yes baby, just like that,” she said, stroking the other woman’s face. “Nice and slow at first, stretch me out Lollipop.”

Win's praising words sent shivers down Lyddie's spine, so that's how they feel... It was amazing! Why has she never tried it before?

"Hmmm," she watched carefully, glancing down at the action and back up to watch Win's face. At first, she moved carefully, pulling out and teasing her entrance to make sure she was wet enough.

Win leaned back against the cabinets as Lyddie teased her, watching with a pleased grin. “You can be a little more rough with me if you want,” she purred. “I want you to fuck me babygirl.”

"Anything you want, Winnie," Lydia had no idea how she managed to sound like a bottom as she was fucking her girlfriend. Obedient as she was, Lyddie made her thrusts faster and deeper, building up a rhythm as picked up her pace.

“Oh fuck, yeah, yeah just like that babygirl. Oh, you’re a natural,” Win exclaimed, her chest heaving as Lyddie’s thrusts rocked her. “You’re so fucking hot like this, love!”

"Yeah? You like when I fuck you like this? You like it when I'm rough with you?" Lydia groaned, each word filling her with confidence. "Moan for me, baby, I wanna hear how good you feel."

“Oh Lydia!” Win cried, knowing that was bound to draw the boys’ attention, but she was past caring. “Oh shit baby, you make me feel s-so good,” she continued, her voice catching with each rough thrust, her back digging into the cabinets. “I’m getting close, Lyddie, please let me come,” she begged, quite aware of the dynamic switch.

"Aww, you wanna come for me?" Lydia cooed softly, bucking her hips firmly as one of her hands slid between then to rub Win's clit. "Go ahead, baby, come for me, let me see what I can do to you..." Lyddie was getting some friction, which only made her wetter, but she was way too focused on her girlfriend's pleasure to care.

“Oh Lyddie—“ the rest of Win’s exclamation dissolved into a whine as her mouth fell open and her head fell back against the cabinet doors, her whole body tensing as she held onto the edge of the counter as she came.

Lydia held Win against her chest as they both recovered from what just happened. "You were so good, baby..."

"Jesus!" a voice from behind them made Lyddie jump and nearly pull Win with her, which would've landed them both on the floor. The two Nathans wore nearly the same exact expression, surprise mixed with arousal.

Panting, Win collapsed against Lydia, her eyes fluttering shut as she wrapped her arms around her, coming down from her high. At the sound of Nathan’s voice and Lyddie’s sudden lurch Win jerked awake. “Oh... hey guys,” she murmured, a small grin playing at her lips.

Lyddie's Nathan gaped at the sight of his fiancé looking like that, if he had any doubt he would like to give that a try... now he knew for sure.

"So, um... that was a nice cooking lesson," Lydia swallowed nervously, her cheeks growing red. "Dinner should be ready any second, you guys hungry?"

“I’m very hungry,” Win exclaimed, sliding off the counter to retrieve her clothes. “Thank you babe, you’re the best teacher,” she purred in Lyddie’s ear, pressing a kiss to her cheek before pulling her pants back on.

“Jesus, you two have t’be the horniest girls I’ve ever met,” Win’s Nathan exclaimed with a laugh.

"Well, I have the sexiest girlfriend on the planet, so you can't blame me for that," Lydia shrugged, still pretty much embarrassed, but trying to sound relaxed. "Hey, baby," she whispered as she was taking off the strap-on, “after dinner I would love to see you wearing this for me..."

“Whatever you want, Lollipop,” Win replied, stealing a kiss. “I’ll wear anything you want any time.”

When the pie was ready, Lydia quickly ran to take it out of the oven, she didn't even wanna think about Win getting hurt again.

"Okay, guys, the jokes about Winnie being a bad cook are about to be over," she smiled as she served the food. "Because she completely nailed it."

"Not t'be technical here, but I think you're the one who nailed somethin'," Lyddie's Nathan snorted.

Win swatted at him, though she wore a grin. “Don’t let her fool you, she did most of the cooking,” she exclaimed. “And she definitely nailed me good.”

"I take credit for one of those things," Lydia rolled her eyes. "I couldn't have done it without you, baby." She sat down and kissed Win's cheek before picking up making her own plate. "Eat up, guys."

——

Tag list: @magic-multicolored-miracle @midnightseance @messengeronthemoon @the-freckled-luba @firstpersonnarrator @xenteaart @gurlimtired @phoenixhits @nightingale-rose @salvador-daley @forenschik @a-ghoulish-tale @love-is-dirty-baby @captainsheeballs

#misfits #nathan young #nathan young x oc #nathan x win #nathan x lyddie #otp: green apple lollipop #collaboration #timeline anomaly’verse

14 notes · View notes

honey-hippie-harper · 3 years

Text

through the burning shell

Hello it’s been 84 years.

This is fun :): I wrote this as a Christmas present for @obsidianfr3sk (YES DAWNIE KEEP POSTING YOU CHRISTMAS FICS DURING MARCH. YOU GO GIRL) and it’s a sequel to my other fic “through the bleeding shell” where I basically try to save Simon and Hugh from the queerbaiting MM turned them into by adding a certain degree of complexity to their relationship. This is a story about gays, grief and a dead friend + Simon defending Nova bc I don’t roll with Supernova. Hence, I am not morally obligated to obey canon <3

Anyway afgdhjafghsj i don’t think you need to read the first part to understand this, and I hope you like it <3. I don’t want to give much away, but this sort of turned into a collaboration that got out of control and @obsidianfr3sk might write a third part in the future ;)

through the burning shell

“There have been rumors that the public revealing of Agent N is to include a public execution as well.”

Being all together, right there, Simon saw Hugh narrowing his eyes, staring directly at Genissa Clark, formerly Frostbite, now neutralized, along with the rest of her team.

Well.

Almost all of them.

“That’s true.” Hugh started, and Simon couldn’t help but think he shouldn’t have answered. A part of him was getting a pretty bad feeling from this. “For his crimes against humanity, Ace Anarchy has been sentenced to death.”

“Why stop there?” Said Genissa. “I would argue that his accomplices deserve the same fate.”

The same fate.

His brain struggled to make a connection between that sentence and the one Hugh had uttered. At first, he didn’t understand. A couple of fast seconds later, Simon realized that, by saying “fate”, she was referencing something.

She was referencing, more specifically, Ace Anarchy’s sentence.

A death sentence.

Accomplices.

The Anarchists.

“Nightmare deserves the same fate.” Nova deserves the same fate. “Nightmare must die… And I want to be the one to do it.”

Nova must die.

And I want to be the one to do it.

A child killing another child, publicly, with the Renegades’ permission.

A child they had taken under their wing, Genissa Clark that is, killing another child, who had been in Simon’s house, who had touched Adrian’s heart, and who had made bad choices but was still a person. The official version of the events said she had stabbed Max, and Danna claimed she was Nightmare, but they hadn’t taken any declarations or anything, so that story might as well just change.

Simon couldn’t help but feel she didn’t deserve to die.

Maybe because she actually didn’t. It didn’t feel fair.

One thing was sentencing Ace Anarchy, the man who had lifted an entire city, leaving a ridiculously huge number of deaths in the process, who had stolen, broken and burned, who had killed a man (the mayor) and his pregnant wife, who had killed his own brother, sister-in-law and possibly his two nieces...and another, pretty different thing was to allow this 19 year old girl kill a 16 year old one, who had some crimes that could put her into jail for like 3 or 5 years, but weren’t horrible enough to give her a death sentence. She was a minor. She wasn’t yet beyond repair…

And if she was to be executed, then she was still a minor. She didn’t deserve to be humiliated like that. She didn’t deserve her life to be taken away with so little dignity.

Not by Genissa Clark.

Not like that.

And, stars, please, not now.

Not right now.

It was unthinkable, it was barbaric, it was animal, it was almost as if…

A quiet chuckle.

A quiet chuckle that, suddenly, interrupted his train of thought and, with all the pain in his heart, he was able to recognize in a blink.

Evander was chuckling.

Genissa Clark, nonchalantly, was blackmailing them. She was trading her silence for the legal permission to kill someone, in front of a crowded arena. And Evander was chuckling.

Genissa Clark wanted to murder Nova, and Evander was chuckling.

“Is that all it will take to quit their complaining?”

What else did he want?

“Works for me.”

Simon almost flinched to the audacity. To the severity of the implication. To the way he was saying it. So smug. So relaxed, so….Evander it almost made Simon mad.

That was so Evander lately.

Because, lately, Evander didn’t understand anything. Not even because he had a pregnant wife waiting for him at home. There was life inside that woman. Life that had come from him.

How couldn’t he understand?

How could somebody be so cold?

“These are lives we’re discussing.” Simon reminded him, shooting a look in his direction.

“Villains’ lives.” Evander responded. “Nightmare doesn’t deserve mercy any more than Ace Anarchy does. She was the one who neutralized them, so it seems fair to me.”

Villains’ lives were still lives.

Nova was a person.

Nova was...Nightmare, but before Nightmare, she was Nova, and Hugh and him had met her personally. Adrian had met her personally.

And, besides, with this logic, then all the Renegades were to be executed.

After all, Agent N was meant to be used by Renegades. They were the ones who were planning to neutralize people when they felt threatened. But when Nightmare did it, then she immediately deserved the death penalty.

Hugh would understand that. Everyone would understand that, just like Simon did.

They had to understand it.

Hugh had to understand it.

-.-

Yet, he didn’t.

Some time ago, Hugh had pledged to understand. Not directly per se, but he had pledged it in the name of his cause.

He promised he would understand.

And then, when he needed to understand the most, he didn’t.

He said he would.

Then he fucking didn’t.

“How can we run a city, much less an entire world, if we’re busy dealing with every trivial bit of bureaucratic nonsense that comes up?” He said.

“This solves two problems at once.” He said.

And he said that to Adrian’s, their son, face. Their son, who was just trying to help, by questioning how morally correct was to do something like that, just like Tamaya, Kasumi and himself had done, being ignored in the process.

“We need that right now. And we need to be united in this decision.”

“And why’s that, exactly?” Adrian asked. “Do we not want the world to know this is actually a dictatorship?”

In that moment, Simon knew Adrian had never spoken to Hugh like that. He had always been a pretty calm kid, who liked to question their decisions sometimes because, as a Renegade himself, of course he would feel uncomfortable or have doubts sometimes. But never had he called Hugh out. Not in that tone. Not with that entire bottle of venom flowing out of his mouth, melting his teeth, and mixing with his boiling blood.

Simon felt unable to tell him to stop, after his own voice had been ignored, and Hugh pretended Evander was the only one who mattered in the team. And it wasn’t that Evander didn’t matter.

It was just that he was wrong.

Besides, harsh as that sounded, Simon still couldn’t believe that those stinky, rotting, putrid, nauseating words had come from Hugh’s mouth. His Hugh. The man he had decided to marry, because he loved him so, so much, for him had been able to see him even when he was invisible. Literally.

Right in front of his eyes, Hugh morphed into a caricaturesque villain. His hands, which Simon had held so many times, were suddenly covered in both dry and fresh blood, red as an apple, but smelling like death.

Death.

The same death that was living like a parasite inside of his eyes, the only place that other people could harm. And the parasite was traveling through his system, all the way to his brain, spinning it around like a mirrorball, and eating from it like he was nothing.

Hugh’s hands were tied, too, and the strings were made of rope, a material he could easily tear apart, but seemed to have forgotten about that.

He was like a puppet, as the press, as society, and as tons and tons of eyes pulled from the ropes.

And nobody knew how to free him, not even himself.

“Do we not want the world to know this is actually a dictatorship?”

Adrian’s voice haunted him for days. The way in which he said that haunted him for days, and after a while, Simon just accepted he wouldn’t be able to get rid of it. It had become another one of the wounds he carried, open and bleeding, through life. The worst part of it all, was that Simon knew Adrian was right. That, at this point, everyone but Hugh, Evander and Genissa Clark were right.

But if he knew where had they gone wrong, and if he knew he didn’t agree with this monstrosity...why did it hurt so much?

How did you speak to a person who didn’t want to listen?

And, most importantly: Where were you supposed to get the courage to do it from?

-.-

Nova had spent seventeen days in Cragmoor Penitentiary when Adrian said he wanted to see her. He had been so mad at her, that it caught Simon off guard.

Not that he wasn’t able to understand it.

Adrian had had a couple of girlfriends and boyfriends throughout his life but, from what Simon could see, Nova was by far the one he had been the most serious about, to the point it almost seemed she was the one who would stay. Simon would’ve wanted to see his partner too, no matter how mad he was at said partner, if he knew they had been sentenced to death.

As fast as they could, knowing they were facing an authority (Adrian had asked them to be with him in the room), the wardens brought her right away, in a matter of minutes.

Through the glass, Simon saw her, on the metal platform, with her arms and legs being held, tightly, by braces, which were equally made of metal. For the look in her eye, Simon could almost hear her desperate begs for her visitor not to be Adrian. Yet, he had been, and he wasn’t alone, which, if anything, only made it worse.

Simon, from his part, was staring at two different glasses at the time. The one that divided them from Nova, and Adrian’s glasses, which revealed the pain he was penetrating Nova’s soul with, and also the rage he was entitled to feel.

But Nova looked small.

She, in fact, looked as small as she actually was.

She was almost a kid. She hadn’t yet started living. Yet, she was locked up here, and would only be taken out to be killed.

Nova’s body was shaking, just like Adrian’s. Her chin was quivering so much it almost seemed like she was cold, and Simon felt a twinge in his stomach. He felt nauseous and dizzy. And so evil and so guilty.

For some reason, he pictured a child, because Nova had been a younger child once, full of joy and innocence.

He pictured a child. Just like that.

Maybe she was wearing pigtails, had a gap between two of her teeth, and bruised legs, because she liked to play outside with her friends. Maybe, before she became Nightmare, she had something else to hold on to. Maybe she, like many people out there, had hoped for the Renegades to come, and when they didn’t do it, something became numb, and cold, and she started freezing to death, just like she would remain freezing, suspended in History, as the interrupted life who was the proof the Renegades had become the one thing they promised they would never be.

And Simon didn’t want to be part of that, yet he was still here.

He was still here, thinking about how fortunate he was that Nova wasn’t staring back at him, but at Adrian instead, as selfish as that might’ve sounded.

Simon felt he had lost the right to look her in the eye, having been the one who promised her, on several occasions, that she could look into theirs.

With each one of his limbs becoming tense, Simon took a deep breath. His mouth tasted like bile, and his whole body was pounding along with this heart. It felt like one of those times when you were almost a hundred percent sure you were having a heart attack, despite knowing that, if that was the case, you would already be on the floor crying for help.

Next thing he felt was the sudden and strong urge to speak.

He would’ve liked to talk to Nova, but through this glass, she couldn’t hear anything.

Besides, Simon knew that this moment wasn’t about him, or Hugh. They were involved in it. They were carrying it in their backs like a cross, but it wasn’t about them. It was about Nova and Adrian. There was glass between the two. They could press their hands together through it, but they couldn’t touch the other’s skin. They couldn’t feel the air the other breathed in the short distance. They couldn’t kiss. It was scary. It was sad. And it wasn’t awfully familiar.

But it wasn’t about Simon or Hugh.

“Do you need some privacy?” Simon asked, perhaps to both of them, knowing one wouldn’t be able to hear him, even if she tried.

In response, Adrian turned his gaze away from Nova, staring at Simon instead, nodding.

“I think that would be nice.”

Before Simon could say anything else, Hugh reached for his son’s shoulder, and once he touched it, he caressed the fabric, and the skin beneath the fabric, briefly.

“We’ll be in the lobby.”

Adrian nodded again and then, after gulping, he said:

“I love you, okay?”

The weird thing was, he didn’t look them in the eye for much. He did, but he turned his gaze away pretty fast, barely leaving time to process his own words. For that reason, nor Hugh or him responded.

They left right after that, leaving Adrian alone inside the room.

With Nova, but alone.

-.-

They dropped Adrian at the hospital once they left Cragmoon. There was barely any sound throughout the whole ride, except when Hugh asked if they wanted something from the store, and when they said goodbye to Adrian.

Obviously, Adrian couldn’t get close to Max. Not if he wanted to avoid being neutralized by him, but sometimes, according to Adrian himself, he liked to stay in the waiting room, and help the staff with whatever they needed, for he liked Max to know he came to visit often, and that he wasn’t alone, even if he couldn’t touch, or be in the same room with him. So they just allowed him to stay in the hospital as much as he needed. After all, it’s not like he was hurting anybody.

After that, everything was silent, all the way home, because, instead of driving towards the Headquarters, Hugh drove towards the mansion, leaving Tamaya in charge, under the excuse they would take a two hour break to have lunch together at home. She wasn’t so happy about it, but agreed anyway, because it’s not like Hugh had given her an option in the first place. He had just notified her. At this point, Hugh’s volume was getting the tiniest bit loud. And Simon wasn’t talking about his voice.

Upon arriving into the house, Hugh threw the keys by the entrance’s table and proceeded to walk all the way towards the living room, to lay on the couch, one arm covering his eyes, without even taking his costume off. He didn’t have a reason to, because they were supposed to be back at the Headquarters in two hours and, besides, the elephant in the room was making it cold. Maybe he felt his armor would protect him from what they were doing, and from what they were still doing.

Sadly, the fabric of Simon’s costume wasn’t as warm. And as he took his mask off and placed it next to keys, he felt nothing but cold wind. He was back again at being Simon, and Simon only, without anything protecting him, in the same room as the husband who rarely ever kissed him anymore.

There was an elephant in the room, and it was killing both of them, though Hugh looked like he was already dead.

Simon tried not to pay attention to him, but when he was crossing to the kitchen, he couldn’t help but ask, in an unintentionally harsh tone:

“Are we going to have lunch or did you just want to make Tamaya more stressed?”

Hugh lowered his arm, staring at him with an arched eyebrow, lifting his neck just a little, to have a clearer view. Simon was starting to feel bad for having snapped at him, but not enough to take it back.

Sometimes you had to do the right thing, and sometimes the right thing was not taking it back.

His husband, from his part, looked rather confused, as if he couldn’t recognize the person in front of him.

“Are you feeling okay?” He asked.

The question caught him off guard.

Was he okay? Simon wasn’t sure, nor did he want to answer. In times like these, Hugh wanted people to answer him what he wanted to hear and, sadly, this time Simon didn’t have any answer he would like.

“Did you take your pills, Si?”

Something inside of his body turned into a tight knot, and Simon turned his gaze towards him, in a violent act. He frowned so deeply he felt his skin itching, and though he knew that, under normal circumstances, he would’ve just interpreted this as a routinary question, this time it wasn’t the case at all. This time it felt like an attack. Like something Hugh had to take back immediately because it was not his place to ask it, that is: a question he always asked anyway.

But not this time.

Because ,this time, he wasn’t okay.

“Don’t pull the anxiety card on me, Hugh.” Saying that left a bitter, disgusting firm on his mouth, right under his tongue, which was dry. He felt like he had just chewed on a pill.

“The anxie--” Hugh narrowed his eyes, shifting into a sitting position. “I’m not pulling that card on you. I’m just asking a question.”

“Then don’t ask that question.” Simon snapped again, heading towards the kitchen to get a class of water. His feet were making too much noise when in contact with the floor, and his mouth was too dry. It was making him crazy.

It was only then that he realized they still had something else pending, and for some reason that was enough to make him stay. Simon spun on his toes, facing him. Hugh was breathing heavily, and his brows were almost touching each other.

“You didn’t answer my question, though.” He told him, in a dry tone. “Did you want to have lunch with me or did you just think taking a break while Tamaya loses her mind would be fun?”

“If Tamaya didn’t want to be in charge, she would’ve told me, and you know that.”

“Tamaya talks back when she is given a chance to.”

An empty feeling of freedom filled Simon’s body, pushing his way into the hollow all his mixed feelings had been carving at the center of his stomach.

And it wasn’t just about Tamaya, really. It wasn’t just about how lately none of her ideas were taken into consideration. Rather, it was about how nor were Kasumi’s, or his own ideas, when they tried to speak up. It was about how things were getting weirder and weirder as time went by, to the point where Simon would see a very pregnant Tamaya in the hallway, apparently fine, but stating she didn’t know if her water was breaking or if she just really needed to use the restroom (the restroom where she didn’t fit in); it was about how everyone knew damn well that Kasumi wasn’t good at public speaking and that, if anything, it just worsened her selective mutism, and yet many important speeches were given to her; it was about how Simon felt like he was talking to a wall, and how that made him feel, suspect, even, that Hugh was back to being trapped in a closet he was already too big for.

It wasn’t just about that, in conclusion.

It was just the tip of a bigger and more messed up problem.

“Well, if you want Tamaya to go bathe in her Greek goddess shower-pool-whatever that thing is, then fine. I’ll call her, I’ll tell her to take the day off, and we go back to the Headquarters.”

“That would be great, actually!” Simon laughed sarcastically. “But you know what would be even better?”

“I don’t, Si. You tell me.”

It was a rhetorical question.

The nerve.

“That we would act like a team. That we would stop lollygagging around and take realistic turns to have our breaks, because each one of us have lives, and we’re not the only ones who have needs.” And that was about Kasumi feeling like she couldn’t do it today but having to anyway; it was about Tamaya crying in the BBQ Sunday, explaining to her husband how she wanted her baby to be with her, as a baby bawled into her arms, trying to reach for his father, because she spent so little time at home her youngest son wouldn’t recognize her sometimes; it was about Evander claiming Sandy didn’t feel like being alone with her baby bump today, but showing up at work anyway.

And yes, they had pledged to do this, but they were supposed to be in it together.

“But how should I know?” Simon hissed. “It’s not like we’re a Council or anything.”

The bile was all over his mouth now, and Simon felt possessed. He didn’t know how to stop it, and the words just kept coming, and coming and coming, as Hugh stared, half-startled, half mad.

Simon felt like he was a loaded gun that was ready to kill everything that moved, for a reason and a cause.

All those repressed feelings. All those things he desperately wanted to say but never could. The anxiety. The desperate, insatiable craving for a touch that never came. For a kiss. For anything. For a sign. A sign of whatever. One single sign, that would just let him know Hugh was still here.

“It’s not like you needed the majority of us to agree to sentence that minor to death.” He let it go, and all the air, along with his soul, left Simon’s body. “It’s not like Evander and you needed such thing, did you?”

Hugh’s confusion frown suddenly shifted.

Then, all Simon saw was the embodiment of anger, with his cheeks becoming flushed, and his knuckles becoming yellow.

“So that’s what this is all about.”

There was one word to describe that tone, and that word was condescension.

To Simon, the gut-wrenching feeling of frustration that caused him was indiscriptable, and he didn’t wish it to anybody. He would’ve preferred Hugh to scream at him, or just refuse to answer at all, because he couldn’t take it.

He had had people talking down to him his entire life. He wasn’t willing to keep tolerating that.

And in the moment he stared into Hugh’s blue eyes, Simon knew there was no turning back. Because sometimes the right thing to do was not taking it back.

Others, it was not holding it back.

“No. In fact, it’s not about that.”

“WHAT IS IT, THEN?!”

“YOU TELL ME!” Simon howled, getting one step closer to him, and all the memories started flowing...more likely, overflowing, including that time when he had talked to Kasumi and Tamaya in the living room, just like as if they were teenagers, instead of grown ass people, about how Hugh was leaving, even though he was still right there.

Right there, looking like a corpse.

A blue, stiff corpse.

“Why don’t you ever kiss me anymore?” Simon asked, and his voice sounded way less threatening than he had intended. “Why?”

“Are you really going to pull that card on me?”

“I am going to pull it because I want to know!” Simon barked, pointing at his own chest, which was getting tighter and tighter with every second. “Why don’t you ever touch me anymore? Why am I always invisible to you, even when I’m not? Why are you so fucking cold all the time? Why won’t you tell me what’s wrong?!”

Hugh wheezed, maybe pretending it didn’t make sense, or maybe pretending he hadn’t understood at all. Still smirking, he ran his fingers through his hair, and stared at Simon, scratching his chin, and clicking his tongue.

“So...Sex.”

Simon’s heart was pounding.

“Yes, sex!” He yelled, shameless. “And kisses, and hugs and my husband! That is what am I asking for!”

“WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO?! WE’RE BUSY!”

“WE’RE NOT BUSY NOW!”

“SO YOU WANT TO GET LAID NOW?!”

“I’M NOT GETTING LAID WHILE THINKING ABOUT HOW A CHILD WILL BE EXECUTED BY ANOTHER CHILD BECAUSE I WASN’T ALLOWED TO DO ANYTHING TO STOP IT FROM HAPPENING!”

“SHE TRIED TO KILL ME! SHE TRIED TO KILL MAX!”

“FIRST: AN ATTEMPTED ASSASINATION IS NOT ENOUGH TO GIVE SOMEBODY A DEATH PENALTY, AND, SECOND: THAT’S WHAT GENISSA SAID!”

“ISN’T THAT ENOUGH?!”

“THAT’S NOT ENOUGH!” Simon screamed, covering his ears with hands.

He didn’t know why, specifically, the ears, knowing that, in reality, his eyes were the problem, because every time he closed them, he saw Nova in that chair, like an animal. And he saw Genissa standing in the lobby, playing with them like puppets; he saw Evander’s despicable smirk when he told Genissa to go ahead; he saw Adrian’s furious eyes as he called his own dad a dictator; he saw Hugh.

Mostly, he saw Hugh, and the caricaturesque villain version of him, which Simon despised with every inch of his being.

Then he was back at the beginning. At Nova.

Nova, who had tan skin, pitch black hair and slanted blue eyes. And Nova, who looked familiar when she smiled, because she looked similar to that man who had come to the Headquarters asking for help, whose smile looked similar to the other person who carried their blood.

And Simon couldn’t help but consider it as a real possibility. And if he happened to be right, then they were failing her.

For the second time.

“It’ll never be enough, Hugh.” He declared. “Because she…”

Simon’s internal knots became tighter, to the point they were suffocating him.

“How do we know who this girl is?” he questioned. “How do we know it isn’t her?”

“Her, who? What are you talking about?”

“Her. The one we failed to protect.” Simon felt a tear slipping from his eye, as he became closer and Hugh walked backwards. “Uh? How do we know that? How do we…?”

But something stopped him.

And that something was Hugh’s eyes, turning grey as chromium.

He was breathing fast. Faster with every second, and where maybe he saw anger, Simon saw nothing but deep, stored pain, flowing out of him like sweat, or like the tears that weren’t there.

There was Hugh’s bleeding shell again, protecting him like he was a small child curled up on the floor, in a ball, through a polarized surface where Simon and him couldn’t touch, and where nothing could hurt him, while everything could at the same time.

There it was.

The despicable, horrid, bleeding shell.

Except this time it wasn’t bleeding. No. No.

This time, the dense, bubbling blood was falling off it, reaching Simon’s feet, and the shell was in flames. Tall, untamable flames, that were burning the roof and everything surrounding them.

The shell was burning, while Hugh was inside of it, and nobody could get him out before he was burned to death.

Why didn’t he let anyone help him?

Why did he insist the flames weren’t there?

Why couldn’t Simon hold his hand?

Why was he so far?

“We didn’t fail to protect her. She died.” Hugh declared, and when Simon saw his lips quivering, he realized they weren’t talking about Nova anymore.

“She didn’t fail. She died. “ Simon saw the silver painting Hugh’s fingertips, as tears started rolling down his face. “She died! SHE DIED, WHEN IT SHOULD’VE BEEN ME, SIMON!”

The bleeding shell was burning, and Simon still couldn’t find his way in.

“IT SHOULD’VE BEEN ME! AND SHE DIED! SHE DIDN’T FAIL TO PROTECT ANYONE! SHE DIED! IT SHOULD’VE BEEN ME! SHE DIED, SIMON! SHE DIED!”

Their eyes met for a couple of second, and the connection vanished after a blink.

“IT’S NOT HER FAULT SHE DIED, IT’S MINE!”

Hugh was sobbing, like a small child, and Simon was too.

“...It’s...it’s mine, Simon. Always has been.”

And they were so far, despite being so close, that they were left with holding themselves tight.

Because there was no way to get into the burning shell, for Hugh, strangely as it sounded, had never said those words out loud, because he thought the picture on the wall behind him, the one with the woman wearing a floral pink dress with their son -who was also hers- sitting on her lap, would hear him and that would make her sad.

Yet, Simon knew she wasn’t sad at the moment.

He knew her well enough to know she would’ve been disappointed, instead.

Anybody would be if they had to see their family kill the one thing they had died trying to protect.

“No.” Simon declared, calmly. “But I’m not going to go and try to convince you otherwise because I know it’s not the right time.”

Hugh started shaking.

“Si…”

“And I won’t be a part of this, either.” Simon declared, firm, still staring at the picture through the corner of his eye, yet still fully focused on Hugh. “From now on, all you’ll get from me is silence in regards to the issue. I’m not willing to be a part of it. I don’t agree with this. I will never agree.”

“You don’t understand.”

“And I’m glad I don’t. In fact, I hope I never do.” Simon wiped his tears with his palm, and before continuing, he tried to find his Hugh one more time.

He was still there.

Simon hadn’t yet given up on him, but he didn’t feel like telling him that at the moment.

For some reason.

“If Adrian wants to see me, tell him I’ll be at Kasumi’s.”

“Simon.” Hugh grabbed him by the wrist, and a simple wave from Simon’s hand was enough to get it off. Way too easy, for a person who happened to have super-strength. “Simon, please. Don’t do this again. Please. SIMON!”

But Simon did it again anyway.

Later, he wondered what Adrian had felt when he abducted Max from the hospital and left a note for them.

He also wondered what everyone else had felt when the real Nightmare showed up.

Not that he was mad at them.

He just wondered what they had felt.

#renegades trilogy #dawnie writes #renegays #humon #simon westwood #the dread warder #hugh everhart #captain chromium #nova artino #nightmare #adrian everhart-westwood #sketch

39 notes · View notes

theinvisibledreamergirl · 3 years

Text

Has everything changed?

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Klaw Craig)

Words count: ~ 2.5k

Category: Angst

A.N: Sooo I know that I’m late but with everything that happened in the first episode of OH Book 3 I decided to do some changes. I know you’ll hate me. Waiting for your thoughts!

MASTERLIST

———————————————————

The third year of residency began for our doctors of Edenbrook Hospital. Sorry BloomBrook Hospital. Oops again it’s Bloom Edenbrook ladies and gentlemen. Mistakes happen please.

More like a broom which has cleaned all of what the old hospital looked like.

And it had cleaned people’s character too.

And she knew this was going to happen one day. Before she would sleep her mind would go in the most irrelevant thoughts and think about what rich people can do to the other category.

The middle classes and the poor ones.

Of course she was part of the rich people but never spent her money for her pleasure nor she did accept her parents money to live. Because she wanted to be independent and to show that she could do everything on her own until the day of being a doctor came.

Her friends were the most excited ones to see the big changes of their new (as she would call) “tourists attraction” hospital and the facilities that were put in every corner like it was a casino’s place or a museum with advanced technology equipments. She didn’t share the same thoughts with them. When Jackie, Bryce and Rafael invited her to the massage place she refused it and said the same thing to Elijah for playing ping pong. While Sienna was enjoying the new coffee machine Aurora saw her leaving the rest room with a concerned look.

“Hey.” She took her arm gently. “You okay? You seem to be lost on yourself.”

“Do I really give that impression?”

“Well if we don’t see you carefully then it is obvious. Look... I know that your tensing and I can imagine what’s like but I think we should try to fit into this kind of-“

“Change? No thanks. I don’t think I will... I just need to go Aurora and please tell the others that I’m in an operation room.”

“Sure...as you wish Klaw. But if you need to talk again I’m here. We are here.”

She only nodded with a smile.

Klaw wasn’t mad about this. Of course she wanted the best for the hospital and in many others too. To provide everything in need for the patients. But the thing she worried about was the fact that Leland would be always sneaking into the diagnostics office and reminding her team to work about his wife’s case. She didn’t know how someone like him can be such a deliberate and a money maniac to take over a hospital which he didn’t have any idea how to actually handle it.

Klaw had a fear that his stubbornness and insistence will give serious affects to all of the medical staff and all of this façade would break down (that she really hoped) one day and someone else would direct it.

She was thinking of someone who knows all the struggles, all the concerns and all the medical training staff.

The one and only.

Dr. Naveen Banerji.

He was the best option for her to be not only the chief but the boss of this building. One of the most hardworking doctors in his forty years of experience in the field of medicine- who else could surpass him?

But he was nowhere to be seen and Klaw started to worry if Bloom had done something to him. She could feel a pang on her chest that something wasn’t right.

All of this glorious and masquerade day would be soon vanished and then the real face of Leland Bloom would appear and no one- not even the bravest doctors could face him if he or she didn’t want to lose their jobs.

She had to find the answers.

Ethan.

She opened the door of Diagnostics Office where she finds unexpectedly Harper Emery seated comfortably on her chair, Ethan the same too and also a never-seen-such pensive Baz staring blankly at a point. She could understand his condition right now and she wanted nothing more than to give him a friends comfort hug.

It was really strange to see Harper in the diagnostics team but in the same time she was glad for her presence as with her intelligence could help the team solving the cases. In fact she was hoping if Jackie or Aurora would join the team because they both have worked hard for the place she was holding now. But maybe because June was an attending it had to be replaced by another attending considering that Harper wasn’t anymore the Chief of Medicine. She congratulated her, gave a hug and then began with their first case.

Ethan could feel that even behind of that smile and reasonable face of his resident was something doubtful that he knew very well. Maybe it was about Harper’s appearance. He knew that she wasn’t jealous and never would be. Klaw had such an ego that sometimes had scared him and many times he thought that if her character was really like this. He should’ve told her before Harper would join the team and felt somehow guilty about it considering now that their past was gone for good.

In the meantime a voice interrupted them which definitely made them annoyed. Especially her.

“Well here’s our best diagnostics team working along fighting to beat the impossible things!” He saw their hardened gazes as he leaned on the door. “Am I interrupting something doctors?”

Klaw’s chest was rising and falling from his scrutinised face that asked such a dumb question and couldn’t even hold herself. “Yes you are interrupting us. Are you happy now?”

“Ouch Dr. Craig.” He acted as if he was hurt. “That was really mean. I expected better from you and your leaving during my speech gave me a slight concern.” His voice was playful and didn’t seem to care that much what the young resident just admitted.

Yes- she left. When he grabbed the microphone standing in the center of everyone up in the railway and giving his speech of the new Edenbrook she couldn’t stand it and walked away while digging fingers on her palms whereas her friends were still standing there listening.

Her debate with Bloom when he gave the cheque- that day was still imprinted on her mind and couldn’t forget it. She ripped it without thinking twice. Not even taking her friend’s or Ethan’s opinion because she knew the game of the rich: ‘Once you give your palm, they take your arm.’ And she knew he remembered too- the scene in front of her still fresh on her mind.

“I will never and ever make compromise with someone like you because I know how you are going to treat us. Firstly you’ll just do some cocktails party and you’ll build all the facilities the hospital needs until everyone would be gawked by your marvelous project. Then after seeing these the doctors and the nurses will forget their duties and start to have much more fun with their high wages that a hell knows what will happen next and then all this thing of yours will turn not into a hospital- but into a circus. And you will be the main clown.”

He then admired her witty response and said it was just a testing for her but she could tell that he was pissed off when she left his mansion.

By the way Mr. Bloom your constant trying to make the impossible to possible will be a failure. I suggest to you to spend your time with something much more valuable.

And she hoped he would give up. But no.

“You should be worried.” She replied angrily not breaking her glare.

“Dr. Craig.” Ethan reminded again and gave her a stoic expression to not continue it anymore because it wasn’t worthy. She silenced herself letting him handle it. “Yes Leland do you have any issues that you came here suddenly?”

“Oh nothing at all... just wanted to see how your team selects the cases.”

Is he serious?

“Simple. I review the available cases and select the ones most needing our attention. Why? Are you planning to ‘overhaul’ that process as well?”

“Oh not at all! Your team’s reputation is stellar, so you’re clearly doing something right.” Said with a chuckle. “Rest assured, I want to make sure you still choose cases that interest and challenge you. That part won’t be changed.”

Ethan nodded in agreement or almost in agreement. “Right as I was saying-.”

“I only have one request. I want this team to run more democratically... horizontal leadership if you will. In my experience, hierarchies are the death of good ideas.”

Klaw narrowed her eyebrows to a shocking-but-composing-himself Ethan knowingly as if giving him a message.

‘You wanted to deal with him? Here he is. Right in front of you.’

Harper saw her hardened gaze fixated to Ethan as they exchanged quick glances. She knew they were both stubborn people but never thought Klaw would react such in that way towards Leland. It wasn’t her. Harper knew her limits and she needed a bit of comfort later.

“But...why?” Baz finally asked and it was weird to Klaw that she was hearing his voice now. This was a strange feeling. “Our team has worked perfectly with Ethan’s leadership... and if you’re impressed with your results...”

“Ahh but what if those results could be even more impressive? We can’t know without at least running a test.”

Ethan scratched his beard in thoughts. “I see your point. You’re saying that every team needs its own leadership.” Maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea to him he thought even though he didn’t want to agree with everything he said.

“Exactly! I’m glad you understood it! So your votes are-?”

“Obviously I vote for yes. I think there’s no one else who could say no.”

“I’m with Ethan since he’s the expert here. Baz what about you?” Harper asked.

“Oh me? Uhm... yeah I vote the same way.”

“Wha-“

“What about you Dr. Craig?” This time it was Leland who was asking while cutting Harper to do the same. Harper tried to smile even though she was annoyed too.

That seemed to get her attention back to reality. Because she was pretending to not listen to them even though it was disrespectful and she didn’t care.

While they were talking she got a message from Edgar that Naveen hadn’t been in the hospital today altogether with Zaid and Simon. What the hell was going on? Have these men been dusted from Bloom or what? Whatever the reason her suspicions were going to form the puzzle inside of her mind. And she hoped it wouldn’t be an unsolved issue.

“I vote for... No.” She said indifferently catching everyone’s attention. Ethan’s especially while he was parting his lips. “I don’t think that we are prepared well enough to form new leaderships in our new teams. We need to do a lot of training for interns and residents who want to be part of this kind of programme and I think is going to take a lot of time.”

“I see...Well sorry to say it but the most wins Dr. Craig.” His expression was in an amusing way. “And I think you should agree with the new...changes.”

“Of course I will Mr. Bloom.” She said with a plastered smile but surely was cursing under her breath.

With that he left the office when his phone rang giving them now the space the doctors needed. They discussed the case and set the treatment but the resident was not so much interested on it as that rat face wouldn’t get out from her mind. Harper and Baz had already left and she was about to do the same but his voice (as always) stopped her.

“Can we talk a bit?”

“For what? About how I seem to you right now? Jealous to Harper?” She scoffed.

“What? I didn’t say anything and my discussion is n-.”

“You didn’t but yet I can see that. Your eyes are telling me that you still think I am that clueless intern girl right?”

“How can you even think about this? I’ve never called you clueless and I know that you’re not jealous about Harper.”

She looked like she wasn’t believing him and it worried him as how was possible that she had lost it? Did she lost his trust? Then before he could add something else she didn’t let him speak again.

“How could you agree with him?” Obviously the question was for Bloom and Ethan was thinking for mere seconds if she heard his words before or not.

“It was the only way.”

“You think by siding with him everything would go as flowing as it was?”

This was already too much to him. Enough was enough.

“And with your behaviour you think you can solve anything?” He spit back.

“Excuse me?” She frowned shockingly.

“Yes- your snarky, ironic responses are not helping us and we’re just losing our time instead of doing our job!”

“So you think that just because I didn’t agree with you and with the others my opinion doesn’t matter? Oh wait I forgot you are my boss and I should do as you please huh? Well if you are wrong then you are Dr. Ramsey so I won’t shut up my mouth when there’s injustice here!”

“This is not about injustice here! It has been since in the ancient times and no one has ever stopped it!” When he saw where the debate was going he decided to ease it a bit. He didn’t want to fight with her. “Look I’m worried too as much as you are but you don’t have to act like this.”

She said those words before she could stop them. She regretted so much. “Oh you care about me so much don’t you!”

That behaviour.

That cold demeanour.

That selfish character was back and was slapped at Ethan’s face.

He thought she had changed a bit.

From what he remembered from her first year her behaviour was only because of avoiding her feelings but this- was entirely something else.

Egoistic. Which he didn’t except that.

He clearly was disappointed given after everything they’ve been through these past three years.

Something was for sure- she would never change and felt a pang on his chest that now it wasn’t his fault about this.

It was hers.

“Get out.”

“What?”

“I said- GET OUT!” His anger was raised so much that made her jolt. That authoritative voice was back again and her heartbeats accelerated. “Until you don’t get your shit together don’t even try to step in this office!”

She knew she had crossed her limits by her words. She had hurt him so badly that there was no excuse of making up with him so instead she walked out and slammed the door behind it.

He knew he had crossed his limits too. If he could analyse it overall she was right in a way. Leland was trying to be everywhere and meddling with his theories about how a medical team should work and how the medicine should be which was completely out of his league.

Both of them were madly in love but this time the scars of the past seemed to not leave them alone.

-----------------------------------------

P. S: Ouch this was damnnnn. Thank you for reading folks. And guess what? Now I have downloaded tumblr on my phone which gives me much more time to edit and write fics. If school gives me time of course 🙄 And if you have seen emojis from me lately yeah it’s because of new iphone 😂😂😂 And do you want a 2nd part of this? Let me know!

TAGS WILL APPEAR IN A REBLOG!

PART TWO

#open heart fan fiction #open heart choices #open heart fan fic #ethan ramsey #my mc #klaw craig #ethan ramsey x mc #klaw x ethan #my writing #OH book 3 rewrite

27 notes · View notes