rangerdayz

[rangerdayz]

What’s it like being a ranger?

Long days spent saving creatures, fighting with poachers--

Lots of plants! Reviving forestland and grasslands, restoring natural habitiat, growing weed...

Both ah y'all are fools, the best part is getting to travel anywhere in the world!

Can you three shut up, also how are you getting mail delivered to my house? The best part of working as a Ranger is saving the natural world, working against the dark market, saving creatures, and being able to leave the world better than we've found it.

[rangerdayz]

jeremy-lockhart​:

Jeremy knew that the Burke’s were the other way but judging by her accent she wasn’t from London so he didn’t hold it against her. “Mind if I come in and wait? You can have some of the tarts while we wait. So long as you give me feedback on them though.” Jeremy handed over the basket of tarts. “They’ll keep in the fridge for a couple of days but I want as much feedback as possible to see if its worth putting on the menu. “So where are you from?”

.

“Ahhh’m not sure if I can let in strangers, ain’t my place ‘nd all it’s not good manners to go inviting people into a place you’re borrowing,” for how long they’d be here she wasn’t sure, judging by Orenda’s burning of MACUSA mail it was probably gonna be a while. She eyed the blonde with a cursory eye, he didn’t seem dangerous, but neither did have the beasties her, Orenda and Justin conversed with. 

“We can step into the garden if it’ll please you,” she stepped up into his space, forcing him back a step and smiled, “’m from America, down South. I’m just here visiting for a while. So what has the Circus boy done to have his own delivery boy bringing him treats on a summer’s day?” 

[rangerdayz]

jeremy-lockhart​:

Fruit Tart || Belle & Jeremy

Tarts were Jeremy’s new line of desserts at the bakery. He always wanted people to try everything he made before he put it out for the public to buy. Justin happened to be one of his taste testers whether he wanted to or not now. Jeremy was testing out a variety of fruit tarts with a topping of chantilly cream. He knocked on the door and prepared himself by holding out the basket of tarts up like the gift it was. The person who opened the door wasn’t Justin though. “Oh hello there. Um is Justin home?”

Everyone was out today, in the wake of their crash landing it seemed that Orenda was reconnecting with American schoolmates and Duke... well Belle was never sure where Duke ever ran off to. Not that she ever wanted to no to be sure. Justin was well enough company, silent, easy going, never pushed her button enough to make her scream. But she grew bored of his stoic smiles and willful determination to have her do something.

She’d cut many logs in her day and had no wish to do it in London of all places.

So being confronted with a literal basket of fruit tarts, “Oh,” well it wasn’t a typical Wednesday for her no matter how anyone decided to spin it, “Justin ain’t here, went ‘round tha’ Burke place, up the way,” she jerked her chin towards the general direction of Knockturn Alley or was it down the other way? “didn’t say when he’ll be back either, so if those are perishable I’ll take ‘em fer ya.” and eat ‘em too, she was hungry and frankly Belle was having trouble with Justin’s oven that hadn’t seen use for any human meal in years it seemed.

[rangerdayz]

giggle-me-this​:

Running into someone from home was, unfortunately, very sobering. “Oh wow—you, in some kind of trouble?” Nate drawled in reply, his tone heavy with pointed sarcasm. Orenda and her low-key radical friend group were always getting into trouble with the administration at Ilvermorny for some social or environmental justice cause—a far different path of rebellion than Nate had ever dabbled in, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t experienced some occasional overlap. Or, at least, an acknowledgement of mutual misbehavior from afar. He fixed Orenda with a look. “…let me guess—the system set you up? It was totally not your fault?” He smirked wryly; it was kind of good to see her.

He thought about protesting Orenda dragging him away to do god-knows-what—but actually, now that he thought about it, Nate couldn’t even remember where he’d been going or what he’d intended to do with the rest of the night, anyway; in all likelihood it would have involved just wandering around, high-as-fucking-balls. At least going with Orenda would have the added benefit of being a thorough distraction from…Ralph everything else. 

He put a hand to his chest and gasped in mock offense. “Don’t insult me with such slanderous accusations, Orenda…I’d throw myself in the Thames before identifying with these stodgy Downton Abbey idiots…” Nate laughed at her outright contempt for all things British; it wasn’t often that he found anyone to commiserate on this subject with—besides Harriet, of course.

Which—naturally Orenda would inquire about that. Nate sighed wearily, rubbing at his dry, tired eyes. “She’s fine…I’m sure you’ll be happy to know we’ve actually renounced our wealth and titles and are slumming it outside of the social sphere these days…seriously, do you not read the papers? It was hot gossip for a minute…” Nate nodded toward a pub that was still open, where he was sure they would have some kind of food that Orenda would begrudgingly stomach. Plus, he could get a drink. “…we’re kind of involved with a crowd now that you would probably vibe with, actually…have you ever heard of a hedge witch?”

.

Orenda couldn’t help but throw him a grin - Nate had been tangled up accidently in one or more of her better presentations of the evils of MACUSA and their treatment of the environment and magical creatures. But say la V, who could blame her, getting Nate into trouble was practically a sanctioned sport. 

“Hey listen here buckoo,” she elbowed him, her knobby bone catching his ribs, “It was an honest mistake. We didn’t mean to blow up part of the fuckin’ Grand Canyon. You wouldn’t believe the Howler I got from my Gran-da when he found out what I done.” Her ears were still ringing something awful foul, if he could curse his own blood he might’ve done it that day. “Of course it was the fuckin’ system! They were sellin’ thunderbird eggs as if they aren’t a blessed creature and whatnot. What was I supposed to do? Not go after ‘em.” 

That day felt an eternity long, between Hayoon spinning like some blasted combat comet and Duke deciding to play the part of Poison Ivy it was a wonder they hadn’t breach International Magical Law, but it was a remote part of the Grand Canyon, the tourists would never notice. Patenaude probably already set it to rights bless his righteous heart.

“Thank the spirits for that bud, if you’d gone and become British I’d thrown you in myself right about now,” if the American had anything it was beer, freedom and a distinct hatred of becoming anything resembling a proper red coat. “Have you been eating like them and their absolute wack foods? Have you a jellied eel mate.” It was like gargling rocks, fuck.

She’d never known Nate to be so down, like a mopey sunflower with it’s head low and seeds scattered about. Frowning she nodded along to his slow ramble of what happened, “When I tell you what I’ve been up to you’d understand why I’ve not been reading the Daily Rag, fuck.” They stumbled through into the pub, and maybe this was the only thing she liked about British culture - getting to drink without a fakie. “Hedge Witch? Ya of course I’ve heard of a Hedge, I’ve got one livin’ outta my van and growing us pot while we run amok. They’re plenty normal to us Rangers - which is what I’ve been doing.” She flagged down a waitress.

[rangerdayz]

giggle-me-this​:

Nate had been somewhat adrift, since the business with Ralph.

Alright, no—more accurately, he’d been off his fucking mind on a bender for the ages, ever since he had been so unfortunate as to find one of his friends, the most beloved person in the whole safehouse, dead in the upstairs bathtub.

He couldn’t remember when was the last time he’d slept for more than a few hours in the back room at the bar or crashed for a nap at Olivia’s; in all honesty, Nate was afraid of dreaming. Dreams were Ralph’s domain and to partake in them would hurt too much to bear.

So Nate had been keeping himself busy and conscious by keeping himself, like—unbelievably fucked up. And so naturally, when Nate found himself peering down into the familiar eyes of one of his old Ilvermorny classmates, he figured he was definitely hallucinating.

He laughed in a deranged kind of way and the sight of Orenda Youngblood swiveled around in Nate’s unsteady vision for a moment. He put his hands on either side of his head, as if that would make any goddamn difference, and then he slurred, “What are youuu doing here, Hallucination-of-Youngblood?” Except that ow, she shoved pretty hard for a figment of his imagination; Nate swayed on his heels and had to steady himself by grabbing onto the pole of a streetlamp. He shook his head, and blinked at Orenda again. “Oh shit, you’re actually here huh…”

Nate groaned and rubbed at his eyes, which were dry and red with dark circles hanging beneath them like shadows on the moon. “Yeah, Harriet is…” he made a vague, convoluted gesture with his hand. “…around. Somewhere. I dunno—we did move to this shitty country, Orenda, remember? Or have my sister and I had some convincing-fucking-doppelgängers at Ilvermorny all these years?”

.

Orenda studied Nate, his eyes were dark, almost clouded with some unseen force. If she was honest he looked confounded and smelled half drunk. “If you really think your pea-brain can conjure a hallucinations of me then you’re fucking kidding yourself Pinnock.” She kept her voice light, but her brows furrowed still studying Nate, hoping for all the world she could keep him from toppling over when he inevitably ate it.

The Ranger rolled her eyes, watching him sway and bow like a palm tree, his chest rising and falling with breathes so close to ragged she wanted to check his heartbeat. Talk about a loving reunion of friends, though this seemed par for the course for Nate’s character. “Yes ya dipshit, I’m real,” she waved a general direction to the ground, being sure to pinch his elbow fat, “got myself into a spot of trouble so I’m stuck here, fuck.”

Slipping her arm around his Orenda decided the best way to sober up was a quick walk, she didn’t care to see if Nate had turned savage and would eat beans on toast or jellied eels or whatever the fuck else they ate in this scavenger country. “No but I woulda thought you’d come home at some point...” Orenda never kept up with the news, Ilvermorny had gotten dull for a few months when the Pinnock’s had taken off across the water. Not that she’d tell either of them that, no one needed Pinnock’s with bigger heads than they’d already been born with. “Don’t tell me you’re a red-coat now Nate. You might be colonizer blood but that still better than being British, fuck.”

Tugging him along she searched for any kind of street vendor, a hot dog or just coffee, “Do they only sell fucking hot leaf water here?” She peered into another half-lit shop, only to be confronted by pounds, “How in the Christian Hell have you been surviving this shit Nate?” Orenda pointedly looked him over, pausing to bit her lip to find any trappings of tact and humanity she usually lost in the forest and along backroads. “Seriously, what’s going on, you look like death or at least half way into the grave.” Orenda poked his ribs, a little harder this time, an awful thought growing in her brain, “Is Harriet okay?” 

[rangerdayz]

England was cold, not the same cold that settled between her bones while fog seeped into her skin and the light mist wrapped Orenda’s body like a cushion. It was a cloying cold, the type that rattled in her lungs and caught in her throat. 

They’d been exiled, banished, sent away from the homeland of her precious rocky shoreline and towering redwoods. No scent of wet dirt and fresh snow on the wind signaling the start of Autumn, no talks about winter hunts when she returned home to the reservation. England was separate, almost stately in it’s manicured gardens and chopped trees.

In short, Orenda wanted to leave the moment she’d touched down. But Cyprian and Arista made it clear they were not to return to America until after things simmered down - who knew blowing up part of the Grand Canyon would be such an issue? Which was why Orenda had to walk, there were no hikes or mountains to climb nearby, she’d already been told off by three people for idly scaling the brick walls - why have such great crimps if you can’t climb ‘em? - and Orenda was going crazy, fuck. She needed to move. Diagon Alley bustled, overbright even as the fog cleared for the day, people moved like zombies returning from night shifts or nights out clutching toast lathered in beans ( a disgusting invention ) toting friends across their shoulders. So when Orenda stepped out of the way of the drunkard fools she didn’t expect to land against a familiar arm, nor to crane her head back as if praying to the Spirit for guidance, finding only Nate goddamn Pinnock’s pureblooded face looking as if he’d seen an owl.

“Aho there, is this motherfuckin’ Nate Pinnock in my presence?” Orenda’s mouth curled into a familiar smile, her rough rez burr heavy on her tongue, “The great Prince of the goddamn Ilvermorny out here, lookin’ like ya got caught in a wood chipper, fuck.” Orenda grinned pushing at his shoulder, “Damn Pinnock for serious what ya doing out here, far and away from the Americas? Don’t seem right ta me.” She looked over his shoulder, half expecting to see Harriet pop out behind him, “Tell me your better lookin’ half is out here too damn.”

@giggle-me-this

[rangerdayz]

I want zee kay (from Oz to Duke pls thx)

Duke & Oz #12 - romantic kiss

They were tripping down the street, the unnamed bar glowed in the background. It was a large group they'd tumbled out of the bar with, Nate was ahead, in a deep chat with that blonde ( protective, motivated, pretty ) wolf-girl, while the other ( sharper, dangerous, smirking ) blonde wolf-girl was flirting with Justin's for-lyfer Mae. Orenda was throwing popcorn at Nate, where she'd gotten it was still a mystery.

So Oz and Duke were together, arms touching as they stumbled down the block, their fingers tangling together.

"Ya know," Duke took a deep breath, letting in oxygen and breathing out carbon dioxide and nicotine, "I think we ought to kiss."

Oz blinked down at him, those eyes were haunting, the sorta eyes Duke could get lost in. Oz unfurled his limbs like a fern, stretching out for sunshine and Duke couldn't help but want to bask in his shadow, in the filtered light that streamed through his curls and long fingers. He moved like a cat, even while stumbling and half drunk, so Duke tucked himself closer tilting his head up so his forehead was dusted with sweaty curls.

"You wha--"

"I think, we oughta kiss," Duke noted the open front of his shirt, the silk falling off his shoulders baring a wonderfully artful chest, skin like supple bark, bending to lean closer to his mouth. He tilted his head up, the pair still moving, but now Oz's hands, those lovely long hands, twisted around his neck like vines, and Duke turned. They backed slowly under a lamppost, the iron wedging between his shoulder blade. "I think we oughta--"

"I heard you the first time," Oz bent down, like a sunflower and Duke's mouth widened, his eyes fluttering closed as Oz's fingers ran through the blunt cut of his hair. He keened low, feeling as Oz's fingers dragged down his spine to hook around his waist. He groaned as finally, slowly, their lips touched.

In tandem the kissing pair threw middle fingers to the whooping mocking cheers of their comrades, and Duke opened his mouth as Oz dipped him low.

[rangerdayz]

saracamerons​:

kie + facial expressions

[rangerdayz]

aryaofoldstones​:

SKINS (2007 — 2013)

[rangerdayz]

mattysmurdock​:

Danielle Moonstar in THE NEW MUTANTS (2020)