"I'm just trying to measure the level of insanity we're dealing with here." "High, high. Very high."

[brilligspoons]

I'm back at work today and feeling the full force of the post-Jersey blues. I'm not sure that I've ever explained that - basically it means that I'm going to be feeling like complete shit for the next couple of days until I forget what Isabella's face looks like when I tell her I have to go back to Boston. I've pretty much been on the verge of tears since I stepped off the train last night.

So if I'm distant and/or snippy with any of you over the next few days, I apologize.

The weekend was fun - went out to lunch with Jules and the kids after they picked me up, and then we spent some time with Mom and Dad. Jules and Bella had a Girl Scouts thing Saturday night, so Andrew, Gavin, and I went out for hibachi and watched Iron Man: Armored Adventures together after. (Guys, IM: AA is kind of shitty. Like. Really bad. I don't recommend it.) Jules, Bella, and I went to the MET on Sunday. They recently renovated/added new pieces to the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia exhibit, and oh my god, it was all so beautiful. They also have an exhibit for Victorian electrotypes that I adored, though Bella wasn't quite as enthused by them. Oh well. She was much more interested in learning about sirens and Medusa, so I tried to tell her as much as I could without completely scarring her.

Other thing that happened this weekend: I got addicted to The Voice. Not so much the performances, though there were quite a few amazing singers, but I could probably watch Adam, Cee Lo, Christina, and Blake argue with and tease each other for hours. Uh. Especially Adam and Blake. >.> This is what happens when I have access to cable television, I guess. OH, and Andrew also got me addicted to An Idiot Abroad: The Bucket List. /shrug

I have one episode of Hawaii Five-O season 1 left. Kind of scared to watch it, BUT. I'll do that tonight and let you guys know if I die or not. The last few episodes have made me clutch my heart all the way through - just. CHIN HO KELLY, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING. KONO, YOU ARE INSANELY BADASS (and also you are Steve Junior and adorable and I love you). DANNY AND RACHEL AND GRACE. STEVE IN SEAL-MODE MAKING A BATTERING RAM IN THE FOREST AND HOLDING IT STEADY WHILE HE TAKES A CALL FROM DANNY.

lskefnlsknfslknf CAN'T. In fact, I can't so much that I bought the DVDs for myself. They, uh, showed up yesterday. \o/ WHAT EVEN IS THIS SHOW, YOU GUYS. :D :D :D :D :D

Okay, so. In honor of Valentine's Day, let's do a commentfic/meme of sorts. Comment with a pairing, and I will write you a few sentences of fic about their ~romantic excursion. Go go go!

Comments

[mcwonthelottery.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry about your PJB. I like calling it PJB, though. And I won't apologize for that.

Steve/Pepper/Tonyyyyyyyy! :D!

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

<333

***

It's close to midnight when Steve and Pepper stumble through the door of Tony's penthouse in Stark Tower. Pepper's missing a stiletto and her suit skirt's ripped almost completely up one side. She limps inside the foyer and groans as her left arm brushes against a wall. "Remind me never to get in the middle of a fight with HYDRA agents," she says. "Or at least stop me from throwing my shoes at them next time, especially if they're Jimmy Choo."

Steve chuckles and kneels down to take the remaining shoe off her foot. "I don't know," he says, "you did manage to take down three of them with it. This might be your calling."

"The only thing calling me right now is our bed, and maybe a bottle of ibuprofen," Pepper grumbles as Steve sets the shoe aside. He stands up and then a second later swings her into his arms bridal-style. She yelps and glares at him, but Steve grins and keeps his gaze straight ahead, carrying her through the foyer and into the living room toward their room. Pepper's working herself up to a rant about how her legs still work, it's just her arm that's bruised, when Steve stops suddenly and makes a soft noise in the back of his throat. She turns her head, and -

Tony is sitting at the head of the dining room table, fast asleep and head resting at what must be an uncomfortable angle. There are candles and a bouquet of roses, white petals with red tips, on the table, and three place settings. Pepper sniffs and inhales the fading scent of vodka sauce coming from the direction of the kitchen.

"Pepper," Steve says, voice low and rough, "what's today?"

"Erm. February fourteenth?"

They sigh simultaneously, and he sets her down on the floor before walking over to the table. Steve shakes Tony's shoulder a little, but he doesn't rouse. He looks back at Pepper and gives her a small, sad smile.

"Pick him up," she says. "We'll put him to bed, and tomorrow we can make it up to him." Steve nods and gathers Tony up to his chest. He nods his head toward the bedroom, but she taps a finger to her mouth. "I'll make sure the food gets put away. Go on, I'll be in momentarily."

Steve complies, and Pepper smiles as he wanders down the hallway. Clearing the food up takes longer than she'd anticipated, but soon enough she's slipping out of her torn suit and under the blankets. Steve is spooned up behind Tony, already snoring a little, and she snuggles up to them, rests her head on Tony's arm, and follows them into sleep.

[mcwonthelottery.livejournal.com]

AWWWW AND TONY TRIED SO HARD TOOOOOOO. *SMISHES THEM*

I like their faces. And yours. <333

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

HE REALLY DID :D :D :D

I kinda like your face too!

[metonymy.livejournal.com]

jkafjklsdjklsdfjklsdf

theeeeeeeeeeeem <333333333

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

AREN'T THEY THE BEST? UGH. UGH. <333

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

AWWWWWWWWWWWW. oh man. HEARTS.

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

EEEEEEE! <333

[paper-tzipporah.livejournal.com]

Mike/Harvey/Jessica?

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

Jessica opens the door to Harvey's office and leans in. "You have plans tonight at seven," she says. "And if you're late, I'm making you pay." She smiles at him and then leaves just as suddenly as she'd appeared.

Harvey stares at the spot she'd been standing in. "Donna," he calls.

"Don't bring roses," Donna says over the comm. "Jessica hates them, and Mike will spend all night sneezing."

"Then what am I -"

"I'll take care of it."

Harvey briefly entertains the thought of leaving Jessica and Mike for Donna, then realizes that he probably wouldn't live for much longer after doing so. One of his hands involuntarily comes up to fidget at the knot in his tie before he forces himself to drop it and sit up straight.

"I need Mike," he says.

"He just left with Jessica. Something about a supply run, whatever that means, and please don't tell me what that means."

A shiver runs down Harvey's spine. "Well, shit," he says. He sees Donna nod in agreement at her desk.

[pocky_slash.livejournal.com]

Charles and Erik? :D? :D? :D?

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

"I want you out," Charles hisses. "All of you. For several hours, if possible. I will give you whatever amount of money it takes, just - don't be in the mansion tonight." Raven, who was about to take a sip of orange juice, stops with the glass just in front of her lips and raises an eyebrow at him. "I'm not joking, Raven."

"I never said you were," she replies mildly. She takes a drink and sets the glass back down, then rests her elbows on the table and her chin on the back of her hands. "Any amount of money, you said?" Charles taps his fingers against the arm rest of his chair and glares at her. "Fine. Sean's been making noises about some movie about Martians invading Earth or something."

"Excellent," Charles says.

"So, money for tickets. And dinner beforehand, of course," continues Raven. "Plus consession. And ice cream and/or milkshakes after." Charles nods, and then she says, "Oh, and enough for a few hotel rooms."

"What?" Raven gives him a look, and he caves. "Yes, yes, whatever you want." Charles hands her a few bills. She smiles and pockets the money, then goes back to eating her breakfast.

***

After much grumbling and meaningful head-nodding -

("I don't even like going to the movies," Alex says as Raven forces him into a coat, and then he yelps in pain when she pinches his arm.

"I did not extort this much money from Charles just to listen to you complain about it," she tells him. They leave not long after that with zero protest from the rest of the group.)

- Charles is finally, blessedly left with just Erik in the house. Erik watches them leave, then turns and looks down at Charles. The corners of his lips twitch upwards, and Charles forgets, for just a moment, that breathing is conducive to remaining alive.

"Alone, are we," Erik says.

"Very much so," replies Charles, thinking of the supper he's had laid out in the dining room. Erik checks his watch, and the next thing Charles knows, he and his chair are being levitated up the stairs and down the hall toward Erik's bedroom. "But - dinner -"

"Can wait," Erik interrupts. "It's all still on trays, right? Supper in bed."

"Better than breakfast in bed?" remarks Charles dryly.

"Infinitely," replies Erik fervently.

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

Alex and Armando? :D? :D? And feel free to leave me a prompt in return on my post from yesterday.

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

Armando knocks on the front door of the mansion on a Sunday night in February, and it takes exactly ten days after that for Alex to feel like his body's going to implode if he doesn't get out. So he fidgets his way through breakfast and lunch that day, and as soon as Charles is finished making halting, nervous attempts to ask him what the problem is, he's changing into sweatpants and sprinting through the woods surrounding the house. The air is cool and crisp, the path frosted over and hard, and he keeps up a punishing pace until his lungs scream for him to stop. Alex stumbles over a root and scrapes the heels of his hands as he catches himself. He stays there, kneeling and gasping, for several long moments.

There's a footstep behind him, and Alex whirls around, only to find Armando standing a few feet away. Neither says anything - they merely stare at each other, Alex on the ground and Armando squeezing his hands into fists at his sides.

Alex caves under the weight of the silence first, dropping his head down to look at the ground. "You were gone," he says. He hears Armando sigh, and then a second later a familiar, warm presence settles down next to him. Their knees knock together, and Alex feels a different kind of energy spark inside him.

Armando takes hold of Alex's hand and winds their fingers together. "I was," he confirms. "Not anymore, though. You got that?"

Alex raises his head and looks him in the eye. "Yeah," he says. "I got it."

[harborshore.livejournal.com]

OH. FAVORITES. FAVORITES. ALEX OH MY HEART. AND DARWIN. OH THEM.

Man they just GET to me. ♥ Thank you.

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

You are the MOST welcome, bb! *smish*

[1-rhiannon-1.livejournal.com]

I was hooked on the Voice last season - I love watching the coaches argue and pick at each other. They amuse me a lot :D

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

It was kiiiiiind of adorable. I wasn't even watching at first, but then Blake and Adam were sniping at each other, and I fell IN LOVE. XD

[tailoredshirt.livejournal.com]

Some of the last half of S1 episodes are my favorites. The assassins in the jungle, Danny's brother, Steve and Danny hiking, Chin and Kono fighting and dealing with their shit, Danny in the hospital. *clutches heart*

You'll freak after you watch the finale.

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, ALL OF THEM. *flails* The worst part was, I watched most of those while I was on the train, so I couldn't even squee properly. UGH. But theeeemmmm, they're all so amazing and wonderful and adorable and I'd like to keep them in my pocket.

Oh god oh god oh god. It really needs to be the end of the day RIGHT NOW.

[theemdash]

Steve/Tony?

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

Steve flings his shield at the edge of a building, where it ricochets and hits the robot's targeting system and then returns to him. "I am just saying," he yells up to Tony, "that we should maybe start planning to celebrate this holidays a day or two after. Or before, I don't care."

Despite Tony's face being hidden behind the Iron Man mask, Steve can feel the full force of his glare.

"We are not cancelling our dinner plans," Tony grinds out. "I have been planning this for months, and if all you're going to do is make comments, I'm -" He shoots the robot dead on with a blast from his chest piece, causing it to explode and scatter back down 5th Avenue.

Steve opens his mouth to continue the argument, then stops. "Fine," he says. "We have fifteen minutes until our reservation, then."

"Thank you," Tony replies, and then he flies off toward Stark Tower. Steve lets out a sigh of relief and pats himself on the back for successfully avoiding another night on the couch.

[bessiemaemucho.livejournal.com]

The Wasp/Ant-Man? :D?

If that doesn't work for you, Raven/Angel?

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I don't know Jan and Hank well enough to write them? :( But I can totally handle Raven/Angel!

***

Angel and Kurt regard each other with the same kind of wariness that Raven is used to seeing on Erik's face right before he's about to try talking about his feelings. Which is to say, Angel has no idea what to do with a little boy who would rather teleport from room to room than walk and likes to swing down from the banister to scare people as they walk past, and Kurt screeches in a mixture of fear and wonder whenever Angel's wings appear. Raven is sure this says something about Erik and feelings, but her head is already aching enough - no sense in making it worse.

Needless to say, she's not surprised when she comes down from her bedroom to find her girlfriend and her son facing off in the foyer. Angel is obviously trying to get him to let her pass without yelling too much; Kurt seems...well, unwilling is putting it lightly.

"Unbelievable," Raven mutters. She clears her throat to get their attention. "Both of you are ridiculous. Kurt, Mommy and Angel are going out for dinner, okay? You're going to stay here with Uncle Janos."

"No," Kurt says, and there's an echoing agreement from Janos, who's reading somewhere in the house.

"Yes," yells Raven so they both hear her. Kurt pouts and teleports away, and a moment later Janos screeches something about his suit and a glass of grape juice. Raven sighs, and Angel holds out her hand and grins at her.

"I guess I'm lucky that wasn't me," she says, gesturing at her white dress.

"Lucky for you, not so lucky for me. I would've enjoyed taking that off you - just so the stain didn't have time to set in, of course," Raven says glumly as she takes the proffered hand. Angel laughs and squeezes her fingers.

"Come on, babe," Angel says. "Let me take you out."

[bessiemaemucho.livejournal.com]

Baby Kurt!! Adorbs!! And yay for Janos babysitting for sexyyy date night! ♥

[amymccabe.livejournal.com]

Amy/Rory

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

"I still don't know what this food is," Rory says. He pokes at the gelatinous mass on the plate in front of him with a fork and winces when it pokes right back at the utensil. "Is it - is it even cooked?"

"It's delicious," claims Amy.

Rory sighs and puts his fork down. He stares out the window of the restaurant they're in and notes that the Doctor has updated the message he's been reflecting off the planet's moons for them to include 'WHO WANTS TO VISIT THIS VALENTINE CHAPPIE, EH?' and 'OH I SUPPOSE YOU'LL WANT SOME ALONE TIME OR SOMETHING, I'LL JUST BE HERE' after the 'I HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING YOUR DINNER, YOU CRAZY KIDS' bit.

"Honestly, Rory," Amy continues, "I don't know how you can be so glum right now."

"Not glum," Rory replies. He turns back to face her. "Just very, very ready for some actual alone time. As in alone time without the Doctor asking us how our alone time is going."

Amy finishes chewing her mouthful and winks at him. "How long do you reckon it'll take him to find us if we, y'know -" she mimes walking with her fore- and middle finger "- wander off, eh?"

Rory considers for a moment. "Long enough," he says, and they make a mad dash from the restaurant and into the city.

[amymccabe.livejournal.com]

LMAO! I love it!

[pocky_slash.livejournal.com]

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

[kaaatie.livejournal.com]

I'm on a massive Hawaii Five-0 kick at the moment. I've just started watching season 2, and I'm loving it so, so much.

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

I started season 2 last night, too! Ugh, they are all so easy to be in love with. :D :D :D

[imaplatypus.livejournal.com]

kitten!tony and this cat: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_%28cat%29

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

HEEEEE.