#ILL HOOK EM AND ILL COOK EM

[commander-diomika]

Fandom: Rusty Quill Gaming Pairing: Zolf Smith/Oscar Wilde Rating: Gen Word Count: ~2000 Additional Tags: Slow Burn, 18-Month Time Gap (Rusty Quill Gaming), Rating Will Change to Explicit in Later Parts, Opposites Attract, just two people trying to figure out how to keep the peace with each other and very occasionally succeeding

Summary: Part 2 is here, set several months after Part 1 in a Damascus safehouse. (here's Part One)

"There was another Sending from Curie’s people.” From a side-table awash with documents, Zolf fetched a piece of paper. “New workin’ theory on London, some kind of disease, rather than mind control."

Wilde frowned. “Oh, that’s much worse. Mind control magic at least implies some kind of central power system, a culprit to be fought. If it’s an illness… it might just be chaotic, undirected spread.” Wilde's eyes were shrewd. This was the Wilde that Zolf actually liked working with.

“The message doesn’t sound certain. Just a theory.” Zolf pointed out. He settled back. The couch was a threadbare number but it was comfortable enough, and this wasn’t the first evening they’d spent sitting here discussing plans and directions.

The two of them couldn’t have gotten the hell out of Cairo at a better time. Two weeks after Zolf and Wilde made their quiet exit from the Meritocrats, Aphophis disappeared, taking with him the last few loyal agents. In the ensuing chaos, Wilde pulled some strings and… appropriated significant funding for the next phase. Enough to rent a modest base of operation in Damascus, where they had been for the past few months.

Zolf wasn’t quite sure how Wilde made it all happen so smoothly. At the time he’d just thought Wilde got lucky. Though having worked together for just a few months, he was tempted to say Wilde got lucky a lot… Or perhaps he was just very good at making it seem that way.

“Ho, Wilde,” Zolf called from the kitchen, as he heard Wilde enter the townhouse.

His companion entered the adjoining sitting room, dressed almost-sensibly for the heat in a cream linen suit, a satchel slung over his shoulder.

“What you got there?” Zolf called. He had been chopping vegetables for the evening meal but seeing that Wilde looked flush with success, Zolf put the knife down and wiped off his hands as he went to join him.

His step faltered as he realised that Wilde, once again, was not alone. With him was the man Zolf couldn’t help but think of as “the interloper”.

Alfred Douglas stood just a few inches shorter than Wilde, similarly dark haired and dashing, as he followed Wilde into the sitting room and greeted Zolf with a winning smile. “Hello, Mr Smith.” Wilde had once said that he chose his friends for their good looks, and to look at Alfred, Zolf would begrudgingly agree.

Zolf had met this newcomer just a few days ago. Returning from a fruitless trip to Turkey, he was shocked to find another person at the safehouse; an old friend, Wilde said. When pressed for details, Wilde had first deflected, demurred, and then dug his heels in. It had gotten ugly.

Not wanting to repeat the fight, Zolf just nodded tightly. “Douglas.”

“Oh please, I’ve been telling you, you can call me Bosie.” Zolf, basically immune to affected charm, ignored him and repeated his question to Wilde. “What’s in the bag, Wilde?”

“Books!” Wilde replied, pointedly ignoring the pair’s less-than-warm interaction.

One by one he produced several tomes from the leather satchel with a flourish, revealing each as if waiting for applause before placing them on the low wooden table. A History of Dwarven Achievements; Svalbard, a Japanese travel guide, and one more sizeable volume. Zolf couldn’t immediately understand the title, but he could see that it was written in Dwarvish. That last one gave a small puff of dust as Wilde gently ran his fingers through the pages before adding it to the pile.

“Bosie was such a help, weren’t you dear, I would never have found that last little merchant alone. I swear we went down so many side alleys it was like a maze!” Wilde’s voice was honeyed and light again. It made Zolf feel itchy and irritable. In the months they’d been in Damascus, he’d almost gotten Wilde to just act like a normal bloody person when it was just the two of them, instead of some conversational artiste looking to make a spectacle of every interaction. Two days in the interloper’s company and he was back to the same smarmy, dunkable cad Zolf had met in London.

“The Svalbard one wasn’t exactly easy to get our hands on, either. It’s not like anyone is doing transfers from The London Library anymore.” Wilde reported as he speedily shed jacket, hat and shoes, then plopped down on the settee. Still looking overly pleased with himself, he patted the seat next to him, inviting Bosie to sit. He did so.

“How did you go with your leads?” Wilde asked, still slightly breathless from the performance he made of unveiling the books.

Zolf’s lips pursed, and he considered not answering. Even though Wilde was probably telling him everything in the long hours they spent sequestered in Wilde’s room, it still felt wrong to discuss business with Douglas here. Since he’d arrived on the scene he’d been nothing but disarming smiles and quiet interest but…

Maybe I’m just bein’ paranoid, Zolf said to himself. It was immediately followed with another thought, unbidden and unwelcome. More like bein’ jealous.

That couldn’t possibly be the case, so Zolf opened his mouth and started speaking. “I went askin’ after our initial contact with the Hephaestus lot. You know, the one that sent me on that bloody wild goose chase?” Zolf’s recent trip to Ankara had been based on that lead. He’d been looking for Garten, with no success.

“Turns out she’s not keen on explaining to me why her lead was a blumin’ fake, and the rest of ‘em have closed up ranks.” Finding something to do that didn’t involve looking at either of them, Zolf picked up Wilde’s hat off the table and hung it on the hook by the door. “Also, it looks like the whole Cult is gettin’ ready to move, if I’m honest. A lot less folks workin’ and a lot more packin’ up than I saw last I wer’ there.” He picked up Wilde’s shoes and put them by the door.

“Yes, actually, I noticed something similar at the Artemisian temples the other day,” Douglas said thoughtfully.

Zolf glared at him. Who did he think he was?

As far as Zolf was concerned, the man’s only saving grace was that his sudden reappearance in Wilde’s life made him happy. Pleasant or positive things had been in short supply, and Zolf wasn’t a monster. But Douglas had been tottering about on thin ice since the moment he arrived, and his comments were only salting the surface.

Wilde’s eyes tracked between the two of them, and with a melodramatic sigh he said, “Perhaps you ought to head off, my dear.” He threw Zolf a glance that said there, are you happy now?

“Yeh, I’ve got some things to discuss with Wilde. In private.” Zolf added, eyebrows brewing up a thunderstorm.

Bosie tilted his head, an expression of mock-hurt on his face. It was an expression Wilde made often and Zolf did his best not to explode. These two were as bad as each other and getting worse.

Wilde made an apologetic shooing motion with his hands, and Douglas did as he was bid. He gathered his hat with a reproachful look at Zolf, and gave Wilde a peck on the cheek before leaving. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Oscar.”

Wilde walked Douglas out and returned to the settee, sitting with an exasperated sigh.

It had been getting better between them, heroes with their backs against the wall that they were. It had been. For all that Wilde was insufferable when he got on his airs about “need-to-know information” and couldn’t cook and was constantly preening as though any of that even mattered… But for all the myriad of ways he got up Zolf’s nose, he was also talented. Adept at making and keeping contacts. Able to talk his way into places Zolf couldn’t even get a foot into. An incredible mind for language, information, and planning. He was useful to have around, and for that Zolf was trying his best to extend a bit of graciousness.

And for all Wilde was frustrating company, at least he was someone. Wilde had been dead right, back in Cairo. It was nice to not be alone.

A mulish expression settled on Wilde’s face. It was obvious he was getting ready to jump straight back into the argument about Douglas, but Zolf wasn’t in the mood to rehash the same angry words.

you need to trust me, Zolf

you ain’t supposed to hide things from me anymore

we’re supposed to be partners

it’s none of your business

I thought you were more careful than this

With all the tact of a glaive to the face, Zolf changed the subject.

“There was another Sending from Curie’s people.” From a side-table awash with documents, Zolf fetched a piece of paper. “New workin’ theory on London, some kind of disease, rather than mind control. But it is affectin’ paladins, so it’s not any kind of disease we’ve dealt with before.”

Wilde frowned. “Oh, that’s much worse. Mind control magic at least implies some kind of central power system, a culprit to be fought. If it’s an illness… it might just be chaotic, undirected spread.” As though a spell had been lifted, as soon as Douglas left the room, Wilde turned into a different person, sharp and incisive.

Zolf nodded in grim approval of Wilde’s assessment, moving to sit down next to him.

“She also reckons we start treatin’ it like something communicable. Isolatin’ when we’ve not been able to keep an eye on each other, so on.”

“Well, that’s not very practical for us, now is it. We don’t have the kind of operation Curie does, with the people and resources to run proper quarantine.” Wilde said, eyes shrewd. This was the Wilde that Zolf actually liked working with. “We split up all the time.”

“The message doesn’t sound certain. Just a theory.” Zolf pointed out. He settled back. The couch was a threadbare number but it was comfortable enough, and this wasn’t the first evening they’d spent sitting here discussing plans and directions.

“Still, a theory from one of the sharpest minds left on the planet. Worth giving credence to. Maybe we need to look at bringing a few more people on board.” Wilde paused, thoughtful. “How would you feel about working with James Barnes?”

Zolf cocked his head, unable to place the name for a moment. “Commander James Barnes?”

“The very same.”

Zolf’s jaw worked as he started several different sentences then abandoned them. “I mean, he’s in the Navy, ain’t he? Last I checked, that’s still under Meritocratic order.”

“Perhaps he won’t be with them for much longer.” Wilde said mysteriously. Zolf nearly called him on it. Fighting about the sudden inclusion of Douglas in their affairs, Zolf had pushed Wilde hard on his habit of half-truths and leading statements. He hadn’t gotten anywhere with it. He was starting to think Wilde might be just an incorrigible equivocator, and there was nothing to be done about it.

So Zolf simply grunted.

“So that’s a solid maybe on Barnes,” Wilde grinned. “Besides, we’ll be fine for the moment. I won’t go running off and recruiting anyone new, because now we’ve got Bosie.”

Zolf took a slow breath at this topic change. He gentled the first angry words that came to mind, and spoke. “Wilde… I know you trust him. I know you two have a long history. But in light of this-” Zolf tapped the transcribed Sending. “-I don’t know how I feel about you bringing him in on… everything.” It lay on the table next to the satchel.

“Oh, that reminds me!” Wilde said smoothly, grabbing the bag and reaching inside. “I managed to pick up one more thing.”

From the satchel he produced a much smaller item, a banged-up paperback with a bright cover.

“Ohhh it’s the second Hearts of Fire!” Zolf exclaimed. He knew a misdirect when he saw one but couldn’t contain himself. “Those are so hard to get!” He took the book-shaped olive branch from Wilde quickly, already opening to page one.

“I knew I shouldn’t have given it to you until you’d at least had a look at the Svalbard books,” Wilde teased.

Zolf considered Wilde over the top of the book for a long moment. Wilde wasn’t off the hook. Neither of them were. They would have to come back to this jagged mess of a conversation at some point, but for now, Zolf chose peace. Of a sort.

“Look, the quicker I’m done with it, the quicker you can have it. Don’t pretend like you haven’t read my Campbells. I’m not the one dog-earin’ the pages. I thought you were sposed to be a man of culture.”

“Oh, stop hounding me about it, Zolf,” Wilde said, picking up Dwarven Achievements and relaxing gratefully back into the couch. Zolf was already so engrossed he didn’t even groan.

[onhigh-aa]

*     𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖘𝖍𝖊𝖊𝖙.

𝖇𝖆𝖘𝖎𝖈𝖘  .

full name.     antonio armani. nicknames / aliases.     anthony, tony; angel dust, angel, angie, ang, various pet names. size.     6′1″ (human); 8′2″ (demon). age.     thirty‒four, at the time of his death. zodiac.     aries. spoken languages.     english, italian (and maybe a small bit of louisiana creole).

𝖕𝖍𝖞𝖘𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖑 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖈𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖈𝖘  .

hair colour.     bleach blonde (human); white with baby pink spots (demon). eye colour.     honey brown (human); magenta, with one eye’s sclera a deep red wine color (demon). body type.     dangerously thin, but can somehow throw a mean right hook. dominant hand.     right. posture.     generally...not good. scars.     a few knife scars, a few bullet scars, all scattered about evenly around his shoulders and upper arms (human); none visible (demon). tattoos.     none. most noticeable features.     golden tooth, courtesy of his ex‒pimp.

𝖈𝖍𝖎𝖑𝖉𝖍𝖔𝖔𝖉  .

place of birth.     a big city in Sicily, Italy. siblings.     molly, arackniss. parents.     henrion, a mother whose name he doesn’t remember.

𝖆𝖉𝖚𝖑𝖙 𝖑𝖎𝖋𝖊  .

occupation.     mafia (human & demon); previously a stripper, prostitute, and porn star (demon). current residence(s).     the happy hazbin hotel in pentagram city. close friends.     cherri bomb, charlie, alastor, husk. maybe more, he don’t know. financial status.     well...he can buy drugs. driver’s license.     no, but he can drive. criminal record.     who do you think you are, a cop?

𝖘𝖊𝖝 & 𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊  .

sexual orientation.     homoromantic asexual, sex‒positive. preferred sexual role.     prefers top/dom, but he’s not too picky. turn-ons.     biting / being bitten, scratching / being scratched, touching his back, guns, praise, the list goes on. turn-offs.     degradation, physical harm (outside of the previous list), lack of consent. probably more, can’t think of ‘em all at the moment.

𝖒𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖆𝖓𝖊𝖔𝖚𝖘  .  

hobbies to pass time.     drinking, drugs, dancing, music, mafia dealings, cooking, gun‒shooting, scrolling socials. mental illnesses.     PTSD, addictions to cocaine powder and alcohol, mild manic depression.

tagged by:     swiped from @diistortion​ tagging:     whoever wants to~

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #387

“today i woke up, & i hate myself”

What common problem have you never experienced? The loss of a close family member (that doesn't include pets). Alternatively, what's an uncommon problem you have experienced? Homelessness. Do you know anyone who opposes marriage equality? I sure do. What was the last thing you got really emotional about? Meerkat Manor: Rise of the Dynasty premiering. What's the longest amount of time you've been ill for? I don't really know. I don't get sick a lot at all. Who is your closest male friend? Girt. Do you know anyone who hunts for meat? Sadly. I say "sadly" because it's not like they need it. Have you ever lived with a boyfriend/girlfriend? Yes, although I wasn't a technical resident. I was there all the time, though. What do you wash dishes with? Sponge, scrub brush, rag, something else? A sponge. Is there anything you prefer to do the old-fashioned way? There's probably something, but I can't think of anything. Do you put your glasses and mugs right side up or upside down on the cabinet shelf? Upside-down. What was the worst part of your childhood? My parents fighting. Have you ever seen a high school relationship last long-term? (like 10+yrs) Yeah. Do you know any cancer survivors? Quite a few. Leftover pizza for breakfast... yay or nay? Good shit, man. Do you personally know anyone who's a psychopath or sociopath? I don't think so. What is your most used kitchen appliance? Lately, it's been the apple slicer. I've been on a real apple slices + peanut butter kick lately. What is something that you would personally like to be remembered for? For being a caring person towards all living things. Have you ever been diagnosed as clinically depressed before? Yes. Do you like bowling? Yeah, it's fun. Do you own binoculars or nonoculars? What do you use them for? No. Do you ever wish you had a telescope on the roof or attic to stargaze? Yeah, that'd be cool. Have you ever had to deal with someone close to you going off to war? No, thankfully. Who do you feel you have the most in common with? Sara, easily. Who in your life causes you the most stress or negative feelings? My damn self lmao. Have you ever had a teacher that also taught your parents? No. My parents didn't grow up in NC. What’s one thing that people definitely CAN’T count on you for? To remember like... anything. What about something they definitely can count on you for? Someone to listen to encourage them. What’s one food that you want to try but haven’t yet? I've always thought macaroons look good. Do you have anything planned for the summer? No. Do you walk fast or slow? Slow. Would you consider yourself an adrenaline junkie? No. What is a common slang word from where you live? Plural "you" does not exist. It's "y'all," lol. What’s the scariest thing you’ve accidentally found on the internet? *shrug* Probably something as a kid, going on those sketchy websites with loads of games and stuff. Thinking of every Halloween costume you’ve had, which one was the most creative? I don't think I've had any creative costumes for Halloween. What’s one random city you want to visit? It's not exactly "random" as it's a popular location, but anyway, I would love to visit Venice. What subjects do you or did you get the worst grades in? Math. When was the last time you ate cake and what type of cake was it? That's a good question, actually. Maybe my niece's birthday in February? I don't remember what kind of cake it was. Do you have photos to go with all of the contacts in your phone? No; I don't have any. Do you like snowy winter days or do you prefer rainy days? SNOWY! Name 3 things you find most beautiful in nature: Mountains, large waterfalls, and desert dunes in the wind. If you could ask one person one questions and get a completely honest answer who would it be and what would you ask? Jason. I'd ask if he thought I was emotionally abusive. What is your favorite winter activity? Building snowmen. Who is the greatest singer who is no longer living? Freddie Mercury. What is your idea of heaven? I don't know, really... I have to ask myself IS there a heaven in eternity? Living forever just... doesn't appeal to me. "Living" is an odd word to use there, but hopefully you get it. Existing on and on and on and on seems like it'd just be a drag, but at the same time I do like the thought of feeling relentlessly happy and peaceful with my loved ones. I guess that would be my definition of it, if it does exist. What’s one of the scariest things you’ve ever done? ODed. Have you ever watched the Superbowl all the way through? Just once, on my 16th birthday because I was at Jason's place and all of his family was watching it. I had absolutely zero interest, but we wanted to hang with the family. If you had to move to another country, where would you move? Canada. Do you watch American Horror Story? I haven't in years. It was Jason's and my first "show," and the first season was excellent. I lost interest in the second one, honestly. I'd be up for watching other seasons, though. How many relationships have you been in this year? None. What's your favorite cereal? Probably Cinnamon Toast Crunch. That's also the only cereal where I can happily drink the milk afterwards. Twitter or Facebook? Facebook. Do you like to paint your nails? No. What's the coolest place you've ever been to? Disney World, probably. Have you ever punched anyone? No. What's something you wish you knew how to do? Cook. :/ I really need to make an effort to learn. It'd be great to not rely on a microwave for the rest of my life. What's a celebrity that everyone likes but you don't? *shrug* What food do you eat the most? Probably bread in some form or another. That really needs to stop. Green or purple grapes? Either one, but they have to be firm. I cannooooooot with soft grapes. Have you ever cried over a text? Yeah. What's the background of your phone of? My lock screen is this pretty, simplistic periwinkle color with "work on you for you" written on it. It's one I plan on keeping for probably a long time because I connect to it so deeply with my stupid damn head frequently demanding I have to improve "for Jason" to prove him wrong. Which is a very unhealthy mindset to have, I know. My home screen is a cute lil Mark edit someone made with a very similar pale blue background, so my phone is just currently an #aesthetic. Do you have a Snapchat? No. What's your favorite sports team? (if you like sports)? I don't like sports, but I'm biased towards the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team because of my dad. Last thing you ate? I had Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast. Do you take a lot of selfies? Definitely not. I just hate how I look so much; it takes way too much effort for me to get an "acceptable" one. Do you prefer strawberries or cherries? Strawberries. I hate cherries. How many hours of sleep did you get last night? Maybe like, three. -_- Our A/C is still out, and it was like, 87 in the house last night. It was impossible to sleep. Do you listen to music daily? Not EVERY day, but usually. Biggest insecurity? My weight. Do you play video games? Not as much as I used to. I'd probably play way more if I actually had a PS4 + the games I'm DYING to have. Do you consider yourself lazy? "Yes, but a lot of it is also health related for my lack of energy and motivation." <<<< This for me as well. What recently made you laugh? I was watching a bit of The Nanny with Mom yesterday. We love that show. Do you like gummy bears? Yep. What was the last song you listened to? I'm randomly hooked on "My Nocturnal Serenade" by YOHIO. Like, I've known the song for a long time, but NOW I'm bingeing it???? Describe your mom with one word. Selfless. What's the biggest turn-off? Probably being misogynistic. But being a cocky ass is definitely high up there, too. What fish scares you the most? Mfkng whale sharks terrify me. How do you feel about snails? They're cuties!!! What's your favorite app? Pokemon GO. Would you rather time travel into the past or future? The future, to see what's coming. I feel like you could come back with some pretty valuable information. What is the saddest song you've ever heard? I think "Terrible Things" by Mayday Parade has to come on top. What insect do you hate the most? I was reminded that stag beetles exist last night, and omfg those. Well, "hate" is the wrong word, really, I'm just terrified of them. Would you ever have a wild animal as a pet if possible? I 110% want to rescue an opossum, emphasis on "rescue." I'm not plucking one from the wild or anything like that. I would be in HEAVEN raising one of those angels. Are there any decorations that makes you happy? (lights, candles, plants..) I love those beds decorated with fairy lights, and just Christmas lights in general. Halloween and Christmas decor tend to give me sparks of happiness when I see 'em. Does race matter to you when it comes to dating? Not at all for me. When was the last time you painted something? Not since I was still in school and took a Painting course. When was the last time you really felt alive, and what were you doing? I have NO idea. What is one question you would like an answer to? Why the worst things tend to happen to good people. Name one favorite thing to do with kids while babysitting. I don't babysit, but if I was to be in charge of a kid, I'd love to teach them to play video games from my childhood. Playing Pokemon with my niece and nephew is always a blast, ahhhh. Name one flavor you like. Strawberry is pretty consistent. Name one thing you are hoping for. Venus' new terrarium soon... big sigh. I can't for the life of me find one that's a reasonable price and also adequately sized. I'm willing to put the rest of my cash into it, but Mom is helping, so I can't just buy the first one I see. Then I'd need more substrate, I seriously want a temperature gun and hygrometer, a cool hide, sticks and stuff for cover... It's going to be expensive, but I want Venus to have a truly proper environment she can thrive in. Write the name of one of your imaginary friends from when you were younger. Oddly enough, I can't remember the imaginary wolf that was my "friend." I say "oddly" because his whole idea was important to me as a weird-ass kid. Name one girl's name that starts with a "J" that you like. "Justine." Name one boy's name that starts with a "J" that you like. Maybe "Jaxson." Have you ever been kissed? Yeah. Have you ever feared that you would be killed? It's never been like, a fear I actively worry about. I just acknowledge it's always a possibility for anyone. What is the last great opportunity you missed? This was quite a while ago by now, but I'd say by dropping out of school, I really let photography opportunities slip since I became the newspaper photographer...

[descendantofthesparrow]

Two parter commission - Harry Hook x reader - Hidden

commission from @musicarose​

The Reader lives on the Isle of the lost. She is very beautiful. She's not the daughter of a big villain. So she has no protection from her parents name. In order to protect herself, she dresses up as a boy. She knows Uma from her past and get along quite well with her. Uma needs her help and she stays with the pirate crew for a while. In doing so, she gets to know Harry. They fall in love with each other. However, Harry has problems with this because he thinks she is a boy. He learns the truth and is angry with her. But she can explain it to him and they come together.

2 parter commission.

I know we all headcanon harry as pan, so “realistically” he wouldn’t care that reader is a boy, but in the case of the commission, I made him a straight boi

=

You weren’t the daughter of a big villain or a big sidekick like smee or lefou. You were just…there, though you were noticed you see you were very beautiful in the traditional sense.

Shining (e/c) eyes, thick (h/c) (h/l) locks that shimmered when the light hit it, (plump/thin) lips pulled into a smirk.

But without protection from a villain parent, you were a target for the darker side of the isle, human trafficking being one of them, so you chopped off your hair, bit your lips, lowered your voice and wrapped your chest.

You were (m/n), son of a lowly thief.

Though you did have one thing going for you, being one of Umas true friends. You had been friends with her since you were young, now being apart of her crew after she had come to you when she had won the lost revenge, you being the second mate just after the first mate Harry Hook.

Speaking of Harry, he had just entered the chip shop, handing two crabs to cook as the passed by her. He plopped down on a chair next to you, roughly planting his hand on your head, rubbing it around and messing up your beanie.

“Harry!” you grumbled in a low voice “stoop” you ducked down, his hand slipping down and landing on your shoulder.

“sorry laddie” he chuckled, digging into the tray Uma had tossed infront of him.

In case anyone was wondering, Harry, didn’t know you were a girl, he thought you were 100% boy. Uma however, knowing you since you were a kid, knew that under the baggy clothes, choppy short hair, and low boyish voice that you were a girl.

She also knew why you were doing it, keeping the secret for you.

“Hey pretty boy!” what sucked was you couldn't always hide your face, which was still feminine, so you still got hit on and shit. “Why don’t you come hang out with us and taste some, real men” you turned sneering at the disgusting pirates.

“Leave ‘im alone yeh idiots” Harry jeered, laying his hand on your shoulder and turning you back to the table.

“oh come on hook! Share your pretty boy! We want to know what he feels like!” Harry turned red, hunching his shoulders and turning back to the goons, a raging fire in his eyes.

You felt a pit in his chest, you have had feelings for Harry for a while now, but…. Harry was known to be a boy who was strictly interested in women, though he did flirt with males to get what he wanted before he hooked them.

And you had a feeling that Harry would never feel anything but shame and anger at people suggesting your relationship. Harry stood, brandishing his hook.

“wha’ did yeh say!!” he bellowed, the goons turning pale and stuttering, regretting angering the insane son of James hook.

“Harry” Uma snapped, he turned to her, Uma simply snapped her fingers and pointed back down at his chair. He grumbled and sat back down, continuing to glare at the two goons.

Uma sighed “Harry, (m/n), can you two go grab something from Maddy for me?” you nodded, Harry asking her what it was.

“just payment for protection” Harry sighed and nodded, standing and making his way to the door. You stood and followed, grabbing your sword.

As you followed behind him silently, not wanting him to get angry again.

“GET EM!”

you screamed, arms roughly wrapping around your waist, tossing you away from Harry. He spun around panic on his face and eyes, his body preparing to launch at you.

“(m/n)!!!” he screamed, drawing his blade and trying to run towards you, yelping as a goon with a dagger swiped at him.

You stood from where you were tossed on the ground, spitting out dirt that had gotten in your mouth, you drew your sword, flipping it in your hand and leaping into battle.

As you battled a hun goon, Harry screamed out your name in panic, you shoved away the goon, going to look at Harry when a searing pain stretched up your back.

You screamed in pain, feeling a warm liquid rush down your back and soaking your shirt and the top of your pants. You collapsed, head spinning as Harry stabbed the goon in front of him, launching himself at the goon standing above you, digging his gook into his neck.

“ILL KILL YEH FOR HURTIN’ ‘IM!”

As you lay on the floor watching Harry dispatch the goons who had jumped you, darkness encasing your vision.

“harry” you whimpered, he stopped, whipping around, tears lining his eyes.

“(m/n)!” his voice was horse, wobbly and breaking, he dropped his sword and quickly hooked his hook on his belt loop. He ran to you, sliding on his knees at the last second, gingerly wrapping his arm around your shoulder, taking care not to brush against your sliced back.

“iv-I've got yeh” he muttered in a panicked tone, tears slipping down his cheeks “we-yer gonna-yer gonna be-yer gonna be okay!” he ended with a yell.

“Harry…Uma” you whispered, not even trying to keep up the boyish tone.

He nodded wildly, standing to his feet and racing off back to the shop.

“UMA! HELP-“

Everything went black.

=

Harry paced outside your cabin, wringing his hands together. Uma opened the cabin door, wiping her blood-covered hands on the cloth she held.

“har- woah wait! Harry!” he ignored her, he needed to see (m/n) he needed to know they were okay! He pushed past Uma, stepping into the cabin.

“(m/n) are yeh-” Harry's heart stopped, there…on (m/n) chest….was something…that males usually don’t have “(m/n)?” Harry whispered, glancing at you, you stared back in horror.

“yer…yeh lied ta me?” Harry whimpered, backing up slightly, you sat up, ignoring a searing pain in your back, waving your hands in panic.

“wait harry it's not what you-“Harry's eyes widened, hearing your feminine voice for the first time.

“yeh did! Yeh lied ta me! Yer a girl!” he yelled, a pit of anger swelling in his chest. “Harry listen-!” you tried, but he turned, storming out of the cabin, and you heard Gil call after him, asking where he was going.

Uma entered moments later, her face pale.

“shit” you both muttered.

--end of part 1--

@sephiralorange​

@daughter-of-pan12​

@marichat4lyf​

@random-thoughts-003​

@queer-cosette​

[iriswc1995]

Ash In Ordina

Chapter One:  ‘Home’

The screech of the railcar grinding to a halt startled her awake.  Ash peered from under her hood, instinctively grabbing the hilt of her sword.  The car was empty save for her and a few wandering ghosts.  It was difficult to see through the smeared windows.  It was utterly dark outside.  She sighed, wiping crumbs from her eyes and standing up.  After a moment, the doors hissed open, and she stepped through.

The ‘station’ was hardly more than a platform of corrugated metal, dripping with rust, that bridged two sides of the yawning darkness below.  Orange lights gleamed like eyes on the distant walls that did little to reveal the vastness of the dozens of floors extending above and below.  Ash made her way across, combing fingers through her matted hair.  Past the station, a blue light illuminated a lone figure leaning against the wall of the corridor.  He had a boyish face, a mess of dreadlocks, and perpetual bags under his eyes.  His left arm was a cybernetic prosthesis, which he waved as she approached.

“Heya.  Glad you made it.”

Ash nodded and pulled her coat closer around herself.  “Lead the way, Cygnus.” 

She followed a few paces behind him through a labyrinth of oily hallways, trying to stay alert.  There was never much in a given Tower to distinguish one area from another, save the occasional worn sign.  What was different was the layout, and the people.  Smells of dirt and skin and cooking meat surrounded them as they entered a crowded intersection crammed with dingy shops.  This district had working traffic lights to dictate the constant flow of activity, which the pair pushed their way through as hastily as possible.  A thin stairway led to an auxiliary floor, where Cygnus cut the chains on a gate that led to maintenance.  Ash perked up a bit.

“Home sweet home?”

“Not yet.  Watch behind us.”

Complex webs of pipes and wires guided them through the dark, claustrophobic maze.  Cygnus didn’t say much except to warn her about a gap in the floor or the sound of footsteps approaching.  Ash stayed relaxed.  She trusted people who lived behind locked doors or in cramped spaces more than whoever was patrolling outside them.  As much as she would trust anyone besides Cygnus, at least. 

The arrival of more ghosts, pale and eerily indistinct like clouds of water vapor, signalled their exit from maintenance and back into a populated area.  Cygnus slowed his pace as they entered a long living hall, lined with apartment doors and people who were either hunched over or entirely prone along its sides.  A nearby sign read ‘District 17, Floor 3.’  Ash squinted.

“I thought you said you’d found somewhere isolated.”

“Again, we aren’t there yet.  We’ve still got a bit to go.  Are there ghosts around or something?”

“No more than usual.  I hope you got some food, by the way.”

“Two large pizzas, right?”

She chuckled.  They carefully wove through the carpeted halls of the district.  Thousands of people could live in a single Tower, and the corporation heads tended to cram in a lot more than that.  Ash wove disdainfully at buzzing flies and ignored the hands reaching out for her as they passed.  It’s crazy the kind of thing that the city can make into a routine, she thought bitterly.

Then, her sword vibrated in its sheathe.  Ash slowed her pace and looked around, flicking the hilt with her thumb to reveal an inch of the blade.  A familiar surge of adrenaline pulsed through her.  Her vision reddened, beginning to switch focus, blurring the halls around her but sharpening the humanoid figures, including the wisp-like forms of the ghosts.  The sword was a slender katana Ash had held on to for almost ten years, and it was unlike any other piece of equipment she’d found.  Glancing to the left, Ash saw a small group of wisps huddling together, but these ones were bright red instead of pale. Though they were partially obscured by a wall, she saw them suddenly begin moving downwards as a single unit, presumably down an elevator shaft.

“Ash?  What’s up?”

Cygnus had stopped a little ways down the hall.  Ash looked around for another moment before running to catch up.

“Nothing, for now.”

“We can’t stop for every skeleton bird ghost you see flying around.”

“That was one time, dude.”

He smirked and continued walking.  The apartments fell away behind them as they climbed another set of stairs.  Ten minutes passed before Cygnus stopped in front of a door that was dirty enough to look like it had merged with the floor and ceiling.  Wires drooped haphazardly above their heads, some of them still sparking.  He typed in a code on the number pad and the door lazily forced itself open.  The lights inside flickered on.  It was a laboratory, full of old computers lined up on desks.  Every surface was coated in dust, and the shelves were lined with boxes that had long ago been combed for anything useful or valuable.  What few tools littered the floor were rusted nearly to pieces.  In one corner of the room was a set of monitors that looked newly-cleaned, hooked up to several smaller devices that no doubt belonged to Cygnus.

Ash sighed and stretched her arms, immediately settling into one of the darkest corners of the room.  A small sleeping bag was already rolled up here; Cygnus knew her well enough to know she wasn’t going to be using any chairs.  She started to unroll it as Cygnus sank down at his desk and started typing away.

“Where’s my pizza?”  Ash asked.

A moment later, Cygnus tossed over an almond nutrient bar.

“Fuck yes.”

She tore into it without hesitation.  It had been a while since it’d felt safe enough to rest.  Their last hideout had been compromised so completely that they’d come a long way to find somewhere new, as far as possible from the patrols of Ordainers.  An hour passed quietly, save for the tapping of keys and the rhythmic scrape of Ash sharpening her sword.  She wasn’t even sure it ever needed it, but it was something to do.  Surviving in this city consisted much of filling the silence.  Ash stood up and sheathed her sword, leaning it against one shoulder.

“I’m gonna take a look around.  I saw something with Red earlier.”

There was the heavy sigh she’d braced herself for.  Cygnus stared hard at the empty space beside her.  “Ash.  We’ve been here all of five minutes and you’re already wanting to find trouble?”

“I’ll be more careful this t-”

“Every time, she says that every time and what do I do?  Not much, just get walked all over.”

“You know that’s not what it’s like.”  She walked over to Cygnus’ desk and put a hand down on it, waiting for him to look at her fully.  He finally did, resting his cheek on his hand.

“It always starts like this.  That’s all I’m saying.”

“This is important.  I saw red ghosts.  Something serious could’ve happened nearby, maybe a Dissonance.”

“Ugh.  Fine.”  He sat back, firmly rubbing his brow with his non-cybernetic hand.  He always did that when he was annoyed.  It was charming enough to make Ash smirk a little.  Even when he was stressed, Cygnus always thought about things carefully.  He took an earpiece from the desk and handed it to her.  “Call me when you’re back.  If the cops are chasing you again, don’t lead them back here.”

“Mhm, I won’t.”

“I mean it.  I’m not getting in another gunfight.  Good luck out there, I guess.”

----

Charred metal and snapped wires made her surroundings smell like a welding shop.  Sickly white lights illuminated the elevator shaft at the end of hall, right where Ash had seen the red specters.  It looked like it had been out of order for a long time, and wherever the car itself was stuck certainly wasn’t on this floor.  Ash braced herself; before taking a running leap, wrapping her arms and legs around the steel cords suspended in the shaft.  After getting a decent grip, she let go with her hands and allowed herself to slide downwards with the cords braced against her shoes and coat sleeves.  Several minutes passed, and when Ash felt her muscles start to ache, she picked another opening in the shaft to leap outside again, now on a much lower floor.

She stared down a hallway that was so ill-maintained it was listing partially to one side.  The floor was a mess of rubble and detritus, but the power still worked enough to illuminate the hall with the flashing signs and video advertisements that lined the area.  Ash stepped carefully through the neon-painted darkness.  It seemed like this had been a major thoroughfare of some kind at one point, but had gradually fallen into disuse as people migrated to higher floors.  Sometimes it was almost surprising how decayed certain areas of the city could be.  It was less so when Ash remembered that most Towers were so large, a missile could hit one part of it without people who lived on the opposite side noticing.

A red blur suddenly darted through her vision at an intersection up ahead.  Another ghost.  She walked up to where she had seen it and focused her vision, unsheathing an inch of her blade again.  Ash had seen ‘ghosts’, for lack of a proper term, ever since she’d first claimed this sword, which she called ‘Red’ for simplicity’s sake.  From the very start, it had been obvious it wasn’t a normal weapon, and it only became more intriguing as she learned its exact properties.  In addition to greatly enhancing her strength, it had the ability to sense an afterimage of beings who had died but, as far as Ash could tell, not yet fully passed on to whatever comes next.  The red ones in particular were those who had died fairly recently or in an especially brutal manner, still clinging to the memory of blood running through their veins.  

However, the sword also left a murky redness in its wake that could be followed by Distortions - or anyone else with a means to track it.  The perfect weapon for finding trouble, or for trouble finding you.  

Ash made her way down a spiraling concrete staircase while checking the gun at her hip, making sure it was loaded and ready.  While bullets were typically ineffective against the Distorted, she always had it ready in case she ran into a less paranormal opponent.  

Emerging from the staircase, Ash entered a room so colossal that a layer of cold fog obscured the opposite wall.  She blinked a few times, hesitantly stepping inside.  It seemed like an old hanger of some kind for transport shuttles or private vehicles.  Monolithic pillars supported a dizzyingly high ceiling, through which soft footsteps would echo like rolling thunder.  Much of the hangar was flooded, knee-deep, with what Ash hoped was just dirty water as she waded through it, alert for any sign of movement.  

She caught some when another ghost darted into a nearby office building, a crimson haze trailing behind it.  

Ash followed, running up the stairs to the railway where it had vanished.

A few kicks to the thick iron door broke it open just enough for Ash to cut through the lock with her blade.  It had been a while since she’d seen this many red ghosts in such a short time.  This had to be a Distortion, a group of Harvesters, or maybe some kind of turf war between rival gangs.  

The dark, brutalistic hallway of the office was eerily silent.  Ash stepped inside.  Her breathing slowed, hand tightening around Red’s hilt.  The only sound was the water gently dripping from her cloak.  One of the doors on the side of the hall was leaning open.  Ash peeked around the corner.  

The stench hit her like a solid wall.  Rotting flesh.  A single light flickered on and off above a sizable office space with desks, computers, cubicles, all in disarray and coated with dust.  Stretched between them and along the ceiling were dark, ragged curtains that almost resembled party streamers.  Whole cubicles were wrapped in them.  Ash covered her nose and stepped inside, looking around.  A stench this awful meant the deaths were recent.  It smelled like a big  pile of corpses - Ash lamented how well she could recognize that.  Flies and moths danced beneath the broken light.  On the chairs in front of each desk, an old suit and tie was draped, presumably the uniforms of the staff who worked here.  All of them were drenched with blood.  That accounted for some of the stench, at least.  But there were no bodies.  

Ash’s eyes flicked back and forth, her hands shaking.  One of the curtains stretched across the entrance of a cubicle to her left.  She experimentally nudged it with the hilt of her sword.

A sickening squish.  A few drops of blood.  Ash’s stomach turned, her eyes widening.  Then, a voice.

“ᴡᴏʀᴋ ɪꜱ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛɪɴɢ~ ɪᴛ’ꜱ ᴛɪᴍᴇ, ɪᴛ’ꜱ ᴛɪᴍᴇ… ʟᴇᴛ’ꜱ ᴀʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴏɴ ᴛɪᴍᴇ, ᴛᴏᴅᴀʏ~”

Scratchy and inhumanly shrill, the voice was shockingly close.  One of the ceiling panels near the flickering light gently peeled aside, until an impossibly long, sallow-skinned arm slithered from the darkness.  The panel thudded to the floor.  A horrifying visage, an absurd  facsimile of a human face, stretched and twisted, with bulbous eyes and stained teeth, smiled down at Ash.

“ᴛᴏᴅᴀʏ ɪꜱ ᴘᴀʀᴛʏ ᴅᴀᴀᴀᴀʏʏʏ~”

Ash drew her sword and leapt upwards, cutting at one of its arms, but like a skittering spider it retreated into the darkness.  The muffled tapping of fingers filled the room before it slunk to the ground a short distance away, fully emerging this time.  Its entire body was similarly twisted and elongated, and other than a vague humanoid shape and a head of patchy black hair, its overly-tight office suit was the only human thing about it, which only served to accentuate its monstrous, distorted nature.  Ash gritted her teeth, pointing her blade towards it with both hands clasped around the hilt.  This thing was disgusting, but it didn’t seem to have an overly adverse effect on her sanity.  Hopefully that meant no mental hazards to watch out for.  Its stance was spindly, off-balance.  Mindless.  She could win if she could corner it.  She slowly circled her prey, simply ripping through the curtains of flesh with her body mass.  The creature jittered and spasmed, lunging towards her with a clawed hand.  She ducked, and slashed upwards, but it was too fast again, skittering across the rims of the cubicles.

“ᴅᴇᴀʀ ᴏʜ ᴅᴇᴀʀ, ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴄᴏʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ!  ᴡᴇ ꜱɪᴍᴘʟʏ ᴄᴀɴ’ᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴘᴀʀᴛʏ ᴡɪᴛʜᴏᴜᴛ ᴅᴇᴄᴏʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ!  ᴘᴀʀᴛʏ ᴅᴀʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴇꜱ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴏɴᴄᴇ ᴘᴇʀ ꜰɪꜱᴄᴀʟ ʏᴇᴀʀ!”

Ash took out her gun and aimed towards the creature.  It continued moving in its frenzied pattern, and she aimed for a moment before firing three times.  Two of the bullets connected, blood coating the wall behind it.  As expected, it only flinched slightly, and began scuttling towards her again.  Her eyes gleamed in the dark as she grabbed a nearby chair and twirled her body, throwing it as hard as she could.  It thudded against the creature’s torso, and at the same moment Ash charged forward, cutting a red line across its waist.  It let out an ear-piercing squeal, and a flailing arm caught Ash’s head, sending her sprawling.

It jittered in place for a few moments, a cacophony of screams and squeals, before suddenly charging directly for her.  Ash tried to get to her feet, but its hand locked around her throat and carried her forward with its weight.  Her spine thudded against the door she’d come through and they came fully through the wall.  They careened over the railing, spiraling two dozen feet down to the hangar floor and splashing into the murky water.  Ash’s head swam with color.  She coughed, gagged, tried to reach for Red... its gnarled fingers were still locked around her throat.  It picked her up out of the water, reaching high above its head.  Its face wore a warped smile.  

“ɪᴛ’ꜱ ᴘᴀʀᴛʏ ᴅᴀʏ~ ʙʀɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴅᴀᴜɢʜᴛᴇʀꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴏɴꜱ, ʏᴏᴜʀ ꜱɪꜱᴛᴇʀꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀꜱ~ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴀʟʟ, ɪᴛ’ꜱ ᴀ ʜᴏʟɪᴅᴀʏ ᴡᴏʀᴋᴅᴀʏ!  ꜱᴛʀᴇᴛᴄʜ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴀʀᴍꜱ ᴡɪᴅᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴀʏ ʜᴏᴏʀᴀʏ~ ᴡɪᴅᴇ, ᴡɪᴅᴇ ᴀꜱ ᴛʜᴇʏ’ʟʟ ɢᴏ~”

Fingernails dug into the back of her neck and tore outwards, beginning to peel the skin from her spine.  In doing so, its grip loosened slightly, and she swung back and forth to gather momentum before kicking it in the face.  One of its eyes popped, oozing dark pus, but it didn’t blink or flinch.  Ash’s lungs screamed for air.  This was bad.  She was too weak.  Her gun wouldn’t work.  Red was down in the water somewhere.  Out of reach.  Could she try to draw strength from it, even while she wasn’t holding it?  She had never tried before.  Seemed like now or never.

She closed her eyes and focused.  Focused on the red haze.  The smell of rust.  Sharpening instincts.  New sights and scents.  The world condensing to the head of a pin.  The tip of her blade.  Blood.  Thirst.  Strength.  Survival.  

Crimson haze ebbed from Ash’s form.  A guttural growl emerged from inside her, the raw sound of a desperate animal.  The creature continued laughing, and began slamming her against the ground, again and again.  Pain stabbed through her head, through her back.  But if pain was wood, she was a fast-catching fire.  She couldn’t muster as much strength as usual, but this had to be enough.  Her throat screamed for relief, but she forced her hands away from the creature’s fingers and grabbed its forearms instead.  She started to pull down, blood trailing from beneath her squeezed eyelids.  She felt the creature’s misshapen bones start to bend.  It squealed, shaking her back and forth, but she didn’t let go.  She pulled harder.  Harder.

SNAP.

Its arms broke at the wrists; its hands going limp around her throat.  She fell to the floor, sucked in a breath, and quickly dived, swimming between its legs as it screamed.  Her hand trailed along the concrete, searching.

“ᴅ-ᴅ-ᴅᴇᴄᴏʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ!  ᴅᴏɴ’ᴛ ʙᴇ ʟᴀᴛᴇ ɴᴏᴡ!  ɪᴛ’ꜱ ᴀʟᴍᴏꜱᴛ ʜᴇʀᴇ!”

She felt it, and picked it up.  Holding her blade aloft, she swept it into its sheathe and sprinted at the creature.  Staggering, arms hanging limp, it turned to stare at her.

“ɪᴛ’ꜱ ᴘᴀʀᴛʏ ᴅ-”

“Shut up.”

Warped guts exploded from the cloven rift in the creature’s midsection, the inertia of the blow forcing it backwards.  Ash twirled her blade, kneeled, and stabbed behind her, piercing what was left of its torso up to the hilt.  Blood rained down on her.  A few deep breaths later, she felt the creature’s weight begin to lessen.  She stood up fully as it dissolved into blood and flecks of pale ash that began to disintegrate in the dark water.  

Ash slashed the blade through the water to clean it before resheathing it, sighing and rubbing the back of her head.  She watched the pool of viscous remains spread further throughout the hangar.

“If someone else were here, I’d say something badass, like ‘party’s over’ or something.  But there isn’t anyone else here, so.”

She heaved another sigh and rolled her shoulders, starting to sluggishly wade towards the exit.  Hoping Cygnus would be able to stitch up her neck so she wouldn’t need to find a surgeon again, she began the long climb back to her new home higher in the Tower.

[argentdandelion]

That One Sad Fic Where Noelle’s Dad Dies

“Noelle.” “Wha—? Kris, it’s 3:00 AM….” Noelle said, squinting at her bedazzled cell phone in the darkness. (Ever since it assassinated her actual clock, she had to adapt.) “Skip school today. Go to your dad.” “…what? Why?” “Choose a game,” Kris said, with all the concision and emotion of a very ticked-off grandma.

“Alright, Kris! I got it!” Noelle turned on a lamp and hurriedly scanned through the video game titles.

Mario Kart, Professor Layton, Grand Theft Auto…

Noelle smiled and pulled out a title. “Ah, the perfect one! Silent Hill!”

“And for the love of Dog, do not bring Cooking Mama. Sweet Angel, that will only make him die faster!”

“Oh. Right. Shouldn’t bring anything too relaxing.” Noelle put down Silent Hill and chose Dragon Blazers III.

Noelle’s ears perked up. “Did…you just say ‘die faster’?”

But Kris had abruptly hung up, like clothes in a closet.

—–

“Dad? Dad?” Noelle gently shook her father from his sleep. The lamp was on, beaming light onto his face.

Rudy blinked blearily into the intense light. “Oh dear…now I’m getting medical care from aliens.”

Noelle frowned. “Come on, Dad! You said it yourself, we’re deer monsters.”

Dimly, Rudy noticed the furniture setup was different from what he remembered. He glanced across the room: the flowers in the glass cover had been put on the small counter by the sink, leaving the angel doll dethroned and emanating an aura of rage. The Nontondo console, sitting on a bedside table, was hooked up to the hospital TV and trying to keep its relationship discreet.

Emblazoned on the TV screen were the words “Dragon Blazers III”. It was drawn in fire-coated letters, as if overcompensating for a lack of innate coolness.

Rudy yawned and looked outside. The sky was still dark. “Noelle, why are you waking me up in the middle of the night?”

“It’s not the middle of the night, Dad.” Noelle said sheepishly.

“Oh, good.”

“It’s 3:20 AM.”

Just then Rudy noticed the bags under his daughter’s eyes, her messy hair, and the few crumbs stuck to the fuzz of her lips.

“Noelle.”

“Yes, Dad?”

“Lick those lips of yours.”

Noelle stared at him awkwardly.

“You got crumbs stuck to your fuzzy lips, and I don’t think you’re going for a flavor saver.��

“Dad, a flavor savor is a soul patch, not a mustache!”

“We’re covered in fur. It’s kind of hard to tell the difference!”

Rudy laughed, before pausing thoughtfully. “Eh, it doesn’t matter much. It’s not realistic for society to expect women to constantly shave.”

“I mean, of course,” Noelle wrinkled her brow. “There’s no way anyone has the time for full body shampooing and hair removal.”

Noelle moved a tacky little chair closer to the bed (clearly intended for smaller visitors), and cringed at the squeak. Noelle smiled, and handed her father the other controller.

She yelped.“Oh! Darn! It’s a single-player game!”

“Ah, good. It’d be messy to be a player and also married.” Rudy winked.

“How’d you know it has a marriage option?” Noelle asked, befuddled. “….Never mind.”

Rudy slowly leaned over, looking at the item Noelle held. “You only got one controller? Oh, it’s fine. I can always watch. You’re much better than me at these games anyway.”

—-

“Gosh darn it, Shella.”

“Come on, Noelle! You can swear harder than that.”

Noelle blushed.

“This is the last time I’ll ever be able to see my little girl swear a blue streak.” Rudy said solemnly.

“It’s the wish of a dying man, Noelle. Now let it rip!”

“Fu–”

—-

Noelle painted the room blue as the ocean with the intensity and number of her swears…including two Rudy had never even heard before.

Noelle hunched over with an exhausted look, panting. Suddenly her cheeks bulged, and she spat out one little swear lingering in her throat.

Rudy sat in his bed, stunned at the depths of foulness to tumble out of the mouth of a sweet-natured teenage girl. “Wow, Nolle…

I am so proud of you.”

Noelle beamed, still flushed with the exhaustion of releasing sixteen years’ worth of repressed cussing. Noelle’s cheeks bulged again….only to erupt into laughter. Soon, Rudy, too, was laughing, and the room itself was filled with laughter (and swear residue).

Rudy’s ears flailed out, and with a bug-eyed look Rudy coughed out some dust.

Noelle stared at the dust smeared on her father’s hand. Rudy looked solemn. “Noelle, I think it’s time I told you the truth…”

“I’m part vacuum cleaner.”

—-

They had traveled deep into the dungeon in the bowels of the earth. Suddenly, the claustrophobic halls expanded into a greater room….

“A cutscene!”

Noelle perked her ears up and forward, leaning closer to the TV with a gamer’s hunch. She sat there for a few seconds, straining her ears, but the sound had been turned too low for that sweet, sweet cutscene music.

“Oh, darn. Wish I could hear the music.”

“Oh, Noelle, you can turn it up. The only other guy is the Warrior, and he’s delusional. Guy thinks he’s a NPC spouting foreshadowing for an incomplete game.”

Noelle adjusted the hospital TV’s buttons the old-fashioned way, as the remote was on paternity leave after irresponsibly siring tiny music players.

Atmospheric music ran through that quiet hospital room.

“You dense son of a submariner! Wither away!”

Smiles filled their vision as they enjoyed the scene together, as they witnessed the bizarre scene of characters innocently smiling while delivering scathing dialogue. Ill-advised ‘cultural translations’ for a tougher audience, Noelle thought. But I love it.

A room away, a patient quietly fumed and flailed his limbs, ranting again. Muffled as it was through the sounds of battle, and laughter, and conversation, none heard him. He shed a single manly tear through his costume.

—-

Swarms of Modiglettes tread towards them in the darkness.

Noelle tensed up with a little “eep”, and Rudy turned to his daughter’s terrified face. “What are you waitin’ for? Flare ‘em!”

Noelle shook off her fear…and decided to upgrade the spell to ZettaFlare, for good measure. The vastly over-levelled scale of the spell wrecked the swarm of Modiglettes…and the entire dungeon. The enemies soundly defeated (as well as most of the party), the scorched, half-dead remainder of the party weakly cheered.

"Creepy! Just like that angel doll!”

“Heh, you think so?” Rudy said with relief. “That thing’s a nightmarish abomination!” Rudy glanced toward that faceless angel doll on the counter top, still a little askew after all those hours beside the flowers. He felt it glaring at him judgmentally…as if wishing for his death.

Rudy noticed, just then, the petals falling from the wilting bouquet…onto that letter enclosed within.

"Kris…they’re a good kid.”

“Earlier, they told me to come visit you.” Noelle replied offhand.

Noelle had never seen her father’s brows rise higher. “Huh. That’s awfully out-of-character for them. I sure hope that isn’t a clue they know something we don’t.”

Noelle laughed nervously. “Yeah, I sure hope so! It’s….probably a sign of some turmoil or trauma that occurred off-screen. That totally happens in RPGs, so it’s not that weird.”

—-

As Noelle defeated foe after foe, progressing on her journey, she spoke less and less. The same went for her father. He reclined in his bed, his head heavy.

Noelle said nothing: not of her anxiety, not of her sadness, not of her ever-growing desire for soda and cheese chips.

“Dad? You haven’t said anything in a while. It’s getting kind of awkward. ‘Companionable silence’ is, uh…not something I’m very good at.”

“Oh, you don’t have to narrate everything,” her father said. “It’s not like you’re playing it for an Internet audience.”

“After all, video games can be…” Her father looked down before looking back at her. “an activity well-suited for urban hermits.”

—-

“THE END”, it said.

Noelle stared at the screen. “What happens next?” Noelle asked, her voice laden with tension.

“The credits screen, of course!” Rudy replied.

“No, no…I mean…what happens to the characters?” Noelle said, glancing towards the window. Her hands still clenched the controller.

“…Y’know…I like to think they all went home after beating the final boss, and had that long-awaited cake.”

“I don’t think they’ll ever get the cake,” Noelle said quietly, looking down. “They always thought they could, but then things happened no one could predict, and now they have to live a cake-free life.”

“You’re right. Come to think of it…a lot of games have cake you can’t get…” Rudy looked out into the distance, up towards the ceiling. “I suppose all they can hope for is finding joy in cupcakes, muffins and brownies. After all, it’s not like having a cake-free life stops them from finding happiness. There are a lot of caloric baked goods in the world.”

Noelle stared at her father, her eyes wet. “Are we…are we even talking about cake anymore?”

Rudy lifted an eyebrow. “It’s good advice, literal or not, and it’s straight from my supply of fatherly wisdom.”

Then, suddenly, there was a weight on Noelle’s hands, and Noelle’s eyes went wide open. Her father weakly squeezed Noelle’s hand, looking straight at her with a wan smile.

“Noelle, dear. Life stinks. But video games make life stink less. When I’m gone, game so much the WHO gives you a disorder.”

“I promise, Dad.”

Her father laid back on the bed, staring up towards the ceiling again.

“DAD OUT!” He shouted. His tongue stuck out and his eyes turned to X’s.

Tears bubbled in Noelle’s eyes. “His eyes turned to X’s…just like the video games…”

—-

It was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming. On days like these, kids like Kris should be inside playing Nontondo games, but no, Kris had to go be all nice-like and visit someone whose dad had died.

Kris found Noelle standing by the window, light streaming past her silhouette in the early morning light. Kris stared at Noelle’s back in a way that definitely wasn’t creepy.

The two of them stood like two islands in a quiet ocean…but for the malfunctioning air conditioning system, which was quite terrible at imitating calming ocean waves.

Kris observed a massive snarl in Noelle’s hair. It was so big it looked like her hair had gotten pregnant. Dear sweet angel mother of Dog could she not have combed her hair a little before visiting her dying father at 3:30 AM?! Kris thought. But Kris kept quiet.

“Yo, Noelle, your hair is awful,” Kris said. Kris cringed, hurriedly adding: “Also, sorry ‘bout your dad. Obvious foreshadowed deaths are still super sad.”

Noelle spoke in a voice drained of tears, due to a quick surgery she had to improve tear evacuation in her face. Thankfully, Kris wasn’t looking at Noelle’s face.

“I suppose so,” Noelle said quietly. “But if it means I got to spend time with my dad, one last time…then it was worth it for my hair to look like it got goshdarn pregnant.”

Oh thank Dog we agree, Kris thought. Would have been awkward if I brought it up.

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do next,” Noelle said, almost to herself. “Life’s…never going to go back to normal, with my dad being all corpsey.”

Kris looked at the bed. It felt empty. “It’s kind of ambiguous whether he’s a corpse or dust.”

“You don’t know…maybe we scheduled a cremation service ahead of time, ‘cause he was on his way out anyway.”

The room was quiet again, but for the annoying creak of the malfunctioning air conditioning. It sounded like a wooden ship breaking apart in a storm-tossed…No, no. Make for a more subtle metaphor, Kris told their own brain.

The moment carried on, stretching out like a lazy morning. In that unhurried moment, where a person could simply be alive, Kris lost track of time. It didn’t matter: it was either 9:27 AM or croissant o’clock.

What did Noelle see, in one of the best views in all of Hometown? The houses below? The woods beyond? Undyne arresting Snowdrake for streaking?

“Thank you, Kris,” Noelle said quietly. “Thank you for somehow knowing roughly when my dad was going to die, despite having zero medical knowledge.”

Noelle’s ears floated up. A few seconds passed. Noelle turned around, exposing her hideously enlarged tear ducts.

“OH MY DOG KRIS DO YOU HAVE TIME TRAVEL POWERS?!”

But Kris had long since bounced the joint.

—-

Everyone knew it was coming. The foreshadowing was very obvious.

Kris stood stiffly in the doorway, a sense of unease building in their various body parts.

At first, the room seemed unoccupied. Then, Kris caught a soft, high-pitched noise. Kris caught Noelle sobbing, her face concealed under a waterfall of hair. (Much like a waterfall was wet, it was also wet. But with tears.) A thought occurred to Kris, unbidden, that her hair was beautiful: long, and blond, and finely combed, and increasingly stained with tears and snot. Her arms wrapped her arms around her body.

Kris did a double-take.

“Noelle…why are you brandishing a disembodied pair of your own arms?”

Noelle coughed out her sobs and swallowed.

“These are my sorrow arms, Kris….I grow them whenever I am enduring the crushing pain of existence.”

Kris’s blank face somehow looked hesitant.

“I doubt that. I’ve never grown any sorrow arms.”

“…oh. I’m sorry, Kris,” Noelle said, a little subdued. “Growing a second pair of arms under overwhelming sorrow must be a monster-only thing.”

“I only wish…I could have played Dragon Blazers III with him.”

Kris paused, tilting their head just a fraction of an inch. “How long would it take to finish Dragon Blazers III?” It was a mundane inquiry, very similar to “Do you have croissants?” in how mundane it was.

Noelle sniffed. In a brittle voice, like a piece of plastic (the brittle kind), she said: “It’s pretty big. About eight hours, I-I think.”

“If you could finish the game with your father, would you?”

“I’d do anything for it.”

“Would you give me hair-care tips?”

“…what?”

“’Cause I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful your hair was, despite the fact it’s increasingly stained with tears and snot.”

“Kris, I am mourning my dead dad. Please read the room before asking for hair care tips.” Noelle’s arms tightened around herself. “But, yes…theoretically, I would provide hair care tips.”

“Despite that unwanted tone of voice, I’m gonna be the better person and rewind time so you can play a video game with your dad, all good Samaritan-like.” Kris said.

“…what? Rewind time?”

—-

“Yo. Red SOUL.” Kris said blankly, sashaying towards a SOUL in a birdcage.

“I need you all up inside me.” Kris said, as seductively as a teenager of unclear age could while still being legal. Kris opened up the cage and their SOUL eagerly jumped into their chest cavity.

“PSYCHE!” Kris exclaimed. “I knew you’d automatically rewind time, sucka! And I’m gonna make Noelle slightly less sad!”

[ewoodx]

ETHAN WOOD SEASON 3 !! [GREGG SULKIN , MALE , HE/HIS ] do you hear [PHENOMENAL BY EMINEM ] coming from the beach ? oh, that has to be [ ETHAN WOOD] . they are a [ TWENTY THREE ] year old [PROFESSIONAL SOCCER PLAYER ] from the outer banks, and they’ve been living there for [TWENTY TWO YEARS ] . they were chosen to be on the show because they are a [ KOOK] , but really , I heard it’s because they can be [ ILL TEMPERED  & DEMANDING ] . if you get to know them though , they’re pretty [PROTECTIVE & ENERGETIC] . they might become a quick audience favorite due to their [ SIGNATURE SMIRK, PRETTY BOY CHARM & RIPPLING PECTORALS]

Hello hello hello !! I’m Ally & this is the updated bio for Ethan Wood, your favorite arrogant, footballer with a hot temper && a secret heart of gold..I promise ;) Shoot me a message if you’re interested in plotting.

BASICS:

Full name;  Ethan Alexander Wood

Nicknames; E, Wood

Age; 22

School; UNC

Birthday; August 19th

Height; 5’11 but he’ll tell you he’s 6ft

Parents; Oliver and Heidi Wood

Siblings; two brothers: Julian (older) & Damian (younger)

Occupation; Striker for Inter Miami FC 

Birth place; the eight, OBX 

Current location; Miami 

Sign; Leo

(+) ; protective & energetic.

(-) ; ill-tempered & demanding

Sexuality; heterosexual

Pogue or Kook; Kook

Character Inspiration;  zach siler (she’s all that) chuck bass (gossip girl), mickey milkovich (shameless), damon salvatore (vampire diaries) tim riggins (friday night lights) asher adams (all american) billy hope (southpaw) joe kingman (the game plan), ares (greek mythology) 

EARLY YEARS;

Ethan Wood was born and raised to do one thing and one thing only: play soccer. Being the middle child of legendary University of North Carolina starting forward Olivier Wood and renowned athleisure wear designer Daphne Wood, there was only one path for this budding young soccer prodigy. And it was to follow in daddy’s footsteps donning the prestigious Carolina blue and white of his father’s alma mater. 

His childhood was pleasant, raised on his family’s estate in the coveted Eight and filled with family getaways and father/son trips to UNC/Wake Forest rivalry matches. Matches that he hoped to one day play in. Young Ethan was a natural talent and he picked up the game rather quickly, spending every free moment practicing in the yard or scribbling down strategies. He wanted nothing more than to make his father proud and carry on his legacy. 

HIGH SCHOOL;

Ethan was sent to one of the finest private schools on the island that money could buy. Of course, he wasn’t there for his grades and what he lacked in brains, his skills on the field made up for. He made varsity soccer his freshman year and then went on to become captain during his senior year, reveling in all the perks that came with being a star athlete: parties, hookups, popularity. As Ethan’s athletic abilities along with his ego continued to grow, so did his competitive edge, arrogance, and hot temper which is known for getting him into trouble on and off the pitch. He’s no stranger to an alcohol induced bawl and struggles to keep his temper under control. 

COLLEGE;

It’s no secret that in the OBX money talks and Mr. Wood had deep pockets. A library donation and a legacy later, Ethan finally realized his dream and secured a spot on his beloved UNC soccer team. His temper being the reason for the trouble in the first place. It didn’t take long for him to become the frat star worthy of his reputation. Sure, he had to overcome those pesky freshman years, team hazing, and locker room banter, even spending the half a season on the bench for his hot headed temper. Nonetheless, he managed to make a name for himself even if slightly tarnished.

SEASON 1; 

Fresh off his college graduation, Ethan returned to the Outer Banks with his sights set on playing professional soccer in the upcoming season. Before entering the real world in the fall, he joined the show for one last hurrah and boy did he get what he signed up for. The summer was filled with all sorts of shenanigans, parties, booze, and hook-ups. 

Ethan rounded out the first season of OBX rather unscathed, save for a secret hook-up and an unlikely friendship that he formed with a pogue. He gained some notoriety from the show and it was a perfect launch for his new life in the public eye.  

SEASON 2; 

Ethan started footy training in the fall after the reality show ended, and he played for Inter Miami FC, a team owned by David Beckham himself. He took up residence in Miami for the soccer season and traveled the country with his team becoming the soccer star he always wanted to be. His rookie season was one for the books, and if you thought his ego couldn’t get any bigger, check again. 

In his off time, Ethan maintained his growing popularity by making appearances at all the Miami hot spots and keeping up a rather impressive social media presence, constantly posting his fitness routines and workouts in addition to his nights out. This earned him a reputation off the pitch, and his name managed to find its way into the local papers and magazines. He did his best to keep in touch with his friends from the show despite his busy schedule, and even visited the OBX whenever he could. 

With his first professional soccer season in the books, Ethan returned to the reality show for another summer, much to his PR team’s dismay who was working to clean up with reputation, not add to it. It was another summer filled with partying, booze, and messing around. A well deserved celebration after a triumphant soccer season. Ethan grew closer with his housemates and even started forming stronger connections with some of them as family, friends, or more. 

POST SEASON 2;

High off another successful season of Outer Banks, Ethan went back to Miami with a newfound air of confidence about him and an extra pep in his step. He worked and trained twice as hard, determined to play even better than last year. He managed to  keep up his scoring average and earned ‘man of the match’ in several games. Ethan spent less time in the OBX, but instead invited his buddies to come matches and come visit whenever he got the chance. He loved to preform and there was something about having the cast around that made him play even better. 

With only a handful of games left, Ethan suffered an injury that cut his season short. He tore his MCL and spent the months leading up to the summer recovering and going to physical therapy in Miami. His PR team advised him against returning to the show to focus on getting in shape for the upcoming season, but Ethan couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spend the summer in Australia with his crew. 

POGUES VS KOOKS;

Ethan got into his fair share of Pogues vs Kooks scuffles back in high school. Nights filled with stupid boyish banter, booze, and blows. He likes to think he’s above all the rivalry now— playing pro ball and all—  but sometimes he still struggles to truly let go of the past and be the bigger person. He’s an athlete though and though, and rivalries are all just a part of the game.

HEADCANONS;

Despite the ever present confident air about him, Ethan is super generous especially when it comes to nights out and tipping. He is always happy to pick up the tab and doll out rounds of shots for him and his buddies at no charge. As selfish as he can be sometimes, he loves it when his friends are having a good time and is a firm believer in the more the merrier.

To help him keep his tempter on and off the pitch under control, Ethan got into boxing/mma and incorporates it into his workouts whenever he can. He can be found either going to a gym to practice his upper cuts or on beach working on them on his own. He does it mostly for fun, but every now and again finds himself having to throw down. 

For the most part, Ethan can’t really cook, but on the off chance he’s not sneaking out after a one night stand, he makes a killer breakfast, usually in his boxers.

He has secret love for astronomy and mythology particularly hero myths and the stories behind the constellations. Growing up, he always found them fascinating and was the only one of his brothers who would actually sit and listen to his grandfather babble on about them. Those were some of his most cherished memories, and he often celebrates his goals by blowing a kiss to the heavens to dedicate them the ol’ man. 

Moana is his absolute favorite Disney movie, and he will never say no to watching it. He also thinks Maui is the shit and knows all of the words to “You’re Welcome” by heart. Beware, he will actually belt it out if asked.

WANTED CONNECTIONS;

let’s make ‘em jealous; There’s no denying that Ethan and this person have chemistry. They are super flirty and all over each other, but in reality it’s all a rouse. They aren’t really into one another and are merely using each other to stir up some drama, cause a scene, and make the ones that really do catch their eyes jealous.  [OPEN]

the role model; Ethan didn’t really have many positive role models to look up to growing up, mainly just his father and his toxic masculinity. This person helps Ethan balance all that out and helps him deal with all those pesky emotions he was taught to keep suppressed inside in order to “be a man.” This person also keeps him in check and isn’t afraid to give him a much needed smack to the upside of the head when necessary. [OPEN]

the rival; To say Ethan is competitive is the understatement of the century, and he and this person have a rivalry for the ages. The two don’t like each other and this person never fails to get under Ethan’s skin. It could have even started back in school and carried over to now. Perhaps the reason Ethan had some trouble getting into UNC for soccer? Bonus points if they have to put all their differences aside and work together at some point for a common goal. [OPEN]

the hook-ups; Ethan really isn’t the type to stick around after a hook-up and is usually out before the sun comes up, never wanting to get attached. If anyone wants to give him a much deserved slap upside the head or just wants to keep things casual and flirty, let me know! [OPEN]

the real bros; for those looking for a second muse, Ethan has two brothers xD. Julian and Damian (names can totally change! I just headcannon them all ending in -an) He has one older brother who rejected the athlete/UNC/kook life leaving Ethan with the pressure to fill daddy’s soccer boots. They had a fall out and their relationship is shaky at best. Ethan also has a baby bro who he is definitely closer with. They get on rather typically through harmless banter and school boy shenanigans. He also has an innate protectiveness over him because he is older. [OPEN]

Totally open to anything and everything, so feel free to shoot me a message!! Also if you read all that WOW. You are the real MVP.

[bamby0304]

The Hart III: Secrets

Chapter 15: Angel Radio

Summary: Three months… Dean was gone for three months and now he’s back. He’s back and he truly has no idea how much things have changed. Life moved on while Dean was in Hell, and now things are complicated. With new faces and troubles right around the corner, will the trio find a way to come back together? Or has all hope been lost?

Warnings: Angst. Violence.

A/N: Liz isn't in this chapter... sorry! Just needed some guy time :):)

Bamby

DPOV

I could not believe it. I could not believe we were on a job, for Ruby.

Sam and I had been at a bar, hustling by the pool table, when he dropped the act and gave the guy five hundred dollars just because the demon bitch was there. Of course, I hadn't been pleased at the sight of her, not after she'd taught Sam all that psychic crap while I was gone, but what made seeing her worse was the fact she had this 'job' for us.

Chances are, she was fully of crap and we were headed for a trap.

"Can I get a copy of the missing persons report?" Sam asked whoever was on the other side of the phone conversation he was on. "Great. Okay. Thanks." With that he hung up and turned to me. "Well, Anna Milton's definitely real."

"Don't mean the case is real," I noted, really not wanting to do this job. "And this hospital's a three-day drive."

"We've driven further for less, Dean," he countered. My response was just a shake of the head, which had him sighing at me. "You got something to say, say it."

"Oh, I'm saying it." I turned away from the road briefly, to look at him. "This sucks."

"You're not pissed we're going after the girl. You're pissed Ruby threw us the tip."

"Right. 'Cause as far as you're concerned, the hell-bitch is practically family. Yeah, boy, something major must've happened while I was downstairs, 'cause I come back, and- and you're BFFs with a demon?"

"I told you, Dean, she helped me go after Lilith."

"Well, thanks for the thumbnail. Real vivid. You want to fill in a little detail?"

"Sure, Dean, let's trade stories. You first. How was Hell? Don't spare the details."

I looked away from him again, both of us falling silent. He knew there was no way I was telling him anything. I knew there was no way he'd tell me anything without finding some stuff out from me. We were at a dead, heavy, silent end.

...

"Now, the orderly has no recollection of Anna's escape?" Sam asked the psychologist as we stood in Anna's room in the hospital.

"Apparently, she knocked him unconscious," the psychologist explained. "The blow caused some amnesia. He doesn't even remember coming into her room."

"That's a hell of a right hook to knock out a guy that's got 80 pounds on her," I noted.

The psychologist gestured behind the door. "We think she may have planned this, waited behind the door." With that, she started to leave the room, Sam and I right behind her.

"Right." Sam nodded. "Uh, you mentioned Anna's illness was recent."

Stopping out in the hall, the psychologist turned to us. "Two months ago, she was happy, well-adjusted, journalism major, lots of friends. Bright future."

"So, what happened. She just... flipped?" I asked.

I didn't really understand how something like that could happen. I mean, I knew it did, but I didn't understand how. Usually that stuff only happened when monsters and demons were involved. Right now, I was hoping they weren't. I was hoping Ruby had been wrong. But it appeared she wasn't.

"Well, that's the tragedy of schizophrenia. Within weeks, Anna was overtaken by delusions," the psychologist informed us.

Sam frowned, curious. "What kind of delusions?"

"She thought demons were everywhere." Reaching forward, the psychologist offered Sam the sketch book she was holding.

You don't say. I thought to myself, while speaking out loud as well. "Huh. Interesting."

"It's not uncommon for our patients to believe that monsters are real."

Sam and I knew better than to say anything, but I couldn't help but think that they were. Part of me actually wanted to defend this Anna girl and tell the doctor that she might not be as insane as everyone thought she might be.

But I stopped myself from making the mistake, and instead looked up to smile at the psychologist. "Well, that- that's just batty."

As Sam took and opened it, flicking through the various pages, I leaned over to take a look, noticing one page in particular. A page about the rising of the witnesses... The next page was just as surprising, showing another picture with the words 'Samhain the next seal is broken' written above the Halloween setting.

"That's Revelations," I noted, looking up at Sam.

"Since when does the Book of Revelations have jack-o'-lanterns?" the psychologist asked, the look on her face telling me she clearly thought I was wrong.

I shrugged. "It's a, uh, it's a little-known translation."

Nodding, she went on. "Well, Anna's father was a church deacon. When she became ill, her paranoia took on religious overtones. She was convinced the devil was about to rise up and end the world. I hope you find her. It's dangerous for her to be out there alone right now."

SPOV

Dean and I stood in front of the Milton home, Dean moving towards the door to knock on it. I stayed back a step, noticing the two cars in the drive way. When there was no answer, Dean turned to me.

"Maybe they're not home."

I gestured to the vehicles. "Both cars in the driveway."

Turning back to the door, he reached for the handle, only to find it unlocked. Carefully, we stepped inside. "Mr And Mrs Milton?"

"We're from the sheriff's department," I called as Dean moved further into the house. "We just wanted to ask you a couple of questions." Before I could move anymore, my eyes scanned the living room and landed on the two bodies lying on the floor.

I had no doubt in my mind that it was Mr And Mrs Milton. Their throats had been slit, and by the looks of things, it hadn't been too long ago.

Dean came back over to see why I'd stopped. Without a word, we moved forward. While he looked around, I crouched down at the sight of a powder lying beside Mrs Milton. Dipping my finger into the substance, I then gave it a quick smell, recognising the scent instant.

"Sulfur. The demons beat us here. Whatever the deal is with this Anna girl-"

Dean cut me off. "Yeah, they want her. They're not screwing around," he sighed, moving around the room, looking for clue. "All right, so, I'm Girl, Interrupted, and I know the score of the apocalypse, just busted out of the nut-box. Possibly using superpowers, by the way. Where do I go?"

I stood, my eyes landing on a photo on the shelf close by. Grabbing it, I noticed something in the background. "Hey, you got those sketches from Anna's notebook?"

"Yeah."

"Let me see 'em." A moment later, Dean handed me one of the drawings. I looked from the picture to the paper, seeing the resemblance in the details of the window of the church and the sketch Anna had made. "Check this out." I showed Dean.

"She was drawing the window of her church."

"Over and over," I noted, remembering all the pictures of the window that were in Anna's book. "If you were religious, scared, and had demons on your ass, where would you go to feel safe?"

DPOV

Guns drawn, Sam and I entered the church attic, moving carefully. We weren't sure what might be around. If the demons got to Mr And Mrs Milton already, there was a chance they'd be waiting here too.

"Dean." Sam got my attention as he pointed over to the corner, where we could both see someone hiding. "Anna?" he called as we both put our guns away. "We're not gonna hurt you," he assured her. "We're here to help. My name is Sam. This is my brother, Dean."

"Sam?" she asked, staying behind the stained-glass wall that was keeping her partially hidden. "Not Sam Winchester?"

"Uh, yeah."

Coming out now, Anna looked over at us, her eyes on me. "And you're Dean. The Dean?"

"Well, yeah." I nodded. "The Dean, I guess."

She was gorgeous. Fiery red hair that fell over her shoulders. She was small, and petite, around the same height as Liz- maybe the tiniest bit taller. Dressed in boots, jeans a white top and khaki jacket. As simple as she looked, it just made her all the more gorgeous.

"It's really you. Oh, my God. The angels talk about you. You were in Hell, but Castiel pulled you out, and some of them think you can help save us." She looked to Sam then. "And some of them don't like you at all. They talk about you all the time lately. I feel like I know you."

"So, you talk to angels?" I was confused, because that's what it sounded like she was saying.

"Oh, no." she shook her head. "No, no way. Um, they probably don't even know I exist. I just kind of... overhear them."

"You overhear them?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, they talk, and sometimes I just... hear them in my head."

"Like... right now?"

She shook her head again, answering my question. "Not right this second, but a lot. And I can't shut them out, there are so many of them."

"So, they lock you up with a case of the crazies when really you were just... tuning in to angel radio?" I chucked lightly.

Her face changed, as if she was relieved that we believed her. "Yes. Thank you."

"Anna, when did the voices start?" Sam questioned. "Do you remember?"

"I can tell you exactly. September eighteenth."

"The day I got out of Hell," I noted, looking to Sam.

"First words I heard, clear as a bell." Anna nodded. "'Dean Winchester is saved'."

Looking from Sam, to Anna and then back, I asked, "What do you think?"

"It's above my pay grade, man."

"Well, at least now we know why the demons want you so bad." I shrugged, giving Anna a small smile. "They get a hold of you, they can hear everything the other side's cooking. You're 1-900-angel."

She smiled back at me. "Hey, um, do you know- are my parents okay? I- I didn't go home. I was afraid."

The door suddenly opened as Ruby hurried in. "You got the girl. Good, let's go."

Anna yelled out, scurrying back. "Her face!"

"It's okay," Sam assured her. "She's here to help."

I scoffed. "Yeah, don't be so sure."

"We have to hurry," Ruby pushed, panic in her voice.

But I wasn't buying the act. "Why?"

"Because a demon's coming. Big-timer. We can fight later, Dean."

"Well, that's pretty convenient. Showing up right when we find the girl with some bigwig on your tail?"

"I didn't bring him here. You did."

"What?

"He followed you from the girl's house. We got to go now!"

"Dean," Sam spoke up again, nudging me. As I turned to him, I saw his finger pointing to a statue of Mother Mary... blood dripping from the eyes.

"It's too late." The panic in Ruby's voice turned to fear. "He's here."

Moving quickly, Sam grabbed Anna and lead her to the closet, putting her inside, telling her to stay and then closed the door before he came back over to stand with Ruby and I as he pulled out a flask of holy water.

Ruby shook her head. "No, Sam, you got to pull him right away."

I frowned, not liking that idea at all. "Whoa, hold on a sec."

Rolling her eyes, Ruby turned to me. "Now's not the time to bellyache about Sam going darkside. He does his thing, he exorcises that demon, or we die."

Putting the flask away without really thinking it over, Sam looked to the door and got ready as we waited.

A moment later, the door broke of the hinges as a man dressed in a suit walked in. Sam lifted his hand to exorcize him, but nothing happened.

The demon chuckled lightly. "That tickles. You don't have the juice to take me on, Sam." Raising his one hand, he threw Sam across the room, out the door and down the stairs.

I moved then, reacting without thinking. Ruby's knife in hand, I lunged at the demon, aiming for whatever I might get. But he was strong, and fast, and before I knew it, the knife had been knocked out of my grasp, his hand was wrapped around my throat, and I was pressed against a pillar, struggling for waist.

"Hello again, Dean." He grinned, throwing a few punches to my face. "Come on, Dean. Don't you recognize me? Oh, I forgot. I'm wearing a paediatrician. But we were so close... in Hell." He hit me again. I could feel blood trickling down my face.

As I looked back up at him, I had no doubt in my mind of who this was. Who this demon was... "Alastair."

Suddenly Sam came up from behind him, stabbing Alastair with Ruby's knife. But it did nothing...

Turning around, Alistair focused on Sam. "You're gonna have to try a whole lot harder than that, son."

As the demon dealt with the blade, Sam moved to help me up. With a look to each other and then a look to the window, we didn't think twice before running. We shielded ourselves as best as we could as we broke through and fell through the air, landing on a car below.

Everything hurt. I knew somethings were out of place and I was pretty cut up. But as I looked up and saw Alastair looked down at us through the window, I knew we didn't have time to waste.

Grabbing Sam, we helped each other up and hurried to Baby, climbing in and driving off as fast as we could. It occurred to me then that Ruby had left... and she'd taken Anna with her.

...

I leaned over the bathroom sink, checking my shoulder and cuts out as Sam sat on his bed in our hotel room, stitching himself up. I couldn't do anything with this dislocated shoulder. It hurt like a bitch and wouldn't move right.

"Are you almost done?" I asked, turning to Sam.

He let out a frustrated sigh, still focusing on the task at hand. "I'm going as fast as I can."

"Good, 'cause you know I got a dislocated shoulder over here," I noted, walking into the room, grabbing a bottle of whiskey on my way, taking a big drink from it.

"Yeah. I'll pop it back when I'm finished," Sam mumbled as he finally finished with the stitches. Turning to me, he gestured to the bottle. "Gimme that." I did as he said and watched as he poured the liquor over his cut and winced at the painful sting.

I felt very little sympathy as I looked down at him with annoyance. "So, you lost the magic knife, huh?"

"Yeah, saving your ass. Who the hell was that demon?" he snapped, just as annoyed and frustrated.

"No one good," was all I was willing to give him. "We got to find Anna."

"Ruby's got her. I'm sure she's okay," he insisted as he stood and moved to stand behind me. "All right. Come on. On three. One..." He grabbed my arm and forced it back into place.

I let out a pained yell at the sudden jerk and pop, walking away from him and back into the bathroom as I tried to control my breathing again. "You sure about Ruby? 'Cause I think it's just as likely she used us to find radio girl and then brought that demon in to kill us."

"No, she took Anna to keep her safe." He sounded so sure of that.

I scoffed, picking up the icepack from the counter and pressing it against my shoulder. "Yeah. Well, why hasn't she called to tell us where she is?"

"Because that demon is probably watching us right now, waiting to follow us right back to Anna again. That's why he let us go."

"You call this letting us go?"

"Yeah, I do. Look, killing us would've been no problem to that thing. That's why, for now, we just got to lay low and wait for Ruby to contact us."

"How's she gonna do that?" I asked. When he said nothing, I shook my head and turned to him again. "Why do you trust her so much?"

"I told you."

Dropping the icepack back on the counter, I started towards where he was sitting back on the bed. "You got to do better than that. Hey, and I'm not trying to pick a fight here. I mean, I really want to understand. But I need to know more. I mean, I deserve to know more."

"Because... she saved my life."

Moving to sit on the couch, I shook my head. "How, Sam?" I pushed, needing more. Needing to know exactly what happened.

Sighing, Sam looked down at the ground as he started to finally tell me what I needed to know. "I was a mess, Dean. You were gone, Lizzie was falling apart. Bobby insisted on taking care of her. That left me alone." He fiddled with his hands in front of himself as he looked down at them. "I'd tried everything I could think of to get you back. Even tried selling my own soul to trade places. None of it would work.

"I hadn't really been paying much attention to anything. Didn't care enough to want to watch my back. I was drunk, coming back to the room at the hotel I'd been staying at. The moment I was inside and the door closed, I was jumped by two demons. Didn't take long for me to realise one was Ruby. Told me she'd been let go so long as she killed me. I told her to. Practically begged. But instead, she killed the other demon, and helped me get out of there before more came.

"She offered help, tried tagging along. But I didn't want her around. Not after everything that had happened. Especially not when I was suddenly very aware of the fact that she was in her second body. So, I sent her away. A few days later she showed up again, with proof that she was in a vacant body, and insisted that she could help me get Lilith. Told me she could teach me how to use my powers to get revenge."

"So?" I asked when he stayed silent for a moment or two too long. "What'd she teach you?"

"Well, the first thing I learned... I'm a crappy student," he chuckled lightly, finally looking to me as he went on. "First few times I tried exorcising demons, it went really bad. First time was the worst. He'd worked me up to a rage, and I lost all control. Could barely pull him out for a second, let alone drag him to hell.

"Ruby was there for me though. Killed him to shut him up once she was sure I couldn't do it. She insisted things would get better. I thought she was talking about my powers, but she was talking about you. It pushed a nerve. I started shutting her out again, but she just kept pushing." He shook his head, looking at the ground again. "One thing led to another and before I knew it we were on the couch, our clothes on the floor-"

Before he could go on, I cut him off, "Sam."

Looking up at me again, he looked confused. "Yeah?"

"Too much information."

"Hey, I told you I was coming clean," he noted.

Shaking my head, I leaned back into the couch. "Yeah, but now I feel dirty." Grabbing the bottle of whiskey, I got back to the point. "Okay, well, uh, brain-stabbing imagery aside, so far, all you've told me about is a manipulative bitch who, uh, screwed you, played mind games with you, and did everything in the book to get you to go bad."

"Yeah, well, there's more to the story."

"Just... skip the nudity, please."

"Pretty soon after... that, um... I put together some signs... omens."

"Saying what?"

"Lilith was in town. And I wanted to strike her first. Ruby didn't want me to go, but she couldn't stop me. I left her, went to find and kill Lilith. But it was a trap. The house was full of demons, with no Lilith. They attacked, I was outnumbered and clearly going to lose. Things were bad.

"That's when Ruby showed up, killed one demon, pulled the other from me. Told me to take the girl they'd used as bait and run. I did what she said, but when I realised she wasn't following us, I went back and found the demon chocking her, threatening her. I didn't like it. Not after everything she'd done for me. So... I exorcised him. Hurt like hell. But I did it.

"Ruby came back for me." He shrugged, looking up at me again. "Whatever you have to say, she saved me. More than that, she got through to me. What she said to me... it's what you would've said. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here."

A knock on the door had us both turn to it as a voice called, "Housekeeping."

"Not now," I called back.

"Sir, I've got clean towels."

Sighing, I got up and opened the door. "Couldn't you just leave 'em at the door?"

Instead of answering, she pushed past me and moved over to Sam. "I'm at this address." She handed him a piece of paper.

Sam smiled a little, though was clearly as confused as I was. "I'm sorry. What?"

"Go now. Go through the bathroom window, don't stop, don't take your car, don't pass go. There are demons in the hallway and in the parking lot."

"Ruby?" he noted, looking the maid up and down. Usually Ruby went for the white-petite-surprisingly-badass type. Not the larger, middle aged, African American maid...

She rolled her eyes at him. "Okay, yes, so I'm possessing this maid for a hot minute. Sue me."

"What about-"

She cut him off, "Coma girl? Slowly rotting on the floor back at the cabin with Anna, so I've got to hurry back. See you when you get there. Go!" With that, she left.

Did that just happen?

SPOV

Dean and I stepped up to the abandoned cabin's door right as it opened, revealing Ruby back in the coma girl's body. "Glad you could make it." She took a step aside to let us in.

"Yeah, thanks." I nodded, moving into the room where we saw Anna sitting on the faded and damaged couch. "Anna, are you okay?"

"Yeah. I think so. Ruby's not like other demons." She smiled. "She saved my life."

"Yeah, I hear she does that." Dean looked to Ruby. "I guess I... you know."

Ruby crossed her arms over her chest. "What?"

It took a second or two for Dean to finally say something. "I guess I owe you for... Sam. And I just wanted... you know..." He was clearly struggling.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Don't strain yourself."

"Okay, then. Is the moment over?" Dean asked her, getting a nod. "Good, 'cause that was awkward."

With that over, Anna looked up at me. "Hey, Sam, you think it'd be safe to make a quick call, just to tell my parents I'm okay? They must be completely freaked."

I looked from Dean to Anna. "Uh..."

Her face fell. "What?"

Taking a deep breath, I sat down next to her. "Anna, um... your parents..."

"What about them?"

"Look, I'm sorry."

"No, they're not..."

"Anna, I'm sorry."

She cried as she leaned forward to rock and hug herself. "Why is this happening to me?"

I shook my head, resting a hand on her back for support and comfort. "I don't know."

All of a sudden, she sat up, fear in her eyes. "They're coming."

The lights began to flicker. That was not a good sign...

"Back room," Dean told me as he moved to grab weapons from the bag we'd brought with us.

I grabbed Anna and led her over to the back room, closing the door behind her before I moved over to grab a gun from Dean.

Ruby started looking through the bag, only to stop when she didn't find what she wanted. "Where's the knife?"

"Uh... about that..." Dean started.

She looked pissed and really not amused. "You're kidding."

"Hey, don't look at me." He gestured to me.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Thanks a lot." He just gave me a smile.

"Great. Just peachy." Ruby shook her head at us. "Impeccable timing, guys, really."

The door began to rattle then, before to blew open suddenly. A second or two later, Castiel and Uriel walked in.

Dean lowered his gun. "Please tell me you're here to help. We've been having demon issues all day."

"Well, I can see that." Uriel eyed Ruby. "You want to explain why you have that stain in the room?"

Not giving us a chance to answer, Castiel spoke up. "We're here for Anna."

"Here for her like... here for her?" Dean asked what we were all thinking. Their tones weren't exactly friendly.

"Stop talking," Uriel ordered. "Give her to us."

"Are you gonna help her?" Despite the fact I asked the question, I had a feeling I already knew the answer...

"No." Castiel didn't even hesitate, "She has to die."

DPOV

Sam shifted on the spot, looking to the two angels. "You want Anna? Why?"

Without answering, Uriel stepped forward, being his usual asshole self. "Out of the way."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." I moved in his way. "Okay, I know she's wiretapping your angel chats or whatever, but it's no reason to gank her."

"Don't worry. I'll kill her gentle." Uriel grinned, it pushed a button, pissing me off.

"You're some heartless sons of bitches, you know that?"

"As a matter of fact, we are," Castiel agreed, not caring at all. "And?"

"And? Anna's an innocent girl," Sam exclaimed.

"She is far from innocent," Castiel argued.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Turning to Sam, Uriel answered without really answering. Instead he basically just insulted Ruby. "It means she's worse than this abomination you've been screwing. Now give us the girl."

"Sorry." Shaking my head, I put myself between the two angels and the door, not letting them pass. "Get yourself another one. Try JDate."

"Who's gonna stop us? You two? Or this demon whore?" Uriel grabbed Ruby and threw her across against the wall.

I reacted before I really realised what I was doing. Using the gun I held, I went to hit Uriel, only to be grabbed by him before I could. He held me back and punched my face a few times, not hiding the fact that he was enjoying himself.

"I've been waiting for this," he admitted.

But as he raised his hand to hit me again, a bright light engulfed both him and Castiel, and in a moment, they disappeared.

Falling to the ground, I looked around, confused. "What the..." Seeing Ruby leaning against the wall, I got up and moved over to help her to her feet. "Come on."

She went to check on Sam as he started waking up from being unconscious, while I went to check on Anna.

As I opened the back-room door, I found Anna standing by the dresser in the room, her wrists bleeding, hands and arms covered with blood.

"Anna. Anna!" I hurried over to help set her down in the chair, noticing the markings on the mirror that were drawn from her blood.

Out of breath, she let me use a rag to wrap her wounds up. "Are they- are they gone?"

"Did you kill them?" I asked.

"No." She shook her head, weak and tired. "I sent them away. Far away."

"You want to tell me how?"

"That just popped in my head." She looked to the marking. "I don't know how I did it. I just did it."

...

Sam closed the bedroom door, leaving Ruby in the backroom to help Anna while the two of us tried to figure out our next move. Things were bad. If angels and demons were after this girl, things were only going to get worse.

"So, what do you think?" I asked him as he came over to stand with me in the middle of the room.

"I think Anna's getting more interesting by the second."

"Yeah, I agree." I nodded. "And what did they mean by 'she's not innocent'?"

"It seems like they want her bad, and not just 'cause of the angel radio thing. I mean, that blood spell. Some serious crap, man."

"Something's going on with her." Giving him a nod, I knew it was time we started really working this case. "See what you can find out."

"What are you gonna do?"

"Anna may have sent the angels to the outfield, but, sooner or later, they're gonna be back. We got to get ourselves safe now."

"Safe where, Dean?"

I sighed, "I know a place."

Bamby

[roseyongs]

tag game! getting em all done today bc im bored hehe i was tagged by @bishreksual thank u as always leila!!!

bold everything that applies to you

appearance

i am over 5′5 // i wear glasses or contacts // i have blonde hair // i prefer loose clothing over tight clothing // i have one or more piercing // i have at least one tattoo // i have blue eyes // i have dyed or highlighted my hair // i have gotten plastic surgery // i have had braces invisalign // i sunburn easily // i have freckles // i paint my nails // i typically wear makeup // i don’t often smile // i am pleased with how i look // i prefer nike to adidas // i wear baseball caps backwards

hobbies/interests

i play a sport // i can play an instrument // i am artistic // i know more than one language // i have won a trophy in some sort of competition // i can cook or bake without a recipe // i know how to swim // i enjoy writing // i can do origami // i prefer movies to tv shows // i can execute a perfect somersault // i enjoy singing // i could survive in the wild on my own // i have read a new book series this year // i enjoy spending time with my friends // i travel during school or work breaks // i can do a handstand

relationships

i am in a relationship // i have been single for over a year // i have a crush // i have a best friend i have known for ten years // my parents are together // i have hooked up with my best friend // i am adopted // my crush has confessed to me // i have a long-distance relationship // i am an only child // i give advice to my friends // i have made an online friend // i met up with someone I have met online

aesthetics

i have heard the ocean in a conch shell // i have watched the sunrise // i enjoy rainy days // i have slept under the stars // i meditate outside // the sound of chirping calms me // i enjoy the smell of the beach // i know what snow tastes like // i listen to music to fall asleep // i enjoy thunderstorms // i enjoy cloud watching // i have attended a bonfire // i pay close attention to colors // i find mystery in the ocean // i enjoy hiking on nature paths // autumn is my favorite season

miscellaneous

i can fall asleep in a moving vehicle // i am the mom friend // i live by certain quote(s) // i like the smell of sharpies // i am involved in extracurricular activities // i enjoy mexican food // i can drive a stick-shift // i believe in true love // i make up scenarios to fall asleep // i sing in the shower // i wish i lived in a video game // i have a canopy above my bed // i am multiracial // i am a redhead // i own at least 3 dogs

I think ella nd olivia already got tagged which liks like 25% of the people i normally tag in things sjsnjk so ill tag @thirst-of-the-land @futurenostalgie @jenmyeons @militarychefsoo @letslove1stwin @ilovkji im sorry if youve already done it also if you wanna do it just say i tagged u!!

[buckyhoneyno]

A Dumbasses Guide To Saving The World (Chapter 8)

Just two girls with stupid dumb luck

Read along as two girls are thrown into the supernatural world when they are mistaken for hunters and decided that they fake it till they make it.

Updating every Saturday because Saturdays are for the boys

Sam x reader

Dean x reader

masterlist

Chapter 8 Misconnection 

“So, we’re supposed to meet them at a motel?” Maddie asked skeptically.

“I know, sounds creepy right!” Charlotte said as she stirred the pasta she was cooking on the stove for their lunch before they headed to work. “What are the guys names again?”

“Sam and Dean,” the red head replied. “They’re going to be here tonight around 6,” 

“We work till 7, hope they don’t mind if we’re late,” she stated with a shrug.

“Ill text Bobby and let him know,”

“tell him to send us their numbers while you’re at it,” Charlotte called back. The girls spent the few hours they had before work eating and getting their packs ready so that when they got off they could just grab their stuff and change before heading out. 

The bar was in full swing when 6:30 rolled around and with only half an hour left in her shift Charlotte was ready to go. The front door of the bar rang as more customers walked in but with her head down while changing the keg the blonde took little notice. Finally getting it hooked up the girls wiped her hands on the towel that hung from her belt.

Looking around she checked with the small crowd around the bar to see if they needed anything but was meet with no’s. Giving them all smiles she moved farther down the bar to the two strangers that had just caught her eye. The men were both tall and well built, not to mention gorgeous. The suits they wore were a bit out of place for the bars usual vibe but she would be the last to complain about it.

“What can I do for you two today?” She asked with a grin when she walked to stand in front of them.

“Oh, you could do a lot for us,” he paused as he looked at her name tag for a moment, “Charlotte,” the shorter blond said with a little smirk. The girl laughed softly while shaking her head, the man just looked like trouble.

“What he meant to say was two beers please,” The taller of the two said while nudging the other man with his shoulder. The blond rolled his eyes with a shrug.

“Comin right up,” She said with a smile before turning back to the cooler behind her that held the bottle beers. “Got a preference?” She asked over her shoulder.

“anything cold,” the brunette stated as they leaned against the bar. Leaning into the cooler she grabbed two bottles out before taking an opener and snapping the tops off quickly. Placing them in front of the men quickly she gave them a parting smile before going back to work.

“Charlotte can I get 4 shots of jack, a sex on the beach and 3 bud lights,” One of the waitresses said while sliding the ticket with the food orders onto the rack.

Throwing up an ‘ok’ sign in the girls direction, the blonde started on the task. The shots and beer were on the tray quickly, then followed by the sex on the beach which she was spinning in her hand inside a cocktail shaker. Tossing it into the air she caught it, much to the customers amusement. After giving them a little show she poured the drink. 

“Pretty good with your hands huh?” The mystery blond said as she walked by them. 

“Oh, you have no idea,” she said with a wink while spinning a knife around her finger. Grabbing a few lemons, she started her end of shift duty’s which consisted of restocking what was needed.

“seriously man,”

“What,” the shorter of the two said while putting his hands up innocently with a grin that was anything but. 

“Hey Char, you almost done?” Maddie called from the window between the bar and kitchen.

“Yeah, give me like 5 minutes and we are good to go,”

“Want any help with anything,”

“If you want to come cut up some limes for me, I would greatly appreciate it,” She called back earning her a “ok” from the red head. The kitchen door swung open moments later revealing the shorter girl.

“Damn there’s two of em,” She heard the blonde mutter to the taller man.

“We’re here for work,”

“Buzz kill,”

Maddie finally made her way to her friend who tossed a lime at her. The girl fumbled with it for a moment before dropping it. Leaning down she picked it up with a pout, her cheeks now slightly red. 

“See this is what I mean about working on your hand eye coordination,”

“You surprised me,” The red head said defending herself. “Do it again,” She said while making herself look prepared to catch the lime this time.

“No that’s pointless, you need to learn to be quicker on your toes,” The blond stated while picking up a knife for the girl. 

“Don’t throw that!” Maddie said while putting her hands up quickly.

“I’m not gonna throw a knife at you!” Charlotte said exasperated. The two men watched the interaction with grins of their own. They kind of reminded them of how they acted with each other.

“Your crazy! You just might knife me,” Maddie mumbled to herself as she grabbed the knife earning her a light slap on the arm from the taller girl.

“Slut,”

“Hoe,”

With their pleasantries said the two girls got to cutting while the men watched on.

“Could we ask you two a few questions,” The blond asked before taking a sip from the beer. Maddie finally noticed the two men and froze for a moment before looking at Charlotte who raised a brow at them.

“We’re here investigating a few murders that have happened in the area and we were wondering if either of you have heard anything about it,” the brunette asked while the girls glanced at each other quickly.

“Sure. Why do you need to know?” Maddie asked now nervous of the new comers. They seemed to catch on to the girls change in attitude and quickly pulled out their badges.

FBI in large letters suddenly made the girls even more tense then they were before.

“We don’t know anything more than what you can read in the paper,” Maddie said slightly to quick making Charlotte hold in an annoyed sigh. The men looked at the red head now with more suspicion.

“I heard the cops talking about it a few nights ago, just some animal attack.” The blond stated nonchalantly in an attempt to cover for her friend. “Think it might have been a waste of a trip for you boys,”

“I’m sure the local officers have this covered,” Maddie said with a nod happy that the eyes were off her for a moment.

The two men stared at them both a little longer before speaking again.

“Nothing else?” The brunette prompted with an odd look on his face.

“Nope,” Charlotte said with a shrug.

“Hm,” was the man’s only reply as he stared at the taller girl a moment longer.

“I got one more question, then we will leave you two ladies to your work,” The blond said with a grin. “We heard there was some random fire that took out an old house on the outskirts of town, any information you can give on that,”

The girls both seemed to freeze catching the men’s attention instantly.

“Probably teenagers,” Maddie stuttered out while Charlotte nodded quickly agreeing.

“Yeah teenagers, their so crazy sometimes,” Charlotte joked making Maddie let out an obvious fake laugh.

“Well if you two hear anything give us a call,” The brunette said while sliding a business card across the bar. Taking a 20 out he put it on the bar as well before nodding at the girls, his partner sent them both a wink before following him out the door.

“They seem nervous to you,” Dean said when they were outside. 

“Very, speciously when you asked about the fire,”

“Think they are suspects?”

“With the way they were acting I wouldn’t write them off,” the two men slid into the impala quickly. Looking at his watch Sam noticed it was a bit after 7. “Let’s head to the motel, we need to meet up with the two hunters that Bobby was talking about,”

“What are the guys names again?” Dean asked as he pulled out of the parking lot, taking a left to the motel that was a few miles down the road.

“I think Bobby said, Charles and Matt.”

“Hope they don’t suck,” was his quick reply, not waiting for Sam to reply he turned up the radio. 

Back at the bar the girls were swiping their time cards and heading to the car.

“We’re fucked,” Maddie stated as she got in the car. “FBI agents are here looking at our case! The fire too!”

“Should we call Bobby,” Charlotte asked as she nervously ran a hand through her ponytail.

“No, he’ll only tell us to suck it up or some old person saying like he always does,” Maddie’s words got a laugh from the other girl who was trying to stay calm. “Let’s just get home, change and go meet up with the hunters he sent,”

“Ok,” The blonde said with a sigh. “But I’m not getting arrested for this shit,” she muttered back with a pout.

  Walking towards the motel the girls tried to shake off the nervousness that they felt about meeting the other hunters.

“Would you put that away before someone calls the police,” Maddie whispered to Charlotte as they walked to the main building. She was spinning a knife around in her hand. A nervous habit that had become a comfort to the blonde. 

The taller girl sent a glare Maddie’s way but continued to fiddle with the weapon. Her eyes caught sight of a vending machine that was a few motel rooms down from where they were at the moment.

“I’m just going to grab a water, how about you go to the front desk and see what room we need to get to,” Charlotte stated as she turned to walk towards the vending machine, not waiting for a reply. Maddie gave a huff before turning and doing what the other girl said. 

Walking inside Maddie noticed the tall brunette from earlier at the bar was about to walk out. They both froze as they made eye contact, their suspicions of each other coming to the surface quickly. The man stepped forward as Maddie stayed in her spot by the door.

“Agent?” Maddie practically squeaked out, her ability to lie was not as finely polished as her friends. She was more lightly to take option number two and just make a run for it.

“Miss?” The man began but paused when he realized he never got her name.

“Barrett,“ the girl replied. “But you can just call me Maddie,” She said quickly.

“Maddie?” The agent said to himself, seeming to be thinking for a moment till his eyes widened. “Matt?”

“I mean I gues-“ Maddie began before she realized what he was saying. “wait, are you?”

“Sam,” He supplied, his posture relaxed significantly when he realized the girl wasn’t a threat but one of the hunters that he was supposed to be meeting.

“Oh thank god,” Maddie said while laughing. “I really thought you were going to arrest me,”

“Yeah, you may want to work on the whole lying part of the job,” The taller man teased with a small smile.

“You have the FBI show up at your job asking about a fire you started and see how calm you stay,” the girl stated while crossing her arms in an attempt to keep her dignity. Sam gave a small laugh while leaning against the wall that was closest to the door.

“So you’re partner?” He questioned with a tilt of his head.

“Charlotte, the blonde from the bar,” She said before pausing. “Speaking of she should be walking in her any minute now,”

Charlotte had just walked towards the vending machine, passing a few rooms on the way. Her favorite knife spinning easily around her fingers. Typing in A4, she waited for her water to be dispensed. A hand on her shoulder caught her attention as she was yanked to the side and into a motel room quickly. With a huff she found herself cornered by the blonde FBI agent from earlier.

“You followin us now?” He questioned with a smirk as he looked over the girl.

“you’d love that wouldn’t you?” She stated back before throwing her head forward, her forehead connecting with his nose making him back off for a moment. The space between them opened enough for her to kick her leg forward, hitting the man directly in the stomach. The girl was never one to be able to take being cornered well.

“son of a bitch,” The man muttered as he put a hand on his face, pulling it away he noticed the blood. Clinching his teeth, he glared at the woman.

“I’m not going to jail, punk ass cop,” The woman said as she widened her stance ready to fight her way out of the room if needed.

“Punk ass cop?” The man questioned, his voice making it seem like she had just insulted him in the highest of manner. Charlotte didn’t give him time to recover before throwing a punch, making contact quickly. While he was dazed she tried to run around him to the door but was grabbed by the pony tail and pulled backwards. Charlotte let a yelp out as her hands went to her hair.

“I don’t want hurt you,” The man grunted as he wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to hold her down.

“Aw, now where’s the fun in that,” She stated with a smirk before grabbing onto his arm, jerking forwards with all her weight, she sent the man over her shoulder. Falling on his back, he let out a grunt before quickly getting to his feet.

“You know what, I think I changed my mind,” He said with a glare before stomping forward. The two threw blows back and forth, neither being able to get the upper hand as they went on.

Sam looked at his watch after another minute of talking to Maddie at the front entrance.

“Want to head over to the room, we’ll probably see your friend on the way,” He suggested to the red head who nodded an ok. Walking out the front door they headed to the room.

“You know I think I have a good feeling about this hunt,” Sam said with a small smile.

“Me too,” Maddie stated slightly surprised that she actually meant it. “I was kind of worried none of us would get along but I think we will be just fine,”

Dean rolled over one of the beds as he avoided a well-aimed knife that was headed straight for his face.

“Crazy bitch!”

“You fucking started it!” Charlotte yelled back from her place behind the table that she had tipped. A knife was imbedded in it from where the man had tried to throw one at her. Standing up Dean glared at the woman.

“I’m done playing games, Barbie,” 

“Who the fuck are you calling Barbie you over sized Ken doll!” She growled out offended. The two ran at each other meeting in the middle.

A crash could be heard from three rooms down. Maddie and Sam looked at each other worried for a moment before they started to jog to the room now. Before they could get much closer a body flew through the window. Charlotte tucked as she rolled into the parking lot. Slowly getting to her knees she shook out her long hair. Getting to her feet she gritted her teeth.

“Charlotte!” Maddie yelled worriedly.

“Give me a minute!” The girl yelled back as the door to the room opened. The man walked out now. “I’m gonna kill you for that,”

“Dean?” Sam questioned in shock as he looked back and forth between the two blondes who were squaring off. 

“Not the time Sammy!” with that the two fighters were back on each other but this time only for a few moments before their own partners were pulling them apart.

“Dean what the hell!” Sam shouted as he pushed his brother back. Momentarily stunned by the amount of injuries the man was currently sporting. Looked like the woman had given as good as she had gotten.

“She’s one of the girls from the bar! Came walking around with a knife!” Dean stated like it was the most obvious reason for the fight that broke out. Maddie sighed as she heard his words before turning back to Charlotte. 

“What happened?”

“That ASSHOLE!” she shouted the insult towards the man who was once again held back by the taller brunette who she had just now noticed. “grabbed me and threw me in his motel room like a fuckin creep! Then he had me up against the wall so I head butted him,” she stated.

“And!” Dean stated not down for taking all the blame in the situation.

“Kicked him,”

“And!” he said again making the girl roll her eyes.

“called him a punk ass cop,” The last part was practically mumbled out but they all caught the words. “But he started it so it’s really not my fault. Purely self-defense!” she stated as she stared at her friend, who was currently giving her the signature ‘I’m disappointed not mad’ face.

“Dean meet Charlotte and Maddie,” Sam said with a sigh. Dean gave him a look that screamed who the fuck cares. “They’re the hunters that Bobby sent us to meet,”

Like a light went off the two blondes made the same face. “Ooooohhhh,” was heard from both of them.

“So, they’re not FBI?” Charlotte questioned while glancing at Maddie for confirmation.

“No,”

“Huh,” She said to herself before looking at the other blonde. “Sorry about trying to kill you then I guess,” She said sheepishly as she scratched the back of her neck.

“Happens,” Dean replied as if it was no big deal. “Nice aim though, almost got me there,”

Charlotte couldn’t help the smile that came to her at the man’s compliment.

“Thanks,” shaking out her hair for a moment she began to pick glass out of her pony tail. Sam seemed to notice and gave Dean a light shove while nodding in her direction.

“Oh, yeah sorry about throwing you through the window,”

“No biggy,” the girl waved it off while running her hand threw her hair to check for any more glass. “Kinda always wondered what it would be like to be honest,” she joked making the hunter smile.

Sam looked at Maddie who had the same exasperated expression as him.

“I think we might need to find another place to stay,” Sam stated as the four of them walked back into the motel room. A few knives were stuck here and there while most of the furniture looked to be either broken, tipped or both. “Looks like a tornado came through here,”

“Oops,” Charlotte mumbled as she walked to the wall that had her knife embedded in it. Grabbing the hilt, she pulled it out roughly. a few feet away was one of Deans knives which she pulled out as well. Walking towards him she offered it to him with a grin. “There’s another motel a couple miles down the road if yall want to follow us,”

Taking the knife Dean nodded while grabbing his bag. Luckily, they had only been in the motel for a half hour so nothing was unpacked. Once everything was sorted the four hunters quickly be lined it out of the room and made their way to the next motel.

tag list:

 @deanismygodwiththatwhistle @real-demon-huntress@beckywiththatgooddean @periodottea91 @this-glitter-pussay@takenbymyfandoms @oneshoeshort @supernatural-teamfreewillpage @getnaildbyme @fourtyninekirbygamzeegirl@musiclovinchic93 @lolabean1998 @kramabitchy @myinconnelly1 @bunnybaby121115 @of-sebstan-and-chrisevans @dammitsammy@wingedcatninja @darkswanordie @ellen-reincarnated1967 @salt-n-burn-em-all @supernxturxl @drkeyed-dreamer @were-not-the-losechesters @ashrey95 @alwaysthefangirl @arbitranox @shotgunshutstheircakehole1967 @fellowmaya @jmb959@capsiclesbeard @hoesforshows  @healojane@lolimeverywherebitch @cross-roads-blues@yllwtaxi @happy-sunny-flowers @gabriels-trix @hennessy0274-blog @supernotmyproblem @itslizabitch8021

[katphantom69]

So um... I kinda wanna talk shit out. See I'm a bit terrified of seeing a therapist cuz there's some shit I rather just bury deep inside and never let it see the light of day.

Nevertheless... this is one of my most light hearted concerns and well... I think it can be spoken about here on tumblr do to the diversity of the lgbt community there is here.

Sooooo... here's the tea.

I've been ... well how do I start... umm... Well I have been misgendered all my life. That's because Spanish language is mostly sexist. There's a female and male version to everything. Example:

You want to refer to a group of boys= Ellos

A group of girls= Ellas

Your son= Mi hijo

Your daughters = Mi hija

But the other thing is that if there's a group of both boys and girls , they are refered as "ellos" the masculine version. And that's for everything else too when its a mix of guys and gals. The masculine version is the one used to describe it.

So... where's this going to? See my mom sometimes used to call me "mijo" slang combination of "mi" and "hijo" my son. So at first Id be kinda mad cuz not only was I told what a girl was supposed to and act I was also kinda teased by family cuz im tomboyish. And then to be called a boy. I used to get mad.... but not anymore.

See when I was around what 13-14 ... do to some shit I wanna forget... I was sexually awoken. I did rps fucken STUDIED about kinks and fetishes just to understand the human sex drive a bit more. It lead me to discover the lgbt community and well I read more about sexual orientation. I discovered bisexuality but I was to shy and fucken brainwashed a bit to believe that a woman was only to be with a man. That a womans job was stay at home and clean, cook, watch the kids yadda yadda yadda you know the works.

Fast forward to when i was 16. I met a girl at school that got me hooked cuz of her personality. I fall for peoples personalities not for their looks. She was wonderful. Didn't know her for too long cuz she abandoned school. But while she was there I was kinda smitten for her. Thus my bi awakening. I had kinda suspected it when i was 14 but i didnt feel brave enough to say it. But i mused over it for years before meeting that girl. Thats when I confirmed it. Still not outta the closet to this day. My mom knows cuz i couldn't hide it from her. Shes accepting but not too much. She rather hopes I fancy a man. But now I fancy women more then men. Fam can't find out. They already dislike me so i can't have them hate me.

Nevertheless I've already driven off track. I know im bi and im fine with it. Ive accepted it proudly. Thing is tho...

Um i kinda might maybe I think be genderfluid but im not to all sure I'm musing over it.

See besides being misgendered by mom sometimes. I also been mistaken for a boy a lot by some people cuz of my way to act , dress and well ... small boobs.

And I don't mind. I've been mistaken for a boy, done a lot of boy rolls in school since there was always more females than males so sometimes a girl had to play the boy in the act or dance or what ever. That was always me. And i enjoyed it. The dominate nature of the roll or being the lead cuz of the guy character. God dam that was fun!

I don't mind when people confuse me as a boy. I know im a female. A badass woman! But hey u call me guy Ill just say Actually I have boobs mam/sir.

And some other things ive noticed. Well everyone makes their ocs to have their own personalities. But most females identify more with a girl oc. They draw how they'd see themselves or prettier versions of themselves depending on what kinda oc their making. Same goes with guys. They identify better what an oc of their own gender. Thus with me I have ocs of both genders and can identity with all of them. Every single one of my ocs has at least a tiny bit of my personality in em so I can play em better if I rp with them.

Sometimes I see a guy and think "hot dam that's cute" but I find myself sometimes not viewing them as a female would but instead I view them feeling like a male myself.

Ive probable lost you by now. And its ok I really don't expect an answer to this. But well... if you do have a comment your free to speak it. I don't mind.

The thing is that sometimes I feel like a girl and other times I do not. Im ok with my body and my gender but i do wonder what it would be like to be the opposite gender. Its a thought that often comes into my mind. I know that even if I was a guy Id be bi. I'd still like both genders. So yeah that's about it I guess. Even my sona expresses this fluidly with my gender since Kat is female but Omicron is a male and they both inhabit the same body in peace.

I just ... well kinda... wanna know if that's what genderfluid is or am I getting it wrong or im just wierd or something. Im still kinda discovering who I am and i need a bit of an answer to this.

So I guess thats it. You can ignore this post i don't mind. But if you... Well liked to comment something about it, feel free to do so

[boku-ha-itsumo-hitori]

Attempt at summarizing a total drama island episode live

Season 1 episode 6

The challenge is to spend a night in the woods, interns died to motherfukin bears. Owen beat the shit out of a bear. Izzy makes spaghetti unappealing. Trent tryin man he tryin. Heather and Gwen big angy vibes, fuckery is about. Katy and Sadie are lost cuz they are mentally ill. Owen is like a bear, Heather still a bitch. Katy and Sadie continue to be mentally disturbed. Famine has struck the compound and out of nowhere comes a pizza guy. All is wrought for the cameracrew hath redempt it. And then Owen showed up with fish, pog. Izzy don’t know how to cook. Owen got a tight ass. Squirrels mock the divorce of Sadie and Katy. Big funny foot long. JEFF JUST FUCKING SAID, “WOW, YOU PITCH A TENT LIKE A GUY” BRUHHHHH. Duncan is sexist and DJ is infectious. More like tweedle dumbass. Katy and Sadie have trapped themselves in a cave. *editor’s note, I am very high and I just realized how much this show saves on animation in the first season. I can’t explain it but it you just have to see it yourself.* Owen tells the story of him and his grandpa killing a bear. Izzy pisses for an hour minimum. OHW THE HARROR. scary stories among campfire. On a night, like tonight;

DrSns : One Monday morning I got up late And there were these monkeys outside the gate. The guard tried to stop them but he had no luck The monkeys got free and they ran amuck! DrSns : I don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! YW+D : Don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! DrSns : I don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! YW+D : Don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! DrSns : My office was run by the studio nurse. I came downstairs und what could be worse? The monkeys was doing a crazy dance. They put buggies in my underpants! DrSns : I don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! YW+D : Don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! DrSns : Monkeys dance then I dance too! YW+D : Don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! DrSns : I ran outside to get a stick But I'm telling you, friends, those monkeys was quick! 'Cause when I returned, much to my disgrace Those monkeys had the nurse in a mad embrace! Nurse : I don't know what to say the monkeys won't do. Yakko : For a nickel I'll give you a clue! Dot : I didn't know your eyes were blue! DrSns : I don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! Marita: Yessah, whoo! Flavio: Ah, play that thing! DrSns : I went to me bath for a shower and shave. The monkeys goin' to put me into my grave! The entire bathroom was laid to waste And they shaved my head with minty toothpaste! DrSns : I don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! YW+D : Don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! DrSns : They is crazy-nutzo, I'm telling you! YW+D : Don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! DrSns : Then by this time I was feeling dread They was using a shoe brush to shine me head. I asked them to leave but they stayed around. They pulled the chain and yee! I went down! DrSns : I don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! YW+D : Don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! DrSns : Call my lawyer; I'm ready to sue! YW+D : Don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! DrSns : Aaaaaaaaaa! Marita: Yessah, brother! DrSns : Well me patience ran out and I'm telling you sure Tomorrow I show those monkeys the door! And if they don't leave I'm inviting you To my house for dumplings and monkey stew! DrSns : I don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! YW+D : Don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! DrSns : Now I'm in the stew. -- Oh, poo. YW+D : Don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! DrSns : Watch out for monkeys, I'm telling you! YWDF+M: Don't know what to say the monkeys won't do! YW+D : We're not monkeys; we're just cuckoo! YWDF+M: Don't know what to say the Warners won't do!

and then Duncan scared em wit a hook hand. Courtney trippin, Duncan gettin dubs left, right, and center. OWEN FUCKING LIED DAMMIT. no crying over spilt fish. Cody peed himself LULW. Oh haha It was Izzy in a bear suit. Owen regretting not tackling her now PogU. Izzy has a PogO talk with chat. DJ pissed in a bottle. THIS BITCH BURNT THE TENT. Real bear shows up,MonkaS. its raining now sadge. Heather big mad, they told that bird to stfu. Real bear finds Katy and Sadie in cave. Duncan cuddling Courtney, big dub bossman. They thought Katy and Sadie was fucking moidered. They wasn’t but lost the challenge. Gophers get all expense trip to some shop. you can’t come back everrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. They doin the marshmallows MonkaS. Katy or Sadie, it was Katy.Sadie sounds like a whale with a froggy guttural feel. Duncan got a whole stand up routine with that hook hand fr. Episode 7 picks up immediately after episode 6. 

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk, I’m sure it made no sense.

[thoughtsofadaydreamer]

Cleaning house

(Punisher fan fiction)

Little Italy, NY. Circa 1977. New York. Americas Mafia homeland. Originating in the late 19th century long before any of us in this era even knew how to say the word “Mafia”. Growing fearsome and powerful in the 20s and 30s. Prohibition era was a goldmine for the Mafiosos. And into the 40s, 50s, 60s. Reaching their peak in the 70s. No one, not even the president could stop the Mafia in this time. At least that is until a tragic sunny day happened in the summer of ‘75. “They should have put another bullet in my skull.” Castle thinks to himself. Sitting patiently inside of his black van. He stares off into the distance towards the front of a convenience store. “Tricanni’s” the building reads. Frank Castle was the victim of an attempted murder on his life. Still alive to remember the day, he truly died when his wife and 2 kids werent so lucky. Slain by the mob on what was meant to be a picnic day at the park. After discovering a mob hit, the Castle family were to be killed for the witnessing. When Frank arose from death, with no help from the crooked police department, he began a one man war against the cities underworld. After 2 years, Frank is digging deeper and deeper into the mob. Chipping away for the past 2 years to get to the higher ups.

Dominic Tricanni was a Caporegime (captain) for the Gnucci (pro. NEW-CHEE) crime family. The same organization responsible for the death of Franks family. Tricanni being his last lead on the whereabouts of Ma Gnucci after she went into hiding. Ma Gnucci was the wife of Don Vittorio Gnucci. When the Don died, his widow decided to take his place of power. Something never before seen until her time. Ruling the crime family with her hand practically on everyones balls. A real mean old bitch as many of her own associates consider her. Castle originally planned on attacking each of the capo’s crews to break down the family section by section. But when Ma Gnucci decided to lay low, Castles only way of finding out her location is through the last captain still breathing. This is where Tricanni comes in. Frank waits outside for another 10 minutes. Only looking away for a millisecond to check his watch every now and again. Once the lights go out in the building, Frank gears up. He throws his leather trenchcoat over his white skull kevlar and makes his way across the street.

Tricanni’s was a typical NYC business building. Store on the bottom, apartments on top. He knew thats where the mob run establishment counted profits through the fronts. The place where you buy a loaf of bread, some milk, maybe some snacks, smokes, beer, and a package of God knows what if you ask for the right people. Understand? However much money was made through the packages, was moved upstairs. So the building had to have wiseguys with guns throughout the building. Frank taps on the glass of the door, holding his head down as the man behind the counter peeks out. Castle sticks up his middle finger yelling the words “Fuck you, you fucking guinea pricks!” The man dashes out through the door “I TOLD YOU LITTLE BASTARDS TO STOP COMI-“ the man stops and looks around an empty street. Feeling alone. Until 2 man hands grip under his chin and on top of his cranium. Twisting with a loud violent crunch. He drops dead weight into Castles arms, dragging him into the store. Dumping him off behind the counter. Castle searches his body and discovers a Colt. 1911. Checking the chamber for a round. “Full clip” he mutters to himself. Holstering the weapon down the front of his belt. His boots silently stepping through the door to the stairway. He listens. “HAHAHAHA!!!” Laughter coming from upstairs. He follows the sound of humorous covervastion until he spots 2 more waiting around the next corner. “Ay, so how was that slut you took home last night?” One asks the other. Castle eases up the stairs hugging the wall close with his back, listening. “Yo i think you were right about’er....been itchin’ all day. Fuck!” The 2 men laugh hysterically, castles lip snarls at the sound of the 2 mobsters. He listens for footsteps. Trying to pinpoint how they move.

Planning his next move, he unholsters one of his own pistols. An all black enhanced 1911 .45. Loaded with armor piercing rounds. He begins to twist a silencer on the handgun as one of the pair speaks, “you hear about Freddy?” Then the other, “All i know is hes dead, why?” The conversation continues. “I mean how he died. Cops and news reporters saying its the punisher. I believe ‘em.” Castle almost smiles as he peeks around the corner ever so slightly. “Ahhh fuck Castle. If i see ‘em ill have ‘em carrying his heart in a fuckin’ doggy bag.” Castle makes his move while their guards are down. “Nows your chance.” He mutters to them, standing below the staircase. Before the men could draw their weapons Castle unloads 2 rounds into their heads. The bodies drop with the shell casings. The wall behind them painted with blood and brain. “Whoops, too slow.” He jokes as he steps past the bodies. Meanwhile on the 3rd floor, Dominic Tricanni discusses bullshit talk while he counts his earnings. “So far its 15 G’s Dom.” One of his associates speaks up. “Not bad, not bad at all.” Tricanni replies. His face a little aged. Like an old war veteran who was the grease monkey cook of the platoon but could fight. Which he could. Tricanni used to be an amateur boxer on the streets of Jersey. Eventually being hired by Don Vittorio Gnucci himself as a source of income. Over time he became a small time enforcer on the side before choosing to work full time for the mob. Rising through the ranks and being granted his own crew in NY. A foul mouthed, tough Italiano with a love for money and a good fight. “This stays between us. Ma wants 10% of every take. Well we gonna give her what she THINKS is 10%. Tell her maybe business was slow this week. Not alot of customers. Capiche?” The others nod and reply, “Capiche”. Flicking cigarettes and downing scotch. “That bitch gets on my nerves.” Tricanni states. One cracks a joke, “Maybe shes a bitch because ever since Vito died, she hasnt been getting...properly pampered? If you know what i mean?” They chuckle as another pokes fun, “yeah Dom why dont you dust her off and take her for a spin y’know? Take one for the team huh?” Dominic laughs then responds, “I wouldnt fuck her with YOUR little pee shooter Ralphy.” They laugh, oblivious to the trouble approaching. Outside the room, Castle covers the mouth of another mobster. As his knife calmly slices across the adams apple of the man. The sound of muffled choking and blood curdling fills the vigilantes ears. Watching the door in case he is too audible. More laughter is heard as Frank drops the body. Snagging a sawed off shotgun from the dead mans grip. He holsters the shotgun to unscrew the silencer from his pistol. “Gonna have to get loud.” He thinks to himself. He currently wields both weapons, standing in front of the apartment door. He knocks on the door, waiting to hear the footsteps get closer. He hears whistling from behind the door signaling a cue for his next move. “BOOM!”

The mobster goes stumbling back, leaving a large hole in the door from the sawed off. “WHAT THE FU-! [BOOM!]” the last round from the shotgun bursts through the door. Enough to send the gangsters back falling to the floor. Castle spartan kicks the door with his large heavy combat boots. Breaking it off the hinges. Dropping the sawed off and equipping his secondary pistol. “BAM! BAM!” Headshots. 2 mobsters rise from behind the table, greeted with .45 caliber rounds to the cranium. Tricanni, still down, is painted with his mens blood. From the kitchen another spawns “HEY!!! ITS CASTLE!!!” Castle twists his head to the left. Just as the gangster pulls the trigger on his Micro smg. Machine gun fire sprays the room as Frank jump into the bedroom. Landing on his side. Bullet holes spawn as the mobster continues to unload his clip. Sending glass and drywall pieces all over the bedroom. Castle sends a few rounds through the wall in return. He notices a change in the scenario. The shots change place, now being shot from the right instead of the left. Frank follows up with gunfire of his own. Popping off the rest of the clip into the wall as a distraction before “BAM!” He lets off one last round just as the mobster was changing positions. Killing him. Tricanni sees this and attempts to run. “BAM! BAM!” Castle puts 2 in Tricannis leg. The Mob captain screams in agonizing pain as he attempts to crawl. But Frank beats him to it. And grabs him by his foot. Dragging him to the kitchen.

Tricanni sits handcuffed in a dining room chair. Dripping blood from his leg wounds. “What do you want with me Castle?” Frank stares him down, silent. Pulling up a chair seating himself directly in front of Dominic. “You want to know where Ma is!? Is that it? Well fuck you! I hate that old cunt just as much as you but ill be damned if i cooperate with you!” Frank doesnt break his cold stare. Keeping eye contact. Suddenly Tricanni feels a jolt of excruciating pain sent up his thigh and all over his leg. Frank has stuck his finger inside his bullet wound. “I think we need to try that again.” His voice gruff and dark. Like death itself if it could talk. Tricanni grits his teeth, holding back any screams as best as he can. Frank hooks his finger making Tricanni tear up and jolt around. “Where...is...Ma...Gnucci?” Tricanni breathes heavy but doesnt scream or give in. “I admire your pain tolerance. I wont take away your strength, ill give you that. But Tricanni either you give me an address or i plant a third one in your leg and play bowling. Now tell me....” he cocks his pistol and aims below the 2 bullet wounds. Suddenly, his home phone rings. Frank looks at Tricanni and stands. “No running off.” He walks over and picks up the phone as a woman speaks. Tricanni watches as Castle writes down on a napkin. He hangs up after a few minutes and washes his hands of blood. Tricanni pants as he speaks up “s-so what now?” Castle stops and looks down at Dominic “Now?” He raises his arm “(click) BAM!” Tricanni’s brains coat over the kitchen counter. “You give the devil my regards.”

As Castle walks back down into the convenience store the phone behind the counter rings. Frank ponders but then decides to answer. “Is this Tricanni’s?” Frank almost chuckles “It was...” he thinks to himself. “Yes” he answers. The man on the phone continues on. “Tell him ill be back by to pick up my package i ordered. Is tomorrow a good time?” Frank looks outside for any company. “Not a good idea. Tricanni’s is kind of going out of business after tonight and will be discontinuing any service to the public. Sorry for the inconvenience.” He hangs up and walks out into the New York streets back to his van. Checking the napkin he wrote on. “Rochester-3:00 p.m.-brick house few blocks from hospital. Tuesday.” He folds it up and starts the van. “Nothing like a little spring cleaning to make you feel like a new man.” He smirks to himself as he drives through the dark lonely streets.

[colorfulmetaphors]

undefined

you hook em, ill cook em

[oliiverrgusahr]

Sometimes I wanna kill myself n be someone else - stress and pain are killing me I can’t stop worrying I have doubt in me - even after all that time staying clean it did not mean a thing to them — in the end — I fall apart now it’s time to decide to restart or if I’m gonna give in n let my demons win what’s one more sin throw my life in the bin- I’m already goin to hell - bitch can’t you tell - you broke my heart fucked my friends took you back just so you could turn around and fuckin do it again — but in the end i guess breaking hearts is an art — ill fall apart fuck the restart - where’s my phone I need my dope cause I’ve lost all hope for happiness hoe - let me text my plug tell em what’s up - now got the hook up wondering if this time I should try n cook it up n load a hotshot - am I supposed to shoot it hot - fuck it I don’t know don’t wanna go slow won’t fuck this up - drop it on the foil watch that mud start to boil - hot smoke - n I hit it up my eyes look up - they rollin up n I can feel her touch - the heat leavin my lungs my chest is warm my heads a storm of thoughts of ghostin face look cold n my hearts frozen I’m overdosen now my hands feel numb hell here I come - last hit now I’m done -n- I fall apart — and I fell so far why did I fall so hard — how I’d let myself fall this far — my life was grabage the worlds so heartless

[megaphonemonday]

I didn't know if you were still taking prompts but something under the idea of Mike and Ginny getting close during spring training and close to opening day one of them has the line, "I can't keep doing this with you."

those who wait | ao3

“Hey, Lawson?”

Mike looked up from slicing tomatoes when Ginny came in, an inquisitive tilt to his head.

She practically skipped through the kitchen, freshly showered and grinning. No question was forthcoming as she slid onto a stool at the island to watch him prep dinner. Most likely, she’d been summoned by the smell of sizzling bacon and wanted to know when food would be ready. There were days that he thought he should regret inviting Ginny—and Blip, who’d declined, and Livan, who hadn’t—to stay in his Arizona house, but he never quite managed to do it. Then of course, she’d do something like grin so openly at him, happy and healthy and on her way to the top, and regret was the least of his worries.

“Back to San Diego next week,” she observed, sneaking a piece of bacon from the paper towel where it was draining and crunching into it. “You excited?”

It hardly mattered whether or not Mike was excited, not with the giddy energy rolling off Ginny. Ever since she’d cemented her spot as a starter again, having made her comeback from last season’s injury, she’d been irrepressible, practically floating everywhere she went. It didn’t dull her competitive edge, but off the field, her enthusiasm and energy were hard to resist.

Well. That was easier to think than the alternative.

(That she was hard to resist.)

“It’ll be good to get back home, get you and Livan outta my hair.”

She wrinkled her nose at him and he laughed automatically. How had she managed to condition him to laugh like that? Maybe because she always smiled, even when she didn’t want to, when he laughed. He’d do worse things for that smile pointed his way.

“Don’t lie, Lawson. You’re gonna miss us.”

“Nope.”

“You will!”

“Will not,” he replied, grabbing a loaf of bread. He shot Ginny a questioning look and she nodded eagerly, just like he knew she would. The woman happened to love his grilled BCTs—bacon, cheese, and tomato sandwich. If anything, she’d be the one missing him. Him and his ability to feed himself and others from more than frozen dinners.

“You will,” she repeated, firm. “Who else is going to keep you from turning into even more of an old man?”

“Who says I want to stop? Maybe I’m looking forward to getting my live-in nurse. Sponge baths whenever I want ‘em.”

Her jaw dropped open and she gagged, though Mike was more distracted by the sight of her tongue than he should have been given the circumstances.

“You are disgusting,” Ginny said, but the laugh running through the words told Mike she wasn’t that serious.

“That’s me,” he agreed, placing both assembled sandwiches on the hot griddle. He looked at the spread of ingredients. “Should I assume wonder boy is feeding himself?”

She nodded. “I think he’s trying to convince that restaurant he found to freeze their food and ship it to San Diego. And probably go home with the owner while he’s at it.”

“Sounds about right,” Mike grumbled.

Even though there was a guest room in the house set up just for the Cuban catcher, Mike was sure he’d spent more of his nights sleeping somewhere else. Probably with his choice of company, if his habits from last season held true. Mike wasn’t jealous, though. He had all the company he wanted.

Ginny grinned mischievously, but let Mike finish cooking in peace. She collected plates and silverware and a couple beers and waters from the fridge. Everything got set up on the patio table because she loved the unimpeded view of the desert and hadn’t quite gotten over the fact that Mike even had a patio. Between her apartment back in El Paso and the suite that was still hers at the Omni, Ginny hadn’t exactly been rolling in amenities like patios or rain showers or homemade dinners—though the Omni did have a pretty good room service menu.

She came back to the kitchen to start tossing together a salad. It was the one culinary undertaking that Mike allowed her, and only because it involved “nothing that could set the house on fire.” Ginny was the first to admit that she wasn’t the most skilled cook, but even she had yet to actually burn a house down. Set off the smoke detectors, sure, but she’d wanted her burger well done, anyway.

In companionable silence, having completed this ritual nearly every night of the past six weeks, they finished cooking. Well, Mike cooked and Ginny assembled.

The salad was done just as Mike lifted the warm, crisp grilled cheeses from the griddle and laid them on a platter.

“Outside again?” he double checked, though he wasn’t sure why he bothered. Ginny always ate outside.

She nodded anyway, leading the way with her creation and Mike following along with his.

Once they were settled in, tucking into dinner, they allowed themselves to start talking. Go over their day together. Mike tried to tell himself that it wasn’t all disgustingly domestic, and he even believed it. If only because there wasn’t a single part of him that was disgusted by this.

“How’s your arm feeling? This was the closest Skip’s let you get to your pitch count, wasn’t it?”

Ginny shrugged. “I’m a little sore, but made sure to check in with the trainer after the game. Nothing felt wrong, not like it used to, at least.”

Mike frowned, though he took a bite of the sandwich to keep from saying anything. Apparently, he’d become something of a mother hen since sharing a house with Ginny. He thought it was only natural, having never shared space with an injured athlete who wasn’t himself; of course he was going to make sure she was taking care of her self. Ginny, though, thought it was overbearing.

Still, she grinned, a little indulgent, and said, “If it’s still bad after my massage and flush run tomorrow, you can be the one to tell Skip off.”

He rolled his eyes, but he was definitely gonna hold her to that.

“Yeah, yeah, rookie,” he replied, “I’m a—”

“You know you’re gonna have to come up with a new nick name for me soon, right?”

“How do you figure?”

She looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “I’m not a rookie anymore.”

The response that he wanted to give, unthinkingly, was that she’d always be his rookie, but that felt dangerous or condescending. Or both. Instead, he frowned in consideration.

“I’ll tell the guys to get on it,” he finally replied, knowing he’d do no such thing.

“Isn’t that your job? As captain.”

“Nah, I’m big picture. Getting the final say in kangaroo court, delivering inspirational speeches in the eleventh hour, deciding when to let Voorhies drag us all to a karaoke bar. That kinda stuff.”

She grinned, her dimples popping in the fading light. “Karaoke bars? How haven’t I heard about this?”

“It happens very rarely. And only when I’m in a really good mood.”

“So never, then.”

He barked out a laugh, shaking his head. “Not often enough to hear Dusty tell it.”

“And me,” she declared, polishing off the last of her sandwich. “I am amazing at karaoke.”

Mike snorted and Ginny’s jaw dropped in outrage.

“I am! I bring the house down, Lawson!”

“Baker, if your humming is any indicator, you couldn’t carry a tune if you had a bucket.”

She let out a disbelieving little huff of laughter. “That’s rude. You’re rude.”

“You’re just figuring that out now?” he grinned.

Ginny just rolled her eyes and she tried to remember if she’d done that quite so often before meeting Mike, or if his habits were just rubbing off on her. It was hard to tell.

They finished the rest of their dinner as the sun slowly sank into the western horizon.

Ginny allowed herself to bask in the dying glow for a moment, but the restlessness that had defined most of her life caught up with her. It always caught up with her.

“Shoot some hoops?” she asked, nodding out to the detached garage and the lone basketball hoop a previous owner had installed.

Mike nodded, pushing himself to his feet. Technically—contractually—they weren’t allowed to play basketball. Not a real game, anyway. Not that Ginny would put up much of a fight in a one on one game. She was scrappy and naturally athletic, but too much of her childhood had been focused on baseball. Mike doubted that she’d ever picked up a basketball outside of gym class (and ill-advised poolside dunk contests) before this February.

So, they’d contented themselves with games of PIG and then HORSE and finally HIPPOPOTAMUS when Ginny complained the games were too short. For someone whose entire job was throwing a small ball at a small target, she really sucked at getting a larger ball to a larger target.

But it wasn’t like Mike was going to pass up on spending time with her.

Especially not if he got to tease her mercilessly while he did it. It was so much easier to pretend they were just regular friends when he got to tease her. When they were both laughing, trading insults and trying to get the other to miss.

But when Ginny made a shot Mike had been sure she’d miss—an over the shoulder hook shot with her left hand—and she lit up, practically throwing herself into his arms with glee; when he could feel every inch of her toned, perfect body pressed up against his; when her breath ghosted, tantalizing and warm against his neck—

Well, it was much harder to pretend, then.

Mike’s heart thudded heavily against his rib cage. His arms had wrapped around her on instinct, tight enough that his hands gripped her waist. There wasn’t a single cell of him that wanted to let her go. No, he wanted to take his face from where it was buried in her hair, wait for her to look up at him, and finally find out what it would be like to kiss Ginny Baker.

But he couldn’t.

So, he convinced himself to release her, to take a step—a tiny shift of his weight, really—back.

She did look up at him, eyes wide, and lips so close to parting.

“Ginny, I can’t keep doing this with you,” he sighed, his breath gusting against her cheek.

For a moment, the world froze. Ginny couldn’t move, couldn’t complete the circuit by collapsing back into Mike and couldn’t step away to avoid overloading it. She was stuck in the middle ground, hovering too close for comfort, but too far away for it, too.

“I can’t keep having these almosts with you,” he said, more raw than she’d heard him in a long time. “Because I don’t know if I’m going to be able to make myself stop next time.”

The world thawed. Her heart began beating a jackrabbit’s rhythm against her ribs. But before she could capture his hand or his face or anything, he backed away, hands clenched into fists at his side.

“I mean, you have a code. That’s fine, I— I get it. You’ve already had your exception.”

She started towards him at that, mouth open to say— something, but he barreled on.

“But I don’t want to be something that you come to regret. Not like he was.”

Ginny didn’t say that not acting on whatever this thing between them was might be more regrettable than the alternative, but she thought it. Just as she thought it every time they brushed up against the implications of that almost outside Boardner’s. Which had been happening more and more frequently over the past six weeks.

Apparently, Mike had noticed, too.

Still, she couldn’t let him go on thinking—

“It wouldn’t be you,” she blurted. He rocked back, confusion and more than a little hurt flashing across his face. That was worse. Immediately, Ginny let the words tumble out of her mouth, anything to make him look less wounded. “If I ever regretted something happening between us, it wouldn’t be that it was you. It would be letting it happen too soon or getting caught and all the bullshit we’d manage to stir up. But not you, Mike. Never you.”

Well, he definitely didn’t look wounded anymore. Ginny couldn’t quite identify the look on his face, not before he was sweeping her up into his arms, practically spinning them around.

She half gasped, half laughed, burying her face in his throat as her arms wound around his neck.

When he’d finally set her back on her feet, arms still wrapped tightly around her, he rubbed his cheek against the top of her head.

Quietly, but still certain, he murmured, “I can wait.”

“Really,” she rasped, just enough disbelief in her tone to make him laugh.

“I’m not good at it,” he clarified, pulling away to look her in the eye, “but I can.”

Ginny believed him.

But if she remained cradled so securely in his arms for one more minute, she wasn’t sure she could wait. Reluctantly, she pulled away, her hands trailing across his neck and shoulders and chest before she finally disengaged.

“So what are we, then? While we wait. Friends?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It’s not that I don’t want to be your friend, that I’m not your friend already, but I don’t know if I can keep myself from wanting to be more, too.”

“You’re not the only one who wants more, you know,” she replied, dry as the desert surrounding them.

“Well, as long as we’re on the same page.”

“Same page, old man,” Ginny affirmed, wanting to reach out and touch him again, but even the small taste she’d already gotten told her that was a dangerous path to tread.

Instead, she stuck out her hand.

Mike eyed her hand for a long moment before letting his gaze trail up to hers.

“Really?”

“C’mon, Lawson. Just shake on it.”

“What am I even shaking on?” he protested. “Waiting? ‘Til when?”

“We’ll know,” she replied, sounding more confident than she felt. At least her hand didn’t quiver, hanging in the air the way it did.

Mike took one more long look at her before finally clasping his (big, warm, callused) hand in hers and shaking to seal the deal. For a moment, neither released the other, their breath shuddering as Mike’s thumb caressed the back of her hand and her fingertips curled against his palm.

Finally, though, he offered her a single nod and pulled away.

Ginny nodded back, resisting the urge to curl her hand against her heart, hold the warmth of his grip against her as long as it was fresh in her memory.

Almost in sync, they both loosed gusty sighs, trading nearly shy smiles.

“Back inside?” he asked, calling attention to the falling dusk, the first stars beginning to twinkle into view overhead.

Ginny agreed easily enough, following him back to the patio to clean up the remnants of their dinner before heading into the kitchen. As they washed dishes side by side, their newfound understanding settled easily between them. It—and the feelings it involved—wasn’t exactly new even if giving voice to them was.

She still blew soap bubbles at him and he still flicked her with the dish towel, the same easy banter that they’d developed filling the air.

They were still Ginny and Mike.

Neither pretended it was anything other than a relief, trading brief, grateful grins.

If this was how waiting was going to be, then maybe it wouldn’t be quite so bad.

It took longer than either of them would’ve liked, with maybe more tension than either would’ve guessed, too, but eventually, the day came.

The day they both knew.

Ginny grinned at Mike and he was already grinning back.

“You ready for this?”

“Been ready for a long time.”

“Good.”

And that didn’t even begin to describe what they were together.

No. That was was nothing short of perfect.