or...chris finally introduces his friends to his loving wife
chris redfield x reader requested
an I was going to write the actual dinner but I couldn't bare the idea of narrating food
the best moment in his life, chris thinks, is the day he proposed. the second best was your wedding. he’s not obnoxious about it, but its safe to say everybody knows. if he’s not gushing to jill or claire about you, he’s often seen fiddling with his wedding ring or looking lovingly at a polaroid stored somewhere in his tactical vest (no one else has actually seen it, but its fairly safe to assume it’s of you).
so when he and claire are having lunch one day and she has to witness him scarfing down the lunch you packed for him, she proposes the idea of a dinner party. upon your approval, jill, leon, and rebecca are all called to prepare for meeting you for the first time.
with what minimal cooking skill she has, jill offered to bring wine; rebecca and claire brought a trifle they’d managed to perfect together while leon made mac n cheese (not exactly traditional for a roast dinner, but it’s like his fourth favourite food).
which is why you’re standing in your kitchen, hair pushed up and away from your face, music thumping through your headphones, entirely oblivious to chris coming up behind you.
the years he’s spent as an elite solider have quietened his footsteps, something that doesn’t seem to matter when your ears are busy embracing whatever pop soundtrack you had on. his hand lands warm against your shoulder, trying to not scare you which, unsurprisingly, has the opposite effect.
you jump, a discontented noise leaving your lips as you ready the knife you’re holding. you breathe out a sigh of relief as you see your husbands face, smiling warmly at you. pausing your music, you set the knife down to wrap your arms around him, pressing a long kiss right by his ear.
“sorry for scaring you,” he says, voice muffled by your shoulder.
“it’s okay, baby. probably should turn my music down,” you murmur as chris plants you back on your feet.
“watcha makin’” he asks, moving to nick the end of a carrot from the cutting board.
“a roast. and i needed that,” you chastise, giving him a pointed look. his cheeks flush red as he presses an apology kiss against your temple, then the side of your nose, and finally your lips.
“i’ll set the table, shall i?” he asks, already moving to the utensil draw to pull out six sets of dining ware.
“that’d be great, chris.”
…
you’re practically vibrating by the time the clock hits 5:30pm. the chicken has finished by now and is resting with the oven on the still warm setting. a dish of mashed potatoes sit next to honey roasted vegetables with a side salad settling in the fridge. but messing about with it all doesn’t seem to stop your incessant worrying.
chris is perched on the edge of the kitchen counter, sipping at a glass of water as he beckons you over.
“i don’t know why you’re worry, sweetheart. they’re going to love you…you know i do,” he says with a grin. he pulls you into him, hands going to rest in your back pockets as your chest bumps into his.
“i know but i just want it to be–” the doorbell chimes, interrupting you. nonetheless, you scatter to the front door quickly, taking a moment to glance at your reflection in the mirror. chris follows somewhere behind you as you open the door.
“hi! im so glad you two could make it!” you start as a woman with a short brown bob grins at you, bottle of wine in hand. a man stands just behind her–surely that’s leon–with a tray covered in tin foil.
“of course! i’m jill, it’s so nice to finally meet you,” she extends her hand and you take it, smiling back at her as chris finally makes it to the door.
“hi, i’m leon. chris has told us so much about you,” leon grins at you, throwing one arm around you in a quick hug.
“good to see you jill, leon. this is my wife,” he says with a proud grin and a comforting hand on your shoulder.
“come in, come in,” you usher, taking jill’s coat for her as you complement her outfit. leon folds his own on his arm, insisting on keeping it. you do, however, take the mac n cheese away.
you make quick work of jill’s coat, stashing it in a spare bedroom before making a quick trip to the kitchen. you return to find chris and jill laughing in tandem at seemingly the wine bottle, snickering as leon points to the label. chris’ grin grows impossibly wider as you return.
“this wine jill brought is from a region in spain we went to for an old op,” he explains, stretching his arm out for you to stand in, “she didn’t even notice!” he laughs as he tugs you close to him. you give a polite laugh, quietly captivated by their friendship
“wow..! chris doesn’t tell me anything about his work. i didn’t realise you went so far! did you go too, leon?” you ask.
“well not anymore. that was back when we worked together at stars–i presume chris told you about that?” she says, laugh dying down as she smiles at you.
“--and, no,” leon interjects, “i never worked at stars but i spend more than enough time with them now,” he says with a firm pat to jill’s shoulder.
“oh right, okay. wait the stars back in raccoon city? i heard you guys were pretty impressive,” just as you answer, the doorbell rings once more. chris offers to take jill and leon to the living room as you make your way over to the door, nerves filling back up once more. surely they’ll all be as kind as jill.
you open the door to find two more women–one with short hair carrying a trifle and the other one with a ponytail with a face almost identical to chris. you stammer out a polite greeting to them, acutely aware that your husband’s sister–one of the most important people in his life–is standing right in front of you.
naturally, they are as kind and welcoming as jill. you lead them into the living room, taking a quick detour into the kitchen to put said trifle in the fridge before joining them in the lounge room.
jill and claire have sat on both arm chairs in the room while rebecca and leon sit side by side on the couch. chris has perched himself on the arm of the sofa, leaving a space for you right beside him. he notices you first, extending a warm arm out to you, you make your way to the couch to settle in beside him.
you laugh along with claire and jill as rebecca tells a story about leon and chris from a few years back as the thundering of your nervous heart begins to ease up. you breathe out a long breath you didn’t know you were holding, allowing the warmth of chris’ friends–and shortly, your’s, too–to envelope your home hopefully not for the last time.
...
after two hours of drinking and eating good food with even better people, you and chris stand by the door as you say goodbye to your friends.
naturally, Claire was the last to leave after her and chris got into a heated debate they only managed to pause a moment ago. after a hug to her brohter--a stark contrast to their behaviour before--Claire makes her way to you, enveloping you in a hug just as warm and just as long.
"it was so nice to get to meet you. we'll have to do this again, soon," you say as she releases you.
After poppy says they're sorry they look like Cobs, Bot reached for the side of their head that was bandaged. That is also the side they rip the chip out of in season three. Like they are remembering how that feeling was like for them.
Overall I think that side being bandaged has a similar meaning to the sun hat in season 3 episode 8, where they use it to keep hiding something about them. In the season three case, they hide how much they know about their existence and that they aren't Bow, taking that off to symbolize how they aren't hiding anymore. In season 4, they hide how they feel about the game with how that relates to fan and test tube. I FEEL LIKE there's something more, because of a specific line in episode 4, I just don't know what yet.
(Reminder, DO NOT SPOIL II IV 6 under this post.)
(Extra images and explanations below cut)
"I'm not BOW!" This is the hat scene. I just realized it is literally them taking off their mask.
"But if I wasn't supportive, It'd crush them!" Implies that bot doesn't like the idea of the game but doesn't want to hurt Fan and Test Tube.
"I keep telling you, my head feels fine! No need to waste resources on me." THIS IS THE SOMETHING MORE. There is something going on here and I can't figure it out yet.
If you guys have any suggestions for my cult au feel free to respond to this post or send in an ask, I have ideas but also not a lot of brain power at the moment to expand on them.
Currently at the moment I am fueling this au with cryptidclues firelocke toxic majorscythe and bloodletting (not all specifically romantic I should make a post on the ships actually)
It's technically pyro centric, but also written in my head in a way that Pyro is just the main focus but's pov isn't shown a lot because I really wanna explore the other characters' povs
I really want to explore Apo and Shelbys' pov with this au too btw. Especially with my idea for inducting Apo into the coven(read: I don't have one yet).
I've been busy with moving and money and. I'm tweaking OHHHHH MY GOSH IM TWEAKINNNNNN
Anyway. A little bit of the triplets being protective of each other. And their fathers legacy. And Alma if you ocerthink it and squint.
Fighting for my life guys </3
-----
"No, don't let him come back over here!" One of the kids whispered, though it was a pretty piss poor attempt at it. Bruno heard it loud and clear.
He stood there, holding the ball. His brand new one that he had just gotten as one of his birthday gifts. He had just run off to go fetch it, after one of the other kids had kicked it, needlessly aggressive no less, all the way over there.
One of them was already holding another ball. Julieta and Pepa stood to the side, almost...confused. Like they didn't understand it either. But Bruno understood. He understood perfectly. Because this wasn't the first time this had happened. He knew when he wasn't wanted in games. That's other kids found him creepy, cause of his gift. They would find ways to send him off, and when he returned, they would have already moved on.
But this was the first time it happened in front of Julieta and Pepa.
They must've gotten comfortable. Usually, when his sisters were around, the other kids didn't dare drive him away. But maybe it had been all the laughing, and how they didn't seem to react when Bruno ran off...they thought that Julieta and Pepa would just play along.
That they would agree.
A cloud began to firm above Pepa as her eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean? Why can't he come over?"
The other kids glanced between each other. Bruno didn't even really seem phased. That bothered his sisters. Why wasn't he saying anything? Fighting back, defending himself?
"We don't...he's not good at this game," one of the boys said.
Julieta's nose scrunched. Pepa scoffed. "Are you kidding? Emanuel literally hasn't caught the ball one time! At least Bruno can catch! I mean, you can't even throw, you gave him a black eye! And then made him go get the ball!"
The other kids were silent, unable to argue with her. She had a point. But...it was Bruno. He was weird, and really creepy. Bad Luck. Everyone knew that. And surely they did as well.
Bruno grabbed onto Pepa's sleeve. "Pe...Pepa, it's really not that big of deal. We should go home."
Pepa pulled away, turning to him. She looked angry. Of course not at him, not really. "Why?! They're being so rude! They don't even have a valid excuse not to let you play!"
Julieta stepped forward, her voice much softer but no less determined. "She's right. They're being really mean, Bruno."
Bruno looked at the ground. "But that's normal. That's what always happens. It's fine, I don't really care. All my friends do it."
Julieta grabbed his shoulders as Pepa glared at the kids, her storm growing. "Bruno, that's not normal. Not at all. We didn't even know that-," she paused, sighing deeply. "Bruno, that's not friendship. And it isn't right. They're cruel."
"You guys always baby him," one of the older kids said. The others snickered and giggled. "He's a weirdo. And he's bad luck. I mean, your his sisters, even you know that. I don't know why Doña Alma kept him!"
The other kids burst into laughter.
No one saw it coming, not even Julieta or Bruno. Pepa had a temper, sure. But she usually stormed away, thundering as she 'removed herself from the situation.' Like Alma always taught her. To just chant clear skies until she was calm.
Pepa did not chant clear skies.
And Alma's words did not echo in head. The words words were the cruel ones of the kids in front of her. And the cruel laughter.
Lightning was fast. Everyone knew that. But Pepa had always kept it under control. It never left the cloud. Not on purpose. Maybe some built up static on someone's clothes might cause a close call, or if she was standing too close to a light pole, but...it never hit anyone on purpose. The ground, sure. A person, a kid no less? Absolutely not. Alma would kill her.
But she didn't care this time. This time it was on purpose. She wasn't even aware she could direct the lightning like that.
And before anyone knew it, the one who had said those cruel words to Bruno ate them. He screamed, hitting the ground at his clutched his arm. His sleeve was singed, not on fire, but still smoking. He cried, clutching it with his free hand. The other kids rushed to him.
Pepa seethed, panting as she stared at what she had done. Bruno had grabbed arm, not to hold her back, but likely to ground her. Julieta had done the same, not immediately reaching for her nearby bag that had some of her healing food in it. Not yet. For now she just...stared.
"You're one to talk! You have a face only a mother could love!" Pepa spat, baring her teeth. "And even she probably thinks you're a mistake!"
"Pepa!" Bruno said, his eyes widening as he tugged her backwards. Julieta had grabbed her bag, tossing a stale empanada from the previous day over to the group of kids.
"I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I never wanna see you again! I wish the mountains would open so you could get exiled!" Pepa screamed.
"Freaks! Y-You're all freaks!" One of the older ones screamed, slaping the empanada away from a kid who had picked it up. "You're the ones who need to be exiled!"
The triplets were just out of view. But Pepa'a voice still echoed. "You wouldn't even be here if it weren't for our family! For my papá!"
"Maybe your papá deserved it!" The kids screamed over the storm forming.
There was silence. The storm had stopped. Just for a minute. Then clouds covered the whole sky. The thunder was loud, and the rain immediate. The clouds started the swirling, circling un a way that meant only one natural disaster, though, this was all but natural.
A hurricane.
The rest of the kids scrambled, leaving him on the ground. They knew what he said was wrong. They knew how sensitive a topic the Madrigal triplets' father was. And they were not going to be at the receiving end of whatever hell they were about to bring onto that boy.
And that boy? He was dead silent once he realized he was figuratively and literally in the eye of the storm.
-----
Guys I love them so much I gotta catch up on my fics FOR REAL
Will start this out by stating that this is a combination of observation and analysis so take it with a grain of salt.
(If you like sasusaku/ss, this ain't for you so please do yourself a favor and scroll away.)
naruhina + boruto version.
This is definitely the most fucked up thing to ever come in fruition in the sequel and they weren't even justified in Gaiden. LMAO.
Diving into this family's issue at hand, it's pretty much about Sasuke being an absent father and being away from his family for more than a decade--not to mention that Sasuke is able to freaking report to the Hokage but not even pay a visit to his family.
Gaiden was pretty much good at covering the topic already but let's break down how dysfunctional it is:
The lack of evidence signified about Sasuke and Sakura being married. We see pictures of Sakura and Sarada at important moments of her life but not a single wedding photo. Sarada pretty much asking Sakura if she's really Sasuke's wife is valid because she won't doubt from the beginning if there was telltale evidence supporting that information. There isn't.
The "family" photo. Sasuke was roughly seventeen in that photo, not to mention it's next to Sakura who is in her 30s at that point. Isn't it strange? No updated photo since they got married? What's fucked up is that she had to cover up the rest of Taka behind that photo. That raised more questions, specifically, Sarada asking who those people are and who is the one wearing glasses like she does.
And, yeah. The glasses thing. It was a simple yes or no question. Sakura saying that she doesn't know is inane because they had spent time as Team 7 in the past, not to mention the sporadic moment they see each other (Orochimaru's hideout, that bridge where she tried to kill him but failed), and during the war. I don't know where she's looking but Sasuke hasn't worn glasses at all and if she can't answer that simple question, that says more about her. Anyway, that fed the idea that she doesn't know a single thing about her husband at all and Sarada notices this. Naruto who was able to say information about Sasuke unprompted, pretty much what Sarada needed to hear--yeah, I know. Shocker.
Sasuke's first meeting with Sarada. I've seen enough takes about him being an absent father. I'm not disagreeing with that. However, I present another perspective: Sasuke doesn't even know what his daughter looks like even though it's been shown that he was in Konoha at the time that Naruto is already Hokage (which would mean Sarada would be around seven or eight years old) and Sakura is in that same room, too. You're telling me that she couldn't have at least fucking introduce Sarada and Sasuke to each other? It's easy to shift the blame to the absent father because he simply isn't there but when Sakura, who knows the mission and with uncertainties on its duration, couldn't have made the initiative to simply give the kid an assurance that yeah, this is your dad, he exists and to Sasuke, she's Sarada and she's seven and she wears glasses. If making them meet is too much, at least a fucking photo would suffice it. But no. Nothing of the sort coming from Sakura. Why? Because she's okay with Sasuke being absent. She doesn't see any issue with it.
Communication. This is a controversial take and I will keep it simple. If Naruto and Sasuke can communicate and contact each other, what's stopping Sakura from reaching out to Sasuke? Isn't she his wife? She could literally write her own letter and send it alongside Naruto's but no efforts had been made on that. This is the benefit of the doubt but if Sakura at least reached out, then it's up to Sasuke to either intentionally ignore that or respond to her. My point here is initiative--it has been shown time and time again that she can do that, we've seen instances of it in the prequel. Did she stop because she finally got what she wants and is content with whatever crumbs she could hold on to?
Sarada's birth. The sketchiest of them all. Some people wrote excellent analysis on this so please do check them out. My two cents on this is Orochimaru discussing cloning to Naruto and pretty much piquing Sarada's curiosity about the concept (which later on led to DNA testing as courtesy of Suigetsu). Sasuke pretty much reacted this way:
Usually, ellipsis in media is used when the character is pondering/thinking about something. It also represents speechlessness or a pause. Now tell me, if Sarada's birth isn't sketchy and was in some sort of way, normal, why did Sasuke casted that wayward side glance? The entirety of Gaiden as well as this page was meant to make the readers question Sarada's conception. For a backstory, Kishimoto sure left more questions than answers.
Everything is unconventional like Sakura not keeping the umbilical cord and Karin has it instead, no records at Konoha Hospital when Sakura works there and can coordinate with the proper department/s to handle paperworks, traveling while pregnant (ma'am you are a medic-nin, make it make sense), etc. I will leave this as it is, again, it has been discussed extensively by various blogs here.
In conclusion, even in adulthood, Naruto and Sasuke knows each other best. They become expert parents (at least) around each other's kids. In a fucked up way, I think it's a silent cry for help aka look I'm good with your kid and we could've been good parents together but we were forced into these marriages.
Sasusaku ended up canon but it still doesn't change the fact that Sakura knows little to nothing about Sasuke to the point that Sarada picked up on that and even threw it at her face. At the end of the day, Naruto remained as the one and only that knows Sasuke's heart best.
Isn't it funny that Painted Verso wanted to lead to Painted Alicia's death but when Maelle gommages Alicia Verso is angry at the whole entire world? Like, tf is u mad about ho 💔 you wanted to lead to your sister's death anyway 💔💔💔
