#He started out as a joke and his name was Jeff Jefferson

[teaboot]

I have to remind myself that my characters don't have to be tortured or dramatic to be interesting.

My first DND character was a balding, paunchy, post-middle-aged human man whose wife had just left him and whose kids had grown up and moved away.

He quit his menial job and decided to take up music, something he'd never been very good at that didn't pay the bills, and become a bard.

He was bad at it. Really, really bad. His instrument was shit and he'd never had any formal lessons. On top of that, he was pretty tone-deaf.

BUT. He could play very, very bad noises very, very loud.

On our first campaign, he was cornered by a sea dragon and had no weapons, but by making a loud, horrible noise, he was able to startle it badly enough to lose grasp of the boat.

After that, he used it to herd a small crowd of goblins into a trap by sounding far bigger and more numerous a foe.

He never got much better, but he did grow his confidence, and won the affection and respect of his companions, who grew to support him in ways nobody else had before.

I had to stop playing him for a while after that, but last I had him, he was developing an interest in color and flare and fashion that he'd never paid much attention to before.

He didn't lose weight, or grow his hair back, or magically become younger, but he felt brighter, lighter, like he had a new lease on life, like he had something to offer and maybe he deserved to have a bit of fun, now and then, with good company.

He began to wonder if that was what he was missing, before. If perhaps that was why his marriage had wasted away. A lack of drive, of hope, of pride and passion.

I don't know where he would have gone on from there. I don't know if I wanted him to reconnect with his kids, or his ex wife, or his home town. Part of me likes the idea of finding his own way- settling and becoming good friends with his ex, something platonic but warm and fond, and reaching out to his kids and being there for his grandkids and someday passing away bright and loud and loved of old age, asleep in his bed, to be celebrated after by the loudest funeral with the worst music played by the most awful musicians his community had to offer, loud and proud and full of good humor.

Maybe they'd throw a festival, after that. An annual one, with firecrackers and trumpets and clanging pots and pans to scare away the monsters like he did, the roaring hero who came into his own a little later than usual, but wondrously all the same.

A symbol to show that you don't have to bend and squish and contort yourself to fit the space you're in- you can find another space, one that's just your size, and exist there exactly as you are

[sweetdreamsjeff]

Stories from Memphis

Date sent: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 12:02:43 +1000 Subject: JBEL: jeff in memphis

I was working in the lab at scool on Monday and decided to check my mail (I had signed up for this mailing list only last week) and much to my surprise found out that Jeff Buckley was playing in Memphis that night. It was 4 pm, and I had no idea what time he was going to play, but I called my friend Jimmie, and he and I decided to take the risk of driving to Memphis and getting there before he quit playing. We thought it would be worth it even if we only got to hear the last chorus of his last song. We left Birmingham at 5:11 pm and got to Barrister's at 9:30 pm, and luckily there was an opening band who hadn't even started playing. Jimmie and I sat at the bar right in front of the stage. When we got there, only about 8 people were there. The opening act was different but pretty good - they seemed to be heavily influenced by King Crimson. I think the name of the band was Seven Four Slide. I talked to their guitarist Ben and his ex-girlfriend Melanie. They were very nice. I think Jeff started playing around 11:30. I had never heard him before live. He was incredible. His voice is so amazing. He played Grace, Mojo Pin, Last Goodbye, and some new songs. I was completely mesmerized throughout the entire show, and only came out of my trance when he would joke about something. He sang a bit from the song "Nicky" from Purple Rain. We were yelling the lyrics out to him because he couldn't remember them all. It was great. He played for about an hour and a half. After the show he hung out talking to everyone. Jimmie and I stayed at the bar until it closed at three. Jimmie, Jeff, one other guy, and I were the only ones left at the bar besides Kevin, the owner, and Andy, the bartender (both are really nice guys). We listened to Led Zeppelin on the juke box, and I watched while the guys played pool. Jeff beat Jimmie twice. As a prize for winning, Jimmie gave Jeff a copy of his band's tape (the suburban love junkies). Jeff seemed sincerely appreciative about receiving it. Then Kevin and Andy kindly kicked the four of us out of the bar, and we followed Jeff in his white Dodge Neon to the lamplighter where he was supposed to meet some friends. The lamplighter was closed, so we said goodnight to Jeff and went to find a place to stay the night. We were so wide awake that instead we ended up driving back to Birmingham. We are going back next week, and I highly recommend that anyone in the vicinity of Memphis make it to one, if not all, of the rest of his shows at Barrister's. If I were a millionaire, I would send all of you plane tickets (NY, Connecticut, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, etc.), but unfortunately all I can send you are brief descriptions of the shows. Until next week ...

Julie gene004@uabdpo.dpo.uab.edu (juliej@uab.edu)

Subject: JBEL: Memphis, Part II

It was not a dream.

After borrowing a car and a microcassette recorder; after packing the camera and the CDs; after rounding up my friends -- we left for Memphis yesterday at 4:30 PM. We weren't sure that we would be able to get into the bar, but we came anyway. Even if I couldn't get in, standing outside and listening would suffice, right?

We got to Memphis at around 7:30 and finally found the place ( Barristers') in a dark alley off of Second and Jefferson. When we approached the place, I saw a thin guy with a guitar walking in, and my heart started to race. I approached the figure, and to my dismay I discovered that the figure was just some guy named Jake of John or some other "J" name. Anyway, I introduced myself, and we talked for a minute. I was surprised when he said, "My band goes on at nine o'clock, and that other guy, Jeff, goes on at ten thirty."

"That other guy, Jeff?"

The man did not even know who Jeff was. It was really odd to hear him say "Jeff" with no "Buckley" attached. Yes, odd.

We went inside, and the owner just asked us for five dollars. No ID check, nothing like that at all. Nobody at all was there. The place had maybe four other people in it. I was hoping it would stay that way, too. We hung around for about five minutes, then we went to Beale Street and ate some barbeque, and then we came back at nine to find that the opening band had already started.

I didn't like the opening band, so I went outside to get some air. I saw the owner of the place, and I must've talked to him for an hour and a half. We talked about the internet (he posted the announcement on AOL) and how effective it was for this sort of thing, and we talked about Jeff a whole lot. It was really neat to talk to someone who seemed to know Jeff personally, I must say.

Barristers' advertised this show, so people started flowing in at about ten o'clock. I'd say there were about 75 people there altogether, though I'm not sure how accurate that estimate is. Anyway, the owner and I were the only ones standing outside when Jeff pulled up. He drove up in a white Neon at about ten-thirty, and got his guitar and amp out of his trunk. I asked him if he needed a hand, and he said no. I was disappointed, but I knew I'd see him again. He threw his things onstage and then came back outside to move his car. When he came back in, I introduced myself, and we talked for about five minutes. I asked him if I could tape the show, and he said "No, no, no, please don't... well, okay." We talked for just a few more minutes, and I asked if I could get some autographs after the show. He said "Sure, Doug," and then went inside. A few seconds later, he came outside and asked me not to tape the show, but said that it was lovely for me to ask. He said that it was just too dangerous, and started telling some story about the British mafia and bootlegging. I was disappointed that he didn't want me to tape the show, but I just couldn't find it in my heart to press the record button afterward. He asked me not to -- I wasn't going to.

He went inside, and even though the place was relatively crowded, no one approached him at all. Either no one knew who he was (that wasn't the case), or nobody had the guts to approach him. He went over to the pool table and began to play pool with a guy I had met earlier in the night, so I followed and watched. The guy he was playing was really bad, so about halfway through the game, I asked Jeff if I could have next game. He said an emphatic "Yes," I guess because the other guy was just so bad. They finished up (Jeff won), I put in 50 cents and Jeff the remaining 25, and Jeff racked the balls up. I won't tell you the play by play, but I won the first game, Jeff the second, and I the third. I didn't quite know what to do. I beat Jeff Buckley in pool. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Who knows. Anyway, we talked some more and then he went onstage. I was really the only one to talk to him, strangely enough. I didn't hover or anything, I was just friendly. He is really very approachable.

He popped onstage at about 11:15, tuned up, and launched into the most amazing version of "Grace" that I have ever heard. It was just him and his guitar, of course, so that made it even better. He cracked a few notes (not the really high ones, though), and afterward told us all about how smoking will make your voice "suck." He proceeded to play (I don't know about the titles of the new songs, but I'll take a guess) "The Sky is a Landfill," "Witch's (????something)," and a GORGEOUS version of "Morning Theft." That song was by far the best of the night.

After that, it was time for "Last Goodbye," and then he went into a really long Prince (back when he was Prince) imitation, and he talked about "Purple Rain" a whole lot. It was quite funny, but then he brought us back into our trance with "Mojo Pin." He finished off the set with a song I hadn't heard before, but I think it might have been called "Wild is the Wind." It was wonderful...the whole show was beautiful and it was my first.

After the show, one or two people approached him asking for pictures , but he asked them not to photograph him. After they left, I asked him for one autograph, but he signed (defaced is the word) the covers of "Grace," "Live at Sin-e," and "Live at the Bataclan." On "Bataclan," he signed it "Le AAARGH!" He drew sunglasses on his picture on "Grace," and signed "Take me with u!" I was thrilled. We talked for just a second more; about the book I was keeping my CD covers in -- Hume's "Dialogues on Natural Religion," and then I left. He had remembered my name, thank goodness, and as I left he said, "Catch you later, Doug." He will. Next week, hopefully.

I hope to see some of you there next Monday. Let me know if you plan on coming, and maybe we can meet up there. Come. It's more than worth the gas money.

If there's anything I left out (I doubt it, considering the length of this post), just mail me and I'll fill you in.

Rock on, etc.

-Doug "I beat Jeff in pool" Jennings Doug Jennings <jenninda@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu

Buckley's 5355 Poplar Avenue Memphis, TN 38117 (901) 683-4538

Buckley's

If you are a big meat fan, then Buckley's will certainly treat your taste buds. Buckley's specializes in beef filets, and they do a good job. They also have one of the most extensive beer lists I have ssen in this city, with a huge variety of domestic and imported brands from which to choose. Another great treat at Buckley's are the butter garlic potatoes. In addition to filets, Buckley's also serves a few chicken dishes and a good assortment of appatizers and pastas. All of the entres are reasonably priced and dinner will run around $10 per person. Buckley's in open for dinner seven days a week. There is a full bar. Credit cards are accepted but checks are not. Parking can fill up fast, so you may want to dine early here. Return to Memphis Restaurants

[dailymilesmorales]

Miles Morales, for fans of comic books and Spider-Man, is very well known. But for people outside of that world, he’s not very well known. With Into the Spider-Verse, we’re introducing a character who our audience already knows is going to become a new Spider-Man. But the audience loves Peter Parker, the Spider-Man they’ve got. It’s a challenging introduction of a character: Our movie doesn’t work if you don’t fall in love with Miles Morales.

We open the movie with a montage that introduces the real Spider-Man. The scale of that scene is enormous. It’s like seeing an entire superhero movie in 45 seconds, guided by this very confident narrator. Then we cut to Miles, and things slow down a lot. In an elegant script, everything is deliberate, and everything is a microcosm for something larger: When you meet Miles, we see him singing a song with headphones on. We made a very deliberate choice to spend the first couple of minutes we’re with Miles really just watching him. We wanted Miles to be kind of lovable. We see him drawing and making stickers; we’re establishing that he’s a creative person, he’s an artist, who is able to create without feeling self-conscious or encumbered.

The most important thing for this scene to communicate is that Spider-Man, as a character, is always punching up. In Miles, we have a kid who’s not ready — he’s not ready for school; he’s not ready for this mission. He doesn’t have all the tools, but he has spirit, and we fall for him because of that. We start the movie looking at Miles, and then we end it with him looking right at us.

We needed Miles to score a foolproof laugh at the beginning of the movie, right when you meet him. There aren’t exactly jokes in this stretch, or any clever lines. It’s just what a reasonably clever kid would say. We had this idea that if he sang a song that was out of his register, it would make the audience laugh. It got a big laugh in the preview screening a year ago, but there was one problem: The song we initially used was the Donald Glover song “Redbone,” and we liked the double-layered joke of opening with a Donald Glover song because of his history with Spider-Man. “Redbone” killed … until Get Out premiered.

It was critical that the song gag landed. We had a feeling it was because people knew the song, and they knew how he was messing it up. We were in big trouble when we couldn’t use it anymore — we needed to replace one of the greatest songs of the year, and we had to do it in time to spend the three months we would need to animate that shot. It turns out “Sunflower” is a massive hit song. We heard it as part of a batch of songs that Republic Records presented to us.

We also liked the metaphor this presents: Miles is singing a song that theoretically he’s a little too young for and he doesn’t know the words yet. That’s the metaphor we’re going to be working with for most of the rest of the movie. He’s going to be asked to step into shoes that he feels he’s not ready for, he’s not going to know the words, and he’s going to feel very self-conscious and nervous about that.

With Jefferson, we need to convey the authority he has in Miles’s life. His lines are delivered from either off camera, or passing. In a very subtle way, there’s a bit of a disconnect between these characters: Miles and his dad talk to each other, but they don’t necessarily look at each other, or face each other. Jefferson is a character who’s searching for a way to communicate with his son. This line — “you’re a grown man now” — was improvised by Brian.

Jeff and Rio are both helicopter parents in some ways. We were always riding a line, we didn’t want Jeff to feel punitive or naggy. We always wanted him to seem like he was a good dad.

We had to have Spanish in this scene. We worked really hard with Shameik [Moore] and Luna [Velez] to have enough Spanish in there that felt credible and that didn’t alienate English speakers when they heard it. It was important that it wasn’t subtitled, that it felt completely normal, and was never presented as foreign or other.

Sometimes we overdid it. And at one point we underdid it. We spent a lot of time fine-tuning that stuff. Even in recording sessions where sometimes Rodney would be on the phone with his mom, and Luna would be on the phone with hers, and we’d be saying, “What would you say if I didn’t do my homework, and you were going to call me out?”

We tried a lot of different versions of this scene, but sometimes the most down-the-middle structure works the best. A lot of these sequences were grounded in conversations we were having about how a lot of the characters in the movie were fighting against inevitable change, and were seeking to go back to a comfortable place in the past that didn’t really exist anymore. That was the intention behind Miles and his old school, and wanting to go back to it. We decided that Miles’s school was around the corner from his house, because it let us say a lot of stuff very quickly.

The initial versions of this scene, in some ways, hit a lot of the same things but in a different order. You saw Miles hanging out a lot with a specific group of friends that we no longer meet specifically. There was a dinner-table scene with the parents, and a lot of the dynamic of that was eventually moved to the scene where he drives to school with his dad. You had stuff about how Jefferson feels about Spider-Man. In those drafts, the movie started with him telling his parents that he decided to quit school.

You don’t get the sense that Miles is Mr. Popular, but you definitely get the sense that he’s a well-liked kid who has history and rapport with the people around him. In some ways we started to draft a lot on Shameik, and his charm. This is just a piece of flavor that popped up, between the writing and the recording sessions. Miles is not in control of his powers; it’s almost like setting up what’s to come. He is a charming kid. He is starting to make connections with other people that may or may not be romantic; it’s unclear. He’s capable of getting the connection, but he just isn’t quite in control of what he’s doing yet.

The stickers that Miles works on came from Bob Persichetti and his rebellious, street-art-skateboarder past. In the initial treatment, we wanted him to have something that was a little lie that he would keep from his parents, because it felt like a good microcosm of the big lie that he has to keep from them, going forward into the next stage of his life. What’s cool with the stickers, too, is that they literally say “My name is.” It very uniquely set up that Miles was someone who was still searching for himself and identity and wasn’t quite sure who he was, and was almost trying out different versions of who he was, graphically, on these stickers.

There were many versions of this scene, even in its current structure. We tried over and over again to write more jokes for Miles. Beyond meeting Miles, this first scene with him is about mapping out the visual contours of what you’re doing, and the tonal contours of what you’re doing. You’re conveying the overture for your whole movie, and the audience is paying attention. Sometimes if you don’t establish that stuff early enough, it feels jarring later on if you take a sharp turn and do something that you haven’t set up as one of the colors you’re playing with. A lot of jokes just didn’t work. They either felt fake, or written. So we just said, “Forget it.” All we want to do is fall in love with this kid, fall in love with his family, and convey a couple of very simple things. The kid feels a little overwhelmed; he’s not prepared. He’s a regular kid who fibs to his parents, parents who have very high expectations of him because they love him and are trying to do as much as they can to help him. And, of course, we had to do all that in 45 seconds.

[eirian-houpe]

Disparate Pathway - Chapter 19

Read previous chapters on AO3

Chapter 19 - Grace

Jefferson had the cab drop him a block and a half away from his sister-in-law’s house. He didn’t think he’d been followed, but he’d learned the hard way that you could never be too careful where that kind of thing was concerned. No matter how pissed he was, the last thing he wanted to do was to bring danger to Rebecca’s door.

He took an indirect route, ducking through alley ways and across the community garden, before coming back out onto the street a few houses down. Once he reached the sidewalk he knelt down under the pretext of tying a shoelace, and took the time to have a good look around himself. Only when he was satisfied that the street was empty did he get up and finally make his way to the house and rang the bell.

It was late, and he knew it would take someone a while to get to the door, so he tried to resist the urge to push the bell again, or worse, to lean on the doorbell until someone pulled open the door to spit a whole load of invectives into his face. He was trembling, just a little, as the lights in the hallway snapped on and the silhouette of a figure approached the thick, frosted glass.

He heard the jingle of keys and locks, and the rattle of a chain before the door began to open just a crack.

“Rebecca, it’s me,” he said to forestall the necessity of too much opening and closing of the door, which might bring too much attention to what was going on. Attention, apparently, was not something from which Rebecca intended to shy away.

The door slammed shut, and then opened again with the velocity of a forced entry, until the doorway was blocked by a back-lit figure that involuntarily made his heart lurch, even though he knew it was not Priscilla, but her sister. She had her hands on her hips, and it didn’t take an investigative genius to know that she was unhappy with him.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” she spat.

In better circumstances he might have made a joke, nice to see you too, Rebecca. How the hell are you? It’s been a while, but these were not better circumstances and he didn’t have time to put up with her being a dick.

“I need my car,” he said, trying - and failing - not to match her tone at least a little and took a step toward her. “I went to storage and it’s not there. Where is it?”

“Whoa, back up buster,” her tone, if possible, was even more frosty than it had been when she opened the door, “We agreed that you wouldn’t come around here without at least a call—”

“You decided.” He talked over her.

“—twenty-four hours in advance.”

“There wasn’t time,” he protested, hackles rising despite not having the energy for the fight that it seemed she was intent on having anyway, “and if you’d left the car where it was supposed to be we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”

“Conversation?!” she snapped. “This is what you call a conversation? You show up here, yelling at me on my own doorstep and—”

“Fuck you, Rebecca, you’ve never even heard me yelling,” he growled, and paced away from the door barely a step, running his hand through his hair before he turned back and repeated, “I don’t have time for this - Where’s my fucking car?”

“You’re not hearing me, Jefferson,” she said. “You don’t get to come around here demanding, aggressive, unreasonable and not to mention delinquent, and expect me to—”

“Excuse me?!” the shudder of incredulity burst out of him in the form of words. “Delinquent?” He moved to take a step forward, but she barred his way by closing the door on him just a little, but he pushed it open. “In what universe have I ever been delinquent?”

“The storage company—”

“Comes right out of my account. What’s going on, Rebecca?” Flared temper mingled with the worry of a million possibilities, and it made him even more demanding of answers. “Is there something I should know about!”

“Hey, hey, guys,” another calmer voice - Andy, his sister-in-law’s husband - interrupted their mutually rising tirade. “How would it be if you continue this inside, hmm, before the neighbors start calling the cops?”

The words made Jefferson look around, and he saw that several porch lights had been turned on, and there were the outlines of people in doorways and in windows.

“Fine,” Rebecca said, proving to him by her tone that it was anything other than fine, as she opened the door wider, and let him step inside.

It was Andy that closed the door behind him to Jefferson’s quiet, “Thanks, man.”

Andy shrugged, and then nodded toward Rebecca, before he said, “I’ll make tea.”

Jefferson tried to stay as calm as Andy’s intervention had afforded him the chance to achieve, and took a breath before he asked softly, “Now, what about the storage company?”

“They called a few months ago, and every month since. They said it was a personal matter and then would only speak with you,” she said, his affected calm quieting her. “Which is accounts-speak for you owing them money.”

“What did you tell them?” he asked, switching instantly back from being an ‘on the offensive brother-in-law,’ to being an undercover FBI agent. Either paranoid, or overcautious, or God-forbid, right, there was something suspect about all of this.

“Exactly what you told me to say,” she answered.

“And you called Rab?” he asked, frowning as she nodded.

“He said he’d take care of it,” she said in confirmation, “but the calls keep happening.”

“Someone’s fishing,” he said half to himself and half to Rebecca. “If they call again, write down the number and hang up, then give the number to Rab, tell him I think someone is trying to find out if I’ve been in contact with you.”

She nodded, and swallowed, then said, “Besides that,” she paused for a second before continuing, “Paige had to—”

“Grace,” he corrected, his temper rising again. “Her name is Grace.”

“She had to have dental work, Jefferson, and we—”

“I’ll see to it you get the money, Rebecca. When have I ever let you down with anything like that?”

She shook her head, “You haven’t just…” she sighed, and didn’t finish the sentence.

He reached out slowly, reaching past the fading red mist, to put a hand onto her shoulder. “I get it, it’s unsettling, but I promise you, everything will be fine.” He hated himself for the possibility he was lying.  He took his own breath and asked softly, “Can I… can I see her?”

She made a face and he knew she was about to refuse. He tried to think rationally, not to let the fact that she was about to deny him a moment with his daughter, derail him again. It wasn’t right. He was here and he had this moment, and maybe it would be his only moment. He shivered… thinking like that…

“It’s late, Jeff,” Rebecca said at last, “and it’s a school night, so—”

“Papa!”

The cry came from the top of the stairs, and throwing Rebecca a helpless expression, Jefferson took the stairs two at a time, barely making it to the landing to catch Grace as she launched herself against him, and with her in his arms, sank down to the floor, holding her tightly.

The press of every missed moment warred with the very real feeling of having her in his arms. He breathed in her scent. Squeezed her tighter, and felt that she had lost weight and felt waif-like against him, and he squeezed his eyes closed to keep his tears at bay. He eased his hold on her after a moment ready to draw back and take in the sight of her, but she tightened her arms around his neck.

“I miss you,” she whispered against his shoulder.

“Oh, Grace,” he forced the words past the knot in his throat, “I miss you too, sweetie.” He turned his head to plant a gentle kiss on the side of her head, finally managing to ease her away; to look at her, then reached out to wipe at the wetness on her cheeks with the pad of his thumb. His voice was hoarse when he spoke again. “You look good. You had a hair cut.”

“Just the ends,” she said, and then she released him enough that he could take her in properly, and he felt her little hand tugging his hair, before she told him, “You need one”

He let his head hang down playfully for a moment as he confessed, “I do. I really do.” Then he looked up at her and offered her a smile. “How about you show me your room. A little bird told me you’ve decorated in there.”

Grace giggled a little bit. “You won’t like it,” she said.

“Oh, I won’t?”

She shook her head, but took his hand and tugged until he climbed to his feet. His legs, inexplicably, felt like jello underneath him and his head felt light, and he wasn’t sure whether it was the lack of sleep, the physical beating he’d taken, or the overwhelming emotion he felt at holding his baby girl in his arms, even for such a short time.

She led him to her room. He’d been in there before, but it had been a while ago, and then it was decorated with faux wood panels in the lower half of the room, with almost a chintz paper above. He had hated it, but it gave him a kind of comfort, because it matched the rest of the house and that made it seem somehow impermanent - like the arrangement of Grace living with Rebecca and Andy was just a temporary thing.

When he walked in behind her this time, every sense screamed at him to get her out, to bring her with him; that he shouldn’t leave her there. Something was coming, and she was right - he wouldn’t like it, but it wasn’t the room. The room, he quite liked; reflected everything Grace loved.

The bed was new, and the wood panels had been replaced with a mural showing the inside of a country cottage, complete with a painted fireplace, with cooking utensils that ‘hung’ to the side of it on a mock hearth, built from what looked like corrugated cardboard painted to look like red bricks. On the ceiling the suggestion of wooden beams had been created in paint and cardboard, with yellow construction straws in the corners representing thatch.

He cleared his throat before he spoke. It felt like far too much work had gone into the room for it to be anything other than a lasting arrangement.

“You always did want to live in the country,” he said.

“Forest, Papa,” Grace corrected him. “Look.”

She drew back the heavy curtains that were pulled across the windows, and even in the darkness he could see that the glass had been painted across with trees, and bluebells, and even a little well.

“Nice,” he said softly, and kissed her hand as he took it from the drapes and covered up the windows and the light that came through the ‘forest’ from the city beyond. “I remember now, you always said you wanted to live in the forest.”

She looked up at him and then threw her arms around his waist, and he held her close, without moving from where they were. “I always want to live with you, Papa. I don’t care where.”

He leaned down to pick her up, resting her head against his shoulder, as he carried her across to her bed, so that she wouldn’t see the expression of pain that flashed across his eyes. “I know, sweetie, I know.” He wanted that too - desperately.

He sat them both down on the edge of the bed, and she squeezed him tightly, her arm catching the graze on the top of his shoulder, and he couldn’t help but wince. She pulled away at once, staring at him as though he had slapped her.

“Papa, you’re hurt,” she gasped. She started to wriggle in his lap to get down, “I have a band aid.”

He caught her wrist gently as she started toward the dresser. “It’s just a scratch,” he told her. “I’m good, I promise.”

She turned and looked at him then, as if taking him in properly for the first time, and he had to force himself to be still; not to hide himself from her. He’d promised himself he would never do that.

“But Papa, your scarf!” she said at last, “It’s torn.”

She pulled on his grasp until he let go so that she could cross the distance to the dresser, and reach inside. He watched as she took out a paisley patterned, silk scarf, and brought it back with her when she came to kneel on the bed beside him.

He swallowed as she reached out to unfasten the hurried knot he’d tied in his ruined scarf to fix it - it seemed a lifetime ago now - when it had torn in his struggle with Belle as she tried to run away.

“You can have this one of mine,” she told him as she finally freed the knot, and he closed his eyes and swallowed hard as she slipped it free, and then tenderly arranged the long, silk scarf around his neck, careful to cover his scars, before tying it at the back of his neck. “There.”

He ran his fingertips over its softness before he wrapped his arms around Grace, and held her again. “Thank you, baby,” he whispered, wiping away a tear that escaped onto his cheek in spite of his effort to keep them inside.

“I love you.”

“And I love you, Grace - so much.” He held her tightly, and then reached past her to pull back the covers of her bed. “Scooch down now. It’s late, and your aunt is worried about you being up on a school night.”

Reluctant, but obedient, Grace settled into bed, and Jefferson pulled the covers up to her chin, kneeling beside the bed as he did. He smoothed his fingers over her hair, committing her features to memory, and the feel of her hair beneath his fingertips, everything.

She sighed softly, calmed by his touch, he could feel her relax with each pass of his fingers through her hair.

“Promise me something,” he said quietly, and he smiled sadly as she turned her sleepy eyes his way. “Promise me that no matter what happens, no matter what you hear, or what people tell you, you’ll always remember that.

“I promise, Papa,” she whispered, her eyes closing as sleep reached up to claim her.

For a long time, Jefferson didn’t move; couldn’t, as he forced back the emotion that was threatening to spill over like a boiling kettle. He couldn’t - wouldn’t - let Rebecca see him breaking and vulnerable.

When he was sure Grace wouldn’t wake he pulled himself to his feet, leaned down and softly kissed her brow, whispering an almost inaudible, “Goodbye, my sweet Grace,” before turning and leaving the room.

To Jefferson the quiet click of the door catching closed sounded as loud as gunfire in the dim lit hallway, and the white hot pain, just as surely felt like the kiss of a bullet.

He took his time descending the stairs, using the repetitive motion to wrap the steel bands around himself, shoring himself up; confining himself to the present moment only. Andy met him at the foot of the stairs.

“N-ice,” Jefferson forced the words past the catch as he reached the last stair, “decorations you’ve done there.”

“Rebecca,” Andy said, confirming what Jefferson already suspected.

“She always did have a flair for art,” he answered.

Andy nodded, and then said, “Come with me.”

Jefferson followed Andy through to the garage, noticing as Andy picked up a travel mug on their way through the kitchen. His brother-in-law flicked on the light as they descended the few steps to the concrete floor, and then turned and handed the cup to Jefferson.

“I made your tea to go,” Andy said. “I’ll be honest with you, Jefferson, Becca really doesn’t want to talk to you any more.”

“…the fuck, Andy!”

Andy held up his hand in a gesture obviously meant to placate him. “I know, I know,” he said, “Just… give her time.”

“Time?” Jefferson ran his fingers through his hair, “How much more time! It’s been nine fucking years, almost ten.”

Again, Andy held up his hand. “She was her sister, Jeff.”

“And she was me wife!” he growled, “Grace’s mother. Do you think I don’t feel her loss every goddamn day? Feel like I failed her, and I’m still failing.”

He felt himself trembling beneath the hand that Andy placed on his shoulder; squeezed supportively. “It wasn’t you, and it’s not your fault,” Andy said, then added, “But Becca’s my wife, and I have to do what’s best for her, and for our family. So… I’m going to tell you something, and then you’re going to get in your car,” he nodded to the vehicle beside them as he reached out and pulled the tarp from covering it, “drive away, and finish this thing - whatever it is you’re involved in.” He held out the keys for Jefferson to take.

“Rebecca’s not going to put up with this arrangement much longer, and I’m not sure she’s thinking things through rationally.” Jefferson took the keys into his hand, but Andy didn’t let go and stepped in closer to catch the crook of Jefferson's other arm. “She means well, and I hope you can remember that, because when the shit hits the fan, it’s not going to be pretty.”

Jefferson was about to ask what the fuck he meant, when Rebecca appeared at the top of the steps to the kitchen, and he didn’t miss the warning Andy held in his eyes. He gave the barest of nods, and murmured his thanks as Andy let go of the car keys, and his arm.

“Don’t come around here any more, Jefferson,” Rebecca said, almost calmly, from the top of the stairs. “I really don’t want to see you again.”

Jefferson didn’t answer, just unlocked the car and opened the door. Andy caught him by the arm again before he could climb in, then he pulled an envelope from his pocket. He held it out to Jefferson.

“So you can stay off the radar for a little while longer,” he said.

Jefferson first clasped his hand, and allowed Andy to pull him in for a brief hug, truly appreciating the supportive slap on the back his brother-in-law offered. Then he took the envelope with a grateful nod, and slipped it into the pocket of his jacket.

Andy opened up the garage door as Jefferson started up the engine, feeling even more indebted to the man for taking such good care of his car that it started right away, then he backed out onto the driveway, and then onto the street.

He drove away as calmly as he could; one block… two, before turning on to the back country road that would take him out of town and toward the highway. Farmland soon rolled in on his left and right, and then a short stretch of wooded road, like the tiny forest he had seen on Grace’s window.

Suddenly, he couldn’t hold it in any more, and barely managed to pull in to the side of the road and put the car in park. He slapped the palm of his hand onto the padded steering wheel. It wasn’t enough. It needed both hands… again and again he hit the steering wheel with both hands, feeling, then hearing the whine gather in his throat before he opened his mouth and let it out, no longer hitting the wheel, but now gripping it tightly with both hands, as though it were a life preserver and he was drowning. Drowning he might have been, because he couldn’t breathe and his body shook, as his eyes flooded, and spilled over with hot and bitter tears.

[alovevigilante]

George Carlin: Trix, are for kids.

Kari: Well, Mikey likes it.

George: That’s life. My point exactly.

Kari: What is this in reference to exactly?

George: Cereal.

Kari: why are we discussing cereal? I was politely drinking my coffee, and keeping to myself...

George: you forget, you think ass thoughts, so I’m here, to interrupt your negative flow.

Kari: what was I thinking about?

George: ass.

Kari: I was?! I didn’t even realize I was entertaining that.

George: Kari, you’ve been entertaining ass all this time and you don’t even know it...

Kari: I do? Is it amused?

George: very.

Kari: well then, I guess that’s good?

George: are you happy right now?

Kari: not particularly.

George: then it’s not good.

Kari: right. So, you’re saying that you interrupted my flow, with cereal. Why?

George: couple of reasons: 1. It’s breakfast time, and I’m hungry.

Kari: I’m not.

George: yeah, i noticed.

Kari: ok, well, what’s the second reason?

George: you don’t even realize it, do you?

Kari: probably not. What is it?

George: you are now, alone, and talking to yourself. And I’m not ok with it.

Kari: why not?

George: cause you have a friend waiting to invest in you, and you’re ignoring him.

Kari: I am?!

George: yes.

Kari: ok, who is it?

George: your son. He wants you to talk to him about silly shit. And you are sitting here, wallowing in your old energy of career woes.

Kari: I was?! I’m talking to him!

George: yes, but not fully. So, go give your full attention to him! Watch his Cookie Monster make shit in his food truck even though he’s a monster, and he lives on a street with weird animals that talk, and people who don’t think that’s at all unusual.

Kari: I’ve always wanted to live there too..

George: I know. You’re weird too.

Kari: yeah. So I’ve been told and thought of that way...

George: besides, you’re entirely too filthy to live there because of your ass talk.

Kari: maybe I could live with Oscar... He’s pretty filthy too.

George: no, he already lives with Chong. Besides, Frank oz has banned you from there for life because of your nut bag naughty talk.

Kari: oh... ok. Well, dreams are not all they’re cracked up to be sometimes anyway, I guess.

George: your dreams aren’t you. You create them. Do you think you’d really be happy living on Sesame Street?

Kari: no, I’m pretty ok not doing that.

George: right. So, be cool where you are, and then once that happens, you can move on up to the east side. But before you do that, you have to be cool, with you.

Kari: oh shit. I’m never going to be the Jeffersons, ok?! I’m going to be working on this forever.... I feel like I’ll never get there.

George: well, you won’t if you sit on the internet writing about how you won’t, and avoiding engaging in your present moment which is where you are physically right now in your three dimensional reality.

Karl: good point.

George: it’s why I’m here.

Kari: ok, well, bye for now, I guess.

George; I’m coming with you. There’s nothing going on on here without you. I’m done with the sifting through sexy illustrations to entertain the few who dig them.

Belushi, John: I’m not!

George: yes, we are.

Kari: ok, well, let’s go.

John: noooooooooooooooooo....

George: yes.

Kari: I’m tired.

George: Leave us here then.

John Belushi: yes!!!

Kari: ok, cool. See ya whenever.

Richard Pryor: (to George) listen, she is my pal, ok? I’m not cool with her leaving us here to be ourselves on the internet. I’m not ok with that. Ok?! So no. And I’m mad. And I’m sad. And I’m not going to take it anymore. And I’m going to hold my breath and turn pink and beige and purple and cry and scream and joke and get my dick caught in my fly, and pee on my radio I walk around with, and discuss taboo subjects that most women wouldn’t go near with a ten foot dick asshole combo pole, cause she and I are cool, ok? So leave it be, George!

George: ok, Richie.That’s the reason why she’s upset. This energy she’s writing, is us man, ok? It’s not her. That’s the reason why she’s yelling every five minutes about famous people that she has a slight, marginal interest in.

Kari: that’s actually not true.

George: then why are you yelling?

Kari: ok, well, a few reasons. 1. I’m Italian, so it goes without stereotypical saying, 2. I’m mad, because you guys won’t shut it, and mainly 3. Because these are the NUT BAG MOTHBALLS that made me want to go into the entertainment field to begin with.

George: why does that make you mad and yell?

Kari: because I need a job, and I’m now the laughing stock of Hollywood because of my ass writing! And now, I feel the need to go back to school, to make myself into something I’m not, to get paid in a job that I’m not qualified for, ok?! No. It’s not ok. I’m not ok with it!!! I’m pissed that I decided to chase a dream that didn’t pan out, and didn’t fulfill me, because I found out too late, that I didn’t invest fully, in believing in myself. I listened to what everyone else thought about me, and I swallowed it. I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere, because I felt like I wasn’t accepted or liked. And that completely fucked me up. I’m still like that. And instead of caring about myself, and supporting myself internally, I changed my career, and spent our nest egg on being a designer for an exhibit that I couldn’t pull off for various reasons with help from my husband and a handful of others, trying to prove myself to people and the world at large that I was worth investing in, and that they themselves, were also worth investing in. I just have nothing to go back to... Sigh... It’s a longer story than war or peace...

Belushi, John: or this story you’re telling now...

Kari: Belushi, I’m not in the mood. I will string you up by your grubby lil toes and wave your ass all around Chicagoland because I don’t leave my city often, and display you in the next thanksgiving day parade here, on state street, next to the second bozo which isn’t too shabby but he’s no bob bell which he literally isn’t, and svengoolie, who should be in the parade, but isn’t! Ok?! So start with me again, poop bucket! I’m not in the mood to scoop your shit today, ok?! Yeahhh! And now on top of all that, I have to tend to you cause you’re a pain in my ass, I have to go back to school which I don’t have the dough or energy to do, I’m going to be over 50 before I can have enough credits and credentials so I can prove to society that I’m qualified to be a professional something or other, and I’ll be in the hole another hundred grand at least, and no, autocorrect, I’m not bitter, I’m sad, and lost, and aggravated, and done with all of this.

Belushi, John: pft... women...

Kari: I’ll give you women, ok? You take away the w in women and that’s what you’re gonna get from me in about 5 milliseconds ok? The Omen! Ok?! And not just because I have my lady time, ok?!!? Just start running now.. run for the Hollywood hills...

Belushi John: ha! The jokes on her, she’ll never go there...

Kari: I will go just to pin you up by your asscheeks, and go to verbally pummel the douche that made the “Jeff” meme go viral. But, my neighbor’s name is also Jeff. Do check out HIS good shit, cause he’s an amazing guitarist... just sayin... so shut your pie ass flap mouth butt jerk fach John Belushi head!

Belushi, John: No! Now wait a minute! Wait just a cotton pickin John candy corn minute...

John candy; No.

George: see Richie?! That’s why we can’t do this anymore... This shit is out of control.

Richard: ok, Kari, I get all of this, ok? I really do. Listen, we all got a good thing going here, ok? You’re like a man that looks like a woman, and you’re fun, and we can say our shit, and talk about the shit, and be the best of us without getting bashed by the critics, and no one gives a shit, ok?

Kari: But they do give a shit!!!

Richard: but do you?

Kari: I guess I do....

George: yeah, that’s what we’ve been working on thinking ourselves out of. Where have you been, Richie?!

Rick James: cocaine is a hell of a drug...

Richard: So let’s stay here and be cool, Kari, ok?! You’re as honest as fuck, ok? And that’s really honest. And we can work it out together, ok? And you won’t talk shit about bill Murray anymore cause Harold Ramis decided that he’s no fun anymore anyway.

Harold ramis: it’s true. Bill Murray is no fun anymore anyway.

(George turns back to Kari.)

George: Kari?

Kari: right. Scene.

George: no! Kari. You! Just fucking finally be ok, with you! You are also, this, in a way. And you know it. You’ve just never been brave enough to trust it, or let anyone see it! So bring it back around.

Kari: how the hell can I do that?! This shit went all over creation, ok?! I don’t know how to bring it back! We went from negative subconscious thoughts to not spending time with my son who’s taking to me about Cookie Monster and Swedish pancakes or something cause I’m half listening and not present writing you goofballs, to living with Oscar and Chong in oscars garbage can on Sesame Street, and then Richard wants to stay and yell about his sore dick without people being pissed about it, and Belushi, John wants to weed though dirty pics for the rest of my life....

John: I do, I really do...

Jackie mason: and Richard screams like a kid, that’s turns all shades of colors cause he’s pitching a fit, and she is a visibly labeled a white woman even though she doesn’t define or identify herself like that, but people don’t know where she’s coming from, so they potentially think she’s a racist and a lunatic cause they’ve never met her before, and she’s talking more shit than Steve Martin did as Navin r. Johnson in the jerk, and everyone accepted that shit, and she’s also talking like dead and live celebrities! They don’t know her from shit, or shineola, and yet they avoid her like she is shit, because of all of this! And Harold ramis called bill Murray a sad sack of potatoes the other day, and her only 2 points of reference to zets him are ghostbusters and meatballs! And she’s sick of it! Ok?! I’m done too! We all are! How many times can she talk about meatballs the movie in her life?! There’s a limit! And if there isn’t, there should be! And I’m even done with the meatballs, ok?! And that’s saying something! It is!!!! Cause I’m not Italian, but I normally love meatballs! And people are like, “why the hell is she talking about that movie meatballs? It’s 700 years old!” And moreover, most people are like, “what the hell is she talking about cause I’ve never even heard of the movie meatballs ever!!!” Ok?! So no! No to all of this!!!! And you don’t need an optigrab to see THAT! (Put the emphasis on the single syllable, THAT! Please read this stage direction out loud. Didn’t? Go back to the beginning of this scene, and do it all over again. Thank you- the management... read this part too... out loud. Yes.) oy. She’s a real nus pilke!

Kari: How the hell do I put a button on this nut ball scene?!

George: Kari, it’s breakfast time. Ok? So go eat.

Kari: righto.

Arthur Spooner: you owe the king of queens 7 zillion dollars and ten cents for the use of the word, “righto” as residual payment for quotes.

Kari: put it on my tab.

Steve Martin: ahhhhh yessss... your TAB.... (Steve paces around in silence for effect) You, mrs. Smartyshortlessbutyouareshortsoyes, owe me, the very abundant Steve Marin, THI-RTY big ones.... yes!!!! Thirty whole CENTS, for the shineola and optigrab reference, NOT to mention but I will because I always do, the use of the word tab, because I, Steve Martin alone, featured it in the jerk the movie, back in 1979, which I can’t remember, because I’ve been too obsessed with blue grasses for the last umpteen years! So yes, mrs. Keillornopantscausetheygowayupyournetherlandsnevertoreturnagain, I’m mad at you, a woman I don’t know about and have never met and don’t want to cause I’m a very busy and important star, yessss, and I hate you, even though all the aforementioned shit, and shineola, which I can say without crediting or paying myself, or I can’t, check said THAT! Not to mention that now I am a big time master class leader teacher, which puts me next in line to be the Pope of comedy not funny, erase it, no, and you are a grammatical mess, with your run on sentences and lack of proper punctuation...

John Cleese and Eric idly watching in agreement: quite.

John Cleese: I also teach a masters class in comedy.

Steve Martin: .... Which means yes to me, and yes to John Cleese, but no, to you, Kari keillor, for your ass talk. And if Carl Reiner was here, he’d say the same thing, only with a wink, and a gotcha!!!! Mr. serious Steve Martin, which I am, cause I forgot who was talking, so stick THAT in your pipe, and smoke it, lady!!!!

Joe Tex: 🥸🎶 He GOTCHA! 🎶

Kari: oh duck....

George: go now, before it gets worse.

Kari: ok, fine! I’ll put a button on this shit myself!!!! Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes are grrrrrrreat!

Tony the Tiger: you owe Kellogg’s 10 cents bitch...

John: man, that tiger is an assss!

George: listen Kari, feeling grrrrreat is a bit too lofty of an energy from where your at right now in this scene to be able to maintain it. Try for a bran cereal. That’s the next best energy for your mood, and it’ll help you to eliminate this shit.

Kari: ok. Plop, plop, fizz fizz oh what a relief it is...

George: close enough.

Scene.

P.S. I do love ALL my ladies of comedy. Yes, all... including the men.

This monologue/scene, is written by me, and for no one but me. I’m pretty sure it will now ensure my demise in the entertainment industry, and most likely go down, as the worst piece of shit, ever written. I will now go, and search the want ads, and forget all about this.... hopefully.

Appendices: I found 2 potential job leads. Fingers crossed 🤞....

[versuswhitescar]

Malam Manor

We all grow up with that once upon a time, crap. When you're little, you believe it. Who believes it as an adult? I mean, really? We have smartphones, rumbas, and clap on lights. No one meets a 17-year-old vampire who supposed to be 52. But I have, and I found his tapes by accident. Now I'm living a filliping ounce upon a time that Anne Rice would drool over. If I don't find the f-ing cave his sister is trapped in, I'm going to be enjoying a lot less sunlight for damn sure.

I know if I could figure out the details, I'll find the cave. And the murderer and maybe be spared, or I fail, and I'm the next Elena Gilbert. I sure hope not.

I'm just a damn tutor who needs money for her master's degree. Why did I even think that posting a flyer online was a good idea? Hell, my only tinder date turned out to be a 300 lb guy catfishing for a date to his sister's wedding. I stupidly, no innocently thought I'd get some pimply high school sophomore struggling through R and J and Shakespeare word salad.

Man, was I wrong? Mr. Cain Haywater answered my ad. Normal name for an average guy, right? Well, who the hell names their kid after the first murder in the Bible, but I'm getting off track. My ancient 98 jeep with more rust than metal is not going up the hill to the "Malam Manor." Later I Google it and turns out the word is Latin for bad. I should have asked Siri sooner. Too late, Cain Haywater a ward of the state. Because he's 17 and wicked rich is paying me 50 bucks an hour to help write his family's history.

This house is unusual in ways I can't even begin to describe. Its windows seem to follow you like eyes while I rev up the circle drive. The brick looks like it's from out of the Hogwarts rejection pile. The height makes it at least three floors, and there's a damn covered entry that carriages pulled under in the 19th century. Besides the semi-creepy outsides, even though it looks well maintained, I'm coming here close to 9 pm. Ounce, the sun is down on the hottest July night in history. I should have done a business major instead of English lit. Follow your bliss, my mom said. What does she know she's a nail tech for the last 12 years. She probably has brain damage from the polish fumes.

I can't imagine anyone hears my lame knock at the gigantic door. But I swear to God it seems like a cat or something opened the door. I thought maybe the heat melted my brain, but it looked like a fuzzy ken doll. It darted behind a curtain. Before I could investigate Cain, hold my breath beautiful, Haywater stands ten feet in front of me in his large foyer in black jeans, skin-tight grey shirt with a badass blue tattoo that seems to have a deep center that radiates over his forearm. I'm shook in so many ways I can barely speak "Nyx, Nyx Jackson?" My name never sounded so smooth coming out of any humans mouth ever. That was when my brain should have clicked over to reality that he wasn't human. He hadn't been human since 1989.

Sadly only 2 hours into my best tutoring gig ever, I discovered Cain Haywater was indeed a real vampire. And his beloved twin sister Danielle, Dani, as he referred to her, was just as dead only traped in a watery caved transformed into a rusalka for the last 34 years. I was Cains's last chance at finding her cave and the wort boyfriend a girl could ask for. Jefferson Granton. A 200-year-old vampire that he needed to kill. My life wasn't fair and only made worse by the fact that I'm sure I'm going to fail, and my last meal was crappy ramen.

It was my stomach and too much curiosity that made me start playing with the vintage tape recorder Cain had on the black walnut desk. He heard my growling belly and while he searched for food. I pressed play. Big mistake, I'm not sure where he went to kill the food, but I listened to almost one side of a cassette tape. The quick spark notes, once he came back with cheese, apples, and fancy crackers to catch me, went fast.  

Back in May of 1986, he and his twin sister were graduating from Xaiver highschool. Somehow she latched on to an older college guy that wandered into town on a semester off to find himself. Jefferson Granton was mesmerizing, according to Cain, tall blond lovely to look at and even more interesting to listen to. He swept naive Danni off her feet on a cross country trip. He had a long term plan. One he had been cooking up for at least 100 years when Cain's family made a fortune in lumber and now stocks.

Jeffy boy started life as Jacarde Gulomar in the Brittany region of France. He accepted the gift of eternal life from a Norse vampire who wanted a mate. Jeff never entirely made his fortune and became a bad luck symbol for the covens all over Europe. Eyes on the new country to the west, he hopped a ship and arrived to wonder the grandness of the US just after the civil war. Comming upon early decedents of the Haywater clan. William Percy Haywater knew the deal equipped each member of the family with a hawthorn stake, holy water, and a warning against a freshly minted newly named Jefferson Granton.

No one fell for him until Danni, with all her beauty and openness, fell in love, and became a target for her trust fund. By the time the twins were 17, their parents were dead at the fate of a drunk driver, and a deaf Aunt looks after them. Danni fell under Jefferson's spell forgetting all caution to follow to the whispering cave. Now oddly in the middle of the mind-melting story, a flash caught my eye, and I met the grandfather like ken doll Cain shared his mansion with.

Pere was a domavoy who kept Cain and Malan safe as much as he could. Cain respects and adored him, so I was polite. Over the next three weeks, I moved in search their land every day when Cain joins me and feasts on Pere's cooking skills. His little face sparkled at each new dish he made for me after decades of blood bags. On steamy Saturday, July 31st, I finally found, or more fell into the mouth of the cave. Much of Cain's memory was erased on the night he watched Jefferson murder Danni while he hogtied in the corner of the damp cave. Only to meet a fate worse than Danni by forcefully being turned and compelled to kill and drain his Aunt of all her blood. Jefferson helps smooth it all over with some compulsion and tricks, but Cain secured his wealth in the next few days only to vanish. He picked a small fishing village in Maine, where he met Gabriel 100-year-old vampire who taught him to live and gave him advice on how to avenge Danni. Gabriel's plan centered on Cain coming home as his namesake's son Cain Haywater II. The mansion and his tie to Danni or Cain's greatest strength. It was clear why Jefferson failed to control them.

The night I stumbled into the cave, I wore my Danni look-alike costume Pere helped me pull together. I looked like a backup dancer on a Wham video. It was. It was to trick Jefferson, but oddly I caught the attention of another creepy creature a leshii in the woods. I thought it was Cain because the voice fit, and I felt drawn to the being. Only when it had led me halfway across the land did I catch a glimpse of its eyes. Pure white scalaris was not a hint of iris or pupil. Taking off back towards the cave, I felt two forces moving me one I can now sense with Cain, and the other I was damn sure was Jefferson. He'd been down a rough road probably because, in life, he was a bit of a narcissist. Only to have that enhanced by his Vampire Life, he thought I was Danni, and he'd Follow Me to Hell to get that money. Once we made it to the rippling silver pond within the cave, I laid eyes on Daniella. My wham costume was a joke compared to her beauty.

She swept as close to us as possible, shouting silently in my brain to turn now. Cain stands between me and Jefferson stake in hand slowly I fell to the wash of a cool breeze flowing over us which I knew mixed with my warm body temp to engulf Cain it was in that moment I saw the vague outline of a man just like he left a speakeasy in 1926. He became more gas-like to almost solid, yet I could still see right through him. He is handsome except for that visible gunshot wound to his right Temple. Why was I surprised that we now have a ghost to add to the mix. Pere spoke of the cave as whispered he claimed someone took their life after the 1920 stock crash here he was with eyes for Danni.

The extraordinary power Cain had wasn't just his home or his connection to his twin. It was that he could feel loved. He survived and lived by keeping his Humanity. I saw beautiful sparkling Jefferson with his flowing blonde hair realize it too. Cains power made the cave hum Jefferson was cocky, and that was very clear. He charged expecting to deflect the steak easily, but with Danni's strength and God help me my feelings for Cain. He drove the stake straight and true into Jefferson's lean chest.

Before I can blink Cain without a blade from his boot and with incredible strength severed the head like clockwork Cain without a new Zippo lighter and flicked it on to Jeffy. Making a roaring vampire candle. Can quickly turn to glance behind making a connection with Danni. "find your bliss" I heard in my head, and I knew Cain heard it too. The 1920s gentleman back into Danni as they drifted further back into the cave. We're only water held the floor we stood still.   "Nyx?" his velvet voice floated over me. I can only gape open mouth, watery eyes, and some snot beginning to flow. At that moment, my stomach rumbled loudly. He smiled a genuinely genuine smile with all the years that he waited. I knew without any doubt Cain Haywater would be in my future Tech probably my whole life, and I smiled too.

Let me know what you think and If you want more 

[doodlelolly0910]

Close Encounters of the Spiritual Kind

Summary: Emma Nolan spent a lot of time alone, and that was fine by her. Because one is never truly alone. She should know. She can talk to dead people. What she didn’t expect was one of these spiritual encounters to hang around, taking her down a rabbit hole of missing women, revenge, and, least expected, love. Can she save the day and Killian Jones? Is there even another choice?

Read it from the beginning on AO3 and FFN! 

A/N: Okie dokie, here we go with chapter 12! We are over halfway to done with this fic and what I have planned, and lots of big things are still to come. Big things happen here as well with Gold, Jefferson, Hook, and we even introduce a new character! Thank you so so much to every single person reading this and commenting on this. I know I'm still behind in my replies but I was super super sick this week and I couldn't do much of anything. Things are back to normal now though, and I cannot wait to see what you all think! As always, huge thanks to @kmomof4 who is just amazing and the best beta and go give some love to @courtorderedcake for the AMAZING art she did for this little fic of mine! She deserves it! Hope you like the new chapter!

Chapter 12

Go back.

“No.”

He needs you.

“Still no.”

Please.

“I'm not sure how many different ways I can say no.”

It had been like this since Emma left the compound, Milah chattering incessantly in her ear for her to return to Hook. Her perfumed presence followed Emma as she'd walked through the front gate, several sets of eyes on her every movement (though no one made a move to stop her, leading her to believe Hook had tipped them all off to her presence) all the way through the drive and even now as she marched determinedly across the parking lot towards her motel room. He clearly didn't want her there, she had the device she'd come for, she couldn't help someone who refused to accept her help.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. There was no way he could know how hard it was for her to let people in, but he didn’t have to be such an ass about it. She had been almost entirely honest with him, only omitting the fact that she was actually a police officer, and he had wanted to believe her. Instead, he’d soundly rejected her, thrown her out on her ear, even, and she didn’t know how she could even reach him again. Maybe if she could get the ring, she could go back to the compound, but that was a huge risk to this whole operation. Gold was the priority.

She knew she would find Jefferson inside the room as soon as she opened it, but the way he basically attacked her in a hug surprised her. She returned it awkwardly, patting him lightly on the back.

“Give me one good reason I'm not on the phone with Regina right now pulling the plug on this,” he said pulling back and looking her over, eyes blowing wide at the sight of blood in her hair.

“I am fine,” she said, exaggeratedly wide, placating eyes holding his panicked grey. “The op is safe, I have the device. I was held up at the compound, but everything is fine.” Pulled from his grip and flung her hair over her shoulder. Bringing the shoulder bag around to the front, she lifted the flap and pulled the device free. Jefferson examined it, suspended in the air, but didn’t touch it, his eyes darting between the object and her face.

“What the hell happened in there?!” he nearly shouted and Emma reached up with her free hand and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why did you use our code names on that call? And whose phone was that? And where are your glasses? And how the fuck did you get away with that?” Jefferson’s voice was going higher and higher pitched with every frantic question that burst from him. Emma lay her free hand on his shoulder and circled her arm between them.

“Take a breath, in and out, there you go. I’ll tell you everything,” she said, darting her eyes to the floor and chewing on her lip anxiously. There was no way she could tell him everything. He would pull the plug before she could say “held captive.” What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him...

“Okay,” he said after a moment, blowing out a long held breath and lacing his hands behind his neck. It felt like ninety percent of her time lately was spent explaining things, or talking her way out of things. Luckily, she was good at both.

“I didn’t get out of the compound free and clear. I was very nearly caught,” she lied and Jefferson continued to watch her quietly, his arm now resting on top of the other across his torso, one bent upwards at the elbow, hand pressed to his mouth. “I had to spend the night in a storage closet in the living quarters before it cleared out again and I could leave. I tried to sneak out once, but the guy that was sleeping in the room almost woke up, so I snagged a cell phone and went back in. I left mine in the car. That’s when I called you. I didn’t know if anyone was listening or not, so I played it safe. But, look, Jeff, I got it. Everything is fine!” She smiled at him and hoped it wasn’t as fake as it felt.

“Where are your glasses?” he asked quietly, his eyes boring into her like he didn’t believe a word she had just said and she struggled not to squirm under his judgement.

“I, uh, dropped them and stepped on them in the dark. They’re… well…” she fished in the bag again with the hand not holding the device and pulled the specs out, dangling them over one finger by the wires. Jefferson looked horrified and snatched them immediately out of her hands, looking over the damage. He looked back up at her again in disbelief.

“I’m sorry?” She winced as the apology came out as a question. He sputtered, red faced, trying to find words. “I may need another pair,” she joked lamely.

“This isn't James Bond, Emma, we don't just have spy gear laying around!” Jefferson flapped his arms wildly, the mangled plastic clacking against itself when he moved.

“Then give me the watch you had for Graham,” she suggested with a shrug, moving past him to finally set her things down on the farthest bed and shrug off her hoodie. Her hair was sticking to the now dry blood on her neck and she felt gross. She had less than four hours to shower and get back to Gold.

“It was stolen. In the robbery.” Jefferson admitted bluntly and Emma spun on her heel, eyes wide.

“Shit,” she muttered. “Have we heard anything back on Graham?” Jefferson’s eyes softened at her question and nodded.

“He’s okay. He’s going to be going home by the end of the week, but he is out on leave until he heals. He’s already begging for desk work. And asking about you,” he added with a smirk. Emma flushed scarlet.

“He’s just invested in this op. Tell him I’m really glad he’s okay, if you get the chance,” she replied with quiet sincerity. Jefferson nodded. “I really gotta shower and then I have to get back to Gold’s. I have a suspicion that something big is gonna go down soon. While I’m in there, see if there’s something you can learn about that thing.” She nodded to the abandoned device on the bedspread and hoped he would be able to tell it wasn’t working and get it up and running again. Jefferson muttered a reluctant sounding agreement as she shut the door to the bathroom.

A too short twenty minutes later, she was showered and changed, tender head throbbing less and less, so she counted that as a win. She tucked a knife in the side of her knee high boot, feeling safer with some kind of protection on her. Jefferson hadn’t been able to make any progress on the device, but she’d done her part. She got the device and that had to be enough. Milah had been oddly silent, but she supposed even ghosts had to give it a rest sometimes. Jefferson sent her on her way with a stern warning to keep her phone on her at all times and a pained look at sending her away with so little contact.

When she arrived at Gold’s building, Zelena was waiting for her.

“Cutting it a little close, aren’t we?” she hissed, dragging Emma up to Gold’s office by the arm where the man in question was sitting at his desk reading over some files with another man. He was young, little more than a boy it seemed, but he had a twisted smirk on his face as the two women entered and Emma recognized him instantly.

“Make sure you let me know when the shipment is ready. That will be all, Malcolm,” he dismissed the man and he nodded, eyeing Emma the whole way out of the room. Emma felt a chill run down her spine the minute the man’s name was confirmed. Peter Malcolm was well known in connection to Gold and his presence put Emma on edge. But he also reminded her why she was here. Marian’s face flickered through her thoughts briefly as the door shut sharply behind him.

“I heard you had quite a time at Hook’s compound,” he said to Emma passively, twirling his cane in his hand. Emma stiffened and her heart slammed a beat against her ribcage. Play it cool, you don’t know what he knows, she thought to herself and took a calming breath before speaking.

“Well, if it was supposed to be easy, I guess you would have had it already,” she said, retrieving the device from her bag and extending it to Gold. His eyes glittered and a slightly mad looking smile crept over his face.

“Indeed,” he replied quietly, flicking his wrist to beckon her closer. With her first step, Milah’s presence was back with a vengeance, the scent of her perfume spiking all around her and a low buzz beginning in the back of her mind. Emma grit her teeth and moved quickly towards the desk, ignoring it. She placed the device on the desk and slid it across to Gold’s waiting hand. He caught it deftly and immediately started pushing buttons. After a few moments, he tried again and Emma began to feel uneasy, his gaze rapidly darkening. Even Zelena was starting to fidget beside her. Emma was helpless to do anything but watch.

“Miss Swan, tell me what exactly is this that you’ve brought me.” Gold left the device where it lay and stood, making his way around the table.

“Is that the wrong device, or…” Emma said, feigning ignorance. Gold chuckled and before Emma knew what was happening, her head had snapped to the side with the force of the back of Gold’s hand.

“Playing dumb seems beneath you, Miss Swan.” He brushed his knuckles off on his suit jacket, Emma watching him out of the corner of her eye. She swiped her tongue over the corner of her mouth, tasting the metallic sting of blood there. Milah was screaming inside of her head.

GET OUT, GO BACK, GOLD, DANGER, KILLIAN, SAFE

She ignored her again and stood to her full height, a scowl on her face. Zelena had slunk back towards the door, clearly putting separation between herself and Emma. She glared at her briefly as she avoided Emma’s eyes and then looked back to Gold.

“That device is useless. I have no room in this business for useless objects. Or useless people.” The click of a hammer drawing on a gun was the only warning Emma got before the cold metal barrel pressed beneath her chin. Her breath stilled in her chest and even Milah had gone silent. She could still smell the jasmine but the only sound she could hear was the heartbeat in her own ears.

“Mr. Gold,” she whispered out after a moment. “I didn’t know. I swear. I put myself on the line here, I got you the device, anything outside of that, I don’t ask questions. I’m trying to prove myself to you here,” she tried desperately to reason with him.

“Now that I believe,” he said with a smirk, digging the metal into her jaw once more before withdrawing it. Emma couldn’t help the shuddering breath that escaped her as he clicked the safety back on the device and put it back in his waistband. “You will make this up to me,” he said, shaking his finger as he walked back around the desk. “Zelena has your contact information. I will reach out soon with further instruction. Don’t stray too far, now, dearie.” A little giggle punctuated the end of his sentence and it was clear she was being dismissed.

Emma practically ran from the building like it was on fire, not caring whether or not Zelena was walking with her or not. She gulped in deep breaths of fresh air as she burst through the doors to the building, the cold trickle of fear still trickling down her spine. Bile rose up in her throat and she ran to the side of the building, promptly emptying the contents of her stomach onto the pavement. She coughed and sputtered until she was dry heaving and there was nothing left. She drew a shaky hand up to her mouth and wiped it on the sleeve of the flannel she wore over her tank top, then wiped the tears that had escaped down her face with the other.

“That was… well, bloody disgustin’, love.”

Emma whipped around at the new voice behind her. A man, average height, sandy brown crew cut hair, and an expression that mirrored his words leaned up against the wall in the alleyway near by. Without another thought, she pulled the knife she had stuffed in her boot before leaving the motel earlier out and brandished it at the man. He put his hands up and his eyebrows shot up his forehead.

“Easy there, lass. I come in peace,” he held up two fingers, mimicking an alien voice and throwing off the thick British accent he spoke with.

“Not if you’re skulking around this place, you don’t,” she snarled. “Just who the hell are you?”

“I’m skulking,” he bobbed his head with a roll of his eyes, “‘cause this place ain’t exactly the friendliest to my sort. Name’s Will. Scarlett, if ya need that, too. And you’re Emma Swan.” Emma was on him in an instant, pressing him against the brick wall and holding the knife against his ribs. “Careful, that there’s sharp and I prefer me lungs without holes in ‘em.” He smirked cheekily, hands still suspended in midair. “‘Ceptin’ o’course the ones that are supposed to be there,” he said with a wink.

“That all depends on what the fuck you want from me,” she said, hyper focused on every move he made.

“So much fire,” he said and blew out a breath. The smell of clove and mint washed over her, mixing with the constant jasmine clinging to her senses. “No wonder Hook’s taken a likin’ to ya.” Emma blinked at him and she remembered his name from the research Jefferson had done into Hook.

“What do you want? What does he want?” she said, her breath catching on the question. Jasmine swirled around her and Milah began whispering in her head again.

Go back, she urged again gently.

“He says that you’re working for Gold. He’s worried about your safety, and he regrets throwin’ ya out on yer arse like he did. He wants to meet with ya. He wants to help,” he explained. Emma studied the man for any trace of a lie. She couldn’t see one at all.

Emma wasn’t sure what to believe. The last twenty four hours had taken its toll on her. She hadn’t slept, she’d been assaulted, threatened more times than she could count. The only sleep she had gotten was when she was unconscious. She shouldn’t give a damn about Hook. He had thrown her in crocodile infested waters knowingly and now she had to work even harder to get back on Gold’s good side. Sure, she had gone there with less than noble intentions, but she was honest with him, she told him things about her that she had told no one, not even Ruby. And he believed her. She saw it on his face. She knew she sounded crazy, but it was the truth.

And then there was this… connection she had to him. Liam and Milah had been so adamant that he was a good person, and she had believed in him. She could see it in his eyes that his actions had been born of heartache. She understood, and she would be lying if she didn’t feel the loss acutely the second she stepped out of the building, but she had just chalked it up to Milah’s insistence for her to return. She knew it wasn’t just that. Somewhere along the line, Emma had become attached to Killian Jones.

Go back, Milah whispered again.

Emma loosened her grip on Will Scarlett and stepped back away from him, withdrawing her knife but keeping it in her hand.

“Okay,” she said, to Will and to Milah. “Let’s go.”

[hamilton-one-shots]

I don't think I'll be able to catch up with the High school AU (frickin school). Where do you advice me to start from that isn't the beginning? Basically I don't have time but I wanna read this as you upload xD

Hmm… I think where you start depends on you. I’ll summarize the whole thing for you and you can choose where to start and I’ll give you that chapter number. 

Alexander has intermittent explosive disorder, which is never really specified, and moved to this school because he got kicked out of another one. He meets John, whose painting a mural on the school and wants to fight. John doesn’t and only responds when he ruins his painting, pushing him before ignoring him again. Alexander goes inside and to class, jerk tries to fight him and John stops it because it’s stupid. Alexander gets attached and follows him around until he helps him draw. Same jerk (TJeff) makes fun of John and fights him. Laf (Alexander’s brother, who just wants Alexander to not hate him) joins and they make him leave. Laf and John are friends, John comes over and Alex draws with him. Next day, John tells Alexander that he lives alone (bc its not my writing if John’s dad isn’t a homophobic, abusive, asshole) and nobody else knows. Brief cut to TJeff creeping on Laf, then back to Lams. Alex kisses John. They go to a pet store with Laf (he has a car) and get two turtles (Alex got kicked out bc he got angry bc worker said little ones don’t live, John got that one and one that he liked) and Laf gets a kitten. John joins them for dinner, Alex has trouble eating a full meal. Next morning (Sat) he makes breakfast for him and John and they shop bc John’s taking him to an art gallery. Herc has an appointment at his family’s shop with TJeff and Laf joins for support. TJeff pays to see Laf modelling his suit (Laf had the final say), then to model dresses. Herc knocks him out bc a few creepy comments, Laf takes the blame, TJeff doesn’t do anything about it. John takes Alex to art gallery, introduces him to Mads (business partner) and lets him walk around. Alex harasses auctioneer bc jealous of Mads, then is basically put in time out with John. John saves a pigeon (Alex stans birds). They go to Herc’s place and get drunk, Mullette does the do and John hates the idea. The next morning, they go to the gym and John and Herc lift while Laf and Alex watch, then they get in a boxing ring (John boxed to help with anger issues years before and is undefeated) Alex wants a try and Herc jokes, telling him to picture Jefferson, so Alex punches John in the face and they go home. Alex shows John his secret rat named Pip and makes him lunch. Smaller turtle dies and they have a mini funeral. They go to Alex’s room and talk a bit about John’s hatred of sex (not elaborated on until later) and make out, they eat dinner and sleep. Laf and Herc are on a date (Herc made Laf a dress for it)(dinner and making out in the back of an empty movie before going to Herc’s place). At night, there’s a fox and John feeds it while Alex watches in awe. At school, Jefferson helps Alex answer a question he wasn’t listening to and acts nice, but weird. John has to not be there the next day bc his triplet’s siblings bday, so Alex worries. TJeff tricks Alex into signing up for school play, Laf takes his place. Next class, TJeff tells Laf he wants Alex, Laf roasts him, TJeff calls him a whore for wearing a skirt, Laf takes it to heart and cries in the bathroom. John finds him and makes him feel better, they go eat. Herc tries to make Laf feel better, Alex gets angry because Herc should fight for him, they argue, John and Laf shut them down, Herc takes it well, Alex runs off, John chases him. Alex makes him leave (a difficult task) so he won’t accidentally hurt his feelings. His journal is missing. John finds it. TJeff read it before and tells Alex about it, saying he should have sex and that John learned how to kiss from him. Alex asks John about it. Thaurens was a thing a year ago until TJeff tried to take things too far, his dad found out and kicked him out, John cries over it and unconsciously digs his nails in his arm, leaves. Alex goes with Herc and Laf to talk, accidentally reveals that something happened and tells more so they won’t talk to John about it (it doesn’t work). Alex sneaks to John’s apartment, afraid he’ll hate him for telling everything, and spends the night cuddling with him. Next morning, Laf’s cat kills Pip, he feels awful and tells him before school (John is gone). Alex throws a fit and his phone, goes inside and has a breakdown in class. Laf has his breakdown then, before class, and Hercules comforts him before they go to class. John shows up bc Maria (his side bff) told him about Alex’s breakdown and Alex goes home bc fever. John goes with him and Martha and George, they ask him about what happened and Alex asks for John. He goes and says he was visiting a tree planted in his mom’s honor, leaves to visit his siblings after a while. Laf goes to afterschool drama and TJeff wants to do BMC and be the SQUIP, Laf suggests a vote to get on his nerves, Heathers wins. They’re paired to practice lines before auditions and TJeff threatens his relationship with Herc. They perform Blue (Laf=Veronica, TJeff=Ram and Kurt). Laf goes home and tells his parents what happened w/ Pip when they ask, they let him go to his room. He talks to Herc and goes to the gym with him. He’s bummed bc TJeff and Herc cheers him up, then takes him to McD’s for ice cream. Herc tells Laf how he had sex before he was ready with a girl in Ireland bc past Thaurens made him think about it and Laf tells him about Veronica and JD (TJeff, obviously). Herc pushes his jealousy away and takes Laf home with him, stopping by TJeffs house and honking as loud as possible before driving off as fast as possible. TJeff looks like shit in the morning and John walks with Mullette, all enjoying his misery. Alex is home sick. Laf deals with him in class alone and TJeff complains about how they made his sister stay up all night and Laf almost feels bad. He asks about Alex and messages him himself. Alex gets emotional support and Laf’s old phone from Martha, lowkey thinks TJeff is mean bc he’s like him and asks him to not be mean to Laf. TJeff kind of does and stays flirting with Alex. He makes a deal to be nice to Laf, Herc, + John if he’s “nice” back to him or else he’ll mess with John, Alex agrees to keep him safe. TJeff makes him promise to go over, Alex panics and agrees, keeping it from everyone. He cuddles John more than before, more afraid than before. In drama, they perform Dead Girl Walking and Herc accidentally sees it, keeping his jealousy to himself. They have a talk with John about his mental health and he insists he’s fine, convincing them both. Alex freaks out and goes to his room to message TJeff, John tries to help him, but Alex screams him into an anxiety attack and he has to sit in Laf’s room with Herc and Laf’s cat (Rosie). Laf gets the secret out of Alex and takes his phone, messaging TJeff, who threatens him in return. Alex freaks out and tries to get his phone back to fix it, accidentally hitting Laf in the face. Herc pulls him off and they go back to Laf’s room once he calms down, making Alex explain to John. They assure him it’ll be okay and separate. Lams talks about John’s family and makes out, John show him a drawing of him that makes him cry, and they sleep, and Mullette goes to Herc’s house bc his mom came home from Ireland. She embarrasses him as her son and Laf thinks it’s adorable. TJeff schedules an appointment at Herc’s shop for the next afternoon, they tell John and agree to keep it from Alex. They go to school and TJeff gives Alex a chance to change his mind about breaking the promise, he doesn’t and TJeff assaults John, Laf hurts him before he can hit again and he gives up, going away. Alex panics and admits what TJeff did to a teacher. TJeff asks John to make Alex come back, forcefully, then seductively, admitting that he only did everything to win him back. John goes to the office with the others and they talk to the teachers. Laf and Alex go home, George is fuming bc Alex almost let it happen, Martha calms him down, Alex tells them everything at home. Herc and John go to lunch and John says he wants to try talking to TJeff bc he apparently liked him, so he thought he’d let him off easy. TJeff sits with them bc full cafeteria and Herc goes away when John says. He offers to leave him alone if he and John get together, but John refuses. Alex talks to A. Burr bc he’s in the political society and he wants to make an art program to surprise John. He and Laf watch musicals. John goes with Herc to his shop to support him while TJeff and John Jay (his pleasant friend) look for prom tuxes. Herc tries to distract him from John, but he ignores him and asks John to model for him, same price as he paid for Laf. John agreed and tried on a few things, then Herc and JJ made TJeff leave. Herc and John have a cool bro moment, then John leaves to babysit Maria’s daughter, Susan. Alex and Laf get slushies and go to the park, Lams trading cute selfies for a bit, and John asks Alex over. They go to the car and Rosie escapes to chase a squirrel. Alex chases her up a tree and gets her. Laf calls her and she jumps back down. Alex climbs down and the tree stabs him with a branch. They go home and Laf fixes his meg before taking him and letting him hang out with John. He and Susan get along, then she goes to bed. Lams talks about their families and cry about their dead moms, then make out until Maria comes for Susan, then they go to sleep. Alex finishes his food for the first time in the morning, distracted by the excitement of meeting w/ Aaron and John’s family later. John secretly follows TJeff’s orders, wearing skinny jeans and giving Alex the cold shoulder after class. They meet in the bathroom and TJeff says John can’t say he loves Alex and he has to draw him a portrait and he’ll leave them alone for the day. John claims he didn’t hear Alex and apologizes, then turns off his phone so he doesn’t have to deal w/ TJeff. Herc finds out and makes John promise to tell Alex. Alex and Aaron meet at lunch and bring in JJ, who flirts w/ Alex bc TJeff said so. John meets with TJeff in the bathroom again and tells him his phone’s “dead”, TJeff says that he can only call Laf bitch for the day. Last period, John gets his phone and texts Alex, apologizing for acting weird, then tells TJeff to meet him to get his drawing. Alex is relieved and TJeff gets angry bc John ignored him on purpose. Lams texts cute messages and TJeff comes in, making John meet him in the bathroom. John lies to Alex and Alex finds where he is on Snapchat, planning to find and surprise him with a kiss (something John had done to him multiple times). TJeff says he’ll leave them alone if John admits he loves him and kisses him, Alex walks in and gets angry, bodyslamming TJeff to the ground. TJeff gets up and kicks him hard in the face, forgetting that John was there and being terrified when he remembered. John shoved him against the wall and held him above ground, making him promise to apologize to everyone and leave them all alone. Herc and Laf get there and TJeff apologizes, then John breaks his nose (like he did when they broke up) and they leave. John takes Alex (still dizzy from the kick) to his house and goes to TJeff’s house to tell his parents what he did. Lucy (TJeff’s sis) tells John how he actually loves him and John gets over his anger, promising to see Lucy more often before going home. His siblings are there, making friends with Alex and they watch movies and eat. Mary (youngest, cutest sis) and Alex have a cute off and Alex gets upset when Mary wins, fighting an anger spell in John’s room. He joins and makes him feel better, then they get messages from Laf and Herc, talking about a partyat his place for his mom the next night. They go back downstairs and eat and play video games, then go to bed. In the morning, rev squad texts about party and make fun of each other, Alex makes Lams breakfast and John makes everyone else breakfast, then Alex goes with Burr and JJ to a cafe to talk about art program plan (holding a freshman dance to raise money) while Laurens 1-5 go to Herc’s shop and John and Laf try on dresses. JJ invites TJeff bc he’s popular and can help. Turns out, JJ drugged Alex to get rid of him (TJeff had nothing to do w/ it), and John was furious, getting Alex and taking him to his apartment to calm down. Alex is high as hell, Burr helps clear TJeff of suspicion. Alex eventually gets to sleep and wakes up sober, goes w/ John to Herc’s for party once he makes sure Laurens 2-5 are home safe. They play a drinking game and John gets wasted, Herc does, but gets sober in shock when his mom says she’s pregnant. They sleep. John is first awake and hungover, makes breakfast and is devastated that he can’t eat bc he shovels down food and his stomach said no. Alex helps him eat and eats his breakfast, they schedule a date for that day and John wears a dress bc why not. They go to the zoo, John feeds cute animals and Alex freaks out when he takes him to the bird house (basically a huge indoor jungle w/ birds everywhere). Theodosia is talking about birds to a crowd, a homophobe makes a scene and Lams are the only ones left when it’s broken up. Theo (reveals she’s an artist) lets Alex hold her bird and he’s frozen in awe, then the bird (Peep) flies into John’s hair, then into Theo’s hair and they thank her before leaving to a pizza place, eating before heading to John’s apartment. Theo accidentally messages Burr for a ride bc Alex told him about her and they talked a bit before, he takes her home and she thanks him w/ cupcakes and showing him her art, which is great. Her asshole bf (Mark) comes home and makes Burr leave. John tells Alex about a great art show during Spring Break in SC and Alex says they can make happy new memories, just like when he was a kid. Lams watches a movie and Alex gives John a massage, then tickles him and John slips it on him, then gets up and they make dinner together, then eat and sleep. Burr, Theo, and her friends (Martha and Francis) talk about the art thing, then about how awful Mark is when Theo leaves, Burr finds out that he’s blackmailing her into staying. He messages Theo on FB with the alias “Sammie B” and they talk about meeting for the art thing, then Martha tells Burr that Mark’s blackmailing Theo with nudes she sent while drunk. Burr promises that he won’t do anything bad and talks to TJeff (he got him in contact with Theo) about everything, keeping it vague, he promises not to say a thing either. Theo messages “Sammie” in the middle of the night, afraid of being alone at home and they’re just cute. in the morning, TJeff says he got a venue for the dance, only available next Friday. Burr tells Alex and they agree that a costume party is best. At school, TJeff finds Mary wandering and tells John, who dragged JJ to the bathroom and broke his nose, only leaving bc Mary, and John takes her home. In class, the three freshman ask Laf to get them a part in Heathers and he agrees to help after hearing a sample of their voices. Theo invites Burr to watch. In the library, the girls shut down TJeff’s flirting and they all agree to a Disney theme. Alex calls John, worried bc he hasn’t answered any texts and thinks he’s hiding something, so he ditches the rest of the day and goes over, learning that John’s father was at the house and hurt him badly. He’s angry, but doesn’t do anything bc John begged him not to. Tjeff, Laf, and Burr watch the girls practice Candy Store before their audition, both performances being amazing, and they get the part. Alex is angry bc what happened and tries to hide it by making dinner while John takes a cold bath, then can’t help it and leaves w/o saying anything, leaving his cellphone. John has a panic attack when he finds out that Alex left, not being able to handle being left alone when he said he just wanted and needed him to stay, and messages Laf to come help, accidentally messaging TJeff. He comes and calls Laf when he finds out that John called him on accident, both staying. TJeff knows just how to make John feel better since he helped him when they were dating, so he lowkey implies that he should leave Alex. They stay with him until Laf accidentally brings up Alex’s phone and John panics, so he leaves to find Alex to help him feel better. He runs into Herc and they both go looking for Alex. TJeff takes John to his house ,at his request, to hang out with his sister Lucy. Laf gives up and gets Rosie to spend the night with Herc, she smells Alex and they find out he got a bus and went to the Schuyler estate, writing a detailed description of what John’s father did to him and publishing it on Facebook. They pick him up and yell at him for what he did, then take him home. Herc stays with John, nobody wanting him to stay alone, and Laf takes Alex home, taking pity on him when he starts having a panic attack. In the morning, Alex confronts John and they talk, then argue. TJeff tries to act like the hero, but John isn’t having it and has him stay out while he and Alex argue, telling him that he only forgave TJeff bc he didn’t assault him, John freaked out the second he touched him and broke his nose and he only forgave him and freaked out bc he was previously repeatedly assaulted. They kee arguing until Alex says he can just date TJeff and runs off, John chases him and they make up, skipping school. Aaron got proof that Mark was abusive and got him arrested. Theo thanks him and they admit feelings for each other, so they’re together, but no labels bc Mark scared her about it. Alex and John go grocery shopping with Susan and are very cute and eat dinner together, then they take Susan home and the day ends. The next day, they go to school and John is taken to the local police station for questioning. He lies and says nothing happens that Alex just panicked and wrote that and is let free (his friends have mixed opinions, but John has a reason). Meanwhile, Theo and Burr go to Jefferson Hall (the dance venue) to get an idea of how they’ll decorate and it’s fancy AF, then they go to Mulligan’s and pick their costumes (Theo looks like a queen). They go to Burr’s and his grandma comes and embarrasses him until they leave to take Theo to drama, where they’re getting fitted and Laf and TJeff are having a stupid (friendly) argument over wine. TJeff makes a period joke and Francis almost kicks his ass, but Laf saves him and drags him onstage for DGW Reprise. After, the girls + Laf + Burr have a sleepover at Theo’s, talking about how Martha and Francis think Herc is cute and Theo and Burr make cupcakes and Herc sends Laf sexy (not explicit) pics to embarrass him (it works) and Laf finds out he might be nonbinary. In the morning, Francis (a trans girl) cries bc she has stubble, but Laf helps her shave. That day goes by fast. Laf almost kills Herc telling him he’s his datemate now, not bf. That night, TJeff goes to John’s apartment so he and Alex can work on the dance details. He brings Lucy (who’s kind of spoiled) and she makes friends with Susan. Late at night, Alex + TJeff are lowkey cuddling in their sleep and John takes pictures, using them to make them not fight. The next morning (V day) TJeff takes Lucy to school and takes John to Mulligan’s, paying for his costume for the dance. He takes him home and John gives Alex his present (photorealistic, colored drawings) Then they make out and more. Later, TJeff comes bc John left his wallet in his car and John says he doesn’t have feelings for him, Alex knows its a lie and offers to start Jamilams. They agree and set boundaries and TJeff takes John out to Lucy’s school, he teaches an art class, then they go to TJeffs place and watch a movie, TJeff telling him about why he was so awful and desparate to get John back. They go to pick up Lucy and TJeffs moms bf talks trash about John as they leave, getting Lucy, then taking John to the apartment w/ Alex. Burrdosia has a cute date and Theo gets used to dating a decent person. Everyone working on the dance goes and decorates the hall that weekend, John hanging out w/ Laf, Lucy, Susan, and Maria. Alex is a little jealous of Thomas, but not too much. Thomas and John go on a date the next day, going to a nice restaurant, then to a movie, where John gets drunk. TJeff takes him home, does not kiss him or touch him much bc hes drunk. TJeff brings Lucy home, then goes to John, who shows him his broken rib from his father and makes him swear not to tell. They go to sleep and go to school. Laf takes the girls to get costumes after school and practice, Alex and TJeff get theirs on Wednesday. John offers to get Alexander’s costume tailored bc its too big, but TJeff stops him and does it himself. The next day, John and Laf try on their dresses (queens) and John hangs out with Thomas. At the dance, it’s great and John cries when he finds out about the surprise. He leaves to fix hsi makeup and is taken away by James Reynolds, unable to fight bc JJ spiked his drinks when he wasn’t watching. He almost raped him, but Thomas found them and stopped it, then called the police. John goes to the hospital bc drugs, not wanting anyone but TJeff there, even in the morning, when they went to the gym. Alex eventually came over and hung out with them once John was okay w/ it. Alex gets an anger spell and leaves, jealous of TJeff and sure that John would pick him over him anyday. John tries to chase him and feels heartbroken, unsure of what he did wrong, but sure that he did wrong. TJeff helps him feel better. Alex knows he fucked up, Martha helps him feel better. John doesn’t want to talk to Alex and ignores him, fighting intrusive thoughts that tried to make him hate him and staying home sick the next day, making Thomas go to school. Alex goes home and tries to make it up. Laf seeks wisdom from the kind gay (John) and finds out they’re genderflux, from agender to boy. John calls Alex over and they talk their problems out and have a movie day, Alex wrote John a long ass love letter. They have a cute night and go to school the next day, all talking about their relationship again, then go on w/ life. They watch the school do Heathers on Friday and it’s great, Next day, TJeff’s moms bf hurts Lucy and he takes her away, agreeing with his mom that he should get sole custody of her and takes her away. They go to John’s apartment and Lucy goes w/ Maria during show and during night. John gives Thomas a back massage and they do the do. Next morning, Thomas moves into the apartment next to John’s w/ Lucy, then goes to his last show. They all (Jamilams + Lucy and Susan) go grocery shopping after and deal with a homophobe, then go home and the boys eat and hang out while Maria watches the girls. That Friday, they have a threesome, then go on the trip to SC. On Sunday, John visits his moms grave. The rest of the week, John goes to his art show and has a lot of success. Then they go back. Burr got top surgery over break and Theo was worried bc she didn't know.

[lafayeeet]

random founding father facts

the sequel

more irrelevant of my favorite founding father stories

•James Madison’s wife Dolley could carry James on her back aw

•John Adams accidentally sent congress his *very detailed* diary and they stopped everything to read it out loud and laugh at him

•james madison was very suicidal and would often tell people he wished he were dead

•james madison had epileptic seizures where he would stare off into the distance for a short while

•james madison was a hypochondriac and had severe anxiety

•james wasn’t allowed to enter the military because everyone thought he was too fragile

•everyone called madison “little jemmy”

•alexander hamilton and james madison were really good friends after writing the federalist papers. it’s funny tho because alexander hamilton would dress in these bright colors and jemmy would always dress in all black

•apparently they would run around the city like besties ok I’m sorry i just love madison and hamilton so much

•one lady remembered them playing with a monkey they found and hamilton was kinda like “james look” and madison was like “nO1!11!1! germs alex wE TALKED ABOUT THIS” i just love them

•also madison was always telling washington about how alexander was such an overachiever and how awesome hamilton was they were besties for like 2 months

•and then madison became best friends with jaMES FUCKING MONROE AND THOMAS JEFFERSON and basically skipped out on hamilton aw because “yOU CANT BE FRIENDS WITH HIM IF YOU ARE GONNA BE FRIENDS WITH ME1!1!"

•this country was founded by eight graders i swear to god

•washington was a very calm person who would yell at people for cursing, but after Charles Lee called a retreat at monmouth Washington started yelling at him and cursed him off the field like omfg chill george

•also after the battle of monmouth, lafayette and washington sat under a tree together talking shit about charles lee. then they fell asleep wrapped in Washington’s coat  

•Lafayette was like a son to Washington, and since Laf was an orphan he just embraced it???? Literally G.Wash would call him son in public.

•He called Hamilton “my boy”, but Hamilton didn’t want to be emotionally dependent on anybody. He thought that if he loved anybody they would all eventually leave him.

•thomas jefferson liked to collect prehistoric artifacts so people made fun of him and called him “mr. mammoth”

•thomas jefferson had 0 sense of fashion he literally did not give a fuck. he literally tells people this in his letters he was above trends

•he (t. jeffs) would wear a green coat with red pants like it was christmas. also he never wore a wig or powdered his hair he wAS AN ORIGINAL

•Hamilton referred to John Laurens (his boyfriend ;))))) as “my dear J” and also my love okay that shit is not straight and i love that too much 

•When John André was caught a spy, Hamilton got really upset and thought Andre was too hot to be killed. I’m not even kidding. Half the basis of his argument for John Andre was that he was pretty and “respectable."

•In a letter to Laurens, Hamilton is joking about having laurens find him a wife, and is asking Laurens to describe him for the ladies. And then he says “Don’t forget to do justice as to the length of my nose.

nose

is

18th

century

slang

for

dick.

•Thomas jefferson couldn’t talk in public; He was a prolific writer, but couldn’t say anything in front of a group without becoming very nervous.

• John Adams had a dog named Satan in the white house

•Jefferson had a sheep he named “This abominable animal”, and it attacked multiple people on the White House lawn. I’m pretty sure it killed somebody???????? I can’t attest to that statement, though.

•Thomas Jefferson kept his bed in his hallway between his study and living room. He was 6 foot 3, and literally had to curl up when sleeping because his hallway was shorter than he was.

•What the fuck was wrong with Thomas Jefferson, honestly

[the-firebird69]

Our son okok really husband i's right too this molar after them and they're after the vengeance because they have been annihilated by Jeff Bridges and his people. Really mentioned it for information and that Clint Eastwood today somehow finds Jeff Bridges and partners with him oddly enough and they become thunderbolt and Lightfoot and Jeff Bridges dies Slowlly and loses control over himself as you see. And is captured and yes he is take it to a light cycle facility first and I said missed it and it's tonight it is night time and they fight while he's there and the question tacitly and that's pretty much all they do and they race around and they fight clones cuz they show up. They pretty much didn't do any atrocities cuz they didn't have time they don't have time to they wanted to and the clothes showed up and actually started fighting. And Jefferson relocated to Egypt to try and question him there. Attempt switching brains and bodies into BJ's body and it fails. It stopped and the stop by clones who retrieve their father and start protecting him more they got this message from Jeff Bridges so let that happen again these people are hellacious and evil and you almost lost me for real forever... That's in the near future but it figures out from his experience that my husband is being tortured and badly it's not worth it for him to allow to continue and he starts assaulting the morlock heavily globally and annihilates tons of them and the max are forced to and becomes a huge War and that happens tonight and into tomorrow.

Hera it says I'm really dragging out this sun no husband stuff I really am

Zues

There's a huge number of people watching and they see her do it and don't know what she's doing it for and he lost track of it just that the name thing so it's kind of funny because it started off as a little fight and he remembers it but anyways it's going to be a war between the clones and the warlock and the more like are the ones kicking It off they mistreat him and start to try to do this idiot a****** surgery that they tried to do on their son and it's going badly after that for them and everybody's using the clones as cover striking them very hard, all of it starts tonight and that's when Moonraker begins into the morning and yeah Dan is out of here shortly. This place is full of well wishes and see you soon all sorts of low life's. Our son can't do anything without being bothered pestered very badly. It's going to be an ugly day for them tomorrow the morlock will start to fall fully. Tomorrow I'm going to bring charges against Donald Trump and for espionage treason and many more. A huge number of people I'm going to go there and try and fight the max end up fighting trumpsters too and other marlock and it signifies the end of their race because they can't defeat them Max and the clones. And they persist all day today and they're getting slaughtered who's the end of the day they noticed something these people aren't budging at all and they don't listen to our stuff it's basically our fault but they decide to bother our son and come by and start harassing like madness at a dying real fast here and punta Gorda. Our sun is socked in and just sits here listening to this stupid comments again and about 50,000 died only a mile away. Is a huge event this world can see it it's an idiots are trying to just storm in and surround them or kidnap him to bring him somewhere who knows. He says enjoy Tommy f and Tommy episodes sure okay laughing more or less and that just Mack and he says get out of here and they suck so damn bad every kind of assign you to it and forgot cuz they haven't forget stuff and you turned into a tyrant it's really not that bad but your speeches are terrible it's not just joking Mac is joking but later on today they do it a lot and a sun falls asleep again and they're really mad cuz he keeps ignoring them they say and he's sleeping and sleeping and they're driving by occasionally well slams and brakes on and it's anti-lock so it doesn't do anything happens but they're a bunch of juvenile assholes and the inside him and he just sits there whales on them so we're going to stop them from doing that bothering so where's the time for them anyways. And yeah we're using force and some of the max your ridiculous people morlock. Now they touch off something today the more luck do and it is later on the day as before they grab Jeff Bridges Southwest just saying stuff here that's abnormal they say a lot of stuff everyday. Well then start saying here is you'll get into the bag or else and some of them are walking around with big bags meant for people they're resting pretty quick and they ask a few people in public on the streets of punta Gorda by the way to get in and go silently or else and so the people look at them and they're about evenly matched cuz they're week here and they say well it's what... And the smile and say okay so it doesn't make much sense. And then try for them and they get their asses handed to them cuz these people are sick of them and they end up in their own bag and they call for police and big teams are going around looking for these idiots. How embarrassing and maccreages he knows what our son means it's only a matter of time now they'll be gone but what happens today will trigger reaction cuz the police can be seen grabbing his idiots all over town and they need to be grabbed

Thor Freya

And we need them grabs pretty badly and all of them they're so horrendous

Hera

Zues

I said a large teams they need to be grabbed right now

Olympus

[accio-ambition]

Here we are: the last official chapter of this story. There will be an epilogue posted next week, and there are a few one shots I need to finish writing in this universe, but for most intents and purposes, this is the end. I'll post a whole sappy thing with the epilogue next time, but I wanted to get this out there so you could prepare yourselves or your souls or something.

As I've said since the beginning, many many thanks to @sotheylived, @shipsxahoy, @queen-icicle-fandom, and @captainswanbigbang for all of the various and insundry things they've done during this whole process. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Summary: Bouncing around with her son for the majority of her life, Emma Swan has told herself she’s happy in the city. It’s where the most camera operating jobs are, and that’s how she makes her money. But when an old friend calls her and asks for her help on a new project in small town Maine, Emma finds herself in a place she’s never been with people she doesn’t know filming a profession she knows nothing about. But when the captain of the ship she’s filming begins taking a keen interest in her and her life, she finds herself wondering whether she might just catch something other than fish. Deadliest Catch AU Rating: M Content warning: Character death, some violent situations

FFnet/Ao3/Cover/Snapshots/Gifset/Manip

Chapter Twenty-Two

For a second year in a row, Christmas is celebrated with Killian. It’s bittersweet, of course, this being the first Christmas in his life without his big brother, but Emma likes to think she and Henry are doing their best to fill Liam’s shoes. Henry is thrilled that Killian decides to spend Christmas Eve with them at their house, jumping on Killian instead of Emma in the excitement of Christmas morning.

Christmas dinner is a surprisingly lively affair. David and Mary Margaret join them, as well as Belle and her father. There’s laughter and tears, heartfelt toasts and frequent disruptions for bad jokes. When she crawls in her bed and Killian slides his arm around her waist that night, he whispers, “thank you” in her ear, so she must have done something right.

A few days before New Year’s, Robin invites the three of them to meet baby Roxana. The pictures he’s sent both of them prove that she’s cute as a button, but they’ve yet to meet this new addition in person with all that’s been going on in the last couple of months. Emma knows that there’s a lot of frustration, annoyance, and fatigue behind every one of them. A new baby is a far stretched from a walk in the park. She can only imagine how hard it is to balance a newborn with Roland the exuberant child that he is and without Robin currently being employed.

They’re all unemployed, technically. With no trawlers to their name and the crew members who would take over as captain still on the mend, the Jones brothers’ trawling company has come to a sudden halt. They’ll still have whatever money comes from the show, but the future is just a little more uncertain.

But in the meantime, Henry is having a ball playing a new board game with Roland and Regina while Emma, Killian, and Robin crowd around the sleeping baby, curled up in Emma’s arms.

“I always forget how small new babies are,” she murmurs, leaning down to slyly smell Roxana’s head. She remembers the first couple of months after Henry was born. He always had the scent of cleanliness and newness, something she clung to on the nights they were sleeping in her car.

“I’ve got to give it to you, mate,” Killian says, relaxing into the couch, his stunted arm casually slung over the couch behind her. “You two make some cute kids.”

“Cute and loud,” Robin says with a sigh. “Regina wanted you to come over just so she could spend some time with Roland, maybe convince him into taking a nap with her.”

“Oh,” Emma says, looking up and across the room to where Robin stood. “If you had told me that, I would’ve left Henry at Granny’s. He could’ve come and visited another day.”

But Robin’s already shaking his head. “No, Roland’s been cooped up in here with us for a couple of days,” he tells her. “We’ve been too tired to take him anywhere. It’s good for him to have someone to play with that isn’t us.”

That gets laughter out of all of them, softer from Emma so as not to wake the baby. From the other room, Roland starts calling for his father, asking him to come and be on his team for the next game. Robin sighs.

“Go ahead,” Emma encourages him with a smile. “She’s sleeping. Go tell Roland how good of an older brother he’s being.”

With a nod, Robin takes his leave. Emma watches him leave before turning back to the sleeping child, running her fingers slowly up and down her stomach. Roxana inhales deeply, her stomach expanding with the action, and sighs happily.

Glancing over to her side, she sees Killian staring down at the baby, a sweet expression on his face.

“Do you want to hold her?” she asks. His eyes go wide and he vehemently shakes his head. Tilting her head in confusion, Emma adds, “Why?”

Behind her, he holds up his handless arm. “I can’t,” he says simply. “I’d be afraid to drop her.”

Emma scoffs. “Please. You have arms and she’s surprisingly resilient.” His teeth bite into his lower lips, a show of nerves at a level she doesn’t think she’s ever seen on him. And then a thought occurs to her. “Killian, have you ever held a baby?”

He shakes his head, embarrassed. “Haven’t really been around them this young,” he says. “Roland was already walking when I met him for the first time.”

Rolling her eyes, she uses the hand not holding Roxana to position his arms in front of him, making a cradle. “All you really need to do is support her head,” she explains. “Just make sure her head stays in your elbow and she’ll be fine.”

With rusty but practiced ease, Emma transfers the baby into Killian’s hold, his shoulders tense at first until Roxana settles down. She stays asleep the whole time, her little lips smacking together as she turns her head into his chest. Killian chuckles in disbelief, his eyes rising to look at her. Emma smiles in turn, leaning her head up against his shoulder.

“See?” she whispers. “Not so scary.”

And, as Emma watches him interact with the baby, she begins to realize that this moment means a lot more than just holding their friend’s child for the first time. Since coming home from the hospital, he’s fought with himself over the loss, not only of his brother, but of his own hand. She’s heard whimpers of pain a couple of times, seen him rub at the scars more often than that, and she assumes that he’s got phantom pains by the way he sometimes glances at his wrist. Try as she might, she knows that everything she does to assure him that he’s still the same snarky scallywag that he was - touching his stump as if his hand were still there, kissing his cheek and brushing his hair away when he feels the pain during sleep - it doesn’t really get to the root of the problem.

But here, holding little Roxana, she can see his psyche knitting itself back together. That, yeah, he can hold babies and make dinner and eventually sail a ship again and everything a normal man can do besides clap his hands together. He just needs to learn how to do it differently. Life goes on with him in it, and he might as well thrive.

(She’ll never tell him that she saw this coming. That she knew this is the exactly type of thing he needed. That she texted Robin, asking if it was okay to come over because Killian needed to get out of the house, needed something to brighten these gray winter days. He needed something to anchor himself, to give him hope in the future.)

“You’re a precious little lass, aren’t you?” he asks the baby quietly, totally entranced, allowing her small fingers to wrap around his pointer finger.

(For the briefest of moments, Emma lets the idea of Killian holding his own child, rocking them to and fro in order to soothe them on stormy nights, consume her.

And maybe the baby has her chin and his eyes, but that’s where that fantasy ends.)

(Yeah, he’s going to be fine.)

0000

Though he’s too stubborn to meet any sort of professional in the wake of the wreck, Killian does start opening up to her whenever something concerns him. Emma’s heard the story of the night of the wreck multiple times, each telling adding a little more detail.

She acts as his sponge, soaking up all this information and cleaning up the mess in his mind. But she never gets squeezed out. It’s not like she can tell anyone else about it - it’s certainly not her secret to tell. So she keeps it all bottled up because if it’s off Killian’s shoulders, then what does it matter? At least he’s healing.

But the sponge loses its ability to soak up information, calls it quits when Jefferson convenes the crew of Sea of Chaos at his house for an announcement. The second season airs in a couple days, and Emma hopes beyond hope that maybe - just maybe - Sea of Chaos will go on. Even she and David, Jeff’s top confidantes in this matter since the beginning, have no clue as to what this meeting could be about.

The whole event has a different vibe than any of the other ones. From the get-go, it’s more solemn, which, when Emma thinks it over, makes sense. In the past two years, they’ve lost three crew members and both their ships. The two crews have been condensed to one, and everyone - from their surviving captain to the on-shore help - has lost a fraction of their livelihood.

It took some haranguing to get Killian to agree to coming. Emma promised him to stay by his side for the duration, as if she would be anywhere else these days.

(But she fought back equally.

“You need to get out of the house, Killian,” she reminded him. “Sitting in here and moping isn’t good for anyone.”

“I’ve gotten out of the house,” he countered, pointing toward the front door. “We visited Robin and Regina. We went to your house for crew dinner just the other night.”

Emma groaned, rubbing her hands across her face. “You know that doesn’t count, you ass.”)

But there she is, by his side as promised, her hand wrapped around his elbow as Jefferson steps up on to his coffee table.

“Are you sure you haven’t a clue what’s going on?” Killian whispers to her, leaning down so his lips brush against her ear. The motion sends shivers down her spine, a smile rising on her lips as she shies away.

“No idea.”

Jefferson clears his throat. The crowd gathered, already quieter than normal, comes to complete silence.

“Due to recent events, the network has decided Sea of Chaos will take a hiatus,” he announces. It’s not like she hadn’t seen it coming, but Emma still feels her heart break a little bit. So much of her life these days she can attribute to this show. It seems like ages ago - Killian rushing out of Granny’s to help Liam alert the appropriate people as to their decision. She and Liam talking on the phone after arguing with Killian. It hasn’t been that long in reality, only about two months or so, since...well, since most everything changed.

“They have expressed interest in a third season,” Jefferson continues, looking each person in the crowd before him in the eye. “It would be shortened by half and we’d start filming next trawling season. At Killian’s behest,” he points to Killian, who blushes, nods, and gives a solemn wave to all the people who glance over at him, “we’re going to put it off indefinitely.”

Over the din of the crowd’s groan, Emma turns on him and glares. “You knew about this?”

He shrugs. “I didn’t know he was going to tell everyone like this,” he whispers. “I merely told him I thought it would be in everyone’s best interests if we didn’t go on.” Next to them, little Roxana begins to fuss in Robin’s arms. Killian, probably anxious to get out of the spotlight, silently offers to calm her down and take the baby out of the room. Robin, being the tired parent of a newborn, gladly accepts the help. With a bounce in his step, Killian leaves.

“Now, now, that’s not the right sentiment,” Jefferson chides everyone. “The network has high hopes for syndication and if Captain Killian out there changes his mind, you all will  be my first calls.”

Even to Emma’s ears, that sounds like a good deal. And she has enough faith in Jeff to hold him accountable to his word, even if she doesn’t see Killian changing his mind at all. He no longer has to sleep facing away from the harbor, but it’s taken longer for him to stroll along the piers, let alone get on or in the water.

“So, as this is our last time together for a while,” Jefferson concludes, arms wide and inviting, “let us drink and be merry.”

Weak cheers come from the crowd as conversations break out and the get together tries to rebound from the somberness of their producer’s announcement. Jefferson claps his hands as everything kind of returns to normal before hopping off the table and approaching Emma.

“A little warning would’ve been nice,” she sarcastically greets him.

Jefferson nods, his lips curling around his teeth and his steepled hands coming up to his mouth. “Emma Swan, I’m going to be straight with you,” he says quietly. Furrowing her brows, Emma steps closer, concern and curiosity getting the better of her.

“They want to film this,” he says carefully.

Confused, Emma shakes her head because her friend’s not making sense. “Film what?” she inquires.

“The aftermath.” His eyes flit over her shoulder and out to the other room, where she knows Killian took the baby. “The mounted cameras got some footage before the Jolly Roger went down, the network could easily get something from the hospital.” He pauses, letting Emma come to the conclusion on her own. “Viewers would eat this story up, you know that.”

“Story?” It’s not like she didn’t hear him the first time: she just can’t believe that any human being would even contemplate the idea of doing what Jefferson is suggesting. Emma looks over her shoulder to make sure Killian isn’t coming back. “Jeff, this is Killian. Your friend,” she whispers harshly. “His older brother died. Liam was the only family he ever had. He can barely look at the water, let alone get on a ship!”

“But…” Emma puts on her fiercest glare, one she imagine would adorn her face if Henry got arrested or if he came to tell her he accidentally got a girl pregnant. It’s scathing, giving her the inklings of a headache. Jeff sighs, relenting for the moment. “Would you at least ask him if he’d consider it?”

“No!” Insulting by the idea, Emma steps away with frustration before whirling back on him and pointing. “If you want him to do it, ask him yourself.” And then she shakes her head because that is an even stupider-as-shit idea. “Actually, don’t. He’s not doing it, Jefferson. Tell the network to shove it up their asses. Killian is a human being. A hurting and healing one, at that.”

Jefferson starts to interrupt her. She cuts him off. “No. No filming if and until there’s another season and, as you said, that’s Killian’s decision.” With a sharp wave of her hand, Emma dismisses him. “Go.”

Proverbially tail between his legs, Jeff nods and goes off to play host for the rest of the party, leaving Emma to bite her lip and wonder if she did the right thing. It is Killian’s life, but she’s gone on and decided on a part - a pretty significant part - of his future without consultation.

(She doesn’t have the right to do that, wouldn’t want somebody doing the same if the tables turned. Except for maybe Killian. Maybe.)

(Oh god, she’s in deep.)

The sound of the door opening behind her breaks Emma from her reverie. She turns to see Killian coming back into the room, handing a napping Roxana off to her father. Spotting her, he sends a small smile her way and comes up to her, his arm curling around her shoulders.

“Did I miss anything important?” he asks.

Emma opens her mouth, but pauses before saying anything. If she lies, he’ll never have to even know that pigs like the network executives and, to an extent, Jefferson himself exist. It’s not just her maternal instincts kicking in - she knows if this were Henry’s future, she wouldn’t tell him at all. Killian’s a grown man, owns a house and had a business, but she feels the strong need to protect him from the worst in life, especially after so much has happened in such a short timespan.

But then, she thinks back to how disappointed and upset he was when he found out she was looking for jobs without telling him. He’s still healing, still just getting back to some sense of normalcy. Now is certainly not the time to get into another argument like that. And that’s the more important factor in this situation.

So she settles on answering him honestly. “Apparently, the execs wanted a third season or a special or something,” Emma explains in a breath.

Raising an eyebrow, Killian says, “But we don’t have any boats.”

“They wanted this.” She gestures around them, then directly at his chest. “They’ve apparently got some footage from the hospital, from the Jolly Roger on that night.” Closing her eyes, Emma plays with a loose strand of hair. “They want to exploit you and the rest of the crew after losing Liam for money.”

“Excuse me?”

But she’s already shaking her head, her hands on his shoulders, sponging up any information and psychological trauma that might bubble up. “Don’t worry, I told him no,” she tells him.

“Swan.” There’s an undertone in his voice that makes her doubt her decision, but she pushes it away stubbornly.

“No, you are not arguing about this with me. It’s not right,” she says. “It’s not good form, right? I’m not going to let them punch you one last time just to make a quick dollar. Mulan and August and Robin and Scarlet, you all deserve better than that.” Letting her hands drag down his arms to entwine the one with his fingers and wrap the other around his stump, Emma smiles up at him. “No one moreso than you.”

His hand squeezes hers and he tugs her into his chest. He leans down as she presses up and throws her arms around his neck. “If it isn’t too wrong to say so,” he murmurs, swinging them back and forth a bit, “you are quite beguiling when you’re defending me.”

Emma rolls her eyes and pulls back a fraction. “Killian,” she moans playfully.

“The beautiful Emma Swan,” he chuckles lovingly. “My savior.”

She bites at her bottom lip before nervously asking, “So it’s okay that I prevented you and the rest of the crew from profiting off of your grief?”

“Swan, I’m surprised you haven’t noticed.”  Killian laughs again at her astonished expression, leaning to press a kiss to her forehead. “You’ve been making my decisions for me for the last two years, whether you knew it or not.”

“Huh.”

When she doesn’t answer further, Killian licks his lips in anticipation. “Does that make you feel powerful?” he asks. “Knowing you hold a man’s heart in the palm of your hand?”

“Yeah,” she says quietly. She barks out a laugh before catching herself and matching his gaze. “I kind of like it,” she admits. “Is that bad?”

“Far from it,” he assures her. “That’s the best news I’ve heard in long while, love.” Killian’s smile lights up the room, wide and bright, just like the smile she felt herself falling in love with all those months ago.

Slowly but surely, Killian begins pulling her toward the edge of the room. More specifically, toward the door he’d disappeared behind with Roxana not too long ago. The door, she knows, that leads to the mudroom, which leads out of the house all together. “Do you think the lad could fend for himself tonight?” he asks conspiratorially. “I’d like to take you home and,” he pauses before allowing a smirk to take over his face, “thank you. Properly.”

She catches up to him and wraps her arms around him, backing him up against the wood of the door. Her hand lingers on the doorknob before gently turning it and nodding toward freedom.

“Take me away, sailor.”

[secretary--hamilton]

My Hamilton canon/memories

(I’m Alexander, saying it so the post makes more sense)

TW: storms/water, a couple mentions of getting drunk (nothing bad, all very pure), war, getting shot, guns, adoption/orphan, someone stabbing themselves, suicide, death

BODY MEMS

- I had slight freckles

- I had a little bit of a stutter

- brown hair

- bright blue/green eyes

- big forehead, receding hairline

- my lips got chapped a lot fuc k cold wea t h e r (plus I licked them a lot too but shh I’m blaming cold weather)

- I was around 5'6 to 5'7 and was about 125 pounds? But I had a lil bit of stomach and thigh chub. I was so tiny compared to everybody else (George is a. Giant)

- for the time I had my hair up in a ponytail, I used like a string thing? I remember the strings dangling down, throwback to 1700s when circle elastic hairties weren’t a thing so I used ribbons/string

PERSONAL/THINGS I DID MEMS

- I was afraid of storms/raging water because it reminded me of the hurricane/the storms I witnessed while on the ship to the colonies

- when I went off to war, I used Eliza's blue ribbon to tie up my hair

- I was always writing and I always had a notebook with me

- the booklet I had that had all my lists and writing on it was pieces of parchment with 3 holes in the side, with strings through the holes

- i loved (more like.. needed to) keep lists on things and be organized, I had a list of all the people I had to write letters to, etc. I had lists about everything. People’s birthdates, their names, so I would never forget them

- if I ever lost a certain piece of paper with like all the lists and information on it I would freak out

- I had extreme anxiety, my mind was constantly racing and it felt like I could focus on 20 different things at once, which kind of helped me write so much and finish so many essays.

-my canon was definitely NOT modern- we didn't have electricity or pens or technology- just pure 1700s things

EARLY LIFE MEMS

- i have a memory of walking along the beach in the carribean on an extremely rainy day, I was looking at towards a ship on the water when the water started rushing towards me and I heard thunder and that's when I realized it wasn't just a normal storm

- I vividly remember walking up the board to the ship i immigrated on, and what it smelled like (really just sea water and old wood) , carrying my small belongings which were just a few books, and a pen and paper

- I got set up in this little cot in the ship that had a hard mattress on the floor, a small chair in the corner, and a lantern

OOF okay so,, this memory is of when I was still in the Caribbean, shortly after my mom died. Me and my brother were put in custody of my older cousin(?), and he killed himself by stabbing himself with a kitchen knife. I was the first one to notice him, the layout of the house was that the bedrooms were upstairs and the kitchen and living room were downstairs. On the right side of the house upstairs, was my cousins (peter) bedroom, and me and my brother (James) were sharing this open room on the left side of the upstairs with mattresses on the floor for us, a window on the wall/roof (it was like a slanted roof, like an attic) So from left to right, our open room (like no door, just a space), a tiny hallway that lead to the stairs, and then peters room. ANYWay but I remember I just finished reading and I was going to talk to peter about something, so I opened his door and I just see blood **everywhere** So I run downstairs and outside into the streets asking for help. I was only 13 when this happened

- I was born in 1757, and the hurricane happened in 1774

WASHINGTON MEMS

- I loved George Washington so much, he was such a good friend/boss- I’m forever grateful to him for giving me the chance to rise up

-I also liked organizing things a lot, I once organized gwash's entire office and he walked in and was like "what the fuck"

- George was brushing my hair and putting it up in a ponytail for me- this was in the tent during the war, before we went off to battle. He did it another time in his office before a cabinet meeting

- me and wash always helped calm eachother down- if either of us were having anxiety, just the others presence would help

- I loved George in a way that's hard to describe- he was like a father to me, he was there for me and protected me and helped me feel less lost

- the only people I would really listen to were George and Eliza- if those two looked at me and said "Alex, it's not worth it" I would stop in an instant, because I trusted them

- I have a memory of the war, and it was raining and slippery and I was climbing up rocky hills following george lead the command, and I was behind him and we were all heading to our next spot

GENERAL REV SQUAD MEMS

- I once got so drunk with the rev boys that I kissed them all on the cheeks while drunkenly singing

- I was the shortest of the group, Mulligan was the tallest, Lafayette was the second tallest, and laurens was a little closer to my height but still taller

- whenever we went out to drink, I always got the drunkest since I was the shortest- and plus I couldn't handle my alcohol at all. They always took care of me when I was super drunk, I would lean on their shoulders, they would tuck me in with blankets, etc.

MULLIGAN MEMS

- Mulligan was super good with his alcohol, it's probably because he was so big and tough, he only got a little bit loopy but was still fine

- my Mulligan had vitiligo

- one time Mulligan had to carry me home because I was so drunk

LAURENS MEMS

- my Laurens was definitely asexual

- the two people I had weird crushes on were Laurens, and Jefferson- they weren't full on 100% crushes (probably due to the fact that I was confused about them) but they were more "holy fuck these guys are hot and great", I don't know if anybody could notice, even though I acted a bit more lovey towards laurens

- he was always so giggly and happy god I love him his smile could light up the room ngl, and his laugh was so,, good

- his freckles got /a lot/ more prominent if he was out in the sun all day, freckle boy

- he loved space so much, he was always out watching the stars and learning about them- he had this book about astronomy that was p cool

LAFAYETTE MEMS

- when laf immigrated to the colonies, he snuck on the ship as a pregnant woman so he wouldn't get stopped by anyone

- when he came to the colonies he spoke like only a few words of English, when he met me I helped him translate! I was fluent in French so it helped

- he had a birthmark/mole on his cheek near his eye- it was just a small dot

BURR MEMS

- my burr got shot in the leg during the war, and he had a bit of a limp the rest of his life. I remember when he got shot, I was near by so I had to help carry him to a medical tent and then go back to fighting

KING GEORGE MEMS

-i called king George king douche, and he called me a lapdog since I followed Gwash around a lot

- I once called KG just "George" and he was all sassy like "that's KING George to you"

- one time KG talked to the rev boys and I like got all angry and protective, he talked to Lafayette and I was behind Laf trying to but into the conversation to call George out- it was during the war so we were on a field in our war outfits

- his eyes were bluey-purple

JEFFERSON MEMS

- I hated Jefferson but I also had a weird hate crush on him,, I didn't tell anyone tho, let's just say I wanted to beat up the man but also fuc the man. The crush died down after a while though

- my Jefferson would always say lewd jokes to me and humiliate me just to see a reaction, because I was a flustered boy,, one time I got so flustered that I just, LEFT the room, and Jefferson was like “WHY DONT YOU SLAM MY BEDROOM DOOR LIKE THAT” upon me storming out

- during one of the cabinet battles jefferson was sassy clapping at me, he,, sassy clapped a lot

- when jeff was like “daddys calling” I got so angry but also flustered so I stormed out, funnily enough I stormed out to follow george. I fuckin loved George and followed him everywhere

- I once got a 🅱️oner because of some lewd joke Jefferson said oof

- after the second cabinet meeting, we got into a fight. Jefferson wanted us to defend France so I snapped back and interrupted him with “You cant sacrifice our country because you're scared Lafayette’s going to die like your wife.” and Jefferson got livid and yelled back “I am NOT going to be intimidated by you and your washed up bullshit” or something along those lines

RENOYLDS AFFAIR MEMS

- oof I remember yelling in marias face when James sent the letter

- after Eliza found out about the affair, she forced me to stay in my office for 6 months. I only left for food and a short aimless walk I think. My office was in a different building

- the renoylds affair definitely happened. God it was such a bad/weird time, i was so exaushted and sleep deprived and getting constant headaches but I needed to stay awake and work, I heard a knock at my office door so I opened it and it was Maria, it was raining outside so her hair was all wet so I let her in, after her sharing her story I gave her some money and walked her back to her place, but she insisted on staying. I believed her, but once James sent the letter I accused her of being a con artist, and I still don't know the truth of what's what.

- I have a reallyyyy clear memory of me rambling on about how I need to get work done and how my wife needs me and all this stuff and then Maria whispered in my ear "shhhh, you don't need to worry about all that, no one will know" before we got. Down And Dirty TM. And usually I would deny stuff like that but I was so tired

- I have aNOTHer rly clear memory of me kneeling down to Maria and straight up screaming at her "HOW COULD I DO THIS, I AM HELPLESS" or something like that

FAMILY MEMS

- my friends took care of my kids for me while I was busy working, mostly Laurens because I was the closest to him! Philip loved Laurens so much it was adorable

- Burr was really good at math and often taught Philip math

- I always got in arguments with a lot of people, but I'm glad I had people like Eliza to calm me down, I remember she said "Alexander, it's not worth it" and I chilled out instantly

- I married Eliza right after the war ended

- All of our children were adopted except for Angie, Alex Jr., and Eliza

- I think my Philip had a slight tooth gap and rly curly hair, and either a slight lisp or a slight stutter

- I would brush philip's hair and put it up, or braid it. He would sit in between my legs when I was sitting on a chair and brush through his wet hair- Philip was my ultimate pride and joy

- dinner time was my favourite time of day, it was always so warm and happy- Eliza would make us dinner and I would come down from working and eat with Eliza and our children

- I have a memory of me, Eliza, and young/toddler Philip having a picnic in a field with daisies all around us, and we were making daisy chains and eating food and it was rly rly nice and sunny and warm yet slightly breezy and it smelled like jasmine

- I remember the first time Eliza found out about my fear of storms, we were having dinner and i heard thunder and I just like. Froze. And she tried talking to me and I was just like "I need to go" but she calmed me down, asked me to sit down at the table, and got me to explain to her eventually, this was before Philip, so it was just us.

- but once we got Philip, and he was maybe 3 or 4, it was another stormy day and I froze again and Philip said "what's wrong papa?" And I bent down to his level and reassured him that I was okay, after that he sat on my lap and distracted me from the storm outside, I was really focused on this one curl in his hair that was out of place lol

- before Philip, Eliza kept having miscarriages, so we decided to adopt Philip. Our first successful pregnancy was Angie, I was SO protective over Eliza when she was pregnant, if she got up in the middle of the night I would ask her if she needed anything, and when she was walking I would walk behind her with my hands on her hips incase she fell bc she was waddling

- Angie had slight autism all her life, and when Philip died she just lost it and went insane. She was delusional and never grew up a day past 17. she would constantly ask if Philip was coming home and was living in a world as if Philip was still alive, she constantly lived in a world between 7 years old and 17 years old, even when she physically grew older. I would walk with her and play with her, and when i was with her i started to go into her world of Philip still being here. We took care of her. One day, someone suggested we put her in a hospital, and i slammed my fork into my food and quietly but surely said “i will NOT lock my daughter away.”, and the room fell silent. Later on, Eliza and I were walking near the ocean, and she brought up the topic again. I said “They locked away my mother. She nearly starved to death and i will not let my daughter go through that” and Eliza reassured me- “Hon.. your mother was jailed for adultery, not mental wellness. Im not in any way saying we should put our daughter somewhere, all i am suggesting is that she be checked out by a doctor.”

- I remember a few of Angie’s breakdowns. She would pull her hair out and slam her head against walls

-Once Eliza got too old to take care of her (late 70/80′s′s), She put her in a hospital where she stayed for her entire life. she was cared for extremely well there.

DEATH/LATER LIFE MEMS

- I have this like,,, really weird memory of Eliza saying “when you have a problem you come home, you don’t go off and make matters worse on your own” to me a couple different times, one was when Lauren’s shot Charles Lee and I got sent home, another one was when I got into a fight with burr after he ran for senate. The reason why it’s a weird memory is because those are in the heights lyrics???

- I remember the day before I got shot, I stayed up all night writing my goodbye letter to Eliza, there was crumpled papers all over my desk since I kept rewriting them until I was satisfied

- the morning of the duel, it was extremely quiet, like I was literally in a ghost town. Same at the dueling grounds, nobody wanted to talk. I remember I was freaking out trying to focus on one thing but my brain kept going to everything I've ever done in my life, kind of like a life flashed before my eyes kind of moment. I thought of Eliza, and how upset she would be. I thought of Philip, and what was going through his head when he died and how I wish I could apologize to him. Burr's gaze felt like literal knives, so I couldn't bare to look at him. Once I shot up, my mind suddenly calmed and I had this strange factor of "this is my legacy". On the way back across the Hudson I just wanted to keep talking but my doctor said to relax. My Burr tried to run over to talk to me after he shot me, but he wasn't allowed to. He also tried to come to my funeral but wasn't allowed either, he might have watched from afar. but he visited my grave a few times

[heatherfield]

Friday, I’m in Love

Story summary: A short ficlet featuring neighbours Jeff and Belle. Jeff comes home after a late night out at a gig and is not amused when his upstairs neighbour starts blasting obnoxious music. He goes up to investigate.

Characters/Pairings: Mad Beauty (Jefferson/Mad Hatter and Belle French from “Once Upon a Time”)

Rating: General

Author’s note:  To the amazing @boleyngirl39! You don’t understand how much your feedback on my writing means to me and I love our fangirling together. I’ve been meaning to do something special for you featuring your OTP and hopefully this is a good start!

Jefferson fumbled with his keys, finally unlocking his door, and all but fell into his entrance before slamming the door shut and letting his guitar case slide off of his shoulder to the floor with a thud. He could already feel the beginning of a headache throbbing in his temples, and he winced as he made his way to his kitchen.

After gulping down a glass of water���he knew enough to at least try to guard against the hangover that awaited him in a few hours—he collapsed onto his couch and pinched the bridge of his nose.

All of a sudden, the warped noses of techno bass started playing above him. It was an eery sound, muffled just enough through the floorboards and plaster, but not nearly muffled enough.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” he cried as female voice began to sing. God, it was loud enough he could hear the words. “…How I hate to spend the evening on my ow-w-w-w-w-w-wn.”

After a deep breath, he opened his eyes and hauled himself off the couch. The faint light of dawn began to creep in through the slats of the blinds, confirming his suspicions—it was definitely the most ungodly hour to be blasting such grating 1970s Swedish pop music.

He didn’t bother locking his door as he scrambled up the fire escape stairwell to the floor above and found the door that looked identical to his. He knocked on the green metal door with probably more force than he needed to and shifted on his feet while he waited for an answer.

He rested his forearm against the door jamb and tried again. “Hey!” he cried after the final bang. “I’m all for a man’s freedom to blast his own music, but there’s gotta be a rule about playing this Eurovision crap at this time…”

Jeff trailed off as the door swung open, revealing a petite brunette woman with red, puffy eyes and wet cheeks. She wiped her face with the back of her hand as she sniffled, collecting herself before she spoke.

“I’m so sorry,” she mumbled, rushing over to turn off her record player. “You’re right, I didn’t realize what time it was.”

“That’s… okay,” Jeff answered, the bite gone from his tone. He furrowed his brow at her as she returned to the door, tugging her oversized cardigan across her, her arms crossed. “Are you—are you okay?”

The woman gave him an unconvincing smile, glancing sideways. “I’m fine,” she said with a wobble before meeting his gaze.

Jeff tried to give her his most charming smile, but instantly felt foolish. He had a feeling his usual tricks wouldn’t work on this woman. Instead, he relaxed into a more natural smile, softer. “Look, I know enough about music to know that someone blasting ABBA before five in the morning is not particularly fine.”

He could see the hesitancy flash across her features before she offered him a small smile. “Okay.” She took a step back. “Come on in.”

Jeff flashed her a grin as he entered and followed her lead to the couch.

“Do you want some tea? I just put the kettle on.”

“Uh, sure.”

She disappeared into the kitchen, giving Jeff a moment to look around. Her place was the exact floor plan of his own flat—though it was far tidier and cozier. There were a few pillows and knitted blankets haphazardly placed—though Jeff suspected they were positioned just so—and mismatched bookshelves lined every open wall. What books wouldn’t fit in the crammed shelves were in neat piles along the floor and on the window sill.

He also noticed a small record collection on the wall opposite, tucked neatly under a record player.  Jeff couldn’t deny he was impressed—but that still didn’t excuse the ABBA music, even if it was from a record.

“I’m sorry about the noise,” the woman said, walking towards him with two steaming mugs, a tag hanging over the side of each one. “Here you go.”

Jeff took it from her as she sat down and took a careful sip. God, he couldn’t remember the last time he even had tea. “Uh, thanks.”

Then, he realized he hadn’t so much as told her his name. “I’m Jeff,” he explained.

“Belle,” she replied before taking a sip from her own mug. “I’m sorry again about the music. I don’t normally do this, but I completely forgot what time it was, and there’s something about ABBA that just gets me out of a mood.”

Jeff raised his brows to ask her to continue.

“It was my mother’s album—she used to play it all the time when I was a kid. So I find it oddly… calming when I’m upset.” She let out a sad chuckle and looked down. “Normally I’d be playing ‘The Cure’ or ‘The Smiths’ or something much cooler.”

Jeff nodded. “Yeah, just stick with anything with ‘The’ in the band name and you’re golden.”

Belle looked up with a faint smile of recognition and a slight crease of her brow. “Yeah. Something like that.”

Jeff took another sip, enjoying the way it warmed him up without the burn of his usual go-to drinks. “So, are you still upset? Or did the magic of their Swedish pop melt your cares away?”

Belle nodded into her mug. “Better, thanks. I just had—well, I had a rough night.” She took a deep breath, her gaze fixed downwards. “I, uh—I just broke up with my boyfriend, and it didn’t go well.”

Jeff’s stomach flipped, and he wasn’t sure if the news made him happy or sad, which in turn made guilt prick his chest. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

She waved off his concern and shook her head. “Nah. It was a long time coming—I was just too nervous to recognize it for what it was. But that’s done with now.”

“Sounds like it’s for the best,” Jeff said, instantly wincing at the clichéd response. “Sorry.”

Belle nodded. “No, no, you’re right. Bigger fish in the sea, right?”

Jeff chuckled into his mug. “Something like that.”

They spent awhile longer chatting, and Jeff marvelled at how easy it was to talk to this woman he’d just met. He learned that she worked in a small bookstore a few blocks away but dreamed of saving up to travel. He told her about his band and saw her eyes light up when he told her about his tour that let him travel the country.

“Trust me, it’s not that glamourous—cooped up in a bus with five other guys who barely shower.”

Belle laughed, and he noticed the way her blue eyes sparkled in the morning light.

She told him about how her mom passed away when she was a teenager, and how her dad lived back in her small hometown. He told her about his five-year-old daughter and how he wished he got to see her more, but his current lifestyle made that hard—especially when he wasn’t on great terms with his ex.

“But yeah, I’d better go before I start boring you with my life story,” he joked, jumping up. Their mugs were cold from being emptied long ago and sitting on the coffee table.

“Oh, of course,” Belle replied, jumping up with him. “I’ll see you out.”

Before he opened the door, Jeff turned around. “Thanks for the chat, neighbour.” He cringed at himself, regretting the cheesy phrase. “I mean, it was nice to meet you.”

“Thanks,” Belle said, and Jeff warmed at the sincerity in her tone. “I must admit, your company is preferable to playing ABBA by myself.”

Jeff grinned. “Well, give me a shout any time you feel tempted to play them and I’ll be here in a few seconds”—he leaned in close and dropped his voice—“if only to save our neighbours from such awful music.”

“Hey!” Belle said with a mock gasp. “Well, I’ll consider it before I subject them to that.”

Her features turned more serious as he opened the door. “Thanks again, Jeff. And have a good day.”

He flashed her a smile. “Good night, Belle.”

Back at his apartment, Jeff crashed on his couch again—too tired to bother with the extra few feet to his bedroom. He smiled to himself as he heard the muffled notes of The Cure’s “Friday, I’m in Love” playing above him.

[thecursedspinnerofold]

RUMBELLE!! Either ours or in general xD

» ULTIMATE SHIP MEME!

Send in two (or more) names and I’ll fill all this out about the ship!

General:

Rate the Ship -  Awful | Ew | No pics pls | I’m not comfortable | Alright | I like it! | Got Pics? | Let’s do it! | Why is this not getting more attention?! | The OTP to rule all other OTPs

How long will they last? - Forever. Which is basically until Belle dies, or Rumple if he stops being immortal or gets stabbed with his dagger. [Though Rumple has been brought back to life so maybe it wouldn’t be the end.] And even if they aren’t together, their love with endure forever. [Yes I am cheesy.

How quickly did/will they fall in love? - It took awhile for them, but once they did start to fall in love it happened all at once sort of lol. 

How was their first kiss? - Magical. Literally. Until Rumple freaked out XD.

Wedding: [Okay for this I am doing what I wish the wedding would have been like instead of the rushed wedding we got in canon.]

Who proposed? - I like to think Rumple would keep trying and failing and then one day Belle would just find the ring and ask Rumple what it’s about and then he’s all “I um... was going to propose.” And then yeah, cute fluff and stuff.

Who is the best man/men? - Bae, Henry, and Jefferson. Henry and Jeff would be more Groom’s men and Bae the best man but yeah.

Who is the braid’s maid(s)? - Mulan, and maybe some servants Belle was close to at her castle.

Who did the most planning? - They probably did it together.

Who stressed the most? - Probably Rumple. he wanted to make it perfect for Belle.

How fancy was the ceremony? - Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big. And by 3 I mean a nice little outdoor ceremony with only some close friends and people there.

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? - Well I figure Hook and Regina, given what they had each done to Belle. Rumple probably didn’t want to invite the Charmings (cause he’s Rumple) but they were inviting Bae and thus Emma so it wouldn’t have been rude not to invite them too.

Sex:

Who is on top? -  They switch it up. At first Rumple is more so but the for awhile Belle takes more of the control and then things sorta balance out.

Who is the one to instigate things? - Usually Belle I would think. Idk why. Maybe just that she’s younger? *shrugs*

How healthy is their sex life? - Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now [They find other things important too but yeah, they do like the sex]

How kinky are they? - Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

How long do they normally last? - It depends. Rumple can use magic if he wants to make himself last longer. Or Belle can order him to with the dagger, which he loves. But if not that then pretty average I think?

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? - Not really no. They like to make sure they both get an orgasm but so long as they both had fun and are happy they don’t really care if the number of orgasms are equal.

How rough are they in bed? - Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it. [It varies. Sometimes they are soft sometimes rough. They mix things up.]

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? - No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? - At least one, maybe two or three.

How many children will they adopt? - I am not sure. Rumple wants to adopt because he loves kids and feels bad for the ones who don’t have parents like he didn’t. But he’s not brought that up to Belle so idk.

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? - Rumple probably cause he doesn’t really mind it.

Who is the stricter parent? - Belle probably cause Rumple is a pushover.

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - Rumple since he starts staying at home when they have kids cause who needs to run a shop that no one goes to? So he lets Belle work the library. Though if he has something to do in regards to the rental properties the kids go to the library and then Belle would be the one stopping them.

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? - Rumple since he’s the cook

Who is the more loved parent? - Both are loved equally

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? Belle. Because she’s more civil with the other parents and people will actually listen to what she has to say.

Who cried the most at graduation? - Probably Rumple. Belle would be happy to see her children going on to decide their own fates. She’d cry a bit but Rumple... yeah. he’d probably be a mess.

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? - Rumple. Again he’s the push over XD.

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? -  Rumple

Who is the most picky in their food choice? - Neither? Belle might have been at first since she was a noble but idk. I am pretty sure the are good with anything. That doesn’t have maggots. 

Who does the grocery shopping? - Whoever has time. Rumple more so probably when he’s the stay at home dad. Though Belle will pick stuff up on the way home sometimes.

How often do they bake desserts? - A lot more than they should. Rumple has a major sweet tooth so... yeah.

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? - Rumple uses meat as like a side moreso, to add flavor to things and stuff like that. So inbetween I guess?

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - Belle because Rumple gets nervous about planning surprises.

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - Rumple. Belle loves his cooking so she normally likes to stay in. He just sometimes wants a break.

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidently while cooking? - Belle

Chores:

Who cleans the room? - They both do I think, when they see stuff is messy. 

Who is really against chores? - Neither, though Belle might joke about being against being Rumple’s maid or something XD

Who cleans up after the pets? - If they get a cat Belle, otherwise Rumple will do it. (He’s a dog person XD)

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - Neither, though Rumple is very likely to just magic dust and dirt away, if that counts.

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - Rumple probably. He doesn’t do well with people XD

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? - Belle since she does it by hand instead of with magic XD

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - It depends. They both enjoy having a long bath on an occasion. And both can go fast when they need to. So... idk?

Who takes the dog out for a walk? - I think they would do this together a lot tbh. Though Rumple may go alone sometimes.

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? - However often Belle says to XD. Rumple doesn’t really care about holidays except that she likes them. 

What are their goals for the relationship? - Just to stay close. They are each other’s best friends after all. 

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? - Rumple. Because he probably stayed up until the wee hours of the morning XD.

Who plays the most pranks? - I think Belle would, though Rumple has some good ones he uses from time to time.

[hamilkilo]

Café Rendez-vous

Prompt: Reader meets up the boys at the coffee shop, and Alexander is in a heated argument with Jefferson. Also, fluff? Pairing: Poly!Hamilsquad ft Jefferson X Burr (X Madison, but he’s MIA) 

 TW: Cursing, alluding to getting beaten up in a fight, black eye, sassy ham arguing with jeff, fluff??? Mention of drinking?

 A/N thank you so much for all of the positive encouragement and love! I didn’t know y'all liked Brawl in the Streets that much, so I’m pleasantly surprised! Thank you for everything! If you want me to tag anything, let me know! I want you to feel safe! Don’t be afraid to send in some requests! Please enjoy! 

 Word Count: 2456

 It was embarrassing to show up to work on Monday with a black eye, but after explaining what had happened to your boss, Mariah, she sent you home on a paid vacation. You didn’t think it was necessary, but she insisted. She said that it was just a token of thanks to her gallant knight in shining armor. You did recall her mentioning her girlfriend at some point… what was her name again? Betsy? Betty? Elizabeth? Whatever. It wasn’t really your business anyways. 

You returned to work on Tuesday, extra refreshed but fairly behind, and the week passed in a blur as you struggled to keep up. The only sign to you that time had passed was the fading of your war wounds. 

Throughout the week, you’d received the occasional text from one of the boys, asking how you were and if the bruises were fading. It was simple and distant, like mere acquaintances. However, today was Friday, and the boys were well known for how they spent their Fridays. You giggled to yourself as you recalled how bitter that thought would make Aaron. 

You were walking to your car at the end of work when you’d gotten the text from Herc. “Hey, Y/N, wanna join your favorite fight club for coffee tonight at seven? Xoxo Herc.” You smiled at the ground. He was such a teddy bear. You still couldn’t believe the ruckus you had caused by running away. 

You quickly shot him back a text as you got into your car. “That depends, is there going to be another fight?”

You couldn’t keep that silly smile off your face as you turned the engine over and backed out of your parking space. You began to drive, ignoring your burning desire to check your phone. The radio played quietly in the back ground, but you paid it no mind. You’d forgotten to plug your phone into the aux chord, so you weren’t interested in whatever was playing. 

When you got home, you quickly parked and checked your phone. “It’s up to you, sweetheart. Whatever you choose, we’re there… and besides, you know how Alex can be! Xoxo, Herc.”

You glanced at the clock. It was already past six. You got out of your car and went into your apartment. You lived up on the third floor. It was nothing fancy, but it was quaint, and it was yours. You quickly went into your closet and changed out of your work clothes. You knew you were going out, but it was to the Mudhouse Cafe, not to meet the Queen of England. The boys wouldn’t care how you looked. Besides, you were fairly certain they were all gay for each other. So instead of dressing to the nines, you pulled on a loose pair of leggings, an oversized hoodie, and a pair of slip-ons. You scraped your hair into a messy bun, then smiled in appreciation of yourself. You were so cute! You went into the kitchen area of your place and quickly fixed yourself a quick snack. You figured you wouldn’t be eating for a bit, and you didn’t want the boys to see your hangry side yet.

By the time you’d finished, it was already time for you to leave, so you grabbed your purse and hopped in the car. You plugged your aux chord in this time and sang along to Colors. You were in that kind of mood today. 

When you went into the coffee shop, you immediately spotted the boys in their usual spot. However, this time, Alex was arguing with another man. You rolled your eyes before you carefully approached. You wanted a front row seat the the drama, but you didn’t want to get involved.

 Alex was stretching up as tall as he could to go toe to toe with Jefferson. “-maybe next time you should consider thinking in that scientifically astoundingly small brain of yours before you open your fat mouth you useless f-" 

"Y/N!” Jefferson quickly exclaimed, looking over a furious Alex-much to his dismay. You blushed, swearing in your head that you had gotten dragged into this. 

“Hey, guys! Did you start the fight without me?” You joked as you stood on the edge of the group awkwardly. 

“I was just explaining to Jefferson how grossly incompetent he was-”

“I only suggested that you add another sex scene to keep the readers hooked-”

“Im not selling porn, I’m selling art-”

“Porn is art, and art is porn!" 

They had both started arguing again, and you bit your lip. You slowly tried to slip away so you could go order your drink. Hopefully, when you came back, they’d be calmer. However, as you walked off, someone came up beside you and threw an arm over your shoulder. You cringed away on instinct before you looked up and saw John beaming down at you.

"I’m so glad you decided to come! Sorry you had to see them squabble like that… We didn’t know Jefferson would be here tonight,” John gave you a timid smile as he apologized, and you laughed. He was so adorable.

“What was it even about anyways?” You inquired, your curiosity getting the best of you. You were both now waiting in line, John’s arm still resting over your shoulders. You blushed, but you leaned in to take in more of his warmth. This felt nice. Then you scolded yourself. You had to remember that he was already taken!

“Alex writes on the side, and as much as he hates to admit it, Thomas is a good editor, so he sends his work to him when he’s thinking about publishing. I mean, it’s always ugly, but it’s usually through passive aggressive emails and explicit comments on Google Docs. This time, Thomas suggested the addition of a sex scene, but because the advice is coming from his rival, Alex is going to argue… Even if we all know Thomas is right,” John muttered the last part under his breath, then sent a sly wink your way, which caused you to giggle. 

“So you’ve read it?” You inquired, eyebrows raising, and John grinned, showing his dimples. 

“Of course,” he almost boasted, and you could tell he was proud of Alex. 

“What’s it about?” You stared at his face as his eyes lit up, and he smirked at you. 

“Well, there’s this guy who moves to New York City with the aspiration to become this great actor, and he meets another guy from his acting club he joined while he worked a side job and searched for his dream role. And he’s really into this guy, but this other guy is taken… and he almost gives up when he and the guy share a kiss in a scene on stage, and he realizes that he can’t let this guy go. So he goes to profess his undying love or whatever, as cliche as Shakespeare could comprehend, and he was going to beg the guy to give him a chance, when he discovers that the guy is in not one relationship, but two! And he’s polyamorous! And the guy admits he loves the other one too! And it’s really a beautiful story about self discovery, but Jefferson is trying to get Alex to make it smutty. I do think a sex scene would be nice, but-”

“Y/N! Fancy meeting you here!” You looked away from John, who had been passionately explaining the glorious work of Alex, and saw Aaron grinning at you. “Don’t tell me you’re hanging around with this rambunctious bunch!”

You glanced at John, who nodded to Aaron. You turned to your favorite barista and grinned at him, “Don’t you recall the fight I started last week? If anyone’s rambunctious, it’s me!”

Aaron laughed and leaned on the counter, waiting for you and John to order. You cleared your throat, “Can I get the Mudpuddle?”

Aaron nodded, and wrote on a cup, then glanced at John, who shook his head. “I already got a drink.”

You fumbled in your purse for your wallet, but before you could fish it out, John had already paid. You narrowed your eyes at him, and he held his hands up with a sheepish grin. “Um, payback for defending my honor from the mob?”

You scowled at him, then gave him a smile. He was too cute to even be mock angry at. His arm was still around you, after all. And you hated that you liked it so much. 

“So anyways,” John leaned against the counter as you both waited on your drink, “as nice as a sex scene would be, Jefferson recommended there be one as the resolution of the whole plot, a kind of bring it all together and end it with a bang…” he winked at you to make sure you got his pun, “but Alex thinks, and I agree, that if he adds smut there, then he’s sexualizing the entire sexuality as a whole. Like, this is an identity, not a kink. The focus is about finding your sexuality, and hot sex would take away from the final statement of the book as a whole.”

He finally took a breath and glanced at you, waiting for you to say something. “I see where you’re coming from. I think Alex should stick to his guns on this one, but maybe he could satiate Jefferson’s desire by moving the sex scene to an earlier part in the book? I don’t know, I haven’t read it, but I’m sure Alex knows what he’s doing-”

“Y/N!” You took the drink from the worker at the counter and walked with John back to the group. Jefferson and Alex were still arguing. Hercules and Laf were completely ignoring them and appeared to be playing Go Fish on the love seat. 

“-I’d say stick to being a doctor, but you’d probably kill all of your patients-”

“You won’t be saying that when you wind up on my table after shooting your mouth off to the wrong person-”

“I’m gonna put you on your own damn table in a hot sec-”

You had gotten annoyed listening to them both argue, and for some reason, these boys brought out your more impulsive side. You moved quickly. Their faces were inches apart, and if they didn’t look so pissed, you’d have thought they were about to kiss. You quickly snatched both of their ears and pulled them down to face level so that they were both looking at you. Alex let out a string of curse words as he reached up for his ear that was in your grasp. 

“Stop squabbling; you sound like children! It’s annoying! You don’t have to agree with each other, but you also don’t have to scream insults in the middle of a coffee shop. If a sex scene is really that big of a deal, then I question if it’s about artistic integrity or more so about your lack of sexual activity in the past few months!” You heard a few of the boys snickering behind you while you scolded these two like the children they were. You took a deep breath and let go of their ears. Alex rubbed at his ear and huffed while Jefferson fixed his hair.

“It’s good to see you, too, Y/N,” he grumbled to you, and you gave him a wide grin. 

“Go hit on your boyfriend; I’m sure that’ll cheer you up!” You suggested, and he sighed before he ruffled your hair and went to go talk to Aaron.

“What in the hell was that, Y/N? I had him!” Alex raged to you, and you rolled your eyes, sipping at your coffee. 

“Did you?” You stared matter of factly. “There’s a difference between resolving an issue and quipping like kids.”

“It was my business to resolve-”

“Then resolve it in private; don’t insult the man in the middle of a coffee shop, Alex!” You scolded him, but then you noticed the bags under his eyes. He was being grouchy. He probably hadn’t been sleeping much lately. “Come on, Alex. Sit down and relax. You can deal with Jefferson later.”

He stared at you for a minute, calculating how much you’d annoyed him, before he nodded and sat down beside you on the couch. John sat on his other side, and Alex leaned his head on him. They were so cute… it made you bitter. You wished you had that. 

You crossed your legs and sipped at your coffee, but you were quickly startled when Herc started whooping from the love seat. 

“Aw, come on, ‘Erc! I know you saw my cards!” Laf poured as Herc pumped his fist. Herc was quick to give Laf a quick peck on the cheek, and you smiled to yourself. These boys were just so cute!

"So what’ve you been up to lately?” John suddenly asked you, and you quickly focused on him. 

You shrugged. “Not much… just work really. I haven’t been out much this week. How about you?”

“Work, mostly. I dunno, I took Alex to a fancy restaurant on Tuesday… that was nice. He needed a break from his all nighters and heart stopping amount of coffee,” John rubbed Alex’s back. Alex snuggled into John’s neck, and you shared a smile with John. 

“We were kinda disappointed when you didn’t text us at three in morning this week inviting us to drink with you,” Herc teased, and you blushed. 

“I’ve been too busy with work to drink…” you admitted. How long had it been since you’d had a drink anyways?

“Too busy to drink?” John asked incredulously. “'Ow you say? Nonsense!” Lafayette shouted, and you laughed. 

“Come on, you’re coming back to our place for some drinks!” Herc stood abruptly, and you blanched. It had been a while since you’d drank, and you usually drank alone on a quiet Friday night. You were a child away from being a wine mom. These boys were rowdy as it is… get a few drinks in them and you had no idea if you’d be able to manage them. 

John stood and put his arm around Alex, who was groggy and adorably codependent at the moment. Herc linked his arm with yours, and Laf did the same on the other side. 

“I don’t wanna impose…” you lamely mumbled, and Laf looked down at you, almost offended. 

“You could never impose on us, mon cher!” And you were quickly dragged out of the cafe. 

You trusted these boys, sure. But you had no idea what to expect once they were drunk. And you were even more concerned as to whether they’d still like you after seeing what you were like when you were wasted. 

[peculiarbob]

The Outcasts

This is the last chapter of part one. I’m finished writing part two, but I’m still editing it.

Word Count: 1884

One minor swear word

Links: Ch. 1  Ch. 2  Ch. 3

Enjoy!

Chapter 4:

April 16 2014, on one focused much in class again. Rey bought some books on angels  from a bookstore a couple block away. They didn’t help much. Cat spent most of her night practicing her spells, she was on edge all day. Jay just slept as if he didn’t just find out that an angel is on a killing spree. Nothing interesting happened at school, like normal. They talked in whispers and at lunch Cat rambled on about something along the lines of, “He might not come for us. He probably doesn’t even know who we are.” Jay go up cautiously mumbling, “No way. His eyes, look!” He pointed to the other end of the food court, “It’s the angel!” They turn around and a girl in pink fairy wings. “You almost gave me a heart attack!” Cat yelled at him while slouching in her chair. “Dude. That’s so not funny.” Rey says putting her forehead on the table. “Come on.” Jay says soothingly, “ You two gotta learn how to laugh.” “Make better jokes then.” Rey says while giving him the middle finger.

When Rey got home her mom was practicing her warding spells. They didn’t know much about angels because they never bothered them and they never came around. Rey went to her room to finish her homework. It took her two hours to finish, then she went to eat dinner with her family. They talked about being safe and being cautious during hunts. Audrey didn’t really understand what was going on but understood enough. It was Wynter’s turn to wash the dishes to Rey went to her room to draw and listen to music. It’s now 11:00 pm, she wasn’t tired and was determined to finish her drawing. She was drawing bloody mare with her copics markers while listening to Feeling Good by Michael Buble.

Over the music she heard something behind her. She quickly turned around to find a strange man standing in the middle of her room. He wore a leather jacket and looked to be about 6”2, muscular and winged. She wasn’t threatened by him though. “Who are you?” she asked as she curiously looking at his broken wings. “That depends,” he said, “who are you?” She didn’t like that answer. Rey walked over to him taped his forehead with her finger, knocking him out. “Angels” she said, “always making things so difficult.” She used her telekinesis to move his unconscious body quietly so she wouldn’t wake her family.

She moved him to the basement. That’s where they would take monsters to interrogate them for information. All there was in there was a dim light, an iron chair with locks, a devil’s trap painted on the floor and a cabinet built in the wall. The cabinet had iron doors and inside there were things like salt, holy water, matches and holy oil. She locked him in the chair then headed back up stairs to get into her hunter outfit. She walked quietly and when she changed into her clothes she put on her mask and grabbed her blades too. She had a belt that had pockets to hold her blades. She had one blade that was curved with a black handle, and a white gem attached to the handle. It had the power to kill a demon. The other one was a rounded blade with a white handle, and a black gem attached to the handle. It had the power to kill an angel. She used these blades when she served hell.

The angel woke to the sound of music, “It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me. And I’m feeling good.” He looked up and was almost startled when he saw a figure in a mask with a horrible smile on it. “Smile for the camera.” she said as she took a picture with a Polaroid, “I like to keep a photo of my enemies just in case the getaway.” “You gonna tell me who you are, or am I gonna have to do it the hard way?” she said in a calm voice. “You will have to torture me before I ever give you any information.” he says in a serious voice. “Your choice kid.” she said under her breath before she put her hand on his forehead. Rey used her demonic abilities to look through his past, it was bad even for her.

She saw him get tricked by the snake to let him into heaven’s garden, then him get taken to the dungeons. He was tortured there for so many years and he watched his best friend get tortured. He was locked down there for thousands of years, maybe more, he was almost forgotten by the angels. She finally learned his name, Gadreel. If the other angels heard this name they didn’t think of anything good to go with it. Gadreel didn’t deserve all of this, he was tricked, who wouldn’t have been. Rey also saw him fall, possess Sam Winchester, get cast out, then kill for Metatron. It was a horror show. When she got out of his mind the angel was almost in tears, she didn’t realize he had to relive all of that when she went into his mind.

She took off her mask then sat on the floor cross legged in front of him. “So” Rey said, “why do you serve Metatron? I know you don’t want to kill.” When he didn’t answer she explained what she wanted, “I’ve made mistakes in my past, I’ve had more than my fair share of kills. But I’m also seeking redemption. I kill monsters to make up for what I did before. What about you?” Gadreel didn’t feel threatened by the girl so he said quietly, “I am seeking redemption as well. I am helping Metatron put heaven back together.” Before Rey could reply her mom came down. She was in her night clothes and looked tired, it was 11:30. She said in a groggy voice, “Honey, what are you doing?” She replied, “Interrogating someone.” “Oh,” her mother said, “Human or monster? Also are you going to let them go and why are you interrogating him?” Interrogation is almost normal for them. Rey says, “He’s an angel, I might let him go and he might have information we could use.” “Okay sweetie.”

Rey was relieved that her mother didn’t notice that she said “He’s an angel”, till she turned around and had her interrogation face on. “Crap.” Rey said under her breath. Her mom made her come out of the ring of holy fire and took her upstairs. “Is that the angel who’s on a murder spree?!” Her mother said in a serious tone. “P-potentially.” Rey stuttered, “I can handle whatever he throws at me, don’t wor-” “You think I’m worried about you?!” Rey’s mom said cutting her off, “I know you can handle angels. It’s your sisters I’m worried about, how would they react to this.” “Can I call my friends over? They deserve to know.” Her mom reluctantly agreed.

Cat, Jay and Tom, along with their families, were over in the next five minutes. Cat looked worried as she had to bring her six year old brother, Jefferson. Tom seemed to be kind of excited, nothing extraordinary really happened in his life. He was standing next to his 10 year old sister, Megan. All of the parents had nervous expressions. Jay on the other hand had already walked into the living room, for some reason he didn’t seem bothered by this whole situation. “Yo. Where is this bitch?” he says. “First of all” Rey says disapprovingly, “he’s not a bitch, and he’s in the basement.” They all headed into the basement, even Rey’s sisters. All of them either talked amongst themselves or tried to talk to Gadreel. He didn’t respond.

“Shut up!” Rey yelled. Everyone did shut up. She started talking to the angel, “Gadreel, would you respond to any of their questions?” “I would not.” he says glaring at them all. “Would you answer my questions if they weren't here?” she said calmly. He didn’t say anything but looked like he was contemplating his next words. Rey turned her head to the crowd behind her and nodded towards the stairs. After they all walked back up she closed to door behind them. She made a hole in the holy fire just long enough to pass through then sat down in front of him again.

Rey asked most of the questions like and Gadreel answered bluntly. After a while he asked her a question, “What are you?” “What?” she said confused. Hesitantly he said, “I do not know if you know this but, Metatron ordered me to kill you.” She wasn’t fazed by this though, she knew one day someone would try to kill her. “This is why.” she says as she makes her eyes go completely black. She stopped Gadreel from saying anything then proceeded to tell him a little bit about her past and what she was. When she was finished she looked up and he wore a poignant expression. “I don’t need your pity, just so you know.” she said in a solemn tone. She asked him if he wanted to know anything else, when he said no she questioned him a bit more. After another hour of that she stood up, put out the ring of fire, unlocked him from the chair then said, “You’re not that bad kid. Convince Metatron that you killed me and never mention me again.” He got up then they walked up the stairs.

Rey was able to convinced everyone that they shouldn���t be afraid of him. Jay and Tom talked to him for a while, questioning him a lot. Cat didn’t particularly like angels but mustered up the courage to have a short conversation with him. The parents then talked to him, Rey smirked when she noticed that he didn’t look like he enjoyed talking so much to so many people. Wearing her business face she said to Gadreel, “We could use someone like you on hunts. Once someone wins this angel versus angel war stop on by. Preferably on October 13, that’s my birthday.” The angel agreed to stop by once the war was won and before he went he said to Rey, “You are wasting your talents with these small hunts.” Then he walked out the door.

The next few months were normal to an extent. When it was Rey’s birthday she acted normal but she secretly was hoping to see the only nice angel she ever encountered. It’s now 11:00 at night she was drawing a picture of Jeff the Killer. She was somewhat disappointed that Gadreel didn’t visit her but she didn’t know what’s going on in his life. “I wonder if the war is done yet.” she thought to herself, “I guess I’ll never know.” But this gave her a realization. “I’m wasting my talent.” she thinks as she puts down her pencil, “I should use my skills to stop bigger problems.” She smiles at this thought then goes to bed. She meets up with Cat, Jay and Tom the next day then says to them with a smirk, “How about we make a name for ourselves?”