comment_fic | Monday, Sweet Monday

Hello, I'm

benebu and I'll be your host for this week. I'm so excited! Today's theme is 5+1. Themes can be anything as long as they follow the 5+1 pattern.

The rules still haven't changed:
No more than five prompts in a row.
No more than three prompts in the same fandom.
No spoilers in prompts.
If your fill contains spoilers, warn and leave plenty of space.

Prompts should be formatted as follows:
Fandom, Character+/Character, Prompt

Some examples...
+ Hana Yori Dango, Tsukushi, 5 things she regretted saying, and 1 she shouldn't have kept to herself
+ any, any couple, 5 endearing habits of my significant other, and 1 I won't be able to endure much longer
+ any, any, 5 times they got lost, and 1 they didn't wish to be found

Not feeling any of today’s prompts? Visit the lonely prompt archive and brighten someone’s day. For more recent prompts to write, you can also use LJ’s advanced search options to limit keyword results to only comments in this community.lonely prompt archive and brighten someone’s day. For more recent prompts to write, you can also use LJ’s advanced search options to limit keyword results to only comments in this community.

tag=5+1

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

amai-kaminari.livejournal.com

Any; Any; 5 moments of regret, 1 moment of hope

From:

tigriswolf

(Avengers movieverse; in this 'verse. Warnings for implied bad things happening to a child; minor character death; talk of a degenerative illness of some kind

----

One morning, Janelle doesn’t wake up. She sleeps all day, until Yasmin crawls into bed and shakes her arm, crying, “Mama, I’m hungry.”

Janelle rolls over, mostly still asleep. “Eat cereal, baby,” she mutters. “Mama’s so tired.”

It’s after midnight when she finally gets up and realizes, heart breaking, that she cannot take care of Yasmin anymore. It’s not safe. She can’t go to the clinic because they might take Yasmin away when they realize how bad a job Janelle’s doing (she’s so tired, had to quit both her jobs, barely ever has any food).

Yasmin’s asleep on the kitchen floor, curled around Janelle’s old Bucky Bear, and Janelle barely has the strength to pick her up and carry her to bed.

Julian, she thinks as she pulls the blanket up to Yasmin’s chin. Her brother’s in Baltimore – he’s got a steady job, an apartment. Surely she can leave Yasmin with him while she tries to get better.

.

Julian agrees to keep Yasmin for a few months, if necessary. Yasmin screams and cries, clinging to Janelle’s neck, begging her not to go, pleading to go with her. Finally, Janelle hands her to Julian, saying with tears pouring down her face, “I’ll be back, baby girl, I promise. But I’ve gotta get better for you.”

“Mama, no!” Yasmin shouts after her, but Janelle hurries back to her car (held together with duct tape and a prayer) and drives towards the setting sun.

She has all these plans in place, hopes and dreams and wishes for the wonderful woman her little girl will one day be – but she’s a state over, heading towards a free clinic, and she never sees the truck run the red light.

(She has no ID on her. No family is ever contacted.)

…

Vinny first notices them while he’s restocking the candy aisle – the little girl dumps three armfuls of chocolate – one of each kind, and then repeats – into the basket while the man smiles down at her. “Can I get more?” she asks and then she bounces her way back to the Hershey section after he nods.

The girl is adorable, wearing a Captain America shirt with her dark hair in a long braid. The guy – the guy is terrifying, and Vinny quickly averts his gaze when the guy glances at him.

What is a white guy, who looks a single step up from homeless, doing with such a cute little black girl? It’s – Vinny watches them head to the next aisle over and he wants – should he do something? Tell Mr. Turner, maybe, he’s supposed to report suspicious things, but the girl, wasn’t she too happy for –

“Vinny!” Marticia calls, leaning into the aisle for just a moment, “Finish up! They need you over in the deli for a clean-up.”

He nods and returns to his cart.

.

He sees them again as he rushes to the deli, the little girl and the scary man in the canned goods section, but he has to hurry so he doesn’t – it’s not his business, is it? The girl looks happy, and maybe the guy isn’t scary, maybe –

.

The last time, the guy is heading toward the front with two large bags in hand and his cold eyes pass over Vinny dismissively. He shudders.

.

When his shift is over, Vinny pauses, watching Mr. Turner glance through the upcoming schedule. He opens his mouth – but it’s too late. The guy is gone with the girl, and whatever happens…

“Yes?” Mr. Turner says without looking up.

“Goodnight,” Vinny says and walks out.

…

Edited Date: 2014-08-31 03:55 am (UTC)

From:

tigriswolf

Nicoletta sees her on the swing, hair all poofy around her head, in a purple shirt with dancing unicorns on it, and she wants to ask where she got that shirt because Davy spilled his orange juice on her unicorn shirt last week. And then the girl jumps off the swing and rushes towards the entrance, where Nicoletta supposes her daddy is, ‘cause she grabs his hand and walks out with him.

Nicoletta sighs and turns back to building a sand fort with Davy.

…

The man who walks in for Yasmin Taylor’s parent-teacher conference is not at all what Madeline is expecting. He’s wearing a very loud shirt with long-sleeves even though it’s September in Miami. Also, black gloves on his hands and his face is so pale, the palest person she’s seen in a long time. And – her mouth is suddenly a bit dry – he is so gorgeous, with his dark hair just brushing along his chin and a bit of scruff on his cheeks, piercing blue eyes, and lips -- shit, it’s been awhile.

Madeline stands up and offers her hand. “Mr. Taylor, hi!” she says brightly. “Thank you for coming.”

He shakes her hand gently, giving her a small smile. “Ms. Yavez,” he says.

She gestures to the reading circle area. “Do you mind sitting down there?” she asks. “I’ve been doing it with all the parents; it’s so y’all can experience what the kids are.”

Mr. Taylor shrugs so she leads the way over and settles into her usual spot. And Mr. Taylor sinks down so smoothly she nearly swallows her tongue. Fuck. No, don’t think that.

“So, Mr. Taylor,” she says, “to start with, you should know that Yasmin’s doing really well. Everything’s been smooth sailing so far. She’s a very smart girl.”

He nods, a small grin on his face. “She is,” he says softly.

Madeline hesitates before asking, “Is there a Mrs. Taylor at home? I like to know ahead of time before things like Mother’s Day or something blindsides us.” The note she sent home to all the parents did ask for both parents to come, if possible. “Or maybe another Mr. Taylor?” Because better to be safe than sorry, even if some parents did get offended. (Thankfully, so far this year, no one has.)

He shakes his head. “I’m Yasmin’s uncle,” he explains, looking down at his hands. “M’brother and his wife died nearly three years ago and I’ve been takin’ care of Yasmin ever since.” He shrugs. “Just me.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” she says, reaching out to touch one of his hands. She quickly pulls it back when he moves out of reach. “You’re doing a good job with her,” she adds, trying to cover the moment. “You should be proud.”

When he stays silent, Madeline goes through what is expected of second graders, the assignments that’ll be sent home, the upcoming testing and how to prepare for it. He doesn’t ask questions, just nods along, and skims the booklet all parents are given. “I think she’ll do well,” Madeline assures him. “She’s a wonderful girl.”

Madeline has said everything she’s supposed to, so she claps her hands and says, “I think that’s time, Mr. Taylor. Thank you for coming.” She climbs to her feet and tries to watch him as surreptitiously as she can: he just moves like a goddamned work of art and she really needs to get laid.

She almost asks him if he wants to get drinks over the weekend. And after he’s left, she sinks down into her chair and lays her head on her arms and swears that the next time she sees him, she will ask him out because hot damn, her sister will never let her hear the end of it if she doesn’t.

…

Edited Date: 2014-08-31 03:55 am (UTC)

From:

tigriswolf

Jeremy watches the guy stalk around the shop with panic in his eyes and can’t help the sigh. Another clueless schmuck who oughta buy a pre-made bear. But this is what he’s paid for, so he sighs and walks over to the dude.

“Hi, welcome to Build-a-Bear,” he says with a wide smile. “What can I help you build today?”

The guy’s eyes are ice-cold and for a second, Jeremy is sure the guy’s about to go for his throat, and he regrets so hard coming to work today, whether or not they were swamped with panicked parents shopping for Christmas presents.

“I need a Captain America bear,” the guy says, and in his Hawaiian shirt and frayed jeans, he looks like every other parent, and Jeremy tries to ignore that stone-cold killer from just a moment ago.

“We’ve got those, all sorts of flavors,” Jeremy says, pulling on his Build-a-Bear persona. “C’mon, let me show you how this works!”

The guy leaves with a Captain America bear, a generic bear in a Hawaiian shirt and swim-trunks, a safari bear, and then one of the sharks in scuba gear. Jeremy watches him go, heaves a sigh of relief, and then turns to grin brightly at the next customer.

…

Billy gets her a stuffed shark wearing scuba gear. This is the best Christmas ever. Rodrigo makes a kissy face at her from behind Billy’s back but Martina just squeezes the shark tight and thanks him as dignified as she can. He gives her a brief smile and circles back to sit beside Nana on the couch.

.

The first time she saw Billy Taylor, Martina thought he was just another white guy. But then Nana gave him a job, invited him to dinner, actually let him into their life. And Yasmin is just the sweetest little girl – it’s only been about five months but she already can’t imagine her life without Yasmin at the table with Yelena and Simon, without Billy lurking somewhere in the shop tinkering with something, with how excited they both get about old Disney movies, and the utter adoration Yasmin felt for Lilo, it made a very horrible week tolerable, knowing that somewhere, Yasmin was quoting Lilo at Billy. That was a very bad week.

Billy can’t even be thirty yet, and he’s taking care of his brother’s kid, and his entire life revolves around her, but he’s always so delighted at anything she does, and after seeing all the boys in her classes be terrible human beings, Billy’s entire existence gives her hope.

.

So, yeah, she’s got a crush on him. At first, it was because he was just so pretty, even when he tried to grow a beard for about a week until Nana told him it looked silly. Since then, he’s kept up a light scruff but never let it get to be too much. That one time she saw him clean-shaven, Martina actually thought he could’ve been a movie star, he was just so pretty.

But really, it’s because of how he helps them all with their math, keeps the gangs away, listens to everything Yasmin tells him with utter solemnity, shows them all a few martial arts moves. He loves Yasmin, adores Nana, and Martina likes to think he cares for her and her siblings, too.

.

This one time, after Colin made a disparaging remark in Biology about her chances at getting a degree one day, Billy took one look at her, sat across from her at the table while the kids were all off getting a snack, and asked softly, “What’s wrong, Martina?”

That afternoon, she spent three hours telling him all about her dream of becoming a marine biologist. She knows at least 45 minutes was spent solely on sharks because they are the greatest animal to ever live.

So when he gives her a shark in scuba gear for Christmas? It doesn’t really help her crush on him. Like, at all.

.

“You gonna marry him?” Rodrigo asks after Billy and Yasmin leave for the night.

Martina sighs, holding the shark as tight as she can, and says, “Lord, I hope so.”

From:

amai-kaminari.livejournal.com

I love your MCU characters, but I am so in awe of the way you write OCs! You've created this wonderful community for Bucky to settle into and find his humanity. Really terrific!