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hugheses · 8 months

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literally years ago i started transcribing this and then never got around to finishing it but finally did with some help from oomf. pls tell me if you notice any errors!

below the cut:

5-3-21

AJ: We are so excited to have Ellen Hughes hop on the bus with us today. So Ellen, welcome. And to give a little background, you grew up in Dallas, which, a long time ago before the Stars, there were not- it was not a hockey hotbed, as maybe it is now. Played a lot of sports. You ended up playing soccer, hockey and lacrosse, three sports at UNH, made it to the NCAA semifinal game in Lacrosse in 1987, inducted into the UNH Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012. You ultimately pursued a graduate degree at UNH, and while you did that, assistant coached for both the soccer and hockey teams. Ultimately, you made Team USA for the 1992 World Championship, where with Cammi you won a silver, named to the tournament All-Star Team. Two years later, at the Worlds in ‘94, you served as an ambassador to Norway's national team, went on into broadcasting. You were in the booth for when Cam and I won gold in 1998 with CBS and then a sideline reporter for the 1999 World Cup of soccer. Your husband, Jim, is a former hockey player and coach, has worked for the Maple Leafs organization. And of course, you are the uber matriarch, hockey mom of North America because you have three superstar sons. You've got Quinn, drafted number seven overall, plays D for Vancouver. You've got Jack, who is number one overall with the New Jersey Devils and of course, Luke, eligible for the draft this year. So welcome, Ellen. We can't wait to catch up with you.

Ellen: Thanks so much for having me. And thanks for the nice intro. I know, AJ, you see Jack here and there with the Islanders, could you remind him of some of those things, that I actually had a life? And Cammi, I know you've been nice enough to have Quinn over for dinner, not this year because of COVID, but maybe you could give him that whole intro again that, I did something other than just being their mother.

Cammi: Well, you know, it's funny. There is probably, I don't know what it was, maybe four or five months ago, you had sent me a video that you guys found, which we have to post on our social media channel here. But it was you as this little cute, blond, tiny little voice hockey player being interviewed in Texas, of all places, for hockey. Right? A woman, a female playing hockey, let alone kids playing hockey in Texas is so rare. Right? And I remember Quinn texting me and being like, said something about your skating, how bad it was. And I was like, little do all your kids know is that their talent comes from their mom. I've nothing—taking away nothing from Jimmy, because Jimmy was a great athlete himself. But you and Quinn play almost identical. And I'm going to keep reminding him of that.

Ellen: I love it. I love it. I usually get like just one word, dust[?] with things like that.

Cammi: Yeah, well, thank you for being here.

AJ: Yeah, yeah. But I want to start back with the fact that you grew up in a nontraditional hockey market. I know. According to USA Hockey, we’re not supposed to say that anymore because there are all—they don't really consider that anymore. There are so many with the Coyotes and the Stars and the two teams in Florida and Southern California. But when you grew up in Dallas, hockey was not a mainstream sport. I can imagine you had to have been playing on the boys team. Can you tell us what it was like growing up in Dallas then?

Ellen: Well, it's so funny because you see, you know, it's so exciting to see where the women's game has gone. And, you know, you forget how old you are and you kind of forget like, wow, that was pretty unusual what I was doing back then. And, you know, I'm even older than Cammi, so Cammi's older than you, AJ. Sorry to age you there, Cammi. But you forget that what we were doing in those times as young girls and how… you know, unusual it was, because we were fortunate enough to have parents that encouraged us and led us and pushed us and created those opportunities to play with the boys. And it's amazing to think that we did that and it seemed so normal to me. And my dad's been gone a long time, like he used to coach us. But I think about the fact that as a young girl in Dallas, Texas, a nontraditional market, to have a father that said, “Oh, you want to play hockey? Okay, you can play with the boys and you can go do those things.” And just how lucky I was to have a father that created those opportunities and supported those opportunities. And so it's pretty great. But we used to play down at the fairground. So, so people that know Dallas know that, you know, there's a fairgrounds downtown and the Cotton Bowl is played there every year. And there used to be a CHL team. So the old CHL. And so for us, it was very normal. I have an older brother that played and then went off to prep school and played at Deerfield Academy and then played Division three college hockey at Bowden. He could have played Division one, very academically oriented, and that's what he chose to do. So you want to do everything that your brother did. So when we were really little, we moved from St Louis to Dallas, and when I was in St Louis, all I wanted to do was play hockey. But in the state of Missouri, and I may have this factually not correct, but this is what my parents told me, that the girls weren’t allowed to play on boys’ teams in the state of Missouri. So when I knew I was moving, it was on my eighth birthday and my dad said, Well, it'd be great because you can play on- you can play hockey when you move to Dallas. So that's when I was so excited about the move. Like I could go play on a boys team because there was no girls’ teams to play on. And so there's only one team, if you're good enough, you play on the best team. And we would travel to St Louis, we would travel to Kansas City, we would travel to Colorado a couple of times a year and we would go play the best teams that we could possibly play. I just didn't understand at that point that was the world that I was living in, that that was unusual or different. So every once in a while I look back on it and think how fortunate I was to have parents that really not only supported it but encouraged it and let me really sow my own oats.

Cammi: When you were in St Louis, you saw the game of hockey around you. You wanted to play, you couldn't play. Did you play off ice then to be ready for when you moved and were like able to play or did you just start fresh when you moved to Texas?

Ellen: You know, I don't even remember. I was eight, so I don’t- I don't- it I must have been- I must have learned how to skate, but I wasn't playing. I don't really remember playing, like I remember running around the rinks with your brothers. I mean, you know how that is. You play mini sticks at the rinks, y’know. But I always wanted to play. I wanted to play everything. So, you know, I was just… and then off I went and I just started playing and I loved it. And I was fortunate because, you know, Cammi, you never went to Bob Johnson’s hockey school in Colorado, did you, in Aspen?

Cammi: No.

Ellen: I know, because I know you have a close relations with that whole Wisconsin crew. But every summer we spent the month of August in Aspen, and I would do the Bob Johnson Hockey School. So I actually think I did that like, at seven, before I ever moved, and they would always let me play. So it was Bob, it was Grant Standbrook, it was Jeff Sauer, all these people that, y’know, were so supportive of the women's game, Art Berglund who just passed away. And so I would spend my summers there playing and being groomed by the players that played with Tony at Wisconsin. It would have been their generation of players that were the camp counselors and that was right around the ‘84 men's Olympics. And a lot of those guys went on to play in that. So I think culturally that was exciting for me and that's where my passion grew.

Cammi: And you played soccer as a young girl as well.

Ellen: Yes. So soccer: really competitive. You know, we won youth nationals. And I was, I mean, it's crazy to think that I'm going to be 53 years old. And when I was being recruited to play women's soccer, there were 31 Division one schools across the country offering scholarships. And so Wisconsin was one of them. And I really wanted to go there because of my allegiance with that. But they had no women's hockey. So when we— [...]

Cammi: That's where I- me, too. I wanted to go as well. We would have been teammates instead of rivals.

Ellen: Right, at least for one year. I think you were a freshman my senior year. Is that right?

Cammi: Either junior or senior. Yeah. Yeah.

Ellen: [Laughs] So anyway, so the soccer side of things, you know, if you were an elite player, you wanted to go to UNC. My very best friend on the team growing up on my youth hockey, my youth soccer team was Carla Werden, you know her as Carla Overbeck, who became the captain of the team in the first World Cup team. Mia Hamm, I played with on my state team, so we were really good in those days. Brandi Chastain was my roommate at my first youth national team camp for soccer. So that was my, you know, generation of players. And I wasn't recruited by UNC, but I was recruited by some of the other top schools and I had this like, crossroads, where am I going to go to a school like UNH, where there are startup women's soccer programs, but yet I can play two sports. And they were offering me a full scholarship. And the crazy thing is there was no school in the state of Texas that was playing Division one Women's soccer. Think about that. Not a one. I mean, there was 31. I think there's 360 some odd schools, Division one programs at this rate for women's soccer. So that's how the landscape changed and that's how the lack of landscape really drove my next move.

Cammi: So you chose UNH. You played soccer and hockey, but then you also added lacrosse.

Ellen: Yeah. And the interesting thing about hockey is here I am, this girl coming out of Dallas and nobody knew about me. And as you know, Providence at the time, so all the Ivy Leagues were playing hockey and then we didn't have a lot of programs back then that were playing. So it was all the Ivy- it was the ECAC. So it was what, maybe 15 teams playing? How many, 22?

Cammi: Yeah, roughly 22.

Ellen: And so there weren't a lot of options. So there were so many girls playing that wanted to get on those teams. So I remember reaching out to Russ McCurdy who was the coach and saying, “You know, I'm being looked at by UNH for women's soccer, but I'm only coming there because I want to play women's hockey,” and he was like, “Oh, you know, you're probably not going to make the team. You know, we're a fully funded program.” I mean, you know how that goes, right? Right, right. Why would you take a girl out of Dallas you knew nothing about, playing in these, he asked if I was playing women's hockey at that time. And so I had- you know, I wasn't guaranteed a spot, but I'd watched them play, and my mom and dad watched them play. And I really, in my heart of hearts thought I'd be able to play. And they were a fully funded program and my scholarship was coming from soccer. And so, I decided that I wanted to do it. And he said, and I remember having Bob Johnson at the time call on my behalf. He called, he was at Wisconsin still, and he called and said, you know, she can play, she’s been with me every summer, and I really think you should give her a shot. So he said, okay. So the deal was, I was going to play soccer. Well all the women start with hockey, probably—when did we start, in the fall, like in mid-September. And they had the whole training camp, while I was still playing soccer until Thanksgiving. And so I said, when you get done with soccer, just come see me and I'll give you a week to try out, to get up to speed. So he really had no thought of me or like, there was no, like, ‘she's not making this team.’ So we finished soccer and then I went over to hockey and I remember after my first day he said, “What size states do you wear?” So that was like, that, that made me happy. Like that was it. I was on the team, so it was pretty good.

And then our women's soccer coach, Marge Anderson, was one of the most decorated women's lacrosse players in those days. She had played at UMass for soccer and hockey, and she was on the World Cup team for lacrosse. So she would take a couple of athletes a year because in those days you needed female athletes to play more than one sport, to really round out your depth of your programs. So she had encouraged me to come out and play lacrosse. I knew nothing about it. So our first year they had just won the national championship the year before, believe it or not. Did you guys know UNH won the National Women's Lacrosse championship? Different landscape in those days. So they had won the national championship. None of the Southern schools were playing. Nobody across the country was playing. It was a real Northeast-driven collegiate world. And so I walked onto this field and, um, let's just say… I wasn't very good. I could run, but my stick skills- and I learned and I did everything, and it was great, and we went to the Final Four, but I was out at that point. So everybody always says I played three sports like, I was on the team. I was, you know, three sports at that level. I was done at that point and I stuck with soccer and hockey after my first year. But it was a really cool experience.

AJ: Well, a kudos, too, by the way, to go back to something you just said, that McCurdy asked what size state you are. Kudos to UNH for giving you guys skates back in the 80s. I didn't get skates in college until my senior year, which was the fall of 1998. That was the first time I got skates bought for me. So that's, that's pretty good on UNH, I give the Wildcats props.

Cammi: Well, Ellen, you know what? So, Russ, I actually- I was. I was the same, a kid coming from Illinois. So, such a similar story where nobody wanted to talk to me really, until someone saw me play when I went out to the East Coast, I just played with a girls’ team for one game and I got seen by Providence. Other than that, I called Russ. Same thing. No interest, but I got to say, Russ, and I know what he meant to you, when I look at all the coaches that I've been coached with, he coached us at the — at the ‘92 World Championships where you were named best defenseman of that tournament. He taught me a lot, not about, not just about hockey, but just like how to organize yourself off life, how to make your bed every day. Like, there's things that stuck with me from Russ from that one or two, I think, seasons we had him. He was a special guy, you know. You know, I just— he never gets any recognition. He's very unknown. But did you remember that about him? Do you have that same sort of view of him that I do?

Ellen: Totally. And I'm still really tight with him and Sheila. And, you know, when you think about it, for what he did as a male player, you know, in that generation, he was a heck of a hockey player. And then, I don't know what he did, but he left the game and did something, you know, I'm not really sure what he did and came back to the game, but for his stature to come back and coach the women and do what he did, and he coached tennis as well, and he cared so much. He was so passionate about the game, and teaching the game, and teaching away from the game. And he cared so much about the people, you as a person. And I always laugh because, you know, Quinn had Donnie, you know, your brother, at the NTDP. And he reminds me a lot of Donnie. I don't know if you feel that way, but-

Cammi: I totally feel that way because as you say, first of all, from a mental standpoint, they're both like, they help you so much with the side, the mental side, and also the skill based stuff that Russ taught us. He goes beyond the game and I feel, yeah, it's really interesting that you say that because I can see that as well.

Ellen: And it's just the, you know, some people have their skills and then some people like, have different skill sets. And I feel that the best of the best try to cover all the different skill sets and really get to know the different human being and try to push the buttons. And it doesn't work for everybody. Not everybody would feel that way, but he was an amazing man and still is an amazing man. And I also think it's funny because one thing that, you know, I don't know how you are with the kids, but this sticks with me. And I don't know if you remember this, Cammi, but the interesting thing is, I've seen my boys be taught that same lesson from coaches at a younger level, and I can particularly say the NTDP level is: get up every day and make your bed. You've accomplished one thing. Do you remember that from him? And then it was either Donnie-

Cammi: No! Always.

Ellen: Or Wroblewski that I remember had Quinn and Brady, like, make your bed every day. And then I saw with, with Jack and Luke. Like, “we got to make our bed every day because that's orderly” and like, little things like that.

Cammi: Well, I got to say, Ellen, that stuck with me for— still to this day, I think of Russ when I make my bed. I'm not kidding. And I tell the kids the same, like if you just… and it resonated with me. So like, I don't know, it stayed with me. It resonated with me when he said it. And then his… just his stuff about practicing skill. And we hadn't really done that so much, as an, I guess where we were at Providence. Like we would just go practice, but like, he was working on skill-based stuff. He’s a very smart man. So I'm happy to hear that you're still in touch with him and you felt the same way. But I love that we're both making our bed because of Russ McCurdy. You taught your kids that.

AJ: I obviously didn't have Russ, I obviously didn't have Russ McCurdy, you can see behind me in my hotel room here. So I do not make my bed every day. And I know the value of it, but yeah, no, never had a coach who told me that.

Cammi: He was pretty special.

Ellen: Then. AJ, I was thinking about when you said about getting skates. I don't know how you guys were, but how would your shot be today? Like when I was playing, like, of course I couldn't shoot the puck because we would take the old men's sticks that were wooden and they would cut them down for us. Like, how would I have any flex on the stick?

AJ: Right? Right. So stiff. And it's like, it's crazy when you think about that, and the technology. And even when I did get a pair of skates, when I came back after the Olympics and played at Harvard, they were so much lighter. They were just… the material and everything, and then you look at the sticks and it's crazy. I mean, I never played with the one piece that they have now, that was just coming out when I was at the tail end of my career. But I remember I tried them, but the puck was all bouncy and I didn't like them. But you think about how quick the release and all the kick point on those sticks, that technology's insane.

Ellen: Right? You also think about how great the women are and where they're at. Like we didn't go in the weight room. We did not go in the weight room. The weight room was not for women's sports.

AJ: Our coach actually, my first year at Harvard before Katie Stone took over, he actually thought weightlifting was unbecoming for women. He didn't, he didn't book us. He wouldn't let us go in weight room. It was a, it was sort of an off limits thing. So he was a lovely man. But it was… not appropriate.

Cammi: Well, our Providence College coach, John Marchetti, who I love, I have always loved him as a coach. We had to beg him to just get us to get in shape. He thought women, that was just the way it was at the time. He was old fashioned and women would skate from the blue line in, so we would have half ice practices. And I was like, “We're out of shape. Like we got to skate!” “You guys don't need to skate full ice.” And it was literally all great intentions. Wonderful man. But that's what he felt. And I mean, think about that. Like I tried- it blows people away to think that that was the way it was. But that's how we were viewed as women. We can't exert ourselves the same way as men. And we were begging him to.

Ellen: Okay, now I know why we won, then. Why we beat you? Because we skated. [unintelligible]

Cammi: You didn't. You didn't beat me. Did you beat me when I was there?

Ellen: I don't know.

Cammi: We won. We won. I think we went the last year. You remember freshman year. I think you beat us in the finals. I think we[...]

Ellen: I think we met four years. Was just super cool, but I only — I was there five years. Much shorter. One year. But we went three years.

Cammi: Okay? We went three years. So we must have crossed over. And you beat us once? Yeah, you beat us. Let's get into the hockey mom stuff because I think a lot of moms are interested in the landscape of sport. Our kids that are passionate about anything. And it typically it's like, well, we know the sports world, but I mean, nowadays it's, it's everything. Like, whether it's music or some sort of non-sport, a passion that someone has. We're always trying to get our kids to pursue excellence. And AJ and I have talked a lot on this podcast, how sometimes things are flipped a little backwards and we're a little bit out of skew right now with the way we push our kids and just how fast they're put through the system. And you had three boys that you raised with Jimmy, who are now… two are NHL superstars. One's on his way. How, what was it like in your house? How did it start with the kids? What were you like as a mom and Jimmy as far as like, having, cultivating that for them?

Ellen: You know, it all seems like a blur. You know how that is, right? You're in the middle of it, both of you with young kids. So you're just day to day. I mean, you're day to day, right?

Cammi: Survival.

Ellen: Right? It's survival mode. So for me, you do things that you enjoy or you- you teach them things that you feel like you can teach them, Right. So it's kind of a slight on me that I wasn't more worldly and wanting to take them to museums. Or maybe like I felt like I had do those things because like, ‘Oh my God, what am I teaching them?’ But you tend to do the things that you - you're trying to find activities. Jimmy was off coaching a lot, I had three young boys that were really close in age. So what do I know? What can I do to pass time and keep them active? It was kicking a soccer ball. It was throwing a ball, it was doing rollerblading, it was passing the puck, it was taking them skating. So for me, those were mommy and me activities, right? And then every once in a while I'd be like, you know, I'd be like, ‘uh, we got to do Kumon, we gotta do like - we gotta read.’

You know, academics was really important to me because I felt like I was so driven the other way that like, I didn’t want to miss out on the other. So for us, it was never this grandiose plan, and I'm sure you guys were the same way. It was more like, ‘be the best at whatever it is you're doing, work your hardest at whatever it is you're doing.’ Working the hardest didn't mean scoring the most goals. It was playing the right way, whatever it is, being a great teammate and working really, really hard and we always felt like the other would come.

AJ: Do you feel like with your boys having you as a mom, Jim as a dad, did they feel pressure to perform on the rink?

Ellen: I don't think so, because we never put pressure on them. We would put pressure on them to work hard and play the right way. I mean, there were days I can remember with Quinn when we moved to Toronto, we were like “Ah, he’s doing pretty good, he’s a pretty good little hockey player. This is good.” Like, hmm. And we were coming from New Hampshire and Jimmy taking the job up in Toronto and we got there and I remember Jimmy going somewhere and he's like, “He is not even in the top 300 players in the city.” Do you know what I mean? Like he was, this thing was not—

Cammi: Was that what age? What age is that?

Ellen: He probably would have been… I'm trying to think when we moved. So Luke was born six, seven, eight, maybe? He was in first grade. What grade are you in first grade?

Cammi: Yeah, about seven or seven. Seven.

Ellen: And we thought he was doing great, but we never cared. What we would just say to him, like, and he was on a good little team and we would get beat by Ryan McLeod, who just played with Edmonton in and, and, Strome was on that team, Matty Strome, the youngest of the Stromes. And those two were like, I mean, I mean, they would score five, six, seven goals and I would be in awe how good they were at a little age - at a young age. So what we would do is we would just put them up against the best in the spring and in clinics and have them chase, try to be the best you can be. It was never like, “why aren't you that good” or “why are you scoring” or - and, you know, Jack was a little bit different. He came in and he was playing up a year with the older kids, you know. And Luke, we didn't even think about, like, third child, he's probably benefited the best because we were just trying to get the other two other places and we didn't even know how he played or what happened. And, and I think that was the other thing with them. You know, Jim was so busy working that we didn't watch ‘em practice. We didn't, you know, I might drop one at a the game and try to get to the other one to the game, to get to the other one to the game. So they had to self evaluate at a young age and really decide how they played. You know, you guys are probably the same way with your busy schedules.

AJ: Yeah, it's interesting. I look at it like I'm at the Nationals right now with my daughter Jamie, and talking to some of the parents last night and they were asking me like, what did you think of the game? And we were talking about it. But they don't watch far more than I do because I travel. So, you know, they're asking me, knowing that I have a hockey background. But it's to your point, I love coming to watch my kids play, but I really feel like I can just watch them and enjoy. I'm not coaching this year and it's a really- it is fascinating because I do feel like my kids have sort of they'll tell me how they played and, you know, usually they're tougher on themselves. I mean, I think most kids or most athletes are probably tougher on themselves anyway. But when- like as a hockey parent, I'm surrounded by people and you see all the studies about the low percentage of players that will make it from youth hockey to even D-1, let alone the NHL. You have three kids, three boys, two that are gone first round. Luke obviously is on his way to the NHL. So at what point did you think they were going to make it? Like, was there a time like you're talking about when Quinn was seven and you guys were just trying to have them compete? But was there a moment where you were like, wow, our - our kids are legit?

Ellen: You know, there was a point where I said, All right, this is good. Like, they're going to get to Division one college hockey. Like, I was pretty pumped. And at the end of the day, there's a point where you say you can only provide so much information and now they have to have their inner drive. Now that's gotta kick in. And I think for each one of them, that was when they got to the program. So for junior hockey, I guess, would be the equivalent. And I think it's the every day focusing on getting better, doing I mean, living it, eating it, not liking it, loving it. Y’know? And there's kids who get better from 18 to 20. There's, you know, you got to keep getting better. Doesn’t matter if you're the best at 16 or 15. So I saw my kids take different paths, you know, and just staying to have fun and having fun. Having fun is everything, as you know. You know, I mean, it's got to be fun. I mean, Cammi, you have two sons who are elite little soccer players, but if they're not having fun, that changes their drive for wanting to get better.

Cammi: Fully and if it's not cultivated as well, I mean, you have to have the right people above you and leading you and coaching you to believe in just playing and not just playing for- to be this best. There's a lot of pressure on kids these days and I think about your boys and knowing your boys and, and getting to know Quinn better since he's been out here as a person. Your kids are such great people. They're so well-balanced. They're such they get it. Like when they met Reese and Riley, my sons, they get it. They look kids in the eye. They joke around. They look adults in the eye. I mean, there's- they're just great kids. The other thing I noticed about them and and before I let you comment is when they play, when things are not going their way, they go straight ahead, like there's no pouting, there's no emotion. I mean, of course, we get emotional about the game, but as far as like, you know, what you taught them, like, where did that come from, that confidence and that humility and then that just that drive inside to just keep going?

Ellen: Well, you are awfully kind. And, you know, it's like, up and down. You know how parenting is right. And, you know, for me, it's the competitiveness. You both were uber competitive, Olympians, got to the highest level, accomplished so much, gold medals. So you know, that competitiveness. So you instill that in your children. You don't realize that you're doing it, but it just organically happens. Right? I'm sure. And AJ I see some of the fun things that you do, but I'm sure it's competitive at dinner, whether it's, you know, Boggle that you're playing or - I aged myself. But you know what I mean? Or Jenga that you're playing or if it’s a race, or- everything is a game at my house! Like, Luke and Quinn this summer. We had a lot of time together and they're creating a game out of nothing in the pool. We're like - Jack and I are looking at each other like, ‘What are those two doing?’ Like, it's games and there's a winner and there's a loser. So for me, I think it's more about they really care about winning. They really want to win. And in everything’s a team sport and they wanna - They take it personally. They want to be the best that they can be to help their team win. You know, whether it's giving something up and feeling bad about that and wanting to get it back. And that's probably the same mindset both of you had as Olympians. Is that fair to say?

AJ: Yeah. I mean, I think that that is, you know, the ultimate drive to compete is something that I'm not sure can be cultivated. Right. I mean, I think you but what what is so impressive about your boys is that the balance that Cammi’s talking about. Right. That confidence and that drive to compete coupled with the humility and on seeing them being interviewed, seeing the way they carry themselves at a very young age, that that's what I think is, you know, you and Jim should be very, very proud of. But I do think that that drive to win and it's not win at all costs, but it's win whether it's the right way or as a part of the team. I think that that is something that can be very unique. And obviously they come from two very competitive elite athlete parents. So they were, they were given that at a young age. I was just reminded while you were- we were talking about Quinn, last year in the playoffs, do you remember getting a text from me Ellen, when I talked about in on the broadcast, I talked about Quinn, he was so relaxed playing the power play that it was like he was playing shinny hockey. S H I N N Y and I got blown up on Twitter that people thought I said he played S H I T T Y hockey. That I was like, ‘oh my God, the Hughes family hears me on NBC telling like’ and it was a compliment. I mean, it was like the utmost like, this is amazing how great he is that, you know, as a young player in the NHL playing with this sort of poise but also like freedom, he just plays with his freedom. And I'm sitting there thinking and my producer was like, “You can't use that term. That's such a hockey term.” Like, who doesn't know shinny hockey? But anyway, that was just so.

Ellen: So I laughed at that when I got your text and I think I wrote back like, “it's okay if you ever want to say he's saying the other - the S H hockey too.”

AJ: I would never say that.

Ellen: You know the game, you're allowed to say that and we would be just okay with it. We would probably agree with you.

Cammi: So when you're watching Ellen, when you get to watch your kids and I know I've texted you before, I'm like, I wonder if she's still up. But of course, you're watching the games when you're on the East Coast and you're watching them and watching the West Coast games, probably late at night. Right, with Quinn. And... can you relax? Like, are you feeling like now? Like you can relax? Is it still, like, feel intense? Like, what's the feeling that you get as a mom? You know, I know Luke’s on his way, but like, do you get to see you get to enjoy it all? Do you get to sit back and enjoy it?

Ellen: Let me ask you this. When you watch Riley play and it's a big game and [unintelligible], how do you feel?

Cammi: So do you feel like at every game - do you feel like that every game?

Ellen: Well, your logic tells you it should change.

Cammi: Yeah.

Ellen: But I think it's just your competitiveness. But I can tell you this. Now my oldest two are at a level where I don't get involved in the hockey anymore, I just really try to be a support system. They don't need to hear from me when they get to the next level. You don't know how many people are badgering them or bothering them or sending texts[?]. And you know, they got here because this point, they got here and they're driving their own business. They don't need to hear from me. Now, do they… Do they lean on Jimmy with hockey? Do I know a lot about hockey? But I just need to be a different support system for them. You know, I need to be an outlet for them and someone that's not going to talk about hockey unless it's something specific. Does that make sense? Like when I talked to Quinn today, it wasn’t about last night's game. It was about other things, you know, he's got enough of last-

Cammi: That makes sense.

Ellen: And he's got this - he doesn't need to hear from his mother, that that ship has sailed. Does that make sense? And I don't mean that in a negative st-

Cammi: Totally, because.

Ellen: It's just that's not what they need and, and that's not what I want to be that - be there for them. That type of support system.

AJ: I don't know how you got away without having one of them play goalie. I'm just going to leave it out there.

Ellen: Well, Luke. [...] Luke in net. and I was telling this to someone the other day, I mean, I got funny stories, like when you say, oh, you guys were great parents. I'm like, Oh, really? Like the time I showed up for this massive tournament with Jack and Jimmy's taken everybody's skates sharpened and I got everybody’s skate sharpened and he was off somewhere. I was going to meet him at the university. I'll tell you one story. So this is just typical. So their cousin was playing for B.C. and we wanted to go to a college game because we want to expose these kids that were growing up in Toronto to what college hockey was, so that that could be an option. So we took ‘em to see B.C. versus Michigan, their big cousin. We're driving down and Jack had this massive tournament, which we thought was massive as a you know, you always think these youth tournaments are massive and have grandiose importance, sorry, because you are at nationals and that is important with your daughter AJ. So Jimmy had said, I think Quinn was going to play in Michigan. And I said, okay, I'll bring the boys down I’ll get the skates sharpened and then Jack and I will leave after the game. We won't tell his coach that, like, we're getting into a hotel in London at one in the morning to drive around- around the lake to get to Buffalo for his 9 a.m. game. So I'm driving to Michigan first so he can see his cousins. And then whereas all the other parents are in Buffalo for that 9 a.m. game spending the night getting a good sleep right. Well I let him come watch his brother play. I left two hockey bags with Jim, of Luke's bag and Quinn's bag and I, Jack and I left after the game. We got into London at like one in the morning. We went to sleep. We got back up at six and off he goes for his game. When we get to Buffalo, I'm like, ‘This is great. I did it.’ And they're playing. I think they're playing Shattuck St Mary's and Oliver Wahlstrom is on the other team just to give you a few names. Right. So because he's an Islander, right AJ?

AJ: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Had a goal last night.

Ellen: And it was a non parent coach. So you don't talk to these coaches. I don't think I had a conversation with them and they're young they’re- I don’t know Jack was an underager so he's playing up a year. And so the coach calls me. He's like, “ Umm... We've got a problem. Can you come back to the locker room?” So I go back to the locker room and he goes, “Ummm Luke skates are in Jack's bag.” You know what that means? Where are Jack’s skates? In Luke’s bag or God knows where, right? So I'm like, agh and they're like, “Where are Luke’s skates?” And like, I think he - I left his bag in Toronto. So at this point. So I look at Jack, I'm like, “What you want to do?” and he goes, “Find [buy?] me some skates.” and I'm like, “Okay, what size are your skates?” So I go around, I find the Chicago mission, and if he was in CCM some guy had a Bauer of a size four and a half or five or six or whatever he was in, and they're like, You can borrow these skates, but our game is offset from yours so you can only play until we need the skates back.

Cammi: Oh my God.

Ellen: Right?

AJ: I'm like, my stomach's dropping listening to this. I know.

Ellen: So he’s in these random skates and sorry to go off on a tangent here, but you saying you were great, You know, we do the same things that everybody else does. So it wasn't a completely tightly run ship. So. But maybe that's the adaptability. So Jack goes out and he plays two great periods, and all of a sudden I see this guy walk around and you see them take Jack's skates off. And this is a tight game and it's a big tournament. And he sits on the end of the bench with no skates for the third period. So here you are. We both have - we all have husbands. So Jimmy’s like, “How was the game?” I'm like, “He played great for two periods and let's just leave it at that.” He's like, I was. [unintelligible] But so anyway.

AJ: Yeah, I think that's building resilience. I think you're right. There is something to be in moment. It's- that's the worst feeling possible. But in retrospect, it's a great story, right? And it's one period of hockey that-

Ellen: [unintelligible] five like that running down the coach whenever Jack's hockey bag and his helmet was sideways like, I hope you guys have stories like that.

Cammi: Oh, man. You know what is funny is, those- that's just part of sport and part of the life where you have that happen. But I do as a kid, remembering, feeling like there was nothing more important. And I remember my brother Tony had just got his license. He was driving me over to a friend's house that was going to take me to an away game. It was about 45 minutes away. He went through a stop sign with just skated through a stop sign, hit the front of another car. I'm in the front seat. No seatbelt at that time. Right. And the first thing he goes, “You okay?” and the first thing I said is, “I'm not going to miss my game, am I?” And sure enough, we had to drive home. Somehow we got home. My mom is pregnant with my younger brother Joey, eight months pregnant, and I somehow cried my way into making my mom get in our trans van massive truck with Tony in the passenger seat, driving through snow to get me to the game, which I got there in the third period. But it was to me it was like, I know that feeling like it's- you cannot miss, you cannot. And I see with my kids too. So yeah, those are the best. Some of those are the best memories actually, right?

Ellen: I'll give you one.

AJ: We spent about five and a half hours driving down here to Philadelphia. My daughter, I think, checked nine times to make sure her stuff was in the bag because I had to. She was at school and I had to get it. She does not trust me at all. I'm like, okay, yeah, you just make sure you got two- a right and a left skate in there.

Ellen: I'll give you one last story. To just - to say, like, like here I am, a hockey mom, thinking I’m going to teach my kids to skate. So when Jimmy was coaching in Boston with Robbie Ftorek, I didn't have Luke yet, so Jack... Quinn must've been three. So I wanted to have some one-on-one time. You know, with your first child, you feel like you have your second child and you just need some one-on-one time. So there was free kindergarten skating at the Reading arena. And so we were living in.. in uh.. oh my god I can’t even remember - right around the corner from there. So anyway, so every Tuesday I would take Quinn to skate and that's how he learned to skate. Like it wasn't like I was teaching him strides, I was teaching him to skate. I was getting him on skates. So I was really proud of this kid. He’d gotten off his crates that he was pushing and blah, blah, blah, blah. And at that point Robbie's parents were still alive. Steve and Ruth and they were amazing. And we would go to the games and, and so they didn't live far from there. So they wanted to come watch little Quinn that they see at the Bruins games skate. And I was so proud that I’d taught this kid to skate y’know, he was standing up on his own, he was pushing, the whole bit. So Steve comes out who had taught Robbie how to skate and Robbie was a great skater and I'm like this particular day, Quinn is terrible. He must have been three. Like he just looked like he had two left feet. I’m like, “he's not skating like, I swear, like he could skate, like, something's not right.” And Steve goes, “Ellen, I think his skates are on the wrong feet.” And they were! Do you know how little skates are? Yeah. How would you know? Like [unintelligible]. So we laugh about that story. So, Quinn doesn't know. He can't communicate to tell me that his skates are on the wrong feet. We sit him down, like literally in the doorway. We switch his feet and off this kid goes. And he's pushing and like a little three year old and he's doing great. So that's one of my many [unintelligible] stories.

AJ: But just to make you feel better, I did that to my son Sam, when he was however old, probably five. We went skiing. It was ski boots on the wrong feet. He kept telling us his feet hurt. And we basically were like, You're fine. It's just ski boots they hurt. And the end of the day I was like, Oh yeah, no, they really hurt. That's actually a legitimate point. So been there!

Cammi: Before we wrap up here and get to our rapid fire, I just wanted to ask you about the couple of times where I've seen the boys play tog- Well they played together on the World Junior team and it was in Vancouver. Jack and Quinn played together. What was that like and what was it like when they played their first NHL game toge- against each other for the Jersey Devils and for the Vancouver Canucks? Can you take us through those two times and what it felt like?

Ellen: Yeah, that's great. I mean, the- we had the fortune of them playing together at the World Junior Showcase up in Kamloops the summer before, leading up, kind of the tryouts. So I think that was my first experience. It was great. It was great. Really competitive. They played together. They were on the same PP that was a ton of fun. They were on the ice together a lot. Then the World Juniors that- in Vancouver, that was great too. But Jack was injured, so he was kind of in and out of the lineup, but it was just really great for them to be able to, as- they're so tight, they're best of friends, all three of them. So I think it was more letting them have that experience together and you know, you're disappointed for them in the way that the outcome was because they were so close to winning a gold medal. But it was super cool. It was a lot of fun. And then when they played against each other it was super special, I think for our family, just because it was the first time we got to share something like that with our whole family, we had a huge crew there. The Devils were nice enough, they were amazing. They had a box there and we were able to have all Jim's extended family there from the Northeast, which is a huge group of people. And Jack happened to score his first goal that night. So that was a relief and great and exciting. And then the next time they played together Cammi we went with you. You had the boys and Ray, and that was a great game, too, right? That was a lot of fun. I think the biggest thing is I like it better when they're not on the ice at the same time, especially with one being a D and one being a forward. I prefer, and it's hard to watch them. I don't know who you guys are, but AJ, your daughter right now at Nationals, is a stay at home defenseman so you watch all the D and you have a good feeling. It's really hard to watch two positions let alone two teams play.

AJ: I agree with that when I think about what you're, what you went through, with that and it's not even allegiance of which team you want to win. It's more what they're doing individually and you can't focus. I think that must have been so cool. Was there added pressure on the boys? Did you notice any nerves that night playing against each other?

Ellen: No, but I don't know what kind of side bets there were. Like. I'm going to need [unintelligible] Haha I could have used a girl so I could get a little more information, a daughter y’know they’re a little more forthcoming. I think it was exciting. They were both very young. I mean, it's crazy to think they entered their rookie year together. I think as they, y’know, hopefully have a really long, sustained career. That's your greatest hope for all of these players that play in the professional sports is to be able to stay healthy and have a long, sustained careers. So I think as they age and- it'll be more and more fun to watch it evolve.

AJ: Now we're talking about Quinn and Jack. Is there. Do you think that there's added pressure on Luke right now because of the successes that his brothers have had?

Ellen: You know, it's funny because I always worried about that with Luke, like, you know, as a parent, you know, I want them to all be successful in their own right. I want them all to have their own passion. I want them to care about school and do well in school and so, you know, you're always like, which one needs what someone will, you know, whatever it is you want to try to support them. And so Luke was really small for a while and he was playing against kids that had already hit puberty. And- and you know, I know you dealt with that Cammi with Riley and then he took off and he blew them like his whole game was a new you know, as soon as that- the playing field was evened. And that's a hard thing to try to nurture them through, you know, like, “just keep going” and “it's okay,” and “you’re gonna have your man strength,” and “you’re gonna have more separation speed because of that,” so Luke was really young and I mean, it took him a while before he grew. And so I wondered in my heart, like, is there pressure on him? Does he feel bad about himself? Like, I didn't know, you know what I mean? So then he made the program, which he just kind of started to take off.

Never in a million years did I think he was going to be 6’2” like you could’ve- I would never. I mean, he was who would have thought he was going to tower over his brothers? He was so late. So we used to talk to him about it, you know, and I used to try to ask, but it's hard to get information. But he drove his own bus and he had his own inner desires and his own inner strengths. And it never seemed to faze him or bother him, which, you know, was- we tried to communicate about it like you guys would as parents.

Cammi: It's so wonderful. I just love your whole family. I love everything you guys have instilled in your boys. I love watching them. We're such you know, we've grown so much closer. We get to see each other more often. And I just yeah, I commend you and totally appreciate all the insight that you've given us today. We've kept you a long time on, but we have our not so rapid, rapid fire, if you don't mind answering some rapid fire questions you can answer ‘em slow or fast. It's up to you. AJ and I seem to go the slow way sometimes with our long questions. But let's put you in the hot seat.

AJ: So, yeah, this means you're coming to the front of the bus. So I don't know if that in the bus or trips that you went on that meant you were in trouble. But I'll say that just.

Ellen: Time out before you go. Where were you guys on the bus?

Cammi: I was in the back on the right, about maybe three seats from the bathroom, two or three seats from the bathroom, and AJ was up front.

AJ: I was more like middle, but on the other side. So it was like.

Cammi: You were like two rows ahead. Yeah. Yeah, where were you?

Ellen: Cammi. I think I was right where you were.

Cammi: Yeah. Okay

AJ: Not quite far enough back for, like, all the crazy card games and everything like that, right? That was always our bus. There was a lot of shenanigans in the way back of the bus. Actually maybe our rapid fire should be called Go to the back of the bus. That might be a little I don't know, might be a little different. All right. So here we go. Let's start. What is your favorite youth hockey, or any sports since you played a lot of sports, memory?

Ellen: Probably winning the national championship with the Dallas Sting in soccer, which still today is one of the premier club teams in the country.

AJ: Oh, that's a good one. How old were you?

Ellen: I was probably 15. And then one other thing is we went to China when I was 15. That was a pretty cool experience. Before women's soccer had a national team and they were playing, they were having their first international tournament. And since we had won the club championship they sent us, which is amazing to think they sent a bunch of women to China to play in an international tournament. You know.

AJ: That’s very cool.

Cammi: How’d you guys do?

Ellen: We won it.

Cammi: You're kidding.

Ellen: There's actually someone that's trying to, I just get the emails, that’s trying to make a movie about it, because it's pretty unheard of.

Cammi: It's amazing.

AJ: That is amazing. So we didn't really get into this. The one thing we were carrying our time up for is that you had the good fortune of having all of your boys home during COVID. Maybe a silver lining to what was going on in the world. Everybody got to be back under one roof. But when everyone's home, what's your go to family dinner?

Ellen: Oh, our go to family dinners, steak. They are all about steak. So steak and pesto pasta with a spinach salad is the go to. They would eat steak every night.

AJ: Oh, that sounds good.

Ellen: Cammi, Quinn’s cooking [?]. Believe it or not, [unintelligible]. When they're allowed to go places next year in Vancouver over you and Ray should-

Cammi: I can keep him honest for that?. Yeah, I know I will definitely. If I know that now. What is he cooking in these?

Ellen: Cooking steak and lots of he cooks some, tuna ahi tuna and lots of peppers and veggies and that's a good thing about COVID. Is that most of these young kids have learned to cook, which is amazing.

AJ: That is amazing. That's actually that is another- that's a good silver lining. I know. Speaking of your three boys, Quinn, Jack and Luke, which one was most mischievous as a kid.

Ellen: And I mean, you know how it is, it's a three month cycle like, just like one needs your attention more than the other when they were little. But um… Quinn and Jack together? This is not rapid fire, but I can remember when they were really level and I don't know. And I've already taken up too much of your time. But I remember Jimmy had taken off to Toronto and, oh no, then he must have been littler than this and Jimmy and I, Luke was just born, maybe six months old, and we heard this rustling. You know, you have that in the baby room, on the other room. And I don't know if this has happened to either one of you. And I'm like, it was like six in the morning. You're trying to get sleep, and I heard something. I mean, “Jimmy, what is that?” You know, So we listen to the voice and they had this grandiose idea that they were going to throw the baby out of the crib, Jack was inside the crib, picking up Luke to hand him off to Luke- to Quinn, who wasn't big enough, it was going tobe a drop outside the crib. So let's just leave with that. Right?

Cammi: How old were they? How old were they when that happened?

Ellen: Luke was under one because he couldn't get out, right? I mean, it was not a great plan. Then. Thankfully, we rescued them.

Cammi: So if you would have had that nanny cams that are the baby cams, that would have been brilliant to have that on video.

Ellen: Right.

AJ: Good. Some Hughes boy mischief. I like it. Now, of the three, who is the most competitive?

Ellen: Probably, I don't, I can't.

Cammi: Can’t choose, you’re a mom.

AJ: Yeah no I actually we were just talking about the drive to win and everything. I understand that. But it's all three, I guess. Now we you, you mentioned being nervous still, when you watch your boys play, what can you remember being the most nervous you've ever been as a sports parent?

Ellen: Mmm that's a tough one. Probably for me, it's not about the kids. It was more about the team. So, you know, having your kids go through the NTDP you want them to win these big tournaments. So you’re nervous for the group because you want so well, they're representing their country so the World Championships, the World Juniors, I mean, Cammie, you've sat with me and seen me between periods at the World Juniors, so that might be a fair one you can attest to, like, you're like, Really? You probably walk away from meeting with the boys between periods and me. Like, she's a little wacky over there. I don't know.

Cammi: Oh, they love you.

Ellen: You're stressed. Not for your kids. You're stressed for the team in your country. And you want so well, you want them to win! Their competitive side and they're tight. And you’re just on the edge of your seat. More like a fan, I would say, than a mother. So much too. Is that fair to say?

AJ: Yeah. Did you ever coach any of them?

Ellen: Yeah,

AJ: I think they're so close in age. You. Oh, you did?

Ellen: Yeah. So I coached them in soccer. I coached them in lacrosse, but they played box lacrosse. I didn't coach them in hockey. They would do a lot of spring hockey. What I would do is get on the I would just buy outdoor ice like and I would run the skates. But when I say I would run the skates is, I would get out of the way. I would turn the nets. Three on three, three on three, three on three, no direction, just let them. And then it was more, you know, just playing, like the environment, the competitors setting up the competitive- competitive mini games. So that type of stuff as extras.

AJ: The last question we have for you is what advice would you have to hockey parents out there or what kind of motto did you guys, would you say you followed?

Ellen: You know, who gave us really good advice, especially as they got older were Keith and Chantal Tkachuk. They were amazing role models for us. Quinn was fortunate enough to live with them and, and Keith always. They always said it, just be a great teammate, be a great human being, great- be a great person and work hard, be one of the hardest working. Get out there and have fun. You know, I know it's easy to say, but there's so many great things you can do in this life. There's so many greater things you can do in this life. You know, you find your passion, find lots of passions and be you and follow your heart in whatever it is that your [passion is like, live it, eat it, drink it and be it. I mean, I think those are the same advice that both of you as past Olympians give your own children.

Cammi: That's wonderful.

AJ: That is, that's awesome. And you are so awesome. I love hearing the sort of inside scoop from the first family of hockey, the Hughes family, and everybody's favorite hockey mom, Ellen Hughes. But at the same time, I love also taking that little walk down memory lane to make sure everybody remembers what a stud you are.

Ellen: Well, I so appreciate it. And I'm having so much fun listening to you two on your podcast. It's amazing what you're doing. I think you're amazing human beings. You both know how I feel about you and my admiration for what you've done for the women's game and what you're still doing in the game of hockey is so cool and you're both trailblazers. And I love this podcast and I love the guests that you have on. I take myself out of that like I don't fit in the realm of guests.

AJ: Yes, yes you do.

Ellen: I'm just saying that in the heart of hearts, I love the guests you've had on, and keep rocking it. You two are amazing and I'm lucky to have you as friends. And AJ, I laugh. I think about watching you at the Olympics and Cammi and I already had a relationship because we played together. And then I think about you today. And it's incredible.

AJ: And you are. I do remember you paved the way for us, but I do. I'm glad. I think you're buttering us up just in case I say, I will say anything negative about your sons on the ice, which so far I haven't had to because they're such superstars. But, you know, don't hold it against me if I do.

Ellen: You know, And then and hopefully things will get back to normal and we'll be traveling and I'll see you guys one day.

Cammi: Well, Ellen, thank you so much for being here. We were so happy you joined us and we'll have to have you on again at some point. And when the whole quarantine is over, well, I'll be looking forward to when you come to watch Quinn in Vancouver here.

#thank you to leo without whom this would just be sitting unfinished in my google drive for eternity #ellen weinberg-hughes #jack hughes #quinn hughes #luke hughes #transcript

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magnifythesun · 4 months

Note

Absolutely loved ur latest prompt about Anthony picking Ian up and how you stick true to their characters it feels too realistic. On that note, since I'm an avid fan of protective worried Anthony, would you pls write something with Ian passing out while filming and Anthony hyperventilating over it.

aaaa this prompt has had my mind spinning since I first read it I'm so hyped to write it! and thank you soooo much, I tried really hard to keep their voices realistic in that one and I'm honestly very happy with the way it turned out! I'm so glad you enjoyed!! :D

(post-writing note: this turned out way more comfort than hurt lol, but it was just too cute to resist!)

It was a rager of a hot day in southern California. They were filming their latest sketch, which was unfortunately entirely outside, and were eager to just get the thing done.

"Should we take a break?" Anthony asked, "It's been a few hours out here, and this heat's really killing me."

"Let's just finish up this scene," Ian said wearily, his face slightly red from the sun.

Anthony nodded in agreement and turned to tell the crew to set the cameras at another angle.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ian suddenly drop like a sack of potatoes, one second standing, then not. It was almost like a bit. It would have been funny, except that the way he ragdolled to the floor sent a horrid chill through Anthony. That was not the way someone fell on purpose, for comedy or otherwise. Anthony turned.

"Ian?" He said, distantly.

Erin was already running toward him, holding her huge water bottle. "Someone bring a sheet!" She called over to the crew, who, behind the sudden haze in Anthony's vision, were little blobs scurrying to and fro, some toward Ian, others running toward the house.

Anthony stumbled over. "What happened?" Erin glanced up at him. "Is he all right?" Her eyes widened at the way he was swaying on his feet.

"Don't you pass out too!" Erin snapped, voice tight with worry. "Go sit down." She waved toward the shade by the house.

"But, Ian," Anthony started. He swept his eyes over his friend, who was starting to stir. Ian's eyelids flickered, then opened as he started to wake up.

"Ow," He groaned, raising a hand up to clutch at his forehead. "Oh wow, my head hurts really bad."

"Like you hit it?" Erin asked sharply, then looked back up at Anthony. "Anthony. Go sit down."

Anthony took an involuntary step backward from the command in her tone alone, then kept backing up until his back hit the side of the house. Tears jumped to his eyes, and he knew in that moment he needed to get out of sight. He went inside the house, ignoring the way different members of the crew were reaching out to him, worry in their voices, and headed straight to the bathroom. Closing the door, he sank to the ground immediately, trying to breathe.

His breath was tight in his throat, like a great beast had a hold on his neck and was squeezing him. The sensation traveled down to his chest, causing him to gasp quick, shallow breaths as he tried to wipe away his tears.

Was Ian alright out there? His mind was spiraling as he desperately sucked in little gasps of air. He had just left him there, too wrapped up in his own frightened reaction to comfort his friend. A pang of guilt burned bright in his chest. He had to get this under control and he had to get back out there.

Anthony focused and started his yoga breathing routine that he used every time he exercised. Slowly, slowly, he controlled his breathing. He stood up shakily, and glanced in the mirror, making sure to wipe the tears from his eyes. There was nothing he could do about how pale he looked, or how red-rimmed his eyes were.

He took one more deep breath and pulled open the door to the bathroom. Walking out, he could hear many voices in the kitchen, which was out of sight. Sounded like most of the crew had taken shelter from the sun in there.

Anthony turned toward the living room and startled. Ian was sitting there, a wet rag on his head and Erin's big bright blue bottle of water clutched in his hands. Anthony felt his breath catch in his chest again.

Anthony walked over to him. "Hey, man. You feeling okay?"

Ian smiled guiltily up at him. "Well, better now," He glanced up at Anthony towering above him and patted the couch cushion next to him. Anthony sat. "I should have called a break sooner. I could tell it was getting to me."

"You don't need to push yourself that hard," Anthony said quietly.

"True," Ian's mouth quirked. "Plus the crew deserved a break too." Ian stared off in the direction of the kitchen for a moment. "Are you alright?" He asked quietly, fingers shifting on the pastel surface of the bottle.

Anthony grimaced. "Yeah, I'm good."

Ian turned to look at him, a sharp look in his eye. "Uh-huh."

Anthony intently examined the table in front of the couch. "You saw?"

Ian took a big gulp of water. "I may have just woken up from the consequences of my own hubris, but I, I caught a glimpse."

"Sorry," Anthony said quietly, "I really don't know what came over me."

Ian didn't say anything for a moment, just slurped another sip of water. Anthony couldn't look at him. Then, Anthony felt Ian's hand, cold from the surface of the bottle, rest on top of his own hand and squeeze slightly.

"Always good to know you care." Ian said lightly, the veneer of a joke over his words, but the slight drag of his thumb over the back of Anthony's hand emphasized his words.

Relief and affection rushed through him, and Anthony glanced at Ian. "Your head okay though?"

"When is my head ever okay?" Ian laughed, "But yeah, I didn't hit it. Water?" He lifted the bottle and offered it.

"God, yeah." Anthony took it with the hand that wasn't still covered by Ian's and took a long, refreshing drink. "I can't believe we still have to go back out in that to finish filming."

"Ugh, don't even remind me," Ian groaned.

Right then, Erin's voice called from the kitchen, "Alright, back out there to shoot in ten minutes!"

Various shouts of "Heard!" echoed around the house, accompanied by several grumbles.

"I gotta lay my poor heat-stricken head down for a few minutes before we head back out there," Ian said.

"Oh okay," Anthony said, preparing to get up to let him lay down, when Ian just tilted his head slightly to rest it on Anthony's shoulder. Anthony stilled, his breath catching for the nth time today.

"I'm gonna try to visualize myself in the Arctic," Ian mumbled, "Quiet on set."

Anthony tried to not shake his shoulders as he laughed. "Alright, alright. Make sure to get back from your polar expedition in ten."

Anthony let himself rest his eyes too, the warmth of Ian's hand and head soothing the last of his rattled nerves.

#my fanfic #ianthony #☀️🔍#asks #i hope yall enjoyed!! <3

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ladylooch · 4 months

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The Captain's Girl - [Lucie x Connor]

A/N: Happy Sunday! Look at who wrote a full fic this morning! Could not resist bringing Lucie and Connor to their smutty and soft past time. Connor may be the captain of an OG NHL team, but nothing compares to being Lucie's man.

From this request.

Word Count: 3.5k

Warnings: 18+ Content below

Lucie Wood watches from the front of the restaurant as her husband takes a long sip of his cold beer. The warmth of the southern California sunshine washes over her back and shoulders, peaking out from her sundress. Leaving winter behind on the East Coast means soaking in as much vitamin D as she can get for her short stay. The Rangers will be here for three more days with the timing of both off and game days. It was the perfect time for her and the girls to surprise her husband.

Across the patio table from him is David, who purposefully has his back to the door so Connor can watch his wife’s approach in a few moments. But right now, Lucie is content studying him from afar. She’s worried about him. He’s been so stressed out at the rink and at home. The Rangers need to turn things around quickly if they are going to make the playoffs. Despite there being 19 other guys on the team, Connor Wood thinks if he puts the team on his shoulders alone, he will get them to the finish line. Lucie’s gentle redirects have been met with eye rolls and ‘you don’t understand’ from her husband.

She is going to show him exactly how much she understands these next few days by forcing him to relax.

Mack and David are helping too. David worked with Lucie to grab the flights that made the most sense to optimize their time. Mack is here to take care of the girls for her when Lucie is otherwise pre-disposed with her husband, like right now and later when she’s riding him like the cowboy he wants to be.

A waitress approaches the table with two large bowls. She sets them each in front of the men. Connor smiles politely, then turns down to his food, completely missing the eye fucking she does to him before walking away. Lucie smiles. After all this time, Connor still only has eyes for her.

She pushes off from the brick wall she had been leaning against and begins her saunter across the restaurant. She maneuvers around staff and other patrons, then takes a direct angle to her husband. He looks up when she is three tables away, then pauses his chewing. His eyebrows furrow before he glances between David and Lucie.

“Oh my god, are you Connor Wood?” She drawls exaggeratedly. “I’m your biggest fan.”

“You should be after the two babies I gave you.” He jokes, standing up to hug her. He engulfs her completely, pressing his nose into her hair immediately. It’s a minute before he attempts to pull away from her. The restaurant bobs and weaves around them as Lucie rubs his strong back over his shirt. “Love you.” He whispers. He pulls away to kiss her tenderly. “You look stunning.” He compliments, taking in her soft green dress. It makes her brown eyes pop, complimented by the blue ocean behind her.

“I love you too.” She sighs, hugging him one more time. Then she turns to David. “Hi!”

“Crazy seeing you here, Luc.” They all laugh at that.

“Sorry Mack isn’t here. Winnie finally crashed for a nap and we had to take advantage of that.”

“No worries. She told me.” David shrugs. “You want some food?” He grabs the menu he kept back for her.

“You can share with me, baby.” Connor offers, moving the chair to his right out for her to sit in. He scoots her back in, dropping one more kiss on her hair. She looks over at his plate seeing a hearty steak salad. It looks good, but he needs to eat all of that to keep his calorie count up.

“I’ll grab something for myself. Thank you though.” She assures him.

“Are you sure? Here just have a little bit.” He shoves his plate to her.

“Babe, I’m fine. I bet you’re starving.” He gives her a look. He doesn’t like eating before her or when she isn’t eating. “Eat, Connor.” She says firmly, sliding her hand to his thigh. His eyes dance down her face and over her cleavage. He smirks, then picks his fork up with a promise they both know: he’ll eat her later.

Lucie orders fish tacos and a mango margarita that has her buzzing after one sip. After Connor finishes eating, he wraps an arm around her shoulders. His fingers coyly play with the spaghetti strap of her dress, eventually his fingers glide it off her shoulder. Lucie moves to put it back into place, but Connor bats her hand away, collecting her fingers in his off her shoulder. Lucie glances at David who looks out at the Pacific Ocean, watching the waves roll into the beach.

“I think I’m gonna walk down to the beach.” David says, sucking down the rest of his water. “Wait for Mack down there.”

“Okay. I’ll go grab the girls from her when we get back to the hotel.”

“No worries. I think she is gonna bring the girls down when they wake up. Sounds like Stella fell asleep too. We will take care of them. You two have fun.” The slight smirk on his face tells Lucie he knows exactly where her and Connor are heading after lunch. “Send me a request for this.” He circles the table alluding to his meal.

“All good.” Connor waves him off.

“We can afford it.” Lucie assures David.

“I bet with that captain salary.” He chuckles, then heads off the patio to the stairs leading down to the beach.

The second he is gone, Connor’s face is nuzzling Lucie’s neck. She sighs heavenly, fingers threading through his hair. She turns her face to his head, kissing along his dark curls.

“You ‘bout done?”

“Mhm.” She confirms. Connor lifts one hip off the chair, pulling his wallet out. He tosses his card down, then goes back to focusing on his wife. Her hair is blowing in the sea breeze, scattering brown strands about her beautiful face. Her brown eyes are dewey and lustful, lips pink and begging to be plumped by his. He leans down, doing just that, not even recognizing when the waitress leaves and comes back with the completed bill. If she spoke to them, neither of them notice.

Connor signs the slip, then threads his fingers with Lucie’s, pulling her out of her chair. They walk hand in hand to the hotel, neither of them needing to communicate where they are going. The whole walk back, wetness pools and settles into Lucie’s panties from imagining what her husband is going to do with her in private. While waiting for the elevator, she presses her lips to his big bicep, running her nose along the lines of his tattoo sleeve that peak out from the soft cotton fabric. Connor brings their laced hands forward to her stomach, stroking his thumb down from her belly button to the V of her thighs. Lucie shakes against him as Connor smirks, a light chuckle shaking his arm against her face.

“30 seconds?” He asks, referring to how fast she is going to come undone in his hands. They step into the elevator, Connor pressing the floor to his room.

“Maybe.” She grins, dimples piercing her cheeks. Connor leans down, kissing each one of the slits then her lips. His tongue darts along her bottom lip, savoring the hint of tequila there. His hand glides from her lower back to the back of her neck, cradling her head as he makes out with her. The ding of the elevator stopping barely makes an impression with the couple.

“Y’all maybe wanna get out?” Mack asks from the door.

“Daddy!” Stella screams.

“Baby!” Connor grins, leaning down to capture his little girl in a hug. Winnie squeaks from Mack’s arms, almost tumbling from her aunt with how fast she reaches for her dad.

“We are going to the beach! Are you comin’?”

“We will come in a little bit. Mommy and I have to do some adult things first.” Connor says pointedly. He loves Stella, but she is not cockblocking him right now.

“Oh, that’s not fun.” Stella frowns.

“Ah… yeah.” Connor chuckles, then stands to his full height. “Be good for auntie.” He encourages her after giving a kiss to Winnie’s head. Mack steps in. “I’d hug ya but…” His clear hard-on cannot be hidden by anything except his wife’s body as she moves to shield him.

“How about later?” Mack laughs, then gives a wave to them before the doors close and they head down to the lobby.

Ravenously, Connor grips the back of Lucie’s thighs, hauling her over his shoulder.

“Gotta get you into this room before anything else comes up.”

“Connor, my dress is too short for this.” He reaches up, palming her bare ass with a greedy paw.

“Nah, it’s perfect, baby.” He murmurs. His fingers slide easily under her white panties, stroking her soaked folds. “Fuck, you’re so wet.” He groans. They get to the door of his room. He drops her onto her feet in front of him, then fishes in his pocket for his key fob. He barely gets the door open before he is shoving Lucie inside.

Lucie runs across the room, then turns just in time to catch her husband in her arms before falling onto her back on the bed. She brings her legs up, shoes and all, wrapping them around his waist. Connor ruts into her heat, chasing her hips to grown the burning need between them. Connor’s lips press into hers hurriedly, tongue lapping up every drop of her he can get. When he needs air, he pulls away, looking down at her beneath him.

“Lucie.” He gasps torturously. “You are so fucking beautiful, baby. Takes my damn breath away every time I see you.” Lucie giggles, biting her bottom lip as her fingers drift down to his waistband.

“Wanna taste you today.” She insists. Connor pulls his shirt over his head by grabbing a fist full of the fabric between his shoulder blades. Lucie whimpers when she sees him fully. “Mine. All mine.” She moans.

Lucie works her way up to sitting, but Connor halts her, slipping each of her thin dress straps down her arms. The fabric of her dress falls away, revealing perky breasts with hard peaks in the middle. He rubs his calloused palms over them, illicitly a loud moan from her. She wiggles on the bed, needing some friction against her throbbing clit. Connor smirks, then backs away so she can get on her knees in front of him. He gathers her hair in his hand, watching her use his cock as lipstick. Her motion smears his pre-cum across her lips. Then her tongue comes out to taste it.

Connor’s mouth drops open in pleasure as she finally glides her tongue over his red head. Lucie sighs passionately, then takes him into her mouth in one swoop.

“Fuck.” Connor hisses when he hits the back of her throat. “Luc.” He moans her name as she strokes his shaft in her hand then glides him further in. His balls tighten immediately at the feeling of her wet mouth expanding to accommodate him. “Jesus.” He sighs, relaxing his grip on her hair. His other hand drifts down to her left breast, rolling the nipple in his fingers. Lucie floats a hand down between her legs, circling her clit while letting his hips press insistently into her mouth until he is setting the tempo.

“Gotta stop.” Connor says, puling out of her mouth. He holds his hands out to her. He grabs the hand that she had been using to play with herself, sliding those fingers in his mouth as she watches.

“I need you to fuck me right now. I can’t wait. Please.”

“Asking so nicely.” He coos to her, wrapping a large hand around her neck to bring her close. He crashes their lips together, tongue stroking along hers as he maneuvers her back towards the bed. Lucie feels for the mattress with one hand, not letting her mouth leave his. Connor gets her sitting in front of him, then kicks off his pants and underwear. He leans down, kisses along her collar bone until his fingers can work the zipper of her dress down. He helps her wiggle out of it, being careful not to rip it even though he fucking wants to. The pretty dress falls to the floor with his discarded clothes. Then he collects her panties, exposing her dripping core to him completely.

He doesn’t waste any time, mouth on her pussy without even dropping her panties from his hand. His other fingers come up, swirling her entrance before stuffing into her. She is more than ready, already arching off the bed, begging him for more from her swollen lips.

“Baby, please, I want your cock. Right now.”

“Yeah? That why you flew 3,000 miles to me?”

“Yes!” She exhales as he curls his fingers up, putting harder pressure on her spongey insides. “Fuck.” She wails, quivering already. As much as his dick begs to be inside of her, he wants her to come this way first. His mouth settles over her enlarged bud, rolling it with his tongue and sucking it into his mouth. Lucie shouts. Connor does this again, then feels her release drip-down his fingers, collecting in his palm. He doesn’t stop, sucking every wave of her orgasm into his mouth. When she hits the point of almost too much, he backs off.

“Good girl, Luc.” He praises her, looking at the mess they made of her folds. He bites his lip, then hooks his arms under her hips, pulling her to the edge of the bed. Lucie wildly grapples for his shoulders, collecting them in her palms as he stroke his cock through her wet slit. He pushes in, both of them finding intense pleasure in the stretch of her around him. Connor rests his hands on either side of her waist, then begins to build his pumps into her. Their wet connection fills the room, creating an erotic ambiance in the unknown space. Lucie’s finger tips start pressing deeper into his skin.

“Use your words.” He reminds her.

“More. I need so much more.”

Connor collapses onto his forearms, dropping his head to the bed beside hers and fucking deep into her. His consistent snaps into her hips have Lucie rolling away from the intensity. One of his arms slides under her back, pinning her to his chest to hold her in place.

“Don’t ask for more then run from it. Give in, baby. Let it take you.” He growls into her ear.

“Ohmygod. Oh. My….” Lucie trails off. Everything stills in her body except for the slight flutter of her walls. Connor turns, sucking at the sweet spot on her neck. Her inner walls collapse around him like a clam, causing him to collapse deeper into his fucks.

“Oh damn, Luc. Yes, baby. Feel so fuckin good. So wet and tight, baby. Love your pretty pussy.” Connor’s hips keep pistoning, closing his eyes and savoring how incredible his wife feels right now. She’s soaked through, dripping down his cock to his balls. She never wants him to stop. “You got one more for me, beautiful?”

“Yes.” She moans into his ear. “But look at me.” She begs him. “I want you to know it’s me making you feel this good.”

“Holy fuck.” He groans. “I know it’s you, baby. Nothing ever felt this good until you.” Lucie grins, tugging his face to hers by the back of his neck.

“Yeah? Never had pussy this tight?”

“Oh my god. No. Or a mouth this filthy.” He groans, then licks across her open mouth. He adjusts her legs, wrapping one around his waist and bringing one heel up to rest on his shoulder.

“Right there.” Lucie begs, “Please, baby don’t stop. Love your cock, Con.” Connor’s hands grip her hips tighter, making Lucie pulse under his skin. “More.” She demands. Connor almost crumbles at the sound of her begging for all that he can give to her.

His balls slapping her ass fills the room. Lucie’s hands drift off Connor’s shoulders. One goes to her breast and the other to her clit, rolling both in tempo with his pumps into her pussy.

“Mmm, you’re so gorgeous. I’m so close.” He tells her. “Wanna fill you up, baby.”

“Please. Need to wear you on my thighs to the beach. So everyone knows who I belong to.”

“Fuck.” That will do it. He groans then unloads into her, jerky pumps as she climaxes for a third time immediately after him, pulsing her walls to pull him in deeper. His sensitive tip hisses as she milks every drop from him. “Damn.” He sighs to the ceiling, locking his knees to keep from swaying backwards. He looks back down at his wife, seeing her with pretty pink cheeks and swollen lips. Her eyes are dark chocolate pools when her hands reach for him again. He gently eases out of her, then presses his palms on both sides of her head. He smooches her softly, letting her tongue into his mouth for a full taste of each other.

“Mmm, be right back.” He assures her, kissing down her chin and throat, ending between her breasts.

Lucie releases his arms from her hands, dropping her heels from the bed so her feet dangle off the side. Water runs in the bathroom from her husband. He comes back clean, then works Lucie’s thighs apart, stroking her used core clean too. He looks up at her face.

“You serious about having me at the beach?”

“Mhm.” She nods. “Want you to see me in my new bikini knowing that.”

“Mack is taking those kids tonight again.” He murmurs, then collects the white cum slipping out of her onto his fingers. He slides the mess back inside of her, slowly drags his finger back out. “So sexy, Luc.” He smiles, practically drooling at the sight of her walls collapsing in to pull it all deeper again. “Luckiest guy in the world.” He mumbles against her public bone, kissing her a final time. He lays down next to her, letting the used towel hit the floor. He turns his wife onto her side, then cups her cheek with his hand. “Can’t really tell you how much this means to me that you’re here.”

“I already know.” She responds. “We miss you too, babe.”

“I’m so stressed.” He admits. “I can barely breathe some nights. It’s worse when I’m away from you.” Lucie knows this. It’s why she is here.

“I’m worried about you.” She sighs, running her fingers along the tattoo on his left pectoral with hers and the girls first initials in her loopy handwriting. “You are putting way too much pressure on yourself.”

“I want to succeed.” Connor says.

“I get that. But hockey is a team sport, Con.” She reminds him softly. “It’s not only up to you.”

“I know. But, they picked me to lead this team for a reason. I don’t want to let them down.” Lucie smiles.

“You’re the heartbeat of this team, babe. On and off the ice. But you’re going to lose that if you don’t learn a balance. Maybe leading by example is the first start. Hold yourself accountable for your play. When things don’t go your way, commit to doing better the next opportunity. Others will do the same.” Connor watches her lips as she talks.

“You make it sound so simple… and so sexy.” He kisses her bottom lip.

“Well, I was raised by a captain. Who I bet would be willing to listen if you need another perspective.” Connor sighs, nodding.

“I should call your dad.”

“Probably.” Lucie murmurs into this lips. “And we should probably get to the beach soon. Take care of our kids for a bit before we give them back to Mack for the night.”

Connor and Lucie peel themselves apart. Connor puts his board shorts on, then they head to Lucie and the girls’ room for her to put her beach things on. Connor is tying her bikini strings together in silence. Lucie watches him in the mirror across the room.

“What’s up?” She asks, gripping his wrist.

“I’m not failing you and the girls, right?”

“No.” Lucie shakes her head. “Not even close. You’re perfect, babe. Always have been.” Connor drops his mouth to her shoulder, kissing across it to the back of her neck.

“Okay. I never wanna let you down, Luc.”

“I know. You’re so good to us, babe. Don’t worry about us. We are great, okay?” He nods, then wraps his arms around her stomach, holding her close. They sway slightly together.

“None of this means anything to me without you by my side.” He whispers. “I love you.” Lucie turns to capture his lips.

“I love you too.” He kisses her again. “Let’s go smooch our babies.”

Connor grins back at her, then laces their fingers together for a lazy, content walk to the beach.

Read more of Lucie and Connor here.

#lucie x connor #lio & lucie #hockey writing #NHL imagine #NHL fan fiction

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cowgurrrl · 1 year

Text

Kiwi

Pairing: rockstar!joel miller x actress!reader

Author’s note: as I was writing this, I proclaimed in the most southern accent, “now we’re cookin’ with peanut oil!” so do that with that

Summary: Joel goes home for a month. You stay in California to work. What could possibly go wrong? [3.8k]

Warnings: HEAVILY implied casting couch culture, brief allusion to creepy Hollywood producers, yearning, I can’t think of anything else!!

Boarding my flight now.

Thanks for letting me know?

Well, I texted my mama to let her know, and she told me to text "that girlfriend of mine."

Doesn't sound like she's a huge fan.

She'll live.

You like the message and go to put your phone away when it buzzes again.

Is it weird that I kinda miss talking to you?

You smile and ignore your name being called over the intercom for another beat.

There are a lot of weird things about you, Joel Miller, but that one feels the most normal.

Text me when you land in Austin. Tell your mom I said hi.

You tuck your phone away, fighting the stupid smile on your face, and look up to see a pissed-off PA walking towards you. You apologize and half jog to the sound stage where Ryan is waiting.

"The perfect punctual queen is late for once? Is the world going to shit?" He asks, and you slap his arm.

"People are allowed to be late."

"Does your lateness have anything to do with your boy toy?"

"Are you ever gonna call him by his name?" You ask. He senses that you're stalling his question and take a deep breath. "Joel is flying home to Texas today to visit family and get some work done. He'll be gone for a month."

"Oh, how will you ever survive?" He pouts, and you give him a look. The director calling for places stops you from responding, but you threaten him with the promise of picking up the conversation later.

You don't ever get to tell him off for suggesting that you can't live without Joel being in the same state because of how late shooting goes. It might've been exhaustion, but you swore that you saw the sun starting to rise over the horizon by the time you finally got to leave. You knocked out a good chunk of the scenes you were still working on, which is great news, but you were mentally and physically drained. You slept most of the next day and missed Joel's messages from one whole time zone away.

Landed.

Jesus Christ, I forgot how hot it is here.

My mama told me to ask you if you go to church since she doesn't believe me.

Attached: Two photos

You laugh as you sleepily scroll through his texts when you wake up mid-afternoon, feeling a little bit better from your long night. One of the pictures he sent is of him sitting in the cab of an old truck with the caption, "This was my first car. I can't convince my dad to sell the damn thing." The second is a blurry photo of a blue-looking weed on the side of the road surrounded by what looks like thousands of other blue weeds. "Turns out the state flower will literally grow anywhere besides in a pot in my house."

A) I'm glad you made it in safely. B) Isn't Texas the armpit of the South? C) I don't go to church, and I never have, but please feel free to lie to her. D) I can imagine a young, emo Joel Miller driving it now.

He reads your messages almost as soon as they deliver, and your screen lights up with his initials as he calls you. You yawn as you pick up and hear chatter in the background of wherever he is.

"First of all," he starts in a determined tone. "Texas ain't the armpit of the South. That's South Carolina." He says. He hasn't even been in Texas for forty-eight hours, and his accent is already thick again.

"My mistake," you laugh. "Did you have another point, or was that it?"

"Second of all, why d'you sound so tired?"

"Obviously, I was out partying with strange men all night."

"Really?" He asks, and you scoff.

"No, Joel. Filming went really late yesterday. I don't think I got home until six this morning."

"Sounds intense."

"Not as intense as being interrogated by your mother," you say, and he hums. You hear someone laughing in the background and relish in the joy that you're not there to witness. He doesn't say anything for a minute, and you wonder if the line dropped, but when you pull the phone away from your face, you see the call is still active. "You really miss me so much that you called me just to sit on the line?"

"Maybe I did." He says. You take a deep breath and glance at the clock on your bedside table. He's two hours ahead. The sun must be setting by now, casting gorgeous rays onto his skin and making his eyes look amber. You wonder what Texas air does to Joel's soul. Maybe it soothes him like only an old baby blanket can. Maybe it makes him jumpy, like he's waiting for a clap of thunder that never comes. Maybe it makes him wonder why he left in the first place. You wish you could be there to read his expression and try to decipher what he's thinking. Someone calls Joel's name in the background, and you hear him shuffle with the phone, probably covering the microphone with his hand because the voices become muffled. When the phone comes back to his ear, he takes a deep breath, and you do the same. "I gotta go. Can I call you tomorrow?" He asks.

"I'm counting on it, Miller." You say, and he laughs before mumbling a good night and hanging up the phone.

After that, it becomes a habit for Joel to call you every day from Texas. He'll tell you different stories about his parents, how Austin has changed since he left, and update you on how the newest album is coming. He listens to you rant about work, how tired you are, and how frustrated you always get toward the end of a project. Sometimes the conversations last ten minutes, and sometimes they last hours. One night, you fell asleep on the phone with him because he was trying to get your opinion on a new song, but you had spent the day filming the scene of your character giving birth, which was tiring in its own right. He doesn't chide you for it. He just sends you a goodnight text and promises to call you the following night.

You hate to admit it, but production speeds up with Joel out of town. You end up wrapping your scenes a week early while Ryan still has another couple of days of filming his scenes. You'll probably get called back in for reshoots in a few months, but you feel really good about the work you put out there, and you finally get the chance to rest before Melanie sends you more scripts to read over. You send Joel a photo of your open laptop and a glass of wine next to it as the California sun sets over your balcony.

Wrap parties are looking different as I get older.

Don't worry. I'm sure you'll still be a drunk, no matter how old.

Asshole.

Lashing out is the first sign of a bigger problem. I think I should call Melanie.

You laugh and search for the middle finger emoji when he sends you another text.

Paul got me on the list for some charity event this Saturday. Want to come with me? He said it'd probably be better to get some more dates in sooner rather than later.

The reminder that this is all fake shifts your entire mood. Of course, it's always lingering in your mind, but the texting didn't feel fake. The late-night calls didn't feel fake. He didn't feel fake. In fact, this is the first time you feel like you have a sliver of an idea as to who Joel Miller actually is when he isn't selling out world tours and recording platinum albums. It's stupid for you to feel this way. You have no reason to. No right. You take a deep breath and type out a message.

Sure.

On Friday, you drive to the airport to pick Joel up, creating an over-the-top scene of you running and jumping into his arms. His hat falls off his head and onto the ground as he catches you and kisses you sweetly. When he sets you back on the ground, he doesn't let you go right away. He lingers in your arms, and even though your feelings are still hurt and you're still trying to remind yourself that this is all fake, you let him. He smells like a detergent you don't recognize, but underneath that, you catch a whiff of the cologne he always wears. You rub his back as you hold him in the middle of the airport.

"'S really good to see your face," he says into your neck, and you nod.

"You too."

As you drive him home, he brings you up to speed on how the album is coming along and how different Texas was when he was there. You tell him about the last few days on set and an upcoming press junket in New York City. He lights up when you tell him the dates as you maneuver through LA traffic.

"I'm scheduled to go to New York to work with my sound mixer that same time. He's got his own studio out there now and knows more about it than I do," he says. "Maybe we can fly together? Make it look like a couple's trip?"

"Sure," you say. He furrows his eyebrows at your lack of excitement, and you scramble for something else to talk about. "How are your parents?" You ask. The rest of the ride to his house goes off without a hitch, and he kisses you again as he gets out of the car, both of you highly aware of the car full of paparazzi that's been tailing you since you left the airport. He promises to pick you up at five the following night, and you just nod. When you get home, you walk calmly into your house, lock the door, and scream.

Joel's hand is in yours as you wait for your turn to walk the carpet. You're not sure why there's a red carpet at a charity event, but you're not about to throw a fit about it. Joel is wearing a sleek black suit, and you're matching with a long black dress. It's a low-cut backless dress, and a sparkly necklace your stylist picked out rests against your sternum. Joel taps your hand, and you look at him.

"You okay?" He asks. He looks worried as he steps between you and the wall of photographers waiting for you to stand and pose perfectly for their photos. "You've been quiet the past few days."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired. I think I'm still recovering from that last week of filming."

"Are you sure you're not gettin' sick?" He asks, raising his other hand to your cheeks like he's checking your temperature. You smile half-heartedly and swat his hand away.

"I'm sure," you say. He tries to say more, but someone with a clipboard gets your attention and asks if you're ready. You nod and step onto the carpet, holding Joel's hand. The press erupts into a cloud of noise, startling you and making Joel laugh. You slap his chest and plaster on your rehearsed smile. You do your best to look where all the photographers are yelling at you to look and try different poses so they can get what they need. Everyone has to make a living, you suppose. You just wish their salary wasn't at the expense of your privacy.

You get halfway down the carpet, taking pictures as a couple and some solo shots, before one of the photographers yells a new command. "Can we get a kiss?" He shouts. You pretend not to hear him and show off how the dress dips down your back, hugging you in all the right places. Still, the photographer is demanding a kiss, and now others have joined in too. It feels very "dance, monkey, dance," but you do your best to grit your teeth and smile. You catch Joel staring at you when you turn. It could be the flashing bulbs of cameras or how he's looking at you, but his eyes are sparkling, and the creases in the corners make you melt just a little.

You hold out your hand for him to join you, which he happily obliges, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you close enough for him to kiss your temple. "You alright?" He asks against your skin as you rest a hand on his chest and look up at him. You nod and glance between his eyes and his lips. The chorus of people practically begging for a picture of you two kissing is growing, and you raise your eyebrows at him.

"You gonna keep them waiting, or are you gonna kiss me?" You ask, the playful lilt reserved for him returning to your voice. He gives you a look and smirks before leaning down a pressing a chaste kiss to your lips. Everyone ooh's and aw's at you two, but you only care about how fast his heartbeat is against your palm. You want to blame it on the anxiety of walking the carpet and having people scream at you to do whatever they want. No, you have to blame it on that. There's no other option.

When you finally get inside, Joel gets you a glass of wine and a mixed drink for himself. The event is sweet and goes by quickly as you listen to people talk about something they're so passionate about. You decide to donate some money under an anonymous name once you are all excused to the reception, where there's food, more alcohol, and dancing. Joel leaves your side to catch up with some musician buddies, kissing your cheek before disappearing into the crowd.

You nurse your wine as people you've never met start conversations with you. They're all polite and ask about your newest project, how LA's been treating you, and what's up next for you. You can't reveal much due to the NDA you signed at the beginning of shooting, but you tell them how excited you are for them to be able to see it and admit you've got some auditions lined up in the coming weeks. You've probably given the same answers to a handful of different people when you realize you're out of wine and Joel is still missing. You scan the room for him, but you can't find him. That's fine, you think. It's not like he's obligated to stick to my side at all times. He can have his own life.

You sigh as you belly up to the bar and order another glass of wine. You almost make it a double when someone taps your arm, making you turn. "I don't mean to interrupt, but you look exquisite tonight. I just thought you should know," ultra-famous producer Richard Pike tells you. You blink at him, your brain struggling to catch up with the fact that one of the men who's made the most award-winning films in the past twenty years just noticed you. "I know everyone has probably told you that tonight, but-"

"Oh, no. Thank you. I'm sorry. I was just a little starstruck right then," you apologize before holding your hand out to introduce yourself. He takes your hand and kisses the top of it. It's very dramatic, but this is Hollywood we're talking about. Your glass of wine arrives, and he pays the bartender before you can even reach for your purse.

"Women as gorgeous as you should never have to pay for a drink. Ever." He says, and you laugh.

"I mean, I won't argue with you on that," you say, taking your glass in your hand to clink it against his glass of scotch. "Thank you, Mr. Pike."

"Please, call me Richard," he insists. "You just finished another movie, didn't you? You're a very busy girl."

"Yes, sir. I'm already looking for new projects to audition for."

"Oh, I remember when I had actors audition. See, that was before I started writing roles for specific actors. Some people call that crude or playing favorites, but it hasn't failed me yet."

"No, sir, it hasn't."

"So formal! Yes, sir! No, sir! Are you like this with everyone?" He asks as he takes a big swig of his drink.

"Just people who can cast me," you say. You're partially joking, but it's enough for him. He laughs, and his hand lands perfectly on your exposed back as he cackles loudly. You force yourself to laugh along with him and suddenly get that sinking feeling in your chest. Everybody seems to strategically look away from you two at the bar, and you want to be anywhere but here.

"You know, I've seen a few of your movies," he says, getting close to your face like he's telling you a secret. "I think you've got a lot of potential. With just a little coaching and one great role," his hand dips lower down your back, and you freeze. Ice water runs through your veins, and everything is screaming at you to run away, but your heels stay planted against the expensive hardwood. "We'll make an Oscar winner of you yet."

"Excuse me," a familiar drawl says behind you. You both turn and make eye contact with Joel. "May I steal my girlfriend for a dance? I promised her one on the way over." He asks, but he's already wrapping an arm around your waist, ready to pull you away. The hand on your back disappears and claps Joel on the shoulder.

"Of course! You take good care of this one!"

"Yes, sir," Joel says as he pulls you to the dance floor. Your heart is still beating in your throat, and you feel like you could cry, but Joel's looking at you with such kindness. You find safety in him as you wrap your arms around his neck and slowly sway with him, the soft material of his dress shirt calming you down. He waits until Pike is out of earshot to lean down to talk in your ear. "Now, I know you don't need me savin' you like that. Are you sure you're okay?"

"He's one of the biggest producers in Hollywood. He could tank my career in a single email. You want to be the one to yell at him?" You ask. "If I said or did something, he would've doubled down, but he respects you more. He backed off because, in his mind, I belong to you."

"How do you know?"

"I've dealt with people like him before. They're all the same old men who think they can offer you a legacy on a silver platter if you fuck them. I've gotten enough advice from other actors to know how to handle them. Let them get touchy but find an out before it can go too far. Stroke their egos so they feel good about themselves. Basically, do whatever to keep you and your career safe."

"I thought stuff like that didn't happen anymore."

"You and everyone else in the world. Things don't just magically change because one guy goes to jail." You sigh.

"I'm sorry," he says, and you shake your head.

"It's fine."

"No, it's not. You shouldn't have to deal with that."

"It was one of the first things people told me when I started. They said it was something I might just have to… endure but that the weight would get easier to carry. One actress even told me that it was the price we have to pay because everyone wants to be us," you chuckle. He doesn't interrupt you; he just stares at you with apologetic eyes like he would take this burden from you if he could. You almost believe him. "I don't think that's true. I think most people would hand this lifestyle in the second it got too real."

"What would you do if you weren't an actor?" He asks, and you shrug.

"I always thought about being a teacher. Sure, the pay is shit, and the work is thankless, but kids are our future, you know? There's something really special about shaping young minds."

"Sounds nice."

"What about you? What would you do if you weren't doing this?"

"Probably something with my hands. I worked as a mechanic for a while, and I really liked that. I liked how it was a big puzzle that needed to get sorted out and fixed up."

"Why'd you stop?" You ask.

"I needed to grow up. My dad owned a contracting company, so I worked with him until I saved up enough to record my first album. And that was that."

"It's crazy how we fought so hard to get to where we are, and now that we're here, it's..." You trail off, trying to figure out what you want to say.

"Terrifying?" He suggests, and you nod. "Yeah, I'm terrified every second of every day."

"You don't act like it."

"I don't act like a lot of things that I should," he says. He stares at you so intently that the rest of the world fades away. You don't hear the song die down or the applause erupt around you as the band takes a bow. You can feel his heartbeat against your chest. You know how crazed it is. He wets his lips before stepping back and trailing his eyes down your dress and back up to your face like he's taking you in for the first time. "You really do look beautiful tonight." You swallow around the lump in your throat and smooth your hands down your dress, suddenly self-conscious.

"Thank you." You mumble.

Pictures of you two kissing on the carpet and dancing inside are circulating online before you even leave the event. You wake up to a huge batch of texts— one from your mom, two from Joel, six from Ryan, and one from Melanie about your trip to New York that you barely read. You would've stayed in bed wallowing in your own bad luck if there wasn't a sharp knock on your door. You groan the whole way down the stairs like it will help you greet whoever has decided to show up at your house at eight in the morning, but nobody's there when you open the door.

Instead, a bouquet of flowers in a lovely vase sits on your mat with a note sticking out. You glance down your street and barely catch a delivery truck turning down the block. You carefully take the flowers into your kitchen before plucking the note between the petals.

Pretty flowers for a pretty girl - JM

(PS bought these of my own volition)

"Goddammit," you mutter under your breath as you think about his lips on yours, his soft shirt, and his stupid fucking, "I don't act like a lot of things I should."

#one for the money two for the show #the last of us #joel miller #joel miller x reader #joel miller fic #joel tlou #the last of us x reader #joel miller the last of us #joel miller au #tlou au #the last of us au #rockstar!joel miller #rockstar!au #joel miller x female reader #joel miller fluff #joel miller angst #I promise Sarah and Ellie are going to make an appearance soon 🫶

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unactivewaspsfics · 2 years

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The Southern Charm

A/N: I'm trying new formatting… Idk what works with me JUST yet so if this is the only post with this kind of formatting, you know :D I will say depending on how interested I am I may make a part two… Who knows lmao <;33 also I WAS gonna post this at 12 am but the demons won and I am posting it at like 9 >:D

Pairing: Cole Cassidy x NB!Reader

Genre: Fluff, Romance, SFW

CW: Pet names, flirting, minor cussing, and kissing?! (😦)

Word Count: 1,090 or so

Summary:

While you are traveling to visit family who begged you to come down, you decide to take a pit-stop break at a small Texan town on Route 66. This was your first stop in any considerable amount time but it has a lot of southern charm, and one cowboy you grab your eye is ALL southern and lots, and I mean lots, of charm. I guess you can say you two went on a date too.

You grabbed your bags as you waited for the train to finally pause on its tracks and for the conductor to confirm everyone can leave. It had been a super long train ride, not being helped at all by the dizzy feeling of motion sickness you had mid-train ride. While gathering your things, you sighed. How long was it to go from South Carolina to California? You thought while looking out the window.

Desert. A town surrounded by sand, dead trees, and cacti. What a great first look at Texas. Although, you couldn't really complain. It was time to stretch your legs and sleep on an actual bed... If there is a motel here, you weren’t one-hundred percent sure what was even in this town. I mean, there has to be a place to eat, especially since you were starving. What food could be there? Fries maybe... or even grilled cheese... you are in texas so there has to be barbeque.

You were interrupted by your thoughts by the train conductor speaking. “Everyone is now free to leave! There is a restaurant for your hungry folks, a nearby motel, a gas station, and of course the train station! The next train will be here tomorrow morning heading more south..”

His voice started fading from your ears as you stood up, trying to move through the slightly crowded hallway. You held onto your bag tightly, so as to not lose what you have, as you pushed through groups of people. Before you knew it, you were outside in the Texas sun. It was decent, not too hot and not too windy.

“Now... where is…” you asked yourself while walking out of the train station to locate the restaurant. “Oh, there it is!” you said happily, fixing your bag before starting to walk to the restaurant. You had no idea last time you had a full meal, I mean yeah you brought snacks for the train but that couldn't be counted as a meal. You looked around at the people in this town and you were very out of place. People here wore old western clothes. Boots, cowboy hats, and some had lassos on their belts. It was like you were in an actual western movie.

While looking at everyone, you caught the eye of a certain cowboy. He wore a red poncho with a brown hat and lots of facial hair. He also has a lot of metal on him. ‘He must get hot in all of that... And his hand is also robotic?’ you asked yourself as he started to walk your way. Your eyes raised up to the man's face, a slight nervousness coming up. You weren't nervous because of his good looks, but because he saw you looking at him. He started to walk to you, a southern chuckle emerging from his lips as he finished the cigar he was smoking, throwing it on the ground and stomping on it.

You fixed your posture and put up a nervous grin, hoping he wouldn't yell at you for staring.. Although it would be acceptable, I mean, you would do the same. “Someone seems to like our town,” he said in a teasing tone while you looked up at him nervously. “Sorry I was staring, I’ve never been here before and I just am surprised everyone here wears cowboy hats and stuff” you explained as the Cowboy laughed slightly more.

“You've never been here before? Well may I welcome such an attractive person like yourself to this little town I call home?” he asked, bowing with open arms for a moment before standing up and placing his hand on the holster of his gun. You were taken aback by how flirtatious he was being right now, I mean, calling you attractive in less than a minute of meeting? You gave a nervous laugh while covering your face slightly. “It’s an honor to be here, Mister…?” you asked, lowering your hand as you started to process how hungry you actually were. “Cole, Cole Cassidy at your service,” he replied, tilting the brim of his hat to you. “Sorry for the conversation change but I haven’t eaten an actual meal in fucking forever- is that café any good?” you asked, pointing to the only restaurant in sight.

“The Panorama Diner? Oh yeah, it’s good… As good as a place in the middle of nowhere can be” he laughed, turning his body to the diner. “Hey, do you wanna eat with me? I’ll pay for your meal if you agree, stunning traveler” he half-joked, starting to walk to the diner. Obviously, you agreed, I mean, free food and the ability to go on an unofficial date with a handsome cowboy, it’s a win-win! “It would be an honor to be on a date with someone who has all the southern charm in the world” you replied, quickening your pace to catch up with Cole.

“So, where are you going up to? Arizona? Washington? Or are you here to stay in this little town with little ol’ me?” Cole asked with a raised eyebrow, leaning towards you before leaning back to normal. You laughed, fixing the bag around your body. “Despite the fact I would love to stay here with you, I have to go to California to visit family!” you replied with a laugh, shoving your hands into your pockets. “Damn, looks like you have a whole lotta more ways to go, but I ain’t the one to question why someone goes places” he laughed, his smile growing slightly as you two stepped up the stairs of the Diner.

The Diner didn’t look that bad, and I mean it was busy so it had to be good. “Oh, by the way,” he stopped in front of the door to look at you. “I may be a little bit popular here, so if you see people looking at you they aren’t in awe of how breathtaking you look, they just are wondering why you were chosen to go out with me” he jokingly said, nudging your arm with his elbow before laughing. Cole opened the door and motioned for you to go inside first. You stepped in, the smell of food overwhelming your nose, the coolness of the building that contrasted the outside dryness, and the talk of the people was the best thing ever to your right now.

The two of you walked in and seated yourselves, Cole grabbed a menu as the two of you were heading to a booth next to a window. You sat opposite each other. Cole handed you a menu and you glanced over it, all the food options looked so good. “Hey- what do you always get here?” you asked as Cole looked up from his hand resting on the table. “I get the pie, but if you want a good meal,” he began, leaning over the table and pointing to the ‘Texan Charmer’ which was a burger and fries. “Now that's what I normally get” He laughed looking up at you. You met eyes with him as he leaned back down with a growing smile. “I think I’ll get that, and maybe an apple pie after. If you say it's good it has to be, right?” you jokingly asked him as he laughed. “I mean, if I say something is good in any sense, it’s one hundred percent true,” he half-joked, causing you to give a small chuckle.

Cole raised his hand up to have a waitress, the only waitress, come over and take the orders of both of you. This gave both of you time to talk and get to know each other. “So, why did you ask me out to go eat?” you asked, leaning on the table a bit towards Cole. “Well- Unlike everyone else on that train you were alone and caught my eye,” He said, a bit nervously, clearing his throat. “And I didn’t want anyone else to try anything on ya, since there are few gangs and stuff here” he explained, looking away from you. “Wow that- that’s sweet of you, it’s honestly a surprise,” you laughed, causing Cole to grumble a bit as the food was brought and placed on the tablet with your drinks.

You looked at the food in awe after thanking the waitress. “This smells so good,” you stated, grabbing some fries and putting them in your mouth. “Everything here is a homemade, fun fact!” he replied, grabbing a fry with his robotic arm. “Hey, that’s mine!” you jokingly said while leaning over to get it back. “And who's paying for your food again?” he asked in a teasing tone, raising his hand slightly out of reach. You reached for the fry one more time before leaning back with a fake annoyed look. “Hey, don’t worry buttercup,” he started, eating the stolen fry. “You have plenty more fries to eat on that plate of yours... In the meantime though,” he changed the subject to his food, his apple pie.

The two of you ate in general silence, only talking or commenting on the food once or twice. “Is that pie any good?” you asked cole with a raised eyebrow, already finished your burger and most of your fries. “Best I've ever had actually,” he laughed, taking another bite with his fork. “If you want a bite just ask, I’m... I’m not hungry anymore,” he said, looking away from you as he pushed the pie and his fork toward you. “No way am I eating this myself, especially when I can share it with a handsome cowboy like yourself,” you flirted, sticking your tongue out at him as he chuckled. “Fine then, guess I can’t miss the opportunity to eat with someone as stuntin’ like yourself, darlin’,” he replied, his southern accent coming through in that sentence.

So, as stated, the two of you shared the desert together. You were more flustered than he was, never really sharing food like that with a stranger- or more of a new friend. Crush maybe? You didn’t know what was the right thing to call him as of current. After he had paid for both of your meals, you two decided to head out. You had to get a motel room so he decided to walk with you. It was sundown, so you assumed Cole wanted to be ‘protective’ of you. It was slightly comforting. As you walked Cole lit a cigar.

“So, how long did ya say you were staying here?” he asked you, putting the cigar in his mouth. “Just until the next train comes here,” you replied, taking a step closer to Cole, finding comfort in him the more you two hung out together. “I think the next train will be here tomorrow afternoon,” you added. Cole nodded silently as you spoke, taking the cigar out of his mouth for a moment to have fresh air before putting it back. “Hey- will you at least see me before you leave?” he asked nervously, clearing his throat. “I would- I want to exchange numbers... In case you wanna come to visit” he said, changing his demeanor from nervous to flirtatious. “Or if you wanna spend the night at my place, you're free too.” You laughed, nodding your head as you leaned your whole upper body on him as you two walked to the motel.

“Despite the fact I would love to spend the night with you, maybe another day” you replied, opening the door to the motel check-in. Cole dropped his cigar and stomped it out as you asked for a one-night motel room. It was pretty quick to get you one, which you were glad for. Cole followed you to your hotel room, watching as you unlocked the door and threw your bag in real quickly.

“Well, Darlin’... It was nice spending the day with you. Tomorrow I'll stop by to say goodbye, yeah?” he asked, cupping your cheek with a chuckle. You smiled, grabbing his face with your hands and leaning his face towards you, the smell of cigar almost making you lean back. “I guess i will be waiting then” you smiled, leaning your face forward and giving him a cheek kiss, moving your hands as he stood slightly shocked, and a bit offended you didn’t kiss him on the lips. But I mean, you can’t have him be too eager, now can you?

You walked into the motel, turning to Cole with a grin.

“See you tomorrow, Darlin’!”

#cole cassidy #cole cassidy x reader #cole cassidy overwatch #overwatch 2 x reader #overwatch x reader #overwatch x you #cole overwatch x reader #cole cassidy oneshot #overwatch oneshot #overwatch 2 #sorry for adding his old name after this I just want more people to see this..#I dont support calling him his old name and I am so sorry so so so sorry #overwatch mccree #mccree x reader #jesse mcree

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fountainpenguin · 24 days

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Love doing timeline and map-related things!! Needed to commit to a reference city so I could look up dates for "hottest day of the year" to place "Dinosaur In Dimmadelphia" in our New Wish episode timeline.

@zachbrightside and I already have Dimmsdale overruling Los Angeles in our lore (because they have the exact same population as the census of a specific year, it's canonically in southern California, and the Dimmsdale sign is basically the Hollywood sign, it's on the shore, etc.), so the one thing we know is that Dimmadelphia can't go there.

Fun Fact: In my lore, Petropolis was built on top of Dimmsdale's ruins, because it ALSO meets the requirements of Los Angeles, like hills and census data :'D

I'm using the headcanon that Dimmadelphia is in California (hence the sign pointing towards Dimmsdale in A New Wish, plus the OG series seemingly depicting Timmy's parents going there when they're looking for runaway Timmy in "Channel Chasers," plus there's a beach), thus setting us up to identify Dimmsdale's direction if we can gather enough clues to support it.

I used clues from several episodes to figure out which direction we're facing (Sunrises & sunsets from episodes when we know which is which -> City Park gate & Dimmadome Tower as landmarks -> Beach behind tower on Guzman's map -> Signposts near gate) and I've sussed out San Diego as a very likely location for Dimmadelphia in our lore...

... And San Diego, due to special conditions where it's located, actually has its hottest days of the year in September and October, and not in July like you'd expect! Fascinating.

I also researched California school cutoff days to narrow Hazel's birthday a little more, which was fun. I found some people who seem to be relatives:

The girl who uses braces as a mobility aid in "28 Puddings Later" is the same one using a wheelchair in "Dinosaur in Dimmadelphia," which is SUPER neat (I remember noticing her crutches when I compared screenshots of the class photo, so her hair style and yellow shirt stuck in my memory and I randomly spotted her in the background of this episode). -> I THINK I've seen the kid with the blue sweater who seems to be a sibling (Looks like they're taking a family picture), but I'm not sure. I think I caught that kid in a screenshot once because the double eyelashes and body type are standing out in my memory, but I'll have to comb my posts when it's not this time of night! Looks like Jenkins has at least 2 (if not 3) heavily implied relatives - seemingly a mom and a grandma and possibly a dad, with him definitely knowing the white-haired woman since she's driving the car he's in, and his implied mom being the woman who approached Dale on the stage in "Stanky Danky")

- so it's neat to comb back through and see these random details!

Assuming I commit to the San Diego parallel, I'll make a clean, detailed post in the future going through all my notes with screenshots, but I wanted to gush about how cool that hottest day of the year lore is, because I thought for SURE we couldn't make that fit in the school year. Whodathunk!!

This has nothing to do with anything, but it cracks me up that the Dimmadomes also lost power with the rest of the city. I didn't have reason to believe they wouldn't, but I'm glad to know they do.

Also, shout-out to the crashed alien spaceship that apparently just exists outside the city?? What's up with that?

#Fairly OddParents #A New Wish #FAIRIES!#A New Dev-elopment #A Dinosaur In Dimmadelphia #99% true as far as we remember #Riddle watches FOP #screenshots

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stawpny · 9 months

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New York, while shoving a ritz cracker into his mouth: did I punch him? hell yeah. Do I regret it? fuck no.

Gov, looking at him oddly: who did you punch?

California, concerned: aren’t you ceiliac..?

New York, still munching on the cracker : am I gluten free? hell yeah-

also New York, but with a southern accent, and still eating a cracker: but am I liberal pussy? fuck no.

anyways, I was bored

way for an introduction I guess

I jus thought of this while eating crackers

HEADCANNON TIMMEEE 😼

—

-Mass (when the little times he cooks) give York pieces of cheese or something like that. most of the time he just kinda throws it at him. you never know what the next thing is that he brings York.

- he loves doing southern accents to piss off the southerners.

- he eats things the wrong way to piss off his fellow NE states. EX: eating a cheese stick from the side.

- he loves to piss people off and then scurry away like he was never there, especially when people are cooking.

-speaking of cooking, I feel he would take bribes from his older brothers and go out into the kitchen to distract the person cooking so they could steal food from them. like he would say something really fucking stupid or ask the state something about their history. it sometimes works. onky sometimes

-he likes to make matching bracelets but especially likes receiving them from Cal or anyone really.

-calls Illinois “deep dish” and Illinois calls him “thin crust” (idk if this is cannon or not I js like the idea )

-he is very rat-like (obvi) he will steal something from you and never give it back. he has a shelf full of silly little trinkets that he steals from people. not really much important, just like bottle caps or random things.

-New York is the moon and Cal is the sun. (gay)

(also, I don’t think york is gluten intolerant but like I wanted to do it bc it was funny in my head)

eek

ily guys

I hope u liked these

I’ll do more soon, I pinky promise.

#wttt #wttt new york #wttsh #welcome to the statehouse #wttsh new york #wttsh headcanons #wttt headcanons #wttt shipping

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moonlit-trolls · 5 months

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The indomitable Human Spirit

Word Count: 5733 CW: Death, Abduction (alien kind) (ask to tag any others) HUGE thanks to Howl for helping me out with the first few drafts. Docs for your eyes

Act 1: Abduction

Within a small apartment near the Franklin D. Roosevelt park, Lucia was getting things ready for her daily commute to the University of Southern California. Her packing order was easy and simple: a notebook to write things down quickly, her old Dell laptop that she inherited from her older brother, a big bottle of water so there would be no need to buy more, and lastly, four facemasks. After all, the pandemic has been going rampant.

The apartment was just large enough to fit her and her bed in it. Everything was cramped. The TV that was there was a housewarming gift, and it almost hit its sides on the bedroom walls. Lucia’s college was closed due to the pandemic, but recently an email had rolled out with the warning that classes would slowly be rolled back in with less students. That got her excited; she didn’t bust her ass to get that scholarship to study from home! Before getting ready to head out a call arrived from a friend of hers.

— Hey Lulu, we’re headed to the starbucks near the college, you wanna meet us there? — The question came from Ash, one of the few people in a group that Lucia liked to interact with. Before she could answer Ash piped up again, — don’t worry, we’ll pay for you. — This mentioning felt rude to Lucia. She assumed Ash meant nothing by it, but it felt very rude.

This did, however, go well into Lucia’s plan. The Starbucks near the college had the most beautiful barista that she had ever seen; their eyes were green like moss, which is something she kept to herself. Even if she found everything beautiful, calling someone’s eyes moss colored could be considered rude.

Putting on her best clothes she made an effort to hide the wear and tear with her older brother’s hoodie; the zipper was banged up but it wasn’t cold enough where it needed to be closed. The day outside was beautiful, the clouds hiding most of the sky but Lucia liked it that way. The cool breeze rushing through made her consider putting on gloves, but it would be far too much of a chore.

An idea did hit her. Already heading for a bus ride, and with flower shops in the bus’ way she would only have to walk ten extra minutes to get there. Walking wasn’t a problem. After all, it was a part of her routine ever since she was twelve when her dad’s car broke down and the bus was the only option, alongside walking to school every day.

Too much time had passed after Ash’s call, which prompted a message, several messages in fact

— Heyhey when you coming? —

— C’mon speed up!!! we gotta eat —

— Girl it’s gettin’ cold we’re waiting inside —

Reading it, Lucia immediately decided to not answer. She was close by, just needing to get the flowers before finally heading to the Starbucks. She didn’t know the name of the barista; Lucia thought of asking it once or twice, but was never brave enough to get that far. The nametag didn’t help; every day the barista wore a different name tag to trip up customers. Lucia just called her Nyx in her head, it kept the mystery alive.

Meanwhile, outside of Earth’s atmosphere, just behind the moon, an explorer class ship approached the planet. Smaller in size and crew but capable of traveling at faster-than-light speeds with less energy consumption. The current captain of this explorer class is Lieutenant Brikel. Her mission was an exploratory one: to acquire a sample of life from any of the planets that have it. Fauna, flora and—if the planet has it—intelligent life.

With the blaring horns that start each day, the lieutenant crawled out of her sleeping pod. She shook the slime away from her hair with a yawn.

— Lieutenant Brikel to Docking bay. Docking bay? Over. —

— Docking bay to Captain’s quarters, What is your inquiry? Over. —

— Are we close enough for the processes to begin? Over. —

— We are not close enough but we have the means of approaching. Their detection tech is low grade enough where our cloaking should be just sufficient. Waiting for further orders. —

The docking bay workers started preparing for the acquisition. First sending two cloaked drones down to earth’s surface to acquire soil samples and fauna, as well as some flora.

— Intelligent life detected. — The voice from the docking bay sounded almost excited; that meant they would have the chance to experiment on it.

— Select one randomly, — Brikel commanded while walking over to the clothes hanging in the closet.

— Prepare the stun collar, — she barked while putting on the cloak adorned with glowing insignias and medals similar to one you would find on a Navy Seal back on Earth. Looking further, these creatures could be considered humans that evolved to achieve space travel; were it not for the massive orange horns on their heads, perhaps you could have them confused. No, they had a different name, and were united under a completely different flag than humanity. In fact, they were united under Her Imperious Condescension. Said name inflicted horror in the hearts and minds of nearly a billion different sentient species.

Lieutenant Brikel walked out of her quarters and checked with the med bay for their supplies. After the drones had quickly scanned the general features of the planet, she had wanted to make sure they had what was required for dissections and blood synthesis from the sentient creatures on the planet. This was impossible due to the lack of access to human test subjects. The drones that were still down could steal blood from humans, but not without raising attention– not that Brikel or the fleet cared about attracting eyes. Attacking a town openly wouldn’t lead to anything, human weapons couldn’t hurt their ship even if they tried.

The ship inched closer, just above Earth’s mesosphere. With its cloaking device fully active, there was nothing mere Earth sensors could do to detect it.

The drones acquired the soil, flora, and fauna samples before attempting to arrive at any human settlement. Unlike where the ship was located, around the west of the United States, the drones were sent down deep in the north of Europe where, after getting what they had to, they were sent to slay and drain the blood of several humans for further testing.

On the other side of the world though, Lucia had just gotten her flowers, and was rushing to the café to meet with Ash and their friends, as well as Nyx the barista. Her steps were quick as her friends waved her over.

— C’monnn Lulu we’re starving over here! — Ash shouted from the outside table they were seated on, which prompted her to go faster.

— Abduction protocol. Begin. — A robotized voice said inside the docking bay.

Lucia couldn’t hear Brikel’s voice, but she could feel what came next: a bright red beam, in the middle of the city lifting her up, and nothing else, screaming and kicking she was taken away from the floor, it all felt, even for a moment, like a Hollywood production.

— WHAT'S GOING ON? — Lucia screamed down at Ash.

Ash jumped the small wall of the Starbucks alongside the group of friends that were just waiting for her to arrive. They grabbed Lucia’s hand and shouted

— I don’t know Lulu, but hold my hand okay? Just hold on! — Ash mustered all her strength as their friends tried to pull them both back to no avail.

With a sudden jerk they were knocked flat on their backs, and Lucia was skybound. For about forty five seconds all that could be seen were the streets getting smaller, and all that could be felt was the air getting thinner. The Red Dreadnought, which was the explorer-class ship in low Earth orbit, titaned over her as she approached it, consciousness flickering in and out from lack of air. All that was in her vision was the bright white trident, glowing against the vessel’s red paint job.

Being taken into the ship, the bright red outer shell was substituted by the off-gray piping and glowing screens. The tall lieutenant stood in front of her at the arrival platform and spoke in plain and perfect English.

— How strange. It doesn’t have any horns. — Brikel leaned in to speak, as if mocking that fact, as she looked over at the woman’s head at an angle that revealed her own pair of horns. These creatures were clearly not human, but Lucia had hoped they had some sense of humanity.

— I. You. You speak English? I’m not supposed to be here, — the pleading was met with a back handed slap to Lucia's left cheek. Before she could stand to attempt to fight back, two cold and clawed hands pulled her arms back, forcing her to a kneeling position.

— You listen, worm, — the lieutenant spoke back, her words holding poison. Lucia would have talked back had the coldness of the alien’s hands not morphed into the coldness of metal. A pair of handcuffs, magnetically locked, held her hands behind her back.

— I- — She was cut off with another backhanded slap.

— Nuh uh uh, what did I say? You listen, you do not speak, unless allowed. — Brikel said with a smile that betrayed her cruel enjoyment. — Begin the tagging process. — Brikel said, completely ignoring the attempted pleas and tears forming in Lucia's eyes. A cold metal ring clamped around her neck, making it extremely uncomfortable to breathe. A quick shock knocked her down, still conscious of her surroundings but too stunned to move or speak.

— Starting the tagging process — Lucia heard with a click similar to the one of a walkman. — Creature’s skin is thin. Its height measures at 176 centimeters, around the height of a rust blood, if not shorter. Its hair is brown. Its eyes seem similar to bronze, slightly lighter than the average, and its blood — she felt a prick on her arm — Deep Rust. —

Lucia felt horrible after that blood was taken, but it wasn’t the end. Her ear was pierced with a heavy titanium tag. That same prick as before came but instead of taking her blood they were injecting her with something. She was then dragged against the metal floor and thrown into a cell, or rather, into a solitary confinement unit. No one but her there. These creatures seemed to have some sort of messed up version of law. Still, hope lingered that this was going to be some sort of catch and release, where she’d be tagged and sent back to enjoy her life as normal.

Unfortunately, four hours later when she woke up with her head spinning due to what they injected into her arm, and missing both the shock collar and the handcuffs, she finally noticed the room. Thick black walls, with a transparent window to the right side showing the adjacent cell empty. In front of her was an eight inch thick ballistic-grade glass. She tried kicking it but it did less than nothing.

— WHY ME? THERE’S BETTER PEOPLE ON EARTH, — her voice echoed through the halls. Even if they did hear her, they didn’t care to respond.

Act 2: Prison years

Three years have passed since the abduction. Three long and hard years. From the small window in her cell Lucia could see the planets flying away within the first two hours of her time in the cell, and as the planets were quickly left behind so was her hope of ever seeing that bright blue marble ever again. With three years counting that hope was not only long gone but it had reshaped itself into hatred; a white hot rage for these creatures that abducted her.

The first year was the easiest one, and it was the quickest to pass by. She didn’t have a proper time between when she left and the time when the tests started. Lucia just remembered having slept at least seven times beforehand. Lucia divided the first year in her head with three separate testing processes.

1st: technical tests. They tested her vision, her reaction times, how fast she could run and for how long. They tested her resistance to certain drugs. It was hard but that was just the first layer of hell.

2nd: physical tests. Unlike the technical ones, these were made under threat of electric shock. They were resistance tests to see how long she could last running with the treadmill shocking her at certain intervals. They tested her resistance to specific voltages– it only ever went up to 42 volts after they figured out through simulations that any further voltage could result in brain damage which would greatly reduce their testing ability.

3rd: combat tests. These were the true start of the decline in Lucia’s tests, and in her physical and mental health. They put her in a combative situation with several grunts. Lucia managed to win once or twice, but once they started getting larger and larger she had more broken bones than unbroken ones.

These were the tests conducted in the first year during three month intervals each, and she had three months of rest before the second year battering started.

That last test, however, had left her with an idea. Lucia would never be able to surpass the big opponents, but she could become just strong enough to fight back against some of the smaller ones, just strong enough to fight against the ones that bled deep red and green. Thus, Lucia's training started.

They were feeding her the exact amount needed to survive in rations, if not slightly more to make sure she didn’t start losing testable muscle mass. That meant extra energy for her to burn while working her body down to the last drop.

The second year started off with writing tests. They seemed to be able to read English properly, but they had their own written language in documents and posters. She managed to write what they asked and was let go with very few shocks and bruises.

The second part of the tests were the most ruthless ones: combat tests with weaponry. First came melee weaponry. They had put her in a ring with a sword and a shield against a bastard with a heavy hammer. The only reason she didn’t die was due to the stimulants the med bay had which accelerated the healing process and dampened the pain to a dull itch. After the melee weapons tests guns were introduced. Heavy and strange, she wasn’t allowed to wield them; she was target practice. The scientists placed a helmet on her head to make sure she wouldn’t die in an accident before setting grunts to shoot her. That day she had more lead on her limbs than any soldier, and again the med bay removed it all and fixed any issues that the shots could have led to. Strangely enough when the situation required healing her they treated it all with extreme care, not because she was important but because she was part of the research.

During her frequent visits to the med bay though, she overheard a conversation that would haunt her. The third year was fully ballistic tests, with the added negative of plasma weaponry being introduced to it. She endured having limbs burned and healed for almost two hundred days before the true horror of what she heard hit her.

— Lieutenant of the 57th ship from Her Imperial Armada reporting to the High Commander of the Fourth Imperial Armada Her Wrathful Destruction. — Lucia saw Brikel through the glass, she seemed scared. Lucia smiled for the first time in these three years seeing Brikel scared.

— Reporting my findings has proven itself a success, it seems like Admiral Vorkev, titled Deadshot, was interested in the weapons tests. I have contacted Admiral Avaaci and General Faeria, titled the Intoxicant, about the drug tests. They all showed relative interest, but the tests are only nearly done. We will finish testing plasma and then begin the discard.—

These last words hung in the air for what felt like an eternity. After plasma was done she’d be discarded? Her heart had never sunk so deep; was all that suffering for absolutely nothing? Lucia didn’t think of that until the mention that the plasma tests were over, nearly nine months later into the third year of captivity.

The words kept repeating themselves in her head. We will finish plasma testing, and then discard. It felt so wrong. Yes, everything was hell for her here, but that felt worse. Maybe it was the finality of it: they didn’t consider her necessary cargo anymore and the research was done.

Time felt like it was coming to a crawl when the doctor stepped in front of her cell and said, — The Med Bay is ready. — The pit in her stomach felt so large it could sink the ship. — You will be allowed a last meal, we are not monsters after all, — the doctor's smile was sinister. She was led to the dining hall, and her eyes widened. She’d never been here before, and the grunts who shot her several months ago were staring.

— Can I ask for whatever I want to eat? — she said in an almost-mumble. The doctor looked down on her and responded with a hiss, — of course. — There was a false attempt to connect with her, just to make sure that her suffering would be worse when the time came for the execution.

Lucia asked for a T-bone steak. Though they were planning on killing her, and she was hatching a plan in her head to not make it so easy. The meal came and went but when they were taking the plate away she bumped into it, making it fall. She had little time to properly execute her plan, but she slid the bone under her sleeve before getting up.

While walking to the med bay, she had to remind herself to keep the facade if she wanted her plan to work. She played meeker than she was. — Am… Am I going to die? — she asked, tears pooling in her eyes before being slapped with a backhand again.

—Silence inferior, — the facade dropped immediately from the doctor. It wasn’t worth it to fuck with her head with her death just around the corner.

As the impending doom became ever so clear, Lucia clenched her hand on the bone in her sleeve. Remembering the entirety of her life –and how could she not when her mind was already set on dying– her heartbeats became irregular. Remembering her first kiss, her first bike crash, the good emotions and feelings she shared with her older brother, Lucia couldn’t help but feel like it was all for nothing.

Being seated on the stretcher, she felt the cold on her arm as they inserted the IV needle on it to run her final living tests. She remembered the emotion she felt when she fell in love, true hopelessness. As soon as she saw the deep crimson from the blood on her arm, she also saw that disgust formed on the face of the man conducting the tests.

The doctor got a syringe out of the packet, fresh as it could be before pulling the plunger on an ampoule of what she could only assume would be the tranquilizer. At that point, with options limited, Lucia had one shot at surviving and even if trying meant death. She had to try.

Act 3: The Indomitable Human Spirit

— This is not how a human dies — a voice spoke to her — A human doesn’t lay down curled up and let the world kill it. — her heart felt like it was burning when these words were spoken inside her mind.

With her heart beating so fast it felt like it was about to burst. Lucia slipped a hand in her sleeve, pulling out the bone from the steak she had earlier. before the syringe even touched her skin she was already tackling the doctor. The sound was horrible, where the bone met flesh it made a wet squelching sound, the green liquid oozing from the doctor’s neck where he had been stabbed, it was reminiscent of moss, and it made her think of someone that was now a distant memory. Lucia not only stabbed this doctor’s neck, she completely brutalized his face, as a monument to how much life there was left in her.

Hearing a grunt running to the Med Bay, she knew she made enough noise to alert them. but that too was according to plan, as she grabbed the syringe from the corpse’s hand, and rushed to stand on the side of the door. As soon as the grunt barrelled in, he was stabbed in the neck and injected with the contents of the syringe. Immediate muscle relaxation was what this did, in less than 10 seconds the grunt was down, but not before shooting a shell into the nothing in front of him.

That alone was enough to alert the entire section of the ship. Remembering the times spent in the shooting range with her father, Lucia knew enough about guns to know what to do in this situation, as she grabbed the grunt’s shotgun, cocked the next shell in. Took the knife from his boot, and the pistol from his side.Now armed to the teeth and not ready to go down. Although this was just the start of what was to come.

Lucia moved the O2 tank to the side of the entrance, and rushed to the side room of the med bay. The grunts marched in, Lucia aligned the shot with the tank and pulled the trigger. The explosion was loud and strong enough to blow that side of the wall down. The bodies were just a mash of Orange Purple and Blue. If these were humans Lucia might have had qualms about what she was doing, but she had already decided these things were nothing but demons a long while ago.

Lucia did though, forget to account for the size and material of the tank, she didn’t feel any pain when it happened but the entire right side of her torso and leg were filled with metal shards from the tank, glass from the windows and other debris. When she tried to step her knee almost failed to, it nearly crumbled under her own weight.

— Fuck fuck fuck fuck — Lucia muttered when she heard the next wave of grunts rushing in, this time she didn’t have a good plan.

— Explosion at Med Bay Four — Lucia heard one of the grunts saying — Entering engagement range. Draw your weapons — her panic made her do a stupid decision, the command to draw their weapons meant they weren’t already drawn. Lucia had a shot at getting this right, and she just needed to be lucky.

Steeling her resolve Lucia started screaming when forcing her weight on the bad leg, using it as a headstart for a charge against the grunts, luckily enough where they were still getting the weapons out of their backs, she didn’t stop at a decent range, grabbing the gun she stole from the first grunt by the barrel and using the extra reach to completely shatter the first grunt’s jaw, screaming in both fear and rage.

The group of grunts stood in shock at seeing the squad leader knocked down by what was by all means an inferior species, a wounded one at that, that gave her enough time to grab the gun improperly for a shot, she could feel her wrist coming close to shattering when the trigger was pulled, the shot wasn’t precise but it got at least one of them out of the fight. Two down, one to go.

As the grunt aimed down his gun at her, he felt something he never felt before, not when dealing with inferiors, he felt afraid. The blank eyes that looked at him were filled with pure hatred, his hands were sweating and shaking as he pulled the trigger all that was heard was a Click. He hadn’t disengaged the safety, the last thing on his vision was Lucia charging with the gun held like a hammer, slamming into the side of his head, the Alien felt every second when his skull shattered against the butt of the gun.

— Hello? Hello. Is everything okay? we heard an explosion on med bay five — The communicator of one of the grunts rung out, Lucia just stomped it out with her good foot before limping to the med bay, even if half of it was destroyed she remembered where they kept the stims, even when incapable of reading the language she knew what they looked like well enough, By torturing her for that long these monsters had given her all the tools she needed for killing them one by one.

The stimulants were a mix of Epinephrine, and nano agents that closed wounds from the inside, she managed to scrounge up four, as she stabbed herself in the neck with one and clipped the other ones on her belt. Being able to walk within seconds of the injection was a miracle, but instead of that she decided to run, run over to the other med bays that were emptied by the grunts before attempting to kill her, Lucia found six extra stimulants before heading out to other wings of the ship.

While that was happening Brikel was seeing through the cameras. what her eyes saw made absolutely no sense, this inferior was weaker than a Bronze blood she could not have possibly shattered the jaw of two Indigos and shot a purpleblood down. And worse of all Brikel saw this inferior walking straight to the Docking bay.

— Brikel to docking bay. The inferior is headed there. — Her voice showed less worry than she felt at that moment

— What? — was the first response — The inferior was set to die today. what you mean it is headed here —

— I MEAN IT IS HEADED THERE WHAT DID YOU NOT UNDER- — her voice cut out when Brikel saw the head of the communications officer get blown off. These men were unarmed, but they were complicit in what happened to Lucia, as she killed each one of them with extreme brutality.

— What do you plan to achieve with this? — Brikel said over communications, she could hear all around the room as Lucia just breathed heavily. — You won’t survive if we’re dead, you know that. — Brikel wasn’t lying when she said that, Lucia barely knew how to drive, let alone pilot an alien ship.

— I don’t care. — Lucia responded coldly before starting to walk out.

This ship was outfitted with ten grunts. The first one killed in the med bay, the three first backups that got blown up, and the three that were brutalized by her on the outside of the med bay wing, meaning that three more had to die. The ship was, although, fitted with nearly twenty scientists, not men of combat. Lucia was not like these people. she wouldn’t kill them, and decided that ignoring them was the best course of action, heading straight for where Brikel was.

The three grunts suited up, the heaviest class of armor as they rushed to the outside of the Lieutenant’s quarters, the armor was heavy enough where Lucia felt them running by the shaking of the floor. She popped another stimulant on her neck screaming out, the sound echoed the halls stopping the grunts in their tracks as they aimed down sights to get her.

Lucia was prepared for that, as she went up the stairs, she threw her jacket first before going, which prompted the trigger happy grunts to unload on it, hearing the click of two magazines leaving the gun, but she knew she had heard three footsteps before. which meant there was one of them that held their guard, Lucia ran in shooting the one that hadn’t shot yet, hitting him in the head. The sound was painful to hear, that ding meant that she shot the equivalent of a steel wall that was the grunt’s helmet, the shot didn’t penetrate, as he unloaded the mag on her torso. Lucia had the benefit of being resilient but she wasn’t made of steel, these shots hurt as she gripped the gun with one hand, and the wound with the other. The grunts lowered their guns as the one that shot her down walked up to grab her by the neck,kicking and punching at the armor to no avail.

— You got far for an inferior. But it was all for nothing. — The creature manhandling her said tightening the grip on her neck — Your journey ends here. Maggot. — the alien said in her direction.

Lucia’s mind was going numb with the lack of oxygen, she had a pistol but she couldn’t shoot it there, the gun was dropped as soon as she was lifted up, she was going to die then and there until she noticed. The underside of the helmet doesn’t have any armor. all the grunt could see was a smile coming across Lucia’s face as she grabbed the knife from her boot, and stabbed under the grunt’s chin. The grip weakened immediately as motor functions ceased, and the others unloaded another mag into the back of their compatriot, the clinking sounds the armor made when it deflected. Another click, as they began reloading she popped another stim, her heart was nearly exploding after this one as the application was followed by another scream and her rushing them down with the knife.

— WATCH OUT — the one on the left screamed as lucia leaped to the one on the right, they spun in place with their back facing the ally as she stabbed the underside of their jaw. When the body fell lucia used that momentum to jump at the other, but it wasn’t enough, he grabbed her in the air and punched her out. gun on the floor he took a combat stance. Lucia’s nose was broken, blood filled her mouth as she spat out two teeth.

— I WILL NOT FALL TO AN INFERIOR — the grunt said walking towards a still standing Lucia — Neither will i — Lucia barked back. before running towards the grunt.

This fight was unbalanced, enough so where as soon as she got close to him he grabbed the arm that had a knife and broke it, like if it was a twig. and threw her back. as she collapsed on the floor, her one good hand held something that the grunt only noticed when he walked to stomp her head. Lucia rolled over her broken left arm, and shot him under the jaw with the pistol. the body fell back with a thud as she stood up. her pupils were the size of the point of a needle as she marched forth, her arm that should be in excruciating pain was nothing more than a numb tingling at the shoulder.

By all means this should be the tale of how a young woman was taken from earth, tortured and murdered in cold blood. Lucia had to be lucky ten times to get this far, and so on she was. She walked to the door where the lieutenant stood. Brikel stood proudly behind the door. she knew she was better than that inferior, and she was about to show it. gun in hand she waited, aimed at where the head would be when the door opened.

Lucia on the other hand, ripped one of the helmets off of the guards, it barely fit her head but it was a guarantee that she would not die in one single lucky shot. as she walked into the room.

The first shot hit the helmet, Brikel was surprised she didn’t keel over and die then and there. She shot two more times, once in the chest narrowly missing her left lung, and the other one hitting her shoulder. Lucia kept walking towards her.

— You, you should be dead. you shouldn’t be WALKING RIGHT NOW — all the confidence fell through the moment she got closer, Lucia was around four feet away when she shot Brikel in the shoulder, Brikel dropped the gun in pain.

Lucia was silent, she closed her hand into a fist and struck Brikel in the center of her face, busting the nose immediately

Brikel shouted — YOU'RE A SPEC, YOU'RE NOTHING — before punching her back in the bullet wound, Lucia’s blood pooled on the floor around her from the wounds, But before Brikel could get another word out, she got a fist in the jaw.

— Then I'll become something and kill you. Right here. Right now. — Lucia threw her gun away and grabbed Brikel by the neck. — I am part of the species meant to inherit the stars. Not you. You’re here now on a barely valid invite. — her hands tightened as Brikel began to suffocate, fighting was futile at that point — WE ARE MEANT TO INHERIT THE STARS. NOT YOU. NEVER YOU. — Lucia shouted, pulling Brikel’s head back and slamming against the wall leaving violet bloodpats in it.

After Brikel’s death, painful and agonizing as it was, Lucia walked to the dashboard near the wall of her quarters, she pressed every button until she heard the slight feedback from the microphone, and she sent a message to all fleet ships that could hear.

— You are flying with borrowed wings. My name is Lucia from Earth, and i Alone have taken over your ship. — The quirky English major became the extermination of this entire ship. The ones that were left alive were soon sent to die in the void of space. She was almost alone, save for one particular creature that she felt she couldn’t kill, as it was connected to the entirety of the ship with some strange tubings.

At this point lucia had accepted her fate, that she is just waiting for death to crawl to her. She didn’t know how to control the ship, and the fact that space is mostly empty didn’t help, she couldn’t tell if the ship was turning, or going straight with the controls. there was enough food for her to last for several more years now. So, she just decided to rest. for a little while.

#My writing #Drabble #Long #Ask to tag

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