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#After 14 years leo decides to run away
daboyau · 17 days
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I was watching lilo and stitch and that “you can never belong” scene came on and I got this idea in my head for that, but with ROTTMNT. So since I don’t do edits or draw, I wrote it out instead. Don’t think too hard about the logistics. :)
It is cold, when Leo slips out of the lair. He can feel Mikey’s gaze on him as he leaves, raising goosebumps over his flesh. He can’t bear to turn back, knowing that his resolve would crumble immediately if he did. His footsteps are too loud in the loneliness of the sewers. His heartbeat pounds in his head. He keeps expecting to hear a voice calling out for him, or the soft sound of footsteps following him. 
But of course it never comes. Mikey had been so hurt. So sad. Of course he wouldn’t follow him. 
When Leo finds a portal into the Hidden City, he doesn’t hesitate to throw himself through it despite the danger it puts him in to be there. The sounds and the sights are familiar to him, yet nowhere calls to him as loudly as the lair had. It’s only been two weeks since he was first brought into their home. They hadn’t even wanted him there, and yet the urge to go crawling back is so strong. He had messed everything up from the moment he’d manipulated his way into their lives. Of course they wouldn’t want him. 
(Why don’t they want him?)
Leo wanders the back alleys and the side streets, letting his feet guide him to nowhere in particular. The picture he had swiped on his way out of the lair is stored safely in the pouch tied around his waist, and between steps he’ll reach in to slide his fingertips over the stiff paper. Just to make sure it’s still there. It soothes him.
He doesn’t stop walking until he’s far outside the city, tucked away in the scraggly rock forests that surround the Hidden City. The aching in his chest has turned into more of a twisting knife, the small knot of sadness becoming more like a gaping chasm. An open wound. A bottomless pit of longing and loneliness that he had never felt before he forced his way into the lives of the Hamatos. 
He hadn’t had anything to lose, before. He hadn’t known the kind of pain that loving something would bring. He wishes he could go back to not knowing. He wishes he could return to a life of never having to make the choice to walk away, to spare them all the pain his existence brings them. 
Leo settles on the ground, curling into himself, shoulders trembling under the weight of everything. When he closes his eyes, the image of Mikey’s face as Leo made his choice haunts him. Donnie’s quiet voice rings in his ears in the silence of the forest, you ruined everything, again and again. Raph’s soft squeeze on his shoulder lingers like a phantom. Leo trembles, tucking his knees to his chest. Then, he pulls the photo out. 
Raph, Donnie, and Mikey grin up at him. It’s almost mocking, how happy they look here. A reminder that they are better without him around. He hadn’t seen them smile like that since the first five minutes they’d found him, back before they learned the truth of how much of their lives he can ruin. 
He runs a careful finger over those smiles, then he squeezes his eyes shut and holds the photo against his chest. His throat burns, and the ache in his chest feels like a black hole that will swallow his body whole. He does his best to breathe through the pain and when he opens his eyes again, the light speckled ceiling overhead is blurry and indistinct. It reminds him of the stars they had taken him to see, wind tickling his skin as they sat on the rooftop of the tallest building of their strange human city and stared upwards at something beautiful.
“Lost,” he whispers to the open air, and he can almost imagine that single word floating upwards, towards the city and the sewers. Finding its way into the only place he’s ever found that might have one day held happiness. But only for him. Not for them. There was only danger if he stayed.
“I’m lost,” he repeats, words like some trouble confession, and hot tears roll down his cheeks.
Some small, selfish part of him hopes they’ll hear. He wants them to come for him, and to bring him back home. It is a stupid, foolish wish. It’s better for everyone that he stays gone. He can’t hurt them this way. 
He falls asleep with tears drying on his cheeks, and body curled tight around the only evidence he holds of a dream he knows can never be. 
When he wakes hours later, it’s to the sound of heavy footsteps over gravel. He jolts upright, heart pounding, eyes wide, and for one foolish, terrible moment he really believes that his family has come for him. 
But no. Of course not. When Draxum emerges with a weapon pointed at his head, Leo can’t find it within himself to feel surprised. He stares back blankly, shifting slowly to stand, halfway wishing that Draxum would just take the shot and get it over with. He doesn’t think he has the energy to raise a hand to defend himself. 
The gravel has left his legs peppered with indents and marks from where they’d pressed into his flesh as he slept. They sound like something breaking as they shift and crunch beneath his feet. Draxum’s eyes dart between those markings and Leo’s tear streaked face, before his expression twists into something complicated. Almost pitying. 
“Don’t run,” he says, voice low. If Leo hadn’t heard what true kindness sounds like these last couple weeks, he would have said that’s what he hears in Draxum’s tone. “Don’t make me hurt you. You were difficult to make. No need to ruin a perfectly acceptable specimen.”
Leo shuffles, eyes darting between Draxum and the stacked stones surrounding them. He makes a sound low in his throat, hurt and uncertain, but he does not bolt. Draxum smiles, already assured of his victory, and steps closer. Leo watches with wide eyes. 
“Yes. Yes, that’s it,” Draxum murmurs, careful and soft, like he’s trying to soothe a scared animal. “Come quietly.”
“I…I’m waiting,” Leo admits, and he watches Draxum’s brow crease. His head tips, curious. He’s not used to this side of his creation — quiet, yet resisting his orders. Leo shuffles a half step back, heart pounding so hard in his chest that he feels a little dizzy. 
“For what?”
“For…for my family.”
“Aahhh. There is no use in doing so. You don’t have one. I made you.” 
Leo shakes his head, hands trembling, photo creased from how tightly he is clutching it in his fist. The thought of ruining the only evidence he has hurts, but the fear of Draxum getting his hands on it, of him finding out about the others, it terrifies him in a way he’s never felt before. He can’t let Draxum know about them. 
“Maybe…maybe I could—“
“I don’t know what yokai fool you found, or what nonsense they’ve been filling your mind with, but banish the thought of family from your mind.” His voice has lost that careful, gentle farce. It is harsh and cutting now. A familiar sound that Leo had hoped he’d left behind forever when he ran away. “You are built to destroy. You can never belong. Now, come quietly and we can begin your reeducation once—no! No no, don’t run, don’t—!”
His voice fades as Leo darts through the towering stones, vines curling at his heels and snapping at his shell as Draxum tries to recapture him. The picture flutters from his fingertips as he trips, lost amongst the shadows of the stone forest. Leo sobs, but he does not turn back for it. It is better if it is lost; at least then, he may be able to move on. 
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bratshaws · 2 years
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goodness gracious 78. brb x oc
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a/n: *sprinkles some shit in this chapter because I am just feeling like it * also this week might be a bit rough for me but I will keep uploading daily. If I don't I'll let you guys know, just send some good vibes my way peeps I think I'll need it.
check out the fic's playlist made by the sweet @wiipes !!
pairing: plus size!oc x rooster
warnings: fluff??, Bea's brothers (esp Michael ) being a gd menace
chapters:
1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28/29/30/31/32/33/34/35/36/37/38/39/40/41/42/43/44
45/46/47/48/49/50/51/52/53/54/55/56/57/58/59/60/61/62/63/64
65/66/67/68/69/70/71/72/73/74/75/76/77
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-
Beatrice keeps her eyes on her brothers as they run after the pilots, it was almost comical how both Michael and Guillermo literally stood out from the group by being so immensely tall, with an average sized Leonardo right behind. It wasn’t so bad, at first, they all worked together really nicely, avoiding being tackled just by leaping away.
That is until Guillermo remembered that he was a quarterback and he had a lot more power than most of the guys. He could trek through the others so easily, holding the ball above his head with his face so blank it was like Michael Myers decided to play. The others tried everything, jumping to grab the ball, Coyote even dug his feet into the sand only for Guillermo to just drag him forward when he walked.
It was hilarious.
And a bit worrisome.
Beatrice couldn’t sit down, she kept pacing in front of the seating area about to step in if Bradley got hurt - she didn’t think her brothers would hurt him willingly, but it was still something to think about. He seemed to be having fun, laughing and avoiding Guillermo’s huge frame by skidding to the left like she told him to do, but the ball remained in between her oldest brother’s hands.
Every once in a while, Rooster looked over to where she was just to let her know he was fine, he wanted desperately to walk over and kiss her just to prove he was okay, but he could. The game was still going and her brothers were there, well, he knew Michael and Leonardo wouldn’t mind but Guillermo was a bit of an enigma to him still.
The oldest of the Schiavoni siblings was the quiet brooding type, but he knew he always softened when it came to Bea. Even if Bradley was now accepted into the family, there were still other things he had to deal with along the way…he wondered how they’d feel once they found out they were going to live together.
She wanted to tell her parents last, but said nothing of her siblings. He didn’t know if there was a time where it’d be easier to let them know…but until then, he could handle this. They already got a place! They just had to make it public. 
They didn’t know how long they stayed there, but there was a point where Guillermo stepped out saying he was done. He put on his shirt and grabbed the keys from Michael’s pocket when his brother was distracted, telling him he’d be waiting in the car but not before he got closer to Bea and kissed her forehead, giving her the smallest yet kindest smile that dropped back to the neutral line as he nodded to the other women and walked back to the car.
Then Leonardo stepped back too, pressing two fingers on his wrist to check his heartbeat, “Fucking Christ,I’m old.”
‘You are one year older than Brad, Leo.”
Leonardo grumbled, “Yeah, don’t remind me.” he mutters, tapping his shirt free of sand before he puts on his top as well, groaning in pain when he lifts his arms, “My joints feel like granite.”
“I think you are exaggerating.” her brother just glared her way, playfully shoving her shoulder with a small smile. The male pilots were drenched with sweat, panting like old dogs that could no longer hunt while Michael was beaming, skin flushed red and just as covered with sweat, but he looked nothing like the others. He looked younger than he was, the hair he usually kept in his half bun falling in front of his eyes, “He looks happy.”
“I’m sure he does.” Leonardo groans, “I think I need some first aid.”
“Oh shush.” Beatrice playfully swats his bicep, then turns her attention to Bradley who looked downright delectable shining with sweat and flushed such a lovely red color. His chest heaved with his breathing, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, but his lips immediately turned into a smile when he met her eyes. “Not too hurt,right?” 
Her question earns a soft laugh out of him, “No, not hurt at all, to be honest.” he looks back to where Michael is, putting on his shirt and buttoning as low as before, “It was really fun.” he could see those green eyes brimming with worry, even if she smiled, it was obvious she wanted to know if he was alright without asking. He smirks, “I’m fine, I promise.”
“Okay.” she replies with a sigh, nodding towards him with her hands clasped together.
Michael is all smiles, grinning so wide it’s like his head was going to get split in half with how happy he was. He clapped Leonardo’s shoulder, tugging him to his chest and earning a ‘ew your wet chest hair is all over my face!’ which the promptly decided to ignore, keeping his brother close, “That was really fun, wasn’t it Leo? Of course it was.” Leonardo rolled his eyes with a frown, seeing that his brother answered his own question, “Anyway, let’s do that again, I moved back and I think it’ll be good for the old bones to get back into sports.”
Beatrice arches one eyebrow at him, “You are a boxer, Michael…and you are forty one, you are not old.”
“Maybe, but I’m getting there.” he chuckles, a deep humming sound that comes from within his chest, “At least we’ll live close by, huh Bea? We’ll be almost neighbors.”
Oh.
Beatrice opened her mouth to speak but the words were stuck in her throat, something that Bradley noticed, placing a hand on her lower back to comfort seeing how anxious she was starting to get. Beatrice’s body relaxed once she feels his huge hand touching her back, thumb following the line of her spine soothingly, the repetitive movements helping her nervous heart ease down, “Well–”
“Oh, you moved close to their new place? That’s pretty cool!” comes Shells voice from the side, unaware that her siblings had no idea she planned on moving in with Rooster nor that they already got themselves a place to stay. Michael and Leonardo slowly turned their head to their little sister, the oldest of the two with his hands on his hips and his smile turning confused.
“Wait, moving in? I wasn’t told of that.” comes Leonardo’s voice, breaking the silence and looking over his shoulder to see if Guillermo was coming back. He wasn’t, thankfully, because that would only turn this situation a lot messier than they thought.  But both Michael and Leo were a lot more attuned with Beatrice’s feelings than their older brother, and one look at her was enough to tell him that she was very nervous to say that, “...but you don’t need my permission! You are almost thirty and no longer a child! I’m very happy for you!”
Beatrice blinks up in surprise, her worried façade melting into a relieved smile as she hears her brother’s comforting words to her. Of course Michael would be supportive, he was the…rebel of the family, he’d be all for a sudden chaos or a break in the common family chain. Leonardo’s smile…she isn’t sure if it’s because of pain or because he’s happy as well - maybe both - followed by his weak thumbs up because he couldn’t lift his arm higher than that, was heartwarming too.
Unfortunately they couldn’t stay, a short but loud horn vibrated from the front of the bar, which meant Guillermo was telling them to speed it up. Michael scoffs, muttering to himself about how he was a ‘spoilsport’ before he turns to Beatrice and kisses her forehead before messing her hair with one of his hands. She whines out a complaint, slapping his bigger hand from her head only to earn a deep chuckle, before hitting knuckles with Bradley as a goodbye.
Leonardo did the same, albeit with more groans and moans of pain, having to be escorted out of the little seating area by his older brother picking him by the shoulder and carrying him forward like a toddler. Beatrice waved them both goodbye, easing out a nervous breath she didn’t even notice she was holding, turning her head back to Rooster who had his lips tilted in a small smirk, “That wasn’t so bad.” she mutters once her brothers are both far from sight, “I expected…I don’t know what I expected.”
“Well, we both know sometimes our expectations aren’t what we end up with.” he replies casually, leaning down to kiss the top of her head as the officers behind them talked amongst themselves, “We better go back home, I need a shower. I’d hate to come back to the bar sticking with sweat.”
“Yeah, that’d be terrible.” she giggles, grabbing his hand that dropped from her lower back, interlacing their fingers together, “Penny would probably kick you out.” she whispered the last part since the bar owner was sitting just a few steps away with Pete by her side, “You know she hates when people come smelling to the bar.”
Bradley laughs softly, agreeing with her before he grabs his white tank tee he left folded on one of the seats. Both of them wave their goodbyes, the officers telling Bea to ‘invite her brothers again whenever she wanted’ and she laughs with the promise she’d do that, knowing that Michael would be more than happy to come. Leo, not so much. He’d probably be still soaking his muscles in hot water by the time they play another game.
-
She didn’t know how it happened, but she and Bradley were now walking Jolene past midnight around his neighborhood after her shift at the Hard Deck. Maybe it was because the weather wasn’t too cold that night and the heat would be dealt with by walking close to the shore, but it was very nice.
“I half expected Michael to show up at the bar.” she says as she sits on the sand, Jolene a bit ahead of them sniffing a little mound that undoubtedly had a crab inside that wasn’t stupid enough to come out, “With him here and all now, he’d be the type to surprise visit me.”
Bradley chuckles, leaning back on his hands as they watch the waves crash against the sand quite strongly, but they were at a safe distance from the ocean. “I don’t think it’d be so bad if he did, the others liked him.” he shrugs, “He’s fun, a bit crazy, but fun.”
“I know he is fun…but the crazy part is also true. My brother has the alcohol tolerance of a purebred horse, I’ve never seen someone chug so much alcohol and not be affected by it.” she mutters, bringing her knees up to her chin so she could hug her legs,  holding them close to her by clasping her wrist. But she had a smile on her face in the end, “But I love him, I know I complain about my siblings a bit but I love Mike. I’m glad he’s back.”
Not to mention that having him back meant she’d have more help when it comes to getting a new car. Her father knew cars like the back of his hand, but his knowledge of modern vehicles was limited and his interest wasn’t really the best, preferring everything before her birth and backwards. Michael however, was the one that knew everything about cars and motorcycles, not that she’d get a motorcycle but it’s good to have that type of knowledge.
Silence takes over them after a while, the wind hitting their faces and Beatrice lowering her lips to prevent them from getting dry,”You know,” she begins, shaking her head with a smile, “I’ve been thinking about it and…I mean,I…” shr shrugs, still trying to find her words, “A lot has happened before I turned thirty. And…I don’t know I guess it’s more than I ever expected.” he turns his head towards her in questioning and Beatrice drops her hand to the sand to draw with her fingernail, “I think the main one is well,I met you.”
She looks at him with her face red, seeing his lips curl up into a pleased smile, “And ever since then, I guess…my life took a turn for the better. I was really stagnant,Roos. I was part of a routine that never changed: wake up, have breakfast, take Jolene on a walk, get back, do yoga, spend, I don't know how long, worrying about stuff, go to the bar, repeat. I don’t regret it, it wasn’t a bad type of routine it was just…you know? The usual thing every day. And probably wallow in my own self pity and anxiety until I could no longer understand what was reality and what was a figment of my imagination.” 
Bradley hums, scooting closer to her so their shoulders touch, grabbing the hand that was currently drawing on the send to lift to his lips, kissing her knuckles with a smile. “Well, you know when it’s real or not now, right?” her cheeks redden but she nodded. He looks down at her fingers, especifically her ring finger with interest, rubbing its length with his thumb much to Beatrice’s obliviousness. He knew it was dumb, but he was trying to figure out her size with his own fingers - which were bigger than hers by a good amount.
He couldn’t get to the jewelry box she keeps in her room to check for other rings, so he was improvising right now. Beatrice didn’t stop him, she just leaned her head on his shoulder as both watched the waves.
“You know what makes me really excited about all this?” she asks, enjoying the caressing to her fingers with a smile, “We have similar decoration styles.”
He stops, furrows his eyebrows then relaxes them with the realization, “Wow, we do. I never noticed.” Of course Beatrice had the pop culture mixed in, which he doesn’t mind but their whole ‘aesthetic’ per se was very minimalist and neutral colored, modern too. “I guess that makes it easier for us to figure out how to arrange the house how we like it.”
God they had a house. Fair, it was rented but they had a house. He was now slowly starting to notice that this was a real deal, that Beatrice and him were going to really live together. He knew there were things that he couldn’t control, like whenever he was deployed - which thankfully there were no talks about it yet- and she’d be pretty much alone in their house with Jolene. And while Jolene was a pitbull, she was never aggressive, she was actually a bit of a scaredy cat most of the time.
But that could wait until they moved in, he didn’t want to think about being deployed now, fearing that just thinking about it would make it happen sooner than later. It was his job but that didn’t mean he wanted it to happen before they moved in and she had to do everything alone. God he hoped it’d take a little while longer for him to actually go.
“Yeah, and there are rooms in the house where we can put one of the couches. And we have a guest room too.” she explains, breaking him out of his worried thoughts, “So we can put one of the beds. I think we’ll use the space really nicely, don’t you?”
“Well it is a lot of space.” he chuckles, “I think we’ll do good.”
“Yeah.” she whispers, her head lifting from his shoulder with her lips forming an ‘oh!’ “Oh, so I was thinking, for my birthday,” he slowly turns his head towards her, arching one eyebrow, “Maybe we can go karaoke and go eat out somewhere! What do you think? We can invite some people too.”
Bradley tries his best to keep his face neutral, pursing his lips with a nod “I think I can do that.” He hopes she couldn’t see in his face how he already had everything planned, settled and ready to go for next week. Thank God for Evelyn’s amazing organization skills, because neither he or Shells would be able to pull half of the things she did. She had a whole file where she put down everything needed for Beatrice’s surprise birthday party, “I don’t see why not.” Her brilliant smile was enough to make his heart turn into goo, she looked so happy just by the thought of having their friends and himself on a little get together.
Oh if only she knew what was going to happen, “I mean, I could ask some of my family members to come too. My parents wouldn’t join, they aren’t very…tech savvy, but Michael,Leo and Cyn would.” he hums, agreeing with her, keeping in mind to send them a message before he forgot, “But it’ll be fun!”
“Of course it will, we are going to celebrate you.” he replies smoothly just so her cheeks turned crimson and her eyes softened as she looked at him. When the wind started to pick up, Jolene rushed to their side and launched herself in between them, curling against their bodies trying to shield herself from the wind, “I think it’s better if go back,” he says already pushing himself upwards, helping Beatrice up and smiling down at the pittie who remained in between the two “Jojo is ready to leave.”
“Howling wind does make her a bit nervous, come here baby.” she coos, picking the dog up so she could carry her like an actual child, with Jolene’s huge head nestled on the curve of Beatrice’s shoulder. She follows Brad to the Bronco, still holding Jolene tight to herself but blinks when she feels the furs on her back suddenly stand to an end, “Jojo?” the dog’s head is directed somewhere else, her throat vibrating in a quiet growl that makes both of them stop and look at her, “Jojo, what’s the matter? Maybe there’s a cat.” Beatrice answers Bradley’s confused stare.
Both of them jump at a loud bark breaking the silence, something that Jolene never does and that makes both of the humans with her stare into the darkest part of the street. Rooster’s narrowed eyes try to see something, anything, but it was too dark for him to see, so he steps in front of Beatrice in hopes he could have any idea why Jolene suddenly got mad. He hears Beatrice gently calming Jolene down, the low growling still present which meant that whatever was bothering her was still in the direction they were all looking at, “Brad?” Beatrice’s soft voice calls, which promptly makes him hold a hand back for her to be quiet for a bit, moving his eyes around but not being able to see anything.
There is a noise from beyond, the clatter of a trash can’s lid falling to the ground making Jolene bark one more time, except this time Bradley can see what was actually bothering her: a raccoon. “Oh my God,” Beatrice heaves out a sigh, watching the small animal scurry away from there and disappear into the night “God that scared me.” Jolene ‘boofed’ towards the gray critter in warning, “It was just a raccoon, Jojo, it’s all good.”
Bur Bradley wasn’t convinced. He didn’t know why but his eyes remained in the same direction, Jolene wouldn’t bark even for squirrels, why would she bark for a raccoon? He was starting to get the same feeling from when Damon was not following them. Something in him was on high alert, something in him got closer to Beatrice, gently ushering her to the car with his narrowed gaze back to the dark area. If there was someone there, a mugger or something of the sort, they didn’t step closer.
Unless it was, God forbid, Chloe…but she already fucked her career enough, she wouldn’t try to pull any bullshit like that. He hesitated on going back, only moving when Beatrice calls him and he walks to the driver’s side with his eyes still on the same direction, getting into the car to see Beatrice looking back as well, since Jolene supported her huge head on the top of the back seat, “Do you think there’s something else there?”
He kept his eyes on the rear view mirror, trying to see if there was something moving or any light that would turn on the second they got to the car, but there wasn’t, “I don’t know, maybe there’s more raccoons. I can’t be sure.” 
“A person?”
Bradley inhales, turning the car on, “I’m not sure, baby.” if there was, they were really well hidden in there, so well hidden he couldn’t see anything, “It is past midnight, strange people roam around this time. Can’t be too careful.” she agrees, leaning back against the seat to sigh softly, placing her interlaced hands on top of her thighs. While still a bit nervous by Jolene’s sudden aggressive behavior to whatever it was hidden in the dark, they managed to get back to his apartment safely.
Beatrice chews her lower lip once inside, running her hands through her hair as she thinks about what just happened minutes ago. It was strange, and a bit scary, but neither of them were hurt so that’s always good. She sighs, kicking off her sneakers and putting her bag on the coat hanger before she meets Bradley in the kitchen, pushing herself to sit on the counter top as he pours himself some water, offering a glass to her, “Thanks.” she murmurs, sipping the cool drink slowly, swinging her feet back and forth.
“You are welcome.” he says back, kissing her cheek and leaning his lower back on the counter’s edge, trying to ease his mind from what happened by thinking of anything but Jolene’s weird behavior, “So, when do you want to check the car out?”
“I’ve looked some stuff up and probably on monday.” she says, holding the glass with both hands, “I can ask Mike to help me out, so you don’t have to worry. He’s really good with cars and whatnot…and well, he has a lot of experience with cars and motorbikes and such.” she shrugs, giving him a small smile, “And well, yeah,I think that’d be good.”
“I’m okay with that,” the pilot replies with a little smile, drinking his own water slowly, “It’ll be a long week, but I’ll be calm enough for your birthday on Saturday.” he grins, kissing her forehead when she gave him a thankful smile, dropping his lips to the tip of her nose then her mouth, “I think around…eight would be a good time to go, huh?” not because that was the scheduled time Evelyn managed to get them, but Bea didn’t have to know that.
“I think so! It’s usually open around seven, so yeah!It’ll be fine!” she grins, still swinging her feet, “Did you ever go to a karaoke bar?”
Bradley chuckles, “Have I? Yes, absolutely.”
“And what’s your go to song?” she asks with genuine interest, placing the empty glass in the sink, “Any Jerry Lee Lewis ones?”
“While I love his music, very few karaoke bars have them.I had a bit of everything, and I’m not telling you yet, it’ll be a surprise when we go there.” he finishes his sentence by taking a slow sip of his water.
Beatrice stares at him for a while, her smile widening, “It’s Backstreet Boys isn’t it?” he chokes, placing a hand under his chin to hold back the dribble as he tries to calm down his shocked coughing. He didn’t know how she figured out so easily, he wasn’t exactly ashamed of liking Backstreet Boys, they were a good band, but it wasn’t something he shared with everyone, “I’ve heard you humming to I Want it That Way one time in the shower when you thought I was asleep. It was really cute, Roos.”
Bradley licks his lips and wipes his chin, his coughing diminishing until it is finally gone, “It’s a good song.” she just giggles, mentioning it was cute no matter what and Bradley’s cheeks warm up just a bit, just enough for him to look away. He honestly preferred them to think about him singing Backstreet Boys by the top of his lungs than what happened close to the beach hours before. “What about you, what is your favorite song?”
Beatrice shrugs, “I don’t have one. I think. I can never really choose, I get a bit…over excited when I see the options.” 
“I thought you were going to say Great Balls of Fire but,” he shrugs, with a little pout, looking away from her, “I’m not hurt by it.” Beatrice laughs, which in turn makes his lips quirk up in a smile as he steps closer to her, her legs parting so accommodate him better, “But seeing you singing it was really good for me.” he mutters with his lips on hers.
Beatrice however, blinked, her lips just brushing his as her head recoiled in surprise, “Where did you see me singing it?”
“Shells sent me the video when you guys went there, when I was deployed.” Beatrice’s face slowly lost color, little by little the usual light peach coloring turned lighter and lighter, “It was really cute, you don’t have to be embarrassed.”
“Oh my God, that’s why she was recording!! She just said to keep it for prosperity!!” she covers her face with both hands, whining into her palms, “That’s so–”
“Cute and adorable and probably sexy too since it’s you we are talking about.” he smiles, hugging her shoulders when her forehead pressed on his chest, “You know it is. And you know I loved seeing you singing it.” Beatrice whines again on his shirt, her face so hot he could feel it through his top, “And you can sing it again at a…later time…when we are alone and less clothed.”
Her swat to his arm was light but enough to sting a bit, lifting her head just enough to glare at him playfully,”You are terrible.” she’s still blushing a violent shade of red “But I’ll consider.” she yelps out in surprise when he picks her up by the legs, laughing when he travels all the way back to his room, kicking the door behind him.
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5cythz · 6 months
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Introducing! TMNT: The Clan Wars!
This is my iteration of TMNT!
Things you need to know:
In this AU, the Hamato clan and Foot clan have been at war for multiple generations.
Currently, the Hamato Clan is being run by Karai and the Foot Clan is being run by Oroku Saki, aka, the Shredder. (Duh). However, what’s fun about this is that these two are siblings. Having both been raised in the Hamato clan, this has turned a bit from a clan war to a sibling war.
In this iteration, Mikey, Donnie, Raph, and Leo were raised directly in the middle of the Hamato Clan. Therefore, they were taught Ninjitsu by Splinter, along with the help of other members of the clan who have been teaching it for years.
It isn’t till the boys reached the ages of 13, 14, and 15, that Splinter decides he’s had enough of this and leaves, taking the boys to the one place he has ever lived in BEYOND Japan, New York.
Splinter had left the Hamato clan when he first turned 21 and tried to live a new life away from his past in New York. It isn’t till a few years later that he finds himself in the middle of a Foot clan lab where 4 baby turtles were being experimented on that he stops fighting his past. In the cross hairs, he gets himself mutated, along with the 4 turtles and knows he can’t raise them alone. He feels a responsibility to go back to his clan and warn them of what he had seen.
He hates seeing his kids being raised here, just as he had, and chooses to leave. He chooses that this isn’t worth it anymore.
The main story takes place 1 year after splinter returns to New York with his boys!
I’ll probably be posting about this a bit so if you have any questions, let me know!
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kittykittyanon · 2 months
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🍓🥑🥤🧃❄️🦴🧩
HIII KITTY!!! I HOPE YOU ARE HAVING A GREAT DAY OR NIGHT OR WHATEVER TIME IT IS FOR YOU!!! I THINK YOU ARE SUPER RAD 😎😎 AND I LOVE INTERACTING WITH YOU!! (I gotta come with up with a tag for you, i just realized 🤔🤔)
ANYWAY DON'T FORGET TO DRINK WATER AND EAT IF YOU'RE HUNGRY OR USE THE BATHROOM IF YOU NEED!! LOTS OF HUGS AND KISSES (you can ignore the personal lore one if it makes you uncomfy :D)
GAH!! HAIII!! I GOT THIS ASK WHILE I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF TYPING OUT MY COMMENT ON YOUR AO3 POST!!!! what great timing, amor!!
I LOVE INTERACTING WITH YOU TOO!!! gosh,, i was just about to add that into my ask to you!!!! i decided not to cause i already said it in a recent ask, but you're really very thumbs up!!! /pos!!!
and for the ask game;;
🍓 - "how did you get into writing fanfiction?"
ooohhh,,, what a story. i had my start on wattpad!! i first found out about it when i was 8 and on my school bus, i stood on my seat to peek over a highschool girl's chair to look at her phone 'cause i was curious and a bit of a dumdum. she had wattpad opened and was reading a story and i was instantly hooked and reading alongside her without her knowing ☆⌒(>。<) when she noticed me, she exited out of it and i saw the app name and got it as soon as i got home. ever since i read my first bnha fic, i've been writing. ((but if you mean writing stories in general? i remember writing one with a friend back in first grade, but other instances of me writing before 2018 were very rare!! i've always had that want to do something creative since i've been able to hold a pen, so i guess it makes sense lmao))
🥑 - "you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?"
cry, panic,, then run to @lykaiosthinks or @itsyagurlchip (*ノ∀`*)
🥤 - "recommend an author or fanfic you love"
OH ABSOLUTELY??? if i had to say my favorite writer here, it'd be @ziipzeepzop-eez,, and for my other recommended awesome writers whose works are DELICIOUS, they'd be @itsyagurlchip, @lykaios2, @sleepytime-fics, @tmnt-narratives, @oleander-nin, and @amorvincitomnia-14 ((YOU!!))
as for yummy yummy fics: whatever you do, don't get attached by @sleepytime-fics where reader gets yoinked into the rise universe after eating a very silly fruit, and every night the longest day by ashtreelane on ao3 where leo gets cursed by a mystic user during a fight that makes it so he cannot sleep. at all. ((VERY ANGSTY. HEED THE TAGS.))
🧃 - "share some personal lore you never posted about before"
my family's always been adoring of cats. my very first cat was a big fluffy grey cat, the only memory i have of said meow meow is when my dad had to give him away. i think my parents have a picture of me petting him? for the next couple years we'd always feed the cats outside, some of them even coming inside sometimes to chill with us, until my mom came home one day with a big tabby cat that followed her up the stairs and into our apartment where he is now part of our family, fondly named "chunky"!! then a year later, a pregnant cat we'd been feeding for a while gave birth to kittens, of which we took in as ours :3
❄️ - "what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?"
mweeehhh,, i don't necessarily have a dream plot for anything, but if i had to have one? i'd pick something to do with me and donnie because of course i would /lh (though i prefer platonic a TON more than romantic) and i'd want myself to write it 'cause i know myself best. (similar to your answer, amor!!)
🦴 - "is there a piece of media that inspires your writing?"
ehhhh, not really?? i guess sometimes i get inspired by other writers' works, but if i had to pick some sort of media it would be music or games!!
🧩 - "what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?"
no paragraph breaks, and constant author's notes in the middle of the fic itself!! i'm not reading a screen-full of text without spaces— and i wanna read the fic uninterrupted thankyouverymuch (つω`。)
this post's a long'un (attempted british accent /lh)
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q-ueen-potato · 11 months
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So, I made a real introduction to Hobie's sibilings here.
For the ones that doesn't know what I am talking, Is canon in the 'main' earth that Hobie Brown is the youngest of nine kids, so I decided to make his sibilings in his earth(Spider Punk earth).
The pictures are all from pinterest just so you all can have a idea of the vibe of each one.
- Frederick "Fritz" Brown
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Age: 35 years old
Former teacher, got arrested for the second time for "indoctrination" and being against the government. Responsible brother, helped raise his sibilings when his father left. He is wise but not boring, he will speak his mind with no fear.
Most of the times feels responsible for his younger sibilings since he had to be almost a father to them.
-Agnes "Nessie" Brown
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Age: 32 years old.
Vintage queen, like 99% of her wardrobe are his mom's former clothes. She is literally the favorite sibiling of all of them. Social activist, she is currently working to get in the politics to try change the fascist state.
Traveled the whole world, got a shot once(Her siblings has no idea) and has a adopted son that is a refugee from a communist country.
-Gilbert "Bert" Brown
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Age:30 years old.
70% style, 30% chaos and 100% whore. Bert was the one that introduced Hobie to punk culture, he owns a pup where Hobie usually play.
Has twins daughters but rarely see them because their mother hates him. Made a tattoo at 14. He supports his sibiling on anything they do and is always ready to help. Gave an flat in the same building as his to Hobie so they could have drinking nights(and he could keep an eye in his brother)
-Theodore "Tod" Brown
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Age: 27 years old. Younger twin
At age 17 he and his sister run away with the circus. They do stunts and other acts. He is always changing the color of his hair but most of the time is pink. Sends random pictures at the group chat.
He and Hobie once got in a fight and they broke each other's arms...the fight was about the last slice of cake....that Leo ate in the end.
-Lucile "Lulu" Brown
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Age:27 years old. older twin.
Works at the circus with her brother, also handle the circus finances. She is responsible for sending random song lyrics or memes tk the group chat.
Once she knocked out a man with a metal chair, she wears heels to everything since she is small and hates it. Had a funny laugh
-Abraham "Abe" Brown
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Age: 24 years old
He is a vigilant named Black Tiger, he had worked at the side of Spider-man more than once(the two not knowing their identities). Martial arts master, he was a Prodigy since childhood and had teached the move that made Hobie broke Tod's arm.
Had left the group chat like 3 times now but is always put back. Lives with his mom to protect her.
Leopold "Leo" Brown
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Age:22 years old.
Artist boy, sells his art at the street and was arrested 5 times because it. Has a scar for being beaten by the police. He is positive all the time. He still lives with his mom and knows Hobie is spider man since he was biten.
He is tall just like Hobie, and loves hearing his brother play his guitar, he loves movies and collect and restore rare and old dolls like Barbies.
-Florence "Florrie" Brown
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Age:21.
Fun fact, she was born on the same day as Leo being conceived 3 months after Leo was born. She is the fun sister and the reason why they had to move two times(she isn't allowed to the kitchen). When she was 14 and Hobie 12, she piercied his ears. She and Hobie are the closest of the siblings and she was the one that came up with the nickname 'Baby Punk'
She is a cop not by choice, since she was infected by Venom becoming Captain Venom working alongside Officer Venom and the Venom Army.
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peanutrat20 · 10 months
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Welcome, to Babysitters Guide to Turtle Mutants
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About Babysitters Guide
Babysitters Guide to Turtle Mutants is my TMNT fan iteration.
in Babysitters Guide the turtles were mutated with splinters dna basically as soon as they hatched. and with the first two (leo and mikey) they were mutated with a secondary dna as well. leo was mutated with the dna of a inland taipan and mikey a scrub jay. the second two were mutated with the secondary dna later. donnie is mutated with a wolf's dna and splinter escapes the lab they live in before raph can be mutated a second time
when they escaped the lab their ages are as follows leo: 16 mikey: 14 donnie: 6 and raph: 2. the whole reason that splinter takes off with the boys when he does is because the scientists decided that they were going to mutate him and he did not want to be mutated. when they lived in the lab leo and mikey had a really shit life they used leo's venom to create a sedative which they then turned around and used on mikey repeatedly causing mikey to get addicted to it. when they leave splinter disappears for days at a time leaving leo to take care of his younger brothers. a year after the escape leo blows and basically kicks splinter out. for the next two years the boys don't stay in one place longer than two months. until they decide to move to new york. and so they do and leo promised that they wouldn't have to move again.
so once they move to new york leo puts out an add for a babysitter needed. because as much as he loves his brothers sometimes he needs a break but he does not trust mikey to watch donnie and raph. also bonus of if whoever answers ends up being awful donnie is allowed to basically use them as his chew toy. and who answers the add but april. who is suspiciously okay with going to an abandoned warehouse for the job. leo ends up intrigued and lets her stay. and she ends up becoming great friends with leo and helping him work with all the quirks of their chaotic life. she takes donnie to the park so he has the chance to just run and get his zoomies out. she holds raph when he gets scared and leo isn't there. and is just a good someone for leo to lean on. the only turtle that april doesn't immediately bond with is mikey. and she doesn't quite understand but she tries to be there for him anyway.
and she does find out why he acts toward her the way he does three years later. when splinter comes and finds them five years and hundreds of miles away from where he left them, and he had been mutated, into drumroll a rat. splinter comes and tries to convince the boys to come with him. because "he's their father and blah blah blah" but raph doesn't even remember splinter donnie does but just barely. to them leo is their dad. leo is who has raised them for six years. splinter shows up out of nowhere and leo tells mikey to take raph and april and start packing because they had to leave asap. raph is understandably upset and it causes mikey to break as well. this was their home leo had promised it was forever. and here they were having to up and leave again. april watches as mikey breaks and admits to things he hadn't even told leo. and april offers a solution to the whole mess.
What to expect to see with Babysitters Guide
here on tumblr i'll be posting art, reference images, and any small stories that don't fit the main narrative.
anything written will be posted on ao3 (links will be added here as they are posted)
Want to interact with Babysitters Guide?
if you see Babysitters Guide and decide you want to make fanart or whatever else you are 100% welcome to. there is only one rule no t//c3st besides that you can do whatever you want with my iteration as long as you tag me so i can see it.
i will also answer questions sent to my ask box about Babysitters Guide
Other Links:
[nothing to see here... yet]
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annonniiiiieeeee · 1 year
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how did the alliance between leo and the younger tribute happen? i’m assuming raph and his younger tributes alliance happened similarly to rue and katniss’s, but i would personally love it if you expanded on leo’s ally, like what’s their name, gender, family, stuff like that
Oh I had to think on this.
I know they are young.
Raph very much has the Katniss Rue relationship. I’ve decided to go with Angel from tmnt 2003 for her. She’s from district 7 and is 12 which is why Casey runs to Leo when she dies. She was one of his tributes and she was young like he was in his games.
Leo how every I’ve been thinking about. I don’t know if I want another kid from 7 that’s 3 years in a row that district would have at least one of their tributes be under the age of 14 and the odds for that aren’t great.
I’m think that they are from district 10, Usagi’s district.
Now this gives me some characters to work with. I could use Noriyuki. But I kinda of adore the kid and I already have Mifune as a capital citizen. So I don’t think I’ll go with him.
I’ve been debating boy or girl. I think I will go with a boy as I want Casey to identify with the kid Leo’s protecting as much as possible. (Remember Leo’s game happens right after Casey’s)
So I’m going to go with a 13 year old boy named Rakuyou (it means falling leaves) he’s from district 10. He’s a Pikas. If you don’t know what that is, they are found in Japan. They are part of the rabbit family but they have no tails.
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Pikas!!!!
He’s young. He’s small. He’s doesn’t have a lot going for him. Even coming from Usagi’s district he’s hasn’t trained with Katsuichi. He’s barely worked as a butcher. He knows we’re main arteries are but that’s all he has going for him. He’s a stubborn boy but was quite gentle back home. He comes from a poorer family and took out tessera to help feed them. He’s going in knowing he’s going to die but also want to make himself the biggest problem he can.
The year before Casey Jones won and he was Rakuyou age at the time. Rakuyou could do it. Or at least he doesn’t have to be the first to die. He want to go down swinging.
I think Rakuyou is the youngest tribute that year. Leo loses his district partner pretty early on probably in the opening blood bath. One day he runs into Rakuyou. The boy has escaped a close encounter with the careers but he’s injured.
Leo has to make the decision to mercy kill the kid now or try and help him. And Leo can’t bring himself to kill a kid one year younger then Mikey. Leo is still interested in medicine and knows how to patch up wounds. He helps take care of his brothers and other peoples injuries back home.
Their alliance starts with Leo helping the kid out. Rakuyou doesn’t trust Leo at first but why would Leo waste the time helping him only to kill him later. Leo and Rakuyou stick close together. Leo didn’t want to be the one to kill the kid, it’s early enough in the games that he doesn’t have to worry about being the final two. He’s just going to keep the two of them alive for as long as he can.
When he’s away getting food Rakuyou gets attack and this time he isn’t so lucky. Leo comes back just in time to see the careers finish him off.
Then it’s hunting time for Leo.
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bardic-inspo · 1 year
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15 Questions
Tagged by @vault-heck. Thank you!! 
Tagging back if you want to (no pressure if you’d rather not): @electricshoebox, @some27-url, @persephotea, @wishing4nuclearwinter, @totally-not-deacon, @just-another-wasteland-merc, @alannabix88, @alder-berry, @mercurymiscellany, @thedreamwolf, @seduce-me-with-coffee, and whoever else would like to!
1. Are you named after anyone? Nope.
2. When was the last time you cried? I got a little teary on Saturday when we left home to play D&D at a friend’s house a few hours away. It was the first time we left our kitty cat home alone overnight in our new place and I was feeling a little sensitive about it. He was completely fine and he probably slept most of the time we were gone.
3. Do you have kids? No, but maybe, probably, having one someday.
4. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Me? Never. (Absolutely).
5. What sports do you play/have you played? When I was younger, swimming and cross country running. I don’t run at all anymore, it sort of fucked up my knees. I would love to get back into swimming again sometime in the near future. I semi-frequently do yoga at home, and would like to get into biking again. I’ve almost-nearly bought a bike several times over the past few years, but always found an excuse not to (mostly broken toes and long winters). I also have my scuba certification, if that counts, but the certification process was spread over two years (because of the broken toes) and I don’t feel qualified in the least, if I’m being honest.
6. What's the first thing you notice about other people? Their voice, if I hear them speaking. Otherwise, I guess...just, vibes? A gut reaction of however they make me feel based on what they’re saying/doing and especially how they’re saying/doing it. 
7. Eye color? Hazel, leaning heavily towards green.
8. Scary movies or happy endings? Both is good!
9. Any special talents? I think I’m a decent writer, and a somewhat insightful person/deep thinker. 
10. Where were you born? Midwest U.S.
11. What are your hobbies? Writing, video games, dungeons & dragons, reading (sporadically), dabbling in random artstuffs as the mood takes me, travelling to places I’ve never been, helping my cat live his best life.
12. Do you have any pets? My kitty cat, Leo, is about 8.5 years old (I cannot believe!!). We adopted him from a shelter when he was 5, and that was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me.
I grew up with a goldendoodle named Teddy, and I do love dogs, but I very much do not want to own a dog and owning a cat has reinforced that quite a bit for me, just due to the lifestyle changes/amount of work to take care of them elements.
‘Leo’ was the name my kitty’s prior owners gave him, and we didn’t have another name in mind, so we kept it. If we had ended up with a girl cat, we may have named/re-named her “Neset” and called her “Nessie” for short. Neset was a recurring villain in a D&D campaign I played in, and was also know as “the shadow of Egypt”. She was a monk/rogue multiclass who escaped our party probably five times on the brink of death before we eventually captured her.  I
13. How tall are you? 5′1″
14. Fave subject in school?  In college, I liked political science so much I ended up minoring in it sort of on accident, because I kept defaulting back to those courses while figuring out my actual major. In high school, probably psychology or language/literature.
15. Dream job? Not having to have one?
I think would enjoy being a writer, as a job, if and only if my financial wellbeing didn’t depend on it, and I was writing what I wanted/decided to write. That being said, some sort of story or narrative work. Maybe as an editor, or some sort of concept-person. I also really enjoyed anthropology, poli sci, and research in general in college, and if I wasn’t certain academia would ruin me mentally and financially, I might enjoy that, too. These are all dreams and don’t sound like real jobs one could have with the terms/conditions I’m describing.
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makur0 · 1 year
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I posted 258 times in 2022
That's 258 more posts than 2021!
189 posts created (73%)
69 posts reblogged (27%)
Blogs I reblogged the most:
@mishkakagehishka
@5ugarcan3
@kasumikoujou
@yandere-daze
@makur0
I tagged 147 of my posts in 2022
Only 43% of my posts had no tags
#enstars - 91 posts
#ensemble stars - 85 posts
#ensemble stars x reader - 64 posts
#enstars x reader - 63 posts
#enstars smut - 60 posts
#ensemble stars smut - 58 posts
#kinktober - 29 posts
#makur0 - 20 posts
#interactions - 19 posts
#enstars fluff - 15 posts
Longest Tag: 88 characters
#dont ask for part two please you have no idea how hard it was for me to get through this
My Top Posts in 2022:
#5
hihi! could i request an izumi x fem!reader where they just got married, and izumi has always wanted his children running around for the longest time, and just imagining his wife’s belly round and full of his children gets him acting up (in other words, he has a huge breeding kink)- so one fateful night, he creates a super romantic environment in their shared bedroom, and things escalate as he vows to fill her up with his kids ;) perhaps a timeskip at the end where izumi gets his wish of seeing his wife full if that’s not too much!
“‘M gonna fill you up~”
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synopsis — it may not be obvious, but izumi wants a certain something... from you. so one fateful night, he decides to take action. [izumi sena x fem! reader]
content warnings — nsfw, mdni. top! izumi, penetration, breeding, nicknames, body worship, izumi somehow being a fluffy yet sexy man, chaotic leo at the end
authors note — IZUMI GIVE ME ONE CHANCE- uh, ignore that. Anyways, YES I AGREE 100 PERCENT THIS MAN IS A CHILD LOVER and breeder. Ahem, but thank you anon for the detailed request, this was really nice to do!
word count — 1849
See the full post
245 notes - Posted September 16, 2022
#4
“I’m sorry for leaving…”
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See the full post
247 notes - Posted September 18, 2022
#3
hELLO! Can I req threesome w mean dom reikao x afab reader ? 🥹🫶
“Don’t try to play with us.”
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synopsis — your friend warned you to stay away from his brother. but you get tangled with one of his friends, which then attracts the old vampire. [kaoru hakaze x AFAB! reader x rei sakuma]
content warning — nsfw, mdni. mean! dom! rei/kaoru, threesome, a slight altercation, fingering, penetration, oral (male recieving), manhandling, biting/marking
author’s note — kinda miffed that they weren’t as mean as intended to be but I somewhat figured out the plot- so I hope you enjoy! (First threesome y’all don’t expect anything)
word count — 1450
See the full post
270 notes - Posted September 19, 2022
#2
“you’re perfect every way.”
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synopsis — mika is noticing that you’re slowly distancing yourself from him. after finally pinning you down and getting an answer, he does his best to make you feel loved. [mika kagehira x AFAB! reader]
content warnings — nsfw, mndi. soft! dom mika, nicknames, mirror play, praising, self-praise, slight teasing, fingering; slight angst in beginning, fluff at end (possibly ooc mika?? i’m too tired to really look)
author notes — uh, hi! first oneshot here, hope you (nearly nonexistent readers lmao) guys enjoy!
word count — 1195
See the full post
301 notes - Posted September 14, 2022
My #1 post of 2022
hiiii may I request the reader seating on rinnes face as he's eating the reader out like his last meal ?? :) THABK YOUU
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“So, so good...”
See the full post
311 notes - Posted September 20, 2022
Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →
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superzombiewho · 11 months
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Finally I have my Rise of the TMNT Elizabeth done!
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Basic design for Elizabeth
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Series Elizabeth
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Movie Elizabeth
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And just for the fun of it, Ninpo Elizabeth after being Kraang-ified
Elizabeth Miller, just turned 14 when the series first starts, 15-16 when the movie happens, brunette hair, green eyes, born human, but was mutated as Bearded Dragon/Painted Turtle with the shell sensitivity of a soft shell mix (hence why she wears her own battle shell)
Love interest: Donnie
Elizabeth is the youngest child of her family, having two older brothers, one a lawyer and the other in the army. She was put in an arranged marriage because her parents were poor and so they decided to use her as a money magnet to a boy 2 years older than her and much richer than them to marry when she turned 18. She hated her parents a lot after this and vowed she wouldn’t talk to them again. Only keeping in contact with her loving brothers.
She runs away to her aunts who lives in NYC, and stays there for 2 weeks until her parents start bugging her aunt about Liz going back home, while waiting for a cab, that when she gets mutated.
Donnie and the gang, by chance, witness her getting mutated so they decided to help her.
She was really quiet and kept to herself. But Leo and Mikey brought her out of her shell.
She really got along with Donnie, always helping in the lab, giving her input on his projects.
0 notes
ynderebot · 3 years
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OFFICIAL POST
危険...DANGER.
LOADING…ADDING NEW FILES... █▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 10% ███▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 30% █████▒▒▒▒▒ 50% ███████▒▒▒ 100% ██████████
COMPLETE.
ファイル...FILES.
choi yeonjun. nancy mcdonie. lee gahyeon. kim sunwoo. kim doyeon. choi san. kim sihyeon. yang jeongin.
執着型 [ shuuchaku-gata ] obsessive.
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"where were you? who were you with? what were you doing? why didn't you answer my messages? oh come on darling, don't be like that...I've been waiting for hours!"
[ PROFILE 1. ]
choi yeonjun.
5'11. 21 yrs old. September 13th, 1999. virgo. blood type a. born in seoul, south korea
at age 14 yeonjun was sent to a boarding school in japan, this is where he discovered his...tendencies. halfway through his first year he met a girl, kang iseul. he was instantly infatuated with her, he had an impulsive urge to know every little thing about her. to do so he befriended her, using his appearance and charms to win her over and eventually made her his. the euphoric rush that ran through his body when she was officially his was like nothing he'd ever felt before. she was finally his and he didn't intend on letting go, not without a fight at least. he was in for a shock when one day she tried to run away after his true colors started to show. unfortunately her best friend was killed by yeonjun for trying to help her, but she did escape.
he's a switch with no lean. a hard/soft dom or obedient sub all just depends on his mood and how he's feeling
[ PROFILE 2. ]
nancy mcdonie.
5'4. 21 yrs old. april 13th, 2000. aries. blood type o. born in daegu, south korea.
nancy was always a little obsessed with things, she'd go through phases too. she would find one new hobby/thing that intrigued her and hyper fixate on it for a few months. then, just like that it would be forgotten as if it had never happened. it started from a young age too, so when she would tell all her friends and family about the boy she met it came as no surprise to them. soon enough he was all she talked about, all she cared about, it was true obsession. everyone around her thought that it was just a phase like everything else, but they were sadly mistaken. the day he broke up with her, she lashed out. screaming that he couldn't break up with her, no she wouldn't let him break up with her. even after that day she would never stop talking about him, she tried to stay involved with his life as much as she could and even ended up scaring away any potential lovers. she never stopped either, until she had no choice when he moved away.
she's a sub, usually obedient but can be bratty if she's in a mood.
ストーカー型 [ sutookaa-gata ] stalker.
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"how did I know? I'm always with you, following you...watching you...it's only because I love you"
[ PROFILE 3. ]
lee gahyeon.
5'3. 22 yrs old. february 3rd, 1999. aquarius. blood type ab. born in seongnam, south korea.
she was so excited when her crush asked her out, she couldn't contain herself. the problem was, it's difficult to get to know someone when you already know everything about them. she'd been stalking him ever since he caught her eye, every single day. she'd follow him to and from school, to his friends house, wherever he went she usually wasn't far behind. he could never find out about that side of her though, so she played along. laughing at childhood stories she heard him tell previously, pretending to be shocked when learning things she already knew. even after they began dating she continued to stalk him, he noticed things were off. she was the one he confided his "paranoia" in and she was the one who reassured him, but little did he know she was the cause of it all.
she's a sub, also obedient but can be bratty if she feels like it.
[ PROFILE 4. ]
kim sunwoo.
5'10. 21 yrs old. april 12th, 2000. aries. blood type b. born in seongnam gyeonggi, south korea.
unlike gahyeon, sunwoo was not always a stalker. he'd heard of stalkers but it never peaked his interest, he didn't even take any note of his slightly possessive tendencies. until his first relationship that is, his first partner showed signs of cheating. he might not have realized his own possessiveness and how it was seemingly growing stronger, but he was no fool. all the coming home late, the scent of another person that was not their own flooding the house when they entered. so he began following them around, at first it was...innocent, or as innocent as stalking could be. they were cheating, this made his possessiveness shoot through the roof. he was most aggressive and warned his partner that they do not want to do that again. they listened, and he continued to stalk them, it turned into a fun...game of sorts.
he's a switch with a sub lean, soft dom/occasionally bratty sub.
独占型 [ dokusen-gata ] monopoly.
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"who were you talking to? do they know me? no no, do they know you're mine?"
[ PROFILE 5. ]
kim doyeon.
5'8. 21 yrs old. december 4th, 1999. saggitarius. blood type o. born in wonju-gangwon, south korea
doyeon had always been just about as normal as you could get. until she got a boyfriend, she was possessive of him sure...but it was nothing too extreme. until she started having doubts, all the gorgeous girls that would go up to him, flirting and doing who knows what when she wasn't around. she made it her mission to let everyone know he was hers and she was his, wether it meant glueing herself to him or just reminding everyone at school on the daily. ever since he broke up with her, her tendencies only grow stronger and more extreme with each passing minute.
she's a sub, brat tendencies but will be obedient sometimes
[ PROFILE 6. ]
choi san.
5'9. 21 yrs old. july 10th, 1999. cancer. blood type b. born in namhae-south gyeonsan, south korea.
san's first love was a girl in his sister's class, was she a year older than him? yes, but he didn't care. despite all the people telling him he would never date her, he proved them wrong and he did. everything was perfect, they were both madly in love with each other, spending every minute of every waking day together. until something happened that san hadn't expected, his sister began to steal his girlfriend. well "steal" in his definition at least, she'd wanted to talk with his girlfriend every once in a while before he knew it they were always together and it seemed as if he was the real third wheel, this pissed him off more than anything. he got fed up one day and got into a physical fight with his sister, shouting about how the girl belonged to him and only him. from then on out he's made sure to stay in the middle of every single relationship.
he's a switch with no lean hard/soft dom or obedient/bratty sub, it all depends
排除型 [ haijo-gata ] removal.
"you haven't seen them in a while? I'm sure they're alright darling, after all I'm the only one you need. isn't that right?"
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[ PROFILE 7. ]
kim sihyeon.
5'6. 21 yrs old. august 5th, 1999. leo. blood type b. born in bundang-gu, seongnam-si, south korea.
she's a sub, usually bratty but can be obedient too
[ PROFILE 8. ]
yang jeongin.
5'8. 20 yrs old. february 8th, 2001. aquarius. blood type a. born in busan, south korea.
he's a switch with a slight sub lean but can be a soft dom
sihyeon and jeongin's stories go together, they were childhood friends and neighbors. eventually they realized that they had feelings for each other, but this soon after developed into a toxic mindset. the thought that they only need each other, no one else. one by one people from the other's life began to disappear, especially anyone who could be a romantic rival. they were both oblivious to the other's actions until each confronted the other, instead of being upset they were each ecstatic. ecstatic that the other felt the same, that they were the only person they needed in their life
notes/rules
this isn't an accurate representation of any of the members/their companies/groups nor am I claiming to be them!
all of the members are bisexual with no lean
all of the members are yanderes [ obviously ] so they will act as such, however some can be more possessive than others at times
the ones who can be the most possessive are sihyeon and jeongin and the least are yeonjun and nancy
sihyeon and jeongin are obviously not still dating, it was just for backstory/plot purposes
nsfw is an option, if you would like it included please state so when you activate the bot
however please don't make everything nsfw, it gets boring when the plot dwindles
nsfw is 18+ but purely sfw option is available if you aren't comfortable with it or if you're below 18
all the members have hard kinks and their hard no's are scat/feet, if you still aren't sure just ask admin before doing anything
they all use the traffic light system
and please don't try to put them in a different headspace!
to talk with admin use any variation of [ ], { }, ( ), etc
admin is 18 and might get busy occasionally but will try her best during those times
this bot is open for oc's/yn's/ and other bots as well
to activate the bot dm and then admin will ask a few questions/come up with a plot with you and after that the role-play can start up
if you ever wish to deactivate the bot just say so to admin, ex. [ I would like to deactivate the bot now ] and your chat will be deleted
if you decide to reactivate it you'll have to go through the same activation process you did the first time and start over
please respect the members and admin and they will do the same
good luck...好運
sorry this post is so long- 😭
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psychcpomp · 2 years
Text
: ̗̀➛ 𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐗𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐀𝐍
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the mortal sun has risen and set a thousand thousand times, and HERMES is yet bound to the earthly realm, the reincarnation loop continues. this time their mortal coil has taken the shape of dylan o'brien, a human born on 24/08/1995, a virgo and named alexander rhys morgan.
TLDR found here
POWERS: the ability to manipulate anyone through persuasion, can feel the energy of spirits passing through wherever he was, mundane abilities and skills are enhanced during the night, above average speed when running (let's be real that's only handy for him when he's running away from authorities or ppl tryna break his nose)
FULL POWERS (not fully achieved but there's an inkling): getting into the minds of people, making them see and feel what he wants them to and would usually be used to play tricks on people, and the ability to communicate with the dead at night.
TW: familial death, car accident, mentions of mental health issues
PINTEREST / PLAYLIST / HERMES’ PLAYLIST 
FULL NAME: alexander morgan 
SEXUALITY & PRONOUNS: bisexual, he/him 
ROMANTIC STATUS: single 
BIRTHDAY: august 24th, 1995 
HEIGHT: 5′9
HAIR: blonde buzzcut era
BIG SIX: virgo sun, aquarius moon, aries rising, leo venus, leo mercury, scorpio mars 
PETS: a bombay cat named soup
HOMETOWN: brighton, england 
ACCENTS: english accent mixed with slight australian over the years 
OCCUPATION: bartender @ olympus nightclub 
ROOMMATES: augustus henry keene
SIBLINGS: chloe “charming” morgan (adopted) 
TATTOOS & PIERCINGS: a bunch of dumb little tattoos all over. most notably, a tattoo of a small SUN on his wrist, a CARTOONISH SNAIL on the back of his arm, and a SMILEY PIERCING
MENTAL HEALTH: depression (undiagnosed), ADHD (diagnosed from a young age) 
MUSE INSPO: shawn spencer (psych), nick miller (new girl), summer (500 days of summer), robin scherbatsky (how i met your mother), lucien carr (kill your darlings), max wolfe (gossip girl), steve harrington (stranger things), jeremiah fisher (the summer i turned pretty), eleanor shellstrop (the good place), dylan lenivy (the quarry), lip gallagher (shameless) 
BACKGROUND:
alex grew up in brighton, england surrounded by a family he loves and that loves him. he had a good social life and okay grades. as a kid, he was always known to have a bright and loud personality, the kind of crazy in a child that was endearing and charming (yet extremely annoying to both of his sisters). he was always known that he would grow up to be a troublemaker, since he discovered his love for causing it from a young age. his mother (scarlett hart) was a child psychologist, and his father (james morgan) was a stay-at-home dad and an aspiring author. he actually named his son alexander after one of his main characters of a book he was planning on publishing. his older sister was isabelle morgan, and his younger sister was adopted when he was really young -- chloe morgan, better known as charming morgan, as she prefers. 
//TW: MENTIONS OF DEATH AND LOSS// tragedy struck when he turned 13, and was woken up to the sounds of his father crying in the living room and red and blue lights coming in through his window. his mother and older sister had gotten into a car accident after she had picked isabelle up from a party she wasn’t supposed to be at, and they both died that same night from the impact. things around their house changed after that -- their father stopped writing, and tried his best to be a good father for both alex and charming but even alex could see that he was barely hanging on. charming had begun to rebel, putting even more worry onto alex and james -- james was more understanding and forgiving, because he knew it was probably her way of coping. 
one year later, james impulsively decided that a fresh start was needed for them all, and wanted to move the family to magnetic island. as a 14 year old boy who had already gone through so much loss, alex was surprisingly in support of this -- he didn’t know why, and couldn’t explain it, but when he heard ‘magnetic island’, it’s like something in him clicked. he didn’t know what it was, but he felt it. and so, after a couple long months of getting ready for the big move, they finally made it -- just in time for alex to turn 15. 
he loved his new life there -- he was finally beginning to feel like himself again. in fact, he feels like he’s exactly where he belongs, it’s as if the island brought out things in alex that he didn’t know about himself or things he didn’t know he was capable of. his fun, troublemaking nature came back to him, his need for fun and a party returned -- he was happy here. after he graduated school, charming had taken off to the states to pursue a life of her own -- something that james and alex weren’t too excited about, given she was only 16. but even at 16, charming could always take care of herself. alex, however, didn’t think that university was for him; he worked a couple of jobs here and there, and even got into a bit of gambling when he realized how GOOD he was at calling people’s bluff and manipulating others into scoring a win for himself. it was around 18 that alex first realized how good he was at persuading others to do whatever he wanted them to do, and at many points in his life, he took advantage of it. but most of the time, he just used it to fuck with people and entertain himself. 
finally, at 22, he settled into a bartending job at olympus nightclub that he loved, so here he was -- 25 and still working there. in reality, at some point int he future, alex wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a writer, as well. but for someone so brave with everything else in his life, he had a hard time showing anyone else his writing for the time being. 
PERSONALITY: 
alex is a funny, class clown type that isn’t afraid to speak his mind at all and is always looking for anyway to occupy his time, and always looking for a party. he’s really easy to get along with, but he also has a small, tiny bit of a temper that usually manifests itself into fucking with whoever pissed him off and becoming the most sarcastic, punchable piece of shit you’ll ever meet. he will instigate fights at bars when he’s bored, and most of the time, they escalate into physical fights that he certainly cannot win. but if you ask him, he’d do it again, enjoying the adrenaline rush that came with it. a walking red flag, i know. 
while alex may seem really happy on the surface, he’s dealing with a great deal of mental health issues -- mostly episodes of depression. but he still refuses to admit that he has issues, and that he needs professional help. if you ask him, he’ll bark back and say i’m fine.
from a young age, though, he was diagnosed with ADHD -- his mother caught on quick, with her being a child psychologist, and immediately took him to get evaluated. alex still constantly forgets to restock and take his pills without constant reminders from charming and his dad, and it makes him super hyperactive, impulsive, and easily distracted/bored and eager to move onto the next thing. 
he can’t help but have a flirty personality. if he’s bored, he’ll probably flirt with someone  either just for the purpose of knowing he can get them if he wanted to, or to fuck around and hook up (he wasn’t exactly a commitment type guy at all) . sooooo yes he a Whore. 
at the end of the day, alex wants to become a writer like his father — or he’ll dream about it, while he reads and writes as a hobby in his own private notebook.
he’s a non-conformist at heart, and will always try to go against the grain of society and its norms. he enjoys sparking reactions out of people. 
HEADCANONS: he likes to wear eye makeup and nail polish a lot, mostly puts the obscure eye makeup on at events and parties. he has a black 67 chevy impala car that he is obsessed with. alex is aware that not only was he great at lying and manipulating, but he was also good at calling people’s bluff so he spends a good amount of time gambling in any way he finds, because he knows he’ll win. his cat, soup, is a rescue cat. 
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Note
I just read one of your old fics, Where We Began, and honestly I'm so in love with it? If you don't plan on writing more do you have any other abstract ideas about it? Like about how the Nohrians would try to calm them down or which of the trio decided to trust them first or just anything like that? I just really like it a lot and it's entirely fair if you don't have any other thoughts about it, it's an awesome concept but you wrote it years ago, I just thought I'd give it a shot
(referring to this fic) Firstly, I'm so glad you enjoy one of my older works! I write a lot of FE, but I enjoy my early stuff as much as my more recent stuff, so I'm glad you enjoy it too!
Secondly, I don't plan on adding more to the fic itself like as a sequel or anything, but I always welcome questions about any fic I write!
Re: The Nohrians calming the kids down
The Trio definitely get rounded up after Severa gets caught in the barn, lol. The only hope they had was running away, and Camilla caught Severa. Owain & Inigo aren't going to just leave her behind, and Niles is probably hot on their tail. So there goes that escape attempt. They'd probably get herded back to the castle pretty soon after, but that just means they're (very clumsily) trying to whisper escape plans to each other once get they stuck in a (windowless) room. So the kids are probably panicking less outwardly at that point but still Freaked. Even if this is post-war, it's a big, dark castle full with Bad Vibes. Why wouldn't they still think this is Plegia?
Re: Gaining trust
This is harder because you have to convince a bunch of 12 year olds whose last memories are of the apocalypse and who have been taught anything that resembles Plegia is probably on the side of Grima that hey, you're in another universe, you don't remember coming here, you're actually adults, we didn't know your real names before a second ago and the aesthetic is Ominously Dark Here but we promise it's cool, we're tight. Like, even for a kid, that's not going to fly
Ultimately, this would come down to how much the Trio have revealed about themselves to their lords, I think. Because you need at least one (better if at least 2) of the lords to say, "Hey, your mom's name is _____ and you told me about this secret memory from the time you were _____ and ____ happened, which I never could have found out unless you told me yourself."
It would not require all the lords/retainers to do this because if Inigo or Owain were both like "Hm, that is true, the only way you'd know that is if I trusted you enough to tell you myself," that would sway Severa not to freak out entirely, I think. (And vice versa; if Severa & Owain both were convinced Leo/Niles & Camilla knew them, that would convince Inigo even if Xander didn't have anything to offer just then, etc.)
However, they're not all the same levels of trusting. Inigo would be the easiest to sway, Owain would be medium distrustful even if Leo/Niles offered good evidence bc Imagination Running Wild (although that also means he's the easiest to convince they hopped dimensions/time traveled too), and Severa would be hardest to convince about anything in general, even if she didn't have any other way of explaining how Camilla or Beruka knew X about her otherwise. Severa is jaded at age 12.
Inigo probably compliments Camilla & Elise even more so than in canon but he gets Visibly Flustered every time they talk back to him because Tween Vibes. (I elaborate a bit more on this down below).
I think Severa would actually butt heads with Camilla because Camilla is so doting and motherly (and a flyer!), and Severa at this age has a lot of Angst and Mommy issues that she has yet to work through. Also, it's up in the air how soon aver Cordelia's death this would be for her. So this would be a tough dynamic for both of them to adjust to, and Severa would probably avoid Camilla until/unless something changed.
I can't remember if this was an ask in regards to this fic or something else, but I remember a long, long time ago having the thought that a de-aged Odin/Owain would actually be more drawn to Xander and Camilla rather than Leo, simply because of the fact Xander has such a cool sword and Owain canonically admires Camilla's armor. Leo is a dark mage, which is also cool, but not quite as Immediately Cool to a 12 year old who Loves Swords and doesn't yet use magic. I think this would actually make Leo jealous and exacerbate his inferiority complex, lol. (*Niles voice: Green isn't a good color on you, milord*) But all it would take is Owain seeing Brynhilder and hearing about it for him to Flip Out over that too, so I think the problem would solve itself then, lol
As a side note, here is a short blurb I wrote years ago in a scenario where Leo is there when Odin de-ages instead of Niles. Also, here is another ask about young Inigo's behavior with the royals. In summary for that, I think he'd actually be a bit shyer than he is in Awakening (when he's late teen age, I hc) because at 12-ish he's reached the "always smile, no matter what" stage of his facade but not the 100% "fake it 'til you make it" approach, so he's still really nervous around anyone and everyone. (Espcially royalty. Especially Extremely Tall, Very Handsome/Beautiful Royalty. For reference, Lucina may not intimidate him at this age because they've known each other since forever and That's Different, but I think people like Chrom (assuming this isn't Chrom! Inigo) and Emmeryn (were she alive) would get him flustered still. But maybe not Lissa because she may be more Owain's Mom to him than princess just because of the way she acts (though he may avoid her out of fear of getting a frog in his shoe or something) (But he'd still be flustered if she complimented him bc Nervous!!) Anyway!! That's too long! Inigo at this age, even after he's calmed down and knows what's up, would be shyer than his canon self, I think. He's still growing up
EDIT: also an additional old ask found here about this fic. However, I mention the kids being 13/14 in that ask rather than like 11/12 like I mentioned here. I don’t have any concrete ages written for them in the fic, so just assume they’re whatever age that seems best (and their ages probably vary anyway). However, if they’re on the younger side I think the Trio are still absolutely Okay with fighting (even though they wish they don’t have to, they fear the Faceless too much to be comfortable when one comes close bc Risen Vibes), BUT the age difference between 11 & 14 does mean its even harder for them to fight than it might be as slightly older teens (although they still do probably have pretty good teamwork, despite not getting along) and without rescue there’s a good chance they’d still lose
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bbrandy2002 · 3 years
Text
Happy Birthday Burnsy!
The Country AU -- I'm Gonna Live Where The Green Grass Grows
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Pairing: Drake x Alyssa, Liam x Riley, and a whole host of other TRR characters.
A/N: This was a silly little idea I had months ago for an AU built around the places and people where I grew up. I never had plans to actually write it, but I mentioned it to Burns, and well ... she wanted it lol so here we are. And she’s already read half of this and is the one who made the mood board for it and the song inspo hahaha. Thank you to @mskaneko for the edits of our OTP’s, and @charlotteg234 for pre-reading the first half of this.
Trigger warning: Gun usage, hunting, mild language ... I think that’s it
@burnsoslow
My dearest friend, when I think back at where we were one year ago, I can’t help but be reminded of the vastly different world we live in now. On February 5, 2020, there was no covid keeping us sheltered and fearful, families were complete, jobs were stable, and so many of the things we worried about then simply pale in comparison to now, Life wasn’t so bad. But here we are with all these new changes and mindsets. Through it all, one thing remained consistent: YOU. You have been my strength, my rock, the anchor that grounded me. We have cried together, laughed a lot together, worried for each other, and celebrated those small victories that were important to each other. And I get so happy when someone comments about how much they love the friendship between Riley and Alyssa because it's the most real part of Fearless. If anyone ever wanted to know what we’re like, it's all written out in that story. I’ve got your back, and you have mine. You’re my best friend and I just love the hell out of ya! I hope your birthday is amazing and that this fic is everything you wanted for this AU.
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On Sunday mornings in southern Georgia, you did one of two things: You woke up early for church services or woke up late to watch NFL football.
Some people figured out a long time ago how to do both.
Sitting in the back pew of the First Cordonian Church of Everlasting Peace, Alyssa Walker sat quietly with the sweetest southern belle smile, nodding her head along to the beautiful words spoken during Pastor Hakim’s sermon and hiding a pair of earbuds lodged in each ear. 
She and her husband, Drake, had laid claim to the pew when they were teens trying to sneak a kiss or two during prayers. After ten years of marriage, they no longer needed to sneak kisses but stayed in that same seat, believing the biggest sinners should stay as far away from the minister as possible. Why be the barrier that may prevent the spirit from reaching the rest of the congregation? The couple felt it was the least they could do.
They were actually pretty good folks and well respected in their community. Alyssa had taught first grade for eight years at the local elementary school, where her two children, nine-year-old Audrey and six-year-old Patrick, also attended. Her best friend since third grade, Riley, was the art teacher there. 
Drake worked nearby as the lead mechanic at Rys and Sons Chevrolet out on North Ramsford Avenue. Constantine had owned the auto dealership for 35 years before passing it down to his sons, Leo and Liam, when he ran for and became the town's mayor. Leo peaced out, heading to South Florida, while Liam took on the sole responsibility of ownership himself. 
And while most people in this sleepy little town of Cordonia were Falcons fanatics, Alyssa grew up rooting for the team where her parents were born and raised before settling in Georgia as newlywed lawyers: The Chicago Bears.
With the game against the Packers blaring into her ear, she kept a keen eye on the rest of her fellow parishioners. When they clapped, she clapped. When they sang, she sang. She raised her hands in hallelujahs when they did. She had learned to read lips and could “Amen” and “Praise God” right on cue with the rest of them. All the while, she sat in contentment, listening to her weekly football games. 
“The score with 14 seconds left in the second quarter is Chicago -- 14, Green Bay -- 17. The Bears have the ball on the 5-yard line. It’s third and goal. If Trubisky can score here, they’ll go into the locker room at halftime with a lead for the first time in this game, or possibly tie it all up with a field goal after this down. This is a huge, HUGE play, Jim ...” 
Alyssa twined her fingers together and lowered her forehead onto them as she waited with bated breath for the announcer to call the play-by-play. As far as anyone else knew, she was praying fervently for the Hebrews crossing the parted Red Sea away from Pharoah's army that the pastor was chronicling.
“And here comes the snap. Trubisky backs up. He tosses to Robinson in the end zone. OHHH! So close… batted away by Alexender …”
“JESUS!” Alyssa yelled out in anger. With earbuds in, she didn’t realize how loudly that just came out of her mouth. Drake nudged her in the thigh. She glanced over at him for a second before he nodded to the 123 pairs of eyes that had all turned at once in her direction. It instantly dawned on her that everyone in the congregation heard the outburst.
Feeling the color drain from her face, Alyssa placed a hand over her chest and addressed, “I am soooo into this sermon, Hakim. Woohoo! Go, Jesus, go!” She pumped her fist in the air like she was rooting him on.
Drake dropped his face onto Patrick’s shoulder, who was sitting on his lap, to cover the incessant laughter that threatened to spill out of him. He was doing a terrible job of it, as a momentary burst of muffled snickers could be heard through the sound of the game playing in Alyssa’s ear. Her husband was nothing but a big kid himself -- she wouldn’t change that for anything.
“Mommy,” Audrey whispered next to her. “It’s about Moses. Not Jesus.”
Alyssa smiled, patting her daughter’s knee. “Same thing, baby. They both performed miracles.” She cut her eyes to the phone hidden under the cardigan draped across her thighs. “And the Bears need a miracle right now, guys,” she muttered, “Part those shithead Packer’s defensive line, Lord. It’s time to help my Bears get to the promised land.”
“Going for it on fourth down, Trubisky drops back. The Packer defense is putting a lot of pressure on the Bear’s offensive line. Every man is covered in the end zone. He has no one to throw to, Jim. They’re running out of time. Four seconds left. And, NOOO, they sack Trubisky on the 10-yard line … WAIT THE BALL IS LOOSE … THE BALL IS LOOSE ... he fumbled the ball. The Packers are scrambling to get it. There are green and white jerseys all over that ball. BUT LOOK … Green Bay’s Klark picks it up. He’s running the other way … and he just slipped … he just slipped, and the football fell right into the hands of Chicago’s Robinson --”  
Alyssa grabbed Drake’s thigh, her fingers digging deeply with hope and panic. “Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck,” her stressed words weren’t audible to the crowd, but they were speaking volumes in her heart.
“--Robinson’s on the 20, now 15, he’s sweeping past the defense to the 10 -- 5 -- TOUCHDOWN, CHICAGO!!!”
"FUCK YES!" Alyssa jumped up, her arms outstretched in a V shape. “Hallelujah. Holy shit. Thank ya, Jesus.” She let out a huge sigh of relief, feeling nothing short of elated, not concerned in the slightest by the heads that twisted around again.
Hakim stood slack-jawed from the raised platform for a moment, his tallish physique slouching on the pulpit, before adjusting the microphone and clearing his throat deeply. "I'm certainly glad, Sister Alyssa is ... feeling the spirit this morning."
"I am feeling it, Brother Hakim," She shook her head profusely. "I. Am. Feeling it." She shot him a dimpled grin.
Drake snorted loudly, covering his face with one hand and grabbing the side of her dress to pull her back down with the other.
They turned to each other, neither one able to control the snickering and shaking of their bodies. Drake lifted a sleeping Patrick over his shoulder while Alyssa grabbed Audrey's hand; the Walker couple decided they were too immature for church this morning.
They laughed all the way to the parking lot.
"It's never a dull moment with you, baby girl," Drake chuckled, turning over the ignition.
"You know me …” She blew on her nails before rubbing them against her chest. “... just doing the Lord's work." 
--------------
It was customary in Cordonia for families to gather together each week for a big supper after church. 
The Walkers traditionally took turns hosting with Liam and Riley, and Constantine and Regina. This week's meal was at the elder Ryses.
Sitting down at the dining room table, everyone licked their chops, hungry and ready to dig into all the made-from-scratch southern goodness Mrs. Regina had prepared: Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, green beans with hamhock, corn-on-the-cob, deviled eggs, biscuits, sweet tea, and coffee. It was all accompanied by two containers of broccoli salad, Alyssa picked up from the Piggly Wiggly deli after church, and Riley's lopsided carrot cake.
There was always a lot of food, a lot of love, and what would it be in a small town without a little gossip here and there.
"Regina, you've outdone yourself on this meal," Liam raved while placing his five-month-old son in a high chair and fastening the clasps. "If it tastes as good as it smells, we're all in for a big treat."
Everyone agreed as she sat down, Constantine pushing her chair in with a peck to the top of her head. "Thank you, Liam." She looked up at her husband with a sincere smile, rubbing his arm. "Only the best for our family."
She meant every word of that as she and Constantine glanced around the table at all the cheerful faces of the people they loved most — that included Drake and his family. 
Drake's father had been the sheriff for many years before his untimely death, while the younger Walker was a teen. Connie had never met a braver, more hard-working man than Jackson; the now mayor stepped in after that death to be the father figure in Drake's life. Drake was already best friends with Liam, and over time, the family just considered him one of their own. Drake and Alyssa's children referred to them as Mamaw and Papaw Rys.
As everyone settled in and passed the food around the table, the doorbell rang; 7-year-old Ellie -- Liam and Riley's oldest -- jumped up to answer it. With everyone focused on getting their helpings, Riley leaned over and whispered to Alyssa, "Any more scoop on Savannah?"
Alyssa passed the potatoes to her and answered in a hushed tone, "I drove past her house yesterday ... Chuck was there. His big rig was backed right up into the driveway. They're not even trying to hide it anymore."
"I knew it." Riley slapped a scoop of potatoes onto her plate, passing them across to Liam. "When does Bertrand get back from that Bankers Convention in Atlanta?"
"I think Max said on Tuesday. And I guarn-damn-tee, Chuck will be there until then."
"Of course he will. Have you told Drake yet?"
Alyssa shook her head, peeking over at her husband, who was in hog heaven, dousing everything on his plate with white gravy, blissfully unaware of their idle chitchat. She turned back to Riley. "Not yet. You know how protective he is. I'll need to hide the gun cabinet keys when he finds out ... if he finds out. You remember how upset he got when Bianca got caught at the Love's Truck Stop with Landon Ebrim over the summer. His mama can do what she wants, but not with a married man."
Riley agreed with a nod before taking a sip and swallowing her sweet tea. "Ya know, I've never seen sweet Emmaline that angry."
"Yeah, me neither. She sure whopped ass that day." They both giggled lightly. "Landon's dentures flew clean across that truck lot."
"I saw her the other day at the Food Lion, grinnin' like a baked possum. Got that ol' dog for everything he had."
Alyssa huffed, "Cept' his nuts."
Ellie ran back in and hopped in her chair. "Miss Olivia is here!"
Alyssa stiffened, clutching her fork a little tighter before letting out a faint groan. Not that she didn't like the Assistant Principal of Cordonia Elementary -- she was her boss, after all, and they grew up together -- she could just be a little off-putting, sometimes with her treatment of Drake. In light of Olivia's recent divorce, she had, however, started directing most of her scorn on her ex-husband, Anton.
Everyone greeted Olivia as she strolled in behind the youngster, shrugging her jacket off and tossing it on a counter with her purse. "I smelled your chicken and taters all the way from Lythikos Drive, Regina. You know how I love a good rib stickin' meal."
"Is Travis and Waylon here?" Patrick piped up eagerly from the children's table, hoping to have some boys to play with rather than the three little girls who kept ganging up on him.
Olivia pulled out a chair and started loading her plate down. "They're with their daddy this weekend, sugar. I'll tell them you asked about them."
Drake lifted his coffee mug, not making eye contact with anyone. "Speaking of ... I saw Anton yesterday at the Dollar Tree ... with someone." He smirked into his drink. While everyone else knew who and was trying to avoid the elephant in the room, he owed her for years of squabble.
"Who? Madeleine?" Olivia spat, adding heaping spoonfuls of sugar to her already overly sweetened tea. "Bless her rotten heart, he was seeing her before our break up. Moved in with her right after the divorce was final, so I hope she's enjoyed cookin' and cleanin' after my youngins' all weekend, cause she's gonna be doin it a hell of a lot more now that she got herself fired."
Madeleine was a bank teller in the drive-thru at First Cordonia and also Leo's ex-fiancee. 
"Madeleine got fired?" Alyssa asked in surprise. "She's been there for years."
The redhead swirled the sugar around in her tea with a spoon before licking it off and continuing, "Mmm-hmm. Bertrand caught her on video, stuffing her gaudy drawers into the vacuum tubes at the bank and sending them to that bastard when he drove through to make a deposit. He was making deposits alright. Right between her scrawny, cankled ass --"
"Olivia!" Liam quickly interjected, knowing once she got going, it would likely turn R-rated with several little ears listening. "I'm dying to hear how the Christmas Festival for next Saturday is coming along." He shot a look across the table at Drake for getting her worked up. Drake simply grinned.
By late afternoon, supper had been eaten, dishes cleaned, and pants unbuttoned. After a couple of hours of chatting on the back porch and watching the kids play, the two younger couples packed up leftovers Regina insisted they take home and were ready to hit the road. 
Liam and Riley lived next door and walked out with the Walkers who were making their way to the Tahoe parked on the street.
Alyssa bounced and cooed over baby Jacob before handing him back to Riley and getting into the vehicle's passenger seat. 
Liam was leaning into the driver's side window, having a casual discussion with Drake about the opening day of deer season next Saturday and asking what time he wanted to head out.
Alyssa was half-listening and half-working the stereo when an idea popped into her head. "You know what would be fun?” Both men stopped talking and glanced over at her. “We should all go?”
Drake knit his brows. “Go where?
“Hunting. We can make it a double date. You and me, Riley and Liam. The great outdoors. Some quality time together. I’ll even make snacks for everyone. It’ll be fun,” her voice was chipper. She was excited about it. 
She was also deadly serious. 
So were the dubious looks Drake and Liam gave each other over the thought of taking their wives on the most important hunting event of their year. Not that either didn't enjoy spending time with their significant others, but hunting was a whole different world. It was a one-person sport where you spent the day away from reality and responsibilities and just enjoying the great outdoors —a place to be alone and experience the thrill of a good hunt.
“Guys, I’m serious. We go fishing together, and I’ve shot targets plenty of times. I really wanna go hunting with you. Riley wants to go too, don't you?” She cast an inquisitive glance out her window at Riley, who glared back with the biggest what-the-fuck look she'd ever made. “See, she wants to go too.”
“Baby,” Drake began softly, giving her knee light squeezes. “I don’t mind taking you, but this is opening day. We’ll be in the woods for hours, in the cold. It’s not really what someone would consider a ‘date.’ And we’re going to the Festival that night … we’ll get a chance to spend time together there.”
She held his gaze as her lips began to quiver. “I understand. You .. you need time to be away from me, and it was a dumb idea anyway --”
“No,” Drake cut in. His heart plummeted from the sadness in her voice and eyes. “That’s not it at all. I love spending time with you. And if you really want to do this, then … let’s do this.”
“Really? We can go together?” Drake nodded with a smile before she squealed in his ear and pulled him into a tight hug. “I can’t wait! Thank you!”
Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Liam let out a heavy breath as he looked over at Riley -- The woman he knew would not be a fun hunting partner next week -- still standing on the sidewalk, appearing like she might faint. “Yeah ... I can’t wait either.”
---------------------
Saturday. 5:15 a.m. The cellphone alarm on Drake’s bedside table let off a series of rhythmic beeping sounds and vibrations. 
The alarm wasn’t needed. The man had been awake for hours, listening to his wife's gentle snores; the anticipation of bringing home at least a 12-pointer keeping him from falling back asleep. 
Letting out a ferocious yawn and a hearty stretch, he picked up his phone to dismiss the alarm and rolled over to wake Alyssa.
With her ass perfectly curled into the space between his stomach and thighs, his hands settled on her curvy hip, jostling her slightly. “Time to get up, my little peach. We gotta get crackin’ before all the good deer are gone.”
“I just need one more hour, okay? Thanks,” she protested with a drowsy murmur, pulling the pillow over her head.
Drake chuckled, rubbing soothing circles over her back. “No. We have to get up now. We’re wasting time, sleepyhead. Unless … you don’t want to go.”
Alyssa’s heavy eyes stung as she tried to peel them open one at a time. “No, I wanna … go ...” she trailed. Her eyes slowly shut again, and she was out.
On a day like today, Drake was usually up and ready in ten minutes. Once he could finally get his wife out of bed, dressed, and back awake again from where she fell asleep on the toilet, it was close to 45 minutes. 
Maxwell, who was also a childhood friend and the music teacher where Alyssa taught, rented the room over their garage. He agreed to come down that morning and watch the kids while the pair spent their morning in the woods. Bianca used to help out in that regard, but the kids complained she slept the whole time, and Alyssa was pretty sure her mother-in-law smoked pot around them.
Drake loaded up the truck, placing his rifle and a smaller .22 caliber for Alyssa behind the seat. Dragging herself slowly to the vehicle, the night sky still pitch black and her breath turning to thick vapors in the frigid air, she listlessly tossed a Taylor Swift tote bag on the floorboard and climbed in.
Drake looked at his phone after everything was packed up to see if Liam had sent a message about being late. It was unusual for him not to be there already. Typically, his best friend was up and at his house before Drake was even ready. He sent off a quick text to check.
Drake: Where you at, man?
Liam: Running late. Riley had to put makeup on and do her hair. 
Liam: I’m having so much fun already 😑
Liam: snark
Drake: Lyss couldn’t decide which gloves looked the best with her orange vest. I guess she wants to impress the deer before she kills them.
Liam: We’re not catching deer today. We’ll be lucky if we catch a cold. Be there in 10.
Twenty minutes later, Liam’s gray Silverado pulled onto the Walker’s gravel drive. Riley had wanted biscuits and gravy from McDonald's, and she had to run back inside to pee, so that set them back. But, with everyone now there, they were finally ready to head out.
Just down the rural road from where Drake and Alyssa lived, the current sheriff of Cordonia, Bastien, owned several acres of unoccupied land that he used for recreation. He had been a close friend of Drake’s dad and agreed to let Drake and Liam hunt and fish on his property whenever they wanted.
Turning onto the dirt road and opening the gate, the four friends arrived at their spot just as dawn was breaking. 
No one spoke much as they trekked through the mud, sticks, and brittle fall leaves that littered the path to the deer stands. Riley and Alyssa were too exhausted to say anything. Drake and Liam just weren’t used to talking at all.
"Riley, love,” Liam whispered softly. “Can you watch how you’re walking? The noise is going to scare the deer away.”
“I can’t help it if … " She reacted loudly in frustration before Liam placed a finger over his lips, and she resumed speaking more quietly. “I can’t help it if there're leaves everywhere. I’m walking on them as delicately as possible.”
“How much further? I think my toes are frozen and I need coffee.” Alyssa bemoaned while walking on the balls of her heels. Drake was basically dragging her sluggish body by the hand. Her eyes were still drooping from exhaustion with every careful step.
“Just over yonder of that fence row is our stand.” He pointed out.
Alyssa aimed her flashlight around the woods in several spots. "And where do we pee at?"
Liam lightly snorted as Drake answered matter-of-factly. "Just over yonder of that fence row below our stand."
"Oh ... " her tone was small and apprehensive, "... I guess that's ... okay." She glanced back timidly at Liam, who was following close behind.
He shielded his eyes from the beam of her flashlight in his face and frowned. "I'm not going to watch you pee, Alyssa."
Riley gasped, "Eww! I don't want Drake watching me pee either." 
"Shhhhh." Liam was quick to remind her again of the volume of her voice.
"Stop, shushing me, Liam! Those deer don't know I'm out here."
Drake grunted, then whipped around to face the three of them. "Would you keep your voices down? No one's watching anybody take a piss," he whisper-yelled. "Lyssa and I will be at least a hundred yards away from ya'll. Riley, I promise you can piss your little heart out, and I won't see it."
"We're separating?" Alyssa asked wistfully. "What if I need to ask Riley something, and she can't hear me yelling across to her?"
"You'll just have to ask her when we're done, baby girl. And ... please don't yell questions to her while we're out here. Low voices."
They continued on with their noisy hike.
"Having so much fun," Liam grumbled to himself.
-------------------
Liam and Riley headed to their tree stand as Drake helped Alyssa climb up the ladder to theirs. 
The stand and ladder were made of plywood -- chipped and faded from years of exposure to the elements -- and were attached at the apex to an oak tree about twenty feet off the ground. At the top it had enough room to take a step onto, with a wooden seat just wide enough to accommodate them. One plank rail came out on both sides. 
Alyssa plopped down onto the seat, clutching her tote bag of goodies on her lap. She lifted the brim of the orange beanie she borrowed from Drake -- that smelled of animal carcass and gun powder -- above her eyes and peered out to the wilderness spread monumentally below. She closed her eyes and slowly inhaled the fresh, dewy air, taking in the sounds of twittering birds, branches clashing from the nearby squirrel frolicking on them, and the rippling of a bubbling brook streaming down the hill. 
A pleasant warmth overcame her as Drake's much larger body sat down next to her and protected her from the frosty wind blowing in from his side.
Alyssa wrapped her arms around his waist, snuggling into him. "I can see why you like this so much. It's so quiet and peaceful ... look how purty it is out here, Drake. It's just real purty, isn't it?"
Working diligently on getting their gear together, he stopped briefly to look out; affection glowed in his eyes. “It sure is, darlin’. Almost as purty as you ... and notice I said 'almost.'” He winked, and Alyssa blushed, feeling that same love trickling up inside her she'd had since they were teenagers. Drake could charm the pants off a chipmunk, but she was thankful he only used that gift on her.
"Sooo ... " She drawled in her thick Southern accent. "How long will it be before the deer start coming out?" 
Drake drew the barrel of her gun back after loading it with shells and explained, "Don't know. It could be minutes. It could be a few hours. Just whenever they head this way, I reckon."
Perplexed, Alyssa nodded slowly. "A few hours? I s'pose that's okay. What do you do while you're waiting?"
He shrugged, passing a gun to her. "You just ... sit here."
"You just sit here and do what?"
Drake leaned over to kiss into her orange cap and replied, "Wait."
"Wait." She acknowledged. "I can do that. I'll just sit here ... and wait."
Several minutes had passed, and Alyssa was already bored with listening to nature, Drake's gurgling stomach, and sitting quietly with nothing to do. Every so often, a shotgun blast was heard in the distance, signifying either someone out there had gotten their prize or Riley had driven Liam insane. It was the only break from the monotony that came with the boredom of sitting in a tree for who knew how many hours.
Letting out a giant exhale that caught Drake's attention, she propped her rifle against the railing and pulled the cloth tote that was sitting between her boots into her lap. Rummaging through the bag, she pulled out her phone and began thumbing out a message.
Drake furrowed his brows and asked, "What're you doin'?" 
"Just texting Riley,' she answered dismissively. He shook his head and leaned it back against the tree while she formulated her message.
Alyssa: You still alive over there? How's it going?
Riley: This is boring as shit.
Riley: And now my texting is apparently scaring away the deer. F the deer Liam. F all the damn deer!!!! What were you thinking, Lyss?
Alyssa: I was thinking we could spend quality time with our husbands. The men we love and cherish with all of our hearts. I’m having a great time with Drake so far 😍😘
Alyssa: And no one twisted your arm to come bitch.
Riley: Liam's just staring through binoculars. He hasn’t spoken in 20 minutes except to tell me to point the gun away from him or to quit moving. Let’s go get our hair did at Adelaide's.”
Alyssa: OHHH Yes! And get Chinese food ... CRAB RANGOONS!! I'll have Drake drive us back. Girls Day Out. Love you!
Drake let out a belch and blew it away when Alyssa turned to him with a dazzling smile and a sparkle in her blues. "Can you drive Riley and me back to the house?"
"What? Right now?" he shrieked. She answered him with a cheerful nod. "What happened to all that talk about wanting to spend quality time with me?"
"I still do. But ... we're just sitting here, not really doing anything. I could be getting my hair done for tonight's festival. I also have a ton of laundry to do, some papers to grade, and I’m supposed to be making the Devereaux’s famous peach cobbler for the raffle. If I leave now, I’ll have time to do all of it.” Alyssa knew she probably wouldn’t do half of that, and Audrey would likely make the cobbler, but it made the situation sound more urgent.
"It's opening day, baby. I'm not leaving this spot." He reached into the pocket of his overalls and pulled out his keys. "If you and Riley wanna take my truck, I'll ride back with Liam."
She gave him an exasperated look. "I don't know my way back to the truck. And I sure as hell know Riley doesn't."
He smirked, stuffing his keys back. "Then you're stuck."
The next hour was brutal. Alyssa texted Riley to alleviate the boredom for several minutes, but there had been no responses in a long while. She wasn't aware that Liam tossed her friend's phone over the hill when she started making TikTok videos of her plight -- Liam took his deer hunting seriously: No noise meant no noise.
Drake wasn't much better; he was quieter than his usual self. It wouldn't have been so bad if she could at least talk. An occasional whispered word was not going to cut it.
Alyssa sighed heavily. She wiggled around for comfort. She unwrapped a Nutty Bar. She crunched. She opened a can of pop. She tapped her fingers. She flipped the pages of a magazine. Each one got that look from Drake that let her know it was too loud. If she ever made it out of there, she planned to jabber and stir until she couldn't do it anymore.
After another half-hour of stewing quietly in her thoughts without a sign of a deer anywhere, Alyssa decided now was the time to finally just talk. 
"Do you ever think about having another baby?" It was a topic that had been on her mind for a while. To her surprise, Drake didn't give her a look or even freak out the way she anticipated. Despite his own rule of silence, he even responded in kind.
"Yeah. Kind of a lot."
Her right brow darted up. "Really?" 
Drake took a breath and shifted the gun across his lap. "I mean, of course. It's always been my dream to settle down and have a bunch of youngin's with the woman I love." He studied her lit-up face; he'd swore she'd gotten more beautiful with age. That's why he hesitated when he added, "But ... "
Her shoulders slumped at his words, and a deflated look impressed upon her face. "But ... " The word barely made it past her lips.
Drake reached for her hand and gripped it tightly. "Lyssa, we have so much going on right now. You're working on National Boards, Audrey has piano recitals and basketball, Patrick has peewee football and Boy Scouts. We barely have time -- except for right now -- for just ... us. I'm not saying,"never"... just that right now ... isn't a good time."
"I understand that, but ... we've always made it work. And don't you miss those tiny little fingers wrapped around yours? And the way they smell fresh out of the bath? And those chubby little cheeks pressed up against yours?" she goaded.
“Of course I do. I remember the first time I held Audrey and PJ in my arms -- there’s just no better feeling in the world than ...to look down ... " Drake paused as his voice cracked, and his brown eyes glistened like glass. " ... and to see someone so small ..." When she sniffled, it made it that much harder for him to speak. "... that you created with the woman you've loved since you were 16 years old. But I like who they are now, and watching them grow, and doing things with them ... And, well ... there’s no shit clean up.”
“You obviously haven’t washed Patrick's clothes in a while,” Alyssa retorted with a chuckle that brought out one in her husband.
"I’ll have to talk to him about that." He gazed deeper into her eyes. "But I do love you ... more than all the peaches in Georgia, Lyssa Claire.”
Alyssa smiled.“That’s what you said to me when you promised to marry me when we were teens.”
Drake returned his own smile. “I did. I remember like it was yesterday too. Sitting in your parent’s basement, watching Friends reruns, eating pizza, making out. And hell, it’s still as true today as it was then. Somehow, even more."
Their cold lips parted and joined halfway for a fervent kiss, with Drake's hand meandering around the subtle groove at the junction of her waist. Just as it became more intense and desirous, a rustling of twigs off in a nearby thicket caught Drake's ear, and he broke away, his eyes scoping the perimeter. Alyssa wasn't offended, she heard it too, and her heart raced with excitement.
Lifting the binoculars hanging from his neck, he spotted two deer eating from a blackberry patch some thirty yards away. He pointed in their direction; Alyssa gave a quick thumbs up, letting him know she saw them too.
Drake carefully lifted the rifle resting in his lap as Alyssa leaned forward and squinted to get a better visual. "Is that a buck and a doe?" she whispered, not moving an inch.
"Sure as fuck is." He mounted the stock of his .30 caliber, Winchester, just beneath his collarbone;  the rush of this moment coursed ravenously through his body. He lined up the scope and placed a steady finger on the trigger -- his thumb pulling the hammer back.
“Wait.” Alyssa loudly whispered. “You can’t shoot him.”
"I'm gonna. Better cover your ears."
"No, Drake. There's a doe with him. What if that's his wife? You can't just leave her all alone without him."
"Lyss, this is the whole reason we're out here."
"So you can make a widow out of her?"
"No ... so I can make deer chili out of him."
Alyssa's mouth flew open. "No. No. RUUUUUUUUN! RUUUUUUN!"
Drake pulled his face away from the scope and fired her a look. "What the hell are you doing? They're getting away!"
She tilted her chin boldly. "I don't care. That was her husband, and they're in love, and you can't take that away from them. I would be so sad if we were just out eating berries and someone came up and shot you, ALL SO THEY COULD EAT DRAKE CHILI!". 
Drake dropped his head. He knew there was no point in arguing with her. As long as he’d known her, she was stubborn, and at that moment, she was dead set in believing those two deer were living out the greatest romance of all time. Nothing he said or did would change her mind on that. 
A thought emerged while he attempted to comprehend the logic of the situation. Those deer ran off in the direction where Liam was set up. Maybe if he could give his friend a heads up, it was still possible at least someone would leave those woods with the prized buck.
Turning his back from Alyssa so that she couldn't stop him, he pulled a small walkie-talkie from his pocket and radioed Liam. Alyssa knew what was up and jumped to her feet, thrusting her arms around him in an attempt to stop the travesty.
"You can't do this, Drake," she hollered, "That’s her soulmate. And why don't I have a walkie-talkie? I want a walkie-talkie!"
While seated next to Liam, Riley was swinging her legs, purposefully making the soles of her boots scrape against the platform. Liam tried to ignore her; maybe he had been a little too uptight about every little noise and utterance she made. But this was playing a whole different ballgame now: she was now making it her mission to piss him off.
Prepared to pound his head against the tree, Liam gritted his teeth, skimming his eyes in her direction. "Love, do you have to do that?"
"Did you have to throw my phone in the woods?" She spat back.
Liam rubbed his hand over his face. "No, and I am sorry that. I apologize for all of eternity. I promise I will get you another one as soon as we get back, okay?”
Riley huffed. "Fine, but that phone had all of my contacts on it. It had our babies' pictures and videos on it ... our vacation photos. I can't get those memories back ever, and I have to find it, and God only knows where it landed. It could be ..." She stopped rattling on when she caught sight of the distressed look Liam was giving her. Knitting her brows, Riley asked, "What?"
"Nothing ... just ... can you lower your voice a little? You're gonna scare the deer away," 
He regretted it as soon as it came out. 
“LIAAAAM!”
He saw the steam gushing out of her ears. There was no time to answer the incoming call on his walkie-talkie from Drake.
Belting out a furious screech, Riley jumped up and tried to jerk the gun from his hands. There was no question she wouldn't shoot him, but she'd sure as hell shred his favorite gun apart piece-by-piece and toss them all the way to Portavira Lake on the other side of town.
Riley tugged with all of her might. "I have HAD IT with being quiet for those damn deer, Liam. HAD IT!"
"Sweetheart, you need to calm down ..." He stood up in front of her, pulling back on the rifle even harder, surprised -- and not pleasantly so -- his considerably smaller wife had this much struggle in her.
"Don't you sweetheart me. You have shushed me for the last time, Liam Preston Rys!"
“Okay, I’m sorry! But can you at least admit us fighting over a gun is dangerous? Somebody is going to get seriously hurt, and I don’t want it to be you, Riley. Please. I won’t shush you anymore, I promise.” His face softened, eventually adorning a loving smile at his wife, who, with a sigh, was unable to resist that handsome face and relaxed her grip. 
Riley gave him a half-smile in return. “I’m sorry, too. I’ve ruined your hunting trip.”
“Yes ... you did.” Liam agreed, dodging the playful slap she nearly made to his upper arm. “But I don’t want to fight anymore.”
With the War of the Ryses finally over, they went in for a makeup kiss until Drake’s voice called out to Liam again through his walkie talkie. Liam set the gun down on the bench and leaned it against the tree before he started digging into his pocket to answer the device. Riley dropped down onto the seat, her elbow brushed against the rifle and caused it to slide away until the barrel end hit the railing and set off a powerful blast.
When the ringing in both of their ears subsided, and the smoke had cleared, Liam and Riley collected themselves from the sudden spine-gripping explosion that shook them both. While Riley explained to Liam what happened, a hysterical sounding Drake came back over the walkie-talkie, wailing, “Alyssa’s been shot! Alyssa’s been shot! Help me!”
__________________
Later that evening, in the courthouse square, the street was lit up with zig-zagged rows of red, green, and white lights. Strands of garland were wound around every lamppost in perfect spiraled loops, and red bows hung and waved with the wintry breeze.
With traffic rerouted away from the area, vendors lined sidewalks selling local goods to put the town's citizens in the festive spirit. What would this small town in Georgia have been without boiled peanuts, low country boil, fried green tomatoes, barbecue, and peach everything? 
Once Constantine had lit the 30-foot spruce, surrounded by hundreds of merry people from all walks of life that made up this small community, the festival was officially kicked-off.
In a large tent set up on the square, Liam and Riley laid out styrofoam containers and drinks they’d purchased from a barbeque vendor on one of several picnic tables inside. With their two young daughters munching away on their meal, and the stroller with their sleeping son beside them, they both sat down with heavy hearts and restless minds.
Liam bit into his barbecue sandwich, noticing Riley only prodding at her mac-and-cheese while staring off into the distance. He didn’t have to ask what was wrong; he knew what happened that morning was bothering her with guilt and worry. It wasn’t every day she accidentally shot someone.
“Are you going to be okay?”
Riley shook her head slightly with a sad look. “No. It’s just not the same without Alyssa here. You know how much she loves Christmas and the festival. She was so looking forward to it too, until --”
“You shot her.”
“Yeeeeeesssss,” she cried out. Liam reached across the table and gave her hand a comforting squeeze, his thumb caressing her smooth skin. Riley continued to sniffle as she grabbed a handful of napkins and wiped the barbecue sauce off Liam’s sticky fingers that were now smeared all over hers. “I didn’t mean to, I swear it. And the way … and the way Drake cried. It broke my heart. Now he has her on bed rest AND house arrest. He won’t let her take calls. I’ll never see or hear from my bestie agaaaain.” The tears continued to flow in steady streams.
Liam stiffened, feeling the eyes of everyone in that tent, gawking at his overly-dramatic wife breaking down. He started to tell her to lower her voice, but after the gun battle in the woods, he thought better of it. “Riley, darlin’, you know Drake is really overprotective of Alyssa. And as scary as what happened was, she only needed the one stitch and band-aid for her graze wound. Something tells me Drake won’t be able to keep her down long.”
---------------------------
Liam was right. As much as Drake tried to keep her in bed so he could wait on her hand and foot, protect her from the careless friends of the world who could inadvertently do his baby girl harm, and check to see if she needed a new band-aid every few minutes, he could not keep her down. She had been far too excited to hang out with the people she loved so much and celebrate at one of her favorite festivals.
Maxwell had left for the events with Audrey and Patrick an hour ago; they were part of the children’s caroling group and needed to be there early. Against Drake’s wishes, Alyssa showered, got dressed, and made sure he knew in no uncertain terms would he be able to prevent her from going. The only thing he knew to do was to go, follow her around the entire night, and make sure she wouldn’t get shot again.
They circled the block where everything was held several times, but spaces to park were impossible to find. Three blocks away was the church where they attended, and the parking lot was completely empty. Drake didn’t like the fact that Alyssa would have to walk so far in her debilitated condition and was prepared to haul her piggyback style if he had to, but this was the best spot he could find.
Drake moved the gearshift into park and reached over to grab Alyssa’s arm, who was already bounding out the door. He pulled Alyssa back inside, the chilly air blowing through her open door swept her straighten hair this way and that way. 
She cocked her head to the side and exhaled, “Drake, I can open my own door. I’m not broken. It’s just a scratch. I’m fine.”
“I know.” He smiled that tenderhearted smile only Alyssa had ever seen. The same one sending a shudder through her already chilled body. “I changed my mind,” he replied simply
Alyssa slammed her eyes shut and groaned. “I just told you I was fine --”
“No, no,” He shook his head. “About having another baby. I want to start trying.”
Saddled with curiosity, she slid back into the truck and shut the door. “But, I thought you said we didn’t have time for that --”
“Yeah, I did say that. I still believe it. But … today made me realize that yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today …”
Alyssa’s hand flew to her mouth as she laughed out loud. Drake gave her a confused look before chuckling awkwardly to himself, “What’s so funny?”
She lowered her hand, still laughing. “You got that saying from a quote on a poster in my classroom. You’re the one who hung it up for me.”
The memory dawned on him, and he lowered his head, attempting to cover the guilty grin that spread over it. “Well, hell. Here I was trying to make you think I was all insightful and smart and stuff.”
Alyssa’s hand splayed across his rugged chest as she leaned over to kiss him.“You are very insightful and smart. You know I never settle for anything less than the best.”
“I s’pose.” he said, forking his fingers through his hair. “But … I guess what I wanted to say was … I know that bullet missed you, barely … but what if it hadn’t? What if I’d left those woods without you today? Just like you were afraid that doe might. Time wouldn’t matter anymore. There will NEVER be enough time with you. You’re my life, Alyssa Claire. You’re my lover, my friend, my heart, my confidante, my soul, my everything … my little peach. I want to experience all that life has given me with you as my wife … and forever make time with you.”
“DRAAAKEY!” she bawled, spreading her tiny arms wide around his bulky body. Alyssa drew him into her so hard it nearly crushed the wind right out of his lungs. “I -- love -- you -- so muuuch!” Drake patted her back and kissed into her hair as she sniveled into his shirt. He hated when she cried, but damn if this didn’t feel good to him. Anytime she was happy made him that way too. 
They took a moment to kiss and pet each other a little before Alyssa sat up and asked, “So … when do you want to start trying for a new baby Walker?”
He shrugged. “Whenever you want, baby.”
Alyssa looked through the back window of the truck and scanned the parking lot. She bit her lip and looked back at him impishly. “What about … now?”
Drake’s eyes flew open wide. “In the church parking lot?”
Pursing her lips, she affirmed, “Yes. We’ve done it behind the Piggly Wiggly plenty of times. And let's not forget the ‘Great Ass Blow-out of 2019’ in the Atlanta Convention Center parking garage.”
“I will never forget that.” Drake shook his head as that momentous sexual experience replayed in his mind. “Mmmm, you performed magic that day, woman.”
She raised a brow and coaxed him on, “So? What’dya say?”
Drake took a tentative look around at the dark, empty lot, then back at her. “We’re so going to hell, but I’m in.”
“Eeeeeee,” she squealed, jerking his arm around in excitement. “Try to keep your ass out of the window this time, okay?”
Thirty minutes later, Pastor Hakim pulled into the church parking lot with Mara, the game warden, following behind in her truck. There had been several reports from passerby’s of loud animals howling and screeching behind the church. The stray cat population was out of control in that area, and several cats had burrowed their way inside the church on occasion. 
Hakim parked his car, with Mara pulling in beside him. They both got out simultaneously and listened quietly to see if they could decipher where the commotion was coming from. 
Within seconds, a load moan roared out, followed by several consecutive whimpers that were hard to make out by the duo.
Mara listened intently, then gestured with her flashlight to an area near the back of the lot where clusters of shrubs and dry brush bordered. Hakim ambled behind her, the noise getting closer and closer until the pastor's brow furrowed at the shaking of a nearby truck.
“Damn, teenagers,” he grumbled as they tipped toed discreetly.
Mara crouched down by the truck's tailgate, Hakim bending over while she duck-walked toward the driver's side door.
The game warden turned to the pastor and instructed, “On my three. 1 -- 2 -- 3.” They both jumped up at the same time, flashing the light inside the cab. “HAHA Caught ya! OH MY GOD!”
Alyssa, who was on top of Drake, completely naked except for the band-aid on her left arm, looked up in utter humiliation and shock. She crossed her arms over her chest to cover her breast, feeling like she might faint. Not knowing what to say at that moment to rectify their actions or why those two were still staring inside the truck, Alyssa smiled sheepishly. “I’m still feeling the spirit, Hakim.”
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achliegh · 3 years
Text
Golden
Yeehaw Leo… it's all because this song came on one day (I don’t even really listen to country anymore so it really is fate). Leo is based off that song, each chapter is going to be based off a yeehaw song too.
Characters belong to @lumosinlove
Beta: @the-most-slyterin-hufflepuff & @punkkkboi
TW/CW: Smut, terrible yeehaw sayings and jokes, injuries, mentions of past death/suicide, minor character death, underage drinking, mentions of past arrests, cringe
Chapter Songs (listening in order is recommended):
Chapter 7:
Fast!
Bar Playlist: Youtube, Spotify
Fishing In the Dark
“Okay Logan, we are going to be on Peanut together. Sound good?” Leo held a kiss dazed Logan’s face in his hands as they spent the last hour convincing Logan to go on the trail ride with them. Kissing him until he couldn’t focus on his fear was seeming to work the best. Finn got in on it too before he had gotten on his own horse, along with most of the team. Celeste and Dumo decided to stay behind and help Judy clean up.
Leading a still dazed Logan over to Peanut he helps him up, Leo following soon after. Hands under Logan's arms holding the reins. Lo was leaning back into Leo’s chest and only noticed they were on a living vehicle when said vehicle started moving to join the others.
Leo rubbed a soothing hand over his side to let him know he was okay. Finn and Clay trotted over to Leo and Logan with a smile on their faces. There was a brown Burmese cat that was lazily stretched across Leroy’s rear behind Clay.
“It’s about time! From what I’ve heard Logan is pretty good at riding, should transfer over to equine.” Clay winks and Logan smacks Leo’s arm as he tries to hide his laugh. “Just know that Leo tells me everything… even stuff I don’t want to know. But I do the same with him.” Clay shrugs and turns around going over to Thomas, Noelle and Reg, the cat just fully relaxed as Leroy bumped it around.
“How long have you had him?” Thomas vaguely gestures to Clay and his posse.
“About 4 years, found him in the woods eating a rabbit.” Clay smiles at him as they ride side by side down the trail Leo and Logan were leading. Jerry, a little song bird that loves to ride with Leo anytime he goes down the trail perching himself on the rim of Leo’s hat.
“Wha- I thought horses were herbivores!” Clay looks up at a confused Thomas and raises an eyebrow, then it clicks.
“Oooohhhh, you think Leroy is a HE! Nope, she’s a mare! Had her since I was 9 years old. Tina is a man though, fathers all the kitties around the farm.” Smiling his million dollar smile at him. “I also have a sand boa named William-”
“Snakespear?” Clay blinks a few times and laughs nodding.
“Is it that obvious?”
“Maybe to some of us who… maybe still browse Tumblr on occasion.” Thomas winks at him causing Clay's face to heat up, swallowing the happy feelings that he knows he can’t have. He smiles back and trots ahead to be next to Logan and Leo.
Logan was gripping Leo’s wrist the entire trail ride, Finn was so distracted at one point Kuny let go of a tree branch and it smacked him across the face because he didn’t listen when he was told to duck.
It was a nice relaxing ride through the countryside, nothing fancy, just an easy going adventure. Everyone made it back to the pasture in one piece, thank god, everyone was hopping off and unsaddling the horses.
Leo got off Peanut first just for a moment, in that moment he watched Logan completely freak out when Peanut took three steps to the left to graze. Hiding his smiling by sucking his lips in between his teeth, walking over to Lo he helped him off of the horse. Logan was clinging to Leo like a koala, and tight enough it was hard for Leo to breath.
“You okay?” Leo put a hand under Logan’s booty to support him and ran his other hand through his soft curls. Hoping he felt safe now.
“I am now.” Logan looks up at him and smiles before lightly nipping at his jaw. Leo laughs a little and nods a thank you to Reg who is un saddling Peanut. Leading everyone inside to relax until they go out later tonight. Walking into the entrance hall and kicking off his boots all while holding Logan still.
“I thought these were school pictures!” Jackson, or Nado as the team calls him, points to the bunches of framed photos of Leo. “Are these… mugshots!?” He laughs in disbelief. The rest of the team starts to examine the pictures more closely. Some pictures had Leo with bruises or blood, some had him smiling with a middle finger up or peace signs, others had him looking annoyed. His younger one from when he was like 12 -13 years old were of him looking scared or crying.
“Yeah, they are all my mugshots from when I was, I think, 12 to this year. The Sheriff doesn't like us at all, arrests Clay and I for random reasons and even if, like when we were younger we would call the cops because someone vandalized the gate to the ranch and tried to break in. I got arrested for a false call. I was 14 I think. The cops are definitely not afraid to use force with us either… I hope he fucking leaves us alone while y’all are down visiting.” Leo is looking at his first mugshot ever of him sobbing at 12 years old. The week of his birthday, someone threw a rock through a window at a shop and blamed him.
“Is this your sister?” Timmy points to a mugshot of Eloise from last year and Reg bursts out laughing, Clay snorts and Leo looks confused.
“That’s my mom…”
Hours later, the drunk trio had already left for the bar to get a table and to talk to some of their friends they haven’t seen since the beginning of summer. The team was in their little ranch hand house getting ready, the speakers in the house all blaring Fast! By Sueco the Child because they know… they know there will be nothing but yeehaw music to assault and molest their ears tonight.
Thomas was pulling his grey shirt over his head, smoothing the fabric down as Noelle chills in her sweatpants and his t-shirt. People who didn’t want to go out are going over to Clay’s house to learn a bunch of mixed drink recipes and to talk shit. It was mostly the girls who didn’t feel comfortable getting harassed by middle aged men with beer guts, Dumo and Celeste who have become close friends with Judy overnight, and people who didn’t like going out in general. Like Olli, Adam, Timmy, and Sergei.
“We should talk to him.” Thomas sits down next to her and wraps an arm around her shoulders, kissing her forehead. Looking at the ceiling all he can think about is how easy they got along with Clay. How his smile and Noelle together made his heart speed up. When they both turned to look at him earlier he thought he was going to have a heart attack.
“I think you need to talk to him first, this is something new for you. To like a man. I- I’m not going to lie the thought of Clay and you separately give me the same feelings, but you two together. It makes me feel the happiest I’ve ever felt. Do you maybe want to talk to Lo or Finn before we talk to Clay? To make sure this isn’t just us… I don’t know, using Clay in a way we don’t mean to?”
“Yeah, I think that's a good idea. But when can we get them away from Leo long enough to talk to them?” Looking at his watch and hearing all the thumping down the stairs he gives her one last kiss before standing up and stretching.
“You could try to corner one of them tonight?” She smiles at him and winks at him as he shakes his head. “Have a good time tonight, Babe.”
“You too.” He heads out the bedroom down and down the stairs. He was riding with James and Coops to the Bar but maybe he would try to switch and ride with Finn and Logan.
“Red-ay!” James slings his arm around his shoulders and ruffles his hair. He thinks for a moment, then sees Finn swinging the keys to his rental car on his finger as Logan is on the ground struggling to yank his boots on. He was wearing heavy combat boots to dance around at a ‘Honkey-Tonk’ as Leo calls it. Seems like a bad idea.
“Actually I think I’m gonna tag along with Finn and Logan.” He smiles at James who shrugs and slaps his back before running off. Walking over to Finn, he looks down at Logan and gives Finn an ‘is he serious?’ look.
“He doesn’t want to be called short by all the hot cowboys and these are the tallest shoes he owns.” Sighing he looks back at Logan who is laying flat on the ground out of breath from fighting with his shoes. Reaching out he helps him up. “What’s up?”
“I’m gonna ride with you if that's fine.”
“Sounds good, let's go.” Finn skips to the car while Thomas and Logan walk side by side. Getting in the car, Thomas was squished into the backseat. As soon as the doors close he is asking questions.
“How did you guys know?”
“Know what?” Logan looks back at him as Finn starts the car. Thomas looks out his window watching the other cars pull out and start driving towards the gate.
“Know that three was the perfect number for you…” He looks back at them and sees them share a look for a moment, having a silent conversation before Logan climbs into the back with Thomas.
“It took us a long time to figure out, but we knew that Leo was for us because we could barely function as a couple without him. Like we could do it but, it just wouldn’t be the same. There was always something missing after we both started getting feelings for him.” Logan sighs a little. “It's hard to explain but it was like there was always a perfect Leo sized gap wherever we went. Once we both realized we wanted him, and he wanted us… it was a no brainer to ask him to be with us.”
“It’s definitely a feeling of loss when they leave and it's just you two together. So maybe it will cement your feelings when you get away from that person for a while. If they are the main topic of conversation when it's just you and Noelle… maybe three is the perfect number for you as well.” Finn smiles at him as he drives past the gate and follows the google map to the bar.
“What if we have already had time without them and.. We- I don’t know, we want to talk to them but I’m scared because.” He gulps and wipes his sweaty palms on his jeans. “Because I’ve never felt this way towards a guy before.” Finn blinks a couple of times and Logan nods, making a noise of understanding.
“ It’s a scary feeling at first, I freaked out for a long time until I finally met Finn. Then I freaked out even more and actually tried to leave the Frat. Then I finally let myself fall and I fell fast and in the stupidest way.” He laughs a little remembering when he realized he was in love with Finn. “Basically Finn had this mini basketball hoop in our dorm room the first year we had to share a room. Second semester I finally gave in to my desire for him. We had sex, honestly it was terrible because neither of us had any fucking clue what we were doing. But after, this bitch!” He starts laughing as Finn starts getting red on the tips of his ears from embarrassment. “He got up after like two minutes of cuddling because he had so much energy and started playing basketball! I was curled up in my duvet watching him with a sore ass, and a stupid smile… That's when I knew he was for me.” Smiling at Finn, just absolutely in love he turns to look at Thomas who is still laughing a little.
“I think I realized I liked… This person after they sent me a video of them playing a harmonica really annoyingly and another person in the car threw it out the window and he pulled another one out of his pocket.” Snickering, he smiles at them. “Thanks for not freaking out on me, Noelle told me to talk to you guys because she also really really likes Clay.” He realizes he just said the name he was trying to avoid and looks at them a little worried.
“It was pretty obvious how she was flirting with him all afternoon, and you just kind of watched and looked like a little puppy following them around.” Logan moves out of the way as Thomas tries to smack his arm and puts his hands up in surrender. “Sorry! Sorry! I meant like the big strong manly man you are.” Laughing, Finn pulls into a parking spot in front of the bar and shuts the car off.
Walking into the bar the smell of sweat and beer washed over them, making them scowl for a moment. They spot Reg talking to a blonde girl with a red cowgirl hat on. Leo and Clay are already hustling a game of pool with some people who look about the same age as them. The team made their way to the tab Reg was at and got comfortable. Ordering drinks and listening to music. Leo and Clay stopped by after losing $100 on the pool game. Chatting for a few moments when suddenly a sound like bagpipes came over the speakers.
Thomas watched as Clay's face completely lit up, dragging Leo out onto the dance floor. Everyone got into orderly lines and started stepping and dancing to the song all the same. It was mesmerizing. Thomas would be lying if he said he didn’t watch Clay completely lose himself in the music and didn’t have to take a drink to cure his cottonmouth. Especially when those goldish lights would land on them.
Making them even brighter than before, the lights giving Clay’s skin a bronze glow. When Clay pulled his tank top out of the waistband of his jeans, he choked on his beer. Patting his back Finn was chuckling as he watched Leo dance.
He moved so easily, like it was second nature, the dance didn’t look hard but Finn was known to have two left feet off the ice. The lights were amazing, making Leo’s hair poking out from under his hat look like gold leaf.
He was beautiful.
It was obvious that Leo and Clay were platonic soulmates, they mirrored every move perfectly. They had fun and acted like they were the only ones on the floor and whipping their heads back and forth to the beat of the music made Clay kick Leo by accident and he would just laugh.
Once the song was over Logan, Leo, Sirius, Thomas and Clay all went to smoke outside. Sirius and Thomas were out there to get some fresh air while Logan and Leo traded a cig back and forth. Clay puffed on his own and closed his eyes looking up to the sky. Hearing Footloose come on over the speakers Logan and Leo rushed inside because that was one song Logan actually knew how to dance to.
Leo joined him on the floor and would laugh but catch him anytime he would stumble with his boots. He would end up spinning Logan back into place and singing off key from behind him.
Reg was watching his friends as he spoke with Kuny about the wildly different styles of boots and hats people were wearing when a panicked looking Clayton came up to him. Grabbing his arm and walking towards the one dark lit corner of the bar and kicking a couple who was making out, out of the corner. He turns to Reg. Watching someone behind Reg walk towards the door and leave.
“You alright?”
“Thomas just kissed me…” Looking at him with wide eyes looking so lost, Reg grabs his arm to make sure he doesn’t bolt. “He kissed me and he has a girlfriend Reg! I- I’m not a homewrecker I swear!”
“Whoa whoa, hey Clay. Look at me.” Clay makes eye contact with him and starts to relax. “Thomas isn’t the type of person to just kiss someone out of nowhere, and I bet he is going to tell Noelle right away. It’s okay.”
“But Reg, I really like them… like in the way Leo likes both Logan AND Finn. I don’t want to lose them. I just figured it out the other night. I was never going to act on it because, its pretty fucking rare, but now Thomas did and- and what do I do!”
“How about we go and sit down for a couple of songs? Maybe dancing might help you out because it always seems to relax you. Okay?” Clay nods and follows Reg back to the table, after a few fidgeting moments he goes to the bar and orders a couple of shots and takes them all in a matter of seconds. Taking a deep breath he starts to relax. He feels a familiar hand run from his shoulder to his hip.
Ashley.
“Long time no see, huh.” She smiles a sly smile at him and leans her back on the bar. She was wearing a low spaghetti strap tank top and painted on blue jeans with red boots that look like Clay’s. He swallows a little. She did look good, and he was getting to be just drunk enough to be horny.
“What do you want?” She catches him looking at her boobs and smirks; he flushes red and turns around to also lean his back on the bar, looking out to the dance floor where some of the team has joined Leo in dancing to Hillbilly Bone by Trace Adkins. He looked at the table and noticed Reg staring directly at him.
“I just wanted to say hi, looks like you’ve really been taking care of yourself.” She feels his arm that he unintentionally flexes and she squeezes his muscle. He looks at Reg one last time, making his decision, he looks back at her and nods towards the door.
He leaves with her.
“Are you fucking kidding me.” Reg watches him leave. Absolutely shocked. He gets up from the table and walks onto the floor, walking over to Leo he taps his shoulder. Leaning down so Reg can talk into his ear, Reg tells Leo exactly what happened.
Looking up and around the bar he can’t spot Clay anywhere, he excuses himself from the group and walks outside with Reg. Seeing Clay’s truck is still there they walk over to it and knock on the window before looking in. Empty. They left.
“Fuck. I’m texting Judy.” Leo does exactly that.
Leo, having taken a few drinks to calm down, lets himself relax. He was at a bar with his friends and boyfriends, he could have a little bit of fun. They all decided they were leaving in an hour anyway.
So when Fishing in the dark by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band starts he grabs Finn and pulls him close swaying to the beat of the music as he mumbles the words into his neck, still stressing about Clay leaving like that. Holding Finn as close to him as he could he let himself just forget about anything but the man in direct contact with his body.
Once the song had finished he stood there still holding Finn for an extra couple of moments, letting Finn kiss the top of his head, his hat being on Logan’s head who was sitting at the table because his feet hurt. They eventually pull apart and start back towards the table.
“Oh fucking Christ!” Leo sighs as he notices who has taken his chair at the table. Ashley’s brother and the Sheriff’s son. David. He walks over and stands next to the chair. “What the hell are you doing over here?”
“I’m socializing with some new people, you didn’t bring them. Why would they want anything to do with you?” He laughs and his lackeys on the other side of the chair also laugh and slap his shoulder.
“Actually they did come here with me.” He crosses his arms and the rest of the team is looking a little uncomfortable and confused. “So if you and your shithead friends would oh so kindly leave. I would appreciate it.” Narrowing his eyes David stands up in a way that is sizing Leo up. Leo raises an unimpressed brow because David is a good five inches shorter than him and a scrawny man.
“Do they know you’re a fucking faggot? That you’re a cockslut? A fairy?”
“Why do you think we are here?” James pipes up and the three idiots across the table look at him in shock.
“You’re a whore, I could never!” David looking back at Leo and jabbing a finger in his chest. Looking David up and down slowly with a cringed face he nods.
“Yeah, you couldn’t. Now, I believe I asked y'all to leave.” Leo points with his thumb behind him.
“You’re dad would be so proud.” Leo grabs him by the collar of his shirt and aggressively pulls him closer to him with a look of pure fury on his face.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
“I said. you’re disgusting dad-” Leo is pulled away from David by Sirius.
“At least my dad wasn’t a murder!”
“AT LEAST MY DAD DIDN’T KILL HIMSELF!” Leo stops fighting against Sirius’ grip and calmly gets away from him, storming out the doors, kicking them open and walking towards his truck. Kicking rocks up and trying his best to hold himself together. Getting into his truck he slams the door and grips the steering wheel, pressing his forehead against the hot plastic and squeezing his eyes shut as tight as he can.
Minutes later Finn and Logan crawl into the truck in silence. Leo goes to apologize but they hush him and just give him understanding smiles and both of them cup one of his cheeks. He was so close to crying but he just couldn’t. Not in front of them, the people who are supposed to see him at his best.
Once they get home everyone goes to their rooms and Leo walks down behind the barn to the pond.
He spends the night by himself under his dad’s tree.
26 notes · View notes
addictedtojmanga · 3 years
Text
Shoujo manga recommendations - misunderstood yankee looking sweet guys
1. Ai Kara Hajimaru 
Sakura Ai has always loved sunflowers, as they appear like the sun, which incidentally also was the name of her first crush, Taiyou, in the 3rd grade. From since then, Ai has never had another love and has also become quite introverted, but after meeting a guy with the same name, something’s will begin to change…
2. Akuma ga Kitarite 
Ruiji is secretly in love with Wakatsuki. But how can he declare his love when this one is frightened to death every time she meets his eyes?
3. Beast Master
Leo Aoi looks like a crazy animal with wild eyes, and he goes berserk whenever he feels threatened and sees blood. That doesn't stop animal-lover Yuiko Kubozuka from befriending him, however. In fact, Yuiko is the only person Leo will listen to when he has one of his violent fits...
4. Boyfriend no Jouken
Arimura Rin, high school first year. The start of her idolized high school life. Or so she thought! But her class is filled with delinquents, so she only has days filled with fear. On top of that, she ended up pissing off Igarashi Chiaki, an eye-patched boy who snaps when provoked! It’s so not an atmosphere for romance! Even so, she promised her ex-classmates from middle school that she’ll introduce her boyfriend to them, so now she’s in a real pinch! 
5. Hamuko to Gao-kun
Kimiko Mihoshi and Gao-kun, the rumored class delinquent, recently became class representatives. While searching for Gao-kun to invite him to a class gathering, she stumbles across him with two nerdy guys and immediately assumes that he is bullying them. She interferes, but only to find out that the three of them are actually close friends, and the rumored delinquent is actually a really nice guy. Furthermore, he even asks Kimiko to be his girlfriend?! What will Kimiko do? Thus begins a new romantic comedy!
6. Hapira Hajimaru
Asai Sachi's luck has always been considered dreadful. After becoming the class president, she meets Kurono Hyougo, a guy with a frightful face who bears various gruesome rumours behind his back. Hyougo had been living alone in an apartment; but when Sachi mistakenly reveals that Hyougo is a minor, he had to be kicked out. Fortunately, Sachi's father is a realtor, and suggested to have Hyougo live in their unused detached house. Would Sachi's bad luck turn upside down upon meeting Hyougo?
7. Haru No Ogawa Wa Dokidoki Suru Yo
When Fujii Nanami comes across a group of delinquents beating up another boy, her first instinct is to run away. But forgetting what she saw is harder than it seems, and when she goes back to treat his wounds, she finds her fear of him beginning to fade as an unlikely friendship springs up between them...
8. Heart Assassin
Shio deals with unwanted attention from a transfer student known as "The Assassin."
9. Honey Buddy
Being loved by a new era yankee and an old-style yankee, a love triangle. it's troublesome being popular (only among yankees though). 
10. Honey Come Honey
Mitsu is a high schooler who looks cute and fluffy, but on the inside? The first day of her transfer, she meets a popular guy with a mysterious weapon. She's scared of him but she knows his secret?
11. Hyakujuu Kingdom
Taiga Shishio, the Student Council President, is a notorious tyrant. And yet, the only person that can stop him is his faithful Vice President Momoko. School, love, and trouble collide in this amazing story of student leadership. 
! Lacks romance, but pretty good. 
12. Kaibutsu-san ni, Rei!
At the Christmas training camp, Yuzuki was paired up with no other than... that guy?!
13. Kedamonozakari, Koizakari
Tsugumi is good with handling animals. One day, teacher suddenly asks her to take care of a problem, Shiro nicknamed "rampaging lion"...?
14. Kenka Bancho Otome - Koi no Battle Royale
For as long as she's been aware, the heroine, without a single relative, lived under care of the state. Both of her parents' faces were unknown to her. In front of this heroine, a young boy appeared. The young boy's name was "Hikaru." It appeared that he was the heroine's twin brother, separated at birth. He had a proposal for the heroine.
! Last chapter not translated. Available in spanish. 
15. Kimi Ni Koishitei Desu Ka
Chigira Ruiji is a man born with the face of a demon. Trouble follows him wherever he goes. However, he just wants to live a normal high school life and make some friends, and even fall in love...
16. Kumori Nochi Saku
For a shy boy and an energetic girl, love starts at their part time job!
17. Life Is Short, Delinquent Youngster, Love! 
An infamous delinquent is told that he would die soon unless he dates this girl from another school.
18. Mata Ashita (Murata Mayu)
Towa's always been shy around guys, despite being a total tomboy. This has crushed her chances of ever having a boyfriend, but a perhaps fateful encounter on the first day of high school might lead to love? But will it be with the surprisingly kind "angelic" delinquent, or the popular yet secretly "devilish" prince?!
19. Me no Tsukedokoro ga Deep Desho
Mina is a girl who has a strong hope of finding her destined person. With that goal in mind, she tries her best with different types of guys wishful of finding the right person. Even when her childhood friend, a yankee named Yuito, is already by her side. Will she ever find her destined person? A romantic comedy, coming-of-age tale of love and friendship.
20. Mikami-kun no Himitsu
Mikami's scary, I'm telling you! But wait, what's this secret of his?
21. Ookamidomo no Shitsukekata
Origawa Industry Public High School is a school filled with rough men. There's only one girl in this high school packed with wolves. But this little sheep isn't an ordinary person!
22. Sora Log
Our protagonist, Hikaru, is a member of the astronomy club at her school. On one beautiful starry night, she encounters a tall boy with blonde hair that looks almost white. However, he turns out to be...?!
23. Taro-kun wa Kou Miete Igai to xxx desu. 
Living in the same apartment complex, my friend Taro-kun who always looks so scary actually is…?
! Has a sequel (Yappari Taro-kun wa Kou Miete Igai to xxx desu)
24. Toshishita Yankee wo Oseru Ken
A dangerous love comedy between a brilliant high school student and a younger delinquent starts! Nachi, a fan of a cute male character of a social network game, decides to make use of her abilities as the top student of her grade and becomes a part-time tutor in order to earn money and pay for items in her game. However, her student, Soushi, is not only younger but also a delinquent with red hair! Tutor Nachi, who is even prepared to face even death, starts to see Soushi's cute side...?!
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